"It's gonna be great to hang out on the beach and do absolutely nothing!" Ty Lee smiled, crossing her arms behind her head.
Ty Lee, Azula, Mai, Zuko, and Naruto road a small ferry pulled by giant seal towards a small port on a small beach hosting island. Ember Island was the premier relaxation spot for anybody who could afford to make the trip. Everyone from merchants all the way up to the Fire Lord himself visited. It's tropical weather and sandy beaches combined with crisp blue waves gave it great aesthetic appeal, and being placed relatively out of harm's way meant that coming to Ember Island allowed one to forget a century long war was happening.
"Doing nothing is a waste of time," Zuko replied, clearly in a tight, as he stood up from his position next to a bench under a canopy,"We're being sent on a forced vacation! I feel like a child!"
"Lighten up dum dum, so Dad wants to meet with his advisors alone without anyone else around. Don't take it personally,"Azula dismissed his concern.
"Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island, Azula?" Ty Lee asked.
"We used to come every summer when we were kids."
"That must've been real fun." Ty Lee replied, stars in her eyes as she thought of the prospect of such a luxurious vacation being taken yearly.
Zuko looked out to the ocean, his uncut hair hanging into his face,"That was a long time ago."
Azula was about to reply, when a retching sound interrupted her. Turning, she noticed Naruto returning from one of the boat's lower decks, his face half way between a ghost white and a pale green.
He slumped to the floor, back against the railing and his head between his knees,"Note to self, stop eating on boats."
Azula almost couldn't believe her eyes. "Are you sea sick?"
Naruto nodded weakly, not even bothering to raise his head,"I'm okay on larger boats because they don't rock as much, but on a small one like this its rou-hurk!"
Naruto hopped up from his seated position, and rushed back down the stairs to deposit the rest of his lunch into the ocean via violent upchuck.
Ty Lee sweat dropped as Azula's eye began to twitch,"It's weird how someone as powerful as Naruto gets seasick."
"Stupidity…" was all Azula could mutter in response.
They reached the shore shortly after, and were greeted at the docks by Lo and Li, in matching sun hats and island attire. "Welcome to Ember Island, kids."
The beach house that had been prepared for them was not at all up to the high standards of Azula, if the strained look on her face was any indicator. Meanwhile Mai, Zuko, and Ty Lee just looked confused.
Naruto, who had finally stopped vomiting, jumped over the railing and onto the doc and began to dramatically kiss the solid ground as everyone else disembarked. As she walked by, Azula grabbed him by his collar and began to drag him behind her,"Stop acting like a fool."
"Azula, wait hold on a minute!"
The inside of the house had clearly been touched up by Lo and Li if the smell and design were any indication.
"It smells like old lady in here,"Zuko astutely observed.
"Gee, I wonder why,"Mai said with an eye roll.
"Hey, who are these women in the painting?"Ty Lee asked.
Naruto scratched his chin,"They look kinda familiar."
"Can't you tell," Lo asked.
Li finished her words, and the old women struck a pose similar to the young women in the picture,"It's Lo and Li."
Zuko found himself feeling sick, and Naruto had already been feeling sick. He sprinted out onto the balcony and began to dry heave, as his stomach had nothing left to give up.
A few minutes later, after Naruto rinsed out his mouth, the teens were led upstairs to the bed room, where Ty Lee instantly flopped down on a bed.
"I love this seashell bedspread." She said, rubbing her hand up and down on the mattress.
"Are you kidding me?" Mai sounded genuinely disgusted,"It looks like a beach threw up all over it."
Naruto clutched his stomach, shooting Mai a dirty look,"Watch the wording."
"Oh grow up, you big baby,"Azula interjected.
"We know you're upset since you were forced to come here this weekend,"Lo and Li spoke, alternating halfway through the sentence,"But Ember Island is a magical place. Keep an open mind, give it a chance. It can help you understand yourselves and each other."
Picking up a smooth stone from a nearby table, Li held it up to the teens,"The beach has a special way of smoothing over even the most ragged edges."
Azula yawned.
Lo and Li clapped their hands,'Time to hit the beach!" With that, they opened their robes, showing off old saggy flesh. Covered only in tight bathing suits meant for people at least fifty years their junior.
Mai covered Zuko's eyes as he stared on in abject horror, and Naruto felt his stomach flip again,"Oh no…"
The blonde sprinted down the steps, hoping to get as far away from the atrocity he had witnessed as soon as humanly possible, taking a quick break at the balcony to let the vomiting run its course.
About an hour later, the teens were walking on the beach, pursuing a spot. Azula walked in the front, shaded by an umbrella carried by Naruto, who was being forced to carry all of Azula's stuff. They were followed by Ty Lee, who was carrying a rather large bag, and she was followed by Zuko and Mai, who were huddled under the shade of the umbrella Zuko carried.
Azula wore a red swim bra with a single strap that looped around her neck and a red swim skirt. Naruto wore black shorts with gold trim, over which he wore an black vest that bore his chiseled abdominals to the world. Ty Lee wore a white bikini top that bore her impressive cleavage to the world and a white skirt. Mai, clearly not intending to get wet, wore a long red floor length skirt and a red strapless top, while Zuko wore a red robe with gold trim over red shorts.
Azula, seeing the spot she wanted was occupied by two small children building a sand castle, did the sensible thing, stomping the sand castle flat and offering an evil smirk to the kids until they sprinted off crying, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Azula quickly kicked their sand bucket out of the way, and Naruto stabbed the umbrella into the ground, dropping the Azula's bag to mark the territory as their own.
Before Ty Lee could even put her bag down, a generic looking scrub was at her side, a dopey grin on his face,"Hey, you need some help unpacking?"
"Uh, sure. Thanks!" Ty Lee replied with a smile, shoving her bag into his hands and almost causing him to fall over at the weight.
Azula watched with a small bit of jealousy as the boy unpacked Ty Lee's bag and set up her towel, even going as far as to stand over her to prevent her from getting hit with direct sunlight.
'I'm the princess of the Agni forsaken Fire Nation, what does she have that I don't?' Azula questioned within her mind. But as Ty Lee laughed at a joke told by the boy (that in actuality wasn't all that funny), her chest heaved, and Azula became acutely aware of the main department Ty Lee had her beat in.
Looking down to her own chest, which while acceptable for someone her age was nowhere near as impressive as Ty Lee's, Azula griped,'It's unfair.'
Azula wasn't really jealous of Ty Lee's rack as much as it was the attention that it brought. There she was, by all means a commoner, not lifting a finger while she was about to be forced to lay out her own towel. 'Actually…'
Azula turned to Naruto, who had his hand to his forehead, shading his eyes as he scoped the beach, obviously trying to figure out what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go, "Naruto."
Naruto pulled his hand from his forehead, "Yeah princess?"
Azula pushed her bag towards Naruto with her foot, "Unpack my bag."
"Huh? Why would I do that?"Naruto asked absentmindedly, still scoping the beach.
Azula narrowed her eyes, "Because I told you to."
Naruto looked at Azula, an eyebrow raised, trying to gauge if she was being serious. Seeing no joke in her eyes, Naruto shrugged, "Alright, alright, jeez."
Naruto crouched down and began unpacking Azula's stuff, grumbling just a bit under his breath as he did so. But sure enough, moments later Azula was sitting on her blanket in the shade with all her stuff spread out around her.
"Good. Now go get me a cool drink."
Naruto dead panned, then pointed an accusatory finger at Azula, "You made me come out here to be your butler didn't you?"
Azula smiled, "What gave you that idea? Now shoo, I'm getting thirsty."
Naruto stormed away in an almost childish manner, cursing under his breath with a glower on his face that caused most other beach goers to simply step out of his path.
Meanwhile, Zuko and Mai were sitting under their umbrella in silence, just enjoying the beach and each other's company. Zuko noticed a seashell to the side of their blanket. It was a small cream colored conch shell, barely big enough to fill Zuko's hand.
Zuko presented his find to Mai, "Here, this is for you."
"Why would I want that?"
"I saw it and I thought it was pretty,"Zuko explained, his mood slightly dampened, "Don't girls like stuff like this?"
Mai scoffed, looking away, "Maybe stupid girls."
His good mood now essentially ruined, Zuko chucked the shell off to his side, "Forget it."
The shell landed behind a very well muscled gentleman who, upon hearing the shell land, turned to see what was going on. Upon turning, he found himself entranced by the sight of Ty Lee, mid-hair flip and laughing. Picking up the shell and moving at speeds that suggested instant teleportation is possible, he appeared before her on his knees, presenting the shell with both hands and completely ignoring the comparatively skinny boy who was already standing in front of her.
"Wow, thanks!" Ty Lee took the shell with a smile. "This is so pretty."
"Not as pretty as you are," the muscle bound behemoth replied smoothly, causing the skinny boy to steam behind him.
"That shell's not so great!" The boy yelled, angry that someone was muscling in on Ty Lee right in front of him.
Ty Lee didn't really care about his opinion on the shell. What she did care about, however, was the fact that the skinny boy had moved, leaving her in direct sunlight, "Ahem, shade, shade?"
Zuko, still trying to be a halfway decent boyfriend, had walked off to get himself and Mai some ice cream. Returning with two cones, Zuko presented one to Mai, "I thought since it was so hot…"
Unfortunately for the once banished prince, the ice cream hadn't been pressed deeply enough into the cone to secure it, and as a result it almost instantaneously fell off the cone and into Mai's lap due to the angle at which Zuko held it.
Mai deadpanned, "Thanks, I feel truly refreshed."
Naruto finally returned bearing a fruity beverage for Azula in some sort of melon, and some water for himself. "Here, I had the guy at the stand juice it in front of me so it's fresh."
"Good," Azula replied, taking a sip. It was good, and had definitely been kept sufficiently cool to be a refreshing beverage. Naruto simply stood by, downing his water quickly, because nothing put a damper on a beach day quite like dehydration.
They were like this for a while, Naruto just basking in the sun while Azula enjoyed her beverage. Soon enough, Azula finished her melon drink, and boredom started to rear its bland head.
It was then that Azula noticed a game of beach ball in a nearby circle, complete with a net and a referee and everything.
Standing up, Azula looked over to their small group. "Everyone, we're playing."
Looking to Ty Lee specifically, who was being fanned by two boys while a third held up his towel to protect her from the sun, Azula called, "Ty Lee, get over here."
Ty Lee, hearing the order, began to walk in on her hands to where Azula was.
Zuko stood, taking his robe off with a small flourish that caused a small group of girls nearby to blush and giggle as they took in his slim but still muscled body. Zuko would never admit it, but the attention gave him a good feeling.
Naruto simply raised his body temperature, causing his vest to smolder, falling apart and catching on fire in all the places needed to secure it to Naruto's form. Naruto stretched his arms overhead as the shirt fell from his body, causing the same group of girls who had been swooning for Zuko to feint, at least two of them having a nose bleed.
Naruto smirked, but his smirking turned to a frown when Azula crossed her arms and looked at him disapprovingly, "What?"
"Just for that, you don't get to play."
"Huh?" Naruto was shocked, "Oh come on, I was just having some fun."
"Nope," Azula turned her back on him, chin in the air, "the game is for four people anyway, you can make yourself useful by going and getting me another drink."
"But I-"
"No buts, now hurry up before they sell out."
Naruto stomped away again, cursing, this time quite literally steaming. Azula had to resist the urge to laugh out loud as she grouped up with Ty Lee, Mai, and Zuko to begin the game.
It turned out to be a massacre. Before the game started Azula had picked apart the opposing team's weaknesses in the group huddle, everything from pre existing injuries to hesitancy to inexperience. As a result, the squad had been able to decimate the other team on all fronts, not even allowing them to score once.
The end of the game came when the opposing team sent the ball high in the air with relatively no speed. Azula and Zuko saw the opportunity, and Zuko crouched down, allowing Azula to spring-board into the air and kick the ball with such power that when the ball hit the ground, it caused a minor shock wave to be given off that set the net on fire.
Azula chuckled menacingly, "Yes, we have defeated you for all time. You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation."
A moment passed, and Azula turned to Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai, who all looked brother nonplussed, "Well that was fun."
"You know…" a pair of boys walked up, one with his hair in a bun, the other letting it hang. They wore similar shorts to Zuko, and the boy who let his hair hang wore a necklace with a Fire Nation pendant. The boy with his hair in a bun kept talking,"we're having a party later. You should come." He said this looking directly at Ty Lee.
Ty Lee smiled at them,"Sure, I'd love to come! I love parties!"
"Your friend can come too." The long haired boy leered at Mai, who rolled her eyes.
"What about me and my brother?" Azula asked, crossing her arms. "Aren't you gonna invite us? You don't even know who we are, do you?"
The boys looked at each other, not impressed. "Don't you know who we are? We're Chan and Ji-Ran." Zuko lurked up from behind Azula menacingly, but she blocked his path forward with a hand across his chest.
Naruto chose this moment to finally return with Azula's drink. "Here you go, Azula. The guy said this is the last melon for today so enjoy i-. Chan, Ruon-Jian is that you?"
Chan and Ji-Ran became pale, and Chan forced a smile to his face,"H-hey Naruto, h-how's it goin'?"
Naruto ignored the silent question from Azula, smirking,"I haven't seen you two since you tried to gang up on me in an examination back in SSIP. Fat load of good that did ya!" Naruto chuckled."Hey Ji-Ran, did your back ever get better? You're walking, so they must've pulled some sort of miracle!"
Ji-Ran winced as he felt a phantom pain course along his spine,"Y-yeah, a couple weeks of rest and some acupuncture and I was good."
"Good, good." Naruto looked back to Azula, She looked thoroughly impressed with how quickly Naruto had used fear to take control of the situation. "What were you guys talking about?"
Azula smirked, "Chan and Ruon-Jian here were just extending an invitation to all of us to attend a party they're having later. Isn't that right, boys?"
"Y-yeah you guys are all invited!" Ruon-Jian replied hurriedly.
"O-of course, be at our beach house at dusk!" Chan tacked on.
Chan and Ruon-Jian looked absolutely sick. "A-actually Naruto, don't think we'll have time for that spar, but it'll be a great party!"
"In fact," Ruon-Jian spoke up, "we have to go set up for it right now! Bye!"
Chan and Ruon-Jian proceeded to run each other over in their attempts to get away from Naruto as fast as physically possible.
"Always nice to see old victim- I mean friends! Always nice to see old friends." Naruto turned to Azula, Ty Lee, Zuko and Mai, "so what did I miss?"
"Azula, why didn't you tell those guys who we are?" Ty Lee questioned.
Azula looked down at her plate in thought. They were back at the beach house, sitting at the table out on the patio, eating a meal prepared by Lo and Li (who were surprisingly good cooks). The table was six sided. Li sat at the head of the table, with Azula to her right and Zuko to her left. Lo sat at the foot of the table, with Ty Lee to her left and Mai to her right. Naruto meanwhile had chosen to take a plate and sit on the balcony railing.
"I don't know. I was intrigued I guess,"Azula replied."Most people tend to worship us-"
"And they should," Ty Lee interrupted.
"Of course, and I love it, but I guess I just wanted to see what it would be like to be treated normally."
"Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate." Li said.
"Ember Island reveals the true you!" Lo added. The elderly twin sisters stood up, doing a small dance,"To the party!"
"Wait, before we go," Zuko turned to address Naruto. "How do you know those guys?"
Naruto, who had been in the middle of stuffing his face, swallowed the food in his cheeks, letting out a loud satisfied belch,"Excuse me! But anyway, I don't know if you remember this, but way back in the day you guys saw me in an examination match for SSIP."
Zuko nodded,"Yeah, you won in a three versus one fight."
"Well ya see…"Naruto closed his eyes, scratching at the whisker marks on his face with one hand. "That's how most of my fights went, everyone would gang up on me because I was the biggest threat, I'd pull the win outta my ass, because I'm great!"
"That doesn't explain how you know Chan and Ruon-Jian,"Azula cut in.
"Patience, Princess. Anyway, Chan and Ruon-Jian were SSIP kids too, but because their fathers are high ranking military officials, they got a lot of leeway. Always towards the front of the line in the mess hall, drill leaders were way less harsh on them, they got picked for examination matches less and less." Naruto frowned. "They got really big heads, and massive sticks up their asses. It finally came time for them to be put into an examination match. It was originally scheduled to be them versus two pieces of garbage not even worth mentioning, but I got myself put in the match."
Ty Lee was confused, "How'd you do that Naruto?"
"Well ya see Ty Lee, SSIP had a rule that if you wanted to request to be put in a examination match you could. Most people didn't because it didn't take you out of the pool of contenders for the next examination match, and they didn't want to get injured unnecessarily. I, however, was and still am slightly insane! So I asked to be put in their match. What I didn't realize going in was that they were having this match in front of their fathers, who like I said before, are pretty far up there in terms of the chain of command."
"So what did you do?" Azula questioned, genuinely interested in how the match went.
"Well Ruon-Jian tried to insult me so I'd get angry and make a bad move." Naruto shrugged,"He pissed me off pretty bad, so I made him feel my pain."
"How'd ya do that, Naruto?" Ty Lee inquired.
Naruto smiled darkly, "I tried to break his spine."
Ty Lee instantly paled. Naruto chuckled at her reaction before sighing, running a hand through his blonde mane, "Yea I think I just broke Chan's arm and leg, maybe his nose too. I don't really remember, we were all like twelve? Maybe thirteen?"
Shrugging, Naruto hopped up from his seat, stretching, "But that's in the past, let's go party!"
With that he walked off, leaving the group at the table with very mixed emotions.
Chan heard a knock at the front door. 'Who's here this early?'
Opening the door to the beach house that was going to be used to throw the party, he was surprised to find Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko, and Naruto waiting on his doorstep… at least an hour before anyone was expected to arrive for the party.
Azula wore a red crop top style shirt over a pair of low hanging three quarter length pants. The shirt was held up by a golden necklace laid with red gems, and featured a golden brooch under her bust with a stylized fire nation insignia.
Ty Lee dressed similarly, if not as fancy, wearing a dark red halter top with an extra tie in the front of a lighter color, and a dark red party skirt with shorts underneath, with a small chokey with a gold pendent at the bottom.
Mai wore a red party skirt with an extra sash around her hips in a brighter red, with a small fire nation brooch holding it all together. She wore a crop top, but was largely covered by a shaw she kept over her shoulders.
Zuko's outfit hadn't changed much, with him wearing the same shorts as earlier, but adding a red and gold party vest that tied in the front.
Naruto dressed in attire nearly identical to Zuko, wearing a black and gold variant of what Zuko himself wore. Naruto, however, shoes to keep the shirt untied, leaving his abs and chest largely exposed.
As a group, they looked good, but that didn't change the fact that by arriving too early they had committed a major party foul.
"You guys are here early," Chan acknowledged.
"I overheard you telling someone that you'd be partying from dusk till dawn. It's dusk, so we're here," was Azula's reply.
"I didn't mean it lit- you know what, come in,"Chan was about to rebuff Azula, but in looking at her, he caught Naruto's eye. Naruto stared at him with barely restrained blood lust, almost daring Chan to say something he didn't like.
Chan led them through the main room that would be used for the party. It was quite large, with a table off to the side that contained all the food and beverages for the party. Fabric hung from the ceiling in key places to give the room a decorative flare, and the wide open floor was broken apart by pillars used to support the ceiling.
Ruon-Jian was already there, fixing his hair in a small mirror off to the side of the room. Realizing guests were arriving, he turned to face them, leaning casually on the dresser like piece of furniture the mirror was attached to. Jerking his head to make his hair bounce, he greeted them, "So you're the first ones here, huh?"
Azula and Ty Lee returned a small smile, while Mai ignored him almost completely. Zuko looked miffed, but Naruto smirked at the boy as he passed, making a gesture with his hands that seemed to imitate the snapping of a twig. Ruon-Jian shivered, turning around quickly to retake interest in his hair.
"He thinks he's so great," Zuko sneered. Turning to Mai, who was walking slightly ahead of him, he questioned, "What do you think?"
Mai rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's thinly veiled jealousy, "I don't think anything about him, I hardly know him."
"You like him don't you?" Clearly jealousy had seeped deep into Zuko's mind, and it was not helping him make a good impression on his girl friend.
Within the hour the party was in full swing. Various teenagers from the beach had filled the room, engaging in lively conversation, enjoying some drinks (non alcoholic and alcoholic because apparently being able to put an order on a general's tab has perks) and food, over all just having a good time. One such conversation was between the well muscled boy from the beach, and another boy who wore his hair in a topknot.
"So how do you know Ty Lee?" The muscly one asked, attempting to feel out the competition.
"I met her at the beach today. Not to toot my own horn but I think she was pretty impressed with a sand pagoda that I made for her."
A scrawnier, smaller teen butted his way into the conversation, irritation clear on his face. Jabbing a thumb into his own chest, he exclaimed, "Well I met her first!"
The boys turned to the object of their affections, who had been backed into a corner by a large group of her own followers, her flirtatious nature seemingly catching up with her in a way she didn't quite enjoy.
"Look, it doesn't matter which one of you I saw first 'cause I like you all," Ty Lee explained, hoping to defuse the situation.
"Yeah, but who do you like like?" One of the lust driven boys asked, causing the whole cluster to lean in in anticipation of her answer.
"Yeah!"
"Tell us!"
The attention she was receiving had begun to wear at Ty Lee, and being forced into an on the spot decision was beginning to make her feel trapped. Frantically waving her hands, Ty Lee cried out, "I don't know, I don't know!"
Not being able to take the pressure anymore, Ty Lee closed her eyes and lashed out with a series of jabs that rendered all five boys unconscious. Quickly flipping out of the pile of bodies, Ty Lee rushed over to where Azula was leaning against a pillar. She was trying to fit in among the party goers, but found herself having trouble making conversation, which seemed to drive other party goers away. 'Where the hell did Naruto go?' She thought to herself.
In all truth, Azula had lost track of Naruto shortly after people started arriving en masse. She could only assume he had found a place for himself in the crowd. 'He probably found some groupies like Ty Lee.' The thought caused a shock of jealousy to run through Azula's blood, maybe even anger. She was brought out of her musings when Ty Lee spoke.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Those boys won't leave me alone!" Azula turned her face away to hide her expression as the bubbly chi blocker lamented her troubles. "I guess they all just like me too much."
Now if Azula had been thinking rationally in this moment, she would have realized that the words she had prepared to leave her lips were not only a bit too harsh to be used on someone like Ty Lee, but also entirely uncalled for. Azula, however, was not thinking rationally, and jealousy won a quick duel with common sense within her mind, "Come now Ty Lee, you can't be this dense."
Ty Lee became downtrodden, looking confused, her large doe eyes gleaming as she almost pouted at Azula, "What are you talking about?"
Azula expanded in a cold analytical manner, "Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. You're not a challenge, you're a 's not like they actually care who you are. In their eyes you're as easy prey as a common whore."
Ty Lee's eyes watered, and she struggled for a moment to hold back tears. Azula, seeing this, made to back track on what she had said, never having expected such a reaction, "Look Ty Lee, perhaps I was too harsh. Maybe I just said it because," Azula looked down, never having been good with genuine apologies, "I envy the attention you're getting."
Ty Lee's mood seemed to turn around quickly, "What? You were jealous of me? But you're the most beautiful, smartest, powerful, perfect girl in the world!"
Never one for humility, Azula replied, "Well you're right about all those things, but for some reason every time I meet boys they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them."
"But you probably would do something horrible to them. They're probably just intimidated by you." Azula turned to face Ty Lee, and Ty Lee put her hands up in surrender, "Look, if you want a boy to like you, all you gotta do is look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny."
"Well that sounds really shallow and stupid… I love it. Let's give it a try!" Azula bought in.
"Okay," Ty Lee placed her hand against the pillar, adopting an accent and beginning to imitate a boy spitting game to Azula, "Hey there sweet sugar cakes, how ya liking this here party?"
The laugh Azula let out in response was so loud and disturbing that quite literally everyone in the room stopped to search for the source.
"Maybe not like that, but not bad for your first try!" Ty Lee critiqued.
Elsewhere in the party, Mai and Zuko were sitting on a bench together, neither of them having a particularly good time.
"I'm bored." Mai drawled out.
"I know." Zuko replied.
"I'm hungry."
"So what?!"Zuko asked, irritation seeping into his tone.
"So go get me some food." Mai replied as though it should have been an obvious conclusion.
"Of course."Zuko replied somewhat sarcastically, but still stood up, taking his arm from around Mai and walked off to bring his girlfriend something to eat.
Back with Azula, the crowned princess of the Fire Nation, had worked up her nerves and approached Chan. He was leaned casually against one of the pillars in the room, talking to a rather nondescript girl.
Completely ignoring the fact that it was clearly an A and B conversation, Azula decided to C her way in. "Chan, I'm ready for a tour of the house."
Chan smirked, handing the random girl his drink and gestured for Azula to follow him; while Azula chose to sit her drink on top of the girls head, as though she were a table.
Chan led Azula out onto the patio of the vacation home, which was empty save for a small table off to the side. From there, the view over the water was stunning.
"This your first time on Ember Island?" Chan asked, leaning backwards against the railing and bracing his elbows against it.
"No, my family used to come here years ago." Azula answered, trying her best to keep her voice soft. This was her chance to be normal, and she wasn't going to blow it!
"It's a great place, if you like sand that is!" Chan made a lame joke, and Azula chuckled in response, not actually finding the joke funny but defaulting to Ty Lee's advice.
It was apparently the right decision, as Chan kept pouring on his "charm", "Yeah it's like 'welcome to sandy land'." They shared a brief laugh, and Chan moved towards Azula, changing the way he leaned against the railing so that they were shoulder to shoulder looking out on the water together.
"Your arms look so strong,"Azula complimented.
Chan flexed his bicep with a smirk, "Yeah, I know."
Chan leaned in for a kiss, and Azula accommodated him. They're lips met, and Azula tasted something sharp on her pallet.'Alcohol,' Azula didn't really care. Her goal had been accomplished, and this was it.
The kiss broke, and Chan looked to Azula with half lidded eyes, a small smile on his face, "You're pretty."
Azula smiled sweetly, before her face morphed into something sinister. "Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world!" She declared raising her palms, blue flames igniting within them and giving her the look of someone mad with power.
Chan sweat dropped, utterly unsure of what was happening. His brain indicated to him that this woman was dangerous, and he agreed with that indication and made moves to ensure his own safety. "I, uh, gotta go."
He proceeded to shuffle away, making sure not to turn his back on Azula as he hurried to get away from her as fast as possible.
Azula frowned, a sour look coming over her face, "Tsk, coward."
Little did she know she was being watched at that very moment.
Back inside the party, Zuko had finally gotten through the small line to get to the food and was preparing Mai a plate. He turned away from the table, beginning his journey back to where the object of his affections was seated, when an errant hand from a nearby party goer knocked the plate from his hand.
Rounding on his fellow teen in anger, Zuko admonished him, "Hey watch it! I needed that food to feed my cranky girlfriend!" He pointed in the direction of Mai.
The party goer followed his finger, and he winced, "She was yours when you left, but she might not be your girl anymore."
"What're you talking about, of cou-" Zuko looked towards Mai, and was shocked to find her being talked to by Ruon-Jian.
As Zuko stood there slack jawed, the party goer sighed and tossed an arm around his shoulder, "Happened to me too bud, the best thing you can do now is just let her go. Here," depositing a cup in Zuko's hand, who was still trying to process what he was seeing, the teen patted Zuko on the chest, "take a sip of that, be sad for a few minutes, drink a couple more of those, get laid tonight. I guarantee by tomorrow you'll wake up and won't even think about her. All you gotta do is get shitfaced my friend, that's the answer."
Zuko dropped the cup on the floor, shrugging the boys arms off of him, and charged towards Ruon-Jian, tunnel vision making him disregard everything else.
The teen, who had thought he had found a comrade in heartbreak, shrugged and turned back to his original conversation.
Zuko quickly closed on Ruon-Jian, grabbing him, turning him, and pushing him away from Mai in the span of a second. Ruon-Jian stumbled for a moment, before turning to face Zuko, fixing his hair. "What are you doing?"
"Stop talking to my girlfriend," was Zuko's snarling response.
"Relax," Ruon-Jian stepped forward, his voice and posture dictating that he wasn't even bothered, "It's just a party."
Zuko's reply was to palm thrust him in the chest, sending him flying back into a pot which shattered under his weight, leaving him dazed.
Mai had seen enough by this point, grabbing Zuko's shoulder and turning him to face her. For the first time in quite a while, the look on her face wasn't one of irritation, but of pure anger, "Zuko, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
"What the fuck is wrong with me?!" Zuko was aghast.
"You're temper is out of control! You blow up over every little thing. You're so damn impatient, and hotheaded and angry!"
"Well atleast I feel something," Zuko bit back, "as opposed to you! You don't give a damn about anything. You have no passion! You're always just a big fucking blah!"
Mai turned her back on Zuko, "It's over Zuko. We're done."
Zuko was shocked, but shock was quickly overcome by anger. Setting his face in a frown, Zuko turned away, crossing his arms.
It was at this moment that Chan came over to find the source of the commotion, but was shocked to see shattered pottery on the floor. Clutching his hair, he yelled, "Who broke my nana's vase?!"
Ruon-Jian, who had just extracted himself from the aforementioned wrecked vase, pointed at Zuko. Chan quickly rounded on the scarred teen, "That's it, you are out of here buddy."
"I was just leaving" Zuko stomped over to the door, kicking it open, and then slamming it as hard as possible behind him.
"Have fun by yourself loser boy!" Ruon Jian called out after him. Chan gave him props for the sad attempt at a joke, initiating their childhood secret hand shake. Mai just looked on, unsure of all that had just occurred.
Zuko stormed along the beach, the sounds of the ocean doing little to sooth his raging spirit as he looked for something, anything to take his attention.
As he stepped around a large stone, likely a remnant from when the island had been formed by volcanic eruptions, he found himself looking up the base of a small hill. At the top of the hill sat a large house, a summer house by design, with a path leading up to it.
Zuko remembered it. After all, he had spent many summers there as a child. Accepting that his body had just walked here on autopilot, he walked up the steps leading to the house. About half way up, Zuko turned, looking at a small grassy section of the hill to his right, the blades of grass swaying in the night time breeze.
He had spent some of his happiest summers playing tag on that hill with Azula and (sometimes) their mother, and even less often their father.
As he ascended further towards the house, Zuko couldn't help but consider the time he had spent as young as a toddler, sitting in the sand and building sand castles with his older cousin Lu Ten, and a happy Iroh. 'Back before I was Prince Zuko.'
Getting into the house was easy with a well placed kick. In the main entrance hall, on the back wall was a portrait of his family. 'Everyone looked so happy,' Even the normally stoic Ozai had a small smile on his face,'Dad was smiling.' Zuko noted mentally. Looking below the picture, he found a small circular clay tablet with a handprint that couldn't have belonged to anything else but a baby in the center. Zuko laid his own palm over the hand print, his hand print, and sighed.
Taking the tablet with him, he went and sat on the porch, leaning against one of the posts that maintained the overhang over the porch. 'Why did everything have to change for the worse?'
He sat there for a while, just contemplating his life and all the events in it. He was so deep in thought he almost didn't here Azula walk up to him, "I thought I'd find you here."
Zuko's eyes drifted to his sister for a moment. Her voice was softer, held less of the commanding power it usually had. He disregarded it, "Those summers we spent here seem so long ago. So much has changed."
Though she didn't verbalize it, Azula had to agree. The last time their family had been truly unified had been all those years ago before their mother disappeared and their father became fire lord. "I suppose," was her short reply.
They basked in the silence momentarily, content in knowing that for once in what had seemed like forever they were on the same page.
"Zuko," the princess turned to the prince. "Come down to the beach with me. This place is depressing." Azula began to walk away, and seeing no other option besides sit and wallow in his sorrows, Zuko followed, and left the tablet behind.
Arriving at the beach, Zuko was surprised to see Mai and Ty Lee already there. Mai was seated on one of the rocks that had sat around the fire pit in a half circle formation to provide seating, while Ty Lee stood off to the side similarly to Azula. Zuko quickly schooled his features, however, not wanting to give in to the anger that was once again bubbling within him.
"Hey," Mai greeted him as he walked by.
Zuko turned to look at her over his shoulder, "Where's your new boyfriend?"
Mai looked away, seething.
"Damn, you were waiting to use that one weren't you Zuko?" The teens turned surprised to find Naruto sitting in the sand with his back to them, looking at the ocean.
"Hey Naruto, where did you come from? I didn't see you at the party." Ty Lee questioned.
Naruto shrugged without turning around. "Never was a big party guy. So I said fuck it, went and sat on the roof and did some surveillance. By the way, Zuko, Mai, you are very dysfunctional."
"Wait, how did you know we had a fight if you were on the roof?" Zuko asked the blonde, who merely pointed to his ear with one hand.
"I have really good ears, and ever since I got back from that training trip, my senses have been even better." Naruto casted a backwards glance over his shoulder. The moonlight hit his eyes and made them almost glow. "I know everything that happened at that party, probably better than you guys do. Real thin walls, ya know?"
Azula felt her stomach drop a few inches at what Naruto was implying, 'Everything?'
As he turned back to look towards the water, Naruto's eyes caught her's for the briefest of moments and she could almost hear his reply 'Everything.'
With the focus taken off Naruto, Zuko found himself regarding Mai, who seemed to be doing a light shiver. Sitting next to her, he tried to wrap his arm around her, "Are you cold?"
Mai slapped his hand away, and Zuko felt lost for a brief moment, his olive branch denied. That is until Ty Lee showed him mercy, exclaiming, "I'm freezing."
Zuko gave the girl a small smile of gratitude, "I'll go get some firewood then." Zuko turned to Naruto, "You wanna come with? I could use some help carrying it back"
Naruto shrugged, standing up and doing a light stretch, "Why not."
The duo left and came back a few minutes later, having gone to the royal family's old summer home and stripped it of any family portraits, as well as a wooden chair or two. They made short work of breaking it all down and tossing it in a pile in the fire pit, with Zuko being quick to light it.
"Zuko, you missed one," Naruto called out, handing him the last family portrait. It was the picture that had once hung in the entrance hall. Zuko looked at it for a brief moment, before tossing it into the fire.
"What are you doing? That's a painting of your family," Ty Lee was flabbergasted.
"You think I care?" Zuko asked, the anger he had felt earlier in the night rising with his irritation.
"I think you do." Ty Lee replied.
"Well you don't, you don't know me so mind your own damn business." Zuko turned away from the fire, turning his back to the group.
"I know you, Zuko."
Zuko turned, swing his arm out to his side, clearly aiming to take his frustrations out on the young chi blocker, "No, you don't. You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything is great all the damn time."
Mai tried to cut in to save her childhood friend who was getting hurt by Zuko's words, "Zuko, leave her alone."
Zuko had no intention on doing so, instead adopting a mocking replication of Ty Lee's voice, "I'm so pretty, look at me. I can walk on my hands, wooo!" He did a handstand to illustrate his point, locking eyes with Ty Lee as though he was daring her to say something. When she said nothing, he allowed himself to fall to his back on the sand and look at the stars, "Circus freak."
Azula began to chuckle, blocking her mouth with her hands as tears welled up in Ty Lee's eyes. Mai looked on at the scene with disgust while Naruto was largely indifferent to their minor worries. He stepped away a bit from the group and laid down on the sand, staring up at the moon,'Petty, pathetic, pointless.'
Ty Lee gained a fire in her eyes, "Yes, I'm a circus freak. Go ahead and laugh all you want," Ty Lee gestured to Azula, who had the decency to at least stop laughing, "You wanna know why I joined the circus?"
Azula rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "Here we go."
"Do you have any idea what my home life was like? Growing up with six sisters who looked exactly like me?" The girl stood up, gesturing widely, "It was like I didn't even have my own name! I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matching set. Atleast I'm different now! Circus freak is a compliment!"
Mai side eyed the girl, obviously irritated, "Guess that explains why you need ten boyfriends too, huh?"
Ty Lee put her hands on her hips, offense clear in her eyes, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"Attention issues. You couldn't get enough attention when you were a kid, so you're trying to make up for it now."
"Well, since we have me all figured out, what's your excuse Mai? You were an only child for fifteen years, but even with all that attention, your aura is this dingy, pasty gray pile of-"
"I don't believe in auras," Mai cut her off.
"Yeah, you don't believe in anything," Zuko agreed snidely as he stood up.
"Oh I'm sorry, I apologize for not being as high strung as the rest of you." Mai snapped back quickly.
"I'm sorry too! I wish you would be a little high strung and crazy for once instead of keeping your emotions bottled up inside." Pointing at Ty Lee, Zuko said, "She just called your aura dingy, are you really just gonna take that?!"
"What do you want from me?"Mai questioned, leaning back on the rock. "A teary eyed confession about how hard my childhood was? Well it wasn't. The fact of the matter is that until a year ago I was a rich only child who got whatever she wanted as long as I behaved and sat still and didn't speak until spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad's political career to think about."
"Well, that's it then,"Azula began to analyze what Mai said,"You had a controlling mother with certain expectations, and if you strayed too far from them you were punished. That's why you are afraid to show you care about anything and why you can't express yourself."
"You want me to express myself? Fine," Mai stood up, her fists balled up to her sides, "Leave me alone!"
From his position in the sand, Naruto let out a snort. Mai rounded on him instantly, "You have something to say to Naruto?"
"Yes actually, you're all pathetic."
"Oh yeah? Then what about you Naruto? You look down on all of us but how was your childhood," Zuko challenged.
Naruto sat up, releasing a bit of heat and making the tense atmosphere even more tense. But despite the release of energy, he didn't even look at the crowned prince. "You know how many Fire Nation kids wish they could be you guys? With all the problems you have, there are kids who would give up an arm to have half of what you have."
Naruto stood, walking over to face Zuko, "Your father banished you, yet he sent you off with your own ship, a full crew, extra soldiers to protect you, your uncle, and essentially unlimited resources on top of giving you a way to earn your way back into his good graces. You're far from the first person in the history of the royal family to be banished."
Turning, he looked at Mai,"Your mother was controlling. Yeah, you felt like you were trapped, but you had friends. You had people that loved you. You had your own room for Agni's sake." Looking over to Ty Lee,"You lacked the ability to be yourself, but that was your biggest priority. You had six siblings who cared for you, and your family still managed to put enough food on the table for you." At this point a sneer had formed on Naruto's face, and Zuko (who was still standing directly next to him) had begun to sweat as Naruto's bending responded to his rage."All of you are ungrateful pussies. It's disgusting to me."
"And what happened to you Naruto? What about your life was so bad?" Azula questioned, and all eyes turned to the blond.
Naruto's eyes flickered around for a moment, before he crossed his arms. Staring at the fire, he told his story, "I never had a family. Never knew my parents. As far as I know I was dropped off at an orphanage the day I was born. Orphanage wasn't the nicest one in the fire nation, full of dirty, hungry kids without enough blankets to keep everyone warm."
Naruto paused for a moment, listening to the combined ambiance of crackling fire and the waves against the beach. "Don't really know what happened to the orphanage. All I know is I woke up one day in an alleyway down the road. Finally found my way back to the orphanage, and there were a bunch of soldiers trying to smother the still burning embers. I was four years old, I didn't know what happened, and I was scared… so I ran. Ran as far as I could. I ended up sleeping in the streets for about two and a half years."
Naruto turned his head to the sky, "Have you ever been truly hungry? I'm talking about not eating for days. I was eating from the garbage, begging for scraps, doing everything. I ate the dead fucking rats off the street. Eventually I turned to stealing money for food or the food itself. Eventually the town folk complained to the guards that a dirty kid was stealing and so they told the guards. Funny how those same mother fuckers never said anything about me sleeping in alleyways in my own damn filth."
"Naruto," Azula said, a warning tone in her voice. Naruto looked at her, before realizing that his clothes were actually smoldering. On top of that, Zuko had been forced to step away from him physically as to avoid being slowly cooked by the heat Naruto was giving off,
"Sorry," Naruto apologized sedately. He breathed in and out, calming his temper down and lowering the temperature around him back to a comfortable temperature. "I got picked up by my old master after the townsfolk hired him to catch me. At six years old I was given the choice to either start training for the military or spend the rest of my childhood behind bars."
Naruto looked to the group that was gathered in front of him, "Next time you go to complain about your lives, remember that as bad as you have it someone else has it a-lot fucking worse."
With that Naruto turned and began to walk off in the direction of Chan's beach house, his mind in a dark place. Azula called after him, "Where are you going?"
"Blowing off some steam. I'll see you later"
With that he walked away, leaving the group of Fire Nation teens to consider what had happened.
"You would never think that his childhood was so… dark." Ty Lee commented.
"You remember watching him at Ba Sing Se don't you?" Mai inquired, "When he fought those earth benders near the drill."
Zuko sucked his teeth, crossing his arms and looking to the side, trying to remain aloof given all that he had heard. It truly did put his life in a different perspective, comparing it to Naruto's. Zuko couldn't even bring himself to be angry at that moment.
Azula's mind raced through the possibilities of all Naruto had said. She had read his SSIP file. She had heard about some of his training with his former master, yet she hadn't fathomed the pain Naruto had experienced that turned him into the raging combat machine that he was today.
'I knew so little about him.' It was a stark realization for someone who prided herself on being able to read people, on being able to psychoanalyze them and find out how they ticked. Yet here Naruto was, up until this point an almost total enigma, his past now revealed largely just to sate Azula's curiosity.
They sat for a few minutes in relative silence, before Ty Lee spoke up, "I guess Lo and Li were right. The beach did teach us about ourselves, and each other."
Mai and Zuko shared a quick look between themselves, earlier anger settled. Wordlessly, Mai moved to stand besides her boyfriend, and Zuko wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to himself.
Azula stood, "I think Naruto had the right idea. Let's go blow off some steam."
"How're we gonna do that?" Ty Lee asked.
"Why, by crashing Chan's party of course."
Zuko smirked, "Azula, that's the best suggestion you've ever had."
The group quickly marched to Chan's house, planning on wrecking the place and making sure that they were infamous on Ember Island forever. What they did not expect was to find the place already absolutely trashed. Plates were broken, and tables were flipped. Chairs and columns had been reduced to splinters, the tapestries that hung on the walls had been either torn apart or in some cases burnt to ash. Even the chandeliers hadn't been spared from the onslaught of who or whatever had come tearing through Chan's summer home.
"N-no, p-please, n-no more." Looking around, Azula found the source of the frantic cries. It was Ruon-Jian, his once marvelous hair apparently had been either torn or sheared from his head in patches, leaving him with an uneven distribution of bald spots and matted tresses.
"What happened here?" Azula asked. Ruon-Jian, who had been rocking back and forth on the ground in fetal position, crawled backwards in fear, trying frantically to get away from them.
"Y-you guys brought him here! You were the ones who brought that monster back! Stay away! Don't come any closer."
"What monster?" Ty Lee questioned, genuinely confused.
"That would be me." The voice came from behind them, and they found a sinisterly smiling Naruto walking in, slapping his hands against each other as though he had just finished dirtying his hands. Seeing Ruon-Jian present, Naruto flinched at him, "Boo."
Ruon-Jian shrieked and promptly passed out in abject terror, his eyes rolling back in his head as he became still on the floor.
"Ah, good times," Naruto smirked. He returned his focus back to Azula and the others, "What're you guys doing here? Don't tell me you were coming back to this lame party."
"Actually, we were coming to do what you apparently did," Azula replied, gesturing to the damage around them.
"Ah, sorry about that," Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "I've been having a kind of rough day and I just needed to release some of that negative energy ya know?"
"Uh huh,"Azula dead panned at him. Looking around at the carnage, trying to ignore Ruon-Jian's unconscious body as it lightly spasmed on the floor. "What happened to Chan?" She questioned.
Naruto's face soured, "Let's just say he'll be found in the morning." His eyes narrowed, locking onto Azula's, "Why, worried about your new boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend?" Even though Zuko and Azula were by no means on the best of terms, Zuko still felt a brotherly urge to protect his sister from the horrors that were other men swell in his chest, "What boyfriend?"
Azula rolled her eyes, "I don't have a boyfriend Zuzu, I just kissed Chan at the party. No big deal."
"So the plan worked?!" Ty Lee almost squealed in joy.
"Yes, it did," Azula replied. Azula turned her attention back to Naruto. "Why is it even a big deal?"
'You fucking know why. You can see it, I can see it, they can't see it, but we both know!' Naruto roared in his mind. He could barely restrain his anger, and snarled out, "Nothing."
"That's what I thought," Azula replied, part of her pleased to see him flustered and part of her disappointed. "Alright everyone, let's go. We're going home tomorrow."
Later that night, Naruto was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was deep within his own mind, walking down the halls of the massive sewer tunnels that existed within his mind. The water seemed to be a bit higher today, this time coming up to just below his waist. Eventually, he came to the cage that contained the monster he had witnessed last time..
"So you have returned?" The voice of the beast echoed from deep behind the bars.
"I'm not afraid of you," Naruto declared. "You're just a nightmare."
"Do you really believe that, meat bag?" The monster's eyes became visible in the darkness, glowing red similar to Naruto's own. "You live in a world where spirits and humans interact on a consistent nature, where the very forces of nature can be bent to your will, and you stand here and say with such assuredness that I'm not real?"
"Then who the fuck are you? If you're real, how did you get in my head? And how do I get you the fuck out?"
The monster chuckled, "I've been called a many things over the years: monster, demon, hell I was once considered a god. But in another life, one long ago, I was your friend."
Naruto gained a look of confusion, "Ano
ther life? What are you talking about?"
"Just as your Avatar reincarnates, so do the spirits of ningen. All it takes for a soul to be reborn is power and will. In another life, you were considered a god among men, a legend seen only once in a century, perhaps even once in a millennium. In this life, we were friends, bonded at your birth."
Something clicked in Naruto's mind, "The flashbacks."
"Yes," the voice sounded pleased, "about time you figured it out. Those were images of your past life."
Naruto became quiet for a moment, before calling out, "What do you want from me?"
"Through powers you cannot understand, our very souls have become bound. Inseparable through space and time. When you entered the Pure Lands, I followed you. When you entered the cycle of reincarnation, I was dragged along with you. Once again, you became my cage."
"I don't understand."
"You likely never will, but that's besides the point. I owe it to you, to your past life, to try and save you from your hatred, from who you've become. For all you once did to save me, I will to help you find peace with yourself."
Naruto clutched at his head, and had he been paying attention, he would have noticed a light tremor go through the sewer he occupied, "This is so much to take in."
"I could show you it all, if you'd like."
Naruto looked up to the face of the beast in front of him, its once glaring visage offering him the closest it could to a smile. "Show me."
The monster extended it's fist, and Naruto on some sort of instinct did the same, "Let me tell you the story of Naruto Uzumaki…"
AAAAAAAAAAAAND SCENE
Jaysus that took a while to get out. It's worth tho, largest chapter to date. Big thanks to the homies and TKOTKOKING for helping me out with editing and storyline continuity. Hopefully yall enjoyed.
I really tried this chapter to focus on making Naruto a bit more true to cannon personality wise. He'll never be exactly the same but eh.
In other news, considering this story is probably on it's way to winding down its about time for me to announce officially that I have a new story coming out soon. The problem is that I have two stories that I want to do potentially and no real idea on how to do it, so I'll be putting up a poll on my profile to let yall help me choose that'll help me choose by the next chapter.
All love,
Kishi out
PS: Join the discord, we're starting to build our community!