Wanted
By: Agent-Ayu
Chapter 6
Notes: I have the next chapter planned out, but not written. Still struggling through GWWR's revised chapter, but I also have this one on my mind a lot recently. Thanks to everyone who has and is still waiting patiently on either Wanted and/or GWWR.
Influence/Inspiriation for Chapter 7 [next chapter]: "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." - Avatar Aang (Legend of Korra)
Disclaimer: Disclaimer from Prologue still applies.
Jing groaned as she turned onto her back. Training under Azula has been a lot of work, but Jing was having fun learning more about firebending. Except for standing in knee high water working on her breathing training.
"I went overboard with her training, didn't I?" Azula asked Yu as he checked his daughter's temperature.
"A little. I may not be a firebender, but having to stand in the water during winter might have been too excessive for her level, right, Jing?" Yu smiled down at his daughter.
The young firebender groaned and pulled her covers up to her chin. Yu chuckled again before leaving the teacher and pupil to finish making dinner. Azula grabbed the chair from Jing's desk area to sit by the bed.
"Sorry about this kid, I really did not try to have you fall ill. But now you understand the importance of breathing, right?" Both Jing and Azula laughed. "For the record you could always object if something I say sounds unreasonable."
"But you're a bit scary when someone objects you. There's a reason Dad won't let you buy the groceries anymore."
"That lady was overcharging and then tried to pass it for poor harvesting season. If harvesting was so poor in your village this year, she wouldn't have had barrels of berries behind her stand."
"See. You just got a little scary just now. Are you always so angry and uptight?"
Azula crossed her arms and let out a forceful deep breath, refusing to answer Jing. The young firebender giggled before having a coughing fit. Jing felt Azula rubbing her back as she tried to stop coughing, which only made her cough harder. When the coughing ceased Jing was handed a glass of water.
"I miss my mom." Jing mumbled as she leaned into Azula's side subconsciously.
The princess was caught off guard by what Jing had said and because the girl was leaning against her seeking comfort. There were only a few people she allowed to do this and even then it seldom happened. Slowly Azula wrapped her arms around the girl and held her.
"I know what you mean." She felt Jing shift so the young firebender was looking at her. "When I was about your age my mother left… well, banished actually. Not the point though… she had been gone for about a month and I caught a nasty case of hay fever. No matter how sincere or adamant some of the servants were about me taking the medicine, I didn't want them to give it to me. I just wanted my mother."
Jing wrapped her arms around her teacher's waist and gently squeezed. She wanted Azula to continue. "What did your mother do when you were sick?"
A small smile tugged at Azula's lips as she reencountered a memory. "There's this place in the Fire Nation called 'Ember Island'. Ember Island is this vacation resort for those in Caldera City and high-ranking officers. I was five and caught a cold, so I couldn't go to the beach to play with my brother and cousin. My mother stayed with me the whole time. Originally that year we were supposed to go to the theatre to see a played based on one of her favorite stories, but because I was sick we couldn't go. Instead she bought the book and read it to me over and over again to the point it became one of my favorite stories too." Azula gave a small sad chuckle. "The next year the theatre put on the play again after high demand, and we went to see it."
"AND?" Jing asked loudly.
"'And' what?"
"How was it?"
"It sucked. The Ember Island Players butchered the story! And my mother made us see it every year because she loved it!"
"What was the story and play?"
"'Love Amongst the Dragons'. It's a popular Fire Nation tale."
Jing shot up. "That's my mommy's favorite story too!" She winced as she felt dizzy and a lot of pressure in her head from sitting up too fast. "She told me she used to see the play every year when she lived in the Fire nation."
Azula slowly helped lower Jing to the bed as Jing continued talking. "My mommy even read me that story when I was sick, but not often. She always seemed so sad when she saw it in my book." Jing let out a yawn. "I wonder if our mommies knew each other."
"Who knows kid… may be they did." Azula replied with an empty voice. "I'll bring you dinner when it's ready. Rest for now."
"Azula?"
The princess stopped at the doorway and turned back to her student. "Yes?"
Jing pulled the covers up to her chin nervously. "Will you read me 'Love Amongst the Dragons' after dinner?"
Azula's face softened. "Are you sure you want me to read it? That's something you and your mother do."
"I don't know… you remind me of her a lot, but my mommy is nicer than you."
"Watch it, kid." Azula quickly countered in a playful way. "Fine, I'll read it to you. For now rest."
She walked to her room and fell face first onto her bed, being very un-lady like. Slowly she turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling as an uneasy feeling began to settle in her stomach. Azula did not believe in coincidences; all she needed was more information to confirm her feelings.
After Ursa's disappearance, Azula had stared at maps of the Fire nation and the Earth Kingdom trying to figure out where her mother was banished. She had teased Zuko that their mother could have been on one of the many smaller islands of the Fire Nation and had just been banished from the main land. But both siblings knew she wasn't in the Fire nation. They knew she was somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. Ursa was a needle in the haystack here.
Zuko had told her how he went to their father to try and find their mother. His first year as Fire Lord was a mess and almost caused another war to break out. All because he lacked the confidence and kept going back to their father and in the end their father didn't tell Zuko the whereabouts of their mother. He had asked Azula if she would try and get the information out of him, but she refused. She didn't want to see Ozai ever again.
While traveling in the Earth Kingdom during the war, she had given herself many false hopes that possibly she might have found Ursa in one of the Fire Nation colonies. There were times while she was with June she thought of accidentally finding her mother. No luck.
Azula slowly let out the breath she was holding. "Shit…" She mumbled as she sat up. "The kid is my sister. The kid… is my sister. My mother is on Kyoshi Island. Ty Lee has to know it's her. But… what if I am wrong and our mothers are just very similar? No, there are too many similarities between her mother and mine. My mother has to be Jing's mother too." Upon hearing the clattering of dishes, Azula thought now was a good time as any to ask Yu more about his wife.
"Oh hey! How is Jing doing?" Yu asked when he saw Azula walk in.
"She's resting until dinner is ready. Jing also said something that has me wondering. She said that her mother, your wife, saw the Ember Island Players when she lived in the Fire Nation."
Yu placed a couple of bowls on a tray. "From what I can recall she did mention that a few times to us. Is there something significant about them?"
"Besides the fact they can't act or tell a story properly, the Ember Island Players only perform on Ember Island. That island is only opened to the noble families of Caldera City and high-ranking officers. So, is your wife from a noble family and what is her name?" Azula clenched her jaw as she tried to remain calm. She could feel her heart beating hard against her chest.
"She is from a noble family. I think she told me that her father worked as one of Fire Lord Azulon's officials." He passed the tray to Azula. "And her name… I'll let Jing tell you."
Azula gave Yu a look before taking the tray from him. When she opened the door to Jing's room Kai ran in and jumped on the young firebender's bed. "Did you even sleep?"
Jing groaned and rolled onto her side. "My face hurts from all the pressure. Also I'm not hungry."
"You don't have a choice. You need to eat to get better, besides your father made something that would go easy on your stomach." She handed a bowl to Jing. "Be careful its-"
The elder firebender tossed up her hand when Jing spit her soup back into her bowl. "It's hot!"
"Of course it's hot! It's soup. While there maybe a chance for you to breath fire, you can still burn your tongue." She sat down on the chair and sipped her soup. "I have a question for you regarding your mother."
"What about her?"
"Do you know when she left the Fire Nation?"
"Uh…" Jing took a sip of her soup as she thought of the question. "I think fifteen years ago."
Quickly Azula calculated how old she was fifteen years ago. It fit when her mother was banished. She was nine fifteen years ago. "You never did tell me what her name was."
The young girl's eyes lit up. "My mom's name is amazing. The characters for her name are what make it amazing! Hand me my pencil and paper please." Azula grabbed the items from the desk and hand it to Jing. "I think my mommy has the best name ever!"
Azula's eyes widened when she saw the name written out. Jing gave the paper to her teacher. "That is an amazing name…"
Jing beamed and slowly nodded to keep herself from going dizzy again. "Would you mind if you started reading 'Love Amongst the Dragons'?"
"Sure…" She grabbed the book from the desk and laid it on her lap. Azula sighed as she briefly remembered the first time Ursa read this to her. "Long ago-"
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Azula browsed through the rest of the Fire Nation section of the book as she waited for Jing to return to her room. One story caught her eye. It was about Long and Fenghuang, the dragon and phoenix of the Fire Nation's mythology. She gently slid her fingers down the image of Fenghuang.
She let out a small cynical huff at the memory of her father declaring himself the Phoenix King. "You were never a phoenix nor a dragon." Azula flipped to the end of the story and red the last sentence. "When the dragon soars and the phoenix dances, the people will enjoy happiness for years, bringing peace and tranquility to all under heaven."
"Oh! That's the story about Long and Fenghuang! It's my favorite story if we don't count 'Love Amongst the Dragons.'" Jing exclaimed as she climbed back to bed. "I highly recommend reading it, Azula!"
"One of these days I'll read it, but now it's time for bed. Don't worry I won't wake you tomorrow morning. Get lots of rest to get better sooner." Azula placed her hand on Jing's head and then removed it. "Looks like Kai is going to be staying with you tonight."
The fire ferret was already curled up in a ball sleeping near Jing's pillow. Bidding 'good night' to each other, Azula returned to her room. She removed her hand from her pocket, still balled in a very tight fist clenching the paper with Jing's mother's name on it. Azula sat on the edge of her bed as she stared at the name.
"Lan Long. Blue Fire. Blue Dragon's Fire. Why would she pick an alias like that?"
"You know why I picked it."
Azula sighed as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. The hallucination of her mother was back. "But you left long before I started firebending blue fire and you've been going by this since you arrived here."
"You also know I didn't choose that alias because of your firebending abilities."
The princess slowly lifted her head to look at her mother's hallucination. "You chose that because it's close to my name. But why?"
Ursa gave her daughter a gentle smile. "I told you, Azula. I love you. Truly, I do."
Like ten years ago, Azula slowly lowered herself to the ground and cried.
