Chapter Ten: The Black Snow
"Can you do that thing with your hands again? I'm so cold," is what Azula wakes to.
Every morning, for a flicker of a second she believes she is at home in the palace. That she will wake up to the gilded candelabra above her plush crimson bed. But she is not. She is in the cold and desolate South Pole, in a meager home, in a bed lined with so much fur she cannot remember what silk felt like.
A tongue is in Azula's mouth before she can even yawn. Someone is becoming a morning person and Azula does not know if she is fan of it. Or maybe she really is just that cold.
She is pulled onto her knees by the slender fingers of Ty Lee. Azula barely moves and barely breathes, slipping her hand behind her girlfriend's back. Azula strips away Ty Lee's clothes, heating her hands slowly as she does and touching the cold skin. A moan in response and Azula smirks.
"Don't let go of me," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula swallows, making patterns on the acrobat's skin with feverish fingers.
Their lips touch. Again. Again.
And they melt into each other, naked and hot against the cold morning.
"Well someone's having a pleasant morning," comes the voice of Katara as soon as Azula makes it to the bonfire in the center of town. Azula notices she has started referring to her enemy by first name internally, and it unnerves her. She does not like how comfortable she has become with her new home. Nor how comfortable she has become with her steady girlfriend and her brother or sister pressing against her abdomen. And especially the fact that, while Katara will make scathing remarks and is clearly suspicious of Azula, they have not tried to murder each other.
"Shh, early," Mai says, pushing one hand over Katara's mouth feebly. Zuko has a glint of jealousy in his eyes that only Azula catches. Mai can only juggle a boyfriend and a girlfriend for so long, and Azula thinks she will enjoy watching it crash and burn.
"I want to show the Fire Nation Foursome something," Katara says, looking at the sleepy bunch. For a Nation that conquered the world, they are awfully lazy. Even the usually rambunctious and eager for praise Ty Lee barely gets off her back. "I think you'll find it interesting."
Azula suppresses a sigh. She is incredibly proud of herself for not making a snarky remark.
"Alright, show us, peasant," Azula says and Zuko squints at her. He decides the argument is not worth it, and bickering with his sister is far behind him. Too much has come to pass for him to get caught up correcting her blatant terribleness.
Katara nods, seizes Mai by the arm, and the quintet sets off into the blinding white snow.
"Where are we going?" Azula demands regally and Katara rolls her eyes. "You can't just take us out into the middle of ─ that's a Fire Nation ship."
Azula's eyes widen slightly at the decrepit ship trapped in the ice. It looks immovable and frozen to the spot like a boulder in the Earth Kingdom. It has an eerie... life to it which Azula cannot explain. The tattered flags billow in the harsh southern wind.
"This is the ship that set off the flare that brought Zuko here the first time," Katara says, glancing at the former prince. Zuko rubs his neck.
"I'm really sorry about that," Zuko says, taking a deep breath. Azula is amazed at how much guilt he can feel, coming from the same source as her. The same source as the child within her that she cannot quite feel, but knows is there.
"It's okay. It isn't like you ever won or anything," Katara says with a smirk and Zuko shakes his head. She clambers into the ship and gestures for Mai, Ty Lee, Azula and Zuko to follow.
"You know, you say you're so bad at being good... but you weren't really that great at being bad either," Azula says sweetly and Zuko grits his teeth. Katara snickers, nodding in response.
"I made my mistakes," Zuko grumbles, stepping further into the ship. Mai follows him, nearly stepping on his ankles.
They explore the ship for a while, trading stories. Acting like friends.
Acting like friends, despite the fact that this ship is the product of a nation that the four Fire Nation teenagers perpetuated and supported. Azula is stunned by it, and keeps to herself to avoid becoming too... attached. They treat her so well in this tribe, but she has no absolute power. She does not understand why people talk to her if they aren't just scared of her.
It baffles her as they spend the morning in the ghostly ship.
They laugh, like friends and Azula does not remember the last time she was this happy. The last time she felt like she belonged. And oddly enough, it is with her brother, a water peasant and the two people who betrayed her and left her to spiral downward.
Azula's nightmares are slowing. Her relationship is becoming gradually more healthy. The mixed feelings for her pregnancy are pushed to the back of her mind, although she knows she will have to make choices eventually. But she feels like it is all going to crumble somehow.
Her new life will be in ruins someday.
After the trip to the boat, Azula finds herself in she and Ty Lee's home. It reeks of isolation and the whispers about the two of them. Of Azula's premarital pregnancy, and of the soldiers she ordered to kill their fathers and of her odd relationship with Ty Lee. Whispers. Always whispers.
Ty Lee walks in, still laughing at Kama's joke. She shuts the door and smiles at Azula, before her genuine grin instantly fades. The princess is lying in bed and staring at the ceiling with glassy eyes.
Slowly, Ty Lee sits beside her. "You're not alright, are you?"
"I don't know what I am." Azula's words are bitter and chiding, but also faded and somehow distant. Ty Lee does not truly understand it. "I just know that I can feel my father's claws on my throat and spine and... stomach. I need to take the throne but..."
"You don't want it as much as you used to," Ty Lee whispers and Azula laughs mirthlessly.
"I want it more than I've ever wanted it. I just have a lot on my mind," Azula says, starting to stand up and deciding against it. "He's stronger than me. I don't think I'll defeat him. I don't think I'll ever strangle him like he has throttled me so many times. I still sometimes hallucinate bruises on my neck when looking at my reflection in the water."
Ty Lee squirms. Azula never talks about her feelings, as much as the acrobat tries to get her to open up. But when she does hear it, she finds herself disturbed by Azula's monotone voice as she describes the horrors in her head and the monster under her bed.
"He can't take everything from you," Ty Lee says and Azula snorts derisively. She sits up slowly, shaking her head and looking morbidly amused. "He can't. I know he hurt you. I know you talk about him in your sleep and he has done things to you that you're probably never going to really come to terms with but you are stronger than him."
"Yes, I'm powerful. My bending is prodigious and my tactics impeccable. I know how to win a fight. I always win." Azula stands up, kicking the floor and scraping her boot on the rug. The hideous rug that she burns as Ty Lee shields her face from the blaze. "But he's stronger."
Ty Lee stares at her, unsure what to say. If there is anything she can say.
"Whatever you are or whatever anybody did to you, I'm always going to love you," Ty Lee says as if it is any consolation.
Azula stands there, staring at the fireplace. She looks distant. Things have been going so well and something has clearly upset her.
"It moved inside of me," Azula says finally, the words constricted as she tries to force them out of her mouth. "I don't know what's right or real anymore."
"But you're you. You don't have to be perfect but nothing is ever going to defeat you," Ty Lee says lightly and loudly as she steps towards Azula and drags her into her arms. The princess briefly resists, but then caves in to the movement.
"I'm Princess Azula the Conqueror. Nothing stands in my way. I take what I want and I..." Her body is shaking with sobs, Ty Lee realizes in horror. "... I take what I want and even if a traitor is sitting on my throne, I have the divine right to rule."
Her words have force even though they are punctuated by quavering sobs.
And then she crumbles into tears that Ty Lee has never seen as they cling to each other.
"She's doing surprisingly well," Katara says hours later, tossing stones into the ocean from a perch. She sits beside Zuko, who she is attempting to teach how to fish. He is not picking it up very quickly.
"Who?" Zuko asks calmly, although he knows.
"Azula. She hasn't tried to murder anybody. I mean, I wish she would shut her mouth about reclaiming her throne with blood and fire, but if her delusions keep her from genocide, I mean..." Katara shrugs and readjusts Zuko's hand. "This doesn't mean I like her. This just means I'm pleasantly surprised. She killed Aang. And tortured Suki. And hit you with lightning. And this could continue all day..."
"I don't think it's a delusion," Zuko replies earnestly, tugging on the line although there is no fish biting it. "I think she needs to take the throne."
"What happened to your Uncle's speech about you being the Fire Lord? When he sent us off to our deaths," Katara says wryly, squinting at the empty hook.
"The Fire Nation loves Azula. She has the highest ratings since Sozin. When my father usurped her she started a riot with one sentence. He banished her because the people wanted her more than him."
"So you're scared." Katara frowns and Zuko shakes his head.
"I'm conniving, actually. Imagine if, instead of conquering the Universe, Azula's desire as a leader was to end the hostilities between the Nations. Imagine if Azula saw people other than herself as, well, people," Zuko says and Katara raises an eyebrow.
"I think you're pushing it," Katara sighs, taking the pole from him and casting it for him to stop watching him struggle.
"You just said you were surprised at how she's been acting. If you remove my father's claws from her neck, I think we could have a leader who the Fire Nation loves, and who has the uncanny ability to convince people to do whatever she wants them to. With our plan gone and Team Avatar broken, maybe Fire Lord Azula doesn't sound so bad for a Plan B," Zuko explains and Katara hates to admit he has a point. It is so much easier to blindly hate Azula than to see that she could have her merits.
She is an incredible weapon, whether used for good or evil.
"You really love your sister, don't you?" Katara remarks, setting down the pole and handing Zuko a spear. Maybe he will do better with that. Zuko shrugs.
"She isn't like that because of her own choosing. People aren't born evil; some people just learn very quickly," Zuko says and Katara laughs before feeling guilty. "Azula and I fight, yes, like any heirs to a country would. She... look, she and I kind of bonded when our mother left. Our father was a common enemy until I was banished, even if neither of us would admit we hated him."
"Of course you two did. Sokka and I were always close in a tribe this size, but after what happened to our mother..."
"Exactly. I mean, our family politics were a bit more complicated than yours. But I want to help Azula. And there's a reason she didn't kill me during the comet." Silence. Zuko examines the spear that Katara handed him. "We have a mutual acknowledgement that the man who conceived us is an asshole."
Katara laughs again as Zuko nearly catches a fish. He sighs and sets the spear down.
"Maybe I'm not a fisherman," Zuko states, wiping his gross mittens on his pants. "The only problem is that, if my father is involved, he's really good at turning us against each other. He knows that if we're fighting each other we won't fight him."
"I don't think he's given up yet," Katara whispers, examining the spear to try to avoid Zuko's gaze.
"I don't either." Zuko stands up and tries to shake off the heavy conversation. "I'll try hunting seals. Maybe I'll be better at that."
Another day passes without much event.
"It's not your fault," Zuko says abruptly to Mai as she is eating breakfast. She cocks an eyebrow, confused as to what he could mean. For a month they have been sort of dating while Mai and Katara were also sort of dating and it has been utterly confusing. "You thought I was dead. If you love her..."
Mai swallows her food. She did not expect Zuko to confront her; he generally avoids conflict unless he is at the broiling point. But Mai finds he has changed since he stole away in the night to join the Avatar. He broke her heart but found himself and Mai does not know what to think about it.
"Look, you broke up with me in the skeeviest way possible. You left me a note. And you have a problem with me falling for somebody else?" Mai demands and Zuko is stunned. He thought he was making a gesture of goodwill.
"Mai, I... I became a better person. And you helped me─"
"Oh? I helped you become a better person? I'm not some kind of girl who can just get chewed up and spit out just so Hero Zuko can become a better person," Mai snarls as Zuko's heart palpitates. Her calm, careless, apathetic demeanor is gone. Her nails dig into the ice, freezing her fingers. "I like Katara and Katara likes me. You're going to have to deal with that."
Pause. Zuko is silent for a moment, contemplating his words carefully.
"I'm okay with that," Zuko says kindly and Mai furrows her brow. She seems altogether baffled by it. "If you love her, tell her. And be with her. I want you to be happy more than I want to be with you."
Mai does not know why it frustrates her, why it enrages her. But it does. Maybe she wants two people to be in love with her at once; she does not know. But her frustration simmers and she gets up, leaving Zuko behind in the snow. Her fingers tense as she walks into Katara's house and seals herself inside.
Emotions are complicated. Love is complicated and Mai is entirely done with it. She does not want either of them anymore. Not Katara with her tender kisses and their strange and powerful bond, not Zuko who she would have died for. Who she almost died for. She is done with both of them.
"What is it?" Katara touches her lips to Mai's and Mai does not respond. The waterbender pulls back, her weight resting on her heels. This is not good.
"I'm done with you and I'm done with Zuko. I can't do this anymore," Mai says sharply and Katara's lips part in surprise. She is left wordless as Mai buries herself in Zuko's bed and does not move.
Mai barely breathes, her form dark against blinding white fur and snow. Black hair splayed out like a corpse, pale skin out of place in this homogenous tribe that somehow Azula is fitting in to, but Mai is not.
Katara wants to fight; she wants to speak up and defend their relationship. But, instead, she simply returns to taking care of Korra. She is silent as Mai lies there like a corpse. Katara has hope that she will come around. She always does.
"You just need time," Katara says compassionately and Mai does not respond.
Too complicated.
The next week is uneventful as Mai signs herself on to jobs for the tribe that take her away from Katara and Zuko at all costs. It seems that the Fire Nation outcasts have become accepted, and Katara is glad of it, regardless of her deteriorating relationship with Mai.
But then, Zuko gets in a fight.
Bako calls Azula a slut.
And, well...
"Don't you dare talk that way about my sister!" Zuko snarls, and before Katara can say anything or Ty Lee can intervene, Zuko's fist collides with Bako's face. The Northerner who moved South is sent reeling backwards, colliding with the snow.
Zuko steps back, breathing heavily and looking at the blood on his knuckles. Katara swallows; she knows Zuko was justified, but the tribe will not take kindly to a Fire Nation citizen punching Bako.
Former Prince Zuko steps forward, his foot digging into the ice.
"Never talk about my sister that way again, or I won't restrain myself like I just did," he says, fists clenched and chest proud. Mai blinks several times too quickly.
Azula does not know what to say for the first time in her life. Her lips are parted in surprise as she can only stare at her brother. He takes several steps backwards as Bako does not get up. In fact, the Water Tribe man bursts into tears from the blow he suffered.
"Thank you," Azula says softly and Zuko is more shocked than she is. They exchange a glance for a moment, locking eyes, and then Zuko walks off, overwhelmed by what he just did.
Ty Lee grabs Azula's arm tenaciously and holds it. "Are you okay?"
"Of course. Of course I am." She looks at Bako as if he is some kind of sea slug, and then brushes past Katara and Mai on her way home with Ty Lee.
After the fight with Bako, two weeks pass smoothly. Azula has been at the point in her life where days did not matter, but those were days she could not get out of bed, even when her Nation needed her. Here, everything has a routine and an order. There are no complex politics as the choice is working together or dying of cold. The harsh change makes the time Azula spends here seem both fast and engulfing.
But, although her life has improved here, Azula has never been somewhere as boring as the Southern Water Tribe. She thought that haunting the palace as a youth and as a Fire Lord, lonely and stalked by shadows was dull, but this place is like a charming village where nothing ever happens.
"I do not want to hold that child," Azula says regally and Kanna fights the urge to roll her eyes. If anyone frustrates her in this world, it is the Fire Nation Princess. Mostly because she acts like a princess when she lives amongst peasants.
"Are you going to hold your child?" Kanna asks, setting Korra back down. Azula shrugs in response. She does not particularly like the old woman; mostly because Azula hates being mothered. "Why do you dislike being cared for, girl? Didn't you ever have a mother?"
Azula hesitates. She has never been spoken to so bluntly, much less about Ursa, whom the entire Fire Nation actively pretended didn't exist. Speaking about Ursa was a one way ticket to prison or a beheading, and Azula finds herself tongue tied.
"My mother died when I was eight," Azula responds as articulately as she can. Kanna squints at her for a moment, and then returns to folding Katara's clothes. It's a lie; Azula knows very well, although Zuko certainly believes Ursa died those years ago.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Kanna replies, her tone brusque although she is a kindhearted woman. She is the type of grandmother who loves the tribe like they are all her children, but also will be the first to tell a kid with a scraped knee to suck it up and walk it off.
"I was glad of it," Azula says honestly as Korra is mouthing words at her. "I hated her."
Kanna looks up at Azula in utter disgust, as she stops folding the tattered blue clothing. "You hated your mother?"
Azula pauses, feeling slightly feverish despite the cold. "She thought I was a monster." Pause. "She was right, of course, but it still hurt."
Rehearsed words. She has said them many times before. Even able to get the little laugh at the end to sound believable. As if it is only a scrape that fades instead of a gaping wound that never fully healed.
"Katara lost her mother too," Kanna continues calmly, not unnerved by Azula's words as most are. Azula's eyes flicker for a moment. Her first thought is how to utilize that against Katara, but then it hits her like a punch to the gut that Katara is no longer her enemy.
Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Ursa and Ozai, great-granddaughter of Fire Lord Sozin, is a member of the Southern Water Tribe. Korra tugs on her again and Azula makes a snarling noise that frightens the boisterous child.
"You should marry that girl," Kanna remarks loudly and Korra claps her hands as if she understands. "She clearly loves you despite your... less than appealing qualities."
"Excuse me. My what?" Azula asks menacingly, but the old woman is not deterred in the slightest by the malevolent glint in Azula's golden eyes.
"You're spoilt and selfish and controlling. Not to mention your reckless disregard for the well being of anybody but yourself, and the fact that you think you can just use people and they won't notice," Kanna says and Azula's almond-shaped eyes are like saucers. "I mean, you're pretty and well spoken. But pretty and well spoken can't make up for such a rotten personality."
Azula's jaw is ajar as she watches Kanna simply fold clothes. She sets a torn parka aside and sets a bone needle on top of it. All the while, Azula can only stare. Korra giggles and tugs on Azula's elbow.
"Stop it! Stop it, peasant child!" Azula hisses and Korra laughs again.
"I'll tell you how the people in the Water Tribe propose. You have to make her a betrothal necklace, first. And then present it to her," Kanna says in a flat tone to rival Mai's. "And you should do it fast before some handsome boy snatches her up."
"I am much more attractive than everyone in this tribe," Azula says haughtily, but her voice quavers. Korra tugs on her again. "I am a princess. How could she do better than a princess, Kanna?"
Kanna makes a small humming sound and shrugs.
Silence. Korra giggles again.
"So... about these betrothal necklaces?" Azula asks softly, cocking an eyebrow.
The day after Azula's uncomfortable conversation with Kanna, she finds herself sitting on the foot of Mai's bed like a cat. Katara groggily let her inside as she was going out to go practice her waterbending. Azula does not understand how to phrase what she needs in words; they did not train her how to voice these sorts of things in her speaking lessons.
"Oh, fuck, Azula?" Mai demands softly, sitting straight up. Her fingers dart to her pillow, reaching for a knife. Azula stops her with one hand. "Please don't kill me this early in the morning. Did you just invite yourself into our house? I mean... princess..."
"I need your assistance, Mai," Azula says, her words forced and strained. Mai feels her heart beat a little faster. "I have no idea how to, erm... carve things."
"What do you need to carve? I mean, we all want to carve Bako's eyes out sometimes but one comment calling you a─"
"I need to carve a..." The words are stuck in Azula's mouth like glue. "...betrothal necklace."
And soon, Azula has dragged both Mai and Zuko to the abandoned Fire Nation ship.
"Azula, I'm not going to carve steel. I know I'm stronger than you two but I'm not going to do that," Zuko says as soon as Azula explains. "I have no reason to do this."
"I let you out of prison," Azula says sharply, crossing her arms.
"You let me out of prison so that you could trade me for your safety in places not occupied by the Fire Nation," Zuko says and Mai snorts.
"I didn't pursue you after you escaped my custody," Azula offers, raising an eyebrow.
"After torturing me for weeks about where Aang was," Zuko replies and Mai smiles. She enjoys this greatly. "Azula, you have never done anything nice for me in my entire life."
"That's not true," Azula retorts bitterly, pouting slightly.
"Allow me to rephrase; you have never done anything nice for me that hasn't benefited you," Zuko responds calmly and Mai's smile widens.
"I've never done anything nice for anyone that hasn't benefited me," Azula replies instantly and Mai must admit she has a point. "But you're different, ZuZ─Zuko. Aren't you good and helpful and heroic now? Be my hero and carve me a chunk of steel out of that ship."
"There is a distinct difference between being good to other people and being subservient to other people," Zuko says forcefully and Azula clenches her jaw. She does not approve of being spoken to this way. "See, that's your problem. You hate helping people because you think it makes you lesser than them. It doesn't. You being exiled here has given you the opportunity to learn important lessons and better yourself. Just think about what I'm telling you─"
"Save the lecture. I'll do it myself," Azula interrupts sharply, clambering over a slope of snow and setting her palms against the ship.
"Zuko, please help her," Mai says flatly as the cold southern air is tinted with the acrid smell of melting metal. "She's going to melt a hole in the ice and we're going to drown."
Zuko pauses. "She didn't even learn anything from my─" Zuko is interrupted by the sound of ice cracking. Mai cocks an eyebrow. "Alright, Azula, I'll cut out the steel for you!"
Azula steps down, wiping her hands on her parka. She smirks faintly as Zuko climbs up and starts cutting.
"I softened it for you. That was helpful and kind to you," Azula says and Zuko rolls his eyes. Not worth it. "Look at me being good to others."
"Be quiet if you want be to do this for you," Zuko says, glancing back at Azula. She purses her lips, eyes flickering.
"It was a good lecture, Zuko," Mai offers feebly.
"You be quiet too," Zuko says and Mai raises her eyebrows. "Please."
And so the journey to the betrothal necklace begins.
"So what do you want the picture to be?" Mai asks, glancing at the hunk of steel Zuko serrated from the ship. She holds her sharpest, best knife that she supposes she will not get much use out of living in the middle of nowhere with no action.
"A dragon," Azula says and Zuko cocks an eyebrow. "What? She likes dragons."
"If that is a sex thing," Mai begins as Zuko slowly shakes his head, "then please continue; I'm intrigued."
Azula's cheeks flush. "You have an unhealthy interest in my sex life, Mai. I know you're jealous but I'm marrying Ty Lee."
Mai groans and starts outlining the dragon. Zuko rubs his sore muscles; even with all of the Water Tribe work he has been put to, trying to remove frozen steel from an archaic ship definitely taxed him.
"Azula, I hope that you learned something today," Zuko says, gesturing at his arms. "Being helpful to others even when they aren't helpful to you is─"
"You sound so much like Uncle. Why don't you try being more like me instead?" Azula says and Zuko sighs. Futile. Absolutely futile. "In the long run, who is more successful, Uncle or me? I mean, which of us conquered Ba Sing Se? Which of us became Fire Lord? Which of us─"
"Uncle is more successful than you because it isn't military accomplishments that make you great. It's people's personalities that make them great. It's how they treat other people, not how many people they conquer," Zuko says, although he knows it will never get through to her, and Azula promptly ignores him.
"What kind of dragon is that? Ugh, Mai, at least try," Azula says, causing Mai to jump and nearly nick her finger. Zuko shakes his head slowly.
"Why do I do nice things for you?" Mai sighs, focusing intently on the dragon she is carving. "Azula, you owe us. Zuko and I are going to ask you for a favor one day, and you are going to do it even if you get nothing in return."
"You two could have said no," Azula says and Zuko lies down on his back.
"Well, this has been an exercise in frustration," Zuko mutters to himself.
"What was that? Do I frustrate you, brother?"
"Focus on your dragon carving!" Zuko snaps and Azula recoils.
"I need a ribbon..." Azula says, squinting at the nearly finished pendant.
"I bet Kanna has fabric or something," Mai suggests and Azula shakes her head.
"I need a red ribbon," Azula repeats.
"Go cut up one of those flags," Mai says, gesturing at the ship without looking.
"I am not making a betrothal necklace out of a sixty year old flag," Azula purrs, as prissy as ever, rubbing her face.
"Well there aren't really that many red things here. Everything goes with grey, Azula. We're Water Tribe now, aren't we?" Zuko says, sitting up. Mai shakes her head and Zuko is startled to realize she is shaking it at him.
"We're not Water Tribe and we're never going to be. They don't really accept us here. They look at us and whisper around us. When Azula returns to claim her rightful throne, I am right behind her," Mai says. "I just want to go home. I was a good kid. I don't deserve exile."
Zuko's lips part in surprise. "But... Mai..."
"You can come too," Azula offers and Zuko thinks she actually believes it is a kind thing to say.
"Why are you still hung up on the crown? It isn't like it matters anymore," Zuko says with a shrug.
"He has to die sometime." Azula shrugs and picks up one of the knives resting on the snow. "Now close your eyes, ZuZu."
Zuko covers his eyes as she says, not wanting to know what she is about to do with the glittering bone blade.
"So, your plan went from claiming the Nation with blood and fire to waiting until father gets old and just marching in there and demanding the throne?" Zuko asks, submerged in darkness.
"Well, when you phrase it that way it sounds less... ambitious," Azula sighs and Zuko hears the tear of fabric. "But it isn't exactly like we can make an army out of these savages. Eventually, he will get old and have no heir. And then I will get the throne."
"That's depressing. So for the next thirty or forty years you're just going to live amongst the Water Tribe?" Zuko asks, hearing another ripping sound.
"Maybe someone will assassinate him. You never know. I mean, I started a bit of an uprising. That's why he sent me away, because he was afraid he would be killed in order for me to be Fire Lord again." Another tear.
"So no more blood and fire?" Zuko asks. "We could always go to Ba Sing Se and get Uncle's help."
"Oh, yeah, right, I'm going to walk up to Ba Sing Se after slaughtering half their men with my armies and just ask if they'll please help me be Fire Lord again. It doesn't work that way," Azula sighs.
"If you want an army to take back the Fire Nation, you have to go to Ba Sing Se," Zuko says and Azula does not want to answer.
"You can open your eyes now," she announces instead of responding to her brother's suggestion, her work finished.
Zuko opens his eyes to see Azula clutching a shimmering red ribbon with the bone knife on her lap. Mai has her face scrunched up in concentration over the dragon's eyes.
"Where'd you get that?" Zuko asks, wiping the sweat from under his eyes. It is already cold and sticky from the harsh weather.
"She cut it out of her bra," Mai says, smirking smugly to herself at Zuko sticking his tongue out in disgust. "You know, Zuko I'm surprised you suggested that Azula gather an army and become Fire Lord again. Don't you want to be Fire Lord? The Fire Lord of peace and forgiveness or something?"
Zuko swallows and his heart rate quickens. "You didn't see what happened when my father announced he was taking back the throne. With one sentence she started a riot."
Azula smirks to herself; she likes the idea that her influence is enough to frighten away any potential heir. She will be Fire Lord. It is the only way she can justify her existence and Princess Azula deserves to exist. And Zuko does not reveal his true intention; he needs Azula for his own ends. It works better if she has no clue of his aims.
"Your dragon is done," Mai says, thrusting the circle of steel into Azula's hands.
"It will do," Azula says coldly and Mai rolls her eyes. "Now I just tie the ribbon and... there."
"Do you think she's going to say yes?" Mai asks politely and Azula squints at her as if the idea of rejection never occurred to her.
"Of course she will. Let's get back to the village." Azula takes the necklace in her hand, and she, her brother and her best friend make their way back to their temporary home.
Something has shifted in the wind when the trio arrive back at the ring of homes. People are anxious and something is wrong with the sky.
"What is that?" Azula asks airily, stuffing the necklace into her parka's pocket. She touches the ink black snow, puzzled by it. It smells of soot and industry, alien scents amongst the fish and furs and frostbite.
"It's a Fire Nation raid." Katara's voice is heavier than Azula has ever heard it.
Azula looks up, squinting.
"We call it the Black Snow," Katara breathes to the former Fire Lord, and she is off running to defend her tribe.
The Black Snow. Azula's heart starts to race and her fingers twitch cerulean.