AN: Have been wanting to try this for a while, so please let me know what you think, this is my first time trying something like this and any kind of feedback would be really incredible! Hope it's not too terrible! XD

For clarification, this begins during The Boiling Rock, Part 1, and everything prior should be considered canon and accurate to this particular universe (unless you want to pretend The Great Divide didn't happen, works for me). The only real difference is that Zuko and Katara's episode takes place prior to this one, so bear that in mind as the only real mix-up of the timeline pre-The Boiling Rock.

"People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true.

That is how they define "Reality" .

But what does it mean to be "correct" or "true"?

They are merely vague concepts...

Their "Reality" may all be a mirage.

Can we consider them to be simply living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs?"

Chapter 1: Purpose

Twelve days before the arrival of Sozin's Comet.

Azula woke in her cabin, the sweat clinging to her body a striking contrast to the calm she felt in her heart. She sat up, reality and memories reminding her of where she was; traveling to Boiling Rock prison at the behest of her father alongside Ty Lee, in order to interrogate prisoners over the potential whereabouts of the Avatar.

She sat up in bed looking over the dimmed cabin that she resided in while aboard one of the capital airships and realized her heart was pounding as well. Ignoring it, she stood and walked to her wardrobe, letting her evening clothes fall away as she prepared to change. The cool air felt wonderful against her skin that still glistened with sweat from what must have been something of a fitful rest.

As Azula gestured with a finger and caused every lamp in her cabin to burst to life with a piercing blue glow, she reflected on why her body had been in such a state after she had woken up feeling just as fine as any other time she had risen from sleep. There was no dream she could remember; she didn't dream anymore as it was. A fever perhaps? No, she truly felt fine.

There was a knock at the steel door of her residence and she looked to it without a word, wondering who would be foolish enough to try and rouse her.

"Captain is wondering if we're flying straight to the prison or stopping at the dam for refueling and resupplying."

As Ty Lee's voice echoed in her ears, Azula shook her head. Of course it would have been her, entirely unafraid of one of the most formidable and frightening people in the entire Fire Nation.

"I'll be on the bridge in a moment."

Fortunate then that her body had unintentionally awoken her thoughas Azula listened to Ty Lee's ever-bouyant steps prance away, she couldn't help but notice how ragged her voice had just sounded. Adjusting her ornamental hair piece, she stared at herself in the mirror. She looked to be everything she was, striking, fear-inducing and powerful and it was this image that allowed her to wave her hand and douse the lights before exiting her room and marching towards the bridge.

The uneasy feeling she had been feeling disappeared soon after.

Where am I?

There were very few things he knew for certain as he attempted to resuscitate his consciousness. He was on his knees with his wrists bound and stretched to his left and right, rendering the majority of his body incapable of moving. Some form of blindfold had been lain over his eyes, ensuring that all he saw was a perpetual black void. And if all that wasn't worrisome enough, a numbness that seemed to originate from the back of his neck told him that he was being paralyzed on top of everything else.

How did I come to be here?

Whatever drug was being injected into his system was keeping the reality of the situation terribly out of reach. He couldn't remember names, places, or much of anything beyond his own name. The only part of his being that seemed to function appropriately beyond the ability to open and close his eyes were his ears, and they picked up quite immediately on every distant echo that sounded around him.

Wherever he was, it was built of steel and iron as the cold hardness beneath his knees attested to and the groaning echoes of his holding chamber perpetuated. Their volume and long rumbles told him that his chamber must also have been very monstrous in size. Above him came the sounds of heavy and powerful equipment, though it must have been from quite far off.

Why can't I REMEMBER.

It might have been hours or days or even weeks before a heavy clang sounded somewhere within his prison and he might have tensed had he been able to. Another clang sounded shortly thereafter and silence returned before the soft patting of footsteps nearing him caved in the lack of sound. The idea of unknown figures approaching and being as vulnerable as he was drove another unpleasant stake into his mentality.

At last, voices began to sound around him, the first being nasally and commanding in nature, "What you are about to see is of the upmost confidentiality. Being a new chief penal officer, you are about to enter a small group of individuals who know this part of the prison exists, as well as its contents."

A softer and more amenable tone replied, "I understand, warden."

The steps drew closer.

"You were sent by the capital to Boiling Rock with what information precisely?"

"Only that the prison required more attention then ever and was at a greater risk of potential escapes than ever—"

The steps stopped as the voice belonging to someone known as the "warden" shouted in response, "Wrong! Potential escape attempts! Prisoners do not escape Boiling Rock prison!"

"I apologize, warden, I meant no disrespect, this was simply what I was told before I was deployed here."

A deafening pause sounded before the steps continued. "Pardon my manners, chief officer, but the previous invasion on the day of Black Sun has put most of the nation on edge."

Confusion mingled in the voice of the underling, "Forgive me, warden, but shouldn't that have bolstered the confidence of the military and the Fire Nation as a whole? The Avatar himself assaulted the Fire Lord's private residence on the day where we firebenders are at our most vulnerable and still we suffered very few overall casualties."

The warden growled before replying.

"Perhaps, but prior to the invasion, no one would have even thought an invasion feasible. Not only were our shores breached by the enemy, but said enemy were able to reach our lord himself! Yes, it was a failed invasion, but now an invasion is known to be possible! What's stopping the Avatar from conducting a raid on the capital again, or on any of the districts, or perhaps a prison?"

The emphasis on the last word was not to be missed and the officer took the hint. "I suppose you are correct, warden."

"I always am. Now, while I attest that this prison remains unbreachable and untouchable, an incident occurred only recently that stands as the true reason you, and a fair number of elite soldiers were sent here."

The footsteps drew to a halt at a distance the prisoner could only guess as being feet away from where he knelt, bound and helpless.

"Only a week before the invasion attempt, the Fire Lord visited the temple of Sozin for a long bout of private meditation."

"A common practice during times of war, I've heard."

"Hmph. A waste of time in my mind, though I'm sure our Lord Ozai has more reason beyond that for his extended departures from the royal palace. But that is beside the point."

One pair of footsteps began to slowly pace in a wide loop around him and the direction of the voice that followed told him the warden was the one circling him.

"Supposedly, though much of this is hearsay as what actually happened was only witnessed by the Fire Lord himself and his personal guard, in the main hall of Sozin's temple, a black cloud appeared."

The pacing continued and he closed his eyes in frustration; though the blackness remained, performing one of the few motions he was able to was ever so slightly relieving.

"And through said black cloud, this boy appeared. He stepped into Sozin's temple and immediately assaulted the Fire Lord with a powerful array of firebending."

Firebending?

"Despite whatever skill and power he holds, he was supposedly delirious and clearly exhausted and our Lord Ozai and his personal guard were able to subdue him. He was then sent here and placed in this very lower cell of Boiling Rock."

For a moment, the only sound was that of the warden's footsteps as he arced around him before the officer spoke up, "I regret to say I am confused by this story, warden; an assassin makes an attempt on the Fire Lord and he is brought here instead of being interrogated and killed in the homeland?"

The warden chuckled, a low and awful sound.

"I'd be surprised if you weren't confused by the situation, chief officer. But there are a few answers to your query, though most remain speculative at best. Firstly, do you know why this chamber was built?"

"It was designed and constructed to hold the Avatar upon capture. The steel bindings and chamber would be the best way of deterring his bending and the paralysis needle that remains implanted in his neck would keep him helpless even further."

"Correct. Now I will tell you what has been passed through the grapevine to reach us, though I encourage you to take it with a grain of salt. It is all speculative at the moment, but where we have placed this prisoner indicates there may be some truth behind them."

"That being?"

"The first speculation infers that, whilst engaging the assassin, several of Lord Ozai's guard actually turned against him and their fellow guard. They ceased their act of betrayal after the perpetrator had fallen and claimed that after looking him in the eye, they had seen that Lord Ozai and the rest of the guard had been decoys set as a front. Now, Lord Ozai had little mercy for such an act and killed all of them on the spot, but if you look at our prisoner here… "

"His eyes are covered."

"Correct, bearing credence to at least part of the rumor being accurate in nature. The second rumor however is less established, and much more impossible then some potential hypnosis technique."

"I'm listening."

"While engaging our lord with firebending, this boy broke the rule of nature that we have accepted as truth for thousands of years. He not only employed firebending but also airbending against the Fire Lord."

"That is impossible. Only the Avatar can utilize any more than one bending of an element."

"Again, this is only hearsay. We can only act on the order of the Fire Lord who has ordered this prisoner be attended to as one of exceptional dangerous potential."

"… I understand, warden."

"It is my belief you will never have to even enter this chamber again. Only the chief penal officers, the elite guard and myself even know this area has a prisoner. It will stay that way. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, warden."

"I have been made aware that her highness, Princess Azula will be gracing our walls in the following days. The Fire Lord himself has made it known that he does not want her made aware of this prisoner."

There was some audible fear in the officer's voice as he replied. "The princess is coming here?!"

"Indeed. Have you any reservations about that, chief officer?"

Another lengthy pause followed by a meager, "No, sir."

The steps resumed again and echoed more and more faintly until two more thunderous clangs rebounded through the chamber, leaving him to reflect in harrowing silence on what he had heard and to twist motionlessly in anger that he still couldn't remember a thing.

Letting out a grunt of pain, Zuko recoiled as the guard's fist slammed into his stomach for the umpteenth time.

"You'd better be ready to talk by the time the warden gets back!"

Zuko's head snapped to the left as another shot from the guard sent stars bursting across his vision.

"You didn't just show up here dressed as a guard for no reason! You have co-conspirators, a plan or something else up your sleeve, you damn traitor!"

Another strike to his gut and Zuko had to keep himself from retching. In a deep part of his mind that wasn't currently battling the pain he was being subjected to, their was a humorous irony that he, a Fire Nation prince, was currently being beaten for information on his "co-conspirator" who happened to be a member of the southern Water Tribe. Oh, how the tables had turned.

As the fist pulled back again for another hit, Zuko decided to at least earn his beating a tad. "Maybe if you actually hitting me instead of poking me with a wet sock, I might be more interested in talking."

There was a shout of anger and Zuko allowed himself a quick smile before his world exploded in another burst of black pain and he nearly was knocked into unconsciousness. As his world swirled and tried to steady, the door to his cell was wrenched open with a wrenching creak.

"You! The warden specifically sent me down here to make sure the prisoner was ready for him, and I find you bludgeoning him half to death!"

Somehow, the phony tough-guy voice that Sokka was employing made his appearance next to the guard six times his size even more humorous and Zuko croaked out a laugh. Said massive guard turned to look at him with furious confusion before returning his look to Sokka and jabbing a finger in his direction.

"He's a traitor. The warden would understand!"

Glancing carelessly back out into the hallway up and down as if expecting to see the warden coming their way, Sokka looked back to the guard. "Oh, I see, he'll understand. Why don't I just go get him and then you can explain that to him and why it's perfectly acceptable for you to break his rules?"

At this, the guard swallowed audibly and backed away from Zuko.

"There won't be any need for that."

Nodding matter-of-factly, Sokka jerked a thumb over his shoulder and barked, "That's what I thought. On your way!"

His immense size barely allowing him to fit out of the cell entrance, the guard plodded off, muttering darkly to himself. Sokka watched him go before closing the door and sighing wearily. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve this."

Managing to right the world, Zuko gave his head a shake as every part of his body ached. "No, that one I deserved." Sokka gave him a confused look before adjusting his helmet.

"I think we have ourselves a halfway decent plan, but we'll only get one shot at it. I'm figuring the best way to kick off a prison riot, if we can manage that, the warden and his head officers will hide on top of the command tower until the situation gets under control. We sneak up there, take him as a hostage and ride the gondola out of here. They won't cut the wires if we have him aboard."

From where he stood chained to the wall, Zuko tried stretching and felt his bruised torso groan in protest.

"Not bad. Suki come up with that one, or was it your dad?"

Fixing him with narrowed eyes, Sokka made a face underneath his helmet.

"Hardy-har-har. Just because my first plan didn't come through, doesn't mean all of my ideas are terrible."

He paused for a long beat before adding, "Mostly my dad's idea."

Zuko leaned his head back against the cold wall of his cell, and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I thought something like that."

He heard a few cautious steps and opened an eye to see Sokka peering at him worriedly. "You don't look so good. Are you going to be okay to make it out of here?"

Furrowing his brow, Zuko leaned forward. "Relax, Sokka, I've had it worse than this. As soon as it's time, I'll be ready to move."

"You sure?"

Leading with an angry growl, Zuko couldn't keep himself from snapping.

"Look, I just had a long visit from my ex-girlfriend who put everything she had into making me feel like the most awful person on the planet, I've been beaten like a slave more than once since we got here, I can't stop thinking about my uncle and what might have happened to him, and on top of all that, Aang and everyone are probably going crazy trying to figure out what to do about us and this stupid stunt we've pulled. I just want to get out of here as soon as we can." Zuko stopped there to take in a breath after digging into all the most prudent points that warranted mentioning. He knew how childish it was to keep complaining, but in that moment, it was all he could think to do.

What came next was something he had not been remotely expecting.

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

He looked to his companion to see Sokka's eyes pointed downward and his hands fidgeting nervously; clearly this was something he was having trouble getting out.

"You're in here getting the crap beaten out of you because of me. I know you're just trying to help everyone, and after what you did for Katara and Aang… you didn't need to prove yourself to me. I guess there's always going to be a part of me that resents you for what you did, but that can't stop me from accepting you in the now. I know you've been hurt, and you've had to make just as many sacrifices as I have. And I'm sorry if it ever sounds like I'm belittling that hurt."

Zuko felt something in his gut that wasn't pain starting to swell. It was something that only Uncle Iroh had ever made him feel and he realized that he might have even appreciated Sokka in that moment too. Of course, showing too strongly that he felt that wouldn't do.

"Sokka, your sister is showing."

At once, his companion straightened and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, I guess she would be there. Sorry about that."

He turned to leave the cell and Zuko immediately regretted what he had said, "Hey."

Sokka turned in the doorway and looked back inquisitively.

"You don't ever have to be sorry to me. Not ever."

There was a long silence between them before Sokka looked away and pounded his fist gently on the door frame. "Tomorrow afternoon. Be ready."

In her time traveling with him, Katara was pleased enough to admit to herself that she had very rarely seen Aang truly upset. From saddened to furious, they were not emotions he was often willing to completely succumb to and more often then not, a good talk or some time alone was usually enough to get him back on the straight path.

Not that she could blame him for any emotional outburst he might have stifled; there was more than a bit of weight and pressure on his shoulders and at such a young age, he had handled it extremely well and had taken setbacks in surprisingly good stride.

Most of the time.

"I don't believe this! How do we not notice Sokka and Zuko flying a giant, stupid war balloon out of here?! How do they not tell us or think to even ask us if we think it's okay?!" Aang shouted furiously as he paced intensely back and forth. Katara watched him carefully as she tossed a glance back towards where the rest of their companions were sitting down a set of massive stone stairs; Toph, The Duke, Teo and Haru were likely all silently hoping to catch what was being said, but they didn't likely want to so much as come near Aang right now.

Katara too was quite upset by the turn of the situation, but keeping Aang in check needed to be her main priority right now.

"Aang, try and stay calm. I'm sure Zuko wouldn't have gone through with him on this if they didn't already have a straightforward and reliable plan set in place."

He turned to face her, his large eyes angry and wild.

"A straightforward and reliable plan they didn't want to tell us?!"

Katara winced. It was a fair point.

Aang turned away and looked out across the chasm facing away from the air temple that they were currently hiding out in. He spoke again in a much more controlled voice, but there was no less distress in his tone.

"When you and Zuko went to go find the man that killed your mother, I stood back and let you go. I knew that one way or another, it was something that was going to eat at you until you faced it."

Gently and slowly, Katara walked up behind him to look at the setting sun that dipped over the other side of the chasm. "It was."

Aang continued, "But even if I wasn't happy about it, you still took the time to tell me what you were doing, and why. You still bothered to tell everyone how you felt and why it had to happen!"

His tone began to swell again and Katara clenched a fist silently at her side, hoping in her heart that this wasn't going to be something that she needed to intervene in for the safety of Toph, Haru, and everyone else. She hadn't expected to succeed in the desert outside Ba Sing Se, and she wasn't sure she could prevent it again. But as she prepared herself, all at once the fight seemed to drain from Aang and he dropped down to sit cross-legged with his hands underneath his chin. She didn't need to see his face to know how badly he was hurting.

"I know Zuko is still learning to trust us, just like we're learning to trust him," Aang murmured sadly, "but for Sokka to do this… and not even mention it. What if something happens to them?"

Feeling her own absolute anger over the situation storming in her gut as well, it was all Katara could do to maintain a calm and composed edge to her voice, one that she hoped would bring Aang some semblance of peace.

"We have to trust that what they're doing is right. If they find dad, then they'll get him out. If not, they'll come back to us just as quickly."

He didn't say anything and she lowered herself next to him before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"They've been gone over a day, Katara, the Boiling Rock is only a few hours ride from here."

"Maybe they needed a day to put their plan in motion."

When he only sighed as a response, Katara felt something close to frustration clawing its way up in her insides. Aang couldn't be blamed for his feelings on what Sokka and Zuko had done, but she needed him strong right now, more than ever.

"Do you want to go after them?"

He looked at her in surprise and she stood, looking down at him intently.

"Well? Do you think it would make their situation better if we just flew in on Appa, going crazy with our bending? You don't think we'd be putting more at risk if we did that?"

Realizing where she was going with this, the life went out of Aang's eyes and he looked back forward, dejected and defeated.

"Katara, please… "

"No, Aang, please tell me how you would have us deal with this. All the times you went off on your own, when Sokka and I were with fever, when we lost Appa, when you flew off after you woke up from the coma Azula put you in, every time you gave us no choice but to trust you."

He didn't say anything in return, and she dropped down next to him, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"You have to trust Sokka and Zuko now. They will come back and they will be okay."

For a moment, she was sure that he was going to shut her out again, but he spoke up quietly at her words, "I know. I guess I knew that the whole time, I just… I just thought we'd finally be a point where everyone could just be open with everyone else. I hate not being able to help, or at least offer to. It's like they knew we'd try and stop them or something."

Hearing him open up was something so completely fulfilling that for a long moment Katara couldn't respond.

He's growing up.

She sat down next to him and pulled him to her so that his head rested on her shoulder. "Probably. But you know what? They wouldn't have done that if they thought we didn't care."

Aang shook as he exhaled a single laugh. For a while, they sat against each other, watching the sun set and Katara couldn't help but feel at peace herself with the situation even despite her own front that she was putting on for him. Slowly, she could feel herself believing her own words and she looked up at the sky in peace… before a pebble zipped into the side of her head and bounced into Aang before clattering away against the stone floor of the temple.

Katara put a hand to her head in pain as Aang mirrored her movement while snapping angrily, "Toph, what was that for?!"

Behind them, the girl in question sat on the shattered remains of a broken pillar, kicking her bare feet carelessly.

"Oh, don't mind me, just wondering what we're going to do about your jackass brother and angsty-prince-daddy issues."

Katara felt herself pushed as Aang got to his feet and directed his gaze angrily towards Toph and she felt her heart sink; perhaps she hadn't gotten through to him at all. He took a deep breath and stared her down furiously and spoke a solitary word.

"Nothing."

Katara snapped her head to look in shock at him. Aang continued to stare resolutely towards Toph who inclined her head in similar surprise.

"Nothing?!"

He didn't back down.

"We have to trust Zuko and Sokka to do what they think is right. Even if we're not happy with how they handled this, there is nothing we can do that won't put more at risk. I know you're mad, and so am I, but for once, we're going to stay out of it."

Katara was sure that this about to turn into a full blown argument as she had never seen Toph back down from an argument when she was sure she was right. But rather, Toph simply cocked her head at Aang and shrugged.

"Alright."

And she walked back down steps she had come towards where the rest of their small band sat around a small fire. Katara watched her go and Aang spoke quietly next to her, voice rich with disbelief.

"Did Toph just choose not to argue?"

Tilting her head slightly in his direction, Katara whispered, "You know Aang, of all the things you've accomplished as Avatar, that might be the single most impressive."

They turned to look at each other and for a beautiful moment, their laughter resounded of the remains of the Western Air Temple, permeating its walls with a sound that it had not heard in something near a hundred years. After a while, Katara took Aang by the hand and led him down to join the others around their small fire, trying their best to put aside their fear and their doubt, and to trust in their comrades. And as Aang drifted off on leaning on her shoulder Katara stared towards the bright, shining lights blinking in the night sky, thinking to herself hopefully and angrily.

Sokka… if this trip doesn't kill you, I honestly might.

The night was a cool, tender breeze as Azula looked out over the wide ocean lit only by the moonlight. The blue of everything caused her to grind her teeth in annoyance; so much calm was doing just enough to remind her that at a moment's notice, anything could go wrong. The dragon that was locked in the furnace of her heart whispered to her of all the horrible things that could transpire during the monotony of this voyage. Perhaps their would be another invasion while she was away from the capital, perhaps Ba Sing Se was going to be retaken during her absence, perhaps right now, the Avatar and his damned flying bison would come flying out of the glare of the moon and…

"Azula?"

It was with a fair amount of self-control, Azula whirled and managed to keep herself from letting loose a firebolt in the direction of the voice. The dragon had roared to life inside of her, going from playing devil's advocate to being ready to aid her in unleashing hell on some newfound enemy. Of course, it had only been Ty Lee who had come up silently behind her and was in something similar to a defensive fighting stance as though she had been expecting to be attacked by the princess. Azula turned back to look out over the calm rolling of the water beneath them, cursing the tranquility of it all.

"What is it?"

Having made her presence known, Ty Lee needlessly did a pair of somersaults to stand next to Azula and leaned on the railing, looking out thoughtfully.

"I just wanted to check on you. Usually right about now, you'd be down below, berating the engineers, or the war ministers, or whoever you can find."

Azula felt a content smirk slide onto her face. "I was on the lead cartographer about an hour ago. Did you know that he thought it was appropriate to try and update the map in the war room without even so much as asking for my permission or necessary specifications?"

Ty Lee bit her lower lip for an extended pause before asking, "Did you kill him?"

Turning her eyes to the acrobat, Azula narrowed her eyes.

"I don't kill every subordinate who fails in their duties."

Ty Lee rocked back on her heels as she leaned over the rail. "Maybe not, but that ratio sure isn't pretty."

This was something Azula could agree on, but she found the statistic more reassuring than anything. It reminded her the importance of keeping those beneath her in order and served as a constant reminder to all of what could come of failure.

"Are you… worried about Mai at all?"

Pulling a face, Azula turned her gaze down towards her the youngest member of her team in annoyed confusion as the question came out of nowhere.

"Why would I be?"

Fidgeting with her hands and looking like she was trying hard not to look perplexed, the acrobatic warrior continued to watch the ocean and moonlit sky, not meeting Azula's gaze.

"I'm just thinking how fast she took off to Boiling Rock after she found out Zuko was there. It was so sudden, she didn't tell either of us. I don't know, I guess I was just thinking maybe her… involvement? If that's the right word, with your brother might lead to some trouble."

Fully annoyed now, Azula crossed her arms. "I hope you're not trying to suggest that one of my two handpicked soldiers would be harboring sympathies towards the enemy."

As Ty Lee began to squirm and potentially stammer out some apology, Azula carried on over her.

"I have no doubts about Mai's loyalty to either the Fire Nation or to me personally; her desire to see my darling brother will only further cement her position as one of us. Seeing him turned traitor might be a little rough on her heart, but in war time, she will know not to show weakness."

Ty Lee opted to simply nod in affirmative and keep her mouth shut which Azula found exceptionally gratifying.

Of course, Mai would not be so shallow as to want to show mercy towards Zuko who had abandoned her in the night in favor of allying himself against his own nation and family. Her feelings might be pained, but there was no question of loyalty, of this Azula was certain.

"Azula, what do you want when this war is over?"

The question came blurting out of the mouth of her friend so quickly that it was clear she had said it before the courage left her. Azula turned to see Ty Lee staring at her intently.

"Is that a serious question?"

Another nod and those same eyes looking at her with the same fervor told Azula that this was in fact a genuine query and she sighed. It was such a pointless task, pondering the future when the present required every bit of her attentiveness. Looking ahead and trying to guess at unknowns was a dangerous distraction, one she had been fighting before Ty Lee had joined her on the bridge.

"I suppose if you must ask… I can't be sure. It depends what the outcome of the war will be, whether father will want me somewhere in particular… "

"No, Azula, I don't care what the Fire Lord wants, what do you want?"

Azula stared bemused at her friend who saw her expression and made a noise of frustration before beginning to pace, spouting off words furiously as she walked.

"I'm just so worried about you! All you think about it is the war, and fighting, and destroying the Avatar and your own brother, it's like… it's like you don't even want to consider a future where you aren't perpetually at war, that you just want to fight, that you can't even think about peace, or love, or anything!"

She stopped, and dropped her arms to her side in defeat.

"I just… I don't want you to throw your life fighting forever."

Apparently content with what she had said, Ty Lee turned away as Azula thought she saw the glistening of tears on her face captured by the moonlight. She strode from the bridge and left the Azula alone again, who stared after her for a long time.

Stupid girl. Wasting so much emotion being upset over nothing. Why does she care what happens to me?'

She turned her eyes upward towards the moon and closed them, the soft blue light of it seeping blurrily through her eyelids. Why should she care what the future held for her? In the name of the Fire Nation, she would accept whatever responsibilities fell on her shoulders, no matter how heavy or how many. This was her purpose, her calling; if the responsibility to uphold the Fire Nation became that of burning the Southern and Northern water tribes from the face of the planet, she would obey; if the responsibility to uphold the Fire Nation required her to marry the most detestable and undesirable man in her eyes, she would comply. Ty Lee could not possibly understand that burden, she who played everything as though it were a game and who only wanted the world to recognize her individuality.

Azula knew better. She always had known better.

But as she traveled nearer to Boiling Rock prison, she couldn't help but notice the single sliver of doubt that had wedged itself in the back of her head. The sliver was small, but thin and long, and it only asked her a single question, one that Azula refused to name a subject to.

"What if?"

She shook her head and scowled at the night sky. What a ridiculous train of thought. The only things that mattered were service to her country and to her father. She couldn't believe how the rest of the world always seemed so unsure, like Ty Lee, always questioning and worried. The reality of the situation was always more simple than they made it out to be, it was what kept things from spiraling out of control.

"Azula, your brother may never understand this, but I believe you can. You must always do what is right by your own principles, however hard that may seem to be. If the whole of the world reviles you as a villain, you must shoulder that burden. If nothing but hate is flung your way, you must allow it to glance off your armor. And if anything attempts to stop you? You burn it to the ground and walk over its ashes. That is the curse we bear."

Her father's words once again rang in her head and once again rang with perfect clarity; Azula sighed in contentment. It would taste a lie to say that she didn't care for her father, and for Ty Lee and Mai as well, but that caring was an attachment that could be discarded at a moment's notice if need be. Nothing could prevent her from making the choices that needed to be made.

There was nothing to come between her and her curse.

The darkness had grown more oppressive, though he wasn't sure exactly how long it had taken for it to achieve this level of grievance. Not being able to feel the majority of his body was one thing, but being unable to so much as see his surroundings as the prison clanked and rumbled around him was nothing short of maddening.

But still he tried to remember.

There wasn't much, truly there wasn't. Not a name, not a purpose, not a single face he could picture to spur memories of where he had come from. He knew that he was strong, there was that. And he knew he had a purpose, a very particular and important purpose. But as he struggled in the dark, desperate for even the barest glow to grace his eyes, nothing concrete came to him.

Wait.

That was a glow, wasn't it? Even from behind his pitch black visor, he could see something glowing a faint, but intense blue color just from the bottom of his vision. It slowly increased in power, ramping up to where he knew what he was seeing was not his mind's eye playing tricks on him before his blindfold was swept from his head with a sudden and striking movement.

At first, it was only pain that engulfed his vision as the blue glow before him came fully to bear on his eyes that had been seeing only black for some time. His vision blurred with pained tears and he closed them, trying to recover.

"You have arrived in this world as an anomaly, traveler."

Unable to look away, he opened his eyes to see that the causation of this harsh blue illumination and the low and powerful voice resonated from the same source. A man stood before him, garbed in simple but important looking robes, long white hair and beard indicative of his age, but the eyes that stared into his and the very stature of the man before him were enough to enforce the idea that age was of no great consequence to this visitor.

The ghostly specter continued, "How I can stand before you, and speak to you in a way you can understand, I do not know. But the spirits have deemed you of great importance if they seemed to necessary to pull you into this world."

The prisoner felt a great wave of frustration as he desperately tried to form words to hurl as questions toward this man, questions that didn't feel they could wait. As if by some providence, the man before him answered one of them.

"I can sense your confusion and your lack of memory, no doubt the latter being a byproduct of your sudden emergence here. But your name… I know it to be Sasuke Uchiha."

A name.

A name he knew was right, a name that he couldn't believe had escaped him. Moments ago, he would have given his soul for a wretched name, and now he had one. He started to see flashes in his head, images, faces and moments all strewn about in a tangled clutter. Sasuke shut his mind off from them, knowing that trying to delve into them all at once could scramble his brain much worse than it already had been.

The blue haunt continued, "I cannot tell you why you are here as my understanding of your purpose is nearly as restricted as yours. But the world has need of you, has pulled you into its arms and I cannot go against the world I protect."

Sasuke tried to stare down the glowing blue shadow before him, but found it to be very difficult to maintain a look into its eyes.

"The nations of this planet are in conflict; the forces of the Fire Nation and its Lord Ozai work to oppress all others and the only thing that stands between him and fulfillment of this plan is the Avatar, a great warrior who may be of use to you and you to him."

Above Sasuke and his ghostly advisor, there came sounds of a great ruckus as though hundreds of people were screaming all at once and running about in chaos.

"This is where I must leave you. I lament I could not be of more help but I can only implore you heed my words and seek out the Avatar. He may be different from you, but you both may benefit from one another's strength. If the Fire Lord falls, I believe answers will become clear.. There is a great power I can sense in you, and one way or another, I believe this world will come to taste it."

And the light faded, leaving Sasuke in semi-darkness and alone.

Who… was that?

That was all he could manage to think towards the form of a man that had just visited him. Someone who had come and gone like a breeze. Someone who had known his name and had freed his eyes through some ethereal means.

Would have liked to no longer be paralyzed though.

Being able to look around his chamber, as much as he could with his head being stuck in place, he could see that it was indeed a giant steel cavern of sorts, long and winding pipes snaking over the walls and ceiling which peaked a couple dozen meters above his head.

It's all I have now. Find someone known called the Avatar and start working towards answers.

The symphony of discord above him continued and added to the yells and pounding seemed to be the sound too of muffled explosions. Before Sasuke could do much to try and rationalize those particular noises, a wrenching metal clang echoed across the walls of his chamber as red light flooded into the room.

A door had swung open in the ceiling ahead of him, revealing a spiral staircase that opened onto the vast metal floor that was his holding cell. Pounding their armored feet along the steps, a group of soldiers came filling swiftly down the stairs, the voices of some of them clashing with the echoing of their footfalls.

"Did the warden order us down here?!"

"It doesn't matter if he did or not, the rules are absolute; in the case of a level three or greater emergency, we are to watch the prisoner until said emergency has been handled."

"The prisoners are running loose above us! And we're supposed to watch the one that can't move?!"

"Orders are orders."

Spilling towards him as a wave of red-clad guards, the men circled Sasuke who remained motionless on his knees, arms pulled away from him with wrists still bound in chain that tugged away at him into the gloom. They closed in around him cautiously and the man who must have been in charge barked out an order.

"Seal us in!"

The red light faded as the door closed again, dousing the room in relative black before an orange glow erupted to life behind Sasuke's field of view and scattered conversation picked up in low, alert tones.

"Stay tight everyone. I'm sure they'll have the situation contained soon enough."

"I heard Princess Azula arrived this morning. Think she might have something to do with this?"

"I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. I heard she ordered the sinking of one of the warships after a captain talked back to her. Any crew who made it off in time were pulled aboard the sister ship and made to fight to the death. She's psycho."

"That was never confirmed. Now shut up, both of you, we're not being paid to speculate."

A brief spell of silence followed before one guard took a step back and bumped his foot into something solid that went sliding a foot or so away.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, my foot hit something."

The man who replied turned and knelt next to Sasuke who saw him reach down in front of where Sasuke knelt to pick something up. As it was lifted, it looked to be some sort of metal band with straps attached on either side.

"Wait… wasn't he supposed to be-"

As the guard looked from the blindfold to meet Sasuke's eyes and there came a flash of instinct that would have been nearly impossible to ignore. The guard's mouth slacked and he wobbly straightened; in the direction he was facing, the man who had sounded to be in charge spoke harshly.

"What's the matter with you?"

There was the barest pause before the man in front of Sasuke gave a howl and lurched forward, balls of fire blasting from his palms and fists all over the place. The room exploded into a frenzy of raw heat and bright flashes and Sasuke felt more vulnerable than ever as the shouts sounded around him complimented by the snaps and thuds of the fire. Then, something seared just past his neck and he flinched at the intense heat.

I flinched?

He had indeed and a simple long breath told him that a fireball had severed the cord pumping him with that paralyzing liquid. Feeling slowly beginning to spread to the far reaches of his body and he grunted as he flexed blood back into his arms. He heard bellowed orders to get the rogue guard under control as he inhaled and exhaled several long times; words leapt to the tip of his mouth, summoned by that same instinctual flash he had felt when looking to the guard.

"Ice Release: Flash Freeze!"

Being able to hear his own voice was almost as gratifying as feeling the sparse water particles in the chamber rush to the shackles that bound his wrists and supercool into ice. Two harsh yanks and the chains exploded into frozen shards, covering the floor in gleaming pieces, glowing in the heat of the fire.

The man who had looked him in the eye had been taken down and the rest of the guard had caught onto the fact that their sole job was now rising to his feet, unfettered. The man in charge sported a more ceremonial looking mask and pointed at Sasuke, "Take him down! He must not leave the room!"

Fire swirled from the hands of the soldiers and ever so briefly, Sasuke could see something very akin to fear and disbelief running over their faces. He had no time to decipher their concern, however. He was more than ready to depart this hole in the ground.

His hands flashed with motion as he spoke words dredged from his subconscious, "Lightning Illusion Flash Pillar!"

Leaving his supposed captors flinging fire blindly around them while they clutched their eyes and howled, Sasuke leapt deftly to the stairs, avoiding their askew attacks and preparing one of his own. As he reached forward and a huge fireball of his own blew the door of his prison clean from its hinges, tearing the floor around it to pieces, one thought echoed in his head.

Find the Avatar.

As a man who could have snapped her in half if she kept letting him race her way barreled towards her, Mai swiftly moved to the right to sidestep him and threw a knife into the back of each of his knees. With a howl, he came crashing to the ground and before he could make another noise, Azula dropped out of the sky next to him and scorched the life from his body. Hand still being licked by blue fire, the princess eyed Mai playfully.

"Not getting slow, are we?"

Another rampaging prisoner came thundering past them, chasing after a pair of much smaller and more terrified looking inmates. Mai eyed him briefly before letting fly a single knife that buried itself in his back. He dropped without a word and within an instant of him hitting the ground, Ty Lee came somersaulting over, used his body as a spring and landed two midair kicks on the other two rioting prisoners, putting them down just as swiftly. She touched down and rolled over to them briskly and the three looked over the courtyard that still was soiled with the results of the prison riot.

They stood on a higher wall that overlooked the courtyard and gave them a good view of the tower as well. Mai could see her uncle on the walkway that surrounded the tower, no doubt screaming order and trying to remedy the situation. She was just as content to let her relative deal with the mess; only one thing really was mattering in her head at that moment.

Azula looked out over the chaos and smiled, "Truly, this may be a blessing in disguise. Half will kill the other half off, and the prison becomes much more controllable."

Mai flicked the princess an annoyed look, "And then the entire world hears word that Boiling Rock is less a prison and more of an adult playground. No more legends of its security or fear or its walls."

"Pish, no one cares about a prison anymore, not with the war winding to a close," Azula intoned carelessly as she lit blue pockets of flame beneath her feet and rose gently into the air. "Prisoners are just leftover garbage that society tells us we can't throw away because its bad for the environment."

Walking over and pulling her knives from their victims, Mai didn't look at her old friend, "Torch the trash then, is it?"

She could feel Azula's cold eyes burrowing into the back of her head. "Of course. Why wouldn't that be the best course of action?"

Mai didn't say anything, though she immediately wish she had thought up a lie of some kind as Azula made a noise of mock surprise.

"Oh, how foolish of me! My darling brother Zuzu is locked in here, right? And you wouldn't want him hurt, would you?"

Flipping gracefully to land in front of Mai, Azula stared her down, all pretense of her fake compassion gone. "He's a traitor, Mai. Worse than that, he's an incompetent traitor. He declares himself against the Fire Nation, flees the capital and what happens? He somehow gets caught here of all places."

Still biting her tongue, Mai walked to stand by Ty Lee as the Fire Nation heir stalked after her, taunting all the while.

"I'm sure you went and saw him since you beat Ty Lee and myself here; did you find any clarification? Any reasoning on why he didn't even think you worth telling in person that he was defecting and dumping you? Oh, I'm sure dear Zuko just had plenty of things to say."

Ty Lee turned to give Azula a disapproving look.

"C'mon, 'Zula, cut it out."

She of course did not.

"Tell me, Mai, did he even say sorry? Did he even pretend to still care?"

Something tweaked in Mai's temper and she spun on her heel to close the distance between her and Azula; superior firebending though the princess had, Mai felt a rush of cold satisfaction that she stood taller by several inches. It felt good to look down on Azula who so rarely had anyone do such a thing to her.

"Alright, Azula, you want to do this right now? Fine. Zuko actually did say sorry. He apologized for hurting me and for lying to himself because he wanted to be with me. He's hurting more than you can guess, not that you'd care, and you know why? Because he gives a shit about other people and what they think. He did what he thought was right, and even though I hate him for what he did, I think I can forgive him anyway."

Clearly surprised to be spoken back to, Azula blinked for a moment before narrowing her eyes and jerking her chin sharply in Mai's direction.

"And why might that be?"

Mai leaned in.

"Because I still love him."

For a long moment, they stared one another down, dares in their eyes for the other to make a move. Mai felt that she actually saw a wisp of blue fire around Azula's fingertip before Ty Lee, who had momentarily been forgotten along with the roars and ruckus of the riot beneath them, shouted while pointing wildly.

"Zuko!"

In unison, the pair of them snapped their gazes to the acrobat, and Mai ran up to grip the railing tightly, staring over the carnage of bodies and hurled fire.

"Where?!"

She followed the direction her friend was pointing in and with a rush in her gut, she saw Zuko with two other people standing on the walkway that her uncle had been shouting orders from moments ago. He was still up there, but had been subdued by a young woman that Zuko was with; for a moment, her temper flared violently.

And who might she be?

The other person, an older waterbender by the looks of him, flipped a guard over the walkway and gestured for Zuko and the girl to follow him, and they complied, carrying the struggling warden with them. Mai couldn't make out the words they were saying, but they could have been speaking gibberish for all she cared.

Zuko was alive.

Azula was already on top of the situation with her usual prowess and cold efficiency. "They're planning on riding the gondola out of the prison! They'll use the warden as a hostage to make sure we don't stop them or cut the wire and drop them."

Ty Lee turned to face the princess, "How do we play this out?"

But before Azula could reply, a strange blue glow began to resonate beneath them. Mai looked down to see what was causing it, thinking that perhaps Azula was generating a massive amount of her blue fire beneath them, but that was not the case. The glow was coming from beneath the floor and was expanding to a diameter of at least a dozen feet; several of the warring prisoners and guards had taken notice and had backed off in likely hope of some kind of self-preservation.

The blue light flashed then in a glinting explosion and the metal floor of the courtyard's base erupted outward, sparking lightning in all directions and tossing aside those unfortunate enough to be near it. The metal was torn outwards and curled aside to open a hole well wide enough to accommodate a crowd of people, but one mere figure jumped from the now smoldering crater and landed lightly around the mixture of rioting prisoners and soldiers who had come together to stare in bewilderment at the newcomer.

At once, four soldiers rushed him, both with weapons raised and fire spewing from their clenched fists. The young man waited until they were right on top of him before seeming to suddenly be above them without having moved at all. His feet came down on the heads of two of the men, bashing them into unconsciousness on the floor before he leaned into the third, grabbing the man's spear and forcing it into the chest if the fourth. The impaled soldier toppled and the third dropped his spear in shock at the speed it had been redirected with before spinning to life a whip of fire. The tongue of flame lashed through the air, but the figure seemed to weave in and out of it, fire collecting around his own hand; as he reached the flailing and final attacker, the flame exploded through the man's torso as the prisoner extended his hand to touch him. Seared and destroyed, he collapsed, and the figure touched the ground almost exactly where he had been before, now surrounded by four downed soldiers.

Impressed, Mai gave a slight nod in the figure's direction, "Who's the guy Azula?"

The princess shook her head once, eyes alight with suspicion and confusion, "I have no idea. I went over the prisoner manifesto three times on the trip over and other than the Kiyoshi warrior girl, there was no mention of someone so… young."

Ty Lee had a broad smile on her face as she leaned over the railing to get a better look.

"Or so cute!"

Both Mai and Azula gave her an exasperated look to which she only shrugged guiltily. Azula rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the situation at hand. "Ty Lee, go after my brother and his little party of escapees. Plug them all up, make sure they won't be going anywhere."

The acrobat nodded in affirmative and began to head towards the tower before looking back, eyes wide with curiosity.

"What about the both of you?"

As though whatever animosity had been grinding between them had disappeared, Azula fixed Mai with a hungry smile. "What do you think about introducing ourselves to our 'cute' newcomer?"

Mai shrugged and felt for the handles of her knives, making sure she was fully equipped, while sarcastically replying, "I suppose you're calling dibs on him?"

To her surprise, instead of responding in turn, Azula's cheeks flushed as she snapped, "Why ever would I do that?"

With a slight sense of satisfaction and humor in her heart, Mai shrugged again.

"Never mind."

As the last of his attackers fell onto the steel floor with a crash of armor, Sasuke looked around at the dozens of onlookers, daring them to advance. None of them, not prisoner or masked guard seemed willing and Sasuke took stock of this, as he began to flick his eyes around, trying to guess at the fastest way out of this prison. Save for the couple dozen assorted men watching him, fights were still running rampant past them and all around and he imagined that escape before this riot ended would be most preferable.

It was then that he heard a door squeak open behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, he watched a guard with armor that looked outlandishly too large for him, looking like he was trying hard to be relatively inconspicuous. When he saw that no one was paying him much mind, he began to scoot around the outer wall in the direction of the main tower, muttering too himself.

"Looking good, looking good… and won't everyone be happy to see I brought them all presents. Katara probably will chew me out for wasting time on this, but when one of these babies saves her in a pinch, ah, that would be so, so sweet."

Sasuke noted that the guard was also carrying a few weapons under his arm; a short pike with a hook on its reverse end, a longsword that looked almost ceremonial in nature, and—

The last weapon was a short, straight sword of no particular note in a black scabbard and while anyone else might have ignored it, Sasuke froze for the shortest moment.

That's mine.

It was all he could think before he took a step towards the lone guard who hadn't noticed him. Somehow, he knew that sword belonged to him and if there was anything he knew for certain, he was going to act on it.

Or at least, he would have, had he been able.

A flaming orb of a bright blue splashed at his feet, bursting out like a flower of some hellish origin. The guard carrying the weapons elicited a very peculiar squeak and dashed away, his unobtrusive act left by the wayside. Sasuke turned to see a young woman dressed in royal garb and wearing a very ravenous expression touch down a fair distance from him. Behind him, another young woman dropped, looking equally upper class but dressed much more relaxed. She seemed more at odds with being there but there was no denying the cold steel in her gaze.

Ahead of him, the more restless looking woman addressed him, voice loud and smooth across the courtyard.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what you're doing here, since I have a strong suspicion you don't belong amongst these degenerates."

Slightly relieved to have someone who was at least willing to talk, Sasuke also noticed however that the courtyard quickly cleared of all other people, prisoners and soldiers alike. The guard who had made off with his sword had vanished, but one thing at a time.

"You'd be correct. I don't know how I came to be here, but I intend to leave as soon as possible."

Her constant and ardent smirk was anything but reassuring.

"Only the most dangerous and important prisoners wind up here at Boiling Rock. I'm sure your stay was not made without warrant."

A gently glimmer in the hot sun told Sasuke that the woman behind him who hadn't spoken had weapons drawn. He tried again to be somewhat diplomatic but his impatience with the situation was rising.

"I'm not here for a fight."

He decided to be relatively honest; not a tactic he liked, but if these women knew the man he was looking for, it would speed up his search tenfold.

"I'm looking for someone called the 'Avatar'. I believe he and I can help one another."

The words had barely left his mouth before he realized this had been a poor choice of words. The woman's smile transformed into a look of raw fury and she propelled herself into the air on azure flames. As Sasuke felt the sullen woman behind him tense, the one bearing down on him snarled furiously, "Another traitor! You will burn alongside my brother!"

Sasuke exhaled in soft exasperation as teeth of a broiling blue inferno closed around him.

AN: Please let me know what you think! And thanks so much for stopping by!

P.S. For those curious, this is Sasuke post EMS.