An: I honestly feel I could improve on this chapter help me out? You can PM/review me ideas and I'll try to consider it. Honestly I started writing this because I wanted an AzulaXNaruto fanfiction and I've only seen like one?
Also Azula and the cast is older by lets say two years? That would make her sixteen here and Zuko eighteen.
Azula's feet were aching, her heart, pounding, she hadn't slept in five days, eating and drinking just enough to keep going, consuming nutrients to keep going through boiled soup, by purifying the water with fire bending, gathering edible herbs and mushrooms from her knowledge, information she painfully studied running along the river, towards the central islands, away from the capital.
She kneeled by the river, her face, as seen through the reflection, was a mess. Bloodshot eyes, red covering most of the sclera, hair out of place and frazzled, she was heaving and exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her, She only hoped they had managed to get enough away from the capital.
She had considered running back. Going back to Zuko and begging for mercy, manipulating his compassion to aid her savior.
But She couldn't. She wouldn't be able to control the outcome if she went back. Wouldn't be able to secure her place next to him if she went back. He would be saved, but there would be too many factors that prevented her from returning to his side.
Five days ago, when he was bleeding out, when his life had literally hung in the balance Azula had resigned herself to running back to the capital. Then, she had noticed him healing, slowly but surely in front of her she had turned away from the capital then.
As one who prides herself on control She will never willingly take a route which will not allow her access to her goal. She knows she is being selfish. With one action, she could heal him for sure, she could save him guaranteed. He would live to see another day.
But... but... the sacrifice was too steep. A catch twenty two situation. She believes that she cannot heal without him, yet if she goes back, she cannot be with him until she heals. Zuko's choice to confine her into a mental institution to heal never struck so much.
So Azula decided to take the risk. Believing that feeding him with the different food of the forest and treating him with different herbs would help him heal sufficiently, without needing to risk going to prison.
And it had! His bruises had faded leaving behind tanned skin. His skin had cleared up properly showing the three whisker marked thin lines across his chest, and the numerous scars all over his body. The most prominent a fist sized scar just above his heart, hitting the spot just right to not leave any fatal injuries. A warrior, a fighter, a survivor.
But even though he is nearly fully recovered (sans the arm even she doesn't think they can do anything about that) he isn't waking up. He isn't waking up, and they are both too far away from any form of civilization to receive any help.
Her own body, curse her weakness, was already starting to give up on her. Staying up for long nights and greatly exerting her body, all while carrying a heavy weight had taken its toll.
Azula's body leaned forward face burying into the dirt, though her mind yelled at her to get up to keep moving, every action was like fighting against a current. She could not stop it could not stop her savior's body from slumping beside hers. She had tried her hardest with what she had. She had not managed to completely save him, but she had helped prevent any wild animals from hurting him while he recovered.
She would take solace in that sole fact. Despite her failure to complete her resolution. She had tried her hardest and would be at peace with it, even if she had not been able to enjoy the fruits of her labour. Tears started flowing down her cheeks. Yeah she was satisfied with this outcome. He would either die here with her, which would have invalidated her efforts, might even break her if she ever found out. (Even though a small traitorous part of her agreed with this course of action wanted this to happen they could learn about each other in the afterlife, maybe the spirit world? He could help save her there) or he would live, and she would have fulfilled her purpose, her last self-imposed assignment.
"Eh? What the? HEY! Are you alright? Wait a minute I'm coming over!" She heard the voice dimming in the background. The sound of hooves stomping against the ground growing heavier with each passing second.
Her eyes shot open going on alert. No. She couldn't be found now, not when she was so close. Not when her tribulation was nearly over.
"STAY BACK!" She tried to master her fire. The blazing inner flame that resided within each and every fire-bender. Tried to pull out her inner energy for one last desperate struggle if she had to. But fatigue combined with mental stress prevented even the embers from forming, resulting in a weak punch in the direction of the noise. She felt despair settle in the depths of her stomach. No, she had failed, she would be useless irrelevant. She drowned in her despair not even noticing the traveling merchant moving up to her.
"Hey are you okay... Oh my is that your husband! Hurry get on my horse we'll bring you to the nearest village!" She looked to his face, saw his expression of shock, surprisingly not at who she was, no there was no recognition there at all, but at the state of the blonde haired man behind her.
She didn't believe him. For all she knew he could have been a bandit.
"How can I trust you would not betray us. That you would not turn on us the moment we follow you." She knew she was behaving unreasonable right now, but she would not, could not afford to take the risk right now. A single man finding the two of them, one unconscious the other on the verge of it, so far off the beaten path. No. This was too unlikely a scenario to be a coincidence.
"Hah! Fair enough I assume you were attacked by an encounter similar to this? It's uncommon in these parts, what with fire lord Ozai helping to quicken development and fill up employment. Bandits and thieves are hardly found around these parts." His smile widened twisting with mirth. It was a fair enough an assumption, let the man think what he will. She didn't even need to think of a proficient lie if he did the work for her.
"I was yes. So how can I assure you will not do the same. If your planning to rob us just kill us now." Her eyes narrowed at him, a distraction tactic. She always was a good liar. She would use this chance to buy some time. To try to gather more energy to kill him in the event he attacked. "Why are you even here any way we are far off-road from any of the secured paths." She was just lucky she knew of them due to it being one of her projects while under Ozai. To plan the perfect path between villages to allow easy transportation the reason she had knowledge of the safe trade routes.
"Well I originally came off-road cause old nelly here was thirsty and needed water I lived in a nearby village to here long time ago yes, although nowadays I usually spend most of my days traveling to and fro the other villages collecting rations for the war." He laughed a loud throaty thing. "Well I haven't been back in nearly seven moons! And each time I stayed was only for a few days!" He reached into the caravan pulled by the horse pulling out a map.
"Well the village is about here. Yup this village right here. We can take any path you want there if you want, just in case you think I would betray you." He threw out a wink one eye closing at her as though entering a secret pact. "I'm planning to return back anyway a few days detour won't make much of a difference. Trades still bountiful even though the wars over. You can rest in the caravan and even peak out the roads to check if we're going in that direction alright." He stretched out his hand, inciting her to do the same. She, already anticipating what he would say next.
"Mah names Cheng. Whats yours little lady, your husbands too?"
"I'm not inclined to share it right now, after what has happened."
"Oh ye. y'all just got attacked by bandits, wont want them to come attack you while your like that. No no no. Alright you can tell me when you've healed up in the village alright?" Completing her alibi without her even saying more than two sentences.
She wasn't sure if this man was painfully optimistic or she was completely out of touch with any sort of interaction with the lower class. Either way, this problem was unacceptable. Perfection could not afford it.
"Lets go with that."
"Haha, plausible deniability eh alright. Let's a go." He picked up her saviors body, slinging it over his shoulders (she felt dread take place her whole body chilling as the source of warmth near her was removed, a feeling like being submerged underwater, drowning her in its depths) and placed him in the back of the wagon(she relaxed he was fine he had not been attacked had not even been hurt through out the motion the man, Cheng, had truly been careful in his actions).
"Alright lass! Plotted your path yet? Get on and relay the information than let's go alright?" She nodded her head. He had acted blasphemously had removed her savior without permission ( not that anyone would ever get it) he would get his in time. Vengeance was best served cold. Best done when it was least expected. She would take this time to recover her energy and strike at night. Her face softened falling back into that fake smile she had used many times in the past.
"It's alright. I'll trust your judgment. Lead the way." She stumbled over climbing into the wagon, landing next to her saviors body. Battered but better than two days ago. She curled up into his body enjoying his warmth as it surrounded her.
It made her feel trusted, it made her feel safe. Even if it may not have been so.
And so Azula fell asleep, fell asleep to the shaking of the carriage. The most common form of transportation she had ever written, the sturdy transport meant for function and not luxury unlike her others. She fell asleep, her body pressed into her saviors.
It was the best sleep in her life.
Azula wakes up abnormally. Or to be more specific, she struggles to wake up. She wakes up on the floor of a wagon, the sound of hooves quiet and crickets chirping outside. The merchant, Dong had made camp for the night. She had slept for many hours since he had found her around noon?
Usually, she was used to her eyes snapping awake, waking up with crystal clear clarity, with a plan and objective in mind, with a destination, or a problem which had tormented her night before, forcing her to sleep the minimum amount before waking up with direction with and objective to complete.
She was so used to clarity the moment she awoke that this new experience was new. This pleasant fog was foreign and worse was that she struggled to fight against it, her body refusing to fully wake even though she willed it to.
She fought against it, finally fully waking, into the bare breast of her saviors, his body slumped over hers. Azula enjoyed this warmth, enjoyed just basking in it, just lying there.
But she had a job, an objective to complete. She would not be lulled into a sense of complacency.
Azula snuck out the wagon, quiet, like a predator stalking its prey. Like a tiger ready to pounce on her target. She snuck up behind Dong, who was sitting by the fire, blissfully unaware, humming a merry tune to himself while frying some of his rations for his journey. She readied her strike, orange flames forming soundlessly beneath her fingertips, ready to explode his death would be swift, merciful for not betraying her trust.
Than she stopped, stopped because her over analytical nature had drawn attention to metal (A weapon a small part of her hissed, a betrayer kill him before he does you in). Closer inspection revealed it to be a golden locket in his left hand, playing with the strings, staring lovingly at the picture within, of the picture of him and another, a woman, holding each other lovingly.
"Lovely isn't she princess, my wife, the love of my life."
"Yes she is." She understood the man, the devotion he held towards the woman, it was similar to the one she had for her savior after all.
It takes Azula awhile before she realizes what he addressed her as. She jumps backwards, moving away from the merchant, producing blue flames and held them out threateningly.
"How do you know who I am! Answer me!"
The merchant chuckles, as though enjoying a joke only he understood.
"You created the roads right? Any merchant worth his salt would recognize you." A stab of uncertainty fills through her, her work was done only because Ozai chose to implement it after all, and she had hardly even been credited, even if she came up with the plans. She had thought she would have been unrecognized, now she would have to watch out for every merchant along the road. She was just lucky this one hadn't backstabbed her yet.
"Well luckily for you merchants don't even know what ya look like. Most barely even know you made the plans for the supply roads at all."
"Than why do you know." Azula needed to know this, needed to know why she was so unlucky to meet one who knew.
"You helped me meet my wife. She lives in the capital, works as a metalworker, we lead radically different lives, I was gonna be a farmer and she would have been married off. Trade allowed us to meet. I would have never found her if not for ya help. So I found out who made the roads and their faces." His face turned serious, as he looked at Azula. "Information about you isn't hidden princess. It's just not openly talked about, like an open secret. I can see you're trying to get away now, to escape. So, I'll help you princess to leave." She kept quiet watching him go on, letting him have his final words as she made her decision.
"We'll make a slight detour to my old hometown, largely untouched by the war. No one there will recognize you as long as you keep a low profile. They wont question me if I brought you in too, cause I'm trusted there." He smiled, that same smile when he had first lied to Azula to get her to follow him.
'With the devotion his wife has for her, she'll start an investigation to find out where he went.' She glanced back at the locket, to the picture of his wife staring back at him, eyes crinkling all smiles. 'We'll be found, suspicious for appearing out of nowhere with his wagon just as he disappeared.' It made sense, to leave him be. About just as much as it was to kill him. Azula decided to take a leap of faith.
"I'll just be taking the kebab and some water."
"Just that, nothing else?"
"Nothing else."
"Alright lass enjoy your dinner!" Cheng turned back to the fire, pausing for a second to ask one final question.
"Has the boy been unconscious for a long time?" Azula struggled to answer, on one hand the information was inconsequential on the other, information was information. Finally she made her decision.
"Yes." Five days was too long in her opinion and so she would pretend it was so.
"Oh okay. Good night princess." Than Cheng was back to humming his merry tune, and Azula, Azula moved back towards the wagon.
She was too tired to deal with this right now. She just wanted to go back, go back and sleep.
Azula felt herself being jerked awake, her first instinctive response was to respond with fire and fury.
Only to remember her hands were placed within her saviors, where she would burn him were she to lash out.
"Princess, we've arrived." The sun was already high in the sky, an indication of how long fatigue had forced her body to rest. "I've taken the liberty to push forward an alibi for you while you were recovering." Cheng took a deep breath.
"You and your husband are survivors from guo jing village, your husband was conscripted and lost an arm and has been unconscious for a long time. You guys have just travelled back to the mainland and you want a quiet village to raise him back to health." His face turned solemn you're gonna have to have a talk to the people of the town yourself, assure them about your intentions in the village. You know community stuff. It's harder to lay low if you don't. I've arranged housing for you, to make it easier for your stay in the future, we can head over there later." He was grinning again, all smiles. "This village should be safe enough for you to stay in for the rest of your lifetime or if you ever decide to you know, make a reappearance. It's your choice really."
"Alright." She had a plan, a course of action, she would be able to do this easily enough, the alibi would be easily done too, guo jing had been an earth kingdom vessel state that was recently destroyed, on the day of the black sun. It would fit the description and time frame.
She tilted her head upwards, chin tilted high, defeated but not broken. Standing up, she slung the blonde haired teens arm around her shoulder, slowly limping towards Cheng "Thank you." She ignored his shocked face, moving forward brushing past him at the small back door. She was welcomed into a bright meadow, filled with sunlight and warmth, was standing in open fields, She tilted her head back, "Are you still standing there I need you to lead the way." She continued her march, ignoring his laughter.
An: I'm not sure if I'm really happy with this chapter nothing much really happens. But it is kind of needed to do a transition period between chapters, to show how and why she doesn't die in the wild, I'm not planning to write a big adventure fic after all, but plans change so we'll see what happens.
And now for a little something extra.
Omake: Cheng
'Aye, I recognize that look anywhere.' Cheng stares back into the fire, so similar, so close to his impending doom.
'I lived not cause the princess was merciful...' he tilted his head back, 'I lived cause the princess didn't want to kill me cause of mah wife.'
'I wonder what she saw in her?' He contemplated while frying a kebab stick. 'Welp no point caring! I'll have to 'forget' I even met her soon enough.' And so Cheng went back to eating his kebab and sitting around the fire to keep the cold out, all the while staring at the locket in his hand.