Wanted
By: Agent-Ayu
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Disclaimer from Prologue still applies
"So what are you going to do?"
Azula looked over at her bed seeing Ty Lee sitting cross-legged. "The only thing that's expected of me, deal with a traitor and foil whatever plan Zuko the Avatar's friends are doing. There is no room for error." She leaned against the railing of her balcony as she watched the sun set over the horizon of Caldera City. "I can't fail again or I'll end up just like Zuko."
Ty Lee uncrossed her legs and leaned on her knees. "Are things really that bad? Is your father that angry with you?"
"You weren't there, Ty Lee. You weren't there in the Crystal Catacombs, you weren't in the war room when I told my father everything that happened in Ba Sing Se, when I lied to him and told him Zuko killed the Avatar, you weren't here during the Invasion, and you weren't in the war room where I had to hear my father tell me how I foolish to trust anyone, especially Zuko, and that I lied to him. You have no idea what I am going through."
The acrobat got up and stood next to the princess. "No, I don't know. I'm trying to since you only talk to me about what happens in those meetings with your father anyway." She placed her hand over Azula's. "I wasn't there for everything you listed off because you either kept me out of it or I wasn't allowed in."
The princess huffed as she smirked. "That's because I don't and can't trust anyone else. Even though Mai's my friend too, well, you've been there the whole time. You know we don't get along as well as you and I do."
"Yeah, I've been there for those." Ty Lee wrapped her arm around Azula's and leaned against the railing too. "It's like I told Zuko on Ember Island, I know him and I know you too. I'm honored to get to see this side of you, it's more you than what your father wants the world to see."
Azula frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means everyone will always see a lie and never know it."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Azula removed her arm from Ty Lee's and walked back into her room.
"Yes, I do. You and Mai may not believe in auras, but I do. While your aura might not be a dingy grey like Mai's, you have this muddy red and yellow almost brown aura. You're angry and unsettled. That's all I see from you these days except the few occasions you open up. A few minutes ago it was a mixed bright fire colors, which all has their own meanings, but that's the aura of the real you not the one I'm that I'm seeing now.
You also can't lie to me. You might be a very good liar, but your aura changes when you're lying. Can you honestly tell me that you're not angry?"
The Fire Nation princess clenched her jaw as she turned towards Ty Lee. "I'm not angry."
Ty Lee gave a small smile. "Yes, you are, but only a little. You're more unsettled than you are angry."
Azula rolled her eyes as she sat down on her bed. The acrobat sighed and sat next to the princess. "Azula, talk to me. Your usual façade isn't normal, if that makes any sense. It's much worse."
"It's about tomorrow. If things go as bad as they could I'll have no choice but…"
"But?"
"To kill Zuko."
The acrobat pulled away slightly. "That's not funny, Azula. I know you sometimes have a rather dark humor as part of your façade, but nothing like that."
"Who's laughing?" Azula stared hard at the ground as she clenched her fists.
"Azula… that's crazy. No, you can't do that. You have never killed anyone or anything. How do you think you can kill your own brother?"
"That's where you're wrong, Ty Lee. I have killed before. I killed the Avatar in Ba Sing Se."
"Now you're really crazy. The Avatar is still alive. You saw him during the Invasion."
"He died in Ba Sing Se. No one could have survived a direct hit like he did and still have lived. I don't know how he survived, but something with the way Zuko acted the day we got back to the Fire Nation told me he survived. Zuko knew something I didn't and that's why I told my father that Zuko had killed the Avatar. I can't return here from the Boiling Rock a failure. I have to stop him no matter what it takes."
Ty Lee squeezed Azula's hand. "You're not a murderer, Azula. I'm not even counting what happened to the Avatar since he's still alive. You've never killed anyone and you shouldn't have to. You can stop them without killing Zuko or anyone else. Please, Azula!"
Azula shook her head. "It's not that easy. You don't have the pressure of the Fire Nation on your shoulders. I have to prove I'm nothing like Zuko. That's my drive. That's all I know. That's all I'll probably ever know. I can't be like Zuko."
"You're already so much like him." Ty Lee jumped away from the bed before Azula could turn and glare at her. "You're acting a lot like he did before he was banished. Well, at least the way you described him."
"How can you say that?" Azula stood up and glared at Ty Lee. "I am nothing like him. I refuse to be like him."
"I told you how I could say that. And I told you I know you! Sometimes it's scary how much I know you better than you."
The princess looked in the acrobat's eyes trying to find something, anything really. The girl in front of her was not the same one Azula had tricked into joining her mission a few months ago. The Ty Lee at the circus wouldn't have argued with her no matter what. Azula was stumped with what changed. When did Ty Lee not fear her, if she ever feared her at all?
"Zuko is weak. I'm not weak."
Suddenly Azula felt herself pushed back onto her bed, as she sat up Ty Lee was straddling her lap. "Ty Lee! What are you do-"
Azula froze when she saw the look on the other girl's face. She couldn't recall see Ty Lee ever looking as serious even when the acrobat was angry on Ember Island. "Is it really being weak opening to someone? Or letting someone else support you?"
"Ty L-" The words were caught in Azula's throat. She honestly didn't know how to respond to Ty Lee's questions. The acrobat's face was really close to hers.
"I think by opening yourself, trusting someone, letting them support you makes you stronger. That way you don't have to carry all the weight. It takes a lot of strength to trust someone. By not trusting someone I think you would be a coward and weak."
The princess opened her mouth to respond, but again nothing came out. Her heart was beating quickly against her chest and she had to mentally remind herself to breathe.
"The Azula the world sees is weak. The Azula I see is strong because she let me in. The Azula the world sees would never have told me what you have. You're not weak and neither is Zuko. You're both stronger than your father for trusting others."
Ty Lee began to lean into Azula. The firebender pulled back slightly before beginning to lean in herself. Their foreheads touched, nervous smiles were exchanged, and they continued leaning towards each other. Their lips were barely touching before they both pulled back slightly only to lean in again. Before their lips touched they were broken from their trance when someone knocked on the princess's door.
The acrobat pulled herself completely off the other girl as Azula slowly stood up and walked over to her door. Both girls had to let out several deep breaths before Azula opened her door. On the other side was one of the messenger servants.
"What is it?"
"Your highness, the Fire Lord requests for you in his throne room. Immediately." The servant bowed and walked away as fast as he could. He could feel a murderous tension coming from the princess.
The firebender covered her mouth with her hand as she still tried to catch her breath. She looked back into her room to see Ty Lee standing awkwardly by the princess's bed. The acrobat trailed her hands down the marble posts.
"Well, I guess I better head to bed myself, since Mai and I are accompanying you tomorrow. Goodnight, Azula." Ty Lee paused to look at Azula before walking past the princess.
Once Ty Lee was out of her sight the princess left her room and headed straight for the throne room. She couldn't get the images of what was about to have happened out of her head. The young princess wasn't sure if she was disappointed or glad that they hadn't kissed. It didn't matted she needed to focus. She stopped in front of the curtain to the throne room.
Azula shook her head to clear her mind. She let out a deep breath. She couldn't let what happened in her room distract her from whatever it was her father needed to say. Tomorrow she had a mission. Stop Zuko. There was no room for error. The princess would not let anything stop her. Letting out one more deep breath, Azula opened the curtain and walked into the throne room.
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Slowly Azula opened her eyes and stared at the glaciers as her mind was brought back to the present. A year has passed since her unofficial banishment began. Like her brother had years before, she had traveled to each of the Air Temples. She spent a long time at the Western Air Temple reflecting over the battle that took place just days before Sozin's Comet. It was where Azula knew she began to show signs that she was losing her sanity.
She had almost succeeded in killing her brother that day. It was lucky that he fell onto another zeppelin. While she was proud when she thought Zuko fell to his death, she knew she would have regretted it later and for that she was thankful he was lucky that day. Even though she couldn't admit it to Mai yet, she was also thankful that Mai stopped the guards from cutting the line at the Boiling Rock. She had to silently thank Ty Lee and Zuko as well. If not for them she probably would have killed Mai and Katara.
But now here she was, somewhere near the Southern Water Tribe. Traveling had helped her a bit. She was nowhere near finding herself, but it was closer than she was in the Fire Nation. This time she wasn't on a mission to hunt down her brother or the Avatar, she was to travel the world and she loved it. The past year Azula learned what it was like not to be royal or have the pressure of a nation on her shoulders. She even struck up an unexpected friendship with some of the crewmembers over Pai Sho.
Most of the time they playfully complained how much she was like Iroh. Every time they thought they were winning, she wipes them out with one or two moves. While traveling with most of the crew Zuko had, she got to learn more about the Fire Lord's travels that her brother hadn't shared with her. She had learned that Zuko had gone a little crazy at the beginning of his search. The crew told her stories about the Fire Nation actor who stole from them, the guru Zuko found while at the Eastern Air Temple, and everything in between. Including what happened after they found the Avatar here in the South Pole after nearly three years of traveling.
Lately she had been reflecting on the last few days of her sanity during the war and how everything crumpled in front of her. It was triggered when they passed Kyoshi Island. Azula remembered Zuko telling her how Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi Warriors after the war and how she taught the warriors chi blocking while in prison. The princess had thought to ask the captain in making a stop at Kyoshi Island to check in on the acrobat, but immediately voted against it. Ty Lee and Mai were easily forgiven, but the people of Kyoshi would never forgive Azula and what she did during the war. Defeating their warriors and infiltrated Ba Sing Se incognito as their warriors, and bringing shame to their name. She would never be welcomed.
Azula let out a deep breath as she produced a small fireball. While her fire had gotten slightly bigger, it still wasn't burning blue like before. She was beginning to wonder if it ever would burn blue again. Her drive was no longer to be perfect and not be like Zuko. So what was her drive now? Does she have a drive? During her private training at the palace she never did much, except control small amounts of fire in various ways. The princess hadn't tried fighting or going through the different firebending forms.
Stepping to the center of the ship's deck, she began going through forms that were still second nature to her. The firebender wasn't trying to produce any fire yet. She wanted to reconnect with the feeling. She was once the world's strongest female firebender, she was the only female able to bend lightning and she was only fourteen. Azula no longer had the standards of her father to live up to, but to her the strength and power she had as a firebender nearly ten years ago is what she wanted now. To be as strong as she was then only this time it wasn't to manipulate and terrify others, to be about control. Control over her ability, her life, and her mind.
She moved onto the advance forms, still not producing fire. Every move still had it's perfected focus, snap, tension, and technique. It was as if she hadn't practiced these forms in years. Just as she was about to transition in the last form she felt someone grab her shoulder. Without thinking she spun and around and landed a back fist to her grabber's head. When she finally looked she realized she had knocked out one of the crewmembers.
"Shit."
When Azula kneeled down to check to see if he was breathing as more of the crew showed up and started laughing. Apparently they had warned him not to interrupt her during her firebending practice and this is what he got for not listening. The princess rolled her eyes and ordered them to have the ship's doctor look at him.
Once her mind was cleared she dropped down into a familiar stance, she bent her right knee down into an angled front stance as she brought left hand down and up, she shifted to her left side repeating the same motion. She brought her fingertips together briefly before shooting her right hand out as if to send an attack towards the sea. For the first time in years a huge explosion blasted in Azula's face as she was thrown across the ship's deck.
Hearing the explosion, most of the crew ran back to the deck to check on their princess. Azula sat against the ship's side in shock. The last time that happened were when she was eleven it was only a few days after Zuko's banishment did Ozai began teaching Azula how to lightning bend. It took her a week to finally bend lightning and at least a few months to have control. She wasn't expecting to be perfect after not bending for so long, she didn't expect having it exploded in her face.
"Princess, are you alright?" The captain asked as he kneeled down beside her.
"I'm fine, Captain." Azula slowly stood up and gripped the side of the ship to keep herself balanced, as she suddenly felt dizzy.
"Maybe we should have you see the doctor as well."
"No. I'm fine. A little dizzy is all. I'm going to lie down for a bit. I don't want anyone disturbing me." Azula made eye contact with all the crewmembers before walking below deck to her cabin.
She took her time to walk back to her cabin. Many thoughts and memories were flooding through her mind. Memories of how she treated people and thoughts of if the crew was concerned for her as a person and friendly with her because they wanted to or because her brother had ordered them to travel with her for her unofficial banishment. Azula walked over to the nearest wall and slammed her fists against it as she let out a frustrated scream.
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Azula screamed as she slammed her fists against her bedroom wall. She had just came out of her father's war room after she was lectured and berated by her father for her failure again. He had hounded her for hours since her return from the Boiling Rock. She was not given a resting period before she was summoned. The guard had to drag her into the war room, where she stayed bowing to her father.
There was nothing she could have done since her legs were still paralyzed from Ty Lee's chi blocking.
Ozai pointed out Azula's faults and how she was becoming more like Zuko. Several times through her father's belittling she wanted to interrupt him and tell him he was wrong. But she wasn't Zuko. That's what Zuko did three years ago. That's what got her brother scarred and banished.
Adding insult to injury, he pointed out her current position being a consequence for trusting Ty Lee. Zuko's escape was a consequence for trusting Mai. Her trust in Zuko was thrown back in her face during the Day of Black Sun when he sold her out on everything. Azula kept lowering her head with every new insult until she was no longer paralyzed. When Ozai said, 'stand', she stood. He compared her to her mother, her brother, her uncle, her cousin, and said how she was turning out to be like them. Weak.
The entire palace was silent when she was finally dismissed from the war room. She had to listen to her father's voice echo through her head back to her room. Azula slammed her fists against the wall a few more times before sitting down on her bed, hanging her head. She took deep breaths as she covered her face with her hands as the events at the Boiling Rock replayed in her mind.
Everything had gone wrong in every way today. Zuko and his friends weren't supposed to attempt to escape, she and Ty Lee weren't supposed to fight on the gondola, Mai wasn't supposed to save Zuko, Ty Lee wasn't supposed to chi block her.
Nothing was ever supposed to go wrong when she was in charge. Not even the invasion. Everything was perfect. The Invasion plan was foiled when the Fire Nation had already prepared for it and found a way to counter it if they were to search further than the palace. Azula planned out every possibility just like she did with the Boiling Rock it was fool proof. Except Zuko was the wild card that she never factored into her plans.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard knocking at her door. Azula threw her door open, startling the messenger servant. "What?" Azula snapped.
"Uh… your Dai Li agents have found the location of the Avatar. They say he was spotted at the Western Air Temple, along with the stolen zeppelin."
Azula smirked. She had them now. "Tell the rest of the zeppelin fleet to everything ready. We leave the moment they finish."
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The princess slowly lowered her hands and leaned her forehead against the wall she had just hit. She took deep breaths to calm herself down. Azula didn't blame Zuko, Mai, or Ty Lee anymore. She hadn't since she recovered. She blamed herself and her parents. Her father turned her into that monster and her mother didn't even try to 'save' her like she did with Zuko.
Suddenly Azula was tossed to the other side of her cabin as a loud painful screech was heard throughout the entire ship. Azula stayed on the ground, clinging to her bed frame until the ship stopped shaking violently. Once the shaking stopped she waited a few moments before standing. She grabbed her swords and ran back up to the deck.
When she arrived she could barely see in front of her. She didn't know how long she was down in her cabin except they weren't even heavy fog when she left the deck. Taking one step there was a crunch under her foot, when she looked it was ice. Azula produced a small fireball to help her see a little better and there were chunks of ice spread around the deck.
"Princess, are you alright?" The Captain asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. What did we do? Hit an ice berg?"
The look on the Captain's face was enough to answer her question before he tried explaining the situation. "The helmsman couldn't see it. The fog is so thick, Princess. We have men trying to repair as much damage as soon as possible, but we need to get to shore quickly. I'm so sorry, we-"
Azula held up her hand to stop the Captain from explaining further. "I'm not blaming anyone Captain. The fact I can barely see in front of me I don't think there was much you and the rest of the crew could have done. How long was I down in the cabin?"
"For several hours, Princess."
The firebender looked around as best she could. "Do you think a messenger hawk can make their way those this fog without trouble?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Good. Send at least two of our messenger hawks to the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. If what my brother told me is true, they should have some waterbenders besides Katara who could possibly help us."
The Captain looked around nervously. Azula recognized this uneasiness he was having. She had placed several ship Captains and their crewmates in that position.
"Please Captain. What is it you wish to say?"
"Princess, I mean no disrespect, but would they help us knowing you are a passenger?"
"This isn't a royal ship, Captain. Therefore they wouldn't know I am on this ship and we will not be telling them that in the messages. We need to send out an S.O.S. whatever happens after we get the ship to safety we'll handle then. The world has a vendetta against me and me alone. Now what can I do to help while we wait for help to arrive?"
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Jing sat cross-legged as she watch her father's patient sleep. She had just finished reading through her book of various tales and legends of the Four Nations to her and not once has the patient stirred. The young firebender held her breath when the patient groaned and began to stir.
"Dad! I think she's waking up!"
Yu quickly walked into his patient's room and watch as she slightly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and looked over at Jing. "Easy now. You've been asleep for several days."
The patient mumbled something. "What did she say?" Jing looked at her dad. She leaned in closer to the patient. The patient grabbed Jing's arm and pulled as hard as she could, mumbled once more and loss consciousness again.
"What did she say, Jing?"
The young firebender blinked as she tried figuring it out as well. "Az… Azra? No. Az… Azu… Azura? Maybe it was Azula. I don't know."
