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Zuko had always known in his heart that being the Fire Lord was his destiny. Even back when he had no idea what being Fire Lord entailed exactly. He had always assumed it would involve leading men into glorious battles or sailing around the world with the wind sweeping his hair. It never ever occurred to him that being Fire Lord on most days meant paperwork. Heeps and mountains of tedious paperwork. Orders to sign off on, petitions to answer, budget plans to approve, infrastructure plans, requisitions, trade deals, laws - it was all on scrolls, first covering the desk of his private study, then slowly invading the shelves, and the floor like an unstoppable flood.The paper-mountain was more bewildering for the young Fire Lord than the five assassination attempts. After all, he was a trained vigilante himself. Moving around silently, matching blade with blade, fire with fire was something he was good at. He was never particularly good with endless piles of paper. At first, after his coronation, he went to his war council with the papers. They were all respected generals, the best strategic masterminds of the Fire Nation. Unfortunately, it turned out the members of his war council were only good at war; none of them were any good at peace. They knew how to attack and take position, secure supply lines, choose strategic targets - they knew nothing about trade, budget or infrastructure.Zuko then tried to talk to his father, who mostly stared at him menacingly, or spoke poisonous words that made him feel like a worthless child again. In his desperation, he even visited Azula ( after all, she was good at everything ) willing to offer her truce in exchange for her help, but the princess was not in a chatty mood. She set the scrolls he carried with him on fire and burnt through her bounds long enough to send a quick lightning bolt at him. Zuko, after redirecting the lightning, concluded that he had no choice but to deal with the paper mountain himself and read everything trying to understand and solve all the problems from the environmental devastation of the river near Kaipu factory to the many problems of the Fire Nation colonies. It was certainly a crash course in government, one that ended with Zuko collapsing with exhaustion and waking up in Ba Sing Se, in Iroh’s tea shop, surrounded by the scent of calming jasmine tea.There, in their old apartment, sitting cross-legged on the floor, his uncle gently explained to Zuko how to prioritize and delegate. More importantly, after the exhaustion incident, Iroh showed up every few months, with his tea pot and his pai sho table to spend time with Zuko and help him with the paper mountain. On his second visit, he brought along Ryu. She was a strict-looking lady in her fifties vouched for by the White Lotus and as it turned out, she was an excellent paper-bender. A true master of paper-bending. She filtered and organized files, and somehow made sure that Zuko was always on top of the paper-mountain. She guarded his private office like a dragon, ensuring that the Fire Lord saw all the scrolls he needed to see, and more importantly avoided the ones he did not need to see.So these days, Zuko’s study had a somewhat manageable pile of papers. Still, he spent many evenings working late into the night. As he was reading through a particularly detailed document of a new plan to repurpose the old army drills to machines for road construction, Zuko’s delicate hearing picked up strange noises coming from outside his door. He hadn’t had an assassination attempt in months, but his senses went on high alert immediately. He leapt up, silently sneaking towards the door with his dagger in his hand and threw the door open. He immediately saw the dark figure that had one of the Kyoshi warriors pinned against the wall. Zuko grabbed the man and with a quick motion thrust his blade against his throat.“No, Zuko!” yelled Suki in distress. Zuko realized he was staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes. He pulled back his blade and let Sokka go with a relieved sigh.“Way to greet your guests, your Hotheadedness,” Sokka grimaced at him, rubbing his neck with a pained expression.“Only self-invited guests,” grinned Zuko widely “who sneak up to snog my guards while on duty.” He was too overjoyed to see his friend to care about protocol, but he never missed an opportunity to poke fun at Sokka and Suki, and the way they somehow felt compelled to continue sneaking around even if the whole world already knew that they were a couple.“What brings you here, buddy?” He gave Sokka a brief hug.“I wanted to do some research in the royal library.” Sokka replied with a shrug. “Research in the royal library” was obviously code-word for spending time with Suki, but neither of them ever admitted that. Zuko let him keep his pretenses, as long as he kept hanging out the palace. It was what his ministers called a win-win, or in this case maybe even a win-win-win situation, if Suki's blush visible even under layers of face-paint was anything to go by.“Research on what?” he asked innocently.“Oh, on this and that, you know.”
Sokka’s voice went an octave high which was a sure sign that he was lying. Zuko just kept staring at him with his eyebrow raised. Sokka’s eyes went round at the silent insinuation. “I mean not that. Definitely not that. There’s a new island off the coast of the South Pole and it is unclear…”“Researching the history of an iceberg?” Zuko snorted. “You should come up with a better explanation, Sokka. Come, I need your eyes on something.”Sokka looked back at Suki with a certain regret, but followed Zuko into the study. He plopped down on the chair opposite of Zuko’s and put his booted feet on the exquisitely carved red cedar desk. Zuko gave him the scroll with the drill re-purposing plans. Sokka examined the schematics and nodded with appreciation. “Really seems like a good plan. It looks like something that I would come up with. You see the turning bit over here...” Sokka got into a longish explanation of the mechanics of the gizmo, but Zuko’s overtired brain just tuned it out. He took the paper, put a royal seal of approval on it and dropped it in the basket that Ryu marked for completed. “That was all?” Sokka asked, anxious to head back to Suki.Zuko was not going to let him off that easy.
“One less paper. It calls for celebration.” He rubbed his tired eyes and asked the servants to bring some plum wine. “You need to fill me in what’s going on with everyone, I haven’t heard from them in ages.” Zuko poured a generous helping of the spirit into Sokka’s cup and handed it over.“You met Aang at the annual peace talks like a month ago,” Sokka protested but took the cup nevertheless. If Zuko learnt one thing of Water Tribe men, it was that they would never refuse a drink and took it as an affront when someone did. Which left Zuko more than once in excruciating pain. The inevitable after-effects of whale vodka. So pay-back was only fair.“Well, you know, there is never time for real talk during those awful things,” Zuko countered. Both him and Aang hated the peace talks. It was full of insufferable people who always took the opportunity to make the Avatar and the Fire Lord feel like naive kids. He loathed the endless ceremonies, the pomp, the small talk, the stiff dinners. When things got too much, they sometimes climbed on the roof with Aang, just trying to get away from it all for a few minutes.
When life was particularly unbearable, they even did the dragon dance under the stars. “Give me the real news...”Sokka nodded. “Well, have you heard that Toph got into another epic splat with the town council men in Gaoling when one of her students broke into the town treasury and claimed it was a metalbending exam…” and he talked and talked. It was not hard to picture Toph, while older, still tiny and as intimidating as ever, giving a piece of her mind to some town leaders who never knew what hit them. Katara was apparently having her own clashes at the South Pole where she was leading a big reconstruction effort of her tribe. Zuko smiled as he imagined vividly her ocean blue eyes turning stormy as she faced some old guys who frowned at her for trying to change the “old ways”.Zuko longed for Team Avatar being together. They all did, but ending the war was just the beginning. They were building a new world, and they all fought the same battle in different scales. The war was not only about armies, the battle-lines were etched people’s hearts and souls like a lingering poison.He turned back to Sokka to refill his cup with some more plum wine, but he was snoring already, his mouth open and his head rolled to the side.
-0-
Sokka woke up with a terrible headache. Damn Zuko and his plum wine, he thought as his memories slowly came back. The bed beside him was empty. He was not sure if Suki spent the night there or if he was merely dreaming it. Rubbing his eyes, he staggered out of his room. The palace was already a bustle of activity; the Fire Nation woke with the first rays of the sun. One of the servants - or as Zuko liked to call them these days: employees - noticed him.“Would you like a bath, Master Sokka?”Sokka sniffed himself and decided that a bath was definitely a good idea. He followed the boy to the baths and watched him firebend the water. It was really unfair how the Fire Nation had an endless supply of bathwater-warmers, while in the South Pole where warm baths were a rare luxury, they had to go through the pain of building actual fires and warming water which cooled almost immediately. Sokka sighed happily as he submerged himself in the fragrant, warm water and started to imagine a grand scheme where the Fire Nation would send firebenders to do bathwater-warming duty on the South Pole as war reparations. He would definitely had to suggest it to Zuko some day.When his fingertips started to look like pickled sea-prunes (mmm, sea prunes , his stomach grumbled loudly), he got out of the tub and wrapped himself in a fancy red bathrobe made of silk. His clothes were taken by the bathwarmer boy who probably found it unfit for the royal palace in terms of odour and cleanliness.Sokka made his way to the kitchen, where the cook, a plump woman called Yio gave him a big smile and wink.“Master Sokka, good to see you here again. Your presence always cheers up the palace. Would you like the usual?”“I could definitely go for those wonderful poached eggs.” Sokka learnt fast that flattery went a very long way with the woman. “And something sweet if you have it.”“Of course, dear. I’ve been preparing steamed tea-dumplings. General Iroh is due for a visit soon,” Yio chatted while she filled a giant plate with generous portions of rice, poached eggs, meat, fish and fruit. And of course the dumplings.Sokka took his plate and wondered around in search of Suki. He found her on the training ground, commanding the Kyoshi warriors and palace guards in what looked like a joint training exercise. Sokka marvelled - and secretly envied - her confidence. She made being in charge look so effortless as if she was doing it her whole life. Well, she actually was doing it her whole life.Sitting on the sidelines, under the pleasant shade of a cherry tree, Sokka started to work through his enormous breakfast with quiet concentration to the sound of swords, knives and fans. Suki noticed him after a few minutes and called a swift end to the training.“Look who’s up,” she kissed him on the cheek and used his lapse in attention to steal a dumpling.Sokka yawned. “It’s the plum wine. And Zuko’s incessant talking. It was impossible to get away.”Suki gave him a sceptical look.
“Funny. I always thought Zuko was not much of a talker unless you count groans, huffs and grimaces as talking… Are you sure he was the one impossible to get away from?”Sokka shrugged. “Fine. We had things to catch up on. Manly things.”“Right,” Suki grinned. “Manly things. You mean gossip.”“No, things man like. You know like swords and ice-fishing and…” Sokka drew a blank on all the supposed manly topics.“Zuko and ice fishing? I can’t imagine that.”Sokka decided change of tactics was a better option. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively,“Now, I’m imagining other things.”“What things?” she moved closer.He could have sworn Suki blushed a bit under the layers of makeup.“Some library research…” he linked his fingers in hers.Suki laughed. “That’s sweet, but I’m working now. I think you have to do library alone.”“That’s not nearly as much fun…” sighed Sokka.“How about - I’ll find you during my lunch-break?” Suki suggested.Sokka pouted and was rewarded with a brisk peck on the lips before she left. He sat with his empty plate somewhat glumly now that his morning plans were destroyed. Luckily he was the plan guy. Which meant he had backup plans. If he couldn’t do “library research” in quotation marks, maybe he could do some real library research instead. That would be the perfect way to get back at Zuko for mocking him yesterday.Feeling better now that new plans were in motion, he made his way over to the Fire Lord’s private collection. He pulled out some old scrolls from the royal history section - those often had juicy stories and even juicier illustrations. He loved reading them. Strictly for science, obviously.Soon, Sokka was so engrossed in a story about the life and deeds of one Princess Miyu and her twin brother Hayao, that he did not notice a shadow creeping up on him. He jumped when something cold touched the back of his neck and let out a most unmanly scream. Suki giggled.“Does everybody in this place have to be this sneaky?” Sokka huffed.“Stealth is kind of my thing,” Suki smiled and to prove her point, she slid her fingers inside the red silk bathrobe Sokka was still wearing.“I guess it has it’s positive sides,” Sokka leaned closer, mollified at her soft touch. As soon as their lips met, a loud coughing disrupted them. They jumped apart immediately like two kids caught stealing pies. One of the guards stood awkwardly in the doorway.
“Suki, we have a situation at the gates.”
“What situation?” Suki straightened her uniform surreptitiously. It was already completely straight.“There is a ... strange... man demanding to see the Fire Lord.”Suki pursed her lips and looked at the guard annoyed. “So? You know the rules on appointments.”“But this person claims he knows personally the Fire Lord and it’s a matter of life or death. But… well… it could very well be that he’s just completely nuts...” The guard made a gesture that was univerally understood in all four nations as the sign for someone not having their brain screwed in right.Suki sighed. “I better check this out.”
Sokka’s curiosity was spiked. “I’ll come, too.” There had better be a good reason to so rudely interrupt their “lunch break”.The loud voices of an argument could be heard before they even reached the gates. Sokka stared in disbelief at the half-naked man covered in red and white tattoos. Heavy golden earrings hang from his ear-lobes and he wore a hideous pony-tail on his bald head. Not unlike the one, Zuko used to wear back in the old days when he was still bad and chased them around the world.“Who are you? And how do you know the Fire Lord?” asked Suki.“Like I’m gonna tell you that,” the man said dismissively.“I know - it’s obvious. He knows Zuko because they used to go to the same hairdresser,” chuckled Sokka. That was a great joke. He would have to remember to tell it to Zuko.
Suki and the man did not share in the hilarity.“I’m sorry, but we cannot let you in until you state your business clearly.” Suki sounded very official sometime. Sokka liked that about her. Well, he liked pretty much everything about her. Except the make-up. That was rather
impractical
at times.“And I’m not going anywhere until I’ve seen Prince Zuko…” The man crossed his arms across his chest in challenge.“I told you he’s Fire Lord now,” one of the guards gruffed.The guy with the earrings and ponytail ignored the interruption and continued to address Suki. “Many lives hang in the balance and the masters need him.”“Masters?” Suki asked.“His firebending masters…” the man clarified in a way one would when one states a fact so obvious that all reasonable people in the world would know it.“You mean General Iroh?” Sokka asked. Maybe something happened to Iroh and this man knew about it? Zuko’s uncle sometimes liked to travel with questionable characters.“No, I mean the masters.” Ponytail-guy corrected him pompously. Firebending masters - as in not one. At least two. But more than one. Strange people. Sokka’s brain was spinning at full speed, working the problem.“I know now. You must be from that island Aang and Zuko took a little field trip to, when Zuko lost his....” Sokka cut himself off, realizing that announcing to the world the bit of a rough patch their beloved Fire Lord, Agni Incarnate or whatever nonsense they liked to believe in the Fire Nation went through with his bending was maybe not the best idea.“Lost what?” It was Ponytail-guy’s turn to be baffled.“An... egg?” Sokka offered with a sheepish smile. Suki facepalmed. Damn. Why did he always say egg whenever someone caught him off guard with a question.
“You know about the egg?” Ponytail-guy was seemingly shaken by this. “Nobody can know about the egg.” What was he even talking about?
Sokka realized that the conversation was running away from him. The guards stared at them in utter confusion.
He whispered to Suki. “I think we better discuss this in private, with Zuko.”“You think we should let him in?” asked Suki sceptically.“I think we would want to get to the bottom of this riddle. And I’m your guy, if you need to solve a riddle. My middle name is Mr Riddle.”“You only have one name, Sokka,” Suki replied dryly. She turned to the man. “Come with us then.”The man squared his shoulders, puffed out his chest and gestured rudely at the guards. As the trio walked towards the palace, dressed in a full Kyoshi uniform, in a red bathrobe and in next to nothing with lots of tattoos, Sokka could not help thinking: What in the spirits had just happened?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Zuko and three of his advisers were standing around what looked like an enormous map of the Fire Nation. As the door opened, Zuko looked up and his good eye bugged out in utter shock, while the other narrowed even more than usual. Defying the laws of how faces worked, Zuko managed to look surprised and disapproving at the same time.“This meeting is adjourned,” he managed to say regally. (Sokka was sure his friend practiced that for ages with a badger-frog before he managed to pull it off). His advisers bowed and left the room taking the enormous map with them.As soon as the door closed, Zuko went from composed Fire Lord into full melt-down mode in the blink of an eye.“What is he doing here? You know better than disturb meetings on land-reclamation, Suki! And will someone tell me what is going on?” he said breathlessly, while waving his hands at all three of them in turn.“Clearly, not here for the hospitality,” their half-naked companion sneered.“You really know this guy?” Suki asked surprised.“Yes. He’s one of the Sun Warriors we met with Aang. Hamgo or something.”“Ham Ghao. And you were not supposed to tell anyone,” the Sun Warrior pointed a finger accusingly at Zuko.“About what? I didn’t tell anyone,” Zuko shook his head in denial.“I think he’s talking about the dragons?” Sokka offered helpfully.“Well, then how did he know?” Ham Ghao asked triumphantly like he just caught the Fire Lord in an obvious lie. Zuko glared at Sokka.“That’s just Sokka. And anyways it was Aang, not me. He told Sokka. Nobody else knows.” Zuko was lying through his teeth. He was also really really bad at it. Even worse than Katara and Sokka never knew a more pathetic liar than his sister. That is until he met Zuko.“Except Katara and Toph,” Sokka reminded him.“They are friends, they’d never tell anyone.” Zuko insisted, his golden eyes darting murderous looks now in Sokka’s direction.“And Teo was there, Haru and The Duke.” Sokka counted off on his fingers, undisturbed by his friend’s disapproving glares. The situation was already confusing. A good investigation started with fact-finding. Everyone knew that.“No, they weren’t,” Zuko frowned.“They totally were, Zuko,” Sokka shrugged.“In any case, they wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“So how do you explain the attack and the missing eggs?” Ham Ghao asked impatiently.“What eggs?” Zuko looked confused.“Oh, you were good with the act. We are here to learn from the masters, but all you wanted to do was was steal dragon eggs,” the Sun Warrior hissed.“No, we didn’t. I don’t steal. Well, not anymore.” Zuko looked a bit sheepish which gave way to more confusion. “Wait, the gem was a dragon egg?”“Didn’t it look like an egg?” Ham Ghao asked sarcastically.“I suppose,” Zuko admitted with a shrug.“It looks like an egg, it quacks like an egg…”“No, it didn’t quack,” Zuko shook his head vehemently. “Never mind...None of this makes sense. Where is your chief?”“He was taken, with the eggs. Also the other warriors.” Ham Ghao tapped his filthy foot on the hand-knotted silk rug for emphasis.“Why didn’t they take you?” Suki asked the man. She had a point. Suki was good at the investigation stuff. Maybe when Suki was done with protecting Zuko and Sokka was done doing his library research, they could set up a detective agency somewhere together.
The Kyoshi-Water Investigations. He could almost picture the colourful sign by their door.“Well, it was… I was sneak..taking a walk… You know what, it’s none of your business.” Ham Ghao crossed his arms defensively across his chest.“It kind of is. Did you see the attackers?” Sokka joined in the interrogation.“They were silent, like shadows and had red paint around the eyes.” The warrior imitated the shape of the paint.“The Whispering Shadows.” Zuko and Suki both said at once and gave each other a meaningful look. Sokka felt left out immediately having never heard anything about hush-hush
ninjas.“Wait? What is that? Why do you give everything such sinister names?”“They are a splinter group of the Yu Yan Archers, trained to be assassins. They vanished at the end of the war, but every once in a while, they come out of the shadows and strike. Nobody knows how to find them,” Zuko explained.“Yeah, leave it to the Fire Nation to train super-ninja assassins and lose them,” Sokka said sarcastically.Zuko gave him an apologetic shrug. Apologizing for stupid things the Fire Nation did when his dad was Fire Lord seemed to be a big part of Zuko’s job. Sokka did not envy him; it seemed like a terrible job to have.“You have to fix this,” Ham Ghao urged Zuko.“Why me?”“Because without the eggs, there will be no more dragons. And without the dragons, firebending may die too.” Well, don’t sugarcoat it, Sokka thought.
It looked like prototype ancient sun-warriors were just as dramatic bunch as the Fire Nation.“May die?” Zuko looked at Ham Ghao sceptically.“You want to take the risk?” The sun warrior retorted with his eyebrow raised. Zuko’s silent grimace and sigh was the only answer they needed. “I didn’t think so,” gloated the half-naked guy.Zuko called for the servants and asked them to take care of the Sun Warrior. When he finally left the room, they looked at each other perplexed.“What do we do?” Suki asked.“Well, I can’t send the army. We don’t want the word about the dragons getting around. It’s too dangerous. We have to do this ourselves.” Zuko paced nervously in the study.“We should send for Aang.”“Aang is busy sorting out the conflict between Omashu and Ba Sing Se and prevent a civil war in the Earth Kindom,” Zuko grimaced. “We can’t afford to send him on a dragon-egg hunt.”“How about the scary chick with the ugly mole?” Sokka suggested hopefully.“June? Nayla needs a smell sample to work with,” Zuko shook his head.“But if we can’t find these shadow-freaks - where do we even start?”“I have an idea,” Zuko said quietly, but his face remained grim. He must not have liked the idea very much.“Any chance I will like it?” Sokka asked anyway.“No. Not a chance.” Zuko confirmed his fears.“OK, let’s go.” Suki nodded.
Zuko changed out of the formal regalia into his normal tunic and led the way through the corridors to a back entrance where a balloon was docked on a launch pad.
It was obviously a
discreet way for the Fire Lord to travel without his usual royal retinue. Zuko resented the the big production every time he travelled - it cramped his style.
“Why are we taking a war balloon?” Sokka asked.“It’s not a war balloon.” Zuko retorted. “There is no war anymore.”“Right. So what do you call it now? A peace balloon?” Sokka chuckled at his own joke, but both Suki and Zuko just groaned.“Just a balloon.” Zuko got into the basket. He blasted fire in the furnace and the balloon rose into the azure sky.“So... are you going to tell me where we are going?” Sokka asked when it became obvious that his friend would not volunteer the information.“My sister.” Zuko muttered, visibly uncomfortable.“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you right.” Sokka couldn’t believe his ears. Why would they go to see Zuko’s crazy sister who personally tried to murder every single one of them? “Are you completely mad? Zuko, this is crazy. She’s the last person you want to ask.”“She is the last person.” Zuko snapped. “She’s not so bad. She changed," he added without much conviction.At Suki’s skeptical
grimace he added more quietly. “A little.”“And anyways, last I heard she was in the loony place.”“Mental hospital.” Zuko corrected Sokka.
“But she’s not there anymore. We are trying something else.”“ We. Why weren’t I consulted?” Sokka did not like where this was heading. Not one bit.“I talked to Aang. And anyways, it’s family business.”
“No, it’s not. When your sister tries to kill my sister, you don’t get to claim family business.”
“Well, it’s done, and we are here,” Zuko lowered the balloon as the contours of the little island with rocky shores appeared in the haze. "You'll see it for yourself."
-0-
They climbed the long path up to the simple, but elegant villa; the sole building on the island. It was kind of a halfway house, a compromise they struck once Azula realized that she was much better off cooperating with the staff of the mental institution than trying to set them on fire. The heavily guarded, remote island was a test of sorts; she got more freedom than in the hospital - a garden to walk in, a household to run, a place to practice firebending - and a chance to show that she could be trusted not to hurt people.Azula was waiting for them on the top of the path, standing tall, her shiny black hair loose in the wind. She always managed to look regal, even in her plain clothes.“Who died?” she asked sardonically.“What?” Zuko arched his eyebrow.“There has to be a reason my brother visits my humble home when it is not the last Friday of the month. Bringing such illustrious guests - Suki and …” she cast a scornful glance in Sokka’s direction, “...Socket?”“Sokka,” he protested immediately glaring at Azula, who just shrugged we an annoying little smirk.“Well, don’t just stand there,” she invited them into the house.
“Do tell me what brought you here.”They entered the living room. The wall was covered with paintings of black and red blotches, crisscrossed with blue. Zuko didn’t remember seeing these at his last visit.“What are these?” he waved at the pictures.“I paint. The doctors think self-expression is healthy,” Azula shrugged, but the way she said those words made it very clear that she did not have a high opinion about the therapeutic value of artistic expression.“It looks....” Zuko paused, searching for words.“Soothing?” Azula asked wryly without missing a beat. She was so much like her old self again. On most days, Zuko couldn’t
decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing.“...original,” he finished the sentence.Azula prepared a pot and put cups on the table. “Here, have some tea. I was told it's calming. Uncle keeps sending me new blends all the time. I think this one is called dragon-tears. Quite dramatic, don’t you think?”Sokka sniffed at the teapot with suspicion.Azula scoffed and poured a cup for herself. “Oh, come on. It’s not poisoned. Do you really think I would do that to my only brother?”“Yes, that’s exactly what we think.” Sokka affirmed.“Well, I’m disappointed in you. If I wanted to kill dear Zuko here, I would never do something quite so...unimaginative,” she sneered.“Cut it out, Azula.” Zuko closed the argument short by taking the cup and tasting the brew. She actually made really good tea, he thought with sudden irritation. Even with his teashop training, Zuko could never get it quite right, but apparently Azula was a natural. Like in everything. The thought was petty and absurd, so Zuko shoved it into the back of his mind. There was no reason to make a competition out of everything, but old habits died hard.
“Sure. So let’s get down to business,” she smiled magnanimously.“The Whispering Shadows. How do I find them?” Zuko asked, cutting to the heart of the matter. Azula’s expression remained that of detached amusement.She shook her head. “You don’t. We trained them too well for that.”“You are lying. I know Father sent them on jobs.”“I’m not lying, Zuko.” Azula waved her hand as if her ever bending the truth was a truly preposterous notion. “ You don’t find them. They find you. Why are you looking for them anyway?”“They took something important. Something that puts the balance of the world at risk,” he replied evasively.Azula rolled her eyes. “Oh, your precious balance. We wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?”“So how do I get them find me?” Zuko asked impatiently.“You want to go after them yourself? Don’t you have armies to command?”“It’s a super-secret mission,” Sokka interjected.“I could tell you. But I have a condition,” she smiled like a predator feeling the scent of blood.“You are not in a position to make conditions,” Sokka slammed his fist on the table for emphasis.“Yet, here you are, looking for answers, only I can give.”Nobody could contradict her astute assessment.Looking at her triumphant smile, Zuko suddenly remembered why this was a terrible idea. He jumped to his feet in a huff.
“Fine. I’ll figure it out my way.”Azula hurried after him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Dum-Dum. No need to be so dramatic.” Her voice was soft, soothing. As she got older she didn’t only look like, but also sounded more and more like their mother, which just added extra knots to the confusing mess Zuko felt about her.
“Look, I’m not crazy, not anymore. I… know it’s in my best interest to cooperate. And so far - I’ve behaved.”“I know. Which is why they agreed to let you out of the institution and to this island. I wanted you to be more comfortable,” Zuko replied, his anger slowly dissipating.“And I appreciate it. I do. But I’m bored, Zuko. There is only so many paintings, only so many pai sho games one can suffer through. I want to do something. I need to do something useful. I want to go with you.” This was as close as Azula ever came to pleading.Zuko hesitated. He wanted to believe she could change, but he also had a long experience with her mind games and manipulation. “That’s a lot you’re asking me to trust you after everything.”“I know it is. But I can help you. Just take me back with you and I’ll prove it to you… I want to help you, Zuko,” she added, her honey-coloured eyes serious.“Why?” Zuko frowned, his resistance weakening.“Because I have nothing better to do,” she smirked, sensing her victory.“At the first sign of betrayal or if you hurt any of my friends…” Zuko felt necessary to lay down his terms.Azula held up her hands with a bored expression, “Yeah. I know, you don’t have to spell it out. You won’t regret it.”Zuko really, really hoped he didn’t just make the worst mistake of his life.
-0-
The Palace looked different; brighter, more peaceful. Zuko apparently had time in between all the peace conferences and babysitting the Avatar for some redecoration. It mostly involved getting rid of all of the Sozin-portraits and other symbolic art that celebrated the conquests of the empire. Well, it was no wonder Zuzu developed simplistic tastes having lived for so long like a commoner.Azula walked with her head held high, ignoring the silently hostile stares of the servants, or the way the hands of the royal guard were kept ready to bend at any moment. Their fear was exhilarating. She felt so helpless for such a long time; their unease made her feel in control again. It was an incredible feeling to be back -
she didn’t think it would be so easy.
Trust and family were apparently still Zuko’s weakness. Her foolish, soft, big brother, she thought with a mixture of fondness and contempt. No wonder he was being eaten alive in the political arena.“This way,” she marched towards Ozai’s old study, which stood unused. Apparently, Zuko did not have the stomach to take residence in their father’s old space. She walked to the bookshelf and placed a burning palm on a carved dragon head on the wall. The bookcase slid aside, exposing a secret staircase.“I never knew it was there,” Zuko frowned.“You should have come exploring with me more,” Azula replied lightly. She knew from early childhood that information was power, something Zuko failed to fully grasp.“That is a nifty design.” Sokka said appreciatively, examining the mechanics of the systems.“What’s down there?” Suki asked.“Dad’s secret archive.” Azula opened her palm lighting a small blue flame. Zuko sucked in a sharp breath seeing her fire, but did not comment. Another small victory, she thought watching the dancing light. She spun on her heels and headed down the stairs.“What are we looking for?” Sokka asked
glancing around the chamber that held three big chests filled with scrolls.Azula opened the first chest. “A map. Every adventure starts with a map.”Sokka gave her a grimace. The papers rustled as they opened scroll after scroll.“Well, look, here it is,” Azula smiled triumphantly after a few minutes of searching, opening a scroll marked with the insignia of the Whispering Shadows.“So that’s it? That’s where they are?” Sokka pointed to one of the locations marked with red circles.“No. These are drop sites. We drop a message and they’ll find us.” Azula corrected him.“Simple,” he said picking up the map.“Except, of course, you need to know the code,” Azula added lightly.“Which is?” Suki stepped closer.“If I tell you, what stops you from leaving me behind?”“Azula,” Zuko warned.
“I like to be valuable,” she winked at them.“What is she talking about?” Sokka demanded.Zuko gave an exasperated sigh. “We’ll talk about it later. Uncle will be here for dinner. I need to take care of something before.”“There is no way she’s coming with us,” Sokka insisted.“We’ll talk about it later,” Zuko repeated with apparent annoyance and headed up the stairs. Azula
gave the gaping water-tribe boy a boastful look and followed after her brother.They walked together to her old rooms in silence. She pretended not to see the eight guards who followed them at a not-so-discreet distance.“Well, home sweet home,” he gestured inside. “I had your mirror fixed, but otherwise nothing’s been touched.”Azula felt something catch in her throat. Did that mean that Zuko expected her to be back at some point? Or probably he was just too dumb to even think that he could comb the room for useful information. It didn’t matter either way. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to rest now.”Zuko nodded and headed towards the door, but lingered in the doorway, hesitantly. “Azula, Uncle is coming for dinner. I’d appreciate…”“Don’t worry. I’ll behave. Thanks, Zuko.”“Don’t make me regret this, Azula.” The warning was clear in Zuko’s voice. The door closed behind him. Finally, thought Azula, as she looked around the familiar space. Here she was. One step closer. To what? Well, that was a bit blurry still. Greatness, of course. She would make it up as they went along. She would figure out something, after all, her mind was her own again. Or was it? She turned towards the mirror with apprehension and let out a sigh of relief when no trace of her mother appeared on the shining surface.
-0-
“Uncle.” Zuko exclaimed happily and tackled Iroh into an embrace as soon as the old man climbed off the airship.“Uncle.” Sokka yelled at the same time, and made it a three-way hug.Zuko felt a slight irritation that somehow, somewhere along the way, Iroh ceased to be his uncle only and became the uncle of the entire Team Avatar. Aang used his tea-shop for all kinds of spiritual gatherings, Iroh listened patiently to Toph’s grumbling whenever she went over for dinner, he corresponded with Katara about politics, brought things over from the Earth Kingdom for Suki and the Kyoshi warriors and he was teaching Sokka how to play pai sho.“Well, it’s nice that you have company, Zuko. It makes for a livelier dinner,” he grinned. “I hope you asked the cook to prepare a roast duck with the plum glaze.”“There’s a situation, Uncle.” Zuko said trying to ease Iroh into the mess they somehow managed to find themselves in.“Oh. Something happened to the roast duck?” Iroh frowned with apparent dismay.“No, it’s not about the roast duck.” Zuko replied irritably. “It’s a long, complicated story.”“A half-naked guy showed up in the palace claiming that Zuko needs to find some stolen dragon eggs that were taken by evil
chattering
assassins impossible to find. Zuko had the brilliant idea of visiting Princess Nuts for some answers, but instead of answers she sweet-talked herself into coming back to the palace and now she wants to come along on our super-secret mission as well. And if we fail, it may or may not be the end of all firebending.” Sokka sputtered without taking a breath. “On the upside, we have a map.”“So I was wondering if you could take over firelording for a little while?” Zuko added hopefully. “Only until we take care of the egg-problem?”Iroh seemed speechless for a moment, which was definitely a bad thing. Having spent three long years with Iroh, stuck on a boat Zuko knew from experience that Uncle never really ran out of things to say. He looked questioningly between the two boys, and when he seemed satisfied that it was not an elaborate prank at his expense, he sighed. “Why don’t we discuss this a little more over dinner?”
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Sokka’s mouth burned and tears were piercing his eyes. Damn it. He forgot about how everything in the Fire Nation was so ridiculously spicy. The roast duck was flavoured with a crust of select hot peppers, the sea-weed was pickled with hot-root, even the noodles were flavoured with something piquant. He stopped being able to discern flavours about six bites ago. Sokka took a sip from his cup to soothe the stinging pain and started hiccuping immediately.“Are you OK? I can get you something milder ,” Zuko asked in a tone that made it clear that everything was ordered extra-spicy, possibly in retaliation for the sea-prune dinners the Fire Lord suffered through at the South Pole once Sokka (mis)informed him that in Water Tribe culture it was considered a huge offense to refuse any food offered.“I’m fine,” Sokka managed to squeak out between two hiccups. No Water Tribe warrior will back down from some chili peppers.“Try the pig-chicken curry. It’s delicious,” Zuko smirked pushing another dish in front of him. Sokka scooped out a spoonful with a resigned face, secretly plotting his revenge for next time. If Zuko thought he had seen everything, he was very wrong. There was plenty of revolting dishes left in the South Pole cuisine. Shark-whale balls stuffed with moss-paste. Turtle-seal haggis. Jellied toad-eel. Blubber-fish eye soup. “Do you think it’s possible that firebending would disappear with the dragons like Ham Ghao said?” Zuko turned back to Iroh who started the dinner in a good mood but appeared increasingly grim as they told him everything about the stolen eggs.Uncle placed his chopsticks on his bowl and scratched his beard thoughtfully. “Balance is a delicate thing, Zuko. The disappearance of a fire moth can destroy even the mighty tiger-dillos.” What did that even mean? “Was this an answer?” Sokka whispered elbowing Zuko.
Zuko’s reply was a shrug and an eye-roll to indicate that Iroh’s maddening ability to come up with a nonsensical proverb in every situation was nothing new to him. It probably wasn’t. Sokka always assumed that Iroh was the innocent victim of angry-jerk Zuko’s angry-jerk temper during their long years at sea. Now he was reconsidering.
Perhaps, the prince’s temper wasn’t entirely unprovoked.“What I’m saying is that it’s difficult to see all consequences,” Iroh clarified patiently.“We must try then to stop it.” Suki added with determination.“Stop what? Sorry, I’m late,” Azula stood in the doorway, in formal red military uniform, her hair tied in a traditional top-knot; a stark contrast to Zuko’s and Iroh’s casual outfits and untied hair..“Nice of you to join us. You look great, Azula,” Iroh complimented her niece politely.“I can see Ba Sing Se is treating you well, Uncle. I don’t remember you being quite so...rotund…” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she sat down.“Earth Kingdom food is truly exquisite, Niece,” replied Iroh mildly, rubbing his round belly with a contented expression. “Certainly, better than prison grub.” Ouch. “I am well aware, Uncle.” Azula’s smile didn’t falter. She seemed to enjoy the verbal barbs. If this is what a normal dinner looked like in the Fire Nation Royal family, it was no wonder they were all so messed up. Azula looked around the room like she was owning the place. She almost had. Even after everything, she was still one heartbeat away from owning the place, which was a rather unsettling thought. Maybe it was time to get Zuko on some dates.Azula picked up a piece of the extra-spicy duck with her chopsticks, dipped it into some fiery red hot sauce and popped the whole thing into her mouth. She didn’t even flinch. “So what doom are we stopping?” she smiled lightly.“The possible end of all firebending,” Zuko replied in an overly dramatic tone as if he was announcing the end of the world.“Would it be the worst thing though? If firebending disappeared?” Sokka wondered aloud, voicing a thought that had been swirling in his head. What if they looked at this all wrong? What if it wasn’t a problem to solve, but an opportunity to grab? All three members of the Fire Nation royal family present looked at him like he was suggesting summary execution of all turtle-ducks (actually, Sokka was not totally sure if Azula would be firmly against turtle-duck apocalypse). It was disconcerting to see them agreeing over something.“How can you say that?” Zuko had that tell-tale twitch of his lips that in Sokka’s experience preceded a tantrum.Sokka raised his hands. “Look, all I’m saying is that if the Fire Nation didn’t have firebending in the last 100 years, the world would be a better place.”Zuko and Iroh at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty, and Suki nodded in agreement. Sokka was on the path to victory. The Fire Princess just scoffed loudly.“So you think there would be no destruction in a world without benders? That is rich coming from the guy who invented half of the weapons used during the failed invasion attempt…” Azula stressed the word “failed ”.Sokka turned red; the failed invasion remained a sore spot for him. After all it was a genius plan he devised all by himself.
“That is not the point,” Sokka shook his head. “How do you know I invented them?”“I have my sources,” Azula winked. “Do tell, what is the point then?” she asked with a smile that managed to be menacing and intimidating at the same time.“I’m just saying, being a non-bender is not the end of the world. Suki and I are fine without bending,” Sokka pointed out.“Brilliant idea, why don’t we all go around waving fans and boomerangs?” Azula retorted.“Maybe you need a refresher in fans,” Suki jumped to her feet angrily. “It’s never a good idea to underestimate a Kyoshi warrior.”Iroh buried his face in his hands. The peaceful duck-dinner was spiralling out of control at an alarming rate.“It’s not the same, if you are a bender,” Zuko shook his head. “It’s like losing a limb or an eye once you had one.”“You would know, Brother…” Azula smirked the signature smirk of an annoying younger sister who knows how to hit the sore points. That smirk seemed to be a universal constant of an older-brother experience, spanning through time and space.Anger flashed in Zuko’s eyes and he was about to jump up, but Iroh put a hand on his arms to calm him. Iroh was the incontestable expert in calming Zuko and the effect was immediate; the agitated Fire Lord sank back on his cushion, with barely a smoke through his nostrils.“While these philosophical discussions are rather interesting, I suggest we talk about plans. How do we get back the eggs?” Iroh tried to bring back the conversation on track.“What eggs?”Sokka slapped his forehead in exasperation. Right. Azula missed the entire explanation so they would have to start all over again. Which meant longer dinner, and more spicy duck in hot sauce and whatever other torture Zuko devised for him.*****Zuko rubbed his eyes. The draft proposal in front of him was about the setting up of a national haiku competition, with a week-long festival featuring theater, fire-dance performances and tea-tasting. It was placed innocuously at the bottom of the routine “to be signed” pile. The only reason Zuko scanned through it was because there appeared to be a doodle in the corner depicting either a weird tea-pot or a very excited owl-hamster at the height of mating season, which was definitely not a standard feature of royal decrees.Sokka - and prime suspect of the doodle - burst into the study without knocking followed by Uncle Iroh.
“We can’t take her, Zuko.”“Was this you?” Zuko waved the draft bill into Sokka’s face.“The tea-tasting was Iroh’s idea,” Sokka grinned pointing at Iroh, who tried his best to feign innocence. “We took bets whether you’d catch it.”“Is this a joke to you? What if I signed it?” Zuko felt his blood boil with anger. He was slaving away every night over Fire Lord-business, while his so-called friend and his treacherous uncle were ganging up on him.“I don’t know. Would a week of
art, tea and poetry threaten the Fire Nation national security? Disaster by fun!” Sokka said sarcastically raising both hands. It was a sore point. The South Pole had numerous festivals and everything (first day of snow, five snowy days in a row, the first celestial lights, the 25th day of the celestial lights, the first shark-whale catch of the season, the last shark-whale catch of the season) was a reason to celebrate, while the Fire Nation in hundred years of war seemed to have lost the ability to relax and enjoy life.Zuko sighed. Maybe it was his fault. Uncle had constantly nagged him about the importance of boosting people’s morale with music, dance and the arts. But he never allowed himself to relax - not during his exile, not now. The dark, father-shaped shadow that hissed nasty things about him being lazy and worthless never really left his mind.He looked at Iroh - reminding himself that maddening proverbs and endless tea-jokes aside he was worth listening to - and tossed the draft law into the “to be decided later” pile.“What were you saying?”“I said we shouldn’t take Azula with us,” Sokka repeated. “It’s reckless.”Zuko sighed. “She’s our only lead. She knows the code.”“You could order her to tell you. You’re Fire Lord after all.”“You clearly don’t know my sister.” Zuko retorted. Being Fire Lord was way overrated. His ministers barely listened to him. What would be the chance of getting testy younger sisters to listen. “Anyways, it’s not like you can order your sister to do anything.” If there was something common in Azula and Katara, it was that neither girl took direction from their older brothers. It was part of a half-baked theory about the universal suffering of older brothers Sokka liked to explain over plum wine.“Zuko, this is crazy. Azula is a risk. She’ll stab you in the back the first chance she gets.”Zuko shook his head. “Not on this.”“How can you be so sure?” Sokka’s face remained sceptical.“Our interests align. This is bigger than me or her or the entire Fire Nation.”There was a knock on the door. They all went quiet, wondering if Azula was lurking outside listening to their arguments.“Fire Lord.” A familiar giant entered carrying scrolls.“Chit Sang. What are you doing here?” Sokka exclaimed. “Have you joined the palace guards?”“I’m the chief editor of royal decrees,” Chit Sang said with an expression that made it clear that chief editors were far beyond simple guards in status.“I just find it surprising that someone your size would choose a profession so…” Whatever Sokka was going to say, he thought better of it looking at Chit Sang’s impressive bicepses that were as thick as komodo-rhino legs.“So ...what? General Iroh convinced me over a cup of tea that a man should follow his passions. And well, good grammar is my passion.”“And it is a fine vocation indeed,” Iroh smiled encouragingly.“Fire Lord. I’m afraid you need to sign again the new fire-safety code.” The chief editor motioned at the scrolls in his hands.“Really?” Zuko sighed with a pained expression. He usually had to sign 20 copies of every decree so they could be dispatched at the same time to all the provinces.“The scribes misspelled
“flammable” as “inflammable”.” Seeing the scepticism on Zuko’s face, Chit Sang added with a scowl. “Twice.”“Wait a minute. I’m pretty sure that “flammable” and “inflammable” mean the same thing,” Sokka interjected tapping his head.“I don’t think we’ll take the word of a Water Tribe man regarding expressions related to fire,” Chit Sang argued.“That’s not how grammar works,” Sokka exclaimed.“I have to defend my honour, I’ll challenge you to a Spelling kai ,” Chit Sang stepped closer to Sokka menacingly.“Stop it.” Zuko yelled pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. The mention of anything kai gave him an instant migraine. “I’ll sign them.”Chit Sang placed the scrolls on the table, and left with a bow, slamming the door shut behind him.“Where were we?” Zuko asked Sokka who was still muttering about ignorant Fire Nation editors who needed to go back to school.“I just think she’ll betray you.”Zuko looked at Iroh silently asking for back-up. Iroh smiled apologetically. “There’s a possibility, Nephew. This whole thing could be a trap.”“I know. But I feel like she should get a chance to prove herself. Uncle, once you told me that evil and good fighting inside me was my legacy. Doesn’t that mean it is also her legacy?”The question had been bothering Zuko for a long time. Ozai’s blood and Roku’s blood was in both of them. Balance and destruction wasn’t only his heritage, but also Azula’s.“'You can lead an ostrich-horse to the river but you can't make him drink.” Iroh said. It was unclear whether chance was supposed to be the river, but he was pretty sure Azula was supposed to be the ostrich-horse of the metaphor. Luckily, Azula didn’t hear being compared to a common Earth Kingdom farm-animal.“Yes. And if you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.” Sokka shot back. Apparently, the South Pole had its own annoying lore of proverbs.“But even a fisher-crane can get carried away by the river,” Iroh continued, clearly enjoying the proverb battle and losing track of the actual conversation.Zuko felt like his head was about to explode. “Stop,” he yelled making all the candles in the room flare up, threatening Chit Seng’s very flammable (or if Sokka was right, also inflammable) scrolls with instant immolation.“If she was your sister, wouldn’t you want to give her a chance?” Zuko pulled out his ultimate trump card. The universal suffering of older brothers card.Sokka sighed in resignation.
-0-
Weapons. Check. Maps. Check. Half-read romance scroll for boring hours. Check. Extra pack of fire-flakes. Check. Compass. Check. Extra underwear (the red silk one, stolen from the guest room) and socks. Check.
As far as Sokka was concerned, Team Egg was ready for departure.Suki and Azula were already in the ex-war-now-peace balloon, keeping as far away from each other as the dimensions of the airborne vehicle allowed. Zuko was giving last instructions to Interim Fire Lord Iroh.“You are not allowed to redecorate the Palace, Uncle,” Zuko closed the little finger on his hand to count off all the important things.“Don’t worry, Nephew. Everything will be exactly where you left it,” grinned Iroh which made Zuko frown with suspicion. There was a trick to these things. One had to be specific.“Or fill it up with junk.” He closed his ring finger. “Or spend the treasury money on monkey statues.” The middle finger joined them. “Or start music nights and pai sho tournaments.” Zuko was starting to run out of fingers. “And you cannot establish new holidays and festivals.” He closed his thumb.“Not even a Tea-holiday?” Iroh chuckled.“Uncle!” groaned Zuko.“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Ryu and I will put our assets together....” Iroh wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the strict old lady, who seemed to blush.“Gross, Uncle,” Zuko watched them with horror.“I meant our heads, of course,” The retired-general (turned fugitive turned tea-shop-owner turned inmate turned secret-society-grand-flower) turned interim-fire-lord patted Ryu’s rosy cheeks.“I will pretend I have never seen that,” Sokka noted dryly. He knew old people enjoyed certain things one habitually associates with younger people, after all he had seen Pakku and Gran-Gran giggling like lovestruck teenagers. But knowing something intellectually and seeing it up-close was quite different.Luckily, Iroh stopped flirting as it was his turn to fret. “Don’t forget to wear your hats up in the balloon. You ears might get cold in the hard winds.”“We’ll be fine, Uncle,” Zuko sighed as he climbed into the basket.“Dragonroot tea can protect you from a weary stomach.” Iroh handed over a package, which Zuko took without a protest. It was useless to argue with Iroh about tea.“And if you are in Idiyo province, don’t forget to taste their legendary eagle-fish soup. It’s truly extraordinary,” Iroh waved.“We are not going on a culinary excursion,” Zuko reminded his Uncle about the gravity of their mission.“The destination is the same whether we stop to marvel the fire-lilies on the way. But for the journey, it makes all the difference,” Iroh raised his finger. Four pairs of eyes rolled at once in his direction.“Cut the ropes,” the exasperated Fire Lord ordered. Sokka was all too happy to comply. Team Egg was on its way.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Whoever said that air was the element of freedom clearly never spent any time being stuck in a very small hot air balloon with a Water Tribe idiot cracking terrible jokes, blubbering incessantly and only stopping to suck face with his equally annoying girlfriend. Add a grumpy and mistrustful brother to the mix, and Azula felt a bit like being back in the mental ward.She was trying to let out excess energy firebending into the furnace, which was unfortunately also Zuko’s chosen method of letting off steam. It was unfair. Zuko had everything. He stole her throne, her palace, (her sanity) - couldn’t he have had the decency to let her have the furnace at least?Despite efforts to start polite conversation by the others (about inconsequential things like fluffy clouds and the inventor of the balloon), Azula spent most of the trip in sullen silence trying to come up with a plan to win. It was a bit unclear what game they were playing, but one thing was evident; winning was the only acceptable outcome.
She found it frustratingly hard to concentrate as the others were constantly joking and laughing at something and generally made sickening demonstrations of friendship and love.The situation improved marginally once they landed and continued the last leg of their trip on komodo rhinos to the tip of an abandoned peninsula. They made camp at a cove near the drop-site. Setting-up camp seemed like a well-practiced operation; Sokka and Zuko pitched the tents, Suki took out bed-rolls. They all knew their roles and she was the outsider. Not that she wanted to belong to them.Azula thought bitterly for a moment of the handful of fun nights out in the Earth Kingdom wilderness with Ty Lee and Mai, giggling around the campfire, drunk on freedom from the suffocating formalities of the palace life.
She banished the memories. Traitors had no place in her mind.“Why don’t you make fire?” Zuko finally seemed to notice her.Azula gave him a grimace and a shrug. If he wanted fire, she could show him fire. She was good at fire. She gathered some sticks and sent a giant fireball into the middle of it. Sokka and Suki jumped when they heard the swoosh and felt the heat of the flame. Zuko just gave her a disapproving look - the kind of look that reminded her of mother, and obviously it was never good to go there.“Gather around, Team Egg,” the Water Tribe peasant announced loudly.“We are not calling ourselves that,” Azula snapped. There was only so much indignity a princess could take.“She has a point, Sokka,” Zuko agreed with her for once. They looked at each other surprised that they somehow managed to be on the same side of anything.“Why not?” Sokka’s eyebrows rose.“For one, it’s ridiculous,” Azula started to count off on her fingers, but closed her fist when she realized that this was the only reason she had. At least, it was a compelling one.“So what do we call ourselves?” He glared at her in challenge.“Why would we need to call ourselves anything?”“Every good team needs a name,” Sokka said with a pompous expression on his face. “And a mascot.”“Can we just focus on the plan?” Zuko cut into their argument like an exasperated parent trying to get the children back on track. Azula frowned. Normally, she was the exasperated parent and he was the petulant child. The world was upside down.“Easy. You go, signal the silent creepers…” Sokka pointed at Azula.“- Whispering Shadows - “ she corrected him.“...whatever, and when the guy shows up, we capture him and force him to lead us to their base. Then we do boom-boom-slish-slash-whoosh and recover the eggs.” The Water Tribe idiot waved his hands around, but his hectic motions did not add any clarity to his fuzzy plan. It was hard to believe this was the same person who came up with the plan of the invasion during the eclipse.“Boom-boom-slish-slash-flap?” Suki repeated.“Just to be clear - am I slish or am I boom in this plan?” Azula asked sarcastically.“You are boom.” The sarcasm obviously went right over his head. “Because of fireball. Zuko is boom-slish. I’m slash.”“Wait? You mean I’m flap?” Suki protested, clearly not impressed with this task distribution.“For the fan,” Sokka pointed to the weapon in Suki’s belt.“You are an idiot,” Azula concluded.“Oh, because you have a better plan.”She examined her nails casually. “I do in fact. First, even if we take the guy, the Whispering Shadows never talk just because you wave your boomerang at them. And second, we’d lose the element of surprise.”“So what is your plan?” Zuko asked her.“I signal them. You and Suki follow the guy stealthily, scout the base and once we know more - we’ll discuss our attack plan.” Azula explained with a half-smile. It felt good to be calling the shots. Zuko listened and nodded.“Fine. But I go with you.” The Water Tribe boy sighed and pointed at her with his boomerang. Probably for extra effect.“Why? You don’t trust me? You are hurting my feelings,” Azula smirked.“Azula, we are team now. We need to behave like one. Everyone needs a backup.” Zuko sounded again annoyingly reasonable.“So you’re sending a guy with a toy weapon and no fighting skills to back me up?” she rolled her eyes.“Hey, I happen to be very good with boomerang,” Sokka protested and waved again the undignified weapon for emphasis.“Why do you need to be so mean?” Suki jumped to the defense of her precious boyfriend. They were all ganging up on her.Azula shrugged. “Whatever. We leave in five minutes, Water Peasant. Be ready.” She walked over to her bags, back straight, feeling like she won this particular spar. She smiled triumphantly. She still had it.
-0-
Sokka paced up and down. Suki and Zuko had not returned yet. If they got captured by the chattering ninjas it was up to him and Princess Evil to do something. Except he didn’t trust Azula. He didn’t buy her motive of boredom. She was scheming - it was in her nature. Tiger-sharks never stopped swimming. She breathed treachery and spouted conspiracy. It was up to him to uncover her wicked plans. He had to protect Zuko who seemed to have lost all sense of self-preservation when it came to his sister. Not that he had much to start with. Zuko was always reckless and becoming Fire Lord did little to temper his penchant of getting himself into trouble.“Stop that. You’re making me dizzy,” Azula snapped at him.Sokka ignored her annoyed glare and continued treading circles around the campfire. It’s not like he was going to be intimidated by her scowl, after all he grew up with a glaring sister of his own. He had a long experience of being glared at. “They should be back by now.”“They’ll be fine. Zuko is always fine,” Azula replied on a calm, bored voice.“Don’t sound so disappointed.”“Look. I’m not trying to kill him. All that is in the past. We are turning a new leaf. You should be happy about that.” The fire lit her eyes and for a moment she looked sincere. Then Sokka remembered that she was good at lying. She had a lie-telling superpower that even fooled Toph’s freakish truth-senses. Sokka didn’t think it was possible to trick Toph, and wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t witnessed it all with his own eyes. He had to be cautious.“I don’t trust you and I am going to figure out what your game is.”“We’ll see.” Her irritating smirk was back.He was about to riposte, when something sharp pressed into his throat. Before he had time to freak out, he felt Suki’s hot breath against his neck. “I got you.”Sokka swallowed. Suki’s stealthy powers were annoying, but she also looked really good in her black ninja suit. It was an uncomfortably ambivalent feeling.
The balance immediately tipped in the direction of hot, when she pressed her lips on his earlobe.Zuko emerged from the tree line in similarly freakish silence like a gracefully prowling tigerdillo. He plopped down by the fire and
transformed back to being regular awkward Zuko.“If we are done with all the cuddling, can we make plans?” Azula gave Sokka and Suki a pointed look.“There is one ship, about one-hour walk to the east from here in a hidden bay.” Suki motioned in the general direction.“We saw about 30 men, but there could be more. We didn’t see the prisoners or the eggs,” Zuko continued.“They must be below deck,” Suki surmised.Sokka mulled over the intel. It was vital to regain his status as the Plan Guy. He couldn’t screw this up. Team Egg needed his leadership.“So we’ll attack at night. Suki and Zuko take out the guards silently. Then we’ll sneak in, find the prisoners and the eggs, and get out of there before the ninjas awake.”“Why free the prisoners?” Azula asked. “We came for the eggs, right?”“Of course you would suggest leaving the prisoners to some heartless assassins,” Suki looked at Azula with disdain. She had no love for Azula, not after what happened in Ba Sing Se.“They’ll slow us down. Or worse, wake up the assassins. I’m only being practical.” Azula was unfazed by their hostility.“We are freeing the prisoners. It’s the honorable thing to do,” Zuko chimed in. Of course, Zuko found a way to make it about honor.“We wouldn’t want to do something against your precious honor,” Azula beat Sokka to the sarcastic comment.“Also, we have no idea what to do with the eggs, so we need someone who knows that sort of thing.” Sokka added.“That’s decided then. Go rest. I’ll take first watch.” Zuko offered.Sokka gave a (hopefully subtle) once-over at Suki’s skin-tight ninja clothes and decided that Zuko for once had a good plan. He pulled her towards their tent.Suki snuggled up to Sokka resting her head on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly like a baby turtle-seal. “Remember the first time I sneaked into your tent?” she whispered.“It’s the fondest memory of my life. I will forever be turned on by tents,” Sokka smirked, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.“So why are you so tense?” Suki’s fingers ran down his neck, kneading Sokka’s shoulder blades. He moaned in pleasure; he didn’t realize how insanely tight his muscles got.“I don’t trust Azula. She’s up to no good. I have to protect Zuko,” Sokka murmured.“I don’t trust her either.”“Luckily, I have a plan in motion,” Sokka reassured her.Suki gave him an adorable pout. “Of course you do, Plan Guy. How about we stop talking about Azula and you show me what you planned for me?”She slid her hands under his tunic, caressing his skin, leaving a trail of tingling goosebumps. Sokka’s mind stopped swirling, as Suki’s touch commanded his undivided attention. Troublesome princesses could wait, he decided as his fingers went to explore.“My best plans are always for you,” he said on a husky voice, as he leaned in for a real kiss.
-0-
Luckily, it was a moonless night. Zuko felt a familiar exhilaration to be out on a stealthy mission as he stared into the darkness until his eyes adjusted and he could make out the silhouette of the ship. Sneaking around was kind of his thing since he was a boy. It was one of the few things he seemed to have a talent for. Becoming Fire Lord made being stealthy very hard though. Especially the Kyoshi warriors who were equally sneaky made the whole silent ninja game near impossible, always following him whenever he managed to get past the royal guards. It was an annoying game.This was real though and the rush of the stakes made his blood pump with pleasant heat. He swam under the water, careful not to make ripples or splashes. When he got to the boat, he put his feet against the sideboard and climbed silently onto the deck. Suki approached from the other side. They each sneaked up on a guard and knocked them out in perfect synchrony. Suki expertly tied up their hands and gagged them, while Zuko signalled for Azula and Sokka, throwing a line to them. All four of them snuck below the deck, past a room of snoring assassins, and split up looking for the eggs and the prisoners.Zuko opened a number of cabins; he found old scrolls, a treasure chest, cooking supplies, what looked like a well-stocked armory, but the eggs didn’t seem to be anywhere. He noticed a hatch at the end of the corridor. The metal creaked loudly as he opened it, and he froze, expecting to have woken the assassins. He waited a full minute holding his breath. When nobody came, he climbed down the ladder into the hold. He stumbled blindly around the pitch-dark, not wanting to risk a flame until he felt something strange. It was like someone was tugging on him gently from the end of an invisible rope.
The
throbbing warm feeling came from a corner of the hold. Zuko crawled towards its source and the pull felt stronger. He felt around the bags, until his fingers touched something familiar. It was warm, scaly but smooth. The bag contained four eggs.He realized they never asked Ham Gao how many eggs were missing.
He conjured a little flame, checking quickly the other bags in the hold, but when he could not locate any more eggs, he headed back up the ladder. He was halfway up when the latch closed above him, locking him into the storage room. There was the sound of a thump, as something or someone hit the plank.“The prisoners. We need to stop them from escaping,” a gruff voice exclaimed. Zuko pressed his ear to a crack in the wall, listening.“It’s not a big loss. What were you going to do with a bunch of savages anyways? The important thing is that the cargo is safe. So we can make the trade,” another voice replied. “Secure her in the hold. A wild tiger-python needs to be carefully contained.”When the sound of the footsteps receded, Zuko opened the hatch, and climbed through the closest window. He swam to the shore pulling the bag behind him and headed for the tree-line. When he got back to camp, he found a group of a dozen sun warriors huddled around the campfire.“Zuko, we’ve been worried about you,” Sokka greeted him.Zuko stepped to the Chief and handed over the bag. “I found the eggs.”The older man opened it with a worried expression. He laid his palm against the eggs and closed his eyes. When he got to the last egg his frown deepened.“We don’t have much time. We need to get this one hatched,” he announced gravely.“And how do we do that? We sit on it?” Sokka interrupted with a silly laugh.“No, we’ll have to take it back to Sun Warrior Island and hatch it there.” The Chief raised his eyes and looked at Zuko pointedly.Zuko nodded. “I can arrange a balloon for you.”The Chief shook his head. “ You need to hatch it, Zuko of the Fire Nation. He chose you .”Zuko blinked. That sounded completely crazy. Fire Lords didn’t hatch eggs. Eggs didn’t make choices.“What does that even mean?”“The dragon made a connection with you. He will die unless you hatch it,” the Chief explained calmly.His explanation still didn’t make any sense, but the sadness on his face was real.“So he will have to sit on it?” Sokka grinned. He seemed to enjoy the absurdness of the situation.“He’ll have to use the sacred art of firebending,” the Chief replied. Zuko felt a quiet relief. He had been worried about the indignities the hatching process would involve. Firebending didn’t sound so bad.“Oh.” Sokka’s grin faded in disappointment. He had been probably already conjuring images of Zuko sitting on the egg.“We can’t fit this many people into the balloon.” Zuko looked at all the freed prisoners.“You go ahead, Zuko, I’ll take care of the rest of the people,” Suki offered. It was probably the best plan. She had time to walk with the freed prisoners to the nearest port and commandeer a ship, while Zuko could take the Chief, Sokka, and...oh no…Zuko looked around the fireplace in panic.“Wait, where is my sister?”Sokka and Suki looked back at him, eyes wide with shock. They lost Azula.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“This is bad. This is really bad. Have you completely lost your mind, Zuko? Not only you let her out without consulting me, but you also lost her?”Zuko gave Sokka an annoyed look. It was completely his fault that Zuko had to suffer the indignity of a public scolding from a visibly upset Avatar, whose voice was cracking mid-sentence from the apparent onset of puberty. Dammit. This was his mission. It was an internal matter for the Fire Nation. Sokka had no business sending messenger hawks behind his back to Aang. It was blowing things out of proportion - like trying to kill a tigerfly with a boomerang. Or with an earthquake or a tsunami, considering Aang picked up Katara and Toph on the way.
This was looking like the perfect recipe for a disaster. Freshly rescued sun warriors. A dying egg. The possible end of all firebending. His
double-crossing sister on the loose.
Adding a grumpy Avatar, a stubborn waterbender and a trigger-happy earthbender to the mix was just stirring the pot.“Look. This was supposed to be only about rescuing the eggs. Not really Avatar business.” Zuko tried to salvage the situation looking calm and composed - except, it was difficult to look dignified being covered in sky bison slob with a lemur perched on his neck, giving him a friendly, but thorough grooming, accompanied by loud noises of lip-smacking.“Oh, so you think the possible end of all firebending is not Avatar-business?” Aang frowned which made him look like a koala-sheep’s attempt at intimidation. "Last time I looked fire was supposed to be part of the balance."“We do things together, Zuko. That’s what friends are for,” Katara added on her gentle, disappointed mum voice which made Zuko feel like a little brat.
This was not fair - he could have handled Aang’s koala-sheep impersonation, maybe. But getting the
long-suffering mother-treatment
from Katara was bringing him to the edge of his endurance. He gave Sokka another dirty look. It was totally his fault.“Plus, you can’t keep all the fights to yourself,” Toph chimed in cracking her knuckles with a pleased grin. Right. Not only he got grumpy koala-sheep and disappointed mum, there was also the earthquake-on-the-loose.They were all ganging up on him. He had no chance whatsoever. Zuko sighed in resignation. If you can’t fix your weakness, turn it into strength, his inner Iroh suggested.
“Fine. I’m glad you're here. We need to find my sister. She could be in trouble.”Sokka, the horrible, treacherous traitor he was, raised a finger. “Or this was her plan the whole time and she’s setting a trap for you.”“I don’t believe that,” Zuko shook his head.
“Sokka is right, Zuko. Face it, Azula always has a game,” Katara took Sokka’s side, because well, that was what sisters did. Except if the spirits hated you and then you ended up with a sibling like Azula who may set your bed on fire for fun while you were sleeping in it.“Not this time - this is different,” Zuko still felt honour-bound to defend his only sibling. Or at least not have to admit that he may have horribly miscalculated.“Why?” Two pairs of blue eyes challenged him. Sokka and Katara were both extremely suspicious of Azula. Well, with good reason, but still.“Because she cares about her fire more than anything or anyone in this world,” Zuko was fairly certain that he was right.
“How do you know?”“She’s my sister.”The Sun Warrior Chief interrupted their argument. “We can’t linger here. The egg is in danger. We need to get to the island immediately.”Zuko snapped at him. “I’m not going anywhere without her.” Azula was his responsibility, whether she was a victim or a threat, it didn’t matter. They needed to find her. The egg would have to wait.“Zuko…” Katara stepped closer to him, her eyes soft mirrors of concern.“I’m going to rescue her.” Zuko interrupted before she could finish her argument, crossing his arms for emphasis, gearing up for the inevitable fight.“And we will go with you,” Aang nodded.“I was about to say the same thing.” Katara added with a grimace.Zuko felt like a fool. Of course they would help. That’s why they came.“I’m glad you are here. Thank you,” he smiled at his friends and this time it was sincere.“Team Avatar is now Team Egg,” exclaimed Sokka, ignoring all the eye-rolling. “Get ready for the princess-rescue!”“You are really the worst,” Katara gave her brother an unimpressed look.“Yeah, that was substandard,” agreed Suki.“I think Team Egg has a nice ring to it,” Toph defended Sokka immediately and gave him a quick punch in the arm as a sign of her undying affection.Zuko was secretly relieved that the attention shifted to Sokka, the horrible traitor and nobody initiated a group hug.
-0-
Azula woke up to a familiar pain. A pain that reminded her of white, padded hospital rooms. Her arms were twisted and tied in a way that blocked the flow of her chi. For a moment,
cold terror ran through her that everything was just a dream - the island, the trip, her provisional freedom - and that she was back in that dreadful institute, during those first horrible months when the world crumbled around her in orange flames and freezing blue ice.Her blinking eyes confirmed her reality. Instead of a white room, she was in a cage; not unlike the crates used to transport wild beasts. Panic washed over her - she didn’t do well with confinement. Calm down, a princess never panics, she told herself as she took a deep, controlled breath through her nose, centering herself.They left her behind, of course, they would. All they needed her for was to find the egg. Nobody cared about her, she had to
rely on herself.She tried to wriggle her wrists, but whoever tied her up knew what they were doing; the rope only became tighter from the tugging.“I wouldn’t do that, unless you want to lose your hands, Princess,” a bored voice called to her from the other side of the room.“If you know who I am, let me out.” Azula tried to speak authoritatively - deploying the tone that used to make servants shake like a leaf back in the palace. She would not be intimidated.The man just laughed sharply, without mirth. “I am afraid, I can’t do that. Some very important clients are waiting for you rather impatiently.”“What clients?”The man’s lips pulled into a half-grimace. “You made many enemies in the Earth Kingdom. Powerful men, who…”“Can’t stand the idea to have been bested by a mere girl?” Azula couldn’t keep a satisfied smile off her face as she remembered the pompous generals, the spineless Dai Li, the weak nobility. They made it so easy. “They could have just asked my brother, I’m sure he would be happy to have a reason to get rid of me,” she added bitterly.After all, Zuko left her here, in the hands of her enemies. Or perhaps that was his plan all along; make her disappear without taking any blame.“They did ask the Fire Lord. He refused. Every time,” her captor replied impassively.Azula felt a pinch of irritation. Zuko was a sentimental fool as always. And even if this time the sentiment worked in her advantage, it was unbecoming of the Fire Lord, the greatest nation in the world to reveal weakness.“So let me go - I’m sure he’ll pay double of whatever the Earth Kingdom rats are paying.” A bribe usually worked with the common rubble.“We have a reputation to maintain. Once we take a job, it will be done.” The man replied impassively.“You will burn for this,” Azula yelled, losing her patience. If the Whispering Shadows were not interested in wealth, the threat of her legendary hot blue fire always did the trick.The man stepped closer to the cage until his nose almost touched the metal bars. His voice was a menacing whisper.“Maybe. But I have a feeling you will burn before me, Princess Azula. Or perhaps you’ll be buried alive in the deepest caves of the Earth Kingdom, where no sunlight can get through. Your bending will fade and you will whither there forgotten and cold. An empty shell.”Azula shuddered as she looked into her captor’s eyes. This wasn’t just a job. This was personal.“Sounds like you have thought about this. Why?”“My son was serving on Ozai’s airship fleet. They got blown out of the sky on the way to Earth Kingdom. It’s only fair - a child for a child.”“You should blame the Avatar for that. My father made you what you are, you would be nothing without him,” Azula retorted. This man was out of line, an ungrateful peasant. War required sacrifice.“I would tend my farm, create life not take it away. Have you ever seen the beauty of the rice fields as they sway in the wind; the pale gold of the rising sun reflecting on the water?”Great. A killer with poetry in his heart. The worst type. Azula would have laughed in his face if her situation wasn't so dire.
“I can’t say, I have. I had a country to run instead of empty daydreams,” she replied with irritation.“Well, when the darkness takes you…” The assassin thankfully didn’t get to finish his thought.
Something shook the boat. It felt like an earthquake. There were yelps, splashes, thuds. The sounds of a fight. The man looked at Azula in alarm and darted out of the room, leaving her locked in the cage. She tried to kick her legs against the metal bar, but being tied up as she was, all she managed was a pathetic wiggle.The door opened suddenly and in the light she could make out the contours of someone - dressed in blue, water-wings extending from her arm. Azula felt rage swelling up inside her - she had not seen the Water Tribe witch
since their fight - except in her worst nightmares that kept replaying on loop the shame of her defeat.“You? What are you doing here?” Azula hated that she would see her like this again, tied down and helpless. Like, when… no, she couldn’t go there. That was the abyss for her mind.
“Saving you,” the Water Tribe peasant hissed.“I don’t want your help,” Azula glowered.“Well, I don’t really care about your preference. We are only here for Zuko.” She turned her back on Azula. “Toph, can you open that?”Only then did Azula notice the little blind earthbender brat. So all of the Avatar’s cronies were here.“Of course, I can. After all, Katara, I am the world’s first metalbending master.” Toph smirked, while she made a short work of the metal bars.“Can you stand?” Katara looked down at Azula with contempt.Azula scrambled to her feet, almost losing her balance. Katara held out a hand to catch her from falling.“How about you untie me?” Azula grimaced.Katara’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, not going to happen.”“Afraid?” Azula smiled with satisfaction.
They were two against one, yet they were still intimidated by her.
It was a thin consolation, but it was something.“I just know you. Let’s go.” Katara yanked on the ropes. Azula bit the inside of her mouth not to cry out from the pain. She would not give them the satisfaction. She hobbled along the two girls until they were up on the deck.“Zuko, we found her,” Katara yelled.Azula more felt than saw her brother scoop her up in his arms, his familiar, messy warmth that radiated with all his emotions was engulfing her in a way it hadn’t since they were children. She let her head fall against his shoulders for five breaths, no more. She wouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security when she was surrounded by enemies who all hated her. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.On the last exhale she pursed her lips. “What took you so long, Dum-Dum? Now, I’d appreciate to be untied - considering there is six of you, I cannot pose such a big threat.”There was a disappointed look in Zuko’s eyes, but he wordlessly took out his dagger (yes, that same pearl dagger that Iroh sent him, when all she got was a stupid doll - not that she cared) and cut through the ropes. Azula opened and closed her fists a couple of times trying to get circulation back into her arms.The bald, arrowed head of the Avatar popped up finally. “I’m glad you are safe, Princess Azula,” he greeted her with a friendly smile. The kid was still clearly deranged. It was inconceivable how this widely grinning boy could ever beat their mighty father.Aang looked around.
“Everyone here? Let’s go then.”They all climbed onto the smelly fur ball excuse of a bison. Azula stretched out and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep so they wouldn’t talk to her. If they expected her to be thankful, well, they were going to be disappointed.In truth, the merry group of friends didn’t seem to care about her at all. She listened to them joke and laugh about their easy victory over the assassins, feeling every bit the outsider she was.
-0-
Sokka was still laughing at the stupid face one of the evil ninjas made as Katara’s wave washed straight into his open mouth when Appa landed back at their campsite.The smile froze on his face immediately when he saw the grave look the Chief gave them.“The egg is dead,” he announced dramatically.“What do you mean it’s dead?” Zuko exclaimed running to pick up the golden shell. He held it silently and frowned. “I don’t feel anything.”“That’s what I said.” The lines on the Chief’s face were hard. “There was no time to waste.”“There has to be something we can do, right?” Aang looked at Katara hopefully as if she was in the business of raising unhatched dragonlings from the dead on a daily basis.Katara gave him a skeptical look. Sighing, she coated her hand in water and placed it on the eggshell. She closed her eyes, but then shook her head. “There are limits to my healing, Aang. There is nothing here to work with, I’m sorry.”“Yes, the egg is dead not dirty. Splashing around will not make a difference,” Azula said unimpressed with Katara's healing efforts. “After all, they are
creatures of fire.”Sokka scratched his ears.
Fire. Of course, that was the answer. He ran to his pack and started emptying it. Out flew the compass, six packs of fireflakes, two bags of seal jerky, the ropes, the maps, his water bottle,
the spare silk underwear and extra socks until he found the half-read scroll from the library stuck between a smashed mango and an unidentifiable green goo that may or may not have been the remnants of the pickled sea prunes he had for lunch two days before. He held up the scroll with an exultant yelp.“I think I have an idea. Luckily, I was reading this book and there is a picture…”He started to unroll the scroll which was not an easy feat considering it was sticking with mango juice. Where did he see that drawing exactly? It was the key to their problems. The others all gathered around him, the expression on their faces ranged from cautiously hopeful (Aang) to fully dismissive (Azula). Sokka continued his search undeterred, looking at all the illustrations.This one? Oh, no.
Aang leaned closer and stared at the bawdy picture of a princess and his lover trying to attempt a pose of copulation that Sokka was fairly certain contradicted every known principle of science and engineering.
“Wait is that a…” Aang bit his tongue mortified and turned bright red, which provided a rather interesting contrast to his blue arrows.
“How is this book going to be helpful?” Katara, whose cheeks were also pink gave him a disapproving look.“What kind of library are you running?” she scolded Zuko too somewhat unfairly considering his involvement was at most tangential in the matter.The Fire Lord gave her a sheepish shrug. “There are thousands of books in the library. I had no idea.”“That’s true - Zuko was never known to spend time willingly in the library,” Azula added rather unhelpfully earning a grimace from her brother.“Just wait.” Sokka held up a finger. It was difficult to concentrate with all the squabbling.The next picture was equally salacious in nature, but more within the bounds of plausibility. Suki gave him a knowing wink.“No, not this one either,” Sokka muttered with embarrassment and went back to the endless scroll.“Is that very large thing a man’s…?” Toph’s head appeared above his left shoulder.“Don’t look Toph!” Sokka exclaimed, covering her eyes with his hands reflexively.“Did you just cover my eyes, Snoozles?” Toph shook with laughter.“Oh, stop it,” Sokka huffed with annoyance. Toph never grew tired of this stupid game.“You are blushing, it’s so sweet,” she continued mercilessly.“You can’t even see the colour of my face,” Sokka was vigilant this time. “I will not fall for your dirty tricks again.”“We both know better,” she smirked and gave him a friendly punch.Mercifully, he got to the start of the sticky scroll, revealing the painting he was looking for.“Here,” he pointed smugly at the two figures kneeling over a strange lizard.“What is that?” Zuko’s good eye widened while the other narrowed. Talk about mixed signals.
“Princess Miyu and her twin brother Hayao. You see? Royals. Blue fire - orange fire. Together they are healing a fire basilisk.“ Sokka explained pointing at Zuko and Azula even though the parallels were self evident. Sokka felt elated. It was inspired. It was brilliant. For once, his library research would pay off.“Are we taking a picture of made-up fairy tale characters setting fire to a mythical creature in a seedy romance book as our healing guide?” Azula managed to make even the most poetic things sound like crap. “This is ridiculous. I’m not doing it. We are not even twins.”“Do you have any better ideas?” Sokka challenged her.“What do we have to lose? It’s worth a try,” Aang said gently before they could be at each other’s throat.Azula looked taken aback. Aang had a knack for making people feel unreasonable and childish. Sokka had been many times at the receiving end of the disappointed koala sheep stare.“Whatever,”
Azula shrugged. "Just to prove you wrong."The royal siblings knelt over the egg and held out their hands. At Zuko's signal, the orange and blue flames engulfed the golden shell. Everyone watched holding their breaths.“So?” Sokka asked after a good minute passed.“Nothing,” Zuko shook his head dejectedly.“I told you so. It was a stupid idea,” Azula added cocking her eyebrows.“Maybe you are just not doing it right? You can’t heal with a negative attitude. You have to believe in it. You have to want it.” Katara stepped closer, looking down at Azula with stormy blue eyes. Pride was swelling inside Sokka's chest - his little sister was a force to be reckoned with.Azula jumped to her feet standing toe to toe with Katara.“You think I don’t want it?” she yelled, her dark-gold eyes flashing with anger. “You have no idea what fire means to me.”Aang put his hands on both girls’ shoulders in an attempt to pacify them. “Maybe you want it for the wrong reasons. The monks taught us that our wants have to be rooted in selflessness.”“Hey, don’t put this on me,” Azula shook off the monk’s hand as if his touch was burning her. “Clearly, the idea is idiotic in the first place.”Zuko raked his hand over his hair in frustration and looked at Sokka. “Is there anything else in the scroll?”Sokka read the passage. “It says here that Miyu and Hayao sang a song that made their flames dance. Something called the Flight of the Phoenix…”
“I know that song. Kuzon used to sing it all the time,” Aang’s face lit up at the memory. He started humming a slow soulful tune, swaying his body in time with the tempo.“Mother used to sing it too. Do you remember, Azula?” Zuko looked at his sister. “Let’s try again.”“This is ridiculous. I’m not going to sing,” Azula crossed her arms.Zuko ignored her protest and leaned back to the egg, his fingertips caressing the shell with golden flames as he hummed on a low, smoky voice the stirring melody that sounded ancient, full of magic. Azula closed her eyes, her face frozen in a memory, both painful and sweet. She bit her lips as she came to a decision. She knelt back next to Zuko, her fingers spread around the egg, mirroring her brother’s movement and joined in the song. She had a surprisingly beautiful voice; bright like a shimmering flame. The rhythm changed, the mournful tune weaving into a more upbeat melody as the bird in the song spread her wings. The flames encasing the egg danced to the vibrations of the tune; orange and blue flames not fighting but melding together, flickering in the colours of the rainbow - greens, pinks, purples and violets.Aang tapped the beat as the music soared when the phoenix took flight. The voices of Zuko and Azula blended into a twirling harmony that conjured up images of rebirth and victory. The music stopped abruptly, leaving behind only echoes in the stunned silence.“I can feel the dragon again,” Zuko smiled at Azula, his eyes full of wonder. “It worked.”For once Azula had no snarky answer, so she just withdrew her hands and folded them in her lap; the picture of composure.Sokka felt magnanimous enough not to point out how she was wrong about his plan.“So that’s it, that’s how we hatch it?” Zuko turned to the Sun Warrior Chief.He shook his head. “No, a dragon egg can only be hatched on Sun Warrior Island, in a storm. Only your lightning can break it out.”Zuko’s face turned pale. “Lightning?” he asked alarmed.“Yes,” the Chief confirmed.“But it can be any lightning, right?” Zuko's voice was hopeful.“It has to be your lightning. Your chis have bonded, the dragonling is responding only to you.”Zuko closed his eyes in desperation.“What’s wrong?” Sokka’s eyes darted between the Chief and Zuko. They just saved the dragon egg thanks to his brilliant strategy. There was surely no reason for this dark mood.The sharp, scornful laughter of Azula broke the confused silence.“Oh, the irony. Zuzu still cannot bend lightning, can you, dear brother? The fate of all firebending is resting on the shoulder of the worst firebender the royal family has ever managed to produce. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.”“Oh, shut up, just...shut up,” Zuko turned on his heels and disappeared in the forest. Aang followed him.Katara gave Azula a murderous glance, then she ran after her friends, no doubt to give one of her favourite speeches about hope. “Zuko, wait…”Silence fell over the camp-site.“Well, we better get ready,” Suki said to the staring Sun Warriors and set them to prepare for their trip. Toph spat on the ground in disgust and went over to cliff-side to smash rocks.“Why did you do that?” Sokka asked Azula who stared into the fire, her knees pulled up to her chin.Her jaw tightened slightly at the question. “What? It’s the truth. Zuko is a subpar firebender. Everyone in the royal family knows how to bend lightning. It’s not my fault that I’m far better. He was always jealous of my talent.”Her eyes were hard. There was no trace of the girl who sang in heartbreaking harmony, who coaxed back a creature from the dead with life-giving flames. That person was buried under layers of this unfeeling stone-shell.Sokka looked into the flames and started to speak in a quiet voice, even though he was seething with anger underneath.“You know after Ozai was defeated, Aang asked Zuko if he should take away your bending too. The Avatar was angry with you, Azula. You almost killed his friends, the people he loves. And it was Zuko who asked him not to do it. He said that your firebending was a gift of Agni. He said that you would never be yourself again without it.”“What’s your point?” The dancing flames painted shadows on her face.“Zuko cares about you. Maybe you could try not pushing him away for a change.”“You have no idea what you are talking about. You have no spark inside you - all you have is your stupid boomerang,” Azula waved at the weapon dismissively.Sokka fought back the angry words that were on the tip of his tongue. “I may not be a bender, but my sister is. Good enough to beat you, princess. And you know what? She never once made me feel less than. She has my back and I have hers, even if it’s just with a stupid boomerang.”“I’m not taking advice from Water Tribe peasants. In the Fire Nation you learn to be strong. We work hard to win,” Azula retorted.“Has it ever occurred to you that strength can be more than winning?” Sokka poked at the fire with a stick.“What else is there?” Her voice sounded empty.“Tell me, has your fire ever been more magnificent than just now, when you healed that egg? My sister and I make each other stronger - you and Zuko... you have spent your lives tearing each other down. Think about the things you could have accomplished together. The things you still could. If you could just stop trying to beat him and maybe thought about what you can do to help.”Having spoken his mind, Sokka got to his feet and went to join Suki in the travel preparations. When he looked back, he saw Azula sitting motionless, staring into the flames, her eyes glimmering strangely, almost as if she was fighting back tears.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The bags were packed, and Suki was putting the finishing touches on her outfit by hiding small knives in her belt.“I didn’t realize you pack so much
steel
these days, it’s like hugging a boarcupine,” Sokka joked.“Mai showed us some tricks when she came to Kyoshi Island. I heard it from the Avatar himself; learning from other nations is the new cool,” Suki gave him a slightly mocking smile, which made her nose scrunch up in a most adorable way. Sokka couldn’t resist - he leaned in to kiss the tip and hugged her tight, taking even the risk of being poked.“I don’t like this, I should go with you,” he said softly, burying his face in her hair.“Sokka, we’ve been over this. I’ll be fine. We can’t fit everyone on Appa, the egg needs to get hatched and these people need help,” she gestured at the Sun Warriors.“True.
And my place is with you. Aang is here, and Zuko won’t need me anymore,” Sokka said but in truth he was torn. He wanted to go with Suki, but he also wanted to see the egg-mission to its end.“You are the plan guy,” Suki placed her palm against his chest which made
his heart pump faster. “Remember? You are the only one who can figure out what to do with a dying egg or have enough foresight to make back-up plans. Of course, you need to go with them.”Her clear blue eyes shone with pride and Sokka basked in the feeling. Suki was strong and brave and scarily independent and her love felt like sunshine or a warm summer breeze that made him burst with confidence. After all, he couldn't be too bad if Suki thought he was great?There was one small detail that kept bugging him still.
“But I can’t let you go alone with a dozen half-naked guys marching across the Fire Nation.”“Which one bothers you more? That I’m alone or that they are half-naked?” Suki laughed and Sokka immediately felt a bit foolish.“Well…” he blushed.“Sokka, I’ll be fine. It’s not a big deal,” Suki stepped closer, leaning in for another kiss. “And none of them looks as handsome as you,” she whispered playfully into his ear.“I don’t know, the one with the ponytail is kind of cute,” a voice offered from the shadows.“They all have ponytails,” Sokka turned to the intruder annoyed.” And anyway, why are you lurking here, Toph?”“Seemed like you two were having a moment,” Toph shrugged and smirked cheekily.“So that’s a reason to interrupt?”“I wanted to tell you not to worry, Meathead. I’ll go with your girlfriend.” Toph was unfazed by Sokka’s reproach.“Toph, how long were you standing there? Spying on people like this is not cool…” Sokka scolded her without conviction. She was an insufferable brat, but also one of his closest friends. Her lack of manners were annoying, but still a big part of her Tophness and Sokka could not imagine Toph being anyone but herself.“It’s not like I saw anything. Although I can see you are blushing…” she grinned.“Cut it out…” Sokka warned. He was not going to blindsided again.“Anyways, Suki and I are going to have a great time, aren't we?” Toph gave Suki a friendly punch. “Catching up on gossip...”“About?” Sokka asked suspiciously.“You, of course,” Toph smiled sweetly, maybe a little too sweetly. “Didn’t you know that all girls ever talk about is boys?”“Really?” Sokka was not sure if she was making fun of him.Toph smirked. “No. Don’t be dumb, Snoozles. Now go on, the others are waiting for you,” she pointed towards Appa.Suki gave him a look that might have been a silent plea. But Sokka was relieved. Suki was going to have Toph as a backup, and as far as Sokka was concerned that was safer than a contingent of Kyoshi warriors.“Thanks, Toph, I do appreciate it.”“Not doing it for you. It’s just when it comes down to choosing between flying and sweet, sweet earth, you know what I’ll pick.”“Your toes?” Sokka chuckled. He still had it.Suki grimaced. “We’ll see you in a couple of days on the island. As soon as we get to Ginzu harbor, we’ll commandeer a ship,” she repeated the plan, needlessly. They had been over it already several time. Then it became clear what game she was playing.
Oh, that was a sly move.“Wait, nobody said anything about a ship,” Toph turned slightly green at the thought of travelling on
water.“Have fun, girls!” Sokka was suddenly in a hurry. He gave Suki one last kiss, patted Toph’s shoulder and before they could change their minds, he climbed up into Appa’s saddle.
“Finally you are done with it. The egg cannot wait,” the Chief gave him a disapproving look.The egg was in Zuko’s lap who held it with a mournful face. Katara sat as close to him as she could without touching (they both furiously denied the obvious crush they had on each other, but Sokka was good at noticing these things), giving him worried looks from the corner of her eyes. On the other end of the saddle, Azula sulked by herself, resolutely avoiding eye contact with anyone.Aang turned back to them with his most cheerful smile. “Everyone on board? I think this will be a fun trip..”“Fun as a funeral procession,” muttered Sokka.“Yip-yip, Appa,” Aang said ignoring Sokka's comment and the sky bison took off. Sokka looked at the shrinking figures of Suki and Toph waving from the ground, and wondered if it was too late to jump.
-0-
The morning sun was still below the horizon, but Zuko could already feel it’s gentle tug. He got up quietly, mindful not to disturb the others, still sleeping exhausted from the long journey of the previous day. The new dawn, symbol of everlasting hope filled him with dread, just like it used to when he was a mere child, anxious to prove his worth. He thought he had left behind the bitter feeling of inadequacy and worthlessness so intrinsically tied to his bending. It was apparent now that those monsters were always there, lurking in the shadows.This was a nightmare. The future of firebending depended on him and he was a useless failure, a fraud, just like Azula said. He may have danced with dragons, he may have taught the Avatar - none of that mattered if he couldn’t bend lightning. They would reach the island today and he was out of time.He wished he could will himself to do it, but he knew from experience; resolve was not enough. There was something else, something he was simply missing. Firebending never came easy to him, unlike to the rest of his family filled with legendary benders. Zuko had to wrestle with his fire all his life. The element inside him was fickle and volatile. It had its own mind, waging a constant war with him. Every time he felt like he mastered the flames, a new obstacle appeared, sending him back to square one, still practicing his basics while everyone else leapt ahead.With no time to wallow, Zuko decided to do what he always did; fight. Giving up was never an option.He chose a secluded clearing and sat on his heels, meditating. Don’t try to overpower the fire, Zuko, just empty your mind so you can be its guide, its channel, he heard Uncle’s voice inside him. I refuse to let you down, to let the world down, Zuko continued his silent bargaining. Instead of peacefulness, his mind raced in crazy circles, like bumblebees stuck inside a glass lantern. Peace of mind eluded him.
He stood up with a sigh and moved through his katas instead, trying to pay attention to the perfection of every move, every stance until he finished his warm-up sequence. He couldn’t put it off anymore. He had to try bend lightning.Zuko focused, recalling the motions Iroh showed him over a year ago in a desolate corner of Earth Kingdom when Zuko thought all hope was lost. He had tried bending it by himself every once in a while, always failing miserably. He gave up, not wanting to be the subject of gossip amongst his staff. A Fire Lord who could not bend lightning was unheard of - it was better his people did not know about this shortcoming. Another sign of his weakness, another reason why he was not fit for the throne.He took a deep breath and lifted his fingers. Positive energy - negative energy . He made the circular motions feeling the static tension of the air as the blue sparks filled his fingertips. So far, so good. Now it was only a question of keeping it all under control. He focused on the sparks dancing at the tip of his fingers.In the flashing light, the image changed; his hands morphed into his father’s hand, his eyes looking at him with cold hatred and disdain. “Your punishment will be far steeper.” Zuko gasped. He lost control over the sparks as they exploded sending him flying back and landing on his bottom. He buried his face in his hands. This was hopeless.“You are doing it wrong,” said an unwelcome voice. Zuko looked up at Azula towering over him. Cocky, boastful, annoying Azula. His sister who took pleasure in sneaking to his childhood lessons to taunt him mercilessly about his pitiful bending. Azula who always won and made it a point not only to beat him, but to humiliate him every time they sparred. Azula who could do it all so effortlessly, so perfectly. Azula… there was bitter taste in his mouth.“What do you want?” Zuko frowned, his peace of mind definitely gone.She crossed her arms on her chest. “I’m trying to help you,” she said calmly.Zuko blinked. This was certainly off the usual script. “Why?” he asked suspiciously.“Because I’m feeling generous,” she smiled. Zuko had no idea whether she was mocking him.Azula grimaced, her face a cold mask again. “Isn’t it obvious? Can’t have you mucking up the world. For some reason they keep choosing you, even if I’m better.”“Who are you talking about?” Zuko looked at her in confusion.“Mother, Mai, Ty Lee, the Avatar,” Azula counted off, “even that stupid egg.”Zuko sighed. He was a fool to think that things could ever change between them. The scars, visible and invisible ran deep on both sides. “Azula, I can’t do this now. I need to focus.”“Well, you are doing it all wrong,” she pursed her lips.“I’m doing it exactly the way Uncle taught me and he is the greatest firebender.” Now that Ozai was stripped of his bending, it was definitely true.“That’s not the problem, Zuzu. You are overthinking it.” Azula pointed a cold finger to the middle of his forehead. Zuko shuddered as her sharp fingernail scraped against his skin.He stepped back, breaking the contact.“Uncle said I needed peace of mind. I need to free myself of my turmoil. I can’t do that with you standing here rehashing old history.”Azula’s lips curled into a scornful smile.“Uncle is a fool. It has nothing to do with turmoil. Do I look like I have peace of mind? Did Dad?” She let out a short laugh.Her arms worked in fast circles, blue crackling lines framing her face. Zuko gave her a startled look and got into his lightning redirect stance. He stared into her flashing eyes for a suspended moment, his heart pounding loudly against his scarred chest. Never breaking eye-contact, Azula pointed her arm away from him, sending the bolt straight into the ground, leaving a charred, black wound in the middle of the green meadow. Zuko let out a breath and lowered his arms.“You don’t need peace of mind. Emptiness works just fine,” Azula muttered, almost to herself.“What do you mean?” Zuko swallowed.“Do you want to know how I bend lightning?” she continued bitterly, “I use that emptiness that Mother left behind. The only thing she ever gave me .”
Zuko stared at her for a long moment, seeing for the first time the raw pain that he knew so well reflected on her face. He closed his eyes thinking back to the days after Mother left. The deserted turtle-duck pond. Her empty seat at the dinner table. Unkissed cheeks. A silent lute on her dresser. A bedtime story with an ending that would never be told. As the days passed, the emptiness stretched into a constantly vibrating negative energy that hollowed them out. A familiar black hole.Zuko took a deep breath and surrendered his mind to the void. The sparks filled his fingertips as he worked through the motions. Nothing mattered. Mother was gone, and he was already cold and dead inside. He watched the blue lightning that bloomed at the end of fingertips, his or someone else’s- it didn’t make any difference. The energy frizzled through him, rushing into the nothingness uninhibited; filling it with cold, blue light, but leaving no warmth in its path. It left his body as it came; suddenly, without any warning, snapping a young tree in half as it landed. It’s broken life inconsequential. Zuko stared at the smoking stump of the sapling, shivering inside. His mouth tasted like ashes. He didn't notice the single tear running down his scarred cheek until it reached the corner of his mouth.“Now we understand each other, Brother,” Azula said quietly before she turned and walked away.
-0-
Something was wrong with her. The real Princess Azula wouldn’t have just given Zuko the lightning move like that. She would have laid down her terms. She would have made him pay for it. There were so many things she wanted; her freedom, her dignity, a war balloon, a haircut, a good pedicure, mango ice cream, the throne.
She was slipping; she was letting water-tribe peasants manipulate her emotions, to make her weak. She had to get back into control.Azula worked through a complicated sequence and noticed with horror red flecks in her blue flame. Even her bending wasn’t like before, she felt her fire weaken. It scared her. Without her fire, she was nothing.A voice startled her. “Cool move. Can you teach it to me?” It belonged to the Avatar. He was watching her with round grey eyes as if she was a fascinating wild beast. His gaze was unnerving.
“Done with tutoring for today,” she replied curtly to get rid of him. His presence was unwelcome. It brought back memories of electric blue illuminating shimmering green that sometimes haunted her dreams until she woke up and willed the pictures away.“Oh well, maybe next time.” He seemingly had no intention leaving. Instead, he sat down next to her cross-legged and started bending flames in shapes. A star, a flower, a monkey. “You shouldn’t worry about your fire,” he noted off-handedly.“What makes you think I worry about it?” Azula hated how her voice was slightly trembling.The boy kept his eyes on the morphing flames in his palm. “We all had our slumps.”“Not me.” Azula replied sending a huge fire blast in the air.The Avatar watched the blue explosion impassively and got back to his shapes. A butterfly, a fish, a snake. “Zuko and I’ve been to Sun Warrior Island before. It helped us both. Maybe if you keep an open mind, it will help you too.”So that’s where Zuko’s bending upgrade came from… He was already good in Ba Sing Se, though still no match for Azula. But after he joined the Avatar, his bending changed completely. Azula thought that his newfound strength was connected to the Avatar, but if it was something on that island...“What did you learn there?”“A dance. I can show it to you.” The Avatar stood up eagerly, the star-burst wound on his bare back fully visible. It made Azula uncomfortable and she hated feeling that way. She did what she had to do. He was the enemy of the Fire Lord. Still, she almost killed him, and the worst part was that she wasn’t sure if she was disappointed that she failed.
“I’ll pass,” she turned away.“It’s a pity. Before the war, Kuzon and I once went to see the Kikubi. They were dancers, who could bend flames of different colours, make magical forms. They were almost one with their element and together they created a shimmering new world.”“So completely useless,” Azula noted. No wonder Sozin banned dancing. Nobody ever danced their way to greatness. It was something mother never understood either when they fought about wasting time on music lessons and watching tripe theater plays.
“Back then, it was considered the highest form of firebending. You could have been one of them,” a flame dancer flickered on his palm. He opened his other hand and another dancer appeared.“You are wasting your time with child-play. I don’t need your help or advice, Avatar,” Azula tore her eyes away from the mesmerising light.“It may be easier to figure out your role, if you let yourself become part of the team.”Azula sighed. The Team. The Team. This was all they ever talked about it. Well, she stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago. Maybe she never did. “There is no team here, only people whose interests align.”As if on cue, Sokka appeared. “Come on Team Egg, it’s time to leave. We have an egg to hatch.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Appa landed with a loud thump on the stone terrace, just below a steep flight of stairs.“Up there,” the Chief pointed to the top of the staircase.“Looks like a pretty clear day. What do we do now?” Zuko frowned as he jumped off from the bison's back, clutching the egg. Other than a few fluffy white clouds, the sky was crystal clear.“Luckily all you need is a storm. And - well, not to toot my own horn, but this is why good team composition is essential,” Sokka replied a bit smugly. He felt vindicated. His hawk-plan of calling for backup was the winning move. He pointed at Katara, Aang and Zuko. “Rain. Wind. Lightning. You can bend it yourselves.”“And what about me?” Azula asked furrowing her brows.“You are back-up coach. You’ll do ground support with me,” Sokka replied lightly.Azula’s eyes were sparking with anger. “What do you mean, back-up coach? I belong up there.”Zuko and Aang exchanged a meaningful glance. Sokka had no idea what it
signified exactly and that was annoying. Plan guys had to have all the information to be able to hone their plans to perfection. Zuko stepped closer to his sister and put a hand on her shoulder. “Sokka is right. The dragons could be unpredictable. We shouldn’t put more people in danger than we absolutely need to.”“But I’m not afraid!” she protested.Zuko let out a sigh. “Azula, please. Can’t you just trust me on this? You did your part already teaching me how to bend lightning. You are an important part of this. I won’t be able to do it if I have to worry about you.”“I can take care of myself.” Azula seemed wavering, but kept arguing. It seemed to be a younger-sister infliction Sokka knew all too well.“Do you have to make everything about yourself?” Katara snapped impatiently. Her disapproving tone of voice did nothing to hide her contempt. Azula’s face hardened and her hands curled into fists ready to fight.Luckily the Chief intervened before the two girls could start a skirmish. “Time is running out. We all know what’s at stake.”“Fine, I don’t care anyways,” Azula shrugged and sprawled out on a rock. Sokka sat next to her and they watched in gloomy silence as the trio climbed to the top of the stairs.Aang and Katara started to bend the clouds. They moved in rhythm, gathering the white fluffs into bigger fluffs. White turned into grey.“I should be up there with them,” Azula repeated impatiently, like a petulant child.Sokka didn’t look at her; he was busy drawing lines with a white chalk on the grey rock of the terrace. What if he could make a storm-machine? “Teamwork is about accepting our roles.”“Don’t you ever get tired of this teamwork thing?” she snapped.Sokka paused sketching and raised his eyes to meet hers. They were burning with an intensity that reminded him so much of Zuko’s, though hers were a slightly darker shade. “Have you ever been to the South Pole?”
Azula scoffed. “I can’t say I have or would ever want to.”“Well, if you grow up in that kind of environment, you learn that nobody survives alone. We are all part of the team. And everyone’s role is essential to the survival of everyone.” It was a lesson every child had to learn early.“But doesn’t it ever bother you?” Azula’s eyes were piercing through him, right to his insecurities, where he was just a boy with a boomerang, not worthy of the mighty warriors of the Water Tribe. But then he remembered his father’s approving smile, as he proudly listened to his plans. He was not that self-doubting boy anymore. He felt comfortable in his skin.
“It used to.” He said truthfully.
“I wanted to be the strongest, the best fighter. Who doesn’t? But I realized I’m not. That’s not my strength. But I’m a really good plan guy. And decent at drawing,” he pointed at the schematics etched into the stone.“Your drawing is terrible,” Azula grimaced.“You are hurting my feelings, Princess,” Sokka put his hand on his chest in mock shock.Azula ignored his antics and continued bitterly. “But I’m good at fighting and at making plans and even at drawing. Shouldn’t I be the one up there?”“Before every winter, the men of the tribe
go out shark-whale hunting. It
is the only way to survive the long winter, to have meat and fuel. They are magnificent animals and so strong. Only the best fighters
get to work the harpoons. The last hunt before my father left for the war, he took me with him. I wanted to be a harpoonist, but he ordered me up into the basket on the top of the mast. He needed someone to spot the shark-whale, to steer the ship in the right direction. I felt disappointed, but now I know, without the spotter, the ship never gets to the right place, and the harpoonist never gets his shot. Maybe one day it will be your turn. But today, we are the shark-whale spotters.”“I don’t want to…” Azula’s dismissive hand-wave froze mid-motion. Her eyes opened wide as with a loud rumble two magnificent dragons emerged from the caves. The beasts started circling the stormbending-trio. Their long sleek bodies, blue and red appeared to swim in the air. It was a rousing and beautiful sight. Sokka and Azula watched in awe.
-0-
Katara turned her arms around bending the dark clouds. She showed no fear of the dragons. It was unbelievable that she was the same girl Zuko met barely more than a year ago on the South Pole, who could barely form a water whip. She became an incredible bender. Strong and self-assured. Aang swept around on his glider whipping up the wind. He made it look like child play, as always. He seemed to be playing catch with the dragons as he zigzagged among them. A cold gust of wind tore into Zuko’s hair. It started haling.“Now!” Aang yelled.Zuko let out a breath. It was his turn. He let all thoughts of Katara, Aang and the circling dragons fall away and put his mind back to the empty pond, watching the sun reflect on the water. Perfect silence. A lonely turtle-duckling swimming around looking for his family. The sparks gathered at his fingertips, the blue lines crackled in front of his face, the electricity rushed through his veins.He released the charge sending the lightning at the golden shell of the egg. A small crack appeared. Everything seemed to stop. Aang and Katara stopped bending, and the sudden calm felt like being in the eye of the storm. The dragons ceased their mad dance and hovered, watching the egg intently. Zuko knelt down next to it. Instinctively, he held out his palm placing it on the shell. The chi of the dragonling grasped onto his like tiny fingers.“Come on, you can do it!” Zuko said softly, slowly warming the eggshell with his hands.Weak taps tickled his palms, then came a stronger push, and more heat, this time from the inside, until the eggshell was so hot that he could barely keep his hand in place. Zuko sent more warmth through his palms, breathing through the burning pain. Finally, the eggshell cracked more and under the crumbling shards the little red nose appeared. A small tongue flickered out against Zuko’s hand. Pale-gold eyes stared at him from a scaly face.
The baby-dragon stumbled out from the shards and climbed onto his hand. He looked so tiny and frail. He curled up into Zuko’s burnt palm.“Druk,” Zuko lifted the dragon closer. His name came from deep inside his soul. “I’m glad you made it, little one.”Ran and Shaw gazed at the tiny creature. The little dragon stared back at them without fear. The
masters engulfed Druk in a colourful flame, like a blessing and disappeared in their caves.Katara and Aang came closer.“How cute,” Katara cooed and extended a finger to caress the dragon. Druk hissed at her, spitting fire at her fingertip. Katara yanked her finger back with a surprised yelp. “I see. You are a hothead, like your dad.”“No, Druk,” Zuko scolded the dragon. He frowned at Katara, “I’m not his dad.”“Could have fooled me,” Aang chuckled. “So we are calling him Druk?”Zuko shrugged. “That’s his name.”They descended the stairway together to the terrace where Sokka, Azula and the Chief were waiting.“What happens now?” Zuko asked absentmindedly caressing the dragon under his chin.
“The dragon chose you. You need to keep him warm and fed until he’s strong enough,” the Chief replied.“How long does it take…” Zuko asked suspiciously.“Two or three…”“I can’t stay here two or three weeks,” Zuko replied with annoyance. He did his part, but he had a country to run. He could not lounge around and play dragon-dad. Even if Druk was adorable. And was blinking at Zuko with those molten-gold eyes.“Not weeks,” the Chief shook his head.“Months?”“Years. It takes two or three years give or take.”Zuko gasped. “I can’t do that. I have a country to run.”“And apparently now a dragon,” Sokka pointed at Druk, who bit into his finger in response. Sokka sucked on his finger with a pained impression.“You could always abdicate,” Azula said nonchalantly, examining her fingernails. Zuko frowned at her. Frozen silence descended on the group. She let out a dramatic sigh. “It was just a joke. Why is everyone so humourless?”“We are staying until Suki and Toph get here, not a day longer,” Zuko closed the argument firmly. “In the meantime, we come up with a plan.”“So what’s next?” asked Aang.
Katara moved first.“I should heal your hands, they look pretty burnt,” she gloved her hands in healing water. That reminded Zuko of the stinging pain and nodded in agreement. He put the dragon on his shoulder and sighed deeply as Katara’s healing water touched the red skin, bringing instant relief. Druk decided that his shoulder was not a warm enough spot. Instead he climbed under Zuko’s tunic, curling up against his skin. His little puffs of breath tickled his skin.“We need to find food for the dragon. What do they eat?” Sokka turned to the Chief.The Chief shrugged. “Well, the adult dragons eat meat. Goats and stuff. But we haven’t had a baby as long as anyone can remember.”“Maybe they are vegetarian. I have a mango in my bag,” Aang said hopefully.“Highly doubtful,” Sokka looked skeptical. Zuko shared Sokka's doubts, but preferred not to take sides.
Aang disregarded the objection and returned with the mango. He scooped out a small piece of the yellow flesh and held it out to Druk.“It’s very nutritious, and also yummie,” he explained seriously to the dragon. Druk smelled the fruit and cautiously flicked his tongue around it. He put it in his mouth. There was blink and yellow mush came spurting back into Aang’s face like a swift projectile.“Yuck. Gross.” Aang grimaced, bending the goo off of his face. “In this group we are normally much more polite about our disagreements, Druk.”“Clearly, he just prefers some real food,” Sokka grinned. He held out a fat wiggly worm. “Look at this juicy bit of meat,” he cooed.“It’s not a pig-chicken,” Azula scowled. “Why would it eat worms?”"It happens to be high in protein," Sokka retorted.Druk approached the wiggly worm with suspicion. He opened his little mouth and slurped in the worm like a long, wet noodle. Aang looked on horrified as the critter disappeared between the pearly white teeth. Druk let out a frustrated whimper and the half-eaten worm projectile landed on Sokka’s chin.“Disgusting. You are a naughty dragon,” Sokka wagged his finger at Druk, while with the other hand tried to get the remains of the worm from his face.“I told you, shark-whale spotter,” Azula snorted.“I don’t see you, having an idea,” Sokka retorted angrily.“Not my problem. Dragon-mama will find a way,” Azula shrugged waving at Zuko dismissively. Zuko felt an overwhelming and un-firelordlike urge to poke his tongue out at his sister in return for the insult.
“We could go down to the village, maybe we can try some other options,” the Chief suggested wisely.“Great idea,” Sokka said and they all piled onto Appa’s saddle. There was a short spat between Momo and Druk about who gets to sit on Zuko. When the argument escalated to the dragon breathing fire at the lemur, Zuko intervened, scolding Druk again. He was barely born, and already a handful. Momo retreated to Aang’s shoulder and glared at the dragon from his safe spot.After exuberant greetings of the Chief by the villagers and lengthy explanations of their adventures, Team Egg got their huts assigned. Boys and girls separately. Zuko had a bad feeling about putting Azula and Katara under the same roof, but decided that it was a problem for later. Figuring out Druk’s diet was more important.
The dragon-feeding continued with koala-sheep cheese, rice balls, dried seaweed and fish-eggs. All attempts ended the same way: Druk’s disapproving blink and a projectile of half-chewed food ending up in someone’s face. The little red demon seemed to have been born with perfect aim.Finally a small boy appeared from the village, holding a handful of fire crickets. “My grandmother says that when she was a little girl, her grandmother used to call these dragon-treats.”“Let’s try,” Sokka nodded handing the fire crickets to a reluctant Zuko. He was sick of having disgusting things landing on his face. Druk was also done with the experimentation. He turned away his scaly head in disgust and climbed inside Zuko’s tunic, curling up against his bare chest, his sharp claws scraping against his skin.“We can’t go on like this.” Sokka shook his head. “There must be somebody who knows how to care for dragons.”“I’ll go and talk to the boy’s grandmother. Maybe she can tell us more,” Katara volunteered. She held out her hand to the little kid and the two of them disappeared among the huts.“Well, this has been amusing, but I’d much rather find a place to take a bath,” Azula announced and left as well.The three boys looked at each other puzzled. Sokka scratched his chin at length. Then he got the “look”.“You have that dumb-idea look,” Zuko noted with unease. Sokka’s ideas were either brilliant or an unmitigated disaster. Sometimes simultaneously both.“Aang,” Sokka pointed at the Avatar.
“Your previous life had a dragon…”“So?” Aang’s eyebrows shot all the way up to his blue arrow.“So, go and talk to yourself and ask what they eat,” Sokka continued.Aang frowned. “You want me to go on a spirit journey and ask Roku what dragons eat?”Maybe it wasn’t a completely terrible idea, thought Zuko. Roku would probably know.“Yes.”“I don’t know. He won’t like me bothering him with this stuff,” Aang said sheepishly.Sokka raised his hands dramatically. “Oh, so you prefer to go to him when the only dragon born in a 100 years is dead and the balance of the world is threatened and explain that you were not bothered to ask yourself the question…”Aang bit his lips. “I don’t know, Sokka. Roku can be grumpy…”“Aang…” Zuko looked at him pleading, pointing to Druk’s shape under his tunic.The boy acquiesced with a pained expression.
“OK, fine, I’ll do it.”He sat cross-legged on the dirt floor of the hut, in meditation position. Soon his arrows started to glow, showing that he was in the spirit world.Sokka and Zuko watched him meditate in silence. Druk was snoring lightly on Zuko’s chest. He did not dare to move, not to disturb the peaceful slumber of the dragon baby. At least while he was sleeping, he wasn't setting anything on fire. He must have been exhausted being born and all. Zuko felt tired too. His eyelids were about to close when Sokka clicked his tongue loudly. Druk woke up immediately, peeking through the folds of the red silk tunic.“What’s taking so long?” Sokka grumbled. “Are they discussing fancy banquet plans?”“This is so boring,” Zuko sighed, too. Patience was never his strong suit.Zuko looked at the fire-crickets, that were still crawling around in his palm. Not very appetizing at all.“What if Druk doesn’t like them raw?” he wondered aloud.“What do you mean?” Sokka asked.“When I was little, Uncle would take Lu Ten and me to the market at Ember Island. They sold these little shrimps. Normally, people would eat them cold, fresh off the fishing boat. But I didn't like them raw. So uncle would always do this.”He blew a small flame at the crickets, until they looked like crispy fireflakes. The dragon climbed onto his arms, joining in his firebreath. The little dragon-flame felt like a tickle on Zuko’s skin. Druk blinked at Zuko with his scaly yellow eyes then turned his attention back to the crispy critters. He flicked out a long tongue and licked at a cricket carefully. It seemed to be to his liking, because a moment later he hungrily gobbled up the whole thing.Sokka and Zuko held their breaths, waiting for the projectile but it didn’t arrive. Instead, Druk let out a thundering burp.They started laughing with relief. The dragon would survive.Zuko glanced at Aang who was grimacing, no doubt as a mirror to whatever unpleasant conversation he was having with Roku. He sometimes wondered what his great-grandfather was like, but he felt silly asking Aang if it was possible for him to visit Roku. Judging from Aang’s pained expression, he wasn’t always a jolly person.“OK, should we tell Aang that you figured it out?” Sokka wondered aloud, echoing his thoughts.“How do we tell him? He’s in the spirit world.”Sokka scratched his head. “Riiiight. So we could then do something fun instead.”Zuko had a fairly good idea what constituted fun in Sokka’s mind. “You are not thinking
of pranking the Avatar, right?”“No, you are thinking about it,” Sokka grinned at him.Zuko pretended to be offended, but he was itching to tell his idea to Sokka. “Fine, only because you are a terrible influence. And because I know a really good place.”“Let’s go then.”Zuko threw the still glowing Aang over his shoulders and the two of them plus the baby dragon headed towards the old ruins. Zuko put Aang down in front of the closed door.“Can I borrow your boomerang?”“Why?” Sokka looked at him like he was asking to borrow his girlfriend for a night.“To open the door.”“With a boomerang?” Sokka seemed even more confused.Zuko disregarded his question and used the shiny metal as a mirror. Sokka nodded after a minute. “Oh, I see what you’re doing. That’s actually pretty smart.”Zuko frowned at his friend. Why did everyone think that he was not capable of being smart? It was true that he made several dumb and reckless decisions in his life… but it’s not like he ever...whatever...The door opened with a loud creak revealing a chamber with dancing statues. Sokka let out an amazed gasp.Zuko pointed to the ceiling with a grin.
“Have you ever tried glue-bending?”It was the perfect opportunity to get back at Aang for scolding him for an entire night when they first came to the island, eager to learn firebending secrets.
-0-
Azula wandered around the ruins in a daze. Everyone was so excited about the stupid dragon. So what? Big deal. She could get a dragon if she wanted to. She just needed to find those other ridiculous eggs they stole back from the assassins. Where did the pompous Chief hide them? Any dragon should be happy to choose her. After all she was the fire-bending prodigy. The one with the blue fire. She could bend lightning much better than Zuko. She let out a frustrated fire blast, and frowned at the orange flecks. Her fire was changing, weakening, and so far this annoying island did nothing to help her.
It was just ancient rocks and crumbling buildings.Zuko was trying to keep her from something, she was sure about that. The dragons were breathtaking and magnificent, but her brother did not want her up there. Maybe he was afraid what she would become if she reached her full potential. She could
have a force of a volcano, of a star, of a rising comet.“Heeeeeeelp!” A slightly cracking boyish voice yelled nearby. Sounded like the idiot Avatar. “Guys? This is not funny...”She stepped into a chamber full of large statues.“Ah, it’s good to see you,” The Avatar seemed to call her from somewhere above her head. She looked up and saw him flailing against the bars of the ventilation hole. He smiled at her sheepishly. “Would you mind helping me?”“How did you get up there?” frowned Azula. The boy was an imbecile, like their entire team, but it required special talent to get stuck on the ceiling.“I got glued here,” he replied, stating the obvious.Azula’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Are you telling me, you are the almighty Avatar and can’t get yourself out of a prank?”“That’s why I’m lucky that you found me,” he didn’t take the mocking to heart. Stinging words seemed to just roll right off him. It was annoying. “The sun warriors have these glue-eater hounds that can lick off the glue.”“How do you know?”The Avatar grinned. “Well, Zuko and I once spent a whole night being stuck to these bars. The first time we came here. That was when he found the egg and started a glue-flood.”“That does sound like my brother,” Azula nodded. Zuko had a penchant for getting into trouble in the dumbest ways. Maybe the boy could be of use after all. She put on her most innocent smile. “You never told me how exactly you learnt firebending here.”“We took the eternal flame that the sun warriors keep at the bottom of the valley all the way up to the dragons. Except we didn’t know they were going to be dragons -
we expected some old wrinkly masters. It was kind of scary. The sun warriors blew this giant horn and the dragons swooshed out.”“So what did you do?” Azula asked with excitement. So far, it was doable.“We danced with them,” the boy beamed.“That sounds dumb,” Azula grimaced. She expected something more spectacular. Blazing flames, fireworks, blinding lightning.The Avatar looked offended by her dismissive tone. “I think they liked it. They showed us the true meaning of fire.”“Which is?”He paused. “It’s hard to explain. You kind of have to see it for yourself.” Well, that was the plan. Azula smiled sweetly. “You’re probably right. I’ll go find those glue-eating dogs for you.”
-0-
The cloth wrapped around the dragon's tail and legs was on fire again. They were starting to run out of material, having used up Sokka’s spare shirt and part of Zuko’s red silk tunic.“Druk, stop setting your diaper on fire!” Zuko exclaimed exasperated, putting out the flames again. “I don’t think this works, Sokka.”“What are you guys doing?” Katara stepped into the hut, coughing from the smoke.“Where were you?” Sokka snapped at his sister. “We figured out how to feed him, but now he won’t stop being gross and setting his diaper on fire.”Katara stared at them as if they had two heads. Each. “Are you trying to put a diaper on the dragon?”“You have a better idea?” Sokka sounded defensive.“Maybe teach him to go outside?” Katara shrugged.That definitely sounded like a better idea. Katara was good
with motherly stuff, they should have asked her in the first place. Just like Zuko suggested. Except Sokka insisted that he could figure out the right solution to the problem using the scientific method.“We can try,” Zuko nodded.“You just have to catch him mid...action and take him outside, hopefully not getting anything on you…” Katara explained helpfully.“I get the picture, thanks,” Zuko sighed. Being dragon-daddy was kind of awesome, but it also stank sometimes. Literally.“Anytime. Did you see Aang?” she asked the boys.They looked at each other startled. In the middle of all the diaper-crisis they forgot about Aang. “Oh, spirits. We left him glued to the ceiling.”“You what?” Katara’s voice went up an octave. She gave them a murderous glance.“It was supposed to be a joke, sis,” Sokka tried to mollify her.“You can’t just glue the Avatar to the ceiling, Sokka,” Katara frowned then turned to Zuko with a disapproving look. “And you went along with it?”“It was his idea!” Zuko and Sokka pointed at each other.“We didn’t mean to leave him there, but Druk set his diapers on fire.”“Well, let’s go rescue him,” Katara glared at them.The three of them found a glue-eater hound, piled on Appa and flew over to the ruins to rescue Aang.The Avatar seemed only slightly disgruntled considering his circumstances. He gave them a half-smile, half-grimace.“Oh, good. Azula told you I was stuck? I mean I know it’s you who stuck me here.” He gave Zuko a pointed look. “It’s not funny. Oh, and Roku says dragons like the food cooked.”“We know,” Sokka nodded.“How?” Aang asked sharply, clearly disappointed that his mission was in vain.“Zuko figured it out. Now we are dealing with the next crisis. He keeps setting his diapers on fire,” Sokka informed Aang of all the excitement he missed out on account of being stuck.“I don’t think you are supposed to put a diaper on a dragon, Sokka,” Aang grumbled. The glue-eater hound finished licking him. He dropped from the ceiling, softening his landing
by bending
an air-cushion.“Well, maybe you can go back…” Sokka suggested.Aang lost his legendary patience. His head turned bright red and his voice was sliding between his boyish timbre and his new deeper tone with occasional squeaks in the middle. “I’m not going back to the spirit world and ask Roku how to toilet-train a dragon so you can glue me to some other funny place. You’ll just have to figure it out all by yourselves,” he yelled.“Sorry, Aang. We shouldn’t have…” Zuko apologized immediately. In retrospect, it was a really stupid joke, unbecoming of the Fire Lord.Aang calmed down immediately. “Anyways. Let’s find some dinner, I’m starving.”“Good idea,” Sokka agreed predictably. Baby dragons and teenage boys were alike that way - being always hungry.Something Aang said kept bothering Zuko. “So you said you saw my sister?” It occurred to him that he hadn’t seen Azula since she left the hut.Aang nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, we had a nice chat about the first time you and I came here and she promised to come back with the glue-eater hounds.”Zuko furrowed his brow. Strange. “A nice chat? That doesn’t sound...”He got interrupted by the deep blare of a horn. The same horn the sun warriors used to call the dragons. Except… Dread chilled his veins and he looked at Aang in alarm.The boy’s grey eyes reflected the same unsettling realization. He groaned and buried his bald head in his hands. “I’m so stupid.”“What’s going on?” Katara asked eyes wide.“Azula,” exclaimed Zuko and before the others could stop him, he hopped on Appa and flew off.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
-0-
Finding and stealing the eternal fire was easy enough. The climb up the steep hill wasn’t too bad either. Everyone cooing over the stupid dragon meant that nobody realized she was gone. The horn was loud though, much louder than she expected. They would surely hear it even down in the village. Well, it did not matter. They could not stop her from her destiny anymore.Azula paused in front of the steep stairway. What if Zuko was really trying to warn her of some danger? Maybe she should reconsider… She shook her head to chase the unwelcome thought away. No, she could not show weakness or hesitation - not when she was so close. The dragons gave something to Zuko and the Avatar which helped them on the day of the comet, and if she wanted to win, she needed to get the same.She straightened her shoulders and ascended the stairs cradling the flame in her palm. The caves of the dragons were dark. Azula waited for a while, but when the animals did not appear, she lost her patience and called out on a loud voice.“You gave power to my brother, now give it to me too,” she raised her hand towards the sky. “My name is Azula, I’m Princess of the Fire Nation.”Loud rumbling preceded the dragons jolting out of their caves like arrows: long, sleek, beautiful, dangerous. She shivered slightly from the wind whipped up by their tails. The fine hairs on the nape of her neck stood up in alarm, even if she told herself that she was not afraid.The dragons circled around her and it made her feel like a prey. Azula let out a breath - a true Fire Princess never shows fear - and stared into the eyes of the blue dragon that hovered in place before her.
“Look, my fire is blue, like you. It’s special. You must teach me what you taught Zuko. It’s my birthright.”The dragon blinked and opened its mouth. Azula felt the scorching heat about to engulf her. She lifted her arms instinctively, trying to protect her face. The pain of the flames eating into her skin was blinding. She tried in vain to bend the fire away; she had no control over the flames. She wasn’t sure if the blood-curdling scream was hers or someone else’s. This is how it ends. In fire. It was somehow fitting, terrifying but almost peaceful. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.Instead, she felt a body crushing into her, embracing her, shielding her from the destroying heat. The blaze subsided; the deadly inferno tempered into the warmth of a summer day.She opened her eyes and saw a dome of fire sparkling with colours; yellow, orange, red, purple, green, pink. I am life, yet all you do is destroy. You have wasted your gift, you are not worthy of it, the fire roared on a fearsome voice. The two dragons abruptly closed their mouths and disappeared into their caves. It was over.Azula looked up finding her brother holding her; Druk’s little scaly-red face peeking out of from under his tunic.“I didn’t need you to save me,” she said defiantly, gritting her teeth trying to ignore the pain of her burnt skin.“Are you all right?” he asked with worry.“You can’t keep me from my destiny, Zuko. It’s my birthright, as much as yours.” Azula tore herself out of his arms so he would not see her tears. The voice of the fire shook her to the core. How dare the dragons question her worth? She worked so hard to be perfect. She did what was expected of her and more. The world started to spin around her. Her veins felt ice-cold and empty. Where her fire roared before, there was only emptiness. “What’s happening to me? What did you do?” she screamed in panic.The last thing she saw before darkness engulfed her was Zuko’s concerned eyes.
-0-
Zuko jumped off of Appa. He was too late - Azula was standing face to face with the dragons on the top of the staircase. Idiot. She’ll get hurt. He swore under his breath as he ran up the long stairway. As the dragons opened their mouths, he could feel the heat.
“Nooooo!” he screamed as he hurled himself on her, his body acting on its own. The angry red blaze seemed to change into the familiar rainbow-coloured whirlwind, and Zuko heard it speak. This time the vision was different than when he had stood here with the Avatar. Fire is life. Fire is home. Fire is family. It’s meant to be shared. The flames whispered to him.The dragons disappeared in their cave taking their colourful flames, leaving the two of them stunned. Azula jerked away, her eyes disoriented. She tried to firebend, then screamed and collapsed.Zuko scooped up his unconscious sister in his arms. He should have never brought her here. He should have known she would not listen to him. And now she was hurt and it was his fault. Her body was so light. She had been always so strong and stubborn that it was easy to forget that she was still just a young girl.He carried her down the stairs to the terrace, where Aang, Katara and Sokka waited anxiously, out of breath from their mad dash to catch up with him.“You shouldn’t have run off like that,” Sokka grumbled between shaky breaths. “What were you thinking?!”Zuko did not bother to point out that there was not much thinking involved. He acted on instinct.“What happened?” Aang asked, worry lacing his voice.Zuko shook his head, still in a daze. “I’m not sure. She screamed that something was wrong before she passed out. She could not bend. Her arms are burnt.” He turned to Katara pleading. “Can you heal her?”Katara nodded, her blue eyes shining with endless compassion. She gloved her hands in water and placed them over Azula’s damaged skin. The blisters slowly disappeared under the glowing liquid. Zuko watched with fascination. Something twisted inside him. Out of all the amazing things Katara could do with her bending, her gift of healing was the most extraordinary even if she preferred to fight.Despite the healing session, Azula remained unconscious. Katara examined her, but seemed to be at loss. “I don’t know what’s happening to her, she should be awake. I’ve never seen this before.”Zuko touched his hand to Azula’s forehead; it felt feverish like he expected. “I have. I got really sick like this once in Ba Sing Se, after I freed Appa. Uncle said it had to do with being at war with myself.”“Oh, so you made one decent decision in your life, and you collapsed from the weight of your own goodness?” Sokka’s sarcasm seemed intact despite the seriousness of the situation. Zuko shrugged - Sokka was not entirely wrong in his assessment. Katara elbowed her brother, giving him a disapproving glare, which Sokka shrugged off. “What? It’s true…”Seeing their easy interaction made Zuko feel even worse about his own terrible relationship with his sister. Their ruthless rivalry led to nothing but pain and hurt. It had to stop.“You think she’s at war with herself too?” Aang helped Zuko get the unconcious girl onto the saddle.“She’s changed,” Zuko said with conviction, thinking of how they saved the egg and practiced lightning together. They were stronger as a team - maybe she had started to see it too.“If you say so,” Sokka muttered, clearly not convinced. Katara elbowed him again.
-0-
The sand was almost unpleasantly warm under her bare feet as they ran over to the cliff 's edge hovering over the cove. Their secret cove. The one they discovered the previous summer and where they spent many afternoons, watching baby seals bask in the sun and turtle-crabs crawl around the rocks. They collected pretty shells to take back to Mother who always looked at their treasures with a proud smile.
Zuko jumped down first. He landed on his feet and looked back up at Azula. “Jump. I’ll catch you. Don’t be afraid.”
It seemed so nice down there; the water was crystal clear, peaceful like a shimmering blue mirror. She caught a glance of her reflection. The perfect princess, her hair tied into a topknot, a little ornate headpiece reflecting the rays of the sun. It was a gift from her father, signalling that she was a firebender now.
“I’m not afraid. I just don’t want to go there,” she frowned. She had important things to do.
“Just let go, Azula, I’m right here,” Zuko begged her again.
“No. I have no time for this sillines… Father wants me to train the next set. I have to be perfect. You can’t understand, Zuzu, after all you aren’t a bender yet,” she hissed. It was frustrating. Zuko should have understood and stopped asking her.
“I wish you weren’t either. Things were better before,” he said bitterly. He turned away from her, and said defiantly, “Fine, then I’ll go alone.” A giant wave rolled out from the sea and before Azula could warn him, it engulfed Zuko. She watched in horror as he disappeared under the white foam.
“Zuzu…” she gasped.“I’m right here,” His brother’s scratchy voice came from closeby. She opened her eyes, and saw him sitting cross-legged next to her bedroll. He held out a cup and she drank the cool water thirstily.She felt disoriented - maybe it was all just a bad dream. She looked at her arms, her skin was flawless.“Luckily, Katara healed you,” Zuko
replied to the unspoken question.Azula nodded. It wasn’t just a nightmare then. She truly lost it.
Zuko was weak and
a failure, yet he had everything. The throne, a dragon, friends who loved him. She was strong and perfect, she sacrificed everything, yet she had nothing left; not even her fire.She turned away. She didn’t want him to see her tears. She didn’t want his pity.A cool washcloth touched her feverish forehead, bringing relief.
“Get some rest. It will get better, Azula,” he murmured.She wanted to believe him so badly, but fairy tales were children. The real world was divided to winners and losers. She had never thought she would be the latter.Still, when he reached out to hold her hand, she didn’t pull away from his touch. She pretended to be asleep, as her mind drifted off to Ember Island, to vague memories of a secret cove, of simpler times, of happiness that got lost in the fire.
“Let go, Azula. I’ll catch you. Don’t be afraid,” his brother called out to her from the cove once more.
It was a long way down, but the sea looked so peaceful. She took a deep breath and this time she jumped.
-0-
Zuko turned as Sokka entered the hut. There were dark circles around his eyes.
“You look terrible. Haven’t you heard, new mothers need their rest?” Sokka tried to joke but it fell flat.Zuko continued to look forlorn. It was much worse than his usual grumpy self.“How is she?” Sokka whispered loudly. Azula seemed to be in a fitful sleep muttering about seals and firebending.“Much the same,” Zuko sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. “She came to for a little while, but she’s not talking to me.”Sokka had no advice to offer, but it did not mean he came empty handed. He held out his fist.“I caught some more fire crickets, but we need to consider other options, because I think he gobbled up all the bugs on this island by now,” Sokka looked accusingly at Druk. Catching the bugs was becoming more and more of a hassle, but someone had to take care of the newborn. The baby dragon draped himself around Zuko’s neck and hissed at him. Sokka wagged his fingers at the annoying brat, “Don’t sass me, young man. Don’t you know that without Uncle Sokka, you would have starved to death by now?”Zuko took the fire crickets, breathed flames and fed them to the dragon, who chomped happily on the offering. They were definitely falling into a routine.“You owe me big, Zuko,” Sokka pointed out. “Not everyone would spend their days collecting insects for your dragon.”“I’ll name you Royal Cricket Master,” Zuko joked weakly.“Is that even a thing?” Sokka grimaced at the dubious title.
“I’m the Fire Lord. If I say it’s a thing, it’s a thing," Zuko shrugged and it was not far from the truth. It also explained a lot about the problems with the Fire Nation.“Suki and Toph are arriving with a boatful of Sun Warriors, you should come out and say hello to them. We need to make a plan for our return,” Sokka announced the big news. This got at least a reaction out of Zuko, who finally stood up and stumbled out blinking in the daylight.They got down to the shore just as the boat was anchored. Suki stood at the helm, looking every bit the captain of the ship. She smiled and waved at Sokka happily. All the villagers gathered around and the freed Sun Warriors hobbled off the boat to the sound of happy reunions.Sokka walked over to grab Toph’s arms discreetly as she tried to feel her way down the wood plank. He knew how much she hated asking for help so he gave her an exuberant half-embrace as he led her off the boat under the cover of their friendliness. Toph gave him an affectionate punch to thank the effort and fell onto her knees in the sand.“Sweet, sweet, sand. How much I missed you,” she announced loudly, picking up handfuls of grains and letting them slip through her fingers, curling her toes in the soft sand with pleasure. Once she got her bearings, she quickly made a sand boat.“You made it,” Sokka embraced Suki.“Piece of cake,” she smiled back at him affectionately, before she turned to greet the others.When she got to Zuko, she gave him a crooked smile. “I hate to be the one telling you this, Zuko, but you need a bath more than me and I’ve been stuck on a ship for four days.”Sokka nodded in agreement, relieved that someone else took the rhino-bull by the horn on that issue. Suki was the bravest of them all.
Zuko must have been truly exhausted, because all he gave in return was a sheepish shrug.“I think he smells manly,” Toph left her sand-sculptures and jumped to Zuko’s defence immediately. She stepped closer to give him a punch, but froze mid-motion. She stood very still for a moment, then frowned.
“Sunshine, are you trying to keep a secret from us? You have two heartbeats. Tell us, who knocked you up so I can fight for your honor.”“You’re late to the party, Toph. Zuko has become actual dragon mama while you were taking the long way around,” Sokka jumped in with the explanation.“Don’t mention the long way, Snoozles. Did I
ever tell you how much
I hate boats?” Toph sighed dramatically.Before she could go into a detailed description of her suffering, Suki intervened with an excited smile. “Well, where are you hiding him or her? Is it a boy or a girl?”
“Boy, we think,”
Zuko confirmed.“Definitely, boy. From the angle and curvature of the pee...I can tell…” Sokka added. Zuko trusted his motherly “instincts”, but as far as Sokka was concerned, the scientific method was much more reliable.“There is such thing as too much information, Sokka,” Suki grimaced, but it didn’t stop her from cooing at the little red demon.
-0-
Suki was right, he really needed a bath. Zuko felt almost like a human being, or at least less like a smelly old shoe as he submerged himself in the hot spring. Druk watched him with suspicion from the edge of the water.“Come on, boy, I think you’ll like this,” Zuko held out his arm in invitation.Druk, torn between his fear of the water and his desire to be close to Zuko’s warmth climbed onto it cautiously.“There you go,” Zuko encouraged him. “I won’t let you go until you are ready. Don’t worry.”He kept his arm above the water, while with the other one, he carefully splashed a little water on the dragon’s paws. Druk let out a startled noise, pulled back his paw, but remained seated on Zuko’s hand.“You see? Not bad,” Zuko said softly. He tried again, splashing gently some water on the dragon’s scaly body, caressing him with his hand, murmuring that it was safe. Druk seemed slowly to relax.“Now just lay down…” Zuko gradually let him into the water until the dragon was floating on his back, his wings spread wide. Zuko tickled his stomach, and Druk let out a contented sigh. Zuko savoured the peace of the moment, resisting the urge to fall asleep.After the bath, Zuko dried them both off, got dressed and headed back to the hut.He caught sight of Aang’s familiar orange robe under a mangrove tree. The Avatar was sitting in meditation pose, his eyes shut tightly. The worried lines framing the blue tattoo on his bald head were a sure sign that he was torn about something.“Go away, Sokka. I haven’t made a decision yet,” Aang said on an exasperated voice.Zuko cleared his throat. “It’s me, Aang. What are you doing?”One grey eye popped open. “I’m meditating on my moral dilemma.”“Which is?”Aang sighed in frustration. “Sokka asked me to help him catch bugs for Druk. But it’s wrong to kill them. And even if technically it’s you killing them," he paused and gave Zuko a pointed and somewhat disapproving look, "and, of course, I don’t want Druk to starve - but there has to be another way.”“There isn’t always another way,” Zuko glared at the boy. Aang was his best friend, but he drove him absolutely crazy some days.
The Avatar ignored his annoyance. “Have you tried to fry papayas?”Zuko waved impatiently. They had been over this for the last couple of days. “Yes, and mango, and star-fruit and beet. It’s the same every time. Druk is not a vegetarian.”“You have to try again. Sometimes it takes more than one go. When I was young, I didn’t like cabbages. But I developed a taste for it after the monks...” Aang explained.Before he could get into a lengthy anecdote about Air Temple refectory customs, Zuko interrupted him. “Aang, we need to talk.”“About cabbages?” his eyes were wide.Zuko shook his head with frustration. “Not about cabbages. It’s about my sister.”“How is she?” Aang asked with concern.“Katara healed the burn, and she’s getting better. That’s not what I’m worried about,” Zuko said cautiously.“Then what?”“She won’t talk. She seems so broken.”“It’s a lot to process,” Aang agreed thoughtfully.This was the opening Zuko was waiting for. He had to try. “Aang, Katara can’t do anything about her bending. But maybe you… if you could take away my father’s bending, maybe you can give hers back.”Aang looked down at his feet, pondering the request. “Even if I could, I don’t think it’s right...”“I understand if you are still mad at her, but would you do it as a favour for me?” Zuko’s voice trembled. He never really asked Aang for personal favours and felt uncomfortable playing the friendship card.“It’s not about that Zuko. She went to learn a lesson from the masters, and that’s the one they chose to give her. It doesn’t feel right to intervene,” Aang explained calmly.“Oh, spirits forbid you ever have to do anything that makes you uneasy!” Zuko lashed out at him, his hands curling into fists.“Are you really mad at me?” Aang jumped to his feet, his eyes sparking.They stared at each other for a tense moment. Zuko backed down. Getting the Avatar cross was a terrible idea for anyone, but especially the Fire Lord. It was also totally unfair. Aang came to help -
none of this was his fault.“No, I’m angry at myself. This is all my fault. I thought I was doing the right thing, but everyone else was right... Grrr... I shouldn’t have brought her with me. I want to fix it...”Aang put his hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “Zuko, it’s not your fault. She makes her own choices. I think the best thing you can do for her is let her understand the lesson she was supposed to learn. You can’t fix everything, but you can be there for her. A true master knows which lesson can be taught at which time.”“Yeah, this is why I’ll never make master of anything,” Zuko scoffed in self-depreciation.“You are underselling yourself, Sifu Hotman,” Aang grinned at him affectionately. "And for what it's worth, I think you did the right thing bringing her."Zuko pondered Aang’s words. He knew in his heart that his own banishment saved him from becoming like his father. It was also true that Iroh let him make his own choices, even really awful ones. Still, it felt a lot like doing nothing. He never had Uncle’s patience to play long games, or Aang's faith in the benevolence of the universe. He did not want to watch his sister repeat all the terrible mistakes he had made.“Aang… I’m sorry I yelled,” he apologized.“It’s OK.” Aang smiled benignly. He was incapable of holding grudges, and Zuko wished that he could be just a bit more like the monk. Aang lowered himself back into the lotus position and scratched his head. “What about silk squash? Have you tried cooking that?”“I can’t believe this,” groaned Zuko loudly and left his wise, but frustrating friend under the mangrove tree.
-0-
The next days were spent in frantic negotiation. Zuko needed to return to the palace. Druk refused to be separated from him. The Chief finally gave in; he had to let the dragonling
go back with Zuko to the capital. In return, the Fire Lord promised to make the island into a
dragon sanctuary
under the protection of the Fire Nation and send patrols to keep away unwanted visitors.Arrangements were made, bags were packed. The tribe threw a lavish party featuring a roast zebra-goat and a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as a generous amount of papaya liqueur to honor the guests one last time. Aang gave Zuko a triumphant look when Druk ate up all the
fried tiger nuts. Zuko was not sure
whether he should laugh or cry - the cosmos always found a way to prove the Avatar right. Still, he could not be too upset about it, as it meant that they had just solved the biggest challenge for the road back - a portable supply of food for Druk.There was one last thing to arrange. Zuko wandered off from the happy group in search of Azula, who recovered from the fever, but not her silent desperation. He found her brooding on a rock by the old ruins, staring down a stone dragon.“Azula…” he said hesitantly.“Go away. I don’t want to talk,” she said flatly without looking at him.Zuko sat down next to her. “I know you don’t, but I want to tell you something I never told anyone.” He took a deep breath. This was hard, he had no practice in opening up. Especially not to his family. “After father… after the Agni kai, I lost my bending for a while. I couldn’t make any flames. I couldn’t control any fire. I felt cold inside.”Azula turned towards him, her eyes wide with surprise.
“What did you do?”Zuko looked at his hands. “I trained with my swords and other combat. I meditated for hours and hours. Drank tea with Uncle, listened to his proverbs. Yelled at the crew. And then one day the dragons showed up in my dream and I knew the fire inside me didn’t die, I just lost my way to it.”She swallowed. “Why are you telling this to me?”
“Don’t give up. I think your fire is not lost, you’ll just have to find your way back to it.”
“How?” There was so much desperation in her voice, a feeling he knew all too well.
“I’m not sure. But through all that, I learnt something else.” Zuko continued hesitantly. “Your fire - that’s not who you are. Who you are is here and here,” he gestured to his head and his heart.
“I’ll keep it in mind on my little island prison while I paint my feelings,” she said sarcastically.
Zuko took a deep breath, hoping that this was the right thing. Fire is home. That was the lesson the dragons taught him, even if it was maddeningly unclear. “That’s another thing. I think it’s time for you to come home. To the palace.”Azula’s eyes looked wet in the moonlight. “Why?”“Because it’s your home too and you are my family and whatever happens, family sticks together,” Zuko said with conviction.
Azula scoffed. “Not our family. I distinctly remember you walking away.”Zuko laughed bitterly. “From what? From burning down half the world in a big show of unity? Is that really who we are?” He took a deep breath, he did not come here to fight. “But you are right. We have never been much of a family. But maybe we still could be. I will try - will you try?”“I don’t need your pity,” Azula whispered, her hair hiding her face as she clutched her knees to her chest, curling up on herself.Zuko shook his head impatiently. “It’s not about pity. I’m sick of playing the script we were given. I look at Sokka and Katara and I ask myself, why can’t we be like that?”It was a rhetorical question. Of course, they both knew why.Azula broke the silence. “You remember our secret cove, back on Ember Island?”Zuko looked at her with surprise. He didn’t expect her to remember it - it was so long ago. They were just small, wide-eyed, innocent children, still full of marvel of the world. The turtle-crabs, the colourful shells, the waves. Zuko smiled - it was the happiest summer of his life. “Yeah, with the baby seals. We made a good team back then.”“And then we grew up. You can’t turn back time, Zuko,” Azula said bitterly.“No, but you can keep moving forward even if you can’t see the end of the tunnel. And sometimes you find yourself at full circle,” Zuko was fairly certain he got the proverb right this time.“You sound like Uncle. Except making even less sense,” Azula gave him a dismissive wave.Zuko shrugged. There were worse things in the world than being like Uncle.“Just think about it. If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to the island and keep making scary paintings," Zuko stood up.Azula rolled her eyes at him. He walked away smiling.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I can’t feel my legs,” complained Sokka trying to stretch his knees in the crowded saddle.“Well, next time feel free to walk,” Aang said with a barb. He was always touchy about any criticism of the comfort class on Appa’s back. It was easy for him, having the bison’s neck all to himself. Well, with Momo, who tried to keep his distance from the red menace.With six of them squished together there was no space to spare. The only creature who looked comfortable was Druk, sprawled out on Zuko’s chest resting his head against his heart. Zuko absentmindedly ran his fingers down the dragon’s spine who made contended noises that reminded Sokka of the purring of an owl-cat. Zuko gave worried sideways glances at Azula who sat silently, turned away from the others staring at the horizon. Even Sokka found himself missing her usual sarcastic remarks. Sarcasm reminded him of meat, which reminded him that he was hungry. Toph complained loudly and punched him in the ribs as retaliation for trying to crawl over her to get to the snack bag.At long-last the spiky cliffs of Caldera came into sight, and Sokka could almost feel the soft mattress of the giant Fire Palace guest beds against his spine and the silky caress of the luxurious silk sheets over his skin. He was looking forward to resting. He should add a couple of those beds to his imaginary war reparations list along with the bath warmers, even if it took demolishing half of an igloo to get them through the door. It would be totally worth the pain.Appa landed in the gardens and the weary travellers piled off. Iroh was standing outside waiting for them.“Uncle!” Zuko gave him a quick hug before the others could tackle the old man. Druk peeked curiously from the folds of Zuko’s tunic. Iroh held out his hand. The dragon sniffed it, and after a moment of hesitation climbed onto his palm. Iroh smiled.“What a handsome little fellow you are,” he observed with grandfatherly pride.“He likes you. Now, I really get to call you gramps,” Toph said cheerfully. The earthbender gave Iroh a small punch, a sign of her undying affection. Iroh chuckled and ruffled her hair. They were a strange pair, but they got along marvelously.“I see, Nephew, that your field trip was a success,” Iroh noted as Druk retreated into Zuko’s tunic.Azula stared at the scene with a stony face, turned on her heels and disappeared inside the palace without exchanging any greetings with her uncle.
Iroh gave his nephew a questioning eyebrow.“Let’s talk about it inside more, Uncle,” Zuko said with a heavy sigh.Iroh turned to Sokka and Katara. “This letter came for you last night. It is marked urgent.”Sokka’s stomach sank when he recognized his father’s writing. He tore the scroll out of Iroh’s hand and they anxiously read it. Gran-Gran was gravely ill, his father informed them and implored them to return home as soon as possible.Katara looked stricken; she had always been the closest to Gran Gran. “I should have been there to heal her.”“You couldn’t have known, Katara. She’ll make it. She’s the toughest bird I know,” Sokka said with conviction even if the worry was tugging at his heart too. He had to be optimistic for both of them.“Appa needs some rest, but I can give you a ride in a few hours,” Aang offered.“Or you can take an airship,” Zuko added.After some back and forth, Sokka decided that Appa was still the fastest way to get there.“I’ll go and pack,” Sokka hurried to the guest room to gather his things.He mulled over a selection of scrolls, trying to decide which ones to borrow when he noticed Zuko standing awkwardly in the doorway.“Can we talk?”“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Sokka asked and then motioned at the scrolls. “By the way, do you mind if I borrow these?”Zuko shook his head. He stared at Sokka in a kind of unnerving way like he couldn’t decide how to start. It must be a girl trouble Sokka concluded. Luckily, Sokka was
a bit of an expert at the matters of the heart.“Is this a girl problem?”
he prodded, anxious to get through whatever awkward conversation Zuko had in mind so he could catch a few minutes alone with Suki before leaving.Zuko frowned. “What? No.”Maybe it was something else then. “Are you getting the baby blues? Gran Gran said sometimes new mothers can be a bit emotional.”Zuko seemed taken aback. He shook his head vigorously. “No. It’s not a girl problem or a baby problem…” He bit his lips, “It’s a... It’s a sister problem.”“Oh.” That was worse than Sokka expected.“How do you do it?” Zuko spread his arms dramatically.“Hmm? You need to be a bit more specific.”“With Katara,” clarified Zuko. “Why is it so easy for you?”Well, that was a question for gossip nights chilling with plum wine, but Sokka was not one to hold back wisdom from a friend in need. And boy, Zuko could definitely use
his wisdom.
“Maybe it looks easy, but it’s not. We had our ups and downs. I was jealous of her magic water, and took it out on her for a long time. And after mum died, things were hard. Katara was so closed off and angry. I think she felt like she should have been able to protect her somehow. She lashed out at me, at Gran-Gran and dad disappeared for hours. It was slow and painful and lots of work, but things got better.”“But then what am I doing wrong?” Zuko’s voice was quiet, laced with desperation.“Zuko. I’m not saying I understand everything you go through. Growing up, our biggest arguments were about fixing fishing nets and mending pants. Your world is different. But when I get irritated with her, I also remind myself that she’s my sister. We are a team. Her loss is my loss, her win is my win too. And that’s more important than pride. From where I’m standing, buddy, you both need to take yourselves less seriously. When in doubt, just make a joke, play dumb. Don’t let her forget the kids you used to be.” Sokka paused there a second realizing he had no idea if Zuko ever played silly games with his sister. Maybe they were firebending at each other before they were out of diapers. “I mean you must have been just kids at one point, right? Before you started challenging each other to Agni kais? When in doubt, ask yourself what would Sokka do?”Zuko didn’t seem too impressed with that last bit. “What would Sokka do? That’s your advice, seriously?”“Hey. You came to me because I’m the sister-whisperer,” Sokka was a bit offended.“Right,” Zuko stared off into the distance,
mulling over what he heard.“Zuko,” Sokka said in a warning voice.“Yes, you can take the scrolls and all the fire flakes you want…” Zuko didn’t even look at him, he just agreed with a magnanimous wave.“Actually, your robe is on fire,” Sokka pointed at Zuko’s chest.“Oh.” Zuko extinguished the fire with a flick of his wrist then grabbed Druk and held him up by the neck. “No firebending inside!” he yelled. The dragon seemed to be terrified and whimpered pitifully.Zuko immediately pulled him close to his chest and murmured on a soothing voice. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m not mad at you, but there are rules you need to learn if you are going to live here. No firebending inside is an Unbreakable Rule. I’ll show you where you can practice.” Once Druk calmed down, Zuko turned back to Sokka. “Hey, thanks.”Sokka gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Anytime, Buddy. I hope to be back for the midsummer festival for some more library research.”“You know, I can really name you Royal Cricket Master, and you can move into the palace permanently,” Zuko grinned.“I’ll consider it among my other employment options though I’m fairly certain my dad hopes I’d take over chiefing one day,” Sokka laughed. In fact, he didn’t want to think about the future yet - that decision was for another day. There was so much to learn, to see, to discover. The freedom was intoxicating. “Keep an eye on Suki for me, will you? I’m counting on you to have her back.”Amusement flickered in Zuko’s eyes. “You have it the wrong way around. She doesn’t let me do anything - and bosses me around constantly. She even follows me on undercover missions.”“Isn’t she wonderful?” Sokka smirked. He was tickled by the idea that Suki could out-ninja his annoyingly stealthy friend.Sokka cautiously held out his hand towards the dragon. He had no idea that he’d get so attached to the little brat.“Be a good boy for Zuko, Druk. Uncle Sokka will miss you.” Druk flicked his tongue at Sokka. “And your fiery kisses,” he cooed.“Take a hawky,
too. Let me know how it went. I’m sure your grandma will be fine. Katara is the best there is.” Zuko had an unshakable faith in Katara’s healing abilities. With good reason, after all Katara did save him, Sokka thought with pride. Zuko gave Sokka a half pat, half embrace in his awkward way. Sokka pulled him into a proper manly hug - the Water Tribe way.“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Suki grinned at the boys from the doorway.“I’ll leave you two to it,” Zuko untangled himself from Sokka’s embrace and headed towards the door. “I have a meeting with my ministers.”“Zuko.” Suki’s voice stopped him before he could make his escape. “You realize your robe has a giant hole,” she pointed at his chest with an I-don’t-even-want-to-know look. Druk blinked at her innocently.“Yes. Thanks, Suki. I’ll go take care of that instead then,” Zuko made a hasty retreat and walked down the corridor with all the gravitas one could muster with a half-burnt robe and a baby dragon wrapped around his neck, ignoring the strange glances from the palace employees.“So… this visit turned out to be fruitful,” Sokka took Suki’s hand in his once Zuko was at a safe distance. “Though I wish we had more time to test this bed.” He gave another mournful look at the big red bed. It even had a canopy.“You do?” Suki’s eyes shimmered playfully.Sokka nodded. “I’m thinking of putting them on the war reparations wish list. But need to test them a bit further to make sure they’ll withstand the harsh climate back home. Need to go about it the scientific way.”“I see. I like the scientific way,” Suki’s lips curled into a suggestive smile. She put her arms around his neck. “So does that mean you’ll be back soon?”“I hope so,” Sokka sighed. “Take care of Zuko for me, will you? He is a total a moron and I don’t…”“You don’t trust Azula. I know.” Suki interrupted him impatiently. Sokka frowned. That wasn’t what he was going to say. In truth, he didn’t consider the princess to be a threat and it surprised him. .He scratched his ears thoughtfully. “She’s not so terrible, actually. Maybe Zuko is right, maybe she’s changing. But keep an eye on her anyway. And send me a hawk if you notice anything suspicious.”“Don’t worry, Sokka. Go, be with your family. I’ll hold down the fort here.”“You are also my family. You, Zuko, even that little red menace,” Sokka pulled her into another hug.“You know what I love most about you, Sokka?” Suki cupped his face. Sokka perked up immediately. It was a topic he was fond of.“My manly charm?” he asked eagerly. She shook her head.“My impressive boomerang skills?” he cocked an eyebrow.“My unbeatable plans?” Another head-shake.“You have the biggest heart,” she put her palm against his chest. “The whole world fits inside it.”Sokka’s heart swelled even bigger at the compliment and he rested his forehead against hers, savouring the feeling.They walked hand in hand out to Appa where the others were already waiting. Toph decided to get a ride back to Earth Kingdom as well. Sokka gave Suki one last kiss. Katara initiated a group hug which got disrupted by Druk starting another skirmish chasing Momo around, and Appa jumping in - literally - to save his lemur buddy, knocking over the group, covering them in bison fur and slob.They all climbed back up into the saddle. As Appa took off, Sokka noticed Azula watching from her window, half-hidden by a thick curtain. He gave her a wave and the curtain went all the way down immediately, hiding her entirely. Sokka took a last look back at the waving figures of Iroh, Zuko and Suki as the Fire Palace disappeared behind a spiky cliff. It felt a lot like leaving home.
-0-
It was strange to be home. The palace gossip worked as always, and from the sideways glances and hidden grins of the servants, or the way the guards relaxed in her presence, Azula knew that the news of the loss of her bending spread around like wildfire. No doubt, many felt a grotesque satisfaction at her fall from the fearsome prodigy she used to be. She kept mostly to herself, though she did suffer through “family dinners” with Zuko and Iroh every once in a while. They conspicuously avoided any subject relating to firebending or politics. This left tedious discussions of the weather, tea-making and maddening proverbs, where more than once Azula found Zuko rolling his eyes and making faces behind Iroh’s back like he used to when they were kids.These terrible meals aside, she hid herself in the library, studying scrolls on firebending, hoping to find a clue. Most scrolls contained only boring treatises on how Sozin streamlined the art to speed up the learning process so the training time of new recruits could be reduced. But in a dusty corner of the library, she found some promising works on chi flows and philosophy.The text was dense, written in the ancient Fire Nation dialect. Reading it was a
tedious work and she soon had a pounding headache. She opened the large windows to let some fresh air in. Sounds of laughter rang in her ears. It was strange; the Fire Palace had not been a place of merriment in a long time.Curious, she followed the noise down to the garden, along the paths to the training ground. Suki and Zuko together with a number of Kyoshi Warriors and palace guards seemed to be playing games. Azula watched intently the Kyoshi Warriors - hoping and dreading the possibility that some of the elaborate makeup may hide Ty Lee or Mai. She had not seen them since that day at the Boiling Rock, but she heard some rumours. She didn’t want to ask Zuko. Azula sighed - whether in sadness or relief
was unclear - once she was sure that her former friends were not among the group.Zuko noticed her finally. He used to hate when she showed up at his training sessions, but this time he just smiled. It just drove home painfully the fact that she was not a threat anymore.“Azula, come, train with us.”“You know very well that I cannot bend,” Azula replied coldly. Why did he insist on humiliating her? She didn’t need a reminder how useless she had become.“Not bending. Hand-to-hand combat. Capture the flag.” Zuko motioned at the green rag in the middle of the arena.
“Come on, you used to be good at this.”Azula remembered. Of course, when they were kids, they used to play this stupid game all the time. They were fairly evenly matched in it, so it was way more fun than the bending spars, where Zuko couldn’t even give her a decent challenge. Maybe some exercise wouldn’t hurt after all. If Zuko wanted to play ninja, well, she
would show them she was not completely helpless.“I’m still good at it,” Azula replied with a cocky smile and stepped into the arena.“On my mark,” Suki yelled.Zuko and Azula started from opposite corners. They needed to get through equal amounts of opponents to get to the flag. Azula felt a pleasant rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins as she lunged forward, swiping the feet out from under her first attacker. She dodged the royal guard who tried to pin her. Using a circular kick she disarmed her next attacker and back-flipped out of the way of baton that flew in her direction. She saw from the corner of her eye, that Zuko zigzagged through his attackers just as skillfully.They both reached for the flag at the same time and ended up in a wrestling heap on the floor, trying to snatch the flag from each other. Azula squealed as Zuko tried to tickle her to make her let go of it. She counterattacked with a jab at his ribs.Zuko’s tunic came loose in the skirmish, revealing the star-burst scar on his chest, just below his heart.Azula went very still. She couldn’t breathe suddenly. Her mind zigzagged with flashing blue lights watching in slow motion as he went down again and again, convulsing on the ground. She knew of course that he would have a scar, but seeing it was like a thousand punches to the stomach. The red seal of proof that she was exactly the monster her mother thought she was.She dropped the flag and got to her feet.“I can’t do this…” she muttered and fled the training grounds ignoring the silent stares from everyone. Zuko’s voice calling after her rang in her ears, but she didn’t stop. Crossing the long corridors she somehow managed to make it back to her room and slam the door shut just before she burst into a loud sobs, tears running down her cheeks uncontrollably. They were tears of shame and defeat, of frustration and sadness, but most of all, they were tears of relief that he was alive.
-0-
After the training incident, Azula kept to her room mostly. She turned down all offers of joining Zuko and Iroh for meals, opting to eat alone. She didn’t want their inevitable speeches of family, she didn’t want their pity. The servants tiptoed around her bad mood, trying to make themselves invisible. Azula just sat in her bed, staring at the firebending scrolls; but the words didn’t quite reach her mind.Her thoughts kept circling back to Zuko’s scar. She didn’t understand why it made her feel so twisted inside. After all she was just trying to win like her father expected her to and her brother was the real traitor who turned his back on his family. How was she supposed to know he’d hurl himself in front of lightning for some insignificant water peasant? Nothing he did that day made any sense, except, now that she had seen him with his friends, it somehow did.A soft knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.“Go away!” Whoever it was, Azula had no intention of talking to them.“Can I interest you in a game of pai sho?” Iroh stood at the doorway with a game board and a teapot.“I don’t feel so well,” Azula replied curtly.“Indulge an old man, Niece,” Iroh’s voice was gentle, but his eyes were hard, like he would not take no for an answer. There was something about him that was less of tottering old man and more of the fearsome general whose fame and accomplishments cast a long shadow over their father all through her childhood.Azula grimaced. “If I must.”The hardness disappeared from his eyes and he smiled warmly. “I do appreciate it, Princess Azula. I’ve heard that you made remarkable progress in the game.
And you and I did not have many opportunities to talk.”He set up the table at leisurely pace, whistling a melancholic tune, seemingly unperturbed by her sullen silence. He poured tea into two delicate cups, the scent of ginseng slowly filling the room.“Your move,” he motioned at her to start.Azula pondered for a moment then decided to play the Tiger Rose tile. It was an aggressive strategy, meant to keep the opponent on the defensive until they made a mistake.“That’s a daring move,” Iroh commented neutrally, while he placed the White Lotus on the board. It was an old-school move, a very long game that required patience and impeccable execution.“And you play like you are scared,” Azula riposted, putting forward the Jasmine tile, continuing her all-out attack.
“Sometimes what looks like the weakest tile is your true strength. I’m only playing the long game, Niece,” Iroh replied lightly, placing the Dandelion on the board.Azula decided to get ahead of the inevitable thrust of the conversation. “If you are here to protect Zuko, rest assured, Uncle, I’m not planning anything.”Something flashed in Iroh’s eyes that looked almost like shame.
“I’m here because I am concerned about you. You hide away in your room. You don’t join us for dinners anymore.”Azula shrugged. “That’s my choice.” It wasn’t like she had anything left anyways. Not her bending. Not her dignity. But if she didn’t want to play happy family with them over roast duck and dumplings, at least that was for her to decide.“There is no shame in needing help,” Iroh looked at her from over the brim of his cup.Azula snapped angrily. “I don’t need help, Uncle. I’ve had to learn to manage on my own a long time ago.”Iroh nodded pensively. “There is a difference between managing and thriving. These are hard times for all of us - for our family, for our country. But we need to believe that no matter how great were the wrongs committed, there is always a way back.”Iroh didn’t say her name, but Azula knew exactly what wrongs he was talking about. Anger rose inside her. How dare he? She did her duty until end at least, not quitting like some, at the first sign of trouble.“Wrongs you have been a part of,” she said coldly.Iroh bowed his head in acknowledgement. “I have. And I paid dearly for it. Which is why I thought it was better for Zuko to take the throne.”Just as she had suspected. This visit was about Zuko. Everything was always about Zuko. Iroh never really spared a thought for her.“And what is my place in this?” she
slammed the Orchid on the board.“That’s for you to choose, Niece.” Iroh took another sip of his tea studying the game.“Is this going to be a goody-goody speech about the right thing? Because I’m not interested...” she said defiantly, her tiles laid out in full attack mode.“It’s to remind you that your life is still ahead of you. It’s up to you to choose what you want it to be. You can decide to lock yourself away or you can let yourself be part of this family.”“I have nothing left,” Azula whispered, fighting back tears. She was not going to break down in front of the meddlesome old man.“That’s not true, Niece. You have many gifts.”“I need to get my fire back. Zuko said you have helped him with his bending. I don’t suppose you have any wisdom for me?” Zuko was right about one thing, Iroh was a powerful bender. Maybe his visit could yield the secret she needed.“Fire comes from the breath,” Iroh said after a long pause, advancing his Snapdragon tile.Azula scoffed. That was it? The first lesson every young firebender was taught? “Every child knows that,” Azula waved impatiently. She should have known he would not help. Of course - it was much better for Iroh if she was left weakened and powerless, so she couldn’t hurt his precious nephew.“There is a difference between knowing and understanding, Princess Azula. Many masters have spent their lives trying to unlock the deeper mystery of the Sacred Breath, that fuels your passion and keeps you rooted in your will,” Iroh placed another tile on the board.Azula had read about the theory of the Sacred Breath in one of the obscure ancient scrolls she found. Maybe Iroh was onto something.“So you think my breath can’t reach my fire?” She wondered aloud.“Blocks can be created by all kinds of emotions. Fear, shame, guilt,” Iroh watched her intently. If he was waiting for tearful confessions, he would be sorely disappointed. Azula did not owe him her inner struggle. She owed him nothing.“But I am none of those things. Everything I did was for the glory and honor of our family, of the Fire Nation, Uncle. I merely did my duty.” As she said the words, they rang hollow in her own ears, like she didn’t quite believe them herself.“You are not the first one in this family who misunderstood their destiny. But only a fool sticks with a failed strategy,” Iroh motioned to the pai sho board. Azula realized that somehow during the conversation, he blindsided her. Her tiles were completely surrounded from each side.
“Looks like you got yourself into quite a corner there, Niece. It’s up to you how much time you are going to waste there.”Azula’s mind raced trying to find a way out of the trap he set for her. She could put up a fight, make the endgame long, but she was in a losing position, no matter how she looked at it.It was just a matter of time and she did not feel like prolonging this conversation. “I guess it’s time to give up. I’m becoming really good at losing,” she added bitterly, reaching out to surrender her tiles.Iroh stayed her hand. His grip on her wrist was firm, but gentle. “That’s where you are wrong. You are actually winning the game, if you only let yourself see it. There is one strategy that can turn it around for you. Why don’t you keep thinking about it? I’m sure it will come to you. You are an extraordinary, bright young woman, Princess Azula.”Azula looked at him with surprise. She couldn’t remember him ever praising her so openly.“Any hints?” she asked.“You need to stop looking for weakness in strength and start seeing the strength in weakness.” Another annoying riddle. How did Zuko ever put up with this ?Iroh stood up heavily, took his teapot and left the room. Azula stared at the board for a long time. All her tiles were blocked; she did not see a way out. Crazy old man , she thought angrily. What a useless liar.
-0-
Zuko found Iroh packing his bags, mostly with tea blends and spices, getting ready to go back to the Jasmine Dragon.“So you let Azula stay,” his uncle said with a heavy sigh when he noticed Zuko.“You think I’m being naive and I’m making a mistake,” Zuko replied defensively. He hated arguing with Iroh, but he felt strongly about this. She was family and this was his mistake to fix.“I think you are doing what your heart tells you to do, Nephew.” Iroh looked back at him warily. Then he smiled warmly, “And I couldn’t be more proud of you.”Zuko closed his eyes, not to show how much Iroh’s blessing meant to him. He had a long history of disappointing his uncle and it was still new and thrilling to hear the approval in his voice. It was like a gentle caress to that wounded, rejected child inside him, whose self-worth was chipped away by his father’s contempt.“Have a safe trip, Uncle,” he smiled.“I will be back for the solstice. I’m thinking of a new summer tea-blend for the occasion. Maybe peach and hibiscus? Or perhaps a hint of bergamon?” Iroh scratched his beard thoughtfully seemingly lost in tea-making mode. Zuko watched him with an indulgent smile. Iroh’s tea-obsession used to irritate him to no end, but now it seemed more endearing. Iroh suddenly slapped his head. “Oh, one more thing before I forget. The governor of Hanu Province approached me about the Festival of Charity. I hope you don’t mind that I accepted in your name.”A large wave of annoyance washed over Zuko taking that moment of peace of mind in a fell swoop. “How could you do that? You know how I hated that thing? Listening to boring stories of old ladies, and sitting through the endless Fire Sage rituals,” he snapped.Iroh nodded sympathetically, “So did I. And your father and Lu Ten. But it’s an important tradition. People in far away corners of the country need to see that the royal family cares about their personal lives. ”“I distinctly remember you promised no festivals,” Zuko scolded his Uncle.The old man gave him a sly smile that reminded him of unscheduled shopping stops and unauthorized music nights on the ship. “You said no “new festivals”. There were no instructions on reviving old festivals.”Zuko groaned, he had no time for stupid games. There was so much to do. New budget plans, overhauling of the mining rights, dealing with the strike of the drill factory workers… The list was endless. “Uncle, I don’t have the time…”Iroh shrugged apologetically without the slightest hint of regret. “It’s already arranged. I’m sure you will find a way. Your mother understood how important it was. Especially after a natural disaster, like the recent volcanic eruption that destroyed much of their land, the province needs to know you haven’t abandoned them.”Warning bells went off in Zuko’s head. It distinctly felt like he was being handled - the mention of his mother, bringing up the disaster - Iroh was playing deliberately to his weaknesses. “Why do I have a feeling there is an angle?”“A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor,” Iroh nodded thoughtfully. It was the typical non-answer his uncle liked to give whenever he preferred to avoid a conversation.Zuko frowned. “Am I supposed to understand what you are saying?”Iroh placed an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “You have grown into a remarkable young man, Zuko. You will figure it out.”Zuko knew Iroh well enough to understand that he would not get anything else out of him. He embraced the old man with a sigh. “I’ll miss you, Uncle. Though maybe not the maddening proverbs or unauthorized festivals,” he added with a scowl.“I’ll miss you too, Nephew. Even your endearing grumpiness and utter lack of manners,” Iroh said mildly.Zuko’s face reddened slightly at the subtle admonishment. It was a habit to take Iroh’s unquestioning support for granted, without pausing to appreciate the blessing it was.“Uncle,” he bowed his head. “Thank you for taking care of things while I was gone. There is no one else I would trust.”“Anytime, Zuko,” Iroh grinned and disappeared in the belly of the airship.Zuko watched him leave with a heavy heart. The palace felt emptier without him. Druk sensing his sadness licked his earlobe with a fiery kiss.Zuko headed over to the dining room, noting with sinking heart Azula’s empty seat. Her homecoming didn’t turn out to be how he imagined it. Ever since the disastrous training session, she had been hiding in her room, pushing away all attempts of coaxing her out.“I’ll take my dinner in my study,” Zuko said to waiting staff. He couldn’t handle the idea of sitting at an empty table meant for a family.Zuko ate morosely, while reading through the scrolls left on his desk. Druk tried his best to cheer him up by trying to balance the chopsticks on his nose and doing bomb dives into the rejected scrolls basket, until finally, Zuko gave in and smiled at his antics.“At least, you are here for me, boy,” he said to the dragon softly. Druk rubbed his head against Zuko’s neck in agreement.Iroh and his stupid festival brought up the memories of his mother. Zuko was trying to rebuild this family, or whatever was left of it, but so far it was an utter failure. Maybe it was too late for them. Maybe he just missed something important.“Are you out there? Do you still think of me sometimes? What am I doing wrong, Mum?” Zuko whispered into the empty room and closed his tired eyes.
***
His mother pulled his hair into a tight knot on the top of his head, her hands working his strands gently, but firmly. Zuko grimaced into the mirror. “I don’t want to go.”
He didn’t want to be at festivals, shaking hands with strangers, grinning endlessly. He wanted to be a true prince, marching off to battle with his uncle and cousin, bringing glory to the Fire Nation.
“Being a prince doesn’t just mean fancy clothes and living in a nice palace, Zuko. You have a duty to our people. Serving their needs is what it means to be royalty,” his mother said sternly.
Azula picked up the golden hairpiece meant to adorn his hair and spun it around in her hand. “They are meant to serve us, Mother, not the other way around. But you wouldn’t know that, since you are not really royalty,” she added with a belittling smile.
Zuko gave her an outraged glance. There was nobody quite as regal as their mother. She was a queen in everything but title.
Ursa frowned. “I am part of this family, and I am part of the people too, Azula. I’m proud of that. A true prince should go out and learn about their people. How can he rule well if he doesn’t understand their sadness and their joy, their pain and their struggle?”
“Well, since Uncle is the crown prince, it’s unlikely Zuko will ever be anything more than a lesser prince,” she kept arguing with an insolent grin.
“Greater or lesser, we all need to play our parts and be ready to do whatever duty we are given. There is no task too small or unimportant,” their mother said firmly.
“I still don’t want to go, Mother,” Zuko scrunched his nose at his mirror image.
“Oh, suck it up, Zuzu. It’s not like it’s even hard,” Azula scolded him, and there was just hint of jealousy in her voice.
Ursa tied the sun-shaped artifact into Zuko’s hair and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. “There, a beautiful prince. You’ll do a wonderful job; I know it.”
Noticing Azula’s pout, she pulled the girl into the hug too. “And when your time comes, you’ll be the perfect princess, Azula. I have no doubt.”
She tickled both of them between their ribs, until all three of them were in a giggling fit. Three pairs of shining golden eyes reflecting with the joy of the sun.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The bright light was an attack on her closed eyelids. Azula opened her eyes to find the yellow gaze of Zuko’s little pest staring at her, flicking his red tongue at her face. Zuko was moving around her room opening the thick curtains, letting the morning sunlight through. He must have come fresh from firebending training, judging by the loose clothes he was wearing, and his hair was an unbound mess.“Get up!” he grinned at her.Azula pulled her pillow over her head and groaned. “Have you never learnt that it’s rude to be barging into other people’s room?”“It’s sunrise, Azula,” he said with boyish enthusiasm.“I don’t care. I get to sleep in, whenever I want.” It was the only perk she had left. For the first time in her life, she did not have to get up at the crack-ass of dawn every day.Zuko stepped closer to her bed. “Not today. Don’t you know what day it is?”Azula let out a dramatic sigh. “I don’t know. Is it annoy-a-sibling day?”“It’s the Festival of Charity of Hanu Province,” Zuko beamed at her. Which was weird because growing up, of all royal functions, there was nothing he hated more than that stupid festival.“Why does that make you so gleeful? I remember how much you used to whine about it. *Muuuum, do I have to?* You complained the whole time about shaking hands with smelly old people, getting kisses from drooling kids and listening to Fire Sages endless mumbling.”“You are right. I did,” he smirked. “I also remember you saying *just suck it up, Zuzu. It’s not a big deal. If Mum sent me, I would do it absolutely perfectly,*” Zuko’s voice went up an octave, he made a vaguely familiar dismissive gesture with his hand.
“Did you just imitate me?” Azula did not know whether to laugh or feel offended.“Maybe,” he gave her a lopsided grin.“Well, it was terrible, I don’t sound like that at all,” she said with the exact same wrist flip he just made. He gave her a smug look. She grimaced. “Anyway, Father abolished the Festival,”
In the very first year after Mother’s disappearance, and part of their father’s attempt to erase her from their memory he put an end to anything Ursa held important: Ember Island holidays, music lessons, theater plays, festivals of charity.Zuko cocked his good eyebrow at her. “Except, Uncle reinstated it while he was interim Firelord. He thinks it’s important for the morale of a region struck so recently by natural disaster.”Azula felt slight annoyance. “Uncle’s always been a meddlesome old man.”“Tell me about it,” Zuko agreed with a long-suffering sigh.Azula shrugged. “In any case, it sounds like your problem. I don’t see this warranting the intrusion.”“You see, that’s where you are mistaken. Because I distinctly remember this being the duty of the eldest Prince of the Royal Family,” he said lightly. “Or Princess,” he added with a pointed look at her direction.It was a ridiculous, stupid event; something even a little child could do. But Azula understood the significance of what Zuko was offering. It was one thing that he let his poor, crazy sister stay in her childhood home under the watchful eyes of the guards. It was a whole different thing of acknowledging her again officially as Princess of the Fire Nation in the new, post-war order, even if her first official duty was the royal equivalent of scrubbing the deck of a ship with a toothbrush. A lump started to form in her throat and tears were stinging her eyes.“Zuko…” Her voice came out pitifully small. She was not going to cry. Her head was spinning. What if it was a trap, just a way for him to assert his authority over her? He was a fool if he thought she would be bullied into doing his dirty work. She looked at him defiantly. “Is this an order?”There was a small frown and a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, but then his face relaxed into a grin.“Will it get you out of bed, if I give one?” He puffed out his chest, cleared his throat and chanted on an overstated pompous voice accompanying his speech with dramatic handwaves, “By my most fire lordy royal decree, I declare you Princess Lazybones of the Land, if you don’t get out of bed immediately!”He was ridiculous and goofy, just like he used to be when they were kids. Azula couldn’t hold back a laugh. She threw her pillow at him, which he ducked gracefully. Druk hurled himself at the flying object and set it on fire with a hissing breath.“No firebending inside,” they both yelled at once Mother’s Unbreakable Rule and burst out laughing. The levity of the moment engulfed her heart in a golden light, chasing the dark clouds of doubt away. Maybe this is what family felt like? It was so long ago ...“I… When do I have to leave?” she asked quietly.“In an hour,” he smirked.She gasped horrified, jumping out of bed at once. “In an hour? But I need to wash my hair and get my nails done and … Get out of here, I need to get ready… These people are expecting to see a real princess, not a frump….” She ushered him towards the door and rang for the servants.“I knew I could count on you. Everything is ready for your trip,” Zuko said, this time seriously and turned to leave. Druk flew over and perched himself on his shoulders.“Wait,” Azula called after her brother. He turned back from the doorway looking at her. She was out for words for once in her life. Gratitude never came easy for her. There was too much to say, and it was hard to figure out where to start. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but before she could formulate her thoughts, the servants started to pile in. The moment was gone.Azula settled for giving her brother a small, but formal bow, putting her fist to palm. “I will do my best to represent you well, Fire Lord Zuko,” she recited the customary words of accepting a royal task.She had never called him by his formal title, and she was surprised when she didn’t choke on the words. Instead, it felt like it was easier to breathe. From the way his eyes widened, she knew he got her message.He smiled warmly and bowed back to her, even if according to protocol the Fire Lord never had to return a bow. “I don’t have the slightest doubt, Princess Azula, that you will be perfect.” His words were formal, but his eyes were glimmering playfully. He turned and left the room.Azula watched in the mirror as the servants transformed her into a Fire Nation princess, expertly dressing her into layers of silk, applying an elaborate make-up. As one of the maids pulled her freshly washed hair into a tight topknot and placed a royal hairpiece into it, she thought she caught a glimpse of her mother’s shadow in the mirror. For the first time it didn’t fill her stomach with a bitter dread.It felt that somewhere beyond the noise of the chatter of the servants, of the rustling of clothes she could hear her approving voice. “There you are, my daughter, the beautiful princess you were always meant to be...”
-0-
“We are almost there, Princess Azula,” Great Sage Shyu touched her hand lightly. She looked out the window, as the sun was rising above the rice fields, encasing the green shoots in golden light. She remembered the assassin from the ship. He was an idiot, but he was right about this; it was truly a magnificent sight.“We’ll do the fire ceremony first, then you’ll listen to the petitioners and we finish with rite of Charity,” The Fire Sage reminded her needlessly.Azula waved impatiently, “I know. I’ve studied all the words, but I remember them even from the time when my brother had to learn it.” She always had an extraordinary memory.The people were already gathered around the shrine of Agni, etched into the side of the volcano. The crowd bowed as the Great Sage and the Fire Princess emerged from the airship. Azula took her place on the platform and surveyed the gathering. She noticed many sunken cheeks, dull eyes, ragged clothes. The hard times the province fell on was apparent.Shyu started the fire ceremony, chanting in the ancient language of the Fire Nation. Azula watched with both wonderment and longing as he effortlessly swirled the flames in sync with the words.
Shyu spoke words of hope, reminding the people of the constant rebirth of Agni, bringing light to the dark. The ceremony finished with a traditional song, celebrating the sun.It was Azula’s turn. The line was opened and the petitioners were allowed to bring their requests to her.The first one was a short, stout woman in her mid-thirties. She bowed to Azula. After exchanging the ritualistic greetings, the woman explained that her name was Hayko and she was a local craftswoman, making hand-knotted silk rugs that were once the pride of Hanu province. She brought Azula a gift of her handiwork; an extraordinary piece with delicate patterns of dragons, flames and fire-lilies. The volcano destroyed the local silk-spider population and she pleaded for funding to be able to reestablish them.Azula took the rug, admiring the rich details and promised the woman that she would present her request to the Fire Lord.The next petitioner was a veteran navy sergeant. He lost his left leg at the battle of the North Pole.“Some days I still wake up thinking it itches. I try to scratch it, but there’s nothing there. It is an odd feeling, Princess.”
Azula looked at the torches burning next to her. Some days she still felt that the fire would breathe in rhythm with her, only to find that the connection was gone. She knew that empty longing all too well.“What do you wish for?” she asked the man.“Our entire squadron perished there, alone in the sea. I fear that their spirits are lonely, so far away, under the deep, dark, cold water. Maybe if you find a way to remember their names, it will lead them to the light.”
He gave her a small parchment with a long list.Azula stared at the symbols. Each one a man or woman - people her father sent to their deaths in the name of glory.“Agni will shine a light on their sacrifice,” she said. The words never felt more empty.Hiding the parchment in her sleeve, she turned to the next person. There were hundreds more waiting. Azula straightened her back. She could bear their pain. This was her duty and she would do what was expected of her.After six endless hours, the line thinned out. The last petitioner was a little girl of about eight years old. She wore tattered rags, but her eyes shone with intelligence and curiosity.“Are you really a princess?” she asked with a bright smile.“Yes. Not what you have expected?”“You are beautiful. I’ve never seen a real princess before, but my mother used to tell me stories about them,” the girl replied. "I wanted to see one with my own eyes.“Where is your mum?” Azula asked looking around.“She died. She got sick from the fumes,” the girl explained sadly.Azula’s heart squeezed. So much tragedy. “And your father?”“He died in the war.”Azula sighed. “He died with honor then, serving his country,” she had said these same words way too many times in the past hours.
“Do you have a petition for me?”“No, but I brought you this,” the girl gave her a simple bouquet of snapdragons and fire lilies. Azula stared at the somewhat wilted flowers. Something was nagging her inside. It felt like they were the answer to a puzzle she had been trying to solve.She noticed the girl’s smile fading, perhaps thinking she did not like her offering. Azula took the flowers. “That’s beautiful. Thank you.”The girl beamed at her, as if Azula was giving her a gift instead of the other way around.“Who is taking care of you?”“My brother,” the child replied.A boy of about ten broke through the people. He bowed low. “Sorry princess. Forgive my sister.”“She’s a remarkable young girl. Take care of her,” Azula said to the boy.“Of course, Princess,” the boy muttered, clearly frightened. “Come Aino, don’t bother the Princess anymore,” he pulled on the girl’s hand.Azula smiled at them. “Let me talk to Aino alone.”The girl stopped. Azula got up from her chair and leaned close to her. “You are lucky to have a brother who loves you. But he needs you too. Never forget that. Take care of him,” she whispered to the girl. Maybe if someone had told her
this when she was that age, it would have
made a difference. She liked to think it would have. On a whim she took a gold pin off her dress and gave it to the child.“I will, Princess,” Aino said seriously, bowed and ran after her brother.After the end of the ceremony ended, Shyu turned to the princess.“You did very well, Princess Azula. We’ll be expected at the Governor’s mansion for dinner, but before that, I’d like you to meet someone. She may be able to help you with your bending.”Azula frowned. This was strange. She wondered for a moment if it was a trap. Then she reminded herself, Shyu was the Great Sage, with a spiritual link to fire. It was worth the risk.They left the royal procession behind, and clad in simple robes, rode khomodo rhinos to the edge of town to a cave hidden behind a grove.“We go in here?” Azula asked looking skeptically at the dark entrance.“That’s where she lives,” Shyu nodded, dismantling his animal and heading into the darkness.An old woman, dressed in red, wearing a bead necklace greeted him with a fierce hug. “Welcome, Brother.”“Sister,” Shyu replied.The old woman bowed, “Princess Azula,”“What is this place?” Azula asked turning around. Little lights, like fireflies flickered all around. There were strange paintings on the wall.“My name is Niano.” The old woman said. “These are the remains of the ancient shrine of our order, the Sisters of Agni. We are energy readers, studying chi pathways.”Azula’s eyes widened. “You can bend energy like the Avatar?”Niano shook her head. “No, only the Avatar can bend energy… But I can interact with the flow of your chi. It tells me a story, helping us to understand what happened to you, if you please.”Azula looked at her with uncertainty. Shyu gave her an encouraging nod. Niano led her deeper into the cave, to a sparkling hall with a clear spring. She pointed Azula towards the smooth black rock and told her to undress. Azula stripped down to her bindings and laid down on the rock, the cold surface giving her goosebumps.The woman held out her hand, lingering over Azula’s body, but not quite touching it. It was a strange feeling, like a thousand fire ants marching in her veins.“Why are you helping me?” the princess asked.“When Firelord Sozin banned our order, your mother’s family helped us to hide, to continue our art in secret. Your great-grandmother was one of us,” Niano replied.“I’ve never met my great-grandmother,” Azula whispered. She knew every detail of the life and death of her Fire Lord ancestors, but she hardly knew anything about her mother’s family.“You remind me of her so much. She had an exceptional gift.”Azula always assumed that her firebending was something she inherited from her father. It was a revelation that her mother’s family also counted great benders among their ranks.“So what can you see?” she asked breathlessly.Ninao frowned. “Your fire is still inside you, though it is weak and faded. But you won’t bend again until you know without a doubt that you are ready to use your gift the way it was meant to be.”“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Azula pledged. “But how?”“Forget everything you’ve known and open your mind and heart,” the old woman replied. Another infuriating riddle.“I don’t understand what that means,” Azula grimaced. She wanted something concrete. A form to master. An instruction to follow.“Your brother has the key,” the old woman whispered, she seemed to be far away in a trance.Azula looked at her in confusion. “My brother? I am a much more skilled bender than he is. He cannot teach me anything.”“It is not about skill, Princess Azula. It’s about understanding,” Niano replied.“Why should I believe you?”“I’m only a messenger. The message comes from Agni himself,” the old woman put her hands together to indicate that they were done. Azula felt a wave of bitter disappointment wash over her, it was another useless dead-end.
-0-
By the time they got back to town, the dinner guests had already arrived at the Governor’s mansion. The governor’s wife offered Azula a cup of rice nectar and introduced her to all the local upper-class ladies gathered around. Azula only half-listened to their boring chatter, focusing on the conversation behind her back between the governor, Shyu and one of the richest businessman of the province.“Fire Lord Zuko is just a child. No wonder we are being eaten alive by the rest of the world. He pays more attention to other nations than to the suffering of his own people,” the Governor grumbled, barely bothering to keep his voice down. Azula seethed. Their father never would have put up with such disrespect.“Give him time, Governor. Fire Lord Zuko is doing good work with education reform and clean water programs,” Shyu explained patiently.“Programs that don’t give work to all the returning veterans. At least mining was good work.” The rich man, who unsurprisingly got his fortune from mining concessions, interrupted.“Princess Azula, why don’t you join us?” Shyu called to her.“Fire Lord Ozai started the reckless military spending, bleeding our region dry,” the Governor continued, barely paying attention to the princess.“I don’t remember you speaking up against him, Governor,” Azula noted, popping a rice ball into her mouth. Her remark produced the required effect. The governor’s face turned red.
“Nobody spoke up at that time,” he stammered.“Somebody did,” Azula said quietly. “So maybe you should listen to him.”“I thought, Princess…” the Governor didn’t finish. He didn’t have to. They all thought she would turn on her brother, be a willing puppet to whatever pathetic conspiracy they were plotting. Well, they didn’t know her at all.“I’m loyal to my family and to the Fire Lord. I hope for your sake, you are too,” Azula delivered the final blow, narrowing her eyes. The Governor turned pale. Shyu gave Azula an encouraging wink.Azula took a shrimp skewer, and turned her back on the gaping men with a triumphant smile. With or without her fire, she was the Fire Princess and she still had her game.
-0-
The numbers painted a gloomy picture. Zuko knew how much the war depleted their economy, but seeing it in black and white, in a long row of sums still always felt like a punch in the stomach. They couldn’t afford the war reparations, except the other nations were in even worse shape than the Fire Nation. It was the right thing to do.He sighed and started combing through the papers trying to see how to make it stretch. Each line represented something: a school, a hospital, people’s jobs, families’ livelihoods.The door opened and he saw his sister leaning against the doorway, dressed in a casual attire. She must have returned when he was in his meeting with the Earth Kingdom envoy.“How did it go?” he asked.“What did your spies report?” she replied with a wry smile, cocking an eyebrow. Zuko pondered for a moment whether he should deny that he got daily reports on her trip. He shrugged. Might as well come clean. Neither of them were naive - he was offering her an olive branch, but there was no reason to throw all caution to the wind. The reports he received gave him hope - she was the perfect princess.“That you scared the pants off the good governor,” he smirked. “But I’d rather hear it from you.”Azula nodded. “It was dreadful.”Zuko grinned. “I told you so.”“And the Governor is a weasel,” she added angrily.“Tell me what’s new?” Zuko sighed. The reports from Hanu province were especially concerning, discontent was brewing into trouble.Azula gave him an exasperated look. “I don’t understand. Why do you put up with it? He’s trying to undermine you. Why don’t you just send in the army and snuff out rebellion?”That was what a strong Fire Lord was expected to do. That was what Ozai would have done. Which was precisely the reason why Zuko didn’t want to do it.“The Governor has a point. Loyalty should work both ways. We’ve depleted Hanu province - took their rice, took their men to a senseless war and left them alone when disaster struck. It’s up to us to prove now that we can serve them well. And I don’t want people to be afraid to speak up anymore if they think I’m doing something wrong,” he instinctively touched his scar. These days it didn’t bother him the way it used to. But it was a constant reminder why things had to change. “It weakened us as a country.”“And you plan to serve them how?” Azula asked sharply.“Giving support to them until they can reclaim their farmland,” Zuko replied.“But that will take years. We can’t keep giving them handouts for that long.”“We can’t let them starve either…They are our people. What options do we have?” Zuko had been turning this question over in his head, but saw no other way out.Azula had a familiar smug look on her face which normally meant she was leaps and bounds ahead of Zuko. Well, if she had an idea to offer, he didn’t mind.“I met some of the local women, they showed me these incredible silk rugs they used to make. We could revive their craft, provide them with a start-up loan,” she explained. “I bet I could make those things fashionable with the snotty upper crust.”This actually sounded like a decent plan. Something to restart the economy of the suffering region - giving them the dignity to find their own way out instead of keeping them on a lifeline.“I bet you could,” smiled Zuko. Of course, she was perfect and actually listening and thinking about what the people said, unlike Zuko when he did the festival as a bored little kid, only waiting for it to be over. It was the right decision to send her.“So?” Azula frowned.“Make a proposal and present it to the council,” he said encouragingly.She seemed pleased with the prospect of explaining her brilliant idea to the ministers. Azula always liked to show off. Then her smile faded. “The governor may have a point though about the reparations. Isn’t our responsibility to our people first?”This was a question Zuko grappled with constantly. “The war left us in a bad place, but the others are even worse off. It’s the right thing to help them. But it is also in our interest.”“How so?”“So they have money to buy our rice and mangoes, our re-purposed machinery and your silk rugs.” Zuko added with a pointed look. “At least that’s what Minister Todo explained to me.”Azula remained skeptical. “Let’s hope
the old scare-crow is
right.”“Anything else interesting?” Zuko prodded. Shyu mentioned that he would take Azula on a little side trip, but remained mysterious about it, claiming it pertained to purely religious matters.“Shyu took me to this old woman, his sister...she told me about an old art of firebending called energy reading,” Azula said hesitantly.It sounded familiar. “Uncle once mentioned it to me, I think.”“So did you plan this all the way?” Azula snapped. “I don’t need all the smokescreen.”Zuko shook his head. He suspected Uncle had something in mind, but that was the extent of his involvement. “No, of course not. You know me - I’ve never been the long play guy. But I would not be surprised if Uncle thought about this when he decided reinstating this particular festival. So what did she tell you?”Azula shrugged. “She said that I’ll bend again when I’m ready. It was probably just a lot of humbug.”
Zuko felt that this was not the full story. “But?”Azula bit her lips. “She told me that our family..., mum’s family helped them hide after their order was outlawed. That mother also protected them.”Zuko’s heart started to beat faster. Maybe that woman would know something about Mother. “I… I had no idea.” Zuko took a deep breath, asking the question that had been on his mind for a long time. “Azula, did Dad ever talk to you about what happened to her?”Azula looked at him almost scared. They were forbidden to talk about their mother after she disappeared. “No. He never mentioned it and I knew I was not supposed to ask. I thought maybe she’d come back when you became Fire Lord.” Zuko had hoped for the same, and now he was fearing the worst. Azula added on a low voice. “Do you know something?”“Father told me that she was banished for her role in killing Grandfather.”“So she could be alive.” Azula’s eyes widened in shock. “Why haven’t you told me this? Did you try to talk to Dad about it?”Zuko bit his lips. He didn't tell her because he couldn't trust her. But now, finally it felt like they were on the same page.“Of course I did. But he’s not telling me anything."
Azula’s voice was trembling. “I could try. Maybe he would talk to me.”Zuko was tempted for a moment. She was always their father’s favourite. If anyone, she could get it out of him. He pictured their reunion… then he shuddered. Azula going down there, defeated, without her bending…Every part of him screamed that it would be wrong, that she wasn’t ready.“I prefer you didn’t,” he said hoarsely.Azula scoffed. “You don’t trust me. He’s my father too, Zuko. You can’t keep me from him.”“He’s poison, Azula. He destroyed our family once. I don’t want that again. We’ll find another way.” He knew if she insisted he'd let her, but he really hoped this time she would listen to his warning.There was a long moment of silence as she looked at him with a mixture of defiance and relief.“Fine,” she said finally. “I’ll go and work on my silk rug proposal instead.”“I do think it’s an excellent idea,” Zuko gave her a relieved smile. “Although looking at the budget - let’s just say it’s in less than stellar shape. I’m trying to find where to cut - but…” he waved at the large pile of paper in exasperation.“Zuko - do you need help with that?” she sounded eager to stay.“You have nothing better to do than spend your evening on budget lines?” he shot back mockingly.“I like to be valuable,” there was just a hint of defensiveness in her voice.“And I don’t mind the company. There is more than plenty here for both of us…” he handed her half the pile.For the first time in forever the silence was comfortable between them. It felt like family, there was only one thing missing.
“Tea?”“You sound like Uncle…”Zuko shrugged. There were definitely worse things in the world than sounding like Uncle.
-0-
Zuko was right, the numbers painted a grim picture. Azula frowned as she took in the pathetically small sums - the military was bled dry, festivals lost their founding, badly performing factories were being closed down. It was the price of giving money to schools, so kids like Aino could learn and to hospitals, so people like Sergeant Toko could get healed. It was a painful, but necessary trade-off.She remembered the little girl with her wilted flowers. The puzzle in her head fell into place.“I got it!”Zuko looked up with surprise. “You found us more money, already?”“No, the stupid pai sho game riddle, Uncle left me with. I know how I win it,” Azula explained triumphantly.It was ridiculously simple, but also counter-intuitive. She had to sacrifice all her strongest tiles to fight her way out of the corner; the orchid, the cherry-blossom, the jasmine, representing power, wealth and strength. Only then could her weakest tiles, the fire lily and the snapdragon, representing family and duty create a bond that was strong enough to win the game. Wily old man and his long plays… He set it up on purpose, she realized. She thought of him for the first time with grudging respect. It was a lesson in more than just pai sho.“Is that even a strategy?” Zuko asked after she gave a lengthy explanation of the winning play to him.“Have you learnt nothing of pai sho spending all that time with Uncle?” Azula looked at him incredulously.“I tried my best to resist,” Zuko grinned.“You are such a Dum-Dum sometimes,” she
shook her head.
Zuko threw a budget scroll at her with one hand and managed to catch Druk by the leg with the other before the dragon could set it on fire. Azula laughed. It was a lot like when they were just kids, acting out during boring lessons with pompous tutors. Their laughter got interrupted by a loud knock.Suki entered, placing a scroll in Zuko’s hand, the two of them whispering. She gave Azula a measuring look before she left. Zuko unrolled the letter and started to read. Azula watched his face change from worried to relieved to a grin.“What is it?”“It’s from Sokka,” Zuko handed her the parchment.Azula stared at the atrocious handwriting covering the thin paper, curling in every direction like a frustrating labyrinth.“How do you read this thing?” she scowled.
“I remind myself that my best buddy did not have an expensive education with the finest calligraphy masters money could buy. You get used to it.”Azula blushed at Zuko’s playful rebuke. He sounded like mother, reminding her constantly of her privilege. Instead of coming up with a sharp reply, she started to read the letter.
Hey Buddy,
We made it back to the South Pole in one piece. Gran-Gran is much better thanks to Katara’s constant fussing and splashing. But you know my sister… she takes it very seriously.
Unfortunately, she still doesn’t want to leave Gran-Gran, which means we won’t make it to the solstice festival, which is a terrible pity. The special fireflakes are my favourites. And that bonfire dance thing. And the paper lanterns.
So anyways, it got me thinking of plan B: why don’t you come down instead to celebrate first
shark-whale hunt of the season? You haven’t seen South Pole culture until you’ve seen that. And you know how Aang is squeamish about these things.
And I promised Princess Petulant that I’d take her shark-whale spotting. I think she could do with an immersion tour of the South Pole - what do you think?
There will be meat and spirits, music and dance and a sled-race. We'll prepare all local specialties for the occasion. We can go ice-dodging again, since you were so fond of that last time.
I hope you can spare a moment
for fun
and friends in all you terribly serious work. Team Egg deserves a reunion!
Sokka
PS. can you find the next volume of the Love Among Dragon series? I was on Book 3 and I can tell you, the plot thickens.
PS 2. Pack some warm clothes for Druk. I’ll ask Gran-Gran to make a fur hat for him. I can’t wait to see my fiery baby. He must have grown so much.
“Princess Petulant?” That was a terrible nickname. She was never petulant. Contrary, yes. Unyielding, sure. Stern, maybe - sometimes.“He used to call me Jerk-bender…” Zuko shrugged.
“And you let him?”“Terrible nicknames is how Sokka shows affection,” he explained patiently.“You have weird friends,” Azula noted drily.“I know,” beamed Zuko proudly. “So what do you say?
Shark-whale hunt festival?”"I don't know. Local delicacies and ice-dodging? It sounded more like a threat than an invitation." Azula had no doubt that Sokka was planning ridiculous pranks."It's a challenge," Zuko
shrugged.
Getting out of the palace did sound like fun. She would show the Water Tribe boy what a perfect shark-whale spotter looked like. She would research absolutely everything on shark-whales.“Well, I’ve never been to the South Pole,” she said, trying not to sound too eager.“That’s decided then,” Zuko nodded, not at all bothering to hide his enthusiasm. "It's a must-see."They turned their attention back to the budget lines. The two of them together, spreading scrolls on the floor of the study - it felt right. She let out a deep breath. Maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, but it looked like the candles on the wall flickered.“Your brother has the key ,” Niano’s words played in her head.Druk flew over to her and wrapped himself around her neck. His scaly body felt strange against her skin, but not unpleasant. The dragonling breathed a fiery breath on her earlobe. Its warmth tickled her in a pleasant way.
Maybe there was something Zuko knew that she didn’t. “Zuko…” she asked hesitantly. “The Avatar… Aang told me that you learnt a dance from the dragons.”“Uhm,” he muttered in agreement, not looking up from his paper.“Would you teach it to me?” She was feeling ridiculous, so she elaborated.
“Maybe that’s the key to unlock the fire.”“Sure,” he said simply. “Tomorrow morning? But I warn you, I practice at first light of dawn...” he added with a glint in his eyes.“I’ll be there,” she nodded. After all, she was
the Fire Princess. She rose with the sun.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Azula watched the blue and green lights, painting magical colours on the dusky sky from the window of the airship. It reminded her of a story her mother used to tell about the time the mischievous Moon Spirit stole Agni’s paintbrush so he could paint his love for the Ocean on the sky.“Quite the picture the Moon Spirit made, don’t you think?” Zuko stepped next to her.Weird, how he thought about the exact same thing. Or maybe not so weird. It was a bittersweet reminder that they were forever connected by the fabric of the stories they once shared, but lost.Azula, not wanting to show how much moments like these affected her, just shrugged noncommittally, and instead of replying, she scratched Druk’s chin in greeting. The dragon blew a fiery kiss on her fingertips that sent empty tingles down her chi pathway. Despite her daily morning practice, her firebending had not returned, regardless of what that old crazy woman told her in the cave.Zuko turned away from the window, shaking off the melancholy. “Now, you will need to remember some basics. Sokka will try to tell you that you must eat and drink everything they serve for dinner. It will be a lot of disgusting things, he’ll make sure. But remember, it’s not actually true. You just need to appear unfazed whatever they put in front of you. It’s a question of Fire Nation pride.”The whole prank war was quite a bit immature in Azula’s opinion. Zuko seemed rather unmajestic and more like a little boy getting ready for a playdate than one of the most powerful rulers of the world as he stood there clad in a simple tunic, his eyes shimmering with anticipation.Azula on the other hand had became more jittery about the whole trip. Once the initial excitement subsided, doubt set in. Why would Sokka invite her in particular? What if it was all part of a scheme of some sort - after all he prided himself as the plan guy?“Are you sure about this?” she sighed heavily.“Yeah, the food battle is a long standing tradition,” Zuko grinned, only thinking about their childish games.“No, not that.” she waved impatiently. “It feels irresponsible travelling without the royal guards.”“It’s not a state visit, just a couple of friends hanging out. Chief Hakoda is away with most of the warriors hammering out a treaty with the Northern Tribe, so it will be just us,” Zuko explained with a shrug. “I like travelling light.” Right. But whether it was a state visit or not, Zuko was still Fire Lord, something he liked to forget from time to time, Azula thought with irritation.
It was up to her to be responsible, like always.“It’s not about what you like. Private or official, you need to be careful.” She hated how her voice sounded like Mother’s nagging.“Lighten up, Azula. The biggest danger you face down here is getting a mean hangover from whale liqueur or being hit by wayward snowballs,” Zuko laughed lightly.“You can trust Sokka,” Suki interjected. Azula hadn’t even noticed that she was sitting in the corner, sharpening her blades. “He’s not the backstabbing kind.” Unlike you - Suki didn’t say it, but Azula heard the accusation loud and clear.“Did you even take any precautions?” Azula glared at her. Even if Zuko was irresponsible, the Kyoshi warrior in charge of his safety should know better.“It will be fine. We are going to the South Pole, not to Ba Sing Se,” Suki replied with a shrug.“You don’t even care, do you?” Azula asked sharply.“How can you say that? It’s not like you ever cared about anyone but yourself,” Suki snapped back and left the control room slamming the door shut behind herself.Azula sighed. “She hates me,” Her voice sounded flat and tired. She worked tirelessly to help Zuko. But that didn’t matter. Now that people didn’t fear her, their true colours started to show. Especially the Kyoshi warriors - they barely bothered to conceal their disdain towards her.“You hurt her, it will take time to earn her trust,” Zuko replied quietly. “You could start with an apology.”“That’s ridiculous...” Azula frowned. They were at war, she only did what was needed. She did not owe them tearful apologies.“That’s what I did when I first tried to join Aang,” there was just a hint of a smile on Zuko’s lips.“You stood in front of them and said that you were sorry about the whole trying to capture the Avatar thing?” Azula asked, disbelieving. On second thought, it did sound like her brother coming up with such a dumb plan.“More or less,” Zuko shrugged.“How did that work out?”“It was incredibly awkward and Katara splashed water at me,” he grinned.“So it didn’t work,” Azula surmised. Of course, not. People liked nursing the hate and the cold inside them. It made them feel superior, justified. It was a weakness that she had exploited many times.Zuko ran his fingers through his unbound hair. “Look, I’m not going to lie - it’s not an immediate fix. But if you want them to accept you ...”“What makes you think I want anything to do with your friends ?” Azula interrupted. She would never grovel to be accepted by that ragtag band of halfwits.“They are good people, Azula. If you make an effort, they could be your friends too,” Zuko’s voice was quiet but he looked at her intently, like he was waiting for her to give in, to break down. Guilt and shame was an abyss, a place she could not, would not go. Her pride was all she had left. The silence stretched between them.“I think you were telling me about the dinner and Fire Nation pride,” she said evasively.There was a glimmer of disappointment in Zuko’s eyes. He sighed heavily, “Right. So yeah, the sea prunes are really salty, but otherwise somewhat edible, the trick with the jellied eel-tongue is…”
-0-
The silhouette of the red airship was unmistakable against the celestial lights. Not long ago, a Fire Nation aircraft would have filled Sokka with dread, but now he felt elation. Winter in the South Pole consisted mostly of boredom and drudgery; the monotony only broken by random festivities.Sokka didn’t know how to tell his father, but he felt like he outgrew this place. After seeing and experiencing so much, his world had grown unimaginably big. His spirit shrank every time he looked at the icy walls enclosing the village. Maybe after an adventure like that, it was impossible to return home. Or maybe the entire world had become his home.He ran into their igloo where Katara was still brushing her hair, twisting her braid into traditional Water Tribe style. Unlike him, she had seemed content to be home. “Come on, Katara, they are almost here.”“I’m ready.” She put down her brush and glared at Sokka. It was definitely one of her disapproving glares. “I still can’t believe you invited her .” Her tone left no doubt who she was talking about.Sokka poked her playfully, “She’s part of Team Egg. Come on, what happened to the famous South Pole hospitality?”“It’s not a joke. She almost killed us. We can’t trust her,” her blue eyes sparked with anger.“I don’t trust her, Katara.” Sokka sighed. As usual, Katara failed to see the brilliance of his plan. “That’s why I wanted to see it with my own eyes. You saw Zuko’s letter - they are working things out, which means that she is getting a role in Fire Nation politics - for better or worse. We can’t afford to sit this out.”“So you are doing it for Zuko?” Katara seemed a bit more pacified by his reasoning.“Of course I’m doing it for Zuko. He’s our friend and we need to protect him. But I’m also doing it for us, for our Tribe. Who said that diplomacy has to be all boring conferences. Why can't it be also fun? I’m not asking you to be best friends with her, but please be civil, Katara,” Sokka put his hand on her shoulder.“Fine.” Katara pursed her lips. “Oh, by the way, Aang decided to come too in the end and he’s bringing Toph,” she added offhandedly.Sokka stopped short. “And you are just telling me this now?” his voice went up an octave in panic. This was really bad. “How on Earth are we going to do the shark-whale hunt then?”This was a side of the Water Tribe culture, Aang had never really come to terms with. The Tribe went out of their way to please the Avatar. When he visited, all hunting was put on hold and they shipped in a varied selection of fruit and vegetables from the Earth Kingdom to prepare vegetarian food especially for him. This was way too short a notice to organize such a complex operation.“The message came this morning when you were out preparing the sled race.” Katara shrugged. “We’ll have to figure something out. You know how Aang feels about this.”“Great. The whole point of the festival was the hunt. How are we going to celebrate the hunt if there is no hunt?” Sokka grumbled.“We could still do the sled-race,” Katara supplied somewhat unconvinced.“Nobody does a festival for a stupid sled-race,” Sokka fumed. He was really looking forward to the hunt; for the first time in his life, he was going to be a harpoonist. It was a rite of passage for every Water Tribe warrior, and he was eager to show Suki his manly skills.“Sokka, they are landing now,” one of the young boys from the village shouted outside the ice hut.The siblings ran to the edge of the compound where the red airship touched into the powdery snow.Suki appeared first. She was not wearing her usual Kyoshi uniform but the full Water Tribe fur outfit Katara gave her on her first visit to the South Pole. She cut an impressive figure in it, just like a true Water Tribe princess. The thought provoked a dull ache; the pain of losing his tragic moon-girlfriend never really left Sokka. Suki’s smile faltered as she immediately sensed the change of his mood. Pull yourself together, Sokka , he told himself. This was not a good time for gloomy memories. He stepped closer to Suki and pulled her into a fierce hug shoving all thoughts of Yue firmly to the back of his mind.Sokka greeted Zuko next, slapping his back repeatedly. He creased his brow.“Where is Druk?”Hearing his name, the dragon’s little red nose appeared for a moment next to Zuko’s identical red scarf, but as he felt the icy wind, he retreated back inside his shirt with a disapproving hiss.“I don’t think he’s a fan of the South Pole, Sokka,” Zuko noted, shivering slightly himself.“That’s because he hasn’t gotten the full tour yet. Where is your sister?” Sokka craned his neck. Zuko pointed towards the airship.The princess appeared at the door, wrapping her dark red cape tightly around her. She was definitely not dressed for the weather.“Welcome to the South Pole, Princess Azula,” Sokka said with exaggerated politeness.She gave him a serious nod in return, “Thank you for the invitation.”With the formalities out of the way, Sokka gathered them around.
“So listen, everyone. There has been a change of plans. Aang and Toph are joining too. Which means there will be no shark-whale hunt, but that doesn’t stop us from having a shark-whale count,” he grinned widely. He was quite pleased with his last-minute improvisation.“A shark-whale count?”As the idea was met with skepticism rather then enthusiasm, Sokka explained the concept. “We’ll go out with the boat, but instead of actually hunting them, we’ll see who can spot the most shark-whales.”“That seems pointless,” Azula gave him a dismissive wave.“It’s going to be fun. Fun is never pointless,” Sokk said defensively.“It sounds great, we could all do with a little bit of fun,” Suki glared pointedly at the Fire Nation siblings and snuggled closer to Sokka with a sweet smile. There were upsides to the rotten weather - everyone was much more snuggly in the South Pole.His momentary bliss was disrupted by a shriek.
“Zuko, your chest is smoking.” Katara exclaimed and waterbent a generous snowball at Zuko covering his upper body in white.Druk blew a big fireball in response, melting the snow around Zuko’s chest. The Fire Lord and his dragon gave Katara matching accusing yellow glares.“He’s just trying to keep himself warm,” Zuko grumbled. “Can we take this conversation somewhere inside before Druk burns all my clothes?”“Follow me.” Sokka led the group to the largest building in the village, made of sparkling snow and ice.Suki exclaimed in appreciation. “Wow, this is new.”“The waterbenders have been busy. But I designed it,” Sokka explained proudly. “It’s the new communal hall, for festivities and such. It even has a section for school. We call it the Ice Palace.”“No, we don’t,” Katara interrupted immediately. She thought the name was pretentious, but Sokka learnt during his travels that marketing was important. He gave his sister an annoyed look.“We will, eventually. Anyways, when Aang and Toph arrive, we’ll start the activities.” He said, hoping to catch a quiet moment alone with Suki.Azula’s voice stopped him. “Wait.” She handed him a big satchel she had been carrying. “Here.”“What is this?” Sokka peaked curiously into the bag.“I… I asked the librarians to copy that horrible romance you like so much,” she replied with a dismissive grimace. “And some other books you might be interested in. You know - if you want to start your own collection or a library in the Ice Palace or something.”Sokka looked at Zuko. His friend shrugged slightly but with a pleased smile on his lips. “I had no idea.”Apparently, Azula prepared the surprise all by herself. That was uncharacteristically thoughtful of her.“I...I don’t know what to say,” Sokka grinned widely. Zuko always went out of his way to find bending scrolls for Katara and Aang, but nobody ever had the idea of giving something like this to Sokka. It was one of the best presents he ever got.“It’s not that big a deal,” Azula turned away quickly. “At least gave the lazy scribes something to do.”She was still terrible at being gracious.
Sokka clutched his scrolls happily, looking around the hall for the best placement of the first official South Pole library. “We could put a reading room in that corner. What do you think, Katara?”“Don’t get sidetracked, Sokka,” she admonished him giving him a significant look. “Let’s finish the tour.”Sokka slapped his head, “Right, so who wants a tour of the roof terrace?” Its design was inspired by the Fire Palace’s roof terrace that Katara loved so much in Caldera.“Why would you need a roof-terrace in this climate?” Azula asked with her eyebrows arched.Sokka actually shared Azula’s skepticism of the usefulness of the terrace, but Katara was so enthusiastic about it, he went along with her plan.“A place to chill,” he said defensively.They climbed the stairs to the top. The ice-sculptures Katara made to commemorate their travels glittered in the pale sunlight.
“Wow. I love this, Katara,” Suki ran her fingers over what looked like a small Kyoshi statue with a giant fan. Katara used Sokka’s drawing for the design.“I’m still working on my sculpting,” Katara blushed a bit embarrassed.“This is already amazing,” Zuko stepped closer to the ice-dragon - Katara’s latest masterpiece. Even Druk poked his nose out curiously. Raising his head until he was at eye-level with his ice counterpart, he flicked out his tongue.He gave a distressed yelp, when his tongue got stuck to the ice. The group burst out in laughter at his predicament. The dragonling gave them a grumpy glare, while Zuko gently firebent around his stuck tongue to free him.“Don’t worry, Buddy. The same thing happened to me once,” said a cheerful voice. They turned around to find Aang and Toph grinning from the other side of the terrace.Team Egg was complete.
-0-
Zuko watched as Sokka wrestled the blue fur hat and matching little coat on Druk against the furious protests of the dragon. “There. You are ready now. Looking like a nice little Water Tribe dragon,” Sokka puffed when he finally managed to get the wings through the slits.Druk, predictably, did not appreciate the outfit. With a loud hiss he set the garments on fire and climbed back under Zuko’s clothes, curling up against his chest as tightly as he could.“I think what Druk is trying to say is that he would like to skip the hunt,” Zuko grinned at his friend. He was not particularly keen to go out on a boat into the howling, icy wind either.“The count,” Sokka corrected him, casting a meaningful glance in Aang’s direction, who was busy recounting the latest news from the Earth Kingdom to Suki.“Riiiight. In any case, it’s a bit cold for him,” Zuko put his hand on Druk’s body protectively. Being a dragon-dad turned out to be an excellent get-out-of-Sokka’s-crazy-plan card.“So you are chickening out,” Sokka tried to appeal to his sense of pride.Luckily, Zuko discovered lately that a sense of self-preservation was at least as important as a sense of pride.“No, I’m not. I am being a responsible parent. Do you want him to get sick?” Zuko glared back at his friend, knowing full well Sokka’s weakness for the dragon.“ Azula will represent the Fire Nation. She’s been studying everything about shark-whales,” he pointed to his sister.“No, I did not,” she denied immediately, clearly mortified that someone might think she actually cared about or prepared for this trip.Zuko ignored her glare.
“Yeah, she did.”Sokka eyed her and nodded. “OK, well, I suggest you take an extra parka. It can get a bit chilly on the boat.”“You mean colder than this?” Azula shivered. Her breath was clearly visible in the cold air.“This is pretty mild here,” Sokka replied smugly, pleased to show Water Tribe superiority in the face of harsh weather conditions. Azula looked at the bulky Water Tribe garment offered to her with distaste, but the cold won out and she wrapped the thick fur coat around herself with a resigned face.“Everyone to the ship,” Sokka ordered.“No, I’m staying too. I want to check on Gran-Gran.” Katara said firmly, giving Sokka a don’t-dare-challenge-me look. Zuko had the unsettling feeling that he was in for a Katara-talk.Sokka clearly recognised a pointless argument when he saw one. He shrugged and ushered the group towards the docks. Momo also decided against the boat ride, and perched himself on Katara’s neck.After the shark-whale count group left, Zuko and Katara went inside the Ice Palace. Druk sensing the milder temperature climbed out of his hiding place, checking out the white walls with suspicion, the memory of his stuck tongue still fresh. Flying around, he noticed Momo circling towards Zuko and sent a jealous fire-breath in the lemur’s direction.Zuko looked at him strictly. “No firebending at Momo, Druk. Otherwise I’ll put you outside.”The cold seemed to be a sufficient threat, because Druk settled down immediately. “Here, you can play with these, instead.” Zuko picked up dry leaves and twigs from the pile of wood next to the fireplace, rolled them into small balls and tossed them in the air. Druk darted around trying to burn them with small, but precise flame-shots. He was getting pretty good at precision bending.“Fatherhood looks good on you,” Katara smiled at him with a strange glimmer in her eyes.Zuko was not quite sure if she was mocking him or being nice. The line sometimes got a bit blurry with Katara. He replied seriously, “I’ve always wanted a pet.”“And you were not allowed?” she asked incredulously.Zuko thought the time when he took an injured turtle-crab back to the summer house. He had hid the animal under his bed for days before it was discovered. His father… no, he didn’t want to think of Ozai. Not here, not now, when he was supposed to have a fun weekend away with his friends. His father’s dark legacy hang above his head pretty much every day. He was allowed to take a break from it. “It’s in the past. I’d much rather concentrate on the present. I’m just glad to be away from it all,” he smiled at Katara.“We’re happy too. Sokka has been preparing for days.” Katara produced a bowl of pickled sea-prunes. “Here, have a snack. You must be hungry.”Zuko stared at the bowl trying to hide his disgust. These salty, sour things were the bane of his existence whenever he visited the South Pole.
“I’m not hungry,” he shook his head. Just as he said the words, his treacherous stomach growled loudly.Katara chuckled. “I’m sorry. I’m under strict orders from Sokka that all you can get is sea prunes. Apparently, you made him sit through a spicy dinner in the Fire Nation?”“Well, as long as we are clear where your loyalties truly lie,” Zuko said sarcastically.“I’m sorry, Zuko. You are one of my best friends, but he’s my brother. And there is nothing more sacred than family in the Southern Water Tribe,” she said proudly.Zuko smiled, “I know. It’s really great. I wish my family was more like that.”Things were better with Azula, but he was not sure if he could ever fully trust her or have the easy rapport, the fierce love Sokka and Katara shared.“Sokka said that you are working things out with Azula,” Katara gave him an inquisitive look. Zuko realized with a slight discomfort where the conversation was heading. He braced himself and nodded.Katara’s eyebrows creased. “But you know you can’t trust her. She’ll stab you in the back.”“Once you said the same thing about me,” he replied evenly. She rolled her eyes in response.Zuko took a deep breath and continued, “Look, you gave me a second chance when I didn’t deserve it, and the world is a better place for it. I think she deserves one too.”Katara shook her head, her voice pleading. “She’s not like you, Zuko. Even when you were bad, you never tried to kill anyone. Azula is evil.”“I don’t think people are born evil,” Zuko said firmly.
“I have to believe that she can change.”“But why? After everything she’s done to you?” she asked incredulously.Zuko sighed. Katara couldn’t understand. Of course, she couldn’t.
Nobody really knew what it was like to be in Zuko’s shoes, as he was fighting for the soul of his people who resented him for it.“Because it means the Fire Nation can change too, that we can come back as a country from all the horrible things we’ve done. And because she’s my sister. If I don’t believe in her, who will?”There was a beat of silence, as Katara watched him intently. “You sound like Aang,” she sighed unhappily.Zuko smirked, “He’s rubbing off on me. Don’t tell him I said that, it’ll give him a big head.”“My lips will be sealed,” she promised with a thin smile. She reached out and put her hand on his. “I’m just worried about you.”“I know, Katara, but it feels like the right thing to do.”They sat in silence, watching Druk, who after having grown bored of chasing the little twig balls, started bomb-diving from the high ceiling of the hall.“It’s amazing what you’ve done with the place,” Zuko gestured around himself.Katara blushed slightly at the compliment. “You know, I always wanted to fight so badly. But now I can see that I have so much more to learn. Building is a peacetime skill, and it’s so different. There is much more to bending than fighting.”“Uncle used to tell me the same. I was so irritated when he taught me how to warm tea, control my body temperature and light candles with a flick of my wrist 20 feet away.” He thought fondly now of the long training sessions aboard of his old, rusty ship that he had resented so much at the time. “I couldn’t understand why the legendary Dragon of the West would waste his talent on the mundane, or what good it will do me. But now I’m glad he taught me all those things. I actually warm more tea these days than fight, and the candle thing is handy too when I work late into the night.”Katara’s eyes glimmered with just a hint of mischief. “Don’t you miss it though? The thrill, the danger?”“Sometimes, a bit,” he admitted quietly. He missed the rush of the fight, but he didn’t miss the war or the misery.“We could go for a round for old times sake,” she suggested eagerly.Zuko glanced outside. “Let’s see, it’s pretty dark out there, and we are surrounded by nothing but ice and snow. I know a hopeless fight when I see one, Katara.”“I’ve never known you to back out of a hopeless fight, Zuko.” Katara said with mock annoyance. “Where is your famous honour, firebender?”Zuko laughed. That was a challenge that could not be ignored. “Oh, you didn’t just go there... You are on, waterbender…”He threw down his parka and stepped out of the building. Not wasting any time, he sent a few well-controlled fireballs in Katara’s direction to get her off balance. His only chance was to overwhelm her at the start. She ducked and tried to slide around him on an iceboard, which he blasted under her feet. He jumped out of the way of her counter-attack, and tried to get closer to her. Distance was her advantage. While focusing on her movements, he took a wrong step and got his foot frozen in a block of ice. Katara attacked with a water-whip, which Zuko countered with a fire shield, hoping for time to free his foot. She sent sharp ice-disks in his direction to break through his defences.In a flash of red, Druk appeared, sending a furious burning firebreath at Katara who was caught unawares by the dragonling’s attack. She yelped in pain. Zuko lowered his arms and ran to them, grabbing Druk by the tail.“It’s ok, Druk. We are just playing,” he soothed the visibly upset dragon. “Are you ok?” he cast a worried glance in Katara’s direction.She had already healed the small burn on her left arm. “As good as new,” she said reassuringly.Druk gave Zuko a confused look. “It’s ok to bend for a game, Druk. We don’t try to hurt each other. It’s like when you and I play flametag.”At the mention of his favourite game, Druk’s eyes glimmered with excitement, his predatory glance settling on Momo. The lemur let out a fearful cry and ducked behind Appa, who was chilling nearby, watching with curious detachment the commotion. Druk darted after Momo and sent a hissing fireblast in his direction which narrowly missed Appa’s left ear. The bison got to his feet with a roar and blew a strong airbreath at the dragon who tumbled backwards in the air, ending up buried under a pile of snow. Zuko ran to free him, but before he got there, the snow started glowing orange and the dragon’s red head appeared on top of the pile with a distressed whimper. He shook himself and spat the snow out of his mouth.Katara, Zuko and all the villagers who had gathered around to watch their famous waterbender fight the Fire Lord, laughed. Zuko scooped up Druk and hid the pitifully shivering creature under his tunic, warming him with his own body heat.“Takes after his dad,” Katara smirked.“Never backs out of a hopeless fight?” Zuko asked with a lopsided grin.“Well, that too,” her grin grew wider.
“But I meant brave and fiercely loyal...” she added seriously.Zuko felt
lump in his throat. He grew up in a family where words were used as a weapon, sharp and precise, designed to cut in exactly the most vulnerable spots, always layered with double meaning. Praise was not something he was used to.Katara noticed his discomfort and added with a mocking glimmer in her eyes, “... also reckless and hotheaded…”Zuko chuckled. They were on the familiar grounds of friendly teasing again. He assumed his bending stance. “Are we talking or are we fighting?”Katara surrounded herself by a ring of snow. “I can do both.”Steam rose as their elements collided with a loud hiss.
-0-
“So how did it go?” Zuko asked once the shark-whale count party disembarked.Azula gave him a triumphant smile. “I won. 45 to 44.”“No it was equal,” Sokka protested immediately. He was on home turf. There was no way he was being beaten by some Fire Nation princess in a game he himself invented.“That last one was an iceberg. You can’t count the iceberg,” she scowled.“It was not an iceberg.” Sokka looked at the others for back-up. Toph, Suki and Aang just shrugged rather unhelpfully. They got bored of the counting game pretty quickly and chose to withdraw below the deck to play cards instead, leaving Sokka and Princess Persistent out in the icy, howling wind. “I’m the authority on shark-whales around here.”“Oh, really? Because did you know when shark-whale babies develop teeth, they eat their unborn siblings in their mother’s womb until only one remains.” Azula said dramatically, her eyes flashing dangerously. The others stared at her speechless, only Zuko rolled his eyes. Apparently, this was what passed for sisterly teasing in the Fire Nation. Azula absorbed their outrage with a satisfied smirk and continued spouting off random shark-whale facts. “They have 3567 teeth and they can make their own light in the dark. Which totally sounds like firebending.”“I told you so. She’s prepared.” Zuko stage-whispered to Sokka.“Oh, but she’s not the only one who knows things.” Sokka may not have had the royal library at his disposal, but he did do his research. The Water Tribe had depended for centuries on these magnificent animals, and knowledge got passed down from generation to generation.
“Did you know that shark-whales not only make friends with one another but find each other, year after year across the vast ocean. They all sing the same song, but sometimes change it for a new tune. And they adopt the weak and vulnerable. Do you remember that dolphin-seal the shark-whale pod adopted three years ago, Katara? His own pack cast him out because he was scarred and injured, but the shark-whales accepted and protected him.”Katara nodded, her gaze automatically darting towards Zuko. She was right -
Zuko was a bit like that hurt dolphin-seal when he had first showed up to join Team Avatar.
“That’s amazing, Sokka. But if they are such wonderful animals, why does your tribe have to hunt them?” Aang asked, his big round grey eyes pleading.“Aang, I don’t know if you looked around here, but it’s not exactly rice-fields around us,” Sokka motioned at the endless ice..“The shark-whales are part of us - they are the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the tools we use. They are a gift from the spirits to the tribe, and we treat them with respect,” Katara added.This was not the first time they had this conversation and it never led anywhere.Luckily, Suki came to the rescue. “Hate to interrupt, but I think you promised us a hot bath?” She made a big show of shivering, which gave Sokka the excuse to wrap her under his parka.“Oh, right. So, I had this idea of building a bath-house. It’s behind the Ice Palace. We call it the Ice Lagoon,” Sokka announced proudly.“No we don’t,” Katara grimaced predictably. She thought Sokka was pompous by giving everything a name, Sokka thought that Katara was sorely lacking the flair for the dramatic.He led them into the sparkling ice-cave, which featured a cozy, blue pool big enough for 10-15 people. The ice-cave was pleasantly warm thanks to its thick walls and the clever heating system Sokka designed. The group undressed eagerly, Suki being the first one to jump into the water. She pulled back with a yelp.“I thought you said warm bath. This is freezing…” she gave Sokka a disappointed look.“I’m still working out the kinks of the water-heating system, but in the meantime, firebending it is.” Sokka looked pointedly at all firebenders present.Zuko and Aang got into the icy water, using their breaths of fire and the neat hot-palm technique Sokka was so jealous of. Druk joined them raining fire excitedly from above, eager to help out. Azula seemed uncomfortable, as if she couldn’t bear watching them practice the art she had lost. Or maybe she couldn’t bear the sight of their matching scars. It was impossible to know what went on in her head. When she caught Sokka staring, she turned away.Thanks to the firebenders efforts, steam rose from the water soon. “I think it’s good now,” Zuko announced.“Oh, it’s perfect,” Suki sighed happily as she submerged herself into the water. Sokka joined her, enjoying her closeness.The others all piled in, even Toph, who stretched out happily on the smooth volcanic rock that Sokka had specially shipped in to make the pool Toph-friendly.Druk flew around enthusiastically in the rising steam, producing a constant stream of fire. He seemed happy that his firebending was finally appreciated.“I’m keeping him,” Sokka announced eagerly.
“He’s so good at this.”“I warn you, he snores,” Zuko grinned. “And when he has bad dreams, he sets the bed on fire.”Sokka reached out to pet the dragon’s head. “Don’t listen to your mean Dad. Uncle Sokka will take good care of you,” he cooed.The dragon rewarded him with a fiery kiss.“Hey you didn’t have to scorch me…” Sokka said with a pained expression, sucking on his burnt finger.“And that’s how he shows affection,” Zuko pointed out.Of course, the poor baby was being brought up among firebenders. It was up to Uncle Sokka to teach him how to do a proper Water Tribe hug.
-0-
Zuko was not joking. The dinner was positively disgusting. The sea-kelp soup might as well have been pure seawater. The next course was something fried of dubious origin. Catching Sokka’s eyes, Azula took a bite out of it. It tasted like greasy grass.“Do you like it?” Sokka asked eagerly.“Never had anything quite like this,” Azula said, keeping her features carefully neutral. She had learnt as a young child that lies were best hidden inside truths. It was an important life-skill.When Sokka was not looking, Zuko passed to her a little box of hot pepper-flakes under the table. Well, well - her oh-so-honourable brother was cheating during the food prank war, she thought appreciatively. Maybe Zuko was becoming a player after all. Azula poured a generous helping of the hot spice on her plate. With her mouth on fire, she lost all sense of taste temporarily. It made it easier to get through the plate of fried grass.“This was sea cucumber. Wait until you’ll try the jelly-squid,” Sokka leaned close. “It’s quite special.”“I’m sure it is,” grimaced Azula.“Thank you for those scrolls by the way,” he said with a genuine smile, dropping the clown-act for a moment.“It’s nothing,” Azula shrugged. She never imagined that a couple of scrolls could make someone this excited. It wasn’t like she was trying to please him. Simply, copying them was the most practical solution.“It’s not nothing,” he insisted. “Before you joined Team Egg, I don’t think you would have done something like this.”He was like the doctors back in the mental hospital trying to pick her apart. It was a feeling she hated.“I’m not a puzzle to solve,” she glared at him. “I was simply doing the pragmatic thing.”Sokka shook his head. “You just tell yourself that.”She shrugged, “You talk too much, Sokka.”“Would you prefer we drink instead?” Without waiting for an answer he poured some opaque grey liquid in her cup.Azula smelled the contents suspiciously - it had a strong scent of alcohol and vinegar.“It smells vile,” she scrunched her nose.“It’s a local specialty. Whale liqueur.” Sokka enthused with a fake smile. “Let’s drink to the new library.”Not wanting to appear weak, Azula raised the cup to her mouth and took a gulp. The drink tasted exactly as bad as it smelled. Her throat burnt uncomfortably. Still, she managed to swallow it without a cough.The jelly-squid arrived on a large platter; its translucent tentacles spread out over a bed of ice-cubes. She glanced at Zuko, who looked also pale at the revolting sight. Azula’s stomach flipped in protest. Sokka immediately sensed their distress, and triumphantly offered a piece to each. “It’s a rare delicacy,” he explained.Azula looked at her plate, ready to admit defeat - Fire Nation pride be damned - and plead for a bowl of plain rice, when Druk came to the rescue. He breathed fire onto her plate, just like Zuko used to do it for him in the first few weeks of his life, crisping the jelly-squid arm. Then with a loud slurp he inhaled it in one piece. He did the same on Zuko’s plate.Sokka exclaimed in appreciation. “You see? We’ll make a Water Tribe dragon of you yet.”He refilled their cups with generous helpings of the whale liqueur. Azula drank. The taste was growing on her or maybe she was getting too drunk to care.There was a small reprieve from the onslaught of food as the drummers arrived, filling the hall with a stirring beat. The Avatar was the first one on his feet, skipping to the music with complete abandon. Sokka and Suki joined in next. When Azula tried to stand up, she realized that the room was spinning. She stepped outside, breathing in deeply the icy air to clear her head.“What are you doing?” She didn’t have to turn around to know that the hostile voice belonged to the waterbender.“Getting some fresh air. That liqueur is vile,” she replied evenly.Katara stepped in front of her, her blue eyes glimmering dangerously.“That’s not what I meant. What is your game?”Azula arched her eyebrows. “Why do you think I have a game? I am as serious as ever...”Katara did not smile.“Whatever it is you are planning, it’s not going to work. I’m keeping my eyes on you. And if you try to hurt Zuko…” she didn’t need to finish it. Azula got the picture. Agni knows, she was capable. Underneath the soft surface, Katara had a darkness inside her, like a deep undercurrent.“I’m not trying to hurt him,” Azula looked into the stormy blue eyes unflinchingly.Katara blinked, for a moment taken aback.“I don’t believe in your teary transformation,” she responded, but there was less venom in her voice.“Well, it doesn’t really matter what you believe. I’m doing what I’ve always done - I’m being loyal to my country and to the Fire Lord,” Azula replied evenly.“You almost killed both of us,” Katara raised her voice, taking a step towards her.“We were at war, I only did what was expected of me -
as did you,” Azula shrugged.“So you feel nothing about it at all?” Katara shook her head in disbelief.Azula took a deep breath. She did not owe her inner struggle to anyone, but especially not to the waterbender. If she expected an apology, she would have to be disappointed.“What I feel about it is none of your business. But I’ll tell you this - I’m glad you saved Zuko and that he’s alive. So, thank you, Katara,” Azula managed to keep the trembling out of her voice. She stepped inside, but paused near the door when she heard the little blind earthbender’s voice.“She’s telling the truth, you know.”“How long have you been there?” Katara asked sharply.“Long enough.” Toph replied. “You are not the only one looking out for Zuko.”Of course. This whole charade was about Zuko. Like everything everyone ever did. It was always about Zuko. Nobody ever cared about her.She weaved her way among the dancers back to her seat at the table, a terrible empty ache engulfing her that she recognized as loneliness.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Zuko woke up with a start. Maybe it was the food and the damned whale liqueur. Or maybe it was the soft sound of footsteps on the narrow corridor of the airship.He got to his feet and crept towards the door. His heart started beating faster when he noticed the dark shadow that moved silently towards the sleeping quarters. As the figure got closer, Zuko jumped, pinning him against the wall.“It’s me,” squeaked a familiar voice, holding up both hands.Zuko lowered his arms and stepped back, “A library visit, I presume?” he asked sarcastically. “This sneaking around will get you into trouble some day.”“Yeah, but it’s more fun this way,” Sokka grimaced, rubbing his neck.“You want to have a cup of tea?” Zuko suggested. It was another sacred tradition, just like food pranks. When Sokka got caught sneaking, he had to wait to get to Suki.
“I was actually….” Sokka glanced towards his girlfriend’s door longingly.Zuko grabbed his elbow and pulled him into the control room. “Come on, it will be fun, we hardly had time to catch up.”“That’s because you chickened out…” Sokka grimaced.Zuko ignored his friend’s protest and set out to brew some ginger tea. Uncle swore it was the best cure against hangover. Then again, according to Uncle ginger tea was the way to world peace too...He placed two cups on the table and poured the drink.“It is fun - to be just us, Team Egg without the rest of the world.
It got me thinking,” Zuko pulled out a large scroll filled with schematics.Sokka studied the lines. “Looks familiar.”Zuko nodded. “I’ve been meaning to do something with the old house on Ember Island. A place for all of us. This is the plan the architects drew up for it, but maybe you have some ideas before I order the works.”“Only if it means a standing invitation...” Sokka joked.“That’s the idea,” Zuko smiled.That house always meant home for him. When he returned from his exile, it was a sad, silent crypt of his childhood memories, but Team Avatar changed that. Now as he walked in the empty rooms, he heard their laughter, he remembered the fun times. Those weeks they had spent there before the comet were easily the best days of his life. He would have to consult Azula, of course. The house belonged to her as much as to him. Maybe they could even work together like Sokka and Katara did here, squabbling over names, while rebuilding the ruins of the past into palaces of the future.“Have you thought about building a tunnel to cliffs over here?” Sokka pointed to west of the island.It was an interesting idea - it could serve both as a private entrance and an escape route. Zuko was right about asking Sokka. He had an eye for these things.They leaned over the schematics and did not notice the black shadow cast on the doorway.
-0-
There was a soft caress on her forehead.
“It’s time to wake up, darling,” her mother’s gentle voice filtered through the veil of dream.
“Mom, it’s too early,” Azula moaned.
“It is time. They are waiting for you.”
Her mother’s voice had an urgency to it. She knew that tone; arguing was useless.
She opened her eyes. The full moon shined through the window, illuminating her sleeping quarters. Druk blinked at her, his red tongue flicking over her face.That was strange. Druk always slept with Zuko.Azula reached out to scratch the dragon’s chin. He grabbed her finger and started pulling on it, flapping his wings frantically. Something was wrong . She put the agitated dragon on her shoulder and tiptoed towards the corridor. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a black shadow move.There were infiltrators on the airship. She cursed Zuko’s carelessness, as she moved towards the control room; her heart beating fast. Without her bending, she felt weak and exposed. As she peeked around the corner, she saw Zuko and Sokka on the floor, unconscious. Two figures clad in black, their faces covered in masks approached their limp bodies.Azula’s mind raced. This might be it - her chance to win. The logical thing would be to go back to bed and wait it out, see how the dice falls. She might wake up as Fire Lord. Nobody would know that she saw what she saw, she would be beyond reproach. It was the smart play.Except, there was that nagging thing called her heart which screamed that the smart thing was not the right thing. The part of her that knew without a doubt that the price would be too high. She couldn’t go back to the palace alone and face the emptiness again. Her mind would crack like an eggshell under the weight of her mother’s silent reprimands. She felt Druk’s hot breath on her earlobes. The dragon had no doubts, he was ready to attack, to sacrifice himself, even if it meant the end of all firebending.It was split-second decision. There was no time to think it through, to come up with an intricate plan. She threw her flame-shaped hairpin against the metal wall. The assassins heard the faint clink. One of them ran out of the control room to investigate, while the other stepped closer to Zuko’s and Sokka’s bodies, hands raised.Azula hurled herself forward, standing in between the attacker and the unconscious boys. The assassin moved closer, a dagger glimmering in his palm. She felt Druk’s sharp inhale and she raised her hand instinctively into a firebending stance. The flames burst out unexpectedly; surrounding them with a wall of fire. It was much bigger than anything Druk had ever bent before and the fire shield that surrounded them, protecting them from the assassin sparkled in blue.Beyond the flames, she saw a third shadow join the fight. It was Suki, attacking the assassin with fans in hand, who took flight. Azula lowered her arms. She leaned over Zuko and Sokka and checked their pulses.
“They are just unconscious, go…” Azula told Suki.Suki nodded and ran out of the airship. A few minutes later, she returned with Aang, Katara and Toph.
Katara coated her hands in water, working on the boys, her face taut with tension.Zuko opened his eyes first, grabbing his head with a pained expression.
“What happened?”Sokka’s groan signalled that he was awake too.“There were two attackers. They must have knocked you out with the poison darts. Luckily, Azula spotted them and held them off until I got here,” Suki explained.“Druk woke me up…” Azula interjected. She didn’t want them to think that she had been sneaking around.“Smart boy…” Sokka cupped the dragon’s head and blew a kiss on the tip of his nose. Druk flapped his wings happily.“So you can firebend again?” Katara turned to Azula. They all stared at her.Azula closed her eyes. She already knew the answer, but extended her palm anyway. She focused on the spark she thought she felt for a moment, but no fire came. Not even a puff of smoke.“No, I don’t think that was me,” she said finally, trying not to show her disappointment. She didn’t need their pity.“So Druk can bend blue fire?” Sokka arched his eyebrow, looking at Zuko.Zuko shook his head.“So what did just happen?” Aang wondered aloud.Azula thought back to the words of the energy reader. Zuko had the key. Could it be that it wasn’t a move or a form, but somehow her fire ended up inside him?“In any case,” Sokka turned to Azula. “That was really brave of you.”“Yes, thank you, Azula,” Zuko added, looking at her warmly. Even Katara’s icy glare softened.Azula pursed her lips. “None of this would have been necessary if you took the precautions I told you to take.” She earned the right of a told-you-so today.Zuko scratched his head, “I just don’t understand. How did they know I was here?”Aang gave him an apologetic look “Was it supposed to be a secret? Because I told it to a few people in Gaoling.”“Why would you do that?” Sokka snapped at the Avatar.“They wanted to take me to an official tour of the province. I needed an excuse,” Aang complained. After a pause he slapped his tattooed forehead,
“Oh, I’m so stupid.”Zuko immediately stepped closer, putting his hand on the Avatar’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Aang.” His voice was soft and soothing. Azula recognized that voice, it was the same way Zuko spoke to Druk when he tried to calm the dragon.“I wonder who would want you dead?” the boy’s grey eyes sparkled with confusion, as if after everything he experienced, he still couldn’t comprehend evil. Azula wasn’t sure if she pitied or envied the monk.She rolled her eyes. “Do you want the whole list? People from the Earth Kingdom, who want to take revenge on the Fire Nation, the Fire Nation opposition hellbent putting father back on the throne, the governors who want to run freely their little fiefdoms, the military who feel they lost their power, the merchants who begrudge the new taxes,...”“Is this the whole list?” Toph asked sarcastically. “I think you left off the cabbage man.”“It’s not a joke, Toph,” Katara snapped at the earthbender angrily.“We’ll split up and comb the area for clues,” Sokka stepped between the two girls. “Maybe we’ll learn something.”
-0-
Sokka examined the snow. It looked pristine.“I don’t understand, there should be footprints, unless they could fly,” he scratched his chin pensively. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for detective work after all.“Or waterbend,” Azula noted.Sokka stopped in his tracks. Of course, she was right. A waterbender could easily cover up the footprints. It would also explain how they disappeared - they could bend an ice-tunnel. Still, there were only a handful of waterbenders left including Katara and the people who Pakku brought from the North. There was no way...“You think somebody from our tribe this did?” he asked indignantly.“There are waterbenders outside your tribe, Sokka,” Azula grimaced.“I guess…” he admitted. “Still...” It was an unsettling thought.“It’s difficult to imagine someone other than us could be the bad guys?” her voice cut like a cold blade.She was also not wrong. Of course, logically, Sokka knew other nations had bad seeds too. After all, he had seen the Dai Li in action. It was unfair to instinctively blame the Fire Nation, but a hundred years of violence was not exactly conducive to trust building.He had to remind himself that the Fire Nation had good people too. Zuko, Iroh, Piandao, Ty Lee and Mai were all good. He glanced at Azula. Maybe it was time to put her on that list.“You were really selfless today. I told you that you have changed,” he said warmly. He had watched her closely since she arrived. She was putting on an act but underneath it all she seemed different. More caring, more vulnerable. Maybe Zuko was right to trust her.Azula gave him a wry smile. “Or I was calculating as ever - and it was all a ploy so you all would trust me.”Sokka had to admit, that was a possibility too.“Why do you do this?” Sokka sighed.“Do what?” Her eyebrows arched.“Pretend that you don’t care? You can talk all you want, but I see you. You don’t need to be scared of the person you are becoming.”Azula watched him intently, her dark amber eyes sparkling with emotion, but her face remained impassive. She turned away, pretending to examine the white snow.“Sokka, come here,” she exclaimed suddenly.“Did you find something?” he asked eagerly, his mind returning to the puzzle they were trying to solve.His gaze followed her finger. There was a small red spot in the white snow.
-0-
Zuko examined the scorch marks on the floor of the control room. They were regular blotches caused by firebending - there was nothing extraordinary about them.“This won’t tell us much,” he sighed and got to his feet.“Are you going back to the Earth Kingdom after this?” he asked Aang who seemed distraught still from the attack.He shook his bald head. “No. It’s time. I’m going home. To the Southern Air Temple.”Zuko shuddered, remembering the last time he saw the place. It was a crypt, an empty shell of horrors. “Aang. Is this really a good idea?”“I don’t know, but it’s something I feel I should do,” Aang face was determined.“It’s just….”Zuko didn’t get to finish the thought, as Sokka and Azula burst into the control room. “We found something.”Zuko examined the tiny red pai sho tile. There was nothing strange about it at first glance. Then he frowned. “That’s weird.”“Exactly,” Sokka nodded.“Why?” Aang looked over his shoulder.“Because it looks like a pai sho tile, but there is no tile like this in the game,” Zuko explained.“Are you sure?” Suki stepped closer.“I lived for three years on a boat with a pai sho nut. Of course I’m sure.” Zuko replied, annoyed that his expertise was being questioned. He had seen every version of the game that was played in the four nations.“So someone went out of their way to make a fake pai sho tile. That’s crazy,” Toph chimed in.“We just had an assassination attempt and you’re calling a fake pai sho tile crazy?” Katara glared at her blind friend. Toph only shrugged in response.“I just feel like it’s an important clue.” Sokka took the fake tile from Zuko and wrapped it in a piece of cloth.“Important or not, we have to return to the Fire Nation,” Azula added sharply. Zuko sighed. As much as he didn’t want to cut his weekend short, his sister was right. It would be irresponsible for him to linger when he was clearly the target of the assassins. Worse, he could get others in trouble too.After they packed up their things, Team Egg gathered for a last group hug, before the airship rose up in the sky.Zuko looked mournfully as the waving figures of Aang, Toph, Sokka and Katara became tiny dots of yellow, green and blue against the white snow. He already missed them.
-0-
One week later
“That’s outrageous,” Iroh said handing the tile back to Zuko. “Someone using the sacred game of pai sho to work in the shadows.”“That’s what your precious White Lotus does, Uncle,” Azula interjected before Zuko could make the same point.“We would never do something as nefarious as...” protested Iroh vehemently.“...an assassination attempt?” Zuko suggested. The White Lotus seemed to be made of good guys, even if Uncle could not coherently explain what they were supposed to be about anymore, other than pai sho and silly code words.“I was going to say making a fake pai sho tile,” Iroh finished with a slight grin. “I’m afraid, Nephew, I don’t know anything about who these people are, other than they have shameful disrespect for the game.”Zuko glanced at Azula. It was another dead end.“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out,” Zuko smiled at Iroh. He didn’t want the old man to worry about him - Agni knows he was responsible for more than one white hair in his beard. Iroh had earned his peace.“I’m sure you will,” Iroh agreed. With practiced movements he poured water over fragrant tea leaves, the aroma of ginseng filling the small study, evoking memories of the Ba Sing Se tea shop, of home.Zuko pulled out the plans of the Ember Island summer house and spread them out in front of Iroh and Azula, explaining the idea for the renovation.Iroh nodded thoughtfully. “I think it’s a great idea. Young people need to have fun from time to time. And it’s time to give new life to that place.”Zuko looked questioningly at Azula. Instead of replying, she turned around the schematics with an unreadable expression, examining all the details, including the sketches added by Sokka.“I have a condition,” she said after a heavy pause.“Name it,” Zuko let out a resigned sigh. Everything always had a price with Azula.“Sokka is not allowed to call it Team Egg Palace,” she grinned.“Deal,” Zuko laughed, relieved.
Druk settled on his shoulder, his scaly tail tickling the back of his neck. Zuko took a sip of his cup. This felt right. It felt like a real family.