A Blessed Soul

It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.

-E. E. Cummings

The warden took Azula out to the docks at the crack of dawn. There were many guards surrounding her, and indeed she did think about burning all of them and escaping. Prior to being locked in the nuthouse, Azula was a very cool, calculating person who knew exactly what others were going to do before they even think about doing it. But during the time of her imprisonment, and yes she believed that she was imprisoned, there were times when she had difficulties concentrating and became easily distracted. Well, easily distracted by her standards.

It was actually kind of surprising to her that they didn't bind her and drag out to the boats; perhaps they are getting a little too cocky. She shifted uncomfortably in her position and tried to shrug the long, thin hands of the warden off her shoulder. Perhaps this was her chance to escape and take back what was rightfully hers. Her throne. Her reputation. Everyone seemed distracted with the preparations, so this may be her only opportunity.

In a split second, Azula drew a knife hand, spun around, and knocked the bony hand off her shoulder. Blue flames exploded from her fists towards the warden, but he was attentive and alert. He created a wall of fire to protect himself before shooting his own flames towards her. Azula quickly jumped out of the way before retaliating and spitting flames at whatever she could see. There was a sudden rush that she hadn't felt in such a long time. It felt good to see those flames dancing and surrounding others. It made her smile deviously and even laugh.

Twirl.

Twist.

Dance.

"Azula!" A powerful blast of flames struck her and knocked her off her feet. A silhouette was making its way towards her, and it took her a while to make out the figure. The silhouette now turned into a familiar short, husky figure. The man was much older than the warden, had a long, silvery beard, and dressed in a very casual robe. Despite his raggedy appearance, soldiers immediately stopped what they were doing to pay their respects to him. Each of them deeply bowed as the man walked passed nearly touching their noses to the ground. It was impossible to miss the admiration in their eyes. To Azula, however, this man was a failure – a loser. He deserved no respect.

The man stopped in front of Azula and held a large hand out. He was smiling, but his eyes looked very stern. It was the look that no one wanted to cross, but Azula didn't care. She slapped his hand out of her way and helped herself up.

"Well, I see that you're as lovely as ever." The man was still smiling brightly. He placed his hands in the sleeves of his robes and shook his head just slightly. Azula didn't even bother looking at him. Her attention was fixed to the floor.

"What brings my dear Uncle Iroh here?" Her tone was sarcastic, almost threatening.

"Well, it seems as if we'll be going to the Earth Kingdom together. Well, at least we'll be using the same ship. You see, King Bumi of Omashu is holding a Pai Sho competition, and as the reigning champion I am obligated to go." Iroh sounded just chipper. It was as if Azula's outburst did not faze him a bit.

"Of course. As always, you waste your time with pointless shit. You're unworthy of –"

"You're firebending forms are getting messy, Azula." Iroh's demeanor immediately changed from the happy-go-lucky uncle to a very serious, authoritative general.

"Oh please, you wouldn't know form if you –"

"And your concentration is nothing like it was."

"Gah! Just shut the hell up!"

"And you lose your cool too easily."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Blue flames exploded from her breath as she attempted to strike her uncle with her fist. He held up a large hand and caught her before she was able to. When she tried to strike him with her other hand, he was able to catch her as well. Frustrated, she screamed and stomped her feet like a small child.

Iroh's head turned towards the warden. He muttered something that Azula couldn't quite hear with her screeches. She could feel one of his large hands pat her on the back in a very paternal manner. It was a little comforting to her, but she didn't need sympathy – especially from a has-been. She tried to shrug him off, but he was unwilling to leave her alone. He continued to pat her to try and calm her down before wrapping a comforting arm around her. He held onto her arm and led her onto the ship. Before she could even think of a new plan, the metal bridge connecting the ship to the docks withdrew and sealed itself inside the metal boat.

An elderly woman deeply bowed as Iroh approached her with Azula in tow. She had long, silvery hair that was tied up into a bun. Her manner of dress was quite casual; one could tell that she was certainly not a noble. Although she was smiling, her eyes were solemn and her shoulders slumped as if she had the weight of the world on them. Iroh smiled so brightly at her and even bowed to her. She looked rather shocked at his actions and blushed just slightly.

"You must be Sumi." Iroh continued patting Azula to calm her down. Even if Azula didn't want to admit it, the action itself was something that Azula rarely felt. It was a different sort of feeling.

The elderly woman nodded her head and grinned in return. Azula could feel the woman's eyes studying her, and if she wasn't being detained by her uncle, she may have just retaliated.

"I am honored to serve you, your Majesty." The elderly woman's voice was actually very pretty. It was deep, but it was round and lovely to listen to. Azula grunted at the thought of her uncle being addressed as "his majesty." Both seemed to have ignored her and continued with their conversation.

"Sumi, I'd like to introduce you to my niece. This is Azula. She will be helping you prepare dinner for the crew."

Azula's eyes widened out of shock. She knocked Iroh's hand off her shoulder and turned to him in disgust. Her? A Princess? Doing servant work?

"I will not be doing such a thing! I am a Princess! Royalty! Servant work is for peasants." Sharp. Dangerous. Menacing. She wasn't someone to cross, that's for certain. Iroh looked thoughtful though, and Sumi didn't look afraid either. She simply smiled at Azula and then turned to Iroh who took a step forward.

"Zuko did mention that you were suppose to be helping others, am I right? Well, why not start now? We have quite a large crew, and Sumi cannot do it all by herself. I would help you, but I am training for the Pai Sho competition and I promised to sing to the crew later. I need to make sure that my voice is well-rested for that." He took a giant step forward and stood right in front of Azula's face. His voice suddenly fell to a deep, threatening whisper. "The ocean is quite vast. Escaping is not really an option at this point. I will be keeping an eye on you, don't forget that. You are to pay your respects to this woman and work diligently."

Iroh took a step back and then turned to face Sumi. He laughed out loud before placing his hands back around Azula's shoulder and pulled her towards the cabin.

"Let us make our way to the kitchen. The meal isn't going to cook itself!" Iroh chuckled and made every effort to pull a resisting Azula. It wasn't like she had the energy to fight against him. Like a stubborn child, she continued to resist as he pulled but ended up moving anyway.

Sumi led the both of them to the kitchen. Iroh gave Azula one last pat on the shoulder before shoving her into the kitchen. He gave a final wave before closing the doors and making his way towards his room. It was now just Azula and Sumi. The silence was slightly awkward at first since the both of them just stood their ground. Sumi suddenly began moving around quickly grabbing the necessary ingredients for whatever they were preparing for dinner. She dropped a large stack of thin, floury wonton wrappers in front of Azula and placed a large mixing bowl of raw meat in between her and the stubborn teen.

"Azula –"

"Princess Azula," Again. Azula's voice was cruel. Sumi paused for a moment.

"Your uncle specifically requested that I call you by your first name."

"Well my uncle is loser." Her arms were still folded and she didn't even bother to look at Sumi. Why would she even waste her time on a peasant anyway?

"He is a great man, and one I respect very much."

Azula snorted out of disgust.

"Have you ever made a dumpling?" Sumi grabbed a wonton wrapper and laid it gently in front of her. She grabbed two metal spoons out of the drawer, placed on in front of Azula, and used the other to scoop a small mound of meat to place onto the wrapper. Although the meat was raw, Azula could not help but find the smell delicious. She hadn't eaten in a couple of days, so it was difficult for her to think straight. She turned curiously to watch Sumi carefully grab a corner of the wonton wrapper and folded it over. She gently pressed the edges to seal it and then placed the perfectly wrapped dumpling onto a large slab of wood.

"Do you want to try? I tried to teach the Fire Lord how to make a dumpling, but he was actually quite awful at it." Sumi chuckled to herself and gazed thoughtfully at Azula. So Zuko was awful at making dumplings, huh? Once again, Azula will show her prowess at dumpling-making. After all, she was better at him when it comes to everything, and making dumplings is no exception. Azula grabbed the metal spoon, scooped an incredibly large mound of meat, and threw it onto the wonton wrapper. She attempted to fold the wonton wrapper, but the mound of meat was not allowing her. Her eyebrows furrowed out of frustration, and her lips began to tense. Stupid dumpling!

"That's not bad for your first dumpling," Sumi exclaimed as Azula held up her overstuffed dumpling. "It certainly looked a little better than the Fire Lord's."

A little? No. It had to look much better than Zuko's. Azula attempted to make another dumpling. And another. And another. And another. The slab of wood was suddenly filling up with overstuffed dumplings. Once Azula placed the last dumpling onto the wood, she laughed evilly. It was as if she had just conquered a village or won an Agni Kai. She turned to Sumi and pointed to the dumplings she made.

"Do these look a little better than his or are they much better than his?"

Sumi giggled and looked deeply into Azula's eyes. Her solemn eyes twinkled. "You remind me so much of someone I knew."

Azula was rather puzzled. What did that have to do with her dumplings? "Are mine better or not?"

Again Sumi giggled. "Your uncle will be quite proud. He loves stuffed dumplings."

The two continued to work diligently on the dumpling dinner. Azula was concentrating hard on making the perfect dumplings while Sumi was boiling water for the steamer and preparing the dipping sauce. Once Sumi was done with those preparations, she peered over Azula's shoulders and smiled an approving smile.

"You are quite talented, Azula." To Azula's own surprise, she didn't pay attention to the fact that Sumi forgot to say "princess." She was focusing on creating the perfect dumplings and besting her brother. The word "princess" simply wasn't her priority at the moment. "I think you've worked long and hard on wrapping those dumplings. I think that it is about time we steam them."

When Sumi saw that Azula ignored her, she grabbed both of the teenager's hands and gently pulled her over to the sink to wash up. She then grabbed a wooden slab and walked over to the steamer. She jerked her head to call Azula over. Azula didn't need any explanations. She grabbed a dumpling and placed it inside of the steamer. She then grabbed more and neatly aligned them until the steamer was completely full. Both women stood in front of the steamer waiting for the dumplings to cook. The aroma was tempting and made Azula's stomach growl angrily. Azula had to distract herself before she was going to fall over from hunger. The dumplings were not yet done, so it wasn't like she could steal one. She quickly turned to Sumi and examined the elderly lady who stared thoughtfully back at her.

"You mentioned that I reminded you of someone." It was just a statement, but it seemed to have caught Sumi off guard. The elderly woman nodded and stared blankly at Azula for the longest time. It was practically uncomfortable and Azula was just about the snap right back.

"When I was younger, I was… not in the best shape. I've suffered through some tough times. I've done things that I've regretted. Every time I remembered what I have done in my past, I have to wonder why I deserve to be here."

The young teen didn't respond. Perhaps that was her way of telling others to continue... or stop right there. Her arms wrapped around her growling stomach, and her eyes were fixed onto the steamer.

"Azula, when I was younger, I was born into a noble family who was stripped of their title for treason. In the end it was just a political game. We did… I did anything, anything, to try and get back what was mine. My title. My reputation. What for? Back then, I believed that my identity was my last name.

I've worked as a slave for many people. I was never happy and suffered greatly from what those people did to me. I've done things that I regret. But… someone taught me that life is a bunch of experiences that teach me lessons. I've learned that I am not defined by my title… I am defined by me."

There was a long, awkward pause. Sumi sighed and then smiled just slightly.

"I only hope, Azula, that you'll be able to find what defines you in due time."

Another awkward pause.

"I think the dumplings are done." Azula's voice sounded bored and distant. Sumi's eyes twinkled from the tears that welled up, but she continued to smile and work.