Azula stared at her mother. She had just said her name and was hugging her for dear life. Did that mean….?

"You just said my name. Do you remember me now? And everything else, too?"

Ursa pulled back from her daughter and stared at her with tears rolling down her face, "Yes, I remember everything. Our talk yesterday helped me. I'm so sorry for making you think that I never loved you and that I saw you as a monster. That's not true, Azula. I do love you and I don't think that you're a monster. I've never thought that about you, my love. I know that we have much to talk about, but for right now I need you to believe that, ok?" Ursa said, before pulling her daughter into a hug once more.

Azula's first instinct was to accuse her mother of lying to her since she could only ever love Zuko, but something held her back. That something was being in her mothers arms for the first time in years. When was the last time her mother held her like this? She couldn't remember. After being frozen for a while upon hearing her mothers words, she eventually leaned into the hug and began sobbing loudly. She began to wonder why she was willing to forgive her mother so easily, and came to the conclusion that it was because of her being in the body of a child. A child who had been longing to see her mother. Azula supposed that had she been in her real body, this conversation would have gone very differently. Right now, however, she couldn't really bring herself to care.

Her mother didn't think that she was a monster.

For right now, that was enough for Azula.

They had been walking around for a while but they had yet to find an entrance to this underground base that Jet had told them about. Sokka turned towards the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Well Jet, it was nice knowing-"

"Guy's! I see something over there!" Ty Lee shouted.

Sokka looked towards where the girl was pointing at, immediately dropping Jet and running towards where the entrance hopefully was, the others not too far behind him. He eventually came across a lid that was covering a hole. Sokka removed the lid and looked down. He smirked and looked towards his friends.

"Looks like we've found the entrance. Now come on, let's save Azula and kick Long Feng's ass!"

They all nodded except for Toph, who couldn't resist making one more comment about Sokka's obvious feelings towards Azula.

"Aye aye, captain lover boy!"

Sokka blushed but didn't say anything, and began making his way down the ladder.

As the others began to follow Sokka down, Ty Lee walked over to Toph.

"He didn't deny it again! He didn't even get mad at you for saying that!"

"Yep, captain boomerang has it bad for the tiny princess. Now come on, let's save his girlfriend so he can finally calm down."

When all of them made it down, they began to look at their surroundings. They didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Not yet, anyway. Sokka quickly turned to Jet, hoping that the boy would be able to remember where Long Feng and the Dai Li kept contained.

"Jet, do you remember anything? Anything here ringing any bells for you?"

Jet looked at Sokka and shook his head, "I don't remember much aside from what I told you. We're going to have to go farther in if we want to find that girl-"

Jet, I want you to find the avatar and his friends and bring them to me.

What was that? Jet looked around him, but all he saw was Smellerbee, Longshot, and the others. None of their voices sounded like the one he just heard. Was it a memory? And if so, who said that to him? Why did they want Aang and the others for?

"Jet? Hello?"

Jet's thoughts were interrupted by Sokka waving his hand in front of his face. He blinked before slapping Sokka's hand away.

"Sorry about that. Let's keep on looking."

Sokka stared at Jet as the boy walked away from them. He didn't like the way he paused mid sentence. It had seemed as if he had remembered something, but decided not to tell them. Sokka had no idea why, but he decided to trust him for now, if it meant finding Azula.

The two of them pulled apart from each other, Ursa wiping the tears from her face before doing the same thing for Azula, seeing as the girl was chained up. She then cupped her daughter's cheek, rubbing her thumb back and forth.

"There's so much that I want to say to you….so much that I want to ask you….but I think that what I want to know the most right now is-"

"Why do I look like I haven't aged a day since you left?"

Ursa chuckled, "Yes, I think that would be a great start."

And so, Azula explained what happened over the last few months. How father had given her a mission to capture Zuko and Iroh for the failure of the North Pole. How she recruited both Mai and Ty Lee to help her, how she ended up in Omashu as a result and met the avatar and his friends,how some spirits decided that it would be funny to shrink her down to the size of a child, and how she was now traveling with the avatar and his friends, hoping that he would be able to help her. When she was done explaining, Azula looked at her mother, who looked as if she didn't even know where to begin with what she was just told.

"I'm not sure which one is more shocking: spirits shrinking you for whatever reason, or the fact that you're traveling with the avatar of all people. I never thought that he would actually be found."

"Neither did I until Zuzu found him."

Ursa gasped at the mention of her eldest child. Azula had mentioned him in her story, hadn't she? Something about Ozai sending her to capture Zuko and Iroh.

"Would you mind explaining to me what's happened to your brother since the time I was banished? You mentioned that your father sent you to capture Zuko and Iroh."

Banished? Her mother had been banished from the Fire Nation? Why? Azula had always just assumed that Ursa left the palace so that people wouldn't find out that she had been the one who killed Azulon. Ursa being banished was the last thing she expected to hear.

"I'll give you the short version of what happened to Zuko because we don't have a lot of time to really talk. Three years ago, Zuko ran his mouth in a war meeting, not knowing what he was talking about. This angered father, who said that Zuko had shown disrespect, and as a result had to fight in an agni kai. At first, we all thought that Zuko would be fighting the general that he had mouthed off to, but instead it was father who came out to fight him. He said that what Zuko did was a sign of disrespect to him, the Firelord, and as such Zuko would be fighting him instead. Zuko predictably did not want to fight father, so he begged for father's forgiveness. Father saw this as a sign of weakness and even more disrespect, so as a result he….burned Zuko, and said that since Zuko failed to fight him, he lost his honor and was banished. The only way for him to return was if he found and captured the avatar. Uncle went with him of course, which left me alone with father for the past three years."

Her mother looked shocked, which wasn't surprising to Azula at all. Any parent who loved their child would be horrified.

"Where - where did Ozai burn him?"

Azula cringed. She knew that if she told her mother that now, she'd be practically inconsolable for a while. An outcome that they couldn't afford, now that Ursa's memories returned to her. Now was the perfect chance to escape.

"...I'll tell you later. It's best that you don't know about that right now."

"Azula -!"

"Just listen to me! I've already wasted enough time getting you up to speed on everything. Now that you have your memories back, it's dangerous for you to stay here. We have to find a way out. In fact…."

Azula concentrated her fire into her hands, allowing her to burn the chains that were holding her arms up. She quickly did the same thing to the chains on her legs as well. She looked at her mother and smirked.

"Time for a prison break."

"You could do that this whole time?! Why didn't you escape sooner?"

"Isn't it obvious? I didn't want to leave without you. Since Long Feng assigned you to watch over me, I saw that as the perfect opportunity to try and get your memories back and break whatever hold Long Feng has over you."

Ursa was stunned. Azula had risked her safety for her? Even after everything she said?

"You did all of this for me in spite of how you feel?"

Azula turned away from her mother, "My mixed feelings towards you aside, it wouldn't feel right to just leave you here, not to mention that the others would never let me live it down and would most likely attempt to break you out anyway, so it's less time consuming if I break you out here and now. And besides, you're my mother. I still…."

I still love you went unsaid, but Ursa heard the message loud and clear. She wiped the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes and got to her feet. She had already failed her daughter once. She wasn't going to do it a second time.

"Then we better make our way out of here." Ursa said, lifting Azula into her arms and making her way out of the cell.

"What the - why are you carrying me?!"

"It'll be faster this way."

"Says who?!"

"Says me."

Also I just want to carry my daughter in my arms again and never let you go. Is that really so wrong?

Azula pouted, "Hmph. Fine."

"No need to pout, Azula."

"I'm not pouting!"

Ursa chuckled before she started to run. With any luck, they would be able to escape without being caught by the Dai Li.

That luck quickly ran out when two Dai Li agents appeared before them, blocking their path. Azula signaled to her mother to put her down, which the woman reluctantly did. She quickly got into a protective stance in front of her mother, determined to protect her and get the both of them out safely. Two Dai Li agents wouldn't pose much of a threat to her, so long as she was able to take them out quickly. Something that was easier said than done for obvious reasons. She heard a rumbling noise behind her, and turned around to see that three more Dai Li agents had appeared.

"Fuck!"

"Young lady, we don't speak like that!"

"Not the time, mother!"

Well, Jet had been right about one thing. All of the Joo Dee's were indeed here. They had passed by a room where they saw thousands of them standing in place, repeating whatever it was that they were being told. To say that Aang was creeped out was an understatement. He wanted to help them, but he had no idea how to go about doing that. Besides, they had to rescue Azula no matter what. Maybe they could tell the Earth King about this once everything was said and done. He would know what to do. Hopefully. Aang looked towards Sokka, who was ahead of all of them and running beside Jet. He really hoped that they found Azula, for his friends sake more than anything else. He didn't like seeing Sokka like this. Aang was interrupted from his thoughts when he felt the ground beneath them begin to rumble, and he looked up to see a few Dai Li agents appear. And behind them was the man who Sokka hated most in the world right now. Long Feng. Sokka glared at the man, who looked back at him and smirked before turning his attention to Jet.

"I must commend you, Jet. You did an excellent job in bringing them here."

Everyone looked at Long Feng before turning to Jet. What was he talking about?

"Ah yes, I suppose you all would be confused. I asked Jet to find you all and bring you here. There's been a…slight change in plans. I figure it would be such a waste of time to keep the princess here and force you all to leave when I can simply capture you all now and deliver you to Fire Lord Ozai myself. That should ensure that he leaves Ba Sing Se alone."

It was a complete lie of course, but Long Feng wasn't about to tell them that he had joined forces with the prince of the Fire Nation.

"You set us up?! Is Azula even here?!" Sokka shouted, aiming his club and boomerang at Long Feng.

"She's here, don't worry. You'll be seeing her soon enough. Oh, and Jet?"

Aang watched as Jet slowly turned towards Long Feng with his hooks aimed at the man, daring him to try something. But his weapons were lowered the moment Long Feng's next words came out of his mouth.

"Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

"I would be honored to accept his invitation."

Aang was confused. What was that about? He had his answer when Jet turned around and started to attack him. This must have been that brainwashing thing that Sokka was talking about. Lovely. He began to dodge Jet's attacks while trying to get through to him.

"Jet, stop! It's me, Aang, your friend!"

Unfortunately, it did nothing. Aang looked towards his other friends who were currently fighting against Dai Li agents. Sokka seemed to be going after Long Feng on his own, with the help of Mai and Ty Lee. That didn't surprise Aang at all. Turning his attention back to Jet, he tried to think of something else that would snap him out of Long Feng's grasp. He really did not want to fight his friend. That was when another thought occurred to Aang. One that he was sure would work.

"Jet, think about your friends! Think about the Freedom Fighters!"

The moment he said that, Jet stopped attacking him. It looked as if he was slowly starting to remember everything. Eventually his eyes returned to normal and he looked at Aang.

"I - was I just attacking you?"

Aang nodded and gave the boy a small smile, "You did, but don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault, it was his." Aang said, pointing towards Long Feng.

Jet looked at the man and glared, "Well then, I guess we should go and kick his ass. You with me, Aang?"

"Yup!"

The two of them charged at Long Feng, ready to take the man down for good. Long Feng noticed them and immediately went after Jet, the boy proving useless to him now that the mind control was broken. Just before his attack could connect with Jet, however, a wall of earth appeared from out of the ground, effectively stopping his attack. Jet looked at Aang and gave him a smile as a way of showing his thanks, and Aang smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.

The two boys were shaken out of their moment of respite when they heard a loud BOOM coming from somewhere further inside.

Azula breathed heavily as she wiped the sweat from her face. She had managed to take down two Dai Li agents, but like she thought, that was her limit. Her attacks were beginning to get weaker, and she was barely doing any damage to the remaining three Dai Li agents. A fact that they seemed to take notice of, because their attacks were growing stronger by the minute, and so fast and precise that she barely had any time to dodge them. Quite a few of their attacks had managed to make contact with her so far. Truth be told, Azula felt like she was on the verge of passing out. She would do everything in her power to make sure that she wouldn't, though. They had to get out of here no matter what.

As she was thinking about what her next move should be, she heard some commotion in the distance. What was going on? A fight? Did that mean that Sokka and the others were here? If that was the case, then hopefully they would be able to come and help her soon. She wasn't sure how long she could hold out for. Azula shot a small amount of fire at the three agents, which predictably didn't do much aside from burning their clothes. Was she really so weak that she couldn't defend herself and her mother? If only she wasn't in this damn body. She'd be able to take on these guys no problem. Unfortunately though, she was stuck in this body so there was little point in thinking about what ifs. There was, however, one other move she could try. One move that she had promised Sokka that she wouldn't use anymore, since it left her pretty much defenseless afterwards.

Lightning.

While it probably wouldn't do much against all three of them, it would do enough damage to just one. Azula began to charge the lightning in her fingertips, and shot it at one of the three agents. It took the man completely by surprise and was strong enough to knock him out. Azula breathed heavily as she dropped to her knees. At least she got one of them down, but as for the other two….

The other two agents quickly got into an offensive stance and prepared to launch those dreadful gloves at her. Azula slowly got back up and spread her arms out in front of her mother protectively. They weren't going to attack her mother. Not if she had anything to say about it. Azula expected the gloves to hit her in the stomach or somewhere on her body.

What she wasn't expecting was for them to grab a hold of her and pin her against the wall.

She tried to break free of her restraints, to no avail. Something told her that she wouldn't be able to break free using her firebending this time around. Azula looked up to see one of the Dai Li agents rising a medium sized rock from the ground. What was he doing?

She quickly got her answer when he launched it straight at her, causing her to cough up a bit of blood. That was definitely going to leave her with a few broken ribs.

Ursa gasped and quickly ran over to her daughter, "AZULA!"

The little girl was weaving in and out of consciousness when she felt her mother's hands cup her cheeks. She glanced at Ursa to find her looking worried and crying.

"Mom…get out of here."

Ursa shook her head, "No! I'm not leaving you again!"

"If you don't get out of here right now then you'll be hurt too, or worse! Go where the others are at!"

"The others…?"

Azula nodded, "Yes, my friends are here! They can protect you much better than I can right now!"

"If I leave then who will protect you, Azula?"

That question caught her off guard. No. Her mother wasn't going to do what she thought she was going to do, was she?

Azula's question was answered when Ursa stood in front of her, arms spread out in an attempt to spare Azula from further pain.

"I'll let the 'stupid fool' bit slide this time, but you really shouldn't say such things to your own mother, Azula."

"I - how can you still play the mother card right now?!"

"Because I am your mother, and it's a mother's duty to protect her children no matter what."

Azula could not believe what she was hearing. On the one hand she was touched that her mother would go this far to protect her, but on the other hand she was starting to think that the woman was insane and suicidal. She tried to force her hands out of the gloves grasp again, but they refused to budge.

Just when the Dai Li were preparing to attack the two of them again, something came flying out of nowhere and hit them all in the head. Azula was confused for a moment before she heard a voice shout her name. A rather familiar voice that she had missed hearing, and made her smile.

"AZULA!"

The fool had finally found her.

The fight against Long Feng and the Dai Li promptly ceased once they heard that loud noise and then felt the aftershock from it. What was that?

"Mai, didn't that sound like…?"

The other girl nodded, "Like lightning? Yes."

Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Toph all paused after hearing what the two girls just said.

Lightning? That could only mean one thing. Azula.

Sokka felt dread creeping over him. If she was using her lightning, then that meant that she was fighting someone, most likely the Dai Li. And she usually didn't use her lightning unless the situation was looking dire and it was her last resort. Azula was losing. And if he didn't get to her soon…

He shook his head. He didn't even want to think about what would happen to her in that case scenario.

Sokka turned to the others, "I'm going to where that sound came from! With any luck that's where Azula is! Mai, Ty Lee, come with me!"

They both nodded and moved to follow Sokka, only for the Dai Li to block their path. Ty Lee quickly chi blocked some of them, and the rest were soon trapped between two earth walls.

"You guys go ahead and find the tiny princess! We'll catch up with you soon!" Toph shouted.

Sokka nodded gratefully at the girl and then ran off, Mai and Ty Lee hot on his heels. After a while, they eventually got to where that loud noise came from, and what Sokka saw made him see red.

Azula was being held against a wall with her mother standing beside her. And was that blood dripping down her chin?

Sokka snarled. He was going to murder these guys.

Azula's mother stepped in front of her, most likely to protect her from any further attacks. A move that wouldn't be necessary for much longer.

Before the Dai Li could attack them again, Sokka quickly threw his boomerang, watching as it hit all three agents.

"AZULA!"

He saw her slightly raise her head at the sound of his voice, and he quickly made his way over to her.

"Azula! Are you alright?!" It was a stupid question in hindsight, but he had to know. Azula looked at him and lightly chuckled.

"You finally found me."

Sokka had to keep himself from completely breaking down. He had to keep it together. For her.

"Yeah…yeah, I did. I'm sorry we took so long. I see that you're kinda in a bind right now." He said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

"Oh, these? This is…nothing. Was getting ready to break myself free when you guys showed up."

Even now, she was putting up a strong facade. But Sokka knew better.

"We'll get you out of this in a minute. Ty Lee, can you-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence before the girl immediately chi blocked the three Dai Li agents, which led to Azula being released. Her mother quickly caught her when she fell and placed her gently in her lap. Sokka looked at the older woman.

"I'm assuming that this means you have your memories back?"

Ursa nodded, "Yes, thanks to Azula. I'll explain what happened to me later, but first…"

"Yeah, I know. We need to get Azula help. My sister can help her, she's a healer. She isn't too far from here."

Sokka began to lead her back to where they came from, watching as Ursa picked up her daughter and carried her in her arms. He could see the worried looks on Mai and Ty Lee's faces.

You're going to be ok, Azula. I promise.

Hours later, all of them were back in their house, fast asleep. Everyone except for Sokka and Ursa, that is. Katara had told them that Azula was going to be fine, but that the small girl would need to rest for a few days. Sokka breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing those words. He was glad to hear that she was going to be ok, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty. She was hurt because he couldn't protect her. He failed her.

He looked over at Ursa, who was watching over her daughter with a worried expression on her face. She had also been relieved to hear that Azula would be fine, but Sokka knew that her worries wouldn't disappear until the girl woke up.

Something that Sokka hoped would happen sooner rather than later. For now, he held her hand, hoping that it would give her some form of comfort as she slept.

Zuko couldn't believe this. He never felt this much of an urge to kill someone in all of his sixteen years of life.

He had been getting ready to go to bed when he heard a light tapping on his window. When he looked he saw a Dai Li agent staring back at him. Making sure that Iroh was asleep, Zuko quickly left their small home, following the Dai Li agent to wherever he was taking him. They had eventually ended up in the same room that Zuko had been taken to the first time he met Long Feng. The man himself appeared before him soon enough, and proceeded to tell Zuko what had happened earlier that day.

"You had both the avatar and Azula in the same place and you didn't think to tell me about your little plan?! This whole thing would have been over with had you let me know!"

Long Feng highly doubted that, but he wasn't about to say it out loud, "I didn't tell you for precisely this reason. In case things went south, I would still have you to fall back on. You are my - our trump card, Prince Zuko."

Zuko had to admit that it felt weird to hear someone calling him a trump card, but he couldn't deny that he liked it.

"So then, you want me to come up with a plan?"

"Yes. Show me what the prince of the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai's heir, is capable of."

Zuko thought long and hard about what to do. There was one thing that they could try, but they couldn't put it into motion so soon, given everything that had just happened. He didn't want to push it, after all.

"One week from now, send a letter to my house saying that the Earth King wants to try my uncle's tea. I'll handle the rest from there."