The chapter is here, one more left…

oooooooooo

gemsofformenos – Thanks for always taking the time to comment on the newest chapter, it brings a smile to my face every time… I just wanted to say that I do agree with you that Ursa would like to fix her relationship with Azula, and that she'd do anything to make that happen, EXCEPT put either Kiyi or Zuko in danger. I think that is just too high a price for her.

So you see in the previous chapter she sees Azula as a threat to Kiyi, not only in a physical kind of way, but also because Azula could potentially "turn Kiyi against her". That's why she isn't trying harder to win Azula over, even though under any other circumstances that would be her primary concern.

That's what I was going for anyway, but it's alright if you still don't agree. I just hope it doesn't stop you from following the story.

oooooooooo

Chapter 5

"Azula!"

In just a few minutes Kiyi was soaking wet and cold to her core, but she couldn't stop. Even though her yelling was being drowned out by the wind and thunder, she couldn't give up. None of this would be happening right now is she'd just stayed at the palace like her mother wanted.

"Azula! Please come back!"

Then she heard thunder behind here, but it sounded quieter and closer than those before. She turned around and ran towards faint flashes of blue she could see a couple of streets over. When she turned a corner, she found herself face to face with her sister again.

The initial relief faded when Kiyi noticed what appeared to be five lifeless bodies lying on the street surrounding her sister. Azula spread her hands and smiled, looking like she was enjoying her sister's shock.

"Run home, Kiyi! You're not cut out for this!" Azula said and slowly started walking further down the street.

It took Kiyi a few extra seconds to snap out of her shock, but she did. Passing the bodies, she noticed a poster with her sister's picture lying on the ground next to them. Bounty hunters… They were really everywhere.

"I don't care that you killed them." Kiyi followed a step after Azula, a distance she judged to be safe, but clearly wasn't, "I just want you to come back to the house with me."

"Leave me alone!" Azula snapped at her.

"There is no excuse for how she behaved tonight, but if you just come back and take your stuff… I promise she won't do anything else."

"No. I don't need anything from her! I would rather deal with people like that hunting me down till the end of my days, than grovel in front of her!" Azula stopped where she stood.

"Then we'll go find Zuko, just the two of us. He'll listen to me. He'll lift your bounty."

"Don't you get it? No, he won't. He won't if she says I messed with your head." Azula turned to Kiyi, "Aren't you mad at me, anyway? What do you care? I betrayed you. I tattled to Mommy…"

"I am mad." Kiyi said, "But I forgive you."

Azula snickered at that.

"Because I think I get it now…" Kiyi pulled Azula towards a building nearby that had a big balcony they could stand under. She seemed so uncharacteristically determined, that Azula decided to let her have her way.

Once they were out of the rain, Kiyi took a deep breath and started talking.

"When I was little-"

"Listen, I don't have time for your whole life story!" Azula interrupted, "I just want to get out of here and you're like a giant annoying suitcase that I do not plan on lugging along…"

"Can you just listen to me this once?!" Kiyi insisted.

"Alright, say your piece, but then I'm leaving." Azula wasn't sure whether it was some kind of guilt for calling their mother or something different, but she calmed down and waited for her sister to start.

"As I was saying, when I was little I wasn't allowed to spend any time with kids my age. Mom wanted to keep me safe and she succeeded, but she also kept me from having friends and getting into trouble and living a normal life. I mean, I did have Tom-Tom, but he never liked me. He always called me Tower Girl, you know, because I never left the palace…"

"Kiyi."

"Alright, I got side-tracked… Let me start over." Kiyi said, causing Azula to sigh, "When I moved to the palace they gave me your room. They didn't tell me that, I just figured it out when I found this."

Kiyi pulled an old notebook out of her jacked and handed it over. Azula hadn't thought about those worn-out covers with blue rims in years, but it all came back in a second when she saw it.

"It's your old diary."

"Journal." Azula took the fragile little notebook into her hands and opened a random page.

"Of course, sorry. You started writing it when you were around seven and that's also how old I was when I found it. And since no one would talk to me about you, the only things I knew were that you were my sister and also that you were never coming back. But then I learned more. You wrote about your friends and about Zuko and about how mean Mom was to you… That thing soon became my best and only friend," Kiyi pointed, making a pause for a deep breath, "I must have read it a thousand times."

"This is how you found me while everyone else failed?" Azula asked, moving her gaze from the journal.

"On the back you had your emergency plan in case Zuko became Fire Lord and wanted to kill you. I started visiting all the places until I- Well, you get it. I really thought I knew you from those pages, even though you never mentioned a couple things, like how cruel your father was to you. But the thing is, this ends at you being fourteen and I've had to come up with my own sequel. And in my version, you ran away from Mom and you found a bunch of awesome friends in the world and maybe a handsome boyfriend and you've forgotten all about everything that used to trouble you."

Kiyi stopped again to breathe since this was the first time she ever said any of that to another person. Her sister also seemed a bit overwhelmed, but she was surprised most of all.

"But now I see that none of that happened," Kiyi continued, "Because we never let you be free to do that. You're just trapped by this invisible- And just to make it shorter, I'll just say it… I'm going back to Mom and telling her you convinced me to returnto the palace. And I'll go back with her and be a good daughter and you'll get your freedom back."

"You- Why? Why would you-" Azula was beyond shocked.

"Because I tracked you down and I destroyed what little peace you had. And because I read your diary, that was not cool. You can take it back now." Kiyi took a step away from her sister and towards the rain, "I don't know what I was expecting when I went looking for you. I guess, that you'll take care of me and keep me safe. But I don't know how I expected that when no one ever did it for you. But I get it now… What I have to do. I'll go back to the palace, so you can wear summer dresses and dance in the street and tell cute boys your real name…"

"Kiyi, I really-"

"I'll go now because I don't like crying in front of you and goodbyes make me cry," she turned away, "Have a nice life."

And with that Kiyi ran back into the rain.

oooooooooo

It was already morning when Azula decided to start walking back to her house. The heavy rain had turned to a light drizzle and people were already up and walking about. The best possible turn of events for her would be if when she opened her front door, she found the house empty. No mother, no daughter… Yet, there was something inside her that carried a slight hope that she'd find just Kiyi there, grinning because she figured out a way to stay.

However, the house was empty. Fine… Good.

Since she was no longer in a hurry, Azula decided to pack up all her things before leaving, not just the essentials she had ready last night. She found Kiyi's hard-earned money tucked into the suitcase clumsily, but other than that the house looked like neither her sister or her mother were ever there. Azula tried to forget it too, just push it out of her mind and pretend it was just another relocation for anonymity's sake. It proved to be harder than she expected.

She only broke down crying once during the whole packing, while she was putting away her childhood journal. Guess, the weight of what happened the night before was finally hitting her. Living alone was the only way of life she'd known for a good number of years now, but going back to it after two days of living with her sister seemed impossible somehow.

But this was what Kiyi wanted. What she said she wanted.

After a trying hour, Azula was finally outside her house surrounded by her suitcases. She wore the stupid floral pattern dress Kiyi found the first morning, because… Well, if her calculations were right and the seas were calm enough, her mother was talking to Zuko about her bounty right now. She was about to be free.

So to celebrate she put on the dress, but over pants because you never know when you'll find yourself in a fight… And she let down her hair, partly, because it could blind her during an attack… Soon she wouldn't have problems if people noticed her.

While waiting for the carriage that would take her things to the port, she thought about what Kiyi would be doing if she was there with her. Probably talking her ear off, or trying to imagine how the new house would look, or…

Azula moved a few steps away from her bags and twirled. She must have been doing it wrong because Kiyi looked like she quite enjoyed it every time. Azula tried spinning a few more times, faster and faster, wondering it this even counted as dancing. Then out of sheer boredom she did a cartwheel and a couple of flips before spinning a few more times. She was starting to get into it, when she heard a voice behind her.

"You know, it's better with music."

Azula immediately stopped everything and turned around, recognizing the owner of the voice as Mun, the musician from the town square.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, since he never got more than her name.

"Well, I wanted to find you, so I asked around for the most beautiful woman in the neighborhood and here I am." he smirked.

"Listen-"

"Joke. OK? Joke." he laughed to himself, "I asked around for Azula and Kiyi, but no one knew anything. Then I spotted you accidentally."

"But why were you looking?"

He smiled and walked two steps closer. Too close, by what Azula was used to.

"Yesterday, a few scary-looking men came to ask questions about someone named Azula."

So he was the reason those gentleman had to die last night. Amazing… Too bad Kiyi wasn't here so Azula could show her how right she was about talking to this guy…

"I told them I didn't know anything," he continued, "But they looked like they were bad news, so I just wanted to check up on you. See if everything was alright."

"Oh. That's good, I guess… Yes, it's good of you." she wondered briefly what was it about this particular man that restricted her usually quite extensive vocabulary.

"So you're OK?" he asked, "Your sister too?"

"Yes. I'm actually leaving soon and Kiyi's already left."

"I figured everything was good, since you didn't really strike me as the dancing type."

"Oh, I'm definitely not."

"Well, music helps and… Having someone to do it with." he reached for her hand, but she beat him to it, catching his wrist violently. It was purely a subconscious reflex, she didn't even know she was doing it until it was done.

"I'm sorry… You were being nice." she paused, "Why? Why were you being nice? Don't you want to know what those men wanted with me?"

Mun looked to the sky like he was thinking and then said, "No. Not really. I figured if I never see you again, it doesn't really matter… And if we do get to know each other better, then you'll tell me when you're ready."

Azula didn't speak after that, but she did let go of his arm. She let him adjust them into a dancing position and followed his lead as he wobbled them in a certain pattern. It was dumb, but she could kind of see why people liked it so much. Then she accidentally locked eyes with Mun and it got a whole new dimension. And then she… She…

"No." she said and took a few steps back.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked immediately.

"No, you… You do all that for some other young lady, and it will be a sure deal. I just… I have somewhere to be. And someone to be there with…" Azula started walking away from the house and towards the port. Slowly at first, but she was picking up the pace.

Mun nodded in agreement but wasn't sure if she even saw him. When he remembered she left all her stuff behind she was too far for him to call over.

oooooooooo

Here. Our sisters are separated, but hopefully not for too long.

Azula figured out there are more important things to think about than cute neighbors….

I don't know if you ever had a sibling take the fall for you because you've already been through some stuff… But I can say it's pretty great. And also it immediately fills you with guilt.

So here we have Kiyi doing something selfless because she grew up surrounded by some good role-models (from the Gaang) and she knows that evil is not born, it's made and so is good.

Anyway, one more chapter is coming… Stay patient.

I hope you enjoyed it an look forward to reading any and all thoughts :)