Chapter 29

"Knock Knock," Ty Lee said as she wrapped her knuckles against the side of Azula's open door, her bubbly face projecting happiness. "Can we come in?"

At first, Azula didn't notice her, too caught up in her thoughts as it were, but when Ty Lee and Mai physically entered the room, her eyes snapped towards them, her golden eyes focusing for a split second before they unfocused again.

"Hmm? Oh, sure," Azula said softly, not really physically reacting as she leaned back in her chair, her hands on her stomach as she stared at the ceiling. When it was just Azula or her friends, the guards released some of the tension in her chains, letting her move around with a bit more freedom.

It wasn't any more dangerous for them seeing as they were still quite some distance away from the girl, and keeping her movement restricted so greatly all the time would have been cruel.

"Azula?" Ty Lee paused as a frown replaced her smile, the girl tilting her head in concern. "Is there something wrong? Did someone say something mean about you again?"

"What? No, no, nothing like that." Azula denied, still not moving from her position.

"Are you sure? Because you're looking awfully blue right now."

"Well, blue may not be the right word for it," Mai said with a quirk of a smile as she sat on the girl's bed, Ty Lee joining her, "but I have to agree. You don't seem yourself. Come on, tell us what's wrong, we're your friends."

"Yes, yes you are," Azula agreed after a pause as she straightened in her seat, allowing the girls to see for the first time that her hair wasn't in her customary Fire Nation high knot. Instead, it was hanging freely, splayed down to her mid back as it shined in the light.

Mai and Ty Lee shared another concerned look. Azula wasn't one to let her hair down like this. In fact, ever since they'd known her as a little girl, the only time she'd done so was when she was bathing, or when her mother was brushing her hair. Well, that and when they were playing, where it would get loose due to vigorous activity.

When Ursa had disappeared, however, Azula had become extremely strict about keeping it tied up, restricting it to a bun at all times outside of the water. So, seeing it like this was quite an unusual event for the two Fire Nation girls and not a good one at that.

"Yes, we are," Ty Lee echoed as she bounced off the bed, hopping over to sit down beside Azula in the chair, squishing her a bit due to their combined width, but aside from grunting slightly at an elbow to the ribs, Azula had no reaction.

That is until she started speaking.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

"Of course, ask me anything at all," Ty Lee grinned as she nudged Azula playfully, "I have no secrets. Is it about Feng's looks? Please tell me it's about his looks."

Much to Mai's amusement, Azula actually blinked in surprise before a wry smile graced her features, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as she shook her head in amusement.

"Well, he's related in a way, but no, it's not about his looks. It's about Airbenders in general."

"Ahh," Ty Lee wined, shrinking in her seat. "I wanted to talk about his new lack of hair and tattoos."

"And we can do that later," Mai interrupted the girl as she focused on Azula. "Your question?"

"Do you think…all those years ago, when my Great-Grandfather invaded the Air nomad temples…do you think he was doing the right thing? That, even if they were planning to attack the Fire Nation, we had the right to commit genocide as we did?"

Mai leaned back as she breathed in, a shocked gasp coming from Ty Lee.

"Not starting us off with easy I see," Mai grinned, attempting to make a joke only to find it fall flat at Azula's genuinely unsure expression.

"I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know all the decisions that went into deciding to invade the Air Nation, but…" Mai began, pausing as she thought of how to articulate her thoughts, "…killing everyone as they did, including the children? No, no I don't think that was right."

"Right?" Ty Lee snarled, startling both her companions at her furor, "It was a disgrace, one that brought shame on Sozin and the soldiers who obeyed his commands. It was something that never should have happened."

Both of them, both Mai and Azula, was startled at the uncharacteristic expression of anger coming from the contortionist. Neither of them had known Ty Lee to ever exhibit such a negative opinion on…really anything.

There was not a single thing that had ever brought her past disappointment. But this? This was new. For all of them.

"That's what I thought," Azula said subduedly, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I recently had a talk with Feng about it, about the Fire Nation's assault on his people, and it made me wonder about things. In my investigations of his people, I came across the fact that they are vegetarian because they value life."

Mai nodded, showing she was paying attention even as Ty Lee's eyes clouded over.

"Foolishly, I had assumed that this only applied to animal life with the stores I'd received of their treachery…but Feng, an actual descendent of the Air Nomads, revealed that all life was considered sacred to them. That the norm for his people was to never kill any living creature, even if he himself did not adhere to this principle. He said that my ancestors lied about the reason to invade, that Sozin was merely after the unknown identity of the next Avatar. It's just…it's gotten me thinking, you know? Is he telling the truth? Is everything I learned as a little girl about the Air Nation false?"

Mai didn't reply. Couldn't, really, not after such a heavy statement.

Ty Lee was different though, her chin resting gently on the top of her crossed hands as she stared out of the window and into the distance.

"If you ever listen to me seriously, Azula, I want you to now," she said in a serious voice, turning to look back to Azula.

Blinking in confusion, Azula nevertheless sat up straight, looking between the black curtain that covered her face as amber eyes stared into grey ones.

"What Feng said…is true. Every. Single. Word. The Air Nomads had no intention of going after the Fire Nation. They hadn't attacked anyone as a collective people since the dawn of their creation, and it is only the fact that Sozin manipulated the Government so heavily that his orders were carried out. The Air Nomads…were innocent."

"They, they were?" Azula echoed with a hint of despair, her voice wavering as she stared at her friend's resolute eyes.

"They were," Ty Lee nodded sadly, a tear trailing down from her left eye. None left Azula's but it didn't stop her from looking like she wanted to.

"Okay, they were, I'm not going to deny that" Mai began, interrupting in their moment, "but how do you know that Ty Lee? It kind of seems like the kind of information that would be heavily restricted by the Fire Nation Royalty."

"Simple," Ty Lee spoke tersely, "word of mouth. Specifically…from my grandmother, the one that taught me everything I know."

"The one that you saw as your own mother," Mai echoed, earning a nod from Ty Lee.

"Yep, even when she died, I still looked to her for wisdom, for guidance. The bond we shared… it was like no other bond I'd ever had with any of my other family members."

"You must miss her," Azula mused, looking melancholy, "but that still doesn't explain how she knew about it. Was she some kind of information broker or something?"

"Nope," Ty Lee shook her head, sounding forcefully cheerful even as a tinge of sadness made itself known past her lips. "It's because she was the daughter of one of those Airbenders, my great-grandmother."

"She was an Airbender?" Azula asked in shock, her mouth falling open in surprise. "How? How is such a thing possible?"

"Well," a playful expression appeared on Ty Lee's features at the opportunity given, "when a man and a woman love each other very much, or they meet up in a bar and get drunk, special fun time occurs and 9 or so moths later a baby pops out."

"Really?" Mai echoed, trying to sound annoyed despite the way the edge of her lip was twitching.

"Couldn't help myself," Ty Lee admitted before turning back to Azula and sighing. "Great-Granny wasn't a Master Airbender Azula, not by the time the fall occurred. While many stayed on the mountaintops, content to take their chances, many others like Feng's ancestors took their chances by fleeing, seeking to fade into obscurity. Without any distinctive marks, and a lack of understanding of Air Nomad appearances due to them avoiding civilization for so long, the acolytes could disappear among the people. My Great Grandmother was one of them, and she settled down to have my grandmother who by a quirk of fate wasn't a bender. She then had her own child, my Father, who then had me."

Ty Lee smiled widely as she blinked her eyes at the girls, acting bashfully. "Where else do you think my eye color comes from? Grey isn't even a rare color among the homeland or the colonies."

"But it is an eye color of the air nomads," Azula realized as Ty Lee nodded. "Both the Avatar and Feng share it."

"Yep."

"That's," unbelievable, unexpected, and…surprising? Azula didn't know what else to say. A part of her wanted to be angry at Ty Lee for never telling them, for keeping it a secret as she had, but knowing just how badly Azula had thought of Airbenders even a week ago, she didn't blame her.

It'd be like hiding she was the great-grandson of Avatar Roku or something, which was frankly a ridiculous thought. It was not the one that she was focused on currently, however.

"So, Feng was right then," Azula slumped, losing her energy. "The Fire Nation is the monster it's made out to be. We, are the ones in the wrong, the ones who rightfully deserved to be defeated."

"For more reasons than you know," Mai agreed, falling back on the bed as she became the room's focus of attention.

"What happened to the Air Nomads was horrific, I will not deny that. But ultimately, it was an act committed by people who are dead and no longer around. In that way, some of the blame can be shifted off the current Fire Nation considering none of us actually committed the genocide. What our Fire Nation committed, however, is almost as bad."

"What do you mean, Mai? What are you talking about?" Ty Lee asked as she extracted herself from her shared seat, padding over to sit next to Mai's stretched-out form.

"Did you ever wonder why the Southern Water Tribe Raiders did so poorly against the Fire Nation? Why, despite possessing the element of water as their element of control, one that would always surround them on the sea, why so few successes were to be had against us?"

Ty Lee shook her head, as did Azula.

"I'd always assumed it was because of our superior technology," Azula admitted, glad to have something to distract herself with. "That they just couldn't pierce through our hulls."

"Heh," Mai laughed bitterly, "maybe that could have been the case, but no. It's because we wiped them out. We either killed or captured every single Water bender we could get our hands on to ensure our sea supremacy."

"But what about the Northern Water Tribe?" Ty Lee asked, "They still have all of their Waterbenders."

"Yes, but they stayed hidden behind their walls the entire war," Mai denied, "Zhao was the first one to overcome them, and we all know how that went."

Exactly as hers did, Azula cried softly in her heart as a myriad of emotions flickered across her normally controlled face.

"No, there isn't a single Water bender left in the Southern Water Tribe, not after we were done with them. And do you know what happened to the remaining ones who weren't killed?"

"They were sent to the Fire Island Prison," Azula replied, confident in her knowledge before even that was shaken when Mai shook her head.

"They were taken to Fire Island Prison decades ago. But during one of my times snooping in my Dad's office, I stumbled across one of his restricted files, one that he wouldn't let me read, saying it was not something a 12-year-old should know about."

"And let me guess, being who you are, you read it anyway?" Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow even as Mai nodded, reaching up to rub her eyes.

"I did, and ever since I have regretted knowing just what the report contained. Because due to an incident 30 years ago, where an entire prison garrison was slaughtered on the Full Moon, not a single captured Waterbender was spared the same fate. Execution."

"That's horrible," Ty Lee gasped, tears beginning to stream down her face as she slumped against Mai's taller form, the larger girl wrapping an arm around her to comfort her. "Why is it that everything the Fire Nation sets out to do hurts people? Who decided that we had the right to commit such atrocities against innocent people? Against People who were likely just defending themselves against our encroaching forces?"

Her Father, most likely, Azula thought, seeing as he held an iron fist over the Fire Nation's leadership structure, tolerating zero disrespect against his role. Why, look at her dis-no, look at her…brother, Zuko. He only spoke out against a Fire Nation General who wanted to use a junior battalion to soften up the enemy forces.

Kind of like she did with the walls of Ba Sing Se.

Not even directly opposing him, her Father still elected to engage her brother in an Agni Kai, and when the understandably shocked teen decided not to fight back, literally burned away his innocence and then banished him, giving him an impossible task just to have him fail once more.

Her father was powerful, cunning, and manipulative, more so than anyone else in the Fire Nation. But he was also a man who didn't tolerate failure.

Like, for example, her failure to conquer Ba Sing Se, resulting in her capture by enemy forces alongside all of her troops due to her eagerness to get the job done. Her brother had only disrespected him in his own halls, resulting in the loss of no soldiers.

If his reaction to that was so harsh…what would he do to her if he ever got her hands on her?

Would he…would he burn her like he had her brother? Would he injure her worse due to the difference in scope among their failures? Or would he just straight-up kill her the second he had the opportunity?

How was that fair!? She had done everything she could her entire life just to earn his approval, just to earn the approval of the parent who didn't think of her as a monster!

Tears streamed down her face without her even realizing it.

Hour after hour of training! Day after day, week after week, year after year! Why?! She had done everything right, hadn't she? She had done everything in her power to be the dutiful daughter that her father wanted. To live up to his expectations of her. Why would a shingle mistake on her part bring those years of effort crumbling down? She just…she didn't understand.

Without notice to the panicking girl, Mai and Ty Lee had finished up their little comfort session, sitting up from the bed to be greeted by the surprising sight of Azula balling her eyes out.

"Azula!" Ty lee shouted in panic, practically teleporting over to her side as she wrapped her arms around her, pushing her into her chest as she tried to comfort her. "What's wrong Azula? Why are you crying?"

"Because *SOB* I realized that everything I have done, every seemingly impossible bending form I have mastered *SOB* It's all been for nothing. I was nothing but the princess to a kingdom of cruelty and lies, *SOB* and, and now that I've messed up, my father, my father will cast me out as well. *SOB*." Azula cried, at first hesitantly wrapping her arms around Ty Lee before tightening her grip as soon as she showed no signs of pulling away, burying her face in her side.

"I…" Ty Lee stared wide-eyed at Azula, sharing a shocked and unsure glance with Mai as she thought about what to do. She could lie to Azula, say that it would all be alright…but that wasn't what Azula needed right now. No, she didn't need any falshoods at the moment.

"I don't know, Azula. By my understanding, you haven't done anything to deserve it."

Besides, you know, kill a number of Earth Kingdom Soldiers, but Ty Lee didn't mention that. It wouldn't be constructive.

"Just like I didn't deserve to be born to a pair of uncaring adults who were too focused on their status to care properly for their daughter, I guess. And…just like Zuko didn't deserve to be banished. What I'm trying to say, is that we aren't responsible for everything that happens. We can't control what other people will think of us, or how they will react," Ty Lee said, speaking from the heart for both Azula, and herself.

"The only thing we can do is to be true to ourselves. To our hearts. Because at the end of the day, that's all we can do."

"I…" Azula's sobbing had calmed down, only small shudders shaking her body now. "Ok. Can we stay like this for a while though? It's…it's nice."

"Of course," Ty Lee smiled. squeezing Azula slightly tighter, "although it may be more comfortable if we move to the bed. Sharing a chair like this isn't exactly comfortable."

Sure, she could do it, but her body wouldn't be thanking her later for it.

"Ok," Azula nodded, slowly moving to her feet before shuffling over to the bed. Mai was quick to make room as both she and Ty Lee fell down onto it, the bed shaking slightly before it settled as the three simply cuddled on it.

They didn't converse at all but instead took comfort in each other's presence as they each digested their own thoughts.

…

It took some time for the girls swirling emotions to calm down, but it had done both Azula and Ty Lee a world of good. Mai as well, seeing as if you looked closely at her eyes you would be able to see a hint of red, but she made sure to avoid drawing any attention to it.

"You know, it's almost funny," Azula half chuckled, causing the others to look at her, seeing her hair tangled up around her. "After so long of discrediting my brother, thinking of him as less than me, only now that I find myself in the same position do I find myself finally understanding him. The confusion, the lack of direction…I get it now."

"That...to be honest, I always thought you were a little harsh on him" Mai admitted, "I think I said it too."

"You did," Azula nodded, "but I had just thought it was because you still had that crush on my brother. Ty Lee teasing you about it when you brought it up certainly didn't help."

"Maybe not," Ty Lee chuckled as she rolled onto her front, moving her legs back and forth, "but it was always so much fun to elicit a reaction out of her. Here she was, the perfectly stoic girl, blushing up a storm."

"Indeed," Azula chuckled openly, earning a glower from Mai before she too smiled, self-aware enough to know that it was amusing for the other two. "Teasing aside, I never really restrained from stating my opinion of Zuko. Even when I was younger, when he was still the crown prince. Perhaps it was because I was jealous, and doing basically everything I could to put him down, trying to prove to my f…to the Fire Lord that I would be the better successor."

Both Mai and Ty Lee stayed quiet, letting Azula open up.

"Maybe that's why my uncle was always wary of me, because, in some way, I reminded him of his brother, seeking to overcome the line of succession through manipulation and the mistreatment of others." She thought aloud, blinking languidly.

"I wouldn't go that far, Azula," Ty Lee replied, earning a glance from her. "Yes, you probably did remind him of your father, but I wouldn't say it was entirely your fault. You were just a little girl seeking to be like him, you didn't know any better. And yet, he still kept you at a distance your entire life, never seeking to enter a relationship with you as he did with Zuko. The fault lies on both of you, but it also means that, with some time and effort, perhaps you can mend your relationship. If I remember right, he was quite a wise man, if a bit prone to being side-tracked by flights of fancy, so he would likely be open to it."

"Yeah, he was, wasn't he?" Azula laughed in agreement before sighing. "But that would be nice if I could come back in contact with him. Well, him and my brother, who I'm sure Mai wouldn't mind seeing again."

Her tone had taken on a teasing tone at the end.

"Can you not?" Mai sighed, lamenting her fate as she covered her eyes, rubbing them. "Besides, to do that we'd have to find them, and seeing as they are on the run from the Fire Nation, they could be anywhere in the Earth Kingdom right now, or perhaps even in the Fire Nation, hiding under their noses like Ty Lee's Great Grandmother did. Finding them would be basically impossible."

While both Ty Lee and Azula fell silent at her statement, internally agreeing with her assessment, another figure did not, one that they hadn't known about until that very second.

"I wouldn't say it's impossible," Toph spoke from the door, leaning against the open frame which she had silently opened using her Earthbending. "Not if you're honest about seeing him."

Three sets of eyes shot towards the blind girl, all three of them widening in shock as they shared confused looks.

"Since when have you been here?" Azula demanded, the confusion evident in her tone. "The door was shut and locked."

"Not to me it wasn't," Toph shrugged, stepping into the room as she placed her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly to grin down at the girls. "Now, to repeat, if I could, somehow, arrange for you to meet Iroh and Zuko, would you promise not to attack them in any way, either mentally or physically?"

"I…" Azula feel quiet before nodding to herself as she sat up on the bed, joined by Ty Lee and Mai. "Yes, I promise. I just…I need to know."

"Yeah, me too," Ty Lee beamed as she bounced up and down on the bed, "and I'd never hurt either of them. Maybe tease Zuko a bit, but never hurt him."

Nodding, Toph turned towards the final member of the trio, lifting an eyebrow in question.

"I promise not to hurt them," Mai said as she rolled her eyes, unable to help the hopeful look that appeared in her eyes.

"Alright then," Toph grinned as she unwound her arms, rubbing her hands together with glee, "then the three of you stay here and sit pretty while I go fetch someone who can help us."

Without waiting for a response, Toph strolled out of the room, closing the door behind her as she went in search of the aforementioned person, leaving three confused but hopeful girls behind her.

…

15 minutes later, Toph returned triumphantly, dragging the bemused form of Feng behind her as she kicked open the door and practically through him inside the room, shutting it behind them.

"Well," Feng's deep voice said as he looked between all four of the room's finer gender. "This is not how I expected my day to go, but being locked inside a room with four wonderful ladies is never a bad thing."

Ty Lee opened her mouth to reply in kind, but both Mai and Azula slapped their hands over it, making Ty Le cross her eyes and pout even if you couldn't see her face.

Toph didn't say anything, but she could be seen to be blushing slightly before she shook her head, getting her mind out of the gutter.

"Right, can it Feng, we have other things to talk about. First up, it seems like the three of them have had a bit of a loyalty change," Toph spoke, acting as if nothing had happened. "It seems like your little talk about the Air Nomad genocide has made them reassess their country of birth, seeing it in a far dimmer light."

"It did?" Feng spoke calmly, lifting his hand up to stroke mid-air, making him look a little dumb. Trying to play off the motion, he ran a hand over his bald head, the skin only slightly sensitive now that he had had Katara give the irritated parts of his skin a look over.

It had been a bit embarrassing for her when he had stripped down to the bare essentials, and for him for that matter, but it had been worth it for Feng as he was now moving far more comfortably.

"Interesting. What does it have to do with you dragging me here though? You could have just told me in the library."

"I could have, if that was all that had happened," Toph said, wagging a finger at Feng. "But during this discovery, Azula also decided she wanted to get into contact with her Uncle and Brother, but not to attack them, no. She wants to talk with them, and I'm inclined to let her."

Feng blinked in surprise, staring at his short companion before he swept his eye over the three innocently sitting Fire Nation girls on the bed, all of them looking up hopefully at him.

"She does, does she? And did you double-check their beliefs?"

I.e., did she perform her lie-detection test?

"Yeah, they're legit. Which means we just need to find them. Well, that and somehow sneaking our new friends here out of the cell without being detected, which is why I brought you here. If I remember right, you're quite good at that stuff."

"That is my specialty," Feng chuckled, making the trio relax slightly at his acceptance. "But I believe I can do more than just that." He folded his arms in front of himself, an amused grin appearing on his face as his gaze traversed the occupants of the room.

Before he could satisfy Toph's curiosity at his remark, he decided to elaborate on just why they could help the others.

"I'm sure you must be confused at us so easily agreeing to allow you to meet your family members Azula, right? Seeing as they're on the run and could be just about anywhere."

"The question does come to mind," Azula admitted, looking far prettier with her hair down in Feng's eyes.

"Well, that's because we don't have to search the world for the pair of them. They're in Ba Sing Se."

"…"

Silence.

"What?" Azula questioned, wondering if she had heard him right.

"They're in Ba Sing Se, toots," Toph replied, "or didn't you hear him the first time?"

"No, I heard it, I was just…surprised they were so close," Azula admitted, ignoring the less-than-flattering nickname.

"Yeah," Ty Lee grinned, "like, the fact that they managed to sneak in with the other refugees is amazing! We considered it ourselves of course, but too many people would be suspicious, especially if they were searching the entering people's belongings."

"Exactly," Azula agreed, pleased that someone else saw her point. "So, they'd be somewhere in the Outer Ring considering their lack of funds? That sounds a lot more doable than searching the world, even if searching through all the people in the Outer Ring will be a pain."

Feng chuckled, earning a questioning glance from four people.

"I wouldn't be quite so sure of that," he replied, his amusement clear. "Just as Toph, I, and the others were entering, I managed to see them entering as well, and I mayyyyyy have tossed Iroh a bag of gold. Enough to allow him to skip the outer ring."

"You did?" Toph echoed, ignoring the rest of the occupants of the room. "But I thought we had to be frugal, that money could be important later on."

"Yes, it may have been, but even then I still had the bounty money your parents gave Xin Fu, which was more than enough. But someone, I won't say who came into an unexpected fortune, even ignoring how the palace is paying for everything now," Feng grinned, making Toph blush in embarrassment at her forgetfulness.

It was actually hard for her to remember sometimes, as when she had obtained the 10 bags of gold, they had buried it in the earth below their house in the Upper Ring which was where it had remained until Team Avatar had taken up residence in the Palace.

It was actually still there, and Toph made a mental note to go back for it.

"Right, carry on."

"Thank you," Feng smiled, turning his focus back to the Fire Nation girls.

"So, we can already discount about two-thirds of the cities population already…if that was all I knew."

"You know even more?!" Azula half-yelled in shock, an expression shared by the others. "Will you just spit it out already? Feeding it piece by piece like you are is just plain aggravating."

"No worse than Sokka's jokes, and I have to get my fun in somehow," Feng replied easily, not phased in the least.

"True that," Toph spoke under her breath, performing a mental play-back of the Water Tribe boy's worst jokes that despite her best efforts, she just could forget. Sure, she'd laughed at some of the better ones, they all had. But those were the cream of the crop. The shit on the other hand…

"Fine, go ahead and ruin my fun, party pooper," Feng pouted before shifting gears. "Anyway, I've been exploring the upper and middle rings recently in some of my time off from training, and one of the things I came across a number of times was people raving about this new tea shop, one that had become insanely popular with the upper and middle ring's populations."

"A tea shop," Azula echoed before groaning, slapping a palm to her face on her non-injured side. She was basically fully healed now thanks to Katara's treatments, but it didn't stop the psychological weakness she still held for that side of her face.

"Of course my Uncle started a tea shop. Any time I met him he would always have a cup in his hands, and when he didn't, he'd complain about not having one, wondering how soon he could leave the meeting or gathering to get some. Really, it's perfect for him."

"And others, seeing as he's already on his third store," Feng offered, making Azula look at him dumbly before sighing and shaking her head. Feng actually shared her opinion on this one, not really knowing what was so special about the hot leaf juice, but if so many people liked it there had to be something Iroh was doing right.

Who knows, maybe while he was there he'd have a cup of his own, just to see if his taste had changed since the last time he'd tried it a few years back.

"Well, at least that solves the problem of where he is," Toph said from her spot at Feng's side. "That just leaves the problem of getting Azula and the others to him, which I think will be a tad more difficult considering their under lock and key and watched at all times."

"Yeah, that will be a bit more difficult." Feng agreed, looking at the window slits that let him see the guards who were on today. Upon seeing just which two guards were actually on duty, a confident grin appeared. "But maybe not as difficult as I'd thought. The four of you wait here, I'm going to go talk to our friends there."

"Okay?" Toph said in confusion, sharing a glance with the other.

"Just trust me," Feng said patting Toph on the head, dodging her flailing arms as he sauntered out the door to speak with the guards.

Much to Toph's annoyance, because of the distance involved and the mostly sealed room, she couldn't actually hear what the hushed voices were speaking about. It didn't stop her eyebrows from raising in surprise at what she sensed of their movement however as five minutes after he'd left, Feng walked back into the room, a swagger in his step.

"Have fun?" Toph asked, giving him a look as he closed the door behind him.

"I did," Feng chuckled, sharing a glance with the others. "Alright, we're good to go as long as we can sneak out without being seen. We just have to be back by 6 pm when the guard change happens, but before then we can do what we want.

"That's great!" Ty Lee said in amazement, inching up beside Feng and looking up at him. "But just what did you say to them that convinced them to let us be? It kind of seems like something that they'd be disciplined for if they got found out."

"Yeah, they would, but no one aside from myself and sometimes the other members of Team Avatar actually come here, not after the first week of silence from Azula here. That leaves just the guards, and we're fortunate enough that both the guards today are, let's just say…"

Feng trailed off, trying to decide how to accurately describe them.

"Their fans of Feng's," Toph said before he could, being far blunter about it as Ty Lee and Azula outright laughed while Mai smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Feng confirmed, rubbing his forehead slightly in embarrassment. "You know how the Vengeful Oni was a bogeyman in the Fire Nation, practically seen as a dark spirit?"

"Yes?" Azula conformed. "I'm assuming it was the opposite for the Earth Kingdom, a sort of rallying figure that they could unite behind? A figure they could put their hope in until the re-emergence of the Avatar?"

"Got it in one," Toph finger gunned.

"And since my identity got exposed, thanks for that by the way, I really appreciate it," Feng rolled his eyes, earning a faint flush from Azula, "I've become something of a celebrity for some of the soldiers. Combine that with how I'm traveling with Aang and I was able to talk them into turning a blind eye using my influence."

"Yeah, if you call signing some autographs and a kiss for the woman and a hug for the man influence, then sure, from your influence." Toph drawled, making Ty Lee snort.

"If it works, it works," Feng grinned, "now, remember, we're on a short time schedule, so let's get a move on. Toph, if you would be so kind?"

"Way ahead of ya," Toph grinned, walking over to Azula as she placed her hands on the metal restraints around her wrists, a flick of her hands forcing them open before she did the same with the chains attached to her feet.

For the first time in two months, Azula was free of her restraints, and the first thing she did is scratch at her wrists.

"Mnnnnnn…" She moaned, greatly enjoying the feeling before she did the same to her ankles. It may have left soft red marks, but it was worth it for her as she stood upright, receiving the amused looks of the others.

Well, Mai was embarrassed, but compared to the other three she was a bit less…perverted? No, let's go with crude, then them. Ty Lee flirted with almost any man, Toph saw everything, and Feng participated in a lot of stuff.

"Worth it," Azula decided, not even embarrassed at the scrutiny as she simply moved around the room in some of her katas. Not bending at all, but simply enjoying the movements as she stretched out her joints and limbs.

"Now to get out of here," Toph said, walking up to the window as she bent the bars away, fusing them into the frame as a large window was left for the four to traverse through. A large window that had a steep drop.

Luckily, this section of the palace didn't really have any eyes on it, but they'd still need to be careful.

"Alright, here's the plan," Feng informed the others. "Toph, I'll lower you to the ground first so you can begin making a tunnel. Meanwhile, I'll make repeat trips to take the rest of you down. Any questions?"

"Nope," Toph replied, the sole person to do so.

"Then we are a go," Feng grinned, rushing forward to wrap his arms around Toph before jumping out the window, the shorter girl letting out a slight squeal before she silenced herself, leaving three suddenly less sure pairs of eyes staring at the now empty frame.

"I'm starting to have a second thoughts on this," Mai muttered.

"Me too," Azula agreed.

"You two are no fun," Ty Lee pouted, Feng shooting up through the window as he placed his hands on the window's edge, flipping his body through with a flexion of his muscles.

"Who's next?"

"Ooh, ooh! Me next handsome," Ty Lee said, jumping towards Feng as he held his arms out, holding her light form easily in his arms as she placed her hands around his neck. "Take me away my prince!"

Feng blinked, not reacting.

"Alright," He shrugged before leaning against the wall under the window, falling agist it as they flipped over, the whistle of air being the only sign they were falling through the air.

"Really starting to have second thoughts," Mai echoed futilely, even as Feng soon returned to take first her, and then Azula.

AN: And that's Chapter 29, with the majority of the focus on Azula. Don't worry, the invasion's coming soon, in fact, if I've planned it right it should start at the end of the next chapter. As always, Thanks for Reading.