Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. I was putting off writing this chapter because I didn't feel like writing it, plus I had my other works to focus on as well. But I'm giving you guys a good, juicy chapter to make up for it. This one takes place during Return to Omashu.


Exquisite Manipulation


Almost two weeks after their encounter with Iroh and Zuko, Azula was beginning to get restless. Izanami could tell that she was growing tired of having to wait on her ship to get them from one place to the next one. Personally, Izanami thought that it they would make more progress travelling on land rather than water. How else are they supposed to find Iroh and Zuko when they're probably miles away from them?

Azula spent most of her time training, by herself and with Izanami. Izanami always appreciated Azula's help when it came to her firebending. Under her direction, Izanami was able to improve and strengthen it far beyond what she could do on her own. It still amazed Izanami that Azula was only fourteen, yet she managed to possess as much power as she did. She could frighten anyone, even Izanami at times.

Izanami was currently resting in her room after a training session with Azula when there was a knock on her door. She opened it to see one of Azula's many servants standing there. Izanami didn't even bother learning their names since there was so many of them.

"What is it?" Izanami asked.

"Princess Azula has requested your presence on the ships deck," the servant replied.

Izanami nodded, "Thank you. I can make it from here on my own."

The servant bowed as he walked away. It felt weird whenever Azula's servants waited on her, since Izanami could take care of myself just fine. Unlike Izanami, Azula thrived on having her servants do everything for her. Once Izanami was dressed in the appropriate clothing, she made her way to the ships deck which was where Azula was waiting for her, along with her mentors, Lo and Li. Several other guards were bowing down in two separate lines in front of her.

"You requested my presence, Princess Azula?" Izanami asked with a hint of uncertainty, since she wasn't really sure if this was a formal occasion or not.

"Yes, and there is no need to be formal with me, Izana. Please stand by my side," Azula said.

Izanami nodded and did as told, "Not that I don't want to be here, but why am I here?"

"We have made little progress on our mission to capture my failure of a brother and my traitorous uncle. We need to regroup and come up with a stronger plan so that we can succeed in our mission. Father cannot be disappointed. I have asked Lo and Li for their input and as I have said to you before, I value your opinion as well," Azula explained.

"Well, I do think that we would be able to move much faster without this ship," Izanami admitted.

"Miss Izanami has a point, Princess," the twin on Azula's right agreed with her.

"When tracking your brother and uncle, travelling with the royal procession may no longer be an option," the one on her left started.

"May no longer be wise," the twin on her right finished.

"If you hope to keep the element of surprise," they both said in unison, which freaked Izanami out just like it always did when they spoke like that.

"You're right," Azula agreed, "The Royal Procession is dead weight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble. I need a small, elite team. It's time to visit some old friends."

Izanami raised her eyebrows. Azula hardly had any people that she'd consider 'friends' since the notion of friendship was almost foreign to her. Izanami then realised that there could be only two people she was referring to.

"You mean Mai and Ty Lee?" Izanami asked.

"Yes. Lo and Li, you are dismissed. I want a carriage ready for myself and Izanami within the next ten minutes," Azula ordered.

"Yes, Princess," Lo and Li said before leaving us alone.

"You are all dismissed as well," Azula said to the guards who were bowing in front of her, who did as they were told.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Izanami asked.

"Were going to find our old friends and form an elite team so we can successfully track down Iroh and Zuko," Azula replied.

"But, didn't Ty Lee run off to join the circus? And we haven't seen Mai in over a year too," Izanami pointed out.

"No worries. I know exactly where they are now, so it shouldn't be a problem. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't keep tabs on them?" Azula asked.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, "Right."

"We'll be leaving shortly, so I suggest you go and get anything that might be necessary for us," Azula suggested.

"Okay. I'll meet you then, Azula," Izanami said before heading off to my room.

Izanami really shouldn't have been surprised that Azula would know exactly where Mai and Ty Lee were. She was the kind of person to know where everyone was, even people that she didn't like. The last time Izanami had seen Ty Lee was almost two years ago, when she said that she was running off to join the circus. That didn't really surprise Izanami, since Ty Lee was always crazily flexible. As for Mai, the two rarely saw much of each other since her father was always off doing Fire Lord Ozai's deeds for him, so Izanami hadn't seen her in over a year.

But it looked like that was all about to change.

~*•°•*~

It didn't take Azula and Izanami long to find the circus where Ty Lee was. When Azula said she knew exactly where she was, she wasn't kidding. It was a day after they'd left Azula's ship when the girls arrived at Ty Lee's circus. Now all they had to do was find her. Izanami figured that it shouldn't be too hard to find someone like Ty Lee. She did always have her quirks.

"I never would've expected Ty Lee to end up in a place like… this," Izanami admitted, glancing around at where they were.

Truth be told, Izanami had never been to a circus before. From what she'd heard, it was a place of uncultured nonsense, but Izanami had a feeling that was just the Fire Nation's propaganda at work. Not that she agreed with it, the place did appear to be rather… uncultured.

"We'll be doing her a favour by getting her out of here," Azula agreed, "Now all we have to do is find her."

They spent a few minutes walking around, not wanting to make a big scene with their appearance. Not many people noticed them or even reacted to them, which surprised Izanami since one of them was the Fire Nation Princess. But Azula didn't seem too bothered by that. After looking around for a while, Izanami caught the sight of a familiar plait up ahead and she knew that it could only belong to one person.

Izanami nudged Azula, "She's over there."

"Ah, there she is. Just let me do the talking, Izana," Azula said as they walked towards their old friend.

When they found where Ty Lee was, she was standing on her index fingers. Ty Lee's flexibility always astounded Izanami, since she never understood how a person could be that flexible. Ty Lee didn't seem to notice us when we arrived, though.

"Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?" Azula asked once they reached her.

That seemed to get her attention as Ty Lee's face instantly lit up in a smile when her eyes landed on the two girls standing in front of her.

"Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

Ty Lee then flipped from her stance and spun around in a graceful twirl to bow down before Azula. She then ran forward to embrace Azula in a hug.

"It is so good to see you!" Ty Lee exclaimed before hugging Izanami as well, "And you too, Izana."

"I've missed you, Ty Lee," Izanami said, smiling.

"Please, don't let us interrupt your…" Azula trailed off as she raised an eyebrow in wonder, "whatever it is you were doing."

Ty Lee smiled as she did a back flip and ended up lying on her chest with one leg stretched out over her head and the other straight up to the sky. It seemed as though the circus had only enhanced her flexibility.

"Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here?" Azula asked as she glanced around before glancing back at Ty Lee, "Certainly our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in…" Azula trailed off as she looked to her side, "places like this."

Azula and Izanami glanced to their side as three men tried to move a platypus bear. The Bear groaned and moved up to reveal that it had laid an egg. Azula and Izanami shared a look of disgust before turning their attention back to Ty Lee, who was still grinning even at the sight of the disgusting egg.

"I have a proposition for you," Azula began, which grabbed Ty Lee's attention as she glanced at her in wonder while Azula looked casually at her nails, "I'm hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, don't you?"

Ty Lee rested on her chest and elbows, but now with both of her feet resting on her head, "Oh yeah. He was so funny."

Izanami couldn't help but agree with her. Iroh did always have a sense of humour. Azula never really appreciated it though. She was too busy being the perfect daughter that Ozai wanted her to be.

"I would be honoured if you would join me on my mission," Azula offered.

"Oh… I… uh… would love to," Ty Lee trailed off as she stood up in a fluidly elegant movement while she smiled happily, "But the truth is, I'm really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!"

Azula raised up her hand in a "stop" motion to Ty Lee, "I'll take your word for it. Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me."

Izanami raised her eyebrow out of curiosity. Azula seemed set on having Ty Lee join us, there was no way that she would just give up. She had a feeling that Azula wouldn't be letting this go lightly.

Ty Lee bowed in respect, "Thank you, Azula."

She then continued stretching as the two of them walked away before Azula addressed her, "Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch your show. Izana as well, of course."

There it was. Now Izanami knew that Azula had something up her sleeve. Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami saw Ty Lee break her stance and heard a slight gasp, almost in panic. She continued her stretch once more and Izanami could tell that she was now worried. Azula had that effect on people.

"Uh… yeah… sure… uh… of course…" Ty Lee trailed off hesitantly.

The two girls walked in silence until they left the circus area. All Izanami could say was that it certainly lived up to the Fire Nation's propaganda.

"You're not giving up on this, aren't you?" Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, "You know me too well, Izana."

~*•°•*~

When night rolled around, Azula and Izanami made their we back to the circus where Ty Lee would be performing that night. Izanami wasn't too sure how Azula was going to get Ty Lee to join them, but Izanami decided not to question her antics. Of course, Azula had to get the best seat in the house which was practically a giant box with two guards by her side. Izanami only had a small seat to sit on compared to Azula's. Izanami was just a mere peasant compared to her. Down below, two performers dressed in dragons were dancing around in front of the circus master who turned to address the crowd.

"We're deeply honoured to have the Fire Lord's daughter at our humble circus," he addressed them.

"Not humble enough to welcome my dear friend as well," Azula said, gesturing to Izanami as she gave him a nervous wave.

"The Princess's dearest friend has also joined us for the evening as well," the circus master added nervously.

Azula nodded in approval, "Much better."

The circus master glanced back at Azula, "Uh… tell us if there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable."

"I will," Azula replied.

High above the circus ring, Ty Lee balanced on a rope, high up in the air on one hand over a net. She was wearing rather colourful clothing. Ty Lee probably enjoyed that, since she always wore bright clothing when she was free to do so. Both Azula and Izanami were impressed with Ty Lee's performance. That was certainly something that Izanami knew she couldn't do. Izanami could only imagine the amount of hours and training that Ty Lee must've had to go through to perfect herself.

"Incredible," Azula praised her, "Do you think she'll fall?"

"Of course not," the circus master replied confidently.

"Then wouldn't it be more interesting if you removed the net?" Azula asked nonchalantly, looking directly down at the circus master. Izanami was beginning to see where Azula was going with this, which made her worried for Ty Lee.

The circus master had a concerned look on his face as he trailed off, "Uh… the thing is… the performers…"

"You're right, you're right. That's been done," Azula interrupted him with a dismissive wave before continuing in a dark tone of pleasure, "I know. Set the net on fire."

"Of course, Princess," the circus master replied worriedly.

With a worried look on his face, the circus master left the box to set the net on fire. Izanami glanced at Azula who smirked at her as she watched Ty Lee's performance. For her sake, Izanami hoped that Ty Lee wouldn't let the pressure get to her. Izanami could see that the circus master was balling his fists and clenching his teeth, so he could only be hopping that his act would survive this one.

"Brilliant, just brilliant!" Azula praised ecstatically as she looked down at the circus master as she happily asked, "Ooh, what kind of dangerous animals do you have?"

The circus master looked up at Azula with a look of hope on his face. He must've thought he could change the subject to save Ty Lee from her burning peril. But Izanami knew where Azula was going with this.

"Well, our circus boasts the most exotic assortment –" he began.

"Release them all!" Azula interrupted him.

The circus master looked utterly shocked by Azula's command, even Izanami was at what she was ordering. It wasn't long before several animals came running into the circus, echoing loud noises throughout the room. Izanami leaned down towards Azula, wanting to distract her from causing Ty Lee anymore trouble.

"What are you doing?" Izanami hissed.

Azula grinned, "Just trust me, Izana. Do you really think that I would purposefully hurt Ty Lee?"

"I'm not sure," Izanami admitted.

Azula shrugged, "Fair enough. Now sit back and enjoy the show!"

Izanami sighed as I sat back in my seat, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop Azula from doing what she wanted. There were times when the Princess would listen to Izanami, but she knew that this wasn't one of them.

~*•°•*~

Much to Izanami's relief, Ty Lee had managed to survive her dangerous performance. Azula didn't just stop after ordering the circus master to let out the wild animals. Once she was bored of that, Azula ordered him to fire all sorts of obstacles her way, but Ty Lee successfully remained on her pole. Izanami was relieved too, since even though Azula might be a cold person, Izanami knew that she wouldn't be okay if Ty Lee had seriously hurt herself.

After the performance was over, Azula and Izanami went to visit Ty Lee in her dressing room. When we walked in, Izanami could see all sorts of circus material in there as Ty Lee sat at her desk and looked through the mirror in front of her.

"What an exquisite performance. I can't wait to see how you'll top yourself tomorrow," Azula praised her.

"You were really great, Ty Lee. What you did tonight was something I could only dream of doing," Izanami added.

Ty Lee smiled at us in the mirror, "I'm sorry guys, but unfortunately there won't be a show tomorrow."

"Really?" Azula asked nonchalantly as Ty Lee went to hang up her tiara.

"Why not?" Izanami asked.

"The universe has given me strong hints that it's time for a career change," Ty Lee replied as she got up and turned to face us, "I want to join you on your mission."

Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami saw a satisfied grin creep onto Azula's face as she pondered Ty Lee's words. The 'universe' huh? More like Azula's unorthodox methods.

"Excellent, Ty Lee. I hate to rush you, but we do not have much time to waste so I suggest you pack now and meet us at the front. We'll pass the message onto the circus master that you won't be of his service anymore, won't we Izana?" Azula said.

Izanami sighed, "Of course we will."

Although they weren't the methods that Izanami would've use, Azula's tactics had managed to get Ty Lee on board with them. Now that they had Ty Lee on their side, all they had to do was find Mai. And Izanami had a feeling that it wouldn't be too hard to convince Mai to join them.


I originally had more of this chapter written, but when I was writing it towards the end I decided to leave the rest out and leave it for the next chapter. It's mostly written so it shouldn't take too long to upload, but I'll post it faster if you guys leave me some reviews. I'll see you guys then.