The small friends frowned in confusion. They were certain that no one from Xei or Rhijaj could have been in Krozhny. The people would have been killed instantly. So, the only other possibility was someone from the friends' own world.

"Can you tell who it is?" Katara asked.

Toph tried to focus on the feeling, then appeared frustrated. "Whoever it is just got picked up again."

"We could try to see for ourselves," Aang suggested. "Vadim and Tatia probably aren't going to be leaving the throne room for a while, so they won't miss us if we're not here."

Satisfied with this plan, the group started leaving the room. Curiosity was felt strongly among them. Toph led the way for them to reach the newcomer. She had to open up some of the ground so that they could fall into the lower level. Aang lessened their impact with his airbending.

"I wonder why they were brought here," Sokka commented.

"Maybe to keep the royals from seeing who it is," Zuko offered.

"Whatever the reason is, that person's in the room up there," Toph informed them, pointing ahead of the group.

It was a room for the servants, but its door was larger than the others. The friends could tell that this servant had to have possessed a higher position.

"Maybe it's Naum's room," Suki mentioned.

"If he's with someone our size, I'm surprised he hasn't tried killing again," Zuko said, frowning.

"Or that's why he didn't tell Vadim and Tatia," Sokka commented. "He figured that he could kill whoever this is and they'll never know."

A pit formed in Katara's stomach at the thought. "Well, let's go and see if we can help. Toph, the room's empty, right?"

The shorter girl nodded. "Yeah, Naum's in another part of the palace right now. He just left before we got to this area."

"Then let's go before he gets back," Aang suggested.

Following his lead, Team Avatar entered the room. As soon as they did, everything seemed to happen in a flash. Zuko's eyes locked onto Azula and hers locked onto him. She leapt from a bed and into the air, firing lightning straight for him. The fire lord caught the attack, redirecting it into a wall. Katara pulled water out of the air and Toph sent chunks of earth at the princess. Azula evaded these as Suki and Sokka got into fighting stances as well. The newcomer's attention moved to the Avatar, seeing a protective look enter his eyes. That was not a fight that she needed. Reluctantly, Azula held up her hands.

"I didn't come here to attack you," she said.

"You still shot the first blast," Zuko pointed out, still ready to deflect more fire.

Azula glared at him. "I wasn't expecting company, Zuzu. I thought I'd have at least a day before I had to be around all of you."

Katara's eyes began to widen. "If you knew we were here…"

"What did you do to the people of Xei and Rhijaj?" Toph asked, raising more of the ground.

"They're fine," Azula stated, sounding bored. "I didn't even kill any of them."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Zuko asked.

"I suppose you'll just have to trust me," the other firebender commented, smiling smugly.

That smile alone could have haunted Zuko. It seemed like it was always there whenever Azula was being particularly cruel.

"If you hurt them–"

"What? You'll have me locked up? You've already done that. You can't do it any more than you did." Azula lifted an eyebrow. "Or will you finally go for a more permanent solution?"

The ruler stepped back, surprised. "No, I–that's not what I was…"

"Don't let her get to you," Sokka said, eyes narrowed. He kept his boomerang pointed at the princess. "We know we can't trust you, so there's no point in trying to act like we can. You knew that we were here. That means you wanted to come after us."

Azula ignored the comment, instead looking at Suki. "I see you two were reunited. Shame that at least one of you wasn't killed in the war."

Anger filled the Kyoshi Warrior, but Sokka caught her hand.

"She'll just try to bait you," he warned.

"It'll be harder for her to do under rubble," Toph commented. "We've got enough to worry about without homicidal princesses too."

"That isn't necessary," Aang said, turning to Azula. "She's as much of a prisoner as we are, and she's outnumbered. The last thing we need is to have more enemies while we're here."

Katara regarded him in shock. "What are you saying?"

The Avatar paused briefly. "I'm saying that we need a temporary truce."

Azula laughed haughtily. "A truce? With you?"

"What other option do you have?"

"I'm actually in the middle of that."

"With Naum? He's already tried to kill us twice. It won't take long before he comes after you too."

Azula's smile faltered. She did not trust the giant, but her options were limited. Naum did not need to become a great friend or ally. He just needed to be reliable for however long it took to get rid of the team. She looked back at her brother, gaze full of hatred.

"I already know what you're capable of. At least he's still a mystery. Oddly enough, I think I like that."

"You're making a mistake," Zuko told her.

"I'll take my chances."

A short silence fell over the group.

"What do we do now?" Suki asked. "Do we just leave her here?"

"I guess so," Katara said. "It's not like we have to trap her. The dimension took care of that."

For safety purposes, Toph made a wall out of the ground to block any attack Azula might have used against them. Then the group left.

"I feel like we're making a mistake," Suki said. "It's dangerous leaving her there."

"The only other option is killing her," Sokka commented.

Silently, he glanced at Zuko. His friend was frowning at the ground ahead of him and saying nothing.

"Let's just see how this plays out," the Water Tribe boy added. "Right now, she's not more dangerous than the royals, and they haven't killed us."

"That's a very small comfort," Toph mentioned.

The group returned to their chambers, but none of them slept very well. It was difficult to think that Azula would not appear and try to kill them. What helped was knowing that Toph would sense her movements. Later, but before the royals had woken up, there was a place that the friends wanted to go. Quickly, they went out the hole in the wall and started going to the farmer-merchant home. They saw Alexei at home with Masha. The child's eyes were puffy and her father was trying to comfort her. He turned when he saw the small group coming over.

"Thanks for what you did," he said quietly.

"We couldn't just let her die," Katara told him sadly. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

Masha wiped her eyes, crying harder. "I-it's all my fault! I was trying to practice lavabending. If I hadn't, Ma would be okay right now."

"It's not fair to blame yourself for this," Aang stated gently.

Alexei lovingly patted the girl's head. "You couldn't have known what would happen." His expression became more somber. "I'm to blame for never wanting to stand up against the royals. If I had, I don't know…maybe things would have been better by now. We'd all be able to at least use our bending without fear."

"It's not too late," Suki informed him. "There are rebels who are still fighting back. We need as much support as we can get."

Alexei's eyes widened in surprise. He had heard of rebel groups before, but it seemed like they were always stamped out before anything could happen.

"Prince Yeva is in charge of them," Sokka added.

This caused the father to feel slightly more comforted. The other groups were just made up of disgruntled merchants or unhappy servants. If the prince was at the front of this rebellion, maybe they stood a chance.

"Things need to change," the farmer said. "I'm not letting Levka stay there. Whatever we need to do, just let us know. We have to get her back."

The determination in Alexei's voice made Masha feel more confident in what could be done. It also was a relief to Team Avatar. They shared what they knew about the rebels. Meanwhile, in the palace, Azula was still in the room. She had not left after the group saw her, but Naum had returned. He was resting in his bed while the princess was on a piece of fabric on a table. Azula glared at him, being unable to think of much besides her time being the giant. The friends thought the jester was going to kill her. It was not out of the question that he would try. He had even admitted to trying to kill the friends. Azula did not necessarily trust him. She just had few alternatives. She refused to stand on the same side as her brother and his foolish friends. Of course, this was the same reason she wanted to work with the jester. Their shared hatred was nice. Even if she did not have a true ally, she had a kindred spirit. Azula was not sure why that was so enticing.

Unfortunately, Azula knew that Naum would always put himself first. Just like everyone else. He wanted her to be alive for as long as she was useful. The worst part was that Azula did not know if she would be. She had been unable to defeat the team in her own world. The firebender was unsure how she would destroy the entire group all while dealing with giants. Azula wracked her brain for plans on how to do this. She had said that she would have a solution in the morning. A direct fight was an imbecile's choice. Despite the princess's skills, she could not take down the Avatar and two master benders single-handedly. As much as she hated to admit it, Zuko's ability to redirect lightning was also an issue. She could accidentally be the cause of her own demise if she shot him and he chose to return the blast.

Indirect methods were not simple either. There was poison, but Azula wondered how simple it would be to put that in their food. She did not even know what kinds of food the team was eating. Considering the size of everything, maybe they were only eating one berry each. It was all terribly frustrating. When Naum awoke, it was very possible that she would either have that answer or be killed. There was that peculiar feeling again. Death was rarely something the princess considered, outside of someone else's. It seemed like an external factor that would only affect the people she wanted it to. It would never touch her. Here in Krozhny, such idea seemed less likely. A sound caught Azula's attention and she turned to the bed. Naum was starting to get up. He stood, looking at her.

"I have duties to handle now," he stated. "When I'm back, I'll expect you to have a plan I can use."

With that, the jester went to prepare for the day. He went to see how matters were going with the other servants and hesitated when he heard something strange. Naum stopped, turning to a maid.

"What did you just say?"

"His and Her Majesties began a new branch of the military."

Naum tensed up. "What? When did they do that?"

"It just happened."

"Who's supposed to be in it?"

"All the specialty benders from the village. They found one last night."

Naum's brows furrowed. Without saying anything else, he turned and went to the throne room. This was madness. Sheer madness. He was so upset that he nearly forgot to bow upon entering, but he remembered at the last second. This was not before he saw that Team Avatar was in the middle of a performance. Still, he did not mind interrupting even if he hoped he would not be punished for it later.

"Your Highnesses," he greeted, "I learned that there's a new branch to the military."

"Well, aren't you late?" Vadim commented. "It's existed for a few hours now. You really didn't know?"

"I did not, my liege."

"You should try to be more perceptive."

Naum skillfully kept the annoyed look off his face. "I'll do better next time."

"Good."

"Can I ask a question about the changes?"

"If you must," Tatia answered.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. What made you decide to put specialty benders from the village into the military?"

"We're brilliant. After the little blue one with long hair tried to foolishly spare the life of a villager, Vadim and I realized how much more we could get out of those peasants if they served us in other ways."

Naum did not believe her for a moment. It took everything for him to not scowl at the friends. They had struck again.

"Perhaps this change is slightly sudden," he offered, earning a glare from both royals.

"Are you questioning us?" Vadim asked.

Naum stepped back, shaking his head. "Of course not, my king. I'd never do that."

"Then what were you doing?"

"I was merely concerned that the influence of the…team might have led to you wanting to change more things in the kingdom. In my experience, structure is often found where change isn't. Consistency can help in many ways from letting people know what to expect to perfecting tasks." He quickly added, "But this is only my humble opinion and I don't intend to seem as though I'm knowledgeable on this matter or any other."

"Good because you aren't. Change is interesting. Without it, we're bored. Why would you want us to find life dull? If it won't change on its own, we'll be forced to alter aspects of it, and I'm sure you'd like that even less." Vadim's eyes narrowed. "We might even have to find a jester who knows how to perform with the little friends."

The queen tapped her chin thoughtfully. "That would be fascinating. We've never seen anyone perform with them." She looked at the jester, considering if he would do well, then frowned. "You're becoming less fun, Naum. There was a time when you were the only entertainment we needed. Have you noticed how times have changed?"

Vadim started chuckling. "That's probably why he's so hesitant to see anything else be different. Is that right, Naum? You're scared too much will change? Under that calm facade, you're just a terrified soul, aren't you?"

Naum's ego was not so large that he was unwilling to nod his head. "Yes, Your Highness. This position means more to me than anything else ever has. These new changes make me think that a day might come when I do not have it."

"Well, if it does, then you'll just have to deal with that."

A tense silence followed as both royals smiled. Their expressions were cold as always.

"I understand, my lieges," Naum said, bowing again.

They dismissed him and he left the throne room. Naum thought again about Azula. He needed that new insect to get rid of the others. If she could not, he was unsure how much longer he would be around. Whether Naum wanted changes or not, they were going on in the kingdom. Soldiers were entering the village. Immediately, the subjects were frightened and tried to hide in their homes. The only ones who did not were Masha and Alexei, but they were not near the others. If they had been, they would have been dragged out like the rest. Soon, the villagers were all gathered outside. A soldier walked in front of them, arms behind his back.

"We've been given orders to find specialty benders, so that's exactly what we're going to do." He paused, eyes scanning over the crowd. "You might think that you simply won't use your bending, but that's not an option."

Instantly, benders in the soldiers' group turned some of the ground into molten lava. It pushed towards the villagers. If they did not want to be burned, at least someone was going to have to reveal their power. On the other end, the ground was turning into quicksand. Above them, sharp, metallic disks were spinning and lightning was crackling around them in a circle. The people huddled close, terrified. Still, the soldiers did not stop. Someone would have to do something. There were not many alternatives. By that night, Levka would not be the only person in her barracks.