Colours
Many Years Ago:
The strokes were bold, but precise. Up, down. Side to side, a dot, a long, sinuous line, then shorter ones. Concentrating intently, she reached for another brush, the strokes now in red, rather than black. Up, down, again. A pause, a small sigh and then continuing until she reached for the yellow paints. Gold eyes looked intently over the paper, seeing if her work was done. But something was missing. Picking up the paints again, Azula put a fire lily in her mother's hand. Now, it was done and could be exhibited proudly, her developing technique expounded at length. She was so much better at this than hopeless little Zuzu, who 'Stickman Period' seemed to be an eternal one. Grabbing the paper by an unpainted corner, she hopped up and started to briskly walk off to her parent's chambers.
The guards all let her pass deferentially, as they should- she was a Princess, after all. She might have been all of eight years old, but she was still royalty and a being on an entirely different level than they were. Continuing with the paper in hand, she boldly strode on until she saw her Father. Holding the picture aloft, she looked up at her father with expectant eyes.
"It's a picture of Mother! Isn't it the best?"
Ozai looked down at her, his amber eyes darkening at the picture, which he snatched out of her hands. "It is not the place of Fire Nation Princesses to be fussing over paintings. You spend too much time painting, Azula."
Azula looked back up at him, confused, uncomprehending. Her face twitched into a frown. "But I'm good at it!" Azula whined, stamping the floor slightly with her heel. The tiny click of her small boot seemed to echo endlessly into the complete silence of the room.
"I don't want to see you painting any more. You must focus on your firebending and your lessons. It is your destiny to be a leader of our people, not a mere artisan." Suddenly, the paper burned up into ash. "There will be no more of this. Am I clear?"
"Yes ... yes, Father."
~.~
Cellmates
It had all happened so quickly. They had managed, somehow, to escape the city- possibly let go by the authorities which seemed more concerned about peace and order within than anything else. They'd barely managed to survive the crossing through the Desert, and immediately after having done that, they had stumbled into not a detachment of scouts but a full-fledged armoured division on the move. There had been no point even attempting to fight, but they'd tried anyway. Uncle had actually managed to destroy one of the tanks. But they'd been captured and were promptly moved, with an entire battalion to this hellish place. He'd heard of the Boiling Rock before, but apparently the purpose of the place had changed due to an executive decision. The regular criminals had all been moved out and replaced with traitors and prisoners of war. Zuko supposed it was to keep them away from any potential of doing harm. Nobody escaped the Boiling Rock, and even if they did, it was a long way by sea to anywhere. A sea that the Fire Nation had seized control of in the first few years of the war.
Nobody escaped the Boiling Rock, but he knew that he had to try and figure out a way, somehow. If he could make it back to the Earth Kingdom with Uncle, perhaps they could find another place to hide, in the colonies, until the war was over. Or Zuko could resume his hunt for the Avatar. Or something. Anything was better than being stuck here in this miserable prison for the rest of his life. Even worse, the prison had latterly become overcrowded and it had been ordered that all prisoners were now to be assigned cellmates. Zuko growled lowly at the thought of having to share the already small cell with another person, someone who most likely would not take kindly to sharing their cell with a Fire Nation traitor. He heard the guards coming towards his cell, probably bringing his new cell mate.
"Hey, prisoner." The guard called out, sounding particularly amused. "Stand up, nice and easy. Move to the corner. No funny moves." Zuko glared back and moved towards the corner.
Trying to make a break for it now would probably only get him killed.
"Meet your new cellmate." The second guard said, with a smirk on his face as he led the other prisoner into the cell.
A girl. A girl who immediately fixed him with a glare so withering that he couldn't help but cringe slightly. Though she was much smaller than him, and if anything, rather pretty, he couldn't possibly miss the intensity of that look. Even through the shapeless red prison garb, he could see hints that she was a warrior of some sort. And now that he looked at her a little more, she looked vaguely familiar.
For their part, the guards just laughed and closed the door, making crass jokes amongst themselves.
"... have we met?" He wanted to sound more commanding, but he found himself quite unable to move from that corner.
"Yeah. We've met." Her blue eyes narrowed. "You destroyed my village last winter."
"... oh. Um, sorry." Zuko replied, lamely.
"Save your breath." Suki growled at him. "You're lucky I don't kill you."
Zuko sighed at himself. This was going to be a very long and very unpleasant imprisonment.
~.~
Tough Love
Although the shared accomodations were pleasant enough, they had placed three beds in a single room. Meaning that it was impossible to be alone there. Fortunately, Azula had found the powder room and had promptly managed to hide herself in there, barring up the door with furniture. Curling her knees up tight to her chest, with angry, bitter, humiliated tears threatening to creep out of her eyes, she fixated, relentlessly, on the events of that afternoon. Long Feng had played her like a tsungi horn. She had left that room in an abject mess. But the real killer wasn't that- it was the seed that he had planted in her mind. What if her Father had simply abandoned her? She had failed him after all, and she knew as well as anyone that the Fire Lord did not tolerate incompetence, least of all from his family. She had failed him- why would he want to save her anyway? And if that was true, then she was alone in the world, a Princess without a throne. She didn't have the weight of royal authority, the power of a vast military and strong industry.
The very worst part of it was the way he had treated her, as if she was nothing but a poor girl who needed pity and sympathy. She growled lowly. She would one day avenge herself for that attitude. Somehow. But, she also wondered what the point even was.
Her desperate thoughts were interrupted by the door being broken down. Mai stood before her, looking down with an intense frown on her features. "Ty Lee told me all about what happened. I didn't expect to find you hiding like a little girl."
Azula's eyes blazed fire and she launched herself to her feet, feeling about ready to tear out Mai's throat. Without her knives, it would have been easy. "... you have no right to speak to me like that!" She snarled, forming fire in her hand. Mai made no move to leave or back down. Her infamously impassive expression was replaced by a look that seemed somewhere between worry and contempt.
"I'm sorry." Mai replied mockingly. "If you want hugs and rainbows, I'll go get Ty Lee."
"All I want is to be left alone!" Azula growled back. "None of you understand the situation. If Father has abandoned me ..."
Mai crossed her arms. "Oh yes, your Father. Your great and glorious father. Who mutilated your brother and banished him from the country. Your brother who was my boyfriend. He's such a great and glorious man that he has to torture a little boy, and abandon his own daughter. Well guess what, Azula? Daddy's not here and we're on our own." Mai took a breath. "So, are you going to give up or are you going to put some fire in your belly and do something about it?"
Azula glared at Mai. "Oh yes, leave it to you to bring up Zuzu again. He's not here either." She laughed. "Maybe Father's captured him, or he's dead."
"You want me to shut up about Zuko? Shut up about your Father and let's worry about ourselves." Mai replied evenly. Never mind what she thought herself, it was best not to let that out anyway. "So, do you want to curl up in here like a beaten dog or do you want to be useful?"
Azula glowered. "... I ought to kill you for speaking so impudently."
"Yeah, well, I'm a bitch because I care. Come on, go into the bedroom and collect your hugs and rainbows." Mai sighed.
"I won't forget this." Azula insisted, turning away a little bit to wipe her eyes. She left out details as to how she would remember that. Let Mai wonder, it served her right for her impudence.
Fool's Courage
The next day, Ty Lee found that her heart was a little less than fully in the gymnastics lessons she was giving Chu-Hua. The whole time, she couldn't help but think about Azula. It seemed unimaginable that her Father would abandon her, but ... Ozai had done more than one unimaginable thing in the past. A man that could mutiliate and banish her own daughter was capable of pretty much anything. Naturally, though she didn't know any of the details, Chu-Hua had picked up on her mood. She'd dodged the questions. A small, petty part of her kind of wanted to tell her everything about the evil things her father had done. But that would do nothing but hurt an innocent girl, and Ty Lee refused. As horrible a man as Long Feng was, she could tell, from his aura and his actions that he really did care for his daughter. His keeping her from most of the rest of the world was just, a way to try and protect her. Nonetheless, she found herself waiting for the Director himself to come and speak to her.
Long Feng entered his personal office and sat down at the desk, facing Ty Lee. "Firstly, you made the right decision by refraining from telling details. However, your attitude remains troubling. It is vitally important that Chu-Hua not suspect that anything untoward is going on. And you've become very dear to her." Too dear, by any reasonable measurement, but the young Fire Nation girl, had, on balance, proven a more positive than a negative influence. She made his daughter happy and that was sufficient. And for Ty Lee, quite necessary. "I do not want her to be troubled."
Ty Lee shook for a moment, not with anxiety or fear but anger. "Fine. I'll act nice and happy for her. I won't tell her that her Father is a bully and a tyrant who likes to push people around. You knew that would hurt Azula, worse than anything could. You knew from your spies that she worshipped her father and the ground he walked on! I bet you suspected all along that he'd do this!"
Long Feng leaned forward slightly, his green eyes meeting Ty Lee's grey ones. His expression remained largely impassive, but his aura darkened slightly and his tone sounded a little more threatening than usual. "I will not have my actions questioned by you, of all people. You would be better served by helping your friend than trying to attack me, as would she."
Ty Lee crossed her arms. "What are you going to do? Turn me into a Joo Dee? Torture and kill me? I'd like to see you explain that to your daughter. Who is lonely and sad because you keep her away from the entire world."
Long Feng's face curled into a deep frown. "I will not brook criticism of my actions as a parent."
"I think you're looking for revenge. Because you know you were almost beaten by a teenage girl." Ty Lee replied, her tone nearly a growl. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop pushing her. Because Azula is better and smarter than you'll ever be, and one day she will beat you and you know it."
Long Feng suppressed the brief, irrational urge to strike the girl but found himself unable to stop chuckling, a reaction that was if anything, even stranger. "You're a very brave young woman. And a very loyal friend." His tone evened out as the initial anger faded, his aura returning to the dark hazy green it normally was. "I believe that it would be wisest, and the best for Azula, if she agreed to work with me. I think it would be wisest for you to help her towards making that commitment. And of course, by continuing to amuse Chu-Hua. She adores you."
Ty Lee looked down at the ground, flushing angrily. "Is that everything?"
"Yes. For now." Long Feng replied, with a false friendliness. "The guards will return you to your rooms." He looked at Ty Lee again. "I no longer care for revenge. If she is prepared to work with me, than I am quite prepared to reward her handsomely for it. And that applies to you and Mai as well."
~.~
Training Day
Hakka had adopted a punishing training schedule in the days since he had been humiliated by the Earthbender girl underneath Lake Laogai. He wanted to make himself better and stronger, so that if he ever met her again, he could beat her. After all, she wasn't some sort of invincible earth spirit, but a human being and that meant she had weaknesses and vulnerabilities. He would have to become a better, stronger Earthbender, but also a smarter one, to stand a chance against ... Toph. Although he knew, and believed firmly that the Dai Li were a collective organization and was aware of the potential risks of his quest to become, individually, a stronger Earthbender, he believed that the organization also needed a champion, a master Earthbender who could fight and defeat other great masters in single combat. As the top Earthbender in his class and, as Long Feng himself had pointedly commented, the only Dai Li agent to last more than a single minute in single combat with the girl, he was being groomed for that role.
It was a serious responsibility of course, but it was also a honour that he relished. Unlike many of his compatriots, he was not a natural policeman or a spy, but he was extremely good at Earthbending. That talent was what had led to his induction into the family of the Dai Li. And now, he was going to hone that talent to the greatest heights possible. They had located two new masters for him to train with, masters that had their own personal grudge against Toph. From Master Yu, he would learn to manipulate the ground itself, defeating enemies with minimal effort and expenditure of energy. Xin Fu would build his raw strength and driving power. He had already mastered the Dai Li fighting style from Quan Shi, his superior officer, and there had been mysterious promises of yet more masters to train with in the future.
Taking a breath, he stepped into the ring, where both Xin Fu and Master Yu stood, ready to engage him in battle. While it was not a battle to the death, he knew that neither of the two Earthbending masters were going to hold back. And neither was he. The gong for the match began. Xin Fu was the first one to attack, levitating several rocks and kicking them towards him with ferocious force, but higher than he should have, allowing Hakka to easily drop low to the ground and slide along it. However, once he did that, Master Yu attempted to open up the Earth and swallow him in it, with no more than a simple stomping motion. Hakka reached out with his feet and slid right into the trap, but moving right through it and continuing to tunnel through the Earth before emerging much closer to the two men, launching his rock gloves at the two of them to try and get a grip on them. Xin Fu broke the rock glove in midair with a well-timed boulder, while Master Yu simply vanished into the Earth for a moment coming up and quickly punching the rock glove out of the air with a rock pillar.
"Very clever, my boy. But you'll have to do better than that to beat the two of us!" Master Yu cheerfully called out as he tried once again to swallow Hakka within the Earth, at the same time that Xin Fu punched another, enormous boulder at him. This time, Hakka chose a more unorthodox defence, leaping up and landing on top of the flying boulder with the rock boots he favored using himself. Using all of his concentration, all of his strength, he punched outwards at the air and stopped the boulder's momentum. Spreading his fists outward, he flattened the boulder into a floating platform, sending small chunks off of it towards the two masters with a series of rapid punching motions. The two Masters dodged the attacks, with Xin Fu, kicking a series of other large boulders towards him. Knowing that he couldn't simultaneously control his platform and change the motion of the boulders sent towards him, Hakka turned around swiftly, putting himself behind his rock platform and charged as hard as he could.
It worked better than he had hoped. He punched right through Xin Fu's strongest attack. Making a backflip off of his platform, he broke it into a shower of small pieces with his mind, sending them outwards in a massive arc. Hakka grinned to himself. This battle was going so much better ...
Hairbrushing
Chu-Hua had been given an elaborate new dress for her birthday, in brilliant hues of green as she had requested. Long Feng had brought in a top cosmetician from one of the city's elite salons to have her hair and such made up for the party. Her guests, and as it turned out, her guests largely consisted of Ty Lee and her two friends were to receive similar treatment before the party. Mai looked positively annoyed at being made up, and even though Ty Lee and the stylists enthusiastically agreed that she looked marvellous, the truth was that Mai frankly preferred being somewhat plain. Being pretty drew attention to herself that she did not particularly desire. Ty Lee usually preferred simplicity as well, but dressing up and having her hair and makeup done by professionals was fun to do, once in awhile. Azula, on the other hand, seemed more like her old self than she had been ever since they had been captured, barking orders to the stylists and looking, by any standard, gorgeous.
However, Azula had given very specific orders that they were not to touch her hair. She had a few stylists in the Fire Nation capital that she had eventually learned to trust with what she judged to be her most stunning feature, but they were not here. Instead, she left the task of washing, brushing and styling her hair to Ty Lee. Although Ty Lee was not a master of elaborate styles, she could be trusted not to ruin the perfection of nature. And, of course, there was another reason that Azula hated having her hair brushed by strangers. She enjoyed it to an embarrassing extent. Normally a fierce, demanding woman, she found herself practically purring as her best friend brushed out her hair.
"I'm really glad that you and Mai are coming to Chu-Hua's party. She's really eager to meet you. Both for being a Princess and because you can actually play Pai Sho." Ty Lee smiled, working the brush. "She's such a sweet, lovely girl. I think you'll like her."
"I do not enjoy small children, Ty Lee." Azula replied, her tone far more relaxed than usual. |Still, it is important that I make the very strong impression with the Director that my breakdown was a temporary phenomenon at best."
"Of course." Ty Lee smiled, continuing to brush her hair. "... you really, really like this, don't you?"
Azula actually blushed slightly. "It's pleasant enough."
"I think you should wear your hair down more often. Your hair is so gorgeous." Ty Lee took a breath. She had very, very nearly said, "like your mother's". It was true, though, she had inherited her mother's hair. Though, come to think of it, her father's hair was pretty impressive too. The Royal Family really knew how to take care of themselves. Sadly, they seemed to know very little or nothing about caring for each other.
"It is not practical." Azula replied with a small sigh.
"Well, isn't it practical to be the most beautiful person you can be? To influence people?" Ty Lee smiled. "I'm not a genius like you, but I do know a thing or two about that sort of thing."
"If you mention a boy, any boy, I will scream." Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't see what's so impressive about them anyway."
Ty Lee continued to brush Azula's hair, tempted to inquire further about that, but really not wanting to push things. Azula was in an unusually good mood as things stood now, and Ty Lee didn't see the sense in ruining that with silly questions. Ones that would probably lead nowhere good, anyway. "I think you should just wear your hair in a very simple style. Fancy hairdos are for people that don't have hair as gorgeous as yours is, anyway."
~.~
Happy Birthday, Chu-Hua!
Chu-Hua waited in the villa for Ty Lee and her friends to arrive. Some of the children of the Dai Li officials were also there of course, but for the most part, they simply paid their respects and left extravagant presents. When Ty Lee entered the room, Chu-Hua instinctively launched herself at her gymnastics teacher and gave her a big hug. Ty Lee for her part, hugged her back tightly. Stepping back from the hug, Chu-Hua looked up to see Ty Lee's two friends. Both Azula and Mai returned her gaze with a slightly uncertain look. Neither of them were naturals with children.
"So, which one of you is the Princess?" Chu-Hua asked. They both looked like they could be princesses after all. The tall lady was elegant, and the one with the long dark hair was pretty like a princess should be.
"I am." Mai replied in a deadpan tone, before Azula shot her a glare. Mai sighed loudly. "No, she is." Mai indicated Azula. "She's very knowledgeable about princessly affairs. I'm sure she'd be happy to answer all of your questions." The last statement sounded more amused than anything. Going to a little girl's birthday party sounded like a terrible time, but watching Azula be badgered by a small child whom she was powerless against? Priceless.
"Awesome!" Chu-Hua replied, looking up at Azula. "Is it true that you can make fire? Can I see?"
Azula sighed slightly. If she had to take an arrow for the sake of the plan, so be it. She feigned cheerfulness and planted her best giant smile on her face. "Why yes! Yes I can." And promptly, at that moment, every flickering light in the room suddenly transformed itself into a much brighter blue flame, as she spawned twin orbs of blue flame from each of her outstretched palms. Ty Lee, looking mortified, tried her best to mouth 'You're going to scare her!'. Chu-Hua for her part looked at Azula with wide green eyes.
"That is the coolest thing I have ever seen. Show me another trick!" Chu-Hua grinned.
"I believe that is enough for now ..." Long Feng interjected, making his way to them as the flames went down to normal. "Besides. It's almost time to open your presents." He took his daughter's hand and led her over to where a veritable mountain of boxed and wrapped items had accumulated. Chu-Hua turned back with a grin.
"We're gonna play Pai Sho later, okay? I'm really good!"
Ty Lee smiled at Azula. "Aww, she likes you already! Isn't that nice?" Ty Lee certainly thought it was wonderful. "Doesn't it make you want to have kids of your own one day?"
"No." Azula replied. "It does not."
Ty Lee looked particularly disappointed at that for a moment before smiling again. "C'mon, let's see what Earth Kingdom people give kids for birthday presents."
"Oooh. How exciting. Can we watch paint dry tomorrow?" Mai rolled her eyes at her exuberant friend.
Only Azula noticed the messenger hawk flying towards Long Feng's villa. She narrowed her eyes a little bit, wondering what the Director was up to now. Her eyes going back to the party, she put on another smile. "Come now, Mai, you're being positively ... ... un-fun. Let us go see what the Earth Kingdom peasants consider to be amusing articles for children."
~.~
Hakka was slightly annoyed that he had been relegated, today, to the task of initial interrogation of prisoners. He felt it was a task slightly below him, particularly with his recent training as the Dai Li's primary Earthbending master, but the usual interrogator was sick with cowchicken pox and he had been slated to fill the gap. After all, the Dai Li was a family and families pitched in to get important work done. He read the roll of individuals taken into custody- most of whom were insignificant. One leaped out slightly at him, though. The code following her name indicated that she was of Fire Nation descent. He looked towards the administrative assistant.
"I want the Fire Nation woman sent in next." Hakka barked out. The administrative assistant, a Joo Dee, smiled blankly at him and went to go fetch her for him. After a few minutes, she returned with two guards and the woman in question. Hakka looked at her for a moment. She was, he assumed, in her early forties or so- very attractive and clearly Fire Nation. Looking at her again for a moment, he realized that she bore a distinct similarity to Long Feng's 'special guest', the Fire Nation Princess. Not precisely the same, it was true- her face was a little longer, but the eyes and the hair were almost eerily similar.
He looked at her for a moment. "Take a seat. Answer all the questions that I ask you truthfully. Admission of any crimes you have committed before accusation nearly always results in reduced sentences, as would any information that you believe could possibly be relevant to us. We shall begin with your name."
"Ying." The woman replied impassively.
"You're Fire Nation. What are you doing in Ba Sing Se?" Hakka raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I am of ... mixed descent. I'm a simple refugee, just like tens of thousands of others. I've done nothing wrong." The woman replied, looking down when she mentioned 'mixed descent' and sounding slightly choked at the rest of it. Hakka couldn't help but make a slight sound at that. She could be lying of course, but it was not as if such stories were unique. He watched her carefully. So far, she seemed sincere enough.
"Please. I have two young children ... my husband was lost in the war. Let me go." She seemed like a proud woman, but on the verge of tears.
Still. Hakka couldn't help the curiosity. Leaning forward slightly, he asked the one question that he wanted to know the whole time since he'd first seen her.
"Do you know someone by the name of Azula?"
The woman's eyes widened. "Azula?"
"Mmmhmm. She's in our custody." Hakka then leaned back again. "And now I know you've been lying. So ... why don't you tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and maybe, just maybe you'll get to see her."
Ursa cursed herself for the loss of discipline, but if she could go see her daughter, then perhaps it was a blessing in disguise anyway. She hadn't seen either of her children in years and had assumed that she'd never see either of them again. She swallowed, realizing that now, the only viable strategy was to make herself as valuable as possible to the Dai Li. She'd heard about the Dai Li from the White Lotus agents that had helped her along, first to Omashu, and then, when Omashu had fallen, to Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately, her contact on the city side had been severed when the Dai Li had taken over the entire city.
"My real name is Ursa, a former Princess of the Fire Nation. The Princess Azula is my daughter." She looked at him, proud and defiant, now that there was no value in acting like the frightened refugee, an act she despised. She was a proud woman, after all, and one who had done terrible things to protect her children.
Hakka, for his part, immediately got the administrative assistant to have a hawk sent to Long Feng. This could not wait.
