Sokka looked unimpressed at Toph's critique. "My joke wasn't that bad," he felt the need to defend. Katara and Aang tried to hold back a snort of laughter. He'd rolled his eyes at the lack of defense from the other two.

"Korra, what do you think?" Sokka turned to her. Momentarily confused, he happened to look down, seeing their new friend suddenly comatose on the ground. Everyone present except Toph, gasped.

The Earth King neared the group, concern on his face. "Is the young lady okay?"

"What the-" Katara, and Aang noticed merely seconds after he did, all of them crowding around her. Toph neared the group, trying to figure out what they were looking at.

"Guys? What's going on? What happened?"

"I don't know..." Katara answered, examining the other water tribe girl for any apparent injuries. "She just...collapsed." Katara gingerly repositioned Korra, checking for a reopened wound of any kind.

"Do you think it's from those injuries she got from Long Feng?"

"I guess I can't rule it out...but that should have been healed..." Katara diagnosed. Carefully, Katara shifted Korra's shirt, asking the men of the group to look away for a moment. They complied without hesitation.

"Okay, she's decent," Katara announced. She sighed, and it was hard to tell if it was relief or trepidation.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong internally, at least."

"Flying isn't a good idea," Aang spoke up, kneeling to get a better look. "Not like this." Korra was unreaponsive, almost comatose, by the looks of it.

"Well, in the meantime, you're welcome to stay in the palace," the Earth King offered. He looked melancholy. "It's the least I could do, in light of recent events."

"I appreciate the hospitality..?" Korra ventured off, silently encouraging the elder across from her.

The owner of the Jasmine Dragon seemed to blink away his lapse in concentration.

"Ah, please. Call me Iroh."

Korra nodded. "Korra."

There was awkward silence between the two, after Iroh handed Korra a cup of tea. She took a few sips, savoring the taste. She regarded her drink for a moment, sure that she'd had it before. But she wasn't much of a tea person.

"Have we met before?" She blurted, a bit uncomfortable from the silence.

Iroh stroked his beard for a moment, seemingly studying her. His expression relaxed into something akin to relief before chuckling to himself.

"I don't think we have, Korra," he said. "You said you wanted to know the fastest way toward the outer ring?"

"Yeah...I need to find my friends, before it's too late. They're is someone I have to track down, before he does something dangerous."

Iroh seemed contemplative for a moment. "Hm...Forgive my forwardness, but I must ask..." He sat down on a stool across the counter from Korra. "You have been to the spirit world recently, have you not?"

The woman started at his declaration. "How did you..?"

Iroh smiled, but it seemed almost sad. "Let's just say I can recognize certain things from certain people." He took a sip of his own tea, sighing softly. "Also, your spirit looked imbalanced."

"That's a way to put it," Korra agreed.

"No, I mean literally," Iroh corrected. My niece also has a fiery spirit, but it isn't nearly as restrained as yours is. Somehow, you switched bodies."

"Do you know a way to fix it?!" Korra nearly jumped out of her seat. This man already knew what part of her issue was. She thanked the universe for such a coincidence to happen.

"Slow down," Iroh calmed, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I have no idea to resolve whatever happened to you."

"Oh," Korra answered, her shoulders sagging as she sat back down. "I'm trying to return to the Avatar and the rest of the crew," she decided to reveal. Iroh already was aware of her predicament. Perhaps he could help somehow. She knew she was taking a chance revealing this to a total stranger, but she had no other option at the moment.

Iroh was silent for a moment as he sipped his tea. "If anyone can possibly help you, it is the Avatar."

Korra was silent. That bit of news didn't really encourage her. If it was that easy, she could have figured it out by now. But her plan was to rendezvous with them anyway.

"You may want to head toward the palace," Iroh suggested. "I doubt the Avatar and his friends would leave you behind."

"The palace..."

Right before Hundun had attacked, they had successfully convinced the Earth King of Long Feng's treachery and the reality of the war. She was out in her current situation before she could find out if Aang convinced King Kuei to offer Ba Sing Se's support.

"You're right," Korra agreed, standing up from her seat again. "That has to be where they are." She smiled, bowing to Iroh. "Thank you for your help, , and for the tea," she said.h returned the bow before Korra quickly turned on her heels, heading back toward the inner ring.

Once Korra left, he closed his eyes, humming to himself.

Whoever that person was had switched bodies with Azula. But what was Azula doing in Ba Sing Se? It didn't bode well, he thought to himself. Azula would have no reason to be here than to subjugate the city somehow. "But how in the world would she do that?" Iroh asked himself. He knew Azula to be a master of military strategy and deception. The woman he'd seen earlier, seemingly wearing Azula's face, her spirit was completely distinct from Azula's own. What did all mean in the bigger scope of things?

His musings were interrupted by the creak of the wooden steps around the corner from his counter.

"Uncle? Is everything okay down there?"

Zuko neared the counter, gathering the ingredients for a pot of tea. He had a flint and stone in his hands, preparing to generate fire for the tea. Iroh smiled at the display and relieved that Zuko finally seemed to recover from his illness.

"I ran into an interesting stranger," Iroh said in answer. "She is looking for some lost friends." Iroh didn't mention she was looking for the Avatar, or that said person seemed to have possessed Azula.

Iroh smacked his forehead. The seemingly random gesture grabbed Zuko's attention. "Uncle?"

"Of course! If they see her, they might assume the worst and immediately attack her!"

"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Zuko had paused his tea making at this point, his focus completely on his Uncle's seemingly out of character ramblings.

Iroh rubbed his forehead. He hoped he wouldn't have to involve his nephew with the Avatar while they were in Ba Sing Se, but the fact that Azula was here somehow would cause him to be involved either way. He sighed.

"Nephew, your sister is here in Ba Sing Se."

Zuko's good eye widened. "Here?!" He looked away for a moment. "The Avatar must be here somewhere, then."

Iroh's shoulders sagged. "Perhaps," he replied. "Something is afoot, however." Spirits didn't just cause people to switch bodies. Something bigger was going on. He hoped the physical plane wasn't in danger somehow. He lived here, after all!

"Then we need to capture him before Azula does," Zuko said, misinterpreting Iroh's worry. "If she finds out we're here before we have the Avatar, we will be in more danger from the fire nation," he continued, his voice as low as a whisper by the time he'd mentioned his homeland. He ran upstairs to grab his Dao swords, Iroh watching, concern on his face. At this point, Zuko's mind was made up. Iroh wouldn't be able to dissuade him. While Zuko was going after the Avatar, he needed to make sure that stranger didn't get hurt.

"If only I had the time to make one more cul of tea."

The route back to the Inner Ring was easier than if she had to get all the way to the Outer Ring. The palace was already visible from where she stood, the high reaching staircase to the doors almost begging her to walk up to them.

"I should be able to get in if I tell them i'm with Aang." She sighed regardless. If only they had telephones at this time. She'd have been able to call ahead.

"She still hasn't woken up," Katara said. Aang frowned, observing their newest friend. Aang and Sokka helped to place her on one of the beds in the guest room given to them by Kuei. She was breathing slowly and normally, but she was still totally unresponsive.

"It could be spirit world related?" Aang asked, nearing the unconscious Korra.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, curious. Aang didn't answer, slowly lifting one of Korra's eyelids. He jumped back nearly instantly with a cry of surprise.

"Aang?!" Katara held Aang's shoulders.

"Her eyes are glowing."

Aang and Katara shared a concerned look.

A/N: Still working on this story. I'm open to suggestions, and am working to avoid mistakes I made in the first version I made, "Not in Time"