Author's disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "Avatar: the Last Airbender." Nada thing.
Author's notes: On the road again! And aftermath…. And dreamscapes! Cause those are fun :P And I really didn't know what to name this chapter. Sometimes I suck at that.
Maraghoul: My many thanks to your messages that helped shape this story. I am in your debt great nudger of inspiration :P
QueenTyzula: Welp we get more Azula :P Since she's unconscious I have to do something with that…
CharlieBarrow: Thanks again for all the messages and bouts of confidence. This one's for you!
Sanchez97: I got a real kick out of your response review countering the other guests. I appreciate all of you if you want to share a word, and I was assured by your review. Believe it or not, Zuko is one of my favorite characters. I'm trying to portray everyone in shades of grey, so no one is inherently just good or bad.
Guest Red: Another lengthy return! I hope you're liking the story. Must be to incite such a passionate response. Thanks again.
Hell's Warrior: thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy!
"Stoking the Fire"
Chapter forty-nine "Away from the Fire Lord"
Zuko walked into the royal apartments, leaving Suki and another Kyoshi Warrior on guard outside. He was startled to notice several candles lit around the main sitting room. He scratched his neck and followed the way to the royal bedchamber. Inside he was stunned to find Mai seated on the edge of the wide bed, playing with the hem of her silk robe. It was half fastened, giving him a glimpse of her cleavage and Zuko swallowed. The atmosphere seemed very romantic, but even in this stage of healing after their equal infidelities, Mai losing her child, the assault and coup….. Zuko was unsure if he should get to be this happy.
"I take it you're sitting the afternoon out," he said wryly. Mai stood up and helped him off with his shoulder armor and cloak. Her fingers rubbed over his shoulders, smoothing out stray wrinkles in his tunic. She carefully parted the clasps of his tunic and ran her warm hands over his sides. Zuko shivered. A few tell-tale bandages stood out against his pale flesh and the look in Mai's eyes was serious.
"Do they need to be changed?" she asked. Zuko made himself smile.
"No. They feel fine," Zuko said. Mai's careful hand wound down his right side and into the hem of his trousers. Even with the heavy bandage Katara had put there, Zuko winced. The burn was healing slowly and still made some activities a trial.
"How about here?" she asked softly. Zuko shrugged out of his tunic and turned his face into Mai's shoulder. He pressed a few kisses along the slope of one shoulder and up to her lips. Mai held his head as she kissed him softly. The kiss slowly blossomed and Zuko smiled as Mai pressed down on top of him. She settled along his long body, trailing a finger up and down his chest. Zuko sighed as his cock stirred between his legs. Trapped in his trousers, he wondered if Mai could feel his bodily reactions. Her nipples were erect as she leaned up, half on his crotch. Her thighs widened around him and Zuko sat up beneath her, hand going low to cup her rear.
Mai sighed as her robe was pulled low and Zuko lowered his head beneath her chin to taste her breasts. Her bath water had been scented with oils and she knew her skin smelled good. Zuko smelled pretty good too, his musk coiling within his chi.
Zuko's lips parted as Mai pulled his head up. She scraped her tongue into his mouth. Zuko murmured. He made to lower her to her back and winced as he knelt between her thighs. Mai's hands were gentle along his side.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Zuko winced.
"I'll get through," he promised. Mai pushed him to his back and carefully unlaced him, easing his trousers down his hips. Zuko waited, head propped on one arm as she got him as naked as she was, her robe discarded. His cock began stiffening; Zuko sighed at the fullness throbbing within his shaft. Mai traced a hand up and down his thigh, far from his burn wound.
"Well, while you're healing, let me do all the work." Mai raised an eyebrow as her husband looked vastly interested. His large hand roamed down her hip and inward to her thighs. He parted her carefully with his fingers.
"If you can ride me, go ahead," he invited. Mai slid on top of her husband's hips and leaned low, breasts scraping along his chest. His cock stood up between them. Their chi roiled and interlocked; Zuko groaned into Mai's mouth. His large hands cradled her head as they kissed hungrily. "Spirits, I need you…."
Mai smiled against his lips. When she joined them together, Zuko let his air out slowly in a loud exhale. Mai got to work against his length, rising and falling against his shorter thrusts, black hair loose down her back. The moments passed in languid motions of push and pull. Zuko was just idly reflecting that waterbenders must have had sex in mind when they developed some of their bending motions, when Mai clutched his shoulders and pulled him on top. His hip hurt but Zuko sped up his motions.
Mai was biting her lip and stifling her cries until Zuko worked his lips against her throat. His tongue lolled over his mating bite and Mai cried out. As she fell apart around him, Zuko fisted the sheets around her. His head pushed against her shoulder as his hips snapped harder. He moaned and let go. They pushed and moved against each other, their loud breathing filling the bedchamber. Mai clutched his back, holding him on top of her when he collapsed against her shoulder.
"Hmmf fmffm," Zuko mumbled into the mattress. Mai stroked a hand down his sweaty back. His muscles flexed beneath her fingers.
"What was that?" she murmured, head swimming. Zuko raised his head. His bangs hung into his eyes, damp with perspiration.
"That was great. Just what we needed," he murmured. Mai kissed him sweetly. She giggled when Zuko tried to reach under the bed and fish out the silver case without separating.
Mai arched her back, closing her eyes as the fullness receded. "Slowly, Zu…."
Zuko gently withdrew and pressed a few kisses across her throat in apology. "Here, you go first…" He fished out the silver case and pulled out another of his father's stash of good cigars. He lit up the end and handed it to his wife. She leaned up on one elbow, and took the first inhale.
Zuko settled against her, naked flesh pressing into her. Mai cuddled into his shoulder, handing the cigar over. Zuko took his own puff and smiled contently as he blew a smoke ring.
They had a relaxing afternoon and Zuko drew them a hot bath. After washing up and soaking, they lay in the heated water against each other. The sweet kisses Mai bestowed on him cleared Zuko's head. After climbing out and dressing in their casual warm robes, Suki knocked, excusing for intruding.
"Have any of you seen Ying and Tsung?" she asked. Zuko caught Mai's eye. They both shrugged.
"They're with Ty Lee, aren't they?" Mai asked. Zuko tried not to wince.
"Well yes, but…..I have a bad feeling. I can't find any of them," Suki worried.
Zuko shrugged further into his robe. "Are the Kyoshi Warriors looking?"
"Of course," Suki said. "I know better than to sit down on the job."
Zuko gave her a wry smile. "I know."
"Do you need any help looking?" Mai asked. She took a newly lit cigar from her husband and drew on the end. Suki idly waved away the smoke.
"I may take you up on your offer. But just relax you two. We've all had a stressful few…. well, anything," Suki finished lamely.
When she left, closing the front door of the apartment firmly behind her, Zuko pillowed his head on his arm and let Mai lean against his chest. They shared the cigar.
"I hope something else isn't happening," Zuko complained lightly. Mai felt a fluttering in her chest. Ty Lee's words came back and she hoped it wouldn't bit her in the ass.
"Well, we'll just have to see," Mai said pragmatically. She leaned up to kiss her husband and he relaxed against her.
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Iroh pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Ursa poured him a cup of tea and sat opposite. When he opened his eyes, the look of palpable worry was shared.
"I wish I could say Zuko won't be angry at what we've done, but I think that's not going to happen," Iroh murmured. Ursa sighed.
"We do have to give him Ty Lee's letter. And he's going to know Azula has been taken away sooner or later…."
Iroh reached across the table and took her hand. When Noren entered, they let go quickly. Ursa's husband sat beside her. He peeked down at the basket leaning against Ursa's leg. Izumi was sound asleep inside it.
"Kiyi's in a mood. Zuko's holed up with the Fire Lady and she decided to take it out on me. I sent her to her room," Noren told his wife. Ursa gave a wry smile.
"Our ladyship shows her noble side," she teased. Iroh laughed.
"Need any help?" he found himself asking Noren. The man stroked his shorter beard. He sighed.
"I'll be fine, thank you. She needs to be reminded that no matter where we live, she will treat her parents with respect."
"Hear hear," Iroh said.
As Noren gently talked with his wife about their daughter, Iroh found his mind wandering to unpleasant but pleasant thoughts.
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The first few hours in the carriage passed without incident.
Azula was unconscious and Ty Lee cradled her head in her lap, cushioning her from the jolts and jumps the carriage made in the countryside. The bearded healer across the way jumped on each jolt, and clung to his satchel of tools with both arms to keep the objects inside from spilling out. Tsung and Ying held hands, but kept up a light conversation Ty Lee and the healer could follow. They were coming on five hours when the healer pulled on the cord inside the carriage, signaling the driver to stop.
"I must relieve myself. You ladies should do the same," he suggested, blushing. Ty Lee had to agree it made sense, and after she shifted her worry from Azula, her bodily needs roared to the surface. She was thirsty, and she had to pee badly. Ying handed her their canteen and Ty Lee took a long draw of water.
The driver stopped the carriage in the middle of the woods and all but Tsung climbed out to find a private area in the bushes. Ty Lee and Ying shared a spool of white paper and the healer came back, adjusting his robes politely.
"Your turn," Ty Lee said. Ying handed the white paper to Tsung who kissed her on the cheek before heading off to the shrubs. The driver climbed down from the top of the carriage and bowed to the ladies, excusing himself for a moment as well.
"We'll stay at an inn in the next town. Then we can't be but two days off," The driver explained when he came back. The healer sighed. He quickly opened his satchel and counted drug paraphernalia.
"We should just have enough to keep her comatose for the journey. Good thing too, I'll need to stock up on supplies at the manor."
Ty Lee noted the driver and healer only referred to the place as "the manor." She wondered whose house it was or if they'd be intruding. Knowing Iroh, it would be free for their use only. She still wondered which doctors and healers would be available. Ty Lee climbed up into the carriage and Ying helped her lift Azula's prone body. Settling her dark head in her lap once more, Ty Lee leaned against the wall of the carriage, sighing.
Three hours later, it was full on dark and the driver was hunched on his high bench, looking for lights of any nearby town. He finally noted a few torches ahead and turned the carriage toward the lights. The small town had a main street with inns and shops and the carriage stopped at the one closest to the road.
"I'll secure us a few rooms," the driver said. Ty Lee nodded, smoothing Azula's hair back. She had a feeling money was no object for their short journey. She had to trust Iroh had it all settled and so far, it seemed to be.
The two Kyoshi Warriors climbed out and helped support Azula's prone body. The healer shifted from hip to hip on his seat uneasily.
When the driver came back, he had three room keys. He gave the healer one and the women a second.
"I got you ladies the largest room they have. There'll be bedding enough for all of you. Allow me, my lady…." The driver said to Ty Lee. He bent and picked Azula up bodily. She appeared to be sleeping off the effects of a hangover in a trusted friend's arms, and the women followed him quickly into the inn's side door to a quiet hallway.
Once inside the large room, Ty Lee hurriedly threw her shoulder bag in the corner and unrolled a futon. The driver gently laid Azula down on her back and bowed at the waist to the three women.
"I'll be in the next room. Good evening, my ladies," he said. Ty Lee gave a wan smile. The bearded older man was really a polite addition to the journey. Ying and Tsung crowded around the basin after pouring water from the available pitcher and began scrubbing off their make-up.
"Maybe you should travel the rest of the way out of the Kyoshi Warrior garb," Ty Lee suggested. Ying looked up, half the white foundation wiped off. Her pale skin blushed beneath.
"I think it's a good idea. I would think Lord Zuko doesn't know we're spiriting his sister away. Don't want to cast any attention to ourselves," Tsung said. Ying pinched her waist.
"Okay, we'll do it," Ying said.
Ying watched Ty Lee drag one of the futons over to Azula. She unrolled it at her side and undressed to her shift as the other women dressed down for bed. Just as her friends undressed to their shifts, bare legs showing from the knees down, there was a knock at the hard wood door of the inn room.
Ty Lee asked who it was. The familiar trembling voice of their healer sounded and they opened up. The man knelt beside Azula and took her arm. Her manacles clinked together as he felt for a pulse. Finding it, he made a pleased sound under his breath, and fished out a vial from his satchel. He pulled out a fresh syringe and set it into the vial. The liquid he withdrew was an eeiree green color. Ty Lee gulped as the man tied a cord around Azula's upper arm and readied the needle.
"Shouldn't she use the restroom or eat?" she wondered. The man raised a thick eyebrow at her.
"Trust me, my lady, this is for the best," he said dryly. He set the needle into the inside of Azula's pale arm, inserting into the blue vein there. Ty Lee gulped. Ying knelt beside her and touched her shoulder.
"She'll sleep the whole way. I doubt she'll have need of her bodily functions until she awakens," she said.
"I think we're all the safer for it," Tsung added. Ty Lee sighed. The lantern in the corner of their room cast a soft glow over the four adults.
"That should do it. Call me if she does something unexpected; say, she comes out of it," the healer suggested. Ty Lee nodded.
"Thank you. Good night."
The healer bowed and took his leave. The three women ate a hasty dinner of dried jerky and dumplings. They all took a cup of water from a bucket drawn from the inn's well. Ty Lee smoothed Azula's loose hair out of her eyes and combed her fingers though it as gently as she could. A tense line settled between Azula's brows and she murmured in her sleep.
"I wonder if she knows we're here," Ty Lee wondered. Ying felt badly that her friend's heart was so openly on her sleeve.
"I wonder that myself,'" she confessed. Ying set her futon touching Tsung's and the two women climbed under the same comforter. Ty Lee looked away, a slight pang of jealousy flaring through her. Who knew if Azula would ever hold her the way Tsung was holding Ying…..
Ty Lee said good night and Tsung blew out the lantern. There was the rustling of bedding as three women got comfortable. Ty Lee, without question, turned on her side toward Azula.
The princess's breathing was even and slow. Ty Lee leaned closer on the futon. Her hand touched Azula's arm. Her flesh was warm and she winced in the dark as her fingers grazed over a stray bandage on her arm. She'd have to ask the healer to help her wash out the shrapnel cuts.
Ty Lee focused on the face of their daughter as she cuddled close beside Izumi's sire. Sleep was slow to get to but once she began to sink into it, she dove whole-heartedly in.
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Azula wasn't the only one dreaming. While Ty Lee's dreams were shallow and fitful, hers were a vivid landscape. Without the option to go to the waking world, it was all she had. Her boots clopped on the dirt. Clouds of dust shifted beneath her weight and trailed behind her. The dratted Earth Kingdom was just so…. dry, for a lack of a better word.
Azula scowled. The sun beat hot overhead and she relished in its heat, surging the energy through her chi with her bending. Her entourage was far away, and only the tell-tale clops of boots behind her told her some of the soldiers were following. Well, may as well play the military leader Father was so proud of. Azula marched with her back straight and chin raised. She paused a brief glance over her shoulder and blanched. The sun shone down on the blacks and reds of the Fire Nation military uniform, but the articles of clothing were empty. They maintained a standing position as if men and women filled them out, but there were no heads popping from tunic collars, nor hands extended from the long sleeves of the wrist armor.
Azula blinked and blinked again. The haze of the sun was beginning to make her sick now and she had to pace back and forth to catch her thoughts.
"Did you cowards desert? I'll find you!" Azula screamed suddenly into the vast terrain. Her words twisted along on the dusty wind. She stalked down the row of uniforms, straight down the line as if there WERE people in the clothing. She paused in front of one tunic and frowned into it. Peer blackness peeked back. There was nothing inside the clothing; no limbs or person. Azula blinked again and vertigo almost made her stumble. She almost fell to one knee and had to collect her bearings.
Azula mumbled as she staggered away from the uniforms. The sun beat hot overhead and she was relieved to see a shaded tent up ahead. Servants were waving leaf fronds to fan the people inside and Azula was about to just stalk in, royalty had to be granted, when the figures inside made her freeze.
Indeed, it was part of her traveling entourage; Ty Lee and Mai were dressed in silky red clothing that clung to their curves and revealed patches of creamy pale flesh. They lounged on the silk cushions in varying shades of content, feeding each other grapes idly. Just when Azula was about to join them, a male figure ducked in from the rear of the tent and collapsed onto the cushions between them. Azula growled. Her brother was shirtless, clad in only a pair of silk trousers. The sun had tinged his pale flesh a slight pink and Zuko sighed as Mai held a goblet of wine to his lips.
He drank deeply, a dribble of wine pouring from the corner of his mouth. Azula started angrily when Ty Lee leaned over to lick the bit of wine from his jaw. Zuko turned to kiss her. Ty Lee clung to his wide shoulders as he pressed her down to the cushions.
Smoke streamed from Azula's nostrils. "Get off her!" she snapped. The three ignored her. When Azula moved her right foot, and stepped into the tent, the shaded interior vanished. Abruptly in one blink, the day had turned to night and Azula was suddenly alone beneath a sea of stars. She blinked and hissed in surprise and shock. Dread fear surged through her limbs. The princess stalked along the grass; the green strands crunched beneath her boots. Not only the time of day, but also the landscape had shifted. Azula had no idea where she was or what was going on.
Dream logic didn't make her dwell too hard as she happened upon the treacherous acrobat again. She was bathing naked in a lake, and emerged, belly swollen with pregnancy. Azula was startled when Ty Lee turned to press into her arms. Hers, not Zuko's.
"Well, you're finally going to be a sire," Ty Lee was saying. "Happy?"
Azula was about to bite off a harsh remark, when the round belly pressed into her torso and she felt the breath sucked out of her with the gesture. In her dream, she knew she had made this pup, not Zuko. And she would keep them both.
"Only that you're here," Azula murmured. Her arms wrapped around Ty Lee. The woman clung to her back and buried her face into her tunic front. A harsh wind whipped at them and Azula turned to protect the naked woman from the brunt of it. When Ty Lee lifted her face to hers, her eyes were wet with tears.
"Forgive me…..please, forgive me," she was babbling. Azula blinked, bewildered. Forgive her? For what? Laying with Zuko?
"For what?" she demanded. Ty Lee swallowed. Before her red lips could part and form her next words, she hovered, translucent. Azula's arms collapsed inward as the woman dissipated like so much fine smoke. Azula whirled, eyes darting around the dark night.
"TY LEE!" she screamed. Darkness encroached further and nipped at her heels. Azula sobbed with fear and turned to flee.
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Ty Lee gasped and jolted in her bedding. She nudged into Azula's side and sat bolt upright. She glanced around the dark inn room, trying to reign in her breathing. Her dream had been somewhat bittersweet then horrifying. She had been pregnant; whether this was the future or it was Izumi inside her, Ty Lee didn't know. She had been stepping from a dip in a lake when Azula had happened upon her. Her top knot was impeccable and her imperial uniform clung to her powerful figure.
Ty Lee was happy to be in Azula's arms, and her heart soared when the princess's arms slung around her, rubbing her naked back. The soft even breathing of the princess in the dim room filled her mind with relief. Ty Lee turned on her side toward Azula, listening to Ying rustle under her bedding, no doubt turning into Tsung's arms. She heard Tsung's low whisper against Ying as they moved against each other. It was asking a lot of them to go with her on this journey, and who knew how long it would take. They had even left without telling Suki, Ty Lee had found out later.
Like her, Tsung and Ying could face severe repercussions for following this path. As Ty Lee gazed toward Azula's face in the darkness, she focused on the look of surprise on the princess's face in her dream as she emerged from the lake, dripping wet and pregnant. One day…. maybe one day, Azula would heal her mental demons.
And she would hopefully look at her that way again.
End for now
End notes: and here we go! Stay strong my lovelies. Like it, smash that button and do that review thing!
Most sincerely, pen
6/23/2017