"So, how old do you think you are right now, tiny princess? 6 or 7?" Sokka asked with a smirk.

Azula glared at him. Which only made Sokka laugh, since, as he said to her before, seeing a tiny child glare at him was funny more than threatening.

He even had the audacity to call her cute! How dare he?!

"Well, going by how high pitched her voice is, I think she's 6. That was the last time I can remember her voice sounding like that." Mai said. Ty Lee squealed next to her.

"Don't you think she sounds so cute, Mai? I totally forgot that she sounded like this when we were little kids!"

"She sure does." said Mai, smirking down at Azula.

"Stop calling me cute, damn it!"

"Azula! You're too young to be saying words like that!"

"Too you- I'M 14 TY LEE!"

"Actually according to your friend Mai, you're 6. So Ty Lee is right, bad words are off limits for you, tiny princess."

"My name is Azula, not 'tiny princess'!"

"Oh, I'm sorry 'tiny princess Azula'"

Before she could lunge at Sokka, Azula felt herself being picked up by a pair of hands. Damnit, she hated this!

" Alright, break it up you two! Sokka, stop annoying Azula. And Azula, don't let him get to you, no matter how annoying he can be. And believe me, my brother can be very annoying."

These two were siblings? Huh.

" So then if he's your brother and you call him annoying, then what does that make you? You two are related, after all." Azula said with a smirk.

"WHAT?! I'm not annoying! And besides, I'm trying to help you here! So how about maybe not insulting me?"

"Ha! You got that right, tiny princess! My sister can be very annoying!"

"Shut up, Sokka!"

"You know, I'm curious about something. It's not like we're not grateful for you guys agreeing to help Azula out, but why did you? I mean, you seemed entirely against the idea at first. So what changed your mind?" Ty Lee asked.

Katara and Sokka looked at Aang.

"Well ummm, my friend Bumi convinced me in the end. And I'll be honest, I kind of wanted to help her too. Helping people is a part of my job as the avatar, after all."

" Yes, and since you are the Avatar, that means we're enemies. So what could you possibly have to gain by helping me?"

"Well…I was hoping that you would feel so grateful for what we did for you, that you would be willing to teach me firebending once we get you returned to normal?"

Azula stared at Aang for a few seconds. And then laughed.

" Hahahaha! Me, the princess of the Fire Nation, teaching the Avatar firebending? Like that will ever happen!"

" Hey, you never know! Maybe we'll become friends on this journey. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Why on earth would we be friends, Avatar. Or have you forgotten that we're supposed to be enemies?"

"Well, we aren't enemies right now. Just watch, we'll be friends in no time and then you can teach me firebending!"

"I already said that's not going to happen!"

"Sure it's not, Sifu Azula."

… Sifu Azula?

"You know, I actually like the sound of that."

"Of course you do." said Mai.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you enjoy having your ego boosted."

"I don't see how that's a bad thing."

"It's not a good thing either, but what do I know? It's probably going to get even worse now that you're a kid again."

"I am NOT a child! I'm 14!"

"A 14 year old that's been shrunk down to the size of a tiny child."

Sensing that Azula was about to lose her temper (which proved Mai's argument right, but Aang didn't dare say that out loud) he decided to intervene.

"So you guys, how are you liking flying on Appa so far? Obviously you've never ridden on a sky bison before."

Mai and Azula looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders "It's fine, I guess".

"I love it! The scenery is so beautiful, and I love the way the wind feels through my hair. And Appa is so cute!"

Appa gave a low groan, as if saying thank you.

"That's good to hear. And Appa says thank you, Ty Lee."

"You're welcome!"

"Mai"

"What is it?"

"Can you please explain to me why I am sitting in your lap?!"

"You don't seem to remember how much of a curious child you were. I do. The last thing we need is you falling off of the sky bison because you keep looking down below us."

"I only did it once!" Azula said with a pout. How dare Mai treat her like a child!

"One time too many"

"Sounds like you were a handful as a kid, tiny princess." He was never going to get tired of calling her that, was he?

"Stop calling me that! I have a name, and it's Azula! A-zu-la!"

"I know how to spell, thank you very- hey, why are we going down?"

Everyone turned to look at Aang. He didn't seem to be paying attention to them at all, rather he was looking down at the swamp.

"Hey, Avatar! Why are we going down?" Azula asked. Did he want to take a detour in the swamp? For what? There was nothing there, as far as she could tell.

"Huh? Oh, sorry guys. For a second there, it felt like the swamp was calling out to me. Telling me to land."

"Calling out to you?" said Ty Lee "What do you mean? It's not like swamps can talk."

"Well, Aang is the Avatar, so maybe it's something only he can hear. Even so…" Katara looked down below. While there didn't seem to be anything threatening in the swamp, it was giving her a bad feeling. Best not to land down there. "I think we should keep moving. That place is giving me a bad feeling."

"Great! All in favor of flying away from the creepy swamp, raise your hand!" Sokka said.

Everyone raised their hand.

"Well, I guess since everyone is against it. By swamp. Yip yip!"

With a groan, Appa began to speed up. Seconds later, a giant tornado formed behind them.

"Um, Aang? You might want to yip faster! There's a tornado heading straight towards us!"

Aang yanked on Appa's reins to make him go faster, but it was no use.

The tornado soon engulfed them in its grasp, tossing them all into the swamp.

"Ouch…man, that was a tough landing. Are you guys all ok?" Sokka asked.

Collective groans were all he got in response.

"I'll take that as a yes"

The group looked around them, taking in the surroundings. There was nothing but trees and vines in front of them, and it seemed to be never ending. Aang noticed that two of their companions were missing."

"Hey, where are Appa and Momo?"

"Maybe that tornado threw them further away from where we are." Katara suggested.

"Well, we better start looking for them. We need to get out of here. Time to start chopping away at these vines."

"Sokka, I don't think you should do that."

"Why not? We'll never make it anywhere with all of these vines in the way."

"Yeah, but it's like I said before. I felt this swamp calling out to me. So don't do anything that would make it, I don't know, angry I guess?"

"That's ridiculous! There's nothing magical happening here, and nothing called out to you. Now come on, let's go." Sokka said, proceeding to then do what Aang had suggested against doing. As the others made to follow him, Mai suddenly bent down to Azula's level "Get on"

"What?"

"I said get on. We're going to be walking for a while, obviously. And since you currently have short legs, you're going to get tired after a while. So get on my back and I'll carry you."

"Will you stop treating me like a child already?!"

"Wasn't it you who said that princesses are meant to be carried?"

Well that got her attention.

Katara and Ty Lee were struggling to hold back in a laugh as they watched Azula contemplate what Mai just said. It looked like the girl soon came to a decision, because she slowly walked over to Mai and said "Well, when you put it that way. Fine." And hopped on Mai's back.

"Awww, isn't that cute. The tiny princess likes being carried around. And I thought you weren't a child?"

"Shut it!"

They had been walking around for hours without any sign of Appa and Momo. Now it was night, and it was too dangerous to keep walking.

"We're going to have to make camp for the night. We'll start looking for Appa and Momo again in the morning, and then once we find them we can get out of here." Sokka said before going to a tree bark and cutting it for a fire.

"Sokka, I don't think you should be doing that."

"No it's ok, I asked the swamp. See? Swamp, can I use this tree branch to start a fire? Sure thing Sokka!"

Aang and Katara glared at him. A small giggle caught their attention, and they turned to see Azula laughing.

"Huh. I actually made the tiny princess laugh! My day is complete."

"Don't get used to it! I just found that to be funny. By the way, do we have anything to eat? I'm hungry."

"Hey, what do you know? I'm hungry too."

"No, not you being hungry, Sokka. Who would have guessed?" Katara said sarcastically, "but to answer your question, Azula, I'm afraid we don't have any food on us at the moment."

"Not even mochi?" the little girl asked.

"Mochi? What is that?"

"You've never heard of it? It's this tasty snack and it's so good! I haven't had them in forever."

"Oh. Well we don't have that, sorry. Maybe we can get some in the next town." Katara suggested.

"Really? Awesome!"

Mai and Ty Lee both stared at Azula, stunned. When was the last time they had heard Azula sound so enthusiastic like that? Apparently the others found it weird too, because they also stared at the princess in shock. Azula soon noticed that everyone was looking at her and began to feel uncomfortable.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, it's just….you sounded, well, like me just now, Azula." Ty Lee said.

"Like you?"

"What she means is, you sounded way too happy when you answered Katara. And you don't normally respond like that at all. You sounded like an excited child. Which makes sense, since you are currently a child. I guess this must be a side effect of the shrinking. Childish moments like this." Mai could feel a headache coming on. If Azula was going to have childish moments such as this, then that meant that they would all have to keep a close eye on her going forward. Nothing worse than a curious child running off when they see something that interests them.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're going to say that this means you guys are going to have to watch me like a hawk, Mai?"

"Well, at least you still have your brain power."

"Excuse me?!"

A little while later, they all went to sleep. Sokka suggested that they all huddle together in case something happened. Unfortunately though, they would soon find out that this wouldn't work.

Vines slowly made their way towards the group and began to wrap around each of them. Then in the blink of an eye, the vines pulled each of them in different directions.

"AHHHH!"

"What the heck is happening?!"

Soon enough they all became separated, the only one being able to break free of the vines before it pulled him away was Sokka. He quickly ran off before the vines could get to him again.

"Stupid vines! And Aang said I shouldn't cut them. They just gave me every reason to cut them! Aang! Katara! Mai! Ty Lee! Tiny princess! Where are you guys?!"

He could have sworn that he heard Azula say "stop calling me that!" somewhere in the distance, although he couldn't see her. Either the swamp was playing tricks on him, or she was somewhere close by.

He might as well see if he could find her first.

As he made his way towards where he thought he heard Azula's voice, fog began to surround him. Soon enough, he began to see a figure surrounded by light.

Said figure turned out to be Yue.

"Sokka," Yue said.

"Yue? This can't be happening. I'm just seeing things. It's a trick of the light." Despite trying to convince himself of this, Sokka walked towards her.

"Sokka", she said again "you didn't protect me."

Sokka gasped and stopped walking. Had he heard her right? Sure, in the end he did fail to protect her. But hearing that from the girl herself hurt. He then noticed that she was no longer in front of him. With a start, Sokka looked around him and eventually turned around.

There she was.

With a shout, Sokka fell into the water. When he got up, Yue was gone.

"I swear, if that fool calls me 'tiny princess' one more time…!"

Azula had managed to break free from the vines and found herself alone. Mai and Ty Lee were nowhere in sight, and neither was the Avatar and his friends. She didn't see Appa and Momo either, the former of which she would have been glad to see, as that meant she could find the others and get out of the swamp. She was certain that she heard Sokka's voice, however, which meant that he had to be close by. Might as well go and see if she could find him.

Assuming she didn't get tired first because of her tiny legs. Damn those spirits!

As the girl began walking, she saw a woman not too far from her.

"Hello? Who are you? Can you help me find my friends and show us the way out of here?"

No response. As Azula got closer to the older woman, she began to realize that she looked very familiar. It didn't take her too long to figure out who she was.

"Mom?"

Standing before Azula was her mother, Ursa; or at least, Azula thought it was her. She appeared to be older and was wearing Earth Kingdom clothing. She gazed at Azula with a sad look on her face.

"How…why are you here? And why are you dressed like that? Do you have any idea how much Zuko and I- how much Zuko has missed you?"

Azula reached out to touch her mother, and the woman disappeared as she did so.

"What the?!"

An illusion. The woman Azula just saw wasn't her actual mother, but an illusion. Or was it?

"Mai! Azula! Aang! Katara! Sokka! Can anyone hear me?!"

Ty Lee was worried about the others, but she was especially worried about Azula. Now that her friend was so small, who knows what could happen to her? Not to mention, they didn't even know if Azula would be able to defend herself if something happened. Sure, she was a powerful firebender, but she may not be able to control her power now that she was a child again. Her firebending when they were all kids was nowhere near what it was now. She couldn't lightning bend back then either. With this in mind, Ty Lee decided it would be best if she went and looked for Azula first. As she began walking, she saw two people who looked to be a man and a woman. They appeared to be laughing.

"Um, hello? Can you help me find my friends?"

The two people didn't answer, as if they didn't hear her. As she got closer, Ty Lee finally managed to make out who they were.

It was Sokka and Azula. And on top of Azula's head was…

"That's the firelord's crown hair piece! So then, does this mean that Azula helps end the war? And marries Sokka?!"

As soon as she shouted that last part, they both vanished.

Ty Lee had no idea what she just witnessed. But she did know one thing.

If that was a glimpse of the future, she would do everything that she could to help end this war.

"Well, this is fantastic. I don't see anyone else. And to make things worse, my little charge is missing too."

Just like the others, Mai was alone. All she could see for miles was just trees and vines.

What she wouldn't give to have one of Sokka's weapons with her.

"Great, now I have to look for all of them. Hopefully Azula is with them."

Mai started to make her way through the swamp, when a thick fog suddenly consumed her. Then she heard voices. One of which sounded very familiar. A voice that she hadn't heard in 3 years.

"Father, please! I meant you no disrespect! I only had our nation's best interest at heart!"

Zuko?

Mai turned around, and sure enough, she saw the banished prince, kneeling and bowing his head towards someone else?

Wait, did he say father?

"What is this?" Mai said to herself.

"You will learn respect, and suffering shall be your teacher!" The booming voice of the firelord said. And then, Mai heard Zuko give out a piercing scream. A few seconds later, the fog disappeared, and Zuko and firelord Ozai were gone.

There weren't many things that could make Mai feel sick enough that she wanted to throw up, but watching what she assumed was the agni kai that got Zuko banished, and seeing his father burn the side of his face off?

That would do it.

"Aang! Sokka! Mai! Ty Lee! Azula! Anybody?!"

Katara felt like she had been walking around for hours. The swamp was like a never ending maze, and no matter how far she walked, she couldn't see the end to it, or the others. She had expected to run into somebody by now.

"I hope they're ok. There doesn't seem to be anything too dangerous in this place, so they should be fine. I hope."

As she continued walking, she eventually saw somebody not too far ahead of her.

"Hello?! Can you help me get out of…"

Katara's words slowly came to a halt as she realized who the person was.

It was her mother.

"Mom!" Katara shouted, and began running towards her, tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe it's really you…!"

When Katara finally reached the woman and touched her shoulder, her mother was gone. Standing in her place was a log.

"Katara! Sokka! Mai! Ty Lee! Tiny pri- I mean, Azula! Are you guys there?!" Aang shouted.

But nobody answered him. It was as if his friends simply vanished.

That's when he heard a girl laughing. Aang quickly turned around, and saw a girl who looked to be around the same age as him. She was dressed in fancy looking clothing, and next to her was a flying boar.

"Hello? Who are you?"

But the girl didn't answer him. Instead she just laughed some more before taking off.

"Hey, come back!"

A game of tag soon started between the two of them. But no matter how much Aang gave chase, he couldn't catch up to the mysterious girl. Eventually, she disappeared. Aang stopped and looked around him, confused.

"Who was that girl?"

Before he could ponder more about who she was, a vine grabbed Aang and tossed him into the heart of the swamp, where he bumped into Mai, Ty Lee, and Katara.

"Aang! You're ok!" Katara said, hugging him in relief.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Glad to see that you guys are ok too. But, where is Sokka and Azula?"

"Haven't seen them. When I got here, all I saw was Katara and Ty Lee." Mai said.

"Well, wherever they are, hopefully they're together."

"There….you….are…!" Azula said, dropping down to the ground out of breath. After all this time, she finally found the idiot.

"Tiny princess! You're ok! I've been looking everywhere for you! Have you seen the others?" Sokka asked.

Oh, that does it.

She was going to kill him!

Azula got up and kicked Sokka in his knee.

"OW! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Stop calling me that, damnit!"

"Hey now, is that any way for a little girl to talk?"

"I'm not a little girl, I'm 14!"

"You sure look like a little girl to me." Sokka smirked. Maybe he was enjoying bantering with her a little bit too much, but he couldn't help himself. Her reactions were priceless. It was then that he noticed that she seemed to be a bit tired.

"Hey, um, are you ok? You don't look too good."

"You try walking around for who knows how long in this tiny body!"

Sokka looked lost in thought for a minute, before he bent down and picked Azula up and into his arms.

"What the-what do you think you're doing?!" Azula shouted. Nobody had dared to hold her like this since her mother.

She couldn't even remember if father had ever held her like this.

"You just said that you're tired. So I figured that me carrying you would be a lot easier than having you trailing behind me. Now come on, let's find the others."

"Hmph. Fine. But this is a one time thing, got it?!"

"Of course."

Silence passed between them for a minutes before Sokka spoke up.

"Hey, um….when you were by yourself, did you happen to see anyone?"

"If you mean the others, then no."

"No, not them. I mean somebody that you may have lost or haven't seen in a long time."

Her thoughts immediately went to Ursa, and how she saw her. An older version of herself, but Azula would never forget how her mother looked.

She saw her face in the mirror every day, after all.

"...I did, but I have no idea who it was. Why? Did you see someone too?"

"Yeah. I… I thought I saw someone I lost at the North Pole. A girl named Yue."

"Yue?"

"I'll tell you about her some other time. Let's just focus on finding the others. Sorry for bringing this up."

And now he was deflecting. As if what he just said hadn't brought him pain in any way.

That… reminded her an awful lot of herself.

They didn't say much after that. Eventually, they did come across the others, who were fighting some giant vine monster thing. And they appeared to be losing. Wonderful.

"I have to help them! Mai, take the tiny princess!" Sokka said, before shoving Azula into Mai's arms and rushing off to help the others. Mai looked down at Azula and smirked.

"So, you want to explain to me why you were being carried in his arms, tiny princess?"

"Sh-shut up, Mai!"

It took a while, but they finally beat the giant vine monster, which actually turned out to be a man bending the vines using water bending. Which they never would have figured out if it hadn't been for Katara water bending razor blades at the giant monster (which was freaking badass, but Azula would rather die before she said that out loud. She didn't want these fools to think that she actually liked them or anything), cutting off its arms and revealing the man inside. Afterwards, he led them all to the top of some giant tree, which was the center of the swamp and where everything was connected (or something like that. Azula had stopped listening halfway through the conversation. She was so tired from all of that walking that she eventually fell asleep in Sokka's lap. She told herself it was because he was the closest one next to her and nothing more.) Aang then somehow managed to figure out exactly where Appa and Momo were at, and found them being hunted by some more swamp benders. They decided to stay in the village the swamp benders lived in for the night and then head out in the morning.

"Aang," Mai started, "do you remember when you asked me, Ty Lee, and Azula what we thought about flying on Appa for the first time?"

"Yeah?"

"I changed my mind. I hate flying."