The Northern Air Temple was different from the Southern; Sokka had expected just as much, knowing that all four temples couldn't be the same. However, it was how it was different that was more of a surprise; the whole place was modified with mechanical contraptions, tubes filled with steam and hot air, and all other kinds of modifications to allow for a fine standard of living. It was just a shame that nobody was there to enjoy it.

The place was completely and utterly deserted; that was obvious enough when they were circling around it on the airship. He knew that the place still had value as a destination on their trip, given it likely still contained various schematics that the Mechanist might have left behind, not to mention the contraptions he must have built. He just imagined all those new weapons the Fire Nation presently lacked because he was no longer in their service.

He knew that the refugees had been expelled by Zhao's men months prior, and they had seized much of the schematics there, but left the place untouched otherwise. Sokka was surprised they hadn't returned in that time, given that Zhao hadn't apparently sent more men to check that they had vacated the temple permanently. That might have been because they sent the refugees somewhere that would make it hard for them to reach the temple, but he didn't know the details. Azula said that the actual reports were vague and blacked out, removing important details; she guessed that Zhao didn't want her retrieving the Mechanist on the chance that she betrayed him.

War Minister Qin himself didn't know where the Mechanist was; that was one of the first topics he breached with the man once he was freed from Water Tribe custody. He did seem to know much about the various designs he had made, given his role as War Minister involved him overseeing the development of new military technologies. The airships were his initiative, at least to begin with, and he was thankful he'd taken an interest in them. If not, then they never would have gotten the designs and made good use of them.

The wind at the temple was terrible, and that made him want to step inside at once. He and the others quickly left the airship, except a few guards, who were stationed aboard to make sure nobody who might be lurking around tried to steal the craft. Sokka understood how hard that would be, unless they could coerce the pilots into taking off, which the guards were there to prevent.

The interior halls of the temple were no longer warmed by whatever heating system the Mechanist had designed for it, though the system appeared to be functional. Azula tested that by firebending into a duct, which caused the air around them to warm up quite quickly as it dispersed around the hallway. However, he was less interested in getting the heating system working and more interested in seeing what remained of the Mechanist's work inside.

"Aang, where do you think he would be keeping all his stuff?"

"If he's making things... it'd have to be in a chamber." the Avatar answered, his expression showing that he was clearly angered by the defacing of the temple, "There's a few of them."

"Where do we go?"

"Up." he gestured towards the roof, "This temple's like the Southern one. It's pretty tall, so you're gonna have to climb a lot of stairs."

"Brilliant." Azula mumbled, before sighing, "Everyone split up into pairs, and go search for artefacts or the Mechanist's works. Bring what you find back here."

"What if we encounter hostiles, your majesty?" Renshu asked her, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I doubt you will, but if you do, come back this way at once. Firebend out some windows to get the others' attention. I've already told the pilots to pull the horn if they see any activity like that." she explained, and the guards nodded, before moving into pairs.

Sokka, as expected, tagged along with his girlfriend, while Ty Lee and Katara, and Aang and Toph paired up. He didn't stand on ceremony, and made his way down the hallway, which led to a central chamber, where he could see that there was a stairwell leading up to the higher floors, and some pipes lined up against it.

"How much work did he do here?" Sokka murmured, surprised by the extent of the heating system.

He'd seen parts of it outside, and guessed that it was designed to warm up the badly insulated areas like the expansive hallway they had just gone down.

"Enough to make Aang have a heart attack." Azula cracked a joke, before sighing, "That didn't sound as funny as it did in my head." she admitted, making him chuckle.

"I thought it was okay." he reassured her, before he stepped into the stairwell, glancing up to where the stairs disappeared behind the curve.

He could see a narrow gap where a hole lay between the curving steps, giving him a clear view all the way to what must have been the top of the temple. It was more than a little disorienting, and the mere thought of it made his feet ache and toes clench.

"That's a lot of stairs... he wasn't kidding."

The others were catching up behind them, about to follow up the stairs to reach the higher floors; that pushed him to start running up the stairs, though he quickly regretted that and slowed down. As he panted, Azula just looked at him smugly.

"I thought you were more fit, savage." she prodded him, and Sokka just laughed.

"Hey, I am fit... but there's a lot of stairs." he argued, before restarting, getting ahead of Azula and leading them both up the staircase.

As they climbed higher, they reached a doorway that led out to a chamber, and beyond it, a hallway; Sokka gestured up the stairs.

"Should we go further?"

"The higher we go, the more stairs we have to take." she warned him, before narrowing his eyes, "Something tells me if this man's ego matches his technical skill, he'll want a workshop as high as he could put it." she gave her own deduction on where she thought the Mechanist might have done his work.

"Hmm." he mumbled, before nodding, "If I were him, I'd probably do that." he acknowledged, knowing that a higher workshop would have a better view, and not to mention, a better spot to launch flying vehicles; the Air Nomads had gliders, so he imagined that the Mechanist might have tried to utilise the technology to his advantage.

So, with that, they kept climbing the stairs. It was an exhausting affair, each floor feeling further away than the previous, and his feet began to ache as they reached what had to be one of the highest floors. It was notable in that the chamber let outside, with wide open windows, giving a nice view of the mountains in the distance. He decided he'd had enough climbing, and sat himself down by one of the windows, taking a few deep breaths. Azula remained standing with her arms crossed, eyeing out the window.

"Aang must be... not in the best of moods." she observed, not thinking about the Mechanist, or the massive set of stairs they'd just climbed; she was thinking about how the twelve year old Avatar was feeling, reminded once more about the destruction of his people.

"I wouldn't blame him. If he gets mad and starts breaking the pipes and all the contraptions he sees... I won't stop him." he admitted, "He's got a lot to handle."

"A lot is an understatement." Azula admitted, her expression softer than usual, "His responsibilities outweigh my own... and that's saying something."

"You're just the Fire Lord." he noted, as if that wasn't a big deal, "He's the last Air Nomad... maybe ever."

"I doubt he'd want it to be the case." she noted, before chuckling, "I doubt most twelve year olds are thinking about having children, but he's probably already got it in his head."

"That's not really funny." Sokka retorted, though calm in his tone; he understood she didn't want to face the absolute tragedy of it all.

She was Azula after all, the next Fire Lord, the woman who would stop at nothing to get her victory. Tragedy was just expected, and she had to overcome it, whether it concerned her, the people she cared about, or the people she intended to serve.

"No, it isn't." she agreed with him, before offering him a hand, "Come on, savage, we have some designs to find."

"That's assuming he didn't take them with him." he reminded her, "In which case, we'll need to find him."

"I intend to do that in any case. The Earth Nation will be in need of his services." she argued, and Sokka hummed in thought.

"I guess they will." he agreed, and let her pull him back to his feet.

He dusted his backside of any dirt and dust that had got on it, and got on his way. There were a few hallways that needed to be explored; he followed down one of them, making his way down a short staircase and down a walkway that appeared to run along the roof of a lower section, leading over to a large chamber. He recognised the place, having seen its equivalent in the Southern Air Temple. It was some kind of chamber for the monks to meet in, with chairs so they could debate matters with each other. The room was deathly silent, with only the wind blowing in. There were no signs of the dead, which wasn't a surprise; there was barely any evidence of it at other temple either, other than the ruin they had found Gyatso in.

"This isn't it." Sokka told Azula, who was a little slow to catch up; when she did, she glanced around, with her hands on her hips.

"They must not have used this part of the temple." she realised, before glancing back, "Let's check the other areas."

"Wait, let me just check something first." he raised a hand, pacing to the back of the chamber, before walking into the rear area, where he could see that there were some bookshelves and seating areas, presumably for the monks to rest in.

He scrunched his lips, and paced over to one of the bookshelves, pushing it out of the way, and found something he was expecting to find. There was a bound scroll, inside a metal cylinder; he picked it up, and presented it to Azula.

"A scroll." she observed with a surprised look.

"I wasn't expecting you to find one that easily." she admitted, before taking it into her hands, opening it up by twisting off one of the ornate ends to it.

Once it was open, she unfurled it, and scanned her eyes over the document. Her expression turned to an approving one.

"It's an airbending scroll. Some advanced techniques." she observed, showing it off to Sokka.

To him, it just looked like some drawings of airbenders making some odd movements, though he was sure Aang would find it more useful than he did. Azula put the scroll back in its case and slid that into her belt. With that, she turned her heels, and he followed her, making their way back through the chamber and back down the walkway towards the stairwell.

When they reached the stairs, he gestured to another hallway that they could follow; Azula led them down, the atmosphere darkening as the windows became narrower and let in less light, leading them to what seemed to be another chamber. This one was clearly being used, as it was filled with clutter. He recognised some of the pieces as Air Nomad glider staffs, like the one Aang used, though they appeared to have been modified; some even seemed to be new designs, the wood of the staffs distinct and less well-made than the Air Nomad ones. Beyond those he could see various things covered in tarp, making it hard to tell what he was looking at, though most appeared to be pieces of machinery, or parts of machines, disassembled or damaged in some way.

"This might be his work." Sokka suggested, and his girlfriend crossed her arms, before turning around and approaching a doorway, which she opened up; the double doors led into what appeared to be an office of sorts, clearly renovated since it had been occupied by the monks.

"This is what you wanted." she declared, and once he got a better look, he realised that she was right.

The whole room was full of scrolls and blueprints for various machines; more than that, he could even see what must have been an early design for the airship, sprawled out over the desk itself. Some of the scrolls were damaged, others burnt, presumably from when Fire Nation soldiers had come in to seize the Mechanist's work. However, most of the scrolls seemed to be in good condition, and Sokka almost got giddy, grinning as he picked a few of them up, putting them down on the desk.

He shoved a few to the side, giving Azula some to look at; he unfurled one, and scanned his eyes over it. The design was the tundra tank, or at least, a version of it. The schematic showed all the parts, and how the hydraulic system was meant to operate. He noted some scribbles, presumably by the inventor himself, saying how the designs could be retrofitted to use a power source other than firebending. He glanced over to another scroll, which showed just that.

"This- this is better than I even hoped for." he admitted, before unfurling another scroll; the design was something he wasn't too familiar with, but he knew of.

It was the explosive-tossing vehicle, similar in general design to a tundra tank, though it was a bit larger, and powered by coal rather than firebending. He knew that Aang had fought one of them in Shengchang and destroyed it thoroughly, depriving Sokka of a chance to study the design. He knew that Azula could send said schematic to Mister Takumi in Shengchang, and hopefully get something out of it.

He gestured to it, and Azula took note; she nodded, and rolled up the scroll, "This thing was a nuisance. Hopefully we can find a way to destroy it... and make some of our own."

"That's what I was thinking." he agreed with the idea, and glanced around, realising how many scrolls there were, "How many machines did he make for the Fire Nation?"

"He is responsible, in no small part, for some of our more useful advances of the past decade. The Fire Nation would have struggled to continue the war with the same ferocity if it weren't for the absolute technological advantage we had." she noted the value the Mechanist had to the Fire Nation, "Why Zhao would just let him leave with the rest of the refugees is beyond me."

"Maybe he thought he would inform on them to rebels." Sokka guessed, "I mean, we don't really know who the guy is actually loyal to."

"His community." Azula told him, matter of factly, "I thought you would have figured that out."

"No, I meant... beyond that. Maybe he actually thought he was doing a good thing by making the war end faster." he suggested, and Azula's expression shifted to one of confusion.

"That would make sense, if he weren't purposefully obfuscating his plans. He already knew how to make the airships, but it took Qin seizing all the designs and having the engineers pour over them before he could actually go about building them. For all I know, he could have made a functioning design five years ago, and Qin would have been none the wiser." she gave her own theory on what had been going on, "If that's true, then he probably has even more designs the Fire Nation never got their hands on."

"He wouldn't have left them here." Sokka realised, "These are all old designs... stuff that the Fire Nation already got from him before he was kicked out."

Sokka furrowed a brow, and turned his eyes to the shelf, "There's a lot of scrolls here to carry down."

"We can get the guards to take them." she decided, before sighing, sitting herself down at the Mechanist's desk, "At the very least, the designs can be copied so Qin can actually do his job... even if it's nothing new." she acknowledged, sounding disappointed that they had yet to find anything that was groundbreaking.

Sokka wasn't expecting any great new designs, but anything that could help their efforts to gain an edge over Ozai's forces would be helpful. He thought back to the weapon they had found on the body of a dead bandit, and it made him wonder; it could have been the work of the Mechanist, but he dismissed that out of hand, not seeing any schematic like it as he looked through more of the scrolls.

He did find some designs that didn't seem to be oriented towards the Fire Nation military, like a design for a steam-powered machine that seemed to be used for building walls. laying out stone bricks in layers. That didn't seem too useful for their designs, but it told him that there must have been more things he had made that might have been practical for the war, but never given to the Fire Nation.

Azula was looking at some other scrolls, and when she was done, she rose back up to her feet, "Let's take some of these back down. I'll make sure the guards get the rest." she assured him, and Sokka nodded, sweeping up some of the scrolls.

He held them tight to his chest as they left the office, and he paced back to the stairwell, smiling at the bounty of information they'd gotten. It wouldn't be as good as getting the Mechanist himself, but it was a close second. Azula paced up beside him, and eyed Sokka intently; he was unsure if she was going to say anything, so held his tongue, waiting for some kind of comment. It didn't come, not until they reached the stairwell itself.

"Do you think you'd be able to build things like the Mechanist has for your tribe?" she asked him, and Sokka's eyes narrowed.

He wasn't that confident in his abilities, but he could certainly replicate some of the designs,with the right hands to help him to the hard work of actually building them. That could be a means by which to rebuild their tribe with far more ease than they might have otherwise; Sokka just didn't know if they even had the basic resources to actually make the technologies the Fire Nation had practical, like access to coal and iron.

"Maybe." he gave the best answer he could, "I don't know what resources we can exploit in the South. I mean, if we have to buy all the parts and the fuel we'd need to power machines, I doubt it'd be very practical."

"It's not just about making money." she reminded him, "You certainly could, if you produced things the other nations need, but I don't know exactly what that would be."

"Frozen meats and food." he guessed, "We have a lot of ice... so making freezers without fuel is easy." he noted with a smirk, "I mean, I don't know if that'd actually sell to anyone. We actually have to have the food to freeze... and we aren't known for our abundance."

"No, you aren't." she agreed with that frustrating fact, and began to walk down the staircase, "Don't worry about it. I was just thinking about the future."

"Of course." he nodded, "You don't think about much else."

"There is a lot ahead of us." she argued, and he hummed.

"A lot of better food, and nicer beds."

"Ba Sing Se and my home both." she mumbled, before narrowing her eyes at him, stopping herself, "Don't think you've got the right to raid the palace kitchen just because you're mine."

"Hey, who's going to stop me?" he retorted with a smirk, and Azula looked more impressed than frustrated.

"I don't have the energy to deny your appetite. It's a harder fight than any master firebender." she conceded defeat in that scenario, and he raised a fist in victory, though he quickly realised that was a poor decision, as the scrolls slipped out of his grasp, "Crap!"

Azula giggled at him as he scampered to pick up each of the scrolls, and kept laughing as they walked down the stairs, "Even in victory, you find a way to make a fool of yourself."

"The universe just hates me, that's all." he argued, and Azula scrunched her lips.

"Luck doesn't exist. You've just got to be more aware of your surroundings. I thought my training would have knocked that into your thick skull already."

"Hey, I'm not in- uh, fighting mode. I'm relaxed, hanging out with my girlfriend and reading scrolls... not about to face the Fire Lord."

"You do that every night." she warned him, knowing that he wasn't referring to her, but she liked to see him squirm; he cringed in embarrassment, but she could see the smug look hiding beneath all that feigned disgust, "If you're going to be proud of anything, be proud of that."

"You say that like it's hard." he retorted, "You're terribly, hopelessly, in love with me, the great Water Tribesman." he dramatically proclaimed, and Azula scoffed.

"I won't deny that... but you got that out of me. You know me. I'm not easy to break." she argued, gesturing to herself, "You act as I was swooning over you on day one. I was trying to kill you, if you forgot." she reminded her boyfriend, who shrugged.

"Didn't do a good job at that. Set a trend, didn't you?" he prodded her, and Azula's brow twitched.

"A trend of having to rely on you to carry me around." she noted what had come of her little leg injury, though that was nothing compared to getting shot by her own lightning.

"I haven't done it in a while... unless I chi block you." he argued, and she rolled her eyes.

"You like it, don't you?"

"I won't deny it." he conceded, "But I prefer you on your feet and fighting."

Azula smiled at that, and continued down the stairs; when they reached the floor below, Sokka stepped out from the stairwell and called out, "Guys! We have a lot of scrolls that need to be carried!"

A few moments later, a pair of guards paced down one of the hallways, one of them holding a scroll in hand.

"What did you find?" Azula pressed them, and the guard with the scroll stepped forward, before unfurling it.

"Some text written by an Air Nomad. It seems to be something about their philosophy." he clarified, and she hummed.

"Aang will find that useful." she noted, before gesturing to the stairwell, "Go up a floor. If you go down one of the hallways, there's a chamber with a number of disassembled contraptions. Go to the office. Take as many scrolls as you can, bring them down to the airship." she directed them, and both guards nodded.

"We haven't cleared this part of the temple yet." the guard who was empty handed warned her, and she gestured out down one of the hallways.

"You will have time to come back. I will order more guards to go to the office." she declared her intentions, before returning back to the stairwell.

Sokka followed after, and they went their separate ways, the guards heading up the stairs to the office. He and Azula went down to the next floor, and she sighed, before giving him the scrolls she had in hand, "I'll catch up. You get the scrolls down, and get the engineers to have a look over them."

"I don't know if they'll be that helpful. They just maintain the airship."

"They're trained enough to understand these schematics. They'll know if it's possible for us to build these weapons in our base, or in Shengchang." she explained, "If we can, then more weapons can be built at once, before we even get back."

"How long do you think this will take?" he asked her, and Azula scrunched her lips.

"Ba Sing Se is not that far away, but it is not a matter of distance."

"I know." he calmly agreed, his mind returning back to their last face off against the Dai Li, "It's whether we can beat them, and how fast. I don't want to have to see the whole city turned upside down."

"You already made that point last time." she recalled, and he nodded.

"Well, all the people in the city... the common people, they're innocent. They shouldn't suffer because of what we want to achieve." he argued, before deciding to make a proposition he didn't agree with, but he knew shouldn't be ignored, "We could leave them alone... we could leave Ba Sing Se as it is.."

"It's about more than them." she snapped back, not sounding angry, but simply firm in her tone; she knew what they were fighting for, and against, and she was not going to stop because she feared she might cause some collateral damage in fighting the Dai Li.

And with that, she turned off to go find some more guards to collect scrolls, while Sokka made the journey back down the stairwell; when he was about halfway back down, he ran into Ty Lee and Katara, who must have been done with the section they were checking out.

"Oh, hey." his sister waved to him, "Where is she?" she asked, and Sokka pointed up the staircase.

"Getting guards to go up and collect the scrolls we found." he explained, and Ty Lee stepped closer, gesturing to the scrolls he was holding against his chest.

"You've already got a heap. You must have found the best stash."

"We think it was his office. These are all designs that he's made over the years." he explained, and his sister tapped her chin.

"So, is there anything there that the Fire Nation hasn't already got to use against us?"

"Uh... other than some random machines that are more for civilian use, it doesn't seem like it." he conceded, and she pouted.

"I was hoping there was some great new machine we might be able to make. I mean, you might be able to. You're pretty good with this stuff." she complimented his skills, and Sokka felt obliged to make a point.

"Not really. The engineers are the ones doing all the work." he reminded her, and she shrugged.

"You're pretty good at it all." she argued, and Sokka stepped past her and Ty Lee, continuing on down the stairs.

"The Mechanist is the one who's really good." he argued, before walking away, knowing he had to get rid of the scrolls and get back to Azula.

Not because he was worried about her being on her own, but because he knew that they needed to keep searching for Air Nomad artefacts. The rest of the walk down was uneventful, but his feet were aching by the time he reached the floor the airship was located on. He then had to walk down the hallway, and came outside, where the airship was sitting, two of the Imperial Firebenders standing duty. They acknowledged him with some salutes, and Sokka stepped inside, climbing up the short set of stairs to reach the door.

"I'm got a lot of schematics for you guys to look at!" he called out to the engineers, laying the scrolls down on the table in the bridge.

Not long after, a few of them came out from the rear of the airship, and looked at the stash with awe.

"By the spirits, that's going to give us a lot to work with." one of them exclaimed, "Is that from the Mechanist's office?"

"Yes." he confirmed, "There are even more of them coming down. You guys just need to figure out what all of these are, and whether they'd be of use for the army or navy to build." he explained, and the engineers nodded, and Sokka turned around, knowing he could leave the analysis to the men who were experts in machinery and had been dealing with the Mechanist's technology for a long while.

He didn't know if all the engineers on the airship were navy men or if they had been brought along by War Minister Qin to specifically work on the airship project. He hadn't talked much with them about personal matters, as they mostly focused on their common interest, in building and improving the airship. In any case, he felt confident leaving the matter in their hands.

He doubted they would have any thoughts of betraying Azula, given how much work she was providing them with; he didn't ignore the possibility, however, and was making sure to keep an eye on every letter sent from and received by the airship. The guards made sure nobody sent unauthorised messages, but then again, it was possible for them to sneak one out, at night time or while they were encamped and the guards were focused on defending against external threats.

Sokka pushed those thoughts from his mind, knowing it was pointless to worry about until he actually had evidence of any treachery. Once he stepped out of the airship, he nodded at the guards, and went on his way. Outside he needed his parka, the wind brutally bearing down on them. Inside the temple itself, things were a little better, but without the heating system active, he knew he'd have little reprieve outside the airship itself. He made his way back into the temple, approaching the stairwell, where he could see a pair of guards had come back with more scrolls. When Sokka reached them, he gestured up the stairwell.

"Have you seen Azula on the way?"

"No, her majesty must still be collecting men to collect the scrolls." one of them clarified, before they went their separate ways.

He didn't waste any time, and climbed up the stairs, checking each exit out to see if Azula was about; it took him a few tries before he finally found her, more than half way back up the stairs. She was next to Renshu and Yi, who he recognised only because both of them weren't wearing their helmets.

"You've taken the scrolls down." she observed, before eyeing the Captain, "Once you get back, come back up and continue searching for Air Nomad artefacts... and there is a possibility the Mechanist might be hiding more things throughout the temple."

"Should we try to work with the machinery?" Yi asked, "The lack of heating is biting."

"Keep your inner flame warm, and you should have no issue." Azula retorted, before sighing, "But for the non-firebenders among us, I understand the need." she acknowledged, "If you can figure out how to turn it on, and keep it on, do it." she allowed, and both guards nodded before continuing down the stairs.

"I think I've told enough of them." she noted, before gesturing into the temple, "There's more than hasn't been searched through."

Sokka nodded, and followed after her; the part of the temple they were in was filled with pipes, but also had a large number of rooms, which appeared to have been where the refugees were staying while at the temple. The rooms were still well furnished, though a bit dusty after all the time they had been left vacant. Some of them were dirty, with clothes and household items tossed around, though he guessed that was because the panic people had gone into when Zhao's men arrived.

He and Azula started by looking through each room they came across. There weren't many things of interest, other than some tools the refugees must have been using to repair and remodel the temple. He even found what looked to be concentrated blasting jelly, shaped into blocks. They must have been destroying walls and the likes for such small explosives to be necessary, which made him cringe.

"Aang isn't gonna like that they've been tearing the place up with this stuff." he noted, tossing a block to Azula, who caught it with her left hand.

"Do you think you could use something like this as a weapon to drop from the airship?" she asked, and Sokka hummed.

"I mean, it's not all that different from what we're already using." he acknowledged, before sniffing one of the blocks, "It seems to be mixed with something. Clay, maybe? I can't tell. Probably so they can fill holes easily with the stuff." he gave his observations, the Princess smirking.

"Well, if we ever need to suddenly explode somebody's room..." she began, before shoving a few into the bag she had slung over her shoulder.

"I'd hope these won't be necessary." he admitted, before shrugging, "But, eh, they'll be useful." he agreed with her point, and grabbed a few for himself, putting them into his own bag, "If I can figure out how to make more of these, that might help us arm the rebels."

"We already have grenadiers in the Fire Nation Army." she noted, raising a finger to her chin "But they're focused on harming people, not demolishing structures."

"So, demolishers." he dubbed the potential name of the kind of soldier that would use the weapon.

"No, that's just a military engineer." she retorted, "Using this is just a far more haphazard way of achieving the same ends... turning the battlefield to your advantage."

"It helps when your battlefield is a tunnel under Ba Sing Se." he argued, and her face shifted to one of near disgust.

"Don't remind me." she mumbled, before eyeing the block she had in her hand, "But you're right... they won't see it coming."

"No, they won't.." he gave his opinion, before pacing over to the door, knowing they ought to go to another room, "There's gotta be some Air Nomad stuff around here somewhere."

Azula followed after him, and when he got inside, he pulled up blankets, checked under beds, and examined bookshelves, looking for any sign of Air Nomad artefacts. He didn't find anything of note, and sighed, though he heard Azula shutting the door behind them. He turned around, and eyed her with suspicion.

"What?" he asked her, and she grappled him by the collar, making Sokka tense up; it was more than an odd place to do training, given they had very little space to move around, "Uh, Azula?" he mumbled, before it dawned on him.

A smirk was on her lips, and she pulled him closer, kissing him. He almost giggled as they embraced, struggling to retain his serious composure. Once their lips parted, Sokka raised a hand, brushing it through her hair, which was pulled up and back, with a middle parting, similar to how Katara wore her own; she had fallen into the habit of wearing her Water Tribe dress once more, though at that moment, she was wearing armour instead of her parka.

"I love you." he told her something she already knew, and she almost laughed at his words.

"I know, idiot." she assured him, before their foreheads touched, the less sensual embrace making him focus more on the warmth she brought him.

Her warm hands were still by his collarbone, the heat only noticeable where her fingers wrapped around his bare neck.

"I wish I could stand here forever with you." she spoke quietly, "No war, no responsibilities, nothing. Just us."

"But you think that's impossible." he realised, "Well, we can't stand anywhere forever. We need to eat, sleep, poop... you know, usual human things." he observed the infeasibility of what was meant to be a wistful, romantic comment.

"And that's why I love you, Sokka."

"What, because I'm funny?"

"No, because you know what needs to be done." she acknowledged, "For whatever ends... you don't get all hopeful and idealistic... you just know what you can and cannot do."

"Is that all?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. I could go on a rant about all the things that make me want to punch you and kiss you at the same time." she declared, and Sokka just smiled upon hearing that; she had him all, and he had all of her.

Sokka sat himself down on the rather dusty bed, and Azula followed, sitting beside him, the weight of her armour making the bed creak a little.

"So... how serious were you about what you said?" he asked, turning back to her wistful words.

"I don't want to disappoint you again, Sokka." she bluntly admitted her feelings, recalling how she had abandoned him to go do her plot against Zhao without his help; in hindsight, it might have seemed like a better decision for him to not be there, but he would have preferred it if it had never happened in the first place.

In his own view, Azula placing herself at the helm of Zhao's forces was always going to cause her problems. The attention they got from Zuko and then Ozai was proof enough of that; if they had gone to the North Pole first, and then decided what to do once Aang mastered waterbending, they might have been able to make better use of the opportunities they had. Taking over Zhao's fleet was useful, but the base was a burden, and it was only with the aid of the colonies loyal to Zuko that they'd have a chance at pushing Ozai's forces off the continent. That was until the rebel coalition actually came to fruition.

"I'm not worried about that." he tried to reassure her, but Azula clearly didn't believe him.

"I fucked up." she placed the emphasis on herself, "That was my mistake. You've only done as much as you could."

"I probably should have just killed that Commander Cheol guy. He was being a massive prick even before he tried to fry you." he acknowledged, and Azula scoffed.

"And deprived me of the chance to make a fool of him?" she asked him with a smirk, making him smile.

"I guess you have a point there." he acknowledged, before scrunching his lips, "If he hadn't been so close, you might have been able to try lightning redirection."

"I'm disappointed that I didn't... though, I am not looking forward to when I will have to." she admitted, Sokka's eyes narrowing as he realised what she was referring to.

"Your dad." he mumbled, before grabbing her hand, "Don't worry... you won't have to face him head on."

"Do you take me for a coward, Sokka?" she retorted, clearly sounding offended, though her expression softened, "I know why you're worried... but you shouldn't be."

"I think my fears are pretty justified. Your fight with Zuko went terribly... and I know he 'cheated', or whatever, but do you think your father will fight fair?"

"I'm not facing him in an Agni Kai." she corrected him, "There will be no fair fight. I don't want it to be... but there will be a fight." she acknowledged, and Sokka tensed.

"I don't want it to happen again." he mumbled, "Please." he begged, and she hugged him.

"I will win. We will win." she stressed, before sighing, "You have my permission."

"Your permission?" he mumbled, and he narrowed his eyes, wondering what she specifically meant; he guessed she was allowing him to intercede in the fight, as he had when she faced Zuko.

"To kill him." she clarified, "If things go... wrong. You can do it." she assured him, grabbing him by the collar once more, "I want you to know that... it's- well, your responsibility."

"To protect you, I know." he assured her that he understood his role, "Protecting the strongest firebender in the world sounds like a bit of a pointless job, though." he added in jest, and she just kissed him.

He giggled at her kiss, and when their lips broke, he ran his hand up along her cheek.

"You're being more touchy than usual." he acknowledged, "Are you alright?"

"Whenever I'm with you... I'm fine." she whispered, "You're my boomerang, that's what you said."

He hugged her tightly, and turned to her ear, whispering what she needed to hear.

"I am. I'll always come back."


The sky was clear, giving Katara a fine view of the mountains as they flew east. The place was beautiful, but desolate; as they came further away from the highest peaks around the Northern Air Temple, the valleys became larger and more habitable. They even passed a few villages, and the airship had landed so that Azula could speak with the local leaders. They found that there weren't many rebels in the region they were in, as most travelled south to fight the Fire Nation garrisons that remained closer to Ba Sing Se and the West Lake. So, they kept flying in that general direction, heading south east, though not so far that they wouldn't be able to return back to the coast to refuel the airship when the time came.

However, the clear sky meant that anything on the horizon would be visible and stark in contrast to the bare mountain peaks and wooded slopes. She could see smokestacks on the horizon, billowing up from one of the valleys to their east. She tapped Aang on the shoulder, and he took note of it; without a word, he pulled on the reins and sent them west. Toph, who was accompanying them on the saddle, noticed the sudden shift, and crawled forward.

"What's going on?" she asked Katara; she didn't gesture or try to be overly descriptive, knowing that as her friend was blind, she just had to be up front about what she could see.

"There's smokestacks nearby, in one of the valleys."

"So, a town." Toph deduced, and she shook her head.

"Way too many. They're black as well."

"And what does black smoke mean?" she prodded her, reminding her she had no real conception of colours.

"That lots of stuff is burning. It's either coal, or something is burning down." she explained, and the blind girl scoffed.

"Yeah, out here in the sticks... it's a raid." she concluded, before turning her head, "Is the airship following?"

She could see that as they turned, the airship, which was trailing behind, did the same.

"Yes, they're following. They can probably see it as well." she assured her, before turning her attention back towards the smokestacks.

Appa was fast, meaning that though it was on the horizon, they approached hastily, crossing over a few ridgelines before they came into a large open valley, filled with pastures and grain farms, though the fields were bare. Katara didn't know much about farming, being from the South Pole, but understood that spring was when the first seeds were meant to be sown, meaning that the crops would have only just started growing.

Beyond the fields lay a village, the source of the smoke. It was quite large, at least compared to the other villages they had come across while flying east, and expanded out from a small walled centre along a stream. The walled village was not damaged yet, but the rest was in chaos, trees and houses burning. They were too high up for her to make out any people individually, but she could make out what had to be a mass of peasants holed up in the walled centre of the village.

As they drew closer, Aang lowered Appa down, presumably not wanting to draw too much attention towards the sky bison. When they got closer to the ground, Katara could see a few peasants running out from the cover of a barn, frantically approaching them.

"Avatar!" one of them addressed Aang, "You need to help us!"

Aang rose up from the saddle, grabbing his glider staff before he leapt down to the ground.

"Who's attacking your village?" he asked, and one of the villagers pointed down towards the walled part of the village, which was obscured by trees and homes in between them and there.

"Some crazy bandits." he warned them, "They've got these weird weapons. I think they might be from the Fire Nation or something. They're stealing everything they can, and taking the able-bodied prisoner." he explained with a fearful, frantic tone, grabbing Aang by the shoulders, "You've got to stop them!"

"I- I will." he assured the fearful peasant, turning his eyes to the others, "We will. There's back up on the way, but we'll try and hold them off... and put out those fires."

"Run!" she heard one of the villagers cry out in fear, and her eyes turned down the path, where she could see what had to be half a dozen of the bandits, wielding their weapons, though some were unarmed, presumably the benders in the group.

They were wearing what looked like some crude, home made armour of fur, steel, and leather, and wore fur cloaks and steel helmets, which seemed to be salvaged ones of Fire Nation make. The unarmed men stepped forward, throwing their fists up, bending the earth beneath Appa; that made Aang jolt up and quickly return the favour, throwing them into the air with a few pillars of earth. Katara and Toph climbed off of the saddle and got down to the ground, the former drawing water from her water skin while the latter pulled out some boulders from the ground.

While they were doing that, the weapon wielding bandits seemed to be preparing their attack. She decided to preempt them, throwing her water forward to smack the weapons, trying to disarm them as quickly as possible; some of them dropped their weapons, while others kept a hold of them. Dropping them seemed to trigger them, as they fired off, fire and smoke being shot out of them; Toph reflexively pulled up a wall, keeping them from being hurt by the flames, and Katara turned to face the villagers.

"Get out of here!" she told them, and they heeded her words, running back towards the barn they had been hiding in.

When Toph dropped the walls down, she realised that the flames had hurt some of the bandits. A few of them were retreating back to the village, carrying away the injured, while those uninjured men aimed their weapons at the group. Aang spun his staff around, causing a massive gust of wind to burst up in front of them. That caused the blasts to instead send flames, smoke, and shrapnel up into the air above them, the weapons themselves turned up by the force of the wind. They realised their mistake of firing too late, as they were thrown into the air by Toph, who shot boulders at them, before smacking anyone who remained standing with pillars that shot out beneath them.

Katara was still unsure how the weapons worked, and cautiously approached the ones that had been dropped; she picked one up, and noticed that it smelled like ash. It was same as the one they had seen on the dead bandit days prior; she had wondered how he had gotten there, but now they had at least half an answer. They had heard a story from one village about bandits with weird weapons, though their local earthbenders were able to expel them before they caused too many issues. She guessed that these bandits belonged to the same group, given the near identical weapon we was wielding. She also noticed that the bandits had bags of what had to be gunpowder on them, which must have been what they were using to shoot the flames out at them; a poor substitute for firebending, that was what she heard Azula's voice in her head say. They knew that the fight there was lost, and scrambled away, Aang raising his hand, deciding to let them go.

"They're going to realise that this is a dumb fight. When they do, they'll leave."

"Then we better get started scaring them." Toph decided, Katara's eyes turning over towards the stream that lay in the distance; she needed to put out the fires that were spreading from house to house.

The smell of smoke was thick in the air already, making it hard to breathe, but she would tolerate it for a while, knowing she had to protect the villagers against the bandits and their weapons.

"And I'll get some water to put out the fires." she told them, before running to the stream to gather up some water, both to fight with, and to put out any fires the bandits had started.

She had to cross a field to reach the stream, noticing that the animals there were still unharmed. She guessed that the bandits wanted to steal those as well, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. She leapt over a low fence made of stones, and found herself by the gravelly shore of the stream. She reached out both hands and pulled up a mass of water, and coiled it around herself. Katara didn't waste a moment, turning to run towards the village. She rushed along the edge of the stream, and when she got to the first burning house, she threw the water up and over it, turning it into a light spray, which was able to quickly douse the flames. She pulled more water out of the stream beside her, and tossed it out at a house across on the other side of the stream, where she saw a bandit..

He was wielding one of those weapons, and turned around to aim it at her. Katara threw up a block of ice, frozen from the stream's water, which then exploded as the weapon was fired, blasting ice and steam into the man's face; he cried out in pain as he stumbled back, and she leapt over the stream, bending the water under herself to launch herself right to the bandit. She grappled him with a water whip, and pointed a finger at him.

"Where did you come from?" she questioned him, and the man just laughed.

"Stupid girl." he defamed her with a condescending look, before suddenly, a burst of smoke came out from beneath him, obscuring her vision.

The smoke irritated her eyes, and forced her to close them, but she preemptively drew water around her in case the man tried to attack her. However, when the smoke cleared, the man was gone, and his broken weapon lay down on the ground in front of her.

"Where did he go?" she mumbled to herself, turning around to notice that Aang and Toph were off in the other direction, apparently fighting the bandits, as she could see them tossing earth down the street.

Katara crossed the stream again, and quickly followed after the other two, bending water behind herself, quickly dousing a few fires that she found as she came along. When she got back to the main path into the village, she could see that the bandits were fending off Aang and Toph's earthbending with their own, along with using their weapons, which fired off in quick succession, forcing Toph to raise up a wall of earth to protect them from the blasts of fire and shrapnel. She cringed from the loud sounds, and when the walls were dropped, she threw her water at the bandits, flinging a few of them to the ground.

"About time you caught up." Toph commented on their arrival, before she pointed ahead of her, towards a spot where she had previously raised a wall, "Want a boost?" she asked, and Katara smirked, realising what her idea was.

"Go." she agreed to the idea, and dashed forward, stepping onto the spot, which was launched up into the air in the form of a pillar.

Katara leapt up with it, and bent the water around her into a shield to soften her fall, and strike down the bandits at the same time. As they shot their weapons into the water, the smoke and shrapnel slowed to a halt, falling to the ground harmlessly when the water dropped. She landed safely on her two feet, and threw the water at the first bandit who tried to rush at her with a blade instead of the explosive weapons they were otherwise using. He was flung into another bandit, throwing them both to the ground. Toph backed her up, shooting up pillars to knock away other bandits, before she tossed a boulder at another; Katara glanced behind her to see that Aang was bending up pillars of earth and grabbed her by the arm as he ran past.

"Close your eyes!" he told her as he pulled his bandana up from his collar and over his eyes.

She realised what his plan was, and covered her eyes with her hands, before she heard a rumbling, which was followed by dirt and dust spurting up from the ground. She could hear the bandits crying out and shouting, confused by the sudden loss of vision. Then she heard the thumps and grunts, and when Katara pulled her hands down, she could see that she was covered in dirt, and the whole area was laden with dirt, rumble, and a fine dust. The bandits were knocked out, and Toph and Aang stood in the middle, knocking their fists together in triumph.

"You're getting the hang of it, Twinkletoes." she acknowledged his achievement; Aang was still blindfolded, but looked giddy.

"This feels like cheating." he admitted, before pulling his bandana from his eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with winning." Toph declared, before pulling up another wall; Katara heard some more blasts, telling her that the weapons were going off.

She grit her teeth, and pooled up the water she had dropped, drawing it out of the dirt, forming a coil around herself, "Let's go." she told them, and Aang opened his glider up, before she suddenly heard a horn above them.

Her eyes darted up, realising that the airship had caught up, and was right above them; she pointed to Aang and Toph, knowing what would follow it.

"Cover us!" she demanded, and both pulled up some slabs of earth, which covered the sky and their vision, but she wasn't going to complain; she didn't want to be blinded by the explosions that were sure to follow.

There were a few moments of silence, and some shouts from the bandits; they were clearly confused by what they were seeing, but they understood quickly enough. Explosions shook the ground beneath them, and the deafening booms were barely softened by Katara covering her ears. The shaking caused the defensive walls to crumble apart, though Toph quickly reformed them, making sure the flames and heat wouldn't threaten them. However, as quickly as they appeared, the explosions dissipated, and the walls were dropped, allowing Katara to peer out.

She could see that the bandits were either dead or running, the sight was rather morbid, but she tried to ignore it, and focus more on the more important issue of ensuring the village didn't burn to the ground. She drew some water out from the stream, and funnelled it over the burning houses, dousing the flames on them, before she pointed towards the walled centre of the village, which was now clearly in sight.

"We need to kick these bandits out." she declared, and Toph laughed, before covering her body with earthen armour.

"You don't need to tell me twice, Sugar Queen." she assured her, before she threw herself forward, bending the earth beneath her feet in a narrow but powerful wave, launching herself at the bandits. She began throwing up pillars, striking them into the air and into nearby buildings.

Katara followed, smacking around anyone who remained with her waterbending, making sure to douse fires whenever she came across them. When they got to the walls, she could see that the bandits were trying to break down the gates, which were burning, but must have had layers of metal inside, making them hard to destroy. The bandits turned to face them, but all their attention was turned up above them.

Chains lowered from the airship, dropping ten people down at once, including Azula, Ty Lee, Sokka, and some of her guards; they launched themselves at the bandits, the two non-benders chi-blocking a few of them before they had to go on the defensive, dodging the fire-shooting weapons. Azula had less of a problem with them, firebending inside the weapons to explode them before they could be used. Katara winced from the small explosions that were going off, and raised a thin wall of water between her, Toph, Aang, and the fighting, allowing the two earthbenders to use their element to restrain anyone without the threat of being hit themselves.

The bandits were already running within moments, and though Azula gave chase, most of them were able to dodge her firebending. A few bandits remained restrained, but one of them was an earthbender, and bent the restraints off himself and his comrades, before throwing down another one of the smoke bombs. Aang saw this, and bent the smoke back into the bomb, which then exploded right up in the face of the earthbender, throwing him off his feet. He stumbled around, but quickly pulled up some earthen defences. Toph shot a hand forward, and ripped them apart, leaving him wide open. Then a pair of Azula's guards lunged at him, shooting a pair of fireballs at his face and his feet, the first disorienting him and the second making his legs give way, knocking him out when he struck the ground nearly face first.

However, in that short time he spent distracting them, the other bandits were able to get up and flee. Katara turned around, and saw that the other bandits had done the same behind her. She grit her teeth, frustrated that they were able to get away without facing justice for their crimes, but she was at least pleased that they had got the message. A few moments later, the gates of the village were opened up, and a few villagers stepped out cautiously.

"Firebenders?" one of them asked, confused as they eyed up Azula and her guards.

"Not just any." she assured them, "Those bandits probably won't bother you again." she stressed, though that seemed to just confuse the villagers.

"The Avatar!" one of the villagers exclaimed upon seeing Aang and his distinctive tattoos, and the crowd cheered for him.

He awkwardly waved, "I hope we got here quickly enough... is everyone alright?"

"Most of us were hiding in here from the bandits. They were trying to capture people." one of the villagers explained, before smiling, "But you showed them."

"Yes, we did." he nodded, before glancing back over to Katara, a spark lighting in his head, "We can help with anyone that got hurt."

"Oh, thank you... there's some people with burns inside." he explained, and Katara and Aang were led inside, while the others stood back awkwardly, though they did follow soon after.

There were people lying out on the ground, some carved by tarps, and many fearful villagers; she realised that the atmosphere must have improved since they realised the bandits were gone. They were still cautious, but when Aang approached the injured, they seemed to be receptive.

"It's the Avatar." a young girl acknowledged his presence, "Did you come to save us from those bad men?" she asked him; Aang nodded, and stepped over to one of the more badly hurt villagers, an older man with a savage burn across his upper body, barring his face, which was spared.

He looked pretty badly hurt, and was struggling to breathe; Katara sat down beside Aang, and drew some water from her waterskin. She lay it out over the man's chest, and their hands moved in circular motions along his chi pathways, the water beginning to glow. Within a few moments, the burn began to dissipate and soften, and after a short time, it was only a faded mark across his skin. The man's breathing improved, and he slowly pulled himself up, now relieved from his pain.

"It's..." he mumbled, looking at them with a surprised face, "Thank you." he acknowledged their help, and both of them turned their eyes around, seeing how many other injured villagers there were.

"This is going to take a while." she acknowledged, and paced over to another injured villager.

It was a young boy, whose hands had been burnt badly, already bandaged by a woman she guessed to be his mother. She was holding him tightly in her lap, and he was sobbing, clearly pained. When Katara stepped in front of him, his eyes turned up to her, wincing from the burns as he struggled to wipe the tears from his face.

"Who are you?" he mumbled, before cringing in pain as the woman raised his hands up.

"Please help my little Li." she pleaded to Katara, who spun the water around in her hands, before running it over one of the boy's burnt arms.

His pain seemed to subside, and she pulled the bandage off to reveal that the burns had faded somewhat; she took her water to the other arm and repeated what she had done. By the time she was done, Li seemed pleased, and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Th-thank you, lady." he beamed at her, before hugging the Water Tribe girl; she pat his back, appreciative of the acknowledgement, but her attention was quickly turning to the woman, who had bandages over her legs; she guessed that the boy might have gotten stuck with her, or tried to help her get free of burning debris.

"Is he your son?" she asked, and the woman nodded.

"Y-yes... he's a brave boy. I would have died in there if he didn't help the men pull up that beam." she explained with pride filled eyes, before she cringed as Katara began to heal her burns.

"Your leg seems to be broken." she realised, "I'm unsure if my healing can help that as much as it can the burns."

"Do what you can... it is better than what the local doctor can provide." she admitted, and Katara nodded, the water glowing as it did its work.

Though it took a bit longer than it had to heal the boy's hands, her legs did heal, and though she didn't know if the bones had set back in place, the woman clearly was not in nearly as much pain as she had been before. She mightn't have been crying like her son, but she was cringing and curled up, like a sick child would be.

Katara turned around, "Who's next?" she asked out, and a few villagers stepped forward, or those that could not, were helped forward.

Each following act of healing was quite similar to the previous ones, though she had to heal different body parts with varying degrees of damage. Some were simply burnt, while others were cut up, or had broken bones. Most were in a lot of pain, which was why they were coming to be healed, before anyone with more superficial injuries. Aang was healing others as quickly as he could, though he had less training than she did, making him a little less efficient with his motions. Ty Lee had even come around with some burn ointment, providing it to those who had lighter burns to help with the pain, and the guards were helping other injured people over to lie down.

Sokka, Azula, and Toph had gone off, though she couldn't see where; she assumed that they were either trying to track down the bandits who fled, or they were with the village's headman. She imagined that the first thing on the Princess' mind was tracking down the origin of the bandits and dealing with them. Katara guessed she more so wanted to find out where the weapons were coming from, though helping pacify the region of a criminal element certainly fit within her stated plans for the Earth Kingdom.

She didn't know how long she spent healing villagers, but she knew it took a while. There were dozens of villagers that she had to heal, though most of them weren't very badly hurt. Only a few had injuries bad enough that they might have become life-threatening, and they were all dealt with first. Once she was done with them, she and Aang met back up in the centre of the walled village, where Ty Lee was sitting, discussing something with a few of the villagers.

"What are you talking about?" Aang asked her, and her head perked up.

"Oh, I'm just asking them about these bandits. They've supposedly been an issue for a while." she explained, and Katara stepped closer.

"But... have they tried to burn down the village before?"

"No." one of the villagers clarified, "We usually have soldiers here protecting us... but they had to leave. Supposedly the Fire Nation was attacking some villages south of here."

"How long ago was this?" she asked, and he scrunched his lips.

"About a month ago." he clarified, "But... if they're Fire Nation, then why are they helping us?"

"Because they're not here to conquer anyone." Katara explained, "They're really here to help."

"I find that hard to believe." an old man spoke up, stroking his beard, "The Fire Nation keeps saying they want to help us, but all they do is burn down villages and take away earthbenders."

"I know." Aang nodded with a pensive look, "But we're stopping that now. That's what we're doing... changing the world."

"That's admirable." he admitted, before turning his eyes away, "I just don't see that getting anywhere."

"Aang's the Avatar." Ty Lee spoke up, "He might be a kid, but he can get things done." she declared with confidence, before turning her eyes over to him, "The world was a mess before he came back, but- I guess there's hope now."

"Azula's the one doing most of the work." he conceded, and the villagers looked at him with confusion.

"Azula?" they asked, "Isn't that the girl who ruled Ba Sing Se for a week?" one of the villagers asked them, and Ty Lee cringed.

"Who do you think came down from the sky to help you?" she asked, and the villagers were even more confused.

"That's absurd." the old man grumbled, "She's the bloody Fire Lord, isn't she? Why is she here?"

"To help you." Aang acknowledged, before chuckling, "Well, I mean I led her here. Appa did, actually."

"Who is Appa?" one of them, a younger woman, asked him.

"Well, my sky-bison, of course!" he proclaimed proudly, "He flies faster than that airship." he assured them, and their eyes widened.

"I thought they were a myth." the old man mumbled, "My grandfather used to tell me about them when I was as little as you."

"Oh, did he see them?" Aang asked, and he nodded.

"They used to fly around the mountains a lot... with the Air Nomads, though I guess you knew that." he admitted sheepishly, "I thought it was just a story."

"Who else would we fly with?" he asked, "Dragons?"

"I mean, you could." Ty Lee argued, and Aang rolled his eyes.

"But they can't airbend." he reminded her, Katara raising a finger.

"But they can fly, right?"

"Uh... yes." he confirmed, before scrunching his lips, "Huh, I never thought about it that way."

"I'm still just surprised she's coming out here. This is the middle of nowhere." one of the villagers spoke her mind, "Why would she want to come here?"

"To find those soldiers you were speaking about, actually." Aang clarified, "The other villages said the same thing you did."

"We haven't heard back from them in a while." she conceded, "I hope they're alright... my husband's among them."

"I'm sure he's fine, ma'am." Aang assured her, "We'll go and find them as soon as we stop these bandits."

"They're tough." the old man warned him, "Are you sure you're ready to fight people like that?"

"The airship can probably destroy them." Katara admitted, before crossing her arms, "But I have a hunch they have a lot of hostages... and we need to free them."

"I've only heard bad things." the woman admitted, cringing in disgust and fear, "Please, don't let them come back here."

"They won't." Aang assured her, before rising back up to his feet, "We better go find Azula. I'm guessing she's looking for where they went."

Katara nodded, and Ty Lee followed them both as they paced off towards the village gates; there stood a few of the guards, led by Renshu, keeping watch over the entrance. The leader of the guards turned to face them, and gestured over to the injured.

"I assume you've healed the injured." he observed, "The Fire Lord has gone off to follow their trail with Sokka and Toph." he clarified, before gesturing over the stream, where the airship had landed, "She told me to instruct you to prepare camp."

"So we're staying here." she realised, before nodding, "These people could use our help for a little longer."

Katara paced over towards the airship, before she realised that they needed the pots, pans, and sleeping rolls that were on Appa.

"Aang, we're gonna need Appa." she reminded him, and his eyes widened, before he opened his glider.

"I'll go get him." he assured her, before leaping up into the air, flying away towards where they had landed earlier.

Ty Lee and Katara then made their way over towards the airship, which lay directly opposite the walled part of the village, on the opposing side of the stream. A few of the guards were already there, unloading their own camping gear from the airship. They hailed the girls as they approached, and gestured to the entrance to the cargo hold.

"Could you get the pieces for the Fire Lord's command tent?" one of them asked the pair, and they nodded.

"What, is she going to have a war meeting?" Katara asked, and the guards cautiously nodded.

"Well, we're going to need to make a plan to deal with these bandits. If they walked here, their base of operations must be nearby." the other guard explained what they were doing, and what they knew.

"That makes sense." Ty Lee agreed with the idea, "Hopefully the bandits don't try to come back when we're sleeping."

"That's why we'll have at least one pilot on stand by at all times. If they try us, they will taste only fire and ash." the guard proclaimed confidently, raising a clenched fist.

"They will." Katara agreed, knowing that even if she didn't find the brutal response all that appealing, the rationale for it was sound; the villagers were in constant danger from the bandits, if they were intending to return to finish the job.

They walked past the guards and into the cargo hold, which had a low roof, hanging beneath the gondola of the airship; Katara crouched down and glanced around, trying to find whatever bag was named 'tent'. She did find it eventually, though she was unsure if that was the one she was meant to be getting.

"What's the name on the bag?"

"Large tent." one of the guards told her what she needed to know.

She realised that bag wasn't it, and eyed around the other bags, eventually coming across a larger bag with those words marked on it. She snapped her fingers, getting Ty Lee's attention, and the two of them picked up the bag, lifting it down to the floor, before dragging it out of the cargo hold. Once they got back outside, they placed it in front of the guards, who began to pull the pieces out. They nodded in thanks, while Katara's gaze turned back towards the horizon, checking for Appa. The sky-bison's roar sounded off above them, and she stepped out of the cover of the balloon to see that he was circling back down over them, landing between the airship and the stream.

Aang climbed off of the saddle, joined by Momo, who scurried around, looking around the field for some food, though he found nothing, instead heading inside the airship's cargo hold. That made Katara giggle as she saw one of the guards grab him by the scruff of his neck.

"Hey now... this isn't a place for little thieves." the guard admonished the lemur, handing him back to Aang, who sheepishly smiled.

"Sorry about that." he apologised for Momo's behaviour, before he pulled out some berries from his robes, tossing them off away in the direction of the nearest bit of woodland.

The lemur scampered off to retrieve the berries, and Aang turned back to face Katara and Ty Lee, "Okay... now we can set up camp."

The Water Tribe girl paced back over to the saddle, trying to jump up, though she realised that she hadn't gotten any better at it since they left the South Pole, forced to climb up one of his furry legs. Aang and Ty Lee followed, having a much easier time climbing up; the Fire Nation girl seemed amused by her awkward manner of climbing, but didn't comment, instead hanging her a bag full of pots.

"We're gonna need firewood." Aang realised, and he scrunched his lips up, "Should we get that first?"

"No, the camp needs to be set up. I'm sure there will be spare wood around."

"This is the middle of a village. I'm sure they've cleared the woods bare of anything useful." Ty Lee argued, before gesturing back towards the walled part of the village, "Maybe we can ask them for a little bit of Firewood."

"We have firebending." one of the guards spoke up as he was pulling up the wooden supports for the tent, "I'm sure we can help cook whatever needs to be made."

"Oh... I guess you can." Katara realised, before scrunching her lips, "Azula usually is annoyed to have to firebend for cooking."

"It's not very dignified." the guard acknowledged, "But it's better than eating cold food."

Katara just nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, and climbed back down with the bag of pots, taking them over to a spot where she could set up a campfire. Aang and Ty Lee brought down the tent bags, and began to set them up once they pulled the parts out. She knew they could stay in the airship instead, but it was a bit stuffy, and her tent never let her down. She had to repair it every once and while because of the wear and tear of the elements, but Katara had spent her life repairing all sorts of things, tents, clothes, tools. She knew that the guards, Azula, and Ty Lee were better acquainted with the comforts of life, and would much prefer the airship's warm quarters to a tent.

She laid out the pots and pans, and prepared her bone knives; her eyes turned then to the edge of the woods, where Momo had gone off to; she could see him climbing up one of the trees, presumably looking for some berries or fruits. She decided to go over there and try her luck. She needed fuel for a fire in any case, knowing that even if it could be started with firebending, nobody was going to sit there to cook a whole few pots of vegetables, noodles, and meat. She approached the woods, and saw that the trees were rather bare, with most of the lower branches trimmed off, while the others remained out of reach. To her luck, she could see a stray branch that had fallen from one of the trees further in, and paced over to retrieve it.

Once she picked it up, she dragged it back towards the airship. That was when she made sight of her brother, who had returned with a bandit in hand, who was beaten sorely, with bruises, cuts, and burns across his body. Sokka had a proud look on his face, and brought the man over to the cargo hold of the airship; as she approached them, she got a better look at the prisoner; she didn't distinctly remember him amongst the various bandits, as they all wore quite similar clothes and all had unkempt appearances. Beards and long hair, either tied into ponytails, braids, or hanging out wildly. This bandit had his hair up, and seemed at the very least like somebody who had half a mind for something other than violence. She could not really judge him until she spoke to him, though she had no intention of doing so until her brother, Azula, and the guards had had their turns.

"Just tie him up, boys. I think Toph broke his leg, so he won't be getting far in any case." he explained what he wanted from the guards, who obliged him, taking the prisoner and restraining him with some chain, before sitting him down inside the cramped cargo hold.

Sokka turned around and raised a hand to greet his sister, "Hey, Katara... you making a campfire for dinner?" he asked, and she glanced up at the sky, knowing that it would be quite a while until nightfall.

If they used their time well, they might have enough time to scout out the bandit's base of operations before nightfall, though she was unsure if that was a good idea. She imagined that there were a lot more of them, with their weapons, and a well-defended stronghold. That was not something to be trifled with, even with Appa being as fast as he was.

"Uh... well, I'm just setting everything up. It's still a while before it gets dark." she reminded him, and he pouted.

"Oh, I was looking forward to some of y-" he began, before raising a hand, "No, to helping you cook." he corrected himself, which sounded nicer than what he was going to otherwise say; he was expecting her to cook for him, but Sokka had learned not to annoy her with his assumptions of what responsibilities each of them had when they encamped.

"Thank you." she smiled at her brother, before continuing to drag the branch along to where Aang and Ty Lee had started setting up the tents.

"Was that a bandit?" Aang asked the question that Katara was about to, and Sokka hummed, almost sounding joyful.

"Yes, it was. He tried to get away, but we caught him. Hopefully he'll spill and tell us everything about him and his little group."

"I mean, that was no little group." Ty Lee spoke up, "That was more like a small army."

"I know... I just don't want to focus on that bit." he admitted with a sheepish smile, "We have the airship... and better, we have Toph!" he proclaimed, and as if on cue, said girl waded through the stream and up to the campsite.

"What are you blabbering about?" she queried, "How I'm the greatest earthbender in the world?"

"Yeah, basically." Sokka confirmed her rather arrogant presumption, though Katara couldn't disagree with the assessment; she hadn't met another earthbender who could possibly go toe to toe with Toph, except King Bumi, though she hadn't personally seen how strong he was, only having Aang's word to rely upon.

Toph sat herself down at the campsite while Katara began to break up the branch, her brother hopping in to assist, taking part of it and snapping it off before chopping it apart with his bone machete. They got that done pretty quickly, and put the sticks in a pile, which was what would become their cooking fire. Katara sat down beside Toph, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and eyed her friends, wondering how they were all feeling after the fight.

"That battle was over pretty quickly." she commented, hoping somebody else would speak back; a retort would be tolerable, and retort Toph did.

"Quick? You should see how easily I wiped whole squads of Fire Nation scouts back in New Omashu." she declared, before tapping her jaw, "But yeah, that was a quick fight, given how many civilians were in danger. We had to be more careful than usual."

"I thought people being in danger was the usual at this point." Sokka admitted, and Katara shot her brother a glare.

"That's only because we keep getting surprise attacked... maybe if the Fire Nation scouts Toph likes beating up were actually good at their jobs, we'd have less bad fights on our hands." she argued, and the group were surprised by her forward comment, but all seemed to agree.

"You're not wrong." the blind girl snapped a finger, agreeing with her point, if half-heartedly.

"You mean to say we need to take the initiative." Sokka observed, taking a more positive spin on her words.

Aang nodded along with interest, "Yeah, isn't that what we're doing right now. Scaring off the bandits, and then taking them down before they can try and do anything?"

"Yeah, that is the plan." the warrior confirmed, "Azula will be back soon, and she'll make the prisoner talk."

"Where is she, anyways?" Ty Lee pressed him, "I thought she was with you."

"She was. Azula just had to go find the village headman. She wants to speak with him about getting some guides to help us through the area."

"That'd be better than your map." the acrobat noted, "It is a bit vague at times."

"Blame the Fire Nation for not giving a polar-bear-dog's arse about this part of the Earth Kingdom." he explained the reason for the map's supposed deficiencies, "Plus, they might know where the local Earth Kingdom forces went off to."

"Hopefully not to fight Azula's own supporters in Ba Sing Se." Ty Lee mumbled, before cringing, "You don't think they're gonna be beaten by the time we get there, do you?"

"For all we know, they probably already are beaten." Sokka argued, "I don't know what's going on, because I haven't really been around this part of the Earth Kingdom before. Dad said that there was an organised defence against the Fire Nation, but I assume he just meant General Hong. There might be more people around that we can recruit. Proper soldiers."

"We can only hope." Katara mumbled, "And hope that they don't hate the Fire Nation so much that they'll refuse to help us."

"That's likely." Toph added bluntly, before letting out a sigh, "Eh, whatever, I wanna do some more training. That fight was disappointingly short."

"Training?" Aang perked his head up, and his master just snickered.

"Yes, training. You need to get better if you really wanna be Azula's firebending pupil." she reminded him that he would eventually need to start learning firebending.

"I do." he agreed with her point, and rose up to his feet, following Toph out into the open space that lay between the airship and the stream.

As they went off, Katara noticed that Azula was off in the distance, approaching the airship after leaving the gates of the village; she was accompanied by a pair of her guards, and after crossing over the stream, she eyed the group that was seated by the unlit campfire.

"Where's the prisoner?" she asked, and Sokka gestured towards the airship.

"Chucked him in the cargo hold." he clarified what he had done with him, and she nodded, turning to face her guards.

"Return to your usual duties." she ordered them, and they saluted her before pacing off to take their postings around the airship; once that was done, Azula sat herself down beside Sokka, and lit a small flame on her index finger.

"We need to move quickly if we want to retain the advantage. I say we leave while it's still dark and scout out the enemy village before they can even realise we've found them." she explained her idea, and Katara scrunched her lips.

"Well, that ought to be easy. Toph can make sure we have a clear path in the dark, and then once we're there, we already have disguises." she explained her thoughts on the matter, the Princess nodding along in approval.

"That was what I imagined would happen. The badgermole girl takes care of any nasty scouts, and we make our way inside unseen. Find out their organisation, their weaknesses, and strike at the opportune time. We don't want to waste much more 's a resupply port on the West Lake south of here, that'll be our next destination, before we loop back through the mountains again."

"Why not go straight to Ba Sing Se from the West Lake?" Ty Lee suggested, "That's pretty close, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's in the open. If we got within sight of the walls, the Dai Li would know we were coming and try to shoot us down. Unlike the rabble today, I imagine they actually have the means to do something like that." she warned, before scrunching her lips up, "Not to mention we need more rebels on side. If I wasn't concerned about the situation in the colonies, I'd spend more time going around the eastern side of the Earth Kingdom and down south as well."

"Your dad's gonna figure out a way to land a proper army in the colonies. It's only a matter of time."

"Or he'll reorganise what forces remain loyal to him on the continent into said army and send them to the colonies. Then we'll have little chance of actually beating him in a fight."

"The Earth Kingdom forces could try, couldn't they?" Ty Lee asked, sounding more optimistic than either of them.

"Try." Azula stressed, "The emphasis is on try."

She then rose to her feet, and eyed the airship; she had the prisoner to worry about now, before any future planning.

"First we find out where to go, then we find them, then we destroy them. The people of these valleys will know that I am no farce. Nobody'll dare say it to my face again." she declared her intentions, and Katara just smiled.

"You were never lying."


Supposedly, the sun wasn't up yet, and that meant that Toph was shrouded in darkness. She wanted to make a joke whenever the others mentioned the dark, but she held her tongue, knowing that the blind jokes were probably getting old at that point. She decided to make sure if she made them, that they were well timed, and more importantly, hilarious.

They were walking through the woods, directed there by the villagers; the airship had flown off and landed not far away, in a valley below them. They had made way up to a narrow pass through a canyon, beyond which laid the village they spoke of. The prisoner they had caught the afternoon prior was the one they asked for locations, numbers, and plans, and though he did provide, mostly out of absolute fear of Azula, they needed to check his claims against what the villagers said.

The village where they were based was the same one the villagers spoke of as being taken over by the bandits a few months prior, and supposedly, some people had escaped and told them what was going on, though those peasants decided to try their luck and flee to Ba Sing Se as refugees. She doubted that was a very good idea, given the stories that had been coming out about the fighting between Azula's loyalists and the Dai Li, and their subsequent takeover of the city. She imagined some of the peasants just thought that the Dai Li returning to power meant that the Earth Kingdom was restored, and that all would be safe for them there.

The guides were familiar enough with the terrain to lead them by torchlight through the canyon, and now, down into some woods beyond it, but the torches were snuffed out at Azula's command, telling them that there were scouts in the area, whose own torches had been spotted as they left the canyon. Toph was in charge of leading them now through the dark; the guides stayed back, and held a spotting point for them while they made their way down into the valley, where the occupied village lay. Supposedly the place was lit up, but that was of little concern to Toph; she hadn't sensed anyone in their immediate vicinity, and kept them on a steady path, heading as straight as she could in the direction of the village.

"How far away are we?" Aang whispered to her, though it was probably wholly unnecessary to be that quiet; there was nobody for a good while, and they'd more likely spot the torchlight in the darkness than hear him talking.

Toph didn't know much about seeing, but she did know that sight was generally much more useful in the dark when it came to spotting sources of light, because they were so distinctive compared to everything else. That was something she learnt after late night scouting runs near New Omashu, where she had encountered Fire Nation troops, who only spotted her comrades because somebody was scared of the dark and brought a lantern.

"Not that far. We'll be there quickly enough."

"Well, we better hurry, it's starting to get light." he explained, and Toph sighed.

"How light?" she asked back as she continued walking ahead.

"I can see stuff a bit better now."

"Then keep your head down, Twinkletoes." she warned him, and continued on without a word.

They came to a small stream, which seemed to be running down in the direction they were headed; it formed a narrow but steep gully, so she pulled out some slabs of earth to form a small bridge. She crossed over it without a worry, but knew she'd have to hold it to make sure it didn't crumble under the others' weight.

"Come on, it's safe while I hold it." she directed them, and one by one, they crossed over after her.

Once the last of them was over, one of Azula's guards, she let it crumble down into the stream, leaving little evidence that they'd come by. Toph then paced ahead, taking the lead once more, though when she walked by Azula, the Princess grabbed her by the wrist.

"We'll need to make our way in undetected. You'll need to dig a tunnel." she warned her, and Toph nodded.

"Yeah, I figured." she assured her that she understood the plan; she hadn't specifically told her that they'd need a tunnel to get into the village, but that made a lot of sense given that the perimeter was likely well guarded, far too much for them to simply walk in, even in disguise.

Toph was dressed in the usual garbs of a peasant, dirtied even more than they usually would be, so she looked as servile as possible. She didn't want anyone thinking she was actually some kind of capable fighter; that would ruin any element of surprise. Everyone else was dressed similarly, though she couldn't really sense the fabric all too well. The garbs were all long and layered, supposedly to make everyone look less-imposing. and everyone had their hair done differently, barring Aang, who couldn't really do much with his short hair other than wear a bandana to conceal his identity as the Avatar.

After she took the lead again, she kept pace, not trying to stop or slow herself, even when she sensed people; nobody was close enough to reasonably see them through the thick woods, though eventually, they did close in on the perimeter, which was marked with a ditch and some small wooden watchtowers, giving the defenders a way to look out over the village and the woods. It was amusing that the one village appeared to be better defended than Tieshan, which was occupied by proper Earth Kingdom army forces.

"Okay, we're going down now." she decided, pulling open a hole where she could avoid as many tree roots as possible, and she gestured for the others to follow her in.

Once everyone had crammed themselves into the pit, she dug it deeper before closing up the opening; with that, Azula and her guards all lit flames up, which was obvious because of the sudden increase in temperature, and Toph raised a hand, "I wouldn't recommend that, Zappy."

"Why?"

"You'll spend up the little air we have in here, not to mention probably set the tree roots on fire." she warned, gesturing above them, where she could clearly sense there were roots hanging down.

"Huh." Aang mumbled, "Yeah... maybe we can just stay in the dark."

"Easy for you to say, you can see with your feet like Miss Badgermole over here." Sokka grumbled, before sighing, "But she's got a point. Snuff 'em out."

Azula's posture told Toph that she was frustrated, but she felt the heat of the flames dissipate. She almost laughed at her submission to her request, but knew it was necessary. She was unsure how long they'd be in the tunnel for, and with so many people inside, she knew the air could start to get bad. She began digging, swiping earth out of the way; Aang bent it into the walls, hardening the earth to keep the tunnel around the same size, and began shovelling dirt back behind them, keeping everyone in the cavity. They moved at a steady pace, Toph not wanting to dig so fast as to accidentally cave in the tunnel, which wasn't too far beneath the surface.

She was aiming for the cellar of a house in the village, not too far from the treeline; when she got close enough, she bent the bricks and rammed earth apart to open an entrance up, and stepped out. The cellar smelled quite terrible, and she wasn't familiar with the aroma; the place appeared to be filled with boxes and barrels, all of them crudely made. The cellar had an exit in the form of a small staircase on the other side, which led into the house above. Given that it was mostly made of wood, it was harder to tell if anyone was inside, though she couldn't hear any voices. It was the early morning, after all, so she expected everyone except the bandits guarding the place to be asleep.

"Okay, now you can light your flames if you really need to see that bad."

"It smells pretty bad here." Aang mumbled, "Is food in here rotting or something?"

"I'm unsure. Maybe it's chemicals for their weapons." she guessed, knowing that if they were making a lot of them, they'd need something to make the explosives out of, and that would need to be stored somewhere, "I take it back... no torches yet."

"For spirit's sake." she heard one of the guards grumble under his breath, and Toph shot a finger his way.

"Hey, do you wanna die in a fiery explosion?" she asked him, and he didn't respond, "That's what I thought."

Once everyone stepped out, she pat down her robes, dusting them off of any dirt that had fallen from the roof of the tunnel, "Alright, everyone knows what they've got to do. I'll go check out upstairs first to see if it's clear, and then we'll split up."

"People should be getting up soon." Sokka observed, "That'll be our opportunity."

"Hm... so, do you think we'll be able to steal some breakfast while we're at it?" Ty Lee asked the group, making Sokka, Katara, and Aang all laugh, though Azula hushed them.

"We're still hiding, idiots." she warned them, before she paced up beside Toph, "I'm going with you. You could certainly use my eyes for the things you can't sense."

"I can't argue against that." she conceded, before she paced over to the stairs, "Let's be quick about it. Sokka's right... the people will be getting up, and we'll need to try and find out what's going on before it's impossible for us to escape without being seen."

"We can just come back here, and I'm sure you could cause some distractions with the subtle work of earthbending." Azula suggested, her words a compliment she hadn't been expecting, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Toph had a finesse when it came to her earthbending which other earthbenders tended to not try and hone as well, mostly because they were concerned either with bending as much earth as possible or being as deadly as possible. In a world at war, she could not blame them for thinking that way, but she did think it was wasting a great opportunity earthbenders had; their element was almost always around them, within reach to be manipulated and abused in almost any situation.

She slowly approached the door and pushed it open, listening for any signs that anyone was awake nearby; she could hear some grumbling and a snore, telling her that somebody was asleep inside the building, but that was a relief more than anything, even if she was concerned that the others below would wake them up by accident. Then, Toph stepped through the door and approached the front door of the building, which she could sense as it had been attached to the solid stone foundations of the structure. She could sense that there were some men nearby, apparently on patrol, but they weren't walking towards them, so she didn't focus on them too much. Her attention was much more on what appeared to be a massive number of people, all holed up in tents and shacks across from them, in what must have originally been a mere field on the edge of the village.

She guessed that those people were those that the bandits had caught and enslaved. They wouldn't have the spare space within the village itself, with the locals already subjugated, so they'd need to set the rest up in the camp. She smirked, knowing that just meant there were more people who could rise up against their oppressors. She knew that people, especially those not trained to fight, would be terrified of the men wielding what could be called weaponised fireworks, but if they just had the right amount of confidence with some back up from her friends, they could rise up and take back the village for themselves.

"There's nobody in the general area." Azula noted, "We can enter that camp. There's probably a lot of people there. It won't be hard to blend in." she observed, and Toph nodded.

"Well, get the others and let's go. I'm going to get myself acquainted." she decided, stepping outside and hunching over, taking on the visage of a scared peasant girl.

She scampered over to the edge of the campsite, making sure to be fast so as not to be noticed by anyone on patrol or at the lookouts. Once Toph was inside the encampment, she sensed around, noticing that the tents were mostly full, and everyone appeared to be either sleeping or staying in their tents. Only a few people were up and about, all sitting by what seemed to be a communal cooking area, making what she guessed had to be breakfast. Toph decided she'd go there and try to scope things out.

She had to be careful not to unnecessarily rouse anyone from their slumber, wanting to make herself seem as if she was merely another inhabitant of the village. Her blindness wasn't as obvious with her hair hanging over her face, and she knew that once somebody figured that out, she might need to make some rash decisions. She didn't know who could be trusted; the bandits could have gained enough support under the people they ruled, for whatever reason, that they would rat her out when given the chance.

She noticed that Azula and the others were following her into the camp, though they were all taking different paths, not wanting to appear as a group on the chance they were caught by the bandits. She decided not to focus on them, and approached the campfire, stepping out cautiously.

Somebody noticed her, and raised a hand in her direction, "Ah, are you here for breakfast already?" the woman asked her, and Toph nodded, sitting herself down with the other people; she could sense that they were all wearing ragged clothes, a little worse than the average peasant, though none of them seemed to be hurt.

The bandits must have been treating their prisoners with at least a little care, and that was concerning, if only because she wanted to be sure they would be willing to aid them in their plans to overthrow their occupation of the village. It was a test run for Ba Sing Se, when she thought about it, albeit a bit simpler, given that the Dai Li were far more familiar than she imagined any crude bandits would be.

She was given a bowl of jook and a spoon, handed along by those seated, and she made a curt bow out of respect, "Thank you." she acknowledged their kindness, though it was presumably expected as she was trying to appear as one of them.

"Just remember we need to get to work soon. So, if you're wanting to have free time this morning, you better spend it now." one of those seated told the others; they nodded along, seeming to respect his words, telling her that he must have been the leader of the prisoners.

"There's not that much we can do." one of them mumbled, "It's just day in, day out. They don't let us even have a Pai Sho set."

"We could make one." the apparent leader suggested, and the group seemed amused.

"We're not allowed to have knives to carve one." the woman who was cooking reminded him, "The best we have are some old farm tools."

"Why don't you make them out of earth?" Toph decided to suggest, and that earned her some glances; perhaps it wasn't the best thing to say, outing herself as an earthbender, though she doubted there were none among them.

"Earthbending would be an even worse idea than trying to use a knife." the woman conceded, and narrowed her eyes at her, "Wait, why would you say that?" she asked, and the earthbender shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought it might be a good idea." she admitted, and the woman seemed nervous, her heartbeat speeding up.

"Who-" she began, and gestured to the leader, "Do you know who she is?"

"No." he admitted, and Toph stepped over to him, grabbing him tightly by the arm.

"I need to speak with you." she made herself clear, and though he seemed confused, he nodded.

"Uh... alright." he accepted her proposition, "Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing." he assured the others, before he followed her out away from the camp kitchen.

Once they were out of earshot of the others, she stopped, and he pulled his wrist free, "Who- who are you, young lady?" he asked her, sounding more confused than worried, "Are you one of the villagers? You shouldn't be here." he warned her, and she shook her head.

"Nope." she corrected him, and scrunched her lips, "You're the leader, right?"

"Uh... I guess so. My friends call me the Mechanist." he explained, and she smirked; she knew who he was.

"Oh, you just made my day." she declared, before tugging on his shirt, leaning in to whisper, "How would you like to start a revolt? You know, a little town clean up?"

"That's a preposterous idea. We'd lose." he argued, before leaning back, "You didn't say who you were." he reminded her of her own cautiousness.

She waved her hand around to make sure she got the attention of Ty Lee and Azula, who were closing in nearby, and then pointed to herself.

"My name's Toph, Toph Beifong. And I'm here to get rid of these bandits." she explained, hoping her confident tone would assure him that she wasn't trying to fool him, "And we were looking for you too."

"We?" he raised a brow, and Azula stepped up behind her.

"Ah, he does match the description I got." she noted, offering him a hand, "You must be the Mechanist. I've heard great things about you."

He cautiously accepted her hand and shook it, "Yes, that's me."

"And we've done a lot with your work." Ty Lee added cheerily.

"My work?" he raised a brow, "How are you familiar with my work?"

"As familiar as I ought to be." Azula declared, leaning in closer, "Who do you think would be looking for you?"

"The-" he began, before he seemed to scan over them; he must have realised that at least some of them were Fire Nation, "You want me to finish my work." he realised, and she waved a finger at him.

"I'm not here over any obligations you might have had to War Minister Qin." she assured him, "I want to ensure that you can be of use to your nation."

"Who-" he began with a mumble, before he pointed at her head, "Wait- where did you get that?" he gestured to something that Toph couldn't really sense well, but she imagined it was the headpiece that Azula wore; it was still on her head, even in disguise, though she knew she was otherwise wearing a headscarf to obscure it.

"Oh, you recognise this." she realised, before snickering, "Of course you do. You've seen one of the chambers... with a statue of every single Avatar in them." she recalled; Toph hadn't been to an Air Temple before their time in the Northern one but she didn't sense any chamber like that.

She was looking for scrolls and evidence of weapons, not statues, and had only been looking around the lower floors; she guessed that it was just not in the area she had been searching through.

"That's Avatar Roku's headpiece." he recalled, "I didn't know it still existed."

"It's mine by right." she declared, before stepping closer, "Do you really not know who I am?" she asked, and Toph felt a spark of heat between them.

"P-Princess Azula." he stated her name, obviously having seen her fire; it was blue, which was supposedly very uncommon.

"I'm glad we're on the same page." she acknowledged, before sighing, "Now, we should make this quick. I want these bandits gone as soon as I can find their weaknesses."

"Um." he mumbled, seeming uneasy in her presence; his heartbeat was elevated, but he did cautiously accept her hand, "You're the one wanting to get rid of the bandits?"

"Of course, they're a menace to the people of the Earth Kingdom." she declared, though she kept her voice down to a whisper, "Given you're here, I assume those firework launchers are your design."

"They're- uh, actually something I got from War Minister Qin. He wanted me to try and incorporate them into a new tank design." he explained, and Azula hummed with interest.

"Brilliant." she smirked, "Don't worry, I'm not here to coerce you into aiding me. I will need your help to get rid of these bandits, however."

He cautiously nodded, "They're holding my people hostage. They've got my son, Teo, holed up with their leader to make sure I make everything as fast as they demand." he explained, sounding fearful and frantic, "Please, you've got to help him."

"Don't worry, I've dealt with hostage situations before." Toph assured him, before gesturing back to the camp, "Go back and act as if nothing's happened. Tell them what we have when you have the chance, we'll be searching the village in the meantime."

"Stay clear of their patrols." he warned them, "I've seen them hit elders for breaking curfew. Young people... I doubt they'd be any kinder."

"When does curfew end?" Azula asked, and he glanced up towards the sky.

"Not long. As soon as the sun is visible, they want us to get to work."

"On more weapons?" Ty Lee asked, and he nodded.

"There's more than just those firework blasters being made here." he warned them, before sighing, "I would show you, but I feel that they would suspect you at once." he conceded, and Toph raised a finger.

"Just point out the direction. I can probably find your workshop." she explained, and he gestured off into the distance; she sensed off that way, and did find what he was trying to indicate.

It was a large structure, presumably having been a barn originally, which was full of large heavy machinery, probably used to make the weapons that he was producing for the bandits.

"Do you want to take some for yourselves?" he asked, and Azula shook her head.

"We already have some. We'll need to make sure not to blow up your workshop if you're going to leave here with your work."

"Not blow it-" he began, before he stepped closer to her, "So... the rumours are true. You made it."

"Oh, more than one. The first one I had to blow up myself... my idiot subordinate, the man who evicted you, he was trying to kill some spirits." she explained, making the fact that Zhao had attempted to kill some rather important spirits seem like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Toph wasn't there, but she understood from what Katara and Aang had told her that the Moon and Ocean Spirits, Tui and La were not just important to waterbending, but to all people and life in the world. She had no great reverence for spirits, not caring for them or any value they might have had to others, but she understood that they were not something anyone should mess with.

"Oh." the Mechanist gasped, before turning around, "I need- I'll speak with you later."

"You shall." she assured him, "Toph will find you, if I cannot get to you myself."

He nodded, and left without a word; with the conversation concluded, the Princess turned to face Toph, and gestured back towards the house they had come out of.

"We should probably get back into that cellar. If you want to dig over to the Mechanist's workshop, feel free, but I don't want to stick around here while we are surrounded."

"What about scouting around?" Ty Lee asked, and Azula sighed.

"We have little time now. We're going to need some new disguises."

"Oh..." Ty Lee mumbled, before smiling, "Wasn't there somebody sleeping in the house?"

"And what tells you that they're gonna be a bandit?" Azula asked her, and the acrobat just shrugged.

"Just a hunch." she conceded, before pacing back off in that direction.

Azula tapped Toph on the shoulder, "Collect up the others, and meet us back at the house." she told her.

She made her way back through the camp, walking as fast as she could to where she could sense Sokka and one of the guards. She waved to get their attention, and gestured back towards the house; they understood her directions, and went back. Toph continued along and crossed over the path, sensing that Aang and Katara were by what she assumed to be a barn. She cautiously made her way over, making sure to remain low to avoid being spotted by any of the guards. Once she was there, she opened the door and whistled, getting their attention.

"Oh, it's just you." Katara noted with a relieved voice, having immediately shifted into a fighting stance.

"We need to get back." she warned them, "I found the Mechanist."

"The Mechanist?" Aang raised a brow, "So he's here... the bandits, they must have forced him to make those weapons." he accurately deduced what had occurred.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." she confirmed his suspicions, before trying to sense around, "What were you looking for?"

"We saw a bandit come in and out of here. It was a bit suspicious." Katara admitted, with her hands on her hips, "I still can't figure out what they were doing in here?"

"Taking a leak, maybe?"

"It was a girl." Aang clarified, and Toph raised a brow at that comment.

"Girls pee too, idiot." she retorted, before stomping her foot down; she tried to narrow down her focus to the barn, but she couldn't make out much other than some pens, and a few barrels, "Check the barrels."

The other two followed her directions, and quickly checked the barrels; Katara made a surprised mumble, and pulled something from one of the barrels. It seemed to be a heavy object, presumably made of metal.

"What is it?" she asked, and Aang stepped closer.

"Lots of coins." he noted, before gesturing to the barrel, "How many chains are in there?"

"More than I can carry." she admitted, and Toph placed her hands on her hips.

"Unless this is the boss' secret stash, I'd say that bandit is planning on running." she observed the likely reason for the stashing of coins.

They were probably exacting heavy taxes from the villages they had occupied, and if a bandit had access to their new treasury, she wouldn't be surprised if some of them got greedy, and wanted to find a way out with all the coins they could steal from under their boss' nose. Heading with it to Gaochao or some other Earth Kingdom settlement could get them some land, a job, and a secure future. That probably sounded pretty enticing to somebody who was a glorified thief.

Toph turned her heels and hammered a fist down, bending a hole in the ground, "Come on, we need to get back."

"Underground again?" Katara asked, seeming disgusted or nervous; she couldn't tell which.

"Well, I'm gonna carve a tunnel over to the Mechanist's workshop. We can talk with him there once he's sent to work by the bandits."

"Oh, okay." Aang noted, "That's a good idea. We could try and get some of the prisoners out that way." he realised, and she nodded.

"That was my idea. I'd prefer to get as many people out before... well, Azula does her thing." she acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes, "We're gonna need some disguises... and I don't mean peasant ones."

"I doubt Aang can play a bandit." Katara argued, and Toph gestured at him.

"Of course not. You can see how lanky he is. He's four twigs with a head and torso." she argued, and Aang seemed a little offended.

"Hey... I'm not that skinny."

"You're still a kid." she reminded him, "Somebody like Sokka, on the other hand, could definitely pretend to be a bandit." she argued, "Or the guards. There's less difference between them than those sour grumps might like to admit."

"I think they'd be pretty offended." Katara acknowledged, "But the Fire Nation are thieves."

"My point exactly." Toph snapped a finger, before jumping in the hole, "Let's get digging, Aang."

He followed after her, and did as she did; move one hand forward, bend earth around, and shove it back. Katara had to follow more cautiously trying to stay low to avoid getting sprayed by dirt as they dug down and then forward, heading back towards the cellar. Luckily, there wasn't that much space between them, and once they got moving, it was easy to keep pace. Two people were far faster than one earthbender digging a tunnel, and once they reached the cellar, they gave the others a fright. Azula and her guards lit flames, looking ready to set them alight, though they lowered their guard when they realised who it was.

"Oh, it's just you." Sokka noted with a relieved voice, "I thought we were about to get jumped."

"Did you get the man?" Toph asked Azula, who smirked, and gestured behind her; she sensed and saw that one of her guards had restrained the man, and was in the process of stripping him, "So, he's a bandit."

"Yep." Sokka nodded, "We just need to catch enough of them for disguises."

"It isn't going to work for some of us." Azula warned, "Aang for one... and Toph, you're probably too short as well."

"Urgh." she grumbled, crossing her arms, "Fine, I'll just go underground." she decided, and Aang tapped her on the back.

"Hey, but I have seismic sense too. We can go together."

"Sure." she agreed to his proposition, before scrunching her lips, "How are you going to find bandits to kidnap... and where are we putting them?"

"Here will be good enough. They won't suffocate, or be found easily." the Princess noted, before gesturing to the guard who was stripping the bandit, "Yi, once you're dressed, I want you to find somebody to take back here."

"And, do what, your majesty? I can't exactly carry a man over my shoulder without being seen." he admitted, before bowing, "I meant no offence."

"No you're right. That's why Aang and Toph will follow you underground. When you knock them out, they'll drop them into the ground and carry them back here for another person to get a disguise."

"That's going to take a while." Sokka admitted, "Why don't we just corner them between some buildings and take their armour?"

"Because we need to hide their bodies. If they get seen... our plan is a bust." Azula argued, and crossed her arms as Yi began to put the armour pieces on over his clothes; Toph was unsure if his own clothes would match what the bandits had, and made her realise they might have to strip them naked.

"We're gonna be seeing a lot of bandit butts today." she noted with a snicker, and Aang giggled at that comment.

"I'd prefer not to." Sokka gave his own opinion, "But we've gotta do what's necessary." he conceded, before scrunching his lips, "And then, once we're done getting disguises?" he asked the Princess, who placed her hands on her hips.

"We search the town top to bottom, figure out their patrols and where their weapons are stored. Once we have everything... we attack at nightfall." she explained her plan, "We'll probably have to inform the guides so they head back to their village... the airship will see the signal when the time is right."

"What if they get worried that we're taking too long?" another guard asked her, and she raised a finger.

"I already told them it might take all day." she stressed, "I doubt Renshu will lose his cool."

"He was already mad enough that you didn't let him accompany you." Sokka noted with an amused voice, and Azula didn't seem amused in the slightest.

"I need somebody to protect the airship on the off chance they find it while we're here."

Toph noticed that the guard was done getting dressed, and she pointed at him, "Don't walk too fast... I'm good at earthbending, but making a tunnel that doesn't collapse as soon as you dig it is harder than it sounds, especially in soft dirt like this." she warned Yi, who held his fist to his chest.

"I will play my part. Just be ready when I go for the knockout." he warned her, and she paced over to the tunnel entrance.

"I will." she assured him, and Aang followed after her; he turned back momentarily, and waved to their friends.

"We'll be as fast as we can."

Sokka stepped forward, "Ah, I'll come along. You'll need help carrying the body."

"Do I look like I'm weak?" Toph retorted, and he snickered as he approached.

"I wasn't talking about you." he argued, "Aang's fast, but he'll need the help."

"He'll never get stronger if you baby him." the earthbender retorted, and her student cringed as he stood between them.

"Hey, I'm fine with-"

"I'm not talking to you." she reminded him, "Do you want an Avatar who can't do anything himself?"

"Hey, teamwork is how we win." Katara spoke up, and Sokka snapped a finger at his sister.

"Exactly what I was gonna say." he agreed with her point, "Come on, stop being a grump." he prodded her, and she raised her hand up, carving out a bit of earth to make a fork in the tunnel, sensing the guard above them.

"Okay, but don't complain when you start eating dirt." she warned him, and Sokka snickered.

"That's your job." he argued matter of factly, and it took her a moment to actually realise the joke he was making; she twitched an eyebrow, before nodding in approval.

"I can respect the insult game." she conceded that his play on the common slur was funny at least.

She continued digging the tunnel with Aang, sensing that the guard was pacing down the main path, which circled around the encampment where the prisoners were living, heading in the direction of the village centre. However, he stopped quickly enough, and she could sense a bandit approaching him. The two of them remained standing, seeming to be chatting, and Toph waited patiently, remaining right beneath them both.

"When's it gonna happen?" Sokka asked her, and she raised a finger to hush him, trying to listen to what they were saying.

She was frustrated that despite what she claimed, she didn't have hearing nearly as good as a badgermole, and all she got was muffled nonsense through the ground, quiet enough that she wouldn't be able to hear it if anyone else was speaking down in the tunnel with her. Suddenly, however, she sensed the bandit fall over and hit the ground, telling her she needed to act. She pulled a hole open, and let the bandit's body fall down; Sokka leapt forward and grabbed him with his arms, making sure he didn't hit the ground hard. Yi leaned into the hole and waved at them, before Toph closed it up, hoping that nobody noticed the difference with the path.

She noticed that Sokka was making some muffled groans, and struggled to lift the bandit up, "Shit, this guy is heavy." he grumbled under his breath, and Toph and Aang grabbed his other end.

"Okay, is that better?" the Avatar asked him, and the Water Tribe warrior let out a sigh.

"Let's just go."

"You regret volunteering now?" she prodded him, and he just huffed.

"Shut up."


They came in the cover of darkness, and they would take their victory in the darkness just the same. That was what Azula had said, probably just to sound dramatic and cool; Ty Lee thought it was a cooler way than saying they had to be stealthy. The reason was obvious; when their only options were using the airship to bombard the village from the sky and attacking them head-on, the latter had to be done, given the threat to the lives of civilians, the people they were trying to free, and without all of Azula's guards, nor back-up from the villagers, which they had secured during the last battle.

So, Ty Lee knew that they had to be careful; she was hiding near the camp where the prisoners were being held; Azula and the guards were gathering weapons for them to use, and though she didn't know if the Mechanist had swayed his people to fight, she knew that they had to at least be given a chance. Though she had never been subjected to anything like they had, she could only imagine how angry and resentful they would become, forced to make weapons and labour for the benefit of a bunch of vile thieves.

In disguise, she had interacted with the bandits, both for the purposes of getting more people to steal armour from, and also to learn about what was going on in the village. It seemed that most of the bandits were social outcasts who had joined the group, led by a man by the name of Bahen, who called himself the King of Bandits. They saw themselves above common thieves and highway bandits, wanting to remake society in their image, promising those with merit and hard-work could rise their ranks, no matter their origin. There were even claims that all bounty was shared equally among them, and they made sure to kick out other bandits and thieves to ensure peace would come to their lands. That made them sound a lot more dignified than the murderers and thieves they were, but she could at least understand the appeal.

The bandits had given her more than just insights into their rationale for joining or their general views on the world. She had learned about the village's layout, the patrols, and the plans the bandits had to take over more villages. She knew that they had to be stopped, and was a little disappointed; if they were less hypocritical, then perhaps Azula might have seen them as allies against the establishment in the Earth Kingdom.

She now had to wait, patiently observing the camp from a distance, making sure to keep track of the patrolling bandits as they came by. She was sitting with Katara, who was in disguise, dressed as a bandit, just as Ty Lee was. To play the part better, they let their hair down and dirtied their faces, making themselves look at home amongst the unkempt and wild bandits. The Water Tribe girl was holding one of the weapons the bandits liked to use, though neither of them knew how to use them; she was mostly just doing that to keep in character, as they sat at one of the postings, as if they were keeping watch.

"How long will they take?" she asked, and Ty Lee shrugged.

"Eh, they've got to do it without being seen." she reminded her, "I'd say we should have made a distraction... but scaring them might just make things go worse."

"When people are afraid, they do stupid things... and I'm not Azula. I don't want them to do stupid things for the sake of gaining an edge." she explained her thoughts on the matter, "Because all those prisoners, and the villagers who keep their heads down, they'll be the ones suffering because of it."

"I know." she assured her, before chuckling, "I do appreciate that we just got free food from these people." she admitted, "Almost makes me feel bad that we're about to fight them."

"They were trying to burn down a village." Katara retorted, sounding far less sympathetic than she was.

"I said almost." she stressed, "These people are deluded... pretty badly deluded."

The Water Tribe girl just hummed, indicating her agreement, before she pointed down the street, "There they are." she gestured to Sokka and Azula, who were leading the guards along, carrying weapons in hand; when they got close enough, the girls rose up, and approached them.

"So, this is it." Ty Lee realised, "Are you sure they'll help?" she asked her friend, who just eyed the weapon she had in hand.

"To waste an opportunity like this will be foolish... no matter the danger. They are already in danger here, serving these idiots." she argued, and turned her attention towards the camp, "The Mechanist told me he would be waiting for us."

"Then let's get going." Katara decided, before glancing around, "Where are Aang and Toph?" she asked, and the Princess smirked.

"Oh, they'll show up when they're needed." she assured her, before leading everyone into the encampment.

They wound around the tents and small shacks, and approached the campfire in the centre of the encampment; there sat the Mechanist, flanked by a few men and women, all of them sitting there in silence.

"What is it that you want?" the Mechanist asked, before his eyes widened, "Oh, it's you."

"I'm glad our disguises work." Sokka noted with a pleased tone, before pulling his helmet off, "I realise I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. I'm Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. I'm- well, I'm a fan of your work." he gestured to his sternum as he bowed slightly.

The Mechanist scrunched his lips, seeming a little unnerved, "Uh, it's nice to meet you." he awkwardly responded, before eyeing the weapons they were carrying, "So, you're going to do it tonight."

"Yes." Azula confirmed, "These weapons are for you. As you've worked on making them, I'm assuming all of you know how these work."

The group nodded, and with that, everyone handed them a weapon each, and the respective bags of munitions. The weapons apparently used a mixture of gunpowder and steel pellets, which were fired off through the shaft at a target. The Mechanist took the weapon into hand and eyed it with unease.

"I've never tried to hurt anyone before." he admitted, "This... this will be a first."

"These people enslaved you. If you have reason to attack anyone, it's them." Azula argued, before cringing, "And War Minister Qin. I would reprimand him if it weren't for the fact his efforts have ensured my prior victories."

"They were my invention." the Mechanist argued, and Azula raised a finger.

"Would have you given up the designs to me willingly?" he asked, and he looked at her with suspicious eyes.

"You now, perhaps... but not the girl I heard stories of." he admitted, and Azula seemed amused.

"Neither would I." she agreed with his point, telling Ty Lee that she truly thought of her past self as a different person; it might have been a purposeful act to try and distance herself from her prior actions and views, as Ty Lee was under no illusion that Azula had fundamentally changed.

"My guards here, Yi and Shen, will attack the bandits on one side of the village, further away from here, giving you a chance to make a surprise ambush on them when you believe it is viable. No matter what you do, I will go after the leader... the so-called King of Bandits. My airship will come here soon enough, and lay waste upon the bandits. I will try to make sure as many villagers evacuate as possible, but the camp here, that's your responsibility." she told the Mechanist, who nodded.

"As soon as we hear the fighting start, we will get everyone to the woods." he assured her, and Azula narrowed her eyes.

"That reminds me. Our first target will be the watchposts. They are the greatest obstacle to evacuating anyone from the village." she noted, turning her gaze to Sokka, "I assume you will be able to handle them."

"Definitely... but I'll need a few more hands."

"Katara, you can help him. Toph and Aang will probably lend a hand. They're listening in right now."

"Are they?" Ty Lee asked, and as if she was beckoned, Toph shot up out of the ground, with a smug look on her face, waving to everyone.

"I'm pretty good at listening." she assured them, and the astounded prisoners pointed at her with surprise.

"Hey, it's that girl from this morning!" one of them realised, and Toph just laughed.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asked her, and she just gestured up above them, at the roofs of one of the houses nearby; Aang was perched up on it, with his glider staff in hand, though his face was obscured by a mask, and his body mostly obscured by the cloak around it.

It made the otherwise cheery and lighthearted boy seem terrifying; he looked like some spirit that was haunting them, but he made a wave, making his human nature seem far more apparent.

"Oh." Sokka mumbled, and turned his gaze to the Princess once more, "Well, we better get started." he told his sister, and the two of them paced off to get to work.

"That leaves you and me." Ty Lee realised, and Azula just smirked.

"You're a master chi-blocker and light on your feet. You're the one I trust to handle the King of Bandits and his lackeys."

"Alright." the Mechanist acknowledged, "We'll wait for the signal. I'm trusting that you'll be able to handle them... but there are a lot."

"And we have the element of surprise." Azula argued, before she grabbed her friend by the wrist, "We're stopping them, no matter what."

"These are people, remember that." he told her, and she didn't seem fazed.

"Everyone I fight is a person. I am under no presumption that they are lesser just because they're thieves. I will make them run for the hills and scatter like sand in the wind." she declared, raising a fist, "This is my promise."

With that, Azula turned her heels, and pulled her helmet down to obscure her face, Ty Lee doing the same as she followed after her. The Princess was far more accustomed to wearing armour than she was, making her faster, even if Ty Lee was usually light on her feet. That was primarily because she wore simple robes and tried to carry as little as possible; that was not feasible when she was wearing the thick, makeshift armour that the bandits donned. She knew she would have to dispense of it at the earliest opportunity.

She led her to the edge of the encampment, and then down a path into the thick of the village; houses surrounded them on all sides, and soon enough, they made their way past a patrol. They nodded at each other and went on their way without a word. The centre of the village had a palisade around it, which was roughly constructed ut a serious obstacle. Ty Lee was sure she could jump across if she got onto a rooftop, but that would unnecessarily expose her. There were spotters all around, and bandits standing guard.

Beyond the palisade must have been Bahen's palace, if one could call it that, though she recognised its design as being a simple Earth Kingdom hall, which was decked out with metal sheets and other protections that would keep those inside safe in case of an attack. That told her that they were likely expecting some kind of counterattack, either from local Earth Kingdom forces or from the Fire Nation, though she doubted the latter would have the manpower to attack any time soon. Azula could, but that was with the airship and the aid of the prisoners the bandits had taken; her father wouldn't find nearly as much support if he sent a division to take over the region.

Ty Lee turned to face Azula, knowing she must have figured a way inside, "So, how are we getting in?"

"There's more than one reason for the distraction." she clarified, answering her words indirectly; her gaze turned back over to the houses that surrounded them, where the villagers were likely either resting or sleeping for the night.

She knew that those people would be in the most immediate danger once the fighting started, so she decided to ask, "Azula, should we go and warn the villagers?"

"In character." she decided, and leaned up against the exterior wall of a house, "Now, all we need to do is wait."

She followed suit, and leaned on the wall, eyeing the palisade and the gates into the central compound, which wasn't really that distinct from the rest of the village barring the upgrades that had been made to some of the buildings for protective purposes. She could see a few guards stationed inside, but it seemed that their main concern was the gates. It made sense, given they probably didn't want any villagers coming inside without their permission, and wanted to check their own men, in case they couldn't be trusted to be around their superior. Ty Lee had heard stories about bandits, and most had depicted them as backstabbing fiends, who would sell out or kill their own friends for just a bit more loot.

"To think, this is the first village you're going to conquer." she observed, framing her actions in the mindset she held before her de facto exile.

"I guess you're right there." she admitted, "I imagine my uncle has done things like this countless times."

"I doubt he'd be sneaking around this much... not with an army to help him." Ty Lee realised, "Or that belly." she joked, making Azula snicker.

"You do realise he wasn't always fat, right?" she asked her rhetorically, as she had never seen him as anything but her overweight, funny uncle.

She had heard stories about the Dragon of the West in her history classes, which extolled his skill in battle and great achievements against the Earth Kingdom, but she never really put two and two together, even if she was well aware that's who Iroh was.

"I guess I didn't think about it." she admitted, "I wonder what he would have been like at our age."

"Obnoxious." the Princess gave her own judgement, "Perhaps a little less moralising, but just as annoying. He was the pride and joy of the Fire Nation... and now he's been playing second fiddle to my exiled brother."

"I mean, he did help him become Fire Lord." she reminded her, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"If he had half a brain and some guts, he would have taken the throne himself and made Zuko his heir. I don't doubt my brother's intellect, but he was far too immature to take the throne when he did." she argued, before quietening her voice, "And yes, I know that sounds hypocritical, but I know that if I'd won against my brother, I probably would have handled things just as badly."

"Really?" she asked, and Azula cringed.

"I had Sokka whispering in my ear, and would have found my father in a cell. Things would have gotten pretty bad, pretty quickly."

"Because you liked him." Ty Lee realised, smiling warmly at the fact, "You know, I really am happy for you."

"Maybe you should get yourself a boyfriend if you're finding our relationship so great." she argued, and Ty Lee shrugged.

"Eh, I don't really feel like I have the time for that right now." she admitted, before glancing up at the sky above, eyeing the moon, "But, maybe once we've won."

"I'm not going to act like I am as interested in your love life as you are in mine, but I hope you find somebody who can match you."

"In what way?" she prodded her, unsure what she was trying to imply.

"Energy? Aura? You choose. I think you can imagine all the kinds of things you could do with someone."

"Double dates?" she suggested with a smirk, and Azula laughed.

"I doubt I'd have the time for that when I'm Fire Lord."

She snickered at that, and elbowed her friend, "What, and you're not gonna treat your boyfriend?"

The Princess sighed, before their attention was drawn by the sounds of shouts in the distance, Ty Lee glanced around the corner and realised she could distantly make out flashes of light, probably coming from the guards firebending. On cue, the guards protecting the gates rushed forward down the street, accompanied by some of the guards within the compound, and raced towards the commotion. That left the gates undefended, even if they were shut.

Ty Lee knew that she had to warn the locals, even if she knew that they might not trust the bandits; she had to try something, as she had no idea how much damage the airship would do when it inevitably arrived. She paced over to the door of the house and knocked on it; after a few moments, somebody came to the door and opened it. It was a middle aged woman, who looked tired and confused.

"What is it, ma'am?" she asked, and Ty Lee pointed down the street.

"Intruders are about. You should move away from the palisade... this is where they'll come."

The woman nodded cautiously, "I'll tell my husband and children." she assured her, before closing the door.

She turned her gaze around, and noticed that Azula was doing the same at the house across; she couldn't make out what either person was saying, but the Princess's stern tone seemed to be getting across, the door was shut quickly. The two of them crossed onto the street, and met each other in the middle.

"Well then, shall we?" Ty Lee gestured to the gates, and Azula strode towards them cautiously, before pushing them open; she glanced around inside, and gestured for her friend to follow.

She did so slowly, eyeing the various buildings that lined the street inside, and didn't see much light to tell her about activity inside. She could see Bahen's hall, and there were still some men by the doors, holding spears in their hands; Azula gestured down a gap between two houses.

"Let's go around back." she told her, "Hopefully there's a rear entrance or a cellar. We can use that to reach their King... and with any luck, the Mechanist's son."

"What was his name again?"

"Teo." she clarified, "He's paralysed from the waist down, so he can't exactly try to escape very easily himself."

"We won't have to carry him, will we?"

"No, he has a chair... at least, that's what the Mechanist says." she recalled, presumably having discussed it with the man himself when they met at his workshop earlier in the day; Azula hadn't actually talked that much about the substance of their conversation, but guessed that it had involved her trying to persuade him to join their side.

The pair made their way around to the back of the building, and walked between the rear wall and the nearby palisade, all the way to the hall, where Ty Lee could see a set of stairs leading up to another door, though she was unsure if that was where Azula was going to lead them. She didn't go for it, instead approaching a hatch in the stone foundations, pulling it open and gesturing inside.

"That's where we'll want to go." she explained, before dispensing of her armour pieces, taking her helmet and chestplate off; Ty Lee did the same, and was glad to have the weight off of her body.

Once both of them were back into their light robes, they could easily fit through the hatch, and pulled themselves down into the dark basement of the hall. Azula lit a small flame on her palm, lighting their surroundings in a dim blue hue. The basement was full of loot, which wasn't surprising, given that Ty Lee was expecting the Bandit King to fit his name and have a hoard of treasures he'd stolen over the years.

That was of little interest to either of them, but for different reasons; raised in wealth and opulence, the sight of such treasure was nothing new to Azula, while to Ty Lee, she had little care for snatching gold, as it was of little use to her when she wasn't around any place she could fork it off. She did decide that once the fighting was done, she might come back, if only because they might have some nice jewellery she could snatch.

Azula paced ahead towards the staircase at the other side of the basement, and cautiously approached it, "I can't hear any voices. I assume the Bandit King is either sleeping or reading."

"Reading?" Ty Lee raised a brow, "What's to say he can read?"

"If he's their leader, I doubt he's uneducated... at least by peasant standards." she argued, before snuffing out the flames, and slowly making her way up the stairs.

She followed after her friend cautiously, and as they climbed up, she made out some more sources of dim light. The hall was divided up into rooms, and they were in the main section, with a lounge and dining area, which was well maintained and clean. The light was coming from two different directions; one was what she assumed to be the kitchen, where she guessed he had his slaves working away, making him meals, and the other direction was where she assumed his actual quarters were.

However, the hall was big enough that it had to have more than one room, though she guessed that Teo was being held in one of them. She doubted it would be that luxurious, though being held as a hostage to keep his most important prisoner loyal, he would have to at least be treated to decent conditions. She couldn't hear the man himself, though she guessed he would eventually be drawn out by the commotion outside.

Azula gestured down towards the quarters, and the two of them silently made their way down the hallway; the Princess pushed each door ajar, slowly enough that it might have just seemed like a draft had pushed them open, and looked inside. It took two rooms unlike they found what they were looking for. It was a small room with a bed, desk, and some luggage, along with a fancy wheelchair that looked to be customised; inside sat a boy at the desk, and he turned around, looking at them with confusion.

"Who are you?" he asked them, and Azula stepped inside.

"You're Teo, correct?" she asked him, and he cautiously nodded, "We were told to come rescue you by your father." she clarified, before gesturing to her sternum, "We're here to get rid of Bahen and his bandits."

"Really?" his eyes widened, "This isn't a trick, is it?"

"Okay, let me prove it." she decided, lighting a small flame in her palm; his eyes glimmered in awe, and he scanned her up and down.

"Y-you're... you're Princess Azula, right?"

"Yes, that's me. I'm more surprised you even know who I am."

"Why would Father trust you?" he asked her bluntly, "The Fire Nation soldiers kicked us out of our home in your name."

"Not with my authority." she retorted, "I was at the South Pole at the time."

"Oh." he mumbled, "So, are the rumours true?"

"About the Avatar, yes." she nodded, and pulled his wheelchair over, "I'll need you to wait here for a bit." she explained, her expression hardening, "Bahen needs to be dealt with."

"Dealt with?" he asked nervously, "What are you going to do?"

"End him." she assured him, "I have no intention of letting a man like that run free... and his loyal men and women will have the chance to fight for the leadership. That'll stop them threatening the people of the northern mountains any longer."

She turned to face Ty Lee, "Let's go." she told her, "Lock the door behind you." she added as she stepped past.

She nodded, and glanced at Teo, "We'll keep you safe, I promise." she assured him, and paced over to the door, "Don't come out... unless the building starts burning... then, uh, you should." she gave the best directions she could; knowing Azula, there could be some substantial collateral damage, that being the structural integrity of the hall itself.

She locked the door shut behind herself, before slowly following Azula down the hallway; the Princess pushed open another door, and closed it immediately. She turned around and opened the door opposite, and Ty Lee heard some shuffling, and then, it happened.

"Who are you?!" she heard somebody shout out, and Azula stumbled back, narrowly dodging what Ty Lee recognised as a meteor hammer.

"Zula!" she shouted at her friend, who pointed down the hallway.

"Run, I'll make an opening!" she assured her, and the acrobat broke into a sprint.

Azula somersaulted past the doorway, dodging the meteor hammer again, before a man stepped out. He was shirtless, wearing only a set of trousers and a fur belt. He was well built and fast on his feet, lunging into the hallway.

"You have made a mistake coming here, girls." he warned them, and Azula shot out a fireball at the man's head; it struck him straight on, making him stumble back and drop his weapon.

Ty Lee was ready to chi block him, but Azula raised a hand up, "Duck." she spoke with a surprising calmness, and she complied.

She only realised why after the fact, as a lightning bolt shot from her fingers and through the man's chest, the force of the strike making him fall back and scream out in agony. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain, and Azula just stood over him, fingers pointed out, smoke coming from the tips.

"And this is why duelling me in close quarters is always a terrible idea." she chided her opponent, and bent away any flames that had started from the lightning bolt.

Azula stepped over the defeated King of the Bandits, before sighing, "You would have had potential... if you weren't standing in my way, we could have achieved great things for your country." she acknowledged, before approaching Ty Lee, "Get Teo. We're getting out of here."

"What about signalling the airship?" she asked her, and the Princess just laughed.

"Trust me, I'll get around to that." she assured her, and Ty Lee heard some footsteps approaching; a pair of guards came to the hallway, with the firearms in hand.

"Who are you?" one of them asked, and Azula gestured to Bahen, who was lying behind them.

"Your conqueror." she clarified, before shooting out a fire stream; the bright blue flames contrasted starkly with the prior darkness, and forced Ty Lee to close her eyes, before she kicked Teo's door open.

He looked at her with apprehension, but she paced over and grabbed him by the waist, "Sorry, this will be faster." she conceded, knowing that it might have been embarrassing to get carried, but she needed to get him out of danger.

Behind her, she heard screams, shouts, and the sound of the weapons going off; one of them shot its pellets through the wall beside her, and she leapt up reflexively, narrowly dodging her feet being filled with metal shards. When she landed back down on her feet, Teo was looking at her with a concerned face, surprised that she had leveraged herself into the air on his chair's armrests.

"How did you do that?"

"Practice." she admitted, before returning to her original plan; she grabbed him by the waist, hoisted him over her shoulder and ran for the door, barging past Azula, who was still shooting out flames at the bandits who had come to fight her; Ty Lee got into the room across, and kicked the window open.

"Can you pull yourself through?" she asked Teo, who nodded, "I'll get around and carry you out... but I need to deal with those guys." she gestured behind them, and he nodded nervously.

He grabbed the sides of the window and pulled himself down over to the other side, sitting himself on the ground, she pulled the window shut again, and dashed back over to Azula, who was throwing flurry after flurry of fireballs at the enemy, keeping them occupied and under cover. She pointed out a table that had been forced over.

"Take them." she ordered, and Ty Lee smirked, dashing towards the table; she vaulted over, and stepped on the two bandits who were cowering behind.

They grunted, and before they could try to attack her, she jabbed both of them in their guts, paralysing their arms. They tried to get up and lunge at her, but without hands to grapple her with, she found it easy to weave out of the way and run at some other bandits. They turned their weapons on her, but she knew they were hard to aim; so she somersaulted in front of them, dodging the spray of metal and flame before jabbing both hands up, paralysing their legs. They gave way, and Ty Lee chopped both in the neck, forcing them down to the ground.

She gestured for Azula to follow after her, and the Princess shot out a fire stream from each hand, striking down a bandit each. Once she stopped bending, she ran for the front door, which was wide open after the bandits came in to confront them. She stepped outside and filled her palms with fire.

"Hold back." she warned Ty Lee, before gritting her teeth; she let out a bellow of a scream as she bent a massive wall of flames into the sky, towering up above the village, as high as the neighbouring hilltops, and as the flames dissipated, they climbed even higher, "That's the signal."

"Crap." she gasped, surprised that Azula could even muster such a massive firebending move, especially without any assistance; her gaze turned down the street towards the gates, where she could see more bandits approaching, "The airship better get here quickly."

"We have something better than an airship." she argued, and Ty Lee realised what she meant when a wall of earth rose up out of the street as they ran in their direction; she heard the sound of them slamming into the wall at speed, and if she didn't pity them, she might have laughed hysterically at their misfortune.

She eyed around, and saw that Aang was standing on one of the nearby rooftops, "Come and get me!" he shouted at the bandits, before leaping over to another rooftop, before they could have a chance to shoot him with their weapons.

All they did was waste some of the munitions on some roof tiles, and Azula smirked, approving of his intervention, "Hopefully he can distract them for long enough so we can make sure the people evacuate out of the village." she explained her idea, "Get Teo." she pointed to the boy who was cowering on the balcony nearby.

She dashed over to the boy and picked him up in her arms, "Don't worry, I'll get you back to your dad." she assured him, and ran down the street towards the gates; the bandits were blocked off by the stone wall, but they weren't the only ones around.

Some more came out of one of the steel-plated houses, and had swords and polearms instead of the firearms; that made them more dangerous, if only because her speed was less of an advantage when they could just swing as fast as she could jump. Ty Lee wasn't worried, however, as Azula's flames rose up around them, spinning in a tornado of blue flames, filled with bright specks of golden orange flames. She couldn't tell if that was because her emotional state had shifted, or because she was simply exhausted and she was struggling to make her fire as hot.

In any case, it kept the bandits back, even if they tried to breach the tornado of fire with their blades, which began to heat up and glow a dim red. Azula sent the flames out, setting their clothes alight and forcing them to draw back. They pat down the embers on their clothes, and got back into form, eyeing the three of them intently.

"You won't escape, Princess." one of them acknowledged her identity.

"And you won't get to live if you don't start running." she warned them, and shot out a flurry of fireballs, which was probably more disorienting than harmful, but gave Ty Lee enough time to run past the gate and start heading back towards the encampment.

Azula followed right after her, raising a wall of flames to hold the enemy off, even if only for a moment, but she was assisted by Aang, who ripped up the ground in front of the gates, making it much harder for them to continue their pursuit.

"Go!" Aang told them, and Azula narrowed her eyes, before pointing at Ty Lee.

"Get him to his father. I'll make sure Aang doesn't do anything stupid." she decided, "And get the people out while they still have a chance."

She nodded, understanding her friend's rationale; she was trying to prove herself in the eyes of the people of the Earth Kingdom. If she succeeded, and they heard of her acts, they would have to believe her sincerity. Though, Ty Lee did realise that ironically enough, it seemed less sincere when she was going out of her way to play the hero role. It didn't make it any less helpful to the people she was aiding, but simply made her motives seem less altruistic and more politically motivated.

Whatever the case, Ty Lee would make sure to do the same; she didn't want to see the villagers and prisoners get hurt just because Azula wanted her victory. So, she ran as fast as she could with Teo's weight in her arms, and as soon as she made sight of the Mechanist and the other prisoners, firing off their weapons at some of the bandits, she was relieved, knowing that they were still close by, and aiding in their plans.

"Teo!" the Mechanist exclaimed upon seeing his son in her arms; when she reached cover, she lay him down to sit, and his father rushed over, hugging him tightly, "I knew they'd get you, Son."

"Dad, are we really going to be free?"

"Yes, I promise." he assured him, "I'll get you to your other chair as soon as we can get rid of these stupid bandits." he acknowledged their opponents, and Ty Lee pointed her thumb at her sternum.

"I'll give you a hand." she decided, before leaping over the cart they were using as cover, and dashsed towards the bandits who were reloading their weapons.

Before any of them could react, she had jumped over, kicking one of them in the chest, and grabbing his weapon, using it to bludgeon his comrade, who sputtered out blood as she fell to the ground. She felt a little bad hitting her so hard, but she needed to win as quickly as she could. Two other bandits remained, and tried to rush her with the blades fixed to the ends of their weapons; their lunges were too eager, and Ty Lee was able to somersault back, dodging the attacks before she chi-blocked both of them. They didn't realise what was wrong until they dropped their weapons, their arms limp. One tried to tackle her anyway, but that didn't do him any good as she kicked him in the gut.

He groaned and slumped over, the other bandit deciding he'd had enough and running off with his limp arms; she almost laughed at the sight, but was more concerned about checking if there were any other bandits in the general vicinity. She turned her head around, and noticed that there were more bandits rushing in, probably from patrol; Azula wanted them in the village, and so Ty Lee pointed at the prisoners.

"Keep using those things. I'll get them back towards the compound." she explained, and the Mechanist looked at her with a confused face, before it dawned on him.

"The airship." he realised, and she gave him a thumbs up.

"You got it." she confirmed, before whistling at the bandits, "Come and get me, idiots!" she prodded them, and they did end up pursuing her.

Ty Lee made sure to weave and do some cartwheels, narrowly dodging the sprays of flame and shrapnel, before she took cover behind a shed; she took a few deep breaths and then ran down the street once more. They were reloading their weapons, and she noticed that Toph had appeared, but not because she was visible, but because the bandits found their feet bent into the ground.

"Ha!" she laughed at their misfortune, but she clapped her hands, "Don't worry, Toph, just get rid of the weapons and let them chase me." she told her, guessing she was hiding right beneath her feet.

Her request was fulfilled, with the bandits' hands smacked around with small pillars, forcing them to drop their weapons, before their feet were released from the ground. They tried to pick up their weapons, but Toph shot out some pillars, sending the weapons flying up into the sky above; given the darkness, it was hard to make them out, but she heard the metal crashing down nearby on a roof. The bandits did as she wanted, and came after her, drawing out their secondary weapons.

That gave her the advantage, as she was far faster than them, and could lead them all the way back to the centre of the village, where Azula was fighting off at least a dozen bandits at once, keeping them occupied rather than trying to scare them away. Aang was right beside her, smacking them around with his airbending, and earthbending pillars and pits to occupy them further.

"Hey, guys!" she addressed them, and Azula seemed annoyed, though she did smile, realising that she'd have all the more people to beat up.

"More?" she asked out, and shot out a fire stream from her left hand, which coursed over the bandits who were pursuing her, forcing them to take cover by a nearby building.

She cartwheeled past her friend, and chi-blocked one of the bandits who was trying to attack Aang, before throwing him into one of the pits he had made. She weaved out of the way of a sword that was swung at her, before tripping its wielder over. When another bandit jumped at her, she let him continue moving, running right into Azula's firebending, getting a fireball right in his head. He grunted from the grazing blow, and tried to swing his polearm down at all three of them. Aang was quick enough to weave out of the way, and Azula didn't worry, just letting Ty Lee grab the polearm before she kicked the man in the leg, paralysing it. He fell to a knee, and found himself blasted away by a gust of wind from the Avatar's hands.

Then Ty Lee heard the sound of a horn, and turned her gaze to the other two, "Guys."

"I know." Azula nodded, before grabbing Aang by the hand, "Bend us into a hole, big enough that we'll be able to breathe."

He glanced up, eyeing the airship as it approached their location, before nodding; in a moment, they dropped down into a hole, and the ground covered back over their heads. Things were muffled, and surprisingly quiet, though she could feel and hear the footsteps above their heads. Then, one of the weapons went off, fired at the ground; it didn't break through the layer of earth, and then, more shots followed, presumably aimed up at the airship. Then it happened; the ground itself quaked and rocked, dust falling over their heads, forcing Ty Lee to close her eyes.

It went on for a while, before the shaking stopped; Aang pulled the earthen layer away, revealing smokestacks above them, when Ty Lee got out of the pit, she could see the source. Houses around them were burning, and the compound was a burning crater, rubble everywhere. The fighters around them were all on the ground, bodies charred, and those that were still alive were just so out of luck, cowering under the cover of walls. Azula got a look and then covered Aang's eyes with her hands.

"Don't look." she warned him, and he grimaced, before nodding.

He kept his eyes shut, and followed Azula out of the pit, before she led him down the street, towards the undamaged part of the village; that was where Ty Lee could see Sokka and Katara, who were approaching with concerned looks on their faces.

"Thank the spirits." Katara gasped out, "I thought you guys-" she began, running towards them and hugging Aang.

Sokka looked a little less terrified than his sister, and approached cautiously, "I guess... I guess that worked."

"To devastating effect." Azula acknowledged, before glancing back around, "That is the cost of war."


The morning sun lit the valley, and Azula could only feel relieved that her plans had worked. She was sitting by a grassy knoll, overlooking the village from the northern side, eyeing the palisade that surrounded the village in its entirety. The place seemed so secure, though that was only when one ignored the blackened ashpit that was the village centre. She could make out the lines of where the palisade had been, as well as the foundations of the larger structures, but the entire area had been destroyed. The airship, for all its vulnerabilities, was extremely effective at achieving what it was intended to: mass devastation and terror.

Sokka was dozing off beside her, a straw hat covering his face, and she was almost ready to tap him awake, but decided to let him rest. Like the rest of them, he had had to fight, not to mention he was tired after spending the day pretending to be a bandit. When they were together, he did most of the talking, which came down to the fact he was a better actor than her; she could lie well, but that didn't mean much when she was awful at playing some uncultured, rough-edge bandit instead of just being herself.

Though she felt relieved, she was tired, and the sight of the damage was something that did not bring her any pleasure. If she had simply been facing an army in the field, she wouldn't feel nearly as frustrated; the damage that had been inflicted on the village was her doing, and the people who would ultimately have to pay for it were the local villagers, who had been under the boot of the so-called King of Bandits. The villagers had evacuated from the centre, where the airship had dropped its bombs, meaning that there were no casualties among them. However, fires had spread around from the spots where the bombs exploded; she, her guards, Katara, and Aang all tried to put them out as quickly as possible, but there was only so much they could do.

She had not gotten much sleep, having spent a few hours cleaning up the village and expelling any straggling bandits from the place. They had left in a hurry, but some die-hard supporters of Bahen stuck their ground and had to be forced out. The cleaning work was more straightforward but much more tiring. She had finally gotten a chance to sleep on the airship, and though it hadn't been for long, she would rather that than spending a whole day awake. The grass was surprisingly comfortable, and after a quick catch up with the villagers and her guards, she decided to rest there while the airship was prepped for launch and the prisoners were prepared to leave.

"Your majesty." she heard Renshu address her, and she turned her head around, seeing the captain of her guard standing with his helmet held by his side, "Somebody is here to see you."

"You could just give their name." she retorted, finding his formality frustrating, and he snickered.

"The Mechanist, your majesty."

"Good." she nodded, and glanced past him, seeing the man standing off in the distance; she gestured for him to approach.

He did, and then, Renshu took his leave; the Mechanist was an odd looking man, with his scraggly beard and crazy hair. He looked like what she imagined an inventor to be in her mind; too much time to work on his ideas and not enough time spent on his personal hygiene. Sokka made sure to maintain his appearance, which made him a stark contrast to a man like the Mechanist. Her boyfriend had many concerns beyond inventing, though she knew that if he had things his way, he would spend most of his time in a workshop trying to implement all sorts of ideas.

"Good morning, your majesty." he addressed her, before bowing his head down, "I'm... I don't know what to say. I'm immensely grateful for what you did for Teo. You saved him."

"That is true." she noted, knowing that the boy would have burnt to death along with everything else in the hall, which was a smouldering ruin, "I hope I have earned your respect, at the very least."

"I-" he began, turning his gaze away from her, "My friends say I should not trust you, and I think they are right."

"Trust is earnt, not expected." Azula acknowledged the mindset that was being presented before her; however, she thought that in aiding the prisoners, freeing them from Bahen's grip, and the village as well, she would at least have signalled her genuine intentions, "Have I not earned at least a benefit of the doubt?"

She heard Sokka snort under the hat, and she couldn't tell if he was just waking up, or amused by her words; she decided not to comment on that, and focused her gaze on the Mechanist.

"So, what will it be?" she prodded him, and he sat himself down beside her, though distant enough away that it didn't seem to present any sense of familiarity; he was probably just as exhausted as she was.

"I want to do the right thing... by my people, and by the Earth Kingdom. I've spent enough time being the pawn of others." he acknowledged how he felt, before his gaze turned back over to her, "So, can I believe you when you say you want to help my country?"

"You can choose not to... but you've seen my actions. You heard from those guides what I did in their village... and I bet the bandits themselves must have said something."

"They did." he confirmed her suspicion, "I was more confused than anything, but now I see."

"See what?" she prodded him, and his eyes turned over to Sokka, whose face was still obscured; Azula was frustrated that was the point he was making, but at least was relieved that he thought she was genuine in her acts, even if it made her seem far more selfish than she was.

Though she had a selfish reason to keep herself and Sokka safe, she was not going out of her way to aid the Earth Kingdom because it would directly benefit her. To the contrary, she expected that a strong Earth Kingdom would likely pose a threat to the Fire Nation and their control over the valuable colonies; however, she knew that the value of peace, both between the nations and within them, was far more vital than a mere victory over her father.

"He is not why I do this." she retorted calmly, "He might have started me on this path, but it is of my own making... I am not seeking to rule the world, if it isn't clear. I am the Fire Lord."

"And I would say from what I've seen so far, I'd certainly prefer you over your predecessor." he acknowledged, and she raised a brow, his word's unhelpfully vague given the political chaos that had ensued since her father was deposed by her brother.

"Which one?"

"Your father." he immediately responded, "Your brother, from the sounds of things, wanted to change things as well. That didn't go well for him."

"No, it didn't... but I'm out here, and he was there. I have an army, and he had a court full of traitors." she argued, before pointing at him, "And the Earth Nation, I will make sure they can stand against my father even if I cannot." she assured him, and he sighed.

"You say it isn't for him... but you have to keep yourself safe. Just as I do... as I did. I was not Qin's lackey because I thought the Fire Nation's victory was inevitable." he argued, "My family, my friends, everything I knew, would have been in danger if I didn't comply... and even then, it didn't matter what I did."

"You didn't give him the airship schematics willingly." Azula recalled, before narrowing her eyes, "I understand why you didn't... but to think you could just keep stalling is absurd."

"I thought that with the war seeming to be over, they'd let us continue the arrangement, without forcing me to make more weapons to incur damage on the world." the Mechanist admitted, seeming frustrated and saddened by the turn of events, "It seems you had more to do with our expulsion than you may admit."

"My brother forced my hand." she retorted, "And if I had won, there would have been peace; perhaps not the kind I am offering now, but peace nonetheless. It was Zhao's doing."

Sokka pulled the hat off of his face and sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes, "It's pretty hard to sleep when you guys are talking right next to me." he chided them, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"You should have gone to the airship if you wanted to sleep." she argued, and he glanced away with a frustrated glare.

"It smells in there." he grumbled, and the Mechanist cleared his throat, gaining both of their attention.

"I don't mean to be a nuisance, but you haven't really told me what you want." he admitted, and Azula narrowed her eyes at him.

"I want peace." she stressed, "Lasting peace. I do not know what will happen once I defeat my father, so I seek to control the variables. The Earth Kingdom is one of them. I would much prefer a nation united under a single government than having to handle dozens of rebel groups and an Earth King who claims authority over all of them."

"One enemy is easier to deal with than many." he noted what she was saying in the form of a proverb, "But, we aren't your enemies."

"No, you are not. That is simply my rationale beyond the war itself. The war can only be ended with us standing together against my father and those in the Fire Nation who want to continue it." she explained her line of thinking, and the Mechanist seemed to understand, "The Earth Kingdom has already suffered enough... I simply want to end that suffering, and provide the people with a hope beyond what they have already had to endure."

"That was the same rationale Qin used when he justified what he was doing." he noted with an understandably suspicious tone, "The Fire Nation has always wanted to export its rule, its idea of progress to the world. I can't deny that things are run better there, but that isn't to say that it's in any way fair to its own citizens, or to the people it claims to be helping."

"I understand that." Azula assured him, "Why do you think I decided to do this? I am seeking to be Fire Lord not for myself, but for my country."

"I mean... you do want to rule." Sokka reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Because I know that I am the one who can resolve these matters. In a perfect world, my intervention would not be necessary, and things would prosper and develop as they should." she argued, before sighing, "I realise I sound arrogant. Katara has told me enough times that I hear it in my voice when I speak... but I am not a farce, Mechanist."

"I did not think you to be a farce." he admitted, "You are very clearly Azula, the girl we have all heard the stories about."

"No, I mean in my intent. I am not playing a game here, at least not the kind that those more sceptical might claim." she argued, "When I get to Ba Sing Se, I will bring about a change that has never been seen before. The Earth Kingdom has been ruled by kings and the nobility for its entire history. I am offering a path to something better... I do not claim to know best for your nation. To the contrary, I think somebody like you would probably have a much better idea on how to fix the issues the Earth Nation faces."

"Earth Nation?" he raised a brow at her new name for the country.

"I think a new name is befitting a new age of progress. No more Earth King, no more Earth Kingdom."

"I wouldn't have chosen that, but I see your point." he conceded, before rising up to his feet, "So, what will you do?"

"Take my rebel allies to the city, undermine the Dai Li and aid the people in removing them from power. A new provisional government will take power, and coordinate the efforts to defeat my father, and rebuild your country." she argued, "And there, my work is done. I need to make good on my promises to take the colonies, homeland, and take my nation down a new path... not as drastic a shift, but a necessary one either way."

"And the technology I made for the Fire Nation?" he asked, and Sokka snickered.

"Yeah, you can use that to help your country. There's no reason you can't. I'm sure a new government could get you the funding and resources you'd need for it."

"I'd much appreciate that... but I don't want to serve another set of masters." he argued, and Azula shrugged her shoulders.

"You would be part of them... It seems governing is not your desire, but you have an affinity for technology and new ideas that would make you better suited than an old officer from the provinces." she argued, "Would you rather find like minded individuals and coordinate to ensure your nation takes a better path?"

"Where would I find them? I trust my people, but I haven't seen anyone who is interested in my inventions beyond their military applications."

Sokka raised a brow, seeming to have an idea, "You've heard of Ba Sing Se University, right?"

"Of course, it's the oldest educational institution in the world." he nodded, before furrowing a brow, "I imagine there would be a number of intellectuals, engineers, and bureaucrats learning there... and you're right, they might think as I do."

"I never ended up visiting the place when I went there, but I heard about it." Sokka admitted, before raising a brow, "Hmm... maybe I could do some studying there after all this is done and dusted."

"With what money to pay your tuition?" Azula prodded him, and he made a pleading look, "Of course." she grumbled, rolling her eyes, knowing that she would have to pay; she would have more than enough money in the Fire Nation treasury to spare to assist her boyfriend.

"So, do you want to join us?" Sokka asked the Mechanist, who still seemed conflicted.

"I want to make sure my work is done for the good of the world." he acknowledged, "Not just any one person or interest."

"And it will be." Azula assured him, "So, come with us to Ba Sing Se. I am sure that the University academics will appreciate your intellect and skills, and the people of the Earth Kingdom are in need of wise rulers, not greedy ones." she argued, and he snickered.

"I guess you're right." he mumbled, "I still can't trust you're going to do right by my nation." he admitted, and Azula shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess you'll just have to take me by my word." she admitted, "Whether you like it or not, the rebels I've organised will lead a new government, and they will ensure the Dai Li becomes history. Then, they will make sure the people have their voices heard, and the Earth Nation is rebuilt anew. That new nation will need men like you."

"I realise that." he mumbled, before sighing, "But I need to ensure my people are safe."

"That is fair." Sokka nodded, "We can help get them someplace safer than these mountain valleys. Maybe they could head south to one of the places Earth Kingdom soldiers still control."

"I'm afraid they'd force them to work and build weapons, just as these rebels did." he acknowledged, "We never wanted to do that."

"I can ensure that doesn't happen." Azula spoke up, "But you need to assure me that you'll come to Ba Sing Se."

"I'm not signing a contract, am I?" he asked her, "I don't seek to serve you as I did your predecessor."

"You're not going to." she snapped back, "You're serving your people, and bringing your own views to the table." she argued, before rising to her feet, "Whatever you think of me, it does not matter... What matters is whether you can stomach letting the Earth Kingdom remain in its state of squalor and disorder." she pointed at his chest, and he looked down, seeming ashamed.

"I don't- I can't just keep letting things like this happen." he acknowledged, "What's to say that the people in Ba Sing Se will care about what's going on out here?"

"Where do you think all those refugees have been going? All the people like you and your friends?" Sokka asked him, and his eyes widened in realisation.

"When you say the people will govern, you don't mean the nobles or the intellectuals." he realised, "But you're a monarch. Don't you have some sense of self-preservation with all this?"

"I am a servant of my people." she retorted, "I never took the sentiment seriously enough until I had to try and earn the favour of my subjects." she admitted bluntly, "So, I want all nations to be led by those who will truly serve their people. You cannot say the same about the Earth King... or the Dai Li that have taken his place."

He looked down and nodded, seeming to agree with her sentiment.

The Princess strode past him, "All that I ask is that you make up your mind before we leave for the coast." she requested, not wanting to have left only for the Mechanist to decide he did want to join their coalition.

"I'll go." he spoke up before she had even gotten two strides away from him.

"You'll go to Ba Sing Se?" Sokka queried, and he nodded.

"Yes, I will. I don't know if I can trust you, but for the good of my people, and the Earth Kingdom, I can't refuse."

"Do you have any requests from me?" Azula asked him, and his face shifted, glancing off into the distance; he was less concerned, and more stern, which wasn't what she was expecting to see from him given their previous interactions.

"My son. I want to make sure he is safe." he stressed, before sighing, "I can leave him in the hands of my friends, but I don't know if they'll be safe. I can't stomach leaving him when there's a chance something like this might happen again." he gestured to the village that surrounded them, and Azula nodded.

"I understand. I will make sure some ships are sent into the West Lake, and that they provide a secure place for your community to stay at while we handle matters in Ba Sing Se. After a new government is established, I assume you will seek a new place to establish yourselves, and with the support of the government, I am sure you will find somewhere to live" she explained her plan, which she had thought up on the spot, "Hopefully, the local Earth Kingdom forces will cooperate and not try to expel my subordinates."

She was going to send ships into the West Lake to secure a supply line to Ba Sing Se in the case of a protracted conflict there, so providing some refugees with a place to stay was a rather easy addition to her plan. The local forces would potentially pose an issue, but she knew that they could be assured of her peaceful intentions there, especially once word of what she had done to Bahen and his bandits spread around.

"Thank you." he nodded, before striding past her, "I should tell them what is going on." he clarified his intentions, before heading back down towards the village; Sokka stepped up to her and smiled.

"I think that went well. He doesn't trust you... but he's smart enough to know he'll be able to do a lot more with the coalition."

"He's not politically minded." she noted, tapping her chin, "But I prefer somebody without ambitions to cooperate with... it makes him more honest. Honest allies are better than deceitful ones."

"You say that, but uh... deceit's been your way forward in the colonies so far." he noted, and Azula scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Towards my military opponents. I cannot afford to be frank with them... the populace, however, they need to know that I cannot afford to lose their support. They know what I want, and what I can offer." she argued, knowing her plans so far had worked; the people of Shengchang seemed to approve of her policies as Fire Lord, and even if she had endangered them with the threat of attacks from her father, she had won her battles, and made sure those responsible were thrashed and punished.

She knew that recruiting prisoners was never going to have the best optics in colonies that faced attacks from those forces, but she knew that showing an image of unity and forgiveness to her enemies would make it much easier to recruit more of her father's supporters to her side. Purging any and every traitor was never going to work; it might have been viable if she had a massive force behind her, but she had barely a few divisions, ignoring the promises her uncle had made to get the rest of Zuko's loyalists to her side.

"Yeah, I get it." Sokka mumbled, "The military guys... they've proven you can't trust them." he agreed with her way of thinking, "Hopefully the base is still yours when you get back."

"Jianren's lieutenants will hopefully keep them in line. The injured fighters from the rest of the Earth Kingdom are still there with them... and when they've recovered, they'll be able to keep them all in check." she noted who had been left to protect the base, not trusting Major Zhengyi to keep to her side.

She knew that he had stayed loyal when faced with her earlier trick, but when she wasn't at the base, there was no way to know what news he'd hear and how he'd react to it. If her brother was revealed to still be alive, then that would take wind out of her sails, and make her efforts to secure the colonies seem fruitless if not impossible without a degree of violence that would make the efforts more of a drain on their mutual resources needed to fight her father.

She could not trust that her brother was truly dead, both because it worked for her brother and father that he remained so, given that her father needed the propaganda value, while it helped her brother build up whatever forces he might need to secure the capital. It made too much sense, for whatever reason, for him to fake his demise; he might have been her father's prisoner, or out lurking in the homeland, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Perhaps hiding would have done us better than striking out against Zhao and the colonies." she acknowledged, and Sokka snickered.

"Yeah, I can see why now." he admitted, "But we'd still need to reunite the Earth Kingdom. That was always the plan."

"Either that or making a decapitation strike against my father." she acknowledged the other possibility, which she had held as the easiest way to defeat her father, and her brother before him; she had almost succeeded with her Agni Kai in Yu Dao with that line of thinking, but she had overestimated her own strength and underestimated her brother's.

"We can still try that." he mumbled, turning his eyes over to her, "As you've said, the airship, or a few of them... that would be enough if we came in the dead of night."

"And we'd still have to deal with the aftermath... but that'll be an issue no matter what." she conceded, "Hopefully I can make contact with some moderates within the government who might support my claim to the throne."

"A shadow government." Sokka realised what she was suggesting, smirking at the idea, "I guess your uncle could help with that."

"Certainly." she agreed, before sighing, "Let's just get back to the others. I know we'll be leaving soon." she reminded him, and the two of them began walking down the grassy slope back towards the village proper.

Despite her hope for their plans, regret hung over her; all of her actions, in Shengchang, in the outer colonies, and in the North Pole, were effectively pointless, merely reactions to her father's moves, and Zhao's. In hindsight, if she had known of the Admiral's deceit, she would have never revealed herself, and remained in hiding, taking the opportunities she could to unite as many forces as she could to her side before enacting a swift coup d'etat. That would have given her the same advantages her brother would have if he was in hiding; waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike rather than being forced to field an army and hold off every and any assault her father threw her way. Ba Sing Se would have still been her primary target, both for its value to her father, the Earth Kingdom, and any forces that might have been loyal to any side, and so, her plans would still lead her there.

Now, she had to enact her plans as swiftly as possible, and hoped that the colonial forces her brother had raised would remain by her side and hold off her father's next wave of attacks. He could draw back more distant occupational forces in the Earth Kingdom that might be of use in securing the colonies, but that would necessitate abandoning most of the Earth Kingdom, something she knew that her father and the hardliners that supported him could never stomach, for the pure morale damage it would inflict on their cause.

"We could try and force my father to draw the more distant forces back to the colonies."

"So, blockading the seas between the homeland and the colonies. Making sure that the only way he could defeat you is with the men left over in the Earth Kingdom." Sokka observed her idea, seeming to approve, "I guess that would work, but that's assuming we have enough ships to keep an armada from reaching the colonies."

"Admiral Liang is loyal to my brother, or was. If he remains true, then he'll hold off my father... and presumably take over shipyards and factories in the outer islands. That deprives them of the ability to make more ships for his war effort." she noted, knowing that even if the loyalty of officers like Liang was in question, as long as he wasn't working with her father, he would struggle to get the ships to make assaults like the one he made against the base.

"You should tell your uncle about this." he gave her sound advice; she was intending to send him letters, but now she had more ideas on what could practically be done about her father and his constant attacks toward her forces.

"I intend to." she assured him, "If he has Liang's support, then my father will never reach us again... not with ships. He's spent too much resources on a failed assault, and they were men from the east. There can't be many more ships or men to spare without compromising the occupation."

"So, the only way for him to win is to lose control... or..." Sokka trailed off, his expression shifting as something must have come to him; his eyes were cold and stern, and his gaze turned to her, "We need to go south."

"What do you mean?"

"The Southern Raiders. They're one of the only substantial forces loyal to your father that aren't occupying Earth Kingdom territories. They can be moved north to break any blockade." he explained what he had realised, and Azula scrunched her lips.

"Then we'll have to make sure they're dealt with. I have a plan... my ships are already in the Mo Ce Sea, and as soon as we secure the rest of the colonies, they'll be free to sail south and secure the Southern Sea in its entirety." she explained her plan, before raising a finger, "But I have a faster way to deal with both issues. My ships are accompanying the Water Tribe ships to Ba Sing Se. Once there, they will continue around the eastern extremities of the continent, and round south back to the Eastern Fleet's main ports, near Ba Sing Se. As soon as we have secured the city we will storm their ports and any ships we can seize. If Chang cannot be swayed to join us, his lieutenants will force his fleet to our side."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"By taking some earthbenders with us." she explained, grinning at the thought that had appeared after she saw the results of the earthbenders defending against a naval assault.

Sokka took a few moments to comprehend her plan, and when he did, he just snorted; he began to laugh, and nodded as they paced down into the village, intending to cross through it over to the airship.

"Yeah, that'd do it. Gotta be pretty shallow though." he argued, "They can't bend it if its far away."

"If they're ashore, and if other earthbenders can bend any earth in contact with the earth that touches their feet, then they should be able to do it from afar."

"I think Toph's the exception, and not the norm." he argued, and Azula hummed.

"Well, looks like Ty Lee isn't going to be the only one giving lessons." she realised, and she heard a cooing noise nearby; she turned her head, seeing her friend cartwheel past her.

"You called me?" she asked, landing on her feet before placing her hands on her hips.

"No, not really." she shook her head, "Is the airship prepped to go?" she asked, and her friend nodded.

"Yep... how about our funny looking friend? Is he going to come and help us?"

"Seems like it." Sokka confirmed, sounding pleased with the fact, "Finally, somebody I can talk about inventions with."

"I can discuss those matters with you." Azula piped up, and he shrugged.

"But you have no passion. It's just winning and strategy to you... I like machines because they're cool!" he proclaimed with a prideful tone, and though she knew he was playing it up as a joke, she decided to go along with it.

She crossed her arms and raised a stiff lip, "Fine, if you think that way, then I won't indulge your plans for making that arrow launcher." she decided, making something up on the spot to say; Sokka got the idea and went along with it.

"But... come on. Imagine the bodies of your enemies pitted with hundreds of arrows... and everyone's arms feel fine. No unnecessary stretching. No need for anybody like the Yuyuan Archers." he suggested, and Ty Lee looked at their 'argument' eagerly.

"You make a good point. It's far more efficient." she noted, and he rolled his eyes.

"This is what I was saying." he grumbled, and Ty Lee stepped between them.

"So, what is this arrow launcher?" she asked him, and Azula smirked.

"I made it up." she clarified, and she didn't seem to comprehend her words.

"I thought you said you didn't like inventing."

"No, I mean, I just made it up, right then. In that very sentence." she corrected her, and Ty Lee's jaw fell loose as she eyed them both with confusion, coming to halt.

"Wh- what is going on?"

"Just a little joke." Sokka argued, before smirking at his girlfriend, "I'm getting pretty good at acting, aren't I?"

"That was easy... you were talking about something that fit your interests." she argued, before pointing a finger at him, "I won't expect you to play an Earth Kingdom noble anywhere near as well."

"But a university student." he countered, pointing a finger back at her, "How about that?"

"We'll see soon enough, savage." she said all that she thought needed to be; given his intellect and need to blabber on about inventions and science, she actually thought he'd do a pretty good job, though she wouldn't declare that right in front of Ty Lee, making her sound loving or like a kiss-arse- neither fit her self-image very well.

"What was that for?" Ty Lee prodded her, "Do you just like confusing me?"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself. I like confusing everyone." she argued, before smirking, "But yes, I do."

"I can act." Ty Lee argued, and Azula nodded.

"Certainly... and unlike Mister Seal Jerky over here you actually were raised as a noble. You know a thing or two about etiquette."

"But etiquette's boring." she mumbled, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'm well aware." she grumbled, before sighing, "But you'll need it if you're going to pretend to be somebody else."

The Princess paced ahead, sticking behind Sokka, who leaned in close when she approached, "So, do you want her to go off so you can kiss me or what?" he very bluntly questioned her, and her cheeks must have flushed red; she kept her cool and raised her chin.

"No, I want you to eat dirt." she coldly retorted; her words were a lie, and he must have realised it.

"Who do I look like, Toph?" he asked her, and Azula tensed up, glancing around briefly to make sure the blind girl wasn't in their vicinity.

"You're either brave or stupid to say that with a chance of her hearing it." she acknowledged, knowing that when prodded the right way, Toph was just as temperamental as herself, if not worse.

She leaned back closer, and smiled, "Good one."

"I know." he grinned back at her before waving a hand at Ty Lee; he didn't need to say a word, and she got the message.

As soon as there was a fork in the path, she paced off another way, leaving the two of them alone, though there were villagers about who could clearly see them. When they got to a decent sized gap between two houses, she grabbed him by the scruff of his tunic, and dragged him into the cover.

"You're not as good at lying as you think." he smugly commented as she held him up against the wall of one of the houses; to an unaided eye, it might have looked like she was about to set his face alight or knee him in the crotch, but Sokka knew exactly what was going on.

He knew her almost better than she knew herself, and she sighed, before kissing him on the lips. The kiss was short but passionate, and when their faces parted, she could see his face was flushed red; she glanced down either end of the gap, knowing that Ty Lee was more than likely to try and snoop on them.

"I swear, she needs to get a boyfriend more than I need the Royal Spa."

"Yeah, that would get her off our backs." Sokka agreed with her point, "But I think you like that somebody approves of us."

"I already got all the approval I'd need from your grandmother and the other villagers." she argued, and Sokka hummed in interest.

"So, the opinions of snow savages do matter to you." he observed, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"Stop being obtuse, idiot. You know I care about them." she argued, before tilting her head, "As much as I could for people that I barely know... Gran-Gran excluded." she added, knowing his grandmother uncomfortably well; as much as she hated to admit it, having a motherly figure in her life once more was actually a nice thing, and though she'd never said that frankly to Sokka, she was sure he'd figured out her feelings on the matter just by how she spoke about the woman.

"What are you saying, you know people's names, they know yours, you give them stuff, they give you stuff." he argued, "You're part of the tribe."

"Not really." she mumbled, before pinching her index finger and thumb on her voicebox, "Still missing something."

"A voice?" he misinterpreted her gesture, before he suddenly realised; he stumbled back and glanced around.

"Are- are you proposing to me right now?" he asked her, and Azula just laughed.

"No, idiot. I'm telling you that you should get on with it." she prodded him; she knew he understood she was saying it in jest, but she was by no means obfuscating her feelings.

"I love you, Azula." he declared, "And I'm not just saying that because I'm attached to you." he assured her, stepping closer, "You're the only person who really understands me." he acknowledged, and she let her guard down, if only for a moment.

She hugged him tightly, feeling the warmth of his body against her own, "I can say the same."

"I know." he whispered back, "You had a shitty childhood... and this is coming from the peasant who was hungry half the time." he acknowledged, and Azula shrugged.

"Comfort isn't everything."

"Love is." he admitted, "I know it sounds corny, but you need to hear that."

"Love is just a feeling... a pact between hearts." she tried to quantify it, "I don't want love, I want peace."

"Inner peace or outer peace." he prodded her for a more direct answer, and Azula just hummed, "Thought so."

"We'll need both." she decided to clarify, before breaking their hug, "Thank you, Sokka... I needed that."

"You were just joking about the necklace, right?" he decided to bring up the earlier topic, and she just smirked.

"What do you think, great inventor?" she mocked him, and the warrior scrunched his face up, seeming to be deep in thought, though she knew that was probably the same face he made when he was taking a crap, "Don't think too hard about it."

"I- uh..." he mumbled, seeming unsure of himself, "I'll find the time."

"What to make the necklace, or to grow a pair?" she quipped back at him, and Sokka scoffed, planting his hands on his hips.

"Excuse me, I have a pair!" he declared confidently, "Did you see me dashing into the darkness smacking the daylights out of those bandits-" he began, before making a disappointed look, his stout posture weakening, "Wait, you weren't there."

"I'm sure you executed your plans perfectly." she assured him, kissing him on the cheek, before she paced back towards the path, knowing that they couldn't stay there forever.

"I- uh, yeah, I did." he assured her with an awkward, fluttered voice, and followed her back into the street.

Azula could see Ty Lee was waiting for them by a house nearby, having walked around another way to get there; whether she was eavesdropping was unclear, but she couldn't trust her to keep away, at least for very long. She waved at the pair with a giddy look, and when the Princess approached, she leaned in close with a grin.

"So, did you two make out?"

"Briefly." Sokka bluntly confirmed the facts, and Ty Lee raised a fist of triumph.

"That's what I'm talking about!" she exclaimed, offering her friend a high five; she refused it and just kept walking, wanting to get back to the airship instead of suffering the embarrassment of discussing her relationship with Ty Lee in such a public place.

She could already see that the villagers had heard her, and were eyeing the trio with confused expressions; the other two followed after her, and she could see her friend whispering to Sokka in the corner of her eye. After a few words back and forth, her boyfriend waved her off and sped up his pace, catching up with Azula.

"Sorry about her, she's just happy for us and all." he acknowledged, despite having made clear his own annoyance with her behaviour only a few minutes prior.

"I know that... you didn't need to say what you did."

"Hey, even you can admit it's funnier when you just tell the truth." he argued, and she sighed.

"I prefer when the truth is disturbing, not lascivious." she argued, "Like when I talk about how my mother murdered my grandfather." she gave an example of what she thought to be something better to bluntly talk about; not just because it was an established fact, or at least, an understood one, but because Azula wanted to ingrain that reality in her head.

She preferred to acknowledge why her mother abandoned her; it was at least something she could commend, especially now knowing the kinds of feelings that must have been going through her head at the time. However, she knew that her father would have been the one behind the plan, and the one who would have forced her to leave; she didn't blame him for it either, knowing her grandfather only as a spiteful, uncaring, and angry old man.

If her mother had killed her father instead, then perhaps she might have had a better life after that; her uncle would have eventually become the Fire Lord instead of becoming her brother's advisor in exile. Azula hadn't really thought about that too much, but when she did, it made her realise how she could only think in terms of death and destruction. One life for another, death to make peace; Azula was trying to get past that mindset, but it was harder than anything else she had tried to do so far.

"I wish I hated her as much as I hated him." she mumbled, Sokka clearly hearing her words.

"I mean, she didn't seem to be the most responsible parent, but your dad has threatened to kill us, multiple times." he acknowledged the stark difference between Ozai and Ursa.

"In his defence, I'm unsure if he actually wants me dead. You and the others, most certainly." she admitted, not knowing what her father's plans for her were; she'd prefer to not know, if only because it might further disgust and terrify her, "But I won't let him touch a hair on your head." she assured him, making him chuckle awkwardly.

"I know." he assured her, though he sounded less confident than he had earlier, "Sorry to make you bring that stuff up."

"As I said, I need to remember." she admitted, "My father is a selfish fool who exploited my cousin's death to seize the throne. If I want to beat him, I might need to do something as questionable as what he made my mother do."

"You aren't throwing morals back out the window, are you?"

"Nothing of the sorts... but my honour, perhaps. Victory always has a price, Sokka." she warned him, and Ty Lee must have just caught up.

"What about prices?" she asked, and Azula rolled her eyes.

"How much does an easy victory cost?"

"A lot- uh, a lot of lives, I'm guessing." she astutely noted what she had been getting at, without having heard most of the conversation.

"Precisely. I would prefer to destroy a city to save a nation the same fate of destruction." she gave an analogy, Sokka's expression shifting to one of concern; she decided she needed to clarify for his sake, "I'm not destroying a city... who do you take me for, Zhao?"

"Heh, point taken." he conceded her point, "I wasn't worried about that." he admitted, and Azula smirked.

"Good."

"No, I'm more concerned about Aang. You've seen what he can do. He needs to be able to control his power... otherwise, things could get more than a little dicy." he clarified his actual concerns, instead of simply telling her what she wanted to hear.

She felt guilty that it was pleasing to hear Aang be a greater threat than her, both because she wanted to make sure the boy was powerful enough to combat their mutual enemies, and because she didn't think she was really capable of that much destruction. The Avatar, when compared to a paltry airship, or even her firebending, was something else. During the Comet, she had tasted of the greatest power she could ever hope to attain, and it was both mesmerising and terrifying; she had never had to use her bending during Sozin's Comet, though she did firebend in her own time for the mere spectacle.

She knew that the airship could destroy at her command, she doubted it would do all that much, not without substantive back-up; Aang, however, was perhaps as destructive as a whole fleet, just by himself. All he needed was the motivation or drive to use the Avatar State, and he would be unstoppable. As much as the idea of using his fears to attain victory enticed her, after hearing what he experienced each time he used it, she would prefer to only use it as a matter of last resort. So, if it were utter defeat, and death at the hands of her enemies, or making sure Aang used all his power to save them and their cause, then she'd force him to do without a second thought.

"Yes, he's powerful." she agreed with what Sokka said, "We need to make sure he learns to control his emotions. It is the basis of all effective bending."

"I'm not talking about bending." he corrected her, but Azula wasn't ignorant; she knew that his mastery of the elements and his mastery of the Avatar state could just as well be the same thing.

Even if his spiritual, godlike powers were completely unrelated to his actual finesse with each of the four elements, mastering the elements required a mindset that combined all four bending arts. The freedom and grace of airbending, the flow of waterbending, the unrelenting force of earthbending, and the heart and destruction of firebending. She understood only one of those truly, but at least had a grasp of the mentalities behind each.

"He needs to be able to think like every kind of bender." she clarified, and Ty Lee hummed along in interest.

"Bending all the elements isn't just about the elements." she noted, "Like how all fighting styles aren't the same."

"I guess you're right." Sokka conceded, "But, will making some- what, combination, or compromise, of how everyone fights and thinks make him control that power?" he asked, and Azula shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm no master of spiritual matters. Bending is what I know."

"Well, we better find some sages to instruct him before he tries to do anything. I'd really prefer not to get blown off a mountain." he admitted, and Azula grasped him by his hand, staring into his eyes.

"I'd catch you."

"And doom yourself?" he questioned her, and though she was trying to imply she could use her firebending to launch herself up, and break any fall, she decided he needed to hear something else.

"We rise together, and we fall together."

"What are we meant to be? The moon and the sea?" he prodded her, before snickering, "There's some Zhao joke there I'm too uneducated to make."

"He can't kill us, and he can't kill the spirits." she acknowledged how things had gone, pleased with the results even if she didn't like the path they had taken to get there; she was sure Sokka agreed with her on that matter, "I won't claim we're anything near as important as the spirits."

"No, but you're about as close as you can get for people." Ty Lee argued, "Guiding the Avatar is a pretty important duty."

"Being barely adults makes us a little underqualified, don't you think?" he asked Azula, and she raised her chin.

"No, Sokka, I was born for this."

"Heh, yeah you can say that with your Avatar blood. I'm just Sokka."

"Exactly, and that's why it's impressive you've done as much as you have." she acknowledged the contrast between the two of them; she was born with a great destiny in mind, but Sokka was just a random Water Tribe boy who got lucky, and used his wits and strengths to change the world.

He seemed to be buoyed by her words, and giddily grinned as he increased his pace, dashing towards the airship.

"What can I say, the ladies love me!"