Chapter 10

4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Ruins of Taku

Traversing the steep mountain passes was more challenging than Azula and Katara had expected it to be, and the afternoon was already getting late by the time they reached the high point. Once they had made it that far, Katara found herself extremely exhausted, and she could tell that Azula felt the same, the princess occasionally wiping her brow to keep perspiration from pouring down her face. Katara would have preferred to take breaks more often, but she had to agree with Azula's point that they could not afford to lose more time unless they wanted the approaching nightfall to catch them still high up on the mountain pass. At least the descent would take them less time, even if they both understood that it couldn't be rushed. It was all too easy to place a foot wrong while being so tired, ending up in a nasty fall.

The view that opened to their eyes upon emerging on the other side of the mountain was nothing short of spectacular. At the feet of the mountain slope, there lay the empty white shells of the abandoned buildings of Taku, once an impressive and important port city of the Earth Kingdom. Built on the bank of a river of remarkable width, it had once served as an important stopping point on the waterway most commonly used to travel between Ba Sing Se and Agna Qel'a, but a particularly devastating Fire Nation raid had left it abandoned since the very early days of the Hundred Years War.

As they began their descent, Azula leading at the front and Katara following her, the waterbender allowed her mind to wander a little, reflecting on the recent events as she carefully made her way down the narrow mountain path. After what felt like a great progress the day before, Azula appeared very withdrawn and prickly whenever Katara had tried to instigate a conversation during the climb. Katara's first emotional reaction had been disappointment, but she had quickly reminded herself that she should not be surprised by Azula's reaction. The princess was going through a lot, and probably hadn't experienced her worldview being challenged in the way how Katara pushed against her long-held beliefs. It was only understandable that Azula needed a lot of time to work through everything that was happening. Katara realized that sometimes she would need to give the princess distance to process things, despite how eager she was to push further with Azula's progress.

Katara was also getting slightly worried about becoming a little too personally invested in Azula's healing. She recognized that she was already actively rooting for Azula to get better, but it was so hard to keep the necessary level of emotional detachment. She was not an experienced healer trained to assist with mental ailments. And she was interacting with a girl who was of her own age, a bright and intelligent young woman who had been groomed and shaped to become a monster, but who under different circumstances could have become someone truly great... and Katara wanted to hope that Azula could still make something remarkable out of herself.

And just how was she supposed to stay coldly detached under these circumstances? If she were truly dispassionate, then she would have to admit that it was entirely possible that Azula's indoctrination could not be undone and that she might well be a lost cause... but Katara did not want to let herself think that. She had to believe that Azula was not completely lost to her father's dark influence. Thinking back to her travels with Aang and the others, Katara remembered how often she had nothing else to cling on to other than hope. She was always the naive one who kept hoping for things to work out, and... despite hardship and suffering, things had worked out. Hope had never let her down before. Katara had to remain absolutely certain that it wouldn't happen now.

They were about halfway down the mountain, with twilight quickly setting in, when Azula suddenly stopped in her tracks, in need of a break as she leaned against the smooth rock and took several mouthfuls of refreshing water from her canteen, Katara following her example. "Most of those buildings appear to be still intact," the princess said, pointing at the ruins below. "With a roof over our heads, at least there will be no need to squeeze into that tent of yours."

"Yes... we should be able to find shelter in the ruins," Katara nodded. For some reason, she could not help but feel a little disappointed, but she did not want to think too closely about why she felt that way. "Anyway, shall we proceed?" she asked instead.

"Sure... oh, wait!" Azula's arm shot out as she grabbed Katara's wrist, forcing her to face the ruins below. "Look! There, to the left!"

"What am I looking for... oh wait, I see it!" Katara realized quickly, the encroaching darkness making it easy to spot the glowing light in the ruins. "Someone's making a fire!"

"So much for those ruins being uninhabited," Azula frowned.

"Do you think those could be the Dai Li waiting for us?" Katara asked.

"What? No, that's absurd, why here?" Azula shrugged. "It's probably someone else."

"Let's be careful just in case," Katara said, the princess nodding quickly at her. "Anyway, we're more than capable of dealing with anyone who threatens us."

"First smart thing you've said today," Azula chuckled, moving on to lead once again, Katara following her closely. It took the two girls perhaps an hour and a half to make it all the way down the slope, Azula having to illuminate their path with her firebending for the last bit of the descent, the night falling quickly as the sun hid behind the mountain range.

"I think we should find out who else is here with us," Katara said as they walked the empty streets of Taku, the ruined city appearing positively ghostly in the dark.

"Of course, we can't have someone sneaking up on us as we sleep," Azula agreed quickly as they traversed the streets on their way towards the part of the ruined city where they had spotted the lit campfire.

It appeared that neither of them were particularly stealthy as they were spotted well before reaching the campfire. "Halt!" a man's voice rang out from the dark, forcing them to stop in their tracks. "Who goes there?"

"Good evening!" Katara called back as the two girls moved closer, the waterbender giving the princess a warning stare to keep things civil. "We were told these ruins had been abandoned!"

"Hopefully never again," the man replied, Katara and Azula walking up to the campfire to notice that a rather large crowd had formed around it, men and women of all ages, as well as several children, a gathering of entire families. "Now, what are two young girls doing here, wandering around Taku at this hour?" the man asked them again. He was very tall and powerfully built, with arms like tree trunks, looking like he could give the Boulder a run for his money.

"We are... students from Ba Sing Se University, doing a field research project," Katara lied quickly, earning a smirk from Azula. "And what are you all doing here, if I may ask?"

"You may ask," a woman replied as she walked up to the man, most likely her husband. She appeared absolutely tiny next to him. "Our ancestors all have some ties to Taku, and so we have a claim to this land. Now that the war is over, we have returned to try and resettle this city... and by the spirits, we're not going to let anyone stop us."

"Oh... you've already started to rebuild the city?" Katara asked, looking around. It was hard to see much in the light of the bonfire, but it seemed as if the surrounding buildings had been patched up somewhat and appeared to be in a better shape than the buildings they had passed earlier. "That's very impressive, we wish you the best of luck!"

"Thank you, young lady," the woman smiled at her. "Why don't you two join us at the fire? We'll get you something warm to eat. You must be tired after your journey, especially if you came by the mountain pass."

"We did, yes," Katara nodded gratefully. She glanced at Azula, who looked very reluctant to take the settlers up on their offer. "Warm meal sounds good, and it means we won't have to do any cooking," she whispered, Azula eventually nodding at her in acceptance. "We'd be happy to accept your offer, ma'am," Katara told the woman.

Shortly afterwards, Katara and Azula found themselves seated comfortably by the roaring fire, both of them nursing a bowl of hearty rabbit stew which mostly tasted of garlic. Katara suspected that the amount of garlic had been added to mask the otherwise slightly dodgy flavor, however, after a hard day of walking and very little to eat aside from a few snacks, it tasted better than the fanciest Fire Nation dish. Katara still found herself amused when she noticed Azula subtly improving her meal with a generous pinch of Fire Nation spices she had purchased at the Harbor Town.

"It must feel very satisfying to reclaim the land that had once belonged to your ancestors," Katara spoke politely once she had finished her meal, passing the empty bowl back to the smiling woman.

"Damn right!" a younger buck-toothed man sitting at the fire nodded at her. "It's like sticking it to those Fire Nation jerks! We should have made them rebuild this town for us!"

"Eh, that's not going to happen," another man shook his head, looking disgusted. "King Kuei is too soft with those monsters. I can't believe he's making friends with the Fire Nation... it'll just blow up in our faces again, mark my words."

Katara cringed inwardly at the responses her innocent remark had prompted. She definitely had not wanted to spark a political debate or bashing of the Fire Nation, not in Azula's presence. Hopefully these people would not guess that Azula was from the Fire Nation, she did not exactly have any obvious features that straight up identified her as Fire Nation, especially not in the sparse light of the bonfire.

"I thought Fire Lord Zuko was rather reasonable, wasn't he?" she tried amiably, hoping to smooth out the growing ire with the Fire Nation.

"Don't let yourself be fooled, little lady. He may seem reasonable now, but just you wait," the large burly man who had spotted them first shook his head. "He still comes from a family that has produced nothing but butchers." Katara could sense Azula tensing next to her, the waterbender giving the princess a concerned stare, fearing that she might explode in a fiery outburst.

"I don't even think Fire Lord Zuko is all that reasonable," one of the women spoke up. "He almost started a war again over Yu Dao, didn't he? And the things he did during the war, burning villages, hurting people? Terrible! Sure, he didn't do anything as heinous as his father and sister did... now those two were real pieces of work!"

"Is your friend alright?" another woman asked Katara. "She looks really upset."

Katara glanced at Azula, almost starting to panic from how the princess was clenching her fists, looking ready to explode any moment now. "She gets very upset when she hears people talking about the Fire Nation," Katara spoke soothingly, reaching out to grab Azula's wrist, hoping to calm her down. "Fire Lord Ozai has hurt her a great deal." At those words, Azula angrily shook off Katara's hand, jumped up to her feet and bolted straight off, disappearing into the darkness.

"Oh... we didn't realize..." the large man said, looking saddened and apologetic. "I'm sorry about that. She must have had things really rough."

"Yes, she has," Katara quickly got up to her feet, ready to follow Azula. "I'll go make sure that she's alright," she said, dashing in the direction that Azula had disappeared to.

It didn't take too long for Katara to find the princess. Azula was standing at the end of the rubble strewn street, looking out at the dark waters of the nearby river, arms stubbornly crossed on her chest. Katara approached her slowly, standing alongside Azula for a good while before saying a word. "I'm sorry, but I had to say something," she spoke up eventually.

"You didn't say anything wrong," Azula ground out. "Fire Lord Ozai did hurt me, but... I still shouldn't have allowed these peasants to speak so disrespectfully about me and my family! I should have burned them all to a crisp!"

"Why didn't you?" Katara asked softly.

"I don't know," Azula shrugged stubbornly. "I guess... I guess I didn't want to prove them right. Although, why I should care about what these peasants think, I don't know..."

"Sometimes when you are arguing with someone and they say terrible things about you, you know that they don't necessarily think that, but they are just saying those things because they want to hurt you in the heat of the moment," Katara spoke thoughtfully. "But when people say unflattering things about you when they don't know that you're listening and you know that they're actually saying what they think... that's when it really hurts."

"I guess so," Azula frowned. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I shouldn't even be upset about something these peasants believe, they are irrelevant and not worth my anger."

"It's alright to sometimes be angry, Azula," Katara smiled at the princess. "Anyway, shall we go back?"

"Not going back there," Azula firmly shook her head. "I'll just spend the night in one of those houses," she pointed vaguely at the row of nearby dwellings. "You can go and make some new peasant friends."

"I'd rather stay with you, Azula," Katara spoke earnestly.

"I don't need you to stay with me, Katara," Azula insisted stubbornly.

"I know that you don't need me, but staying with you is what I want and what I freely choose," Katara would not give up. "Wait here, I'll go and get our belongings," she said when Azula made no more protests. "And don't you dare to run off again."

"Ugh, I won't... annoying, stubborn water peasant," Azula grumbled, but as Katara was departing, she could swear seeing the princess smile in the dark.

5 Years after the Hundred Year War
Republic City

Azula's head slumped forward as a moan tumbled past her lips. Katara might not be a big fan of using the strap-on, but Agni, she was so good with it. Once she had found the right angle of her thrusts, she kept hitting the same sweet spot unerringly and relentlessly, slowly reducing Azula's pleasure overwhelmed brain to gooey mush. Supporting herself on elbows and knees, Azula allowed her forehead to touch the sheets, as she enjoyed the view of Katara thrusting into her from behind. Past her swaying breasts, she could see the shaft of the toy, glistening with her juices, filling her so perfectly.

There was something about letting Katara take her from behind that made Azula completely mad with arousal, especially when she fantasized about someone walking in on them and catching the proud Fire Nation princess in such a compromising and humiliatingly submissive position. Just thinking about it all made her clit throb, and she struggled to keep herself supported on her elbows and knees.

Katara kept her hands on Azula's hips, holding her tight and steady, so that the angle of her thrusts would not change, a hard task especially when Azula's climax neared and she began to squirm and tremble. Occasionally, Katara would remove one of her hands to either lightly slap Azula's ass, or to run her hand down the slick skin of Azula's side to seize a dangling breast and give it a delicious squeeze. So far Katara had withheld from stimulating Azula's clit, since she was well aware that once she did that, it would inescapably push Azula into an orgasm.

Still, as much as Azula would have enjoyed for Katara to keep up the thrusts, she knew that the effort took a great physical toll on her lover, and she realized that Katara could not keep it up for much longer. "Do it, babe..." Azula moaned, Katara immediately understanding her meaning. The princess watched with fascination as Katara's hand slipped in between her legs, fingers settling against her hyper-sensitized clit, starting to tease it just the way she loved it.

Suddenly, with embarrassing haste, everything simply became too much for Azula. She cried out as she was dragged through a whirlpool of intense pleasure, intense heat blossoming and pulsating from her center and spreading throughout her body. She felt her muscles replaced with jelly and she could no longer support her weight, slumping forward in the bed, crying out when she lost the contact with Katara and the shaft of the toy that had filled her so perfectly.

The rapid beating of her heart thundered in Azula's ears as she slowly came down from her peak, breathing heavily as she struggled to rear her head. Glancing behind her through the curtain of her messy, damp hair, Azula could see Katara grinning smugly as she ran her fingers alongside the shaft, then licking the glistening digits and savoring the taste as she cleaned her fingers with her tongue.

Azula closed her eyes as she continued to recover from the incredibly intense peak, then gasping as she felt Katara rolling her over on the bed. She opened her eyes to watch her lover running her palms up her calves, until her hands came to rest on Azula's knees. Ignoring Azula's muffled protests, Katara began to slowly part Azula's knees, spreading her legs wide apart. Grinning wickedly, Katara hovered above her, lining the shaft of the toy against Azula's entrance and then plunging straight in, encountering next to no resistance as she entered Azula, the princess letting out another moan as she found herself filled again.

Instead of picking up a rapid pace with her thrusts, Katara instead settled for a very slow and soothing rhythm, as she lowered herself on top of Azula, their sweat soaked bodies melding together perfectly. Azula locked her arms around Katara's back as her lover's lips quickly found hers in a kiss that Azula wished would never break. When Katara held her like this, the sheer intimacy of it all always threatened to overwhelm Azula with its sheer beauty. She opened her eyes to look deep into Katara's cerulean orbs, almost feeling as if she could cry at the amount of love she saw reflecting back at her. Katara's thrusts had slowed down to near standstill, but somehow, that one final roll of her hips did Azula in one last time, and the princess hit yet another powerful peak, breaking away from Katara's lips and crying out in pleasure.

Katara continued to hold her all the way through the final ripples of her orgasm, smiling down at her lover. "I can tell you enjoyed that, Zula," the waterbender chuckled, kissing the tip of her lover's nose.

"Fuck, yeah..." Azula breathed out tiredly. "Babe, you always seem to know exactly what I need."

"You're getting pretty good at sensing that as well, Zula," Katara smiled at her.

"Thanks," Azula smiled. She could not stop staring into those sapphire blue orbs, drinking in the love and devotion that belonged to her, all to her. "Kat?" she asked quietly. Katara gave her a questioning state. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I know," Katara spoke softly. "It's alright, Zula. I love you, too. And you are so very deserving of love, never think anything else." Azula pulled her in for another kiss that lasted for a long while. During the kiss, Azula's hands slid down Katara's back to start undoing the straps that kept the toy in place, and it was discarded in short order. As they continued to kiss and cuddle with Katara on top of her, Azula could feel the heat and wetness of Katara's core as it ground against her thigh.

"I think you need some taking care of yourself, babe," Azula grinned at her lover.

"I wouldn't say no to some attention," Katara winked back. "But not immediately... I'm just happy to hold you, Zula. I'm always happy to hold you..."

Azula did not know how to respond to that, all she knew was that her heart was doing somersaults in her chest at Katara's words. And she also knew that she was never letting go of this beauty they shared.