Azula grumbled as she entered the theater. Merely getting through the doorway proved difficult, with how many people had arrived—hundreds packing the atrium alone, and probably thousands more in the grand hall already seated. What an absolute mess. Why did they have to come here? Literally anywhere else would have been preferable, but no, everyone had insisted. Zuzu, Annie, Kuvira, even the Avatar. Apparently, they all thought she needed to get out and do something other than training while they were in Zaofu.

"I still don't see why we have to come here," she muttered. "This is a waste of time."

Zuko ushered her forward, making their way towards the ticket booth. "Kuvira and Korra were kind enough to give us tickets. The least we can do is show up and support them." When they made it to the booth, he pulled out three tickets and slid them towards the teller, who let them pass through the next set of doors.

"Besides, it'll be fun." Anraq pushed between the two siblings, throwing an arm around both their shoulders. "I've heard really good things about this dance group."

Azula rolled her eyes. "If by 'fun' you mean 'so boring I'll want to gouge my eyes out of my face', then yes, I'm sure it will be."

"Try to lighten up a little," Zuko said, leading the way down one of the aisles between the sections of seats in the grand hall. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think."

"Hmph. We'll see." Her gaze lowered, looking at herself with a grimace of disgust. "I still cannot believe this city doesn't have any other style of clothing available. These robes are ridiculous."

Since arriving in the city a week ago, they had all been given standard Zaofu robes to wear. Annie and Zuzu had taken the change of clothes in stride, of course. They'd never been connoisseurs of fashion. As for her? She saw these robes for the hideous atrocities they were. How did people even move in these outfits, with so much loose fabric? Every step she took, she feared she might trip over herself. Would it kill this city to import some Fire Nation style clothing?

"I think I saw a foreign clothing boutique on the way here," Anraq said, rubbing his chin in thought. "We could stop there tomorrow, see if we can find something you like?"

Azula pursed her lips. "I suppose a little shopping couldn't hurt. Very well, so long as we make it quick. I can't afford to take much time away from my training. Already losing enough coming to this dreadful show."

Anraq made his way towards the seats at the center of the front row, directly in front of the stage. He plopped himself down next to Zuko and leaned back with a grin. "Best seats in the house. I like this."

"Well, I would certainly hope so," Azula stated, as she sat next to him. "If we're being forced to attend, the least they could do is give us good seats. I swear, if they had tried putting us up in the balcony..."

"Yes, but they didn't," he said, gesturing at the stage with his arms. "We're front row and center."

The theater filled quickly, as crowds of people poured in through the open doors. Azula let her gaze wander, studying the grand hall of Zaofu's Emerald Theater. Including the three balconies above, and the four sections of seats in front of the stage, the entirety of the grand hall could hold quite the impressive capacity. Anywhere from five to ten thousand audience members once all seats were filled, at her best guess. Not that she cared that much, but she needed something to do while waiting for the show to start. Might as well count seats.

Twenty minutes later, the lights dimmed. A bright spotlight beamed down onstage, as the green curtain parted at the center. Kuvira stepped into the light, wearing a much more form-fitting outfit than her typical robes, lined with silver trimming. Two long silver ribbons cascaded off the back of her shoulders, rippling as she moved.

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen." She spoke into the microphone she carried with her, allowing her voice to echo out the speakers along the walls. "I want to thank you all for joining us tonight for this performance that our team of talented dancers has put together for you. Tonight you will witness a free expression of movement and music, coming together to create harmony. We've worked very hard to bring you the best that Zaofu has to offer, and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you." She gave a simple bow, and returned behind the curtain.

"Coming together to create harmony?" Azula rolled her eyes. "Does she realize how pretentious she sounds?"

The curtains opened once more, revealing a line of dancers set in their starting positions. Music echoed out the speakers, a harmonic, peaceful tempo. The dancers moved in unison, slow at first, swaying back and forth to the gentle rhythm. Gradually, the music quickened its pace. So too did the dancers. They spun around each other, each dancer matched up with a partner. The partners mirrored each other, synchronizing their movements to match in perfect unison.

As the music's tempo heightened, the partners broke away from each other. The routine morphed into a more combative nature, with two sides opposing each other. They flipped, and kicked, and attacked. Ducking, dodging, and twirling, all the while remaining in perfect rhythm. At one point, one of the dancers shot out a metal cable from her wrist. The intended target spun out of the other way and grabbed the cable on her way by. She tugged it, pulling the attacker towards herself, both spinning until they met together and danced a circle around each other.

The group ended in a final pose, and the music faded. As the curtain closed to mark the end of the first routine, the audience broke into thunderous applause. Several individuals even whistled, splitting the air with shrill screeches of approval. Anraq went so far as to jam his fingers into his mouth to make his whistling louder.

Azula cringed at the piercing whistle next to her ear. "Must you do that?"

"What? It was good," he said, bringing his hands down to applause normally. "Come on, tell me you weren't impressed."

"Please," she countered, "it wasn't that impressive. I could do that. Didn't look so hard."

"Oh, so you're a dancer now, are you?"

"I could be."

He narrowed a curious stare at her, smirking. "Do you even know how to dance?"

"Of course I know how to dance!" She yelled quite a bit louder than she should have. By now, the applause had faded, which meant her voice carried with a lingering echo throughout the now silent theater. The people sitting closest to them turned to stare at her. She immediately shrank against her seat and planted her arms tight across her chest. "Mostly. I mean, in theory. Can't be that hard."

"Hmm, well if you're so confident, you'll have to show me sometime," Anraq insisted.

She lifted an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'll have to take you out dancing. There's plenty of clubs around Zaofu."

"What?" Azula stiffened at the suggestion, half-jumping out of her seat. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you just claimed to be an excellent dancer," he said, with a teasing grin. "I want to see it for myself."

Azula huffed, turning her attention back to the stage. The curtain had started opening again. "I am not going out to some stupid club. I have more important things I could be doing."

"Alright, suit yourself. Let me know if you change your mind."

Azula sank deeper into her seat, tilting her head down. She didn't bother paying much attention to the next routine. Truthfully, she had no idea how to dance. Not the normal kind of dancing, anyway. If she had to, she might be able to play off some of her firebending forms as dancing, but she was not about to make a fool of herself by going out with Annie to a club.

She remained in that same position for the rest of the recital, glaring up at the stage with her arms crossed. None of the following routines interested her any more than the previous. One of the routines included a metal flower of some kind, while another was performed solely by Kuvira and Korra, a routine called 'dancbending', according to the program. The dancebending routine closed out the show and received the loudest ovation yet from the crowd. Azula remained silent. When the curtains closed for the last time, she bolted out of her seat to leave.

Anraq hurried after her. "Azula, wait up."

"I'm not waiting another second," she said, as she made her way out of the theater entrance. A slight shiver ran down her spine when she met the cool night air. She instinctively eased a deep breath to warm herself, only remember she still couldn't access her firebending. Lingering bitterness soured in her throat, as she paced outside waiting for Annie to join her. When he reappeared, she huffed in annoyance. "I needed out of that place. That whole thing was a complete waste of time."

Anraq frowned. "Come on, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Yes, it was."

"Oh, well... I'm sorry. I thought it was nice." Anraq held his arms around himself, fingers tapping against his arms, while Azula continued to pace back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the theater. They remained like that in relative silence, until the exiting crowd of the theater began to pour out onto the street, forcing them to move with it until they could stop on the relatively clear street corner. "So, I don't know if you're still in the mood for anything, but Korra and Kuvira did invite us to go out to dinner with them after the show. I mean, if you want. Supposed to be a pretty fancy restaurant or something, I don't know."

"I'm not really hungry," she muttered, tightening her arms around herself. A secondary chill pulsed through her, causing her to rub her hands against her arms for warmth "You and Zuzu go have a blast."

"Oh, actually your brother isn't going."

Azula furrowed her brow, turning a curious glare at him. "You mean it would be just the two of us?"

"I mean, along with Korra and Kuvira, yeah," he replied, with a shrug. "But if you're not hungry, I guess I'll just go myself."

She stared at him a moment longer, squinting her eyes in careful thought. He wanted her to go out to dinner with him and another couple? Did he mean something by that, or was this meant to be a simple friendly outing? Her throat numbed, as she forced the thought from her mind. What was she thinking? Of course he didn't mean anything by it. They had gone out to dinner before without it meaning anything special, so why would this be any different?

Still, he genuinely wanted her to come. At least spending time with Annie was never as dull as sitting in some stuffy theater watching a boring dance recital, even if they would be joined by two people she didn't get along with. Well, not so much 'didn't get along with' as 'actively hated her'. While she had nothing against them other than being insufferably annoying, they would most certainly lock her up and throw away the key if given the chance. They'd made that much clear during their first encounter.

But then why would they have invited her to dinner? They might not have been been as combative towards her this past week as she would have expected, but that surely didn't mean anything. They wouldn't suddenly feel differently about her now. Or would they? She had been keeping mostly to herself, not causing any problems with anyone, and she hadn't even been as insulting as she normally was. What if they were trying to give her a chance?

Ugh, why did normal people have to be so damn confusing?

"Alright, fine," she said, with a quiet sigh. "I suppose I am a little hungry."

"Oh, great!" Anraq beamed a smile at her. "In that case, let's head to the tram. They said they'd meet us at the restaurant after they change."


Anraq certainly hadn't been lying when he said the restaurant was high class. Aside from the obviously different Zaofu décor, it matched the same sort of atmosphere as the restaurant Azula had taken him to for his birthday. Well, that and they didn't have the place to themselves, having to share it with normal customers. At least the other patrons were quiet, retaining the peaceful mood of the restaurant. A calm, gentle tune of music filtered in through speakers on the walls. While no tsungi horn, it only added to the serene mood.

Azula and Anraq took the liberty of reserving a table while they waited for the other two to join them. How strange, that she could wander into an upper class restaurant and reserve a table without anyone recognizing her. Then again, anyone would be hard pressed to recognize her while she was wearing these ugly green robes in place of her Dragon Empress ensemble. She didn't even have the imperial crown anymore, keeping her topknot tied with a simple, drab hairpin. The silver pin was hideously mundane, but it was either that or wear her hair down straight, which she never did out in public if she could avoid it. If she couldn't wear Fire Nation clothes, she would at least wear her Fire Nation hairstyle.

Korra and Kuvira arrived twenty minutes later, walking hand-in-hand through the entrance. The hostess met them at the door with a bow and immediately guided them to the table. The restaurant's other patrons immediately turned to notice them. Kuvira was their matriarch, after all, and Korra the Avatar. Who in Zaofu wouldn't recognize them?

"Hey!" Anraq greeted, rising out of his seat to give both women a welcoming hug. "Congratulations on the successful performance. It was fantastic."

"Thanks," Kuvira replied. "There were a few hiccups in a couple of the routines, but we'll work on those for next time. Overall I think it went pretty well. Aside from someone's near mishap before she went on."

"Hey, I've never performed in front of so many people before!" Korra said, with a subtle squirm. "I was just feeling a little nauseous. It's not like I actually threw up."

"No, but you almost did." Kuvira leaned in to give her girlfriend a kiss, and sat down in her chair at the table. "You did great, though."

Korra uttered a brief chuckle as she joined them at the table. "Well, thanks. I imagine it'll be easier in the future. Its funny, I can take on terrorists, dictators, and giant forces of pure evil without blinking, but put me on a stage and I get flustered."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Yes, hilarious." All eyes turned to her, followed by an almost purposefully awkward pause.

"Azula," Kuvira said, with a soft clear of her throat. "How are you?"

"Hungry." She leaned back in her seat, crossing one of her legs over the other with her arms folded. "So, if we could order soon that would be great."

Korra cleared her throat, giving her girlfriend a brief glance before focusing on Azula. "Well, the waiter should be here in a second. We thought maybe we could talk a little first. Maybe get to know each other?"

Azula lifted a confused brow at the Avatar. She stared in silence, shifting her gaze between Korra and the matriarch with questioning eyes. They weren't serious. They couldn't be. They were being friendly? Towards her? No, this had to be some kind joke. Or a trick. Or... something.

Her gaze settled on Kuvira, narrowing sternly. "What are you trying to pull, Matriarch? The last time we had a personal conversation, you couldn't stop pointing out how much you hated me. Now you want to get to know me? What makes you think I'm going to fall for that?"

Kuvira eased a deep sigh, returning an earnest stare back at her. "I was angry when I said that. I saw a lot of myself in you at that time, and that was difficult to overlook. I hate what I used to be, so seeing so many of those qualities in you made it easy to hate you too. I still am angry about a lot of the things you've done, and if circumstances were different I probably still would hate you." Her gaze softened, shifting towards Anraq. "But you have someone I think very highly of vouching for you. Someone who reminded me that people can change, no matter how depraved they might have seemed."

"She talking about me?" Anraq said, with a smirk. "She's talking about me."

"Kuvira and I discussed it," Korra said. "We know you've done terrible things. We know we don't really get along with you, and we know we might never be close friends. In spite of that, we're going to give you a chance. Since you're that important to Anraq, and since he's that confident in you, it's the least we can do."

Azula blinked at them, slowly drifting her attention towards Anraq. Dear, sweet Annie. That wonderfully pathetic man, surprising her yet again. "So, I'm... important to you?"

He shrugged, offering a reassuring smile. "Well, yeah, of course you are. I'd have thought that was obvious by now."

She'd known he cared for her, of course. She'd heard him claim he would stick by her, and be there to help her, but she had never heard him put it that way before. Knowing that she was important to someone, not just because she was their ruler, or because she scared them into it... That was different. Strange.

"Yes, well, I see..." Azula straightened in her seat, uncrossing her legs. She looked away, trying to hide the softening expression on her face. Spirits curse her if let herself appear too gentle. "I suppose you're important to me, too. I mean, I guess. Maybe."

Anraq maintained his smile, and turned the other two. "Let's order, shall we?"

Korra and Kuvira claimed they were going to give her a chance, and had said they wanted to get to know her. So that's exactly what they got. Azula spent most of the dinner, from the moment they ordered their drinks all the way to dessert, telling them about herself—about her past, about her challenges, about what she wanted out of life.

She started with her strict, merciless childhood, detailing how Ozai had molded her into his perfect prodigy. Those years spent doing everything she could to please him and perfect herself had been both the hardest and easiest of her life. At the time, she had reveled in it. Thinking back on it now only incited hatred and annoyance. Her father had never cared about her, only that she did what he told her to. She had learned that much from how things ended with them.

Then there was her mother, Ursa. If ever there had been a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, theirs was the perfect example. An unavoidable tragedy, in hindsight. They couldn't have been more different, with how much of a problem child she had been, and how sickeningly sweet her mother had been. Once her mother had disappeared, that hindering influence had vanished. Only Ozai had remained, with free reign to turn her into a cruel, perfect princess.

Any semblance of her previous perfection had spiraled into failure soon after, near the end of the Hundred Year War when she'd lost the Fire Nation crown to Zuko and ended up in a mental institution for the next year. Zuko had come to her later on, asking her to help him find their mother, which led to them learning that Ursa had left to start a new life with another man, with whom she'd had a replacement daughter. The ultimate spark that had pushed Azula to run away into Forgetful Valley. The spark that had led to her death. Led to her being trapped in the Spirit World for seventy-plus years. Once she had finally returned, she worked towards picking up where she left off in obtaining the Fire Nation throne.

Yet another of her failures. Now, here she was in Zaofu, eating dinner with her only real friend in the world, plus the Avatar and the former Great Uniter. Her life had taken a most bizarre turn, hadn't it? She still wasn't sure if she liked it or not. Well, not entirely true. Considering she couldn't bend anymore, she was quite certain she hated it. Still, there were good parts to her life now, Annie being the best of all. Whenever she began to spiral again, he always had a way to ground her.

Azula fell silent, sitting in awkward surprise at herself. Strange, how much she had opened up. Once she'd started, she hadn't been able to stop, as though she needed to let it out. Needed to connect herself to other people. Needed to make them understand. Did that make her weak? Vulnerable, perhaps. That was no good. At the very least she didn't let it show, going through the entire ordeal with her usual smugness and sarcasm. With any luck, they wouldn't suspect her of feeling anything other than the vanity of talking about herself.

"Alright, I need to hit the restroom," Anraq said, as he pushed his empty dessert plate away from himself. "I'll leave you ladies alone for a few minutes."

Azula watched him go, and dug another spoonful out of her blueberry pie. She sat straight, focusing solely on her dessert, as if oblivious to everything going on around her. Maybe if she pretended to be completely absorbed by her food, she wouldn't have to enter into a conversation with the other two women alone, without Annie there.

No such luck.

"So," Korra said, leaning an elbow against the table. "You and Anraq are pretty close, huh?"

She swallowed the bite of pie, offering an indifferent shrug. "Yes, he's a good friend and I enjoy his company. That's all there is to it, really."

"Ah, I see." Kuvira nodded, and looked to her girlfriend. "I think you're right."

"Yeah, I told you," Korra said. "They do make a cute couple."

Azula coughed, nearly choking on her next bite. She quickly washed down the half chewed pie with a gulp of water, smacking her hand against her chest to settle herself. "We're what?"

The Avatar shot a confused look in her direction. Fake confusion. Mocking. "Oh, did I say something wrong?"

Azula frowned. "We are not a couple. We... we're close friends. That's all. That's it. We are not doing anything."

"Ah, I see," Kuvira replied, with an understanding nod. Leaning close to Korra, she added, "Classic denial."

"I am not denying anything! There's nothing to deny! We're just—" Azula's words stifled in her throat when the other two women broke out into laughter. Her frown deepened. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"Bingo," Korra said, giving her girlfriend a high five.

"That's not funny," Azula muttered. "You're not funny."

Kuvira smiled. "It's a little funny."

Azula stammered for a response, when she saw Anraq reappear out of the restroom. She immediately huffed out a relieved breath and stood to greet him. "Annie, I think I'm ready to go. I've stuffed myself, I'm tired, and I need to change out of these ridiculous robes."

"Oh, uh, alright then," he said, as he glanced to the other two women. "Everything okay?" The only response he received was a fit of muffled chuckling.

"Everything's perfectly fine, but it's time to go." She grabbed hold of Anraq's hand and pulled him out out of the restaurant.


"Annie, I want to thank you for tonight," Azula said, as she walked down the mostly empty Zaofu streets alongside Anraq. "For dinner, at least. It was nicer than I expected."

Anraq smiled at her. "I'm glad. I had a good time, too."

Azula breathed in deep, turning a careful glance towards him. Now that they weren't in the company of anyone else, her guard melted away, something she still wasn't used to. She'd spent her entire life building up a wall to protect herself. With Annie, that wall crumbled away. "I know I don't show it much, but I am happy I know you. That I have you in my life."

"Hey, you show it enough." He gave her shoulder a nudge, and brightened his smile. That simple act of affection incited a warm smile of her own. Had he been anyone else, she would have looked away to hide it. Not with Annie. "I'm happy, too. A year ago, I didn't know you as anything other than some crazy lightningbending girl who wanted to kill me. Now, I can't imagine my life not knowing you."

"You mean that?" Her heart fluttered. She already knew the answer, but she needed to ask. She needed the confirmation.

"Of course I do," he insisted. "This may sound strange of me to say, but you're the most important person in my life right now."

"That doesn't sound strange at all." The same was true for her. In all her life, she never could have imagined caring this strongly about anyone, let alone Annie, of all people. He had begun as some weird sort of test for herself, but had become so much more than that. What he meant to her, she couldn't put into words. She couldn't even admit it to herself. She didn't want to admit it, because if she did, she could be rejected. She could screw it up, make a fool of herself, and be a failure yet again.

Or she could be afraid.

That's what it was. That's what was holding her back. Fear. Fear of rejection, fear of falling flat, of embarrassing herself, of everything that someone like her should never be afraid of. She was Princess Azula, prodigy of the Fire Nation. She didn't get scared. This was different. She was different. She wasn't the same person she had been a year ago. She wanted more out of her life now. She wanted meaning. She just needed the courage to try.

"Annie..."

She stopped walking, prompting Anraq to do the same. Her looked to her with an earnest stare, both caring and stern at the same time. He didn't say anything. He stared at her, deep into her eyes. Azula's heart thumped, tension lifting with a nervous knot in her throat. Stop being afraid. Stop doubting.

Take a chance.

Azula broke through her hesitation, reaching her hands to the sides of Annie's face and pulling him forward. She leaned in the rest of the way, closed her eyes, and pressed their lips together. This was only the second time she had ever kissed anyone. Her first had been with Chan, so many years ago. That kiss had been hollow and empty. This... This one was so much more.

Fluttering warmth swam through her body. Annie brushed his hand against her cheek and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She pressed close against him, and soon her arms found their way around his shoulders. Spirits, what she wouldn't give to remain in that embrace for the remainder of the night. The knot in her throat loosened, replaced by a tingling elation that swiftly spread through the rest of her body. This was so unlike anything she had ever felt before. She wanted more. She wanted him.

When their lips finally parted, Azula found herself breathless, chest heaving for air. She touched her fingers to her lips. They tingled, and so did her tongue.

"What... was that?" Anraq asked, with an exasperated gulp of air.

"That was me not being afraid anymore," she insisted, straightening her posture. "To get more out of my life."

He blinked at her, swallowing his breath. "I see..."

She recoiled, eyes widening. Oh spirits, she knew that tone. "Of course, it doesn't matter. I'm not even sure what I was thinking. Must be all this mountain air going to my head. It won't happen again. I wouldn't want to waste our—mmph."

He silenced her with another kiss. When their lips met again this time, she returned it with extra fervor. She hadn't failed. She hadn't embarrassed herself. She hadn't been a fool. All that fear, all that worry, all for nothing. This wasn't rejection. This wasn't failure. This was wonderful.

This was perfect.