“It wasn't meant to be a weapon,” Aang said, looking almost ill. “It was for spiritual healing. But he- it twists you, if you use it wrong.”

“Father was pretty twisted to begin with,” Azula pointed out, gesturing towards Zuko's face. “Somehow I don't think that was much of a problem for him.”

Zuko scowled at her, but didn't say anything.

Aang paced. “To bend another's spirit, you have to be unbendable,” he said. “That's what the lion-turtle said.”

“Then be less bendable than he is,” Katara suggested. “Don't be frightened. Don't give in.”

Azula shot her an irritated look. “It isn't that easy,” she said. “I would know.”

Katara raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“He took my bending for a while,” Azula said, trying to pass it off casually. “When I'd failed one too many times.”

“That's awful,” Aang said, with a look of horror.

Azula shrugged. “He gave it back,” she said, and wondered why she was trying to make excuses for him. She didn't owe him any loyalty anymore.

“I can't even imagine,” Katara said, and Azula wished she hadn't said anything. Aang's horror had been understandable. Katara's compassion, though, was unpredictable and unwelcome. Katara imagined that she could tell what people were feeling. Katara thought she understood. But her attempts at kindness just made everything worse if they did anything at all. Azula didn't trust kindness.

“I'm fine,” Azula said, because that was the fastest way to get Katara to leave her alone. “Let's stick to the issue at hand, shall we? His ability to take away bending is only an issue if he captures us. I have no intention of letting that happen.”

The look in Katara's eyes didn't fade. Azula wanted to hit her, to make it go away.

She took a breath, instead, and looked away. “We need to infiltrate the compound. Quietly.”

She pulled out a sheet of paper. The plans of the compound, as best she remembered them. Which was pretty well. She'd been paying attention, after all.

“There are guards at the entrances,” she said. “They'll have guns, and knives as well. None of them will be benders, though, and none are especially well-trained in hand-to-hand combat. If we can disable the guns, they'll be easy targets.”

“What about inside?” Sokka asked. “More guards?”

“Of course,” Azula said. “They patrol the hallways at regular intervals. There are also security cameras, but I plan to disable those before we attempt to enter.”

“How?”

“The compound doesn't have its own generator. I'll take out the power. A quick bolt of lightning to the lines outside should look natural enough. There's a storm predicted in two days.”

Sokka nodded, satisfied with that part of the plan. “How many guards did you say were inside?”

“Approximately twenty,” she said. In truth, there were more like ten, but she would rather they prepare for the worst. Father could have increased security since she'd left. He'd had time to recruit- and his cause was popular, these days. He wouldn't have any trouble finding willing volunteers.

“How many prisoners?” Toph said. “Can we count on them to fight for us? Could we start a prison riot?”

She looked entirely too excited at the idea.

“The number of prisoners varies,” Azula said. “It isn't easy to capture benders. And they're mostly cleared out when father comes through. There might be five, or there might be fifteen. Maybe as many as twenty if we're lucky. But none of them will be in a condition to help us. If they're still benders, they'll be in chains. If they aren't, then it really depends. They might be able to walk out under their own power. But that's about as much as we can count on.”

She didn't look at Katara, because she knew she'd see pity there.

“We can free the prisoners once we've disabled all the guards,” she continued. “The nearest reinforcements should be about an hour away. We'll have to hurry, but we should be able to get the prisoners out.”

She pulled out more paper. “The next question, of course, is where to keep them after we've rescued them...”