Chapter 5: The Volcano
The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon when Ty Lee finally noticed that she was close. The shadow of the volcano loomed over her, finally giving her relief from the heat of the sun.
"Finally," Aang said, wiping the sweat away from his brow. "I thought we'd never make it."
"Why not just fly over if you hate walking so much?" Zuko asked him.
"Please! There's no way you slow pokes would ever catch up with me," Aang said. "Besides, the Fire Sages would spot Appa in a second, and I'd rather not get caught."
"Well you're such a powerful Avatar, why not bend us a breeze?" Ty Lee asked him.
"Alright. I can do that," Aang said, and with a sweep of his arms a strong, cooling gust of wind blew through the jungle, rustling the leaves and sending the birds flying.
"Knock it off, you guys," Zuko told them. "You're gonna give us away. You heard what they'll do to us if they catch us trespassing here."
"Hold our feet to a fire laced with chili peppers," Aang said with a shiver. "Yes, I remember."
"Isn't that how they make fire flakes?" Ty Lee asked.
"Yeah, that way when they get done burning us, they'll have a nice delicious snack afterwards," Zuko mocked. "Can you focus on what's important?"
"Sure," Ty Lee snapped. "I'll focus on the fact that we're here."
Aang and Zuko spun around. Glossy obsidian stairs gleamed in the dying sunlight, leading up from out of the dark volcanic soil and up onto an enormous obsidian terrace that circled half of the volcano. The stones were polished and carved in swirling designs so that they each caught the sunlight a different way; the design of two-headed dragons encircling the island was wrought so perfectly it was like looking through a black window into a world just beyond reach.
A solemn quietness draped itself over the three of them as they made their way up the stairs and onto the terrace. The stone was hot beneath their bare feet but they paid it no mind. Somehow, they just knew that the heat on their feet was meant to be there; that each burning step they took was a trial and reward for daring to come to this sacred place.
The swirling two-headed dragons carved into the stone seemed to lead them forward, guiding them towards the base of the volcano, encircling its wide base until they were on the western most part of it. There, with the light of the golden, sinking sun shining on it, stood a giant statue of a woman carved directly into the side of the volcano. She stood on one leg, her other leg up with her foot resting on her knee, and both of her arms were held from her body. In one hand was carved the unmistakable scaly egg of a dragon, and in the other was a roaring stone fire.
Aang nudged Zuko. "Look at that pose," he said. "Remind you of anything?"
"Yeah. That's the first pose in the Dancing Dragon," Zuko said.
Ty Lee had no idea what they were talking about. She didn't care though. She had her own reasons to feel drawn to this statue. She took a few steps closer to the woman's statue, gazing up at her with a mixture of awe and comfort.
"She's Tonatzin," Ty Lee said.
"Tonatzin?" Aang repeated.
"Yes. She was the first firebender. Ever," Ty Lee said. "I remember Azula once told me a story about her, back when we were still friends. She made a deal with the dragons for fire for her hearth and she had to prove herself and she raised a baby dragon who loved her like its own mother and that baby dragon taught her how to bend fire for herself."
"That does sound familiar," Zuko said. "I always pictured her…shorter…"
"I always pictured her much more serious and angsty," Ty Lee replied. "But look at her face. She seems so happy and peaceful."
"She does," Aang said with a smile of his own.
"Yeah, that's nice," Zuko said, "but we still haven't found Azula yet. And it's getting dark."
"Well, I don't know where she could be," Aang said. "Think she might be hiding out in the jungle?"
"I don't know. That doesn't seem like something she'd do, but it's been so long. Who knows what she's like anymore?" Zuko said. He turned away from the statue and walked to the edge of the terrace, where thick foliage was beginning to creep up and into the stonework. "If she has, we won't be able to find her tonight. The darkness is practically smothering here."
"Maybe there are a few houses nearby?" Aang suggested. "I know that for airbenders, our pilgrimage sites sometimes had small houses that we could settle down in when it got too dark or cold. I mean, it's not like we could sleep on top of the statues, right?"
"I guess," Zuko said. "Should we start searching for pathways then?"
As Zuko and Aang talked, Ty Lee walked up towards the base of the statue, stopping only when she was at Tonatzin's stone foot. She couldn't help but reach out and put a hand on her, but she didn't know why.
She didn't know what compelled her to do so, or why she felt so drawn to her, but she did. Maybe it was the fond memories of that summer with Azula; all the sleepovers they used to have, and all those days they would spend in the sun drinking tea, and challenging each other to silly competitions, and chatting the whole morning away.
She remembered how Azula used to enrapture her with her words, her stories spinning around her like a bee-spider spinning its silken honey web. Things just seemed so simple and happy back then, even though they weren't. She had no idea that in such a short time Azula and Mai would attack each other and she would only have a heartbeat's time to choose between her two best friends to stop them from killing each other.
And then to come back after prison to hear that Azula was hysterical and depressed, and was being shipped out to some strange island in the middle of nowhere with a sect of Fire Sages that the world had long since forgotten.
As night slowly fell upon the earth, the amber of the sky melted into plum and black, and the stars in the east grew bright. As the stone of the volcano grew as black as the sky, Ty Lee noticed a glow behind Tonatzin's leg that she hadn't noticed in the dusklight. Peering around the leg of the statue, she saw a hollow in the rock that led down inside of the volcanic tunnels. Getting closer, she could see the blue glint of fire flickering over the tunnel walls.
Her heart sped up.
She looked back at Aang and Zuko. They were still wandering around the terrace, talking to each other, looking out at the jungle, pointing and gesturing, trying to figure out where to go and what to do next. She briefly considered telling them and taking them down with her, but she decided against it.
Her and Azula's first meeting after five whole years hadn't been alone, and she wasn't going to spoil the second chance now.
With a deep breath, she rushed down the dark volcanic tunnel, following the glow of the flickering blue light. The tunnel may have run deep into the earth, but it was fairly short and straight, and within a few minutes she emerged.
She stepped out into the hollow vent, a vertical tunnel stretching all the way up through the dormant volcano and out to the sky. Out of the open crater above her she saw the twilight sky, but it wasn't this that enchanted her.
All throughout the stone walls of the hollowed volcano were carved hundreds of statues of spirits and people and dragons, traveling up and up to the very top. And amongst these hundreds of statues were millions of small flickering blue fires, small as a candle flame, all along the walls lighting the place up with an ethereal blue light. It was like millions of glow worms inside a cave, or the glowing waves of algae-dense beaches swirling high over her head.
"It's so pretty," Ty Lee whispered, spreading her arms out and spinning slowly, her head tilted upwards. "It's indescribable."
"Do you know why this volcano is so sacred?" came Azula's echoing voice.
Ty Lee stopped spinning and dropped her hands to her sides. She glanced around, looking for Azula, but she didn't see her anywhere, and thanks to the echo of the vent she couldn't pinpoint her voice either.
"Back when this volcano was alive, it used to spew blue lava. Can you imagine? Blue lava… Unfortunately, the volcano died over three thousand years ago according to the Fire Sages and this mythical blue lava was never seen again," Azula said.
"Azula? Where are you?"
"It seems almost fitting, doesn't it? For blue fire to be inside of this blue volcano?" Azula said.
Ty Lee remained silent, only letting a small huff escape her lips. She heard the anger and hurt in Azula's voice and she didn't doubt that she was the cause of it. She wanted to tell Azula that she was sorry, but in truth she wasn't. Not entirely. And Azula could always read her lies so easily.
"But really, this seems like only a shadow of its former glory. To think; such a powerful and wondrous volcano just died one day and it was never the same. What used to be the stuff of legend is all but forgotten. Might as well not even be here, for all the rest of the world is concerned," Azula said.
"You're talking about you too, aren't you?" Ty Lee said. "I wish I had been there for you. But I wish you hadn't made me choose. See it from my perspective! I couldn't let you kill Mai!"
"I wasn't going to kill her!" Azula said. "I've never killed anyone! Not all duels are duels to the death!"
"How could I have known that though?" Ty Lee asked. "I've heard you threaten people before! Plenty of times! Are you telling me that those were just bluffs?"
"I was the Warrior Princess! I did what I had to do," Azula said. "I brought honor and glory to our nation, but that wasn't good enough. It was never good enough, was it?"
"Azula…"
"I did everything I was supposed to. I did it flawlessly. I showed compassion towards Zuko and welcomed him back home while he was still a failure and outcast. And now look at us! He's the Firelord and I'm nothing!"
"That's not true!" Ty Lee said. "You're still an amazing and beautiful and talented young woman! You're a Fire Sage! And you're still the war hero Princess! Zuko never revoked those titles! Not even at Aang's prompting!"
"...really?" Azula asked, her voice softer and calmer.
"Yes! Really!" Ty Lee said. "That's why we came here! We want you to come back. All of us. Especially me."
Azula was silent for a long time. It wasn't until the light of the moon was beginning to peak over the crater that Ty Lee just couldn't take it anymore.
"Azula? Where are you in here? Please come out. Let me talk to you. Face to face," she said.
Eventually, Azula leaned out of the shadows. Ty Lee's eyes darted to her face immediately. She was several feet up, lounging on the back of a carved dragon that was breathing enormous plumes of stone fire. Ty Lee's eyes teared up for a second, but were quickly blinked away once Ty Lee realized how silly she was being.
"Happy now?" Azula asked.
"Yes," Ty Lee said. "I'm just thrilled that you're talking to me. I mean…I thought you hated me…"
"I do hate you," Azula said.
Ty Lee brushed off the sting of pain. "I don't think that's true. I know you're hurt, and seeing me brings all those feelings back, but I think you're just trying to avoid your pain by placing it onto others."
"What are you? A therapist now?" Azula scoffed. "I shouldn't be surprised. Even back on Ember Island you were trying to play therapist with all our heads."
"I notice you're not denying it, though," Ty Lee said. "You know I'm right."
Azula let out an aggravated sigh and then jumped down from her perch, landing perfectly on the balls of her feet and rising with the same care and grace that she'd always had. Even after all this time, her prowess remained intact.
Finally, after a full five years, she met Ty Lee eye to eye.
"Why do you really want me back?" Azula asked, her voice as cold and calculated as it had been back in Ba Sing Se during the coup. "Let me guess. I'm going to be a bargaining chip, aren't I? The Earth Kingdom wants me as their prisoner in retaliation, and in return for my humiliation they'll just forgive the Fire Nation for a hundred years of war?"
"No. Not at all," Ty Lee said. "We've come to ask you back because we believe in you. We can all change and grow for the better. Zuko was hoping that your time here would help you to heal, and we were hoping you were healed. Zuko's getting married in a month and he wants you there."
"He finally wore Mai down, did he?" Azula said.
"Actually, Mai asked him," Ty Lee said.
"Hm. She must be pregnant then," she said.
Ty Lee was about to snap back but caught her tongue last second. Honestly, she had considered that. Mai never really seemed the type to want to get married, despite how infatuated she seemed with Zuko at times.
"Will you come back?" Ty Lee asked.
"Why should I?" Azula asked. "I may have been forced to come here, but I actually do like it here. Despite everything…"
"Please, Azula," Ty Lee said, stepping up to her.
She tried to take Azula's hand in her own, but Azula shoved her back, sending them both stumbling. Ty Lee couldn't help the rage that bubbled up inside of her with that. "Fine! Stay on this stupid island for all I care! Go down in history as the crybaby princess!"
It was as if Ty Lee had slapped her. "He told you about that?!"
"Why wouldn't he? You've made me cry plenty of times throughout the years! Warrior?! Ha! You were nothing more than a bully with a military title!" Ty Lee said.
"Well if you feel that way then go ahead and leave me! Run back to Capital City with your War Hero entourage and live like some spoiled, pampered circus freak! Go ahead and tell the story of how I finally wasn't able to handle the stress anymore and broke down crying! Go ahead and tell them that in my last moments as princess, I was some beaten and unloved puppet! My brother left me! My uncle hated me! My mother didn't care about me at all! And neither did my father! And my best friends betrayed me! Be sure to include that part!" Azula said. As she spoke, tears started streaming down her face and she made no attempt to hide them.
As she watched tears drip from Azula's chin, Ty Lee regretted her words.
"What are you waiting for?" Azula asked. "Go ahead! Leave!"
When Ty Lee didn't move, Azula firebent at her. Ty Lee backed up and leaned back, easily able to dodge the gust of blue fire aimed at her head.
"Leave! Go away! Get out of here!" Azula shouted, bending more blue fire, all of which Ty Lee was easily able to dodge. She kept backing her up into the tunnel and Ty Lee was helpless to stop her.
When Ty Lee felt the familiar chill wash over her back, her eyes widened. "Azula! You need to stop!" she shouted. "Calm down! You're—you're drawing it in!"
Sure enough, out from the shadows came the dark, shapeless spirit with glowing eyes. Azula must have felt its presence too, for she turned away from Ty Lee to face the thing. And then, she did something she never should have done.
She firebent at it.
For those of you wondering; yes, this was inspired by the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia.