Daughter of Hate

by Blutus Mindpretzel

The war is over. Azula's motives remain unknowable as her child stands to shake the foundation of everything built since the fall of Fire Lord Ozai. For Toph, Mai, Aang, Katara and the rest, the world is an even more dangerous place than it was when they were children. And despite being long since gone, Sasuke's impact continues to shudder their world, perhaps more than they know.

24. Chapter 24

AN: Glad everyone's down with longer chapters, because this sucker is a whopper and MAN, am I glad to finally be publishing it, myself and this chapter really took turns kicking each other's ass XD.

Also, there will be some strong sexual content this chapter, so just a quick heads up on that.

Thank you so much to all of you who've told me to take a break if I need it; in truth, this story definitely takes its toll sometimes, but the reward of seeing your guys' feedback and knowing that there's people out there reading this, at home, on their lunchbreak, wherever, there's really nothing more rewarding than that, and that will always be enough to keep me wanting to do nothing but keep writing more. But thank you still for looking out for me, I really appreciate you guys.

Really hope you all enjoy this one!

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Chapter 24: Crisis

By the time he wandered back to the clearing, Sasuke was surprised to see that the only people there alive were Kakashi and Aang.

He and Ursa had gotten to their feet after a brief period of her holding him, and as the sun had grown nearer to the horizon, they had just held hands for a few minutes longer. Ursa had headed back before him, and he had sat over the edge of the gulch for another several minutes after she had suggested they return to the group; Sasuke, feeling still a strong mix of guilt and frustration that had turned into a genuine melancholy, had told her she could go back if she wanted, but that he needed a little more time. She had seemed hesitant to leave him there, but had slowly paced around in front of him and taken his head in her hands, kissed him on the lips and then gently on the forehead before giving him a last tight hug and heading back into the brush, asking him to please not be long. Sasuke had felt another strong twinge of hurt as she had when he realized that she was about the only thing giving him a semblance of comfort, but had kept himself from following after her. He knew he needed those few minutes alone to wrestle with those feelings alone and to force them back into the furnace that was his heart, locking them in a place they couldn't hurt him for the time being. Ursa would have been angry that he was burying these emotions that he had done his best to hide overall from her just then, but Sasuke knew that there was no time to take the time to face these demons. There would be a time and place for that, and it was a comforting thought to know that she would be there to help him through it.

Sitting there, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about just those few words, everything else he had said seeming meaningless in retrospect.

"I love you, Ursa."

How pure and perfect that had felt to say. And then to hear those words back…

While he spent a hunk of his time alone just battling aside his pain, it would have been a lie to even think that there wasn't real feelings of comfort and relief sustaining him. And now too, love, something new being added to that mix. This love that he had now been able to accept was what gave him the strength to turn and start his own walk back, realizing that he had been honestly dreading seeing everyone again. But now, seeing just Kakashi and Aang standing there amongst the bodies of the multitude of Talons, there was almost something more disconcerting about that and his walk increased to a swift trot.

"Where is everyone?" he asked the moment he was within earshot and Aang must have seen the concern on his face.

"It's okay," he said reassuringly and quickly. "They'll all headed towards the north side of the island; that's where we've planned to start our journey."

Sasuke blinked at him, and felt his voice come out flat and perhaps a touch annoyed.

"I feel like I've missed something."

Seeming to realize the same, Aang cracked a smile, a rather odd sight amongst the massacred bodies that surrounded them, and it was then that Sasuke found he tell that Aang was very much trying to hide how uncomfortable he was at being around all that death. His eyes were despairing pits that any smile he could have given would be able to hide.

"Kakashi suggested we keep moving, and we all think he's right. If they're able to find us, then staying still has to be the worst thing we can do right now, especially in a place like this with all this…"

He gestured around him without looking at the carnage.

"… this evidence that we passed through. We need to head north, and we may as well get moving now."

Sasuke realized that he hadn't really so much as considered the next course of action he needed to take, not after everything that had happened with Ursa, but he couldn't deny the reasoning in this and gave a slow nod.

"Everyone has to be tired though…" he murmured. "We can't go that long."

"Azula and I flew up a ways to get a quick look at the island shape and Zuko and Mai seemed able to figure what grouping of islands we're on. To their reckoning, there's a Fire Nation naval base just an island over, and we'll just have to cross the shallows between the this island and that one to get there, and by that point, I don't know who better to get us access to a Fire Nation ship than the Fire Lord."

"Shallows?" Sasuke asked. "How shallow are we talking?"

Aang's smile widened a fraction.

"Please, Sasuke, between Katara and myself, we could probably walk across the bottom of the ocean to get from one point to another."

An amusing enough thought, but Sasuke found himself almost thinking that might honestly be a prudent way to go to hide from any potential pursuers. Though if they were able to take to the air, there was no reason to assume that the spirits wouldn't hound them beneath the waves as well.

"Alright," he finally said and waited a moment before adding, "Go on ahead, Aang, I'll be right behind you."

Aang looked at him nervously, but Sasuke could tell that he wanted nothing more than to get out of that clearing.

"Are you sure? Ursa said not to come along until you were—"

"I'll worry about Ursa," Sasuke said firmly, though he deeply felt yet another surge of affection for her. "You go on; tell everyone we'll be right there."

"You'll…?" Aang said, looking slightly confused as he looked between Sasuke and Kakashi before seeming to realize something himself and nodding.

"Okay. Don't be long."

He almost seemed to take a breath before turning and walking quickly away, and Sasuke wondered if he had his eyes closed as he crossed the clearing and disappeared into the foliage. The Avatar was out of sight in a matter of seconds, but Sasuke still waited a few moments before looking over at Kakashi, unblinking and hoping that his former teacher could understand from the look in his eyes what was on his mind. Kakashi didn't waste any time playing dumb and sighed.

"Aang told me about everything I needed to know just now," Sasuke said, and took a step forward kicking aside the body of a fallen Talon as he did. Kakashi looked down at the corpse as he did.

"You ought to show your enemy respect when—" he started before Sasuke cut him off.

"—when having slain them in combat, yeah, don't care," Sasuke growled. "These lunatics tried to kill all of us on the orders of some glowing bastards who probably lied through their reincarnated teeth to convince them to join up. I'm not showing them respect, and I sure as hell don't care to pretend otherwise."

He inclined his chin.

"So, why don't you tell me what you're doing? To Aang's words, you're not joining us."

It took a couple seconds of Kakashi's silence for Sasuke to realize that he very much wanted this assumption to be denied. Despite the fact that a large portion of the night being reunited with this man right out of his past was spent headbutting, Sasuke found he didn't want Kakashi to leave. There was an unspoken security to have him around and something like an air of nostalgia that might very well have been keeping him as rooted as anything else was.

Of course, this was to be denied.

"I won't be," Kakashi finally said plainly. "I've voiced my concerns to your friends and informed them of my intentions, and I will do with you now."

Sasuke didn't grant this a reply, simply glared at Kakashi who sighed again and continued.

"Even with all this madness, there is more afoot than either of us know. And it has been made clear to me that you have your own mission that you must complete in order to protect those you care about. I was informed of the being known as Koloss and your quest north to find it."

"A goose chase, at best," Sasuke growled. "The one time Roku was open to being actually helpful and all he gave us was 'go north a ways' and 'energy sealed inside a giant'."

"Still, didn't we have our own share of missions that had even less to go on than that?" Kakashi asked and Sasuke knew he couldn't refute that, even if he wanted to. He grit his teeth as he blurted out an accusatory sounding question.

"So, what then? You're just running off? Things are too much work for you and now you're just going to lie low or run home until this is all over and done with?"

Yet again, Kakashi sighed.

"Sasuke, I have no desire to leave, and even if I did, I'm just as stuck here as you are. Perhaps I didn't make that clear, but that jutsu attached to my Sharingan I played with didn't work once I found myself here. If there is a way home for us, I don't know what it is."

"So then why are you—" Sasuke started before it was his turn to be cut off.

"Because I know that there is more to this than perhaps we would like to consider. I find it hard to believe that Madara has orchestrated any of this directly, but if he is still here, waiting to pounce or otherwise, he needs to be found."

Stupidly, it took Sasuke a moment to realize what was being said.

"You're going after Madara?" he asked in slight disbelief. Kakashi scratched the back of his head.

"Given what you told me about his abilities, and what I know by just reading of his battles with the First Hokage, I wouldn't think to try such a feat without you by my side. You at your best, mind you. But I would imagine that just finding his whereabouts would at least do us some good in assessing the actual threat we're facing. You know as well as I that he's just as dangerous as any sized spirit army."

Thinking about how Kyoshi had been able to handle him, Sasuke wasn't sure that was entirely true, but he held his tongue on that end.

"You're leaving then," he said flatly and didn't bother trying to keep the slight air of disregard from his voice.

"Your friend Katara informed me you will be journeying to the Northern Water Tribe to start your search for knowing better where to look. I will attempt to find you there following my own search, and if not, I should be able to track you down from there anyway."

Sasuke found it massively frustrating that he couldn't find any rational reasoning for Kakashi to stay with them for the time being since, if their inference was true based on what they both knew, Madara had never died. Kabuto's seal still remained untarnished, meaning that Madara was still alive. Whether that was here, back in their own world, or whatever the case was, it needed to be known whether or not he was going to become a problem in his own right. The last thing they needed was to be blindsided by such a being in the middle of this conflict with the spirits.

"Do you know how we're being tracked?" Sasuke managed to get out in an effort to buy himself more time to think up a reason for Kakashi to stay with them.

"I'm afraid not. Aang told me that he has sealed himself off from any spiritual contact so it cannot be through him… and I don't think the spirits are able to track you or your blood considering they might have done that first when trying to track you down over the past several years, be that their intent to do so."

Sasuke felt a sudden stab of nerves that had nothing to do with Kakashi then and he looked over his shoulder as though expecting to see Soza there. Hearing her mentioned like that, as 'his blood', was something that had struck a peculiar cord within him.

"Kakashi…" he said quietly. "About the Izanagi… or my failing in using it… all of us, you, me, my friends, are we… are we not… who we were?"

It was a strange and frightening question in his head and even harder to put into words, but Kakashi took his meaning right away and Sasuke saw that one visible eye soften.

"We're all exactly who we were before you used it; to the best of my knowledge, you simply took everyone's bodies, and destroyed them before rebuilding them roughly a minute in the past from when you cast the jutsu. I would be lying if I said I understood it completely, but I'm certain we're all the same. That feverish feeling I felt after you used it has been ebbing away slowly, so I can only assume that side effect will wear off for all of us. We're all just fine, as risky a moment as that wound up being."

Sasuke felt a tidal wave ore relief slowly wash over his insides. He hadn't known what to think of what he had done, and especially with the revelation that it hadn't been at all the jutsu he had aimed to use, that had only added an enormous other layer of stress to the situation. It had been impossible to not wonder if the Ursa he had kissed only minutes ago was the same one that he had seen before finding her body in the clearing. The fact that, while insanely risky, his technique had succeeded in reviving her and not done anything lasting to anyone was an incredibly relieving thought.

Kakashi's one eye hardened with meaning, not seeming to feel quite the comfort in this as Sasuke did.

"I don't suppose I need to advise you against ever using that again."

Sasuke shook his head, looking down.

"I don't know I even can. I've tried to feel within my eye, trying to find where that energy and technique came from, but you might have been right when you said my body was reacting badly to it. My Rinnegan energy might have prevented me from losing an eye, but it seems like my body has blocked off my ability to use Izanagi. Or, at least, whatever it was that I did."

Kakashi looked like he was trying to not look relieved.

"Perhaps that's for the best, for the time being. If you had stumbled even a touch in casting it—"

"I know," Sasuke snapped. He didn't need to be reminded that he had come so dangerously close to destroying himself and, worse, just about everything he cared about.

"Fine then," he said. "Where are you even going to start with that?"

"Where was the last place you saw Madara?" Kakashi asked as though he had been sitting with the question ready.

"Just outside Ba Sing Se, west side of the wall when he used the archstones to open the portal to the spirit world," Sasuke replied and watched as Kakashi seemed to take some time to ponder this.

"These archstones," he finally said slowly. "I recall you mentioning them, but is there any chance they—?"

"No," Sasuke said firmly. "I found two of my own and tried the exact same method to jump back through years ago, and had no success. I assume because the spirits clamped down on their measures and making sure no one could again breach in using that method."

"Hmm."

Kakashi took another couple seconds to mull it over before shrugging.

"Then that's where I'll start."

What?!

"Are you crazy?" Sasuke almost shouted. "The spirits don't even know you exist since we killed every witness who could tell them here! And you're going to just walk right up to where Kyoshi has set up her invasion and just stroll around looking for clues?!"

Kakashi only chuckled at the small outburst which only served to frustrate Sasuke further.

"Don't worry about me, I'm much better at being inconspicuous than you seem to be."

Sasuke fired up even further.

"Don't try and throw that when you know that I—"

Reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder, Kakashi's voice resounded with a calming nature.

"Relax, Sasuke. You don't have the time or energy to be worrying about me. If Madara is here, I'll find him. You find this Koloss and do what needs to be done to rein the spirits in. We'll handle whatever comes our way, and we'll adapt when we need to."

He cocked his head and gave his chin a jerk over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Worry about your friends, especially that beautiful woman that cares so much about you."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder again, just as expectant and hopeful that he would see Ursa there. The thought that Kakashi might well know what was between him and her crossed his mind and he felt the words drift quietly from his lips.

"You've figured that, have you?"

Kakashi gave a genuinely hearty laugh that caused Sauske to look back at him in mild surprise.

"The only way you two could make things more obvious is if you started kissing in the middle of camp instead of pretending to not notice one another."

Hating that he couldn't keep his cheeks from flushing, Sasuke shifted his weight and tried not to grumble. Kakashi's eye looked at him with understanding before pulling his hand down and offering it to Sasuke.

"Till we meet again."

Sasuke looked at the extended hand for a moment, giving himself a last couple seconds to try and think of a rebuttal to Kakashi's departure. But there was none and he half-sighed, half-growled as he took the handshake.

"It was good to see you again, sensei. Best of luck on your search."

Looking surprised, Kakashi replied, "On yours as well."

He held Sasuke's hand for a beat longer than the shake would have required and Sasuke got the feeling that Kakashi's single eye was looking deeper into him than a surface level glance.

"You've been stuck… but you're different. Very much so."

Sasuke only had a chance to blink before Kakashi released his hand and walked the opposite way that Aang had, giving a small wave over his shoulder before he was gone. Staring after him and trying not to be completely dumbfounded by the fact that he had found and lost Kakashi in a single night, Sasuke had to give himself a moment before he moved since it might have been entirely possible he would run after Kakashi just as soon as towards his friends.

He's right. If Madara is here, he needs to be found. And I need to stick with them and see this through. It's the only lead I have to stopping Kyoshi from taking this world over.

He kicked at the dirt beneath his feet.

I just need to do that while being tracked in a way I don't know or understand, protecting everyone while still recovering from Kyoshi's attack, not to mention my eye is killing me after using that fraudulent Izanagi… oh, and having to worry about Azula not trying to kill her mom, or Mai, or whoever else so much as looks at me funny.

Snarling, he started off in the direction Aang had gone.

Going to have to deal with her at some point…

He had only made it a short ways into the trees before he heard a silky and almost seductive voice speak up behind him.

"I'm sorry, I'm certain that was difficult."

Kusanagi was in his hand and pointed behind him before the voice had even finished talking and Sasuke laid eyes on the very person he had just been grumbling to himself about.

Azula was leaning against a tree, her arms crossed and with a smile on her face that told him she couldn't have cared less that he had just said goodbye to Kakashi for the time being as her eyes looked him over. Sasuke hated for beautiful she was.

"Are you going to stab me?" she asked, sounding and looking entirely unfazed by having the tip of his sword a foot or so from her chest. He said nothing in reply and merely sheathed his weapon before turning his back on her, resuming his walk. Azula had only been back in his life for about a day, but Sasuke could tell that she had set herself up to try and trap him again.

This wasn't the first time he had thought to how effortlessly she had been able to control him in the hallway of the airship. He had been so confident in his own ability and mentality to handle her, to force some form of submission on her, but the only submission he received was the sort that she tried to use for her own pleasure, her insane desire for him to abuse her. Other than that, she had put him under her thumb with a disturbing ease and Sasuke knew that in the state he was in, tired, hurting and mentally worn out, he didn't dare risk another of these encounters.

"Not even a hello?" Azula drawled as she slid up alongside him as he walked, matching his pace.

"Did you need something, Azula?" he growled and he saw her turn her chin up slightly in his peripheral vision.

"So cold. I only wanted to walk with you back to the others, make sure you found your way without any snags."

The way she said 'snags' all but said that she didn't want anyone else walking alone with him and was perhaps a little irked he wasn't being more engaging with her than he was.

"Whatever," he said. "You didn't need to worry."

"I do worry about you though," she said with a touch of that injected sweetness in her voice and Sasuke didn't reciprocate this. He wanted to keep his words as few and far between with her as he could; in truth, he didn't know how he was going to be able to confront her when the time came, and he certainly wasn't going to wing it now.

For a minute or so, they walked in silence and Sasuke felt his mind wandering. He tried to imagine an Azula that was much more like her mother, someone who wasn't this venomous, manipulative snake who had only seemed to have grown more potent over the years. Quickly though, he had to force this set of thoughts from his mind as he began to find that such an Azula might be a little too attractive to him.

Sasuke was already dealing with a set of feelings for Azula that he was trying to keep far away from. He remembered that terrifying feeling of excitement and attraction when she had taken control from him during their earlier confrontation and while he wasn't ready either to tackle what those feelings might have meant.

"May I ask you something?" Azula's voice came then, shaking him from his dark reverie. Despite his own warnings to himself that he had all but just issued, Sasuke heard himself reply in the affirmative for reasons beyond his own understanding.

"Sure."

She asked the moment the word had left his mouth.

"Why my mother?"

Sasuke stopped dead as the three words bounced around in his mind with frightening gravity. Azula walked another couple steps until she was ahead of him before slowly turning, putting her hands behind her back and cocking her head at him. Her expression wasn't vindictive or jealous or spiteful as he might have expected, but rather, she looked genuinely curious, though he didn't trust that for a second.

"I don't think we should—" he started before she interrupted him a single word, spoken with an amount of sincerity that Sasuke so desperately wished he could believe.

"Please."

He slowly pulled in a breath through his nose and she spoke again, her tone touching on imploring.

"I just want to know what she gave you that I wasn't able to."

Sasuke couldn't help but feel pained that he couldn't trust her words; everything she had shown him thus far spoke to the fact that her cruelty had only advanced itself and her lust for power and control was more dangerous than ever.

Unless… maybe she actually is being sincere?

It was an almost alien thought in and of itself, but Sasuke knew that if there was anyone that Azula had never once lied to their face, it was him. She had drugged and taken him in bed, but in every encounter they had been in face to face, she had been nothing but transparent with him, even when that transparency openly reflected her obsessiveness or hatred or otherwise.

No harm in being honest, I guess. If she actually is trying to understand, the least I can do is maybe relate to her what it feels like to really feel loved, unlike what she seems to think love is.

"Ursa is… I wouldn't think to be able to describe her with nothing but words," Sasuke said. "I don't know what of this you'll actually understand or retain, but she allows me to be vulnerable without me ever so much as feeling that worry. I don't even realize I'm being as open as I am with her until it's happening. She cares about me, I truly believe, with all her heart, but she doesn't let that keep her from giving her attention to others. She's willing to make sacrifices for those she cares about, and she does everything she can to keep from letting anyone else see how much she's hurting. I've never met anyone in my life who puts me at ease the way she does."

He stopped himself as he realized that he very likely might have been able to continue on for minutes on this particular topic. That should have been well enough to endow in Azula the reality of why he held so much appreciation for her mother.

"That answer your question?" he asked bluntly.

Azula's expression was dangerously unreadable as she had stared at him through his explanation, but a small, sweet smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as he voiced his question.

"Succinctly. Thank you."

She half-turned, gesturing in the direction they had been walking.

"Shall we?"

Sasuke nodded and resumed his striding towards their companions as Azula fell in beside him and he found himself quite relieved that she said nothing more between then and when they reunited with the others.

---

Azula watched Sasuke as he talked, explaining to the group what he knew about the technique he had used back before the battle with the Talons and spirits, while everyone looked on attentively; some of them, such as Ty Lee, Katara and Zuko, had far too judgmental looks on their faces for her liking.

Upon all of them meeting up, the group had started along the northern beach front of the island, sticking close to the shade of the trees and keeping a careful eye our around them. Despite their overall exhaustion, they had walked from the rising of the sun that morning until dusk just then. Zuko estimated that another couple miles and they would reach the gap between their island and the one that held the Fire Nation naval base and if Katara and Aang were going to be able to part the seas so to speak for the kilometer or so between the two islands, they would need rest. Camp was set up hastily before Sasuke had almost hesitantly asked for everyone's attention.

Since they had started their trek, Azula had kept a close eye on both him and her daughter, and it was clear to her the cold shoulder he was getting from just about everyone, save for Ursa and Aang. Not that Sasuke seemed to be trying particularly hard to strike up conversation with anyone, but it was impossible to miss just how isolated he seemed, even as he walked among them. Even Katara's obnoxious brother was keeping his mouth relatively shut during their venture.

Azula herself had been extremely close to just walking up to his side and maintaining herself there, before her mother had taken the spot she had been eyeing. Her gut had been boiling with fury from that point onward as she watched the pair with intense focus, eyes flicking down every time she saw their hands getting dangerously close. It wasn't until Soza had quietly asked her to please not hold her so tightly that Azula had realized she had been all but crushing her daughter's shoulder as they had walked. Ursa had held her position alongside Sasuke the whole day and it was extremely difficult for Azula to avoid the notion in her head that her mother was almost acting protective of him. She needn't have worried, as Katara, Zuko and anyone else who might have had reason to get after Sasuke kept their peace, choosing to share their resentment with glares and tight expressions when he wasn't looking, something Azula found cowardly.

It wasn't that she didn't want to know what it was that Sasuke had done, what it was that had spurred such fear in his old teacher, but when the moment came and he started speaking to them as a whole as they prepared to bed down, Azula took immediate issue with how he handled it.

He spoke of how he had attempted to use an ability that would allow him to turn reality to illusion but how he had underestimated both the reach of the ability as well as how to control it, and he wound up turning the clearing as a whole into an illusion before replacing it with his own reality, this reality just being the same clearing but seconds before Ursa had been shot. In essence, there was nothing to be worried about as they were all still just as whole as they had been and, as Sasuke seemed to try to lightly put it, he had just added sixty seconds or so to everyone's lifespan.

This was all well and good, but Azula found herself absolutely hating how contrite and apologetic he was acting.

He has nothing to be sorry for. Shouldn't they be pleased he saved my cunt of a mother? The power he has is even more than I would have guessed… these fools should be on their knees before him. They dare sit there and judge him for what he is? How can Sasuke just allow them to treat him this way?

Azula saw the expressions around him softening as Sasuke concluded his explanation with an apology.

"…and that's the meat of it. I don't expect forgiveness for such an error in judgement and loss of control over all, just like I don't expect a great many things to be forgiven. But as I'm sure you've all figured, Ursa means a great deal to me and in that moment, I would have tried anything to save her, and this was what my mind came to. The idea that I could have caused all your deaths as well as my own is something I'm going to have to live with, though I'm not sure how I'll manage that for the time being. But please know that… I am sorry. I would do anything for any one of you, and I don't say that lightly."

As he had finished talking, Ursa had reached for his hand and squeezed it and Azula had felt her tongue run against her teeth, almost hard enough to slice it open.

She's not even being subtle about her theft anymore.

And even as Sasuke words hung sourly in her ears, it had seemed that they had been enough for the others; Katara had taken a long breath and sighed, any fight she had been holding disappearing from her face, Ty Lee had picked absently at the dirt near her feet where she sat and Zuko had dared to even intrude on the moment then, his eyes downcast and tone somewhat emotional behind his bitterness.

"Thank you for saving my mom, Sasuke."

Sasuke had looked surprised at this, but nodded nonetheless. Suki had added a couple words of her own then. She looked perhaps the most stable and in control of herself of anyone there as she crossed her arms while staring at Sasuke intently.

"We're with you. I know you probably still feel alone, but we're with you through this no matter what."

She looked at him very closely then, her eyes burning with intent.

"We'd do anything for you too, you know."

For a moment, they stared at one another before Suki's face softened into a look of tired amusement.

"Just please don't go running off and getting blown out of the sky again?"

Sokka and Aang both laughed softly at this and a genuine air of levity seemed to lessen the tension in the group just then. They casually dispersed then, everyone getting ready to bed down for the evening and Azula allowed herself to glare at her mother's back as Ursa stayed close to Sasuke.

Regardless of his intent, he had done nothing but reinforce Azula's murderous intent, even more so than she might have expected; it didn't matter just what it was that made her mother so appealing to him, but now Azula knew fully well that Ursa had ensnared him, intensely so. She ignored Ty Lee as the girl came up to her, clearly looking to talk, and brushed past her without a word.

All of those things he said… she's stolen him, it's so clear to me.

So as the sun fell low and Azula tucked herself in her sleeping roll, putting an arm possessively around Soza, she let her mind run rampant as she drifted off to sleep, carrying her into a dark and vengeful dreams.

---

Three Days Later

"…and I haven't even thought about the chief security council, I don't think Water Tribe law dictates they can overrule the chief, but if they pitch enough of a fit, then they'll probably at least be able to put Sasuke in custody for a period of time, or at least order as such, and who knows what Sasuke will make of that; how could I have been so stupid not to think of this before…"

Aang was sitting around a small fire on the porch that extended from the second floor of their living quarters, watching as Katara paced about in an almost mad fashion. She had spent most of the previous evening and that entire morning doing what she could to try and prepare for the meeting that had been arranged with Chief Tangith and every half hour it seemed like she encountered another kind of snag. Aang would never have tried to ask her to settle down, but Sokka had no such reserve.

"Sis, knock it off," he said from where he sat beside Aang, feet kicked up near the fire pit. "Tangith loves you, and you're taking Aang along as well. The Avatar and the most prolific waterbender alive will more than be able to talk sense with the chief."

Katara whirled and glared at him.

"Don't sound so certain, Sokka! We don't know why Tangith agreed to meet, especially after we openly admitted having Sasuke with us!"

Leaning near the doorway with her arms crossed, Mai's voice was a sullen and low contrast to Katara's high-pitched and intense verbiage.

"Tangith doesn't play games like that. If he wanted to take Sasuke in, his whole army would have collapsed on this place within an hour of us showing up."

Whirling on Mai then, Katara threw her hands up in the air, her expression somewhat wild.

"Oh, and a Fire Nation noble would know, what exactly?!"

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Definitely a better idea on how to relax," she muttered, and Suki spoke up before Katara could bite Mai's head off.

"Katara, Mai's right. I don't think you have any reason to be distrustful of the chief. We can't assume obviously that he might not think the best course of action would be jailing Sasuke, but—"

Giving a short, frustrated growl, Katara marched back inside the complex without letting her finish; Suki watched her go and mirrored Mai's movement of rolling her eyes.

"Like talking to a brick wall," she said and Aang gave a short chuckle, scooting his chair closer to the fire.

"Or a tidal wave," he said. Sokka gave him a look.

"I would expect this kind of behavior out of my sister, but you seem a lot more relaxed than I would expect."

Aang shrugged.

"I trust Tangith to be fair. This is the best course of action right now, we certainly can't risk trying to go behind the Northern Water Tribe's back, especially if we're looking for more information on this Koloss before heading too far north. If something goes wrong today… well, we'll just have to deal with that as it comes."

In truth, Aang was pleasantly surprised with how calm he felt. But he supposed that someone needed to counter Katara, especially since they would be the two escorting Sasuke to the palace in no more than an hour.

The journey to the Northern Water Tribe had been relievingly uneventful. As per Zuko's prediction, they had reached the Fire Nation's naval base early that next morning after Aang and Katara had bended them safe passage between the islands. Their small group had been met with nearly immediate hostility from the Fire Nation guards until they realized just who the members of the group were and it hadn't helped that Soza had gone storming up to the front of the base demanding entrance before any of them could stop her. Azula had threatened every single member of the patrol with dismemberment by fire for pointing weapons at her daughter before Zuko had gotten things under control. Prior to arriving, they had thrown up the hood of Sasuke's travel cloak, put a mock bandage over his eyes and decided to explain him away as an injured companion to keep any Fire Nation soldiers from recognizing him. Zuko had spoken with the captain of the base and been open and honest about the invasion of the spirits; he had ordered that the base open a line of communications from that base all along the others until reaching the Fire Nation capitol to put all the military on high alert. It was clear that the Fire Nation command of that base found this story somewhat difficult to believe, but they wouldn't dare disobey a command from the Fire Lord and they complied. From there, they had been given the fastest cruiser the base had to offer and they had set sail towards the north with all haste.

The voyage had taken just over two days and they had arrived on the coast midday to be greeted by a convoy of Water Nation ships. Katara and Aang had taken the lead in showing themselves and it had become a matter of being escorted to the capital where Aang had then made the decision to announce to the Water Tribe that Sasuke was among their number. What had followed was a rather tense confrontation during which the battalion of soldiers escorting them had come nose to nose with Azula, Yue, Ursa and Katara when they had tried to take him in, and it was only thanks to Aang that the situation had been defused.

"We are aware of his status as a wanted man," he had said. "We only wish to speak with Chief Tangith in regards to this, and he may decide what he wants to be done with Sasuke."

This coming from the Avatar had seemed enough to appease the soldiers, but Aang had then been turned on by those same four women, demanding what he had been thinking. Staring all of them down had been frightening enough, and Sasuke had needed to come to his rescue.

"It's fine," he had said in his low, calming voice. "I wouldn't have wanted to hide myself anyway."

While this had gotten the heat off him, Aang hadn't been able to avoid the cold shoulder from Katara and hadn't been until that night after they had been escorted back to the complex.

The building itself was very nice, a multi-story establishment with a large lobby that was usually used to cater to high end tourists and visitors, but which was swiftly cleared of staff for them. Clearly having the Avatar, the Fire Lord, and a host of other extremely notable guests in the likes of Azula, Katara, and others was enough for them to roll out something of a red carpet, even if the complex had soldiers patrolling around the outside of it regularly.

Aang was sitting on the upper floor's porch, doing his best to keep calm. They had all finally gotten a good night's sleep in the complex's wealth of luxurious mattresses, but he was practically counting the minutes to when he and Katara would be escorting Sasuke to the palace, with them no doubt being escorted by a host of soldiers. Still, stressing out like Katara was hardly served any good.

"Have you seen Yue?" Sokka asked him, casually changing the subject. While Mai didn't so much as look over from the beautiful view they had of the glacial mountains in the distance, clearly happy to zone out as she was, Aang saw Suki's eyes twitch slightly at this.

"No, not since breakfast," Aang replied. "She's been taking some time to herself I think."

"You offered to take her to the palace, right?" Sokka asked, almost accusingly and Aang gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, of course I did. I guess…"

In truth, he didn't know exactly what it was that kept Yue from wanting to potentially reunite with her parents who, to Katara's best information, still were members of the Northern Water Tribe's nobility, but it wasn't really his place to speculate.

"I don't know, guess she's just not ready for that yet."

"Maybe not," Sokka muttered before taking a long sip of the drink he had made for himself down in the lobby's bar. Aang thought it might have been a little early in the day to start drinking, but he didn't mention that.

"How about Sasuke?" he decided to ask. He knew that Sokka had spoken privately with Sasuke and while he didn't want to pry, anything that he might be able to glean from Sokka's response was something he was curious about.

"What about him?" Sokka asked back casually and Aang did his best to keep from sounding too interested.

"I don't know, he's just been the only one who's kind of still seemed super subdued over the past couple days. Everyone else kind of started to loosen up after he told us what he did about his jutsu or technique or whatever. But even this morning, he still seemed kind of… I don't know, off."

Sokka chuckled and Aang watched him closely, noting how much his friend didn't seem at all worried.

"Sasuke? He always is like that. But if you think he's being even more so, don't worry about it."

"Why not?" Aang nearly blurted out and Sokka shot him a knowing look and a smirk.

"He's just lovesick."

---

Sasuke bucked his hips intensely, feeling his breath release in short, hot pants against Ursa's shoulder as she moaned in his ear, the sensual sounds she released only serving to further excite him. Her hands moved up his body, her nails gently gliding over his skin and causing chills to spread as she scratched softly down his back. Moving his knees slightly to readjust, he gave a particularly deep thrust and she groaned louder, tilting her head back as she closed her eyes.

"Baby… if I didn't know any better… I'd say you needed this even more… than I did," she managed to get out in between moans. Ursa didn't know how true that was; Sasuke had managed to steal a kiss here and there during their journey, but even aboard the Fire Nation vessel, they hadn't been able to secure any time alone. The small vessel had only had single person bunks to occupy and all of them were placed in the same room.

"I might have," he gasped out, pulling his head up to look down at her. She looked just as beautiful then as she ever had, her eyes closed, her cheeks flushed and her mouth agape while she released seductive moans over and over. At his words, she opened her eyes halfway, smiling lazily up at him.

"I was kidding," she said before pulling him down into a long, passionate kiss that they carried out for several seconds before breaking away.

"I needed this more than you could possibly know," she whispered against his lips before releasing a shout as Sasuke pushed as deep in her as he could, and she threw her head back, her body arching briefly. Sasuke pulled back slightly, looking down at her in worry.

"Sorry, was that too—"

Ursa wrapped her legs around his back just above his rear, pulling him back into her.

"More," she moaned and Sasuke didn't dare deny that. Pulling his hands up to wrap around her breasts, clutching them tightly, he continued to thrust as hard as he dared. There wasn't much of him that worried over being too much for her since despite every time he worried he might have gone too far, she didn't seem to be anything other than more turned on at his actions.

Sweat beaded down his forehead and cheeks as he stared down at her, rocking the bed with his movements as the softness of her sex, her gorgeous face and sensual moans brought him closer and closer to release. She opened her eyes fully and looked deeply up at him and as his thumbs tracked over her erect nipples, eliciting a whimper that seemed almost too feminine for her, he felt himself pass the point of no return.

"Ursa, I'm—" was all he managed before she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight to her. He couldn't so much as speak a word as she started to piston her own hips against his midsection, eliminating the need for him to do any work. Sasuke had to remind himself to breathe as he felt himself rigid and straight while Ursa thrust up into him until he tipped over the edge and let out an expulsion of air from his lungs that came out in a relieved and euphoric gasp as Ursa released a shout as well that petered off into a low moan.

"Yes…" she whispered as he twitched violently several times over, releasing himself within her; Sasuke felt his body slacken with the relaxation that came only with such a burst of relief and he remained on top of her, feeling his heart hammer against hers as he let his breathing stabilize. Ursa caressed his back slowly as he came down and Sasuke could barely keep himself from chuckling; had he not experienced it firsthand, he would never have guessed that Ursa had this side to her, something so much softer and more sensual than the usual stern and controlled attitude she seemed to possess around most others. But with him, alone…

"That's a good boy," she murmured, in a tone that was both affectionate and playful. Being called such names should have caused him to be quite irked, but somehow, it just made him want to hold onto her even more. She gyrated her hips, moving him around inside her and he felt his body seize involuntarily at the feeling and she let out a low, throaty chuckle.

"Still sensitive, are we?"

Slowly, Sasuke withdrew from her and they both made soft noises at the feeling of being separated from one another's sex.

"Of course," Sasuke said quietly and rolled over onto his rear, where he sat on the bed beside Ursa, while she laid next to him, propped up on pillows, still running fingers over his back.

They were in her room, though frankly, any of the complex's rooms would have done nicely, spacious and accommodating as they were. Their beds too were of such a perfect size and stature that it made it impossible not to feel pulled towards their covers and cushioning touch, even more so when there was a beautiful woman joining him. The only light sources were a small oil lamp on the nightstand and a small stream of light glistening through a crack in the blinds, an ever present reminder to Sasuke that he was going to have to leave the safety and comfort of what he was presently feeling to go back out into that unforgiving and uncaring world.

Ursa's fingers moved up to the base of his neck to pinch and rub at it, massaging it slightly.

"Even after that, still so tense?"

He turned to look at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry, it has nothing to do with—"

Her smile told him that she hadn't connotated it as such.

"I know. When you came in here, you looked ready to tear the head off a Komodo-rhino. The fact that you're looking so much better is a sign that I did my job as best I could."

Sasuke reached over to caress her thigh.

"You did more than that…"

For a moment, they both just were content rubbing one another before Ursa sat up, positioning her head behind him to kiss his back.

"Still… you're uptight. Is this about the meeting with the chief?"

The initial response that Sasuke wanted to give was denial of this, but he knew that lying to her was as fruitless a task as trying to scoop the ocean into a hole in the sand.

"I'm not worried about what'll happen to me, but if things go sour at all… I don't want any of you to be in danger for having been with me."

She leaned over his shoulder and cocked her head, her flowing, beautiful brown hair cascading against his arm.

"So, just make sure things don't go sour."

He let out a soft sniff of a laugh as she wrapped her arms around his stomach to hold him, kissing his shoulder as she did.

"You make it sound so easy," he said and she replied with an edge to her tone, one that he didn't like to hear.

"I can't say I particularly… approved of how the Avatar handled your situation, but if things were to have gone south, they would have by now. I think you know that."

He gave a soft sigh.

"Maybe."

Ursa made a soft noise of amusement.

"You just stay calm and speak your side when told to. Be mindful of what they ask, and do what you can to accommodate their wishes. Don't interject when it's not your place to speak and just… be careful with these people; regardless of how powerful you are, nobility and royalty will always find the time to look down on you and feel insulted when you so much as suggest something outside your place to speak."

Turning his head slightly to look at her, Sasuke smiled as she gently leaned forward to brush her nose against his.

"You seem to know a good bit about the way of these things," he said and immediately regretted it as he watched her face harden slightly; it was clear that he had just stuck his hand into an unpleasant memory.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—" he started and Ursa seemed to catch herself before reaching up and running fingers against his lips.

"No, you're fine, honey," she said gently. "I just… I did a fair deal of diplomatic missions for the Fire Nation before Ozai… before he decided to keep me in the palace."

Biting his tongue, Sasuke cursed himself in the back of his head for accidentally bringing up something that was clearly not something she remotely wanted to think about, maybe something that she had long since buried away. She clearly seemed to recognize his change in mood and pulled his head gently to kiss him on the forehead.

"You're fine, honey," she repeated, a little more sternly. "My past isn't something I should be scared of, and I don't want you thinking less of me because I make that mistake."

"I could never think less of you," he said almost automatically, the words like a jerk reaction to him. "You're perfect."

"Oh, Sasuke…" Ursa said quietly with a soft noise of affection before pulling him into a tight hug. He buried his face in the side of her neck, feeling her hair tickling his face as he closed his eyes and ran his fingers over her soft skin. They held one another for a long while before she gently pulled apart from him.

"You should go get cleaned up," she said, clearing her throat. "You're going to be leaving soon, and I don't think you should go to the palace looking like… well, that."

Sasuke pulled his head back slightly in mock offense.

"What's that supposed to mean? Looking like what?"

She smiled and gave him a pinch on the cheek, yet another show of affection that should have annoyed him more than anything, but rather just made him want to slip into her arms and never leave them.

"Like you just had an awfully good time."

He smiled back at her.

"But that's true."

Ursa pushed herself up to her knees behind where he was sitting and took his head in her hands, turning it up while looking down at him affectionately as he looked back, unable to look away from her beautiful face with her hair cascading around him.

"I'm glad, but I think that's a secret better kept between you and I, don't you think?"

It was several minutes more before they broke apart.

---

Soza sat beside Toph, her legs crossed, her elbows on her knees and her clenched fists pressing underneath her chin and propping up her head. The pair of them were sitting outside just beside the building while Toph practiced her metalbending; it wasn't anything that Soza could see happening but as Toph sat there with her eyes closed, her palms pressed against the snow covered ground, it was clear that some semblance of meditative practice was taking place. Soza would have much rather had a mock battle as was something they often did together, but Toph had told her that the injuries on her back would keep her relatively stiff for the time being. When Soza had asked to see them, she had gotten rather tight and almost rude, but Soza decided not to be angry with her for that. She had experienced a rather trying night not too long ago after all.

Since they had reached the Northern Water Tribe, Soza had found herself sticking to Toph much more than usual; her mother had grown rather distant with her, even more so than she was used to. Her mother always had possessed a streak where she liked being alone, but since they had made it to the complex they were staying in, Soza had barely been able to find her, let alone spend time with her. Toph's company hadn't been a great deal better; while she certainly was more amenable than Soza's mother, she too seemed somewhat cold and almost put off whenever Soza would come to spend time with her.

Part of Soza wondered if she shouldn't just leave Toph be, but she her overall impressions of their situation and where they were weren't good, and she very much was looking for company to keep her mind off things. It was too cold, too bright, too quiet. Auntie Ty and Mai were both hardly making for good company just then, both of them seeming almost hesitant to even talk to her. And just earlier, she had gone looking for her father, but had heard rather strange sounds passing by her grandmother's room, and she had taken this as a sign that she and her father must have been 'copulating' as she had once heard it put by her mother who had executed two palace servants caught in the act.

Even though she knew Toph was concentrating, she spoke anyway from where she sat, her words coming out lazily.

"Is it weird to think that Ursa is actually my grandmother?"

She had said this almost as a musing to herself since, if Toph really was caught up in her meditative practices, she would not have been remotely expunged from this state of mind by a question like that, likely not even hearing it as she focused. So when Toph's unseeing eyes snapped open and Soza felt a ripple deep beneath where she sat, she jumped slightly.

"Why would it be?" Toph asked after taking a moment to compose herself after what was a rather sudden reaction. Soza shrugged, just honestly happy to have someone talking to her.

"I don't know… it's just that when people say 'grandmother' or 'granny,' I think of really old women. Auntie Mai and Fire Lord Zuko once took me on a trip to Ember Island when I was younger, and there were two women there who were in charge of a house near the dock, well, more of a shack really. But Auntie Mai always called them the two 'grannies' and she would always wrinkle her nose when we talked about them. So, I guess I just expect a grandmother to be really old."

Toph furrowed her brow.

"Mai and Zuko took you on a vacation? But Azula—"

"Oh, mother was furious," Soza quickly clarified. "She had gone away with Auntie Ty on some business and when we all got back to the capitol, she and Fire Lord Zuko were yelling at each other all night long it seemed like. Him talking about me needing to see more of the world and not be 'indoctrinated' into the idea of a 'military state' and this and that, and mother saying that he had no right to take me off places without her permission."

For a moment, Toph looked deeply thoughtful about this before shaking it aside.

"Well, anyway," she said. "Grandmothers don't have to be super old. It all depends on when people choose to have children. Ursa had Azula and Zuko when she was very young I think, and I know Azula had you when she was also very young. And I don't think Ursa can be much older than her late thirties, early forties at most. And even then, she doesn't seem even that old."

"She doesn't look it either," Soza said, her fingers digging into the snow near her feet. For a moment, Toph said nothing before quietly asking a question.

"She doesn't?"

"Nope," Soza replied. "Barely looks that much older than mother. Even more so now after…"

She trailed off, thinking in the back of her head what exactly it was she was trying to emphasize.

"I don't know, maybe being all lovey dovey with father has her just happier, and that makes her look younger."

When Toph didn't say anything to this, Soza looked over and saw that she was looking very uncomfortable and perhaps a little angry. Blinking at her in surprise, Soza decided to figure out why.

"Toph? What's the—"

The back door to the complex opened and Soza looked up to see her father stepping outside, his travel cloak pulled around him to shield against the cold the same way she and Toph were wearing the coats they had been provided.

"Dad!"

He seemed surprised at her enthusiastic greeting as she jumped to her feet, but she saw a small smile on his face at her word.

"Hey, kid."

She furrowed her brow and crossed her arms at him.

"I have a name, you know."

Approaching her, he reached out and tousled her hair and she flinched at the action without pulling away.

"And why is it that you insist on doing that?" she demanded as she glared up at him.

"It's a common way that parents show affection to their children," Toph said quietly without turning towards them. Soza watched as her father turned his eyes to Toph, his expression growing a touch concerned. He kept his hand on Soza's head as he took another step her way.

"How are you feeling? Has Katara been able to—"

"There will be scarring," Toph said curtly from where she sat. "The wounds themselves have been pretty much dealt with, but they weren't seen to fast enough to ensure that there won't be marks left behind."

He looked even more concerned at this.

"Maybe there's something I could do once—"

"It's fine," Toph said, her voice almost a snap. Soza turned her gaze towards her father to see him staring at Toph, looking like there was more he wanted to say. He seemed to reach some conclusion in his head however and seemed to push past it.

"Well, what have you two lovely ladies been up to out here in the cold?" he asked, and moved to walk around to where Toph was sitting; Soza kept close behind him, happy to answer.

"Toph's been practicing her metalbending for the purposes of meditating and helping her body heal," she said promptly. "I've been keeping her company."

"Hmm," Sasuke replied, sitting down opposite Toph and Soza put herself down between them as they wound up forming a neat little triangle. "That doesn't sound very exciting for you, I must say."

Glad to have someone to even remotely understand her reserved boredom and frustration, Soza blew out a sigh.

"You don't know the half of it."

"No one's asking either of you to stick around," Toph snapped, the irritation in her voice obvious then and Soza gave her a look. She was acting even stranger than usual, as though Sasuke just being there was causing her a great deal of unrest.

Does she have some sort of problem with him?

"Well, you don't have to be a complete—" she started before falling silent as her father put his hand on her shoulder.

"Toph, are we alright being here as long as we keep it down?"

The blind young woman chewed the inside of her mouth in exasperation for a moment before huffing out a breath.

"Fine."

She put her palms back on the ground and resumed her meditative state; Soza looked over at her father, keeping her voice down but not bothering to keep any of her annoyance from it.

"I don't know why she's acting so uptight," she told him quietly. "She's usually a lot more fun than this."

"Well, I hate to say it, kid, but part of it might be because I'm here," her father said back and Soza, feeling her interest piqued, turned to fully face him.

"Oh? Why?" she asked, and he smiled.

"I'm imagining that when she sees me, she probably remembers the first time we were alone together."

Soza leaned forward, more intrigued then ever.

"When was that?"

He gave her a sideways look and a smirk.

"I held her by the ankle over a side of an airship and threatened to drop her."

It took Soza a moment to react to this before she realized her mouth had fallen open.

"You did not."

From where he was sitting, her father looked up towards the sky, his eyes glazing over slightly at the memory.

"Sure did. I had gone away on a… trip of sorts, and she had stowed away. And let me tell you she had quite the mouth on her even back then."

Soza could feel a smile pulling its way onto her face at the idea of a younger version of Toph cursing at a younger version of her father.

"So you held her over the side of an airship?" she asked incredulously. He looked to her again, giving his head a small shake.

"You should have heard how insufferable she was, that mouth just going on and on, and—"

"Alright!" Toph suddenly said loudly and Soza looked over quickly to see that she had apparently been knocked from her meditation by his words or maybe she had been listening in the whole time after all. She was wearing a frown and a furrowed brow, but Soza could see the way the corners of her mouth were twitching, like she was trying desperately to keep from smiling.

"You want to talk about insufferable?" she demanded. "All you did back then was mutter and be a jerk, and you're going to blame me for not being able to open you up?"

"If you had taken a hint and seen that I wasn't interested in talking at the time…" Sasuke said with a sigh, but Soza could tell that there was a playful edge to his words. Toph let out a short laugh.

"Ha! So you dangle a helpless girl over the side of a ship by her ankle? So chivalrous of you."

Sasuke smirked.

"Who said I was trying to be chivalrous? In case you had forgotten, we wound up going on a pretty eventful excursion, you and I."

Soza scooted forward eagerly.

"What happened?" she asked, but neither of them seemed to hear her question as Toph rolled her eyes.

"And you would have been so lost if I hadn't been there."

Her father gave a short snort of disbelief.

"Please. I had to babysit you on top of everything else I was doing."

Toph's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, but it was impossible for her then to keep the smile from her face and Soza could see the Toph she knew poking through then, aggressive expression and challenging smile on her face.

"Whatever, freak! Where would you have been that night without me?"

Soza looked into her father's eyes and saw some true affection there as he looked back at Toph; his voice softened then as he spoke.

"Fair enough. Probably wouldn't have gone as well."

Still smirking and glaring his way, Toph crossed her arms.

"Damn straight."

For a moment, they were both silent and Soza felt the barest sense of awkward energy coming on before Toph leaned forward.

"You remember how you lied to me when you said we were landing?"

Sasuke chuckled, leaning back on his hands as they dug into the snow behind him.

"Sure do. Not like telling the truth was going to make you any easier to deal with."

Toph continued to smirk.

"I don't think I had ever been more scared, falling through a fucking storm."

Soza noticed how she wasn't remotely keeping her language in check which she had always usually tried to do around her, but something about Sasuke seemed to be putting her at complete ease.

"Hence why I tied you to me while we were falling. Still, I almost dropped you then and there."

Giving a shudder, Toph shook her head.

"You asshole. I wanted to beat the shit out of you when we finally landed on that roof."

"You sure did."

"I would have too if that storm hadn't had me all wound up."

"Pfft, sure. You were two feet tall back then."

"That much easier to punch you in the nuts, you obnoxious—"

The door on the terrace above opened and Soza turned her eyes up a moment before the Avatar's head poked over the side of it.

"Oh, Sasuke, there you are! Ready to go?"

Her father's upbeat personality seemed to ebb away slightly and he sighed before replying.

"As I'll ever be."

Aang nodded.

"Okay, me and Katara will be at the front of the complex, don't be long!"

He disappeared back inside and Sasuke sighed again.

"Alright, you two don't have too much fun without me."

Getting to his feet, he brushed the snow from his cloak and made to walk away before Soza got to her feet and took a step towards him before pausing in a short jerking movement. He looked at her with slight confusion on his face and Soza stood there a moment, feeling rather foolish and nervous all of a sudden.

"What's up?" he asked and she opened and closed her mouth a couple times, not really seeming to know just what to say.

"I… I just…"

Toph spoke up then from where she still sat, a smile on her face.

"It's okay to want to hug your dad, Soza."

Feeling even more ashamed at Toph's words, she looked angrily down at her friend, balling her fists.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, I just—"

She cut off as her father stepped towards her and put a hand around her shoulder, pulling her to him. For a moment, she was just stunned before she put her arms around his torso and gave a brief squeeze. It wasn't like when she had been in a terribly emotional state that would have shamed her mother to so much as see when she had last put her arms around her father, but it felt so much like the right thing to do in that moment that she couldn't help but feel a touch of disbelief.

Her father released her a moment later and looked down at her while she looked up at him. The, he tousled her hair again and smiled, putting his pointer and middle finger together to lightly touch her on the forehead.

"See you later… Soza."

He walked away, leaving her to stand there, not entirely sure why she felt so good just then. There was no sense to be found in how just a couple simple touches were making her insides feel as though everything was right with the world.

No doubt mother would think something was wrong with me if she knew I was feeling this way.

It was moments before she turned back to Toph to see that her friend had tears glistening in her eyes, even as she smiled.

---

Toph walked back inside the complex, heading back to her room. A few minutes after Sasuke had left, Jin had poked her head out and said that lunch was almost ready if she and Soza wanted to get washed up to come inside. As if the elation Toph had felt from feeling Sasuke's affectionate touching of his daughter and the brief playful banter they had enjoyed wasn't enough, Soza had actually thanked Jin for letting them know and even though Toph had felt the girl's confusion through the earth at her own words, the fact that the words 'thank you' had come out of her mouth at all was practically cause for celebration on their own. Soza had been nothing but condescending of Jin for the longest time, only speaking to her when necessary and being painfully rude when she had to, and as Toph walked back inside, she felt amazed that she could have gone from feeling so quietly depressed to so overall high-spirited in a matter of minutes.

There was still that damnable piece of her in the back of her mind, telling her that Sasuke's talking with her didn't mean anything, but somehow, it didn't bother her just then. She was thankful for it nonetheless, and the very idea that she and him had just laughed together, with Soza there to see it no less, was uplifting all on its own.

As she neared her room and realized she was humming happily to herself, she also realized that she was being followed and had been since she had come back inside. Stopping in front of her door, she half-turned with a sigh.

"I know you're there, Ty. You're not quite that good."

She felt Ty Lee approach, her movements sheepish and her voice even more so.

"Sorry…"

Toph shrugged.

"What's up?"

For a moment, her friend stood before her and Toph tried to imagine what had her acting so strange and nervous. Sure, there situation was anything but stable, but it was as close to comforting as it had been since before that fateful night in Ba Sing Se, and Toph wasn't looking to have her mood ruined.

"Ty, come on," she urged and her friend let out a long sigh before finally replying.

"I just… we haven't really had a chance to talk since Ba Sing Se," she said, and Toph could tell immediately that she was deflecting. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Toph said back, starting to feel a touch on edge. "Katara got me good and fixed up, and finally being able to get a good night's sleep has definitely helped too."

"Oh, that's good, that's good…" Ty Lee said, trailing off in that same nervous tone and Toph let out a somewhat aggrieved sigh.

"What's really going on?" she asked and she felt her friend's weight shift nervously from foot to foot, and Toph could tell it was taking everything in her power not to start doing a handstand or cartwheels or one of her many aerobic activities that always helped her relax when she was feeling anxious or unnerved.

"It's… damn it, Toph, I'm just worried."

"About what?" Toph asked, crossing her arms.

"You… being around Sasuke."

Toph slid her tongue over her teeth slowly, feeling some aggravation start to build.

Of course.

"And why is that?"

For the first time since she had approached, Ty Lee grew relatively still and Toph knew that was because she had finally gotten to the point she had been wanting to make.

"You know why. You remember when I came to see you in your room at the palace? When we talked about the one thing you've never confided in anyone about?"

Toph could feel a full on outburst building up inside her, but she managed to restrain it; she didn't want to blow up now, not after she had been feeling happy for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Don't go there right now, Ty, I don't want to talk about this."

"Why not?" Ty Lee persisted almost desperately. "Toph, I know what he's meant to you when he was gone. So, now that he's back, can you really blame me for being worried?"

She started to pace tightly, short strides back and forth in the hall, the anxiety palpable in her movements.

"I was listening to both of you out there with Soza. I heard you laughing, and that's great, it really is, but… "

Ty Lee made a noise of soft frustration before she stopped pacing and faced Toph again.

"I don't want you getting hurt by him again. I know what that's like, what it feels like, I—"

Feeling her aggravation hit a high point suddenly, Toph cut her off angrily.

"Do you? How exactly do you know, Ty? Because of Azula?"

She felt Ty Lee tense up at her words and she gave a savage smirk and a short, sharp nod.

"Yeah, I've been paying attention too. Every time she's around, I can tell how you're feeling. So, now that he's back, you think he's going to be snatching her away from you? That because you've probably never meant anything to Azula other than a quick fuck, she'll run off with him and you'll be left alone?"

A part of her knew that this lashing out wasn't hardly justified, but she didn't care just then.

"I've just felt happy for the first time in what feels like years, Ty, so do me a favor and just fuck off; you want to be miserable because you're worried about Sasuke ruining your life, fine. But don't drag me down there with you."

With that, she opened her door and slammed it behind her, marching to her washroom as she did.

Can't everyone just let me be happy? Even if it's just for a minute?

She bowed her head over her basin and felt tears well in her eyes, not at all like the happy ones she had felt with Sasuke and Soza earlier as she angrily pushed Ty Lee from her mind.

Even if it isn't real?

---

Sasuke sat in Chief Tangith's council room, sitting patiently and quietly at his place around the large circular table, and doing his best to keep his feelings in check.

He, Katara and Aang had been immediately met with an escort of at least two dozen soldiers as they had left the complex and started their walk towards the palace. Sasuke had hoped to make the trek there inconspicuously, but with that sizable of an escort, it made that rather difficult to achieve; he had kept his head down the whole walk over, but he had felt the stares of the city folk as they had made their way through the streets and he had only helped they had been looking at Aang or Katara rather than him.

The palace itself was an impressive piece of architecture, set furthest back in the city, its back facing the icy mountains that walled the north end of the city off, and placed above all other structures. Sasuke would have been hard pressed to stand anywhere in the city and not be able to see it, and when they neared, it became clear just how large of a structure it was. From there, they had been led inside and ushered immediately to a large set of double doors deep within the palace. Though he had intentionally foregone bringing any weapons on his immediate person, Sasuke had still been subject to a rather vigorous pat down before being allowed to enter.

The room was tall and domed, with only a large circular table in its center. Pillars of ice lined its sides and Sasuke had allowed himself a brief moment to wonder how they kept such a place at least somewhat lukewarm in temperature before seeing that they were actually the last ones to this particular party.

At the head of the table was who Sasuke knew must be Chief Tangith based on what he had been told about the man. He was tall, broad shouldered and rather severe looking despite the laugh lines etched into his face. His eyes were chips of ice as he regarded the three people entering the room, not a word escaping his mouth. Two heavily armored guards stood just behind his chair on the left and right, their faces hidden by ornate battle masks. Around the chief, forming something of a semicircle around the table, were a group of who must have been his advisors and consultants, also all watching them intently. Sasuke had no more had time to sit down at the other end of the table before Katara and Aang began talking.

They wasted no time in starting to relay what they needed to, with Aang immediately thanking Tangith for allowing them the opportunity to meet with him and explain their situation. Alongside occasional interruptions from Katara to clarify certain points, Aang launched into a full scale explanation of Sasuke's presence as well as the state of Ba Sing Se, not skipping anything when it came to the spirit invasion. Several of the advisors expressed open disbelief and disdain for the idea that their world was somehow under attack from such a thing, but Aang didn't let it slow him down. He made mention of everything, from Kyoshi, to their escape, to the scenario with Sasuke and Soza; the one thing Sasuke could tell he was omitting was why exactly it was that Kyoshi and her army were after himself and his daughter and when Aang finally finished his telling of the story almost half an hour later, a woman sitting close to Tangith spoke up in regards to just that. She was chiseled and had more muscle on her than plenty of men that Sasuke had seen in his life, her hair a brownish red and her eyes intense and piercing.

"If we assume for a moment that this invasion is happening, and that somehow, previous Avatars have reincarnated in a physical sense for the purpose of pursuing…"

She paused a moment, allowing the skepticism in her voice to be apparent.

"As absurd as that sounds. But in such a case, why would they be after this man and his daughter? If your words are true, Avatar, then the crimes with which the United Nations Council held him accountable for are certainly cause for reexamination, with his attack of the outpost on the border not even having taken place at all. If your story is to be believed, then his actions at the end of the war sound more than justified."

Sasuke had heard enough of the cadence in her voice to know that there was a catch to what she was saying. The woman stood and pressed her fists to the table, leaning forward to look at him closely.

"So why then, would Avatars of old return to this plane of existence in order to expunge him and his blood from it?"

Aang didn't seem like he wanted to say more, but Katara replied in a cool tone, speaking to the subject about as well as Sasuke could have imagined it would go, even if any response with an inkling of truth they could have given would have been at least slightly damning.

"For the purpose of believing that his existence is unfit for this world."

The woman nodded as though some understanding she had been considering had just been confirmed.

"And he's also had a child with one of our world's women? Who is she, might I ask?"

Sasuke remembered how Aang hadn't actually used Soza's name when describing her, nor had he used Azula's name. He watched Katara falter briefly at this question and finally decided to speak up himself.

"Given that I don't know whether or not she'd like to be named at this point, I'd rather defer to her before making her identity better known."

As this had been the first time he had said anything since they had all sat around the table, he could feel a very genuine layer of tension add to what was already there. Both Katara and Aang looked slightly unnerved as though they had been rather hoping he wouldn't have added anything, and while Sasuke didn't have trouble believing that Azula would have any issue with someone knowing about her being the mother of his child, Sasuke didn't like the way this woman was asking such pointed questions, nor the way she was now looking at him very seriously without an inkling of reservation in her eyes. The fact that she had taken this line of questioning to go straight for Azula was something that didn't sit well with him.

"You don't need to worry about hiding whatever whore you decided to knock up while here," the woman said, somewhat disdainfully.

Sasuke didn't say anything back to this, but he felt the strangest feeling on his insides as he twitched where he sat. Hearing Azula called a whore shouldn't have bothered him, but something about it struck him the wrong way and he had to fight down a surge of anger just then.

"Regardless, we cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in such wild aspersions!" one of Tangith's other advisors shouted out; a shorter, pudgier man, he looked a genuine humorous contrast to the woman's exceptionally strong appearance. "The idea of an invasion by spirits is completely absurd!"

"Are you calling Avatar Aang a liar, viceroy?" Tangith asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. Immediately, Sasuke could tell that this man carried a weight and aura that spoke to the fine line that must have needed to be treaded when talking to him; all of his people turned to him with respect on their faces and the viceroy in question seemed to flush in the cheeks.

"Sir, no, certainly not… but we've been warned of this man! The stories tell that he is able to go so far as manipulate the minds of whomever he wishes! Perhaps he tricked these two into saying all these things!"

Aang, who had done a fine job of keeping himself in check thus far, pushed to his feet as Katara grabbed at his arm.

"We're of perfectly sound mind! He's done nothing to us!"

Broadly, this was hardly true, Sasuke thought bitterly; they had all seemed to at least somewhat forgive his careless attempt at Izanagi, but even though everyone had survived what he had done, the thought of what could have been haunted him daily and not even Ursa's touch could push it far enough from his mind to keep it from coming back.

"I've read the briefings just as you have," Tangith sighed. As opposed to the almost manic and intense energy that his advisors seemed to have, he seemed rather tired and thoughtful, not quite what Sasuke would have expected in reaction to him.

"Sir, our course of action should be clear nonetheless," the built woman said firmly, looking over to the chief. "Sasuke Uchiha should be jailed until we confirm the state of Ba Sing Se, and should things prove true, he and his daughter should be handed over to them."

It became Katara's turn to launch to her feet, glaring at the woman as she did.

"Lorna, what are you doing?!" she shouted and the woman looked back at her with focused green eyes.

"I'm just looking out for our people, Katara. They have always been the most important thing we have the privilege of protecting. Certainly more than some outsider."

In a sense, Sasuke supposed she had a point. Katara clearly didn't think so because she opened her mouth to no doubt bite Lorna's head off before the chief interrupted what surely would have been a rather unpleasant exchange.

"Lorna, your thoughts are noted."

She turned to him in confusion.

"But sir, if we don't—"

Tangith gave her a sideways glance, taking his eyes off Sasuke for the first time in what might have been since the meeting started.

"And you would do well to remember your place."

Looking angry, but sufficiently cowed, Lorna slid back into her seat reluctantly as Tangith rose from his.

"Sasuke, would you mind accompanying me?"

Clearly, this was the last thing anyone in the room had expected as Lorna, the viceroy, every other advisor, Katara and Aang looked in bewilderment between the chief and Sasuke. Looking back at the chief and seeing the purpose in his eyes, Sasuke remembered Ursa's advice and decided that not to comply did nothing but damage his situation with Tangith. The advisors he couldn't have cared less what they thought of him and seeing the look of shock on Lorna's face was enough almost on its own to push him to his feet which he did anyway.

"Sure thing."

Chief Tangith turned to his two guards and gave them a wave as Sasuke walked around the table towards him.

"We won't require an escort."

At this, just about every single one of his dozen advisors burst to their feet, vocalizing their concerns in loud tones. Unsurprisingly, Lorna's voice came out loudest, her fists clenched as she looked angrily at Sasuke.

"Sir, at least let myself—"

"That will be all, Lorna, all," Tangith said with another lazy wave of his hand. Lorna tightened her lips, biting the lower one, but said nothing more even as it looked like she was two seconds away form just joining the two of them anyway. The rest of the advisors looked between one another, worry and shock still drawn on their faces; as he briefly met Lorna's eyes, he was half-tempted to shoot her a wink.

Aang and Katara were also on their feet, looking perhaps just as nervous as Tangith's council, and Sasuke managed to catch Aang's eye, mouthing the words 'it's alright' to him as he moved to the chief's side. The Avatar's expression softened slightly and he gave Sasuke a reassuring smile. Katara still looked deeply put off and Sasuke hoped that she and Lorna wouldn't try and pull one another's heads off while he and Tangith were gone.

The moment he approached, the chief started walking towards the back of the room where he walked through a small doorway tucked away against a nook in the wall. Sasuke followed him through and closed the door behind them, leaving the pair alone as they walked down a dimly lit hall. Boring his eyes into the back of Tangith's head, Sasuke wondered what exactly it was that had the man in a place where he wasn't remotely put at odds with Sasuke, let alone being alone with him. He had spent so much time being regarded as a danger, as a criminal and a threat, that Sasuke didn't quite know how to react to being treated like he was just… another man. It was strangely deeply refreshing.

"You'll have to forgive Lorna," Tangith said. "Her priorities have always been with her people here in the Water Tribe and while that makes her excellent at focusing on what's best for them, when it comes to anyone else she becomes a touch… narrow-minded."

"Yeah, I got that," Sasuke remarked. "She doesn't strike me as a Water Tribe sort of person frankly."

"Oh?" the chief asked, glancing over his shoulder at Sasuke. "And why might that be?"

Immediately feeling some regret at his words, Sasuke tried to backpedal; he didn't want to say anything that might put him in poorer standing.

"I'm not certain it's my place to say, being foreign to this world as I am."

The corner of Tangith's mouth turned up in amusement.

"You needn't worry about offending me, boy; I actually relish the chance to hear the opinions of outsiders, I really do."

Sasuke pondered on it for just a moment before shrugging mentally. To him, it seemed honesty was the best way to go with this man.

"Well, from what I know of Water Tribe peoples, there is more a reserve to them overall. Not in a disparaging sense, but from what I've heard and from traveling with Katara and her brother, aggression rarely seems to be the open and first solution to anything. I've seen that from the soldiers here too. The ones I've encountered seem to hold a careful focus and attentiveness. Lorna though, she seems ready for a fight whenever she can get one. She just seems different is all."

Her overall appearance didn't even quite match the rest of the people of the Water Tribe, it seemed. Her intense eyes, her brown-red hair, her aggressiveness and built body, her expressiveness. She struck Sasuke as someone who was both very much in her element and yet far removed from it.

"You're an attentive one yourself, Sasuke," Tangith said with a small smile on his face. "In a word, Lorna isn't native to this land, though her mother is of Water Nation descent. Her parents immigrated to Ba Sing Se under less ideal circumstances; without giving away too much of her personal life, she was orphaned and taken in by the Dai Li, Ba Sing Se's secret police and became an enforcer for them at an impressively young age."

"With arms like that, I can't imagine why," Sasuke muttered and the chief chuckled appreciatively at his humor.

"Indeed. But she learned of her heritage shortly after becoming old enough to marry and, feeling rather disillusioned, returned here. At the time, I wasn't chief, but when we met, I helped her uncover more about her past and she became quite loyal to both myself and this nation as time went on. When Chief Arnook's daughter was killed during an attack by the Fire Nation over a decade ago, he stepped down citing his ability to focus on the good of his people was hindered by his grief. I was nominated and accepted the post, and I appointed Lorna as one of my highest ranking staff officers. She has been fiercely loyal to this nation and her people, and I hold her in very high regard."

His voice dropped slightly in pitch.

"And if not for what I know now, I would certainly have taken her advice and had you imprisoned the moment you crossed into our land."

Would like to have seen you try.

Sasuke kept his thoughts to himself as he followed Tangith into a room at the end of the hall. The room was smaller and had a map table with a series of scrolls collected on shelves. It was rather modest and Sasuke was rather surprised to see such a small and unimpressive room in a structure as ornate and beautiful as the palace.

"This is the room I like to come to when I need time to think things over on my own. Having a place where I can go without having a cluster of advisors trying to push their opinions into influencing. Usually, coming here isn't necessary, but I needed to show you something that I would rather my council didn't know of."

He paced around the map table and reached beneath a desk, feeling around the underside of its surface, speaking while he did.

"The reason I didn't have you immediately apprehended is because I have been made privy to two very significant factors that have caused me to rethink things."

Frowning, he continued to move his fingers out of sight.

"Firstly, I have no such belief that Katara or Aang are under any influence of yours. I've heard the stories of the end of the war and have heard what you did. All rather fantastical stories, and some Fire Nation soldiers were actually checked into mental institutions following whatever it was you did. And while talk of you has been next to none over the past decade, it hasn't escaped my notice that Aang, Katara, or anyone that was a member of that group has spoken out against you when requested, particularly at the end of the war when the United Nations Council was making to hold hearings against you. And just several days ago, I was present in Ba Sing Se when word of your return came out. Your friends, that Toph Beifong in particular, were extremely adamant and frustrated how you were being treated. Many of these people you knew as children have grown into very respectable adults whose opinions I quite respect. Regardless of what otherworldly powers you might have, I simply cannot believe that the Avatar, the Fire Lord himself, Katara, perhaps the greatest waterbender of her age, and several others would arrive before my nation's territory with you at their side, without guard, without escort, and not feel there is more to this than Lorna or anyone else might suggest. Perhaps it is a foolish gamble to trust my instincts but they have never led me astray before. And so I feel my impressions now are not to be taken lightly."

Tangith seemed to find what he was looking for. With a click, a piece of one of the shelves rotated to reveal a niche with an object within, veiled by black cloth.

"Nor is this."

Reaching in, the chief pulled out the small object and set it gently on the map table before pulling off the cloth. Sasuke threw a hand up over his face as a sudden burst of light hit his eyes and he winced. For a moment, he wondered if this was some kind of surprise attack before he looked down at the object on the table.

It was a ring, a small and simple circle of no real intricacy, save for the fact that it was glowing and throbbing with a bright blue light. As Sasuke's eyes adjusted to the brightness, he could see the light of it pulsing curiously. He didn't need to ask for an explanation to this strange revelation before the chief began to talk.

"This has been in my family for many generations, at least as far back as my grandfather's grandfather. Though the direct man in question is something lost to my family's history, the purpose and story of it has always remained the same."

He walked around the side of the table and crossed his arms, the shadows on his face cast by the light making him seem even more tired.

"One of my ancestors, supposedly, knew a spirit. I've heard many stories over the years and heard many terms, things like Harmonic Convergence, or spiritual boundaries, but I've found things of that nature to be nothing to my concern. I consider myself a practical man, and despite my mother's attempts to encourage my studies of the spiritual, I rather found that to be less than ideal for the sort of man I wanted to be. I put all these things aside and left them to the more scholarly of my age… save for this."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, trying to squint and see if he could make better sense of the pulsing light.

"The story goes that my ancestor knew a spirit during a chaotic time for human and spirit relations. The spirit was friends with my ancestor and even after the conflict had settled, he provided him this ring, which he claimed would glow when there was spiritual activity threatening the world of man. From that day onward, the ring would only ever glow a few moments over the course of a family member's lifetime as it was passed down to me. And when I inherited it, I also witnessed a few moments in my life when it would glow softly, though during my father and grandfather's lifetimes, it never illuminated once. I determined that the reason being that the ring was glowing when the present Avatar at the time was in the Avatar State. Hence why my father and grandfather never experienced the ring glowing since Avatar Aang was missing from our world during the period of their lives."

He paused and stared down at the ring for a long while.

"Three days ago, this ring began to glow as though the very life of the sun was bursting from it. It has not diminished since. I've not dared show it to even my more trusted scholars, since I suppose a part of me fears what this could mean."

Tangith looked to Sasuke then.

"But Avatar Aang says that our world was invaded by spirits the same day my ancestor's ring began to glow unlike anything it has done in centuries?"

Reaching for the thick black cloth, he covered the ring and left it on the table. Sasuke remained looking where the glow had been coming from, letting his eyes adjust again to the dimmer change in lighting. He wasn't entirely sure what the deal with the ring was, but if it was something that had convinced Tangith that their story was of any credence, it was just fine with him.

"I'm not telling you I believe you one way or another, Sasuke, but I believe that young man. I believe Katara. And I have faith in the truth this ring suggests. Unbeknownst to my council, I have already sent my personal delegation of scouts to confirm an invasion of Ba Sing Se, but I rather doubt they will return telling me anything different than what your friends have. So for the time being, the Northern Water Tribe is a haven for you and your friends, until I am given reason to believe that you are other than what they say you are."

Sasuke was stunned. He looked back at the chief for a long while before he could even think of anything to say.

"I… appreciate that."

Tangith nodded, but seemed not to have any desire to spend any semblance of time on this level of pleasantry.

"Following in accordance with the Avatar's telling of your story, you have been on the run since Ba Sing Se, and I don't imagine you came all the way this far north without reason. Is there anything we can be of service for you beyond our hospitality?"

Repeatedly stunned by how lucky it seemed he was being, Sasuke gave a slow nod.

All because of some stupid little ring.

He nearly laughed aloud.

"For the time being, there is just one thing. I have spoken with Avatar Roku, who passed over alongside the other Avatars and spirits, though as an affront to the invasion rather than for it. He has made it very clear that he believes the invasion is of ill purpose and cause, and told me that in order to stop the invasion, I must travel north, far past the reaches of the Northern Water Tribe to find a being known as Koloss, a giant. In him rests an energy that allows the physical and spiritual world to be connected at all, and finding him is the key to securing an end to this invasion."

To his disappointment, the chief didn't seem to react to this name.

"Koloss… I'm afraid that name is not familiar to me, but as I said, I know not a great deal of legends of old and tales of spirits. I can put my scholars to work on it once they return from their expedition east; they should be returning as we speak from their month of voyaging, fortunately enough."

Sasuke felt a surge of frustration and tension on his insides.

"Sir, forgive me, but when will they return? Are there not others who can look for this information?"

"I would imagine that by tomorrow evening they will be among us once more," Tangith said, looking at him closely. "And they are the only ones who would even have an idea of beginning to look through the hundreds of thousands of records we have archived in the vaults beneath the city."

"All of them are gone?" Sasuke persisted.

"Well, until just a few moments ago, the position of scholar was not an occupation that had any real sudden necessity to it," the chief replied.

Sasuke tried not to let his impatience show as his toes squirmed in his boots.

"Sir, the truth of the matter is that we believe the spirits might be following us. We haven't seen any since the Fire Nation islands, but—"

"For certain, they are following you?" Tangith asked and Sasuke cut off, feeling his aggravation intensify.

"Well, no, but they've managed to find us twice already!"

"Could this have been happenstance?"

Sasuke's fists clenched at his side.

"I don't know, sir."

Tangith gave a nod of finality.

"Whether you are being followed or not, we cannot help you until the men and women who can find your information return. I have difficulty believing one night will make that much difference."

Sasuke disagreed, but he knew from what the chief said that there was little point in pushing the point further.

I don't know how much time we have to spare.

But he kept his mouth shut, bowed his head, and offered his thanks. He knew that his consternation was likely brought on by a great many things, because in a fortress of a city like this, was there really anywhere else they could be safer?

---

As he paced the hall, Sasuke found that his nerves hadn't remotely settled. Night had fallen and yet Sasuke felt no less perturbed by what was happening. Part of him knew that there was nothing that could be done to make this go any faster; he had briefly considered using Kamui or Susanoo to try and reach the scholars and somehow bring them back to the city faster, but he knew well that his eye was still recovering and such a use of energy would possibly be horribly damaging to his healing process.

If I had just used Izanagi properly… my Rinnegan wouldn't be working this hard to fix myself.

There were signs that things should be alright for the time being; they had dealt with no further spiritual encounters during their venturing north and Aang had taken to the skies on multiple occasions to try and spot and potential pursuers, but they had seen nothing.

Maybe them finding us both those times was actually a fluke… Roku said that they initially found us because of him on the airship… and then the spirits might have found us just by coincidence after they were recruiting those Talons down on the islands.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made not to worry.

And yet, all he could do was continue to grow more and more stressed.

More waiting…

It felt like the last ten years had been nothing but waiting.

Sasuke had returned to the complex and had done his best to avoid everyone, sensing that any encounter might result in snapping at someone just by consequence of his own frustration. He had not gone to dinner and hid out in the lower halls of the large building until night had fallen; Ursa had been the only one to find him and he had tried as hard as he could to keep from seeming impatient as she asked him how he was doing and how it had gone. But it had been clear that she had picked up on how he was uptight and trying to hide how upset he was, but in her infinite understanding of him, she had only leaned forward with a sad look in her eyes and given him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be in my room if you need to talk," she had said softly before leaving him in his quiet state of aggravation. He had wanted to run after her and take her hand, apologize for giving her the cold shoulder, tell her everything that was bothering him. Sasuke wanted to go to her room. He wanted to climb into bed with her and just spill how he was feeling. He wanted to let her sap away his negative energy as she seemed so able to do, but Sasuke hated the idea that he would just be using her to vent and try and come down from this angry state he was in.

I can't use her like that… she's more to me than that. I can't just go running to Ursa every time I need to be calmed down. I can't be that selfish.

Even though Sasuke knew she would offer to be that for him however many times as he needed, he couldn't stand the idea of treating her that way. It felt like she was a tool, not a person he loved and wanted to be there for.

Sasuke realized that this might have been what was frustrating him the most. It wasn't thinking about the waiting anymore, or the ever present threat of the spirits.

It was about Ursa.

About how stupidly he had blown off the most perfect person in the world.

It had taken only an hour or so for him to calm himself down to a state where he wasn't worrying about Tangith and his scholars and the time they were losing anymore. And then all he had at that point was the self-disgust he felt for not having already walked to her room and asked for her forgiveness.

I need to be there for her too.

More than once, he turned to head towards her room before turning away, snarling angrily and resuming his pacing. He didn't want to be there for her unless he was in a place he didn't need her to help him. And so he walked back and forth as hours ticked by, his aggravation and impatience keeping him from giving way to his desire for sleep. He kept cursing Tangith and his scholars and their situation, even though he knew that all his anger was directed towards himself. But it was much easier to pretend that he could focus his fury on something else.

I need to be there for her.

"Fuck," he snarled and threw a fist into the wall. He was far enough down the halls that he knew he was a ways from anyone's rooms, so the fear of waking anyone up wasn't present. He hadn't known that being in love was going to be such a pain.

And it's nothing to do with her. It's everything to do with—

"Sasuke."

He heard his name called out behind him, and he found for a moment that he really didn't care who said it. Still, he slowly turned to see who was just as restless in those late hours as he was and who had deemed it necessary to bother him.

Ty Lee stood a couple dozen feet from him, her arms crossed, still fully dressed. Her eyes were intense and focused as she glared at him, her mouth set in a tight line. Sasuke regarded her for a moment before scowling and turning away.

"I'm not exactly in the mood to get bitched at right now, Ty," he growled. He realized this was probably the first time they had talked since she had confronted him back on the Fire Nation island, and he wondered if she had been intentionally avoiding him since that night.

"I don't care what you're in the mood for, Sasuke," she said tightly and he looked back at her with a furrowed brow.

"Oh? What's got you so fired up?"

She started to walk slowly towards him, her voice openly disdainful.

"You know damn well what. I'm looking at him."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose in what he realized with a twinge of regret might have been a very Azula-esque expression.

"You know, this mood doesn't really suit you," he said. "I've heard that you used to be a lot bouncier and fun of a person, when did that stop being the norm?"

Ty Lee didn't wait even a second to reply.

"Probably around the time I met you."

Even if it was true, or even if it was just a jab, Sasuke found that actually hurt to hear. He had spent a lot of nights thinking about the damage he might have done to Toph, or Aang, but he realized that he hadn't spent much time thinking on Ty Lee and what impact he might have had on her life. Still, in his state of aggravation and impatience, he found that this only further frustrated him.

"You got something you want to talk about?" he snapped. "I don't really care to listen to you start going on about why you think—"

She was on top of him in a second and had given him a hard shove, enough that he staggered back and into the wall.

"The hell's the matter with you?" he yelled and looked at her as she stared at him furiously, her fists clenched and her chest heaving.

"You stay the hell away from Toph," she hissed and Sasuke pushed away from the wall, rolling his eyes.

"This again? I told you, I'm not trying to hurt her, and I'm not—"

"Is that why you're playing with her?" Ty Lee challenged. "Getting her hopes up when you're perfectly happy turning 'Zula's mom inside out?"

Sasuke shook his head at her in angry disbelief. He was in much too aggravated of a state to be dealing with this right now and he knew he needed to get away from her as quickly as he could, but he still couldn't help from asking in furious shock.

"Getting her hopes up… what the hell are you talking about?"

Blowing a stray strand of hair aggressively out of her face before tossing her long ponytail over her shoulder, she continued to glare at him.

"I heard you with her and Soza earlier. I heard you playing around and I saw how happy she looked when she came back inside. She hasn't looked that happy in years and of course it had to be because of you. She doesn't even want to think about the fact that you two aren't going to work because of what you are."

She made to shove him again and Sasuke reached out and grabbed her by the wrists, holding them to his chest and forcing her to get awfully close to him.

"And what am I?" he asked quietly. She stared back at him, her eyes wide as she replied just as quietly.

"You're… you're… a jerk. And a thief."

Of all the things she could have called him, this was the last pair of things Sasuke could have expected. As Sasuke saw that her cheeks were flushed, he shoved her away.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he semi-repeated. "What the hell does 'thief' mean?"

As they stared at one another and Ty Lee said nothing back in response, Sasuke realized just how her anger was very clearly mixed with fear. For several long seconds, he wasn't sure if she was going to say anything else before her voice slipped out, rich with pain.

"Why did you have to come back…?" she whispered and Sasuke saw angry tears forming in her eyes. He took a couple steps away from her and put his hands up.

"I don't know if you're drunk, or delirious, or what, but I'm going to bed and I think you should too."

Turning on his heel, he marched away from her, not willing to get caught up in yet another emotional tornado from one of his companions. In actuality, his room was down the other way past Ty Lee, but he didn't dare try and walk past her when she was in such a state.

What's the matter with her?

Fortunately, the complex had been completely emptied for their purposes, and Sasuke knew that any of the rooms that lined the building's many hallways would be just fine in taking refuge in. Reaching one, he yanked the door open and stepped inside a room nearly identical to the one he had already been using as he heard the door click shut behind him.

But I didn't close—

His Sharingan whispered a warning a moment before he turned into taking a full punch from Ty Lee. As his head snapped to the side, he stumbled backwards and fell, hitting the ground hard; before he could so much as wince in pain, she was on top of him, trying to wrestle him to the ground. He could tell immediately that this was violence born out of emotion because he knew that Ty Lee was a seriously experienced martial artist and she should have had no problem subduing him as he put up very little resistance. Sasuke didn't want to hurt her, but he felt his own emotions riling up and he snarled, reaching up to grab her by the ponytail and yank her to the side to try and force her off of him.

For a brief while, they struggled with one another, a mess of limbs on the floor of the room. Sasuke tried to keep himself in check as they rolled over and on top of one another, but he felt his anger slowly building to a point where he knew he had to subdue her before he got a touch too violent. There was no part of him that wanted to hurt her, but if she forced him…

In a rather sudden instant, he found himself on his back, Ty Lee straddling his lap while she held his wrists down on either side of his head. He was preparing to struggle free from her again before he found that she wasn't moving; she was panting hard, but she had made no further move to attack him and was instead staring down at him, her angry expression still there, but her eyes now a bit wider than before.

Sasuke then realized that he was growing underneath her.

Looking down, Ty Lee made it very apparent that she had noticed this as well. Feeling his cheeks flushing in humiliation, Sasuke got ready to try and break free of her; as if his couldn't have been bad enough, now his stupid body had gone and reacted outside his control.

"You pervert," Ty Lee whispered and just as Sasuke was about to flip her off of him, she leaned down and jammed her lips against his.

Her kiss was nothing like Ursa's or Toph's or Yue's or even Azula's. There wasn't any gentle passion, or reserved affection, or anything like what he had felt with any of them. Ty Lee kissed him messily, her lips mashing against his as she forced her tongue into his mouth. He could only lie there a moment, stunned into silence.

After a moment, she broke away.

"Is this what she loves so much?" she whispered angrily and he saw the tears in her eyes. "Is this why she won't even look at me?"

In a crashing moment, Sasuke realized what this was actually all about and found himself cursing his own stupidity that he hadn't realized it sooner.

Of course this might have been partially about him, partially about Toph.

But as with everything it seemed, this was really about Azula.

"Don't be stupid," he snarled. "There's nothing that—"

Ty Lee grinded her crotch against him then with an aggressive firmness that caused him to cut off and stifle a groan.

"Shut the fuck up, Sasuke," she hissed. "You clearly want this. And I want you to show me what it is that has her so in love with you. Why you're so much… better."

Leaning back, she pulled her shirt over her head, swiftly undressing and Sasuke hated how his eyes couldn't help but lock onto her breasts as they swayed in front of him. She smiled bitterly down at him as he did.

"Of course. Like you didn't love this when Azula did it to you. I know you enjoyed it."

That by itself was enough to cause Sasuke's heart to stop a moment as he looked up at the spite she was glaring down at him with. For a moment, he felt pity that this young woman had been so scarred and broken by events that likely would never have happened if he had never come into her life.

Then, the implication of what she said brought his aggravation to a breaking point and he roared, surging upwards to grab her and shove her to the ground, letting his senses go to his overpowering frustration, just as she was. He forgot about his problems, about his anxiety, he even forgot about Ursa as he let his anger drive his actions, taking him away to a place of relieving, blissful and furious ignorance.

---

Ty Lee hissed as Sasuke grabbed her breasts and squeezed them hard enough to hurt before she threw her knee into his gut with enough force to make him relent long enough for her to seize his pants and rip them down. Grabbing his throat in one hand, she shoved him back to the ground and took his sex in her other, beginning to furiously pump it. He growled angrily but allowed her to work at it and Ty Lee stared at it, trying to picture the scene that she had spent so much time pondering.

Was it like this Azula? Is this what you saw, what you felt?

It couldn't have been what she felt, Ty Lee knew that, but it didn't matter to her just then. As much as she hated it, her own body was reacting just as expressively to what was suddenly happening between her and Sasuke, her nipples firm and erect, and her own sex properly wettened by this point.

I fucking hate you, Sasuke.

He suddenly seemed unable to hold himself back and he pushed up against her and made it his turn to yank away her pants and underwear. Feeling suddenly very vulnerable, Ty Lee made to pull away from him, but he grabbed by the shoulders and spun her about, bending her over as he did. On the hardwood floor, she panted on her hands and knees as she felt him grab her waist and position himself just behind her; when she felt the head of his cock nudge against her, she shivered and held her body as still as she could as the seconds ticked by. When the seconds became moments, she let her words come out in a shaky rush.

"What are you waiting for… do it already."

His voice was more composed than her, if only by a little bit. By the sound of things, he was trying to regain control of his breathing.

"Ty, wait… we can't do this, we shouldn't do—"

Rolling her eyes angrily, she shoved herself backwards, impaling herself on him and going as far as her body would take. His girth caused her nerves to scream in pain and she threw her head back as he bottomed out inside her. It had been years since Azula had forbade her from seeing any boys so years since she had experienced anything other than fingers within her, and Sasuke was no slouch when it came to natural endowment. As her body shuddered with pleasure and pain, she heard Sasuke release his own gasp of physical release, but still, his voice sounded out, almost like he was pleading.

"Stop! You don't want this, you don't—"

"Shut UP!" Ty Lee shouted before pushing back hard while also moving upwards. Sasuke yelled as he was tipped again onto his back and she found herself positioned on top of him, his sex still sheathed inside of her. Not giving him a moment to try and talk her out of it again, she leaned forward and rested her hands on the wood at her feet while slinging her legs one at a time nimble around his body. She drew herself up until he was just barely inside her before bringing her waist back down to hit his with an audible slap. She threw her head back again and let herself moan before she started to ride him aggressively; her agile frame allowed her to raise and drop herself on him over and over with a quick and forceful speed that she could tell was driving him wild by the way he was still hardening within her. Her own body was practically howling with pleasure on its own as Ty Lee drove herself down over and over with hungry and furious persistence.

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you for taking her, fuck you for coming back… why you, why does it have to be you, why does it have to be you, why does it have to be you, you don't love her, you've never loved her, so why, why, why, WHY can't she just… look at me?

Letting out a sound that was both a wail and a moan, Ty Lee tightened her walls around Sasuke and held herself still a moment too long. Clearly having given up his reservations, Sasuke pushed himself up and put her back down on her hands and knees, his hands traveling over her toned back before snaking underneath and grabbing at her breasts again; his fingers reached her nipples and gave them hard pulls, causing Ty Lee to arch her back and whine at the painful yet sensual sensation.

"You want this?" he asked, and she could hear anger and regret shaking his voice. "Fine."

His hands moved to her waist and he began to slam into her harder than she could have even thought possible. His body moved at a ferocious speed, pushing in and out of her with an almost animalistic quality. Ty Lee felt her eyes start to roll back as his hips clapped against her rear and her breasts rocked back and forth wildly. One of his hands came up to take her hair and force her to arch her back even further, taking full advantage of her flexibility.

This is who she's forgotten me for. This is who she'd leave me for in a moment if he so much as asked. This is him.

Sasuke somehow started to push even deeper and Ty Lee couldn't help but squeal helplessly as he breached her insides even more to a point she wouldn't have thought was possible. Her own sex was soaking by this point and she reached up with one of her hands to rub her nipples aggressively, forcing as much of her body to be caught up in the moment as she could.

Eventually, she threw a leg up around and twisted herself around on him so that she was lying on her back. Staring up at him hatefully, she saw the same anger on his face as she cupped her breasts and he grabbed her ankles as her legs hung upwards. Neither of them needed to say a word at that point before he started on her again, holding her ankles as leverage as he rocked her body. Ty Lee moaned louder and louder as he went, pulling he head up to look and see a slight bulge near her navel every time he pushed deep within her.

In a sense, this should have been nothing short of a pure pleasure trip for her. No boy she had ever been with had ever come close to this intensity and Ty Lee's entire body felt like it was soaring through the clouds.

Save for her mind which, as they continued, was swallowed by nothing short of despair.

Why… why do I feel so empty?

The continued to have sex for several more minutes and Ty Lee felt herself climax well more than once, each orgasm bringing a rush of shame over her as she tried to keep from letting Sasuke see her tears. When she felt him reaching his own peak, she managed to gasp out between moans.

"Not… inside… on… my stomach…"

Not seconds after she had gotten the words out, Sasuke pulled free with a sensation that caused her whole body to quiver before he held it over her and he released as and where she requested. It was much more than she might have expected, but by that point, she couldn't find much room to care.

Moments later, the both of them were panting side by side, Ty Lee lying on her back on the wooden floor, a proper mess on her belly and Sasuke sitting beside her, his back arched and his head in his hands. Neither of them said a word for a very long time.

"We… shouldn't have done that," Sasuke said finally, his voice muffled by his hands.

"Yeah, probably not," Ty Lee said unhelpfully from where she lay, her eyes fixed blankly on the ceiling. Sasuke let out a low groan before digging his fingers into his scalp.

"I can't believe I… why did I do that…?" he said to himself, sounding genuinely destroyed. Ty Lee said nothing to try and alleviate or explain this away since quite frankly, the idea of him hurting over this was quite an appealing thing to her. She continued to lie on the floor, trying not to think about how much she felt like a slut just then as Jin and Toph had occasionally teased her about, even if they hadn't meant it. Lying there, lathered with his seed, she couldn't shake the feeling of shame, a shadow that was now looming over her relentlessly.

And still… I don't feel any different.

Finally finding herself able to move, Ty Lee pushed herself upright and got to her feet, walking to the washroom and trying to ignore how difficult it was to walk, her legs wobbling every step of the way. She grabbed a towel and cleaned herself up before walking back into the bedroom to see Sasuke glaring up at her.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in a voice that was deep with regret.

"Please," Ty Lee said, trying to sound casual and disdainful, even as her insides felt nothing but emptiness. "Like that didn't feel good for you too."

Without another word, she started to dress, pulling back on her bottom and top while he continued to look at her, the anger gone from his eyes as though it had never been there. She watched him as she redressed until she was clothed at which point she turned for the door, content to leave him lying there half naked.

"Wait," Sasuke said, scrambling to his feet. Ty Lee barely kept herself from just walking out anyway, though she kept her back to him.

"What?"

When Sasuke spoke, his voice still held anger, but she heard the remorse there too.

"I'm not… I'm not trying to take Azula from you."

Ty Lee stood in the doorway a moment before replying, her voice cold as the frigid night wind outside.

"I know. And that makes it all the worse."

She left him in the room and closed the door behind her as she started to walk back towards her room. Her steps seemed to echo like an earthbender shattered a boulder as her heartbeat pounded in her ears, a thick pulse that she couldn't avoid. Her body felt numb all over as though someone else was walking in her body for her. And finally, she couldn't keep the thoughts from hitting her any longer.

God, no.

The reality hit her as hard as anything could have.

I didn't just… I can't have just…

It was at the halfway or so point that the weight of it all caught her and she dropped to her knees, and started to sob.

I wanted to know what it felt like… but I only feel worse now than I did. I… I just don't want to feel so… so… alone.

She wrapped her arms around herself and almost found herself wishing that Sasuke would come down the hall to see just what he was indirectly causing, but he must have decided to take that room for himself that night and let himself get caught up in his own regret. The only satisfaction Ty Lee could find was in the hollow and devastated look she had seen on his face while he had been sitting on the floor.

I fucked him. And I feel nothing now.

Her anxiety and stress that had subsided while she had been having sex with him were running more rampant than they ever had, and Ty Lee rocked back and forth, clutching herself tightly and trying to keep more tears from coming. She felt so terrible, so guilty, so wrong.

It didn't change anything.

She dug her fingernails into her skin, forcing herself to take slow, steady breaths that still quivered terribly anyway. Ty Lee knew this was only going to worsen if she let it.

Get ahold of yourself. You'll be okay. You'll be okay.

Eventually, she managed to pick herself up and walked for another minute or so until she reached her room. Stopping outside it, she pressed her head against the door, letting herself get back under control a few moments longer. The truth of what she had done still wasn't settling with her and she somehow imagined it wouldn't for a while yet.

Opening the door, she walked inside and found that the sight of her bed was the only thing that had brought her comfort that day. Groaning quietly, she started to hobble towards it as she swung the door shut behind her.

It'll be good to just sleep… fuck, I could sleep for days, I'm so worn out that I—

"You look a little worn out, Ty Lee."

Letting out a short scream, she spun around and saw Azula leaning against the wall, half hidden by the shadows.

"Azula!" Ty Lee managed to cry out. "I didn't… why are you…"

Slowly, Azula started to pace gently into the room. Her poise was of its usual elegance and her expression was calm and controlled. But in her eyes, Ty Lee felt her heart sink as that predatory guise that was impossible to miss stared out at her from those seductive and hungry eyes.

"I was having trouble sleeping," Azula slowly drawled. "I thought a walk through the halls might… clear my mind."

Ty Lee felt her slowly sinking stomach plummet to her feet just then. She had been trying to think of how she could hide what she had just done, but if Azula had… had heard…

"I walked by a room I was fairly certain was unoccupied this morning," Azula continued. "And I could have sworn… did I hear my Ty making some rather… suggestive noises? That couldn't have been you, could it?"

Chills were running openly up and down Ty Lee's body by now and she managed to swallow as her lower lip started quivering uncontrollably.

No.

How could this have all happened so fast?

How could it al be going this wrong?

"I was just… I was masturbating," she tried weakly and Azula inclined her head with a precise motion.

"My dear Ty Lee, I've had you touch yourself for me before. I've heard you on your own as well, and the noises you were making…"

She made a tsking sound.

"I find that difficult to believe. Perhaps your whore self couldn't resist grabbing one of the soldiers guarding the building and bringing him in."

Azula stepped closer.

"Or perhaps you stole away Katara's brother for an evening of debauchery."

She stepped closer still.

"Or perhaps…"

Stopping right in front of her, Azula looked down at Ty Lee, her eyes openly flashing with ire.

"…perhaps you just couldn't help yourself."

Unable to stand it, Ty Lee let out a sob, her panic levels flying higher than they ever had and she desperately grabbed Azula's shoulders, pleading as she did.

"Azula, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to… it just… it just happened, I didn't do it to hurt you!"

She waited for Azula to hit her, to beat her like she knew was coming, but in a moment of complete surprise, Azula slowly brought her hand up and stroked her cheek, brushing aside a tear. Unable to believe it, Ty Lee stared in disbelief back into those eyes that still burned with hate.

"Oh, Ty Lee… of course, you're sorry. I know you are."

Then, that same hand slipped down to her neck and tightened around it.

"But you have wronged me… more so than I ever thought you would dare."

Her windpipe being restricted, Ty Lee managed to only gasp out a few words, tears streaming down her face and waves of anxiety hitting her again and again.

"Please… please… I'm sorry…"

With a sudden violent movement, Azula tugged Ty Lee down and shoved her to the floor, almost the same way Sasuke had just minutes ago. Azula released her grip and Ty Lee made to push herself to her hands and knees before the princess's foot came down hard against the back of her head, slamming her face into the wooden floor.

"Please? You would ask something of me now after what you've done?"

The calmness of Azula's voice was somehow even more frightening then when she had been raging on the airship. There was a freezing menace that had Ty Lee's heart in knots as her face was grinded against the floor, blood leaking from her nose.

Azula took her foot from the back of her head and slowly lowered herself down to crouch beside her.

"You need to know something, Ty Lee. You need to know this so that you will always understand your place, because I've clearly not done a good enough job in explaining it to you."

Ty Lee whimpered.

"I know my place, I'm sorry, it won't happen again, it—"

Azula swung a fist around and hit her in the kidney hard enough to cause Ty Lee to scream in pain and she rolled onto her side, writhing as she did as the agony flooded her, physical adding to the mental.

"Did I say you could lie down?" Azula asked. "Get back on your knees."

With effort, Ty Lee did as instructed, shaky breaths coming in and out as she knelt before Azula, pressing her face back to the floor. The princess leaned in, her voice grazing just against Ty Lee's ears.

"You are worthless."

Ty Lee closed her eyes and tried to stifle a sob unsuccessfully.

"Sasuke will always mean more than a pathetic slave like you. You serve me because I allow you to. You share my bed because I allow you to. You are a part of my life because I allow you to be."

Azula's hands reached around and gently rubbed against the part of Ty Lee's back that was exposed by her midriff baring top.

"And you went and did perhaps the last thing you should ever have dared to."

Her nails dug into her skin hard then and pulled. Ty Lee opened her mouth in a silent scream as she felt what she knew were bloody furrows opening up on her back. Her body trembled in pain before Azula yanked her hand away and she couldn't help crying out as her back burned with vicious pain.

"All these years, and you still don't know your place," Azula murmured quietly and Ty Lee could hear the rage shaking her voice and she heard herself blurt out a question before she could stop herself.

"Are you going to kill me?"

For a moment, Azula was silent and when she did speak, Ty Lee could tell that her question might have actually rattled the princess.

"Am I… no, I…"

She regained her domineering persona a second later and slammed her heel against Ty Lee's now injured back causing her to scream again.

"Shut your mouth. It is never your place to decide what I do with you."

Taking her foot away, she slowly paced around Ty Lee's shivering body.

"And you need a lesson, you pathetic, shriveling slut."

Ty Lee gasped as she felt her pants yanked down and she felt one of Azula's hands caress her bare ass.

"After tonight, you won't think about ever daring to step out of line again."

Suddenly, feeling a growing heat near her sex, Ty Lee's eyes widened in panic as she suddenly realized what was coming.

"After tonight," Azula whispered. There was so much rage in her voice that Ty Lee wanted to clasp her hands over her ears. "You'll be nothing but a cowering bitch who will never forget her place again."

Ty Lee didn't know she had ever felt more scared in her life. She wanted to scream, to plead with Azula, to cry out for Toph and Jin, her two best friends in the whole world who likely were sound asleep, no idea that Ty Lee was about to have nothing but pure horror dealt to her body. She wanted to scream for Suki, to scream for Mai, for anyone, just to escape this fear.

But she didn't.

Because one emotion was there, still somehow overpowering her fear.

The heat intensified and Ty Lee felt her body start to shake uncontrollably as it started to prepare itself, or at least try as best it could. Azula's grip on her was shaking now and she knew the princess was losing the composure she had been trying to hold over herself. Ty Lee pulled her arm around and bit into her arm, jamming her eyes tightly shut as she took a last breath before this agonizing and horribly final punishment began.

She knew too that there was every possibility that, no matter what she had heard from a more sane Azula just moments ago, the Azula that was about to come out might still take her life as quickly as blowing out a match.

And yet somehow, the words still came into her head anyway, brought on by the same emotion that she evoked in her mind, the one thing that would never allow her to raise a hand against Azula.

Azula… I love you.

I love you.