Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

76. Chapter 76: Pairs Tournament 5

Toph worked steadily with the clay she had found by the river bend, molding it skillfully into humanoid shapes. Iroh helped her by heating the clay when she requested it, and he also dressed up the figures with the extra clothes they'd had in their packs – luckily enough, they had managed to hold on to their luggage despite the Dai Li's sudden attack.

Sokka handed Iroh the clothes for his statue, and the old man smiled at him and muttered a thank you, and he soon returned to the nearly-finished statues. Sokka watched the pair work with a frown on his face. Iroh's plan might work out after all, but Sokka wasn't too confident. It would serve to gain them time, but what would they do afterwards?

Azula wasn't happy about the plan altogether, but at a lack of a better idea, she had begrudgingly accepted Iroh's suggestion. She was caressing Xin Long's head right now, her gaze fixed on the thin, flowing river before her, and she had taken her seat far from where Iroh and Toph were. She had been reluctant to surrender her spare clothes: she had only slung one of her packs on her shoulder before realizing the Dai Li were attacking Sokka and Toph, so she had left behind at least two more of her bags, to her utter displeasure: sending Xin Long away now only worsened her already dreadful mood.

"Hey," Sokka said, approaching her and looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"I should be the one asking that question," Azula said, lifting her gaze towards him.

Sokka's hand instinctively moved towards his neck. His skin was redder where the stones had gripped him, but he was able to breathe properly, despite some lingering pain.

"He didn't hurt me too badly," he said, smiling a bit. "You stopped him right before he could break my neck."

"I could have been there sooner," Azula replied. "If only Iroh hadn't been asking me about staying at the inn instead of going to the Palace…"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," said Sokka, sitting next to her and giving her an encouraging smile. "You got there right on time, and I managed to hold my own in a fight afterwards, too. So, see? You don't have to worry about me. I'm good."

"If you say so," said Azula, sighing and dropping her head on her hand. Xing Long, his head on her lap, groaned and pressed against her belly, as though trying to appease her.

"I'm pretty sure he'll be alright," said Sokka, trying to sound reassuring. "If he flies high enough, the Dai Li won't manage to reach him."

"That still doesn't make me comfortable about this," Azula whispered. "It feels rather stupid to send Xin Long away with four clay dolls on his back to mislead the Dai Li into thinking we're leaving. Why don't we actually leave and forget this ever happened, for starters? It's not our problem, Sokka. We have no obligation to deal with it."

"True, we don't," said Sokka, sighing. "But there's the Tournament to think of. And, well, it just feels wrong for the two of us to leave them behind just like this…"

"But I'm not one who cares much about right or wrong, am I…?" Azula grumbled.

"I know you think they should have told us about this beforehand, but there's not much we can do about it at this point," said Sokka, looking at her sympathetically.

"If they had said anything before, we could have headed to the Palace straight away," Azula said. "Had we been under Tiang's protection, the Dai Li wouldn't have attempted to attack Toph. Yet for some reason I can't fathom, it seems Iroh's insistence on staying at the inn wasn't just because he wanted to visit Lu Ten's grave: he was doing it to 'protect' his gladiator as well. And instead of protecting her he just put her in more danger by avoiding the Palace…"

"Maybe he's afraid Tiang will just send Toph back to the Beifong Estate," said Sokka, frowning.

"We should have seen this coming, though," said Azula, shaking her head. "This is why he flinched when you mentioned the Palace before. From the very beginning, he dreaded heading to the Palace, even though that was the plan we had laid down from the start. Why didn't he just say something instead of trying to lead us on, constantly tricking us and keeping all the important information to himself?"

"I… I have no idea," Sokka said, gulping and dropping his head.

"I'll tell you why," Azula muttered, between gritted teeth. "It's because, even if they're willing to trust us when it comes to this tournament, they won't trust us when it comes to anything else. And while normally that wouldn't bother me in the slightest, it's different when our safety is in jeopardy just because they're unwilling to share their precious secrets with us."

"I don't think they should have hidden this from us at all either, but as I said, what are we going to do about it now? At least we've found out about what Toph was hiding…"

"At what cost?" Azula asked, looking at him with concerned eyes. "Sokka, had I reached you one second later, that agent could have killed you. He had every intention to do so. And now we're stuck in the Agrarian Zone, not knowing if the Dai Li will find us before we can start using Xin Long as a fake lead, and not knowing what we'll do after Xin Long takes off either. This grand idea of my uncle's may buy us time, but time for what? Heading back into Ba Sing Se now, as I said, is suicide. And that Tournament doesn't matter to me as much as…"

Sokka looked at her hesitantly as she stopped herself from uttering the rest of that sentence. Azula lowered her gaze and shook her head, unwilling to look at Sokka right now.

"I… I know," he said, nodding. "You're right about that. I don't know what those two have in mind at the moment, but putting our lives in the line for a mess that we knew nothing about is plain ridiculous."

"Yet for some reason I can't fathom, you think we shouldn't just forsake those two, don't you?" Azula said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, and Sokka grimaced upon her disapproving frown.

"I didn't say anything," he muttered, almost coyly, but he sighed in defeat soon enough. "I just suppose it'd be best if we all got out of this mess together…"

"You're too kind-hearted for your own good, Sokka," said Azula, closing her eyes and rubbing her eyebrows with her fingertips. "How in the blazes do we get along?"

Sokka chuckled upon that and smiled at her, but she didn't seem amused at all. Xin Long groaned and rubbed against her lap again, as her other hand caressed his hair.

"I don't know what we're going to do next, really," said Sokka, sighing deeply. "But whatever you choose, Azula, I'll be with you to the end."

"Oh?" said Azula, raising an eyebrow. "What if I decide to screw over Iroh's grand plan, hop on Xin Long now and head back to the Fire Nation on my own? You wouldn't be with me if I did that, most literally…"

"W-wha-…?! You wouldn't dare!" Sokka squeaked, as she chuckled, despite herself.

"Ah, cheering up at your expenses never fails, Sokka," she said, smiling now.

"Must be true, you keep doing it all the time," he said, pouting.

"Oh, poor Sokka, he's a sad victim to his evil sponsor's ways" Azula said mockingly, and Sokka scowled.

"Yeah, yeah, in fact, I am," he declared, and she chuckled again. "A guy's just trying to say something cool and you just have to twist it around to make fun of him… how do you even do it?"

"It's a natural talent of mine, don't take it to heart," she said, smiling. "It's not anything new for you anyways. You've done your fair share of that as well."

"Heh, well, that's true," he said, smirking. "I figure you still wouldn't mind bathing with me, would you…?"

"Ahaha, how hilarious," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Sokka wound up laughing this time as she shook her head, trying to conceal a smile of her own. "Why, if you insist, you're welcome to bathe in this river if you please. Though for all you know, it might be Iroh joining you and not me…"

"That's… ugh. Well played," he said, and Azula beamed proudly.

"You should know better than to mess with me by now," she declared, looking at him defiantly.

Before Sokka could reply, Iroh called out for them, waving a hand in their direction.

"We're all set over here!" he exclaimed.

Azula's cheerfulness vanished as quickly as it had come, and she sighed before nodding and standing up, prompting Xin Long to come with her. Sokka followed them towards where Iroh and Toph stood, and he looked with surprise at the clay statues the earthbender had built.

"Not bad," he said, nodding. "They just don't have hair… but other than that, you did a decent job."

"Yeah? Good to know you think so. I wouldn't know if they look good or not…" she said, smiling and shrugging.

"That's just why I wasn't sure of entrusting this job to you, but I guess there was no better choice, huh?" said Sokka, and Toph scowled.

"Well, then, next time you can make the clay dolls while I share inside jokes with my sponsor…" Toph growled under her breath before moving the figures with her bending.

She placed them on Xin Long's saddle carefully, making sure they wouldn't shatter. Azula's statue was first, while Toph's sat behind hers. Sokka's was behind Toph, and Iroh was outside the saddle, clutching at Sokka's figure to make it seem like he was trying to keep from falling. All the figures were hollow, making them considerably lighter than the people they were standing in for, so that Xin Long wouldn't struggle in his flight this time around.

"Keeps it realistic, huh?" said Toph, pointing at Iroh's statue before stepping back.

Xin Long glanced at the fully occupied saddle, making sure everything was ready. Azula approached him and caressed his neck, grimacing.

"Be careful," she whispered, sighing. "Let me know if anything goes wrong. I'll make sure to contact you if we happen to need you to return for one reason or another…"

Xin Long groaned and pressed his nose to her forehead before turning away from her and breaking into a trot. Soon he jumped into the air and he glided upwards, the dolls still properly attached to his saddle. Azula was relieved to see they didn't fall apart, for she had feared they might.

"Let's hope the statues survive the trip, eh?" said Sokka, staring at Xin Long as he flew towards Ba Sing Se's Inner Wall.

"They'd better," said Azula, sighing and turning towards the other three once her dragon was out of sight. "And so? What now?"

"Well… the plan was for the dragon to buy us enough time to decide what to do," said Iroh, his hands linking together above his belly as he stared at the ground before him. "Thanks to him, the Dai Li will be off our tracks for now. They'll think we're leaving the city altogether because they're after us, and if they truly want Toph's reward, they're bound to follow your dragon…"

"Are you taking for granted that all the Dai Li agents will pursue Xin Long?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "For one thing, we don't know their full numbers. They might send only a brigade or two after him while the rest of their forces remain in the city. And for another, they're bound to notice there's something odd about this. Xin Long's flight is steady and easy this time around, most unlike before. You believe they won't find that suspicious?"

"Hopefully, it will be too late by the time they do," said Iroh, sighing. "This was the best thing we could do right now, Azula."

"Apparently," said Azula, sighing and shaking her head. "But we can't stay here anymore. We need to decide what we'll do now, and we must move out in case they decide to come here to see if we left any leads behind… such as that."

Azula pointed at the riverbank, which had been perfectly smooth when they had arrived here. While bending the clay she had required, Toph had left enormous gashes right next to the river. Upon taking notice of this detail, the earthbender stepped forward and pulled the earth together, trying to erase all evidence of what they had been doing by the riverbank.

"There. No leads for them to pick up on. Happy now?" Toph said, turning towards Azula.

"You're not seriously asking me if I'm happy, are you?" Azula said, glaring at the girl.

"Nah, I'm not," said Toph, sighing in defeat. "You're just like your big brother, can't be happy even if you try."

"Not when I'm stuck in disasters I didn't bargain for, I'm not," Azula retorted.

"Eh… how about we focus on the important stuff again?" Sokka said, grimacing. "What are we going to do next?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Toph, folding her arms over her chest. "We're going back in there. We have a Tournament to win. We didn't come all this way just so we could chicken out because some morons are trying to abduct me. If the ruse with the dragon works, they won't realize we're still here. We can just go back inside the Inner Wall and then…"

"You can't be serious," Azula said, staring at Toph in disbelief. "Didn't you hear what I just said? We have absolutely no idea how many Dai Li agents there are. If they found us once, they're bound to do it again. My only guess is that they found us because of the Tournament, so going back to the Arena is asking for them to strike at us again as soon as we drop our guard."

"Well, then, we won't let them catch us with our guard down!" Toph said, shrugging. "Really, though, what else are you expecting us to do, Jewel? What better idea do you have than this?"

"My better idea is that we head to Lake Laogai, board my Barge again and leave before they can come after us," Azula stated, earning herself disbelieving gasps from her new companions.

"Leave? You can't possibly mean that…" said Iroh, astonished.

"Like hell we're going to do that!" Toph retorted, opposed to the idea completely. "You can't just give up on the Tournament!"

"Oh, of course I can't…" Azula said, rolling her eyes before looking at Toph sternly. "Unless either of you come up with a better idea than this, one that doesn't involve getting any of us killed by those Dai Li agents, then I'm perfectly willing to forsake the Tournament, forget the points and the money and go back to a city where I know I won't be attacked at random by former law enforcement agents. I'm sorry to say I don't care as much about Sokka's record as you care about yours, Bandit."

"You don't care about his record, you say?" Toph snarled. "Well, that's your problem if you don't, but I sure as hell care about mine! You're not going to drag us away when we have a great chance at winning this thing!"

"Why, I do wonder just how great your chances will be when those guys seize you and lock you down somewhere…" Azula said, sarcastically.

"How about we tone it down a bit, you two?" said Sokka, waving his hands in hopes to catch their attention, but he didn't manage to keep them from bickering this time. Iroh looked as worried as Sokka was, unsure of how to prevent the two girls from fighting.

"Even then, it'll be way better than by running away like you want us to!" Toph retorted. "Heck, I always thought you were stuck-up and self-involved, but I never pegged you as a coward, to boot."

Sokka froze at that, knowing Toph had just stepped into truly dangerous territory after that. Even Iroh realized the girl had gone too far, but Toph didn't seem to care. She just continued to frown defiantly while Azula raised an eyebrow slowly, her expression soon becoming utter indignation.

"Now that's quite amusing," she said, with that cold voice Sokka knew she only used when she was truly enraged. "You're calling me self-involved? You and Iroh have dragged me and Sokka through Ba Sing Se without ever mentioning there would be bounty hunters and Dai Li pursuing you because there's one immense bag of gold waiting for whoever captures you. Not only this, but you also hoped to knock Sokka out in the Tournament before this mess began, just because you thought he would get in your way. And, if your story is true, you've been making selfish decision after selfish decision ever since you were a kid, putting yourself in danger just because you think it's fun, and because the consequences of your actions have never reached you. So now, at long last, your great decisions have started to affect other people aside from you, and yet your main concern is your record in the Gladiator League! And yet you have the nerve to say I'm the one who's being self-involved?!"

"I'm just saying you could just find a way to solve this instead of just wanting to run away!" Toph defended herself, gritting her teeth, but Azula wasn't finished yet.

"Why, such great advice coming from the girl who has spent about two years of her life running away," Azula snapped. "You fled from your parents, from everyone who has come after you, and you kept all your juicy secrets to yourself because you were sure I'd never accept this, weren't you? But of course, I must be the coward because I don't want anything to do with a mess that was never supposed to concern me in the first place!"

"I just…!"

"So don't you dare call me a coward or say I'm selfish when you're so much worse than I am!" Azula shouted, her chest heaving as she glared ferociously at Toph. "At the very least I give a damn about Sokka's safety and not just my own! What about you, though? You've been dragging Iroh around, putting him in danger without a care in the world! Have you ever bothered asking him if he's alright with this? Have you ever wondered if maybe you shouldn't impose on him as much as you have? He probably doesn't care, of course, he's Iroh after all, but it still should matter to you. But your one priority has always been you, and you alone. So, do excuse me for having different priorities from yours."

"You're just… I wasn't trying to put anyone in danger," she said, dropping her gaze, her fists clenched and her teeth bared.

"Little does it matter what your intentions were when you refuse to face the result of your actions," Azula retorted. "Understand your decisions have serious consequences, Bandit, and then I might actually ask for your opinion when it comes to what we'll do next."

Toph shivered upon those words, her fists so tight that Azula narrowed her eyes and readied herself to fight against her if she dared resort to her bending. Yet if Toph meant to defend herself from Azula's accusations in one way or the other, in the end, she didn't do anything. She just gritted her teeth before turning on her heels and marching away, unwilling to continue with this argument.

Azula watched her leave, feeling a pang of guilt, yet also satisfaction on some degree. Hopefully, her harsh words would serve to teach the girl a lesson this time.

Iroh groaned and placed a hand on his forehead while Sokka stared after Toph, worriedly. Azula turned towards them, only remembering now that they had witnessed the entire discussion from the sidelines. She frowned, her hands on her hips.

"You're not going to tell me to chase after her and apologize, are you?" she growled, staring pointedly at Sokka.

"You were rather harsh on Toph indeed," said Iroh, sighing. "Now we have a brand new problem to deal with, and it wasn't as though we needed more of them, did we?"

"She needed a dose of reality, Uncle, and if nobody else was going to give it to her, then I would," Azula stated, firmly.

"Still, being so direct… who knows what she'll do now?" said Iroh. "Someone has to go get her, or else…"

"Yeah, you're right," said Sokka, scratching the back of his neck. "I guess I can do it while you two wait here…"

"Oh, please," said Azula, rolling her eyes. "You expect her to become erratic and leave us behind? You know she can't accomplish her goals without you, Sokka. She won't be participating in that Tournament without her sponsor and without her partner, so…"

"That's not really the problem here," said Sokka, looking at Azula earnestly. "See… I might be seeing this from the wrong angle, I don't know. But it's not going to work so well for us to be a team only when we're in the Arena. I get that we all thought this was just a matter of dealing with each other until the Tournament was over, but with this new crisis, all the more reason we should stick together. This is when we should be a team, more than ever."

Azula's frown deepened at that. Sokka sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder before walking in the same direction Toph had taken.

"I'll go get her. Wait here."

Azula huffed in irritation and rolled her eyes, walking towards the rock Toph had been sitting on earlier. She shook her head repeatedly, wondering just why nobody else seemed to have any sense of self-preservation here… though if she gave it some thought, it might be because they didn't blame themselves for this mess, while she did. If only she hadn't accepted Iroh's proposal on such a stupid whim, none of this would be happening…

"I truly am sorry you were dragged into this," Iroh confessed, sighing and dropping his gaze. Azula glanced towards him, as distrustful as ever. "I knew from the start about Toph's situation… she told me about it shortly after she accepted my offer to sponsor her. We hoped it wouldn't continue to chase after her, for nobody had ever tried to seize her while in the Fire Nation… she was actually worried about it when I told her we would come to Ba Sing Se, but I told her to relax. Everything would work out well, I said. Only… I was wrong."

"Yes, you were," said Azula, sighing heavily. "I just can't make sense out of this. You came to Ba Sing Se with Lu Ten in mind, Uncle. That's the reason why you wanted to come altogether, isn't it?"

"Well… yes," said Iroh, nodding and taking his seat next to his niece. "I believed I had put off visiting his grave for too long. You know I had."

"Of course I do," said Azula. "But maybe you should have thought about this twice if you knew there was such great risk in visiting Lu Ten's grave like this. Toph's situation isn't a matter where you can simply cross your fingers and hope for the best outcome. It was wrong of you to put her in danger as you have just because you wanted to visit Lu Ten. You should have come here on your own instead of dragging Toph here, knowing she could get captured if her identity was ever revealed."

"I know," said Iroh, nodding. "It was wrong of me to act so recklessly, putting not only Toph in danger, but also you and Sokka. And Toph knows we have no right to impose upon you two, but she is rather stubborn, as you noticed. Being a gladiator has been the highlight of her life, and she takes it very seriously. She meant no harm to you two… in fact, I believe she actually looked forward to spending time with you. It's why she was happy to do this when I told her about joining the Tournament with Sokka as her partner. But even so…"

"Even so, things just happened to develop in the worst possible way, it seems," Azula muttered. "And it's really not that hard to see why that is. I guess Sokka is right, to a certain degree, but I don't see how we're supposed to be 'a team', as he puts it, when there's nothing reminiscent to trust between us. We don't understand each other, and we probably never will."

"We'll have to learn to do so now, that's all there is to it," said Iroh, sighing. "I know we are very different, you and I, and we never grew to like one another. Still… it might be time for us to stop pushing the other away and to try and step into the other's shoes. It's a better time than any, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," said Azula, with resignation. "So you believe I can trust you, then? You think I can understand both you and the Bandit?"

"You could try," said Iroh, smiling weakly at her. "We are in the same team, and the same boat. It's better that we try to understand each other, even if we really are as different as we are. It's the only way for us to actually become a team."

"Well, then, if we're going to understand each other, I have a question for you," said Azula, frowning and looking at him pointedly. "Why did you accept to sponsor the Bandit once you knew what her story was? Why didn't you ever try to convince her to face her parents?"

"Why, you ask…?" said Iroh, surprised.

"Her parents are waiting for her, have been for at least two years now," Azula said. "And while she clearly loves being a gladiator, she's done her best to ignore that her parents are desperate to see her again. She's playing the rebel, and you're playing along with her. And why would you do that, Uncle? If it so happens that you see her as some sort of replacement for Lu Ten, just as you probably see Zuko, then all the more reason you should understand the position her parents are in. You chased after your son through the Spirit World, after all. You should understand their plight. Don't you think they deserve a chance to see their daughter again, to have a proper explanation for her departure?"

Iroh sighed deeply and dropped his gaze, his eyes looking rather sad now. Azula was taken aback by that reaction, but she didn't take back her questions.

"Zuko and Toph will never replace Lu Ten," Iroh muttered. "Nobody ever will. I care for those two as they are, for who they are. I cannot lie, I do feel a certain fatherly attachment to them… but it isn't the same. Nothing ever will be."

Azula swallowed and nodded at that, somewhat relieved to hear Iroh say as much. Lu Ten had always been very special for her, and some of her resentment towards her uncle had spawned because of the way he had started to treat Zuko once his own son had died. Knowing Iroh hadn't been hoping to replace Lu Ten genuinely relieved her.

"Still… my son died in this very city, Azula," said Iroh, lifting his head and looking at the distant Outer Wall. He lifted a hand and pointed towards the west. "Somewhere in that direction, my son helped tear down Ba Sing Se's defenses by my command. And by my command, he fought with all his strength until a rock smashed his body, killing him instantly."

Azula's eyes widened at that. Never before had she heard the details on her cousin's death, and she never expected to hear them from Iroh directly.

"I didn't see it happen. I wasn't at the frontlines that day… well, I hardly ever was, truth to be told," Iroh muttered. "I was informed afterwards… and I couldn't believe it. I broke down upon hearing the news. My one and only son, dead in a battle I had dragged him to without even asking him if he wanted to fight in it."

"What do you mean? Lu Ten always talked about joining the army, about following in your footsteps…" said Azula, staring at Iroh in confusion.

"Yet after he died, I started to wonder if that was truly what he wanted to do in life. If he had other choices, if he was given the opportunity to dedicate his life to whatever he wanted to, would he have chosen to follow me? I sure hope he wouldn't have. My son… I forced him into a life he should have never been part of. I never asked him if he wanted something else, I never thought he would. But what if he did, yet out of respect for me, he decided to follow my wishes? If I had only asked, he might have told me he wanted a different life for himself. I would have accepted that… and that way, he would still be with us now. But I took everything for granted, Azula. And I fear that was what cost him his life."

Iroh lifted his gaze now, meeting Azula's. She stared into his eyes, surprised by how clear they were, despite how emotional Iroh was right now.

"And this is why I won't force Toph to see her parents: because I won't make the same mistake I did with Lu Ten, by not taking her wishes into account and forcing her to do as I see fit."

Azula frowned and held his gaze until he sighed and dropped his eyes. Azula rubbed her forehead with her fingertips again, guessing Iroh was right to some degree.

"She still should face this matter, if you ask me," said Azula. "Nobody will be forcing her to do so, but she'd better do it eventually. Parents who are willing to pay any price to see her safely home again surely aren't that bad. At the very least they care enough to want her back with them…"

"That is true," Iroh said, nodding.

"But it's up to her in the end," said Azula, shrugging. "There's nothing we can do about it."

"Indeed," Iroh agreed, sighing.

They sat together on the rock, occasionally speaking, yet both deep in thought. They still had no answers regarding what they'd do, and they had to wait for their gladiators' return before making a decision. As Sokka had put it, it was time for them to truly start acting as the team they were supposed to be.

---

"Well... I think this is how you do it. I'm not so sure, but... it's what your mom said, at least. So, umm... Let me know if I'm doing it wrong, okay?"

The baby sitting before him simply chuckled and waved his hands towards him. Zuko breathed deeply and lifted his hands to his face, covering his eyes and blocking Yuudai from sight. A giggle helped Zuko think he was on the right track.

"Where did he go, now? Where might Yuudai beeee...?" he said, feeling somewhat dumb even though it was fun to play with the child. He moved his hands away from his face and gasped in feigned surprise. "Ah! There he is!"

Yuudai laughed loudly at that, his hands gripping his feet as he swung backwards in his amusement. Zuko actually smiled for an instant before his expression turned into concern, as he saw Yuudai was bound to lose his balance by rocking on his rear like that.

"C-careful! You'll hit your head!" Zuko squealed, reaching out for him. Yuudai didn't wind up hitting his head, thanks to Zuko's intervention, and instead the child decided to grasp at his face and hair as he could with his tiny hands. "Uh… I suppose that's alright. Just don't… Owww! Don't pull my hair!"

Yuudai just laughed while Zuko grimaced, and Yuudai's mother was just as amused as her son, even though she simply chuckled under her breath, watching them from the room's threshold. After making sure that Yuudai would be fine with his new babysitter, Mai decided to leave them to their games and headed towards the dining room, where Ruon Jian sat, looking through books and files with a frown on his face.

"You sure look busy," said Mai, raising her eyebrows. Ruon Jian looked at her apologetically.

"I know I shouldn't bring my work home, but it's piling up…" he said, and she simply shrugged.

"It doesn't bother me, though it sure looks boring," said Mai, sitting beside him.

"It really is," Ruon Jian replied, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips and slumping on his chair. "It's stupid to come home early just to keep working, but that's how it is. How's Yuudai? Is he good friends with Zuko yet?"

"On his way to be, it seems," said Mai, smiling a little before frowning and looking at Ruon Jian skeptically when he seemed jealous upon those news. "Don't be an idiot. You know your son loves you. He never fails to make a happy ruckus when you get home."

"But I hardly spend enough time with him," he said, sighing. "What if he… what if he ends up thinking Zuko is his father and not me?"

"I think the aghast look on Zuko's face upon hearing Yuudai call him 'daddy' will be such a horrifying sight that Yuudai won't ever use that word again," said Mai, leaning on the table and looking at her husband with amused eyes. "You really aren't jealous of Zuko now, are you?"

"It's just… he could easily be your husband instead of me, right?" said Ruon Jian. "And he's already having fun with our son while I end up working overtime instead of spending time with him…"

"You're not constantly with Yuudai because you're providing for the family, Ruon, you don't need to be so dramatic," said Mai, looking at him with irritation. "That's exactly why I married you instead of Zuko, you know?"

"O-oh… sorry about that, then," he said, smiling weakly and giving her another apologetic look. "I just wish I could spend more time with you and Yuudai."

"Well, I got Zuko to do this precisely so I wouldn't be constantly exhausted after taking care of Yuudai all day long…" said Mai, a hand on Ruon Jian's forearm. "This way you can spend proper time with me later, see?"

"Huh… well, that does sound promising," he said, as she smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

To their chagrin, their kiss was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Mai's brow furrowed, and Ruon Jian was simply confused.

"We're not expecting anyone, are we?" he asked, disappointed by the interruption.

"I don't think so," she muttered, standing up and moving towards the hallway. "I'll find out who it is."

Ruon Jian would have returned to his work, but his curiosity prompted him to peek from the dining room's door, from where he had a perfect view of the front door Mai was opening. And his eyes widened, all the same as his wife's did, when they saw three people waiting outside their house, two of them familiar, the last one unknown and unconscious, in Haru's arms.

"Hi…" Ty Lee said, with a guilty smile. "Could you please do me a favor, Mai?"

Zuko noticed there was some movement in the hallway, and he heard nervous voices outside. Yet before he could turn to ask what was going on, Yuudai claimed his attention by sliding his fingers up Zuko's nose.

"Hey, don't do that," Zuko said, grimacing and placing Yuudai on the floor again. "Let's play again. I'll hide now, just as you like it, okay?"

Yuudai smiled enthusiastically, and Zuko proceeded to cover his face with his hands. He counted a few seconds in his head before talking to the child before him.

"Where might Yuudai be…? Where did he go now? Oh, maybe he's right…!" he said, putting his hands away theatrically… before realizing the child wasn't before him anymore.

Zuko's eyes widened as he looked around himself frantically, wondering where the baby had snuck to. This just couldn't have gone smoothly…

"Yuudai? Yuudai, where did you go?!" he said, trying to keep his voice low. The last thing he wanted was for Mai to realize he had lost her son. "If you wanted to play hide-and-seek you should have said so… damn it."

He crawled through the room, still hearing the noises outside, but paying no heed to them when he was in such dire situation. He looked under the furniture, calling Yuudai's name repeatedly, until he heard a noise from the closet. Zuko jumped towards it, opening the ajar door completely to find Yuudai underneath some drawers. Zuko raised an eyebrow and the child squealed, making Zuko smile despite himself.

"You took the game too seriously, Yuudai …" he said, pulling the baby out of his hiding spot and holding him close again. "Don't do that again, you heard me? You'll give me a heart attack… your mom will kill me if I lose you. Do you want her to do that?"

It seemed Yuudai didn't care much for what Zuko was saying, deciding that pulling his hair again was better than listening to him. Zuko sighed and grimaced.

"Okay. I need a haircut."

Meanwhile, in the upper story of the house, servants were assembling a room, fixing the sheets on the bed just in time before Haru brought the battered slave inside, placing her on the mattress carefully. Mai, Ruon Jian and Ty Lee watched him as he lowered her, all of them staring at the girl with worried eyes.

"I'm sorry I dropped by unannounced like this," Ty Lee told Mai. "I didn't mean to do this at all, but things got out of hand. Azula asked me to find her, but I never thought she'd be in such a dreadful condition…"

"She needs a healer," said Mai, sighing. "My servants can help with that, but she might require more than what they can do. People have come out of wars looking better than this."

"I know," said Ty Lee, biting her lip. "And I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe you'd be able to help…"

The girl on the bed stirred, and all four of them were startled by her movements. She pressed her eyelids tightly closed shortly before opening her eyes drowsily. Yet when she noticed Haru was sitting on the bed, right next to her, she inched away from him, looking at him with panic reflected in her violet eyes.

"There, there…" said Ty Lee, sitting next to Haru and reaching out for the girl, touching her hand with hers. "You're okay. I said you would be, didn't I? You're in a nice bed, right? And this is a pretty house, far away from Shu Wo…"

"Y-you… who are you?" Suki asked, recoiling from the contact. "Why did you come for me? W-who are you people?"

"Let's keep the questions for the right moment, shall we?" said Mai, placing a hand on Ty Lee's shoulder and prompting her to give Suki more space. "You need medical attention right now… uh, what's your name?"

"I… I'm… S-Suki" she muttered, almost unwillingly. Ty Lee only recalled her name then, for she had given it to Sokka back when they had fought against one another.

"Very well, Suki," said Mai. "You need someone to tend to you right now. My servants will help you with that. Tell them what hurts, and they'll help you heal. Nobody is going to harm you anymore. You're here to heal, nothing other than that."

"I… why?" she asked, staring at the noble woman with disbelieving eyes. "Why would you…?"

"Well, truth to be told, because I was asked to find you," said Ty Lee. "And while I wasn't asked to heal you, I just couldn't leave you be when you're like this."

"Y-you're… you were asked…?" Suki repeated, staring at Ty Lee in confusion.

"You'll get your answers later. First, you must get better. We'll bring you some food in a little while," said Mai, prompting the others to leave the room with a flick of her hand. "For now, focus on resting and healing. Everything will be better soon."

Suki stared at her as though she couldn't quite believe those words, but she stopped asking questions nonetheless. She nodded weakly, and with that, the matter was settled. Mai bowed her head curtly towards her before leaving the room with Ruon Jian, and Haru followed them. Ty Lee smiled at the girl, hoping to seem encouraging somehow, before leaving and closing the door behind her. Suki was left by herself with Mai's servants, elderly women who were supposed to tend to her wounds… she wasn't too fond of human contact right now, but she didn't refuse them when they approached to ask her how she felt, and if she had any significant wounds that needed treatment.

The others headed downstairs, and Ruon Jian went to the kitchens, to fetch food for their new guest.

"This is really troublesome," said Mai, sighing, once Ty Lee conveyed what little she knew about Suki to her. "What does Azula have in mind? Why did she ask you to get this girl out of Shu Wo? Why didn't she do it herself?"

"That's what I'd like to know, but we went to the Palace and they said she was gone," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "My house isn't equipped to host Suki at the moment, and I have no healers or anyone other than Haru to look after her… and from the looks of it, she doesn't want Haru anywhere near her. She doesn't want anyone to touch her, but she's has a certain aversion towards men… I guess it's because of the jerks that were beating her."

"She might grow out of it in due time, don't take it personally," said Mai, looking at Haru. "Still, I really would like to know what Azula was thinking. What does the girl have to do with her? Does she want another gladiator all of sudden? I really don't see much sense in…"

"What are you talking about?"

Ty Lee was startled when she heard Zuko's voice. She hadn't known he had been here, and seeing him holding Yuudai only added to her surprise.

"Zuko, you were here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you…?"

"I'm helping Mai out with Yuudai," Zuko muttered, blushing a little before remembering what he had just overheard as he walked down the hallway. "What were you saying about Azula? And another gladiator…?"

"That was just speculation, we don't know what she's up to," said Ty Lee, smiling and waving a hand carelessly. Mai took Yuudai from Zuko's arms before answering his questions properly.

"Azula sent Ty Lee to fetch a slave girl in Shu Wo. Ty Lee meant to bring her back to Azula, but for some reason Azula isn't there…"

"She's in Ba Sing Se," Zuko explained. "My uncle told me they had joined some Pairs Tournament together or so…"

"What?! S-she joined a Tournament with him and not me?!" Ty Lee squeaked, devastated. Mai sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Long story short, the girl needed medical attention and Ty Lee couldn't give it to her, so she brought her here. That's it."

"A slave, though? If she's in such bad shape, why would Azula want her as a gladiator?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"Well, she was a gladiator before, is all," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "In fact, you might just remember her. I dragged you with me to watch that fight she had with Sokka. Her name was Kyoshi's Heir. Does it ring a be-… Zuko?"

Mai was quite relieved to have taken Yuudai from Zuko when she had, for the look of utter shock in Zuko's face was such that he would have dropped the baby if he had still been holding him. His eyes had widened, his jaw had dropped and he looked at Ty Lee as though he had never looked at her before. He took a step forward and Ty Lee instinctively walked backwards, colliding with Haru, who stood behind her.

"Y-you… y-you just said… y-you didn't mean…" he said, lifting a trembling hand towards Ty Lee. "Kyoshi's Heir? You just said…? She's…?"

"She's upstairs, yes…?" said Ty Lee, gulping. The expression of disbelief on Zuko's face only seemed to intensify when she confirmed the fact to him.

"How come is she…? That's… wait, Azula asked you to get her? You said…? Why did she…?"

"We just said we have no idea," said Mai, looking at Zuko with curiosity. "What of it, Zuko? Do you know this girl?"

"I… I kind of…" he said, a hand going up to his head as he dropped his gaze, his brain refusing to process the information just yet. Suki was here… but she had been in Shu Wo? Why? How had she wound up there? And why had Azula sent Ty Lee to find her…?

"All I could get right now was fruit, but we can give her a decent meal later," said Ruon Jian, returning with a tray of food in his hands.

Zuko turned towards him, his eyes wide. Ruon Jian was startled when Zuko suddenly reached out for him, offering to take the silver tray from his hands.

"C-can I take that to her?" he said, breathing heavily.

"Uh… I suppose?" Ruon Jian started, and Zuko was quick to take the tray from him and climb the stairs, his mind set on reaching Suki immediately.

A pair of servants were leaving a room, and he guessed they had either left to find medical supplies or they had decided to leave Suki to her rest. He passed them by and reached the room, his heart racing so fast he thought it would burst from his chest…

He froze on the threshold when he finally saw her. She was, if anything, a ghost of the woman he had once admired from afar. If he hadn't been told it was her, he might have failed to recognize her altogether. Granted that he had always seen her with her face paint, but he still expected to recognize the girl who had dazzled him in the sand ring so many times…

Suki breathed deeply, her eyes closed until she heard the wooden floor creak. She opened her eyes warily, her mind warning her that they were back, they had come again to finish what he had started at the outskirts of Shu Wo…

She jumped away instinctively, hoping to defend herself somehow… until her eyes fell upon the new arrival to discover it wasn't who she had feared it might be.

More memories from a life that didn't feel like her own came back when she looked upon him again. The fear in her eyes started to fade away as she recalled that day, when he had taken his seat next to her, when he had spoken to her and helped her relax after one of her worst fights in the Arena. She stared at him with disbelief soon enough, wondering if he was really here… wondering if he was the reason why she had been rescued in the first place.

"Y-you…" she said, her eyes now hopeful.

Zuko opened his mouth, wishing to say something, but the words got lost in his throat. His grip on the tray grew weaker, and his eyes couldn't look away from the girl before him. He wanted to ask her what had happened to her, why she was here now, why she had vanished in the first place… but he couldn't utter a single word. The thoughts raced through his head in a disorderly fashion, and he couldn't string a proper sentence together…

So, surprising himself, he actually managed to keep from making a mess of this situation. He took a deep breath and moved towards her nightstand, placing the tray on it carefully. Suki's eyes followed him, still in utter confusion.

When he pulled away from the nightstand, he actually managed to smile at her. It wasn't an uneasy smile, and he didn't look revolted upon seeing her in this state… he seemed relieved to see her again altogether. His gentle smile said as much.

He took a deep breath and nodded in her direction before stepping away again, turning towards the door and leaving without a single word. Yet Suki needed none to feel refreshed, to her utter surprise. The tension, the wariness, the fear of being amongst strangers faded away slowly as she realized that, at the very least, one of the people in this house wasn't completely unknown. She hardly knew anything about him, she scarcely remembered his name, but knowing he was here soothed her.

She stretched a hand towards the tray he had brought, and the soreness of her body made her flinch. Still, she grasped one of the fruits Zuko had brought, and when she looked at it she actually smiled for what felt like the first time in her life.

It was a peach.

---

Toph hadn't gone too far, but she had put plenty of distance between her and the rest of the group. Sokka found her sitting atop a hill, her knees drawn up to her chin, her arms crossed atop them. Sokka guessed she had noticed he had approached, but he still made his presence known.

"Thanks for not hiding underground or something," he said, taking his seat beside her. "You spared me some hours of pointless searching."

"I could have hidden underground if I'd wanted to," she mumbled. "There are a bunch of tunnels and stuff under this city. You'd be surprised if you could sense them."

"Really, now?" said Sokka, raising his eyebrows. "So it's like the Fire Nation's Capital?"

"Maybe," said Toph, shrugging.

Sokka sighed and swallowed, wondering how to breach this matter without earning her antagonism. Yet Toph decided to spare him the trouble by talking first.

"You didn't need to bother coming after me. I just want to be alone," she muttered.

"I thought someone had to make sure you wouldn't just bail on us now," said Sokka. "I know Azula said some pretty harsh things, but…"

"Don't make excuses for that. I get it, I'm an awful person and she hates me for it. Not that hard to understand."

"I'm not here to make excuses. And you don't need to blow things out of proportion," said Sokka, frowning. "Azula isn't an easy person to get along with, and she's hard on everyone around her, so don't take it personally. I've been at the other end of her anger quite a few times before, and believe me, the first time I had no idea how to deal with it… heck, who am I kidding? Even nowadays I don't know what to do about it."

"Well, that actually does make me feel a little better," said Toph, sighing. "Then it's not just me."

"No, and there's something else you should know," said Sokka, leaning back, his hands supporting his weight behind him. "Azula is hard on all of us, but the one person she's hardest on is herself. She may have said you were cowardly and self-involved when you accused her of that… but she didn't deny it when you called her that, did she?"

"Huh, now you mention it, she didn't…" said Toph, frowning.

"Azula has been regretting this trip for a while now, and I'm pretty sure she's blaming herself for the outcome," said Sokka, sighing. "Sure she says otherwise, and she lashes out at everyone else, but most the time she's just telling herself she should have done this or that differently… so don't bring yourself down by thinking she despises you. By that logic, it'd mean she hates herself most of all, and I really hope that's not the case."

"I suppose you don't see any reason why she should hate herself after all, crazy in love with her as you are…" Toph muttered, skeptically. "In your eyes, there's nothing to hate about her."

"Heh, you'd be surprised by how many things I used to loathe about her," said Sokka. "I actually spent two years of my life dreaming of killing her, how about that?"

"But now you adore her. You're one weird guy," said Toph.

"Yeah, probably," said Sokka, grimacing. "But that's not really the problem here, is it?"

"No, clearly the problem here is me. Me, and my cowardice, and how selfish I am…" said Toph, burying her face in her arms. Sokka looked at her worriedly before she sighed. "I hate to admit it, but… she's actually right about me. I never wanted to accept it, but I'm scared. I've always been. And why the hell should I be? My parents… they're not even benders, there's nothing they could do to me other than nag me. What's so scary about that? Yet even when that's the case, I just…"

"I think we all have that little fear in the back of our heads towards our parents," said Sokka, smiling weakly. "My dad was in charge back home, but whenever my grandmother told him off for anything, he'd look as though he were about to have a panic attack. And he was a strong, tough guy, while she was just an elderly lady. So, fearing your parents is normal, I think. And I think Azula knows that, too."

"She's afraid of her parents? Yeah, seeing how judgmental she was towards me, I doubt it," said Toph.

"I wouldn't quite say she's afraid," said Sokka, sighing. "But she never had an easy relationship with her mom. From what I know, the woman disappeared one day, so even if Azula wanted to confront her, and face the conflicts they had, she can't do it anymore. So I guess that might be part of why she can't understand why you'd turn your back on your parents, fleeing through half the world just to get away from them."

"I didn't know she'd had problems with her mom. But what about her dad? I mean, he's Fire Lord and he's pretty creepy, so unless she had a death wish, she wouldn't stand up to him… would she?"

"You'd be surprised. She actually stood up to him not long ago," said Sokka, smiling a little. Toph was startled by the revelation. "She refused to get married when he tried to force her to choose a suitor…"

"Oh? Did she do it because nothing can get in the way of true love…?" Toph asked mockingly, and Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Well, obviously. Why else would she do it?" he said, sarcastically, and Toph smiled. "She did it because she wouldn't let anyone else make decisions for her anymore. Still, believe me, it wasn't easy for her. Standing up to your parents is never easy, and I'm sure she knows it. I don't think she wants you to return to your old home and sit still as a doll while your parents dote on you… but you didn't try to stand up to them, to tell them what you wanted in life, before running away, did you?"

"N-no. I just… left," Toph admitted. "Talking to them wouldn't have changed much…"

"Still, trying wouldn't have hurt much either."

"Well, a bit too late for that now, isn't it?" she said, shrugging. "We'll never know what would have happened if I'd tried at all."

"You still could try, I think," said Sokka. "Go back to your parents' place one day, tell them you've found your calling, and tell them you won't be their perfect little daughter anymore."

"You think I should do what she did," Toph muttered, tapping her arms with her fingers. "Face them and hope for the best, but what if the best doesn't happen? What if I'm chased by Dai Li and bounty hunters for the rest of my life?"

"Heh, well, that sure wouldn't be nice," said Sokka, grimacing. "But you've been safe in the Fire Nation before. Staying there would keep you out of trouble, I think. As for right now… well, I think we'll help you out, if we can. Azula might be mad about this right now, but she's just really tense. She can come around. And once she does, we can figure out what to do. As the team we're supposed to be."

"You really think she'd accept that?" said Toph, stretching her legs and frowning. "I doubt it'll be that easy. You're not too objective about her because you two are all lovey-dovey, but…"

"How many times must I say it? There's no lovey-doveyness!" Sokka exclaimed, and Toph laughed harder this time. "Seriously, damn. You'll never learn, will you?"

"I sure hope not," she said, standing up and sighing. "So… I guess I should apologize for involving you guys in this mess, shouldn't I?"

"If you feel like it, but I don't know if Azula will respond well to that…" said Sokka, standing up as well.

"You know… at first I couldn't believe that she wouldn't get it," said Toph, her hands in her pockets. "I thought she knew just how boring the good life is. I thought she'd understand why I'd left…"

"I think she does understand," said Sokka. "But what she probably doesn't understand is why you'd refuse to ever face what you left behind. It seems she torments herself with every decision she makes, so she doesn't know how you can live at ease with yours. And I guess you actually can't, can you?"

"Oh, so now it turns out she's right and I'm wrong? I bet you always think she's right even when she's not," Toph said, shaking her head disapprovingly. Sokka huffed.

"She's right way more often than not, and believe me, it's pretty damn frustrating," said Sokka, "But she is really harsh on people, and our situation is delicate enough for her to lash out at you like that. We're a team right now. All four of us. We only have one another at the moment, and we should stick together because of that."

"You're probably right," said Toph, sighing. "But… you really don't think she hates me?"

"Nah," said Sokka, smiling and patting the girl's head. "She's just being her usual, grumpy self when things get out of control. Don't take it to heart."

"I'll try not to," said Toph, sighing. "I think she and I could get along… well, if we stop arguing all the time, that is."

"Heh, fat chance for that to happen. You'll have to bond over the arguments," said Sokka, chuckling. "That's how I did it."

"Really? Well, since I don't want to fall in love with her, I'll have to find another way to do it…" Toph smirked, starting back towards where Iroh and Azula waited.

"Seriously, what are you, five? Why can't you just act like a mature person and – ouch! Hey! What was that for?!"

Toph chuckled after punching Sokka's shoulder, a pleased smile on her face as he rubbed his arm while scowling at her.

"Thanks, Sokka," she said, smiling. He froze and looked at her in confusion before following her.

"Thanks for…?"

"It just seemed better to thank you than to say I was sorry," she said, chuckling. Sokka frowned before making a mental note about that. Maybe he should trade his apologies for gratefulness the next time he hit an impasse with Azula…

Iroh jumped off the rock when he saw them approaching, several minutes later. Azula glanced in their direction, an apprehensive look on her face.

"Oh, Toph..." he said, smiling and taking her hands in his once she had reached him.

"Hey," she muttered, with a guilty smile. "Sorry. Didn't mean to worry you."

"It's fine. I'm glad you're back," he said, beaming and hugging her.

"Seriously, Iroh? I was only gone for an hour at most..."

Sokka looked at Azula, taking note of how she stared at Toph somewhat warily, as though she wished to avoid a confrontation, yet still expected one to happen. He stepped towards her, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Did Iroh bug you much?"

"It could have been worse," she admitted, shrugging. "What about the Bandit?"

"I expected worse, too," said Sokka, smiling. "She's really not that bad... she's annoying when she wants to be, of course, but I think..."

"Uh... Jewel?"

Azula raised an eyebrow before turning to face Toph. The girl was standing a few feet away, her head bowed.

"Yes, Bandit?" Azula replied, standing up and looking at her warily.

Toph froze for a moment, not knowing how to start. She sighed and scratched her head before sighing heavily.

"I just… I'm not going to force you guys to do whatever I want, alright?" she said, somewhat flustered. "I just… wanted you to know that."

"Huh…" said Azula, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Yeah, of course you're baffled by it," said Toph, stubbornly. "Well, I don't care if you can't believe it. Even so, I… I will try to be more considerate towards the rest of you. I know I'm not easy to get along with… and I'm just used to getting everything done on my own. So being in a team, like Sokka puts it…"

"It sounds pretty awful," Azula said, and Toph smiled when the Princess finished her sentence. "I honestly don't know why he keeps rambling about that."

"Yeah, me neither," Toph said, and Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh, so now you two will bond over bashing me? After all my efforts, that's how it'll work?" Sokka asked, indignant.

"Why, yes. I'm surprised you mind so much," said Azula, smirking at him "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Sure it is, you're so funny," said Sokka, rolling his eyes as Toph laughed.

"Still… maybe we can give this team thing a try," she said, shrugging and turning towards Azula again. "If it doesn't work, we can always blame it on him."

"Good call," said Azula, nodding towards Toph. She wasn't about to say just how relieved she was by not having to argue with the girl again. Whatever Sokka had said to the Bandit had served to appease her, all the same as talking to Iroh had helped Azula understand his situation with Toph better.

"So, we're all good now?" Iroh asked, smiling. "All problems solved?"

"I doubt it," said Azula, sighing. "It's not like we're all magically going to get along from here on, but…"

"We all want to get out of this mess," said Sokka, grinning. "And we can do it, even if we argue all the way to the very end."

"Right, but now that you mention it… what are we going to do now?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… for one thing, you were right, Azula. The Dai Li might come here to look for leads," said Iroh, frowning. "So we definitely need to leave now. I don't know where we should go, but we have to get moving."

"I can feel the foundations of a house not too far from here," Toph said, her toes digging into the dirt. "It feels like a farm. I don't sense anything alive nearby, so it's probably empty."

"Then that should do for now," said Sokka, stroking his stub of beard with a hand. "Once we're there, we can establish our plans."

"And hopefully, get something to eat," said Iroh, grimacing and rubbing his belly as Toph started to lead the way towards the empty farm.

"Now that's a very good idea," Sokka agreed, nodding enthusiastically. Azula sighed and shook her head, bumping against Sokka intentionally and making him smile as the two of them started after Toph and Iroh.

The farm Toph led them to had two stories, even though it wasn't particularly large, and it had been abandoned some time ago. There were no animals within, and the last crops had withered a while back. Iroh and Sokka had been horrified to find there was nothing worth eating in the house; Toph decided to honor her gladiator name, and she snuck off into a nearby farm, where she nicked some food. Azula was aghast when she confessed to having stolen the tomato-carrots she had found, but Toph said she had left some of Iroh's money as payment for them.

Once they had eaten their respective tomato-carrot, they sat at the kitchen table – for the dining and kitchen area were one and the same in the small building – and their conversation about what to do began anew.

"The only way I will accept returning to the Arena to fight the rest of the Tournament will be if we find a plan where we don't risk falling in the Dai Li's claws, simple as that," Azula established. "So, by all means, start coming up with ideas. We don't have all day."

"Geez, slow down, Spicy," said Toph, grimacing and folding her arms over her chest, her brow furrowed. "We've got to think about this carefully."

"It's no easy feat, entering Ba Sing Se," said Iroh, with an uncomfortable smile. "Believe me, reaching the Agrarian Zone is the easiest part when you're not wanted within the city…"

"Yeah, that might be true," said Sokka, frowning, his hand on his chin. "But we won't cross the Inner Wall to get into Ba Sing Se, will we?"

"No, that would bring too much attention to us," said Azula. "If we asked the Inner Wall guards to lower it for us to enter the city, the remaining Dai Li would notice us. For all we know, some of the earthbenders who work for the Fire Nation nowadays could be members of the Dai Li, or they could be allied with them…"

"Allied with them…?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow at that. An old idea sought to return to him upon that suggestion…

"So, we can't rely on Ba Sing Se's soldiers, at least. My soldiers, on the other hand, are reliable," said Azula, folding her arms over her chest. "We could find support in numbers through them."

"But they might be in the city already, right?" said Toph. "I mean, if the tides weren't that bad anymore, they could have reached the Palace by now. And we're as far from the Palace as we can be. So, we can't go to them for help easily, can we?"

"True," said Sokka, sighing. "We should have stayed in touch with the Captain, as we said we would. Maybe he could have come help us if we had,"

"Too late to regret it now," said Azula, sighing. "We have nothing to send him a message with while we're stranded in the Agrarian Zone. So… this means we'll have no back-up during our re-entry into the city, nor on our way to the Arena."

"We shouldn't take the train either," said Toph. "Earthbending soldiers operate them. If we think guards could be Dai Li allies, they could be as well."

"So, it's as if we couldn't enter the city at all?" asked Iroh, sighing. "This doesn't look good."

"Not quite," said Sokka, intertwining his fingers and leaning on the table, deep in thought. "I think there actually is a way to get inside, avoiding the Dai Li in the process."

"And how's that?" asked Toph, raising an eyebrow.

"You're the one who gave me the idea, actually," said Sokka, smiling a little. "And you're the one who can make it happen, too. Didn't you tell me a while ago that there are tunnels under the city?"

Toph's blind eyes brightened upon that. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, surprising both Azula and Iroh.

"That's right! I sensed them!" she said, beaming. "I sensed tunnels both in the Lower Ring, and some by the Arena. Sure, the ones in the Lower Ring felt more like sewers than anything, but they might connect with the ones in the Upper Ring!"

"S-sewers…?" said Azula, grimacing.

"We could reach the Arena safely," Toph insisted. "Even if the Dai Li also used the tunnels, I could sense them through my earthbending and guide us away from them if they're coming. Above ground there's too many people to know who's who, but below ground I can help us avoid whoever might run into us. It's really going to work!"

"It sounds good," Azula acknowledged, nodding. "This allows us to attend the semi-finals, true, but what will we do afterwards? We can only guess the Dai Li found us through the Gladiator League in the first place. By returning to the Arena we will have them on our tails again once they hear you two attended your fight. They'll know Xin Long was just a hoax, and they would search the entire city if necessary to find us. So…"

"We could just come back here," said Toph, shrugging. "I suppose traveling there and back again won't be easy this time, because we'll have to go on foot, but…"

"You two will have to fight, Toph. How are we to know you will be perfectly uninjured and capable of guiding us through the tunnels after your combat is done?" said Iroh, worriedly.

"Well, I usually don't end up injured, do I…?" said Toph, but Iroh shook his head.

"It's too risky to return here once the fight is through. We will have to find some means to lie low while in the city…"

"Lie low, or lie protected," said Azula, looking at Iroh for a moment. "If Toph is right, my men might be in the Palace by now. And the Palace is currently occupied by Fire Nation troops, by Tiang's men. We may not be able to rely on Ba Sing Se's natives, on the people who might hold some degree of loyalty towards the former king, but we can rely on our people."

"So, you're saying…?" said Toph, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm saying the safest place we can go to is the Imperial Palace," said Azula, determinedly. "The Dai Li shouldn't act against the governor of the city. That alone would be seen as terrorism, and their organization would be immediately persecuted and terminated for it. Once we reach Tiang, and we tell him what has happened to us, he will act in our defense. He won't let the Dai Li reach us anymore."

"You seem quite sure you can trust this guy," said Toph, surprised. "Why…?"

"We've known Tiang for a long time," said Iroh, his gaze on the table. Azula looked at him, noticing he seemed affected by talking about Tiang… "He is a good man. He can be trusted."

"Well, whatever you guys say," said Toph, shrugging. "If you think he's a nice fellow, I'll trust your judgment."

"Then… this is what we'll do," said Sokka, looking at the other three. "We'll finally reach the Palace tomorrow, right?"

"Yep," said Toph, nodding. "And if that guy knows who I am and sends for my parents, I'll beat him to a pulp for it."

"I wonder if you'll be able to," said Azula, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards Sokka. "This is our plan, yes. Any questions or objections?"

"Not particularly," said Toph, shrugging. Iroh shook his head, although Azula didn't miss the troubled look on his face.

"Well then, it's time to get some rest," the Princess said, standing up. "It seems we'll have one hectic day ahead of us tomorrow."

There were only two bedrooms in the building, and there was only a single, individual bed in each. Toph withdrew from the contest over the beds immediately, saying she could make an earth tent outside and sleep there. After Toph stated her intentions, Sokka decided he would sleep on the floor, saying the royals should take the beds. Azula had protested, for he had to sleep properly or he would make a mess of tomorrow's fight, but Sokka had declared it wouldn't be right to make an old man sleep on the floor, and doing that to a Princess was simply out of the question. Iroh had seemed pleased by that, but Azula still wasn't comfortable with Sokka's decision.

Iroh searched the house after their conversation was over, finding old items the farm's former owners had left behind, and amongst them he happened upon several blankets. He picked four of them, and offered one to each of his companions. Azula accepted it without much ado, and Sokka took his gratefully, but when he handed one to Toph she almost laughed in his face.

"You think I need a blanket?" she said, smirking. "The earth keeps me warm enough. Give it to your niece, or keep it yourself."

With that, Iroh headed back to Azula's room, but upon offering the extra blanket she looked at him as though he were crazy.

"Where do you think we are, the South Pole?" she asked. "I don't want another blanket. One will be enough. You can keep it. You're old and your joints will hurt if the chill gets to you."

Iroh didn't quite appreciate her comment, but he didn't retort. What was he supposed to do, force her to keep the blanket? He sure didn't want it himself, that he could say with certainty. Most the time he sweated through the night, and an additional blanket would only make him hotter still. So his only choice was…

"Here. This is for you," Iroh said, dropping the blanket on Sokka's knees as the gladiator settled himself on the hard floor.

"Heh? But I don't think I need…"

"Then give it to Azula," Iroh said, walking away and climbing up the stairs, glad of being rid of the blanket issue by passing it on to Sokka.

Sokka raised an eyebrow, holding the blanket for a moment while wondering if he should give it to his sponsor. Maybe she would tell him to keep it, as proud as she always had been… but he still decided to offer it to her. She just might need it, she was used to hotter climates after all…

He climbed the stairs towards her room, moving as silently as he could in case she was already asleep. When he tip-toed past the door, he found her shape curled on the bed, a blanket over her body already. Sokka continued to move towards her, willing the floor not to creak and he got ready to place the extra blanket over her…

"I think I already told you, Uncle, that I didn't need…" Azula started, sitting on the bed brusquely and making Sokka stumble when she spoke so suddenly. Her eyes widened when she realized she wasn't dealing with Iroh. "Wha-…? Sokka? What are you doing here?"

"I… Iroh gave me this blanket, and then said that if I didn't want it I should hand it to you…" he said, standing up and scratching the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"The one who got startled was you, actually," said Azula, with a weak smile.

"True enough," Sokka conceded, smiling as well. "Then I didn't mean to wake you, if I woke you at all, that is."

"You didn't," Azula admitted. "I can't seem to fall asleep."

"Really?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Too worried about tomorrow?"

"Too worried wondering if we'll survive past tomorrow, rather," said Azula, sighing. "Working with those two as we have for the last few hours hasn't been so bad… and I am doing my best to be understanding of both of them. Yet… part of me still wishes we hadn't done this at all."

"Can't blame you for that," Sokka conceded. "Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we'll be back home, this whole mess behind us… and who knows? In a few months we might be laughing about it and all! Just as nowadays we laugh about stuff that happened to us before, right?"

"Plenty of things that happened aren't worth laughing about," Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh? I'm sure you've had a kick out of making fun of me for my haiku," he said, and she smiled at that. "Or because of my, uh… unfortunate accidents."

"What are you…? Oh. That," said Azula, her eyes widening as she smiled uncomfortably. "I had forgotten that dragons arouse you until now…"

"Y-you… I already told you that wasn't it," Sokka squeaked, but Azula was already laughing, which had been his intent anyways. He rolled his eyes as he waited for her laughter spree to end. "Well, now that I made a fool of myself, as ever… there's something I wanted to tell you."

"Huh?" said Azula, her amusement dissipating upon those words as she started to brace herself for the worst confessions Sokka could possibly make right now.

"I hadn't quite thought about this for a while, seeing how it happened a lifetime ago, it seems," said Sokka. "But today, when you suggested the Dai Li could have allies, I had an idea."

"You did?" Azula asked, interested in what he would say now that it seemed it had nothing to do with Kyoshi's Heir.

"Do you remember our last visit to Ba Sing Se, when we were chasing the Rhinos?"

"I remember, yes," said Azula, frowning.

"Before leaving the city we talked properly for the first time in ages, and I told you of my suspicions about the Rhinos. I mentioned they must have had back-up of some sort, remember…?"

"You did. Though, wait… you think the Dai Li were allied with…?" Azula started, at first with confusion, but soon with dread, her heart sinking upon the information. "The Dai Li were allied with the Rough Rhinos. They… they were the ones helping them. All along, it was them?"

"The Rhinos never gave away the identities of their allies, did they?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. "I figure it must have been these guys. They might have hoped they'd break them out of prison one day."

"This is… this isn't good," Azula said, grimacing. "You don't think they're chasing after us to take revenge for the Rhinos, do you?"

"I doubt it," said Sokka, frowning. "Though it does seem fishy that they'd hunt after Toph just because she's a runaway…"

"I knew there had to be more to this… I just didn't think it'd involve the Rhinos," said Azula, rubbing the bridge of her nose with the tips of her fingers.

"Uh… still, there's no need to get too worried about it now," said Sokka. "I might be wrong, for all we know."

"No… no, I get the feeling you're right," Azula said, looking at Sokka. "And it's good you didn't keep it to yourself, unlike how you kept your theories back when we chased down the Rhinos in the first place."

"I figured I had to say something, but I didn't tell you just so you wouldn't sleep at all…" sighed Sokka. "You've got that look on your face that says you're going to spend the rest of the night worrying about it…"

"Well, what do you expect?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "This is important, Sokka. It might just mean the Dai Li and the Rhinos had been orchestrating a conspiracy we didn't know about, a conspiracy to take back the Earth Kingdom somehow and…!"

"Azula!" Sokka said, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking at her earnestly. She froze at that. "Just… sleep now. You can think about conspiracy theories later."

"You think I'm crazy, don't you? That I'm looking too far into this," Azula said, raising her eyebrows and making Sokka laugh. "You'll see I'm right. I will prove I'm right."

"I know you will," he said, smiling. "You don't know how to hold back when you put your mind to something. Still… you need your rest now. You said you have it hard to sleep in beds that aren't your own, but well…"

"It's better than the floor," Azula muttered, as he dropped his hands again.

"Heh, yeah," he said, smiling a little. "But I'll be fine. It won't be the first time I sleep on the floor, and a wooden floor is better than sleeping by a river in the middle of a forest, right?"

"I suppose, but… we could take turns, as we did when we found that village," Azula suggested, shrugging.

"Would that appease your conscience?" he asked, smiling again. "Well, then, take the first round on the bed and…"

"Well, aren't you creative," said Azula, rolling her eyes and looking at him skeptically. "That was the same idea I had in the forest. You'll let me sleep on the bed the whole night and stick with the floor because you're an idiot."

"Oh? Well, then, if I'm an idiot for saying that now, weren't you an idiot for staying up all night back then just so that I'd sleep?" Sokka asked, smirking.

"Perhaps, but you're four times as idiotic considering you spent at least four nights doing the same thing," Azula replied, and Sokka smiled and bowed his head, conceding defeat again.

"True enough. I didn't deny I was one, though, did I?" he said, looking at her again.

Azula looked at him, her eyes softening as she stared into his. His kind smile, his gentle eyes, everything about him right now made her feel comfortable and happy despite the circumstances… but soon that annoying feeling reappeared, the one that kept reminding her of what had happened back in the Capital, of what would happen once Sokka saw Suki again…

He seemed to notice her mind had drifted just now, and he placed a hand on hers, squeezing it a little and bringing her back to reality with that.

"Get some rest, alright?" he said, smiling kindly again before standing up.

Azula didn't know what made her reach out for his hand right then. Sokka froze when he felt her grip on his wrist, and he turned to look at her, surprised. A mild blush tinged her cheeks, and she refused to meet his gaze.

"J-just… it's not really like… like we've never done this before," she muttered, weakly. "There's no need for you to sleep on the floor downstairs. You could just…"

Sokka's eyes widened, his heart drumming in his chest upon that proposal. Soon enough, a smile spread over his features. He slid his wrist out of her grip, but only to clasp her hand with his.

"You sure?" he asked. "You don't think your uncle might peek here in the middle of the night…?"

"He sleeps like a rock, you've seen that yourself," Azula muttered, releasing his hand before dropping on the bed, curling with her back towards him so she wouldn't face him anymore. "Do as you wish… but you can stay here, if you want to."

Sokka lowered his head, his smile widening. For Azula to allow him to share the bed with her, despite their latest conflicts, was a bigger relief than he expected to get. She still wanted to be with him, it seemed… and as much as she was right to say he was an idiot, he wasn't stupid to the point of refusing her offer.

Azula held back a gasp when she felt him sit on the bed again, removing his boots before stretching across the bed with her. It was rather small, but Sokka didn't need it to be bigger. The bed didn't matter at all when he could be this close to her.

He turned on his side as well, and he inhaled the scent of her hair. He smiled and moved closer, testing his luck, driven by his desire to be near her. His hand found hers again, their fingers intertwining as he pulled her closer. Azula was truly glad she had turned her back on him, for the brightness of her blush right now could have lit up the dark room all by itself. Why had she brought this upon herself? There was something wrong with her, simply. Sharing this bed with him surely wouldn't change a thing in the long run, but she hadn't been able to hold back the urge to be near him again after these long days. She could allow herself a moment of weakness for once, couldn't she…?

She breathed heavily when she felt his forehead on the nape of her neck, his hand still caressing hers.

"Thanks," he whispered, and she swallowed hard.

Her hand gripped his more tightly, and she turned her head, surprising him. Azula could feel his powerful heartbeat against her back, which allowed her to realize she wasn't the only one anxious right now. And she wasn't the only one doing impulsive things, or else he wouldn't have joined her in bed… but she was the more impulsive one, without a doubt.

She closed her eyes and brought their lips together. Sokka responded immediately, passionately kissing her as well as he shifted his position, making it easier for her to reach him. Her free hand caressed his cheek, while his stroked her dark hair…

But soon enough, the memory of everything that had ever gone wrong between them came back to Azula's mind at full force. Knowing what great dangers awaited them tomorrow made her wish to make the most of this moment… but remembering what might happen upon returning home made her break off the contact altogether, despite not truly wanting to.

Sokka was surprised when she drew back, breathing heavily. But before he could hope to kiss her anew, she turned around. He was disappointed by that, yet he was glad their hands were still together. Again, he settled against her back, holding her as he wished he could hold her every night…

Azula sighed and brought their hands up to her mouth. She kissed his fingers softly, despite herself, and she closed her eyes, breathing deeply. His other hand continued to stroke her hair.

"Night…" he whispered, and she didn't respond.

Despite how exhilarant she felt, being close to Sokka was soothing enough for Azula to sleep at ease through the night. Sokka slept soundly as well, only waking up occasionally to move closer to her in case they had separated. Even the muffled sound of Iroh's snores in the next room didn't disturb them. Yet their peaceful sleep was interrupted eventually, and in the last way they would have wanted it to happen…

"Well, well… you two look real comfortable."

It took a moment for Sokka to register the voice, and another one yet to recognize its origin. He jumped away from Azula immediately, his eyes widening as he realized who had entered the room without their awareness.

The grin on Toph's face was the biggest he had seen on it yet; she seemed beyond pleased by her grand discovery.

Sokka paled as he looked at her in dread. It was one thing for Toph to tease him about Azula, but for her to find them in such a compromising situation was nothing short of a crisis…

"And I can't even see, to boot…" she said, chuckling.

"T-Toph, this isn't what it looks like…" Sokka muttered, hoping Iroh wouldn't hear what was happening in their room if he kept his voice down.

"Well, not like I'd know what it looks like, I was being sarcastic before," she said, laughing. "Oh, but damn, so much for saying there's nothing going on here, huh?"

"How did you even know I was here?!" Sokka said, frowning. "You can't see through wood!"

"I thought I'd stumble upon you downstairs, but I didn't find you anywhere…" Toph said innocently, as Azula sat up on the bed, rubbing her forehead with a hand. "I just did the math, figured you'd be here… and when you jumped like that I confirmed my suspicions!"

"Y-you're just…" Sokka started, but he fell silent when Azula climbed off the bed.

"I hope your Dog was a nice sleeping partner, Spicy. I've heard some people like to sleep with their pets, but I didn't take you to be one of them…" Toph said, smirking, but the self-satisfied look on her face froze when Azula grasped her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her from the ground so they'd be face to face.

"Say a single word of this to my uncle, and your parents, the Dai Li, the bounty hunters and whatever else might be hunting you down will be the least of your concerns," she said, with a calm voice that conveyed she truly meant that threat.

Toph actually smiled again after that, rather amused by Azula's reaction.

"Well, wow. That actually sounds fun," she said, smirking.

"Just as fun as flying on the back of a dragon, I'm sure," Azula grunted, and now Toph grimaced.

"Woah, no need to take it so far…" she said, gulping. "I was just teasing, I wasn't serious!"

"Right…" Azula said, dropping Toph again and huffing. "You'd better not be. Go wake my uncle, then. We need to get going as soon as possible."

"Whatever you say, boss. Just, don't make me ride that flying crocodile again," said Toph, grimacing and leaving the room.

Sokka sighed and looked at Azula, who was still rubbing her eyes. It was truly impressive to find just how threatening she could be while still being sleepy.

"You okay?" he asked, and she sighed.

"I will be if she doesn't rat us out," Azula muttered. "We need to get ready for the trip now, though. Keep your head focused on that."

Sokka nodded and smiled at her, though she kept from returning the grin. He left the room, rushing downstairs quickly to keep Iroh from noticing he had been upstairs… yet there was an unpleasant pressure in his chest after leaving Azula like this.

It wasn't as though staying behind to talk about the previous night would be much use, not when they had to take off now, but for some reason, he felt guilty about it. Something just wasn't right. Spending the night beside Azula usually would have him in a cloud of bliss by the next morning, even though he wouldn't be happy about leaving at all… but today he couldn't quite feel that way. Even when they had kissed, when they had slept with their hands intertwined, he knew she was hesitant. She was doubtful. Something was holding her back… and after the things he had said back in the Capital, it wasn't that hard to tell what her problem was…

Yet the matter remained pending, even though Sokka wished he could do something about it right away. They had quite an ordeal ahead of them now… and they had to focus on making sure the plan they had developed the previous night would succeed.

"I can sense a tunnel starting right about here," Toph said, once they were outside. She had led them close to the Inner Wall, just as dawn's lights started appearing on the horizon.

"Oh, this is going to be nasty," said Iroh, grimacing upon the idea of heading into the city's sewers.

Toph raised her hands to bend the earth away, but she dropped them again, turning towards Sokka and Azula, who stood side by side, right behind her and Iroh.

"Weren't you going to bend that tunnel open, Bandit?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, but… I just wanted to say one last thing to you two," she said, smiling. "I know you had no obligation to do any of this. You shouldn't have put up with my nonsense, neither of you, in any way… and yet you have. I know it might not mean much, coming from me, but I'm really glad you guys agreed to join me and Iroh in this Tournament. I couldn't have asked for better partners in this mess."

"Heh, I can't quite say the same thing…" Azula said, and Sokka looked at her skeptically.

"Azula…"

"Oh, relax," she said, rolling her eyes before turning towards Toph. "I really didn't think we could get along at all, Dirt Worm, but we could have been worse off indeed…"

"Well, the worst part has yet to come," said Toph, smiling weakly. "But I figured this was the best moment to say something…"

"I'm glad you appreciate our support, then," Azula said, stepping forward and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "But we need to get going, don't we?"

"Yep," she said, cracking her knuckles and standing in front of the tunnel she could sense. "Stand back, Jewel…"

Azula did as Toph said, and the earthbender compressed the earth before her, revealing an opening that led to a tunnel below. Azula, Sokka and Iroh looked at it warily, already disgusted by the stench the tunnel had released.

"Alright, then," Toph declared, determinedly, leading the way underground. "Let's do this."