~ Everyone has a scheme ~
Azula desired the things that she could have and that Zuko could not. Mai had already betrayed her by liking Zuko. And Ty Lee was so flighty that it was often too hard to wrangle the girl to do what Azula wanted. Teo was perfect. She could order him around and he would have to obey her. He was the son of a slave, after all. Her mother would allow it because it would seem like she took pity on the cripple. But it would be much more difficult convincing her father and grandfather to agree.
Her plans were further stalled by being sick in bed for three days after getting soaked in the rain. As soon as he servants let her go, she ran to her father's study.
"Father! I desire a companion!" The young Fire Princess demanded as she stood before her father's desk.
Ozai looked down at his daughter, "A companion? What of your friends?"
"Mai and Ty Lee had to go home. They aren't allowed to stay here with me all the time."
"And how do you propose to solve this problem, Azula? Do you wish for a pet dragon?" he looked back down at his battle reports, casually leaving through them, making his daughter wait.
"No. I want the boy in the workshop," she said cooly. "He already belongs to the Fire Nation. I can order him to do whatever I want. I can in no way ever overpower me," Azula stated, though mentally she added that Teo was unique and Zuko would not be able to have one.
Ozai was surprised, his eyes shot straight to Azula. "You have been in the workshop?"
"The Mechanist fixed my music box after Zuko broke it," Azula remained casual, knowing that nobody but the guards assigned to the workshop, her uncle Iroh and Fire Lord Azulon himself was allowed to enter and leave.
"And... what did you see in there?"
"Nothing of interest. Maps. There was a drawing of a machine with wheels. More drawings of a man with one leg and some measurements. It was mostly empty," The princess commented on the workshop. Though it held several full shelves, there wasn't much going on in the shop itself that caught her eye. Except Teo, that is.
"My Father is wasting him," the Fire Prince stood and walked towards the window. "If I gave you this boy as your companion, you will have to agree to my terms, daughter."
She could feel her father giving in. Manipulating him was so easy. Just like everyone else. "Of course, Father."
"You will learn all your firebending forms before your brother. You will have the boy tell you what new projects the Mechanist is working on. And you will tell no one of these conditions. You will not harm him. If the boy dies, you will be punished severely. If you speak of this to anyone, I will kill the boy in front of you, is that clear?" Ozai stared down as his only daughter.
And she stared back up at him. "Perfectly, Father. I agree to all terms."
"You let her own the boy?" Ursa asked her husband when he joined her in their suite.
"Of course I did. The Mechanist will now be loyal to me. My Father is wasting his talent. The technology that we can have! All for what? The sake of an old deal made with an old man?" Ozai paced as he spoke. "Right now, all he's doing is keeping that Earthbender in a neutral position. But without breaking the bargain, we can use the Mechanist to our advantage."
"Azula will break that boy. He is fragile," Ursa shook her head.
"Playing with the boy should teach her control, a quality she currently lacks," he snorted and settled down beside his wife, pulling her to him. "Firebending in the rain."
Ursa settled against her husband, but her mind was not at ease.
The Mechanist was not happy as he watched the young Fire Princess push Teo's chair out of the workshop. He had worked hard to shelter his son from the treacherous political battleground they stood on. Tried to keep him from the harsh realities that they were just tiles on the global pai sho table. He gave up his name, his home, his family, his wife... all for nothing now that Teo was Azula's pet.
The Mechanist was stirred from his thoughts by the sounds of the guards being dismissed. He waited until he was alone with his visitor.
"I saw Teo with Azula. It is within the rules," Iroh said grimly.
"Yes. When she came for him, she stopped to look at everything. Ozai now has a spy inside my workshop. And Teo is how a player on the board," the Mechanist turned to face the other man.
"I'm afraid that you might not be able to follow a neutral stance anymore. Ozai is scheming and I cannot stop him. If he comes into power, I fear that all of our plans will be for nothing," Iroh moved over to the Mechanist's workbench and pulled out a hidden bottle of cactus juice and held it out to the younger man.
"Once you are in control here, then I can finally bring Teo to Omashu. But I fear Azulon is immortal. He must stay alive out of spite," the Mechanist took the offered bottle and took a long pull from it before offering it back to his old friend. "Apologies, Iroh. I did not mean to insult your family."
"No apologies necessary, my friend. The political machine crushes all that stand in its way. I am not so foolish to realize that my family has committed unspeakable acts against the world," Iroh sat down on a stool.
"Azulon and Ozai," the Mechanist started, sitting on the edge of the cluttered work bench, "I can bring this nation so much more than war, Iroh. I have drawn up plans for mechanical harvesters, irrigation systems, a printing press, elevators, steam powered trains. The possibilities are endless Iroh. But all they ever want are weapons. War machines."
"It cannot last forever, my friend. One side must fall. That is the way of things," Iroh commented. "But back to your original concern, Teo is a bright boy. He may yet temper Azula's rough edges. She will learn patience from him. And perhaps he will learn something as well."
"I hope so, Iroh. I hope so."
Azula pushed his chair out to the very edge of the garden they escaped to not a week before. She surprised him by spreading a blanket on the grass and set down a bag she brought with her. "Well?" she looked at him from her place on the blanket.
"Oh. Right." Teo proceeded to climb out of his chair and settled himself on the blanket. He then reached back to the pocket on the back of his chair and withdrew a battered old book. "Adventure Stories! Volume Seven: The Island of the Dragons!" He read the title to her and flipped to the first well, worn page. "Aza was a young firebender from a small village on Kirachu Island. But she was bored and longed for adventure."
"Where did you find this book?" Azula interrupted as she unpacked the lunch that her servants packed for them.
"The bottom shelves of the library, all the way in the back. This one was the only one that still had all of the pages," Teo admitted.
Azula considered this and nodded. "You may continue," she stated, laying down to listen to Teo read her the fictional story about a girl firebender and her adventures on the floating island. She imagined herself dancing on the mountain in front of the Dragon Queen and being invited to rule all of dragonkind. She was so enraptured with the story, that when Teo stopped reading, she blinked at the already darkening sky. "Wait... is that all? What happened to Aza and the golden egg? Is Fandhir going to live? Why did you stop?"
"The book ends. It says 'Continued in Volume Eight'," Teo showed her the offending line.
"Oh. So go get it then," she resumed her spot on the blanket, glancing towards the palace.
"This was the last book. The palace library didn't have Volume Eight," Teo set the book down, obviously disappointed by the fact that it ended so abruptly.
Azula grabbed the front of Teo's tunic and pulled him close. "I demand to know what happened! What. Happened. Next?"
Teo's mind whirled and he opened his mouth, "Just as Aza was about to lose to the swamp slugs, Fandhir swooped down from above, riding Tan'da, the white dragon. Fandhir had been injured in his fall and Tan'da had revived him, sharing her life force with his so that he would live. He pulled Aza to safety and they rode off with the golden egg."
Azula let go of Teo's shirt and he fell sideways onto the blanket. He rolled over onto his back, looking up at the evening sky as he continued. "Aza led them to the lava caves of Indor, where they could safely hatch the egg into the new DragonMother." Teo continued to make up the story until Azula's servants convinced her to go inside for supper.
"We will finish this tomorrow," she told Teo, who was left by himself to get back to the workshop.
"Of course, Aza," he whispered.