Kuvira gazed at the Future Industries airship with a flutter of relief. When they had first set out on their mission, things had been falling apart. Zaofu had fallen, Su was dead, her family had been captured. Now, they could put that behind them. Zaheer and the Red Lotus had been stopped. The nations were safe. They could finally try to move forward towards recovery.
Korra stepped next to her with a gentle smile. "I can't believe we're finally heading home. I know it's only been a month, but after this whole Red Lotus thing, it feels like so much longer."
"I know the feeling," Kuvira replied. Her thoughts strayed from her relief, sifting into a sinking trepidation. With all their success came the ultimate caveat. Once they returned to Republic City, her freedom would once again be over. Still, she wasn't afraid to face it. She'd known this was coming, had prepared herself for it. This time, she was more ready than ever. Whatever happened, however her sentence was handled after she returned, she would meet it with her head held high. She would repent.
"There's still plenty to do, though." Bumi walked up to them, lifting his duffel bag onto his shoulders. "Soon as we get back to Republic City, we'll be helping everyone put things back in order."
"Ba Sing Se and Zaofu, too," Korra said. "There's a lot of damage left to fix."
Toph wandered in behind them with a scoff. "Send me to Zaofu. I'll have that place sorted out in a day. Spirits damn me if I can't get a funeral for Su."
"What about me?" Kuvira let her expression sink, as she turned a hopeful glance towards her girlfriend. "I know I'll be taken into custody again when we get back to Republic City, and I'm ready to accept that, but I want to be there for Su's funeral. I have to be."
"We'll figure something out," Korra assured, leaning close to give Kuvira a kiss. "I promise, no matter how we have to do it, we'll get you to Su's funeral. Besides, there's no telling how long it'll actually take to fix things. Could be days, or weeks, maybe months. I hope not years."
"The Earth Kingdom took three years last time around," Toph said. "No reason to think it couldn't take that long again to completely stomp the unrest."
"Yeah, well, with Azula helping out, things should go more smoothly." Korra let out a low grumble as soon as the words left her mouth. "As frustrating as that is to say. If anything, when the Fire Nation troops get to Ba Sing Se, General Iroh can recall the United Forces back to Republic City to help us."
Bumi tilted his head back and uttered a deep yawn. "Are we almost ready to get out of here, then? I've about had it with this place." Not a second after he said it, he flinched and turned to his left. Eska and Desna stood there, watching him. "Um, no offense."
"None taken," Desna replied.
Eska nodded. "The Northern climate is not for everyone."
"I think we're just waiting on Anraq." Korra turned around, looking back at the city of Agna Qel'a. "Did anyone remember to tell him we were leaving?"
"I went by the healer hut earlier, but he wasn't there," Kuvira said. "I assumed someone else beat me to him."
"Oh, maybe he was feeling well enough to leave on his own?" Korra said. "He might have gone to the gathering hall looking for us."
Bumi hummed a thoughtful breath. "But we only just left, and there's only one way to get there. We'd have seen him on the way here, if that were the case, and that's only if he left the same time we did. Kuvira said he was already gone a while ago."
"Has anyone seen him?" Korra glanced around at the entire group. They met her gaze with unknowing shrugs and shakes of their heads. "Then where is he?"
"I believe I can answer that." The voice belonged to a new arrival, a familiar old man wandering towards them across the airfield.
"Lord Zuko?" Korra raised a puzzled brow. "What are you doing here? I thought you left yesterday with your sister."
"I was supposed to," he replied, with a frustrated sigh, "but she ordered me to stay behind to oversee the repairs to the Dragon's Wing. I'll be meeting up with her in a few weeks when it's finished."
"Oh, okay. So what about Anraq, then?"
Zuko exhaled a sigh, and deepened his frown. "He left yesterday with Azula and Yula. He wanted me to let you know."
Kuvira balked, eyes flaring wide. "Why on earth would he do that?"
"I don't know," Zuko said. "They didn't say."
"That doesn't make any sense." Kuvira took a step back and ran her fingers through her hair. Yula leaving without so much as a goodbye had stung bad enough, but Anraq too? "He just left with them? Without even saying goodbye?"
"First Yula, now Anraq," Bumi muttered. "What is Azula playing at?"
Zuko shook his head. "I wish I knew more, believe me. I'm just as much in the dark as you are."
Toph folded her arms with a huff. "Sounds to me like he's planning something. Something potentially stupid. Or brilliant."
"What do you mean?" Korra asked.
"Think about it," Toph said. "Anraq doesn't like Azula anymore than we do, but he does know we need to do something about her."
Kuvira paused, thinking carefully. "So what, he's keeping his enemy close, to learn about her?"
Toph shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes sense. At the very least, it's what we have to believe. He's a bright kid. Let's trust him on this."
"I suppose." Kuvira eased a quiet sigh, letting her gaze drift out of focus. "Still, it would have been nice if he said something to us. Then again, that might have tipped off Azula."
"Brave guy, that Anraq," Bumi stated. "I know I wouldn't want to put up with Azula like that." Hoisting his duffel bag higher onto his shoulders, he headed towards the lowered gangway of the airship. "But in that case, looks like we're ready to set off. You all got ten minutes before I fire up the engines, so hurry it up!"
Korra smiled, shifting her attention to the other two individuals who had joined them to see her off. "Mom, Dad." They came in to hug her, and she tightened her arms around them. "I promise I'll visit soon, when this whole mess has been cleaned up."
"Have a safe trip, honey," Senna said. "We love you."
"And if you need anything, don't hesitate to send a message," Tonraq added.
"I will, thanks." Korra pulled away, giving her parents a wave before heading towards the airship. "Alright everyone, let's get moving."
Anraq leaned against the railing, fingers wrapped around it in a tight grip. He stared out the window ahead of him, watching the ocean pass by below. Same as he had for the past hour. Not much else to do on this ship. The Water Tribe airship they'd taken from Agna Qel'a wasn't nearly as large as the Future Industries airship, but it did have a regal style all its own. The familiar Water Tribe architecture and décor offered him a sense of home. Even if this entire situation would take him as far from home as he could possibly go.
"Don't look so down, Annie." Azula's voice drove a shiver down his spine, and not just because of the nickname. "Oh, oops. Anraq."
He huffed a silent grumble, and glanced back over his shoulder. Azula lounged on one of the plush sofas behind him, arms folded behind her head and feet propped up on the armrest. Yula sat straight in the chair next to her.
"You made the smart decision, coming with us," she continued. "We're going to do some real good here. You'd have only been held back if you stayed with them."
"You'll excuse me if I'm still skeptical," he muttered.
"What's the matter, still don't trust me?" Azula flipped herself upright, arms draped across the back of the sofa. "If you're going to be my bodyguard, trust is an important factor."
He paused, looking back out the window. "All I said is that I'm skeptical. Consider this an opportunity to change my mind."
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure we'll be getting to know each other quite well. It is just us up here, after all. Well, aside from the crew." Azula looked over her shoulder, and over the edge of the balcony behind her. The open cockpit sat down below, where a Northern Water Tribe pilot operated the airship. The captain stood some distance behind the cockpit, looking over a large map. There was also an engineer roaming about the lower bowels of the vessel somewhere. "And of course there's Zaheer, locked up in the cargo hold. But they're not important."
"Right..." Anraq watched the ocean a while longer, until he couldn't bear looking at the empty sea of blue anymore. With a sigh, he turned around and folded his arms. "So, what exactly do you need me to do for now?"
"Just relax, make yourself at home. It'll be a couple days until we make our first stop." Azula hopped to her feet, one hand propped against her hip. "Yula, I believe this airship has a viewing deck up top. We should continue your training while we have the chance."
Yula followed suit, rising out of her chair. "Yes, Master."
"You're welcome to join us, Anraq." Azula shifted a sly glare at him out the corner of her eyes. "Unless of course, you'd rather stay here staring out the window."
He glared back at her, tapping his fingers against his arms. That smirk of hers had a real way of getting under his skin. Still, he had agreed to this for Yula's sake, so he might as well be there during her training. With a low sigh, he pushed himself away from the wall and followed.
Later that night, Azula marched through the lower levels of the airship. Yula's training had been satisfactory, for now. In spite of her quick improvements, she still had a long way to go. With a little pushing, she would become far greater than the amateur peasant she'd been when Azula first found her. Then there was Anraq. Such a curious man. So eager to stay on his guard around her. A good quality for a bodyguard to have, but his edge sharpened as a result of her presence specifically. Not because he was afraid of her, but because he seemed to understand exactly what she was capable of. He was smart, but she'd win him over eventually. Only a matter of time.
Around the bend in the next corridor, a heavy metal door marked 'Cargo Hold' greeted her. Ah, there it was. Time to get this little meeting over with. After making sure to smooth out the front of her Fire Lord robes to appear presentable, she opened the door and slipped inside. At first glance, she couldn't find the man who should have been inside, but with a closer look she noticed the chains drifting upwards. She looked up, following the chains to the man floating near the ceiling.
"I thought you might stop by to see me eventually." Zaheer floated down and sat on the floor. The chains bound tight around his body, in addition to a straitjacket that restricted his arms in place across his chest. "Azula."
"So, you finally know who I am," she said, with a subtle smirk. "Did someone tell you, or did you figure it out all on your own?"
"I knew as soon as I heard about your blue flames," he said. "I started thinking about our conversations, and everything you claimed to have done in your life. They didn't match up for a teenage girl to have accomplished. They did, however, match quite well with the feats of a certain Fire Nation princess from the end of the Hundred Year War, a princess who was said to have bended blue fire." His eyes narrowed. "I had my suspicions about you from the start, but I never imagined anything like this."
"You were right to be suspicious of me. You just weren't suspicious enough. Now look at you." She gestured down at him, indicating his chains and straitjacket. Her grin widened. "Pitiful."
"So tell me, how old are you exactly? By all accounts, you should be well over ninety, and yet you look like a teenager. I suppose you could pass as twenty or so if you had to, but that's a far cry from the old woman you should be. One might think that impossible."
Azula rolled her eyes. "Don't you know it's rude to ask a girl her age?"
"My apologies," he stated, retaining his usual expression of peace. "I didn't realize the new Fire Lord was so sensitive. I'll have to keep that mind, lest I upset you."
"Please, Zaheer, don't flatter yourself." She gave him another smirk, this one filled with condescension and disdain. "You're too far beneath me to get under my skin."
"If you think so little of me, then why are you here now?"
"I'm here because I wanted you to see me," Azula said, as she marched closer to him. She didn't lower herself to his level. She allowed him to remain sitting there on the floor, while she stood tall, glaring down at him like the peasant he was. "I wanted you to know who it was who beat you, who it is who now owns you." Her grin grew wider. "I played you from the start, and it was easy."
Zaheer paused, floating into the air so he was at eye level with her. "Your victory is only temporary. Just as before, the Red Lotus will bloom again. When it does, you will be the first to perish."
"Oh, that's where you're wrong." Azula held her hands behind her back and began pacing in front of the man. "See, where you're going, you'll never see the light of day again. Furthermore, no one's coming to free you this time. Once I'm finished with the Red Lotus, there won't be any of you left."
"You have confidence, but so did the White Lotus the last two times they put me away. Trust me when I say you won't hold me forever."
Azula scoffed, scowling with a look of pure hatred and disgust. "You're pathetic, Zaheer. Do you know how loathsome it was for me to play subservient to you all this time? To be a good little Red Lotus follower and obey your commands? You make me want to vomit."
She paced around him in a circle now, marching behind him. "You think yourself some righteous liberator of the world, but you're just a deluded old man. Do you even hear yourself when you speak? Chaos, the natural order? Please."
Azula continued to the front of him again, arms crossed. "You sound like a child who couldn't get his way, throwing a tantrum. People are like sheep. They need someone to guide them, someone to rule them, someone to worship. That's how you keep the world in line, that's how you maintain order. Doesn't matter how you have to do it—fear, manipulation, power, admiration. It's all about control. Not chaos."
The stoicism on Zaheer's face cracked ever so slightly with a sinking frown. It was brief, fleeting. He breathed in deep and wiped his expression calm once more. "And I suppose you believe yourself to be the one to rule them?"
"But of course," she replied. "I was born with that right. It's in my blood."
"And you call me deluded?" Zaheer coughed out a brief laugh. "The world will never accept an absolute ruler. Kuvira tried it with her Earth Empire, and look what happened. The rest of the world stood against her, and she failed. It won't be any different for you."
"Kuvira went about things all wrong." Azula began pacing again, never once taking her eyes off the man. Even wrapped in chains, Zaheer was far too dangerous to let her guard down. "You can't forcibly make the entire world follow you. Some, yes, but not all. My father, my grandfather, even my great grandfather—they all made that mistake. It led to a hundred years of war, and ultimately ended in failure." Bringing a hand to her chin, she flashed another one of her confident smirks. "No, this kind of control requires cunning and manipulation, something I have in spades."
"Even you can't outthink the entire world," Zaheer countered.
"Of course I can. It's already begun, in fact. The pieces are falling into place, and all I have to do is fit them together."
"And how exactly do you intend to do that? You have a lot of ambition, certainly, but I don't see a plan here."
Azula scoffed. "Please, as if I'd waste my time explaining my plans to you. Besides, it won't matter to you, once you've been locked away."
Zaheer went quiet. His expression shifted with a subtle glare, brow sinking low over his eyes. He watched her, studied her. When he finally spoke, his tone was calm, but stern. "When things inevitably come crashing down around you, I want you to remember these words: pride is like a river. At the right levels, it is a source of great strength and power. Too much, however, and it becomes a source of destruction and ruin. Your pride has already overflowed, Azula. It will be your downfall."
"I've no interest in your lame proverbs," she sighed, with a flippant wave of her hand, "and quite frankly, you're beginning to bore me. So long, Zaheer. This will be the last time we speak." She gave him one final smirk, and exited the cargo hold. The door slammed shut behind her.
Anraq held his arms around his knees, gazing out over the edge of the viewing deck. They had passed over land hours ago, so at least the scenery had become more interesting to look at. Not that he could see much of it in the dark. The moon glowed dim tonight, fading towards the dark end of its monthly cycle. Mountains and forests raced by below, little more than inky blobs of darkness in the night. Just as well. He wasn't up there for the scenery.
His gut twisted, as he thought back to the earlier training session. Azula had been brutally severe in her lessons, and poor Yula had struggled to keep up. How cruel could one be to drive someone so sweet and innocent into the ground at the hands of a vicious, merciless instructor? Spirits, if only that had been the worst of it. Throughout all that cruelty, Yula remained receptive to it. She had struggled, and cried, and messed up more times than he could count, but she always got up when Azula yelled at her, always came back harder, and fiercer.
Her determination was a good thing, certainly. Should have been a good thing. So why did it concern him so much? Watching her train, he could see something in Yula changing. The way she dutifully followed orders, the way she referred to Azula as 'Master' without hesitation. No resentment in her eyes when she looked at Azula. Not anger or hate. Something else. Almost like... admiration? That was it. Admiration and obedience.
"I thought I might find you up here."
Anraq flinched at the voice. He looked up to see Azula standing in front of him with a grin. He frowned, remaining silent as he shifted his focus back to the landscape below.
"You shouldn't sulk alone in the dark," she said, as she seated herself next to him. "It's unflattering."
"Who said I'm sulking?"
"Well, what else would you be doing up here?"
A low grumble surged from his throat. "Just wanted a quiet place to think. Didn't realize that was a crime."
"Hmph. You really are pathetic."
"What do you want, anyway?" he asked. "It's late. Shouldn't you be getting your beauty sleep or something?"
Azula scoffed, leaning back on her hands. "Well, I can hardly go to sleep without my bodyguard there to actually guard me."
Anraq raised a skeptical brow at her. "We're on an airship that's empty except for us. Who do you expect to attack you?"
"You never know when an assassin may appear," she said, with a insistent shrug. "No matter how safe you think you are. Besides, there is still the crew. They're not Fire Nation. They came with the airship. And what if Zaheer escaped?"
"Now you're just being paranoid."
"Yes, well, better safe than sorry, as the saying goes." Azula looked straight ahead to watch the scenery, twisting her lips into an unimpressed pout. "In any case, since you are my bodyguard, that means we'll be spending quite a lot of time together."
"Yeah, so what's your point?" he said.
"My point is that we should get to know each other."
Anraq turned to her with with a curious stare. "Really wouldn't have taken you for the 'get to know each other' type."
Azula offered a thoughtful hum. "I'm not, usually. But let's be honest here, you don't particularly like me."
"Well..." He paused, scratching at the back of his head. The accusation was true, of course, but that didn't mean he wanted to be blatant about it. As far as Azula knew, he had agreed to come with her because he wanted to be there. Still, he found himself at a loss at how to defend himself. "I mean..."
"It's fine, I get it." She let her gaze fall to the floor, a gentle sigh hissing out her throat. "I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with. I mean, I did shoot you with lightning, after all. If I had to make a guess, I'd say you're only here for Yula. That about right?"
Anraq looked away, remaining silent. What was even the point trying to lie to her now? She could already see right through him.
"I thought so. Since that's the case, we should at least bring ourselves to tolerate each other, right? After all, what good is having a bodyguard who doesn't care whether or not you die?"
Some semblance of resolve returned to him at those words, renewed strength lifting into his chest. He looked back to her, sharpening his gaze. "I really don't know how you expect to change my mind about you. After everything you've done, all the people you've hurt..."
"Says the man who's friends with Kuvira," she countered. "Look at all the things she's done."
"Kuvira actually showed remorse for what she did, and had a real desire to change," he retorted. "You're just as heartless now as you ever were."
Azula stared at him. Her expression sank and twisted. Not how he expected. No smirk, no gleam in her eyes. Only a sour, distant frown. "So quick to judge me, yet you know nothing about me."
Anraq looked away. "I know enough."
They sat in silence, neither looking at the other. Anraq maintained a focused stare out at the landscape below, watching it all go by. Mountains, rivers, forests—shadowed outlines racing hundreds of feet beneath the airship. He pulled his knees back against his chest, resting his chin against them. Azula sat with her back straight, legs crossed, hands pressed to her thighs. One, a simple Southern Water Tribe man who had lost everything he ever had in the world, the other, a manipulative, cruel Fire Lord bent on control and power.
They couldn't have been more different if they tried.
"I see you're growing your beard back," Azula said.
"Huh?" Anraq blinked out of his thoughts and glanced back at her. He raised a hand to his chin, feeling the stubble he had let grow in over the past few days. "Oh, yeah, what about it?"
"Nothing," she said. "I just think you look better without it."
"And why would I care what you think?"
She twisted a frown at him. "Because I'm your Fire Lord."
"Whatever." He looked away again. "It's my face, I'll grow my beard how I want."
"Fine, be that way." She huffed out a sigh, turning her focus straight ahead. Her gaze lingered there for several moments, before eventually returning to him. "Aren't you cold up here? You're wearing short sleeves."
"I grew up in the South Pole, one of the coldest places on earth," he countered. "This is nothing. I'm actually pretty warm right now."
Azula's lips pursed together, eyes sharpening. For the briefest of moments, her lips sputtered in silence, as if the gears in her head were turning to think of an appropriate response. When one finally presented itself, she smirked. "Yes, I suppose you are warm. One might even say you're hot."
"Uh..." He glanced at her again, lifting an eyebrow. "What?"
"You should be careful. You might accidentally set fire to the nation's crop fields, leaving thousands to die of starvation in the coming winter." Her smirk widened, twisting into something resembling more of a deranged grin than anything. "Because you're so hot."
"Um, okay." He blinked at her again, and slowly turned his attention away. "I'll stay clear of crop fields, then."
Azula laughed at his response. At least, Anraq thought it was a laugh. It sounded so forced, so unlike anything anyone would naturally utter, it jolted a shiver through him. He cringed, slowly shifting his gaze towards her again. That same twisted grin still spread across her face.
"Are you alright?" he asked
"Yes, I'm fine." Her expression relaxed, but her eyes remained wide and focused. Almost hopeful. "Why do you ask?"
"Never mind."
The hopeful stare vanished. Azula huffed a groan and stared down at the floor, pouting. "So, what kinds of things do you do for fun?"
Confusion roared back, stronger than ever. What in the world was with this girl? Cruel and spiteful one minute, now almost friendly and inquisitive? Spirits, he was in way over his head. "And why exactly do you care?"
"Can't a girl be curious?" Azula folded her arms, lifting a glare at him. "I'm trying to get to know you. Excuse me for showing an interest."
"Uh, okay." He stared back at her, half expecting her to rescind her apparent 'interest' and call him pathetic, or some other insult. When she didn't, he continued, "Well, I like to read. I play the yueqin, too. And I used to play pro-bending."
"Oh, that atrocious sport?" Azula groaned with disgust, eyes rolling. "Honestly, who would want to waste their time with such amateur trash?"
"Well, this amateur trash happened to be quite good at it," he said, pointing his thumb at himself.
"Please, how hard could it be?" Azula flashed her signature cocky smirk. Ah, there it was. Anraq had almost forgotten what it looked like. Almost. "I'd destroy anyone who opposed me."
"There are rules in pro-bending, you know. You can't just jump in and destroy your opponents."
"Rules are for the weak."
"You'd make for a terrible pro-bender, then."
"I think you mean 'flawless.' "
Anraq groaned, bowing his head against his hand. Azula really was impossible to reason with sometimes. Well, most of the time. Or possibly all of the time. "So, what do you do in your spare time, then? No wait, let me guess: you torture people and kick polar bear dog puppies."
"You really think I enjoy causing pain and suffering that much?" When he shot an accusatory glare at her, she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well okay, I do, but not like that. The truth is, I don't really have a lot of spare time. Between training, planning, being Fire Lord, hunting terrorists—"
"Hurting people, spreading misery..."
"Don't get cute with me," she snapped, with a fierce glare. "My point is that I have very little downtime. I usually spend that time resting, or being pampered. I do like taking care of myself."
"So your life is busy, basically."
"Oh it is. Busy, tedious, hectic, frustrating..." Azula paused. Her gaze shifted away from him, out over the edge of the viewing deck. "...lonely." The word drifted in barely more than a whisper, so quiet Anraq wasn't sure if he'd heard it right. Azula stared at the countryside, a sinking frown twisting across her face. Her gold eyes glimmered, wistful and distant. The moment lasted only a second. She composed herself with a deep breath, and her usual smug demeanor returned. "But I enjoy it. After all, I was born for it, raised for it. It's in my blood. It's my destiny."
Anraq narrowed his gaze, watching her closely. Where had that brief flicker of emotion gone? A single second of something deeper beyond the smug cruelty she typically carried herself with. A crack in her armor. Surely, she couldn't hide it that easily. Or had he simply imagined it? "Sounds to me like you never had a chance to be anything else."
"Please, what else would I want to be? This is what I'm supposed to be, and so I will be." Azula exhaled a heavy breath and climbed back to her feet. "In any case, this conversation is starting to bore me, and I'm tired. Come." She motioned for him to follow, as she headed towards the elevator. "You're to guard my cabin while I sleep. Yula will relieve you in a few hours."
Anraq studied her a moment longer. Whatever he had seen, it was long gone now. With a quiet sigh, he stood up and followed. "As you say, Fire Lord."
