Suki's words kept on swirling around in Azula's head as she pet Momo absentmindedly, the flying lemur asleep in her lap.

"I mean, I've liked Sokka for a while now. I just never said anything to him because it's clear as day that he has feelings for you. But if you don't feel the same way towards him, then that means that I still have a chance with him."

"The reason why you don't want me to confess to Sokka is because you like him. It's that simple, Azula."

It was "clear as day" that Sokka had feelings for her? The very idea would have made her scoff had she not noticed how different Sokka acted when it came to her. How overprotective he was of her, especially after they rescued her and her mother from Long Feng. How angry he was when they found her, badly beaten by Dai Li agents. How he blamed himself for her getting kidnapped. How he had wanted to fight the Dai Li personally when they made their way to the Earth King's palace. Never straying too far from her side. Going out of his way to make her feel better whenever she was feeling upset about something. Making sure that she felt safe, because he realized the effect of being kidnapped by Long Feng had on her. And of course, there was what he had said to her when they were talking to one another the day she woke up.

"I… I can't lose you, Azula."

He hadn't elaborated what he meant by that, but Azula was no fool. She knew exactly what he had meant by those words.

Sokka liked her as more than just a friend. He may even be in love with her. It was certainly possible. Now all Azula had to do was figure out how she felt about Sokka. She thought about the time when Ty Lee got her attention by tapping her on the shoulder and pointing to Sokka, who was shirtless, when they were on their way to the library, and how she had blushed. Then, when they had managed to escape from the library and decided to rest in the desert for the night, Sokka got high on cactus juice, and had said that he wanted to kiss her, and pulled her into his arms and fell asleep. How he had comforted her after they ran into Zuko and found out that Ozai wanted her captured, and may possibly want to kill her for being a "traitor". She remembered when she first met Suki, when they were at the Serpent's Pass, and immediately decided that she didn't like the girl. At the time, she had felt that way because of the very real possibility of Suki figuring out who she actually was, and trying to bring her in to the Earth Kingdom authorities. After her talk with Suki, however, maybe her dislike towards the girl at that time was more than what she had initially thought it was. When they were attacked by the serpent, Azula remembered how she had specifically instructed Sokka to stay behind and to not follow her, because she didn't want him to get hurt. And when he had inevitably followed her, she did everything she could to protect him, and was even angry with him about it. She couldn't remember feeling that protective towards anyone else. She certainly never expected to feel that way towards Sokka of all people, someone who had annoyed her to no end back when they had first met.

She thought about how he was the only person in the group who she opened up to (besides Momo, but he was a flying lemur so that didn't count) like when they had first arrived in Ba Sing Se, and they found out that her mother was there, and that she didn't recognize or remember Azula because she had been brainwashed and turned into another Joo Dee, another puppet for Long Feng to control. Sokka had gone after her when she ran off, and she had opened up to him about her strained relationship with her mother, and why she felt that Ursa saw her as a monster. Going to find out who had been following her and Sokka in secret because she didn't want to get him involved and possibly injured or captured. During her captivity, she had missed her friends, but she missed Sokka more than anyone else. How happy she was when she heard his voice shout her name when they had found her underneath Lake Laogai. How she felt the need to comfort him when she woke up, realizing that he blamed himself for what happened to her. How she felt something akin to terror when Suki had said that she was going to confess her feelings to Sokka. And finally, how angry she had gotten when she saw Suki and Sokka hugging each other when they had dropped him off at Chameleon Bay. Sure, Azula had gotten angry about plenty of things before, but never over something like that. People hugging each other was certainly no reason to be angry. And yet seeing that had enraged her. At the time, she had no idea why that was. Now, though? She had a very good idea as to why that hug angered her so much. And it was thanks to Suki, as much as she was loath to admit it.

She liked Sokka. She liked him more than as a friend.

And he liked her back. Or loved her. Whichever one it was, it still shocked her. Finding out that her mother never saw her as a monster and that she does indeed love her (even though the two of them still have a lot to talk about) was one thing, even if that was still particularly shocking. But to find out that someone else loved her? How in the world did that happen?

It was something that would certainly take some time to get used to. Especially her own feelings towards Sokka, something that she never felt towards anyone else. Azula sighed, leaning back until she fell to the ground, arms spread out, and stared at the sky. Why did feelings have to be so complicated and confusing?

"Maybe this is why father said that feelings are weak", she grumbled to herself.

Azula looked up when she heard someone walking towards her. She saw Aang, who looked troubled about something. He sat himself down next to Azula, looking at her.

"Hi, Sifu Azula. What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just looking at the sky and wondering why feelings are so stupid."

"Oh. So then you're thinking about Sokka."

"... When did you get so good at reading me?"

Aang shrugged, "A while ago. Don't worry, you aren't the only one. I'm thinking about Katara."

He was thinking about Katara? Why did he look so sad then?

Seeing the look of confusion on her face, Aang continued, "So far, I've managed to unlock almost all of my chakras. The last one is the thought Chakra. Once I master it, I can go in and out of the avatar state at will, and I'll have complete control of myself and will be aware of everything that I do. Guru Pathik asked me to think about what attaches me most to this world, and I immediately thought of Katara. He then told me to do the unthinkable: let her go. That's the only way I can unlock the 7th chakra and master the avatar state. But I don't think I can do that. I mean, why would I choose cosmic energy over my love for Katara? So I asked him if I could take a break, and he said I could. And here I am. Talking to you about this."

Huh. Well that certainly explained his mood.

"You don't think you can do it?"

"Well, would YOU be able to let go of your attachment to Sokka if you were asked to?"

"Wha- hey, don't turn this on me! We're talking about you! And besides, I just realized my feelings for Sokka. You've known about how you feel about Katara for a long time now. So it's different for the both of us."

"That's… True. Still, I'm not sure what I should do."

"Well, you could look at it this way: letting her go means you can protect her better once you master the avatar state. I've never seen you like that before, but from the way it sounds, you can't control yourself while you're in it, right?"

Aang nodded.

"Then do what that guru says. If you do, you'll be able to protect her without the lingering fear of accidentally hurting Katara because you can't control yourself. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Sure, but-"

"Either you do it or I won't be your firebending master."

Aang looked at her, not saying anything, before a huge grin appeared on his face.

"You'll really be my firebending teacher?!"

"Well, I don't really see the point of not agreeing to do it. There's no denying that I'm a part of your little group now. And I want to help you end this war, as shocking as that is for me to say. The only way I can help you do that is by teaching you firebending. You'll need that if you are to face my father in battle."

"Well, the eclipse is going to be for eight minutes. So I probably won't need to do much to defeat him!"

"You do realize that a lot can happen in eight minutes, yes?"

She had a point there.

"I don't know how this invasion plan is going to go, and for all we know, my father will be hidden somewhere else in the capital. In other words, there's a chance that we'll waste time trying to find him. And if that takes up the full eight minutes, you will need to use your full strength to defeat him. That includes learning firebending and learning how to master the avatar state. Do you understand?"

Aang nodded, still not liking the idea of letting go of Katara.

Azula, seeing that Aang still looked unsure of himself, sighed.

"You'll never stop loving Katara, right? Letting go of your attachment for her doesn't have to necessarily mean that you have to stop loving her, or that you will stop loving her as a result."

"...Yeah, you're right! Thank you, Sifu Azula." Aang said, before running off, leaving her alone once more. She never thought that she would be giving love advice to the avatar of all people, but her life had been anything but normal for months now. Something like that should come as no surprise.

She heard footsteps walking towards her again, and turned around, expecting to see Aang once again, only to come face to face with her mother. The woman looked at her and smiled.

"I was worried and decided to come and check on you. Figured that two days by yourself was enough time to leave you to your thoughts. Are you okay?"

"I'm….good. Can't believe that I'm actually saying this, but that talk with Suki helped me. I like Sokka. And I probably have for a while now. It feels weird to accept it. I never expected to feel this way about anyone, let alone someone who wasn't born in the Fire Nation. Before all of this began, the very idea would have made me laugh. Now, though? Not so much."

A part of Ursa felt happy for her daughter, but another part of her felt sad, thinking of how they could have had these talks long before now. If she hadn't been banished because of what happened that night, would she have been able to have these moments with Azula? Would she have been able to realize that she wasn't being the mother that Azula needed, the way she was with Zuko, and rectified her mistakes? Had none of that happened, had she not been kidnapped by Long Feng and turned into a Joo Dee, maybe she would have been with Azula during her journey. Maybe Zuko wouldn't have been banished, had she still been there to reign Ozai in, keep his worst impulses in check. There were so many different possibilities for Ursa to think about, had things been different. Had the world been different. Had the Fire Nation been different.

"There's just one thing that I don't understand."

Ursa turned back to her daughter.

"What would that be?"

"The difference between liking someone and loving them! I can't decide if what I feel for him is like or love. Aren't they the same thing? And if they aren't, how am I supposed to tell the difference?"

Ursa couldn't help herself. She started laughing.

"Mom! This isn't funny, this is serious!"

Ursa stopped laughing and cleared her throat, "You're right, dear, I'm sorry. It's just, that question caught me off guard. Now then, the difference is…."

Mother and daughter sat next to each other talking for what felt like hours. It had to be the longest time they had ever spent talking to each other. Azula didn't mind at all. In fact she hoped that they could have more conversations like this.

Eventually, Aang returned. Azula had expected to see him cheerful, telling them that he was able to master the avatar state.

What she wasn't expecting was for him to say that they had to leave immediately because Katara was in danger.

Back in Ba Sing Se, the council of five had been captured.

Katara and Mai had barely made it to the throne room to meet with King Kuei before they were promptly captured as well.

"I can't believe that the Earth King wants me to serve him my tea! This is a great honor!" Iroh said, walking alongside Zuko with a smile on his face.

"I'm happy for you, uncle. You deserve it." Zuko said, thinking about what he would eventually have to do. If everything was going according to plan, Long Feng should have already been broken out of his cell, courtesy of the Dai Li, and promptly had the council of five captured. From there, they would greet him and his uncle in the room where they were supposed to have tea with the Earth King, and attack them. Knowing his uncle, Iroh would most likely try and find a way for them to escape, and he would more than likely succeed in doing so. There was only one problem.

Zuko wouldn't be going with him.

Eventually, they made their way inside the palace, where they were greeted by a servant who led them into a room where the Earth King would greet them momentarily. Except, that didn't happen. They ended up sitting there waiting for 10 minutes.

"Maybe something came up and the Earth King is running late?" Iroh said, giving an explanation as to why the king had yet to arrive.

Zuko shrugged. It's not as if he didn't know the actual reason.

Just then, they saw men wearing the same clothing enter the room, circling around them. Iroh was immediately on edge, meanwhile Zuko just sat there, waiting for the man he was looking for to show up. Which he did a moment later.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid that the king will not be meeting with you today. You see, he doesn't take too kindly to firebenders. Especially not one as well known as the famed Dragon of the West, the man responsible for the 600 day siege of his city." Long Feng said, smirking at the both of them.

Zuko had to hand it to the man, he certainly knew how to lie and give a convincing story when the situation called for it. For a brief moment, Zuko wondered how things would have gone if Azula had been the one to conspire with Long Feng instead of him. If that were the case, it would have most likely ended with him and Iroh getting captured and taken back to the Fire Nation in chains, with Zuko no longer having the chance to prove himself to his father. It was a good thing that wasn't the case here.

Iroh poured himself a cup of tea, and then rose from his seat, "Well since you know who I am, perhaps I should show you exactly why I was given that nickname. This won't take long. It's nothing more than a demonstration."

Zuko looked at his uncle, watching as the old man drank his tea. He immediately realized what Iroh was about to do, and prepared himself. Sure enough, Iroh released a powerful stream of fire from his mouth, giving them the perfect opportunity to escape. They quickly ran out of the room, and Iroh quickly generated a bolt of lightning and shot it at a wall, which led to outside of the palace. Iroh quickly jumped out of the hole in the wall, and urged Zuko to do the same.

"I'm not running! I'm going to take these guys down!" He said, and made his way back to where Long Feng and the Dai Li were waiting for him.

"I'm surprised by how well that went. I didn't expect things to go that smoothly." Long Feng said to Zuko as the boy walked towards them. Zuko couldn't help but agree. He hadn't expected his uncle to make things that easy for him in regards to them escaping. The man ended up giving Zuko the perfect cover to stay behind and finish executing his part of the plan without even realizing it.

"Did you capture the council of five members?" He asked, glancing at the Dai Li.

"Yes, we did. We also captured two of the avatars' companions: a water tribe girl and one of the princess's friends."

One of Azula's friends?

"What did this friend of my sisters look like?"

"Gloomy. And she had knives on her."

Mai. They were talking about Mai.

"Where are they?"

"We placed the water tribe girl beneath the city in the crystal catacombs. The other girl is here in the palace. She's currently in one of the jail cells. We figured that it would be best to separate the two of them."

"Is she hurt?"

The Dai Li agent shook his head.

"Good"

It really was his lucky day. The water tribe girl was his prisoner. Perfect bait for the avatar, who was going to come to the palace once he and his sister came back from the air temple to finalize the plan for the invasion.

"Take me to where the gloomy girl is immediately. I need to speak with her."

"What do you want me to do in the meantime, Prince Zuko?" Long Feng asked.

"Wait for the avatar to show up. I have no doubt that he will come here when he realizes that his friend is in danger. After I'm finished talking with the girl, I want your agents to take me to the crystal catacombs."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Before he could walk away, however, Long Feng stopped him.

"One of my agents took this from the avatars friend", the man said, pulling out a scroll from his pocket, "I'm sure that you and your father, Fire Lord Ozai, will find this to be very useful."

Curious, Zuko opened up the scroll. His curiosity soon turned into shock and then glee when he realized what he was looking at.

The invasion plan.

"You're sure that Katara is in danger?" Sokka asked Aang, having been picked up a little while ago.

He was shocked to see them so soon, but he was happy to see Azula again. That happiness quickly faded when he saw the look on Aang's face and was told that his sister was in trouble.

"I'm positive. When I was training with the Guru and was about to unlock my last chakra, I had a vision of Katara chained up somewhere in a room. I know that she's in trouble." Aang said.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Who's in Ba Sing Se who would want to harm Katara?" Suki asked.

Sokka's thoughts immediately went to Zuko, but he held himself back from saying anything due to the fact that Ursa was with them. He wasn't sure if Azula had told her mother about Zuko being in the city, as well as the fact that he was supposed to capture her. It was best not to say anything about it now, especially when he couldn't be one hundred percent certain that Zuko was involved. The boy hadn't tried anything this far, after all. There was one other person who came to mind, however.

"It has to be Long Feng. This must have been what he was talking about when he said that he had some sort of plan for Azula and Aang. The Dai Li must have broken him out of prison. If that vision that you had is the real deal, Aang, then we need to stop them."

"Perhaps we should head back to the house first? Just to see if Katara is there or not. If she isn't, then we can go to the palace and ask the Earth King if he knows anything." Ursa suggested.

Sokka highly doubted that King Kuei knew anything, considering the fact that the man had been successfully fooled into believing that there wasn't a war going on for years, but decided to hold his tongue. Instead, he turned to the only person who had yet to say anything.

"Azula? Are you okay?"

His question startled her. What was she thinking about?

"Huh?"

"I asked if you're okay. You haven't said anything at all since you guys picked me up."

"Oh. I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"No, you aren't fine. What's wrong? Does it have something to do with the Eastern Air Temple? Did you see something there?"

At that, Aang turned around to look at her. He has completely forgotten about the reason why Azula had come along with him. It hadn't occurred to him that she may have come across some skeletal remains of some of the airbenders, and possibly firebenders from her great grandfather's armies.

"Yes and no. What I saw at the Eastern Air Temple isn't the only thing that's on my mind right now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. I'll….tell you some other time, okay?"

Sokka wanted to press her further, but he decided against it. He knew that she wouldn't appreciate it, and would more than likely close herself off from him, which was the last thing he wanted. So he just nodded his head and left it at that. Neither one of them had noticed Suki looking at Azula, who had a very good idea of what the princess was thinking about, if the fact that the girl had made no attempts to look at Sokka until he spoke to her was any indication.

Mai leaned against the wall in her cell, trying to figure out what was going on. She and Katara had been on their way to get the Earth King's seal of approval for the invasion plan when they had been grabbed from behind by the Dai Li. They were unfortunately unable to fight against them and had been split up, Mai finding herself being stuck in the jail cell she was currently in. She had no idea what had happened to Katara. Hopefully the other girl was okay. She heard footsteps coming towards her, and looked through the bars to try and see who was coming. At first, she saw nothing, but soon enough, a boy around the same age as her appeared, a burn scar on his left eye.

Zuko. What was he doing here? Was he here to bust her out?

He moved aside, and she saw a Dai Li agent walk up towards her door, and unlocked it, moving away from it so that Zuko could step inside.

"Leave us." He ordered.

Well there went her hopes of him breaking her out of jail. The agent nodded and left without a word.

Looking at Zuko now, Mai didn't know what to think. On the one hand, she couldn't deny that she was happy to see him and that he appeared to be alright. On the other hand...

On the other hand, she wanted to slap him. Scream at him for doing this to them. To Azula. To her.

There were so many things that she wanted to say to him, but none of it would come out. Finally, after staring at each other for a while, Zuko spoke up.

"It's good to see you again, Mai. You...you look well. I'm glad that you weren't hurt."

If he was glad to see that she was unharmed, then perhaps the boy that she grew up with and loved was still in there. Even so, Mai still wanted some answers.

"Why did you have me placed in a cell by myself? Where's Katara?"

"She's beneath us. She should be fine for now. The Dai Li thought that it would be best if you two were separated from each other. Which is good, because I needed to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

"Come home with me."

Whatever Mai was expecting him to say, it certainly wasn't that. Although, she supposed that this worked out just fine for her.

It made what Azula had asked her to do that much easier.

"If something happens and Zuko has something to do with it, I want you to go back home with him."

That request caught Mai off guard. Why did she even think that Zuko was planning something?

"Why do you assume that your brother is plotting something?"

"Two reasons: he's supposedly here in Ba Sing Se along with our uncle, and we haven't run into him at all so far. There's no doubt in my mind that he knows we're here, and yet he's tried nothing to get to me and Aang. That doesn't sound like Zuko at all. Secondly, what Long Feng said is bugging me: when we were in the throne room, he said that he had something special in mind for me and Aang, and that he didn't want us locked up with the rest of you guys. When we were at the wall and he was being arrested, Sokka asked him what he meant when he said that he had something special planned for Aang and myself. Long Feng responded by saying that we'd see soon enough. That doesn't seem odd to you? What could he possibly do from a jail cell?"

Mai had to admit, she had a point.

"Even if the Dai Li were doing something for him on his behalf while he's locked up, it still doesn't make sense. The Earth King is onto him now thanks to us, and will be more on guard then ever as a result. If anything, he'd be expecting Long Feng to try something. All of us would be expecting it. So why did he sound so confident when he said that? Why did he smirk at Sokka as if he knew some kind of secret that we didn't? It doesn't make sense unless you consider the possibility that he has help from the outside. And the only person in this city who could possibly benefit from working with that scumbag is Zuko."

Another good point.

"Do you really think that Zuko would go that far, though? And what about your uncle? Would he even allow something like this?"

"Knowing how stubborn Zuko is? It wouldn't surprise me at all if he was willing to go that far just to capture me and Aang so he can finally return home. He's persistent. He won't give up until he gets what he wants. As for his royal, tea loving kookiness, I highly doubt that he even knows what Zuko is up to. That is, if I'm right. If I'm not, then we have nothing to worry about. It is something to keep in mind, though."

Mai nodded, "Are you going to tell the others about this?"

"No. Like I said, I could be wrong about this. If that's the case, then I don't want them to worry about nothing, all because of what I said. I already gave you guys enough to worry about for a while, don't you think?" Azula said, looking at one person in particular.

Mai was confused for a moment before she followed her gaze and realized what Azula was talking about.

"You do know that what happened isn't your fault, right? Nobody could have predicted that. We don't blame you for what happened. Sokka definitely doesn't. If anything, he blames himself for what happened to you."

"I know, which is why I don't want to give him something else to worry about. So for right now, keep this between us, okay?"

Mai sighed but nodded. She just hoped that Azula wouldn't come to regret this decision.

"That doesn't explain why you want me to go back to the Fire Nation with him."

"Because you're the only person besides our mother and uncle who dum dum will actually listen to. You can help Zuko see that what he's doing is wrong, and that this war is wrong, too. You've seen how the Earth Kingdom is thanks to us. There's so much that you can tell Zuko about, things that will hopefully get him to turn on our father and join us. And if nothing that you say works, tell him about what happened to our mother. I'm sure that knowing how he worked together with the man who held our mother captive for five years will do some kind of damage and make him start questioning everything."

Azula had been right. She really did know her idiot brother the best. Unfortunately for her, Mai had no way of warning Azula and the others about what was waiting for them when they returned to the city. A hand grabbing hers broke Mai out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Zuko staring at her intensely.

"Mai, please, come back with me. I'm sure that you're tired of being in the Earth Kingdom, right? Well, so am I. Once I capture Azula and the avatar, we can go home together, and you won't have to be bothered with looking after my sister anymore."

Had this been under any other circumstances, Mai would have agreed without hesitation. After all, Zuko was the reason why she agreed to join Azula in the first place, aside from the fact that she was bored and desperately wanted to get out of Omashu. She also didn't like the idea of joining Zuko, who was planning to capture Azula and Aang, one of which was her best friend, and the other one had become her friend over time. It would feel like a betrayal. Even so, isn't that exactly what Azula had asked her to do? To go home with Zuko and help him see the light? That alone was more than enough of a reason for her to go back with him. She had to be certain of one thing first, however. One thing to reassure her that the boy she loved was still in there somewhere.

"Before I give you my answer, I need to know something first: do you want Azula to be killed?"

Her question seemed to have caught Zuko off guard, if the shocked look on his face was any indication.

"What? No! Look, I know that Azula and I don't have the ideal sibling relationship and that we've never really gotten along with each other. I know that I've always seen her as nothing more than someone who's in the way of my father accepting me as his son and his heir, but that doesn't mean I want her dead. I'm planning to convince our father to just toss her in a jail cell, and to try and find a way to return her to normal, since that's the only reason why you three joined the avatar and his group, right? Once she's back to normal, Azula won't want anything to do with them anymore, and she'll be back in our father's good graces. Which means that he won't kill her."

Mai didn't have the heart to tell him that he was being naive, that the situation wasn't as simple as he was making it out to be. That things were different now, and that Azula wasn't the same as he remembered her. And most of all, that Fire Lord Ozai wouldn't care to hear any excuses. At the very least, Zuko being naive was a good thing. Coupled with his answer to her question, it meant that the boy she fell in love with was still there. That he hadn't changed all that much from the boy who left her behind, however unwillingly it was, three years ago. It made giving her answer to his question somewhat easier. And as much as she would be worried about Azula, Mai had no doubts that her friend would be fine.

Sokka would make sure of that.

"Fine. I'll come home with you once this is over with."

The happy look on his face almost made Mai feel better. Almost.

She just hoped that Aang, Azula and the others would be able to escape.

Zuko felt happy, for the first time in what felt like a while. He had managed to convince the girl that he loved to come home with him. That meant that she still cared about him, despite the fact that she was no doubt dissatisfied with him about the choices that he was making. If she was still willing to put up with him in spite of that, he hoped that his uncle would be the same way.

"Where do you want to go now, Prince Zuko?"

"Like I said before, take me to the crystal catacombs where the water tribe girl is. It's time for me to act like I'm a prisoner."