opheliac
(xiv-when i want my own way)
They arrive in the base camp at dusk, when the jungle sky is blood-red and the eerie quality of twilight is around them, throwing shadows around the camp like phantoms, and echoing with the calls of animals and insects in the air above them. The camp itself appears skeletal, here on the ground floor, but that's because most of the people have - like the rest of the jungle - taken to the trees.
It's not an overly elaborate camp, having only been set following Zuko's rise to the throne, but it's sufficient, and both Ju-Long and Praveena are clearly familiar with it and the people in it, smiling and laughing and introducing their new members around. Mai - still angry over the komodo rhino incident - has fallen into her usual cold propriety, the sort that she uses when she's at a party with her parents, and Sokka maintains a slightly strained smile and tries to hide his ever-growing worry at the realization of the sheer size of this rebellion.
Azula, on the other hand, hasn't felt this alive since she traveled the Earth Kingdom with Mai and Ty Lee.
"Milady," Ju-Long says, bowing, and leads Azula to the largest of the makeshift huts suspended in the understory. He brushes aside a cloth that hangs over the entrance, and Azula steps inside, followed closely by Sokka and Mai, and greets the de facto leader of the resistance. "This is Lady Chunhua," he adds, and respectfully takes his place near the door.
Azula is surprised, although in retrospect, she thinks that she shouldn't be - of course, Zhao's daughter would lead the resistance against Zuko.
Chunhua is older than Azula by several years, being at least twenty, and carries herself so regally that she makes Mai look like a ragged peasant; she is dressed in a beautiful red silk aodai adorned with a pattern of golden koi fish running up the right side. She is holding - in perfectly manicured hands - a small teacup that looks vaguely familiar to Azula, also patterned in red and gold. Her shining black hair is elaborately styled in a way that normal people's aren't in the jungle - indeed, if Azula didn't know for a fact that they are sitting in a little hut in a rainforest out in the middle of nowhere, she might have thought that Chunhua was taking tea with her in-laws.
She is, it seems, already prepared to be back at court.
She sips daintily at her tea, and then nods at Ju-Long, who leaves with only a moment of hesitation, and then smiles at Azula. "Princess," she says, in a warm, soft voice, "I am so glad to see that you have joined us. The journey was not too troubling, I trust?"
"No, Lady Chunhua," Azula replies, matching the other woman's gentility. She doesn't know much about Zhao's daughter, but she did know Zhao, and she would be willing to bet everything she owns that Chunhua is as deadly as she is beautiful, which means that it's crucial that they keep her in the dark as to their real intentions, and very firmly on their side. "It was easy. Ju-Long is a good leader."
"I know," she says, in the same warm tone. "He was a good friend of my father's, if you remember. When Father died, Ju-Long stepped in to help my family through the troubling time."
Sokka is watching with reverence and confusion - no doubt thinking that there is no way this delicate little woman could possibly be the real leader - and opens his mouth to speak, but Mai glares at him until he thinks the better of it.
"No, Lady Mai," Chunhua insists, setting her teacup down with a tiny little chink of impossibly good porcelain, and folds her hands into her lap. "Let the Water Tribesman speak." She turns to Sokka, the picture of interest, "What is it you were going to ask, my lord?"
The woman's stiff, traditional Fire Nation manners clearly both flatter and unnerve Sokka, who stammers for a moment before answering, in a surprisingly strong voice, "I was just wondering how such a - an elegant woman like you comes to lead... this kind of resistance." Chunhua laughs lightly - and also fakely, Azula notices, having spent enough time around Fire Nation nobility to tell the difference - and it sounds like the ringing of bells. Sokka appears fascinated by her, no doubt against his will.
"My father was Admiral Zhao, my lord," she replies sweetly, "so you could say that I was born to it. My allegiance lies with the Fire Nation, now and always, and I am only doing as I am sure my father would have done, if he were here."
"Zhao was your father?" Sokka asks, dumbstruck, and Mai coughs, clearly wishing that Sokka would keep his mouth shut. But Sokka thinks that Chunhua is, if not harmless, then at least kind, and that she sees him as a warrior of standing rather than an insect to scrape off the sole of her shoe. He thinks that he can speak with her easily and friendly, the way he speaks with everyone, which makes Azula wonder just who he's been hanging around that he has this impression of nobility.
And then she remembers - Zuko, and the child Avatar, and the rest of his crew. Of course Sokka is completely ignorant of Fire Nation customs.
"Forgive him," Azula says sharply, cutting into the conversation. "Koda is originally from the Water Tribes, as you can see, and is not well-versed in the traditions of the Fire Nation."
"What did I do wrong?" he asks blankly, and Mai growls under her breath.
"He meant," she tells Chunhua, but for Sokka's benefit, "that he did not realize that Admiral Zhao was your father."
Chunhua gives him that same warm smile, and picks up her teacup again. "Of course not," she replies kindly, "I would not expect a Water Tribesman to understand our traditions. Yes, Master Koda, Admiral Zhao was my father. He, as you might know, died with great honor and distinction at the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe. I trust there is no lingering ill will?" she adds lightly, tilting her head, feeling out Sokka's intentions and allegiances.
"No, no," he lies, barely masking a note of bitterness, waving his arms around for effect. Mai closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to contain her irritation. "I was from the Southern Tribe, so no hard feelings. And besides, I'm a naturalized Fire Nation citizen now."
"Are you?" she asks, sipping from her tea. "For how long?"
"Almost a year," he answers, beginning to realize that he should be treading far lighter than this with Chunhua. "When Princess Azula began her search for the Avatar, she passed through the tribe, and took a few prisoners. I was among them."
"And this convinced you to join us?" she replies skeptically.
"No, not exactly," he says, sweating, and glances at Mai, "but, ah, Lady Mai convinced me."
"Did she?" Chunhua answers, sounding amused, and glances at Mai. "I would not have expected... You are loyal, then, to our cause?"
"I am," he replies firmly, desperately trying to fix his earlier mistake of underestimating Chunhua.
"And what did Lady Mai do that convinced you so thoroughly that you should give up your old life and join the enemies of your boyhood?"
"They're in love," Azula answers sardonically, injecting her voice with just enough distaste to make it believable. "Sickening, I know," she continues, and rolls her eyes, "but there's not much that Koda won't do for Mai."
"Love?" Chunhua asks, surprised, "but what about the Fire Lord, Lady Mai? Were you not his escort?"
"For a time," she replies coolly, "but my heart wasn't in it - nor, it seemed, was his," she adds darkly. "We have both found others."
"Yes," the lady muses, "I heard the most strange rumors about a waterbender... Are they true?"
"Unfortunately."
"Interesting..." she says, tapping her fingers against her teacup. "There must be some kind of magic in the Water Tribe blood, for their members to be so... sought after." She peers at Sokka in the gloom, and then reaches out and lights a candle with a touch of her fingers. The fire blazes bright orange for a moment before calming down, and Chunhua raises it to look closer at Sokka. The light throws her features into sharp relief, and for a split second, the normally immaculate woman looks almost feral. The second passes, and she again appears to be no more than any other high-ranking noble. "I admit, he is not ugly - but what could convince a woman of Lady Mai's standing to abandon the Fire Lord for a mere savage?" she asks, in an even voice, and Sokka bristles at the words, but doesn't dare speak against them.
He's learning to fear Chunhua, Azula thinks. Good. "I don't know," Azula replies, leaning on her hand as elegantly as she can. "Love must be a stronger force than even I expected."
Chunhua shudders slightly, and somehow manages to make even this seem regal. "Well," she says firmly, "I will be watching you. I've found that men do not turn from their pasts as easily as some may think, even for the love of a beautiful woman," she adds, nodding at Mai. "As for you, Princess Azula," she says, and stands, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress, and folds her hands together gently, "if you will come with me, I will take you to your accommodations. Ju-Long will see to Lady Mai and Master Koda. I would like very much to speak with you alone."
Mai tenses beside her, but Azula nods. "Of course, Lady Chunhua. I will see you," she adds, glancing at Mai and Sokka, "later."
She follows Chunhua out of the little hut and around the winding paths built into the trees. It all seems far too elaborate to have been built only two months ago - but then, she thinks, glancing at her host, Chunhua is Zhao's daughter, and no doubt has been planning rebellion or revenge since her father's death, probably having seen the way the wind was blowing. Zhao was always dangerous because of his foresight, and Azula isn't putting it past his daughter to be the same way. They follow a path upwards, crossing over to a different tree, and duck beneath the hanging vines and moss to enter another little hut.
This hut is not much larger than the meeting room they were just in, but more elegantly styled, decorated with Fire Nation tapestries and rugs, and the roof is reinforced to make it more secure from the rain. Chunhua bows to the bed and crosses her arms.
"Now, Princess, tell me why you have really come."
There's a prickling on the back of Azula's neck that has always warned her so well of danger. "As I told Ju-Long, Lady. I came to join my father."
"You and I both know that's a lie," she replies easily, and then takes a seat in a beautiful hardwood chair with silken padding - like a throne, Azula thinks suddenly. "Lord Ozai cannot bend any longer, and he will be looking for a weak ruler to place on the throne. He is more likely to side with your brother than with you! And I know," she continues, raising an eyebrow, "that you are not so stupid as to expect a welcome from him. So tell me the truth, Princess."
Azula turns away to examine the room further, and to stall for time. She's firmly in Chunhua's court now; there won't be any easy escape. If pressed, Azula could certainly burn everything down, but that would involve a fight - and she's unwilling to fight Chunhua, at least not until she knows her adversary a little better - and would cause more devastation and attention than Azula wants. Her mind races desperately to find an excuse, and lands on the nearest thing to the truth she can find without giving up everything, "You're right, Lady. I admit, part of me does hope for such a warm welcome, but I do not plan - and have never planned - for the best." She turns around and sits on the bed, face a mask of indifference. "But I would rather take my chances with Father than with my brother and the Avatar," she lies, and then smirks. "Besides, as you said, my father can no longer bend. He is less dangerous to me than Zuko."
"You plan to kill him, then?" Chunhua says, and it comes out so simply that Azula is taken off-guard.
"If I must," she replies, and finds that it's true - the Avatar won't have the balls to do it, and someone must, after all. The thought simultaneously makes her ill and doesn't affect her at all; she both wants to make her father bleed and run into his arms.
"So you will take the throne?"
"Yes," Azula answers, seeing where this conversation is going.
"Good," Chunhua says, nodding. "The people will rally behind you moreso than your father. You are the powerful leader we really need." The lady stands and bows shortly to Azula. "We will discuss strategy at a later time, Princess. Until then, sleep well."
With that, she leaves the room in a flutter of silk and perfume.
A/N: I'm warning you ahead of time: the following chapter is not for the faint of heart. This story is rated M for a reason, and the next chapter will earn that rating.