Azara huffed as she finally reached the top of the highest hill on Kyoshi. Pushing away the snow, Azara settled onto the ground and crossed her legs. Her thoughts were still scattered from the events in the town square only a few minutes ago and knew that she had to center herself once more. Closing her eyes, Azara placed her hands on her knees, palms facing the blue sky, as she breathed deeply. Her thoughts started to drift as she calmed down, taking her to long distant memories.

She was three years old and sitting in one of the various courtyards of the Fire Nation Palace. She sat in her mother's lap as her mother brushed her dark hair back into a top knot, as was customary. Zuko and Azula were arguing over something, and Ozai was sitting to the side, focused on reading some important document.

Azara gasped in excitement and hopped out of her mother's lap as the turtle ducks poked out of the brush and started swimming towards the shore. "Careful, Azara, don't startle the babies," her mother had warned as one baby turtle duck hopped up on shore and waddled towards her.

"Look at them!" Azara had yelled happily, drawing the attention of her siblings. Zuko and Azula hurried over, knocking into each other and then into Azara, who yelled out in surprise as she fell forwards. She managed to startle the baby turtle duck, who quickly swam behind the cover of its mother. The mother turtle duck, in retaliation, swam forwards and snapped at Azara's hand.

Shrieking in surprise and fear, Azara waved her hand, unknowingly sending a small lick of flame towards the mother turtle duck, starling the rest of the turtle ducks into swimming away quickly. "Azara!" her mother had yelled, startling her father out of his reading. Briefly scolding Zuko and Azula for wrestling, Ursa picked up Azara, who was nursing her hand.

"What happened?" Ozai asked, discarding the reading, and walking over to his family.

"She was startled by the turtle ducks," Ursa replied as Zuko jumped up with surprise on his face.

"She firebended!" he shouted, causing Ozai's eyes to widen in surprise and pride. Ursa stared fearfully at Ozai as he took Azara from her arms.

"My daughter is a firebender!" he announced proudly, irking Azula, who pouted at his feet. "Can you do it again, Azara?" he asked gently, as Azara glanced back at her mother.

"I think she must have just reacted in fear—" Ozai cut his wife off with a wave of his hand, holding up his own in front of Azara. "Can you do this?" Ozai asked, generating a small flame in front of Azara. The small child held out her hands, looking at her father's flame. A few sparks appeared, before a small flame spurted briefly, causing Ozai to smile widely.

Azara gasped as she was drawn out of the memory, shaking her head. Rubbing her face, Azara sighed and stared at the setting sun. "Oh, if you could see us now, Mom," she whispered to herself, sounding dejected. Standing up, she brushed herself off before quietly walking back to the town. She walked wordlessly into the temporary accommodation; her thoughts still scattered.

"There you are, where have you been?" Aang questioned, standing up.

"Just up the hill," Azara responded, pulling off her coat.

"What were you doing for that long? You were gone almost four hours," Sokka stated, causing Azara to sigh as she pulled out her sleeping bag.

"Why do you care?" she muttered bitterly, not even glancing over her shoulder at him as she unfurled the sleeping bag. "You hate me, remember?" Sokka sighed, turning to face her.

"Look, I'm sorry for treating you that way . . . I just have some stuff against the Fire Nation, and I took it out on you," Sokka explained, causing Azara's shoulders to sag as she felt guilty for snapping at him, especially after her talk with Katara the other day. She was going to have to learn how to cope with the fact that probably everyone she met would have something against the Fire Nation.

"I'm sorry too. I haven't exactly been the nicest person since we met, and I need to work on my attitude. How about we just start all over? Hi, I'm Azara," Azara proposed, holding her hand out.

"I'm Sokka, nice to meet you," Sokka returned sincerely, shaking her hand with a small smile on his face.

"Glad we're all getting along," Aang spoke from his position next to Katara. The group shared a smile of understanding before everyone turned in for bed.

The next morning, Azara sat quietly in their room with Katara. Sokka had to go talk to the Kyoshi Warriors, who Azara doubted would take kindly to his presence. Aang had run off with his fangirl club, which had frustrated Katara. Azara stared at the ceiling, contemplating what she should do with the day as Katara glared out the window as Aang ran by, his fangirls following close behind.

"He told me he wasn't going to let the Avatar thing get to his head," Katara huffed as Azara turned to look at the perturbed Water Tribe girl.

"Avatar or not, he's still a twelve-year-old boy, Katara," Azara commented, getting up and walking to the window to stand next to Katara. "I mean look at him, he's like a little pup. The more attention he gets, the more excited he gets," Azara pointed out as Aang smiled widely as he was tackled by several young girls.

"Ugh, I can't watch this anymore," Katara scoffed, crossing her arms, and turning away from the scene below them.

"Katara, you're still his best friend. The fangirls will lose interest and we'll have to move on soon anyways. I wouldn't worry about it," Azara shrugged as Katara sighed, her arms dropping to her sides. "Why don't we gather some supplies for the journey? That'll give us something to do."

Katara smiled, looking up and nodding as they pulled on their coats. They grabbed baskets from the villagers, moving to the farm stand to collect some food for the trip. Azara held a basket full of bread as Katara filled another with vegetables. Looking up, Aang smiled and greeted Aang as he walked over from his fan group.

"Oh, good! Can you help me carry this back to the room? It's a little heavy and Azara already has her hands full," Katara asked, placing the basket in front of Aang.

"Actually, I can't right now."

"What do you mean you can't?" Katara demanded, her frustration rising again. Azara sighed from beside her, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

"I promised the girls that I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you guys come with us? It'll be fun!" Aang offered as Katara's expression soured further.

"Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun," Katara retorted, turning to the farm stand, and placing more vegetables in the basket.

"Well, neither does carrying your basket," Aang replied, sounding disappointed.

"It's not my basket. These supplies are for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon."

"I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place," Aang contemplated, placing a hand on his chin. Azara raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the assembled group of fangirls.

"Definitely the pastries," Azara commented sarcastically as a girl from the group looked over.

"What's taking you so long, Aangy?" one of the girls demanded, stomping her foot. Azara wrinkled her nose at the pet name as Katara turned to Aang.

"Aangy," she scoffed as Aang looked behind him at his fangirls.

"Just a second, Koko!" he called, waving his hand.

"Simple monk, huh? I thought you promised me that this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head," Katara pointed out as Aang turned around.

"It didn't. You know what I think? You just don't want to come because you're jealous," Aang smirked as Katara looked offended at the very accusation.

"Jealous? Of what?" Katara asked, her voice pitches higher than her regular voice.

"Jealous that we're having so much fun without you," Aang added, before looking at Azara. "Don't you think so, Azara?" Azara's eyes widened as Katara spun around, a warning look on her face.

"I'm not getting involved in this," Azara replied calmly as Katara picked up the basket and lead the way back to their accommodation. Azara watched her leave, moving to do the same, before she turned back to Aang.

"She's right, Aang. We do have to leave soon," Azara warned, before following after Katara, leaving Aang standing in front of the farm stand. Placing the baskets in the room, Azara mentioned to Katara how she was going to go meditate in the hills like she had the day before. Walking up a hill, Azara stared out at the mountains and forest of Kyoshi Island.

She smiled at the serenity, turning to look at the bay, when her blood ran cold. Spotting the Fire Nation ship in the distance, Azara hurried back to the village as fast as she could. Running down the main path of the village, Azara glared at Zuko as he turned to blast at the Kyoshi warrior on the ground next to him. Jumping in the air, Azara sent a fire blast at Zuko, knocking him off his Komodo rhino.

"If it isn't the little traitor," Zuko scoffed, standing up.

"Leave this place in peace, Zuko. There's nothing here for you. The Avatar already left," she lied, causing Zuko to scoff once more as the siblings circled each other. "Don't make me force you to leave, Zuko," Azara warned, getting into a fighting stance.

Raising an eyebrow, Zuko let out a yell and a fire blast. Azara blocked the blast before sending one of her own. Zuko had been practicing further under Iroh, but Azara had always beaten him before and she was certainly not going to lose this time. Not when there were other lives on the line. Dodging another fire blast, Azara rolled forwards and started an offensive attack against her brother.

Zuko leapt back and two soldiers took his place. Azara flipped backwards, dodging their blasts as two more soldiers appeared behind her. Azara held up her hands threateningly as they backed her against a building. "Surrender, Princess Azara!" one of the guards demanded as a loud roar reverberated off of the walls of the village.

Azara looked up and smiled as she spotted Appa landing nearby, using his tail to force back the Fire Nation soldiers. "Come on!" Katara called, Sokka and Aang already aboard. Azara did not hesitate, running up Appa's tail and settling in the saddle as Appa flew away. The group looked at the burning Kyoshi village with grim expressions, the smoke from the fires rising in the air.

"I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole town if we stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang," Azara comforted, turning to Aang, who sat holding Appa's reins. Aang's face hardened before he stood jumped off Appa, diving towards the cold waters below.

"What are you doing?" Katara yelled as he disappeared below the waves. Katara and Azara shared worried looks before Aang resurfaced, holding the unagi's tendrils in his hands. Settling himself on the unagi's back, Aang pulled on the tendrils, causing the unagi to spit water onto the village. The fires in the village went out and the Fire Nation soldiers were effectively doused.

"That's one way to put out a fire," Azara chuckled as Aang was knocked into the air by the annoyed unagi. Appa swung down, catching his friend in his paws. Aang crawled into Appa's saddle, his hands raised in a defensive position.

"I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous," Aang admitted, turning to Katara.

"Yes, it was," Katara agreed, smiling, and pulling Aang into a hug. Aang smiled as well, hugging Katara back. Azara smiled at the scene, before turning to Sokka.

"That's a beautiful dress, Sokka," she commented, motioning towards his attire.

"I will have you know that this is a traditional warrior uniform in Kyoshi," Sokka stammered, looking embarrassed as Azara smirked.

"It's still a dress."