I Will Possess Your Heart
By Nikkel
(c) to Nickelodean, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko

It was eighth period, Monday afternoon, when the first one arrived. At 2:16 PM, to be exact.

Professor Zei lectured to his advanced history class about the Great War, his notes up on the overhead and the lights shut off, gilding the students in a pale blue. He couldn't see past the front row, were the most attentive kids sat while everyone else slept or silently took notes, interest or no interest. Among this swell of teenagers was Azula, casually leaning back in her seat and already finished with copying the notes, cracking her cinnamon-flavored gum. In her hand was a slender black pen, scribing a note to Mai on the desk to her right.

If you're really that desperate as to think to my brother for a dating choice, she wrote, then you may as well consider yourself as love sick as Katara.

Azula passed the note, and upon looking at it, Mai was at first insulted but then snickered, writing something back.

At least I'm not like Ty Lee.

Azula smirked. Though she and Ty Lee were friends, the girl's promiscuity around Four Nations High was well-known, and not just among those that personally knew her.

She's dating some freshman now. Disgusting.

It was after Azula had passed the note back did the classroom door open. In walked an aide carrying a bushel of scarlet roses, a note in his hand.

"Ah, and who might these be for?" Professor Zei said teasingly. "For me? You shouldn't have! Or is it some lucky lady?"

There was a soft rumble of laughter. The aide shrugged and looked at the note in his hand, replying, "It just says Azula."

"And there's only one Azula in the school!" Professor Zei exclaimed, and everyone burst into laughter. Azula frowned indignantly as the teacher accepted the roses and the aide left.

"There's more than one Azula in the school," she announced. "And I'm not that one."

"Well, he did say 'lucky lady'," Mai countered.

"Yeah," Ty Lee agreed on Azula's left. "And you're pretty lucky, Azula."

Professor Zei passed her the roses, but she laid them down on her desk as if touching them would invite the Grim Reaper. Yes, they were rather beautiful—deep, ruby-colored petals flourished around evergreen stems, like succulent strawberries ripe for the picking. The thorns had been left on, though, which she found peculiar. Who was—well, she wouldn't say considerate, for it's not as if she enjoyed the delivery—emotional enough to have sent her a bouquet, but leave the thorns on? Whoever it was, they were impeccably stupid.

"Looks like you have a secret lover," Mai whispered. "Now you can't say that's disgusting."

Azula rolled her eyes. "But it is. And I'm going to find out who did this."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Process of elimination. I'll examine every boy in this school until the perpetrator reveals himself."

"But what if the per. . . per. . ." Ty Lee struggled with the big word.

"Perpetrator," Mai filled in. "Azula makes every romantic gesture sound like a crime."

"Yeah, that word!" Ty Lee grinned. "Anyways, what if it's a girl?"

"If I were to be given roses from a girl, the only girl stupid enough to do that would be you, Ty Lee," Azula snapped.

"And that would be disgusting," Mai added.

"But what's wrong with just getting some flowers? I bet they smell good." Ty Lee reached for the bouquet when Azula slapped her hand away.

"Don't touch them," she said sharply. "And there's plenty of things wrong with receiving flowers, especially roses. Receiving them implies that someone wishes for you to join them in a collaborative and often overdramatic relationship that serves no purpose other than the relief of adolescent hormones. In other words, something I'm not fond of, and don't want to achieve."

"Ouch." Ty Lee made a face. "Harsh!"

Azula shrugged. "It's true, though. Why pursue a relationship if they're designed to fail?"

"Not all relationships are designed to fail, Azula," Mai said defensively.

"Mai, you haven't even asked him out, yet!" Azula replied and briefly threw her hands up in the air while Mai blushed a beet red. Ty Lee giggled and a couple of kids around them that had been eavesdropping in on their conversation buzzed humorously. Azula crossed her arms again. "So that means I'm going to find who sent these, but not for the means of a relationship."

"Not even a one-night stand?" Ty Lee joked, and Mai clapped a hand over her mouth while the eavesdroppers did their best to cover their laughter. Azula glared at her, manicured nails clenching the desktop. "Okay, okay. Sorry."

"No," Azula said sternly, speaking through gritted teeth. "Not for anything. I don't care how infatuated the fool is. His heart deserves to be broken."

"If it doesn't beat outta his chest first," Ty Lee replied.

"But what if you do end up liking him?" Mai asked quizzically.

"I highly doubt that would happen," Azula answered. "And besides, for all I know, it's somebody's idea of a joke."

"Well," Ty Lee chirped. "It's a nice joke. I don't think roses are supposed to be bad. I wish I could get some."

"The sender left the thorns on."

"Oh. At least they look pretty."

The conversation ended there as Mai and Ty Lee turned back to the notes (well, Ty Lee returned to texting Li, her "disgusting freshman boyfriend", as Azula put it) while Azula went back to staring at the roses. They were bound by a silken gold ribbon in a delicate plastic and red-sparkled wrap, as if the roses themselves had not been the only things that needed tending, but the entire package. She faintly wondered if she could scan said wrap for fingerprints, as she was certain her father's laboratories could do for it certainly made the identity of the sender easier to narrow down or reveal altogether. The roses were also fresh, not like the withered carnations that most girls received on Valentine's Day (never mind that Valentine's was over a month ago), meaning that whoever had gotten the bouquet was either a gardener or knew someone with an attentive plant nursery. Roses were currently out of season.

The bell rang, and as if an electric current had run through them the entire class jumped up for the end of the day. Azula stood and placed her belongings in her messenger bag and grabbed the crimson bushel.

"Whatever happened to not touching them?" Mai said slyly, raising a brow. She, Azula, and Ty Lee shuffled out into the crowded hallway; a mass of students uniformed in red, blue, green, or yellow. Azula snorted.

"As much as I would like to leave them or drop them on the ground in front of me, they're evidence."

"Ooh. You're serious about this," Ty Lee cooed. Azula nodded.

"Oh, I'm very serious about this. I'm going to find out who it is."

A high-pitched whistling interrupted them and the three girls turned to see a group of boys clustered by a water fountain, jeering and pointing and clutching their sides in loud, cacophonous laughter.

"Hey Azula!" Zuko called. "Who're the flowers from, your new boyfriend?!"

"Whoa, I didn't know Azula was straight!" Jet exclaimed, clapping Zuko on the back. "I guess she's a backseat playa now!"

"It's either that," Sokka hollered, jumping up between Zuko and Jet, trying to be the loudest he could. "Or she's the one driving the car, if you know what I mean!"

"Wait, what's that mean?" Aang asked helplessly and tugged at Sokka's shirt, but since he was given no answer, burst into the childish and extremely annoying chant of, "Azula's got a boyfriend! Azula's got a boyfriend!". Unfortunately, Teo, Duke, Li, Pipsqueak, Longshot (well, maybe not as much), and the rest of the boys joined them, which transitioned into…

"Two lovers! Forbidden from one another! A war divides their people and a mountain divides them apart! Built a path together just like two birds of a feather! Even if you're lost you can't lose love because it's in your heart, ooooooh! SECRET TUNNEL! SECRET TUNNEL! THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN! SECRET TUNNEL…"

Azula headed straight for the doors, escaping the band as much as she could, the melody filling the entire hallway.

"If the person is courteous enough to send you roses, I wonder if they'll serenade you at your window," Mai said. Azula huffed.

"And I'll be damned if it's any one of them."

Author's Note: This story has been inspired by a number of things:

One, my prom date (strictly a senior friend, searching for someone to take) said that he'd be willing to send me roses every class period of the day. I came to wondering what would happen if someone received those roses, but did not know who the sender was.

Two, I've been yearning to write a full-fledged AU. I've gotten my feet a little wet through a couple of oneshots. I've tried writing a couple others before, but they only got to be three chapters long, and I quickly ran into writer's block.

Thankfully, though, number three has been the leading inspiration of this thing - a new shipping, which is the star of this story. Of course, I can't reveal it. Then it wouldn't make this ficlet fun, now, would it?

And four, you may ask, the actual song "I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab for Cutie? Possibly. The song itself is alluring and romantic. Kinda dark. I struggled for a good title, but this one works for what I have in mind.