Chapter 3

THUNK!

"Alright, now try it again."

Azula raised her arm, bent at the elbow, flicked her hand forward and-

Swish.

Azula growled and summoned a blue fireball, about to melt the blade where it landed. Maybe the grass was even dry enough for a forest fire; wouldn't that be nice?

Before she could throw it, Veata grabbed her forearm and leveled her with a glare. She yanked her arm out of the grip, but extinguished the flame as she went to retrieve the knife.

"You didn't have your arm straight," Veata remarked as she also stepped forward to work her knife out of the bark. "And it looks like you're only trying to hit the tree. Remember to aim for my knife. Aim small, miss small."

They walked back to the mark, where Veata threw her knife again, which embedded in the tree with a satisfying THUNK. Azula took up her stance.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as Veata stood closer, slightly adjusting her arms until Azula's throwing arm matched hers.

"Alright, throw."

Shck-swish. This time, Veata didn't stop her when she screamed and threw fire at the knife. But the grass wasn't as dry as she'd hoped, and the fireball burst harmlessly.

She stood there, fists at her sides, bending thin torch flames of blue fire as she breathed raggedly, trying to reign in her anger. Veata took a step back and glanced at the campsite, a dozen yards away and luckily out of ear shot.

She left Azula to herself and left to find the knives.

Everything in her was screaming to hurt her. Veata was the one who'd set her an impossible challenge. Veata knew she'd never thrown a knife before. So Veata should bear the consequence. Bear the burn.

But she didn't. It was a miracle no one had heard her shout, earlier. Mayumi would definitely hear it if Veata screamed too. The jig would be up and she'd have nowhere to go and no friends.

Not that she'd ever had any true friends.

Mai and Ty Lee had betrayed her. Matter of time, really, she was so stupid for not realizing sooner. They were always sharing glances, always scheming. Mai spent so much of her free time with Zuzu, that should have been her first clue. He betrayed the Fire Nation years ago, appeared to turn back, fed her his plans and-

The heat at the butt of her hands died when Veata turned her hands over and placed a knife in her palm. Azula glanced up to find Veata's face, too close and looking her dead in the eyes, like she was trying to keep her stable.

"Let's run it one more time." Azula hated it, but it worked. She was back to center, at least a little bit.

"Why?" She blurted the question before she could either develop the thought or stop herself.

"Because it's well past midnight, neither of us have slept much, and truth be told, these knives aren't even that good for beginners." Veata took up her stance and threw the knife. THUNK!

"I mean why are you helping me?" Azula clarified.

Veata hesitated for a second, her back still turned to her.

"Can a bitch not be nice to you? Remember to keep your arm straight."

She was about to throw when she heard a rustle in the bushes. A rustle and…a whisper?

"I loved you."

Azula saw red, turned, and hurled her knife in the direction she'd heard it. The blade finally stuck in a tree, but hadn't hit her target.

Ignoring Veata's shout, she charged forward, hands alight with blue fire.

She could see the movement in the bushes! She wasn't crazy! Her mother was here, to gloat over her failures, no doubt. Maybe as a spirit. Maybe as a hidden agent of her brother. But she was here.

At last, her mother emerged from the leaves and branches. Azula threw her fireball and illuminated-

The small fire ferret scurrying up a tree was the last thing she saw before something pulled her sleeve and dragged her face first to the ground, pinning her wrist to the mud. She turned to face her new foe, but her free arm was pinned next, twin blades poking up out of both sleeves.

She couldn't do much with it, but she lit another flame, to see by, at least. Veata slowed her jog to a walk as she stepped into the light.

Even pinned down at the wrists, Azula tried to look menacing. To force her flames into daggers. To growl like the wild animal that had bested her, again.

Veata was unimpressed.

She knelt down, careful to keep her braid away from Azula's hands. Again, she spoke in a low, steadying voice.

"If I let you go, are you going to behave?" Again, it worked, and Azula hated it.

Veata yanked the blades out of the mud and out of Azula's sleeves and offered her a hand up. Azula ignored it, choosing instead to stand tall on her own, to maintain some semblance of dignity, even as she carefully avoided eye contact.

"You fear me." Maybe if she said it like it was a fact, the girl's resolve would crack.

It didn't.

"Do I, now?"

Azula turned to her, trying to intimidate with a glare. It worked on the Avatar's crew. It should work on some non-bending brat.

"You know who I am. You could have run straight to the others, but you didn't. Because you're afraid I might catch you first. You're afraid of what I might do to you to keep my secret."

Veata scoffed. "Right. You want to know what you can do to me to keep your secret?" she stepped closer, until her face was all that Azula could see. "Nothing that won't immediately get you caught. Face it, princess-" she added with a smirk. "you're at my mercy."

Azula narrowed her eyes, but said nothing.

"You asked me earlier why I'm helping you. Here's a thought: I'm a nice fucking person who wants to help you. Especially given the whole parent issues thing."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Azula spat back. "Ozai was a great man and a good father! He was-"

"Was the only one who cared about you? Gee, I wonder why that was." Veata dragged her face up and ran her hands through her hair. "Look, just go back to bed, please. I'll see you for another round tomorrow night."

Azula narrowed her eyes again, but headed back to camp. Mayumi barely shifted as she got settled back into her bedroll.

A.N.: I'm considering dropping betabooks due to lack of response. If you want to review chapters before they show up here and have an impact on how this story progresses, message my tumblr ( theinvisiblegurlz) for the signup link. I have another story there, which I've decided will be share a universe with this one! Thanks for your time!