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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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As far as philosphy went, in the Fire Nation anyway it was a pretty weak belief. But part of it rung in Azula's ears. Why was she so obsessed with the past? It had made her who she was yes but...was there really a future for her after all of that?

It seemed impossible. Crazy. But then again wasn't she?

"You're lucky I allow you to keep trying. If you really believe in me so much you'll be absolutely destroyed if you fail in your quest." A pause as she seemed to consider if she wouldn't mind seeing Kaya utterly broken emotionally. She didn't say anything though.

"I admit it wouldn't be something I'd want to deal with. I don't know if you've noticed, but the people from our world came and went pretty quickly, like the ship was still deciding if they were what was needed. But you and me and Nima and Zuko are still here, so I guess we still have parts to play."

Granted, there was still some stuff involved there about souls, but she knew precious little about that, or cared. It just sounded like craziness.

"How fortunate for me, that you allow me to dare to care for you." Really, was she serious with this still?

"Useless insane creature that thinks she can play god. The ship is more unstable then I am." Azula dismissed any thought that there was a real plan behind it.

"I'm glad you understand." And she reached out to stroke Kaya's cheek "Maybe someday you'll finally understand why my title is important too. But I won't hold my breath."

"You're wrong. She's not trying to play god: she's trying to be everyone's mother, and that's worse. A god doesn't have to care about what other people think and does whatever it wants. If she thought like, we would all be in a much worse place."

The stroke was a surprise, though. She almost flinched, then realized it was Azula, that she wouldn't harm her unless she felt no choice but to, and knew she wouldn't get in trouble.

"Somehow I doubt that," she said, but she didn't completely with that either. Azula's title likely WAS important: it was all she had to remember of her world.

"Mothers are overrated." Auzla growled Kaya having inadvertently stumbled onto one of her triggers. She resumed leaning almost possessively on the tower that she had procured.

"Not always," Kaya said quietly, thinking of all the ship mothers she'd had or had been. "Sometimes they turn out being exactly what you need at the time."

"Such a charmed existence you lead." Azula deadpanned not wanting to waste their time with that particular argument. Neither of them would budge on that subject she could already tell.

"Really? They're gone now, so...its not as charmed as one might think. Sometimes I get scared I'll forget their names one day, and all they meant. The ship can mess with memories, after all."

"It will either destroy you inside or harden you." Azula dismissed and then added, "And yes, I'm well aware "Katara."

Kaya winced. Of course Azula was likely to get a kick out of that which was painful to her, but that was nothing new, was it?

"I've been harden much more than I expected, in all the time being here."

"But not hard enough if I can still make you wince with just a word." She pointed out. "Someone will use that to destroy your heart. Break your spirit. Then you're no good to any of us." Nice to see she had such faith inn Kaya's strength.

"I'm allowed to feel something about all that," Kaya said. "At the very least, it makes me remember I can rise above it. No one, and I mean no one, can break my spirit. Not after everything I've been through."

Still hurt sometimes though.

"Never say never. I would have said the same thing a few months before..." And they both saw how that turned out.

"And I've been here a very, very long time, Azula, and have seen many things. If I were going to lose my sense of self, I would have already. For now, I'm just working to help the others on the ship deal with the next crisis."

"You're tempting fate." Azula smirked faintly, "After all the bridge that has seen a thousand storms may still crumble after 1001. That sounds like something Uncle would say at least."

"Heh, yeah, it really is," Kaya said, thinking about Iroh a moment. "and I might actually take that seriously if I didn't have that family I do on the ship, or a boyfriend who lives every day with recklessness I almost envy. They keep me pretty grounded."

"Your faith in others. Just another weakness that can be exploited. Adn when they fail you it will hurt all the more." Azula countered. She may not have had anyone in her life but at least that meant she couldn't be betrayed either.

"It doesn't make me weak. I've learned, time and again, that having faith in people does the opposite. That, and I've learned how to separate what I need to if people at large need to be saved. It doesn't mean I have to be heartless."

"Time will tell." Azula tried to force the topic closed because...once again she knen Kaya would never realize she was right until it was too late. It was frustrating though. Why did it seem like Kaya only was willing to believe what she believed and force it on Azula. Was every aspect of her life so impossible to believe as true? How could anyone expect her to just roll over and change how she felt about everything?

"Honestly, I hope it doesn't go in that direction," Kaya confessed. "But then there's a lot on the ship that needs to change before we'e even ready to face our enemies. I know it just sounds like we're casually discussing, but I'm really worried about what happens to people when they choose not to get involved and do everything they can. I still...I still haven't taken a life yet, a human life."

Azula looked curiously, "Still? Then can you really say you've done everything you can? Has there never been a case where it would have benefited the mission?"

"Somehow I never had to," Kaya said. "Every mission is different. And the thing is, there are several ways I know to kill someone. That's the scary part. I don't want to be someone who will kill at the drop of a hat. but I have killed Ohm before. I'm not sure what that makes me."

"It makes you incomplete as a warrior." Azula stated as if it were obvious. "If you're going to act like a solider then you should be the best one you can and that means having no qualms about torture or killing an enemy." So sayth the Fire Nation.

Kaya sighed. "I don't kill unless I have to, and so far, I haven't had no choice yet. Missions can't just have impromptu killing: they need to be thought out and precise. If someone, for instance, was going to kill you in cold blood, I would kill them first."

And you can just forget torture. She hoped.

"If that's true then the time will come, however if the opportunity was there and it actually would have helped and you didn't do it? You may have made things more difficult for everyone. War is about sacrifice. The important thing is making sure your enemy sacrifices more then you have to."

And as far as she was concerned? Kaya might be better off not saving her life. But if that's what she wanted Azula wouldn't stop her.