"Spare me. By morning, I'll be gone, and you'll be back to your pathetic journey to find spiritual whatever in the wilderness. We shouldn't have even met."
"It doesn't have to be that way, Azula!"
"It is that way."
"Why?!"

Azula made a show of sighing dramatically. "Because, my dear Zuzu, this is nothing to me. You're nothing to me. I don't need you, I don't want you. What I need right now is sleep, and if you insist on yammering at me all night, neither of us are going to get any." She paused, a sly smile crossing her lips. "It doesn't have to be a fight… Neither of us want to kill the other, and besides, I certainly don't want to waste my evening fighting over seemingly the only camp in this miserable forest!"

A note of frustration had entered her voice unbidden. This confrontation was not in her plans. Zuko was not in her plans. She was simply passing through the area when the forest was suddenly all around her, and the path was hidden.

For his part, Zuko also had no wish to fight his sister. He'd been told that this ancient forest had a way of providing what you needed in times of conflict, but when he'd come upon a small clearing and found Azula scowling up at him, he'd thought it was an illusion. It had taken a long time to convince himself she was real. Either way, his destiny had brought him here, and brought her to him. Perhaps this was his last chance to reach her.

Zuko fought to keep his voice level. "Sister, please… Can't we just-?"
"No!" she snapped. "I'm not here to be reasoned with, brother!"
"I was going to say that we should just talk normally instead of fighting, like we used to!" Zuko spat. "I haven't seen you in months!"

All at once, several emotions crossed Azula's face. A slight frown, a twitch of the lip, a narrowing of the eyes. Zuko struggled to make out any of it, but her face was an inscrutable mask before he could understand any of it. Whatever she'd landed on, she looked angry. Her lips parted.
"You want to… Talk normally?" she asked awkwardly. Like always, Zuko couldn't read her at all.
"Yes." He paused uncomfortably as he struggled to find something to open with. "How's… Things?"

A cold tide of derision lapped at the shores of Azula's mind. "How's things? Seeing as you're still the Fire Lord, things are terrible." Zuko scowled. "What? Did you expect me to have a packed social life on the run?"
"No. I just don't know how to talk to you. I've never known how to talk to you. Everything I've ever said to you is another thing for you to throw in my face."
Azula paused for an instant, considering that. "Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true."

Zuko waited, but Azula seemed to be deep in thought. He waited, and finally she spoke again.
"Are you happy?" she asked quietly.
Zuko thought of the stress he was under, of the fear that followed his every step, of the work that never seemed to be over… But he also thought of Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, his uncle… Mai… After a long moment, he decided. "Yes. I think I am happy." Azula simply looked at him. "I am… Burdened… By my role. And there is so much to do, but… I am surrounded by people who care about me, and they give me the strength to carry on…"
Azula's mouth twitched again, this time almost into a snarl. Zuko realized that in his consideration of how to honestly answer the question, he might have come across cruelly to her. "I-"
"I see," Azula hissed. "Well, goody for Zuzu, so many friends to play with. Good for you. Enjoy it."
Azula turned away, clearly attempting to exit the conversation. In panic, Zuko blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "I… I miss you!"

Azula's head snapped back around, and Zuko's face was contorted with shock. She was confused, too. She hadn't expected him to say that.
"What?"
"I… I said I miss you! When I was back in the Fire Nation, I was unhappy, but you weren't part of that unhappiness. I never trusted you, Azula, but I… I valued you. You were important to me, and I liked having you be a part of my life."
Azula searched her brother's face for the lie he was spinning, for the weakness that would betray this confusing outburst… But she could not find it. He was looking at her with that wretched earnestness that she hated, that look that reminded her of-

Zuko watched as Azula's shock gave way to bitterness, and she bit her lip. Zuko was unsure where all that had come from, and he felt exposed having admitted it to her. He felt as though he was waiting for an executioner's axe to swing down on his neck, as her icy gaze met his…
"I…" she started, but trailed off.
"You…?"
"I… What do you mean? I thought… I thought you hated me. Why don't you?"
Zuko paused. "You're my sister. I won't ever hate you."
A deep frown creased Azula's face. She blinked rapidly. "You said that before."
Zuko felt a wave of sadness for his sister. He stood. Azula cringed and also stood, taking a defensive stance. He approached slowly, Azula watching his every move with suspicion. Finally, he stood in front of her, and he hugged her. Azula shivered and pushed him away.
"Get off me! What are you thinking?! What is this?!" she yelled, seething with rage.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to be close to you."
Azula looked him up and down with disgust. "And you thought you'd hug me? That we'd be all happy families like that? Get real."

Azula tore at her cloak, pulling it off. Enough of this… This nonsense. She glared over at Zuko, but stopped short when she saw the look on his face. He was blushing, and he quickly looked away. She looked down, her clothes were intact. She sneered up at him. "Really, Fire Lord Zuko? Blushing at your own sister taking off a cloak? I'm not getting undressed, idiot, I'm getting ready for bed, I'm not going to sleep with this thing on me."
Zuko blushed redder. "Right, yes! I'm sorry!" And he hurriedly turned away to pull off the armor on his shoulders, too.
She watched him, thinking hard.

Zuko finished pulling off the heavy armor and his gauntlets, he bent down to take off his boots. As he straightened, he realized Azula had gotten very close. He swung around and she looked up at him, a smirk on her face.
"You're still bright red…" she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Aren't you ashamed?"
"Don't be disgusting!" Zuko snapped. "You just started pulling clothes off, what was I supposed to think?!"
Azula's fingers ran down his arm, touching the exposed skin of his wrist. "What am I supposed to think?" Her fingers caressed his arm. "Is that why you hugged me? You just wanted me close to you?" She smiled wickedly.
Zuko drew his hand back like it was burned. "Whatever this is, stop it."
Azula looked hurt, but it was clearly an act. "Oh, Zuzu, you're so mean." She leaned in to wrap her arms around him.

For a long moment, Zuko struggled with what to do, but held her in return. She was warm and soft, and she felt less dangerous like this. It felt like she was his sister again, and not the girl who haunted his nightmares.
Her hand touched his cheek, and Zuko broke away from her. She was still smiling teasingly as she met his gaze, and he found himself lost in her eyes, blazing like fire.
"Azula…"

Her lips parted to show her teeth, and she felt alive for the first time in a long time. For now she owned him. He'd do anything for her. If only she could keep him here… She pressed her body against his, breathing deeply in. Her hands locked behind his neck as shock registered on his face, before she pulled him down to kiss him. As their lips touched, he hesitated before reciprocating, and for the briefest moment, Azula was happy.
But the moment ended. Zuko pushed her back, hard, and backed away unsteadily. His face was a mask of horror.
"No. Don't do that. What was that?! Why did you do that?!" his voice rose until he was yelling at her. "What are you thinking?!"
Azula was uncowed. "You liked it."
"No, I didn't! You tricked me! Why does it always have to be this way with you?! Why does it have to be complicated?! Can't you just be my sister?!" Zuko was beside himself, all but shrieking.
Azula's lip curled in disdain. "Can't you just enjoy something without making it complicated?"
"I'm your brother!"
"You're my Zuzu," she stated coldly. "That's all there is to it."

Zuko crossed to the other side of the fire, collapsing to the ground and pulling himself into his sleeping bag. "I'm going to sleep. I don't want to see you in the morning. Leave at first light."
Azula might have protested, she might not have. Zuko made an effort to not pay attention, his thoughts were loaded and confused. After some time, he thought he heard a quiet sound from across the crackling of the fire. He did his best to ignore it, and slipped into an uneasy sleep.

When he awoke, he found himself alone by the dying embers of the campfire.