"That's right." Zaji laughed quietly, taking off the last of her chains. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd lost your tongue." 

          "How, but the other guards—" Y/N worried, still stunned. She sat there, stupefied, as Amo's head popped into view in the doorway. 

          "M'lady." He greeted her. "We just started our shift. Almost all of us here were on the prince's ship, so you don't have to worry."

          "She's pale, and still bleeding a bit. Let's get her a medic." Zaji lifted her up, Amo leading them down several winding hallways and into a small room, simply furnished with a table, mirror, and a mattress. 

          Y/N was sat down on the mattress, and a woman in Fire Nation armor began cleaning and dressing her wounds. The feeling was surreal. They were here. All of them, actually here. She barely felt the pain anymore.

          "Azula's coronation is soon, I'm guessing your friends will be arriving as well." Zaji sat on the floor next to her. Y/N glanced at the mirror as the medic cleaned up her face. Her white eyes stared back, along with a new cut along her face from Azula's boot.

          "We'll be there to back you guys up!" Amo said excitedly, and Y/N immediately shook her head. 

          "No. No way. I'd rather get a blast of fire to the face than let you." She said, kicking Amo's shinguards lightly when she saw his diss appointed expression. 

          "Y/N, your not in a good enough shape to go out there yourself." Zaji insisted.

          "And you're not in any position to die." Y/N retorted, the specific name coming to mind as she spoke. "What about your little sister Adeline, Zaji? You can't leave her like this. Amo, your mother, raising your twin brothers alone and you would leave her? Every single one of you have families, and brothers among the opposing soldiers. I cannot ask you to die killing your own."

          "We will willingly die for the end of this war," Zaji moved to sit in front of Y/N, looking her straight in the eyes. "And we will die for you."

          "Absolutely not." She didn't hesitate, standing once the medic was finished with her. "I'm not telling Adeline that I was the reason you died." She didn't break eye contact as she spoke. "You'll live to introduce me after, alright? But I'll promise you this."

          Y/N looked around at the soldiers standing in the room, and out in the hallway. 

          "This war is going to end, today."          

                              —| § ථ § |—

                              Azula's POV

          Azula stared at herself in the broken mirror, cut bangs brushing her eyes, stuck to her face with sweat. There was glass all over the floor, where her mother had been standing moments earlier, or so she had thought.

          "What is happening to me?" She whispered quietly to herself, falling to her knees despite the sharp shards. 

          "I think I know what it's like to slip as well." Azula looked up at the broken mirror. The waterbender girl stood there, dressed in fine Fire Nation silks. "The only reason I didn't fall was the people catching me." Azula looked behind her, only to see the empty room, then glared back at the mirror.

           Y/N's form flickered strangely in the reflection, it was white along the edges, and when she moved, her body became more translucent.

           "So you've come to gloat." Azula snarled. "You're lucky you aren't actually here." 

          "At least you see that much, yet at the same time of me not being here, I also am." Y/N shrugged, walking up closer behind her. "I haven't come to gloat, but to try catching you. It's painful, isn't it, Azula?" 

          Azula looked harder into the reflection in the broken glass as she came close, nearly touching her shoulder. When she concentrated hard enough, she could see through the form more, barely able to make out a fish-like shape where the ghost's heart would be.

          "Catch me." Azula scoffed. "I am perfectly fine. I will become the Fire Lord in a few minutes, and no one will ever betray me again." 

          "La only allows me to be seen in the spirit world when someone else is slipping towards it. I know when someone's mind is broken." Y/N watched her own reflection in the mirror.

          "So you are here." Azula guessed.

          "Simply meditating, in a way I can not control. I didn't want to be here." Y/N said grudgingly. "La wants me here, and I know not why."

          "Are you La herself? Is that why you won't die already?"

          "Far from it, but you left me alive, and I am grateful for it." Y/N frowned, putting an impalpable hand on Azula's shoulder. "As much as I hate you, Azula, you are the family of the one I love, and I cannot give up on you."

          "What do you mean?" Azula tried aggressively shoving her away, but her hand was only shown to pass through in the reflection.

          "I mean, I still believe in you. Your incredible, and so is your mind. So I will say, stay safe. Think before you act. Listen to the people you kept close to you, and don't push them away. Get rid of those whispering voices in your head, think clearly, and I will be with you."

          Y/N's form faded away as Azula hit the mirror again, shattering what was left of the cracked surface.

                              —| § ථ § |—

                              Y/N's POV

          "Are you alright? You passed out." Zaji was shaking her gently. Y/N nodded, sitting up. She was still on the mattress, but most of the guards were gone. 

          "What's happening? How long was I out?" She asked, looking at Amo, who was glancing nervously at the door.

          "If you're feeling ready, we need to move. The alarm was just raised for your escape, and it's only a matter of time beforehand they realize they have traitors. Amo's going to scout ahead, and the two of us will get you to the coronation ceremony." Zaji explained quickly.

          "Promise you'll leave after that?" 

          "Promise."

           "Then let's go."

          The prison corridors underneath the palace felt like a never ending maze, although Zaji and Amo seemed to get around fine, not hesitating at twists and turns, Zaji pulling her along at a fast pace. Y/N was completely turned around by the time they ascended some stairs, the sun's setting rays suddenly visible through the darkening windows.

          By the time they got to the ceremony, however, it'd already been interrupted. 

          Three figures stood on the stage, Appa flying nearby. Katara, Zuko, Azula. Their talking was audible, but only two words stuck out to Y/N.

          Agni Kai.

          Zaji and Amo were able to quickly pull Y/N back into the shadows before she was seen, and she didn't protest.

          If Y/N showed up, the chances of Zuko being the main target were less than 0. 

          Good.

           Y/N was alive for a reason, right?