Author's Note: Thank you all for not reporting me for the last chapter being so creepy. I will tell you; next chapter will be creepy. I have discovered I love writing creepy stuff. I see a horror story in my future.
So...the cliffhanger is gonna be resolved in a bit. After I blab. BLAB!
I love driving you guys crazy. Anyways, the idea is just implied in this chapter. It's confirmed in the next. BUUUUUUT next chapter is Sozin's Comet. That came fast :O
Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter Six: What if Aang never learned Energybending?

The second her fingers left Katara's back, Ty Lee jumped forward, landing in a nose dive on the edge of the cliff. She swung her arms down over the side, and her right arm instantly caught on another hand. As she steadied her grip, she dared to peer down the side of the overhang.

Azula was clutching onto Ty Lee's hand tightly, her whole body dangling in the air. As the wind hit her side, Azula shakily looked down at the jagged rocks and high waves about a hundred feet below her. She let out a soft cry of fear, looking back up at Ty Lee with wide eyes.

Ty Lee clasped both hands around Azula's wrist, hearing the sand shift as Zuko rushed over, laying down next to the acrobat and reaching his hands over to grab Azula, as well. They both had to use every ounce of strength in their arms to pull her upwards, but after a few terrifying seconds Azula was sitting next to them, shaking horribly, but safe.

"How-how did you guys..." the Princess muttered, her tone revealing she was on the verge of tears.

Zuko put his arms around her, silencing her instantly. Ty Lee was still holding Azula's hand tightly, feeling the firebender's racing pulse on her wrist. Zuko pursed his lips softly, looking at Azula. "Ty Lee heard your bedroom door close. She went to check on you, and when she saw you weren't in there, she came to tell me."

Azula turned to look at Ty Lee and took a deep breath to steady herself. "Thank you," she said softly, wrapping her arms around her best friend. Ty Lee her arm around Azula, as well, hugging her tightly.

"I'm glad you're okay," the acrobat said slowly, pulling back so Azula could see she had the slightest bit of a smile on her face.

Zuko forced a smile onto his face, as well. "Let's get you inside," he said, holding her hand as he stood. Despite the fact that her knees were constantly hitting each other, the firebender forced herself to her feet and quickly pulled herself closely up against her brother.

O

It had taken ten minutes for Katara to be able to move again. After that, she had laid in the sand for ten more minutes, looking at the ledge and biting her lip until it bled.

How could she have done this? Sozin's Comet was a week away, and now, all of her friends thought she was some sort of crazy murderer. The worst part was, Katara had heard the honesty and fear in Azula's voice. Princess Azula would have been able to use a jet of fire to propel herself to safety. The Azula she had almost killed was scared to death.

She had almost killed an innocent human being.

She sat up sluggishly, rubbing her face and letting out a deep sigh. She pushed herself up to her feet, feeling her shoulders slouch and her chest tighten. Her vision was blurred with tears, but she could make out the house in the distance. It was lit up with lanterns and candles, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night.

Although she wanted to run away and scream at herself, the bloodbender began to trudge unhurriedly toward the house. She blew the hair out of her face, knowing that she would be ridiculed the second she stepped in the door. Currently, she was so tired she hardly cared.

As she stepped onto the porch, she lowered her gaze to the ground. She couldn't stand the looks of pure hatred that she knew she would receive. However, as she opened the door, only Aang even looked over at her.

Katara made her way over to the corner of the room Ty Lee seemed to claim. Ty Lee was not there, instead sitting next to Azula on the couch. The firebender had a blanket over her shoulders, which seemed to comfort her. Her head was on her brother's shoulder, and she was still shaking horribly.

She was really and truly terrified.

Mai walked into the room from the kitchen, a small kettle and cup in her hand. She sat next to Ty Lee, handing the cup over to Azula. "I made you some tea. You need to drink something," the assassin said, her voice hardly louder than a whisper. Mai looked over at Ty Lee. "I'm glad your hearing is better than mine," She said with a smile.

Ty Lee shut her eyes, before standing up and walking over to the staircase, making her way up sluggishly. Mai narrowed her eyes, before standing up and following her friend.

"Ty?" Mai asked as she walked up the top stair. Ty Lee reluctantly stopped, turning around to face the assassin. "Are you mad at me about something?" she asked her friend, tilting her head. Ty Lee shrugged simply. "Ty, talk to me! Ever since Azula got hurt you've been acting like you hate me. You never smile anymore, and you act more depressed than...than me!" Mai said, throwing her hands up. "I just want to know why," she concluded with a sigh.

Ty Lee shut her eyes for a moment, before turning to look at Mai. "When we were at Boiling Rock, Azula was about to attack you, so I struck her down. But...I saw you, Mai. After Azula was down, you were about to attack her. You were ready to throw a knife into her. You wanted something horrible to happen to her. And then it did, and it still is.

"Azula only has us and Zuko. She and Zuko fight all the time, and you were ready to kill her. She doesn't trust any of the others. She needs someone she can trust, and she thinks that you're that person. But the truth is, you're not. I still want to be your friend, Mai, but you have to be Azula's friend, first, because she needs you more than I need you."

Mai was taken aback for a moment. She pressed her lips together, before looking into Ty Lee's grey eyes. "I didn't want to hurt her. I was just protecting Zuko," the assassin said, looking down at her bare feet.

Ty Lee bit her lip. "Azula thinks you would never do anything to her. She put all of her trust in us, and that's deteriorating faster every day. Katara tried to kill her tonight, Mai! She doesn't know who she can trust, who's tried to hurt her, or even who she is. You have to tell her."

"But what am I supposed to tell her? 'Oh, I tried to kill you the day before you got amnesia. Sorry about that!'? She'd never trust me again!" Mai said, her body sinking with each word. She knew Ty Lee was right, but she didn't know what to do about it.

Ty Lee shut her eyes. "Then I want you to promise me something; as soon as Azula gets her memory back, I want you to tell her the truth. She deserves to know. And when you apologize, then Azula can decide it she trusts you anymore. We're her only friends. She needs us, but she needs us to be honest with her." She paused for a moment, before looking over at her friend. "She'd really appreciate it."

Mai pursed her lips before looking up. "Okay. I'll tell her. But...you have to go back to being happy Ty Lee if I do, okay?"

Ty Lee smiled, jumping over to hug Mai. Their happy moment was interrupted by a sharp scream from downstairs. Two heads instantly turned to look as Suki clasped both of her hands over her mouth. "What happened?" Mai shouted down.

Suki grabbed Azula's hand, holding it up in an attempt to show it to Azula's friends. They could hardly see anything except the fact that it was crimson colored.

Ty Lee's eyes widened as she jumped down the stairs, running over to Azula. Looking at the girl's hand, Ty Lee saw a large cut across her palm. Ty Lee grabbed a cloth and began to wipe away the thick red liquid to see the cut better. "She must have cut it on the top of the cliff," she said, looking over at Mai. Mai rushed into the kitchen to grab a bucket of water.

From the corner, Katara's voice was hardly audible. "I-I could try to help her..." she began slowly, beginning to stand.

Zuko instantly turned to glare at her. "I think we've had enough of you trying to help people," he hissed, grabbing a cloth and dipping it in the water as he rubbed Azula's injured hand. Katara put her head in her hands, feeling tears rush down her face. She ran up the stairs to her room, feeling her whole body rack with sobs.

"Well that was a bit mean," Mai said softly, grabbing a strip of gauze to wrap Azula's hand with. Zuko shrugged, wiping the wound again nonchalantly. Mai rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, before sitting in front of Azula and wrapping her hand.

Azula looked up the stairs in the direction that Katara had disappeared. "Is she okay?" Azula asked slowly. Her question was disregarded as Zuko continued to wipe Azula's bleeding hand. The Princess sighed softly, looking down, realizing that it was a stupid question to ask.

O

Two Days to Sozin's Comet.

The thought continually rang in Aang's head. The young Avatar felt his chest tighten as he ate, trying not to think about how in just two days, he was expected to kill Zuko and Azula's father. He didn't want to kill anyone, but everyone was constantly telling him he had no other choice. The hardest part was trying not to let Azula know anything. Between her injuries, the fact that Katara had tried to kill her, and the fact that Aang was well aware that she hardly slept, Azula was starting to go crazy. She normally sat next to Zuko, trying not to say anything, and just listening constantly.

Aang looked over at her and flashed a smile, attempting to make her feel better. She looked up at him with wide eyes, muttering 'Hmm?' as if she thought he had asked her a question. He shook his head, letting out a soft sigh and throwing another piece of meat in his mouth. The room felt empty for some reason, despite the fact that only one person was missing.

Katara.

She never came out of her room anymore. She had locked herself in there like she was punishing herself, refusing to ever talk to anyone. Aang could tell she felt awful about everything that had happened, but he could also tell Azula didn't care about it anymore. In fact, she had never seen mad about it at all.

Aang looked up towards Katara's room, before grabbing his bowl. "I'm gonna finish this outside," he said, standing up and walking toward the back door. He swung the door open, shutting it silently behind him and sitting on the porch. He shut his eyes, crossing his legs and putting his hands together.

He must have meditated longer than he thought, because when he was shaken to reality, the moon had shifted positions. He looked in his lap and smiled at his small lemur, who was chirping happily. "Hey, Momo! Who let you out?" he asked, turning around to face the door.

Despite the fact that she was backlit, Aang could easily tell it was Azula in the doorway. He smiled at her, motioning for her to sit next to him. As she plopped down, she looked over at him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking," Aang responded, looking out over the ocean.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get enough one-word answers from Zuko. I would like a little more detail, please," she said with a soft smirk. Aang chuckled for a moment, before pressing his lips together firmly and taking a deep breath.

"I'm just wondering what to do about your fa-Ozai," he corrected himself quickly.

Azula crossed her arms over her chest, looking at Aang skeptically. "I know Ozai is my father, and I know you're supposed to kill him in a couple of days. But...he's evil, right? So doesn't he deserve it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aang took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess so. But I also know that some people may appear to be evil, but they're really nice if you give them a chance." He smiled over at Azula, who smirked softly. "I guess you know a lot more than we thought you did."

"I guess I kind of figured some of it out, too..." she trailed off, thinking of the dreams she had been having recently. Despite the fact they were horrible nightmares, when she woke up each morning, she knew a little more about the truth. She was dying to know it all.

Aang frowned, looking out at the ocean. "I just don't want to kill anyone. No matter how evil a person is, they don't deserve to have their life cut short," he said, trying not to look over at the girl next to him.

She could tell he was talking about her, however, so on that note, she stood and walked back inside, not bothering to tell him 'Goodnight'. Aang sighed, grabbing his lemur and looking out over the clear ocean. Petting Momo's ears, he walked inside, as well, never looking back.

O

The next night was hectic. As the group packed up all their stuff to camp out for a night before Sozin's Comet, Azula stayed close to Zuko. Since she didn't have much of anything to pack, she was 'helping' him, which meant following him in every step he took.

Zuko would never tell Azula this, but he was trying his hardest to get away from Azula. He loved her dearly, but he needed to talk to Aang and the others about a plan or tomorrow. She couldn't know about any of it.

As he threw his stuff onto Appa, he asked her to go grab Momo while he went to help Aang with his stuff. She seemed disappointed at first, but unenthusiastically went to go find the lemur. As soon as she left, Zuko ran to go find the others inside. They were all in the Living Room, sitting around a small map Sokka had of the Earth Kingdom.

"...they'll probably start the attack here," he said, pointing to a point on the map as Zuko came over to sit down. Sokka looked up at the other boy and smiled at him. "You got rid of the other half?" he asked with a large smile.

Zuko chuckled, looking at the map. "She just doesn't want to be alone. She's been like that since she was little. I guess the real Azula's trying to peek through, huh?" he asked, with a smirk. Katara nodded softly from the other side of the human circle, nervously pulling on her hair.

"So the plan is pretty simple," Sokka said, pulling out another map. "Katara, Toph, and Zuko come from here," he said, pointing at the map. "Mai, Ty Lee, Suki and I come from here, and after we get rid of any defense, Aang come around from the back, and BAM!" Sokka threw his arms up for emphasis.

"Bam?" Mai asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Sokka shrugged, folding up his maps and stuffing them in his bag.

Zuko put a hand up to stop Sokka. "Wait...what about Azula?" he asked, looking over at the Water Tribe boy.

Sokka shrugged. "We just need to keep her as out of this as possible. The less she knows, the better," he said simply, standing up. "And besides, when she gets there, she might start putting the pieces together, and that could end badly for us."

Azula, from her place ducked down at the top of the staircase, gasped silently, her eyes wide as she stared down at the group. She narrowed her eyes sharply, before standing up and yelling "Momo! Stop it!"

The lemur, laying calmly in her arms, looked up at her skeptically. The teenagers below all looked up at her, quickly acting like nothing had happened. She smiled as the lemur jumped from her arm, gliding down to Aang. As soon as the lemur landed, he turned around and hissed at Azula, who laughed as she jumped down the stairs.

Zuko smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

"Oh, I'm ready, alright," she said, feeling a sadistic smirk crawl its way onto her face.

O

"The less she knows, the better."

"You hurt Katara. She hates you, just like everyone else. They're using you to get ahead. They don't care about you."

"You fell at the Western Air Temple. But you remember that, don't you?"

"And you believe that? She lied to you. You are loyal to your father. She made up everything. You don't even know who you are anymore!"

Azula almost screamed when she awoke. The sweat on her forehead was all stuck to her bandaging, which made it sting horribly. Her hand was bleeding again, but she ignored it, sitting up slowly and creeping out of her tent. Everyone else was fast asleep, so Azula wasn't detected by anyone as she made her way over to another tent.

She pushed the door open and shook the figure inside awake. Her big blue eyes opened groggily as she awoke, letting out a loud yawn. As she came to, she looked up at the figure looming over her. "Azula?" the waterbender asked.

"I want you to tell me everything," Azula demanded, sitting down and crossing her arms. "The truth, this time."

Wanna see where all of these ideas came from? Check out the Original InspiredByFyre! Fic, Fyre's Guide to Creativity at s/6322746/1/Fyres-Guide-to-Creativity