As the morning sun started to rise; Azula princess of the Fire Nation made her way into the palace. She was walking straight to the Fire Nation throne where her father is usually at but as soon as she walked into the room he wasn't there. She raised a brow and slowly walked out of the room.

"Something's not right." She quietly told herself as she continued to walk away. Then a servant walked up to her. She was a young woman.

"Excuse me princess, but your father said if you were looking for him he would be in your training grounds." She said with her head bowed

The prodigy felt a small shiver go up her spine "I see, thank you." And with that she walked away.

The young servant raised her head up and was a bit confused. Never in her life has she heard the princess say thank you before or was that calm saying it. She quietly watched as the firebender walked away.

Azula made her way to her training grounds. Something in her stomach told her not to step into the room. But she had orders from her father and she couldn't just walk away from them. She took a deep breath and pushed the large doors open walking into the training room.

"Father?" she looked around for a moment and walked into the center of the training grounds.

"Azula I'm glad to see you came at the time I demanded" her father said coming out of a small room.

She quickly knelt before her father "Of course father. You said you wished to see me?"

"Yes I do" he said slowly walking up to her "I have been hearing rumors"

Her mind went into shock but her body kept calm "Rumors?"

"Yes, it appears that there are two traitors on the run" he paused looking at her for any signs "I think you know them. Their names are Ty Lee and Mai."

Azula kept her head down looking at the ground she could feel her heart beat faster. She could also feel her father's cold glare trying to burn its way into her mind.

"I discovered they were held in the boiling rock because they betrayed you by letting Zuko and the others escape." He walked a bit closer to her "But when I tried to execute the two people who betrayed you they seemed to have hidden. I had my troop's storm that prison and I happen to stumble upon a small document the warden had written."

The young firebenders mind and heart were going at a rapid pace when he told her that "So tell me Azula why are they under your jurisdiction and your protection?" he father asked

She didn't look up, she didn't want to look up "Because father they are my traitors and I want to make them suffer. I didn't want your hands covered in blood for my mistakes."

Ozai looked down at his daughter "That's very loyal of you Azula, but for doing that you have broken my rules. And you do you know what that means don't you?"

"Yes father I do" she said started to shiver

The fire lord looked closely at her daughter and frowned deeply "You can't hide them from me. I see them written on your face." Azula looked up at him "You're having emotions again"

And without another word he attacked her sending a fire blast her way. She quickly dodged it by rolling to the side. He frowns at this and starts sending rapid fire blast at her. She blocks a couple of them and manages to dodge a couple.

He got into a low stance and quickly moved his hands. Azula's eyes widen seeing the lightening as soon as her father sent the attack towards her she did what her instincts told her to do. She bought out her two first fingers and absorbed the lighting then in one movement she let it out hitting some equipment.

The next thing she knew she was on the ground feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. Her father punched her sending her to the ground. He looked at her then lifted her up with one hand and tossed her to the other side of the room like a rag doll.

"Your starting to disappoint me Azula" he said walking over to her "Your becoming weak and imperfect again" he stood over her "but don't worry" he grabbed her by the neck lifting her off the ground "Your loving father will fix that."

"Gather round Team Avatar." Sokka said "In order to take out the Fire Lord, or in this case, the "Melon Lord", our timing has to be perfect." He kneels down and starts to draw out the plans.

"First, Suki and I will draw his fire. Then, Katara and Zuko charge in with some liquidy hot offence and while the "Melon Lord" is distracted, Aang swoops in and "BAM!" He delivers the final blow." He said happily while Aang on the other hand feels uncomfortable with the plan.

"Err…what about me?" the young earthbender ask

"For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces." He said

Toph smiled "So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?"

"Whatever makes the training feel more realistic" The young warrior said smiling

Toph grins at the idea "Sweetness." As soon as everyone gets into their positions for the attack she gets into character "Muahahahahahaha!"

Zuko and Katara hid behind some rocks, looking at Toph. Zuko turns his head seeing Aang who appears out from behind another hiding spot with Momo. He looks to the side and sees Suki and Sokka peer out of their own hiding place. Sokka wearing his Water Tribe wolf armor signals with his arm to go.

Sokka, Suki, Zuko and Katara all make their way towards Toph except for Aang who stays put. The wolf warrior and Kyoshi warrior run towards their target but the ground shakes and an army of Fire Nation soldiers made of rock charges toward them. Sokka cuts the rock in half. Suki jump spins and delivers a kick to another rock soldier, knocking it down.

They continue to run before a flaming boulder drops from the sky and crash in front of them, Suki thinks quickly and cart wheels over it. Sokka is left behind lying on the ground with his face mere inches away from the flaming rock.

He quickly gets up and shakes his fist "Watch it, Toph!"

"I am not Toph, I am "Melon Lord"! Muahahahahaha!" then she earthbends another rock setting it on fire and sends it towards Zuko and Katara.

They dodge it but then are quickly surrounded by the rock soldiers. With team work they take out the fake soldiers as fast as possible and kept running towards their target.

Sokka keeps running and sees and opening "Now, Aang!"

Aang comes out of nowhere and jumps off a large rock holding his staff above his head ready to give the final blow to the "melon lord" but he has second thoughts and stops his attack barely touching the melon. He puts his staff down and looks at the ground.

"What are you waiting for ? Take him out!" Zuko said coming out from his hiding place

The young monk shakes his head and speaks "I can't"

Sokka walks up to him "What's wrong with you ? If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lightning right now."

He looks up at his friend "I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself."

Sokka takes out his sword and cuts the head of the melon lord "There. That's how it's done."

Azula lands on the ground again with a hard thud. Her body was already weak and tired from pushing her limits. There was no blood, no bruises, and no sighs of her being beaten. Her father was good at hiding things especially with her.

She weakly stood up, her armor already broken apart and cracked, her hair now down and covering her eyes. Ozai stood there looking at her with his fist clinched then smirked.

"I have one last thing for you Azula, it'll be something you'll never forget" after he said that right on cue rock hands shot out from the darkness grabbing her wrist and ankles pinning her to the wall. Then the Dai Li appeared.

"I should thank you for bring them here, they will be a great help to me" the Fire Lord said slowly walking up to her "And since your acting weak just like your brother Zuko, well I have decided to treat you like him. In fact I'm even going to give you your own mark so that way you can always remember that your weakness will be your failure."

He snaps his fingers and she is moved. Now the front of the body is pushed against the wall. She tries to move against the restraints but nothing. She was too weak then her eyes widen when the last of her top armor is removed then the back of her shirt being ripped as well.

Now her back was bare and visible to her father. He looked at her for a moment and spoke "Pain will be your teacher, and your mark will be a reminder Azula." He snapped his fingers again.

Two more Dai Li agents come out and start to earthbend a large chunk of strong marble, as soon as they were done they compacted it tightly. It looked like a large stamp with a symbol on it. Ozai stood in front of it looking at it carefully and grinned. "Be grateful Azula this mark will be special."

He opened his hand and let a stream of fire hit the symbol till it was glowing bright red. He moved to the side "And now you will be remind that you are mine" right after he said that the two Dai Li thrust the large hot rock towards Azula's back. All that was heard throughout the Fire Nation palace was a loud painful scream that the servants will never forget.

Katara smiles walking up to the group "I have a surprise for everyone!"

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!" she said smiling while the rest of her friends looked at her weird.

"Er, no. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this." She opens a scroll showing a baby picture "Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute" she said making everyone giggle except Zuko "Oh lighten up, I was just teasing."

"That's not me. It's my Father." He says making Katara roll up the picture

"But he looked so sweet and innocent." Suki pointed out

Zuko quickly spoke up "Well that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster. And the worst Father in the history of Fathers."

"But he is still a human being." Aang said making everyone look at him

"You're going to defend him?" the prince asked

"No, I agree with you. Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person and the World will probably be better off without him. There's gotta be another way." He said facing the group

"Like what?" Zuko shot back

"I don't know. Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore." The Avatara said happily

"Yeah then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again." The prince said sarcastically making some people giggle in the background

"Do you really think that would work?" Aang asked naively

Zuko frowned "No!"

He sighs and puts his head down then starts to pace back and forth "This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like…"

"Sure, you can. You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the Universe will forgive you." Sokka said

The young monk snaps "This isn't a joke, Sokka! None of you understands the position I'm in!"

The young waterbender quickly steps in "Aang, we do understand. It's just…"

"Just what, Katara ! What?" he shouted

"We're trying to help." She shouted back

"Then when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I love to hear it!" then he quickly walks away

"Aang, don't walk away from this." Katara said and was about to follow him till she felt a hand on her should.

"Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself." Zuko stated calmly

The young Avatar sits on a balcony with his legs crossed with a small shrine in front of him meditating.

Momo flies in and lands in front of him "Hey, Momo. I don't suppose you know what I should do." Momo looks at him and makes a quick noise "I didn't think so." He closes his eyes and continues to mediate.

As time went on both of them fall asleep. Not far from the summer home a small land of forest slowly comes forth. Aang opens his eyes and starts to walk towards the little island. Momo wakes up seeing his master jump off the balcony. He follows trying to alert him but it's no use. Aang was stuck in a trance. Once he walks to the edge of the beach he gets into the water and swims towards the little island with Momo right behind him.

A bedroom door opens and a body is thrown on the bed by two Dai Li they walk out and close the doors behind them.

"Will she be normal by tomorrow?" the Fire Lord asked

"Yes my Lord she should be just like you want her to be. She won't even remember the pain." A Dai Li agent stated

"Good, Good. How long do you think this will last?" he asked

"To be honest we don't really know my lord, the brainwashing effect last as long as a person is weak minded. We never really faced a person so strong willed as her." The agent stated

"I see" he looks away for a moment then looks back at them "I want you to guard this palace then. And make sure she stays the way I want her too. If you don't heard any orders from me by tomorrow she'll be in control since she'll be the way she's meant to be."

"Yes my Lord" he nods and both agents' walks away

Morning comes and the Fire Nation princess slowly awakens. She sits up groggy and rubs her head.

"What happened last night?" she asked closing her eyes trying to remember. But there was a knock on her door "What!" she shouted

A servant walks in and bows her head "I'm sorry to disturb you princess but your father told me to get you ready for today's event."

The prodigy nods and slowly stands up walking over to her wash bowl. She lightly washes her face and grabs the towel that was handed to her. As soon as she is done with everything that she wanted the servants start to carefully dress her.

A young woman helps her with her armor; it was the same young woman who told Azula her father was in the training room. She stands in front of the princess securing her armor; Azula watches quietly then something comes to mind.

Smooth, gentle hands touch her armor in a loving way. Then slowly slips the belt around her hips. "There all done" said the feminine voice. Azula quickly grabs the young woman's hands which startles the servant.

She looked into those brown eyes; she was trying to figure out who it was that was so loving to her. Her grip tighten around the young woman's hands, she could see the servant lightly blush looking back at her. She quickly let go of the servant's hands and looks away.

"Leave now, I'll be with the Fire Lord soon" the princess said.

The servant nods and walks out of the room closing the door behind her. Azula stands there for a moment trying to figure out who that woman was in her mind. But she quickly shook if off and finished up with her armor and walks out of her room.

Sokka carefully lands Appa in front of the summer home "Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang either."

"No. It's like he just….disappeared." The firebender said

Toph quickly sits up and speaks "Hey, wait a minute, has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too "

"Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time. Appa ate Momo!" the young swordsmen turns around opening Appa's mouth "Momo, I'm coming for ya, buddy!"

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang." His sister informed

"That's just what Appa wants you to think." He said and crawls into Appa's mouth

"Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only 2 days away." The prince stated

The waterbender turns around looking at him "What should we do Zuko"

"I don't know." He stands up and notices everyone staring "Why are you all looking at me?"

"Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang." Katara simply stated

"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the Avatar, it's you." The blind earthbender said

The prince of the Fire Nation stays quiet for a moment thinking of a way to track Aang down then a thought comes to him. Everyone packs up on Appa and Zuko leads the way flying towards their destination.

Sokka looks over at the prince a bit confused "Zuko, I don't want to tell you how to do your job but why are we heading towards the Earth Kingdom . There's no way Aang's there."

"Just trust me." He simply said and kept going

Meanwhile back at the Fire Nation Capital, Fire Lord Ozai is being carried to a large platform following right behind him is Azula sitting in her carrier as well. She sits quietly concentrating on who that young woman was that was on her mind. "She must be someone I met before. She must be, she was acting like I was her lover though." She thought

She gets frustrated by this and notices she's not going fast enough "Come on slowpokes, faster!" she yelled at the servants. They move faster she sits back down still frustrated "Whoever she is, she's probably long gone by now."

As soon as she reaches her father she quickly runs out and kneels before him "Sorry I'm late, Father. Good palanquin bearers are so hard to come by these days. So, is everything ready for our departure ?"

"There has been a change of plans, Azula." He said with his back facing her

She is shocked by this "What?"

"I've decided to lead the fleet of airships to Ba Sing Se alone. You will remain here in the Fire Nation." He stated

"But I thought we were going to do this together." She said

"My decision is final." He said getting a bit annoyed by his daughter

"You….you can't treat me like this." She said standing up talking back to her father "You can't treat me like Zuko!"

"Azula, silence yourself." He ordered already knowing for a fact he already treated her like Zuko

"But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!" she shouted

"Azula!" he shouted causing her to put her head down in obedience "Listen to me. I need you here to watch over the homeland, it's a very important job that I can only entrust to you." He lied

"Really?" she asked

"And for your loyalty, I've decided to declare you the new Fire Lord." He simply stated looking at his daughter

"Fire Lord Azula . It does seem appropriate. But, what about you? " she asked still trying to soak in the new information she was given

"Fire Lord Ozai is no more. Just as the World will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of the World. From this moment on, I will be known as…the "Phoenix King"!" He said victoriously now wearing phoenix like armor and helmet.

Then a large curtain is pulled into the air showing the Phoenix King symbol then Fire Nation soldiers pull up the new flags for their King. As soon as all the flags were up two firebenders lit up the large stage causing two pillars to shot out fire making it look like the phoenix wings.

Azula eyes widen a bit remembering seeing this symbol before. But she couldn't really remember where. She stayed quiet watching her father while in the back of her mind she was still thinking about the young woman.

As team Avatar land the sky bison then get down and follow Zuko who is walking over to an old bar area. As soon as they walked in Katara had to ask.

"And the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?" she asked

"June." He pointed out who was sitting calmly drinking her tea.

A huge burly man tries to lunge at the bounty hunter but she stops him with her leg and pushes him down easily causing the man to groan in pain. She looks up seeing another man coming her way.

"Oh yeah that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole." Sokka stated

June quickly moves off to the side causing the other fighter to break the table.

"Mole Her skin is flawless." Suki stated

The large man tries to swing at her again but she easily dodges it by moving to the side.

"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on." The water tribe warrior pointed out

The gang watches her as she easily moves side to side avoiding the fighters attack.

"Her shirshu. It's the only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the World. It's the one shot we have of finding him." Zuko stated

June continues to dodge the fighter's punches till she finally decided to fight back. She throw her cup of tea straight up into the air and in one quickly movement she easily tosses him into the air making him crash into a table knocking him out. She lightly smiles and holds her hand out grabbing her cup of non-spilt tea and finishes it off.

"I don't know who this June lady is but I like her." The young earthbender said proudly

Aang lies on the ground unconscious but he is slowly awakened by his pet lemur "Hey Momo, I just had the strangest dream." He says sitting up but then is surprised by where he was sitting at "Wait…" he looks around noticing he was in the middle of the ocean "Where are we?"