Hey gang. I've been asked a few questions about Azzazle's past, mostly focusing on his prior meeting with Azula. Chill out, all will be answered. I had to create some mysteries to keep you reading after all! :P Chapter five, let's get it on.

{Sokka}

"What do you mean June's not here!? She's always here!" he said, making his frustration evident at the barkeep in the festering Earth Kingdom tavern.
"Look pal, June's a busy woman. You think she makes all her money sitting at a stool in places like this? No! She's a bounty hunter! She's probably out there tracking down some war mongers or thieves and whatnot," he said, waving his right hand around while he scrubbed down the bar with the other.
Aang rested his hand on Sokka's shoulder.
"Sokka, this is the last tavern, which probably means June is out in the field somewhere."
Toph was standing behind them both, arms folded.
"So we need to find June to find Azula, but we don't know where June is anyway? Great…" she joked.
Sokka turned on her.
"Hey, this was your idea," he said, pointing at her with an accusing finger. She swatted it away, almost as if she could see it.
"Yeah, but what other choice was there?" she said shrugging. "Do we just head in "that direction" until we find Azula?" she said, pointing to her finger in an aimless direction.
Sokka thought for a second, reflecting on what Azula might do.
"My instincts tell me she would head to the palace, or maybe even the Royal Prison to free Ozai, but Zuko and Katara can handle any issues there, we need to focus on finding people who would help her."
"Ok," said Aang, his voice dragging. "So who's helped Azula in the past?"
Sokka thought again for a moment, before coming up with potential suspects.
"Well, it's pretty safe to assume that Mai and Ty Lee won't help her, the Fire Nation army won't help now they have a new Firelord, so who does that leave?"
Aang clicked his fingers at the end of Sokka's sentence.
"The Dai Li! If Azula could convince them to betray their own country, maybe she could convince them to help her regain power!"
"Yeah, but the Dai Li have disbanded," Toph interrupted. "Most of them are in cells in Ba Sing Se."
"Well that's a good place to start, we'll head to Ba Sing Se, and see if we can learn anything from the Ex Dai Li agents, agreed?" Sokka said, looking at Aang.
"Sounds like a good idea, I'll call Appa."

{Zuko}

He realized he was staring at her before he came to his senses. She was standing alone on the balcony overlooking the garden, staring up at the crescent moon.
He felt a pang of guilt as he approached her, but his guilt could not slake his curiosity.
"Hey," he said, making her jump at his voice.
"Oh, hey Zuko," Katara said, turning to face him. He joined her side, leaning on the stone rail as they both stared at the moon.
"So what's on your mind? You seem distracted," he said, looking back at her moon lit face.
She looked down, he almost knew the answer before it left her lips.
"It's Aang. I feel like we've spent all this time apart, and now his gone again."
Zuko let his disappointment sink in. Aang was still on her mind, perhaps the feelings he thought were there simply weren't.
What am I even doing?
He turned, making his way back inside.
"Zuko, what's going on with you?"
He stopped. He wanted to say her name. She had plagued his dreams ever since their parting, it was only recently he had realized that he was falling in love with her, but being around her now, when she needed a friend the most, was putting him in an unbearable situation.
"Zuko?"
He turned back. His name sounded so sweet from her voice. He looked into her deep blue eyes, but the guilt stabbed at him still. Now was not the right time.
"Oh, it's ahh… Mai! We haven't uhh… Seen a lot of each other lately."
She smiled softly at him.
"That must be hard for you. I can only imagine the stress of running a nation."
"Yeah, well, I'm going to bed, so… See you in the morning?"
She quickly walked up and grabbed his arm.
"No no, please stay. I could really use a friend right now…"
He smiled. It wasn't what he had hoped for, but he was happy to be spending some time with her after the stress of the past months.
"Sure, I'll stay awhile."

{Azula}

The sun began to sink underneath the mountains behind them. She dropped her backpack to the ground with a thud, followed quickly by her sleeping roll. The long day's march was over, and the relieve of the weight being lifted off her shoulders was only seconded by the fact that she could finally escape Kahchi's ramblings.
Everyone immediately began dispersing into pre-arranged tasks, while Azula unraveled her roll, her back turned to the group.
She heard footsteps approaching behind her.
"Sayuri and I are going to look for some meat. Chibi's coming too. You can either help set up camp with Jian and Zhang, or you can find some firewood with Kahchi," Azzazle said, listing the tasks to her.
"Or!" she said, removing the water sack from her backpack. "I can stay here, and you can find me something to ride so I don't have to walk like a filthy peasant tomorrow!" she said, in an overly sarcastic tone. At that moment, Sayuri appeared by Azzazle's side. Azula immediately felt jealousy strike her hard.
"Forget the bitch," said Sayuri in a raspy, yet womanly voice. "If she doesn't want to help, she can go hungry. It's bad enough we have to march three days to Ba Sing Se to avoid attention at the Earth Kingdom dock."
Azula smiled, a comeback hot in her mind. If it was one thing Azula prided herself on, even above her firebending, it was detecting weakness in others.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I imagine you might have become quite use to walking long distances. The North Pole is so far away after all."
Azzazle's facial expression shifted into a gob smacked look of shock, and Sayuri had clenched her fists, the vain on her forehead throbbing. Azula had struck a nerve.
She took advantage of the silence to strike again.
"Perhaps death was preferable after all, hmm?"
Sayuri launched at her with a bundled fist, but Azzazle had intercepted her attack, diverting it to the side.
"Ok!" he yelled, directing Sayuri away from Azula, still holding her arm. "Time to go hunting!"
Azula smiled as a satisfying feeling filled her. It was good to be back in the game.

It was dark now, and the camp had been established without Azula's help. Jian had created a giant cone shaped earth tent, spanning a diameter of about 20 meters. He had created lookout holes, and a single exit, not counting the top of the pinnacle of the earth tent, revealing the glorious night's sky above them. Azula had set up in the darkness, as far away as she could get from the others, devoid of all company, and the heat of the campfire. At that moment, Azzazle and Sayuri returned. Azzazle was carrying a large dead deer on his shoulders, which he relinquished to Zhang's feet for skinning, Sayuri held two good sized fish, which she handed to Kahchi, who was waiting with a small wooden block to fillet them, and lastly, Chibi came trotting through the walkway, holding what appeared to Azula as a dead rabbit goffer. Chibi immediately spotted her, and began charging over to her, grunting loudly. He stopped directly in front of her, but not before she had shielded herself with her arms. He sat down for a moment, staring at her with his red eyes, before presenting the dead animal at her feet.
She looked at it in disgust. It's soft fur had been tainted by Chibi's oozing slobber, and it had already appeared to be half chewed, as if he decided halfway through his meal that the tiny, half eaten creature would make a sensible gift.
"You think I want that?" she said disgusted.
Chibi wagged his tail happily, edging the carcass towards her with his nose. Azula raised her hand, as if she were about to strike him. Chibi bounced back on his rear legs, snorting happily and wagging his tail, as if it were some sort of game.
"I think you've got an admirer," said Azzazle, walking over from the group. He stopped to scoop up the dead rabbit goffer, tossing it over the wall, leaving Chibi to bolt after it.
"I'm not interested," she said, turning away.
"Ha! Good luck telling Chibi that," he said, taking a seat next to her. She looked at him for a moment, before resting her chin on her knees.
"Listen, Zhang told me you didn't help set up camp," he said, looking at her with concern.
"They should be honored to set up camp for me."
"You think one of those tents is for you? You're mistaken Azula. Listen, I know this is all very new to you, I get it, but you have to help out around here, or you will never earn their respect."
"It doesn't matter. In time, I will teach them respect," she said, venom in her words.
"What you speak of is fear. Fear and respect are two different things. As the Princess of the Fire Nation, respect has always come easy to you, but out here, you have to earn it. Your title means nothing to them."
"Then why do they escort me to the Earth Kingdom Capital?" she said, with an almost accusing tone.
"Why? Because I asked them to. They know this is important to me… They know you're important to me."
Chibi suddenly returned with the dead animal in his mouth, once again dropping it at Azula's feet. Azzazle picked it up with two fingers, and heaved it over the wall. Chibi once again, charged off after it.
"You are yet to explain why you care so much. I know your tactic. I'm being set up to be used."
"You're smarter than this Azula, how could I be trying to use you? You have no pull anymore, you have no firebending, and you have no title. Everything I'm doing, I'm doing to help."
"And you're not going to tell me why?"
Azzazle looked away from her, staring at the ground for a moment.
"I… Can't… Not yet. But we're getting off track. You need to help out more around the camp. Don't give them an excuse to think you're the weak link," he said, staring into her eyes.
Her eyebrows slanted, as she turned her scowl on him, making him recoil slightly. He had hit one of her most vulnerable weak spots.
After all this time… Have I become weak?
She refused to believe it.
Chibi soared in from above, landing between the two, letting the rabbit goffer slide from his mouth onto Azula's sleeping roll. She quickly grabbed it, and finding her anger, threw it with all the strength she could muster against the rock wall, hearing it splat on impact. Chibi cowered; even he had realized that the game was over.
"Fine," she said, as Chibi slinked off to quietly eat his plaything. "You have my word. I will help out. But don't expect me to mark them as my equals. They are simply my means to an end," she said, folding her arms in a stuck up fashion.
Azzazle frowned.
"Is that how you feel about me too?"
She shot a sideward glance at him, but he quickly pushed himself to his feet.
"When everyone goes to sleep, you should join me by the fire. Surely you don't intend to be alone out here in the dark."
He walked away to join the others, leaving Azula staring after him. A stench filled her nose, as Chibi joined her side, looking at her, with a blood smeared grin. She glared at him, and Chibi let out a slight whimper. Receiving the message, he trotted off after Azzazle.

The darkness had fully closed in over at Azula's gloomy corner. She had watched the group eating and talking to each other from afar. She studied them. It had been a long time since she had such heavy human contact, and her skills in manipulation had become blunt over time. She looked for anything she could use. Habits, gestures, body movements towards others in the group, but nothing she observed told her anything incriminating about the gang. They all appeared to work as a team, very little conversation occurred, and after they had all eaten, Jian and Sayuri retired to one tent, while Zhang and Kahchi retired to the other, leaving Azzazle gazing at the stars through the giant hole in the earth tent by the fire.
She shivered. The night was brisk, and the cold, dark corner reminded her too much of the Asylum. She grabbed her backpack, and rolled her sleeping roll with one hand, walking slowly over to the fire.
Azzazle sat up alert, and Chibi, wagged his tail at her approach. Azzazle smiled as she dumped her stuff by the fire, unrolling her sleeping bag, joining Azzazle in star gazing.
"I knew you'd come around," he said with a matter of fact tone.
"Don't act too proud. I'm just cold," she said, perfectly masking her embarrassment at the comment.
They both stared at the stars in silence for a moment, as she waited for the strange tingling sensation in her stomach to subside.
"What are you thinking about right now Azula?" he asked, still letting his eyes drift aimlessly across the sky.
"I'm thinking about how nice it would be to have some peace and quiet," she said with a yawn.
Azzazle scoffed, one of his trademark habits.
"Fair enough," he said, rolling onto his side.
Chibi joined them, moving in between the gap from Azula to Azzazle, before curling up to sleep. Azula stared a little longer, but her eyes soon grew heavy, as her mind edged into unconsciousness.

She woke to Chibi's less than quiet snore, which could be more accurately described as a sharp inhale with a grunt attached to it. The fire had become cinders, and the darkness was still all around them.
Azula felt she had slept enough, and with Azzazle's "weak link" comment fresh in her mind, she pushed herself to her feet. She creped out the exit, leaving Azzazle and Chibi still sleeping by the fire. She walked out past the road to Ba Sing Se, to a large meadow on the opposite side. She stood in the center, inhaling slowly. She began her firebending exercises, imagining fire springing from her fingertips as she did. She jabbed the air with her fingers closed together, moving and breathing in synchronization. She gave a final jab, and suddenly was brought back to a long past memory. She saw it as clear as day, the Avatar falling from the sky, after a direct hit with her lightning, only to be caught, by her, the water peasant. Suddenly, a familiar voice filled the air.
"Ok, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him, and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny."
Azula turned to see Ty Lee in her Fire Nation party clothes. She faintly smiled, deciding to humor herself. "This one is different… I can't explain."
She reflected on her own words for a moment, then suddenly Ty Lee vanished in a puff of black smoke.
At that moment, the darkness had changed, as if it had suddenly become daunting, menacing. Her loneness manifested panic inside her, as the night seemed to bare down on her from all angles. Her breathing began to escalate. She realized she was in the middle of an intense panic attack. She looked around, her stress elevating with every turn. Her legs began to carry her; she felt the overwhelming urge to get back to the warmth and safety of the campfire. Her jog became a sprint, back across the road and up a small hill. She planted her foot, feeling the earth slide out from underneath her feet. She lost her balance, reeling backwards. She fell, but let out a grunt as she was caught before she hit the ground. She looked up at the figure to see that Azzazle had caught her.
""What's wrong? What are you running from- Hey!" he said, swerving to the side of her punch this time.
"Let me go!" she demanded, her cheeks becoming red hot with embarrassment as she regained control of her senses. She pushed him off, as they both stood for a moment, soaking up the awkward atmosphere.
"Azula, what are you doing out here?"
She didn't want to answer, her fatigue had crept back in, and she wanted a few more hours of sleep before she had to march all day tomorrow.
"Never mind that, let's… Let's just get back to camp," she said, marching off.
"Uhh, ok. If you say so," he said, following shortly after her.

They arrived back at camp, and Azula had flopped back onto her sleeping roll, just as light began to form on the horizon. Her half hour nap was quickly interrupted by Azzazle. They proceeded to pack up camp, Azula lending a hand to speed things up. With the camp packed, Jian destroyed their shelter and they hit the road.
Sayuri went on to scout ahead; Azzazle joined Azula and Kahchi in the center, with Jian up back, and Zhang up forward. Halfway through the day's march, as the sun was high in the sky, an arrow landed just in front of Azzazle with two colored ribbons on it, one green and one blue.
"What's this?" Azula said, withdrawing the arrow from the dirt.
Azzazle retrieved the arrow off her.
"A signaling system Sayuri and I came up with. The ribbons indicate what's ahead and its threat level. Blue means travelers, yellow means soldiers or bandits, red means elite troops or trackers, and black… Well, black is Kortaka."
"And this green ribbon?" She asked holding it up.
"That's the threat indicator, so blue is travelers with a green ribbon for a low threat level, so they bare no weapons nor do they have the physical build of fighters."
Azula rolled her eyes. "Clever system," she joked.
"I thought so," he said with a large smile.
They marched on, and the next rise they came to, they saw Ba Sing Se in the distance.
"Ba Sing Se. A different road then the one you took last time right?" Azzazle said, looking at her.
She ignored him, her mind adrift in the past.
"Jian said the Dai Li had a secret headquarters just over this side of the wall under a lake. He believes there might still be some passages into the city on this side of the wall, used for smuggling back in the day and all that," Azzazle said staring at the giant wall in the distance.
Kahchi suddenly spoke up.
"There must be 10 or more checkpoints between here and that wall. How are we gunna sneak the entire team close enough to get to the passages?"
Jian had silently joined his side.
"And there's no guarantee that the passages are still there and intact. Some of the other Dai Li agents may have already spoken up about them, if so, we're screwed."
They all shot each other worrying glances, but a unanimous and silent understanding spoke all. They were going ahead, for better, or for worst.

Sorry that took so long gang. I've been flat stick with work lately, and no, I haven't given up on this fanfiction, so I'll try and spit some more chapters out over the next few weeks, thinking about 12 in all now. Should be fun.