…..
Azula stepped up to the railing on the second story of the Avatar's training facility, and looked over. Aang was down there walking through one of his slow circular Air forms. Azula had seen him perform these types of warm ups for years now; slow, arms up, feet gliding forward, backward, a twist, always leaving enough weight on either foot to allow for seamless turning in any direction. The movement was always unhurried but never stopping. From years of analyzing Aang's fighting patterns, Azula recognized in this form many of the same moves he used in sparring — just a slowed down version of the same evasive circling Aang could do at astounding speed.
As she watched him, she noticed the lithe way his hips followed his feet, his whole spine spiraling gracefully. Azula's breath caught in her throat. He was beautiful. The kind of beauty that made her want to possess him—or run from him. She stepped back from the railing, so she could no longer see him. To catch her breath. To master this thing!
As Azula reigned in her emotions, she contemplated what it was she sought with Aang. Dominion was the goal, naturally. Some spoke of "partnership," but Azula didn't understand the logistics of this. Sure it sounded nice in theory, but who was in control? What if the two partners did not agree on what needed to be done? Ultimately, even a "partnership" came down to power and who held the heaviest share of it.
Obviously Azula was intelligent enough to know that not all power was overt. Not all power could be measured in force.
Emotions held power too. And mastery over one's emotions gave that person strength. Azula had always prided herself in her mastery over her own emotions. She had not let events from her past mar her: Mother had left, and she had taught herself not to care, ignored any feelings of loss. When Zuzu had been burned and exiled, she had squashed any fear she'd felt in favor of focusing on how it was in her own best-interest.
Azula's fingers unconsciously reached for the knife she had strapped inside an inner pocket on her thigh. She unlatched it and took it out. It was one of Mai's. The weapon was long for Mai's usual standard, but still short and easily concealable. The night Mai had betrayed her—sabotaging the tanks and warning the rebellion—she had left this knife behind. If it hadn't been for the fact that Mai was obsessively careful about her knives, Azula would have thought she'd left it by mistake. But there it sat on the table in the morning, shining and meticulously sharpened. Azula looked at the knife, running her finger over the blade with just light enough pressure to avoid getting cut. Azula didn't know quite what the knife meant. But she planned to use it. If all went to plan Azula would stab Mai herself with it next time they met.
But something inside her plunged into darkness at the thought. Azula shook herself from her stupor, reminding herself that she wanted Mai dead. Reminding herself that mastery over her emotions was power.
Azula's attention was brought back to where she was, in the Avatar's arena. Azula was well aware that she did not have mastery over her own emotions in regards to Aang at the moment. A fact that frustrated her immensely! But these feelings she harbored for the Avatar had been persistent enough—she had grappled with them for enough years now—to know that she simply could not just will them away. She needed to employ a new strategy. One that could swing the balance of power back into her favor.
She needed to get the Avatar to desire her too. But how? How could she make him love… no loyal, to her in the same way that she felt for him? No even more so. For whoever cared least held the power.
Part of her was angry that her own emotions would betray her in this way! Swinging the balance so unfairly in his favor! He was a lowly Air Nomad, after all. And she was royalty! True royalty. She'd been born with more worth than his entire nation.
And yet, here she stood, cowering from the railing in fear of what looking at him might make her feel.
Azula squared her shoulders and walked back to the railing, resting her hand lightly on the smoothed wood. Because she would not look away. She would master this!
Aang was still slowly circling, his eyes closed. Azula inhaled and exhaled deeply once.
As she watched, her mind turned to last night's family dinner, and of Father's declaration that Aang would be joining her in the Earth Kingdom at the end of the season. Azula's jaw clenched.
As a talented tactician and a natural leader—one that Father could trust, one that never failed him—Azula had been frequently sent abroad to further the war efforts. With Ba Sing Se conquered, it was mainly a matter of sweeping the Earth Kingdom bit by bit. Aggravatingly, each area seemed to claim independent autonomy, so even though the King and the capitol had fallen, the fighting continued, albeit rather ineffectively for the Dirty Crags. The disjunction of the Earthlands was a disgrace. When she and Father finally subdued it, they would bring order to the barbarians.
But manpower was an issue for the Fire Nation, given the sheer size of the Earth lands. So complete dominion seemed ever elusive. But of course under her leadership, progress in the war efforts had continued to flourish. Everywhere she touched seemed to bow to her will.
At twenty-one, Azula was already a well decorated war hero, successful in every endeavor she'd set her mind to. Except one.
Zuzu.
Several years ago a Rebellion had begun resisting the Fire Nation. Unlike the unorganized uprisings that haphazardly sprung up all over the Earth Kingdom, the Rebellion was clearly intelligently lead. It was elusive and slippery, and seemed to have root in all quarters of the conquered lands. There was evidence that although it was comprised largely of Earth nationals, people of other nations had also aligned themselves together.
Most notable was the rumor of her dear old brother.
Father had been furious when he'd heard the rumors. And he'd sent her, his most trusted, to weed out little Zuzu and put an end to his treachery.
Azula had hunted Zuzu for the last six months. And she'd been so close.
And if it weren't for Mai…
Azula could feel the burning betrayal flare within her at the thought of her friend. "Traitorous turn-coat!" Azula thought. But one of the archers looked her way, and she realized she'd said the words out loud. She'd not meant to speak. The slip troubled her. She turned her attention pointedly away from the archer, raising her chin arrogantly.
Azula had planned to stay in the Earthlands, to hunt down her brother, and her "friend" along with him.
But Father had called her to return. She hadn't known why.
This was the first time she had returned not victorious, having not accomplished what she'd set out to do.
It galled her that her brother would be the reason for her failure.
And now Father wanted the Avatar to accompany her. Did he doubt her abilities? Did he not trust that she could accomplish this on her own? If she were a person of lesser control she would have huffed smoke at the idea, the insult!
Resentfulness towards the Avatar rankled her. Before Aang had come, Azula had been the only jewel in Father's eye. He had trusted her. Taken pride in her. Believed in her. Was he now arranging backup in case she failed?
Azula would be lying if she claimed that part of her was not looking forward to spending more time with Aang. Traveling the world with him. Having him by her side. Helping him little by little to see the glory of the empire the Fire Nation had built.
But Aang was ignorant. By design, of course. But ignorant nonetheless. How could Father possibly feel he was ready to travel to the Earthlands? When the first he'd heard of the war was yesterday at dinner?!
She'd brought up her concerns to Father last night after Aang had retired. And Father had assuaged her, assuring her of his plans. He trusted her to introduce the war to Aang in a way that would retain his loyalty and best make use of his power. Father had said that he knew she could control him.
But Father didn't know of this thing she felt for the Avatar. Didn't know that she hardly felt in control of herself, let alone able to control Aang.
Azula was not one prone to doubt herself. But she was concerned. Concerned that this move would be miscalculated, and she would lose Aang… This thought awakened more distress than she should allow.
Losing him was something she simply could not abide. She desperately needed to keep him.
She had some tools at her disposal. There was re-education of course. Aang had needed a lot of re-education during his time in the palace, although far more in the beginning. But was that any wonder? Given his inferior upbringing? Imagine raising the Avatar among those primitive monks!? Backwards as they were, it was a wonder they had survived long enough for Great-Grandfather Sozin to exterminate them!
Thus far re-education had been enough. However, Azula knew that re-education had its limits. And she would not use it as her go-to if she could help it. Father's methods could be counter-productive for her in her efforts to manipulate the Avatar. For she wanted him to… be with her. Fear was an excellent tool, a reliable aid. But she could not see how fear alone could accomplish what she desired with Aang. She knew she would need more control, some other method of shaping Aang's loyalties.
Aang's ignorance was a tool she planned to exploit liberally in shaping his views of the war. But what about his inane way of always seeing other sides? Of taking facts and turning them on their heads? It bothered her that there seemed to be something underneath Aang that she could never quite understand. Like he wasn't interested in winning her game. Like he was playing his own; one with its own set of rules.
She had mentioned her concerns to Father last night. She never wanted him to doubt her capabilities, but she proposed the "what if" scenario anyway. What if by some chance she could not keep Aang in check?
"Only a fool teaches a man how to defeat him," Ozai had said. "Your cold fire is always available to you if the Avatar turns against us. The boy knows no defense for it."
Something deep within Azula had turned cold and hollow at the idea. Logically, of course it made perfect sense. Father had never taught Aang to bend lightning. In fact, to her knowledge, Aang had never even seen it done. A calculated decision, obviously.
But Azula had never seriously considered that Father would kill Aang. Even more that he would ask her to do it.
A new burst of pride had swelled within her knowing that Father had entrusted her with a secret, a power, that he did not intend to share with the Avatar. But the pride had been short lived in light of what she would have to do if "worst came to worst."
Thus she needed a greater hold on Aang, something more to keep him where she wanted him…
It would appear that more than one of her problems could be solved if Aang would just simply fall in love with her.
But how to make him do it?!
Azula had observed scores of men fall at the feet of Ty Lee (including Aang himself, when he was younger), but Azula had never been able to achieve similar results herself. She knew that she was beautiful. But the art of seduction was still a mystery she'd been thus far unable to unlock. Besides, relying on that seemed to still leave too much to chance. After all, Aang had lost interest in Ty Lee after barely a summer…
Azula would need something more reliable. More binding.
Azula watched as Aang's concentration was drawn away from his forms. Ah yes, the doors were opening to the arena. His waterbending master was here. For some reason the realization made Azula's insides icy.
But this was why Azula had come after all. To observe Aang's waterbending class. After lying to Father last night (well not a lie exactly, she simply did not tell the whole truth—that the last time she'd observed Aang's waterbending instruction she had seen no waterbending at all), she now felt it prudent to observe another lesson in order to form a more accurate opinion.
She had purposely not drawn Aang's attention to her presence. Because naturally he may behave differently if he knew he was being observed. But also because she wanted the freedom to… observe him as well. A guilty pleasure that filled her with chagrin.
Even from this height Azula could see the sparkling smile he gave the waterbender as he ran over to her. She didn't like it. Azula's hand on the balcony railing clutched too tightly. She had to consciously release her grip.
The two of them exchanged words, smiles, a laugh. Azula's eyes narrowed. She turned and walked along the balcony, closer to where they stood, compelled to hear what they were saying. Aang was speaking; the waterbender laughed, she blushed. And Aang took a step closer to her. Too close! He lifted his hand to touch the woman's face… Azula's throat caught.
Two fingers were extended before she could even think. A precise shot of blue fire knocked Aang's treacherous hand away before the fire burst into hot flame at their feet, causing them both to jump backward. Azula's jealousy reared! What was he doing?!
With her one hand still on the railing, Azula kicked both her legs up and over the balcony in a graceful vault. Blue fire surged from her fists, slowing her fall until she landed delicately on the training field. Her eyes burned hotter than her fists had.
"What is going on here!?" she demanded.
Aang's eyes went wide. "A—Azula!"
Her eyes darted to how he moved between her and the waterbender.
"N—nothing's going on, Princess! It's just… waterbending practice!" Aang tried to laugh, but his voice caught, giving away his guilt.
Azula's eyes looked past Aang towards the woman. Although she did look adequately surprised at first, those blue eyes quickly narrowed, glaring back at her. The insolence!
Azula's eyes snapped back to Aang as he hedged, "We were… just getting started. Perhaps you'd like to… watch? I'm sure Master Katara has something really interesting planned. For waterbending instruction. Don't you, Master Katara?" Aang turned to look back at her.
Master Katara continued to glare hatefully at Azula. Aang cleared his throat, "Uh, don't you, Master Katara? Have something interesting planned?" The woman's eyes finally left Azula's to look into Aang's. Azula was gratified to see that when she turned her eyes toward him, they maintained the same fire she'd glared at Azula.
Azula crossed her arms, sinking into one hip. "Oh please," she said with deceptive lightness while she looked at the fingernails on her hand, "You can't fool me. I'm beginning to think that your 'Master' Katara can't even waterbend." Azula was probing, seeing what sore spots she could aggravate. "I've been here twice now and have not seen her bend even a single drop of water."
"Master Katara is an accomplished—"
Azula plowed right over Aang's defense. "She's likely nothing more than a glorified whore, Aang. An exotic little distraction Zhao has brought here for himself while he buys time to search for a real waterbending master."
"Azula!" Aang's voice held a warning, "You know that's uncalled for—"
"Tell me, Peasant," Azula spat the word looking Katara directly in the eye, "is Zhao keeping you adequately warm at night? Or is the old man not enough for you to—"
"That's ENOUGH, Azula!" Aang's declaration was punctuated by a mighty jolt to the stones under their feet. Even as she fought to remain standing, Azula smiled. Getting Aang riled was so rare a treat. Seeing the way Aang's eyes blazed made her feel powerful again.
But to Azula's surprise, it was the peasant who next spoke. "No, Avatar Aang, I can handle this."
Katara stepped forward proudly, staring at Azula defiantly. Something in the challenging arch of her eyebrow made Azula uneasy, like the woman knew something. Knew something about her.
But instead of addressing Azula as she ought to, the woman turned and stood in front of Aang instead, grabbing his hand gently. She sent Azula a goading smile—which filled the Princess with fury!—before bending water into their joint hands. Azula could hear Aang whisper urgently, "Katara! What are you doing?"
Just "Katara"? So informal… Azula felt steam sizzle inside of her.
The water shone bright, a shimmering flash. "Healing your hand, of course," the peasant answered evenly, making no effort to keep her voice down. Azula looked. And sure enough, when the woman finally released Aang's hand, the burn Azula had just bestowed on the Avatar was gone.
Something hot flared inside Azula. Something more than anger, more than bruised pride. It was the way the waterbender so gently held Aang's hand. The way she lightly stroked the now healed skin of it. How Azula's mark was erased so easily. The intimacy of the action, so confident, so reciprocal. Azula's gut burned with jealousy. Something was going on between them… and Azula would snuff it out!
"Fight me!" Azula commanded the waterbender, leaning her weight onto her back leg, two fingers of both hands extended and ready.
Aang jumped between them, desperately looking from Azula to Katara, and then back to Azula. Finally he turned his back on Azula to talk with the waterbender—how dare he address the peasant instead of her! "No Katara, please! This won't end well!"
The woman's blue eyes looked at Aang for a long moment.
But her answer came in the form of water being pulled viciously from a trench at their right and launched at Azula. Azula had no more than a fraction of a second to dodge before a slicing stream cut past her face! Azula smiled. Apparently the water-wench was as ready as she was to have this out!
"No!" Aang interjected. But Azula paid him little attention, as she rolled away from a crashing wave on her left. Azula felt a few cool droplets splash onto the back of her hand; she licked them away predatorily as she stood to face the waterbender, who waited, long tendrils of water pouring from her arms and hatred from her eyes.
Oh this was going to be fun!
….
Katara swung her arms across her body, the long trails of water following to catch a zap of blue fire aimed at her middle. The fire dissolved in the water with a sizzle of steam.
"Please! No, stop!" She could hear Aang pleading somewhere in her periphery, but Katara was too enraged to pay him any heed. Her anger at Princess Azula filled Katara with a cold, hard focus, pushing all other concerns out of her mind.
She struck back, launching more water heavily at the Fire Princess. Azula dodged her attack lightly.
"Looks like I struck a nerve, Waterbender." The nonchalance in the Princess's voice was like soft velvet concealing a knife. "I am glad to see that at least you can waterbend. I was beginning to wonder…"
Katara sent another wave of water at her with a growl. Blues volleyed back and forth between the two women, each attack becoming progressively intense.
After dropping, chest flat on the ground to narrowly escape a large ice disk Katara had thrown, Azula popped quickly back to her feet with a vibrant, greedy burning in her eyes. And she smiled. She was enjoying this! Katara's breath caught in her throat.
Zuko had spoken very little about his younger sister, but those small bits he had shared with Katara had always been laced with a scathing envy. In fighting Azula, it became clear to Katara that she was a firebender of uncommon ability, her attacks precise and calculated. Her blue fire hotter than any Katara had encountered before.
Katara froze an ice bridge and ran up onto it, giving her a height advantage from which to throw down a more powerful offensive. This was effective for a moment, forcing the fire princess to react defensively for a time. But Azula's carefully aimed and relentless fire darts soon forced Katara to jump off and crouch behind the bridge. Katara used the thick trunk of ice to hide from Azula's attacks, her back resting against the cold ice. She took a moment to catch her breath, all the while hearing the patter of fire chipping away at the thick ice behind her.
One last fortifying breath later and Katara stood, throwing her arms in the air. The movement caused what was left of the rapidly melting ice bridge to shatter into jagged spears that launched with deadly speed toward the Fire Princess.
But Azula dodged each projectile with a circular lightness almost as lyrical as Aang's. Something about this made Katara even more angry. This woman had spent years with Aang. Years! But she'd learned nothing from his goodness—his kind, peace-loving soul—except how to move like an airbender! The insult was made doubly sick knowing that this woman's great-grandfather had slaughtered all the air benders.
Katara's blue eyes narrowed with focused indignation on the Crown Princess.
Although she had only seen Azula twice, Katara had identified a weakness in her. Both encounters had given Katara a clear impression: the Princess was in love with the Avatar.
If Katara had been in another state of mind, perhaps she would have thought better of exploiting this information. But at this moment she was too angry to think clearly.
And so, for not the first time, Katara used her proximity to the Avatar as leverage. Using him as a pawn for her advantage.
"You know you'll never be good enough," Katara said, as a fireball dissolved in her shield of water with a hiss. She was pretty sure that no one but the princess could hear her over the din from their fight.
"What?" the cold surprise in Azula's voice was dangerous. "What could you possibly mean. I'm far better than you. Good enough for what?"
"For Aang," Katara said, letting the venom in her words penetrate deeply.
For the first time, the princess seemed to miss a step, causing a burst of blue flame to misfire wildly past Katara, nowhere near on target. Her golden eyes watched the fire spin off course, before they narrowed and snapped scathingly back towards Katara.
"You vile peasant!"
"You'll never have him!" Katara laughed a sure, manic sound. "Because he could never want someone like you, never love someone like you!"
The fire in Azula's hands went out abruptly, her face flinching slightly. Her red lips fell open in silence. The princess's eyes darted to the side towards Aang. Then she became very still, as if analyzing something.
When Azula's golden eyes, the only part about her that moved, snapped back toward Katara, Katara's stomach clenched with fear. She didn't know why, but Azula's stillness was somehow more menacing than her attacks had been.
Slowly Azula stood fully upright, her royalty worn proudly in her walk. For some reason Katara could do no more than stand numbly, watching as Azula approached her. The Princess stopped an arms-length from Katara. And Katara noticed how beautiful Azula was: her full red lips and perfectly sculpted black eyebrows contrasting against her flawless, milky skin. Her intense golden eyes held Katara's with captivating energy.
The Princess lifted an arm towards Katara. Katara swallowed, but didn't flinch. Azula ran the backs of her slender, porcelain fingers across Katara's cheekbone. "Oh," she crooned softly, gently, still holding Katara's gaze. "You think he would prefer what? A worthless slave like you?"
Then fast as lightning Azula's hand struck, slapping Katara's face loud enough to echo throughout the entire breathless arena. The movement had been minimal, but the economy behind the hit was powerful enough to send Katara stumbling to the side.
"Azula!" Aang shouted. But the Princess ignored him, her next words striking Katara with as much force as her slap had. "As if you were at liberty to love him back, even if he did!"
The words hurt. Far worse than Katara had known they even could. And in a moment of horrifying clarity, she knew that Azula was right. And that it was too late for Katara already. Without permission—without ever meaning to—her heart had bound itself to Aang.
But they could never be.
The realization robbed her lungs of air.
Katara growled and pulled a tremendous heave of angry water from the trough on the far end of the arena, the one behind Azula. It splashed onto the stone ground with a resounding slap, spreading out over the stones like mop water a washerwoman throws onto the sidewalk. Azula danced away from it, laughing, the water doing little more than wetting her boots.
"Oh lovely," Azula taunted, "I'm glad a peasant like you knows how to clean the dirty floor. That's the most you'll ever be good for anyway, I'm sure. Perhaps we should transfer you to mucking out the stables? Make the best use of your miserable element!"
But the taunt was premature, and Azula realized it just a second too late. Katara breathed a frigid frost onto the wet stones, freezing it into an ice rink. She then called the last of the water from the other troughs to coat the other side of the arena, freezing it as well. More water splashed onto the Princess's boots.
For a moment, Azula was forced to stand still, to keep her feet from slipping out from under her in the slippery arena-sized ice rink Katara had just frozen. And before Azula could calculate a way out of the all encompassing layer of ice, Katara skated towards her, freezing the Princess's wet boots to the floor with a sweep of her arm. As she skated past again, more frost climbed up Azula's legs, cementing her firmly in place.
The surprise in Azula's face was delicious!
As she continued to skate by Katara began to flick her wrists, causing tiny, stinging ice shards from the ground to pelt the princess. Azula cried out and covered her face with her arms. Little cuts of red opened on the princess's hands and forearms.
Katara smiled smugly.
But her smugness was short lived. For when Katara next skated past Azula, the princess dropped her arms revealing a blood-red smile curling viciously on her lips.
Closing her eyes, Azula took a deep breath. Katara's eyes widened as steam rose from the Princess's right foot. And before Katara knew it, Azula lifted her no-longer-frozen-leg and kicked a blazing pillar of blue fire in front of Katara's speeding body. Lest she skate right into it, Katara was forced to fall backwards, her hands unconsciously lifting to protect her face from the scorching heat.
Katara looked up to see Azula walking freely now, shooting unrelenting plumes of fire onto the ground. The heat was so intense that the layer of ice evaporated directly into steam.
And Katara realized her mistake. In spreading the water out too thin, she had given Azula exactly what she needed to steal Katara's element away from her, vanishing the water into the air as hot steam. Katara could try to reclaim some of the water, pull it back from the air, but she knew it would be too little, and too late. Katara's heart sank.
The stones of the arena floor were smoking when Azula turned her golden eyes back to Katara once again. In another place, with water more abundant, Katara knew this fight would have gone another way. But here she was literally out of her element.
For the first time since the fight started, Katara remembered the archers, the Avatar, where she was. What had she been thinking?! Of course there had never been any way for her to win this!
Azula sent another blaze of blue towards her; Katara leaped narrowly away from it, falling hard onto her elbow. She looked up only in time to see that Azula was now racing towards her, blue fire held menacingly in both hands.
…
The water-wench was going to pay for her insolence! Azula flew toward the waterbender with her hands and heart ablaze.
But a sudden, a swift gust of wind blew her backwards, extinguishing her flames and sending her stumbling, struggling to stay on her feet. She leaned her entire weight into the wind to keep from being blown over backward! Aang stalked toward her, his arms swirling, commanding the wind that obeyed him—and him alone. His face was twisted in anger—an expression, she realized with a start, she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen on him before.
As he continued to march towards her, the wind lessened, but Azula found the stones she stood on suddenly unstable, rocking viciously beneath her feet. Only her superior agility allowed her to retreat a few steps without falling to the ground. She shot several plumes of blue fire towards him, but Aang batted them away with humiliating ease. And still Aang advanced on her. With each footstep, each movement of his arms, the elements obeyed him like loyal subjects bowing to their King. Azula could do little more than stumble backward, unable to catch her bearings enough to reply with any kind of effective offensive in the face of Aang's unrelenting drive toward her.
Azula's eyes opened wide with the realization of how easily Aang was dominating against her. She could not bear how effortless he made it appear!
Azula could do nothing but retreat. When he was just a few steps away, Aang stepped low and heavy, punching the air with one fist. A piece of earth jutted up behind Azula's knees, catching on her heel as she tried to step backward. She fell to the ground, with a clumsy clatter. So unlike her. With a yell she rolled onto her back and punched both fists toward the Avatar—blue fire surged towards him.
But to her absolute shock, Aang encircled her flames in his hands, like someone holding a large ball, the fire swirling blue between his open arms. Then he brought his arms apart, parting the fire evenly between his two hands.
Azula's mouth fell open in disbelief as Aang stood above her, her blue fire ablaze in his palms. Instead of turning orange as had always happened before, the flames continued to blaze blue—the blue of the fire lighting ominously the blue arrows on his forehead, on his arms, reflecting dangerously in his eyes.
And it was then that she knew.
Everything else was forgotten: the waterbender, the guards, the arena.
For in this moment Azula knew, without any doubt, that she must have him! She would bow the Avatar to her will!
She now knew what needed to be done…
…