NEWS DANCES TO OLD SONGS
The scream that tore out of Ty Lee's mouth was enough to pierce and shatter the glass of her nightmare.
Heaving, Azula felt her sheets clinging to her sweaty skin, her robes were uncomfortable and tight, closing in around her. Her chest wouldn't stop moving, as shaking hands got rid of everything, throwing the silk on the floor, only feeling a wisp of peace when she stood naked under the chill of the night. Closing her eyes, she tried with all her might to purge the images from her mind, but alas her commands fell on deaf ears as the sight of her friend burning lingered, her companion of every night ever since her return.
She was tired. She spent her day inspecting troops, making sure she had only the best on her side. Making sure there would be no more mistakes and no more traitors, making sure that day wouldn't repeat itself ever.
Softly, she felt the breeze and it reminded her of the soft marble she stood upon and suddenly she was on her kness, on her knees and aware of her father walking over her, aware of his shadow bathing her into a dark coldness.
Her report had sounded jumbled even to her own ears, hollow and clumsy, something that was not her at all. Her hands remained pressed against the floor, the marble growing colder by the instant. How could that room feel cold with all that fire? She breathed, in and out, like a true firebender, until the brush of soft silk made her heart leap all the way to her throat. Outward though, she showed nothing, her face was a blank mask of steel and iron, built over the years to withstand anything, even the storm brewing inside her.
"My precious daughter, you've failed me." His voice held no inflection, and yet she felt every muscle in her body screaming to turn around, to never let a threat stay in her blind spot. His words, more than anything, breaking all the promises she made to herself about hearing them. Those were for Zuko, not her.
"I won't let this betrayal continue, Father, I promise I shall bring them back..."
"You will do no such a thing." She breathed again, in and out. "Your brother has always been a disappointment, but now his treason is obvious and must be punished accordingly."
"Yes, Father."
"With his timing, it would be fair to assume he plans to be part of the invasion force."
She had come to the same conclusion already. "He doesn't know about our plans."
"Even so, we must make adjustments, and when he comes, you must be ready."
Her peered down into the floor, her lips were dry, and Azula, for the first time since she could remember, had trouble issuing the next answer, the words like sand spilling over her tongue. "I will be."
"There will be no more failures."
He had never spoken their names of course, Ty Lee and Mai were not as important as the Fire Prince, but the implications remained nonetheless, and their fate was settled even if unspoken. In a matter of hours their families had both been rounded up for questioning, and even now they were in some cell somewhere. She hadn't bothered to ask, but she reacted to it nonetheless. Pure rage had poured out of her, and she had sought Zuko's chambers blindly and destroyed everything in there. Even now, she had no idea if they had cleaned up the mess, and the satisfaction suddenly quenched some of her fire, the blue flames there were her own bathing her chambers with light.
It was all Zuko's fault.
If it wasn't for his schemes, Ty Lee would be all right, and still by her side. Mai would know her place and Father would know she was his worthy child.
Zuko ruined everything.
She wanted to bring glory to her nation, and lost everything for it, but not anymore.
Never again.
Never again.
Never again.
And yet, in her dream Mai sent her a accusing glare on her own, Mai betrayed her on her own and walked away from her. Because she was just as bad as her brother and she would feel the cold rage melting inside her like boiling water, and then Ty Lee would scream, and instead of rage, her fire would burn out, and turn into smoke between her fingers. A scream that made something alien and ugly rear it's head like a wounded Tygerdillo.
Idly, she stood up, walked to her vanity and the jar of water to sate her thirst. Letting the cup fall to the floor, her eyes lingered on the mirror, the moonlight allowing her to view herself and it wasn't perfection that she saw. Before her was just a girl, afraid and confused, unkempt for all to see. Something she had worked hard to destroy all her life,was now staring her in the face. It wasn't my fault. She thought, but the broken girl was still there.
"It wasn't my fault!"
"Azula…" The whisper flashed before her eyes with a shadow, but when she turned around, her room was still empty and messy. She hadn't bothered to clean anything these days, and servants would all scurry away with a one look from her.
For a moment she was afraid an intruder was there to get rid of her, that finally, her usefulness had ended, but then the ghost of her name returned, and this time she found a Princess in the mirror, perfect in every way, from the neatly brushed hair to those golden royalty eyes, but when she blinked, the became a woman, taller, sad, and distant. A Fire Lady. Immediately, fire burst from her hands and the glass shattered with a scream. Azula watched the shards for a moment, wary of any surprises, but the woman was gone now. Closing her hands, she forced them to stop shaking, because she knew it couldn't be true, her mind was playing a game with her, that was all. It was not possible that that could be real, or maybe it was, and she had been with Zuko all this time.
Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe she…
The knock burst her from her muses, and she remained on a fighting stance long after the sound faded from existence. Heaving, wondering if she should throw lightning towards whatever stranger was there, she still kept her chi at boiling point. The silenced stretched itself, until she felt her muscles aching from the stillness, and finally, she decided to take a peak. When her door was open, what she found was a small folded note, the red wax glaring at her from the last time she had seen it.
It had been long ago when a young prince begged for her help.
The mirror showed his image clearly, the image of a young man with nothing of what he remembered of his body. The face was something he saw only in portraits and statues, the hands were strong and smooth, and his midriff, well, gone was the belly he gained from bureaucratic work. Despite how uncomfortable the discrepancy felt, Zuko tried going for a grin, but it looked horrible and unnatural on his scarred face, he went for a smile instead.
It did feel more friendly.
"Hi… Zuko here" He said to his reflection, suppressing a wince. "Huh, so… I know this is weird, but… you see, I'm not bad, like before, I'm good… You don't believe me? Well actually we're pretty good friends, not now, but in the future. Yes, you heard that right, I've come from the future and you guys are my best friends… Crazy am I right?"
He kept smiling, slowly realizing this was not the smile of a peaceful old man but the uncomfortable smile of a teen. He groaned.
"I thought it was painful too"
His heart stopped for a beat as he turned around to find Suki leaning against the door, arms crossed and a smirk plastered to her face. She was clearly enjoying herself.
"How long have you been there?"
"Ever since the 'Zuko here' part." She said making a rather poor impression of his voice. "Honestly, I heard stories about your embarrassing first attempt before, but watching was something else."
"You've watched me practicing speeches before"
"After I wrote them for you" She entered the room swiftly. The chambers had belonged to some high officer and they were fairly big, with lanterns spread around the walls to keep everything lit. Her fingers moved through his hair, brushing it away from his eyes. "Honestly honey, and I tell you this with all the love of my heart, you suck at this. You do a lot better when you speak from the heart, remember?"
Zuko sighed. "I know, it's just that I'm so nervous. I mean, it was hard getting them to trust me the first time, and now everything is different. I'm not sure I'm that lucky"
"You don't need to be lucky you silly, you just need to be yourself and let them know you" he felt her fingers moving over his scar, and relaxed under her touch, watching her eyes turning violet under the warm light. "Besides, you have a lot more in your favor this time. You didn't send Combustion Man after them, you have information about the Fire Nation and you freed the Kyoshi Warriors from prison… And you have me, and I like to think my words count for something"
"You're right"
"And what is new?"
He chuckled, his hands automatically going for her shoulders. He wanted to kiss her, for real now, but when she turned away he felt an alarm sent through his core.
"Sokka?" He asked softly, watching her almost shy nod.
"I know this is silly, but still, I can't help it. He is technically my sort of boyfriend right now and I don't want to do anything without letting him know" She explained. "Does that make sense?"
"It does" he said. "I broke up with Mai as soon as I could and I didn't even know if she would join us or not at the time"
Her smile was weary. "That was risky"
"It was, but I couldn't do that to her as well. I know what you're going through"
Suki let out a short bitter laugh at his words, one that was familiar and yet a memory in such a young voice. "Look at us, a married old couple trying to navigate the tangled mess of teen love. Agni, there must be a joke in there somewhere."
Zuko's smile was painful now, the memory of their private life with his hormones was inconvenient, to say the least. Already he had a few dreams of her naked skin under his touch, and the music of her voice moaning in pleasure. Already, he had dreams of been tied up with her face over him, red hair spilling all around them and... Well, it was fair to say he was having a hard time. He started wondering if Suki was having similar issues and was glad when a knock came to the door. "Prince Zuko, we're seeing the island."
"Very well, tell General Jee to handle the landing, he knows what to do."
"Right away sir"
"So, just us first?" Suki asked as they walked outside, her hand brushing against his.
"It's for the best I think."
She nodded, perking up. "Well, anyway you look at it, I'm sure we'll laugh about it someday."
Katara smiled to herself as she finished unloading Appa, taking their supplies and her sleeping bag out of their friend. The sky bison had been flying the whole day to bring them here, and he deserved a good rest as soon as they settled down. Barely aware of her friends helping around, she looked over the woods where they had landed. It seemed peaceful enough, although it hardly could be any different. Even at night, she had seen the island was rather small, and according to Sokka, there were no villages around.
"Okay gang, let's move, as soon as we find a place to camp, we can rest." Sokka said, moving to the edge of the woods. They walked all the way down a high cliff, until they were standing in an open field, with a herd of koala-sheep sleeping over the grass. "This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force."
"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked.
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited and the harbor surrounded by the cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place."
Katara smiled, as she untangled her hair, it was perfect. "Nice choice Sokka, and we're here four days ahead of schedule."
"Wait?! Four days?!" She turned, surprised at Aang's sudden outburst. "The invasion is in four days?"
"Whatever, that is like… four days from now. Let's just calm down and..."
Katara watched her brother falling down on the ground and immediately fall asleep. Amused, she looked at her friend, eager herself to close her eyes. "Sokka's got the right idea Aang. We're here, we're ready. The best thing we can do now is get plenty of..."
"Someone is coming!" Toph shouted, bouncing to her feet.
Having been used to trouble at any time their group was pretty much conditioned into quick action and Katara immediately went for her water bag, feeling the air dislodging around her as Aang jumped ahead. A yelp later and she knew Toph had taken care to wake up Sokka, her brother clumsily moving to his feet from atop of a new crater.
"What, what is it? What!?"
"Shut it meat head, we've got company."
Her heart beating like a war drum, Katara frowned towards the darkness as she tried to see beyond their small formation. While the moonlight was too faint to see clearly, the open field gave her plenty of a view. "I thought this Island was uninhabited, Sokka"
"It was supposed to be, maybe it's just a traveler or a crazy hermit or something."
"I can feel two people." Toph said.
"All right, one of each then."
"Whoever is out there, tell us who you are!" Aang shouted, standing in front of them, while Momo jumped over his shoulder. Behind them Appa snored, but even Katara heard the next movement, a confusion of breaking twigs and branches being shoved aside, coming from the tree line. She took a deep breath, feeling her chi connecting to the water when...
"Wait, don't attack! We're friends!"
Katara saw her brother perking up all of the sudden, and her own eyes narrowed as she tried to remember where she heard that voice before. She didn't have to question it further, because soon enough she saw a young woman stepping out in the open, carrying a torch that flickered against the wind and brushed against scarlet clothes. At the sight of the color, her first instinct was to brace herself for an attack, but then her brother was running ahead of their formation without any thought. "Suki!" he shouted easing her heart.
Immediately, Katara felt her shoulders relaxing, both Aang and Toph sighing as her brother brought the Kyoshi Warrior into a hug.
"Hey guys, it's good to see you" The girl said over her brother's shoulder. In the shadows, it was hard to tell, but Katara managed to see her smiling.
"Suki, what are you doing here?" Aang said as the girl stepped among them.
"I was looking for you guys actually" She looked around. "Can we build a fire? We really should talk."
"I'm on it!" Sokka was saying before Toph stopped him.
"Wait a minute there, dunderhead! I'm pretty sure I felt two people. Suki, who is that with you?" As Katara scooted closer, she could distinctively see a hooded figure a few steps back, away from the torchlight.
"Well, he is a friend, and he is kind of what we need to talk about. Please just be patient." Suki told them, her blue eyes pleading under the fire's light, and at that Katara felt a prickle of suspicion running up her spine. It was not that she didn't trust Suki, but for her to be so cryptic, something had to be wrong. Just in case, she kept her eye on the stranger as the others put a fire together, quickly making a circle of light around their small camp. All the time, her brother still grinned and the stranger still kept his distance.
"It's great that you're here, Suki, and just in time, you won't guess what we're planning to do." Sokka was saying, to which the girl smiled weakly in response.
"It is great to see all of you, I really missed you guys."
"I bet you missed these better..." Katara watched her brother going for a kiss, and then, immediately Suki looked away over the group, her brother landing his lips on her cheek. Toph laughed.
"Huh… So, Suki, how are you doing?" Aang asked, scratching his head.
"Oh, I've been hanging around in a prison, got out, broke into a second prison, same old same old." Suki said rubbing the back of her head, where a golden lace held her hair back. Looking closely, Katara realized those clothes were rather well made, the outer tunic especially seemed to be trimmed with gold. "After that, I came looking for you guys"
"For us?"
"But how?" Katara frowned. "Everyone thinks Aang is dead, and we just got here."
"Yeah, you can't say you were waiting on this island for us to show up." Toph said skeptically.
"Oh, cut it out guys, obviously she met someone from the invasion force who told her we would be here! Isn't that right?" Sokka said reassuringly, but Suki sighed and shook her head.
"No, I mean, I was hoping you guys would be here, but no, I didn't hear it from the invasion force." She said quickly as Katara watched her fidgeting with her fingers. "I came here another way. I knew about the invasion and I looked over a map, I tried to think what place would Sokka choose to be a starting point and, well, it worked."
"Nice"
"Then you decided to come here with your friend?" Katara questioned carefully, becoming the target of Suki's bright blue eyes, holding such a determination that she was taken aback for a moment.
"Yes, my friend see, he is..." Her voice trailed off as a huge mass of fur rose from slumber at their side. Appa opened his mouth in a loud yawn, making Aang laugh as the wind tickled him. The huge sky bison looked over the awaken humans with interest, spotting the familiar face.
Suki smiled. "Hi Appa"
The bison strode over, sniffing at Suki - who giggled - quickly and approvingly, before his eyes darted towards the darkness. Katara saw the hooded strange stop short and in a moment Appa was walking his way. Katara watched him trying to step back, but he was too late, and she was caught off guard when the bison's gigantic tongue reached out, licking the stranger head to toe. A man's groan echoed all over the field, cursing at the distance and Katara froze.
"No, not him!"
"Katara?" Aang questioned her, but she was already stepping forward. She could still remember her pity, her compassion shining through as his sad eyes told her about his mother. She had thought he had changed, but he didn't. She could still see his eyes of pure decision, attacking her and Aang in the catacombs, and then the weight of Aang's body on her arms.
She felt the fury coming, powerful now before a shape suddenly stepped in front of her.
"Katara, wait!"
"No, Suki, what did you do? What were you thinking bringing him here?" She told the woman she thought was a friend. Clearly, she was mistaken, this was not a level headed decision she would expect from a Kyoshi Warrior.
"Who? Katara who is he?" Sokka was asking, looking over the stranger, now moving away from Appa, who was drowsing again.
"If Appa likes him, he might not be that bad" Aang reasoned.
But Katara was staring at Suki, hard and questioning, blue eyes against blue eyes, and yet something on the other girl refused to give in and suddenly Katara caught herself stepping back. A beat later, Suki made a motion with her hands and slowly the stranger approached them, lowering his hood as he stepped into the light. She heard the gasps from Aang and her brother right away, both moving to her side, weapons and stances at ready. Toph did the same, both palms turned inside in front of her body as the Fire Prince's face dared to smiled their way.
Suki licked her lips as the air grew tense. "So, guys, huh... Zuko is here."