"Ryzu!" Azula screams into the darkness. She is panicked and drenched in blood. Dripping brownish-red, matted in her hair, and she does not seem aware of it or the stench; she is too focused on her lost child. "Ryzu! Ryzu! Ryz—!"
From behind, someone clamps their sweaty hand over her mouth. She thrusts her elbow backwards, breaks free, and swings a flaming arm down on the assailant. Iroh grabs her by the wrist and she steps back.
"Did you swim in blood?" Iroh whispers, his russet eyes wide. He wipes at the residue left on his damp clothes.
"Yes. I actually did. Well, more like dove into it…" Azula shakes her head and looks up over her shoulder. This cavern is humongous, so large that she does not know how she will find the tiny dragon that desperately needs her. Even without the task of finding Ryzu, escaping this place will be no easy feat.
"Are you looking for a way out?" Iroh inquires, narrowing his eyes and scanning the underground cliffs.
"No. I'm looking for my son. Or did you not hear me screaming his name?" Azula snarls. Her eyebrow twitches and she sucks in a deep, foul-tasting breath. "Have you seen him?"
Iroh shrugs. How helpful. Azula knew there was a good reason that she hates her uncle.
How did she get into this position? The Sun Warriors were not as comfortable with Azula just taking Ryzu and vanishing into the jungle. They had seemed sane until Azula woke up in this nightmare. She has to admit it wounds her pride to have been taken by surprise by these savages twice now.
Knocked out in the rainforest, waking up in a compromising position. She hopes this does not become routine.
"I plan on helping you find Ryzu," Iroh says, of course. "Do not worry." As if that will make her stop worrying. He is so full of it, but Azula does not have many options for allies at this point. "He's somewhere here."
"Where is here? I woke up on a cliff in a really itchy blanket… but that… why did I say the itchy part? Oh, who cares. You won't be helping me. You will be staying here while I find him," Azula snaps, trying to keep her composure.
Iroh frowns. "I do not think you can find him on your own, much less care for him."
Azula crosses her arms. "You believe I am ill-equipped to care for my own child?" Azula demands, her nose pointed towards the stone ceiling.
Iroh sighs.
"Yes. I do. Do you know anything about caring for him?" Iroh inquires.
"I figured out what he eats!" Azula argues.
"He needs you. You need me," Iroh firmly says. "I do not want either of you to be harmed."
"You don't want Ryzu to be harmed. But, as his mother, I should put his wellbeing before my own. You may help me escape this place and we will discuss a partnership again then," Azula declares regally, her arms still tightly crossed.
Iroh again surrenders his pride for the sake of the last dragon.
"Let's keep walking. Without screaming his name this time," Iroh suggests.
Azula is loath to admit that she does not have a better idea.
###
Meanwhile, inside of the palace, Aang tries to comprehend the information that Zuko yells. Katara looks as confused as he feels, but Ty Lee seems to understand perfectly.
"So, okay, Azula kidnapped Iroh?" Aang tries once Zuko stops shouting to catch his breath.
"He might have gone willingly," Zuko swiftly corrects. He is not making this any easier to understand.
"But he's definitely with her?" Aang cocks an eyebrow.
"Probably. They both disappeared at the same time. And…" Zuko glances at Ty Lee and Katara. He wants to get Aang alone so he can explain the Sun Warrior portion of the puzzle. It is what explains Azula and Iroh's vanishing best.
"But you do have an idea of where they went?" Katara interjects, desperate to get this over with.
"Yes," Zuko says firmly.
###
In the caverns, Azula sits down. This place might as well be an unsolvable labyrinth. Her gut keeps twisting with the knowledge that Ryzu is somewhere, probably in danger, in need of her, and she is walking around in a cave with Iroh.
She is so scared that she will lose him, but she does not want Iroh to know that.
She is so scared of the fact that those Sun Warriors who managed to capture her are probably looking for her by now.
But Azula cannot be afraid because she is supposed to be a fearless conqueror.
Even in this dreadful place.
Even with her son kidnapped.
She was raised to be ruthless and she will not turn her back on who she always has been and who she is destined to be. She will not let go of her valor, even if it kills her.
###
Zuko finally gets Aang alone. He is incredibly relieved by that fact. They stand in the chiaroscuro of the setting sun on an obsidian balcony. Aang nods over and over; he finally gets the situation – and gets that it is a dire one.
"So, the only problem is that I have no idea where we found the Sun Warriors," Aang admits openly.
Zuko grimaces. He has the same problem.
"We could retrace or steps?" Zuko attempts. He thinks it might be feeble.
Aang rubs his forehead, creasing and smoothing the blue arrow.
"I don't have a better idea." Aang tries to be chipper, but Azula is a daunting problem when he is already struggling to deal with the spirit attacks. He hates how bad of a job he is doing at being the bridge between worlds. Aang has not been able to find out why it is happening or how to stop it.
Now Azula goes to find dragons and, for some reason, brings Iroh.
It all gives him a bad vibe.
Meanwhile, inside, Ty Lee is stuck with Katara. Or Katara is stuck with Ty Lee. One or the other; they both like each other but don't have the best conversations.
"She doesn't worry me anymore," Ty Lee lies in response to Katara's concerned comments. Ty Lee smiles and hopes that covers up her deception.
Katara does not know if she should let Ty Lee keep lying to herself or not. She decides what she decides and hopes for the best.
"She does worry you. You're still in love with her," Katara says, shrugging. She cannot put it in a simpler or kinder way.
"No. No, I'm not! Of course I'm note!" Ty Lee knows she is protesting to vehemently; anyone could see through that. "Maybe a little."
"It's okay," Katara warmly says. "No one could blame you for still being in love with someone, even if you love your husband. We don't choose who we love. I can blame you for loving Azula, because that is honestly beyond my understanding, but…"
"We don't have a chance together," Ty Lee says, but means the opposite.
"Either way, your feelings won't just magically disappear overnight," Katara says.
"I should've made an effort."
"Huh?"
"With her after the war. I never stop thinking about the things I didn't say. I've never said I'm sorry." Ty Lee wrings her hands and wonders if she can salvage any of her positivity at this point.
Katara snorts. "Sorry for what?"
"For breaking her heart," Ty Lee says honestly. She sinks into her seat. "Time doesn't heal all wounds. That's what people who're smarter than me say, but I don't believe them."
Katara purses her lips, thinking for a moment. Ty Lee gazes out of the window and tries to appreciate the glorious sunset like she always does. It feels hard at the moment.
"No, time doesn't. You're right about that," Katara says. "Let's find her and you can apologize." Not that Katara thinks Ty Lee owes Azula an apology in the first place.
Ty Lee does not stop thinking about Azula anymore, ever since they found her.
Azula's words about Ty Lee's true fear haunt the Fire Lady: that she is afraid Azula will destroy her marriage and her life.
Missing or not, her feelings for Azula have already wrecked it all.
###
Azula wanders the dark and frightening halls with Iroh by her side.
"I don't trust you," she whispers. Keeping her voice down and her footsteps silent is vital at the moment. "I doubt I ever well."
He whispers back, "The feeling is mutual. You did nearly kill me with a sneak attack, but we do not need to trust each other in order to save Ryzu.
Azula silently agrees with him. They keep moving without another word.
The further they go in the cavern, the more like a temple it seems to be. Azula thought it was a disgusting prison when she first wound up stuck in here.
She sees an altar like the one she found Ryzu in after she bore him. Azula runs towards him before Iroh can stop her. Hands, blades and flames come from everywhere.
"Leave her alive!" shouts a priest, but Azula just sees that as more of a reason to fight.
She bursts into blue flames, illuminating the entire cavern. Iroh joins in without hesitation, taking down several of the warriors with his potent bending and quick wits. They fight until only smoke and bodies remain, and Azula grabs Ryzu. He makes a pleased purring sound and digs his claws into her skin.
"I will never let you be taken from me again," Azula whispers to him as Iroh watches in awe.
Azula is wrong, for once Iroh finds the way out, the first and last thing Azula sees is the Avatar soaring at her.
###
Princess Azula claws at Fire Lord Zuko and lights ablaze. Iroh quickly takes her by the arms to stifle the flames. She has just woken from her unconscious state, and saw her brother holding Ryzu in his arms. She can see the fear in her son's eyes and she wants to rip Zuko's throat out with her teeth, fire be damned. She tried to reclaim him and was denied.
"HE IS MY CHILD AND YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM FROM ME!" Azula shrieks at the top of her lungs, struggling against Iroh's grip. She does not know why she cannot break free of him. "YOU WILL NOT STEAL MY BABY, YOU SON OF A—"
"I'm sorry," Ty Lee murmurs, and with a few quick punches, she disables the princess.
Azula glares at Ty Lee, even when she sees the tears that drip from the Fire Lady's eyes. It hurts Ty Lee to hurt Azula, but she knew that this would end poorly if she did not intervene.
Ty Lee disappears down the shadowy hallway, sobbing uncontrollably over her actions.
Sobbing uncontrollably over her lingering love for Azula.
###
After Azula calms down, Zuko has her restrained and brought to the throne room. As soon as his preceding audience ends, the soldiers ease her to the stone floor. She feels sick groveling to Zuko, but she needs to have Ryzu.
She needs him.
"Explain to me how Ryzu came to be," Zuko orders from his throne.
"I was pregnant when I left. That does not require being a genius to figure it out," Azula snarls. She glares at the floor beneath her and grinds her teeth.
"You… gave birth to a dragon?" Zuko asks in utter believe. He feels certain that she is lying.
"Yes. I was fairly revolted and shocked too. But I've come to l-l-like him," Azula says, evading the word 'love' at all costs. It does not matter that it is her child; she will not say it. "He needs my protection. He cannot eat without me, he cannot fly yet, he cannot breathe fire yet. He needs his mother."
Mother. Azula believes what she is saying, even if Zuko doubts it. Mother, she calls herself.
Mother of a dragon.
Mother of a… dragon. Mother of a dragon. Where has Zuko heard that phrase before? He pushes it to the back of his mind to figure out later.
"You want him as a weapon," Zuko says.
"He is my son. He may be dangerous, but would you expect a child of mine not to be?" Azula sees that she makes no progress. "I will slaughter anyone who tries to keep him from me, no matter the consequence, brother."
Zuko locks eyes with her through the orange flames. She breaks down crying and he can tell she is not faking it. He has seen her cry like that before, in the depths of her madness. Her fake crying is a far less perturbing sound.
He stands. "What do you want from me?"
"Let me see him now before I burn this palace to the ground," she orders through her tears. She does not sound regal; she sounds agonized.
Zuko gives in when he sees that. They may have their problems with each other, but he cannot see her in so much pain without feeling sick.
"You can see him, but you have to be supervised," Zuko says. He means it.
Azula does not thank him when they rise and he leads her to the room that holds Ryzu. When she enters and moves directly to the small blue dragon, Zuko turns to Iroh.
"Did that really… come out of her?" Zuko asks slowly.
Iroh nods. "I watched it happen. It was bloody and unusual, but she did absolutely give birth to him. I think she has accepted the fact that he is her son."
"I don't get it."
"Some things are best left unexplained, nephew."
"So you know how or why?"
Iroh decides to change the subject. "You should be wary of how you treat Ryzu. There is nothing a woman will not do to protect her child, and your sister is lethal. He is your nephew anyway. Don't you want to be as good of an uncle as I am?"
Iroh laughs.
Zuko does not; he just watches, transfixed, as Azula burns a mouse alive and Ryzu devours it with his sharp fangs.
###
Fire Lord Zuko goes to the Dragon Bone Catacombs after his dinner. He cannot get that familiar phrase out of his head. Mother mixed with dragon. He knows it means something.
He decides to seek the scrolls about dragons first. It seems logical enough.
Zuko finds no mention of the phrase, only explanations of mother dragons. He takes one of them that seems most useful; it is intended for humans tending to orphaned dragons.
He then decides to move to the history of the Royal Family. If anything would cause Azula to be strange, it would be her – their – lineage.
Zuko digs for a good amount of time before he finds it scrawled on the outside of an archaic scroll.
The Legend of the Dragon-Mother Empress.
Zuko unrolls it and begins to read.
###
Zuko never knew the story wholly. He heard jumbled bits and pieces of an undying legend of dragons and warlords. It is the tale of the rise of the Royal Family, and it is never told the same way twice. But now Zuko has the official record of the story… and it might not be a myth.
Sozin burned copious amounts of his nation's history. The bonfires of scrolls effected both the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads. People celebrated that destruction, not knowing how unfortunate it is to lose important information.
Fire Lord Zuko understands, however; Sozin wanted to cover is tracks because his actions were inexcusable. It still sickens him, understandable motives or not.
He knows why this scroll was spared; it glorifies the days of warlords and conquests. Zuko would have thought it to be a fairy tale and propaganda if he had not seen Ryzu and Azula with his own two eyes.
The scroll tells of a secret carried by the female royal bloodline. The last daughter was two generations before Sozin. Maybe that is why the girl in this story might as well be mythical. Her power had been forgotten, and Azula somehow woke it from its two centuries of slumber.
The dragons were the only thing more lethal than mankind. They dominated the tribes led by warlords and burned the rudimentary villages. One girl, however, rose up, an tamed one. With that dragon, she fought for the glory of her father – a strong warlord – and claimed the Fire Nation with nothing but a dragon and a handful of loyal soldiers.
Azula has both of those things at her fingertips.
This scroll is about how the royals being descended from dragons is literal, but to Zuko it is about how much of a threat Azula is to peace and balance.
Ryzu could conquer the Fire Nation with Azula guiding him and the New Ozai Society convinced to side with her. Zuko could not take Ryzu and tame him; he is loyal to his mother and Zuko never forgave himself for losing his own.
Zuko picks up the scroll, gets his bearings and heads off to find Iroh.
Every move he makes could cause a disaster.
That seems to be how Zuko's reign as Fire Lord goes.
###
"Ryzu," Iroh says over tea, "is valuable beyond warfare. The spirits are angry. Ryzu may be integral to the solution. The spirit attacks must stop; would you not do everything in your power to protect the people of your nation?"
"Of course I would," Zuko snaps, loudly setting down his teacup. "But don't act like Azula isn't going to misuse a dragon for her own personal gain. Uncle, she is going to start another war."
Iroh rubs his chin and takes two sips of tea. Zuko has not felt so agitated in years. He had calmed down, but now he is definitely losing his cool on a regular basis. Iroh decides to neglect to mention that Azula does see Ryzu as a weapon. The thing is, he feels more loyalty to the peace and safety of the world than to his nephew.
The less Zuko knows at the moment, the better. Iroh has his own plans to get close to Azula and begin to groom Ryzu to aid the spirits in restoring peace instead of seeking a way to go to war.
"Azula is undecided," Iroh says, after proper thought. "She will not strike until she is strong enough. We have time to help her before she does that."
"I know her better than you do. "I know that the world isn't enough for Azula. Ryzu is—"
"My child. And I know what happens to a child when you treat them like a weapon. They eventually break and go completely insane," interrupts Azula.
Zuko looks over his shoulder and sees her standing in the dim light with her arms crossed. She looks terrifying, but he is not afraid.
"I'm not saying…" Zuko does not know what he is saying. "Father did slightly a little bit destroy the lives of thousands of innocent people, including you. I'm not insinuating that you'd treat Ryzu like father treated you."
Azula steps closer. Zuko prepares for a fight.
"Yes, yes you are saying exactly that. Father saw me as a weapon of conquest. You say that I see Ryzu the same way. Ryzu is too young to be a threat. I am not certain how I will feel about world domination when he grows up. Uncle is…" Azula looks like she has just sipped something both bitter and sour. "is right about the spirits. They put me up to this, since you have done nothing to rebuild the broken Fire Nation, and instead have focused on appeasing others."
"Don't blame the spirit attacks on me!" Zuko snaps. Iroh carefully observes; Azula glares.
"But you are to blame for them," Azula replies, walking closer. She rests her hands on Zuko's shoulders and slowly turns him. He allows her to do it, because he is very confused and fairly angry.
"Who told you?" Zuko asks, looking her straight in the eye.
Azula digs her nails into his shoulders and then pulls away before she does anything worse to him.
"I was held hostage in the Spirit World for two years. It was very unpleasant and I do not appreciate you overlooking what I have done through. I was dead, ZuZu. I am back for a reason, I was held there for a reason, and I will find that reason if it is the last thing I do," Azula smoothly says, leaning on the wall and letting the shadows engulf her.
"And they chose you or something?" Zuko snorts.
"Yes. Exactly that."
Azula loses her patience and leaves.
###
Azula is tossing books from the Dragonbone Catacombs at the wall. They are useless in both finding her an information or satisfying her overwhelming rage.
A knock on the door interrupts her before she prepares to kick over a stack of scrolls.
Slowly, Azula walks across the room and opens the door. Ty Lee stands there, her arms crossed and her expression nervous. She had to work up a lot of courage to go here and she hopes that Azula will not turn her away.
"What do you want?" Azula demands.
"I wanted to see Ryzu," Ty Lee replies. Azula deems her honest.
"He is sleeping at the moment, but you may come in," Azula says, stepping aside.
"That was easier than I thought," Ty Lee chimes. She looks around at the many books and scrolls. It does not take a genius to know that Azula is researching why she had Ryzu and what she should do with him.
Azula guides Ty Lee to the small bed, soft, tucked into the corner. Ty Lee reaches to touch him but Azula grabs her hand and holds her back.
"You may see him. You may not touch him," Azula says.
"Can I see you?" Ty Lee asks. She turns to face the princess. "Can I touch you?"
Azula releases Ty Lee's wrist. "No. You never will, because you have betrayed me more than once. I hope you are very happy with my brother until the day one of you dies."
Ty Lee sits back on her heels and does not remove her gaze from Azula.
"I didn't think I would ever see you again. You were gone. I got with him because I missed you so much. I hoped maybe you'd come back, maybe you'd forgive me, maybe he'd forget that he was second best. I lost that hope. I lost all of those hopes a long time ago," Ty Lee says.
Azula carefully considers her answer.
"I am sorry for your loss."
That's it.