49. IN RETROSPECT, I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED, AND, I SUPPOSE, I WASN'T, REALLY. I mean, who else was my father going to send for this task? Some flunky? No, of course not. I mean, she wouldn't have stood for anyone else going on this mission. But, still, the thing I never got past, when I thought about it, was that there would even need to be a mission. After all, why bother? Thus, when I talked about it with Katara, in the weeks that followed, as I finally began to walk around (though, my leg being weak, I ended up needing the cane for at least another fucking month), most of our conversation revolved around the meeting of the chiefs, of the stories that floated back, of the way that the chiefs made sure to approve the treaty in the most insulting manner possible. We all had a good laugh about that, especially because no one who didn't know the Southern Water Tribes intimately would get the joke.

We got it, though.

So, when Sokka burst into our house unannounced, out of breath, babbling about a Fire Nation ship on the horizon, we were all a little surprised. Maybe it was the first inspection? We couldn't be sure. It had been three months since my little operation, and about six weeks since the Water Tribe delegation had departed to deliver the signed treaty and make their formal submission to the throne. All of the chiefs had gone, no matter how old or infirm, to bow and scrape and do what they had to do, so we were all living in a state of expectant worry. The fact that a ship had appeared was, in some ways, a relief. Indeed, so sure was I in the conclusions I had reached, I shrugged and felt secure in knowing that it had nothing to do with me.

Yeah, I know, I'm an idiot. What else is new?

It was just the three of us at the house that day, Katara and I by the fire, Toph sleeping off a hangover on our couch (another Sokka-made gift, and quite comfy, might I say). It was afternoon, and not a lesson day, so we were reading silently together, sipping tea and making eyes at each other and wondering silently just how fast asleep Toph really was, or if she was just pretending, waiting for the moment to pounce for maximum embarrassment.

Then Sokka burst in, babbling, and we just about jumped out of our skins.

"Guys, there's a fucking Fire Nation ship coming in! Holy shit!"

After recovering from the initial shock, during which Toph, awakened by Sokka's outburst, began to twitch and groan on the couch, Katara and I gave each other a look and shrugged. I turned back to my book, while Katara picked my thoughts out of my brain and gave them voice. "So?" she said, gently closing her book and laying it in her lap.

He stepped inside, letting the door bang behind him, eliciting a mumbled, "Oh, fuck me," from Toph. He looked deeply confused, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while the other jerked a thumb back the way he came. "Yeah…but…Fire Nation ship."

"Well," Katara said, speaking to him like one speaks to a particularly dull child, "does it have friends, or is it flying solo?"

He shrugs, pursing his lips in thought for a few moments before saying, "Looks like just the one."

Katara nodded sagely, arching an eyebrow at her brother. "Right, so, there's just one Fire Nation ship, which, really, we've been expecting one to stop by at some point. What's that got to do with us?"

He points a finger at me. "Well, shouldn't Zuko come translate?"

Without looking up from my book, I reply, in a rather bored tone, "I'm sure they have a translator on board."

"And besides," Katara points out, leaning back in her chair and looking very done with this conversation, "I doubt that they're going to want to see Zuko."

"In fact," I continue, still not looking up from my book, "I'm probably the last person they want to see."

Sokka makes a bit of a face. "What? Why? Aren't you, like, the prince or some such shit?"

Katara rolls her eyes. "He was the prince. He's just another exile now."

I shoot her a grin. "Just another exile? That's all I am?"

She giggles, reaches out, and paws slightly at my knee. "Hey, you're my exile."

I nod, still smiling. "That would make me special…"

From his spot by the door, Sokka groans and claps his hands over his ears. "Can you two stop doing that around me, please? I mean, for the love of the gods…"

"And could you," Toph snarls, burying her face deeper into a handy pillow, "stop talking so fucking loud? Some of us need our beauty sleep."

"Oh?" Katara says, trying hard not to laugh. "Is this an inconvenient time, Toph?"

"Are we disturbing you at a moment you'd rather not be disturbed?" I add.

"You know," Katara says, turning to me, "I can't imagine how frustrating that would be."

"Right?" I finally close my book and lay it on the table beside me. "I mean, can you just picture what it would be like, if someone barged in on you while you were trying to not be barged in on?"

Katara nods, a grim look on her face and a grave tone in her voice. "That would get really old, really fast, I imagine."

Toph's response, naturally, is to flip us both the bird, bury herself deeper into the pillow, and grumble, "You two are so going to fucking pay…"

Katara and I have to clamp down hard on our hysterics, while Sokka just sighs. "Look, as fun as this is, I do have to ask if I really am the only one who thinks this is serious business."

"No doubt it is serious business, Sokka," Katara replies, still swallowing her laughter, "but we're just pointing out that we don't think we'd be much help."

"If anything," I say, picking up the thread, "I might actually be a hindrance."

Sokka shrugs, goes back to rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, maybe, but I know it'd make everybody feel better if you were down there."

With that, I heave a sigh, carefully getting to my feet. I don't need the cane anymore, and I'm finally really beginning to move around (I'm even practicing real firebending again, which is a delightful release), but standing up and sitting down is still something that I have to be careful about. It's a gradual process, as endlessly explained by Katara when my frustration gets the better of me; healing doesn't take place overnight.

And don't I know it…

I brush off my trousers, stretching my arms a bit to crack my back. "You really want me down there, is what you're saying."

He shrugs again, looking a little more relieved than when he came in. "Like I said, it'd just make everybody rest a little easier, you know?"

I heave a sigh, reach back, snatch my light autumn coat off the back of my chair, and shrug myself into it. "Well, if that's how everybody feels, I'll go." Beside me, Katara is already up and moving, slipping on her own coat and brushing out the wrinkles from her skirt. We don't talk about her coming with me; we never do. We just do things together; it's how it works. I grab my cigarettes off the table, dropping them into one of my coat pockets and turning to where Toph is still trying to disappear from the world. "You coming, Toph?"

Her only reply is to snarl and flip us a very emphatic bird. We all have a good chuckle about that, even Sokka, who seems to be much more relaxed now that we're coming down to the shore. We're still chuckling as we step down, Katara making sure to give the door a good slam and giggling like a schoolgirl at the tidal wave of cursing that this elicits from Toph. Once that final jab is done, Katara and I take each other's hands, then fall into step beside Sokka, so that the two siblings are next to each other and, as usual, Katara has positioned me so that everyone is to my right.

Have I mentioned that I love this girl? Because I do…

"So," Katara says, squeezing my hand, "anything you care to tell us about this Fire Nation ship?"

Sokka shrugs, allowing his step to regain its usual jauntiness. "It's big."

I scoff. "That's helpful. How big is big?"

Sokka shoots me a look. "Trust me, man, you'll see what I mean."

And he was right. It really was big, almost outrageously so, really, for any of the possible purposes I could conjure up for it. A decent-sized crowd was forming around us, watching the ship slowly slide up to a berth that was dwarfed in size in an almost comical way, while the crowd muttered amongst themselves and Katara reached over with her free hand and wrapped it lightly around my arm. I pulled her close and squeezed her hand, and we joined in watching with confusion while Sokka moved about the crowd, making sure no one had brought a weapon. Several had, and there a few hushed, hurried exchanges, while Sokka entreated the individuals in question to go home, ditch the weapons, and come back. Most did without any complaint, contenting themselves with giving the ship black looks before making the quick trip back to their homes.

And all the while, we stared, watching the ship settle at its berth, and waiting, our hearts in our throats, our minds reeling in expectant silence. I ran my gaze over the ship, took in the markings, the standard, examined the crewmembers bustling around on deck, shouting at each other in tightly constrained voices. They seemed, somehow, to be just as nervous and unsettled as we were. Their eyes kept sliding up towards the bridge, and more than a few allowed angry glares to flash across their faces whenever they were looking away from it. I looked up at the bridge, narrowed my eye, craned my neck, blinking against the glare of the afternoon sun. Behind the darkened windows, I saw faint grey shapes moving about, but could not make out faces, or even body types. All I saw was a ship and its crew, too large and too ostentatious, hovering on a knife's edge.

I closed my eyes. I took a deep breathe, held it, let it out. When I had opened my eyes again, it didn't look like anything had changed. There was no indication, no clue, nothing to forewarn me, nothing but a vague sense of unease, settling down into the pit of my stomach. I gripped Katara's hand even tighter, and she laid her head on my shoulder, and whispered, "What do you see?"

I shake my head, willing the suspicion away. "Nothing that I want to see, that's for sure."

Her head moves, wisps of hair brush against my skin, and I feel her lips press softly against my cheek. I feel the kiss, feel it spread through my body, down into my bones, feel it warm the ice cold pit of dread in the depths of my soul. I sigh, and, for a moment, it's almost happy. I turn my head a little, look into her eyes, staring up at me, and smile.

"Got my back?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "How many more times do I have to tell you that?"

I shrug and wink. "At least a few thousand more."

Another quick kiss, and then we're focused on the ship once more, holding each other tight, united, as I somehow know we always will be.

"Love you, babe," she whispers.

"Love you, too," I whisper back.

And just like that, I know I'm going to be alright…

To my surprise, the feeling lasts, even when the gangplank is lowered and a squad of tall, armored men, marching in step, swords at their hips, spears in their hands, comes trooped down to array themselves in a half-circle around the end of the gangplank. I should be worried, terrified, upset, something. But no, I look at these men, focus on their faces, their faces hidden behind the intimidating skull-like faceplates of the Royal Guard, look up at the deck of the ship, see the person I'm not at all surprised to see, their eyes scanning the crowd, seeking me out, and I know, I just know…

I got this…

I clasp my eyes on the figure striding down the gangplank, very inch of their body, even movement that they make, proclaiming their disdain for everything and everyone, I watch them practically saunter down that walkway, push right through the guards, dive right into the crowd, parting them without even so much as acknowledging their existence, any of our existences, and…well…

All I can think is that, I got this…

Bring it on…

Because, at the end of the day, I always knew I would have to see her again…

It doesn't take her long to find us. She slices right through the crowd, and everyone stands out of her way, pulling back as far as possible. No one raises a finger, no one so much as says a word. Silence falls like a thunderclap upon us; it almost feels like, for a moment, the very planet around us has stopped on its axis, stopped to stand and stare.

She makes no concessions to anything. She's dressed in perfect royal armor, like she just stepped out of the pages of a book. Her back is ramrod straight, but somehow relaxed, like an animal preparing to strike at its prey. She holds her chin up high, the epitome of haughty, disconnected royalty. Her hair is jet black, like mine, cut short, carefully done up in a woman's version of the topknot, so that it can support the crown that only the heir to the throne of the Fire Nation can wear. She is unarmed, but somehow manages to look more dangerous than every soldier in the world put together. Her movements are smooth and lithe, almost feral, and her golden eyes sparkle with malice and hate. Those eyes, so much like my own, bore out from a face that reminds me uncomfortably of my mother, carve away at me, looking for weakness. They don't bother to waste time on the woman I'm holding on to like a lifeline; why would they? This girl, this woman, with her golden eyes and black soul, is royalty; no way will she ever even contemplate wasting a single second of her life on what she considers to be nothing more than a peasant trollop.

Beside me, Katara sucks in a breath, almost like a hiss. The wrath radiating off the person striding towards us is palpable, a living, breathing thing, with a mind and a body all its own. It envelops us, wraps its white hot tentacles around us, tries to choke the breath from us. We hold each other tighter and brush the sensation away. I narrow my eyes and set my face in stone and let this person know, without saying, No, you can't break us, not when we're together.

I doubt she hears me. She never did listen to anyone but the voices in her head.

I wonder what they're saying now?

She's stopped. She finally spares a glance at Katara, looking at her in the same way that a normal person would look at a speck of dust on the counter. If she was hoping to get a rise out of Katara, she's sorely disappointed. All Katara does is narrow her eyes, straighten her body, and glare right back, with the exact same expression.

Our new friend blinks once at that. This shocks me, but doesn't surprise me. It's hard not laugh, really. You never were as invincible as you think you are…

She rounds on me, as if she could hear my thoughts, which, to be honest, wouldn't really shock me. This girl hears a lot of things, not all of them real. I wonder if she's still hiding it from father…

I was always the one who covered up for her, after all…

She gives a mocking bow, to which I reply by merely tilting my head up and down. From somewhere, Sokka has slid up at my left. I sense him there, take comfort in it.

Finally, she speaks.

"Kon'nichiwa, otōto. Sore wa hisashiburida."

I don't smile. I don't laugh. I don't scream. I don't rant. I don't do much of anything. I just sigh and say, "Hai, ane, sore wa motte imasu."

Sokka is leaning towards me, his voice hushed. "The fuck is going on, buddy?"

I sigh again, heavier this time, before saying, in Suomi, so all can hear, "Well, that's a good question. That said," I tilt my head at Sokka, "this is Sokka, the chief's son and my best friend, and this," I tilt my head at Katara, "is Katara, the chief's daughter and my girlfriend." There's a slightly narrowing of the eyes at that, gone in the blink of an eye; only someone who knew this girl from birth would be able to catch it.

Good thing I qualify…

"And this," I say, narrowing my own eyes, "is my sister, Azula."

She giggles at this, giggles in that strange, unreal, brittle laugh of hers. She giggles, and she rolls her eyes, and then she makes that mocking bow once more.

"A pleasure, a real pleasure, to meet you all." She rises, and the snarl that crawls across her face is anything but real. "I can assure you, the pleasure is all mine."

Katara squeezes my hand, and says in a hiss that I didn't even know she could use, "Of that, Azula, we are all aware."

My sister giggles once more, and if she had licked her lips just then, I would not have been in the least surprised.

"No doubt."

Things went downhill from there.


LOOK WHO'S BACK! GAH! I swear, every time I write Azula, my skin crawls a little bit. She really is a piece of work, especially the way I write her, and I'm really going to give her a chance to shine in the next chapter.

Also, why the long delay? Well, you see, there's this thing called Mark Reads Twilight, and that will, quite literally, suck the life out of your day. Also, I'm sitting around fuming over the fact that the fucking maintenance guy hasn't been by to fix the fucking washing machine. But anyways…

In the next chapter, Azula does what she does best: Be crazy, and try to bait Zuko into doing something stupid. Unfortunately for Azula, though, Katara isn't about to have any of that. Stay tuned!