"And just how are we going to keep a singing groundhog a secret from father?" Azula stared at the fuzzy creature burrowing in their yard.
"I don't know!" Zuko threw his hands into the air. "You're the one who always has a plan. You tell me." His attention turned to the groundhog. "Hey! No! Don't eat that! Hammo no!"
"For the last time, Zu-Zu. We're not calling him Hammo." Azula rolled her eyes. She rested her hands on her hips. "I have to come up with a plan? You're the one who wanted the dumb thing." She walked over to the ground hog and lifted him away from the newly planted and expensive flora.
"Oh come on Azula, you wanted to save and keep Hammo just as much as I did." Zuko replied.
"That's not true." Azula retorted, softly stroking the groundhog's fur. "I don't really care what happens to Nah-Ril."
"Yeah, that explains why you're arguing with me over his name." Zuko pointed out rather smugly.
"I'm not arguing." Azula replied, "I'm telling you what's going to happen. We're going to name him Nah-Ril."
"Whatever, we have to find a way to keep father from finding him."
Azula drummed her fingers lightly over the singing groundhog's fur, listening to the creature's song. It was true, if their father found the fluffy thing, it would be over for him. If they could get him to stop singing at least while Ozai was around…
"Perhaps your water peasants can do some babysitting when father gets back."
"I guess that could work." Zuko agreed.
"You guess what could work?"
Azula and Zuko tensed up. He eyed Azula with a degree of desperateness. With Ozai drawing closer, Azula did the only thing she could think of at the time. She stuffed the singing groundhog into the folds of her new nightgown.
"Zuko's new firebending technique." Azula filled in quickly. "He thinks he finally found a way to bend like someone who actually has talent."
"Hey!"
"Oh? A new technique?" Ozai asked.
"Why don't you show him your new technique, Zu-Zu? While you do that I can get dressed." She winked at Zuko.
"Actually Azula, I'd like you to fill me in. How have things been around the palace while I was at my meeting? Did the servants and guards do their jobs?"
The groundhog scampered around beneath Azula's robes. It's tiny paws pittering lightly over her delicate skin. "Yeah great dad," she answered growing increasingly uncomfortable. The groundhog's soft fur now tickling her belly and sides. "They worked just as hard as they would have if…" she tried to stifle a laugh, "if you were here."
She caught sight of Zuko snickering from behind her.
Why couldn't he have been the one to hold the stupid groundhog?
Of course she would be the one who had to hide the filthy animal, after all she had done all of the rescuing too.
"Are you alright?" Ozai asked.
"Yeah." The tickling sensation shot up her torso, making her feel all twitchy. "I'm wonderful." She hissed, feeling exactly the opposite of wonderful. "I should really get dressed now."
It was at that moment the groundhog decided to let out one of its oh so charming high notes.
"What was that?"
For once Azula was at a loss for words, "uhh, what are you talking about father." She asked through gritted teeth as the animal continued to hum.
Azula looked over at Zuko. It was his turn to embarrass himself trying to cover for the silly creature. His face flushed scarlet as he gave his best imitation of the groundhogs melody. Embarrassing it was. The groundhog bellowed out a lower note. Forcing Zuko to lip-sync.
"I raised you to be a prince. Not a choir boy." Ozai grumbled.
"You didn't raise me to be anything," Zuko reminded him, "you banished me."
Azula seized the opportunity to dash away. But before she could get very far down the hall, she felt something fuzzy crawl down her leg. "Dammit!" she muttered. "No no no. Get back here." Azula sighed, silently accepting that she clearly wasn't an animal person.
She could track and control people better than anyone she knew. But this hairy beast? She had no clue how to deal with singing groundhogs. But when Nah-Ril looked up at her with his cute beady eyes she knew she wanted to keep him just as much as Zuko did.
From down the hall came the loudest groundhog squeal Azula had ever heard. Ozai turned his head to look in that direction.
Azula dashed in the direction of the singing.
The groundhog was scampering around on the ground trying to burrow into the floor. "No. Bad groundhog. We don't do that here." She scooped him into her arms. "And no more running away. You're going to get me in trouble. You're going to get Zu-Zu in trouble—but that's not as important. And you're going to get yourself cooked into groundhog stew."
Nah-Ril nuzzled himself against Azula's chest. Now what to do with him? Where to hide him? She tapped her finger against her chin.
"He's out for blood! He's out for groundhog blood!" Zuko hollered, dashing madly down the hall.
"What do you mean?"
"He found one of the groundhog holes." Zuko explained, "I tried to tell him that it was a wild pack of earthbenders."
"A wild pack of earthbenders." Azula muttered. "That's what you went with?"
"I was under a lot of pressure!" Zuko frowned.
Azula tugged Zuko up the stairs. "He'll never think to look here." She placed him in her pajama drawer.
"What else do you hide in there?" Zuko asked.
"My clothes Zu-Zu. Like everyone else."
"You're clothes are going to smell like groundhog."
Azula frowned. "Right, we'll hide him in your drawer. It'll—" She was cut off by the second loudest animal noise she'd ever heard. "Honestly if Nah-Rill—"
"Hammo." Zuko cut in.
"If Nah-Ril doesn't shut up we won't be able to hide him anywhere."
"It's too late to hide him anyways." Ozai stepped into the room.
"You can hunt the Avatar. You can destroy the Air Nomads. You can burn my face. But don't you dare hurt Hammo!"
"Zu-Zu, don't you think you're being a little extreme." Azula asked, "but really, you better not hurt Nah-Ril."
"I will not allow such a roadant to live in my palace." Ozai declared. "At least get yourself a more exotic pet like a dragon moose or a rabbit roo."
"But we want to keep Nah-Ril. Azula hugged the groundhog tightly to her chest. It's expression an animalistic version of Azula's own puppy dog pout.
Zuko stood behind Azula with a lopsided grin, "can we keep him dad, please."
"You sound like a child." Azula muttered.
"So do you." He retorted through gritted teeth.
"I will not have that creature crawling around my palace." Ozai repeated slowly.
Azula tucked the groundhog under her robes again as if to shield the poor thing from Ozai's unkind words.
"We'll feed him." Zuko offered.
"No we won't." Azula raised an eyebrow. "The servants will."
The groundhog popped it's head out of Azula's robes. "No." Azula hissed, pushing his head down, "it's not safe yet!"
Ozai pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. You can keep…the groundhog. Just keep it out of my room and don't let it eat the royal shrubbery."
Zuko slung his arm over Azula's shoulder. "We did it, we get to keep Hammo!"
"His name is Nah-Ril."