Her feet kept moving while her mind shut down. She didn't know how long she'd been drifting. She couldn't even recall how long it had been since the houses changed from wood and paper to mud and stone and the people's clothes had changed from red to green. Her own clothes were so worn, they were colorless; it was as if they betrayed her lack of a permanent home. She wondered if she could be considered a nomad, then dismissed the idea. That name was reserved for the dead.

She stopped to stare up at the thick patch of overgrown fruit trees and the mountain towering above. Beyond the wild orchard, she could see the new growth over the scars in the land caused by the movement and subsequent destruction of tanks. The tanks were long gone, probably scavenged by some refugees to sell for money or use as shelter. She moved past the battlefield and up towards the mountain path.

She'd heard about this road from an older woman in the closest village's market. It was a refugee path used during and shortly after the war, before those seeking a better life started flocking to the colonies. She sneered to herself as she thought of how quickly the entire world started to obsess about the silly republic. She had been through there last year; all she saw was a filthy city and smog from the factories. But that is what the simpletons that ran the nations call "progress."

After three days of walking she could see the towers of the Northern Air Temple. With her goal in sight she pushed onwards, telling herself that she could stop and rest soon. Her pursuers would not think to come here. In fact, after the war, the temple had lost half its population to return to their lost homes. And now that the focus of the entire world was on the new republic that the Avatar, Firelord Zuko and King Kuei were building the isolated air temple was all but forgotten. She had little fear of being recognized, and even so, the temple was not known to turn away refugees, no matter which side of the war they'd been on.

"Hello, welcome to the Northern Air Temple," said a young woman in red and yellow robes of the air acolytes. She sat behind the desk in the booth on the temple's side of the bridge.

"Has this become an Air Acolyte community?" she asked, wondering if her information was out of date.

"Oh, well no," the girl frowned for a brief moment and then recovered her sickeningly sweet smile. "I just live here as a representative of the new Air Nation. My name is Hei-Won. What's your name?" The Acolyte smiled, but her eyes were bored.

"Mai Lee," she said without hesitation. "I came from the colonies."

"We're getting some people in from there. Are you planning on staying or just a visit?" Fake sincerity coated her words like dust in a long vacant room.

"Staying, if that's possible." She was growing bored with the questioning and it was taking far too long for the Acolyte to finish writing out the forms.

"Alright Mai Lee, I have some forms for you to fill out and submit for job placement. Please return these to the employment office, which is on the first floor in the West wing." The girl pulled apart the papers she was writing on and handed Mai Lee a perfect copy. "I've assigned you a temporary room in the visitors dormitory. Once you find a job, you can apply for a more permanent residence."

"And I thought Ba Sing Se required a lot of paperwork," she found herself saying.

"I know, it seems quite a lot, but we have limited space here and simply expanding is difficult."

"I see. Thank you." Mai Lee bowed her head to the Acolyte and continued into the temple. It was much, much different than its counterparts. Instead of solemn dead husks of architecture, this place thrived with activity. Pulley systems brought up harvested wheat and sweet potatoes from the fields below. Several people on gliders flew through the air carrying messages from various parts of the temple. Pipes belched smoke periodically, but it was different than the factories of Yu Dao and the new republic. She looked down at her papers and tucked them into her robes. She would look at her room later. Now, she wanted to explore her new home, check for easy escape routes in case she was found.

The landing area was crowded with spectators, watching the large glider execute several loops and dips, racing around the mountain peaks with the ease of a hawk. She knew of the gliders and their inventor, The Mechanist. He was a prolific and mysterious figure towards the end of the war. When he defected to the Avatar's side, Fire Nation weapons innovation and production dropped significantly. Mai Lee watched the wheels of the largest glider touched the ground. This glider belonged to Teo, who was rumored to have taken over leadership from The Mechanist when the Avatar called the genius away to assist with the building of his republic utopia.

Three people came up behind the glider and lifted the glider wings off of the wheeled chair and took them to the storage shed where it looked like all of the gliders were stored. Teo sat in the monstrous wooden wheelchair that could only have been designed in the Earth Kingdom. The whole nation was obsessed with solid, heavy and unmovable objects, and so the wooden wheels made a loud sound on the paving stones of the courtyard. Mai Lee found herself staring as the young mayor (was that his title?) pushed his cart towards her.

"New arrival?" He smiled up at her, his eyes covered in octagonal green goggles.

"Yes. My name is Mai Lee," she met his gaze.

"Any special skills?" he asked off-handedly, gesturing for her to follow him as he made his way out of the wind.

"No. Not really," she remarked, adjusting the long strands of hair underneath that blew free of the scarf on her head.

"Any hobbies?" He asked again, his friendly demeanor seeming more genuine than the acolyte at the bridge.

"Lately, it's been walking." She studied his gaze. It did occur to her that she may have offended him, but she didn't like to censor her thoughts. She wondered if he was the stuffy type to be bitter, like the war-wounded soldiers she'd encountered in other Earth Kingdom cities.

"Yeah? I could never get into that. Shame really, I hear it's really popular with the ladies," he chuckled and pushed his chair forward. "You've arrived just in time for dinner."

"I don't have any money." She followed after him, watching his arms as they pushed through the crowd towards the dining hall.

"Don't worry about it. First night's meal is on me," he let his chair roll in a straight line and looked back at her. "Colonies?"

"How can you tell?" She kept her face neutral, still studying him.

"Your eyes and hair are Fire Nation traits. That and you look like you've been traveling for a long time. A lot of people from the colonies passed through here, though few have stayed." He was open and honest and completely like anyone she ever expected to lead a community such as this.

"What is it that you do around here?" She asked, even though she already knew.

He laughed again, "I'm the chief gliding instructor, the ambassador, acting head of the elder council and in my spare time, an engineer and inventor. So, I'd say a little of everything."

"You're a little young for the council of elders," she smirked down at him, easing into the flow of the conversation.

"It's a misleading name, I know. But in my father's absence, I got nominated," his cheerful demeanor slipped a fraction before he recovered. So there was more to him than charm and optimism.

"I see." She said, but refrained from commenting as he lead her through the line in the dining hall to get a hot meal for the first time in weeks.

Once they received their meals, Teo gestured for her to follow him out of the loud and overcrowded dining hall and into a narrow side hallway. He pulled out a ring of keys and opened a locked door. The room inside had a simple table and a few chairs that Teo pushed out of his way. "What brings you here, Mai Lee?"

"I don't like what is going on in the colonies. Things were fine the way they were until the Avatar started to interfere." She controlled herself and only started eating her meal when he did. She ate with the perfect manners that were drilled into her as a child.

"Why didn't you go to the Fire Nation?" He asked, his manners not perfect, but he was not a slob.

"I don't like what's going on there either," she replied and looked into his brown eyes. While she was looking down at her plate, he had removed the green tinted lenses that covered his eyes.

"There are some refugees here from both the Fire Nation and the Colonies, will that be a problem for you?"

"No," she held his gaze, "Not unless they have issue with me first." She resolved that she was never going to get captured again. She would not be anyone's tool. Her voice started whispering in the back of Mai Lee's brain. The drifter clenched her hands into fists to try to ward off the unwanted chatter.

"That's good. Because I'd hate to have to turn you in, Princess Azula," he tossed out her true name as if she wore it openly on her forehead, though she could not detect any malice in his voice or expression.

Azula tensed, springing backwards out of her chair and fell into a defensive stance. She must have told him. No, no… Ursa does not talk to anyone else. Ursa only has words for her daughter.

A click echoed around the small room as Teo aimed the metal barrel at her from under the table. She didn't recognize the weapon, but now that she thought about it, she could smell black powder. She expected no less from the Mechanist's son. "If you firebend at me, I will fire my new weapon at you. I'm sure that neither of us would enjoy it. Please, Princess, sit down." His hand was steady and his brown eyes met hers.

"Why? So you can claim the bounty on my head?" Azula snarled, not backing down as she calculated her exit strategy. Stupid stupid, she was so stupid for expecting to come here. Of course one of the Avatar's allies would recognize her. She remembered him now from the Western Air Temple, escaping on an airship with the Avatar's less important and nameless allies.

"We have no prison to hold you until either Zuko or King Kuei can be contacted for your retrieval. Besides, I don't think turning you in is my best interest anyway," he said, another click from the weapon and he set it on the table between them. It was a heavy looking object, the handle made of carved wood. It looked like a tiny handheld cannon.

"What do you mean, not in your best interest?" she relaxed slightly, as much as a caged animal can relax. She stalled for time, hushing Ursa's voice long enough to think. Though now that the weapon was out in the open, she was at least sixty percent confident that she could escape this room before he could grab the weapon again.

"My home is in danger and you can be my secret weapon," he said seriously, his face set in a grim line that made him seem years older. "You see, now that the war is over, and the Earth King lost so much land due to forming the republic, he's looking into forcing his influence on all the remaining somewhat independent places left in this country. Not to mention those sneaky Acolytes have been campaigning to restore the temple to its original form. Firelord Zuko has no stake in helping us. Avatar Aang would side with his Acolytes and King Kuei already weakened our position by making sure my father stays in Republic City."

Azula's mind thought over these new facts. "I see. So if you attract attention to yourself, that can force your enemies' hands." She straightened and folded her arms, looking down at her host again. She might have misread him on first impression.

"Exactly, so you get a new start and I get more time to fight having our home taken from us," he nodded, leaning back in his chair to gauge her reaction.

Azula smiled and leaned down, placing both hands on the table so that they were eye level. "Make me your assistant and you have access to the mind that toppled Ba Sing Se without violence." If he agreed, then her position here would be guaranteed and she could make sure that he would not turn her in. For the first time in years, she had control over her own life and could influence the most favorable outcome. Besides, if he fought her, she was sure she could easily get rid of him. Ursa was quiet again and Azula was pleased.

"Deal," he reached in the pouch that hung on the back of his chair and withdrew a pen, a bottle of ink and a blank scroll. He wrote quickly and then slid it towards her.

She looked down at Teo's neat script and penned her real name, agreeing to not turn her in as long as she refrains from hurting anyone and assisting him with keeping their home. The princess admired him for being intelligent enough not to trust a handshake deal alone. She put her mark under his and looked back at him.

His smile was friendly and far more optimistic than even Ty Lee's, but somehow she felt he was honest. "Now can we get back to our meal?"

She nodded and sat back down to finish her cold stew and bread.