"Princess Azula, we're not supposed to come in here!" Ty Lee whispers too loudly, her stomach turning somersaults. "This is the Fire Lord's—"
"I know," Azula cuts off, like Ty Lee is the stupidest girl in the world. (Well, maybe she is, compared to Azula— Azula's at the top of every class and the best firebender at school and can always come up with some clever thing to say back to the teachers. Azula manages to make everybody look dumb and incompetent.) "Don't be such a baby. I should've asked Mai instead."
"No, no, I'm not a baby!" she protests, slipping through the curtain into the throne room. Her heart leaps up to her throat as they dart between the massive pillars, even though there's no one around to see them; an uncanny echo rings out with their footfalls.
"Grandfather's holding a meeting," Azula says, looking calm and unruffled in a place definitely not meant for little girls. "We won't get caught, trust me. I just wanted to practice for when I'm Fire Lord."
"But you're not going to be Fire Lord," Ty Lee blurts out before she can stop herself. She might not be very smart, but she knows the line of succession— Azulon to Iroh to Lu Ten, maybe Ozai to Zuko, with Azula right at the end of that line.
"That's what you think," Azula scoffs, with such iron-voiced conviction that Ty Lee even starts to believe her; the truth is whatever Azula wants it to be. "Daddy says he would make a much better ruler than Grandfather or Uncle, and obviously he wouldn't let anyone as pathetic as Zuzu succeed him. It'll be me." Then she strides over to the throne and pushes herself onto it, her feet not touching the floor. "Nice view from up here."
"If you're Fire Lord, I want to be Fire Lady, then," Ty Lee insists. "I'm your best friend. More than Mai."
"You are," Azula declares, setting part of the pit on fire with a wave of her hand. "And you can rule by my side— well, little stuff. I'll manage everything important like the army and the schools and the economy, but you can take care of the festivals and the decorations and—"
"Azula!"
They both suddenly freeze. That sounds a lot like—Princess Ursa. "Get down from there at once, young lady," she demands as she bursts in, quivering with fury. "Do you have any idea how disrespectful— how dangerous— right this instant!"
Uh-oh. Busted.