Book 4: Light and Darkness

by ButtonPusherExtraordinaire

Air's murder was a symptom. The Great War was over, but the Greater War endured. The Realms are imbalanced, and Air's loss is but a sign. Years after Sozin's Comet, The Avatar's most ancient enemy reminds The Avatar of his existence. Lies and truths are disordered as the roots are infected from the chaos, to which The Avatar was ignorant. Things must change. The cycle must end. AU!

20. Suspension

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

XxXxXxXxXxX

Fire roared through the air, slamming into a powerful wave of water, clouding the air in a warm, moist haze. More fireballs sailed through the steam, colliding against more water, but Azula was undeterred. Ferocity and determination surged through her—as the flames surged out of her limbs, directed with unfailing accuracy and precision. Bending strikes met her assault, but she replied with a hail of lightning that devastated trees and spurted large amounts of soil and rocks into the air, which acted as painful projectiles if connected against flesh.

Azula attacked again and again, precise and calculating—as she needed to be!—against her great enemy, driving her back and back. Trees were afire around her from the flames she did not bother putting out; her focus was on the blue eyes glaring at her with a reddened face. It was the fight that was always going to happen! A truce had been called, but they had both known that, sooner or later, the truce would crumble under their combined distrust for each other.

Water lashed through the air in a howling split of ice, darting at her glimmering projectiles, but she smacked each aside with flaming hands and blowing a massive plume of fire from her mouth. Simultaneously, she sprinted forward, feet light and balanced, dashing after the plume she had unleashed, clearing the way of obstructions that would allow her to destroy who deserved to be destroyed.

Upon realizing what was happening, Katara tried to avoid her, but Azula spun to the side and extended her leg; flames swarmed forward and connected against Katara's back, smashing her into a tree. Katara laid, groaning as she spun to her front with sloppy coordination.

Azula stared down at her for several long moments, assessing Katara's trembling limbs; Katara was exhausted, panting for air and energy, clothes singed, but there was a defiant gleam in her blue eyes. That was unacceptable! Defiance meant the enemy was still alive, which was abominable! All enemies must be destroyed!

She punched her fist forward, flames spurting out, and Katara narrowly avoided the deadly blow, staggering away and stumbling over a protruding root from the ground. But Azula did not let up, not wasting a moment, unstoppable in her aim. She struck Katara's back again, sending her to the ground. Victory was hers! It was always her! Never would the memory of her madness under Sozin's Comet appear in her mind, for she had redeemed herself!

Before Azula sprang forward to finish Katara off, the earth grumbled, and she was sent hurtling backward from an unexpected wave of earth. When she jumped to her feet, Toph appeared in the middle of the clash, tapping her foot on the ground rapidly, face tense slightly.

"Starting to get a little too real, huh?"

Azula relaxed and glared at her. "I was preparing her for what my father would unleash against her."

Toph snorted and blew her bangs out of her unseeing eyes. "Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

"If going by your milky eyes, yes—or you are near death and will, thus, be reborn shortly."

Katara slid soil off the arms of her garments—a Fire Nation garb that provoked Zuko not to look at her unless she was looking away, Azula had noticed again and again with dimming amusement. "I was going all-out, too, Toph."

Toph shook her head. "Whatever. Ignore your racing heart all you want- "

"It was the rush of fighting, not fear."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"You're never going to see it."

Toph's grin sharpened. "Exactly. If you want to test yourself with your mastered chakras, you'll have better luck practicing yourself before challenging Lightning Psycho."

Azula scoffed. "I am superior to everyone here. You should know better than anyone besides me that to be ready to face my father means to prepare by facing the best. I am the best here and most familiar with his attack style. I was doing her a favor."

"How magnanimous of you," Toph drawled, unimpressed. "And I do know better than anyone besides you. You were killed, but I was a minute away from joining you. The only way to prepare is to work your way up. Sugar Queen needs to start with me before she faces you. And Sparky and Twinkletoes actually mimic your dad a lot better in fighting than you do."

She turned away. "Are either of them here?"

The blue hue emanating from the corner of her vision notified her that Katara was healing herself of her wounds. "I knew Zuko would take it easy on me, Toph. I wanted Azula to spar with; she would treat me like Ozai would—like an enemy."

"That's not always a good thing," Toph countered. "If you wanted someone to beat the shit out of you, all you had to do was ask me. It would have been awesome!"

Azula felt Katara watching her but did not look in her direction. "I needed the real thing," Katara said simply. "It prepares me more, and I need that."

After Katara left, Toph stayed, silent, and Azula had no instinct to pierce the silence. She wanted to be alone, but she knew if she demanded reprieve, Toph would become stubborn and stay, which might culminate in another spar being waged.

That was a possible but distasteful solution.

"Were you going to kill her?" Toph asked suddenly.

Azula kept her gaze to the trees surrounding her. "Of course not."

"The fact I can't tell if you're lying makes me think you're lying."

"It is not my concern what you believe."

Toph groaned slightly, eyebrows rising slightly. "Shit. Twinkletoes being gone really does have you rattled."

Azula tensed, unable to prevent it. "Everyone is rattled," she observed, still feeling the anxiety thrumming in the air, provided by everyone, who only became more and more anxious with each day that passed without hearing from or seeing Aang.

"But I don't think anyone's as rattled as you."

She hated that it was obvious she was rattled—she felt rattled, indeed, and the sensation grew, expanded, and nestled further inside her with each passing day.

Azula never thought she would understand Mother so well, for Mother still loved Father despite his great crimes, even those against her, while she still loved Aang despite the haunting ire he directed at her with his hateful eyes the last time she saw him. He left her alone with likely enemies without his regard, affection, and protection. Though she could handle Katara, Sokka, Suki, Mai, or Ty Lee if any of them attacked her, she felt tense and anxious—because she knew it was impossibly more likely to happen without Aang's presence.

Aang left her—because he hated her, or at least the truth that they were married. While he had no idea that she knew, he felt the truth of their union and despised it. He inflicted against her a crime of neglect, so similar to Father's crime against Mother, though its form was different.

He did not care about her when he chose to disappear—as Father did not care about Mother when he chose to seize the Dragon's Throne.

"You scared him off, I guess," Toph said, voice uncharacteristically soft.

Azula sighed, knowing Toph referred to the marriage, though she did not know it was a marriage. Only Mother and Zuko knew the truth—and she and Aang. "He regrets it."

"You shouldn't have seduced him- "

"It was not I who made the amorous advances," she corrected, voice tight but fond.

Toph shrugged. "Probably should have stopped him; he wasn't ready."

Azula laughed slightly, but it felt painful. "I could not have stopped, even under threat of death. I was overwhelmed by the passion—by his passion, which provoked my own."

Toph grinned before it faded, replaced by something somber. "Told you—getting fucked good is amazing."

"It is," she agreed, failing not to think of the memories that made her marriage. "I could never be a nun."

"Based on Twinkletoes' heartbeat, he doesn't want you to be one."

Azula glanced at her, noting the seriousness on her face. "Perhaps he does. Why else would he vanish? He feels ashamed and regretful."

Toph snorted. "Who knows what goes on in that head of his? I'd go insane in there. He may have sensed Dark and tried to kill him without any distractions, recognizing that Dark's weak right now because we killed his Dai Li and Fire Sage shit stains and because Twinkletoes killed Agni and Devi, so Dark's prime for the killing—or imprisoning."

Azula shook her head. "He killed Agni and Devi's bodies; they are immortal and eternal. Their bodies will reform, and they will be enraged."

"How long will it take for them to reform their bodies?"

"Not as long as it sounds, I imagine. They are Great Spirits."

Toph was quiet for a long time before sagging. "Do you have any idea where he is?"

Azula raised one shoulder in an intentional shrug. "Other than hunting Vaatu and my father, finishing what he started, or returning to the Eastern Temple to speak with Pathik and gather Samir, I cannot say."

"You're not lying, are you?"

She smiled tightly. "I wish I was. My only hope is that he went to the Eastern Temple to gather Samir."

"But Appa's still here."

She nodded. "I know. But it is my hope that is where he went rather than elsewhere. He is not thinking straight; he could unleash excessive damage if he is not careful."

Toph sighed. "I know there's something you're not telling me about why he left. You know something but haven't told anyone."

"That is not true," she denied.

She had told Mother and Zuko, after all.

"I'm not asking you to tell me what you know, but I'm asking you if it's serious," Toph said, face solemn. "Is this something that would distract him from facing those cunts? Is this something that would keep him from doing what he needs to do?"

Azula's jaw clenched before she nodded. "Yes."

Toph laughed, but there was a shrill disbelief on her face. "What the fuck did you do, Lightning Psycho? What, did you tell him that he was wrong to bring you back or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him you have the hots for Pathik or something?"

She rolled her eyes. "No."

"Did you tell him that you're thinking about teaming back up with your dad or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him that your womb's barren or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him that you're not Mother of Air material or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him that babies freak you out or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him that the world can go fuck itself or something?"

"No."

"Did you tell him to run off or something?"

Azula laughed but felt slim amusement. "No."

"Did you tell him that Fire's better than Air or something?"

"No."

Toph threw her hands in the air. "Then what? I lied—I want you to tell me."

Azula shook her head. "It is not your right to know."

"And why the fuck is that?"

"Your mouth is as big as your ego."

Toph snorted. "Says the princess—but I see your point. But just answer one thing—it's all I ask."

"Which is?"

"Do you think he'll come back?"

Azula had no doubts. "Yes."

But the question that gnawed at her—would he come back himself, or would he treat her distantly and cruelly, unable to accept the fact they were married?

Toph cracked her knuckles. "Well, when he gets back, there's going to be a pretty long line of people who want to give him some pieces of their minds."

"Behind the Earth Kingdom," she drawled.

"I'll be the representative of the Earth Kingdom," Toph justified, jutting out her chin. "I mean, I'm actually not surprised he ran off like this, but I wish I was. You know what I mean?"

Azula nodded, feeling a hollowness spreading through her. "Yes."

Toph was quiet for several moments, unseeing eyes rooted on something in the ground. "It's been a week—and I mean it's been a week since he disappeared right before Sparky's eyes, so it's really been a month since he ran off. How many more weeks do you think he'll be gone?"

"Another week," she said, though she did not believe it; she felt something deep within her convey that Aang could be gone for a long time. "And while he is gone, we do what we can—as we have thus far."

"Mastering chakras is nice and all, but that's not good enough."

She smirked half-heartedly. "You only say that because you have not sparred yet with your mastered chakras."

Toph's resulting huff floated in the air. "Is that a challenge, Lightning Psycho?"

Azula adjusted her stance. "I have much frustration to exercise."

Toph grinned before the ground exploded, and Azula responded, casting all thoughts of Aang, their marriage, and the situation from her mind.

However shortly.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"You think he'd still go to Ba Sing Se?"

Zuko sighed and looked back at Sokka, who watched him expectantly. "We've already talked about this. And Toph and Azula said he wouldn't, not after he knows they surely overheard his plan."

"Talk about it again! We may have missed something. Do you think he'd still go to Ba Sing Se?"

"I really can't say," he recited, giving the same answer he always did.

Sokka rubbed the thin hairs on his chin. "If we attack him now while he's vulnerable- "

"He's probably already met up with all my treacherous nobles," he reminded, disgruntled. "He's not as vulnerable as you think."

"Without Agni and Devi, we'd kick his ass! Look what Aang did to all of them by himself!"

Suki frowned. "That was The Avatar State- "

"It was still him Aang, but I don't think Vaatu would let himself get caught by surprise again," Katara said with a stiff nod of her head; she had recently returned from her spar with Azula, and she was healthy and content.

He wasn't surprised that she was still alive, but it was a relief to see her calm, which meant that nothing went wrong. He had considered overseeing Azula and Katara's spar to ensure it didn't get out of hand but decided not to, choosing to trust them. However, when the urgency overwhelmed him, he sent Toph to check it out, which ensured that Azula and Katara wouldn't be upset or frustrated by his lack of trust in either of their capabilities.

He had enough to deal with.

Zuko nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Father knows that Azula betrayed and tricked him. Anything he might have possibly told her about his plans are now never going to happen. He's starting from scratch, not taking any chances. His last choice to trust her ended up with him losing an arm."

Sokka snorted. "I would have loved to see that. I bet it looked like he shit himself or something. And I bet as that arm fell to the ground, his shit did, too—and both hit the ground at the same time!"

Katara cringed. "You're disgusting."

"It's a possibility—an awesome one!"

"Lady Toph mentioned something about an Earthbender that rivals King Bumi who will be Ozai's earthbending instructor," Mother pointed out patiently, and Zuko realized he was not the only one who had forgotten about the mysterious, intriguing Earthbender based on Sokka's expression. "He will have him on his side. Never underestimate my husband's cunning. Those who do are damned always."

Zuko knew she thought of her underestimating his capabilities that night she murdered Grandfather and cleared his throat. "We can go to Ba Sing Se, but he won't be there. He's not stupid."

"Says you," Sokka muttered.

"You're right to some degree," he admitted. "But the only reason he would go to Ba Sing Se is for an intelligent angle that none of us can see. He's stupid, yes, but it's not born of unintelligence; it's born of his arrogance and audacity."

Mother nodded. "If he sees Ba Sing Se as useful, especially since he knows that those who replenish Ba Sing Se to its glory will ally with him before they do with Avatar Aang, he will seize it if he can."

"But King Bumi's the one who's been rebuilding Ba Sing Se," Zuko reminded. "He's probably rebuilt it by now. No one in Ba Sing Se would dare hate The Avatar with him around. Everyone knows he loves The Avatar. And Father wouldn't challenge King Bumi, not now with him having one less arm."

He was still in disbelief that Father walked somewhere on the continent without one of his arms. It seemed so impossible from the imposing memory of and experience with Father that he possessed, but to hear him so humbled and humiliated, quite like after the Great War, was worthwhile intelligence.

"Bumi would make a really good ally during these times," Katara pointed out. "Most of the Earth Kingdom hates The Avatar now. Bumi's probably one of the only ones who doesn't."

"What about the North?" Suki asked, glancing at Sokka. "Do we know if they will ally with us?"

Katara frowned. "I don't trust Arnook."

Sokka nodded. "I don't think I do, either. Something's fishy—get it?—about the whole thing. I really can't figure out why he didn't attack with Kuei when Kuei declared war a year ago."

Zuko had considered it often, as well, particularly in the early days when he dreaded receiving a declaration of war—but no declaration came, and no reports reached him that Water encroached on Fire's waters. "Something happened," he said, adamant. "I don't know what, but something happened. All signs for years pointed to Arnook allying with Kuei. Something internally, within the North, happened. My guess is that—and has been that—the North's nobility obstructed Arnook from declaring war." He smirked slightly, unable to resist. "It's not like it would have made a difference. The North's full of cowards, led by a coward."

"I'm going to change that," Sokka vowed. "If we decide to go to the North- "

"Aang said we aren't going there," Zuko recalled. "He'd be leading Vaatu right for the Ocean and Moon. And Father wouldn't go the North; he'd stay on the continent or sneak into the Fire Nation."

Sokka's brows rose. "Well, do you think he'd go to one of the Air Temples?"

Zuko cringed. "He's not that stupid, believe me."

"But no one, least of all Aang, would think to look for him there." Sokka nodded, clearly convinced of his theory. "He might be doing to us exactly what we're doing to him. It makes perfect sense- "

"It makes perfect sense if you do not know Ozai," Mother interrupted. "He would not go there. He would consider it beneath him."

Zuko snorted. "He knows that Aang would leave nothing left of him if he trespassed on Air's grounds. Believe me, he's not at any of the Air Temples."

"I don't think he would go to the South, either," Katara said, face pinched. "It's too isolated; it's too far."

Zuko nodded. "The South and the North are too far from the action. We need to stay on the continent. We need to work on getting allies. Aang burned a lot of bridges here. We need to start rebuilding bridges and nullify all the gains that Father made here. I bet the majority of people on the continent would join Vaatu if promised the chance of vengeance against The Avatar, and I bet many of them already have." Zuko glanced at Mai and Ty Lee. "Do you know where he would go when vulnerable?"

"He should go to where Azula was at when she died," Mai muttered. "He deserves it."

His face tightened at the reminder that Azula had been lost to the Immortal Realm because of Father. "I'll put him there when we find him—or Aang will."

"Or I will as I was the one killed," Azula said dryly as she entered the tent with Toph.

Zuko's fists clenched. "He's all yours."

Azula waved him off and sat next to him. "Do not bother striking at him now. We will not find him; we will never be able to replicate our surprise attack."

"I just wish we had any ideas about his plans," Suki said, shaking her head. "The only thing we've found are the maps, but those have gotten us nowhere."

Sokka glared at the maps, which he kept secured to his belt. "Don't even get me started! I'm ready to rip them all up! It's driving me crazy. I have to know, you know?"

"But there are no clues anywhere," Suki continued. "All we know about what Ozai is planning is that he's going to bond with Dark and become his own Avatar—that's it."

"And persuade the Elementals to join him," Azula added. "He already has Agni and Devi; he seeks the others. I believe there is much more we do not know—that, perhaps, we will never know—than know."

Toph rolled her eyes. "No shit. I could have told you that. But did you forget about that poser Devi was bragging about? She said he's going to be the Loser Lord's true earthbending master and that he rivals Bumi. I mean, now that I mastered my charkas, I'm not too worried about him now because I could take him, but the Loser Lord's only going to get stronger from now on, especially since he's going to master earthbending under this master."

Katara's brows rose. "Even with only one arm?"

Mother laughed slightly, though there was something pained on her features. "It will only increase his determination. It will make him feel even more justified in his pursuit."

Azula looked distant—she had looked similarly since Aang had vanished. Her mind seemed to be preoccupied on solving a problem that she could not solve—her marriage. It still confounded Zuko that Aang and Azula were married, but he realized, looking back, that all the signs were there, especially with Aang. When Aang had awakened that early morning, he had been skittish and pale, anxious to the extreme—and deeply distressed and haunted. It had almost reflected how Aang had been before Sozin's Comet against Father, but it had been so much worse. Aang had seemed almost out of his mind, gray eyes frantic and rabid at some points, especially when he ran to find Katara to speak to her.

It was the realization of his lifelong commitment to Azula—the depths of his marriage.

"He becomes his own Avatar," Azula said, looking at nothing but everything. "He seeks Ascendancy like Wan did."

Katara nodded. "And Wan was the one who- "

"Wan was the First," Azula interrupted, voice flat. "He was the beginning of The Avatar—the beginning of Aang. Father will replicate the process with Vaatu if we do not stop him."

Sokka blinked before leaning forward, fascinated. "What is the process? Do you know?"

"Aang can explain it much better than I can."

"He's not here."

Azula glared at him for a moment. "All I remember that Avatar Kirku divulged is that Wan was ripped apart, eviscerated, and destroyed over and over again, possibly a thousand times for all we know, before he absorbed Raava and the cosmic energies forever to become The Avatar. It was the Ascension; he literally Ascended. Father will have to replicate the process, which is possible, and Vaatu knows how to do it—because he watched Wan do it. He was there when Wan Ascended."

"But he needs the other elements first," Zuko pointed out. "He only has two."

"Which means he's already half-way there," Katara whispered, suddenly seeming to realize that Father had already made great strides in achieving his aims.

Azula shook her head. "He was only able to secure Devi and achieve what he has thus far because we were unprepared and trying to catch up; he had the advantage of foresight and knowledge. With all the work he must do now against an aware, vigilant opponent—us—who will do everything to stop him, he is likely a fifth there, nothing more."

Suki's face twisted. "I thought he already had all the elements because Aang said any of us can master all of the elements if our bodies are attuned to it, and with Dark with him, Ozai's body is attuned to each frequency."

"We mean master the elements and be capable of wielding all of them on his own," Azula explained. "Father can only wield one at a time, whichever one Vaatu connects him to; he is beholden to Vaatu's will on which element he is capable of. He is not like Aang, who can wield any element he wants at any time. Father is capable of waterbending and airbending now if Vaatu sets the connection, but he is incapable of it, for he lacks a master of each."

Sokka's brows rose. "But what airbending master could he ever get?"

"I assumed Indra herself would be his master."

"Something tells me she'd tell him to go fuck himself before she ever trained him," Sokka said with a snort.

Azula looked like she agreed, but she hummed. "Never underestimate Vaatu's charm and persuasion. He may provide Indra with something she wants, possibly the presence of another Airbender in Father should she teach him, which she would love having been so distressingly deprived of her Children for so long. It may be enough to sway her."

Zuko's sorrow over the lack of airbending masters produced an idea. "What if we make it like that for waterbending, too? If we thin the crowd of possible waterbending masters, we limit his options to a dire level because he needs a waterbending master before moving to airbending. We ensure he stays stuck at two elements rather than mastering all four. We cut him off from finishing the cycle."

"But then the Ocean or Moon would be his master," Suki pointed, clearly ignoring Katara's scandalized expression.

"But Vaatu doesn't know where the Ocean and Moon are yet," Zuko reminded. "We can strand Father and make it a war of attrition, making him look only where we want him to—for the Ocean and Moon because we took away every possible waterbending master he could use. That way, we can respond where and when we want to because we will be prepared."

"That's not a bad idea," Sokka commended. "But who would be a waterbending master Ozai and Dark would target? I'd say Hahn, but Hahn's not a Waterbender."

Katara crossed her arms. "He'd make a terrible Waterbender," she muttered. "But beside him, I can't think of anyone in the South or North who would ally with Ozai, a known Firebender by not only his reputation but appearance. But if we can figure out those who might join him, it would go a long way."

"It would force Father to play by our rules," Azula commented, nodding her head. "No longer would he be agile and self-sufficient; he would be beholden to the trail we leave him, dependent on our will. He will not fight according to his terms but our terms—and the odds will favor us because of it."

Toph punched her fist into her open palm. "Abso-fucking-lutely. He'll fall right into our trap and dance to our game."

"Beware that he will look elsewhere and might find an option we cannot foresee," Mother warned. "And we cannot anticipate what Dark will do. None of us understand what he is capable of, not truly."

Azula sighed. "We know he is primordial, which means his age his vast and ancient, but he is not slow, weak, incompetent, and fragile, immune to such things; we know his knowledge exceeds Aang's because The Avatar's knowledge begins with Wan and what Raava shared with him. The Avatar's knowledge does not go to any point before the Ascendancy, though sensations and suspicions may exist."

"But Vaatu's knowledge stretches back farther than the Ascendancy," Zuko finished, understanding. "For all we know, it means that Vaatu has eons more knowledge than Aang does."

Sokka frowned. "But do eons make sense here? I mean, is one eon really all that different from two eons? It's like comparing infinity. Is one infinity different from two infinities? No, it's the same."

"It is infinity to us," Azula stressed. "To Vaatu and The Avatar, it is different; it is less. It is comprehensible to them. Mother is right—we cannot anticipate Vaatu, but we can ensure we narrow his options."

"Will Twinkletoes agree with this plan?" Toph asked. "I don't think we can anticipate him, either, especially now when his head's gotta be so far up his ass he's choking on his own shit."

Katara nodded, though looked disgusted by the image Toph conveyed. "I think Aang will agree. It's as good a plan as any right now. I don't think there would be any Waterbender from the South who would join Vaatu, so that already narrows it down a lot."

"That's right," Sokka agreed. "It must be someone from the North, and we should focus on the North because this Waterbender could give Ozai the Ocean and Moon's location."

Zuko shook his head. "We're not going to the North, remember? It would lead Vaatu directly to the Ocean and Moon."

Sokka's brows tightened. "But what if some of us go? Me, Suki, and Katara could go and handle things, make sure things turn out well, and that Arnook gets his head out of his ass."

While Azula looked like she agreed with the idea, clearly because she wanted Sokka, Suki, and Katara gone, Zuko closed his eyes. "No. We need to stay together, especially now. Take it up with Aang when he gets back if you want, but I know he'll agree with me."

"Because you know him so well, right?" Sokka asked with a scoff.

"Yes," he replied flatly, staring at him. "We can't afford to make mistakes. Going to the North now, especially now, is a mistake—it would be the ingress Vaatu seeks to make all the losses he just suffered when Aang attacked worth it."

"Zuko's right, Sokka," Katara said quickly. "We need to wait."

"I agree we need to wait, but we can't forget about the North," Sokka stressed. "It feels like we're forgetting the North."

"They made themselves forget-worthy," Toph muttered. "They didn't do shit during the Great War; they just sat around with their heads in the snow."

Zuko nodded in agreement. "We won't forget about the North, Sokka."

Azula glanced at Sokka with something on her face—a distant weight, born of knowledge—but said nothing. Zuko didn't dare ask; he vowed to ask her later when they were alone. Why did it look like Azula knew something about the North that none of them, even Sokka, knew?

"The main conflict is on the continent right now," she said. "With the Ocean and Moon in the North, we cannot risk Vaatu finding out about them. Otherwise, Vaatu would have three—actually, four—Elementals on his side."

Sokka's eyes sharpened. "Yue would never join him."

"You knew Yue for two weeks," Zuko said flatly, unimpressed. "That's it. I know you don't want to hear it, but that's nothing. You only know about her what she wanted you to know, nothing more. You didn't actually know her, and you don't know what her actual thoughts are about this. It's very possible that she could join him. We need to prepare for it."

"You need to prepare for an ass-kicking!" Sokka snapped, leaning forward, face harsh and furious. "I know enough! Yue sacrificed herself for the good of the world! She'd never ally with your loser dad to put the good of the world in jeopardy! She'd never join him!"

His only brow rose. "Did you think I would ever get my head out of my ass and join The Avatar to save the world?"

Sokka sputtered. "That's different! You're a Jerkbender, but Yue's not! She gave up her life to preserve what little balance there is in the world. She's not going to reverse that by joining your dad!"

Azula stared at Sokka with a distant look on her face. "What if she thinks Vaatu will evoke a stronger balance, which is possible as she sees things differently now? The Yue you knew is not Yue as she is now; she is different. In truth, she is not Yue at all; she is merely Tui channeled through her. Tui is still the Moon Spirit but, from what Aang told me, she is funneled through Yue because Yue already resembled more an extension of Tui when she lived. I do not think she will join Vaatu, but it is a possibility for which we must prepare."

"That's not- "

"Did you think it was a possibility that Aang would murder Ba Sing Se?"

Silence.

Azula did not look vindicated; she looked far away. "Nothing is as it seems; nothing is as we think. People are not who we thought. This war will challenge everything, and it will challenge us most of all—because we dare fight it. Yue can join Vaatu because anyone, mortal or spirit, can join Vaatu. And the crucial difference is—Vaatu needs Yue to join him. He will focus on her, intensifying his attention and energy, directing all he can at her to sway her to his side. Vaatu will focus on no one more than the Elementals during this war, which is why we must prevent him from learning of the Ocean and Moon's location—it is imperative we protect them from him by doing nothing rash."

Sokka's jaw ticked before he nodded. "I think she'd resist him, but I see your point. I still think a few of us may want to go to the North eventually, but I'll talk to Aang when he gets back. He may want to physically move the Ocean and Moon from the North and hide them away somewhere for all we know—a place only he knows or something."

"The North would never allow it," Katara said immediately, shaking her head. "Arnook wouldn't allow."

Zuko snorted. "Something tells me that Aang doesn't care what Arnook wants, and the North doesn't allow The Avatar to do anything. If Aang wants to move the Ocean and Moon, no one can stop him. But I don't know if he will want to. It seems riskier."

Azula smirked slightly. "It is not a prudent option now, but it might be later. He is fond of returning to things once considered finished."

He had no idea if that was a vague allusion to Air, but he agreed. "Then we wait."

"Of course," Toph said, rolling her eyes. "It's all we're doing anyways. We've waited on him all our lives, and now we're doing it again. He's the best at making people wait!"

Sokka gasped in outrage. "That's my joke!"

"It's not stupid enough to be one of your jokes."

Katara glared. "Oh, it's stupid enough."

Toph flicked a pebble with her fingers. "Then tell Twinkletoes to stop making it so easy when he gets back."

"If he comes back," Sokka muttered and avoided Katara's smacking hand at the last second. "You know I'm right!" he cried out, unapologetic. "Something is wrong about this; something's different. Zuko literally saw his body vanish like he was only ever a ghost! What if he actually died when Air died, and we've imagined everything to ever happen since? What if it's all been a dream?"

"That's ridiculous," Katara snapped.

"Is it?"

"Yes!"

"We need to keep an open mind," Suki interrupted, voice tight; she looked worried. "This is an Avatar thing—I'm certain of it."

Sokka crossed his arms. "Vanishing into the ocean for a century was an Avatar thing, too."

Zuko shook his head. "If he's not back in the next couple of weeks, we will go look for him. The fact Appa is here still is significant. We have time to let this ride out because Vaatu and Father are laying low—they have to be. They know how close Aang was to destroying them."

Toph smirked. "My bet is that he's hunting them right now. He's going to finish what he started."

Azula's lips stretched, though her golden eyes were unbelieving. "Then may he finish it swiftly."

XxXxXxXxXxX

It seemed telling that the only time she felt safe was without the others; she only felt secure, like she could actually relax, when she was alone with Ty Lee. She always felt on guard with the others, particularly when Azula was around, and she knew that while Katara, Sokka, and Suki might take her side in a conflict, she had no hope that it would accomplish anything. She knew she would die—lightning to the chest. It was the fate that had evaded her for a long time, giving her more years of life—and, thus, strife—with the promise that it was always around the corner, lurking, waiting to find her—waiting to end her.

It also did not help that she knew Zuko would pick Azula's side—he had made it clear more than once in their lives. For all that she was to him, whether friend or betrothed, Azula was more important to him. She once thought, especially after Zuko ended the Great War and ascended the Dragon's Throne, that things would work—that things would be okay. But she had been terribly wrong, for nothing worked out like she expected or anticipated. Zuko was beyond stressed and sometimes barely seemed to tolerate her presence as the pressure of bearing Earth and Water's resentment burdened him, and there were even points where she barely saw him for weeks at a time.

Which is why the resulting exile should not have surprised her, but it did.

She remembered painfully:

She stared up at him in disbelief—in blazing denial that threatened to consume her. "Your solution is to banish me? I think you, more than anyone, would realize that banishment is not a solution."

Zuko's golden eyes, so vivid, were dim but resilient. "Ty Lee will be with you," he offered softly.

"Is that supposed to make this better?"

"Yes."

A shocked laugh escaped her, surprising her, but she could not adjust; she had never expected Zuko would act so cruel—so like Azula! "You are a liar- "

"I had Uncle with me," he interrupted, golden eyes hopeful, but Mai did not trust it—because she did not trust him, not anymore. "That made all the difference in the end. We both know that I would be dead—died a violent, impotent death—without him being there with me."

Mai's jaw clenched, unable to remember when she felt so emotional in her life—before, of course, she remembered. How could she forget Zuko writing her a letter confessing of his plan to betray the Dragon's Throne and return to depose his father, warning her that she needed to leave the Caldera and escape, refusing to give her the option of going with him? How could she forget him breaking her heart the first time? And now he was doing it a second time—but it was different.

Because her heart had already been broken a second time in the months since Zuko ascended the Dragon's Throne.

Legend said that Agni carved the Dragon's Throne for Kai, his direct descendent, endowing a dark will to power, a necessity to lead a race that worshipped Power, to its golden splendor, which clung with the primacy of an infant, forever there. Each Fire Lord—and Akemi—to sit on the Dragon's Throne felt the dark will to power, changing him, peeling away the layers that distracted from Power. Some Fire Lords failed more than others, and never had a Fire Lord tamed the dark power more than Sozin, who conquered the world, perpetuating the Fire Lord's position as fearsome and indomitable, unstoppable and unquestionable.

Mai knew that Sozin's talent passed to Azulon and Ozai, but she had never considered it possible that Zuko had inherited it. Yes, she admired Sozin and believed him worthy all of the regard Fire could give, as he was greater than even Kai himself, for Sozin loved Fire with all his being; he never attacked Fire, waging war against the other peoples of his race as Kai did, for Kai had slaughtered so many of his own race.

But Sozin would have died for his race.

However, there was an innate terror she felt toward Sozin, who was so much more than anything she was and ever could be; she knew it better than most as she had grown up with Sozin's heirs, direct descendants of Agni's most passionate son. She had walked the palace and felt the history, compounded across sixty generations, bear down on her, reminding her of her place; she had seen Ozai in glimpses, watched the way he carried himself with purpose and dominance; she had seen Iroh before Lu Ten's death with his powerful presence; she had seen Lu Ten once or twice and seen his obvious posture of greatness; she had seen Zuko and Azula struggle to live up to what they needed to live up to—until both succeeded, each at different times.

It was dreadful to watch Zuko begin to tap into his inheritance, which was only his and no one else's, dipping his fingers and toes into the lake that swam with ambitions, powers, corpses, lessons, memories, and blood; it was worrying to watch Zuko become conscious of the blood in his veins, brimming with greatness and power—the strongest lineage in the world, according to everyone she had ever heard. Even those on the continent acknowledged it!

She was so much lesser than him, and it was never more apparent than when he stared at her, notifying her that she was to be banished, that it was the only solution to the problem of a revived Great War.

What would happen if he started to drink from the lake?

"You choose Azula over me," she said flatly, hiding the bitterness and anger—as she always did.

Zuko looked guilty but unashamed simultaneously. "She's my sister, Mai—she comes first. I will choose her every time. I can only save one of you from Kuei. I choose her over you and Ty Lee. This will quench Kuei's thirst for retribution."

Mai's hands curled into trembling fists beneath her robes. "You will send me to Kuei to be executed? Is that all I mean to you?"

"I'm sorry, Mai," he said softly. "But this is the only way. I don't want to do this—you know I don't—but I have to."

"I think you do want to do it," she snapped. "I think this is how you get rid of me. You barely talk to me, and it has only gotten worse with each passing month—each passing day, even. Why can you not see that I can help you?"

Zuko's face twisted, but she could not discern the reason. When had he become so hard to read? Had becoming Fire Lord changed him so completely? Had he learned the games of the nobility with such prodigious speed that even Azula could not keep up? "You don't want to be Fire Lady, Mai."

"But I could be if you needed me to," Mai said, shaking her head. "But you do not want me to be Fire Lady. That is what this is all about. If you wanted me to be Fire Lady, you would protect me, Kuei be damned."

"I don't think you would be a good Fire Lady," he said after several long moments, face harder than normal—or was it the new normal? It was an expression she had seen too much of lately; he looked too much like his father, and his weak, pitiful attempt at growing a beard did nothing to mitigate the powerful resemblance, which only seemed to shine brighter each time she looked at him.

She stared at him, prepared for the pain, but she needed to know. "Why?"

Zuko's eyes closed for a moment. "I need help healing Fire and mending wounds—fading the scars of war—with Earth and Water. You are not a healer; you are a fighter, and you only seek to fight. Your instinct is to fight or dismiss anything you disagree with rather than listen and try to bridge the gap. You are apathetic to others; I need a Fire Lady who cares about others. That's what I need, and you cannot fulfill it. I must think of Fire, no matter my wants. I do this for Fire."

Mai's eyes narrowed into slits. "How very Sozin of you," she hissed. "He claimed to always think of Fire, but do you think he did? Perhaps it was a justification to act cruelly—as you do now."

"Kuei's not going to execute you because he will not have the chance- "

"Why should I trust you?" Mai snapped.

"Because you know me."

She shook her head with a hoarse laugh. "No, not anymore. Perhaps I never did."

Zuko sighed but did nothing to refute her claim. "I'm sorry, Mai, but this is how it's going to be—how it's going to go. You and Ty Lee will get to the continent to be given to Kuei, and someone will sabotage your journey during the transfer to Ba Sing Se halfway there; he will get you out, and you will be free. But you will never be able to come home, at least not for several years. If I can overturn my decree knowing that Kuei will not declare war, I will, and you can return home."

She smiled without mirth. "And what does Avatar Aang think of your plan?"

"He says he understands it. He will look to the clouds while it happens, like he wants to."

"Because you tell him everything, right?"

Zuko stared at her. "He's my friend—my only friend."

Mai glared at him, betrayed. "I am your betrothed- "

"We both know you would not last. This isn't working."

She stood taller. "We both know I am still your betrothed; I am the Fire Lord's betrothed. I rank higher than an imprisoned princess who lost her mind."

Zuko's golden eyes flashed and darkened; it chilled her. "No, you are my subject," he snapped, finally reacting as she had wanted him to—with anger. But his anger was different; it felt different. For the first time in her life, she felt in danger around Zuko. When did that happen? How did so many things go wrong? "You obey my commands, and I command you to accompany Ty Lee in a transfer to Kuei. But I don't command you to be executed like he wants—I command you to be freed halfway there, provoking Kuei's ire upon you and Ty Lee rather than Azula by killing all of Kuei's men in the transfer, making it as violent and bloody as possible—make it a fucking mess that drives him insane. I command you to live on the continent, banished, avoiding Kuei's agents sent after you. When I can change it, I will. Kuei can't hold onto his anger forever."

Mai stared at him, trying to control her emotions. "When Azula's lightning struck your heart, it changed you; it destroyed whatever heart you had left. You are cruel."

He finally laughed, sounding derisive and pained. "If you had shown even a fraction as much enthusiasm for helping Fire rebuild and heal as you do for challenging me, I would not do this. But you have an apathy that you can't shake, Mai."

Mai's eyes flashed. "I feel no apathy for you; I hate you."

Zuko stared at her. "If it saves Azula, so be it. I'm thankful for everything you have done for me, including saving me during the Great War, but this is how it's going go. Never think I'm happy to do this."

"I think you are relieved to do this," she muttered, bitter. "Now you are rid of me."

"I'm sorry, Mai," he said quietly. "I wanted this to work, but it's not. Too much is happening. None of this is going like I thought it would go, and this is the only option. I know you're angry- "

Mai's eyes watered against her will before she swiped them away with harsh fingers. "That does not describe it. You betray me again; you break my heart over and over again. I would kill you if I was capable of it."

Zuko's head bowed for a moment before he looked back at her, face clear; it was imposing. "Don't do this for me; do this for Azula. This is to save her life. I know you still care for her—you and Ty Lee both do. I'm terrified for Azula. Aang and I think that Kuei will find a way to bribe some of the nobles to secretly send Azula to the continent to alleviate all the pressure Kuei is putting on us. Please, Mai. Do it for Azula. Curse me and condemn me—call me whatever you want; treat me like Kuei does. But please save Azula. That is what I ask of you as your Fire Lord. Will you do as I ask?"

"Do not label this as an ask; this is a command, and we both know it."

"Will you do as I command?"

She nodded with a jerk, glaring at him. "For Azula, not for you."

Zuko only nodded in turn. "Thank you."

"I do not want to hear it," she hissed, turning away from him. "Is there anything else, Fire Lord, or must you destroy me more?"

"Goodbye, Mai," Zuko whispered, voice a worn, hoarse breeze against her flesh. "I'm sorry."

She left without a word.

When he ended up sabotaging the convoy himself, using only his twin swords, and adorned in a ridiculous spirit mask, which he took off at the end to reveal himself to her and Ty Lee, apologizing one last time, she was not swayed by his apology. Though Ty Lee cried and said she understood and hoped to hear that Azula started to recover, they both ran off within moments of seeing him, too betrayed. Her lasting bitterness and grief had certainly played into her role in trying to assassinate him, and she knew it was the same for Ty Lee, who had been pulled away from her fresh start with the Kyoshi Warriors by the Fire Lord's command, impossible to ignore or reject. Vaatu had seized advantage, swaying her and Ty Lee with promising words, and with Ozai encouraging them, revealing his deep bitterness towards Zuko, as well, it had been enough.

When Avatar Aang freed her from Vaatu's darkness, she honestly had no idea if Zuko was going to execute her, likely doing it himself; she had not seen him in so long. But he had aged and possessed a disturbing beauty, looking simultaneously like his father and not like his father—because of his beard, much stronger, thicker, and fuller than when she last saw him, which obscured the resemblance.

And his scar.

She wondered if she should tell him that Ozai had decided to grow a beard, which looked similar to his.

But Zuko did not execute her and seemed much more open than she had anticipated. For some reason, he had mellowed out, and even when she dared tease him, acting like everything was how it used to be, he only rolled his eyes, grunted, and grumbled—exactly how it used to be when they were children in the garden with Azula.

It was a change she had not been prepared for. But she suspected its source was a mixture of Dowager Fire Lady Ursa's return, Avatar Aang's friendship, Azula's recovery, Prince Iroh's return from Ba Sing Se, and Princess Katara's presence—along with, to a lesser extent, the presences of Prince Sokka, Princess Suki, and Lady Toph.

It was clear that she would never be betrothed to Zuko again; his eyes lingered on the South's princess, watching her with a keen interest and respect, even admiration and pleasure. She dared tease him and elbow him, daring lay a hand on Agni's anointed son, and Zuko only smiled when she did it; she tried to learn the history of Zuko's lineage, not out of duty but curiosity; she challenged him and somehow managed to make him listen to her rather than make him dismiss her; she dared answer for him, and Zuko let it happen, though he was clearly annoyed by it, either by how well she knew him or by the fact he was 'slipping'; she stared at him with expectant and knowing eyes, even demanding—demanding!—expressions, revealing much more authenticity than was proper at court, and Zuko responded to her expressions with irritated but amused expressions of his own, alighting the Fire Lord's impassive face with genuine intent and pleasure.

For some reason, Princess Katara pulled something out of him; she peeled away the Fire Lord's layers to find Zuko therein.

It was something Mai had been frustratingly unable to accomplish, even after only months of him being on the Dragon's Throne and adjusting himself to his new life and role. How had Princess Katara accomplished it after Zuko had been adjusted for over eight years?

Perhaps there was something to Zuko's emphasis on finding a 'healer' for his Fire Lady, which Princess Katara clearly was—and Zuko knew it and judged her on it based on how he watched her.

But the one thing that had not changed in Zuko was his devotion to Azula, who she knew he would pick over her—again.

"I do not like this," Mai confessed quietly, trying to be certain that there were no ears listening. The blind Earthbender—Toph—could overhear and report to Azula, for Azula had seemed to befriend and charm her.

She understood the feeling.

Ty Lee glanced at her, subdued, so unlike the chipper and eager woman she often was, even during their banishment. "And? I know you don't like it—I don't like it, either—but we can't change that, not yet."

"We could leave," she offered, watching Ty Lee's face for a hint of her feelings on the matter.

"Where else would we go?" Ty Lee asked, voice soft and muted. "Where can we go? We look Fire; we can't hide. We would be on the run again, and I can't do that," she hissed, voice cracking, tears in her vivid gray eyes. Mai knew how Ty Lee's eyes were Air's eyes—Ty Lee's noble family was descended from Jyzhol of Ishaner, a half-spawn, sired by Fire Lord Houka and one of Air's nuns. She had only thought it a legend, but upon seeing Avatar Aang's eyes up close, she knew the truth; she knew Ty Lee knew—and Avatar Aang knew, as well. "I can't do it again, Mai—I can't. It was so hard. We had to leave everyone we knew behind, even those we met along the way. I had to leave him behind, and I loved him enough to do it, to spare him from Kuei hunting him down, too, and targeting his family."

"I know," Mai agreed with sympathy, haunted by the experience, rooted in her memories. "But would it be better than this?"

"Of course not. We are safe here; we have protection here. We can trust the others, even if they don't like us."

"As long as we do not look at Azula or speak to her," she muttered.

"Azula's upset," Ty Lee observed. "She's frustrated. All the signs are there. But I have never seen her this way. She must really love Avatar Aang."

Mai felt less willing to believe that Azula loved Avatar Aang, for she remembered Avatar Aang as that naïve, ignorant boy, who would have maddened Azula, perhaps more than anyone to ever walk the world. They did not make sense at all. She knew Azula all through her childhood and adolescence, and she knew Avatar Aang during the months before Zuko banished her—with the approval of Avatar Aang—and could not see it; she could not understand it.

Of course, she had yet to see them together being older, but she distrusted it.

She thought Azula was weaponizing The Avatar's affection for protection; it seemed much more likely until she saw them together. The changes she had seen in Avatar Aang during her limited interactions with him since he freed her of Vaatu's darkness were intriguing—she would never guess he was Avatar Aang if she did not know he was.

But was it enough?

"I think she loves the protection he gives her," she responded, voice soft. "She has searched for protection all her life. She protected herself with us, with Zuko, with her mother, and with her father. It is part of the cycle. Now she has moved to Avatar Aang, seeking his protection, which is ultimate."

"But she loves him because he gives her his protection; she doesn't force him to give it. He gives it freely, and she knows it."

Mai looked away. "I think she will attack us if we stay here, which means we will die; she will kill us."

Ty Lee wiped her eyes and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. She would have done it already, especially with her being so emotional about Avatar Aang being gone. It's not so bad here, Mai. It will only get better. I think we will all be friends again; we just need to give it time."

"I do not have that faith."

"I'll have it for the both of us."

XxXxXxXxXxX

Katara thought that leaving the Fire Nation at Aang's request, relayed by Toph, to help him meant that she would be doing things—she would be taking part and helping the world begin to heal after everything that had happened and was happening. But there was nothing for her to do except languish with the others in Ozai's repurposed camp and listen to the same arguments over and over again, unable to do anything else because they all needed to stay together and wait.

Because Aang vanished.

She had questioned Zuko multiple times about what he saw, but he was adamant each time that Aang simply vanished right before him, body disappearing like it fell into something unseen and inaccessible to any of them. He had tried prodding the area with his fingers, poking both the air and ground, but nothing happened, and even Toph had confirmed that there was no chasm in the ground that sucked Aang down or anything.

What happened? Where was Aang? Was he still somehow in the Spirit World?

Zuko had tried to console her briefly while she struggled with Aang vanishing, especially when he was so unwell mentally! Something wasn't right! The last time she saw him, he was talking about Azula and Air but also so many other things that went above her head. And what about when he said he was tired of living, ready to pass into Water, leaving his burdens to his successor?

It was horrifying!

Had Aang killed himself? Is that why his body vanished? Did The Avatar's body vanish when he died to prevent anyone from defiling his corpse for power or something?

Zuko had assured her that Aang wasn't dead, soothing her brief hysteria, and she had taken solace in him. And after she mastered her chakras, under Azula's increasingly aloof guidance, she had taken more solace in him.

Because her mastered chakras revealed the truth.

No, she couldn't think of that right now, which is why she had started putting space between them, not talking to him as much—and looking at him sparingly.

But it was more difficult than she was prepared for.

"I can't believe he would run off like this," Katara whispered, wanting to think about Aang more than Zuko and all the complications—but it actually felt really simple—she felt toward him. "I mean, without leaving a message or something. It seems cruel, making us wait like this."

Sokka scoffed. "I can believe—I do believe it. He always does this. He's a fucking Airbender after all."

She glared at him. "This has nothing to do with him being an Airbender- "

He glared back. "Doesn't it? The only reason he ever runs off is because he's an Airbender; he's being a coward for whatever reason. And it pisses me off so much because I know he's not a coward—he's proven it time and time again—but here he goes and decides to be a coward, anyway."

"We don't know why he ran off- "

Sokka glanced at the exit of their tent, face dark and suspicious. "I think she said something to him—made him run off on purpose."

Katara didn't need to ask for clarification on who 'she' was, but Toph shook her head. "No, it's bigger than that. She said something, yes, but it wasn't to make him run off—I know that."

"Why the fuck are you even taking her side?" Sokka demanded, staring at Toph like she was insane. "She'd probably kill all of us if she thought it would be helpful!"

"She's my friend, too, Snoozles."

"Then why are you here with us?"

Katara understood his question, aware of the fact they had all splintered into separate groups, disjointed without Aang's unifying presence. Azula, Zuko, and Ursa grouped together; Mai and Ty Lee grouped together; and she, Sokka, Suki, and Toph grouped together.

Toph snorted. "She's decided not to tell me what really happened. Sparky and her mom clearly know based on how they keep looking at her, but she's not telling me, and she seems to only want to talk to those who know right now."

Suki's brows rose. "Do you have an idea of what really happened?"

"I still think he's hunting down Vaatu right now," Toph said, shrugging slightly. "But as to why he actually left, I don't know. All I know is she said something to him that scared him off. I think it has to do with them having sex."

Katara blinked, making the connection. "Aang came to me that morning after he woke up; he looked terrible, but he kept rambling about Azula and Air. I couldn't understand, but it makes sense that them having sex changed things. But I don't know why."

Sokka snorted. "He's being a stupid virgin. Those monks didn't tell him anything, didn't prepare him for the wonders of it."

"Something tells me it's more complicated than that," Suki said evenly.

"It always is," Katara whispered, recalling her own failures to understand Aang's complexity during the Great War. Sure, it was understandable and reasonable that she didn't understand it—because no one did and could have—but it still made her feel remorse. Even though she chose not to punish herself for it, the sadness remained. "But we'll be here when he gets back—because he will come back. We're his friends."

Toph's lips stretched slightly. "But just because I'm his friend doesn't mean I can't knock him around a little bit."

"Good luck with that," Sokka muttered. "He killed the Earth Spirit. What do you think he'll do to you?"

"I'm his friend," Toph assured with confidence. "Devi was his enemy. Him and I are better; we're not how we used to be, but I think we're making something new."

Katara swallowed, feeling lighter as she recalled Aang's surprising trust in her when he shared his fears and guilt while he was bringing Azula back after she awakened him from his nightmare. "We're all making something new."

Suki smiled and rubbed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Something stronger."

Sokka nodded. "Something real. I never thought I could talk to him like I did while he tried to bring Azula back without him ripping my head off or not understand what I was talking about, but I did—and he understood me. He's intelligent. As a kid, he never seemed intelligent; he just recited all those Air proverbs and shit. But now, he understands things. He's smarter than me. He always looked to any of us for answers during the Great War- "

"Except for killing Ozai," Toph reminded.

"Don't even get me started on that," Sokka mumbled before laughing slightly. "But the point is—we look to him for answers now, even if those answers suck."

"That may be what it means to be a fully realized Avatar," Suki pointed out.

Toph smirked. "But don't think I'm not going to look for answers about why he ran off and vanished like he did."

Sokka's eyes gleamed. "I'll be right in front of you."

"Then you can be my shield if he gets pissed."

Katara laughed when Sokka's eyes bulged in realization. "No, no! I take it back! I take it back! I'll be right behind you!"

"Too late!"

"Fuck you! I'll be right behind you!"

Toph snickered. "That is the only way to fuck me, Snoozles."

Sokka sputtered, glancing at Suki before he jabbed a finger at Toph. "No, you know what I mean! I'd never fuck you! I have too much fun with Suki!"

Suki shook her head, amused but exasperated. "Fun?"

"Of course," Sokka defended, staring at Suki with a light in his eyes. "Remember that thing the other night? That was fun, right?"

"Very," Suki agreed, staring back at Sokka.

Katara tried not to think of Zuko, but she was failing. She couldn't think of that right now! There were bigger things going on! She needed to think about Ozai, Vaatu, and whatever Waterbenders Vaatu could sway to his side to be Ozai's waterbending master! She needed to think about solutions for all the problems facing them! She needed to think about locations for where Aang could possibly be in case he needed help! She needed to think about where they would all go after Aang returned! She needed to think about saving the world and healing it!

But as she watched Sokka and Suki scoot closer together, she kept wondering.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Zuko stared at Azula. "You can't be serious."

Azula's brows rose. "You know I am."

"How is flying on Appa to go look for Aang, stranding us all here, a good idea? If anything, we should all go with you!"

"It has been two weeks since his body disappeared," she said flatly, golden eyes dark. "It has been five weeks since he ran off to the Immortal to begin with. This is not how I wanted to spend my first month married."

Zuko sighed, still amazed—but not surprised—that his sister was married to his best friend. The only problem was his best friend's head was lodged up his ass. "I'm sorry about that. I think going to look for him is a good idea, but why only you? The more eyes, the better- "

Azula held up a hand, face framed by the shadows cast by the firepit, brimming with vigorous flames, in Mother's tent. "If he returns here, you need to be here."

He still didn't understand. "Then Mom and I will go with you while the others- "

"It must be me," his sister insisted, voice quiet but intense. "If he is at the Eastern Temple like I suspect, I must confront him—me alone."

Zuko watched her for several moments, knowing he was missing something but unsure what. "I don't understand. Mom and I know about the marriage and why he ran off- "

"This is between a husband and wife, Zuko," Mother interrupted, voice wise and calm. "It must only be between them. They must have space and reach peace together without our input."

He scoffed, glaring at Azula. "Why didn't you just say that? You really are the Mother of Air, evading and avoiding the true reason why you want to leave."

She glared back, golden eyes afire with restrained irritation. "If you were intelligent, you would have understood."

"If you were intelligent, you would have just said it! You should have known that I would understand it!"

Azula looked away, face distant; there was a sudden void where she became unreadable, even to him. "I do not know how to go about this," she whispered. "I am lost as much as you. We are married, but he does not want to be—he hates our marriage. I know he does. But I read Air's customs about marriage and asked Pathik several things, and I know there is no such thing as an annulment in Air's eyes. We are married, and we cannot be un-married."

"If you are serious to consider an annulment, you know Fire's laws on passion," Mother pointed out gently after several long moments. "You could claim passion overtook you, and you did not understand what you were doing—did not understand what your actions conveyed."

"He already thinks I do not know," Azula replied. "He does not know I know we are married. He will have to pursue the annulment. If I pursued it, it would reveal that I knew what I was doing, belying my claim to annulment in Fire's eyes. I knew what my actions signified."

Zuko shook his head. "Yes, but Aang knew what his actions signified, too. There's not going to be an annulment, least of all in Fire's eyes. I won't allow it."

"You will if we need it- "

"I'm Fire Lord and say—no, decree—that you don't need it," he stressed. "Aang needs to grow up. I know he doesn't want to hear it, but he needs to. He made his choice—his many choices—and needs to accept his choice. He chose you."

Azula glanced at him with the beginnings of a smirk. "How many whores did you choose, Zuzu?"

He stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously? I'm defending you, and you decide to bring that up?"

"I can never resist," Azula confessed without shame, and he felt relief that the glint in her golden eyes was less muted than it had been ever since Aang vanished.

Zuko decided to let it go. "The point is—he made his choice. He needs to live with it—like we all live with ours. He's my best friend, but he can't keep going like he is. Something needs to change."

"It does," she agreed. "However, it is not my decision; the power lies in his hands."

"You have power, too," he pointed out. "He's pissed off and scared, but he values you. The fact he married you is a testament to it; the fact that he hasn't been able to talk himself out of loving you even though he's had a year to do so is a testament to it."

"I know. However, I am willing to do whatever I must," Azula said after several moments, golden eyes dim but determined. "If he wants an annulment, I will help him search for one; if he wants to remain married, we will be. I will accept whatever he decides, and I must tell him so."

Zuko sighed. "I wouldn't leave yet. Give it another week."

Azula stared at him before she nodded curtly. "Very well."

XxXxXxXxXxX

"What do you mean you're planning to leave on Appa?" Sokka demanded, staring at Azula with suspicious eyes, and Zuko wondered how she thought it was a good idea to tell the others, all of whom, including Mai and Ty Lee, sat around the campfire. "You don't get to do that! You have no right!"

Azula sighed. "If Aang is not back within the coming days, I will go search for him on Appa."

"And just leave us here?" Katara asked, eyes narrowed. "If we have to go look for him, all of us should go."

"We need to stay here in case he returns," Zuko said quickly. "We will wait here, regardless, and Azula will search for Aang."

"She might not find him," Suki pointed out. "He can hide anywhere if he wants to, but she won't say why he's hiding. It's hard to trust her because of it, and we all know that you know, Zuko, what this is all about."

Zuko glared imperially. "It's not my place to say."

Sokka scoffed. "You're Fire Lord. Make it your place to say!"

"I must gather Samir, anyway," Azula snapped in interruption. "She needs to be here with us. Even if I fail to find Aang, my trip will be a success because I will return with Samir."

Silence.

"Is there anything you do want to tell us?" Toph asked, looking at ease and comfortable, and Zuko was grateful. "Do you think he noticed something while pulling you back and went to investigate?

Katara nodded. "He may be trying to take care of something there."

"But his body's gone," Suki reminded. "He can't be in the Spirit World. Azula needs to tell us why he ran off."

"He wouldn't run off," Katara defended, passionate and firm. "He vanished—his body did. Zuko saw it. This is different than any other time. I think he's in the Spirit World—he must be. Maybe he heard something or saw someone."

Zuko watched Azula's face flicker before something registered; she glanced at Sokka but looked away too late. He hadn't been the only one who noticed.

Sokka leaned forward. "What? What is it? What was that look on your face? And then you looked right at me!"

Azula's jaw ticked before she laughed slightly. "It is more complicated than you are prepared for."

Zuko felt his concern rise swiftly. "What is it?" he asked, watching her. "Is it the man you met who told you about Air?"

She shook her head, ignoring the various questions of how she met a man and what was told to her about Air. "No. I met several people while I was in limbo, including Chiefs Kuhna and Hada of the South."

Silence.

Sokka's eyes bulged out of their sockets while Katara looked speechless. "You met our grandfather and great-grandfather?"

Azula smirked, though there was no mirth. "And conversed with them. They are happy to hear of your and Katara's exploits and accomplishments."

Katara looked awed. "What were they like?"

"Aware," Azula said instinctively, and Zuko knew he wasn't the only one who missed the significance of the answer. "They wanted to hear news of their line, and I told them of Chief Hakoda's survival and the continuance of their line. Chief Hada thought his son was killed after he was."

Sokka's eyes darkened. "By your grandfather."

Azula looked nonplussed. "Yes. He searched for his son and found his father instead. Chiefs Kuhna and Hada tried to find your father and were afraid when they never could. Your grandfather never considered it possible that your father survived—never considered my grandfather's capability of mercy."

Katara glanced at Sokka, face confused. "Do you know what that's about?"

Sokka's brows were pinched in thought. "Dad's never talked about it. He only told me that his father and grandfather were both killed by the Fire Lord. They weren't killed at the same time. It sounded like it was around thirty years apart or something."

"It was about forty years," Azula notified, surprising Zuko. "Grandfather destroyed the South once and left, but the South rebounded and rebuilt itself, adapting, becoming stronger, and they were such a threat that Grandfather had to devote five years to conquer them again about forty years later—a single generation."

"I guess Gramps died thinking that Dad was going to be killed soon thereafter," Sokka said after several moments.

Toph's brows rose. "Who else did you meet, Lightning Psycho?"

Azula glanced at Sokka again before sighing. "I planned to tell you when Aang returned, but I met the Sage of Water while I was in limbo."

Zuko's eyes widened. "From the Order?"

"His name is Karluk—or was." Azula assessed Sokka for several moments. "Be ready."

Sokka stiffened. "Why?"

"He lived in the North and told me that he was murdered, along with all his masters, warriors, and apprentices, all of whom lived in the North, as well. He also told me that there were more amongst the slain; he said that many of the leading noblemen, specifically the nobles who supported you, were murdered, as well, and their bodies were drained of their bending energies by a boy who had the appearance of a Child of Fire. And he said that Nobleman Hahn is to blame."

"That polardog-fucker!" Sokka shouted, smashing his fist onto his thigh. "I knew it! I fucking knew it! I knew he would try something! Son of a cunt!" He hopped to his feet, marching toward Appa. "I'm using Appa, not you!"

Zuko cursed under his breath and ran after him. He gripped him by the arm, yanking him back, and he avoided Sokka's swinging arm in retaliation; he pushed him away, glaring at him, matching Sokka's ire.

They were alone, away from the others.

"What are you going to do?" Zuko demanded, crossing his arms. "You're going to strut in and accuse Hahn of these crimes? You need evidence. And the testimony of a literal dead man isn't evidence. Otherwise, it's going to look like you're trying to slander your rival, and your remaining supporters will flock to Hahn in response. You have to be smart about this, Sokka. And Arnook is still alive! You're not going to be the North's Chief right now; you can't be the North's Chief right now. This is not the time to rush in, half-assed, like you did at the Boiling Rock. We got lucky that time. I don't think we'd be so lucky this time—no, I know we wouldn't be. Everything is connected right now, and the North is a small part of the big picture. You need to stay here with us."

"Aang's not even here, and your sister has it in her head to take Appa and go look for him!"

Zuko was unimpressed. "And you think you can change her mind?"

Sokka winced. "Good point. But I need Appa to get to the North- "

"The North doesn't need you right now," he pointed out. "It has its Chief- "

"That polardog-fucker is going to steal my position! I thought you said you would help me!"

"I will help you by being smart, not by whatever this is you want me to do. This is complicated. You have to trust me. If you go to the North now, you'll make things worse; you're being rash and emotional. We need a plan, and it has to be a complicated plan because it's a complicated situation. You can either be for the North or for the world, Sokka. Right now, I'm not Fire Lord; I left the Dragon's Throne and my entire race in Uncle's hands- "

"But I don't have that regent- "

"Because you're not even Chief yet!" he cried out, trying to make him see sense. "Arnook and your father are still the Chiefs. You're not sacrificing anything by being for the world right now. Arnook has held the North for decades in his hands- "

"But Hahn could change that!"

Zuko snorted. "You think Hahn's going to assassinate Arnook and seize power? That would never work because the nobility would have to support him—and they don't. It's obvious. It's how you became the heir in the first place. Arnook never supported you while the nobility did—and Kuei took advantage. Even if Hahn eliminates all obstructions in his way, Arnook is bound to get suspicious if so many people die in such a short time. Hahn can't risk Arnook's suspicions. I think you still have nobles on your side. You have to be wise."

"Why aren't you worried about you, then?" Sokka demanded, aggressive and frustrated. "Aren't you worried your nobles will- "

"You will be beholden to your nobles while my nobles are beholden to me," Zuko interrupted. "The Fire Lord answers to no one but Agni and the ancestors. You answer to a lot of people because of Water's communal nature. You will never have the power that I have."

Sokka grumbled under his breath. "That's polardog shit."

"But I do worry that my nobles will betray Fire and join my father and Vaatu," he continued, clearly surprising him. "They already have—I know it. You see, my nobles can never act against me directly, but they can indirectly—by allying with my father to destroy me."

Sokka blinked, understanding dawning on him. "And Water's nobles can act against their Chief directly, and that's why Arnook's been so annoying."

Zuko almost sagged in relief that Sokka understood the depths of the situation. "Yes. You'll need to prepare. You already have allies remaining amongst the North's nobility, even if the numbers have been thinned somewhat, but you could easily ruin that by going off, half-cocked and half-assed, to the North and alienate those nobles, giving Hahn exactly what he wants. He's probably waiting for you to show up and cause a scene, actually. It's what he needs to make his seizure complete—because he knows that he'll be beholden to the nobles, too." He stepped forward, gesturing directly at him. "Sokka, you're winning right now; you're winning, but you can easily fuck it up if you don't play it smart. You have to do nothing and let the nobles take care of it; you have the easiest job in the world right now! You literally have to do nothing right now!"

Sokka's head bowed, and he inhaled deeply. "Thanks, Zuko."

He nodded and led Sokka back to the others. "It's alright," he notified, sitting back down in his place; Sokka did the same.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Sokka said.

Toph snorted. "Yet."

Sokka ignored her and looked at Azula. "Who's the boy?" he demanded.

Suki shook her head. "I already asked. Karluk said it was an alias; he used a Water name. He said it did not matter."

"But the bending energies were gone from all their bodies," Sokka stressed. "That sounds like what happened in that letter Bumi sent us."

Zuko blinked, realizing he had forgotten that fact; he wasn't the only one as Katara gasped. "King Bumi said that one of his masters notified him that he had found a trail of bodies of Order members," he recalled, mainly for his own sake to make it register, but he felt Azula and Toph listening keenly. "This was months ago, like right after Aang murdered Ba Sing Se, which means these Order members were killed before any of that."

Azula leaned back slightly, nodding. "They were targeted during Kuei's declaration of war against you. We thought nothing was happening, but it is obvious that there was much going on in the shadows."

He grit his teeth as his face twisted, realization blinding him. "Son of a bitch. That's it—that's what happened. I said that something internally must have happened to prevent Arnook from joining Kuei in declaring war. I thought his nobles were stopping him, but it was these murders…"

Zuko trailed off as he realized that it didn't make sense. If the murderers were of the nobles who supported Sokka, it was likely that those same nobles also wouldn't support war, which would clear the way for Arnook to do what he wanted to do. Kuei and Arnook were very close from everything he had seen and heard, and if Kuei declared war on Fire, Arnook would do the same, especially without the challenge of noblemen who didn't want war, who would be killed by 'the boy.'

But Arnook never declared war or joined the war subtly, which meant only one thing.

"Arnook's not part of it," he realized, mind screaming in recognition. "He didn't know about the murders; he couldn't have known about the murders. Otherwise, he would have declared war on me like Kuei did, following Kuei's lead, with his noble 'obstructions' out of the way, but that's not what he did. Rather than declare war, he must have demanded an investigation of everything that happened. He was as much in the dark as Karluk. Maybe the murders were done without his knowledge to clear the way for him to declare war, thinking that he would leap at the opportunity, thinking it a fortunate turn of events, but that's not what happened—it's not what he did. Rather than lead the North to war, he led them to healing, trying to figure out the source of the murders."

"Which will lead him to Hahn if it hasn't already," Sokka pointed out.

Zuko shook his head. "No, Hahn will protect himself. No one will know it's him. Even if some think it is, he will throw suspicion off him and onto someone else."

Azula laughed slightly. "And that 'someone else' will be the boy, Nobleman Hahn's weapon to kill his enemies, who stole the bending energies. He is already a known outsider, appearing Fire, and the North would easily believe that an outsider was responsible for all the murders rather than an insider like Nobleman Hahn."

Katara's face twisted with disgusted venom. "There's nothing noble about Hahn," she muttered.

Sokka nodded. "He's a reeking polardog shit that needs to drown. I'll push him into the ocean myself."

"That boy is the scapegoat," Suki concluded. "But how does he steal the bending energy?"

Toph's brows pinched. "It kind of sounds like what Twinkletoes did to the Loser Lord to steal his bending."

Azula shook her head. "But that was different. From what Karluk told me, the boy drained their bodies of all their bending energies, lodged in their chis—but this also drained them of their lives. However, the boy could not affect Karluk because Karluk is a 'master,' though I am unsure what it means."

"Maybe a bending master?" Katara suggested. "You said he was the Sage of Water; he was powerful."

Ty Lee raised a tentative hand. "It sounds Karluk had a mastered chi, which, from what it sounds like, is only possible through mastered chakras," she pointed out quietly.

"Maybe the boy can't drain a chi if the bender's chakras are mastered," Zuko theorized quickly, trying to keep Azula's attention off Ty Lee.

Azula assessed him and nodded. "Perhaps. However, this is different from chi-blocking; this is something more and deeper. A chi block works on the surface, but the boy does something to the depths. We must ask Aang. I think the boy is connected to Vaatu."

"I agree with you there," Toph said immediately.

"However, the question is—why would Vaatu send the boy to the North to commit these murders at such a time? This is not a simple mistake or misjudgment—we must not think of it as such. This was calculated. Vaatu must have known—or suspected highly—that Arnook would not declare war after the murders happened. Why would Vaatu not want the North to join Kuei in declaring war against Zuko? Why would Vaatu stall the actual war?"

To Zuko, the answer was obvious. "Because he wasn't ready—or, rather, Father wasn't ready. And Vaatu relies on Father like Father relies on Vaatu. They're friends in a twisted way; really, they're all each other has. Kuei's war was only a smokescreen so Father could have time to prepare and train, to redeem himself of his shame. We already thought that Father was the one who murdered Jeong Jeong, but I'm guessing that Father was hunting down the Order members all those months with this 'boy,' whoever he is." He groaned and slapped a hand to his face, frustrated. "Shit. Those months weren't a test of my restraint like I thought; they were a literal test for Father to prove himself to Vaatu."

Sokka's eyes lit up. "Because Kuei's war was never Vaatu's focus; it was slaughtering the Order of the White Lotus, which your dad and this 'boy' accomplished. Kuei's stupid war was just a distraction—a fucking good one. It was all about destroying Aang's power base and structure, isolating him, making him more likely to snap."

Azula's eyes closed. "And Ba Sing Se was what made him snap. Father killed Appa suspecting what would happen, and Aang reacted exactly as Vaatu wanted him to."

"But that had nothing to do with the Order," Suki pointed out.

"The Order members might have come to Ba Sing Se and changed things," Zuko responded. "Kuei wasn't exactly subtle about what he was doing. It was fucking obvious to those who knew what to look for, and the Order members would have known what to look for. If even one was in Ba Sing Se, he could have warned Aang of the danger. It's all connected."

Toph blew her bangs out of her eyes, face solemn. "Vaatu's the biggest cunt that I've ever heard of. He's thought of everything."

"He has been planning this for eons," Azula drawled, eyes staring into the campfire's flames. "Now he implements it."

Zuko nodded. "It's up to us to make him adjust his plans—to make him make new plans, ruining his pre-existing plans, which have the refinement of eons. We must make him adapt; we must make it as hard as possible for his plans to work. We must be the biggest irritation to ever exist to him, thwarting everything he wants to do, making him work new angles of attack, make him scheme in ways he's not as familiar with, and make him be on his heels in any way we can."

Katara looked down at her hands. "Basically, we have to irritate and sabotage him so much that he makes a mistake on which we can capitalize."

"We have to be as vexing and determined as the Conqueror," Suki whispered.

An urgency flashed on Azula's face. "Yes. This topic wearies me, and I must rest. Goodnight."

Before anyone could say anything, Azula stood up and walked off into her tent, sealing the flap behind her.

Zuko stared at Azula's tent for several moments, confused, not sure why she acted so strangely, but he looked back at the others. "We can do it," he stressed. "I don't know if it helps, but when I was chasing you guys, I thought you were the most fucking annoying things to ever walk the earth."

Sokka puffed out his chest, clear pride on his face, gleaming in his eyes. "Thanks."

Mai nodded. "You were. Even Azula thought so. 'At what other point in history have peasants been so clever and resilient?' she would ask."

Ty Lee grinned briefly. "We would tell her it was only the greater glory for her to earn in defeating you."

Toph laughed. "Trust me, it was all the greater glory when we always beat you guys. You were so fucking annoying."

"Especially Zuko," Sokka snarked, glancing at him with a wild grin.

Zuko shook his head with a brief smile. "It wasn't you who was annoying to me, Sokka; it was Aang. Do you know how fucking hard and annoying it is when you're fighting a twelve-year-old kid who acts like it's all a big game—and he still kicks your ass?"

"I know by watching you."

He glanced at Katara, curious to see if she had anything to add, but she was clearly not looking at him on purpose; she had been doing it a lot. Why? What was going on with her? Did he anger her somehow?

"I think you know by watching you since you're all about Water, which is about reflections," he replied, looking back at Sokka.

"I'm about to know from feeling both of you get crushed," Toph interrupted with a huff. "I'll make a game of it. Whoever screams loudest wins."

"That would be Katara, who couldn't stand watching the two most important men in her life suffer," Sokka snarked, glancing at Katara with wiggling brows.

Katara only smiled. "I don't see Dad or Aang anywhere."

Zuko's only brow rose while Sokka stared at her, betrayed. "Seriously? All I needed was a little support! I'm your brother! And in case you forgot, your only brother!"

"I know," Katara said dryly but with kind amusement. "I've thought about that a lot."

"Come on, Katara!" Sokka begged. "You have to save me from being crushed!"

"No one's being crushed," she observed, rolling her eyes.

Sokka shook his head, adamant. "Doesn't matter. It's a test—it's the only way to prove you're serious. Who would you pick? Who do you like better—me, your only brother, or Zuko, an angry Jerkbender?"

Something flashed across Katara's face before she smiled; it seemed forced. "Why choose either one of you when I can choose to stand with Toph and laugh at you?"

Toph hooted, commending Katara on making the right choice, but Katara's posture was tight, like she was trying to hold herself together—make herself seem like something she was not in the moment.

Zuko didn't know what it meant.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"I was wondering when you would take off."

Azula continued securing her bag, filled with food, water, and coins, to Appa's saddle; she was unsurprised Toph had discovered her, prepping Appa to leave in the middle of the night. "I am going alone," she notified, voice adamant, uncompromising. "You will stay here."

Toph scoffed. "I wasn't offering to go. You're being as crazy as Twinkletoes now. Is this what you were like when your mind broke?"

She paused and released a wavering hiss through her teeth; she patted Appa's head and encouraged him to stand to his feet as quietly as possibly. Thankfully, Appa followed her instructions, leaving her ire directed only at Toph.

Azula glared at her. "Be thankful I am not that girl anymore. You would be dead already if I were."

Toph's arms were crossed under her breasts. "I've learned with him that it's best to let him cool off. Running off after him like this is only going to make things worse."

"You know my pursuit, not my motivation."

"You clearly want to talk to him," Toph said, unimpressed. "I'm guessing he's not in the mood to talk. He probably couldn't hear you anyway with all the shit that's clogged in his ears. He needs to pull his head out of his ass on his own—you can't do it for him."

"My mind is made up."

Toph laughed slightly in disbelief. "You're going after him—why, I don't fucking know—to find him? You think you can actually find him? He knows the expanse of the whole fucking world like it's his heartbeat. You'll never find him. You know that, don't you? Whatever you did, which I'm narrowing down the more I think about it, pissed him off, Lightning Psycho, but even more than that, it scared him. Anything that scares The Avatar is bad news, and I wouldn't be near him while he works through it or whatever."

Azula was quiet for several moments. "We married," she confessed, unable to find the motivation to lie.

Silence.

Toph seemed to stop breathing for several moments, blinking rapidly before her eyes widened in realization. "When he 'welcomed' you back?"

She tried not to think of the memories; she failed. "Yes. We married in Air's eyes when intercourse occurred. Sex is marriage."

"He really wasn't ready," Toph whispered, seemingly to herself, nodding and shaking her head simultaneously. "He couldn't handle it."

"No," Azula agreed quietly. "He made me Mother of Air and regrets it; he hates it. He ran to avoid it—I know that is the reason."

"At least you're not pregnant." Toph's eyes squinted as she adjusted her feet, pressing into the ground almost harshly. "I think."

"That is why I leave now," she continued, watching Toph. "Zuko and Mother know, but the others do not. At this point, I do not care if they do. I am tired."

Toph stared at Appa, but Azula knew her attention was aimed at her. "Then why go? Why look for him?"

Azula laughed but felt no amusement. "Regardless of if I find him or not, I must gather Samir. I refuse to leave her there any longer."

She refused to be around the others, who challenged her sanity as she tried to comprehend everything going on, including Aang's abandonment and Vaatu's clear intelligence in weaponizing all events to benefit him.

Vaatu must know that Aang had run off, giving him an advantage to do as he wished until Aang returned—a horrifying possibility. The sooner she returned Aang, the sooner Vaatu's advantage dwindled.

Toph flicked a pebble with her toes. "Yeah," she agreed in a whisper. "It's been quiet without her around; it's been too serious."

"She thinks we forgot about her," Azula said softly, feeling almost haunted by the truth of the fact. It reminded her painfully of how she felt after Mother left upon murdering Grandfather.

She was not Samir's mother, but she felt a powerful fondness for her, perhaps born of a maternal affection, that notified her that she needed to gather Samir, no matter what. The longer she put it off, even if Aang somehow returned, the more upset she would feel.

She did not want to think about what Samir felt, but she knew, for she had once been 'forgotten' by a woman she loved as a mother.

"But we did forget about her," Toph pointed out, sounding guilty. "At least, I did. There was so much going on."

Azula nodded. "I know."

Toph swallowed, face pale. "If she's mad or sad, just tell her that I'm sorry. You have the excuse of being dead, and Twinkletoes has the excuse of going out of his mind looking for you, on top of everything else. I don't have an excuse."

"You are not her mother, Toph," she reassured, surprising herself.

"Neither are you," Toph reassured back, voice equally soft. "But she's a good kid. I think she wants you to be her mom and Twinkletoes her dad. She was asking me some less-than-subtle questions about parents with you in the same sentence—not very discreet."

Azula felt no surprise by the fact; she had already known that Samir looked up to her as a maternal influence, especially since she had been the only one to actively try to help her after Ba Sing Se while Aang was unconscious for so long. She thought Samir would have latched onto Toph or Pathik, but instead, Samir had latched onto her, reminding her of how she once latched onto Mother. She had played games with Samir many times, told her stories, and slept in the same room when it became clear that Samir was too scared to sleep alone at first, and she saw no better option to mitigate both of their sufferings because Samir only woke her up, not Toph or Pathik, no matter how much Azula had tried to encourage her to seek them out rather than her. But for some reason, Samir only ever came to her, latching onto her—why, Azula could never figure out. However, she eventually decided to solve the issue by pulling a cot into her room for Samir; it had become a habit—perhaps a ritual—that the two of them shared for all the months they were there.

She had tried to instruct Samir in airbending forms while Aang was unconscious, doing her best to remember Aang's movements and vague explanations on Ember Island to train her, and her interest became much more direct when Aang regained consciousness, made Samir conscious of her airbending connection, and took over her training, revealing an appalling focus on and commitment to perfection—so similar to Father. She had to fight against Aang's seeming tyranny in pressuring Samir so intently and unforgivingly, provoked by the memory of the terrified little girl standing under Father's shadow, trying to meet his impossible expectations—as Samir tried desperately but failed to meet Aang's impossible expectations. She took to defending Samir from Aang's judgment, uncaring how angry she made Aang—it was better to make him angry at her than Samir—which, unintentionally, caused Samir to latch onto her even more, hugging her often—even running up to her at random times and wrapped her arms around her legs. At first, it had been grating until the act—the literal comfort and kindness, offered and given freely—grew on her, and she found herself in awe of a child's free affection, which Azula tried to return, as Mother once did with her as a child before everything changed.

Toph cleared her throat and gestured past her with an awkward hand. "Speaking of parents…"

She already knew Mother would meet her gaze when she glanced behind her, but she did it anyway. "Speaking of," she agreed with a slight smile.

If she was vindictive, she would leave Mother without a goodbye, but she was not vindictive—not anymore.

"Good luck," Toph offered, trying to smile; it seemed sad. "Whether you find Twinkletoes or not, just bring Hitchhiker back with you."

Azula nodded. "I will."

Toph walked away, giving her privacy with Mother, who approached her with gentle, steady steps. "I am surprised you waited this long," Mother said upon reaching her, eyes roaming over her with knowing assurance. "I thought you would fly off after him that first night."

"It had occurred to me," she admitted.

"I know it did."

She smiled slightly before it faded, replaced by something anxious. "Any advice?" she asked. "I do not know what to say to him should I find him."

Mother was quiet for several moments, seemingly surprised by the brief expression on her face. "Listen to him," she said, golden eyes distant. "Simply listen. I wish I listened more to your father. If I had, things might have been different. If I listened to him, he would have listened to me. Avatar Aang will listen to you if you listen to him."

Azula tried to smirk. "No lightning, then."

"You would not be able to listen at all if you did."

She elected for a stiff silence as she gathered her thoughts and, thus, her courage; it was still difficult to be open with Mother rather than lie, particularly when she felt so raw with Aang's cruel abandonment. "Part of me wants to shoot him with lightning," she confessed, eyes tracing Appa's large arrowhead. "I know why he did it, but why did he do it to me? I should be worth more than this."

Mother's smile was sad, almost withered. "You are worth more, but you must ask him if he will ever recognize it."

The memory of Gyatso's stirring faith in Aang when she met him in her limbo flashed in her mind, producing pain. She should have known his warnings to never give up on Aang, no matter how cruel his actions seemed, were prophetic rather than performative. She did not know how she knew, but she knew instinctively that Gyatso had foreseen Aang's hasty departure after their marriage. Gyatso had warned her, though however vaguely and imprecisely—how Air Nomad-like of him—of the impending pain she would feel and had implored her not to give up on Aang, no matter what happened.

But what happened had been inconceivable to her—though she should have conceived it!

"I should have stopped him," Azula murmured, unable to help it. "I should have restrained my passion, but I was so happy—happy to be alive and see him again, and I was happy that he was happy to see me again. I was overwhelmed, and I damned myself because of it. He will return, whether by my urging or not, but nothing will be the same. He will avoid me and look at me differently." Her fists clenched as the hollow sensation spread through her, leaving a trail of ice, and not even her mastered chakras could prevent it. "Rather than feel his affection, I will feel his scorn; I will feel his disgust."

Mother's eyes crinkled. "You do not have to go; you can stay here- "

Azula shook her head. "I must. I will gather Samir and return here. If I encounter Aang, I will be honest, as I have always tried to be with him. I would rather confront him alone, isolated with privacy, than in front of any of you." She tried to smirk, though she knew it was more of a grimace. "We are not that close yet, Mother."

Mother smiled in encouragement, though there was a visible sorrow in her golden eyes. "Then I wish you luck."

Azula smiled back—or tried to, at least. She only felt tired in her bones. "I was born lucky."

She had not felt 'born lucky' in a long time.

XxXxXxXxXxX

When Zuko woke up the next morning, he felt it in the air instantly—Appa was gone.

And so was Azula.

"I should have fucking known," Sokka muttered, staring at the place Appa usually was when Zuko came out of his tent. "When she went to bed early, I should have called polardog shit on her. I was thinking it, but I didn't say it. Shows me what restraint does. Zuko, if you ever catch me slipping, remind me to fuck restraint."

"I'm probably not the best to remind you of that," he drawled. "I'm quite the master of restraint."

Sokka blinked before whirling around, marching off. "Toph!"

Zuko shook his head, knowing he should have suspected Azula's motives for retiring early the previous night.
All of their realizations about how Vaatu had, in effect, been playing them the entire time must have provoked her urgency to find Aang; otherwise, Vaatu would keep playing them. Every day mattered, especially with Father so desperately injured. He would think Father dead, but he knew better. Father possessed a remarkable power to overcome, bestowed by an unshakable will—and Vaatu would never let him perish.

They could not spend the delicate time they had, which seemed so in their favor with Father injured and Vaatu deprived of his army, however temporarily, waiting for Aang to return from wherever he went, but it was their only option. Azula must have realized it and decided to forego waiting herself, deciding to take action and seek Aang out—because only she could return him since she had driven him away.

Aang and Azula were married.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, still trying to comprehend the fact. He had never imagined Azula married because the thought was so disgusting to him, especially when he was a boy; it was only supposed to be him and Azula, no one else. But after her mind's disarray and imprisonment, he knew it was within his power to marry her off to anyone he wished as Fire Lord, but he refused the idea. Still, it was always at the back of his mind that, if Azula recovered, he would have to marry her to seal an alliance with, presumably, an enemy of Earth—he had considered Kuei himself briefly before he regretted raping his mind with that thought.

But he had never imagined that Azula would marry Aang—the thought never occurred to him!

His sister and best friend were married, and Azula's children would not have Earth in their veins; they would have Air in their veins, and they would resemble Aang, someone he knew powerfully, rather than strangers or enemies.

It was brilliant—until it was not. Aang thought the marriage was an abomination and ran off, and now Azula ran off in search for him, probably to tell him that she would give him the out of an annulment. He hated her conceived solution because he knew Aang was more than capable of accepting it—he probably would! There was nothing to suggest that Aang would not accept such an offer, especially to free himself from tying Air to Sozin forever.

Zuko understood Aang's reasoning, but he hated it all the same because it came at the cost of his sister.

"I'm guessing you helped her pack," Zuko greeted when Mother came to stand next to him, staring where Appa once was.

Mother smiled slightly. "I suspected but said nothing. When I woke up in the night, she and Lady Toph were arguing—quietly, of course."

He wasn't surprised Toph knew about Azula's plan as she must have felt the vibrations and investigated. "Did you try to stop her?"

"I told her to do what she felt she needed to."

"What does that look like?" he challenged. "Annulment?"

Mother shook her head. "I cannot say."

"You know that's a stupid solution, right? An annulment does nothing—it makes the whole thing worse!"

Her mouth stretched in amusement and something he could not name. "I agree, but Azula needed a solution. Annulments are cowardly, but it is her decision."

Zuko tensed at the scorn in her voice about annulments as something occurred to him. "You would never get an annulment, would you?" he asked, already knowing answer. "Even though he tricked you into murdering his father, whom you loved as your own father, you would not annul yourself from being linked to him forever."

Mother's face flickered before she stared up at him, golden eyes steely. "I am married to your father, and I will remain married to him all my life. Things did not go as I wanted—not at all. Things still do not go as I want. I want so many things to change. I would rather your father not have assassinated Lu Ten or have inherited the Dragon's Throne from Iroh if Lu Ten died regardless in action, leaving us as a family; I would rather I sit next to him as his Fire Lady than stand across from him with bars separating us; I would rather my son live as the Fire Prince than under the burden of the Fire Lord at such a young age; I would rather my son be married than have a line of concubines stretching the length of the Caldera; and I would rather my daughter not love a man who despises what she is. There are so many things that I want differently, but I do not want your father differently; he is not among it all. I will never pursue an annulment. He is my husband, and I will think of him as such forever. I refuse to forget who we were and what we built, which is what an annulment signifies; it is an erasure of presence."

He sighed, pained by the clear devotion Mother held for Father. "Mom, he's the one who destroyed what you built."

"No," she denied. "We both destroyed it. However, what we built endures forever, shining more brilliantly than ever before, for our children are testaments to our union, to the beauty we shared for so long. I love you, Zuko, not only because you come from me but also because you come from him, as well—and it is the same for Azula."

Zuko knew he would never understand Mother's conviction, the sheer powerful love she held for Father, and decided to let it go. "I don't know how you do it."

"It is trying some days."

He was quiet for several moments. "Do you think she really will offer him an annulment?"

Mother hummed. "If he proves bad-tempered, I suspect so."

Knowing how bad-tempered Aang was capable of being, Zuko closed his eyes. "Shit."

XxXxXxXxXxX

Aang left her.

It was a thought that gnawed at her. It was not only a 'leaving,' something more passive—it was an active running away from her. He went to the Immortal Realm itself simply to get away from her, for she only reminded him of the truth of their marriage. Then, wanting even more distance between them, he had activated a power unknown to her and possibly himself—all so he could vanish and be away from her.

Did he hate her, as in all of her rather than only her blood? Did he blame her for their marriage? Did he think of her and feel only disdain? Did he pull out his hair in frustration over what he committed? Did he unleash destruction to purge his heart of all the resentment and ire thrashing inside him? Did he enter The Avatar State to obtain the advice of his predecessors to realize a solution to what he thought was an unbearable problem?

Would he even be willing to speak to her?

Azula felt cold not only from the bitter chill in the sky as Appa flew to the Eastern Temple; the sensation had only grown and expanded with each day that passed since Aang vanished—for she knew, deep down, that he was doing something monumental, whether to work to annul their marriage, cleansing himself of his sin, or something else. She also knew that he was capable of anything in his state, so extreme that he literally forced his body to vanish, revealing a power thought only accessible through his mastered chakras, which were not mastered in the slightest.

She had known of his hatred for her blood—she always had. Yet, his reaction to marrying her still surprised her and left her feeling shaken and unsure. Was the truth so unpleasant that Aang kept away for weeks? Was the profound significance of their marriage worth nothing because of her blood? Was anything about her real to him because she was one of Sozin's heirs? How could he look at her with such overwhelming joy and relief, enough to marry her with a clear mind, one day before he gazed at her with wrath on the next day?

How could he love her but hate her blood?

Every feeble explanation she conceived left her dissatisfied and more and more furious. How could he do this to her? After everything she had done and experienced, why would he treat her so poorly? She had supported him as best she could, but he refused to support her as best he could! How could the literal Balance-Keeper be unable to reciprocate and keep balance between them?

By the time she reached the Eastern Temple, she hoped that Aang was not there, for she felt certain that she would attack him—or at the least unleash her ire in a verbal tirade that would scar not only him but her.

Thankfully, when Appa bellowed in greeting, Aang did not appear or dash away from the temple; instead, Samir and Pathik greeted her when Appa landed in the temple courtyard. Momo squawked in return and dashed into the air and circled Appa's horn in delight, going faster and faster, making Azula dizzy from tracking the rapid movement.

Samir's face was awed and overwhelmed, giddy with delight. "Azula!" she cried out, dashing toward her, face stretching in teary jubilation. "You came back! You didn't forget me!"

Azula placed her hands on Samir's head when Samir jumped at her, pressing her face into her leg, squeezing her small arms around her leg as tight as she could; she caressed her fingers through Samir's hair in response. "Of course, I did not forget you," she soothed, surprising herself by crouching to be at Samir's level; she wanted to look into Samir's eyes, which flowed with tears, enhancing the gray color magnificently. She much preferred to stare into Samir's gray eyes rather than Aang or Ty Lee's gray eyes. "I am sorry it took longer than we thought. So much has happened that we could not prepare for, but I am here now. I came to gather you and bring you with me."

Samir sniffed and peered around her, looking at Appa with confusion. "Where's Aang?"

She tried to smile at Samir; it was easier than she thought. "You must gather your things. I will tell you about Aang soon. We depart shortly."

"What's wrong?" Samir asked, eyes wide; she looked pale, obviously sensing the mood. "Where's Aang? He said he would come back!"

Azula shook her head. "You must help me find him; he wandered off."

Surprisingly, Samir beamed. "Like an Airbender! He always said Airbenders go wandering. Now I'll go wandering with him! Then when we find him, he'll throw me off Appa from the clouds like he promised."

Azula wondered if she would ever be prepared to deal with what seemed like innate madness in Airbenders. However, she was well-acquainted with madness, allowing her to adjust effortlessly.

"Of course," she agreed. "Now gather your things."

"You're leaving?" Samir suddenly asked, and she noticed that tears welled in her gray eyes. "But you just got here!"

Azula's hand squeezed her delicate shoulder, face kind but serious. "Yes, but you are coming with me; we are going to travel on Appa. Do you remember how much fun that it was the first time?"

Samir beamed; her tears were forgotten. "He did a flip!"

"He did." Azula laughed softly at the memory that was so long ago. "We can always come back to the temple, Samir. Now run along and gather your things quickly. We do not have much time."

Samir went to run but paused, face scared and anxious as she looked back at her. "You won't leave without me?"

Azula shook her head in confirmation. "No. I will wait for you. I must speak with Pathik."

Samir grinned. "Okay!"

She bolted, and Azula felt small reprieve by the small gust of wind that followed. "Has she trained?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," Pathik notified. "She abhors meditation."

Azula sighed. "She is a child, and most children are not like Aang or me."

Pathik smiled kindly. "She missed you deeply, all three of you, but specifically you and Aang. I lost count of how many times she asked about you."

She watched Pathik, assessing him for several long moments. "Thank you for watching her for so long. I know it was not what we agreed to."

"Not at all," Pathik dismissed with a kind smile. "There were difficulties, especially when it became clear that you were not returning by the time you vowed, but we made do. She had much trouble sleeping for a while, but I think she reached equilibrium." Something crossed Pathik's face, hard to decipher. "But I do ask that you tell me the reason or reasons for your delay. Does it have to do with Aang's absence?"

"He is not dead- "

"I know he isn't," Pathik interrupted with a brief laugh. "The Avatar still lives."

Azula glared at him. "The Avatar is always living. I speak of Aang."

"So do I."

She blinked, something stirred within her. "Do you know where he is?"

Pathik's brows rose in surprise. "What do you mean? You don't know where he is?"

Azula looked away. "For anything to make sense, you must know that the fight against Vaatu and my father did not go according to plan. It went worse than I feared." She inhaled slowly, dispersing the memories that threatened to converge on her. "I was killed in the battle."

Silence.

Pathik stared at her, eyes roaming her body in amazement. "Yet you are here. How?"

"Aang pulled my spirit back and fastened it to my body," she explained quietly. "He killed Agni and Devi's bodies and sent Vaatu and my father fleeing for their lives. Toph almost died and would have died if Aang did not let Vaatu and my father go. That is the reason for the delay, Pathik. Aang spent a month scouring the Immortal Realm for my spirit in limbo, and he found me and returned me." She tried to smile and found it easier when she recalled who she met in her limbo. "I met one of your friends long gone, and I cherish the fact that I did. I understand Air as it is—and, more importantly, was. He is as wise and patient as you described."

Pathik blinked, something awed and disbelieving crossing his face. "You spoke with Gyatso?"

Her lips twitched as she nodded; she deeply enjoyed Gyatso's presence. She had been uncertain what to think of Gyatso based on Aang's recollection of him, thinking that Gyatso had been perfected in the descriptions, but she found that Aang understated Gyatso's intelligent and wise nature. "I can conceive of no finer man than he to have been Aang's father."

Something overwhelmed crossed Pathik's face. "I share that belief. How did Gyatso seem?"

"Wonderful," she recalled instinctively. "Serene. I stumbled upon him meditating in that place, and I have no idea how he accomplished it. His intelligence and kindness are renowned. It feels impossible not to love him. I love him, Pathik. In that short time I experienced him, he felt more like a father to me than my own. I am so grateful for him—I love him."

Pathik's eyes closed as his face quivered with an ancient emotion. "Good," he whispered, voice cracking. "I have missed him deeply. It relieves me to hear of his gladness." His eyes opened, and something intrigued passed in his eyes. "He must have enjoyed you."

Azula smirked and shrugged one shoulder. "I like to think that he did." Her smirk faded as she swallowed, remembering, feeling awed. "He said I am worthy of all that Air has to offer," she murmured, voice drifting. "He called me his daughter and welcomed me; he loved me. He adopted Fire's bow when I departed and assured me of everything I could never describe. He inspired me and made me realize the depths of Aang's loss." Her face twisted as she turned away, overlooking the valley beneath the temple, feeling the wind brush her hair, tickling her face. "He was a beautiful man, and he was murdered by my great-grandfather, but he was not the only one. If everyone of Air was like him, so wise and genuine, so mature and kind, Aang feels a void beyond calculation. I know a fraction of the loss Aang feels now. He misses all of his race, but he misses Gyatso the most among them because Gyatso was his father. Yet, I miss Gyatso, as well, after having met him and experienced him, even if only for a moment in comparison. I wish I had more time with him; I wish I could say so many other things to him; I wish I could remember him more completely and hear his voice every day; I wish his wisdom registered more in my understanding; and I wish he was here with me—only him. I wish his presence did not exist only in my memory. I understand, never more than now, why Aang has always hated my blood. There are no words for his loss, and I insult him when I search for words to describe something indescribable."

"He told you he hates your blood?"

"I always felt it, and I know it is true. He admitted it to my brother, who relayed it to me."

"Is that why he is not here?"

"Yes," she confirmed, bowing her head. "We married. After he returned me, he married me, and I participated passionately. However, he regrets it; he hates it. We are married now, but he has vanished. He went into the Immortal Realm, but after three weeks, his body vanished."

Pathik blinked. "Did he return to his body and flee- "

"No, my brother was awake and saw Aang disappear into thin air; one second, he was there, the next, he was not. His frantic concern awakened the entire camp. And the frantic sensation has only intensified in the resulting weeks. I hope he has returned, but I know he has not—an instinct, I suppose."

"His body could only disappear like that if he mastered his chakras- "

"He is incapable of mastering them," she interrupted with more bitterness than she wanted.

Silence.

"Married?" he echoed, brows furrowed. "Aang is quick even among Airbenders, but such an acceleration in the nature of your relationship doesn't align with him."

She tried to smirk, but she knew she only managed a tight grimace of a smile. "Death is a wonderful stimulant, it seems."

He hummed, intrigued but knowing. "Your death provoked him to obtain you as his wife."

"And feel ashamed and disgusted so quickly," she commented, unable to help herself. Pathik would understand more than Zuko and Mother. "I awakened the next morning after a night of passion, and he barely spoke to me; he did not look me in the eye; he seemed lost and dazed, struggling in a haze of misery and guilt. He hates our marriage and wishes it annulled."

Pathik frowned. "The sudden and unexpected acceleration is dangerous. He was not ready. You must have known- "

Azula felt her eyes flash. "I know that I died, and he pulled me back across the threshold; I know that he was overjoyed and beside himself when he saw me again; I know his delight and devotion were consuming; I know he was overcome with everything he denied himself; and I know that I could not resist his amorous advances, drawn to his flame of passion—nor did I want to resist."

"I'm sorry," he consoled after several moments. "It's simply that I mourn what should have been a celebration. Now it is an extensive source of worry."

"Worry?" she echoed with a bitter laugh. "It is not mere worry; it is panic. It is over a month now, and he is nowhere. We are too hesitant to leave our camp as Aang may return, and we must all be together." She looked away, sighing into the wind, but the wind was silent, carrying no hints or warnings, no clues or deliberations. "I thought, perhaps, he might have returned here to discuss it with you, to seek your counsel."

Pathik winced. "Aang has resented my counsel for a long time—many years. I'm sorry, but he did not come here—at least, to my knowledge he didn't. He might have masked his presence- "

Azula shook her head. "He did not come here. If he had, he would have taken Samir with him to his next destination without a word to you—if only to return her to you when he recalled his hatred for her existence."

"I agree. Have you tried the other Air Temples?"

"He would not go to the Northern Temple, as it is too occupied, tainted—reminding him that he is alone. Nor would he go to the Western Temple, which is situated too closely to the Fire Nation, which reminds him of his sin," she bit out, annoyed and in dread. "There is only one place he could be that I can conceive."

The Southern Temple.

"Will you go to the Southern Temple?" he asked, voice faint in the roaring in her ears.

She bowed her head. "I will do what I must, which includes freeing him from our marriage if that is what he needs."

Pathik said nothing for a long time. "I admire your strength, Azula," he commended at last, voice soft. "I see how deep your affection runs for him."

"I love him," she observed, barely heard. "However, according to my mother, love is a source of joy, comfort, and solace. I have felt none of those things since we married—nor before." She had last felt all of those things in unison when they were on Ember Island on their 'vacation' while Aang acted as her 'bodyguard.' She had felt each in separate stages in the times since with him but never all at once, as she wanted to. "You asked me if I would stand by him, and I never knew how difficult such a prospect would be. Yet, my answer remains the same. I will do what I must."

Suddenly, Samir dashed out of the temple's halls, hauling a bag with her, haphazardly stuffed with items, which teetered out as she ran forward. She paused intermittently with every several steps, ran back to pick up the items that fell out, and resumed her dash before repeating the process every few moments as her vigor prevented a delicate pace.

She grinned with relief and joy when she stopped in front of her, face flushed. "Azula! You're still here!"

Azula found it easy to smile. "Yes, I am. But not for long. We fly soon."

"Where's Aang?" Samir asked, tugging at her pant leg.

She was quiet for several moments, noticed Pathik watching her, but upon Samir's gray eyes staring up at her with trust and happiness, she came to a decision. "He wandered off, and we must find him. Will you help me look for him?"

Samir beamed up at her. "Uh-huh! Yes."

"Get on Appa," she encouraged. "We fly to the Southern Temple."

A light gasp echoed. "That's Aang's home! That's what he always said!"

"It is," Azula confirmed. "We must go to his home and find him."

Samir scrambled up Appa's tail and plopped herself in the saddle. "I'm ready!" she called out.

Azula laughed slightly. "In a moment. I must finish speaking to Pathik."

"Okay!" Samir chirped and crawled onto Appa's head and began to ask him questions about how he was doing and things that she had done with Pathik and Momo while he was gone.

She focused back on Pathik. "Again, thank you for watching her."

Pathik smiled and pulled a scroll out from the back of his loincloth. "This may be redundant by now, but this letter arrived for you two days after your departure. It was attached to a warhawk sent by your brother."

He handed her the scroll, and Azula brushed her fingers over the capsule which contained the message, seeing the Fire Lord's personal insignia on the message; her dread was signified by the fact that she suspected what the message entailed. She slowly pulled the message out of the capsule and, upon feeling how easily it slid out, knew Pathik had already read it.

"My brother," she whispered in confirmation upon seeing the handwriting before focusing on the words:

Aang,

You never responded to my last message—the many messages I sent to all the Air Temples. But I think you are at the Eastern Air Temple. You have to be. It's the only thing that makes sense to me. If you are reading this, know that I write this letter with a heavy heart. This message is not a happy one, and I wish I could spare you from its ugliness, but that's not our fates. All the Fire Sages of the various Fire Avatar Temples, except for a few found dead, have abandoned their ancient posts. It's clear to me that they joined Vaatu and re-swore their treacherous oaths to my father. They betrayed you again, forsaking anything redeemable in them. I'm at a loss, and I suspect that it's not only the Fire Sages. I suspect the Earth Sages have joined Vaatu, too. I'm unsure about the Water Sages as I see no reason why they would join him, but it would not surprise me. Nothing surprises me anymore, and I'm sure you are the same way. What I know is that many of the world's leading spiritual experts serve Vaatu now and will help him in any ways they can.

I'm sorry to tell you this—I know it hurts and angers you equally. It hurts and angers me, too. Nothing is going like we want it to; nothing is getting better. I thought the Great War was bad, but this is worse. I can feel it—and it has barely started. We were caught flat-footed and are trying to catch up to a nimble enemy, who is so far ahead that we only see his shadow. Everything we do, at least on my end so far, feels like an overcompensation, a desperate attempt to mitigate the ever-apparent chasm between us and Vaatu. It feels like we are going in different directions, too busy looking everyone around us when Vaatu is actually above us, laughing. Well, I don't know if Vaatu is laughing; I know Father is, at least. But I would like to start laughing, too, if that makes any sense.

We need a victory; we need a momentum-builder, a literal change-the-course-of-events triumph. The only way I can see us getting that is if we reunite—all of us, together. We need to be unified to defeat Vaatu. It's clear to me. I know you are furious at Katara, Sokka, and Suki, and I was, too—in some ways, I still am. But we need their help; we need their presence; we need their skills and capabilities. Frankly, I trust no one more to help us save the world than them. We did it once, and though it will be more difficult, we will do it again.

But the only way we can do it is if we are all together again, working as a team. Without you here, none of us know what to do now. We have no idea how to help and what the depths are to this war. We have no other options, as far as I can see. All these trials with Vaatu are beyond my expertise as I know only about mortal affairs, and it's the same for the others. You alone are the foremost ruler of the immortal spirits and their workings. We need your help, but you need our help, too. Please return to the Fire Nation as soon as you can and tell us everything that has happened, anything that you might have found. We need to all be together to defeat Vaatu. Please come, Aang, and bring Azula and Toph with you. We are worried about you since you did not respond to the previous letter.

Zuko

Azula felt nowhere near serene enough to shoot lightning! If they had stayed two more days—two more days!—they would have known about the Fire Sages and had a better understanding of what they would experience, which meant they would have never journeyed to fight Father! It meant she never would have been killed! But it also meant that she and Aang would never have married, which ensured that he never would have vanished immediately after.

Why had they not waited two days?

Suddenly, she tensed as she assessed Pathik. "He said 'previous letter,' but I do not recall a previous letter."

Pathik winced. "Yes. It arrived while you were here."

Her eyes narrowed as her hand crunched into a fist, crumpling the letter before a flash of sapphire flames consumed it. "I never saw such a letter."

"Because I hid it from you and Aang," Pathik divulged, voice heavy and regretful. "I knew he wasn't ready to face it. I was convinced it would have only made things worse."

Azula felt her mood darken. "Show me."

Pathik walked inside the temple, and though she felt Samir watching her, Azula fumed in fury, considering the tantalizing paths they could have walked rather than the one they did. Her only comfort in the chosen path was that it culminated in her meeting and experiencing Gyatso, which was, perhaps, the wonder of her life.

Could nothing go right? How could they achieve victory against Vaatu and Father when they experienced, again and again, such dire miseries? How could they possibly build the necessary momentum to triumph when they endured only loss after loss, setback after setback, trial after trial, and misfortune after misfortune? Would victory be possible? Was it possible? How would the cohesion of the group be impacted when Aang returned and undoubtedly treated her differently, trying to put distance between them? How could they all be unified when they were inevitably going to splinter into separate groups, likely extensions of the ones they made after Aang left? How could they be strong and free from Vaatu's possible influences? How could anything healthy and sane flourish if they were unable to stop Vaatu, too disjointed and weak?

For the first time since learning of Vaatu's existence, Azula felt doubts about achieving victory. She distrusted the will to victory, born of potential, striving, dedication, strength, and tenacity facilitated by Aang and Aang alone, for only through The Avatar was victory possible against such a daunting, primordial enemy.

However, for the first time, she was unsure if she trusted Aang, which was a sobering, haunting sensation that left her feeling breathless—because she drowned.

How had so much gone wrong so quickly? How could their marriage have culminated not in rebirth but more desolation? How could something that should be joyful and pleasant evoke absence and betrayal, which only benefitted Vaatu, who was more than intelligent enough to seize advantage? Had they trapped themselves in a cyclical pattern in which defeat and misery were only possible with every event or situation encountered, becoming more and more bleak as the world slipped from their grip?

Was recovery even possible?

Azula watched Pathik return, finding no answer or solace like she wanted. There was nothing but her thoughts, teetering toward disarray. However, she gained a reprieve when she noticed that Pathik carried in his arms a bundle of familiar garments.

"You are of Air now," Pathik said upon seeing her gaze rooted on the clothes. "Not of blood, no. But Aang chose you."

She was unable to look away from the Air Nomad garbs in Pathik's arms. "He hates his choice."

"His hatred is toward himself, not you or his choice."

"It is, but he is not mature enough to recognize it," she whispered, hating how her voice drifted, but she felt too weary to control it. Lately, she had felt as if she were performing since Aang had vanished, no matter the audience, whether for Mother, Zuko, and Toph, or Katara, Sokka, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. She did not want to perform anymore.

Pathik's face tightened. "I think he does recognize it."

Azula smiled without mirth; it felt and sounded bitter. "And hates that he recognizes it. Nothing can change, not now. My intelligence is exhausted, Pathik. I cannot conceive how anything changes; I cannot conceive how anything gets better. It can only become worse. I know him."

"What's taking so long?" Samir called out from atop Appa's head.

"Not too much longer," Azula said, raising her voice as she turned around briefly with a tight smile. "A few more minutes."

Samir pouted but said nothing, to which Azula looked back at Pathik, who watched her with knowing eyes. "Don't let your knowledge possess you," he warned. "You may underestimate him."

"I am more familiar with his cruelty than you," Azula replied, unmoved. "I have seen it inflicted against others and heard of it. But I thought he would never inflict it against me—not like this."

"He returned you from your death."

Her laughter was a pained breeze. "And hates that he did when he could not return his race. And I understand his hatred. I met Gyatso, Pathik. I understand how and why Aang adores him and despises his absence. Aang thinks returning me is the ultimate betrayal because he refused—or failed, rather—to return his race, foremost among them Gyatso." She stared the temple's magnificent architecture, amazed by what Air was capable of, recalling the priceless wisdom refined for countless generations. "And I hate it, as well. I wanted to bring Gyatso back with me; I wanted to hold onto him as Aang returned me, but I knew I could not—I accepted that I could not. I accept that all the successive events that enabled my return were right and necessary, somehow beyond my understanding, though I try to understand it. How did things progress in such a perfect way for my return and no one else's? How does that work? What powers played the strings necessary for everything to be calculated precisely right to return me? Is the Tree of Time behind it? I accept that I will never know, but I am grateful all the same without the knowledge. But Aang is incapable of acceptance—and gratefulness. I am unsure he will be for a long time. Only a miracle will facilitate his maturity. Vaatu will let no such thing happen." She dared risk a glance at Pathik. "Part of me wonders if he would rather embrace Vaatu than destroy him."

Pathik winced. "I have wondered the same. He is capable of extraordinary hatred."

"He hates this time, this world, this age, and this era, along with the people born to and of it," Azula whispered. "He calls it damned and evil, which it is, to him. I suspect he would rather destroy this world than save it, but he feels an obligation to save it, though he does not want to, born likely of indoctrination than actual will. Perhaps that is why nothing has gone right thus far—for he truly, genuinely does not want to save the world. He would rather watch it burn—as his race burned."

Something haunted and discouraged crossed Pathik's face, which withered with sadness. "I know. I always wanted to be wrong. I overlooked and dismissed whatever concerns I felt, but I see how this happened. I look back at that boy who did everything in his great power to ignore and pretend—to perform. I look back as he changed slowly, worsening if you will, becoming more dark and simultaneously jagged and jaded every time I encountered him—and with every time I dared stretch my senses to feel his energy from across the world. It happened so subtly, but it was always going to happen; it was inevitable. And this is the result. While I know there would be a difference in energy if Aang and Vaatu were next to each other, I doubt it would be a noticeable difference. But while I can't see the journey, I see the destination—I know it. He will reach maturity and save the world."

Azula stared at him as desperation gnawed at her. "How?"

Pathik smiled, worn. "If he looks to Air, he can mature himself. If he understands its wisdom and peace, born of freedom, he will mature himself. You will help him get there, though the work will be his."

Incredulity surged through her. "No," she denied. "I am unworthy of the task—I am incapable of it."

"You are his wife," Pathik said after several moments. "You can do it. It is all you can do. There is no one else. He will never listen to me. But he will listen to his wife in time; he chose you. You must have faith in him."

"Gyatso said the same," she recalled in a whisper. "I vowed to do so, but I never realized what it meant—what it entailed."

"I didn't, either." Pathik held the garments toward her. "You can start by wearing these, which belong to you now. You know the custom."

"It is Fire's way, as well," she dismissed. "When a woman is of marrying age and finds her husband, she distances herself from her family to join her husband's family to mother his heirs, who are foremost of his family rather than hers. Since I married Aang and am not an Airbender and never will be born of his race, the significance lies in the clothing. Henceforth, I must only wear Air's garments, for I am an honorary Air Nomad, married to one." Her lips stretched in a tight line. "I feel no urgency to wear those now, not for him. In truth, I would only want to wear those for Gyatso."

Pathik smiled with something wry in his eyes. "Wear them for yourself, Azula. You love Air—I know you do."

Azula sighed. "Yet, it is difficult to love it with Aang's betrayal. That is how it feels; that is what it is—a betrayal. I expected too much of him. I am a fool, married to a fool."

"Will you give up on him?"

"Of course not," she answered and grabbed hold of the clothes, stuffing them against her side. "I need something else to think about. Give me my brother's first letter."

Pathik handed it to her, and she popped the capsule, slid out the letter, and read its content:

Aang,

I have written this letter several times, and I hate this attempt like all the others. But I'm not going to write anything better. I lack Azula's rhetorical talent. First of all—I hope that you're alright. We heard about Ba Sing Se. Are you okay? What about Azula and Toph? I assume you went to the Eastern Air Temple as you had mentioned before you left, which is why I wrote this. I hope it reaches you, and I hope it lessens your guilt in whatever way it can—if it even can. I know you are devastated about what you did—I'm devastated for you. From what I can tell, it appears that King Bumi is taking it upon himself to rebuild Ba Sing Se, although I don't have confirmation. There can be truth in rumors, but there is an equal possibility of deception. Often, it's hard to decipher which is which, and I'm unsure about King Bumi's role going forward.

This is a fucking nightmare. The stress of it has almost made me go back to the concubines. Yes, I stopped using the concubines, but I may go back tomorrow—I really have no idea. I know you're aware of the consequences of Ba Sing Se—or suspect, at least—but please keep in mind that you're the enemy to many people now. Most of the allies you counted on in the Great War hate you now, terrified out of their minds; they will scorn you; they will condemn you; and they will chant for your death, cheering at any possibility of it. There have been huge riots across the continent from what I know. Chyung and Zaofu are leading them. King Bumi has held firm like the great man he is, but I worry for him. It would not surprise me if he was assassinated. I know from experience how petty Kings of Earth are, and Kuei dominated Chyung and Zaofu easily enough. They may target King Bumi. Beware—everywhere you turn will lurk enemies. It will be like how it was for me after the Great War. There were enemies always around me who would never act against me directly but rather indirectly, which is more sinister and dangerous—because you cannot be as prepared.

People outraged by and terrified of you will never dare act against you directly, but they will indirectly; they will sabotage you and seek your demise, working in the shadows—in Vaatu's shadows—to realize it. Vaatu will take advantage; he certainly already has. This is so much more dangerous and threatening now because our list of enemies has multiplied incalculably. Besides King Bumi and the Earth Sages, I cannot think of anyone who would be an ally. This is unprecedented, and we must respond in an unprecedented way—by considering anyone on the continent as an enemy now, not to attack but to be wary of and distrust any offer of alliance, help, or support. Our list of allies is slim, and it's slimmer than you think because I received word of something terrible, something I don't want to tell you but must.

The Order of the White Lotus has somehow been slaughtered off. I'm sorry, Aang. King Bumi messaged Uncle to notify him. We think Vaatu and Father are behind it, but there's something strange at the heart of it. Only three members remains from the original hundreds—Uncle, King Bumi, and Master Pakku, Katara and Sokka's step-grandfather. And King Bumi learned from one of his masters before he was killed—the master, not King Bumi—that the bending energies, which should remain even in death, were gone from the bodies. Vaatu must have something to do with it, but none of us know what it is or how it happened. But that's the truth—our allies are slim. We have much work to do, and I have no idea where and how to begin. It feels overwhelming, and I know it feels the same for you but worse. I'm sorry that so much has happened and that I'm the one who had to tell you about this hateful news, but you need to be ready for more hateful news going forward.

I think there is only going to be hateful news to hear for a long time until things get better. In these weeks since Ba Sing Se, I have thought about Kuei a lot. I'm glad you killed him. I would have done it myself. I thought for a long time that if he died, I would never think about him again, but I was wrong. I think about him a lot. It's clear that he helped lead us into this—it may have been the outcome he wanted, for all we know. He seemed to only want destruction. I don't know if you received confirmation that he was working with Vaatu and Father, but I think it's certain. It's the only thing that makes sense to me. But it's also clear that Kuei was not the only one who pushed us into this. Many people across the world, specifically on the continent, wanted vengeance, hated you because you denied it to them, and welcomed Kuei's subtle schemes to evoke it. And Ba Sing Se's murder evoked something beyond Kuei and those fools' dreams—but it was exactly what Vaatu and Father wanted. This played right into their hands, shaping their designs perhaps even clearer than they thought.

I know you hate yourself for many reasons more than this, and if you can't let go of your hatred, direct it at Vaatu and Father. I know you didn't want this. Something provoked you into The Avatar State, and based on what you have told me about The Avatar State, I think it was either Appa or Azula. But since you flew away, it seems that Appa is alright. What about Azula? Is my sister alright? Was it something else? Did Kuei say something about Air, something passive-aggressive and cruel, so out-of-touch and narrow-minded, that you snapped? I understand the feeling. But we can't change what happened, unfortunately—nor can we change what led us into this. You never went to Ba Sing Se with the intention to destroy; it was a provoked destruction rather than a planned destruction. But no one cares about your intentions, which you know. No one cares about your reasons—only your actions. No one cares about Kuei's large part in this—or even Vaatu or Father's parts if either were there. Everyone simply cares that you walked into Ba Sing Se and was the only one to leave its wreckage.

It might reflect poorly on me, but I don't blame you; I know you are guilty for this, but I don't blame you. I know where the blame lies, and I blame him with all the rage and disgust in my heart. Things have been building for years, simmering to a boil, until it erupted. It seems inevitable looking back clearly and honestly. It was extreme beyond words, impossible to comprehend, but that's how the world has been for over a century if not longer. We were primed for something like this to happen, and I'm sorry that you were the instrument by which it was realized. I have realized recently that the War was never really actually over. The eight years since I ascended the Dragon's Throne were only a stalemate. If this isn't a continuance of the Great War, it's a direct response to it. Like we both feared, forgiveness was never possible in the perceptions of many, and no matter what we did, no matter how we tried to make peace, no matter how we tried to control ourselves, no matter how we tried to be understanding and open to discussion, no matter how we tried to prevent something like this from happening, this was always going to happen. They hate us—they always have. And they hate us even more now. I'm unsure forgiveness will ever be possible now.

The others are stricken by this, especially Katara, but I think they will come to understand how it happened. I see it clearly, but they don't yet. Maybe even you don't see it clearly. I hope you do, but I know you may not. I hope you're doing as well as you can with this horror and guilt hanging over you. I'm worried about you. If you feel unable to come back to the Fire Nation, I understand. Just please respond when you're ready. It would give me some peace of mind, however little I'm capable of. I really hope you're doing well, Aang.

Zuko

Azula tore her eyes away from her brother's message to Aang, wondering what type of difference it would have made to read the letter many months ago when it had arrived at the Eastern Temple, weeks after Ba Sing Se's murder. However, the news of the Order's slaughter would have provoked Aang to react rashly, fly back to the continent and search for Vaatu and Father, which would culminate in him encountering many people who despised him and might have attacked him directly, regardless of what Zuko had thought.

It might have led to another slaughter if some brave—or foolish—soul disparaged Air to Aang's face when Aang was already so deadly compromised and stricken by horror and grief.

"I see why you kept this from us," she said at last to Pathik.

Pathik nodded, smiling sadly. "I did so with a heavy heart. It was a thoughtful, honest message. I would like to meet your brother someday."

Azula smirked briefly as she imagined Pathik, only in his loincloth, walking through the palace and greeting the Fire Lord, seated on the Dragon's Throne, with a respectful, revealing bow. "I assure you that he sounds much less intelligent in person."

"I will be the judge of that," Pathik replied with a light laugh. "Something tells me you are not an objective judge."

"Can we leave now?" Samir called out behind her, sounding almost like a whine. "Please?"

Azula nodded and ignited her palm with flames, which swallowed Zuko's first letter. She ensured her new garbs were secured against her side with her arm as she bowed to Pathik. "I owe you many thanks."

"You owe nothing," Pathik corrected, bowing in return. "I am happy to help."

When she turned back to Appa, she almost laughed at Samir's blatant annoyed expression, which reminded her of herself oddly enough.

"Are you giving up on him?" Pathik asked as she climbed atop Appa's head, shooing Momo to the side.

Azula adjusted herself in position, placed her new garbs in her secured bag, and was surprised when Samir climbed into her lap and seemingly refused to even consider any other spot, before she looked back at Pathik. "No," she answered and sighed when Momo curled onto her shoulders, gripping onto her hair in some places. "I think—or hope—that the Southern Temple will provide answers, even if it does not reveal Aang."

Pathik smiled kindly. "Sometimes hope is the only worthy thought."

She was unsure if she agreed with his claim, but she inclined her head in respect. "Thank you, Pathik. I do not know when I will see you again, but I look forward to when I do."

"As do I."

Samir waved at Pathik with enthusiasm. "Bye, Guru Pathik!"

"Bye, Samir," Pathik responded with a noble bow. "It was a pleasure to spend time with you. You are a worthy Air Nomad, young one."

"Thanks!"

"So are you, Pathik," Azula added, catching his eyes, which filled with ancient emotion. "You are Air's friend forever, worthy to be hailed 'Air Nomad.'"

Several tears spilled out of Pathik's eyes, drifting down his withered cheeks before he smiled, looking breathless. "So are you, Azula. Aang chose wisely, though he does not understand yet. But he will—I guarantee it. Thank you, Mother of Air."

Azula did her best to control the swell of emotion his words evoked and nodded. "Thank you, Pathik." She stared at him for a moment further before she grabbed Appa's reins and snapped in rhythm. "Appa, to the Southern Temple. Yip-yip."

Appa took off with effortless grace.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Tell it to me again."

Zuko groaned and closed his eyes for patience. "At this point, I'm not sure it will do any good."

Sokka scoffed. "Just do it, Jerkbender."

"When you meet Hahn, whenever it is, ingratiate yourself with him. Make it seem like it's all water under the bridge."

"Nice pun."

"You said that last time—and the time before that."

Sokka glared. "I'm complimenting you!"

He sighed. "Make friends with his friends. Be charming."

"As if I'm not charming all the time," Sokka snorted. "How do you think Suki fell in love with me?"

Zuko stared at him, unimpressed. "Are you trying to make Hahn and his friends fall in love with you?"

Sokka sputtered. "Of course not."

"But you should be," he stressed. "Make them like you; make them trust you- "

"This is a stupid plan!" Sokka interrupted, shaking his head. "This is the fourth time I've heard it, and it still doesn't make sense. What kind of situation are you trying to put me in, Zuko?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "A winnable one."

"This is a loser plan!"

Zuko's temper cracked. "You would know! Every plan you've ever made is a loser one!"

Sokka gasped in outrage. "Take that back! My plans are awesome! We won the Great War because of my plans!"

"We're still in the Great War!"

"Would you two shut up?" Mai interjected, rolling her eyes as she spun her shuriken in her hand. "I would hate to lose concentration and send my knife flying into one of your throats."

Zuko brushed his fingers across the place on his throat where Mai had nearly killed him before he remembered himself and glared at her. "Don't even think about it."

Mai stared at him with dark eyes. "It is difficult to think of little else when you are both acting like children."

"If you act on your thoughts, you won't think ever again," he warned half-heartedly.

"It would be worth it," Mai muttered. "Going about it like this is not smart."

Sokka snorted, standing next to him, arms crossed over his chest. "You wouldn't even know something smart if it introduced itself to you."

Zuko glanced at Sokka, grateful for the support, before he glared back at Mai. "We are strategizing about winning, Mai."

"I think you mean whining."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Sokka said with a brief laugh. "You were around Azula for years."

Zuko honestly couldn't deny Sokka's suggestion, for Azula had been difficult when they were children, always teasing and provoking him and complaining to Mom when he responded, but Ty Lee frowned. "Azula wasn't that bad."

Mai smirked. "And Zuko was the whiner, not Azula. Still is, it seems."

He shook his head, wondering why he bothered. "It sounds like you are whining about the fact that I, apparently, whine."

"Exactly," Sokka agreed. "Now Zuko and I are going somewhere else to discuss our winning strategies!" He marched out of the tent. "Come on, Zuko!"

Zuko followed Sokka out of the tent, unable to help himself. Once he had followed Sokka a suitable distance, he shook his head. "You realize that accomplished nothing, right?"

Sokka shrugged. "If it helps me think louder, it's worth it. I just can't believe that you had to grow up with them and your sister."

He sighed. "It was different back then. I think Mai is still angry at me for banishing her. Ty Lee may be, too, but she's better at pretending."

"I thought Mai would be better at pretending."

Zuko recalled how furious and hurt she had been when he was forced to banish her, seeing no other option, particularly after having come moments away from feeling Kuei's wrath when he barely reacted in time to save himself from being assassinated. "I think she's been through a lot," he said softly. "Both she and Ty Lee have. It must have been terrible to make them try to assassinate me."

Sokka cocked a brow. "You are a master of restraint. If someone tried to assassinate me, I'd chop his fucking head off."

"Normally, I would," Zuko pointed out. "I have many times."

"Really? What was it like?"

"Relieving—for I was no longer in danger. But I couldn't do it to Mai and Ty Lee. They were my friends—well, they were Azula's friends. But I grew up with them, and they were almost like sisters to me sometimes."

Sokka stared at him in fascination. "Wasn't Mai your girlfriend?"

"My betrothed," he dismissed. "Mai had shown talents in the Academy, and with her noble family's background, full of prominent Firebenders, a match was proposed by one of my grandfather's advisors since I was fourth-in-line to the Dragon's Throne, never thought an actual possibility for Fire Lord, and my mother and father approved. That was why Mai started coming to the palace—to acquaint herself with me. But then she befriended Azula—who was also in the Academy—and it turned into something different. Ty Lee soon joined, and it was all four of us—or, rather, all three of them versus me. Some days, I hated it; other days, I loved it. That's how I know they became like semi-sisters to me. I've never loved them in my life like I do Azula, but I know that I liked them. And that's why I couldn't execute them for trying to assassinate me."

"Would you execute me for trying to assassinate you?"

Zuko snorted. "I haven't when you piss me off."

Sokka glared. "But you attacked me!"

He recalled how he had snapped when Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph had first arrived, specifically when Sokka said that it was no wonder Father had never loved him. "I was still drunk from the night before."

"No, you weren't."

"I know," he admitted. "For what it's worth now, I'm sorry about that."

Sokka sagged. "Me too. I shouldn't have said that about you and your dad. The only wonder is why you ever loved him."

Zuko laughed but it felt breathless from scorn. "He's my father, and I remember when he was one—when I was young. Everything was bright then; everything was healthy then."

An uncomfortable, twisting look crossed Sokka's face and stayed there. "He gave you your scar, didn't he?"

Silence.

The instinct to deny and deflect, to try to deny it, was powerful, but he knew it would only act as confirmation. Instead, he assessed Sokka for several moments, trying to determine how he had learned the truth. "Katara told you?"

Sokka blinked in surprise. "What? She knows?"

Zuko sighed. "She pulled it out of Uncle, apparently. Did Uncle tell you, too?"

"No, I figured it out," Sokka said, but his voice was quiet and somber. "I never thought about it during the War. I just figured you lost control of your firebending or something and did it to yourself. But now I've been thinking. Your dad was willing to kill his own daughter who had always been loyal to him. What was he willing to do to a son who rebelled? And the fact your scar is shaped like a handprint helped me put things together. Also, what Firebender would have balls large enough—would have the power—to scar the Fire Prince except for the Fire Lord?"

"It was before I rebelled," he muttered, looking back through the mists in his memories. "I actually did it to please him. It was an Agni Kai against him, and I refused to fight, trying to show him honor—to show him the respect he deserved as both my father and Fire Lord. But I only disgusted and infuriated him—and disgraced him—by doing that. I understand it from his perspective now, actually. It was never about his honor—it was always about my honor. I was thinking of him rather than myself, and he actually wanted me to think of myself rather than him. He wanted me to honor myself by fighting him, but by refusing to fight him, I revealed that I had no honor, which reflected on him, dishonoring him. I was an idiot."

Sokka stared at him, aghast. "That reeks of polardog shit."

Zuko glanced at him. "I didn't say I agree, only that I understand why it happened. I was an idiot, yes, but he was a bigger idiot by taking it to that extreme. He should have understood that I wasn't smart enough to realize the depths of what I was doing. It was never simply cruelty, though it was cruel—I'm not sure he even enjoyed it. He was actually trying to teach me. I guess the motivation was pure, but the action was not. I thought about it a lot."

"And I bet you vomited flames when you did."

"Sometimes. I used to think about it every moment of every day. But I don't think about it anymore—only if someone makes me think of it."

Sokka winced. "Sorry."

Zuko waved him off. "I'm not angry. I actually feel peace about it. I never thought I would, but I do. I don't think about it anymore. I only think of him now. I think of the fact that he is my father and I am his son. I think of the root rather than the tree. He killed my sister—his own daughter. I know it wasn't intentional because he shot at Aang, and he could have never imagined that Azula would sacrifice herself for Aang, but it still happened. I wonder how he feels, thinking he killed his own daughter."

"I don't actually know him, but I'm not sure he'd feel anything."

He shook his head. "I think he rationalizes it because he has to; he probably blames Azula rather than himself. He takes no accountability for it."

"Probably. Or he blames Aang for it."

"That, too," he agreed. "I know you can't understand it because your father is different from mine- "

Sokka snorted. "That goes without saying. My dad's awesome. Even when I pissed him off by marrying Suki without telling him, he still was proud of me and congratulated me."

Zuko's only brow rose. "You married Suki without telling him?"

"Without telling anyone," Sokka boasted. "When I visited her on Kyoshi Island, we got married in secret. Then I brought her back to the South and told everyone, and we did a Water ceremony. He was mad because it almost ruined negotiations with Arnook. Apparently, Arnook was willing to name me heir if I married his cousin's daughter, a strong Waterbender, but by marrying Suki, I ruined it. Hahn actually ended up marrying Arnook's second cousin, but it all worked out in the end."

He laughed slightly. "Has he had children by her yet?"

"Not as far as I know. And although me and Suki haven't had kids yet, either, I'm not worried. I'd rather not have kids now anyway. This is a wild time to be alive, and I want my kids to have no part of it."

Zuko nodded. "That's one way to look at it. Maybe that's why I haven't sired heirs yet. Or I waited for a true Fire Lady."

Sokka glanced at him, unimpressed but defiant. "Speaking of that, I see how you look at my sister. I'm not an idiot."

Zuko's jaw clenched before he smiled slightly. "Most of the time, that is."

"You're doing that freaky thing your sister does!" Sokka accused, pointing a finger at him. "You're trying to distract me from the fact that you look at my sister like I look at Suki. Just don't go putting a baby in my little sister, Zuko! Katara's certainly baby crazy, but don't do it, no matter how much she asks! You can't do it! I'm telling you—you can't do it!"

He stared at Sokka and elected not to deny the truth. "Is it that obvious?"

Sokka grumbled for several moments before shaking himself. "No. I didn't notice anything until Suki pointed it out to me. She said it would do wonders for the South—for Water as a whole, actually—to have a direct link to the Fire Lord through marriage. I had no idea what she was talking about. I thought she was saying I needed to marry Azula!" Sokka shivered, and Zuko wasn't much better—that sounded awful. "But then Suki mentioned how you and Katara are spending more and more time together, and you actually look at her a lot and smile sometimes. I think it's fucking creepy, but Suki said it makes sense. Now I can't unsee it. I see how you look at Katara."

Zuko looked away. "Does Katara see it?"

"It's hard to tell with her," Sokka dismissed. "I mean, when she was going nuts over Jet, it was so fucking obvious. It was disgusting, actually. I couldn't even look at her."

His fists clenched, hating the thought of Katara being infatuated with Jet. "I don't want to hear about Jet."

"What do you have against Jet?"

"Besides my sword to his throat if he wasn't dead, everything. I met him in Ba Sing Se, and he knew I was a Firebender; he attacked me and tried to get me to reveal myself before the Dai Li dragged him away." His face twisted in disgust. "He was nothing more than a fucking half-spawn, too mad to think straight."

Sokka's eyes closed. "So, that's what happened. We could never figure out how the Dai Li got him. But anyway, Katara looked at him like he could do anything. Well, actually, she looked at Aang like he could do anything; she looked at Jet like she wanted him to do anything. She doesn't look at you like that."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said dryly.

"She looks at you like she knows you, like she knows you can do anything but that there are lines you'd never cross. And she smiles at you and gets you to talk more. Like, I remember she would ask all the time back then 'what do you think Jet would' or 'do you think Jet would' or 'what about Jet' or some polardog shit like that. It was fucking annoying. But now she says 'Zuko would say this' or 'Zuko thinks that' or 'Zuko wouldn't agree with that.' The best way I can put it—she seeks you out while she wanted Jet to seek her out if that makes any sense."

"I guess it makes sense," he replied, spacing his words, trying to make sense of Sokka's explanation. "Do you agree with her 'seeking' me out?"

Sokka sighed. "I'd rather my baby sister become a nun or something, but I guess it's not the worst possible thing. If I had to choose between her being dead and married to you, I'd pick the marriage."

Zuko almost pointed out that his own baby sister had, in fact, become a nun by marrying Aang, but he refrained. "I understand."

"Ask me ten years ago, and I'd kill anyone who said she'd be seeking a Firebender, least of all the Fire Lord." Sokka shook his head in pained disbelief, eyes uncomprehending. "I'd be disgusted! I'd be outraged! I'd shake some sense into her! If I had to, I'd open her head and drop the sense in there over her brain, sprinkling it in there like it's salt or something! But here we are. I don't know how we reached this point. I mean, I know—I know. But I don't know, you know?"

He agreed, recalling his insistence on continuing his resentment and hatred toward Katara, Sokka, and Suki when they arrived at the Caldera, but here he was, deprived of the resentment and hatred. "If it's any consolation, I would be disgusted and outraged of looking at Katara as my Fire Lady ten years ago, too."

Sokka looked at him gratefully. "It is. Thanks. She can certainly do better than you, but I don't know if I mean that. I mean it right now, but that's me being an older brother. As a man, I'm not sure. I mean, you're still a Jerkbender, but maybe being a Jerkbender is a good thing—sometimes. Although, it is a little weird that, if you have kids with her, one of those kids' great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers was killed by one of the other great-grandfathers."

Zuko snorted. "That's the nature of all political marriages. Princesses have often married men who killed their husbands, brothers, or fathers before in history."

Sokka stared at him with a critical eye. "But this wouldn't only be a political marriage, would it? It wouldn't primarily be a political marriage."

"No," he admitted. "That would be a nice advantage, nothing more. That's not why I look at her."

Sokka flinched. "I really don't want to hear how attractive my baby sister is."

Zuko nodded. "Then she's the ugliest girl I've ever seen."

An outraged gasp echoed. "That's my sister! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"A misguided attempt to spare you details of her attractiveness," he explained with minor amusement.

Sokka straightened his posture, puffing out his chest. "I take it back. You're not good enough for her."

"You already said that."

"I said you're not good enough for her somewhat. But now you're not good enough for her at all."

Zuko's lips twitched in a smile he tried to smother; he was successful mostly. "It's good that it's her choice and not yours, then."

Sokka snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, assessing him an unimpressed eye. "She's made stupid choices before. But she'll come to her senses—like she always does, even if it takes forever. You're not exactly a catch."

Whatever amusement he felt vanished. "I can't 'exactly' control what I look like, can I?"

"I'm not talking about your scar," Sokka dismissed with a brief laugh. "I mean, your personality. I know I'm not exactly handsome or anything, but it was my personality that won Suki over. You don't have any personality, and my sister loves some personality. Jet had a lot of personality."

"Are you trying to piss me off?"

Sokka's eyes widened before he gestured at him violently. "See? That's just it! You're always pissed off! You're always a Jerkbender! How about you become a Smilebender? It'd be fucking creepy, sure, but Katara wouldn't think so—I guarantee it. What about a Laughbender? Or a Friendlybender? What about not being such a grouch all the time? If you actually make yourself likable, Katara will actually like you!"

"I thought she already 'liked' me."

"But she could like you more."

Zuko's only brow rose. "Are you trying to give me advice on how to woo your sister?"

Sokka's eyes narrowed before he slackened, seemingly stunned, unaware that he had, in fact, been giving him advice, before he grunted. "Jerkbender."

He smiled slightly. "I'd say peasant, but that's not exactly true, is it?"

"At least you're learning," Sokka mumbled. "But I can't only look at this as an older brother; I have to look at it like the Water Prince. It's a good match. Suki's right—it links us directly to the Fire Lord, which benefits us so much. And let's face it—you're the most powerful ruler in the world by far. It's probably why Kuei was wanting to become the only Earth King—to reflect you."

Zuko felt a seething satisfaction. "But he died wanting. You're going to live it. You will be the only Water Chief in time. I guarantee it to you."

Sokka grinned before something suspicious crossed his face. "You're not only helping me to make it impossible for me to deny you marrying Katara, are you? You're not trying to make me owe you?"

"No."

"Where's Toph when you need her?" Sokka grumbled, staring at him. "I don't know if you're lying or not."

Zuko smirked. "Katara could tell."

"So? She could tell when I was lying even when I wasn't lying when we were kids!"

He shrugged. "I'm not helping you to help me; I'm doing it to help Fire, hoping that it will forge an alliance, whether by marriage or not, where Water will refuse to attack us for several generations, at least. And it would piss Kuei off, which helps. I'm commandeering his political strategy for my own. I don't want a favor from you Sokka; I want a favor from Water in that Water won't attack Fire and would, hopefully, come to our aid if we ever need it."

Sokka assessed him before nodding. "Consider it done. I'll look the other way when it comes to Katara because I like you. But you're on your own with her."

"But you were just giving me advice."

A stiff finger wiggled at him. "That was the only advice you'll be getting from me—and don't even think about asking Suki, who's fluent in those feminine mysteries that she and Katara are always giggling about! She's not going to give you any advice, either."

"Okay."

"Good luck," Sokka said with a chortle, looking like he enjoyed himself. "Because you're going to need help; you're hopeless by yourself. Look at you! I don't know why you would bother. Well, I know, but if your penis is that loud, just relieve yourself. Save yourself a mess—besides the one your penis makes." Sokka grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Get it?"

Zuko blinked, realizing that his options were minimal—if not painful. He could either ask his ex-betrothed in Mai, a romantic in Ty Lee, a laugh-in-your-face friend in Toph, a mischievous sister in Azula, or his interfering mother.

Fuck.

"I get it," he responded, spacing his words, trying not to panic. He was the Fire Lord! He was feared across the world! What was his problem? Why did he feel panic? It was dragonshit! "But now I need to figure out how to get Katara."

"Like I said, good luck."

Recalling his hopeless options for help, he reckoned that Sokka was right.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"When will we be there?"

Azula sighed once more—she had lost track of how many sighs she had released. It seemed that Samir was more impatient than usual. "I am unsure. I have never been to the Southern Temple before. We rely on Appa's direction."

Samir remained sitting in Azula's lap, but she felt the weight increase as Samir sagged her head back, neck craned awkwardly until she looked directly up at her. "Can't you ask him how long it's gonna be?"

"I am most intelligent, but not even I can talk to Appa."

"But Aang does!"

"Aang is more intelligent than am I."

"What about Momo?"

Momo squawked, but Azula shook her head. "I cannot ask Momo, either. We must wait for Appa to take us there."

Samir picked at the edges of her Air Nomad garbs, voice muffled but somehow heard clearly. "Are you gonna leave me there?"

Azula shook her head, understanding why Samir had the thought. "Of course not. I am sorry we left you at the Eastern Temple, and I am sorry that we did not return when we said we would, but it was not because we wanted to."

"Why were you gone so long?"

Surprised that it had taken her so long to ask, Azula was prepared. "We were delayed in our journey. I was wounded, and Aang spent a long time healing me."

Samir's eyes bulged as she scrambled in Azula's lap, fingers poking and prodding everywhere. "You're hurt?"

Azula rolled her eyes and caught Samir's hysterical hands and met moist gray eyes. "Not anymore. But if I was, you should not be trying to find where I am hurt."

"But I could make it better!" Samir protested.

"Your presence is enough," Azula countered. "Does that make sense?"

Samir's face scrunched up. "Uh-huh. Why were you hurt? Who hurt you?"

Lightning flashed behind her eyes, and Azula smiled slightly. "There was a fight, and an enemy hurt me, but Aang healed me. I am healed now." She raised her arms and emphasized her smooth mobility. "See? I am unharmed now."

Gray eyes assessed her, looking for a sign of a trick, before Samir leaned back against Azula's chest, seemingly satisfied. "I'm happy you're okay."

"Me too," she whispered. "I learned much from my experience."

"Where's Aang?" Samir asked after several moments, voice quiet, seeming to realize the subject was precarious. "Why'd he go wandering?"

"He searches for something," Azula responded. "He looks for help. We need all the help we can get. He wanted to be here with me to gather you, but he was unable to."

Samir beamed up at her. "I forgive him! I wanna see him! Is he at the Southern Temple?"

"He might be," she conceded. "But we search for answers, Samir. I must find something."

"How do you find answers?" she echoed, confused. "That doesn't make sense."

"You search where you do not want to search."

Samir's vibrant, memorable gray eyes peered up at her. "Is that why Aang's going wandering? To get answers for help?"

Azula nodded, letting her lips stretch slightly in a brief smile. "Yes. But I fear he lost himself in his wandering."

"He's lost?"

"I think so. I want you to be prepared—if we find him, he may act strange; he may be mean to you."

Samir's shoulders curled in on themselves. "I don't want him to be mean," she whispered. "He's scary when he's mean."

She sighed. "I know. I think part of why he went wandering is to try not to be so mean anymore. He looks for answers."

"What if he can't find it?"

"Perhaps we can find it for him," Azula suggested, though she did not believe a word of it. "Even if we do not, you will see the Southern Temple. Maybe that is purpose enough." She stared at the clouds around them, thinking of Gyatso and his stories. "I need to see it, too, even without him."

Samir sniffed, and Azula tensed at the tears visible in Samir's eyes, which trailed her cheeks. "Does he want me to be an Airbender?"

Azula shook her head. "Why would you ask that?"

She shrugged, not looking at her. "I don't know," she mumbled.

"Of course, he wants you to be an Airbender," she said with patience, knowing that Aang wanted everyone in the world to be an Airbender. "You are special in his eyes because you are an Airbender. Look at the clothes you wear; look at your gray eyes; look at the air that breezes around you with its song of recognition."

Samir wiped at her cheeks with a bitter flash of her tiny hands; her cheeks flamed with devastated anger. "But I can't hear the song! I'm trying to hear it, but I can't! Air doesn't want me, and Aang doesn't want me, too!"

"Your struggle is not new, Samir," Azula consoled, remembering Zuko's fierce struggle to learn firebending—at ages even older than Samir—with the burden of being one of Sozin's heirs, nonetheless. However, Samir's burden was more cumbersome and exhausting than Zuko's, for Samir was the first Airbender to walk the world besides Aang in over a century. She was the first heir to Air's entire race, a much greater and more extensive burden than anything Azula or Zuko had ever known or could know. "I know you want to succeed immediately—I want you to succeed immediately, and Aang, as well. But your struggle will not prevent you from finding success; it only delays it."

"I want Aang to be proud of me."

Azula cursed herself for not challenging Aang on his demands for perfection sooner—she should have prevented this response! She knew better than anyone the cost of pursuing demanded perfection! "Aang is proud of you. But it is difficult for him to show it sometimes."

Samir pushed her face into Azula's breasts—whether for comfort or warmth Azula was unsure. "I want him to love me; I want him to be my daddy, but he doesn't want me."

It must have been for comfort.

She struggled for words for several moments, wishing Mother was with her, for Mother would know how to respond to Samir's truthful observation. Azula knew it was true; she had always known it.

Samir was not who Aang wanted.

Samir was not a real Air Nomad as Aang yearned for, and Aang's acceptance, if there was acceptance, was borne of having no other choice. It was a forced welcoming brimming with resentment and disgust. Aang did not hate Samir but what she represented, and Samir must have recognized it on some level, particularly since Aang had failed to return to gather her in the allotted time. She honestly had no idea if Aang had even thought of Samir since they had all left the Eastern Temple to ambush Father.

Azula surprised herself by embracing Samir, drawing her closer in her lap; she mimicked her memories of Mother by brushing her hands over Samir's tight back in light circles. "He wants so many things, and you are amongst his wants."

Samir's breathing wavered. "Do you think he wants to be my daddy?"

Azula knew that by waiting to answer she would only discourage her; instead, she smiled and said immediately: "Yes, he will. But you must wait to ask him. I am not sure he is ready now. I know you are ready—I know you have been ready for a long time—but he is not."

When Samir suddenly looked up at her with a jerk of her head, gray eyes locking onto her with a bright shine, she knew instantly what Samir was going to say—she knew it in her bones!

"Will you be my mommy, Azula?"

She was right.

However, there was no surprise, shock, or fear, for she had been aware of the possibility; she had ruminated on it, and though the thought would have once left her unsettled and disappointed in herself, there was only a pleasant sensation evoked by Samir's question.

Watching Samir's trembling, brave face, Azula smirked. "You mean, I am not already?"

Samir gasped, gray eyes bulging in surprise, before a starving grin split her face; she looked awed. "Really?"

"Yes- "

She grunted in surprise when Samir launched herself at her with desperation, squeezing as hard as she could, and after recovering, Azula embraced Samir in return.

"I have a mommy," Samir whispered in a trembling, shaky chant against her chest, clearly trying to make what was once thought to be impossible register in her mind. "I have a mommy; I have a mommy; I have a mommy."

Azula swore she heard Gyatso's kind, warm laughter in the wind as Appa continued his swift pace to the Southern Temple and realized something, which seized hold of her and would not let go. Gyatso would be Samir's grandfather, whether Aang adopted her or not—she swore it. Father would have no claim to Samir, only Gyatso would. Not only had Gyatso shown her a love, wisdom, intelligence, and understanding so revolutionary that her perception of him surpassed all others, but he had also provided her with her rebirth, helping her return to her life with dignity and wisdom, 'fathering' her as a worthy man.

"You have so much, Samir," she whispered back, running a hand through Samir's hair. "I am happy to know you."

Samir clutched at her tighter, gripping with all her strength, clearly overwhelmed, saying nothing.

It reminded her of the rare times when she was a child that she clutched at Mother after a night terror; it had become particularly more prevalent after Father convinced her to make her first kill. Mother never understood what she felt or why she felt what she did, but Mother had simply held her, and though she did not understand what Samir felt, she could do the same as Mother, following an example she never knew that she admired.

She wondered if Mother would feel old upon learning that she was a grandmother.

Perhaps she would notify her immediately upon her return.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It was an impressive spar.

Watching waterbending and earthbending so close was a novelty she had never expected to see, least of all observe with an admiring eye while unconcerned and secure from threat. Both Lady Toph and Katara trained each other, refining each other, to adapt to their mastered chakras—to understand what they were capable of and how to attack an enemy. Neither seemed to hold back, fighting against a friend but recognizing that only a friend was capable of helping perfect stances and combat senses and rhythm.

It reminded Ursa of times long ago. It had been a long time since she had sparred—at least fifteen years ago, likely more. Perhaps things started deteriorating for her family when she and Ozai stopped their spars.

For years, she and Ozai had sparred daily, particularly when she trained him, evoking his rise to eminence. After they married and he had awakened the incredible power within him, they continued their spars; it was an intimate ritual between the two of them. Neither held back, and though there were a few memorable times she defeated him—the earlier points in time than later—Ozai beat her always once he awakened his incredible power, blowing past her defenses with his overwhelming power and ferocity. However, instead of a flaming fist held over her, ready to finish the spar to its logical conclusion, Ozai held his flameless hand over her, which she grabbed gratefully and pulled herself up.

It was like that for so long—until it was not.

After Zuko and Azula started firebending, things changed; Ozai took an unhealthy interest in Zuko's firebending, spending much of his time on the subject before he switched to Azula when Zuko's constant failures were too much for him to bear. And the facts that Azulon had stopped entering battles himself and retired to the palace to enjoy his grandchildren and Iroh was away for so long and planning to besiege Ba Sing Se meant that Ozai and Ursa's duties around the palace were increased in number, which delayed them from finding the time to spar with each other as they had always done.

The daily spars turned to weekly spars, which turned to monthly spars, which turned to sporadic monthly spars—until they never sparred again.

She could not pinpoint when their last spar was, only the feelings inside her after that last spar; she had felt unsettled and shaken, not because of anything said between she and Ozai or any anger expressed in either, via words or through eyes. She was shaken by the specific finality that hovered in the air during their last spar, a finality to which she had contributed as much as Ozai had.

They failed to make time for each other, and looking back, she recognized how things deteriorated upon the path for which she and Ozai cleared the way with their unwise choices. It all made sense, unfortunately—because she could see it. Though her children never would be able to, she saw it with damned eyes. They could have made so many better choices, turned right instead of left, so many times, but they both walked the same path, refusing to recognize where they were going—recognize the ruin that would befall their family because of their choices.

Was it destined? Was it something that, no matter what they did, no matter the choices they made, would happen? Even if they walked a different path, recognizing what they were doing, would it be the same result?

Ursa felt a haunting exhaustion by the instinct that suggested it was destined.

But how could it be destined? She could not answer for Ozai, but looking back in her own life, were there suggestions and clues of the inevitable? Was it always so clear?

"How was that, Ursa?" Katara asked suddenly, staring at her, body gleaming in its visible exertion.

Ursa cleared her mind, smiled slightly, and inclined her head. "It was noteworthy. Your endurance has improved, and you each respond quicker to attacks. However, I recommend anticipating attacks, which will make your responses even quicker, which will surprise your enemy. But to anticipate attacks, you must watch your opponent's chest and feet. An opponent will flay his arms in every direction opposite of where he will attack, but his chest's direction will give him away, as will the way his feet are planted."

Lady Toph snorted and wiped her sweaty bangs off her forehead—or tried to, for several stubborn strands stuck. "That's helpful, but how does it help us against your husband? We need to be ready for him, and you said you know him best."

Her smile faded as she assessed Lady Toph for long moments. "You fought him; you have experience against him- "

"I didn't fight him. Twinkletoes fought him. All I know is your husband jammed a fire-dagger right into my gut over and over again to make me die slowly in front of Lightning Psycho and Twinkletoes."

Unfortunately, Ozai's action did not surprise Ursa, for it was an action she remembered well, an action Ozai had inflicted on a man discovered of betraying Azulon. "Never underestimate him. You think your enhanced bending will make a difference—you believe it will. Perhaps it will at first. But Ozai will find a way to counter whatever advantages you hold and make his own advantages, which he will ensure thwart yours. He is a born warrior; it sings in his blood and howls in his mind with precision and calculation. You must have the endurance to keep up with his onslaught, for it is an onslaught unlike any other but Avatar Aang's."

Katara looked away, face pinched. "And his onslaught will only get stronger if he masters the other elements."

Toph punched her fist into her cupped palm. "Not happening, Sugar Queen. The only thing that's going to get stronger is our position and determination to beat him."

Ursa shook her head. "You are already doing what I warned you not to. Never underestimate him—I mean it. Assume always that his position and determination to beat you are stronger."

Katara swallowed. "I believe his determination is stronger than ours, but his position can't be stronger. We have Aang on our side."

"Do we?" Ursa challenged softly, thinking of her son-in-law—son-in-law!—who had abandoned her daughter out of disgust and hatred. There was once a deep ire she felt for Avatar Aang, but now she only felt sorrow—a biting, chilling sorrow that hazed the vibrancy of her spirit. "We do not know his state of mind."

"Aang will be fine," Katara insisted, glaring at her with a stubbornness that Ursa recognized in Zuko. No wonder her son so clearly loved Katara. "He is gone for a reason—a good reason. He's doing something, whatever it is, that will help us going forward."

Ursa only smiled slightly. "We will see," she concluded, not committing to any side. All she wanted was for Azula to return with Avatar Aang in union, having made peace with him, reaching an understanding, neither bitter nor fearful. Could there be peace and happiness for them, instead? She had no idea. "But my point remains. Never underestimate Ozai. Assume his position and determination are stronger than ours. Have a real understanding of your enemy, not the understanding that you want."

Lady Toph's eyes narrowed. "Is he your enemy?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I have to ask," Lady Toph defended. "Tell me what he is to you. To us, he's the enemy. He tried to empty my body of all its blood. I want to jam a spike up his ass and out his skull. He's my enemy. There's no one more my enemy than he is. And it's the same for all of us here. But the problem is—I don't know if he's your enemy. I like you, but can we trust you against him? Don't think the fact you couldn't even master a single chakra went unnoticed by any of us."

Ursa stared back at Lady Toph, frustrated and impressed in equal measure. "Ozai will never be my enemy, Lady Toph, no; he is my husband, who will be my husband for all my days, even the days I will live when he no longer lives. He is my husband."

Katara looked away, silent, while Lady Toph hissed through her teeth, exasperated. "Then, with all disrespect intended, why the fuck are you here? Why aren't you wherever your husband is, worshipping the ground he walks? Why don't you go polish his dick with your spit?"

She wondered briefly if Lady Toph was trying to provoke her into a fight and, thus, an excuse to eliminate a potential threat. However, she dismissed it, for she knew Lady Toph was intelligent enough to know that if she managed to kill her, however unlikely, Zuko would erupt in a fury most similar to Ozai and kill Lady Toph in vicious retaliation.

Then there would be Azula's reaction.

"Cease your simplicity," she hissed in response, feeling disgruntled at the lack of intelligence to recognize complexity; she felt disgusted. "It is this type of unintelligence that Dark and my husband will prey upon and sway to their persuasive side. I do not join Ozai because I do not agree with him; I agree with the paths my children have chosen to walk. I try to walk the same path, and though I walk unsteadily, I try. You should recognize that, but you clearly do not—because you choose not to. Your stupidity disgusts me, Lady Toph, for I know you are capable of so much more."

Lady Toph stared at her, face flat, before a brief grin, full of begrudging respect, flashed. "Yep. You definitely are Lightning Psycho's mom."

"I love my children, and I love my husband," Ursa continued, undeterred; she needed Lady Toph—or Katara—to hold no doubts. "But I am forced to choose between them. It is a decision that rips me apart, but I choose my children; I choose to stand by and with them because I love them and agree with them. I love Ozai but do not agree with him. Disagreeing with him does not neutralize or decapitate my love for him. That is not how it works."

Katara looked uncomfortable. "What if you agreed with Ozai and didn't agree with Zuko and Azula?"

Ursa smiled with no mirth. "Then I would stand by and with him, instead. My children are grown and mature; they are adults. They walk their paths without my influence. The man and woman each has become had nothing to do with my influence—I know this. They would do what they must."

"I'm glad you don't agree with Ozai," Katara replied, voice tighter; she clearly had not liked Ursa's answer.

"You are young, Katara," she observed. "Have you loved?"

Katara opened her mouth. "Of course- "

Ursa waved her off, thinking of Katara's obvious love for Zuko. "I know you love. But I mean—have you loved and been in love with both of you knowing and cherishing it? It is a wonderful sensation. We were all we had, Katara. I loved Azulon, and I will love him forever, as well, but Ozai was my friend; he was to whom I turned in conflict and chaos, and he did the same. We were all each other had, at the end of the day. We were there for each other for years. I know you will never understand it, but I love Ozai—I have loved him for years, and I will continue loving him after he is gone. I know he will die; I know his end will be violent and vicious because of the choices he made and continues to make. But none of it changes my love for him. Otherwise, it is not love."

Lady Toph nodded, surprisingly. "But my concern is—if you had the chance to kill him, an open shot to shoot lightning or a fireball or something at him because he was vulnerable or his back was turned, would you take it? Would you kill him?"

"No," she answered honestly, refusing to lie.

"What if he was about to kill your children?"

Ursa's eyes sagged shut, for she knew it was a possibility. "Then I would kill him."

Lady Toph sniffed before shrugging. "I can live with that. Personally, I wouldn't want the killing shot to go to you, anyway. Twinkletoes needs to be the one to kill him."

"It seems that way," Katara agreed in a pained whisper.

"Come on, Sugar Queen," Lady Toph said and gripped Katara's arm, beginning to drag her away. "I'm ready for another round!"

Ursa watched them resume their spar, feeling the most alone she had felt since living her banishment all those years. She was the only one amongst them all who loved Ozai and did not want to fight him. Everyone else, including Zuko and Azula, hated Ozai and wanted to fight him.

She would fight Ozai if forced, but she would never want it.

How her mother would be so ashamed of her, feeling such devotion to one of Sozin's heirs.

Her mother had trained her in firebending, the only reprieve from her unbearable control. Looking back, she wondered if her mother had known that the time she had left was short and tried to endow in her all the firebending prowess she possibly could—all so her only daughter, the only thing she had left, would be able to protect herself.

But Ursa went ahead and got as close to Sozin's heirs as she could, marrying one of them and calling the other two Father and Brother.

Once, she was proud of decision to spite her mother—so fiercely proud that she felt a giddiness and delight after thwarting all the control enforced on her life. However, upon aging and experiencing Life, she thought about her mother a lot more. She would never regret marrying Ozai and attaching herself to Sozin's line forever, but she felt grief that her mother, if she knew and was aware of such things, likely diminished entirely in horror, not even left as a spirit.

Had she damned her mother to non-existence due to her choices?

It did not matter if she had done so to her father, for the only father she knew was Azulon. But she knew her mother; she was raised by her mother, who showed her love in the only way she could in her advanced age.

Would her mother love her children and be proud of them?

While she suspected her mother would hold great pride in Azula, it was likely that her mother would want little to do with Zuko—unless she underestimated her mother, which was always possible and, at times, likely.

"What do you think?"

Ursa glanced in surprise, seeing Zuko stand next to her. "Your stealth is impressive," she commended.

"Are they ready to face him?"

"Are you?" she challenged.

Zuko scoffed. "I've faced him before. Yes, I'm ready. None of this is new to me."

She felt profound grief at his observation. "I know. But they are both powerful and experienced. They will be as ready as anyone but us, Azula, Iroh, and Avatar Aang can be."

He nodded but said nothing, watching the spar with keen, eager interest—or, rather, one participant in the spar with keen, eager interest. And by the way he stood, it was no accident that he had arrived to watch the spar. He looked like Ozai—a man on a mission.

"You have that look in your eyes," she observed with amusement.

Zuko glanced at her surprised. "What look?"

"The determined, have-no-care-about-the-consequences look."

"I have that look?"

"It is not one I have seen in a long time, which is why I know it is significant you have it now." She assessed her son's posture, the way his body was angled. "I know why you have it now."

Zuko's glare was as ineffective as when he was a child. "No, you don't."

Ursa laughed slightly. "The fact you only have that look now while observing a certain Waterbender's spar is revealing enough."

Silence.

She watched as it happened, unsurprised—her son slackened slightly. "How did you know?"

"I am your mother," she replied, almost insulted. "Why would I not know?"

Zuko grumbled, annoyed. "Not even Akemi was as prying in Takumi's life as you are in mine."

Her brows rose. "You do not want me to know you?"

"I don't want you to know me so well," he muttered. "I think you're seeing only what you want to see."

"What do I want to see?"

"My embarrassment."

Ursa laughed at her son's petulant expression. "Of course not."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You like Katara, which is why you're forcing whatever you think is there."

"The fact I admire Katara has nothing to do with it," she countered, amused. "I think you are now trying to talk yourself out of why you came here in the first place. You are in your own way, your own worst enemy."

"It's always been that way," he muttered.

"Why did you come to see Katara, Zuko?" Ursa asked gently.

He stubbornly jutted his chin out. "It's nothing important," he lied.

Ursa sighed. "I am not going to betray you to her or tell her what you tell me."

"Would you tell Azula?"

"Of course not."

Zuko sagged, face twisting. "I want to figure out what this is. I saw things when I mastered my chakras, and I want to know if it was the same for her; I want to know if this is all in my head."

"It is not," Ursa assured immediately, understanding. "But she might not be precisely in the same place you are."

"How could she not be?" he demanded, frustrated.

Ursa's brows rose. "You admitted to me you saw yourself loving her after the Great War if she stayed in contact, and I know that was not the whole truth. I think you started to love her during the Great War once you connected with her, but I doubt it was the same for her."

Zuko glanced at Katara as she fought in the spar before looking away. "I want answers, and I'm going to get answers. If there's nothing, I'm not going to bother, no matter what Sokka says."

She did not like the possessed determination in his voice, but by the look on his face, she knew she could not stop him. "Be honest," she advised. "But also listen."

"Of course."

"And be wise."

Zuko nodded as he looked back at Katara, watching her, clearly not listening. "Sure."

Ursa sighed but said nothing, trusting him to handle it.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Zuko watched as Katara and Toph finally finished their spar, bowing to each other, each sweating and panting for breath.

"It looks like you have an admirer, Sugar Queen!" Toph called out with a boisterous, shit-eating grin.

He almost threw a fireball at her, indignant. Did she not know what discretion meant? Did she not understand that it would only piss him off and alert Katara about something he wanted to alert her of himself?

Katara smiled back at him with an exerted face, though there was a mesmerizing light in the blue depths of her eyes. "I think it's more another sparring partner, Toph."

Toph shrugged and punched Katara's arm. "That was fun. I think we're getting better. But the true test is when we test ourselves against Sparky and Lightning Psycho."

"I've already defeated Zuko in a spar," Katara pointed out with a teasing glance in his direction, to which he huffed in brief amusement.

"I'll believe it when I feel it," Toph dismissed. "You know, I'd say we should fight Twinkletoes to make ourselves better, but I don't know if that's a good idea. I think it would only discourage us, showing how far off we are from The Avatar, who's getting a rival with the Loser Lord."

Katara took a sip from the water she pulled out of the grass. "Maybe. We can ask him when he gets back."

Toph nodded and walked off, but when she neared him, he glared at her. "You're going to pay for that 'admirer' comment."

She snorted and paused. "Just add it to my tab."

"Your tab's long enough for you to choke on now."

"Don't go getting any ideas."

"Be sure to sleep with your feet on the ground tonight," Zuko muttered.

Toph laughed. "I like you, Sparky." She gripped his arm suddenly, face stern. "I think I know why you're here. Don't be an idiot."

"I'm not Sokka."

"But when he's an idiot, he's a lovable idiot. When you're an idiot, you're a cruel idiot."

Zuko nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Toph sighed and let go of his arm. "Good luck."

She walked off before he could respond, and he saw Mother, who offered one last supportive, kind smile, leave with Toph, providing him privacy with Katara.

It was time.

As he approached Katara, she greeted him with a warm smile as she swiped the sweat off her body. "If you're looking for a spar, I'm too tired now."

"Maybe later," he responded, thinking quickly. "I want to talk to you."

Her brows furrowed slightly before she laughed. "Well, just keep talking, then."

He began to panic and wondered what Uncle would say in such a situation. Uncle was charming, but Zuko knew he lacked anything resembling charm. Azula confirmed it constantly! "But I want to hear you talk," he countered.

Katara looked at him strangely, and he wanted to breathe fire in frustration at himself. How did telling her he wanted to hear her talk help him in the slightest? "But you said you wanted to talk. I don't know what you want to talk about."

"Ignore that," Zuko dismissed. "Ignore a lot of things. Well, don't ignore a lot of things—only ignore the things that don't matter anymore." He pinched his nose in growing irritation because he knew he wasn't making sense, emphasized by Katara staring up at him in confusion. "I mean, there have been a lot of things that have happened—things that have been said and actions that have been made—that shouldn't matter anymore. You should ignore those things that don't matter anymore. You should ignore the things that I've said and done that don't matter anymore."

The befuddlement on her face was painful. "Zuko, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I realized some things recently- " He hesitated and shook his head as he remembered Mother's advice to be honest, which made sense. "Wait, that's not true. I realized things that I forced myself to not think about, even though I knew it was there. Does that make sense?"

"No," she answered, stretching the word. "What's going on?"

Zuko blinked hard and reoriented himself. "Things have become clearer to me. I think I've always had a clear perception of it, and I hated it for a long time, but my mastered chakras made it clearer. Is it the same for you?"

Katara flung the sweat into the grass and focused on him with a look that made him feel like a failure. "My mastered chakras? They put things in their places, yes."

He nodded. "Right. It made me acknowledge it, and I want to acknowledge it. That's why I'm here. Do you want me to keep going?"

"I'm not sure," she said, spacing her words. "What is this about?"

"Us."

Katara smiled, but it looked tight. "There's nothing to talk about. We're friends again. You forgave me."

"I'm glad we're friends again, but I think there's something more. And I think you know it, too, by the way you've been avoiding me since we mastered our chakras."

She shook her head too quickly. "No, I'm not."

"Look me in the eye and tell me."

She hesitated before glaring at him. "Fine. I've been avoiding you."

"Why?"

"I'm not ready to talk about this," she denied, looking desperate.

Zuko's jaw clenched. "I'm not, either, but I'm still doing it!"

"Which means you're more ready than I am, Zuko," she pointed out.

He glared at her. "I could use some help. I don't know what I'm supposed to do! There are always rituals and traditions to follow, but I don't know how to do that with this. All I got from Mom was to be honest. That's what I'm doing with this!"

"What is 'this?'"

"Exactly!" he cried out, frustrated. "I don't know what this is, and it's pissing me off."

Katara frowned. "I see that."

His eyes widened before they narrowed. "No, no, don't get mad at me; don't do that. I'm trying to figure it out. You told me that you wanted to be my 'advisor' after all this is over, and I don't know what that means!"

"I want to help you- "

He gave up and surrendered his restraint. "Do you want to help me heal the world, or do you want to help heal the world and see being my 'advisor,' which we both know means wife, as the best way to do it?"

"What?" she demanded, shocked. Was that panic he glimpsed in her eyes? "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Because you won't give me a straight answer!"

"About what?"

"What is this?" he asked, gesturing between them, specifically the damned space between their bodies. "Can I bridge this space between us, or can I not?"

"No, don't," she said, peering up at him, brows furrowed in bemusement. "Would you just say what you mean?"

"I never fucking wanted this," Zuko hissed, bitter. "Or maybe I did. I should have tried to harder to get rid of it. But I can't think of anything else since mastering my chakras, and I don't want to. I'm tired, Katara—tired. I'm always tired, but this is a different exhaustion. I don't know where the fuck I stand."

She frowned, face pinching with irritation. "How is that my fault, Zuko? What are you talking about? I don't understand this."

Zuko shook his head. "I think you do understand it. I already told you what I want to know. But you're being a coward by not- "

Katara's eyes ignited with ire. "Coward?" she echoed, voice thinning in outrage. "I'm not a- "

"You're being ignorant intentionally! I know you know what I'm talking about, but you're pretending that you don't! You're smart, but you're playing dumb and avoiding it! That's being a fucking coward! It's weak!"

She pointed a shaking finger at his face. "Your anger's clouding your judgment!"

Zuko glared at her, tired of hiding his feelings and being overwhelmed with irrational jealousy and confusion. He wanted clarity! He was tired of the uncertainty! He was tired of not knowing, of feeling adrift in uncertainty. It all began to seep out of him, despite his efforts for control and discipline.

Uncle was right—a man in love was a man in chaos.

"Judgment?" he repeated, face twisting. "My judgment is clear! For the first time in, perhaps, ever, it's clear. But your judgment isn't- "

"Excuse me?" Katara sputtered in indignation with an enticing glow in her blue eyes; her stimulating beauty made him angrier. "I don't know what you're talking about! Why are you yelling at me all of a sudden?"

"I thought you could be honest with me! But it's just like after the Great War—you don't give a dragon's shit about me!"

She swallowed and took a step back, but anger still saturated her beautiful face. "Why are you bringing that up? I thought we moved past it."

"Only to return to it!" he snapped. "You're clearly going to do the same thing after all this is over—run off with hardly a 'goodbye' and leave me to pick up the pieces out of all the chaos- "

"That's unfair!" Katara snapped back, looking hurt, but Zuko didn't care; he felt too raw. "It was a mistake, one I won't ever make again."

"Then answer my question! What is this?"

Katara's eyes narrowed in anger. "Maybe I should just go ask Azula what you mean when she gets back, since she's such a great conversationalist. She could articulate whatever 'this' is better than you! Or maybe I should ask your mom!"

"Answer the fucking question! What is this between us, Katara? Is it what I think it is? Is it what I know it is? Don't say it's otherwise—confirm it!"

Something passed over her face, which cleared of anger, though there was something like panic in her blue eyes. "No, I can't do this right now," she said, shaking her head. "There are bigger things going on. Aang and your sister are gone, and your dad is somewhere with Vaatu. We need to focus on that."

Zuko dared take a step closer, breathing slowly; he couldn't be angry, though it was difficult. "I've made the mistake for years of focusing on things that I thought were more important and pressing. I found that by doing that, I only made those things I thought were important and pressing more possessing. What else do we do? I want to solve this. I hate that there's this hesitance and confusion. You've been avoiding me."

Katara glared at him. "You avoided me for those first weeks when I came to the palace."

He grit his teeth. "I did. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but it was for my own sanity until I was ready to deal with- "

"That's how it is for me," she snapped, hugging herself. "This is all new to me. I'm adjusting to it; I'm adjusting to thinking about you that way."

"What way?" he asked, watching her. "As the Fire Lord? As your husband?"

Katara tensed. "I'm sorry that I'm not ready to talk about this right now, but I'm not."

Zuko's fists clenched, temper frayed. "Why not? I've thought about this for years! I started thinking about it during the War!"

Fuck—he hadn't wanted to tell her that!

Her blue eyes widened; shock was etched into the crevices of her face. "What?"

He panicked and shook his head. "No, I didn't mean that. No, wait. I meant it, but I didn't mean to tell you."

Katara's eyes narrowed into slits. "So, you meant to lie to me?"

"Yes." He stiffened in realization. "Wait, no! I meant to not even tell you; I was never going to tell you."

Her breathing elevated, coming in slightly quicker, and she stared up at him in disbelief. "You've thought about me this entire time?"

Zuko gave up, knowing he was a terrible liar, especially to her. Why couldn't he simply be the Fire Lord with her and scare her or something? Why couldn't he be Young Zuko, who would have belittled her or not cared, shaped by a mask of apathy that divided them between a chasm?

What was wrong with him?

"Not all the time," he admitted. "I tried not to for a long time, and I was successful a lot of the time. I did very well with it; I was good at it. But it was always there, lurking, and I knew it, which pissed me off. After you forgave me during the War, we connected, and I looked at you in a new way—in a new light. You were beautiful, of course, but there was more to it. You're a healer. That's your nature. You're not a fighter. Well, you are a fighter, but you prefer healing. That's your nature. You're capable of fighting very well, but you're an even better healer—because that's what you're passionate about. You love helping people. I watched you while we were on Ember Island as you interacted with people of my race, born of Fire, descended from Agni. I know it sounds creepy, but I watched you; I studied you; I analyzed you and compared you to my memory of my mom, whose memory was the only guidance I had for such a thing. But even when we were all stressed out of our minds with Sozin's Comet so close, you took the time to be gracious and warm to everyone on Ember Island. I watched in awe as you showed them kindness and understanding; you didn't judge them or hate them. I loved that you were so caring toward them, and I loved you because of it, for there was no one else who could do that, not like you could. You were caring, and it was a real caring; it was genuine and intentional, and I felt it inside me; I felt it register. It wasn't some political dragonshit like Kuei was always doing. It was real—because you were real and are real. Nothing about that in you has changed, and I love you because of that, too. At that time during those last weeks of the War, and I guess I still feel it, I thought Fire needed someone who cares like you do. I didn't think Fire could have a future without someone like you present and helpful—being so kind and caring and healing. I thought that the only way for Fire to have a future was for you to become my wife in time and, thus, Fire Lady." He pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. "Of course, I thought Uncle would become Fire Lord for several years, giving us both time to adjust and understand things. I thought I would be the Fire Prince while you could be the Fire Princess through marriage—or take several years to return to your tribe before becoming the Fire Princess, tying us together in a political match beneficial to both our races. And then I thought, in time, whether five years or ten years later, Uncle would abdicate in favor of me, and I would rise to Fire Lord with you as my Fire Lady, ensuring peace. I thought it made a lot of sense. Actually, I thought it made perfect sense. But please keep in mind that I was sixteen when I conceived all of it. There were a lot of holes because of my immaturity."

Katara looked overwhelmed, and Zuko cursed himself for admitting anything. "I can't deal with this right now," she said, voice breathless. "You've been thinking about me—loving me—for over nine years while I only just started thinking about you like this since that Great Gathering, and it's only become so much stronger recently."

Zuko shook his head. "No, I didn't think about—least of all love—you for over nine years. I hated you for a lot of that time and did everything I could not to think about you."

Immediately, he regretted his words as she frowned, displeased. "You hated me?"

"You already knew that," he pointed out, not sure what else to say.

"Is there anything else I should know?" she asked flatly, face impressively blank.

He hesitated, not knowing if he should be honest or not, but Mother had told him to be honest; he elected for honesty. "I also used concubines to keep me sane and in control when I was overwhelmed, whether it was with Kuei, the political situation, or the pressure to marry, which inevitably made me think about you. I never married because I never trusted any of the offers that I received; none of the potential brides were worth my time, regard, energy, or trust. I thought it much more likely they would try to assassinate me. And, of course, I was never going to marry a concubine—only fools do that. Looking back, I realize that I was looking for a perfect match like I had conceived with you on Ember Island. I wasn't looking for you but someone like you who made a lot of sense. But I guess that the only one who has ever made sense was you, but I don't think that was ever on my mind, especially while I was so pissed off. So, no, I wasn't thinking about or loving you for over nine years. I think of it like it was a foundation that started during the War, but the building process was stalled after we went our separate ways. Maybe it's like a monument or structure. The construction was halted. But the foundation remained, uneroded by time; it was still the same, and it stayed with me, always there. And though I had built hatred and resentment and disgust on top of the foundation, making it the construction I focused on, the foundation was always there, unchanged and waiting. But that construction was flimsy, and it was destroyed once we connected again with time, revealing that unchanged foundation. Ever since, we've started constructing a true monument or something atop that foundation, and I realize that I want to keep constructing; I want to keep building with you. I knew it, deep down, but my mastered chakras made me face it. Is it like that for you?"

Katara's eyes were dim—he didn't understand! He was being honest! Mother said to be honest! "You used concubines?"

Zuko nodded, understanding why she was shocked but not why she looked betrayed. "Yes, but that doesn't matter—none of that matters. I didn't care about any of them; I never knew any of their names. And I haven't used one in nine months. What matters is that foundation I was talking about. Didn't you hear what I said? We've already started building something and can build something more—something even better. Do you want that?"

"No."

The answer was a whisper, but its impact was an explosion.

"I'm not even sure I know you," Katara continued, voice growing louder and more firm—more hysterical and frantic. "You've loved me and hated me for over nine years and have been using concubines, so many that you don't know any of their names- "

"The concubines don't matter," Zuko interrupted, insistent, knowing his voice was more pleading and frustrated than anything. "If one of them died, I wouldn't have even known it!"

"That's not a good thing, Zuko! You should know that!"

His temper hissed as he tried to make her understand that the concubines never meant a single thing to him but an exercise in his lust, which meant they were worthless. "I know that, but I don't care! I didn't care about any of them. They all felt the same! They're nothing to me. I know you don't want it, but I would execute them if you wanted me to—it doesn't matter to me."

Katara flinched and stumbled back, looking at him in horror. "I can't do this," she mumbled, voice frantic. "No, this isn't- I can't do it."

She ran off, and Zuko watched her go for a long time before exhaling a torrent of flames out of his mouth.

"Fuck," he muttered in a searing hiss that sounded unstable to his own ears, and he felt the inward peace and balance that had existed ever since he mastered his chakras waver.

What was wrong with him? Why had he listened to Mother and been honest? He should have known only disaster was possible by such a strategy!

Instead of wooing Katara, he had scared and disgusted her.

Fuck.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I hope that you all enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'd really appreciate it!

**Azula deals with the fallout of Aang running off without a word! For those who might think that Azula is out of character, I respectfully disagree. In the show, Azula was fifteen years old, a teenager who was raised by a monster—Ozai. She never had the chance to become a true person. That is apparent in the episode, The Beach in Season Three. Azula is now 24, an adult; she has healed from the abuse that she had suffered in her childhood. Thanks to Aang's work, she has also learned that it is okay to show emotions and say how you feel. For her whole life, Azula had to be a miniature Ozai because it was revealed that she sought her father's love as much as Zuko did, but now she has chosen not to be that person anymore because she doesn't want to be. Deep down, she recognized that she needed to change, and she took the necessary steps to ensure that happened. Azula, when she was younger, felt emotions just like everybody but was forced to ignore them, stuffing them down; it was similar to how Katara dealt with her grief over her mother's death. That is NOT healthy. I believe, based on the evidence in the show, that the reason for Azula's mental breakdown was a result of her continuous use of the 'stuffing down' coping mechanism. Remember, her mother was gone, and as far as Azula ever knew, had abandoned her after murdering her grandfather. Her father was an abusive, tyrannical, monstrous piece of shit who deserved death. Zuko was gone for a long time; he had his banishment, first, but when she gave him everything that he ever wanted, which included his titles, his life back, his father's love, he left her by choice. Iroh never showed any care, in all honesty. I do love Iroh, but he definitely dropped the ball on Azula; he could have kept an eye on her as he did with Zuko, but to be blunt, he was simply too focused on his nephew, who may have reminded him of Lu Ten.

Azula will still have a dark edge to her, but she will not be the psychopath/sociopath who many think that she was depicted to be in the show. I've always liked Azula's character but felt that she could have been so much more than what she was. With enough effort and time, I could easily see Azula being like how I have depicted her.

She also adopts Samir when Samir asks, making the conscious decision that even if Aang denies her as Mother of Air, she will still be a mother to Samir. And she already starts filling her position/title as Mother of Air by intending to tell Samir about Air and sharing stories of Gyatso. I thought it was interesting.

**Zuko confronts Katara to discuss what he thinks is love between them! However, it doesn't go according to plan because the timing sucked, and it just deteriorated into yelling and evasion! Katara wasn't ready for the conversation, and Zuko really wasn't, either, because he was too frustrated and determined simultaneously, which meant he was accusatory and forceful rather than calm and reasonable. And in the midst of their argument, Zuko accidentally revealed the truth—that he had thought about himself and Katara at the end of the Great War. Of course, Katara is blown away by the confession and doesn't know what to think, overwhelmed, and Zuko digs himself deeper into a hole by throwing caution to the wind and confessing everything, being as honest as possible—too honest for such a delicate subject. It inevitably culminates in him admitting to his relations with the concubines, which paralyzes Katara in horror—because she thinks that he destroyed Family by doing so. Unfortunately, nothing goes according to plan.

Well, I think that is everything. I hope that you all enjoyed it, and I would really appreciate it if you left a review to tell me what you thought about it.

Stay Safe
ButtonPusher