A/N: New chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it, the title might give you a little bit of a clue as to who we're going to see. As always, let me know what you think.

Word Count: 5204

6. A Satchel, a Blanket and a Traitorous Uncle (What an Odd Collection)

Azula returned to her Fire Nation ship after a day straight, riding on her mongoose lizard. She'd gotten a surprising amount of sleep riding on its back. The fur blanket was just so comfortable, it seemed to keep her stuck in unconsciousness. Not to mention her sleep was completely undisturbed. The princess hated that for a different reason and didn't want to consider any kind of correlation.

When she arrived at the ship, the princess was extremely well rested. It was strange to her. After so long being sleep deprived and considering herself weak, it was refreshing having a clear mind. What it did do, though, was allow her to focus on her problem. Her main one at the moment being her father. Well, not him specifically, but the whole marriage ordeal.

The princess had always thought she'd be able to find a way around it. That once she was 16, she'd be able to select someone for herself. Kind of like the way that her father had, the way that all the Fire Lord's did.

He's doing this for your benefit. When has he ever led you wrong?

Her freshly invigorated brain poked quite a number of holes in that. She didn't want it. Not now, not when the she could be Fire Lord. It was all she'd ever wanted. Azula definitely didn't want some other person coming in and taking even a little of that power for themselves.

The letter had been explicit though. She was to return to the Fire Nation at once because a suitor had been found for her. Azula hated every bit about it, and she was only beginning to feel the extent of that.

Returning to the capital without Percy, that was the other thing that worried the princess. She felt like it was the right thing to do, although couldn't exactly figure out why. At no point in her stay with the infuriating waterbender did she even really consider fulfilling her father's orders. That was a weird, almost weightless sensation. But the reality of her situation came crashing down on her.

No, he can't do that to me. He can't treat me like Zuko. I'm his favourite, his prodigy. He'll listen to me.

The princess stood on the deck, calmly avoiding the captain. He seemed to be hesitant, probably hearing of her reputation as did everyone in the Fire Nation. She stuck her chest out pridefully at that.

And they should fear me.

The day was spent convincing herself that, yes, her father wouldn't treat her like her failure of a brother. She'd never put a foot out of line for him, that was worth something. And as the day drew to a close, it seemed that she definitely did think that. But there was a voice at the back of her head, one that didn't really let her settle. One that wasn't aggressive, but softly pushing her. It seemed to guide her towards an idea.

The idea grew on her, just pushing its way outwards in her mind. From weeks ago, when Percy claimed to know what war was like more than her, to challenging her divine right to rule in Ba Sing Se, and then finally to challenging her father's words to her at their every interaction. Percy had pushed his way into her mind irreparably changing it.

As the princess went to her chambers, she felt her sleeplessness return with her raging thoughts. The boar-q-pine fur blanket sitting over on the back of a chair by her desk. It oh-so-innocently dangled with the swaying of the ship, hypnotically wafting in the enclosed space of her room.

After an hour or so of tossing and turning, the scent of the blanket finally reached her. It filled the room, but not with a memory of that annoying waterbender… well, slightly, but that wasn't what it reminded her of. It reminded her of a long time ago, relaxing on a beach. It didn't allow her to ignore the seeds of doubt planted by said waterbender and let her sleep either. No, it welcomed them. She gained comfort from allowing those seeds to bloom in her mind.

Giving up completely, with a huff of indignation, she stormed over to the blanket and wrapped it around herself. Collapsing back onto the bed, the princess drifted off to sleep with an uncontrollable smile on her face.

Percy, the day after the princess left, went to retrieve his satchel. After completing his morning routine, one uninterrupted by angry firebenders, he and Siosi trotted down to the sand.

Almost as soon as he leapt into the water, he was surrounded by more fish. This time, the one who'd told him of the finding had brought along his school of friends. After some quick introductions, and far too many 'Lord's, Percy followed the fish across the lakebed.

Their group slowly gained a following, attracting the attention of most of the sea life in the lake, though he was used to that by now. It was very common place. About halfway across the lake though, Percy felt a strange disturbance off to one side. Giving the fish a mental message to wait for him, he jetted off to where he felt it.

It didn't take him too long to find the oddity. A clearly abandoned very old Fire Nation vessel lay at the bottom of the lake. It looked to be crushed by a very big animal then pulled to the bottom. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out. The hull of the ship remained mostly intact, with some reshaping required. But Percy thought he could find quite a few uses for such a ship. Especially when he'd sailed a pirate ship at the age of 13, manning that would most likely come naturally. Just as naturally as it had when he'd done it with the Water Tribe ships. It'd have to wait though, the satchel was his priority. A new pair of clothes and hopefully some feed for his ostrich horse was awaiting him.

Shooting himself through the water, back to the group of fish, they continued on their journey. Quite a few of the fish, not having the best of patience or attention spans, had either drifted off into the unknown or just tentatively followed him only to have to hurry back. But with most of them back together, they swerved through the kelp and seagrass towards where his satchel sat.

A different smaller group of fish glinted in the sunlight that barely managed to stream through the deep water. Percy followed his school towards them and saw that they appeared to be circling around something. What he could only assume was his satchel. The demigod burst past his group of fish and went over the circle of fish.

His satchel sat right in the middle of it. There was some black, inky substance floating out of it, and it looked to be a lot fuller than he remembered it being, but it was there. Percy scooped it up and immediately all of it dried and the ink stopped moving. Percy thanked all the fish and once again trying to get them to stop calling him 'lord'.

He swam to the surface, moving the water behind him. Freezing some ice under his feet, not seeing any ships around him, he pushed the ice across the surface of the water towards his home. He enjoyed the sun on his face, surfing along with the breeze blowing his hair all over the place.

In no time at all, Percy leapt ashore, walking back up the beach to his cave. He heard Siosi trotting along beside him.

'Was that worth losing your good shit?'

"What?"

'That satchel, the princess took your blanket. Was getting the satchel worth losing it?'

"That has nothing to do with it." He replied, slightly annoyed.

She took the blanket? Why?

Thinking about it, he was more intrigued. What could the princess possibly gain by taking his fur blanket.

"I would've gotten the bag either way. She just took it."

'Dumbass.' The ostrich horse snorted at him.

Percy rolled his eyes.

'But did you get the feed you promised me?'

The demigod was quickly reminded of the donut requests made by Blackjack. That made him feel quite homesick. He looked fondly at his grating ostrich horse, pausing in his walk back.

'Whatcha lookin' at, dumbass?'

And there you go and just have to ruin it. He shook his head. Blackjack probably would've done the same.

"Nothing. I'm pretty sure they put some in. Feed, direct from Ba Sing Se."

Siosi seemed to be bouncing on the balls of her… talons?

She must be fed up of grass. Where is the feed? I hope they put it in- Ah, there it is.

He saw a medium sized bag, full of feed. It had the language of this world scrawled across it, in letters he didn't at all comprehend. But that wasn't what intrigued him. Packed in between a bunch of expensive looking bricks, was a letter. There was another deeper in the satchel that was obviously from either Jin or her family in a tube of some kind, but this looked much more lavish and personal.

'Hey, dumbass, is my food in there?'

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's right here."

He threw the bag at Siosi's feet.

"Don't eat it all at once." Percy said it as an afterthought.

The demigod was much more focused on the letter. He put his hand in the satchel and picked up the bricks. Unfortunately, he was reminded that he most definitely couldn't read it. Thankfully, there still seemed to be an outline of most of the letters, including those that lost ink to the water. Giving up for now, he put it back in the bag and continued walking back to the cave.

(-)

Percy was sitting by the fire. Siosi had dragged her back of feed in with her and was happily munching, or pecking, her way through it.

He'd changed back into his camp clothes, feeling much more comfortable. Riptide was back in its rightful place in his pocket. Unfortunately, it was clear that his singed clothes couldn't be fixed to any of his world's modern standards, but he was overwhelmingly appreciative of Meilin and the other mothers in that place.

His once completely orange shirt had holes filled in with the same grey material that made up his robes stitched in. His jeans too, but there weren't as many holes as the shirt. The stitchwork was excellent, and if not for the colour and textile change, Percy wasn't sure he'd be able to tell that it was even there.

All in all, he was feeling a lot more himself as he warmed himself with the flames. The only unfortunate part about getting all the supplies, was that he couldn't read the letters. The fact that his only company being an ostrich horse was coming around to bite him in the ass.

That being said… Blackjack could read donut signs… couldn't hurt to ask.

"Hey, Sio."

'You have hay?'

Percy sighed, massaging his temples.

"No, I-"

'Then why did you say it. I don't like being called Hei anymore, so it couldn't have been that. And you used Sio in the sentence so-'

"Siosi!" He could've sworn he saw an annoyingly gleeful smile grace her infuriating beak. "I was just going to ask, could you read this?"

Percy held up the scroll in front of her birdy eyes.

'Oh, I can try.'

Maybe it's not just mythical animals then.

'Well, it's missing a lot of the top. But I can tell you what the bottom says. I don't know too much, but I can read my feed bags. That's really the only important thing.'

"It's missing stuff at the top?" He asked.

'Well, kinda. Mainly I can't read it."

He sighed. Percy was curious as to why she sounded amused by the ending to the letter though.

"Ok, so what does the last line say then?"

'It says, "From your-" then some name, it looks so start with a T."

"Ty Lee?" Percy questioned.

'Yeah, okay. It says "From your Ty Lee. Oh and" someone else's name "also says hi."'

"So you can't tell me what the rest says? Nothing?"

'Nope, my knowledge of writing is very limited. Plus, what's more important, gross stuff like "Your Ty Lee", or food? I'd say food every time.'

They both sat in silence for a while, Percy pondering the contents of the letter, his ostrich horse pondering… food, probably food.

She was still snacking on the bag. Apparently, even though she'd been bursting to eat it, Siosi had done a decent enough job at moderating her intake. He had warned her that it was most likely the last bag of proper feed he could get her.

After a while though, Percy felt that his companion desperately wanted to say something, and it wasn't going to be good for him.

'So… this Ty Lee, huh?'

Percy hung his head. He definitely shouldn't have expected any less.

'She any nicer than the fiery bitch? Because I could do with someone nice around here. Especially someone who isn't a dumbass.'

"You're insufferable."

'What?' She asked, oh so innocently. 'You are a dumbass.'

Percy just stood to go outside. Maybe a swim would help his headache he was developing. It seemed that just looking at letters, even in another language, wasn't appreciated by his brain.

Oh how I miss camp. Everything was so much easier to read there.

The demigod jogged off to the edge of the lake, with an increasingly annoying but just barely lovable ostrich horse tailing him.

Azula had woken after a third blissfully long, sleep-filled night. The crew all the way back had been visibly less on-edge, even when the princess had ordered them to go full speed, not stop, until they returned to the capital. Even the captain was… civil. She could be, at most, cordial towards him. He hadn't stupidly stopped for the tides like her previous captain, so that was a bonus.

They were close to returning home after their journey. Her days had been spent, pacing the deck anxiously. Any time her fists began to clench, she felt her heart begin to race and the voices got too loud, she'd exit without a word, straight back to her quarters. Though that only happened a few times. The sleep helped, plus she couldn't picture her father treating her like Zuzu. That wasn't a possibility. Not with all that she'd done for him.

The princess saw the Great Gates of Azulon rise over the horizon, as the day started to come to its end.

Home.

Again, she didn't feel that fulfilled returning. Azula felt increasingly disconnected from the capital being home, and she had absolutely no idea why. The sun burned low on her back as she was welcomed home. It wasn't the big procession of her initial return home, and she was grateful for that. It meant that it wasn't putting as big an emphasis on what she'd failed to do this time.

And not reminding me of what I did last time…

Because it was almost evening, she wouldn't have to meet with her father until tomorrow. So, after ordering her servants to move her stuff back into her room and dismissing her soldiers, she thought of what she would do this evening. Sleep wasn't something that was at the forefront of her mind now, so she could go to see her friends. That wasn't what called to her though.

Back in Ba Sing Se, when she'd struck down the Avatar, their traitorous uncle had defended them. Azula didn't miss the knowing look between Percy and him. Not to mention, in consolidating power over the Dai Li, she'd received the reports that Percy was hanging out a lot in the tea shop that her uncle and brother ran. So they were her best bet for information on Percy, and when talking to Zuko before their return, he seemed to not know anything more than what Mai told him.

Azula also didn't want to see Ty Lee just yet. It was an unusual sensation, feeling like she owed her friend some kind of… apology? She shuddered. That wasn't very royal of her.

A Fire Lord would never apologise to anyone.

Iroh, her traitorous uncle. That was her first port of call. He was the only person who she could visit, secretively, that wouldn't increase her anxiousness over her situation. And he'd believe she could change.

Can't you?

She silenced that soft voice quickly.

So that's what the princess did.

(-)

Under the cover of the moon, later that night, she slipped away from her bed. Leaving the fur blanket and disappearing into the night, Azula made her way to the prison. But about halfway there, she spied a hooded figure in front of her.

Now then. What are you doing here, Zuzu?

She followed what was clearly her brother towards the prison where Iroh was held. Azula had a sneaking suspicion before they came home that he'd do this, but actually doing so wasn't the smartest of decisions.

But… isn't that what you're doing? Quiet! This is different.

Azula massaged her temples, trying to get the competing voices in her head to be quiet. She needed to focus.

The princess slipped into the prison complex behind her brother, moving in the shadows until she saw the guard. She stood still, letting Zuko take all the attention away from her in the darkness. The guard readied his spear at the firebender in front of her.

"You again? Stop where you are!"

Again? He's been here before?

Zuko raised his head, for the guard to realise who it was.

Well, you do have a dramatic flair brother.

"Prince Zuko…" The guard continued, shocked.

The firebender threw the guard against the wall.

"I'm going in for a visit. You're going to stand guard here, and no one is going to know about this."

He let go of the guard and walked into the cell.

Azula leant against the wall, all too calmly.

This could be very useful.

Zuko, all too trustingly and stupidly, left the cell door wide open. He was ten or so feet further down the corridor, but that wasn't a problem. The princess walked up to the shaken guard. She bent over to look him in the eyes, keeping a finger over her lips. Giving herself her typical ruthless gaze, the guard got the message quickly. She enjoyed watching him sweat profusely as he tried to remain quiet and calm. His hands shook as he desperately tried to steady himself on the ground with his spear as his knees buckled.

The girl moved to the other side of the cell door to listen, so Zuko would be blind to her when he exited unless he was really paying attention.

"Uncle, it's me."

From the lack of a reply, Azula figured their traitorous uncle wasn't so keen on having this talk.

Good, he will lose that side of himself then.

"You brought this on yourself you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!"

There was a shifting of a body from the cell but Azula couldn't tell what it was from her position.

"You have no right to judge me, Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me."

Still, no reply. Azula was starting to get reminders of having that frustrating waterbender in her prison.

But at least he sometimes replied.

"You're not going to say anything?!"

Zuzu seems to be getting annoyed.

There was a sound of metal being kicked and then some firebending lit up the cell.

"You're a crazy old man! You're crazy! And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!"

Azula moved away from the cell door and into another shadow. Zuko stormed out, without even checking his surroundings just as she suspected, and slammed the door behind himself. She was tempted to question him there and then, but that wouldn't be as effective. It was way more useful to her if he didn't know how she knew he was here.

The princess waited a moment, watching her brother's retreating figure, before slinking into the cell herself. Opening and closing the door much quieter, she moved to sit down, only to find the burnt scraps of what used to be a metal chair.

Well, I guess I know what he shot fire at.

Left without a place to sit, she turned her attention to Iroh. The old general still sat, dishevelled, with his back facing her. Though from his slumped posture, she could tell that the previous talk from Zuko had affected him.

"Hello, my niece."

His voice echoed at her from the back of the cell. It startled the princess, but she hid it excellently. Not that it mattered too much, he couldn't see her.

"So, you've come to talk to me. I get the feeling that you don't want to ask me about my travels."

Iroh sat, tears forming in his eyes and his head pointed to the floor in front of him.

Zuko. Zuko has chosen a dark path. One I'd hoped he wouldn't and one, the general begged, I hope he can find his way out of.

He felt someone else enter the room. There weren't many people who'd both want to or be allowed to visit him. The only people were those in the royal family and the guards, with few exceptions. Guards usually made their presence known. As would his brother, not that he'd ever come down there. So that left him with really only one option as to who it might be.

"Hello, my niece."

At the lack of a response, he figured he'd nailed it.

Now, why is she here?

He'd put money it was about Percy. He was usually good at these types of things, especially with Pai Sho.

Oh what I wouldn't give for a game or two in here.

"So, you've come to talk to me. I get the feeling that you don't want to ask me about my travels."

The cold, calculating voice of Azula rang through the cell bars.

"If it isn't my favourite treacherous uncle." The scathing tone was somewhat softened. Her words didn't have their usual bite. "Are you disappointed Zuko chose me over you? Chose the Fire Nation over an old man?"

He knew Azula. This wasn't deliberate underestimation, it was a calculated jab. One meant to get him to react poorly and give her what she wanted. But her usual guise of helping while manipulating was quite transparent. Iroh could only guess it was something to do with Percy. The old general just sighed.

"He could've done so much. His destiny is not what he thinks it is."

Azula, based on the pause, seemed uncertain about having Iroh confide in her. Like she was expecting this to have a secondary meaning. In this case, she wasn't wrong. The old general turned in his cell to face her.

"Neither is yours, Azula. You don't know who you are, and yet you think you know what you want?"

"I know who I am, Uncle." She spat.

Quite defensive. She's questioned herself. I see Percy is doing a good job.

The Azula he knew wouldn't have even given his questioning the time of day. And she most certainly wouldn't have replied.

"Okay then."

He looked into her eyes and smiled. Iroh saw those harsh golden irises and realised the pain buried deep within them. Brought closer to the surface only from what he guessed was more time with the mysterious waterbender.

Oh, we've all failed you, Azula. I do apologise for my brother.

"Do you want me to ask who you are, or do you want to talk about what you came in for?" He continued.

Iroh noticed she was standing with clenched fists and her eyes closed. He didn't know what was happening, but she took some deep breaths and appeared to be mouthing some words to herself. Quickly, she stopped and sat in front of him. Taking up a meditative position, she stared directly into his eyes. Hers looking much too old for the young age of sixteen.

"Yes, uncle, let's." Azula breathed in deeply. "There was a waterbender in Ba Sing Se. What did you know about him?"

Straight to the point. Good.

"I met him. A very nice young man." Iroh answered, honestly.

In a rare moment of openness, she seemed to slouch in dejectedness.

"Tell me how to get him, Uncle. I need him- I need to capture him."

"Were they my brother's orders?"

Because it sure sounds more like him trying to speak through you.

"They were the Fire Lord's orders."

Iroh could see through the veneer of harshness she put into her voice.

"And what else has the Fire Lord told you?"

The old general saw a flash of fear and pain streak across the gold of her eyes. The same gold as his own.

Oh no.

"What is it to you, traitor?"

Iroh responded by looking at her sympathetically. Azula sighed and seemed to slump even more.

"I am to be wed."

Iroh's sympathy for her only grew. She was far too young, and it clearly wasn't something she wanted for herself.

Our family is truly a horrific mess.

"So, how can I capture the waterbender. I need to- I need it to avoid it."

Did she really think capturing Percy would change her father's decision?

He thought that maybe there was another reason for her to have the goal of capturing him. Iroh figured that humanising Percy to her couldn't hurt.

"Well, Percy is a strong man. But he's been through a lot. I can tell that much."

"Yes, yes, Uncle. I know that much. How do I get him to… how do I find out more about him? From him." She corrected.

The old firebender did his best to hide his smile, and it seemed to work.

"To find his weaknesses, Niece?" He asked, just shy of teasing.

"Obviously, Uncle. That's the only reason why I'd do this."

She seemed visibly frustrated by his prodding, and Iroh found his smile breaking through.

"Well, I've found that opening up to him is the best way to get him to talk. Speaking about my own experiences honestly, he respected that. That boy is a truly excellent listener."

The old man smiled fondly remembering their multiple talks back in Ba Sing Se. Shaking himself from the memories, he looked back into those young eyes.

Iroh's eyebrows raised as he saw all the emotion drain from her face. Her posture snapped back to what was expected of a royal.

And just like that, all the humanity in her faded.

"Why thank you, Uncle. You've been most helpful."

Azula's voice gave away none of the vulnerability that her voice had mere seconds ago. The cold, calculation was back with force.

"I'll leave you to your cell. I appreciate it, despite your treachery." She continued.

Iroh wanted desperately to be disappointed in her, with that smirk covering her face, but found it impossible to feel that way towards his niece for too many reasons. The first being that he'd been there. It wasn't that long ago that he was toppling Ba Sing Se himself, well before he was disillusioned with the stance of the Fire Nation and even then, that was only sparked by his loss of Lu Ten. Another reason he couldn't was that she was a creation of the Fire Nation. The system had done similar things with the whole royal family, and a child didn't deserve the blame of failed parenting and a terrible environment.

But the last, and most important, reason he couldn't, was that he saw that what she'd told him wasn't completely fabricated. Whilst she'd gotten the information she'd wanted from him, it wasn't all an act. Iroh could see the spark of change within her, something bigger than her father just begging to be pushed into the forefront. He knew, somehow, that she'd changed. Similarly to Zuko, she had the good and evil of her great-grandfathers, and they both had those two sides fighting each other to assert their dominance. Iroh only hoped Percy could give Azula the big push she needed to choose a better path, one he thought he'd failed giving Zuko.

Azula stood to leave, clearly thinking that she had nothing more to gain from him. Iroh disagreed. When she was almost out of the cell door, he stopped her.

"Azula." He said, pushing all the kindness he could into his voice. "Ask yourself this. How much of what you just said is actually true?"

The old general smiled at her emotionless mask knowing that even if she didn't show it, his words got through to her.

The princess of the Fire Nation turned once more and exited the cell, leaving the Dragon of the West much more optimistic, but even more melancholic.

Azula wandered the quiet corridors of the palace. Slipping out of the prison unnoticed, save for the one guard, was extremely easy. Her uncle's final words echoing behind her, following her in the darkness.

If she was being honest with herself, the answer to his question frightened her. She hated it, but it did.

The princess had gotten her information. It was what she'd gone in there for.

But at what cost. Dealing with a traitor, was it worth it?

The deep voice felt like a punch to the back of the head. She didn't want to think of what the old man could do with all the information she'd revealed to him, or what her father would do if he found out.

What would happen if Zuzu and I got caught?

Azula held her shaking hands together, both sets of nails digging into her skin.

She had to make sure the Fire Lord didn't figure out their trips to their uncle. His treachery couldn't spread, and neither could his dissent. Azula needed Zuko to be quiet about it, that was another task added to her day tomorrow. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably, and no number of fingers digging into her palms stopped them. Thoughts of having to meet with her father tomorrow, and tell him of her failures caught up on her.

No, he would never do that. Not to me.

Azula walked into her room and was hit with the sweet scent emanating from her blanket on her bed. Almost immediately, her hands calmed and Percy's words came to her. Her heartbeat steadied, as did her breathing. Subconsciously, she began to count up in her head.

She drifted over to her bed and landed in the thick royal blankets, but she was only focused on one. The fur wrapped around her comfortingly and all thoughts of tomorrow's worries disappeared to the back of her mind.

A/N: A little slower this chapter but we're getting really into Azula's character. Had some third person watching Zuko stuff that remained pretty canonical, but the Iroh stuff is always an interesting perspective to write from. Hope you guys liked it, it definitely won't be the last. Percy's back in his old clothes and with the satchel, there will be more to come in that subplot too.

Next chapter!... Azula faces the Fire Lord...

Some review replies:

WildMan98: Yeah, it's understandable that you think he might stutter through it. I'd just say since he's used the excuse with the Gaang, Iroh and a few others, he'd start to get more comfortable using it. But glad you liked the chapter anyway!

Bromance22: I completely understand hating Azula, she's the villain, and I honestly didn't really like her either. But both 'The Beach' and 'Sozin's Comet' episodes really at least sympathised me to her character. If I can make you hate her less that's awesome, if I can get you to not mind and maybe even like her towards the end then that'd just be amazing. The Ty Lee and Mai stuff is always great and it's so cool that the updates make your week! More to come as always and I truly appreciate it!

A-gods-flame: I honestly appreciate that so much! I really do. I knew I was going to lose a bunch of follows and favourites between books, and its unfortunate but I get why people did leave. I'd love it for them not to have as I want as many people to read it as possible, but the benefit is that the majority of readers (going by reviews) are now positive towards the books. 3k would be incredibly generous but awesome nonetheless, I am definitely shooting for something like that.
I've never explicitly stated the relationship Percy and Ty Lee have. The only one who's definitely a sibling style relationship is Toph. That is all I'll say. The Mai aspect is a really cool and (I think) unique perspective in this, as she's sidelined in the book and her wanting to help Zuko gives her quite a bit of agency. Her openness arc will also continue a lot too, just you wait. Thank you so much for the review, stay safe yourself and hope you continue to enjoy.

Gabe1234: Thank you! The drama is so fun, and won't be resolved for quite a bit. Yeah, you're completely right and also there are a whole bunch of other reasons that I've chosen to do things (involving certain characters backstories) that'll become very clear in a bit. There is the potential for a Percy Ozai fight, although I'm not making any promises, nor any spoilers. Hope you enjoyed!

Iamironman15/HellRaiderS/Jctherebel/Death Fury/Tom2801: Thank you all! Appreciate it and hope you enjoyed this update.

DONT-CALL-ME-BOSS: Thank you! The deep dive into Azula's character and the Fire Lord's effects is really why I'm writing the story, so it's definitely going to continue (and has in this chapter). Next chapter though, meeting the Fire Lord so definitely look out for that.

CRUDEN: Thank you! I really like writing Mai, as she's growing to be more open, empathetic and caring. Percy knowing when Azula lies is just such a fun through line, glad you like it! It's also very thematically important, which makes it even more fun.

Thank you all for your reviews, new chapter next week, as always.

-PS