Just One Kiss

by Vahnati

Can change the world. Or at least, save someone's life from falling to darkness and despair. In an AU where Zuko and Azula develop an intriguing relationship the night before the eclipse, things take a bit of a different course for all involved.

10. The Southern Raiders

Chapter 10: The Southern Raiders

The next day dawned bright and much more noisy than the previous had, though Azula supposed she may have simply ignored the sound thanks to the head-splitting hangover she had had. Birds sang songs with a dozen different melodies blending into one while the surf struck against the shore with unusual forcefulness, though nothing that signaled a storm or the like. The house itself was rather silent, save for the occasional creak of the house shifting with the wind.

She was heading for a favored spot to sit and think, a small roof-covered balcony room with a little railing that divided it from the outside, only to find an Airbender already there, clearly lost in meditation. Soundlessly, the Firebender sat down beside him, Taking a moment to simply enjoy the view of the ocean lighting up as the sun rose from somewhere behind them.

When she noticed that she had finally been noticed, Azula started to say, "Look, Aang," and at the sound of his own name, he was listening intently. "I'm honored you would take what happened to me so personally, really, I am. And yes, Fire Lord Ozai has to die." On that, there was no compromising, and her tone conveyed as much, but returned to it's original, uncharacteristic softness when she continued, "But that doesn't mean you should want to do it. Don't give in to anger so easily, Avatar. You're better than that."

Aang bowed his head, taking that objective view that was so necessary to judge one's own actions, and he found himself agreeing. "You're right, Azula. It's my duty to stop the Fire Lord and restore balance, but I was letting it become something more than that, something worse. I was letting it be about revenge." He took a deep breath, re-finding his center and bringing peace and balance back to his mind. "I remember the monks used to say that revenge was like a two-headed rat-viper. While you watch your enemy die, you're being poisoned yourself."

Azula had, for a brief moment, a snippy remark about the monks, their wisdom, and how far it's gotten them, but thought better of herself, given the solemn nature of the situation. "Sounds like they knew what they were talking about, then." Sometimes, it was just better to tell people what they want to hear.

Aang nodded, looking out at the world and further beyond as he replied, "Yes, they did." The two allowed the moment to flow past in a mutually respectful silence, before the Avatar took a breath and stood, announcing, "I think it's time we resume Firebending training."

The princess respected his desire to learn, as it reminded her almost of her own fervor when she first began learning the art. She stood as well, stretching like a cat while saying in a deceptively seductive tone, "Very well. Avatar," the boy in question turned to give her a wary look, the unmistakable tendrils of dread already creeping up the base of his spine from the look she gave him, the look of a predator. "You have three seconds, and no Airbending."

He turned to take off at a sprint, one that, when removed from his Airbending, was not too impressive a speed, and had gotten no further than a dozen paces before he heard the familiar sound of fire whooshing towards him. With a light hop, he turned and spun counter-clockwise in the air, slashing backwards with his left hand and unleashing an arc of furious red flames that proceeded to tear through the smaller bolt of blue. Of course, that was only the warning shot.

Azula was already racing off the moment the fire left her fingertips, and by the time the Avatar had blown the attack to pieces, she was at the base of a tree that was growing out at an angle, giving her enough leeway to run halfway up the bark before leaping off in the air with a devastating barrage of sapphire in her hands.

She threw a considerable-sized ball of fire from each hand before spinning and sending an azure arc with her foot, one that she followed immediately with a swipe of her own left hand and another, final concentrated blast from her right.

Aang watched her run up the tree, already knowing he was in for it and preparing mentally. When the time came, he was ready, and as the fire came raining down, he answered with a barrage of his own, sending up gouts of fire into the air and, ducking under the double arcs of blue fire, he came up with a double-fisted blast to match Azula's finisher, and the two spheres of flame collided in an explosion of red and blue.

He watched the smoke cloud, wary of an imminent attack, but what he didn't expect was the half dozen fireballs that came shooting out opposite sides of the cloud, only to come converging back in on him from both sides. He had no choice but to throw up his fire-shield, surrounding himself in a torrent of roaring flames, and effectively blinding him to whatever else was going on around him. After the attack was staved off, he dropped the shield, trying to take in everything all at once as he did, but he was too late in noticing that Azula had circled all the way back around to the house, and was preparing a new onslaught to drive him towards the cliff.

The princess had taken to directing her shots towards the Avatar's feet, as opposed to the Avatar himself, and he predictably hopped backwards every time to avoid the attack, and gave feeble attempts at counter-attacking, though Azula swatted them away with ease. It was as they neared the edge that she decided it was time to end it. With a lunge, she shot a massive ball of fire forward, a spectacular thing that was sure to dazzle the eyes and draw all attention away from the fact that, immediately behind that fireball, she was advancing, and quickly.

When Aang boldly stood his ground and tore the attack apart with his own fire-coated hands, he felt the heat surging past him, kissing at his skin, and more than that, he felt the absolute raw power inside of himself, the power that allowed him to stand as absolute and adamant as a mountain and tear fire itself apart. The second his hands threw themselves wide and the attack was cleared, he felt a smaller, more forceful heat impact his chest squarely, and then next thing he knew, he was sailing through the air, but not for long.

He landed hard on the sand, some twenty feet below, with a bone-shaking "Oomph!" After a moment to set his head straight and take inventory, though, he found himself to be alive and whole. Just very, very shaken.

"That looked like it had to have hurt," said a voice nearby. Their tone lightened as they went on to say, "In fact, I know it did. She's used that one on me before."

"Oh," Aang wheezed, still entirely too dazed to actually realize what was happening, "Hey, Zuko."

By now, Azula had made her way down to join them on the beach, having opted to take the path as opposed to a twenty-foot drop. "See, Avatar," she was explaining in that matter-of-fact voice she had perfected, "that's why you can never allow yourself to be distracted, you'll lose sight of-" her words cut off immediately at the exact moment her eyes met Zuko's, and for one eternal instant, she had simply frozen, as if making the slightest amount of movement would shatter the illusion and end the dream she found herself in.

That instant ended, and in the next one she was racing forward, crashing into her brother's embrace with all the force of a great typhoon. He swayed momentarily, but held firm the embrace in the end. Zuko couldn't say how long the moment lasted, forever but not long enough, as sooner than later Azula pulled back and sighed a heartfelt sigh. "Avatar," she called, though it was not demanding, only remorseful. "Encase him in stone, he's been brainwashed."

The look on the scarred prince's face couldn't have changed more bar the exception of him actually losing his scar, but, understanding, Aang did as his teacher commanded, and Zuko didn't feel exactly compelled to resist for some reason.

By now, a sizeable crowd had emerged from the beach house turned hideout, drawn by the explosions from earlier, a range of concern across most faces. Ty Lee seemed more curious to see how badly Azula's opponent got it, and Mai didn't seem concerned at all for anything in particular. Katara looked ready to start a verbal as well as physical encounter the moment she eyed Aang, and Sokka looked confused, half-asleep, and hungry. Business as usual by most counts.

Every expression changed dramatically the moment their respective owner's gazes fell upon a very familiar scarred face, ensconced in rock up to his neck. It took Toph all of three seconds to laugh, shouting out, "Hah! That's you, isn't it, Sparky?"

He hung his head, it being literally all he could do at this point, as he sighed out loud, "Yeah, it's me."

"Let me guess," Mai said as she strolled forward towards where Azula was standing, "he shows up out of nowhere, when by all accounts he should be dead, and he seems perfectly fine?" She stopped at the princess' side, and flicked her eyes to her compatriot's as she finished, "You're right, he's definitely been brainwashed."

The two of them directed their attention to Zuko, but it was Azula who said, "Yes, and now we have to play the game of finding out what the trigger words are."

Mai all but rolled her eyes with her words as she stated, "Gee, sounds like a fun way to spend the day." She was already walking away by the time she finished speaking, but Azula was nonplussed, determined to find the correct sequence of words.

Drawing herself up beyond full height, she called out in authoritative, crisp words, "Prince Zuko, the time has come to restore your honor!"

Zuko's eyes shimmered in their sockets, just barely shaking back and forth as he waited for something to happen. After a moment of nothing, he glanced away for a moment, looking back up at his sister a moment later and saying, "Should, uh, should something have happened?"

Her lip curled in disdain at the obvious failure, but she blew it off just as quickly. "It was a first try, of course it didn't work. We'll just have to narrow it down to all the possible things father might have used. It shouldn't be that hard," she declared, nothing but confidence in her every possible feature.

---

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation sat upon a rock, slumped forward and pinching her brow with a tired anger simmering in her features. After an hour of futile attempts, she had become less than okay with the situation. After two, she had perhaps become slightly angry, if she was being modest and judging herself. After three hours of hurling the most ludicrous, nonsensical jargon that popped into her head, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation was beginning to feel an itch that meant somebody's life was going to end on this Spirit's forsaken fucking beach if she didn't get some fucking answers NOW!

After four hours, the floor was open to volunteers. So here she sat, on a rock, trying to pierce her skull with her own fingernails whilst Ty Lee of all people attempted to figure out this conundrum. Right, Azula told herself, and pig-chickens will fly.

"Prince Zuko," Ty Lee started, with some absolutely ridiculous falsetto of a deep, manly voice. It was obvious she didn't exactly know what else to say, however, if the pause was any indication. Eventually she settled on, "Kill yourself." Azula's head, shoulders and hands all completely dropped limp in defeat. Zuko did little else but scowl.

The acrobat shrugged, giving her princess an honest but somewhat sad look as she explained, "I just tried to think of something your dad would say."

The princess knew if she rolled her eyes it would upset the girl to no end, but Spirit's-be-damned did she want to do it so badly anyways. "Right, thank you, Ty Lee." She looked up, but it was clear she had all but accepted defeat as she called out, "Anyone else?"

There were no immediate volunteers. In fact, it was Zuko's voice that broke through the suffocating silence, asking with no small amount of trepidation, "Uh, could I maybe take a quick bathroom break?"

Azula blanched, and was beaten to a response by Toph, who said, "Eh, may as well let him. We've been trying for hours now, I doubt anyone's going to accidentally set Prince Pouty into rampage mode." The blind Earthbender paused, but added in a much brighter tone, as if she had struck idea gold in her head, "I know! We can have someone keep an eye on him, that way we know nothing's happened." She turned her head to face in Azula's direction, the very definition of a shit-eating grin plastered upon her face all the while.

"You mean me, don't you?" she asked, though there was no real point. The answer was as obvious as the sun in the sky.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to go with him while he does his business." Azula directed her attention toward the rest of the group, but it was obvious by the blatant attempts to avoid her gaze that they held similar feelings about the situation.

"Very well, set him free," she called out, and in the next moment the rocks that had so suddenly erupted from the Earth to encase him sank back into the ground once again, leaving no sign of their ever existing. It took Zuko a few seconds to find his feet after having been forced to stand straight for so long, but soon enough he found his stride and caught up to his sister, who was already making for the sloping trail that lead back up to the house.

There were a thousand things he wanted to say, more than a few things he knew he should say, yet still when the moment of truth came, he couldn't muster so much as a 'Hey'. He eventually managed to force himself to say the words, "Look, Azula, I'm sorry-"

"As if that's anything new, Zuko!" she snapped, turning her head so she could glare at her insipid sibling and convey the true depth of her anger. It was quite deep, as he would soon discover.

"Azula, I…" he cut himself off this time, simply drawing a blank as to what he could possibly say to her that would matter.

Azula herself, on the other hand, had plenty to say, and was happy to share. "What, Zuko? What are you going to say, that it wasn't your fault, that you didn't have a choice?" she asked, and the vehemence of her voice if nothing else made it clear that she was being rhetorical. "It was your fault, Zuko, and you did have a choice!" She looked straight ahead of her in an attempt to hide the tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she concluded, "You chose to leave, again."

Not for the first time since his failed escape from the Boiling Rock, the prince felt a stab of pain through his heart. He knew he had hurt her, and that fact alone more than anything else made him feel absolutely ashamed, and about the size of a pea-pod. What made the feeling all the worse was the fact that Zuko knew also that he had to make that choice, that Sokka wouldn't have survived without his help and that, even if he could never make his sister understand, he had made the right choice, even if it was the wrong one at the same time. People talk about how not all choices will be easy, but they never explain how incredibly difficult some choices can really be.

"Azula, please!" he cried out in desperation, though the princess slowed not. "If I can't say I'm sorry, what can I say? I don't want you to be mad at me." Feelings, he thought, that might work.

Feelings didn't work. She was still clearly pissed. "You don't want me at all, that's it isn't it?" Azula demanded more than asked, and didn't bother giving him an opportunity to argue back before adding, "Just like mom, just like uncle. Nobody wants the monster."

"Azula, stop." Now it was Zuko making the demands, and he grabbed his sister's arm in an effort to facilitate the command. She turned to face him, rage engraved in her face but Zuko felt his own anger burning at the moment, and it fueled him onward. "I don't want to hear you say that anymore. You're not a monster."

He may have been hoping for some kind of break in her anger, but what he got was an arm wrenched out of his grip and the sight of his sister storming off the same direction they had been heading moments ago. Gritting his teeth, the scarred prince followed after her, desperate to think of something he could say that wouldn't be met with a furious retort, or worse.

When she finally came to a stop outside of a door, Zuko was prepared to make another attempt, but she didn't give him the chance before saying, "You need to stop and think about what you're doing, Zuko, or one of these days it will get you killed for good." At last, she turned to face him, looking him squarely in the eyes as she concluded, "What will you say to me then?"

When it was clear he had nothing meaningful to say in response, Azula moved away and went to lean against the wall, leaving Zuko free to access the door to take care of business. After the door had shut behind him, the princess slumped down to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin upon her knees. She didn't know what to do, didn't know why she was so angry when she should have been elated. She had Zuko back, he was alive and whole, and only a slight liability to all of their lives and safety. Nothing had changed in that regard, really.

So why, then, was she so furious? She wasn't really mad at him, though he was an idiot and she was justified to be mad at him, but she wasn't, not truly. It's because you're afraid, someone's voice said, though she couldn't be sure who's. Hers, her mother's?… Zuko's? Maybe it was all three of them, trying to tell her something she refused to accept. Azula hated fear, despised the very notion of the emotion. Still, she couldn't deny the truth that lay buried so deep down inside of herself. She was terrified of the notion of losing him.

Such were her thoughts when Zuko re-emerged from the privy, to find his sister holding herself practically in a ball, and he took it for his cue to take a seat next to her, on her left. He looked at her with concern and regret in his good eye, then finally found some words to say. "Look, Azula, I'm sorry I hurt you, and I know you're mad at me but-"

"I'm not mad at you, Zuko." she cut him off, but not with any of the earlier fire in her words. Instead, she just sounded small and defeated, and it broke his heart to hear. "I was scared I had lost you forever. I'm still scared that I might."

For as dense as he could be at most any given time, if there was one thing Prince Zuko knew, it was his sister. He knew to avoid her like all hell when she was mad, he knew not to trust a thing she said to you in a sweet, innocent voice, and he knew when she needed someone to comfort her, even if she didn't know it herself. So it was he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze.

"I'm here now," he told her, in as soft and assuring a voice as he could, "and I'm not leaving you, I promise."

Azula sniffled before replying, "You haven't got a very good track record with promises right now."

Zuko couldn't help but smile, hearing her regain more of her usual strength and knowing she would be alright. "I suppose you're right, but there is one promise I never broke."

"Hmm?" she purred in an amused fashion, as if waiting to hear his proposal.

"I promised you that I love you." That one caught her off guard, but no more so than the kiss he leaned forward to plant upon her cheek immediately afterwards. He breathed into her ear, "I do love you, Azula," and his hot breath made a tremor race through her body.

At last, Azula allowed herself to give in and returned the embrace, melting into her brother's warmth and forgetting the pain, letting it flow far, far away. He wrapped his other arm around his sister and just held her, for as long she wanted to be held.

All good things must end, sooner or later, and so it was for the Royal siblings of the Fire Nation as they disentangled and stood, making their way back outside in a blissful, companionable silence. They emerged back into the sunlight to find that the group had made it's collective way up from the beach, and were now milling about around the stairs that lead up to the front door.

When Toph noticed the two re-emerge, she cracked her knuckles high over her head, then called out, "So, Sparky, you ready to go back into captivity?"

The Firebender in question hung his head and stepped forward, but was stopped by his sister's voice saying, "Actually, I've been thinking." More than a few people prepared themselves for a dodge maneuver. "We've been at this for hours, and we've tried every common phrase there is, along with plenty of uncommon ones. We haven't gotten anywhere, and I don't believe we'll ever guess correctly, however, I also don't think we'll accidentally say it. Whatever words he was programmed to respond to are likely only known by my father, so keeping him locked up for fear that we might set him off on a killing rampage is a waste of time at this point." After nobody immediately objected, Azula went on to add, this time in a much more casual manner, "Besides, it's Zuko we're talking about here. Is there anyone here who hasn't managed to beat him in a fight?"

Sokka's hand went up. It was the only one. Zuko groaned as everyone else laughed, and his sister was kind enough to put a hand on his shoulder and tell him, "Cheer up, Zuzu. At least you're better than Sokka."

"Yeah, great," the young prince deadpanned. It was apparent from the look on Sokka's face that he felt the same way.

After the moment passed, Aang was the first to ask, "So, what now, guys?"

"Now," Azula began, almost as if she were waiting for her cue, "I'm afraid Katara and I need to borrow Appa for a few days."

The Avatar's expression changed immediately to bewilderment, but it was the Waterbender he directed his attention to next. Katara didn't flinch away as she explained, "Azula says she can help me track down the man who killed my mother."

Aang had immediate misgivings about the idea, warning his best friend, "Katara, revenge isn't the answer," though he was concerned with more than just that aspect of the plan. With Azula and Katara alone together on Appa, there was a good chance one of them wouldn't come back, or both of them. Hell, there was a chance Appa wouldn't survive that journey.

This was not the correct thing for him to say to her, and she was sure to let him know it when she shot back, "Revenge isn't the answer? What about you, Mister I'm going to kill the Fire Lord and anyone who gets in my way? Why is it okay for you to kill the Fire Lord, but I can't have justice for my own mother's murder?"

"Katara, this isn't the same," Aang lied, knowing he was doing so. If Toph noticed, she didn't say a thing, which was unusual. Azula also knew the Avatar was lying, however, and so decided to press her advantage.

"Avatar, your duty is to the world, not to dictate your friend's choices. This is about family, blood family, and whether you approve or not, it's something Katara has to decide for herself." She allowed her words a moment to sink in, then continued, "I said I can help her track the man down, whether she takes her revenge on him or not is up to her."

Aang tried to think of an argument to that, but knew that he wouldn't be able to. Seeing that she already had him beat and deciding to close the deal, Azula stepped over to the Waterbender in question and wrapped an arm around her in a mocking gesture of affection. "Besides, we promise to be nice to each other the whole trip." She gave her best smile, but there was no masking the obvious desire to rather be eating her own eyeballs.

Katara gave a smile that couldn't have looked any more forced if she had had large needles pinning her mouth open. "Yep," she forced out, as if the words were vomit, "Best, friends." Sokka was pretty sure he saw her actually gag on that last word.

A thought suddenly occurred to Zuko, and he asked, "So, wait, you're leaving? Now?"

Azula gave an inward sigh and an outward mock-pout, perhaps just now realizing the irony of the situation herself. Was it ironic? She shooed the thought away, having no time for such nonsense just now. "Yes, I suppose I am. I gave Katara my word, and besides, I didn't exactly plan on seeing you today, for reasons I'm sure you can figure out." She allowed him time to connect the rather obvious dots, which thankfully didn't take long, then concluded, "Now, if you will excuse us, it's nearly midday and we really should start loading our things."

Katara didn't waste a second extracting herself from both Azula and the group itself, and Sokka felt compelled to follow after her under the pretense of lending a hand. Aang went to go say his goodbyes to Appa, as well as make sure he was fed and watered. Suki went back to sunbathing, and in no short order the only people left standing about were the fearsome Fire Nationals, and one small blind Earthbending girl, no less fearsome herself, though not to look at.

"So, you and Katara are going on a girls trip to go hunt down the guy who killed her mother?" Mai asked, none of the gravity of the situation and it's implications being reflected in her tone.

Azula shrugged, eyes closed and a tone of complete nonchalance as she answered, "Seemed like the only way to get her off my back." She opened her eyes to see the varying looks of incredulity being cast her way, and bit out in an almost defensive tone, "What? Why are you all looking at me like I've grown a second head."

"Oh, sorry, was I doing that?" Toph said from where she stood next to the princess, her useless eyes looking out and obviously away from the Firebender, with no particular emotion in them whatsoever. Azula cursed herself for walking right into that one.

"Not you… Why must you constantly do that? You just enjoy tormenting people, don't you?"

At that, Toph could only chuckle. "You guys make it too easy!" After giving the moment of humor some time to pass, the Earthbender settled into a slightly more serious tone and said, "Look, I understand why you're taking this trip with Katara, I really do. I just want to say, two of my friends are leaving on this trip. Two of them had better come back."

Azula was almost hurt by the accusation, given who it was coming from. "Toph, really, you think I would do something to hurt Katara? I know we don't get along because she's an insufferable ice witch, but I thought we understood each other better at this point."

"It's not her I'm worried about, Azula." The princess was outright affronted by the implication of those words, but before she could say anything, and she did want to say something, Toph plodded on, "The moon's going to be full soon. Just… Don't make her mad." That having been said, the blind girl promptly trod off, leaving a more than slightly bewildered Fire Princess in her wake.

Azula knew the full moon gave Waterbenders a strength boost, but really, what could that possibly mean for her? Sure, Katara was a skilled Waterbender, but Azula was sure that, even with an increase to her bending abilities, she could still beat the peasant in a one on one.

What could the full moon possibly do that would give her cause to be afraid of Katara?

Ignoring the entire train of thought, Azula went to go gather her own supplies, knowing she had wasted enough time as it was with idle conversation. She reached her room without any further distractions, and within the minute she had anything she might consider essential packed away in a pack that she slung about her shoulder. Turning for the door, she was hardly surprised to find her brother of all people standing in the doorway, looking as uncertain as ever.

"Is this the part where you tell me to be careful and don't get myself captured, like you?" the princess inquired, but the prince only chuckled and shook his head in response.

"No, this is the part where I tell you goodbye, have a safe trip, and I love you. Oh, and I give you a hug."

At this, Azula raised an eyebrow, asking with feigned ignorance as she stepped towards him, "Oh do you now?"

To which Zuko, of course, replied, "Yes," taking a step forward himself and then throwing his arms around her as she wrapped hers around him. He felt warm, and Azula was tempted with the idea of just not letting go, and seeing if she couldn't just melt into him, merging together and becoming one being.

Of course, it didn't work, and so the siblings broke apart at last, still two different people, one a Zuko, the other an Azula, but in their two separate chests were two separate hearts that beat as one.

"As much as I would like to stay here with you, I think it best that I don't keep Katara of all people waiting. She doesn't seem to like me very much," Azula pouted, sounding as if there wasn't a reason in the world why anyone would feel that way about her, and Zuko couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I can't imagine why."

The two siblings exited the room in a lighter mood, though they hardly took two steps towards the front door before running into Ty Lee, or rather, before being ran into by Ty Lee. Azula had yet to develop an acceptable defense for her best friend's assault-hug, and so suffered for it yet again as the air squeezed out of her lungs like she were the bellows to a forge, her own arms being used against her as they were forced into her ribs in a maneuver that might actually succeed in fusing the princess' bones together.

The hug-of-death ended long after it should have in Azula's opinion, but that's when the barrage of words without spaces began. "I'm going to miss you, Azula! Have a safe trip, be sure to take an umbrella in case it rains, rainwater will totally ruin your hair, make sure you pack lots of food and water, don't turn your back on that Waterbender, be sure to rest at least-"

"Ty Lee." Azula gave the girl a pointed look and was rewarded with immediate silence, and for that she silently thanked the spirits. "I'll be fine."

"I know you will," the acrobat agreed with a quiet timidity as she began to pull at her braid. "I'm just gonna miss you, Azula."

Now it was the Firebender's turn to give Ty Lee a hug, though this was a much more civilized, gentle hug, one that acrobat didn't hesitate to return with equal vigor. "I'll miss you, too, Ty. But I'll be back, and I'll be fine. No Waterbender or… Rainwater, is going to get the best of me, you can count on that." The two best friends pulled apart to smile at one another, and Ty Lee nodded her understanding. "I should be back in a few days. Keep an eye on Zuzu for me, and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." After a nod from her best friend, the princess exited the beach house, stepping back out into the bright light of midday.

She made it precisely to the bottom of the steps, but no sooner did her foot touch the ground itself did she hear Toph's voice from the side of the stairs, where the girl was leaning against the deck itself and doing nothing in particular but waiting. Given the girl's penchant for knowing too much and making crass remarks, Azula wasn't sure whether or not she had gotten off easy when all the Earthbender said was, "Have fun with Kataraaa," twisting the name like the taunting knife that it was.

Azula just ignored the jib and told the younger girl, "I suppose you'll have to be in charge while I'm gone. They'll need someone competent, and Mai gets bored too easily, so it will have to be you. Keep the Avatar on his toes, I want you to take over on training him in my absence." It was clear the princess had more to say, but at this, Toph had a question of her own, and having no qualms with interrupting other people, she did exactly that.

"Uhh, what exactly am I supposed to teach Aang about Firebending?"

Rolling her eyes because she still wasn't used to the fact that it was a useless gesture with this particular individual, Azula explained, "Not Firebending, just Bending in general. There's nothing more any of the individual elements can do for him, not with this little time left anyways. The best we can do is try to get him used to fighting with all four at once, and against multiple opponents. Take your pick of the group, they all seem fairly capable in a fight, but I want the Avatar training to be an Avatar. I know you won't stand for any nonsense, or let him slack off."

Suddenly, Toph was sporting the broadest smile possible as she replied, "Awww, I think you're pretty great, too, Azula."

The Firebender sighed to herself. "No, Toph, that wasn't some clumsy way of giving you a compliment. I meant it. You might be the crudest, most casually fowl girl I've ever met, but you're no pushover, and you have a way of getting what you want whether people like it or not. You'll be an excellent motivator, even if it is by force." When she finished speaking and saw the look of glee disappear from the blind girl's face, Azula felt an uneasy sensation, like her heart had dropped into her stomach, and so she felt compelled to add, "But you are also a rather remarkable human being."

Toph smiled again, though much more modestly this time, and said, "Thanks, Azula. We've still got a lot of work to do, but there's hope for you to fit into normal society yet." They shared a laugh before she finished, "Take care of yourself, Sunshine."

"You, too, my little Rock-Hopper."

"Rock-Hopper," the Earthbender giggled. "I like it."

Azula turned to leave, but a thought occurred as she did so, and she called back over her shoulder, "Don't forget to keep an eye on dear Zuzu, in case he needs to be locked in rocks."

"Will do," Toph said wistfully, already knowing the other girl was too far to hear and not wanting to yell.

So it was that Azula came upon Appa, already saddled, loaded, and ready to go, with the Avatar and his Waterbending girlfriend in all but name. It was Katara who actually noticed the Firebender approaching, and gave a nod to Aang which brought his attention around as well. Whatever they had been discussing could either clearly wait, or wasn't meant for her ears. Probably both, she decided.

Putting on a happy face that would frighten small children, and did, if Aang's face was any indication, she greeted them, "So, are we all ready for our little girl's trip?" Katara was already getting herself up to the reins, completely ignoring here, and her façade instantly dropped, her mouth turning down and coming out in a pout. This is going to be a long trip.

The Avatar couldn't stop himself from asking, a little more hesitantly than he would have liked to, "Sooo, Azula. You can promise me you won't hurt Katara, right? I mean, I know that I want to trust you, and I do, it's just… I want to make sure it isn't a huge mistake."

Without her brain's consent whatsoever, that comment had actually managed to hurt her feelings a little bit, though she never let it show on her face in anything more than a slightly raised, annoyed eyebrow. "I thought we were past this, Avatar?" and in her mind she imagined that the words sounded more hurt than commanding, but that couldn't have been the case she told herself.

Aang immediately regretted what he had said, and felt just a bit foolish for even thinking it. "You're right, I'm sorry, Azula." He quickly smiled and gave her the respectful bow due his Firebending Master. "Have a safe trip."

Azula nodded her head to him, the most she was willing to do for respect at that particular moment, then made her way over to the great furry beast of a flying bison. No sooner was she in the saddle did Katara holler "Yip yip," slightly more forcefully than was necessary, and the princess was jolted by the sudden ascent before she could situate herself, and found it necessary to loop an arm through one of the convenient holes along Appa's saddle. It would remain this way for a vast majority of the trip.

It was only after he watched his faithful companion for life disappear across the horizon that it hit Aang. She never actually said she wouldn't hurt her! Dread wriggled it's way into the back of his mind like a parasitic worm, and no matter what he tried to think about, he would constantly be worrying until he saw all three of them back in one piece. He began to trudge his way back up to the communal residence, when a thought suddenly occurred to him like an arrow out of the dark.

It's a full moon in two nights. He couldn't help but feel a tremor of worry for his Firebending teacher, now. If she tried anything then, Spirits only help her.

---

After giving Katara the direction to head in after the initial takeoff, Ember Island would be long out of sight before another word was ever spoken between the two girls from opposite sides of the same war. Not to mention opposite sides of the world, more or less. Azula shivered just thinking about being on a block of ice, let alone growing up on one. Could there be a worse hell? It didn't take her long to decide. This.

The Firebender rolled her eyes, tired of this intolerable silence. "So, Katara," is as far as she got before the Waterbender in question waved her hand in the air over her shoulder.

"Not interested." Was all she said.

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"It doesn't matter."

"Oh, this is ridiculous," Azula said, wanting to cross her arms but being unable with one permanently committed to keeping her safely tethered to this flying deathtrap.

At that, Katara actually laughed, though it was little more than a snicker of disgust, "Yeah, you got that right."

"Fine, you don't want to talk? I will." The princess took a breath, preparing to go on a long tirade about absolutely nothing.

"No, I don't want to hear you talk," Katara clarified, cutting the other girl off outright.

Azula, though, never one to be told to stuff it and leave it be, retorted with no small amount of outrage, "What exactly is your problem, Katara? What do I still need to do, hmm? I've done everything I can to help your precious Avatar, and thanks to me he actually has a chance now, so your welcome!"

"Thanks to you?" Katara asks, with all the incredulity due that particular question. "Sokka and I were with him from the very beginning, we've been with him every step of the way! You and Zuko only ever tried to hurt him!"

Azula feigned a look of pure innocence, affronted as she shouted back, "Only ever? What about us coming out here and, oh I don't know, teaching him to Firebend! Not to mention that extremely dangerous assassin I saved you all from, almost killing myself in the process- you're welcome for that as well, by the way- but nooOoo, all I've ever gotten from you is vicious insults and mistrust!"

When Katara didn't immediately have something to shout back, in a most civilized fashion, Azula continued on, "What I was talking about is that I fixed his little Avatar powers, so now he actually stands a chance against my father. Something you couldn't do, no matter how much glowing water you used, and it eats at you, doesn't it?"

"Just shut up, Azula."

Of course, she didn't. "Face the facts, when Sozin's Comet comes around, the Avatar simply won't be ready, there's just not enough time. He's barely started Firebending, and he hasn't even mastered Earth. He wouldn't stand a chance against my father without the Avatar State. With it…" she trailed off, hoping it would be enough.

She had read about it. Out of some morbid curiosity when she was younger but not by much. Zuko was banished, and she had the itch to see what he was up against. Capture the Avatar? She didn't really know what that entailed, at the time. She barely knew anything about the Avatar, she realized, and this fact displeased her. The one person in the entire world who could bend all four elements. How legendary.

Princess Azula found the scrolls, stashed away, but well within her dominion to obtain. Most of whatever the Fire Nation may have had detailing to lives and exploits of these "Avatars" must have been destroyed, or simply lost. All she could find was basic information, and detailed accounts of what was, in every scroll, referred to simply as the Avatar State. Now that did sound interesting. No details concerning the origin of the sudden and immense leap in power, but all the accounts started off the same way.

Their eyes began glowing. The feats listed were varying from remarkable to extraordinary, to downright un-fucking-real. Apparently, there was one that tore a chunk of land off the mainland Earth Kingdom, and established her own island. Another one had blown apart an entire section of the Royal Palace with a single blast of air, but it didn't say whom that was. Azula couldn't even imagine what that kind of absolute, raw power must have felt like.

"With it, he actually has a shot at beating him."

Katara looked back over her shoulder, responding forcefully, "Aang will beat your dad. Whether you want him to or not," she muttered, though it was still clearly audible, as she intended.

Azula couldn't recall more than a handful of moments in her entire life where she felt truly and honestly insulted by something somebody else said to her, but that bitch just struck a nerve. "You ungrateful, filthy peasant from the South!" she shouted, her voice growing more heated with every new word. "You actually think I want my father to rule the world with a flaming fist? After everything I've done? You think he'll, what? Let me walk back into the Palace and forgive me for betraying him?!"

Katara had her own wellspring of anger to draw upon, and so she did, happily, not backing down from the infuriated Firebending Princess, "Yeah, whatever. You're the Firelord's daughter, I'm sure you'll think of some way to worm your way back to him."

Azula's face contorted at the word daughter, but the second part make her absolutely livid. She couldn't recall ever actually seeing red in her lifetime, but right now her free arm was winding itself up for what she was positive was going to be an attack, even though she wasn't consciously telling herself to do it. That's when everyone and everything on Appa's back and neck was tossed a couple feet in the air, and drowning out the noise of anything else that might have tried to make one at that moment came the bison's great, deep, bass growl, the volume of which could have sent a platypus bear scurrying away.

When the girls landed, both their heart's beating in their throats, they couldn't help but look to each other in complete bewilderment. Then they looked to the bison, now silent again and still just drifting at a comfortable pace in the same direction. Back to each other again. That's the precise moment that Katara burst into laughter, and a while later Azula started off with a very reserved, hesitant one herself, but she, too, was soon laughing outright.

Her laughter finally abating, Katara called out, "I guess Aang had a talk with Appa before we left."

"Yes, the bison is rather intelligent, isn't it?"

"His name is Appa," replied the Waterbender, her tone once more shifting into annoyance.

Azula fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Appa. Now, if he ever threatens to toss me from this saddle again, I'm going to set his tail on fire." It didn't sound like a real threat, and Azula certainly didn't have any intentions of backing it up. She was surprised, then, when she felt something hit her on the back of the head, something very large, very furry, and something that caused a massive gust of wind to blow her hair in front of her face with such ferocity that the majority of the strands decided to stay there. She blinked.

Katara was again laughing her face off at the reins, while Azula still struggled to figure out what, exactly, just happened to her, but more importantly, why did she have the vague feeling she deserved that?

Calming down from her second fit of laughter, the Waterbender called out in a surprisingly civil tone, "I have a brush if you need one."

Azula considered the offer before coming to a realization. "Yes, actually, I think I will make use of that. Then you." Katara looked back, the question clearly written on her face so the princess didn't even need to hear her ask before she explained, "We'll need our hair to be put up and manageable for when we break into this place, as well as when we confront that ship. Having wild masses of hair getting in our eyes simply won't do."

Katara could see the sense in that, and so all she called back was, "Do you need any help with yours?"

She was a proud person. Very, in fact. Hell, she had been born a princess to the most powerful nation on Earth, and was no weakling herself. There were very, precious few things in this world that Princess Azula of the Fire Nation could just not do. Her own hair was one of them.

"… Yes, actually," she finally admitted, and by the look of surprise on the other girl's face, this was clearly not the answer she had expected.

"Oh, okay…" she whispered something to Appa before making her careful way back to the saddle, then situated herself behind the Firebender. "But, um, I should actually warn you, I only really know how to do one style for hair."

The meaning of her words wasn't lost on Azula, who, after a few moments of arguing with herself, sighed. "Fine, just make sure you get that braid right. I don't want it coming loose."

"No worries there," replied Katara, more than confident in her ability to do the braid she had worn her entire life. "So, uh, do you want the, uhm…"

Azula face scrunched up, though the other girl couldn't see it. She replied with a single word. "Yes."

---

After nearly an hour of constant tugging, twisting, and perhaps a touch harder than necessary pulling, Azula was finally given the go ahead to move. She shook her head. She shook it again. She frowned.

"How in the world did you ever manage to fight with these things around your head?" she asked as she turned to face the Waterbender. Katara had to fight very hard to suppress her own laughter when her nemesis came around to face her, looking like a paler, off-color version of herself. Except Katara didn't think she could ever quite pull that particular scowl off.

"You get used to it. Oh, and be careful not to snag yourself on anything."

"Duly noted," Azula replied dryly, attempting with little success to blow at her bangs.

Katara's own hair being left a free-falling mess over the past couple days, the Waterbender faced her back to the princess and said, "Alright, now you do mine."

A wicked smirk crept to the corner of Azula's lips. "Very well, but I should warn you, I only know-"

"Fine," Katara called back, already expecting some form of payback.

"Do you want the-"

"Yes."

After another hour of mostly just combing the unruly, thick hair and fussing with it to get it as perfect as possible, Azula leaned back to admire her own handiwork. She supposed the life of a princess suited her far better than that of a hairdresser. Katara turned to face her once more, and Azula found herself far less successful at preventing her laughter from escaping.

"You look ridiculous," she stated, after regaining control of herself.

Instead of getting offended, Katara just smiled. "Would you like a mirror, princess?"

"Hm, yes, I suppose I probably look equally as appalling." She regarded the other girl for a moment before speaking again. "It's the eyes, you know."

The Waterbender blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"The eyes, it's all in the eyes. Yours are far too wide, and innocent looking. You have to look fierce, determined. Like a predator on the hunt." Azula demonstrated the look, eyes narrowing to golden slits and mouth tightening into a thin line. It was a look that sent a chill up Katara's spine as she remembered the earliest encounters with the Firebender and her friends. She was actually beginning to feel almost nervous when the princess' countenance reverted instantly to that of a normal, or at least as normal as she could ever hope to be, girl. "You try."

Katara paused, considering for a moment before squinting her eyes and making what she believed to be a "serious-business" look with her mouth. What she succeeded in doing was looking like a constipated moron throwing a temper tantrum.

Unable to stop herself, Azula burst into laughter. "No, no, no no no no no. Ha! Oh, Katara, don't ever make that face again." Her laughter continued unabated for a solid minute, and Katara realized that was in fact the first time the Princess of the Fire Nation ever referred to her by name. It sent a strange feeling of excitement spiraling down Katara's body, lifting her spirit and making her feel like she had accomplished something noteworthy. "Okay, okay. Let's try this; think of that man, the one who killed your father." It had the intended reaction, as the Waterbender's face quickly became one of serious, lethal intent.

"Much better. Now, imagine he hadn't killed her, but took her prisoner instead, and you have him in chains, rotting in a dungeon and at your mercy. The only thing standing between you and the information on her whereabouts is this pathetic man's resolve. You're going to break that resolve, though. You're going to break it, and every other thing about this man, and you're going to do it slowly. Now, show me the face of the person who's going to do all of this."

To her astonishment, Azula was not disappointed with what she saw in the other girl's face. Gone was every last trace of the overly-sensitive, all too caring den mother. Blue eyes glared at her, intensely focused and narrowed like jagged spears of ice. She wore a scowl on her lips that would have sent a platypus bear running in fear, and her dark skin seemed to have become two shades darker in the shadow that fell over her face. All of this was framed on either side by spiked bangs of dark, chocolate brown.

Azula nodded her approval. "That's the look. Now, if you can just manage to hold it in a fight, I think you'll find your opponents far easier to handle. Fear is quite useful, you know."

The façade fell away completely as Katara found herself asking incredulously, "You think people would be afraid of me?"

"Looking like that? Of course they would, or at least, they would be fools not to be. You're an incredibly competent Waterbender, and you can be quite intimidating when you want to be, Katara."

She thought about it for a moment before responding, "Huh, I never thought about it before."

Azula regarded the Waterbender as one would an alien species, asking, "What do you mean?"

Katara had to think about it before responding, "Well, I guess I just never thought of myself as… scary."

"You sell yourself too short, Katara. You have an angry scowl that would send lesser men running for their mothers. Only the slightly braver ones would stick around long enough to regret mixing themselves up with your Waterbending." She let the words sink in before she explained further, "Look, Katara. I know you think I'm just an evil bitch, and for the most part you're probably right."

Katara made to argue, if only for the sake of the other girl's feelings, but Azula held a hand up to forestall such arguments, continuing with her speech, "The fact of the matter is, intimidation, in the middle of a fight, can be just as valuable as any Bending discipline, if not more so. Cowering your enemies, making them second-guess themselves in the heat of combat, can provide the advantage necessary to achieve victory." She studied the look of disbelief that turned ever-so-slowly to comprehension, and when she was satisfied the lesson had sunk in, she finished. "It isn't about being terrifying, Katara. It's about looking terrifying, and believe me, you can look quite terrifying when you choose to."

Katara gave her words a fair minute to sink in, and then she looked up, an entirely new appreciation for her Firebending companion twinkling in her deep blue eyes. "You're really smart, Azula." She had intended to say something more meaningful, but between racking her brain for compliments to give Azula, of all people, and ensuring she didn't fall victim to some honeyed-words, it was the best she could come up with. Azula smiled in response, and it was the singularly most unsettling action Katara had ever witnessed. She fought the urge to cringe. "We're… really gonna need to work on that, Azula."

Her smile disappeared instantly. "Work on what?"

Katara gave a sheepish smile, to show that she wasn't purposefully trying to be insulting. "Your… smile. It's… disturbing, to put it nicely."

Huffing with annoyance, Azula sniped back with, "Well, excuse me for not spending a good deal of time practicing smiling, I had a lot of other things to do as a child."

"No no, I don't mean it like that," Katara said defensively, trying to convey non-hostility but failing. "I just mean that, well… alright, look at it this way. You say it can be useful to intimidate people sometimes, right?" The question was more or less rhetorical, and after receiving a quick nod she continued, "Well, so can being friendly. Sometimes." That last word was added far too hastily, after Katara saw the look of utter bewilderment bordering on anger that the Firebender was giving her. After a moment, however, Azula's look softened.

"Go on," was all she said.

"Okay, so look at it this way. Scaring people into doing what you want isn't always the way to go. Sometimes, it's better to make them think you're friendly. You know, to get their guard down. To do this, it helps to be… friendly." Azula was looking at her in a strange, unfamiliar way now, and Katara could only guess that this was her paying attention. Intently. It unsettled the Waterbender to a certain degree, but didn't let her train of thought get derailed. "Do you follow?"

Azula hummed to herself before replying. "I think I get what you're saying, but tell me, how is it more useful than fear? In my experience, people who are afraid tend to be amiable to just about anything you tell them." It wasn't an argument, and wasn't even meant to be such, Katara realized. This was just Azula having legitimate questions, and she didn't know what concerned her more; the fact she was having this conversation with Azula, or the fact she understood Azula, at least to this degree.

"Yes, well, that may be true, but think of it this way. If you scare some guy right from the start, he might do what you tell him to, but he'll always be apprehensive to you at the same time. Sometimes, it's more useful to get close to them, form a bond, that way, they'll be willing to tell you whatever you want to know, and they won't even realize they've fallen for anything."

"Hmmm… I think I see what you're saying, Katara."

At that, the Waterbender perked up. "Really?"

Azula nodded. "Yes, but how do you go about creating this, bond? It seems like more trouble than it's worth."

Katara shook her head. "Not at all, especially not for pretty girls like us. You just make big, wide, innocent looking eyes, and say whatever you think they want to hear. Smile a lot, laugh whenever you need to, and whatever you do, don't scare them off."

This was beginning to become oddly reminiscent of a conversation she had once had with Ty Lee, but Azula shook those thoughts away when a sudden realization struck her. "You think I'm pretty?"

Katara's face went blank as she realized the implication of her own words, and she floundered for an acceptably diffusing response. "No, I didn't mean that! It's just, well, you're not ugly." She could feel the beads of sweat already starting to form, but just as quickly as it happened, her unease was washed away by the sound of Azula's laughter.

"Relax, Katara, I see what you're saying here. And I have to admit, I'm somewhat impressed. I never thought you of all people would have it in you to be so manipulative."

"Manipulative?" Katara repeated, sounding personally offended by the very word itself, let alone the implication she was anything like the Firebender. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all."

"Katara, what do you think manipulation is? Twisting people to your will to better suit your own purposes. Just because you use a different means to manipulate people than I do, doesn't mean you aren't still being manipulative." The matter-of-fact manner in which Azula said the words, as well as the words themselves, effectively quashed any argument the Waterbender might have had prepared, leaving the slightly older girl momentarily dumbstruck.

At last, she found her thoughts and conceded, "Wow, I guess I never really thought it that way before."

"Manipulation and Firebending," the princess announced with a slightly dramatic flair. "It's what I know."

Katara's dark features turned devious a moment later. "Alright, now let's work on that 'friendly' face." As if on cue, Azula gave what she figured to be the friendliest, happiest, most endearing smile in all the world. If the suddenly appalled look on her companion's face was any indication, she had failed miserably.

The smile on her face would have been more appropriate on that of a cat-gator's, and had their been small children around they would have likely broken into tears at the sight of it. Katara found herself caught between the desire to flee, and the urge to laugh. The latter won out in the end.

As her laughter began subsiding and Katara regained control of her breath, she began explaining, "Okay, let's try this. First, your smile is way too big, are you trying to split your face open? Tone it down a bit, you look like you're forcing it to the point of being uncomfortable. Next, your eyes. You're looking at me like I'm a field mouse you're about to sink your talons into. If you want to get people to like you, you can't go making them feel like prey."

Azula appeared for a second as if she would have some biting remark to make, so it was that she surprised the girl across from her when she said, "Very well. How's this?" Her smile, while no longer the face-tearing smile of a serial-killer on hallucinogenic mushrooms, was still giving off a faint vibe of lunacy. Her golden eyes were still alight with predatory glee. In the end, she still looked like she was going to eat Katara within the next few minutes.

"It's… better," Katara lied, wincing to herself as she did so. "Let's try something different. Oh, I know! Little girl lost."

When all she received in response was one raised eyebrow, she elucidated, "Pretend I'm a town guard and you're just a little girl who's lost her family while at the market." Katara settled in and prepared for her role, but was thrown straight from the saddle of that particular Ostrich-horse the moment Azula opened her mouth.

"You there! Assist me in locating my progenitors-"

"No, no, no. Are you even trying, Azula?"

"What? You said pretend that you're a guard, this is exactly how I speak to guards."

"Progenitors?"

"What? That's exactly what they are."

Katara sighed in exasperation. Mastered lightning by the age of fourteen. As socially awkward as a penguin. This just might actually be impossible. "Pretend… pretend that you aren't royalty, never have been. You have no authority over these guards, and they're just as likely to kick you aside as help you. You have to make them want to help you, but not because they're afraid of you. You're just a harmless little girl, no fire, no lightning. Now show it to me."

Azula considered the challenge for what it was, and inevitably chose to take it. She could win this. She'd won a lot harder on guile alone before. In the blink of an eye, her face transformed from haughty, confident, and superior, and became innocent desperation on the brink of tears. "Sir, sir please, help me!" she cried out, her eyes wide and vulnerable looking, her lower lip trembling as she bent her head forward, carefully holding Katara's gaze but not demanding it. Azula looked away and partially to the side, though she kept the other girl's entire body in easy view as she continued, "I've… I've lost my mom, and my dad." She sniffed, and a tear escaped one eye as she almost whispered, "And my brother."

Despite knowing the ruse for what it was, Katara suddenly couldn't quite help the whispered pang of hurt that her heart actually felt from those words, and the way they were presented. Azula realized at probably the same moment the irony of those words, and how dangerously close to home they actually struck for her, despite not being a helpless peasant girl at heart.

"That was… good," Katara admitted, though she had already known Azula could be an incredibly competent liar. "I guess if you just… pretend it's a role to play, you can act any way you need to." After realizing the unintended barb of her words, she quickly amended, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"No, I think you may be on to something." Azula didn't have any qualm with the girl's words since she understood the underlying meaning. "I don't think I could ever be civil with normal people, not in any way you would understand it at least. No," she waved a hand and cut the Waterbender off as she explained further, "You would always think I were rude to them, and I probably would be, but for me not hurting or threatening to hurt them is being civil. I will never be nice in your way, but I think if I can just… pretend to act like you, or someone nice like you, I could fool most people."

The wind brushed the girl's hair around their faces, and they were both suddenly reminded of a very recent change of affairs. "I think your hair loops are making me loopy."

At that particular remark, Katara grinned an almost acceptable Azula-grin, and shot back, "Azula, trust me, you were already very loopy, for a very long time."

"You're probably right," The Firebender replied, giving her own maniacal grin in response. She didn't hold it long before a fit of laughter overtook the two girls, and Appa gave a healthy flap of his tail to give them all a little more speed for a while.

---

Several hours after the two once-nemeses had taken off, the Avatar had successfully gone from worried, to paranoid, to an all-out nervous wreck waiting to explode. He paced back and forth, trying to pull at hair that had once been there, briefly, only for the entire effort to be in vain. "I should have gone with them! What was I thinking? Anything could have happened, and I should be there to make sure-"

"Aang, you're worrying too much, I'm sure they're fine," Sokka tried to tell him, although he himself was having one or two misgivings about the situation. Still, it was hardly the first time he had been concerned with a decision his sister made, but she had a certain tenacity that saw her through most trouble, and one way or another she had always come out of every situation alive and in one piece. Also, distinctly lacking any viable way of catching up to the Sky Bison by this point, he literally couldn't do anything but trust Katara knew what she was doing and that he would see her again. He didn't let any of his own concern show through, however, as he tried in vain to cajole the distraught monk into relaxing, with little success.

"He's right, Aang." Zuko's voice wasn't exactly unexpected, given that he, too, had been standing there, watching the last Airbender spiraling out of control, but the softness of his tone was somewhat startling. "All this worrying can't be good for you, and you need to be at your very best. Who else is going to fight Firelord Ozai, me? Do I have to remind any of you what happened the last time I fought my father?" he asked, tilting the left side of his face towards them in emphasis.

There was one present, however, for which such a gesture meant nothing, nor it's implications. "What happened, Sparky?" Toph asked with all of her usual cavalier cadence.

Zuko blanched at the audacity of such a response, as his scar was almost always the first thing anybody ever noticed about him, but then sighed in anger when he realized why. "My father burned the left side of my face. There's a scar."

Ever sensitive to the woes of others, Toph wasted not a second in asking, "How bad?"

"I… really?" He could hardly believe this line of questioning, let alone the offhanded way in which it was being asked. This was literally the most painful experience of his life, both physically and emotionally, and all he got for his exasperation was a mild shrug.

"It's… pretty bad, Toph." Sokka interjected, and Aang, for a moment derailed from his own worries, voiced his own affirmation to that claim.

The scarred prince in question looked understandably perturbed, but managed to grit out, "Yeah, it's pretty bad. My entire left eye and all around it are covered in a scar that's never going to heal!"

"Well gee, sorry for not noticing," quipped Toph, sounding anything but.

Zuko just hung his head in defeat, already knowing he wouldn't win a fight, verbal or otherwise, with a little blind girl and come out in the end looking like the good guy. "It doesn't matter, and we're getting off topic anyways. Aang," he said, finally shifting everyone's attention back to the Avatar, "I thought you said you trusted my sister now, do you or not?"

"Well, I do," Aang began to answer, though it was clear from his tone that he had more to say that was going to be contradictory to that assertion. "It's just that, I kind of only trust her when I'm around, just in case something does happen, I can be there to stop it." If he had anything else to add, it was immediately cut off by the sound of all three other people bursting into various stages of laughter, from Sokka's polite attempt to bite his lip and keep from snickering to Toph's outright howling. "What!?" he demanded, though it had little effect, "I could take Azula, I'm the Avatar!"

Toph was the first to regain enough composure to shoot back with, "Sorry, Twinkletoes, but you don't stand a chance against her on your own, especially if you weren't expecting it."

Aang made to argue, but was immediately cut-off by Zuko's challenge. "Name one time you beat Azula on your own."

"I… well… but there was…" The finger he had been holding up as he made a futile attempt to gives examples fell at the same moment his entire face did. "Yeah, well, I didn't see any of you guys beating her."

"You're the Avatar!" Zuko countered, throwing out a hand for emphasis. "She's been better than me at Firebending since she was six! Toph's blind and Sokka can't even bend!"

"Hey, my blindness is not that big of a handicap, thank you very much. I've just never had a fair shot at a one on one with her, for some reason." Every face turned to stare into the camera at that exact moment, all sporting looks of clear disappointment, anger, and outright disbelief, before returning to the conversation as if such an act had never occurred in the first place. "Look, at the end of the day, we'll just have to trust that Sweetness knows what she's doing and can handle herself. I don't know about most times, but on a good night, Katara could hold her own with Azula. And on a full moon? Forget about it, all bets are off."

This piqued Zuko's curiosity, of course, and he perked up. "Wait, why is that? What's so great about a full moon? I mean, I know it makes Katara's Waterbending stronger, but would it really be enough to take my sister?" The sudden shift in everyone else's faces was a serious cause for concern, and the scarred prince couldn't stop himself from shouting, "What is it!?"

"Uh, Zuko, I don't really know how to explain this, but…" Sokka glanced at both Toph and Aang, as if for backup, but it was mostly a wasted effort, "Katara learned how to bend the blood in people's body. She can only do it during a full moon, though."

Both of the older boy's eyes shot wide, especially saying something of his alarm in the case of his left eye. "She can what?!"

Just like that, they had managed to double their original problem.

After five minutes of Aang and Zuko pacing back and forth with worry about what one girl might do to the other, Toph felt the distinct urge to sock Sokka in the gut, but she settled with his shoulder. "You just had to go and tell him that, didn't you?" Sokka at least had the grace to not bother denying the blame, and accepted the shame of it with a hang of his head.

---

"There!" announced Azula, lowering the spyglass and pointing at the column of black that was rising in the far distance, growing by the minute. The sun had already begun setting a short time ago, and by now was more than halfway down the horizon. The twilight still left them visible enough, however, so once Katara steered Appa low enough so that they were skimming the water's surface, she began a dance with her arms that caused a sphere of water to encapsulate them, and the bison knew exactly what to do next as he dove down to a concealing depth. They wouldn't resurface until they reached a small island formation jutting out of the water, though in truth it was little more than a spire of volcanic rock that was perhaps twice Appa's size in total diameter. It did well enough as a place to conceal the massive animal whilst the two girls advanced on foot to the communications tower itself.

They waited for total nightfall before heading out in complete, synchronized silence. The moment they reached the water's edge, Katara swept her arms in front of herself, creating a platform of ice that they both jumped upon before being swept forward by a small wave. They hit the shore beneath a small alcove that provided perfect cover from the sight of the nearest watchtower, and no sooner had their feet touched the ground were they off at a silent sprint. Under any ordinary circumstances, the two elite Benders could have forced their way in and dealt with anybody and everybody who crossed their path, but Azula was quite explicit in explaining the need for absolute stealth. If so much as a rat saw them, the ship they were after would disappear, and likely for good.

So it was that the two reached the large wall that encompassed the tower itself without so much as a whisper of noise between them, and when the lone guard making his absent-minded rounds passed by their section and was far from earshot, the girls were once again in action. Katara sent a series of water blasts up the wall, freezing them solid the moment they made contact and creating a set of frozen pegs that Azula practically flew up. Katara followed suit, at a somewhat reduced pace, and when she, too, was on top of the wall, she simply swiped her hand downwards, reducing the evidence of their infiltration to little more than a puddle on the ground.

After a quick scan of the exterior, Azula located a side door that looked to be their best bet. The front door was certainly not an option, at any rate. Staying low and silent, the pair moved like shadows, until they arrived at a stash of supplies that appeared haphazardly stacked. In truth, the items should have been catalogued, itemized and stored the day they had arrived, but it was clear that the soldiers stationed at this particular building had become very lazy and disinterested in such trivialities. That would change, the day she had any say in the leadership of her Nation, but for now, she was secretly thankful, as it gave them the perfect cover while they waited for an opening.

Luck appeared to be on their side, as they didn't have to wait long before a couple of noisy and oblivious guards burst outside, lost in some conversation about nothing. So engrossed in their dialogue were they that the pair of guards completely failed to notice the pair of saboteurs slip through the too-slowly-closing door behind them.

Once they were inside, the couldn't afford to stop for any amount of time until they could manage to find some reliable cover. Azula felt exposed and for once, Katara may have been the calmer of the two, though you never would have guessed by looking at them. Running silently became an entirely different problem now that they were on steel floors with nothing but empty steel halls to amplify their every step. They were forced to slow to more of a hurried gait than anything else, and they had only just rounded their first corner when the telltale sound of steel boots came clunking down the corridor ahead. The noise reverberated over and over on itself, making the true number of guards indiscernible, but it didn't matter; they couldn't let so much as one see them.

Azula made for the nearest door and prayed to spirits she didn't necessarily believe in that it wasn't occupied. She lifted on the door as she opened it, keeping it's own weight off it's hinges and preventing an overly-loud screech, though there was still a small scrape of metal against metal. It was easily lost in the clatter of boots moving, and as luck would have it, the room turned out to be a storage closet, and thus deserted, albeit a tad cramped. Katara was instantly through the door and Azula slipped around to the opposite side of the door like a shadow against the surface to close the door in a similar fashion.

The girls waited for the guards to move past, and as they were waiting, Azula eyed a ventilation cover on the ceiling towards the back wall. She motioned with her eyes for Katara to look over her shoulder at the object she was looking at, and when the other girl did so and looked back with a questioning but respectful look, Azula raised her eyebrows briefly then squinted ever-so-slightly, almost glaring but not in a threatening manner. The epiphany dawned across Katara's face like the moon outside had done only hours ago, and the Firebender couldn't help the devious smirk that lifted her lip on one side just so.

Inevitably, the guards (three, as it turned out, when they were close enough for Azula to properly hear) did pass their hiding place, none-the-wiser of what laid beyond that door, and when they were well beyond earshot, Azula made for the stack of boxes piled against the back wall. She climbed up to the top, forcing herself to hunch over slightly to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling, but aside from that minor inconvenience, she was easily able to unfasten the grate that lead into the ventilation system.

The air ducts were made of a thick enough steel to support the girls' combined weight without so much as warping, and so all they had to do was move as silently as possible and keep an eye out for the correspondence room. The vents went to every room in the complex, and so it was only a matter of time before Azula spotted what she was looking for. Beneath them, sitting in a lone chair at a modest sized table and scribbling deliberately on a parchment, sat a man too focused on his work to notice anything else. Azula flicked her eyes and nodded her head towards the table, letting Katara take in the situation. The Waterbender noticed the little bowl of ink immediately, and with a wave of her hand, the liquid obeyed her will, tipping itself over with enough force to splatter all over the poor fool's robe, and he immediately stormed off in a fury to change clothing.

Azula dropped from the ceiling the instant the door shut behind him, and no sooner had her feet touched the floor was she in front of a shelf, eyes scanning furiously until they fell on what they were looking for, and in that second her hand had shot out and snatched the item. She unrolled the map and began tracing immediately with her finger, and within moments she had found her target. On patrol near Whale Tail Island, she thought to herself, considering the distance. It was another day's journey at least, but that was good. They would want the darkness.

Replacing the map precisely as she had found it, Azula launched herself up and latched onto Katara's wrists as the other girl did the same to her, hauling the Firebender up enough to grab the opening and pull herself in. They closed the grate before heading quickly but quietly down the way they had come, which was only mildly complex, so Azula remembered it with ease. Back in the supply closet, the grate was similarly replaced before the two made for the door to listen.

The halls outside sounded completely silent, and so they risked a peak. As soon as they saw they were in the clear, they bee-lined for the exit door, around the corner and just at the end of the hall. The closer they got, the faster they seemed to go, and it almost sounded like there were more footsteps coming from behind them, but it was impossible to tell if they weren't just echoed versions of their own. Azula practically threw the door to the outside open, almost beyond caring if they were caught with the end so near in sight.

No guards ever crossed their paths again, and the two girls quickly scaled the nearest section of wall and, once back down near the water, they were practically at a sprint. Nothing could stop them now, and Appa would be flying the same way any messenger hawks went. Azula could shoot a thousand of them down, she was positive. They crossed the water in the same way as the first time and, within ten minutes of re-uniting with and checking on the sky bison, the two girls were in the air with a southeastern heading.

It wasn't until they were well up into the air that either girl finally said something. "You were quite impressive back there, Katara, I have to honestly say."

This of course elicited a scoff from the other girl, but it was with humor that she replied, "Have you ever honestly said anything in your life, Azula?"

Azula took the jest in stride, tilting her head and pretending to think. "Once or twice, I would think. That was one of them, though," she added with a touch of seriousness.

"Well, I suppose if that's true, then I'm a bit flattered, actually," admitted Katara.

"How did you get so good at espionage?"

Katara smirked, clearly proud of herself as she answered, "I've had a lot of practice on Fire Nation soldiers this past year." It didn't surprise her to see Azula so adept at the art, but she still asked, mostly out of politeness, "What about you?"

At that, the Firebender could only smirk. "Fire Nation soldiers, though I daresay I've been doing it for far longer." She expected the other girl to question the oddity of that coincidence, and so was surprised when all she received instead was a chuckle.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we both know how to deal with them so easily."

Azula hummed her agreement before declaring, "I suppose we should get some sleep now, it's going to at least a day before we reach the area the ship should be in, and we'll want to be at full strength." She made use of the dramatic pause she had so perfected to give her enemy-turned-comrade a look of malicious, mischievous glee before stating with no small amount of finality, "This time, we aren't doing things the quiet way."

---

The sun was almost entirely below the horizon behind them when Azula spotted the speck of a ship in the distance. Extending her telescope and spotting the black sea raven on a red field told her all she needed to know. It was them.

"So, how did you wish to proceed, Katara? Lay waste to them all and send their ship to the bottom, or personal vengeance against the one who killed your mother?" Azula asked, as easily as some girls might ask which store to shop in.

Katara already had her answer, and in no uncertain terms replied, "Just him."

Azula hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't suppose you remember the details of his armor? It would be helpful to know if we're looking for an officer, or just a regular sailor."

The Waterbender did not hesitate in her reply, "It was black, blacker than most, with dark red trim, and high, sharp shoulder spikes." She remembered every detail.

"A Captain, then. Good, that should make it easy to find him. Either on the bridge, or in his room. We'll sweep the deck, and incapacitate anyone we come across on our way up." She waited for any interjections from her compatriot, then went on, "Not getting spotted might be the trickiest part, but if they open fire on us, I can deal with them, so long as you can steer Appa."

At that, Katara shook her head and grinned wolfishly. "I have a better idea," she said, which in and of itself took the princess by surprise, but she wasn't allowed any time to argue as the other girl continued, "You take the reins, and I'll get us there without anyone knowing it. Take us down to the water, Appa will know what to do from there."

Puzzled, Azula willed herself to play along. It wasn't often her plans were countermanded by anyone that was not her father, but Katara seemed quite certain of herself, and the princess would have been lying to herself if she did not admit to being just a tad curious. So, she took a seat behind Appa's great, furry skull and bid the animal to descend. When they were only a dozen feet above the water's surface, Katara burst into motion, waving her arms around her in an intricate dance that moved all of her save her feet, which remained planted the entire time. The waves below responded to her call, and swirled up to form a complete sphere around them, and in the next moment, they were submerged completely, leaving only ripples to dissipate upon the surface.

To say that Princess Azula was stunned would have been an understatement. Though her face betrayed very little, inside she was in awe as she looked around her at the infinite depths. To be witnessing them but still able to breath felt like cheating, and she gained an altogether new respect for Waterbendering, and what it could enable a person to do. She decided she would have to do this again sometime, when they weren't en-route to battle.

By the time they reached the ship, the sun had long since faded entirely from the sky, and the moon had barely begun it's ascent. Even still, it's presence was impossible to ignore, for those on deck who looked upon it's full magnificence, to the girl lurking beneath the waves, who felt it's power course through her every vein. When they rose, it was with a torrent of water that blocked out the view of the moon to those on deck, but nothing could block it's power from reaching the girl.

Katara unleashed her tidal wave, and washed away every man that had been on deck. They would live, provided they could swim.

However impressed Azula may have been, it never showed as she hit the deck running. The sailors may not have had time to raise any alarm before being thrown into the sea, but a large, unnatural wave slamming into the side of a ship tends to draw attention. As soon as the first door was thrown open, Azula was already going through motions that deflected incoming fire harmlessly, without returning any fire of her own. It was imperative that her identity not be revealed.

The enemy Firebenders, of which there were currently only two, stood baffled momentarily, unable to comprehend that they were dealing with a Firebender when no fire was thrown back at them. They made ready to renew their assault, but their lapse in certainty was their undoing, and before so much as a spark left their hands, they found themselves pulled violently by the wrists and slammed into the wall behind them. Immediately the water Katara had used froze into ice, and the enemy Firebenders were left helpless as the two girls all in black rapidly advanced on them.

Azula did them the favor of knocking them unconscious with her elbow to their helmets as they ran by, ensuring they wouldn't free themselves in time to close off their retreat. Knowing the layout of a Fire Nation War-cruiser as if she had grown-up on one, the princess wasted no time in leading them down the hall, around a corner, and up a stairwell. They were soon facing a closed steel door, likely locked from the other side. She gave Katara a look as if to ask if she were ready, to which the Waterbender squinted her eyes, and nodded her head.

With one final look behind her to ensure nobody was around, Azula let loose on the door with a torrent of apparently inexhaustible flame. However well-forged the door might have been, sooner or later it had little choice but to give in to the relentless heat. First it took on a bright red glow, then it began sagging on it's hinges, before falling off of them completely, crashing inside the bridge of the ship with a screeching groan. The girls leapt inside the room, deftly avoiding the piece of metal, to find a lone, frightened looking man standing inside, a poor fighting stance adopted but not committed to.

Whatever his intentions may have been, it made little difference to Katara, who raised her arms in a manner which Azula had never before seen from any Waterbender. With horrified wonder, she watched what was a man become a rag doll, falling to his knees with an agonized scream as his limbs bent in unnatural angles behind him. She looked into the eyes of her companion and saw someone she had never before met in her life. The gentle compassion of her blue eyes had vanished entirely, to be replaced with a malice as dark and bottomless as the sea itself. Her entire visage spoke death to her enemies, of whom the princess was relieved to say no longer included her, at least she hoped.

"Do you know this girl?" Azula asked, careful to mask the natural sound of her voice with something harsher and more intimidating.

The captain raised his head, or rather, his head was raised for him, and he stared into dark blue eyes that he had never encountered in all his years, and hoped against hope wouldn't be the last pair he ever saw, and cried out desperately, "No! I swear it, please!"

"Are you sure?" returned Azula, in a tone suggesting she didn't believe a word. "Think back, good and hard, to your last raid on the southern Water Tribe."

A baffled look flashed across the man's face, the sincerity of which gave the princess pause. "I don't know what you're talking about, I've never raided the southern Water Tribe, you can check the log yourself!"

It proved entirely unnecessary, however, as Katara let the man slip from her influence, eyes downcast to the floor. "We're wasting our time, that isn't him."

Azula was almost ready to explode, perhaps more than metaphorically, when the captain of the ship, perhaps in an effort to prove his truthfulness, though more likely an attempt to save his own hide, spoke up once again, telling the girls, "You must want Shin-Ra, he was the captain of this vessel before me, but he retired over six months ago. You can probably find him at his home, on Ember Island."

They gave the man a final glare, before disappearing back down the steel corridors. They returned to the deck of the ship without a word between them or an incident occurring, and as they passed out into the open night air, Katara pulled a whistle from her sleeve and blew one short blast into it. They waited only a few short moment's before Appa's deep voice could be heard rumbling through the darkness, and soon enough they spotted the dark shape moving towards them. Once both girls were safely back aboard their flying companion, they retook to the night-sky.

Only when they were safely cruising high above the sea did either girl say anything, and it was Azula who spoke first, saying, "I had no idea Waterbenders were capable of such a feat." She might have said more, but she was still trying to reconcile this new fact with her old worldview. Fire had always been superior, always, there had never been a question in her mind. The ability to outright control another person's body, however, this was something she almost couldn't wrap her head around. Even her lightning felt inferior in the face of such an ability, to which she had no conceivable counter.

"It isn't something I enjoy doing," Katara explained, sounding ashamed and perhaps a bit disgusted with herself for so easily giving in to temptation. She certainly hadn't held back when she thought she had the man who killed her mother, the thought never even crossed her mind.

"Of course," Azula replied smoothly, pretending to understand the sentiment. In truth, if she were capable of such a thing, she already knew she would be ruling the world. "You'll use it when you have to, though, and when you do, you won't think twice about it."

Anger flashed across the Waterbender's face, and before she knew what her mouth was doing she found herself saying, "I wouldn't have thought twice about using it on you." The ember of her old hatred still burned through her words, and Azula found herself contemplating her chances of success here.

"Of course you wouldn't have," she said, knowing full-well the level of hatred this supposedly gentle and caring soul held for her. The fact that she hadn't been subjected to this extreme-level of bending back in Ba Sing Se told her that the ability was a relatively new addition to the Waterbender's bag of tricks, and for that, she was grateful. "I suppose I should thank you for not having done it yet."

Katara glared at her one last time as she threatened, "Just don't ever give me a reason to, and I won't."

"Do you truly believe that I am still your enemy?" Azula asked, incredulous at the suspicions of this girl, even after all she had done to the Avatar's benefit, and her own by extension.

Katara had to think a moment before responding, a sign that her initial hostility had subsided, if only marginally. "I don't know what to think," admitted the girl who's skin made her blend into the darkness of night around them, "but I do know that you're a pretty good liar. You said so yourself." Azula noticed a sly twinkle in the girl's eye as she spoke, and though she couldn't be certain, she thought there was a chance that the other girl was smirking, as well.

---

The day was growing hot as Shin-Ra sank his small shovel into the ground for the hundredth time. He was carefully tending to his personal garden of vegetables, keeping it clean of bugs, weeds, and any other pest or nuisance which presented itself. He had always been good at clearing out the vermin of the world, it was a part of who he was. Meticulous, careful, and without any hesitation, that was how he acted. He was a successful, retired commander, the Scourge of the South as he called himself, though he never really got the name to stick with his men. He was all that a good Fire Nation man should hope to be. He was-!

"Shin-Ra!"

-Getting ready to seriously consider killing that insufferable pig-cow that the spirits had for some reason seen fit to grant extreme age upon. How old was his mother now, 70? 80? Who should ever live so long but a Fire Lord! The shovel trembled in his hand, anxious for release. He swung hard, and buried it to the hilt in the soil, berating himself mentally even as he stood and turned to face the wretched beast that spawned him oh-so many years ago.

"Yes, mother?" he asked, his every word and action that of a broken, defeated man.

"I'm hungry!" she shouted, as though emphasizing the word would somehow change the available food choices, which he had doubtless already explained to her earlier in the day at some point. Perhaps it was yesterday, he thought, as these days of misery bled together, one into the other, one after the other, over and over again. It was impossible to keep track.

"Mother," he began once again, sighing the word as much as saying it, "there are plenty of fresh vegetables in the garden, here, have a delicious tomato." He offered the fruit (It IS a fruit people!) to the ancient woman, who immediately smacked it away to land, smashed, into the dirt. Bugs swarmed it immediately, the very same bugs who, one day, it could be hoped, would feast on this miserable excuse for a person that stood before him.

"Those vegetables make my gums bleed! They're a miserable failure, just like you! Now take your grimey-hiney to the market and get me some real food," she hollered back, her eyes just daring him to do something defiant.

He sighed in defeat, a well practiced sigh, and grabbed the coin purse from inside, along with a basket. Slipping on his sandles, Shin-Ra then started down the small path which would lead to the road which lead to town. The day had grown hotter, or so it seemed to him, as he walked along the road, with nary a breeze to stir his hair or cool his skin. The sweat made his hair stick to his head, which in turn made his head feel hotter, and caused him to sweat more. It was a miserable, humid day in the Fire Nation, like so many others before.

The day was growing late by the time Shin-Ra was half-way home. So many slow fools, shuffling about and being indecisive about which eggplant they wanted. The waste of his time should have been a criminal act! He grunted and mumbled his frustrations as he was leaving the town, and well beyond the earshot of any other persons. Or at least, he thought he was, anyways.

While he had been waiting in that ridiculous line, another outrage and been committed against his person, and this by the heaven's themselves! Storm clouds had rolled in, thick and low in the sky, with a rapidity which signaled only one possible outcome; Rain, and soon. His joints were aching in agreement, rain would be upon him, and before he could make it home, most likely.

A sudden rustling noise brought him out of his anguished mind and back into reality. Shin-Ra snapped his head around, and noticed a few disturbed leaves on a bush, some twenty paces back. Nothing else was found to be amiss, and with an arrogant huff, he turned back to resume walking.

He had hardly walked another dozen paces when he heard a new rustling sound, this time from the leaves in the tree he had only just passed by. "Who's there?!" he commanded, though his voice sounded a tad more certain than he did. As if replying to his question, the sky chose this very moment to open up with it's first few droplets of water. No other response was made, however, and so he hurried along on his way, anxious to put distance between himself and that tree.

With rapid footsteps, Shin-Ra was quickly able to move another twenty paces further down the road, but as he sped along, his ears caught another rustling sound behind him. This time, he gave no fair warning, instead dropping his basket of produce and turning around on his heel to send a fireball from his fist sailing at the offending bush, shouting as he did so, "No-one sneaks up on Shin-Ra without getting burned!"

Azula rolled her eyes at the idiocy of the man. "Well, we know it's him then. Shall we?"

Without waiting for any response, the Firebender was already in action, moving quickly and silently up and behind the man. Oh, how easily she could have ended him, without his even being aware of it, but this mouse wasn't hers to kill, so she resolved to play nice. Well, as nice as she could be, at any rate.

She stepped in a puddle to draw his attention, and surely enough, the old man turned his head at the noise, spotted her standing there, and twisted his body around to send another fireball at this mysterious assailant. Azula stepped forward and ducked low, avoiding the lazy attack with contemptuous ease. Easily closing the short distance in the space of a heartbeat, she got one hand on his wrist and the other beneath his chin. As Azula stood, the man fell, and before he had the chance to make a poor decision, she warned him, "I wouldn't suggest doing that again, if I were you." With one glare, she pinned the man to the ground with her eyes, and he didn't dare to rise or try to continue fighting.

"Please," he began begging, the fight blown out of him like a dying candle in the wind.

"Do you recognize this girl?" she asked forcefully, cutting the man's pathetic groveling off before it could start. The old man stared up at her for a moment, confusion plain on his face, when he finally looked around and behind the girl who had taken him down, to notice the second figure cloaked in black, eyes of a totally different hue, though just as angry and terrible to look into.

"I- I don't know, I've never seen her before in my life…" he replied, desperate to be spared, but even as he said the words, he didn't quite feel the conviction of them in his gut.

"Oh, really?" sneered Azula, clearly unconvinced. "You had better remember, as if you're life depended on it." She made it clear by the tone of her voice that his life did, in fact, depend on it.

Shin-Ra looked at Katara this time, really looked, and he saw something he hadn't seen in years flash before his eyes. A girl, a little girl, with deep blue eyes, frightened eyes, standing in the entrance of a small tent. Snow and ice were everywhere, everywhere the deep, pervasive feeling of cold. He turned his head, but the girl with the sharp golden eyes was gone, and in her place he saw an older woman, with the same dark brown skin, and the same dark blue eyes, kneeling before him instead of standing over him. No, this time, it had been him who was standing over her, and she was afraid, and pleading with him.

"Yes," he said in a voice of wonder, "yes, I remember. You were the little girl, the Waterbender's daughter."

Katara saw something as well, when the old man looked at her, she saw the eyes of the monster that had stood over her mother in the tent. The monster who had sent her running in terror. She had been so small, so weak. She wasn't weak anymore.

"She wasn't the last Waterbender in the Southern Tribe! She was protecting the last Waterbender!"

"What? But, who-?" He hadn't killed the Waterbenders. His legacy was a lie, his life's mission, a failure. He never had a moment to ponder any of this, however, because the answer to his question came immediately.

"ME!" Katara screamed, raising her arms and shutting her fists. Azula expected to see the man tied into a knot, but he remained exactly as he had been. It was the rain around them that had changed. Every drop stood motionless, suspended in the air around them. Azula felt as though she had stepped into a dream. Shin-Ra looked as though he had stepped into a nightmare. The princess stepped back, and felt the raindrops roll and slither past her, without leaving a mark of their passing.

Then Katara began to move, and the rain moved with her, droplets coalescing into larger balls of water, and those into one another, until the many droplets had become one large mass of water, a mass that took the shape of a great spear before freezing, becoming sharp and crystalline. Katara wielded the weapon of her vengeance as though she meant to fell a mountain, and the old man, trembling on his knees, could only wait in anguish for his life to be reduced to a red smear.

Katara's furious cry heralded the end for the old Firebender, and caused the involuntary release of his bladder. Death would not be long in taking him.

The blow never came though, and daring to open his eyes, Shin-Ra found himself face to face with the business end of a spike, levitating in the air just an inch from his eye. Before he could try to comprehend, the spike melted all at once, drenching him to the bone but otherwise leaving him unharmed. The rage, the fury, indeed, the very will to fight itself, all at once emptied itself from Katara as she let out a hopeless sigh. She had finally found him, the monster who murdered her mother, and yet she had never felt more hollow. Shin-Ra, taking her silence as his having the onus to speak, began stammering, "I did a bad thing, I know I did! Why don't you kill my mother, in return?"

At this outrageous proposal, Katara resumed her air of indignant fury, telling the soulless husk she had spared, "I thought when I finally found you, I would have some closure in beating you, but now that I see how pathetic you really are, it just feels hollow. There's just… nothing, inside of you. Which means there's no point in killing you." That said, she turned and began to walk away, leaving a very confused Azula standing there for a moment. She gave a final glare at the wretch, then made to follow. Neither of them said a thing until they were on Appa, flying through the crystal clear night sky left behind in the storm's wake.

"So that didn't go quite exactly as planned," Azula stated more than asked.

Katara was sitting quietly on the opposite side of Appa, contemplating the most recent events in her life, as well as some of the oldest. "He wasn't worth killing," was her simple reply, though it did lack that distinct, disdainful quality it so often had when she addressed the Fire Nation princess.

Azula did not argue the point, choosing instead to just let it be. There would have been no point in it, anyways, as the girl's mind was clearly made up on the subject. What she asked next, however, did take Azula by surprise.

"What happened to your mother, Azula?"

The Firebender wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question, at first, so instead she replied with, "What would make you ask me something like that?"

Katara had the decency to look ashamed for a moment, prying into someone's personal life like that, but in her own defense she explained, "Zuko told me something about her when we were both trapped underneath the Earth Palace. When I told him that the Fire Nation had taken my mother from me, he said that it was something we had in common."

Azula didn't exactly see things the same way as her brother, but she didn't feel compelled to contradict his word. "She left a little over six years ago." There was a lot she wanted to say about her mother, but her self-control prevented most of it from escaping.

"She left?" Katara asked in utter disbelief.

"A self-imposed exile, if you will. After poisoning the Fire Lord, my grandfather, and leaving the way open for my father to seize power." Azula spoke as though she were giving an account on history, remaining as emotionally detached from the subject as possible. Katara could only stare in disbelief.

"Why would she do something like that?"

Well that's an easy one, thought Azula. "To save Zuko. When Uncle Iroh lost the siege of Ba Sing Se, he lost his son as well. His only son. My father thought he saw a window, and tried to seize the opportunity by requesting that he be named grandfather's heir. Grandfather was furious. He declared that father would have to know the pain of losing a son as well, and ordered him to kill his own." Katara had been listening with wide eyes, but at this last remark she became horror-stricken.

"He was going to do it, too," she murmured.

Azula nearly barked out a sarcastic laugh, before realizing it was unlikely the other girl knew the origin of Zuko's scar. Instead she replied with a simple, "Of course he was."

Katara looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry that happened, Azula. It must have been hard."

At this comment, the Firebender bristled, snapping back, "It's not like I lost anything when she left!" It was clear by the look on Katara's face that she didn't know how to interpret that, so Azula explained as easily as she knew how, stating simply, "My mother thought I was a monster."

"Azula," Katara said, sounding as though she had been personally wounded by the declaration, "that, that can't be true, she was your mother!"

"And Ozai is my father," Azula replied quietly, as though it were supposed to explain everything. She never said another word, and instead quietly rolled on her side and covered herself with a blanket. Left with nothing else to do, Katara followed suit, and soon both were fast asleep as Appa drifted listlessly through the night sky.

---

The night had grown dark as the hour grew late, but the sconces of the palace burned ever-on, casting their long shadows down dark corridors. It was a perfect setting for the quiet meeting the Fire Lord wished to have with his highest ranking generals. "Gentlemen," he began without preamble, his voice quieting even the shadows in the room, "in light of recent developments, I have decided it necessary to alter the standing plans for invasion on the day of the comet. I want you all to be aware of these changes."

A scroll was produced for each of the men present, and they all read simultaneously. A nod from each showed they understood what was required.

"That will be all, you are all dismissed." With that, Ozai turned and let himself out, back into the dull red glow of torchlight.

---

"Alright, Twinkletoes, you can use whatever styles of bending you want, whenever you want to use them. Just no cheating with the Avatar state, or else I'm really going to have to hurt you." After flashing him a companionable grin, Toph slid into her unique Earthbending stance, feeling as Suki and Zuko readied themselves similarly on the opposite sides of Aang. This is gonna be fun, she thought to herself, just before letting loose on the Avatar with a series of rock pillars sprouting from the ground on all sides of him.

Aang held his ground for the first few, shattering them into pebbles with his fist, but the telltale resonating sound of steel slicing through the air forced him to dodge aside, using one of Toph's pillars as a springboard to sail through the sky. The second he landed, he looked over to see Zuko charging him, daggers of flame in hand. It had been a while, but Aang still remembered how to deal with this attack, deflecting Zuko's wrists at every swing. What he wasn't expecting was Zuko to pull off on his attack in a spin, coming around with both fists extended to blast fire in the younger boy's face.

The Avatar had long forgotten how to panic in mid-fight, and without hesitation he thrust his hands forward, joined at the fingertips, to carve his own fire through his opponent's and cleave the oncoming attack in two. Ultimately, Zuko had to dive aside to avoid the Avatar's fire, while his own had forced his teammates on the flank to defend themselves and give up the attack.

Toph was the first one to resume the offensive, using the thick block of solid earth she had shielded herself with and sending it straight at Aang. Another stalwart defense shattered the boulder, but before the dust could settle, Suki shot through and very nearly snagged his wrist. A quick back-step saved him, or so he thought, until he felt himself bump into something solid. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Zuko, and in that instant the a hand wrapped tightly around his arm. A quick yank and a well placed foot from Zuko brought the Avatar face first into the sand rather abruptly, and when he opened his eyes, the Avatar found all three of his friends standing over him, looking down with unmasked disappointment.

"Aww, come on, Twinkletoes, we were just getting warmed up," quipped Toph.

Suki at least had the good grace to look apologetic, but even she agreed, "Yeah, Aang, that was pretty bad."

The Avatar sat up with a sigh, "I'm sorry, you guys, it's just, I've been so distracted." He looked up at the sky with longing. "I'm just so worried about- Katara!"

Immediately everyone else looked up, and sure enough, there was a large, familiar white shape floating through the sky. As Appa flew closer, they could make out the arrow on his forehead, and eventually the two shapes in the saddle on his back. With a low, dull roar to announce himself, the great sky bison settled himself on the sand of the beach, as the small group of spectators gathered with anticipation nearby.

Katara's head was the first to be seen, and Aang's eagerness to greet her faltered for a moment upon seeing her face, or more precisely, her hair. Then Azula's face emerged, and to his credit, Aang was not the first one to laugh. That would have been Sokka, though he was hardly alone after a few seconds. Only Toph stood there, still-faced and confounded, eventually asking, "What's so funny?"

"An excellent question, Toph," replied Azula, directing her gaze then to the others, though mainly to Zuko, and reiterating more sharply, "What is so funny?"

Zuko at least had the good sense to shut his mouth, though probably not before it already got him in trouble. "It's, uh," he stammered, unsure of what to say or how to say it. "Nice… hair… loopy's, Azula."

"They are, aren't they?" she rejoined rhetorically, flashing a wicked grin. "They can't be any more ridiculous than a bald headed-ponytail, can they?"

At that, Sokka's laughing restarted a-double, though with a new target. "Oh, man, she got you there, Zuko." To his credit, the Prince of the Fire Nation had the grace to look appropriately ashamed of his past fashion sense, and said nothing further to push the issue.

Quickly enough, concern came to outweigh confusion, and the young Avatar asked, "So, Katara, did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, I did," replied the Waterbender with a cool confidence. Seeing his next question already written on his face, she then added, "And no, I didn't." Aang's concern lifted from him in a visible display, and with it, Katara felt something lift off of her shoulders, as well. "I thought I wanted to, but when I finally saw him, saw how empty he was inside, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. He just… wasn't worth it."

"Revenge never is," replied Aang, softly and with a sage severity that was far beyond his years.

Hearing his own words of wisdom spill from him, Katara remembered her indignation at his hypocrisy, and the familiar swell of righteous anger made it's first circuit of her blood. She probably hadn't meant to sound quite so cold as she did when she asked, "So what are you going to do when you face Ozai?"

If she had hoped to cow his resolve, however, then she had apparently forgotten that in his soul, Aang carried the spirits of a thousand lives, a thousand lives of pain and misery. A thousand lives of solemn regret. "I'm going to make sure he can never hurt anyone, ever again." His face was carved stone, and his voice, unwavering resolve. "I'm going to bring him justice, the only way he understands."

"If you can," came a female response, but not from Katara. With that as his only warning, blue fire erupted into existence directly behind the Waterbender standing in front of him, and without time to think, Aang's body shifted into motion. The wall of rock he raised out of the ground in less than a second wouldn't hold against another direct hit, but it had saved Katara from the first one, and that gave him all the time he needed.

In a gust of wind, the Airbender flashed over his own wall, coming down in a tight ball and igniting fire from his feet. Azula noted the move, and remembered doing the same thing to him in a fight that took place on a massive, moving, metal beast. Clearly, he had been practicing this one, as his form was near flawless, save for a slightly off-pitch center. His attack, however, would and did fly straight and true, too powerful to block and too large to avoid. Azula clapped her hands.

Aang released his fire with an angry grunt, and watched, pleased, as a devastating Firebending attack left him. He berated himself mentally when his feet hit the ground and he realized what he had done, realized how much he had allowed himself to enjoy taking revenge on someone who tried to hurt someone he loved. He didn't have time to start a proper pity-party, however, as the telltale blue fire emerged from the center of his red fireball, tearing it into two pieces. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he saw Azula standing there at the epicenter of flaming destruction, hands wreathed in sapphire flame, but when he noticed the smirk on her face and the satisfied glint in her deviously sharp, golden eyes, Aang realized he was going to be fine.

Katara, unfortunately, was still baffled, and as she came around the wall of rock that had saved her life, she was practically red in the face as she screamed, "What, in the frozen center of hell, do you think you're doing!?" She looked ready to grab half the ocean and throw it on the shore, but Azula merely extinguished the fire in her hands and stood, one hand on a cocked hip, and inspecting the nails of the other.

"Making sure my student didn't go soft on me. Delivering 'justice' to my father is a bold claim, I want to make sure he isn't going to just rush off to his own death," was the princess' casual reply, and with a feigned sincerity, she rolled her eyes and added, "Sorry for caring if he lives or dies."

Katara took a breath, clearly wanting to fume more, but was interrupted by Toph's nonchalant, "Eh, maybe with his Avatar powers doing all the work for him, but right now, I don't think he's got what it takes. That wall was sloppy and half-built at best, and your takeoff and landing felt a little shaky for an Airbender. Not to mention Azula was ready for another attack before you were, Twinkletoes. What have I been trying to tell you for over four months now, you have to follow through with your attacks. Every time you throw a good one out there, you always stop to make sure the other person is alright."

Toph's matter-of-fact attitude and accurate description of his pacifist mindset brought Aang back to his twelve-year-old self, and looking like a guilty cookie-thief, he tried to argue, "I know, Toph, but-"

"But nothin'! You're goody-two-shoes nature isn't going to work for this, and if you try for even a second, then Azula's right, you're just going to go off and get yourself killed!" Though she was trying to maintain her tough, cavalier exterior, her eyes that couldn't see were showing the true depth of her emotions. "What are we going to do if you die?"

Aang looked around, at this odd group of strangers who, with minimal blood ties even to one another, had somehow and through it all become his family, and saw in every pair of eyes Toph's question reflected. He had known for a long time now that the world would depend on him, but only now, looking around at green eyes, blue eyes, grey and even gold, did Aang truly feel what that meant. He realized with an equal amount of elation and terror that these people here were his entire world, and that if he failed, he would lose all of them.

The Avatar inhaled deeply, to calm his nerves, and he exhaled slowly, accepting what his responsibility truly was, always had been, and he smiled with a confident reassurance. "I'm not going to be the one who dies." He looked to Toph for confirmation that he was lying, and she smirked at him.

"You better not, Twinkletoes. Or I'm drilling you twice as hard in your next life."

The faces looking back at Aang showed a wide range of emotion, but none looked half as worried as Katara. "I'll be okay, Katara," he told her, trying to look more confident than he felt, for her sake. She smiled sadly back at him, still wanting to talk him out of it but resigning herself to his decision.

"I know, Aang," she lied, wishing she hadn't come to care so deeply for him. You can't afford to fall in love during a war, when either one of you could die any day. Taking a deep breath to help steady her voice, she offered, "As long as you have your mind made up on this, I think there's a few new Waterbending moves I could teach you. I didn't think to bother before, but if your mind is made up to do permanent damage, I think they will help."

The Waterbender had tried to make it not sound like a last date, and Aang was happy to play along. "Sure, Katara. I'm ready to learn everything I can."

Clearing her throat to gain everyone's attention, Azula took a few casual steps forward before addressing nobody in particular. "As much as we would all enjoy drilling the Avatar into the ground, I don't think we have enough time for it. As it is, we have three days until Sozin's Comet arrives. As far as the fight against my father goes, we're going to have to hope that the Avatar spirit is enough. There's nothing more we can teach him in the time that we have left. Our best course of action from here would be to devise a plan for intercepting and stopping the fleet of airships."

She would have continued, but for Sokka's immediate interruption. "Uh, what fleet of airships?"

Zuko and Azula exchanged knowing glances before the latter explained. "The one's we've been building ever since you fools liberated the Northern Air Temple. They're much larger, much more effective, and far more difficult to bring down. Any one of them can support ten Firebenders for airborne fire attacks, four on either side, one forward, one aft. On a good day they'd be lucky to singe the fur off a moose-lion on the ground. With Sozin's Comet in the sky…" she hesitated, grimacing as she recalled the man presenting the figures and projections to her father. "They could reduce Ba Sing Se to ashes within an hour."

Pausing just briefly to let that information take root, Azula concluded, "Defeating my father aside, if we don't do something about that airship fleet, nobody will. Nobody can."

The Avatar faced his Firebending teacher squarely, and the princess couldn't help the twinge of pride in seeing his determined resolve. "It's settled, then. I'll defeat the Fire Lord, you guys will take out the airships, and by the end of the day, the world will be saved and balance restored."

Sokka gave him an inquisitive look while crossing his arms over his chest. "That easy, huh?"

To which Aang couldn't help but to smile in response. "Of course. We have to win, so we will. No matter what."

---

Who? -.^

I apologize for spelling/grammatical errors, and for how long it's been. Here's 21021 words to make up for it maybe?