Thank you, thank you, thank you for so many comments and likes… Seriously, I never get so many in such a short time:)

Thinking about this and writing it slowly has made my last week before the winter break bearable. Another few days and I will be a free woman and then the chapters will probably come more often.

Still not sure how long I'll make this.

oooooooooo

Chapter 3

"What's next on the list?" Azula asked, but realized she was talking into the wind, "Kiyi, what are you looking at?"

"Is it always this noisy?"

"It's the town square, so yes." Azula shoved her way through a particularly dense crowd, "Now, come on, your culinary adventures yesterday are the reason we're out of everything."

"It would be a lot nicer here if the musicians could all play the same song." Kiyi followed, lugging their bags.

"If you'd gotten up at dawn when I told you, we would have stolen everything we need by now. Next on the list?"

"Tomato-carrots. And I told you I didn't want to steal from anyone…" Kiyi's sheepish look annoyed Azula to no end.

"Then I suppose you worked for that money you have?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you think. It's from Zuko, for birthdays and such..."

Azula didn't really feel like she had enough energy to waste it on explaining why Kiyi was wrong.

"Anyway, only other thing we need is rice, but we passed it all the way back there." Kiyi folded their list and put it away, happy that she was finally included in ordinary chores.

"Well, you're distracting me with that ridiculous outfit." Azula turned around to look at her.

"You mean the summer dress?" Kiyi spun around to make her dress twirl, "I think it's pretty. It was the only fun thing in the closet."

"Must have been there when I moved in." Azula looked around before continuing, "I can't believe I let you come in that thing. The whole point is for us to not draw attention to ourselves."

"It'll be fine… I'll go get the rice." Kiyi said and started splitting the money in two. She offered to cover the expenses of today when Azula told her the alternative was stealing. "Actually, I think you should dress like this too. Do you think anyone ever saw a pretty girl in a summer dress and immediately thought wanted war criminal?"

"Just go and try to be as mundane as possible." Azula ordered and Kiyi nodded, but as soon as she turned, Azula could see she was already grinning like a crazy person, looking around in amazement at ordinary things.

She could swear, if anything was going to get her caught, it was that girl.

Azula had no problem with her purchase, she's done it a million times, and no one ever gave her a second look. There was, however, a bit of a line in front of the stand, so she took longer than expected. Kiyi should have already been done by then, but she wasn't waiting for her where they agreed to meet.

After a few minutes, Azula realized she was too inpatient to wait and simply started looking for the girl. As soon as she got close to where Kiyi was supposed to be, she noticed a crowd of people dancing in the middle of the street, to the music of a few flutes, lutes and a tsungi horn all playing in unison.

If Azula wasn't already sure Kiyi had something to do with this sudden change in atmosphere, she would have been when she spotted her half-sister spinning in the middle of a dance circle. She thought about calling for her, but that would draw even more attention than this stupidity already has.

Azula started slowly making her way through the crowd as more and more people seemed to be joining the fun. Then she suddenly crashed into someone and fell, dropping her bag.

"I am so sorry… Are you alright?" Azula saw a hand reaching out for her. It didn't take her long to notice that hand was attached to a young man holding a lute.

"Don't worry about it." She ignored the offered help and stood up on her own, before dusting herself off.

"This yours?" the man asked, bending down and handing her the bag of vegetables back. While taking it, Azula accidentally made eye contact, something you didn't want to do if the person wasn't supposed to remember your face. And if the person's smile proved to be distracting.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" the man asked.

"I doubt it."

"You're probably right… I'd remember meeting you." he smiled wider, making her realize where this was going.

"I need to find my…" she started before Kiyi somehow appeared beside her.

"Here you are! What did I miss?" the girl was out of breath, from dancing it would seem, but she wasn't too tired to pick up on the situation quickly and turn her attention to the young musician, "Hi, I'm Kiyi and this is my sister Azula… I love your music."

"Thanks. My name is Mun. You know, Azula, your sister is quite a talented dancer. I haven't seen so many people enjoying themselves here in ages and it's all because of her."

"Thank you." Kiyi answered when she realized Azula wasn't planning to.

"Are you girls from around here?"

"Actuall-"

"No." Azula interrupted Kiyi, and just in time it seemed, "We're just passing by."

"Well, if you ever find yourselves back here…"

"We won't." Azula cut in and started dragging Kiyi away, even though the girl protested.

"What are you doing?" Kiyi asked once they were far enough.

"What are you doing, revealing our names and location to a stranger? Starting dance circles and talking to people…" Azula sighed, "Have you learned nothing?"

"I learned that he likes you. He wouldn't just turn you in…" the girl paused, "And did you see how cute he is? I mean, of course you did, you were blushing."

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"No, I saw you… You blushed when you first saw him." Kiyi teased, like she was a damn five-year-old.

"Enough. Now, please wait for me here and don't do… Anything. Am I making myself clear?"

"But what are you gonn-"

"Kiyi?"

"Crystal clear."

"I'm going to find the musician again."

"Really?" Kiyi's face lit up for a second, before she saw Azula move a dagger from her waist into her sleeve, "No, you're not killing him!"

"Lower your voice."

"You can't kill him. He's harmless." the girl did her best to sound serious while still whispering.

"I wouldn't have to kill him if you knew when to keep your mouth shut."

"Please… We'll move. We'll go live somewhere else. You don't have to."

"I have a good thing going here. I'm not moving. If I have to choose between us and him…" Azula started before turning around and searching the crowd with her gaze. Then she spotted him. Their eyes locked from across the square, where he was preforming for a group of dancing children. He grinned at her like an idiot and was attempting to wave without dropping his instrument, when she finally decided to face her sister again.

"That's not the choice." Kiyi tugged her sleeve.

"We're leaving. There's too many people."

oooooooooo

"When was the last time you played?" Kiyi asked, watching her sister reset the Pai Sho board for maybe the fifth time that day.

"Years ago."

"Then how are you crushing me this bad?" she could have sworn she saw a smile cross Azula's lips.

"Well, for one, you're not very good." Azula moved the first piece, starting the next game, "You have a very expressive face, I can see everything you're thinking."

"I can't help it."

"You should at least try, being unreadable serves you well in real life too."

They were three moves in by that point and Kiyi was already feeling like it's over.

"Did Iroh teach you how to play?" the girl asked, half hoping it would provide some distraction from the board.

"Spirits no," Azula snickered, "He never really liked me. When I was young, he couldn't have picked me out of a line-up of five little girls…"

"Zuko taught me…" Kiyi didn't even finish her sentence before she was interrupted by laughter, "He's not stupid, he can play."

"He's not stupid, but he's impulsive and inpatient. All in all, opposite of what this game requires." While Azula was preoccupied, Kiyi managed to sneak one really good move past her. It should have pissed her off to no end, but in reality, it just made things more interesting.

"My father taught me." Azula continued, "We would play a game every weekend. As I was growing up they would get longer and longer, until finally one day I beat him. I remember feeling so good until I looked over to his face."

"Why?" Kiyi was actually beginning to think she could win this game, if she kept asking questions.

"He didn't like losing… Especially, to his eleven-year-old daughter. I was dumb enough to not anticipate that. But in the end, he taught me a lesson. Never show your hand, so to speak. Let them all underestimate you. Let them think you're a step behind, all the while you're two steps, ten steps ahead of them." with that Azula moved the last piece and won the game.

"I don't think he was teaching you a lesson. I just think he was a sore loser."

"Everything's a lesson if you're watching carefully. Everything you see, everyone you meet, every interaction you have. It would do you good to remember that."

Kiyi loved the fact Azula was beginning to share things. Not a lot and not very personal, but it was progress. Her sister was warming up to her in her own way.

"You want to go again?" Azula interrupted the girl's thoughts, "Or have you had enough defeat for one day, little sister?"

She wouldn't have even noticed what she just said, if not for Kiyi's face immediately lighting up.

"Do you actually like having me around?" the girl asked, deciding not to just let it slide.

"Well, you can't play Pai Sho alone." Azula said, but judged that alone wasn't going to satisfy, "And you entertain me. That's why I always imagined people acquired pets."

Someone else might have taken that as an insult, but not Kiyi. Azula might not have phrased that in the most respectful way possible, but she treated her more like a person than her own mother.

"I think you actually enjoy teaching me stuff."

"And if I was, what kind of stuff would you like to work on next?"

"I know it's raining, but later maybe… We could bend, if you want… Mom never let them show me anything cool."

"We can do it right here, right now." Azula slowly stood up and stretched a bit from sitting.

"You mean… Firebend in the house?"

"It's really not that different… Let me see your firebending stance."

Kiyi immediately obeyed and Azula walked in a circle, inspecting. The legs were adequately far apart, knees bent just enough, back straight to help with breathing. Perfect, really.

"Wrong." Azula concluded.

"What? That's it!"

"Any stance you take is a firebending stance." Azula came face to face with her sister, "Tied up? Firebending stance. Standing on one foot because the other one is broken? Firebending stance. Falling into the abyss on the side of a cliff? Firebending stance."

"But I can't just-" Kiyi straightened her legs again, "If my legs are not far enough-"

"Firebending is not a position, it's a state of mind." Azula tapped the top of Kiyi's head, shoving her backwards.

"Hey!"

"When you're in danger, when you can barely move, that's when you need your fire more than ever. Close your eyes. Do it now!"

And Kiyi did, trying to stand as normally as possible. If she was being honest with herself, she thought learning form Azula was going to be a lot different.

"What stops you from bending isn't the distance between your toes, it's fear, worry, panic…"

"And you'll show me how to block it?"

"You don't block it… No, you concentrate on it. What feeds your fire. What you live for. You take everything you're feeling and you push it all into your fist and then fire comes out." Azula slowly took Kiyi's hand, made a fist and pointed it straight forward, "Do you feel it?"

"I think I do..."

Azula was just about to let her take a shot when there was a knock on the front door.

"Keep concentrating." she yelled a quick instruction and decided to check who it was.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she could hear the storm out there was getting worse not that it was almost nighttime. Nevertheless, she opened the door and found herself face to face with her mother.

Despite a few signs of aging, she looked exactly like Azula remembered her. Distraught look and all…

"Kiyi, could you come here for a second?" Azula managed to call out, without ever moving her gaze from Ursa.

Ten years since she saw her mother. Fifteen since she saw her with this face. The face that was somehow always smiling at Zuko and never at her. The face that instantly made her feel nine again. The face that still had power over her.

And they both just stood there, motionless.

"What is it?" Kiyi skipped into the hallway.

"Kiyi, darling!" seeing the girl, Ursa immediately let herself in, rushed beside Azula and pulled Kiyi into a tight hug, "Oh, Spirits are you- You're alright… You had me so… Worried."

"Mom, stop…" Kiyi tried, feeling a bit ambushed by this turn of events.

"What did you do to your hair- Never mind. It'll grow back, we'll fix it… The only thing that matters is that I found you." Ursa leaned in and kissed Kiyi's forehead.

oooooooooo

A few people suggested Ursa should show her face… And I was planning on it anyway, so yeah, next chapter the girls will have to deal with that.

As for this chapter, it was written kind of in a hurry between two coding projects so please forgive any mistakes.

We saw a little bit of Azula teaching Kiyi as well as Kiyi not letting her big, scary sister kill someone.

Again, thank you for all the compliments in the comments, especially for calling it original :)

I'll probably need about a week again for the next one so stay patient. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them.