Sentimentality. Being overly sentimental. It was one issue on top of another. Azula did not value emotions over reason at all, so how could she be doing this too much? Everything had been frustrating lately. No word had come back to the Fire Nation about those wanted posters being successful. It was irritating. Perhaps these were the emotions which would influence Azula, but reason remained the deciding factor of her decisions. The Fire Nation also heard nothing from Ba Sing Se, but the princess knew this was a good thing. Hearing nothing about the spies meant that they were doing their job of going unnoticed. The sooner they killed the Earth king, the sooner Azula would feel better. It was her suggestion–her repentance for being so supposedly sentimental before. Maybe she had not killed her brother, but she could be the reason a powerful ruler was killed. That had to be enough. And yet, it was anything but.

Azula felt like there was something different in her father's eyes when he spoke to her. They did not hold the same pride they once did. He had not taught her anything new with lightning recently. In fact, he seemed to actively avoid the subject of lightning whenever it was brought up. She found that odd but did not press the matter. Azula just wanted to prove that the faith Ozai placed in her was warranted. So, the girl researched as much as she could and found a lead. Azula went to the fire lord's chambers and knocked on his door.

"Enter," Ozai instructed.

Azula did and saw that the man was looking over several scrolls with a frown on his face. This faded slightly when he saw his daughter.

"What is it?"

"Have you heard of a creature called a shirshu?" the girl asked.

Ozai's brow lifted. "I have not. What is it?"

"It can run quickly, swim, and most importantly, it can track scent anywhere." Determination sparkled in Azula's eyes. "Dad, I can use one and its trainer to find the traitors."

The father paused for a moment as a frown came over his face. It began filling Azula with dread. She needed him to be in support of this.

"You shouldn't go with the trainer," he stated, looking back at the scroll on the table.

Azula went over to his right side, pushing down the desperation she felt. "I can do it. Really."

"We have no idea where they could be. The lands might be filled with enemies in our war. If you go only with this trainer, you'll be outnumbered."

"Then I'll go with a small team."

Ozai regarded her curiously. "Who?"

"Mai and Ty Lee."

He shook his head dismissively. "Three children aren't suited for this work. I'll send soldiers to ensure the task is completed properly this time."

Azula felt like she had just been struck. Ozai was only paying attention to the scrolls now. Boldly, she moved between him and the table so that he had to look at her.

"Let me fix this mistake," she requested, almost pleading.

Ozai was about to shut this down, but he hesitated. He was unaccustomed to seeing such urgency on his daughter's face. It was nearly unsettling to him. The options were all flawed. He had one true ally in this war. She could not be killed. If Azula was led far from the Fire Nation, he would be unable to get to her if there was a great danger. She could die and Ozai would only find out when the region bragged over their murder of the Fire Nation princess. This caused an uncomfortable pit to form in the man's stomach. However, desperation could lead to good work. Was he not desperate to become fire lord? He was successful when he first tasted the shame of losing to his brother. Maybe a similar situation would aid Azula.

"Fine," he said, causing the girl's eyes to brighten. "Gather your team and leave tonight."

"I won't disappoint you," Azula promised.

She bowed her head and quickly left the chambers. The firebender hurried to her friends' homes. She traveled to Mai's place. The parents greeted her, bowing deeply.

"Princess," the father said, "to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I came to speak with Mai. Where is she?"

"She's in her room, Your Highness."

Without waiting for anything more, the princess went past the couple. She went deeper into their home until she found the girl. Mai glanced up at her when she opened the door. A half-bored, half-somber expression was on her face.

"I didn't expect you to visit," she said quietly.

"I need a team," Azula told her, crossing her arms. She glanced at the room. "And considering how you're here in the middle of the day, I'm assuming you need to get out of the house."

Mai did not immediately answer and Azula went closer.

"If you're being kept in your room, that won't matter. We might even be traveling outside of the Fire Nation."

"What would we be doing?"

"Hunting Zuzu and Uncle."

Mai's heart stopped for a moment, but this never would have been believed with her expression. "Why do you need me?"

"Because I convinced Dad to let me track them down, but I need a group. You and Ty Lee are the only people I trust to go with me and not get in the way. I've seen you with your aim. One of those knives could easily hit our targets."

The thought of slicing Zuko with a knife made Mai feel a little sick. Still, she looked at Azula and saw the determination on her face.

"Okay," she said calmly.

A sinister but pleased smile came to Azula's face. "Good."

She turned and began exiting the room, getting followed by Mai. The parents saw them heading out and quickly approached.

"Princess, where are you going?" the mother asked.

"That's nothing you need to worry about," Azula answered. "We'll return when our mission is complete."

Mai was almost amused by the distraught expressions on her parents' faces. Their fear prevented them from saying anything to the royal that would have opposed this idea. Servants brought Mai and Azula to Ty Lee's home. The pair saw several children talking and laughing. All of them looked the same, but the girls knew how to find the target of their search. Ty Lee was off by herself, practicing acrobatics. Her feet were on her head as she looked at some turtle ducks. When she saw Azula, she almost toppled over.

"Hi!" she quickly greeted.

"Are you ready for another trip?" the princess inquired.

"Another trip? Where?"

"To find those traitors."

Ty Lee froze, then locked eyes with Mai. She saw the meaningful look her friend sent her. Despite that, she was not entirely sure what to do.

"I don't know if my parents are going to want me to do that."

"Their thoughts on the matter are irrelevant," Azula said. "If it's an order, they'll have to accept that. I don't want to know if they'll support you leaving. I want to know if you'll be someone I can rely on for this."

Ty Lee glanced at her sisters, then back at her friends. "You can rely on me. My parents actually might not even notice I left."

Again, Azula was pleased by what she heard. The trio left the home and began traveling into town, getting carried by the servants.

"Let us out here," Azula instructed.

Obeying, the workers set down the transportation device. On foot, the girls kept going until they saw a lot of back alleys. None of them had been in this part of the nation before. Ty Lee was jumpy and noticed how many glares they were being given.

"Why'd you have the servants stop?" she asked. "We wouldn't have to walk around here if they were still taking us."

"Who we're talking to won't respond well to seeing servants. We'll get better work out of her if we're on her level, however low it is."

The other girls were forced to accept this and kept walking. They followed the sound of loud, slurred speech. Doing so, they found a tavern. People were drinking and falling over. Mai calmly side-stepped someone who was about to fall on her. Ty Lee turned her nose up at the stench caused by someone else becoming ill after drinking too much. Azula was not fazed by all the customers. She had her eyes locked only on one. A woman with long hair and a red tattoo on her arm was sitting at a table, out-drinking everyone who tried in vain to keep up with her. The princess walked over and the stranger eyed her. She let out a soft chuckle.

"This is no place for kids like you," she said, downing another beverage before gesturing for it to be refilled.

"It's exactly where I want to be," Azula stated.

Her tone was so confident that the woman turned fully to look at her.

"You don't seem like a normal brat. They'd be scared to go so far into this part of town."

"I'm not a brat nor am I a mere commoner. I'm the crowned princess of this nation."

The woman's eyebrow lifted slightly, then she smirked. "Forgive me. I'm June, empress of this fine land."

Azula felt irritation filling her at the mocking tone. Not wanting to waste any time trying to convince June through words, she lit up lightning in her hands. This caused the tracker's eyes to widen. Azula smirked this time.

"Lightning bending is only taught to the royal family. Apparently, you're aware of that, so unless you want me to order an execution because of insubordination, I suggest you help my team on a quest."

June's eyes narrowed at the threat, but she set down the glass and shrugged. "I have some time on my hands. I don't work for free, though."

"I know your fee and have enough to pay you."

"Now, we're talking. Who are you trying to find, Princess?"

"Former Prince Zuko and former General Iroh."

June stood up from the stool and led the trio outside. They went to the back of the building, finding a large creature with a peculiar nose. Its reins were tied to a post. June patted the animal's head lovingly.

"Nyla, these girls want us to find somebody. Think you're up for a trip?"

The shirshu wagged her tail in reply. June looked back out at the girls.

"Have anything she can use to follow their scent?"

Azula nodded, holding out the Dao blades. "These were confiscated from one of the traitors after he was apprehended."

Nyla sniffed the swords, then caused the girls to duck when a long tongue whipped the air.

"She's got the scent," June stated, hopping onto the shirshu's saddle.

The woman gestured to a spot behind her and the kids hopped up as well. They began traveling as in Shu Jin, the team was working on their plans as well. Sokka had found several hawks and was busy making sure they knew which number they were.

"No, you're Hawk Number 3," he stated, holding up three fingers. "Ow!"

The boy held his sore hand after the bird bit it. He heard a chuckle from behind him.

"I told you to come up with different names," Zuko said. "They don't want to be numbered."

"They just have to get used to it. I also need them to start learning how to go to different places." He looked back at the birds. "Let's practice. Go North!"

The birds simply stared at him, so Zuko came over.

"This isn't working," the firebender mentioned. "Maybe if we lead them to different places with meat, they'll go."

"It's worth a try."

Sokka got a piece of meat and held it out to the birds. They flew at him and he yelped, ducking to avoid the talons. Zuko shooed the animals back to the trees.

"Okay, maybe this isn't going to work either," Sokka said, mouth curving down.

Zuko took the food and went to grab his mask. "I'll be able to go through the village like this. No one will be able to recognize me. Besides, I'm faster than you are."

Sokka made a face, but ultimately he agreed. "Fine, Mr. Quick Flames. Just don't lose the birds."

Nodding, the firebender put his mask on and put the meat in his pocket. The birds remained where they were while he started running into the village. He easily scaled the buildings, running along the roofs. When Zuko got to a nice distance, he lifted the meat high into the air. It caught the hawks' attention and they flew off. Sokka smiled brightly at this sight and followed them to see if they were on the right path. When he saw his friend, he knew their sense of smell at least was working right.

"How are we going to get meat in each of those places, though?" he asked.

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know, but this is a start. Maybe they'll be more willing to listen to voice commands if we use treats in the beginning."

To test the theory, the friends kept doing this until they only needed to tell the birds to go a certain direction. The fowls would stop when they came up to the first person they saw. It was not perfect training, but the boys wondered if this was the best it was going to get. Sokka tried to climb up one building to join Zuko on the roof. The firebender caught his arm to help him up. There, they looked out at the city.

"Sorry that you have to be disguised here like us," the Water Tribe boy said.

Zuko was quiet for a moment. "It's okay. Maybe it'll be different when the war's over."

"It should be soon now," his friend said.

Sokka frowned a little as he noticed a longer silence from Zuko.

"What's wrong?"

The firebender pointed down at the city. "There's a shirshu."

"A what?"

"It's a tracking ani…"

Zuko stopped as his eyes widened. He saw the people on the creature's saddle. Quickly, he began pulling Sokka with him as he ran back to the others.

"My sister's here," he said.

The boy's heart ached a little as he thought of the other two familiar faces he saw. Surely, they would not be on Azula's side, but maybe he was asking too much of them. How could he expect them to turn on the nation just because he was viewed as a traitor? The pair reached the base and the rest of the team immediately noticed how worried they were.

"We need to get on Appa and fly out of here now," Zuko said, turning to Iroh. "Azula's here and has a shirshu."

The man understood the dangers of this and got the other kids into the saddle. Appa started to fly, but a loud sound rang through the air. It was like a whip–the whip of a tongue that struck Appa's side. The bison let out a little roar of pain and crashed back into the ground.

"Appa!" Aang cried fearfully.

"Shirshus can paralyze whoever they touch," Zuko explained.

He looked around for a place where the rest of them could go, but it was already too late to escape. With Nyla's speed, she quickly caught up to them. The tongue lashed out again and Toph tried to trap the animal with earthbending. Nyla leapt over the ground, whipping out her tongue again. As it did, Iroh noticed the rider.

"Why, hello," he said, putting on a charming smile. "I'm sure such a lovely lady doesn't truly want to hurt children."

June did not look like she had been affected by his words. "You must be the general. Nyla."

Knowing the order, the shirshu brought out her tongue to paralyze Iroh. He moved to the side, still smiling.

"If you would like to talk, no paralysis is needed."

Toph and Aang kept trying to trap the creature, but it often jumped and did not allow for much time to create an attack.

"You must be a bounty hunter," Iroh stated. "When this is over, we can pay you for your help in stopping the war." He had a hopeful twinkle in his eyes. "Perhaps, I can even take you to a fine tea shop."

"Uncle!" Zuko called out, frowning. "She's trying to capture us! You can't go on a date!"

Iroh was not ready to accept that, but his grin faded when the tongue hit Toph. She grunted and paled when she realized that she could not stand on her own. Sokka helped bring her over to safety behind Appa, ducking as well when he was almost hit.

"Get the boy with tattoos too," Azula ordered.

Nyla attacked again, narrowly avoiding Aang. It struck out, this time hitting Sokka. His sister caught him, then Katara used water from a pouch to create an ice muzzle for the shirshu. Nyla pawed at her snout, feeling back in her hind legs. Once she did, the Dao blades attached to her saddle fell to the ground. Aang took the chance to trap the rest of the shirshu in earth. The riders dismounted and Azula got ready to shoot at the Avatar. Zuko blasted fire at her, causing the princess to move back. She regarded him angrily, then smirked. Azula turned to the team with her.

"Mai, capture the waterbender," she ordered. "Ty Lee, you distract Zuzu while I get the Avatar."

Azula's smirk faded when the girls did not move. She started to glare at them.

"I gave you your orders. Do them."

Mai's eyes were low for a moment, then raised to meet the princess's gaze. Azula felt a pit form in her stomach. The other girl still looked calm, but she had a fierce flame in her eyes. It made Azula realize why her command had not been followed.

"Do what I say or you'll be arrested!"

"You can't arrest me here," Mai stated. "We're basically in the middle of nowhere. There aren't any guards to help you."

"I don't need guards," Azula hissed. She turned to Ty Lee. "Well? Use pressure points to incapacitate her. I know you can do that."

The girl hesitantly walked towards Mai, then turned to face the princess again. She looked nervous, but she also looked certain of her choice. Azula's eyes widened and she snarled.

"I don't need either of you. I'll capture the Avatar and kill everyone myself."

Loud sparkling drew attention to Azula's hands. Furiously, her eyes were locked onto her former allies. She prepared a blast that would be large enough to kill them both immediately. Iroh started to move forward, but he was not close enough to them to grab the lightning instead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zuko dart towards the duo. The boy caught the lightning, bringing it over his core before firing it into the sky. His sister's face went pale and she was frozen in place for a moment.

"What was that?" she asked, more to herself than him.

Zuko breathed heavily, adjusting to this feeling. "I…did it," he said, shocked.

Iroh had been correct. Anything involving lightning was exhilarating. Zuko still felt the tingles of electricity coursing through him, but they caused no pain. He started to smile as he saw that his friends were safe because of what he had done. Mai and Ty Lee were also in shock, but the group turned to June when they heard kicking. She was striking the earth that held Nyla in place. Once it broke, she mounted the saddle.

"I'm not getting paid enough for this," she commented, frowning. She looked at Azula. "Find your own way back."

Whipping, June got Nyla to run. The pair quickly escaped, leaving Azula on her own. For the briefest moment, uncertainty flashed on the girl's face. Her plan was failing. She was failing…again. Ozai was going to be horribly disappointed in her. She might never regain his trust. Zuko saw the shift of emotions going across her expression. Hesitantly, he stepped forward. Azula looked at the group behind him. She was outnumbered. Her best attack would be lightning, but that was ineffective. She could try to win, but even just battling the Avatar and Dragon of the West was an extreme risk. Battling them both in addition to the others in this unfamiliar terrain was foolish. She needed to be reasonable. However regrettable it was, she needed to escape.

Azula started to run, speedily moving away from where the others were. Before anyone could say something, Zuko ran after her. They went through the town, him not even worrying about getting recognized. He was not really sure why he was chasing her, but he could not get himself to stop.

"You don't have to go back to Father," he called out.

The princess did not answer.

"It doesn't have to be like this!" he added.

At this, Azula glanced at him, scowling. "I'm not joining your band of rebels and traitors."

"Father can't win the war, Azula. What'll be left if he does?"

Flames lit up on the bottom of the princess's boots. She stopped running and regarded Zuko coldly when she answered.

"The Fire Nation."

With that, she propelled herself into the air and deeper into the village, towards Capital City. She would be able to find proper transportation to the palace. Zuko watched as he began to frown.

"It doesn't have to be this way," he commented quietly.

He returned to the others who looked relieved upon seeing him.

"We have to relocate," Iroh stated. "More soldiers will be sent here otherwise."

Nodding, the former prince joined the others as they got onto Appa's saddle, helping the temporarily incapacitated members. His eyes moved to his blades and he brought these too. When the bison took to the sky, Zuko sadly looked off in the direction he had seen Azula go. Whether he liked it or not, maybe this was how things had to be. Some events were unavoidable like the spies within the Dai Li bringing in a so-called refugee. Even though this person was tall and had an intimidating presence, he went unnoticed in the city of deceit and fear. He remained this way until he reached the center of Ba Sing Se. Then he removed his cloak, revealing a tattoo of a third eye. A blast came from this eye, shooting out and hitting a building. Upon impact, the building exploded into hundreds of pieces. Shock did not stall the citizens for long. As soon as they realized the danger, they panicked.

Blasts were firing out at every building in sight. People were flung into walls, wounded or worse. Ba Sing Se was in nothing less than a state of chaos. The Dai Li agents came to attack the man. They attempted to trap him under the earth, but he blasted the ground below them. This caused the agents to grab onto walls of the few buildings which remained. They had to let go when the combustion bender shot another explosion from his head. Several agents were hit, but more came to fight. Other agents went to the royal palace. A man sat on a throne, face conveying his surprise.

"Long Feng, what's going on?" he asked.

"Your Majesty, there seems to be an attack outside. Go with the agents. They'll escort you to safety."

The king was almost in a daze as agents came to bring him out of the throne room. Since they could move faster than he could, the agents started carrying the ruler. Long Feng used earthbending to move a wall, revealing a hidden room in the palace. Once the ruler was set down here, Long Feng stayed on the other side to oversee the agents. The king put a hand on his head, looking anxious.

"An attack. I can't believe this is happen–"

The man stopped talking as he heard an unfamiliar sound. He turned and became ashen. The hands of the agents were covered in flames. Stepping back, the king began stammering.

"How-who are…what's happening?"

One spy went forward with a cold look in his eyes. "It's a new day, Earth King. Ba Sing Se will burn along with all of you."

These words were the last the man heard. The last sight he saw was fire coming straight for him.