Bored as he always was, Lee, the ticket taker at the theater where the Ember Island Players regularly performed, failed to notice anything suspicious about any of the guests at the theater house, despite the fact that he had been warned by his superiors to expect a possible attempt of the Fire Lady's life. Perhaps it was the fact that Lee was 16 years old and had been collecting tickets for three months now, despite the promotion he had been promised for keeping a cheery and upbeat attitude when dealing with the theater-goers. He was trying too hard to be upbeat and cheery despite the dullness of the job and, most of the time, stupidity of the customers. So when an odd couple walked up, who were in fact just the people he'd been warned about, he suspected nothing.

The man walked in a shuffling manner, his back stooped. He had a scruffy, unkempt beard and strong features that seemed to be hiding behind a pair of spectacles. His brown hair was pulled up in the traditional Fire Nation hairstyle and his shoulders were rather broad. Lee pegged him as a grizzled war vet, although he looked rather young: perhaps he had been grievously wounded early in a battle against Earthbenders, breaking his back, and had been sent home. Lee had enough time to dream up a scenario of himself bravely fighting off Earthbenders and saving a beautiful fire nation woman before the man was able to waddle over to the ticket counter. The woman, clutching his hand, had to be his wife; she stood taller than he, and she was quite pretty, in a businesslike way. Her hair was drawn back in a tight bun, which seemed to pull her skin taught over her face, causing her to appear stern and serious. Judging by her large girth around the middle that was matched in no place else on her body, she appeared to be very pregnant; her pregnancy caused her, like her husband, to walk rather slowly. Lee smiled in what he believed was a cheery and upbeat way at them while he inwardly burned with impatience as they both slowly made their way to the ticket counter.

The man made a great show of digging around in his various pockets for the tickets. Lee's false smile stretched very wide as he waited. Finally the woman snapped her fingers and reached into her blouse and pulled out the two tickets. At this point Lee's smile was so wide that it seemed wider than his actual face area, so that it was stretching out into the air on each side of his face. He took the tickets and stamped them incredibly quickly.

"Box three," Lee said, "very nice seats. Take that door at the end of the corridor." He pointed to the door which led to the staircase up to box three. "Enjoy the show, Mr. and Mrs…

"Fire," said the man in a somewhat watery voice, "Wang Fire. And this is my wife, Sapphire."

"Sapphire Fire, yes, nice to meet you," said the woman in a high pitched voice. Then they waddled off. Lee breathed a sigh of relief that they had gone, and went back to daydreaming about fighting off Earthbenders.

As soon as the door to the stairway closed behind them, Sokka straightened up. He turned to see Suki wracked with silent laughter. Grinning cheekily, he said, "did you like my performance?"

Suki nodded her head, giggling like a schoolgirl. After she regained her breath, she spoke.

"Not laughing at the way you were hobbling along was harder than fighting off a horde of Firebenders." She smiled and punched him affectionately in the arm. "You know, it surprises me that those false identities work so well. How'd you dream those up?"

"It was a long time ago… with…" he swallowed, the memory of the moment momentarily overwhelming him; playing the father of Aang during a parent-teacher conference, a hopelessly silly occasion. It brought back a whole slew of connected memories, happy memories, that he knew would never happen again. He tried to push them out of his mind; he was done mourning, it was time for action. "With the whole gang. Er, minus Zuko, of course."
Suki realized she had made him uncomfortable and changed the subject.

"Well, when I snagged these tickets from that guy I didn't realize they were quite so good, huh? A private box, all to ourselves." She winked at him. He perked up immediately.

"Well," he murmured "I wouldn't mind getting out of these itchy clothes. You brought the ninja suits?"

"yep," she said, patting her greatly enlarged stomach, "right here. It wouldn't do for us to assassinate Azula in common street clothes. It's gotta be black and stealthy, huh?"

"Plus masks," he stated, ignoring her somewhat sarcastic remark. "I don't want her guards, or her worship herself for that matter, to see our faces."

Suki was in the act of rolling her eyes and voicing a further retort when he kissed her passionately but briefly on her lips, winked roguishly, and bounded up the stairs to the box. She completed the action of rolling her eyes, but bit back the retort and followed him up. Upon reaching the top, Sokka, already naked, seized her and quickly but quietly removed her clothing. They sank to the bottom of the box, knowing full well that this might be the very last time they would be able to enjoy each other's presence. After all, Azula had proved herself extremely hard to defeat in the past.

Sokka and Suki spent the first act of the play primarily having sex in their private box. They watched bits and pieces of the play between long moments of passionate lovemaking, and were somewhat confused by the performance.

It portrayed Azula as an unprivileged young girl who always played second fiddle to her brother, Zuko, who always seemed to be beating up on her. Her mother, painted as a beautiful but cold and harsh woman, always sided with Zuko and was very unfair to the "innocent" young Azula. Her father, on the other hand, was very kind and understanding to her. Sokka, looking up for a moment, beheld a scene in which a child Zuko cruelly snatched an ornate knife which had been a gift to Azula from her uncle. He was rather confused; from what little he had gleaned from Zuko about his childhood, Azula had been the bully.

"It's like their positions are reversed," he commented, watching for a moment before Suki pulled him back on top of her.

Also portrayed somewhat incorrectly was Azula's friendships with Mai and Ty Lee. Sokka, never having known either of them very well, was confused; however, swapping manly stories with Zuko so long ago had brought him to the conclusion that at least Mai was not as bad as she looked. He did have her help in their escape from boiling 

rock as proof of this, risking her life for theirs, although Sokka suspected this was simply because Zuko had been there. From his mostly one-sided encounters with Ty Lee, Sokka had also determined that the girl was only really fighting against him because Azula scared her more than he did. To back this up, Suki had revealed that while being held captive by Azula and her compatriots shortly before being transferred to the Boiling Rock, Ty Lee had been quite nice to her; she tended to the welfare of the Kyoshi warriors while Azula abused them somewhat and Mai acted indifferent.

"I think she was a lesbian," said Suki.

Sokka looked up from between her legs and replied, "Nah, she was flirting with me way to much for her to be a lesbo."

"Fine then, she was bisexual. She got much too friendly with some of the other Kyoshi warriors, if I remember." She then went back to moaning passionately.

Like Zuko and Azula's relationship in the play, Azula's association with her two friends seemed the other way around. Instead of Azula enforcing their friendship, it was Mai and Ty Lee who seemed to be bullying her to hang around with them. It was hinted they were jealous of Azula and her prowess at firebending, which was highlighted to the nth degree, and also took advantage of the fact that she was a princess and therefore enormously privileged. Sokka realized that the characters were discredited to make their later betrayals much more fitting and expected.

The first act ended with Zuko's agni-kai against his father. In the play version, Zuko had brashly challenged the Fire Lord to a fire duel over a matter of tactics, who in turn was forced to scar and exile him, seemingly to his great lament. The curtain closed with Azula watching her brother in defeat with pity.

Sokka and Suki, both panting with exhaustion, but very much satisfied, pulled themselves upright and clothed themselves for the near impossible task they were soon to undertake.

"It's simple and straightforward," Sokka began for what seemed like the fiftieth time, "at the end of the second act, before the start of the third, we make our way stealthily to her box. You eliminate the guard presence and I'll engage her with the magma sword. If it works on her like it's worked with other firebenders, it'll just suck up her flames and render her temporarily powerless. Then I'll finish her off and we can get out of there. Easy."

"Sokka, with all due respect for your skill with that blade-" Sokka flexed his left bicep with a smug on his face- "you've never fought her before, and I have. She's bound to have tricks up her sleeve. I say give me the magma sword and you can use my katana to take out the guards, and back me up if I need it. No, don't give me that 'I won't let you die for my mistake' or 'I won't have your death on my conscience' bullshit, Sokka, this is as much my fight as it is yours."

Sokka, who had opened his mouth to say something along those lines, sighed and decided to tell her the real reason he didn't want her taking on Azula.

"Suki…" he started, "there's no point hiding it any longer. I know that you're… er…" he smiled sheepishly. "pregnant."

She opened her mouth in shock.

"but… I never told you, or anyone, anything! How did you-"

"I've had my suspicions. I'm not too stupid, you know," he said with a wry grin, "don't think I didn't notice you sneaking off to throw up in the mornings in the past month and a half."

They sighed in unison, something they'd come to perfect in the long years that they had spent in the fire nation.

"You're carrying the child of the last surviving member of the Southern Water Tribe, Suki: my child." he stated seriously, "please don't over exert yourself and endanger its life."

"Oh, and fighting Fire Nation royal guards isn't endangering the child?" she said fiercely. Sokka looked downwards for a moment, letting out a frustrated breath. When his head came back up his eyes gleamed with fury, not directed at her, but at his target.

"Azula will be the mightiest foe I've ever fought. This weapon-" he drew the sword from its sheathe on his back and held it in front of him- "is the only way I can even things out. I've trained with it for all these years, Piandao died to ensure that I got it. It's got to be me, Suki, and while I don't doubt your prowess, the only hope of rebuilding the southern water tribe rests in the baby you are carrying in your body. Please let me do this."

Her eyes began to mist up but she met his fierce gaze. "Fine. You are… right, Sokka. I'll do all I can to get you a chance with Azula alone." Before he spoke, she added, "for the child. Not for you or me."

He nodded his understanding. "I'm sorry, Suki, we wouldn't be in this mess if I had tried to… control myself…" he smiled wryly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was all your fault," she replied huskily. "maybe if you weren't so irresistibly handsome, Mr. sleeveless guy." She leaned in close to him. Sokka leaned in also, but before their lips met she pushed him backwards off the bench and giggled.

"Not during this act, Sokka, I want to see how they portray you guys! I wonder if I get a bigger part this time."

Sokka laughed and clambered up onto the bench, putting his arm around her as she leaned on him. Together they watched the curtain open.

The second act began with Azula talking to her father, resplendent on his flaming throne. The director had gone all out this time, hiring real firebenders to make the fire more realistic.

"Your brother has failed to capture the Avatar in these past three years, my daughter. My patience is wearing thin with him. We all know who in the family is the more suitable for this task."

Azula's actor bowed low at these words.

"Zuko will not take this well, I am afraid; you and I know him. As much as I regret this, you must do anything in your power to ensure that he does not get in the way. The same applies for your uncle. Please bring them to me. Only then will I allow you to hunt the Avatar."

The fourteen year old Azula, much more beautiful and reserved than the actor in the first act, bowed once again and turned to leave. The next scene was a portrayal of the battle between Azula and Zuko and Iroh. It was relatively true to the actual event, with Zuko getting beaten around easily, saved only at the last minute by Iroh, who was perceived as a muscular, short, grizzled old man. Sokka began to nod off at this point.

The next few moments were spent recounting the recruiting of Mai and Ty Lee; somewhat boring and uneventful to Sokka and Suki. Sokka, snoring loudly, was awakened by Suki shaking him roughly.

"look!" she whispered.

The play had arrived at Azula's first encounter with Team Avatar in Omashu. Each member seemed to be portrayed much more tough and threatening than in real life; instead of the actress playing Aang in the last play, a much older and stronger man filled his shoes. Likewise, Sokka's actor was tall and wiry, with fearsome "authentic" water tribe weapons. Clearly the "weapons" were designed to rely purely on the fact that they looked terrifying; the sheer number or spikes, blades, and other protruding pointy instruments of pain on them would make them impossible to actually wield. Katara's actor was a beautiful and voluptuous but tough young woman in a surprisingly revealing outfit; plainly her role had been delegated to that of the "bad" girl. Sokka was left speechless. He turned to Suki, a similar look on her face.

"That's ridiculous! What am I wielding, a Boar-q-pine??"

"Look at Katara! I never remember her being that…buxom."

"What happened to the smiling, cheerful girl-Aang from the last play?! That guy looks like more like Zuko without hair. And the scar."

The fight was well choreographed, however; the two quieted down in order to watch the battle. Azula and her colleagues had nearly won when Bumi arrived, not even imprisoned, although he was captured while the actors playing Sokka, Aang and Katara escaped.

"Where is Bumi now?" Suki wondered aloud.

"Last I heard, he was heading the resistance movement in Ba Sing Se. The city's become a war zone."

From that point on the play went rapidly downhill. Toph was introduced soon after; her actor was the exact same one who had played her in the previous production, a buff guy. Sokka and Suki both shared a laugh at this, fondly remembering Toph and her unique mannerisms. They quieted themselves when they remembered what had happened to her, however.

The rest of act two seemed to fly by. The drill was included, as was, to Suki's disdain, the defeat of the Kyoshi Warriors; Azula's takeover of Ba Sing Se came soon after, followed by Zuko's redemption and Iroh's capture. Snuck in between major events was Azula and her friend's trip to Ember Island. The Invasion was then chronicled, a spectacular defeat for the enemies of Fire Nation that had most people cheering. However, it was a reminder of Sokka's failure, and during the scene he held his head in shame, while Suki whispered encouraging things in his hear as she held him close. He brightened at the next scene, the escape from the Boiling Rock; Suki winked roguishly at him and said, "I think I aught to thank you once again for getting me out of that place," and kissed him passionately. However, Sokka broke off the kiss when it came time for Azula's duel with Zuko.

"I've always wondered what really happened to Zuko and Katara," he explained somewhat grimly when he abruptly canceled the match of tonsil hockey they'd just been engaged in.

The duel began, one on one. Azula began to falter (there was no sign of the momentary madness she had actually experienced) and Zuko gained the upper hand. 

However, Azula soon grasped it back. Katara stepped in, however, when Zuko began to lose, and the battle became even more ferocious. The crowd stood on the edge of their seats as the fight raged; like the other battle sequences, it was spectacularly played out, with actual flame, water and ice. Finally, in one move, Azula finished them both off, and they crumpled to the ground. The crowd cheered as the curtained closed. Once again, Sokka found himself incapable of speech.

"That can't have been how it ended," Suki said slowly. "Two fighters like Zuko and Katara? Even against Azula. I refuse to believe it. She must have had help."

Sokka shook his head and spoke in a low and determined voice. "It doesn't matter now. That was a long time ago. Let's finish what they started now."

With those words he got pulled on his black mask, squared his shoulders and marched out of the box. Suki took a deep breath and followed.

For a warrior possessing stealth like that of Suki, dispatching guards without a sound was an easy feat. The theater was dark, as the third and final act had just begun, and the carpet floors helped muffle the thunk of unconscious bodies hitting the ground. In less than two minutes, six guards lay incapacitated; four in the corridor which led to the Azula's private box, and two on the stairs. The ones on the stairs had been more of a challenge; Suki had needed to keep the bodies from falling down and making noise. But it was hardly beyond her capabilities. Sokka, who had been sticking to the shadows, helped her carry them down without a sound. Then he turned to her, nodded, drew his sword, and entered the door to the private box.

Almost immediately two guards launched fireballs at him as he entered. The Magma Sword simply sucked them up like a vacuum cleaner. The guards hesitated, awed. Their pause cost them. Sokka, gritting his teeth at the necessary killing he oh so hated, impaled one of the men. The other rushed him, having figured out that the sword canceled out firebending; hoping to catch him weaponless before he could extract the blade. This was not so, as Sokka reached behind him and drew his war club from its place on his back and swung it downwards upon the unsuspecting man's head, simultaneously pulling his sword from the other guard's convulsing body. The lunging guard fell to the floor, his helmet sparing his life but not his consciousness. Club in right hand, sword in the other, Sokka swept aside the veil that separated him from the woman responsible for the current state of the world.

Azula was standing, facing him as he entered, with a cold smile upon her face. She was immensely beautiful, but Sokka felt nothing but repulsion.

"Enjoying the show?" she asked cordially. Sokka's grip on his blade tightened. He took a step closer.

"What a disastrous assassination attempt. Why, you're not even a bender. What makes you think you can defeat the most accomplished firebender in the world in one on one combat?"

Sokka dropped the club, took his sword in both hands, and coiled his legs for a mighty leap.

"This," he whispered. Then he jumped at her.

If he had been wielding any other blade, he would have been toast then and there, but her mighty blue fire blast was sucked up by the unquenchable thirst for fire of the weapon. But she was extremely quick to realize this; she dodged his initial swipe with a 

duck to the right. But he anticipated the dodge; after all, she was the Fire Lady; instead of bringing the sword back to the left, he completed the turn and lashed out with his foot, catching her right in the chest. Azula was sent sprawling backwards winded, crashing into her lavish bench and overturning it. Sokka was upon her in a second, blade poised to end her life with one strike. Her gaze up at him was one of scorn. He did not need to steel himself; this was one death that was absolutely necessary. The future of the world was bleak indeed if Azula remained living. And yet, Sokka could not do it. He physically could not plunge his sword into her heart.

This was due to the fact that a severed stone hand was holding his wrist, keeping it from moving.

Sokka realized what was happening immediately. But there was nothing he could do to stop the onslaught of the three Dai Li warriors who had seemingly erupted from nowhere. With one solid stone punch to the stomach Sokka went sprawling to the back of the private box, the breath knocked from his body. Upon him in a heartbeat were the Dai Li, shooting their stone hands at him, ensnaring his arms at the wrist to the wall and his ankles to the floor.

Azula laughed heartily. Her actor, although similar in appearance, could not quite match her ability to be absolutely terrifying and intimidating. Sokka said nothing.

"Enjoying the show?"

Sokka said nothing.

"I must admit, you came very close. Closer than anyone in a long time," she began with a smirk, "but you never had a chance from the beginning. Did it ever occur to you that this might have been a trap to flush out my enemies in the Fire nation?"

Sokka remained silent.

"Hmm. Well, you had this-" she gestured to the magma sword at his side- "which certainly gave you an advantage. And you took care of my guards with ease. Therefore I believe that you considered this and decided to press on anyways. I applaud your efforts… Now if you don't mind, I'd like to know who my would-be assassin is…"

She grasped his mask and yanked if off. Sokka remained silent, simply glaring at her with all the defiance of a cornered lion.

But something seemed to come over Azula in that moment; she took a step back, her expression one of disbelief and anger. Her eyes glinted with something resembling fear and her eyelids twitched; Sokka suddenly realized what Iroh had said all those years ago about Azula being mentally unstable was still true.

"NO! I k-killed you! Three years ago! I shot you full of lightning! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

She shrunk back; her air of intimidation seemed to be sucked away, replaced by one of a confused and terrified child. But why?

Then Sokka understood. With his shoulder length hair, pulled out of its topknot when the mask had been yanked from his head, as well as his beard and adult physique, he must resemble his father. His father, who had been slain three years previous by the very person standing over him with fear in her eyes…

Sokka and Suki had arrived at the southern water tribe too late; the Fire Nation invasion force, twenty ships and three thousand men, complete with war machines and 

weapons galore, had already begun to decimate the tribe. Sokka and Suki, sprawled out on a neighboring snow bank some half mile away with an injured Appa nearby, could do nothing but watch in horror. Immediately spotted by the rear guard, the duo on the bison had been set upon by a staggering amount of fireballs. Appa caught a glancing blow from one on his tail, causing him to temporarily stop flying and spiral into the snow. Luckily they had been swooping low to avoid the fire, and had not fallen far enough to be seriously hurt, but the impact had been jarring and painful. Struggling upright, Sokka stumbled over towards the tribe.

It became apparent immediately that no prisoners would be taken this day. The fire nation tactics did not indicate a simple raid; they formed up, firebenders shooting projectiles from the rear while swordsmen cut a swathe through the brave water tribe defenders. Incredibly, the water tribe was managing to kill the fire nation troops at a ration of one to one, but the sheer numbers of the fire nation would soon overwhelm them. Of all the water tribe warriors, however, one shone the brightest. Hakoda of the water tribe, with his mace in one hand and spear in the other, cut down fire nation troop after troop, dodging fireballs and sword thrusts simultaneously with ease, all while singing a water tribe battle chant. Following him were his loyal warriors, motivated by the way the fire nation troops in their path seemed to wilt like frail daisies, arranged in a V- formation with Hakoda at its head. Complementing Hakoda's warriors and their unparalleled fighting ability was none other than Master Pakku, leading a contingent of northern water tribe waterbenders in the fray. Upending icebergs and launching barrages of gigantic waves against the fire nation soldiers, Pakku's benders were an unstoppable force. The incredible deadliness of their combined onslaught inspired hope in the sorely outnumbered water tribe, and they began to push back the oncoming fire nation troops.

Until she appeared.

Suki, standing beside Sokka, gasped and pointed towards the largest ship in the fleet, the flagship. On the observation deck atop the tower stood the Fire Lady herself. Azula's cloak billowed out behind her and the sky around her seemed to redden as if she was the source of all the firebending power on the earth. Absorbing all the carnage below her, she seemed to stiffen and breathe inward. Then, making circular motions with her hands, she struck. From her fingertips sprung a blue lightning bolt, which zigzagged downwards and struck the chest of Hakoda. For a moment the battle seemed to halt. Combatants on both sides turned to watch as the brave man was struck right through his chest. The bolt passed all the way through his body and was absorbed into the snow beneath him.

Sokka stared in disbelief. Suddenly, he couldn't hear, he couldn't see, anything other than the brave man still standing among raging battle. He did not see the other bolts of lightning rain down on the water tribe; he did not see Pakku, his step grandfather, be struck in the stomach. He did not hear Bato's cry of retreat; he did not hear or feel Suki as she launched herself at him, begging him to get down or they would be noticed. His eyes rested only on the standing figure of his father.

Gracefully, serenely, Hakoda's body arced backwards onto the blood soaked, melting snow.

All was not lost, however. As Sokka and Suki would find out later, about a third of the tribe had survived; they had entered into an underground ice cavern through trap 

doors in which submarines similar to the ones used in the invasion lay waiting; in them, the remaining water tribe men and women fled to rejoin their brethren in the north. But Azula had effectively accomplished her mission nonetheless; the Southern Water Tribe was no more.

Sokka descended among the bodies after the invasion force had left some four hours later, Suki following close behind. When he reached his father's dead body, he kneeled down and clasped his father's hand in his own and murmured softly. Suki looked on with an air of concern and sadness. When Sokka was done talking, he touched his forehead to Hakoda's and picked up his father's war club, placing his own beside the body with its handle sticking up. Then he walked over to Suki and fell into her arms.

Sokka was jerked back into the present when Azula shook her head in disbelief and suddenly wised up to his true identity. She immediately regained her composure and stalked forward.

"No…" she began. "You are… Sokka. You are that man's son. Did you know that you look remarkably like him?" her voice grew stronger and more confident with each word.

"Do you know what this means?" Azula asked, positively gleeful now. "This means… that I have finally captured… the last of your little group. It amazes me that a non-bender such as yourself could elude me for so much longer than the others…" she trailed away, seeming the look of shock on Sokka's face, and grinned.

"Haul him off! Throw him into the royal prison for now. I want to have a little chat with him later."

But Sokka didn't care. He was still feeling the shock of what had she said. She had captured the last of their group? Could she be referring to Team Avatar?

Were the others still alive?

Watching from the shadows of the hallway, Suki could do nothing but clench her fists in frustration as Sokka was taken down by the Dai-Li agents. She had difficulty understanding the ensuing conversation, but managed to catch Azula's last words; Sokka was being taken to the royal prison.

Suki would make sure he was not in there for very long.

She lacked Sokka's knack for coming up with effective plans, however, and she would really need help in coming up with a way to bust him out. As Azula and her remaining guard exited the theater, Suki stuck to the shadows and followed closely behind. Azula made quick time towards her Ember Island suite, taking Sokka inside with her upon reaching the extravagant building.

Suki had just climbed onto a neighboring rooftop in order to survey the situation from above when she felt the unmistakable cold steel of a sword rest against her neck on her collarbone. She cursed herself for dropping her guard and allowing herself to be snuck up on. There was nothing she could do, however, but obey the sword's wielder.

"Turn around slowly," commanded a soft, deep voice. Suki turned to see a hooded figure, holding a long, curved katana. From its relaxed pose, she could tell that the person had no intention of striking with the blade; seemingly thinking it unnecessary to hold it against Suki's neck any further, the cloaked person sheathed the weapon.

"We must hurry back to the mainland if we are to ever help your friend," said the hooded person. "Come with me."

"Wait…" Suki said as the figure began to turn away. "Who are you?"

The mysterious hooded man reached with a gloved hand and threw back the cowl of its cloak. Silvery fangs glinted in the moonlight.

Suki found herself in the presence of the vigilante known only as the Blue Spirit.