Katara did not know what it was but whenever she was upset, water made her feel better. Maybe it was being a Water Bender, maybe it was growing up by the water, maybe it was both. For whatever reason her tumultuous heart had taken her to the turtle duck pond vacated hours earlier by the now exhausted Toph and Zuko. The ducks had gone to sleep, nestled in the warmth of each other. Katara looked at them and felt her eyes instantly fill.

Just because I'm not in love with you doesn't mean I don't care about you!

Katara covered her mouth as she felt a whimper beg to be released. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why couldn't she just love Aang? Why couldn't they all just get along like they used too? It wasn't fair that they could defeat dictators and emperors and in the end they were defeated by themselves. By their responsibilities, by the world they had given so much to save. Even to someone like her who had long ago learned what a cruel place the world could be, it seemed unusually cruel what happened to them. They were children who never really got the chance to grow up. Gran Gran had told her a long time ago that throughout their lives they gave parts away and when there was nothing left, they died. From the ache in her heart Katara wondered if she wasn't destined for an early grave.

"Katara?"

Katara's eyes widened as she jumped up, turning sharply. Standing there was Zuko. He was covered in dust and sweat from the impromptu duel, the dirtiness almost comical since underneath he wore a long silk robe, his formerly black hair pulled back in a simple ponytail at the base of his skull. He would have looked elegant but human, a King without his crown for the night. At the moment he simply looked like a Bender who got his ass handed to him by a short Earth Bender. Despite her sadness Katara felt the irrational urge to laugh at the sight of the dusty Fire Lord.

"Laugh it up," he said with a wave of his hand, "my pride went to bed hours ago."

"I see Toph's Bending has made an excellent recovery," she said.

"That's Toph for you," he said, "I loose my Bending and I have to go find Dragons, she doesn't Bend for years and the next instant she's kicking my ass."

"Well its not like thats very hard to do," Katara said, her lips curving into a smile as Zuko's eyes widened at her teasing before he too smiled, "what?" Katara asked, half expecting a retort.

"Nothing," he said, "its just--everyone treats me formally now. I forgot what it was like to be with people who--" he considered his words, "who don't."

"Well Toph and I are always happy to oblige," she said, "though I think we should probably save our duel for when you're a bit less tired."

"Yes," he agreed, "when I haven't had my ass handed to me by an overzealous Earth Bender, I'll fight you," Katara smiled, "so how's the Fire Nation suiting you?"

"Its much warmer here than the South Pole," she said, after a moment she sat on the grass. Zuko joined her, "I don't think I've worn one layer of clothing in years.," she said picking at the silk covering her arm.

"Well don't get used to it," he advised, "in a couple days you'll be wearing yards of it," she made a face and he laughed, "maybe I should have held off with Toph, I don't know if I'll be able to convince her to wear shoes again."

"I have absolute faith in your ability to convince our favorite Earth Bender to don shoes again."

The two lapsed into silence, but it was a comfortable one. In front of them the turtle ducks slept. Above them an exhausted Toph collapsed onto bed, covered in dust and sweat without even considering showering. Even in sleep her grin didn't slip off her face.

Elsewhere in the palace a sleepless Sokka was exploring. He had woken when Toph threw a particularly massive chunk of earth at Zuko. He was glad for his friend regaining her ability to Bend. The only thing weirder than Girl-Toph was Girl-Toph who refused to Bend. Even if he was especially good at getting beaten up by girls it was late and he was tired and the idea of getting pummeled by earth was not one he relished at the moment.

So he was walking around the palace.

It was late and he had full access, even if he was dressed more like a peasant than anything else. His toes wiggled in the plush carpet as he walked down the hallway, no particular destination in mind. Knowing his luck he was going to get lost and have to find his way back.

"Hmm," he paused in front of a row of narrow doors, "lets see what's behind door number three."

Sokka peered into a darkened room. Though clean he had the distinct impression that no-one had been in it for some time. In the center of the room was a rather magnificent four poster bed, made with silks done with the reds and golds of the Fire Nation. There was a night stand next to the bed as well. Sokka frowned and stepped fully into the room. Nearby was a mirror, vanity, two wardrobes and a chest of drawers. On the other side of the room was a desk. Everything was the same sort of impeccable clean, as though someone had tried to get rid of any trace of whoever had inhabited the room.

Walking over to the vanity he lifted the lid of a box. Inside were pigments for a woman's face, expensive perfumes and brushes for application. Sokka picked one up. It was thick and full, no hair out of place. Clearly it had never been used. In fact, as he examined the contents of the box, none of them had been used except for a single pigment for the eyes and one for the lips. Those who had been used sparingly if that. He realized that despite their disuse, the pigments were all opened and all were old enough for the few liquid ones to have dried out.

Moving on Sokka opened the wardrobe. Inside was piles of silk, expensive silk in a dizzying rainbow of reds, golds and scarlets. None looked as though they had been worn at all. Now he was intrigued by this woman who obviously had no desire to be feminine. Closing the wardrobe he turned to the drawers and found more of the same. Expensive, feminine clothing that had seen little to no use. Well as intriguing as the idea was he highly doubted the owner of this room had run around naked. He turned to the second wardrobe and stopped cold. Inside was a well worn suite of battle armor, familiar battle armor that had been cleaned with the same sort of ferocity. Now it made sense.

He was in Azula's room.

Part of him screamed to run but Sokka was going to rescue her. Frankly if he only went to rescue someone he knew as Zuko's homicidal little sister, he wasn't going to be that inspired. Something held him there in that room. Gently he pushed the armor aside. The wardrobe also held a few other changes of cloths, all masculine clothing cut for a female body. The bottom was a tangle of shoes and boots, all the soles were well worn, holding together only because of their craftsmanship. Sokka felt his lips tug into a smile. The Kyoshi Warriors joked that they always had a shoe-crisis because of the wear and tear of their fighting.

The door behind him opened softly. Sokka turned around but it was only Ty Lee. Her eyes widened when she saw him standing there.

"Sorry," he found himself saying, "I just--I was wandering around and I found this room and I was looking around--"

"Its okay," she cut him off, her voice unusually somber, "its not like she's here to be upset," she said looking around the room.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Ty Lee shook her head, "must be kind of weird huh?" she gave him a questioning look, "being back here," he elaborated, "I can't even imagine what its gonna be like to go back to the Southern Water Tribe."

"I never really lived here," Ty Lee said looking around the palace, "and even when I lived in the Fire Nation, my head was always in the clouds," she smiled faintly, "I did have sleepovers here before--" she trailed off sadly before perking up, "but Azula and I, we'd stay up so late. We'd just laugh about everything and try on all those silk things that were made for her," she laughed, "there was this one pink one she gave to me. She hated pink. I loved it."

"Azula gave you something? No fighting for it?" Sokka demanded incredulously.

"Nope," Ty Lee said, "Azula used to be," she struggled to find the word, "she used to be different."

"But nice?"

"Oh she was never nice," Ty Lee said, "and she never liked being a girl but she used to be different. She used to make me laugh," she smiled, "she did the best impressions of her father's advisor and the seamstress who made her dresses," Ty Lee smiled faintly at the memory, "when we were little she'd protect me from the bullies too, before I learned to block."

"What happened?" Sokka asked.

"I'm not sure," Ty Lee said, her voice unusually serious, "Azula was always so independent and so strong. The Fire Lord saw it and he, he decided that she'd be the heir not Zuko. She was already strong but she trained so much harder after that. Especially after her mom spent so much time with Zuko. I think Azula thought he was her mom's favorite and if she was the best at Bending, she'd be her father's favorite," she sighed, "the girl-thing didn't help."

"Girl-thing?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh," Ty Lee nodded, "girls are--they're treated a bit differently here," she looked up at his confused face, "well think about it! How many Fire Benders who are girls do you know?" Sokka frowned, "not many right?"

"Actually I don't think I know any," he said.

"Female Fire Benders are rare. Benders with blue flames happen even less. Ozai had so many hopes for Zuko and even if she fulfilled every single one, Azula was still a girl. That was always a problem for him. Even if she had become Fire Lord she'd still have had to have children and do other, uh, girl stuff. He'd always thought that he could have Zuko as his heir and Azula would be married off for some kind of alliance. But she was the stronger one and Ozai didn't like that. But it wasn't like Azula could help what she was. But it was always a disappointment to Ozai."

Unwillingly Sokka felt his stomach churn. Even when he left his father had been nothing but a loving parent. His mother, when he had known her, had been the same way. The idea of not having parents who loved him unconditionally, it was not one that Sokka could even begin to imagine. To Azula's eyes her brother had changed sides as well. That must have been even more horrible, loosing a sibling. Even separated he knew Katara loved him and he loved her. He couldn't fathom what it must have been like to be so alone in the world.

He watched as Ty Lee walked over to the dresser and tugged open a drawer of silks, ruffling through it for a moment before withdrawing an old portrait. It looked like it was a part of a page torn out of a sketchbook, the edges were ragged but the charcoal had obviously been set to not smear. Sokka glanced over. Azula didn't seem like the sentimental type and given that the paper had been alternately crumpled and smoothed, he had a feeling she had struggled not to throw it out sometimes. With a fine artists hand, someone had sketched a much younger Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. It was obviously done before Fire Benders, crazy fathers and sacrificial mothers.

On it was an image of a young Prince Zuko, sitting on his lap looking at him with all the trust in the world was a much younger Princess Azula. It took Zuko a moment to figure out what they were doing but given the chunk of bred in the Princess's hands, he realized that Zuko was teaching his sister how to feed the Turtle Ducks.