She is, yes lol. I mentioned a few chapters back that this fic is going to have two different endings/storylines. The first one will be the one where Azula gets with Seicho and the second version will be the one where TyZula is endgame.

She was just hoping to see TyLee before they departed. She isn't sure why she was so certain that she would. Mai had mentioned that she has only seen TyLee once since the huge fallout. And yet Azula lingered on the palace staircase waiting for the girl to flounce up the stairs full of stories and life like she always used to.

"Come on, lets go inside." Zuko suggests gently.

Azula looks towards the sun, it is now hanging at its zenith. She nods and gets to her feet. There is no sense waiting for something that won't come.

"Come on, we gotta get packed up, we're going on a hike remember?" Seicho calls from the top of the stairs.

Azula wonders if she should tell the woman that she actually hadn't wandered that far into the jungle. That, likely, all it would take to have the spirit emerge again would be her setting a couple of trees and plants on fire. They already hate her, she only needs to draw their attention.

Though she doesn't want them angry this time around, so perhaps it will be a longer journey after all.

At any rate, she should start packing. She casts one last look towards the city and follows Zuko up the steps. She wonders if she will see TyLee again or if their last encounter-their last memory will be a miserable one.

When she reaches the top of the stairs, Seicho takes her hand. Azula finds herself staring at their interlaced hands as the woman pulls her along. She finds herself thinking about TyLee again; TyLee is the only person who has held her hand like this-tightly, warmly...lovingly.

She isn't sure if Seicho loves her.

She can't imagine why she would.

But she holds her hand and she holds it a lot.

She holds it until Azula thinks that maybe her hand is worth holding. She hasn't felt such a way in a very long time. Absently she tightens her hold on Seicho's hand. The woman only lets go to help Azula gather up her things.

.oOo.

It is daunting to be back in the jungle. The hum of spirit energy hangs like a bolt of lightning poised to strike her down. They remember her. She knows that they do. Because they watch her. They watch her and they resent her. They watch her because they resent her.

She sees them everywhere, some from the corner of her eyes and some openly wave themselves in front of her. There are eel-like spirits, they drift down from trees and flash their own unique brand of phosphorescence with a flick of their tails. There are spirits like humans, but they don't have particular forms that they adhere to. These ones make themselves known with brilliant flashes. There are spirits like trees that reach out for her and brush her back if she gets too close. And there are wholly shapeless smokey ones as well, she hates them the most; the way that they curl around things and engulf them. She dreads that they will find a thrill in wrapping around her. They aren't afraid of her. They want her to know that they aren't. They want her to know that she isn't welcome back.

And the closer they lurk the more she wonders if they will lash out. If they will steal her sight from her or her sense of smell or taste or touch. If they will leave her with nothing. Nothing but a broken mind imprisoned in a body that is twice as shattered.

She dreads the night when they become more openly hostile. They have only been wandering for two days and she already feels as though such a night will come upon her soon.

She finds herself sticking very closely to Seicho and Zuko.

For it, she feels like a dependent child.

"This looks like a good spot." Zhang-Zin declares.

Azula shakes her head. It is teeming with spirits.

"It has a waterhole." Zuko points out.

Azula nods. That is precisely the problem. The spirits enjoy the waterholes as well as she and her entourage do. And there are too many of them this time. She gestures to all of them. They float around the trees, weave in between the branches.

"They aren't going to bother you." Zuko tires.

But they already are, and in the most subtle ways; they poke at and prod her as she is trying to sleep. They tug on her hair and soil her food if she leaves it unattended. It is all so petty but it leaves her with ample room to speculate what they might do to her if she steps even slightly out of line.

'Pick a different spot.' She writes simply.

"This is a good spot." Mai frowns.

Azula shakes her head, 'I want to get some sleep tonight.'

"They sleep."

'Can't.' She points at the nearest tree. Its trunk shimmers with spirits.

"Do they bother you that much?" Zuko sighs.

She nods. 'They don't let me sleep.'

"What did you do to them?" Zhang-Zin askes. She supposes that it is a fair question.

Truthfully she doesn't quite remember. Most of that night is fuzzy in her mind-likely a last attempt to keep her from losing her delicate sense of stability. 'I remember saying a lot of...disagreeable things.'

"So you disrespected them." Mai quirks a brow.

Azula gives a slight grimace before nodding.

"That doesn't change that this is an ideal spot to stop for the night."

Azula's stomach sinks. She is making a burden of herself, an inconvenience…

"It's alright, we can find another spot." Seicho smiles.

"I was really hoping to go for a dip in the waterhole." Zhang-Zin rubs the back of his head.

"How about this?" Seicho offers. "You guys can stop here, Azula and I will go ahead a little ways and we can wait for you to catch up?"

Zuko, Mai, and Zhang-Zin exchange glances. With a shrug from Mai and a nod from Zhang-Zin, Zuko declares, "just don't go too far, okay?"

'Ok.' She is too tired to go much further anyways.

.oOo.

"Is here good?" Seicho asks. There are still several spirits gathered but they seem to keep their distance, mostly watching from the branches or lounging in the fading sunlight.

'It's fine'. Azula spreads her sleeping bag out.

"Should I get some firewood?"

Azula shakes her head and holds out a satchel of nuts, berries, and small fruits. Apparently they would be snacking for dinner. 'They don't like it when I use my fire. It draws them in.'

Seicho sighs, firebending is important to the princess. She waits for her to get comfortable before finding a spot behind her and giving the woman's shoulders a soft massage. She is always so very tense.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Azula turns around and nods.

Seicho relaxes some, there is a sense of sincerity that eases her mind. She has to admit that it helps to know that there aren't any active volcanoes nearby and that the princess seems fully averted to bodies of water.

She has herself a share of berries and nuts and watches Azula snuggle up in her sleeping bag. Several hours into the night she wakes to the woman stirring. She follows her gaze to the branches where one large owl-like spirit perches. It glowers at her with one eye that has the force of many. The princess seems to visibly shudder.

There are other spirits, smaller ones, skittering about the ground. A few are at Azula's feet but she doesn't kick them away. Seicho thinks to scoop them up and carry them away; admittedly she is afraid. She doesn't want to be on the receiving end of such treatment. Instead, she mumbles, "you have room in your sleeping bag. Reluctantly, Azula unzips it and Seicho snuggles up next to her.

She supposes that she can deal with the spirits nibbling on her toes for one night. She wiggles closer to Azula. The princess nuzzles her head under her chin and against her neck and Seicho drapes an arm around her.

It isn't dissimilar to their first hike; the princess seems to sleep better when she has kind contact, when she is near someone.