Mai peered out through her window down at the courtyard, her mouth set in a grim line. She could see that Ty Lee had returned with one of the trackers and two Fire Nation soldiers. They had been greeted by the Fire Lord and his subjects. Mai didn't know what they all were discussing around the turtle-duck pond, but she did know one thing...Azula hadn't come back with them.

The Fire Lord obviously wasn't taking it well. He was screaming and cursing something awful into Ty Lee's and June's faces. I would have gotten her back, Mai thought bitterly as she leaned her head against the glass and watched as Ty Lee bowed and apologized repeatedly. The Fire Lord pinched the bridge of his nose and waved them away. Ty Lee looked defeated as she led the bounty hunter under the over-cropping balcony. They were going into the palace.

Sure enough, not but five minutes later there was a knock at her door. "Come in, Ty Lee," Mai told her in a raspy voice. The door opened soundlessly and two young women entered. Ty Lee looked grave and June just looked irritated. They both sat down on the bed.

"We couldn't bring her back," Ty Lee told Mai tearfully.

"What a surprise," Mai replied, bored.

"We had her! We were this close!" Ty Lee held up her thumb and index finger. "She was right in front of us but they snatched her away. I couldn't do anything! That blind earthbending girl had Vi Fong in and I imprisoned in the ground...June was out cold...I didn't even know where Li Xang had gone! They were all standing around me...I was so defenseless. I had never felt that way before." Ty Lee then told Mai what Avatar Aang had told her about the solar eclipse and their army and how they wanted Ba Sing Se in exchange for Azula.

Mai remained silent throughout Ty Lee's tale, looking down at her lap. "Oh, I almost forgot," Ty Lee added. "I saw Zuko."

Mai lifted her head a little too quickly. Then she hesitated before asking, "And?"

"Right before they left, he told me to tell you that he says hello," Ty Lee said as Mai ducked her head to hide her smile. "Also, he says that he's sorry."

Mai glanced out into the misty morning, still smiling. Zuko, I forgave you a long time ago.

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"Oh, my poor bones," Iroh complained, rubbing his legs. They all sat in the cavern under the green temple, preparing for war. Iroh, even after two days, was sore from hanging up in a net for an entire night. The Earth King wasn't much better. They both were drinking hot tea and trying to relax as Earth Kingdom soldiers bustled around readying weapons for non-benders and stocking up supplies.

Aang, Sokka, and Zuko sat with the high-ranking military officers and discussed various strategies of attacking the Fire Nation. "We should leave within the next few days," Sokka was telling them urgently. "That way, we can take our time in getting to the Fire Nation and try to recruit as many willing men as possible. Here, there are about two thousand of us. Long Feng tells me that there are several other bunkers like this from here to Ba Sing Se. Each section will storm a different Earth Kingdom city that has been conquered by the Fire Nation. Two other bunkers attack the Fire Nation itself. This will all happen at the same time on the solar eclipse. Just because the Fire Nation can't bend, it doesn't mean that they won't try to fight. Everyone needs to be prepared for a bloodbath. Once the Fire Lord has been killed, Zuko will be in line for the throne and we won't have to worry about this anymore."

"What about Princess Azula?" a general questioned. "I thought we were going to use her to regain Ba Sing Se."

"My plan is just if the Fire Lord doesn't agree, which I'm sure he won't," Sokka told him calmly.

"What am I going to do?" Zuko asked suddenly. "I won't be able to bend either."

"Didn't I hear that you were once the Blue Spirit?" Sokka asked, rolling his eyes.

Zuko hesitated. "Yes..."

"Then I'm sure you'll manage; I seem to." Sokka knowingly tapped his boomerang.

Just then, Katara came up and put her hands on Sokka's shoulders. "My little war hero," she laughed, tweaking his ear.

"Why thank you," said Zuko, stretching his arms behind his head. Katara shook her head and sat next to him. She yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Hey," Zuko protested, pushing her away. "Don't lean on me, I'm working."

"Zuko," she told him, still leaning on his shoulder, "you've changed so much in so little time. I'm glad you aren't like your sister...and I'm glad that we didn't leave you to die back at the North Pole."

"Yeah, me too," he said quietly. "But Katara? Why don't you go sit next to Aang before he gets all glowy on me."

Katara smiled and did as she was told, crawling over to the Avatar and placing her chin on his shoulder. "You were really great back there," she whispered. "Back at Ty Lee's camp, I mean." Aang nodded, looking glum. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm scared. I've never fought in a war like this...I don't want any of you to get hurt. Maybe...Maybe you should stay here." He avoided her eyes.

"What?" Katara demanded. "Aang, no! Don't do this! I'm with you to the end. I knew what I was getting into when I pulled you out of that iceberg. Don't you turn me away now."

"But Katara...Back before we rescued Zuko, I kept having these dreams. You always ended up dying by the Fire Lord's hand. That didn't happen when I went after you, but maybe you weren't going to die that time. Maybe you're going to die this time; because Katara...I'm still having those dreams." His eyes were wide and fearful.

Katara kissed his cheek. "I'm not going to die, Aang. And...I'm coming with you."

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The Fire Lord sat in his ornate golden throne, peevishly tapping his nails on the armrest. He couldn't believe the way things were turning out. Did the Avatar really have an army? Was it bigger than his? His thoughts kept wandering back to his daughter. How could she have let me down like this? How could she have been so foolish? Both of his children had turned out to be complete idiots. They must have gotten that from Ursa, he thought dully.

It had been years since the Fire Lord had thought of his wife. She had been very beautiful, and Azula was the spitting image of her. And though Ursa had been beautiful, she had also been witless. She had wanted to protect Zuko from the wrath of Ozai's father. So she had killed him. She had poisoned the previous Fire Lord to defend her only son...Then she had killed herself. From the moment Ozai had set eyes on her, he had been ardently in love with her. It was true that the marriage had been arranged, but he had never felt that way about anyone before. And her death had been his fault. He knew it from the moment he found her corpse crumpled on the floor in his father's room. She had poisoned him, then she had poisoned herself. If Ozai hadn't been so hungry for power...so hungry for the throne, his father wouldn't have threatened Zuko's life and Ursa wouldn't have to take such desperate measures. Ozai felt as if he had been poisoned himself. He felt it everyday in the pit of his stomach as he slowly turned to stone. He had become cruel and nearly lifeless. His only pleasure came with mass deaths from the other nations. Ozai wanted to take it out on someone. So he took it out on his son and on innocent lives. He tore families apart without a care. He thought they deserved it. After all, his own family had been torn apart. So Ozai kept killing, never hearing the peoples' screams, never noticing the blood that stained his hands. He only wanted the world to pay for what they had done to his wife... But now the world was fighting back.

Ozai felt his throat tighten. He couldn't breathe...He couldn't even think. The room suddenly seemed tiny, as if the walls were closing in on him. He began to choke as he bowed his head into his hands, tracing the scar across his face.

"Fire Lord?" a Fire Nation soldier asked hesitantly.

"GET OUT!" Ozai roared, spit flying from his mouth. "GET OUT RIGHT NOW! I never want to see any of you again."

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Azula mostly slept to pass time in the cavern beneath the odd-looking temple she had forcefully been dragged into at the crack of dawn not but two days ago. She had been, once more, defeated. Are you losing your touch? she constantly asked herself as she slowly slipped into madness. The one thing that kept drifting back to her was what Mai had said before she left to find the Avatar with Jet: "Have you ever wondered if you were on the wrong side?" By now, Azula knew that she was on the wrong side; but it was too late to change her mind. She couldn't just walk up to the Avatar and say, "I was wrong for being on the Fire Lord's side. So...you wanna be friends?" No, Azula was much too proud to join them. She was also too tired. After she had been slammed into the dirt for the second time with Zuko standing over her, she became too tired to care anymore. She didn't have the strength to try and escape and she knew that no one from the Fire Nation would come after her. She was also sick. She was sick of everything that had happened to her. She was sick of her life. She was sick of seeing the faces that surrounded her. And she knew she would be sick of the Fire Nation if she ever managed to return home. She didn't even know if she would have a home to come back to.

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Sokka had been chatting with Long Feng and other military officials for more than an hour. He was hungry and desperate to be alone with his thoughts. The Water Tribe boy trudged through the dim light, riffling through his pockets for a stale piece of bread. Once he found his snack, he nibbled on it and searched for an empty corner he could hide in. He plopped his aching butt down on the cold floor and listened to the water drip, drip, dripping down the slimy walls. He pushed the grumblings of the Earth Kingdom soldiers out of his mind and, instead, thought of Suki and Yue. He pictured their beautiful faces in his mind's eye and wondered how he could have been so lucky as to meet both of them. They had been so brave and so much stronger than him. He couldn't protect them, no matter how much he had wanted to or tried to. He hoped that someday, wherever they were, that they could forgive him.

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"Hey, Princess," Toph said as she sat down next to Zuko. "Have you seen Sugar Queen? Jet's been looking for her."

"She left with Aang about twenty minutes ago," Zuko replied, sighing heavily, ignoring the fact that he was described as a woman.

"Are you okay?" Toph asked with a small frown.

"Are you really asking me?" Zuko inquired suspiciously.

She laughed. "Yes, I'm really asking."

"Well, as a matter of fact, I'm not. My father's going to be dead in about a week. And if I'm 'lucky', my sister will be too," said Zuko, setting his chin on his knees.

"So?"

"Never mind," said Zuko, grumbling. "Forget it."

"No, come on," Toph insisted.

"Well, that would make my uncle the last of my family," said Zuko heavily.

"He's the only one who's acted like your family anyway. After everything that's happened to you," Toph pointed out.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Zuko nodded. "But there is something else..."

"What?" Toph asked eagerly.

"I...I don't want to be Fire Lord," Zuko admitted in a hushed voice.

"What?" Toph demanded incredulously.

"Well, saving the world feels good and all," said Zuko, "but I don't actually want to rule anything. I know I did in the past but now it just seems like too much responsibility. It also means that I'll have to get married and...," at this point Zuko winced, "...and have kids."

Toph laughed. "Now I really 'see' what you're worried about. Don't sweat it, Angsty Pants. That's way in the future. As for getting married..." She mused silently to herself. "Say, do you have any lovers in mind? I mean, it isn't like your father's around to arrange a marriage with some witless broad."

This conversation was making Zuko uncomfortable. He squirmed nervously as he answered, "There are a few..."

Toph raised her eyebrows. "Really? That's surprising."

"Shut up," Zuko snapped, crossing his arms. "Just because my face is obscured by a large scar, it doesn't mean that I can't get anyone to like me."

"That's not what I meant," Toph said. "Looks don't matter to me so I can't really make fun of you for that. I said that because you used to be as ruthless as your sister. You were the son of the Fire Lord. You still are. I'm just surprised any girl would see something in someone like that."

"I wasn't always ruthless," Zuko told her. "When I was a kid, my family was like any other. Sure, my sister was a pest and constantly got under my skin, but don't all younger sisters?"

"I wouldn't know," Toph told him truthfully.

"Oh, right," said Zuko sheepishly. "Well, as for the 'lovers' I have in mind...there was a girl I met when I was a refugee in Ba Sing Se. Her name was Jin, though I didn't know her well. And then there is another girl but...I don't really know if she would take me." He laughed harshly.

"What's her name?" Toph asked with a small smile.

Zuko sighed. "Her name's Mai."

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A/N: Aw...true love! (gag). I need lots and lots of reviews here, people, to make me feel special. So what are you waiting for?