Ty Lee skipped through the hallways, despite the fact that her armor was not made to skip in. She was late. Much later than she was supposed to be, but she couldn't help it. Who said it was a bad idea to ride the mail chute down? She reached her destination and stopped to straighten her armor. In the metal part of her fan, she checked her makeup. Now that she felt she was ready, she opened the large door in front of her.

She picked her way through crates and various tools and things to find her query. She was not disappointed to find a bright orange aura to greet her. "Teo!"

He had been sitting on top of the workbench and nearly lost his balance when she startled him. "Ahhhh!"

"Whoa!" She giggled and ran over to her old friend and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She was steadying him and hugging him!

"Ty Lee? Is that you? What are you doing here? Dressed like that?"

The Kyoshi Warrior untangled herself from Teo's shoulders and sat up on the table with him. "Yes, it's me! I heard you were here and I just had to come visit! And I'm a Kyoshi Warrior now. I made a lot of friends in prison," she nodded, smiling to cover up the badness. Not all of those memories were pink and happy.

Of course, she hadn't expected to see Teo like this. Well, she partly did. She expected him to be working on something strange and wonderful and maybe a little scary, but to know that the rumors were true, that made her feel wobbly in her stomach.

"Well, alright. What do you want to do now that you came all the way here?" he smiled and bumped his shoulder against hers. She smiled back at him. Teo was easy to be happy around. He was the brother she wished she always had.

"I don't know, what's good around here? What about food? I'm starving!"

They both laughed and Teo took her down to the kitchens, where they raided the pantry of the best snacks and headed to one of the many lounges in the palace.

"So where is everyone? It's so quiet around here," Ty Lee said, stripping the outer layer of her armor off before she sat down.

"King Bumi... Grandfather... is traveling to the Fire Nation to negotiate my Father's release from Prison. They claim they can't find him. I'm guessing he's escaped," Teo settled down on one of the comfortable couches, munching on one of the few remaining bags of fire flakes left in the city.

"It's so different than the Fire Nation palace. Not too many servants either," she snatched the other bag of fire flakes and started eating. Earth Kingdom food was too bland. The snack made her a little homesick.

"I know. It's hard to get used to."

"There are a lot of rumors about you, you know," Ty Lee said, watching Teo's flickering aura.

"Did you... were you there with Azula? I was told she got a... package," he frowned, pressing his hands against his thighs.

"She did. It was... awful. I wasn't there when she opened it, but... they were wrapped in the cloth from your glider. You're lucky they went for your legs instead of your head," she said.

"I suppose. It's... different though. They still hurt," his aura dimmed.

"Your chi is all twisted up," she reached out, tracing the lines of his chi in the air. She knew that nobody else could see it. She was the only one. She'd been the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. It had meant something to the old Fire Sages. It was why she'd been paired with the Princess as school.

"I miss her. I can't even go to the Fire Nation to see her with travel being restricted," he said. She watched his aura dim a little more.

"I haven't seen her either. I was told she's not allowed visitors where she is," she picked up a pastry, one of several that they'd brought from the kitchens.

"Does she know I'm not dead? I mean, I'm sure she thought... I mean, Zuko did. When I saw him right before the comet," he picked at a bunch of grapes, pulling the fruit off the stems absently.

"I don't know." Ty Lee moved over on the couch and put an arm around Teo's shoulders. She didn't like seeing him this sad. It was too similar to when Azula couldn't stop crying. "If you write her a letter, I'll make sure it gets to her. I'll make Zuko give me authority to go there!"

She smiled when he brightened.

"What are you doing here?" Azula wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure he was real, but the guards didn't allow touching.

"When I ...left... the prison, I realized that I didn't have anywhere to go. I heard you were here," he said matter-of-factly.

"But what will you do? You could go back to the palace. I'm sure ZuZu would let you do anything you want," she pressed her palms against the table, leaving sweaty prints there. She felt disgusting. Far too hot and itching inside. Whenever she tried to tell someone, they told her she just wasn't used to not bending.

"I don't really know what I want now," he said, watching her. She always imagined that the Mechanist knew everything. He was too smart. If he had wanted to, he could've single-handedly overthrown her Father's rule. She wanted to ask him why he hadn't, but it didn't seem like the guards would let them talk about that.

"You could go back to the Earth Kingdom," she looked around the room some, trying to find something to focus on besides being uncomfortable.

"I can't. Travel is restricted right now. The whole Nation is in chaos now that the war is over. The Earth Kingdom is talking about reparations and embargo. The problem with ending the war is that the war is over. There are entire generations of people that won't be able to function."

"I don't know how to function," she said, wiping her sweaty hands through her greasy hair. It was much too short now. But at least it would grow back evenly.

"Azula?"

Her vision swam and the room tilted on its side. Her stomach heaved and she felt hands on her again.

People were always putting their hands on her.

"Azula!" The Mechanist snapped into action as soon as the girl's eyes glazed over. He knew she wasn't doing well in here. He had seen what they did to the patients. He leapt over the small table and was on the ground after she hit the floor. He picked her up and held her as she vomited.

"Get your hands off her, Sir!" one of the guards snapped at him.

"Are you insane? Get this girl a doctor?!" She was shaking in his arms and was so thin. Her skin was burning up.

"She could be faking it, Sir. Take your hands off her and step away."

"I will not!" He picked Azula up in his arms. He remembered carrying Teo when he was much smaller.

"Sir! Put her down and stand aside!"

He was not going to let these people hurt her anymore. He couldn't. Azula had been ruthless, brutal and cruel on the missions her Father had sent her on. But she had been kind to Teo, and all the girl ever wanted to do was play and dance, tell stories. She had been ruined by the war. A child thrown out into the battlefield and told to adapt. Of course she broke!

The Mechanist shifted her weight a little as he reached into the pouch at his belt. These guards were fools. They hadn't even searched him for weapons. He grabbed the small flash grenade and threw it at the guard. The pot shattered and the volatile chemicals mixed together to create a loud bang and a bright flash.

He ran out with Azula still in his arms. He didn't know where he was taking her, but he knew she couldn't stay here!

~ I'm not sure what I've done here. I completely threw out the rest of my notes as I was typing this chapter. The Mechanist is too smart for his own good, I guess! ~