Woops, almost forgot to post the chapter. Been busy with finals so it slipped my mind :P Anyways, Stat Chart:
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7,970+ (Wow close to 8,000)
On to the chapter!
Jun sat on the couch in the living room, a lamp lit nearby with the clouds outside covering the moon's light.
"Alright Jun, time to stand up for your nightly exercise." Hena states, talking to a couch ridden Jun.
"Ok. Help me up?"
Hena assists in lifting Jun up, who quickly grabs her back in pain.
"Jeez, these backaches are killer."
"That's why you need to do these light exercises."
Hena walks alongside Jun. After finishing their traditional walking route Jun sat back down on the couch.
"There we go. Now you can rest again."
"Thanks for the help Hena."
"No problem at all."
A knocking at the door drew their attention. Hena opens the door to see Azula of all people.
Hena immediately bows her head.
"Princess Azula. Welcome to my home."
"You can relax Hena. I'm not here on business." Azula responds, stepping into the house.
"Is Kensho with you?" Jun asks.
"Yes. He went into the market to get you some fire gummies."
"Mmm. Sounds good. Uh, is that alright for me to eat Hena?"
"Yes, that's fine. So long as you stick to your meal plan."
Jun raises a thumbs up and then looks at Azula.
"I'm eating for two now so, gotta eat more. Healthy foods, protein, et cetera."
"Hmm, I see."
Azula sits beside Jun and scans her body. Her breasts had grown, and it looked like her back ached.
"How has the pregnancy been?"
"Interesting to say the least. It's a scary yet enlightening situation."
"Unfortunately, Kensho and I have yet to sire our own offspring."
"Don't worry. It'll happen. With a lot of time and a lot of sex."
The two chuckle a bit and see Kensho enter the house with Lee.
"I'm telling you Kensho. When that baby grows up I'm gonna spoil it rotten."
"I expect nothing less."
Taking notice of Jun and Azula on the couch, Kensho walks over and joins them while Lee sat beside Hena. Kensho gave Jun a kiss on the forehead before handing her a small pack of fire gummies.
Jun took it with glee and began consuming the snacks. As she did so Kensho gave her head a small pat before sitting down.
"So, how long are you going to stay?" Hena asks.
"I'm not sure. Things are a bit stressful back in the Capital, so we decided a trip was in order."
Jun leans her back against Kensho and finishes her snack.
"Should we be expecting weekly trips now?" Jun asks.
Kensho and Azula exchange a look, with Azula giving him a nod.
"Yes. I don't know if Azula will come every time, but I'll make time to come see how you're doing."
"Good. You make a nice pillow; my back has been aching."
Hena and Lee left the house, which in turn left the other three to themselves.
"So, Sozin's Comet is coming. We'll need to be strong." Kensho states.
Jun grabs his hand and asks, "Are you going to be close to the fighting?"
"I'm not sure. Probably not though, I'll be needed to direct troops rather than fight alongside them."
"Good. Azula, make sure he makes it back alive."
"Don't worry. He's not dying yet." Azula comments.
"Alright. Let's not talk about business anymore."
"Well…if you don't want to talk anymore. I know something we can do."
"…Are you sure it'll be ok?"
"Yeah. Come on."
Jun pulls Kensho upstairs and Azula follows behind. The rest of the evening, and night, was spent in pleasure and bliss. Even Azula had to admit that Jun was glowing. Must have been from the pregnancy.
In the morning, Jun clutched Kensho close. Azula was still fast asleep.
"I love you too." Kensho remarks.
"You come back, ok? Promise me."
"I promise."
Jun crawls out of the bed and walks over to her dresser. She grabs a stone and walks back over to the bed. She hands Kensho the stone, and he looks at it with recognition.
"We've come a long way since then." Jun says.
"Yeah. We have."
Kensho gives Jun an affectionate kiss before getting out of bed. Azula finally woke up and got dress with the others.
After a few minutes Hena, Lee, and Jun saw Kensho and Azula off.
"Stay safe Kensho. You too Azula." Hena says.
"We will. I'm going to be a father. Can't disappoint them before they're even born."
Jun walked over to them and gave Azula a hug, then Kensho.
"Remember your promise." Jun whispers to Kensho.
"I will."
Jun let go of Kensho and walked back to Hena and Lee.
"Well. We're off. Hopefully we'll be back in a week. Try to enjoy the comet if you can. It's a sight to behold from what I've been told."
Kensho and Azula boarded their ship and returned to the Fire Nation. The two hung out in the study to wait out the day. Once late afternoon arrived Azula left to meet with her father. When she returned, she bore the news that she was to be crowned Fire Lord.
"Wouldn't it technically be Fire Lady?" Kensho asks.
"I guess so. Fire Lord still holds more meaning though, so I might just go with it."
"Well, whatever your title. I'm proud of you."
The two embrace and retire to their bedchamber. They slept well, and in the morning they sprang into action.
Azula changed the fire in the Throne Room from red to blue. Kensho followed her on the duties and basically acted as her escort. He didn't mind.
Soon she went to get her hair and feet cleaned. Kensho stayed outside in the hallway near the door for that. He was surprised to see a servant leaving, telling him that she had been banished.
Kensho was growing concerned now. He knew Azula was most likely not over her friend's betrayal.
After she was cleaned up, Azula locked her arm with his and the two sat in the Throne Room. Kensho took notice that Azula was wearing her hair down at the moment.
"To think, all this is ours now." Azula states.
"Ours?"
"Of course ours. You're my husband, or have you forgotten?"
"I haven't. I was just thinking how…I started as a General's Son. Now, I'm the husband of the Fire Lord. It's just a lot to take in."
"I understand. Come. Sit."
Azula shifts to the side to allot Kensho to take a seat beside her.
"Hmm, I think we should test the Dai Li response time."
Kensho nods his head, agreeing with the decision.
Azula orders the Dai Li to come. It took 5 minutes, and she was not pleased.
"You sent for us Princess? Is everything alright?" The Dai Li Agent asks.
"Actually everything's not alright. Do you know how long it took you to get here?"
"Uh a few minutes I guess?"
"Five to be precise. In which time an assassin could have snuck in, done away with me, and been on his merry way."
"My apologies Princess."
"Is this how you intend to treat your new Fire Lord? With tardiness and disloyalty."
"The Dai Li would never betray you."
"And I'm sure that's just what you told Long Feng before you turned against him and joined me. You're all banished!"
Everyone in the room is surprised, including Kensho.
"But…"
"Goodbye. Please send in the next group on your way out."
When the Dai Li left Kensho placed a hand on Azula's shoulder.
"That seemed a bit extreme."
Azula shrugs him off and says, "How can we trust them to do their job if they can't arrive immediately."
"I can understand that, but you're far from helpless."
"So you don't want me to have adequate security?"
"I didn't say that. Maybe I should give you a bit of space."
Azula's head snaps around, watching in worry as Kensho stands up. He then bows and walks away.
Arriving at his study, Kensho throws open a drawer and pulls out the Fire Whiskey inside. He drinks straight from the bottle and nearly downs all the contents.
"Ahhh, ok. Azula's acting irrational. It's fine. She…She's acting irrational and I gave her some space. I am a fucking idiot."
Letting the bottle crash onto the ground, Kensho bolts back to the Thrown Room and hears Lo and Li trying to talk to Azula. He hears the tail end of the conversation.
"I'm sure you will, but considering everything that's happened today-"
"-Perhaps it's best if you postpone your coronation."
"Oh, wrong thing to say."
"What!? Which one of you said that?"
Both point at each other.
"What a shame. There's only one way to resolve this. You two must duel each other. I order you to fight an Agni Kai."
"But…we're not Fire Benders."
"Alright. Fine…Lo, you're banished. Li you can stay."
Azula walked away to the side.
"But, I'm Li, so who's banished?"
Kensho walks over and says, "Why don't you both stay clear of Azula for a while. I'll speak with her."
They nod in agreement and wish him Good luck.
Following Azula to another room, he sees her snag her finger in the hair tie. He waits, not wanting to startle her.
"Alright hair, it's time to face your doom."
Azula states, grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting her bangs.
"What are you doing here?"
Kensho is about to step about, but then stops and continues listening.
"Don't pretend to act proud. I know what you really think of me. You think I'm a monster."
…
"Well what choice do I have? Trust is for fools. Fear is the only reliable way. Even you fear me."
…
Azula closes her eyes, which quickly fill with tears. She then grabs the brush and throws it at the mirror, shattering half of it.
Kensho rushes over to her and she collapses on the ground in tears.
When he gets close he wraps his arms around her. She doesn't fight back, opting to quietly sob. Kensho says nothing and just holds her. After crying for a couple minutes she stops.
The two stand up, and Kensho helps her into her armor.
"You don't need to help me with this." Azula says.
"I know. It makes me feel good to help you though."
Kensho could see how tired she was, and how she was starting to break.
"Let's go get you coronated."
Azula nods, and they walk outside to the front of the palace. The Fire Sages arrived as well and gathered around. Azula knelt down and waited.
"By decree of Phoenix King Ozai I now crown you Fire Lord..."
The Fire Sage stops, and Kensho sees what he sees. The avatar's Flying Bison, carrying Zuko and Katara.
"Ugh, what are you waiting for? Do it!"
Appa let out a roar which finally made Azula realize who had arrived. The great beast landed with a thud and Zuko spoke out.
"Sorry, but you're not gonna become Fire Lord today."
He then jumps down from Appa's head.
"I am."
Azula let out a fake laugh.
"You're hilarious."
Katara walks up to Zuko's side.
"And you're going down."
The Fire Sage moves to place the ornament on Azula's head, but she stops him.
"Wait. You want to be Fire Lord? Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai."
"You're on." Zuko responds.
Kensho sees Azula's lips curl into cruel smile.
"This is bad. I can't interfere though."
"What are you doing?" Katara asks Zuko, "She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both so she's trying to separate us."
"I know. But I can take her this time."
"But even you admitted to your uncle that you would need help facing Azula."
"There's something off about her. I can't explain it but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt."
Both Zuko and Azula took positions on the opposite ends of the courtyard, kneeling with their backs to each other. Kensho stood behind Azula at the foot of the steps, looking upon both of them with interest.
Zuko turned around first, followed by Azula.
"I'm sorry it has to end this way brother." Azula states, dropping the cloak.
"No you're not."
Azula says nothing, opting to take up her crooked stance. She then spins around and unleashes a torrent of fire. Zuko counters it and causes the blue and red fire to meet in the middle.
Azula then boosts herself forwards before unleashing a barrage of flaming kicks. Zuko countered and blocked each of them.
The two kept exchanging blows, and Kensho found himself blocking some stray fire. Especially when both sides kept up a steady stream of fire that split in the middle, causing the flames to fly past both of them. This caused Zuko to burn the entrance of the palace and enrage Azula.
Azula then jumps into the air and sends a vertical wall of flames down. Zuko spins and blasts his own fire around himself to negate the blue flames. Azula panted, quickly catching her breath.
Now with an opening, Zuko blasted two spinning torrents of fire at Azula. She just barely manages to avoid it and starts flying across the ground using her flames. Deciding on a new tactic, Azula circled Zuko and kept blasting at him.
Zuko crawls onto his back and spins around, making a ring of fire that hits Azula. This knocks her off trajectory and causes her to fall back towards her original position.
"No lightning today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko taunts.
"Oh. I'll show you lightning!"
Azula starts flailing her arms, collecting the electricity. Kensho shifted forwards in anticipation. Suddenly, Azula aimed the lightning bolt at Katara. This caused Zuko to jump in front of it and just barely manage to release the lightning into the sky.
At this point Kensho started running towards Zuko to try and help, while Azula pursued Katara.
"Zuko, I'm sorry about the Boiling Rock and afterwards. Let me help you." Kensho says.
Zuko just lightly nods his head. That was enough for Kensho, who placed two fingers on Zuko's chest and aimed his other hand's two fingers away. Absorbing any residual electricity, Kensho shot it back out into the sky.
"There. Now if Katara survives she can heal you easier."
Speaking of Katara, Kensho looked around and saw that Katara had frozen herself and Azula in a wave of ice. That was a bit surprising, he had to admit. He then watched as Katara restrained Azula by tying her to the grate with a long chain.
Before finishing though, Katara got rid of the water so they could breath. She then finished with a final hard tug to make sure the chain was secure before going over to Kensho and Zuko. Kensho helped turn Zuko onto his back so Katara could do her work.
"Thank you, Katara." Zuko says.
"I think I should be the one thanking you."
She then helps Zuko stand on his feet. The three watched as Azula started flailing around, breathing fire and sobbing uncontrollably.
Kensho walks over to Azula and kneels in front of her.
"Kensho. Free me. Together we can beat them."
"No Azula. You lost. Please, stop."
"But…But-"
Kensho pecks Azula's forehead before wrapping her in his embrace. All she can do is weep and nuzzle her face into his shoulder.
"It's ok. Let it out. I'm here. I'll always be here."
And BAM! End of chapter. Lol. I'll see you all next week. Hopefully my mind hasn't been destroyed by tests XP
Reviews would be appreciated
Anyways stay awesome guys and gals of the world, and I'll see you next chapter