It was Hiro's birthday. The four year old celebrated at home with his sister, grandfather and Ty Lee. Sokka had sent the boy a practice boomerang for his birthday. Iroh got him a practice sword. "I'm going to slay the dragons!" Hiro proclaimed as he ran around the living room with it. Mai had sent him some clothes and Fire Nation chocolates. He dove for the chocolates and Ty Lee moved the clothes before he could get them dirty. She wasn't sure when he would need such fancy attire, but he had it just in case.

Rei had gotten him a book from the bookstore and said she would read it to him at night. She couldn't read Karo Finds a Dragon to him, so she had to find something else. She found children's story called, Springtime Around the World.

His grandfather got him a wooden puzzle.

They were about to cut the cake when the doorbell rang. A parcel came for Hiro.

Ty Lee opened it for him and there was a present and a card. The card said Happy Birthday Hiro with love.

The card was unsigned but the handwriting looked familiar. Ty Lee kept the card.

Hiro opened the present, and it was a model sky ship, the newest one in the line that Haru had once collected.

"It's a ship like Dad's." He was ecstatic.

Ty Lee didn't even think to get him this. Who did and who wouldn't sign the card?

They continued with the party, but Ty Lee was confused and Rei could see it in her face. She said nothing, waiting for her chance to examine the card.

When the kids were in bed, Ty Lee compared the card to Azula's letter. It was her handwriting. Did she have the present ready in case she died?

She showed it to Haru's grandfather.

"That is so odd. How about I go to the toy store tomorrow and see if I can figure out who purchased it. The store that sells these is in Omashu."

Ty Lee kept the card with the letter and struggled to sleep. Was this a sign from her friend? What did it mean?

Haru's grandfather didn't sleep well either. He never told anyone about the hitman. Haru told him to keep it quiet and when Azula died, he was scared that mentioning it would only bring more danger. He thought the kids were safer if he didn't tell anyone. Maybe the hitman would just go away, but now he wondered if he should tell Ty Lee. If this is a message that she had prepared, they could be in danger.

He got to the store as soon as it was open and to his surprise; the new line had not been announced until September. Azula couldn't have preordered it before she died.

"Can anyone just pay for a boat even if the model isn't out yet?"

"No one has ever tried, but even if they did, we wouldn't know the price until it was done."

He told Ty Lee that Azula couldn't have ordered it.

Rei overheard the whispered conversations, and she confronted Ty Lee.

"What aren't you telling us?"

"What?"

"You said you wouldn't keep things from us but something happened. You've been acting strange ever since Hiro got that toy. Who sent it?"

"I don't know," she said honestly.

She showed Rei the card.

Rei flipped it over. It said, "Follow your heart and I know you will find us."

She showed Ty Lee.

"I didn't even realize there was something on the back."

The acrobat asked Haru's father what it meant.

"When Azula first went missing, she told Haru to follow his heart and he would find her. He did and he found her before he came back for the kids."

"What if they're alive?" Ty Lee asked. "No one found their bodies. They could be saying to go where she hid before and find them."

"I wish it was true, but it could be a trap."

"What?"

"Someone sent a hitman after Azula. It's why she wouldn't turn herself into the Avatar. She was scared. This could be a note from her, but it could also be unfinished business."

"Then I'll go alone."

"What?"

"If my friend is out there, and she needs help, then I have to find her. At the very least, her kids deserve to know the truth."

"I can't just let you go alone."

"You have to stay with Rei and Hiro. They need someone to be there if something happens to me."

They argued back and forth, but Ty Lee refused to stay put.

He eventually agreed to stay with the kids.

Ty Lee kissed their foreheads in the early morning before she got ready to leave. She rushed to get out of the house before they woke up.

She was just on her way out the backdoor when she saw Rei and Hiro. How did they get up so fast?

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out to the market."

"It's not open yet and we were eavesdropping last night and know you're going to look for Mom and Dad."

"What have I told you about eavesdropping?"

"To find out what people say behind your back and tell you."

"Pigeon Rats!" She did tell them that. "It's way too dangerous."

"No way are we staying home. Last time they were in trouble we couldn't help them. I'm not going to let her down twice."

"But if something happened to you, your parents would be devastated, and so would I."

"I'm tough, and he has a boomerang."

Ty Lee tried to get them in the house, but Hiro trapped her feet in the dirt.

"Either you take us, or you're stuck here."

Her jaw dropped. "I don't believe this."

She left their grandfather a note, saying she had to take them with her and she set a course for where they might be.

They weren't sure where Haru had found her last time, so they tried a few places, where they first met, where they got married and where the kids had been born. They also checked birth records to see if a child had been born in November or December that could be their sibling, but nothing matched.

"The people at their old house were nice." Hiro said

They had given them dumplings, but they knew little about Mina and Haru. "They just wanted a bigger house since they were having a second baby." It was all they had remembered.

Where else do people leave their heart? It's not at home or their old home. The only thing they could think of was their honeymoon.

"Do you know where they spent their honeymoon?"

"Dad said it was in a cottage by a river, but I don't remember the name."

Luckily, there was only spot on the river by Omashu that had a set of cottages.

They got to the rental office and tried to find out if their parents had rented the cottage.

"They would have rented it two or three times, the first time being about seven years ago, the second time being last year and the third time also being last year."

"The same cottage?"

"Yes. The woman is short and thin and looks like me, the man is tall and brawny and looks like him," Rei pointed at her brother.

"Hmm, that actually does sound familiar. Try cottage 17."

Of course 17 was the highest one up. They marched for what felt like hours, but it was only 45 minutes in the humidity before they got there.

Ty Lee told them to stand back. She knocked on the door and when it was locked, she picked it to get inside.

"Azula, Haru, are you here?"

Ty Lee checked carefully, waiting for a trap or an assassin hidden somewhere.

When Rei looked through the back window, she saw a figure that she knew was her mother sleeping and ran inside.

"Mom it's us."

"Rei, I told you to wait outside."

"She's asleep. I saw her."

Bickering, they went into the bedroom, and there was Azula asleep, and by her bed was a crib with a young baby girl in it.

Rei gently coaxed her mother awake.

Azula opened her eyes, sure she was dreaming before she said, "You found me!"

She hugged her daughter tightly. "I missed you so much."

Rei was so happy she cried. "I'm just glad you're alive."

Ty Lee just realized they left Hiro alone. She ran out to get him. "Your Mom is here!"

He ran into the house, yelling her name until he found her.

"Hush, you'll wake up our baby sister."

"Aw, I was hoping for a brother."

"She's an earthbender like you," Azula told her son.

"I win!" both siblings claimed.

Hiro hugged his mother.

"Where is Dad?"

"He's trying to find the people who wanted to hurt me."

Azula explained to Ty Lee that the boat had been rigged. "I jumped just before it exploded and when Haru saw my footprints, he knew I escaped and was hiding, so he covered them. He faked his death because he didn't want me trying to track these people alone and pregnant. We didn't want to do it. We knew it was unfair to our children and to you, but if we didn't figure it out, we would have to sleep with one eye open, forever, and we couldn't do that either."

"Why didn't you just come home?"

"I think Zuko is the one trying to kill me, but I can't prove it."

Haru was amazed that his family was back together again.

"I didn't think you'd find us so quickly."

"Well, Rei's the one who thought to check the back."

"You got a cryptic message and a suspicious package, and you didn't check the back," Azula chided.

"I was too confused by seeing your handwriting. I thought you had sent it before you died."

"It's why I picked a new toy, so you would know."

Haru explained to Ty Lee what he had learned, but it wasn't much.

"So there is a group of people trying to dethrone Zuko, but it's not clear that they're trying to do anything violent. From what I can tell, they think they can drive him out with the will of the people. I didn't find any indication that they had wanted Azula to rule. They may have been trying to get a new royal family in place, so I'm not sure why he thought Azula was behind it."

"So these people aren't 'loyalists.'"

"Well there are those too, but they seem to be just defeated people griping. The people who are active seem to be more soapbox speakers than anything else."

"Did you try tracking down the first hitman?"

"We couldn't. I think whomever hired him killed him after he refused, and my guess is that his replacement rigged the boat but nothing panned out. We found former Dai Li and some friends of Kuei. We even tracked down Long Feng, but we couldn't find anyone who seemed to have an active grudge against Azula. It was like most people had forgotten about her until the explosion."

"Except the only person who I know was looking for me before the explosion."

"She still thinks it was Zuko. I want to say it wasn't, but if not him, then who?"

"Why would he try to kill you?"

"He might have been concerned that the loyalists would team up with these freedom people and together they could take him out. He might not have realized that I had kids and thought he could get rid of me before I produced heirs. I don't know exactly why he would target me, but I've seen that throne corrupt people. I've lived through it. I have to be prepared for the worst."

Ty Lee promised to keep their survival a secret and headed back to their house. She told Haru's father that the children were reunited with their parents and he has a new granddaughter, Ta Min. "She's an earthbender and she has Haru's eyes but Azula's hair."

"All this time they were in the cottage."

"The boat was another attempt on her life. They thought hiding would be safer for the kids."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." She couldn't break her promise, but she hated that Azula's family missed her so much, not that she knew how her mother and uncle had grieved. It seemed so unfair not to tell them, but what if she was right? What if it was Zuko? She couldn't be the reason Azula's kids lost their mother again.

She decided to do the one thing she could do, go to Ba Sing Se and see what answers she could get out of Iroh.

"Ty Lee. What a surprise? Are the kids with you?"

"Unfortunately no. They're with their grandfather. I wanted to talk to you about Azula. I had some questions and I wasn't sure who else could answer them."

"I can try, but I don't know what help I would be."

"Do you know why someone would have sent a hit man after her?"

"What?"

"Someone had sent an assassin after her. It's why she wouldn't turn herself in and I'm worried that if it was about her bloodline, then Rei's in danger too."

Iroh's face fell. She could take the throne. "The line of succession after Zuko is Ursa II and then Rei. Unless someone thought they could control Rei as a regent, I can't think of what good getting rid of Azula would have done for them."

"What if they didn't know about Rei, and they just thought Azula was it in her chain?"

"That is even more confusing to me unless they wanted to ensure that only Zuko's line could take the throne. Zuko had been having political problems around that time. Someone might have been concerned Azula would usurp him and tried to take her out preemptively. With her gone, then only Ursa II could have succeeded unless Zuko has more kids or Ursa II does before he retires, but I have trouble believing that someone would try to kill her before she even tried anything. It seems too attenuated, like they expected Zuko to lose control and for Ursa II to be pushed out of the way. I wish I could help more."

"Actually, I think you helped more than you know." The wheels were turning in Ty Lee's head.

"If you are concerned for any reason, please contact me. I wasn't there for Azula, and I don't want to have to say the same about Rei."

"I will."

Ty Lee felt bad that she hadn't told him the truth, but Azula and to figure out how she was going to reconcile with her family. Ty Lee couldn't make that choice for her. The chi blocker was so preoccupied with her investigation that she had forgotten about Sokka's planned visit. When he arrived with Hakoda, he was surprised to see that the kids weren't home.

"I forgot you were coming," she admitted.

"Ouch, did you get a new boyfriend?" Sokka tried to lighten the mood.

"No, it wasn't like that. A lot of things came up here and I had to go to Ba Sing Se and as you can see, the kids aren't here."

"Are they with their grandfather? We could visit them there."

Ty Lee couldn't lie to him. Hopefully, Azula won't be too mad. "No and before I tell you, I need you to promise not to tell anyone, not Aang, not Zuko not anyone."

"I promise to keep it quiet."

"You should probably sit down for this."

He sat down wondering what it could be.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I first found out, but I made a promise that I thought I should keep, until now, and it was a dire situation. Azula and Haru faked their deaths."

Sokka's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you didn't just say Azula and Haru faked their deaths."

"I just said it. Before you flip ou,t and I see you about to yell, so try and take a breath. I didn't know until less than a month ago, neither did their kids."

"Where could they have been? How could they do that to their kids?"

"A hit man had tried to kill Azula twice and they thought their family would be safer if everyone thought they were dead already."

"A hit man?"

"One ambushed her when she was in the hospital. Another one rigged the boat that exploded. When Haru realized she survived, he faked his death so he could protect her while she was pregnant and try to figure out who did it. They still don't know who's behind it, but they wanted to be with their kids again, so they sent me a message, so I would come find them."

"So they're not dead, and their baby?"

"Is a healthy baby girl."

"Any other surprised."

"Azula is convinced it was Zuko, and I tried to find proof it wasn't him, so she could just go back to the palace and reconcile with her family, but I came up empty. Haru said he looked into Long Feng and the other likely suspects and he found nothing."

"Why would Zuko send a hit man to kill her if he sent me and the others to find her?"

"Azula thinks that was the point, send you to find her and have the hit man follow you, which is easy when Aang is so recognizable and then kill her before she could be captured."

"She thinks that Zuko played us."

"Yes, and I can't believe that, or at least I really don't want to without any evidence, but I don't know what really happened and until I do, I can't risk telling people. I know Iroh is so upset about it and so are Ursa and Mai, but what if I spill the beans and something horrible happens. I can't watch Rei and Hiro lose their mother again."

Sokka nodded. "This is some serious stuff. Have they just been observing these groups from the outside?"

"I think so."

"I don't think that's enough. I think you need an inside man to join the group and see what's really going on. If Azula wasn't responsible for that letter, then someone was and we need to know if it was them and if it wasn't, then someone might be trying to play Zuko and Azula against each other, the same person who sent the hit man."

"Who's going to just join a subversive political group?"

"We could do it."

"What?" Has he lost his mind?

"You were her best friend and could say you hold Zuko accountable for her death. I could join as the angry husband and say he ruined my marriage."

"Did he ruin your marriage?"

"I'm not sure. I want to think she just had an affair with a guard, but she would only say it was a firebender."

Ty Lee went to see what Haru could tell them about the group. Azula wasn't happy that she had told her boyfriend about them, but she felt better when Sokka said he was going to join the group and see if he could help them.

"It's the least I can do."

Azula and Haru took in Hakoda II and Sokka and Ty Lee were off. Haru's father came to help her with the kids while Haru snooped around on his own.

He was so relieved to see his Dad. "I'm so sorry about what we did but …"

His father cut him off. "I told you to follow your heart and you did. I'm just glad you're still here."

He scooped up his newest granddaughter. "Ta Min is gorgeous. She has her mother's mouth." He kissed her forehead. Azula ran to the bathroom and threw up.

"Are you okay?"

"I haven't been feeling so good the past few days."

When she didn't get better and when she kept reacting to normal smells, Haru asked her if she was pregnant again.

Probably. "You just love keeping me fat don't you?"

He held her close. "Another baby, I can't think of anything better."

They waited to make sure before they shared the news, but it looked like their brood was getting even bigger.

Rei and Hiro liked the cottage where they were hiding out. They could still go into the city with their grandfather and sometimes they went to the house to get different clothes and toys, but they spent most of the time with their mother and their new baby sister.

"I can't wait until she can earthbend, like me."

"I can't wait to teach her how to make tea." She had been having tea parties with Ty Lee and her toys.

When Ty Lee did get to the Fire Nation, it felt surreal. She hadn't been here since the funeral and even though her friend was alive, the threat to her was still real.

She asked around, casually trying to learn people's attitudes about life and seeing what they had to say about politics. When people said something other than so-so, she paid attention. She wanted to know who supported Zuko very strongly and who really wanted him gone.

Eventually, she and Sokka came to a tavern where there was some kind of meeting going on in the back. Sokka saw the waitress and offered her a few coins if she would tell them who they were.

"I don't know them all by name, but they come here every Thursday and meet in the back. They have come kind of deal with the owner and whatever they say, they don't want people to know it."

"Have you seen any new members join them?"

"I haven't but the boy in the black and white shirt, he talks the most when he's drunk. Buy him a round or two after, and he might tell you something good."

"Thanks."

Ty Lee decided to butter him up when the men were leaving. "Hey Cutie," she said as she batted her eyelashes. He looked at her chest and grinned.

"Hello! What can I do you for?"

"I was wondering if you might like to have a drink with little old me."

"I can't say you're little or old but sure."

It took three beers to get him to blab. "So we just discuss politics. We're not rebels or fighters or anything. We just want to make this country better, get people to work, get food on the table."

"Have you tried talking to the council?"

"They're all either scared of the Fire Lord or in his back pocket. The current system leaves them too weak. We have to decentralize the Fire Lord's authority to ever have real peace, but that will only happen if a Fire Lord is willing to change."

"You don't think Zuko will."

"I think Zuko's idea of peace is giving everything away to the Earth Kingdom. What about our kids? They weren't fighters. Is their hunger not as real as the children in Gaoling? Look, I probably told you more than I should have, but I mean it when I say we're the good guys. We just want what's fair."

He stumbled off.

"Well, they hardly seem like the kind of people who would put a hit on the Princess." Sokka said annoyed that it was a dead end.

"This is actually helpful."

"How?"

"They wanted a Fire Lord who would share power. If I hadn't seen Azula since the war, she's the last person they would expect to be on their side."

"Which means?"

"Which means she didn't contact them."

"We already knew that."

"But now we know they didn't make it up to get excitement. Wasn't that the theory before?"

"So someone was trying to make her and this group look bad."

"Exactly and who benefits from both of them taking a fall?"

"Zuko," Sokka said softly. Could it be? Did his friend play him from the start?

It was hardly evidence, but it was enough to get them to focus on who lost out if Zuko was forced out of the crown. Mai's family could be behind this or maybe nobles who had invested in Zuko, donated money to his causes, thrown their political weight behind him.

They started running down leads, but no one seemed to come across as very suspicious. Sure there were people who wanted Zuko to stay put, but none of them seemed shady, at least not to Sokka and Ty Lee.

Eventually, Mai discovered their presence and they came to the palace.

"So what are you two doing, and where are the children?"

"Rei and Hiro are with their grandfather and Hakoda II is with him too."

"We were trying to figure out who was behind that fake letter from Azula."

"Why does it matter now?"

"A few months ago, Haru's father told me that a hit man had been after her, which was why she refused to turn herself in. If the letter was about her bloodline, then Rei could be in danger."

"The loyalist group was a dead end, so we were just snooping, hoping to find something useful."

"Well if you do find anything useful, please let us know. We could offer assistance or at least protection."

"I know, but sometimes it's easier to just go in. The fewer people involved, the fewer chances to get caught."

Mai didn't ask when they shared a room in the palace. Sokka snuck out of his room in the middle of the night. He had an idea.

He made it to the doctor's office and picked the lock. He went in and checked Mai's medical records. She was suspected of being infertile. He sent her to get a second opinion. Unfortunately, the results of which were not there. If she couldn't have anymore kids, then perhaps that was a reason to get rid of Azula, to try and make sure that Ursa II was the only heir, but it was too late since Azula already had kids.

Sokka went back to bed and in the morning, he told Ty Lee what he had found out.

"But didn't you tell Zuko that Azula had two kids?"

"I thought Aang did, why?"

"If he already knew, then why send a hit man for her when it is already too late? He would have to take out Rei too."

"Maybe he had already sent the hit men before he got our letter."

Sokka and Ty Lee returned with what they knew.

"I'm sorry we didn't learn more."

Azula took out a pen and paper. "Let's go through what you learned step by step. It might be more useful than you think. So we know that the group that wants to get rid of Zuko had no interest in getting me to join and had no reason to make up the letter."

"Right."

"So whomever wrote the letter either wanted to get them in trouble, me or both."

"Right."

"Zuko and his supporters stand to gain if either the group or I goes down for treason."

"Right."

"The only heirs after Zuko are Ursa II, me and Rei."

"Right," Ty Lee said.

"What about Hiro and Ta Min?" Sokka questioned.

"They have to be firebenders to take the crown. I assume Ursa II can firebend now."

"Actually, Mai didn't say she could, and I think she would have told me."

"Interesting since she's five, but if she was a nonbender, Zuko and Mai would have known to have another child and they have not."

"Actually, she might be sterile."

"WHAT? That's like the most important thing you learned."

"Oh Sorry, Zula! Sokka went snooping through her medical chart, and they sent her for tests. We didn't see the results."

"If she is sterile, and Zuko didn't want to have a child with another woman, and Ursa II is a nonbender, then that is a very good reason to try and get rid of me."

"Why?" Ty Lee was missing why these were all coming together.

"The only way to change the law so that nonbenders can be Fire Lord is to get the Fire Sages and the Council to agree. Even if Zuko could get a new law through the Council, the Sages won't agree to it as long as there is a firebending alternative.

Ursa II would only be able to take the throne if I died before I had firebenders or if they died too. If Zuko's reign was tumultuous like Iroh had told you it was, he might have been afraid that people would try to force him out and put me or a kid of mine on the throne, therefore he tried to kill me before I could procreate, but it was already too late."

"This doesn't sound like Zuko," Ty Lee admitted.

"It sounds like Ozai," Azula said.

Ty Lee frowned.

"What?"

"Mai dumped Zuko when he kept getting political advice from Ozai."

"Now you tell me!"

"Sorry, I didn't think it was important. That was years ago."

"Ozai playing puppet master is important always. Just because Mai think Zuko is no longer listening to Ozai, doesn't mean it is true."

"If Ozai did feed him the idea, then wouldn't he try to get rid of Rei too?" Sokka questioned.

"Not so quickly. If he did it right after me, then Zuko would be the number one suspect. He was probably trying to wait long enough, so it wouldn't be suspicious."

"Zuko was pretty mad when he didn't get custody," Ty Lee admitted.

The children (minus a sleeping Ta Min) were with Haru's father at the Spring Festival. Azula didn't want them around for the conspiracy talk.

Haru came home and asked Azula if she was feeling better.

"You're sick?" Ty Lee asked her.

"I'm pregnant."

"Again?" said Sokka.

"Now you tell me!"