A/N: This story is based on the Royal Fire Academy for Girls when Azula first meets Ty Lee and Mai, and just follows their adventures. The characters are not mine (except for any OCs that might come up, but still, the ideas they're based on come from the show Avatar: The Last Airbender). I had the idea of writing about when they first met because of a prompt word 'beginning.'
Beginning:
"In this classroom there will be no distinction or rank between you, nor will any students be treated with any special formalities. You are all equals here, and I alone am your superior." The woman's stern gaze swept hawk-like around the room of small, petrified children. Her pause offered the girls a single moment to defy her, if they dared. "Is that clear?"
Azula narrowed her eyes at the female teacher, taking to her feet. Some of the girls gasped, triggering her smirk. One girl, whose long brown hair was braided down her back, watched her in awe. Azula had noticed the girl earlier. She appeared to be one of seven identical sisters; six of them had clotted together in the back of the room. This girl, however, had not. Already distinguished by her intricate braid, she also wore a pink sash around the waist of her crimson Royal Fire Academy uniform. Azula saw it as a cry for help, though she was sure the girl intended it as some sort of battle-cry against her siblings. She hadn't yet decided whether the gesture was laughably pathetic…or whether it was brave.
"Young lady, sit down." The woman emphasized the final word in a tone Azula was used to her mother taking with her, but there was no glimmer of fear in her eyes.
Azula smiled to herself. The large portrait on the back wall, depicting a much younger, far more powerful Fire Lord Azulon than she currently acknowledged as her grandfather might have been enough, but Azula knew that the brittle woman before her had spent years with her crooked nose bent over the history books, and it would only take her a moment to recognize a member of the Royal Family. Azula possessed all the necessary traits – glinting golden eyes, ink black hair tied in a perfect topknot, and, most notably, the attitude of a person born into power. Her father had made certain that she understood her divine right to rule; power was hers, if she had the strength to reach out and seize it. She comprehended him more clearly than he knew; her father wanted the throne, and would go to any lengths to get it. Royalty was so predictable.
"You may think you have special privileges here, Azula, but while in this classroom you remain both my pupil and my inferior. Is that clear?"
Azula's smile tightened as she watched the woman brace herself for some sort of impact. The old woman's whole body coiled in anticipation. The class held its breath, and eyes shot from the teacher's hardened expression to Azula's feisty smirk the moment her name was mentioned. If anyone had doubted who the girl was when she'd arrived– escorted by two palace guards – there was not a doubt in anyone's mind anymore. The atmosphere was electrically tense.
"I'm afraid it isn't clear to me," Azula said, running a hand across her short black bangs. The teacher looked too stunned to respond; she had never encountered a student with the guts to defy her before, it appeared. Azula's hand dropped to her side, and she smirked. Brittle bones were easily broken. "I am Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Prince Ozai and Ursa, and granddaughter of Fire Lord Azulon. I command your respect." She could feel the gold in her eyes solidify as she glared at the teacher, waiting to see if she would bend. The entire class seemed to hold its breath.
The teacher's eyes narrowed. "To the Headmistress' office. Now." She pointed at the door, and the whole class gasped.
Azula's eyebrows pulled together. She didn't understand – why wasn't this woman listening to her? She didn't even bow her head. She looked unmistakably frightened, however stern her expression, but she didn't listen. By all accounts it didn't make sense.
Azula, puzzled exceedingly by the teacher's defiance, was easily sent out of the room to the rousing chorus of the Fire Nation anthem. The mantra followed her out the door, and she heard it in her head. My life, I give to my country. With my hands I fight for Fire Lord Azulon and our forefathers before him. With my mind, I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet, may our March of Civilization continue.
Azula's eyes darted suspiciously down the pristine halls of the academy. She had toured the school with her mother the previous week, in order to drop off all her things in her room. She still didn't know who she was sharing the room with. There hadn't been time to find out; her mother had been anxious to make sure Zuko was ready for his year at school, even though he'd been going to school for two years longer than Azula already. Her mother was always making more time for Zuko. Of course, Azula got dad. For her fifth birthday, Ozai had hired her a special firebending master to train with. All Zuko got from mom were stupid turtleducks to fill up the pond.
It grew suddenly chilly, and Azula drew her arms across her chest. She glared contemptuously at Azulon's black-haired portrait draped all over the school's walls; he didn't even look like that anymore. He was a wrinkled up old man, like a withered piece of parchment slowly dissolving into dust. The flames of his throne room were practically melting the skin off his bones.
Those thoughts eventually led her to the large wooden door of the Headmistress; she'd gotten a little lost on the way. Azula pulled open the door without hesitation, every possible scenario and every possible response accounted for already in her head. She took a seat in the chair across the woman's desk, studying the Headmistress closely. She was an older woman, but her hair still contained traces of black. Her hands were wrinkled, and she continued addressing the papers on her desk even when Azula took her seat.
"Ms. Kin sent me," Azula said, trying not to roll her eyes.
"Believe me, I know," the Headmistress replied. "Your little stunt has spread like a wildfire among the teachers."
The Headmistress didn't glance up from the papers on her desk, so she didn't see what student she was preparing to reprimand. She delivered her speech with admirable indifference; it was obviously well rehearsed, and Azula saw that it would do little good to attempt interrupting the flow of the conversation, which stayed relatively one-sided
"Your first day of school and you are already stirring up trouble. Do I need to remind you the cost your parents have paid to allow you the finest privilege of learning at such a prestigious institution? The teachers here are the best in the Nation, so I can't help but wonder why have you taken it upon yourself to verbally attack Ms. Kin, who, I might add, has been teaching her course here longer than you have been alive? Surely you do not esteem yourself above the advice and wisdom you receive from your teachers and your mentors, the respectable men and women who make their living building you a solid foundation upon which your future rests? I can assure you that the education you will receive at this school is the single-most important tool you will ever have the privilege of possessing, but if you cannot respect my teachers, then I am afraid I will have no choice but to send for your parents and have you immediately removed from the premises. I will not have a student damaging and disrupting the disciplined learning environment this academy seeks to preserve by acting like a stuck-up spoiled brat to my educators."
Azula flinched. The rigid, backhanded insult to her pride cut deeply. Usually only her mother could make her feel so useless and hurt. But this advice Azula could take to heart. Here she would be learning from the best the Fire Nation had to offer; the masters deserved her reverence and respect. It would be here that she would have the chance to sharpen her already astute mind into a lethal weapon.
She stared down at her clasped hands for a moment, struggling to wipe the smirk off her face. She was about to get some practice; manipulation was a game she'd played from a young age, but she'd never tried this on someone she didn't know well. She plucked up the tone she used with her mother when she was trying to unglue Zuko from Ursa's side so he would play a game with her. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble for Ms. Kin. It's just that Grandfather – oh, I mean Fire Lord Azulon – always said that – "
Azula didn't have to say another word before the Headmistress halted her, finally glancing up from the papers stacked on her desk; all the color seemed to drain from her features. Azula struggled not to raise an eyebrow. So even that pretty speech, furnished with insults and threats, became dust when it was the Royal Family. Her father was right, then. Power came second to nothing.
Panic, pure panic, infiltrated the haughty tone of the Headmistress. "Azula, I didn't realize…"
Azula slowly let a smile slip across her features. She raised a hand to stop the Headmistress from squabbling on. "It is perfectly alright, Headmistress. I deserved every word of censure from you. I should have showed Ms. Kin my respect in class, and not have talked out of turn. I promise, it won't happen again."
She beamed at the old woman, but inside wrangled with her emotions. Surely there was a lesson in this somewhere. She rolled her eyes; obviously it was all too easy to get out of trouble. But that wasn't what Azula was searching for. She supposed it could be true what the teacher had said to her before realizing just who it was she was reprimanding. If she respected and took her teachers' wisdom, perfected every technique and skill, surely she would be able to stand proudly at her father's side. That kind of drive would show everyone that she was best, once and for all. Even her mother.
"Of course. You can head back to class now," the Headmistress told her, recovering control of her voice. "I believe you have music."
Azula frowned. Had she really missed an entire history lesson over this? Standing up and forcing herself to bow to the Headmistress, she wondered if she had not learned some more important lesson about the balance between power and respect for one's teachers.
She rubbed her temple and stumbled around the school until she found her class in the music room. Many girls were still picking out instruments, so she was able to slip into the room unnoticed.
"That was really brave of you to stand up to Ms. Kin like that," said a peppy voice from behind her. Azula spun around only to end up face to face with the girl wearing the pink sash around her waist, and the six identical sisters, all of whom were squabbling over instruments with the rest of the class. The girl blushed. "I've never seen anyone stand up to a teacher before. You really scared her." The girl was smiling and bubbly.
"I suppose I did," Azula said, allowing herself to smile too.
"I think it's wonderful that I'm in the same class as Fire Nation royalty." Azula squinted suspiciously at the girl, but there was no sign that she was being insincere. "I'm Ty Lee. Not to be confused with my other sisters." She looked glumly in the direction of her clones.
"I can't wait to learn some new songs," Ty Lee continued, a new bounce in her step as Azula followed her to a place to sit. "I love music."
The music teacher quickly tamed the class, and Azula fell in with the other students; there was no possibility of her finding a way to ruin music class with her lips puckered around some instrument…but her new friend did. Ty Lee's feet wouldn't stop tapping, and when the teacher finally stopped the class so everyone could stare at her, all she could do was blush and say, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me." Even after several stern reprimands, Ty continued smiling, and her feet continued tapping, though she was significantly quieter after the teacher threatened to send her out of the room.
By early morning break, Azula refused to be separated from Ty. The girl was an endless faucet of praise, and she followed Azula willingly outside and smiled at the sky.
"It's so nice out today," Ty said, abruptly falling backwards and holding herself up like a bridge on her hands and feet; her stomach arched towards the sky. Azula glanced quizzically at the girl. Only a second later she'd performed a perfect handstand, and then ended up back on her feet.
"Impressive," Azula said, secretly annoyed that she had barely mastered the cartwheel while Ty Lee had clearly moved on to more advanced acrobatics. Obviously any fighting moves came easily to Azula, but she didn't understand what Ty Lee was doing.
"You really think so? I can teach you if you want," Ty said, beaming. "And then we can practice together."
Azula's eyes narrowed. "You don't want to practice with your sisters?" Her eyes flicked to Ty's expression. She looked hurt, and stared at the ground.
"That's okay. They won't notice I'm gone." Her voice perked up as she caught sight of red monkey bars. "This is perfect!" Without missing a beat she'd vaulted to the top and landed, perfectly balanced. She grinned at Azula, who was still on the ground.
Azula smiled. Now it was her turn to show off. She blasted off from the ground, feeling her arms tingle as hot bursts of flames rocketed her into the sky. She launched herself in the air, did a single flip, and landed next to Ty Lee, who stared at her in awe.
"That was amazing! It is so cool that you can bend. You were like flying!"
It felt good to get such uncensored praise, and seeing Ty Lee smile at her gave Azula a feeling of warmth inside that only the power of firebending could match. "I made that move up myself," she told her friend, who waited with eager anticipation for each syllable that poured from Azula's mouth.
"Whoa. I've made up something too." Azula glanced away from Ty Lee's enthusiastic expression, barely able to keep from appearing bored. Azula had already mastered the art of non-bending styles of fighting; there was nothing Ty Lee could show her that could possibly interest her.
"I figured out a way to take people's bending away."
Azula's eyes shot up, and she felt her body tense defensively. Take away someone's bending? The thought was chilling.
Ty Lee smiled. "Only temporarily of course," she added.
The initial fear wore off, and Azula grinned. "Show me," she said, already jumping off the play set. She didn't doubt Ty Lee's earnestness, but the small slender girl didn't look like a conduit of such a remarkable, totally unimagined power.
Ty Lee dropped down between two bars and swung to Azula's side. "Somewhere no one else will see," Azula whispered, glancing suspiciously at the faces of the surrounding uniformed girls.
"This way," Ty said, pulling Azula's sleeve and dragging the girl behind her towards the outer wall of school. The wall, made of dark stone, sealed off the schoolyard from the rest of the world, but the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs could still be heard from outside. Ty Lee pulled Azula into the outdoor lunch area, concealed by a path of hedges.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked, bending and stretching as she waited for Azula to answer.
"Absolutely certain," she replied. She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
Ty Lee shrugged, assuming what seemed to be one of her favorite positions by arching over backwards until she stood on her hands and feet. "Some people think it's…weird." She tumbled into a sitting position and bit her lower lip.
Azula put her hand on Ty's shoulder, and the girl gazed up at her with renewed encouragement. "They're just intimidated by you," she said, pulling the acrobat to her feet.
"By me?" Ty Lee laughed, but Azula could see that the idea appealed to her. "No one even notices me."
Azula sighed, trying to refocus the girl's attention. "Come on Ty Lee, I thought you were going to show me, so are you going to or not?"
"Okay, stand there. This might hurt a little…"
"Just do it, Ty," Azula said, folding her arms across her chest.
Before Azula could utter another syllable, Ty Lee had delivered a series of swift jabs at her arms and chest. All the breath was stolen from Azula's lungs, and her whole body seemed to lock up. A tingling, chilling sensation tore through her limbs, right to the center of her chest, and the ability to move became nonexistent. Azula gasped, about to fall and hit the ground, until Ty Lee caught her and rested her against the wall.
"Oops, I didn't mean to paralyze you like that…I'm still trying to get the hang of this," Ty mumbled.
When Azula had finally regained control of her movements, she still felt desperately cold; her arms were frigid, and she immediately tried to bend – tried anything. Nothing. Azula took a deep breath, reminding herself that Ty Lee had promised it would wear off eventually. But the cold inside her didn't go away; there was a terrifying emptiness in her chest, and an ice cold hand gripped her heart.
"It's like part of me is missing," she whispered, touching a hand to her chest. Powerless wouldn't be the right word – Azula had confidence in her non-bending abilities – but vulnerable certainly covered how she felt.
"Are you okay? I told you…"
"I'm perfectly fine," she said to Ty Lee, taking deliberate precautions to not sound breathless. She refused to admit how amazed she was by the acrobat's talent, but it was truly extraordinary. That kind of ability was invaluable. "C'mon, let's go practice cartwheeling," she said in an effort to distract herself from the loss of her bending. A bird chirped nearby, and Azula pointed two fingers at it, trying to summon the energy to firebend…but the bird chirped, unharmed. Not even a spark. It was almost as pathetic an attempt to firebend as Zuko.
"Zula, what are you doing?"
She shrugged. "I can't bend anyway. C'mon, Ty Lee, let's get out of here."
They worked their way back to the main yard just as the bell for class resounded. Azula frowned, slowing her pace. She wasn't in the mood for going back to class, but she couldn't afford to get in trouble for skipping the first day.
As it turned out, Azula could have slept through all her classes, and it would have done her about as much good as paying attention. She knew all the proper etiquette, and since day one was for going over the basics, she had it all covered; her father made sure she knew those simple little things. The final class of the day – some sort of gym class – was the highlight. Her talent was rivaled by no one when it came to practicing firebending techniques, and the teacher called her an outright prodigy. That was the only class she had separate from Ty; non-benders had no need to learn firebending techniques.
When the day finally ended, Azula met back with Ty, whose face was a flushed, healthy pink color almost identical to the color of her sash.
"I'm going to my room," Azula announced to her friend.
"You don't want to go outside? It's such a nice day!"
"I want to find out who I'll be sharing the room with."
"You don't know who's bunking with you?" Ty Lee gasped.
Azula raised an eyebrow. "My mother was in a rush when we visited this summer. There wasn't time to fiddle around with such trivial things." Though she spoke like it didn't bother her, Azula actually despised being denied her request to know the name of her roommate. She'd never had to share a room before…
"She probably had all kinds of important things to do," Ty Lee said, totally oblivious to Azula's train of thought.
"Well, let's see who it is," Azula said, opening the red door to her room. She paused in the doorway; it was pitch black inside. Someone had closed the curtains over the window.
"Is your room always this dark?" Ty Lee asked, poking her head into the room. "That can't be good for your eyes."
Azula reached over the dressing table and yanked open the blinds before turning around. The room contained two beds and a chest of drawers at the foot of each of them; on one bed Azula's trunk of luxuries rested, but lying on the second bed, twirling a knife between her fingers, was a pale, black-haired girl. She didn't sit up, even when the two girls entered.
"Please tell me you're here to kill me," she said, admiring the dagger in a faintly morbid way.
"Should we take that knife away from her?" Ty Lee whispered, appearing genuinely concerned.
Suddenly the knife flew through the air, pinning Ty Lee's pink sash to the wooden wall. "Someone's perky," the girl said.
Ty Lee looked mortified by the abrupt attack of the pale girl. "You could have hit me," she grumbled while she struggled to remove the dagger from her clothing.
"If only I'd been so lucky," the girl responded in a disinterested tone.
"You must be my roommate," Azula said, making a mental sketch of the girl. Her black hair she kept in two small buns atop her head, and she looked uncomfortable in the school uniform. There were a series of notches in the wall directly opposite her bed, and a few knives, identical to the one now pinning down Ty Lee, stuck out like darts from the wood.
"Oh joy." The girl plucked her dagger from Ty Lee's fingers and returned to her bed to sit down.
"Aren't you going to tell us your name?" Azula demanded.
"If you insist."
Azula's tone was dark. "I do."
The girl didn't flinch. "Mai."
"Like the month," Ty Lee chimed. Azula turned around, realizing that her acrobatic friend was sitting on top of the dressing table in front of the window, her legs dangling over the front.
"Aren't you going to ask who we are?" Azula asked.
Mai shrugged. "I don't really care."
"Is that so?" Azula whispered to herself. "I am Azula, and the person you just attacked is my friend, Ty Lee."
Mai didn't react to either name.
"You know, sitting inside all day can't be good for the complexion," Ty Lee said. "I know! They're holding volleyball tryouts tomorrow! We should all try out together!"
"I would sooner join the circus," said Mai. Azula smirked.
"Ty Lee, help me unpack," she said, going to her bed and opening the trunk. The acrobat hopped off the table and pulled out some of Azula's clothes from the trunk. Azula, meanwhile, pulled out the family portrait she'd stashed in her belongings. She'd taken it from her family's beach house when they'd stayed there over the summer. Angry with herself for giving into weakness by bringing it, she angled the portrait so it faced Mai's bed.
"If you two are done making all that noise, I have work to do." Mai motioned to her books, sitting on top of the drawer at the end of her bed.
"They give out homework on the first day?" Ty asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Next year they do," Mai said, cutting off abruptly, as if angry that she'd spoken to the acrobat at all, let alone acknowledged her existence.
"Why don't you show me to your room, Ty?"
"That's a great idea, why didn't I think of that?" In her excitement, her braid whipped around her head, almost catching Azula in the face. "See you later Mai!"
"I'll try not to hold my breath."
"Maybe later we can do each other's hair," Ty Lee began musing as Azula pushed her out of the room.
Azula followed Ty Lee down the hall of dormitories; her room had a black door, and she opened it up. "My room," she said, motioning inside.
Azula glanced at the room, seeing double. The room was nice, an exact duplicate of her own, but that's not where the doubles stopped. The two trunks at the back of the room both looked identical, and the clothes spilling over the top were all the same outfits.
"You're sharing a room with one of your sisters?" Azula speculated, taking a seat on one of the beds.
Ty Lee pouted. "Just like home," she said. "I thought that was going to change when I got here. Guess not."
Azula glanced at her friend; the smile had disappeared, and her eyes were glistening. "What was that you said about doing each other's hair?" she asked quickly. Some part of her rejected the thought of seeing Ty Lee cry; she seemed to have said the magic words, because Ty Lee's smile reappeared.
Azula resigned herself to sitting on the edge of the bed, wondering if keeping the girl happy was really worth letting her touch her hair. Azula never let anyone touch her hair, except the servants, and herself of course.
Her fears were put quickly to rest as she felt Ty's fingers combing out her hair. "Your hair is really pretty," Ty said as she worked.
Azula smiled. She'd rarely taken compliments, and even Ty Lee for most of the day had only been commenting on how well she could firebend, or the fact that she was royalty. Appearances had not been touched on.
There was a short pause.
"Zula?"
Azula kept her eyes closed, the sensation of Ty's small dexterous fingers combing through her hair stimulating a sense of pleasure. "Yes?"
"Are we going to be friends forever?"
The corner of Azula's mouth twisted into a smile. "Of course. Forever."
She could tell that this friendship was going to be the beginning of something wonderful.
A/N: The Fire Nation oath in the beginning was taken from the Avatar Wiki pages, except I changed the name from Ozai to Azulon for obvious reasons. While on the website some people commented about the possibility of Zuko being at some sort of Fire Nation Academy, too, and I thought that would be a cool idea, so there are mentions of that in here, too. I also thought it would be kind of cool to have references to actual future episodes in there (such as Mai's line "Please tell me you're here to kill me" etc.). Hope you enjoy the story, so please read and review!
