Rewrite, Rewind
Chapter 18
It has been six years since Azulon's brother attacked the palace in the hopes of becoming the Fire Lord only to die at the end of servant's blade. The young maid died in the attack and her corpse was sent back to her home village but at least she did the job of protecting the Fire Lord. She was the only maid who died in the attack; even her elder sister, remained mostly unharmed. A couple of the fire generals wondered why such a talent was wasted in the palace, the maid could've made a name for herself on the front lines and secured herself a comfy life should she chose to return from the battlefront. Azulon very nearly lost his mind at the request of his generals asking for the palace servants to apply for the war front.
"My personal servants are no concern of yours!" Ozai cringed at his father's angry bellow, he wasn't even in the war room yet and he already knew which general provoked his father so early in the day. "do not forget that they were the ones who spared my family! Not you!"
"I meant no offense Fire Lord Azulon!" that voice was young, too young to belong to a general. Perhaps one of the generals brought in his intended heir of the 'general' position and the boy made a serious mistake by poking at the old wound of the Fire Lord. "I was only hoping that the dead servant's sister could at least—"
"Yang is my granddaughter's favorite servant! I will not punish my grandchild for your vain hope of an army of lightning benders!" Ozai rolled his eyes, ever since the rumor that his daughter's favorite maid was a lightning bender started being spouted out, this request has constantly been put through to his father. Azulon was ready to lightning strike every one of his generals every time one of them brought it up. Ozai could see and understand both sides of the argument. Yes having Azula's personal maid teacher dozens of soldiers how to lightning bend would be ideal, however, his daughter took precedence over any soldier's training. The favored maid would not leave Azula's side, even if every general were to drag said woman out of the palace.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Ozai turned to see his daughter tearing down the scarlet hallways like a comet; aided by blasts of red-orange light bursting from her hands. He was proud she was using fire to fasten her speed, she was acting like a real fire bender now but—"Daddy!" Azula demands, crashing into him. She put out her flames as he catches her, spins with her momentum and sets her on his hip. "Don't forget the promise this time!" over the years Azula had learned how to get around his 'Fire Royal Council Order'; which started with her breeching the contract by seeking Ozai out herself.
It was a curious thought Azula had and one that he greatly exploited every time she came back to the palace.
"Princess Azula!" a woman's voice rang from down the hall, startled and frightened, as her feet pounded heavily on the black stone floor.
"You ran from your lessons again?" Ozai gave his daughter a disappointed look, to which she ignored way too easily for her age.
"Don't forget your promise this time!" Azula ordered, pulling at his shirt with a pout on her face. "I want a book about spirits! You have to ask grandpa for one! I won't see grandpa until our birthday! That's two days from now!" Ozai has no idea where his daughter's sudden fascination of spirits came from. She just woke up one day and started asking questions about spirits and their purposes, what they do, where they live; the questions were endless and Ozai was getting annoyed with the fascination.
"I'll make sure to ask father for a book about spirits," Ozai sighs as he sets his daughter down, "now go back to your lessons. No child of mine will be skipping out on her training."
"What about Zuzu?" Azula asked, one dark brow raised, "he's your son, your firstborn aaaand he skips out on his training aaaaall the time." The way she drawls out her 'and' and 'all' with her proud little smirks makes Ozai want to smirk back at the seven-year-old. She states the obvious facts with so much sarcasm that anyone else would doubt the truth of her words but Ozai was used to such tactics.
"Your brother gets sent to the infirmary every other minute," Ozai drawls, unimpressed with the attempted word-trap from his daughter. "I expect you to be better than that weakling. You are the true heir after all." He marches into the war room without looking back at his daughter; as such he never sees the frown on her round face. Azula stares at the curtains for a moment before turning and using fire bending to rush back to Yang, who's voice had gotten dangerously close to her location.
"Yang!" Azula laughs, crashing into said woman without warning, wrapping her arms around the servant's waist and squealing as she literally went swinging in several perfect circles around the woman's waste.
"Princess Azula!" Yang half laughs half scolds her as their spinning slows and Azula's feet finally touch down on the ground. "Its dangerous to go flying in such narrow halls," Yang advised as she kneeled and started tucking Azula's unruly locks back into place with gentle but swift fingers. "Were you trying to spy on your grandfather's war meeting again?"
"No," Azula answers truthfully, she could never lie to Yang. "I wanted to ask daddy for a favor!"
"Hmm, that spirit book you want so badly?"
"uh-huh!" Azula nods as Yang stands and takes the offered hand of the woman she's known all her life.
"Why do you want such a strange book?" Yang askes, "It might be easier to get the things you want if the people you're requesting the items from understanding your reasoning."
"ooo! I'll remember that!" Azula giggled, swinging hers and Yang's hand together with a big grin on her face. "It's because of Zuzu!"
"Because of Prince Zuko?" Yang asks in surprise, "What has he done now?" she sounded resigned as if the prince was always the one to get into trouble and not Azula.
"Someday he's gonna die," Azula answered somberly, "I want to find the reincarnation spirit and make sure my big brother comes back to life again. He needs to be in the fire nation royal family, no matter what. I don't care about the price I have to pay. He can be my son or my grandson or my great-grandson, I don't care. So long as he comes back to our royal family, I'll forgive him for dying before me."
"That's a strange ambition to have," Yang observes. "most people searching for the incarnation spirit want to revive their dead loved ones back to life."
"If that could be done, then grandma would still be here," Azula replies. "Anyways Yang! I wanna go to class now!"
"oh? Now you want to go to fire bending class?" Yang raises an eyebrow at the princess, clear doubt displayed on her fifty-something face. "What are you planning princess mischief?" Azula bursts out laughing at the nickname, something she only allows from Yang.
"When I see Zuzu again I'm gonna tell him to get lots of rest!" Azula laughs. "I'll be the fire bending prodigy that protects her sickly big brother! This way he can learn medicines like he wants too! He can figure out a cure for himself!"
"Prince Zuko wants to be a doctor?" Yang askes, surprised with the information
"I think he just wants to learn to heal himself," Azula replied. "I know he doesn't like how he stops breathing every time he tries to fire bend. I don't get it Yang, why can't he breathe when he fire bends? Why is he in pain almost all the time?"
"I don't know," Yang answers, looking away.
"Yes you do," Azula pouts. "I've heard some of the other servants talking about it. It's how we were born. An assassin came and tried to kill mama and big brother and somehow a maid that no one names got me away before the assassin could figure out that we were twins and then grandma died during the fight."
"…that's not what happened," Yang says sadly, the memory of the bloody room surfacing in her mind. Azula jumped at the contradiction, her golden eyes widening and her face splitting into a big grin. She jumped in front of Yang, eager and excited to hear the real story behind her and Zuko's birth but what she saw on Yang's face had her stilling in her excited jumping and any bubbly questions she might've had died in her throat. Yang's face was smooth in sorrow, her full lips twisted down, her big amber eyes were closed to stop the tears still spilling down her cheeks, her brows pinched just above her thin nose. It was a look of sorrow, regret, and agony; it was a look that was instantly imprinted on Azula's young mind.
"Hurry up Yang!" Azula suddenly burst out in laughter, letting go of her favorite maid and dashing ahead, "I'm gonna be late for my lesson! Race you there!"
"You're already late Princess!" Yang tried to laugh as she gave chase, already used to the increasable speed of the young girl.
Something else happened that day, Azula thought as she ran. Something more then what those servants were whispering about. She took a turn and pushed her legs to go even faster, hearing Yang's feet right behind her. Yang has never looked so hurt before. She knows what happened that day. She looked up as she passed one of the palace gardens, an open window to the infirmary revealed her brother laying on a bed with the palace doctor hovering over him. Even as she ran, eyes glued to the image of her elder brother, she could see the sweat rolling off the doctor's skin, the panic that etched across his fat round face. Zuko's doctor has always reassured them that he would be fine, the fat old man never showed any signs of panic. He always laughed their concerns away, always reassuring them that Zuko would be awake in a few minutes. But this was different. The man was sweating, his skin was paler then should be, his jaw was strung taught, his eyes wide and desperate, the fire dancing and bursting along his fingertips danced out a rhythm she didn't recognize.
This attack was different. That's all Azula could think as she raced, time suddenly slowing all around her.
This attack was different. Her chest felt tight enough that it felt as if her heart beats would burst from her own body.
"ZUKO!" Azula's shrill scream was accented by an explosion of light and before she knew it she was in the infirmary window, one hand stretched out to her brother. An explosion happened, this one blinding her and ripping a pained scream from Zuko as his whole body arced with the light of that strange explosion from her hand.
"Zuko!" Azula shouted as she fell from the air, crashing to the infirmary floor, one foot tangled on the windowsill and one hand tangled into the white sheets of her brother's bed. "Zuko! Zuko!"
"Azu," Zuko coughed and wheezed, giving her strength to scramble back onto her feet and jump onto the bed. "Wha ha… haappened?" his words were slow, his vowels slurring as if he just woke from a deep sleep and still couldn't talk clearly.
"I don't know," Azula whimpered, her words shaking like her hands. She tried patting at his wet chest, searching for injuries that she couldn't see. "you-you-you—" her vision was blurring, she couldn't see straight, she couldn't even talk straight.
"Princess Azula!" Yang was screaming for her, her voice cracked and panicked somewhere far behind Azula.
"You weren't breathing," Azula whimpered at last, curling in half, resting her forehead against his bony shoulder, one hand tangled with his and the other tangled into the white sheet beside him. "I could feel it. You weren't breathing. It hurt so-so much!" Azula was crying, she never cries, never had a reason too but she knew she was crying now. "It hurt!" Azula cried, leaning into her brother as he weakly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, pressing his face to the op her head.
"Is that fire?" Zuko murmurs into her hair, "Why is it white?" but Azula was too tired to answer, she hardly had the strength to look out the window. It looked like she set the garden on fire, two bushes and a tree, Yang was rushing towards them, the older woman's voice cracking through the air as she raced through the burning garden.
"Oopse," Azula whispered before all strength left her and she fell asleep, curled up in a tiny ball in her brother's side, clinging to his arm like it was a lifeline. Zuko smiled to himself, his breaths deep and even as he closed his eyes and took a nap with his sister at his side.
"Princess Azula!" Yang appeared at the window, pulling herself through in one fluid graceful movement. She placed her hands on Azula, shaking her gently, then checking the young girl's pulse. Seeing Zuko, sweat-soaked with black-rimmed eyes, Yang hurriedly placed two fingers to his throat. She sighed in relief at the sound and steady heat beat thrumming against her fingertips.
"I don't understand," Yang looked up to see Doctor Lee. "He died. I've been trying for ten minutes to get his heart started again. How could the princess wake him just by touching him?" Yang stared at the doctor, ordinarily, she would've been at his throat, threatening his life and career for putting the twins in danger but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The man was clearly in pain, his right arm had a long-jagged burn stretching up from his fingers all the way to snake around his shoulder. Both of his hands, fingers included, were black and red, blood spilling from the quivering, ruptured flesh that once clung to his bones. No, now that she looked close enough, there were sparks still dancing along his metal buttons and acupuncture needle-bracelets.
"Is that… lightning?" Yang asked, watching how the sparks along his shirt buttons disappeared but his hair was still standing on end and now that she thought about it, she sniffed the air and found the disturbing scent of burnt hair and sulfur clinging to the room like a heavy atmosphere.
"Lightning?" the doctor looked about in confusion, searching for the source she was talking about, "Where?" Yang stared at his standing on end hair, then turned terrified eyes towards the slumbering twins. She quickly checked their pulses and breathing patterns, both were steady and calm, just sleeping.
"Zuko? Doctor Lee?" Ursa walked, looking confused and concerned. "I heard Zuko had an attack during class today, is…." She stared at the doctor, then at Yang, then her eyes fell on her children. "What happened?!" Ursa was rushing her children, all thought of the other two gone from her mind as she checked their pulses and breathing herself. Yang looked outside again, staring out at the flames still licking at stone and eating shrubbery. "What happened to her?!" Ursa's voice cracked when she discovered Azula's right hand, blistered with large red lines covering her hand and wrist. Yang looked at the princess's hand, surprised she missed the injury but not surprised about its presence.
"oh…Lightning," the doctor spoke in aw, realization suddenly hitting him
"I think Azula is a natural lightning bender," Yang said, "Azula did that trying to get over here." Ursa looked up at the garden, it wasn't her favorite one because it was so small, but it was installed after Zuko's apparent need to sleep close to the main infirmary before they left the palace. She could see the covered hallway on the other side of the garden where two pools of white fire, could be seen: one on the wall and one on the black stone floor. Two bushes were burning in white fire and the tree in the middle of the garden was also burning with white fire growing along its lush leaves.
"isn't that fire?" Ursa questioned
"yes," Yang answered, "White fire is closely tied to lightning, as it is the purest form of light. That's why those who have or learned to wield white fire, are given special training to learn how to use lightning. Some get the hang of lightning-stances after five or eight years, but most are lucky to wield lighting after ten years. That's why lightning benders are so rare in the fire nation. It takes decades to learn and master lightning bending."
"And you're saying Azula has a natural affinity for lightning?" Ursa stared at Yang, horror on her face. "…wha…what now?"
"My lady?" Yang questioned in confusion
"Are you going to tell Ozai about this?" Ursa questioned, her hands tightening on her children, panic cracking her voice like the edge of a broken cup. "are you going to tell him about her lightning?"
"It'll be difficult to wrangle the servants together and get them to lie about the situation," Yang frowned thoughtfully. "I already covered for Azula's fire-bending accidents once, now there are rumors about me being a lightning bender. I don't know if I can cover this as well. It'll be an excuse for the generals to send me to the war front."
"But we need you here," Ursa whimpered, curling protectively over her children. "If Ozai finds out… if he knows about her lightning…" she couldn't finish the sentence and Yang couldn't bring herself to finish it.
"I'll do my best Lady Ursa," Yang sighed. "But I can't make any promises. Eventually, Prince Ozai will find out about her lighting and by then, I won't be able to protect her." Ursa looked up at Yang only to see the maid was climbing out the window, already barking orders at the nearby servants and ordering the guards to keep the flames from spreading.
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