"-and after she blasted me out of the cell, she started crying! What's with that!" Zuko shouted throwing his arms in exasperation. "Uncle I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Iroh shaking his head.

"Azula's situation may be well beyond either of our abilities to understand as of the moment." he commented, before looking up at Zuko. "But perhaps we can benefit from another person's perspective."

"No," was Mai's flat and simple answer.

"But you guys were friends, weren't you?" Zuko pleaded.

"You guys were siblings weren't you?" Mai retorted sarcastically.

"Argh, that's not -"

"She threw Ty lee and I into prison Zuko. Digging up fond memories of her isn't exactly on my list of priorities right now. And, considering what she's done to you, I'm surprised that you're even bothering," Mai stated dryly. Zuko sighed,

"I have to. I need to her help me find mother." Mai's inquisitive eyes quickly found his, and in a flash she had her answer.

"Well if you're that desperate why don't you ask your avatar friends or something?" she suggested with a bored tone. "And don't bother with Ty lee. She's probably still suffering from Azula induced post traumatic stress."

Aang scratched his head while seemingly searching for the nearest exit before giving Zuko a doubtful look.

"Gee Zuko, I wish I could help, but I've never really had any siblings, or parents - well monk Gyatso was sort of like a father and the other kids at the temple were sort of like siblings, but I'm not royalty so..."

"But you were a girl before weren't you?" Zuko insisted.

"What!"

"I mean, in your past life," Zuko explained. "Surely you can get some help there right?" Aang looked doubtful,

"Zuko, its not that simple. Just because I have all this avatar history doesn't mean that I remember anything beyond my own life."

"But can't you, you know, contact the previous avatars and ask them or something?" Aang shook his head.

"I can, bu I don't think that is the right way to go about this," he replied thoughtfully. Suddenly he leaped up in excitement.

"I know, why don't you ask Katara for help?" He suggested, she's a girl and she's a younger sister AND she was even in a leading family like yours!" Zuko blinked in surprise,

"Oh yeah. I wonder why I hadn't thought of that."

"I don't know Zuko," Katara warned doubtfully. "Your family isn't exactly the same as ours, and Azula's kinda..."

"Crazy?" Zuko supplied. Katara nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Zuko stated as he let his gaze fall to the ground. "But she wasn't always like that," he added defensively, "she used to be kind." Katara had an incredulous expression on her face as he looked back up. "Well maybe not kind but she used to care about other people...even though her methods were sort of screwed up. She used to be well...sort of nice. Well, nicer."

"Right." Katara's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh give me a break! You thought I was evil before too didn't you?"

"Still kinda think you are," Katara smirked. Zuko smacked his forehead with exasperation. He totally walked into that one. He felt Katara give him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Its okay Zuko. I understand. I'll try my best to help you help Azula," she reassured with a knowing smile. Zuko smiled back at her.

"Thanks Katara."

Katara looked thoughtful, "Why don't you show me some of her stuff? Maybe that will help shed some light on her behaviour." Zuko nodded in agreement and the two made their way to Azula's old chambers. Zuko opened that door and let Katara in.

"This is it. We've pretty much left it exactly as it was before she was thrown in jail."

Katara glanced around curiously. "Its so pristine. She was really organized wasn't she?"

"Yeah," Zuko chuckled, "everything always had to be perfect with her."

Katara continued to study everything in the room. The walls were lined with various weapons and proverbial texts. A shelf of books and a reading desk sat on the far side opposite to the bed. A quick glance revealed that most of the books were historical war narratives and texts on military tactics and strategies. Next to the bed was a large dresser with make up and hair supplies neatly set upon it.

"Everything here is so practical," remarked Katara, "I would never had guessed that a princess slept here if not for that dresser."

"What do you mean?" asked Zuko, puzzled.

"It's just, usually I would expect to find more...girl stuff in a princess' bedroom. Like maybe some romantic art or dolls."

"Well, its not like we didn't give her girl stuff," Zuko tried to explain. "Actually we gave her quite a lot, she is a princess after all, but she just sort of always burned them." Katara cocked an eyebrow at his explanation, as if he had just missed the most obvious answer.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he demanded. Katara just rolled her eyes in response.

"Of course you don't get it," she scoffed before explaining, "Azula obviously never wanted all of this, this girl stuff. I'm guessing that you guys were probably too busy trying to fit her into the role of a princess to recognize her for who she was - a smart and talented firebender and leader."

"Have you not seen what we let her do? You know, when she uh, hunted you guys down, blown up the western air temple and oh, invaded Ba Sing Se? And what does that have to do with her turning evil and crazy anyways?" Zuko countered cynically.

"Listen," Katara urged, "When I was in the north pole, I was told that I wasn't allowed to learn waterbending just because I was a girl. That got me so mad that I attacked the water bending teacher who could teach waterbending to me. If -"

"But we've never TRIED to stop Azula from firebending, heck my father PRAISED her for it," Zuko stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"It doesn't always have to be that outright you know. Sometimes the discrimination is subtle, like giving her lots of 'girl' stuff because you just assumes that's what she wants - oh, why did she wear all that makeup anyways?"

"I'm telling you that' not it!" Zuko responded in annoyance.

"Alright fine, lets take a different approach to this then. What if she was like you? Why did you do all those terrible things before you joined us?"

"Why would she be like me? We're nothing alike!"

"Just go with me on this one for a second okay?" Katara insisted. "I'm suggesting this because you two were siblings - a lot of the same factors could have had an affect on both of you. You know, to cause you guys to burn down villages and stuff."

"That's not fair! I was just confused and angry with myself cause I didn't know who I was, and I thought the bringing back the Avatar would help me find out."

"How do you know that Azula wasn't? She may have used different methods than you and had different official goals, but for we know, the problem could have been the same."

"..."

"Exactly," Katara concluded triumphantly. "Think about it, you were lucky enough to be able to find acceptance elsewhere, away from your father, and move on. But Azula, she was trapped. " Zuko frowned as he tried to digest what Katara had just said. Strangely enough, it made sense. The room as silent as he contemplated his friend's deduction.

"Back when we visited Ember Island after I...betrayed you," he conjured - Katara rolled her eyes, "Azula said mother thought she was monster." Zuko glanced up at Katara. Her eyes shone with sympathy but she said nothing. "She seemed to really believe it...that she was a monster." Catching Katara's gaze, Zuko noticed a twinkle of suspicion in her eye.

"Yeah. I kinda thought so too," he added regretfully. "But I didn't really think that!" he quickly added, "I was just...kinda jealous that she was getting all of father and grandfather's attention."

Katara did not say she believed him nor did she look at him, but her head bobbed up and down as he explained his situation. There was a pause as Zuko waited for her to respond. After another moment of silence, he heard Katara inhale a deep breath.

"After my mother died," she stated, "Dad always tried to treat us fairly, so I don't know what its like to…have to fight for his love. I think that Sokka and I probably wouldn't have gotten along very well either if we did. As for Azula, I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to have my mother think that of me."

"No! My mother isn't like that! There's no way that she'd think that of anyone let alone her own daughter!" Zuko snapped. Then catching himself in the outburst, he forced in a breath then directed his gaze through Azula's window to the world outside, before breathing out, his eyes filled with longing. "She loved Azula."

Katara gently squeezed his shoulder, and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I believe you. I really do. Maybe the reason Azula thought that was because..." she smiled, "maybe, despite everything that she did, deep down...deep down she really felt guilty for what she did. Maybe she didn't really want to do all the things she did," she concluded gently with a smile. Feeling Zuko relax under her palm, she added, "You're mother sounds like a kind an wonderful person. I'm sure that she's still out there. And I'm sure you'll be able to find her."