Hello everyone! Welcome to Chapter 6 of A Walk Through Fire! I have to say, this is definitely one of my favorite one of my favorite Aang and Azula sections of the story so far. I really hope that you all enjoy it! Gotta say, the next 3 chapters are going to be CRAZY so be prepared. Without further ado... I present to you...THE CHAPTER!
I STILL DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER!
Aang woke up in a frenzy. He was sweaty, panting heavily, and couldn't breathe. Eventually, Aang got his breathing under control and attempted to leave the tent. Once he was outside, he looked up at the sky and sighed.
It's very early so no one should be awake. I might be able to get some meditation done before we have to get going.
He put on his boots and started walking towards a clearing. He saw a lake and decided that it was a suitable place for him to meditate. He sat on the shore and started to meditate. Crossing his arms and legs, he closed his eyes and started clearing his mind. He hasn't been able to find time to meditate due to Azula always either having him with her or he was doing something with Mai or Ty Lee.
While Aang was meditating along the far shore of the lake, Azula was just getting up. Being a Firebender meant that she naturally got up early with the sun, so when it was the crack of dawn, she was awake.
Maybe I'll try to clean up before we head out. The girls shouldn't be awake for a couple more hours, but Aang, I don't know. I'm sure he's probably still asleep. She started down the path she found that led to a lake that she discovered the night before. She walked right past the Avatar who was meditating and arrived at her destination: a crystal blue lake.
Azula smiled to herself as she started to undress herself. She took off her tunic, lightly folded it, placed it on the ground, and started taking off her trousers leaving her in only a bra and underwear. She jumped into the lake and shivered a little bit, but was able to heat up the water around her to a much more comfortable temperature. She sighed and removed her bra so that she could clean herself properly.
Man, this is really nice. It's such a shame that we have to fight those hooligans. I would much rather spend my time furthering the war effort. But alas, all good things must come to an end.
Azula sighed as she cupped water into her hands, brought it to her head, and dumped it into her hair. She started tracing over her body with her hands, checking for new bruises and scars from her battles and fights she's been in. She cupped her breasts and groaned in pleasure.
While Aang was mediating, he heard a noise. A noise which he had never heard before. He decided to think nothing of it and went back to mdatating until he heard it again. He sighed to himself and decided to go investigate.
What in the living fuck could be making that noise? He started walking towards where he heard the noise and stopped dead in his tracks. Is that...no...it can't be…but why is she up so early? He was confused and shocked at the figure he saw in the lake.
They looked to be about five foot ten and had dangerous curves. Black hair was flowing from her head reaching to the swell of her back. Her waist was slim but shaped into voluptuous hips that were still submerged underwater. From a distance, Aang couldn't see any imperfections on her skin. Aang was stunned by how beautiful Azula looked. He had never seen a body as beautiful as hers before and he didn't know what to do but gawk at it.
Azula was standing in the lake trying to dry her hair when she heard a noise that sounded like someone was walking towards her.
Who could that be? Azula stood still and tried to listen to the footsteps. Then she heard a twig snap and she stiffened. Well, shit, this'll be fun. Azula turned around to see the one person she was hoping wasn't awake staring at her.
What Aang saw before him couldn't compare to anything that he could ever imagine. Standing in front of him was his kidnapper-turned crush who just so happened to be naked. He didn't know what to do but check her out. Her curves were incredible and she looked gorgeous. Her breasts were a solid size and were very perky. Moving his eyes down, he looked at her toned muscular stomach that didn't have an ounce of unnecessary fat on it. She was simply the hottest girl he had ever seen in his life.
"AANG, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU PERVERT?!"
Aang immediately snapped out of his trance and realized what he was looking at and screamed. He turned around and shielded his eyes and started blushing rapidly. "Ahh, Azula, I'm so sorry. I was meditating and I heard a noise and I wanted to figure out where it was coming from. Please don't kill me!" Internally, he was screaming. He was not facing the Princess who was also blushing.
"Leave," she calmly stated in a soft but angry tone.
"What did you say?" Aang timidly replied as he moved his head to face her.
"I SAID LEAVE!" Azula exclaimed, and used one of her hands to shoot a turret of royal blue flames towards the boy, causing him to use his Airbending and sprint away towards the campsite they were staying at.
Back at the lake, Azula, who was also blushing, groaned and started walking towards the shore. Why him of all people? The others have seen me naked before.
She sighed and started to walk towards the shore. She raised her internal body temperature which caused the water on her body to evaporate, drying her off instantly. She unfolded her clothes and put them back on. Taking one last look at her reflection in the lake, she sighed and walked back up to the camp.
When she arrived at the campsite, she noticed that Ty Lee and Mai were awake and were getting ready for the long day of riding they were about to have.
Ty Lee, naturally, was not a morning person and looked like a hot mess. Her hair was all over the place and was in desperate need of a brush. She had sleep around the corners of her eyes and mouth. The acrobat had gotten so used to waking up later in the morning and was not used to these early wake up calls from Mai.
Mai, on the other hand, didn't look to be affected by the early wake up, which suggested that she got up at around this time back in Ba Sing Se. She didn't look nearly as disheveled as her friend. Her hair was in its usual position and her clothes didn't look wrinkled at all.
"Good morning, girls," Azula said as she made her way over to her belongings. "How are we doing this morning?"
"I'm fine, Azula, though I don't think Aang is," Mai replied as she started making a simple breakfast for everyone.
"Yeah, he came through camp screaming and just started running away," Ty Lee added as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Azula stopped what she was doing and looked at Ty Lee. "What do you mean?" Azula started, slowly walking towards the campfire where Mai was making food. "Did he say anything specific or do anything weird?"
"What, besides say that you were gonna kill him?" Mai smirked at the Princess and went back to making food. "No. He did, however, wake us up, which wasn't pleasant." She said, handing a plate of nuts and fruits to Ty Lee and a plate of just fruit to Azula. "Do you want any tea, Azula?"
"No," she replied quickly while looking at her breakfast, blushing. "I'll just have some water."
"Are we gonna go find Aang?" Ty Lee spoke after she finished chewing some of her fruit.
"Yes, I will go find him," Azula said, still blushing "Be ready to leave by the time I get back with him." She placed her breakfast on the ground, not before grabbing a piece of fruit from her plate and eating it. "Which way did you say he went?"
Ty Lee pointed to a clump of tees that looked to be disturbed. There were sticks and leaves laying on the ground; evidence that someone had recently moved that way.
"Thank you," Azula said, and started walking towards the forest that Aang ran into. She sighed.
Great. The one time I'm back to normal, I make him run away from me. What kind of monster does that to someone? She thought to herself for a second. Oh wait, I'm that monster. How could I forget?
Aang had no clue where he was. He was running away from Azula and the next thing he knows, he's in the middle of a forest.
"UGH!" he shouted while slamming his fists into the ground, causing a wall of rock to shoot up into the air. "All I wanted to do was meditate. That's all I wanted to do." He looked up into the sky. It was still early in the day, but now the sun had fully risen and shone brightly in the sky. "Whelp, I guess I should probably make my way back to camp...wherever the heck that is." He picked himself up off the ground and started walking back the way he came.
Azula was walking in the forest when she felt the ground rumble. Looking up into the sky she saw a cloud of dust ahead of her. Smiling to herself, she continued to walk down the path she was currently on. Eventually, she heard footsteps and someone talking. She hid herself in the trees and waited for them to walk past her.
"Now she's really going to kill me. My first mission with her and her friends and I'm the one holding them up. Maybe she doesn't care that I was an idiot who ran into a forest and got lost."
Azula smirked and waited for him to pass her position. "He's adorable when he sulks like that," she remarked aloud to herself, but almost as soon as she said it, a hand covered her mouth. Did I just think that he was adorable? She sighed to herself and decided that now was a good time to come out of the shadows.
"You know I wasn't going to kill you right?"
Aang stopped in his tracks. That voice cut through all of his thoughts like a heated knife. He slowly turned around to see Azula smirking at him with her hands on her hips.
"A-Azula," he sputtered. "I mean - Princess...what are you doing here? I thought you were gonna be mad at me." Aang was in total shock that she had tried to find him. He didn't know what to think right now and just stared at her.
"Of course I came to find you. I don't feel like having an empty eel hound following us to the Stronghold," she replied nonchalantly while walking towards the boy. "And, besides, Mai and Ty Lee have taken a liking to you. I wouldn't want them to be mad at me for not trying to find you" Azula looked at Aang who's current face was a bright shade of pink.
"I guess you're right," Aang meekly replied as he started walking towards the edge of the forest. "I wouldn't want your schedule to be pushed further behind because of me."
"Oh Avatar, the schedule has already been altered," Azula said. "At this point we won't be getting there till tomorrow night, which will make for a headache," she continued as she walked ahead of him towards the end of the path.
"Wonderful." His reply was dripping with sarcasm as he facepalmed. Just when I think that everything is ok. "I am sorry about this morning. I honestly didn't mean to see you like that, I swear."
Azula started blushing at the reminder of what happened earlier this morning. She hadn't really thought about it that much. Sure, she was surprised at what happened, but she wasn't really that mad, along with the fact that she had caught him practically naked. They were even at this point.
"It's okay, Avatar. Just don't make a habit out of it," Azula said, taking a second to look over her shoulder to see Aang blushing uncontrollably. This brought a smile to her face and was satisfied with how flustered she made him.
Eventually, Aang and Azula made their way back to the campsite and saw that Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for them. Azula walked up to the lead eel hound and got onto it. She noticed that her breakfast was sitting on the hound and she smiled. I guess Mai does care.
Aang was having much more trouble getting onto his hound. Eventually, he gave up and used his Airbending to propel him into the air and onto the animal.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Azula asked from the head of the group. "We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to get there before the prisoners do."
She heard affirmations from everyone in the group, and so, with a swift hit of the reigns, her eel hound started moving forward.
Aang was sitting on his eel hound looking at Azula. She was currently talking to Mai about something to do with Zuko. He was studying her, trying to get a read on her. She fascinated him in every sense of the word. He just couldn't wrap his head around how she could just switch personalities based on who she was talking to, or how confident she sounded in her decisions. She was a natural leader able to take command of any situation. She had this certain spunk to her that he didn't understand. It was like he was drawn to her - not to mention how beautiful she was. Even with clothing on, one could see how beautiful she was.
"Hey, Aang?"
Aang shook his head, causing him to be drawn back to the real world, blinked a few times, and looked around to see who called his name. He looked to his left and saw Ty Lee looking at him.
"Yeah what's up Ty Lee" Aang replied as he turned to face the acrobat who was riding next to him.
"You've been staring at Zula for the past like 3 hours now," she said.
Her statement caused the Avatar to blush a deep shade of scarlet.
"Ugh, really?" he groaned, covering his face with his hands. This caused Ty Lee to chuckle.
"Yeah, you have," she said, chuckling at the embarrassed boy sitting next to her. He definitely likes her, she thought to herself."By the way," she continued aloud, "what happened that caused you to run through camp like a crazy person? I didn't appreciate getting woken up like that." She frowned at the boy, causing him to blush even more.
"I'm sorry I did that," Aang said. "I really am."
Ty Lee giggled and looked back at him. "It's fine...just please don't do it again." She went back to her normal smiling self. "But, seriously...what happened between you and Azula?"
"Oh, yeah, that…" Aang started to explain to Ty Lee what had happened to him that morning, starting with waking up from his bad dream to seeing Azula find him in the forest. She looked at him with a pretty neutral face, but she did smile when Aang went on about Azula's body. Once he finished retelling the events that had occured, he looked at her upfront again and sighed.
"You like her, don't you?" Ty Lee said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can't even lie. Just admit it. You like her."
Aang looked across to her and lowered his head, trying to hide his blush. "She's just so fascinating," he replied. "I can't explain it. From the way she walks to the way that she can just lead people; it's incredible. She's incredible." He looked at his hands and then back up at Azula, who was still talking to Mai about something.
"You know, Aang," Ty Lee started, looking the Avatar in the eyes. "It's not everyday that Azula blushes, or shows an emotion other than dominance and just general malice for that matter." She glanced at Azula who had stopped talking to Mai.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Aang said slowly. "But it's not like she even thinks of me as anything other than her soldier, let alone a friend. Crush is out the window for her. I'm nothing to her," he ended, looking solemn.
Ty Lee looked at him and then at Azula. Well, she definitely sees you as something because her aura has been getting brighter and brighter ever since this trip started, she remarked to herself, which can only mean that she likes you and is thinking about you.
"I'm sure she cares about you," Ty Lee assured him. "She brought you on this mission, didn't she?"
"That's true," Aang pondered. "She didn't have to bring me with her."
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Aang. She cares. She just hasn't shown it yet." Ty Lee smiled at the boy and faced forward on her eel hound. When will she show him that she cares? she thought to herself.
Eventually, the group stopped at another clearing and started setting up camp. Mai made them all dinner and Ty Lee started telling ghost stories. As the night wore on, everyone started leaving to go pitch their tents. Azula was the first to leave, saying that she needed to check some maps that she had brought with her. Aang was the second to leave, saying that he was going to find a body of water nearby to practice some Waterbending before going to sleep. This left Ty Lee and Mai at the fire.
"What were you and Zula talking about?" Ty Lee asked out of the blue. She didn't look up at the assassin sitting next to her.
"Probably the same thing you were talking to Aang about," Mai replied. She was holding a stick, poking the fire to try and keep it going.
Silence over took the group as they sat looking at the crackling flames.
"I think Azula likes him," Mai said, ending the pregnant pause. "I think she's too caught up in her pride to admit it, but the signs are definitely there."
"I think they both like each other," Ty Lee said. "No doubt about it." She looked at Mai who was still stoking the fire.
"Now it's just a matter to see who caves to the other first," Mai smirked as she gave up and let the fire die.
"Yup! It's gonna be so cute to watch." Ty Lee squealed while jumping up. "They would be so cute together!"
"Yeah." Mai looked at the sky and at the campfire which was now merely embers. "They would be."
"Guys, get up!" Sokka yelled to everyone who was still asleep.
"Sokka, I swear to Agni, will you please SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" Zuko shouted from his tent.
"For once, I agree with Sparky. SHUT UP" Toph yelled in response to Sokka.
"Well, maybe if y'all didn't sleep so late, we wouldn't be behind schedule," Sokka complained, beginning to pack up his belongings and load them onto Appa.
"Sokka, we are still going to get to the Stronghold tomorrow," Katara said, who was getting breakfast made for the group when Sokka made his announcement. "We will just be getting there in the afternoon and not the morning."
"It's not like Suki is even going to be there yet," Zuko added. "You insisted that we get there a day early so that we could scope out the area and make a plan." He got out of his tent and started putting on his shirt. He always got hot when he slept, so he just decided to take it off.
"Yeah, and what are we even going to do once we have Suki?" Toph asked, lowering her earth tent and walking towards the others.
"Well, we should probably go try to get information about Ba Sing Se, then," Sokka said, moving towards the firepit. He was handed breakfast from Katara.
"Yeah," Katara agreed while giving Toph and Zuko breakfast. "We need to make sure that Aang is still in Ba Sing Se."
"Or alive," Zuko mumbled while taking a bite of his fruit.
"What do you mean, alive?!" Katara shouted at the Firebender.
"I'm just saying, Azula wouldn't hesitate to kill him," he replied, looking at the ground.
"Well, you don't seem too hurt about that, now, do you?" Katara fired back at Zuko, causing Toph and Sokka to sit back and watch the show.
"Hope you don't care about that schedule," Toph whispered to Sokka, who just sighed in response.
"What do you mean I don't care about Aang?" Zoka shouted at Katara. "I saved him from getting kidnapped at the very Stronghold we're going to right now."
"Bitch, please, I've saved his ass more times then I can count!" Katara started moving closer to Zuko, her hands flailing around.
"I know!" Zuko continued, standing up and walking towards Katara. " I'm just saying that there's a possibility that he could be dead! I've seen what Azula can do, and it's not pretty!"
"He's probably still alive. Why would Azula kill him?"
"She's crazy, not stupid."
"Exactly!"
"Exactly!"
The argument had escalated to such a degree that the pair didn't realize that Sokka and Toph were laughing at them. Confused, Katara looked at Toph and pointed. "Why are you laughing?! What part of this is funny?"
"It's more of the fact that you both agree with each other but are too loud to realize it," The Earthebnder replied while holding her side. Sokka was on the ground rolling around with tears in his eyes.
"Sokka, get up, it wasn't that funny," Katara said while grabbing her brother by the ear, pulling him up to his feet.
"Ow, ow, ow!" he yelped as he was being dragged to Appa. "Okay, it wasn't that funny, I get it."
Zuko and Toph laughed at the siblings as they packed up their things and loaded them onto Appa.
Eventually, the group got their belongings onto Appa and Sokka took the reins. They flew up into the cool morning air. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and all was peaceful. Everything was going smoothly and at this rate they would be arriving at the Stronghold tomorrow afternoon.
The group had been in the sky for a few hours when something felt off. Katara couldn't quite explain it, but something in her gut told her that something was wrong.
"Hey, you guys smell that?" Sokka said from the front of Appa.
"Yeah," Katara pondered, "it smells like something is burning. But how can we smell it from up here?" She looked over the saddle to the ground.
"Sokka, fly lower to the ground," Zuko commanded as he was trying to figure out what was causing the fires.
"No, we have to stay on schedule," Sokka said affirmatively. "If we stop to put out the fires, we risk being late and not knowing how to rescue Suki."
"Sokka, we are just gonna put out the fire," Katara said as she gathered up water from the clouds into her palms. "We don't have to figure out how it happened."
"Fine," Sokka sighed, and commanded Appa to land on a patch of land that wasn't on fire.
Toph and Katara jumped out of the saddle and started running towards the trees that were on fire.
"Is this how you feel all the time?" Zuko asked Sokka, who was also sitting in the saddle waiting for the girls to return.
"What? The feeling of being totally useless while everyone else goes to save the world without you?" Sokka looked at Zuko and smirked. "You get used to it after a while."
Off in the forest, Katara was Waterbending to try and put out the fire. She and Toph were slowly lessening the impact that it had. While she was using water, Toph was bending trenches and breaking up the ground.
"How big is this fire?" Toph yelled as she created another trench.
"This should be the last of it," Katara spoke as she doused the last of the fire. "Good job, Toph, we did it!"
"Yeah, only took an eternity," she replied sarcastically. "What could have caused this?"
"Hm, I don't know," Katara said while walking towards Appa. "Maybe someone didn't douse their camp fire or something."
"Yeah," Toph said. "I may be the greatest Earthbender in the world, but I don't think I could have put out that fire all by myself." She bended her way to Appa.
"Aww, thanks, Toph," Katara said cutely. "I couldn't have done it without you, either."
The girls arrived back at Appa to see both Zuko and Sokka asleep with Momo curled up.
"Aw, look at them sleeping," Katara said, pointing at the two boys in the saddle. "Don't they just look adorable?"
"Oh, you see nothing once, you see nothing a thousand times," Toph stated casually as she hopped into the saddle.
"You know what, Toph," Katara said, "fuck you." She climbed onto the front of Appa and commanded him to lift off into the air.
"No thanks, I don't swing that way, Sweetness," Toph continued, smirking. "But thanks for the offer." She smiled and settled into the saddle.
Katara sighed and flew Appa for six hours that day. She honestly didn't realize how long she had been flying. She was thinking about Aang and Zuko. She didn't consider how long it had been since she had seen Aang. She just kinda forgot about him. I'm sure he's probably fine, right? she thought to herself. She didn't have any doubts about Aang, or his abilities to get out of sticky situations; but she couldn't help but worry. "He has to be ok," she reassured to herself out loud. "He just has to be."
"Yo, Sugar Queen," Toph called from the saddle. "Are we gonna eat soon?"
Karate hadn't realized how late it was and looked at the now dark sky. "Yeah, we'll land soon."
She found a suitable spot to land Appa and hopped off. She started unloading all the equipment that they traveled with. Soon, she had everything that she needed for dinner and started cooking for her friends.
"Ugh, what happened?" Sokka groaned and rubbed his eyes. He was still groggy from the seven hour nap that he just took. "Did y'all remove the fire?"
"Yeah, sleeping beauty," Toph mocked. "We did that hours ago." She moved both boys out of the saddle, jumped out, and landed onto the ground.
"Sorry I wasn't much help today," Zuko muttered as he started pitching his tent. He walked back over to the group.
"Like I said, Zuks, you'll get used to not being able to help," Sokka said, patting the Prince on the shoulder and smiling, causing Zuko to choke on the dinner that he was eating.
"Did you just call him Zuks?" Toph sputtered in between fits of laughter. "That's, like, the worst thing I've ever heard."
"Okay, you know what Toph?" Sokka threatened, pointing his finger at the girl who just smirked at him. Realizing that he had nothing that he could say, he just sighed and continued eating his dinner.
After everyone finished their meals, Sokka told everyone that they needed to go to bed so that they could be up bright and early to get to the Stronghold in time to do some recon. Begrudgingly, they all agreed.
Each member said their good nights and went off to sleep, all trying to ready themselves for the final leg of their journey to get their beloved Suki back.