A/N:

And here's our new installment! This time, I bring a sequel to Matching Heartbeats' 5th chapter, "I melt in your hands", a prompt where Azula joins Team Avatar halfway through the events of Book 2! Hope you enjoy!

Special shoutout to gemsofformenos, whose awesome ideas pertaining Joo Dee had quite a bit of influence in how I wrote this story :D Thank you!

The large walls of the impenetrable city were visible from the train's windows. Perhaps it didn't quite deserve that name ever since Iroh's forces had breached the Outer Wall… but it was certainly strange to think that she, Azula, had honored Ba Sing Se's proud heritage when she had chosen to sabotage the Drill's operation, alongside her new friends and… her boyfriend. She had a boyfriend. It was a silly term, she thought, so silly… but it tickled her lightly just upon thinking it, just upon reasoning that his arm was safely draped over her shoulders, in a comforting, intimate gesture she wasn't sure she'd ever be fully used to, in the best of ways.

"Well, we're finally in Ba Sing Se," Katara declared, with a happy smile. Beside her, on the opposite train bench, Aang sighed and nodded.

"Yeah. We're here, and we'll find Appa."

"Shouldn't be that hard," Sokka said, casually. "He's a really big bison, there's no way he can stay unnoticed in a city…"

He ought to have learned, after so many chaotic experiences on the road, not to run his mouth carelessly, but Sokka certainly had a knack for saying unfortunate things at the most unfortunate time: the train finally made it past the Inner Wall, and once it did, the four members of the team with eyesight froze cold upon glimpsing the massive extension of green-gabled roofs, of crisscrossing train tracks, and of further large walls, in the distance.

"Woah…" Sokka blurted out, inevitably. "It's… it's huge!"

"Larger than the Fire Nation Capital, for sure," Azula said, frowning. "I'd heard as much, but… I had thought it was just some exaggeration. Guess not."

"Eh, who cares how big it is?" Toph growled, sitting on Azula's other side. "It's just a city with a bunch of rules. You'll get over it quickly."

"You know what cities are like?" Azula asked, with slight derision. "Truly?"

"I was raised in one, Spicy Princess. Wish I hadn't been, every day of my life," she snapped.

"Toph's the daughter of the Beifong family," Sokka said. "No idea if you've heard of them…"

"I haven't," Azula said, simply.

"Well, nobles from the Earth Kingdom, pretty much," Sokka said. "I know she doesn't act like it, but we did see her in a fancy dress and all, back in the day."

"Must have been shocking, seeing me in one," Toph smirked. "I'd be shocked too, if I ever saw myself at all."

"Y-you know I wasn't trying to… ugh. Annoying earthbender," Sokka pouted, dropping his head on Azula's shoulder. She blushed slightly over his closeness, his easy displays of affection… and yet she smiled for it, all the same.

"All things considered, I'm probably the lowest born out of all five of us," Aang pointed out, with a goofy grin. Azula's head jolted at those words.

"Really?" she asked. Sokka scoffed.

"You doubt it? Isn't my princely charm obvious to you, Azula?" he asked playfully, nudging her with his elbow. Azula snorted and looked at the Avatar skeptically.

"You're seriously joking. You're not honestly trying to persuade me that this dork is highborn, are you?"

"Well, Toph is. I'd think that's harder to believe," Aang laughed. As though to illustrate Aang's words, Toph spat right out of the train's window, to Azula's astonishment.

"Thanks for the praise, Twinkle Toes!" she said, tucking her hands comfortably behind her head.

Azula glanced over at Sokka again, though, and he offered her a roguish grin. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of it… but she smiled back at him, fondly. Strangely, she found herself unconcerned about what sort of upbringing he'd had. Whether he had been raised in golden palaces or in a tiny hut, Sokka was far more than his origins, Azula knew so right away. All people she knew of highborn upbringing would come up short next to him, in every way that mattered.

"You think I'm any more attractive now that you know I'm the son of the Water Tribe's chief, then?" Sokka asked, teasingly. Azula laughed and shook her head. "Hey! It's true!"

"It can be true, doesn't change what I already thought of you," she declared. Sokka winced.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"Who knows…?" Azula answered enigmatically, replicating his previous choice to place his head on her shoulder by doing the same to him. Sokka blushed but smiled: maybe he was better off not knowing whether it was bad or good, after all.

All was well as their train finally slowed down at the station they were supposed to disembark at. General Sung had apparently contacted someone in the city who would wait for them there and offer them a tour… something that, once they stepped off the train, seemed a rather ambitious plan: how could they possibly tour this whole city in a single day?

"What a view, eh?" Sokka said, gazing into the distance with a delighted smile.

"You'll get sick of it sooner than you know it. I'm warning you," Toph huffed, still as grumpy as ever.

"Alright, so… where do we start looking for Appa?" Aang asked, immediately. Sokka frowned.

"Wait, shouldn't we try to go talk to the Earth King first? You know, about the Day of Black Sun and all…?"

"About the what, now?"

Sokka froze cold upon hearing Azula's question. She stared at him nonchalantly, no doubt puzzled by his nervousness. Clearly, he had forgotten that they had parted ways, if only briefly, when they had been in Wan Shi Tong's Library… and they hadn't really discussed what he'd discovered afterwards. His persistent intentions of meeting the Earth King surely had sounded like an attempt to reach out to an important leader for the sake of making the most of the man's power to fight back against the Fire Nation… she probably hadn't realized he already had a plan in mind.

"Eh, well, that's…"

"Uh, guys?" Toph interrupted them, just before Sokka could share the crucial information with Azula. "We're not alone right now."

The train had taken off again: right behind it, at the other end of the platform, stood a woman in immaculate yellow and green robes. Her most noticeable trait, however, was the large, tense smile spread across her face.

"It's my pleasure to greet you all upon your gracious arrival in the city, Avatar Aang: my name is Joo Dee."

The woman had grated on Sokka's nerves until he couldn't take it any longer. Her dismissive behavior whenever he brought up their visit to the King, and her claim that they would only get to see the city's ruler in a month – six to eight weeks, in fact – had done away with what little patience Sokka had left.

Even so, he tried to keep his cool, especially because of Azula. As much as she was acting perfectly normal during their tour of the city, he could see the light twitch of her eyebrows when they were traveling through the Lower Ring: had she ever witnessed actual poverty before? It wasn't very likely, though Sokka had no doubts there were slums just like those in the Fire Nation, somewhere. The Fire Lord's daughter, however, wasn't likely to be exposed to such environments often.

Once they reached the Middle Ring, Sokka had taken her for a brief detour to get her new clothes – so far, she had been clad in a dark cloak Sokka kept in his bags for concealment purposes, despite only ever using it one time and to little avail, in the Fire Days Festival. By Azula's own choice, she had kept her identity hidden from General Sung, and doing so would be far easier once she was dressed in Earth Kingdom attire.

Green suited her wonderfully, but Sokka had little chance to remark on it: off they were to the Upper Ring, where they had been assigned a house to stay at. A small place, and yet much classier than anything they'd seen so far, something Sokka had thought would sit well with Azula… but she seemed as utterly unconcerned with it as with most things in Ba Sing Se, it seemed. The one thing that seemed to have stirred her curiosity and her caution – thus, her attention – was Joo Dee… and he had no doubt Azula was onto something when Aang finally persuaded Joo Dee to help them look for people who might know where Appa was.

"Is something the matter?" Azula had asked, startling the woman when she shook her head at the awkward student of Ba Sing Se university Aang was talking to.

"W-why would there be something wrong at all?" she said, with the same nervous smile as ever.

"Wasn't I the one who asked the question?" Azula asked, with a dry grin. Joo Dee flinched.

"Well, that is…"

"Sorry, you'll have to speak to Professor Zei, he's the one who teaches the class about sand-dweller cultures," the student said, leaving hurriedly. Sokka scoffed, irritated by the man's sudden escape…

"Ah! That is a shame. Perhaps we should try someone else next?" Joo Dee suggested: her sudden relief evidenced just how false her words were. Azula scowled.

Before they could take off to follow her, Azula clasped Sokka's forearm, reeling him back to where she stood, a few steps behind the others.

"Next person we see, I'll make sure to distract her. Try to get information once she can't sabotage our efforts."

"She's the reason the guy left?" Sokka snarled. Azula nodded. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Azula whispered. "There's something… off about that woman. I don't expect I'll find out what it is just yet, but if I can keep her distracted, you might have a chance to find information about the fuzzy beast."

"Okay… okay. Good thinking," Sokka said, offering her a quick smile. Azula answered it faintly before yanking him to hurry after the others.

Their plan didn't pay off, but Azula still confirmed the Joo Dee lady was interfering with their investigation by pretending to be aiding them with it: her very presence unsettled whoever they spoke to. Their frustrations only seemed to pile up after they went back to their new house that night… not knowing that matters would only worsen yet, on the next day.

"The King's having a party for his pet bear!" Katara announced to her friends, with a proud smile.

"You mean platypus bear?" Aang asked.

"No… it just says 'bear,'" Katara confirmed. Sokka, lying down on the floor of their sitting room, crooked an eyebrow at his sister.

"Really? Just… 'bear'? Not skunk bear…?"

"Or gopher bear?" Aang suggested.

"Armadillo bear!"

"Are you lot going to spend the rest of the day guessing what kind of bear it is?" Azula huffed, rolling her eyes. "What exactly is your plan, Katara?"

"Well… what I think we should do is infiltrate the party, of course. Sneak in with the crowd!" she said, with an easy smile. Toph scoffed and shook her head.

"You have no idea how tight the security in those sorts of parties can be," Toph said. "It's bound to be for highborn people only, too. I guess Spicy can pull it off without any trouble, you might even have a chance to learn how to fake it, Katara, but those two? Not a chance."

Aang and Sokka blinked blankly at Toph's dismissive behavior.

"Hey, now, I could be fancy and proper!" Sokka exclaimed. "Bet I'd do it better than you, and all!"

"Right, Mr. Funky-smelling Sleeping Bag…"

"But… what, you three would infiltrate the party, then?" Aang asked, grimacing. "What about me and Sokka? If we can't fake our way in, the way you say Katara could…"

"You could sneak in as servants. Highborn people pay little to no attention to servants," Azula said, with a shrug. Sokka and Aang glanced at her. "I… would even wager it's better if I do that, too."

"Wait, what? But you're the most regal and royal of us all! I mean, literally, too," Katara said, gazing at Azula helplessly.

"I could, perhaps, give you a few pointers if you need them," Azula told her, with a sigh. "But I am, as you said, the most regal and royal in this group: it's not a certainty, but if someone takes notice of the fact that my manners are far more suitable for a Fire Nation highborn girl than an Earth Kingdom one, my cover in this city will be compromised and then we'll be in worse trouble yet, as you lot would be caught conspiring with 'the enemy.' You don't want to risk that, do you?"

"Well… no. But then… you'd pretend to be a servant, too?" Katara asked. Azula nodded promptly.

"Heh, it shouldn't be so hard: Azula can pretend to be Katara, while Katara pretends to be Azula!" Toph smirked. Katara flicked her forehead. "Hey!"

Sokka found himself in quite the conundrum over Azula's choice to join him and Aang: while he certainly was thrilled for every opportunity to be near her, he wasn't quite that stoked upon seeing his sister and Toph had to dress up for the occasion. Wistful as it was, he let himself imagine Azula in an opulent outfit of the sort… despite she looked quite beautiful already, in the casual clothes she wore as they crouched behind a statue, hiding in wait while Katara and Toph were escorted inside the Palace by a tall man with a long braid.

"You've been all pouty since we were back at the house," Azula pointed out, startling him. "Something wrong?"

"U-uh… something dumb, if anything," he admitted, with a shy grin. "Sorry, I just… keep wondering what you'd look like, you know? All dressed up and fancy… b-but heh, you always must have been dressed up all fancy before you had to come chase us all, right?"

"Quite the fantasy you've cooked up there," Azula pointed out, smirking. Sokka's cheeks heated up. "I didn't wear dresses unless it was a formal occasion, if you must know. In any case… if things don't go too badly for us, I guess one day you'll have a chance to see it."

"I… I hope so," Sokka smiled, glancing at her with earnest eyes. "Just so you know, though… doesn't matter what you wear, you'll always be the most beautiful girl in any room you set foot in, for sure."

"Ah? Flattering me that much, really… are you trying to make me blush, by any chance?" Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled.

"Is it working?"

"It… uh, was. Until I noticed him."

Aang, instead of watching for any signs of how to enter the building, any servants they could masquerade as, had been utterly distracted by their conversation. He was the blushing one now, as he giggled and focused again. Sokka smiled, leaning in to kiss the side of Azula's head.

"Guess we'll do best to focus now, huh?"

"Right," Azula agreed: a group of busboys had just stepped outside the Palace, to collect a delivery… perfect.

It was Azula who found herself surprisingly appealed by the dark blue outfit Sokka had to don for their new masquerade, for the color suited him wonderfully: once they entered the Palace, Aang and Sokka helped her find the changing rooms of the female servants. Dressing up in such simple clothes took her little time, and the three of them dashed to work right away afterwards, and Azula and Sokka exchanged frequent shy grins as they took off to find Katara and Toph.

The two girls were the ones who found them, instead: the odd man who had escorted them inside apparently hadn't let them out of his sight so far. Azula's brow drew together as she scanned the sea of pretentious nobility, searching for the man in question… but for now, she couldn't see him. Instead, however…

"What are you doing here?! All five of you!"

Joo Dee's nervous voice set their whole group on edge, too. Azula scowled in the woman's direction: her perennial smile was nowhere in sight, right now.

"You must leave! At once! Quietly!" Joo Dee said, but Sokka stepped between her and Azula.

"Not a chance," he declared. "We're going to see the Earth King."

"No, you won't. You'll go home, or else we'll be in terrible trouble!" Joo Dee exclaimed. "Please, I'm asking for your own good…!"

"And I'm speaking for the good of the Earth Kingdom here," Sokka hissed. "We're not going anywhere."

In desperation, Joo Dee reached for Sokka, pushing him lightly: he bumped into Azula, who clashed against Aang in turn: the contents of the jar he held spilled all over a guest… and with that, the pandemonium began.

Everything became a chaotic blur, in which Aang revealed his identity to the whole room, entertained the bear by juggling, and then attempted to reach the Earth King just when the man was brought inside the room. It was the best chance he'd get to speak to him, and Sokka attempted to reach the Earth King as well… but it was to no avail: mysterious men in green attire, with large hats, captured each of them in turn, even Momo. Azula wrestled with the rocky bindings of the earthbenders, tempted to bend her way out of them… though attempting to do so would reveal her identity immediately. Toph hadn't been lying about how tight security could be, around here…

Thus, their quest failed, and their group was taken, unceremoniously, to a strange, dark study filled with many tall bookshelves, lit only by the crystal fireplace that burned powerfully right behind the man with the braid… the very man who had escorted Katara and Toph into the party.

"Who the hell are you? Why won't you let us talk to the Earth King?!" Sokka exclaimed, snarling. He stepped forward, as though to defend the whole group from the man, never daunted by his foes when his protective instincts were triggered.

"I am the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, Long Feng," the man explained. "And I shall not allow you to disturb the Earth King's mind with whatever petty news and nonsense you intended to bring to him. Ba Sing Se is a peaceful city: the last utopia left in our world. If you intend to interfere with its workings, I will have no choice but to keep the five of you under close watch, from this point onwards."

"As if you weren't already watching… through that woman, Joo Dee," Azula pointed out, scowling. Long Feng smirked.

"Indeed. And through more means than you could possibly imagine, Princess Azula."

She flinched, and Sokka snarled as he took an even more protective position in front of her. The others eyed Long Feng warily, as the man paced in front of them.

"I understand that, along with your feeble intentions of seeking an audience with the Earth King, you also wish to track down your missing sky bison: tread carefully, then, and do continue your search without breaking the laws of our city ever again. Otherwise… you shall be expelled from Ba Sing Se, at once. Am I clear?"

Nobody answered. Even so, Long Feng took for granted that the answer to his question would be an affirmative one.

"Now then, as everything's in order now… Joo Dee shall escort you home," Long Feng said, gesturing at the door. They glanced back, expecting to find the nervous woman from the party…

"Come with me, please."

Azula's chest clenched at the sight of that familiar fake smile… in a different face.

It was another woman. Another Joo Dee.

They were being watched. Somehow, they were being watched. Were they inside the house? Toph claimed she couldn't feel any presences nearby, but she also pointed out there were catacombs, tunnels underneath the city. The whole group was paranoid, panicking over the wretched words of Long Feng, the disturbing replacement of their familiar Joo Dee, no matter if they weren't particularly attached to her… and so, Azula felt the need to step back for a moment, climbing the roof of the house, hugging her legs to her chest as she pondered what she'd learned during their chaotic first few days in the massive city.

About ten minutes later, someone joined her on the roof's tiles. Sokka breathed out slowly, taking his seat beside her, watching the stars almost remorsefully.

"Too bad the night's sky isn't much of a relief when we're stuck in this mess, eh?" he said, casually. "The city's beautiful… but I think I hate it a bit, now."

"Cities are complicated. Navigating political intrigue is even more complicated," Azula whispered. "And we're in over our heads… to a fault."

"What do you make of this?" Sokka asked, gazing at her hopelessly. "I… I figure you'd have more insight about this place than anyone else…"

"Toph is sure there's no one around?" Azula asked. Sokka nodded. "Completely sure?"

"Yeah… well, she said so, anyway," Sokka shrugged. Azula breathed in and sighed out the air.

"Joo Dee. She disturbed me before, she disturbs me even more now," she said. "That another woman, answering to the same name, could replace her without missing a beat makes no sense to me. She was supposed to be a government official, right? A member of this man's cultural authorities or whatever it is he wants to call them. Joo Dee is the face, though: those other men, the Dai Li? They're the muscle. And Long Feng is the brain behind it all."

"So… if we take down Long Feng, we take down everything else, too?" Sokka asked. Azula surprised him by shaking her head.

"As a matter of fact… I don't think it'd work as easily as that, this time," Azula pointed out. Sokka frowned. "Look, you may be a Chief's son, but the kind of political power we're talking about is…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm honestly just kidding around with that sort of thing," Sokka said, with a weak smile. Azula shook her head. "What? I mean I'm more of a peasant than a prince…"

"That's not my point: your culture isn't the type that controls its people through ideological indoctrination, is it?"

Sokka froze, staring at Azula intently. She breathed deeply and lowered her gaze.

"After knowing you, and the others… I've come to change my mind and my views about a fair number of things. As you already know, I'm not interested in seeing my people trampled and destroyed, even if now I can see how wrong the war is, how hopeless it is, too… but just so, I can look back and realize how I was conditioned, from childhood, to believe in countless doctrines that made no sense in a practical, real world. It's a matter of political control: if the Fire Lords of old and new have cemented these beliefs in the minds of their very own people, they will see it as a great honor, a wonderful sacrifice, to die for them in battle if that's their fate. They don't value their lives… they value the Fire Nation, above all else."

"And you think it's the same here?" Sokka asked, puzzled.

"Not the same… but likely similar," Azula said. "Look at how Joo Dee could manipulate completely common people into not giving us any answers: look at how she was constantly on edge, terrified of what would happen if the Dai Li decided she hadn't fulfilled her duty properly, if she failed to control and contain us. In the end, her fears were in the right: our choices resulted in, well, who knows what sort of consequences for her…"

"Wait, you think it's… our fault?" Sokka asked. Azula shook her head.

"Not any more than it would be our fault that the soldiers and engineers from the Drill would be deemed failures and traitors by my father," Azula said, with a shrug. "It's not our fault: it's Long Feng. Him and his fierce control of this city… he's the true Earth King, not whatever figurehead is on the throne. It's clear he always wanted power, and he has obtained it. He may not flaunt it as much as others in his position might, but he doesn't need to: he doesn't need recognition, only power."

"And you think he's been controlling and manipulating people through the Dai Li and Joo Dee, for all this time?"

"They're his true power," Azula said, clasping Sokka's hand with hers. "They're the ones behind whom he hides, the ones who enforce his every order. Remove those factors… and he's but one more earthbender, probably more experienced and yet no more talented than Toph. You, me, the Avatar and your sister… there's no way that man could defeat us all. But we need to strip him of his power. We need to remove every layer of strength around him…"

"How, though?" Sokka asked, eyeing her with uncertainty. "I think I get what you're saying: if we attack Long Feng directly, the Dai Li would likely jump out to defend him. They'd turn him into a martyr, maybe, pretend it's us who are the villains and not him. He's that far inside their heads. But… how could we change that?"

"Well… first of all, he's not as effective at his method of control as the Fire Nation is," Azula pointed out, raising her eyebrows. "He hasn't had remotely as much time as the Fire Lords have had, since Sozin's time, to instill absolute obedience into his people. That's why he needs the Dai Li: it's less effective than large-scale indoctrination, but it also quells any thought of resistance because nobody has the guts to fight back against these law enforcers. But the people we saw… they were nervous. They were uncomfortable. They don't like Joo Dee… just as they don't like the Dai Li, I bet. In the Fire Nation, we're even taught how to think. They shape our very minds: nobody needs to fulfill these roles because that's how far the Fire Lord's reach goes. These people… they still have thoughts of their own, minds of their own, but they're being controlled, policed, forced to follow fit with whatever code Long Feng wants them to abide by: thus, they obey out of fear, and that means they're easy to control, but also easy to break out of that fear if, say…"

"If we eliminate the source of their fear?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded.

"But it's not quite what I have in mind, actually," she said. "We can't take down the Dai Li altogether, there's far too many of them for us to defeat, surely more than we even know about. We can't get rid of Joo Dee, however many of them there may be, either: in fact, the fear Joo Dee displayed when we were in the party suggests they have no power, either."

"She's a tool. Means to an end for Long Feng and his people," Sokka concluded.

"They're civilians, too. Thus… controlled, even if they, as well, are a means through which Long Feng controls others," Azula nodded.

"Then, instead of trying to take down Long Feng and making him a martyr in the eyes of the Dai Li…" Sokka said. "We'd try to get the civilians to rise up, somewhat?"

"Well… the Joo Dee, in a sense, yes," Azula said, nodding. "But I wager the Dai Li, too, can be turned against Long Feng."

"Woah. Are you sure about that?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe not all of them, sure, but some of them might break if the right opportunity arises," Azula said, with a slight smirk. "Remove his enforcers, his left and right hand, as it were…"

"And he'd still have his feet," Sokka pointed out. Azula shrugged.

"Still should be easy enough to trip him so he falls on his own face, if you ask me," she said. He laughed at her joke, eyeing her with fascination.

"So… how would we go about it? Surely, if you've thought about all this… you have a plan, too?"

"A plan similar to that of the Drill, yes," Azula said, nodding. "Truth be told, I've been uncomfortable about the Fire Nation officials who served in the Drill, so far. General Sung claimed they would be war prisoners, but he contacted Joo Dee so she could come to us. I suspect those men wound up in Long Feng's control… and that's how he found out who I am."

"If there's no war in Ba Sing Se…" Sokka grimaced. "Do you think maybe your dad could attack them over this, somehow? Take offense over what Ba Sing Se did to the Drill and its crew, and send his armies to tear everything to pieces?"

"For once, I'd say no," Azula said, surprising Sokka. "As much as I'd love to boast about how powerful my nation is… do you really think, if my father could take Ba Sing Se, he wouldn't have done it already? The Drill was his newest scheme to that end, and his final possible plan would be to take advantage of the newly-developing airships to take Ba Sing Se aerially, once Sozin's Comet returns by the end of this summer."

"So, we can't even take advantage of your father's warmongering to scare Long Feng into cutting out his crap, huh?" Sokka sighed.

"If the Drill didn't freak them out enough to break their poise so far, I don't know if anything will, short of a massive attack on the scale of what Sozin's Comet would allow…"

"But we're not going to let that happen," Sokka said, firmly. Azula nodded.

"I didn't let them break into the city, evidently I'm not eager to let them lay waste to it either…"

"It's not just that. It's… okay, I didn't tell you about this yesterday, and I know I should have said it sooner," Sokka said, sighing as he reached for Azula's hand. "In the Library, after I… after I said that stupid thing to you, well…"

"It wasn't stupid," Azula said, smiling a little. "If anything, what was stupid was for me to… to march off looking for any books on romantic compatibility to confirm we truly weren't meant to be…"

"Woah, you did?" Sokka asked, amused. Azula laughed and shook her head. "Damn! Did they say we weren't? Because I'll prove them wrong, if so! Though, heh, you burned them in retaliation if they did, so maybe that's enough revenge for their lies…"

"I couldn't figure out anything because I don't even know your birthday," Azula smiled. "Thus, most of those star charts and whatnot were useless for me. But anyway, you were saying something…?"

"Well, I was… but before I go back to that, just so you know, we really do need to know each other better," Sokka smiled. "Like… absolutely anything and everything we can learn about each other. Our favorite foods, colors, hobbies… our wildest dreams and worst nightmares, all that!"

"Right," Azula smiled a little. "Though… I'm afraid we might not have a chance to get to it right away."

"We… we won't?" Sokka asked. Azula breathed in slowly.

"What were you going to say about the Library?" she asked. His heart pounded painfully but he nodded in surrender.

"Uh, well, that I found this burnt paper that had a date written on it," Sokka said. "I think it was the last remnant of the Fire Nation section of the Library. Pretty darn lucky we got something as revealing as that, rather than: "Fire Lord Punkzo had a pet rooster-goose that liked to bite him in the ass," or so…"

"Fire Lord…? Oh, come on, focus on what it really said, will you?" Azula smiled, as Sokka chuckled next to her.

"Well… it said that, on a certain date, it was the darkest day in Fire Nation history. We found a planetarium room, one of the knowledge seekers took us there, and it turned out that it was the date of an eclipse. A solar eclipse."

"Oh?" Azula raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Sokka nodded.

"I looked it up, and… there will be an eclipse again, soon. On the first day of the eighth month," he explained. Azula's eyes widened. "It's the perfect moment to strike at your father… the ideal moment to mount an invasion and defeat his forces, I thought, but we can't do it alone…"

"Well, we shouldn't… but you wouldn't be alone. You'd have me," Azula smirked. "That, I assure you, would be more than enough to defeat my father, in those circumstances. And… you'd intend to defeat him without killing him? I mean, he'd be powerless, so… it would work perfectly. It's a great plan."

"Heh. I thought you'd be mad because I hadn't said anything," Sokka smiled awkwardly. "To be honest, I wasn't keeping it from you on purpose, it just slipped my mind…"

"That's not important," Azula said, waving a hand dismissively. "It can be a great plan if we use it the right way. That's what matters to me. Now, though… we do need to decide what we'll do in this city. Reaching the Fire Nation without any backup would be, admittedly, a bad idea. The Avatar's bison is still missing, we can't travel far without it, so finding the creature is strategically important. You and the others can work on that. Meanwhile…"

"Meanwhile… what? Do you have any plans for yourself?" Sokka asked. Azula breathed in and nodded.

"You remember how we decided we'd trick the Drill's operatives? How your idea of breaking the Drill from the inside made me come up with the plan of… of feigning I'd turned on you?"

"Yeah? Wanna try that again?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A variation of it, perhaps," Azula said. "But… it won't be a short-term thing. It would be a plan that would take a long time to bear fruit. Weeks, months maybe. If it goes well, I could even, maybe, find the bison through the Dai Li, if the bison really is here at all – those bastards might know everything that happens in this city…"

"Wait a minute," Sokka frowned, and Azula's heart jolted in delight at his obvious concern for her… and with discomfort, upon fearing he'd dismiss her plan, outright. "We'll go our separate ways for a while, you say? You… you'll go deal with the Dai Li alone? Azula, I… I could go with you."

"I don't think my plan would allow that to happen," Azula whispered. Sokka tensed up: his hand, wound around hers, tightened its grip firmly. "Sokka, we could turn the tides on Long Feng's control over this city and even expose his treachery to the Earth King. The king might turn out to be a fool, but I doubt he could remain impassive upon learning there's a war waging well past his walls, and he hasn't been aware of it for as long as Long Feng has been hiding the truth from him."

"Right, but… can't someone else, if not me, go with you?" Sokka said, eyeing her with concern. "Even if I have to play the heartbroken idiot again, I… I just don't want you going alone."

"You want to protect me, do you?" Azula smiled fondly at him. Sokka smiled a little, too. "You're lovely. But I want to protect you too, believe it or not, so…"

"Why can't I come too?" Sokka pouted.

"Because you're not an earthbender," Azula said, simply. Sokka scoffed.

"Well, you're not one either, so…" he said, but his eyes narrowed. "Wait, now. Wait just a minute, now…"

"Sokka…"

"You're… going to infiltrate Long Feng's forces?" he asked, eyeing her warily. "But you're not an earthbender, so you're going to…?"

"If my hunches about this situation are correct… this might be the best way to turn the tides and keep the bloodshed and chaos to a minimum," Azula said, earnestly. "This way, only Long Feng loses, and we even get to mock him after we've defeated him. How does that sound?"

"Great and awful at the same time," Sokka said, grimacing. "Azula…"

"I'll come back to you, silly. There's no way they'll be able to break me," Azula promised. Sokka sighed and lowered his head.

"I hope you're right, but… don't underestimate them," he said. Azula shook her head.

"I'm sure they're the ones who'll underestimate me, instead. If I play my cards right," she whispered.

"If you're gone too long, I'll come find you," Sokka pouted. Azula laughed and shrugged.

"Might be I'll need you to come to my rescue, I won't rule it out… but I'll try not to make it so. Once things come together, once everything's in place… I'll set my plan in motion and put an end Long Feng's rule. It'll be good practice for when we beat my father, too."

"I hope so," Sokka said, smiling warmly again. "You'll… you'll get started soon?"

"I think so, yeah," Azula whispered, gazing into his eyes.

"Then… we'll have to make the most of every moment we have left tonight," Sokka said, biting his lip.

His arms wrapped around her body so quickly she didn't know what was happening, for a moment. She smiled soon enough, though, letting him reel her into his embrace, and then answering his effusive, meaningful, warm kisses with her own. For a moment, it seemed as though their kisses would be infinite, as though they'd stay on this rooftop, making out for the rest of their lives, for as long as the universe still existed… and she liked the notion, quite frankly. She liked him, so much more than she ever intended to… and he liked her, just as much. He wanted to keep her safe. He would respect her choices… but he wanted them to have a future, too: fortunately, Azula had no intentions of stealing that future away from them with her choices.

"Can we… share futons tonight?" Sokka asked, softly. Azula raised her eyebrows. "Hey, it's a new futon, so it shouldn't stink? And I'm not saying I want to do anything crazy, I just… I just want to hold you for as long as I can, before you have to leave."

"It sounds crazy enough… but we've fallen asleep holding hands before. Might as well hold each other this time, too," Azula said, pressing her brow to his. "You're really clingy, aren't you?"

"Very. Unbearably so. Like a tick," Sokka declared, prompting Azula to laugh as she cupped his face.

"Well, damn. I suppose you're some sort of lovebug, then. And you've infected me with your weird love-addling disease: now I'm as clingy and corny as you are," she declared. Sokka grinned proudly.

"See, my wicked plans are even more thorough and complicated than yours, Azula. And they paid off, too…"

"You're the perfect man for me, I knew you were," she sighed dramatically, wiping a false tear from her eye.

Before they knew it, they were roaring with laughter on their rooftop, holding each other close still, and the stars above seemed to laugh, in turn, with them. They would have to part ways for a short time, but every moment until then was well worth cherishing: they both knew that, once Azula took off for her new mission, they would be counting the minutes, even the seconds, until they finally found their way to each other. But until then… until then, they laughed, they kissed, and they smiled, etching the memory of another wonderful starlit night they spent together into their very souls.

"Please, carry my message to your leader, Long Feng: I have important information regarding a sky bison that should be of interest to him."

The Dai Li officers weighed her and her words warily. Azula stood her ground before them, head held high, making no secret of her upbringing and identity anymore, despite being clad in the Earth Kingdom attire she had selected a few days prior. The men appeared confused, perhaps willing to turn her away… but something she had said, or something in her bearing, perhaps, gave them pause. Azula smiled when they entered the Palace to ask what to do about this sudden visitor, and she smiled again once they allowed her passage inside.

Long Feng waited, again, in that dark study of his. He weighed her with his green eyes, and Azula suspected those crystals in the fireplace were meant to enhance his piercing glare. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't dealing with someone who hadn't faced such tactics in the past: Azula knew all too well how certain leaders took advantage of fire, in many ways, to present themselves as ineffable and undefeatable, and she wasn't impressed in the least.

"I admit, you have taken me by surprise by turning yourself in. Here I expected I would be arresting you before the week was over," Long Feng declared, with an unpleasant smile that Azula mimicked quickly.

"Under what charges? There is no war in Ba Sing Se, is there?" she asked. To her delight, his eyebrow twitched at her response. "Truly, must we be so uncivilized? I've come here to offer information freely…"

"That I doubt. Surely you have terms, conditions… surely you want to secure, I don't know, safety for your newfound friends, perhaps? It's my understanding that the Water Tribe boy and you have some sort of juvenile relationship…?"

"That's his understanding, too. Men are quite so easy to fool," Azula laughed dismissively – it was strange how she had lied about countless things in her life, and yet this was the first time that doing so actually hurt…

"Young men, perhaps. You have much to learn about life still, as far as I can tell, Princess Azula," Long Feng said, still with his unpleasant smile. "You intend to turn on them, then?"

"They convinced themselves of my loyalty, certainly, but I have no intentions of standing on the losing side of this conflict, once this ends," she shrugged, shaking her head. "I believe I'll have much better luck returning to my nation with your help."

"You wish to return, then?" Long Feng asked, amused. "And why would I help you do so? Do you expect I'd generously send a fleet to escort you all the way to the Capital of the Fire Nation?"

"It would be in your best interests to do so," Azula said, smugly. "Not only am I a renowned genius, and my abilities to strategize will certainly wreak no end of havoc in this city if I cannot strike a bargain with you, but if you do take this proposal seriously, you could secure an alliance with the Fire Nation. An alliance that might ensure your city remains safe and sound by the time Sozin's Comet arrives: my father intends to make use of its power by then to raze the last bastions of Earth Kingdom resistance. Surely you won't be senseless and risk his wrath?"

"Oh… surely," Long Feng smirked, amused. "And yet I can't see how an alliance with you would ever mean an alliance with the Fire Nation. Your father must have learned of your treason by now…"

"He hasn't," Azula said, simply.

"And why are you so certain?"

"Because he couldn't have learned of it without the men in the Drill reporting the situation to him, which they didn't until we handed them over to General Sung, who, naturally, must have handed them over to the Dai Li afterwards. Don't even attempt to deny it: I can tell who is truly in power here, Grand Secretariat. A large title to conceal a smaller one, and yet one that carries far more weight than that of the bureaucrat…"

"You have me all figured out, do you?" Long Feng asked, amused. Azula smiled proudly.

"I can see your whole life's history in your eyes, you see. You were born with nothing, weren't you? And you've struggled and connived to reach the heights in which you've taken control of a whole city. You want power? I can ensure you retain it. Ignore me, and you'll pay the price."

"And what of the Avatar?" asked Long Feng, amused. "What of his bison?"

"What else?" Azula said, with a shrug. "Your men can find it, can't they? Surely you can order to make it so. Return it to the Avatar, and they will leave the city in a matter of days."

"They meant to meet with the Earth King. Surely you don't expect me to believe they only wanted to ask for his help with tracking down the bison?" asked Long Feng. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"No, but they wanted his help in the war. If there's no war in Ba Sing Se, that's one source of aid they're sure to be wasting their hopes on. Make it clear to them that they'll find no assistance here and they'll leave without a hitch," Azula said, with a shrug.

"As simple as that? Aren't they your father's enemies?" Long Feng inquired. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"You saw them. They're children playing at war: what sort of threat could they possibly pose for my father? The Avatar is a child desperate to find his pet, his earthbending teacher is an anarchist blind girl who doesn't care about anything but her own freedom, the waterbending one is uptight but, ultimately, has no say upon whatever their group does, and the warrior… well, he's sure he's the smartest boy in the world. That he's fallen, line, hook, and sinker, for my deceit, certainly speaks for itself in those regards, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, I suppose it does," Long Feng said, with a smile. "Well, then… it seems we shall have a deal, Princess Azula."

"Oh, please. In writing, if you would."

To Long Feng's surprise, the Princess offered him a scroll she had been carrying in her long sleeve. It was a known tactic in negotiations, one used to ensure both sides of the party remained true to the agreement reached. Thus, Long Feng only offered her another of his unpleasant smiles and a nod.

"As you wish, then," he said.

He found ink and a brush, but he didn't sign until he read the document, taking in the Princess's many points and terms of their association.

"You expect me to hand over the Fire Nation soldiers to you?" he asked, amused.

"Naturally. It's but a reasonable request, isn't it?" Azula said, with a shrug.

"And safe passage for you across the blockade, all the way to the Fire Nation, to arrange a peace treaty between your people and the Earth Kingdom…" Long Feng recited. "Quite a fair share of distinct foods you're requesting for that trip."

"Indeed. I am a woman of taste," Azula declared, pompously.

"No doubt," Long Feng sneered: most her terms were childish enough that her eagerness to present herself as some sort of adult, superior to the ones she traveled with, only made her even more ridiculous, in his eyes.

It seemed she wanted to enable the Fire Nation folk to participate in trading and commerce operations with Ba Sing Se in particular, offering weaponry and technological warfare advancements as well. An alliance that also suggested the city would have to provide troops if the Fire Nation requested them, whether to strongarm any other territory in the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes. By the time he finished reading everything, he couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

"Quite the treaty you've composed," he said. "I'm marveled. Delighted."

"I suspect you are a smart man indeed: you can identify genius when you see it," Azula smiled proudly.

"Well, then… here's my signature," he said, jotting down his name at the bottom of the long scroll. Azula smiled before offering him another scroll. "And this…?"

"It's the same document. I just need you to sign them both. I keep one copy, you keep one as well," she determined.

"Ah. Right," Long Feng smirked, nodding.

He did as she requested, handing one of the scrolls back to her. Azula smiled proudly as a result, tucking the scroll safely in her long sleeve once more.

"Very well, then. I suppose, now that we're allies, it'd be for the best if you grow acquainted with some of my top aides. They shall ensure your every condition is met, of course…" Long Feng said, stepping towards the door.

"That seems an agreeable plan. Who are they? Generals as well, or members of the Dai Li?"

"Dai Li members, of course," Long Feng smiled, pushing the door open and smiling unpleasantly at Azula again. "You needn't worry, Princess: they will bring you, safe and sound, to our base of operations in Lake Laogai."

He shouldn't have been in such a bad mood – Aang was already in bad enough mood for all of them, after all. He should have simply taken it easy, relaxed, trusted in Azula and forgotten all about the complicated situation she'd set up for herself by dealing with that wretched Long Feng… but he couldn't stop worrying about her, all the same.

Aang had done his best to find Appa, yet it had been to no avail. Katara and Toph had tried to relax in a local spa, and Sokka suspected Azula would have been great company for them too, if she had been around at all. He had wandered the city streets at night, wishing deeply that she were there to walk with him… they could've had actual dates, wonderful ones, since there was nothing, it seemed, that Ba Sing Se lacked. Instead, he had stumbled upon a haiku class all by himself, and his attempt to have a stand-off with their instructor had ended poorly for him when he had added one too many syllables to his final line. He had no doubt Azula would have laughed heartily if she had been there to see it all…

Even doodling wanted posters for Appa had been no good to ease his tension. Fortunately, Aang had sought a professional artist to help him, so Sokka didn't need to work that much harder at making posters – his rendition of Appa, he believed, wasn't all that inferior to the professional artist's version, but he wasn't in the mood for drawing anyway. Aang had taken off to spread his posters all across the city on his glider, and all Sokka had to do now was wait. Wait for Appa, wait for Azula… wait for something to happen, in this city where everything and nothing seemed to happen…

He had been humoring Katara with a game of Mahjong when Aang returned:

"Just done spreading the leaflets in the city," he announced, with a hopeful voice. "Has anyone come with news of Appa yet?"

"It's only been a day, Aang. Less than that, right now," Katara said, with a heartfelt smile. "Give it a little longer, we just need to be patient."

"Patience, huh? This whole damn city seems to run on patience…" Sokka grumbled.

"Well, what else can we do?" Katara huffed. "I'm only saying we need to give it some time before…"

A knock on the door stopped their conversation: Aang turned and smiled brightly.

"Looks like you're right, Katara! Patience pays off!"

The unpleasant smile that awaited behind the door, however, shook the whole group upon glimpsing it – or, in Toph's case, the woman's familiar presence did.

"Joo Dee?!" Aang gasped: Sokka and Katara seemed to forget about their game right away, quickly realizing it was their first Joo Dee, once again.

"Hello, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph," she said, with a gracious smile. "May I come inside?"

"Woah! Where were you?" Sokka asked, eyeing the woman with astonishment, as though she were a mirage. "I thought the Dai Li had… well, I don't know, arrested you or something!"

"Oh, none of that," Joo Dee said, with a dismissive laugh. "Rest assured, I was only taking a relaxing vacation to Lake Laogai. Surely you would love to hear about my time there, wouldn't you?"

"We would?" Toph asked, grimacing. "If you were just on some vacation, I don't know if I care to hear all about it… we thought you were in trouble."

"Oh, I wasn't, not at all," Joo Dee smiled. "Are you certain you don't wish to hear more? It was… a rather, uh, spicy vacation."

"Huh? Okay, lady, I think that's a little out there. Toph's a kid!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing and placing his hands on Toph's ears: she responded by elbowing his ribs hard enough to make him yelp.

"Uh… well, uh, I suppose it may not be quite that appropriate to say I have been struck by a lovebug?" Joo Dee said: her smile appeared more awkward now. "I truly wish to tell someone of this wonderful man I've met, but the Dai Li… oh, they would find it so unprofessional!"

"Lovebug…?" Sokka repeated: it wasn't a common word, he thought… but he had heard it recently. Not that long ago: someone Toph called Spicy Princess, no less, had uttered it… "Woah! Seriously, then? You met someone! That's awesome, Joo Dee!"

"It is?" Aang grimaced. Joo Dee laughed and nodded.

"I shall be off-duty in about, uh, two hours? Perhaps I can come by again by then and tell you all about it!" she said, smiling with far more sincerity than usual. Sokka smirked.

"Sounds like a plan to me," he said, nodding.

"Ah, also… you're not allowed to throw leaflets all around the city. You need to request a permit for that," Joo Dee said, smiling at Aang, who scoffed as she handed back one of the Appa posters.

"We can't just wait around for the Dai Li to give us permission to do anything in this city!" Aang huffed: Sokka, however, stretched an arm in front of him.

"Now, now, Aang. Joo Dee's right. If we want to do things in Ba Sing Se, we have to do them the right way," Sokka declared: all his friends appeared to have been struck by a thunderbolt upon Sokka's strange behavior. "Alright, then! See you later, Joo Dee!"

"I, uh… may come through the backdoor, once I return?" she said, with an awkward smile.

"The backdoor?" Katara asked, puzzled. "There's no…"

"Great! Fine! Perfect! We'll wait for ya'!" Sokka grinned, patting Joo Dee's shoulder in a friendly gesture. The woman beamed and waved in their direction as Sokka pushed her out the door.

"Okay… what's going on with you, Sokka?" Toph asked. "Your heartrate's going crazy now, kinda like it usually did whenever Azula was… uh. Huh. Wait just a moment, is this about…?"

"Shh!" Sokka hissed, reaching for the Appa poster Aang was still holding.

He wasn't surprised at all to find something had been scribbled on the back: his eyes brightened upon reading it.

She is waiting. All is prepared. Act natural. An agent of the Dai Li will seek you out today: do not trust his mind, for it isn't his own. Act naturally. I shall be back with further instructions.

"That clever, unbelievable Princess…" Sokka smiled fiercely, tears of joy blinking in his eyes.

"Okay, what's going on?" Katara asked. Sokka bit his lip before rushing through the house. "Sokka!"

"Come on, Katara! Joo Dee, she went on a trip and met a really cool guy! Good for her, right?" Sokka grinned: Katara raised an eyebrow upon noticing Sokka was collecting paper and ink. He would write down what he'd understood, then? Why?

"Are we… compromised, somehow?" Katara asked, her voice lower. She glanced at Toph. "Do you feel anyone nearby?"

"Well, they're always lurking," Toph confirmed, with a nod. "But they shouldn't be able to hear us from the neighbor's rooftop all the way in here, with the door closed. You can talk, Meathead."

"Eh… well, I suppose, but come here and be very, very quiet, you three," Sokka hissed, urging them to join him by the center of the house. "Toph… really, check all over the place, even underground. Might be some of them could be lurking down there."

Toph tested her seismic sense to find nothing in the tunnels immediately underneath their house. She nodded affirmatively at Sokka before plopping herself down on a seat beside him, and Aang and Katara did the same.

"Azula set up a plan of some sort, she didn't go in depth with the details, but she wanted to use the Dai Li, and the Joo Dees, against Long Feng somehow," Sokka said, biting his lip. "I had no idea if she'd succeeded, but Joo Dee… some things she said were, uh…"

"What, a code? Lovebug?" Aang repeated, with a chuckle. Sokka blushed.

"I-it's just a joke!" he hissed. "Anyway: Joo Dee's in league with Azula now! That place, Lake Laogai… it has to be important. But she also says that some Dai Li agent will come find us… and his mind isn't his own? Azula and I talked about it, how Long Feng's attempts to control people through fear weren't as effective as what Sozin and the other Fire Lords have done… so maybe Long Feng's stepped up his game and he's actually, well…"

"What, overriding people's minds somehow?" Katara asked. "That sounds… odd."

"Do you think that Dai Li agent will just come in here? Or should we act out some more to make sure he comes to us?" Aang asked. "Should we, uh… take him prisoner, maybe?"

"Well, we've made a habit of that, looks like," Sokka smiled a little. "Depending on the situation, we'll do that or not. For now, though, we have to wait for Joo Dee to come back with more information. She said that about the backdoor… there's no backdoor, like you said, Katara. So maybe…"

"Underground?" Toph asked, smirking "That'd be cool, but… how? Isn't she a non-bender?"

"Well, maybe she's an earthbender and you just don't know it," Sokka shrugged. "But as much as I didn't like her at all… I think Joo Dee is our only link to Azula right now. We should listen to her."

"Then… we can just go out and pretend everything's normal for now? Bump into the Dai Li agent that way?" Katara asked.

"Could be. Lunch sounds about right," Sokka grinned: he felt like eating for the first time in days, now that he knew Azula was still in action.

All was going well: the men following them didn't act in any suspicious ways as their group filed together to one of the outdoors restaurants they preferred, in the Middle Ring. Toph whistled carelessly in the meantime, composing a completely random tune, and its rhythm and urgency would change if the men on the rooftops, or those hiding in the alleys, acted out in any suspicious ways. Yet it didn't suffice to prepare them for the one person who stepped up to them, just as they were nearly finished with their meal.

"So, uh… what are we going to do about Appa?" Aang asked, casually. "Now that we can't use these fliers… I don't like the idea of not looking for him anymore."

"Yeah, well, what can you do, buddy. What can you do…" Sokka sighed, carelessly. Aang pouted and glared at him.

"Oh, come on, Sokka," Katara huffed. "You know Appa's important to Aang. We have to try and do something: our meeting with the Earth King is happening in a few weeks, so…"

"If you really want to find Appa, I think I can help you out."

Toph's whistling slowed down as both Sokka and Aang turned quickly towards the sound of that voice. A young man stood behind a suddenly blushing and furious Katara: she had recognized that voice far faster than the rest of them.

"Long time no see, Katara," Jet grinned… without expecting the waterbender's reaction to be as explosive as to conjure the water on every jug at the restaurant's tables and dousing him with it. "K-Katara!"

"Woah! Katara, calm down!" Aang exclaimed. "It's… it's Jet!"

"Who's Jet?" Toph asked, grimacing.

"Katara's old boyfriend," Sokka answered, carelessly: Katara winced and shot him a deadly glare.

"Don't call him that! Jet, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"Katara, calm down! I'm here to help!" Jet declared, pulling out one of Appa's posters from his pocket. Aang gasped. "I… I think I know where Appa is."

The words, so fortuitous, delivered by such an unexpected messenger, immediately had Sokka on edge. Even though he agreed to follow Jet to the location where he swore Appa was – and even though he convinced Katara to go, too –, something certainly was amiss with Jet, and it wasn't only the wheat grass blade he wasn't chewing on anymore…

His suspicions were all but confirmed when Appa's alleged hiding place was empty, and the only kernel of information available of his whereabouts was…

"Appa is on his way to Whaletail Island?!" Aang gasped. "But that's…! That's so far away!"

"Then the sooner we get going, the better," Jet said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"And what makes you part of the team, all of sudden?" he asked. Jet scoffed.

"I'm just trying to help here! I've changed, I want to prove myself!"

"Right," Sokka sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "Well, then, I guess we're not finding any information here, and we do have that meeting with the Earth King to think about. Maybe we can go to Whaletail Island later."

"But Sokka…" Aang stared at him in chagrin, and Sokka sighed.

"I know, buddy. We'll find Appa, for sure," he said. "But for now… we should just go home."

He wasn't sure if the others had picked up on the strangeness of the situation too: Toph might have, as she wasn't all that close, emotionally, to any of what was happening. Katara, however, had lost all her rationality upon meeting Jet again, and Aang was terrified over Appa's fate. Thus, it would be up to him to keep everyone together for now…

"Are you sure about this?" Jet asked, as they stepped out of the building. "I'm not saying it's wrong, but… that sweepy guy said they might even want to eat him. Are you really taking that risk?"

"Are you trying to freak out the kid?" Sokka groaned, irritable. "Come on, what does a sweepy guy know about how tasty Appa would be, any-…?"

"… Jet!"

A sudden voice called for the young man, whose eyes widened as he turned towards it: down the street, Smellerbee and Longshot stared back at the five of them in shock. Sokka frowned as the pair stepped up… a new complication, if Jet wasn't alone, but not an unwelcome one, altogether.

"Hey, guys! Look at that, what a reunion!" Sokka exclaimed soon enough, beaming. Smellerbee and Longshot slowed down upon hearing Sokka's boisterous greeting. "Oh, this calls for celebration! You guys, come on, you and Jet should come back to our Upper Ring house with us. We can throw ourselves a party to celebrate we've met again!"

"Uh… what?" Smellerbee grimaced, glancing at Jet. "How did you get away from the…?"

"The job? Yeah, he's a scamp, this Jet!" Sokka laughed, clapping Smellerbee's shoulder once: she winced and pulled away. "Bet he'll share the story gladly when we're all together at our house: how about it?"

Smellerbee glanced at Longshot, who stared at Sokka intently. Sokka's fake enthusiasm faded as he offered the archer an urgent, stern stare instead. At once, the usually silent young man nodded, startling Smellerbee.

"We should do this…?" Smellerbee grimaced.

"We might take off pretty soon, after we meet the Earth King," Sokka said, wrapping an arm around Smellerbee's shoulder, the other around Longshot's. "Got a big trip to Whaletail Island to plan for. Might be this is the one chance we'll have to hang out again as friends!"

Jet still seemed perplexed by Sokka's nonchalance, but he followed him and his friends without a word. Aang, Katara and Toph did the same, marching to the train station as Sokka rambled about their wild adventures to Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot: he was particularly keen on talking about his girlfriend, rambling about what a beautiful, brilliant girl she was and how he looked forward to introducing her to all of them soon.

He only stopped his long tirade once they reached the house, of course: by then, he was exhausted after so much rambling, and Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot were decidedly puzzled.

"Okay… great," Sokka let out a sigh as he stepped up to Toph. "Anyone nearby?"

"Not close enough to hear us, again," Toph said. "Looks like they really think we're behaving ourselves now."

"Great," Sokka breathed out, looking at Smellerbee and Longshot. "Don't raise your voices too much, okay? But… you were about to ask Jet about how he got away from someone?"

"He was arrested by the Dai Li," Smellerbee confirmed. Jet's eyes widened.

"I… what? I wasn't!" he exclaimed. Sokka shushed him.

"Oh, come on. What's the point of lying now, Jet?" Katara sighed. Jet snarled.

"I'm not lying!"

"He's not. I can tell," Toph said, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, he's not lying? We saw them taking him away!" Smellerbee said. Sokka winced again.

"Be. QUIET!" he hissed. Smellerbee grimaced. "The very Dai Li you're worried about will be onto us otherwise, alright? So…"

"Wait. Smellerbee isn't lying either," Toph said, frowning. Sokka grimaced as Jet huffed.

"That doesn't make any sense. I haven't done anything wrong, I'm living peacefully…!"

"His mind isn't his own," Sokka recited: Katara and Aang gasped. "Guess Long Feng really went the extra mile: Jet's been brainwashed."

If they needed further evidence of Sokka's guess, they found it when Jet winced, immediately, upon hearing the Grand Secretariat's name. Sokka gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as Katara's resentment faded at the sight of Jet's twitching, at the way he clasped his head so hard with his hands his knuckles turned white.

"How… does someone do that? Brainwashing?" Katara asked, staring at her brother in chagrin. "You say it so casually, but…"

"I have no idea, not really… but it's the only thing that makes sense. Azula and I talked about it…"

"Wait, that girlfriend of his is real?" Smellerbee asked, puzzled. "I thought he was pulling our hair."

"I wasn't," Sokka pouted, shaking his head.

"Well, where is she?" Smellerbee asked, raising her eyebrows. "Did she dump you yet?"

"Of course not! She's…!"

"Sokka. We're not alone anymore."

Sokka flinched at Toph's sudden warning. She raised a hand and urged them to back off from the center of the room… where they could feel a light tremor, the usual telltale sign of earthbending, even if it was done delicately.

It had to be Joo Dee, Sokka knew as much… what he didn't expect, though, was that the woman would be accompanied by two Dai Li agents, once the ground finally split open.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, unable to hold back his confusion: everyone else was on edge immediately, reaching for their weapons of choice…

"No, no, no!" Joo Dee said, urgently: her smile was gone, and suddenly she seemed much more human, much more herself, than she had been all along. "I'm sorry that I couldn't explain more earlier, Sokka, but they were watching…!"

"And then you just brought them right here instead…?" Sokka hissed, staring at her and her companions in chagrin.

The Dai Li with Joo Dee, however, removed their hats and bowed in their direction, startling Sokka with their strange, unusual breach in protocol.

"We are Dai Li agents, but…" said one of them.

"We no longer answer to Long Feng," he said, earnestly.

"There's more of us than you imagine, no matter how hard to believe it may be," said the first one.

"She has done… unthinkable things. Set us free in thousands of ways," Joo Dee said, her eyes gleaming with joy and hope: Sokka's own eyes widened in amazement.

"Azula did…? She…? So, all of you guys are… are loyal to her now?" he asked, with a slowly growing smile that only gained further strength when the others nodded, too.

"Wait a minute… what?" Katara gasped. "She was taken by the Dai Li… like Jet was?"

"The boy was caught disturbing the peace in the city," explained one of the Dai Li agents. "Long Feng immediately commanded for him to be reconditioned. As in… hypnotized."

"I've been hypnotized?" Jet asked, eyes wide. "Is that why I can't remember I was arrested? But…!"

"We will clear your head when we have the chance. First, though… what does Azula need us to do?" Sokka asked, looking at Joo Dee intently. The woman smiled warmly.

"To come meet her, of course. In Lake Laogai."

It hadn't been that hard to pretend to be hypnotized. She had struggled at first… then, she had played along with everything they said, while always keeping her mind busy with several trains of thought at once. Quite often, the best of those trains of thought was Sokka. By clutching to thoughts of him, to memories these brainwashers couldn't erase even if they tried, Azula had slowly but surely wound up among the ranks of the many, many Joo Dees.

She hadn't acted out on the first day. On the second, she had broken protocol slightly – some of the other Joo Dees had been horrified for it. Eventually, she had found their first Joo Dee: she had been through so many sessions with the brainwashers she barely seemed herself anymore, barely seemed to recall Azula altogether. After pretending to be soundly asleep, Azula had sought the woman and talked her out of the mental blockades, as quietly as possible. The Dai Li did rounds to check they were still in their beds, safe and sound, every two hours. Thus, that was the period of time Azula took advantage of to help Joo Dee… only for the other Joo Dees to flock to her, slowly, after the first one came to her senses.

Little by little, all of them began a slow but effective group recovery. Azula taught them her techniques to block out the brainwashing – for some, thinking of many things helped. For others, clearing their mind was more effective, and the brainwashing simply swept past them because of it. Little by little, she helped them build their defenses… and so, when the time came, she moved on to the next stage.

She started with the younger Dai Li agents. One of them had misspoken and was beaten badly by one of his superior officers in consequence. Azula found out and sent one of the Joo Dees to help him. Soon enough, the man had joined their nightly group therapy sessions, confessing to having been brainwashed, himself, and barely knowing left from right anymore. Just so, Azula offered him not only her help with blocking out the brainwashing, but a few extra lessons in proper military behavior… as well as a few ideas of how to rebel without getting caught.

Slowly, Lake Laogai's headquarters was becoming a silent pandemonium: commanding officers fell ill, others were caught in complicated accidents, and others, younger ones, were promoted in their place. The hypnotizing sessions were much different then, for the trigger phrases were now as good as codes for the Joo Dees and the Dai Li. Behind the scenes, Azula could only smile proudly upon having unraveled the depths of Long Feng's systems. Some of her new allies were far too broken to take a stand at all… but those who weren't were ready to strike.

The strange boy with the hook blades had been brought to the facility a few times, recently. In the last of his conditioning sessions, the assistant of the lead Dai Li agent had caught wind of what was needed from him: it seemed the Dai Li had learned this boy knew the Avatar and his friends, and he would be used to mislead them into searching for Appa elsewhere…

A pointless ordeal, since Appa had been in Lake Laogai all along.

Azula had learned of it when she heard the creature's roaring, one time. She couldn't go to him right away, but once the bulk of her work was done, she and several Joo Dees made it their business to ease Appa's pain, to feed him properly and take care of him while he remained in captivity. Her presence seemed to soothe the creature, if just because she was familiar, Azula guessed. She had reassured him that they'd get out eventually, but that he had to wait… he just had to wait.

For that boy with the hook blades was the final element they needed to set the stage and perform the final act of Long Feng's downfall.

"Don't you think maybe they're leading us into a trap…?" asked Smellerbee, nudging Jet lightly with her elbow.

"Pretty sure it's a bit late to worry about that now," Jet responded, grimacing.

They had marched with Joo Dee and the Dai Li agents through the underground tunnels: their absence from their house, according to Toph, would likely go unnoticed for a few hours. The large lake loomed ahead once they finally exited the massive tunnel system, and Sokka glanced frantically across the expanse of water, eager to find Azula at once.

"The facility is under water," Jet recited, startling them. "It's… it's coming back to me now."

Sokka swallowed hard as they finally reached the shore: the Dai Li agents stepped forward and brought up an earthen walkway with a trapdoor. They followed them diligently, though the Freedom Fighters remained tense, unsure of what to do, whom to trust… Sokka couldn't blame them, but they didn't know Azula as well as he and the others did. Even now, he knew they couldn't have been tricked: they were the ones doing the tricking.

A long ladder awaited them inside the Lake: they climbed it down slowly… to find themselves standing in a chamber with another group of Dai Li agents and Joo Dees.

"Ah, there you are. She has been expecting you!" exclaimed the second Joo Dee they had met. Aang grimaced at the sight of her, but Sokka nodded promptly and approached the woman without a second thought.

"Take us to her. Now," Sokka said.

They followed the Joo Dee through the tunnels: none of them could ignore the many unconscious Dai Li agents littering the dark tunnels, apparently knocked out cold. Whether they had been attacked or they were sick, though, it didn't seem to matter: other Joo Dees and Dai Li agents were busy tying up the unconscious ones. There was no sign of a battle, though, so how on earth had they done it…?

Finally, the second Joo Dee stopped at a room that she pushed open delicately: it had to be the command center of the facility, decorated with an ornate, privileged throne-like seat upon which sat the most beautiful sight Sokka had ever set his eyes upon.

To no surprise, she was smiling proudly.

"You… you devious, amazing, incredible wonder!" Sokka nearly squealed as he rushed towards her. Azula laughed as she pushed herself up to her feet, letting Sokka wrap her in his arms, squeezing her tightly. "Unbelievable! How did you…?! How could you…?! Oh, hell, it's so good to see you!"

Azula smiled, cupping his face and offering him a quick kiss. His cheeks grew pinker for it, even in the dim light of the tunnels.

"It's a long story, but I bet you'll love it. Surely, you'd appreciate the poetic and practical uses alike of turning someone's own strengths against them?" she said, casually. Sokka chuckled and kissed her again.

"I don't know how you did it this time, but you're right, I already love it!" he declared, beaming. Azula chuckled and patted his chest.

"I'll explain later. For now… know that the ones that weren't likely to be turned are unconscious, chained and shackled. They supported the most nefarious regime of a man who did nothing but harm his own citizens…" Azula said, with a sad sigh. "One who double-crosses people even after he signs a treaty with them, can you imagine anything more uncivilized?"

"Woah! Now that's the lowest of the low. Everyone knows things are sacred if they're written down," Sokka stated sagely, and Azula laughed with delight.

"Just so," she smiled, patting his chest. "Rest assured, we'll get Long Feng for this. But first… Appa."

"Appa?!"

Aang had given them room as they reunited, but he perked up right away upon hearing the bison's name. Azula smiled at him and the others as she stepped around Sokka, who grinned proudly, an arm over Azula's shoulders, clad in the typical attire of every other Joo Dee.

"And there you are, all of you. Good to know you're safe and sound even if I'm not around to keep tabs on you," she smiled. "Though I suppose thanks are in order for keeping this one in one piece…?"

"Oh, you know how he is," Katara chuckled, as Azula grinned teasingly at her beaming boyfriend. "It's really good to see you again. Sokka was the moodiest idiot while you were gone…"

"Ah, good to know you missed me," Azula said. Sokka chuckled.

"Of course I did! Bet you missed me, too!"

"Eh, I was a little too busy, setting Joo Dees and Dai Li agents free, helping them poison others into unconsciousness, so I guess I didn't have enough time to think about how much I'd miss you…"

"What? Heeey…!"

"Guys…" Aang smiled awkwardly, as Azula, Katara and Toph laughed at Sokka's pouting. "What were you going to say about Appa, Azula?"

"Oh, that he's here, of course," Azula said, startling the Avatar. "I had the suspicion there was no way something quite as flashy as a sky bison would have been near Ba Sing Se without catching Long Feng's attention, and I was right to believe so. Come on, I'll take you to him."

"Oh… thank you. Thank you!" Aang exclaimed, jumping forth to hug a most perplexed Azula – it was one thing to be hugged by Sokka, but now by the Avatar, too?

"Good to have you back, Spicy," Toph smirked, when Aang pulled away. "Your code was a little weird to understand, though. We really did think Joo Dee wanted to talk to us about whatever guy she got frisky with on her vacations…"

"Oh, that was the whole idea, of course. Making you guys uncomfortable was the very purpose of my wicked plans," Azula smirked: Toph laughed and tossed a fist in Azula's direction, only for her to catch it successfully. "Hope you broke every rule in Ba Sing Se while I was gone, Toph."

"Oh, I did! And then some!" she snickered.

They were still laughing as they marched out of the room to find the rest of their group. Azula raised her eyebrows at the sight of so many strangers, so Sokka stepped up to explain, as expected:

"I guess a few introductions are in order here: Azula, these are Smellerbee, Longshot and Jet, we met them last year. You guys… this is Azula."

"The one you kept talking about, huh?" Jet said, raising an eyebrow as he gazed at the girl who was far too young, and far too sharp, to be a Joo Dee.

"Woah. So, she's real after all," Smellerbee said, blinking blankly. Jet swallowed hard.

"Hard to believe. And you're really her boyfriend, Sokka?" he asked, puzzled. Sokka, still with an arm wrapped around Azula's shoulders, shot the older boy a proud grin.

"I can barely believe it either, but that's just the way it is!" he declared. Azula chuckled, though she glanced at Jet again.

"If you haven't broken completely out of the hypnotism yet, rest assured: the Joo Dees can help you once we're out of here. But first… off we go to find Appa," she said, and Sokka nodded.

The bison's holding cell wasn't far away, and most stories could have waited until after Appa was free, but Sokka's eagerness to hear about Azula's grand achievements and plans still got the better of him: the Princess laughed as she recounted how easily she had tricked Long Feng into signing the treaty and playing utterly dumb to the obvious fact that he'd never abide by such contracts.

"He seriously thought he was outsmarting you? Were you that convincing at playing a self-important idiot, Azula?" Sokka smiled. She laughed and shrugged.

"I've been lying about a lot of things throughout my life, Sokka. Putting on masks and pretending to be someone else? It's not as hard as you might have thought. I'll have to teach you, someday," she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

"I look forward to it. To everything, really…" Sokka sighed, smiling warmly at her. "Say, our next plan? Let's make sure it doesn't involve being apart for almost a month and a half, can we?"

"Promised thing," Azula grinned, kissing him quickly before they slowed at the cell door.

Aang was the one who rushed forth, to yank it open: he heard Appa's growls inside already. His heart raced, hope blooming in his eyes as he opened the door at last…

"Appa!"

A loud, female gasp inside the room startled them all. Azula was the most surprised of them all, for the sound was eerily familiar, even if it seemed to be entirely out of place.

Aang still stood on the threshold, blocking the room with his body, but not enough that Azula wouldn't be able to see the contents of the cell right now: it wasn't a group of Joo Dees appeasing the bison inside… no, instead, Appa's current company was much more surreal and confusing.

"What the…?" she blurted out, as Aang gasped too.

"Woah!" Sokka shouted, pulling out his club as Aang held up his staff. "The hell are you people doing in here?!"

The two boys stepped forward. Azula didn't join them, head cocked to the side at the utterly inexplicable scene before her, a single factor she hadn't accounted for – because how on earth could she have accounted for it at all? – that elicited a thousand possible questions… most of them unpleasant, she realized, as her eyes traveled across those of the other human occupants in the bison's room.

"You… have to be kidding me," she said, with an awkward smile. "Zuzu? Mai, Ty Lee, you two were with…?!"

"Uh… hi, Azula!" Ty Lee grinned, though Mai quickly elbowed her for it: playing dumb wouldn't help matters right now, would it?

"Azula…? What in the spirits' name are you…?" Iroh blinked blankly, staring at Azula in utter astonishment: he had been giving Zuko quite the stern speech, only to be interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Mai blurted out, as honest as ever. Azula rolled her eyes, wishing the blood wouldn't rush to her cheeks upon hearing her friend – or former friend, maybe – dismissing her apparent fashion choices quite so readily.

"Not important right now. Let alone is it more important than… whatever the hell you all are doing here," she asked, staring between them in confusion.

"Princess Azula…" a Dai Li, behind them, called for her. She whipped her head around towards him. "The troubling elements have been secured. We will begin extraction, now."

"Please, do. Keep them under control until I'm… done with this. Whatever it is," she said, glancing back inside the room: Zuko looked like he was moments away from a nervous breakdown, but he finally snapped out of it to ask the actual question the rest of his apparent allies and companions had wanted to ask.

"Azula… what the hell are you doing with the Avatar?!"

"Ugh… I forgot for a second this guy's your brother," Sokka grimaced, glancing back at Azula, who breathed out slowly as she rubbed her brow with her fingertips: Zuko could be commended for being utterly unpredictable, if nothing else… "What do we do now?"

"We set Appa free!" Aang exclaimed, glaring at Zuko. "Let him go!"

"I…! I was here to set him free anyway!" Zuko scoffed.

"No, you were here to set him free and then make him your captive next, somehow. No idea where you thought you'd find enough food to feed a bison that big…" Mai said, skeptically.

"Good thing he's cute, right, Mai?" Ty Lee said, with a sigh. Mai huffed.

"Good for him, if anything, yeah…" she said, shaking her head.

"You were going to…?!" Aang started, his jaw dropping in outrage.

"I didn't, though! Okay? Uncle Iroh…!" Zuko gritted his teeth. "UGH! I'll just cut him free, and you can leave me alone, all of you!"

"Wait… aren't you Lee?"

Jet's voice cut through the tunnel next: he had finally caught a better view of what was going on inside the tunnel, and he was puzzled to find a lot of familiar people inside the cavern, too.

"Jet?!" Zuko exclaimed, perplexed. "What the…?!"

"I think things are a little too twisted and convoluted by now," Katara said, glancing at the uneasy Azula. "Shouldn't we get Appa out of here and then sort out who's friend and who's foe?"

"A better plan than doing it in here, for sure," Azula sighed. "Toph, can you get this cell out into the surface on your own, or should I ask a Dai Li agent to…?"

"Heh, doubting me now, Spicy Princess?!" Toph exclaimed, cracking her knuckles. Appa roared at her. "Hey there, big guy! I messed up before, but I'm going to help set you free now. Everyone, get inside this room. We're shooting our way out of here!"

The unconscious Dai Li had been chained firmly together, held off next to some large rocks by the lake. Those Azula had turned on her side were delighted to forsake all protocol at last, the Joo Dees seemed ready to throw every concern away as they rejoiced in the waters of Lake Laogai. Yet, while they were enjoying themselves, Azula most certainly wasn't, not anymore: explanations had to be exchanged by now, and she found herself in a most unlikely position, on the Avatar's side rather than that of the Fire Nation… than that of her family.

Clinging to Sokka's hand as she was, she knew this was exactly where she wanted to be. It didn't hurt, either, that Zuko appeared close to fainting out of shock when he caught sight of the casual way in which she held hands with one of his worst enemies.

"Very well, then. I think… answers are in order," Iroh started, glancing between the very distinct three groups in their circle.

On the Avatar's group, Aang sat huddled against his bison, finally happily reunited, with Katara and Toph to his left, and Azula and Sokka to his right. Mai was the one sitting closest to Sokka, though there was a fair distance between them, signaling that she was part of a wholly different group, comprised by herself, Zuko, Iroh and Ty Lee. Just so, there was also a fair distance between them and the ones who closed the rest of the circle: Jet was flanked by both Smellerbee and Longshot, and he kept glancing between the other two groups with utter confusion.

"Since there's, uh, three different traveling groups, from my understanding?" Iroh said, stroking his beard. "Let's do this in an orderly fashion: each group gets to ask a question to either of the other groups, until we clarify the situation better!"

"Guess that sounds… uh, reasonable," Aang said, with a small smile. "Who starts?"

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Zuko blurted out, finally unable to contain the question he had been desperate to ask: evidently, he gestured at his sister and Sokka.

"I'm the one who should ask what the hell is going on with you?" Sokka pouted, squeezing Azula's hand gently. "Not going to play protective big brother now, are you?"

"I'm not, but…! You guys captured her!" Zuko exclaimed, eyes wide. "I thought you'd just… leave her in that town or something! Turn her over in the first Fire Nation outpost you found, not… this!"

"And risk handing me over to the Fire Nation so I could come chasing after them even more viciously than I already had?" Azula asked, amused. "What sort of strategy is that? If it can even be called a strategy…"

"I'm just saying…!"

"We took her with us, clearly," Sokka cut off Zuko, rolling his eyes. "We went through a lot of weird adventures, or misadventures, and in the process…!"

"Oh, you fell in love!" Ty Lee squealed, clapping. "Oh, Azula, you're so lucky! He's so cute!"

"Uh… well, I hope she thinks so too," Sokka grinned awkwardly at Azula, though Mai interrupted with a scoff.

"You fell in love with the guy who took you prisoner?" she asked Azula, derisively. Again, Mai somehow managed all too easily to make Azula feel utterly inadequate by not acting in the way a Fire Nation highborn girl was supposed to. "Doesn't sound like you at all, Azula."

"Better than falling in love with the dum-dum who tossed me into a fountain when I was a kid… oh wait, that was you."

"It was your fault!" Zuko exclaimed, blushing, as Mai's apparent amusement was replaced with irritation. "I wasn't trying to push her into…!"

"Aren't we getting sidetracked here?" Toph asked, grimacing. "Really, we're all stuck in the middle of some crazy political plot and you guys just want to talk about relationships?"

"Unbelievable, I know…" Katara said. Toph huffed.

"Because for that matter, Katara and Jet…!"

"What…?! Toph, no!" Katara squeaked, clasping a hand over Toph's laughing lips.

Her sudden words startled Zuko, however, who shot a confused stare at the boy who had worked with him, not so long ago, to steal proper food during their ferry ride to Ba Sing Se. He had some sort of relationship with the Avatar's waterbender…? Had he known the Avatar, all along?

"You guys knew each…?" Zuko started, but Iroh held up a hand. "What? What?"

"I said… each group gets to ask one question. Or at least, to talk about one topic," he said, with a jovial smile. "If you're done asking about your sister's, uh… relationship now, it's someone else's turn!"

"I…! I still have a lot of questions about that, but if she's seriously going to date that guy, it's her problem!" Zuko huffed. Sokka shrugged.

"It's not a problem, so far. Right, Azula?" he smiled. Azula sighed happily and dropped against him comfortably: the sight of Zuko's obvious disgust over her display of affection with Sokka, however tame as it might be, brought a vicious grin to her face.

"Not for us, of course. Zuzu looks like he's about to be sick, however…"

"Of course I am! The hell are you two even…?! Ugh, forget it!"

Azula laughed triumphantly, and Sokka smiled fondly at her. Still, her laughter allowed the leader of the third group to ask the main question that plagued him, right now:

"Who the hell are you people?" Jet said, eyes shifting between Azula, Zuko, Iroh, Mai and Ty Lee. "I figured… you two, Lee and Mushi, you're firebenders, right? I guessed that! That's why I attacked you, I remember everything now, and why the Dai Li took me away! But you're, uh, related to Sokka's girlfriend?"

"My name's Azula, though I bet you've already heard it…" Azula said. Sokka nodded proudly.

"I talked their ears off about how wonderful you are earlier today, yep."

"Ah, ever so charming," Azula said, with a dreamy sigh: truthfully, she wouldn't act quite so obnoxiously if she hadn't realized how utterly amusing it was to poke fun at her volatile brother through her relationship with one of his enemies. "Well, then, if you really must know… I'm Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation. Those two girls, they were my friends and they were supposed to help me in my quest to track down those two, my brother and uncle, who are traitors to the Fire Nation… but right now? I guess…"

"We are… all traitors?" Iroh asked, puzzled. "I'm afraid it's hard to believe, in your case, and yet…"

"You can't ask about it yet, uncle. Not until it's your turn again," Azula said, and Iroh bowed his head in surrender over his own rules. Jet, however, seemed close to a mental breakdown.

"Y-you guys are telling me you're… you're royals?! Fire Nation royals?!" he squeaked.

"Jet, come on! You said you'd leave everything in the past!" Smellerbee said, bumping him with her elbow. Jet huffed.

"I… I did, it's just…!"

"And you just got brainwashed by Earth Kingdom men," Sokka pointed out, raising his eyebrows. "Should be clear to you now that… well, evil comes from anywhere. It's not something exclusive to the Fire Nation, and neither are all Fire Nation people evil just because they were born there. Azula literally just saved the lives of all those Dai Li and Joo Dees, and… goodness, you really have to tell us more about how you did it."

"Later, I suppose," Azula smiled, patting his chest gently.

"I get that, it's just… hard to process," Jet said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "Why would royals be traitors, though? I'd… I'd have thought you guys would be the very worst of the worst. The ones who benefit from the war, the most."

"Oh, we were, we were," Iroh nodded in confirmation. "But when the crossroads of your destiny finally arrive… yes, that's what I was telling you earlier too, Zuko: once you reach the crossroads of your destiny, you have to decide which life you want to lead. I have much to regret, much to make amends for… and I've started by no longer making the same mistakes of the past. Zuko… well, he's still young and hasn't done anything quite as terrible as what I did, in my youth. As for Azula…"

"She hasn't done anything bad either," Sokka pouted, protectively. Azula laughed softly.

"Not for a lack of trying, but I suppose my failures landed me where I am now," she said, breathing deeply. "This war… it never should have happened, in the first place. If we wanted to spread our greatness to the world… well, it was evidently the worst possible way to go about it."

"You truly believe that now?" Iroh asked. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"You tossed me overboard when I came to find you and Zuko, under my father's orders," she said. Iroh grimaced. "I fought Zuko fiercely, both that day, and when we met at that ghost town. I hurt you that day, too. I… took Ty Lee forcibly from her circus. And Mai… uh, well, she didn't seem all that unwilling to come along, actually."

"I wasn't. Omashu is a drag," Mai said, simply. Azula smiled weakly.

"Well, whatever the case may be… in a matter of days, I had better friendships and relationships with the Avatar's team than I ever did with anyone from my own nation," Azula said, point-blank. Her honesty startled Jet's group, though not the Fire Nation one. "At first, I just wanted to get away, as fast as possible… I hoped Mai and Ty Lee would find me, actually, but they never did. Probably because they didn't care to, considering that they're right here, following Zuzu."

"Eh… hehe. Well, we, um… tried? At first?" Ty Lee said, with an awkward smile. "But as we couldn't find you, we just thought we'd try to, uh, finish your mission for you…?"

"Riiight… by taking off after Zuzu, and living with him and my uncle for who knows how long, in Ba Sing Se?" Azula guessed. Ty Lee smiled awkwardly, and Mai shrugged. "You know… I could be angry? But I honestly am not. I'm glad you didn't find me, and I had to be stuck with these four when I was. Well, these six, counting the lemur and the bison…"

Momo had followed them through the journey, and now lay perched on Appa's head, cuddling happily with the friend he had missed so dearly. Azula cast them a weak smile, surprised to find even the creatures weren't quite so disagreeable for her anymore.

"In any case, Jet… the point is that people can change," Sokka decided to chime in, again. "Everyone's experiences can shape them into… well, different people, I guess. If we hadn't taken Azula with us, who knows what would've happened."

"I would have kept on chasing you and hunting you down, for sure," Azula sighed, gazing at Sokka sadly. "Our love would have never blossomed, imagine that?"

"Perish the thought," Sokka huffed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and reeling her in for a quick hug: playful as she had been, she couldn't help but laugh at his impulsive reaction.

"Well… right. Fine, then. But… damn, it's weird," Jet said, sighing and rubbing his brow carefully. "You guys becoming refugees is just… strange. I mean, what are you guys even planning to…?"

"Now, now. It's the Avatar's team's turn now," said Iroh. Jet grimaced and dropped his head in defeat.

"Alright, then… what do we want to ask, you guys?" Sokka said, nudging Azula gently as he glanced at the others. Katara stared back at him, as did Aang.

"I guess I'd ask why they're in this city, in the first place," Katara said, glancing at Zuko warily. "Did you guys come chasing after us?"

"We didn't even know you were in Ba Sing Se," Zuko scoffed. "We were just trying to… well, Uncle Iroh was trying to…"

"To start over. A new life, in Ba Sing Se, under new identities," Iroh said, with a sagely nod. "I actually was doing quite well for myself: me and the children were about to move to the Upper Ring!"

"That doesn't help matters much: we were given a house there," Katara said, skeptically. Iroh blinked blankly.

"Well, truly, we were in the Lower Ring all this time. If it weren't for those posters, Zuko wouldn't have known you were in the city at all," said Iroh, with a shrug. "It was all sheer chance. In the end…"

"We were running away from her," Zuko said, staring resentfully at his sister. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"So, it's my fault that you were in Ba Sing Se, and yet you weren't there to chase us?" Azula asked.

"Well, I had no idea you were still with them!" Zuko huffed. "And that doesn't even matter: we didn't go there for you guys. Maybe you don't believe me, but it's still the truth."

"Now, now… there's been far too many strange changes around here. We all have to take our time to adjust to them," Iroh said, glancing at Azula warily. "We truly meant only to start new lives and avoid capture. Ba Sing Se was safer than any other location for the purposes of fleeing from the Fire Nation: I, of all people, should know as much."

"Well, you were almost wrong to believe so. Almost," Azula said, frowning. "I suppose the Dai Li would have never revealed it, even if the attack had been successful, but my father sent his forces with a massive mechanic drill, intending to tear down the walls of Ba Sing Se and breach all the way into the Inner Wall."

"You… you mean that?!" Ty Lee gasped, eyes wide. "B-but it didn't happen! Did it?"

"I just said it wasn't successful," Azula pointed out.

"We stopped it," Aang grinned. "Azula helped us!"

"You… what?!" Zuko gasped, eyes wide. Iroh raised an eyebrow.

"Now, now… active, outright rebellion against Ozai? Truly, Azula?" he asked, stroking his beard.

Azula had been about to answer when a Dai Li agent approached: she turned her head quickly towards him, as he bowed respectfully in her direction.

"The agents in the Palace confirm Long Feng suspects no foul play so far. The sooner we make our move, the better," he said. Azula nodded.

"How are the Fire Nation prisoners faring?" she asked.

"They were halfway through their conditioning, we've confirmed it," said the agent. "If you wish to see them, we can bring them to the Palace as well. We're unraveling their conditioning right now."

"Continue to do so. Their testimony might help sway the Earth King, with any luck," Azula said. The agent nodded. She breathed out and turned towards her uncle again, with a dry grin. "I did fight back against the Fire Nation… or rather, I sabotaged them, is a more accurate choice of words. The city remains safe only because we managed to make it so."

"Your plan made that happen. And now we're setting Ba Sing Se free, just as well," Sokka said, firmly: something in Iroh's eyes seemed to brighten upon hearing those words.

"And you have to go meet the Earth King?" asked Jet, puzzled.

"We've been waiting to do that for ages," Aang said, with a sigh. "We… uh, should we talk about our plans?"

"Maybe," Azula said, simply, staring at Iroh pointedly. "Though I don't know what they'll make of it, if we do."

"What's going on? What do you mean?" Zuko frowned, eyes traveling quickly across the members of the Avatar's group.

"We've got crucial information. Information that could see to the defeat of the Fire Nation, when the time comes," Sokka said, earnestly. Iroh gasped.

"Before Sozin's Comet arrives anew…?" he asked. Sokka nodded.

"That's the plan. But as you guys want a new life here, maybe it's fine if they just do that?" Sokka asked, glancing at Azula. "I mean, do you even trust them?"

"Nope. They don't trust me either," Azula said, with a dry grin. "It's weird that I've grown to trust you four dorks so fast in the span of months while the people I was raised with all my life suddenly feel like utter strangers to me."

"No offense, but you don't exactly ring a bell for us right now either, Azula," Mai said, raising an eyebrow. "Is that really all it takes for you to change your mind and your plans for your future? You got a boyfriend, and now you toss aside your nation and your father, just like that?"

"Is it really that different from what you've done, over Zuko?" Azula asked. Mai shook her head.

"I never pretended I gave a damn about anything else, though," Mai answered, earnestly. Zuko, beside her, blushed crimson. "You, however…"

"I still want what's best for my nation. I don't wish to bring harm to my father," Azula said, curtly. "Curiously, though, I happened to pick a boyfriend who's not fighting wars for revenge or for his own selfish reasons: he wants to put a stop to the Fire Nation's conquest, and he has come up with a method to do so without needing to kill my father in the process, let alone kill millions of Fire Nation people. This war has cost every side far too many lives, far too many years… and it's become clear to me that the Fire Nation won't ever win it. Upon realizing that, I found myself questioning why we fought this war, in the first place: the more I pondered it, the less sense it made, and the less I wanted to fight in it. So… I helped them dismantle the Drill. I made a choice I still stand by. The Fire Nation has much to make amends for: the five of us were but Joo Dees in our own nation, or even Dai Li agents, without realizing it. The more I helped them, the more I worked to set the stage for their rebellion, the more I realized that this isn't only wrong in the Earth Kingdom: it's wrong in the Fire Nation, just as well. So… in order to see to it that we build a better world, yes, I've joined the Avatar and his friends, and together, we will put a stop to my father's schemes. Whether you want to be part of it or not, it's up to you. But as we are… I think we can pull it off."

"Yeah? Just the six of us?" Aang asked, smiling at Azula. She shrugged.

"Not sure the lemur will be much help, but…"

"Hey! Momo's part of the team too!"

"Right, right…" Azula waved a hand dismissively at the Avatar as Sokka chuckled proudly, holding her close.

"If you really want to stop the Fire Lord, the Fire Nation, I want in," Jet said, firmly. Smellerbee and Longshot flinched.

"You said we were starting over. A new life," Longshot spoke at last, surprising everyone else. Jet clenched a fist and shook his head.

"And look at how that turned out. Come on, you guys: you've seen the way Aang, Katara and Sokka work ever since we were in Gaipan Forest. These guys… they get results we could never hope for. Now they have this incredible earthbender…"

"Gee. Thanks!"

"No problem. And they also have the Fire Nation Princess, who's turning on the Fire Lord and even dismantled the Dai Li already! We're talking about… about a chance to set things right," Jet said, intensely. "Maybe the three of us won't be able to do much good… but we can try to help, somehow."

"Well, that means you have to listen to what we say, Jet," Sokka pointed out, raising his eyebrows. "We all know you're a bit of a loose cannon when you want to be…"

"Yeah. Tell me about it," Zuko huffed: Jet shot him a distrustful glare.

"I've learned my lesson," he said, finally, glancing at Sokka again. "And I think… I may have to learn a few more, still. So, I don't know if Smellerbee and Longshot want to go, too… but if there's a chance I can help, I will."

"Well… you won't go alone," Smellerbee decided, shyly. "Longshot… you and I would go anyway, right? Anywhere Jet goes?"

Longshot nodded, and Smellerbee smiled at him.

"That way we can reel him in when he's being stupid," Smellerbee finished: Jet scoffed but smiled a little in her direction.

"Well, damn. I guess I should be offended, but you have a point," he conceded, with a chuckle.

"And… what about you lot?" Aang asked, glancing at the Fire Nation group. "I guess you could just stay here anyway, I don't think we'll need you all that much…"

"Yeah, we have Azula. She's the best firebender we can get, so we don't need those guys," Sokka said, with a proud smile. Azula smiled too, patting his hand over her shoulder gently.

"Now, though… I understand how you must feel about us," Iroh said, raising his hands defensively. "Zuko and I, we did chase you for the past months…"

"And you caused us a lot of trouble," Katara said, glaring at Zuko spitefully as she reached for her necklace. Zuko scowled and turned his face away from her.

"But we have been hunted by my brother all the same. The hunter apparently has changed her mind now…" Iroh said, glancing at Azula "But how long will it be before Ozai decides all three of us are traitors that need to be eliminated?"

"He's not likely to think that of Azula," Zuko said, bitterly. "She's the perfect princess, isn't she?"

"The perfect princess who destroyed his pet project to take over Ba Sing Se, yes," Azula said, with a dry grin. "Honestly, brother… did you miss out on half of the conversation so far? Tuned it out, maybe?"

"I didn't! I'm just saying…!"

"You're saying he doesn't expect me to betray him," Azula said, simply. "True enough. And he has no information, not yet, that states I did."

"His guard will be down. It'll be the right moment to strike," Sokka said, nodding.

"We're not getting a better chance than this, and we're not going to waste it," Azula finished, rising to her feet. "I barely know if it's our turn to ask a question… but if it is, I suppose all I want to know is whether you four have any intentions of getting in our way: I'm not bringing you back to my father anymore, Zuzu, Uncle. You're free to stay here. I might even prefer it that way, personally: like I said before, I don't exactly trust you. It's entirely possible that, once my father is defeated, you'll decide it means it's the perfect chance to step in and take the throne for yourselves…"

"Which begs the question of whether you intend to do that yourself, or not," Iroh said: his eyes glowed with steel, sternly, as he stared at Azula. "Is that what truly guides your hand?"

The question took Azula by surprise: what exactly was her plan, beyond ensuring Ozai would be defeated at the opportune moment? He wouldn't likely stay Fire Lord afterwards, so… would she take over, in his stead? Would the Fire Nation accept that? They might not be too pleased upon learning of her involvement in scheming to tear her father off the throne… but they wouldn't be any happier with either Iroh or Zuko on the throne, if it came down to that.

"I don't know what I'll do, actually," Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "Perhaps I could take the throne myself, yes… but I hadn't even thought about it so far."

"You're lying," Zuko scoffed. Azula sneered.

"And what's it to you, if I were?" she asked. "Would you come along, just to keep your precious birthright safe? As if it really were that: you weren't born to be Fire Lord any more than I was, Zuzu. Our cousin was the one intended for that throne, not either of us."

Zuko grimaced at her sharp remark, and Iroh frowned heavily because of it, too. Sokka breathed out and rose to his feet with Azula, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, if it's worth anything, I think you'd be an amazing Fire Lord," he said. Her smile softened as she gazed at him.

"You're terribly biased in my favor, that much is obvious to anyone but you," she said. Sokka grinned and shrugged.

"Well, I don't think there's any reason why he'd be wrong about that," Aang said, beaming.

"Better you than Zuko," Katara scoffed, and Zuko shot her a deathly glare.

"I don't even know this Zuko guy all that well," Toph said, scratching the back of her neck. "But if you guys want to fix the Fire Nation, why the heck are you all taking for granted a throne's the only way to go about it?"

"A very valid point," Azula said, nodding.

"Thrones are boring anyway. It's like… Ba Sing Se, but all over your life, at all times! Annoying and boring," Toph huffed, and her hair seemed to float in the air when her breath brushed it that way.

"Another valid point," Katara laughed, patting Toph's shoulder as she rose to her feet too: Toph and Aang followed, next. "Really, though… maybe you guys aren't as bad as we think. Maybe you really were just… similar to the Joo Dees and Dai Li agents, like Azula said. But Azula hasn't only saved our lives a few times so far, she's saved Ba Sing Se twice already: I'm not afraid to stand up to her if she does anything bad, but so far, she hasn't. If she's the one whose lead I'm supposed to follow to put an end to the war… well, I don't see the problem with that."

"You really became so popular so suddenly, Azula…" Ty Lee said, eyes wide. "And I thought me and Mai were your only friends."

"Well, I thought so too," Azula said, eyeing Ty Lee bitterly. "But I'm not sure of anything anymore. Well… of anything other than them, that is."

She glanced at her new team, at their proud smiles and their determination, and she answered it with her own. She certainly cherished the Fire Nation… but she had learned to cherish so much more than that, over the past few months. She had been hellbent on resenting this group from the moment they had caught her… and yet now they were the best friends she had ever made. Still…

"I'm sorry to say, though, Katara…" she said, smirking as she clasped Sokka's hand again. "It's not my lead you'll be following next. This big plan… it's your brother who's coming up with it, isn't it?"

"Oh. Well, for that matter I've been listening to him for all my life, so…" Katara said, with a dismissive shrug. Sokka gasped.

"Not true! You always ignore everything I say! This time you can't do that, see? Azula trusts me to come up with a solid plan, so you should do it, too!"

"Oh, I suppose I have no choice," Katara said, with a sarcastic smirk. Azula laughed as Sokka huffed, puffing out his chest proudly.

"If you're being truthful, Azula… about all this?" Iroh said, rising to his feet too. Zuko joined him quickly, though he eyed Iroh warily. "If you truly aren't guided by greed and self-advancement alone… well, it is something I will have to see for myself."

"Uncle?!" Zuko exclaimed, eyes wide. Iroh shrugged.

"I know the Jasmine Dragon had a nice ring to it, but even I have to admit that, in life, sometimes there are some things that are more important than… t-than tea."

"Ouch. Must have hurt, saying those words," Azula smirked. Iroh whimpered.

"You have no idea," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, then… I suppose we're all sticking together?" Azula asked, as Mai, Ty Lee, Jet, Longshot and Smellerbee rose to their feet, too. "I still don't know whether this is good or bad, but… we do have an Earth King to see."

"As soon as possible, too," Sokka said, patting Azula's back. "The Dai Li should go in first, right? To neutralize the other Dai Li in the Palace?"

"Indeed," Azula confirmed, turning towards their forces: a sea of green and yellow spread beyond them, where Joo Dees and Dai Li agents alike rejoiced in their newfound freedom. "They'll head to the Palace through the underground tunnels, together."

"I can go with them. Keep them in check and whatnot," Toph said, with a proud smile. "Besides, you guys know I don't like flying much. No offense, Appa."

Appa groaned, tapping Toph gently with his snout. The earthbender smiled, patting the creature's fur gently.

"Then… you guys would go underground too?" Sokka asked, glancing at the rest of their newly expanded group "Though… no offense, but I don't know if you should be left to handle everyone by yourself, Toph. They keep acting like they're in the right to distrust Azula, but I don't like them one bit, myself."

"Well, Iroh was nice to me, once," Toph said, with a shrug. "We had tea."

"Well, maybe I'll feel more generous after he brews me a batch, too," Sokka huffed, skeptical. Iroh grinned.

"You need only ask!"

"Ugh, I wasn't being serious," Sokka said, shooting Zuko another warning glare. "But to be honest…"

"I'm the one you're worried about, huh?" Zuko nearly hissed. "Can't say that surprises me, if you're Azula's boyfriend…"

"Well, I'm your girlfriend and I don't see why you two are such idiots about each other," Mai scowled, staring at Zuko intently. "If you don't want to do this, Zuko, we can just stay in Ba Sing Se, pouring tea, and…"

"Yeah, never mind, I'm going," Zuko cut her off, immediately put off by the notion of serving tea for a lifetime. Mai smirked slightly at his reaction. "I'm just saying… well, we all have our reservations, alright? Even if we're working together now, it's only… well, because we have no other choice."

"Ah, you're doomed, Zuzu," Azula sighed, resting against Sokka's chest dramatically. "That's exactly what I thought when they made me their prisoner, and look at where I am now."

"Drooling all over this guy?"

"Exactly."

Zuko rolled his eyes as Azula laughed at his reaction. Despite himself, Sokka smiled for it, too. Zuko certainly had been a thorn in their side for as long as he and Katara had known Aang… but maybe, in the end, he wasn't quite as much of a force of angry evil as Sokka had thought he would be. He had even been fine with the notion of leaving Zuko to his death in the North Pole, he had dismissed his brains, he had disregarded the firebender's explosive reaction when he and the others had first captured Azula… but maybe, in the end, he was every bit as much a product of his upbringing as Azula was. It might be possible he and Azula would never learn to get over their differences… but maybe their relationship wasn't all that different from his own with Katara. Perhaps it was a much worse version of it, he supposed… but right now, Zuko only seemed an exasperated older brother with a devious little sister. Perhaps upon seeing him in this new light, their old archenemy would stop seeming quite so unlikeable, and Sokka might learn to work with him and Iroh, in the end.

But they had a big mission ahead, a big step forward to secure an alliance with the Earth Kingdom, first. Their final objective, taking the war right back to Fire Lord Ozai, would come next… and now that Azula was by his side once more, Sokka felt invincible. There was no way Ozai could brace himself for what was coming… for the resounding defeat they'd be sure to deal him, on the Day of Black Sun.

The document trembled in Kuei's grip as he studied every clause, every word across it… but, above all, his eyes continued to dart downwards, to the familiar signature of the man he had long considered his closest advisor, his staunchest protector, his most loyal friend…

"This… this is your signature. Long Feng, you agreed to these terms!" Kuei exclaimed, shaking the document at Long Feng. He snarled, shaking his head: how on earth had the damn paper survived? He had destroyed his own copy, casting it into the fire… what had the damn Princess done to ensure her own copy would be safe for her to retrieve when the Dai Li had taken her into custody?

Her smug smirk as she stood with her friends and allies – among which he counted many Dai Li agents and Joo Dees, who glared at him resentfully – revealed she had likely played him, with a scheme so much more sophisticated than anything he had expected or anticipated from someone her age. Not only had she adapted to the circumstances, but she had broken his perfect system from the inside… she was terrifying. Utterly terrifying.

"This is nothing short of treason! There IS a war beyond these walls, and you've been lying about it to me since I was a child!" Kuei exclaimed, his voice hitching with outrage. Long Feng shook his head. "I cannot… I cannot let this stand. You will be imprisoned, now! And I will determine your final fate… once I've helped the Avatar and his allies defeat the Fire Nation! This is the course I chart, and the path I choose! Me! You will never manipulate me again! Now… get him out of my sight!"

As much as he had seemed ready to feed a thousand lies to Kuei, at first, Long Feng now watched in chagrin as Dai Li agents, once faithful to him, stepped up to his chained figure and dragged him out of the throne room. His lips trembled as he tried to compose a response, but none came to mind, clearly… nothing but sheer shock and confusion did, as his eyes shifted towards the Princess, standing by Kuei's side, who had proven to be the most resourceful and devious adversary he had ever faced in his political career…

He continued to tremble all the way to the prison cell he was meant to be tucked away in – him and many other Dai Li agents, his senior officers, would meet that same fate. Those who had turned on Long Feng would be granted leniency, by Kuei's own decision. Now, after everything had ended, the king slumped on his throne, shaking his head in disbelief.

"To think the man who had been closest to me turned out to be my worst enemy… it's ironic that a faithful Earth Kingdom man betrayed me, and the daughter of the enemy, whom I didn't even know was an enemy, happened to save us all from his wickedness," Kuei said, gazing at Azula with a small smile. The Princess grinned back and shrugged.

"Now that I helped save the Earth Kingdom, you're honor-bound to help me save the Fire Nation," she said. Kuei nodded promptly.

"And so, I shall," he declared. "You have mentioned plans to stage an invasion in the Fire Nation's capital city? We shall discuss them in due time. For now, though, we will confiscate all of Long Feng's belongings and properties and investigate him thoroughly. There's much that needs to be done to cleanse the nation from his corruption."

Sokka nodded in agreement: they still had a few months to go before the expected eclipse finally happened, months best spent planning matters as thoroughly as possible. Months also best spent making up for the long, dreary weeks he had spent away from Azula… to think their relationship hadn't been official for that long, and yet every moment without her seemed to be a true waste, ever since he had fallen in love with her…

"A job well done, it seems," Azula smiled, her eyes shifting towards the many Joo Dees who crowded the Palace's hall, talking animatedly among themselves, with no sign of dishonesty or nervousness any longer. Their recovery would still take time… but at least the dread grip of the wicked Grand Secretariat was over now.

"Way too well done, if anything," Sokka chuckled. "You're unbelievable, Azula. How did you even do that, huh, with the signed treaty thing? You planned every little move beforehand, to that extent…!"

"I did, and I also was very careful to analyze my surroundings on my way to Long Feng's study, the second time," Azula smirked. "There are ornamental vases on display across many of the inner halls. I simply purposefully tripped over my own shoe near one, my other shoe went flying off… one of the agents went to retrieve it, I supported myself on the wall near the vase while the others were distracted, and so I had time to tuck my own copy safely in that vase. Tricky, but it worked fairly well."

"You're a genius," Sokka sighed, with a happy smile. "How could I ever impress you when you're that clever?"

"Well, now: you've come up with a way to defeat my father without needing to resort to murdering him, and you think I still need to be impressed further?" Azula smiled, clasping his hand. "You're impossibly silly, Sokka."

"And you're impossibly wonderful, Azula," he grinned, reeling her close for a hug and a kiss to the side of her head.

Everything seemed poised to turn out for the better now – Iroh still seemed to be suspicious, but not as badly as before. Zuko appeared to remain resentful, but it seemed spending time with Mai at least helped him not be so lonely. Ty Lee, meanwhile, had taken to chatting with the Joo Dees and appeared thrilled to have the run of the city now that she was a welcome Palace guest rather than a resident of the Lower Ring. Sooner or later, Azula would likely have to talk things over with all of them… but she didn't quite want to do that yet.

Thus, for the first few days of her return to a life above ground, Azula simply basked in Sokka's company, delighted to finally be with him again, planning for the invasion together. Aang trained often with Toph, and on occasion with Katara too… and Azula suspected she'd have to teach him firebending, sooner or later. With Zuko and Iroh around as well, Aang would have plenty of teachers to choose from… but it seemed he was likely to choose her, namely because Sokka insisted she'd be the best teacher. Still, Toph determined he wasn't ready to call himself an earthbending master yet, so his firebending lessons would have to wait…

Their routine was interrupted on the day when Long Feng's archives were finally searched thoroughly, and a handful of vital letters were revealed to the Avatar's team:

"A guru wants to help me master the Avatar State?" Aang gasped: there had been a letter on Appa's horn when Long Feng had captured him, and fortunately he hadn't destroyed it before the Avatar had a chance to read it.

"And my mom is in the city. She wants to see me," Toph repeated: Iroh had read the letter for her, and she seemed genuinely happy for its contents.

Yet no one was more excited than Sokka and Katara… for they had just learned, at last, about their father's whereabouts.

"Water Tribe warriors stationed by the mouth of Chameleon Bay… and led by Hakoda," Sokka repeated, smiling with disbelief. Azula grinned too at the sight of him. "I can't believe it!"

"Well, you'd better believe it, big brother," Katara laughed. "Though I guess it sounds like we should part ways, if just for a bit, right? Aang has to go see that guru, and Toph should go meet her mother, too…"

"I can go with Toph," Iroh suggested, patting the girl's back. She smiled at his offer. "That way I could even reassure her mother that she's in good hands!"

"Well, try not to reveal you're the general who sieged this city a while ago, if you want to make sure she likes you," Azula said, with a dry grin. Iroh laughed and nodded.

"Will do!"

"And what about you guys?" Aang asked, glancing at Katara. "Will you go see your dad?"

"Well… Katara, you should go," Sokka said, smiling sadly at her. Katara raised her eyebrows. "Look, we could use their help. We can even travel to the Fire Nation on their ships! So, you could just bring them back to the Palace, and while you do that, I'll stay here and help the Earth King plan the invasion."

"Or… I will stay here and plan the invasion and you bring dad and the others to the Palace," Katara said, with an earnest smile. Sokka's eyes widened. "I know you think I'm not as smart as you are, but I can do this, Sokka. You've wanted to see Dad forever now, so…"

"You're sure? You're serious…?" Sokka asked, with a watery smile. Katara laughed and nodded, and she found herself on the receiving end of a tight hug. "You're the best little sister…!"

"I am, but you don't have to crush me!" Katara laughed, as Sokka hoisted her with his enthusiasm.

Azula smiled at the sight of the siblings, though her heart weighed in her chest already. She would help Katara organize matters, then, while Sokka was away. Surely it wouldn't take him that long, he would be back within a few…

Sokka released Katara and turned towards Azula. She raised an eyebrow at the heartfelt smile on his face, as his hand reached out to clasp hers.

"Azula… do you want to come with me?"

She had no idea she wanted him to ask her that question until he did: she didn't need to think twice about it before giving him her answer.

"You guys ready?"

Aang had given them a lift to Chameleon Bay on Appa: the bison appeared delighted to be free to travel all over the skies again, and the Avatar's mood upon finally reuniting with his old friend had risen even higher than the bison could.

"Well… we'd better be," Sokka answered from the saddle, with a weak grin and a sigh. "I've been waiting to see my Dad for so long, and now that I'm here… it just doesn't feel real."

Azula reached out to take his hand, and Sokka offered her a grateful smile. Truthfully, Azula didn't feel any more optimistic about this than Sokka did – what if Hakoda thought she wasn't good enough for her son? It would hardly come as a surprise, if he did. Still, she would rather stand by him when he needed her the most, and that was what she intended to do.

"He probably has been waiting just as long to see you, too," Azula said. "Once he knows everything you've done… I'm sure he'll be proud of you."

Sokka breathed deeply, tightening his grip on Azula's hand before reeling her in for an embrace: she was all too generous, helping him reconnect with Hakoda… while knowing, deep down, that she would never have a similar opportunity with her father. The next time she saw Ozai, they would be enemies… and he would likely never forgive her for her role in stopping the Fire Nation's conquest of Ba Sing Se. Even so, she was here supporting him… and Sokka couldn't be grateful enough for it.

"I hope you're right… I've done well for myself," Sokka said, grinning at her. "I mean, I'm in a relationship with a girl way out of my league, so…"

"I'm not out of your league," Azula laughed, relieved by the way he eased the tension with his careless jokes. "Aren't you some sort of prince, by your own claims? Well… I guess it's time for me to ascertain if that's true, isn't it?"

"You… might not be too impressed, but I guess we'll see," Sokka said, with a weak grin. "Those tents don't look all that regal from here, do they?"

"Good thing I've decided architecture isn't the only way to measure someone's actual nobility, then," Azula grinned, kissing his lips quickly. "Come on, then. Let's go. Aang has to go meet his guru, after all."

"Right. Sorry for keeping you, Aang. Good luck!" Sokka called, waving in his friend's direction. Aang smiled back and waved at them.

"Good luck, you guys!"

The young couple dismounted the saddle and waited until Appa had taken off again before starting on their way to the small encampment. Azula wasn't sure who was trembling the most, whether herself or Sokka… their linked hands meant they'd shiver together as they finally stepped into the bay area, right towards the rows of blue tents, outside of which stood many Water Tribe men.

"Sokka?" one of the warriors called for him. He tensed up upon being recognized, but he smiled as the man approached, followed by several others.

"Look at you! You're so tall now!" exclaimed one, laughing as Sokka smiled proudly.

"And who's this?" asked one of the men: Azula had taken to following Dai Li fashion now, over the practicality of the uniform. Thus, she had no doubts the Water Tribe men would be mystified by her presence… which was one of the reasons why she had been slightly apprehensive about coming with Sokka, once she was already on the bison's saddle.

She had very little to worry about, though. Sokka smiled broadly at her and the men surrounding him before announcing, proudly:

"This is my girlfriend, Azula."

"Woah! You're old enough to have a girlfriend?"

"Goodness, you rascal! Look at you!"

Sokka laughed as the others congratulated him. The warriors smiled far more enthusiastically now, despite it was obvious their curiosity was far from sated. Still, they'd have time to learn more about Azula and, most importantly, to discover what their young Tribe member was up to, these days. There was something else that needed to be done first, however…

"Your dad's in that tent over there, Sokka. He'll be delighted to see you… both of you," said one of the warriors, gesturing at the largest tent of the group. Sokka swallowed hard and nodded gratefully.

"Okay, then. Okay. Let's go," he said. Azula nodded firmly.

They stepped closer to the tent, followed by the other warriors who were, naturally, excited about witnessing the reunion between father and son. When Sokka raised a hand to the tent's flap, Azula released the other one. He glanced at her in confusion, and she shook her head.

"Go on. It's your father," she said. He smiled back, raising his hand to caress her cheek gently.

"Thank you," he said, softly. Azula's heart jolted over his words, and the tender look in his eyes.

Without further ado, he pushed the flap open: many more warriors were inside, no doubt discussing strategies… but Sokka's eyes shifted towards the one sitting the furthest away. The tallest member of the tribe, Bato, stood right beside him… and he smiled warmly at Sokka just as the Chief of the Water Tribe raised his gaze upon realizing someone had entered the tent.

For a moment, it seemed Hakoda couldn't react. Sokka's smile gained strength, as his heart raced even more fiercely…

"Sokka?" Hakoda called, and just the sound of that familiar voice, a voice he hadn't heard in so many years, was enough to make Sokka's eyes tear up.

"Dad…" he gasped, as Hakoda rose to his feet, smiling in blissful delight. "Dad!"

"Oh, my boy. My son!" Hakoda laughed, racing across the large tent, among the awed cheers of his warriors, on his way to finally embrace Sokka, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

Sokka only took a few steps when Hakoda reached him: his father was still taller than him, still much stronger, physically… still the leader and hero Sokka had ever modeled himself after. He laughed in his father's arms, hugging him back tightly…

Azula smiled sadly at the sight, realizing Sokka might not be a royal, after all. In her experience, fathers were never quite so warm, so caring, so loving with their children. She had no recollection of having embraced her father that way… let alone of her father welcoming her in his arms so readily. Maybe he wasn't a royal at all… and maybe he shouldn't be, either. This, Azula thought, was far preferrable to the highborn pretensions she had been raised in, back in the Fire Nation.

"Bato told me you guys were on the road!" Hakoda laughed, hugging Sokka warmly. "But I had no idea we'd have a chance to meet yet! You're traveling with the Avatar, Sokka?"

"I am, but… that's not all I'm up to, these days," Sokka smiled awkwardly, pulling away. His father raised his eyebrows, compelling him to keep speaking. "Well… I learned about something important. About the darkest day in Fire Nation history: an eclipse. A solar eclipse can block firebenders' access to firebending, and one is going to happen on the first day of the eighth month…"

"Really?" Hakoda asked, eyes wide. "Sokka, that's…!"

"The perfect opportunity to defeat them, yeah!" Sokka smiled. "We already secured the Earth King's support, and when we found out you guys were here, we had to come see you…"

"Your sister is here too?" Hakoda asked, with a smile. "And the Ava-…? Uh. Huh. Who's this, Sokka?"

Sokka smiled bashfully, glancing back at Azula, who remained by the open tent flap. She willed the blood not to rush to her face, but it was easier said than done…

"She's Azula… Princess Azula, of the Fire Nation," Sokka explained. Hakoda's jaw dropped.

"What?!" the many warriors exclaimed, staring at him in surprise, both those outside the tent and those inside it.

"You just said she was your girlfriend!" exclaimed one of the warriors outside. Hakoda's astonishment increased even further.

"T-the Fire Lord's daughter is your girlfriend?!" Hakoda asked, staring at Sokka intently: he grinned proudly and nodded.

"She is… and she's been helping us fight back against her father," Sokka explained: Hakoda's astonishment only increased further. "I know it sounds crazy, Dad… but believe me, we have a plan. A great one. We've already set things right in Ba Sing Se… and now it's time to do the same thing, in the Fire Nation. Azula is on our side… as are her brother and uncle, apparently, but I don't really trust those guys as much as I trust her. She's protected us, saved millions of lives…"

"Unbelievable," Hakoda said, though he smiled with interest as he gazed at Azula. "Well, then… goodness. I suppose I should thank you for watching over my son, for as long as you have…"

"You needn't do so," Azula said, and Hakoda's brow furrowed. "In many ways, he's the one who… who's saved my life in a thousand ways. So, uh, anyway… is something the matter?"

"N-no, no," Hakoda grinned awkwardly: how could he explain, truly, that the young princess's voice reminded him all too eerily of his late wife's own voice? "If anything… you seem quite remarkable, Princess Azula. It's my honor to meet the girl my boy seems so smitten with… and my honor to welcome you among us all. I suppose you're used to more refined accommodations, but…"

"I lived in a cave for over a month, recently. This tent looks like a palace, in comparison," Azula said, matter-of-factly. Sokka chuckled as he patted his confused father's back.

"Don't worry, Dad. We'll tell you everything," he promised.

He fulfilled that vow by nighttime, when the whole group enjoyed their dinner: Hakoda and his men had been sabotaging Fire Nation ships so far, but they seemed perfectly ready to change course and take to sailing to the Fire Nation with the Earth Kingdom's promised troops, when the time came. Sokka explained his own stories too, and Azula listened attentively by his other side, taking notes of Sokka's many adventures from before they'd crossed paths. The young man seemed thrilled to enjoy a meal both with her and his father, and she could have sworn she had never seen him any happier.

"Well, then… you kids have quite the ambitious strategy in mind," Hakoda said, stroking his chin in deep thought. "If this works, though… the war could definitely end. But how will you go about this, if I can ask?"

"Azula can help us with what to expect," Sokka said, glancing at his girlfriend, who nodded positively. "As far as we know, there's those big gates of Azulon to worry about, but…"

"Sending your troops that way is not the best choice, going forward," Azula pointed out. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if they close the gates, it wouldn't be. But I have a few plans for that, too, Azula," Sokka said. "I've already sent word to the Mechanist, a friend of mine in the Northern Air Temple, and I have some ideas on what sorts of vehicles we can design to…"

"Well, it sounds fascinating but it's still not the only way to go about this plan of yours," Azula said, with a weak smile. "Come on. You have the Fire Nation's Princess here, willingly offering secrets of the royal family… you're supposed to take the opportunity to unveil them, Sokka."

"Woah. I didn't say I wouldn't," Sokka grinned, raising his eyebrows intently. "What are you trying to say, huh?"

"I'm saying… we can send a decoy attack, with that strategy of yours, through the gates, if you really want to. The bulk of our forces, perhaps," Azula said, with a shrug. "But there's something not a lot of people know about… especially people outside the Fire Nation."

"Oh?" Hakoda raised his eyebrows too, glancing at Azula from over Sokka's head. "Do tell, then: what is this secret you're offering?"

"A secret indeed… an underground river that leads right to the Royal Palace," Azula said, with a devious smile. Sokka's eyes widened. "I know how to access it. We can enter the Palace through it, and strike at my father while he believes, quite wrongfully, that his troops are battling the main forces assaulting the Fire Nation."

"If our strongest go through that secret river: Aang, you, Toph, Katara…"

"You," Azula added, and Sokka smiled shyly.

"We'd have a chance to take down the Fire Lord, then. We really would," Sokka grinned, proudly now. Azula nodded.

"Though… unfortunately, Water Tribe ships sailing that close to the Fire Nation would raise a few alarms," Azula pointed out. Sokka hummed… and Hakoda scoffed, right next to them.

"No need to worry about that. We're specialized at defeating Fire Nation naval forces," he said. "Want us to capture you a ship, so you can approach the Fire Nation easily with it? Consider it done."

"Wait… really? Just like that?" Azula's eyes widened. Hakoda grinned and offered her a thumbs-up.

"You'll see. We'll be sure to succeed! I could help you sail the stolen ship, if you wish," Hakoda suggested. "The rest of the warriors can take advantage of Sokka's solutions for how to get past the gates, or just serve as decoys…"

"But if you can steal ships for us, they won't know we're the enemy," Sokka smiled proudly. "So long as we play our cards right, that is…"

"And we will," Hakoda grinned proudly. "Give us a few days: once we've secured enough ships to help you, your plan will be well on its way to becoming a reality."

"Damn… hehe, damn!" Sokka grinned, staring at the fire burning at the center of their group. "I shouldn't be so excited, I know, but… this really is it. This really could be it…!"

"It will be. Whatever happens in the coming months, the war will end, for sure," Azula said, firmly. Sokka smiled too as Hakoda nodded.

"What most of us could only dream of… and you guys happen to know exactly how to go about it," Hakoda said. "You have a one-of-a-kind chance in your hands, kids… and I'll be honored to help you make the most of it."

Sokka smiled and nodded, clasping Azula's hand with enthusiasm. She smiled too, intertwining their fingers: it wasn't quite what she had expected for her first encounter with Sokka's father… but the man certainly seemed agreeable and quite smart, just like his son. If they could bond over strategizing to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, all the better for the three of them.

Within five days, Hakoda and his men had successfully captured and commandeered four Fire Nation patrol ships near Chameleon Bay. Sokka offered some help, though Azula settled for watching the battle from a distance, still unwilling to fight back against her own nation to the extent she knew Hakoda and Sokka would have to, that day. The Fire Nation crews were made prisoners in their own ships, and shortly after everything had been settled, the Water Tribe warriors sailed to Ba Sing Se, ready to offer their assistance to the impending invasion plans.

Sokka and Azula returned to find several surprises, in the Palace: Toph and Iroh's attempt to meet with the former's family had gone awry when they walked right into a trap. It was quite an unsettling trap too: they were stuck in a metal cage together, and Toph certainly had no intentions of staying terribly cramped within the structure forever. Iroh tried to melt off the walls, to no avail… yet the young earthbender soon discovered a new ability, metalbending, when she had determined she wouldn't stay stuck in such a tight cage with Iroh for another moment.

As for Aang, he didn't seem as upbeat as before, but he had mastered the Avatar State successfully. Kuei and the Council of Five had worked with Katara to organize their troops for the invasion, plans that were bolstered and strengthened with the addition of Hakoda's men and Azula's strategies and information.

Thus, within another two weeks, a sizable fleet was ready to take to the seas… though they were many days behind the four captured Fire Nation ships in which traveled the group that would infiltrate the Fire Nation, on the Day of Black Sun.

Several Dai Li agents had insisted on following Azula: they were among the many passengers aboard the four ships. Even so, Sokka wasn't quite sure that the men who faithfully vowed to protect Azula would be enough to ensure Azula wouldn't be defenseless when the eclipse happened…

"I'm only saying, I can teach you how to use some weapons, just in case!" Sokka had said on one bright morning, as they sailed into Fire Nation waters, well past the blockade. Azula huffed.

"I can use knives to defend myself. If the need arises, I'll just nick some of Mai's blades before we charge into the Palace itself."

"Right, but come on, you're an awesome fighter. I bet you'd pick up how to use a boomerang pretty instinctively, too!"

"I might, but then I might even, I don't know, outshine you with it…"

"I wouldn't mind that one bit, but that's pretty arrogant of you, Princess…" Sokka hissed, and Azula smirked playfully as he raised his hands in a menacing gesture… menacing, ticklish gesture, that was.

"Uh… I don't quite wish to interrupt, but are you discussing learning new fighting techniques?"

As much as Azula had learned to trust Iroh better these days, she was still on edge around the man more often than not. That he had chosen to travel on the same ship with them hadn't helped matters much: Azula suspected he wanted to keep watch on her to ensure she wasn't up to anything nefarious, even now.

"Well, yeah, but you're a firebender too, so I doubt you'd help much" Sokka said, dismissively. Iroh laughed.

"I know a few useful techniques without firebending too, young man. Though… I was thinking I have an acquaintance, not so far from here" Iroh said, glancing across the deck of the ship: they had already passed the first few islands of the archipelago, and he smiled proudly at the sight of the next one. "In that very island, I presume."

"And we're supposed to trust your acquaintance will be of some help in our war effort?" Azula asked, blinking blankly.

"Well, surely you can recognize the island," Iroh grinned. "My acquaintance is none other than Master Piandao, Princess Azula: if he wills it, he could teach the two of you how to fight with swords."

"W-wait… what?" Sokka's eyes widened: he had been ready to dismiss the man's assistance, at first… but if he wasn't lying, it wasn't an opportunity Sokka would be so willing to dismiss.

"Piandao?" Azula repeated, raising her eyebrows. "Well, well. That's… a surprisingly agreeable proposal, actually."

"You know this guy?" Sokka asked.

"He taught my brother, when we were kids," Azula answered. "I never did get the chance to learn with him, but it's not a bad idea to try. We still have time to spare anyway, on our way to the rendezvous point in the Black Cliffs…"

"Then you think we can try to do this?" Sokka asked, stroking his chin. "I mean… it wouldn't hurt, I think. I could learn too, and a sword would definitely help you heaps…"

"Across the short time of the total eclipse?" Azula asked, amused. "Still… admittedly, I wouldn't mind learning, if he'll have me. Not just for the sake of this battle, but for the future, in general…"

"Very well, then! I shall send word to Piandao, and we'll visit him once we dock in Shu Jing," Iroh declared, with a proud smile.

That Iroh had been helpful still felt odd to Azula, but it wasn't a change she'd reject entirely, as long as it wasn't detrimental to their quest. Within only a few hours, their ships had docked in Shu Jing, and their group followed Iroh to Piandao's doorstep, only to be greeted by a most confused butler, who appeared moments away from rejecting them all.

"Let Piandao know an old friend is here to see him," Iroh smiled.

Iroh's influence, whatever it entailed, proved sufficient to guarantee Piandao would meet them: the man appeared unamused by their visit and their intentions to learn from him, at first… but his mood changed upon glimpsing Sokka and Azula's intertwined hands.

"You… are here to learn from me?" he asked, puzzled. "To what end, I wonder?"

"If you truly want us to be completely honest? Because an eclipse is coming, and we have a plan to defeat my father by then," Azula said, with a dry grin. "I think I could handle myself without needing my firebending, but…"

"I think it would be better if we know how to protect ourselves properly. How to defend ourselves with as many resources as we can have at our disposal," Sokka said, firmly. Piandao hummed.

"And what makes you both think you're worthy of my teachings?" he asked. Azula scoffed at the question… but to her surprise, Sokka actually balked upon hearing it.

"Well… maybe I'm not. I don't know if I'm worthy," he said. "But I do know Azula is. She… she's extraordinary. She has saved thousands of lives, more than you can imagine, no matter if her father raised her to do the exact opposite thing. She's fighting back against the Fire Lord out of her own convictions, and not because of some vindictive or ambitious agenda… she wants to do it because she realized the war is wrong, and her father needs to be stopped. Someone like her… would have to be worthy. I can't imagine anyone worthier."

Piandao smiled slowly, glancing at Azula with amusement. She appeared slightly flustered, but not willing to contest Sokka's words… the fact that the young man had uttered them so intensely hadn't only convinced Piandao of Azula's worth, but of Sokka's own, too.

"Well, then… I suppose I shall teach you both. We'll see how it turns out," he decided: Sokka smiled enthusiastically and let out a victorious cheer: he wrapped his arms around Azula and hoisted her in the air, to her amusement and slight embarrassment.

They had several weeks to spare before taking off to the Black Cliffs, and so, they spent that time training with Piandao. They fought with wooden blades at first, sparring against the butler, Fat, and against each other too. While Azula had always thought herself to be a fast learner, she was astonished by Sokka's quickness to adapt to fighting with a sword, despite he never had before: within only a few days, she couldn't seem to defeat him at all, not when he was taking her seriously, at least.

Two weeks after their arrival, their friends dropped by the mansion to visit them: both Azula and Sokka were surprised by their flashy story about a meteorite that had fallen near Shu Jing's town. Together, Aang, Katara, Toph and Zuko had ensured to snuff it out – the firebender was slow to adapt to their group's dynamics, but it seemed his many conversations with Iroh had helped him understand this might finally be his opportunity to set himself free from the dark path he had been treading, so far. Mai, Ty Lee, Jet, Longshot and Smellerbee had only arrived on the scene after the worst of the fire had been quenched, but the whole group insisted that Sokka and Azula would have been amazed by the whole experience – unaware that the happy couple, exhausted after a day of training, had dozed off together in the garden they had rearranged, watching the meteor shower while comfortably entwined in each other's arms.

Their visit had been a leisure day in the midst of their training, right before Piandao determined they were ready to forge their own swords. Yet, while Azula had been ready to use most any steel in the man's forge, Sokka had other plans in mind.

"You want to use this meteorite, then?" Piandao asked. Azula tapped her chin as the three of them stood at the foot of the large rock, and she glanced at their master with interest.

"Would it be possible to do it? And… would it be possible to have two swords made from the ore?" she asked. Sokka grinned broadly.

"We'd have matching swords. Sounds awesome!" he grinned, and Azula reflected the gesture. Piandao smiled too and shook his head.

"What a strange couple you make… and yet what an interesting one, too," he confessed. "Very well, then: we shall give this a try."

Dai Li agents, Aang and Toph helped them drag the meteorite into the mansion. Both the students took to harvesting the meteorite's ore under Piandao's watchful gaze, and then to working it carefully, folding it whenever Piandao commanded it. It was a long process, the result of much hard work… and it paid off when, on a bright morning, Sokka and Azula were set, with their sharp, sturdy and beautiful black blades.

"Just look at them! They're perfect!" Sokka nearly squeaked, gazing at their swords in utmost awe. Azula smiled as they sat together at their usual training courtyard. "I can't believe we made something so amazing… two of them, too!"

"Seems fitting that we'd match" Azula smiled, tucking her head on his shoulder, tired after the long process of crafting the weapons. "Hopefully we won't need to make much use of them… but we'll be ready, if we do."

"Yeah… yeah" Sokka nodded, propping his head against hers. "Azula…"

"Hmm?"

"What are you going to call your sword?"

"Eh? I… have to give it a name, do I?"

"Of course! I'm thinking mine is going to be… Space Sword!"

"Space Sword? That's the best you can do?"

"Well, why not?"

"Oh, well, suit yourself. If so… mine shall be called Starfang."

"W-woah… wait, really?! That sounds so cool!" Sokka's jaw dropped, as Azula smirked smugly at him. "Heeeey!"

"Hey yourself. You picked the boring name first," she smirked. Sokka pouted.

"Okay, you know what? Maybe we should duel each other now! If I beat you, you can come up with a better name for my sword and then we'll both sound awesome and epic and…!"

"The one you shall be sparring with now is me, not each other, Sokka,"

Piandao's declaration startled his two students out of their teasing banter. The man had one of his swords in hand, and their steel seemed to shine in his dark eyes as he stood ready to test the two wielders of the meteorite swords personally.

Azula chose to fight first: Sokka encouraged her to do her best, though he remained tense and uneasy about this new stage in their training, all the same. As much as he had supposed the day would come when they would be able to stand their ground against their master, he certainly hadn't thought it had arrived quite so soon…

"Do not hold back," Piandao said, sternly. Azula scowled.

"That's a complicated request to make from me. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course… but that means I wouldn't resort to my sword technique alone."

"Did I command otherwise?" Piandao asked. Azula raised her eyebrows. "You have learned to take advantage of every element in the battlefield in combat: why would you hold back your bending, if so?"

"Because I won't have it, when I face my father."

"For ten minutes, at best. Perhaps even less than that," Piandao said. Azula gritted her teeth. "You may not have trained with firebending and swords yet… but there's no better moment to begin using both than now. Do not limit your own versatility, Princess Azula."

"Understood," she said… and she attacked.

Sokka gasped, winced and even yanked his hair as he watched the fierce battle Azula waged against Piandao: blue fire and even the occasional lightning blast were leveled at his sword master… who happened to flutter right out of the path of danger almost effortlessly each time. The man certainly was taking Azula seriously, remaining on the defensive through most their fight… but Sokka could read his actions and choices all too well, much as he could be dazed and delighted upon witnessing Azula's fiercest combat abilities. Piandao was waiting for an opening, seeking to create one with his occasional jabs in Azula's direction, until he finally succeeded at finding one: in a moment of confusion, Azula failed to parry his sword effectively. She couldn't summon enough fire, let alone quickly enough, to prevent the sword master from aiming the tip of his sword right at her throat.

"An impressive display," Piandao smirked. Azula, clearly, didn't seem too flattered by his words or the outcome of this fight. "Well done, Princess Azula."

"I couldn't win," she said, bitterly.

"I didn't expect you to," he answered, simply. Azula sighed.

"You've fought thousands of benders in the past, haven't you? Countless sword masters, as well…"

"You may be one of the strongest I've faced… but indeed, experience still counts for something," Piandao smiled. "You have a vast potential, Princess Azula. I know you'll make good use of it."

She nodded, still not quite pleased with her performance, but appreciating the opportunity to spar with her master, nonetheless. Only a fool would underestimate a non-bender, she knew, as she stepped towards the spot where Sokka had been sitting all along.

"Your turn," Azula said, as he rose to his feet.

"I know, but… just so you know? You were amazing," Sokka declared, patting her shoulder. Azula smiled and shook her head. "I mean it!"

"Go on, now. You'd better get closer to beating him than I did," she said, making to sit down on the outskirts of the combat area while Sokka stepped up to Piandao, breathing deeply.

He honestly didn't think he could take on Piandao and come any closer to victory than Azula had… but he'd be damned if he wouldn't try.

The combat began, and Azula watched in awed silence: it wasn't her imagination, was it? Sokka moved and flowed through his every parry and stab far more smoothly than Piandao himself did. Yes, he lacked experience, much like she did… but without any bending, Sokka's combat instincts appeared to keep Piandao on his toes. Azula's lips curled into a smile as she watched his movements intently, admiring his talent… talent he seemed utterly unaware of. At moments, she found herself wondering if he'd actually win – and she certainly rooted for him, hoping that he would.

Still, at the end of the day, even Sokka's inventive way of forcing Piandao to fight while blinded by dirt hadn't sufficed: the man overcame his defenses eventually, and Sokka wound up staring at the pointy edge of a sword, much as Azula had earlier.

"Impressive. Very impressive," Piandao said, once Fat brought him a cloth to clean his face with. "It's strange to think that my two most promising students happened to arrive at the same time…"

"W-woah, you're just saying that…" Sokka laughed, shaking his head nervously.

"I'm certainly not. Especially not with you," Piandao said, smiling at Sokka. "You embody every precept a good swordsman ought to follow. Your unpredictability, your observation skills, your ease and instinct in combat… countless men have spent decades attempting to attain a fraction of what you have been cultivating your whole life. Continue on this path, and you'll be sure to outdo me and all the best swordsmen in the world, Sokka."

"I… you really think so?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. Piandao grinned and patted his shoulder.

"You may just be the worthiest man I have ever trained," he finished. Sokka's eyes gleamed with joy and pride upon hearing those words.

Not far behind him, Azula could only smile fondly: usually she'd be competitive with anyone who took upon doing the same things she did… but for some reason, while she certainly wanted to improve with her sword, she didn't do it out of a sense of jealousy or rivalry. Seeing Sokka succeed simply inspired her to try, too… and even if she failed, knowing he'd excelled at something brought more than enough joy to her heart, just as well.

Sokka continued to be in a bright mood afterwards, as they finally returned to their journey – it was time for them to reach the Black Cliffs, and once they did, Aang had a chaotic stress breakdown over what to do once they were facing the Fire Lord. Azula and Sokka continued to work on their strategies for the battle, and that was what they had been doing when the first ships of their incoming fleet were spotted in the distance: Sokka had contacted dozens of people, it seemed to Azula, countless friends they'd met in the past and who rejoined them on their journey now. After one night of celebration, the next morning saw them preparing for action, at last: the Day of Black Sun was only two days away.

"Uh… hey, everyone! We're all here for… uh, you know what we're here for, so um, I'll just get to it!" Sokka blabbered nervously, setting up his maps of the Fire Nation on display for their forces to see. On the other side, Azula stared at him quizzically. "Okay, so, we're going to invade the Fire Nation through… eh, wait, that's not the right map, uh, this one! Alright, uh, there's going to be an eclipse! And that means firebenders won't get to use fire, so we can use that to our advantage to…! Uh, wait, maybe I should…!"

"You're on the right track," Azula said, cuttingly. Sokka flinched as she sighed and stepped forward. "Sokka gathered information about an eclipse that will happen two days from now. This eclipse represents a brilliant opportunity to defeat my father, the Fire Lord, and begin the restoration of balance in the world."

"Right!" Sokka swallowed hard. "The plan is threefold! Two forces will battle at sea, in this area."

He gestured at the map behind him, right in the waters before the Great Gates of Azulon.

"We're already stationed near the Fire Nation's strongest defense mechanism: our Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe ships will charge in a frontal attack," Azula continued.

"And the underwater vessels the Mechanist and I designed will help another group charge inside the Fire Nation from underneath the Great Gates," Sokka continued. "This will happen on the day of the eclipse! We have no idea if the Fire Lord is aware that an eclipse will be happening…"

"But we do know he doesn't expect an attack of this magnitude to happen on that day," Azula declared. Sokka nodded. "My involvement in this side of the war remains a secret for him. Therefore, my crucial information to infiltrate the Fire Nation's Royal Palace shall come as a surprise for him."

"While the two forces battle at sea, a third force will charge into the Palace through the secret river Azula has told us about," Sokka explained. "The captured Fire Nation ships will see us all the way there. Once we seize control of the Capital, we will have the Fire Nation forces at a stalemate…"

"And the war will be over. For good," Azula finished.

Sokka shot her an appreciative smile while their many supporters cheered in approval of their plan. She had helped him retain his focus and center, and he had delivered his speech safely with her assistance… once she had started talking, he hadn't felt nervous at all anymore.

"Thank you," he mouthed at her. She smirked and shrugged.

"Anytime," she said: questions began by then, and together with the leaders of each faction that would take part in their major incursion, Azula and Sokka answered everything, in preparation for the challenges of their biggest operation yet.

Unlike the first and second groups, tasked with the chaotic, distracting frontal attack, the third group had to set out right away. The members of their alliance from Lake Laogai – both Zuko and Jet's groups – were distributed among the four ships, among many Water Tribe warriors and countless Dai Li agents, determined to stand by Princess Azula. Their trip to the secret river would take them a day and a half, at least: all was ready for the final battle, and so, nervousness was to be expected…

Yet Sokka found, unsurprisingly, that he felt a lot less tense and anxious about the future whenever he was with Azula. On the final night of their journey, they remained comfortably nestled together on deck, watching the stars again while quietly wound in each other's arms, stretched across a blanket.

"It's hard to believe it's finally about to happen, huh?" Sokka said, smiling weakly.

"I do wonder if things will go according to plan," Azula said, closing her eyes as her head rested on his shoulder. "I wonder what it'll feel like, losing my firebending…"

"You've never witnessed a total eclipse, I take it?" Sokka asked. She shook her head.

"Have you?"

"Yeah… they happen sometimes, down south," Sokka said, stroking her hair gently. "Only saw one total eclipse, though. It just… gets a lot colder, for a bit. Not so bad that you'd freeze, not even in the South Pole…"

"Good to know, though I suspect you're better suited at resisting the cold than I am," Azula smirked, and Sokka chuckled.

"Fair enough," he said. "I really don't know what it's like for a firebender, but I thought… it was kind of beautiful, somehow."

"The moon and the sun, joined together," Azula recited, smiling weakly. "The almighty sun, defeated by the moon? Suits us all too well…"

"What? The heck is that supposed to mean?" Sokka asked, amused.

"Oh, you know. The sun powers firebenders, the moon powers waterbenders…" Azula smiled. "The symbolism fits all too well. Just as I was out and about, intending to scorch the whole world… you came along and captured me. And I wound up changing my ways completely because of you, didn't I?"

"Come on, now," Sokka smiled, shaking his head. "For that matter, the moon reflects the sunlight, right? So that means whatever power you think I have, it's a reflection of your own."

"Lies and slander," Azula scoffed, amusing Sokka again. "You're blind to your own talents, clear as day…"

"Standing next to you, I'm not exactly impressive, am I?" he said. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Only because you're too smitten to pay attention to anyone but me, I'd say," she scoffed. Sokka snorted. "Come on, Sokka. Look at yourself. Look at how far you've come, everything Piandao said to you… again, you captured me. If I'm incredible, according to you, you still took me down. This is factual, empirical evidence you can't dismiss on technicalities or nonsense…"

"I didn't take you down myself, I told the others what to do so…!"

"Exactly. Which means you're not only a talented warrior, you're a clever one, and a great leader," Azula finished. Sokka chuckled and shook his head. "Keep on denying it all you want, you know I'm right."

"I know you're amazing," he said, smiling heartily at her. "And maybe you're right, maybe I'm blind to my own strengths… but I think being near you, being with you, keeps bringing out the best in me. Even what I didn't know I had in me…"

"Here I thought I was the one who felt that way," Azula smiled, pressing her brow to his. "Then maybe we just make each other better, do we?"

"Hmm. Eclipses… they're supposed to be very charged, spiritual moments," Sokka said, hand trailing over Azula's cheek. "As far as I know, anyway. From the stories my Gran-Gran told us, it was a moment of renewal… when the sun and the moon meet, the sky shifts in reaction to that timeless exchange. It means change… it means something incredible is about to happen."

"It will be so, tomorrow," Azula whispered. "The end of an era, if all goes well."

"That's right," Sokka smiled warmly. "The end of an era."

"The sun and moon may bring renewal in the sky… you and I, with all our allies, will do the same here, on land," Azula said. "Every step we've taken together, ever since you caught me… each one has brought us to this moment."

"And I cherish every last one of them," Sokka said, taking her hand in his and pressing his lips to her fingers softly. Azula smiled warmly, slipping closer to him. "If it's a moment of renewal… then maybe that's why we always make each other better, huh?"

"We're a perpetual eclipse, you and I?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka chuckled, and Azula shrugged. "Strangely… it even sounds slightly romantic to look at it that way. Even if I can't bend… you've made me stronger than I ever have been."

"You've made yourself stronger," Sokka grinned. "You're not alone, that's for sure… but your strength is your own."

"As is yours," Azula responded. Sokka bit his lip but smiled to himself. "So… trust yourself. Trust me, too. As long as we do that… we'll pull this off, for sure. There's no one I'd rather conquer the Fire Nation with, I can assure you of that."

"I feel the same way," Sokka whispered, pressing a light kiss to her lips. "I know this has been a really quick and crazy mess, we've only known each other for, what, five months? I don't even know if that much, and yet…"

"And yet?" Azula asked, with a sly smirk. Sokka chuckled, kissing her briskly anew.

"You know exactly what I wanted to say, don't you?"

"Maybe. But I'm waiting for you to say it anyway."

"I love you, Azula."

Her heart, ever so quick to race when she was with him, almost seemed to burst from her chest when he said those words. A soft laugh burst from her lips as she kissed him far more passionately, extending the exchange as much as she could, ensuring to feel the blissful touch of those words with every brush of his lips…

"I can barely believe I'm saying it too, but… I love you too, Sokka," she admitted earnestly, gazing into his eyes once their lips parted. He grinned wildly, despite her enthusiastic reaction had already spoken for itself… but hearing it directly only made things better.

He kissed her again, rolling over their blanket, laughing happily as once again, a spread of stars in the dark skies above witnessed every step forward they took together, every new level their relationship might reach. Entangled in each other's arms as they were, as closely wound together as the moon and the sun, the Fire Nation Princess and the Water Tribe warrior enacted their eclipse anew, finding further strength in their union, further renewal and hope upon reflecting each other's love and bolstering it further, with each moment they shared underneath a starlit sky…

The news confused him as he marched out of his study, at haste: he knew of the eclipse, of course he did, but what fools had expected an attack against the Fire Nation would possibly prosper only over a wistful, brief cosmic event?

The Fire Lord's footsteps moved heavily towards his throne room: his council and closest advisors would be waiting there, to listen to War Minister Qin's report on what this threat truly meant. There had been reports of forces breaching the Great Gates, despite Ozai had no idea how that could have happened at all… but it didn't matter. Perhaps it wasn't too late yet to call for a retreat, to warn all civilians and send them underground before ushering the bulk of his forces, especially his many aircrafts, to take down the measly, puny threat of rebels fighting in the Fire Nation's waters…

He frowned once he and his guards approached the Throne Room: there were no guards posed outside? The curtain, itself, appeared damaged…

"My Lord…" one of his guards called him, urging him to slow down. Ozai scoffed and ignored him, rushing forward.

He froze as soon as he pushed his way across the Throne Room's threshold.

A blue curtain of fire revealed that all his men, including War Minister Qin, had been imprisoned by the Palace's own marble floors.

The Throne Room had been invaded by forces he couldn't recognize at first: men in green attire, it seemed, but there were others who appeared Water Tribe, and… and a boy, with a scar on his face, wielding his dao swords. An old man, short and stout, and all too familiar…

A bald boy, with arrow markings across his features.

Another one, with a wolf's tail, clad in the traditional warrior attire of his people, holding a sword in his direction from behind the blue fire…

Blue fire… blue fire?

It only took him a moment to know who sat on his throne, who had commanded that fire, who waited with a sword of her own, prepared for the moment when her own control over her element would fade.

"What is… what is the meaning of this?! Azula!"

The Princess breathed out slowly, rising to her feet to stand by the boy in front of her. In an instant, the fire burning before them shifted in nature… it became orange. Weakened… just as Ozai felt weakened when his connection with his element faded.

All his allies were firebenders. Not a single one of his guards was a non-bender. The enemy forces in his Throne Room weren't hindered by the eclipse… at least, not the bulk of them.

"Stand… stand down. Don't you dare betray me, Azula!" Ozai shouted: what was the point in even pretending anything else had happened? He didn't need any explanations, not in the end: the Princess had been missing in action for a long time, and none of the forces he had sent to retrieve her had brought a positive response at all. Now, at last, he understood why: "Lower your weapon, child!"

"I'm afraid you're in no position to bargain anymore, Father," Azula said, her voice tinged with remorse. "We have fought our way here, while your forces were distracted in the Great Gates. It was… almost easy, even. But this is the hard part: either you surrender without a fight, or you risk your life trying to retake a throne that won't be yours anymore. Please, Father…"

"Don't you dare… what is this treachery?! Who the hell are you and where is my daughter?! My true daughter!" Ozai roared, stepping inside the room without any regard for his powerlessness – such was his shock that he couldn't even register said powerlessness anymore.

"She's right here. And she's the only reason all these troops are here to take you captive rather than kill you in cold blood," Azula said, eyeing Ozai with genuine sadness. "Please, Father… please. You can't win. You already know you can't. Keep me talking if you wish… if you so much as attempt to fight back when the firebending returns, the Avatar will be but one enemy for you to face, in a sea of countless others. If you force them to fight… I can't guarantee you'll survive. I want you to, but…"

"Oh, now you're pretending to be concerned for my sake?!" Ozai scoffed. "How could you possibly betray me and then play up this sort of phony remorse to appeal to my sympathy?!"

"She's not appealing to your sympathy, but to your common sense, if you have any in that head of yours," Sokka intervened, scowling. "A lot of us are ready to do whatever it takes to end this war. Testing our resolve… it will only hurt your daughter and I sure as hell don't want to do that. Stand down now… or face the consequences, Fire Lord Ozai."

He raised his sword when he spoke those words: the blue steel in the teenager's eyes should have been meaningless for Ozai, but he found there was something odd about that boy. A strength he wasn't sure he had ever faced before, at any given point in his life…

A strength he refused to yield to, even now.

"Then… I should surrender, for Azula's sake?" Ozai asked, with a sarcastic grin. "Allow you to capture and imprison me, perhaps? To execute me for the crimes of my forefathers…!"

"For your own, if anything. I'm afraid we'd have to revive you about a hundred times to make you pay for those your forefathers committed, too," Sokka said, cuttingly. "This is your only chance to stand down and surrender. Waste our time all you like… if you make a single wrong move, we'll give out the order…"

"You're but a child! What power do you expect to wield over me?"

"The power of a world that wants balance!" Aang exclaimed: he stood below the fire, with Katara and Toph at either side, and Jet and his friends behind him, too. "The power of thousands, millions of people who want justice! The Fire Nation's conquest ends today! A new era will begin!"

"The Avatar… the Avatar, your ally, Azula!" Ozai scoffed, staring at his daughter in chagrin. "How could you…? How could you?!"

"I can very well explain everything if you wish me to do so," Azula said, her voice unsteady. Sokka tensed up beside her. "But only once you surrender. Please, Father… you don't have to get hurt. Nobody has to…!"

"ATTACK!"

It was obvious that he would be so foolish, and yet Ozai still dared attempt an attack with his powerless firebenders: the Dai Li were quick to restrain the guards, just as Aang and Toph caught Ozai with their own earthbending. Sokka flinched, a hand near his boomerang… Azula, beside him, shivered at the sight of her furious father, caught in an earthen imprisonment.

"Azula…! Azula! You cannot stand by those traitors…! You cannot become a traitor to your own! This is not what I raised you for… this is not your destiny!"

"She can choose her own destiny," Katara snapped back, scowling as she drew out a water whip from her waist's waterskins. "One wrong move, and you'll be sorry."

Ozai wheezed out in fury, restrained and powerless as he remained. Azula closed her eyes: as much as it was right, it was still the hardest thing she had ever done.

"It's over now," Iroh said, by her right side. "You are no longer Fire Lord, Ozai."

"You won't take my throne! None of you will!" Ozai exclaimed, furious. "I won't ever… I won't allow it!"

"It's not up to you anymore!" Zuko rebuffed, frowning heavily. "After everything you've done… you should be grateful Azula's argued to keep you alive at all!"

"But he will be dangerous," Iroh pointed out, glancing at Azula from the corners of his eyes. "If he lives…"

"I don't care how dangerous he may be… he's still my father," Azula said, fists clenched. "He can be restrained… he can be kept immobilized, powerless. But I… I won't see him killed. I won't allow it."

Sokka sighed but nodded: there were a few things that could be done, he had already thought of them from the moment Azula had refused to compromise on that subject. A very constraining prison outfit, one that would immediately chi-block Ozai if he made sudden moves, any moves that required bending, would disable his bending effectively. It was something he had asked the Mechanist, as well, to design…

Something he'd certainly need the man to prepare, right away: a spark danced under Ozai's nose, and Sokka winced immediately.

"Firebending's coming back…!" he exclaimed, mere moments before an inferno burst inside the room…

An inferno launched by Ozai's power, who had expelled so much of his fire he had broken free from his restraints.

Iroh roared and leapt forward, misdirecting the flames as best he could: upon seeing his uncle's choice had been defensive firebending, Zuko joined in and followed his example. Aang did his own share of damage control with airbending, restraining the fire and suffocating it as best he could. Katara roared, bringing out further water, as Toph and the Dai Li began to launch pillars of earth at the uncontrolled Fire Lord…

Two shadows dashed across the curtain of flames before the throne: Azula raised her hands and split open her father's flames with the aid of her own fire and her sword, giving Sokka the perfect opportunity to dash forth, blade in hand…

For a moment, her heart seemed to stop beating. For a moment, she thought he'd do it. She really thought he'd do it…

Space Sword's pommel slammed powerfully against Ozai's forehead.

In an instant, the flames faded. The earthbenders restrained him again, but it proved unnecessary to do so: with a white lotus-shaped mark branded painfully in his forehead, Fire Lord Ozai was unconscious. Even if he had endured the physical eclipse, he could never withstand the joined powers of his enemies, of his daughter and the warrior she pledged her heart to: they had overcome him in a matter of instants.

"It's… it's over," Sokka said, breathing out slowly as he raised his sword with a trembling hand.

He turned towards Azula, hopeful eyes meeting her confused, helpless own… and he smiled.

"It's over, Azula. We've won."

Establishing order anew in the Fire Nation promised to be no easy feat. Rebellious factions sprung up everywhere, and quite often, Azula alone couldn't placate them. Most people were disturbed and distraught over the invasion forces, the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers and warriors who now had taken residence, if temporarily, in the Capital City. It was chaotic, and Azula found it far more difficult to hold down her own countrymen than it had been to earn the loyalty of hundreds of Dai Li agents and Joo Dees.

Yet the main cause for complaint was that there was no Fire Lord now: who would succeed Ozai on the throne? It was a decision Azula couldn't make lightly, even if she could tell many voices would sooner choose her than either her brother or her uncle for the role. Aang himself would support her as Fire Lord, far closer to her than he was to Iroh or Zuko… but it wasn't enough. She had determined keeping the peace in every other regard was the most important thing, and whatever came next, the matter of succession would only be decided after Sozin's Comet was gone.

And so, after almost two months, the skies had tinged red, and the dangers of uncontrolled firebenders attempting to regain control of the Capital had sprung up indeed: fortunately, every rebel had been quelled with the force of the Avatar's group as well as his many allies, including a group of old men Iroh had summoned for that purpose, the White Lotus to whom even Piandao belonged.

It wasn't a bloody battle: even under those circumstances, strategic superiority, as well as great talent, had seen to the success of the Princess's faction. Now, on the morning after…

"Made up your mind yet?" Sokka had asked, once Azula left the room of the temple she had been meditating in. She sighed, gazing at him hopelessly.

"I know… I know it should be me. I understand that," she whispered. Sokka nodded. "I don't want to disappoint you… I don't want to choose whatever I wish to, just because it's more comfortable. But… there's so much work that still needs to be done to truly restore balance, right?"

"Right… and Aang will get right on that, once this succession thing is settled," Sokka answered, nodding.

"You'd go with him, too," Azula said, with a weak grin. Sokka grimaced.

"I… I think I'll be more use to him than here, courtly intrigues are a little too confusing," he answered, earnestly. "But that doesn't mean I won't come see you every time I can, Azula…!"

"You won't. Because I… I want to go with you, too."

Sokka paused for a moment, eyeing Azula with uncertainty. She breathed deeply and stepped towards him, taking his hands in hers.

"I'll ask Iroh… to be regent," she said. Sokka's jaw dropped. "To serve as Fire Lord… at least for a few more years. If, by then, Zuko's prepared enough for the role of Fire Lord, he can take the throne. If he's not… I will do it myself. And by then… we will have strengthened the world and seen to averting further chaos, right? It's probably a wishful, selfish choice, but I just…"

"You can do a lot of good, on that throne," Sokka said, earnestly, caressing her hair delicately. Azula sighed. "But, if you're sure…"

"If I'm sure?" Azula asked, gazing at him with hopeful eyes now, instead. Sokka smiled tenderly.

"You've done quite a lot of good without a throne, just as well, like Toph said," he said. "You don't need a crown to be an amazing leader. We both know you don't. If this is really the path you want to choose…"

"It is. I know it is," Azula said. Sokka's earnest smile brought a grin to her lips too.

"Then… great. Because I sure as hell am not ready to say goodbye," Sokka laughed, reeling her in for a tight embrace.

Azula sighed, relieved by his agreement, by his approval and apparent surrender. She had anticipated he might be adamant that she needed to do this, that she would be the greatest Fire Lord in the history of the title… perhaps he'd insist on that anyway, especially if Zuko wound up crowned, instead of her. But if he would be as selfish as she was, if he wanted her beside him as he helped Aang continue setting the world on the right course…

"I love you," Azula said, hugging him tightly. Sokka chuckled and hoisted her in his arms, prompting her to laugh softly against him.

"I love you too, damn it… I… I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be with you, every step of the way!" Sokka grinned, setting her down again as he gazed at her intensely. "We'll fix lots of things while we're on the road again, and then, when we come back here…"

"We'll set them right in the Fire Nation, too," Azula smiled. "But, whether I'm Fire Lord or not… you'd stay with me, by then?"

"Of course. Political intrigues and all," Sokka grinned. Azula laughed and nodded.

"Good," she said, caressing his face. "Thank you… thank you, Sokka."

"For being an eclipse with you, all the time?" Sokka asked, with a teasing chuckle. Azula nodded proudly, delighted by the imagery he offered her.

"I don't know what it really looks like yet… maybe the sky really is beautiful when there's an eclipse? But I suppose it's as extraordinary as everything feels when we're together, so… maybe I don't need to see it to know how amazing it is, come to think of it"

"Yeah? You just need us?" Sokka smiled. Azula nodded promptly.

"I just need us. That's all I'd ever ask for," she whispered.

He leaned in, and she kissed him heartily: they had indeed ushered in a new era with their actions, changing the world through their shared love. They would continue to renew the harmony across every nation, to teach them how to find true balance, just as they had found it together… and they would never fail to renew their bond and find balance between them, just as they had from the moment they had first laughed together, on a bison's saddle. Just as they had, when they had first held each other tightly in the face of danger. Just as they had, when they had first kissed for real. Just as they had, when they had first started to create plans together. Just as they had, when they had reunited after being apart…

Their love was sure to usher further change, growth and countless wonders across the world, much as it already had over the months of their alliance and relationship… and Azula and Sokka could barely wait to see it happen. But for now, they stole a blissful moment together, another moment of true balance and harmony, where the sun met the moon, where fire flowed together with water, where stars glowed brightly in a darkened sky…