"Do you guys really have to go?" Sayo asked, with tears in her eyes.

The group had just finished putting all of their belongings on Appa, deciding that it was best to leave before anymore Fire Nation soldiers came to the village in search of Aang. Not to mention, there was the possibility of Azula's identity being discovered, if it hadn't been already. They couldn't afford to waste any more time here.

Azula stared at the little girl, not sure what to say to make her feel better. She had never been good with comforting people, after all.

Katara walked over to the little girl and hugged her, "I don't know when we'll be able to come back here, but I'm sure we'll see each other again, Sayo."

"Promise?"

"Promise!" Katara said with a smile.

Was this girl a fool? Making empty promises was never a good thing…unless Katara fully intended to keep this promise. Which was ludicrous to Azula. They had no time to come back here for a visit. And Azula was pretty sure that Sayo wanted to see her again most of all. Which, if everything happened like Azula wanted it to, would be impossible. She would be back in her true form, after all.

And Princess Azula of the Fire Nation didn't mingle with peasants.

I say that and yet I'm currently traveling with peasants.

"And also, I have to get started with teaching twinkle toes earthbending. Which means we need a lot of open space." Toph said.

Sayo nodded at this but didn't say anything. She didn't want them to leave. She had finally made a new friend! And she was cool, too! Sure, she was a firebender, and firebenders were evil. Firebenders tore apart her family. But Ming had gone out of her way to save Sayo. So maybe, just maybe, all firebenders weren't that bad.

Sayo walked over to Ming and stopped in front of her. The other girl looked at her in confusion, not sure what she wanted. Sayo then did something that completely shocked Azula: she hugged her.

"Goodbye Ming, I'll miss you. Be careful out there, ok?" the little girl said, crying.

Azula stood there in shock for a couple of seconds before she hugged the other girl back. Azula had never been used to hugs. She would only receive hugs from Ty Lee, and even Mai on occasion, but once the two girls had left the mainland, it stopped. And she couldn't even remember when was the last time she had been hugged by her father, or Zuko.

"I promise I'll be careful. Well, as careful as I can be traveling with the avatar and his friends. He is public enemy number 1, after all."

As well as my own enemy

She tried to ignore the fact that the thought felt wrong for some reason.

"Alright, time to go" she heard Sokka's voice say from behind her, before she felt herself being picked up. Azula turned around to look at Sokka, who had an amused look on his face as he held her.

"Why are you carrying me? I can walk just fine!"

"True, but I noticed that you have trouble climbing onto Appa. So just let me carry you, ok?" he asked.

Damnit! He had a point, she really had been struggling to climb on Appa. It's not like it was her fault though. Those stupid spirits were to blame for doing this to her in the first place!

"Fine. But don't get used to this, got it?"

"If you can't figure out how to climb on Appa, I just might have to get used to it."

"Shut Up!"

Sayo couldn't help but laugh. She really was going to miss them.

Azula looked at the girl and smiled, glad to see that she was feeling at least somewhat better.

"Glad to see that you're feeling better. I expect to be greeted with that same smile when I come back here, ok?" Azula said. She couldn't believe that she just said that, but a small part of her really did want to make the girl feel better.

Sayo wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and gave Azula a big smile and a thumbs up,"Ok!"

And with that, they were off. As they were flying, however, Mai noticed something about Appa.

"Is that supposed to happen, Aang?" She asked

"Hmm? Is what supposed to happen?"

"Appa's fur. It's flying around everywhere."

"Oh, that. It just means he's shedding, it's no big deal."

"If you say so…."

Zuko hated this.

He hated living like some filthy peasant, on the run with no money to speak of. He was royalty, damnit! He was supposed to be receiving things from people, not begging them to spare him and Uncle some food and money!

Zuko scowled. This was all Azula's fault. She made it seem as if father finally wanted them to return home, when it was really just a lie to get him to lower his guard down. All so she could capture him and make him her prisoner. If there was one thing that his sister loved, it was humiliating him.

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted when he spotted something on the ground. Was that bison fur?

"Uncle, stop. Look at that on the ground." Zuko said, pointing at the fur.

"Hmm? What is that?"

"It's the avatar's bison's fur. And it looks like there's a trail of it. Which means that if we follow the fur, we find the avatar."

Iroh sighed. He should have seen that one coming. He didn't really see the point in following the trail, though. Him and Zuko were traitors, wanted prisoners. Iroh highly doubted that Ozai would just welcome them back with open arms if they actually managed to bring the avatar to him. Something that Iroh himself no longer wanted to do. There was also Azula to worry about. He knew that the kick he gave her back on her royal barge wouldn't have been enough to stop her. Although he had to admit, he was shocked that the girl hadn't turned up by now.

Iroh looked at Zuko, who was looking at him with a pleading look on his face. Almost as if he were pleading with Iroh to let him do this. To try and prove himself to his father, so that way they wouldn't be wanted criminals anymore. To prove that he was a better heir than Azula. He couldn't exactly say no to him, now could he?

"As you wish, my nephew. Let's go."

Toph was getting annoyed with Aang.

She had been training with the avatar for about an hour now, and he still wasn't getting the hang out of it. She even told him what to do! Stop dodging like an airbender and take the attack head on, like an earthbender. Be rocklike and stand firm. Stupid twinkle toes just couldn't listen to her, though. Every time she threw a rock at him, his instincts would take over and he would immediately dodge, instead of earthbending it out of his way. Ugh, if he was going to be like this, Toph would have just spent her time hanging out with the tiny princess. At least she was fun to mess around with.

"Alright, why don't you guys take a break? I'm sure that you must be hungry."

Oh right, she forgot that Katara had come to watch them train.

"Yeah, I can go for some food right about now! What about you, Toph?" Aang asked.

"Eh, sure, why not. Who knows, maybe eating will help you earthbend."

As the three of them sat down to eat some fruit, Katara decided that she needed to talk to Toph. Based on what she witnessed, Toph needed to try a different approach when it came to teaching Aang earthbending. And since Katara had experience with teaching Aang, she felt like she could help in that department.

"So Toph", Katara began, "I have some advice on how to teach Aang earthbending. This method worked for me when I was teaching him waterbending."

Toph snorted. This was going to be good.

"Oh, really? Enlighten me then, sugar queen."

Katara's eyebrow twitched, but she pressed on,"You keep on using force to try and teach Aang, but that doesn't always work. Especially not with Aang. You should try using positive reinforcement! Encourage Aang when it doesn't seem like he's getting it. It worked wonders for me."

Positive reinforcement? Was she serious? That's not how earthbending worked.

"Katara"

"Toph"

"You do realize that earthbending and waterbending are two completely different elements, right? Which means that your teaching methods may not work for me."

"Well, that's true, but-"

"Listen, I appreciate you trying to help, but leave twinkle toes's training to me, ok?"

Katara sighed. She was going to have a hard time getting along with Toph, that was for sure.

"I'm bored. Can one of you guys do something to entertain me?" the shrunken princess asked.

Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, and Sokka had been lounging around since the other three went off so that Aang could practice earthbending. Needless to say, nothing exciting had happened since they left, and the princess was starting to get antsy. She needed something to do. And since she had yet to figure out how to control her firebending to the point where it wouldn't automatically tire her out, she couldn't even practice to keep herself occupied.

It was quiet for a moment before Ty Lee came up with an idea.

"How about I show you how to do a handstand like I did back when we were kids?"

The "back when we were kids" part felt weird to Azula for obvious reasons. Still, it sounded like a good idea. Plus, it gave her something to do. Azula nodded, and the two girls began walking a little ways away from where Sokka and Mai were at, so they could have space.

"So, do you remember what I told you?" Ty Lee asked, getting into position.

"Of course I do, who do you take me for? It's all about staying balanced on your hands, right?"

"Yep!"

Not even five minutes later, the princess fell flat on her butt.

She heard a chuckle, and turned around to see Sokka laughing at her.

"Shut up, idiot! It's not funny!"

"You're right, it's hilarious!" Sokka said, unable to stop laughing.

Grumbling to herself, Azula got back into position.

"Aww, don't worry about it, Azula. You'll get it eventually. You just gotta keep practicing." Ty Lee said, wholeheartedly believing that her friend could do this. The two girls were silent for a while before Azula broke the silence.

"Hey, um, Ty Lee?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Um….well….I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now, but…I'm sorry for how I recruited you. You didn't deserve that."

There. She finally said it. The first apology that she ever gave to someone in….forever.

Ty Lee was stunned. She had never imagined that Azula would have realized that what she did was wrong, and not how you were supposed to treat someone who you considered to be a friend. But she never expected the girl to actually apologize for it. What had gotten into Azula, Ty Lee didn't know, but it was certainly a welcome change.

"It's going to take some time for me to get over it, but I forgive you. I gotta say though, I never expected that you would feel guilty and actually apologize to me for what you did. I guess being shrunk and meeting Sayo has been good for you after all, huh?" Ty Lee said.

"Shut up! Alright fine, I take it back, I'm not sorry at all!"

Breaking out of her form, Ty Lee grabbed Azula and hugged her, "Awww, you're sooo cute!"

"Gah! Ty Lee, get off of me!"

Azula eventually got her wish when they heard Sokka scream. Ty Lee put the shrunken princess down to see what was going on. What she ended up seeing was not what she was expecting though…

"Zuko?!"

"Hm? Zuko's here?" Azula asked, turning around to where Ty Lee was staring at, "He is! Hi, Zuzu!"

"Ty Lee? Mai?! What are you two doing with the avatar? AND WHO CALLED ME ZUZU?!"

"Me, dum dum" a tiny voice piped up.

Zuko slowly looked down. No, it was impossible. It couldn't have been her! And yet, his sister was the only one who called him stupid nicknames like "Zuzu" and "dum dum".

Zuko looked down.

The tiny form of his little sister greeted him.

"Hello, Zuzu. Wonderful day we're having, isn't it?"

Zuko didn't know what to say, let alone think. On the one hand, he wanted an explanation for this, because what the fuck his sister was a child! How was it possible for that to happen? On the other hand, he felt a laugh coming on…which is precisely what he ended up doing.

"Ha ha! Guess you're not so tough now, are you, Azula?"

"Shut up, dum dum! I can still kick your ass!"

Zuko stopped laughing at that. His original plan was to find the avatar and capture him, but this was the perfect chance to finally prove to Azula who was the superior sibling. As well as who was the better heir.

"You want to fight? You're on" he said, gritting his teeth.

Azula smirked. Her brother was so predictable. Granted, she couldn't really fight him at the moment with her firebending being the way it was, but she knew why he was here. He was looking for Aang. And she couldn't let him get captured under any circumstances. Not until she had no more use for him, that is.

"Follow me!" she said, taking off in a sprint. Zuko immediately followed after her.

"Azula, wait! You can't fight right now, remember?!" Sokka shouted, but it was no use.

"I wouldn't underestimate Azula if I were you. She can hold her own against Zuko." Mai said.

"I know that she can hold her own in a fight, but she can't exactly firebend right now, or did you just forget about that?" Sokka asked.

"Can't firebend?" Iroh said.

The three teens turned around to see the old man, not realizing that he was there.

"I think it's time that the three of you tell me what's going on with my niece."

The two siblings had been running for five minutes, with no sign of stopping. Zuko didn't know what kind of game Azula was playing this time, but he was not going to follow her rules. He shot his fist out and launched a fireball at her, which the girl narrowly dodged. She turned around and smirked at him.

"Well, it looks like someone sure is impatient. But is that really all you got?"

"Don't mock me!" Zuko shouted, and proceeded to attack Azula relentlessly, burning the area around them in the process. But instead of defending herself and fighting back like Zuko thought she would, Azula took off running again. What was she thinking? Didn't she want to fight him? He gave chase again, and eventually found his sister. Right in front of a cliff.

"Took you long enough, Zuzu."

"Don't call me that! And why do you keep on running away from me instead of fighting?!"

His sister turned her head sheepishly and started scratching her cheek. Almost as if she were nervous. Her response was certainly not what Zuko was expecting.

"Well you see, I sort of can't really firebend right now. Surprise?" She said, with a little chuckle.

Oh, that was it! Did she really expect him to believe that?! How long did she plan to humiliate him for?! She was probably just lying so that he could let his guard down and she could get the jump on him. Well not this time. He was going to win! Zuko attacked Azula again, this time with full force. He had expected the girl to block it and then attack him.

What he hadn't expected was for her to take the attack head on which caused her to lose her balance and fall down the cliff.

"AZULA!"

Without thinking, Zuko leapt forward and jumped, intent on catching his sister before she fell to her death.

It seemed like they were both doing unexpected things today.