A.N. So, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for. The tent scene. I modified it a just a bit, but I think it's in a way that you guys will enjoy.

Also, since Sokka is 15 in canon and Azara (as Azula's twin) is 14 (though maybe they're 16 and 15 by this point in the series since there's never any mention of birthdays anywhere), there's nothing written below that is worthy of an explicit rating because I don't write that stuff for underage characters. But the conversations between characters include references to suggestive themes. And there's a bit more swearing in this chapter. Just a heads up.

There were many ways to wake up in the morning that Azara enjoyed. Perhaps when the soft morning light gently roused her up from bed to complete her firebending sets. Or with a soft kiss from Sokka against her forehead. Unsurprisingly, nearly getting blasted to smithereens by her sister and her armada of war ships was not one of those ways by which Azara wanted to be woken up.

Azara hurried to her feet as the second bomb nearly hit their camp, had it not been for Aang's airbending. With a swing of his glider, Aang closed the ceiling-high doors around their courtyard, blocking them from further direct bombings.

"We have to get out of here!"

Another bomb went off, causing part of the ceiling to collapse in on itself. The bits of rock falling from the ceiling nearly hit Katara, but Zuko jumped towards her, and pushed her out of the way. "Watch out!" The two went rolling and the debris missed its intended target.

"What are you doing!?" Katara snapped, glaring back at Zuko.

"Keeping rocks from crushing you."

"Okay, I'm not crushed. You can get off me now!" Katara stood up and ran off, leaving Zuko by himself on the ground.

"I'll take that as a thank you," Zuko sighed, getting to his feet again.

Toph and Haru worked together to create a tunnel at the back of the temple. "Come on! We can get out through here!"

As everyone else started to run towards the passageway, Azara noticed Zuko running in the opposite direction. "Zuko! What are you doing!?" she shouted, stopping in her tracks, and turning to face her brother.

"Go ahead! I'll hold them off," he called back, before running off.

"Zuko! Come back here!" Azara yelled, about to run after him when Sokka grabbed her arm, tugging her back.

"Azara, don't!" he warned, pulling her out of the way of more falling debris. "You can't go out there!"

"But Zuko needs help!"

"You won't even make it out of here before you get crushed!" Sokka shouted above the crashes of the bombs, some of his long hair falling over his blue eyes.

"But—"

"—I'm not losing you again!"

Another bomb went off, causing the two to brace against each other as the cliffside shook again. Azara sent one last look at where Zuko had disappeared before sighing and nodding.

"If he survives this, I'm going to kill him," she muttered to herself before running with Sokka into the tunnel.

Aang was struggling with Appa's reins, trying to convince the sky bison to move through the tunnel. But Appa continued to dig his six heels into the ground. Even with Katara, Sokka, and Azara tugging on his reins, Appa refused to budge any further.

"I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!" Aang yelled over the commotion.

"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here!"

"We'll have to find a way!" Aang shouted back, giving up on pulling the reins.

"We need to split up," Sokka decided before turning towards his father. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."

"No! The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!" Katara yelled, walking over to Sokka and Hakoda.

"It'll be okay. It's not forever."

As Sokka and Katara bid a bittersweet goodbye to their father, Azara helped Kesuk and Suki up onto Appa. "You're probably going to want to find something to hold onto," she warned them as Sokka and Katara ran back to Appa.

"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there!" Toph announced, feeling a wall with her hand.

"Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction . . ." Suki trailed off as Toph climbed up, Azara helping her fully into the saddle.

"We'll get through. Let's go," Aang stated before flicking Appa's reins.

Appa flew through the small tunnel to escape the temple. Toph and Aang bended a shield out of rock in front of Appa, blocking the volley of fire balls headed their way. Once the shield was down, Azara sat up in the back of Appa's saddle, looking around frantically for any sign of Zuko. When she spotted him leaping from another airship, she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," she growled, shaking her head.

She didn't have much time to watch her siblings battle it out on top of an airship before she was forced to jump to her feet to block the fire blasts and bombs directed at them. Aang directed Appa to fly higher, above the airships to avoid more flames. Azara glanced back as Azula and Zuko shot equally-packed fire punches at each other, causing an explosion.

"Oh no," Azara gasped as Aang directed Appa down.

They flew under Zuko, who rolled to reach out for them. Azara grabbed his arm and pulled her brother down into the saddle. Once she was sure that he was alive and not hurt, Azara turned back to the temple, where Azula was still freefalling. She gripped the edge of Appa's saddle, her heart beating out of her chest as she watched her sister fall.

"She's . . . not going to make it," Zuko trailed off, sitting beside Azara. As Zuko finished his sentence, Azula propelled herself backwards before doing a back flip onto the wall and slowing her descent with her hair pin. Azara let out a breath that she had been holding, relieved that her sister was alive. "Of course, she did."

Once they were out of sight of the airships and a safe distance away from the commotion, Azara angrily socked her brother in the arm with her fist. "Ow! What was that for?" Zuko demanded, rubbing his arm, and glaring over at his sister.

"For jumping off a freaking airship and trying to take on Azula by yourself, moron! You could have died!"

"I'm fine!"

"Because we were there to catch you!" Azara argued back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Stop trying to face Azula on your own! It's never going to go the way you want it to, Zuko!"

"I know."

"Then stop trying to do it!" Azara huffed, leaning back against Appa's saddle as they flew away. "One of these times you're going to get seriously hurt!"

Eventually, Team Avatar managed to find stable ground on an uninhabited patch of land and decided to set up camp for the night. As the group sat around the fire like they used to, Azara glanced over at Katara, who was glaring at her food.

"Are you alright?" Azara asked Katara, who spared her a glance.

"I'm fine."

"Wow, camping . . . it really seems like old times again, doesn't it?" Aang joked, an easygoing smile on his face.

"If you really want it to feel like old times, I could, uh . . . chase you around a while and try to capture you," Zuko offered, causing the rest of the group to laugh, except for Katara.

"Ha ha," she huffed sarcastically, shooting him a look.

"To Zuko! Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today he'd be our hero?" Sokka called, holding up his cup.

"Hear! Hear!"

"I'm touched. I don't deserve this," Zuko replied, looking around at the group.

"Yeah, no kidding," Katara scoffed, getting to her feet, and walking away.

"What's with her?" Sokka asked as Azara nudged him in the side.

"I wish I knew," Zuko sighed, getting up himself, and following after Katara.

"What's with him?"

"Let them handle it," Azara sighed, staring into the fire. "They're old enough to figure it out without the rest of us getting involved and inserting our opinions."

After dinner was finished, everyone went their separate ways. Azara handed off the dishes to Aang for him to go wash, before turning to the fire. Lowering her hands, she caused the fire to smolder before going out completely.

Sokka walked over, a smirk on his face, and a clear swagger in his step. Once he reached Azara by the fire, he leaned in, whispering in her ear. "My tent. Ten minutes. You in?" he offered, causing Azara to perk up.

"I'll be there," she promised, giggling as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Ten minutes later, Azara crept out of her tent. She stayed low to the ground and hid in the shadows. Looking around for anyone else, she slid into Sokka's tent through the back entrance, a wide smile on her face as she spotted her boyfriend.

"Hey! It was supposed to be a surprise!" Sokka whined as he tried to light the rest of the candles before she could see them.

"It's perfect, Sokka. Thank you for doing this." Azara leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Tugging Sokka away from the rest of the candles, Azara pulled him to herself and connected their lips properly. Sokka leaned down as Azara reached a hand up and pulled at the hair tie holding his wolf tail up. Sliding the hair tie off, Azara smirked as Sokka grabbed her wrist.

"So, it's you who's been stealing my hair ties?" Sokka accused playfully as Azara shrugged innocently.

"What can I say? I like it down," Azara replied, running her free hand through his hair.

"Okay, but I still need to see in the middle of battle," Sokka pointed out. Azara rolled her eyes jokingly at her boyfriend's concern.

"Alright, fine," she sighed dramatically, placing the hair tie to the side before cupping Sokka's cheeks with her hands. "Happy?"

"I'm with you, aren't I?" Sokka replied, as he sat up, causing Azara to blush pink.

"You just like seeing me flustered."

"Well, it's not that hard to get you flustered," Sokka teased as Azara shot him a look before pulling him over by his shirt in a motion that was clearly meant to tell him to shut up.

She wrapped an arm around his neck, holding him in place. One of his hands wrapped around her waist and rested on her outer thigh, pulling her closer, while the other slowly trailing up her back. Azara gasped at the touch of his cold fingertips, allowing Sokka to deepen the kiss further. Azara hummed against his lips, one hand gripping his shirt, and the other getting tangled in his hair.

The two were so caught up in well . . . each other . . . that they didn't hear the tent flap open behind them. Zuko walked into the tent, looking for Sokka, but his eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he spotted the ongoing situation.

Azara was straddling Sokka's lap, one of her hands pulling his head closer to her own. Zuko gaped as he noticed where Sokka's hands—one that was trailing up her back and resting high enough to be touching her bindings, and one that hovered quite close to her ass—were located.

And then he lost his shit.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? GET OFF MY SISTER!!!!"

Azara and Sokka broke apart, their eyes wide as they spotted Zuko at the entrance of Sokka's tent. Azara was the first to react, her cheeks bright red as she glared at her older brother.

"ZUKO, WHAT THE FUCK!?!? GET OUT!!!"

The two siblings arguing quickly drew some outside attention. Toph ran over to the tent, hiding behind a rocky outcrop as she listened into the commotion. "What's going on?" Aang whispered as he ran over, Momo hopping up onto his shoulder.

"Zuko found Sokka and Azara together in Sokka's tent," Toph revealed as more screaming emanated from the tent. Aang winced at Toph's words.

"That's rough, buddy," Aang sighed as Zuko screamed again.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Zuko snapped, glaring into Sokka's soul.

The Water Tribe boy was at a loss for words. He thought if he was going to die at the hands of a firebender, it would have been in a raid. Or perhaps in a big fiery battle where he went out in a big blaze of glory. But instead, he was going to die at the hands of a firebender for making out with said firebender's little sister. Even if it was in the privacy of his own tent.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Azara shot back at her brother, sliding in front of Sokka. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking!?"

"Haven't you ever heard of not sticking your tongue down my sister's throat!?" Zuko yelled at Sokka, who, albeit was aware that hiding behind his smaller girlfriend was not manly, did not want to get within arm's reach of an irate Zuko. He valued his life, after all. And other valuables.

"Zuko, stop it! I'm old enough to make decisions for myself including whomever I allow to stick their tongue down my throat!" Azara snapped back, her glare intensifying.

"Uh, Azara, I love you, really I do. But I don't think that's helping us," Sokka whispered to Azara, who continued to glare at her brother.

"It's not!" Zuko agreed as Sokka smiled sheepishly.

"You know, just because you're my brother doesn't mean you can tell me what I can do!" Azara growled out, clenching her fists angrily.

"I'm trying to be a better brother! And being a good brother includes threatening stupid boys who think that they can do whatever they want with my little sister!" Zuko's glare returned to Sokka, who gulped.

"Stop threatening him! It's consensual! Everything we've ever done has been consensual!"

"Everything you've ever done!?" Zuko demanded as Sokka felt like he was going to pass out. His soul was probably already earmarked for imminent arrival at the Spirit World.

"That's not what I meant!" Azara shouted back, cheeks pink as she realized how that sounded.

Luckily for himself, Sokka had fast reflexes and managed to dodge Zuko's hand as he slipped out the back of the tent and ran for his life. "Get back here, Sokka!"

"Zuko, leave him alone!" Azara snapped, getting to her feet, and chasing after her brother.

"Do you think Sokka can outrun Zuko?" Aang wondered, watching as Sokka screamed, running for his life.

"No," Toph replied simply, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Should we intervene?" Aang asked as Sokka dodged a fire ball.

"Nah, I want to see how this turns out."

"She's too young for that shit, you pervert!" Zuko shouted as he ran after Sokka.

"Zuko, leave him alone!"

Sokka screamed, running past Aang and Toph, before slowing his steps slightly at the sight of them watching. "A little help maybe!?"

"Hey, we didn't do that nasty shit with Azara. You're on your own," Toph replied before smirking. "And I'd pick up the pace if I were you."

"You're doing great, buddy!" Aang called, holding his thumbs up as a sign of encouragement. Sokka screamed again, running away as Zuko closed in on his target. But before Zuko could get any closer to Sokka, Azara jumped in between them, forcing Zuko to stop in his tracks.

"You've got to be the most dramatic boy on the planet, Zuko!" Azara huffed, standing up straighter. "And don't think I don't see you two over there!" she yelled over at Aang and Toph.

"Sorry, Sokka!" Aang shouted back. Sokka walked over, out of breath.

"It's okay, buddy."

Toph and Aang walked off, knowing better than to get on Azara's bad side right now, as Azara rounded on her brother. "What is wrong with you!?" Azara yelled at Zuko, pushing him back. "I thought you said you two talked and everything was fine!"

"That was before I walked in on . . . that!" Zuko shouted before wincing in disgust. "Whatever that was!"

Sighing and willing herself to not get into the middle of an Agni Kai with her brother, Azara decided to take a deep breath instead. "Zuko, you are my older brother, and I understand you feel some kind of guilt or need to protect me. But whatever Sokka and I do in the privacy of our tents is our business and our business alone!"

"You shouldn't be doing that in the first place!"

"And you're not the boss of me! You can't tell me what I can or can't do with my boyfriend!"

"He's taking advantage of you!"

"He's not taking advantage of me!" Azara yelled back angrily. "He hasn't forced me to do anything that I don't want to do! Because we communicate, we're in a relationship, and we love each other, Zuko!"

Zuko seemed to fumble for a moment at Azara's words. "You . . . love each other?"

"Of course, I love her. You really thought I was just taking advantage of her?" Sokka asked, still trying to catch his breath. He probably would have looked mildly offended if he wasn't still concerned about his life.

"And I love him," Azara replied confidently, grabbing his hand, and squeezing it.

"You're a teenager! You don't know what love is!"

"Well then by that logic, neither do you, Zuko!" Azara growled out, glaring at her brother. "I'm happy with him! What's so wrong about that!? Do you want me to be miserable instead?"

"No!"

"Then stop freaking out!"

Zuko sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "You still shouldn't be doing that! I mean, you're . . . you . . . that's not something you should be doing!"

"Oh, Mister Virtuous over here," Azara scoffed sarcastically, shooting her brother a look. "You and I both know that you and Mai did more than hold hands. And I already got the talk about the sparrowkeets and the buzzard wasps from Uncle a long time ago so there's literally nothing else for you to talk to me about on this subject."

Zuko grimaced at the mention of his past relationship as well as the reminder of the 'sparrowkeets and buzzard wasps' talk from Uncle. Shaking his head to try and knock those memories out of his head, Zuko turned to Sokka, who still looked ready to sprint for his life if he needed to again.

"You're an older brother too, right? Shouldn't you understand where I'm coming from?"

"Do you actually think anyone on this planet could tell Katara what she could or couldn't do with her boyfriend?" Sokka replied, straightening up. "I mean, sure I'd find it disgusting if I was in your shoes, absolutely disgusting. Would probably throw up my dinner and—"

"—He gets it, Sokka," Azara interjected, sighing as her boyfriend got his response back on track.

"But at the end of the day, I know Katara can defend herself and make her own decisions. And she'd freeze me to the ground if I tried to tell her otherwise. And she knows that she has my support too if she needs it."

Zuko nodded slowly, thinking over Sokka's words. "You're right," he admitted after a moment.

"I am?" Sokka asked, looking surprised that Zuko was agreeing with him.

"Yeah. Because I'm sure if you ever hurt her, Azara could definitely burn you to a crisp well enough on her own. There might not even be enough of you left for me to beat up," Zuko replied, crossing his arms over his chest as Sokka froze.

"Uh, that's not really what I meant—"

"—Why did you even come into Sokka's tent?" Azara interjected, shoot her brother a look.

"I needed to talk to him."

"About?"

"Katara," Zuko replied, causing Sokka and Azara to share a confused look.

"Fine, but you can't threaten him anymore if you want to talk," Azara warned, pointing a threatening finger at her brother.

They made their way back into Sokka's tent before Zuko began to explain his problem. "Your sister. She hates me! And I don't know why, but I do care what she thinks of me."

"Nah, she doesn't hate you. Katara doesn't hate anyone. Except maybe some people in the Fire Nation," Sokka replied until Azara nudged him in the side. "No, I mean, uh, not people who are good, but used to be bad. I mean, bad people. Fire Nation people who are still bad, who've never been good and probably won't be, ever!"

"Stop," Zuko cut in, interrupting Sokka with a raised hand. "Okay, listen. I know this may seem out of nowhere, but I want you to tell me what happened to your mother."

"Zuko," Azara warned, her eyes narrowing. If anyone else in their group should understand how touchy the subject of mothers was, it should have been Zuko. But Zuko had always been rather thick in the head, Azara reasoned.

"What? Why would you want to know that?"

"Katara mentioned it when she was yelling at me. I think somehow, she's connected her anger at that to her anger at me."

"It's not a day I like to remember," Sokka sighed, lowering his head. Azara cut into the conversation once she saw the look on her boyfriend's face.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Sokka. I'm sure that Zuko would be more than understanding about how some people don't like to talk about their painful pasts," she growled out, glaring at her brother as she comforted her boyfriend.

"No, it's okay," Sokka sighed before beginning his explanation. "Many of the warriors had seen the black snow before and they knew what It meant: a Fire Nation raid. We were badly outnumbered, but somehow, we managed to drive them off. As quickly as they came, they just left. I was so relieved when it was over, but that's because I didn't know yet what had happened. I didn't know we had lost our mother."

Azara wrapped a comforting arm around Sokka as he finished retelling the story, concerned for him. Neither of them really discussed their mothers with each other, but she still knew that it was a sensitive subject for him.

"Wait. Can you remember any details about the soldiers who raided your village? Like what the lead ship looked like?" Zuko pressed, causing Azara to shoot him another glare.

"Yeah . . . sea ravens. The main ship had flags with sea ravens on them."

"The symbol of the Southern Raiders. Thanks, Sokka," Zuko stated, suddenly looking determined.

Sokka nodded in response before getting up onto his knees. "No problem. Thanks for stopping by!" Sokka spoke, urging Zuko out of the tent, but Zuko pushed back lightly against him.

"Aren't you coming with me, Azara?" Zuko asked, shooting his sister a look.

"Goodnight, Zuko," Azara replied, her arms crossed over her chest as she shot him a deadly glare. He'd have to drag her kicking, screaming, and spewing fire out of that tent if he wanted to continue to ruin their date night.

"But—"

"—Goodnight, Zuko," she repeated, her eyes flashing warningly. "We're done talking about this." Zuko narrowed his eyes, but once he saw that Azara was stubbornly refusing to even give him anything more than a death glare, he sighed defeatedly, and left the tent.

Once Zuko was gone, Sokka turned around to face Azara. "Now, where were we?" he asked, a wide smirk on his face as he leaned in for a kiss.

"You're really still in the mood?" Azara asked, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend, who pulled back at her question.

"I am if you are."

Azara shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Alright but let me just make sure Zuko's actually gone first." Getting to her feet, Azara walked out of the tent. She did a few circles around the tent, looking for any sign of something or someone interrupting them—again—before reentering the tent with a smirk. "Okay, now, where were we?" she joked, sitting beside Sokka.

The next morning, Azara laid down next to her boyfriend, soaking in the sun's rays. Sokka was busy stringing a flower necklace while Aang fed and groomed Appa. At the sound of approaching footsteps, however, Azara sat up. She raised an eyebrow as she spotted Zuko and Katara walking over with packs.

"I need to borrow Appa," Katara stated firmly, looking over at Aang.

"Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?" Aang asked jokingly as he turned to feed Appa some more hay.

"Yes, it is."

Aang spun around, looking surprised at Katara's words. "Oh. What's going on?"

"We're going to find the man who took my mother from me," Katara explained, causing Azara to get to her feet immediately.

"You're going to what now?" she questioned, shooting a look at Zuko.

"Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it, and I know how to find him," Zuko replied as Azara sighed, shaking her head.

"Um . . . and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?" Aang asked, glancing between Katara and Zuko nervously.

"Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand," Katara muttered, shaking her head, and starting to walk away from the group.

"Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?" Aang called after her, causing Katara to pause.

"She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice," Zuko cut in, glancing over at the airbender.

"I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge," Aang replied calmly, staring over at Katara with concern.

"Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!" Katara snapped, her hands clenched into fists.

"Katara, you sound like Jet," Azara spoke up, staring over at her friend with concern.

"It's not the same!" Katara yelled back, spinning around. "Jet attacked the innocent. This man . . . he's a monster."

"Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang and Azara might be right," Sokka stated, walking over to stand beside Azara.

"Then you didn't love her the way I did!"

Azara's mouth dropped open in shock at Katara's words, her heart stopping for a second. "Katara!" Sokka admonished, clear hurt in his voice.

"How can you say that to him!? What is wrong with you!?" Azara snapped, storming forward. "How could you possibly even think that's an okay thing to say . . ." Azara trailed off as she spotted Zuko, looking stoic as always, standing behind Katara. A look of realization came over her before she stormed towards her brother. "We need to talk," Azara scowled, pushing Zuko away from the group.

"About what?"

"You know what!" Tugging him away from the others, Azara rounded on Zuko once they were a few paces away from the group. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"Look, you said I should make peace with Katara. This is how I'm doing it."

"This isn't making peace!" Azara snapped angrily. "Now you've gotten her worked up into some kind of frenzy! She's out for blood!" Azara gestured over to Katara, who was still arguing with Aang and Sokka about the mission.

"And what's wrong with that?" Zuko scoffed, narrowing his eyes at his little sister. "The man killed her mother. He deserves a little bloodshed."

"I'm not saying he doesn't! But what you're suggesting isn't going to solve the problem!" Azara paused for a moment before staring up at Zuko with a studying gaze. "You're projecting how you feel about Mom onto her."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're projecting our family problems onto Katara and that's not fair to her, Zuko!"

"I'm not projecting!"

"Really?" Azara scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, this has nothing to do with Father telling you about Mom then? About how she was banished and possibly alive?" Azara glanced over at Katara before turning back to Zuko. "Is this some kind of outlet for residual revenge, Zuko?"

"What's wrong with revenge? This man deserves everything coming to him!"

"You're only going to hurt yourselves! And for what!? You can't bring their mom back, Zuko. She's gone. And doing this won't help bring back our mother either."

"This isn't about Mom—"

"—Yes, it is! You and Mom had a special connection, a special attachment, just like Katara had with her mother. Their mom died to protect Katara, and our mom got banished to protect you," Azara explained, taking a step closer to Zuko. "And for whatever reason you both feel the need to carry that burden alone even though no one asked you to!"

"I wouldn't if you actually cared about finding her again!"

"Why should I care!?" Azara yelled back with her hands clenched into fists. "She's had years to come and find us Zuko! Years! We were out traveling the world for three years! Your banishment was so wildly known . . . there's no way she didn't know! And yet she's not fucking here, Zuko!"

"Which is why we have to go find her—"

"—Maybe she doesn't want to be found," Azara interjected, cutting him off.

"I don't need to listen to this," Zuko scoffed, turning around, and storming away, following after Katara. Azara glared after him before softening as she spotted Sokka and Aang looking worried. Walking over, she pulled Sokka into a hug.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sokka promised, squeezing her back.

"You know they're going to try and leave again," she told Aang, who nodded in response.

True to Azara's prediction, Sokka, Aang, and Azara found Katara and Zuko preparing to leave on Appa that night. Aang led the way over to the two teenagers, a rather upset expression on his face. "So, you were just going to take Appa anyway?"

"Yes," Katara replied simply, tying her hair back.

"It's okay, because I forgive you . . . that give you any ideas?" Aang asked, trying to steer Katara in the right direction.

"Don't try to stop us."

"I wasn't planning to. This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man. But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out, and then let it go. Forgive him," Aang spoke firmly, sharing a look with Katara.

"Okay, we'll be sure to do that, guru goody-goody," Zuko mocked as he climbed up Appa.

"Zuko," Azara warned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Katara climbed up onto Appa's head before turning back to her friends. "Thanks for understanding, Aang. Yip yip," Katara commanded, flicking Appa's reins. The trio watched Zuko and Katara fly away, concerned looks on their faces as the duo disappeared into the night sky, the clouds blocking any sight of them.

"You know, you're pretty wise for a kid," Sokka complimented, causing Aang to turn to him with a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, Sokka."

"Usually it's annoying, but right now, I'm impressed."

"I appreciate that."

"So, can I borrow Momo for a week?" Sokka questioned out of the blue.

"Why do you need Momo?" Azara asked, sending him a confused look. Sokka shrugged in response, causing Azara to shake her head playfully.

It was a couple of days before Zuko returned to camp on Appa. There was a slight panic when everyone noticed that Katara was missing, but Zuko hurriedly informed them that Katara wanted some alone time to think and reflect about the mission on her own.

They packed up camp and flew to Ember Island, where Zuko had dropped Katara off before circling back to pick up the rest of them. While everyone else filed into the old Royal Family beach house, Azara hung back with Sokka by Appa. Aang ran over to talk to Katara, who was sitting at the edge of a pier. Zuko stood a few paces away, waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

"Do you think she went through with it?" Azara whispered to Sokka, who shook his head in response.

"No, I don't think she did."

"Well, something happened," Azara spoke, raising an eyebrow as Katara hugged Zuko willingly. "Because she just hugged my brother. And didn't look like she wanted to punch him in the face immediately afterwards."

Katara walked over, looking a bit sheepish as she approached Sokka and Azara. "Can we talk?" Katara questioned Sokka, who nodded, and motioned for his sister to follow him. They walked down the beach, sitting on some rocks as Katara explained everything that happened to Sokka.

Azara watched them talk with slight concern, though she relaxed once she saw the two of them hugging, clearly still trying to process everything together. Hearing footsteps, Azara looked up as Zuko walked over, a softer expression on his face.

"How did it go?" Azara asked, glancing up at her older brother.

"She didn't go through with it."

"I figured," Azara nodded, staring over at Sokka and Katara again.

"You were right about one thing," Zuko started, causing Azara to look over at him in surprise. "We have a lot to discuss about our past . . . stuff we need to stop pushing away."

"Yeah . . . we do," Azara agreed, looking away for a moment.

A.N. I hope you guys enjoyed the slight tweak to the tent scene. I know I had a lot of fun writing it! Major inspiration from Ross finding out about Chandler and Monica, because that scene always makes me laugh so hard.

As implied, the next chapter will be about Zuko and Azara figuring out their own family shit with regards to their mom. So a good old family field trip is in order. 

I know they should have had that conversation ages ago, but I wanted to dedicate a whole separate chapter to it that's removed from everything else going on because frankly that conversation deserves the distinction. And after rewatching the Southern Raiders episode, I wanted to work with the similarities between Katara and Azara. Because  (regardless of their relationship with their moms) they were the ones out of their siblings to step up and try and fill the role that their moms left behind even though they were the youngest. 

And the next chapter will also include some more insight into Azara's role as Dragon Princess, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, voting, and commenting!