This is my first real fanfiction. It's an AU I can't stop thinking about featuring my four favorite fire kids. It's rated M for dark themes, violence and lemons. There will be both straight and lesbian lemons between Maiko and Tyzula, and they will likely be skippable if you're not into one or the other or both. It's not super focused on romance, though. I'll stop talking and I hope you enjoy the story.
*ENSLAVED*
Azula woke bathed in crimson light.
As her eyes adjusted, she gazed at it for a few moments. It was indescribably beautiful, but her companions were not awake to see it. The red light coming through an unbroken stained glass window landed on her alone. She spent the night in a ramshackle temple to the fire spirits. No one looked in a ghost town's fire temple. No one was out here anyway.
Therefore, it was a good place to hide four runaways. They left Outpost 29 four years ago but still lived in fear of the law. They made homes in places like these, and moved on when they had no reason left to stay.
Azula stood and walked over the crumbling stone and shards of glass. Her grogginess faded as she exited the temple and entered the pure sunlight. She took a quick glance around the abandoned mining town. It must have been abandoned for a few years. There were about three living towns outside of the Outposts here in the far west. More cities showed up as the Outposts – enclosed small cities used by the military – dwindled.
She, Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko had been through several ghost towns on their journey east. The war dried up all of the resources.
Azula wandered aimlessly through the lonely and crumbling buildings. The windows were broken, the doors removed or burnt and any valuables long ago looted by bandits who beat Azula and her friends to the punch.
The ash made little sense. Every building was at least slightly charred.
Maybe it was soldiers. Maybe it was people who were filled with anger. Maybe it was a wildfire from a lightning strike. Azula did not like hypothesizing about the fate of this little village; it did not serve her in any way.
Azula finally found a somewhat serene patch of grass. It seemed to be a good of place as any to practice in solitude.
As a little girl, she developed a talent for firebending. They called her a prodigy in Outpost 29; she agreed with them. She surpassed all masters within a few short years. The military wanted to take her away for the good of the empire.
Azula did not like that idea.
She belonged to no one, regardless of her talents.
It was her reason to run. Her friends had their own.
Once she finished quick exercises to clear her head, she moved on to the motions she tried desperately every day for years. She wanted to bend lightning. No one can do that anymore, said wise men who thought they knew better than her. Azula knew that she could if she tried hard enough. She produced sparks from time to time.
Azula breathed in, breathed out, and began.
.
As Azula trained, Zuko made a decision that changed their little group of friends forever.
He went out with Mai to find anything useful in the nearby forest. They walked beside each other in uncomfortable silence.
"This is a big forest," Mai complained.
Zuko could not hold his tongue for very long. "Can we talk about the other day?"
Mai shook her head. "No. No, we can't. I meant what I said. I don't care if you love me. I don't love you back. That's just how it is and I don't see it changing any time soon."
Zuko sighed and focused on the task at hand. He and Mai walked together, examining surroundings, setting up snares. She played with knives when they took a water break by a babbling brook.
"I'm glad I told you how I felt about you, even if…" Zuko said.
Mai glanced up at him, but quickly returned her gaze to her knives.
"Good for you," she said.
"It's just been a long time," Zuko said. "It's been a lot of years."
"I don't like talk," Mai said, locking eyes with Zuko.
"What do you like?" Zuko demanded. He expected her to say she liked nothing, but he was wrong.
"I like action," Mai said, toying with the strap on her shoulder. Her fingers lingered on her weathered summer clothes.
She liked that Zuko's eyes were stuck on such a simple motion. She liked the look on his face when she very slowly slid it down. She liked the look on his face when she very slowly slid it back up.
Mai finally did strip out of all she ever wore. The black was beige from the dust and it would be dirtier now that she had discarded it onto the grassy bank.
Zuko had no idea what she was doing. He was clueless. Yes, she was very suddenly naked in front of him. Yes, he wanted her very much. No, it did not make any sense.
"Is this, uh, action?" Zuko stammered.
"Something like that," Mai replied, approaching him.
Their lips crushed against each other and it was the best thing he ever felt – until that moment, at least. She tried to undo his clothes but did not manage, so he did it for her with trembling hands. They both shook a little and even Mai was nervous.
Mai straddled him and kissed him again. Three times fast. Four times fast. They took a few breaths as he slid his hands towards her breasts, all over her body. He held her waist as he ended up on his back. She did not really know what to do at this point, save for whatever her body deemed appropriate.
Zuko did not notice her hesitation, because he was far too busy watching her breathe. It was quite the sight. She pulled away and he held her wrist, concerned she had changed her mind. But she just repositioned them both.
She was under him, her hair splayed out on the grass. He kissed her neck and she dug her fingernails into his skin. He could not help but touch her more, try to make this last longer. She coaxed him closer, coaxed him to the point in which he had to clutch the dirt and grass because entering her was the best sensation in the world.
Mai moaned. She wrapped her legs around his back. He couldn't think straight as he thrust into her, gradually faster and bolder. She closed her eyes, her lips slightly ajar.
It wasn't perfect, but it felt perfect.
When they pulled apart and tried to find their clothes, words were difficult. It was a situation they never imagined themselves in. But, all the same, they both wanted to do it again.
They had a very good feeling about this.
.
Meanwhile, Azula hid behind rocks. Soldiers were passing through. They had no reason to be in these parts, and Azula certainly was not going to give them a reason. Stay low, stay quiet, stay out of Emperor Zhao's sight.
A hand touched Azula's back and she barely refrained from screaming. It was harder to stop herself from burning that hand to the bone. When she glanced backwards, she saw Ty Lee trying to figure out what was going on. Azula touched her finger to her own lips. Ty Lee nodded.
The soldiers were about to pass through when one of them hit the ground. Azula instantly noticed it was an arrow. The soldiers armed themselves; one threw fire in the general direction of the archer. They all were taken down right before Azula and Ty Lee's eyes.
"Those were not ordinary soldiers," Azula whispered. "Their armor design was wrong. Those also were not ordinary archers…"
Ty Lee narrowed her eyes. She did not know why anyone important would be in these outskirts. Something must be happening. It likely was bad.
Azula felt a sudden chill. She spun around, blue fire on her fist. It nearly nailed the man behind her in the face, but he dodged at the last minute and swung around behind her. She turned with a fiery kick, but stopped just short of him.
He had Ty Lee by the braid, and a sword pressed against her throat. Azula glanced at her, trying to see if Ty Lee was in a position to disable him. Azula could burn him, but without being synchronized with Ty Lee, they were both screwed.
Azula considered saving herself, considering killing him whether or not Ty Lee's throat was slit, but she wanted to know who this man was. She needed to know.
"Ty Lee, don't move," Azula ordered. Ty Lee looked baffled; she knew she could take this guy down if Azula had her back.
The man asked, "Tell us who you are and what you are doing here."
"I could ask you the same thing," Azula said with complete confidence. He did not look thrown off by it as most people were.
"But you won't ask me that," said the middle-aged man.
"Oh, I will. But I will offer my own answer first; you did ask first. We are runaways from Outpost 26. I am Rey and she is Tenshi. We are not going to be arrested today," Azula said. Her lying skills always impressed Ty Lee.
"You're not from an Outpost. You're from the city," the man protested. His voice was too calm.
"No. I am from an Outpost. We both are, and we don't want to go back." Azula saw his grip on Ty Lee loosen slightly.
"My name is Piandao and I am with a few soldiers of my own taking care of an infestation," the man said. "Your bending interests me. I know a man who might understand it, and improve your form. Why don't you two join me and my friends for dinner? We have no intention of harming you."
Azula hated having her form criticized by a man who did not even bend, but she was intrigued.
"Why would you offer such a bold invitation?" Azula inquired.
"Because my cause requires it, and my cause is important."
Azula and Ty Lee exchanged a glance before wholly surrendering.
.
Azula did not struggle against the handcuffs or the armed men and women forcing her through the thick woods. Ty Lee would not make a move if Azula did not allow it; Ty Lee was loyal to her leader.
They wound up at a bustling encampment buried in the forest. It overwhelmed Azula; she had never seen anything so strange in her life.
"What is this place?" Azula demanded.
The pathetic adolescent wielding a knife against the best firebender in history – presumably, Azula supposed – decided to snap, "You talk like you're important."
"You talk like you know if I am or not," Azula replied. She nonchalantly stepped away from the knife.
Piandao turned to his thick guard, including the archers Azula presumed took down those soldiers.
"Take her to the Deserter. Take the other to a supervised tent."
Azula wanted to protest, but did not. However, Ty Lee wailed as they were separated.
This was not a situation that could turn out well.
.
Mai and Zuko were lost in the woods after their tryst. It messed with their heads a little, to say the least. They began following the scent of smoke and the faint sound of voices. It was likely a trading caravan or soldiers, but they did not have a better idea.
When they knelt behind the trees and looked down at inhabited ruins, Mai had to cover Zuko's mouth with her hand.
Azula and Ty Lee were there.
In handcuffs.
Mai and Zuko's thoughts spiraled out of control.
They had a very bad feeling about this.