A/N: I would've sworn I posted this last week. I had a strong visual memory and everything. But I guess I was remembering posting some other chapter, because it clearly wasn't this one. My apologies.

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Zuko kept his eyes closed. Looking around at the room he was kept in did him no good. A Fire Nation banner hung on the wall directly opposite. His chains were attached to rings set in the floor. The door was to his right and on the far side of the room, allowing someone to step inside and still be ten feet from him, outside any possible range. Aside from these three things, there was nothing to look at. So he didn't look.

Azula moved quickly. With seemingly inhuman speed - how long has she been setting this up? - she had him transported across the Earth Kingdom to the nearest port. He was the first thing loaded onto her ship. It had been a while. Most likely, nothing else was going to be put into this room. He was going to be completely alone.

Good. I'll need that.

He went to work.

Unfortunately, just as he got focused, Azula barged in. He opened his eyes and glared at her. He still had all the restraints he'd had before, so he couldn't speak. She stayed just inside the door, smiling cruelly at him. "Playtime's over," she told him. Her smile dropped. "That's why you joined the Avatar, isn't it? Poor untalented Zuko, struggling to fill his princely role. He saw an easy way out and took it, abandoning all of his responsibilities with no regard for his family or nation." She shook her head sadly. "Did you actually think the Avatar could protect you?"

This question wasn't rhetorical. She looked at him, alert for any response. Zuko found himself reflexively looking down. He had secretly hoped that a flying mount and powerful benders would keep him away from his father. But I'm not a coward. I'm not going to cry and hide under the nearest table now that I'm caught. He looked up at her, glaring defiantly.

Azula smirked. "I can't wait to see how this family reunion goes. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Her eyes glittered. She looked genuinely happy. Zuko had seen her this way a number of times that he could count on one hand. For all too short a moment, she looked and acted like a normal girl. But then cruelty returned to her eyes and her smile lost its innocence. She opened the door. "The flying lemur that tried to rescue you is caged onboard this ship. Don't make trouble." The door closed behind her in a way both delicate and ominous.

Zuko closed his eyes. Ignore it! I can't help Momo. I've got to focus on myself. Focus! He tried relaxing all of his muscles and listening, like he had before. It worked. He took a deep breath in. Alright. Air-type personality state: go! Start with the priorities of the Blue Spirit. Fold in the confidence of the dragon…

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Sokka tapped a long-handled wooden spoon against his boomerang. "Attention, everyone."

Aang sat up. "Did you see more vulture bees?" Outside the little cave they camped in, Appa nickered.

"No," Sokka said. "But I have a plan."

Toph raised her head. "Can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Warriors can stay up all hours of day and night when they need to," Sokka declared. "Come on, warriors. Rouse your fighting spirits! We have a war to fight!"

"Sokka…" Katara murmured doubtfully.

He pointed the spoon at her. "No backtalk!"

Sokka added more cactus leaves to the dying embers, building it up into a fire again. Everyone gathered in a circle. Even Iroh, after several blows from the spoon, woke up and dragged himself over. Sokka graciously let him yawn before beginning to speak. "As the new leader of Team Avatar -"

"Says who?" asked Toph.

"Says the group who figured out that Aang needs hope to function and I don't," Sokka replied, pointing the spoon at himself, Aang and Katara. "We have zero hope right now, so that puts me in charge. As the new leader, I decree that we set a course for Ba Sing Se."

"Why Ba Sing Se?" Katara asked.

"We're gonna need help." Sokka used the spoon to draw in the thin dirt next to the fire. "With Zuko out of commission, Aang's training is in trouble. He might not be strong enough to defeat the Firelord on his own by the time the comet comes. Ba Sing Se, as the last uncaptured Earth Kingdom stronghold, is sure to have powerful earthbenders. We're gonna get an audience with the Earth King and ask him for an army."

Everyone studied the crude diagram. The Firelord, represented as a giant circle, faced Aang, represented as a slightly smaller circle. But Aang's circle was backed up by more than a dozen others, making the Firelord's defeat look inevitable. "I can't believe we never thought of that before," Katara said. "This whole time, we've been trying to make Aang strong and powerful. But that's a lot of pressure to put on a twelve year old boy. Gathering an army is what we should've done from the start."

"No," Iroh told her. "You've done the right thing. Aang needs to be a powerful Avatar. That is what gives people hope and inspires them to fight. Without that, you would not be able to raise an army."

"So, instead of Aang flying to the Firelord's palace and whooping his butt in a glorious showdown, we're gonna storm the Fire Nation with an army of earthbenders?" Toph asked. "That sounds epic! I get to lead a battalion, right?"

"No," Sokka replied. "We're gonna go with Aang. We're gonna take down the big bad together." He pointed the spoon at everybody who sat in the circle. "Air. Water. Earth. Fire. Cleverness." Appa snorted. Sokka pointed outside. "More air. Between us all, we've got it covered!"

Even Aang smiled. Katara raised her hands to start clapping. Toph opened her mouth to cheer. But then -

"No." Iroh shook his head. "I cannot be part of this."

Everyone else looked at him like he was nuts. "But you're a powerful firebender," Katara said.

"I am. But more importantly, I am the Firelord's brother," Iroh replied. "If I am part of the final battle, my age and my relationship to him will overshadow Aang. History will not remember this as the Avatar's fight, but rather as brother fighting brother. If balance is to be restored in the world, I cannot be there."

"But we need a firebender or else it won't be thematically appropriate," Sokka said.

Aang hung his head. "We need Zuko."

"Okay," Katara said, injecting hope into her voice. "It sounds like we have a plan. General Iroh can't be there at the end, but he can train you in firebending. You become a fully-trained Avatar. We raise an army. We storm the Fire Nation, rescue Zuko, then we and Zuko defeat the Firelord. The world is saved."

"I hate to ruin the mood, but I don't think I can train him in firebending either," Iroh said.

Sokka threw the spoon over his shoulder. It hit the wall with a loud clatter. "What?!"

"I have powerful allies I can summon. They will be invaluable to you and your army. But in order to call them in time, I have to set off soon. I can't train the Avatar in anything more than basic stances."

"Or you could train Aang and not call them," Toph suggested.

Katara hesitated. "Storming the Fire Nation will be very dangerous. A lot of people will be killed or hurt. Defeating the Firelord is important, but we can't neglect the other part of our plan." She looked up at Iroh. "Will these friends of yours make a big difference?"

He nodded. "Big enough to potentially decide if you succeed or fail."

"Then we need them," Katara said. "Which means Aang needs a firebending teacher."

"Can we track down Jeong Jeong?" Sokka wondered.

"Or rescue Zuko before the big invasion. Or hold the big invasion and rescue Zuko a month before you defeat the Firelord. Or just use the elements you've already got," Toph suggested.

"Thematic appropriateness!" Sokka repeated.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that we want this battle to send a message." Iroh puffed his chest out like he was giving a great speech. "It's not just any battle. It's a battle between good and evil, between balance and imbalance, a battle to restore the elements themselves to their proper relations. All of the elements must be represented, or else this message will be lost."

"Aang needs to be a fully trained Avatar, or else everybody will think the Fire Nation should be wiped off the map," Sokka paraphrased.

"Aang? What do you think? You haven't said much," Katara said.

Aang wasn't even facing into the circle anymore. He looked outside at what little of the sky he could see. "Your ideas sound good to me."

"You must have some kind of opinion. What sort of firebending teacher do you want?"

"I don't know."

The meeting fell silent. Aang went back to his sleeping mat. Silently, everyone else agreed that the meeting was over. Sokka stomped out the fire. Katara gave Aang's shoulder a gentle squeeze before returning to her own sleeping bag. Despite this sad ending, they all slept better than they had in a long time.

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"What next, Captain?"

Mai sighed. Ty Lee's chirpiness gave her a headache this late at night. But they had to hold strategy meetings sometime; Azula had personally entrusted them with the responsibility of chasing the Avatar while she went back home with Zuko, so they had to do what she would have done. "You're the circus freak. You try imagining you were Azula."

Ty Lee put on a comically exaggerated imitation of a serious face. "We must plan thirteen steps ahead and ensnare the Avatar in a devious trap!"

Mai sighed again. "You know what she'll say if we have nothing to show when she returns."

"I know," Ty Lee said, sounding halfway serious for once. "But isn't it exciting to be on our own? The full resources of the Fire Nation at our disposal! This could be the only time we get to enjoy this in our entire lives."

"Speak for yourself. I'm not enjoying it. So much responsibility, so many demands. It's like living with my parents all over again." Mai pointed at the map of the Earth Kingdom that hung on the wall. "Let's get busy."

A problem soon presented itself. Neither of them was Azula, and they had no idea how to think like she did. They assumed the Avatar had found this magic library Azula spoke of, but had no idea where he might have gone after that. "Azula wouldn't let that hold her back," Ty Lee said.

"We're trying to capture a target whose location we don't know, who is highly mobile, using soldiers and weapons that draw a lot of attention," Mai stated in a monotone. "Nobody but Azula could possibly pull that off."

"It's what she left for us, so we'll figure out a way to do it."

Mai closed her eyes. "I don't like problems like these. I like things that are stable, things you can understand, things that don't change too much."

Ty Lee reached over and held her hand. "Don't worry. You don't have to do everything yourself. You've got me." They went back to brainstorming possible strategies. But no matter how hard she tried, Mai couldn't stop thinking about how much she didn't want to be doing this. Azula was so devoted to capturing the Avatar that she would even risk her life. Mai was the opposite of that. This couldn't possibly work.

Even Ty Lee had to admit that. Despite her relentless optimism, they eventually reached a point of long and painful silence. Ty Lee fiddled nervously with her clothing. "You were right, Mai. Being a princess is hard."

"Shut up. I'm trying to think."

Once she stopped forcing herself to think of ways to capture the Avatar, hardly any thinking was needed at all. Inspiration came in a flash. Mai's eyes opened wide. "Hey. I just got an idea."

"What is it?"

"Remember what I described earlier? The sort of problem that I like to solve?" Mai smiled. "We have one of those. Let's forget about the Avatar. Azula will be mad that we let him go, but she'll have to forgive us if we capture Ba Sing Se instead."