The palace was empty.
They were all gone.
There were no servants.
No guards.
The Dai Li had vanished.
Azula watched her hair fall to the floor, and then her eyes flicked to the presence in the mirror. Her mother stood there, disapproving.
"Maybe you should make yourself useful for once!" she hissed at the older woman.
"Now, Azula, that's no way to speak to your mother," the not-Ursa said.
"I can speak to you however I want now. You're the one that left! Did you even consider that Grandfather was lying?" More hair fell to the floor.
"I did what I had to do to save my children."
"No, you did what you thought you had to do in order to save ZuZu. You didn't think about what would happen to me! Or the Fire Nation! You never knew how to play politics. Serves Father right for marrying an... an actress."
"Azula, that's not fair. You know how convincing your Father is. Besides... you were the one to tell me of Azulon's plan in the first place."
"I was just a child! Would you really take the word of a child on something so important? ZuZu may be weak and useless but if Iroh can get dethroned by having no heirs then killing one of Ozai's would make no sense at all!"
"I did what I had to do to save my children."
"ZuZu. You did it for ZuZu. I'm too much of a monster!"
"Aza..."
"Teo?" She looked to the other side of the mirror to see Teo behind her, holding that horrible bundle in his arms. This was the first time the baby had appeared in the daytime.
"We didn't want to miss your big day. Of course the wedding will have to wait until your Father is finished with the Earth Kingdom."
"Wedding?"
"Ours of course. This little one can't be an official heir of yours unless we're married."
"But... we can't."
"Why not?"
"Because you're..."
"A peasant slave?" He looked down, like he was disappointed.
"No. Teo, you're dead. We can't be together because you're dead."
"How do you know that I'm dead, Aza?"
"Because Father had you executed! It's okay though... once... once I'm Fire Lord, I'm going to change things. I can do whatever I want. No one will be allowed to leave me again."
Another knot of hair fell to the floor and Azula left the mirror, drawing herself up in her formal robes.
"No one will ever leave me again."
There was no one left to leave.
Awakened in the middle of the night, Teo had come out of his tent to help with the liberation efforts. He had taken over the Pao Sho table, sweeping the pieces aside as someone handed him glass bottles, small ceramic pots and several types of powders. His hands stilled as he thought back to the deadly doll he had constructed in the engineer camp, but quickly shook that out of his head. He had been given a task and he set to it diligently.
"What are you doing?"
"Flash grenade," he carefully measured out the different powders that Jeong Jeong had procured for him.
"Will it be used to hurt somebody?" the Avatar's soft voice seemed worried. Teo couldn't help but sigh.
"Damage should be minimal. It's used for surprise mostly. Stunning enemies. Stopping mobs, crowds of people. It's more bright and loud than anything else," he leaned forward a little, but overcompensated and had to steady himself on the edge of the table. He would have to get used to being top-heavy.
"Teo..." a deeper voice joined the first.
Teo looked up from the table and saw Zuko standing behind the Avatar. "Yes, Prince Zuko?" the title fell of his tongue out of habit. Both the Avatar and Zuko winced.
"Azula had nothing to do with it," Zuko said quietly, looking anywhere but Teo. He seemed like he had rehearsed something, but forgot the words at the last moment.
"I know. I... think I figured it out. She's a princess and I'm... a slave. A bartering tool between two political entities having a pissing contest," he looked down and tried to resume his measurements.
"What? But... Bumi said you were his grandson?" the Avatar asked.
"Slaves have no titles in the Fire Nation, Avatar. Any familial titles were stricken from the records as soon as the exchange happened. Even more so since I was unrecognized as an heir due to my Father's secret marriage. Not everyone can just waltz back into power and there be no repercussions," Teo explained, pouring the contents of his scale into the ceramic bottle.
"Do you love her?" Zuko asked, curiosity tinged his voice. Like he had not considered his sister capable of being loved.
"Of course I do. It was just... improper to accept her advances. But I was weak. And the Fire Lord found out. I knew he knew as soon as I was sent away," he added a fuse to the bottle and then sealed it with fresh clay and a stopper and set it aside to make another.
If Teo had looked up, he would see the blush that turned Zuko's face to match his scar. "You um... and... Azula... that's..."
"Wait," another voice interrupted, a young but loud girl had stepped up beside the table. "This guy and CrazyPants? That's something I'd pay to see!"
Teo set down his tools and put his hands flat on the table. "Azula was the only person that ever spoke to me like I was a person, without pity or guilt. She believed in me, in everything I put my mind to do. She allowed me to do it, even though I was nothing more than a slave. All she ever asked me was to tell her stories. To show her that I could... fly. And to hold her at night when we were alone. I was the only person in her life that couldn't leave her," Teo glared at Zuko. The two exchanged a look, and Zuko looked away first.
After returning to his work, the Avatar and the former Fire Prince found other things to do. The girl remained. "Hey um... I didn't mean what I said earlier."
"No, you did. But that's okay. I know most people just don't... understand," he plugged up another clay grenade and started on the next.
"Well, I might not be able to understand the exact situation, but I understand not being understood. Um, anyway, if you need anything, just yell for Toph. I need to talk to a couple people before we leave," she turned and left him alone.