The princess shook in Buraid's arms. Her skin was cold and clammy. Buraid did not know what to do. He felt like he could not breathe, let alone think. Without him realizing it, Inaya moved him aside and gently laid Durnaz flat. Then, the servant brought her hands over the princess's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Buraid asked nervously.

Inaya closed her eyes and took a breath. "The attack just happened, so the poison shouldn't be too far in her system yet. Maybe if I focus, I can draw it out."

Gradually, she used waterbending to stop the poison from flowing further. Inaya's breathing sped up as sweat beads appeared on her forehead. This was more than she ever expected to do, but she would need to in order to help her friend. With a heavy breath, Inaya moved back and drew out the venom. She bent over, panting as her hands rested on her knees.

"I-I don't know if I got everything," she admitted.

Buraid worriedly went back to his sister's side. Her eyelids fluttered open slightly and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You're going to be alright."

The prince glanced up when he heard heavy footsteps. As Team Avatar approached, they saw Durnaz on the ground.

"She's been poisoned," the brother said, throat burning like his fire. "Inaya got some of it out, but…"

Without any more of a prompt being needed, Katara got to work. She focused on the feeling of a foreign substance in the small airbender's body. Carefully, she got the new liquid's final traces out. As the poison was removed, Durnaz let out a deep sigh and brought a hand up to her forehead, letting the coolness from her palm act as a cold compress against her hot skin. She did not have much time to do this as Buraid gave her a hug.

"Thank you," he said, looking up at the giants. The firebender's gaze moved to Inaya. "Both of you."

The servant nodded as Katara looked at the peculiar substance with a question in her eyes.

"Did you see who did this?"

"It was an earthbender," Inaya told her.

"It was Megat," Buraid clarified, glaring off towards where he had seen the man run.

As much as the friends wanted to offer an alternative theory, they believed this was true after what they had heard from Tipah. Focusing on the positive, Katara turned to Inaya.

"You did really well with getting most of the poison out," she complimented.

This made the servant smile, but it did not reach her eyes. "We haven't had assassination attempts like this before. I thought things were getting better."

"They are," Aang insisted, sadly regarding the princess. "I'm really sorry this happened, but I doubt everyone was behind it. There's still hope for peace between your islands. This doesn't change that."

"He's their leader," Buraid argued. "They'll follow his lead. If he's willing to come here and try to murder us, who's to say that he won't plan attacks to kill us in our sleep? He couldn't even come here and fight with an army. He slithered onto our land like a snake and then used the venom of one!"

Angrily, Buraid bent down and scooped up his sister. She wanted to protest that she could walk, but she still felt slightly woozy from having had the venom in her system.

"We're going back to the palace," he said.

Buraid listened to nothing else he heard the giants say. His focus was only on Durnaz. Once he entered the palace, the guards speedily approached.

"Princess!" they exclaimed, seeing the airbender. "What happened?"

"Megat," Buraid answered.

"Does this mean the truce is over? Do we attack?"

Buraid did not immediately answer, but he knew what he wanted to say. He went to the princess's chambers and let her rest there. Durnaz looked up at him with concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine now, Buraid," she said. "I don't need to be avenged."

"You could've died."

"But I didn't."

The prince felt anger rising in him again, so he stayed silent until he had gathered his thoughts.

"I'll tell Mom what happened, so she'll know to come check on you."

Buraid left too quickly for Durnaz to say anything more to him. He began going to the throne room, but the queen was already running to her daughter.

"She's alive," he said quickly, hoping this would keep their mother from panicking any worse than she already was.

This visibly calmed Ebrah down, but she still did not understand what all had occurred. "The guards told me that she was injured. What's wrong?"

"Megat poisoned her," Buraid hissed.

Ebrah's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, even Durnaz's new friends couldn't deny it. They must have known, because they came just in time to get the last of the venom out. Inaya got most of it before they arrived." Buraid paused, expecting a response. "Well, are we going to attack them now?"

"I need to see Durnaz."

"Why does that matter? Wouldn't your answer be the same?"

"I need to make sure she's fine."

"So, if you decide that she is, you won't fight? She's your daughter!"

"I am well aware of that, Buraid," Ebrah said, a frown on her face. "I also am aware of how much work she's been doing to have this peace. If she doesn't want me to send troops to Xei, then doing so in her honor would do more to show that I don't believe in her than it would be a sign of support."

Buraid angrily turned and left the palace. He could not understand why, even at this time, the queen would not respond with violence. As he left, Team Avatar remained with Inaya.

"How did you know to come here?" she asked.

"Tipah told us that Megat was acting strangely," Suki answered.

"So, he really did do it?"

"Unfortunately, he probably did," Sokka said.

"Buraid's not going to give up on this," Zuko chimed in, putting a hand on his chin. "As soon as he thinks Durnaz is safe, he's going to strike back. It's what I would've done before."

"Well, I'd say you're the expert here," Sokka conceded. "What do you think he'd do?"

"He'd want to hurt what Megat cares about the most, so that'll be all of Xei. Buraid knows how much being president means to him. The only issue might be if the other Rhijaj warriors don't join the fight. Then, the prince could try to find a way to attack without needing them."

"Is there something else he could use instead of warriors? Maybe another dangerous animal?" Katara asked.

Inaya considered this, then nodded. "We have snow leopards." She gestured behind them. "They like to stay in the mountains near the north side of the island."

Quickly, the group left to head in the direction she had pointed. When they got to the mountains, Toph felt the sensations of steps on the ground. There were a lot of them, and considering how only one person supposedly was heading there, that concerned her. Before Buraid could set off a net trap for a snow leopard, earth underneath the feline pushed it further from him. The firebender frowned and looked up, seeing the giants.

"Don't do it, Buraid," Aang said. "This won't make what happened right."

"You're right. It won't, but it's a fine place to start."

Zuko crossed his arms. "What's your plan?"

"I'll capture enough leopards and release them into Xei."

"Then, what?"

The prince hesitated. "Then…we'll have an advantage."

"You'll just kill a lot of innocent people like that. It's also possible that it wouldn't work if benders stop the leopards first."

Buraid sighed heavily. "Okay, it's not a great plan."

"It's not one at all," Zuko countered.

"I didn't ask you all to judge it."

"We're trying to help," Katara said.

"And I am too, even if none of you see that."

"How is this helping?" Aang inquired.

Buraid gestured outwards. "What else am I supposed to do? My people are even being attacked during a truce! Megat could've killed Durnaz! I know he captured our father too!"

The prince's glare softened as his eyes lowered. His brows furrowed deeply.

"Everything went wrong after Dad was taken. I…I caused so much pain for everyone. Durnaz almost died today because of me. She wouldn't have been in the training grounds if she hadn't been trying to calm me down, and I would've sensed his presence if I hadn't been so angry."

Zuko's expression was sympathetic towards the small firebender. "You don't have to beat yourself up over that. You couldn't have known there was going to be an attempt on your life. Durnaz protected you like you're trying to protect your people."

"But I can't protect our people," Buraid protested miserably. "A real protector would have found our lost ones and returned them safely. I haven't done that, and I caused this war to start."

The friends paused in surprise.

"What do you mean? You wouldn't be able to start it as a prince," Sokka commented, confused.

"True," Buraid agreed, "but I could rally the others. After we lost Dad, I brought our warriors and subjects together and made them remember everyone who had been taken from us. I kept doing it more and more. Soon enough, yelling and weeping turned into sharpening swords and training harder. Before I even knew it, I was leading them into Xei to take back our people by force. After that, they'd retaliate, so Mom had to decide if she wanted to just say that I'd acted against her wishes or do more." The prince frowned in remembrance. "She was so horrified when she found out what happened, and I don't think she knew what to do. After Xei started sending soldiers to attack us, she and the former president officially declared war on each other. So, I've never protected anyone. I've just caused more of our people to be killed."

A short silence came, but Zuko broke it with his voice.

"You can't change what you did, but you can still control what you do. It's never too late to defend those you care about. I think you just need to find a new way to do it. Be patient, Buraid. Going into a fight with nothing more than your anger doesn't let you think clearly."

The prince quietly considered his words, then Sokka spoke.

"We found out some useful information from Tipah. Come to the common ground with us and bring some of the subjects–not to attack–and we can tell all of you."

After a moment, Buraid agreed. "I'll get them." His eyes took on a fierceness. "But don't let me near Megat. I'll kill him if you do."

"We'll ask that he doesn't join the others."

With a grave nod of his head, Buraid left to start looking for the subjects. The friends began heading to Xei, and Megat had been there for a little while by that point. After he had escaped Rhijaj, he returned to the turquoise building. The president had not felt a rush like that in years, but he also felt horribly ill. Sabit heard him stumbling into a wall and hurried out of another room to help him stand.

"Megat, what happened?"

"I poisoned the princess."

The assistant's eyes widened and she let go of his arm. "You did what?"

Megat put a hand over his mouth, swallowing hard. "I…I was aiming for Buraid, but she saw me and took it for him."

He took a deep breath. The earthbender started making his way to his office. He needed to sit down. Megat rested his head against the desk, only lifting it when he heard the door open again shortly. Tipah entered and Sabit caught his hand.

"The princess has been poisoned."

Tipah's face paled and he ran into the president's office. "You poisoned Durnaz?"

He sounded more horrified than angry, but one could still detect the notes of rage in his voice.

"She'll survive," Megat assured him. "It will be painful, it'll make her weak, and it'll feel like death, but she will survive. She'll just be in so much agony that they'll do anything to get the antidote."

"And how are you sure they don't already have it?" Sabit asked doubtfully.

"Because this snake is only on our island. Assuming they haven't been studying our reptiles, they won't know how to treat her."

"That's not right, Megat," the firebender said, surprising the man.

"I thought you'd understand. You want Rhijaj to be stopped as well."

"I do, but there's a difference between wanting our people back and condoning sneaking over to poison someone in the middle of a truce. I didn't even want this truce, but I'd rather win the war honorably than by being underhanded."

Megat found that he could no longer distinguish the queasy feeling in his stomach from annoyance. Both were equally irritating.

"War is war. We can't always play by the rules."

"If you really agreed with those words, you wouldn't look so pale right now."

"I'm not proud, but I'd do it again. This isn't about maintaining pride. This is about winning and retrieving our families. I wish there could've been another way."

"There was!" Tipah suddenly exclaimed.

Megat glanced up at him, eyes widening. Fury looked unnatural in Tipah's features, but they were plainly there.

"We were working on finding peace," he said through gritted teeth. "I had told you that much. You knew what we were working on, so you were aware there was another way and it was working. It just wasn't as fast as you wanted."

"I-I'm running out of time."

"There are more important things than our terms in office," Tipah said, frustrated. "You could stay president forever, but if you keep doing things like this, the war will never end."

The vice president left the office angrily. Sabit stayed longer, looking from him to the man still at the desk.

"I…did what I needed to do for everyone," he said unsurely. "You know that, don't you?"

Sabit closed her eyes, turning from him. "I know you think you did. If the princess really was our ally, then we could've lost our best chance for getting everyone. Tipah's right, Megat. You can't do something like this again. At this rate, the war might not have started with you, but it won't end with you either."

The assistant left Megat and he rested his head against the back of his seat. There was that nauseous feeling again. Sabit and Tipah had both needed fresh air, so they exited the building. Once they did, they saw the friends.

"How's Durnaz?" Tipah asked nervously. "Were you able to help her? She has the venom from a snake that's native to our island."

"She's fine now," Katara stated. "Inaya started the healing process, then I finished it."

The vice president sighed a breath of relief. "I was worried when I saw you." His face tensed again. "Why are you here then? Is it because of Megat?"

"Not entirely, but can you keep him from coming to the common ground?"

"I don't think he'll be going anywhere for a while," Sabit admitted. "Why the common ground specifically?"

"Because we want you to bring some of your people there to listen to the plan we have. Buraid will be there too, and I don't think it would be a good idea to have them within view of one another," Aang said.

"Honestly," Tipah added, mouth curving downwards, "if we tell him to not do that, it's probably the first place he'll head. So, we can tell people about this and meet you there."

Making the agreement, the groups split up, but it was not for long. After a short time, everyone who had gathered was on the common ground. Seeing that they were all ready to hear the news, Aang began speaking.

"We learned that the Winter Solstice will be in just over a week. That day has been tied to every missing person. We're asking that everyone remain peaceful at least until then so that we can come together and observe what happens. If the spirits are taking your people, we'll see it when that happens and I'll enter the Spirit World to bring everyone back."

The people thought about this, feeling hopeful and nervous.

"What would we do to watch?" Noor asked. "Do we have to sacrifice anyone?"

"No," Katara replied. "We wouldn't ask for that. We don't want more people to go missing. If we see spirits, that should be enough to know what happened."

"So, until then, we just do what?" Sabit asked.

Team Avatar turned to one another.

"Well, we know some things will be tense now, but we hope that some of you would still be willing to come here on the common ground," Aang said, hesitating. "Would you?"

The following pause made the airbender's body tense. Then, he saw one person stepping forward.

"I would," Hilmi stated. "It's been fun getting to talk with everyone."

Aang smiled when he heard people in agreement with the boy. "Okay then. Until the day comes, we'll keep doing what we've been doing."

The group made murmurs of agreement and started to disperse, returning to their islands. Sokka did not feel as sure about everything as his friend.

"I really hope the spirits are doing this. If it goes wrong, all this talking could be for nothing."

Unhappily, Toph nodded. "If they find out that the other side actually is responsible for everyone being lost, they'll be enemies again."

"But they might not be responsible," Katara added. "They just can't be. After all this time together, I don't think either group is cruel enough for that."

"Let's hope not," Suki said. "Too bad there's nothing for us to do now except wait."

Worried, the friends began getting ready for the night. At the same time, it was also night in their world. Kyoshi Warriors used fire from torches to light the way as they continued their rounds. Suddenly, something caught one girl's attention. There was a loud crash that came from a cell. Hesitantly, she approached, peering in through its small window. The warrior had to lift up the torch to see inside. When she did, she gasped. Azula was laying down on her side, but there was a dark spot on the stony walls and dark liquid near her head. The guard started unlocking the cell, then she was stopped by her comrade.

"What are you doing? You can't unlock that."

"She must have banged her head into the wall. She's bleeding."

"Why would she do that?"

The girl shrugged. "She lost her mind. I don't question it. I just don't want anything happening to her on our watch. Zuko wouldn't want to get back just to hear that she bled out while we could've helped."

Unsurely, the other warrior moved back so that she could open the cell. She stepped in and bent down to check the former princess's head. Frowning, the guard looked up at her ally.

"What now?"

"It doesn't feel like blood. It's…"

"Sauce," Azula finished, smirking as her eyes opened.

Using her feet, the firebender filled the entire room with flames. The warriors blocked with their fans, but by the time the flames stopped, they heard the sound of a door closing. They rushed to it, trying to push it open, but it was to no avail. Azula grinned on the other side of the cell.

"It feels good to finally have found a use for that disgusting food. Get comfortable, girls. Your shift just started, so the changing of the guards won't be until morning."

Azula's ears perked up at the sound of prisoners cheering for her. That was what she loved to hear–adoring subjects. There would be more of that soon. The firebender pushed open the door of her prison. It almost felt strange to be able to take such long strides unimpeded by four tight walls. Still, her work was not done. Azula knew that if she stayed in the Fire Nation, soldiers would be sent out to track her down and would probably find her within a week. Therefore, she needed to find a new home. Azula recalled where the equipment of war was located, including modes of transportation. Along with this, she distinctly recalled who worked which days. This was why she knew that a lazy guard would be sleeping. Knowing such details about her subjects came easily. After all, Azula was a people person. Quietly creeping into a war blimp, Azula blasted fire, filling the balloon with hot air and taking to the sky. Everything had gone just as she had been planning. This came as no surprise to Azula. She refused to tolerate anything less than perfection, so she was filled with excitement over the next phase of her plan.