Azula stalked the palace hallways, here mere proximity made the servants and palace staff shiver. She couldn't believe that she trusted them. Of course Mai had chosen Zuko. Oblivious, idiotic Zuko and his bumbling efforts at rebellion. Ty Lee's betrayal stung.

They betrayed me because I stopped being perfect.

That thought shook her to her core. She had been weak and that weakness caused her to slip. She'd stained her soul and now everyone could see the cracks.

She avoided the workshop. Especially since the Mechanist was no longer there. He had blown up an entire store of supplies and sat there, waiting to be arrested. He claimed that since Ozai had broken their agreement, then he was no longer honor bound to restrict himself.

He was arrested and sent away. He may have been on his way to Boiling Rock as she was leaving.

The palace seemed so empty now.

"Stop being so serious, Aza"

"Life is serious, Teo. You can't just smile and make everyone love you."

"You could, but then you'd lose all of that fear you've built up over the years."

"Then no one will respect me."

"There's a difference between respect and fear, Aza"

Azula sat down on the stool in front of her vanity. Behind her, Teo stood behind her. Mocking her with his hovering. He'd only been that graceful in the sky. Perhaps in death he was always flying.

Teo was always there now. Just over her shoulder. She caught glimpses of him in mirrors. Sometimes he sat in his wheelchair. But lately he'd been walking, though she'd never caught sight of his legs. Late at night though, he'd appear cradling a red bundle of blankets. When he brought the baby around, she always pulled the pillow over her head, blocking out the cries.

"I'm not in the mood today, Teo. Mai and Ty Lee are gone now. I'm all alone."

"But I'm still here, Aza. I'll always be with you," he smiled as his imaged faded from the mirror.

Her bedroom door opened and a servant stuck her head in, "Princess? The Fire Lord wishes to see you for the eclipse preparations."

Bumi arrived at the White Lotus camp covered in dirt. He had finished running the Fire Nation out of his city and then came here. There was more work to be done, and he wasn't about to waste time with council meetings. His advisors knew what to do.

He quietly checked in with the others. Piandao usually had news for him. "Piandao my old friend, please tell me we have good news?"

"No good news, I'm afraid. It is not good all around. Firstly, the invasion that the Avatar and his friends put together failed. The fleet was destroyed and most of the leaders are now in high security Fire Nation prisons," the old sword master said as he handed Bumi a tunic.

"It was not the right time for the Avatar to act," Bumi changed his clothes. It was nice to get out of the clothes he'd destroyed while he liberated his city. "What else should I know about?"

"We've received word that your son was locked up. We knew it was coming, we have an agent in the prison to keep an eye on him," Piando said, waiting for the old king.

"That is of no surprise, what about my grandson?"

"Ozai had him sent into the Earth Kingdom, then sent an execution squad after him."

Bumi froze, a sudden chill falling over him. He felt like it took an age before he could find the words to ask the question on his tongue. "Is he dead?"

"He was maimed, tortured and left for dead. But, our agents got to him in time. He is... resting."

"Take me to him."

Bumi was lead through the camp to a larger than average white tent while Piandao gave him the details. The old king hesitated before going inside. The sun lit the tent, bathing the sleeping occupant in a cream colored light. Teo lay on the cot in the corner, covered with a light sheet. He looked so pale, which made the dark bruises on his skin stand out in contrast.

The tent smelled of sickness and healing salves. Of blood and freshly sterilized bandages.

King Bumi sat down hard on the stool beside the cot and honestly looked at his grandson. He didn't have the opportunity to just... look at him at Omashu. Teo had the unruly brown hair that Bumi's mother had passed down to the line. He picked out the traits passed from his son, and decided which had come from the boy's unfortunate mother. He decided that this line of thinking was taking him down a dark place and tried to focus on the positives.

At present, Teo was alive. And he was out of reach of the Fire Lord.

The negatives were hard to ignore though. Teo had been exiled from the only home he remembered. The Fire Lord had tried to execute him, for unknown reasons, which was worrying. He had been beaten and tortured and left to die and had been unconscious the whole time, so when he woke, it would not be pleasant.

And this wasn't even touching on the state of his legs. Bumi had seen blind, one-armed half-trained butcher make cleaner cuts. Piandao explained that it had taken their best waterbender healer and a surgeon to stave off the worst of the infection and save what was left of his legs, which had been hacked off above the knees.

Bumi was interrupted from his dark thoughts by a stirring from the cot. "D-dad?"

"No, I'm sorry, Teo. Your Father is not here," Bumi said, gently taking his grandson's bandaged hand.

In the Western Air Temple, Zuko cautiously approached the Avatar's group. "Right. Well, uhhh... anyway... what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uhhh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach firebending to you." Zuko then knelt down and present the glider staff to the Avatar.

"Please accept this as a token of my sincerity."

Aang reached for the staff and looked it over, then tapped it open. His face was unreadable for a moment as he admired the craftsmanship. "Zuko, did you make this yourself?"

"Uh... no, I... I got it from the Mechanist," Zuko said sheepishly.

"Who's that?" Sokka asked.

"He invented the tanks and the war balloons and the airships and... that drill from Ba Sing Se."

"That's... crazy. Why did he make this then?" Aang asked, checking the glider for any fatal flaws.

"He built it for his son. You met him already. Teo? Used to hang out with Azula."

Aang's expression darkened, "Yes, we've met before."

"Well, he didn't need it anymore, so... I figured... you would put it to good use," Zuko finished lamely.

"What else does that guy have then? Some kind of rocket strapped to his back?" Sokka muttered.

"Nothing now, he's dead."

The Avatar's friends were silent for a long time before Aang spoke again. "I accept you as my new firebending master, Zuko."

~ Thank you all for the reviews! These past few chapters were hard to write. I struggled a little bit on what to do with Teo and Azula and if I had gone too far. Considering that I've gotten more reviews and follows/favorites, I'm guessing that I must've done the right thing. ~