Zuko's breath caught in his throat. His sister sat slumped at his feet, golden flames all around them. "You're hurt," he said quietly.
It was the reason he had lowered his defences. The first time she'd tried to overtake their bond again, he'd shut her out fast. The second time he'd hesitated. In amongst the raw power and burning cold that had clawed through the door and tried to creep its way around him, he'd sensed threads of pain and distress. He'd sensed that his sister was in trouble.
So now here they were—connected soul to soul, energy to energy, as close as two people could be in a spiritual sense. A part of him knew he should be wary, maybe even afraid, but it was difficult to feel anything except pity as he looked down at her. She was struggling to piece together her dignity, struggling just to get to her feet.
"Azula." He kept his voice low, the kind of tone used to soothe a wild animal. "What's going on? What happened?"
"I found you." She laughed lightly, but the sound was off. There was an edge of something. Something fractured.
He risked taking another step closer. "Azula, you're hurt. Tell me what happened. Did the prison guards—"
"I keep asking myself why I protected you." She laughed that fractured laugh again. "I did, you know. I didn't tell him anything. You should be grateful."
"Him?" Zuko's brow creased. Nothing she said was making sense. "Just tell me what happened."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? Because you're hurt and I want to know what's going on."
A harsh smile curved her lips. "Oh, Zuzu. I tried to kill you. Shouldn't you be happy I'm in pain now? I would be."
"I'm not like you."
Her smile turned ugly. "No, you're not. Then again, you're the one who got banished. For all your goodness, Father never considered you worth keeping around." She tilted her head. "Is that why you chose to side with the Avatar? You knew you could never please Father, so you decided to fight against him instead?"
"What? No."
"But you were willing to come home with me when I said Father revoked your banishment."
"Yeah, and you lied."
Satisfaction gleamed in her eyes. "Then that's it. You were all upset because he wanted to lock you away for embarrassing him so much, so you—"
"No! That isn't why I—stop trying to change the subject!"
"I'm not. I'm just trying to understand why my brother turned his back on his nation and family."
"As if you and Father didn't turn your backs on me first."
"So you admit it." The satisfaction was back. "You became a traitor because you're an oversensitive—"
"I told you it isn't like that! I just realised what I'd been doing was wrong! Everything Father orders, everything he expects from us, it's all wrong! Can't you see that?"
An odd smile played on her lips. "If Father were here, he'd say you're just a weakling full of excuses."
Zuko bit back a frustrated sound. It was impossible trying to have a conversation with her. He could sense that she'd been injured badly, that her heart and mind were in turmoil, but she just had to keep antagonising him. It was like she wanted him to get mad and push her away.
"Why did you force a connection with me?" he asked tiredly. "What do you want?"
Her brow furrowed a fraction, just a hint of confusion. It occurred to him then that maybe she didn't know why she'd manipulated the bond either.
Zuko sighed. "I'm cutting the connection. If you're not going to say anything, then—"
"Wait. Don't shut me out."
"Then tell me what happened."
Her mouth twisted and her eyes narrowed. It was such a simple request, but of course she couldn't see it that way. Sometimes it seemed as if she only knew how to offer him poison and pain.
"Shen," she finally bit out.
He took a step forward. "Shen?"
"That's his name. He's like you, some kind of firebender healer, except he's not like you at all." A warped smile. "Father would probably like him."
Zuko's heart pounded against his ribs. That sounded a lot like Yuzo's half-brother. "Tell me everything."
She explained how she had been taken from the Ba Sing Se prison, along with Ty Lee. There were two others who travelled with Shen—a chi blocker named Hina and another healer whose name she didn't know—but Shen was the one in charge.
"He's trying to use me to get to you," Azula said. "I don't know why, but he sensed you somehow and now he wants to find you more than anything."
Zuko swallowed. It was just as Yuzo and Shizue had warned.
"Zuzu, what's going on? Why is Shen looking for you?"
There was something different in her tone. For years she'd said the appellation as if it was an insult, but in that moment she just sounded tired. Even her expression had lost its cold edges. She looked young and exhausted.
"I … I'm still learning about everything," he admitted.
"Typical. You always were slow."
He let the insult slide. In truth, he had a pretty good guess as to why Shen was hunting him, but he wasn't sure if he should tell Azula. She was so good at putting on an innocent face. She was so good at twisting the knife into his back when he least expected.
"Azula is a calculating, manipulative monster. She can't be saved. She can't be helped. Get that in your head before you do something stupid again."
He bit his lip. "How does Shen expect you to help him?"
"Through the bond. He taught me how to use it to find you."
"And are you trying to find me now?"
Their eyes met. Frosted stone crept into her expression.
"You think this is all a trick," she accused. "You don't trust me at all, do you?"
"Can you blame me?"
"I've told you everything! Why would I even tell you about Shen if I was working with him? It would be better to take you unawares."
"You were struggling to make a connection before. Maybe you realised you'd never get anywhere so long as I was shutting you out. Maybe you—"
She laughed humourlessly. "Right, and then I told him to torture me. Do you even hear how ridiculous you sound?"
"I know it sounds ridiculous. No person in their right mind would ask to be tortured, but if you thought you could use your pain to your advantage, you just might."
"Are you kidding me?"
He wished he was. He wished he could believe that the disbelief and frustration he saw in her eyes was sincere. He wished he could listen to her words and not wonder if they were all lies. But his sister was clever. Too clever. Worse, she knew all his weaknesses.
"You had to know," he said softly. "You had to know the only reason I'd lower my defences to you is if I sensed you were injured."
A hush, a small catch of breath. Her eyes remained locked with his as the golden flames rippled around them like curtains of silk.
"Shen is going to kill me, Zuko. The only reason I'm alive is because he still believes he can use me. I'm not working with him. I'm just trying to survive."
Ice wriggled through his stomach. It didn't sound like she was lying.
"I haven't told him who you are, but I have agreed to help him find you. We can use that to our advantage."
"We?"
She reached for his hand. He flinched at the contact. "Work with me. We can beat him if we do this together."
"Azula …" He shook his head, a hollow sinking in his stomach.
"What? Why do you look at me like that?"
"How can I trust you? You always lie. You always end up making me regret it."
She clutched his hand tighter. "You can trust me about this."
"I bet you said the same thing to him."
Something flickered in her eyes. The sinking sensation in his stomach got worse. Spirits, he had guessed right. She had said the same thing to Shen. Zuko should have known it would be like this. It always was with her. He tried to pull his hand free.
"Wait." Azula grabbed his other hand. "I'll admit I said the same thing to Shen, but I didn't have a choice. I have to make him believe I'm willing to help him."
Perhaps that was true, but Zuko was also certain she had her own agenda. He tugged his hands free and stepped back. The fractured look glimmered in her eyes again, little threads snapping one by one.
"Why?" she suddenly demanded. "Why did you heal me if you're just going to turn your back on me now? Am I not your sister?"
His fingers dug into his palms and he lowered his gaze.
The silence was long. Painful.
"Listen to me, Brother." She moved closer, her tone urgent. "I can't do this without you. I need your help. Ty Lee needs your help. Don't forget it's you who Shen wants. Will you really abandon us just to protect yourself?"
He let out a small breath. "Fine."
"You'll help?"
He nodded.
She didn't smile, but he could see the familiar hints of smugness glinting in her eyes. She thought she'd won, that she'd manipulated him into doing her bidding once again. She couldn't understand that he'd already resigned himself to toeing a cliff edge from the moment he'd lowered his defences to her.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
This time her lips did curve a fraction. "I have a plan …"
oOo
The ocean was an endless blue surrounding the ship. Zuko frowned and leaned against the railing near the bow. He'd felt obliged to tell everyone of the agreement he had made with Azula, knowing it would impact them as well. Needless to say, the news had not been received well. No one had forgotten what had happened in Ba Sing Se.
"Tea?"
He glanced over his shoulder to see his uncle offering him a steaming cup. His brow furrowed a fraction. "Let me guess, jasmine?"
Iroh smiled. "Thought you might need it."
"Pretty sure I've told you before that tea isn't the answer to everything."
"Indulge an old man."
Zuko sighed and accepted the cup. He took a sip. They were both silent, just watching the horizon together and listening to the lapping of water.
"Are you sure about this?" Iroh asked softly. "I know you have a good heart, but you must know the risks you're taking …"
"I know."
Another long pause.
"Well, perhaps this is for the best," Iroh mused.
Zuko raised his eyebrow in surprise. "That's it? No more lectures?"
"I can see you're going into this with your eyes open. It would be different if you believed Azula's words without question."
A beat of silence. "Is it wrong to hope she won't betray us this time?"
"Wrong?" Iroh sighed. "No, Nephew, I don't think it's ever really wrong to have hope. But I do fear your father's influence may be too strong when it comes to her. Only a foolish man would throw himself off a cliff to help someone already falling. Know your limits, know hers, and understand that sometimes it is best to let go."
Zuko nodded. Even if he didn't like it, he knew that the chances he could give Azula were not endless. She pushed the line too much. Eventually, justice would demand its due.
Iroh patted him on the shoulder. "We will make this work. As for the others, I'm sure they will come around. If there is one thing I have learnt in all my years of being a general, it's that some risks must be taken. At least this way we can keep our eye on Shen. The bond goes both ways, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Azula told me enough that I figured out how to sense her in return. Wherever she is, Shen will be as well."
"Then we must prepare ourselves for the confrontation."
Zuko ran his finger along the rim of his cup. "Honestly, it seems hard to believe we should even be worried. There are only three of them, excluding Azula and Ty Lee. What can they do against all of us?"
"A lack of numbers does not always lessen the threat. We know the Silencers are highly skilled assassins who work in small units to efficiently and quietly remove any threat. They will not come at us openly."
That was true. Just like when he'd done solo missions as the Blue Spirit, the Silencers knew how to use their lack of numbers to their advantage.
"Just keep your guard up," Iroh advised. "Don't let Azula know more than necessary."
"Right."
The agreement had put everyone aboard at risk. Zuko wasn't going to take any chances. He wouldn't let this be a repeat of Ba Sing Se.
oOo
Ty Lee huddled in the centre of the hold. Azula had been taken away unconscious. Shen had come later to heal her burns, but then she'd been left alone in the dark. Only the tall, scary lady came to check on her from time to time, mostly to give food and water or to empty the slop bucket. That was how Ty Lee kept track of time. Six meals had been brought to her, so that meant almost two days had passed.
It was crushing.
She needed to see the sky. She needed to feel the wind on her face.
She was not made for darkness and cramped spaces.
Quietly, she hummed songs to herself—all the ones she had picked up from her travels. When that failed to keep her distracted, she painted pictures in her mind of sunshine and the circus, happier days when she had been free. It helped, if only a little. There was a scream building in her chest. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take of this. Just being locked up in Ba Sing Se prison had been bad enough, but this was even worse.
The door opened. Light spilled into the room, but it was not the scary lady who stood on the threshold. Ty Lee sat up straighter and met Shen's gaze. He wore that odd, emotionless smile that made ice prickle down her spine.
"It's time, Little Rainbow."
All the moisture in her mouth seemed to vanish. "Time for what?"
"For you to find your wings."
Her brow furrowed.
Shen closed the distance between them. He pressed his thumb to her forehead and his left hand over her heart. "Don't fight me. You'll only make it harder for yourself."
She swallowed, heart leaping. Suddenly, his eyes glowed brilliant gold and power crackled in the air, raising the fine hairs on her arms. Light flared. She could taste heat, feel it tingle all over her skin. But she was frozen. She could not move, could not even blink.
Then the fire forced itself inside her.
A scream was snatched from her throat. Everything was burning. Flashes of heat and power pulsed all through her. She stared up at Shen with wide eyes, except he looked odd now. The bursts of colour that made up his aura were too bright. Even his features seemed to morph, becoming thinner, less bland. Streams of black hair rippled around him like a halo. In the background, she almost thought she could see misty, human-like figures connected to him by threads of gold.
"What … what are you?" she choked out.
He held her gaze steadily and let more energy flow out of him, intertwining and rooting itself with her own until he had her completely enfolded in his power.
Wake up.
The command boomed within her. It stole the world and painted a vastness of stars and aurora swirls, but she could not go anywhere. She was trapped in a cage. Her heart raced and raced and raced. Suddenly, the bars of light burst into flame. It was so intense that she had to shield her eyes with her arm, and even then the heat licked at her skin. Soon, the entire cage was nothing but drifting ash. Wind ruffled her hair and clothes. It beckoned like a siren.
Come.
A figure wreathed in flames appeared before her, hand extended. Ty Lee swallowed. Something in her whispered that this was wrong, that this was not how she was meant to leave the cage, but the wind was too tempting. It whispered of another life, one where she had soared high—high enough to dance with clouds and reach for stars.
It whispered of wings she had lost and dreams she had buried.
Come, Little Rainbow. Claim what is yours.
Ty Lee stepped forward and took the figure's hand. In a blink, all the stars and swirls of colours vanished. She was back in the hold, back to kneeling and looking up into Shen's face. Tears stung her eyes and slipped down her cheeks.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered.
Sweat dripped down his forehead and silver glinted in his hair. He looked pallid and frail, but his expression was calm as he pulled his hands away from her. "I removed the seal."
She moistened her dry lips. Her pulse seemed to tattoo itself to the inside of her throat.
"There now, little one. Don't look so troubled. This is who you are, who you were meant to be." He patted her on the head before turning to leave.
"Wait!" She stumbled to her feet only to collapse back to her knees. It was like her entire body had become jelly, yet there was something inside her that had not been there before. Something that tingled at every brush of air.
"Your body is in no condition to be moving right now. Rest. I will come for you tomorrow."
The door clicked shut, leaving her in darkness once again. Ty Lee let out a breath. It frightened her that she could sense the way her breath fanned out like the corporal puffs on a winter day.
"This is who you are, who you were meant to be."
She hugged her knees tight to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart continued to pound against her ribs.
oOo
"You've drained him practically dry," Hina observed.
Shen spared a glance for the unconscious boy slumped on the chair. "That's what he's here for."
"And if he dies?"
"He's not going to die. Tomorrow I'll allow him to gather more energy from the sun. He'll be moving around again in no time."
Hina's jaw tightened. "This had better be worth it."
Shen turned to her with one of his bland smiles. "My dear, how much faster do you think we can travel if we control the winds?"
"Is that all you care about? Just being faster?"
"I need to find the one I sensed."
"Look at you! Grey hairs, sallow skin. Your body is already beginning to deteriorate."
"Worried?"
She inhaled a sharp breath. Her hands balled into fists but she quickly flexed her fingers out again. "I just think you're wasting too much energy."
Shen stepped closer and took her chin in his hand, tilting her face down more towards him. "Hina, Hina, if you are so concerned about the energy I am expending, perhaps you should focus on helping me find the one I want. That was the agreement, remember? I allow you to keep your mind and you assist me."
"I haven't forgotten."
"Good. Then go make sure our dear princess does her part. Leave Little Rainbow and this one to me." He nodded at the boy.
Hina didn't move. Her hands had bunched back into fists and trembled ever so slightly. "They're still human, you know. Just because you can bend them to your will doesn't mean you should use them like tools."
The blandest of smiles graced his lips. "Oh, Hina. Sometimes you can be so tiresome."
She twitched. It was the barest flinch, but it was still the flinch of a woman who expected lashings of fire and pain. Her throat bobbed.
Shen patted her cheek. "Go now. I grow weary of your company."
A tiny exhale. She glanced at the boy one last time before leaving the room.
oOo
Azula stared at the lantern swaying from the cabin ceiling. Her left arm lay useless at her side. For all the healing treatments she had received, she couldn't even close her hand into a fist. A bubble of laughter pushed at her lips. Crippled, captured. How pathetic.
"You're being too hard on yourself."
She sat up with a jerk. Her mother stood on the other side of the room looking at her with those sad eyes.
"No," Azula muttered. "You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be in that prison cell where I left you!"
"I'm always with you … if you want me to be."
"I don't want you!"
"That's a lie."
Azula bared her teeth. "Shut up! Leave me alone!"
"Is that what you really want? To be alone? My poor child, you already are alone. Zuko doesn't trust you, and it's only a matter of time before Ty Lee realises her mistake in following you."
"I said shut up!"
Azula squeezed her eyes shut. Her mother wasn't really here. She couldn't be. Zuzu was looking for her somewhere in the southwest. Her mother wasn't here. Her mother wasn't here. Her mother wasn't here.
"Why do you hide from me? I'm just worried about you. Look, you're hurt. Let me—"
A scream burst from her. She opened her eyes to blackened walls and lickings of sapphire. Hina barged into the cabin moments later and demanded to know what Azula thought she was doing.
"Mother wouldn't leave me alone."
Hina's eyebrows vanished into her hairline. "I see. Well, next time try not to torch the place when you chase her away. We're on a boat, remember?"
Azula seized control of the remaining flames and snuffed them out. "When am I going to be let out of this room?"
"When Shen says you can."
"And how likely is that?"
Hina folded her arms across her chest. "When he chooses. Now make the connection. Shen wants an update on the healer's location."
"I already checked. He's still heading southwest."
"You don't have anything more specific?"
"No. Perhaps he's blocking me somehow."
Hina's eyes narrowed. "Then make him not block you. Shen doesn't have much time."
"What do you mean?"
Her jaw tightened. "Nothing. Just hurry up and figure out your healer's destination." She left on the words and slammed the door behind her.
Azula stared at the door for a long moment. She ran her finger along the blanket, her brow creased. All the scrambling buzzing in her mind was settling down again. She'd found something to focus on, to ground herself.
"You slipped up, Hina," she murmured.
And if there was one thing Azula was good at, it was taking advantage of people's slip ups.