Azula knelt, head bowed, before the Imperial throne, and awaited her father's decree.

Since the return from Ba Sing Se, what had meant to be a glorious homecoming had instead turned into a nightmare. She suddenly found herself out of the good graces of her father, with even her brother in more favour than she was. That had been the hardest part of it; the sudden reversal of their traditional roles coming as a particular shock. Not only had Zuko stolen her position as the favoured sibling, he was also beginning to steal Mai, who spent less and less time with her and more time with her brother. This annoyed her, especially after the two of them had vanished entirely a few days ago.

Now, however, Ozai's tone seemed slightly ... warm.

"Azula, I have a mission for you!"

"Me? Why don't you give it to Zuko?"

Perhaps fortunately, Ozai did not respond to the bitterness in that comment.

"Zuko is... indisposed."

Azula already knew this, of course; just because Ozai hadn't been telling her anything didn't mean she had no other ways of finding out for herself. Besides, the sudden absence of her brother and one of her best friends was extremely noticeable.

Still, probably it was better to act ignorant for the moment.

"Indisposed?"

"I suppose missing is a better word. He and Mai took a joyride in a war-balloon in the middle of the night a few days ago and so far have not returned. Obviously, at first we feared a crash and so scrambled the Fire Navy to look for them, only to then receive word that they are in the south of the Earth Kingdom."

"What are they doing there?"

"We don't know," Ozai confessed, "but we know who else is in that general area."

Azula, too, knew, but again feigning ignorance seemed the best policy.

"And who would that be?"

"The Avatar, and his companions."

"The Avatar is alive?" Azula did her best to sound shocked, as if she were hearing this for the first time.

"Yes. We think that the Prince has gone to try and capture him again, knowing how obsessed he was with doing that before."

Azula was not so sure. As far as Zuko was concerned, she knew, he had restored his honour at the conclusion to the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and that had been the only reason he had cared about the Avatar as far as she knew. There must be something else, even if she didn't know what.

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Look, Azula, we both know that in the Earth Kingdom you made a mistake. A mistake that cost your honour. I offer you a chance for you to get it back. Find Zuko, and help him finish the job on the Avatar."

Azula nodded fervently, anxious to please her father. She would not fail him again.

"With pleasure."

Azula stood on the deck of the same warship that had taken her to the Earth Kingdom before, on her mission to arrest Zuko. Hopefully she would not have to do that this time, but she did not rule out the possibility that her brother had done something stupid. After all, he had plenty of times before.

Next to her stood Ty Lee, along with her mentors Lo and Li and a Captain in the Fire Navy, who stood next to her bellowing orders at the crew getting the ship ready to depart.

"Excellent," Azula spoke to nobody in particular. "Finally, I have a chance to get back what I have lost."

"Mai?" Ty Lee asked. She had taken the loss of Mai hard, and Azula had been sure she had heard her crying several times. Each time, she had wanted to go in and console her, but had not known what to say and so had not tried.

"My honour," Azula responded. "Oh, and Mai too I suppose."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lo asked.

"Why?"

"Last time you went with a small group overland hunting the Avatar, you ended up in a prison cell underneath Ba Sing Se." said Li.

"That was last time. This time will be different!"

"How?" They echoed in unison.

"Because I won't allow it to end that way again."

The twins glanced at each other. "You must understand, Princess, that's not very reassuring-"

"I don't care about reassuring! I care about results, and I intend to get them. Now you can help me or not."

"Princess, Azula, you're talking like Zuko when he was banished."

"That is as maybe, but I'm not being banished so I fail to see the relevance here. Now are you going to help me, or should I inform father of your reluctance?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"We'll help you," they eventually said, defeated.

Ty Lee shrank back, muttering something about Azula's aura. Azula shrugged this off. Ty Lee was the best hand-to-hand combatant that Azula knew, and Azula did legimately enjoy her company, and this was worth putting up with her eccentricities for. Azula put her hand on Ty Lee's shoulder and tried to sound reassuring. "Look, we'll find Mai, and then we'll all be together again."

Ty Lee smiled and perked up immediately. "I look forward to it!"

"Captain! How go the preparations?" Azula switched focus to the Officer.

"We're nearly ready to sail, Princess. We just have a few more provisions to take on board and then we can depart for the south."

"Excellent," Azula muttered. "I must capture the Avatar and restore my honour."

The twins exchanged worried looks.