Title: Azula's Fangirl Crush
Rating: T to be on the safe side
Disclaimer: Azula, Zuko, Zhao and all other aspects of Avatar: The Last Airbender belong to someone other than me. This is probably a good thing.
Summary: Azula's got a heart? Go figure. Anyway, Azula's found the perfect man to rule to the Fire Nation by her side, he just doesn't know it yet.
Most people believed that Azula was an evil sadistic bitch without either a heart or a pulse. These people were of course mistaken; even a psychopath like Azula had a heart. It wasn't a very good heart, several sizes too small, black as coal, and cold like ice, but it was there, and it did beat, occasionally. It did on occasion beat a little faster, like when she threw rocks at turtle ducks, or tortured Zuzu, or threw lightning at Uncle. Sometimes other people's actions made Azula's heart beat faster too, like when her father scarred and banished Zuzu. Then, there were times when other people made her heart beat faster too. Zhao had done that to her for a while. But then he had died, and that had been that. Now there was someone else who had that particular spark for setting Azula's frozen heart on fire.
She had first heard of him in one of Zhao's letters. She had torn Zhao's seal off with excitement, her heart pounding against her chest, but as she had proceeded to read the letter, her heart has stopped pounding with love for Zhao, and had started to pound with excitement. At the end of the letter she was barely disappointed that the Avatar had escaped from Zhao's hold, free once again for her damned brother to capture because he had set the Avatar free, and he had managed to escape with the Avatar.
As time had progressed he had gained in notoriety, and Azula followed his exploits religiously, never quite sure who to root for. On the one hand, he invariably set the Fire Nation's cause back, but on the other hand, he was well, him! That was almost reason enough to cheer him on. Sometimes, during especially boring lessons, she would daydream that she was the Fire Lady, and that he would finally be captured and brought to her. In these dreams she would invariably pardon his life, and receive his eternal gratitude. Other times, she would dream of capturing him herself, and keeping him in a secret room in her father's palace, where she alone would be the object of his attention. Or alternately, when her life really lacked adventure, she would fantasize that she had been kidnapped by Earth Kingdom soldiers, or pirates (this was of course impossible) and he would swoop down and rescue her. Then she would fry her captors while he diced them to bits with his twin blades, and then they would ride into the sunset, covered in blood and guts. Sometimes she would have nightmares where Zuko returned victorious and became Fire Lord, but these nightmares invariably became dreams, when he killed Zuko and set her on the throne, where she ruled by his side, as Fire Lord and Lady.
When he became enough of a threat to merit wanted posters, the princess pilfered one. She kept the poster on her person at all times, neatly folded into eighths under her clothes, right by her heart. In the dead of night, when Ty Lee and Mei were snoring away, she would crawl into the center of her tent and take the poster out, unfolding it gingerly and staring at it by her own light, until she felt too tired to keep the flame lit. That poster was her most prized possession in the whole world, and the fact that she kept it her deepest, darkest secret.
In short, Azula, princess of the Fire Nation, beloved daughter of the Fire Lord, and certifiable sociopath, was in love with a man she had never met… until now. Azula's heart was beating uncontrollably, as she stood paralyzed watching him. He was fighting four men, all of them Firebenders, all of them twice his size and he was winning. He had in fact already put two out of commission; it looked like Number Three was about to fall anytime soon. And then he did, followed shortly by Four and Five. There was only one Firebender left, and he was still agile. He was as quick as a cat, as quick as lightning, almost as skilled with his twin swords as she was with fire. But he was getting tired, he slipped, and the Firebender took the opening. Azula turned away as he was hit with fire. When she turned back, her hero was still standing and all six Firebenders lay unconscious on the floor. But the burn he had taken was a large one, and it was not long before he joined the others on the floor.
Azula rushed to him; he was still alive, but in need of help. Moving him was difficult; he was all muscle: all rock-hard muscle, deliciously firm muscle, incredibly heavy muscle. Transporting the boy, and Azula was now sure that he was a boy barely older than herself, would have been a much simpler task if she had had the help of a subordinate soldier, or even Mai or Ty Lee, but the Princess of the Fire Nation couldn't very well let anyone know that she was helping an outlaw and enemy of the Fire Nation. Eventually, Azula got the boy, mask, swords and all to her tent. Her mind was already beginning to play out such interesting scenarios, when she remembered that he needed medical attention. Fortunately Azula knew a thing or two about burns, and treated the injured vigilante with expert hands worthy of a water healer. She spared no expense, using her best salve because she didn't want the future Fire Lord to have such a large scar, even if no one would ever see it but her.
When the day came Azula barked orders that no one was to come anywhere near her tent and anyone who disobeyed her would answer directly to her. Then night came, and the princess claimed to be exhausted from another day searching for her idiot brother. Receding into her tent, she found that her patient was still asleep. She gently changed his bandages, and then took out her cherished poster; she came to the conclusion that the poster did not do him an ounce of justice. Then it occurred to her that she had no idea what he looked like under the mask. The mask, it was blue. Was he a member of the Water Tribes? Or of the Earth Kingdom? She was fairly certain that he was not of the Fire Nation and that he was not a Bender, but maybe in a former life he had been a great Firebender. No, not probably, certainly, she was sure of it. The blue mask would have to go, replaced perhaps by a red and gold one. Of course, he would have to change his name then, but the title of Fire Lord Consort should be decent compensation. Azula realized that it didn't matter if he was from the Water Tribes or the Earth Kindom, because he had a Firebender's soul. Still, the question was now bouncing around in her head. Her hand landed on his mask's clasp, and as she was about to undo it, she realized she would much rather have him remove his mask, reveal himself to her as a tribute of love. She wanted him to do what she wanted because he wanted to. Instead of lifting his mask off, she merely pushed it up far enough to expose his lips.
Cautiously, she knelt until her face was next to his, her lips hovering above his. She pressed her mouth to his, and began to kiss him wildly.
It was this moment that he chose to wake up. The shock of finding a girl kissing him caused the Blue Spirit to jerk up awkwardly, breaking the kiss and the clasp. The mask fell completely, exposing a face only too familiar to Azula. The boy screamed in disgust, got up and ran as quickly as his legs would carry him. Azula would have been insulted if she had not been paralyzed with shock.
Both Zuko and Azula spent the entire night washing their mouths out.
Author's Notes: Ok, this is pretty self explanatory, hope you enjoyed my (failed?) attempt at humor. This is the second piece I've posted on and I'd really love some feedback, even if it's just to tell me that this stinks and I should never write fanfiction ever again. So far I haven't gotten any reviews for my other story and I'm kinda wondering what's wrong with it.
Also, I'm thinking of doing a longer and slightly more serious story which would assume that Zuko wasn't under the mask, having lent it to someone else. Any comments?