Azula stared out her window, her arms behind her back. Her brother was finally home, and she had conquered Ba Sing Se. So why did she feel so off?

Suddenly, a bird, kind of like a hawk or a falcon screeched, coming down at her. She braced herself for attack when she suddenly realized it was a Fire Nation bird, and not an ordinary one either.

The messenger bird landed in front of her. Azula reached out, taking the letter out and opening it. As she read it, a knowing smirk spread across her face. She'd been waiting for this.

"Look, Azula, I probably shouldn't be doing this but I need to know what you know about my family. I'm alone and in the Fire Nation; the group split up after you did what you did, and I might still not be able to forgive you for it. But if you're willing, I can pay you for information. Tell me all you know."

-M

Azula took out a quill and a paper, writing her reply. She fed the bird and said to it, "Ayame. Fire Nation. Make sure no one's around when you give it to her."

And the bird flew away.

🔥🔥🔥

I lashed out at a tree, bending fire madly. the tree lit up and with a flick of my wrist, it was drenched. The flames were blue and hot.

I was angry. "Why did you leave me behind, Ma? I could've died with you. Look where you've left me," I grumbled, swiping a lock of hair behind my ear, my breath coming in heavy huffs. "You could've at least told me why I have dual bending, or even Gran. It's so stupid. Why couldn't you have married some waterbender? Why did you have to choose a freaking firebender?" I slammed my fist against the tree and jumped back, painfully. "O-ow," I groaned, looking at my bleeding knuckles. "Who are you, mom? Who is my dad? I don't even remember your faces!" I yelled. Fire, fire everywhere. Soon I was surrounded by it, sitting in the center of a ring of flames. "Fire hurts people, Mom."

When I'd cooled down, I got rid of the fire and walked home. The hawk landed on my arm as I was walking away. hurriedly, I opened it up and read.

"Dear, dear Ayame,

Here's the problem. I don't know what you really want to know. Can you explain in detail?"

-A

I gritted my teeth and the paper erupted into blue fire on my hand. I squeezed the leftover ashes and tossed them away.

"Don't play games with me. Who are my parents? Why were the Fire Nation after them?"

-M

♋♋♋

Azula found Mai and Zuko on a picnic together, watching the sunset. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Zuko," she said, interrupting them. He looked up. Azula turned to Mai. "Ty Lee needs help untangling her braid."

Mai, obviously pissed, knew she couldn't argue with the princess. She stood up and walked away, throwing her a dirty look over her shoulder.

"Zuko," Azul said, crossing her arms over her chest when Mai was out of earshot, "did you visit our dear uncle?"

Zuko looked away from her.

"I should advise you not to do it again. If someone else sees you, they'll misunderstand you as a traitor."

When Zuko didn't reply, she left him alone, because she knew he'd understood the message. Zuko was playing with fire, and as much as she loved watching it, a part of her wanted normal . . . something she'd never gotten.

🔥🔥🔥

When I went back to the cave, I almost had a panic attack. About a hundred kids lined the caves, clapping and dancing, music ringing through the walls. In the center, Aang and Katara were dancing. They were doing well, but I was fuming.

I wasn't even told.

I walked away, steaming. "Have it your way," I said under my breath.

The next thing I knew, the headmaster and teachers were standing in the cave entrance with the boy who'd spoken rudely to Aang. I'd told him about the party and I knew this was going to happen. He brought them here.

"Where is the boy with the headband?" they asked, searching through the crowds. I realized what I'd done. What was I even thinking? I was a traitor. I'd almost had them caught.

Turns out, all the kids wore headbands to confuse the teachers. Aang got out safe, earthbending the cave entrance closed as everyone left.

I sighed as we sat on Appa. "Looks like the party's over."

"That was actually fun," Katara laughed. Aang grinned at her.

"Annnd I had fun too," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm glad, Ayame." Aang patted my shoulder.

Ugh. I'm not fitting in.

♋♋♋

Azula couldn't help but laugh.

"Feisty, are we?" she wrote. "Well, as you may know, your father was a guard for Sozin and your mother was a runaway who escaped from the Southern Water Tribe to the Northern one, and then back to the Southern Tribe after you were born. Here's a joke. Roses are red, violets are red. Oh, look, my garden's on fire."

-A

🔥🔥🔥

"You want a joke? You'll get a joke," I scribbled angrily, "Did you hear about the fire at the circus? And by the way, you told my my mother was from the Northern water tribe but she escaped to the Southern. What are you playing at?"

-M

Appa drifted through a sludgy river. Even Katara couldn't find any fish to eat, and we had no food whatsoever.

"Look!" Katara finally shouted. "Land!"

Appa drifted towards the dock and we all climbed off.

"Hello!" a strange man greeted. Everyone else nodded at him and said their greetings. I noticed a military factory nearby. That was what must've been polluting the water. "The name's Dock."

"Hey, Dock. Do you know where anyone could get any food around here?" Katara asked.

"Yup. Right this way. My cousin Xu runs that shop," he pointed at a smelly stand.

We walked over to the place. "Hello . . . ?" Sokka called out.

"Hi!" A man popped up with a striking resemblance to Dock, except for the hat he wore. "I'm Xu. These are our fish," he pointed to the sludgy barrels.

"Eugh," we said in unison. Mud and sludge dripped out of the long-dead fish's mouths and gills.

"Is this all you have?" Katara asked.

"Yup. That's it."

"Oh." We had no choice. Katara bought the fish and we walked back. Suddenly, a kid ran up to Katara.

"Miss? May I have one too?" he asked.

I could tell Katara had a soft spot for children. She took the fish and handed it to him. The boy ran to his mother, Katara following him, me following her. He gave the fish to his mother, smiling.

His mother lay on a makeshift bed on the floor, coughing weakly. She reached up and touched his cheek with a sad smile.

I got another letter later that night when we were far from the village. I sat in my tent, opening it.

"No, what about the fire at the circus? I have a good one for you. How many firebenders does it take to screw in a screw?"

-A

I rolled my eyes.

"One hundred. One to screw in the screw and ninety-nine to watch him and tell him they could've done it better. And the answer to the circus one: It was in-tents. Get it?"

-M

"The solar eclipse will only last about eight minutes. During that time, all firebenders source of fire will shut down and they'll be powerless. We have to leave this place as soon as possible to be on time," Sokka explained the next day.

"We can't," Katara protested, her forehead creased in worry, wringing her hands in clear signs of distress.

"Why?" Aang asked, frowning

"Appa's sick."

All heads turned to Appa who's tongue lolled out of his mouth, a strange color of purple. He lay on his side.

"Oh. "

"The village might have herbs for him. We should go back there," Katara suggested.

Back at the village, everyone seemed happier for some reason.

"Well, what happened here?" Katara asked Dock.

"The Painted Lady came to visit us and brought us supplies and medicine," Dock grinned.

"Who now?" I asked.

"Her." Dock pointed at a statue of a pretty woman with a hat and a beautiful face covered in red and white makeup.

Katara seemed interested.

♋♋♋

Azula rolled her eyes at the mesaage and held back a high laugh.

"That's not what I had in mind, but it can certainly work," she wrote. "How about this one. How many airbenders does it take to screw in a screw?"

-A

Ayame's answer came later that night.

"Thanks to the Fire Nation, we may never know."

-M

And this time, Azula laughed.

~~~~~~~

Creds to http://hucko2.webs.com/avatarjokes.htm for the jokes. I couldn't stop laughing.

I also know the video above is Zutara, but honestly, imagine Zayame 😭❤ they're so cute.