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Chapter Text

Zuko had been banished.

It had happened that very afternoon. Azula knew he had deserved it, he had always been weaker and softer than he was supposed to be. He was certainly softer than herself or their father. The ordeal before his banishment had been quite the spectacle, and Azula had watched the whole thing, smiling through it all. She, along with everyone else, knew she was better than her older brother. Everyone else that mattered knew it, anyways. Still, seeing her father show so blatantly and publicly what he thought of the crown prince had been quite satisfying. Jarring, but satisfying.

However, that night, it started to seem more jarring than satisfying.

The eleven year old princess fell asleep to visions of standing by her father’s side as the world burned around them. His hand was on her shoulder, and he was proud of her for all the hard work she had put in for the nation. It was just the two of them, and Azula knew she was more than capable of achieving enough to make up for Zuko’s removal.

Azula smiled at the roaring flames around her and tilted her head back to look into her father’s face, which she hoped would be smiling back at her. However, instead of a loving smile, she saw a fierce glare.

He ripped his hand away from her shoulder, growling, “You have failed me. You must learn respect.” Azula watched as the fire circling them was sucked into his palm, creating a smaller flame balanced in his hand. He started to lower his hand towards Azula’s face, and she felt the heat begin to lick at the ends of her hair. Her father’s powerful glare had faded into indifference, which was somehow even worse.

“Father,” Azula pleaded, “I would never disrespect you. I’m not Zuko, I’m your daughter.”

Ozai was now holding his fiery palm against the smooth skin of her face, and although the flame was alarmingly hot and her hair was on fire, it didn’t hurt. Azula just gazed into her father’s cold, fierce eyes.

Azula woke with a start, her thin frame curled and twisted around her blankets. She was panting, and she reached up to touch the right side of her face where the fire had been in her dream. She touched her smooth cheek, and her fingers came away wet with tears. Disgusted, she growled and untangled herself from the thin sheet. She stood firmly at her bedside, taking in the spacious, empty room around her. She blew some hair out of her face and put one hand on her hip. Well, now that she was up, perhaps she could get some planning done.

She grabbed a hairbrush from her bedside table and ran it through her hair a few times. She rarely brushed her hair on her own, so she soon grew frustrated by the way the brush caught in the snarls formed by tossing and turning in her sleep. She slammed the brush back down, and instead tied her hair away from her face at the nape of her neck. She was going to have to learn to do her own hair one of these days. She supposed, as the princess, she didn’t truly need to, but the independence would be empowering, in a way.

Just as she was about to walk out for a stroll around the palace, she heard a sound coming from her sitting room. She spun around, listening intently. It came again, and it sounded like the voice of a boy. Her heart was hammering in her chest, but she was careful not to show any fear. Fear was weakness, and when dealing with an adversary, you couldn’t show them any weakness. She summoned a flame in her hand, and held it far out in front of her, creeping towards her sitting room.

Once she was at the doorway, the voice came again, and she could just make out what he was saying, “Azula? Azula, get out of my room!” She knew exactly who it was.

Her flame lit up the room just enough to make out an outline of her brother, his arms crossed stiffly and his hair down around his shoulders. Against her will, the hand holding the flame began to shake, and it flared up a bit, creating a brighter flame. She was now able to make out Zuko’s scowl and his dao blades tied at his hip. She never understood why her brother was so interested in knives. Perhaps it was because he was such an inferior firebender, but surely that only meant he should spend more time trying to master his element, not waste time playing with swords. Their father didn't know about his twin swords, and although Azula had taunted Zuko with threats to tell him, she never did.

“Zuko?” Azula breathed, and she heard her voice shake. She drew herself up to her full height to gather her courage, and snapped, “This isn’t your room, Zuzu, it’s mine. You shouldn’t be here anyways…” She trailed off, because it was at that moment that she realized that Zuko’s face was unmarred. Just this afternoon, she had seen her brother’s left side get terrifically burned. She had heard him scream and watched as he clutched his face and fell to the ground. She remember how, when their father took his hand away, the fire didn’t immediately go out, instead it had flared hotter with Zuko’s yell and the flames had spread to Zuko’s neck and across his hair. She remembered how Zuko lay curled around himself on the ground as Ozai walked away. Azula remembered how she had smiled viciously while watching.

Still, an unharmed Zuko was standing here, in her room, when Azula knew he should be halfway out of the Fire Nation by now, maybe even already in the Earth Kingdom. “No, it’s not, it’s mine. Get out of here!” Zuko yelled, just as hot headed as he had been a week ago. Zuko became more insufferable everyday, as far as Azula was concerned. It usually made it easier to tease and get a rise out of him, but right now, Azula was having trouble responding at all.

She squeezed her eyes shut, so tightly that white spots began to stand out in the darkness behind her eyelids. When she opened her eyes again, Zuko was gone. She gasped and her fire went out. She didn’t bother lighting it again.

However, she suddenly remembered her plan to go for a walk, and she almost ran to the heavy metal door at the entrance to her chambers. She flung the door open, and was surprised to find her nose right up against a guard’s back. The guard spun around and bowed low to Azula, removing her elaborate helmet to do so.

“Your highness,” She said, respectfully.

“Hm,” Azula replied, hoping she wasn’t white as a sheet. Well, this was new. Normally the guards were several paces away from her room, not blocking the exit outright. This one was nearly invading her private quarters.

“Out of my way,” Azula demanded, surprised that the guard was still hovering right in front of her.

“Princess, please return to bed, it’s very late.” The guard was still bowing, so Azula was staring at the top of her head. She noticed there was a mole nestled in the part of her hair, and she smirked at the imperfection.

By the time she spoke again, however, all traces of the smirk were gone. “I’d like to go for a late night walk. Out of my way,” Azula repeated. When the guard stayed frozen, Azula sighed dramatically, and added, “You may rise.”

The guard stood, but did not yield. Azula glared at her, about to pull rank, but another two guards stepped into view; apparently they had been flanking the entrance.

“Your highness,” One of the new guards greeted her, this one had large, distracting nostrils, flaring out from his nose. “We have strict orders to protect you, and to keep you safe you must stay in your chambers at night.”

Azula scoffed, “What is the meaning of this sudden security increase?” Recalling today’s events and her unsettling vision, she said haughtily, “Oh, I assume this has something to do with Zuko?”

The three guards bristled and exchanged glances. While Azula knew exactly what had happened to her brother and why, she was aware that the specifics of the disgraced prince’s banishment were being kept under wraps.

“Well, yes, your highness,” Mole-Scalp said. “After Prince Zuko’s banishment, we’ve had to increase security considerably.”

“Why?” Azula asked, genuinely confused, but she disguised it with arrogance. “Are you worried he’ll try to attack me? He’s long gone.” The three guards didn’t respond. They just stared at the young princess as she spoke. “Even if he was nearby, Zuzu has neither the guts nor the skills to even get to me, let alone best me in a fight, if it came to it. Though,” She added thoughtfully, “I doubt I’ll ever even see him again, let alone fight him.” She laughed. She supposed that wasn’t the reason security had increased; everyone just felt a bit disoriented after the prince had been banished. Still, she enjoyed having the three frightened faces fixed on her. So, she pressed on, “And you would do well to stop referring to my brother as the ‘prince’. Zuko is a dishonorable outcast; he reflects badly on our nation.”

“Your highness, if I may,” The third guard spoke, this one had a large gap between his two front teeth. Azula was surprised by the quality of the guards chosen to watch over the princess of the Fire Nation. She would have to ask for some new ones. “I understand there is a condition that may allow… your brother to return someday. I don’t quite know what it is, but he’s not necessarily gone forever.”

His two companions shot him identical worried looks, but Azula smiled. “Oh yes, there is a condition. As soon as Zuzu captures the avatar,” Azula let out a bark of laughter at this, “Then he’ll be allowed to come back, he’ll get his honor back and you,” She pointed aggressively at Gap-Tooth, “will get to call him ‘Prince Zuko’ again. But, until then, drop the title.” The guards’ jaws all dropped and they stared at the princess, not even bothering to conceal their alarm. It was true, it was less of a “condition” of banishment and more of a wild herring-goose chase to keep the adolescent busy, or perhaps just a cruel joke. Azula knew this, as did her father, she was sure, and Zuko probably knew it too. But Azula knew her brother too well; that boy was going to spend the rest of his life tracking down the non-existent avatar, and for some reason, Azula wasn’t exactly sure what to feel about that.

Realizing the guards were never going to let her out, and wanting to end the conversation on her own terms, Azula turned on her heel and locked herself in her chambers.

~ ~ ~

The instant the sun poked into the sky at the horizon, Azula marched out past her guards. There was no window in her chambers, but, powerful firebender that she was, Azula could feel the sun’s rays filling her with their power as soon as day broke. As she strode down the passage just outside her room, she realized there were far more guards than she had accounted for last night. They lined the hallways more densely than ever before. How had she not noticed last night? Azula was a perceptive girl, surely she should have taken note of a change like this, and yet, she had missed it entirely. What else had she missed? The notion that she had been missing important details for all of her life unnerved her. Azula silently vowed that she would never let anything escape her notice again.

Today she was having breakfast with her father. Two days ago, she had eaten with both her father and Zuko. Three years ago, both her parents and her brother had sat at the same table to eat. How time could change things.

As she turned into a new corridor, she heard a voice coming from a stairwell. This time, she recognized him right away: it was Zuko, and he was crying. If it weren’t for the fear that was starting to overtake Azula, she would have been disgusted. Crying was for the weak; and Zuko’s soft sobs were especially pathetic. Steeling herself, she scoffed at the crying Zuko, trying not to wonder how he could be both here, and in a crumby old navy vessel floating in Earth Kingdom waters at once.

“Azula? Is that you?” She heard footsteps as from the stairwell. “Please, get uncle, I need help,” He said, his tears making his voice thick.

Azula backed away from the staircase, a creepy feeling rising the hair on the back of her neck. “Go away. You’re not supposed to be here,” She snapped, keeping her voice powerful and cool. Surely, she had control of this situation.

Then, her brother stepped out of the shadows. His face wasn’t smooth and unmarked anymore, and Azula had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from crying out. She supposed this was actually what Zuko looked like right now. She hadn’t got a clear look at her brother’s face yesterday; there had been too much fire and Zuko had fallen to the ground, his face in his hands, but now… Now his face was waxy and so bright red, except for a ring around his eye which was brown. His skin was lumpy and uneven, blood and puss oozed out at the edges of his wound. His skin had been flayed away and she was staring at the too-thin barrier of skin keeping his face together. It was so red, that it almost looked like his eye was still on fire. Tears tracked down the unharmed side of his face.

“Do something!” He demanded, his breath hitching, taking another step towards her.

Azula didn’t realize she had been backing away from the boy, her brother, until she bumped into the wall behind her. Breathing hard, she edged along the wall, continuing the way she had been going before. Zuko didn’t take his eyes off her as she crept away. Somehow, both golden irises followed her movements, although the skin around his left eye was terribly warped, surely interfering with his sight. Azula felt real fear dig into her very bones, and she turned away from her disfigured brother and bolted down the hallway.

“Azula!” He cried. She ran faster; she had always been faster than Zuko, she could outrun him.

“Princess Azula!” His voice was no farther away, even though surely she should have been able to put some distance between them. She skidded around a corner, still heading towards the breakfast room.

“Your highness, please stop!” Your highness? Zuko would never call her that. Azula had occasionally used his title to irritate him soon after their father became Firelord, but Zuko never returned the insult. Careful not to slow down, she peaked over her shoulder. Instead of a strange version of her older brother, she saw Scalp-Mole, the guard, running after her. Relief hit her in waves and she slowed down, turning all the way around to face the guard.

Mole-Scalp jogged up to stand in front of Azula, panting. “Your highness, what happened? Did something frighten you?”

Azula ignored the question. “You followed me all the way here from my room.”

The guards pants were lessening. “Yes your highness, my orders are to protect you.”

“Hm,” Azula frowned. Why on Earth had her father decided Azula needed more protection? There was nothing new to protect her from. (Well, not that her father knew of. Considering Zuko’s recent appearances, she thought perhaps she wasn’t as safe as she thought.) She decided not to raise hell about this intrusion of privacy in the name of security. At least, not right now. She turned on her heel and kept walking.

“Your highness, what was it that frightened you? I need to know so I can properly protect you.”

Azula responded with a question of her own. “Guard, have you been watching me carefully?”

“Of course your highness,” She was quick to answer. “I haven’t let you out of my sight since this morning.”

How odd. Azula thought. So the guard had not seen Zuko come out of the stairwell, begging for help. What did that mean?

Before she could try to unpack that, she realized once again she had not noticed something else: the guard had been following her for several minutes. She felt an uneasy feeling climb in her stomach, and she squared her shoulders, her eyes darting side to side as she walked, doing her best to take everything in. She had only just made the promise to be more perceptive, and she was already failing.

The guard did not ask what Azula any more questions, realizing that the young princess was never going to answer. Instead, she loosely followed her to breakfast.

~ ~ ~

Her father wasn’t at the table. She asked a servant by the door if the Fire Lord was to be joining her, but the servant didn’t know. Azula slowly sat at her usual place at the low table. She had never eaten breakfast alone before. Just yesterday she had silently dined with Zuko before he went to that war meeting. She wondered if he had been planning on wrestling his way in as they were sitting here, but she shook off that thought. Zuko’s decision making process was rash, the thought had probably occurred to him as he passed the war room. She chuckled, wishing he was there so she could say the insult aloud, but she quickly shook off that thought, too.

Usually, she ate with her brother and her father, and two years ago, she had eaten all her meals with both her parents and Zuko. They weren’t exactly happy memories, but still, a shadow of nostalgia pricked at her heart.

Frowning at this sudden inner softness, she picked up a piece of buttered bread and bit into it neatly.

Chapter Text

A twelve-year-old Azula practiced her fire bending forms with deadly precision. Her blue flames flared out all around the courtyard as she kicked and leapt and punched. Narrow plumes of fire shot out of her manicured fingers ferociously, her expression deadened. When she landed her next shot perfectly, she allowed a small, cold smile to grace her lips. Before continuing, she flattened her features back to indifference, then methodically took three steps, and jumped into the air with a spin. As she ascended, she faced her ancient mentors, Lo and Li, and was shocked to find a third woman standing at their side. A woman who was all too familiar for Azula’s liking.

In the next instant, she was falling out of the air and landing on her rear in the dust, her eyes fixed on her mother. Ursa didn’t respond to Azula’s stumble, keeping her deeply sad expression. But Azula knew that Ursa was gone. Not just gone, but surely dead. Azula squeezed her eyes shut.

She heard Lo, or perhaps Li, say, “Princess Azula? Are you alright?”

Azula slowly opened her eyes. Thankfully, her mother was gone, but Azula could still feel the disappointment Ursa had in her daughter hanging in the space Ursa had just vacated. Azula couldn't take her eyes off of that spot of dead air, even as she felt the pair of elderly women staring at her. They hadn’t stepped onto the courtyard, but they seemed concerned, much to Azula’s disgust.

She got to her feet, trying to act collected before she had the chance to collect herself, adjusting her cuffs and dusting off her pants. She knew if she scrambled to an upright position, the dignity of standing would be offset by her obvious haste, and momentary struggle, to get there.

As she spoke, she set to making sure every hair was back into place. “I’m fine, thank you. I’ll do the set again tonight.” And she turned to leave the courtyard.

Li spoke, “Princess, you have half an hour more of your lesson.”

Azula stiffened. She didn’t give Lo and Li the pleasure of turning to face them. “As princess of the Fire Nation, I outrank you. I can arrange my schedule however I like. I will see you again tonight before the sun sets for the remainder of my lesson.” She waited for them to acquiesce.

They didn’t. “Princess Azula, your father gave us full control over your training so that you may become the strongest you can possibly be. While it’s true that you outrank us, we all must obey the Fire Lord.”

Azula stood at the edge of the courtyard, staring at the outdoor walkway that would take her to her meditation room. She caught a glimpse of Mole-Scalp, who still followed her around everywhere, waiting under the narrow, red roof.
 

Azula turned back to Lo and Li, keeping up her collected demeanor now that she had fixed her hair. “Very well.” She marched forward and lined her feet up carefully in the packed dirt, breathing in deeply before summoning her fire and going through the motions of her fire bending form.

 ~ ~ ~

The next day, Azula stood on the steps of the palace, facing the large, barren courtyard. It wasn’t the same courtyard she used to practice in; this one was enormous, surrounded by the palace walls, but open to the sky. Despite its design, which made it perfect for an Agni Kai, it was usually used for addressing the public. She had crouched right where she was standing now on her grandfather’s funeral, excited for the change that was coming, even as she forced her mother out of her mind.

All the way across the vast courtyard, she saw her friends, Mai and Ty Lee, approaching, their parents trailing behind them. It had been almost a year and a half since she’d last seen her friends, and she smiled wide enough to show her teeth when they reached her on the landing.

“Hello girls!” She said, it what she hoped was a bright tone. Actually, it came off a little menacing, but Mai and Ty Lee didn’t seem disturbed. At least, not by that. Both girls had been eyeing her warily from halfway across the courtyard, and their suspicious expressions still hung on their faces.

They stood in silence for too long, but then Ty Lee broke into a wide smile and jumped forward to hug Azula. When Ty Lee’s arms wrapped around her neck, Azula realized she hadn’t hugged anyone since the last time Ty Lee visited, and she hugged her friend back tightly.

“Azula!” Ty Lee held onto Azula’s hands even as they stepped apart. “I’ve missed you! How are you?”

“Never better,” Azula replied, releasing Ty Lee’s hands to beckon her friends into the palace. They quickly bid their parents farewell, then stood on either side of Azula as they walked back in. Azula’s guard followed them loosely.

Mai noticed right away. “Who’s that?”

Azula didn’t have to turn to see who Mai was referring to. “Ah, that’s my personal guard. It’s a safety precaution, although, I assure you, I’m perfectly capable of handling myself.”

“Of course you are,” Ty Lee said, brightly. “You’re the best fire bender I’ve ever seen.”
 

“Yes,” Azula agreed, simply. “And I’ve learned quite a bit since you’ve last seen me.” She didn’t stop walking as she showed her companions her pale blue flame.

“Oh wow!” Ty Lee cried. Even Mai seemed impressed, in her subdued way. “I’ve never seen a blue flame.”

“That’s because you have to be one of the best fire benders ever, with proper control and discipline, to summon one. A blue flame is much hotter than an orange one,” She explained, haughtily.

Their conversation went quiet after that, and Azula continued to lead them down hallways and around corridors. When they walked through the covered walkway near the pond, Mai finally spoke, albeit softly.

“So, how are you doing?”

“I told you, never better.” Azula replied.

Azula noticed Ty Lee and Mai exchange a worried look, and Azula dropped her easy-going demeanor immediately and entirely.

Ty Lee tried this time, “Azula, I know things have changed a lot since we were here last, we wanted to check on you.”

Azula turned to glare daggers at Mai, who barely responded, except to avert her eyes, but only for a second. So, Azula turned her glare on Ty Lee, who was looking at her shoes, blushing slightly. So, Azula thought, They’ve discussed this without me. How dare they? Don’t they know who I am?

Before Azula responded, though, Mai continued what Ty Lee had been trying to say. “Because, you know, now that Zuko-”

“Mai!” Azula scolded, “We do not discuss my brother within the palace walls so flippantly anymore.” Despite how painful it might have been for most people, Azula was able to keep her voice silky and cold, free of any strong emotion. “He has dishonored our entire nation, and now he is paying the price. I can’t imagine why you think that would upset me. Everything is as it should be. Besides, it happened eight months ago, why would I still be affected?” Azula rubbed her bangs between her fingers. 

Mai asked, so quietly Azula had to strain to hear, “Azula, what happened?”

Azula straightened, and whirled on Mai, “I just told you my brother shamed our entire nation, why do you need to know more?”

Mai just pursed her lips slightly, refusing to back down, and Ty Lee stood by her side, just as firm, although she had a comically obvious expression of worry. Azula wished Ty Lee’s expression revealed fear for what Azula was going to do to her, but it was clearly concern on Azula’s behalf. Which was ridiculous, was wasn't like she and Zuko had ever been close, anyway.

Maybe she couldn’t convince her friends she didn’t care about Zuko, at least not right away, but given time, she could show them that she was better off now. That she didn’t need her older brother, and she never did. She didn’t know why they needed convincing; after all, Zuko had always been weaker, slower, stupider and more flawed than Azula ever had been. What could she possibly need him for?

Azula sniffed and relaxed slightly, taking care to keep her posture perfect and her voice was regal. “And just so you know, you didn’t follow proper procedure when you came in here today.” Azula examined her nails for a moment, examining her cuticles for any sign of rebellion. 

“Procedure?” Ty Lee asked.

“Don’t interrupt, Ty Lee!” Azula snapped. Ty Lee closed her mouth and her eyes turned misty. Oh, please, Azula scoffed internally.

“Yes, procedure. In the past, I have been rather soft with you, but, as you say, things are different now. I believe you need a reminder than I am the princess of the Fire Nation, the greatest nation on Earth. Therefore, you must treat me with the respect I deserve. You should bow before greeting me, and you should always refer to me by my title, Princess Azula, or Your Highness.”

Both girls were dumbstruck for a moment, staring at Azula like she had grown the trunk of an elephant-rat. Azula stayed quiet and returned to examining her nails, waiting for their replies. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Mai give Ty Lee and firm, loaded glance, then she bowed to Azula. Azula gave the top of Mai’s head a cold smile.

“Now Mai, declare your loyalty to me,” Azula demanded.
 

Mai didn’t pause this time. She stayed in her bent position and said crisply, “I declare my loyalty to you, Princess Azula.”

“You may rise.” Azula replied, and Mai got to her feet, refusing to meet Azula’s eyes. 

Azula returned to her nails.

Ty Lee knew she was waiting for her, and eventually she said, “I pledge my loyalty to you, too. Of course I do.”

“Use my title, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee blinked back at her, mouth slightly agape. “But- but we’re your friends, we’re not-”

“Ty Lee!”

Ty Lee’s sweet grey eyes narrowed and she fixed her gaze on the stones beneath their feet, stubbornly keeping her mouth shut.

Azula glanced up from her nails and frowned. “Very well,” She hopped over the fence separating them from the gardens. Mai and Ty Lee took a moment to follow her, but then Ty Lee did a handstand on top of the fence and landed beside Azula, followed promptly by Mai, who jumped as nimbly as Azula had.

Azula pursed his lips, listening to her friends’ footfalls behind her as they meekly followed. Ty Lee was being stubborn, but Azula knew she only needed to nudge her once or twice more, and she would surely cave. Ty Lee may have been more dangerous than she looked, but at her heart, she was still just a bubbly softie, and Azula’s will was stronger.

“Even though asking about little Zuzu was way out of line, I think I’d better tell you exactly what happened. It’s important knowledge for you to have, as my companions. C’mon, we’ll walk the garden paths.” Then, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Guard! You may stay here. We’ll stay in sight.” And out of earshot. Azula set off into the paths and her friends trailed behind her.

Mole-Scalp didn’t argue and took up her post next to a short, twisty tree, her eyes trained on Azula.

Azula rolled her eyes, and meandered out of earshot. As she walked, she abruptly began the story. “Eight months ago, Zuzu weaseled his way into a war meeting; I’m not sure how, since he’s incompetent, and father would never trust him with something like that, but no matter. He was there, and one of the generals started explaining his plan to distract the Earth Kingdom army, but Zuko took offense, for some reason, and then father said he had to defend his claim in an Agni Kai.”

She heard Ty Lee stifle a gasp, but Azula didn’t reprimand her for the interruption. The story would be enough to make Ty Lee squirm, she didn’t need to yell at her again. Not yet, anyway.

“But, since Zuzu has always been a bit of an idiot, he didn’t realize he would be fighting our father.”

“Why didn’t he fight the general? It was his plan.” Ty Lee asked, and Azula noticed Mai elbowing her in the ribs, followed by a soft yelp from Ty Lee. She wondered if Mai was glaring at them both, now. She probably was.

“It’s my father’s war room, and it’s his war, anyone speaking out against it is attacking him, personally.” When neither of them had a response to this, she pressed on, “Anyway, Zuzu was shocked and upset that our father wanted to fight him, so he refused to fight. Knelt right on the ground and refused outright. I was standing close enough to see that he actually started crying, I mean, what kind of a prince is he?” She considered her words. “Not much of one now, surely. It really was for the best that he was banished. Anyways, Father taught him a little respect with some fire, and now he’s sailing all over the Earth Kingdom, searching for the Avatar.” Azula’s voice dripped with scorn on the word. “Father told him he can come home with honor if he succeeds, and I’m sure Zuzu’s too thick-skulled to realize it’s just a wild herring-goose chase.” Azula punctuated the end of her sentence with a well practiced laugh. 

Mai and Ty Lee remained silent, so Azula glanced over her shoulder to check on them. Mai’s face was stony and blank as usual, but her complexion had lost what little color it had. Ty Lee was staring at Azula, openly horrified and wringing her hands. Neither of them had stopped walking, and neither of them spoke, so Azula turned away again with a shrug.

“Just thought you should know the true story. If you’re going to be working with me now.”

There was a moment of silence. “Working with you?” Mai asked, her voice void of emotion, besides perhaps for a hint of curiosity. Though, that may have been artificial.

“Yes,” Azula said, “You pledged your loyalty to me. We should start training together right away. I’m sure Father will eventually want to include me in the war efforts very soon. He’s already started inviting me to war meetings,” She added pridefully, remembering how Zuko had to force his way into a meeting when he was a whole year older than she was now. And even then, it hadn’t ended well for him.

“And I want you two to be right there with me.” Azula spun around and planted her feet, forcing Mai and Ty Lee to stop too. Behind her two friends, Azula could see her guard standing at attention next to the twisted apple tree. Just beyond her was the turtle duck pond that Zuko was so fond of. In normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have remembered that he brother liked the little pond so much, but the sight of the boy standing right next to it was enough to jog her memory. Zuko’s arms were crossed and he was glaring right at Azula, his scowl just as sour even with the open wound marring half of his face. Actually, the injury might have made his scowl just slightly more formidable. He didn’t say a word, but Azula could tell he was angry at her for telling his story so irreverently. She tried not to care; after all, Zuzu had brought that fate on himself for doing several stupid, weak things so publicly.

“We’d love to help you,” Mai’s reply reached Azula as if she were very far away. “It actually sounds like a nice change of pace.”

“Yeah!” Ty Lee said, back to being a ball of sunshine. “Anything to help the princess.”

It sounded like Ty Lee had bent to Azula’s will of using her title, but Azula knew better. She had avoided speaking to her directly, and Azula knew the adorably pink-clad adolescent was still loathe to calling Azula, “Your highness”. Ah well. That would change by tonight.

Azula smiled, and led the two girls back inside.

 ~ ~ ~

That evening, Azula walked Mai to her room while Ty Lee chattered endlessly about the advanced biology classes she was taking. Azula didn’t find the material particularly interesting, but combined with Ty Lee’s fascination with auras and qi, along with her acrobatic proficiency, it could be useful knowledge. Normally, expertise in biology was for healers, but Azula was already coming up with a way to use it to fight. 

Once they reached Mai’s room, they bid each other goodnight, and Azula started walking back to her quarters.

She didn’t bother telling Ty Lee where she was headed, and Ty Lee followed, content, apparently assuming Azula was bringing her to another guest room.

However, as they walked farther and farther away from the wing Mai was staying in, Ty Lee’s fear visibly mounted. She kept rambling on about healthy auras, and how that connects to your chakras, chi and brain activity, but Azula could see the wariness in her eyes. Even if she didn’t know exactly what Azula was up to, she was aware that their friendship was a complicated game of pai sho, and they both knew Azula was several moves ahead.

Finally, when they were mere steps away from Azula’s chambers, Ty Lee stopped walking and asked, trying to keep her tone light and unassuming, “Why are we at your chambers, Azula?”

Finally. Ty Lee had slipped up. 

“Ty Lee,” Azula began, pleased under her guise of irritation. Ty Lee had done exactly what she wanted her to. “Why don’t you use my title? What is so hard about tacking a ‘Princess’ in front of my name? I’ve let this disrespect go on long enough. Apologize.”

Ty Lee bit her lip. The two of them were standing in a dark corridor, alone besides the lone guard, which wasn’t a concern. Mole-Scalp strictly answered to Azula, so she wouldn’t interfere. Azula watched the cogs turn in Ty Lee’s head, realizing how well Azula had trapped her. It had been a long time since Ty Lee had visited the palace; Azula doubted she would be able to find her way back to her room alone, and after hearing what happened to Zuko, she probably wouldn’t want to risk trying.

Still, Ty Lee thought she could reason with her old friend. “Just, listen for a minute,” Ty Lee implored, and Azula popped one hip, looking down her nose at Ty Lee. “Mai and I, we’re your friends, and you don’t have to coerce us into caring about you. I know things have changed a lot since we last saw you, but our friendship doesn’t have to.”

Azula didn’t answer right away. Instead she waited, staring at Ty Lee, hoping she would break. Sure enough, Ty Lee broke eye contact first. Success. “Our friendship is not the most important piece of our relationship anymore. First and foremost, the three of us are partners. We work together, now.” She waited. Ty Lee visibly struggled with Azula’s words, biting her lip and avoiding eye contact. Azula sighed, “Very well. If you won’t apologize, we have nothing more to gain from this conversation.” She turned her back on the other girl. “I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, she started towards her quarters.

“Wait,” Ty Lee said, her voice small, “I don’t know where my room is.”

Without turning around, Azula replied, “It’s three doors down from Mai’s. You can’t miss it.”

“I- I don’t think I’ll be able to find it," She stammered, "It’s so dark, and Mai's room is so far away.”  

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Azula replied with a bored sigh, even as the conversation thrilled her. She had planned every word out beforehand and it was going so well; Ty Lee had been easily tricked, and now Azula had her in the palm of her hand. It was invigorating. Now, all Azula had to do was wait.

“Wait!” Ty Lee cried, more urgently this time. “Wait.” Azula’s hand rested on the doorknob, and turned an eye over her shoulder.

Shaking, Ty Lee dropped to her knees. She planted her hands on the ground. She stared at the floor, but then squeezed her eyes shut against the cool, marble flooring. “I’m sorry for disrespecting you. It won’t happen again.”

“‘It won’t happen again’, what?” Azula demanded, still without letting go of the doorknob of the heavy metal door.

Ty Lee squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back angry tears. “Your Highness. Princess Azula.”

Azula slowly turned around. She examined her nails and glanced at Ty Lee’s shivering form. Beating her sent a lovely thrill down Azula’s spine. “You know what’s next.”

Ty Lee kept her eyes shut, feeling the last of her dignity drip away. “I pledge my allegiance to you, Princess Azula.” It was the final nail in her coffin, and the hammer fell with resounding damnation.

Azula’s lips curled into a smile. She let the silence hang in the air for just a moment too long, then quickly walked up to Ty Lee, who noticeably stiffened. The princess reveled in that moment of pure fear she had created, then walked right past Ty Lee. “Alright, let’s head back to your room. You’ll love it, I had pink covers put on the bed.” She glanced over her shoulder to find that Ty Lee had not moved from her kneeling position on the ground. However, that wasn't the only thing she noticed.

Her mother was standing right beside the young, bubbly acrobat. She was giving Azula her disappointed frown, but then she turned to water Ty Lee, sympathetically. Azula felt her ears begin to burn with shame. But not just shame, anger. How dare her mother care more about Azula’s friend than Azula herself. Shouldn’t her own mother be on her side?

Azula pettily ignored her mother, and laughed airily.

“Oh, Ty Lee, you may rise,” She said, turning away without waiting to see if Ty Lee obeyed, wanting to get the image of her mother out of sight immediately.

“Will we be starting our training tomorrow, Princess Azula?” Ty Lee trotted alongside the straight-backed princess.

“Oh yes, the sooner the better. We’ll have to utilize your knowledge of biology and your acrobatics, Ty Lee. I have the perfect thing for you. Then, of course, Mai already has her throwing knives. We’ll make a great team.”

She knew Ty Lee wouldn’t precisely know what she was talking about, but her dear friend smiled sweetly, nodding along as Azula spoke. Yes, it would be easy to manipulate two of her oldest companions, and Azula was going to do it for the sake of the Fire Nation, no matter what her dead mother had to say about it.

Chapter Text

After that, the three girls worked tirelessly to perfect their techniques. Azula was insistent that they perform at their highest potential, and they slowly became an unstoppable force.

Ty Lee picked up chi-blocking easily, just as Azula had suspected. It came naturally to her. Azula was worried she would be resistant at first, since she was forcing the fighting style onto her, but Ty Lee seemed happy to pick it up. Azula had given her the vague description, but Ty Lee had to make it work, and she had taken the idea and ran with it. It combined her interest in anatomy with her gymnastics skills, so well, and she clearly adored the fighting style. Still, Azula was surprised how little she had to help; Ty Lee was a lot smarter than she would have pegged her for.

Mai had started throwing knives long before Azula made her part of her team. She had started with kitchen knives, practicing without her parents’ awareness, before buying her own set of shuriken. She hadn’t told Azula about her hobby, per se, but the princess had her ways of finding thing out. She bought Mai a new set of throwing stars, the metal so pure it was black, and Mai quickly attached them all over her body: tucked into her sleeves, slipped deep in her boots, hidden in her hair, ready to be whipped out and thrown at people. And she was amazing at it. Already, she could hit her target dead-on, every time.

It was impressive how easily the non-bending teenagers picked up their fighting styles under Azula’s direction. It was as though they were born to chi-block and throw knives, just like Azula was born to fire bend. All her life, Azula had been taught that benders were superior to those not blessed with the power of fire. She supposed that that was still true, but she was learning that non-benders could certainly be more useful in a fight than anyone gave them credit for.

As she watched Ty Lee flip and jab while Mai threw her knives, fighting the same group of straw dummies and never getting in the other’s way, cooperating perfectly, Azula applauded herself for bringing them together like this. They had only been practicing for three weeks, and she knew the three of them would soon be able to take down a platoon of Earth Kingdom soldiers on their own. Their history as friends would make them invaluable allies, and a well-oiled machine. She wasn’t sure what she would need the two fighters for yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Aiming carefully, she waited for Ty Lee to flip out of the way, then shot a stream of her electric blue fire at a dummy. The flame burned yellow as it caught the straw, and the girls both stopped fighting.

She stalked over to join them, watching the smoke curling off of the dummy’s head. As she approached, Mai eyed her warily, and a moment later, Ty Lee turned towards her, too.

“Girls,” She addressed them as she would a group of students. “Why have you stopped?”

“You set him on fire, princess,” Mai supplied, blandly, “He’s beaten.”

“Yeah,” Ty Lee said with a small giggle, “You scorched him.” Mai gave her a sharp side-eye, which Ty Lee either didn’t notice, or ignored completely, because she just kept on grinning.

“Yes, that man is dead. There are still seven others. Take them out.” Azula raised her chin. “In battle, you can’t freeze up when one man falls, whether they’re the enemy or one of your own. This is good practice.”

“You’ve never even seen battle, Princess Azula,” Ty Lee reminded her.

“Oh?” Azula cocked an eyebrow. “Ladies, I remind you that life itself is a battle. We have to plan our movements very carefully, like planing a strategy for war. When other people go down, we keep fighting.” She flicked her fingers towards the remaining dummies and turned around, a clear order.

In unison, Mai sent a knife flying through the heart of one unsuspecting straw man, and Ty Lee kicked the head right off another.

~ ~ ~

Despite her cold, outward appearance, inwardly, she was buzzing with excitement. She knew she was smart, but things were lining up so nicely. She had known Mai and Ty Lee for years, so of course they would follow her; they even trusted her, which wasn’t something she could say for most people. She could use that trust to her advantage, because by the end of the season, she intended to have a team that would follow her to the ends of the Earth. At this thought, a warm, pleasant feeling unfurled in her chest. The young princess breathed in deeply, fueling her inner flame with the oxygen in her lungs.

The girls were eating dinner together in the dining hall, the three of them huddled on one end of an absurdly long table. Azula appropriately placed herself at the head with Mai and Ty Lee kneeling side by side on cushions to her right. Soon, tomorrow afternoon in fact, they would be leaving to stay with their families again. Even though they all still lived in the Caldera, but Azula dreaded their departure. At first, she wasn’t sure why. After all, this was the longest they had been allowed to stay at the palace. Logically, she should need a break from their company about now. Perhaps it was because the gap without seeing them just before this was the longest it had ever been. Of course this was Zuko’s fault. Somehow, he was still ruining things from halfway across the world.

Well, no, she reminded herself, sternly, Zuko doesn't have the power to ruin anything. He’s inconsequential. He always has been.

Right as the memory of Zuko flitted across her mind, she saw a flash of red off to her left. Stiffening, her eyes darted to inspect the red blur in her peripheral vision. Sure enough, it the red of Zuko’s robes and the angry red that now marred the left side of his face. Had it gotten bigger since the last time she saw him? And why did his skin look like that: it was almost brown in places, and it was peeling away from his ear and on his eyelid. Could skin melt? Is that what happened? Did some of his skin melt off? For a firebender, Azula knew astonishingly little about the biological component of burns. Her tutors hadn't taught her that along with the katas, forms and proper defense, because that was for healers to worry about, not fighters like Azula. Although, Ty Lee probably knew a few things, since she was suddenly so interested in biology.

Ty Lee. And Mai. They were right there, eating dinner with her. Right.

Azula deliberately looked away from her brother and tried to get her thoughts back on track.

Where was she? Oh right, anyhow, she supposed their improvements might slow when they weren’t together all the time, like they had been lately. With Mai and Ty Lee moving out, they couldn’t be as efficient. No matter, Azula would just insist they come over as much as possible to train. It was only practical. Azula herself would be fine if the other girls didn’t come for a day, but they needed her. She kept them on track, and helped them become more powerful. Without Azula, they would have no direction and no purpose.

“Girls,” Azula broke the silence, “In order for us to continue improving as a team, you’ll have to come over every day, from now on.”

Mai and Ty Lee nodded in agreement without hesitation. Ty Lee, who was sitting in between them, turned back and forth between Mai and Azula to speak, “Of course we’ll come by. It’s important for us to keep working. Besides, if we were to go months without seeing each other again, I’d go nuts!” Her hands fluttered around her head like birds as she spoke, and at the end of her sentence, one of them dropped onto Mai’s shoulder, gripping it tightly before falling away. Azula did not squirm as she watched them easily exchanged touches, but she wanted to.

Mai cut in, “Yes. Um,” She paused, barely perceptible, but a pause nonetheless. “We’re honored to be learning how to fight.”

Ty Lee smiled at Mai as she spoke, then turned back to Azula. Finally. She felt her shoulders relax, though they probably still appeared rather rigid. Ty Lee said, “Honored. But, if you don't mind my asking, why are we learning how to fight? I don’t think either of us will ever have a reason to leave the Fire Nation, probably not even the Caldera. The war isn’t here.”

Azula had been expecting this question, and had been patiently waiting for one of them to ask it. She had figured it would be Ty Lee, who was curious and liked to have purpose. Proud of herself for anticipating this correctly, Azula adjusted her position on her cushion and lifted her chin loftily. Her practiced reply was: “We don’t have reason to leave the Fire Nation yet. I promise you, my father will use my skills in this war soon, and I want to have two of the best fighters in the Fire Nation by my side. Two girls who I can trust with anything.” The three girls carefully, methodically, exchanged glances, their eyes making contact in pairs.

“The best fighters?” Mai picked up on the exact phrase Azula was hoping they would. “We’re twelve, and neither of us can bend. Why don’t you hire some fire bending masters, or something? You’re the princess, I’m sure you could.” Good. Mai was now involved enough to ask questions of her own.

Azula kept her answer short, leaving room for speculation. “I would rather have you two. Besides, we can get some powerful fire benders as well if it comes to it. But, I’m sure it won’t.”

“What would we do?” Ty Lee inquired, almost cautiously. Azula lifted one eyebrow, a trick she had been practicing in the mirror, and intimidatingly stared Ty Lee down. “We’ll have to wait and see. Patience is very important.”

Ty Lee and Mai stared back at her resolutely. They had hung on her every word, which was absolutely delightful.

Despite her best efforts, her eyes twitched off the left, and once again they fell upon Zuko, who was somehow still standing there. He was holding that stupid Earth Kingdom knife Uncle had given him. She knew the blade read: “Never give up without a fight”, which was ironic, because Uncle had pillaged it from an Earth Kingdom general who had surrendered. That rather took the meaning out of the inscription entirely, making the knife rather useless, in Azula’s opinion. Her brother was standing in the shadows, his face all mottled and bloody, fiddling with a meaningless knife. Fiddling. Princes shouldn’t fiddle, all of their actions should be intentional. Even this strange, insubstantial version of Zuko was an embarrassment.

“Azula, what’s wrong? What are you looking at?” Ty Lee’s words broke the spell and Azula snapped her gaze away from the phantom. She felt the crease between her eyebrows and the scowl on her lips, which had apparently developing while watching Zuko, and she quickly smoothed them out.

“Oh, just thinking.” Spoken aloud, it sounded dumb. She mentally berated herself and tried again, changing the subject. “I was thinking about the future. We’re going to make some improvements in the world, I’m sure of it.

~ ~ ~

Later that day, Azula changed into her best clothes and strode into the throne room, chin held high.

When she could feel the heat coming off the wall of fire on her cheeks, she dropped to one knee. She briefly wondered if her father would make her press her forehead to the ground in a proper bow like she had made Ty Lee do, but then her father was speaking.

"Princess Azula."

Azula paused. "Father." Azula waited for him to berate her, even if she had never been forced to call him Fire Lord Ozai before. Everything was different now, with Zuko gone. It was as if the very atmosphere of the palace had shifted, and she knew she wasn't the only one who could feel it. She forced her face to remain firm and unshakeable, even as her heart felt like it was fluttering in her chest.

"I understand you have been training with the nobles' children."

"Yes, Father." He didn't sound particularly angry, but he never sounded angry. His fire would flare up, or his face would contort, but his anger never came through in his tone.

He took a moment to take in the silence. "You may stand, daughter."

Azula got to her feet, careful not to get up too quickly, lest she appear too eager.

Her father, the Fire Lord, continued, "It is very prudent of you to brush up on your skills on your own time and encourage others to join you. I hope you trust these girls? Are their skills promising?"

Azula nodded. "Yes, Father. They're improving quickly under my instruction."

"Excellent." There was a long pause. Even standing, Azula could not make out her father's face from the other side of the wall of yellow, rippling fire. Over the top of the dancing flames she could just make out his crown sitting in his top knot, but even that was obscured by the heat, making the air shimmer. He finally spoke again, "I assume this means you are hoping to take an active role in the war already, am I correct?"

Azula wasn't sure what answer he wanted, so she had to go with the truth. Or perhaps, a watered down version of it. "If you are willing, I would be honored to join the war effort in whatever way you wish."

The coming off of the fire was starting to get uncomfortable, but Azula didn't waver. Her father answered, "There is a war meeting tomorrow, I believe you have the maturity and focus necessary to attend. Someone will fetch you at the appropriate time. I would like you to sit by my side."

Azula's chest swelled with pride. She tried to maintain her composure, but a wide smile involuntarily broke out on her face. "That would be perfect. Thank you, Father." She placed her fist at the heel of her hand and bowed deeply.

When she was still bent over, grinning wildly, Fire Lord Ozai added, "I am proud of you, Azula."

Even though she thought her heart would burst out of her chest, Azula settled her smile into a close-lipped one, and straightened. "Thank you, Father."

"You are dismissed."

That was it, then. Azula began to walk out of the throne room, passing the enormous pillars on either side of her. When she was only a few paces away from the exit, however, she turned around and called out, "Will I see you tonight at dinner?"

"Perhaps. If not then, I'll see you tomorrow, at the war meeting." The Fire Lord's voice echoed around the cavernous room.

Azula nodded, and turned to leave, but as she did so she caught sight of Zuko leaning against a pillar, and her breath caught in her chest. For half a second, the two of them made eye contact, and she felt as though her brother was staring straight into her soul.

He spoke, reminding her "We're not so different, really. As soon as you're no longer of use to him he'll let you go, too."

Too shaken to reply, Azula threw the curtain to the exit aside and rushed down the hallway, not caring that her speed was undignified.

It wasn't until several minutes later, when she was in an entirely different wing, that she was able to formulate a response. Checking to make sure she was alone, she muttered, "We are very different. You're a clueless screw-up, but I will always be useful to our father."

Chapter Text

“Do the tides command this ship?” Azula repeated, sharply. Honestly, how grown up people as stupid as this man became captains, she would never know. He barely had survival instincts around her, the princess of the Fire Nation. She could have him killed or banished with the twitch of a finger. Maybe she would. She had full authority on this ship, if he questioned her authority again she certainly would throw him overboard.

The captain responded meekly, “No, princess.” He still sounded confused.

Imbecile. Still, Azula was patient, she would explain it to him so that he would be able to comprehend her words through his thick skull. “And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?”

The captain finally had the sense to sound worried. “No, princess.”

Azula ran her fingers through her bangs, tossing it out of her field of vision. “Well then, maybe you should worry less about the tides who have already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over.” She turned around to make sure the captain saw the malice in her gaze.

Fear shone in his eyes. He hastily broke eye contact and dropped into a shallow bow as he said, “I’ll pull us in.”

Took him long enough to get the hint.

With a sigh, Azula peered over the choppy water surrounding her metal vessel. It was top of the line and brand new, surely it would make it to shore without any issues. Besides, luck tended to be on Azula’s side. It didn’t hurt that her father supplied her only with the best equipment, especially for a mission as important as this one. Not that Zuko was important, but leaving him out here to flounder and fail would be too much of an embarrassed, disowned son or not.

She refused to turn away from the water. She knew who would be waiting for her on the docks if she turned around. However, she had to prepare to meet her brother in under an hour anyways, so a practice session couldn’t hurt.

Drawing herself up, she turned on her heel to face the deck. However, as she was turning, she saw Zuko standing right next to her, leaning over the rail. She gasped and took a few steps back before composing herself. There was Zuko, frozen at thirteen years old, half of his hair burned off, the rest of it blowing in the sea breeze. The image would have been tranquil if it weren’t for the grotesque burn, though Zuko himself was unperturbed. In a way, she too had gotten used to the charred, raw skin of her brother’s face, but it was still mildly jarring. She felt the discomfort settle like a stone in her stomach.

After a quick glance around the deck to make sure they were alone, she leaned into his ear and hissed, “What do you want? I’m going to see you in forty-five minutes, can’t you wait?” She was whispering into the burnt flesh of his left ear, the shell of it mashed up and shrunken.

He turned to look at her, so that she could see the unscathed side of his face, which was no relief. His entire presence was alarming, not just his perpetually fresh wound. If anything, the smooth side of his face just reminded Azula of the boy who was actually once her brother.

Zuko just shrugged in response. He didn’t talk much, which was so unlike the Zuko she used to know, who would always rise to her bait and argue if prodded.

Azula lifted a hand to her hair, rubbing the ends of her bangs between her fingertips as she thought. This mission had been a surprise. Yes, it was true that the avatar returned, so Zuko suddenly had more of a purpose than he used to, when the avatar was dead or deep in hiding. He had messed up at the North Pole, but Zuko had always been a screw up. Surely he and Uncle could continue meandering all over the Earth Kingdom, scaring peasants and staying far away from the homeland. Azula’s father had told her that they needed to be locked up to spare him from embarrassment, but it didn’t make sense. Zuko had been declared an outcast, he was the infamous banished prince, his foolhardy actions hardly affected the nation he had not stepped foot in for three years. Still, questioning her father’s motives were hardly a good use of her time, so she did her best to direct her thoughts onto the task at hand.

Which she wasn’t able to focus on on the deck with ex-prince Zuzu. Hm. She had nearly forgotten about that nickname. Maybe she’d use it today, she had kind of missed riling her brother up.

With that in mind, the fourteen year old princess climbed below decks to wait for them to make it to shore.

~ ~ ~

The scar was the most welcome sight of Azula’s life. It wasn’t pretty, but it went well with the scowl that had yet to leave her brother’s face since she had arrived. He was taller now, not by much, but she still noticed. He had also shaved most of his head, just his ponytail behind. She supposed he wouldn’t have left it half burned off like that, but shaving the skin around the scar, even after it had healed, must have been difficult, Azula wouldn’t have thought that Zuko had the discipline. Although, letting it grow back unevenly would be no good either, and it’s not like he could cut it all off. Well, he could, since he was banished, but he did seem to be holding onto the notion that maybe one day he would get to come home.

Why was she thinking about that? She didn’t care about his hair, of all things. Actually, she didn’t care about him at all, which was why this mission was going to be a cinch.

When she told Zuko the lie about their father, the importance of family and whatever else, the scowl that had been sitting comfortably on his face fell away, leaving only a crease between his eyebrows. Slowly, he turned away from her and looked at the table under his palms. It was more like the quiet version of Zuko who had been following her around for the past few years, and not at all like the brash thirteen year old she remembered.

She wanted the brash thirteen year old back. “Did you hear me? You should be happy. Excited. Grateful.” The sharpness in her tone was just a bit too much, and she tried to pull back. He needed to trust her. Zuko needed to want to come with her. She softened her voice. “I just gave you great news.”

When Zuko still did not deign to answer, her uncle spoke, even though Azula had not been speaking to him. “I’m sure your brother simply needs a moment.” These years away from court had clearly dulled his manners, that is, if he even had them in the first place.

“Don’t interrupt, Uncle!” Azula let the fire heat her tone again. She rounded on Zuko, “I still haven't heard my thank you. I'm not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way.”

Finally, Zuko spoke, his words coming from deep in his subconscious, as though he was barely aware he was saying them aloud. “Father regrets? He… wants me back?”

Well, she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him now. “I can see you need time to take this in. I’ll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left the pavilion. She supposed she could use a moment to take in what had just happened, as well.

Her brother was different now. Zuko had certainly been generally cranky and prickly in the years between their mother’s death and Zuko’s banishment, but now he had reached a new level. When she had first walked up to him, before she even spoke, Zuko had been glaring at her, Uncle Iroh, and every inanimate object in the vicinity. She supposed that was what banishment did to you; she didn’t know why seeing him like this had surprised her so. What was she expecting?

As she climbed the ramp to get onto the deck of the ship, she saw that Zuko was already there, standing next to the bowing captain. He looked older than he had this morning, and he even had that funny phoenix tail now. Overall, he looked much more like the sixteen-year-old Zuko she had met in the massage parlor. However, the wound on his face still had not scarred over. Why? She knew what his scar looked like now, why hadn’t it healed on this Zuko as well?

Determined to ignore him, she walked right past the captain and marched down below deck, looking for her mentors. It was time to practice some lightning bending, and this was the perfect place for it, what with the somewhat open water and the high cliffs on three sides. She had already practiced today, before meeting with her brother and uncle, but it never hurt to brush up on your skills.

She took a deep breath, and started to move through the motions of creating lightning.

“Not what you were expecting?” The other Zuko said from behind her. She lost control of the energy she was separating, and her bangs floated upward with static electricity.

Using her forefinger and thumb, she smoothed them back down. “What do you mean?” She snapped.

“I’m not what you were expecting.”

Azula did her best to get back into the familiar motions of producing her lightning. “You were exactly what I was expecting. Short temper. Relying on Uncle. Easy to trick. Weak.”

“Things are different now, though. I’ve changed a lot since you’ve last seen me.”

Azula sniffed, focusing on directing the immense amount of energy dancing between her fingertips into the cliff away from her ship. When several enormous chunks of rock splashed into the gulf below, she turned around to face her brother. “So have I,” She shrugged. “Time has passed.”

“Have you changed?” He asked, arms crossed, his single eyebrow raised.

Azula felt her face heat up, and even though she knew her angry blush was hidden by her make up, she couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to be so carelessly emotive. Zuko always had that effect on her. Not the hot-headed teenager who had been banished, just this shadow version of her brother. He knew how to get to her in a way no one else did, and it made her feel like she was standing on a very fragile foundation indeed.

~ ~ ~

She didn’t come to call on Zuko and Uncle in the morning. If they were coming, then they’d come. She knew that she was going to have to bring them with her one way or another, but if they made it that easy for her, maybe it wasn’t worth bringing them home at all. How much trouble could they be causing if she could capture them with one half-assed attempt and some careful manipulation? Her father rarely overestimated Zuko, but Azula rather thought he had done it this time, just this once.

Especially when the two of them walked up onto the deck, Zuko cautiously hopeful, Uncle vaguely suspicious. She tried to use her tone to set them at ease, but she wasn’t sure if it had landed. At her mention of home, however, Zuko’s eyes softened, and she thought she saw him repeat the word quietly to himself. Well, he didn’t have to be so pitiful about it. Not that it mattered. Her captain ruined her whole plan almost immediately.

It was important that she act furious, and punish the captain later in order to maintain her reputation among her crew, but really, she was glad she’d have the chance to fight Zuko. Nothing was worth having if you didn’t have to work a little. Zuko thought she was naturally good at everything, and she was, but that didn’t mean she didn’t work hard, day and night, to achieve what she did.

Plus, she had a lot of things to say to her brother, and she was going to speak her mind.

“You lied to me!” Her brother shouted, eyes flashing. She was surprised his burned eye could still hold such rage in it, but the anger reflected in his right eye was matched by his left.

Azula smirked, “Like I’ve never done that before.”

Luckily, Zuko fought off the guards and was approaching her at a run, his little fire daggers in hand. Even when he was firebending, he still had to use knives.

Azula could admit, Zuko had improved over the past three years, but so had she. Besides, his rage was making him shaky and foolish. Assuming he wasn’t always shaky and foolish, that is.

Azula had plenty of breath to speak as she dodged Zuko’s sporadic attacks. “You know, Father blames Uncle for the loss of the North Pole.” Zuko stilled to listen to her, his chest heaving. “And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar!” Zuko backed away, panting, his fire daggers sputtering out.

Oh, this was too easy. She couldn’t resist continuing, “Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?” The thrill of openly teasing her older brother again was enough to cause a smile to break out on her face, and since it only aggravated Zuko further, she could only be pleased with her emotional display.

As they continued their silly, unbalanced dance, Azula couldn’t resist reaching out and slashing her sharp nails against her brother’s forehead. It was so base, so belittling, so petty, that Zuko ran at her, yelling, giving Azula the perfect opportunity to grab her brother’s arm and get in his face, just to scare him.

Just then, over Zuko’s shoulder, Azula saw him. The other one. She had never seen them together before; she hadn’t even known that was possible. He was standing on the staircase, his right foot a step higher than his left. He was just looking at her, his scarred eye still inflamed and bleeding. His countenance was far from the Zuko in her grip; rather than angry, he seemed only… disappointed. Perhaps also a little uncomfortable, as he watched them fight.

She did the only logical thing. She threw her brother down the stairs, trying to hit the vision with his body.

She could have sworn she hit her target, but the frowning boy was still there, arms crossed as he glanced down the stairs, where the other Zuko already forcing himself to his feet after seemingly having fallen right through him. Which Azula knew couldn’t be possible, surely.

Azula could clearly see how unbalanced her brother at the bottom of the stairs was, and she took advantage of his weakness, ignoring the disapproving ghost. Her fore and middle fingers traced air, pulling lightning out of it, the energy crackling pleasantly in her hands.

She didn’t know where Uncle had come from, or how he had approached her without her noticing, but all of a sudden, he was grabbing her hand and stealing her lightning, shooting it into a far cliff instead of at Zuko.

Well, that was new. Redirecting lightning. She had never seen anything like that.

She didn’t have much of a chance to mull it over, however, because Uncle had taken advantage of her momentary shock to throw her overboard.

Azula sailed over the side of the boat without even hitting the low wall. She barely had a chance to register the fact that she was falling before she hit the water with a mighty splash. It had been a warm day, with spring in full bloom, but the water had retained its frigidity from winter. Narrowly avoiding gasping in shock, she wrenched her eyes open in the murky water. At first, all she could see was Zuko's hurt, disapproving squint, hovering in front of her eyes as she held her breath. But then, to her left, shafts of light were breaking through the surface, and she frantically twisted her body to kick to the surface. Her head broke through the waves and she gasped for breath, already swimming towards her ship, where a member of her crew was lowering a ladder and tossing her some rope. She kicked towards her ship, trying to put her brother's expression out of her head, turning her thoughts instead to her hair and make up, which certainly had been ruined by her fall.

Azula grabbed the rope and allowed the crew member to pull her towards the side of the boat and the ladder, which she climbed. When she got on deck, she saw that Zuko was standing at the top of the stairs, right where she had left him, arms still crossed. He was gazing towards a forest on the shore where his double and Uncle had disappeared.

So Uncle and Zuzu had escaped this time. Well, that was alright.

This was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

She never intended for it to happen, but once again, it had been several months since the last time she saw either Mai or Ty Lee, and even longer since the three of them had been together. Ty Lee joining the circus had been a surprise, though Azula was loathe to admit that the sweet, bubbly girl had surprised her. And then Mai’s family moved to Omashu, soon to be renamed New Ozai, per request of the Fire Lord himself. And then Azula was left in the Caldera. She had been busy, with the war revving up for its big finish, and she found herself forgetting that her companions weren’t a mere palanquin ride away, most of the time.

With her ship, it was easy enough to zip around and pick up her friends, even with Ty Lee’s initial reservations. Actual, Ty Lee’s attempt at individuality had been a joy to thwart. Letting the wild animals roam the tent and scaring them with the flaming net had been an especially nice touch.

Mai rarely put up a struggle against Azula, so it was no surprise when she practically lunged at the opportunity to join her. Plus, as Mai said, politics were boring. Azula couldn’t agree, she found the roundabout, strategic, methodical games of politics rather gripping, but if Mai needed to get away from her parents and their politics, then Azula had the perfect outlet.

~ ~ ~

“So, we’re gonna sit in a metal box for a week?” Mai drawled.

“Yay! Bonding time!” Ty Lee squealed, contorted like a pretzel at Mai’s feet.

The “metal box,” or tank, in question lurched into motion and Mai stumbled, tripping over Ty Lee and landing on her butt, blushing scarlet. She quickly pulled her feet off the contortionists’ back, mumbling an apology while Ty Lee chuckled good naturedly. 

“Yes,” Azula replied, raising at eyebrow at their antics. She had been able to remain standing. “But we’re hot on the Avatar’s trail, so hopefully it’ll be less than a week.” She turned to her maps and scrolls of data. “As we discussed earlier, clearly he passed through Gaoling about four days ago, and now they’re flying over the Earth Kingdom. I haven’t been able to figure out where they’re going, exactly, or if they’re just flying aimlessly, which is likely. They’re just a bunch of kids, after all.”

“We’re kids, too.” Ty Lee pointed out.

“Hardly,” Azula replied, without looking up. “We may be fourteen, but we’re already elite warriors. As you surely could tell in Omashu, they’re barely masters.”

“I’m fifteen,” Mai corrected.

Azula finally turned, glaring at Mai for purposely missing the point, and found that her elite warriors were sitting cross-legged on the floor, knees touching, Ty Lee giggling while Mai awkwardly picked at her pant cuff.

“Girls,” Azula huffed, “Are you even listening?”

They both suddenly met her eyes, as if they had to be reminded where they were, and who they were with.

Ty Lee sprung to her feet. “Of course. We’re far more prepared than they are, obviously.”

Mai stood up next to her. “I have to ask, Princess, why are we even chasing the Avatar? I thought your mission was just to bring your brother and uncle back home.”

“True,” Azula conceded, mildly surprised that Mai would dare question her, but allowing it because it was an opportunity to explain her thought process. “But a good strategist takes advantage of an opportunity like this. It’s important to turn in the Avatar to my father; not because he might actually defeat the Fire Nation, but because he gives people hope, and it’s our job to snuff that out. Besides, Zuko has been chasing the Avatar for three years now, so I’m sure he’s close by.”

Apparently he was even closer than Azula guessed. Behind Mai’s shoulder, she first caught sight of a grotesquely bloody scar, then the rest of the boy came into focus around it.

Ty Lee nodded appreciatively, “Oh, that’s smart! It’s a good thing you were sent on this mission, you’ve really got this tracking thing down pat.”

Mai hummed in agreement.

Then Zuko spoke, right in front of Mai and Ty Lee. “Is that really why, Azula? Or is there another reason you’ve suddenly decided you need to hunt the Avatar?” Although his words were a thinly veiled accusation, there was no malice in his tone. It sounded like he was trying to coax a scared animal out of the shadows.

“What are you insinuating?” Azula snapped, the blood rushing to her head.

Mai and Ty Lee exchanged a worried glance. “Nothing,” Ty Lee answered. “I think it’s a great idea, Your Highness.”

Azula suddenly realized she was panting lightly.

“I didn’t mean to question you, Princess,” Mai clarified, brown eyes darting between Azula and Ty Lee.

Zuko was still there. Unwaveringly, solidly there, right in front of her. Yet Mai and Ty Lee didn’t seem to have heard him. True, no one ever saw him, but he never spoke in front of others. And now she knew that it didn’t matter, because no one else could hear him. It was as though he only existed for her.

She forced herself to focus on the two girls who were both looking at her with their own brands of concern. Mai’s was more aloofly suspicious, countering Ty Lee’s open worry.

“Don’t challenge me again,” Azula ordered, flicking her eyes to the side to glare at Zuko before returning to Mai’s face, “And I’ll forget this ever happened.”

~ ~ ~

Zuko didn’t heed her warning.

It was a few days later, and Azula was sitting in her personal quadrant of the cramped tank, poring over the information she had collected about the Avatar, hoping to stumble upon the solution.

Zuko was sitting across the table from her, elbow resting on his knee, chin resting on his hand. His gaze wasn’t focused on the scrolls that littered the metallic surface, however; he was watching her face. She was doing her best to ignore him, keeping her nose buried in papers, but her patience was wearing thin. 

For a long time, he just sat with her. She didn’t know what he was waiting for, but she could feel the anticipation-induced anxiety making her nerves jump, and she certainly wasn’t absorbing anything on the pages in front of her.

She almost asked him what he wanted, just to get whatever it was over with, but she refused to stoop so low as to ask Zuko for something.

Finally, he said, “I have charts like this, too. For tracking the Avatar.”

Azula pursed her lips and did not deign to respond.

Undeterred, he soldiered on, “Maps. Lists of sightings cross-referenced to figure out what the truth is. History about the Avatar’s past lives. Did you know that Avatar Szeto once challenged all six Fire Sages to fight him at once when they tried to impose extra agricultural taxes? They didn’t end up dueling, but I think he would have won.”

Azula sniffed, “Yes, I knew that. I don’t think he could have beaten all six of them, even the Avatar isn’t that good.”

“But, it wasn’t an Agni Kai, so he could use all the elements, and he was a lava bender,” Zuko pressed.

Azula rolled her eyes, “The Avatar isn’t some limitlessly powerful being, Zuko. He’s human, he has weaknesses, he can be taken down just like everybody else, even if you weren’t able to do it.”

He didn’t appear to be hurt by her words, but he allowed the silence to sit for a moment. Azula turned back to the scroll in her hand.

“Do you think you can take him down?”

Azula bristled, “I don’t think I can, I know it.”

“Why do you even want to? Father didn’t even ask you to capture that Avatar, that’s my burden.”

“Well, Zuko,” Azula threw down her scroll. “You haven’t exactly been successful, have you? You’ve been screwing this up, like you screw everything up, and I’m here to fix your mistakes, alright?”

“You don’t have to do that, Azula,” Zuko leaned over the low table. “They’re my mistakes.

“Yes I do! Whenever you fail at something, I have to get in there and do it for you!” She jabbed a finger at him, her nail filed to a point.

“Why?”

Her hands were not quite steaming, but they felt too hot when she bunched them into fists. “Father needs someone to do it! And I can! And Father needs to know that I can!”

“Why?” He asked again, still aggravatingly calm.

Azula jumped to her feet and leaned down to sneer, “Because I am better than you, Zuko, and it’s important that Father knows that.” She straightened, and smoothed her hair back carefully, looking away from Zuko. When she glanced back, he was gone.

Well, good.

~ ~ ~

It was dusk when she saw it. 

They were sleeping under the stars tonight. Ty Lee and Mai were getting restless after sleeping in the tank for so many nights, and Azula could admit that fresh air would be pleasant. It might at least help her think more clearly.

Ty Lee was putting up the tents. Mai was supposed to be helping, and she had tried, but it turned out Mai was lousy at putting up tents, and she had done more harm than good. Laughing, Ty Lee had shooed her away and insisted she could do it on her own, after all, she did this regularly on a much larger scale when she was part of the circus.

Azula was not helping with the tent, obviously. Instead, she was looking at the sky, waiting for the stars to peak out of the darkening canvas above.

She didn’t see the stars, but she something drift down, carried by the wind. The small, white something fell almost right at Azula’s feet, catching on the grass so the wind couldn’t blow it away.

She squatted to inspect it. It appeared to be some kind of animal fur, but she wasn’t sure from what. It was almost entirely unfamiliar, if it weren’t for a quiet, suspicions nagging of recognition in the back of her mind. She ran her fingers over it; it was ridiculously soft fur. She squinted it at, hoping her mind would make the connection if it just had a little more time.

“Ugh,” Mai interrupted her thoughts. “What is this? It’s like the trees are shedding.”

Azula looked up. Indeed, more fur was floating down from the sky. 

Ty Lee jabbed a pole into the ground. “Don’t trees shed when they lose their leaves? Not in the Fire Nation, but in the colonies, some trees ‘shed’ their leaves when it gets colder.”

“Huh, I never knew that,” Mai was saying.

“Yeah! They turn colors before they fall, too. Red and orange and brown… It’s beautiful. I saw some when I was traveling with my circus.”

What kind of flying animal had fur?

“You’ll have to take me to see some of these color-changing trees someday.”

“Oh, that would be so much fun! Let’s do it.”

Oh, of course.

“Ty Lee! Pack up that tent.” Azula stormed past and ducked into the tank.

“What? But Azula, I thought we were-”

Azula stuck her upper body out of the door, clinging to the frame so she could hang out further. “The Avatar is here. We need to move.”

~ ~ ~

Azula didn’t know how they kept sensing that they were coming. The limited wind was in their favor: blowing the fur towards them to form a trail, and blowing the smoke from their tank back the way they came. True, the tank made a ruckus, but they shouldn’t be able to hear it from so far away.

Perhaps that horrible little bat-monkey could hear the ground rumbling with those comically large ears of his.

Well, someone would have to give up eventually, and it sure wasn’t going to be Azula.

As they drove in their tank, Mai and Ty Lee dozed in their chairs while Azula drove. She didn’t mind; they needed to be well rested so they could properly fight off the Water Tribe teenagers. Adrenaline was keeping Azula going at this point. They were so close. The Avatar was surely getting worn out with all of his stopping and starting. The stars were aligning, clearly. Azula felt giddy enough to be Ty Lee, but she just smiled and steered the hunk of metal.

~ ~ ~

Sure enough, the Avatar and his band of miscreants gave up eventually. Due to the sloping nature of the mountain, Azula and her girls left the tank behind, opting to use their giant basilisk lizards instead. There was a moment of stillness, and the three of them faced the four small figures on the cliff top. Four? In addition to the Avatar and his blue-clad companions, there was an even smaller person dressed in green. The Avatar’s earth bending master. Ah well, nothing they couldn’t handle.

Azula dug her heel into her basilisk lizard’s flank and shot forward.

She wasn’t even halfway up the winding rock path when they were running back to their bison, the green figure forming a wall to stop them. Azula urged her basilisk lizard to continue forward and took her hands off the reins to shoot lightning, the wall exploding with the force of her attack.

By the time the dust settled, they had taken off. Azula watched them fly off, Mai and Ty Lee pulling their basilisk lizards to a stop on either side of her.

“The sun will be rising soon,” Azula said, without taking her eyes off the horizon. “We’ll catch them then,” She turned the lizard around and urged it towards the tank.

Mai and Ty Lee followed.

Back in the tank, Azula manned the controls while Mai and Ty Lee sat behind her. They appeared to have drifted off, Mai leaning on Ty Lee’s shoulder, but she knew they could be ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Once again, there was another person in the tank, but Azula was doing her best to focus her entire being on the Avatar, and keeping her tank moving.

“Azula,” She said, softly.

That was all she ever said. “Azula.” Just her name. As if it mattered to her at all. If she really mattered to her mother, then she wouldn’t have disappeared. There would be no reason for her to go. There would have been no reason for her to get herself killed like that.

“Leave me alone,” Azula snapped, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing her friends.

“Azula,” Her mother said again. “Why are you doing this?”

“You know, it’s funny,” Azula bit out, toggling a lever. “Zuko asked me the same thing yesterday.”

“Do you know why?”

“Yes,” Azula fiddled with her bangs. She had fixed her hair when they were back in the tank, it had come a bit loose when she blasted through the rock wall. “Father needs me to do this. We need to win the war.”

“Azula," She said gently, "no.”

By now, fury was roiling in her stomach, but she kept it down. She stayed in control of her emotions. “We do. We need to correct the savagery and messiness of the other nations. Father needs my help to do this, and I will do it.”

She didn’t look up at the woman standing at her elbow. She knew what she would find in her face: disappointment and a pitying sadness. When her mother had been alive, she had looked at her like that only once, usually it was concern or a veiled sort of fear. But once, she had looked at her daughter with this deep, visceral sadness, and that expression would forever be burned in Azula’s mind's eye.

Chapter Text

“Wads of wet fur. How delightful,” Mai sighed, hands tucked into her sleeves.

Ty Lee responded, but Azula had already tuned them out. She shook the wet fur off of her hands and stalked off to examine the rest of the clearing. It was odd, why should so much of the fur be floating in the wide stream?

There was quite a bit of fur littering the ground in another direction, but the pattern was different. The clumps (as she heard Ty Lee shout before jumping into Mai’s arms) were smaller and clustered closer together. She searched the skies, spinning slowly in a circle.

Three trees away from the fur trail were missing their tops, as if something very large and heavy had knocked them.

“The Avatar is trying to give us the slip. You go after the bison, stop the Water Tribe siblings and the little Earth imp. I’ll follow this trail,” Azula dictated, scanning the thin line of fur going off into the woods.

“How do you know that you’ll find the Avatar and we’ll find the others?” Ty Lee asked, innocently.

“Oh,” Azula stalked over to her basilisk lizard, who stood still as she swung her leg over it. “I can just tell.” And with a kick to the side of her lizard, she shot off into the woods.

It took the rest of day, but at least she was perfectly, blessedly alone for the whole journey. She hadn’t had this much time away from her personal specters since she met her brother again in that quaint little massage parlor on the coast. She felt like her head was clearer than it had been in weeks, despite the lack of sleep she had been getting. This was going better than could be expected.

The Avatar was placidly sitting cross-legged at the end of the trail. When Azula’s feet hit the ground, he stood wearily, using his staff to haul himself upright. He was suddenly moving more like the 112-year-old man he was supposed to be than the 12-year-old child that he was.

“Alright, you’ve caught up with me. Now, who are you and what do you want?” He called, his words simple and to the point.

Azula smirked, not at all interested in being simple. “You mean you don’t see the family resemblance?” She couldn’t help the joviality that had suddenly nestled itself in her chest, so she covered the left side of her face with her hand, and joked in a lower, raspier voice, “I must capture the Avatar to restore my honor.”

The Avatar blinked back at her. Even from this distance she could see the dark, heavy bags under his eyes. Azula hadn’t been sleeping much either, but she was much sharper than that. Certainly Zuko had given them a dramatic little speech about his honor by now.

“Go ahead,” She urged, “You can laugh. It’s funny.” Where was Ty Lee when you needed her? She always laughed at Azula’s dark humor.

“So what now?” The Avatar asked, his voice strong despite his obvious fatigue.

“Now? Now, it's over.” Azula took a step closer to him, reining in her smirk from becoming an all out grin. “You're tired, and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you.

“I'm not running.” The airbender planted his staff in front of him boldly.

Azula tilted her head, “Do you really want to fight me?” She wasn’t quite sure why she was stalling at this point. To savor the moment? To try and scare him? To wear him down?

“Yes,” Said a voice that was definitely not the Avatar.

Azula ignored him at first. The visions had left her alone all day, it was really only a matter of time before one showed up to taunt her and take jabs at her confidence. She had waited for this moment, when the Avatar was minutes away from being in her custody, and she would not let Zuko’s judgement ruin it.

But then an ostrich-horse ran across her field of vision and she had to look at the source of the voice.

Zuko, in the flesh, got to his feet after jumping off said ostrich-horse, and cast his straw hat aside.

“I really do.”

He had cut off his hair, apparently. It had begun to grow back, but it was still shamefully short, only a few inches long.

Not the spirit, then.

“How kind of you to join us, Zuzu,” She taunted, recovering quickly. She heard the Avatar snort. Ah, the nickname. “Did you ride all the way here on that feathery beast?”

“Did you ride all the way here on that gecko-horse?” He wrinkled his nose.

“No, I have one of Father’s tanks as well,” She bragged, knowing it would rile him up. He sneered at her as she continued. “And it’s not a gecko-horse, it’s a giant basilisk lizard, you idiot.”

“It’s creepy and disgusting.” He snarked, and Azula could almost hear the juvenile insult, “Just like you!” follow that statement in the high, clear voice he used to have, just a few years ago.

“It’s very fast,” She corrected. “One of the fastest animals you can ride. Certainly a lot faster than your cute Earth Kingdom pet.” She jerked her chin towards the whinnying animal, pawing at the dust in front of a dilapidated building.

“Enough,” He hissed. “I’m here for the Avatar.” He shifted into a fighting stance, one arm towards her, and the other reaching for the Avatar.

“What a coincidence!” Azula laughed, swinging her arms and positioning herself in preparation for a fight. “So am I.”

Taking his cues from the two of them, the Avatar pointed his staff straight towards Azula. Good. He knew who the real threat was.

The three of the stood in perfect stillness for a time, the only movement being Zuko’s irises flicking left and right, and the wind tousling their clothes. 

Azula shot the first blast at her brother.

Zuko made a quick, swirling shield of orange to block her blue flames, but he was pushed backwards onto his ass. The Avatar finally decided this wasn’t a fight he wanted to be a part of, and tried to take off, but Azula wasn’t going to let him get off that easily. Breathing in deeply through her nose, Azula created an enormous arc of fire to bring the Avatar back down to the ground. There would be none of this flying business, that just wasn’t fair. That was one of the reasons why Sozin took out his people in the first place; people shouldn’t have that kind of power.

By running across a low roof, Azula was at the Avatar’s side before he could get to his feet, and she sent blasts of fire at him, all of which he dodged. The Avatar was fast, even faster than her Giant Basilisks. If only they could harness his power. Maybe, once she caught him and brought him back to the Fire Nation, she could find a way to do just that.

The Avatar dashed around her, now dodging Zuko’s fire blasts as well. She supposed that was the nice thing about three-way fights; your opponents destroyed each other.

Then Zuko was yelling and he was right next to her, blasting fire right at her. She blocked him easily, but the Avatar was able to gain some distance between them during her scuffle with Zuko.

And that was the drawback of a three-way fight.

She shoved Zuko out of the way and ran after the Avatar.

A staircase and a doorway later, Azula was pressed up against the wall, her toes barely balancing on a narrow ledge while the Avatar hovered in midair.

Her eyes darted around the not-room, trying to find a way to get to the Avatar, or at least draw him out of here, but then Zuko came barreling in, crashing to the ground with a yell.

Azula followed his trajectory downward and did not wince when he hit the ground, a cloud of dust billowing around him.

When the Avatar’s eyes left her, she started shooting at him, but he was still too quick. Somehow, she ended up on the ground, standing a few feet away from Zuko, who was struggling to his feet, his wrist clearly sprained.

“Give up, Zuko,” She begged, but when out loud, it sounded more like an arrogant demand. That was probably for the best.

He glared at her and stood, wincing as he tried to flex his hand. “No.”

She growled and kicked him through the crumbling door.

She ran out after him, hopping over his prostrate body, but skidding to a halt when the Water Tribe girl attempted to splash her aggressively, and the boy almost clubbed her in the head.

Dammit, how had they gotten away from Mai and Ty Lee?

She was going to set the boy’s ponytail on fire, but in that short time, Zuko had gotten to his feet and was shooting fire at her. He was just as stupidly persistent as last time. Good to know he hadn’t learned anything.

When a burst of flame shot out of his uninjured hand, she rushed forward, clasping her hands over his fist, stopping the fire at the source. 

She smirked at his shocked, angry expression. “What’s the matter, Zuzu? Am I in your personal space?”

He just growled, lifting his leg to kick her away, but she was quicker. She wrenched her hand away and darted around him towards the Avatar, who was making his way down from a rooftop to join their scuffle. She didn’t get far, though, because the ground under her suddenly shifted, and in half an instant, her mouth was full of dry dirt. 

She yanked her face away from the ground, spitting a little, as a small voice was saying, “Figured you guys would miss me.”

“You bet.” The Water Tribe girl said, appreciatively. 

Azula growled and got to her feet. The green clad figure from earlier turned out to be a tiny girl. Not that that made her any less formidable; after all, Azula used to be a small, frightening, talented girl. That was still mostly true, though she was less small now.

The Avatar had made it over here, and was standing next to the Water Tribe siblings, an intense expression on his young face. 

With five pairs of eyes now glaring at her, Azula was considering bailing, but it was difficult to give up when both of her targets were right there. However, even she didn’t think she could take them all down if it came down to an honest fight. Not that Azula really believed in honest fights; she usually used her wit to weasel her way to victory. Though, she wasn’t exactly lacking in physical prowess, either.

She took a careful step back, trying to decide who she should attack to get out of here, but she ran straight into a sixth person.

Uncle. She should have known; Zuko didn’t go anywhere without his almost-traitorous, tea-loving life coach.

“Well, would you look at this.” She took a few steps away from him, finding herself totally surrounded. “Enemies and traitors, all working together.”

The rest of them were stone statues while Azula slowly spun on the spot, eyes darting around for an escape route.

Right behind Uncle there was an alley. And Uncle had taken his eyes off of Azula to squint at the little Earth bender.

That’ll work.

Quicker than the blink of an eye, Azula set her uncle’s shoulder on fire and bolted for the alley, forming a shield of blue fire around her as she ran. She heard Zuko yell as she swerved around a corner, but she wasn’t followed.

~ ~ ~

It was a long walk back to the tank. Her giant basilisk lizard had run off pretty early into the fight, despite the fact that it had been trained not to fear fire. She supposed it was now running free in the desert, but probably not for long. Large as they were, giant basilisk lizards weren't exactly on the top of the food chain, and it would probably get eaten by the first platypus bear that found it. She’d have to get another one.

She wasn’t walking alone, though. Zuko was walking alongside her. Blood from the festering wound on his face had tried into the shoulder of his tunic. She remembered that Zuko hadn’t been wearing a shirt the day of that fateful Agni Kai, and she couldn’t imagine why anyone would insist he put one on when his face so clearly still needed some healing. Still, she had realized this was a spirit of some kind, and she supposed the rules were different there. Why there was a Spirit Zuko when the real one still lived and breathed and caused problems, Azula had yet to figure out.

“Alright,” She snapped. “What is it now? Are you here to lecture me? Do you disapprove of the way I treated Uncle? Was it despicable how I talked to you? Tell me? What’s the problem now?” She twisted her head as she walked to glower at him, wishing her fire bending could make lightning crackle in her eyes. Not that she needed to be any more intimidating, but she thought she deserved it.

He didn’t respond, just kept his eyes trained on his feet while he walked.

Azula huffed, crossing her arms. “I can’t believe you didn’t try to follow me. It wasn’t a very tidy escape. I mean, I knew you would want to stay and help Uncle, but that was kind of stupid of you, wasn’t it? Now I’m gone, and I’m still going to find a way to bring you back to Father.”

Zuko still didn’t respond. Azula had forgotten that this Zuko was not so easily angered like the other one.

“You’re pathetic,” She spat. “Really, you are. You always think you can take me on, but you can’t! The Avatar tricked you, and you broke your wrist. I just barely burned Uncle, and you freaked out. Honestly Zuko, you need to grow a spine. This is why Father is so disappointed by you.”

He didn’t even appear to have heard her. He just kept walking right next to her, silently.

“Well? Are you going to say anything?”

He wasn’t. Azula didn’t open her mouth again for the rest of the walk.

~ ~ ~

The sky was almost black by the time she came upon the tank. Mai and Ty Lee were already there, sitting in the grass, looking a bit damp.

Azula wasted no time. “You didn’t take care of the Water Tribe kids.”

Ty Lee looked up from the grass. “We tried. Their big cow thing knocked us into the river and they flew away.”

“It’s a flying bison,” Mai mumbled.

“Don’t be a smartass, Mai,” Azula snapped. She continued in a low voice, “I gave you one task to complete, and you botched it.” She paused to let her words linger in the silence. “Could it really have been that hard?”

They didn’t respond. Ty Lee’s eyes drifted back to a patch of grass in front of her. Zuko stood next to her, his eyes trained on the same bit of grass. 

“That wasn’t a hypothetical question!” Azula cried, only dimly aware of the hysteria rising in her voice.

Mai got to her feet. “We’ll get them next time. They’re more competent than any of us were expecting.” Her eyes glinted as they connected with Azula’s.

Azula narrowed her eyes. How dare she suggest that Azula was unprepared for this? How dare she question her like this? Lately, Mai had been pushing her in all the wrong ways, and after the stressful day and the sleepless night, she wasn’t going to let it slide anymore.

“Plus, the Water Tribe boy was real cute.”

Azula slowly turned her gaze on Ty Lee, standing a few feet away, casually taking her hair out of its braid.

“What?” Azula snapped.

“The Water Tribe boy. He was cute. Maybe he distracted me, or something,” Ty Lee giggled. “I totally avoided hitting his face.” 

Azula just stared at her companion disbelievingly.

Mai had turned to look at Ty Lee when she first spoke as well, but now she had turned away, her face expressionless once again as she stared at the dust beneath their feet.

Finally, Azula just grumbled, “Luckily, I already have a new plan, so we won’t be paying for your mistake for much longer. Try to use your brains when you’re fighting, in the future.” She marched towards the tank and dragged the heavy metal door open. “And dry off your clothes.”

Chapter Text

The plan did not include Zuko nor the Avatar. In the moment, she had felt that if she never had to see either of them again, she would be content. Her current stance was a little less dramatic, but she was still committed to taking a break from chasing the two of them. Perhaps this way, they’d come to her.

Preferably, it would be another few months before she had to return to her chase, but that was more of a personal wish.

She peered through her periscope, watching her drill crank its way through the wall. Huge clouds of dust and debris billowing up from the dry ground and falling from the wall obscured much of her vision, but there didn’t seem to be anymore earth benders hammering away at the sides of the great metal machine. It was odd, considering that the Earth Kingdom was known for their grit and determination and all that.

She didn’t have the chance to let that thought coagulate, because a tinny voice was announcing through the intercom that a mechanist had been knocked out, his schematics missing. By the time she made piercing eye contact with her war minister, another voice was announcing that a brace had been cut through.

With a sigh, she got to her feet, “Let’s go, ladies.”

The war minister was squirming a little, waiting for her punishment, but he would have to wait.

She had an Avatar to capture.

 ~ ~ ~

Unfortunately, that’s not how it turned out. Still covered in a, now drying, layer of sludge, Azula marched around the perimeter of her ruined drill. Clearly, there would be absolutely no fixing it, and according to the war minister, the inside was just as dilapidated. Mai and Ty Lee, one of which was just as sludge-covered as her, trailed behind her quietly, examining the wreckage. Not only was this disappointing, it was humiliating. Now she shared a failure with Uncle, and it took her only a day and a half to be defeated, while it had taken him three hundred.

She stopped abruptly, scuffing her toe in the dirt. But no, she wasn’t going to do the same thing as Uncle. She wasn’t giving up entirely. She would table the issue of getting past the great walls of Ba Sing Se.

“Come on, girls.” She abruptly turned around and walked right in between her companions. “We need to get our basilisk lizards back.”

“Oh,” Mai muttered, “Great.”

 ~ ~ ~

The animals were procured in record time, and they were on the road, zipping through the Earth Kingdom. The tank was gone, but the giant lizards were surprisingly enduring, so long as you didn’t push them to move too fast.

For the first couple of days, Ty Lee repeatedly asked what they were doing, in increasingly poorly camouflaged ways. And then, Azula would respond with increasingly flimsy excuses. Honestly, she was regrouping; trying to find away to come back to any of the three challenges she had battling. The three challenges she was currently failing at. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t resilient, she was determined to keep trying, but she didn’t think anything had been this difficult before.

She wanted to be excited by the challenges like she had been at the beginning, but it seemed she was running out of steam.

What was most disconcerting was that neither Zuko nor her mother had showed up during the drilling attempt. At first, that had boosted her confidence; it would certainly be easier to break into the Earth Kingdom’s capital without her family members hovering over her, trying to instill doubt in her mind. But when it was all over, and the Avatar and his stupid little gang had disappeared, she realized she had no excuse for this failure. This was her own fault, and no one else’s.

And so, regrouping. Not giving up, not even taking a break really, just planning.

However, after eight days of traveling across the vast Earth Kingdom, it seemed her luck had come back to her.

~ ~ ~ 

The three young women were camping out in the middle of a pine forest when it happened. It was huge; they had been among the great evergreens for almost three days now, only stopping to rest when absolutely necessary.

Azula assumed that the other girls were asleep in their tent, but she was sitting upright on her pallet. There were only two tents, but that was a new development as of last night. When they had been setting up camp, Mai had turned to Azula and said abruptly, “Something happened to the third tent,” and then stared at Azula, waiting for her to respond. 

Perhaps Mai was concerned she would be angry about the loss of the tent, but Azula had just shrugged. “I’m not sharing with you, so you’ll have to work it out with Ty Lee,” and then turned back to the stack of kindling she was arranging, deftly setting it aflame.

“Oh,” Mai replied, shoulders slumping, apparently in relief as the fight leaked out of her. “Alright, then.”

Apparently they had worked it out, because that was the last that Azula heard on the matter.

Now, it was the early hours of the morning, and Azula had yet to get a wink of sleep. Zuko was sitting cross-legged at the foot of her pallet, mirroring Azula’s position where she was perched on her pillow. He had been doing this every night since the drill, and their routine was getting tedious. They never spoke, and Azula tried to avoid eye contact, even as her stared right at her face. She didn’t know what he wanted, and she didn’t dare ask. If he tried to get her to talk about her mission to hunt him down, she thought she might explode. Normally, she would have left the tent by now to get some fresh air and practice her bending because he never left the tent. (Azula wasn’t sure how he slipped out before Ty Lee took the tents down without her noticing.) Tonight, though, she sat perfectly still and tried to meet his eyes. His eye? She still didn’t know if he could see out of the thin line of his left eye. She could see the irises moving together, but maybe his vision was blurred, or it was a reflex to move his eyes at the same time. She couldn’t imagine that his sight would have survived intact, not with the awful wound surrounding the eye that still hadn’t healed. Well, it had scarred over for one of the Zukos. But not for this one. 

The wound wasn’t even the worst part of looking at him. It was his unblinking focus. Azula supposed that he must blink, but she never caught him. Whenever he looked at her, it felt like he was really looking at her; looking straight down into her soul.

She supposed that he couldn’t have been, not really. She tried to make her eyes sharpen and focus like that, but she wasn’t looking into anybody’s soul.

Her hypnotism by his bright gold eyes were interrupted by a roar that struck her to the bone. She jumped, then froze. It sounded like it had come from miles away, but it was still loud. She glanced at Zuko, but he didn’t seem to have heard it. 

Before she could open her mouth to mention it, another roar burst through the night’s silence. It wasn’t as loud, or at least it wasn’t as jarring, but it was the same animal. It must have been enormous to be able to make a sound like that.

“Zuko,” She hissed before there could be a third roar. “Do you hear that?”

At first, he didn’t even seem to have heard her speak, but then he squinted at her, intensifying his glare. “No,” He scowled, irritated by her question.

She huffed and got to her feet. “Sorry I asked,” She spat out as she edged around him and ducked outside. She could feel his eyes following her as she picked her way across the tiny enclosure. When the cool night air hit her face, a third roar, much louder than the first two, reverberated through the forest.

Moments later, Ty Lee was sticking her head out of the other tent’s flap, her brown hair out of its braid and falling around her eyes. “What was that?” Even though she clearly had just been jolted awake, her voice was already clear and crisp. And weirdly, almost chipper.

“Get Mai out here,” Azula said in leu of an answer.

“She’s asleep,” Ty Lee replied, but then quickly ducked back into the tent to wake her, as if it took her a moment to remember that Azula didn’t mind interrupting their sleep schedule.

Azula crossed her arms and peered between the trees. She could see the sky near the horizon lightening with soft yellows and blues. Already dawn. So, they wouldn’t be leaving much earlier than they were planning to, anyway. Not that any of them would have complained at the early hour, not even Mai, who hated mornings and was the most apt to complain. She had been keeping rather quiet the past week. Well, quieter than usual. It was almost as if she was in a good mood, which, with Mai, was practically impossible.

Now though, even with her halfway pleasant attitude of the past week, she was clearly pissed off. When she stumbled out of the tent after Ty Lee, she wore only the black base of her outfit, the red sashes left inside. Her hair was a tangled mess, her bangs plastered at an unnatural angle, and she had smudges of black makeup under her eyes. They had had a difficult time finding a campsite last night, so Azula mused that she hadn’t taken the time to wash her face.

“What?” Mai grumbled, though Azula could tell she was trying really hard to keep her cool.

Azula cocked an eyebrow and pursed her lips, still stained with yesterday’s lipstick. She hadn’t even attempted to get some sleep last night, so her make up was just a bit stale, rather than smeared. 

“Didn’t you hear the obnoxiously loud roar? It shook the ground, honest to the spirits!” Ty Lee grinned, placing her hand over her heart as if she were swearing an oath.

Azula rolled her eyes, and Mai shook her head. “It couldn’t have been that loud.”

“Well, you are a pretty deep sleeper, Mai,” Ty Lee countered.

“Yesterday you said you are a deep sleeper, Ty Lee,” Mai replied, though she barely sounded annoyed.

“I assure you it was plenty loud,” Azula hastily brought the conversation back on track. “I’ve never heard anything like it.” As she spoke, Azula could feel the cogs turning in her head, approaching a conclusion that she couldn’t quite see, yet.

"Well, there are probably a lot of animals in the Earth Kingdom that we don’t know about.” Ty Lee mused, tapping her cheek in thought. “Ooh! You know, I read about these enormous badger-moles that can Earth bend. I didn’t know there were Earth bending animals, I thought that the people invented the technique themselves, in school they made it sound like-”

“Thank you, Ty Lee,” Azula did her best to calm her irritation, and continued, “I don’t think badger-moles can roar, so that’s out.” She could feel the answer of what that thing was circling just out of her reach. It was important.

“Sounds like something that awful, gigantic flying cow would make,” Mai grumbled, rubbing her eye and smearing her makeup even more. “Big and loud.”

Ty Lee smirked, “So you did hear- wait, Azula? What are you doing?”

Azula was jogging over to her tent, preparing to disassemble it. “You’re quite right Mai, it did sound like something the Avatar’s bison would make.”

 ~ ~ ~

They packed up their little campsite in record time. Since Ty Lee had taught Mai how to put up and take down tents, and Azula carefully watched, the process was a lot quicker. After rousing the three giant basilisk lizards, they were on their way.

There were no more roars, so it was difficult to tell if they were headed the right way, at least at first. After about an hour of traveling in loops and zig zags, Mai found some of the familiar clumps of white and brown fur clinging to tree bark and fluttering to the ground. Following the trail was a breeze after that.

In fact, within the hour, they found the white, fluffy arrow-headed monster. Azula immediately noticed that the Avatar was nowhere in sight, but the bison wasn’t alone. Five, no, six, young women dressed in green warrior uniforms with painted faces surrounded it. They all seemed to be around Azula’s age. 

To their credit, the girls in green noticed Azula’s trio approaching before they could attack, and they leapt into action, their fans framing their faces as they crouched into battle-ready positions.

“My, aren’t you easy to find,” Azula crowed at the now-growling animal, momentarily ignoring the girls who guarded him. “Did the Avatar abandon you to get into Ba Sing Se? What a shame.”

She turned her attention to warriors, who inexplicably had not attacked yet.

A girl with thick brown hair that fell to her chin, apparently the leader, if her position at the front and center was any indication, spoke, “There’s no need to attack the bison. Like you said, the Avatar is not here.”

Azula shrugged, “Oh, that’s alright.” Behind her, she felt more than saw Ty Lee dismount the giant basilisk lizard, and heard the clink of metal as Mai prepared her shuriken. “If you’re friends of the Avatar, then you’ll make fine opponents.”

And before they had a chance to react, she shot fire right at their leader. The warriors’ golden fans transformed into shields to stop the blast, which was both unexpected and ingenious. After Azula’s first shot, Mai and Ty Lee enthusiastically joined the fray. Well, Ty Lee was enthusiastic, but if the four knives that shot out of Mai’s sleeves were any indication, she was excited to be getting in on the action, too.

Azula was locked in battle with the leader, forcing her on the defense even as she strained to aggressively get in her own blows as well. Azula pushed her closer to the bison, which was edging back behind a fallen tree. Its growling got louder and more panicked with each blast from Azula. 

She smirked. “Afraid of fire, I see.” The leader of the Earth Kingdom fan girls squinted at her, confused for a moment. But then, her eyes widened, and she glanced over her shoulder at the bison behind her. “Good,” Azula continued, “You should be,”

The girl looked back just barely in time to block a particular strong blast of blue fire, pushing her back, her heels digging into the dirt and pulling out grass. Azula shot another round of her, and this time the fire glanced off her fans and caught the branched of the fallen tree. The flames cooled, turning yellow and red as they lost their steady stream of oxygen from their bender.

The bison roared, and Azula glanced away from the girl she was fighting to check on the others. Only one other girl was still standing, and she was clutching her side where one of Mai’s knives had caught her. Ty Lee was already approaching her from behind, her fists raised and a serious expression on her round face.

When Azula looked back, the girl had both her fans folded and grasped in one hand as she swung a flaming tree branch above her head. Right at the bison.

“Mai, Ty Lee!” Azula shouted, and her comrades snapped their attention to her. “Stop the bison!” Azula snapped at the lizards, and her command, they skittered towards the bison and climbed on top of it, stopping it from taking off. Confused and frightened by the fire and the lizards, the bison just stomped his large feet. Mai pinned the girl to a tree right as Azula took a deep breath to put out the fires.

“Ty Lee!” Azula yelled, “Chi block the bison!”

Ty Lee only froze for a moment, cocking her head to squint at Azula, before turning her attention to the flying bison, trying its best to throw off the crawling lizards. Then, she leapt on top of the beast and did her best.

Azula and Mai could really only watch as Ty Lee climbed and flipped over the great furry creature, and tried to chi block it. Before this, Azula was sure Ty Lee only had experience with human beings, but she was doing well. About ten minutes in, the beast was sluggish enough that Azula called off the lizards. The warriors who were still conscious watched the spectacle with growing horror as Azula looked on with delight. The bison stumbled, struggling with the effort of staying upright. Even Mai was watching with stunned, rapt attention. Finally, Ty Lee won out and the creature fell to the side, his legs swinging weakly. With a few more jabs at his underbelly, it was fully paralyzed.

Ty Lee, who Azula had never known to lose her composure, swiped at her sweaty forehead, and swiped at the hair that had unraveled from her braid clinging to her neck, but she was smiling a little. Still, she did a handspring over the fallen tree to join Mai and Azula.

“Well, that was tricky,” She said brightly, “Not sure how long it will hold, though, we should probably tie him down or something.” She put her hands on her narrow waist. “Ah, what do you want to do, Princess?”

 ~ ~ ~

Five hours later, the warriors had been stripped to their undergarments and were tied together to a tree, still partially limp because Ty Lee kept re-paralyzing them. The bison was secured excessively, so that even though its chi had unblocked itself, it could not move a muscle. Azula had sent a hawk to the nearest colony, and a platoon had just showed up to assist.

“Greetings,” Azula said to their lieutenant as she approached. 

The lieutenant bowed, her hands forming the flame at her sternum. “Your highness, we are at your disposal,” She said, speaking towards Azula’s shoes. 

Azula placed her hands on her hips and waited for the lieutenant to rise. It took until the count of ten, which was an embarrassingly long time. Mai and Ty Lee glanced at each other awkwardly.

Finally, the lieutenant straightened, flushing when she saw Azula’s disapproving expression. She cleared her throat. “What do you want us to do?”

Azula jerked her chin towards the bison, “Keep that from escaping. He’s strong, and smart for an animal, so be diligent. 24 hour watch.” She pointed to the shivering warriors. “Bring them to a prison. The nearest. Send the one with the short brown hair to the Boiling Rock, she’s the leader.” The girl’s expression hardened when Azula mentioned her, and she lifted her chin in defiance. Inwardly, Azula laughed. We’ll see how long that attitude holds up after a few weeks in the toughest prison in the world. 

She turned back to the lieutenant. “Don’t try anything funny. That will be all.”

Azula turned around and walked towards their giant basilisk lizards. Mai and Ty Lee wordlessly followed her. 

As she mounted, she turned to her companions. “We’re going back to the Earth Kingdom capital.”

Chapter Text

The Kyoshi Warriors had a simple code to fight honorably. One of their rules was no one gets left behind. A basic rule. A rule that was repeated so often the words were stale in your mouth as you said them.

Right now, though, that rule was anything but stale.

These guards weren’t as skilled as the princess’s trio, but there were more of them, and at least one pair of eyes were on Suki and her girls at all times. Suki had managed to untie her own bonds almost completely, but she couldn’t reach the other warriors without alerting the guards that she was free. 

She bit her lip. Tucked against her ribs, under the wrappings around her torso, was a small, sheathed knife. If she could just twist her arm up and slip it out without anyone noticing, and she could toss it to the other girls…

Chiaki, the warrior tied up nearest to her, caught Suki’s eye, and without moving her lips implored, “First chance there is, get out of here.”

Suki squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, still trying to twist her arm behind her back. “No, I’m not leaving you.”

Chiaki looked at her out of the corner of her eye and whispered, “They’re sending you somewhere else anyways.”

Suki just shook her head, her arm scratching against the rough bark of the tree.

Chiaki wasn’t done yet, and she continued firmly, just short of harsh, “One of us getting out of here is better than none.” She eyed a guard who still was only vaguely watching them. “You can come back for us later, but right now you need to warn the Avatar.”

Tears stung Suki’s eyes as she continued shaking her head, just slightly so that the guard wouldn’t turn his focus on them fully again. Sure enough, his eyes were still a bit glazed over.

“Suki,” Chiaki whispered, kindly this time, “Please. We don’t have a chance unless you just go.”

Suki sniffled, trying hard to keep her eyes dry and her vision clear. She stopped shaking her head. From where she was bound, 

A second guard called out to their watchman, and he turned away from the bound warriors.

Chiaki didn’t have to tell her to go, she knew this might be the only chance she got. She pulled away from the tree, spun around, and leapt into the branches, making as little sound as possible. Spending hours guarding the borders of her village crouched in a tree made it easy to silently ascend into the thick needles. When she was about halfway up, she glanced down at her warriors. The only girl she could see was Chiaki, who kept her head drooped, ignoring Suki’s escape. Suki touched the outline of the small knife against her ribs, but tossing it down would make a sound, alerting even their half-wit guard.

So, for the good of her warriors, she edged away from the trunk and leapt to the next tree in the dense forest.

“I promise I’ll be back,” She thought firmly, “I will.”

Distantly, she heard the soldiers shouting, realizing that she was gone. She sped up, clinging to branches and spinning around trunks as needles got caught in her hair.

She could hear them approaching her tree, and she came to a sudden stop, wrapping her arms around the trunk. The wind made her tree sway just a bit, and she glanced down, the huge drop hardly phasing her. The red, spiked top of a Fire Nation helmet on the other hand…

She bit her lip, silently begging the spirit of the forest, or Avatar Kyoshi, or any other spirit who would listen that the guard would not look up.

Instead, a second soldier joined the first, carrying a flame in their palm. Suki planted her forehead into the trunk, hoping the needles would hide her from sight. Hoping if the guard did look up, they would think her to be a funny looking crane beaver. Hoping that they would just move on and she could get out of her.

Somehow, miraculously, probably with Kyoshi’s aid, the two guard marched off, neither back the way they came nor the way Suki was heading. Waiting until the count of 90, she was off once again.

All she needed now were some proper clothes, and she could make it to Ba Sing Se, and get to Aang and Katara and Sokka. She hoped they really were in the city, like Azula said. She knew she couldn’t beat Azula on foot, but surely there was something she could do, if she was fast enough.

Chapter Text

After the disaster that was the drill, slipping into the city by wearing the Kyoshi Warrior uniforms felt astonishingly easy. Even with their limited information (they only have five hours to interrogate the girls), the infiltration went smoothly. Mai had managed to extract their group’s name, and it turned out, that once people heard the word “Kyoshi” they stopped asking questions.

They had to ride into the city on the train, but they were allowed into the upper ring, solely because of their recognizable uniforms. Well, their uniforms and Ty Lee’s bubbly charm.

Azula was hoping the city would disappoint her, after all, it was just the Earth Kingdom, but she found herself dazzled by all of it. Even the sheer volume of people astounded her. It was far more crowded than anywhere else she had ever been. Such a great density of people probably caused violence and disease to spread, but it was still 
rather staggering.

At the steps of the palace (also impressive) they were stopped for the first time. They were refused an audience with the king.

“Don’t you know who we are? We are the prestigious Kyoshi Warriors,” Azula reminded the man, who appeared to be a guard of some sort, with floor length green robes and a wide-brimmed helmet that covered his face.

“We are here to help with the war effort,” Mai said, a bit coldly, but only because that was her default tone.

Ty Lee swooped in, speaking much kinder, “We only wish to serve the Earth Kingdom. We feel that the king would appreciate our services if he had the chance to-”

“We do not need assistance at this time,” The guard repeated. “Don’t make me remove you by force.”

Ty Lee pursed her lips, irritated at being cut off, but soon she was smiling again. But before she could continue, Mai said, “We are the Kyoshi Warriors, we can easily fight you if you attempt to use force on us.”

Ty Lee elbowed Mai discreetly as she said, “Perhaps we don’t need to see the king. Who is the captain of the guard?”

“We don’t have a captain of the guard,” The guard snapped. “You must mean the head of the Dai Li agency.”

“Oh!” Ty Lee slapped her forehead with her palm. “Of course! Perhaps they will appreciate our help.”

Until then, the guard had been holding his hands behind his back, but now he brought them forward. They were covered in a sort of thick, dark glove. Azula squinted at the material, and discovered that it was not cloth. Rock was what encased his hands, moving with him as though it were as pliable as the glove Azula had assumed it was. He flexed his hands threateningly, preparing to use the force he had alluded to.

“We can channel Avatar Kyoshi,” Azula said abruptly. She could feel the other two girls watching her, fighting to keep their expressions neutral, but Azula stared firmly at the guard, whose hands had stilled.

“You can- you what?” He asked, eloquently.

“We can contact Avatar Kyoshi from the Spirit World,” Azula reiterated, gaining confidence that she had found their key into the palace. “We are spiritually attached to her, since we fight in her style, and honor her. She may be able to help us to assist the current Avatar, as well.”

The guard finally lifted his head, and Azula saw his wide eyes beneath the brim of his helmet. “Ah,” He managed, “I’ll bring you to see Long Feng.”

~ ~ ~

“Well,” Long Feng muttered, bringing his fingertips together to rest on his chin, “That is worth looking into.”

The pale green light emanating from a roughly hewn hunk of rock illuminated Long Feng from behind, giving him a green halo and leaving his face in relative shadow. Azula could only just make out his gaunt features. He was a tall, mustached man with a haughty, but focused, stare.

“How can I be of service?” He asked in his greasy manner.

Azula stepped forward, using her sweetest voice to correct him, “You misunderstand: we are at your service. We wish to serve the king, and help with the war effort from the capital.”

Long Feng tutted, “I presume you’ve never been to the city. We do not speak of the war within the walls.”

Azula raised her eyebrows and waited for him to elaborate. She had attacked the city herself not even two weeks ago, how could they avoid speaking of something as omnipresent as the war?

“It allows us to maintain civility and order,” Long Feng explained coolly. “The war does not affect our lives here, so we do not speak of it. No use panicking over a distant, endless war.”

Of all the obstacles that Azula had mentally prepared herself for, this had not made the list.

“Well,” She began, “We would hate to disrupt the peace you’ve made here. But, perhaps there is still something we could assist the king with, here.”

“Perhaps,” Murmured Long Feng, his eyes boring into Azula’s face.

“Anything the Earth King needs,” Azula vowed.

Long Feng merely hummed in response. There was a long pause, and with the hunk of glowing crystal in place of a fire, there were no crackling sounds to break up the silence. She had never been to the Water Tribes, but she couldn’t imagine a more direct opposite to her father’s throne room. Between the silence, the cool stone and the Long Feng’s narrow office, she felt that she was out of her element. Literally.

Finally, the man nodded. “Very well. I should tell you what is happening here: the Avatar is currently in the city. He intends to cause havok, possibly by inciting rebellion among the common people. He intends to use the war to instigate this chaos, but I’m sure he will not hesitate to lie to the common people. I’m sure you can understand that this would be disastrous. We could use your connection to one of his past lives to reason with him, and stop him from breaking down our meticulous society.” Then, barely courteously, he added, “If you are willing.”

“We’d be honored to use our gifts to assist you,” Azula said, her tone flat. “That is awful. It’s horrible when you can’t trust your own allies.”

~ ~ ~

In the rooms the Dai Li had provided for them, the girls tried to relax. It had been a long day of traveling and convincing strangers of their Earth Kingdom heritage. Azula had enjoyed most of it, since it was full of little successes that brought them closer to the king, but the lack of sleep she had been getting recently was taking its toll. 

She leaned against a chest of drawers, trying to look calculating rather than exhausted as she took in the scene before her. There was an awful lot of green in this room. She supposed it was the Earth Kingdom, and green was kind of their thing, but she thought it was excessive. Even the lighting was green, casting the room in a sickly murk, making Azula’s head and stomach swim. Ty Lee, on the other hand, seemed unbothered as she meandered around, poking at the decor and rummaging through drawers. Mai lounged listlessly on a low couch, watching Ty Lee amble about with heavy lidded eyes.

“So,” Ty Lee said, drawing out the single syllable. “What are we going to tell them when they ask us to contact the Avatar?” She picked up a vase that held crystal instead of flowers, holding the semi-clear rocks up to her eye.

Azula pushed away from the doorframe, taking her time to walk to the vanity, “We’ll have to come up with answers as we go, but remain as non-specific as possible.” She knelt so she could start scrubbing off her make-up. Mai and Ty Lee’s faces were already bare, and she was too tired to wait for them to go to bed. They could see her without make-up once in a while.

Mai sat up, pulling her legs under herself to kneel. “What if he asks us a specific question?” She drawled. 

“If he gets too invasive, we’ll tell him Kyoshi is protecting the current Avatar, so we don’t have anymore information.” Azula answered haughtily, waving her hand dismissively, a damp cloth between her fingers. “I have everything under control.”

Ty Lee set the vase of crystals down, and moved on to pull an odd, metal instrument attached to a short pencil out of a drawer. “Of course you do, but for all my knowledge on auras and chi, I don’t know that much about contacting the dead. I’d hate for us to do it wrong, and alert the Dai Li. Or worse, anger the Spirits.” She fiddled with the object in her hands, twisting a dial that widened and narrowed the two arms of the V it formed.

Azula sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose to ward off her headache. “On second thought,” She snapped, “Why don’t you let me do the talking?” Her sisters in arms actually seemed nervous about this plan. It was not as if any of Azula’s previous plots had hurt them. “If the agent speaks to you directly, you may answer, but that’s it.”

Ty Lee hummed and nodded, dropping the tool back in the drawer with a clatter.

Azula dragged the cloth across her face, and when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror again, she drew in a startled gasp. Zuko’s face was there, peering over her right shoulder, his eyes glinting.

Then, he was moving to kneel beside her, reaching for her face with a hand.

Azula scrambled backwards, scattering the cushions she was sitting on across the floor. Somehow, this didn’t put any distance between herself and Zuko; his fingertips were still mere inches from her face. It was as though he hadn’t needed to adjust his position, and he could simply be wherever he wanted to be.

Luckily, before his fingertips could graze her skin, Ty Lee cried, “Azula!”

Azula snapped her gaze towards the chi blocker, whose grey eyes were wide.

“Azula?” Mai spoke this time.

Breathing hard, Azula turned to look at Zuko again, only to find he was gone. Of course. He always disappeared at the crucial moments. Quickly, she sat up, glancing between her friends. She couldn’t tell if they had seen him or not; she only saw fear and apprehension on their faces.

Azula cleared her throat, getting to her feet. “We should sleep, it’s late.” She arranged her robes to lay properly on her body, and slipped into one of the three bedrooms of their suite.

~ ~ ~

Long Feng wasted no time in arranging an opportunity to use the girls’ abilities to thwart the Avatar. The very next morning, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee knelt on thin green cushions, facing Long Feng and several Dai Li agents. Too many agents. Not that they made Azula nervous, but it was excessive.

“So,” Long Feng pressed his fingertips together. “How does this work?”

True to their plan, Azula spoke up, “We have to meditate, and if Kyoshi wishes, she will speak to us.”

Long Feng cocked an eyebrow. “I was under the impressive this was more of an exact science.”

“There is no such thing in the spirit world, sir.” Azula replied. Using “sir” for that man felt like acid was being poured on her tongue, but she said it as though she was the one who should be showing him respect, instead of the other way around.

Long Feng made a sound that was probably meant to be a condescending hum, but sounded more like an impatient grumble.

Shifting into a cross-legged position, and trusting Mai and Ty Lee to follow suit, Azula closed her eyes, pretending to meditate.

She had meditated before. Not since she was nine, and her mother still lived, but she was familiar with the procedure. She just didn’t see the point of it. It was completely inactive, and therefore completely unproductive. As soon as she was able to bully her tutors out of forcing the practice upon her, she did.

After waiting just long enough to make the overpowered captain of the guard squirm, but not so long that he got angry, Azula opened her eyes.

Zuko was standing over Long Feng’s shoulder, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. Azula did not outwardly startle, she just took a deep breath through her nose. It felt like she wasn’t getting enough oxygen; like Zuko sucked it all from the room just by being there.

“Avatar Kyoshi has spoken to me,” She said, and her voice did not shake. “She knows where the Avatar is, but she wants to know what you intend to do with him, once you find him.”

Long Feng nodded, and Azula could practically see the cogs in his brain turning. “I think, first, you should prove to us that you really are speaking to Kyoshi.” Zuko turned to watch the man speak, breaking eye contact with Azula. Breathing came easier without his eyes on her.

“How do you propose we do that?” Azula asked.

Apparently, Long Feng had come prepared. “My agents and I know why the Avatar came here originally, I assume you do not.”

Azula and the girls shook their heads, lying

“If the Avatar is as connected with his past lives as they say he is, Kyoshi will know this. Ask her, and tell us.”

Perfect. Azula, of course, already knew that the Avatar had come to the city to find his giant flying creature. It would be a necessary luxury to have such speedy transportation, especially when your transportation could fly you right past the enemy. She shut her eyes and pretended to focus.

A few minutes later, she reported back.

Long Feng’s face did not betray his reaction. Instead, he abruptly asked, “Can you contact the Avatar?”

“The current Avatar? Not directly,” Azula replied, allowing some false confusion to shine through. She hoped it was believable; it was hard to stay focused when Zuko was so present, taking up all the air.

“Ask Kyoshi to contact him,” Long Feng demanded. “We need to find a way to get him out of the city. Unfortunately, the boy is convinced we have the bison in our possession, but I assure you, no one in the city has ever even seen a flying bison. Well, except the Avatar and his… friends, I suppose.” The disrespect Long Feng had for the Avatar was interesting. She would have expected the Earth Kingdom to be clamoring for Avatar Aang’s attention. 

“Avatar Kyoshi,” Ty Lee piped up. Everyone turned to stare at her. “It’s disrespectful not to use her full title,” She defended. She did not have the good sense to act embarrassed by the attention. 

“Of course,” Long Feng said, his voice slimy.

“Unfortunately,” Azula did not address Ty Lee’s interjection, despite agreeing with her. Avatar Kyoshi may have been from the Earth Kingdom, but she was quite powerful. “Avatar Kyoshi will not be able to convince Avatar Aang of anything, I’m sure. She can only speak to him with his express invitation.”

“I thought you said you could contact the Avatar himself.” Long Feng’s voice was low, almost angry.

“We did not,” Azula said, refusing to be frustrated. “We cannot do anything so specific. Our spiritual gifts have their limitations. We are still willing to help in any way we can.”

Long Feng was silent for a long moment. Zuko, who had been standing nearby this whole time, stepped around him and walked towards Azula. It felt as if a noose was tightening around her throat. Trying to relieve some of the pressure, she ticked her head to the side, cracking her neck. When that didn’t help, she clenched her fists in her lap, desperately trying to avoid his gaze. 

“Azula,” He said. She ignored him. “Azula?” She squeezed her eyes shut.

A slender finger poked her shoulder, and Azula jumped to her feet, ready to fight. Glancing down, she saw Ty Lee, her pointer finger extended, her lips pursed in surprise.

“Long Feng was asking you a question, Lai.” Right. Her Earth Kingdom name. Only Zuko would call her Azula, here. He knew no one else could hear him. He was still there, back to hovering near Long Feng. Typical. He always goaded her then pretended that nothing happened. Well, he hadn’t exactly done that when they were little, that had always been her trick, but he was doing it now.

Azula knelt again, and nodded stiffly to Long Feng.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but obliged, letting her pretend nothing had happened, and repeated himself, “In order to protect the city, we have been planning on temporarily taking the Avatar and his little brigade into custody.”

“Does the king know?” Mai asked. So much for the plan to let Azula talk.

Finally, the meaning of what Long Feng had said sunk in. And it was… surprising. Not only surprising, but too easy. Once again, a leader of a nation (for Long Feng was clearly the leader here, not the Earth King) was asking her to capture the avatar. It would be laughably simple to go out, capture the child, and bring him back to her father instead of back to the Earth palace. But that was too easy. Besides, Azula was the first to successfully infiltrate Ba Sing Se during the war, and she was going to make the most of it. She would go all the way, and succeed where her predecessors had failed.

Long Feng answered Mai’s question, “The king cannot be bothered with all the ins and outs of bureaucracy,” He still spoke directly to Azula, despite the fact that Mai had been the last to speak. Good. “He has left that up to me.”

Azula, having regained her ability to speak, said in a low voice, “I’m not sure that capturing the Avatar falls under the umbrella of bureaucracy.”

“I assure you, this is within the bounds of legality,” Long Feng stated. It sounded like something he had to promise often.

“I’m sure,” Azula agreed, passively. “Perhaps you’d like to explain to us what we will be doing?”

As Long Feng launched into his explanation, an idea was already starting to form in Azula’s mind. And idea to finally get the Earth Kingdom under her control.

~ ~ ~

It had been a long time since this chase was just about bringing her brother and uncle back home. When the Avatar had entered the picture, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by, and he joined her list of targets. Now, another opportunity was presenting herself, and she would be a fool if she did not take it. The chance to take the Earth Kingdom capital was staring her in the face. It was a feat her forefathers had lacked the strength and cunning for, but she did not. 

If she was just in this for her brother, she wouldn’t have even made it this far. So, with a bigger prize in mind, she would have to delay capturing the Avatar, like she had delayed capturing her brother. She knew it would all come together in due time.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Azula took a walk around the palace: a chance to examine the layout of the building while giving herself the chance to think. Long Feng’s demands had been unoriginal: join the Dai Li in spying on the Avatar, and in a week or two, abduct each of them in quick succession, leaving the Avatar himself for last. It might have worked; Azula knew simplicity had its place among short term goals. However, she had no intention of following through. She had other things in mind.

She was done with her walk by eight am, and she walked back into the suite to find Mai and Ty Lee kneeling at the vanities, scrubbing at their faces.

“Hello, girls,” She greeted. She had been planning to remind them of what to do and say when they had their meeting with Long Feng today, but something about the image before her stopped her.

It took her a moment to figure it out, but once she did, she berated her companions, “Why are you taking your face paint off? We are going to talk with the king soon.” Her friends just stared at her like antelope-gazelles frozen in front of a speeding wagon. Azula crossed her arms. “We have the optima of Fire Nation features, without the paint we could not pass as Earth Kingdom commoners.”

Ty Lee gave Azula an awkward smile. “Oh yeah, oops.” 

The eye make-up was still intact, but the lipstick and the white paint on the lower halves of their faces was rubbed off.

Mai did not bother to reply at all; she just set down her damp rag and picked up a brush to reapply. The exposed skin on her face was very red, as though she had rubbed it raw, or she was having an allergic reaction.

Azula rolled her eyes. She hadn’t thought she would have to explain that to her normally quite competent cohort.

~ ~ ~

They didn’t have an official meeting with the king, but getting in the palace was half the battle. Azula had located the throne room during her morning walk, and that’s where the three of them were headed now. The door to the throne room was absurdly large, and could only be opened with Earth bending. Which was appropriate, being the Earth Kingdom and all. Not that it mattered; the palace would be remodeled soon anyway.

Azula didn’t really believe in fate; determination and and iron will would get you through, not the spirits’ schemes. However, even she could not deny that her plan was falling into place astoundingly well, as if the spirits really did have a hand in it. 

Luckily, the Dai Li agents guarding the enormous door had already heard that the Kyoshi Warriors were staying in the palace under the direct orders of Long Feng. They knew the girls were helping him with an important mission, and if the warriors’ leader was requesting an audience with the king, they couldn’t really turn her away. She said it was for His Majesty’s own safety.

Besides, the agents would do anything to stop her cold, frightening eyes from staring into their’s.

The king sat on a throne large enough to match the door, and a few guards, not agents, flanked him. Long Feng himself was nowhere in sight. It seemed their good fortune was continuing.

Azula got down on her knees and bowed, Mai and Ty Lee doing the same behind her.

“What’s this?” The king asked, without malice.

“Your majesty,” Azula said, without lifting her forehead from the ground. “We have some troubling information concerning your advisor.”

The king stayed silent for a moment, then said, incredulously, “Go on.”

Azula sat up. “As you know, the Avatar is in your city.”

Strangely, the king did not seem to know. “The Avatar? Here? How can that be?” He leaned forward, his eyes wide, dumbfounded.

How could he not know? “I believe the Dai Li were taking care of it, my liege,” Azula replied, carefully. “And now they’re trying to kidnap him to use his powers for a coup. Once they have the Avatar, Long Feng intends to dethrone you.”

The king merely scoffed, “That’s absurd. Besides, I cannot trust three young people who I don’t know, no matter how prestigious their position may be, over my own advisor.”

Luckily, this was an argument Azula had actually been expecting. “We understand, your majesty, but we can prove it. Long Feng has asked us to go get to Avatar, since he knows and trusts us already, and we can show you when it happens.”

The king narrowed his eyes, surveying her. “I cannot spend any more of my valuable time investigating this story.”

“But, what if it’s not a story? What if we’re telling the truth? It would be worth your time, then.” Azula pressed.

The king rubbed the arm of his throne, looking away from the girls as he thought. Patiently, Azula waited for him to make up his mind.

“How long is this going to take?” He sighed.

That was all the consent Azula needed.

~ ~ ~

That very afternoon, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee stood in the middle of Long Feng’s office, the green glow giving their skin a sickly pallor. The Earth King himself was hidden in the office, as well as two guards who were not under Long Feng’s direction. Long Feng himself was only just entering.

He jumped, startled, almost stumbling back out of the doorway. “You’re quite early,” He accused.

Azula nodded, “We find punctuality to be of the utmost importance.”

Long Feng grumbled unintelligibly before he regained his composure. He sniffed, and took his seat in front of his crystalline hearth.

“Well, down to business,” He began. This was going to be quick. Azula carefully suppressed a proud grin. “You’ll find the target in the upper ring, I have a few agents who will lead you. From there, it’s up to you, but I want him in the palace by midnight.” He waved them away, impatient. The meeting was over before it was even meant to start.

That wasn’t good enough. Azula cleared her throat, “So, force may not be necessary to bring the Avatar into custody?”

“It’s up to you,” Long Feng said, still irritated. “So long as he’s still alive, it would be a disaster if he were to die.”

“Because you need the Avatar alive,” Ty Lee clarified.

Long Feng turned his gaze on Ty Lee. “You could say that.”

“What are you planning on doing with him?” Mai asked. They had enough proof now, but it would be nice to trick Long Feng into sharing even more.

However, this was too much. “I need him for- We already discussed all of this,” He huffed, but he didn’t get much further. The king’s guards surged out from the shadows, and tackled Long Feng to the ground. 

The weasel-like man fell hard against the stone ground. “What in the name of Koh is this?”

“Long Feng, you are under arrest for crimes against the Earth King,” One guard said, handcuffing the advisor as he struggled and bucked against his attackers.

The guards pulled him roughly to his feet, and he was finally able to see Azula’s face. Their eyes met, and Azula’s saw his flash with rage as he was dragged out of his own office, surely down to the prison below the palace. She smirked, then smoothed her expression out to face the king, who had come out of hiding as well.

He looked like his world was crumbling around him. The only thing he managed to say was, “Thank you.”

Ty Lee spoke up, “Our pleasure.” Her words were casual, but her tone was quite somber.

“I suppose I need someone to take over his job,” The king mused absently, staring at the place Long Feng had been standing before being dragged away.

Azula waited.

“Well,” The king shook himself, back to business, “at least until you have to return to your island, would you like to keep my agents organized? You have proven your dedication to your kingdom admirably.”

Azula took care not to answer right away, giving herself a moment to pretend to consider his proposition. Then, she nodded, graciously. “I would be honored.”

Chapter Text

There was something wrong with Azula.

Yeah, there had always been something at least a little wrong with Azula, maybe a lot wrong, but this was different. Normally, Azula was alarmingly ruthless and so emotionally distant that Ty Lee had to wonder if she even had them. Lately, though, she had been so on edge that she would space out and stare at nothing, then freak out when Ty Lee tried to get her attention.

They had been in charge for almost two weeks now, and Azula had already made some major changes, as Ty Lee expected. However, she was somehow less efficient than normal, like there was something on her mind, slowing her down.

The three of them were in Long Feng’s, now Azula’s, office, and Azula was spacing out again.  Ty Lee and Mai had been chatting about the bland decor, when Ty Lee realized that Azula hadn’t said anything in a while, and turned to include her in the conversation. She saw Azula frowning, staring at a spot next to the alcove in the wall with the hunk of green rock. Her eyebrow was twitching in her agitation. As far as Ty Lee could tell, there was no reason to be so upset; that bit of wall was just as plain as the rest of the room. Her frustration was probably internal, though.

“Azula?” Ty Lee called, keeping her tone bright, “What do you think of this green lighting? Do you think we can get it replaced?”

Azula didn’t show any sign of having heard her, and Ty Lee exchanged a nervous glance with Mai. Mai’s expression didn’t betray her nervousness, but Ty Lee noticed how the hem of her skirt twitched with her foot tapping underneath.

“Azula,” Ty Lee said again, taking a small step towards her. Then, louder, “Azula!”

Azula jumped about a foot in the air and whirled towards the other two girls, chest suddenly heaving.

Ty Lee exchanged another pointed glance with Mai, and the taller girl sniffed. “I’m gonna go find some guards. Or, uh, agents,” She corrected herself, with a roll of her eyes. “See if there’s any lurking around to interrogate. In a, um, friendly coworker way.”

Mai slipped out into the corridor with a swish of her skirt, and was gone.

Ty Lee turned back to Azula, doing her best to look unassuming and sweet. “How do you feel? Since your plan succeeded. Easily.” She walked towards her old friend, who was arranging her hair back to perfection, trying to make it look like she wasn’t fiddling with it.

Azula sniffed, “Oh, I knew it would.” She ran her fingertip along the mantle, avoiding Ty Lee’s eyes.

“Me too,” Ty Lee agreed. She let the silence sit for a moment, knowing she would have to prompt Azula into saying anything more, but hoping she would do so on her own, anyway. “How have you been doing in general?”

“Never better,” Azula traced a pattern in the dust on the mantle. It was a testament to her absent-mindedness that she did not brush the dust away completely. “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” If she couldn’t be up front with Azula, then no one could. “You’ve seemed a little on edge lately. A little distant, maybe.” It was as close to “up front” as she could get.

Azula pursed her lips, but she didn’t seem so angry that she might flip out. Ty Lee let out the breath she had been holding, silently.

“I’d like to tell you,” Azula whispered.

Ty Lee’s jaw dropped slightly. She had to fight to keep from fainting in shock. She had expected yelling and fighting, maybe even some blue fire. If not that, then she at least thought Azula would brush it off, Ty Lee would give up after half-heartedly cajoling her a little, and they would never speak of this again. But somehow, Azula had actually accepted her invitation to talk.

Dumbly, yet encouragingly, Ty Lee nodded.

Azula’s perfectly shaped eyebrows drew together and she continued staring at the dust on the mantlepiece, some of it staining her index finger tip grey.

She continued, still whispering, “You’ll think I’m crazy.” Some of the ice was back in her tone, but it was thin.

Ty Lee shook her head hastily, laying a hand on Azula’s upper arm, “No, I could never.”

“Weak, then,” Azula answered.

Ty Lee snorted, “I don’t think so.”

Azula still didn’t lift her eyes, but shockingly, she went on, “Fine.” Ty Lee was floored, but she was fighting not to show it, to just be supportive and attentive. “Lately… Well, not just lately, actually, I’ve been… I’ve been thinking a lot about my family. I mean, my brother specifically. He’s not exactly family, since he’s disowned and all, but what else do I call him?” She squinted, then shook herself, taking a deep breath before plunging back into her explanation, “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about him, probably because we’re trying to find him, but it’s not just that I’ve been thinking about him. He’s kind of… with me.” She trailed off, her expression suddenly hardening, her hand freezing where she was tracing the trim on the mantelpiece.

Gently, Ty Lee said, “You miss him?”

Instead of achieving the desired effect of lulling Azula back into her state of vulnerability, Ty Lee’s question jolted Azula back to her usual, cold self. She brushed Ty Lee’s hand off of her arm and sniffed, professional again.

“Not really, we just need to bring him back to my father. I’m very focused on my goals, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee carefully did not snort in response. “Yes, I know. Your dedication is definitely the best I’ve ever seen. You’re a real inspiration like that.”

Azula hummed in agreement, and started for the door. “I have a speech to give to the agents. Time to let them know who’s in charge.”

~ ~ ~

The agents were scared stiff. Even though Azula often used her terrifying powers of intimidation of her and Mai, Ty Lee got a certain perverse joy in seeing grown men quake in their boots when subjected to Azula’s glare. It used to just creep her out, but she had gotten used to Azula’s methods. Perhaps her level of comfort at this point was concerning, but she didn’t really want to have a moral crisis over it. Uncertainty and stress were horrible for your chi paths. And your aura. And your blood pressure.

Ty Lee scanned the rows of agents for any sign of femininity, but it seemed like the only women in the room were the three in Kyoshi Warrior uniforms. Disappointing. She knew the Earth Kingdom was backwards, but she had hoped their patriarchy would not be as absolute as her teachers had made it out to be in class. She could only hope that a few women had been determined enough to disguise themselves as men to stand among them as agents.

Azula assured the Dai Li that the king would continue to be a figurehead, and their agency was still at the top of the Earth Kingdom’s government. Once she had gotten the housekeeping out of the way, she went in for the kill. Metaphorically. It’s important to distinguish when it comes to Azula.

“I will not be tolerating dissent. I’m sure you think you’re used to having a tough leader, but I assure you, my methods may shock you. I will not hesitate to personally squash any defiance in your ranks. Do not attempt to defy me. You’re dismissed.” And with that, rows upon rows of men in dark green filed out.

“Wow!” Ty Lee congratulated once the agents were gone. “You really outdid yourself, that was the perfect blend of scary and inspiring.”

Mai, leaning charmingly against the wall, her lips quirked in a smirk, said, “Yeah, I thought that one guy was gonna piss his pants.”

Azula didn’t appear to have heard, but she did hum in agreement. Ty Lee frowned in concern. Despite their dysfunctional friendship, Ty Lee really cared about Azula, and this recent behavior was still setting off alarm bells in her mind. Perhaps Mai could help. Mai had such a good head on her shoulders, so she could probably sort this out. Ty Lee caught Mai’s eye, and did her best to wordlessly communicate her worry, her desire to do something. Luckily, Mai understood. Well, not luckily. After you know someone as long as Ty Lee had known Mai, you can basically read their mind. Especially when you have a third, more abrasive friend, who would prefer that all communication was funneled through her. Azula, the abrasive friend in question, meandered worryingly out of the room, neither noticing nor caring that the other girls hung back.

“She’s been weirder than usual lately,” Mai said, and it felt like reassurance, despite the less-than-ideal content of her statement.

“What should we do?” Ty Lee asked, hoping for a suggestion, although Mai’s acknowledgement could be enough.

Mai pursed her lips, painted an uncharacteristic red, and replied, “What can we do? She’s so… stubbornly independent.” Her mild words to describe the princess betrayed her subconscious fear that Azula was still listening.

“We can start by keeping an eye on her? Not leaving her alone too long?” Ty Lee was suddenly painfully aware that the princess of the Fire Nation was almost certainly currently alone.

“And then we’ll see what we find,” Mai finished the thought for her, nodding.

“Exactly,” Ty Lee already felt calmer. Nothing had changed, really. Having a plan didn’t usually fix problems, in her experience, but talking things out always helped. And Mai always listened to her. “Let’s go find her,” Ty Lee hooked her arm around Mai’s (which was not an ideal position when you wanted to be on alert) and dragged her into the hallway, hoping Azula would be easy to find.

~ ~ ~

For once, Azula was actually pretty easy to find. She was sitting in Long Feng’s office, surrounded by many carefully stacked papers and files. Behind her, there was a wall of drawers, each about the size of the palm of your hand, but they were deep, judging by the many drawers Azula had half dragged out. Ty Lee hadn’t noticed the wall was covered in drawers before just now; she had assumed it was just heavily engraved, like much of the rest of the palace.

Mai had unhooked their arms before they walked in, so Ty Lee approached the desk alone. “Hi, what’s all this?”

Azula did not glance up; she had already noticed their presence this time. “Long Feng kept files on everyone in the city, apparently.” She handed a scroll to Ty Lee. “This is addressed to the Water Tribe children who follow the Avatar around.”

Ty Lee did not point out that they were the same age as the “Water Tribe children” and examined the scroll Azula had thrust into her hands. “This is from the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.”

Azula hummed. She knew that already.

“Why is their chief contacting them?” The answer came to Ty Lee as she said it: The teenagers were traveling with the Avatar, their last chance of winning the war. Of course the chief would want to know how that was going. She assumed Azula got similar correspondence from the Fire Lord. She was his daughter, but judging by Zuko’s situation, that didn’t matter too much.

Azula scoffed, “Read it, if you want.” She continued to parse through the papers on her desk.

Ty Lee didn’t really care to read it, so she passed the scroll to Mai, who was now standing at her elbow.

“Anyway,” Azula said, sighing, “I found something else interesting.”

Mai looked up from the scroll, which she had decided to read.

“In the lower ring of the city,” Azula unfurled a scroll and stared at it as she spoke, but she didn’t appear to be reading from it. She had already memorized the information on it. “There was an incident in a hole-in-the-wall teashop that suddenly got very popular. A young man barged into the shop, accusing two new employees of being firebenders,” She read the report as if she were bored, although she wouldn’t be reading it allowed if it wasn’t important. Ty Lee made sure her expression stayed open and receptive. “He and one of the new employees, another young man, got into a fight involving swords, and Dai Li agents were forced to intervene. The new employees were questioned, but they seem normal. They arrived here by ferry about a month ago, and are related as nephew and uncle. The elderly man is described as ‘graying, overweight, and jolly’,” Azula made a face at that, but continued, “And the nephew has a large burn scar over one eye.” She laid the paper on the table.”

“Oh,” Mai drawled, “Guess they’re here, too.” Though it was surely invisible to Azula, Ty Lee could see the worry etched in Mai’s brow.

Azula didn’t see a reason to respond to that.

“So, what now?” Ty Lee asked, “Are we gonna go look for them?”

“Not yet,” Azula rolled up the scroll and put it in its own space on the desk, and went back to opening drawers, done talking to them.

Mai and Ty Lee exchanged a glance, and wandered off to another part of the room, waiting to be needed, and keeping careful watch over their friend.

~ ~ ~

That night, as they took off their make-up, Azula started a conversation unrelated to business. This was a rare occurrence, and Ty Lee felt Mai freeze beside her as she pushed her bangs out of the way. 

“Ty Lee, you’re interested in the spirit world, aren’t you?” Azula glanced at Ty Lee at the beginning of her statement, but was soon back to peering into her own mirror.

It was exactly the sort of thing she and Mai had been on the look out for, falling right into their laps. Shaking off her surprise, Ty Lee answered as brightly as she could, “Oh yes, our chi connects us to the spirit world because it’s our own spiritual energy flowing through us. And, of course, our auras are the-” 

“Have you ever seen a spirit?” Azula interrupted.

Ty Lee couldn’t help but exchange a look with Mai, the other girl’s dark gold eyes flashing, unobstructed by her bangs for once. Ty Lee forced herself to tear her own gaze away to answer, “No. Not really. But auras are kind of like the visual-”

“Can people really see spirits?”

Ty Lee couldn’t imagine where this was coming from, but she did her best to answer. “If the spirits want to be seen. And the person probably has to have a connection to the spirit world already.” She gave herself a moment to wrack her brain to find a reason Azula might bring this up. “It’s probably different for the Avatar though,” She clarified. She tried one more time, spitting it out as quickly as possible. “But living people have a sort of visual spirituality that presents as their aura.” Success.

Azula, who had removed all of her face paint by now, was still rubbing at her cheek. “Can auras leave your body?”

That was officially outside of Ty Lee’s scope of knowledge. “I’m not sure,” She admitted. If your spirit could leave your body, it probably wouldn’t exactly be an aura anymore, right? But she didn’t say that; giving the princess bad information could only lead to trouble.

Azula did not indicate she had heard, but she Ty Lee didn’t want to repeat herself, lest the other girl get angry with her for being redundant. Redundancy was something Azula had been known to get upset about.

It was never clear whether Azula had heard or not, because she soon got to her feet to drift off to her room. When the door slid closed behind her, Ty Lee finally dared to make eye contact with Mai again.

“What do you think that was about?”

Mai shrugged. Her shiny, black bangs were askew on her forehead. It was cute, and Ty Lee could properly see the outline of Mai’s profile from her hairline to her chin. The ridge of her brows, the bold bridge of her nose, the curve of her lips… which were moving. She was responding. “Avatar stuff?”

Ty Lee could only shrug in irresolute agreement, giving Mai a crooked, hopefully reassuring, grin. Mai smiled softly back.

~ ~ ~

Ty Lee was on duty. Meaning, she was watching Azula. Technically, Mai was actually on duty because she was guarding the king, but watching Azula for signs that she was not entirely grounded in reality was also a job. They were standing in one of the many rooms of the palace. Ty Lee could not fathom why so many rooms were necessary. Earlier in her life, she had been used to all the extra space, being born into a noble family. It was customary for entire wings to be set up just for show. But after living in the cramped tents and caravans of the circus, she could only see all that extraneous space as frivolous.

Azula was no longer aware of Ty Lee’s presence, and had started muttering to herself. Ty Lee couldn’t make much of anything out, but it seemed like the new head of the Dai Li was trying to keep all of her tasks straight in her head by muttering them allowed. So, normal enough. Ty Lee had never seen Azula do it, especially not when someone was very clearly within earshot, but that didn’t mean anything was wrong with her.

But then, after about ten minutes of dull on and off muttering, Azula snapped her attention to her left. Ty Lee could see the other girl’s profile, an alarmed expression distorting her cold, perfect features. The girls were at opposite ends of the spacious room, but the sound still traveled.

Azula got to her feet so fast she almost kicked her table over, and Ty Lee jumped at the sound. Every part of the princess’s body was stiff as a flying pygmy raccoon, run over by an ostrich-horse with rigor mortis setting in.

“What do you want now?” Azula demanded. Ty Lee scanned the area Azula was glaring at, but she was certain there was nothing and nobody to yell at. There was just a blank, puke green wall, and Azula, her body wound up like a spring.

“Talking isn’t nothing,” Azula snarled, and after a moment of silence, erratically flailed an arm out at the wall. “Go ahead then, let’s get this over with.” She looked away from the wall, nudging her table back into place with her foot. 

“I’m busy, stupid,” She spat, looking up from her foot. “The world doesn’t revolve around you.” She started to roll her eyes as she spoke, but her face hardened into a glare while she paused. “I didn’t- Shut up!”

Azula silently and unnervingly glared at the wall, bunching and un-bunching her fists in agitation.

“You know what I’m doing with my time. I know you watch me all the time. You’re always here with me, even if I can’t see you.” If Ty Lee was the kind of person who swore, she may have done so, silently, now.

During this pause, Azula got terribly worked up. She kept rocking on her heels, as if she was going to lunge at the silent wall and fight it, and she was making tiny, high pitched noise of rage. She ran a hand through her black hair, pulling some pieces out of her top knot.

“What do you know about it? Father never trusted you with a project like this, you don’t know what kind of work I have to do.” Her next statement came quickly, in response to words only she could hear. “And I’ve done that! I know where you are.” Azula pointed her sharp fingernail at the wall threateningly, spit flying from her lips. “Stop baiting me!” She turned back to her half-written scroll with a frustrated shout. “Go away,” She growled, almost too low to hear. 

She took a moment to catch her breath, her back to Ty Lee. Then, Azula reached up to pull the ribbon from her hair and shook her top knot loose, and meticulously tied it back up again.

Maybe Ty Lee was the kind of person who silently swore.

Her head was spinning. This was a level of unhinged that had not even occurred to her. She thought Azula was a little sleep deprived, or stressed out about her father’s unattainable expectations, or something of similar caliber that Ty Lee could understand. This was… well this was a heck of a lot worse.

Ty Lee ran through the conversation (or rather, disjointed speech) she had just overheard, trying to make sense of it. Maybe there was no sense to be made, but she would try.

Well, she had mentioned her father, and whoever she thought she was talking to had apparently flagrantly disappointed the Firelord. Well, General Iroh was known for disrespecting the crown. So, of course, was Zuko. Oh. She had been talking about her brother just the other day. Ty Lee had assumed she just missed him, but this wasn't just the stirrings of a latent conscience. Ty Lee would have been devastated if one of her sisters were kicked out of the nation, but she had never thought of Azula as someone who could be affected by things. She rolled with the punches, and punched back. 

Although, considering the amount of punches that life had thrown at her, maybe Azula had been unable to dodge a few of them.

Ty Lee knew she was out of her depth here, but she knew a little about the brain. She knew a fair bit about spirituality. Maybe she knew something to quietly and secretly help her old friend.

And if not that, she would have to be able to protect Mai from this precarious new danger. 

Chapter Text

She had almost told Ty Lee everything. It had been many days since her almost-slip-up; but it was all she could think of. She knew Zuko was judging her for it, but she couldn’t tell if he was angry with her. Zuko used to wear his heart on his sleeve, and Azula was good at reading people, especially her brother, so she couldn’t understand why it was suddenly so difficult to pick up on his emotions.

Nevermind, it didn't matter what he thought anyway. His opinions had gotten him banished before his voice had even dropped.

Leading the Dai Li was hardly a demanding job, but it was difficult to keep tabs on all the people she needed to. Now that Uncle and Zuko were in the city, she kept having to find reasons to send agents down to the lower ring to spy on a couple of nondescript refugees, which was starting to earn her weird looks. She had to physically restrain herself from firing all the agents who side-eyed her as they left her office.

Mostly, she was trying to work on her plan involving the Earth King, which had been going smoothly. She had been talking to him, getting him to think the way she needed him to think, offering faulty information about his 

It was a good distraction for her, too, because every time she thought about Zuko, a sharp pain would pierce through her temple, and she could feel her deep-set panic bubbling up from her gut. She was doing her best to keep him away, but it was difficult. He was eager to get her attention, and he was persistent. That was why he kept bothering her and asking her why she hadn’t caught him yet. Couldn’t he see she was working on it?

Although, by focusing on Zuko and the king, she had forgotten about someone very important. The Avatar.

She was leafing through her schedules: a series of detailed graphs and timetables that illustrated where her agents were, when she realized she hadn’t been reading the agents’ reports on the Avatar and his lackeys.

She scrambled to find the scrolls, snapping them open and skimming them, discovering that they included something about a spa, and something else about a poetry club. Quaint. The worry that she had missed something important began to fade, and she was about to drop the scroll back into a drawer, and never read it again, but she had to do a double take. It occurred to her that this week’s reports were oddly sparse; the short reports often leaving several hours out.

Azula narrowed her eyes as she reread the last short, short report from three days ago that simply said, “The Avatar’s quartet,” Cute name, she scoffed, “Spent the day together. They drew together, and later, commissioned a printer.” That was it. The agents hadn’t even bothered to include what they were commissioning the printer for. She groaned and ground her palms into her eyes. She would have to scold the agents for writing such shitty reports. It would at least help her to let off some steam.

It was a testament to how scattered she was that it took that long to occur to her that the Avatar was not currently being watched. Well, great. And since she couldn’t trust her agents to bring her complete information, she would have to go herself, to avoid making a mistake.

But of course, the mistake had already happened, and that discomforting thought lit a fire under her ass. She couldn’t afford to keep making mistakes.

It was easy enough to hop on a train and make her way across the upper ring to the Avatar’s temporary residence. Public transportation was horrid; the smell alone was enough to clog her mind, preventing any planning she had intended to do during the journey.

After the train, she had to walk from the station to the house, and when her heels struck the cobblestone, it rattled her brain. They made booming sounds in her mind. She supposed there was no way she could actually hear her soles striking the ground in the crowded streets, but they may as well have been bombs.

Keeping herself hidden and silent, she crept around the house peering into windows. Then, she spotted someone, and she hastily ducked underneath the cracked window, listening hard. In the house, she had seen the small Earth Kingdom girl, and another girl dressed in old, brown clothing. She seemed familiar, but before Azula could put her finger on why, they started speaking, and she strained to listen.

The small Earth Kingdom girl was speaking, “-all the way here on foot?”

The older girl who Azula vaguely recognized replied, “Well, I caught a few rides on the backs of wagons.”

“Wow,” The small girl said, “You were wasted at that ferry station.”

“Nah, it was worth it,” She answered, “I was able to help a lot of people.”

“Okay,” A third voice who Azula realized was the Water Tribe boy began, preceded by his footsteps as he walked into the room, “I found that map of the palace I nicked from the Ba Sing Se University library. There’s a chance it’s not accurate, but I’m willing to bet it’s legit. That was a nice library.” Then, he added bitterly, “Better than the one in the desert, anyway, since there was no evil owl spirit.”

Azula didn’t know what to make of that, but soon, the new, older girl was talking again, “We’re not going to wait for Appa to storm the palace? It would help to have an enormous flying bison with us.”

The boy replied with a sigh, “Sneaking in will have to do. We have to act as soon as possible if we want to get to the king, and Azula.”

She startled. How had they even known she was here?

“So,” The higher voice of the young girl broke in, “That’s it?”

“Right. Aang and Katara are probably half way to Appa by now.”

Starting to feel panic set in, Azula frantically, but methodically, sorted through the information she had. She knew they had been trying to get in touch with the king, but she thought they were trying to do it the legal way. (Which was a mistake, they would never get to the king legally) What had made them change their minds? There was something she was missing, but she couldn’t waste any more time here. She needed to get back to the palace and make some sort of plan.

Thank the spirits she had come down here herself.

As she crept along the side of the wall, carefully staying below the windows and their line of sight, the small girl shouted, and there was a loud boom from inside the house. 

Freezing underneath a window, she heard the Water Tribe boy hiss, “Toph! I just said we need to be stealthy!”

“I don’t think you said that,” The earthbender retorted, and Azula was on the move again. A plan was starting to form in her mind, and she knew just the person to help her execute it.

She needed her brother.

~ ~ ~

It didn’t take much doing to get Mai and Ty Lee in position to stop the Avatar’s friends from getting to the king. Their purpose was to jump to Azula’s aid at any given moment, after all. 

She was forced to leave them with a limited explanation. She didn’t have much time to set her plan in motion, and frankly, the information she did have wasn’t extensive by any means.

While they dealt with the petty manners of imprisoning the rabble (also known as the Water Tribe boy, the small earthbender, and the older—vaguely familiar—girl), Azula was going to be dealing with something bigger. It still felt a little too early to advance her plan like this, but she had no choice. This would have to do.

The king was in the throne room, talking to his stupid bear. What an idiot.

“Your majesty,” She dropped to her knees, bowing her head, “I would like to speak to you about the walls of this city.” It was more direct than she wanted to be, but she had a time limit.

The king tore his gaze away from his bear, and looked at Azula quizzically, but not dismissively. She took that as a sign that it would be a smart move to continue, “The city has been closed for one hundred years, now. Why?”

The king didn’t answer right away. Perhaps because he thought it was a rhetorical question. Azula almost wanted to laugh; the Earth Kingdom allowed an idiot lead them. Finally, he said, “Ba Sing Se is the capital city. It is the pinnacle of wealth and culture in the Earth Kingdom, and it deserves to be treated as something special.”

It sounded like he was just reciting Long Feng’s words rather than coming up with his own. And due to Azula’s influence, certainly, there was a note of doubt within them.

“This is the greatest city in the Earth Kingdom,” Azula agreed, and it was. It was nothing compared to a Fire Nation city, but Azula knew Ba Sing Se was magnificent. Which would make it even more impressive when she brought it to its knees. “But that just means it should be shared with the rest of your kingdom. All of your citizens should be able to visit, and revel in its splendor. As a citizen of the Earth Kingdom who is just a guest in your city, I wish it were possible for anyone to enjoy the city from the inside.”

The king pressed his fingertips together and leaned forward, such a refined position for such a simple-minded man. “I suppose…”

“Excellent,” Azula got to her feet. She had to move quickly, and the anxiety of it all was pressing out against her skin. “With your permission, I will send your agents out to bring down the outer wall.”

The king raised his eyebrows, “Now?”

Azula folded her hands. She couldn’t come off as hasty. “Why put it off? It’s already been one hundred years. Your people deserve to see their capital, and be closer to their leader.”

The king frowned, “Will we be safe?”

Azula tilted her head, “Has anyone even attempted to attack the mighty Earth Kingdom in your lifetime?”

The king bit his lip, tapping one finger on the top of his bear’s head. “I suppose not. Not that I can remember.”

“Well, then, what’s the harm?” Her heart was beating out of her chest, but she knew she was the picture of calm and collected in the eyes of the king.

There was a heavy pause, and the silence filled the enormous room. Then, at long last, the king slowly began to nod. “I can’t believe I’ve never considered this before,” He straightened, “Yes, open the city.”

She smiled, and bowed once more, “Of course, Your Majesty.”

~ ~ ~

Weining, one of Long Feng’s—hem, the king’s—agents, made his silent way through the prison at a brisk pace, the Kyoshi Warriors’ words echoing in his head. They had explained that the order had come straight from the top, even revealing an official, signed document on the king’s own stationary. The two young women who stood silently in the back seemed a bit nervous, but the leader delivered the news coldly, dismissing them with a, “Be prompt.”

The prison was dark, and after walking in the sun, Weining could hardly see the dim doors. However, he had come down to visit, inform, and question his leader rather often in the past few weeks, so he turned and stepped instinctually down the halls. By the time he reached the proper door, he had gotten used to the dim, green pallor that reflected off of his pale hands and barely illuminated the cell doors which blended in to the walls.

“Sir,” Weining’s voice was loud in the silent prison, even though he barely spoke above a whisper. He needed to act quickly, and Long Feng preferred his agents to be blunt and clear, so he said, “King Kuei has instructed us to bring down the outer wall.”

He barely heard the grand secretariat’s response, a mumble of a word coming from below. Weining feared that prison had finally broken the severe man, but then there was a scrabble of hands and clothing against metal, and a pair of fierce green eyes bored into his own from the other side of the small grate. 

His long, knuckley fingers wound around the bars, and spit flew from his lips, “That idiot is opening the city?” His voice was rough from misuse: a grating hiss.

“Yes sir,” Being able to openly call the king an idiot was a relief, even as it worried him. Even Long Feng had refused to use such terms until he had been thrown into prison. Weining couldn’t help but think that was fair, despite the fact that he still served the king, himself. “What should we do?”

Long Feng backed away infinitesimally, rubbing his chin, “What do you mean?”

In Weining’s opinion, he had been quite clear. It wasn’t really the time to shame him for being prompt. His lips tugged down into a frown, “Well,” he said, trying to stay calm in the face of great calamity and an unagreeable ex-superior, “We can’t open the city and let the Fire Nation in, but anarchy could be just as destructive as war.” The Long Feng of a few months ago would have known that on his own.

The other man scoffed, shaking his head as if to say, “That’s obvious,” but then he froze, eyes fixed on Weining’s mustache, though he doubted the ex-head of the Dai Li was actually seeing anything. Slowly, he pulled away from the bars, inching backwards, his expression changing to a conflicted sort of sadness. Or maybe it was just the shadows; the weak green lanterns didn’t reach to very far. He only stopped when he hit the back wall, one knuckle tapping the metal by his hip.

He sniffed loudly, and announced his order: “Bring down the wall.”

Impossible. It hadn’t even been a month and prison had already broken who had once been the most powerful man in the city. Unless, of course, he had always been willing to throw his people away like this. All Weining was able to force out of his throat was a warbled, “Sir?”

Long Feng raised his eyes to meet Weining’s. “We don’t want anarchy. You said so yourself.”

Weining’s voice had yet to return to him, and he raked through his mind, trying to find something that would express his disdain for such a response. “The city will fall to the Fire Nation if we do that. We can’t all give up because you have.” It was an accusation, but there was no real danger in accusing a man who would never again see the light of day.

He straightened, his robes (the very same that he had been arrested in) rustling with an amplified echo. “Do you really think I have given up?” Weining didn’t answer. Obviously, he did. Long Feng continued, huffing, “Would you rather the king get rid of the Dai Li? Would you rather give up your influence? With you gone, he’ll find someone else to do what he wants,” he took one short step forward, allowing the light to just barely illuminate his face, “Open the city. Perhaps when the Fire Nation’s armies come through you can find favor with them and infiltrate their cities one day.”

There was something not quite right about Long Feng’s logic, as if there was another motive that he wouldn’t share behind all of his advice. But it was true that the king wouldn’t abide an agency that wouldn’t obey him. And he would find out, what with those Kyoshi Warriors at his right hand. 

“Go,” Long Feng dismissed him, “You have your orders,” and he sat on the ground, making it clear that he would give no more instruction to Weining, nor to his agency as a whole.

He hesitated, giving a shallow nod to the prisoner, and turned on his heel. The prison was silent again, except for the swish of his robes and the padding of his feet on the metal flooring. He had been certain Long Feng would have been able to find a more graceful way out of this, but he supposed more than a lifetime of war had finally broken their spirits. Perhaps it was inevitable that the Fire Nation would eventually take over. Perhaps it was better to try to be on the winning side.

~ ~ ~

Princess Azula’s sidekicks had been waiting for Toph, Sokka, and Suki at the palace, which had been an unfortunate surprise, to say the least. They hadn’t even considered the possibility that the Fire Nation teenagers could have gotten into the city, but they were paying for their lack of foresight now. Turns out, there was a prison underneath the palace, and that’s where she was now. Toph sat in her own personal cell away from Sokka’s and Suki’s, all of which were made of metal. Not that she thought they would be made of rock in the Earth Kingdom, but it was still a bummer, not being able to see or “see”. 

Really, the the princess’ lackeys shouldn’t have been able to beat all three of them. Definitely not Toph. But Toph was able to admit that without her bending, she wasn’t terribly useful in a fight. Left with fists and her hearing, it didn’t go over that well. And, apparently, the brown-haired one could take away others’ bending. Apparently, she could stay in the air for unnatural amounts of time, and Toph wasn’t used to fighting gymnasts, so she didn’t know when or where she was gonna land. So, here she was. Sitting in a metal jail cell, feeling her Earth bending slowly coming back to her, and her surroundings slowly taking shape.

Wait.

How were her surroundings taking shape? There was no stone in the walls, but she could sense the fuzzy outlines of bars in front of her, the separate sheets of metal below her, and Suki pacing in the cell next door, her feet sending vibrations through the floor. 

Shifting onto her knees, Toph flattened her palms against the cold floor, putting all of her focus into sensing through the material that formed her enclosure. Her bending abilities came back slowly, and as they did, she was able to locate familiar bits of Earth. Metal wasn’t as foreign as she thought; it made sense, after all, it came from the ground. If the Earth could contain little bits of metal, it stood to reason that metal could contain little bits of Earth.

She pushed herself to her feet, slowly but full of energy, running her bare soles over the hammered floors, discovering more divots and details as she did so. Through her feet, she could feel where the bars rose in front of her, and she reached out a hand to where she expected it to be and…

Her palm collided with the cool bar, and her fingers wrapped around it.

Her mouth pulled into a smile, and she took a step back, dropping into her horse stance, shifting to the side. And then, putting as much power into the movement as she could, she kicked her foot into the bar.

And it bent with a creaking bang.

Toph sensed Suki freeze in her pacing, and across the corridor, Sokka rushed to his door.

“What was that?” Suki hissed. At the same time, Sokka yelped, “Toph? Are you okay?”

Toph laughed, a little bit giddy, and more than a little maniacal (completely on purpose, just for show. She did used to be a performer, of sorts), “Oh,” she replied, cracking her knuckles, “I’m fine.” And she slammed her palm against the bar, pushing outwards and pulling to the side until there was a hole big enough for her to wriggle through.

“Back away from the door, Sokka,” she ordered, and waited for him to press himself against the back wall. With a kick and some elbow jabs, his door split in two, and he stammered unintelligibly as she dragged him through the opening.

It was coming easier now, and her arm went straight through the door, and she was able to rip it off its hinges and into the wall. Stunned, Suki stepped across the threshold, and the three of them started running for the exit.

“Where are we going?” Toph panted, worn out from her metal-bending frenzy.

“We’ve got to get to Aang and Katara,” Sokka replied.

Just then, Toph sensed a guard about to turn the corner, and she dragged both of them by their wrists against the wall, shushing them and holding her breath. As he got closer, but before he had the chance to even see them, she swung him into a cell. Suki kicked him in the head, knocking him out, and slammed the door. Toph bent the latch to stop him from getting out, and they were off again running up the stairs.

As soon as she could, Suki asked, “What about the king?”

Sokka huffed, swiping a hand across his face, “Telling the king about the war is the most important thing, but we need Aang and Katara to do that. We’ve already failed once, on our own.”

Toph had to agree, even though she had just discovered a newer, more impressive power that would probably help them. Besides, this way, they would get to leave Ba Sing Se, even if it was just for a short time.

~ ~ ~

Azula was not fond of the lower ring. For one thing, it smelled of refuse (animal and human, she assumed), for another, it was crowded and people kept jostling her, which people did not normally do. She wondered if she had worn her Kyoshi Warrior get-up, they still would have bumped into her as much. She knew they wouldn’t if she had worn her Fire Nation armor.

As it were, she was dressed in a dark green tunic, her hair tied up with a ribbon of a similar shade. Her boots, however, still had the curved toe of the Fire Nation style. She thought it was a subtle enough nod to her culture.

Finding the tea shop was easy, and not only because she had a map leading her to it. Zuko was standing outside, leaning against the wall and brooding. He was wearing a ratty tunic (greener and more ill-fitting than her’s) and a tea stained apron with characters so faded she couldn’t make them out.

As she emerged from the crowd, he lifted his gaze, and pushed himself off the wall, fists raised.

She clicked her tongue, “Don’t make a scene, Zuzu, I’m just here to talk.” She lifted her arms, manicured nails pointing towards the sky.

Zuko lowered his fists, eyes darting side to side, but he didn’t relax. He hissed, “What are you doing here? How did you even get in?”

“The neighborhood?” She pursed her lips, speaking softly to stop them from being overheard, “Your home sweet home isn’t exactly the Boiling Rock, Zuzu, though the inhabitants are rather similar,” she wrinkled her nose at the memory of a man slouching in an alley, apparently drugged. Through his own volition or at the hands of an enemy, she neither knew nor cared. “I just walked in.”

“I mean the city!” He snapped.

“Oh, Ba Sing Se?” She tapped one finger on her chin, “I walked in. It’s amazing who they’ll let in if you wear green. Looks like that’s what you did too,” she gestured to his baggy, puke green pants.

“Why are you here? Are you going to try and bring me home? I won’t let you.” He demanded, a little too loudly. Azula lifted a finger to her lips, and he clamped his mouth shut, knuckles whitening on his already clenched fists.

Azula crossed her arms, leaning sideways on the wall next to Zuko. “Well, I do have a plan to get you home, and it will including getting your honor back.”

Zuko snorted, “You’re lying.”

“I’m not,” she rubbed her hair between her thumb and forefinger. “The Avatar is here in the city.” Her brother started, lips parting. “Well, he was this morning. Now, he’s trying to retrieve his bison, which happens to be in my possession.”

The scarred boy narrowed his eyes (well, one of them. The other was more or less frozen in a perpetual squint) at her, “How do you have the bison?”

Azula shrugged, “I captured him, not too far from here. I found him when I captured the Kyoshi Warriors, as well. They’re war prisoners, now.” He didn't need to know that their leader escaped her grasp.

Zuko bit his lip, his thoughts playing out on his face like they always did. Well, three quarters of his face. The stiffened skin around his right eye wasn’t terribly revealing, just unnerving. Not that Azula was unnerved by him, exactly. He didn’t have that power.

“What do you want my help for?” He finally asked. His face had an incredulous grimace on it, but his tone made the question sound like a plea.

She forced herself to look straight into his yellow eyes like it was nothing to her, but also like it meant everything. “If anyone is going to combine forces with to me defeat the Avatar, it ought be you. Besides, if you do this, Father will finally accept you back home, and your banishment will be over.” Zuko bit his lip again, eyebrow lowering somberly. Azula found herself mirroring his expression, speaking before fully thinking it through, “And, I want you to come home, too.”

She wasn’t sure if she had really meant to say that or not, but Zuko paused, and it was finally like he was actually looking at her, instead of just meeting her gaze. It was just like how the other Zuko always looked at her, and she almost turned tail to run after the Avatar by herself, rather than be subjected to that knowing look ever again, but then her older brother nodded.

“I’m in.”

And that was that.

Chapter Text

In order to get into the city in the first place, Azula had to abandon most of her materials and her personnel, and she knew the enemy had thoroughly excavated her drill. But in case of an emergency like this one, she had stashed a tank outside the city. She thanked her past self for her foresight as she and Zuko rolled over the rocky ground, which was quickly changing to greenery. As she drove, Zuko watched her warily. She knew she wasn’t going to double-cross him, but his worry was warranted, all things considered. Their past didn’t make up the smoothest of journeys. It was comforting to know that she had joined up with someone who had some semblance of common sense, really. Still, she couldn’t help but be unnerved by his unwavering focus on her.

Luckily, the other Zuko wasn’t hanging out as well, because both of them staring at her would have been unbearable. Unluckily, Azula could not stop thinking about him. He wouldn’t approve of her plan to catch the Avatar, even though she was being quite pragmatic by involving Zuko. She was destroying the rebellion, and bringing her brother home in one fell swoop. It was brilliant, obviously. Perhaps that was why he wasn’t showing up; he knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“We’re getting close,” she muttered, and Zuko nodded tersely. He was sitting stiff as a statue, watching Azula’s hands move over the controls.

He was preparing to say something, and Azula sat silently, waiting for him to spit it out. Watching his face shift and morph through expressions in the corner of her eye, Azula had to wonder why he had to think loudly.

Finally, he said, “The Avatar always has his group with him, so we should come up with a plan to take them out, too.”

That hadn’t been what she was expecting, she thought it would be more personal: another question about why she asked him to join her, maybe. But very well, this was easier, anyway, “It will just be the Water Tribe girl; Mai and Ty Lee took care of the other three.”

Zuko’s eyebrow shot up, “Three? Who’s the third?”

Azula scoffed, “I don’t know which one you’re forgetting, Zuko.”

He pursed his lips, stifling an outburst, and firmly stated, “There’s the Water Tribe boy and the new Earthbending teacher.”

“And another girl," She managed to keep her tone both harsh and detached.

Zuko squinted, looking up like the answer to his question was written on the metal tank’s ceiling. He grumbled, “No, there’s just the Water Tribe girl.”

Azula looked away from the controls in front of her to be even clearer, speaking like she was explaining a very simple concept—which it was—to a child, “There is another peasant girl. I saw her planning to infiltrate the palace with the Water Tribe boy and the Earthbender.”

He shook his head, his right ear turning red in frustration, clearly trying to explain why she was in the wrong. Oh Agni, she didn’t even care about this. She turned back to the controls and said, “Maybe she joined up after the last time you managed to find them before letting them get away again.” It seemed like he was going to say something more; she heard the telltale sharp intake of breath, but she cut him off, “It doesn’t matter. They’re in jail, anyway.” 

Zuko didn’t say anything else; luckily he had decided to shut up. Azula, on the other hand, wanted to ask him a few questions, “Why did I find you in a teashop?”

“I was standing in the street, actually.”

Agni, either she had forgotten how annoying he was, or he had picked up some tricks from the Earth and Water rabble.

Zuko went on before she could force him to, “I was posing as a refugee, hoping I’d be able to get close enough to find the Avatar, that way.” That made sense, even though it clearly hadn’t worked, so the value of the idea could still be debated. At least he hadn’t been planning on becoming an Earthener. She suppressed a shudder.

“What were you doing in the city?” Zuko asked.

On the radar, she noticed that they were approaching the cliff where they had found the Kyoshi Warriors and the Avatar’s beast. Nearly there, then. “Looking for the Avatar, same as you.”

As she drove towards the cliff, she recalled the enclosure that was partially nestled under an overhang of rock, which is where they kept the bison, and then tents and temporary metal structures spread out among the trees. Foot soldiers surrounded it, and there were four tanks when she left it. Hopefully it wouldn’t be in complete disarray when they found it.

She peered out of the periscope, catching sight of the charred tree trunk she had knocked down, and the fight with the Kyoshi Warrior’s leader surfaced in her mind. That sparked another  memory, which almost slipped away before she could identify it, but she dragged into into focus again. Her voice… she had heard it somewhere else. She remembered crouching in a cobblestone alley, ducking her head beneath a window, and hearing, “We’re not going to wait for Appa to storm the palace? It would help to have an enormous flying bison with us,” in that very same voice.

She cursed under her breath.

“What?” Zuko asked, leaning forward to look at the radar, assuming that was the problem.

Azula didn’t answer him, because as her eyes flicked down to the radar as well, she saw a blip pop up on the screen. Something was right in front of the tank. Through the lens of the periscope, she saw Zuko. The other Zuko. His back was to the tank, his ragged ponytail hanging down the back of his head, oblivious of the tank was rolling straight towards him. Yelping, she frantically grabbed at the controls, stopping with a harsh lurch to avoid pig-bulldozing him into the ground. Both her and Zuko (the one inside the tank) were flung forward, Zuko going so far to fall off his seat and halfway under the control panel.

The boy outside leisurely turned around, surprised when he saw the tank, just inches away. Then, he had the gall to look a little offended, before backing out of the way. But, Azula wasn’t planning on driving the tank anymore.

“Azula!” Zuko shouted, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit it on the way down. “What was that?” He glared up at her, grabbing the arm of the metal chair to pull himself up.

But, she was already out of her chair, cranking the top of the tank open and pulling herself through. She wasn’t just going to let him walk away.

“Azula!” Zuko shouted again, and this time he grabbed her ankle, trying to tug her back down, “What’s going on?”

She thrashed and kicked, feeling her foot connect with flesh and hearing him cry out as he released her ankle. She got to her feet on top of the tank, scanning the wild foliage for a flash of red, because that Zuko was still wearing red, despite the fact that they were all supposed to be undercover in the Earth Kingdom. He wasn’t one for subtlety. She spotted him standing next to a tree, and he spotted her, giving her a stupid little wave up by his ear before breaking into a sprint into the forest. Her anger moving up towards rage, she pushed off of the metal and landed in a crouch, kicking up grass as she took off again.

Behind her, she heard Zuko calling after her, but didn’t even spare him a glance over her shoulder. It struck her how ridiculous this was: running after a strange, spiritual version of Zuko, while her regular asshole brother chased after her. It didn’t deter her from continuing to do it, though.

The Zuko ahead of her was fast, and all she could see of him was flashes of red from time to time. She pumped her legs faster, weaving between the trees and hopping over roots. Normally, whenever he showed up, Zuko liked to taunt her, but this time he had barely looked at her before sprinting away. Although, that in and of itself could be a form of taunting. A form of trying to manipulate her. She screeched to a stop. How could she have fallen for that? What was he trying to do?

In no time, Zuko caught up to her, gasping for breath, “What the fuck was that?”

Azula swallowed, her spit warm and thick from running. She slowly turned to see Zuko with his hands braced on his knees, still glaring at her. She licked her lips, “Such savage language, Zuzu. Completely uncivilized.”

He growled (literally growled, like some sort of wild animal) and straightened, “Seriously, why did you do that?"

Azula’s heart sank in her chest. She had thought… well, if anyone would be able to see him… Although, he had run into the forest awfully quickly. Maybe Zuko hadn’t been able to scramble out of the tank quick enough to catch a glimpse. He had barely even shown up on the radar.

Wait, Zuko had been looking at the radar, too. She tried to explain, “There was something in front of the tank, didn’t you see it on the radar?”

He rubbed his chest, frowning at her. “You mean the cliff?”

Apparently not. Either he was just unobservant (which was possible) or the spirit even had the ability to tamper with technology, which was an incredibly powerful feat. She didn’t deign to answer Zuko, and set off to the left, towards the place they were keeping the bison.

He followed her, “Azula, what was in front of the tank?” She ignored him. He went on, “It must have been something major! You have to tell me what’s going on.”

She walked around a boulder in her way, and squinted through the underbrush, trying to spot the tents. Zuko grabbed her shoulder, his fingers digging into the muscle there, and she whirled around to shove him off.

She jabbed a finger at him, “Don’t touch me.”

He lifted his hands in shocked apology. “Tell me what happened.”

Azula squinted at her brother. His face was familiar, despite the three years of distance, partially due to the other Zuko who was always nearby. He was looking at her, confused and suspicious. She wondered whether why he cared. Finally she said, “There was a blip on the radar, and I thought I saw someone in orange and yellow when I looked outside, but it was hard to see through the periscope. I wanted to check if it was the Avatar,” she swallowed, and spat out, “Apparently, I was wrong.” Ugh, now, those words hurt. They were completely unnatural coming out of her mouth. At least it was a lie.

Zuko’s hands fell down to hang at his sides. He was still eyeing Azula suspiciously, and she suspected that he didn’t totally believe her horse-bullshit, but he wasn’t interrogating her anymore. Lying rarely failed her.

She started walking again, “Let’s go. We have an Avatar to capture.”

~ ~ ~

As Azula expected, the makeshift containment site had more or less devolved into chaos by the time she and Zuko arrived. The soldiers had isolated the Avatar, the bison, and the Water Tribe girl from each other, and they were all fighting as hard as they could. Most of Azula’s platoon was dealing with the roaring bison, which was causing a considerably amount of destruction. The Avatar and the girl were holding their own against the remaining soldiers, though they hadn’t obtained the upper hand. Now that Azula and Zuko were there, they never would.

Without beckoning her brother to follow her, Azula ran into the fray, straight towards the Avatar himself. When he saw her coming, his eyes widened comically, and sent a gust of wind at her, but it wasn’t as strong as Azula knew it could be. Perhaps he was distracted by the other enemies he was fighting, but Azula suspected it had something to do with his soft, weak nature.

That thought brought her to a stop, and she looked over at the Water Tribe girl. The peasant was fighting off three soldiers at once with only the small amount of water she kept in a pouch strapped to her back. She was clearly a skilled fighter, but it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge at this point. Azula knew the Avatar’s eyes were still on her when she changed course, and ran towards the Water Tribe girl instead.

The peasant saw Azula sprinting toward her with just enough time to shield one of her blasts of blue fire with a sheet of water.

Azula shoved past the soldier, “I’ve got this,” she told them, and they hesitantly dropped out of their stances, “Go fight the Avatar.”

That left her with the girl, who had a steely, angry look in her eye. The wild ferocity kind of reminded her of Zuko.

Zuko, Azula noticed, had gone up to the Avatar, who was starting to struggle against the sheer amount of firebenders he was up against. Good. This was going to be child’s play.

The girl threw her weight into her next attack, bringing all of the water into one great slash towards Azula. She dodged to the side, then sent a spurt of fire out of her fist toward her chest, but the girl ducked caught Azula’s ankle in a tentacle of water. Azula swung her arm down in an arc of blue flames to sever the connection, and the arm collapsed into two pieces before the girl drew it back towards herself. She backed up, trying to put some distance between them, and Azula smiled nastily at her. They had barely begun and she was already retreating. Typical Southern Water Tribe.

Azula took a few easy steps towards her, making them slow and deliberate so the girl would see that Azula knew what she was trying to do. The girl looked away over her shoulder, continuing to stumble backwards, and Azula took advantage of the opening, lunging forward with a blast of fire. The girl ran, the tip of her braid narrowly avoiding the flame as she sped off into the soldiers’ maze of tents and small structures.

Azula followed her closely, weaving deeper into camp, away from the Avatar, Zuko, and the other soldiers. Azula knew she’d be able to back her into a corner sooner or later, so she calmly kept running, her feet sliding on the soft grass and the warm spring breeze tugging on her clothes and hair. The weather was seemingly unaware of the intensity of the moment, instead deciding to stay mild and tranquil.

At last, the girl was cornered. Azula had her backed up against a stack of crates, barrels, and other supplies. She had no where to go. Azula sneered at her, but she just looked back with fierce determination, and lifted her hands into a bending stance, despite the lack of water around them.

Or so she thought. With a swing of the girl’s arms, two of the barrels behind her exploded in a smattering of splinters, revealing that she had lead them right to the camp’s water store.

Azula had the chance to gasp, but not to do much else before a torrent of water slammed into her and shoved her back into the maze of tents, far enough that she would surely be in sight of Zuko and the others. 

By grabbing onto some canvas from a tent, she managed to stagger to her feet, sputtering and wiping the hair away that had gotten plastered over her eyes. She cleared her vision in time to see the Water Tribe girl running at her, bending the water around their feet to keep Azula in place.

Azula snarled and conjured a flame hot enough to evaporate the water around her legs, and broke herself out. She summoned her blue fire to push back against the girl’s two barrel’s worth of water, and surged towards her. Soon, they were fighting at close range, the girl using her elbows to knock Azula’s arms out of form, and trying to land a kick to Azula’s shins.

Azula blocked her, but not as easily as she would like to admit. She was fast, her attacks more controlled than Zuko’s, but just as ferocious. For once, Azula found herself on the defense. She didn’t like it. However, she had plenty of experience fighting people like Zuko, and so she slowly managed to gain the upper hand.

Standing so close together, Azula was able to bring her flames awfully close to the Water Tribe girl’s skin and clothes, forcing her to bring the water close to her as protection, freeing Azula’s limbs from their tendrils. She punched some fire towards the girl’s middle, and when she shielded herself, Azula swung her leg around and kicked her in the head.

To be honest, Azula had expected her to be able to dodge it, since she had been so ferocious thus far, but she went down hard, her water that she had been bending splashing down on top of her. She had been knocked out. Panting, Azula straightened, nodding to herself, and spun on her heel to help her brother fight the Avatar. She highly doubted Zuko had made much progress without her.

As she turned, however, she saw the Avatar. He was staring right at her, his childish face turning fierce, as his eyes and tattoos flickered with a glow so bright it was clear, even in the full light of the sun.

Their eye contact only lasted a second, before he slammed his hands together, and a circle of wind exploded from him, sending the firebenders around him flying in every direction. From where Azula was standing, the gust almost threw her off her feet, but she held her ground, digging her heels into the grass. Zuko was thrown backwards so that he was only a few paces in front of her.

Before setting out on her quest to capture her brother and the Avatar, before her father had even asked her to go, and just after the news of the Avatar’s return, Azula had done her research. She found out as much about the Avatar as she could. She found out that they were an immensely powerful being that would refuse to work with the Fire Nation, instead electing to go rogue and encourage useless lifestyles. She found out that most assumed that the Avatar’s cycle had broken when the Air Nomads were defeated, since the cycle could not continue with only three nations. She read about the Avatar State, a concentrated use of the knowledge of all the past Avatars all at once, which kept the Avatar growing stronger throughout the ages. She discovered that each individual Avatar was mortal, and so was the infinitely reincarnated spirit. The cycle could be stopped if someone could kill the Avatar while he was in the Avatar State.

Azula was the most powerful firebender in the Fire Nation. If anyone could kill the Avatar at his most powerful, it was her.

Zuko got to his feet, covering his face with an arm as wind whipped his short hair every which way and tugged at his green and brown peasants’ clothes. He turned over his shoulder to look at Azula, wide eyed. Azula swallowed, and looked back at the Avatar. He was still ascending, facing the siblings and the fallen Water Tribe girl behind them.

A plan started to form in Azula’s mind, and she grabbed her brother’s arm, “Stand over the Water Tribe girl and keep the Avatar’s attention. I’m going to end this.”

Zuko grimaced, and his eyes kept flicking away from her face while she spoke, either towards the raging Avatar or the unconscious peasant on the grass. She didn’t have time for his panic, so she dug her nails into his arm until he gasped.

He glared at her, but there wasn’t much heat to it. His indecision was still the most prominent feature of his position. But he still said, “Yeah,” he turned towards the girl, shaking off Azula’s hand, “Yeah, alright.”

Azula left him to jog towards the girl, and she ducked behind a tent to make her way to the other side of the camp. If the Avatar saw her, this would never work.

As she hurriedly crept along, the ground beneath her shook and bucked. Everything around her was upheaved, so she had nothing to cling to. She tilted her face up to see the Avatar, where he was staying at his current altitude, a ways above the tops of the soldiers’ tents. The soldiers, Azula noticed, had given up fighting, and were scattering into the woods to get away from the powerful preteen boy above them. Fine. She didn’t need them anyway. She paid attention to the ground shaking underneath her. The shaking was coming in pulses, rippling out from the Avatar, so if she could time it right, she could run when the ground was still. Or, still enough.

She waited for a quake to pass, then bolted across the grass, grabbing hold of a tree at the edge of the clearing right as the Earth shook violently. She looked up, and saw, much to her delight, that the Avatar was still facing the Water Tribe girl and Zuko. Zuko was standing between the girl and the Avatar, fists raised and expression fierce, his bravery veering too close to stupidity, as it always did. Azula had to move faster, so that the Avatar couldn’t hurt Zuko. Not too much anyway. He wasn’t hurling anything at him, probably to avoid hitting the girl behind him who he cared so much about, but she didn’t know how long his caution would last in this state.

She wasn’t doing this because she cared about him, though. Her father hadn’t exactly instructed her to bring him home alive, so it wasn’t because of him. She supposed she just wanted to get this over with, and to make sure they won this war. That was her focus.

She hurried on, carefully timing her sprints to make sure she would have something sturdy to grab hold of by the time the Avatar started earthbending again. She kept her gaze fixed on the Avatar, so she almost missed the three figures moving towards them from between the trees. They were moving strangely, as if the ground itself was rolling with them, accelerating them forward. Squinting, she was able to make out the shortest one in the middle, pumping her arms and legs so that the Earth moved with her. An earthbender, then. A young one. And on either side of her, a taller girl and a boy.

Oh no. She thought she had already taken care of them. Apparently, Mai and Ty Lee were not as capable without her as she thought. That, or those three of the Avatar’s companions were better escape artists.

Now with another deadline to keep her moving, she let go of the heavy crate she was clinging to, and took a deep breath to stoke her qi. The ground shook, but by dropping into a lower stance, she was able to keep her balance. She traced the path of the lightning producing form, the energy crackling to life around her hands. The lightning’s sheer power invigorated her, and she tried to channel her giddiness away from her bending to keep her shot on target.

She pointed her two first fingers right at the Avatar’s back, and the blast exploded towards him.

But, when the air cleared, the Avatar was still hovering in the sky, suspended with his airbending. She had missed. And now, he was facing her with all of his fury. Some of the water that the peasant girl had dropped when Azula had knocked her unconscious was now joining the Avatar, floating up to join him in wavering blobs.

Azula flicked her eyes down to see the Water Tribe girl pushing herself up, grabbing her head, her confusion giving way to shock as she took in the scene. She bent some of the leftover water into a tendril, and it snaked up towards Zuko’s head as she prepared to strike him, but he just stood there, gaping at the Avatar, completely unaware of the imminent attack.

“Zuko!” Azula shouted, “Behind you!”

They made brief eye contact, and for one chilling moment Azula felt entirely too seen, but then Zuko was spinning around to fight off the girl as she staggered to her feet.

She stopped watching then, because her shout had turned the Avatar’s attention back to Zuko, leaving Azula completely unguarded, open to make another attack.

Once again, she traced the familiar figure eights in front of her, the lightning crackling to life through her qi pathways in her body. At the right moment, she directed the surge of energy down her arm, and at the tips of her fingers, the energies came crashing back together as lightning.

The lightning sped through the air in an instant, and the Avatar’s body jolted, his muscles seizing and twitching, making him dance in midair. The air and ground stilled without him to bend them, and once Azula’s lightning was spent, he began to fall. He fell like a dead weight, the water he had been lashing out falling with him. Azula’s vision narrowed to the falling boy, his tattoos dull, his clothing scorched and tattered. No longer the Avatar, just the dead body of a twelve year old boy.

The Avatar was dead. And he would never, ever come back.

His corpse didn’t hit the ground; by that time the Water Tribe girl had taken the excess water around her, and rode over on a wave to catch him. They were both scratched up and dirty, dripping wet as the girl got to her feet, cradling the boy in her arms.

Azula was so focused on them that she didn’t notice that the small earthbender had arrived at the scene, until she was knocked her off her feet, with her limbs locked to the ground with rock shackles. She strained for a moment, mainly to show that she could, but she was well aware that there was no need. She had done it. She had killed the Avatar.

It was over.

Chapter Text

For eleven long, horrible minutes, Katara held a very still Aang in her arms.

For eleven minutes, she sat in Appa’s saddle as they soared away from Azula.

For eleven minutes, she faced the absolute worst case scenario.

For eleven minutes, Aang was dead.

But then, between her own healing abilities and the intercession of the spirits through the spirit oasis water, she was able to bring her best friend back. He smiled at her weakly, just for her to see, to assure her that he was going to be okay, then slipped into unconsciousness. But he was alive, and for now, that would do.

~ ~ ~ 

Tied tightly to Appa’s horn, there was an unfamiliar scroll. Well, more of a rolled up piece of parchment than a scroll. Katara had been wholly focused on Aang, so it was Sokka who pointed it out, and read it silently before relaying the information to the group.

“It’s from someone called a ‘guru,’ and they’re living in the Eastern Air Temple. They say they know about the Avatar State, and can teach Aang to master it.” He passed the scroll back to Suki.

Katara looked down at the unconscious Aang, whose head was resting in her lap, “Too bad we didn’t get that earlier,” she spat, bitterly, “If he had been able to master it, this wouldn’t have happened.”

No one had a reply to that. Suki laid her hand on Katara’s shoulder, and she accepted the attempt at comfort.

“Well,” Suki said, gently to avoid upsetting Katara even more, “I think we better meet this person. Aang needs to learn about the Avatar State,” she looked down at the young Avatar, and her unsaid thoughts rang out loud and clear. That is, if he wakes up.

“I don’t see how any Avatar could learn how to use the Avatar State without a little help,” Toph mused, and there was a murmur of agreement. Despite the fact that it was a serious statement, Katara felt some of the tension from Suki’s silent comment disappear into the night.

“I have to say, though, that this could be a trick,” Sokka said, from his spot on Appa’s head, “I’ve never even heard of a guru,” He twisted around to look each of them in the eye.

Toph and Suki both shrugged; they didn’t know what it was. And neither did Katara, but that wasn’t going to deter her, “I don’t care. Maybe it’s a trap, but we have the chance to help Aang become a better Avatar, so we have to take it.”

“Even if it is a trap, we can take ‘em. It’s not like it’s gonna be Azula and Zuko and the Fire Nation, since they’ve literally gotten everything they’ve ever wanted,” Toph piped up. Katara couldn’t decided if she was grateful that Toph had her back, or irritated with the words she had chosen to support her, so she continued to glare at Sokka.

Sokka stayed twisted around in his seat, listening to his sister seriously, and with a firm set of his jaw, turned forward again to tug on Appa’s reins.

“So?” Katara demanded, “Are we going there or not?”

“Yeah,” Sokka shouted to be heard over the wind rushing around them, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m taking us East.”

Relieved, Katara squinted into the darkness, trying to see where they were headed. She couldn’t see much of anything; it was a cloudy night, shielding the light of the moon and obscuring everything in sight. She didn’t know how Sokka knew where he was going, but he had a map on his thigh, held in place by his elbow, which he kept glancing at, so it must have meant something to him. She trusted her brother as navigator, and she was too worn out to question him, so she turned back to Aang.

He was still frighteningly still, his only movement the occasional dart of his eyes, visible under his lids. She wrapped one of her hands around Aang’s where it was resting at his side. He didn’t hold hers back.

~ ~ ~

When they arrived to the Western Air Temple, the sun was just beginning to rise, gently bringing them out of the shadows. Sokka steered them to fly low around the temple, taking the time to scan the area for any signs of people living there, but they didn't find anything from that preliminary search, and he took them down.

Appa landed heavily on broken stone floors at the top of a turret. Little plants grew up through the cracks on the ground, with dirt and moss coating everything Katara could see. The platform they had landed on was unadorned and flat, the perfect size for Appa to land on. Sokka hadn’t even needed to steer him towards it, leading Katara to wonder if it was meant for air bison to land on. They were high up, and right in the middle of the temple, so Katara was able to look out over the whole temple, morning fog in wisps around the buildings, which were still strong—if not a little dirty and cracked—even after 100 years of neglect.

It was also as silent as a tomb.

Sokka stopped everyone from hopping off of Appa with a raised hand, “It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here,” he whispered, apologetically.

Katara shook her head, “We've barely looked.” Sokka tended to give up before it was strictly necessary, all in the name of protecting the group. Katara would never say so aloud, but she thought he was using that excuse because he was a coward.

“I mean,” he corrected himself, turning so that he could look Katara in the eye, “It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for decades, so we shouldn’t get our hopes up,” Katara almost interrupted him, but he barreled on ahead, “We should still look around, of course, but we need to be careful, and stay together. I’m still worried about all of this.”

Of course he was. True, they usually ran into trouble, but they could handle it. She wasn’t even a whole year younger than him; she was just as capable. She didn’t need a reminder that bad things kept happening to them.

She got to her feet and hopped off of Appa’s saddle. She heard Sokka groan, probably because of her non-answer, but then his feet hit the uneven stone too. She looked over her shoulder in time to see him helping Toph down. 

Suki was kneeling next to Aang, still atop Appa’s saddle, “Maybe I’ll stay here,” she offered, “Just so we don’t have to move him around too much.”

Sokka readily agreed, probably so they could make a quicker getaway if need be, but Katara paused and bit her lip. Even though she trusted Suki, she didn’t want to let Aang out of her sight.

Sokka (curse him, bless him… one of those), reached out to touch her arm, and softly said, “If you want, you can stay with him. Suki can stay too, or come with us.” Suki nodded her agreement. Even though the words were really only meant for Katara, it was hard to keep them from everyone else.

She considered it. She was still so worried for Aang that standing upright was a chore, her head was fuzzy with anxiety, and she was nauseous from little sleep and food. Staying with Aang to feel the warmth of his living body, and to have the chance to check that air was still going in and out of his nose sounded better than leaving him, but Sokka wasn’t wholly committed to searching this temple, and there needed to be someone who would scour every little crevice before calling it quits.

Katara didn’t trust anyone but herself.

She scrubbed at her eye, crusty and dry with little sleep, and shook her head, “No. He’ll be alright.” With one last glance up at Aang and Suki, she set off deeper into the temple, with Sokka and Toph close behind. 

It was truly a sight to behold. Tall pillars held up ceilings that arched high above them, and the windows were so large, it made you feel like you were out in the open air. The weak morning light didn’t reach far into the open hallways and huge rooms they walked through, but once their eyes adjusted, they could see cracked statues carved into the walls, and chipped frescos painted around them, faded from years of weather with no people to keep them nice. Katara could tell how much care the artists had put into them, despite their current states. She knew that Aang would be sad to see how empty and unkempt the temple had become, but she still wished he were awake to see it.

Sokka jolted her out of her thoughts, once again. “Toph, how far can your feet see?”

“Pretty far,” Toph said with a wave of her hand, “It depends on the type of Earth.”

“Okay,” Sokka said, all business, “Do you think you can use your earthbending to see if there’s anyone here?”

Toph crouched to the ground, “I can try,” she pressed one palm to the floor.

Katara held her breath. Toph seemed to be taking an extra long time to scan the area, but maybe Katara was just so on edge that time passed differently. She didn’t count the seconds in her head, but it felt like it must have been about a hundred.

At last, Toph hopped to her feet, “There’s someone here,” she confirmed, and promptly lead them down a passage that Katara would have missed; the shadows cloaking it made it effectively invisible. 

Toph took them out into an overgrown courtyard, similar to the platform Appa had landed on. The light painfully pricked Katara’s eyes, and she shielded them so she could keep up with Toph’s brisk pace. She lead them down a staircase, spiraling around the turret like a ribbon.

Despite their reasonably quick pace, Katara felt like they were moving far too slowly. Sokka kept them from running to avoid waltzing right into a trap, and she knew that was a logical choice, but she was still antsy. They knew where they were going now, and Toph could check for traps with her earthbending. Impatient, Katara nudged at the twelve-year-old’s back, ready to be met with a brick wall of obstinance, but instead, she sped right up, ready to jog down the stairs, apparently just as anxious to meet the stranger. Katara followed as closely as she could, hurrying Toph along until they were sprinting. They leapt onto a landing, then they were zipping around pillars and statues. Sokka didn’t even chastise them; he just ran too, right behind Katara.

Her head was throbbing, and the floor beneath her seemed to tilt side to side, but that didn’t stop her. She was just tired; Aang had died less than twenty-four hours ago, she could handle a little dizziness.

Toph took them down one last hallway before coming to an abrupt stop, snapping her arm out to the side to stop the others. The suddenness almost sent Katara careening to the ground, but luckily, Sokka was there to grab her shoulder and tug her back. He gave her a concerned look, but she waved him off, looking back at Toph. They had to be close. 

Toph tilted her head, listening hard.

Keeping her voice low, she said, “There’s a man in there,” she inclined her head towards a doorway to the left and up a few paces. Katara couldn’t see into the room, but it was tantalizingly close.

She appreciated Toph and Sokka’s cautiousness, she did, but this was no time to be overly wary. Now was the time for action.

Without giving either of them the chance to stop her, Katara slipped away and darted into the room. If Toph truly wanted to stop her, she could simply earthbend the doorway closed, but she didn’t, so Katara assumed that she supported her impulse.

The inconspicuous doorway could not have prepared her for the statue.

It was of an Air Nomad woman, sitting in the same way that Aang did when he meditated. It was enormous. The cavernous room had ceilings so high that three Appas could be stacked on top of each other with room to spare, and the statue rose all the way to the top. Her hair was shaved to the middle of her skull, leaving it long and unbound down her back. Her forehead was adorned with the traditional Air Nomad tattoo, as were her hands and feet. Moss and lichen marred her stone skin, and snuggled into the folds of her robes. A skylight left the ceiling mostly open, and it wasn’t even because it had caved in at some point; the Air Nomads had purposefully built an opening in the ceiling to let in sunlight and fresh air. 

In front of her was a living man. The only difference between his position and hers was that she had her eyes closed, whereas he had cracked open one of his to look at Katara, standing with her mouth open like a cod beluga.

“Hello,” he greeted, dropping his hands, which had been folded with the middle finger steepled, onto his knees, “Can I help you?”

Despite wanting to believe that they would find someone willing to help them, and the writer of the note, Katara was still taken aback by the peaceful man asking her a simple question. She stammered out an answer, “Ah, did you leave a letter for the Avatar tied to his bison’s horn?”

She heard Sokka groan, and she jumped; he and Toph were standing right behind her. She hadn’t heard them approach.

His fluffy white eyebrows lifted on his forehead, “I did,” He examined at each of them in turn, “I don’t believe any of you three are the Avatar.”

Katara shook her head.

“He’s our friend,” Sokka explained, “We wanted to make sure you actually want to help him.”

Katara turned to glare at him. The man had given them no reason to be hostile so far, and they needed to stay in his good graces if he was going to help them. She knew she wanted him to be someone they could trust, but she didn’t think that was clouding her judgement this time.

Still, the old man understood, “Very wise, caution is important in a war. I am Guru Pathik. Studying and becoming close to the spirits have brought me great solace in this time of worldwide tumult and pain, when most people turned away from the spirits for abandoning them, and keeping the Avatar hidden in our greatest time of need. I believe I can help your friend learn to use the Avatar State, and I presume I am one of the few who can do so.”

“That doesn’t tell us why we should trust you,” Sokka replied, his voice low, but his resolve was weakening, Katara could tell.

But the old man—Guru Pathik—had his eyes on Katara once again, “You’re hurt.”

“Uh,” Was the only sound that escaped Katara’s throat. She had never met someone, and have them immediately accuse her of having injuries.

Guru Pathik moved to get to his feet, and right on cue, as if he was ready for it, Sokka pulled out his boomerang. Katara let him.

The old man sat back down, lifting his hands in surrender. Sokka lowered his weapon, but kept it in his hand.

“I noticed,” Guru Pathik explained, “that you seem to have sustained a head injury.” He was still looking at Katara. She raised her eyebrows. True, Azula had knocked her out, but how could he have known that just by looking?

He reached out his hands, “May I?”

Sokka looked over at her, and shrugged slightly.

So, Katara took the reins of the conversation, “First you have to help Aang,” but then she corrected herself, “The Avatar. He was shot by a firebender’s lightning.”

Guru Pathik’s thick eyebrows drew together, “And he’s still alive?”

Katara nodded, “Yes, but he was—” Katara swallowed, scared to say it aloud, “He was dead yesterday, but I brought him back. He’s just unconscious now.”

At this, his eyes widened, and shone with blatant wonder, with all of it focused on Katara. Still, she refused to uncomfortably shift from foot to foot, and maintained eye contact determinedly.

“I admit,” Guru Pathik said, “My area of expertise is on spiritual health, so I doubt I’ll be able to do more than you already have. But, when he wakes up, I will still help him with mastering the Avatar State.”

Katara swallowed against the lump building up in her throat, “But isn’t there something you could do? Spiritually?”

He gave her a sympathetic look, “It’s unlikely, but I could try.”

Katara whipped her head around to look at Sokka (not to ask him permission. She didn’t need to ask Sokka for permission) and found that he had tucked his boomerang back into its sheath on his back, his arms crossed loosely in front of him. When she caught his eye, he simply shrugged.

Already walking towards the exit, Katara beckoned the guru to follow her, “He’s outside.”

~ ~ ~

Guru Pathik inspected Aang and promised them that, in due time, he would awaken, “We can bring him to the dormitory; he’ll be comfortable and safe there.”

At that, the relief that flooded Katara’s bones turned her legs turned to jelly, and she plopped down onto the cobblestones, cross-legged, grinding the heels of her hands into her eyes. Now that she wasn’t running on the need to make sure Aang was okay, she could feel the pounding of her head, and hear the ringing in her ears that she had been ignoring for hours now. Spirits, she was exhausted.

“Katara!” Sokka shouted, his voice filled with alarm.

She snapped her head up (ow), and growled, “What?”

He was crouching next to her, and he reached out as if to grab her shoulder, but he kept his distance, “You weren’t answering, you okay?”

She was about to say that she was just tired, and it was giving her a small headache, but then Guru Pathik dropped into a squat at her side, carefully shifting onto his knees, his joints popping and cracking.

He peered into her eyes, and asked her to focus her attention on him. He asked her a few questions: if she was feeling dizzy, if her vision was swimming, if her ears had been ringing. Katara had to admit yes to most of his inquiries, much to Sokka’s distress.

Once his questioning came to an end, he hummed thoughtfully, and asked Katara if she had healed Aang with waterbending.

Katara nodded, which sent her brain rattling in her skull, and she winced.

Guru Pathik hummed again, “Perhaps you’ll be able to heal your head injury, then. It will be necessary, if you want to move about freely and without pain,” What? Had she permanently messed up her brain? This meant that not only did her lapse in consciousness cause Aang’s (albeit, temporary) death, but now she had brain damage! Her panic must have shown, because Guru Pathik interrupted her thoughts to say, “Healing will just speed up the process. With proper rest, you’ll recover, regardless.”

His voice was awfully soothing, and Katara nodded, relaxing once again.

She then unstoppered the water pouch on her back, preparing to use it to heal her head. As she drew the water out, it wobbled and dripped onto the stone floor, even though she was trying her hardest to keep it steady. That was strange; normally she had great control over her bending, especially with such a simple move.

When she lifted the water up to her temples, and focused on the healing energy instead of her pain, she couldn’t quite find it. “It” being the special sort of energy she relied on to change the properties of the water and use its inert qualities to reach into another’s body and cure whatever was ailing them. It was like she kept trying to slide her foot into her shoe, only to find she hadn’t even been holding it. She didn’t see any sort of glow coming from the water either, so she drew it away. As she did so, some of the water stubbornly clung to her hair, despite her best efforts to pull it off.

The guru hummed, “I see. I think you need some rest, first and foremost,” he got to his feet with surprising agility; perhaps he wasn’t as old as his wrinkles made him look. “I’ll lead you to the dormitories,” he offered, and beckoned them to follow.

“What about Appa?” Toph stopped him, and when he stayed silent in confusion, she pointed at their sky bison.

Suki had hopped to the ground, and was holding Aang on her back. She asked, “Is there a, I don’t know,” she hiked Aang up a little higher, “Bison barn, or something?”

The Guru started walking back towards Appa, a slight smile on his face, “The temple has a wing for the bisons to sleep, right next to the dormitories. They liked to keep everyone close together, even in sleep,” he smiled fondly, “There’s a path open to the air that we can take, which will allow your bison to follow easily,” he reached out a hand towards Appa’s nose, who huffed, blowing his robes back.

Sokka, who was still nervously eyeing Guru Pathik, started to relax when Appa allowed the old man to lay a hand on his muzzle. Despite those few days when Sokka wouldn’t shut up about his own stellar leadership instincts, he trusted Appa’s instincts even more. They all did. Appa was a great judge of character.

Appa licked Guru Pathik’s face, making his beard stand on end, and the old man chuckled, in a surprised, grossed out kind of way.

As he smoothed down his beard, Sokka said, “That would be perfect,” referring, of course, to the bison barracks and the wide path suited for huge herbivores.

Guru Pathik gladly obliged, and they set off to follow him deeper into the temple.

Katara offered to take Aang almost immediately, but Suki refused, pointing out that she was still hurt, and should probably take it easy. Katara understood, but she still angrily grit her teeth and walked right next to her for the whole walk.

It turned out that the dormitories were split into separate rooms, each one with two cots. Guru Pathik bid them farewell, promising they would talk in the morning, and disappeared down the stairs.

Suki laid Aang on one of the cots, Katara hovering over her shoulder. Aang still looked terribly ill. Heavy bags were under his eyes, his complexion was ghostly pale, and his body was as limp as a ragdoll’s. He sank into the stiff cushion: dead weight.

“Hey,” Sokka said softly, and Katara tore her eyes away from Aang, “He’s going to be okay.”

Katara wrung her hands together, “Yeah. Thanks.” She appreciated the thought, but she knew her gratefulness didn’t shine through her anxiety.

Her brother nodded and, without anything left to say, left the room. The scuff of his shoes on the stone was the only sound, and that quickly gave way to silence once again.

Katara’s bones positively ached with tiredness, and she was extremely aware of the second cot right behind her. However, the idea of leaving Aang again to go to sleep, even just a few feet away, kept her rooted to the floor.

The cot was small, but Aang was smaller, and there was still space for her to curl up next to him. She could lie down there, she supposed, though that did feel a bit like crossing a line, especially when he was unconscious and unaware of his surroundings. But, she was doing it to keep him safe, right?

She abruptly realized she was still wringing her hands, and she sighed. She was too tired to make any kind of decision; she was assigning both options disproportionate consequences in her mind. In an attempt to bring herself back down to Earth, she asked herself what option felt the easiest.

She looked down at Aang’s sleeping form, and the foot or so of empty mattress she could lie on, and the answer was obvious. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if she wasn’t certain that he was okay. Too tired to do anything else, she toed off her shoes, and climbed onto the cot, lying on her side to face him. She intended to watch him for a little bit longer, but before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.

~ ~ ~

When she woke up, she felt like her brain was in a thick fog. It was so disorienting, that she momentarily forgot where she was.

But then it all came crashing back. Aang dying. Aang coming back. Meeting a strange man in the otherwise abandoned air temple. Sleeping on Aang’s cot to keep him safe.

She sat up too quickly, and was given a pounding headache in return. Aang was still asleep, and she frantically confirmed that he was still alive, checking his breath.

Sure enough, his chest continued to rise and fall. Katara took in a shaky breath, and let it rattle back out of her lungs.

Now, she knew she needed to go find Guru Pathik. He had been helpful yesterday, and had been so calm through the entire encounter, despite the fact that the four of them had almost been crawling out of their skin with panic. Perhaps, overnight, he had come up with a way to help Aang. At the very least, he might have something to dull the pain in her head.

She decided to check the room that they had found him in originally, the one with the huge statue of the Air Nomad. As she made her way down the stairs that curved down a turret, she came to an abrupt stop, her breath caught in her throat.

It was a clear day, free of fog and clouds, and she could finally see way out to the horizon. The sun was orange in the sunrise, its rays like fingers pointing to the rolling hills, the pale blue sky, and the sprawling turrets of the temple.

As her gaze followed one of the rays back towards the temple, she saw a figure sitting on one of the staircases curling around one of the nearby turrets. It was Guru Pathik.

~ ~ ~

When she got there, he was still sitting silently, his body unmoving while the wind pulled his beard and clothing this way and that. She wasn’t sure how to interrupt him, so she stood there awkwardly for a moment, hoping he would notice her. She knew that Aang hated to be interrupted when he was meditating, so she figure it wouldn’t be the best way to get into this man’s good graces, especially since she had already interrupted him yesterday.

But, she needed to talk to him. So, after what felt like ten minutes, but was probably more like two, she lowered herself onto one of the wide stairs, and twisted her legs into a criss-cross shape, and looked out over the landscape.

From here, the light of the sun was positively dazzling, especially because it had managed to get higher in the sky in the time it took her to get down here. She shut her eyes against the too-bright sun, and did her best to be patient.

In the silence, the cool stone chilled her leg where her skirt didn’t cover her calf, harshly contrasting the heat of the sun on her face. The wind was cool, tugging at her hair which she hadn’t bothered to fix this morning. The wind was probably mussing up her hair even more, but she felt like it was undoing the snarls from the night and day before. She took some time to breathe in the wind, becoming part of it by inviting it into her lungs, and easing it back out through her nose.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat like that, focused on the wind and the sun and the stone beneath her, but when she opened her eyes again, she felt looser than she had in weeks.

“Welcome,” the man beside her said, and she turned to see him smiling at her, the smile lines around his eyes deep as canyons.

When she spoke, her voice came out quiet, but strong, “I was looking for you,” what for? She had to take a moment to remember; the wind seemed to have snatched away her thoughts, “I need your help to heal Aang. Er, the Avatar,” she was quick to clarify.

He hummed in response, “I don’t think you do,”

His reply was frustratingly cryptic. She frowned, “Yes, I do.”

He shook his head calmly, refusing to match her level of intensity. “I can’t help him more than you already have. I know about spiritual health, and occasionally how that interacts with our bodies, but you’re the healer of the physical world; you would know more than I.”

She slumped over, grinding the heels of her hands into her eyes, blocking out the yellowness of the sun completely. He really couldn’t help her. Now, they just had to wait. Waiting had never been her strong suit.

“Although,” Guru Pathik said, and Katara lifted her head hopefully. He ran his fingers over his beard in thought, “Perhaps there is something I could do.”

Katara held her breath while he thought.

“I planned on teaching the Avatar about chakras,” he stopped short, “I’m sorry, are you familiar with chakras?”

She shook her head. It sounded like a street performer, or perhaps a seafood delicacy.

He nodded like he had expected this, “The Water Tribes do not commonly use chakras to heal their spiritual ills.”

Figuring she needed to be more blunt to get an answer out of this man, she asked, “What are they?”

He shifted so that he was facing her more fully, and began to explain, “Chakras are pools of energy in your body. Your qi is meant to flow through you freely, but sometimes, a struggle or problem in your life, whether it be internal or external, can block one of these pools. Spending time meditating on specific chakras, and working through those issues in your mind, can help you unclog your qi.”

Her thoughts turned right back to Aang, who meditated twice daily at least, which he always said was an absolutely essential part of his health. “Is that why Aang meditates every day? He always said it was to keep in touch with his spirit.”

Guru Pathik laid his hands on his knees, “Perhaps. The Southern Air Temple was not known for their focus on chakras, so I would be surprised, but he could be doing it outside of his knowledge.”

Katara frowned, squinting at him in question. How could someone accidentally meditate on their chakras?

Seeing her confusion, he explained, “Our chakras reside in particular spaces in our bodies, and have to do with certain broad issues that we will encounter in life, so it’s likely that he was ruminating on one of those, and working to clear that qi passageway, even though he didn’t know what was happening in his body.”

“So,” she began, trying to find words to communicate her train of nebulous wonderings, “These have to do with qi, and we use are qi for bending,” Guru Pathik nodded, encouraging her on, “And my bending, or at least my healing abilities, haven’t been working properly, so…”

He smiled sympathetically, “Yes, one or more of your chakras may be blocked. The physical trauma of hurting your head is certainly capable of doing that,” She considered that idea, and reasoned that made sense; she had enough experience with Azula’s pink, acrobatic friend to know that physical injuries could mess with your bending, and the normal flow of your qi.

“If you’d like,” Guru Pathik was saying, “I could help you work through the process of clearing your chakras. It may help you understand yourself, as well as the Avatar, a bit better.”

Katara leaned towards him, surprised, “You’d do that?”

“Certainly,” he winked, “I am a guru: a teacher. That’s what I do.”

Mutely, Katara nodded, and gave him a grateful bow. (She was also secretly grateful for finally getting an explanation on what a guru was.)

He smiled kindly again, and hopped to his feet with that odd, youthful agility. Katara followed suit much slower, minding the pain in her head. He started down the stairs, and beckoned her to walk with him.

She followed, and asked, a bit shyly, “Can we go to that room with the big statue at some point?”

He grinned, “Absolutely. It’s the perfect place to clear one’s Sound Chakra.”

Katara had no idea what that entailed, but she was excited to find out.

Chapter Text

Azula hated boats.

Over the past year, she had spent more time on boats than she had for the rest of her life combined, and she had discovered that she hated them. When she was a kid, they used to take the ferry to Ember Island, and she would lean over the railing until her mother shouted at her to stop, and then she’d do it again thirty seconds later. They stopped going to Ember Island when she was eight, and that was the last time she’d been on a boat until her father sent her to capture Zuko and the Avatar.

Well, now the Avatar was dead by her hands, and she had convinced Zuko to come home with her as a war hero.

The trouble was, she wasn’t sure if they would be welcomed back as heroes. She wasn’t supposed to kill the Avatar. She was supposed to capture him, and bring him back, where he could be locked up and kept clinging to the threads of life to prevent him from being reborn. But now, he would be. In a few years, she would probably be sent to search the entire Earth as punishment. She could hear the order now: "Don’t come back home until you have the Avatar in chains."

Maybe, if they won the war and took over the Water Tribes, and imprisoned and killed the waterbenders up North as well, they would mess up the cycle so badly, that the Avatar wouldn’t be able to come back. The Fire Navy was certainly strong enough to do it.

She wasn’t sure if she could do it, though. She wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because she just wanted to go back to the Fire Nation, the greatest nation on Earth, and stay there for a while. As expected, the rest of the world had not measured up to her home’s splendor. Well, they’ll win the war soon, and then they’ll be able to bring that splendor everywhere else. That had been Sozin’s plan from the beginning. And here Azula was, one hundred years later, carrying out his plan, bringing the other nations under the Fire Nation’s rule for the glory her forefathers. It was an honor to be involved.

Too bad she had fucked it up.

“Why are you sneering at the water?” A voice to her right chuckled.

Right. The other Zuko was here too. He hadn’t left her alone since they had pulled out of the harbor.

“None of your business,” She glared at him, bringing as much heat into her gaze as she could.

He just raised his intact eyebrow, “Damn, if looks could kill.”

He had been doing this for weeks, now. Ignoring everything she said, and prodding at her, trying to get her to talk, or maybe just trying to make her mad. Regardless, it wasn’t going to work. She could ignore him too.

She meant to look away from him and stare out over the water again, but he was now absently scratching at his chin, picking away at some of the dried blood there. It came away in flakes, getting caught under his nails and revealing skin stained brownish-red underneath. It was revolting, but Azula couldn’t look away.

He caught her staring, of course, and gave her a truly judgmental look. She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by it, but nevertheless, it made her uncomfortable. The buzz of unpleasantness deep in her heart almost felt like guilt.

To banish the emotion, she tried to make a scathing remark about his unfortunate facial disfigurement, but her words came out soft instead, “Why won’t that heal?”

A new drop of blood was already replacing the dried bit he had scraped away, beading bright red on his skin. He frowned, unprepared for this question, “I guess it just… can’t.”

She scoffed, “So I gathered,” When he just shrugged, she went on, “I mean, you’ve had three years to heal, I think you need to hurry up and get it over with.” She wasn’t sure if that made sense, but it certainly seemed like Zuko was drawing out his recovery, and refusing to move on from their past. His past.

“I’m not doing it on purpose, Azula,” he rolled his eyes and lifted a hand to gently pull his hair away from his face. While they were in Ba Sing Se, it had had time to grow long enough to get stuck in the sticky mess of his wound. Azula swallowed instead of gagging. “Sometimes things just take time to heal.”

It was such a vague statement, she couldn’t argue with it, so she just huffed and turned back to the ocean. Finally, she said, “It shouldn’t take this long.”

“What shouldn’t take this long?”

She almost jumped out of her skin. The question had been asked by a third person, and when she whirled around, she saw that it was Zuko, wrapped up in dark red robe, a dark circle smeared under his eye. The left side of his face was covered with a scar, instead of a perpetually open wound.

Panting, Azula said, “You’re up.” It was a stupid, obvious thing to say, and she inwardly cringed, squeezing the railing behind her a little harder.

Taking this as a jab, for some reason, Zuko stiffened, “So are you.”

“Yes,” Azula sighed, back in familiar territory, “We’re both up.” She turned back to face the water, ready to field stupid questions and comments from her stupid older brother.

He took his place at the railing, on Azula’s right this time. She glanced to her left to see if the other Zuko was still there, but he seemed to have left. Good. It was confusing to have them in the same place at the same time, which had been happening a lot in the past few weeks on their trip home.

Zuko broke the silence first, impatient as he was, “I don’t think it was a good idea for me to come home.”

Azula sighed. They had already had a conversation like this one, in Ba Sing Se. She was surprised he would come talk to her again; it wasn’t like they were the kind of siblings who confided in and supported each other through rough times.

“I mean it,” Zuko said, so obviously frustrated as he leaned over the railing and dragged a hand through his hair, “I didn’t capture the Avatar. I didn’t do what Father ordered me to do.”

“The Avatar’s dead, Zuzu,” Azula said, her anxiety about making such a rash mistake kicking up in her stomach again, “The threat is gone for now, and you helped.” She remembered him standing across the clearing, watching wide eyed as the lightning coursed through the Avatar’s small body, the light from the display flashing across his face.

Stubbornly agitated, Zuko chewed on his bottom lip, “But that wasn’t my doing. I didn’t complete the mission.”

He had a point. Still, his inaction was less of a problem than her foolish decision. She would be the one in hot water this time around, and he would get to watch from the sidelines with a triumphant grin. It seemed impossible, that one mission could switch the roles of a fourteen year long sibling rivalry and put Zuko on top, but between the nearing end of the war, and the death of the Avatar, the stakes had never been higher.

“Would you prefer to be the one who had killed the Avatar?” Azula asked, blandly.

Zuko frowned at her, anger flickering in his eyes, “Well, yes. Is that so hard to believe?” He huffed, swinging his leg toward the low bulkhead in front of them, “I’ve been chasing the Avatar for three years, Azula. I wanted to be me.”

Azula just looked at him for a moment, dumbfounded by his idiocy. It was the same kind of too-honest, foolish statement that only Zuko would make the mistake of admitting. If you killed the Avatar, they would only come back, and you would have to find them all over again. Her father had specifically instructed her to keep the Avatar alive, just like he had instructed Zhao. It was why the twelve-year-old’s crafty tricks still worked to get him out of tight spots; they couldn’t just hire assassins to pick him off.

That, and everyone besides Azula was incompetent enough to fall for a twelve-year-old’s tricks.

Luckily, Zuko didn’t notice her shock, “But,” he sighed bitterly, “You got to him first. Because of course you did.”

Clearly, Zuko had forgotten that they weren’t supposed to kill the Avatar. All that time spent chasing him, when he could have used any means necessary, and he still didn’t get him. And here she was, thinking he couldn’t get any dumber.

Carefully keeping her expression and tone bored, she pushed away from the railing, “Well, Zuko, you had your chance,” when he looked up at her and snarled, she added, “But don’t worry, it will all work out.”

And now, with a plan brewing in her mind, she was sure that it would.

~ ~ ~

The moment they stepped off the gangplank, Lo and Li ushered towards the outer wall of the palace to prepare for their first public appearance back home. Azula was surprised they wouldn’t get the chance to bathe first, but Lo and Li assured her that a wet cloth across the face, brushed hair, and fresh clothes would make all the difference. They would be very far away from the onlookers, anyway.

Zuko, on the other hand, was surprised that they’d be appearing before their people at all.

He must have expected this; it was what war heroes did when they returned home from a victory, and he was the crown prince now, of course he would have to show off the glory and power of the Fire Nation like this. Still, when he heard the dull roar of a crowd of people waiting to see the young, royal siblings, he balked.

Azula sighed, giving him a look to let him know how pathetic he was. Afraid of appearing before a crowd of peasants. How far the Earth Kingdom had pulled him down.

Zuko growled at her expression as Li (Lo?) handed him some armor, and the other twin picked some out for Azula.

“Why do we have to wear armor?” Zuko muttered, “We didn’t even wear this during the battle.”

“Because it’s impressive,” Azula replied easily, while some servants fastened her breastplate into place, “It regal, and the common folk like to see us look strong. More importantly, it's tradition. Have you really forgotten the importance of tradition, Zuzu?”

Zuko scowled at her while he reached over to adjust a tie a servant had just fixed for him, but he didn’t ask anymore stupid questions.

Soon, with their hair brushed and pinned up into their headpieces, they were ready to go out onto the platform, high above the loud, patriotic crowd. Azula went first, stepping regally past the curtain as an attendant held it carefully to the side. She was the familiar face, the loyal princess they all knew to prepare them for a face that they had nearly forgotten, and looked entirely different than they remembered. They cheered wildly when they saw her, and she smirked at their excitement. It had been a long time since she had been received like this; honestly, she wasn’t sure if it had ever happened to quite this extent, not solely for her. Her smirk almost shifted into a smile, and she glowed with pride.

Before Zuko joined her on the platform, Lo and Li began to tell the people what had happened in Ba Sing Se.

Lo began, shouting in her ancient, rough voice, “Your princess, clever and beautiful,” Azula lifted her chin, “infiltrated the great city of Ba Sing Se, and convinced the Earth Kingdom’s own team of elite earthbenders to bring the great wall down.”

Another cheer erupted, and Li had to wait for it to die down before continuing, “Our army was waiting in the forest, and when the time came, they surged into the city, after one hundred years of being locked outside. Soon, they will get to the palace, and take the king himself.”

They both spoke to introduce Zuko, “In the city, Princess Azula found her brother, Prince Zuko!” At last, Zuko stepped past the curtain. To the crowd he must have looked stoic and proud, with his straight back and his long strides, but Azula could see the conflict in his face, the tension in his neck.

As soon as his head became visible over the low wall, the crowd erupted. If they had cheered for Azula, then they roared for Zuko.

Everyone loves a good redemption story.

The longer they cheered, the more unsure and anxious Zuko looked. His expression was still unreadable to the crowd, dozens of feet below, but Azula wanted to smack that look off of his face. Their people expected him to be a steady, brave prince after returning from banishment, and that was who he needed to be.

Lo went on, “The two of them travelled out to the forest, and using the Avatar’s bison as bait, lured the Avatar and his companions into their clutches, and vanquished the Avatar.”

She barely heard the crowd’s cheers. She looked blankly out over their heads, and in her mind’s eye, the Avatar’s death replayed. The way his whole body had lit up and shook with the force of her lightning strike, and when it had passed through, the way that his tattoos went dark. His waterbending friend had surged forward to catch him, zooming across the clearing at an incredible pace, even though it was already too late. Stopping his skull from cracking on the rocky ground wouldn’t be enough to save him.

The crowd before her didn’t seem to care how it had happened, only that the war was now as good as won.

~ ~ ~

The moment they entered the shade of the palace once again, a royal messenger of oddly short stature informed her that Firelord Ozai requested her presence in the throne room. The messenger didn’t include Zuko in the message, despite the fact that Azula had sent a hawk ahead to let her father know he would be coming home with her. But, the messenger didn’t even bow to him when he stepped onto the ground next to Azula.

She sent her a scathing glare, “You will bow to your prince.” His title technically hadn’t been reinstated yet, but he was still a position or two above her.

The messenger, a woman with dirty gold eyes, gulped at the direct order, and fell into a low bow in front of Zuko. He had the gall to look uncomfortable with the respect she was giving him, but hopefully he would remember how to act around the palace staff within a few days.

She started down the hall, taking the most efficient route, not wanting to keep her father waiting. Oddly, Zuko followed her at a trot, even when they were barely a minute’s walk from the throne room.

About a hallway away, she stopped abruptly, and Zuko almost ran right into her, “Zuzu, why are you following me like a lost turtleduck?”

He scowled at the nickname, but answered simply, a little unsure, “Father called us to the war room.”

Azula rolled her eyes, and pulled the slip of paper out from where she had tucked it under her sash, “No, he called me to the throne room,” she handed him the slip, of paper, and he scanned it frantically, “And don’t call it a war room, Zuko, that’s so dramatic. We use it for other things.”

He listlessly handed the paper back, his eyes fixed on it as he asked, “Do we?”

It didn’t sound like he really wanted an answer, more like it was something to say while he struggled with his lack of an invitation. To be fair, Azula couldn’t remember spending any time in the throne room discussing anything but the war, but she wasn’t always there. Father used the throne room for peaceful, domestic reasons as well. Expanding the Fire Nation wasn’t all about violence.

Azula tucked the paper back under her sash, “I’ll see you later,” And she was off down the passageway, leaving Zuko alone.

Walking at a brisk pace, she was at the entrance to her father’s throne room in thirty seconds flat. Two guards with their helmets on, but face plates off, flanked the entrance. She glanced at them, and as she did so, slowed to a stop. One of their faces seemed awfully familiar…

The familiar one spoke, “Do you need anything, Your Highness?”

The voice was familiar too, how did she know her? It took barely a moment, and then it all came rushing back. This was the woman who used to guard her door at night: Mole-Scalp, Azula had christened her, because of the black mole she spotted in her hairline.

Mole-Scalp frowned, “I’m sorry?”

Dammit. She had said the silly name aloud. Feeling hot blood rush to her ears, she just scoffed in response, and marched right through the curtain into the throne room. She didn’t owe guards an explanation for her behavior.

Behind the thick curtains, across the cavernous room, and behind an oddly low wall of fire, was her father. She felt some nausea stew in her gut, and she swallowed, refusing to let it win.

The walk across her father’s throne room was an especially long one. Had there always been quite so many columns, quite so much floor to cross? As she approached the dais, it occurred to her that the wall of fire was actually not as low as she thought, and the flames licked high enough to obscure the Firelord’s face with the haze of the heat.

She stopped exactly five tiles from the platform, right in the middle of the aisle. When she dropped into a crouch, she made sure not to let her knee rest in the crack between the tiles, bowing her head the same time her hands touched the ground.

“Rise, daughter,” Firelord Ozai said.

Azula rose to her feet, and waited for further instruction.

“Congratulations,” He said cooly, “You’ve accomplished much since I’ve seen you last,” A quirk of a smile tugged at Azula’s lips, and her father went on, “However, you did not capture my brother,” the beginnings of a smile on her face fell, “Unfortunate, to be sure, but at least you brought Zuko. In your telegram, you said that Zuko helped you greatly, and he deserves to come home a war hero. Explain to me how he managed that.”

Azula was surprised he was asking her now. He had already confirmed that Zuko could come home with full honors. He had done so in a telegram clearly written by a scribe, but she wouldn’t have allowed Zuko to stand before their people a hero without it.

Well, now was the perfect time to enact her plan, “I felt that he earned coming home with full honors, after he killed the Avatar.”

The wall of fire between them fell all at once, and Azula saw her father’s face clearly, without the trickery of fire to hide it. His thick eyebrows were drawn low over his eyes, a deep wrinkle between them. The golden dragon behind the throne stared at her too, its wide-eyed shock, and the implicit threat in its very existence matched her father’s.

“What?” He asked. She shouldn’t blame him for his shock. Sometimes it was difficult to have faith in little Zuzu.

Azula swallowed, knowing she had to be extra careful with this lie. “He was the one who struck the killing blow. It was incredible. When it came down to it, he didn’t hold back, and struck him down with an impressive display of firebending.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to compliment him so, especially since she was trying to condemn him.

“Zuko?” The Firelord said, disbelieving.

She just nodded. The fewer details the better.

Instead of inquiring further, he shook himself and took them towards a new topic, “I received a hawk from General Bujing.”

That was ominous. He was leading the troops in Ba Sing Se, slowly taking over the city now that Azula was back home.

“He tells me,” Firelord Ozai continued, “That it is on the brink of devolving into chaos. A sizable part of the Dai Li have started a rebellion, recruiting civilians and the scattered soldiers of the military.”

Azula froze. She didn’t know what to say. Her father went on, “You may have made it easy for our forces to find and take down the generals after the wall was torn down, but the city is far from ours.”

The air in Azula’s lungs stagnated, “I, uh—” She sucked in a breath at last, “I was under the impression that the Dai Li were loyal to me. Loyal to a fault, just like they were to their old leader, Long Feng.” Although, when it came down to it, they had been happy enough to leave their old leader in the dust when another option presented itself.

Whether or not the Firelord was thinking the same thing was unclear. He just hummed before saying, “Some of the Dai Li are, apparently, still loyal to us. They’re the ones who took down the great wall,” His tone changed from threatening to vaguely impressed, “General Bujing explained that the king didn’t even know there was a war, and he speculated that was why they were so willing to change sides.”

Damn Bujing. Azula was going to tell her father that. She was going to tell him how, because of the king’s ignorance, she was able to manipulate the entire court and bring their stupid political structure to its knees. She was the reason they were able to get past that wall in the first place, and now here he was, taking all the credit by giving her father all the information before she had the chance.

“That sounds plausible,” she agreed, gritting her teeth, “I have a few of the loyal agents with me.”

“You brought them to the Fire Nation?” His threatening air was back.

“Yes, they were very helpful,” She could do this. She could still make them sound like an asset, “We would do well to have the best earthbenders of the Earth Kingdom fighting for us, don’t you think?”

He wrinkled his nose in disgust, “Earthbending is a lesser form of bending, Azula. You know this.”

“Of course,” Azula was quick to agree. As a talented firebender, she knew that better than anyone. Even if the Avatar’s little earthbending teacher was a formidable opponent. “It would just be a surprise to our enemies, that we have earthbenders fighting with us. Not to mention, with that solar eclipse coming up, having bodyguards who can still bend in our time of vulnerability will be an advantage like no other.”

Ozai’s face lightened considerably, “You’re right,” His eyes shifted away, lost in thought, “Earthbenders, when paired with firebenders, could be useful.”

It didn’t quite match the glowing review she had given the Dai Li, but she’d take it.

Firelord Ozai turned his attention back to Azula momentarily, “I’ll keep you updated on the situation in Ba Sing Se. At least we got past the wall,” And then he lit the wall of fire once again, and the orange heat washed over Azula in a wave.

She accepted the dismissal with grace, bowing deeply before walking out.

She wasn’t sure where to go, but she knew she had to find someplace to be alone, far away from the throne room. That conversation hadn’t gone anywhere near the way she’d hoped. She hadn’t gotten to discuss how she brought down the Earth Kingdom government and sewed seeds of chaos in record time. She hadn’t gotten to revel in her victory—and victory it was, their army was now able to fight the Earth Kingdom in their own territory, and soon, they would be occupying it. She didn’t get to share her success with her father after being away from him for months, doing his dirty work. Instead, General Bujing was in the Earth Kingdom capital (which would soon become just another city of the world reborn in Fire) taking credit for Azula’s discoveries and hard work.

She was storming past the gardens on her way to, well, somewhere, when she caught sight of some red robes amidst the green foliage, and she stopped. Zuko was sitting cross-legged on the ground, glaring at the turtleduck pond. She stayed on the path to watch for a moment, and Zuko, still glaring, reaching into the sleeve of his robes and tossed a handful of seeds onto the surface of the water, where a paddling of turtleducks was quacking up at him.

Azula rolled her eyes, and unlatched the gate.

He only noticed her when her shadow scared the ducks away.

He looked up and snarled, “What?”

“That’s a fine ‘how do you do’,” Azula crossed her arms, “Why are you sulking?”

“I’m not sulking!” He had his hands braced on his knees now, his teeth bared like he was trying to scare away an enemy. It was a shame he still saw her that way, even though he wasn’t entirely wrong. She wasn’t sure what they were, now. This was unfamiliar territory for both of them.

“Whatever you’re doing, then,” Azula rolled her eyes, “Is it about Dad?”

He picked off some seeds stuck to his hands, clearly trying to avoid eye contact. She took that as a yes, and said, “Listen, Zuko. You have nothing to worry about,” she wasn’t sure why she was comforting him, after she had just sealed his doom, “The Avatar is dead, right?”

Zuko still didn’t meet her eyes, rolling a seed between his fingers.

Oh no. Was it possible that the Avatar wasn’t actually… “Right?” She repeated, sharper this time. He still wasn’t looking at her, but if he did, her piercing gaze would certainly set his eyes on fire.

There was a moment of hesitation. It barely lasted as long as a blink of an eye, or a flash of lightning, but Azula still noticed. Zuko lifted his face, and said, firmly, “Right. He’s dead.”

They were locked in a brief battle of eye contact, glaring at each other, waiting to see who broke first.

So, it seemed there was a chance the Avatar was still alive. At least, according to Zuko. Who, admittedly, knew more about the ins and outs of the Avatar and his troupe than Azula did, after being forced to chase him for three years. Well, no matter. If the Avatar was still living, it would still be Zuko who would have to answer for it.

Azula relaxed her glare to its normal intensity, “So, you have nothing to worry about. I’m sure Father will talk to you soon.”

She was ready to walk away with that haughty farewell, but then she saw something moving behind the tree Zuko was leaning on. Fixing her attention on it, she saw, for just a moment, a young Zuko, before his banishment, silently giggling and running away from an even younger Azula, reaching out to tag his collar, or perhaps to yank on his ponytail.

It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but Azula was shaken to her core. There was no way that they had really been there. She remembered playing tag with her brother when they were kids, but that was just a memory. She rarely thought about it, but there it was anyway. Even if that specific memory had been at the forefront of her mind, there was no reason for her to actually see it play out in front of her. Her mind was in a whirl, but she still tried to kick the cogs into gear, and figure out why she had just seen something that couldn’t be real.

“Azula!” Zuko was standing in front of her, one hand hovering near her shoulder. His eyes were wide, and his concern was (oddly) focused on her. She hadn’t even notice him stand up, and that fact shook her even more.

She heard herself gasp; she sounded terrified, “What?” she hissed.

His concern visibly mounted, and he said, “You weren’t answering,” his hand got infinitesimally closer to her shoulder, “Are you—”

Before he could finish that sentence, she smacked his hand away, taking a healthy step back, giving him a firm look.

That alone was enough to remind Zuko what their relationship was like, what it was supposed to be like, and he snatched his hand back to his chest. He struggled to bring his expression back to indifference, and landed somewhere in the vicinity of confusedly pissed off.

That would have to do. Azula turned back to the palace, muttering something about needing to get out of the heat, and clicked the gate shut behind her, curbing the desire to slam it. The clang might have shaken off this strange, unstable feeling.

~ ~ ~

Zuko’s wish to get an audience with their father was soon granted. It only took three more days.

Azula had a plan to watch the whole thing, unnoticed by either Zuko, or their father.

Normally, Azula didn’t care to spy on Zuko; she didn’t need to spend her time following him around. This, however, was different. This meeting would bring together her lie about who had killed the Avatar, and might even reveal why Zuko was hesitant to say the Avatar was really dead.

It occurred to Azula, as she situated herself behind the heavy curtain at the back of her father’s throne room, that Zuko might be acting out of paranoia. The Avatar had eluded his capture for a long time, and perhaps to a failure like Zuko, the twelve-year-old monk was unkillable. Perhaps, there was nothing to his claim, just fear.

Footsteps sounded at the entrance to the throne room, and she peered under the drapery to see who it was. She was lying on her stomach on the tile. There was less of a chance that someone would catch a glimpse of her pale skin in the shadows near the ground than between two panels at eye level. She had expected the floor to be dusty, but even behind the curtains where no one could see it, the floor of the Firelord’s throne room was clean enough to eat off of.

As she watched Zuko, the maker of the soft footsteps, approach their father, she wondered for a moment whether she should have warned him of what she did. Shaped it as a gift and a favor before letting him waltz right into the lion vulture’s den. Convince him to confirm that it had been he who had killed the Avatar before their father told him why it was such a foolish move.

Zuko dropped to his knees in front of the dais, going so far as to press his forehead to the ground. It was the way peasants greeted the Firelord. Although a crown prince certainly could show his Firelord that much respect, he certainly didn’t need to. It was something you would do if you were asking for something, like their father had done with Firelord Azulon, or if you were about to make an apology.

“My son,” Zuko’s face was still facing the floor, “You’ve been away for a long time. I see that your travels have changed you.”

Only then did Zuko lift his face. For a moment, Azula thought she was unable to hear him from this distance, but then she realized he just had yet to speak.

Ozai got to his feet, and made his way to the edge of his stage, “Welcome home.”

Azula’s jaw dropped. She watched from the wings as her father bended a path through his wall of fire, made his way down the stairs, and approached Zuko, who was still kneeling on the floor. She couldn’t see Zuko’s face, and she wondered if he looked as shocked as she felt.

Still, Zuko stayed quiet, just inclined his head in a bow of thanks. This demure, patient Zuko was not the same one who she had fought around the world, not even the same as the one who had argued with her but two days ago in the gardens. Azula wrinkled her nose at his obedient child act.

“You’ve redeemed yourself,” Ozai said, and Azula had to bite back a panicked scoff. He continued, “You joined your sister, at last. You were able to escape the influence of my traitorous brother, and return to my side. And, to prove your dedication to your nation, you slayed the Avatar yourself. True, his death has some unsettling implications, but we’ll deal with them when the time comes.”

Now, when Zuko stayed silent, Azula could tell it was because the avalanche of praise had stunned him into silence. Azula understood. If their father said even half as much to her, she doubted she would be able to speak right away, either.

As it were, she wanted to scream. She had done much more than that in the months that she’d been gone, and she hadn’t gotten so much as a thank you.

She seethed silently, lying on the floor, and the drama before her continued: “Unsettling implications?” Zuko repeated, having found his voice.

“Of course,” Ozai said, circling him like a lion vulture, “His death will squash the rebellion and give us an advantage long enough to win the war once and for all, but we’ll have to find his reincarnation in a few years. We’ll have to send search parties out into the Water Tribes, and probably into the Earth Kingdom as well to be sure that we've found them. I’m sure you won’t mind leading the search for the Avatar once again, yes?”

Zuko looked up at his father, who had stopped in front of him, “No, no, the Avatar is dead for good.”

The Firelord was being backlit by his wall of fire, so it was difficult for Azula to make out his expression, but whatever it was must have prompted Zuko to continue, “The Avatar was killed, er, I killed the Avatar while he was in the Avatar State. The cycle is broken.”

The cycle of the Avatar was broken? Azula had broken the cycle of the legendary, godlike Avatar? And she had just handed the credit over to her stupid, older brother?

“How is that possible?” Their father asked in hushed awe.

Zuko explained, “I read about it during my, uh, travels,” he carefully chose the same word their father had used to describe his dishonorable years in exile, “The Avatar State brings together all of the incarnations of the Avatar, since the beginning of time. It elevates them to an unmatched level of power than only increases with time, as the current Avatar learns more and improves. If you kill him then, you kill all of the Avatars there ever was, and the powerful spirit that gives the Avatar their connection to the Spirit World. The cycle cannot continue without them.”

“Incredible,” He lifted a hand to stroke his pointed beard, “The Avatar is never coming back.”

The Avatar was never coming back. No thanks to Zuko. Her hands shook from her place behind the curtain, and she longed to jump past the sight lines and join the scene, correct them and tell them who had actually killed every single iteration of the Avatar, but of course she couldn’t. Unable to leave unnoticed, she bit her cheek, hard, and shut her eyes against the onslaught of her father’s and brother’s words.

Despite her best efforts, she still heard their father say, “I’m proud of you, son. What you have done for the Fire Nation is unparalleled.”

Chapter Text

The five Dai Li agents Azula had taken from Ba Sing Se lined up in front of her. None of them had even a flicker of emotion on their faces, and Azula appreciated their professionalism. It was one of the reasons Mai was such a good companion. Ty Lee had never quite figured it out, but Azula was willing to forgive her, only because of her stellar fighting abilities. Besides, it was always fun to see their enemies’ surprise when the cutesy girl in pink took them down, giggling all the while.

Azula didn’t start speaking quite yet. She wanted to make her new recruits squirm a little before she gave them their assignments. Being in the Fire Nation capital for the first time was no doubt over whelming; it was the greatest nation in the world, and its capital city was even more impressive, which was probably quite difficult to adjust to after living in the Earth Kingdom your whole life. She wanted to give them a chance to reflect on what they had seen before she started speaking.

Azula, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee had been able to take down these agents, and bring them with them after a quick scuffle. With the Fire Nation army steadily advancing, and the chaos in all three of the rings of the city, it wasn’t that difficult. Besides, the Dai Li agents were supposed to be loyal to the Kyoshi Warriors, and their sudden reveal of who they really were surprised most of them. 

“I want you to know,” Azula began, “You are not prisoners here.”

The agents didn’t respond, but she caught one of them flicking his eyes to the door, where Mai and Ty Lee guarded it. Mai twirled a knife in her hand, and Ty Lee twirled the end of her braid. 

“Rather,” Azula continued, “You are my honored associates, who will help me advance the glory of the Fire Nation. Now that you’re here, I’m sure you realize why it’s so important for all nations to become one under Fire Nation rule. Your king was a bit of a fool, which I’m sure you realized, considering you kept the knowledge of the war itself away from him. Your leader Long Feng was focused only on personal gain, but now you have the chance to serve something better. An ideal, rather than a flawed person. I assure you, when the day of reckoning comes to pass, you’ll be thankful you fought for the winning side. I suggest you take this chance, and commit yourself to the glorious Fire Nation now.”

She watched them, waiting for some kind of a response.

Finally, the guard in the middle gave her a deep, grave nod. She raised her eyebrows at the other four agents expectantly.

They looked to one another for confirmation, and then they too nodded, one by one. The rest of their bodies remained perfectly still, as if these earthbenders were made of stone.

The one in the middle said, his voice gravelly, “We’d be honored to continue serving you, Princess.”

She smiled, bringing her hands around to her front, and clasping them together, “Excellent. I’ll have my guards escort you to your new quarters.” Outside the door, ten guards were ready to march them away. Ty Lee swung the door open for them with a brilliant smile, wiggling her small fingers in a cheeky wave.

Before this, the agents had been set up in a barracks-like room. Azula had let them stay there for a few nights, both to make them squirm, and because she had her hands full with her father’s and brother’s drama. The meeting with her new agents was a welcome break from thinking about how she had squandered her chance of being a true hero, exalted for years to come.

Based on the wary looks he sent her whenever they were together, she could tell Zuko was half convinced she had told their father it was him who killed the Avatar out of an ulterior motive. He was right about that, but it was no use now. She might as well have done it out of the goodness of her heart for all she got out of it. But, she was doing her best to move on, and find new goals to crush.

Zuko was making it very difficult.

As soon as she dismissed Mai and Ty Lee, he was walking alongside her, chuckling, “I still can’t believe you messed up so bad.” 

They were alone in the corridor, meaning it was safe to hiss, “Shut up.”

He just snickered again, “I mean, you did the impossible. You killed the Avatar. And you knew that, but you still told Dad that it was me.”

As she geared up to remind him that she feared facing grave punishment for it, she paused. Zuko never called their father “Dad.” Azula did, sometimes, but Zuko always stuck with the terrifically formal, and respectful “Father.” As that occurred to her, it struck her how un-Zuko like this Zuko was.

She gave him a good long look as they walked, under the guise of glaring at him. His wounded side was facing her, and a dark drop of blood ran into the corner of his mouth, snaking through the cracks in his chapped lips. When he caught her looking, he just smirked at her.

It was odd. He wasn’t acting like the Zuko she knew. Her brother was reckless, angry, and foolish. His temper was as easy to ignite as the driest tinder on a hot day. He spoke his mind and wore his heart on his sleeve, and it made him easy to manipulate and easier to read. Azula was always in charge of him, one step ahead despite being two years behind in age.

But this Zuko, the one with the unhealed scar, was always shifting and changing. His personality was fuzzy around the edges, like a shadow among shadows. Sometimes he was exactly the kind of person Azula imagined that the crown prince of the Fire Nation should be like. Intelligent, arrogant, cold. Other times, he acted like he was smarter than Azula, asking her questions, and staying infuriatingly calm and patient while she got angrier and angrier. Other times still, he would just watch her in silence, like some kind of ghost.

There was a time, fairly recently, when she thought that’s all this Zuko was. A spectre, or maybe a spirit. She wasn’t sure what she thought he was anymore. Perhaps they were both equally her brother, a part of the same whole that was Zuko. 

She stopped dead in her tracks when that thought hit her. That was it, wasn’t it? That was why they were so confusing. It was why they felt like opposites, even while she knew they were more or less the same. The other Zuko had appeared right after Zuko’s banishment, so perhaps Zuko wanted to stay home so badly, even as he was being forced out, that his spirit split into two beings. Azula didn’t know much about the spirits, but based on what she had heard from Uncle, and experienced in her pursuit of the Avatar, this seemed to be in the realm of possibility.

It couldn’t be good for someone to be split up like that, Azula thought as she started walking down the hall again. It allowed her to give Zuko just the slightest bit of slack for being so damn incompetent all the time. Well, that is, if this hypothesis was actually true. She would have to pay extra attention to uncover the truth about the two Zukos. 

~ ~ ~

Unfortunately, her study of Zuko and the spirits would have to wait, because that evening, she had a meeting with Mai and Ty Lee. Azula had no scheduled topic to discuss, so they were going to get together and see what came up.

“So,” Mai had drawled, “We’re gonna hang out?” Ty Lee had laughed merrily, making Mai’s cheeks flush darkly.

Azula had blushed out of embarrassment too, “No. It’s a meeting.”

Now, thirty minutes in, they were basically hanging out. Mai sat neatly on the couch with Ty Lee lying down on the back of it, balanced on her side. Azula had just gotten up to pace, deciding “hanging out” was not a worthy use of her time.

“Alright,” Azula said, determined to get some information out of her cohorts, “When Zuko and I were in the forest fighting the Avatar, what happened in the palace? The king is of course in jail with Long Feng now, but what else did you do?”

Mai swatted away Ty Lee’s braid where it kept brushing against her nose, “Well, we did our best to deal with the Dai Li.”

“Yeah,” Ty Lee sighed, “We were supposed to be in charge of them, by order of their king and all, but a lot of them weren’t too keen on the idea,” she playfully flicked her braid back into Mai’s face, “And without you there to scare them, it was kinda tricky.”

Azula huffed. She wasn’t sure what else she could have done to make them fully loyal to her, and now there was an uprising in the city. She had a few guards, true (besides the five she had in the palace), but they were certainly the minority. She feared that without her there, in the city, the rebels would drag her loyalists down with them.

“I need a way to convince the rest of them to join me,” Azula said, tapping her lips with a forefinger. She had stopped pacing, figuring it made her look too frantic, but she needed some kind of movement.

Ty Lee hummed, stretching one leg into the air, drawing patterns with her pointed toes, “They won’t have much of a choice when we take the city.”

“I don’t want them to be stuck with me with no other options; I want them to be truly loyal!” Wasn’t that obvious? She couldn’t lead an army of Earthbenders if they were on the verge of mutiny. She supposed cowing them into submission would work just fine, but her closest, most trusted followers were Mai and Ty Lee. Her friends. Sometimes she had to use fear tactics with them, but that’s not how it started, way back when. There had been something else. And she wanted to use that something else to force the Dai Li to follow her into the new world she and her father were making.

Let’s see… Azula had liked Ty Lee because she was friendly, and one of the only people brave—or stupid—enough to walk up and talk to her in school. She was much the same, now. Friendly and likable without even trying. That gave her an advantage in war strategy and battle, but admittedly, Azula hadn’t learned to think like that until after they had been friends for a while. 

The two of them had met Mai together. She was sullen and quiet, always off by herself, and Ty Lee hated to see her all alone, so she dragged Azula over to befriend her. After a brief period of hating each others’ guts, Azula learned how witty Mai was, and in due time, they became friends too. The three of them, back when they were in school, were just friends for the sake of it, but now there were bigger forces tying them together.

Ty Lee’s braid was swinging in front of Mai’s nose again, and Mai gave it a sharp tug. Ty Lee lost her balance and came crashing down from the back of the couch and into Mai’s lap. Azula barely had the chance to roll her eyes when the door swung open.

Zuko was in the doorway, gripping the handle with white knuckles. His hair fell out of his top knot in little wisps around his face.

Ty Lee leapt to her feet so fast she almost fell over again.

“Azula,” he said, not sparing Ty Lee even a glance, “We need to talk.”

Azula’s eyes shifted to his scar, just to double check that it was healed over and intact. Sure enough, the skin there was red and rough and all in one piece.

She sighed, “Now? I’m in a meeting,” she gestured to Mai and Ty Lee.

For the first time, Zuko’s eyes flicked over to the other girls. Mai was now sitting with her knees pulled into her body, and Ty Lee had clasped her hands in front of her chest. They both looked weird. Azula narrowed her eyes at them, trying to figure out why they looked so startled, but Zuko started talking again.

“You’re just hanging out with your friends,” He huffed.

“That’s what Mai said,” Azula replied with a sigh, “Aren’t you too just perfect for each other?” She hadn’t yet been able to figure out if they had started dating since reuniting back in Ba Sing Se, and she had reverted to snarky comments to get her answer.

Zuko’s eyes flicked over to Mai’s, and she thought she saw his grim expression lighten for just a moment before stepping aside and gestured out the door, his hand a welcoming open platter that didn’t match his tense stance.

It appeared that she wouldn’t be getting her answer quite yet, either. She planted a hand on her hip, “Zuko, can’t this wait?”

“No,” he said firmly, “It can’t.”

She could admit that she was kind of curious about what Zuko was so riled up about, so she let out a long sigh, and slowly made her way out the door.

Zuko marched them down the hall, and Azula made sure to walk a little slower than usual, just to irritate him. It worked, and he kept shooting glares over his shoulder, though he never did flip out at her. His time in Ba Sing Se appeared to have mellowed him out, just a bit. Eventually, they got to the empty room Zuko had—apparently—staked out, and he sharply gestured at her to go in first.

The door clicked shut behind them, and Azula crossed her arms, “Well? What’s so—,”

Zuko didn’t let her finish, “Why did you tell Father I killed the Avatar?”

Ah, of course. There would be no more avoiding the topic. She sniffed, “Can’t a sister do something nice for her brother?”

His face somehow twisted itself even more into anger, “Not you. You wouldn’t.”

She shrugged, “This time I did.”

He had been backed up against the door, but now he strode toward her, looming over her in an attempt at intimidation. It didn’t work; she wasn’t intimidated. She had momentarily forgotten that he was so much taller than her, though. He said, “You’re lying.”

She met his eyes to show him how unfazed she was, “If you say so,” with that, she carefully stepped around him and made her way towards the door, ready to end the conversation on her terms.

“I know you have another reason for telling Father,” Zuko said to her back, “I just need to figure out what it is.”

He wasn’t smart enough to figure it out, Azula knew that. She knew that he wouldn’t ever conclude that she had simply messed up, somehow missing the crucial rules of the Avatar’s cycle of rebirth. Still, the prospect of him ever finding out was embarrassing enough that she paused.

She could still spin this in her favor, “Oh come on, Zuzu,” she turned back towards him, “What ulterior motive could I possibly have by letting you take all the glory for killing the Avatar?”

She saw some fear flash in his eyes. Good. She remembered the last time they had had a real conversation, out by the turtleduck pond, when it seemed that Zuko believed the Avatar might still be alive. She couldn’t figure out how that could be possible, but she might as well prey on their shared paranoia.

She started walking towards him again, “Unless, of course, the Avatar is still alive. Then all the glory would turn to shame.”

It was an impressive line, even for her, and she had delivered it so well. Her pride manifested as a gloating smile.

But as she started to turn away, Zuko stopped her, “Why would the Avatar still be alive?”

That was a question she hadn’t been expecting. Plus, it wasn’t the tone of voice of a man whose secret had been discovered, or whose paranoid suspicion had been given more weight. Instead, he just sounded confused, and slightly panicked, like this was an option he hadn’t yet considered.

She stared at him, not quite sure what to do next. Unfortunately, his response had caught her so off guard that she blurted out, “I—You seem to think he is.”

“What?” He squinted at her, “No, I don’t.”

Zuko was not exactly known for his phenomenal acting skills, so it made the most sense to take his words at face value. But they didn’t make any sense. Just a few days ago, he had avoided confirming the Avatar’s death when she had asked, delaying his agreement by a few crucial seconds. She had him figured out. 

“Zuko,” she said, tucking her confusion away, “I asked you if you thought the Avatar could be alive, and you avoided my question.”

He slowly tilted his head to the side, “No? Wait, when did this happen?”

She growled, propping her hands on her hips, “In front of the turtleduck pond, you were worried about Father refusing to return your honor,” Zuko nodded slowly, squinting at her, and she tried to keep her cool. It was so difficult to deal with him when he was being particularly stupid. “And I asked what I thought was a hypothetical question about the Avatar’s death, and you wouldn’t answer. So, I asked again, and you said it in this oddly intense manner, like you were trying to convince me.” It was easy to recall the exact chain of events; the incident had been running through her mind on a loop for days, now.

While she spoke, Zuko’s bafflement faded, and he looked almost… triumphant, “So,” he said slowly, “You told Father that I killed the Avatar because you were paranoid that he somehow survived a lightning strike to the back?” A disbelieving smirk twitched onto one side of his mouth.

Dread started to seep into Azula’s bones, chilling her from the inside out. Electricity crackled along her scalp, and she ran a hand over her hair to keep it from standing on end. How could she be wrong about this? How could she have read Zuko wrong? His thoughts always played out on his face, loud and tacky as an Ember Island Player. 

She took a long moment to stare at Zuko, making sure this was actually her brother and not the other Zuko. Sometimes it was difficult to tell, and the steps of this confrontation weren’t in their usual sequence.

But, sure enough, his scar was red, pink, and tough; fully healed after three years, contouring his face naturally. Unless the other Zuko had changed tactics, and was now trying to truly masquerade as her brother, this really was the returned banished prince she had always known.

Zuko fought down the disbelieving smile threatening to take over his face, “Just to be clear,” he said, “That was your motive?”

Frantically, she mentally dug through her reserves of excuses and tricks, but when she looked at her brother, she came up empty.

He nodded, and said sincerely, “Thank you, Azula,” his hand twitched, like he wanted to reach out. She intensified her glare to dissuade him, and luckily, he kept his hands to himself. “That was very generous of you,” It sounded like he meant it.

Oh no, “I wasn’t doing it to be nice,” she spat the final word out like it was bitter on her tongue. Spirits, this embarrassment was almost worse than what she would feel if Zuko found out he knew more about the Avatar than she did.

He nodded, but he didn’t believe her one bit, “Of course not,” and then he walked right out the door.

“You’ve got this all wrong,” she hissed after he left, just for herself to hear, “You don’t even know what’s coming.”

Alone in the room, Azula ground her hands into her eyes. He was so off base, but it wasn’t like she could tell him the truth; she would rather shoot lightning at herself. 

She took a deep breath, and lifted her face out of her hands. No. She could handle this. Zuko’s trust in her had grown because of her mistake, and she could use that trust to find out the truth about the pair of Zukos, and why they existed. She could use this to her advantage, so she wouldn't be throwing in the towel yet.

Chapter Text

Soon, Azula was spending all of her time in the Firelord’s library, researching anything she thought might be related to Zuko’s malady. The section on spirits wasn’t very big, compared to the ones reserved for firebending, or the history of the war. Still, there were plenty of hefty tomes to comb through.

She learned about the spirits, and the world they inhabited that mirrored the physical. The books explained that the spirit world was settled atop this one, invisible to all but the most gifted. Still, even they weren’t able to communicate with and travel through the spirit world quite like the Avatar was. The Avatar was necessary to keep the two worlds in balance, and connected when they would otherwise have no way to communicate.

Azula felt a twinge of discomfort in her gut. The two worlds had lost their bridge, because she had burned it.

She swallowed, trying to relax the knot her intestines were trying to tie themselves in, and kept reading.

Turns out, the deceased could also join the spirit world, and the living could still contact them through meditation. Potentially. The author of the scroll admitted it was a dead practice, at least to his knowledge. Not that it mattered; Azula wasn’t trying to talk to a dead relative, she was trying to solve her brother’s problem.

She rolled up the scroll in a huff, tossing it onto her growing pile of rejects. No one had ever bothered to teach her about the spirit world before. It was a field of knowledge she hadn’t even realized she was missing. Even when she was chasing the Avatar, a boy who was (supposedly) half spirit, knowing the ins and outs of the spirit world hadn’t been important. She still defeated him.

Zuko might know more than her on this subject. Uncle used to talk about the spirits, she thought. At least, he did when he got back from Ba Sing Se. Azula always thought he was just compensating for his dead son and lost crown by pretending to be in tune with a magical, invisible world, but maybe there was some truth to his ramblings. Truth she was missing out on.

She turned back to the scrolls with renewed fervor. This one was labelled yōkai, a word she thought she had heard before. Buoyed with hope that she might not just be making her way through stacks of gibberish, she unfurled the scroll across her cluttered table.

The introductory paragraph read, “Yōkai are spirits that cross over to the physical world, and cause our world to behave in unusual ways. They can reveal themselves to almost anyone they want to, unlike most spirits, which can only been seen after years of study on the human’s part. They involve themselves in our world for a variety of reasons, good or bad, and have a variety of forms.”

Intrigued, Azula moved on, discovering illustrations of all sorts of yōkai. There was the nure-onna, an enormous serpent creature with the face and hands of a human woman, with long, inky black hair. It dwelled in rivers, and if you happened to take your boat over her long tail, you were done for. Azula had her doubts about the credibility of this one, considering the very real water-dwelling serpents like the creature in the serpent’s pass. Perhaps people just preferred to see a woman’s face on the thing about to kill them.

Well, they certainly didn’t need a magic serpent for that, not when there were women like Azula who could kill them instead. She chuckled and moved on. 

The next illustration was a pair of creatures: a deer-fox and a scorpion-vole. The deer-fox’s mouth was open wide, revealing pincers like the scorpion’s tucked into its cheeks. Her lip curled up in disgust, and she squinted at the animals’ description. It read, “The kamikiri are a grouping of yōkai that will cut off a person’s hair where they’ve tied it, and the victim will only notice their short and uneven hair much later. They take many, many forms, but the most common is the deer-fox and the scorpion-vole, as pictured above. Sometimes a mysterious, discarded phoenix tail will be found on the shrines of ancestors, its origin unknown.”

She was vaguely aware that these odd creatures were probably not related to what happened to Zuko, although he had cut his hair in between two of their meetings. Still, they were interesting! She wasn’t sure if she believed the stories, but they were written as fact, not like the myths her mother used to tell. Besides, these accounts felt similar, somehow, to the strange goings on she had been experiencing.

Azula turned to the next picture. This one was less clearly a spirit, the line art more straightforward, the young man’s expression more natural. He even had legs and feet that appeared to touch the ground. He was looking off to the side, frowning slightly, a calligraphy brush held loosely in his hand. The passage was slightly longer than the other, with several sub headers beneath the title: Ikiryō.

The scroll explained that ikiryō are separated spirits of people who are still alive.

Azula gasped and bent close to the page, absorbing the words as quick as she could. Apparently, it was a rare phenomena, that could happen right before someone’s death as the spirit loosened from the body. A pang of panic struck her before she remembered that she had been dealing with the other Zuko for years, not days, which was when the spirit started to depart. It was also sometimes a kind of illness, and your soul could slip out of you and follow you around like a shadow in full-color. That wasn’t right either; there were miles between the two Zukos.

Another possibility was that a person’s intense feelings could cause their soul, or part of it, to detach and try and resolve and act out their anger, or grief, or even love. The process was entirely unconscious on their part.

Azula’s heart stopped beating. That was it. The scroll rambled on about the story of the man with the calligraphy brush, but Azula had all the information she needed. Somehow, a piece of Zuko’s spirit was tormenting her, hindering her missions. It explained everything—Zuko needed to get to the Avatar before her, but he wasn’t particularly good in battle, so the spirits intervened. It would explain why the other Zuko kept changing, and why Azula couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Zuko himself probably didn’t even know, since he just came home, and the two of them were supposedly on the same side, now.

She sighed, burying her face in her hands. They were supposed to be on the same side, now that their father had accepted Zuko back home. They should be working together, finding ways to support each other. If she stopped hurting him, maybe he would stop unconsciously lashing out at her. In fact, since he’d made the assumption that she was trying to help him by giving him the credit for killing the Avatar, she hadn’t encountered the other Zuko at all. Perhaps, he didn’t feel so threatened anymore. He could have interrupted her reading at any time, but she had been left alone in the library.

The realization that she needed to go talk to Zuko immediately hit her all at once. She was pretty sure it was the middle of the night, but this was important. She needed to end this madness. She dashed out of the library to her brother’s quarters, rolling up the scroll in her hands as she went.

~ ~ ~

For some reason, there were no guards outside of Zuko’s rooms, so she was able to burst right in. She pushed open the door so hard it swung and hit the wall with a bang, and Zuko jolted upright, his dual dao already raised threateningly. His hair stuck up at odd angles, and his sleep shirt was twisty weirdly around his torso.

Azula stopped at the foot of his bed. Slightly disappointed, she said, “You’re a firebender.”

He looked at her wildly, sleep still in his eyes. She impatiently explained, “You don’t need to sleep with your swords. You’re a firebender.”

He still had the swords raised, the pair of them unseparated in one hand. When her words sunk in, he slowly put them back in their sheath.

Spirits, could someone remind her why she was bothering with this idiot?

But, the thought was quickly accompanied by an unfamiliar pinch of guilt, and she lifted the scroll for him to see. “We need to talk,” she said.

He shook his head, starting to lie back down, “In the morning.”

“No,” Azula snapped, “Now.” She was trying to be more understanding, considering her brother was going through a spiritual conundrum, and probably was only two-thirds of himself. She was trying to be a good sister for probably the first time ever, but he was making it very difficult.

He propped himself up on his elbows, his expression more akin to pouting than genuine anger. He sniffed sleepily, “Fine.” 

Pleased that she had won, she rounded the bed to stand next to him. During her frantic run over here, she had come up with a loose script to use as she broke the news to him, and she started it now, “Zuko, I think you’ve been attacked by a spirit.”

He stared at her for a moment. Then, slowly, he sat up properly, and the sleepy fog over his head cleared up.

Relieved that he was going to hear her out, she continued, “I know how this is going to sound, but I believe I’ve been seeing another version of you, a specter of sorts,”

She didn’t mean to pause there, but his face opened up with such surprise, even slight fear. He eyed Azula suspiciously, but didn’t move at all, as if he was trying not to break the spell of her speech.

There was no spell to break, though. She knew what she was doing, and she was thinking clearly, “When you were banished, I saw him all the time, trying to stop me from finding the Avatar before you. I think you were trying to stop me, even when you couldn’t reach me.”

It was during that speech when he started slightly shaking his head, apologetically skeptical, but she pressed on, handing him the scroll. He took it slowly, gently.

“I’ve been reading up on ways spirits can affect humans,” she explained, unsure what to do with her hands now that Zuko had the scroll. She decided to lean over and help him find the passage as she spoke, “And I discovered that they can cause a person’s spirit to split. One part stays it your body, but the other goes off and does things without you willing it. Or rather, they do things that reflects your true desires, that you don’t have the means to carry out, whether because it seems too drastic, or because you’re incapable—,”

Zuko huffed, “You’re doing this in the most condescending way possible,” but his voice was still soft. She never heard him speak like this, at least not since before his banishment, and even then he usually yelled at her when they were kids. Although, she had heard it through his ikiryō.

That was even more proof that they were one and the same! She knelt on the bed next to him, still frantically going through the enormous scroll, “Listen Zuko, it’s in here! I’m trying to help you.”

“I—,” He started angrily, more on impulse than anything else, she could tell, but then he stopped. He scratched his forehead, “Thank you.”

She hadn’t been expecting his genuine thanks so early on in this conversation. She wasn’t sure how Zuko felt about spirits. Yes, he traveled with Uncle for three years, but he also abandoned him in Ba Sing Se at the first chance he got. Apparently, the old man had gotten to him.

Despite his thanks, he still looked kind of unsure. Luckily, it was then that Azula found the illustration she was looking for, and tapped on it with one of her pointed nails.

“Read it,” she demanded, then sat back on her heels. He was still looking at her, so she nodded encouragingly (threateningly?), and he turned to the scroll in his hands. It had been unfurled all over the bed during Azula’s search, like the nure-onna she had read about earlier. 

He looked up again too soon to have read the whole thing, “Azula, you know, this isn’t what’s—,”

“No, Zuko, you wouldn’t be able to tell. Did you read the whole thing? It’s usually completely unconscious,” Why wasn’t he listening to her? She knew more about this than he did, and he was always doing the wrong thing. If he would just do what she would do, then maybe he would be alright.

He had one eye scrunched up apologetically, “I was never split up, Azula.”

She huffed, snatching the scroll out of his hands to point out the specific line, “I’m telling you, you wouldn’t know one way or the other, and I know what I saw. It’s only been a few days since I last saw your ikiryō.” 

He sat up straighter, shoving the blankets aside like he wanted to talk this over while standing, “Hang on, a few days ago?”

Azula nodded. Thank the spirits, he was listening to her.

He frowned, eyebrow drawing down low over his eye, “How— How long have you been seeing, um, that?”

“Your ikiryō," Azula repeated, “I’ve been seeing it for a few years now.” She didn’t know why, but all of a sudden she didn’t want to specifically refer to the day her brother left the Fire Nation three and a half years ago. All she said was, “It doesn’t look exactly like you. I mean, it’s close, it’s just…” she glanced at Zuko’s scar instead of finishing her sentence.

“Years?” He repeated, his voice coming out strained, “Azula, have you told anyone about this?”

She blinked, “Well, you. Now,” she thought for a moment. There had been a moment, in Ba Sing Se, when she had almost told Ty Lee. She had been thinking about what her friends might think of her if they had ever found out, and Ty Lee had been asking just the right questions. Before she knew it, words were practically falling out of her mouth; she was barely able to stop herself before she told Ty Lee the whole story. 

Zuko brought her back to the present, “I get why you’d want to keep this to yourself, but why…” he seemed to be selecting his words very carefully. An odd thing for Zuko to do. Azula found herself checking his scar again as he spoke, but it seemed perfectly normal. “If you thought I was in danger, and you apparently care about me—,”

“I don’t care!” That was a lie. She was fully aware of that, and Zuko could clearly see right through her, judging by that concerned, sad look on his face. But she couldn’t just admit to that, not at this point. “And I just found out about this. I’ve never looked into spirits much before.”

“Well,” He said softly, overly gentle. Azula stiffened at his tone. “What did you think was happening before? Before you read about the ikiryō?”

It was then that she realized she was being chastised. For what specifically, she wasn’t sure, but Zuko seemed to think she was doing something foolish that he needed to save her from. As if he had any authority over her. He might be the crown prince now, and her older brother, but she was… Well, she was still Azula.

She glared at him, “I thought the spirits were tormenting me. I blamed you at first, but obviously you don’t have the power to do that kind of thing on your own.”

“Thanks,” he said sarcastically, and quickly turned back to the matter at hand, his tone both inquisitive and condescending, “Why would the spirits torment you?”

Probably because she had been trying to kill the Avatar. Amazing that he hadn’t realized that, and shocking that the spirits weren’t tormenting him, too. Maybe they didn’t see him as a threat. But, she wasn’t going to explain that to him, if he was going to rudely dismiss her like this.

She backed up until she could step back onto the floor. “I came here to suggest that you sort this problem out, and try to act on your emotions instead of letting a shadow-version of yourself deal with your repression. How I solved your problem for you shouldn’t matter.” And she marched towards the door, her bangs whipping painfully into her face.

“Wait!” Zuko said, and Azula heard his feet thud onto the wooden floor as he stood up. Despite herself, she paused in the doorway to hear him out. 

“Wait,” he said again, his feet thumping as he walked towards her. He didn’t say anything for a moment, just panted softly. She waited, but all he said was, “Thanks.”

She sighed. These conversations were going to take some practice. Without turning around, she nodded. It was a shallow nod, and just once, then she left his room. Whatever was going on with him, his ikiryō was his problem now.

The walk back to her chambers was a long one. She hadn’t actually tried to guess how Zuko would respond to her accusation, or whatever it was, but she supposed his response made sense. As much as it could. He seemed skeptical and then concerned. That was a logical response when confronted with a spiritual malady. Azula still felt strange about the whole thing, though. That was the only word she could use to describe it. Yes, he was skeptical and then concerned, but even though he didn’t explain his whole thought process, she got the sense his reasons for his feelings didn’t align with hers.

Her door came into view, flanked by two guards. She idly remembered that Zuko’s door had been lacking guards, and again, she wondered why. Surely the prince was important enough to protect. As she approached her door, she realized her stare had been fixed on one of the guards, who was giving her a confused look back, his thick eyebrows drawn together.

Azula tried to ignore him, but he spoke, “Princess,” Azula reluctantly stopped walking, but laid her hand on the doorknob as the man continued, “It’s very late, are you alright?”

“Fine,” Azula replied, “And clearly you’ve been doing important work, guarding an empty bedroom.”

She didn’t bother changing into her nightclothes, just tugged off the stiff outer garments, and removed her crown. Her hair fell around her, and she took a moment to marvel at its length. It was always up, so sometimes she forgot that it almost grazed her elbows when it was down. Curious if there were any other physical features that would surprise her, she padded to the corner of her room, where a vanity was settled next to a full length mirror. 

She had only lit a single candle next to her bed, so the room was dim. Looking at the dark room in the mirror was somehow more unsettling than looking at it without the glass barrier. She could see herself and all of her surroundings at once. It was like she was standing in a box, and she was looking out of the only window, the only exit. Like she was the only person in her own dimension. The back of her neck prickled, and she turned over her shoulder to dispel the fear. There was nothing. Just the fuzzy, grey darkness of her room.

It really was too late to light the fireplace, but she did it anyway, rushing to the hearth and shooting a spiral of blue flames into the pitiful pile of dry wood. She just kept it alight with her breathing, so instead of turning an unattended orange, it burned blue. It was eerie, but better than darkness. 

The mirror was waiting for her on the other side of the room, and she saw her thin frame, her underclothes hanging loose around her. A harsh, blue halo lit the sides of her, but the middle of her torso stayed dark. Her red clothes looked bluish-black, like a bruise over her whole body, or common Water Tribe garb.

There were candles on the vanity, and she couldn’t light them fast enough. The lamps on the wall came next, and they properly lit up the room, the light glowing through the sconces. Her clothes were properly red again, and the only bruises she had were the ones under her eyes, which was odd, because she wasn’t tired. The only trouble with staying awake was that Zuko’s ikiryō might pay her a visit—Zuko wouldn’t need that part of his spirit while he slept. But then again, he might still come into her room when she was sleeping, and she’d never even know.

She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her reflection, trying to focus wholly on it. Maybe spirits couldn’t appear in mirrors. Maybe they’d leave her alone if she ignored them. She stayed like that until the sun came up, checking for ikiryō and other uninvited demons. It was exhausting, and she felt frustrated tears pushing at her eyes for most of the night. It just wasn't fair; she had figured out what was happening to her, or rather, what was happening to Zuko, shouldn't that grant her some peace? Shouldn't she feel at ease now that she had solved the mystery? And yet, she was more tense than ever: rooted to the spot and staring at her reflection in the early hours of the morning, desperately waiting for the return of the sun.

In the morning, she finally let the fire in the hearth die. It went at once like a blink. The sun streamed in through gauzy curtains, so that warm, yellow light lit up her room instead of the cold heat of her blue flame. The room’s reflection in the mirror didn’t look so frightening then, and she finally let herself sink the floor. She didn’t stop until she was curled up like an owl cat, her cheek pressed against the cool floor, and her eyes sliding shut at last…

Chapter Text

It was almost noon when Azula staggered out of her room. The guards had been dismissed, apparently. She thought that was her job, but she was the only one in the hallway. For once, she didn’t really have the energy to track down those two specific guards and have them dishonorably discharged, so she decided to let it go. They got lucky.

She wasn’t looking for Zuko, but as she was wandering the halls, taking the long way to the dining room, she found him. He was curled up on a great, red cushion, scanning a scroll intently. She squinted, getting closer so she could see if it was the scroll she’d given him last night, but it wasn’t, of course. He’d made it quite clear that he thought her claim was hog-chickenwash. Her cheeks burned in shame at the memory, and she went back to trying to read the scroll from across the room, inching towards Zuko.

He must’ve heard her footsteps, because his head snapped up suddenly, and he quickly started rolling up the scroll in his hands.

She sneered at him, walking right up to him to see if she could catch a glimpse of the scroll, “Oh please, Zuko, you act like I actually care about what you’re doing. No need to be so secretive.”

“I’m not being secretive,” he said, tucking the scroll underneath his foot. He ignored her judgmental eyebrow lift, and carried on, “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.”

No preamble. She could admit to herself that she appreciated it when people got straight to the point. And even though it was foolish and completely unacceptable among nobles and lords, it was one of the few things she’d always liked about Zuko.

She waited for him to continue, still trying to read the character on the end of the scroll, written in black against the flat, gold handle. Zuko kept his fingers obscuring it, probably on purpose.

He went on, softly, “It must have been upsetting. Seeing me following you around where I couldn’t have been. I mean, not physically.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. What, had he had a change of heart in the hours since he saw her? If this was another scroll on spirits maybe that could explain it.

He bit his lip, but kept looking up at her, “Uh, really, I’ve been thinking about Mom.”

“Mom?” She repeated, startled by the change in topic. With that single word, an old memory rushed back at her. A long time ago, but still after Zuko’s banishment, she had seen her mother, watching Azula sadly while she firebended in the courtyard. It was chilling. Her face, unseen by the two old ladies teaching her how to bend from the sidelines. Why were all her allies always on the sidelines? It seemed like her mother had once been in the thick of it with her, telling her what not to do, even though Azula knew she was doing the right thing. Surely, that was worse than learning how to be self-sufficient, but she still ached for someone to stand by her side.

The memory felt like a dagger being tugged out of her stomach, and she tensed every muscle to keep herself from lurching forward onto Zuko’s cushions.

Zuko went on, unaware of her mental stumble, “You know, she used to tell me about stuff… like this? You know? Spiritual things, like you told me,” He swallowed visibly, and his next words came out a bit lower, “I remember she told me about all sorts of things. Seeing old ghosts of Firelords and servants all over the palace, mostly. She said sometimes her grandfather spoke to her.”

His words started to fade into background noise in Azula’s mind as she turned over her recent memories of her mother. There weren’t many, she didn’t think about her much these days; why should she? Her mother was long gone and dead, so it didn’t matter anymore if she had the same spiritual gifts as Azula, unless that was how she managed to appear before Azula in those brief flashes. Just long enough to silently tell Azula she didn’t approve, which sounded like something she would do. But why didn’t she? What was so wrong with Azula’s bending? It had never bothered her in life, except perhaps when she set one of Zuko’s tunics on fire. He hadn’t even been wearing it. Still, the firebending itself wasn’t the issue. Right?

Zuko was asking her a question, “Azula? Do you think that makes sense?”

Something about his tone told her that the answer was supposed to be “no,” so she replied, “I don’t see why not. Mother was always so emotionally driven.” Hopefully they were still talking about their mom. She wondered if her mother’s ever-changing emotions might explain why she was always policing her daughter with rules that didn’t make any sense.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her, “Uh,” he frowned, and Azula waited for him to fit her answer in with whatever question he had asked. “I guess, but I don’t think that explains why she thought there were ghosts trying to control the two of us.”

“Ghosts?” That didn’t seem like the right word. True, she sometimes saw her dead mother, but she wasn’t a ghost . That felt so… stale.

“Well,” Zuko said, rolling the scroll along the ground where it was tucked under his foot, “Spirits, I guess. She just believed our ancestors were puppeting us.”

“She did?” Azula didn’t remember her talking about that. Ever. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember having conversations with her mother that weren’t stern talking-tos. She already knew Zuko got to see a softer, more personable side of their mother when they were children, though.

He nodded, “She always told me that her father followed her here to watch over her in the palace, but since he was bedridden by the time she was married, he couldn’t physically follow her, and she said she followed him as spirit.”

Well, that sounded familiar. “And?”

“ And she said Sozin was in your ear, somehow, telling you what to do.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Better than half-dead Zuko giving her cheap, contradictory advice all the time.

Zuko’s hair was loose, and he tugged some of the strands hanging over his ears. “I don’t know, maybe? I think that would be… troubling. For you.”

He had no idea. Although, she had to wonder why he thought that would be so awful. Didn’t he trust Firelord Sozin? The nation’s beacon of light that burned on decades after his death. No reason Zuko might have to be wary of him was good.

“Did you have a little earworm, too? According to Mother?” She didn’t really care if he did. After all, Mother had been wrong about Sozin puppeting her all throughout childhood. She would have felt such a thing.

Zuko shrugged, “She seemed to think her grandfather was mine. She never said why, or what she thought he was telling me.” He licked his lower lip. “But I don’t think it matters, exactly. The point is, he wasn’t . I mean,” His eye contact suddenly intensified, settling on her irises. “ Did Sozin ever talk to you?”

Jealousy. Obviously, that’s what this was about. “No, I’m afraid not. I suppose he already did his part for the war, and he’s enjoying his well-earned rest, now.”

Zuko’s shoulders lowered shakily. “Okay. But, you did see me, right? A version of me?”

She already told him that. She also already told him that it was his job to figure this whole problem out, and she expected him to do the heavy-lifting now. It had been her burden for too long. The open doorway behind her beckoned, but she saw Zuko’s eyes, wide and waiting for her to explain this to him.

Well, it was better than yesterday’s pity.

“Yes.” She shifted from foot to foot. “From right after your banishment.” Punishment. Duel. Burning. Three year separation. There was a lot holed up in that word: banishment.

Zuko nodded, very slowly. No flailing, nothing blurted out. It was like he was taking an enormous amount of energy to stay in control of his movements, his words, even his expressions. He said, “You know, I don’t remember that.”

“Well, you wouldn’t.” She crossed the rest of the room and dropped onto a cushion next to him. It was awkward, looking down at him while he sat on the floor. “That part of your soul was off with me, making its own memories separate from you. Only when it joins you again, will you remember all of this.”

“That,” His voice cracked as he spoke, and he hastily cleared his throat, “That makes sense.”

“Yes.”

He rapped his fingers on his thighs, “But, I bring up Mother because she had some ideas about spirits interacting with our family. She thought she saw things, or heard things, but we both know it wasn’t true, because we never saw our ancestors she thought–,”

“Stop.” She couldn’t do this again, after last night. “I’m not like Mother. Besides, it sounds like she misunderstood the spirits.”

Zuko sucked in one cheek. “How do you know?”

The questioning was started to itch at her ego, but the desire to explain all the reading she’d done won out, and she said, “She may have seen the intercession of our ancestors near the two of us when we were young, but there’s no reason we would’ve had to see them ourselves. You didn’t disprove anything.”

“Oh, Azula–,”

“I know you don’t believe me,” She snapped, “I know you think I’m grasping at straws.” Crazy echoed in her mind. “But I know you’re in danger. And not too long ago, I didn’t care enough to warn you, so take this for what it is.”

That shut Zuko up. Completely. He wasn’t steaming with unsaid words, he wasn’t searching for the next thing to say, he was just watching his sister.

The silence in that room, a room Azula had probably never spent more than a minute at a time in before, stretched before them both like tar. Before Azula could find a way to take her words back, or soften them into neutrality again, Zuko broke it.

“An olive branch?”

She’d never been known for her ability to hand out olive branches, but maybe she had done just that, this time.

He nodded. “I accept it. But I’m trying to give you something to show my gratitude, too.”

She rolled her eyes. It sounded so much cornier out of his mouth.

“Even if it’s just to expand your knowledge on Mom, think about what I said.”

Without meaning to, his words did start to roll around her brain again, collecting distant memories like cobwebs on a broom. Mother, in touch with the spirit world. Zuko thought they were both insane, but Azula knew better. It was probably the only thing she had in common with her Mother, and far too late to connect over it. How did she feel about that? 

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat in the hall, and she snapped her attention back up, honestly grateful for the opportunity to pull herself out of her thoughts before they could spiral. There was an attendant standing just outside the doorway, wearing a simple red robe that went down to his ankles.

He coughed lightly, “The Firelord requests Your Highnesses’ presence in the throne room immediately.”

Azula frowned, but replied, “Very well.” Normally their father gave them some time to prepare before meeting with him, but everything had been thrown off balance with Zuko back in their little family unit.

Azula hopped up and set off to follow the attendant, and Zuko caught up to her to walk side by side. He glanced over to catch her eye a few times, and she looked back at him, but couldn’t make sense of his Morse code expressions.

The attendant stepped off to the side and bowed when they arrived at the throne room, and the guards flanking the entrance pulled their spears back. Azula gave both of them hard stares before entering the throne room, careful to drop the curtain just as Zuko was walking through. She heard him awkwardly scrabbling with the heavy fabric as she strode further into the room, and she almost wanted to shake off their gentler encounter like it hadn’t happened. Almost.

Their father was sitting behind his wall of fire, silently watching as his son and daughter knelt and bowed on the hard floor. Azula’s mind cast her back into the Earth King’s throne room for a moment, and she vaguely remembered the green mat set out for visitors to and subjects of the Earth Kingdom could kneel on. Here, the cold marble cut right through her robes and sunk painfully into her knee caps. She had no intention of trying to acquire a slightly softer mat to kneel on, since she would want her guests a little uncomfortable if she was the one up there on the throne, but it would have been nice to have now.

“Children,” he greeted. Azula didn’t appreciate the patronizing word choice, but of course, she kept her mouth shut. “How did you leave the Earth Kingdom?”

Azula swallowed, rapidly trying to determine exactly what he meant. Was he asking about their transportation method? Certainly not, she had told him that in the very first hawk she sent when they got on the boat. Perhaps he was curious about what province was the one they left, though she couldn’t imagine why. Maybe he was asking about what state they left the government in, but that was such a broad question. Well, she’d start with describing the Earth King.

Before she could speak, however, Zuko asked, “What do you mean, father?”

Didn’t he know by now you had to project strength? At least in front of their father, asking questions was a sure fire way to anger him before they’d even gotten to the crux of the matter. 

The Firelord’s voice was low and dangerous, “News has come from the Earth Kingdom capital.”

News. What news? Had she forgotten something? Whatever this was, her father clearly blamed her, and she waited in agony for understanding to sink in like acid on her skin.

“Apparently the Dai Li rebellion is growing. Our forces are being pushed out of the upper ring. Do you know how this has happened?”

Azula’s mouth went dry. She was supposed to have taken the palace for her nation, and handed the government over to her father, but her hard work was unraveling before her eyes. Beside her, Zuko cleared his throat, about to speak again, but their father wasn’t done yet, “They know intimate details about our army. They are attacking exactly the right people in the right places, and anticipate our strategies before they happen. What does this mean?”

She wasn’t sure if this was another rhetorical question or directed at one of them in particular, so the silence hung in the air longer than it should have. This time, though, she managed to gather her thoughts and speak before Zuko could, “Perhaps they’ve kidnapped and interrogated one of our officers.”

“Or someone defected,” Zuko said. Azula hadn’t even considered that; she had forgotten that soldiers could betray the Fire Nation military. Why would they switch over to the losing side?

The Firelord hummed. “Indeed they did. Though, this betrayal happened months ago, maybe even years.”

What was he talking about? What didn’t she know? Why did he have to drag these moments out like this? She stayed so still that she wasn’t even breathing, her abs tight in her abdomen.

Finally, he delivered the final blow, “Iroh is working with the resistance. He was seen fighting one of our officers himself before the Dai Li forces retreated again. If he isn’t stopped soon, he’s going to become our downfall,” he paused, and his children waited silently, “Azula, you were instructed to bring your uncle home.”

She had been. That, or kill him. She wasn’t against killing or imprisoning Iroh, she just hadn’t cared enough about taking the old man down. Not as much as bringing Zuko home. But now, because of her carelessness, her father might think her soft. Just like Zuko thought she was, since he thought she was trying to help him by letting him take the credit for killing the Avatar. Was she losing her edge?

Before she could answer her father, she saw a tall shadow out of the corner of her eye, and her eyes automatically flicked over. Standing much nearer to her than the shadow had been was her mother. Ursa towered over her; she seemed to be eight feet fall, and she was giving Azula this painful, sad look.

It had been so long since she’d seen her mother.

“Azula?” her father prompted. She could hear him, but only just. It was like his voice was coming from far away, muffled by water in her ears. But it didn’t matter. Whatever he had to say couldn’t be nearly as important as her mother, reaching out for her after all these years.

It was Zuko that dragged her back to their shared surroundings, his voice sharp and loud in her ear, only about a foot away, “Father, I didn’t know Uncle was in Ba Sing Se; we separated in a backwater Earth Kingdom town a couple months ago. He was chasing trivial things, like unique cuisine and sights we’d ignored when I was searching for the Avatar. I wanted to stay focused on the mission, so I left.”

That wasn’t true. Azula knew he’d been living with Uncle in a rundown teashop in the city. That was how she found him. She turned away from the dark figure of her mother and watched Zuko instead, impassive. He looked so serious and sure of himself. She hadn’t even known he had it in him.

“Is that so?” Ozai asked.

Zuko nodded, “He didn’t even try to go after me.”

Azula knew that he was lying, and yet he was so convincing in the way he sounded quietly hurt, betrayed, that she found she almost believed him. That was something to puzzle over later, possibly to comb over some of their recent interactions to check for more lies, but for now she looked back over to where her mother had been standing. She was still there, but her image was fuzzier. It kept blinking in and out, flickering like a candle.

Ozai said something else, but Azula couldn’t focus on his words. She didn’t try that hard.

Zuko’s voice jarred her once again, ringing loud and clear in her ear, “How could he have inspired the citizens? I mean, wouldn’t they hate him?”

“Perhaps,” Her father’s smooth voice made it harder to see her mother, veiling her senses like a fog, “But if he told them what they wanted to hear, I imagine they’d be more than happy to listen.” The firelord stroked his beard, his forefinger and thumb pulling it down to a point, though it was already perfectly styled. He continued, “But whatever is going on, we’ll find out soon enough. I’m sending the two of you back to Ba Sing Se to get the troops back in order and eliminate the rebel leader, whoever it may be.”

Azula couldn’t see her mother anymore.

Zuko answered again, “You–,” he faltered. Azula knew she should step in, but Zuko was still talking, “But we just got back.”

“Don’t question me, Zuko,” He said, and a new level of danger leaked into his voice.

Neither of them was able to find their words in time, and he spoke again, “You’ll be back soon enough, but you’re the only ones I can trust with this. Even though you’ve both made mistakes recently.” 

He was only looking at Azula. She knew it, even though she couldn’t quite make out his eyes past the fire.

She knew if she dropped another cue, her father would lose even more faith in her, so even though the memory of her mother standing in the room was still fresh, she ducked into a bow and said, “We won’t let you down, Father.” Zuko followed suit.

Both of them bent down over the ground, foreheads pressed to the cool tile, they risked a glance at each other. Under their arms, the fire couldn’t light up their golden eyes, but Azula could still see Zuko looking at her, sending her strength with his eyes. She didn’t need it, so she did her best to send it back to him.

When the Firelord didn’t say anything else, she knew they were dismissed, so she got to her feet and walked away with Zuko at her heels.

Suddenly, she remembered the agents she had brought with her to the caldera. She never should have. She spun around and pushed past her brother, “The Dai Li agents. They should be thrown in prison.”

“Already done,” the Firelord replied, “They’re being interrogated.”

Someone else was fixing her mistakes. She swallowed the panic rising in her throat and nodded, “Excellent. I’m glad we were prepared for this possibility.” 

Once more, she caught Zuko’s eye on the way out, and by some mercy, she saw no pity there. Just fear, hidden under several layers of bravado.

Chapter Text

It was just the two of them on a small airship powered by continual firebending, most of which Azula suckered Zuko into supplying. She spent her off-time leaning on the lip of the basket, staring into the sky and the waves. She knew there was a strong current in those waters, the latent power of storms, but it looked lovely and slow-moving from up here. She’d never experienced undertow. Her father made sure they understood the dangers and power of fire by showing them its reality firsthand, but even when they visited the beach, their parents kept them out of the ocean.

It wasn’t yet nightfall when Zuko lowered the airship to a flat expanse of dry, dead land. When they were in the air, Azula had seen a town, and beyond that, a great expanse of lake and tributaries. And yet, here they were, landing at the edge of desert.

“Zuko,” She said, “Why are we stopping here? There’s no vegetation, no cover, and we don’t yet have to stop for the night.”

She meant it to be rhetorical, a threat to keep them moving. So, in exchange, he didn’t quite answer. “I know this place,” He said calmly, focusing on the mechanism of the air balloon. “It’s safe.”

Its safety wasn’t Azula’s main concern. They needed to make better time. They needed to complete this mission to get their father to forgive them for the mess they’d left in the Earth Kingdom capital.

But, she knew Zuko was in no hurry to confront their uncle.

The basket hit the ground gently, and Azula threw a rope over the side, preparing to tie it down to… something. There really was very little variety in the landscape.

Once Zuko had stowed the balloon, he said, “Azula, you set up camp, I’ll find some food.”

They had food, of course. They’d packed plenty for the trip. But it was all tack, dried fish, and some radishcarrots. She wouldn’t say no to fresh, charred meat. She took out the supplies for the tent by way of reply. The whole “tent” thing was new to her, but this was a no-frills mission, and it couldn’t be too difficult. 

When Zuko returned, he found Azula with the tarp poorly draped over one arm, the pegs buried in the material. He didn’t rebuke her, or show any sign of judgment, he just took it from her to set it up himself. It was so insulting that she just froze and let him. She stepped back and poked through the food he’d found. There was a couple of dead rabbit-voles, and a variety of leaves, some of them kind of purpley. Right. Roughing it. 

“How do you know these aren’t poisonous?” She scoffed.

He barely turned over his shoulder, “I’ve eaten them before. They serve them in the Earth Kingdom, and Un– I found some on the road.”

That, unfortunately, checked out. She considered prodding at what he’d almost said, but decided not to.

Zuko prepared the food over a fire, surprisingly good at it. He used a pair of sticks to flip the meat, and it sizzled, then even began to smell like something worth eating (though rabbit-voles didn’t produce much meat). As Azula watched, she realized that the campfire moved with his breath and sometimes he breathed in quicker, and held his breath in order to manipulate the cooking process. She shifted from foot to foot, breathing in the scent of burning wood and the chemical process of raw meat becoming edible.

He dished up a plate and handed it to her, which she accepted without sitting. Zuko lounged on the ground once he set the pan off to the side, but that was too dusty for her, so she continued standing over him. The meat was good. For a desert-creature, anyway. 

When the two of them had first landed, the flat expanse they found themselves in seemed to be colorless, but now Azula could pick out the subtle purples of the dust, the pale green of water-conserving plants, and of course, the brilliant orange of the sky as the sun finally set. The solstice had passed, but the days were still long. She soaked in the last of the sun’s rays, and the fire within her flared.

“Even without clouds, that’s a beautiful sunset,” Zuko mused from his place on the ground.

Azula didn’t say anything. It was one thing to be aware of one’s surroundings, and to appreciate the land for what it offered you, but quite another to comment on aesthetics. But, she couldn’t disagree.

She woke long before daybreak. Zuko had wanted to stay out even as the bugs descended, so Azula bade him goodnight and ducked into the tent. It had been oppressively warm at the time and still was even without the rain tarp up. Azula tried to find comfort in that. After all, the heat was like home. 

There was something off about the night. Before she could drift off again, she sat up, alert, and found that Zuko’s sleeping mat was still rolled up, unused. 

For a moment, she let herself sit in the confusion. It was still dark, but it had been hours . She could tell based on how much the memory of the fiery sun had weakened. 

What was Zuko still doing up? She would have heard the struggle between him and a wild animal, and though she was loath to admit it, Zuko probably would have been able to take care of himself in that scenario: the natural world did not appreciate fire. It was one of the reasons the Fire Nation was superior–even nature cowered before it. It was something apart. She was something apart.

The sinking feeling of Zuko’s probable betrayal threatened to incapacitate her, but she shook her head. It was possible things were not as they appeared. What would wandering off in the middle of the night even accomplish? He didn’t have the gear to go by himself.

Unless he took the air balloon. Azula cursed.

Before she could even fully scramble into her armor, she saw the shadow of one of her yōkai pass over the flap of the tent. A shiver cut through to her guts, but she just reached for her shoes. So, she wouldn’t be alone in her hunt for her brother tonight. Fine.

Azula flung herself out of the tent and carefully avoided eye contact with the yōkai . It was the demon disguising itself as a disfigured Zuko. A fat drop of blood rolled off of its leering face and fell all the way to the sand. It hissed and steamed like acid.

The balloon was still there. Good, he’d left on foot.

“Alright then.” She lit a small flame in her hand, and the night flared to life. The horrid open wound of her not-brother glistened. “Let’s go.”