Royal Academics
The Story I promised and posted by popular demand.
Beta-d/cowritten by darkavatar13, thanks a bunch!
Azula's Story
"The Fire Nation academy for girls?" Azula exclaimed incredulously to her instructor.
Ling, a middle-aged woman with recent fading looks out of the stress of training this spoiled, penurious, and egotistical girl whom every knee of the Fire Nation had to bow down to and call her their 'Princess' and 'Prodigy', nodded.
Azula was right now 7 and out of control. Ling had contacted a few friends at the royal academy and they were honored to think that they would house the prodigy of the Fire Nation for the next 7 years. It would take a lot off her hands if she put Azula there.
Maybe then she can take a nice vacation for a while.
"Yes, it is an academy where you go to learn even more advanced arts." Ling cleverly lied.
Actually, the academy was where many high-classed noblemen sent their 'unwanted' daughters from when they were 4 until they were 15 or so, or where aristocratic girls could learn the appropriate arts.
The reason Ling had wanted Azula to go was because though she was a mild-tempered woman and very patient, Azula had just sucked away every last shard of her patience and sanity when trying to train her, and the 2 had barely known each other for 8 months!
When Ling came, her hair was black. Now, it was grey and white with maybe one strand of black.
The academy would do her some good.
They had strict discipline rules that evenOzai himself favored and even if his 'little princess' came crying to him, he would say rules were rules.
Even his prodigy wouldn't be able to escape.
"I have already spoken with your father. Your bags are already packed, your stay arranged, and you shall leave at first light in the morning." Ling said, rising and bowing out of her status.
As she left the room, a huge grin spread across her face.
She did not have to deal with that girl anymore.
Mai's Story
"We have to do something about her; that crush on Prince Zuko is going to ruin her!" Mai's mother hissed at her husband.
"So what if she likes him? Many girls do." he replied calmly to his wife.
"Well, when she grows up, she will make mistakes because of her, er, infatuation for him! And the one thing we cannot do here in the high class is make mistakes!" Mai's mother almost demanded.
"That is true, but where can we send her?" the father asked in an almost amused tone.
"I was hoping you would ask that." Without another word, Mai's mother unfolded a scroll.
"The Fire Nation Royal Academy for girls?" the father asked, an eyebrow rose as he leaned forward to read.
"Azula is already going and most likely Ty Lee also will. She has good friends and this is a place to teach her the arts." What she really meant was to take those emotions that Mai was already showing on the outside and store them away.
"Why not? It has been quite a time before we have both had time to ourselves." He mused with a smile.
"Mai is already packing as we speak. She will go with Azula in the morning."
Ty Lee's Story
"But mommy—!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
"I'm sorry; Ty Lee, but you just can't tell anyone." Ty Lee's mother said softly to her.
What she meant was that Ty Lee just couldn't tell anyone that her father had...touched her. He didn't do anything else; just touch her in the most inappropriate places. But in this case, it was preserving her own reputation more than Ty Lee's.
If word got out that her husband was molesting his own daughter, and not to mention the fact that they barely shared a bed anymore, then she would be sneered out as an ice woman; one who could not give a man pleasure.
"I told you." Ty Lee said frankly to her mother.
Her mother desperately racked her brains for something to do; what could she do? It would cause too much scandal if Ty Lee disappeared or turned up dead, she was too young to marry and maybe could be betrothed, but it would take years before she was married to her fiancé.
And then it hit her.
Her friends, Azula and Mai, both were leaving for the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls. It was a perfect place to bundle Ty Lee off to! Everyone knows that there is plenty of gossip and scandals there, but the academy has grown too skeptical to believe any of them so no matter what Ty Lee said, no one would believe her.
"Ty Lee, how would you like to go to the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls? You can join your friends, Mai and Azula, there." her mother said in the kindest tone she could muster.
At once, Ty Lee's face perked up and she clapped her hands out of happiness.
"I'll start packing!" she exclaimed and ran to her rooms.
Her mother watched after her and smiled.
Perfect.
Next Morning
"So we're all just going to be going to this school?" Mai asked Ty Lee.
"Yup. It'll be just like our childhood!" she exclaimed.
"Well, let's hope the academy isn't just some academy where girls learn how to dress up, as I've heard." Azula said bluntly and looked out the window of the carriage they were into see where just the tip of the tower of the academy lay in plain sight.
A time and so later, they carriage approached the front gate.
All 3 girls pushed open the sun-window at the top of the carriage and poked their heads out.
Before them, there was a tall iron gate painted black and, stuck on certain bars, was a the intertwined letters of FNRA, supposedly standing for Fire Nation Royal Academy, and, as the gate opened and the carriage proceeded inside, the palace was quite a view.
In the front entrance, green and lush grass was spread throughout the ground just like in a perfect painting. Sakurako trees were planted in various places all around the front yard and special landscapes of certain flower planting seemed to magnify the glorious look of the Academy; making it seem as if it was a forbidden Heaven on Earth only few could enter. Stone pathways lay down by labor and paste lined where any habitant within the boundaries of the academy could walk without staining their clothes. Willow trees were also common, mostly just behind the gates, to give the academy that secluded look.
Elaborately carved stone benches rested near the walkway and there were some other older girls already sitting there, eating or chatting away. When the chatting girls noticed the carriage, they all looked up and silenced as they stared at the 3 young girls until the carriage passed through to the inner courtyard.
The Academy itself was painted a shade of blood-like crimson and vast in its size.
High towers peaked from the dormitories amongst other places and, with few windows, seemed mysteriously beguiling to anyone who stared up at them. As usual, the roofs of the academy were slanted; paved with tiles covered in black tar and metal to fuse them together.
Windows and balconies towered over one another from where the 3 young girls were standing and, from there, they saw that some of them had small chairs or tables to sit on and a few even had laundry hanging.
At the ends of the long dormitory hallways and on the grounds of the roof, there were 2 huge pole-and-ball structures made of pure glass that showed a spiraling stairwell and, at the way top of the planetarium-like orb, there seemed to be a large observation deck on both of them. Leading from there, at the center of the roof, there was a long chain of sitting areas and a walkway up there with canvas-like covers to pose as the roof and windows.
At the doors, various scrolls and charms hung from a few gazebo-like porches in front of the doors and nearly every one of them had a wind chime or a good-luck spell written on a piece of sticky paper and stuck to one of the beams.
Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all gasped.
Before them, there was a large circular walkway of pure black granite and it surrounded a large alabaster fountain lined with gold and carved into the statues were the images of a Phoenix rising from gleaming fires and a dragon intertwined with it; symbolizing the sacred and mythical animals that supposedly were the spirit guides of the Masculine and Feminine Fire and gushed pure crystal clear water.
The three girls saw that the inner courtyard was three quarters surrounded by dormitories with large windows overlooking the entire place. Bushes of flowers and now more elegantly constructed walkways were lining the ways, but there was only one path in and out of the inner courtyard; the one the carriage was currently on.
Small gazebos were placed near the entrance/exit of the inner courtyard; colored white with a tile roof.
Broad and copper etched doors gleamed in the sunlight; guarding the rooms behind them. Knockers were place at a short height for the youngest of students and were always placed over a design of copper so that the wood of the doors didn't become battered in the area the knocker was over.
The carriage traveled a half of the circular walkway and then stopped.
The driver dismounted and went through a door at their far end.
Cautiously, Azula and Ty Lee stepped out onto the walkway and looked around. The dormitories on either side of them were over thrice the size of the 'bridge' dormitory area that connected them both at the end.
What the 3 girls didn't see was Great Dining Hall, all of the classrooms, and the rest of the land of the Royal Academy.
Even outside its borders, they didn't see the geography of the island, which was truly extraordinary.
To the North of the academy, the Ueshita Mountains towered majestically over the meadows and slight forests at the foot of the mountains.
To the West, a large rift valley with jagged edges on a cliff and was a perfect place to watch the sun set, which gave the rift valley the name 'Lovers Peak'
To the South, a lovely beach of alabaster sand and a clear ocean with warmed waters. Along the beach, there were little close-in ponds of beach water on the rocks; habitats to small animals such as oyster, some fish, and much more if anyone looked closely. A bit off the coast, there was a great coral reef that could be reached from a dock and many girls could wear goggles and look underwater at the magnificent spread of the many different coral and fish dwelling near the reefs.
To the East, there was the evergreen lush forests and could seclude those who wished to disappear for a short while.
Within the thick forests, there was said to be a lagoon and waterfall pouring pure mineral water and another person claimed that at the center of the forest, there was this great clearing with a high plateau extending beyond the trees and the people who ventured there had a perfect view of the stars.
Even the ground Azula and Ty Lee were walking on held a secret; it was said that underground, there was this great and fairly deep mine that produced gold, diamonds, and power-charged crystals that was uncovered when the academy was under construction by the order of the Princess of the Fire Nation and were secretly being mined even as the 3 girls were staring out at the great buildings of the academy.
Fenced in by the gates of the Royal Academy, there was an array of flowers, walkways made of marble and granite, and many individual sculpted gardens; each with a special type of scenery and vegetation.
A few examples are a sand garden, an outdoor temple-like place with only the growing overhead plants to shroud a person in its shadows, an area for growing bamboo; there were even outdoor hot springs!
In the back, near the center, there was a great Fish pond in the shape of the Fire Nation emblem.
A 4 way bridge made of smoked and strengthened wood made walkways for the boarders and teachers.
At the sides, there were specially carved hollow Bamboo sticks that carried water. The bamboo sticks either just fell straight down into the water or fell onto another stick that, when filled enough, would fall over like a seesaw and pour the water into the pond and start over again, or onto a water wheel, or something else of the sort.
Surrounding the pond, there were blooming wisteria and Sakurako trees loomed over the large pond and tall grass grew because many people, when building this academy, believed that there should be an area dedicated to spiritual gardenia.
There was even an area at the pond that had a fountain.
The water always went through a purification system, the pond was lined with thin sheets of smooth marble in order to prevent water from absorbing into the Earth or letting the earth mix with the water and cause clogging problems with the purifying system, which boiled the unclean things out of the water and let the steam go through a vent, then condense into a separate reservoir where pumps would distribute the water into the bamboo sticks or the fountains.
To power all of this and also keep the gardens and everything else in the academy clean, girls who couldn't Firebend were the ones responsible for chores such as cleaning out the purification system or making the new sand gardens or just sweeping the floors of the academy, while Firebenders would help heat the furnaces down below that was needed for the water system and to power the workshops within the academies such as the candle making workshop, the dyeing workshop, the carpenters' workshop, and many more.
When stepping into the doors of the academy, Ty Lee and Azula gaped at the site before them. The jointing hall was HUGE!
On the walls, there were mosaics and paintings and tapestries that were behind glass cases to protect their near priceless value.
Each work of art seemed to honor the feminine instead of the masculine, but then again; it was an all-girls academy.
The walls themselves were a charcoal-like color and the columns that held the hall up were most likely alabaster painted to look like marble, Azula thought with her critiquing eye.
The columns were over 5-6 times their sizes and were firmly planted onto the ground, most likely by using metal and melting the stone to the foundation, or the columns extended downwards more than anyone knew.
Around each column, there were torches that were to be lit whenever it was night and also a ring below the torches to catch any pieces of ash and fallen ember the torches emit.
The keenest eye could see thin threads of gold melted into the stone of the columns to create shining designs that would show a great picture when light bounced to the exact precision they were supposed to on the gold.
Up ahead, there were many more pathways, probably lined with stones with layers of glass to smooth it over or something else, and Ty Lee could just make out two spiral stairwells going left and right up to two of the many towers in the academy.
On the roof, there were lines of crystal mirror-chandeliers which, as sunlight from the skylights above shined on them, they would produce and multiply many rays of light, but not to the point where it would burn paper, so there was more light to for reading and such.
Many parts of the academy had many windows along with a large amount of oil and oil lamps, candles, and many shops to make those things for the girls as part of their 'welcome' package they get when they first enroll in the academy.
Right now, class seemed to be on break and girls dressed in simple yukatas, and others in just pants and shirts, were lobbying around; some of them sitting in the chairs placed at the center of each 4 way intersection and talking to one another.
A few regarded Ty Lee and Azula with little interest, then went back to their own talk.
"Welcome." a smooth voice echoed from down the hall.
Looking straight ahead, Azula and Ty Lee saw a tall, regal-standing lady with a fan in front of her face coming towards them. She looked as if she was a teacher, judging from her tightly done hair and colored robe with a white collar.
"You must be the new student. But I heard there were 3, not 2." the woman said as she came up to Azula and Ty Lee.
She was at least twice Ty Lee's height and well-portioned.
"Our third friend...we don't know where she is." Ty Lee answered, then stuck out her hand as courtesy taught her to.
"My name is Ty Lee." She said. The older woman seemed to smile behind her fan and put it away to shake the younger girl's hand.
Only when she removed her fan was when Azula and Ty Lee saw why she hid behind that fan.
On her face, the tip of her nose, was a HUGE mole! And the mole seemed to have other moles ON the mole!
And, looking closely, both of the girls could see at least 3 hairs on the mole sticking out the most.
Ty Lee just gaped at it.
"M-m-m-m-m-m-mole." she gasped out and Azula shushed her.
"Don't say Mole." she hissed.
"Mole." Ty Lee repeated, as if in a daze.
"Stop saying Mole." Azula said, though she could hardly stop staring at it herself.
"Like I said, my name is Molady and I will be your peer counselor through your stay here at the academy..." as she talked, the mole--or was it moles, Ty Lee and Azula wondered—seemed to be bouncing up and down; like it was dancing.
Finally, both were unable to bear the sight of it anymore.
"I honestly don't care about that tolerance policy! I'm the Princess of this nation, princess over everyone here, princess over the ground you even stand on! Now I demand you to show me and my acquaintances to my room!" Azula snapped.
Molady chuffed at Azula's snapping.
"No wonder you were sent here." she murmured under her breath, then put on a fake smile again.
"It's nice to meet you." she simpered to them both, leaning down to them and giving them another full view of her mole.
"Nice to mole you--." Ty Lee began, and Azula jabbed her side
. "I mean meet you! Meet you, not milieu, which is Fa-wen (Chinese for French) word for Middle. (PS: It's a true fact)" Ty Lee laughed nervously and Azula sighed.
"I think you'll be the mo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--." Ty Lee, despite her perky self, still couldn't say it.
"...most excellent counselor there is in the academy." Azula cut in, restraining herself from blasting Ty Lee's vocal chords out.
"Again, I say nice to mole you--meet you!" Ty Lee squeaked the last words.
"Don't say mole." Azula whispered.
"Say mole." Ty Lee repeated.
"Stop!" Azula scolded her.
"OK, then." Molady said.
"Mole." Ty Lee said again.
"Have a nice day." Molday said and walked down the hall.
As she turned, Ty Lee couldn't keep it in any longer.
"Moley, moley, moley, moley, moley!" she burst out and barely even noticed that Azula bopped her on the back of her head.
"Oh, shut up!" Azula snapped at her.
"And where's Mai?"
Mai sat back in the carriage, writing down another simple song she thought of. Yes, her longtime crush on Zuko has taken a toll on her, but who else in the world was like him? She began to perfect the verse.
Breathe in, breathe out
You keep me alive
You are my passion for life
My burning desire
My fire, my light
The wings of love you fly
"An aspiring poet, I assume?" a deep voice said from behind her.
Looking up, she saw a man leaning in the hollow window panes of the carriage. He had dark hair curling around the nape of his neck, a deep golden skin tone, and dark bullion, a cross between that and ocher suited the hue more, colored eyes.
Mai couldn't see much more of him, but she could tell that he was well-built.
"Who are you?" she demanded; coming out of the spell of first sight attraction, as slight as it was.
"You must be one of the new students," he said, ignoring her question.
Mai narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly.
Suddenly, he leaned back, opened the door, and held out his hand to her.
"Care to come out?" His voice was almost hypnotizing and, unsure of what to do, Mai took his hand cautiously and stepped out.
"My name is Iroke." Iroke told her as his own golden eyes flickered over her.
Mai, deep inside, was wondering if he was one of the many people named after Prince Iroh. It was common in the Fire Nation to name a child after a member of the royal family, but as far as she knew, no one wanted to name their children with any form of Ozai or Ursa.
Maybe she should look in the history books a bit more; that was a bit odd.
And judging by Iroke's appearance, he looked like a younger, more tanned version of Iroh.
Repeatedly, when Mai was younger and was studying the Fire Nation history, she saw pictures of Prince Iroh and his wife, a retired commander due to an injury, as references to what they'd done for the Fire Nation during their time period in the century-long world war.
Mai stared at him critically; for a man who was actually allowed to enter the Girls Academy, he didn't use the rules of formality to introduce himself and not to mention properly.
"Mai." the much younger girl replied dully. She stepped down from the carriage and surveyed the scene around her.
"Where do the new students go?" she asked, looking at the formidable building before her.
"At the office. Here, I will take you there." Iroke answered.
"Does your daughter go here?" Mai asked. It was the only reason why a male would be inside the fences of the royal academy, her mother had told her. Except on special occasions, the only men allowed within were family members of the girls or administrators.
"I am a teacher here." Mai stopped and looked up at him; a male teacher at an all female school? Her mother would surely object.
Iroke stifled a laugh when he saw her face; it was the same expression that all females wore when they found out about his status as a teacher.
"I can explain later. Come on." He took her hand and led her into the hallway, to the large hall.
Despite all of her efforts, Mai could not help but blush. Her mother had taught her to never walk with another man, especially one she did not know.
"I see my friends. Thank you. Good day." She said hastily and, snatching her hand away, ran out.
Iroke went back outside and, as he was passing the carriage, noticed something through the window.
In the carriage, on the backseat, was Mai's journal.
R'n'R, please.