A.N. Warning: Includes references/scenes/implications of mental illness, violence, and brainwashing

But there is an AU fluffy segment at the bottom past the other bolded AN if you wanted to end your reading on a happier note!

Azara slipped through the dark halls of the Fire Nation Palace quietly, staying light on her feet. Expertly avoiding the rounds of guards roaming the hallways, Azara made her way towards the Fire Lord's chambers. Using her firebending to propel herself up to the ceiling, Azara stuck to the shadows as she moved, stilling every time she heard movement.

The doors were the obvious entrance, but also the one that she was most likely to get caught in. Slipping down from the ceiling, Azara climbed up and over the roof before sliding in through one of the wide windows decorating the sides of the Fire Lord's office.

Walking up to the doors to the Fire Lord's chambers, Azara placed her ear against the door, listening in for any sign of movement. When she was satisfied, she carefully grabbed the door handle and twisted her hand slowly, lifting the door up slightly as she swung the door open.

She slipped inside, leaving the door slightly ajar, but not enough to be noticeable to a round of guards, still sticking to the shadows. With gloved hands, she pulled out her blade, before making her way over to the bed, each of her footsteps quiet and precise. As she reached the bedside, able to make out the outline of her father's body under the blankets, she raised her blade.

Taking a deep breath, she prepared to thrust the blade down when the clouds moved, some of the moonlight from the nearly full moon trickling into the room. Glancing up, Azara did a double take and took a moment longer to stare back at her reflection in the blade—the image of her eyes, dull, dark, and bloodshot, startled her.

Lowering her blade slightly, Azara turned back to the moon for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I have to do this," she thought to herself, raising the blade again. But this time, the blade shook in her hands. Azara clenched her fist tighter, trying to steady her arm, and to finally go through with it.

But as she raised the blade higher once more, her hand shook with greater force, until she finally dropped her arm to her side slowly, the blade laying harmlessly in her hand. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain control over her emotions, over her mind.

Opening her eyes, she glared at her father's figure before her eyes widened in shock. The moonlight had illuminated more of the room, showing that the man in the bed was not her father, but only a man who had been dressed to look like him. An imposter.

"You were always weak, Azara," a familiar voice drawled from the shadows, startling Azara.

Within a second, she was pinned against the wall, several arrows from perched Yuyan archers piercing her clothes. Her poison knife laid harmlessly on the ground, out of her reach. Grunting from the impact, Azara tried to burn quickly through the arrows, when a large figure in dark attire rushed forward.

Azara had managed to free one of her arms and legs, shooting fire blasts at the advancing figure. But they managed to avoid her desperate attempts. Reaching her, the chi-blocker quickly immobilized Azara. The arrows that had pierced her clothing were the only things that were holding her up as her father exited the shadows.

"Bring her here," he ordered, his arms folded behind his back as the chi-blocker dragged Azara over to her father. Azara glared up at him as the chi-blocker forced her to kneel. Other guards rushed forward, shackling her wrists together. When they were done, Ozai raised his hand. "Leave us," he stated, causing the guards to bow and move to leave.

Once they were gone, Ozai turned to his youngest child, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think you're the first disillusioned royal to attempt to poison the Fire Lord?" Ozai scoffed, shaking his head. "Even when you're the most ruthless you're still so weak. So pathetic. You couldn't even go through with it."

"Like you did?" Azara challenged, picking her head up slightly.

"Azula told you," Ozai huffed after a moment, clearly disappointed.

"No, you did. Just now," she returned as Ozai glared down at her. "I know what you did. And I know how Mom helped you do it."

"Evidently based on your methodology," Ozai muttered, staring down at the vial of poison his guards had confiscated off of her.

"Of course, I always had my suspicions. Everything lining up as they did was far too perfect for you to be a coincidence. But you already knew that . . . didn't you?"

"I don't believe you're in any position to be threatening me, Azara," Ozai snapped, tilting his head to the side as he glared down at his daughter.

"It wasn't a threat. It was the truth. But then again, they're both one in the same to your propaganda machine."

Ozai growled at Azara's words, taking a threatening step forward. "I should warn you that your punishment will be far more severe than the last, Azara. Clearly, I was too soft. I will not make the same mistake again."

Azara glared up at her father as he called for the guards once more. Two guards rushed into the room, picking Azara up, and holding her between them. "Bring her to Kun of the Dai Li. He will know what to do." The guards bowed to Ozai before starting to drag Azara out of the room, who was powerless to fight against their grip.

"You reap what you sow, Fire Lord. Don't be surprised when your past mistakes finally catch up with you," Azara called haughtily over her shoulder as she was led away, causing Ozai to clench his fists.

"Get her out of my sight! Now!"

*|*|*|*|*

Sokka glared at Hama as the villagers rushed forward to arrest her. "You're going to be locked away for forever," one of the villagers vowed as they locked shackles around Hama's wrists.

"My work is done," Hama replied simply before being led away with a villager on each side of her. Pausing in her steps, the old woman turned back to Katara for a moment. "Congratulations, Katara. You're a bloodbender."

Hama laughed hysterically as she was led away in chains. Sokka placed a hand on Katara's shoulder as she brought a hand to her mouth, trying to quiet her sobs. Together with Aang, the two boys helped Katara to the ground as she began to cry at the realization. Aang and Sokka shared a concerned look as they tried to comfort Katara.

And even though Sokka missed Azara dearly, he was unimaginably grateful that she wasn't there at that moment. He didn't even want to imagine what Hama would have done to her had Hama realized that Azara was the Fire Nation princess.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sokka urged, helping Katara to her feet, and keeping a protective arm around his sister. With Aang on Katara's other side, the four of them made their way back through the forest, each trying to control the shivers climbing up their spines.

*|*|*|*|*

Back in the Fire Nation capital, Azula walked across the hall. It was odd for Azara to miss her morning sets, no matter how bad of a mood she woke up in. Knocking lightly on the door, Azula waited for a moment before deciding to just let herself into the room.

"Azara?" she called, shutting the door behind her.

Azula completed a quick scan of the room before noticing the discarded bracelet on the desk. Walking over, Azula picked it up, studying it once more, before looking around the room for any sign of her sister again. When she didn't find any, Azula tucked the bracelet into her pocket before making her way down to the dining room.

Mai and Zuko were eating breakfast together, seemingly unaware of Azara's sudden disappearance. "Have you seen Azara?" Azula asked Zuko, who frowned at the question.

"No, why?"

"She wasn't in her room this morning. And no one's seen her since last night," Azula continued, looking actually concerned for once as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You sure she's not in some meeting for her engagement again?" Zuko questioned, getting to his feet as Azula shook her head.

"No. Father wanted to focus on repelling the invasion this week. All preparations have been put on hold until this whole thing is over."

Zuko didn't say anything, but clearly the two siblings were both masking their emotions. "We can help you look for her."

Izen took that moment to enter the room. "Have you seen Azara?" Azula asked him immediately, causing Izen to stand up straighter.

"I was told she was moved to a more secure location for the invasion," Izen spoke, causing Azula and Zuko to share a look.

"More secure than here?" Azula inquired, clearly looking like she didn't believe him.

"That's what my father said," Izen shrugged as Zuko glared over at him.

"When was that decided?"

"Last night, I think," Izen spoke before pulling out a scroll from his robes. "You can read the decision here. It was an official order."

Zuko roughly snatched the scroll from Izen's hands before unfurling it, reading through the announcement quickly. Azula stood behind him, her amber eyes flicking through the words, before sighing as she noted the official seal of the Fire Lord at the bottom of the page.

"It seems that they don't want to risk any of her little friends capturing her."

"It doesn't say where they took her," Zuko argued, rolling the scroll back up.

"It wouldn't. That would remain highly classified to prevent a leak," Azula reminded her older brother, her hands clasped behind her back. She didn't like it—particularly about how Azara had just been moved in the middle of the night without her knowledge—but she had to focus on the invasion for now. It was her project, after all. "We'll deal with it after we've handled the invaders."

"You're not concerned anymore?" Zuko scoffed, shooting Azula a look.

"Of course, I am. But it's an official document stamped with Father's approval. Meaning he knows where she is. And that she wasn't kidnapped or ran away. Which therefore means we can find her once it's safe again, Zuko."

Zuko huffed, clearly looking like he wanted to say more, before glancing down at the scroll again. "Fine," he finally muttered out.

*|*|*|*|*

Meanwhile, deep within the depths of the Fire Nation capital in the darkest pits of its prison, stood Azara. She was bound to a metal post, her arms trapped uselessly at her sides. Her mouth was once again covered as her head was forced to stare in the direction of a Dai Li agent.

Struggling in her chains, Azara screamed against the muzzle as the Dai Li continued with their stupid chant. "Your only duty is to serve the Fire Lord," the Dai Li agent repeated over and over again as the light swung around the room. Azara was sweating profusely, her muscles sore from being tense for hours, and dark circles deepening under her eyes.

As she clenched her eyes shut again, Azara tried to regulate her breathing and drive out the chants of the Dai Li with her own. Thinking to herself, Azara repeated the same paragraph to herself in her mind over and over again, hoping to cling to her sanity. Well, what was left of it.

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, my older brother Zuko and my twin sister Azula. I left home to save the world with Avatar Aang, the last airbender. My best friends are Katara and Toph Beifong. I love my boyfriend, Sokka. I was imprisoned by my father Fire Lord Ozai for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, my brother Zuko and my sister Azula. I left home to save the world with Avatar Aang. My best friends are Katara and Toph Beifong. I love my boyfriend, Sokka. I was imprisoned by my father Fire Lord Ozai for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, my brother Zuko and my sister Azula. I left home to save the world with Aang. My best friends are Katara and Toph. I love my boyfriend, Sokka. I was imprisoned by my father the Fire Lord for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, Zuko and Azula. I left home to save the world with Aang. My best friends are Katara and Toph. I love my boyfriend, Sokka. I was imprisoned by my father the Fire Lord for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, Zuko and Azula. I left home to save the world with Aang. My best friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by my father the Fire Lord for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have two siblings, Zuko and Azula. I left to save the world with Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by the Fire Lord for attempted murder. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. But I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have siblings, Zuko and Azula. I left to save the world with Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by the Fire Lord. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have siblings, Zuko and Azula. I left to save Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by the Fire Lord. The Dai Li are trying to brainwash me. I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko and Azula. I left to save Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by the Fire Lord. The Dai Li are brainwashing me. I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko and Azula. I left Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned by the Fire Lord. The Dai Li are brainwashing me. I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko and Azula. I left Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned. The Dai Li are brainwashing me. I know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko and Azula. I left Aang. My friends are Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. I was imprisoned. The Dai Li know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko and Azula. I left Aang my friends Katara and Toph. I love Sokka. The Dai Li know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko. I left Aang my friend Katara. I love Sokka. The Dai Li know who I am."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko. I left my friends. I love Sokka. The Dai Li know."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Zuko. I left Sokka. The Dai Li know."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. I have Sokka. The Dai Li know."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender. The Dai Li know."

"My name is Azara. I am a firebender."

"My name is Azara. I am."

"My name is Azara."

"My name is."

"My name."

"My."

........

"My only duty is to serve the Fire Lord."

A.N. So, that was dark and angsty as hell, so please enjoy a little fluff AU below from the Nightmares and Daydreams episode!

Azara stood beside Sokka as he directed Toph's earthbending. "Alright, now the next sheet is just a big arrow. About a foot across at the base."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Toph nodded before kicking her heel into the ground and thrusting her elbows down, forcing the earth to shift and form the outline of a large arrow. With another kick, the shape was pulled out of the earth itself, forming a makeshift mold stand.

"This one corresponds to this metal," Sokka listed off, looking over his notes, before picking up a bag of metal he had bought in the last town and placing it beside the new mold.

"Why don't you work with Toph to finish the other molds? I'll start working on this one," Azara suggested, causing Sokka to nod, before walking over and giving Toph another set of instructions.

Gathering her supplies, Azara quickly set up the coals and wood before lighting the fire. She poured the metal pieces into a bowl and set it over the flames before getting into a deep stance. Taking a deep breath, she started to wave her hands in a way that was distinctly waterbending-based, heating up the fire underneath the metal.

She continued to circle the pits, increasing the temperature as she walked around it. The metal started to melt before glowing bright as it reached the high temperature.

"That should be good," Sokka stated, staring over at the pot.

"On the count of three, Toph," Azara stated, getting into a stance as Toph took one in front of her. "One . . . two . . . three!" Once the molten metal had filled the mold completely, Azara took a wide stance, holding her hands above her head, before slowly lowering them as she exhaled, cooling the metal by bending the heat out of it.

"That's good!" Sokka called to her, prompting Azara to pause. Toph broke the sides of the mold, allowing Sokka the room to work on shaping the metal with his tools. They repeated the process of heating, shaping, and cooling the metal pieces together, until the sun started to set.

Making their way over to where they had set up their sleeping bags, Azara looked concerned as she spotted Aang with deep and dark bags under his eyes walking over. "You alright, Aang?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, just a little on edge."

"Maybe some sleep would help," Katara suggested gently, looking concerned as well. "Get some rest, Aang."

The next morning, Azara woke up bright and early to Aang practicing some forms haphazardly and chaotically. While Katara walked over to talk to him, Azara rubbed her face tiredly before turning to Sokka. "Should we start on the armor again?"

"Yeah, let me just grab my tools."

Sokka banged his hammer onto the metal as Azara pressed some heat to it, allowing Sokka to bend and shape the metal to properly fit on top of Appa. As they worked, they could hear Aang yelling and freaking out in the background, usually accompanied by concerned comments from Katara.

"I'm worried about Aang," Azara sighed as Sokka asked her to increase the heat for a bit.

"Cause he's losing it?" Sokka questioned before taking a step back to measure the angle. "Cause I'm pretty sure he's losing it."

"He needs to sleep," Azara pointed out as she stopped applying heat.

"I'm sure he'll fall asleep eventually. Trust me, by tonight he'll be so tired from working himself up all day that he'll fall asleep immediately.

Aang, in fact, did fall asleep, only to wake up from another nightmare not even an hour later. He spent the rest of the night training, which led to him waking up his friends with his yelling. Again. First about Toph's tiny bladder, then Katara's hair, and then Aang turned to Sokka and Azara, who had leaned over for a good morning kiss.

"And stop doing that!" Aang complained, running over to Sokka and Azara, who broke away to shoot him a look.

"Stop doing what?"

"Kissing all the time! In one of my nightmares, you two stopped to kiss in the middle of the invasion and Sokka was so distracted he got run over by a tank!" Aang shouted as if it were a completely rational thing to say.

"Why was I the one who got ran over?" Sokka complained as Azara sighed, getting to her feet.

"Aang, this isn't healthy. You need to sleep."

"Azara's right, Aang. You can't keep going on like this," Katara agreed, walking over. "Let's try some new techniques to get you to calm down."

After the disaster that was Katara's yoga session, Sokka's therapy session—with a beard Azara swore she was going to burn out of spite—and Toph's bruising massage, it was finally Azara's turn to try and get Aang to calm down.

Azara asked Toph bend them a table and two chairs near the cliff so that they could look out over the ocean, hoping that the scenery would help Aang to relax. Heating a small pot of water with her bending, Azara poured Aang a cup of tea before making one for her own.

"How is tea supposed to help me?" Aang asked, holding his cup in his hand.

"Well, it's chamomile. Uncle would brew it for Zuko all the time when he went a few days without properly sleeping," Azara explained, taking a sip from her cup. "Why don't you try having a few sips and then we can talk?"

"Is this going to be another Wang Fire therapy session?"

"No," Azara assured Aang, shaking her head. "Absolutely not. We're just two friends chatting over some tea. Nothing else is going on. Just enjoy the tea."

"Okay, Sifu Azara," Aang nodded before taking a tentative sip. "I guess it's not horrible."

"Have some more."

After a few more sips, Azara refilled Aang's cup, before holding her own up to her lips. "So, you've been having nightmares then?"

"Yeah. All the time. I can't sleep. I can't relive them."

"I understand. I've had plenty of bad nightmares," Azara spoke in a calm, quiet tone before taking some sips from her cup.

"Right . . . hey, Azara, what did happen to your nightmares?" Aang asked as Azara paused for a moment, thinking over his question.

"They pretty much stopped after the North Pole for whatever reason . . ." Azara trailed off, lost in thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Doesn't matter. Let's focus on you, Aang."

"Right . . . me," Aang replied, twitching slightly.

"How do you feel now that you've had some tea?" Azara asked, looking over the top of her cup at Aang.

"Warm . . . but inside . . ."

"Warm like a hug?" Azara tried, hoping to keep the conversation on track.

"No . . . more like . . . I just swallowed a fire ball from the Fire Lord! And I can't dodge anymore because my tiny bladder's about to explode and there's no marked bathrooms anywhere in the Fire Nation palace! And then I just—"

"—Okay!" Azara interjected, before sighing and lowering her head. "Maybe I'm not quite old and wise enough for meaningful discussions over tea," she muttered to herself.

After another sleepless night for Aang, and a long day of sheering koala sheep wool for the rest of Team Avatar, they finally managed to get Aang to sleep the night before the invasion. Seeing Aang finally asleep, Azara smiled to herself before walking over to the edge of the cliffs. Sitting on the edge and letting her legs hang over the side, Azara stared out at the ocean.

"You ready for bed?" Sokka asked, walking over, and taking a seat beside her.

"Yeah, in a little bit. I'm just . . . thinking," Azara spoke softly, staring in the direction of the Fire Nation capital.

"Hey, we've got this. We've worked through a plan a thousand times. Aang's sleeping and will be completely rested and ready by tomorrow. We've got this," Sokka assured his girlfriend, grabbing her hand, and giving it a squeeze.

"I know, I know," Azara nodded, looking down at their hands. "I just . . . I don't know . . ."

"We've got this," Sokka repeated, gently guiding her chin up so that they locked eyes.

"We've got this," Azara returned in a slightly less confident tone, but nonetheless she smiled softly at her boyfriend. "I love you. You know that right?"

"I know. I love you too," Sokka replied, squeezing her hand, before leaning down to connect their lips. It was a sweet and soft kiss, meant to reassure each other that they were both there, physically, and emotionally for each other. Pulling away, Sokka squeezed her hand once more. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Getting up, the two teenagers walked quietly back to camp, Sokka's arm wrapped protectively around Azara's waist. There were no guarantees, Azara knew, about tomorrow, but she knew that whatever happened, they were going to do it together. 

A.N. If anyone's curious, the Day of Black Sun episodes are next (two chapters), which should be the next update. I might lump in two other chapters to that update if I finish them and are happy with them, but the next update will at least have the Invasion stuff. 

And the part where Sokka goes feral cause Azula knows how to mess with people.

Thanks as always for reading, voting, and commenting! Can't believe how many people have stuck around this far, and I hope you guys enjoy it, even if it's quite angsty right now. Fluff is on the way soon!