Hello! Here's a quick Christmas special for you guys! I wrote it for my beta buddy, Azard, and he told me to post it, so here it is!
The recipe is copied from kaitiedid. deviantart art/Flaming-fireflakes-recipe-61373010 (Without spaces)
I don't own Avatar or the recipe, just this story.
Enjoy! And Merry Christmas! :D
"Do you smell that?" Ty Lee's eyes widened as she sniffed the air, tilting her head slightly. "It smells...yummy," she commented, inhaling deeply and giving a contented sigh.
"I smell it," Azula agreed, standing up and heading toward the door. "The cooks must be baking something. Anyone hungry?" She grinned cheekily, pulling the door open. Ty Lee nearly fainted from the blast of warm, savory-smelling air.
"I am!" Ty Lee chirped, bouncing impatiently on her feet.
"I guess we can take a break," Mai shrugged, giving the numerous sheets of schoolwork scattered around Azula's room a dismissing look. Schoolwork could wait.
"Follow me, girls," Azula smirked, sprinting out into the corridor, following the scent to the kitchen. There, the sight of many busy cooks and a focused Fire Lady Ursa greeted them.
"Hello, darling. What brings you here?" Ursa smiled at her daughter in between commands to a frazzled chef.
"Ty Lee got hungry," Azula explained, gesturing to her friend, who was now on hyper-mode, overwhelmed by the smells (and tastes) of the royal kitchen. Mai had her hand clamped firmly on Ty Lee's shoulder, looking slightly amused at the girl. "What are you making?"
"I'm overseeing the preparations for Zuko's ninth birthday celebration. Would you mind tasting this?" Ursa handed Azula a mini fire-cake, which she sank her teeth into.
"I think it's a little too sweet," Azula stated bluntly, always quick to find fault. She placed the mini fire-cake down on a plate.
"Let me try, pretty please?" Ty Lee gushed in anticipation, her stomach growling with hunger. Ursa handed her an identical pastry, and Ty Lee gulped it down in three bites.
"That was so delicious. I really really really like it!" Ty Lee couldn't stop bouncing, already having a sugar-rush. Mai rolled her eyes at Ty Lee, but graciously accepted the mini fire-cake that Ursa presented to her, eating it slowly.
"Is there anything we can help with, mom?" Azula asked sweetly, giving her mother an angelic smile. Ursa nodded, too distracted by a cook's questions to see the mischief in her daughter's eyes, and thought that it was adorable of her to want to help in making the pastries for her brother's big birthday celebration.
Ty Lee kept jumping in excitement at the thought of cooking something. Mai even looked a little interested. That was enough for Azula. Ursa suggested that the girls help one of the cooks -Jiang- with the fire flakes, and they jumped into action.
"We will be making, uh, 20 bowls of, um, fire flakes, Your Highness," Jiang stuttered, obviously intimidated by the sly look the seven-year-old was giving her friends. Azula smiled innocently at the cook and inquired if they could make extra, so that the girls could take it back to Azula's room. It wasn't like Jiang could disagree with the princess, so 21 bowls it was.
Jiang set 21 large mixing bowls on the table in a perfect line, and turned to the three young girls who were awaiting her instruction.
"Okay, so this is the recipe for fire flakes," Jiang informed them, waving a piece of parchment in her hand.
Azula gave Jiang an angelic look as she requested - no, commanded, "Could you read it out to us? We'll put in the ingredients as you read." Jiang nodded speechlessly, still slightly afraid of the little princess. But she couldn't deny her request, could she?
"Okay..." Jiang started, what she hoped was a confident smile on her face. "Firstly, we need a quarter cup of cow-pig's butter for each bowl, melted." She'd wanted to get the butter for the girls, but a quick look from Azula stopped her. She stood quietly, watching and keeping out of the girls' way.
The three girls quickly found the butter, separating it into 21 cups of equal portions, and Azula melted them with her Firebending. Ty Lee happily poured them into the 21 bowls, and they looked at Jiang expectantly for the next step. Ty Lee was nearly bursting with excitement, rocking on her heels.
Jiang gulped and continued. "One tablespoon of bean sauce each," she announced, not daring to meet the princess's eyes. She glanced around nervously, wondering why the Fire Lady had chosen her to "entertain" the princess.
Mai retrieved the bean sauce, and they took turns pouring it out into painstakingly equal spoonfuls, thanks to Azula's perfectionism.
"Too little, Ty Lee. It must be exactly a spoonful," Azula chided Ty Lee, who squirmed and carefully poured out a little more bean sauce into the spoon she was holding. Finally satisfied, Azula allowed Ty Lee to pour in the sauce.
This is where her mischief came in. Azula whispered into both girls' ears, and they grinned knowingly. They kept their backs to Jiang, filling up the last five bowls with a minute amount of bean sauce and adding an extra spoonful each to the first five bowls. Jiang raised an eyebrow, but dared not speak out, not knowing what the girls were up to. She thought it better not to question them, though her suspicion grew further as she saw Ty Lee stifling giggles.
"Next, two teaspoons of ground red chili," she told them, pretending that nothing was aloof. They nodded obediently and turned back to the bowls. She sighed and kept her head down, wondering how she should check on the girls. She knew Princess Azula would be angry if her work was questioned.
Mai filled the first five bowls with the right amount of chili. With a cheeky grin, Azula filled only half a teaspoon of ground chili for the next five bowls, acting like she was measuring just the right amount. If Jiang saw her do it, she didn't say a word. Ty Lee caught on, skipping a bowl, and put two tablespoons of chili into the next five, clamping her hand over her mouth to suppress the chuckles. Mai rolled her eyes and finished off the last five bowls with the perfect two teaspoons, as well as the bowl Ty Lee had skipped.
Jiang took their glances at her as her cue for the next step. "Finally," she nearly sighed with relief. "Twelve cups of plain flakes each. The cooks've prepared them earlier. Stir as you add them in," she informed the girls. They nodded and received the huge carton of plain flakes that Jiang put into their arms excitedly. Oh, the fire flakes they would ruin...
Azula smirked, scooping up 15 cups of plain flakes for the first five bowls, alternating bowls to make Jiang lose count. Ty Lee stirred happily, splashing bean sauce, chili powder and flakes all over the place, making a mess of the counter. Mai filled the next five bowls with 18 cups each, secretly checking each time to ensure that Jiang didn't catch them in the act. She kept silent, observing something very interesting on the recipe. Azula beamed.
The middle bowl was kept perfect, at exactly 12 full cups. Ty Lee gave a toothy grin as she stirred the flakes into the mix, her mind solely on fire flakes. Mai then added 6 cups of plain flakes into the next five bowls, and Azula finished off with 9 cups to the last five. The girls exchanged mischievous smirks before turning around to face Jiang, who wiped the frown off her face instantly. She didn't dare doubt the princess of the nation.
"Thank you for your help, Your Highness," Jiang bowed, eyes shifting nervously. Azula gave her a curt nod, enjoying the cook's uncomfortable squirming. "Now, we just have to roast them for an hour." She transferred the bowls to the racks, where a huge fire was burning underneath, and left them to roast.
The girls kept an eye on their perfect middle bowl, not caring about the rest, which got shuffled around and mixed up while Jiang had been transferring them. They only needed their perfect fire flakes. The rest could be lost for all they cared.
Ursa sent the girls out to the garden while they waited. Mai sat at her usual tree and stared off blankly into space, lost in thought. Azula was throwing rocks at the turtle-ducks, chuckling to herself, while Ty Lee was squeamishly eager to eat the fire flakes soon. Azula soon got Ty Lee to practice cartwheels with her, and the two cartwheeled around the courtyard and back. Mai poked at the grass with a twig she found.
After an hour's wait, which seemed like months to the girls, especially Ty Lee, Ursa called them back in. The fire flakes were done, and the scent drifted out to the garden, tempting them. Sprinting back into the kitchen, they arrived just before the cooks removed the fire flakes from the roast. All three girls mentally noted their perfect bowl of fire flakes and immediately moved towards it.
"Careful, dears, it's hot!" Ursa warned, as Ty Lee picked up the bowl of fire flakes and Azula grabbed a handful. Chewing on them, she smiled at her mother. Ty Lee and Mai both quickly sampled some fire flakes as well.
"It's tasty, mom! Have some!" Azula enthused, snatching the bowl from Ty Lee and offering it to her mother. Ursa ate a handful and agreed, beaming in wonder. Her daughter could be such an angel at times...
"Thank you for helping, darlings. I'm sure your brother will be very touched that you helped in his birthday preparations. He'll love the fire flakes," she assured them sincerely. Ursa waved the girls off as they sprinted back to their room, bowl in hand and cheeky looks on their faces.
Jiang glanced warily at the unevenly-filled bowls of fire flakes on the table, wondering if she should say anything. She kept her mouth shut.
Their schoolwork forgotten, the three girls munched happily on their fire flakes as they sat around Azula's room, anticipating Zuko's birthday.
Seven years later...
The three girls sat around the table, eating fire flakes together. Ty Lee was babbling about that cute moose-lion cub they had seen earlier, Mai was twirling a knife in her hands boredly, and Azula chewed on her fire flakes thoughtfully.
"Hey, remember when we made fire flakes for Zuzu's birthday?" Azula piped up, cutting Ty Lee off in mid sentence. Not that anyone had been listening to Ty Lee, anyway.
"Oh yeah!" Ty Lee grinned, baby moose-lion forgotten. "That was so funny!"
"I remember the complaints during the party," the corners of Mai's lips turned up amusedly. "No one wanted to touch the fire flakes, but ate them out of courtesy anyway."
The three girls laughed as they recalled the looks on the guests' faces when they tasted the fire flakes.
"We should do that again for our dear Zuzu," Azula sighed contently, satisfied to see a red blush creep up on Mai's cheeks.
"Someday," Ty Lee mused, and all three silently agreed. A special smile passed between them.
They all munched on the fire flakes, identical memories flooding through their minds.
Hoped you liked it! Have a happy holiday (even if you don't celebrate Christmas!) :D
I might write a New Year special, hmm...
-PrincessWraven