Chapter 10

The young man was dangerously upset. Katara could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. Upon a second look, steam was coming out of his ears.

The trio trudged thru the dark tunnels that were beneath the Hidden Temple as quickly as they could.

"Smellerbee, where do these tunnels lead?" asked Katara as she felt along the walls. It was incredibly dark and damp in the enclosed space.

Smellerbee sighed loudly before answering, "To the Fire Nation. More specifically, just outside of Master Piandiao's estate".

Smellerbee coughed gruffily and kicked a few rocks out of frustration, her wild, frizzy hair going every which-way.

"Back to where we started?" Zuko growled loudly. Running around in circles in an effort to locate his mother was becoming an increasingly unattainable task.

"Calm down, Fire Lord," spoke Smellerbee, "She wants you to find her".

"I'm not so sure," Zuko mumbled.

There was silence for a good ten minutes amongst the trio as they walked through the tunnel in a steadfast fashion.

"How long is it going to take before we exit?" questioned Katara. She was annoyed by the silence and forlorn attitudes of her companions.

"Ten minutes perhaps. Once you reach the exit, go back to the palace. Give it a while before you contact Bumi. Do not make mention of any of the events that occurred with your council. We fear the threat of corruption. I'm turning back now. Keep walking. There'll be foliage to mark the end . Good luck," Smellerbee spoke quietly.

Katara noted the tired tone of fear in the young woman's voice as she stopped walking. She whispered words of thanks to her before continuing on. There was no need to convince her to join them. She wouldn't. She knew her purpose in life, and she wasn't going to desert it.

Within ten minutes, sure enough the couple had made it out of the tunnel into the fresh clear air of the Fire Nation.

"Zuko, I know how upset you are but it's going to do us no good," Katara spoke up. She watched as he readjusted the bushes to be sure that the tunnel was well hid. He was silent for a few more seconds.

"Do you?"

"Must we go over this again? Your people killed my mother. I most certainly know how it is to not have a mother," Katara stated. Her voice was hard, cold. She wasn't mad at him because, as she said, she knew how he felt, but…his self-pity was wearing on her.

"Sorry…this is all just really stressful. I don't know how much more I can take."

Katara watched sadly as Zuko trudged forward, no doubt eager to just get back to the Fire Nation.

"My father is locked up without his bending. Azula is…mad and also without bending. To strip bending from a person who has had it as a sixth sense since they were born is to fracture the soul. I can't help but feel a bit…of guilt from that… and… my…my mother did not make it easy for me to find her."

He had been a boy, just as young as she had been, when he'd lost his mother. She knew the pain. She knew it all but too well but to have the knowledge that his mother was alive and nowhere close to being within his grasp, had to be heartbreaking for him.

The Fire Lord reached out his hand for her to grab onto as they started their small journey back to the palace. Katara willingly accepted his hand for she was sure that she would never be able to leave the man now.

Sokka stared across the vast table covered in many different types of foods and sweets. His men were all seated as well while the last airbender flitted about the rom. Momo, whom Sokka had not seen in ages, and had missed greatly, was the one who took the initiative and dove into a plate that overflowed with fruit.

Sokka grinned before diving in himself.

"You haven't changed one bit!" exclaimed the substitute Fire Lord.

Sokka managed a grin with a mouthful of salted seal and sweet bread. He chewed a bit and swallowed the barely chewed food which caused a choking spasm. His men watched on as he beat upon his chest for a few seconds and gulped down water.

Once he was calm and could breathe freely again, everyone burst into laughter.

"I could've died!"

"I would have had Momo save you," Aang remarked, happily.

All morning, since he and the most trustworthy of the Sword Squad had arrived, Sokka had been briefing Aang on the specifics of their presence in the Fire Nation. The knowledge didn't particularly alarm the airbender but it did cause him to assign more guards and more guarding shifts around the perimeter of the palace walls.

He even doubled the security around the entirety of the Fire Nation. It was dinner time now, and Sokka had finally gotten a chance to momentarily unwind although every little movement throughout the day had made him twitch.

His instincts told him that they were being watched, and he trusted those instincts with every fiber of his being. A thought struck him suddenly as he bit into a flaky pastry filled with hot flakes and fish. Aang hadn't yet told him why Zuko was away.

"You said that Zuko was away on business?"

"Yes, well not exactly business. Well, it's his business. He's searching for his mother."

The group of soldiers that had been chatting carelessly silenced their speech to listen. Every soldier in the Sword Squad knew that the Fire Lord was hell bent on finding his mother. Zuko had sent quite a few notices to Sokka over the years, requesting the aid of a few of his soldiers to scout for his mother. Of course, this yielded no positive results.

"He's actually searching for her himself now?" Aang nodded before speaking, "You wouldn't in a million years guess who he's got searching with him."

"Katara," Sokka answered with no hesitation. He knew that the best person to have with Zuko was his sister. He remembered the experience long ago with the man who had murdered their mother. He had never known how bitter Katara was over it all until she had enlisted the help of the recently excommunicated prince to find the man and kill him.

He knew though, that she could never do it, no matter how angry she was, and she didn't. And now, she was helping Zuko and Sokka wasw well aware that she wasn't just helping the Fire Lord because she owed him.

No, he had noticed the way that they looked at one another when the other wasn't looking. Even when Katara had claimed to despise Zuko because he represented the entirety of the Fire Nation in her eyes, Sokka had seen the emotional conflict behind her gaze.

He knew love. Sokka knew love well enough to know that the woman he was in love with was betraying him and all that he stood for.

"You're no fun," spoke up Aang with a crooked grin.

Sokka smiled with hopes that he was disguising the fact that the gears in his mind continued to turn. He needed to figure out what he was going to do with the rebel forces in the Fire Nation.

Hours later, Sokka found himself walking around the palace with no destination in mind. When Zuko had renovated the Fire Nation palace, he took Sokka's advice and changed the layout in minor ways so that the security was reinforced.

During his wandering, Sokka noticed that he had ended up in the west wing of the palace. A deserted wing. According to the blueprints that he had carefully and meticulously gone over, the west wing was comprised of servant quarters and the old bedroom of the former princess.

Everything in her room was coated in a thick layer of dust as if time had stood still in Azula's absence. Sokka looked around the room before he realized that there were boot prints all over the room. Each set had a different level of dust covering it. It looked as if the room's visitor had been pacing quite frequently over the years, something that the warrior was well-accustomed to doing himself.

He knew from the size of the boot prints that it was the same person and he knew who they belonged to. Zuko.

Of course his sister was misguided and evoked certain psychopathic tendencies but she was still the Fire Lord's sister. He was raised with her and couldn't help loving her. Sokka walked around the room and noted the few make up jars that rested atop the form princess's vanity.

Dust laden, dead flowers sat in a vase beside these jars and the grand, elaborately decorated mirror atop the vanity was so coated in grime that Sokka couldn't even see his own reflection.

He glanced around the rest of the room surprised at how feminine everything seemed. The beautiful face of Azula appeared in his mind's eye, and the gears in his head stopped spinning. He knew what he needed to do.

A/N:

FINALLY, I'm sure you're all saying. Please excuse the roughness of this chapter. My literature class this semester inspired me to bring out my pencil once more. Thanks! Please enjoy and leave me your thoughts.