Azula concluded that the Avatar and his friends were a pack of idiots. A pack of idiots that she unfortunately had to rely on.

For the past week, the fools had insisted on going on mini "vacations" of each of their choosing. Aang already had his day, and now it was Katara's turn. Azula snorted. And yet they wondered why they couldn't defeat her father or the Fire Nation. Children.

As Azula watched Aang show Katara a map and asked her where she wanted to go, she couldn't help but think about her conversation with his royal, tea loving kookiness…

"My answer, dear uncle, is no. The avatar promised to help me with my little predicament, so I'm staying with him and his group. And besides, I don't trust you. I'm sure you know that."

She could have sworn she heard Sokka quietly cheering as she said that.

Iroh stared at her for a couple of seconds, not saying a word. Then, to Azula's shock, he sighed and smiled.

"I understand, niece. After all, there's nothing quite like having an adventure of a lifetime with friends."

"They are NOT my friends!"

"Whatever you say. In case you change your mind, use this to find me."

Iroh then handed her what appeared to be…a lotus tile.

"Are you challenging me to a game of pai sho?"

"Haha! No, this tile can be used as a way to find me."

"How exactly am I supposed to find you with a stupid white lotus tile?"

"You'll figure it out in time."

After that, Iroh and Zuko left. Zuko actually seemed a bit reluctant to leave her with them, but in the end he followed Iroh. Azula took out the lotus tile from her pocket and stared at it. Seriously, how was she supposed to find Iroh with this thing? What was he even trying to tell her, that he was a part of some secret organization? Yeah, as if. Her thoughts escaped her when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Katara staring at her with a smile.

"Judging by that smile, I'm assuming you chose where we'll be going next?"

"Yep! This place is called the Misty Palms Oasis. Aang's been there before a hundred years ago and said that it was really beautiful and relaxing."

"... You do realize that a lot can change in a hundred years, right?"

"I know, but a girl can dream, right?"

Azula supposed that she couldn't really argue with that. She had dreams about her father accepting her as she was now. She had dreams about her mother actually loving her. Both of which she knew would never become a reality.

"By the way, are you guys sure that you don't want to go anywhere?"

"Completely sure. We have to be careful since we're in the Earth Kingdom, and someone has to keep an eye on her." Mai piped up from behind Azula.

"Hey! I'm not that bad."

"Sure you aren't."

Before Azula could say anything, Sokka walked up to them with an annoyed look on his face.

"These vacations are stupid. We don't have time for this! We need to be making plans and finding out as much as we can about the Fire Nation if we want to win this war."

For once, Azula agreed with him. Not the beating her nation part, obviously, but about how the vacations were dumb and a waste of time.

"But we did make plans. These vacations of ours. And besides, we have the Fire Nation's princess with us. Why don't you just ask her about the Fire Nation's weakness?" Toph said.

"Yeah sure, because she would be so forthcoming with that information."

"He's right, you know. I'm not telling you anything. In case you've forgotten, we aren't friends. I'm still your enemy."

That last bit caught Sokka's attention. He had gotten so used to traveling with Azula and the others that it nearly slipped his mind that they were in fact still enemies. Sokka had hoped that meeting Sayo and befriending her, as well as seeing what had been done to her village, would have slowly begun to change Azula's views. Clearly he had been wrong. But how to change that?

"Well in case you forgot, tiny princess, we're your only hope of getting back to normal. So how about returning the favor and giving us some information?" Toph said.

"No, and you can't make me." Azula said, sticking her tongue out at Toph.

"Real mature, Azula."

The Misty Palms Oasis wasn't anything special in Sokka's opinion. It was more like a dump. Well, at least they served good drinks here.

"Seriously, why is it that every time we go somewhere, you end up carrying me, Sokka?" Azula asked.

"Because being the literal child that you are right now, you can't be trusted to walk around on your own. I swear, every time you walk around you eventually get sidetracked by something."

"Hmph, it's not my fault that there's different things that interest me."

"Do I interest you?" Sokka asked with a smirk.

"In your dreams, boomerang boy."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash. They both turned to see that a man had bumped into Aang. Never one to lose his cool, Aang dried himself off and assured the stranger that he was fine.

"An airbender! You must be the avatar! My name is Professor Zei, and I am the head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."

"Wait, you're a professor? You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you? Ours seems to be dated." Sokka asked, ignoring the glare that Azula was giving him.

The professor opened up his map and laid it out on the table so that they could all see it. Sokka took one look at it and groaned. Of course it didn't have the Fire Nation on it. He wasn't that lucky.

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara observed.

"Yes, and all in vain. I've spent years journeying across the Earth Kingdom, but I've never been able to find what I am after: Wan Shi Tong's library."

That got Sokka's attention. A library would definitely have a map of the Fire Nation, and a lot more information as well, if it was as special as the professor was making it out to be.

"I believe it's my turn to choose a vacation spot. I want to go to the library!"

"Um hello, what about me? When do I get to pick?" Toph asked.

"You gotta work here a little longer before you can get vacation time."

Toph grumbled and slammed her glass on the table.

As they made their way out of the tavern, they saw some sandbenders surrounding Appa. Almost as if they were trying to capture him.

"Sandbenders, shoo! Away from the bison!"

Realizing that they had been caught, the sandbenders got on their strange contraption and left. Azula glared at their retreating figures. She had a funny feeling that wouldn't be the last they saw of them.

They had been flying for what felt like forever, and Toph was slowly beginning to think that this library was a fake. Seriously, who had ever even heard of a library in the middle of a desert of all places?

"So, professor, I have a question for you. Does this place even exist?" Mai asked

"Some say that it doesn't!"

"WHAT?!" Toph shouted.

Ty Lee giggled at Toph's reaction, then noticed that Sokka wasn't wearing his shirt. She turned around and looked down at Azula, who looked like she was trying hard to not fall asleep. Ty Lee then thought back to that vision she had about the two of them in the swamp. Maybe she could do something to get that ball rolling sooner rather than later.

She nudged the girl beside her, "Hey Zula, look at Sokka." She whispered.

"Hmm? Why?" Azula asked, rubbing at her eyes.

"Just do it. Trust me, you won't regret it!"

Confused, Azula did what Ty Lee said…and promptly blushed when she looked at Sokka. Why wasn't he wearing his shirt?!

"Like what you see?"

"I hate you, Ty Lee!"

Ty Lee chuckled. Azula would be thanking her for this one day, she just knew it.

They spent some more time flying across the desert, before Toph shouted "there it is!" while pointing in the distance. Everyone except for Mai and Azula looked to see where she was pointing at, only to be unamused when they found nothing.

"That's what it'll sound like when one of you actually spots it." Toph said, waving her hand in front of her face as if to remind the others that she couldn't see anything.

"Did you guys seriously forget that she's blind? And I thought Zuzu was dumb."

After what felt like an eternity of flying, Sokka spotted what looked to be a tower in the distance. Aang guided Appa towards it, and they finally landed. As they were looking around, they saw a fox with a scroll in its mouth scale the tower and climb through the window.

"Are you sure this is it, Sokka? It looks nothing like it in this picture." Katara said.

"I'm positive. You see the top of the library in the picture? Now look at this building in front of us. It looks exactly the same. The rest of the library has been buried beneath the sand."

"That can't be! Then all of my troubles truly have been in vain after all!" Professor Zei wailed.

Toph walked up to the building and slammed her hand onto it, "Don't worry, everything seems to be intact. And this place is huge!"

"How are we going to get in there? There's no door."

"That fox went in through that window. All we need is a rope and then we're in."

As the others began making arrangements to get inside the library, Mai felt a slight tugging on her sleeve. She looked down to see Azula looking at her.

"What is it? Please don't tell me that you're hungry again. You just had mochi an hour ago."

"No, I'm not hungry! I was going to say that you and Ty Lee should stay out here with Toph and Appa."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? In case those sandbenders come back to steal Appa, Toph won't be much help. She can't see where her enemies are thanks to all of this sand, and I doubt that she could bend it either. So the two of you are going to be needed out here more than in there."

"Toph won't like the fact that you basically just called her useless, but fine. We'll stay out here. But be careful and don't do anything stupid while we're gone."

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm not Zuzu."

"I'm serious, Azula. Be careful."

"Relax, would you? I'll be fine."

"I know you're back there."

Out of all of the things that they were expecting, a giant owl wasn't one of them. Before they could decide what to do, Professor Zei walked up to the owl with enthusiasm.

"Great owl spirit! It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university. I've spent years trying to find this library and your vast collection of knowledge! And now that I'm finally here, I can't believe it!"

"Yes, well, I'm sorry to crush your dreams, but humans are not welcome. You should leave the way you came."

"Hello, I'm the avatar. Why aren't humans welcome here?"

"Because all you know is how to destroy. Countless people have come here throughout the years, under the pretense that they would like to learn more, when really they just wanted to destroy their enemies. Like that firebender who came here a few years ago, searching for a way to destroy his enemy. So, who are you trying to destroy?" Wan Shi Tong asked.

"What, destroy? Pfttt, we aren't here to do that!" Sokka said.

"Then why have you come here?"

Sokka thought for a moment, and then an idea came to him. They were at a library. A library that had loads of knowledge. Maybe even something about the air nomads. And who would benefit the most from reading about them?

"We're here to learn, but it's mainly for her," Sokka pointed to Azula. "We want her to learn the real history of the air nomads, not whatever she was taught in school."

The owl didn't say anything, he just stared at Azula intently. Almost as if he was trying to see right through her.

Sokka could tell that it was starting to freak her out, so he stood in front of Azula protectively.

"Would you stop staring at her like that? You're scaring her."

"Who is this girl? And don't even think about lying to me. I am a spirit owl, I can tell when one has been touched by the spirits. And in her case, she isn't who she appears to be. So, who is she?"

Azula stepped out from behind Sokka and spoke, "My name is Azula. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. And like my friend here said, I want to learn more about the air nomads. I've been told that what I was taught about them in school growing up was a lie, and if that's true then I want to know the truth."

Sokka had to admit, Azula was a convincing liar when she had to be.

"If you truly are the Fire Nation princess, you should be older than what you currently are. Yet you stand before me as a child. I have no idea what the spirits have planned for you, but it must be pretty big if they saw it fit to turn you back into a child. Very well, you may browse my library, but on one condition: you must each give me something to contribute to my library."

One by one, they each gave the owl scrolls and books. When it was Sokka's turn, however….

"Oh great owl spirit, please take this into your vast collection of knowledge!"

Sokka showed his palm to the owl, and on it was a shape made from some rope.

"What is this?"

"It's a knot! That counts as knowledge, right?"

The owl stared at Sokka before saying, "You're not very bright, are you?"

Sokka grumbled and Azula scowled. She resented that statement. Sokka was probably the brightest person on this team, besides her of course. Not that she would ever admit that to his face.

"I will take my leave. Enjoy your time in my library." With that, the giant owl flew off. The others began to walk further inside the library, while Sokka and Azula stared at where Wan Shi Tong just was. Both of them spoke at the same time.

"Bright enough to fool you."

"So", Toph started, "care to explain why you two decided to stay out here with me instead of going inside the library with the others?"

"That was Zula's idea. She told Mai that it would be best for us to stay outside with you in case those sandbenders came back. And that since we're surrounded by all of this sand, you can't see very well and would need help fighting them off."

"What she said."

"Gee, what a nice way to call someone useless."

"What? We never said that. Nobody thinks that you're useless, Toph." Ty Lee said. Of all the words that she could think of to describe the girl, useless was definitely not one of them.

"Well the tiny princess seems to think so if she sent you two to stay out here with me and Appa, as if I can't take care of myself. I'm not some defenseless girl."

"Who's saying that you're defenseless? We know how powerful you are. But that doesn't mean that you won't need help from time to time. Everyone needs a helping hand, even Azula. As much as she would deny that." Ty Lee said with a chuckle.

"So then….you guys don't think I'm useless and can't defend myself?"

Mai snorted, "Please, whoever thinks that about you is a moron."

It was silent for a few seconds before Toph punched both Mai and Ty Lee in the arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"That's just how I show my affection for people."

"Alright Azula, first order of business is finding you some books about the air nomads." Sokka said

"Wait, we're actually doing that? I thought that was a lie!"

"It was partially true. What you said earlier got me thinking. You're right, you are still technically our enemy. What we have right now is a temporary truce because of your situation. I know that this might sound hard for you to believe, but I don't want us to be enemies. Traveling with you, Mai, and Ty Lee for these last couple of weeks has been…interesting, to say the least. But, I'm really starting to like you guys. And I'm sure that Aang and Katara would agree. Besides, you really are the best candidate as far as Aang learning firebending goes."

"...I still never agreed to that."

"You say that and yet you always look happy whenever Aang calls you 'Sifu Azula'."

They rounded another corner and came across one of the knowledge seekers.

"Oh, it's one of the foxes. Maybe he can help us out." Sokka walked over to the fox, hoping that it would be able to guide Azula to the books about the air nomads, so that way he could do what he actually came here for.

"Hey there, little fox guy. Would you mind showing my friend here where you keep the books about the air nomads? And would you mind staying with her too? This way she won't get lost."

"Would you stop treating me like a kid?"

"Sure I can, just as soon as you stop wandering off everywhere the minute one of us takes our eyes off of you."

Azula crossed her arms and pouted.

The fox made a little noise and then began to walk off, with Azula reluctantly following it. Sokka watched them until they rounded another corner, and sighed with relief. Now he could look up what he came here for, without Azula getting mad and trying to stop him. He walked around for a while before he stumbled upon a burnt piece of paper that was inside some kind of glass.

"The Darkest Day in Fire Nation history…and of course there's no date on here. I wonder if there's any books about it."

"Sokka, did you find anything? And where's Azula?" Aang's voice said from behind him.

"Azula is with one of the foxes and is hopefully learning the truth about your people. As for me, I think I just found something crucial to help us win this war. All I need is a date."

They walked around some more, hoping to find an area that had books on the Fire Nation. They eventually found such an area, only to discover that it had been burned to the ground.

"This is so unfair! Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out that they beat us here a long time ago. I need to know what happened on the darkest day."

A noise startled Sokka and the others. They turned around to see another knowledge seeker staring at them. Just how many of these guys were there?

"Hey there, little fox guy."

The fox turned around and began to run away. They looked at each other, confused, but decided to follow it. Sokka just hoped that the fox wasn't the same one that went with Azula. The last thing that they needed was for her to show up, or to be lost somewhere in the library. They eventually came to a stop in a giant room that had some sort of machine in the center of it. The fox came to a stop in front of it and pushed the lever, causing the machine to start up. Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Professor Zei looked in awe as the room around them began to move.

"This room is amazing! A mechanical wonder! It's a planetarium that shows the sun and the moon's movements!" Professor Zei explained.

"I gotta say Sokka, you chose the best vacation spot ever." Aang said.

Soon, the display stopped moving, and only the moon was visible.

"Great, we broke it."

Sokka stared at the moon for a few seconds before he came to a conclusion: it wasn't broken. Far from it, in fact.

"It's not broken. The sun is behind the moon, it's a solar eclipse! Something awful happened on that day, I don't know what but I do know why. Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!"

"This is huge. Think about what the lunar eclipse did to the waterbenders back at the North Pole. We could use this to our advantage!" Katara said.

"We need to get this information to the Earth King right away. The Fire Nation is going down!"

"Humans are so utterly predictable. And such terrible liars."

Damnit! Why did the dumb owl have to show up now of all times?!

It had to be a lie. It just had to be. Azula refused to believe what she was reading. And yet, a small part of her knew it was the truth. And if that was the case…

Then it meant that everything she was taught at school was a lie. Her teachers had told her that the reason why the air nomads had to be wiped out was because of a massive army that they had. An army that they would most likely use against the other nations at some point. But these books were painting a very different picture for her. That the air nomads were a peaceful bunch who never even had their own army to begin with. That they didn't like fighting, and actively went out of their way to avoid conflict if at all possible. Two completely different stories of a culture that had been long gone.

She thought of Aang, someone who she had come to know as a kind and gentle person, who didn't really seem capable of hurting people just for the hell of it. He didn't really seem to like fighting at all. Whenever she had seen him fight, he had mostly just used defensive techniques.

She thought of Sayo, a little girl who had lost family members thanks to the war. If the Fire Nation was really spreading their greatness with the rest of the world, then why did it seem like everyone was suffering rather than gaining? What was the whole point of the war, in that case? And why was she even fighting in it to begin with?

Azula's thoughts were interrupted when she felt the library shaking. What was going on?

"Look, I'm sorry that we kind of lied to you, but we had no choice! The Fire Nation has to be stopped." Sokka said.

"Do you really think that you are the first ones to come here, thinking that their war is justified? Countless other people have come here before you, seeking ways to destroy their enemies in the name of justice!"

"You have it all wrong! We aren't the ones who are evil, it's the Fire Nation!"

"If you truly believe that, then why are you traveling with it's princess?"

"That's….we're hoping that she'll be the exception."

"Forgive us, we had no choice! Please, we just want to protect the people we love!"

"And now, I am going to protect what I love."

Wan Shi Tong then started to move his wings rapidly, causing the library to start shaking.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm taking my knowledge back! Nobody will ever be allowed to abuse it again!"

"He's sinking the library! We have to get out of here!" Katara said.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You already know too much."

Back outside, the three girls were leaning against Appa and talking, when they all felt a sudden rumbling. Appa made a noise in shock.

"Library's sinking ...library's sinking!"

Toph rushed towards the library and stuck both of her hands inside of it, attempting to slow it down and give the others time to escape. Mai and Ty Lee turned to Appa when he made another noise, and saw that the sandbenders from earlier were fastly approaching them. As soon as they got close enough, they circled around Appa and threw some ropes around him to keep him from moving.

"Well well, it looks like Azula was right after all. Good thing we're here. And I was just starting to get bored too." Mai said, taking out her knives.

"Who's ready to get chi blocked?" Ty Lee asked, smirking as she dashed towards their opponents.

Sokka was sure that at this point, his luck had officially run out. The stupid owl showed up and ruined everything, and thanks to that, they didn't even know when the next solar eclipse was! And now, said stupid owl was trying to kill them. Just great.

As they were running, Sokka realized something: they were missing someone. Azula.

"Guys! We have to find Azula! Katara, you go look for her and then get out of here! I'm going back to that room and finding out when the next eclipse is. Aang, come with me for some cover."

"But-!" Whatever Katara was about to say got interrupted by Wan Shi Tong appearing.

"GO!" Sokka shouted at her, before taking off with Aang. Katara ran in the opposite direction, frantically searching for Azula. It didn't take her long before she found her. The small girl ran up to Katara, relieved to see her.

"What's going on?!"

"We umm, kinda pissed off the giant owl and now he's trying to kill us."

"What? What did you idiots do?!"

"We'll tell you later, right now we gotta go!" Katara said, picking up Azula and running towards the entrance.

"Did you have to pick me up?!"

Before they could get to the rope, however, Wan Shi Tong got in front of them. Katara set Azula down and got into a waterbending stance.

"Your attacks won't work on me, girl. I know Southern style, Northern style and foggy swamp style!"

Just as he was about to attack them, Sokka dropped in from above and hit him on the head with a book.

"That's called Sokka style! Learn it!"

Azula thought that was pretty cool of him, not that she would ever admit that to his face.

Sokka grinned when he saw her, "You're okay! Come on, let's get out of here!" He said, picking her up and running towards the rope. As they ascended the rope, they noticed that the professor wasn't following them.

"Professor, what are you doing?! Let's go!"

"I'm not leaving! I've spent too long searching for this place. I could spend an eternity here."

Fool. Well, I suppose that's one less person to drag us down.

At that moment, Wan Shi Tong regained consciousness and took notice of them trying to escape. He got up and flew towards them, his movements causing the rope to fall. Aang quickly swooped in and caught them with his glider. He flew all of them towards the window as fast as he could, Wan Shi Tong close behind them. Azula took a deep breath. Perhaps a small burst of fire was in order. It shouldn't cause her to pass out, hopefully. She extended two of her fingers and shot a small plume of fire at the owl, hitting him right in the face, causing him to crash down into his library. And with that, they were finally able to make it out.

When Toph heard them, she immediately withdrew from the library, letting it sink into the ground. Sokka and Katara cheered and hugged each other, squeezing Azula in the process.

"Would you two idiots let go of me?!"

"Nope! You're one of us which means you get to be a part of group hugs too!"

Aang looked around and noticed that the group of sandbenders that they had encountered earlier were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

"What happened?" he asked

"Nothing much really, just these idiots decided that they would try and steal Appa. Naturally, Ty Lee and I stopped them. There's no way I was going to walk in this hot desert."

"You know, Mai, you could just be honest and say that you like Appa."

"Shut up."

Fire Lord Ozai could not believe what he was reading. His daughter, a traitor? He'd sooner believe those words about Zuko than about Azula. And yet this report claimed that a girl with blue firebending had attacked his men. Said girl was with the avatar. There was only one firebender in existence who could bend blue flames. And it was his daughter.

"What should we do, your highness?"

Ozai looked at the soldier who had given him the report. It didn't take very long for him to formulate a response.

"Send word to my brother and son. I have a special task for them."