Silk sheets, a soft bed, and more food than he could eat. Best morning he'd had for a long time. Even if the Avatar had escaped on that flying beast of his.

Which he most certainly would not mention freeing. Damn uncle.

Breakfast had been a feast, though lacking spice. Still it had been so much better than the bland peasant fare he had suffered through for so long. Though by the faces Azula, Ty Lee and even Mai made with each mouthful they didn't share his appreciation.

It was interesting to see Azula's friends again. Ty Lee was even happier than before, impossible as that seemed. And Mai wore her bored expression like makeup, though she seemed happy to see him.

He wasn't sure he could say the same.

It was... nice to see them, to see her, but just so... odd. Small talk was stilted and almost awkward until Azula moved the topic to the invasion. That woke him up.

They know about dark-days? They know about this dark-day? And they were here to organise an invasion of his nation? He was a fool.

Had he not freed the sky bison, had he been quicker to tell is sister about the spirit water, the Avatar would have been unable to gather their enemies. To rally them to attack his people when they were vulnerable. This could rival even the Darkest Day.

No. He would not let that happen. Not while he could stop it. Not when he had accidentally helped. He would stop them. And he would stop this from happening again.

Even if he had to kill every single person who knew.

But they were forewarned. They would be ready, and Azula already had plans to turn this invasion into an ambush. They had captured Ba Sing Se in time to prevent it from sending any troops and supplies. The earth king might have escaped, but there was no where to go. They already held Omashu and there were no other earth strongholds left. None large enough to be a threat.

Then again, if they flew the king from town to town and through the unconquered territories... That could be a problem.

Azula lost some of her smile at that. With the Avatar, however wounded, and the king together, their enemies could rally like never before. She added it to the note she was preparing. To send home.

He wasn't sure how he felt about home, either.

It had been so long...

But it would have to wait a while longer. After more than three years, he could wait until they had secured Ba Sing Se and prevented their enemies from uniting against them.

Right now though, there wasn't much more they could do. The Dai Li were controlling the city as usual, only for them instead. The note was soon finished and sent to both Omashu and the nearest army base, where it would be sent to the capital and any relevant bases. It would be several days at least before enough forces to hold the massive city arrived, and in the meantime they had to lie low.

And so they trained.

Ty Lee and Mai danced around the palace, pink and steel flying until both grew bored and decided to explore the city. Or rather, Ty Lee dragged the more dignified noblewoman around by her wrist, chasing whatever caught her fancy. Mai eventually gave in; maybe they'd get lucky and someone would try and mug them.

Zuko began showing Azula some of the techniques uncle the traitor had taught him, and some he had developed on his own. She picked them up with startling ease and tweaked them to fit blue fire better. Though the breath of fire worked better with normal flame; blue fire just wouldn't radiate heat the same way.

These demonstrations morphed into her lessons as she showed him how to refine classic firebending forms to better suit the more intense blue flames. And those lessons morphed into a sparring match.

Though they both now weilded the same fire, their preferences were different. She preferred smaller, deadlier blasts. He preferred larger forms with more impact. Her needles, arrows and javelins to his daggers, spears and boulders. With effort, each could perform the other's moves but they were better suited to their own.

By the end of the mock battle though, his forms were tighter and hers had more impact; they were rubbing off on each other. And neither were sure how they felt about that. But they both improved.

Zuko attempted to create lightning at her request and was promptly blown onto his back, clothes smoking. She actually laughed at that. Then she had him explain exactly what it was he did, and where he thought he went wrong. And she laughed again.

"It's not about being calm and focused, Dum-dum. It's about being focused at that moment. You could be as angsty as, well, you, then take a breath and call lightning."

She took a stance and went through the circular motions more slowly than ever, explaining as she went. "You gather the energy up like usual, but without emotion. Skill and practice lets you feel the separate energies dancing together. You slowly pull them apart, drawing them to your fingertips. Speed comes with practice. Breathe whenever you like, just don't link it to the energy. Fire needs air, lightning doesn't. Then once you have gathered enough, you let them rush together and point, letting your energy flow where you want it."

Lightning flew through the air. She continued. "And it will take care of the rest. You are not throwing a dagger or punching a wall. You are pulling a bowstring back and letting the arrow fly."

And it clicked. In every attempt he had made before, he had tried to fling the lightning away. But when he had redirected it he had felt how much power it was, how dangerously wild, and simply let it go. His attempts had not generated enough power for him to understand its nature.

He took his stance, breathed out, and tried again.

Wide circular motions, index and middle fingers pointing as he dragged the energies apart. Pried and then pulled, and kept pulling. Breathing in and keeping his concentration as flickers of power escaped. It was working.

He breathed out again and kept his mind clear, nothing in the world but the motions and the separating energies. And then he felt it shift and he just knew it was enough. He paused, pointed, and let go with the same motion.

Lightning flew.

It was smaller and dimmer but it was lightning and it was his.

Azula nodded with a smile, and he smiled back.

A/N: New side stories to this fic by wonderful authors! Find the links on my profile!