A drabble I thought of in honor of one of my favorite crackships!
Azulon/Crazy Herbalist! (Cat lady from the Blue Spirit and Bato of the Water Tribe)
Because those two minor characters need a little more love. :D
Read and Review lovely awesome people! :D
Meow.
He grumbled, hoping to find sleep again. The young man nuzzled into his nice, warm, soft, comfortable, if not oddly smelling pillow. He decided that he'd get a servant to clean his pillow when he got up. He could feel that the sun was still down; it was early, early, morning. He dug his face deeper into his odd, now vibrating pillow. He felt his pillow move, and the cold of the dark morning rushing to his face. He grumbled again. The prince opened a sleepy eye only to see a pair of glowing eyes meet his.
Meow?
Ozai jumped back to the other side of the bed out of surprise. He put his hand back for support, but missed the bed completely. He fell back and hit his head on the night stand that was next to his bed. After his fall, his upper half was on the floor, while the lower was still on the bed. Another cat that was on the night stand jumped off and landed on Ozai's stomach, causing him to fall completely in a heap on the floor.
The second prince stood up, brushing back his messy hair into a more presentable look while stomping to the entrance of his room. He began grumbling incoherent statements that he couldn't understand himself, while clumsily stomping off to somewhere that was cat free. Ozai began to feel the first rays of energy from the sun as he stomped angrily throughout the corridors that appeared to be moving slightly, with the ridiculously large amounts of cats.
Ozai began coughing as a cat hair made its way down his throat. He coughed it up and picked the fine piece of fur off his tongue with his thumb and forefinger. He looked at his nightclothes to see that those were also covered in a fine layer of fur. Ozai gagged. From the corner of his eye, Ozai saw Azulon walking leisurely down the cat filled corridor. The prince gulped, and prayed to Agni that his father wouldn't incinerate him on the spot. He began walking towards the elderly man.
"Father." Ozai said with a bow. He waited for the signal to speak. Azulon nodded his head in reply. "Father," Ozai began again. "These cats…" He stopped. One of Azulon's eyebrows rose in question. "These cats are getting ridiculous. I can't even start to count how many I've tripped over, how many have rolled over me just this morning!" He braced himself.
"You are complaining to me, in the early hours of the morning, when the sun isn't even fully raised yet, about cats?" Azulon gave Ozai a questioning look.
Ozai stared rudely, and dumbfounded at the Fire Lord. "Yes…" He squeaked. He cursed himself for letting his voice crack. Ozai shrank under the glare of the old Fire Lord.
Azulon raised an eyebrow. "So, you say that these cats annoy you?" Ozai nodded slightly. Azulon brushed pass Ozai and began to speak again. "You annoy me and yet, you're still here. The cats stay." Azulon waved Ozai off with his hand and rounded the corner; soon he was out of sight. Ozai stared blankly into space with his jaw wide open in shock.
He walked aimlessly throughout the cat filled corridors, in search of a place that was cat free. Finally an idea popped into the young Ozai's head. Iroh, his brother had a son who could barely lift his head. Ozai couldn't remember the name, but he was sure it started with a Lu. He would go into the nursery where surely the annoying nursemaids would chase any and all cats out. Ozai smiled at his genius.
Ozai darted for the nursery where he was sure no one but a sleeping baby would be, and more importantly, no cats. No annoying bags of reeking fur. He nearly jogged to the cat free sanctuary. Suddenly he heard a familiar, but unwelcome voice.
"Ozai dear, how are you this lovely morning?" Ozai turned around to meet the smiling face of an old lady. The lady looked nearly as old as his father. Ozai nodded his head in a forced polite gesture. The old lady walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his chest in a hug. Ozai clumsily patted her back in return. His nose scrunched in disgust as the smell of cat reached him. She released the prince and gave him a smile. "Miyuki has been anxious to see you." She gestured to the fat or extremely fluffy white hairball that was always at her side.
He looked at the lady again. She wore simple robes, had long white hair of which part of it was in a bun. The bun was surrounded with leaves, or something, with a stick going through it, acting as a hair ornament. He didn't know or care to learn her name. To him she was the crazy old cat lady who liked plants. She claimed to be an herbalist, but all she did was make his life much worse. The old woman walked aimlessly down a winding corridor and away from Ozai.
When the cat lady was out of sight, Ozai went into a run for the nursery. He skidded to a halt in front of the doors. He let in a deep breath and composed himself. He opened the doors and walked in. He looked over to see Iroh sitting in a comfy chair holding his son, Lu-something-another.
"What brings you here brother? You've never come here before." Iroh said with a smile.
Ozai sighed. There was no use in pulling a story together. He simply pulled some cat fur off of his sleeve and let it fall to the floor. Iroh gave an understanding nod and motioned for him to sit down.
"I see that you've finally given up on conquering the cats."
"I hate cats."
Iroh smiled. "You see Ozai, our father Fire Lord Azulon also hated cats, but he put that aside for his love and affection for this woman…" Iroh paused.
"You don't know her name do you." Ozai stated bluntly.
"Neither do you." Iroh said with a smile.
"I want her, and all her cats to die in a hole. Father is hating me more than usual."
Iroh frowned. "It is not kind to wish death upon anyone, brother." He stood up and motioned for Ozai to follow. "Let's go for a nice relaxing walk."
"I just came in from there." Ozai said, motioning to the doors. He sighed and followed his brother. The two brothers, with baby in tow walked into the cat infested halls.
Ozai and Iroh walked in silence. Even his nephew, Lu-something-another was quiet. The only sounds there was, were the sounds of the cats. The brothers walked and rounded a corner only to see their father and the cat lady. Iroh's face fell in disgust and his eyes were wide as saucers at the sight. Ozai covered his mouth, hopefully to quiet the gagging sounds. He could feel the foul substance making its way up through his throat. The two looked at each other and then to their father. The old Fire Lord and the old cat lady were in the middle of an unusually passionate make out. Iroh looked at Ozai, and he looked back. The two horrified brothers silently tip-toed to the corner and back to where they came from. They walked with calm, blank expressions while walking briskly back to the nursery, hoping to not look conspicuous.
They entered the cat free room and closed the doors. The two looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement.
"Never speak of this again."
