#The Fire Sages: ...Everything seems to be in order Fire Lord Azula

[muffinlance]

[Bats eyes at you] What if Azula DID do something after her father burned half her brothers’ face off

"What did you do?"

"I am my mother's daughter, Zuzu."

And also her father's. How nice of him, to leave her his crown as his dying act.

[nadisabug]

Fictober 2020-Day 14

Unexpected Reunion

Prompt: "not interested, thank you"

Fandom: ATLA Pairing: eventual Zuko x reader Warnings: none A/N: Sorry this is a little rough but I had this idea and had to write it out. I may be making a continuation of it depending on how it goes. Anyways! I hope you enjoy!

I was going about my usual shopping when I saw a boy and an older man sitting on the side of a building. The older man had his hat outstretched, begging for money. Now that wasn't an unusual sight in the streets of this city, but what was unusual was the boy beside him. He had a scar over his left eye. Fire wounds were also not that uncommon, but there was something about this specific wound. I only knew one boy who had a scar like that and there was no way that he was in Earth Nation territory. Unless something happened with his banishment...

Curious, I moved closer until I was standing right in front of them. The old man, Iroh, looked up at me and smiled.

"Your face is more radiant then the shining sun," he said sagely, then jingled the hat at me. I gave him a moment to get a good look at me, but when it was apparent he was not going to recognize me I spoke. I was surprised, though. I had served this man tea countless times in my time as a servant at the Fire Lord’s palace. 

"Why thank you, that means very much coming from a man of your stature," I said slyly, looking over at Zuko. He looked up sharply at my words, eyeing me cautiously.

"Ah, but we are just weary travelers, peasants compared to you," Iroh responded. Had I not spent so much time with the royal family I would have missed the suspicion in his voice.

"Then, by all means, stay at my place for the night," I said and waved my arm in the general direction of my place.

"Not interested, thank you," Zuko spat and then looked down at his feet, seeming to think the conversation was over.

If only.

"Maybe I was unclear," I smiled and turned to face Iroh. "I would be honored to have the Royal Family stay at my place for the night, maybe chat over some Jasmin tea. Doesn't that sound nice, Zuzu?"

At that Zuko jumped to his feet, eyes ablaze. "Don't call me that," he hissed.

I met his gaze head on, an easy smile on my face. "Maybe you'd like to tell me under what name you're traveling, then? Maybe I have mistaken you for someone else, someone wanted?"

"My nephew and I would love to come stay the night at your place," Iroh stood and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder. He eyed something behind me, and Zuko looked to, his face souring when he saw it. I didn't have to look to know they were looking at a guard.

"Perfect!" I clasped my hands together. "I would love to hear all about the circumstances of your travels as soon as we get to my place. Come."

And with that, the two begrudgingly followed my to my place.

Once we were out of earshot of the guards, Zuko spoke up. 

“How do you know us?” His tone was accusatory and harsh. 

“I worked in the palace as a servant. I served the royal family tea until I was fired,” I paused and took off the gloves I always wore, exposing the horrible burn marks on my hands, “quite literally by your sister.” 

With the exposure of my scars, Zuko and Iroh’s eyes lit up in recognition. 

“You were the tea girl that spilled on Azula,” Zuko whispered. 

“Such a shame,” Iroh added on. “You made magnificent tea, you were one of my favorites. I didn’t recognize you with your new look.”

Iroh was right, I had changed much from my time as a servant. I completely changed the way I wore my hair from the usual tight top knot servants wore and, of course, I was in traditional Earth Kingdom clothes. I looked nothing like when I served them tea, I was happy now. Very happy. 

“Why didn’t you turn us in then?” Zuko asked. He sounded frustrated and confused. I didn’t blame him, his family had scarred me for life and forced me to start anew in a completely new place. When I was banished from the Fire Nation, I lost everything. All of my friends, my family, everything I knew. Yet, this starting anew gave me a new opportunity to make a name for myself and make a new family. 

“Your uncle was nothing but kind to me, and you should know why I didn’t turn you in.” Right after I was packing my things to leave forever, Zuko visited me in the servants quarters. He have me a pouch of money that served me very well before leaving, ordering me to never tell anyone that happened. That was one year before his banishment, before he was scarred. After that I kept up with the news of the Fire Nation, and when I learned that he too was banished, I actually felt sad. 

Zuko flushed and turned away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In the silence, Iroh spoke up. “May you remind this old man of your name,” he asked politely. 

“It was never given,” I laughed softly. “Servants didn’t introduce themselves in the palace. They were just that, servants.” Iroh gave me a sad look, but I didn’t feel sad in the slightest. That life was far behind me now. “It’s Y/n, though. We’re almost to my home, too.”

When we rounded the corner, and my place came into sight, I saw the kids playing earth ball in the street. When they saw me, they immediately ended the game to rush up to greet me. 

“This is Lily, Han, and Lee,” I introduced the kids from oldest to youngest. “Kids this is...” I trailed off, motioning to the two to give their names as well. 

“I am Mushi, and this is my nephew, also named Lee,” Iroh introduced himself and Zuko. I nodded in understanding. I figured they were traveling under false names, I just hadn’t gotten them yet. 

“Look at this!” Han shouted. He stomped his foot and a small rock shot up and he caught it. 

“Good job buddy,” I smiled and ruffled his hair. Iroh and Zuko gave me a confused look, but I waved it off. “I’ll explain later,” I said quietly to only the two of them. 

After that, we all went into the small house and began to unload my groceries. After they were done, the kids went back outside to play earth ball again.

“Lee is my biological brother, but Lily and Han are both refugees I adopted,” I explained to Iroh and Zuko. “Lily was displaced during an attack on the a Swamp nearby and Han was the sole survivor of a Fire Nation attack on a nearby village. They had no one else so I took them in.”

Iroh looked remorseful, but Zuko had a strange look on his face. Almost as if he was conflicted. 

“I try to teach them bending, but I was only ever taught how to conjure fire to warm tea pots, so its not going to well.”

“They never taught you how to bend?” Zuko cried indignantly. 

“Of course not,” I laughed. I gestured for them to sit in the living room while I got the things to make tea. “Servants that can fight can act out. They used to teach us firebending, but after the war started, Fire Lord Sozin made a new rule that no one except royalty and soldiers were to be taught.”

Once I got the pot down, Iroh stood up and gently took it from me. 

“You have made tea for us enough times, Y/n. Let me.”

I smiled softly and let him. “The tea is in the top left cabinet.”

I sat down next to Zuko and watched his uncle make tea. Zuko looked like he was deep in thought, so I did not bother him. I just sat and thought to myself. I never imagined that I would ever be in the presence of the Royal Family again, let alone like this. 

But it was nice. I thought maybe they could stay a little longer if they helped out around the house and lent a hand at my small tea shop...

[theowriteswhatever]

Zuko Story With No Title Part 7

This is probably my least favorite part of the story, because I am incredibly bad at writing action. Regardless, I hope you enjoy and the next part should be out tonight. Thanks for all your support!

-Your pal, Bubbles

Everything was so peaceful. Toph was in her earthbent prism, Aang was curled up on Appa’s back, Sokka was in his tent, and Katara was warmly wrapped in her sleeping bag. And best of all, they were all asleep. It was the best time for me to do something I needed to do for a while. 

I made my way away from the camp and kept my eyes wide open for any sign of Sparky Sparky Boom Man. Yeah, everyone else agreed Combustion Man was more appropriate, but I truly believed that Sparky Sparky Boom Man had more of a ring to it. 

I stopped just outside of the Fire Lord’s palace and looked around for any servant or guard that could help me. I spotted a young lady in a raggedy red dress with a messy blue apron over it. Her hair was up in a ponytail and had a matching blue bandana wrapped around it. 

I stood up from my hiding spot in the bushes and brushed off the stray leaves and dirt from my red fire nation dress. I ran my hands through my hair and marched over to her in pretend rage.

“What are you doing out here?” I demanded as I finally reached her.

“Wh-what do you mean?” She asked meekly. She actually looked scared. Which was the goal, but I still felt bad. I had no power over her and she was still afraid. How badly did Azula and Zuko treat these people?

“We’re supposed to be inside preparing for the prince and princess’s return from their beach trip. We don’t have time to dawdle!” 

“I’m so sorry miss. Of course miss.” She responded as she looked down in shame. “It’s quite alright. But I will need a favor in return for sparing you.” She looked up and nodded quickly.

“Anything!” She pleaded. I gulped from the guilt of treating her so poorly. But I knew I needed to do it.

“I seem to have misplaced my maid uniform. I’ll need to borrow yours. You can wear my outfit while you go find a new uniform.” I said firmly, “And perhaps you can find a cleaner one than that old thing.”

“Yes miss. I can do that.”

“Thank you. We must go change in the bushes over there before anyone sees us.” She nodded and practically ran over to the bushes I had just been hiding in. 

She quickly climbed out of her dress and gave it to me as I slipped her mine. She crawled out of the bushes in my stolen outfit and bowed to me.

“Thank you so much for sparing me miss. Have a good evening.” She then quickly scampered inside. I felt bad for her. Azula is already horrible so I can’t imagine what she would do if anyone that served her did a single thing wrong. 

I climbed out of the itchy bushes and once again wiped my outfit off. But instead of making my way into the palace, I turned around and went the opposite direction.

I eventually made it to a tall heavily guarded building and was met by a buff angry man that was quick to question my motives.

“What are you doing away from the temple? You should be preparing for the princess's return.” 

“I was ordered to check on the inmates to make sure they are appropriately suffering.” I said as seriously as I possibly could. He raised an eyebrow and I was almost certain he could see right through me. But I kept a serious look on my face and stared him down as if he wasn’t scaring the heck out of me. He continued his serious glaring and it was almost as if we were having a staring contest. I continued to stare and keep my mouth in a straight line and at this point, my neck hurt from straining so hard to look up at him.

Then all of a sudden, his expression softened and he smiled. “Come right on in Miss. We’re happy to have you!” He turned around and opened the door for me. “Just tell them that Jorgog let you in. They’ll understand.” I smiled and bowed to him before he closed the door behind me. I was shocked by how easy that was, but I wasn’t complaining. 

I made my way down the hallways until I was met with the right door. But of course it was locked. I paused for a second but quickly I remembered my hair clip that I used under “my” bandana. I pulled it out and started to jiggle it in the keyhole, but it wasn’t long before I started to hear footsteps from around the corner. I moved the hair clip around faster, but nothing clicked yet. The footsteps got closer and closer and I kept trying. I didn’t have any other options. The footsteps got loud and monstrous when the lock finally clicked into place. I swung the door open, clambered into the room, and shut the door gently behind me right as the footsteps passed by. I let out a sigh of relief and finally let go of the doorknob.

“(Y/N)?” I heard a familiar voice ask from behind me. I smiled at the gentle tone and turned around.

“Iroh!” I said joyously as I made my way to the cell bars. We reached through the bars and wrapped each other in a short-lived hug.

“What are you doing here?” He questioned with concern laced through his voice.

“I’ve come to set you free.” I admitted. I knew he would warn me that what I did was dangerous and that he wasn’t worth the trouble, but he wasn’t changing my mind. “I know it probably wasn’t the safest idea and I should be more careful, but I couldn’t let you just sit and rot here.” I pulled up my hair clip and began to use it on the lock.

“You didn’t have to do this. I was planning to break out soon anyways.” 

“Of course I had to do this. You cared so much for me in Ba Sing Se, I had to return the favor.” I said as I continued to jiggle the lock, “Plus, when you learned who I really was, you weren’t angry. And for that, I owe you the world,” 

“It takes a lot to make me angry, Miss (Y/N).” He said calmly.

“I bet you’re not even angry with Zuko, are you?” I chuckled as I knew exactly what his answer would be.

“He’s a lost and scared soul. He just needs someone to guide him back to the right path.” Iroh stated sagely. He always found a reason to forgive and I could only hope to have that ability some time in the future as well. “I understand that you must be incredibly angry with my nephew. And I don’t blame you at all. All I ask is that you don’t kill him when you see him again. Anything else is tolerated.” I laughed at how well Iroh knew me and how understanding he would be when I kicked his butt sometime in the future.

The lock finally came undone and I opened the door for him. He gracefully stepped out and wrapped me in another hug. I hugged him back and couldn’t help the few tears that fell from my eyes. “I wish I could’ve come sooner or done more to make it up to you.”

“You did just fine, Miss (Y/N).” I finally let go and stepped back to wipe the tears from my eyes. He smiled at me and I could tell he had shed a few tears too.

“We have to get out of here now. Before they lock us both up.” He nodded and I made my way into the cell. I looked up and saw a metal square gate as a roof with a window on the other side. “We’ll go through that window.”

Iroh followed me into the cell and lifted me up to slide through one of the squares. I barely fit and it wasn’t comfortable, but I made it work. I looked around at the top of the gate, but saw no way to open it. I was about to warn Iroh, but he jumped up and ripped apart one of the squares to slide through. 

My jaw fell to the ground and eyes went wide. I had never seen him do something like that before. “You really were ready to break out, weren’t you?”

“Never underestimate old people.” I laughed and then made my way to the window that was also locked. 

“Make sure no one comes in. I’ll get the window unlocked.” He nodded as I started to work on what was hopefully my last keyhole of the night. I worked for what felt like forever and my arm was getting tired, but I couldn’t give up.

Suddenly the door opened and a man came in. He looked around in confusion for a few seconds before spotting us. Right as he laid eyes on us, the lock clicked and I was able to get the window open. I climbed out almost all the way only to realize that we were up 3 stories and there was nothing to hang onto. “What is it, (Y/N)?” I could hear the guy trying to climb up the cell inside so I had to think fast. 

I spotted a nearby well and pulled water from it to form a large swirl of water. But it could only reach a few feet from the window. I looked back in to see the man coming closer to catching Iroh and I knew there was no other way out. I closed my eyes in fear and pushed off the wall into it. 

I landed hard on the swirl of water and began to sink, but I pulled my way up to the top. The man had reached Iroh but I knew it couldn’t be the end.

“Iroh!” I finally caught his attention and he smiled in relief and pride. He wrestled the guy off of him and made his way out of the window. I reached my arm out for him to take and his hand could barely reach mine. The man approached from behind him and was close to yanking him back down to the cell. 

Iroh let go of the window and fell backwards. His hand fell out from mine and he began to fly towards the stone ground. I panicked knowing I was about to be the reason Former Fire Nation General Iroh died and I would never be heard from again.

But I couldn’t let that happen.

I swung a platform of water out and it caught him right before he crashed to the ground. The platform tilted to gently set him on his feet. I let out a sigh of relief as I gradually let myself through the swirl and onto the stone beside him. We took a few deep breaths of disbelief, but it wasn’t long before our moment of relief was ended. Guards surrounded us and conjured their fire in a fighting stance.

Iroh conjured his too, but I slowly lowered his arm.

“Haven’t you ever heard you can’t fight fire with fire?” I asked the guards. They were confused and let their guards down for only a second. But that was all I needed. 

I broke my spiral and made a wave out of it. I splashed the guards into the wall and froze them there. Iroh seemed impressed, which was a good feeling, but we didn’t have time. I grabbed his arm and made a sheet of ice a few feet in front of us. 

I looked at Iroh to make sure he understood what I was doing and he nodded to confirm. We ran and jumped to slide on the ice. “Go!” I yelled at Iroh as I continued to make more ice for him to slide on. He slid his feet back and forth and was quickly gone.

 I shot icicles at some of the guards’ clothes so that they were stuck to the wall and froze the others. I slid around the building to make sure no one else came and then followed Iroh’s route to the nearby forest. 

I finally caught up with him and melted all the ice behind us so they couldn’t track us. We were deep in the forest near me and my friends’ campsite and I knew this was when I had to split with him.

“This is where I leave you.” I said dramatically. He laughed a little bit and wrapped me in another hug.

“Thank you Miss (Y/N). Not only did you free me, you made it fun.” I laughed a little and then let go of him.

“That’s what I live for.” We smiled at each other and then I bowed. “I hope to see you again soon Iroh.”

“Same to you.” He said as he bowed back. He then walked off into the forest and into the shadows. 

Once he was gone, I made my way back to the campsite and curled up into my sleeping bag without anyone knowing a thing. 

@vintageroses1014516 @leslieanahid @aphrodites-perfume @rintheemolion @shephard17895 @akariblue

[yannasunflower]

flux

on today’s episode of “yanna needs to stop writing new things and work on her wips”. i love this show and i wanted to write a lil something that’s been at the back of my mind for a while. always wanted to know what happened while Katara and Zuko waited to hear if they were able to win the war, or if their friends would survive or not. may keep this as a one-shot, may turn it into an actual fic with an Azula redemption arc and actual Zutara shenanigans and politics GALORE. who knows? enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~

Katara is sure he’s dead. She’s never been more sure of anything in her life, to be precise. Azula’s aim is impeccable, Zuko has always been at least a little suicidal, and Katara is a waterbender who is absolutely useless against lightning. Tears are streaming down her face and she’s trying to convince her sputtering heart to keep beating even as she runs toward his prone body, so lifeless, so helpless on the cold, stone ground.

It is no place for a son of Agni.

She falls to her knees and doesn’t stop to listen for a heartbeat, just puts her hands to his chest and prays. The wound is gaping and raw and scorching. She tries to keep her memory from racing to another night on Appa’s back when she held the world’s future in her hands for the first time. Katara hiccups, not sure if she has felt fear like this since Aang took the same lightning bolt in Ba Sing Se. Lightning that put him in a coma for weeks, a wound that didn’t let her sleep for days at a time. 

Aang had been necessary to world peace but right now, looking down at Zuko’s pale, fine face, Katara knows in her gut that Zuko is just as instrumental to the future Aang saw, was willing to die, that they were all willing to die for. The comet is still streaking a path of fire through the sky and behind her, Azula is screaming like a wounded animal. 

Katara flutters her fingers, inhales, holds her breath, squeezes her eyes shut and tries to imagine the heart in Zuko’s chest, one that is red and bleeds just like hers would be if Zuko hadn’t been so damn noble, so honorable. The thought makes her flinch even while her hands stay steady.

And then she feels more than hears the first tremblings of a heart that’s alive. The heart beneath her stirs, beats, skips, and beats again, stronger and steadier with every passing second. She’s sobbing and thanking every spirit out loud she can think of: Agni, La, Tui, Yue, Agni again for saving his son.

Zuko’s body twitches, his fingers curling inward. Katara could jump for joy when his eyes open, still gold and bright. His voice is quiet and low but strong. 

“Thank you, Katara,” he rasps. 

Katara can’t stop herself from throwing her arms around his shoulders, sobbing freely now, unable to imagine a future where his heart had remained still forever. Was it only weeks ago she had wanted to throw him from a cliff?

“I think I’m the one who should be thanking you,” she sniffles when she can finally let go of him, trying her best to give him a big, if somewhat watery, smile. Zuko smiles back, awkwardly like he does everything, and Katara resists the urge to hug him again. 

“Where’s - what happened to...Azula?” his words are halting. Katara helps him sit up, healer eyes careful to catch any wince. 

She jerks her head in Azula’s direction and watches as at first, understanding, then, an indescribable sadness passes over Zuko’s face. She helps him stand at his insistence and when he finally sees his little sister, chained and broken, tears streaming down her face even as she sends fire roaring into the red sky, Katara’s heart breaks. A single word is threaded in Azula’s cries, mama, and Katara’s breath hitches. She looks away, unable in that moment to see anything but a frightened girl she knows she cannot help. A war criminal, a killer, a teenager who was never meant to fight the way she did. 

Attendants are flooding the courtyard. Katara can see the understanding dawning on their faces, many of them scurrying in the direction of what she presumes are the Fire Sages who fled at the first sign of Zuko. She glances at him, sees the grim knowing in the set of his jaw.

“Find the Fire Sages. And someone sedate my sister.” Katara flinches. She does not envy the poor soul tasked with shutting a wild Azula up.

His voice rings through the courtyard, commanding, more powerful than he probably feels, sagging against Katara. She frowns up at him, guiding him to the stone steps and setting him down carefully, gently.

“I need to clean that wound and bandage it Zuko, now is not the time for state matters,” she admonishes, preparing herself to pull more water from the soaked ground. Zuko grits his teeth and she recognizes the way his eyes flash molten gold at her. Zuko is truly the most stubborn person she’s ever met, and she’s met Toph Bei Fong. 

“Scowl at me all you want, I’m cleaning that wound right this second, even if I have to tie you up to do it. Wouldn’t want your Fire Sages walking in on that I bet,” she growls. He shuts his mouth with a click and she gets to work, trying to be gentle, clenching her jaw at every hiss of pained breath Zuko lets out. With Zuko out of immediate danger, her mind wanders to Aang and Sokka and Toph and Suki. Spirits, her father and her tribe’s men. She wonders if Iroh and the White Lotus have recaptured Ba Sing Se, if they ever even had a chance in hell of it. 

Mostly, she tries not to imagine her father’s face if Sokka never comes back. 

“Do...do you think Aang is out there, fighting my father?”

The question is quiet, almost a whisper. Katara pauses to consider it. She manages to flash a smile she doesn’t fully feel at him. 

“Aang always comes through,” she answers. It is as honest one she can give. It seems to satisfy Zuko, who leans back on his palms as Katara rips the hem of her tunic and wraps it around his torso. 

“If,” Katara can’t finish the question. She looks away, at the damaged rooftops still burning, gnawing on her lip. Azula is still shooting blue fire and sobbing and really she knows there’s a comet but how much fire does Azula have? Zuko waits. “If Aang doesn’t defeat Ozai...what will happen to us?”

There is silence for a moment. Katara is afraid to look him in the eye, to even look at his face, so she keeps her gaze focused on wounding the bandage around his chest, tightly but not too much. She ties it off much more carefully than usual, trying to avoid the moment when she will have to look up.

“He’ll try to kill me,” Zuko finally says after a long pause. He can’t run from his homeland again. Her horrified eyes dart to his, mouth open with shock at the mere idea of a father murdering his son. A grin almost curls at the corner of his mouth. Zuko knows that Katara, for all her strengths and intelligence, for all the awful, inhuman things she had seen during the war, he knows that perhaps the one thing she and her brother cannot imagine is that. He realizes, a little abruptly, he has never told any of them how he got his scar.

It’s a story for another day, one bathed in sunlight, where his father’s shadow cannot reach him. He likes to think that day will come, that it exists in his murky future.

The Fire Sages arrive, immediately falling to their knees and pressing their foreheads to the ground, still wet from Katara’s water. She glares at them balefully, disgusted by their spineless cowering and simpering. 

“Prince Zuko,” one whimpers, voice somewhat muffled by the floor. “The Fire Sages welcome your return as the rightful heir to the throne.”

Zuko says nothing. She can’t read his eyes or his face, smooth and imperturbable. With a pang, Katara sees the Fire Lord he could become. She is sorely tempted to tell the cowards to scramble in language she has picked up from travelling some of the coarser parts of the world. But this is not her nation, not her palace, and it is not her crown at risk.

“Sit up,” Zuko orders. He speaks with a new authority, one he never uses when talking to her. She blinks a little. It is hard to keep up with Zuko’s faces and sides at times. “Preparations for my coronation will begin immediately. You will declare me Fire Lord in the next hour. We can have a more formal ceremony at a later date.”

Whatever objections the Sage had been about to sputter died on his lips with one hiss from Katara and a little help from the water rapidly freezing around his wrists. Swallowing, hard, he rises to his feet, as well as his companion, who pulls a familiar object from his robes. 

“An honor, my lord,” this one rumbles and he meets Zuko’s eyes with a little more defiance than the first. Zuko holds his gaze. The air warms by at least a few degrees. While not versed in Fire Nation politics, Katara is somewhat sure the proper address should have been your highness. By the narrow slit of Zuko’s molten eyes, the slight had not passed unnoticed. She shivers. Katara resists the urge to throw the Sage into the ocean, to make him and his hard, dark eyes disappear. He is a viper in a snake’s nest, at home in a court that Zuko has not truly belonged to for years. The hairs at the back of her neck prickle. 

The ceremony is brief and to the point. Katara is beginning to scan the sky for a messenger hawk or some other sign that her brother and their friends are alive. The comet is fading away into the darkening sky. Every moment that passes is painful, agony really. Zuko stands up, shoulders squared and straight, crown gleaming in his black hair. Katara forces a smile, swallowing bile, taking his arm and walking with him to a chamber just a little ways down the hall. When the door closes after a bowing servant, she presses a careful finger to the wound, relieved to find it still closed and not-bleeding. 

Her body sags without permission. She is tired, deep in her bones and blood, with a world to rebuild in front of her. Zuko doesn’t look any better off, the dark circles under his eyes difficult to miss. He plucks the crown from his hair, letting it fall loose around his face once more. Katara brushes an errant strand from his cheek, gently, and she marvels at how Zuko no longer flinches from her touch. When had he begun to look at her with trust in those eyes? When did he stop wincing at every movement she made?

He leans into her touch, just a little, and she allows her fingertips to graze his cheek, enjoying the way his eyes fall shut seemingly without permission. There was a time when Zuko had found it difficult to sleep around her, and there was a time when Katara had stood guard outside his door, stiffening at every noise while he slept. Now, his eyes remain shut and it doesn’t take Toph’s hearing to know his breathing has slowed. 

They don’t move for what feels like days. When he stirs, Katara startles just a little, averting her gaze quickly, praying Zuko hadn’t caught her tracing the thick black (how unfair) eyelashes that fluttered against his cheekbones (too fine, too angled, the bastard even had good bone structure) with her eyes. She stands, wringing her hands, feeling the last of the water in her skin swirling restlessly. 

Katara orders tea and watches with no small amount of amazement as Zuko pours it gracefully. She had nearly forgotten his time working a menial tea shop job in Ba Sing Se. Somehow, the sight of an injured Fire Lord Zuko skillfully pouring her steaming tea is both humorous and disconcerting. 

“We should have heard by now,” she frets as the sky still darkens and time still passes with no word from any of their allies. Outside, she knows the palace is in disarray and the nobles are probably wondering if it is safe to come out yet, but Zuko is in no condition to appear before them as their new Fire Lord, he looks exhausted, La she wishes she could let him sleep. But the world is on fire and Katara is drinking tea mostly to preserve her sanity at this point, so damn the nobles and damn the politics. 

The waiting is almost worse than the fighting. After a few comfortable minutes spent in silence, Katara’s worrying breaks it again.

Zuko flashes her a familiar, exasperated scowl. 

“Stop fidgeting, for Agni’s sake,” he sighs. His tired, overly-patient tone is familiar. Afternoons watching him and Aang work through firebending forms flood her mind. She grins sheepishly. “If Ozai had defeated Aang, we would know by now. That’s not something he would keep to himself for longer than necessary.”

The words soothe her, but only slightly. Because by defeated he meant killed and the thought of Aang’s small, broken body is too much for her to bear. 

“Katara.” Zuko hesitates, and she waits, because they always know when more is coming, they always know when to wait for the other. 

“Thank you, for healing me,” he says and she can’t help but laugh at the genuine, earnest way he looks at her from under those unfair lashes. It’s a boyish expression in a face that long ago lost its roundness.  

“You already said that,” she dismisses him. “And I told you, I’m the one who should thank you. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. You almost threatened the future of the world to save me.”

Zuko looks slightly confused. 

“You are the future,” he says and damn him he’s done it again. Her heart is sputtering, blood rushing to her cheeks and she briefly considers trying to bloodbend the blush away. Because Zuko’s face, no longer boy-round, permanently scarred by the cruelty of his father, is so damned honest and grateful and la, she is trying hard not to wonder what would happen if she leans forward, just a little.

Zuko’s eyes are more than gold, she finds, especially in firelight, and is this what Agni’s eyes would look like she tries not to wonder, tries not to see that she has leaned closer, unwittingly, or maybe not, her thoughts a jumbled tangle of heat and fear and spirits there’s still a war going on. But she can’t help but notice that Zuko isn’t moving away, is just watching her face in a way that sets her bones on fire and spirits, she wants to touch his cheek again - 

A rapid, soft knock on the door makes her gasp. She throws her body away from him in a ridiculously dramatic motion. It’s only a servant, asking if her new Fire Lord would like food, bowing all the while. Katara takes that moment to straighten herself, gulping in steadying breaths and pushing the stolen moment far, far from the front of her mind.

“Have any messages come for me?” Zuko asks and the servant girl shakes her head. Katara’s heart sinks and from Zuko’s thin mouth, fear is beginning to settle into his bones, too. 

It only takes a few moments of awkward silence after the servant leaves for Katara to start fidgeting again. She has just about made up her mind to take Appa to where the Fire Nation’s fleet had planned to raze the Earth Kingdom to the ground when a servant enters, bowing low at the waist, a sealed message in her hand. 

“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but a messenger hawk has just arrived from Ba Sing Se.”

Zuko grabs the message hungrily, breaking it open and scanning the words before the girl has straightened from her bow. He sighs, deeply, and Katara reads it over his shoulder, nearly bursting into tears again with relief. 

“They recaptured Ba Sing Se,” she whispers. Her hand grasps Zuko’s shoulder and he reaches a hand up to clasp it silently. For a moment, the world straightens. 

“Please bring any other messages directly to me,” Zuko says. The girl can’t quite stop herself from blinking rapidly before bowing low again and retreating, red definitely crawling up her neck. Zuko looks confused and Katara nearly laughs. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him that she doesn’t think Fire Lords often say please when addressing servants. 

A distant scream sends Katara scrambling for her waterskin and Zuko trying to jump to his feet, failing miserably and crying out as he slumps back. 

“Stay put,” Katara orders him, forgetting for a moment the crown on Zuko’s head. She runs out before she can think too hard about it, her legs taking her to the courtyard, water already rising from the stones, fire burning in her veins because Zuko bled for this palace, these people, before a familiar wolf tail registers in her heart. 

“Sokka!” She definitely screams it a little, nearly falls at least twice as she rushes forward and throws herself into his arms, his healthy, alive arms. He’s on crutches and his leg is bent strangely but she doesn’t care because he’s alive and holding her tight and trembling against her. Suki grunts a little, bearing the brunt of his weight, but makes no complaints, smiling too broadly to feign irritation. 

Aang is standing next to him when she finally pulls back, a tired smile on his young face. 

“Hey Katara,” he says and he sounds his age for once but she doesn’t care because La, he’s alive and so is Toph and Suki and she’s going to cry again. She’s not sure who is hugging who but it doesn’t matter because all of her friends are breathing and here. 

“Where’s Sparky?” Toph asks when they all manage to disentangle themselves. Katara’s eyes widen and she gasps. 

She turns on her heel to find a very injured Zuko hobbling down the steps. 

She runs to him, throwing his arm over her shoulder and shooting him an apologetic grin. 

“Agni, did you think you could face Ozai alone?” he wheezes and she laughs because he is alive, too, and he took lightning for her, and everyone she loves may have just made it out of this war. 

The group rushes forward, murmuring sympathies, arms reaching out to embrace Zuko, and they fall into another tangled hug, tears streaming down faces, Sokka complaining about his leg, Toph grumbling about sappiness even as she slings to Katara like she’ll never let go. Katara looks at Aang and his grey eyes are still alight with something that is all him, all Aang the airbender, and he smiles at her the way a child who has not been ravaged by war would. 

Questions and answers will come later, as will healing and scars and hard work and negotiations. In the light of the lanterns and the moon and the small spots of fire the servants have not yet put out though, Katara clings to her family and begins to realize that the war that killed her mother is over. The war that took her father, took Aang’s people and Zuko’s innocence, took Azula’s soul. It is over. 

She is alive, they all are, and they are breathing in a new life, a future. Together.

[dancingkirby]

Azula III

I’m working on the final chapter of this story (not counting the epilogue), and I can’t believe I’m actually almost done with this story that started as one of my Youtube Music Binge Ideas.  So here is the third and final Azula PoV chapter in the story.

WARNING: Incest, just as in the previous chapters.

PAST

Everything was going Azula’s way.  She’d had her big spa trip just yesterday, so her skin was moisturized, her nails perfectly manicured, and her muscles limber from massage.  The war meeting today, and her idea, had been a resounding success (although it had been a little awkward going back to talking about the boring old Earthbender rebels after all that excitement).  Zuzu had been pretty quiet during the meeting, so the spotlight had been on her, just as it should be.  Now, it was the night before the big day, and she and Father were peering down at a scale model of the bunker, going over the plan one more time.

“So I will be in the large central room,” Azula was saying, tapping the corresponding room of the model with a pointer.  “And you and your guards will be in this room, way over to the left.  Then there’s Naoko to your right; one hopes that she knows there’s no bar in the bunker.  Shiza’s across the hall from her, and then my, um, half-siblings will take up most of the back wall.  Then Zuzu’s on the far right.”

That was the only area of uncertainty in Azula’s otherwise perfect life: what exactly her brother was up to.  Since they got back from Ember Island, Zuko had been spending much of his time skulking around the Catacombs, asking Azula weird questions, and passing entire days at Mai’s house.  (But never the nights; no, his honor wouldn’t allow him to impugn Mai’s virtue like that, although she was in a good enough mood that Azula thought it likely that they were doing something).

Father was speaking now, though, so Azula turned her attention back on him and away from the fascinating question of whether or not Zuzu had a chronic case of blue balls.

“And you know what you’re going to say?” he asked.  Azula nodded.

“Every word,” she assured him.  

“Excellent,” he replied.  “You and your brother are both doing very well.”  Azula had to force herself not to pout.  This was her time; why did he insist on dragging Zuko into it? However, her disappointment was all bit forgotten with Father’s next words.  

“Believe it or not, I may remarry soon,” he said as his hand “accidentally” brushed against hers. That was her cue.

“Dare I wonder who the lucky lady might be?” Azula inquired in a sing-song tone as she slowly slid her mantle off her shoulders, letting it land in a pile on the floor.  Daddy tsked at her.

“Don’t be greedy, now,” he admonished.  “That would ruin the surprise.”  Apparently getting impatient with her teasing, he made a fire dagger and slashed through the rest of her clothing.  That was the third set this month.  Oh well.

“No, we wouldn’t want that,” she agreed.  She walked backward until her calves hit the bed.  Briefly, she considered showing off her recent practice in acrobatics by doing a handspring onto the mattress, but Daddy pushed her backwards before that plan could come to fruition.  Instead of lying on her back as she usually did, she flipped over on her stomach and knelt with her face in the mattress to present herself.

“You want it from behind tonight, hm?” Daddy asked as he mounted her.  Azula gave a murmur of assent.

“I wanted to try something different,” she explained.  He seemed to have no problems with that, and Azula hoped that he wouldn’t catch on that the real reason she wanted to do this was so that he couldn’t see that she wasn’t giving him her full attention.  As he started to move inside her, Azula made noises where appropriate, but her mind continued to plot and plan.

He had to be considering marrying her.  Otherwise, why would be mention it like that?  She’d been wondering when he’d get around to it, and was more than ready to be his Fire Lady.  That way, there would be no more of this sneaking around, and she could finally bear his children like all his other ladies did.  Once she gave him more legitimate heirs, Zhilan and Zoren and Eri and all the rest would simply be superfluous.  She smiled into the bedding as she pictured the look of impotent fury that would be on Naoko’s face as she was forced to watch Azula standing with Father in front of the Fire Sage.  

Of course, this meant that she would have to be even more careful not to mess things up tomorrow.

PRESENT

She hadn’t messed up. Or at least, she thought she hadn’t.  She had very briefly considered chasing the sky bison further, but quickly determined that this would almost certainly be a waste of resourced.  The important thing was, she’d tailed them long enough to see that they were heading due north.  Coincidentally, the Boiling Rock lay in that direction, and this was certainly where Father would put any prisoners of war.  Azula wasn’t sure whether or not the Avatar and his friends actually knew this.

When the airship returned to the launchpad, Azula ran down the boarding ramp and straight to the palanquin that awaited her.  A grin of triumph nearly split her face in two as she pondered what accolades may be awaiting her back at the palace.  Would Father be waiting outside the main entrance to give her a hero’s welcome? Or would he prefer a reception in the throne room?  Surely, there would be a banquet; if not tonight, then within the next few days.

When she reached the palace, she was dismayed to find that what was actually waiting for her was utter chaos.  When her palanquin entered the caldera, she had mistaken the shouts coming from the area as ones of celebration.  It was only when she disembarked that she saw people running all over the place like panicked komodo chickens.  All the excitement within her deflated instantly.  She stood in the front hall for several minutes, waiting for someone to notice her, but none of them did.  Not even any of the bastards looked at her as they filed in; the younger ones stared blankly into space while the older ones were trying to comfort Anshi. Her oldest half-sibling had collapsed as soon as they got into the front hall, clinging onto a pillar while weeping silently.  

It took so long for anyone to react to Azula’s presence that she started to wonder if she had, in fact, died in the battle against the Avatar’s group and simply hadn’t realized it.  But then, finally, War Minister Qin ran up to her.  

“My Princess!” he said as he kowtowed at her feet.  “This humble, miserable worm of a servant has failed you.  Please accept this servant’s apologies for his utter incompetence.  This servant will gratefully accept any punishment.”

He was using the old humble dialect; that had been relatively common during Sozin’s rule, but these days was only utilized in times of utmost catastrophe.  Honestly, Azula had little patience for it, because she just wanted people to get to the point; they would have plenty of time to beg for their lives afterward.

“What incompetence?” Azula asked him, making sure that her voice had as deadly an edge as any sword.  She felt the need to clarify with, “Aside from your usual?”

War Minister Qin rose up onto his knees.

“P…Prince Zuko turned traitor and escaped,” he all but whispered.  “The Fire Lord heroically tried to apprehend him, but was injured in the process.”

A stab of shock ran through Azula’s chest, knocking the wind out of her.

“What sort of injury?” she inquired.  If he’d been mortally wounded, or even simply incapacitated for a long time, the burden of ruling would go to her.  She felt relieved when Qin hurriedly assured her it was nothing life-threatening, but now she could focus fully on the first part of the sentence.  

She should have known; should have warned Father!  She was fully aware of how weird Zuko had been acting, and now he’d gotten away right under their noses.  She’d gotten him set up with Mai; lied for him so Father would welcome him home, and this was how he repaid her?!  As far as she was concerned, Zuko was no longer her brother.

It took much interrogation, but she ultimately dragged the whole story out of Qin.  How for some unfathomable reason, no one had thought to escort Zuko to the bunker, or had taken the time to confirm that he’d made it to his room.  How for the entire time Azula had been holding off the Avatar, Zuko had been in Father’s room insulting him.  When it came to exactly what Zuko had said, or the precise mechanism of Father’s injury, there were no satisfactory answers just yet.  

“Send reinforcements to the prison,” she ordered.  “Doubtlessly, he will want to rescue our good-for-nothing uncle.”

“We already have,” Qin confirmed.  “Zuko was seen at the prison, but Prince Iroh escaped on his own before he even got there.”

Azula ground her teeth together.  “Do you have any leads on where either of them went after that?”

“None, Princess. Except that there is a war balloon missing from our arsenal.”  Well, that didn’t narrow it down much.  Those war balloons had been designed to be able to travel long distances before needing to be refueled.  Those two traitors could be anywhere…and that was assuming they were together.  If they weren’t, the logistics of tracking them both down could prove nightmarish.

However, she soon realized it was futile to chase after them today.  It would be dark soon, and the guards were exhausted from pursuing the fugitives all afternoon.  What was more, it would be prudent to wait until Father had recovered enough for her to consult with him.

Qin was still waiting for her reply, so she said, “Very well.  We shall formulate a plan to locate these traitors first thing tomorrow morning.  At the moment, however, I must refresh myself and then pay a visit to the Fire Lord.  Have you any idea of the whereabouts of my maid Shiza?”

Qin squirmed.

“Um, yes.  About that…” he said.  

WHAT?!

 Later, she sat fuming in her bath, which she’d heated to the point of being borderline intolerable even for a firebender.  As she had listened to what the war minister had to say, her rage rose to ever higher levels. Qin had also brought in the gatehouse guard who had been the last Fire Nation citizen to see Shiza.  Hobbling on a bandaged leg, the guard had explained that he’d not had the backup he was supposed to have, and that Shiza had pulled a knife on him out of nowhere.  It transpired that the other guard had been ill, but had never bothered to call in so he could be replaced.  Azula had ordered that the sick guard be thrown into prison.  The injured guard had gotten off more lightly, only losing his job.  

As soon as Azula had reached her bedroom, she had gone to her vanity table.  She opened the makeup knife case to find it empty.

So Shiza had not only left her, but had stolen from her as well.  How had she missed that?! One more person had taken her favor and thrown it back in her face.  Had that woman even realized that she would have never have risen as far as she did without Azula’s tacit support?  The position of favored body servant to a princess was one of great prestige, and one that Azula had deliberately not granted to Naoko.  She had been careful to make scathing comments about the Keohso bitch to Father as often as she could get away with it, yet almost never made any such remarks about Shiza.

In the end, it had all led to nothing.  She wished that Mai and Ty Lee were with her right now, particularly the latter.  They would never abandon her.

She sulked in the tub until her skin grew wrinkly and she got tired of having to constantly reheat the water.  A less skilled maid was there to wrap her in a robe and comb out her hair.  As Azula sat at her table, resolutely not wincing as this imbecile attempted to work through the knots, a messenger came to deliver the news she’d been waiting for: Father had woken.

She had the servant redress her (the armor wasn’t secured on quite as snugly as she preferred, but that couldn’t be helped right now), and set off for her father’s rooms. However, an unpleasant surprise awaited her in front of the grand double doors.  In addition to the usual guards, an all-too familiar third person was sitting there.

“Princess Azula. Took you long enough,” Naoko said as she staggered to her feet.  Her lipstick was smeared, but whether that was due to her wrapping her lips around a bottle or around…something else, Azula couldn’t be certain.  

“Go be drunk somewhere else,” she snapped.  “I need to talk with my father.”  Naoko let out a shriek of laughter that Azula was halfway convinced had ruptured her eardrums.  

“The Fire Lord has no time for lying little girls, honey,” she drawled.  

“Remember your place,” Azula growled.  Lying? What could she mean by…

Zuko had told Father about the Avatar.

It appeared that she was in deep trouble.  Naoko smirked as she watched Azula put the pieces together.

“Oh, I remember my place,” she slurred.  “My place is by the Fire Lord’s side, since I didn’t lie to him.  He specifically ordered me not to let you in.  You can go ahead and try if you don’t believe me, but I…”–she covered her mouth with her hand as she belched–“…guarantee you it won’t work.”

All right, this was getting ridiculous.  Squaring her shoulders and holding her head up high, Azula strode to the doors and briskly rapped on one.  

“Father? It is me,” she announced.  “I am here to inquire after your health.”

No answer.  Perhaps he had fallen back to sleep and couldn’t hear her.  

“Father?” she tried again, knocking as loudly as she could.  Still nothing.  “Father, allow me to explain!”  She tested the doorknob, and found it to be locked.  

Up until now, the guards hadn’t left their positions, probably because they hadn’t wanted to cross her.  But finally, one of them spoke.  

“Um, Princess, the Lady Naoko is correct,” one of them said.  “The Fire Lord expressly stated that he was not to be disturbed.”  He tactfully left off the obvious last two words: by you.

Azula was perfectly capable of taking both guards on at once; she knew that.   And she knew how to pick a lock from her days of sneaking various disgusting creatures into Zuzu’s room when they were children.  But this wasn’t poor, hapless Zuko.  If she defied Father’s orders, the thought of what he might do to her was not something she wanted to consider.  So she turned and walked away, Naoko’s triumphant laughter ringing in her ears.  

That bitch thought she’d won.  But as always, she refused to see what was right in front of her eyes.  Naoko thought she was so clever, plotting everything out with her father, but she lacked one important thing: common sense. Father had not given her the room next to his because he loved her; it was simply a matter of insurance.  The fact of the matter was that no matter how carefully they planned, they would have no way of knowing the enemy’s exact strategy.  Thus, Father had planted decoys at every possible entrance to serve as meat shields if need be.  Certainly it would have been unfortunate if any of them were to die, particularly the bastards; Father had invested much time and money into their training, so them all perishing would have been a massive waste of resources.   But when it came down to their lives versus Father’s, the choice was clear.  Anshi was smarter, and she had seen what Naoko could not.  She’d known all along that she was potentially leading children to their death.

But Azula was the one who mattered; the one who had been given the active role in thwarting the Avatar.  And she knew that Father knew that.  His current favoring of Naoko was not meant to be a reward for the older woman, but rather a punishment for Azula.  She would be patient, and would wait a day or a week or even a month; however long it took for Father to get tired of Naoko again.  Naoko could be pretty and witty and sharp-tongued all she wanted, but no one out-Azula’ed Azula.  And Azula was the one who had time on her side.  Naoko would be turning twenty-one soon–practically ancient by Father’s standards–and her heavy drinking wasn’t going to help her get any younger.  

Father needed her help during Sozin’s Comet.  He’d come back to her eventually, and she’d welcome him with open arms when he did.

[judecak]

Maiko Fluff Week - Day 3

@idonthatemaiko

She ate her dorayaki while she watched the brothers discuss, as usual. Ty Lee finished her tea and she offered to serve her more. Ty Lee smiled at her and gave her the plate full of *kabocha mochi. She denied with her head, she hadn't finished yet. 

Princess Ursa took the scroll off the hands of Azula, she got angry and stomped her feet.

"We don't want Love Among the Dragons" she declared sitting next to her.

Ty Lee denied with her head.

"I don't want *The Valley of the Lost Flowers" the prince crossed his arms and pouted. She liked that story, not boring battles neither insufferable romance.

"You're afraid Koh will appear with this weather?" Azula got near him and moved her fingers as claws.

Abundant raining started to fall in the afternoon, they had taken a meal and played two rounds of *Uta Garuta, however the rain had not stopped. The Prince had suggested to read a story meanwhile they waited.

"No" He decided to sat next to Ty Lee. "Why not *Momotaro?"

"We don't want to see you stab the air." Azula replied, taking some dango from the plate. "But if you want to act the *dance of the tigermonkey and the swansparrow, at least we will laugh."

She smiled behind her cup of tea as her mother had taught her. The Prince got angry as usual.

"I can dance with you" Ty Lee piped, making the Prince go red.

"You will do a great tigermonkey dance."

"You want to play a story then." Princess Ursa smiled and she felt sick immediately, she didn't want to. "Very well but to be fair it'll be one none of you have never heard before." She picked another scroll, sat in the corner of the room and started reading.

Long ago, before the Fire Nation even had its name, a beautiful girl was born from noble parents. She was so admired by the humans that even the spirits got curious and they came to visit her, finding her beautiful too, for her pure hearth. She always was kind to all the creatures and talked to everybody, even though her parents had warned her about the evil of the world.

Ty Lee volunteered to start, neither Azula or she complained. Strangely enough, of the three Ty Lee was the one who liked to act as a nice girl. Well she was a nice girl, odd but nice.

She didn’t had an inch of evilness in her hearth and she thought that kindness was those poor spirits needed. It’s one of those spirits she used to talk that felt madly in love with her, of course being an evil and corrupted spirit he didn’t know much of love, just obsession. And he thought of a plan to always being with her.

Azula annoyed the prince to act as the evil spirit, Mai volunteered, it's boring looking those two argue endlessly and she better be an evil being than a boring idiot girl.

In a full moon night, she woke up restless. As many nights she went to the pond to drink water, her mother had warned her many times, but she loved to go and watch the dancing fishes in the pond. That night the fishes were gone, just the purest white lilies glowed. They were so beautiful that she wished to have one of them and so she got into the lake. The blood came from her, the lilies had vines and thorns, tarnishing the water and the lilies.

The prince made a moon with his bending and almost burned her hair, again. Azula mocked him and he dared her to make the fishes. She felt confident but she couldn't, the prince laughed while he presented a nice flower to Ty Lee. The princess got angry and Princess Ursa had to stop the reading. After a few minutes, Mai gave her role as the evil spirit and let Azula have it.

"You have dared to soil my magical pond." He told her making the white lilies die.

She cried and promise him to do whatever was needed to brought the white lilies back. And so he cheated her into giving herself to him. When she realized the trick he had already transformed her into a brownish ugly bird, whose legs were small very difficult for her to run and couldn't flight. She now belonged to him. His power was stronger in the night and when the moon was full bright, but in the days he sleep and he did it more profoundly when there was no moon in the sky. In those weak days, he always stayed in places where the freshwater ruled, so she couldn't escape easily from him.

Ty Lee failed to represent a sad girl and she neither seemed upset to follow Azula wherever she wanted in the room. The prince served her tea and she did the same to him.

She spend her days crying, but her cries just scared the humans and animals alike. However one day a stranger was passing by, attracted by the strange sound. He disliked the ugly bird but he felt its sadness and he took it out of the odorous swap. She was confused by the stranger but she was being taken away from the clutches of the evil spirit so she kept quite. At the same time she was afraid that when the evil spirit didn't found her, he will got mad at the poor stranger.

The prince acted his part while eating his dango, Ty Lee picked some kabocha mochi. Both looked ridiculous but happy in a sense.

The men took her too far away from the water in a beautiful castle, made of rock, sand and beautiful trees. It was the castle of a powerful Lord loved by all his people for his fair hearth. He leaved her in a fountain, surrounded by sacred fire, because he was a faithful man of Agni.

Azula sat next to her, finishing her second dango "His room is a mess, he can't even kept his socks in the correct drawer, imagine what he will do with a Palace."

She smiled. Her mother was obsessed with cleaning and order, everything in her house had a place. Her clothes were lined by color then size. She never cared where she leaved her clothes but the servants hurry to had everything in order.

"Terrible isn't?" The Princess looked at her.

"Disgusting" She answered and both smirked.

Water from fountain is different than water from the pond, there were no flowers, no fishes or animals to share her sadness, just solid rock. Besides with the spirit away from her, his spell was weakening and some days she could regain her human form. But she kept hiding, sometimes as the ugly bird, sometimes as a dirty maid of the kitchen.

The Prince sat near his mother, who cared his head, he smiled. Ty Lee pretended to be a turtleduck in a pond. And later pretended to be a servant. Azula and her agreed she was not good at neither.

In the meanwhile the evil spirit had become furious for losing her. He had been plotting to enter the sacred place, but it is difficult to trespass sacred ground. Envy and evil plots always surround the great monarchs and so he found men willing to dishonor holy land. And so the war started, the Noble Lord fought bravely for his people and his Kingdome.

Azula drag her to become her ally to fight the Prince, she just stood around them, they liked to fight and she didn't like to mess into their drama.

One day, the Noble Lord got injured by a man possessed by the evil spirit, when she saw the injure she knew immediately who was behind all this madness.

Princess Ursa had to intervene again, both siblings had engaged in a fighting with the sticks of their remains of the dango, and that ended with the Prince being poke in the stomach and Azula just said "He's suppose to have an injury!" Princess Ursa narrowed her eyes, she never believed Azula.

She decided that it's enough of them playing the same roles. She offered Ty Lee the role as the Evil Spirit but she didn't dare, however she happily agree to let Mai be the boring heroine, and she became the follower. Azula offered to be the Noble Lord but the Princess didn't allow it, she argue it's unfair to Mai and Ty Lee. However Ty Lee replied that she was happy to be Azula's follower for a while. No one asked Mai if she was happy.

She had faith in the healers of the Kingdome but when he came back with more injures and they got no cure, she started to give him the right medicine. It's not easy to prepare, neither to get it, because it implied to get the scales of the vipersalamander and grind them, but she didn't mind to hurt herself in order to save the Noble Lord.

She didn't pretend the pain, she hated the role. Still she was praised by Ty Lee. The Prince was taking tea, while touching a part of his stomach, she guessed the part Azula had poked him.

He got better, he went back to battle and got injured again. Sometimes she could act quickly for it was new moon, but some days it's full moon and she spend more time as the ugly bird.

She didn't know how to be a turtleduck, but play the fool was pretty accurate in her opinion.

One day the injuries were so bad that everybody feared he wasn't going to survive, she spent as much time as she could at his side and caught more vipersalamander than usual. Her hands blistered and bleed but she kept working to save him, she was so tired that she drowsed near his bed. And so he found her, even thought he was still feverish, he finally found his savior.

He had bits of kabocha mochi in his lips and fingers. Still he gave her a smile and she thought that maybe she had bits of dorayaki too.

She got scare but he calmed her. He wanted to know how she found the cure to his injuries and why she hurt herself in order to save him. And so she told him the truth, she kowtowed three times for the evil she had brought but he told her: "I rather die saving the most beautiful woman in the world, than all the riches in it." He promised her to free her from the evil spirit and marry her. She promise to be the most faithful wife.

Both made a disgusting face for the whole part, it's ridiculous, stupid and absurd. No Fire Lord in the history ever leave the throne for a woman, they have fought viciously to sat there, even the good ones. The Fire Ladies had done almost the same, she didn't remember a single one who had not poisoned, plotted and murdered in all her life. A good daughter made a marriage for honor and status, her mother had taught her that.

He spoke with the Fire Sage to free her. He was suspicious and rendered as unfaithful and follower of dark paths. How come she could bare the pain of catching the hot animals and grind the hard scales. How come such a pure soul could bare so much dead and blood. The Noble Lord spoke wonderful words of her, the Fire Sage then said that if she had salvation only could have be achieved by  the purest of love, once the Evil Spirit died. And so the Noble Lord promise eternal love only to her.

The Fire Sages were a joke, no one will ask advice from them, except some countryside people who still believed in spirits and that old things. Not even the Avatar existed anymore.

He prepared for the last battle and she gave to him a Dou she had made with vipersalamander scales. One he used it with pride.

And so he went to free his love from the curse, he went directly to the Evil Spirit calling it by its name. The battle was cruel and long, thousands die that day. The Evil Spirit became afraid when he noticed that this time he couldn't hurt the man and became enrage when he realized what his precious bird had done. He realized too, what was supposed to happen.

She didn't gave him anything, he was very happy to go fighting with a serious look and crumbles of the doriyaki he had being eating. The brothers fought each other happily, just this time without the sticks of the dango. Ty Lee cheered for Azula and tried to made her cheer for the Prince.

"That's not in the story" she grumbled.

The Noble Lord fought bravely with all his might, to put an end to the curse. Both knew that one of them was suppose to die. And with the end of the day, the Noble Lord took his most defiant chance, throwing his most powerful attack to the possessed men and so the flames burned the body.

Azula rolled her eyes and complained that the battle had been stupid, nothing extraordinary like an Agni Kai. Hence the story was unworthy in her opinion. She stuffed herself with kabuchi mochis.

He was took by his surviving men to his Castle to celebrate, but what he really was anticipating was the welcome of his soon to be bride. In the town the festiveness could be felt, despite the tragedy, they have won over the evilness. The door of the Castle were opened to the whole town. And soon she found him, she was dress in a beautiful silk hanfu, like her status should be and not the usual one made of ramie.

They didn't pay too much attention to the victorious prince who walked with a puffed chess, even thought he was supposed to be injured. But Mai liked the way his hair swung behind him, it made her remember the colorful pigeonquetzals long ago her mother had in the garden.

Unusually Princess Ursa asked Ty Lee to play the part of the girl. Azula thought it wrong and inaccurate but her mother insisted.

"Your time as his lover was short and he didn't even complained." She told her. Mai rolled her eyes but it's annoyed that the prince didn't say a pip.

She danced and twirled with her long sleeves, showing her beauty to all. He smiled and cheered with the people around. She smiled to him cared his cheek, he hold her hand and gave her his jade*. She took the jade, then laughed and danced with it. He felt uncomfortable but maybe her long stay in the pools and lakes had made her forget proper manners.

Ty Lee twirled, sang a song and smiled at the Prince who observed her with his two brows raised. Probably he thought that she was some kind of exotic animal.

She danced until she thrown the jade. He became angered until he saw the body under her feet, and the woman transformed in a Kiyohime*. She was not his love but a minion of the Water Spirit. His love lied in the ground, with peaches* spread around her and her skin paled by the death.

Mai lied in the floor while eating dango and was thankful the idiot girl had died. She definitely was enjoying this part.

He had broken his word by declaring love to another, and she with it. He fought the spirit but it was too powerful, she laughed and laughed because her master had giving her part of himself in case he failed in the last battle and as protection against what treachery the ugly bird had prepared. He fought and fought with all his might, even thought he had the moon against him, because he didn't care for nothing else but to avenge his loved one.

Ty Lee made an strange smiling enemy who was difficult to attack because she always moved in the last second before the prince could even touch her. Ty Lee made the Prince circle the room several times, in her opinion Ty Lee was winning.

And so tired of his long battles he found himself at his end, the Kiyohime tried to use the water of the fountain to end him. And it seemed it was going to be that way, but in the last minute he felt the call of every firebender. Both attacked for the last time.

"Your Kingdome is in the night but mine is at day." He declared while the sun was rising and his fire increased.

Both felt into the ground, but only the Noble Lord raised, the Spirit had finally been banished. However his sadness was such that he didn't wanted to live in this world anymore, because he had broken his word. He decided to leave this world with honor and prepared to do it with his own sword. But such devotion should be rewarded and the Spirits did it. She opened her eyes and raised with him in the new dawn.

And as remainder of their love, the spirits gave the ugly birds a new form, instead of the brown color they were white or light yellow for the beauty of her warm soul and they had acquired too a hard shell to protect them from evilness...

They heard the sky tremble, it's getting late but the rain hasn't stop. Princess Ursa rose from her place.

"I don't think the storm will pass soon. I'll inform you parents that they don't need to worry, you can stay the night if needed." Ty Lee and Mai looked at each other, they have come to play with the princess several times but they never had spend the night."I'll bring more tea too." She said noticing the empty pot.

The kids watched her go in silence. Azula opened the window and searched something in the sky.

"The turtleducks!" The prince suddenly exclaimed. "It's the story of the turtleducks!" Azula rolled her eyes and made a gesture of repugnance. Ty Lee cued.

"What lame story for a lame animal."

It was.

The prince got angry. "It's about keeping your word!"

"The idiot couldn't distinguish between two women" the princess pointed. "How can that be praised?!"

"He's cheated by the evil spirit!"

"He was suppose to notice the different behavior" Azula argue. "She's always a weak, meek girl, how can she behave in that indecent manner? She could even have another appearance. He's a idiot."

"It's not true" Ty Lee intervened, Azula looked at her. "I have heard the story before, it's said that the Kiyohime spirit had the same appearance than the ugly duck."

Azula narrowed her eyes. "Still, the behavior was different." The Princess was right, the hero did a stupid mistake. "And he has problems fighting the water spirits with a dou of vipersalamander scales"

"If she knew of the scales, why she didn't fought before?" Mai asked.

"Yes, she could have gathered all the information necessary to streak him at his weakest point" Azula pointed. "Probably in a new moon in the summer. Surely she knew more about the spirit."

"She couldn't walk very fast, remember? It's until the Noble Lord took her out of the swap that she could be human again."

"She could have waited to escape in the most advantageous terrain." She replied with calmness. "The story says the Evil Spirit changed constantly of places to sleep." The princess seemed happy with her reasoning.

"He wasn't always in the swap." Ty Lee agree. "She could have escape by her own."

"She wasn't sure to accomplish that, she was afraid, he was very powerful. If she couldn't have pulled it by her own, it'd have been very difficult to escape a second time"

"She could have surprised him" The princess insisted. "Burned him."

"She wasn't a bender" The princess got annoyed with the prince reply "She didn't knew that she could regain her human form, as a bird she couldn't made weapons. That's why she had to wait."

"And it isn't kind of selfish she didn't do anything before the Water Spirit attacked?" She intervened. "People were fighting and she was cleaning the kitchen, when she knew things about the Evil Spirit."

"She was afraid the people gave her back to the Evil Spirit."

"The men almost die and she excuses herself with that?" Azula paced in the room. "Mai is right, she's very selfish a Kingdome was drag to war and she only cleans the kitchen." she crossed her arms. "If it's me, I wouldn't have care for the stupid flowers." Mai nodded, flowers could die. "What would have you done?"

"Cut his throat" she immediately answered.

"Paralyzed him." Ty Lee said. "Probably he'll drown." She shrugged.

"It'd have been great if I could lightingbend and fry him in the spot."

"Great!" Mai said. Ty Lee made the sound of the lighting and the thunder. The three laughed.

"But..." the Prince murmured.

A lighting illuminate the room, followed by a strong thunder. Ty Lee screamed and Azula run to opened the window. Mai closed her eyes however she still saw the white. Even if she covered her ears the sound of the thunder made her deaf for a while.

The Prince said something and Azula laughed, she opened the door of the room and went out. The Prince was going to follow her but he looked at them and decided to stay. Mai put a hand in Ty Lee shoulder who still had her hands covering her ears.

"It surprised me." She felt embarrassed. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Mai asked. She nodded.

The Prince looked at the room, perhaps he felt uncomfortable, he was not used to be alone with them.

"Mom will come back soon, I'm sure" he said picking the scroll from the floor and watched it with a frown.

"I liked the story." Ty Lee told him. "It's about love."

He nodded. "With a strong devotion." Mai will disagree, the men basically cheated her with another woman. "And forgiveness, both do mistakes." Stupid mistakes.

Ty Lee nodded. "Indeed, my mom said that even if you love someone you can't hurt him, even if you don't want to." The Prince looked at her. Mai guessed that made sense, her parents reprimanded her for her own good. She needed to be a good girl and she had to learn how to do that. "That's why you should be very careful with the ones you love." He agreed.

"But in the end, everything goes fine." He smiled and put the book in the corner of the room.

"In an older version, she dies." Ty Lee reveled. The Prince made shocked expression. "And the spirits honored her with the turtleduck, the soft part is like her kind and tender soul, and the shell is like her strong faith in the love and goodness. The Noble Lord it's suppose to never fall in love with anyone and always takes care of the animals." He looked at the floor. "Mom said it's because relationships can be very fragile too. But people didn't like that end and so the one with a happy ending is more popular."

What a scam, the story could have been better if the girl had died.

"I think I prefer the happy one." He murmured.

"So do I" Ty Lee smiled at him. Both looked at her and she grimaced. "She prefers horror stories." Ty Lee confessed to the Prince after a long silence.

"I don't" she was scare of those, but they had little romance.

"The gory the better." That may have some true.

He shrugged. "I prefer stories with adventures and battles." He walked to the door and they followed him, probably he was going to look for his mother. "Some of them are gory."

Ty Lee giggled, Mai was going to roll her eyes but the smile of the Prince stopped her.

"Romantic stories aren't that bad" Ty Lee commented nonchalantly looking at them.

Both made a disgusting face.

"Just silly."

"They're not" Ty Lee complained.

"Have you ever meet a marriage who are madly in love?" Mai challenged them.

Ty Lee opened her mouth then closed it. Ty Lee's mother had been betrothed to her father since children, rarely they were seen together, her father dedicated to his job in the government and her mother was always throwing parties. Her own parents were a political match, two powerful families joining fortune and status. And Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa were a match for the benefit of the Nation. Even Prince Iroh married Princess Zhen Huan, the daughter of the powerful Asakura clan.

The Prince and Ty Lee looked at her.

"My mother believes in love" The prince mumbled. She cocked a brow. "But you're right."

She felt terrible.

-

*Kabocha is a japanese pumking. Decided to stick with the mochis because Azula liked them in Smoke and Shadow.

*The valley of the lost flowers. Another story I created for another fanfic, features Koh.

*Uta Gurata. Japanese Card Game, contains 100 cards, with a waka poem written on each. I used to play a simplified game while studying japanese, it’s fun.

*Momotaro. A famous Japanese folklore story.

*The dance of the monkey and the sparrow is part of a japanese folklore story from Japanese Children’s favorite stories by Florence Sakade.

*Doriyaki and dango are japanese sweets.

*Jade and peaches. Reference to some poems from the Book of songs, ancient chinese poetry. But they are expression of love.

* Kiyohime. A japanese spirit, part woman part serpent. I just used the name because the story of the Kiyohime is different that the one I used here.