The true weakness of the Avatar is being lost in a dark tunnel with a pretty girl.
Aang would voice this thought aloud, but he's pretty sure Azula still blames him for not knowing the ground would collapse (when he had asked how he was supposed to know, Azula had replied with 'you're the Avatar' which is pretty unfair if you ask Aang) and trap them in an underground tunnel.
He could earthbend them out, but he's not sure if Azula blames him to the point of not talking to him or to the point of murdering him when he's too focused on earthbending to defend himself. He had asked Azula half an hour ago why she didn't just earthbend them out of here, and the resulting glare made him eighty percent sure she blamed him to the point of murder.
So they walk through the tunnel in silence.
Aang sighs. Zuko had made it look so simple! One field trip and boom! Instant friendship or, at the very least, less hostility. Who knew exploring the surroundings would be so dangerous?
"Why did you take me here?" asks Azula.
"I didn't know the ground would collapse!"
"You could have taken anyone scouting with you, and yet you took me and me alone. Why?"
Aang gulps. Azula analyzes words like a predator analyzes prey. Verbally sparring with her is less like playing checkers against chess and more like trying to blow away a tornado with a butterfly. Like trying to topple a mountain with a pebble. Like a candle trying to outshine the sun. Like a drizzle against a hurricane.
"You're stalling," states Azula.
Well, they do say honesty is the best policy.
"Um, I noticed you were getting along with Toph." Aang winces. He knows he hasn't answered the question, but if the exit is around this corner then he won't have to.
Azula stops walking.
They are just far enough away to where Aang can see the corner but he can't reach it without making it obvious that he is trying to run away from the conversation.
Azula holds a hand to her chin as though she is deep in thought. Aang is pretty sure she's mocking him.
"Beifong and I are both strong benders born into noble families. It makes sense that we would bond over our similarities. That doesn't answer my question," says Azula.
"We have similarities…" Aang avoids the word 'soulmate', an unspoken rule between them, "I wanted us to get along too."
Azula stares at him like he just told the setup to a bad joke and she is awaiting the inevitably disappointing punchline. "Why?"
"Huh?"
"We are already working towards the same goal, there's no reason for us to get along any further. Especially when you take into account our history." Azula smiles a cold smile. "Did you think I would set aside my loyalty to my nation for something as frivolous as friendship?"
"I told you, I don't want revenge on the Fire Nation."
"You want to claim ignorance? That you backed Zuko without knowing he was once set to inherit the throne? Even if that was pathetically true, you must now know that my puppet of a prince brother will not honor his nation above the Avatar."
"Zuko made his own choices. He was willing to teach me firebending despite the risks—"
"And you reward such willingness to assist the Avatar. Going against one's nation is no small feat, and it's not easy to find such defectors in the Fire Nation. Our nation is one that doesn't require an Avatar. Unlike the other nations, who are so inferior that they had to call upon the Avatar to stop us because they were unable to do so themselves. The cowards."
"The Avatar maintains balance," Aang says calmly, "and balance between the nations makes everyone stronger. There is no balance when one nation declares superiority. We're equals. Saving the world is in every nation's best interest—"
"Which is why I'm here, but that's not enough for you, is it? You hate that the Fire Nation doesn't want an Avatar. You need people to like you—"
Your father doesn't like me.
"Why didn't you kill your father?"
Azula's eyes gleam a brilliant gold. "The pacifist asking why I didn't commit patricide? I didn't know the Avatar had such a bite. You certainly keep things interesting."
"If you wanted to be Fire Lord then you would have taken the throne by any means necessary." Aang says quietly. He's watching her. Looking for any cracks, anything at all that will give him insight into what she's thinking.
Azula dims the fire in her hand until the gold of her eyes is hidden by shadows and Aang can't see anything at all.
"Very well, I shall reward you with an honest answer. The reason I never took the throne from my father…is because I've been madly in love with you this entire time. I cherished my time hunting you far too much to give it up for some silly throne. I even struck you with lightning as a parting gift."
Unamused, Aang stares back at Azula, searching for her eyes in the dim light.
"Oh, come now, that was funny."
With that remark, Azula makes to leave, but this time Aang is the one holding her back. Full lips form a disinterested frown at the hand clasped around her arm, but Aang still can't see her eyes. He cups a free hand above her flames and adds his own; red mixing in with blue. "We're soulmates. Doesn't that mean something to you?" He watches the shadows dance across her eyes— like seeing a sunrise through a storm — and waits for a response.
"Aside from the double bending? No."
