CW for suicidal thoughts – but not from Azula, Yue or Katara.

Chapter 46

Katara could not stop smiling as she sat in the passenger seat of the car they had rented in Agna Qel'a, casting the occasional glance at her driver. It was truly unfair how cute Azula looked in her winter clothes, newly purchased in the Water Tribes capital just for this winter holiday trip to Cape Kuruk. Azula was wearing a dark red parka and an adorable brown ushanka hat, having taken her red wool mittens off while driving.

The way Azula had ended up coming along with Katara had been a little odd and confusing. Katara had always planned to head home to Cape Kuruk for winter holidays. She had been away for four months and she missed Hakoda and Gran-Gran like crazy. Sokka would also be back home for the family reunion, so despite how much Katara loved spending time with Azula in Ba Sing Se, there was no debate in Katara's mind about what she was going to do. Obviously, she had toyed with the idea of inviting Azula to come along. Gran-Gran and Hakoda by now knew that she was best friends with Azula Nakamura, but after Katara had made sure to carefully explain Azula's family situation as best as she could while remaining respectful of Azula's privacy, Gran-Gran and Hakoda no longer seemed prejudiced towards Azula just because of the last name she carried. Still, Katara had thought that to bring Azula home with her so soon would feel a little odd, so she hadn't offered the invitation at first.

However, at some point, Azula had started to make certain comments about how she wasn't looking forward to the winter holidays because her uncle would no doubt try to use the occasion to pressure her into interacting with Ursa and Zuko, for what was most likely another painful and doomed attempt at reconciliation. It had made Katara realize that Azula would probably feel quite miserable if she was left behind in Ba Sing Se, so she had offered the invitation for Azula to come and stay with her family. Much to Katara's delight, Azula had accepted without much hesitation. Convincing Iroh had been a lot more difficult, and it had taken plenty of nagging and pleading from them both.

Eventually, they had worn down Iroh's resistance and he had agreed to their plan. Katara understood perfectly well that they were asking a lot. This wasn't just about postponing Iroh's plans to once again try and reconcile Azula with her mother and her brother. This trip north meant considerable expenses, more than what Azula could cover with her Jasmine Dragon waitress salary. Azula needed a new set of clothes for the harsh Cape Kuruk winter, plane tickets both ways to Agna Qel'a and back, money to rent a car, and extra disposable cash on top of all that. Also, Iroh was now saddled with watching over the kittens during their absence, another chore he hadn't anticipated.

Speaking of the kittens, Katara had obviously fallen in love with Ran and Shaw following her return to Ba Sing Se. Before Naga, the Enuaraq family had owned a cat, an orange tabby named Pabu. Katara had been very young when Pabu had passed away from old age, and it had happened even prior to Kya's death, but Katara certainly was not ignorant about how to take care of cats, and so she was able to teach Azula most of the dos and don'ts. Of course, the kittens were being spoilt absolutely rotten. They had also been the cause of the first argument between Azula and Katara. Azula had started to take the kittens to her room for the night. At some point, Katara had wanted to do the same, but Azula had kicked up a fuss and refused, and they had ended up saying some not particularly nice things to each other. They both had immediately felt guilty about arguing and fortunately a compromise had been reached.

Katara had felt deeply distressed after learning just how badly Azula's attempted reunion with Ursa and Zuko had gone. For a while, she had feared that Azula's mental health was going to backslide. It didn't help that Ozai kept sending anonymous threatening messages that couldn't be linked to him, trying to intimidate Azula into coming back to him. Spirits, Katara hated that man. It went completely against her nature to wish ill on anyone, but for Ozai Nakamura, Katara was willing to make an exception. She definitely would not shed any tears if something fittingly horrible befell Azula's monstrous father. And yes, the label of monster certainly did apply to Ozai. He was regularly sending Azula pictures of her horses, suggesting that something might happen to Goldflake and Innocence if Azula didn't return to the Fire Nation. To Katara, this felt utterly inhumane. Together with Iroh, they had decided to keep most of these threatening letters from Azula, though they did show her a few, just to avoid a situation where Azula would somehow learn about them keeping her completely in the dark and end up feeling betrayed.

While all of this took a toll on Azula, there had been some positive developments as well. At the start of December, she had finally had her Fire Nation passport reissued, after much wrangling with the embassy officials. Having sensed that he would get nowhere with the Fire Nation diplomats, Iroh had pulled in some favors with his friends among the Earth Kingdom politicians, who had then done a little bit of wheel greasing with their Fire Nation counterparts. Inconspicuous brown envelopes that might have contained money had exchanged hands, and at the end of all this detestable wrangling, Azula had finally received her passport, enabling her to travel once again. Azula had then also been reissued with her driver's license as well. The timing for it couldn't have been better as it had happened just a couple of days before their departure for Agna Qel'a.

Katara was pulled out of her thoughts by the car suddenly swerving quite violently. She didn't even have the time to freak out before Azula regained control over the car, letting out a juicy curse. "For Agni's sake, these roads are deathtraps!" Azula swore, shaking her head. "Guess I better slow down to a crawl."

"Yes, please," Katara nodded. "The roads become worse and worse the further we get from the capital. There's been no maintenance done here for the past twenty years, I've been told."

"Why do I have a feeling that someone in Agna Qel'a has pockets full of money that should have gone into this maintenance work," Azula rolled her eyes. "This doesn't bode well for what your village will look like, Katara."

"Hah, I understand why you would think so, but the village itself is actually not so bad," Katara laughed. "I can't promise that you'll like it, though. You might find it a little boring."

"I don't think so," Azula shook her head. "I'm really curious to see just where you grew up."

"Ah," Katara nodded. This felt like one of those Azula comments that Katara wasn't sure just how to take. Azula occasionally said things that left Katara scratching her head and wondering just how seriously Azula was interested in her. Their relationship had certainly become so close that she had heard quite a few comments from random people assuming that they were a romantic couple. They were both always very quick to deny it, to which some people said that they were too quick to deny it. Again, this wasn't something that Katara dared to explore further right now. Azula was still way too vulnerable. Katara just didn't want to feel as if she was taking advantage of the fact that right now Azula needed her emotional support. Besides, just being best friends was wonderful in itself. Yes, it was, and she definitely wasn't just trying extremely hard to convince herself of that.

"You know, I still feel like the gifts we got for your family are too paltry," Azula changed the topic suddenly. "I mean, my last name carries certain expectations, doesn't it? Even if you have explained some things to them…"

"Only in broad strokes, as I told you," Katara smiled at her friend. "Don't worry, Azula. My family has no expectations of receiving lavish gifts from a Nakamura in exile. The gifts we have, come from us both, and they will be appreciated because they've been chosen with thoughtfulness and care."

The whole concept of living on budget was still hard to accept for Azula. They had gone shopping for gifts in Agna Qel'a and Katara had caught Azula looking at things that would have emptied her wallet completely before even getting to Cape Kuruk. For Kanna, they were bringing a selection of the finest Jasmine Dragon teas and a recipe book of Water Tribe and Fire Nation fusion dishes. For Katara's father they had bought a game of table hockey. Not only was Hakoda a big fan of actual ice hockey, but he often complained about the downtime on the oil rig being incredibly boring. This seemed like the perfect distraction for a bunch of tired and stressed oil rig workers. As for Sokka, Katara had noticed how barren his little apartment had felt during her visit, missing even some of the most basic appliances. So, they had decided to be practical about it and buy Sokka a decent coffee maker and toaster, just to make it easier for her brother to kick start a brand new day.

"If you say so," Azula said, not looking entirely convinced. "I grew up believing that any gift that wasn't ridiculously expensive was not worthy of my attention. Hmm… then again, I was raised to believe all sorts of lies, so you're probably right about all of this."

"You're not too stressed about meeting my family, are you?" Katara asked softly.

"What? Me, stressed? Why would I be stressed?" Azula laughed nervously. "Okay, I'm just a little bit terrified, alright? Don't laugh!"

"I would never laugh about something like that, Azula," Katara sighed. "You really don't have a reason to worry, I promise. But you'll see that for yourself soon enough. I think we're less than ten miles from Cape Kuruk."

Azula nodded, a little stiffly, still not looking entirely reassured. "My uncle told me something interesting right before we left," she changed the topic yet again. "Apparently, my grandfather, Azulon Nakamura, owned property here, a log cabin near a place called Puffin Creek."

"Oh, I know the area, it's a beautiful piece of land," Katara nodded. "It's just a few miles east from Cape Kuruk." She paused for a moment. "Were you thinking about going to take a look?"

"Yes, I am feeling a little curious," Azula admitted. "Don't worry, there's literally no chance of running into Ozai or any of his goons," she added, probably noticing that Katara looked worried. "Iroh said that the estate has stood abandoned for eight or nine years. Iroh himself used to come here occasionally for winter holidays, back when Lu Ten was still alive."

Katara nodded with sadness. Azula had told her the story about the tragic and completely unnecessary death of Iroh's son. Katara felt depressed every time she was reminded of that story. "It's a great place for cross-country skiing, the tracks around Puffin Creek are gorgeous," Katara smiled.

"Yes, Iroh said as much," Azula nodded. "But he said that they spent most of their time at some ski lodge nearby. I can't remember its name though. Iroh said it had some good downhill skiing."

"Ah, he must have meant the Elk Mountain ski lodge," Katara said.

"Yes, that's the one," Azula nodded again. "Is that close to Cape Kuruk? I didn't think the coast would be particularly mountainous…"

"It's not, Elk Mountain is more inland, some fifteen miles southwest of Cape Kuruk," Katara explained. "I mean… it's not even a proper mountain, honestly. It's kind of a joke name because it's less than half a mile in height. But I've heard that the skiing is really good there, yes."

"I would say that we should give it a try, but since I've never stood on skis in my entire life, I think I'm going to give that a hard pass," Azula decided, saying it in a voice that made Katara more determined than ever to teach Azula how to ski.

"Anyway, the village is right ahead," Katara said as she spotted the familiar view she had missed so badly during the long months of her absence.

"Wait, this can't be it," Azula appeared a little shocked at the tiny size of the actual village center. "Katara, this isn't a village. I'm pretty sure this still qualifies as wilderness."

"Well, it's where I grew up, so be careful about badmouthing it, alright?" Katara glared a little.

"I wasn't going to badmouth it at all," Azula shook her head. "Obviously, there has to be something amazing about this place if it somehow managed to produce someone like you," she said in a completely earnest tone of voice. Katara once again was left blushing at Azula's words. It was a little odd and yet thrilling the way Azula kept complimenting her without seemingly being aware of it.

Some ten minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of the Enuaraq family home. The family's old truck stood parked in the yard, but Azula was able to find enough room to safely park the rented Chevy Camaro. They got out of the car, retrieved their luggage and were about to head for the house when Naga ambushed them, darting out of the doghouse and proceeding to tackle Katara into the snow. Naga then began running circles around a petrified looking Azula, barking like a hound possessed by demons.

"I guess I deserved that for forgetting to warn you about Naga," Katara said, quickly getting up and then trying her best to get the overexcited St. Bernard under some control. "Don't be afraid, Azula, this dog is like ridiculously friendly," Katara laughed as Naga began to lick her face. "Honestly, if someone tried to steal from us, Naga would probably befriend the thief and then point them towards all the family valuables. She's friendly to the point of being totally daft."

"She's so… huge," Azula still looked a little worried, but eventually dared to approach and try to stroke Naga's fur. "And she's so soft! Are you sure she isn't a bear?"

Katara laughed again. "No, Naga isn't a bear… although sometimes I have to wonder," she chuckled. "Anyway, have you had enough, Naga? Can we go inside now, please? I promise to come out and play with you later, alright?" Naga barked and whined, continuing to bounce all around them even as Katara picked up her suitcase from where it had been knocked into a pile of snow, and together with Azula they finally made it all the way to the front door. She didn't have to ring the bell, however, because Hakoda and Kanna had clearly noticed the commotion in the yard caused by Naga, and Hakoda now opened the door to welcome them inside.

"Dad! Gran-Gran!" Katara exclaimed, rushing to first hug her father, then her grandmother, almost tearing up from happiness of seeing her loved ones again. Phone conversations just didn't feel personal enough for Katara. "Oh, right…" she mentally slapped herself, pulling out of the embrace with her grandmother and glancing behind her. Azula had remained standing frozen on the doormat outside, holding her suitcase and looking distinctly nervous. Katara walked back to the door, took Azula's hand and physically dragged her past the threshold. "Dad, Gran-Gran, this is Azula," she said, feeling a smidge awkward herself.

"Welcome to the Enuaraq household, Azula," Hakoda greeted her friend with a smile. "Any friend of my daughter will always be warmly welcomed under this roof."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Azula said, sounding unusually timid. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last. Katara always speaks very fondly of you. And of you as well, ma'am," she added, turning to face Kanna.

"Well, aren't you such a prim and proper lady with perfect manners!" Gran-Gran sounded amused, her aging eyes twinkling. "I suppose that was to be expected, but there will be no ma'am-ing around me, not under this roof. It's Gran-Gran or nothing, let me make that clear to you, young one," she added with a chuckle.

"Understood… uh, Gran-Gran?" Azula managed. Katara and the rest of her family shared a brief laugh at how amusingly formal Azula sounded. Azula still looked a little ill at ease, so Katara reasoned that perhaps she shouldn't take her teasing too far. She didn't want Azula to start freaking out for real. Katara was perfectly aware how strange and unusual these circumstances must have felt for her best friend.

"So, where's Sokka?" Katara rose on her tiptoes and tried to look into the living room past her father's shoulder, but it seemed as if there was nobody else at home with Kanna and Hakoda.

"Sokka was slightly delayed in Agna Qel'a," Hakoda replied. "He called to tell us that one of his coworkers at the repair shop fell ill and he had to pick up some extra slack at work. He'll be home in two or three days, though."

"Ah, that's a shame," Katara sighed. "I mean, I saw him in November, but I still miss him like crazy."

"He'll be home before you know it, Katara," Gran-Gran smiled at her. "Now, you should probably take off your parkas and go settle in. I'll want you back downstairs soon so that I can feed you good and proper!" Katara laughed as she began to unbutton her parka, Azula following her example.

"Uh, speaking about settling in," Hakoda spoke up. He was looking a little hesitant. "Do you need me to get the air mattress?"

"Huh?" Katara blinked, at first not realizing why her father would ask that. They had used it when Yue visited for winter holidays the previous year, but then it suddenly hit Katara. She had come out as a lesbian fairly recently, and now she had brought a very attractive girl home with her. On the phone, she had never really gone into details about her relationship with Azula. She kept calling Azula a friend, but quite a few people had already assumed that they were an item simply from how much Katara used to talk about Azula. "Oh! Yes, uh, we'll want that air mattress," she added, having gone completely red in the face.

"What was that about?" Azula leaned in and whispered to her once a slightly amused Hakoda had gone upstairs and Kanna had retreated to the kitchen.

"Umm, nothing, really," a still flustered Katara replied quickly. "Anyway… you've met my whole family by now. They're not so bad, are they?"

"Not at all," Azula perked up quite a bit. "I had my misgivings about coming here, but you know what? I think I'll be alright."

"Oh really?" Katara grinned at her. "You may have survived the encounter with my family, but let's see if you can survive the encounter with the air mattress…"

Sokka was up to his elbows in car guts under the hood of the Ford Mustang he had been working on, while busy contemplating the unfairness of the universe. It just figured that one of his coworkers would fall ill right before the winter holidays, leaving him and Nuktuk to pick up the slack and work extra hours just to keep up with their schedule. And honestly, Nuktuk wasn't exactly being much help. Sokka loved the guy, he really did, but he was all brawn and heart with very little brain. Sokka had to delegate all the simpler tasks to Nuktuk, while himself dealing with the more complicated problems, like the one he was working on right now. Ever since Sokka had started to work at the repair shop, he had been receiving one reminder about the stupidity of human beings after another. Sure, the oil light was clearly malfunctioning, but still, how stupid did one have to be to just rely on the light and not check the meter itself when it was right there! As a result, there were now very few parts under the hood that weren't affected by corrosion. He'd have to do a complete engine replacement. If he was the owner of the unfortunate Mustang, he'd probably have written it off as a loss and started saving towards a new car.

He had been looking so much towards going back to Cape Kuruk and hanging out with his family after many months of absence. Sokka thought that it would be a little weird to have Azula there as well, but he was quite curious about this odd relationship his sister had with the girl from the Fire Nation. But Sokka hadn't actually minded Azula too much back when she was her old bitchy self. And now that she had gone through an absolute horror story, Katara kept telling him that Azula had really changed. Sokka supposed that it was not surprising. What had happened to her… ugh, it had to be life changing, for sure. Sokka had initially planned to mercilessly tease Katara and Azula about what seemed to be a fairly obvious mutual crush, but after giving it some thought, he had resolved to be nice and respectful towards his sister and her new best friend. They probably didn't need his teasing right now.

"Excuse me? Is there anyone here?" he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when a young, feminine voice called out, a customer having stepped inside the shop. The voice seemed a little familiar to Sokka. "Is there anyone around who could help me?" the young woman spoke up again, and this time Sokka recognized the voice. No fucking way! Yue?! Sokka realized with shock as he pulled back and slammed his head against the hood of the car, having forgotten that it was there. Sokka burst out in a string of expletives. "Oh dear! Are you alright back there?" he heard Yue asking, sounding concerned. Spirits, her voice alone made so many emotions and memories pouring back all at once.

Sokka wasn't sure how he felt about facing Yue right now. They had barely exchanged a word after she had ended things between them exactly a year ago. Then he had learned that Yue was going after his sister and that they had slept together in the Fire Fountain City. It all had made Sokka pretty damn angry with Yue. But learning about her arranged marriage with Hahn… well, that had made him feel really sorry for her. So, Sokka wasn't sure how he felt about Yue, because she was such a grab bag of emotions for him. He couldn't exactly avoid facing her, however, so holding the back of his head, Sokka pulled out from under the Mustang's hood to face his old girlfriend. "Hello, Yue," he said quietly.

Yue paled and took an involuntary step back. "S-Sokka?" she stammered. "I… I didn't know you worked here. I'm so sorry, I wouldn't have intruded…"

"Well, this is a repair shop, and I assume you have troubles with your car," Sokka shrugged. "It's my job to fix things, so… you're at the right place."

"Yes, I suppose, but…" Yue managed. Sokka enjoyed this odd sense of satisfaction that Yue felt so awkward being around him. He couldn't help but feel that she kind of deserved it.

"Look, this doesn't have to be weird, Yue," Sokka managed a small smile. It probably would have been a good idea to direct Yue to some other repair shop that wasn't so overwhelmed with work, but now that Yue was here, Sokka was struggling with the idea of turning her away. He already knew that he would be pushing her problem towards the front of the queue. "Just tell me what's the problem, and I'll fix it for you, all professional like."

"Right, okay… thank you, Sokka," Yue let out a breath she had been holding. "It's probably nothing serious, but every time I step on the brakes, there's this odd squeaky noise that shouldn't be there, at least I don't think so. It wasn't there before."

"Nope, that's not the kind of sound you want when hitting the brakes," Sokka shook his head. It seemed as if a fairly standard brake replacement was in order. That was one of the jobs he felt fairly confident delegating to Nuktuk, but Sokka immediately knew that for Yue he would handle it himself. This was going to be a particularly long evening. "Let's go and take a look at that car," he said.

Together, they stepped outside the shop, where Yue pointed at a white Jaguar, parked nearby. "That one's mine," she said.

"Right," Sokka nodded. The car was absolutely gorgeous, of course, but white was probably the least practical color for someone living in Agna Qel'a. Even if Yue was rich and had someone to wash her car every day, it would still be covered in spatters of mud or ugly brown snow after a few minutes of driving. Then again, maybe Yue was making a fashion statement. She was dressed almost fully in white, including an arctic fox fur coat and a matching white ushanka. Honestly, she looked gorgeous, but… in a different way than before. Yue looked like she had aged more than she should have during their year of separation. She was also desperate to avoid eye contact. When Sokka managed to briefly hold Yue's gaze, he saw something he had never seen before in her clear blue eyes, an inexplicable expression of fear. Regardless of how things had ended between them, seeing Yue like this made him want to forgive everything that had happened earlier and just… do what he could to help her, even if there was no obligation for him to care about her anymore.

"I have a pretty good idea about what could be the problem here," Sokka turned to tell Yue. "We're a bit swamped with jobs right now, but I should be able to take care of it by tomorrow afternoon. Just leave the keys with me and you can come and pick your car up around this time tomorrow."

"Really, that fast?" Yue seemed to be pleasantly surprised. "Thank you so much, Sokka," she added, handing him the keys to her Jaguar. It seemed like she was in two minds whether to simply walk away without hesitation, or to stick around for a while.

"So…" Sokka said quickly before Yue had used the opportunity to depart. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Oh, good! Great!" Both replies came a little too fast for Sokka's liking. "What about you?"

"Well, I'm working hard, as you can see, and I'm also getting some education at the community college," Sokka said. "I'm trying to make something of myself and it seems to be working."

"I'm really glad to hear that, because you deserve it, Sokka," Yue said, a genuine smile on her face. "You really are one of the good guys, Sokka," she added. "I should probably go, though. Hahn gets a little upset if I come home late."

"Right," Sokka said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. That guy expected Yue to be home by some appointed time? As far as Sokka was concerned, Hahn was a douche of major proportions. "You're not going to ask me about Katara?" he asked suddenly.

"No, I-" Yue suddenly looked really nervous and flustered. "I assume she's alright in Ba Sing Se, yes?"

"More or less," Sokka shrugged. "She freaked out when she didn't see you at the tournament in November, and your piece of work husband refused to tell her anything."

"Oh…" Yue lowered her eyes, looking very guilty all of a sudden. "Look, I… I know I've made a lot of stupid mistakes in the past towards both you and Katara. If I could go back and undo all of them, I would, trust me. But I can't. I have to accept and live with the choices I've made, so… if you see Katara, please tell her that I'm fine and that she should just forget about me."

"Holy shit," Sokka suddenly grasped the quiet part that Yue was not saying out loud. "You are regretting not walking away from this arranged marriage, aren't you? Katara was right all along, and you wouldn't listen to her. Damn it, Yue, why-"

"I'm sorry, Sokka, but I really must go now," Yue uttered rapidly, turning around and all but fleeing across the street, leaving Sokka to stand there next to her white Jaguar, shaking his head in disbelief.

"So, Azula decided to go visit the family of her friend?" Ursa asked in a quiet voice. She was sitting at the kitchen table in her apartment, together with Iroh and Zuko.

"Well, Azula has grown very close with Katara, so it's not that surprising. Try not to take it the wrong way, Ursa," Iroh replied calmly.

"I suppose I should have expected that she would choose her friend instead of trying to get along with Zuko and me," Ursa sighed. "I don't blame her at all. I want her to be happy."

"She is always in a good spirits around Katara, yes," Iroh nodded.

"I don't know why we are even trying to get along with her when she clearly doesn't want it," Zuko frowned.

"Zuko, she is my daughter and your sister," Ursa looked at him disapprovingly. "We are never going to stop trying, do you hear me?"

"Whatever," Zuko shrugged. "You can't make me."

"Now you're just being childishly obstinate, nephew," Iroh sighed at Zuko. "But perhaps given your combative attitude we should leave you out of our attempts of reconciliation for now."

"Great, I ask for nothing else," Zuko got up from the table and left the kitchen.

"I wish he would understand how much harder he's making it for me," Ursa looked ready to cry. "Until now, I only had to worry about my son resenting me for ruining his face. Now I fear that he will also resent me for trying to reconnect with my daughter."

"We'll think of something, I promise. Just hang in there," Iroh spoke soothingly, patting Ursa's hand. She was not looking well at all. Iroh was starting to become seriously concerned for her. "You haven't stopped seeing your therapist, have you? You're taking the medication, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"But what?" Iroh pressed. Ursa kept looking downward, refusing to meet his eyes.

"My therapist expressed some concerns. She switched around some of my meds and it's been hard to get used to the new pills," Ursa explained reluctantly.

"Why did she make these changes?" Iroh asked.

There was no reply for a long time. Several times Ursa drew heavy breaths as if she wanted to start speaking, but she failed every time. Then she began to cry. Iroh's heart dropped as he reached out and took her hands into his. "She thinks I might be a danger to myself," Ursa eventually choked out the words. "Please, don't… just don't tell the kids, neither of them."

"Of course. Damn, it's that bad, hmm?" Iroh sighed. "Are you sure that trying to talk with Azula will make it better? Azula is struggling herself, but she's not above lashing out, as we saw. It could make things worse."

"Seriously, Iroh, it can't get much worse than it already is, trust me," Ursa managed through more and more tears. "I need to try."

"Alright, I might have an idea," Iroh said. "Azula is very reluctant, but I could try to get Katara on our side. Azula listens to her. If Katara joins me in convincing Azula to give you a chance, I think Azula will agree to a meeting."

"She really trusts this girl that much?" Ursa asked. Iroh couldn't help but notice some envy in Ursa's tearful voice.

"She does, and for a good reason, Ursa," Iroh explained. "What Katara has done for Azula over the years goes above and beyond mere friendship. Without Katara, Azula wouldn't be here for you to have a shot at mending fences with your daughter. Always keep that in mind before you start feeling envious that Azula trusts some girl more than she trusts her own mother."

"You are right, of course," Ursa looked guilty, tearing up even more. "Agni, I'm such a mess. Is it any wonder I feel that both of my children would be better off without me in their lives?"

Iroh shuddered at Ursa's words. It seemed that Ursa's mindset had turned really dark, indeed. It was no wonder that her therapist was concerned. She had just skirted the topic of contemplating ending things. "Everything feels seriously broken right now, Ursa, but it can be fixed," Iroh spoke calmly, hoping that it would help Ursa steady herself. "Try to focus on that thought."

"I'm trying, Iroh, I really am. And I promise that I won't stop trying," Ursa sobbed. She did look slightly less depressed, which was something. "Thank you, Iroh," she added, patting his hand. "I don't know what I would have done without your support over the years."

"We all have our own demons to do battle with, Ursa," Iroh spoke softly. "Occasionally, we might need a little bit of support from our loved ones. There's nothing wrong with that. The important thing to remember is that you are not alone."

Ursa looked up and smiled at him. They continued to sit there for a while in companionable silence. Things were definitely not great as the turn of the year approached. Still, there was hope that maybe, just maybe, things could actually get better.

Next chapter: Katara and Azula make a shocking discovery that could change their lives forever. (And no, I'm not desperately overhyping the next chapter :P)