DRAGONSKIN

Before her mother left, Azula dreamed of dragons every night.

Her mother was to blame for it. When she was little, Ursa told her stories too. As with most of the things Azula liked, Ursa didn't approve of her favorite tale. She didn't understand why a girl would like the story "Dragonskin," because it wasn't about a lady falling in love with a handsome lord, or about how her virtues earned her honor, or even about respecting one's elders, which Azula sorely needed to learn to do. No, it was a dark story, and one Ursa wouldn't have shared if she'd had a choice. Lu Ten had told it to the children, though, and seeing the way her daughter's eyes lit up, Ursa repeated it whenever asked. She watched the little girl and felt as if Azula was hers again.

The fire in her daughter's eyes was a comfort, even if she never learned what caused it. Not asking her was one of her many mistakes.

The story went like this: centuries ago, the Fire Lord was at war with the dragons. His people revered him for his bravery, for he'd slain many of the fire serpents in battle. Even in his middle years, he was still strong and beautiful and stirred the hearts of all who saw him. Many ladies would have given everything, down to their last pearls, to be his queen—but a man as glorious as he was deserved a woman just as radiant. So when he heard rumor of a woman who could bend blue fire, he knew that she must be his wife. They married within a moon and within a year they had a daughter. But sadly the princess's birth was hard, so she would be the only child the king and queen had.

Many years later, when their daughter was almost grown, the queen died. On her deathbed, she made the king promise to only marry a woman with her gift. The king agreed and, after the queen had passed, ordered his men search the land for a worthy bride. They found no one with the late queen's gift and so the king despaired…until he looked up and saw his daughter, whose hands were wreathed in icy flames.

Maddened with grief and other dark emotions, the king declared that his daughter would be his queen. The princess was horrified. She protested, but when her pleas fell on deaf ears, she told him she would only agree to marry him if he completed a certain task. If he brought her the skin of the dragon king to wear as a wedding cloak, she would become his bride. She was certain this could not be done. Yet her father laughed and agreed to her challenge, and soon journeyed into the dragons' land to meet his foe. The princess, watching him go, breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he would not return.

Yet the king, fueled by his purpose, accomplished the impossible. He slayed the dragon king and took his coat of scales. He had two cloaks made—one for himself and one to give his daughter on their wedding day. Now desperate and consumed with shame, the princess stole into her father's chambers the night before their marriage. As she was taking her dragonskin cloak, her father woke and took hold of her. They quarreled, but despite his greater strength, she managed to escape.

Wounded, the princess journeyed to the dragons' land. Wearing the dragonskin cloak, she passed into the burning mountains unhindered. Eventually, she reached the throne of the dragon queen. There, close to death, she threw herself at the widow's mercy. "I am the reason your husband is dead. I have come here to return what my father stole and to give you a chance to avenge him. You may do with me what you wish."

The dragon queen approached her and smelled what had been done to her. Though she longed to devour the girl for the death she had caused, she was also a wise and merciful ruler, and so she said, "I will not kill you, but to restore your honor, you will serve me until the debt is paid."

"My honor cannot be restored," the princess said, "but I will do as you say."

"Then go bathe in the springs. The healing waters will wash away your hurts. Afterwards, go to the nesting grounds and care for the eggs there. If you crack so much as one, I will give you to the flames and devour you."

The princess did as she was told. As the days and then the moons passed, she tended to the eggs. The crown prince of the dragons, who could shed his skin and take on human form, showed her how to use her fire to warm them. As they grew closer, he also taught her another secret—a secret the Sun Warriors had never learned. As storms raged over the mountains, he showed her how to bend lightning to her will. She was dressed in rags and had forgotten how to smile—but she felt more alive than she ever had in court, with lightning crackling in her hands.

The day came when the eggs hatched and the princess was forgiven. The dragon queen then told her something grave: that the king had gone mad in her absence and was now burning friend and foe alike. The princess knew he must be overthrown for the sake of both their peoples. She would have to face him, fight him, and win his crown.

The dragon queen agreed. She dressed the princess in fine robes and carried her back to the palace. The king met them in the courtyard and laughed when the princess challenged him to fire duel. No woman before her had dared fight in one. Despite that, he accepted her challenge, for he would not have it said that he was afraid of any girl.

As the duel began, he wove his dragon robe around himself and, using dark magic, became a dragon himself. As he flew over the courtyard, the princess, with the queen as her mount, soared up to meet him. The battle between them raged for a day and night. The dragons whirled and clawed each other, while the princess and the transformed king exchanged blows, their golden and blue fires lighting up the blackened sky.

Finally, when they were wearied unto death, the princess gathered up the last of her strength and hurled lightning at her father. The dragonskin her father wore charred and peeled away, and without it, the king fell back to the earth and died.

The victorious princess was then crowned queen. Within a moon she sued for peace and within a year she wed the dragon prince to seal it. He shed his scales for her, but kept them near, knowing they might someday need to protect their lands again. If that day came, the Lightning Queen would fight beside him, for she would not stay in her palace while their people bled.

Perhaps that day came and perhaps it never did. Either way, they lived happily together until the end of their days. And their descendants, blessed with the blood of dragons, have had the gift of bending lightning ever since.

Azula never tired of that story, even after her mother left. It stayed with her, reminding her that she could achieve as much as Zuko, if not more, if that was her will. Her father told her the same, whispering that she could be that queen reborn, if certain obstacles were removed from her path. If her brother returned, why not challenge him for the crown as the princess had challenged the king? She was more deserving of it and Ozai had no doubt that she would succeed.

The thought filled Azula with pride—a pride she thought she saw reflected in her father's eyes. It was something near to pride, to be sure, but it was something for which she had no name. The Lightning Queen would have known and would have told her if she could. But her ashes were scattered across the sunset sea and could not spell a warning.

So Azula bent blue fire and lightning under her father's gaze. She wore her mother's robes and lined her eyes with kohl. She drank cinderberry wine with him and thought nothing of his hand on her shoulder, on her wrist, on the curve of her cheek...

He was the Fire Lord and she was his loyal daughter. And there were no more dragons to run to anyway.

After her mother left, Azula no longer dreamed of dragons. But with all of her heart, she wished that they had stayed.