Teo was in pain. He fell on his hip, the jolt sent pain shooting up his side. He panted on the floor for a long moment before he pushed himself into a sitting position. From the floor, the work bench looked so high. His momentary despair was pushed away by his determination. He wanted Azula to remember him how he was, not as he is now. He didn't want to think about his dead legs in a shipping crate. He wondered if they buried them.

"Get up and stop stalling," he said aloud and used the crutches he made to lever himself up off the floor. The wooden legs he made were heavy, the feet drug on the floor as he balanced on the crutches. After so long of sitting, he felt dizzy. Like he was too high up, the air was too thin. It was silly. He forced himself to laugh a little before he slid his right leg forward.

He was going to do this. He's done this once before.

She was dry shortly after he pulled her out of the lake. It was worrying. Azula had slipped to unconsciousness in the middle of the night. They couldn't stay here much longer. He needed to get her to a physician. His clothes were still damp when he picked up the former princess.

"We'll get you some help, Princess. Just hang on a little longer. You're stronger than some asinine so-called chi healer. Bunch of komodo rino dung if you ask me."

"Mechanist?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Do you have a real name?"

"It's Lumi, Princess. Lumi, son of Bumi, King of Omashu, at your service."

He paused when she seemed to shudder, but looking at her face, she was laughing.

"You're... a prince."

"I was."

"That would make Teo..?"

"My Father would have recognized him as an heir, had he the opportunity to meet him," Lumi continued down the mountain.

"They did meet," she closed her eyes.

"What? When?" around a rock, through a cluster of trees, the Mechanist found a path to take.

"In Omashu. We had that silly old man locked up. Teo was guarding him."

"Good. I'm glad," he hurried the pace, moving as fast as he could carrying the ill princess in the dark.

"I'm not a whore."

"I never said you were, Princess," he was trying to keep her awake and talking. He was afraid the heat would damage her organs and brain.

"Father said I was. For giving myself to Teo."

The Mechanist winced, he didn't want to think about what activities his son had done while he'd been away. They were just children! Children pretending to be adults while the real adults sent them off as pawns in a war. It made his heart hurt. "Teo loved you."

"I know. I was going to become Fire Lord and marry him."

"That would have been wonderful, Princess," he could feel the tears behind his eyes but willed them to stay put. He needed to get to the nearest village.

"There they are!"

It was too late, they had been found.

Zuko didn't spot them first, but when he turned his head, he nearly fell off of Appa's back. There was the Mechanist! Carrying Azula?

Aang landed the sky bison beside the pair and Ty Lee was the first on the ground. "Azula!"

"She's burning up. She can't bend, but I think all that energy is building up inside her!"

"Her chi's been blocked, but badly!" Ty Lee jabbed and prodded and massaged different parts of Azula's body to adjust the flow of her chi.

"Lumi!" King Bumi leapt down off Appa's back and rushed over to the Mechanist. "What wonderful luck!" Without further hesitation, the old man flung his arms around his youngest son.

"Father? What are you doing here? With... the... Fire Lord and... I don't know who you are, young man."

"My name is Aang, I'm the Avatar."

"The Avatar... of course," the Mechanist looked stunned.

Zuko knelt on the ground beside Ty Lee. "Why did they cut her hair? Look at her, she's all bones! What did they do to her?" He couldn't help but be angry. He had done the research, that asylum had been the best the Fire Nation had. Guilt started to seep in. If he had come to visit her, he would have known how badly they treated her. Sure he was busy, but he'd made the time to visit their Father.

Azula's eyes fluttered open and she gasped. She was breathing easier now. "What... where am I? Am I dead?"

"No, silly! You're safe now. The Mechanist saved you from whoever tangled up your chi in knots!" Ty Lee chimed in, smiling down through her Kiyoshi face paint.

"Why are you all here?" she rasped.

"Well..." Ty Lee started.

"The Avatar and I were looking for my son, when this lovely young lady told us that that hospital had misplaced you. I thought that since both of you had been misplaced, then there's a chance you were all together."

"That logic doesn't make any sense," the Mechanist chimed in.

"I was on my way to see you, Azula! I have a letter from Teo," she pulled a thick sheaf of papers from the folds of her armor.

"Teo?" Azula and the Mechanist said together.

"The Order of the White Lotus found him. He is at the palace in Omashu."

"He's... alive?" Azula looked over at her brother. She was weak, but the look she gave him shook Zuko. Guilt ate at him. He'd known Teo was alive this whole time and he hadn't even thought about telling Azula. He just figured that someone would have told her.

"Let's get you guys back to the palace," the young Fire Lord averted his eyes from his sister momentarily.

"No! Avatar, you will take me to Omashu!" Azula tried to fight off the Mechanist and Ty Lee.

"Azula," Aang looked thoughtful, "You need to recover first. Why don't I take you back to the palace and... then once you're feeling better, Teo can be brought to you? Bumi says he's been wanting to come home."

Zuko felt like he was watching a stranger. Azula turned and grabbed onto the Mechanist. "Lumi! He's alive!"

They all then piled onto Appa's back and Aang took them back to the Palace.

What was he going to do with Azula? She was still a war criminal and here he was bringing her home, in the middle of the night, without any of his council's approval.