Somehow Noren had managed to convince the princess to have a seat at the table, his wife was still completely confused, as would be expected given the circumstances. "Princess, I assume you spoke with the spirit of faces. No one else could have told you who she was. Not even Noriko knows who she is." He grabbed his wife's hand to reassure her. He could tell by her face that she had questions, even if she was too fearful of the princess to speak at the moment. Every word she spoke seemed to anger her more.

"I did. She said that the woman that entered the forest was not the one that exited." Azula slammed her fist on the table, leaving a slight crack. "This cretin lied. She simply let me go out on a wild dragon goose chase while she was going to play happy family with her new daughter. Her BETTER daughter. One she actually LOVED!"

Noren gulped. Princess Azula was not bending at the moment, but her eyes were like fire. "How much did the Mother of Faces tell you?"

"Enough."

Noren may have been intimidated, but he realized on some level she may still be acting like a child. Which meant she wasn't told very much beyond who Noriko was before she came here. Hopefully he was correct in his assumptions. "She really does not remember who you are. The mother of faces gave her new memories as well as a new face."

"WAS I SO TERRIBLE THAT SHE WISHED TO FORGET ME AS SOON AS SHE COULD?"

"She loved you and your brother equally."

"YOU LIE. She said goodbye to Zuko and hugged him while professing how much she loved him, yet I didn't get so much as a goodbye. She never loved me, just Zuko. It was ALWAYS Zuko."

"Yes, we spoke about that at length." Noren stroked his goatee while he tried to figure out the correct way to put it, although it seemed as if he would not be given the chance.

"AND!?" Azula screamed while contorting her face angrily.

"She actually saw you the night she left. She loved you just as much as your brother, although she felt as if you wouldn't want to see her."

"You lie. You lie you lie YOU LIE! ALL LIES!"

"Princess….I am just recounting what she said to the best of my knowledge…."

"IF SHE SAW ME HOW COULD I NOT HAVE SEEN HER? YOU MAKE NO SENSE!"

"From what I recall she entered while you were sleeping. She said you had the glow of a spirit of fire….She sat on your bed and stroked your hair for ten minutes. She always loved your hair you see…."

Azula clacked her nail on the table loud enough to cause him to jump. He then remained silent. Those sound like her mother's words, but clearly he knew her well. He could be lying to save himself from incineration. "Let's say I believe this entire tale between my mother and the mother of faces." Her eyes narrowed. "Where do you fit?"

"I'm her husband...I love he-" A fireball came whizzing past his head. Just a foot or so to the right and he would have no longer had a face. He assumed that meant she wished him to be silent.

"You speak of times before her transformation, which means she felt open enough with you to tell you. Only a select few knew of the reason for her banishment, the true reason. If she told you about the night she left I'm assuming you also know the reason why."

"Yes." He said, almost in a whisper.

"Even my sweet mother would not have been foolish enough to give that information freely. Azulon had many supporters, he was not as feared as my father after all. People saw him as a fair and just fire lord. A random Azulon supporter could have killed her if she just let that slip, especially right after her banishment. You are going to answer my question, and you will answer it truthfully, or next time I won't miss. What is your relationship with my mother, the entire story."

Noren took a deep breath. "I am her first love. Her teenage love. We grew up together, we thought we would spend our lives together, but then…..Ozai."

Azula thought back to the days she saw her mother in the palace. The only times she saw a modicum of happiness on her face is when she saw her and Zuko playing or being happy. Not once did she get that look when father looked at her. She had a face of submission, but not love.

"I'm guessing like a few past firelords he saw she came from a powerful bloodline, and made her his."

"Yes…." Noren gripped Noriko's hand, hard. He only loosened his grip when she placed another hand on his, her eyes were sad but understanding.

"If what you say is true then it doesn't matter Noren, we have each other now and I couldn't imagine living without you."

Azula gritted her teeth. Just one happy little peasant family. Even as a powerful princess and her mother having no memory she still could not get an ounce of attention from her.

"Did you really think I could love you? You're a monster."

Azula turned and saw her mother standing before her, with her old face, she closed her eyes. No, no, no. Sokka had helped her. She gripped her skull and screamed internally that the woman before her was not real. When she removed her hands she looked at Noriko and Noren with her eyes wide. They only held fear, although of a different brand. She remembered this look, the look she had gotten from palace servants the day she was firelord. They feared she was losing her mind and her tenuous grip on reality. Well, she had just enough of a grip to end one of the tormentors of her mind once and for all. She made a fist of fire and launched it at her mother's face. It never made it. Azula saw a blur as her fireball was swatted through the roof and exploded in the sky above. When she looked back down she saw him.

"No Azula."

Her betrothed, her love, she stood opposite of him. "I have to do this Sokka."

Sokka could tell by looking into her eyes that this wasn't his Azula he was talking to, she was the girl he met in the asylum on the first day. Her mind was gone. "Azula, I'm not going to let you kill her. You'll regret it. Let's just calm down and….."

"NO!" She said releasing a wave of fire at him, he braved it with his armor and sword and protected her mother. It only made her angrier. Why does everyone love her mother? Sokka was supposed to love her yet he opposed her. When she killed her mother the visions of her would stop, then she and Sokka could be happy. She could be happy. "I don't want to, but I will hurt you Sokka. You'll understand later."

Sokka sighed before observing his surroundings. A wooden house was not a great place for battle with a firebender. The moment his saw her take a bending stance he rushed her and picked her up. He heard her howling in surprise and possible pain since he picked her up rather roughly, but she seemed too surprised to bend. Yet. When they broke through the front door he tackled her to the ground and held her wrists.

"Azula! This isn't you. Please! I don't want to hurt you." Tears were forming in his eyes.

"Don't worry, you won't." Azula kicked him off of her roughly then quickly stood. She fired a wave of fire at him with a kick and in that moment she saw his resolve harden. He flipped over her wave with ease and landed a dropkick on her chest. She rolled through and clawed into the ground to keep herself from being knocked further away. As soon as she looked upward she blocked at the side of her head, Sokka was attempting to knock her out with a kick.

She created a wall of fire between them to give herself a second to breathe. The damned bastard had been going easy on her when they trained. It almost felt like she was fighting an unnaturally large version of Ty Lee with actual bloodlust. She would have to fight like she wanted to kill him if she didn't want to lose here. She couldn't lose. Once that woman was erased she would never see her visage in her visions again. She could be the princess he deserved once again, not one he had to coddle like a child. She could be perfect.

Sokka tossed his boomerang high above the flames. He waited a few seconds before leaping through and grabbing in from mid air. He grunted when he realized she had dodged. Of course things wouldn't be that easy. She seemed to have refocused now, as she used her flames to boost her speed whenever she felt he was getting too close, and it seemed as if every flurry of flames thrown his way was an attempt to hem him in. Even in this state he had to admire her prowess in combat. He took a split second to feel the vibrations on the ground, she hadn't noticed them yet….Or perhaps she just assumed it was people running away from their fight, but he knew better. Anyone with a brain was gone already. No, those vibrations belonged to the mother of faces. She'd probably be here any minute, then hopefully Azula's mother could calm her down once she realizes that the mother in her head wasn't real and never was.

He was surprised when Azula stopped firing at him and began waving her arms in an all too familiar motion. He never got to see her do it, but he saw Zuko practicing after the war. Lightning bending. 'My fire lily is a little crazy but she wouldn't try to kill me, right?' It was at this moment that Sokka reacquainted himself with his surroundings.

"No!" Azula had been slowly using her fire to position him away from the house, and her mother was standing in the doorway watching the battle. As soon as he saw her arm begin to move he began running between them. He dropped his sword and jumped. It almost happened in slow motion. He saw it for a split second before his vision went white, then darkness. When he opened his eyes Azula was laying on his chest crying. Attempting to move hurt severely but he placed his hand on hers. Once she looked him in the eye he was able to make one final utterance.

"I love you Azula."

With that Sokka let the cold darkness overtake him, and closed his eyes.

Azula stopped crying for a second and just froze, staring upon Sokka's lifeless body. The world was simply a void for her, and the only two people that existed within it were her and Sokka. Her arms felt too heavy to move, and her heart thudded like metal. After what felt like an eternity she felt a hand on top of her head, when she looked up it was her mother. Her real one. She quickly returned to anger and began slapping her mother's legs, only to find herself crying into Ursa's robes a few seconds later….her attempts at harming her mother were beyond pathetic. She realized that now. This realization had only cost her the life of the one she loved, and the only one to love her in return.

Author's Note: I tried to make Azula a little crazy so if you can't completely follow her lines of thought throughout the chapter...that's somewhat the point. Her thought's seem rational to her, but they are not. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and forgive me for taking so long to update. I wasn't sure how to write it well. I have at least half of the next chapter in my head already so that should come out soon. Let me know what you thought, I always love reading reviews.