Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or its characters. I do not own Teen Titans or its characters. I own only the plots/ideas/situations that I have placed the characters in and my OCs.

Please ignore any errors; I will get to those on the marrow.

Fractured Minds
Chapter 23: Family Reunion

The scent of smoke stung her nostrils, she hated the smell of smoke. She wasn't alone in her misery as Appa let out a low bellow. She scratched the patch of fur by his left horn to calm him. "Easy Appa. This is our last sweep."

She'd been tasked with creating localized rain clouds to help prevent the spread of the smaller fires. After that, she helped evacuate the wounded to Port Lao Zun, it being the only town with four waterbenders; three of them capable healers.

"Alright, everything looks clear." She tugged the reins to the right. Appa drifted to the right. "Lets get back to Aang."

From the corner of her eye, she saw a massive flare of blue fire. Her breath caught in her throat. She felt the phantom heat of Azula's fire during the Agni Kai drive away the cool night air. She forced herself to take several deep breaths, she reasoned that it was just the moon's reflection off the lake.

She directed Appa to fly lower, to get a closer look, to make sure Azula hadn't escaped. There was another wave of blue flames and her stomach dropped. Appa dove toward the ground to avoid the fire as it start to fall like rain. The closer they got to the ground the clearer the figures on it became.

She saw Azula pull a smaller figure to her side as she started to dance or what looked like a dance. When Appa landed she dismounted and told him to get to safety. His huge head shook side to side. "I have the whistle," She patted his nose with her hand. "go on. I can handle this."

As Appa took off, her attention returned to the fight. A massive dragon comprised of blue flames encircled a third figure. The hairs on her neck and arms raised as she watched Azula gather sparks on her fingertips. The bolt of lighting speeding at the figure trapped by blue flames.

The the third figure was gone and in a blink was behind Azula, he backhanded Lily away from them, she saw a flash of silver; Azula collapsed. There was another flare of blue and she saw the third figure's face, it was general Shen.

Rook had ordered Kuutak to keep an eye on Lily and Daoru from a distance, so as not to upset them again. When they saw an opening to get Lily to safety they moved to separate her from the Invader. They did not expect Lily to struggle. "Kuutak. Go back. You have to save her. She can't die."

Kuutak wanted to take Lily back to camp, to their master but he could not abandon the Origin. They took her to the water-weaver they could sense nearby. 'Wait here,' They turned to the startled water-weaver and stared her down. 'Keep her safe.'

They did not leave until the water-weaver agreed. Kuutak ran for the Origin and the Invader. The water was nearing, the moment before their footsteps touch the surface, they flickered across it. Kuutak tackled the Invader away from the Origin. They drew on the chi in the air to power their flames up.

When Shen shifted, Kuutak was right on his heels to greet him with punches and kicks. Their flames changed from bright orange to purple. They moved faster and could keep up with Shen's movements. Kuutak flickered behind Shen to encircled the general in their arms, Shen shifted. Kuutak stayed for a few moments more to protect the Origin and to ensure the Invader was gone before returning to Lily and the water-weaver.

'The Invader is gone. You must hurr-' They flickered out as Rook's chi could no longer sustain them.

Why is Azula on Kyoshi? Did Raven bring her here? What the hell was that fiery spirit thing? These were the most pressing questions running through her head as Lily tugged her toward Azula.

It wasn't until Lily had said, "You're master Katara, right?" That she was broken from her thoughts. "You have to heal her, we already lost her once because Shen's a two-faced rat-scorpion, we can't lose her again. I'd like the chance to get to know my mother."

She resisted the urge to grab Lily and shake her, demanding answers. Instead she lumped that question in with the rest of them and focused on Azula. Azula's skin was bone white, her eyes strained to catch any sign of life from her; there wasn't any. "I, there's-"

"Please you have to heal her. I'd be dead or worse without her. Shen was after me and she, she protected me." Lily pleaded, and suddenly she was eight years old again; walking into the hut to see her mom laying on the ground, covered in blood.

Her eyes shifted from Lily to Azula once again, then to the sky. The light of the crescent moon had broken through the last of her rain clouds. Yue I need any strength you can lend me.

"Can you fire bend?" She asked, gathering water from the lake before connecting to Azula's blood.

"Shen did something to Daoru and its making it hard to feel my chi. But I can try."

"First I need you to cut off the cloth around Azula's wounds." Sweat beaded on her brow and slid down her face as she extracted what blood she could from the sand. I hope this is enough to keep her alive until I can treat her in a healing pool. The entirety of her focus rested on passing the water through the blood to purify it.

"I'm done, now...what are you doing?" Lily breath out, a little in awe at watching Katara bend blood.

"Bloodbending," She said through her teeth as the last of the sand and impurities were drawn from the blood. "Alright I need you to make a fire dagger and get ready to burn those wounds shut, but only when I say to." Lily nodded.

She pulled on all the knowledge from her practice sessions with fish and separated a thin rivulet of blood from the ball she had. She coaxed the rivulet down to the lower wound and let it trickle into Azula's sluggish blood stream. The shock of feeling Azula's pulse, weak as it was, almost derailed her concentration.

She repeated this process until half of the purified blood was gone. "Close the lower one now."

Her hand was poised to bring water down to hold Azula in place if she started thrashing, Azula didn't twitch. The last half of the purified blood took longer, she was beginning to tire. She forced herself to keep going as Azula's pulse was getting a little stronger, with each rivulet of blood that was fed to her.

"Close it." As soon as Lily had closed the upper wound, she wiped the sweat from her face. She took a moment to catch her breath before pulling out Appa's whistle. Taking a deep breath she blew into the opening as hard as she could.

"Uh is that broken?" Lily's question made her giggle. The un-amused look the little princess shot her, smothered her laughter.

"Sorry, I had said the same thing when Aang used it for the first time. But no, the sound is too high pitched for people to hear. Sky bison on the other hand." A grumbling bellow sounded from above them at the exact moment she said that.

"I need you to climb in the saddle and dig through the pouch on the far left. Pull out the blankets and bring me the blue bag underneath them." Lily scrambled up Appa's tail as soon as the bison had landed.

She knelt next to Azula to inspect the cauterized wounds, they looked as good as burns could. She gathered more water from the lake to clean the blood from Azula's skin. She'd just finished when she heard a hoarse whisper. "Why would you help me?"

"I wouldn't be able to call myself a healer if I didn't." She said trying to keep the venom from her voice. There was no reason to dredge up Azula's misdeeds.

"Don't bullshit me, water peasant. I know you wished I had died. Why?" Azula asked, her biting tone was lessened by the blood she coughed up.

"I lost my mother when I was Lily's age. You may deserve your fate, but she doesn't need to experience that pain." She replied. She raised her hands and waited until both hands were evenly coated in water. "You should save your strength, I may have saved you from dying, but its still a possibility. May I put you back to sleep?"

There was no answer from Azula. She heaved a weary sigh as Lily returned with her bag. "Hand me the small green jar."

"I need you to keep her warm and monitor her breathing, let me know if it changes at all." She ordered before climbing on top of Appa's head.

"Yes ma'am." She could envision the salute that Lily had given her.

Shaking her head, she snapped the reins, "Yip, yip"

Minutes after take-off she spotted the orange skinned Titan gliding through the air. The woman easily matched Appa's speed and stayed eye level with Katara.

"Friend Katara any luck locating the missing Lily?" It was hard to not not like Starfire, she was more bubbly than Ty Lee and didn't seem to have a malicious bone in her body.

"Yes I found her," She waved toward the saddle with one hand. "And someone else too."

"Glorious, I shall inform Friend Robin..." Starfire trailed off as she caught sight of Azula, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets.

"How serious are Friend Azula's injuries?" The concern flashing in Starfire's green eyes was off-putting for Katara to see.

"How can she be your friend..."She bit out, she did little to stem the anger she felt toward Azula. "how do you even know who she is, and do you even know what she's done?"

Faster than she could blink, she was face to face with Starfire sporting a harsh glare. The effect of which was intensified as Starfire's eyes were glowing, she was terrified. "I am well aware of what she's done to fight a war. She followed orders and executed them to the best of her ability. I know the weight upon her shoulders as a princess. We have shared in the same suffering, rape and torture." Her stomach lurched violently, but Starfire was far from done. "There is one thing we do not share. I have killed hundreds of my peoples' enemies to protect and to conquer. Raven researched your one hundred year war, there are no records or rumors of Azula taking a single life."

She had opened her mouth to refute Starfire's argument, to prove her wrong, but the fierce Titan cut her off, "Don't try to throw the attempted," Starfire put heavy emphasis on the word. "murder of Aang into this. He wasn't killed. So as my friends and the earthlings say, the point is moot."

She closed her mouth to take a moment to process what she'd heard. She still couldn't let it go. "Whether or not she has a body count. It doesn't change the fact, she's done inexcusable things."

"In war everyone's committed inexcusable acts. Some have a choice while many others do not. Do you think Friend Azula had a choice?" The adamant expression on Starfire's face was hard to look at.

"I don't know," She swallowed the dryness in her throat, "I'm still waiting for an answer. How do you know Azula?"

"Friend Raven brought her to our dimension. Our home is on an island in the bay of the city we protect. Friend Azula never tried to leave." Starfire had drifted a little ways away from Katara as she answered.

"Why would she take Azula to your home?" She asked, honestly curious as to Raven's reasoning and to try to understand.

"Friend Raven said that Azula was severely injured and being sold to high paying clients on Crescent Isles. Had Friend Raven not handled the situation and those responsible, I'd have hunted them down myself."

She shivered at the sheer murderous intent radiating off of Starfire.

"I hope Zuko had no knowledge of this. I can't imagine he would have let it continue if he had."

She saw Starfire's fists clench. "I hope Friend Azula's brother is innocent as well."

Katara guided Appa to land on the outskirts of the refugee camp. There was a small army of people waiting to greet them. Among them were Aang and Sokka, the avatar was grinning from ear to ear. "I told you it was Katara. Pay up."

Sokka grumbled about 'avatar magic glowy-ness' but dug into his pant's pocket and handed over four gold coins. If possible Aang's grin got even wider.

Katara rolled her eyes at the two idiots. As she moved to check on Azula, she noticed Starfire was hovering nearby. The look on her face was thunderous. Katara scanned the crowd to see what had caught Starfire's attention. Through the throng of people she spotted Zuko making his way toward Appa.

This is not going to be pretty. She thought as she prepared to clash with Zuko about his sister, but first she reassured Lily. "She'll make it."

"Really?" The hope in Lily's voice was painful to hear. Azula was not in good shape, her pulse was thready and weak, she was still un-naturally pale, and cold. "Yeah but I need to get her in to healing pool to treat those burns and monitor her for infections."

"Lily, thank the spirits you're okay. Your mom and brother are worried sick..." She glanced behind her to see Zuko staring at his unconscious sister. Through grit teeth he hissed, "What is she doing here?"

"I found her with Lily-"

"Some one bring me restraints!" He bellowed, cutting her off.

"Zuko she isn't a threat," She couldn't believe she'd just said that.

He glared at her. "Shen attacked her. She'll die if I don't get her into a healing pool."

"Or that's what they want you to think. Those two planned-" He abruptly stopped talking and stared at something over her shoulder. There was only one person that inspired that kind of response from him.

"Starfire please take," Katara heard the pain and fear in Raven's voice. When Raven continued speaking, the emotions vanished. "Azula to Suki's house. Cyborg is prepping for a couple transfusions and should be ready to go by the time you get there. Robin and Azula are a match. Katara you will want to follow them to observe the treatment."

Katara wasn't pleased to be ordered around but she was confused, curious, and tired. A glance at Raven and she agreed. "Of course."

"Lily-"

"I'm going with master Katara."

"-your brother and mother would like to see you. Azula won't be awake until tomorrow." Raven's tone brokered no arguments from Lily.

"Fire lord, a word."

Katara had very little sympathy for her friend as he trailed after Raven.

Zuko knew he overreacted to Azula's presence. He was reeling from the betrayal that Raven unearthed. His footsteps faltered as the full brunt of what he'd sentenced his sister to hit him. The bile burned along his throat, he barely made it to some bushes.

On unsteady feet and with a queasy stomach, he caught up to Raven. His insides burned with guilt, regret, and shame. I should have listened to uncle and Mai. I should have listened.

"Here's far enough." She said, turning to face him. He shivered as those violet orbs skewered him, he'd have taken the four red eyes she'd sported earlier; at least they were less expressive.

"Far enough?" He asked when it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything else.

"Most of my teammates have excellent hearing and I don't want our discussion to be interrupted." If anything, her answer put him even more on edge than any interaction with her thus far.

Zuko was the fire lord and he had a good guess as to what Raven wanted to discuss. "Nothing you have to say will change my mind. Azula is dangerous, she's made a lot of enemies during the war. She will be restrained and guarded."

"I will take full responsibility for any of her actions, as well as ensuring her safety and that of others. Under the condition that she isn't put back in chains or is locked up again."

His mouth opened and closed in shock. This was not what he expected to hear, not at all. He was having a difficult time understanding what she'd said.

"Crescent Isles is not a prison." The exasperation was thick in his voice.

"It may as well be." She growled. He took a step back when the shadows around him started writhing in agitation. "Chains, entire floors coated in ice, the head of staff running a prostitution ring; you pay, we provide the entertainment."

"I'm going to raze the whole island to the ground." He muttered under his breath. He had to swallow back the resurgence of bile before he could speak. "If I were to agree to this proposal of yours, I need to know why you're willing to do this for her?"

"Your sister risked her life to protect me, why shouldn't I do the same? She...almost died protecting her daughter." She could feel the weight of Zuko's disbelief blanketing the air.

"Why should I take your word for it?"

"Believe what you want, I don't care." In a blink the shadows at her feet rose up and swallowed her.

Zuko's heart was in his throat as he frantically search his surroundings for her. The chill at his back had him whirling around to face her, instead he was met with a giant bird-like creature made of that inky darkness. It was rushing toward him with talons extended, the moment before it would have slammed into him, it stopped.

His heart rate slowed as the darkness receded to reveal the object of his fear. "Its not like you can stop me from doing what I want. Nor can you stop me from freeing your sister from any prison you elect to put her in."

With a white face and a slight, body wide tremble, he extended his hand for her to shake. Her hand was noticeably cool as he shook it. "Lily overheard us. She knows that Azula's her mother, I'll let you handle explaining that to Rook."Her grip turned borderline painful as she added, "You will not do anything to prevent them from seeing her nor will you try to take them away from her."

His hand burned with that unnatural cold, long after he'd reluctantly agreed to Raven's terms. Zuko stared out over the ocean, unseeing or rather, he kept seeing that bird-like creature rushing at him. His mind replayed their entire interaction over and over again. Asking him had been a courtesy. With a sigh he made for the council tent; he wasn't looking forward to the coming conversation.

Kyoshi Island; Suki's Cellar/Day 60

Katara was astounded as she listened to Cyborg explain the process of a blood transfusion. From the name alone she understood the gist of what it would do, but to actually get to see the affect was amazing. And the water they'd provided for her to do an assessment...she was going to ask for more.

"Well," She felt several pairs of eyes boring into her back. With practiced ease she directed the water back into a water skin before finishing her report. "her pulse is stronger now, there's no sign of infection, and other than a few minor scrapes she'll live."

"That's good to hear." The sheer amount of relief in Suki's voice was the last straw. Her, but especially her, and the Titans had been worrying over Azula's well being.

As she opened her mouth to vent her frustration, a giant orange fire spirit flickered into the room at the same time Raven stepped through the far wall of the cellar. Upon seeing Lily and Rook rush over to Raven before dragging her over to Azula's bedside, the angry words died in her throat.

"You can heal her, like you healed Lily, right?" Her heart nearly cracked in half at hearing the panic in his words.

"I don't need too," Raven gestured to Cyborg, both the children turned to face him. "he's our doctor and more than capable of getting her through the worst of it."

"What if there's a problem? What if she never wakes up and I don't get to say thanks for saving Lil?" The panic was more and more apparent as he spoke.

"Master Katara wouldn't let that happen." Lily pulled him in for a hug.

"She's right, Roku," His eyes were wet with unshed tears as his eyes found hers. "I'll make sure you get to thank her."

"C-can we stay with her, for a little while?" She didn't think anyone could bring themself to say no to him.

"Of course." She said, not at all prepared for him to give her a hug.

"Iroh, Katara, will you keep an eye on Azula and the kids," At her nod, Robin continued, "and send for Cyborg if anything changes." Another nod from her. One by one she watched the Titans ascend the stairs, only Raven lingered at the bottom. Katara eyes narrowed at seeing the shadows nearest to that blue cloak start writhing. It was almost as if the half-demon was physically incapable of walking away from the firebender.

"Raven." His tone pulled a low growl out of the half-demon.

"Shen is from our dimension and he's related to Slade." Her statement left dead silence in its wake. "Something about Lily and Rook's fire guardians ruffled some feathers. From what I've learn through research and picking Iroh's brain about benders; what they can do, isn't normal. Not even for descendants of the avatars. Leading to only one logical conclusion, they're meta-humans as well as benders."

"How sure are you about that?" He stood firm when she glowered at him. "You very well know if Slade is involved, this is a whole new ball game that we need to approach from a different angle. Shen's motives for trying to take the kids for one are unclear. As well as the brotherhood's presence here. They could just be a distraction."

"She's right. I don't know who Slade is or what a meta-human is, but she's right that those fire guardians aren't normal. Nearly gave me a heart attack the first time I saw them flicker to life and kill an assassin shortly after we took Lily and Roku in; they were about a year old." Everyone's attention turned toward the doorway, Mai was casually strolling through it, followed by Ty Lee. Who made a beeline for Suki.

"All that that supports is that Shen is not native to this dimension. It doesn't prove they're related or that Slade was the one to sent him." Robin said, acknowledging one of her points.

"Pledge mark."Those two words were all it took to convince him; the final nail in the coffin.

"Fuck." He sighed before he began to pace the length of Suki's living room. Said warrior, Ty Lee, and the other Titans all shared confused looks; Mai started twirling one of her knives.

"Dude is everyone else as confused as me or...?" Gar said, hoping that either Raven or Robin would explain. He paused in his pacing to lock eyes with Raven, she nodded. He resumed his pacing in the vain hope it would help him think about their next steps.

"When Slade pledged his life in service to Scath, it left a mark on his aura. An impression of the mark appears on the auras of anyone that Slade is related too. To help identify others who'd be inclined to serve. I'm highly sensitive to it."

"Okay," Robin made a last circuit of the living room before he glanced at Mai. "Do you have as much authority as Zuko does over the soldiers with you?"

At her nod he asked, "Are you willing to help us stop the Brotherhood and take down Shen?"

"Yes."

"Right, we know that Slade's goal is to have Shen acquire Lily and Rook for who knows what. Raven can you watch over them?" Everyone shivered as the temperature dropped.

Raven's shadows created a massive centipede with glittering black scales and a blank face. They all watched it skitter from shadowy corner to shadowy corner until it crawled through the cellar's open door. "Fill me in on the details tomorrow."

He waved in the direction of the cellar. "Bright and early." They weren't the words he wanted to say, but he trusted her to know her limitations; it didn't stop him from worrying about how far she was pushing herself. He shook his head as she walked to the cellar's entrance.

"However, it doesn't help us with the Brotherhood's motives. Its odd, they haven't made another move after hitting the Fire Nation capital and Ba Sing Sei." A frustrated breath gusted out of him. "There's only one way for us to force their hand. We need to take back Ba Sing Sei."

"You and what army?" Mai drawled flatly. Ty Lee sucked in a sharp breath, an unimpressed Mai was a dangerous Mai. She felt vindictive joy when Robin remained completely unphased.

Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki were rendered speechless when he said, "We won't need an army, just Black Magic."

The unnatural tension in her body and mind lessened with each stair she descended; the pain from Ty Lee's wounds got worse but she paid it no mind.

'She's okay mistress.' Intelligence wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure anymore, her mistress or herself.

'No she isn't.' She sighed and push back the wave of exhaustion creeping in. There wasn't time for her to rest. 'Neither are we. Does Rage have any idea why I'm so tired, yet I feel like I could run a marathon at the same time? Does anyone?'

'The damage from Slade and Psimon was extensive,' The frustration in Intelligence's voice mirrored her mistress's. 'It's plausible the attack could've been a cover for something else. If we could get more than a few hours of sleep at a time...'

'I know, I know-'

'-If we cuddled with Azula-'

'-not happening. End of discussion.' Raven refrained from slipping into Nevermore to throttle Intelligence. She was blindsided by the surge of pain as Intelligence's soul-self pulsed.

'Shut up and listen, mistress. We need to be near Azula while we sleep in order to start recovering from Psimon's attack. Bonding with her was the glue, and guess what? Glue needs time to dry. Skin contact ergo direct contact with her aura will help immensely.' Intelligence stopped to reign in her soul-self, but the migraine was gaining momentum. 'Either you cuddle with her of your own choice or our body will shut down and make it for you.'

Still reeling from Intelligence's reprimand, she wasn't prepared to be accosted by Katara as soon as she emerge from the stairway.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"My shade," She hissed, leaning into Katara's personal space, the waterbender was forced to move back and back until the flat expanse of wall halted her retreat. "will make it impossible for Shen to teleport into the cellar and snatch the children out from under us."

There was a tension filled silence before Raven blinked and moved to the darkest and coldest corner of the cellar which so happened to be the farthest from the waterbender, her back to the room. "I can monitor Azula for the night. You and Iroh should take Lily and Rook upstairs."

"You-"

"Perhaps, a good night's rest will be beneficial to all." Iroh's bottomless calm was a balm to the hurricane of the emotions in the air; her own and everyone else's.

"Goodnight Raven."

"Pleasant dreams, Iroh. Master Katara." She gave into the urge and let the grin pull the corner's of her mouth up as she felt Katara's irritation flare at the dismissal. She would speak with the waterbender in the morning; she would thank her.

Not long after they left she was at Azula's bedside, struck with hesitation on whether or not to take one of her hands; needing physical reassurance that there was still a pulse. Her shade crawled out from under Azula's cot and wound around her.

'Can you tell me what's going or not?' Her tone was soft, as soft as she could make it. None of the other emote's would ever get the same courtesy as Timid and Fear did.

They were the emotion she had long accepted as a part of her daily life. Fear tried her best to give comfort when she could, empty though it always was, it was the intention behind the action she appreciated the most.

'Its getting worse by the day. Exhaustion, mood swings, and temperature fluctuations. What the fuck is going on with me?'

'Iroh was correct, sleep will help, and I would caution against separation from our Firecracker. Proximity will help, but not too close.'

She doubts sleep will be easy to come by. Giving a final nod to Timid and Fear, she focused on her Firecracker.

The half-demon loosed a weary sigh. She needed more than a night's rest, an eternity sounded better, but instead she pushed her cot as close to Azula's as she could. With little to no warning the familiar exhaustion dragged her into unconsciousness.

'I feel so, so, so unbearably guilty right now. Are you sure Mistress won't be angry?' She asked fidgeting uncontrollably.

'No, but its what we need to do to help our mistress recover properly. Its not ideal but-'

'What are you two up to this late at night?'

A squeal that threatened to break the sound barrier escaped from the pink-cloaked emote. As she spun to face the culprit she hissed, 'Damn it, G.J don't do that. I though you were Bookworm for a second.'

'Affection, I know you were hiding out with Pride and are new round here and all, but you should keep this one away from caffeine. Red shivers with fear at the mere thought of Candy caffeinated to the gills. So you know, don't do it, kay?' She admonished as she dodged a flailing pink soul-self limb aimed at her head.

'No caffeine has been imbibed and I much prefer Candy when she is, caffeinated to the gills. Just as I know how much you prefer Red when she's being feisty and making trouble for our mistress.' The words slammed into her with enough force to knock her on her ass.

'Y-you just keep that to yourself.' She stuttered, trying to fight the flush of pink spreading across her face as she rose from the ground.

'You're adorable when you stutter.'

Affection's smirk spurned the pink on her face to darken. 'I d-don't stutter.'

'If you dare to follow me, I can show you exactly how flexible I can be. ' With what felt like a fire blossoming across her entire body, Courage trailed after Affection, who winked at Candy as they passed by her.

'I leave the rest to you, pleasant dreams.'

The emote sighed and muttered, 'Figures, she'll leave me holding the bag.'

'It's a sign she trusts you is all.' A shiver shot down Candy's spine at hearing the voice. When she turned to face the speaker, what she saw made no sense whatsoever.

Standing two feet away was a emote or something close to it. This wasn't the same as with Affection's sudden appearance; they could feel she was another facet of their mistress. The emote was wearing an armored cloak, kind of like what Azula's emotions wore. The hood of their armored cloak obscured half of their face, but it did nothing to lessen the intensity of their fire filled eyes.

'W-who are you?'

As the stranger closed the distance between them, Candy's muscles froze her in place. The stranger whispered in her ear. 'Call me Firecracker, I'm fond of the nickname, it suits me rather well.'

'You must be...the remnant of Azula.'

Firecracker stepped back to give the apprehensive Candy, an appraising look. 'You're sharp. No less than what I expected after spending weeks wondering the Pit. Your mistress has some serious issues going on; she's in luck, I can handle them.'

She felt as if the air was being squeezed from her lungs. Mistress wasn't going to react well to Firecracker; an entire emote comprised of Azula's emotions was a lot more drastic than the red robins flying around in Nevermore. 'As if our life wasn't complicated enough...'

'If it makes you feel any better Azula's emotes will have to deal with Raven version of me.' Firecracker said with a faint smile, hoping to ease the steadily building distress of the pink emote in front of her. She was rewarded with a blinding smile.

'It does make me feel better, thanks.'

'My work here is done. Don't worry about your mistress, she'll be as content as a cat when she wakes up.' She didn't need empathy to sense her confusion. Shooting the pink emote a smirk, she turned to walk away and before she disappeared, said, 'Trust me, I've learned all I need to about Raven; things even she hasn't realized about herself yet.'

More than a little flabbergasted at the statement she shook her head and continued her mission. Hoping beyond hope that, come morning, she'd still be in one piece after their mistress was through with her.

Its a bit of a cluster fuck for everyone involved. Zuko as usual is a bit of an Asshat in regards to his sister, but its for reasons which will be revealed eventually. I promise he won't be an asshat forever. Iroh has the patience of a saint and there will be a reckoning between him and Azula in the next chap. Why yes Candy Cane is attempting operation: cuddle time, cause lets face it, Raven and Azula need it. Stay tuned. Please enjoy.

Lily and Rook's fire spirits are comprise of their fire chi and are semi-sentient, but completely loyal to Lily and Rook. So basically they have fiery guardians that will stop at nothing to follow their commends and protect them at all costs. Yeah...I wouldn't fuck with those kids.