Hello again. I'm back and bringing you a chapter far earlier than the last one. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I hope time skips don't bother anyone too much.

Once again, thank you for the reviews, favorites, and reads. It really gives me confidence knowing that people enjoy my writing.

Chapter Two: The Town of Xin Tai

Five days.

It has been nearly five days and they weren't any closer to finding Azula. Sure, they found broken branches, scorched plants, and pieces of clothing, but the trail quickly went cold and there were no new leads.

Zuko, Aang, Katara, and Sokka sat around a table inside the soldier's temporary camp, a map of the area laid out in front of them. Tarrak and his men were currently out in the forest searching the area around the last known trace of Azula.

"Where could she be?!," Zuko exclaimed in frustration, probably for the fifth time that morning. He sat with his head in his hands.

"Woah! Woah! Cool down, Zuko," Sokka placated, "You won't be able to think straight if you're angry."

"Yeah. I agree with Sokka. You need to calm down. If Azula has taught us anything, it's that you can't think straight when you're angry," Katara said, clearly remembering their fight.

"Let's look over the clues again," Aang suggested, "Maybe there's something we missed."

"What's there to miss? We've looked over these clues multiple times," Zuko looked up at Aang and then looked back down at the map and furrowed his eyebrows. Zuko let out a huff, "They all start at the entrance to the forest and trail for a few miles before ending abruptly. There's no sign of her past this point," Zuko then pointed to a spot in the forest on the map.

"Maybe she continued going east," Sokka shrugged his shoulders.

"No. Azula is smart. She knows better than to head in just one direction," Zuko stated.

"I think we need to look at this situation from a different perspective," Aang looked questioningly at Zuko, "If you were Azula, where would you go?"

"Well for starters she's clever, sadistic, and mentally unstable, but that's just my opinion. You're her brother after all. You know her better than any of us do. How does Azula think?," Katara asked Zuko, who looked over the map in contemplative thought.

"Azula is tactical and calculative. She can plan months in advance. With her mental instability though, it either makes it a lot easier or a lot harder to predict what she'll do…," Zuko trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck in uncertainty.

While they conversed, Sokka was muttering to himself as he looked down at the map while he tapped his chin.

"How does Azula think… Azula think… think Azula… think Azula..."

Then it hit him.

"That's it!," Sokka abruptly stood up from his chair, startling his friends, "We have to think Azula! What's a better way of finding her than thinking like her?"

"That's a great idea, but isn't that what we're trying to do?," Aang looked confused, clearly trying not to hurt Sokka's feelings.

"No, no, no. I mean think like her, as in be like her. Leave it to me. I came up with the idea after all," Sokka said proudly. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath and gave probably one the weirdest Azula voice imitations ever.

"I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation. I am cruel, clever, and very unhinged. I will one day take the throne from my disgrace of a brother, Zuko," Zuko winced a bit at that part, "If I were to go somewhere I would go…," They all leaned in a little bit, "south."

"South? But, why south?," Zuko asked, bewildered.

"Isn't it obvious? It's reverse psychology," Sokka said confidently.

"But what reason would she have for heading towards the coast?," Katara questioned, raising an eyebrow at her brother.

"I doubt Azula would have headed to the coast," Zuko shook his head in disagreement, "If we're talking about where she might have gone, I say she headed north, probably back to the Capital City. She prefers to hide in plain sight. Plus, she wouldn't allow herself to get cornered with nowhere to escape to when things get dangerous."

"Then why did you send extra soldiers to the coastal villages?," Sokka asked.

"It's a safeguard just in case she does head that way," Zuko explained.

"I think Zuko has a point," Aang agreed. He then continued,"Also, we've only searched the eastern part of the forest. The northern part of the forest is a lot larger than the southern part, so it makes sense that she would go into the thick of it to get away."

Sokka frowned slightly and sat back down.

Katara patted his back, "Don't get yourself down. I thought your idea was good, but Zuko is right. Azula isn't the kind of person to allow herself to get caught. Also, I think she kind of dislikes water in more ways than one. Did you see the way she yelled at her reflection in the water?"

"Azula has definitely developed a disliking for water. She was never really a strong swimmer to begin with and I don't think what happened during our Agni Kai match helped either," Zuko added.

"Are you sure she didn't just keep heading east?," Sokka asked in one last ditch effort for someone to at least approve of one of his suggestions.

"I don't think the Earth Kingdom will allow her into the country if she did go that way," Aang shook his head.

Sokka sighed in defeat, "Then I guess that settles things."

Zuko nodded, "Once the search party comes back I'll inform them of our plans. We can start searching the northern part of the forest tomorrow. Meeting adjourned."

They all sat up from their chairs and left the tent. This time, Katara joined Aang on Appa to do some more scouting while Zuko went with Sokka. The day was still young and there was a lot more searching to be done.

Azula arrived on the outskirts of the seaside town that morning.

She'd been traveling for about a week now, only recently coming across a main travel route the day before. Of course she didn't directly walk on it. That would be foolish. She followed the trail from the forest.

To be perfectly honest, she could have probably made it to the town sooner if her body wasn't so extremely sore. The first two days of travel were the absolute worst. Stumbling through brush, struggling to climb over obstacles, sleeping in the dirt, not to mention the bugs. She was just relieved that she was out of that nightmare forest.

Finding food and water wasn't too hard. With enough searching she finally found a few streams and since it was the growing season, fruit trees weren't that hard to find. She was glad that she didn't need to hunt. Azula wasn't squeamish and she had a fair bit of survival training, but she preferred to not slave over getting her food.

Now, Azula crouched just off to the side of the main trail waiting for the perfect prey to pounce on. She observed the trail with interest. Wagons passed every so often, a few ostrich horses here and there, some groups of people. She waited patiently for the perfect opportunity.

Then her gaze sharpened.

Just coming over the hill, a lone man walked unsuspectingly. He wore a red hooded shoulder cape and better than average Fire Nation clothing. In his left hand he carried 2 fish and on his side he carried a small bag.

Azula observed the man who, unbeknownst to him, was walking into her trap. 'Fairly wealthy. Probably a farmer from a village over. The small pouch most likely contains money.'

The man began to pass her location. There wasn't anyone around either. It was perfect.

With quick efficiency Azula lunged, clasping a hand over his mouth and wrapping her arms around his neck into a choke hold before forcefully pulling him into the forest. The man dropped the fish he was carrying and instantly began to struggle against her grasp.

Azula was just about to knock him unconscious when he suddenly swung a blast of orange flame at her. She quickly jumped back from the man and dispersed the flames. The man turned to face her. Not missing a beat, Azula sent a flying kick of her own azure flames into the man's chest before he could attack again.

His eyes widened in terror as he was sent flying into the trunk of a tree. He hit the tree with a hard thump and promptly fell unconscious before falling to the forest floor.

"The imbecile," Azula hissed as she proceeded to kneel to loot the man's body, "What an absolutely pathetic attack."

Azula immediately snatched the small bag from his side, which did indeed contain money. She then pulled the hood over his head and placed it aside. She would be needing that for when she entered the town.

A quick search of his person yielded nothing else of interest to Azula, so she grabbed her items and stood up. She placed the pouch of money into her pocket and slid the hood over her head before looking down at the man she just robbed.

Azula took a firebending stance and ignited her blue flames. She was just about to send a large blast of fire to rid the man from existence when a familiar soft voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Azula, are you sure you want to do this?"

Azula didn't need to turn around to know who it was. The madness slowly crept up from the recesses of her mind.

"Mother," Azula said with malice, "Of course you'd be the one to intervene. How did you find me?"

"You do not need to hurt the poor man," the hallucination of her mother said in a monotonous voice, ignoring her question.

"You can't order me around. The worthless peasant deserves to die for attacking me," Azula clenched her fists.

"Think about the consequences, my darling."

"Don't call me that!"

"Zuko will be disappointed with you for killing an innocent man."

The very mention of Zuko sparked her anger and she violently turned to face Ursa.

"OF COURSE YOU'D CARE ABOUT WHAT ZUZU THINKS!," Azula yelled, a shrill tone entering her voice. By now her breathing became rapid and her eyes were dilated.

"And I care about you too, Azula," her mother responded, unfazed by her outburst. Azula cackled; a disturbing sound to anyone who may have been listening.

"I know a liar when I see one, mother," Azula glared murderously at Ursa, "You wanted nothing more to do with me. That's why you left all those years ago."

"You know that's not true, my daughter," Ursa reached out for Azula. Azula took a step back.

"You don't get to decide what I think is true and what I think is false!," Azula violently pointed at Ursa, "What is true is that your precious little Zuzu is going to die and you will die with him!"

"And what does it have to do with him?," Ursa gestured to the man slumped against the tree trunk. Azula forgot he was even there.

"He is in my way, just like you are in my way! If I don't kill him, then I'll get caught."

"You do not need to kill the poor man." The conversation looped. Azula hated it when the conversation looped. It could go on for hours and was beyond annoying, but sometimes Azula just couldn't help but respond. She opted to stay quiet this time, not wanting to give her mother the opportunity to drag the conversation on longer than needed. She had somewhere to be.

Ursa must have taken Azula's silence as contemplative thought. "Please, just think about the consequences of your actions," Her mother pleaded.

Azula was already pushed past her limits. She had no more patience for her mother's antics.

"YOU KNOW WHAT! FINE! I'LL THINK ABOUT MY ACTIONS, BUT DON'T YOU DARE THINK THAT I CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU SAY! NOW, JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!," Azula snarled at Ursa and she lashed out with a blast of blue fire. The hallucination of her mother faded as the flames hit her.

As much as Azula hated listening to her mother talk, she absolutely loathed taking any advice from that woman. But this time if Azula didn't take her advice, then her mother would come back and most likely torment her even further.

She stood there for a good minute clutching her chest as she slowed her heavy breathing. Her arguments with her mother always left her exhausted and breathless. Azula reached up to massage her temples. Great. Her headache was back.

Azula grumbled and turned back to face the unconscious man. She may as well get this over and done with. She still couldn't believe that she was actually doing this. Tilting her head, she contemplated the man's fate, "To kill or not to kill…"

On one hand, killing the man would relieve her of the problem of being caught. But if his body was found, the murder of an innocent would be added to her list of crimes and she might be executed. If she let him live, he would probably go running to the guards and Zuko would be alerted to her location.

It was either be captured by Zuzu or be sentenced to death, and if she was being honest with herself, those were virtually the same. Still, she didn't want to die and if she was captured there is always a chance that she could escape.

There was also the option of killing the man just to spite mother. It sounded promising, but then she would have Ursa and Zuko snapping at her heels, more so than they did already.

"Consider yourself lucky that I spared you, peasant," Azula spat as she turned to walk back to the road.

Azula looked left and right before stepping out into the open. She hoped no one passed by and noticed any of that. She cursed herself for doing such a sloppy job. She walked down the dirt path, approaching the entrance. A sign at the top read "Xin Tai".

Before she even entered the town, she noticed the guards at the entrance on high alert. Azula pulled the hood further over her face as she approached the town. With so many people going in and out, she doubted the guards would pay attention to one person specifically. She kept her head down and blended in with the crowd, slipping by with relative ease.

'I should probably be thankful that those guards are so horrible at their jobs,' Azula scoffed to herself, 'They should be banished for letting someone such as me slip by them.'

The town was a lot larger than expected. Walking through the streets, Azula looked at her surroundings and noticed something peculiar. Amongst the Fire Nation style decoration and architecture was Water Tribe style art. Carvings and small murals of the moon and the ocean spirit littered the area. Even a few flags bore a picture of the moon.

'Zuzu surely couldn't have established a relationship with the Water Tribe so soon after the war, could he?,' Azula questioned. She shrugged off the topic. After all, she was here to get supplies, not dwell over peasants.

Azula walked towards the market and quietly joined the crowd of bustling people. Her eyes scanned the area as she walked around. It didn't take long for Azula to spot her desired destination. She cut through the crowd and entered the clothing shop.

...

The afternoon had passed and the sun was starting to dip towards the horizon. By now, most of the people were closing up their shops and returning home.

Azula walked out of the market area wearing hole-free red clothing with the hood still over her head. All she really needed were new pants and long sleeves. Coupled with additions from her previous outfit, it looked similar to what she wore before. It may have not lived up to the quality of her clothing from the palace, but at least it was clean and free of holes.

She bought mostly necessities: a sleeping roll mat, a small blanket, some fruit, strips of dried hippo cow jerky, a water skin, and a bag to hold her items. It should be enough to last her a few days till she reached the next town. Now, with her list of stuff cleared, it was time to leave Xin Tai before any alarm was raised.

At least that was Azula's plan until a delicious smell caught her attention. She stopped walking and looked up to her right to see a small seafood restaurant. Azula hesitated.

'No, keep your mind on track. You need to get out of here as soon as you can. But, you haven't had a decent meal in nearly five days. The least you can do is-Is leave so you don't get caught! You are a princess, you are entitled to a nice meal,' her thoughts raged on.

Azula grabbed the small pouch of money from her side and observed it's contents. A few copper pieces remained. Maybe there was enough for a meal? She was undecided.

She caught another waft of the delicious seafood and her stomach lurched. Never mind. It was decided. Azula turned and entered the building.

The smell of seafood overwhelmed her senses as soon as she entered the doors. There was no going back now. Azula scanned the room, hoping to find a lone table where she could eat away from people, but to no avail. The place was busy, so she took a seat at one of the open tables off to the side.

Opening the menu on the table, Azula was greeted by the list of gourmet dishes and specials which were priced ridiculously high.

'If I were still at the palace I could get these same dishes with the wave of my hand,' Azula grumbled in annoyance.

With her limited amount of money Azula decided that she'd order a steamed fish, one of the lower priced dishes. It wasn't long till a waitress came by and took her order before promptly retreating to the kitchen.

Azula sat in her booth in silence, picking her nails in idle. She listened in on a few conversations from the people around her, but dismissed them when their topics proved to be boring.

"Did you hear the stories about that island?"

"What? The small one off to the south?"

The voices of two old men came from the booth behind her. Azula was going to simply dismiss their conversation if it weren't for the hushed voices in which they spoke. Her hearing sharpened as she eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Yeah, Mako Island."

"Oh, yes. I've heard tales about that place."

"Tonight is a full moon. I hear that every month, when the full moon is at its peak, something magical happens on that island."

"I haven't been in this town long, but based on the art posted around I wouldn't doubt that."

"The fishermen here can tell you more about that place. You should ask them about their experiences."

"Maybe I'll do that one day."

"So, how long have you been living here?"

Their voices returned to normal talking levels and Azula quickly lost interest when they began to chat about their home life. She thought over the information that she just learned about.

'So that explains the art. They worship that inferior culture because of some island,' Azula felt aggravated for their disloyalty, 'Not good enough of a reason to turn your back on your own culture."

15 minutes passed before the waitress came with the steaming plate of fish she ordered. Azula handed her the rest of her copper pieces and waited for the woman to walk off.

Azula took a bite of the fish, savoring the flavor. Five days of only fruit made the fish taste absolutely delicious. Too bad she wouldn't be tasting food like this for maybe the next few weeks until she hunted something or stole enough money to buy another plate. Azula ate slowly.

It was another 10 minutes before Azula finished the plate. Satisfied, she picked up her stuff and walked out of the building. By now the sun was setting. Time to hit the road.

She wasn't even 20 feet from the restaurant when a voice caught her attention.

"Hey! You there! Take off your hood, now!," Azula turned to see guards force a nearby person to take off their shoulder hood. "Not her, keep looking." One of the guards then looked at her and stormed over to her location, "You over there! Take off your hood!"

'Ashes!,' Azula cursed and quickly turned around to flee.

"Hey! Halt! After that person, it may be her! I'll get reinforcements!," Azula could hear heavy footsteps rushing after her. Azula turned the corner and rushed through the cart-crowded street. Though there weren't many people, she hoped the obstacles would slow them down. She could hear her pursuers knocking over carts and items and ordering people to move.

'Useless hood,' she slipped the garment from over her head and dropped it, 'Won't be needing this anymore. What's the point of it if they're going after every person wearing one?'

Azula was just about to turn a corner when a new group of guards appeared and blasted fire. She jumped over their flames and landed before sending a sweeping kick of blue fire, forcing them to back up and let her continue running.

"It's her! It's the princess! Tell the guards at the front gate to lock down the town! We can't let her escape!"

'I knew I shouldn't have let that filthy peasant live.' Azula was frustrated. How was she going to get out now?

The problem only got worse as even more guards came out from behind corners and began to slowly close in. Azula needed to find a place to hide so she could plan a way to escape the town.

Azula neared the docks. There wasn't going to be much ground left. Thinking quickly she vaulted over a cart, sending the goods flying, and set it ablaze before making a sharp turn through a dark alleyway. The guards cursed behind her.

She burst out into another street, quickly turning and running down another alley way. There was no one behind her now, but to be safe she made a few more quick jumps and turns until she could see the expansive ocean ahead of her.

Running into the open, Azula raced to the docks and jumped down onto the wooden structure. She quickly slipped underneath a stairway. It wasn't the best of hiding spots, but it would do for now. It wasn't long before footsteps began to approach her location, to which they passed right over her.

"We've lost her!"

"No we haven't! Hurry, search the streets before it gets too dark!"

And with that, their footsteps faded. Azula let herself rest. It didn't last long.

"You convinced me to let that peasant live and now look where that has gotten me! Curse you mother, it's all your fault!," Azula snarled. There was no reply, "Good! Stay quiet. I don't want to hear from you."

Azula dropped the conversation. There were more important matters to attend to, like escaping this Agni forsaken town. The guards would eventually find her. She needed to think.

The front gates were definitely off limits. The streets were probably littered with guards. The walls of the town were probably guarded as well. Zuzu really prepared just in case she showed up, didn't he? Where could she go…?

The conversation the two old men came to mind.

'They said something about an island to the south, did they not?,' Azula peered out at the ocean, spotting the tiny speck of land against the dying light. "Perfect. I could sail there under the cover of darkness and hide out there for the night."

And so she waited for the sun to set, and for the moon to rise. Azula was tense, ready to fight if anyone came her way. Some guards came close, but never thought to check the docks.

"Oh Zuzu, couldn't you have at least gotten smarter guards? They're pathetic," Azula scoffed as third patrol that evening passed by her.

Night overtook the Fire Nation. Stealthily she snuck out from her hiding place, making sure no one was around before running across the dock to an area filled with fishing boats. She walked along the dock and began to browse.

Azula didn't care about the large fancier looking boats. Those would attract too much attention. She needed stealth and reliability. A small steam boat caught her attention. It was made of thin metal and barely enough room for three people. Not the best, but will get the job done.

Azula dropped her bag of items into the small craft and untied the rope keeping the boat tethered to the dock. She jumped into the vessel pushed the boat away from the dock before heading towards the engine. Azula opened the small hatch to the boiler and held her flame underneath.

As the water slowly heated up and evaporated, the boat began to pull away from the dock. Soon the small craft was sailing across the moonlit water as it's engine reached full speed.

Azula set her sights on the small dark speck of land to the south. She was going to Mako Island.

It's so fun to play around with Azula's psychology and how she thinks. I just love her sassy attitude. It's also really enjoyable to add descriptive words, so I hope you all have fun with the next chapter when I get around to posting it.