Howdy y'all and welcome to another chapter of AWTF! We just keep smashing these milestones! 18k total views is INSANE. Especially when we only reached 15k earlier this month. Thank you all so much for the support! Not much of a note for this one. Don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review! See y'all next week

I don't own ALTA

"Do you really think that this is such a good idea?" Mai asked as she and Ty Lee were following the happy couple throughout the Fire Nation Capital. "I mean, it's kind of risky if you ask me."

"I didn't hear you being up and reservations when we originally brought it up this morning," Azula said as she looked over her shoulder at her taller friend.

"Yeah, well, I just thought of all this now. What if they are, in fact, expecting us to move tonight?"

"Then I'll beat them, of course," Aang chimed in as they walked. "I can't let you three get hurt for something that I could easily prevent."

"All three of us can and will defend ourselves, Lee," Ty Lee said with a smirk and a wink. "While your protection is appreciated, it is simply not needed."

"I agree with Ty," Azula said as they continued walking. "If anyone is actually at a disadvantage, it's you, Lee."

"Why would I have a disadvantage?"

"Well, it's simple. All three of us have had assassination training. You don't know the art of silently killing people," Mai explained simply as she pulled out a handful of shuriken that she kept in her pockets.

"Do you bring those with you everywhere you go?" Aang asked as he sighed. While he knew that in this war he would need to kill people, he did not like to and would try not to if at all possible.

"Yes, Lee," Mai stated as she threw one in the air and caught it between her fingers. "You never know when you will need to use them or when you will be attacked. It's better to always be prepared for anything," she added as she looked at the boy in front of her.

"Have you ever thought about learning how to use things like knives and shuriken before?" Ty Lee asked the Avatar as they walked.

"Honestly, no," replied Aang. "The monks didn't teach us how to wield weapons, partly because they themselves didn't know how to do it. The only reason why I even know offensive Airbending is because I'm the Avatar and I needed to know how to fight." He continued to explain as they entered a clothing store. "But, if one of you is willing to teach me how to use them, I'll give it a try."

"Once tonight is done, I'll teach you how to throw things with your...abilities with the wind." Mai looked over at the store attendant and then back at Aang to make sure no one heard them talking. She continued. "It should be something that you could be very good at."

"Yeah!" Aang said with a shout as he pumped his fist into the air. "I think that's a great idea."

"Good! Then we'll start as soon as we can," Mai said with satisfaction.

"Hey, that's not fair! Why can't I teach him anything?" Ty Lee complained with a pout on her face.

"Well, what can you teach him?" Azula asked with mild interest as she found a nice white shirt with black buttons on it.

"I can teach him to Chi Block!" she replied as she found a nice bowtie for his shirt.

"Yeah, but he can bend, so it wouldn't make sense for you to do that for him," Azula explained as she handed the shirt to Aang, who nodded his head. "It would honestly just be a waste of time for not only you, but him as well."

"Aww, but that's just not fair!" Ty Lee whined as she showed Mai the orange bowtie that she found for Aang. Mai shook her head and held up a red bowtie.

"I know it's not fair, but you can help him by just being there," Azula reassured her as she nodded her head in approval of Mai's bowtie choice. "I love it, Mai. And yeah, it should be red, black, and white since it's a formal Fire Nation gathering."

"I guess I see what you're talking about. Sometimes I think he gets lonely when we leave him alone for so long," Ty Lee mumbled softly to herself.

This, however, was heard by Azula, who looked up at Ty Lee with wide eyes. "What do you mean he gets lonely?!"

"What, you don't see it?" the acrobat asked as she looked at some of the black jackets in the blazer section. "He looks sad when we leave him during the day."

Azula stopped moving and tried to think about everything that Ty Lee was saying. The more she mulled the words over in her head, the more she realized that she was actually right about it. She had been too wrapped up in her own world of dealing with her jobs on the boat, teaching, and worrying about her father that she didn't even realize that she wasn't spending as much time with Aang as she used to.

"Now that you mention that, he has been really happy now that we're here on the island," Mai chimed in, observing the contemplative face Azula was making.

"Guys..."

Mai and Ty Lee looked over to Azula and realized that she was on the verge of tears. They both walk over to her to rub her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Ty Lee asked as she pulled her towards a bench in the store.

"Have I been a bad girlfriend?" she asked quietly to herself.

Mai, however, heard what her long-time friend had said and became deeply concerned. Why in the world would she ever think about that? Sure, she's been busy, but she hasn't been a bad girlfriend at all! "Why would you think that?" she asked as she continued to rub Azula's shoulder.

"Well, I never noticed that he was sad that I would leave him during the day. I wish I had talked to him about it. I'm also a mess and all he does is love me and treat me right. I don't deserve Aang at all," she concluded in a shallow and timid voice.

Aang, who at this point, was just walking out of the changing room with the white shirt and black pants that Azula had sent him in with, was looking for his friends. He was walking around the store when he walked into an elderly-looking woman who was hanging some clothes on a rack. She looked at him and smiled.

"My young man, you look a tad lost! Is there anything that I can do to help you?" she asked politely. Well, look who returned, she thought happily to herself. I've seen both royal children and now the Avatar!

"Yeah," Aang replied, smiling embarrassingly and rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "I'm trying to find my girlfrien- I mean, master. Have you seen her?" Aang asked nervously, hoping he didn't just give himself away.

"It's quite alright, young Avatar; you have nothing to fear," the old lady said with a pleasant smile as she continued to hang the clothing. "Why don't we talk about that girlfriend of yours?" She looked at him to gauge his reaction.

Aang immediately froze and felt a cold wave course through his body as he looked around to see if anyone was around when she said that. "Um, ma'am...I don't know what you mean...I-I'm definitely not the Avatar. I can't even bend an element. You must have the wrong person."

Suddenly, she kicked him in the shin, making Aang jump up in the air and slowly fall to the ground. He was about to start yelling when he looked up and saw the lady smirking at him.

"You were saying?" she innocently asked him as she looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to get any of my friends hurt or put in danger," he said quietly.

"I understand, young Avatar..."

"Aang."

"Ah. Well, Avatar Aang, why are you here exactly? If I recall, Princess Azula bought your clothing in Ba Sing Se," the elderly lady stated as she sat down next to him on a bench.

"Wait...you're THAT lady! The 'sometimes our greatest weaknesses can turn into our greatest strengths' lady! It's a pleasure to finally meet you! That's been our motto throughout our entire relationship. It really is an honor to meet you," Aang said with a megawatt smile on his face. He had been looking forward to this meeting for months and, honestly, he wasn't sure that he was going to get it in the end.

"Oh...so she has talked about me, hm?" The lady slyly smirked as she watched Aang nod his head.

"Yeah! She always says that quote that you told her that one time. It's really powerful."

"It is indeed. So, how is your relationship with the Princess?" the elderly lady asked the Avatar next to her.

"It's great! We talk, I cook for her, she tries my new recipes, we kiss, we hug, I say I love you. She hasn't said it to me yet, but hopefully she will say it to me soon. I just want to spend the rest of my life with her, you know?" said Aang with a smile on his face. He turned to the lady. "I really do have to thank you for what you said to her that day. It helped her open up to me and her friends. It's like she's a totally different person than she was before we ever met."

"Well, you're quite welcome, young Avatar! I'm very happy that your relationship with her is doing well. I take great pleasure in knowing that I was able to assist your relationship," She beamed at Aang and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah." Aang glanced at her as he got up from the bench. "Do you happen to know where she is?"

"Yes...she should still be in the men's section with her girl friends," the lady observed as she too got up to place more clothing away.

"Thank you, Mrs..." Aang trailed off, looking at the woman in front of him.

"Shima. My name is Shima and I'm married to a traveling merchant," the now-identified Shima stated with confidence.

"Well, Mrs. Shima, I thank you for your help not only today, but for the help in the past as well. I really am forever in your debt," Aang said as she bowed to show his respect to the older woman.

"Nonsense, Avatar! I thank you for saving the world and ridding it of this darkness. I believe in you and I know that you can do it!" Shima said with a bright smile on her face. "Now, you must go. I know you need to go make sure that your girlfriend approves of your outfit," she added with a sly smirk on her face.

"Oh, right!" Aang said with a jump and started walking off towards the men's section of the store. He soon spotted Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai sitting on a bench, rubbing Azula's back. His eyes immediately widened and he sprinted over to his friends. "What happened?"

Auzla looked up and saw that Aang was running over to her, so she immediately got up and hugged him with all her might. "I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear.

Aang pulled back and, obviously noticing confusion, looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Sparks?" he asked as he caressed her cheek.

"Have you been lonely?" she asked him with caution, her golden eyes meeting his grey ones as they both stared deeply at each other.

"No, Sparks. I haven't been lonely at all," he replied with a straight face, trying not to betray any emotions that he could be feeling at the moment.

"You're lying," Azula accused him. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have taken a day off to spend time with you. I could have spent the entire day with you if you wanted me to."

Mai and Ty Lee had taken the hint that privacy was needed and grabbed the clothes that they were originally going to buy and went to the register to pay.

"What do you mean, Azula? I'm not lonely," Aang stated as he looked into her eyes, attempting to reassure her.

"I can tell. You miss me when I go off and do stuff and Mai and Ty Lee don't visit you," Azula said defiantly. She held him closer to her and looked at him pleadingly. "Please just say it so that I can help fix it," she whispered softly.

"Fine," admitted Aang. "I'm lonely, alright? But I'm figuring out ways to make it better. It would just be nice to spend the entire day with you, relaxing and having fun. No parties, no steakouts. Just me and you in bed together. I just want to hold you and see you happy. Last night, I saw you come back so sad and broken. Then, this morning, you were screaming in terror at Agni knows what. I just want all of it to end. No more fights. No more wars. No more looking over our shoulders to see if we are caught and are going to be killed. I want to be with you, Azula, and never leave your side. You're always busy doing something cool or something important."

"I know, Aang," replied Azula warmly. "And I'm sorry I woke you up so terrifyingly this morning. It was a really bad nightmare and I wish I never had it in the first place. But I need you to know that when this is over, I'll never leave your side. I'll always be there with you. Hell, once this war is over, I'll even marry you just to make it official. Aang, we just need to hold out for a few more months and then it'll all be over. I promise that we will be able to be together forever, okay? Just hang with me for a few more months." She looked at him hopefully and smiled, moving his head closer to his and kissing him passionately. He returned the kiss and began to move his hands to cup her curves.

Before anything frisky could happen, Mai coughed into her fist to alert the couple of her arrival and smirked. "Well, we need to get going. We don't want to ruin our timetables because you two can't keep your hands off of each other."

Azula blushed deeply. "Alright," Azula agreed as she noticed Shima and waved to her with a grin. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Princess," she said with a smile on her face.

The group then left the boutique and hurried back to the palace where they slipped in undetected and went straight to their rooms to wait for the night. Once it was night time, Mai and Ty Lee creeped towards Aang and Azula's room and entered silently.

Aang was wearing all black from head to toe and had his feet uncovered so that he could accurately tell where everyone was in the palace. He looked over to his partner and instantly went to kiss her on the cheek. While Aang's outfit was semi-loose, Azula used an older outfit from before she was sent to Ba Sing Se and it definitely showed.

"Aang, do I look ridiculous?" she asked timidly as she checked herself out in the mirror.

"No, you look great! Don't you trust me?" he said playfully as he moved his hands around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. "I think you look stunning in all black."

"You just like me in tight clothes, don't you?" the firebending Princess presumed with a smirk on her face.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that that is the case," Aang replied innocently, adding his own cheeky remark to the playful banter.

"Well, Mai, I guess I'm gonna be a godmother sooner than we thought," Ty Lee jabbed with a smirk on her face. In response, Mai simply face-planted and sighed.

"If you two are quite finished, I would like to get on with this," the assassin commented with a sigh in her voice. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can go to sleep and get ready for whatever the fuck is going to happen tomorrow."

"Alright, alright, we're done. Let's get this party started," Aang said with a devious smirk on his face.

The group nodded, left the bedroom, and quietly crept towards the commander's office, which so happened to be on the opposite side of the building. Aang went first since he could sense where people were all around them. Azula was behind him, followed by Mai and Ty Lee who made up the rear of the group.

They moved in absolute silence towards the room, only stopping to look around corners and to check that the coast was clear of obstacles. Aang was trying to get them there so that they could avoid the guards that were stationed at every corner. By the time they had reached the halfway point, they had knocked out thirteen guards and were moving at a swift pace.

When they finally reached the room, it was half-past one in the morning and the hallways were dead silent. They went to open the door and found that it was locked.

Azula looked at Aang, who nodded his head and grabbed the metal door handle. He silently started metalbending and, after a few tries, was able to open the now-unlocked door. Mai signalled for them to go into the room with Azula illuminating it so that they could see what they were reading.

To their surprise, the commander, whose office they were invading, had all of the documents from the recent meeting out on the table and all his drawers unlocked.

Azula looked at the recent scroll and her eyes immediately widened. The Phoenix Plan? What the hell is this? she wondered to herself as she continued to read the document. However, the more she read, the more worried she got. This is insane! Absolutely crazy. I knew he wanted to take over the world, but to this extent? She pocketed the scroll and continued to look for other useful items.

Similar to Azula, Mai was also looking around the room for documents that could be of use to them. Mai found a document on recent Boiling Rock transfers and even the blueprints of the famed Fire Nation prison. She folded them up and placed them into her pouch. She then searched for any money or valuables and found a purse with 30,000 gold pieces. Man, this guy must be a real idiot to leave plans like this everywhere. I wonder what else he had in here?

Ty Lee wasn't having as much luck as her other two friends. She was checking all the cabinets on the left side of the room while Mai was checking them on the right side. She sighed as she was only finding the occasional snack or empty folder. That was, however, until she stumbled upon a locked cabinet. "Aang," she whispered, which made the Avatar look her way. She motioned for him to come over. "Open this," she said in a low voice. Aang nodded his head, quickly opened the cabinet, and was greeted to several mustard-colored folders. She searched through them and began reading.

Contingency Plan: Operation First Born

In the event that Zuko was to live past the age of 18, and still be in the Fire Nation, he would be executed quietly and made to look like an accident. He would be replaced in the line of succession by Princess Azula.

Contingency Plan: Operation Fire Flame

In the event that Princess Azula was to be injured or killed before the banishment of Iroh and Zuko, Zuko will undergo mental reconditioning via lightning to the brain to brainwash and control him. In this event, Operation Delivery will be put into effect.

Contingency Plan: Operation Delivery

In the event that both Azula and Zuko are killed or unable to serve, assuming that Azula (or Zuko: Operation Fire Flame) is still alive, he/she is to impregnate by force/be impregnated to conceive an heir to the throne (if Azula, presumably by Ozai himself). The children would be raised and cared for by the Fire Nation Military.

Contingency Plan: Operation Flame Wind

In the event that the Avatar is found to be alive, all Fire Nation Military strategy is to be solely focused on him. Any sighting of him is to be reported IMMEDIATELY to the Fire Lord himself and is to be dealt with swiftly.

Contingency Plan: Operation Phoenix

In the Event that Zuko and Azula turn traitor, all forces must work to recapture Azula. Once captured and in custody, she is to be impregnated immediately and produce as many healthy heirs and Firebenders as possible. She is to continue to give birth until she is unable to produce anymore. At this point her fate will be decided by the Fire Lord (certain death).

The more Ty Lee read, the more she wanted to vomit and cry. She looked at all the folders and grabbed them all and closed the cabinet. She looked at her other two friends with tears streaming down her face. "Guys," she murmured hoarsely. "I...I can't do this anymore. I want to go back."

"Did you both find anything useful?" Azula asked as she grabbed a large amount of scrolls and placed them into her pouch. She looked at her friend's nod back at her. "Great. I think we should head-"

"Guys, we gotta head out!" Aang whispered to the group. He tapped his foot and could feel soldiers coming in their direction.

"Hold on, Aang, I just need to get into this one drawer," Azula said quickly as Ty Lee and Mai hurriedly left the room. "This has all the military codes, troop formations, ranks, encryption keys, and other sensitive stuff. How much longer do I have?" she asked as she struggled to open it.

Aang tapped his foot again and grew more anxious. He saw that a new rotation of guards was coming and they were approaching quickly. "Zu, you have two minutes and then we need to go!" he whisper yelled at his beloved.

"Alright, I almost got them! I'm placing them into the bag now!" she said as she hurriedly placed documents into her bag and arms. She then closed the drawer and left the room. Aang relocked the door and then silently ran back to their room.

Once they got back to the safety of the bedroom, Aang made sure that no one had followed them and instantly locked the door. He sighed and looked at Azula. "That was close...WAY too close," he said with a slight grin on his face.

"Yeah, I hope to never have to do that again in my life," Mai said with a sigh as she slumped down on a padded chair.

"I'm just glad that Commander Dumbass - as I like to call him - is, well...still a dumbass. You know, for being third-in-command of the ENTIRE Fire Nation Military, he's not the smartest person in the world," Azula said with a light chuckle.

Ty Lee, however, couldn't take it anymore and sprinted to the bathroom and vomited. This put everyone on high alert and they waited with bated breath for when she returned.

Once she did come out of the bathroom, she was immediately wrapped in a hug by Azula. "Ty, you only vomit when you're upset. What's wrong?" she asked. Worry leaked into her voice which made both Mai and Aang worried as well.

Ty Lee didn't say anything but handed Azula the files that she had collected from the room. Azula read them quickly and gasped. She covered her mouth with her hands and looked at her best friend, welling up.

Mai then picked up the folders and she, too, read the files, her eyes widened and she passed them to Aang, immediately wrapping Azula in a bone crushing hug afterwards, silently crying into her shoulder.

Finally, Aang read the files, dropping them not long after due to his shock. He looked at his girlfriend who was crying into the shoulders of her friends and wrapped them all into a big hug.

There was only one thing left on their minds that night. It was a shared thought that they all had.

We gotta get out of here!