"Alright, Father, let's see where this cafeteria is," Azula trilled in an unusually sing-songy voice as Katzu trailed across the swinging wooden bridge behind her. Despite her rude awakening that morning (compliments of her subconscious), she had decided she was in a rather good mood. She had gotten what she wanted with only half of the effort she had been prepared to put forth. Jet didn't seem to need much convincing, though she supposed his pre-determined hatred and suspicion towards her country were both major factors in that aspect. It had almost been too easy to get him to say yes.

The two accomplices made their way over to the tree Jet pointed out, which emitted a loud racket, and Azula mentally prepared herself for any food fights, bar brawls, and whatever else these barbarians were likely to dish out. She was pleasantly surprised to find that there was merely an arm wrestling tournament taking place in the center of the room, and that was what everyone was so excited about.

Good, she thought as she lead Katzu over to a large, makeshift buffet counter, At least we'll only be slightly annoyed while we eat.

She grabbed a plate off of a haphazardly placed, mismatched stack and began to pile on some food. Once she was satisfied with the amount of seemingly edible solids and goop that she had acquired, she squeezed past the arm wrestlers and took a seat at a table in the corner of the room. Katzu sat down beside her a moment later, grumbling something about broken chopsticks.

Azula's gaze flickered around the room and she tried her best not to pull a face. "Absolutely no manners," she muttered as she took a bite of what she hoped was a dumpling. Those who weren't gathered around the contest in the middle of the room were shoving food down their throats like no tomorrow. Several individuals weren't even using proper utensils, instead settling for stuffing whatever they had collected from the buffet into their mouths with their hands. It was utterly repulsive! People didn't even eat like this in prison.

When she was about halfway done with her plate, that familiar, animal-like instinct that she was being watched seeped into her skin and sent chills along the back of her neck. She glanced up from her soup and spotted a pair of deep brown eyes that were transfixed right on her. They belonged to a rather scrawny body, and were embedded in a head that was adorned with a puffy, shaggy, mass of hair. Their owner's arms were crossed over its chest, its mouth twisted into a scowl. Azula quirked an eyebrow at the strange little creature that seemed to find her so fascinating.

The being smirked and motioned for someone standing next to it to follow it over to the former Fire Princess's table. It plopped down across from the two accomplices, propping its feet up on the tabletop, and a moment later, a tall boy in a pointed bamboo hat took a seat beside it. Azula noted the smaller kid's shoes disdainfully.

"Name's Smellerbee," a raspy voice croaked. "This here is Longshot. And before you ask, yes, I am a girl."

Azula's eyes widened only slightly in surprise. When she had arrived, she hadn't been sure if there were any other members of the female sex, besides herself, in a ten-mile radius. Although, by the looks of her, she wasn't entirely certain that Smellerbee even counted. She appeared to be more animalistic in nature than human.

The individual in question rolled her eyes and huffed, as if she had read Azula's mind. "I ain't the girliest girl around, but I like it that way and I'm not gonna change." She reinforced her point by launching a large glob of saliva into a spittoon on the floor nearby.

Azula crinkled her nose in disgust. Forcing a smile, she replied, "Clearly."

Smellerbee smirked and began to chip away at some dried mud that was caked around her nails. "Yeah, and I'm also real good at detecting lies, or if someone's gonna bring us trouble." Her eyes flickered up to judge Azula's response. "That ain't gonna change, either."

The former Fire Princess raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Did this girl honestly think she was going to make her feel threatened? The very idea was absolutely preposterous! Smellerbee was an amateur profiler at best, while she had had loads of training in that department over the years. She could read others like ink on a scroll, and figure out what made people tick within a few days of knowing them.

She cleared her throat. "Well, I assure you that you've got nothing to worry about. My father and I are good souls who just want to make the world a better place. Right?" She turned to look at Katzu, but he was no longer beside her. Her eyes narrowed out of confusion and she scanned the room to see where he'd gone. He was nowhere in sight.

Azula was momentarily alarmed. Even though she hadn't been paying much attention to her pretend-father, she still should have noticed him take his leave. Had a year in prison really dulled her senses so badly that she couldn't even remain aware of her surroundings? If anything, prison should have made her senses sharper.

Smellerbee snorted. "Your Daddy's on his way back to your treehouse." She pointed a finger out the window beside the table, and Azula's eyes followed its direction. Sure enough, there was Katzu, ambling back across the connective swinging bridge. How on earth did she miss him leave?

"Doesn't talk much, does he?"

Azula composed herself and turned to face her company. "No, as a matter of fact, he doesn't," she said with a sigh that was so dramatic, even the tackiest Ember Island Player would be impressed. "Not as much as he used to, anyway. He is a war veteran, after all. He's seen many people die, and it's taken a huge toll on him. Sometimes he has flashbacks in the middle of the night and wakes up screaming bloody murder. There isn't anything to be done about it, but Mother always puts a cool, damp cloth over his forehead and makes some soothing herbal tea for him, once he calms down. Well, she used to anyway."

Smellerbee's expression softened a bit and she glanced away awkwardly. "Oh. I didn't know. That must be hard for you and your family."

"It is, but we deal with it as best we can."

The younger girl was silent for a moment before boldly asking, "Did something happen to your mother?"

This question caught Azula off guard, and her eyes lowered to the table, a genuinely sad expression on her face. "She's... Gone." It wasn't a total lie.

"Alright, I can see this topic is making you uncomfortable," the rogue girl replied as she placed her feet back on the floor. "Sorry for the hostility. I know I can be a little intense at times."

"Oh, it's fine," Azula said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's only natural for you to be curious about two strangers that have invaded your territory." No matter how obnoxious and irritating your curiosity may be, she added as an after thought.

Smellerbee's lips quirked into an amused grin. "You make us sound like gorilla lions."

Wouldn't be too far from the truth.

"My apologies."

"Hey, no offense taken. Listen, we gotta bounce. The Boss is holding some big, important meeting, and apparently it has something to do with the two of you. I hope it isn't about plotting your deaths, 'cause I think I sorta like you."

Azula gave her a strained smile and forced a chuckle.

"I'm just kidding. If Jet wanted you dead, you would be by now." She sent Azula a small wave before getting up to leave. The boy called Longshot, who had been eerily quiet throughout the entire exchange, offered a smile and saluted before following after her, leaving that thought to settle in with the golden-eyed girl.

Well, I suppose I should consider that comforting, she thought as she finished off the last of her stew, But I'm pretty sure I'd be able to take him down swiftly and easily if he ever tried anything.

She smirked at the amusing prospect of completely kicking Jett's behind. Maybe she'd be able to convince him to partake in a sparring match at some point. It certainly would be entertaining to bring that visual to life. Of course, she would have to refrain from causing him any serious harm; he wouldn't be of much use if he was fatally wounded, now would he? Azula sighed as the loud banter and chatter from the arm wrestling tournament died down and the sudden silence brought her back to reality. The room was now empty, aside from herself, as everyone else must have filed out and gone to the meeting. For a moment, she was slightly offended. It was about them, after all. Why shouldn't they get to attend?

Whatever, she thought as she stood, collected her plates, and deposited them in a half-full bin where she assumed the dirty dishes were supposed to go. Afterwards, she stood alone in the cantina with her hands on her hips. For what seemed like the first time in her life, she was at a complete loss for what to do.

"Alright, everyone settle down and shut up. This meeting is now being called to order, so take a seat wherever." Jet stood at the front of the room in an authoritative manner and watched as his followers ceased their chatter and found seats in the benches and chairs around the room. He did not speak again until everyone was completely silent. "Okay, so I'm sure that the majority of you already has a general idea of what I want to talk to you about. You all saw our two 'guests' walk into camp yesterday, and you also probably saw them at breakfast this morning. You might be wondering why we have offered them such hospitality when we barely know anything about them. Considering their nationality, you might also be wondering why they're even still alive." At this, a few members of his audience sniggered, and he smirked. "Well, this is because our unlikely guests have informed me of something very important... And dangerous. Something that will change not just our lives, but the whole world's, too. Again." He took in the quirked eyebrows and frowns of confusion before dropping the bomb. "The new Fire Lord is planning another invasion."

He received a collection of gasps from his followers, and their expressions ranged from shocked, to angry, to appalled. There were a few stutters of protest, but overall, the entire crowd had temporarily become speechless. He himself had grown grimly serious during the pause in his speech.

"What the hell, Jet?" Smellerbee pitched forward in her seat, breaking the silence, her eyes wide with incredulity. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

He rolled his eyes as his arms crossed over his chest. "I only just found out last night."

"Well, what if Song and her dad are spies? Ever think of that?"

"Calm down, Bee. I have considered it, yes. And I know you all probably think I'm crazy for saying this, but I don't believe they are."

"Oh, really?"

Jet sighed. He understood where the skepticism was coming from, but he was still irritated that his judgment and decisions were being questioned. "Even if they were spies, they wouldn't have made up such an elaborate excuse for why they came here. The Fire Nation doesn't work that way. They like things to get done quickly and easily, more often than not with the element of surprise. They would have already known we'd suspect an ambush once we'd been found. And besides, think about it; why would they be coming after us, anyway? There really isn't any explanation as to why they would, unless they're still pissed about us ambushing them."

This realization seemed to smack a lot of his followers in the face and many expressions softened when they decided he had a point.

"Jet, what exactly is their elaborate excuse for being here? You've not yet told us."

He nodded in thanks to Longshot, one of the more levelheaded individuals in the room, for the reminder. "Sorry. Song and Letoh are here because they need our help. Letoh was in the military before they ran away and received a signed letter from Zuko himself, stating that another invasion is in the works. Little does the rest of the world know, a group of peace-loving rebels, such as ourselves, caused a rebellion in protest to the ongoing tyranny and landed themselves in a high-security prison just off the eastern coast of our kingdom. The Fire Nation has everyone convinced that it holds the most dangerous war criminals that could not be contained in the Boiling Rock, and anyone from their country who dares to say otherwise ends up there themselves. Song and Letoh are on their way there to free the rebels so they can take down Fire Lord Zuko and put a stop to the invasion. They have somehow managed to stumble upon our village, and asked for our help when I spoke to them last night."

"Wait, wait, wait," Smellerbee interjected once again, trying to make sense of the situation. "They want us... To help them... Free a bunch of their kind... To take down their own leader?"

"Yes."

She stared at Jet, completely baffled. "And... You think that we should?"

He stared right back, his jaw set determinedly. "Yes."

They looked at each other for a few more moments before Smellerbee collapsed against the back of her chair and emitted a defeated laugh. "Spirits, he's gone mad."

A few more of his followers had other questions, along the lines of When would we leave? How many of us have to go? How long would we be away from home? Will any of us die? and Are you sure we can trust these people?

He answered them as honestly as he could. When it came to the subject of death, he grimaced. He didn't like the idea of one of his followers being given a scrape on the knee by an enemy, let alone one of them being killed. He supposed having this attitude was hypocritical and conflicted with his belief that "death is the price of peace", but these were his brothers- and sister, in Smellerbee's case. He'd known mostly everyone, besides the newer lost souls that he had recruited, for years and cared more about them than anyone or anything else. Nothing could compare to his love for his Freedom Fighters... Nothing except his hatred for the Fire Nation and his everlasting loyalty to his country. It stuck him between a rock and a hard place.

But he knew that there were bigger and more important things to worry about than the preservation of his clan, like, say, the preservation of the entire world. If the Fire Nation succeeded, it would be just as bad as an apocalypse. Victory for Zuko meant defeat for everyone else. He had to be stopped, and if a few good men had to die in the process, then so be it.

"They're called chameleodoves."

Azula tensed at the sound of his voice, but otherwise did not so much as flinch or turn to face him, as she had been trained not to show surprise or fear when snuck up upon by an enemy, and though she didn't consider Jet to be an enemy, old habits died hard. She wasn't entirely surprised that he was there, as she had heard a faint rustling of leaves a few minutes before he decided to show himself, but she had passed it off as some kind of animal. She turned to look at him and could not help but smirk as she wondered how long he'd been watching her.

"Strange little creatures," she noted as she eyed the winged lizard in one of the cages that hung from the branches above. "I've never seen one before."

He took a few leisurely steps towards her. "They're native to the Earth Kingdom. Specifically, this forest. You wouldn't find them anywhere else, unless one of them happened to wander off into a village nearby. Sometimes people will manage to catch them and keep them as pets or couriers for their letters. They can be trained just as easily as any other type of messenger bird. They're awfully smart."

"How fascinating."

He grinned and continued with his nature lesson. "They're dying out, though. We've been trying to catch them and help them re-populate. Longshot's in charge of the project. I'll have to tell him these little guys are waiting for him." He quirked a brow at her. "I heard you two met."

A small, tight-lipped smile spread across Azula's face and she folded her hands behind her back. "Oh, yes. We've been acquainted. Though I must say, he certainly didn't do a whole lot of talking."

Jet snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, amused. "He never really does. I suspect Smellerbee made up for it though."

At this, Azula could not stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Jet, I've never met someone as talkative and, and, and snoopy-"

The rogue teenager laughed, and the vibrations caused that funny little blade of sweet grass to tremble. Azula briefly wondered what it tasted like.

"She means well. Since she's a girl, she thinks she has to prove to everyone how tough she is, even though no one actually doubts her."

Sound like anyone you know? Came that haunting, motherly voice in her head. She quickly brushed the thought away.

"Oh, I completely understand. Almost every girl is like that at her age. I've been told I was." She spat that last sentence out a little more bitingly that necessary and pushed all thoughts of Ursa to the dark cell in the back of her mind, locking them in.

"I can believe it. What brought you all the way out here, anyway?"

"I just thought I'd go for a walk, seeing as there isn't much to do around here. And what do you mean, you can believe it?"

His hand flew to his chest and his mouth gaped in mock offense. "You mean to tell me that my camp does not rise to the standards of a fair lady such as yourself? I am astonished!" His arm dropped back down to his side. "And I just meant that it isn't hard to believe that you would try to prove your worth to people who aren't questioning it. Your entire nation is like that."

Azula crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes, feeling slightly insulted for some reason. "So you think that because I come from the Fire Nation, I must be like all the others you've encountered from my homeland?"

"No. I'm just saying that it's understandable that you would have that same quality as all the others I've encountered."

She frowned. "I'm not entirely certain what you mean." Azula was confused. She didn't like that.

Jet sighed tiredly and shrugged. "When the war was still going on, the armies that invaded our kingdom were way more brutal and violent than necessary. Our civilians already feared you. You were already considered a threat. There was no need to hurt so many of our people."

"Well, we had to show you who was boss."

His head jerked back slightly and a look of angry confusion spread across his face. "I thought you were against the war? Why are you defending what your country did?"

For a moment, Azula was surprised that she'd broken character. That had indeed been a very un-Song-like thing to say... She flipped her irritatingly short hair out of her face and shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, very displeased with herself after what she'd just said. "Oh, so now it's what my country did, not what I did?"

There, she thought victoriously, Let's turn it around on him. She still wasn't sure why it upset her that he saw her as a representative for everything her country, her father, did. She should have been proud that he saw her that way, as she personally believed that everything Ozai had ordered to be done was for the greater good.

"Well, I-" Jet stuttered and stumbled over his words. "That's what I meant."

"No, it wasn't. You look at me and you see all the panic, chaos, and ruin the Fire Nation armies have inflicted upon your people." She quirked a brow and paused for dramatic effect. "And yet, you still volunteered to help me take down the man who wants to do it all again. In that light, you see me as a noble, brave girl who wants to help the world get back on its feet, right?" She paused again, waiting for an answer, and took his downcast eyes as a sign to continue. "So, tell me; how can these two very different versions of myself exist at once?"

Jet slowly lifted his head to look at her, all traces of his previously friendly demeanor having been replaced by cold indifference.

"The meeting today went well and in your favor. We leave tomorrow at dawn."

With that, he was gone.

A/N: Welp, I finally updated! Sorry this chapter took so long. I haven't been feeling well. I don't necessarily mean that I've been sick, although, actually, I have been- just last week I was literally puking so badly that eventually nothing but bile or stomach acid was being hurled into the garbage bin and my throat burned with the nasty taste- TMI, right? But I've also been in a sort of depressed slump since I last updated and haven't been in the mood to write, and being in the mood is essential for putting out a good chapter. But, this one is extra long, I think! So there's that. I'm thinking about actually doing a few drabbles for Zutara week this year also, so let me know if you'd be interested in those as well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and let me know how this story is developing in a review! Au revoir :)