There is a brief flashback in this chapter that appears in italics. On with the show....

Still don't own A:TLA

Zuko made quick, long strides through the palace corridors making it hard for the guards assigned to him to keep up. He was furious with Azula but more than that he knew he had to act quickly if he was to find her at all.

'Dearest Brother' the letter had stated. He shook his head at the memory. They had reconciled somewhat, though he was still cautiously pessimistic about her recovery. For two years following the war's end Azula was hospitalized in a sanatorium. Her mental state had deteriorated in the weeks following the incident at the Boiling Rock, and the night the war ended also ended Azula's ironclad grip on reality. Despite her time at the institution, little had been done to improve her condition. So Zuko called on Aang, and, as he had done to their father before, he removed Azula's bending abilities. This warranted another round of therapy, but within six months she was stable. She was moved into the palace in a small apartment, and guards and servants were assigned to her though her title was stripped. In the following months, Azula, Zuko, and Mai fell into a strange relationship that was cooler than amiable but warmer than callous. Then, about six months ago, everything changed.

The three of them were sitting around a table on a patio overlooking one of the many courtyards. Zuko had grabbed Mai's hand under the table and was nervously stroking it.

"Azula," he paused to clear his throat and his eyes darted from Azula to Mai back to Azula to his untouched cup of tea. "Azula I, um, I have some good news and I want you to hear it from us first." He looked at his sister, her heavy eyes more dull than they had been in the past. "We're um….well Mai is…."

"I'm pregnant" Mai interrupted Zuko's ramblings. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled broadly.

Azula stopped tracing the pattern on the cup. She placed it slowly on the table and cocked her head upward as if the movement itself would better her understanding of Mai's words. There was a flicker of life in her eyes. Just for a moment and then it passed.

"Congratulations Zuko." Azula's tone was cold, detached, and conveyed none of her words' felicitations. "You've got want you want brother, what you need. An heir. So what is to become of deranged little sister now? I guess you can just get rid of me discretely. I'm more of a liability in our little Nation than an asset right?"

Zuko's mouth fell open but before he could speak Mai countered. "Everything isn't about you anymore Azula!"

"This isn't about me?!" Azula screeched. "This has everything to do with me! You've always wanted what I've had, both of you! You—she pointed at Zuko—couldn't stand that I was a better bender. You couldn't stand that father favored me. So what did you do? You took it away and you took him away! And you—she now pointed at Mai—couldn't stand being in the shadow of the royal family. You think just because you've married my brother and you're carrying his baby makes you royalty. Well it doesn't! My father got rid of my mother when he tired of her and my brother can easily do the same to you!"

Zuko breathed deeply as he entered Azula's apartment uninvited and unannounced. Two soldiers were reclined on the divan with dominoes spread on the table before them. Upon seeing their visitor, the two men hastily dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves before the Fire Lord.

"Good evening my Lord. How may we be of service?" One soldier spoke while keeping his face pressed to the floor.

"Is my sister here?"

"Yes my Lord but…"

"Good. Bring her to me."

"She is sleeping my Lord."

"THEN WAKE HER UP!"

"Yes my lord, as you wish." The two men exited the formal parlor and Zuko remained, guards in tow. He paced the room contemplating what he would say to Azula when he saw her. He was only half surprised when the men returned so quickly without Azula.

"Split up!" Zuko began without waiting to hear what either guard had to say. "Hyun, you and your men search the palace. Jung, you and your men begin searching the Western quadrants of the Capital, while Min you'll take the East. Soo, I want you and your men to venture into the Harbor City. You two—this he addressed to Azula's guards—will comb through the apartment with me." Facing his guards again, he continued: " I don't think I need to urge you to exercise caution seeing as where you find my sister you will find my wife."

The soldiers bowed to their lord and exited the apartment quickly. Hastily, Zuko headed for Azula's quarters but before he could get there something in the courtyard caught his eye. He had seen movement in his periphery but when he turned his head the figure had vanished. Maybe it was Azula? Maybe it was one of her spies? Maybe it was nothing at all. Maybe but there was too much on the table to make that wager.

Zuko entered Azula's bedroom and quietly exited to a patio overlooking the courtyard. The moon was nearly full and blanketed the lush foliage in a silvery light. The heady scent of the gardenia bushes and the hum of cicadas made for a calm evening that was at odds with the chaos of the day. It was less than five minutes before he saw her by the pond. She was trailing her fingers through the water while koi fish danced in the hoary light. Azula was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she did not hear her brother approach.

"Azula." She jumped at the interruption. Looking over her shoulder she saw her brother's face hardened against the soft glow of the moon.

"Zuko….Zuko" She repeated his name as though the repetition was a source of comfort. "I know what happened today and I'm sorry."

Zuko sucked his teeth, eschewing her comment. "Of course you know what happened. You masterminded the attack, did you not? What confuses me is why you're still here at all."

Azula's brows furrowed and her mouth contorted strangely. The haze under which Azula lived the last four years thinned and a glimpse of her former self returned. She threw her head back and cackled loudly. "Come now Zuko. Isn't that a bit absurd? I have no power, physical or political, and you've made sure that I'm under constant surveillance in this glorified house arrest that you've arranged. Now tell me, how, despite these great obstacles, did I manage to abduct Mai? And then why did I decide to hang around here so that you could find me? Why not use this as the perfect chance to escape?"

Zuko honestly didn't have an answer to her questions. They seemed logical enough but then there was the issue of the letter. Azula clearly had motive and maybe even opportunity. Not only that, there was his childhood mantra: Azula always lies.

Azula did always lie and she was lying to him now, or at least that's what Zuko made himself to believe. "Guards!" He yelled, his voice piercing the still of the night. Seconds later when they appeared he continued. "Take my sister into custody. I believe she knows more that she's letting on. I don't care how you get it, but I want the truth out of her."

A/N: whew *wipes sweat from brow* I wonder how Zuko's going to get the information out of Azula? I have some ideas of course, but I'm open to suggestions