Hey guys. Made an interesting discovery today, I've spelt Azzazle two different ways throughout the chapters. Whoops. So to settle confusion, we'll stick with "Azzazle" (az-zay-zul)
That's very embarrassing as a writer to constantly misspell your own character's name… Very sloppy. Anyway gang, here it comes, chapter four.

{Azula}

"You were screaming in your sleep last night," he said, looking over at her from his bowl of rice.
She carried on eating, un-phased by the comment.
"Unless you don't want to be screaming right now, I suggest you don't mention that again," she said coldly.
Azzazle put his chopsticks down with a thud.
"Are you threatening me? … Or bribing me?" he said with a sly smile.
She raised her eyebrow. She was genuinely confused by the comment.
"Of course it was a threat, what are you, a fool?"
Azzazle chuckled.
"Wow, you're terrible at this," he said getting up and taking his bowl to the galley, shaking his head as he went.
"Terrible at what?" she called after him, her frustration at the line growing out of proportion.

It had been three weeks travelling with Azzazle and his crew. She had taken to eating in the mess room with the rest of the crew, denying Azzazle's invitation to eat alone in her cabin.
Her time with him was difficult for her to comprehend. She had been trying to understand Azzazle's role, and his intention, by engaging him in dialogue. She would try to extract information from him in her usual ways, but Azzazle's shell was difficult to crack. Her insults didn't affect him, and any sass she threw his way he would bounce right back, not caring about the consequences. Every time she got close to talking to him about his true goals, he would divert the conversation with humor. Although he didn't seem like it, Azula knew Azzazle could read her game. He had divulged just enough information to keep her around, and not enough information for her to use against him. She was in a mental stalemate in this battle. The only headway she had made was his firebending. Every time she insulted or poked fun at that, he would become slightly upset. Something about his firebending was different, but more than that, it was important to him in some way more than just a style of combat. Azula made a mental note of this.

"I'm heading to the bridge," he said, reappearing behind her. "Get ready, tomorrow, we're walking."
"Where?" she asked him as he walked off.
"Secret!" he called back.
She hated the fact that here, she had no control, no power. It was a floating version of a prison, but in her eyes, a huge step up from the Asylum. She shuttered at the memory of that place. But still, even now, hallucinations haunted her.
She returned to her cabin after dinner, refusing to help clean up.
I am above them.
She lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Without a goal insight for the last year and a half, she had constantly let her thoughts drift. For the time being, she would attempt these tests Azzazle had offered her, in a hope it would return her firebending, which was still unachievable since after her defeat at the Royal Palace.
Her mind quickly became tired, as fatigue set in, and her thoughts descended into darkness.

"No lightning today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?"
She was standing in a place that seemed familiar. The sky was a blood red, and meters away, stood her brother, Zuko.
"Oh! I'll show you lightning!"
She looked down the courtyard. She remembered now. She saw herself, hair dangling in front of her like a lunatic. She watched as her double began to create lightning around her body, whipping and cracking as the positive and negative jin separated. She looked up. The clouds were shifting, moving into a giant cloud which formed a face. Her father's.
It was smiling; eye's wide as it looked down on her. It was huge, and Azula suddenly felt so insignificant, dwarfed by the dominating figure bearing down on her. She looked back down, and gasped to see it wasn't her wielding lightning anymore, but the peasant Katara. Her eye's where wild, and instead of firing the bolt at Zuko, she had fired the bolt at Azula, whipping wildly out of control as it rushed towards her. A figure suddenly dived out in front of her, taking the full force of the lightning. The figure skidded across the ground, coming to a halt face down at Azula's feet.
She bent down, rolling over the smoking character, and let out a long piercing scream to her own, eyeless face, looking up at her. Her father's laughter rang all around her, as the ground began to swallow her.
"Azula! Azula! Wake up! – Ow!"
She punched the figure square in the nose, feeling it break under her knuckles as it reeled back.
She looked around wildly. She was wet, her bed soaked in sweat, her chest rapidly rising and falling.
She realized were she was, on Azzazle's ship. She looked over to see Azzazle was the figure she had punched. He slowly raised to his feet, clutching his bleeding nose.
"What are you doing? What's going on?" she yelled franticly, planting her hand on either side of the bed as her eyes darted wildly.
Azzazle walked back over, sitting on the end of her bed, far away from her this time.
"You were screaming again, you sounded like you were in trouble so I came down here to see if you were ok," he hummed, holding his dripping nose.
She slowly began to calm down.
"I broke your nose," she stated with shock.
Azzazle scoffed.
"Yeah… Yeah I know. I was basically on top of you. Not my smartest idea," he said, clutching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"You should leave; you're bleeding on the carpet," she said to cover her embarrassment.
He chuckled, which was hampered by his broken nose.
"Sure, the pleasure was all mine," he said, leaving the end of her bed, and walking out the door. As he closed the door behind him, she felt the mood of room shift into an empty void.

{Zuko}

He walked into the assembly hall, and his heart soared as he saw their obvious clothes.
Toph was the first to react.
"His here!" she said, pointing her finger at him.
There was a slight cheer, as they all rushed over to greet him.
"Zuko!" Katara had thrown herself on him in an embrace he didn't expect. He blinked, first too shocked to react, then began to hold her close. He had missed her. They broke their hug, and Zuko finally got a good look at her. She had hardly changed. She had kept her long brown hair down, and her blue eyes were still soft and kind. A year had done well for her body. She had grown in places Zuko tried not to look, and her hips curved noticeably under her blue robes.
"There's my favorite Firelord!" said Sokka with a huge grin on his face. They grabbed each other's arms in a traditional Water Tribe greeting. Zuko was shocked to see that Sokka had actually filled out noticeably in peace time. He now had well-toned muscles, and had kept his hair long on all sides.
The moment he had broken his grip from Sokka, he had been punched hard on the arm.
"Good to see you again! Well, feel you again," she chuckled.
Toph had changed the most. Her body had grown up and out into a more womanly figure, but she had still retained hard muscles from practicing earthbending. She had also fashioned a long plat of hair as opposed to her buns, and wore her bangs with green bands around them both.
He turned to the young Avatar.
"Avatar Aang," he said with a bow.
Aang smiled, clearly amused by the pleasantry.
"Firelord Zuko," he said, returning the bow. They both looked up, and began to chuckle with laughter as they moved in and hugged each other.
"It's so good to see you all! I only wish it were under better circumstances," said Zuko, trailing off.
"I'm hungry," interrupted Sokka. Katara sighed, resting her forehead on her fingers.
"You've been here five minutes and all you want is food?"
Zuko smiled shaking his head.
"No, his right, let's go to the dining room shall we?" he said gesturing the party along.
They proceeded to the dining hall, reminiscing and laughing as they went along. Zuko simply walked along with a smile on his face. It was refreshing to hear them laugh, he had not heard laughter often since his time as Firelord, but his guilt began to set in, he would have to break this happy mood sooner or later to tell them that Azula was back amongst the people.

They sat with Zuko at the head of the table, Aang and Katara side by side, and Sokka sitting next to Toph. They continued to talk about their past adventures over dinner, which included several of the finest dishes in the Fire Nation.
"Royal food!" Sokka drooled, his eye's widening at all the food trays, shortly before stuffing his face.
Zuko's mind began to drift elsewhere. The longer they sat around, the colder Azula's trail would get.
"So of course Zuko picks up the glowing egg, and then… Zuko, are you ok?" Aang said mid-sentence.
Zuko came back to reality.
"Look, I guess it's no secret why I called you here…" he began.
The light mood at the table died almost immediately, and Zuko's heart sank through the floor.
"Azula," said Katara, her eyes focusing as if she could see her across the table.
"Yes…," Zuko began.
He continued to regal them with the information the Warden had given him.
"Blue and white? Why does that sound familiar?" said Sokka, rubbing his chin.
"That's because you've seen it before. It's the colours of the Order of the White Lotus."
The table let out a shocked silence, until Sokka spoke up.
"Who would benefit from freeing someone like Azula from a mental hospital?"
Everyone looked back at Zuko, expecting him to have the answer.
"I already thought of that. I sent a hawk to my uncle to find out who in the order would do this."
Aang was looking over at him, a concerned look on his face.
"Zuko, something else is bothering you," he said.
They all turned and looked at him again. He sighed.
"I can't come with you."
All four of them burst out their frustration at this news all at once.
"What? Why not?" questioned Aang.
"I'm Firelord now. I can't just up and leave on some adventure anymore. The situation in the Earth Kingdom colonies is too serious right now."
Sokka stood up, pushing his chair back casually.
"Well, it's probably for the best. Who knows how Azula would react to seeing you after you defeated her on the day of Sozin's Comet?"
Zuko nodded, before a thought struck him.
"Well then, maybe Katara should stay too!"
Aang sprung up with a must less subtle leap then Sokka's.
"Woah Woah Woah! Let's just slow down for a second. We just got everyone back together, and now we're gunna separate?" he said, his grey eyes pleading.
"Aang, the longer we wait, the colder Azula's trail gets, and I think Zuko has the right idea," Sokka stated with a nod an approving nod.
"But how are we even gunna find her?" argued Aang, his frustration at being separated from Katara evident in his face. At that point, Toph raised her hand.
"Uhh, hello? We can just smell her out with June's… Mole thing…" she said, waving her hand as she tried to remember the name of the creature.
"Hey yeah!" said Katara, her eye's lighting up. "If we find June, we can find Azula!"
"So it's settled. Katara and I will stay here in the Fire Nation. You guys search June's local taverns, locate Azula, then bring her back here to face justice," Zuko said, summarizing the discussion.
"Yeah, I doubt the guy who helped her escape is just going to hand Azula over," said Sokka, putting his hands on his hips as he spoke.
"Well whoever these guys are, I'm sure the Avatar can handle them," he said, looking at Aang with a smile. The smile wasn't returned, and Zuko felt a tingling in his stomach. He had let Aang down by volunteering Katara to stay with him.
"Great! We'll set out in the morning. Hopefully we can get this done quickly so we can go on vacation," said Sokka with an ear to ear smile.
Aang stormed off, with Katara and Toph in tow, but Sokka made his way around the table, appearing next to Zuko.
"Okay, they're gone, are you gunna tell me what's really bothering you?"
Zuko froze. Had he given off such strong vibes that even Sokka would notice?
"It's the Earth Kingdom colonies," said Zuko with a sigh.
"What about em'?"
"Aang's the Avatar,"
"Well spotted, what's your point?"
"If I can't resolve this issue with the Earth King, Aang will have to step in."
Sokka's eyes widened.
"That's why you're sending him after Azula, isn't it? The situation is far worst then you've let on."
Zuko couldn't believe it. Sokka had figured him out. There was no point lying to him now. He sighed resting his forehead on his thumb and index finger.
"The Earth King stated that he would march on Fire Nation colonies if I don't relinquish their lands, but I'm close to reaching an agreement, I just need more time!"
"And? What if you fail? You could re-ignite the war!" Said Sokka, becoming frantic at the true state of the situation.
"Then Aang will step in and force a compromise, but this will work, trust me, but I need you to buy me some time when you're hunting Azula. Please Sokka."
Sokka frowned at him. Zuko could tell that by discovering the truth, he had put him in an extremely awkward situation.
"Ok, you have my support, but whatever you're doing Zuko, it better work, don't make me regret this,"
he said, turning away and following the rest out the door.

{Azula}

Azula walked out of her room to see Azzazle walking down the hallway.
"Ahh Azula! I was just coming to wake you. We've set everything up and we're ready to leave. It's going to be a fair walk to Ba Sing Se."
Azula walked up beside him and together they made their way to the deck.
"And what will we find in Ba Sing Se? She questioned.
"Ba Sing Se was the scene of your greatest military triumph. When we get there, I want to show you something's my master taught me."
She rolled her eyes. She almost couldn't believe she was being dragged back to the Earth Kingdom capital.
They reached the deck, and Azula was surprised to see a group of the crew, waiting for them.
"This is the shore party," said Azzazle responding to the look on Azula's face. "There is a chance Kortaka might come after me as far as Ba Sing Se, so I figured we'd need a fairly skilled party to deter him."
Zhang walked up and greeted them with a nod.
"Your backpack and bedroll, he said, extending them both out to Azula.
She looked at them for a moment, as he continued to hold it out.
"And? Who's going to carry it for me?"
Zhang and Azzazle shot each other a sideway glance, before both looking back at her.
"You can't expect me to carry this like some peasant?" she protested.
Zhang dropped her stuff on the deck with a thud.
"Then I hope you like sleeping in the dirt," he said before turning and joining the rest of the team.
She bit her lip. They weren't kidding. She would have to carry her own weight.
"Come on Azula," said Azzazle, resting a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off, picking up her backpack and bed roll, and hoisted it on her back.
"Let's go meet the shore party," said Azzazle, stepping forward and waving her over to the group.
Including the captain, herself, and Azzazle, there were six in the group.
She walked up to a huge bulky man with a large platted beard and a huge mustache. He wore heavy amour with no insignia, but Azula recognized the design as outdated Fire Nation attire. His face wrinkled from the sun, and his brown eyes, telling of many battles.
"You look familiar," she said, staring at the man. He gave her a slight bow.
"Kahchi, Princess. I served under Coronel Monkge in the Rough Rhinos," he said, his voice deep and booming. Azula remembered the Rough Rhinos well. Stories of their victories were told to her as a child, stories of a group of powerful and relentless elite soldiers.
"I see," she said, turning to the next man.
He was a younger man, maybe his mid twenty's. He had a long platted pony tail and rugged goatee, his green eyes he tried to remain hidden under a wide brimmed hat. His clothes told it all, as Azula identified the man as a Dai Li agent.
"You look familiar too," she said, acting as if she hadn't figured it out.
The man looked up at her.
"I'm not surprised you don't remember me… You never did take the time to know your most faithful attendants. My name is Jian. I was one of your personal guards on the Day of Black Sun."
Azula remembered him now. He was elected along with another as the finest of Dai Li operatives.
She moved along to the last person she hadn't met. It was a woman with black tights and a bow slung over her shoulder. Above her tights were blood red metal guards on both of her wrists, with a typical leather brace on her bow arm. She wore a purple lipstick, which complimented her face, which was marked by a large black tattoo that resembled a bat, and her long black hair hung down perfectly cut, balanced along her chin. Behind it, brown eyes were fixated on Azula's.
"A Yuyan Archer," Azula said before the woman could speak. "I thought you disbanded after your defeat alongside Zhao at the North Pole."
The young woman slung a belt on with a large silver buckle, turned her nose up, and walked away.
"Sayuri," said Azzazle over her shoulder, as they watched her disembark the ramp.
"You shouldn't mention the North Pole to her, a lot of her comrades died in that attack."
She heard a snuffling grunt behind her, and saw a wolf-bat sniffing the decks.
"What is that pest doing on board?" she questioned, pointing at the creature.
The creature whimpered, as if it understood her statement.
"Who, Chibi?" said Azzazle, walking over to the animal, bending down scratching his head playfully. The wolf-bat dropped on its back, earning a stomach scratch by Azzazle, who was now speaking in a childish tone.
"Aww, my little Chibi, who's a good boy? You're a good boy! Yes! You!"
The creature exhaled in a noise Azula could only describe as pure pleasure. It stretched out its front legs, revealing its wings, its red eyes closed happily.
Azula raised her eyebrow, and shot a glance at Zhang, who was mirroring her looking down at the two.
Azzazle stopped and rose to his feet, addressing the entire party minus Sayuri.
"Ok. You've all gone over our attack and defense formations?" he said, focusing mainly on Zhang as he spoke.
"We've practiced and practiced again, we all know our jobs if something goes wrong," Zhang replied, slinging dual swords over his shoulder.
"Right, Sayuri will scout ahead as planned, Kahchi will be center, and Jian will be forward defense, Zhang and I will be the rear guard and direct attack if there is trouble."
Azula looked around, as the group began to mobilize.
"Well? What do I do?" she questioned Azzazle as he donned his equipment.
"You, Azula, will not leave Kahchi's side for the entire length of today's march," he said, pointing her to in Kahchi's direction. Kahchi smiled, before grabbing her and yanking her to his side.
"Come on Azula! I'll tell you a few of my better war stories!"
Azula looked back at Azzazle, who was walking beside Zhang, as Kahchi lead her with an arm around her shoulder, displease evident on her face.
You've got to be kidding me.
"I'll pass," she said, sliding out from underneath him. Kahchi had seemed to ignore her.
"Back in the early days, women weren't allowed in the military! You only had your brothers out there! And for days…" Kahchi continued to rabble on, as Azula walked down the ramp, setting her feet on free land for the first time in eighteen months. She breathed a sigh oh relieve, but she couldn't shake a nasty hunch. Her troubles, were just beginning.