"So let me get this straight. You're Azula. Princess Azula of the freaking Fire Nation?" Toph said.

"Yep"

"I figured you would be a lot older than a little kid, though. And why are you traveling with these guys?"

"You're right, I'm not a kid. I'm actually 14 years old. For some dumb reason, the spirits decided to turn me back into a child when I met them in Omashu. My friend Mai suggested traveling with them since Aang is the Avatar, and if anyone would know about spirits and what they think, it's him." Azula said. She half expected Toph to be angry that her pupil was traveling with the enemy, but instead she seemed to be…. relatively ok with it. If anything, after what Azula told her, Toph seemed to be even more interested in the princess than she was before.

Which was just fine with Azula. Rather have the girl be intrigued by her predicament instead of angry and trying to kill her just because she's from the Fire Nation. And the princess, at that.

"Huh. So then, in other words… you're on the run." Toph said with a smirk.

On the run? No she wasn't. She was just with the Avatar so she could regain her true form. She said as much to Toph.

"Right, and you don't want the Fire Nation seeing you like this, do you? Who knows what daddy dearest would do. Which means you're on the run."

"What do you mean 'who knows what daddy dearest would do'? Father wouldn't do anything to me. I'm his favorite child. And besides, it's not like I've betrayed him or anything. Once I return to normal, I'm going back to him."

"Right, but does he know that you haven't betrayed him? Be realistic, princess. What do you think is going to happen when he finds out that his child is with the Avatar? And that you're a small child to boot? I can't see him taking kindly to that. Wouldn't be surprised if he sent out someone to try and capture you."

"My father wouldn't do that! I'm not Zuzu!"

"And that is…?"

"My dum dum of an older brother. That fool is the whole reason why I'm even in the Earth Kingdom to begin with. Father sent me out to capture him and our Uncle for treason."

"So the Firelord sent out one child to capture the other child. For the crime of betrayal. And you still don't think that he won't do the same thing to you if and when he finds out about your little issue?" Toph said.

But Azula didn't answer her. And as much as she hated to admit it, the other girl had a point. Azula knew her father. The man wasn't exactly the type who would listen and see reason. Ozai was the type who striked first and asked questions later. Even so, she was Ozai's favorite. And unlike Zuko, Ozai would never so readily discard her like that.

Right?

"Ok, I think we need a topic change"Aang said, hopping on to the saddle,"Hey Azula, check this out!"

When she turned to look at Aang, he was spinning marbles in his hand by using airbending, and he had a dumb grin on his face.

"...Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Azula asked. She could have sworn she heard Sokka groaning behind her and saying "Not this again".

"Um…yes?" If there was one thing Aang hated, it was seeing his friends upset. And sure, maybe Azula didn't consider them to be friends just yet, but he certainly did!

Azula was silent for a few moments before saying "I guess it was an ok trick. But I've seen better."

Aang would take what he could get.

Azula was running.

She had been sleeping when all of a sudden, a fireball was launched right at her. When she looked to see who her attacker was, she was shocked to see that she was surrounded by imperial guards.

Her father's guards.

Toph was right. Father really would discard her like it was nothing. Like she didn't matter at all to him. Maybe if she could explain her situation, Father would understand and accept her back. It was worth a shot.

"Father, please let me explain. I didn't betray you or the Fire Nation at all, I'm traveling with the Avatar because these spirits-"

"Silence yourself, Princess Azula! If you really weren't a traitor, you wouldn't be with the Avatar, someone who is our nation's greatest threat! You're no better than Zuko. You are a disgrace to me and our nation!"

"Father, please-"

Another fireball, this time from Ozai himself, cut her off. Realizing that trying to talk to her father would be futile, Azula decided that she only had one option left. And that option was to run. She quickly turned on her heels and ran as fast as her tiny legs could go. Damnit, where were the others?! Why weren't they helping her?! Azula looked around as she ran, but didn't see any of them. Did they abandon her? Just like her mother had all those years ago?

As she was thinking this, Azula tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. As she slowly got up, she heard footsteps walking towards her, and then her father's voice.

"It truly is a shame that it has to end this way, Azula. All that work I spent on molding you into the perfect soldier has gone to waste! I can't have a traitor as my heir."

Ozai started moving his arms in a circular motion. A motion that Azula knew all too well, since the man before her had taught it to her himself. Lightning bending.

Father was actually going to kill her. And there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Azula woke up with a start, gasping for breath as she took in her surroundings. Everyone was still there with her, but they were all asleep. She was sandwiched in between Mai and Ty Lee. She felt something move next to her, and looked down to see Momo staring at her.

"I'm ok, Momo." She said, picking him up and holding him close to her. That had to be the worst nightmare she ever had. Father wouldn't do that to her. She refused to believe that he would. It was only a dream, after all. Anything can happen in those. And yet…

And yet a part of her felt that father absolutely would do that to her. She had seen what he did to Zuko. And he wasn't the favorite child. So what would Ozai do to her, the favored child as well as someone he expects nothing but perfection from? One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be getting any more sleep tonight. She looked down at Momo.

"Want to watch me make some shapes with my firebending?"

"Good morning, Azula!"

"Ugh, must you be so loud, Aang? And what's so good about it?" Azula grumbled.

"Well someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." A voice said behind them.

Azula turned around to see Sokka. Oh great, he was the last person that she wanted to see. If anybody could tell that something was wrong with her, it would be him. For some reason, he was very perceptive when it came to her. It was impressive, but also scary. Azula didn't like letting other people in. She certainly didn't want to let these fools in, not when they would be enemies the moment she got her true form back.

If she let them in, it would just hurt all the more when she would inevitably leave them.

"Hey, are you ok? You don't look so good, tiny princess." Sokka said.

Right on schedule

"I'm fine," Azula said, glaring at him. He was never going to stop calling her that, was he?

"Hmm, if you say so. You seem pretty out of it this morning. It's not like you."

"Do you know what's not like you? Being this observant."

"Wha-hey! Well excuse me for being worried about you." Sokka grumbled.

"And did I ask you to be worried about me?"

"Alright Azula, that's enough. You must be really tired if you're this grumpy already." Ty Lee said, picking Azula up and turning her around to face her.

"Did you not get enough sleep?"

"What was your first clue? And do we have anything to eat? I'm hungry.

"Actually," a voice started behind her. Everyone turned around to face Katara, "We don't have any more food. We'll have to find somewhere to buy more supplies."

Ugh. How did these people live like this?

This village had seen better days.

Sokka wondered how their 3 Fire Nation friends (could he even call them that?) were taking this all in. Surely they'd feel something over seeing an innocent civilian town nearly destroyed by the Fire Nation, right? He turned around to glance at them. Mai, for the most part, seemed to be unbothered by what she was seeing. Which wasn't unusual for her, but it didn't mean that she actually felt nothing. Ty Lee, on the other hand, looked sad. It seemed that this was the first time either girl had seen the effects that the war had on people outside of the Fire Nation. Sokka could only hope that seeing this would make the two of them have a change of heart and reconsider their stance on the war, whatever said stance may be. The one person who's reaction Sokka really wanted to see, however, was currently asleep on his back.

Tiny princess didn't seem to have gotten a lot of sleep the night before (Sokka made a mental note to ask her about this later) and when they had landed in this village to get supplies, she had demanded that he carry her. When he asked why, all she said was "A princess needs her beauty sleep. Besides, I'm a growing child, remember?"

Sokka thought about saying that she was not in fact a growing child, and that she was 14, but then realized that 14 years old technically still was a child and decided to let it go. And that was how he found himself carrying the girl on his back, much to the amusement of the others.

"It seems like the Fire Nation was here at some point. These poor people." Katara said.

"Which means that we should get what we need as quickly as possible and leave. I don't want to risk the Fire Nation seeing us when we have the Avatar and their princess with us." Sokka really did not want to find out what would happen if Azula's identity was revealed. The Firelord would most likely send who knows how many soldiers after them, which would be the last thing that they need.

"Hey, give that back!" a small voice shouted.

The group turned to see two men shoving a young girl to the ground and stealing a basket full of food from her.

"We have to help her!" said Aang.

"Wait! What did I just say about keeping a low profile?!"

"Sokka, we can't just do nothing!" And with that, Katara and Aang ran to help the girl. They made quick work of the two men, Aang airbending one of them into a nearby stall, and Katara freezing the other one to the ground so he couldn't escape. With that done, Katara turned around and bent down to help the little girl up,"Are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine! Thank you for helping me. My name is Sayo! What's your name?"

"My name is Katara. My friend over there is Aang. The other people I'm with are my brother Sokka, Toph, Mai, and Ty Lee."

"Cool! Who's the little girl on your brother's back?"

"Oh, um…" Katara didn't know what to tell her. She couldn't exactly say that she was Azula, now could she? They didn't know if the princess was well known in the Earth Kingdom, but Katara did not want to find out.

"She's Ming, my little sister." A voice piped up from behind Katara.

The girl turned around to see Mai and the others walking towards them. Katara mouthed a 'thank you' to the older girl, which Mai responded to with a small smirk. It was a good thing Azula was asleep at the moment, otherwise she might have blown their cover. Mai could just imagine her friend saying "I'm not your little sister, Mai! And what kind of stupid name is that?!"

Small blessings.

Mai's attention went back to the little girl as she began speaking again. Something about how she wanted to repay them for helping her, and that they should come to her house for dinner. Sokka looked like he was about to decline, but Aang and Katara immediately accepted the girl's hospitality, much to his dismay. As they began following the little girl to her house, Mai heard Sokka mumbling "so much for keeping a low profile."

Mai snorted. With the kind of group they were, how did he expect them to keep a low profile?

Ty Lee walked up to Sokka and squealed looking at Azula sleeping on his back. Sokka gave her a confused look.

"So, having fun giving a piggyback ride to your tiny girlfriend?"

"Girl- she's not my girlfriend!"

"Yet."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing. I just think you two would make a cute couple." In truth, she was actually thinking about that vision she had in the swamp of the two of them, but Ty Lee doubted that Sokka would take that seriously, if the way he was acting in the swamp was any indication.

"You-you think so? I mean, like that would ever happen! We come from two completely different worlds. It would never work."

"If you say so…"

"It is an honor to have the Avatar in our home. We hope that you enjoy your stay here." Shu, who was Sayo's father, said with a smile.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality. And thank you for letting our friend sleep in the guest room." Aang said. They had thought about waking up Azula, but Mai and Ty Lee both advised against it. Something about how she was apparently insufferable when woken up when she wasn't ready to. And since she didn't get enough sleep the other night, it was best to let her sleep. Aang was slightly worried about leaving her in a room all by herself, lest she wake up scared and confused wondering where she was and where they all were, but Toph volunteered to stay in the room with Azula until she woke up. Something that shocked them all. Toph hardly seemed like the babysitting type.

Sokka slowly began eating his meal, but then stopped. He knew that it would probably be insensitive to ask, but he just had to know what happened to this town.

"Can you tell us what happened here? It looks like there was a fight recently."

Shu put down his cup of tea and sighed. He didn't like reliving that day, but this was the Avatar and his friends. Telling them this might just give them even more of an incentive to hurry up and end the war.

"It happened around 3 months ago. Some Fire Nation soldiers came here seeking refuge, I'm assuming after losing a battle against Earth Kingdom soldiers since they looked worse for wear. We declined, of course, and told them to leave. As you can imagine, they didn't like that. In retaliation, they started setting everything on fire and attacking us. In the carnage, I lost my wife and eldest daughter. Now it's just me and Sayo. Everyone had been busy with rebuilding ever since. We can only hope that those monsters don't return."

Sokka glanced at Mai and Ty Lee from the corner of his eye, but the two didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest by the man calling Fire Nation people "monsters".Which was a good thing, he supposed. He didn't want to explain to this man why they were traveling with two people from the Fire Nation, after just hearing how he lost family because of them. He could only imagine what Azula's reaction would be if she were here right now. Speaking of which….how long did that girl plan on sleeping? Wasn't she hungry by now?

Azula slowly came to. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. The first thing she noticed was that she had no idea where she was. Or where the others were, for that matter. For a moment she began to panic and thought that perhaps they had all been captured, but dismissed that theory when she noticed that the interior didn't look Fire Nation whatsoever.

"Well, well, look who's awake?" A voice to her left said. Azula jumped and turned around to see Toph sitting in a corner of the room, head leaned back and eyes closed. So she hadn't been left alone. That was a relief. And if Toph was here, then that meant that the others were around as well.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Eating. Some stuff happened while you were asleep, and we ended up being invited to stay the night at this guy and his daughter's house." Toph explained.

"...Why? Did they find out that Aang is the Avatar?"

"More like Aang and Katara helped the guy's daughter out earlier from two thugs, and in a show of gratitude she invited us all over. She seemed to take an interest in you though, so be prepared to get asked if you want to play at some point."

What?! I don't want to play with some brat!

"I am NOT playing with a little girl. I'm not a child! We have more important things to be worrying about right now!"

"Really? That's a shame, Mai already promised Sayo that you two could play together once you woke up."

"WHAT?!"

Toph smirked. This was too much fun. Now she saw why Sokka liked getting the girl riled up whenever he could.

"Yep, which means that you can't get out of this one. You wouldn't want to make that poor girl cry, now would you?"

Oh please. Did Toph really think that she cared about hurting some girl's feelings?

"Do you really think I care about hurting some dumb kid's feelings? I have news for you, I've made grown men cry before."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. And no, I don't think you would care about hurting her feelings. But I do think you care about not having your cover blown. And part of that cover is acting like a kid, right?"

Damn it. Obviously Toph had a point, but….ugh, she hated this!

"I'm going to find Mai and give her a piece of my mind!"

"You have fun with that, kiddo."

"I am not a- oh, forget it!" Azula said, stomping out of the room. Stupid earthbender.

Toph sat there for a few seconds before she realized something.

"Should I have told her that she has a fake name at the moment?...Nah, her reaction to hearing that is going to be so worth it."

Azula could hear voices as she got closer to the eating area. That must be where everyone else was at. Good. She couldn't believe Mai. The nerve of that girl! Planning her day like this! Soon enough, the shrunken princess found the room where everyone else was in.

"Mai!"Azula shouted, "We need to talk, now!"

"I see you're awake, Ming. Had a nice nap?" Mai asked

Ming? Who the fuck is Ming?

"Who the fu-?"

"Heyyy Ming! Let me talk to you outside for a minute!" Sokka said, quickly running over to where Azula was and grabbing her before rushing outside. Shu looked at the others with a confused look.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing! Ming just gets very confused when she wakes up. Right, Mai?" Ty Lee said.

"Extremely confused." Mai replied.

"But confused enough to forget her own name?"

"I never said my sister was smart."

"OUCH! Did you have to bite me?!"

"Then let me go, idiot!"

Sokka let Azula go and watched her drop to the ground. Oh how he loved retribution.

"Ouch!"

"Hey, you never said put you down gently. You just said 'let me go, idiot!'"

"I do not sound like that!"

"Sure you don't, tiny princess."

"I'm going to ignore that, but only this time! Now what's with this 'Ming' business? Why was Mai calling me that? That's not my name."

"No, you don't say? She knows that obviously, but you needed a fake name to go by. When we met Sayo earlier, she asked what your name was. Katara didn't know what to say, so Mai came up with the name 'Ming' for you. Oh, and your Mai's little sister."

"...What"

Sokka had never been more glad that looks couldn't kill people.

Azula supposed that it wasn't a complete dumb lie. Mai was indeed older than both her and Ty Lee, so the older girl could pass for her older sister ...either way, this entire situation was degrading. Azula was the princess, not Mai's little sister!

"And I have to play with this Sayo girl?"

"Yep, that's the plan."

"...I'm going to kill Mai."

" Oh come on, don't be like that! Who knows, you might just have fun."

Begrudgingly, Azula admitted to herself that Sokka was right. She was having fun.

She and Sayo played tag, hide and seek(Azula would have much rather had played "hide and explode" but she had to remind herself that this wasn't the Fire Nation) and some other games that Azula had never heard of before. All in all, it was an eventful day for the princess. She would even go as far as to say that she needed this, after everything that happened. Azula wondered for a brief moment if that's why Mai had insisted on the two girls playing together, but disregarded that idea. It didn't seem like something Mai would do. Had it been Ty Lee, on the other hand….

"You know, I'm really glad that we got to do this today, Ming. I rarely get the chance to play like this anymore." Sayo said, looking at Azula with a smile on her face.

Ugh, that name again. Azula almost slipped up and said that her name was Princess Azula, but then she remembered she couldn't. Damn those spirits!

"How come? You don't have any friends to play with?"

"The only other kid my age who I played with was my sister…and she's dead now. She was killed by the Fire Nation."

What?

Why didn't the others tell her about this? Were they stupid? Why on earth did they think that it was a good idea for her to play with this child, when Azula was a part of the nation that killed this girl's sister? When she was the freaking princess of said nation? Did they not think about that? Perhaps this was all a part of some plan to make her join their pointless efforts to defeat her father and end the war. And if that was the case, they were out of luck. There was no way in hell that Azula would betray her nation and her own father. She wasn't like Zuko or Uncle.

Sayo continued "Three months ago, Fire Nation soldiers came here, seeking refuge. My father and the other townspeople said no. They didn't like that, and started attacking us. They killed my mommy, and my sister died protecting me from one of them."

Now she felt bad. But why? It's not as if Azula herself was responsible for what happened. And besides, if these fools just surrendered and submitted to the Fire Nation, there wouldn't be any reason for people to die. Right?

Figuring that she should say something, Azula finally spoke "I'm…sorry for your loss. It must be hard on you and your father."

"Mhm. But it's alright. I miss them both, but at least I still have my dad. I don't know what I'd do without him. And now I've made a new friend, too!"

This girl considered her to be….a friend?

Before Azula could respond, Sayo suddenly looked ahead of them, where the town was. "Hey…..is that smoke?" She asked. Azula looked in the same direction, and only one thought crossed her mind.

Her people were here.

"Damnit! This is why I said we shouldn't stay here!" Sokka said, as he hit one Fire Nation soldier with his club, and hit another one with his boomerang. Behind him, Aang, Katara, and Toph were holding off a few other soldiers. Surprisingly, Mai and Ty Lee were also fighting them. Which shocked Sokka and the others, considering the fact that these were their own people after all. Thinking about them made Sokka think about the smallest member of their group. Where had her and Sayo gone? Did they get ambushed by soldiers? And if they were, would Azula fight them? She wouldn't have much of a choice if she wanted to defend herself, but Sokka had a funny feeling that she wouldn't take kindly to having to fight her own people. And if that was the case, then they needed to find them quickly.

"Why are they even attacking this place anyway? These people haven't done anything wrong!" Ty Lee said.

"Well, that's the Fire Nation for you, Ty Lee! Attacking people because they feel like it. But it's most likely because they saw us flying on Appa. Kinda hard to not notice the big guy."

"It really was a bad idea to stay here, wasn't it?"

"You think?! But of course, nobody ever listens to me!"

Azula and Sayo were almost near the town, when a fireball intercepted them.

"Well what do we have here? A couple of children. Tell us where the Avatar is!"

So they were after Aang, just like Azula thought. She wouldn't tell them where he was, though. Azula still needed that fool to help her get her real form back. There was just one problem…..

She couldn't firebend. Not unless she wanted to be discovered.

Who knows what daddy dearest would do to you if he found out?

Azula shook her head. No, she refused to believe her father would do that.

"We don't know anything about an Avatar. Now let us pass!" She said, although she knew that this guy wouldn't let them. That wasn't how Fire Nation soldiers were trained. If they didn't get what they wanted….

They would kill you. Simple as that.

Azula was proven right when the soldier punched her in the stomach, which sent her flying into a nearby tree.

"You little brat, don't lie to me!"

"MING!"

Sayo began running towards her, but the soldier grabbed her and held her up in the air.

Azula coughed and slowly began to get up "Damn this small body…! I'm completely defenseless like this!"

"Girl! Either you tell me where the Avatar is, or your friend here gets it!"

Azula turned and saw the man holding Sayo, pointing his flame covered fist right at her. Sayo was trembling in the man's grip, crying. Azula knew that she shouldn't care what her fellow soldier did to these people. She knew she shouldn't. And yet….

And now I've made a new friend, too!

Azula slowly got into a firebending stance. She knew it was a bad idea, but she had to protect herself and Sayo. She couldn't let anything happen to her new friend.

Someone who may not even consider her to be a friend anymore once her identity was revealed. Azula would worry about that part later, though.

She leaped forward, and ignited.