~O~

The Beach

The return trip to the Fire Nation had made Zuko anxious, so Sen observed Mai as she walked outside of the palace, approaching her boyfriend and offering comfort. When they arrived at the Fire Nation Capital, Li and Lo were addressing a crowd who waited for them.

Li spoke first. "Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's Capital. In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko, and together they faced the Avatar!"

Both spoke now. "And the Avatar fell! And the Earth Kingdom fell!"

"Azula's agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls." Li continued, "And brought them down! The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory."

Azula walked between them, smiling with pride.

"Now the heroes have returned home!" Li and Lo declared together.

Lo gestured to Azula. "Your princess, Azula ..."

The crowd erupted in cheer and Sen watched from the ship with a small smile of her own.

Li gestured now toward Zuko, who approached with a concerned expression on his face. Even when the crowds cheered for him as well, he was unsure of how to react. But Mai was there to offer him comfort again.

"And after three long years, your prince has returned ...Zuko!"

Cheers from the crowds.

O

Sen was kneeling before Ozai. Her mask was gone. Azula was there at her place near Ozai's throne, observing the sight with a smile.

"You've been away for a long time," Ozai said, "Azula tells me of your grand exploits. How you assisted in the capture of Ba Sing Se."

"Yes, my Lord."

"I believe you've earned a promotion, my dear Captain." Ozai told her.

Sen blinked, amazed. "My-My Lord, I'm honored!"

She looked up at Azula who smiled and inclined her head once. Good. The other girl wasn't so morose now. She really had been a drag.

And after her promotion, Sen spent the next few days in her room. She wanted to rest, laying back in her bed before noticing old speckles of blood that caked the lining of her armor.

She spent time removing it with a wet rag before sitting in front of herself in the mirror, staring at the horrible burns on her face; the way the scars twisted the part of her mouth in a permanent scowl. She reached up and touched them before closing her eyes.

"Why can't I do anything about this?" she mumbled sadly.

I'm never going to be good enough for her. She so beautiful and I'm - Sen thought with bitter disgust.

Instead of thinking about it any more, she fitted her mask back onto her face, stood up and left her room, entering the dining hall. Mai and Ty Lee were already at the dining table when Sen arrived.

Azula was sitting at the far end, in mid discussion about taking a trip to Ember Island. When Lo and Li noticed Sen arriving, they quickly brought forth some tea and some Flaming Fire Flakes.

"Sen!" Azula said, waving one hand, "How would you enjoy a trip to Fire Island?"

Sen blinked and took a spot beside Mai and across from Ty Lee. "Um, that would be fine, princess," she answered, "May I ask what the occasion is?"

Azula popped a Fire Flake into her mouth. "No occasion. I just thought it would be...kind of..." She paused, almost thoughtful and glanced over at Ty Lee expectantly, as if she had the answer to that that Azula did not.

"Oh! Fun!" Ty Lee finished for her.

"That, and considering the fact that your father is holding a restricted meeting with his advisers," Lo answered, refilling Azula's cup.

Azula smiled at Sen and waved her hand in the air. "There you have it. Father is busy and he wants us out of the house. Case in point: We're using Lo and Li's beach house for the time being. Would you care to join us?"

Sen smiled behind her mask.

Well, at least she had a chance to try and tell the Princess while she was in a good mood.

O

"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island," Ty Lee announced, as they arrived on the docks of the island, "It's gonna be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing."

Zuko glared at her, sitting down at the side of the docks. "Doing nothing is a waste of time! We're being sent away on a forced vacation." he snapped. He rose to his feet and angrily kicked at a pebble. "I feel like a child."

Azula smiled at him. "Lighten up. So dad wants to meet with his advisers alone without anyone else around," she said, "Don't take it personally."

Ty Lee cocked her head. "Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?"

"We used to come every summer when we were kids," Azula replied, following Li and Lo to their beach house.

"That must have been fun." Ty Lee said, smiling brightly.

Zuko stared at her grimly before he closed his eyes, reliving the once happier times of his family and friends together on the beach. Back when things used to make sense. Back when he wasn't so conflicted. "That was a long time ago."

Sen stared at him, but said nothing. She felt a glimmer of his pain for only a brief moment.

They stepped into the beach house and instantly, Zuko groaned with disgust. The house had a rather putrid smell to it that festered into his nostrils.

"Ugh..." Zuko groaned, "It smells like old lady in here."

Mai raised a single brow and casually fanned some of the dusty pottery with one hand. "Gee, I wonder why."

Sen glanced around the house with regal boredom from behind her mask. Zuko gave her a funny look, like he had just now noticed that she was wearing the thing. "You know, you don't always have to wear that."

"Don't worry about me." Sen answered, briskly.

"I'm not," Zuko told her, "I'm just saying because I know. Sooner or later, we have to stop hiding our scars."

Ty Lee walked around until she spotted a picture of two women posing back to back. They were very beautiful too. "Who are these two beautiful women?" she asked, glancing back at the older women.

"Can't you tell?" Li grinned at her.

The two posed just like the women in the picture. "It's Li/Lo and me!" they said, together.

Everyone else looked horrified, and Zuko covered his mouth to keep from vomiting. Sen shuddered where she stood. "I think I may skip lunch for today..." she muttered. She turned and walked out of the beach house.

After unraveling from their trip, the group went down to the beach.

Sen had always been pretty comfortable with her body with the exception of her facial damages. Given her military life, she was pretty muscular in tone and structure. But she was also humble as well, so she was dressed in a pair of black pants and a red vest sporting the Fire Nation insignia. She had her hair braided.

She looked up, just in time to see Azula observing a game of Kuai Ball in effect. She smiled slyly and stood up, approaching the people playing.

"Hey, beach bums, we're playing next," she told them. Then, she called over to Ty Lee, who was in the middle of being fanned by two teenagers while a third boy holds up a blanket to give her shade. "Ty Lee, get over here now!"

Ty Lee did a perfect a handstand and walked on her hands to Azula.

Sen wasn't up for playing in the game, so the others engaged without argument. She went to a stand to retrieve two things of watermelon juice. A loud explosion caused her to look back at the game. Azula had spiked the ball so hard through the net that it had caught on fire. She grinned triumphantly and thrust her hands into the air.

"Yes! We defeated you for all time!" she boasted, "You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" She paused before smiling back at the others. "Well, That was fun. What else shall we do?"

Sen walked up and offered her one of the melons. "Drink?"

"Don't mind if I do!" Azula quickly took the watermelon and slurped from it in a loud and unappealing manner. Her sounds disgusted a few of the boys there at the beach while Sen smiled, not disgusted in the slightest. Zuko gave her a frown, staring down at the watermelon in her hands as she took a small drink.

Zuko squinted at her suspiciously before he scoffed and brushed passed her. "Fine. I'll just get it myself."

Azula stared at Sen and shrugged her shoulders. "Wonder what's eating him."

"Maybe he got a sea slug stuck in his shorts or something." Sen muttered. She watched Zuko as he retrieved some ice cream from the stand. Did he suspect something?

Sen wanted to spend some time with Azula, but several guys approached her and the others and started talking about a party that they were having. What surprised Sen was Azula actually wanted to go. Go to meet them, maybe?

If Azula had any interest in the one called "Chan", Sen knew that she had no chance of trying to reveal her feelings to the princess. But Azula didn't seem none TOO interested when she was talking about it at lunch.

"Why didn't you tell those guys who we were?" Zuko asked, glancing at his sister.

Azula shrugged her shoulders. "I guess, I was…intrigued. I'm so used to people worshiping us."

"They should." Ty Lee piped up.

Azula smiled at her. "Yes, I know and I love it," she argued, good-naturedly for once, "But for once, I just wanted to see how people would treat us if they didn't know who we were."

"Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate..." Li began, studying her bowl with a calm and quiet demeanor.

"Ember Island reveals the true you." Lo finished.

Suddenly, the two clapped hands and performed a few synchronized arm movements. "To the party!"

O

Chan opened his door and looked confused at the sight of Azula and her friends standing there. "Um, you're a little early. No one's here yet."

Azula smiled. "I heard you telling someone that you'd be partying from dusk 'til dawn. It's dusk, so we're here."

"But that's just an expression." Chan argued.

"We are the perfect party guests," Azula told him, beaming with pride, as if she had it all figured out, "We arrive right on time because we are very punctual."

Chan didn't see a point in arguing, so he just shrugged and opened the door wider, signaling for them to come in. "All right listen, my dad's an admiral and has no idea I'm having this party so don't mess anything up."

Ruon Jian stood with his back against the wall and grinned, waving at Sen. She glared back at him before straightening and watching Azula move in on Chan. Her lips tightened behind her mask and she clenched her fists.

"That's a sharp outfit, Chan. Careful," Azula said, smiling, "You could puncture the hull of an empire-class Fire Nation battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea." She pointed at Chan's outfit. "...because it's so sharp."

Chan smiled, though looked a little confused. "Um...thanks."

Eventually, the party moved underway and various people began showing up. Sen, Azula and Ty Lee were in a discussion about boys. Well, Sen was doing most of the listening while the other two were talking.

"Come on, Ty Lee. You can't be this ignorant." Azula said.

Ty Lee shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them," Azula explained, "You're not a challenge. You're a tease. It's not like they actually care who you are."

Sen couldn't help but snicker somewhat, but Ty Lee started crying. Azula immediately changed to a softer gentler tone. "Okay, okay, calm down. I didn't mean what I said," she assured her, "Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little..." She leaned forward and whispered carefully. "jealous."

Ty Lee looked stunned. "What? You're jealous of me? But you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world."

Sen smiled behind her mask and nodded, speaking a little too eagerly. "She's right."

Azula smiled at them. "Well, you're right about all those things. But, for some reason, when I meet boys, they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them."

Ty Lee chuckled. "But you probably would do something horrible to them. I'm sure they're just intimidated by you," she replied. Then, she leaned forward and pressed a hand to the banister beside her. "Okay, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny."

Sen groaned and the princess rolled her eyes. "Well, that sounds really shallow and stupid..." She smiled now. "Let's try it."

Ty Lee clapped her hands together. "Okay! How about Sen be the guy since she looks kinda like one." She cringed when Sen glared daggers at her. "And you tell Azula something."

Sen rolled her eyes. "That's stupid. I'm not pretending to be a guy. I can't afford therapy on my salary."

Azula gave her a false pouty look. "Come on, Sen. Just do it."

Sen cleared her throat, unable to resist the charm the princess put on. "Um...very well." She stammered a bit before making her voice deep, like a boy's. "'Hey there, sweet sugar cakes. How you liking this party'?"

Azula laughed quite loudly and everyone around them stopped to look at her like she was crazy.

O

Sen didn't know how long she wandered through the house.

Or how she'd ended up in the room talking with the other teenage girls. They were sitting on several pillows, talking about wanting boyfriends.

Except for Sen, of course. She did not prefer the company of boys. The girls were quite supportive of her.

"...I guess what I'm asking is...well, how do you know when it's real?" Sen asked.

One of the girls smiled brightly at her. "It's real when you feel like two halves of the same whole!"

Sen frowned thoughtfully.

"Yeah! I mean, when you're stronger together!" another one assured her. "Like my boyfriend and me. He did something really grand when he told me how he felt."

Sen tilted her head curiously. "Like what?"

"He waited until his friends were around and asked me out. Just like that."

Sen made a face, uncomfortable. She shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not really good at this."

"Why not?" Another girl behind her was drinking from her cup. "I mean, you have muscles! Every girl likes that!"

"No." one of them argued. "It's not about strength. It's about how much you feel when you're around her. Like, when she's near you, what do you feel?"

Sen blushed slightly, lowering her eyes. The girls giggled at her and patted her shoulders for comfort.

"It's...It's like when you're just looking at the sun for the first time," she tried, "It burns bright, but it warms your face. Like an embrace."

"Awww!" the girls collectively gushed.

"But...what if she likes this boy here," Sen wondered.

"Which boy?"

"Chan."

One of the girls groaned and rolled her eyes. "Chan's an idiot. She'll see that. Don't worry! You're a catch."

The door opened and Azula pushed her way inside, frowning impatiently when she saw Sen surrounded by the girls.

"Here you are!" she snapped. "I've been looking everywhere for you and you're here sitting around like - "

Sen immediately stood up, flustered. "I'm so sorry. I was just wandering and they found me."

One of the girls brightened up at Azula. "Whoa, is this her?" she asked. "She's really pretty!"

Azula blinked, surprised by the compliment for a moment. She smiled smugly and Sen caught the shaken look that came and went like lightning.

When Sen departed with her, she sensed the tenseness between them. Azula was upset about something, so she took a chance.

"Are you alright, Princess?" she whispered, quietly.

"Yes, I'm fine." Azula snapped. "Chan just doesn't know a good thing when he sees it!"

Sen smiled thinly. "Well, there are those who do."

"Really? Who, then?" Azula frowned up at her.

Sen wavered slightly now. She looked around at the others and stammered in her words before bowing. She felt like throwing up.

"Um, excuse me, I must go." she said.

She quickly hurried away, failing to see that Zuko had been watching the whole thing.

O

"Problems?"

Sen spun around, coming face-to-face with Zuko. He stood there, arms folded with a scowl on his face and she simply turned away, in no mood to start a fight with him. "None that concern you, Zuko..." she growled, turning to go.

"I think they do," Zuko responded, "Especially since you seem to have a thing for my sister."

Sen froze where she stood and her eyes widened. Suddenly, she felt very sick, unsure of what to say. He knew, no doubt figured it out or someone else had. It was going to end up badly if Azula found out without her having time to plan what to say.

"Are you crazy?" Zuko snapped, taking her silence as a confession, "Do you have any idea what my sister would do if she found out about this? Oh and let's not forget my father! He could have you executed!"

Sen shut her eyes for a brief moment and sighed. "I know that..."

"So are you going to actually go through with this?" Zuko demanded, his voice lowering just the slightest.

"I don't know..."

"Why don't you know?"

"I don't."

"You have to know! Why can't you tell my sister?"

Sen snarled so suddenly, ripped the mask off of her face and whirled, glaring at him with fiery intensity. She brought her tattered, burned face so close to his impassive, unflinching one. "LOOK AT ME!" she shouted.

Zuko stared at her for a moment before speaking. This time, he was quiet. "Look, all I'm saying is think before you do something really stupid."

"You'd know a lot about stupid, wouldn't you?" Sen sneered.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. He didn't like having his traits singled out like that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I have to say it, then you're the stupid one here."

Zuko's hands began to burn with flames. "I've had about enough of your attitude!"

Chan walked out to the balcony. "Hey, are you guys doing any Fire Bending out here - " He cut himself off at the sight of Sen's facial burns and his eyes widened comically. "Whoa! Look at your face! Holy..."

He ducked with a terrified yelp as Sen bent a massive wave of flame right at him, scoring the hairs on the crown of his head. Poking his head up meekly, he gestured to the beach with indignant fury. "TAKE YOUR BARBECUE TO THE BEACH!"

Neither one had any trouble with that at all.

O

Zuko started the fight by unleashing a ballistic collection of jabs that produced miniature fireballs and missiles of flame from his fists. Sen was quick and nimble, moving from left to right on her feet with the uncanny grace that could compare to an Airbender, dodging each attack. Zuko snarled in frustration at her antics and began to charge up the attack into swift repetitive strikes to try and knock Sen off of her balance.

But Sen was just too quick and nimble. She chuckled softly and arched a brow. "Is that all?" she sneered, "Just petty smoke tricks?"

Zuko glowered furiously at her. "I'll show you smoke!"

He lunged for her, producing blowtorch - like jets from his fists. He rushed for her, swinging the 'weapons' from side to side. Sen eluded one, grabbed his other wrist in one of her meaty fists and slammed her other fist into his abdomen in a gruesome punch.

Zuko's eyes widened in pain and his mouth flew open in a sharp gasp. Spittle flew from his lips and he tumbled to the sand in a flurry of limbs, just as the others were running up to them.

"Sen! Zuko!" Azula snapped, beginning to curse them, but she actually sighed and shook her head, partially saddened by the fact that she was missing out on a skirmish, "You were having a personal party and didn't invite me?"

Mai frowned as Zuko rose to his feet, holding his stomach and coughing somewhat. "What were you two fighting about anyway?"

Zuko met Sen's eyes and even though she still looked angry, her eyes glimmered over, silently begging him with everything that she was not to tell them. He surprised her by shrugging it off and looking at the others.

"Nothing important..." he said, still looking back at Sen.

O

"So what happened to your face anyway?"

The entire gang made a campfire at the shore side and Sen was lying on a hard - looking rock surface with her eyes closed. When Ty Lee asked the question, she glared upward with a vein sticking out from her forehead at the sight of the girl dangling over her head.

"Ty Lee, is there any time of the day when you're not hanging from something?"

"Probably not!" Ty Lee announced, grinning.

Sen sighed and rolled over, facing away from them. "I don't want to talk about it right now..."

"Ooh! Maybe we can talk about how you can bend colorful fire like Azula!" Ty Lee gushed, like it was the most fantastic thing in the world.

Azula laughed loudly. "Please, like anyone could compare to royalty!" She huffed and the campfire seemed to grow slightly bigger than before, changing her tone a bit. After all, it was a time for relaxation and not silly little games of 'who's horse was bigger'. "But, I have to admit, Sen must be quite the Fire Bender if she could best little Zuzu."

"Not funny..." Zuko snapped, glaring at her.

Azula looked over at Sen and chuckled. "Come on, Sen," she told her, "Relax. No one's out to get you. Come and join us!"

The offer was too tempting to ignore, so Sen moved up to the campfire faster than any airbender would. "Of course..."

Zuko rolled his eyes with a murmur of disgust. His expression made Ty Lee giggle and cover it with one hand.

"So Sen, what secrets are you hiding from us?" Azula asked, smiling deviously.

Sen closed her eyes and collected her thoughts before looking at the object of her affection. No, object wouldn't even be right to place her in category. Talking to Azula was always her greatest dream, but it took some time before she could muster the courage.

"It wasn't what I did," she said, "It's what I wouldn't do..."

Ty Lee immediately positioned herself beside Sen. "What happened?" she asked.

"My father happened," Sen told them, "I was 10 years old. Every day, my father trained me until my bones cracked and my feet bled. He didn't want a weakling in the family and I never questioned it. Being the only born daughter to a father in the military meant high expectations.

I wanted to prove that I could go the distance and become as strong as any man, no matter what the case was and how cruel his methods were. And for a long time, I was doing well even for his high standards. I learned to hone in on my Fire Bending skills, becoming a prodigy at the age of 5. Every morning, I would train until dinner."

"Wow, that's a harsh way to live." Zuko commented.

"Father always ridiculed me and openly mocked me in public, claiming that it would make me into a better person, a stronger one. Sometimes, he would even trip me if I had something heavy in my arms to carry, just to see what I would do."

"Sounds like a nice guy..." Mai remarked, in her bored voice.

Sen chuckled bitterly. "It gets better..." she continued. "One day, I was inside my room, working on my writing. Father had returned from an invasion and came to my room, covered in burns and mud all over his uniform. He actually looked happy standing there. He started telling me to get dressed and that he had a gift for me waiting outside on the docks. Father rarely gave me gifts, so you could imagine that this was big news for me. He brought mother outside and we walked to the docks where his ship was. Father had retrieved several Water Tribe prisoners and had them tied to posts on the beach side. They were tired, bruised and beaten like dogs.

I didn't understand what was going on. My father explained to me that I would eventually go to sea with him and he wanted to make sure that I was ready for war. Mother stayed quiet about it, as she usually did. Father circled the tribe members like a hungry Vulture Griffin, trying to decide who would end up cooked alive. He stopped at a woman and grabbed her by the air, shaking her a little to try and terrify her. He turned to me and told me that I had to learn the ways of war and what it meant to take no prisoners. So, he ordered that I kill one of the Water Tribe members. I didn't want to take her life. I looked at my father and asked her why she had to die. She had done no wrong to me."

"Did you do it?" Mai asked.

They were watching her, intrigued by her tale. Sen stared at them gravely. "What do you think?"

But there was more to it.

"My father was outraged by my talking back to him. He struck me across the face and ordered that I kill her or I would be disowned from his family and labeled a weakling. I was upset about what he wanted me to do. After all, I was still very naive, I admit. Father gave me one final warning, telling me that I was embarrassing him in front of his soldiers and even the enemy. Status was always a big thing for him. And then, it happened. He seared my face with a close - ranged Fire Bending move. I tried to cover my face with my hands," -she held up her scarred hands as proof to them- "but my right side took most of the damage."

Azula blinked before she spoke. "Wow."

Sen actually chuckled at her choice of words. "In ways you could only imagine."

They all started to laugh slightly at the moment shared. Ty Lee sighed happily and leaned back in her spot. "What Lo and Li said came true. The beach did help us learn about ourselves," she said, bending over to pick up a smoothed rock. "I feel all smoothed. I'll always remember this."

Azula stood up and smirked deviously. "You know what would make this trip really memorable?"

The group walked back to Chan's house and when he opened the door, he looked confused by their sly grins.

"We've got some bad news Chan." Azula told him.

Zuko scowled. " Party's over."

They began to make a complete mess of Chan's house. Sen kicked a vase over, Zuko smashed a table in half. Mai sliced through paintings on the walls and Ty Lee swung from a support beam, flipping onto a chandelier. It came crashing down, just as she swung to another beam. And then another followed behind it.

Sen just grinned with delight behind her mask, watching the smirk on Azula's face.

This had been the most fun she'd had in...

...well, ever.