Übermenschen

Castaway on the stormy seas, our brave princess was forced to endure hunger and exposure in the cold Southern Oceans. Have you seen the world curve away to endless blue water, O Prince? We must remember that though we sail the ocean freely, we are not its master. That is La, the Great Spirit of the Ocean, known to our ancestors as Aspara, who had a special destiny in mind for Azula.

Azula did not know how long she drifted on the cold ocean. As the dehydration settled in, with only the few sips of water that could be collected from condensation, her strength faded. She fought it off for as long as possible by drinking the blood of sea birds, but soon the exhaustion overtook her, and she spent the next day, drifting in and out of consciousness, saving what strength she could.

All that kept her going was the hate in her heart. Hatred to everyone who had brought her to this wretched existence. She said their names, a quiet prayer that Azula, and not anyone else, would be the one to choke the life out of them. Zhao, who'd schemed and plotted this. Iroh, for failing to be there. Ozai…the words caught in her throat.

Maybe this was the sign that her life was nearing its end. The sudden clarity, finally admitting to thoughts she'd wanted to cry out to the heavens since that terrible night. She'd been running from the feelings as much as she'd been running from the military. Her father's betrayal stung in her heart the most. He may have been in his palace a thousand miles away, ordering her murder with detached superiority. But it might as well have been him that night…invading.

She rolled over, squeezing her eyes shut, commanding the tears not to come. She was Azula, the most gifted prodigy to ever grace the royal dynasty, and she would not waste tears on her disgrace. It was good, then, that sleep would claim her and spare her from these awful thoughts.

Azula awoke to a foreign presence around her. There was a weight atop her, cold fingers on her neck, near her artery. Her eyes shot open, finding blue eyes looming far too close.

This girl…it was probably a girl given the shape of her lips and softness of her face, did not startle at Azula's awakening. Her face was painted, with dark gray lining her eyes and nose, a lighter gray covering the top of her face, and bone white the lower half, save for two dark gray stripes on her cheeks. Her hair was pulled back, save for two beaded loops that framed her cheeks. Azula would have thought her stunning, save for the part where this Water Tribe warrior had a bone-knife pointed at Azula's throat.

Azula gripped the girl's wrist and pulled the point right up to her skin, as if to say, I'm not afraid of you. "You should never hesitate," Azula croaked.

The girl smirked. "And you shouldn't get lost at sea."

Another voice pierced the morning fog. It was a young man's, who spoke the same dialect of the common tongue as the girl. "Katara, she's Fire Nation. Look at this."

The man's fur boots trudged over the wet wood, til he came into view over this Katara's shoulders. He wore similar face markings to her. In his hand he held Azula's royal crest. She growled at the sight of his filthy hands clutching it.

Katara tutted, "I already guessed as much. So who are you, girl, and why are you here?"

There were a thousand different lies Azula could've thought up. A thousand ways to ingratiate herself to these people, to get the knife away from her throat. But she was just too tired to care. "You wouldn't believe me if I did."

That smug look might as well have been in the mirror. "Try me," Katara said.

"Azula, Daughter of Ozai. Princess of the Fire Nation."

The young man laughed, "Oh that's a good one, buddy. What, are you trying to make us kill you."

"I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth," Katara says, eyes narrowing. "Which begs the question: why? Why would you tell your nation's mortal enemies this? Is this a ploy so you'll be ransomed back to your father in exchange for peace?"

"I see word hasn't reached you here. Pull that knife away and I'll tell you."

Katara bit her lip as she chewed over Azula's proposal. With a click of her tongue, she inched the knife back, and helped Azula to sit up. Every muscle, every bone in Azula's body ached with the effort.

"I'm here–" Azula paused to suck in a painful breath through her teeth, "because my father has declared me traitor and outlaw, and the ship I traveled on was sunk."

"Why?" Katara said, unsatisfied.

"I just told you–"

"No, you told us why you're here. You didn't tell us why you're a traitor."

Azula bristled at the very thought. "I have never betrayed anyone in my entire life. Ever."

Katara laughed. "Now you're see, that's what we hear all the time from you Fire Nationals. You think we're uncivilized and stupid, blind to the rest of the world. But your reputation, Azula of the Blue Flames, precedes you even here. A rare Firebending prodigy who mastered lightning at the age of eleven."

Azula growled, ignoring the voice of her mother admonishing her.

Katara pulled the knife away. "Oh, I'm sure everyone knows that. What we also know about your cunning, your manipulative streak, that you could add colors to the chameleon." Katara's free hand cupped Azula's cheek, her thumb brushing along a cut on the princess's cheekbone. "And even if your father was willing to give up such skills from his dynasty, you're also a rare beauty from a noble bloodline, with suitors climbing over top each other like polar bear-dogs to get a chance to court you. So I'll ask you again: why?"

Azula looked away from Katara's deep-blue eyes, like the sea on a moonlit night. The hallucination of Aang manifested on the prow of the lifeboat. He looked down at her, grinning. "She's sharp this one, I like her. Maybe you should just tell her the truth."

"Alright then, the truth," Azula huffed. "I have been declared a traitor because I am the reincarnation of the Avatar."

The boy stumbled. Blinking, he said, "She's either cracked or she's lying."

Katara's brow pinched, and her teeth gritted. It was more than just anger, Azula realized. It was pain. Katara snarled and slammed Azula into the deck, knocking her head against the planks. One hand restrained Azula's arms above her head as Katara pinned her.

Katara's strength was overwhelming in Azula's weakened state. Her scars burned with shame, and she vowed she'd prove herself stronger if she ever got a chance. But as she looked back at the snarling face of the Water Tribal warrior, the dagger pressed into her neck, Azula saw in Katara's eyes a broken heart.

"Katara, calm down…this isn't worth it."

"Shut up Sokka!" she cried.

Sokka put an ungloved hand on Katara's shoulder. "Sis…this is not like you. Don't do something you would regret. Isn't this what you tell me all the time? We have to honor our mother's life, not just avenge her death. Remember that, and just let it go."

When the knife was resheathed at Katara's belt, some part of Azula wondered if by giving into anger, Katara would've been more merciful. Katara slumped down onto the deck, pulling her knees tight to her chest.

Sokka grudgingly offered Azula a hand, pulling her upright. He shoved her a canteen of water. Azula snatched it with all her strength and drank greedily from it. Water had never tasted so delicious, and this proper Fire Nation lady for once didn't care that rivulets of water were spilling over her chapped lips.

While Sokka went to comfort his sister, Azula took a moment to take in her surroundings. The lifeboat had been lashed to a larger craft, a single masted sailboat decked in fine blue livery. Around them, the placid water was filled with ghostly white ice. For a moment, Azula thought bitterly that she'd finally reached her lowest point, here at the edge of the world. But then she looked at Katara, fighting back tears, and her brother Sokka hugging her tight so that she wouldn't see his own, she wondered, How could there be any other prisoners…in my hell?

It was the most uncomfortable silence Azula had ever endured. Aang was always chatty whenever he manifested, and yet he floated silently, adding to the discomfort. Once Katara had calmed down, her glare returned to Azula. "Alright then…prove it."

Azula ignored the rumbling in her stomach, and the vague disquiet that the endless sea gave her, and pulled herself to the side. With a series of awkward, almost flailing motions, she managed to coax a ball of water up from the sea, levitating it for a moment before her concentration broke and it returned to the sea.

Katara's eyes narrowed. "You're terrible at this."

Azula gritted her teeth, trying to contain the boiling inside. She failed. "Well I only just stumbled onto my powers a few weeks ago! And it's not like I've had time to practice running from my would-be murderers."

"Relax, relax," Katara sighed.

Sokka moved closer, sitting so that the three formed a rough triangle. "Look, I'm normally pretty skeptical about things like destiny. But maybe we were meant to find each other. Katara…she might be the only Waterbender left in the entire South Pole. All the clans, they've retreated inland, they keep to themselves now. Ever since the raids. There's not many of us left. But even without having a teacher, she's a natural. We've…we've been planning to recontact our sister tribe at the North Pole–"

"-Sokka!"

"Katara, please. Just listen. We may not like it, but we're all in the same boat."

Azula rolled her eyes. "A man who would make a pun would pick a pocket."

Sokka's terrible sense of humor still got a giggle out of Katara. The girl was still angry, but it served as a focus, not a distraction. She began loading what little Azula had into her boat. "Well, brave Avatar, are you going to just sit there, or are you going to get moving."

In spite of her protests, Sokka still helped Azula climb aboard the larger boat. She was too tired to care when he retrieved a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. The breath of fire should've been enough to warm her, even as malnourished as she was. Katara continued to ignore her, as she guided the craft through the ice floes with her water bending.

They mostly ignored Azula the rest of the day, save for giving her some dried jerky and a pouch of the most disgusting vegetable she'd ever tasted in the mid afternoon. As soon as Azula's belly stopped rumbling, she was out like a light.

Azula awoke with a start just after nightfall. The air was cold, but the haze had cleared. The lustrous full moon hung low over the water, and even with its glow the stars twinkled brighter here than she ever could've imagined.

The wind had picked up, giving Katara a break from Waterbending the craft and the lifeboat towed behind it. Sokka could manage the sail and tiller himself. But rather than be the one to hand out supplies, the girl kicked Sokka out of his job and sent him to tend to the guest.

Sokka settled beside her, offering her some smoked fish wrapped in kelp. When she started to unwrap it, Sokka shook his head and took a bite out of his fish, 'wrapper' and all. "It's an important part of a balanced diet down here. Eat the whole thing."

Azula obliged, and found the experience less unpleasant than she feared.

"We should be back at our village in a few hours," Sokka said. "They'll take some getting used to you, but they'll warm up to you in time."

"Can't get much worse than your sister."

"Sorry about her behavior."

"I'm sure she has her reasons. If you could tell me what I did that provoked her…I'll try to avoid doing it."

"It's not so much what you did as what you are."

"A Fire Nation princess."

"Oh no, she could get over that. She's shrewd enough to not look a gift yak in the mouth. It's just…she's sixteen, and she's lived practically her whole life with the knowledge that the next Avatar is supposed to be from the Water Tribe. And she's always hoped that it was her, though she could never say it out loud."

"Oh." Azula sank lower. "Oh no."

"Yeah. She's already had such a huge burden on her shoulders. But she hoped it was all for a reason, as the last bender in our clan and maybe the whole Southern Tribe, that she could make a difference. Finding out that someone who is supposed to be her worst enemy is the Avatar…is a bitter pill to swallow."

Azula drank her water, and said nothing for a long moment. When Sokka was about ready to leave, she piped up, "I could say I never wanted this. But that wouldn't be true. There was a moment of temptation–" she looked up at Aang's hallucination suddenly perched on the mast, "where a voice asked me if I wanted power. And I told it yes."

"Well there's no use in feeling guilty about it. You're all we've got."

Azula's strength returned to her slowly over the voyage. But when they docked at the little village that Katara called home, and the princess wavered on her unsteady feet, she still felt so tired, like no amount of sleep in the world could wash away the weariness. She hadn't been able to sleep the rest of the voyage, and spent it alone with the voices in her head. Azula just wanted to sleep, but there was so much that kept getting in the way.

After docking and unloading, Azula trudged up the dock behind Sokka, only to be stopped at the edge of the icewall ringing the village. Some young boys argued with Katara until a gray-haired old woman arrived and greeted Katara warmly.

Azula couldn't hear much of the conversation in her state, other than that Katara called the woman Gran-Gran, and that whatever kind, nurturing and loving advice that Gran-Gran was offering, Katara did not take it very well.

After a few minutes, Katara stomped over to Azula. "Apparently, you're staying in my hut with me, Avatar," she said, biting back the rage.

Azula smirked.

"What's so funny?" Katara demanded.

"Oh, I just realized watching you that this is what I must come off like to other people."

It was true, and it made Katara angrier. Until it the fury just popped like a soap bubble, and the girl let out a tired laugh. "Gran-Gran always told me that one day my bossiness was going to catch up to me. Well come on. I hope you don't snore."

"Princesses do not snore," Azula said matter-of-factly.

"Oh really."

"Yeah."

"We'll see about that." Katara then grabbed Azula by the wrist and led her into the village.

The Water Tribe, Azula remembered from her time at the Academy, were reputedly more nocturnal than the other peoples of the world. With the extreme variations of sunlight across the seasons, they'd adapted to life according to the unique rhythms of the arctic. Even still, it was late enough that most of the village was asleep.

The few people Azula did see were either children, mothers, or very old. Sokka, who she'd learned was 18, was the only adult male of fighting age in the village. All the fighters, men and women, were on campaign.

Katara's hut was a quaint little structure made of wood from the taiga, reinforced with whale bones and packed into an igloo structure for insulation. The interior was as cold as the outside, and once Katara lit an oil lamp, proved to be quite…cozy…with how tightly all the implements of life were packed in it

A stone hearth sat in the center of the structure, and over it hung various cooking implements. The bed, which could sleep two, was the minimum safe distance from the hearth. Clothing, beads, harpoons, sewing needles, knives, saws, blankets, and many things Azula could not recognize hung at random from the walls. The only other furniture she could see were two stools by the hearth. A brazier was perched by the head of the bead.

When Katara stooped to light the coals in the hearth, Azula tapped her shoulder and said, "Here, let me."

Katara looked at her placidly, hiding what she was sure was bitterness, but moved aside. The sternness soon turned to child-like wonder as searing blue fire danced at Azula's fingertips

"I know…we've got off to a rough start," Katara whispered, "but I'm not so foolish as to turn down help. And….Sokka is right. We share a common enemy. Fuck, I only now just realized what it must be like for you, your own father trying to kill you."

"I'm going to kill him, someday. I'll accept any help I can get to make it happen." Azula said, surprising herself. She'd been wanting to say it for so long, but she'd bitten her tongue, and tried to pretend she didn't want it so badly, she could taste it.

Katara brewed some tea in a brass kettle that must've been either raided or traded for while the hut warmed up. With a heavy sigh, Katara offered to help groom Azula before bed, provided Azula was willing to reciprocate.

After washing off her facepaint and taking off her heavy outerwear, Katara grumbled about the knots in Azula's unkempt hair. Still, she brushed them out, though Azula was sure she was taking particular delight in all of Azula's cries of pain. The pain, coupled with the shocking sensation of someone pulling her hair, was strangely unsettling to Azula, but not in a bad way., and by the end of it, her cheeks were flushed hot.

While doing this, and enduring Azula's reciprocation, Katara talked surprisingly freely to someone she'd not long ago considered murdering in a fit of rage. Mostly about her people and their way of life. Usually topical, like how after this they would 'bathe' with the oil from the snow-olive and use little seal bone implements to scrape the skin clean of the detritus. Azula wondered if that was what gave Katara and Sokka their pleasant, almost citrus smell, and why after she shed down to her shift, Katara's dark skin was so lustrous and unblemished.

Azula got a sense that it was a sort of preemptive defense of her people against the preconceptions of the sneering Fire Nation imperialist. The old Azula would've lived up to that image, but right now, Azula just listened or commented positively.

The Water Tribe were a resilient people, and their hardiness in such conditions had already impressed Azula. But they did not just survive the poles, they thrived here.

Katara seemed completely unashamed when it came time to 'bathe', and Azula found herself apologizing when the scare quotes were audible as Katara walked her through the steps again. Azula could only offer that it was hard for her to think of bathing involving anything but water.

It was awkward and embarrassing for both of them, but in a way, this was perhaps the best way to shove away the past transgressions and come to a certain kinship. When they settled into the furs on Katara's bed, their conversation turned to more somber things.

"The story of our people," Katara said with a sigh, "Is a story of hardship. I don't say this to make you feel guilty. Rather…to explain our ways."

Katara had graciously given Azula the interior side of the bed, nearest to the hearth. She lay near the wall on her side, gazing into Azula's amber eyes. It felt to Azula like this girl was boring holes through her. Never had someone figured out the puzzle that was Azula so quickly. So all Azula could do is lay on her side and look back.

"Our people are not indigienous to the poles. The legends of our people say that in the time before, before the present nations existed, in man's stumbling adolescence, our people were not two tribes, but one, and we lived in the lands of warmth and sun near the equator."

"Our people?" Azula said quietly.

"The tradition of the Water Tribe is that the Avatar belongs to all nations. Kanna, my grandmother, told me to welcome you as such. So yes…our people."

"Our people." Azula hoped that one day the words would carry the same weight on her tongue as it did on Katara's.

"Anyway, our tribes were once one people, called in the time long, long ago the Jie by outsiders, and by our kin as the Yup'ik, the 'True People'. Our homelands were taken from us by invaders. It is a tale of sorrow, and our people were sundered, living as vagabonds until we found our way to our new homelands. Our great art, the control of the water, would become our greatest strength, for now we could live among the water, and would serve as our walls, our homes, our armor, our weapon, from then to eternity."

Azula nodded.

"Our people used to be richer. We didn't scrape and struggle, a bounty flowed from our labors. Like the horn of plenty…but that was before the war. Before the evacuations, the raids. Why…why do they kidnap my people?" Katara said, her voice suddenly seeming years younger.

Azula noted the very conspicuous 'they' instead of what she should have said: you. Why do you take our people? "The answer will not make you happy," Azula whispered.

"When I was little, we feared that the Firebenders took our people to eat them. How else…why else would they need our bodies, need us alive?"

"It's not something…they tell the people of the Fire Nation openly. It is supposed to be a secret, but it's one that everyone knows." Azula sighed, "the Fire Nation abducts people to fill labor camps to sustain the war effort. Other peoples…have skills we do not, which is useful. The war demands every able-bodied man and woman in some way." The reasons feel like black ichor on her tongue.

"What happens to them there?"

"They're worked. Their children are given to Fire Nation families to raise, or sent to boarding schools. I've…I've never seen those places. I just know…the polite version that nobles talk about. I also know…from my brief time in the field…that this polite version is a cruel lie we tell ourselves to mask our shame."

Katara pinched her eyes shut. She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. "I want to hate you so much, Azula. And it's not fair to you, but I hate you all the same. But holding onto that hate makes me sick, I can't live like that."

What could Azula say in her defense? She was merely the inheritor of these monstrous crimes? It felt so useless. The Fire Nation, the one thing in the world she'd ever felt any love for, had turned on her too. From her father on down to the lowliest foot-soldier, they would scour the earth to hunt for her. And when they found her, they would kill her. But they would have to catch Azula first.

"Hate me all you want, Katara. We are, as you brother so aptly put it, in the same boat."

Katara nodded. "Gran-Gran thinks our destinies are intertwined, or else I would not have been the one to pull you out of the ocean. That we're supposed to be allies, not enemies. I don't know about fate, but we do share a common enemy. And we both need to learn to master our powers."

"Sensible."

"It's a long journey to the North Pole. Once we're there, and we've accomplished our task, then I suppose we'll see what we think about destiny."

An unfamiliar feeling bubbled up in Azula, so strange she did not even know what to name it. She finally blurted out, "You're a better woman than me."

Katara's eyes went wide. The deep blue glittered in the pale glow of the firelight.

"I mean, for sharing your home and hospitality with an enemy. Someone who's done nothing to deserve it."

Katara smiled. "You're not my enemy, not anymore. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even call you my friend."

Thunder rolled over the distant hills. The autumn rains were coming soon, and the winds were already sweet with the smell of rain. Mai stared at the distant hills and pulled her shawl tighter. Something about that snake Zhao's presence brought a shiver on.

This had once been the palace of a provincial governor. It had changed hands so many times in a hundred years of fighting that the country surrounding Ulan-Ude was a depopulated bloodland, a site of apocalyptic tribal conflict spurred on by the clashing titans of Earth and Fire. The rest of the army had caught up to Zhao's vanguard, and for now that social climber shared these headquarters with other officers.

Servants had brought fresh fruit, ice and wine. Not out of Zhao's own pocket, no, but out of his patron's. He offered in mock grace, and Mai declined, remaining stony-faced at his flatteries. "Are you going to get to the point, Lieutenant Colonel Zhao?" Mai said.

Zhao hid it well, but she could see he bit his tongue. He would bite it more before the night was through. Favored though he may be, son of a gentleman merchant grown quite wealthy from his labors, Zhao was still a commoner and not of the blood, while Mai's father was a viscount. "Straight to the fine point of it then, Lady Mai. Very well."

"Where is the princess?" said Mai, eyes narrowing.

She did not like that grin. Not one bit. "And I am finally at liberty to say. It's no longer a state secret, my lady, that Azula is a traitor to the Fire Nation and a wanted fugitive." Zhao set a silver goblet on the carved stone banister. His hawk-like eyes watched for any reaction from her.

She gave him none. Mai was placid as a pond on a windless day. "I do not believe you."

"Oh believe me, would that it were otherwise." Pressing two fingers to the base of the goblet, Zhao slid it along the banister towards Mai. "I'm afraid our beloved princess was not who we thought."

She knew he was trying to bait her. She swallowed hard, trying to still the lurch in her stomach. "You hated her before she became the Avatar. This is a trick. Azula would burn before she betrayed her country."

Zhao laughed. "Oh burn indeed. I'm afraid, my dear girl, you simply did not know your friend quite like you thought you did. None of us did."

The sun was setting behind the mountain, streaking the clouds in blood-red. Unthinking, Mai took the cup and turned away.

Ever shall I be yours.

Mai's last words to her princess, her friend, dug like nails into her heart.

Zhao stepped in close, laying a hand on her shoulder. Against her better judgment, she did not shrug it away. "She left like a thief in the night, my lady," he said low, almost a whisper. "Not a word to anyone. Just the bodies of four of our soldiers burned to cinders, scattered like the heathens do with their dead."

She had to have her reason, Mai thought. But she remembered soon the bitter lesson from her childhood, that people may always have reasons for their actions, but it does not make them good. Maybe she was a fool for wanting to believe in Azula so badly. "She just absconded? Why would she do that?"

"Who knows? Azula has always been inscrutable. Perhaps she'd chafed under confinement, or perhaps she has deeper machinations. Perhaps she's been a spy this whole time. Whatever her reasons, it's time to face facts, Lady Mai. She lied to you, and then she left you. Not even a word of goodbye."

Mai gazed off at the vulture lazily circling over the town square. Zhao was probably right, but she did not want to hear it from him. "I thank you, Colonel, for at last answering my questions. But I wish to retire to my quarters now."

"By all means, my lady. If you are content to wait half an hour, I shall have a gentleman officer available to escort you."

Mai brushed him off. "That will not be necessary. I can find my own way."

Most officers were already in evening mess dress, scurrying in pairs and trios in their finery. Many seemed to have already had a few drinks at this point, faces flushed red and talking all too loud. Mai skirted along the edge of the main foyer, where the silent, stony-faced sentries paid her no mind. Out of sight of anyone who mattered, Mai let her mask slip and groaned. Her entire reason for being here was gone.

Stuffed shirts at the top, the lowest dregs of society in the ranks. It had been Azula's zeal that had brought her here, and though she insisted that it would grown on her, Mai had not found any of this any more charming. And every man who tried to stop her on her way out of the palace just made the hate bubble up in her more.

Mai answered their invitations with sullen glares before brushing past them. Most got the hint. But one must have persisted, because just as started down the steps outside a man grabbed her by the arm. Mai whirled around, pulling a knife from her sleeve to thrust the gleaming edge against the man's throat.

"Whoa, easy there ma'am," the man said, putting his hands up. Unlike the other officers his uniform was travel-worn and had begun to fade. Mai soon recognized his scarred face. "Captain Li? What are you doing?"

Li glanced at the knife still at his throat. "I've been trying to deliver a message to you, my lady. From our mutual friend."

Mai shoved him out of the light from the bonbori lanterns before anyone could see. Only after he protested did Mai remember to withdraw the knife from his neck. "It's been weeks, why now?"

"Beg your pardon," Lai said, voice lilting with insolence, "but we don't exactly run in the same circles."

"And you could have passed a note under my door."

"I did."

Mai was about to contradict him, but then she remembered the letter full of illegible chicken-scratch she'd crumpled up and tossed in the brazier a week ago. "Oh. Right…"

"I may be able to scratch out the vulgate to supply clerks, but no one ever had occasion to teach me the hànzì 'cept to write my name." When she didn't react, he scratched his neck and said, "That was a joke, ma'am."

"Oh right, of course." It was another case where her formal education left Mai lacking. She rubbed her hands under her sleeves, remembering the sting of teacher's rapping her knuckles with a ruler when she was a little girl for using the vulgar phonetic characters rather than composing entirely in the formal hànzì logograms. "Well spill it then."

"Your friend asks that you trust her. And to stay safe. She did not say as much, but I can guarantee you that there's far more at work here. You're probably being lied to."

"How far up does this go?"

"Who knows. Maybe Zhao was just that cross over his humiliation. Or maybe he has hidden benefactors."

Mai wanted to believe it so badly. Someone conspiring against the royal family, bringing her friend's downfall. But that was insane…they were at war. It was a clash of civilizations since before any of them had been born. "Zhao said she killed four men."

"I don't know anything about that. But whether she's guilty or innocent, there's a target painted on you now, Lady Mai. Be careful."

Katara awoke with the sudden realization she was not alone. Her gasp provoked a quiet groan next to her and the rustle of a foot against her knee. She remembered the Fire Nation princess and calmed her pounding heart. She opened her eyes to find the princess still asleep.

Azula's face was too close to hers; as the embers died in the fire, the girl had instinctively crawled closer to Katara. Only her face peeked from under the blankets. Her snores were so quiet, like the way she curled up on herself, it made her seem so small. Katara wondered how this sleeping girl could be the fearsome Princess Azula, whose skill and sharp demeanor cut down men twice her size, whether at court or on the battlefield.

The sun was bright outside already. Katara had slept too long, yet it still left her feeling weary. The ache from a long day of hard labor hung on her body and mind. Briefly, she considered trying to sleep more. But the ice flows would soon begin, and if they wanted auspicious winds for the journey north, they'd need to leave soon. That meant plenty of work.

Katara brushed a lock of dark brown hair from Azula's face. Azula was recovering quickly from her long exposure; her windburnt skin was lustrous again, and the bleeding sores on her lips had sealed thanks to the oil balm. Unfortunately, Katara couldn't let sleeping dragons lie. "Avatar, wake up," she said.

Azula growled and tensed up.

"Come on, wake up."

Amber eyes opened, firing a deadly gaze at Katara. "If you say 'wake up' again, I cannot be held responsible for what happens next."

"Oh, the princess losing control? How unbecoming."

"Surely you know the old adage about sleeping dragons, peasant."

"Yeah, you were sooo scary, cuddled up close to me."

"You're warm, I was cold. It was logical. Besides, you should feel grateful for being allowed to bask in my presence."

"So are you grouchy in the morning, is this just your usual temper?"

"Oh believe me, you haven't seen me angry yet."

"Get up, we've got work to do."

Azula complained, but she complied. After relighting the fire, they both stumbled through their morning constitutionals, stepping on each other's toes figuratively and literally. Azula blanched at the thought of going outside to the cold latrine, but after some ribbing, the princess's face bunched up in a scowl, and she stomped out of the hut.

She returned some minutes later muttering about being out of practice at the breath of fire technique. The fire flared blue with each of her breaths. While Katara prepared a light breakfast of sorghum porridge, flavored with sea prunes and seal blubber, Azula found space for her calisthenics in the small hut.

It was quite the sight, watching Azula balance on one hand. She breathed in rhythm with each handstand pushup, and the coals in Katara's cooking fire glowed blue. Stripped down to her underclothes, Katara could see the well defined muscles of Azula's core. The princess shifted hands after a few sets, the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

It had an almost hypnotic quality, and Katara almost let the pot of porridge boil over from the distraction. Once Azula switched back to both hands, she began performing inverted splits with each pushup. A flash of recognition lit up. "It's about control isn't it," Katara remarked.

Katara thought she saw a brief smile on Azula's face. But it could have been the exertion. "Yes," she said, straining. "The aim is to maintain absolute control over the fire in the exercise, letting it waver as little as possible in the exertion."

"Quite the feat. Is this a normal thing for elite Firebenders?"

Azula shook her head. "Every master has their own style. I invented this one to suit mine. Well, with a little help from my friend Ty Lee." Azula sighed, and her focus broke, returning the coals to a faint orange color. "At least she was my friend."

The princess popped back onto her feet. After wiping the sweat from her face, she stopped to look at the contents of the cooking pot.

Katara tried to play it off, stirring the pot like she hadn't just picked at an old wound. "I'm sure she won't let a little thing like banishment get in the way, princess."

Azula was silent for several minutes. She sat seiza, resting her butt on her heels, maintaining an outwardly placid demeanor. After Katara served her a helping of porridge in a wooden bowl, Azula said, barely above a whisper. "If this is to work, our alliance, you have to understand something about the Fire Nation. About my people."

Katara set her bowl on her lap and listened intently.

"We've been raised since birth to believe our lives belong to the state; that the greatest joy and meaning we can get in life is to serve the Fire Nation and vanquish its enemies. Especially the nobility."

"Azula, don't give–"

"Katara, I know you're trying to make me feel better. And I appreciate it, really I do. But you have to understand, to the people of the Fire Nation I am worse than vermin, worse than the people the country is at war with. As an outlaw, I am a 'beast of no nation,' to be hunted for sport."

Katara nodded. "I suppose it will make it all the sweeter when you take the throne from your father."

"I…" Azula stared into the flames, mouth hanging open. The mask had dropped away, revealing another glimpse at the lonely teenage girl behind the legend. "I don't know if I even want it. All my life, all I ever wanted was his love. I want to watch him burn to cinders for what he did." Azula shivered from an unwanted memory. Katara wasn't going to pry about it, not yet.

"I was going to ask you what you planned to do once you take the throne, but that was insensitive, I'm sorry."

"Oh please, don't patronize me. You wanted to make sure you weren't going to replace one tyrant with another. Logical. I don't think I could even if I wanted it. In the Fire Nation, the Avatar leaves behind all inheritances and titles. We'll find some fat and pliable noble to keep the seat warm, drink himself to an early grave, and leave your tribe alone."

Katara frowned, watching Azula's brief moment of vulnerability vanish like morning fog. She suspected that the princess was not telling the truth. At least not all of it.

Azula dug into the porridge. The sea prunes were definitely not to her liking, but it was far from the worst food she'd had lately. "So tell me, Katara, of your plans. Where do you aim to go, and what must we do to make it happen."

"We were going to load up our boat with trade goods, especially salt–"

"Salt?" Azula interrupted.

"The war has disrupted a lot of traditional sources of salt. And I happened to figure out how to easily separate salt from sea water with my bending. We make a killing on it since there's such high demand for food preservation for armies on the march. It's helped us rebuild some of our former glory."

Azula beckoned with her hand. "How delightful. Continue."

"We'll journey northwest to Kyoshi Island. We trade with them often, and we hoped to find more information about how to safely proceed northward."

"Well that's perfect. The man who helped me escape recommended I try to make my way there. A legendary Firebender general who deserted is rumored to be near there. If we find him, we can enlist his aid."

Katara smiled at the sudden turn in Azula's demeanor. They'd found her adrift, literally and figuratively. Giving her a goal and a means to accomplish it had rekindled the fire in her heart. Maybe, just maybe, this would work.

Notes: Hey let me know what you think; author's always appreciate reviews and comments.