Bumi felt so useless lying down on the floor of his cell. Not like he didn't feel like that a lot recently. He enjoyed spending some real bonding time with his brother and sister, he really did, but being with them sometimes just felt like a reminder of all the things he wasn't. And it didn't help that now he was waiting for a ten-year-old firebender to save him from these four walls.

The guards took his United Forces jacket. Everyone thought he just wore it to show off. And, admittedly, that was part of the reason for sure. But he really liked being a soldier. Even though there too, he was constantly surrounded my exceptional benders. And no matter how much he tried he couldn't stop himself from wondering sometimes, what he was doing, fighting side by side with such warriors when he often couldn't offer them back-up. All it took was someone making a rude joke, to make him question if the only reason he got to where he is, was because his father is the Avatar.

"Bumi, you have to get away from the door." he suddenly heard Zari's soft voice from the hall, yet he didn't move an inch.

"Please, Bumi, I don't want to burn you." Zari continued, a bit louder. Bumi snapped out of his trance and moved.

"Fire it up, kid." he gave the cue and Zari used his bending to completely melt the metal door.

As soon as Bumi saw the kid he noticed he was completely out of breath, red in the face and sweating like crazy.

"Are you OK, Zari?" he stepped out of the cell and looked around for any potential threats.

"Yeah... Yeah, I just had to take care of a few guys before I could come get you." the kid wiped a good deal of sweat from his forehead, "But I got you this from one of them."

Bumi took the sword Zari was handing him and made a few practice swings.

"This will do nicely. Even though these hands alone are deadly weapons, you know..." Bumi pretended to punch the air a few times, making the most ridiculous face, hoping it would make the boy laugh. Zari did smile slightly, but he seemed way too exhausted for jokes.

"I'm a little worried," Bumi started, "because I heard the guards make their rounds way more often than the last time we were here. It's almost like there's twice as many of them this time."

"You think they figured out that you guys managed to break in last time?"

"I don't think so... But something made them double their security. We should hurry."

Zari then followed Bumi to the opposite side of the prison to free Sokka first. They really tried to me completely quiet the whole time, but they just kept almost running into groups of guards. It was official, this place was backed with bad guys. But why?

"You think the Fire Lord is going to like me?" Zari asked out of the blue.

"Are you kidding, little man? He might pin a medal on you for saving his wife." Bumi had two younger siblings so he already knew how to answer those kinds of questions...

"Really? Because I really want t-"

"And we're here." Bumi stopped by a cell door and peeked inside through the little slit, "Uncle, you have to get away from the door."

When Sokka obeyed, he expected to see the door knocked down by a gush of wind, or a wave of water. He certainly didn't expect to see it melt away leaving only a wall of blue fire. As soon as the flames faded away, Sokka jumped out, swinging a spoon he'd sharpened beforehand.

"Show yourself, Azula!" he yell, quite confused to find Bumi was in the company of a young boy and no one else. He looked around some more, expecting Azula to jump out at him from somewhere.

Then Zari made a little blue flame in the middle of his palm as a kind of introduction.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." Zari said when Sokka pointed the so-called weapon at him.

Bumi laughed at Sokka's confused-looking face before adding, "Sokka, this is Zari, Azula's son."

That didn't seem to put the Chief's mind at ease so Zari threw in a little wave to seem friendlier.

"I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this... Where is Aang?" Sokka turned to his nephew.

"We don't know exactly... Look, it's all part of the plan." Bumi explained.

"Who's plan? Bumi, I thought you'd come back with a little more back-up than one little kid."

"He's a firebender. We'll get out. And Tenzin is outside waiting on Oogi so we can get out fast."

"Listen, today I must have heard a hundred people walk past my cell. There is obviously some kind of gathering happening here. If we want to get out alive, we have to be really careful not to alert everyone about our escape. You got it?"

"Yeah, let's go get Mai then. And then everyone else." Bumi started walking away, "Come on, Zari, let's go meet your Auntie Mai."

"You're the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, correct?" Zari asked Sokka, ignoring Bumi's call.

"What, you wanna call me a snow savage? An ice peasant? A frosty commoner? I don't know, I bet your mother had a lot more of those to teach you..."

"No. My father was born in the Southern Tribe."

"Oh." Sokka couldn't deny the boy's blue eyes said, no, screamed Water Tribe.

"I just wanted to say it was an honor to meet you."

Sokka looked back at Bumi.

"I know, he's nothing like his momma." Bumi smirked, "Zari, we'll do this later."

Zari nodded and started running down the hall when he spotted a big group of guards. And there was no way he could hide before they spotted him. Sokka and Bumi came running after, only to realize they've been discovered.

"You two, get yourselves out!" Sokka stood in the front to meet the first attacks from the Red Lotus, "Forget about me. You two run to Tenzin!"

"I can help, I'm a-" Zari was interrupted.

"I know, but I'm a Chief. I'm staying back, you two have to save yourselves." Sokka dodged the attack of the first guard and took the sword from his hand, "Come and get it, freaks!"

"Come on, Zari!" Bumi pulled the boy and they started running in the opposite direction. This lasted for a few moments before they saw Red Lotus members running towards them from that side also. They were surrounded, completely stuck.

"Zari, how are you with lightning?" Bumi asked, pushing the boy to stand between him and his uncle.

"I don't know... I've done it. But never without preparation." Zari realized what Bumi wanted from him. He didn't just need a spark. He needed the kind of lighting that could shock an entire hallway full of people.

"Well, take your time, Champ. We're not going anywhere." Bumi smiled back at him before turning to the approaching enemies and slowly drawing out his sword. Soon, Zari found himself surrounded by clanks of swords. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. Lightning, lightning... Cold fire.

Bumi was pushed to the floor, which could have been very dangerous, if the guard that did it wasn't immediately struck by lightning from Zari's fingertips.

"Yes! Keep going!" Bumi stood up and helped Zari start clearing up one end of the hallway.

They were doing fine until they heard Sokka yell out behind them. Bumi turned and saw his uncle was alive, but being help down by at least four men. This rescue mission's status has shifted from not helping to making things worse. He couldn't help but wonder how so many guards found their way to them so quickly. It looked like a trap, and it sure as hell felt like one.

Just as Zari was finally feeling like they were making progress moving through the hallway, one of the guards redirected his surge of lightning into the celling. He couldn't hurt that one. Not with his lighting, anyway.

Zari shot a fire stream at the man, but before he could take a breath the man redirected it straight back at the boy. Zari was already so exhausted he didn't even have time to rise up his hands for protection. He could have been badly hurt if Bumi hadn't knocked him out of the way of the fire stream. Instead, Bumi's right shoulder was now severely burned.

Seeing that, Zari stood up again, this time prepared to set the entire hallway on fire if necessary.

"Stop!" the redirector said, "Unless you want them to pay the price."

And with that last word, the Red Lotus members dragged someone forward. In took Zari more than a few seconds before he realized it was Tenzin. No!

And the airbender didn't look all that good either. He was completely bound in chains, with even a leather strap around his mouth. He couldn't help him. No one could anymore. Zari was alone.

"You let him go... You let him!" Bumi tried to get up, but the pain was a bit much.

"Give it up, Prince." the man spoke to Zari again and then pointed his fist at Tenzin, "Or they burn."

Zari looked at Tenzin's terrified eyes, then at Bumi's raging ones. Even if he got away... No, it wasn't fair! Zari lowered his fists and put out his hands to be chained.

As they took him away, he remembered what his mother always said.

We don't get caught. Because we're smarter than that.

"Someone has to go talk to her." Katara broke the silence between the friends. She was referring to Azula who'd stormed off just a few moments before. No one knew what to say after Su informed them the last team wasn't coming, that their plan didn't work, but Azula took it by far the hardest. After hearing it she just let out a couple of angry groans and ran out without so much as a word. And they couldn't do anything without her.

"I'll do it." Lin stepped forward. Azula did it for her. She owed her this.

"No, I'll do it, Lin." Izumi stopped her, "She would have done it for me."

"Maybe we could both-"

"It has to be me." Zuko interrupted the girls, "I've known her longer than anyone else."

No one in the room could argue with that so Zuko set out to look for his sister. The first place he checked was the room where they brought the man from Red Lotus. He clearly had some unfinished business with Azula and it wasn't so hard to believe she'd want to end him while no one was looking.

But she wasn't there. He eventually tracked her down to her office. Slowly opening the door, Zuko noticed all the scrolls from the desk were scattered across the floor and some of them were burning. Azula was sitting on the floor, in the middle of that whole mess, turned away from him. Her hair was blocking him from seeing her face, but he could hear her quietly mumble something.

"Azula, I..."

"Go away, Zuko!" she screamed.

"I'm so sorry about Zari. But we're going to find him. That's what we do." Zuko was carefully stepping closer to her.

"Stop! Stop! You have to stop!" she grabbed hold of her head and shut her eyes. Zuko saw she'd already been crying before he found her.

"We need you, Azula, if we want to help them."

"Shut up! Just shut up already! Shut up!" Azula turned violently, shooting a fireball at the curtains.

"Seriously, Azula? I know you're worried about your son, but this isn't helping." Zuko stopped coming closer, seeing he could get burned.

"I know... I... Stop it! I know, Zuko, but I need to be alone right now. You have to go without me." she turned her head left and right without reason, "Shut up, I told you!"

"I didn't say anything. And I'm not leaving you behind." the Fire Lord didn't think that would improve his sister's situation at all, "Tell me how to help."

"Go! I can't help you! I can't make the voices stop!" that was the first time she's looked him in the eye since he came into the room. Zuko was frankly a bit surprised by what she'd told him. But also a little proud she opened up to him. He finally knew what was wrong. If only he knew what to do about it.

"And what are they saying?" he softened his voice and sat down on the floor next to her.

"No! Zuko, leave. I don't know what I'll do to you..."

"Azula, I want to know..."

"They're... Laughing at me. Laughing because I was stupid enough to think it could be real!" her hands were on the floor and they began burning through the carpet, "They're saying the reason you're here is that I never left the institution... This is just another visit. I never made it out. I made it all up. That someone could fall in love with me... That I could be a better mother than ours... It's not real."

"It is real. Believe me, Azula. You're not waking up from an illusion, you're falling into one. Focus on me!"

"I don't think I can tell what's real right now."

"This place is real. Zari's real. His dad was real. I'm real and I want to help." Zuko reached out and took her hand, "You don't have to listen to the voices. I've never seen you listen to anyone in your life... You're one of the strongest people I know, Azula. Tell me how you made them stop before."

Azula's crying had completely stopped by that point. She stopped jerking violently without reason. Stopped burning everything around her. She seemed better. At least for the time being, he focus was shifting to her brother.

"I haven't heard them in a long time. Spirits, I thought I was done with this!"

"And when was the last time?" he asked softly, like he was afraid she'd be spooked.

"It's not a very happy story. Because they don't come when I'm happy. They come to ruin everything when I'm already..."

Azula stopped for a while and just stared into nothing. Then she wiped her cheeks and turned to Zuko again.

"Last time it happened... It was right after Wen died. My husband."

"I'm so sorry..."

"It wasn't you! It was..." Azula looked around, gathering strength, "Listen, it was just a night, like any other in a hideout, like this one... And we're woken up by the smell of smoke and people screaming. I immediately sprint to Zari's room. He was four then. But he's fine, so I carry him back and give him over to Wen. That was the deal we made. Because Wen could heal and because he was so good at being a father... We agreed if it ever came to it, if we had to choose, I would cover him while he ran with our son."

"That's really-"

"It was smart. It was a rational decision we made together. But as we're making our way out of the building, we're blocked by... Way too many people for the two of us to handle. And I tell Wen to run, to run and leave me. But he pushes Zari into my hands and he uses all the water he has left to make a snow ball around us. Then he just pushes us through the window to safety... And he stays up there with no water, no full moon, surrounded by a hundred enemies."

"He sounds like a good man. A hero. He just wanted to protect you. I would have done the same for Mai."

"Of course you would have! But he wasn't stupid like that. We were never heroes. We survived, no matter what." her voice went shaky for just a moment, "After that I lost my mind for a bit. I wanted nothing more than to find the men responsible and make them pay... I even considered bringing Zari to you, because I really wasn't up to the task of being his mother. I was hearing things, seeing things... But it all stopped when I decided to forget about getting revenge. The voices quieted down and I could start rebuilding Wen's fleet and take care of my son."

"Azula, I'm sorry that happened to you, but Zari's not dead."

"I know that. But he... He's all I have, Zuko." Azula knew very well that if she lost her son her mind would never recover. She'd never be able to make the voices stop. If she lost him, she'd lose herself too.

"Not true. You have me. You have Izumi."

Azula chuckled, "That's right. I have you. My brother who found our mother and then completely forgot about me. You didn't need me there to ruin your perfect family..."

"Azula, I looked for you! I sent men to scour the globe."

"I wasn't going to show myself to them. None of them were my brother."

"Please don't laugh at this... I wish you'd believe me now when I say that I really do love you."

"And what if I told you I don't? Don't believe you, don't love you... I care about Zari and about me. That's it."

Zuko stood up and put out his hand for his sister.

"Then let me show you we can still be a family. Let's go save my nephew."

When the siblings finally made their way to where they last left Zuko's friends, they found only Su, sitting on the floor, trying to get into the spirit world again.

"What do you mean they left? How could they?!" Zuko asked.

"They said to tell you that you were taking too long and they couldn't wait any longer." Su got up and frowned, "And they said I was too little to go! Like I didn't help last time..."

"Suyin, how long ago was this?" Azula wanted to know.

"I don't know." the girl shrugged.

"They have Appa. They could be half way there by now." Zuko sighed.

"But we're not." they heard Toph's voice approaching, "I thought I sensed something happening here. Now, let's go. Everyone's waiting for me at the stables."

"Can I go too?" Su cut in.

"No, you're still staying, baby Su." Toph grinned.

"I think we should bring her. I assure you, when I find the men that did this, there will be no safer place in the world than behind me." Azula said and Su looked back at her mother. Toph nodded reluctantly and Su ran off in the direction of the stables before anyone changed their mind.

"I had a chat with your prisoner there while we were waiting." Toph added.

"And?" Azula tried to seem calm, but everything concerning that man and what he did to her husband upset her.

"He doesn't know where Aang is, that much he was telling the truth. But he knew that there was supposed to be a big gathering of Red Lotus members at that prison yesterday. You know, all the top players in one place." Toph explained.

"So you think that's why they got caught?" Zuko asked.

"It makes it more believable."

Azula disengaged from the conversation and fell deep in thought for a few moments before walking away from them without a word. And Zuko didn't stop her. He knew where she was going. They agreed about it. She said she had to kill the man who helped kill Wen. And Zuko understood, in a way. If he couldn't save Mai now, he'd probably want to do the same thing.

A little part of him hoped that given the choice, Azula would spare that man. He hoped the same tactic that worked on Katara so many years ago would work on his sister too.

He knew he was wrong when he heard deafening screams coming from the room where they kept the prisoner. Azula wasn't Katara. She was changed. She was a mother now. She was a hero. But she was still Azula.