A/N: This will be a one shot for now but if I get some ideas I will expand it to a multi-chapter story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra. They belong to Bryke.
She belonged to her. She was meant to belong to her and only her. Yet, she was now gone. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation couldn't believe that her beloved contortionist and apparently erstwhile girlfriend Ty Lee was gone. The Fire Nation princess was outraged that her Ty Lee would just leave and not even visit her beforehand to explain why. If only she did, that way I could've forced her to stay with me. If I ever find her again, I'll force her to remain mine forever. She contemplated her rage as she paced around Ty Lee's room. When the acrobat didn't visit the Royal Palace for a few days, she merely assumed she had some sort of ailment but grew suspicious when a week had passed and she didn't even receive a message. Eventually, she decided to visit Ty Lee's house to check if there was anything wrong with her. She didn't want rumors to spread of their relationship so she disguised her visit as a desire to "discuss some things in private" with her and stated this to Ty Lee's family. They informed her that Ty Lee hadn't come out of her room for a week and the princess expected to find her depressed and uncharacteristically planned to comfort her. Instead, she discovered a scroll on her bed that explained that she'd left the Fire Nation to pursue her dream of joining the circus in the colonies. Azula was holding that scroll in her hand and after reading it again and committing every word to memory, it quickly disappeared in a flash of blue fire.
I knew she had grievances towards her family, but wasn't that why she spent time with me? Were my feelings towards her meaningless? I could tell that she actually enjoyed my attention. How could she repay me like this?
Azula wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she HATED abandonment. Even though she unwittingly had a role in getting her mother Ursa banished, it had actually affected her far more than she was willing to admit, as she actually did desire her affection. The banishment of her brother two years ago also affected her because, despite the fact that she cared little about him, Zuko's presence always drew Ozai's negative attention away from her and made her feel slightly more secure. After he was banished, Azula had to find solace through other methods and these included improving her Firebending to the point that her flames became a hue of azure, reading books on political theory and torturing enemies, and having a girlfriend. Ty Lee had been her girlfriend for almost two years and Azula was able to indulge herself through her the most. Shortly after Zuko's banishment, while she was only 11, Azula uncharacteristically asked Ty Lee if she wanted to be in a relationship with her and to the delight of the princess, Ty Lee had accepted, out of her own free will. Their relationship had been stable and beneficial to both of them as Azula had someone to serve as her conscience and source of comfort while Ty Lee was secure with herself. The acrobat's departure only revealed that things weren't exactly perfect. As Azula left Ty Lee's house and entered her personal palanquin, she ruminated on what she'd do from now on.
I won't stand for this! As soon as I get the opportunity I will go to the colonies and drag her back to the palace in chains if I have to! Or maybe I can ask Mai to keep an eye on her if possible, or better yet bring her back to the capital and send someone to inform Ty Lee that I'll force Mai to be mine if she doesn't return. But Father may not approve. He's noticed how I keep Ty Lee with me at all times and although he hasn't shown any signs of disapproval or even awareness about the true nature of my relationship with her, he'd definitely become suspicious if I went to the trouble of bringing a friend here from the colonies. But how else can I satisfy myself?
As Azula entered her room in the royal palace, she looked at some of the poems Ty Lee had written for her while they were an item. They were all about auras, animals, nature, and love—things that Azula had little interest in but nonetheless savored for Ty Lee's sake. She wondered if she should burn them but knew that if or when she found Ty Lee again and it turned out it that her departure was a misunderstanding, the contortionist would hate her for doing that. Azula put the poems away.
Sensing that she was getting nothing accomplished today, Azula decided that she would leave the palace and spend the next few days at Ember Island to relieve herself. Ozai had no plans for her at the moment and she was free to do as she pleased so long as she continued to train and study diligently. As she left her room, Azula gave orders to some nearby servants to get a ship ready for her departure and to send a message to both the Fire Lord and to her personal tutors, Lo and Li, who were currently staying at their beach house on Ember Island. Those two may be odd, but perhaps they could advise me on this matter. After all, they're so far the only people who actually found out about the true nature of my relationship with Ty Lee and actually gave me what they called "relationship advice." Perhaps I can also find a new girl on Ember Island. Lo and Li may give me advice on making sure my next girlfriend doesn't forsake me.
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"Zhu Li, DO THE THING!"
The voice belonged to none other than Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick, founder of Varrick Global Industries, who enthusiastically shouted to his beleaguered assistant as he presented his latest invention to Asami Sato, head of Future Industries. The device was shaped like a portal of sorts and as Zhu Li turned it on, it began to flash and waves of purple energy started to emanate from it. A hole appeared in its center. Accompanying the head of Future Industries was Avatar Korra, her boyfriend Mako, his brother Bolin, the master Airbender Tenzin, and his children Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo. They had all gathered in what was formerly Hiroshi Sato's secret Equalist factory, which Asami had leased to Varrick. Varrick began to explain the function of his device.
"You see Asami. This device will harness spirit energy and create bridges that we can use to travel anywhere, instantly! Once it's complete, we can go free my rebels in the South, take out Unalaq, and close the portals! And I couldn't have done it without Bolin! He convinced me that this was a better idea than kidnapping the president and then blaming the North for it."
Bolin smiled as he recalled what happened. He overheard Varrick talking to his henchmen about how Mako was becoming "too curious" and thought of sending him on a wild falcon goose chase with help from the Triple Threat Triad. The Earthbender was suspicious and after confronting Varrick about this in private and getting the details of his grand plan, managed to convince the businessman that a much better plan would be to create a new device and use the funds available to both him and Asami's company to use it without interference from President Raiko.
"All we need to do to make sure this device works is to harness a source of great energy. And that's where you come in, Avatar!" Varrick continued as he turned to Korra.
"Of course. If it means defeating Unalaq, I'll help in any way I can." The Avatar didn't trust Varrick completely, especially after Bolin revealed to her, Asami, and Mako, that Varrick had originally plotted to frame the latter and steal supplies from Future Industries for his own profit. But after being forced to open the Northern Spirit Portal by Unalaq, she had no other choice. I'm just glad he kept his promise to release Jinora. She could have been lost forever, or worse. Korra thought, as she recalled the corrupt chief's threat to wipe out the bookish Airbender's soul, and the look of fear on her face even as she begged Korra to keep the portals closed, even if it meant her soul being destroyed.
The device suddenly began to flash and purple streaks of lightning came out of its center. Zhu Li backed out of the away as a stream of lightning missed her. Everyone else also took a step back. Zhu Li started examining a set of switches and controls on the side of the device.
"Sir, it's overloading! The amount of energy is beginning to become uncontainable!" Varrick rushed to Zhu Li's side and checked the device and nodded before turning to the others.
"Korra! I need you to Firebend directly into the hole! Mako, contain any flames that get reflected. Bolin, try to make sure this building doesn't collapse. Zhu Li, Asami, and I will try to see what's wrong with this thing. Everyone else, get out of here right no-"
Before he could finish his sentence, tendrils of purple energy burst from the portal and lashed out in all directions. Nearby chairs and machinery were sucked in, and everyone tried to stay out of the reach of the tendrils. A wave of tendrils approached Tenzin and his kids but the four of them quickly used their Airbending to reflect them. Unfortunately for them, one tendril got through and rapidly approached them. Tenzin and Jinora quickly jumped out of the way and as the tendril bounced off the floor, it approached Ikki and Meelo, who hugged each other in fear. Jinora quickly rushed towards her siblings and shot a ball of air towards them to push them away. While she was doing this, she heard her father scream her name and turned around just in time to see the tendril of energy hit her. Jinora shrieked in agony before collapsing. She was vaguely aware of Tenzin, Meelo, and Ikki approaching her and calling out her name as she began to lose consciousness.
"Alright, I think I can turn this thing off now. Zhu Li, do the thi-" Varrick was about to tell Zhu Li to shut off the device but noticed Jinora writhing in agony and streams of purple energy emanating from her body. Monkey feathers! This is bad!
"Sir, should I turn it off?" Varrick's attention returned to the device. "Yes. Turn it off! Right now!" This, however, turned out to be a mistake. As soon as Zhu Li turned it off, the portal began to weaken, but then it started to suck in the tendrils it released and everything they touched. Jinora's body levitated momentarily before flying towards the portal. "Jinora, no!" Tenzin screamed as he formed an air scooter and rushed towards his daughter. Unfortunately, Jinora's body entered the portal before he could reach her, and the portal immediately vanished as the device lost power. Everyone was rendered speechless by what had just happened. Tenzin collapsed to his knees as Meelo, Ikki, and Korra comforted him. The Avatar was also shaken. This time, Jinora really was lost.
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Jinora felt herself traveling through a vacuum of sorts at first. She saw currents of purple spirit energy surrounding her and was sucked into another portal before being expelled into another space. It was black. Jinora couldn't see anything but the blackness of what seemed to be the night sky but she wasn't sure. She then felt herself falling. Jinora immediately used her Airbending in an attempt to soften her fall, when she heard the sound of thunder in the distance. There were sudden flashes of lightning around her followed by ocean waves that immediately consumed her. Jinora struggled to stay afloat. "HELP! Dad! Korra!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone would hear her. But the thunderstorm she was caught in drowned her calls. Suddenly, the silhouette of an island came into view and she began a desperate attempt to swim towards it. The tides only hindered her progress but Jinora knew she was getting close, when a wave threw her out of the water. She used her Airbending in an attempt to soften her inevitable fall but the heavy rain and wind pushed her down. She was once again devoured by the waves but pushed towards the land. She felt her body being pushed by the waves onto what felt like a beach. As she stood up, she heard a wave rise up behind her. Before she could get away, it fell on her, causing her to collapse and she felt her head being slammed against a hard surface. The last thing she heard was the roar of thunder in her ears as everything went black once more.
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Azula's eyes opened as she heard the roar of thunder outside. She spent her first day at Ember Island observing the "commoners" play games on the beach and then proceeded to explore her family's old vacation house. After finding nothing of interest, she went back to Lo and Li's house on the island and discovered that her tutors were worried about her because a tropical storm was approaching. Azula was surprised that her tutors would be worried about such a thing.
"Do you really think some tropical storm is worth worrying about?" She had asked. "Ah but princess, you need to know that storms around Ember Island are—" "—incredibly destructive and incredibly powerful." "And on top of that, it's summer right now." "Which is the time of year they come most often." Azula was used to their unusual way of finishing each other's sentences but nonetheless smirked in amusement. "Well in that case, I shall retire early tonight."
Before Azula retired for the night, she saw that Lo and Li were right, as gray clouds approached the island and she heard the crash of thunder in the distance. At first she contemplated whether she should ignore her tutors' advice and go outside to see if the storm could aid her in practicing the art of Lightning Generation, which she had recently read about. But after the clouds reached the island, she decided it would be a bad idea when she saw the powerful waves pounding the shore and heard the sound of the wind against the beach house. Lo and Li assured her that their beach house was built to resist these storms but hearing the storm outside made her slightly uneasy. No matter. Come morning, I'll go and inspect the beach and see how much damage the storm caused. Lo and Li once mentioned a rumor of treasure being buried in the sands. Maybe I'll find something of interest tomorrow.
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The storm had receded, and the damage it had caused was quite insignificant, considering how fiercely it had raged the previous night. As Azula walked on the gray beach and witnessed how the only real change seemed to be the lack of commoners and a few broken boats, she felt slightly disappointed. As soon as she woke up, the first thing she did was inspect the beach house for damage and found that, as Lo and Li had assured her, nothing was out of place. She then decided that rather than wait for her tutors to wake up and prepare breakfast, she'd inspect the beach for damage and saw that the storm really didn't have much impact. I suppose such storms really are common here in this season. I still have some time before Lo and Li wake up.
Azula thus decided to entertain herself by exploring parts of the island shore she had neglected on the first day. She had hoped that the storm would uncover something buried long ago, but so far she wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary in the sand. As she approached her family's old beach house, however, something faintly orange and yellow in the distance caught her eye. Azula walked towards it and as she got closer she realized it was a person, partly buried in the sand. When she reached it, she saw that it was a young girl dressed in orange and yellow, lying on the sand face down, with her head next to a protruding rock. Usually Azula wouldn't have cared about a random person lying unconscious, but something about this girl intrigued her. This is the first time I've seen clothing like hers. And I wonder what someone this young is doing here alone and unconscious. And more importantly, where did she come from? Azula wiped the sand off of the girl and turned her body towards her to see her face, and immediately drew back her hand. She...looks a lot like Ty Lee! She has the same facial structure and the only real difference I can see is that her hair's arranged in a bun instead of a braid and that she's clearly younger than Ty. How is this even possible? It can't be one of her identical sisters—they're all back in the capital. Besides, only Ty Lee would wear clothing with such ostentatious colors. Azula wanted to interrogate the girl and was about to grab her by the collar to do so but immediately realized she would probably be too injured to provide any useful information. She then heard her moan in pain. Azula assumed she hit her head on the rock she was lying against. I'll take her back to Lo and Li. They'll know what I should do with this girl. They're probably awake by now and preparing breakfast. Azula picked the girl up bridal style and headed back towards the beach house. The girl's eyes began to flutter but she was still too tired to wake up completely, and only managed to faintly sputter out a few words as she turned her head towards Azula. "Wh-where am I?" Azula smirked. Since the girl was apparently unaware of her situation and location, controlling her and making sure she never leaves would be much easier. A girl who resembles Ty Lee and is too battered up by the storm to leave me. It seems I found something of interest on the beach after all.