Ok, for those of you who guessed: No, it's not Iroh/Ursa. You got the "Ursa" part right, though! ;;

Chapter 5: Planning

"You have failed me for the last time, Princess Azula."

Azula was kneeling before her father in the throne room. He couldn't tell, but Azula was worried. Why? Because being Fire Lord was her dream. She was not going to give up just because her brother decided to join the Avatar.

"Yes, Father." She answered.

Ozai continued. "Both Iroh and Zuko are traitors. Once they are apprehended, they will be punished. Severely."

"Of course, Father."

"You are on probation until your brother and uncle are found and captured." Ozai said to his daughter. "If you ever lie to me again, you will receive the same fate as your brother."

Azula's breath caught in her throat. 'No…not banishment! Well, I'm just gonna have to make sure I'm not caught this time. Stupid scar-faced tattle tale…' She swallowed. "Yes, Father."

"Good. Dismissed."

Azula stood and left the room. She was getting worried, and tha6t is rare in her caser.

'Dammit, Zuko, you are so dead when I get my hands on you!' Azula thought, angrily.

XXXXXXX

Mai lay on her couch lazily as she threw her knives around. The front door slammed open. Mai sat up and saw Azula marching toward her; her eyes red from crying.

"Where's Zuko?" Azula whispered.

Mai sighed. "Hell if I know."

"He left." Azula's voice started to shake. "Zuko left! Without a note! My father told me he was going to join the Avatar. Oh, I forgot- he told my father I lied to him! How could he do that to me? After all I've done for him!"

Mai stood up. She noticed her friend was shaking with anger and hurt and sadness. "Azula, calm down. I'm sure Zuko-"

Azula pointed a finger at Mai. "Don't mention that traitor to me! I just…Agni, I don't get how things are great one month, then it all turns to crap the next!"

"Okay, just…calm down. Have a seat." Mai guided Azula to the couch. They sat down.

Azula sniffed and wiped away her tears. "He got to him."

"To Zuko?" Mai guessed. "Who?"

"Iroh." Azula answered. "He steered him from loyalty for my father…and me."

This was too much for Mai. She sighed. "Azula, this isn't you. Why do you even care that Zuko's gone? I'd have thought you'd be happy."

"That's not the point, Mai."

"Then what is?"

Azula regained her composure. "I really…I mean…he really hurt me by leaving, you know? I respected him, I did everything I could to make sure he got what he wanted. I pulled strings!"

"Hey, he hurt me too." Mai said. "Listen, do you want to go to town and scare little kids? I know that would make you feel better."

Azula smiled. "Yeah. Let's go."

The two girls stood and left the house. Azula turned to her friend. "Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Mai smiled. "You're welcome. Now, can we please drop the mushy act?"

Azula chuckled. "With pleasure."

XXXXXXXXXX

While Aang and Zuko were training, the rest of the group sat in a circle. They were planning on what to do next.

"We can free the prisoners." Teo suggested.

"How, though?" Asked Sokka. "We're just kids. We only have the avatar, one waterbender, two earthbenders, a firebender, one warrior, and two others."

"'Others'?" The Dulke asked, slightly offended.

"No offense, Duke, but can you fight at all?" Asked Sokka.

"No, not really…"

"Then why the hell were you in the Freedom Fighters?"

"They gave me a place to stay!"

"Okay, guys," Katara stepped in. She didn't want another argument to break out. "We have exactly seven weeks until the comet. That's seventy-seven days. Aang needs to master firebending and defeat the Fire Lord in that amount of time."

"Wait, seven weeks?" Sokka asked. Katara nodded. "Okay, we're screwed."

"No we're not, Sokka." Katara assure him. "Don't forget: we have the Fire Lord's son on our side now. He can tell us everything there is to know about his father!"

"Yeah!" Toph agreed. "His powers, his weak points, his strong pints…you know, having Zuko around might not be such a bad idea."

Haru nodded. "True. That solves the Fire Lord problem, but what about the prisoners?"

"Maybe we can have two groups." Sokka suggested. "One group will help Aang break though the palace, and another will break the prisoners out!"

"A lot of breaking." Toph joked.

"Yep." Sokka pulled out the lotus tile Piandao gave to him and started playing with it. Zuko and Aang joined the group.

"Hey, guys." Katara greeted the two. "How did training go?"

"Better than I expected." Aang answered." I just did stances and movements."

"It's better to at least know the moves before you shoot fire." Zuko explained. "That way you won't accidently burn anything."

"Nice." Katara commented. "We were just talking about what we should do about the prisoners and your dad."

"Oh, that's right! I still have to face…well, you know." Aang said.

"Yeah. Zuko, you wouldn't happen to know your dad's weaknesses and strengths, would you?" Asked Toph,

"Yep. He's crippled." Zuko told them.

"What? How?" Asked Sokka.

"A few years after I was born, he went into battle." Zuko explained. "Things kind of fireballed out of control. Some heavy piece of machinery fell on his hip, and they had to send him home. He's been walking with a slight limp ever since.":

Toph chuckled and turned to Sokka.. "And you gave Zuko a hard time?"

"Okay, that's enough, Toph." Katara said. "So he can only firebend with his hands."

"Yeah, but he can also shoot lightning."

Aang gaped. "Oh…well…aw, man!"

Zuko shrugged. He noticed Sokka playing with the lotus tile. "Where'd you get that?"

"Oh, this?" Sokka held up the tile. "I learned how to use a sword from Piandao- the greatest swordsman in the Fire Nation. I always found it weird he gave me this. He has a lotus tile imprint on his door."

Zuko's eyes widened. His brain hatched an idea. "Sokka? Have you ever heard of the Order of the White Lotus?"

XXXXXX

Iroh and Ursa were walking along the forest. They stopped three times a day to eat, then slept at night.

Ursa sighed. "Iroh? I want to see Zuko."

Iroh stopped in his tracks. 'Damn it…' He thought. "Ursa, let me tell you something about Zuko. I don't think you'll like it."

"Okay."

"The Avatar's bison went missing. In Ba Sing Se, he put up posters of the missing bison. Zuko found out and he went after it. I told him to stop the madness and figure out what he wants in life. He got sick from the war raging inside. When he got better, he became more cheerful and respectful. Then Azula arrived in Ba Sing Se and captured him when Zuko went to face her. When the avatar and I found him in the catacombs, I told him he was not the man he used to be. I told him to choose the good side. Guess what happened? He chose Azula. He helped her take control of Ba Sing Se and take down the Avatar."

Ursa looked slightly taken aback. "Well, there you go. It was Azula's fault he-"

"It was not Azula's fault. It was his own. He could've gone against Azula's offer to join her he didn't!" Iroh said, exasperated. "I try so hard to keep Zuko from falling off the face of the earth, and what does he do? He betrays me!"

Ursa stood still. She couldn't believe what she heard. "Iroh…I understand what you're saying. But I want to hear Zuko's side of the story."

Iroh just shook his head. "We better keep moving."

"May I ask where we're going?" Ursa asked.

"You'll see."

'Same old Iroh.' Ursa thought.

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Ooooooohh, where is Iroh leading Ursa to? Read to find out!