Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar The Last Airbender. If I did there would be lots of angry parents and what-have-you.
WARNING: This story has the eventual Azutara and TophxOC pairings. If you don't like shoujo-ai then simply don't read.
This story came to me out of pure randomness. Jin is my own created character.
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Oranges and purples painted the sky as the sun began to set. Plants, wildlife, and humans alike all had a glow surrounding them given off by the sun's warm farewell. Soon, the animals of day scurried to their burrows as the humans mimicked the action an went to the comfort of their homes to escape the cool oncoming night. One lone human however could be seen standing on the balcony of the palace, braving the risk of being caught by the nocturnal guards.
"I wonder." Spoke the lone human, dressed in what could be seen as common nightly top and bottom for the male noble populace.
"You wonder what exactly?" Startled, the noble turned, ready to defend himself as a reaction. However, he saw an all to familiar face and quickly dropped to his knees and bowed low enough for his forehead to rest upon the cool marble floor, "Up."
Following the order he stood, "I'm sorry princess, I broke curfew again."
She stood, no emotion played on her face other than a slight annoyance, "You understand your training will be increased tenfold in the morning for this."
"Yes my princess, I understand."
"Now, what was it you were wondering boy?"
"I was just wondering if the colonies in the Earth Kingdom ever get to be graced by this wonderful Fire Nation sunset."
An eyebrow raised, the princess planted a hit on the back of the young boy's head, "Of course they get to see the sunset, while they may not have the same view of it they still see it."
"Yes your highness, you are right. That was a stupid thing to wonder. I'm sorry." He rubbed the back of his head, daring to look up at the princess and met with the cold golden eyes of the princess and took note of her annoyed expression. "I shall be retiring now if it is your wish princess."
She simply nodded, turned, and began walking back to her room with him close behind her. They separated ways after their short silent walk down the hall, her to the room on the right, and him the room to the left. Once in his room, he let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he held. Sinking into the bed as he sat he dared to look at his reflection in the mirror and glared at what he saw. His black hair had been let down from the bun and dangled at his shoulders, a scar the shape of a crescent moon looped his left eye, but what he hated most was his bright blue eyes; the eyes that a water bender would have. Resisting the urge to vomit and break the mirror, he lay facing away from the mirror, and pulled the soft silken sheets above his head. Soon he fell into a troubled sleep that no one, not even the princess next door, would ever know of.
Morning came all to soon for the fire nation youth. Soft hands grasped his ankles and pulled him from the bed. The first thing he noticed was the slight pain in his lower back from hitting the marble floor, the second thing he noticed is that it was the princess who rudely woke him. As fast as he could, he bowed, hitting his head on the floor and creating the echoes of the thumping sound in the room. Smirking, the princess lifted the boy by the back of his collar and pushed him into the closet.
"Get dressed, you're training begins early today." With the same smirk, she exited his room and waited just outside the closed door.
Almost as soon as the door closed, he exited wearing the training clothes the princess chose herself: a sleeveless v-neck shirt that had been cut off to reveal the bottom of his ribs to two inches below his navel and pants that are large, allowing for the movements of the fire nation style pulled tight at the top by string and at the ankles by elastic.
"Today I am your teacher so you will address me as Sifu while we are in the training grounds."
"Yes princess." He bowed once more and as sudden as before, she lifted him by the collar and proceeded to drag and push him in the direction she wished.
The area smelled of ash as most of the fire nation did but in this particular area the smell was stronger and it was most likely due to the scorch marks left by the many who trained there. Having been pushed into the area the boy stumbled but quickly gained his balanced and awaited his orders.
"You will begin with breathing exercises and continue until I say. Now get into your stance boy."
"Yes Sifu Azula." Like many of the days before, he moved into the stance, closed his eyes and began.
Azula circled him like he were the prey to her predatory game. Taking note he was doing this exercise correctly she sat on a near bye rock and waited. An hour passed and the grounds gained another, this one wearing pink and standing out among the two who were wearing dark, almost black red. A devious smile spread across Azula's face as she noticed the familiar girl in pink, which bowed first then bounded towards her and nearly knocked her off the boulder with her hug.
"Ty Lee, please. I.. can't…breathe!" Azula tugged at the arms around her neck and managed to get the girls grip to loosen, "Now that I have your attention…"
Ty Lee sat next to Azula on the boulder, the princess whispering into her ear. With a large grin spread across her face, Ty Lee flipped onto her hands and walked towards the boy. Once she was close enough, her feet swung downward and in an arc, tripping him. Azula watched, nearly laughing as his face hit the ground.
"Today you will be working on your defense in a hand to hand combat situation. Ty Lee will be your opponent. You may begin."
A larger smile, if possible, spread across Ty Lee's face as she proceeded to attack the boy. Dodging her paralyzing jabs as best he could, he knew it would only be a matter of time before the acrobat managed to hit him and once he recovered the process would begin again. Azula would not stand for anything less than perfection and told him so when the Fire Lord ordered her to become his teacher. As predicted, Ty Lee managed to hit a pressure point in his arm, rendering it useless; despite this, he continued to dodge her jabs until finally she managed to hit his back, causing him to fall to the ground face first.
Finally incapable of holding it in, Azula let out a small chuckle as he fell. Azula looked towards the sky to determine the time and decided that it had to be about noon.
"It's time for lunch." Azula stood and dusted off what little bit of dirt that might have accumulated. Not soon after her statement a servant entered, bowed upon sight of the princess, and announced that lunch had been prepared and awaited in the dining hall. With a nod for dismissal Azula turned to the girl in pink "Come on Ty Lee… and bring him with you."
Lunch was quiet, despite Ty Lee being there. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, the meals were usually silent even when guests visited. Once the meal was over, the training began and continued past supper; Working on offense after lunch and a mix after supper.
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So what did you all think? x3 Please R&R...My overweight dog will have a heart attack if you don't.
