A.N. I'm back lovely readers! Huge shout out to all of you guys who contributed to this story getting 200k+ reads and nearly 10k votes! Thank you so much! Would not have nearly made it this far in the story without your dedicated readership! From the peeps who've been here since the very beginning to the peeps who literally binged 98 chapters like it was nobody's business—thank you!

There might be a lot of sporadic updates over the course of the next week. Basically, my life plans keep getting pushed back unnecessarily and I'm so frustrated with everything that I've just been pouring all my energy into finishing this book. Angry writing is oddly therapeutic. Oh well. There are worse coping mechanisms.

Hope you guys enjoy the latest installment!

"Azara!" she heard yelled, causing her to pull back enough from Sokka's lips to see her friends sprinting towards her.

"And there's the interruption right on cue," Sokka sighed jokingly before helping Azara to stand up, keeping a steadying arm around her waist.

"Thank the Spirits you're okay!" Katara shouted, pulling Azara into a tight hug that nearly had the two girls tumbling over. Sokka's grip on Azara's waist tightened as Azara laughed, hugging Katara back just as tightly.

"Katara, be careful!"

"I'm fine, Sokka. And I missed you too, Katara," Azara replied to the waterbender, who finally released her. Turning to face the others that had run over, Azara beamed at the sight of Aang standing and walking around on his own. "Good to see you up and moving, Aang."

The two shared a tight hug as Aang smiled widely. "You have Katara to thank for that. She used the Spirit Oasis water to heal me," Aang explained, gesturing to Katara. The waterbender blushed lightly at his praise, waving his comment off.

"I'm just glad you guys were able to get out," Azara stated, pulling back from the hug. Toph stepped forward next, her usual smirk on her face.

"Did you and Captain Boomerang get your reunion then?" Toph teased as Sokka blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. Azara laughed off Toph's teasing words and tugged her into an embrace.

"I missed you too, Toph." Toph hugged her back tightly for a moment, before remembering herself. Pulling back, the earthbender punched Azara lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, yeah, glad to have you back," Toph shrugged nonchalantly, acting like she didn't care. Though Azara knew the earthbender had really missed her, even if she wouldn't admit it willingly out loud. "And don't get used to those hugs or sappy reunions."

"I won't," Azara chuckled, before turning to the other assembled teenagers. She greeted Teo, Haru, and The Duke, before her eyes landed on a familiar waterbender. "Kesuk?" she gasped as he stepped forward. "What are you doing here?" The two shared a brief hug before letting go of each other, much to Sokka's silent relief.

"Well, myself and a few others from the Northern Water Tribe joined the invasion. We ran into Sokka and Katara's dad while sailing and offered our help," Kesuk feplied, a kind smile on his face.

"It's good to see you again," Azara nodded before her gaze traveled to the one person who had not run over to greet her. "Zuko?" she whispered out, looking surprised to see her older brother with her friends. And even more surprised at the fact that none of her friends seemed surprised at his appearance there.

"Hey, Azara," he responded awkwardly, pushing off the wall, and taking a few steps towards the rest of the group.

"What are you doing here?" Azara asked, slightly defensive.

Zuko glanced at the others before turning back to his sister. "I ran away, like you did. I followed them here and offered to teach Aang firebending." Azara's eyes widened in surprise at his words, and she turned to her friends for confirmation. "I know that I've been on the wrong path for a while, and that I've disappointed you pretty much the whole time along the way. And I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner, but I hope that we can move forward and—"

Zuko was cut off by Azara throwing her arms around him, hugging him so tight he nearly fell over. "You're . . . you're not mad?" he asked, hugging her back as a tear dripped down from his eye.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm still mad," Azara joked, pulling back from the hug for a moment. "But . . . I'm happier to see you here, Zuko."

"Really?"

"Really, Zuzu," Azara agreed, a smile gracing her lips as Zuko sighed at the nickname.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"Shh, don't ruin the moment. We're bonding again," Azara teased, pulling him into another hug. Zuko scoffed half-heartedly, but still hugged his sister back tightly. "I am really glad to see you here, you know? This is what I wanted all along."

"I know. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here."

"It's alright. I was always the smarter one out of the two of us," Azara joked as the two siblings released each other finally. Smiling up at her brother, Azara suddenly frowned and punched him in the arm, causing Zuko to yell out in pain.

"OW! What was that for!?" Zuko huffed, rubbing his arm.

"Well, I'm still mad. And knowing you, you probably did something stupid while I wasn't around to supervise you," Azara replied, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, okay," Zuko agreed, but only because he knew that if he listed the things he had indeed messed up since he had last seen his sister, a bruise on the arm was going to be the least of his worries. Especially if she found out about the Toph incident.

"So, do you guys know how I ended up here?" Azara asked, glancing around at the group, who suddenly seemed to be tight lipped. "What's with the weird expressions?" Azara frowned as Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"The Dai Li trying to brainwash me in prison," Azara spoke softly, trying to push down those memories for now.

"And how long ago was that?" Sokka questioned, walking over to stand beside Azara.

"I . . . have no idea," Azara sighed, looking down.

"Well, you went missing from the palace about a week before the invasion," Zuko offered, causing Azara to nod, trying to put together a timeline in her head.

"And that was the last time you saw me?"

"Yeah. They told us you were moved to some secret location for your own safety," Zuko scoffed as Azara's expression hardened.

"Okay, so how long ago was the invasion?"

"A few days."

"So, I was brainwashed for about a week and a half . . . then how did I end up here?"

"That we don't know. The last thing you remember is the prison?" Sokka questioned, hoping to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later.

"Yeah, pretty much. I don't remember . . . anything. Just darkness and them chanting at me," Azara sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "What did I do?" Seeing the winces on her friend's faces, Azara straightened up, fear suddenly swirling inside her. "I didn't . . . did I—"

"—Don't worry about that right now. We can discuss it later," Sokka interjected, wanting to prevent her from going into another downward spiral.

"But—"

"—Sokka's right," Zuko agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Right now, what you need to focus on is getting better. You look like a strong breeze is going to knock you over."

"You don't look so great yourself, Zuko," Azara huffed, though it lacked any substantial malice.

"You should try and get some sleep," Katara suggested, walking over. "We can figure everything else out in the morning, once you've gotten a good night's rest and some food."

"Okay," Azara finally agreed, lowering her head slightly.

"Come on, let's find you a room," Aang offered, leading the way back into the temple. People broke off, returning to their own warm beds, until it was just Azara, Toph, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko left. "Here, this one's still free," Aang announced, walking into a spare room.

"Alright," Azara sighed, her exhaustion catching up with her. "But . . . what if something happens and I wake up as . . . not myself again?"

"That didn't happen to Jet."

"I still don't want to take any chances," Azara spoke softly, a slightly fearful look in her eye, before turning to Toph. "You think you can metalbend me to the bed?"

"It's not going to be comfortable," Toph warned, but Azara shook her head.

"It's okay. My body's about to shut down anyways. I'll hardly feel it. That way, at least, if something triggers me, you guys will be okay."

"If you're sure," Toph trailed off, but Azara nodded in confirmation. As Toph metalbended Azara down onto the bed, Sokka, Zuko, and Aang shared concerned looks.

"Maybe someone should stay with her. Just in case," Aang pointed out, leaning on his glider.

"I'll do it," Sokka and Zuko offered at the same time. They turned to each other with surprised looks, which made Aang wince.

"You know what, it was my idea, so I'll do it," Aang offered, wanting to avoid any more awkwardness.

"No, I'll do it," Zuko insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. "You guys aren't used to sleepless nights. And I can handle my sister."

"But—"

"—Just let Zuko do it," Toph huffed, walking back over to the three boys. "I can feel Twinkle Toes and Snoozles already losing their focus." Sokka looked like he wanted to protest, but a yawn managed to slip out of him, which effectively ended the argument. "It's not like it'll be much work anyways, she's already asleep."

The group turned to check on Azara, who, as Toph had said, was already passed out on the bed. Sokka sighed, clearly still not happy with the arrangement. "Alright, but if you feel that you're about to fall asleep . . . just wake one of us up," Sokka replied, glancing over at Azara, before turning back to Zuko. The Fire Prince nodded firmly.

"I will. Goodnight."

The first hour passed by and nothing happened. Zuko had taken to sitting on one of the stone benches, his back resting against the wall as he stared down his sister for any sign of pain or harm. But save for the occasional snore, Azara didn't move or make a sound.

The second hour passed much the same. No movement. No sound. Just the peaceful rise and fall of her chest as she caught up on some sleep.

It was during the third hour that Zuko felt like he was starting to drift off. But then Azara started to struggle in her binds.

"No," she whispered out, causing Zuko to get to his feet. "Stop."

"Azara?" he called, kneeling beside her bed.

"No, no, no," she repeated, a tear dripping down her cheek.

"Azara? Azara, can you hear me?"

Azara stared out down at Aang. "What?" Azara wondered before she roughly forced a piece of cloth over his nose and mouth. "No, stop!" she demanded, but her limbs did not seem to want to obey her. Aang struggled, his eyes narrowed as he tried to fight back, but the gas took effect, and he fell limp against the bed.

The scene suddenly changed. Azara found that she had no control over her body again as she swung her arms around, gathering lightning on her fingertips. "No," she gasped, trying to fight herself, but there was nothing she could do but watch as she fired lightning right at her friends.

The scene shifted again. This time, she stood up and felt fire licking at her palm. Glancing down, she noticed a fire blast ready to be launched growing in her hand. She felt her limbs moving on their own accord, forcing her into a sprint. Azara spotted Sokka standing in front of her, his boomerang clutched in his hand, and a horrified expression on his face.

"Azara, don't," he pleaded, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself.

"No, no, no," she repeated over and over again as she winded up. About to release the fire blast, Azara screamed. "No!"

Trying to sit up, Azara grunted as she tugged against the metal restraints. "No, no, no, no!" she whimpered out, struggling against her binds.

"Azara, stop," Zuko called, grabbing her shoulders. Azara recoiled from the touch, screaming again, thinking she was still in her nightmare. "Azara, it's me! It's Zuko! You're alright!" The sound of her brother's voice seemed to calm her down, if only for a moment.

"Zuko?" Azara whispered out, still struggling, though not as hard as before.

"Azara, you're okay. You're safe. You're in the Western Air Temple," Zuko stated, trying to draw Azara out of her haze.

"The Western Air Temple," Azara spoke, the words sounding foreign to her for a moment.

"You're safe. You're with me, Azara. You're safe."

"Zuko?" Azara gasped out, her eyes opening as she turned to her brother. Tears shined in her eyes as she stared Zuko down. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything," Zuko insisted, resting a hand on her arm.

"What did I do?" Azara demanded, her eyes narrowing at her brother. "Tell me what I did, Zuko."

"It wasn't you, Azara."

"But it was me! It was my body!" Azara looked horrified at herself before turning back to Zuko. "What did I do? Please, Zuko, tell me! Did I hurt someone? Did I hurt Sokka?"

"You didn't hurt anyone," Zuko assured her, his voice firm. "Everyone is okay."

"I didn't hurt anyone?" Azara repeated numbly, causing Zuko to nod. "But . . . I saw the lightning . . . and Sokka . . . please tell me I didn't—"

"—You didn't," Zuko replied, squeezing her arm reassuringly. "You might have knocked us around for a bit, but no one's hurt. Just a couple of scratches. Nothing serious."

"But I could have."

"But you didn't," Zuko corrected, his tone leaving no room for discussion. "It's not your fault, Azara. It's Father's. Not yours."

"Father," Azara trailed off, remembering the whole altercation that had led up to her imprisonment again. Lowering her head, Azara let out a sob. Zuko quickly wrapped his arms around his sister as well as he could with her restraints.

"You're alright, Azara. He's not here. He's not hurting you again."

"Zuko," Azara whispered out shakily, "I . . . I tried . . . I—"

"—Doesn't matter," Zuko shook his head, holding his sister tightly. "Not to me."

"But you don't know what I tried to do."

"I do . . . he told me," Zuko revealed, causing Azara to stiffen.

"When?" she finally choked out, her voice hoarse.

"I went to confront him during the eclipse. He told me then," Zuko replied, pulling back slightly so that he could stare down at his sister. "I don't blame you, Azara. After everything he's done . . . I don't blame you."

"But what if . . . what if that's who I am now?" Azara cried brokenly as Zuko tugged her firmly back into her arms. "What if I'm becoming like him and—"

"—You're not becoming like him."

"He killed his father. I tried to kill him," Azara reasoned, resting her head on her brother's shoulder as more tears dripped down her cheeks.

"He killed his father for power. You tried to kill him because he's a monster. Those are two completely different reasons."

"But still . . . that's not me . . . or at least, not who I was," Azara whispered out, her voice becoming strained as her throat clenched. The two siblings sat in silence for a moment, just holding onto each other. Azara's tears were starting to soak Zuko's shirt, but he didn't even notice. "I don't even know who I am anymore, Zuko," Azara admitted as Zuko rubbed her back soothingly.

"You're my little sister. And that's all I care about," Zuko insisted, causing Azara to nod slowly against him. "Your friends will understand too—"

"—Don't," Azara interjected, pulling out of his embrace quickly to shoot him a terrified look. "You can't . . . don't tell them."

"Why not?"

"I . . . I don't want them to know . . . about that side of me," Azara mumbled, lowering her head. "Not yet at least."

"Okay," Zuko sighed, deciding to pick his battles for the moment. Azara was clearly not in the best state of mind at the moment, so he knew that pushing her on things that obviously made her upset was not the best way to go about restarting his relationship with his sister.

They sat together on the bed for a few minutes as Azara started to calm down. The tears had stopped and Zuko had been nice enough to wipe them away for her as her hands were still metalbended down. Seeing the tiredness in Azara's eyes, Zuko reached out to her once more.

"Maybe you should try getting some sleep again," Zuko suggested, but Azara shook her head.

"No, I don't want to relive that again," she replied, before turning to face her brother.

She clearly looked like she didn't want to talk about her nightmares or memories, whatever they were going to call them. So, instead, she asked her brother the question that had been nagging her since she saw him in the Western Air Temple.

"So . . . why did you finally decide to leave the Fire Nation?"

"I . . . well, after Ember Island and everything . . . I guess I realized that I didn't have everything figured out. And then, I talked with Uncle again and . . . found out some more information about our past. Well, our ancestors, I guess," Zuko explained, looking away for a moment.

"More genocidal maniacs I presume?" Azara muttered out sarcastically, her eyes narrowed.

"Actually, no. Our great-grandfather, on Mom's side, was . . . Avatar Roku," Zuko revealed, causing Azara to straighten up immediately.

"What?"

"I know, I didn't believe it at first either."

"There's no way Mom was descended from Avatar Roku," Azara argued, trying to think back to what their mother had told them about her past. "Mom was just a . . ." she trailed off when she couldn't find the right words. Or any words, for that matter. What was their mother before she married their father? They never even talked about it, never even thought to ask.

"She was Avatar Roku's granddaughter."

Azara paused for a moment, processing the information, before turning back to Zuko. "Does that make . . . Aang . . . our . . . great-grandfather?" she tested out, not even sounding like she believed the words that she was saying.

"I . . . guess . . . technically."

". . . Weird."

"Anyways," Zuko sighed, going back to his explanation from before, "that information left me feeling pretty conflicted. I attended some war meetings and . . . I was just . . . horrified. At everything that was being discussed."

"Not surprising," Azara replied as Zuko nodded in response.

"So, I decided to use the eclipse as my chance to escape. I went down and confronted Father while the eclipse was going on. I told him what I was going to do. He told me about you . . . and . . . about Mom."

Azara frowned at the mention of her mother, wondering why Ozai even brought her up. "What about Mom?"

"That she could still be alive," Zuko spoke, causing Azara's eyes to widen for a moment. "She was banished, so she could still be out there somewhere. Alive." Azara looked down as she processed the information, her gaze hardening. Zuko raised an eyebrow at Azara's reaction, or lack thereof. "Why . . . why do you look so . . .?"

"It's fine," Azara replied in a tone that clearly indicated that everything was not fine. "Good to know," she added as an afterthought, which seemed to pacify Zuko for now.

They chatted more until the sun finally started to rise over the Western Air Temple, bathing the room in an orange haze. A knock from the door had Zuko standing up from Azara's bed. Katara led the way inside the room, ignoring Zuko's presence as she turned to Azara.

"How did you sleep?"

"I got a few hours," Azara sighed, not wanting to stress her friends out with the information about her nightmares.

"No relapses? You were you the whole time?"

"None," Zuko confirmed, though Katara still ignored him.

Toph stepped forward to bend the metal off of Azara, allowing her to get up. "Let's eat breakfast. Maybe that'll help," Sokka suggested as Azara stood up. At his words, Azara's stomach let out a loud growl, causing her to flush with embarrassment.

"I think I could go for some food," she replied with a small smile before Sokka led her out of the room. While Zuko was busy talking to Katara and Toph about Azara's nightmares, Sokka grabbed Azara's hand and held her close as they walked along.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Not the best, but I'll be fine," Azara insisted, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

They made their way out to the main courtyard. Azara quickly fell into the routine that she had missed during her time away. Building up the twigs and sticks that Sokka had gathered earlier in the fire pit, Azara pressed her finger to the kindling.

But when the usual warmth of a flame didn't greet her, she frowned. Trying again, Azara felt her heart drop into her stomach when the kindling didn't catch fire. Pressing her whole hand down, Azara grunted as she tried to strain flames out of her hand. But when flames didn't appear again, she pulled her hand back.

"What is wrong with me?" she wondered aloud, staring down at her hands with mild betrayal.

"What's wrong?" Sokka questioned urgently, kneeling beside her.

"I . . . can't firebend," Azara trailed off, trying to flex her hands to produce flames like she usually did, but nothing came out. Not even a spark. Not even a small bit of smoke. Nothing.

"Maybe you're just rusty," Sokka suggested, though Azara shook her head.

"I've never been unable to generate a spark for as long as I can remember," she replied, trying once more, only to yield the same results. "Something's . . . wrong."

"What's the matter?" Katara asked, walking over with the rest of the group in tow.

"I can't firebend," Azara spoke numbly, her eyes never leaving her hands.

"What do you mean you can't firebend?" Zuko questioned, walking over. "Not even a spark?"

"Nothing," Azara reported, trying once again to firebend, but failing once more.

"Can . . . benders just lose their bending?"

No one really knew how to respond to the question. Especially not the benders in the group, whose bending abilities were so in line with their identities that the idea of losing their bending was almost unfathomable. If not completely horrifying.

Katara was the first to break the silence, going into mother hen mode. "Come on, let's try and figure out what's wrong," Katara replied, walking over to help Azara stand up. If it weren't for Katara's hand guiding her, Azara wasn't sure that she would have moved. "Toph, bend a small pool for us."

As Toph built a small and shallow rectangle pool in the courtyard, Katara bended some of the water from the fountain into the hole. Azara stepped into the new pool and laid back, shivering as the water soaked through her clothes. Katara swirled her arms around, bending the water in a circle around Azara, who tensed as the water passed around her.

"Physically you seem fine," Katara announced, unable to find any cuts or physical wounds to report. Holding her hands closer together, Katara concentrated as she pressed deeper, trying to see if she could identify any internal problems. Katara continued to move the water around Azara, before frowning as she felt something off. "I'm feeling a lot of tension here, in your stomach."

"Her stomach?" Zuko asked, looking confused at Katara's diagnosis.

"The stomach is the location of the fire chakra," Aang replied, standing on Katara's other side. "If your fire chakra is blocked, that might explain why you can't firebend."

"But what does that mean?" Sokka questioned, staring down at Azara with concern.

"And how do we fix it?" Zuko added, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The fire chakra deals with willpower and is blocked by shame," Aang recited from memory, thinking back to his time with Guru Pathik.

"That doesn't explain how we fix it."

"Maybe I can try . . ." Katara trailed off, pushing on Azara's stomach with her healing abilities.

The action, however, only seemed to cause Azara to tense up more. Flashes of her attempt to kill her father, of her imprisonment, of her attempt to kill her friends flooded her mind until it was too much. Sitting up, she screamed, holding her head in her hands. She could vaguely hear people yelling at each other until she was physically pulled out of the pool.

"You're okay, you're okay!" Sokka repeated, holding her to his chest. "You're okay. What's wrong? What hurts?"

"I don't know . . . I just . . . it was too much," Azara whispered out, burying her face into his chest as she tried to steady her breathing.

"We're not trying that again," Sokka assured her, sharing concerned looks with the others.

"But if we can't fix her chakra then how—"

"—Look, we're not doing that again," Sokka interjected, shooting looks at the rest of the group. Turning back to Azara, his gaze softened as he stared down at her with concern. "She's clearly not ready for that yet."

"Zuko can teach Aang," Azara spoke up, pulling away from Sokka for a moment. "I . . . I clearly have some . . . issues to work through first."

"Alright," Zuko nodded, sharing a glance with Aang. "If that's what you want."

"It's what needs to happen," Azara sighed, rubbing her face tiredly, her mind swirling with fear for the future. For her future.

A.N. So, Azara can't firebend! Oh no! If only there was an episode coming up that was based entirely around rediscovering the true nature of firebending! Oh wait, there is—so stay tuned!

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