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Of all the inane and stupid items to come across in her wanderings...

It stood about chest high on her with little grips on either side and buttons at it's base with familiar faces on it. Tentatively she pushed one of the buttons and sure enough a little doll popped out with her face.

It was far more beautiful a face then she remembered, but then again the game had been designed by people who were loyal to the Fire Nation. And there was no greater hero to the Fire Nation then their princess...except of course the Fire Lord.

Another button press brought her a doll of her brother and she placed them in the pegs on top of the small tower. Their feet clicked into place perfectly. It was like not a day had passed.

With a sullen and half hearted smile she tapped the button once, twice, three times watching the little doll punch her brother in the face. It was oddly soothing.

But how to get it back to the air temple from the city?

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Kaya looked startled. "Really? Tell me about it."

Azula sighed and had to close her eyes to focus.

"We were all there. Zuzu, Mai, Ty Lee and myself. We decide to mingle amongst the commoners. But I suppose we were just too...mature for them. In the end their childish entertainments were boring, their lack of respect frustrating and rude." She smirked a wicked smirk remembering the revenge they had taken.

"I think they probably would remember that party till the Ohm destroyed them."

That sounded disturbing of course, and she figured there was probably more to it than that, but it was Azula's version, wasn't it?

"Maybe things will be different this time. You'd be surprised how you'd look at things after being on a ship like this for so long. Then again, that depends on if we get out of here."

"I don't really think there will be an end to this war." Azula dismissed without much care in her voice. "I believe that it is the hope that keeps our undisciplined in line. We will either die on this ship or some planet. Perhaps we'll find a new home. But to hope things will return is inviting a crushing disappointment."

And she'd had enough of those.

"Of course there'll be an end to the war," Kaya said. "It'll end when we defeat to the Ohm, or they kill us. Unlike some people though, I'm not content in thinking my skills are good enough to defeat them. I'm going to continue to train and learn and grow stronger. When the time comes for the war, I'll be ready to win or to die trying."

"You're thinking about traditional wars though. This is a war unlike anything we have ever known. Even after all this time. The brightest among us can only imagine what the ext world will be like, what technology or magic holds this ship together. It stands to reason that this war is different too."

Reason, oh how she missed reason.

"I've already seen several battles, including an invasion by the Ohm," Kaya said. "I'm not ruling out what you say though: there's no doubt that this fight will be one to end all fights. I've spent a vast amount of time looking up different battles, watching what happened in them. Whatever worked in other worlds won't work easily here."

Kaya had thought about this a long time. "But we should prepare ourselves too, for anything."

"Including a war with no end? Or that we may never get our worlds back?" Azula offered with spite in her voice.

"Everything ends eventually. As for never getting our world back...I've prepared myself for that end. I'm not someone who's going to ever allow themselves to be miserable just because I live in an unfamiliar place. I'll find a way, don't you worry. And I think you would too, in time. But there will be an end to the war, I promise you that."

"I'm not going to argue with you about every little thing I believe." Azula sighed the perpetually nosy watertribe girl working her willpower to exhaustion. "At this point the question of who is and isn't sane on this ship is too hard to settle."

"I wasn't arguing, but if you say so," Kaya said. "But I think I can agree with you on the last part, mostly. I think for you to say that, you might actually want to meet more of the people on the ship. It's much more diverse than you think, and you'll be surprised at what you find."

Almost instinctively, her hands fumbled around Pactio card.

"I've met and seen more then you might imagine." She shrugged. "Probably more then I remember..." She didn't want to focus on the time she's lost to this point. "But every new face feels like a threat."

"Not to me," Kaya said firmly, remembering all the people she'd met and all the ways they had touched her and made her happy. "But maybe you see that as an asset somehow. If you don't get attached to any of them, you don't have to feel bad if they disappear."

"Of course." Azula lied fairly easily but settled her eyes on Kaya, "One of the benefits of being a selfish monster. If you're already disappointed with humanity as a whole then they can't keep disappointing you." Though it still bothered her in ways she didn't want to think about to know Mai was gone...again.

"I'll miss them," Kaya said quietly. "It's getting to the point that all I can do is just miss the people that leave anyway. But at least Zuko is still here, and you and Nima. We can still keep our world alive in our own way."

And she didn't believe you for a second, Azula.

"Oh yes, thank goodness my brother, the one person I loath more then anyone from home is still wandering about in sullen silence while my former friend and he only one out of all of you with any sense is back in a slimy covered pod." Azula rolled her eyes inadvertantly tipping her hand.

"Oh right, the whole we should have killed you thing, I forgot," Kaya said, rolling her eyes right back. She was very VERY tempted to tell Azula exactly what else Mai had done before being put back into the pods, but something like that would have sent her emotions in a tailspin.

"He's still family, no matter what you say. You must feel something besides hate for him."

"You could at least PRETEND to have some respect for how much of a threat I am." Azula grumbled feeling a fresh wave of disrespect come crashing over her from the eye roll.

"I feel pity for him." She answered blandly, "He was never meant for the pressures of leadership. Ad he'll never be able to forgive himself for his mistakes. He may claim to be free of his need for validation but he lies."

Of course she would be upset by Kaya's eyeroll and not realize she had done the very thing a moment ago.

"The whole reason we're having this conversation is because you are a threat," Kaya said, shaking her head, "and you did that the moment you attacked Mia and Zuko on the ship. We didn't get to dictate the terms of what happened to you, YOU did. The ship council didn't ask what we thought about anything because they assumed we would be biased. So look at where we are now."

She shrugged. "He'll be taking on a new set of problems when he goes back home, if it happens. How couldn't he? The nations are free, they HATE anything having to do with the Fire nation and there's going to be a lot of internal struggles within his own nation. not ruling over people with an iron fist always takes getting used to."

"Then stop acting like it's foolish to say that my death is the wrong answer. It would have saved you all alot of pain." She shot back. Even having a civil conversation wasn't enough to stop that concept in her mind.

"You forget how many of our people hate him and loved me and my father. Calling them "struggles" is being generous. He'll be lucky to avoid revolt. Especially when the people see he's just a tool of the Avatar."

"The one you cause pain to are the people who actually want to help you. Yes, Mai thought the easiest way to handle this was to kill you. Do you really want that to be the case? Let's face it Azula: half of this is your own contempt at yourself for failing anyway. You don't HAVE to want revenge, but you do it anyway. It's not a way to live, trust me."

Not that she thought she could change the firebender's mind anyway. "He'll have to deal with that, yes, but he'll be doing that on his own. It's unfair to think he'll just be a tool of the Avatar. He's capable of his own thoughts."

Azula didn't seem impressed, but at least she was keeping her temper in check "And just how often have you felt the urge for revenge peasant? More importantly, how often have you gotten it?"

At Kaya's defense of her brother "But the people don't see that. They see a shamed boy who betrayed his family and his Nation."

"You mean besides when someone calls me peasant?" Kaya said icily. "I've had my moments. Believe me, the only reason you even get a lecture from me is because I've been here long enough to know pain and hate and anger and conquer those emotions. It's never easy."

She looked deep in thought. "Some might. But I think most of your nation is waiting, waiting to see if Zuko will show them something they've missed for a long time."

"It can be easy with the right inspiration." And oh did Azula have PLENTY of that.

Her voice was very stiff and cold when she finally answered. "And just what would that be?" Her answer could be the final word in this time of peace they were sharing.

"Trust me, I'm aware," Kaya said. "Just because I'm composed and not trying to kill everything I see doesn't mean I don't have moments of wanting revenge. I just have to restrain myself."

She stretched. "Cooperation. Faith that peace with all the nations will restore balance to it, and once that happens, that all nations will flourish on their own and learn about it. Once upon a time, that was how things were, and Zuko has faith it could be like that again. None of this peasant stuff, or Fire Nation superiority or class divisions like in Ba Sing Se."