Oh my word. I had no idea so many of you liked this :)

Due to the in-pouring of reviews, I am repealing my previous announcement. Thank you so much, everyone! Spirits are lifted, though I'm afraid I had to chase down my Muse with a mace to get the last part out.

The next chapter will be much better! Cross my heart!

They'll arrive in Ba Sing Se to a few surprises. :)

Hito's arms were crossed about his chest. One arm was raised enough to hold a scratched up ivory pipe to his lips. He bit lightly on the stem and leaned back against the wall of the Earth Kingdom building.

The princess was up to something. He could not tell what her plan was just yet, only that it looked like a shabby, desperate one and he was prepared to laugh at her when it failed.

His golden eyes skimmed over the passing people, taking brief notes in his mind. There were several couples of varying ages. A group of children played a game involving a ball by the shop across the way that the princess had disappeared in to almost half an hour before.

Hito's gaze widened as a young woman exited the store. She was dark-haired, fair skinned, slenderly built, and dressed in the simple, yet fine, clothes of an upper middle class lady. He had always had an eye for beauty and a penchant to chase it, which he was so inclined to do now.

The princess was a big girl, she would find him later.

Knocking the coals from his pipe, Hito slid the batter piece of ivory into the pouch at his hip and pushed himself off the wall.

The woman had opened a parasol to keep the sun off her face. It was the perfect object to follow in the crowd of villagers. She walked only a block or so before stopping at a stall boasting the "finest jewelry in all the Earth Kingdom."

Hito reached out and picked up a sparkling amethyst set in gold.

"I would suggest this piece, miss," he said, dipping his head so he was closer to her height. "But I'm afraid your eyes would outshine it."

The parasol snapped shut a moment before it whacked Hito hard across his chest.

"Pig," the young woman snapped. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust.

Hito held his chest where she had hit him and leveled a furious glare into her gr-…gold eyes? His jaw dropped open.

"Azula?"

Another whack with the parasol.

"Shut up, you idiot," she hissed venomously, low enough for only the two of them to hear. "If I'm in prison again I can't pay you."

Hito rubbed his sore pectorals and frowned. The princess cleaned up nicely, but he was not quite sure why she had cleaned up to begin with.

"What's with the get-up?"

Azula opened the parasol and let it rest against her shoulder. "What? You don't think I look stunning?"

Hito snorted. "You almost pass for a lady."

Azula rolled her eyes and started walking away. Hito followed.

"Are you going to tell me?" he asked after a moment of walking in silence.

"We're going to a party."

That cleared everything up. "Oh are we now?"

"We are," she replied with a wry smile full of concealed malice.

"Where?"

"Ba Sing Se."

"Are we going to see the king?" Hito asked sardonically. "I don't think I'm dressed properly."

Azula snorted. "We're going to see my brother, not the king."

"Fire Lord. Even better."

"He is not the true Fire Lord!" The princess' golden eyes snapped fire as she cut them to the hitman.

Hito shrugged and fished in his pouch for his pipe. "Either or, how do you know he's Ba Sing Se?"

"My brother is not the most creative of creatures," Azula explained simply. "He'll go crying for the cavalry as soon as he finds out I'm free."

"And the cavalry is?"

"Myths. Glamorized anarchists. Take your pick."

Hito decided to let his inquisition die there. The princess obviously was not one for being to the point and he was not one for fishing for answers. Not that it matter, he was only there for the gold.

"You're Zuko's mom?"

Aang stared wide-eyed at the older woman seated by the Fire Lord at the private breakfast table of the king. He had never thought for a moment that Ursa was still alive. And that he had known her for close to ten years. Guilt washed over him with the knowledge that at any time he could have reunited Zuko with the woman who had birthed him.

Ursa nodded and gently patted her son's hand. "Yes. I've been hiding here for years, under the protection of Iroh's family."

"Iroh's family?" The Avatar seemed confused by what she had said.

"His In-laws," Zuko explained. "Iroh's wife was a princess of Kireiea."

"Did Iroh know you were here?" Aang asked.

The woman shook her head. "I never tried to contact him or Zuko. I thought it would be for the better. At least until the world calmed down."

Zuko looked down the table to the young woman he had known for so long. She had been silent all morning. The food before her remained untouched, but was rearranged several times on her plate.

It made Zuko feel guilty. He had his mother back, but Katara would never get hers.

"Will you be coming along with us?" the Avatar asked, his head tilted slightly as he watched Ursa.

"No," Ursa replied. "I'm returning to the Fire Nation to be a second regent for Zuko."

The Fire Nation royals exchanged a smile.

"We should probably leave soon," Katara finally spoke up softly. Her eyes remained focused on her plate. "Ba Sing Se is still a good ways away."

Aang looked to the Waterbender with a subtle crease in his brow. It was obvious he felt her pain. "Katara's right. I'll go find Yukya and Shoji and tell them to pack up."

"I think they were in the inner courtyard. Shoji was teaching her how to shoot a bow," Ursa said.

Aang inclined his head in thanks. Standing up, he moved down to the Waterbender's seat and held out a hand to her. "Katara, would you walk with me?"

Katara lifted a grateful, glistening gaze to the Avatar as she took his hand and left with him.

"You should probably go pack too," the Fire princess said to her son. "I'll see you at home. I promise."

Zuko hugged his mother tightly once again, almost afraid to let go of her for fear that she would disappear.

"I love you, Mom," he said.

Ursa gently patted his back. "I love you too, Zuko. Now go. The world needs you again."

With a grudging smile, Zuko rose from the table and returned to his room to pack his bag and write a letter to Iroh for his mother to carry back to the Fire Nation.

Within the hour, after their hosts had been thanked and Zuko torn from his mother for a second time, the small group set out to the city of Ba Sing Se, utterly unsure of what actually waited for them there, but no less hopeful than they had been thirteen years before.