Azula

When I woke from that blessed sleep, the woman sat in the chair mending my only pair of silk clothes. They were the only things I had left from my days before the island, I'd worn those on the trip to find my mother. I'd burnt a hole in them on that trip. They'd caught me after that, deemed me unsafe to live among regular people, and shipped me here. The woman's fingers moved with a grace mine had never obtained. The needle seemed to fly between the threads of the delicate material. She raised the shirt from her lap to examine her work. It shimmered in the soft light coming from a candle on the table. The colors were still bold, red and maroon, trimmed with gold. Her hands dropped to her lap and she tied the thread and broke the string.

"Good morning, Azula." She said, her gentle gaze turning to me. I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "Your breakfast is on the counter top." The smell of it hit my nose just as she mentioned it. I ate in silence, then set aside my bowl.

"Who are you?" I asked. She just smiled.

"I am Maya, mother of Agni, and to all the fire nation." She answered.

"So you're a goddess?" I had never been fully educated in the religion my nation favored, Ozai considered it unnecessary beyond what I needed to know.

"No, darling. I was human just like you when Agni was born. After I died, my son, who had been a god all his life, gave my spirit all powers of a god while still retaining its humanity."

"I recall a few dreams I had and you told me some things about my brother. Is that why you are here?" Her smile faded a little, replaced with a look of mild amusement.

"Yes, my son is upset that your brother has not married the mother of his child. He gave me the task of seeing that work done. I chose you as my messenger, for two reasons." She held up a finger as I was about to ask another question. "One, because you are a woman of significant status in the Fire Nation and yet you have no political allies or opinions in this matter due to your distance." She paused, allowing me to take in that information. "You and your brother combine the blood of my son and the blood of an Avatar. You, especially, contain almost untold power in your fire and your ability to learn and expand what you know. You are the best of a long line of powerful benders, but you lack a compassion for others and a connection to your roots and self." She paused again. "Which brings me to the second reason for my choice. Your brother was saved by the fatherhood your uncle offered. He had the affection of your mother and so, in essence has been saved from the fate you suffered. You had the twisted affection of your father and the ineffective and ill shown love of your mother. No one came to your rescue." She stopped, her eyes filling with compassion as she ripped out my heart. "No one was able to love you adequately as a child and though your friend, Ty Lee, tried her best to offer you some of that comfort, you refused it." She took a deep breath. "I am the mother of the fire nation, but the matriarch of your family. It is my duty to you, as a daughter of the royal line, to provide that which you need most: a mother's love. I'm here to save you."

"Well, you're a little late to 'save me' aren't you?" I spat, my earlier tranquil curiosity burning up like mist from the ocean. "Besides, you are forgetting one tiny little detail: I'm stuck here! There is no way off this island and whatever chance of escape left with that ship!" My heart ached after I spoke. She had just offered me my salvation and I just threw it away. But I was so angry! My fists shook as I clenched them tight. Yet, she didn't look fazed at all. She didn't smile, but she just gazed at me, letting my rage burn out.

"The solution to your problem is simpler than you realize. You have but to ask, and it will be given to you." She looked down at the shirt in her hands. "As for your other question, I can't really answer it. You would never have accepted my help before Raki came." She spread her hands. "You may understand in the future, but I really can't say."

I stood up from my chair. "Well, if we're getting off this island, then I had better go let the animals free." I left her sitting there, half expecting her to follow me, but she didn't. I pulled down the fences and left the animals to live as before, patting the heads of the tamed koala sheep. "Goodbye," I said as they wandered away. The boar-q-pines stayed away from me and I didn't seek them out. When I returned, all of mine and Raki's things were packed in two bags on the table. Maya handed them to me.

"You must remember this, Azula. I am always with you, even when you can't see me. All you need to do is ask for help or my presence, and I will be there." She said and I nodded. Together, we walked down to the beach where the ship that I thought had taken Raki was beached. I looked to Maya, opening my mouth to ask, but she anticipated my question. "The avatar rescued him." She left it at that and boarded the ship, but I remained on the beach.

Raki had been rescued. He was safe. The thought lifted a burden from my shoulders, only to be replaced by another worry. Why hadn't he come back for me? We had made love for the first time, my first time, not two days ago. He had told me he loved me, that he cared, that he would always come back. Raki was an honest man, he wouldn't have lied to me. He must have been injured, too injured to say anything about me, or unconscious. There was no way he would have just left otherwise. Right? I looked out over the water, towards my home, and his face flashed before my eyes. The fear in them when I had turned around after defending him. Had he been so afraid of me, that he left?

I boarded the ship then, I had to find him. I looked about me, there had been a fight here. Walking forward, I paused as something moved beneath my foot. I stooped and picked up a throwing star, one of Mai's. I had gotten this set for her a long time ago. The delicate looking flower in my hand was deceptively beautiful. The edges, however, were sharp and the metal hard. These would not give beneath any pressure applied. Maya's voice echoed from the top deck of the ship and I followed it up. The sailors stood there, listening to her, then set to work.

"There aren't enough of them to sail the ship." I said. Maya nodded and smiled at me.

"Are you going to ask for help?" A spark of mischief flashed in her eye. Without really meaning too, I smiled at her in return.

"Will you produce sailors from thin air?" I asked, very honestly. She grinned.

"Knock and the door will be opened to you." She said and immediately ten more sailors appeared, but they weren't human.

The tallest of them was easily two heads taller than me. His hair was long and golden, his skin glowed from within. From his shoulders, eagle's wings swept gracefully down to the deck. They seemed to float a little above the deck, not quite touching the metal. Each of them was unique, but so beautiful I almost felt ashamed of myself. I was so insignificant compared to them. I felt so small, staring up at the leader. He knelt before me.

"Your wish is our command, Princess." He said, his lips producing music as he spoke. I couldn't explain it if I tried.

"What are you?" I breathed. His wings fluttered and glittered in insubstantial glory.

"You would call me an angel. I am a messenger from the gods, bringer of dreams and guardian of humankind." He looked up and smiled. "My name is Gabriel. I serve Maya and now you. What would you have me do?"

"Sail the ship, I suppose." I could barely take my eyes off him, my heart was pounding and not in a good way. I was terrified. One of the other angels smirked at me.

"Don't be afraid, we're here to help." He bowed, pressing one forearm across his belly and the other against the small of his back. "Abdiel at your service." The others introduced themselves as they passed me, but I could barely fathom the strangeness of the names along with the strange way they honored me, a lowly human, and the strange way they looked. Maya put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come below, I have three things to tell you." I followed her down and she sat me down. "First, I will not always be visible to you. Like the angels, I am always near, but you might not always feel me near. I will come if you call, but you must call. You need to work at your humility, Azula. So secondly, we will arrive in a small farming village near a sea port where you will stay and work for a year's time. After that, you will be ready to journey to the capital. Third, you will keep your identity secret unless I advise otherwise. Do you understand?"

"I do." I said, listing off the items on my fingers. "I have to ask for help from you, even when I can't see you, I'm staying in this village for a year, and I'm not to reveal who I am unless you direct it." Maya smiled.

"Good. Now, remember, humility is everything on this mission and love is not a worthless path." She put her hand on my shoulder. "I believe in you, Azula. You will work wonders. I love you, daughter." I bowed my head, trying to keep my tears in. When I looked up, she was gone.