"She's not gonna make it," Zuko said, just moments ago they had all been sleeping peacefully in their temporary home at The Western Air Temple until they were woken by Azula attacking from her airship. Now the group had been split and Zuko was among those who were fleeing on Appa, watching as his sister fell.

He watched as she propelled herself towards the Cliffside, with baited breath and a frozen heart, she may be pure evil but at the end of the day it's still his baby sister he's watching. She pulled her pin from her hair and dug it into the rocks, and for a moment Zuko thought it would work. But the force of gravity was too much and knocked the pin clean out of Azula's hand, and she fell.

"Aang," Zuko found himself saying, he didn't mean to say it, nor did he mean to sound like he wanted to save her. But before he could protest Aang was giving him a nod and Appa was diving down.

"What are we doing!?" Toph demanded to know; clearly the bison's sudden dive took her off guard.

"We're saving Azula" Aang answered and before anyone could argue his actions Azula landed with a thud on the saddle.

No one had time to say anything, not even Azula, before she fell over unconscious revealing that Sokka had knocked her out with his club.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded

"What? If she's awake then she'll fry us!" The non-bender exclaimed

"Sokka's right, besides if we have her then we need to figure out what to do with her before she wakes up." Zuko said

"Did we just take a prisoner?" Suki questioned and the others all glanced around at each other.

"Yeah, I think we did." Aang responded.

"This is crazy!" Sokka exclaimed, the group had just landed on cliff out in the middle of nowhere, and if the situation at hand weren't so dire Katara or Suki may have commented on how beautiful it was. But the situation didn't allow for that.

Azula was still unconscious and by now her wrists had been tied behind her back, her ankles also tied together.

"You're telling me, what were we thinking?" Zuko exclaimed as he dragged his sister's body down from the saddle.

"We were thinking we couldn't let her fall to her death," Aang said

"Why not? She's tried to kill us enough times." Sokka pointed out

"Sokka," Suki scolded

"What? Do you have any idea how much easier our lives would be without her chasing us!" The eccentric non-bender exclaimed.

"Well she's not chasing us if we've captured her," Toph pointed out

"So we're just going to keep her around? What one homicidal fire-bender isn't enough for you people?" Katara snapped

"Hey, I'm right here!" Zuko snapped back, he's been trying to have patients with Katara. He understands why she hates him, he really does, but sometimes he just can't take it.

"Alright enough!" Aang intervened, "I don't like the idea of holding Azula captive anymore than you do, but she's too dangerous to let go so we don't have another option." He continued

We could kill her, Zuko kept his thoughts silent and confined to his own head. He would never say those words aloud. He told himself it's because doing so would only be waste of breath, Aang's in charge of these decisions and would never agree to it. But really, a part of him knows that there's another reason. He doesn't want to say those words out loud, doesn't want to hear the murder in his voice. He doesn't want hear himself, supposedly reformed, openly and knowingly suggest cold-blooded murder as a way of solving the problem that is his own sister.

"But what are we going to keep her in? Ropes?" Sokka demanded, "She'll burn right through them!" He continued.

For a minute it was silent, all of them fully aware that Sokka is right and trying to think of a solution.

"I've got an idea," Suki finally spoke up. "A few years ago there was an outbreak on Kyoshi Island of Buzzard-Ants, if they bite you they release a toxin into your system that among other things causes severe muscle spasms. Our village healer made something to cause temporary paralyses to stop people from hurting themselves and as a side effect it caused temporary loss of bending, maybe I can use some of the herbs here to mimic the serum." She suggested and Aang nodded in response; that sounded to be as good a plan as any.

When Azula finally opened her eyes she noticed two things, she had no idea where she was and she couldn't move. Initially she thought she might be dead, but then she remembered Zuko and his little band of misfits saving her before knocking her unconscious.

Great, she thought to herself, just what I need, captured by Zuzu and his little pals.

Again she tried to move but again her limbs failed her, had she been chi-block? That was doubtful, considering Ty Lee is currently rotting away in a cell for her betrayal and she was certain that neither Zuko nor any of his friends know the technique. Besides, this didn't feel like chi blocking. Chi blocking was more of a limp feeling, like your body is made of very thin jelly. This feeling was more of an excruciating numbness. The fall hadn't paralyzed her had it, or maybe broken every bone in her body? The latter was doubtful, as she was assuming something like that would be a lot more painful. She considered screaming, but quickly pushed that thought aside. She was better than that; she had more self-respect than to scream out like a scared little girl, so she would wait. What exactly she was waiting for Azula had no idea, most likely she was waiting for a person because judging by the cloth material surrounding her she figured she was in a tent, so she was probably still with Zuko and his idiotic friends.

She began to listen carefully, and she noticed that off in the distance she could hear voices. She heard laughter and quiet talking, various voices belonging to her brother and his friends. Something about old times, and then she heard the Water Tribe boy.

"To Zuko, who knew after all those time he tried to snuff us out today he'd be our hero?" It sounded like a toast, and Azula couldn't help but scoff at the stupidity of it.

"Here, here." The other voices chorused; she then heard her brother say something, though the words were too quiet to make out from however far away she was.

Probably gloating, the captured princess thought to herself. Then, suddenly, it became quiet.

"What's with her?" The Water Tribe boy asked, breaking the silence outside.

What's with who? Azula wondered, suddenly very interested in whatever was happening outside.

"What's with him?" Zuko heard Sokka question as he followed Katara away from the fire.

She had stormed off; her face had been set in a permanent scowl all throughout dinner, the way it was just about every time she looked at him. Then Sokka had been nice enough to make that toast, something Zuko knew he didn't deserve but at the same time felt as though he had earned, and then Katara ruined it.

"Yeah, no kidding." She had said, her voice cold as the water she bends and as venomous as a shirshu's tongue. Every time he thinks he's getting somewhere, every time he thinks he's improving his morality, there she is. She's always right there to remind him of all the horrible things he's done, that he turned his back on people and that he's done terrible things to good people. She can't let him have even a second of pride in himself, no matter what he's done to earn it, and he's sick of it.

He knew she'd need time and a good amount of space, and he's tried to be patient with her. But tonight, tonight something was different. Tonight, when she spat at him, he knew that she was out of line. She'd had the right, for weeks now, to treat him like dirt and to belittle him. She'd had the right to make his life miserable, and although she never did he would've even tolerated her tampering with his food or personal belongings. But tonight crossed a line, he's earned the trust and respect of all the others, and it wasn't that he hadn't earned hers that bothered him, it was that for once when she berated him it was uncalled for. So he followed her, and found her standing alone over the water, still fuming.

"This isn't fair," he said to her. He didn't shout it, didn't plead with her, he just said it, because it's a fact. "Everyone else seems to trust me now, what is it with you?" He asked, ok maybe he was bothered by her lack of trust.

"Oh everyone trusts you now? I was the first person to trust you, remember? Back in Ba Sing Se, and you turned around and betrayed me. Betrayed all of us. And now you've brought Azula into this!" She accused.

The expression on his face was nothing but guilt, and he wanted to shout that he didn't have a choice when it came to Azula, but he wouldn't. He took a breath and remained calm.

"I'm sorry about Azula, I don't want her here anymore than you do. But she's my sister, I couldn't let her die." He explained and Katara looked away with angry, narrowed eyes. But she had no argument for that. "As for Ba Sing Se, what can I do to make it up to you?" He asked her sincerely, though she seemed to think it was a joke.

"Hm, you really want to know?" She began in a sarcastic voice as she marched towards him, "maybe you could re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the earth king, or I know, bring my mother back!" She shouted in his face, making sure to bump his shoulder as she walked away from him.

"Finally, it's about time someone came in here." Azula's taunting voice rang in her older brother's ears after he'd spoken with Sokka and returned to his own tent, which unfortunately also housed his sister.

Without a word he began shoving some supplies into his bag, he didn't have time to deal with Azula right now.

"Fine ignore me, but could you at least enlighten me on why I can't move?" She more demanded than asked.

"Some kind of serum Suki made, we knew you could escape ropes." Zuko muttered without even glancing over his shoulder at her.

Azula nodded her head thoughtfully, though there really wasn't much to think about. "And I'm assuming she's going to give me more of it before it wears off?" She guessed and in response Zuko gave a barely audible grunt and nod of the head. "What's wrong Zuzu? You seem even grumpier than usual," she commented as her brother slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the tent.

"Not your business," he grumbled as he left.

Zuko didn't return that night, and it gave Azula a lot of time to wonder. She'd always been able to read him, always been one step ahead, but this was different. He didn't give one hint, not one, as to where he was going.

Maybe they're moving on, she thought to herself, maybe they're just leaving me here for dead. "It would be the perfect revenge," she said to herself, "Paralyze me and then leave me here alone to die." She felt tears pricking at the edges of her eyes and tried to blink them away, she couldn't dare cry and risk one of Zuko's little pals, or Zuko himself for that matter, hearing. She wanted to wipe away her tears, but with no use of her arms that was quite impossible. So she soon found herself lying there on the ground, her mouth open but no noise escaping it, as she sobbed silently.

When morning came Azula realized that she must have fallen asleep at some point during the night, as her eyes were opening to the light of the new day. She tried to move but found that she still could not do more than lift her head, and so she let out a groan as she slammed it back into the hard ground beneath her.

"Someone's up," she heard a voice comment from the outside, fairly certain it belonged to the little blind girl. Less than a minute later Zuko was back in the tent, and judging by the bags under his eyes he didn't spend the night sleeping.

He threw a roll at her, hitting her in the face with it.

"Watch it!" She growled but Zuko didn't say a word, "I don't suppose you imbeciles have thought of what to do when I have to go to the bathroom?" She questioned before Zuko could leave the tent.

"The paralysis will start to wear off after twenty-four hours, but you'll be weak. I've seen you hold it that long, you can go to the bathroom before Suki gives you a second dose." He answered with his back still turned to her.

"You forget Zuzu, that was one rare occasion." Azula mocked, although truthfully she knew she probably could hold her bladder that amount of time if she really wanted to.

But suddenly, Zuko turned around as if enraged and snapped his sister from her thoughts.

"Then pee your pants!" He shouted at her before trudging out of the tent, Azula smirked when she heard the Water Tribe boy.

"Uh, did I just hear you telling Azula to-?"

"Don't ask," Zuko cut him off with a sigh.

Experimentally, purely to see if Zuko would keep his word or not, Azula did in fact hold her bladder until later that night and much to her surprise her brother did come in and help her to her feet. Of course he handed her right over to Suki, apparently it was necessary that Azula have an escort to the bush the group had deemed as a bathroom. Suki had eyed her curiously, and if Azula didn't know any better, she'd say even sympathetically the whole walk there. She was shaking, her legs visibly trembling, as she put all her effort into walking.

Apparently Azula actually didn't know better, because Suki really did feel bad for the princess. She'd taken the serum before; she was one of the many ill during the Buzzard-Ant outbreak. She remembered all too well how helpless she felt, and how awful that was. But that was nothing compared to the serum wearing off; when your legs are so weak that they can barely support you, no matter how large or small your frame is. She remembers constantly leaning on a chair or a table, just anything she could get a grip on to keep herself upright. Azula was stumbling, tripping over her own feet and barely managing to keep from falling, and on the way back to the camp Suki couldn't watch her suffer like this anymore. So she reached out an arm to help but Azula responded by swatting her away and as a result falling down.

"What are you doing?" The raven-haired girl demanded.

"Trying to help you," Suki responded, holding out a hand to help the fallen girl up.

"I don't need help," Azula growled, trying to get to her feet on her own but just falling back on her face.

"Yes, you do." Suki deadpanned, still offering her hand.

Azula growled but still to the hand grudgingly, and continued to frown as the Kyoshi Warrior placed her arm along her shoulders, allowing the princess to lean on her.

When the two made it back to the camp there appeared to be something out of the ordinary going on, if Zuko and Katara dressed in full on ninja grab was any indication.

"What's going on?" Suki questioned Sokka, who along with Aang had just watched Zuko and Katara fly off.

"Katara and Zuko just went off on a field to find and hopefully not kill the man who murdered mine and Katara's mother-" he answered and then noticed Azula and let out a sigh. "And yet, somehow, left us with someone worse." He finished, Azula just glared at him.