Chapter Fourteen
Good Fortune
Sokka carved carefully away at the pendant he was making for his future wife. It was odd, making a personalized necklace for someone he had never met, but his father had helped him with the design. Swirling waves beneath the moon. Simple, but his dad had said that simple was better.
"Do you think Teo and the Mechanist will be okay?" Katara asked Aang. The two had been practically inseparable since they had escaped the Fire Nation, and Sokka was beginning to suspect that his sister had a crush on the Avatar.
"Oh yeah, now that they've fought off the Fire Nation and have airpower, they're unstoppable." Aang said, grinning at her. The two sat side by side on Appa's head. Sokka wondered if the bison's neck was sore from the extra weight. He looked at the pendant. It wasn't bad. Usually his carvings looked like burned excrement, but this one was pretty good.
"Hey Aang!" Sokka shouted. "Come look at this!"
Aang and Katara cringed at his volume. Aang leapt over to him. "Sokka, you have to work on shouting. We're like five feet away."
Sokka blushed. "Right. Yeah. Sorry, ever since I closed the gate of Koh's power it's been hard to tell how loud I am. It's hard to get used to normal hearing again."
"It's okay Sokka!" Aang grinned, and bent to look at the jewelry. He picked it up, squinted at it, and then gave it back. "I'd say it's almost done. Now all you've got to do is sand the face of it to smooth out the sharp edges."
Sokka grinned at him. Katara came over and he gave her the thing. She picked it up and smiled. She had thought it was strange at first that Sokka and their father had gone for a pure white pendant rather than the traditional blue, but now that she saw how her brother had etched the carving with blue to emphasize the shapes she was impressed.
"Good job," She said honestly, "That's really good!"
Sokka grinned at her in thanks, and then opened the small bag of sand that they had brought with them. He took out a handful and gently rubbed the pendent in it. He continued the process for some time, checking every few minutes to ensure that he hadn't over done it. Once he was satisfied he blew off the pendant, and attached it to the blue silk ribbon his father had given him. He admired it, and thought he should have someone model it for him.
"Katara, will you wear this for a second? I want to see how it looks on a real girl."
Katara looked at him disapprovingly. "I am not wearing someone else's betrothal necklace before she gets too. She should be the first woman to wear it."
Sokka groaned. "I want to see how it looks! Aang will you-?!"
"Sokka! You can't let a man wear your betrothal necklace! That's for Princess Yue!"
"But Katara!"
Aang laughed, "Sorry Sokka, I only like you as a friend."
Sokka blinked. Had Aang put emphasis on you? Was he trying to tell them something? Man they had to get to the north pole fast, he did not want to be stuck with these two any longer than he had to.
"Fine." he grumbled sourly, and tucked the necklace safely away inside his parka. He looked out over the water, large icebergs floated lazily in the calm sea. How close to the pole were they? They had been flying all day, and Appa was barely floating above the ocean. Sokka saw a flash of movement and drew his sword.
Ice formed out of the depths and latched onto Appa's foot. The bison careened to one side, and Sokka dropped his sword as he grabbed Katara and the saddle. He watched helplessly as his newfound weapon tumbled out of the saddle and into the sea.
In moments Appa crashed into the waves, and was instantly trapped in ice. Waterbenders and blue clad warriors on long flat boats appeared behind the icebergs and surrounded them. They had found the northern Water tribe
Azula tapped her foot as she sat on the throne on the upper deck of Admiral Zhao's ship. They had made a few stops at various ports and naval stations, and Zhao had disembarked to speak with local military leaders to build his armada. She had been invited to join him, along with her uncle, but she had decided that they weren't the best uses of her time. She needed to come up with a strategy to capture her brother, along with the Avatar and his companions.
Zhao was currently ashore, and he was speaking with a colonel about obtaining a number of his tanks for the coming siege. Usually Iroh would travel with him, but on this stop the old general had opted to stay aboard. Where he was exactly Azula didn't know, but she didn't care either.
She was brainstorming, and her friends were there with her. So far they had deduced that Zuko was likely to try and infiltrate the north pole, although how he planned to do so was a mystery. That was about as far as they had gotten. Zuko had somehow evaded their search parties, and gotten away without a trace. More irritating than that, Azula's mind kept conjuring the image of a pair of ocean blue eyes that seemed to pity her, and hearing the voice of the first person to ever claim she was anything other than a monster.
Azula was furious about it, she didn't know why he kept coming to mind. She pushed her thoughts into order. Zuko was traveling alone through the Earth Kingdom, but she knew what he was after. He had claimed he would capture the Avatar, but she didn't know if he meant that, or if would simply join him.
She would've liked to assume that he wouldn't do so, but Zuko had already proven his hatred for her and that he would turn against the Fire Nation. That her uncle hadn't turned against them as well was a surprising comfort. He had offered no shortage of wisdom to her in the days since he began to travel with them. She was glad for his company, for it was nice to feel she could count on somebody in her family other than her father or Zhao.
What to do about Zuko though? He had to be caught. Evidently had grown skilled enough to defeat the Admiral, and she had seen his skill when he battled Iroh. If Zuko joined the Avatar his team would be far more formidable, and she was sure that Zuko would teach the Avatar firebending. That would be the worst case scenario; if her brother turned against their nation it could mean civil war. If Zuko became friends with Sokka, then they could form an alliance between any rebel forces he managed to whip up. Zuko would conspire with him, and then Sokka would come to believe that… and now she was thinking of him again, to her immense displeasure.
Evidently, her annoyance must have shown on her face, for Mai asked, "So what's got your hair in knots?"
"It's none of your concern." Azula said dryly. Mai rolled her eyes. Ty Lee looked over as she balanced on her elbows with her feet resting on her head.
"We can't help but be concerned, we're your friends Azula!" Ty Lee said, smiling warmly.
Azula considered her words. She didn't particularly wish to share her troubles, for she didn't want to be seen as weak. She had always kept her thoughts guarded, but maybe she could trust her friends. She had always relied on fear to keep them in line, but maybe she could share her thoughts with them. Uncle had said that a little bit of trust would buy a lot of loyalty, and he certainly knew about that. Minus his failure with Zuko, he had been an exceptional leader during his time in the army.
"Well, if you must know," She began awkwardly, "During their escape, Sokka said something to me and I haven't been able to put him or his words out of my mind."
"Did he insult you?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shook her head.
"Did he threaten you?" Ty Lee asked, standing up and walking closer.
Again Azula shook her head. "No, quite the opposite."
"I.. don't follow." Ty Lee said, tilting her head to the side. She looked at Mai, who shrugged where she leaned against the bulkhead. They both returned their attention to Azula.
"When his sister said that I was a monster, he, well… he insisted that wasn't the case."
"Is that it?" Mai asked curiously. Azula blushed slightly embarrassed. She wasn't good at this sort of thing: she didn't like to share, but so far stewing in her thoughts hadn't yielded results, so she pressed on rather awkwardly.
"Um, no. When I was interrogating him with Zhao, I looked into his eyes and at first it looked like he was empty, almost inhuman. Then I saw something in them, like he felt-" Azuala couldn't bring herself to say the word pity. Sharing was one thing, but that was too much. "Something for me. I can't seem to get him out of my head now, and I don't understand…"
She trailed off as Mai did the last thing she had expected from the girl. Mai was laughing. She glanced at Ty Lee, who was just as confused as she was. What was so funny?
"Mai, what's so funny?" Ty Lee asked.
"It's just that Azula has a crush on the prince of the southern Water Tribe." She said, stifling her giggle. Azula was affronted! She had opened herself up to her friends for the first time, and already Mai was exploiting her weakness.
"Most certainly not! This is clearly just some plot he cooked up with the Avatar to get in my head!"
Now Ty Lee was laughing too. Azula looked at her indignantly. Ty Lee had seen whatever it was that was inside the boy just as well as, if not better than, Azula had. There was no way she would agree with Mai. "And what are you laughing at?"
"You're the only person who would take a crush to be a plot to get in your head!" Ty Lee said, as her laughter subsided. She hadn't laughed very hard, and neither had Mai, but the pair of them had never laughed at her before. Azula did not like this development. Evidently this showed on her expression as her friends immediately sobered up.
"I do not have a crush." She declared firmly, glaring at her companions.
"Really?" Asked Mai, her voice rife with skepticism. When she spoke again she counted off points on her fingers. "From what you two said, you think he's rather handsome. He's the first person who you haven't managed to scare into submission, he's not a peasant, he defended your character to his sister, and you got lost in his eyes."
"I did not get lost in his eyes!" Azula shouted at Mai, and that only seemed to make her friend believe the opposite.
"And now you can't stop thinking about him."
"Ty Lee, tell her about what you saw when fighting him." Azula ordered, and Ty Lee grimaced, but repeated the story to Mai. Azula felt triumphant as Ty Lee finished speaking, but the feeling vanished as soon as it had appeared. Mai looked anything but swayed after hearing the tale.
"So now you're telling me he has a mysterious dark power? Let me sum it up." Mai said, "You meet a mysterious and handsome prince with strange dark powers. You can't control him. He declares you to be a good person and you can't stop thinking about him. And now we're chasing him to the ends of the earth."
Azula glared at Mai who spoke again. "That sounds like one of my mother's terrible romance novels."
Ty Lee crossed her arms indignantly and huffed. They both looked at her. She glared at Azula before saying, "And you made fun of me, saying we weren't going to find me a boyfriend."
Azula was furious. The two of them had never ganged up on her like that before. If this was what trusting people got her she surely wouldn't do it again. She did not have a crush on Sokka, she- why did she keep using his name? That wouldn't help her in this argument. Why were the two of them being so ridiculous? She had shared her thoughts hoping that they might help, and yet they were insisting that she was having a girlish crush on the enemy. She did not get crushes, she had not yet and she never would. Quite frankly, she was now sure she would kill the idiot as soon as she had the opportunity.
"I am merely concerned with the threat he could pose. He's the enemy." She growled.
"I see," Mai said, clearly still skeptical. "Definitely not star crossed lovers or anything."
"Just like that song!" Ty Lee exclaimed. Mai and Azula looked at her. Ty Lee was surprised by their confusion, and she started to sing, bobbing her head from side to side.
"Two loveeers, forbidden from one anotheeer! A waaaar di-vides their peo-ple!"
Steam rolled off of Azula. Ty Lee snickered.
"Alright, that's enough Ty Lee. I think we've teased her enough for one day." Mai said, and the acrobat agreed with a nod. Azula looked between them.
"So you don't think it's a crush?" She asked warily.
"It might be." Mai said with a shrug. Azula breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. "It is certainly not."
Mai shrugged. "It would be the simplest answer. It makes sense, doesn't it?"
Azula rolled her eyes. She decided that this whole conversation had been a waste of time. She got up and marched towards the door to go below deck. As she reached it her uncle stepped out and bowed to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Azula spoke first. "I am going to my quarters, uncle. Alone!"
Iroh watched his niece storm off, and he was surprised at how similar to Zuko her actions were. She was usually far more calculated and dignified. He looked over to Azula's friends. Ty Lee looked guilty, and Mai was as impassive as ever. He walked over to them, intending to ask what had upset Azula so.
"Why was my niece so upset?" He asked, raising an eyebrow to look at the two young women. Ty Lee blushed and looked down. Mai didn't show any sign that she had heard, so he turned to Ty Lee.
"Have you been practicing?" He asked her. He had been teaching her to control her third eye, so that she might make better use of it. She nodded. "I managed to close it for the first time."
Iroh's eyebrows raised, impressed. She had closed her inner eye in little more than a week? That was impressive. It had taken him far longer, though he had to open it intentionally. She had been born with it open, and so she must have an easier time with it.
"That's good. But if it is closed, then you might not know how upset Princess Azula really is. What happened?"
"She has a crush on the First Son," Mai said. "At least, that's what it sounds like."
Iroh paused. Azula having a… No, that didn't seem likely. When he had returned to the palace after the death of his son, and journey into the spirit world, he had found the sweet girl who had followed Zuko around the palace to be gone. Left in her place was a child who was the mirror image of her father.
Ozai had managed to turn his daughter into a copy of himself. Over the next few years Iroh found that she was just as cruel and heartless as his brother had been. Had any trace of the girl she had been before remained, then it would be possible. Unfortunately, Iroh had been convinced she was fully changed when he saw the delight she had shown at her brother's disfigurement.
"I find that hard to believe." He said, not unkindly. Mai shrugged, and Ty Lee spoke up.
"It really sounded like it though." She said, "I don't think she realizes it."
Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully. "What exactly did she say?"
Mai and Ty Lee shared the details of their conversation with Azula. Iroh nodded along sagely. It seemed like she had taken some of his advice to heart, and confided in her friends. Trusting them with her thoughts rather than keeping them in the dark. That they had teased her told Iroh that they genuinely cared for Azual, and thought of her as a friend instead of just a commander to be feared. What was more surprising than his niece taking his advice, was that it did sound like she had felt at least something for the Avatar's friend. Iroh thought, for the first time in years, that maybe Ozai hadn't changed her so much as it seemed. Maybe there was hope for Princess Azula yet, and that would be good fortune indeed.
Aang, Katara, and Sokka admired the beauty of the northern Water Tribe in amazement. Huge and elegant buildings surrounded them. The city was almost as astonishing as Omashu had been. Sokka had been trying to remember what Laghima and Kuruk had told him in the spirit world until they had reached the city, but when faced with the wondrous sights he had abandoned his quest.
Sokka climbed onto Appa's tail, and looked out behind them. He was amazed by every detail, even the sidewalks along the canals were exquisite works of art. He was admiring a bridge when Appa lifted his tail, causing Sokka to lose his balance. He shouted and fell into the canal.
It was freezing, which was no surprise, but Sokka had not expected to fall in. He oriented himself and swam for the surface. His head crested the water and a gloved hand appeared before him. He took it, and managed to haul himself onto a boat.
He felt the water soaking his clothes being pulled away by a waterbender, and he looked up. He was lying flat on his back in a gondola. Directly above him was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had pale blue eyes, the dark complexion of the Water Tribe, and hair as white as the falling snow. Sokka blinked as every thought seemed to have escaped him, including his own name.
"Uh, hi." He managed to say, blushing. The mystery girl laughed at his awkwardness. Sokka blushed even more.
"Hi." said the girl. Sokka sat up, and rubbed his arms.
"I'm not usually that clumsy," He said. "Appa just kind of threw me off balance."
"Oh, don't worry about it," The girl said. "You fell like the most graceful stone I've ever seen."
Sokka chuckled at the joke. He looked around, he could see Aang and Katara not far away, and they only now seemed to have noticed he wasn't on Appa's back anymore.
"So uh, if you're not doing anything later, maybe we could do an activity together?"
"An activity?" She asked with a smile. Sokka felt emboldened by her positive reaction.
"Well yeah. I'm from the south, so I don't really know my way around. Maybe you could show me the sights?" Sokka said, and then he remembered his name. "I'm Sokka by the way."
The mystery girl seemed to frown for a moment, and it looked as though she was thinking about something. The gondola pulled up and stopped beside the sidewalk.
"Sokka. I've heard that name before. You're the First Son of the South right?" She asked, "The one who's supposed to marry-"
"Gah! I forgot!" Sokka said, before slapping himself on the forehead. He stepped out of the boat and bowed to the girl.
"Please forgive me." He said. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm supposed to marry Princess Yue. I only found out a few days ago, and with the fall it slipped my mind."
The girl in the boat looked at him with a blank expression, "Have you ever met the Princess?"
"Well, I did get captured by the Fire Nation princess recently, but I don't think you mean that one."
"No," The girl said with a laugh, "I don't."
Sokka shook his head. "I haven't. I don't even know what she looks like, I should've asked my dad."
The girl laughed at that, and Sokka wasn't sure why. He shrugged.
"What do you think she looks like?" The white haired girl asked, with a half smile.
"Honestly I have no idea," He said, "But if she's half as beautiful as you it would be good fortune indeed."
The girl blushed, and the waterbender who steered her gondola snickered. Sokka, realizing what he said, blushed too. He couldn't go around complimenting random women in the street! He was engaged. Sokka waved goodbye, and thanked them for helping him. He turned and jogged to catch up with Katara and Aang, who were waiting for him.
Iroh approached Azula's quarters cautiously. He was apprehensive about it, but he felt that perhaps his niece could use his counsel. He had long since thought that she was beyond help, and completely unstable. But the fact that she would appear to share her innermost thoughts with her friends was something he hadn't expected. He had counseled her to show her friends trust, but he had not honestly expected her to do so.
He had hoped that she would, of course. He did not want to believe that anyone so young could be so far gone, and he had done his best to try and help her despite his reservations. He had given her honest and genuine advice. He did care for her, she was family, but he had thought that her fathers influence had been too strong.
Iroh knocked on the door, and after a few seconds he heard his niece bid him enter. He stepped inside to find her reading a scroll at her desk. She looked up, and her eyes narrowed.
'What do you want, Uncle?" She asked.
"I spoke with your friends. From what they told me, it seems that you took my advice." Iroh said, watching her carefully.
"I doubt I will be doing so again. I do not enjoy ridicule, no matter who it comes from. Once I have thought of a suitable punishment they will know better than to do so again." She returned her eyes to the scroll.
Iroh took a deep breath, and let it out. He had his work cut out for him. Lu Ten had never been as difficult as his cousins, both of whom it seemed had poor social skills. Azula could read people extremely well, but it seemed that she lost her social prowess when it concerned herself. He stroked his beard, thinking of how to address this. Deciding on his course of action, he spoke.
"Ridicule was it? It seemed to me that they showed they care for you as a friend."
Azula looked up from her scroll, and looked at him. Her face was impassive, almost lazy. She seemed not to care for his words, but her own gave her away.
"What," She said slowly, "Do you mean by that?"
"Only that you opened up to them, and they reacted in the way they would only if they cared for you."
"By mocking me?" Azula said, and Iroh could hear the ire in her voice.
"By teasing you." Iroh corrected.
"And what, pray tell, is the difference?"
"One is done to your friends, and another to your enemies. Have you not teased your friends before?"
Azula didn't answer. In truth she had. She rather enjoyed the flustered look on Ty Lee's face, and the manufactured apathy that Mai wore when embarrassed. Was that truly what had been happening? Mai had said as much, but Azula had never been on the receiving end of it before. Was it because they hadn't truly seen her as a friend? Or was it simply that Azula hadn't opened herself up to them since before she had been taken under her father's tutelage?
"I have." She said eventually, and Iroh smiled.
"And I have seen you mock others. You know the difference."
Azula placed the scroll on the desk and turned to face her uncle fully. "I suppose you're right Uncle."
Iroh watched Azula. He closed his eyes briefly, and focused on his third eye. He opened his eyes again, and looked upon his niece with his third sight. She was different than he had expected. His brother had been corrupted by the spirit illness that plagued many members of his nation, and he had expected for her to be the same. He had not looked before, as he was unwilling to see a child corrupted, but now she was older, and he had begun to suspect she might not be so far gone.
He was astounded to see that she carried no corruption at all. She did not have the dark red flame of her father, or of Zhao. She did not carry the golden sun of himself, or that inside Zuko that fought the darkness. Instead her heart burned with an electric blue flame that roiled and snapped. He had never seen anything like it before, and he did not know what it meant. He met her sun colored eyes, and looked past them. She was worried about something, it bit down on her mind like a viper.
Iroh closed his eyes, shutting the third eye in the process. The whole exchange had taken less than five seconds since Azula last spoke. It was enough time to see that he had misjudged her, and that she was troubled by more than just her friends' teasing. Had he looked longer, he could have figured out what was troubling her. But he found that a large part of helping someone was letting them come to you.
"Something more is troubling you than your friends, Princess Azula. Should you need someone to talk to, I would be glad to counsel you on your troubles."
Azula shook her head. She was not about to reveal any secrets to her uncle. She had taken his counsel, and heeded his advice, but she did not yet fully trust the man. His wisdom had cooled her anger towards Mai and Ty Lee, but she would only share so much in one day.
"Thank you, Uncle. I'll keep that in mind." She said, and Iroh took it as the dismissal it was. He bowed and left her alone. He closed the door behind him and walked to his own cabin. As he did so, he began to feel guilt. If his and Zuko's plan went accordingly, it would mean betraying Azula. He did not think that was something she could take.