A/N: Alternately known as "Well, That Was Nice," because it made Caelum and I giggle while I was bouncing title ideas off her. *snickers* I was tired, I couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound horribly cheesy and was probably sleep-deprived at the time. It's been a while.
This fic references events in my previous fics, "Learning to Share" and "A Shoulder to Cry On." They aren't necessary to read, but they are interconnected, you'll understand this one better if you read those. They aren't long.
Now, go read and review, people! Please?
Zuko grinned widely as he darted up the faint path to the cliff's edge. He hadn't been to Ember Island since before Azula had been born and it was great to be back.
Gaining the top of the cliff, Zuko spread his arms and spun in a circle, imagining he was flying. What was it like, to soar among the clouds? On one of the dragons his ancestors had ridden, so long ago? It was too bad there were no dragons anymore, but maybe he could find one of those gliders the records said the Airbenders had used? The Air Nomads had been a backwards people, but flying? They couldn't have been all bad, not if they'd come up with a way for people to fly. That was just cool.
"You look like Ty lee, spinning around like that."
The scornful voice brought Zuko crashing back to the earth. He turned to scowl at his little sister, indignant at being compared to a little girl.
"I do not!" Azula only smirked at him, an expression Zuko was nearly positive she'd picked up from her other friend, Mai. "And besides, at least I'm allowed to use my bending without Mom or Dad around."
The spiteful words were out of his mouth before Zuko had even registered their meaning. He felt his eyes widen as angry tears filled his five-year-old sister's eyes.
"Well, at least I don't have to practice all day to get simple kata perfectly!" she snapped at him, before turning on her heel and angrily stomping away. Zuko firmly stomped on his guilt. Azula had started it, not him. And where did she get the right to insult his bending, anyway?
"That wasn't very nice of either of you," a slightly amused voice commented. Zuko spun to see his cousin standing father back on the trail, regarding him with a mix of disappointment and humor.
"Lu Ten!" Zuko squawked, flushing with embarrassment at being caught fighting with his little sister. "I didn't know you were coming up here," he added, accusation ringing faintly in his tone. Lu Ten calmly closed the remaining distance between them to look down at his oldest cousin.
"Father and Uncle Ozai are having one of their debates about the war again," Zuko winced in sympathy and was very glad he had vacated their vacation home before Uncle Iroh had woken up. Those arguments were loud. "I decided spending time with you two was more productive than listening to them talk each other in circles." Lu Ten shrugged, sharp golden eyes belying his seemingly casual attitude. "Instead I end up having to play peacemaker for children."
Later, Zuko would grudgingly admit that his cousin's comment had bothered him so much because the younger boy already knew he was in the wrong. Then, all he knew was that Lu Ten was being unfair.
"Azula started it! And I'm a prince, not a child!"
"Oh yes," his cousin agreed blandly. "Because princes routinely go around reducing their little sisters to tears."
Zuko flushed again, looking away. In some ways, having Lu Ten mad at him was worse than Mom or Dad being mad at him. Lu Ten, after all, didn't have to spend time with him, and his parents were expected to.
"Zuko, look at me," Lu Ten commanded sternly. Zuko gulped and looked up at his cousin, who had knelt to get closer to Zuko's height. "Do you understand why you shouldn't have snapped at your sister?"
"Because I'm the big brother and I have to set a good example for her," he mumbled, shuffling his feet. He'd heard both his parents say that often enough.
Lu Ten laughed and shook his head. "Heard that a few too many times, haven't you?" Zuko grinned weakly at his cousin. Lu Ten shared the grin before becoming serious once again. "But while that is another reason you shouldn't have snapped at her, it's not what I was thinking of."
"Then why?" Zuko wondered. Lu Ten reached a hand out to tap the small flame ornament fixed to the younger boy's topknot. A similar one – differing only in the amount of fine detail it had worked into the flame – decorated his own.
"Because you are a prince, and as such, one day you will help lead our people. And if you cannot control your temper with your sister – who was trying to provoke you – you will never be able to lead your men effectively because you will see insults at every turn, instead of honest mistakes and coincidences."
"Oh," Zuko felt, if possible, even more ashamed of himself and his actions. "I'm sorry."
"You need to tell Zuli that, not me."
"I can tell her-"
"After I calm her down, or you two will just get in another fight," Lu Ten calmly interjected. "Stay here for a while. I'll signal you when she's ready to listen to you."
"An army signal?" Zuko asked hopefully. Lu Ten laughed.
"You remember the one for advance?"
"Yes!"
"Then watch for it."
Azula sat at the base of a boulder, moodily ripping up chunks of grass and setting them on fire. It wasn't doing much to calm her temper, but she was finding a small bit of satisfaction in the fact that she controlled the fire. It was so easy.
"My rug was just a small mis-miscal-miscalculation," she told her current fistful of flaming grass, proud of having remembered the correct word. Daddy would be proud of her for that. He always wanted her to talk more like a grown-up, even though Mommy said that could wait till she was Zuko's age. And besides, Daddy always gave her special treats when she acted grown-up: things like staying up an hour past her bedtime, or getting to have her favorite sweet before dinner instead of after. Mommy never did that when she was good. "I don't need anyone watching my bending."
"No, but apparently you need someone to monitor you to make sure you follow the rules of your punishment for setting the rug on fire."
Azula squeaked. Her fire flared and then went out. She spun to see Lu Ten standing over her with that "I'm really amused but I'm trying to be stern" look Uncle Iroh always wore when he caught her doing something she technically didn't have permission to do. Azula blushed. Then she got mad.
"Zuko tattled on me, didn't he?" she demanded as her cousin leapt from the top of the boulder to the ground beside her. "It wasn't my fault-!"
"Azula," Lu Ten interrupted her firmly. "Zuko didn't tattle on you. I saw the fight for myself."
"Oh," Azula whispered, feeling a little embarrassed. But only a little bit. It wasn't like she was a crybaby to break down at the smallest show of disapproval from her elders.
"Azula, why don't you tell me why you were taunting your brother?"
The five-year-old princess didn't bother pretending that had been anything but an order. Lu Ten was third in line for the throne, after all. He was already being trained for the Fire Lord's duties, even though Uncle Iroh and Grandfather were perfectly healthy.
"Because I felt like it," she muttered sulkily, knowing her cousin would call her on the half-truth.
"Azula." Lu Ten had crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. She tried not to show how much that hurt. She'd rarely ever seen Lu Ten this firm with people, and never with her.
"It's not fair!" she snapped to cover the uncertainty she felt, and with that one exclamation, all the feelings she'd been bottling up for three weeks came tumbling out. "All I did was singe the rug! I've been able to do that move right for the past three weeks! But I'm still not allowed to do anything without Mommy or Daddy with me!" Frustrated tears welled at the corners of her eyes."Zuko can do whatever he wants with his bending without a babysitter! And he's not even the prodigy! I am!"
Lu Ten didn't pull her into a hug like he usually did when she was this upset – Azula wouldn't even admit to herself that she was crying – and this made the little girl even more convinced she was being unfairly punished.
"And I asked Mommy to watch me, but she said to wait! I haven't practiced for three days!"
"And Zuko can if he wants to," Lu Ten observed neutrally.
"Yes! And I'll forget what I'm learning and get bad and…and…" Azula clamped her mouth shut. No way was she saying aloud that –
"You think your bending will "get as bad as Zuko's," that's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"
Firmly squashing the little voice that told her she was being petty, Azula defiantly lifted her chin. "Yes."
Lu Ten's mouth quirked into a sardonic expression. "First of all, Azula, Zuko is hardly a horrible bender, for all he's not a prodigy and doesn't learn as fast as you do. He's actually quite good for his age. Secondly, this is a vacation, and no one practices their bending on vacation. And third, getting Zuko in enough trouble that Uncle Ozai or Aunt Ursa ban him from bending on his own is only going to work if you don't obviously start the fight. Or let him get to you enough that you run off after three sentences."
"How…how did you know?" Azula demanded, gaping at her cousin. Lu Ten grinned openly for the first time since he had found her.
"You need a lot more practice before you can get good enough at lying or misdirection to fool me, Zuli."
I'll be good enough one day, a small portion of the little girl vowed, while the rest of her was sighing in relief at hearing her nickname fall from her cousin's lips. He couldn't be too mad if he was still willing to call her Zuli.
"It's still not fair," she grumbled. Lu Ten slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close in a hug.
"Zuli, you can't always get what you want when you want it. And I know you've mastered the move that set your rug on fire, but the point remains that you did lose control, and you did use a move you hadn't been cleared on first." The much older boy cut off her protest with a small shake. "You're going to make mistakes like that for another couple years yet. Fire isn't a biddable element. It takes time for new benders to become good enough to not lose control like that. And even then, our tempers can still cause the fire to get out of control."
"I know that!" Azula snapped. Lu Ten arched a skeptical brow at her and she squirmed, feeling unaccountably guilty. It wasn't her fault, and she paid attention to her lessons.
"Azula, answer this," Lu Ten said after a moment to think. "Do you love your brother?"
Azula blinked. What kind of stupid question was that? Zuko was her brother. "Of course I do," she said out loud. Even when he was being an idiot.
"Does Zuko love you?" Azula was starting to doubt her cousin's sanity now. Maybe he'd been drinking too much tea with Uncle?
"Of course Zuzu loves me!"
"Then why are you trying to get him in trouble?"
The answer that had been on her lips – it's not fair, I'm the prodigy and he isn't – died unspoken. Azula stared unseeing at her cousin, various voices ringing in her head.
"Of course I'll stay with you, Zuli. That's what big brothers are for."
"Love is caring for someone else more than for yourself, Azula. It's the reason Daddy and I worry when you firebend without one of us. It's dangerous for you, and we don't want you to get hurt."
"Maybe Love Amongst the Dragons is a stupid play, my niece, but it teaches us lessons well worth the time. Foremost among them being that family must always stick together."
"We are the Royal Family, Azula. We cannot let the other nations see us divided. No weakness is permissible."
Blinking, Azula refocused on Lu Ten, feeling an embarrassed flush rising on her face and for once not caring. "I have to apologize to Zuko," she told him. Fighting with her brother might not be a weakness, but it divided the Royal Family and that wasn't right. And maybe…maybe starting the fight made her feel guilty.
But just a little bit.
She still had to apologize though. Zuko couldn't have gone far from the cliffs, right? She stood and Lu Ten smiled at her and easily pulled her back down when she would have bolted away.
"Yes, you do. Zuko's got something to say as well. But you don't have to go find him."
Before Azula could ask why, her cousin stood, assumed a classic stance and fired a very precise number of fireballs into the air. Hardly any time at all passed before the sound of pounding footsteps announced Zuko's imminent arrival. Lu Ten only waited long enough to be sure Zuko had spotted them before he strolled away, winking at Azula as he did so. "Remember, you two are supposed to be making up. Don't start anymore squabbles!"
Azula smiled and nodded.
Maybe Lu Ten hadn't been drinking too much tea with Uncle. His advice and questions hadn't confused her like Uncle's did.
Lu Ten paused at the beginning of the path leading back to the Royal Family's Ember Island home, looked behind him to make sure his cousins had really made up, and shook his head. Zuko and Zuli had progressed from apologizing to chasing each other around and around the boulder Zuli had been sitting by, shrieking with laughter.
"Well, at least they're not fighting anymore."
"You did well with them, Lu Ten."
Slightly startled at the voice, the young man spun on the spot to see his aunt smiling gently at him, amusement shining in her eyes.
"Aunt Ursa!" Lu Ten gasped, before his eyes narrowed. "I thought you were playing mediator for Father and Uncle's debate."
The older woman laughed and shook her head. "Much like you, Lu Ten, I get tired of telling children to play nice."
Laughter rang out from the path, mingling with that which came from the direction of the boulder.
People were occasionally annoying, but life here was good for the Fire Nation Royal Family. The daily concerns of the war were far away for the moment, and would not intrude for another few days yet. For this brief period of time, they were simply a family of six - fathers, uncles, mother, aunt and cousins - enjoying the sun and the water, relaxing during a rare vacation.
A/N2: Ursa wasn't originally going to be in this, but she insisted on some fic time, and so here we go. Aunt/nephew interaction at the very end. I have nebulous ideas for further one-shots in this series, but nothing concrete. The cute/adorable sibling interaction is getting very close to spiraling downhill, as my beta pointed out - Azula was eight when Lu Ten died and the seige of Ba Sing Se was broken, and eleven at Zuko's Agni Kai. She's five now. Be afraid, be very afraid. All the little pieces I've left that indicate why are about to explode. The next fics are going to be even more fun than this one was. *grins*
Hope you enjoyed!