Chapter Seven: Luminescent
As the sun dips below the horizon, Katara again insists, "I don't want to be a dragon mother."
Azula once more replies, "But you are one."
They both sit at a campsite a few miles away from the pier. Nestled among the trees, Azula maintains a very small fire and Katara fails at cooking fish. The princess does not even touch the burnt meat, but her new blue baby by the name of Kimiko devours it.
"I don't—" Katara stops and looks down at her red baby by the name of Mizu. "They're glowing. Azula, they're glowing."
When Azula glances at the two reptiles to verify it she sees that the bioluminescent scales of the two dragons do gleam in the darkness of the night. They look like colorful embers. Katara hesitantly reaches out to touch Mizu and he scuttles around in a circle to rub his face on her hand. She allows him to do it; she does not have the heart to brush away a creature that thinks it is her son.
Kimiko gleams cerulean, like glowing water or the brightness of her mother's fire. She sits contentedly on Azula's lap, purring. Apparently, dragons purr like cats. Katara never would have guessed that in a thousand years.
Katara inquires, "How do they hide from predators when they light up like that?"
"They are predators," Azula says, "and everything is a prey to a dragon."
"Then how do they not scare away their prey?"
"Can you not just enjoy seeing something no one has laid eyes on in over a hundred years?"
"When were the last dragons born? Did they kill the little ones too?"
"Yes. They died first because they were the easiest to slay."
Katara tucks Mizu closer to her and the dragon happily rests its sleek head on her knee. "That's disgusting."
"I know. No one has seen a baby dragon since before the war began. As far as I know, we are the first and should be grateful, not whiny."
"I am not whiny. If anything, you are the whiny one."
Azula ceases stroking Kimiko and locks eyes with Katara. Gravely, she says, "We need to go to Caldera."
Katara scoffs. "Why?"
"I want to," Azula replies.
Katara shakes her head. "That's not a good enough reason."
"This is not a democracy. You can walk home from here if you want. Me and Kimiko and Mizu are going to Caldera. I will extend an invitation, but I will not force you to accompany me."
"You can't take Mizu!"
"I thought you didn't want to be a dragon mother."
"Sometimes parents don't want babies."
Azula's eyes flash wide and she inquires, "They don't?"
"You…" Katara blanches.
"I am messing with you," Azula says, rolling her eyes. "All I want is to see the beautiful and glorious city worth burning the world over. It must be something, the way my father talks about it."
"Fine. There's a huge port there and I can find a way off this rock and back to my family."
"Then to Caldera we go."
Azula lies down and faintly smiles to herself. Kimiko flutters her glowing cerulean wings and then curls up right against her sleeping mother.
Katara shivers when the fire goes out.
[X]
"I hate rain. I truly hate rain," Azula snaps as she trudges through the muck. Katara keeps a lovely barricade around herself and Mizu keeps at her heels. Kimiko burrows into Azula's clothes to try to stay warm. "Rain is horrible. It is by far the worst thing I have ever—"
"The fight about who the whiny one is certainly has been settled," Katara comments, laughing at the drenched and dripping princess by her side. "Buuuut, we probably should get out of this ravine. We're about to get caught in a flash flood."
"Joyous," Azula mutters under her breath.
"Thank the spirits you're with a waterbender, huh?"
Katara starts to claw her way up the muddy edge of the valley. Azula reaches up, digs her feet in, and slips down, screaming. Katara grabs her and drags her to the top.
"We should take shelter until the storm passes," regally orders Azula.
"Fine. Then what?" Katara asks.
Azula looks out at the city in the distance.
"Then we start the hard part."
[X]
After a scarce dinner of berries that leaves both girls still starving, that night, Katara sees a shred of humanity in Azula as she lies awake with a growling stomach.
"Leaves from the vine / Falling so slow / Like tiny fragile shells drifting in the foam / little soldier boy / come marching home / brave—"
Katara knows she should not but she giggles. "What in Tui's name is that?"
Azula's face flushes flag red.
"I had no idea you were awake."
"You aren't a bad singer. I'm sure Kimiko appreciates it." Pause. "What's the story behind your dragon's name?"
"I will tell you if you tell me yours."
"Okay."
"Kimiko was the fourth Fire Lord. People revered her as a goddess and believed that she controlled the rise and fall of the sun. They brought her offerings of human sacrifice and would follow her onto any battlefield." Azula shrugs. "I admire Fire Lord Kimiko. It is nothing more than that."
"Mizu was the name of my friend. She was Earth Kingdom and her dad was helping the rebellion with mine. Her mom was killed by Fire Nation soldiers and her dad was her only family so she got stuck with us," Katara says, closing her eyes. "She died while we were liberating a town. I saw a guy slit her throat."
"That must have been disturbing."
"It wasn't as bad as my mom. I… I shut my eyes as hard as I could but when I have nightmares about her death I think I can see it."
"How did your mother die?"
"She lied. She told the invading Fire Nation soldiers that she was the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. To protect me. I was the real one, and she died saving me. I wish she hadn't."
"Well, she clearly loved you. Count yourself lucky."
"Mothers love. Mothers would love someone if they grew up to be a mass murderer." Katara subconsciously draws Mizu closer to her.
Azula bitterly scoffs, her reaction uncannily strong. "Your naivety is almost endearing."
Katara does not ask.
[X]
In the morning, Azula and Katara walk along the side of the ravine in silence. Kimiko perches on Azula's shoulder while Katara holds Mizu in her arms. They unrelentingly trek towards the city side by side, ready to accept whatever dangers lurk there.
After some time of traveling like this, they stop to catch their breath and drink some of the water Katara has been storing and Azula boiling.
As she looks out at the horizon, "I was born in Caldera," says Azula, "but I remember almost nothing of it. When my grandfather died, my cousin returned from Ba Sing Se victorious and the funeral followed by celebration party are the last things I remember of this place. I certainly do not recall so much rain."
Katara rubs her face.
"The rain isn't so bad. It's better than snow; you would hate snow," states Katara. "And it would do a much better job of freezing and burying us."
"I have seen snow," Azula snaps. "I grew up in Ba Sing Se. Winters are harsh there. I love snow, actually."
"What? But you hate being wet or cold and…?"
"It calms me to see the endless white, like frigid ashes covering the world. I enjoy melting it into ice sculptures like I did when I was a little girl."
"Huh," Katara remarks. "I would've sooner guessed that dragons glow in the dark."
"I used to go to this stream underneath the palace in Ba Sing Se. There are catacombs with crystals that glimmer brightly even in the dark. But that is not the beautiful part. I hate water, but the water there was so clear it was like looking through glass," says Azula, looking down at the water that she considers clear enough to be safe but cannot hold a candle to the crystalline pools of the crystal catacombs.
"It sounds like you had a nice life," says Katara. "Do you regret leaving?"
"I have no regrets."
"None at all?"
"I never have. They are beneath me," coldly says Azula, believing wholeheartedly what her father taught her about remorse. "They hold you back."
"They keep you from making the same mistake and they make you fix the one you made," Katara states, now fixing her gaze on Azula. She means each word she says.
Here comes the rain again. It begins to pour down on the girls, giving Azula a perfect excuse to rise, escape the conversation, and find shelter beneath a tree.
[X]
Azula washes her face in the clear but flooded stream that the two girls find. An ancient stone bridge branches over the foaming rapids; it means that their walk has almost come to an end. Thankfully, no one crosses it while they clean themselves up.
"We look like beggars," Azula says. "It does not matter how much we wash and put ourselves together. Even the poorest in Caldera do not look as shabby as us."
Katara looks up. She holds water cupped in her hand that Mizu eagerly laps up.
"Azula," she says, snagging the attention of the princess, "we survived a deserted island, crossing a flash flood in the wilderness, and the burning and pillaging of a city. I don't think we'll come out of that looking like royalty."
"You would never look like royalty," snarks Azula, which makes Katara roll her cobalt eyes. "You are a rebel peasant. I am the rightful ruler of the city we are about to enter."
Katara groans. "I'm seriously not explaining the fact that we're of the same social rank again."
"Good. I am sick of hearing it," Azula snaps, wringing out her overclothes and slipping them back on over her dirty slip. Kimiko mewls and claws at Azula's leg, begging to be held by her mother. "And so is my baby girl."
Azula picks up Kimiko, climbs up the banks, careful to avoid muddying herself, and begins to cross the bridge. On the other side, she sees a sign for the city and a bulletin board beside it. She and Katara are not on it; the Ruthless Sun must have kept their discovery to themselves.
But an invitation to a masquerade ball at the Caldera Opera House is stuck in the center. Anyone is invited; it is to be held for the entire public under Lu Ten's regime. Azula's head swims with the thousand fantasies. She has a chance to live the high and noble life of the city that should have been hers. This is a dream come true and she will do whatever it takes to attend this masquerade.
"Katara!" Azula calls and Kimiko squirms. "Katara, come look at this!"
The waterbender clambers up the bank and stands beside Azula. The Fire Princess points and Katara rolls her eyes.
"No, no, no, nope, nope, nope…"
"There will be a lot of food," says Azula, knowing that will win over her companion.
Katara wants to say no, but then her stomach grumbles louder than an enraged monster.
[X]
Several hours later, Katara stands in front of the building made of obsidian and engraved with gold wearing a stolen ruby ballgown and stolen red mask. Azula won this fight. The formidable fortress called the Royal Palace looms in the near distance. Azula smooths her own gorgeous and equally stolen dress and nods towards the door.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Katara says, sighing and following Azula. "I also don't think they're going to let us sneak two dragons in that ugly bag."
Azula holds it tighter to her body. "It is my purse, Katara. It contains vital make-up that—"
"Vital make-up that moves?" Katara asks, slipping open the flap to check on Mizu and Kimiko. She touches a finger to her lips and they both settle down.
"We will get lost in the crowd, I assure you. No one will notice the baby dragons," says Azula, but Katara highly doubts that. "Now, let us dance and enjoy the benefits of Caldera."
"You just want to taste royalty," says Katara.
"And you have no need to follow me. I am not forcing you to stay. I absolved you of your prisoner status as thanks for assisting my escape from the Ruthless Sun."
"I'm staying because I could use a nice dress and a night off after all we've been through," states Katara. "Plus, you're probably going to get yourself and Mizu killed, and I take responsibility for being a Dragon Mother now."
Azula smirks. "Shall we enter the masquerade?"
"We shall," states Katara.
They stride inside.
[X]
Katara focuses on the food. Never has she related more to her brother. After eating nothing but berries for days, she stuffs herself. She cares little for the people of Caldera or the stunning voice of the singer. They are only distractions from the food.
Azula briefly eats before she explores. Her father told her about the Opera House and she always wanted to see it. At night, she would dream about Caldera and the stories her elders told. Now, she sees it all before her.
She wanders through the party and more than one person tugs her into a brief dance. Twirling and swaying in the sparkling room makes her breathless. Azula does not know if she has been so happy in quite some time.
Then her bag begins to mrrp and wriggle. She dashes as subtly as she can through the crowd of people enjoying the party and finds Katara still at the buffet table, shoving a sweet roll into her mouth.
"We should probably get out of here," says Azula. Then music sounds.
"And announcing the entrance of your Fire Lord—"
Azula seizes Katara's arm. She yelps and Mizu squeals from the bag.
"We should really get out of here," Azula snarls, and Katara looks up at the stage. Lu Ten begins to stride down from the stage and Katara nods.
"I ate," she says, turning to her former captor. "Let's go."
"But I want to go through the upper floors. I want to see them," Azula says, "and it will give us less of a chance of detection."
"Okay," says Katara, shrugging. She does not care how they escape, as long as they do.
The girls step through the party as fast as they can. Then, Azula bumps right into the chest of a guy. He will grab her, of course, like everyone has tonight. He takes her in his arms and begins to sway to the music.
Azula at first thinks about punching him, until she sees the crown.
"I should go," Azula hastily says. "My friend is sick."
She spins and Katara nods at her. Fire Lord Lu Ten gazes after the girl in the jeweled dress as she and her oddly colored friend race through the party. He sees her bag moving and making a sound unlike any he has ever heard before and his suspicions rise.
Azula and Katara run towards the hallways and smash into the guards.
The Ruthless Sun. The Ruthless Sun is doing security.
"I am never listening to you again," hisses Katara in Azula's ear once she recognizes the woman in charge.
They dash up the stairs and make it into the shadowy, cold, upper hallways away from the sweltering and crowded party. The two girls make it to an upper room and shove open the door to jump down from the roof.
"Hang back and keep watch while I jump down. Then you follow me," orders Azula.
Katara thinks she might hurl, therefore, she lets the princess believe she is obeying. To tell the truth, she needs to stand still for a moment to keep her stomach from emptying its contents.
Azula runs and jumps from the balcony, but a strong male hand grabs her wrist and pulls her back up. He removes her mask and looks directly into eyes that match his own. Katara edges onto the scene and groans; the guards cornered her. This is what she gets for trusting Azula.
The waterbender looks at the silent, muscular man holding Azula by her wrists. His crown gives him away. As does Azula's speechlessness.
Katara would rate Fire Lord Lu Ten as a ten out of ten on the hot scale. She also would rate her situation as ten out of ten on the avoidable tragedy scale.
"Azula?" he asks, his eyes flashing wide. He walks towards her and she prepares to fight, but he pulls her into a tight and very confusing hug. When the embrace breaks, Azula stares at him in shock. "Family is always welcome."
That certainly is not true. They are in the midst of a Civil War.
But Azula does the smart thing and keeps her mouth shut.
"I…" Azula turns to Katara, as if she expects a fabulous lie to fly from her lips. The waterbender just stares at her with wide, helpless cobalt eyes. "I came to help you. I ran away from my father to help your efforts at the war, which is why I snuck into the city and entered the palace."
"Who is she?"
"That is my servant, Katara."
Katara glowers.
"And your bag is moving because…?"
A restless and mewling Kimiko gives Azula only seconds to come up with a lie. She falls short as her baby girl rises up from the bag and begins to glow in the dark. Lu Ten's eyes widen. Katara struggles against the two metal clamps the Ruthless Sun put on her wrists that suppress her strength and bending.
"Dragons," Azula whispers, knowing the truth will serve her best. "I hatched them."
Katara grits her teeth and rolls her eyes, rueing the day she did not leave Azula to die in the burning Shanxira City.
After studying the beautiful and miraculous sight of two baby dragons, Lu Ten fixes his gaze on his little cousin and says, "Perhaps we can work something out…"
[X]
Azula glances around at the palace, drinking it in like a bitter tea. It fills her with hot rage. Ba Sing Se may have been nice enough, but it was in ruins for Agni's sake. Lu Ten and their ancestors preserved this obsidian fortress palace to pristine perfection.
It smells like incense and prestige. Ba Sing Se always smelled of war byproducts. This place has a class unlike anything of her home. Azula runs her hands across the walls to feel closer to their smooth secrets. She gazes at beautiful features and studies the historical artifacts that belong to her family. It is a family she now feels like she never knew.
"The dragons are… interesting," says the cousin she never met, gazing at Kimiko and Mizu. "You say you… hatched them?"
"Yes," Azula curtly replies. "Katara and I found them on a deserted island once inhabited by the Sun Warriors. The eggs were buried in a Dragon Temple. We took them with us and they hatched during the fire that consumed Shanxira City."
Lu Ten stops walking and turns to her and Katara.
"Well, welcome to Caldera. I won't turn you away, since you broke off things with your father. I suppose you've heard some bad things about me."
"I know better than to believe every bedtime story, cousin," purrs Azula, winking. She plays at mocking him, hoping it will make her seem more comfortable and like less of a threat.
Lu Ten says, still staring directly at the two baby dragons, "Of course you do. What would you two like? Wine, uh, women—if you're not… exclusive."
Katara blushes and her jaw drops. Azula can only laugh at the presumption. She loves how much it bothers Katara and, despite finding her companion to be an enemy she would never fraternize with, does not mind. Katara is hot and her exotic status would make Azula looks enviable in the eyes of Fire Nation people. Azula would essentially own the heart and body of someone desirable.
"We're not together!" Katara exclaims, clenching her fists.
She clearly does not see, like Azula, how being the object of a royal's affections would boost her status. Or how they would never have to act on such disgusting suggestions in private.
Lu Ten glares at her. "You should keep your mouth shut, if you know what's good for you. The only reason you are not locked up in a waterbender's prison is because that dragon imprinted on you. I thought you both were mothers together, but I stand corrected."
Azula smugly smirks at her begrudged ally. Katara rolls her cobalt eyes.
"Right. Is there anything you want?" Lu Ten asks regally, gesturing at everything in the palace.
All of this, thinks Azula. I want to be you.
"I wouldn't mind a grand tour of the city I was born in, but not today," says Azula politely. "The hour is getting late. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Don't mention it." Pause. "To tell the truth, this is entirely selfish of me. I've heard what you can do, and now you have living dragons. You're an invaluable asset, and I want to keep you happy."
You sound just like your Uncle Ozai, Azula wants to snap back, but she smiles regally at him.
"I always trust those with selfish motives and no one else," she purrs.
He gestures at a door in these shadowy living quarters.
"Your room. You can share it with your Water Tribe companion," says Lu Ten. "I will see you both in the morning."
Azula hesitantly walks inside and Katara even more nervously follows. Unsurprisingly, he locks the door behind them. They stand inside the plush quarters and stare at each other.
"And now we're prisoners," sighs Katara, before beginning to furiously grind her teeth.
"Did you expect something else?" Azula cocks an eyebrow.
"I expected," says Katara fiercely, "you to have better sense than to get all caught up in pretending to be a royal, which got us captured."
"My cousin is not a bad ally to have."
"You can't possibly trust him. He's a monster!" Katara's eyes glisten with tears. Azula huffs at the display of passionate emotion.
"So are many people," Azula casually snaps. Katara clenches her fists.
"Do you trust those many people not to kill you and take your dragons?"
"He will probably go back on his word," admits Azula. "However, I think this will be a nice vacation after the nightmare we have endured."
"There is a balcony," Azula says.
"And you think we have several stories worth of blankets and towels in this room?"
"No. I think I need a bit of sunshine before I go to sleep, and Kimiko would appreciate it as well. The sunset already looks beautiful over my city," Azula says as she pries open the balcony door and walks out onto the obsidian. The wind whips through her hair as Katara watches from inside.
Mizu mrrps, poking her head out of the leather bag, and Katara sits down on the bed to cradle her in her arms. She rocks the lovely dragon to sleep, while Azula holds Kimiko and lets her look out at what one day will be theirs to reign over and own.
Azula gazes, rapt, at the sunset over the seaside city.
[X]
After the sun vanishes below the horizon, someone knocks on the door. Katara rises, sets down Mizu, and answers it to see a guard. He rubs his lips together uncomfortably.
"The Fire Lord has asked for you both—and your, uh, he said children—to join him for dinner," says the guard, and he backs away quickly.
Katara does not take that as a good sign, but she has not eaten properly in ages. She picks up Mizu, slips her beneath her shirt, and Azula does the same. They walk down the hall as the guard guides them and at last reach a gorgeous and ornate dining room.
The table is laden with food and drink. It smells of a thousand mouth-watering flavors, the sweet scent of perfumey dishes rising above all else. The sight of the feast almost makes Katara faint, and Azula adores it. It looks better than anything in her father's domain of Ba Sing Se. Azula touches the table and feels a smooth veneer that gives her goosebumps. The girls cannot wait to taste it.
Katara sits down and Lu Ten, sitting at the head of the table, does not comment on it. Azula takes a seat across from him and Kimiko wriggles from her shirt to look hungrily at the many kinds of roasted meat.
Lu Ten stares at the dragon, which both girls consider to be a perfectly normal reaction. They are the first two of their species in decades. Or are they the last two of their species?
"You two may eat," he says, and Katara happily digs in, again noting how little credit she gave her brother's obsession. Azula merely strokes Kimiko's head and studies her cousin. "Would you like something else, Azula?"
"No, thank you. I am merely wary of your hospitality."
Katara spits out her food onto her plate. "Is it poisoned?"
Azula smirks. "That was not what I meant. I would have warned you if it were poison."
"No, you wouldn't've," says Katara, grabbing a replacement slice of meat.
"You are right," Azula concedes. "It would have been a remarkably easy way to get rid of you. Now, Lu Ten, my father sort of tried to have you killed and then started a war when that did not happen, and so I imagine the only reason you would show me kindness is because you want to steal Kimiko and Mizu."
"I wouldn't have to steal them if you joined the Fire Nation and stayed here as my guest," says Lu Ten and Azula narrows her eyes. She cannot be sure of his intentions since she cannot recall the last time she spoke to him, if ever. "I would never punish you for something your father did, but I also can't let you leave with the dragons."
After a moment of contemplation, Azula starts to eat.
She supposes she would do the exact same thing in his position.
[X]
Azula says, as dinner winds down, "Katara and I need to go to the bathroom."
Lu Ten steels himself and skeptically inquires, "Together?"
Without hesitation, Azula smoothly states, "Have you ever met a girl, cousin? We never go to the bathroom alone."
Lu Ten's cheeks flush. Despite being a Fire Lord, the existence of teenage girls still manages to unhinge him like any other young man. "Uh, okay. My guards will escort you."
"Thank you," Azula purrs, putting on her most vapid expression to soothe any of his concerns about her. It works, and Katara rises to follow Azula and the two guards.
They stop in the middle of the hallway. Azula sets her palm on the chest of the weaker-looking of the two soldiers.
"We have lady issues. Would you both leave us?" Azula purrs, batting her eyelashes.
The two burly men exchange a glance. Katara's heart leaps into her throat as she wonders if this will blow up in their faces or not. She would not be surprised if it did.
"Yes, princess," says one of the men.
Azula shoots a smirk Katara's way. "He said princess. I told you."
Katara huffs and glares at the guard. "Now look what you did."
He turns bright red and looks flustered as the two girls stride away. Azula begins to make a beeline for the bathroom the guards were pointed at, but then Azula stops and slips into a presumably forbidden corridor. Katara clenches her fists. Oh no.
"What are we doing?" hisses Katara.
"Snooping," Azula softly replies. "We need to find an escape route if we need it later."
"What happens if someone catches us?" Katara demands, glowering fiercely. She did not know she could even look so terrifying, and feels quite proud of herself.
Azula chimes in reply, "We tell them we got lost looking for the bathroom."
"And that works?" Katara asks, cocking an eyebrow.
"Not usually." Azula smirks as Katara fumes.
With a twinkle in her gilded eyes, Azula continues peering around every corner, examining the world that could have been hers. It wounds her to the soul, but she keeps focused on finding a way out of this maze she lies trapped within.
Katara begrudgingly follows her dreadful companion on her tiptoes.
[X]
Azula and Katara return to the dining room after uncovering three different escapes they may be able to take. Katara has zero faith in any of them, but she rushed Azula along. She is not getting caught where she is not meant to be in the Fire Nation again. It was bad enough the first time.
Lu Ten waits for them, examining the dragons that roughhouse with each other in the table.
"They're remarkable creatures," he says in a half-daze. He looks almost sad, to Katara's shock. "I cannot believe what my father did to the last one."
"If it helps," purrs Azula, again fluttering those eyelashes and forcing Katara to stifle laughter, "I cannot believe the majority of what my father does."
Lu Ten smiles at her. "I cannot either. He is a formidable opponent. Did he allow you to leave him? I doubt it."
"I ran away to defect," lies Azula. "I tired of him."
"He will send people after you," says Lu Ten, shaking his head as if ashamed of his uncle. Katara considers this entire conversation between cousins to be forced and farcical.
"I can think of countless ones he likely already has. There are a few people who know me well, that might find me if I overstay your welcome," says Azula, adding the last part to again assure him that she has no schemes. Of course, she lies again by saying it.
She also thinks about those close to her he knows how to exploit.
Mai. Ty Lee. Mostly Mai and Ty Lee.
Perhaps Ozai would not think of them. Azula hopes for that. As much as she still loves and admires Ozai, her father's hubris is reliable as the sunrise and sunset.
"How was your bathroom trip?" asks Lu Ten. Katara begins to panic; he might be on to them.
"It was pleasant. I am not used to such amenities as those this palace offers," Azula purrs, drumming her fingers on the table. Kimiko prances over and begins to rub her head against Azula's lower arm. She gently strokes her daughter's neck and kisses her sharp cerulean forehead.
"Your servant must have been impressed." Lu Ten toothily smiles at Katara. Then his expression sobers and the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe tightly clutches the table to keep herself stable. "She isn't your servant, is she? She's more than that."
Azula says, as much as it pains her, "Yes. She is my girlfriend."
Katara chokes on her own saliva. She could not imagine something grosser than that.
Lu Ten says, "I figured. You two are cute together."
Katara begins laughing and Azula glowers at her.
"She gets nervous when people comment on us," Azula purrs, smirking at Lu Ten. "We would like to be off to bed now, cousin."
"Not like that!" shouts Katara and Lu Ten's eyes flash wide. "We just want to go to sleep. There will be no sexy things going on."
"I…" That strikes Lu Ten speechless so he clears his throat and claps his hands for the servants and slaves to clear the table.
Azula deviously smirks at Katara and picks up Kimiko.
Katara grabs Mizu with an angry scowl.
[X]
"I am not attracted to you. Trust me," Azula says, cackling at the very notion. Katara could not disgust her more. "It was wise of me because now he thinks he has you as leverage over me. He does not, of course. People who obviously hate each other often get interpreted as couples."
Katara sticks out her tongue. "I hate you, and I hate royalty."
"I thought you were royalty," mocks Azula, smirking ever wider. "Isn't your daddy the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe?"
"I hate you," Katara repeats. She sits down with her bioluminescent dragon and gazes at the moon through the window. "We better escape soon."
"In due time," says Azula, which means she will play around with being royalty for a while longer.
Katara hates her, hates her, hates her.
And cannot believe the nerve of Azula for calling her her girlfriend.
A/N: I hope this doesn't seem like I'm diving into an Azutara relationship. I want to build them up as plausible friends before it will transcend into something romantic, but I think I'll hint at sexual tension in a similar fashion to Katara and Zuko. I actually want their relationship to take some cues from Katara and Zuko in canon since I think, if that culminated in a romance in S3, it would be very well-paced. I always enjoy people who are endgame getting mistaken as dating, however. It's a trope I like and I hope it doesn't concern any readers. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you're enjoying the show.