Chapter 27

Azula's first urge as she awoke was to groan because her body was aching in all the wrong ways as she returned to consciousness. It was not the first time she had awoken like this, nor would it be the last, but this was definitely the worst she had experienced.

Basically, her entire body ached, from the throbbing heels of her feet to the deep ache in her ribs to the slight burning sensation on her face. Sure, some parts hurt more than others, but that was only relative when her body was singing a symphony of pain.

"What…happened?" Azula asked slowly, finding that her tongue wasn't responding quite as she wanted it to even as her eyes inched opening, her vision momentarily blinded by the infusion of light. The color of the roof didn't exactly help in that regard with it being a pale brown, far brighter than the norm for the Fire Nation.

For the life of her, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen that particular color in a Fire Nation building, what with their preference for reds and blacks. Maybe the poorer people would deal with the lesser colors, but she was royalty.

Only the best was fit for her.

"Servant?! Servant! Get in here!" Azula yelled as she tried to get up, knowing well enough to move slowly in her injured condition. She'd made that mistake one too many times when healing from her last serious injury, so until she was made aware of what kind of condition she was in, it would be best for her to retain at least some caution.

Only, when she tried to move her arms more than a fraction of her normal range from her body, she encountered strong resistance originating around her wrists, the rattling of chains drawing her attention towards them. Or at least she tried to, unsuccessfully.

Why would she have metal restraints? The standard medical doctrine stated that only cloth bindings could be used to keep patients still. Performing the same test with her legs, she found that they were bound at her ankles as well, even if she couldn't raise her head enough to see.

Metal chains on both her wrists and ankles? That didn't make sense unless she was…captured. Suddenly, the color of the roof made more sense to Azula, as the last time she had seen it was when she had been staying with Mai's parents, who had lived in the former palace of the Earth kingdom city.

And like that, her most recent memories came back to her, about the desperate assault she and her forces had waged against the forces of Ba Sing Se. About how they had steadily made progress towards the place, making it far closer to the palace than anyone before them, much to her pride.

How, just as they were in reach of making it to the Inner Ring…the Avatar and his Friends had been there. And then the Vengeful Oni had been there as well, engaging her and her Firebenders in a battle that he'd controlled from the very start.

She'd thought she'd win against him with the extra training she'd done, how he'd only beaten her the first time due to surprise. Oh, how wrong she had been. Like his forefathers, he had shown his tricky nature through the trap he had set, turning her techniques upon her like she was some kind of amateur.

Azula shivered as she remembered the combined feeling of the explosion and her lightning striking her skin, how it had burned her to the very core before she had mercifully gone unconscious. And now?

She was here, at his mercy. At the very least, it'd give her some time to think about what she could have done differently against the Oni. About how to counteract that counter technique of his. For all of her knowledge and expertise, however, nothing came to mind.

All it required was some preparation on his part, and a spark of fire to set it alight. That was all a Firebender was. Fire. Fire, that could be turned against them, the Airbender technique shifting the field of battle.

The only technique she even had that wouldn't set it alight was lightning, and until she got more practice with the technique like her father, it would take far too long for her to unleash. Of course, this only applied to direct techniques, so she could still dodge out of the way using her Fire Jets as long as she timed it right.

Caught up in her thoughts as it was, Azula didn't hear the sounds of someone walking towards her room, nor did she notice the door itself open. When the person started speaking, however, that is when she became aware.

"You're awake," A youthful voice spoke in surprise and a little dread, the voice sounding awfully familiar to Azula as she was knocked out of her retrospection. Forcing her head up as far as it would go, she was met with the sight of brown hair and skin covered in a skin-bearing green outfit, her large blue eyes looking down on Azula with both concern and anger.

Katara, the girl's name flashed to Azula's mind as she sneered, glaring at the girl standing above her.

"Just what do you think you are doing here, peasant?!"

"Giving you a check-up, or at least trying to," Katara smirked as she held the bucket of water up in her hands, "although if you're being troublesome, it'd save me the trouble of doing so."

A check-up? Why would she need to do that? Even as she asked herself this question though, the sight of the water in her hands and her knowledge of Waterbenders revealed the answer. She was the Avatar's pet healer, the one that dealt with his and his team's injuries.

Waterbending was useful in that way, even if it paled in comparison to Firebending.

But she couldn't deny the need for a healer either, not with how much her body ached. Trapped as she was, there was no real need to be difficult. No, that was for the brutes far too common in her forces, she would be patient. She would wait and watch, and when the moment was right…she would strike.

"Alright, fine. Get it over with."

Katara didn't reply, merely nodding as she walked closer to Azula, keeping a wary eye on her even as she knelt down beside her. As she should, even bound like this, she was not someone to underestimate. Her legs and arms may be bound, locking her out of many techniques, but she could still perform minor expressions of Firebending as long as she concentrated.

She remained silent with only a scowl on her face as Katara dipped her hands into the water, picking up a large handful of water that Katara brushed between her palms, turning it a pale green as she spread it out over Azula's left arm, relieving the teenage girl of the tingly feeling that was present.

Tingling in her arm…that sounded familiar to Azula. She remembered it well from the first time she had practiced the legendary Firebending technique, even if what she was feeling now was far worse than normal. The burning sensation was new, however, an unwelcome addition to the concoction.

This close to her, Azula could practically feel Katara's breath as she hovered back and forth over her arm, running her water over it as her eye's stared down at something, the covers pinning her chest leaving her unable to see.

"Just what is so fascinating that you need to stare?" Azula's voice bit out, cutting even in her weakened state. "I can't imagine this is the first time you've seen an arm. Or is it perhaps that you are unused to seeing one that is so clean, hmm? After all, there are stories that the Water Tribes don't really bathe much. I always thought they were rumors, but perhaps there was an element of truth to them."

Azula noted the way that Katara's jaw clenched even as she continued her motions. It didn't stop a hint of dark amusement from appearing in Katara's expressive eyes, however.

"While that argument may have applied to my brother in the past, no, it is not because I have not seen an arm before. I've just never seen this particular pattern, but who knows, maybe it's genetic? I haven't exactly treated people from the Fire Nation before." Katara shot back, unable to help herself as she went back to treating Azula.

Pattern? Azula didn't remember having a pattern on her arm, although there was a chance Ty Lee had gotten out the ink again and doodled while she'd been asleep. Spirits know she'd done it enough times in the past. A minute of silence passed before Katara paused her motion, returning the water to the bucket.

"Alright, I've finished with your arm, and while there are other parts that I can treat that are uncovered, I'd prefer if I can have a go at your ribs. They're what will affect you the most right now. The problem is…"

"You'd need to remove my clothes to do it," Azula finished with a sigh, laying her head back down on the ground as she released some of the tension in her limbs. "Fine, go ahead. It's not like I have anything to hide."

It wouldn't be the first time she had been exposed to a stranger, although most of those times were the royal seamsters and seamstresses that had needed to fit a dress for some inane party. At least there was an important purpose this time, and Azula had never been shy.

So, she remained still as Katara pulled down the comforter laying on top of her, making short work of opening up the Earth kingdom tunic that Azula hadn't remembered wearing.

Were her clothes damaged from the battle?

Neither of the teens blushed as Katara placed her hands upon Azula's bare ribs, the only thing covering her upper body being the breast bindings that she wore whenever she expected to fight. To be honest, the development of her chest had become quite annoying as of late, getting in the way of her Firebending katas.

She could only imagine what Ty Lee had to deal with, and neither of them was fully grown. If she continued to grow at the rate she had, she might actually outstrip her…mother.

Azula's mood took a turn for the worse at the thought, actually scowling as she thought of that…person. So what if Ursa had thought of her as a monster? She didn't need her then; she didn't need her now.

No, she would prove them wrong, she would show them she was far more than they ever were. Better than anyone else.

She ignored her mind bringing up all the times she had lost recently.

"Are you nearly finished?" Azula almost snarled, her voice coming off as just a bit too bitter. "It's a little cold without my top."

"Well," Katara shrugged as she brought her hands away, sending the water back, "I guess that's enough on your ribs for now. Just keep in mind that they are far from healed, and any sort of jostling will hurt and maybe even set back the healing process."

"Yes, yes. Keep them still at all times, I've got plenty of experience with that from that teammate of yours. By the way, has he told you about all the people he's killed, the lives he's destroyed? If he were my teammate I would want to know."

Katara scowled now as she moved to her feet, standing above Azula with a tendril of water hovering above her, enough for a spike of fear to appear in Azula's heart. "Funny you should say that when you Fire Nation are worse. And the lives he's destroyed? That would imply the people he killed were worth the air they breathed, worth…"

"Katara!" A voice snapped out, pausing the girl in her rant as she looked towards the door, looking at someone Azula couldn't see but could recognize by voice. "I know it's hard, but she's trying to get a rise out of you. She just woke up in an unfamiliar room with no idea what is going on, pinned to the ground. She's just lashing out."

Azula could see Katara frown even as she glanced down at her, a sigh emerging from her lips as she returned the water to the bucket.

"Thank you," Feng said gently, walking over to place his hand on Katara's shoulder. "Would you mind giving us a minute before you continue? The two of us need to talk." He trained his intense grey eyes down on Azula, staring at her with a hint of pity.

An inscrutable expression crossed her face as she nodded, picking up the bucket. "Ok, Feng. I needed to change the water in this before I move onto her face anyway, so I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

"That'll be plenty of time, thank you," Feng nodded as he let Katara go on her way, waiting until she shut the door before he turned his attention down to herself.

And her still mostly bare chest, a small part of her mind noted.

Not that he was looking at her of course. No, after his brief glance his focus was shifted to the wall, staring there in silence for a few seconds until Azula couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Why are you here, Vengeful Oni? Have you come to question me? Integrate me on the secrets of the Fire Nation? Or are you just here to finish the job your little technique? It's not like I could stop you, not with how I'm tied up and at your mercy. Really, you could do anything you wanted to me and no one would stop you."

Feng responded, but not as she expected.

"My name, Azula, is Feng. Not the Vengeful Oni. Not Oni. Feng. I have given that name up, even if it sure to follow me for the rest of my days," he sighed, turning his cool grey gaze down on Azula once more, his eyes focusing solely on her fave as regret appeared on his face.

What was up with her face? Was there something wrong with it? Was her makeup screwed up?

"Your troops ensured it," he smirked bitterly, trailing a hand up to trace over the scars on his face. Azula would lie and say they weren't noticeable, but they did leave him with a visibly affected, but not unattractive appearance in her eyes. Unlike her brother, Feng's scars had been seen too properly to deal with as much of the scaring as possible. The slightly rough, red skin on 30% of his face just made him seem unique.

"Just…as I ensured that you will remember yours," Feng finished, his hand dropping to his side as he folded his fingers together, looking down at Azula as worry spiked in her mind.

"What do you mean by that? What am I to remember?"

Instead of answering her promptly, as he should have, Feng moved to kneel down beside Azula, her heart fluttering momentarily at the close contact as he moved his arm underneath her back, propping it up to give her a better view of her body, and of the scaring running down her left arm.

A tapestry of red marks wrapped themselves around it, starting at her fingers and traveling up as far as she could see on her shoulder, showing no signs of slowing down. Did…Azula swallowed, did it appear on her face as well? Is that why both members of Team Avatar had been so weary of it?

"Get me a mirror, I must see my face," Azula snapped, glaring at Feng intently as she tried to pull her arms free, the chains rattling but otherwise untouched from their moorings in the stone floor.

"I'm sorry," Feng commented, laying her back down even as she continued to struggle.

"I don't care if you're sorry, I must see what the damage is! Let me see my face!" Azula yelled, moving beyond agitated and well into being panicked, the rattling of her chains grating on her ears.

Feng sighed again but finally moved to obey her wishes as he moved over to the corner of the room over her left shoulder, picking an object that Azula could not see up. His steps moved back until she could see him again, revealing that he was holding a black hand mirror in one hand, one large enough to encompass her entire face.

Azula gestured with her chin, giving off an aura of impatience. With one last second of hesitation, Feng held out the mirror, holding it over Azula as her golden eyes took in the sight of her appearance, the pale orbs widening in shock and despair.

"No! This can't be happening," Azula hyperventilated, her pulse skyrocketing as her eyes trailed the red lines covering the left side of her face, the marks glaringly obvious on her pale skin as the very tips ended on her forehead. Her facade of composure visibly cracked.

"What did you do?!" Azula demanded at Feng wildly, accosting him for an answer with little care at their relative power in the current situation. "What did you do?!"

"I did what I had to," Feng replied stoically, his face stone-like as he held the mirror steady for a moment longer before lowering it, sparing a single glance at his own face before putting it away. "This is war, Azula. Injuries like this are going to happen."

"My face! Give me back my face! I will not be like my disgrace of a brother!" Azula yelled, her composure too damaged to be of any coherence, her thoughts continuously circling around her facial scars.

First her ribs, then her victory. Her soldiers. And then her face…the Vengeful Oni had stolen her perfect appearance. He would pay. By the time she was done with him, his current scars would look like a small blemish in comparison.

"But I guess you won't want to listen right now. Don't worry, I understand," Feng replied, having the gall to bow. "I'll go get someone who can help with that." And without so much as a how do you do, Feng walked out of the room, closing it behind him.

…

In comparison to himself, Feng had to say that Azula was…taking her new condition poorly. Yes, that was the correct descriptor, poorly. He could understand though, of course, he could understand. But like he had said to her, in war, there would always be injuries. Sacrifices. Costs.

While she may not have the mind to appreciate it now, it could have been a lot worse. Feng had seen that personally in all the guards with missing limbs he'd seen scattered around Ba Sing Se, struggling to complete their reduced duties.

It had really shown Feng that things could be worse and made it so that whenever he looked into the mirror, he was glad that his marred appearance was all that had been taken from him, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the loss of his family which still stung to this day.

He would probably never be entirely comfortable around Firebenders if he was being honest, but he was making progress on it. Steady progress in fact. It kind of helped that Aang practiced it so much around him and the others, as it acted like a balm to the prejudices he knew that he himself along with Katara and Sokka held against the element.

Right now, however, his own concerns and worries were of secondary importance, as there was a 14-year-old girl dealing with a life-altering injury that needed support, support that she would not be able to get from him.

After a couple of minutes of walking, he found the correct doorway and knocked on it, waiting a couple of seconds to hear the cheerful sounding,

"Come in!"

, to open the door.

Doing so, he was greeted with the sight of the two other prisoners currently being held in the Royal Place alongside Azula. Ty Lee, and Mai. Ty Lee was lying on her front on the bed, her head propped up by her hands with her legs swinging behind her. The other bed that was a part of the room was empty, but the chair by the barred window wasn't.

"What do you want?" Mai asked coldly, setting her book down with an air of annoyance.

Oof, so cold. And here he thought he'd been kind to them.

"Mai! There's no reason for the kind of tone, Feng's been treating us well!" Ty Lee interjected as she rolled off her bed, landing crouched on the floor as she easily sprung to her feet and moved towards Feng to give him a hug.

He allowed it, wrapping his arms around the surprisingly strong girl as she snuggled into his chest, looking up at him with a smile and eerily familiar eyes before she let go, bouncing back to the other side of the room.

Now, some might say that it was kind of risky to let the young girl be so touchy-feely with him, she was his former enemy after all, and was known to disable her opponents with mere jabs of her fingers.

But through their brief talks, he had found her to be a charming young woman, one that was unlikely to abuse his trust. Besides, even if she did decide to disable him, he knew that she wouldn't hurt him, it was against her nature after all.

At the show of physical affection, Mai grunted once, a sound expressing her displeasure. Mai, on the other hand, was far more likely to hurt him. Might even enjoy it in fact, which is why he had gotten Toph to strip her of all her knives. He would have done it herself, but after the 30th knife from just her sleeves alone, Feng had been forced to bring in the big guns.

It had been a good call, as they'd stopped counting over a hundred, and it had required Toph to get Mai to strip down to her underwear to get them all, from what she'd told him after he'd come back into the room. It had been embarrassing for both Mai and him, but Toph had just found it funny.

After that, without her blades, Mai was just a Fire Nation noble with no abilities outside of a keen eye, and a trained physique. Compared to Ty Lee, that wasn't much of a threat.

"Yes, and it's time for you to repay the favor, because Azula just woke up, and she's not happy," Feng grunted, earning a concerned look from Ty Lee even as she smiled.

"Of course, she's not happy, you silly goose. She lost and is currently your prisoner. Not that I mind being your prisoner, in fact, a pair of handcuffs wouldn't go amiss," Ty Lee winked, earning a facepalm from Mai, "but for Azula, she'll only be angry."

"Yes…angry," Feng stated woodenly, earning a suspicious glance from Mai as she finally rose to her feet, moving closer to Feng with an inquisitive expression.

"Something's off." She mused, staring at Feng like a lioness stalking a gazelle. "From what you just said, Azula is more than
angry. But it's not because she'd furious," Mai trailed off, tilting her head as she observed his body cues. "No, it's something else. She's not Ty Lee, so she wouldn't have been flirting."

They both ignored her squawk of denial, which made the girl pout as she crossed her arms, almost subconsciously pushing her chest upwards.

"Nor afraid, and she would hide her sadness. No, It has to be something more than just her loss to you," Mai hummed, stepping even closer to the visibly uncomfortable Feng, a game Ty Lee joined in on because she was Ty Lee.

"You're right, his aura has only twitched since you started talking," Ty Lee agreed as she reached out to poke him in the rib, forcing him to twitch before he stepped out of the way of the next one, swatting a third.

"The end of their fight was pretty destructive," Mai continued her observations, but Feng interrupted as he wrapped his hands around both of Ty Lee's pointed fingers, freezing her in place.

"Look, let's just cut to the chase. Azula got injured during the attack, and while much of it can be dealt with by Katara, our healer, the lighting Azula was using before she went down exploded on herself, leaving her with a nasty scar traveling up her left arm, the left side of her neck, and the left side of her face. She's freaking out and in visible distress, which is kind of why I'm here. The two of you may be able to comfort her."

"Azula's been scarred that badly?" Ty Lee asked in shock as she pulled her fingers, ending their playful game as horror dawned on her face, her hands in front of her mouth. "What are we waiting for, we have to go see her now!"

Mai, for as stoic as she was, also looked worried as her brow furrowed, so Feng didn't waste any time as he led them out the door.

He knew he and Azula wouldn't have any meaningful conversation in the condition she was in, so he figured he'd lock the two girls in with Azula while he went off to see if he could get some more practice in with Toph. If she was busy with Aang, he would ask Katara.

And if both of them were busy? He'd just go read a book or something.

…

"Well, it's been a couple of hours, let's see if she's calmed down at all," Feng mused as he walked back towards Azula's prison room, having spent the time between visits reading a lovely treatise on the constriction of Ba Sing Se's walls. Turns out that it hadn't been a previous Avatar like he'd suspected.

No, it had actually been regular Earthbenders during the time of Chin the Conqueror, under Kyoshi's reign as the Avatar. Many of the time periods Earthbenders had joined forces with Chin as he'd swept across the land, but just as many had wanted nothing to do with him, banding together to create a home they'd be safe in. A home they wouldn't have to fight or worry about what was going on outside the safety of the walls. It was those original Earthbenders were the ones who raised the first wall, the one that now surrounds the inner ring.

It had actually been the start of Ba Sing Se's isolationist culture, and over the next 100 years, the middle ring and the palace wall were created, with the final, larger outer wall being completed just as the 100-year war had begun.

The time had actually flown by as he'd read the work, and he made a mental note to see if Toph wanted him to read it again aloud for her so she could enjoy it as well. It seemed like the kind of thing she would like.

Coming up on the door, Feng noticed it was ajar and the sound of talking voices floated through, making him pause for a moment.

"So, what's the plan, Azula? How are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know, Mai! I'm too busy trying to cope with the scaring on my face. How about, instead of looking to me for answers, you try to figure out something yourself? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little tied down right now!"

"Calm down, girls! There's no need to fight, we're friends. We're meant to help each other, not fight like cats and dogs. We have time, they're not going to do anything bad to us, Feng said so."

Feng heard a derisive scoff come from Azula, making her feelings on the matter known. Apparently, things were not going well. But they wouldn't get better if he just waited though, so he knocked on the stone wall, silencing the room inside.

"May I come in? It's Feng."

"N-"

"Sure! Come on in handsome!" Ty Lee yelled, overpowering Azula's denial with a forced tone of positivity as the door soon opened to let him in, allowing him to see Azula still pinned to the ground, but now actually fully clothed.

Her face was just a slight bit more healed too, the red less vibrant, showing that Katara had shown up and left in the time he'd been gone. You know, that's probably why he couldn't find her. It kind of made him feel a bit airheaded, much to his embarrassment.

"Thank you," Feng grinned, patting Ty Lee on the head as he closed the door behind him, looking towards where Mai was seated in the room's sole chair, staring at him passively while Ty Lee smiled at him, not leaving his side.

Realizing that standing above Azula as he had earlier wasn't helping his efforts to get her to open up, Feng folded his legs together in mid-air as he floated to the ground, his hands placed in his lap as Ty Lee clapped appreciatively.

"How are you Azula?"

She must have been surprised at the question, the girl blinking, but it didn't stop the scowl from staying on her lips.

"How do you think?! You more than anyone should know."

"Yes, I should," Feng hummed, circulating the air around him to cool the room down a little, the afternoon sun having warmed the room to a touch above comfortable. "Let me speak for a minute about that, and feel free to interrupt me at any time."

"That won't be an issue, trust me," Azula promised darkly.

"Yeah, she's never had any problem doing that," Ty Lee agreed with a nod, folding her legs in an identical way to Feng as she sat down beside Azula, reaching over to scratch her twitching nose.

Feng noted down her body position, as he hadn't seen anyone outside of Aang, himself, and his grandfather do so. Actually, if he looked closely at her eyes, they were the same grey shade he was used to seeing from Aang, which was quite intriguing.

She was not his focus, however. So with a deep sigh, Feng began to speak, airing out some of his expressed feelings about his own scar.

"Looking in the mirror, you expected to see the sight you were familiar with, the one that had greeted you for so many years. An unblemished face, one pale and beautiful."

Azula shifted slightly, her glare moving away from Feng.

"Instead, you were greeted with red marks covering your familiar features, obscuring you from seeing what you once did. Obvious marks. Attention-grabbing marks. Ugly marks." Feng spoke, his voice coming out in a steady cadence even as the air around him ruffled slightly.

"Even when you can't see them, you can see it in the eyes of others. In the people that care about you. To them, you seem different. Not the same as you once were, even if they try to hide it."

Here, Mai and Ty Lee shifted uneasily as Azula's gaze shifted towards them, a minute nod coming from the girl before she could help herself, the girl freezing with a wince as if she was admonishing her action of admittance.

"They see it, and so do you. A sign of your failure. That you lost, and you lost hard."

"Enough!" Azula exclaimed, straining in her restraints. Instead of reacting, Feng calmly lifted a hand, letting a strong burst of wind erupt from her palm to push her back down. Azula froze in place, as did Mai and Ty Lee, but Feng made no other action as he returned his hand to his lap.

"You hate it. You hate it so much, and for a short while, you will do everything that you can to avoid seeing it. Mirrors covered. Reflections avoided. Whatever clothing you wear will cover as much skin as possible, and you will change as infrequently as you can, doing so as quickly as possible."

Azula's gaze moved down to her arm, looking at the spiderweb pattern covering it.

"In time, it will become easier to bear, no longer as painful," Feng admitted, making her relax slightly, "but that does not mean it won't still affect you. Even now mine still affects me. As for the technique you were using that caused your scar, it will become harder for you to use. You will feel hesitant, almost reluctant to use it for fear of being scarred similar to how you were before."

Azula's eyes lowered, some of the fire in her eyes dying.

"But you will have to push past this, less you let your new scars define you. Less you let it divide you from who you were before, to who you are after. At first, it will be slow, but with time," Feng smiled as the air around him condensed in a thin barrier, doing so without any movement on his part, "you may just surprise yourself with what you accomplish. You may just find that you are glad for the constant reminder to be better."

Feng let the barrier go, blowing around the room slowly as its occupants digested his words, both Mai and Ty Lee looking stunned, and impressed.

Azula though, looked hopeful for a mere moment before her face crashed, a sneer appearing on her face.

"And just how am I supposed to do that, Feng? In case you can't figure it out," Azula spat, rattling her chains, "I'm you're prisoner, and won't be allowed to bend any powerful techniques, let alone the pinnacle of Firebending. So, just how exactly am I meant to get over the scar you gave me, hmm? A little talking, maybe some lying?"

Feng remained silent, an awkward silence filling the room as the three unrestrained occupants shifted uneasily.

"I thought so," Azula scoffed, turning her head to look away from Feng.

"She does bring up a good point, though" Mai sighed, breaking her silence as she stared Feng in the eye, her black eyes fixed on his. "What will happen to us?"

Feng leaned back as he considered the question, wondering how truthful he should be. He couldn't tell them everything, of course. He didn't know if they had some way of contacting the Fire Nation even with how tight the security around them was.

But he could tell them a little bit.

"No matter what happens, you will be treated humanely, as long as none of you are a threat against the Earth Kingdom and its soldiers. It's for this reason you were stripped of your knives, Mai."

Mai opened her mouth to reply, but Feng continued.

"Don't pretend you wouldn't do something if you still had them, we're not idiots."

Mai closed her mouth, earning a nod of satisfaction from Feng as he turned towards Ty Lee.

"As for you, you still possess all of your skills, and legitimately pose quite a threat to the armed guards. The difference between you and Mai though is that even if you took them down, you wouldn't hurt them," Feng smiled, earning a surprised yet earnest stare from Ty Lee.

"You never harmed any of the guards more than they needed to be and were always quite cheerful about it. That kind of behavior is noticed and rewarded. To summarise…just keep being you, Ty Lee, and we will have no problem."

"Who else would I be but me?" Ty Lee asked cutely, tilting her head in confusion.

"Exactly," Feng nodded, his body rock steady in his meditative position as he turned to the frowning Azula. "You, however, require far more care, Crown Princess Azula. As the crown princess, you contain many secrets about the Fire Nation that the Earth Kingdom Leaders would very much like to know. As you can probably expect, you will be questioned about them."

Ty Lee flinched slightly even as Azula resolutely started at Feng, her cool golden eyes flickering dangerously. Combined with the spiderweb pattern surrounding her left eye, it made for quite an intimidating sight. And striking, a part of Feng couldn't help but notice.

"Luckily, the methods they do this with will be…unorthodox, but not harmful. As far as personal danger goes, we both know you are a Firebending Master, one with few equals."

Azula didn't nod, but her eyes did flash victoriously at the praise, which Feng saw, making him note it in his psychological profile of her.

"That is why you are chained up while you're healing, but we can't do this forever. So, under the care of the Royal Earthbenders, you will be forced to expend your chi and will have Earthbending restraints permanently around your limbs even when you are allowed to move around. I wouldn't try to escape, Princess, it would not end well for you."

Azula didn't voice her agreement but understanding did flash in her eyes, which was enough for Feng. A lot of information had been thrown at Azula during the past few hours, so instead of continuing the conversation, he stood up from his position seated on the floor.

"If you have no questions, I will leave you ladies to it. Mai, Ty Lee, whenever you want to leave for your own room, just inform the guards and they'll escort you back. I'll speak with you some other time, as I am sure others will," Feng nodded goodbye, walking towards the room's door.

"Wait!" Azula called out, sounding just a touch desperate as Feng placed his hand on the door handle, making him pause as he looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised.

"Just how long will we be prisoners here for?" Azula asked, sounding troubled. "We can't just be held here indefinitely. That's inhumane!"

"Yes, but not as inhuman as Fire Island Prison," Feng hummed, making all three girls flinch at the name. Interesting, all three of them knew about it. "I wouldn't be too worried though, as you probably know, we are in the final months of the war. One way or another, it is going to come to an end by the end of the summer."

"The end of the summer?" Ty Lee voiced, sharing a glance with her friends. "That's so soon! What makes you say that?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out," Feng chuckled, closing the door behind him as he stepped out, nodding to the four visible guards as he went on his way.