Glancing into his cousin's bedroom, Lu Ten wondered if Zuko was feeling alright; he hadn't seen him since their family lunch, where the young prince had been grilled by his father for not recalling a specific historical fact correctly. It seemed a little overkill, given that his cousin was only ten years old. The Prince's head rose up from his pillow, and turned around, showing his face to his cousin; he didn't seem to be in a very good mood, though his expression brightened when he realised it was Lu Ten at his door.

"Cousin, what are you doing here?" he asked the elder prince, who stepped inside the room, offering him a warm smile.

"Oh, I thought you could use some company." he clarified, "Did you want to play together or something?"

"Play?" Zuko raised a brow, "Cousin, you're nearly an adult." he stated a rather obvious fact.

He might have been a lot older than him, but that didn't mean he couldn't spare the time to play with him, or his sister; Azula was doing firebending training at that very moment so he decided to check on his elder cousin first.

"Doesn't mean I don't have time for fun with my little cousin." he smirked at him before gesturing out the door, "Come on, it's better to do that than be holed up in this room for the rest of the day."

Zuko's expression shifted somewhat, showing that he was amenable to the idea; he got up from his bed, and glanced around, "What did you want to do, Cousin?"

"I don't know. What's fun for you?"

"Games that involve running. Or jumping. Or climbing. Do you get what I mean?" he asked him, sounding a little nervous; the Prince smirked at his young cousin, thinking he had a good idea.

"Running, you say?" he asked him rhetorically, before gesturing toward the door, "Come on, follow me. I've got an idea that might fit with that."

Zuko paced up behind him and followed him out into the hallway, "What was your idea?"

"I was thinking... tag." he clarified, his cousin scrunching his lips up.

"But where are we going to play, we're in the palace. I don't think we're allowed to run around."

"Well, you aren't allowed to run around, but that's not a problem if nobody sees you running." he suggested, the young prince's eyes widened with surprise.

"That's... a good idea." his expression shifted to a grin, "Who's it?"

Lu Ten tapped his cousin on the shoulder, before he darted down the hallway, "You!" he shouted out, before pushing the door open and heading into the living room of his Uncle's part of the palace.

He quickly made his way over to another door, pushed it open and stepped out, his eyes momentarily glancing backward to see his cousin charging on after him; he was quite fast on his feet, and though the elder of the two had longer legs, the other boy made up for his stature with agility. The elder prince made his way through the doorway, which led him out into the halls of the palace proper; he made his way down the hall, forcing his pace to slow as he saw some guards walking by, who nodded at him; he eyed back to see his cousin, who like him had slowed his pace, but was still heading right toward him. He darted down another corner, hoping that he could trick his cousin into going the wrong way; the hall was lined with rooms, some of which were used for meetings, while others were tea-rooms or places for staff to take a break. He decided to open and close one of the doors, doing so audibly, before he opened up one of the meeting rooms, knowing that Zuko would be drawn to the sound of the other door. He then moved through the room, which was luckily empty at that time, and made his way toward another door on the opposite side of the room, to exit.

"He won't get me now." he mumbled, feeling rather proud of his trickery.

He then moved down the smaller hallway he had found himself in, heading to his left, which would lead him further away from where he last saw his cousin; when he reached the intersection of the hallway with another, he realised his trick hadn't worked, as his cousin was standing right there waiting for him. Lu Ten almost yelped, and turned his heels, knowing that his cousin's speed would mean he'd catch up before he could find another diverging route to take.

"I've got you!" Zuko exclaimed, leaping forward to jab his cousin in the back, which then signified that he was now 'it'; he sighed with frustration, and turned around to see the young prince running the other way.

He rolled his eyes, and made his way after his cousin, seeing him dart to the right, after which Lu Ten followed; he eyed up the hallway, and saw the possible routes his cousin could take, and waited intently for him to do something, continuing after at as fast a pace he could muster. When the young prince opened a door and walked inside, he followed right after him, but he realised he might have a bit of trouble, as he realised that the room was one of the storage rooms, housing boxes of things like tea, rice and other basic things that were part of the daily needs of the Royal Family. He glanced up the first aisle he could see, and did not see or hear any evidence of Zuko; he sighed, and began to walk down to the left, making his way along the aisles to see where his cousin might have gone. He sighed with frustration as he moved from aisle to aisle, not finding him.

"Zuko, we aren't playing hide and scream." he rolled his eyes, before he heard his cousin's voice behind him.

"No, we're not." he agreed with him, Lu Ten's eyes darting around to realise Zuko was already at the doorway, and was running right back out of the room.

"Aw, come on." he groaned with frustration, before following after his cousin; who continued to run on down the hallway, now having gained a decent advantage of distance.

Making his way after the young prince, he saw him dart down another hallway, this time to their right, and the elder of the pair sighed, knowing that his cousin's agility wasn't something he could easily match up against. When he got around the corner, he was forced to stop running, as he saw his father standing with a number of high-ranking military officers, casually chatting in the hallway; his eyes immediately darted over to his son, and his lips pursed upward. He obviously knew where Zuko must have disappeared to, but it would be a bit rude for Lu Ten to walk up to him and ask just that, given that he was in the middle of talking to some people.

"Ah, this must be your son." one of the officers turned to face him, "Prince Lu Ten." he acknowledged him with a bow.

"Is he at the academy at the moment?" another officer asked his father, who nodded, his smile telling him that he was proud of that fact.

The Prince was on break from his studies there, and that was why he was home; usually he wouldn't be running around the halls of the palace after his cousin, but doing firebending sets or reading strategy manuals.

"Father." he addressed Iroh, who cleared his throat, stepping a little closer toward him as the Prince approached, "Do you know where my cousin is?"

"Oh, she's training out in the courtyard just over there." he gestured behind him, Lu Ten trying to hold back rolling his eyes; he was referring to his other cousin, who he'd been chasing, not Azula.

"Father." he simply addressed him again, telling him to fess up without directly asking.

"Okay, okay, he went in there." he gestured to his right, into what the Prince thought to be one of his grandfather's studies, where the Fire Lord would read books and if need be, entertain guests to the palace.

He glanced over toward the door, which was open, and stepped over, keeping his pace slow, not wanting to frighten his cousin if he was really hiding in there; he wanted to tap him and make him it, not make him run off to someplace else in the palace. He pushed the door open, and glanced inside, seeing that the room was devoid of any young princes, or evidence of his presence. Everything was in place, as he would expect it to be as if servants had cleaned it and nobody had come inside.

"What..." he mumbled, before he heard some quick footsteps off in the distance behind him.

"Thanks, Uncleǃ" he heard his cousin call out, Lu Ten leaning out of the doorway and looking back at his father, who shrugged his shoulders making a sheepish grin.

"I feel so betrayed right now." he placed a hand on his chest, feigning offence, his uncle and the officers chuckling; Iroh gestured over in the direction Zuko had run, with a serious expression on his face.

"You ought to hurry, my son. He's going to get away." he warned him, the Prince immediately pacing off down the hallway.

His father's trickery was amusing, and reminded him you didn't need to be young to have fun; he grimaced at the thought of the seriousness and spitefulness his uncle always portrayed, and knew that to have a father like that would be far less enticing.

"Well, at least my father's fun."


"Trust me, your highness, you do not want to go in there."

Azula raised a brow at the man who had been guiding her around the Northern Air Temple, the so-called Mechanist, who invented war-machines for the Fire Nation, despite being from the Earth Kingdom. She had been assured by War Minister Qin that he would be cooperative in her search for the Avatar, and with him, anything associated with his background. She needed to scour the Air Temples, and at the second one she had reached, she found herself walking amongst a bunch of Earth Kingdom refugees, who were understandably fearful of her and was confused as well as intrigued by what the inventor and his people had done with the place; they had ravished and desecrated the Northern Temple, after taking it up as their home. Though she could understand why they had done so, it frustrated her efforts in finding more Air Nomad artefacts to better prepare her for facing the Avatar, whenever she found him.

"And why wouldn't I want to go in there?" she gestured to the wooden doorway; he had been leading her around the temple, and the section they arrived in was at the very least untouched by him and his fellow colonists, somewhere where she might be able to find artefacts.

"Because it's filled with natural gas." he explained, "It'll explode if you go in there... because you won't be able to see, and you'll need to use your firebending."

She rolled her eyes, sighing, before gesturing toward the door once more, "Are there artefacts in there?" she simply asked him, the Mechanist raising one of his half-burnt eyebrows up in thought.

"Well, I couldn't see much in there." he acknowledged, "There might be, seeing that nobody's been in there."

"Do you have a collection of artefacts or something?" she asked him, guessing that he must have collated the things he didn't end up destroying.

"Uh... a few scrolls I used for my designs to create the gliders you saw." he clarified, the Princess raising a finger to her chin.

"Well, they may help." she conceded, "Is there anything else? I will need something of substance after coming all the way to this damn place." she gestured around the hallway, "The Air Nomads are dead, but I need to understand them, and you have made that more than a little harder with your 'renovations'."

"I apologise." he bowed down, though his voice sounded rather disingenuous.

"Oh, you apologise?" she scoffed, before turning to face her guards, "We're heading back up. I don't want to put our lives in danger trying to scour around that room." she decided, before narrowing her eyes at the Mechanist, "Show me these glider scrolls. That's the least you can do after you demolished everything I came here to see."

Striding back up the staircase, she was followed by the Imperial Firebenders who had accompanied her, keeping a stern eye on the Mechanist; she required his complete cooperation, so a little intimidation was required to achieve that. She knew that he was only making weapons for the Fire Nation because he had no other choice, so she knew that he or his people might still hide some things from her; things that could allow her to beat the Avatar, which would be another step on the Fire Nation's inevitable march to victory. As she made her way back out to a more open part of the temple, the colonists looked her way, obviously wary of her presence, and walked off in any direction they could to get away; she wanted to laugh at their fear, but she was currently too frustrated about the Mechanist and his destruction of the Air Temple to care about them. The Mechanist turned his heels and began pacing down the wide, open halls, and he turned back to gesture for her to follow.

"My office is this way, your highness." he explained, and Azula heeded his words, taking off after him; they made their way to a doorway, which he opened up, leading into a relatively small, cluttered room, though she was sure it would feel a lot larger without all the stuff inside.

She glanced about the room, noting all the schematics he had lying around; he had designed a number of the Fire Nation's foremost weapons, such as the tundra tank and the tank train that sat on her very ship, and she was sure there were more inventions to come out of the little room she found herself in.

He gestured over to a shelf where she could see a few tied up scrolls, their age suggesting that they were the ones he had been speaking of, "There they are, Princess. I warn, the scrolls weren't in the best condition, so I recommend to handle them with care."

She approached the shelf, and pulled out one of the scrolls, unfurling it; scanning its contents, she smirked, seeing that it showed how Air Nomads carved their glider staffs from tree branches; she guessed that the brilliant inventor had replicated their technique and used it to make more complex gliders, such as the one she had seen the Mechanist's son, Teo, using. It was a rather interesting contraption, but she wasn't that fussed about the idea of gliders; she needed to know how the Air Nomads lived, because that would allow her to understand her enemy.

She turned back to face him, "Do you have any more scrolls?"

The Mechanist shook his head, "I do not. Other colonists might have some in their personal possession, but when we first arrived... there was nearly none here. These are all I could recover." he explained, the Princess sighing; she knew there was a possibility he was lying, though there was no way she could be completely sure.

"Fine then." she snarled, turning to face her Imperial Firebenders, "I want you to gather all of the men, and search every single inhabited room in this temple, bottom to top. Ask politely, and if they don't give up any scrolls they have, search the rooms for them. Don't take anything else- that's all I need." she stressed, the guard nodding, understanding her command.

"Of course, your highness, your will is our command." he bowed toward her, before turning around to face his comrades, "You heard the Princess. From bottom to top."

She turned back to face the Mechanist, "You were not wise to do what you did. If your colonists get beaten by my men for resisting, that is on you." she snarled at him, "You should have never come here."

"I only did what I thought was right for my family." he assured her, the Princess shaking her head; desecrating an Air Temple and then serving the enemy's of his own nation wasn't something she could respect, even if his actions benefited the Fire Nation.

"You have no honour for your country, or any wit to speak of." she told him, turning around and placing her hands behind her back, "Your people were unwise to follow you."

"But... you're Fire Nation, I'm helping your country... even I don't want to." he explained himself, Azula rolling her eyes; she understood that clearly, and she despised it.

"Exactly, you moron." she gestured toward him, "Now, I won't bother taking these scrolls, given that they have nothing to do with airbending or the culture and philosophy of the people who once lived here." she clarified, "Your weakness, Mechanist, is the advantage of my country. We have brought the prosperity of our great nation over your own, and soon enough, the Northern Water Tribe will feel the liberty of our rule."

He looked at her with utter shock, trying to think of something to say, "Speechless, are you? Not that I want to listen to you, unless you want to tell me what else you're making for War Minister Qin."

"Liberty?" he mumbled, "What liberty?" he asked, his tone almost fearful; from any other person, she would have thought he was being snarky, but he truly lacked a spine, so he was simply perplexed by her claim.

She snickered, finding his question to be amusing, "Oh, have you not heard how sexist and degraded Water Tribe culture is? They aren't savages because they live in structures built of ice and hunt to survive, but because they're ignorant, stubborn sexists who refuse to understand the idea of progress. Those savages will bring doom to themselves, and we-" she gestured to her sternum, "we will bring liberty and prosperity."

"I can't do anything to stop you." he conceded, "Please, just don't harm my friends and family. We haven't done anything to wrong you and your people."

"Not yet." she argued, before turning her heels around, "Enjoy your peace while it lasts, Mechanist." she warned him, before exiting his workshop.

She glanced up and down the hallway, noting the pipes that ran up and down the hallways; the technology was intriguing, and showed her that even the unrefined Earth Kingdom could develop technologies, even though it really came from one man, while the Fire Nation was full of people like the Mechanist. They had engineers, designers, industrialists funding research; their prosperity had been both derived from technology and the fortunate circumstances of the home islands, which were bountiful in reserves of iron and coal. She wondered what might have become of the other nations if they had had that wealth to themselves; she smirked, realising they'd learn quickly enough, given that the Fire Nation harnessed control over most of the world, barring the poles.

The South Pole was impoverished and ignored by the Fire Nation, given their military threat had been neutralised by the Southern Raiders, but the North Pole was still a threat, though they hadn't attempted to fight the Fire Nation in any offensive campaigns, at least not yet. Their cowardice would be their doom, given that with the Earth Kingdom under their control, her nation could focus their military strength against them; she was sure they wouldn't last very long, given that her uncle was at the command of the Fire Nation's forces- even if he didn't have much taste for war anymore, he was the most successful military commander in Fire Nation history, having conquered the purportedly unconquerable Ba Sing Se.

She made her way down through the temple, noting the cautious eyes on her, and the Princess smirked; she was the one with the authority to decide the fate of the Northern Air Temple, if she so wished. She knew that being merciful was the most strategic decision, given that the Mechanist was still capable of providing them with the technologies they could wield against the Northern Water Tribe, if need be. Conquering their capital with a new weapon would be a fine way to end the war, in her opinion, given that it might lead to less casualties on either side, and an outright surrender on the behalf of their enemies, who could not resist their might. Even if she had yet found the knowledge to defeat the Avatar, she could rest easy knowing that the power to defeat those who continued to resist her nation lay comfortably in their hands; despite wanting to claim herself as such, the cowardice of the Mechanist would truly be the greatest weapon of her nation.


Mai wasn't surprised when Zuko showed up at her window wearing his brooding Dark Water Spirit mask and all black, though when he awkwardly asked her if she wanted to go to the Autumn Equinox Festival, she was a little surprised. He could have just called it a date and gotten that part over and done with, but no, the Fire Prince had to be about the most awkward person she knew. It was kind of endearing, but also annoying at times, given how it was hard for him to get his thoughts across; Mai on the other hand was quiet by choice, and would speak when she needed to.

She had put on her own mask, and dressed in her relatively tight black robes, which were a lot less flowing than the usually long burgundy ones she tended to wear otherwise. It was a bit closer to the kind of outfits Azula wore, when she thought about it, though the Princess wouldn't dare to wear something so drab- it was against everything she stood for. When she turned back to face Zuko, he made an awkward little smile, and gestured toward her window.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, Mai stepping forward to the windowsill, placing one foot on it before climbing out onto the roof; she didn't need to tell him she was ready, and with that, he followed right after her.

"Where are we going, exactly?" she asked him, the Prince gesturing along the rooftops toward the centre of the Caldera City; there were banners and paper torches rising up from that direction, dimly lighting the city as the sun neared the horizon.

"Just there. We can take the rooftops, so the crowds don't get in the way."

"I think you overestimate how well I can jump, Zuko." she narrowed her eyes at hs; even if he couldn't see her skeptical face, he understood her tone, and turned to face her.

"You're good at it, Mai. Maybe not as good as Ty Lee, but I don't think anybody's as good as Ty Lee." he conceded, before he paced off and jumped off of the roof of her house, leaping across the alleyway between her house and the one beside it.

He landed safely on the roof, and turned back to face her motioning his hand for her to follow, the noblewoman rolling her eyes; if she twisted her ankle, she'd break the Prince's nose. She took a deep breath before she ran off after him, jumping across the gap; she held her breath for the entire period, but once she landed safely on the other side, she let out the air from her lungs.

"See, that wasn't too bad." he assured her, before gesturing along the neighbouring rooftops, "Let's keep on it. We'll have to get down to ground level when we reach the festival itself, but nobody's going to question the masks, luckily for us."

"Because for some reason, somebody decided everyone should wear masks at festivals." she acknowledged.

The Fire Nation education system didn't explain the intricacies of their culture like that, and she didn't really care for it; it was a very good excuse for them to cover their faces and obscure their identities. If anybody from her school saw her walking with the Prince unmasked at a festival, then she'd be the talk of the place within a few days, something she certainly didn't want to have to endure. The pair continued to pace along the rooftops, jumping across between houses when necessary; she made sure to keep up her pace, knowing that if she slowed, there was a chance she'd miss the jump.

When they got closer to the main street, they were forced to begin jumping between buildings in another direction, which had the disadvantage of wider gaps between each rooftop, though they were able to solve that by jumping on the top of the brick fences that lay between houses, before scaling up onto the roofs once again. She found the whole exercise to be enjoyable, and even let out a little smile under her mask, knowing that nobody could see her. When they got to the area of the festival, they climbed down to the street via a drainage pipe, sliding down from each indentation in the pipe to ground level. She dusted herself off once she had both feet on the ground, and turned around, noting Zuko was already heading toward the crowd of the main street, Mai following after him.

When they reached the main street, he turned back to face her, gesturing along toward the stalls, "Did you want to get something to eat?"

She furrowed a brow, considering what she ought to get; fire flakes were the go to festival food, but she wasn't really fussed with what she ate; before she could think of a response, the Prince leaned a little closer, and spoke up once more.

"Did you want a fruit tart?" he asked her, "I'm sure we can buy one somewhere."

She pursed her lips upward, deciding that Zuko had a good judgement on that matter- she would like a fruit tart; Mai scrunched her lips up in thought, realising that he was going to pay for it, "Where'd you get the money?"

"Uh... I'd rather not say." he admitted, making her snicker; stealing was more than a little absurd when he was a Prince of the Fire Nation.

"You're not a thief, are you? You really shouldn't need to be."

"Well, I didn't steal it from somebody who needed it." he clarified, before he began to pace through the crowd, forcing her to follow on behind him.

The pair made their way through the crowd, forcing her to step around people as she tailed after Zuko, who was rather intent in his paces; he either was really concerned about her getting her fruit tart, or something else was on her mind. As much as she'd like to think it was the former, she was certain something had happened; things always seemed to be happening when it came to Zuko and his family, given what had been happening over the past two months. Iroh had become the Fire Lord, and from the sounds of it, Prince Ozai was up to something, and not anything good, at that; Azula on the other hand, was far away from the homeland, searching for the Avatar, a quest that didn't make much sense in her eyes, given that nobody had seen the last airbender in a hundred years, let alone having knowledge of his identity- he was just one Air Nomad, somewhere out there in the world, hiding from the Fire Nation.

When they reached a stall that sold fruit tarts, amongst other things, Zuko stepped forward at once, pulling out some coins and placing them on the bench, "A fruit tart, please." he asked them, the stall owner glancing down at the coins he'd given.

"Uh, that's enough for three." he clarified, making the Prince look back her way.

"Uh, did you want three?" he asked her with an unsure voice, making her smirk.

"Yes, I'll have three." she confirmed, the stall-owner handing the Prince three fruit tarts, which he gave to her.

She pulled her mask up, and took a bite out of one, finding it to be unsurprisingly good; it wasn't as good as some she'd had before, but it was still a good thing to eat. She pulled her mask back down as she and Zuko moved over toward a median strip, which was lined by elevated stones, good for them to sit on. Once they were sitting down, she turned back to face the boy beside her, whose posture indicated that he was feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Do you not like all the people?" she asked him, the Prince turning her way and shaking his head.

"No. It's not that. It's... it's what I've been thinking about." he explained, Mai raising her chin, not surprised by what she was hearing.

"I guessed you were worried about something." she noted, before leaning a little closer, both of their masks sitting between their faces, and thus, masking their expressions from each other, "What is it?"

"It's Father." he admitted, his voice timid, almost sounding afraid to speak, "I know what he has planned now."

"Oh, so you've been sneaking around for more than just hanging out with me." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "What's wrong, Zuko?"

"He... he wants to destroy it all." he admitted, before glancing out around the crowd, "Once this is all his."

"Everything?" she asked him, "What kind of Fire Lord wants to destroy everything?"

"Well, not everything, but the other nations... they're going to go the way of the Air Nomads." he admitted, before placing his hands together, "I don't know if I can... if I can tolerate that."

"You can make your own decisions on what's right, Zuko." she assured him, the Prince looking down at his hands for a few moments, silence falling between them, the only sounds being that of the crowd, which drowned out all the voices into a blur.

He turned to face her and sighed, "I'm going to be the Crown Prince, and then, some day, I'll be Fire Lord." he acknowledged, "But, I don't know if I can let him do all that."

"Then don't." she told him, daring to say something she knew she might regret, "Give him some of his own medicine."

"I can't beat him. He's the most powerful firebender alive." he murmured, Mai raising a brow.

"Well, you don't need firebending to beat a man whole would be responsible for the death of a Fire Lord, would you?" she asked him, knowing that if whatever Ozai intended for his brother was revealed, then he could be imprisoned, if not executed, for treason.

"But he's my father." he mumbled, "Even... even if he's a bad man, that doesn't mean I should just betray him like that."

"What would Azula do?" she asked him, knowing that his thoughts on his sister might clear up some problems; she was always the antagonist to Zuko, but even then, he would admit that her perseverance and strengths were inspiring.

"She'd let him burn." he spoke up a little louder, his voice sounding even more afraid than it had been before, "She'd let them all burn, just for that damn seat."