I could have posted this in three chapters, but I guess I didn't. In this one Aang dies after he's captured by the Fire Nation when they attack his temple, but then he comes back as a ghost and sorta... haunts Azula and Zuko? Sometimes he's really friendly, sometimes he's taken back to his time being tortured before he finally died and... isn't. In the end I had Zuko leave, pretend to be the Avatar so Aang could learn how to bend, them all take down the Fire Lord (meaning Team Avatar), and then Aang somehow figure out how to go to where dead things should be. I wanted to write this one (and who knows maybe I'll come back to it), so this was the start of the story :)

Something is wrong in the Fire Nation palace.

Zuko comes to dinner looking like an assassin came for the fourth time in the week. "Sorry," he whispers to his father, "I guess I went too far in training." Ozai raises his eyebrows because going too far in training shouldn't result in this, but what's he supposed to do? Punish him?

Something is wrong in his home.

Azula's eyes wander during her lesson. She cannot seem to sit still, nor to keep her eyes still. After a moment, she seems to notice that she's doing this. "Sorry," she whispers to her instructor. "I don't know what's wrong with me today." He wonders if she needs a break. She's been distracted every day he's been here so far.

He can tell that something is off.

Zuko stays up in Azula's room until his mother allows them to share a room. When her daughter had been born, she'd worried that they'd be driven apart by fierce competition, but for some reason they've bonded instead. In a way, they've even begun to block her out.

It's just the way his nephew is acting. His niece, too.

Some days, Zuko feels free, and like he can play. His 'imaginary friend' is there on those days. He and Azula and his 'imaginary friend' play all sorts of things, and study, and have an awesome time. His father does not approve.

It's almost like something is there.

Some days, Azula can feel the tension, thick in the air. Spirit is there on those days, but he doesn't want to play. He wants to scream, and to get revenge, and to hurt and hurt and hurt. It's hard to focus through the screaming. Her father does not approve.

It's almost as if -

Zuko feels very alone until Azula is born. When she is born, and he finds out she can see his imaginary friend, he does not know how to feel. He's not alone anymore, but he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Still, he teaches her how to deal with him, and how to be smart. It's a good thing to be smart.

There is a ghost in the palace.

Well, it might be a spirit. Iroh cannot be sure. But he knows he will get rid of it. He will do whatever it takes.

There are no good guys bad guys in this story. I know. It seems crazy that there could be a ghost story and no enemy. No mian dude that really needs to be destroyed to save the day. But there aren't any in this story. There's no gal with bright orange hair that just radiates an evil sort of vibe. There's no baby that sucks people's blood just for the sake of being evil. And there's no spirit monster who hides under the bed and wants nothing more to destroy everyone.

Now, don't get me wrong. This story is all about guys. Just not bad ones. There are a lot of people in this story who mess up, and sometimes kind of a lot. I know I do. There are even spirit monsters under the bed who want to destroy. But… they don't want to destroy everyone, and I promise they're not trying to be bad. See, this is a story about people. Sometimes, they do things that aren't even remotely okay. But that doesn't make them bad, it just makes them… confused. Or hurt.

And don't get me wrong - there are bad guys in stories that just touch this story. I don't mean, like, other stories about other people, I mean, like, my story. There are bad guys in my story. There will be moments when you go, 'oh, that must be a bad guy he was talking about,' and I'll probably be like, 'YEP THAT'S RIGHT,' but this story isn't about me being surrounded by bad guys.

If you want to think this story is about me, go ahead. I'm a pretty main character, so it won't be too hard. But there are other characters too, and I think they deserve your time. They haven't… BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT, so you don't need to worry about it. We'll get to it when we get to it.

Before you get started, though, there are a few things you should know. Number 1 - there is a ghost in the palace. Number 2 - that's me. Hi.

The other kids left Princess Azula alone. It wasn't to be mean, necessarily, it was just that she didn't really seem to want friends. She had a friend, she would say if she allowed people to ask. It was her brother.

Generally, she did not allow people to ask, but enough people (two) had asked that everyone knew that would be her response. They weren't angry about it - she was a princess of the most powerful nation in the world. Why would she want to be their friend?

Of course, it did make sense for her to make allies, but she did do that, though sparingly. Still, though, she didn't really need them. Anyone could see that she was fine on her own. She always had been, and as far as the rest of the world was concerned, she always would be.

There was also something… slightly off with the Fire Nation princess. Though she always acted with a slight sense of superiority, sometimes it could get very bad. She had, in the past, been known to demand strange things, as if those around her really were just supposed to step outside the classroom for fourteen minutes (exactly) because they were "upsetting me."

The teachers would step out, but it left an impact on the rest of the students. She would get her way, and sometimes, her way did not make sense. Sometimes, her way included destroyed textbooks. Sometimes, her way included the teacher leaving the classroom. Sometimes, her way meant she stayed inside the classroom, even when everyone else was required to leave.

So, the other kids left Princess Azula alone. Mai knew her parents wanted her to befriend the princess (it would be good for us to have a palace connection), but she wasn't sure how to approach her. If she said the wrong thing, that opportunity would completely vanish, and then what would her parents do?

Still, she knew she had to do it. She prepared for a few weeks, because it had to be done right. Finally, on a hot spring day, it was time. She'd known the date for days before, but it was almost as if fate was on her side. It was still spring, and the day before had been fairly chilly, but it was warm, and the sun was bright. It was the best day for firebenders.

She approached the princess at lunch, when the sun was high. She was with her brother, so it (hopefully) wouldn't appear that she was trying to steal her away. She went directly to the spot they usually ate, and, thank the spirits, they were there. A few times in the past, they'd gone somewhere else for no apparent reason. When asked, the princess would declare it none of their concern, why were they asking. After a while, they stopped asking.

They were deep in whispered conversation when she arrived, but they stopped when she sat down. The crown-prince gave his sister a look, then whispered, "Okay, what now?"

Mai assumed she was supposed to ignore that, so she did. The princess sighed and responded, "I suppose I'll need to be social. This is kind of important. Why don't you go… look at the tree, or something? Over there?"

The crown-prince immediately nodded. "Sure. If it works with you? It'd be fun."

There was a pause, and Mai did not look at them to understand what on earth was going on. After a minute, the princess finally said, "Great. Sounds fun. Go," and the crown-prince left.

Assuming this was her cue, Mai bowed to the princess.