Avatar Chapter 23
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
The ocean was absolutely beautiful, the endless azure sky and deep blue water was mesmerizing. The young acrobat could not help but stare at the sight, from the highest floor of the command tower one could enjoy a fantastic view. And since the highest floor happened to be entirely dedicated to living space Ty Lee got to enjoy the view all the time.
Ty Lee had been on nice ships before but this was beyond extravagant, she and Azula's quarters were even more ornate then the train car they once traveled in. An enormous bed, thick rugs, expertly carved furniture and it even had a tub, with hot water.
Obviously being surrounded by Fire Benders meant things like hot water were a non-issue, but the fact that they had a full tub of fresh water to bathe in confused her. But during the tour of the ship Iza had explained the wonder known as a 'water distiller' that apparently took sea water and turned it into fresh water.
It was so cool, all this neat stuff existed in the world and it was all thanks to people like Gaz. Ty Lee remembered the lessons from school on the scientific pursuits in the country, they had all been taught that the Fire Nation was by far the most technologically advanced nation.
The room they shared was a testament to that fact. There was an alcove with an elevator where meals were sent up, metal tubes that allowed Azula to contact the various sections of the ship, one of Gaz's inclusions. There also a telescope on the balcony, Ty Lee loved it as she found looking at the stars at night beautiful.
The ship itself was enormous but Azula had been correct in saying it was fast, its black hull cut through the water like a knife and the powerful engine could be powered entirely by Fire Bending if need be, another of Gas's contributions.
"To think other people still use wooden boats, I bet they would be dazzled by this ship… I wonder if Azula has thought of a name for it yet" Ty Lee looked down to the deck, where her girlfriend was training yet again.
"Now that's a beautiful sight." Ty Lee watched as Azula practiced her Fire Bending forms, how she twisted, spun and flipped while dazzling blue fire wrapped around her. As impressive as the bending was Ty Lee admitted she watched mostly because of how it made Azula look.
She sighed dreamily "Agni she looks scorching, hopefully she never learns it was me who 'misplaced' her baggy training outfit." The tight fitting pants and nearly to short shirt were giving Ty Lee quite the view.
Having no set schedule from Li and Lo caused the two of them to have a lot of free time, and out at sea it was a challenge to keep busy. Azula had been training at least once a day on the ship's deck, having so much space allowed her to really let loose.
But one could only train so much, and in-between the island stops they had to get creative. Learning about the ships technology from Iza was a highlight, though not an engineer she had spent enough time with Gaz to know how things worked.
Azula was determined to personally test out every weapon on this ship, most were concealed and both of them were shocked at how many the designers had managed it fit onto the ship.
Ty Lee had been more interested in all the cool stuff on board like the small aviary where the messenger-hawks were kept, Arkrez was not allowed in. He was also not allowed in the kitchen, which despite being at sea served up some delicious meals.
All in all they had managed to keep themselves somewhat busy, in part because they were spending a lot of private time with each other. They talked, mostly about the island visits which were always exciting. The governor of the island and the mayor of whatever town they visited always greeted them and gave them a tour of the surrounding area.
The last stop was a highlight, it had a volcano that had been spewing forth a river for molten rock for nearly two centuries now. They also visited factories, shipyards, monuments, cultural sights and all manner of other places of interests. They also met a variety of guests, merchants, politicians, generals and academics were practically lined up to meet them.
Ty Lee had thought Azula would receive most of the attention but she found herself greeting just as many dignitaries as her girlfriend. She mostly just smiled and said nice things, as she was not used to having so many people clamor for her attention.
And the more time they spent together, the more comfortable Azula became being physically close to her. When Ty Lee woke up she often found her loves arms wrapped around her, though if it was out of affection or to simply keep her from hogging the blankets Ty Lee was not sure.
The acrobat knew that Azula was still unsure of being loving, but after her birthday they had shared a few more passionate moments. But just like everything else Azula did she tried to perfect it, it was endearing really despite the questionable outcomes.
"I don't know what she's trying to do with her tongue, but it tickles more than anything and I don't think I can help myself from laughing next time." Ty Lee had come to the realization that she should probably be guiding Azula through this, her girlfriend was brilliant but at the same time… not.
"At least she's trying, it can't be easy for her to be all gentle and nice." Ty Lee had noticed a change in Azula, over the years she was becoming callous, cruel and downright mean, more so then usual.
When they were kids it was a light shove or scathing insult, nothing to serious that would cause people to worry, except maybe Princess Ursa. But as time went on she started to be more deliberate in her cruelty, burning other girl's hair, scaring small animals and such.
But over the last little year the Princess started to loosen up, she was still scary but was happier then Ty Lee had ever seen her. She wondered if her staying was the cause, that was a bold statement but Ty Lee could see no other reason.
She leaned on the railing and watched as Azula finished up her routine, she sighed as Azula stretched out and Ty Lee got a good look at her figure. The Princess looked up towards her and Ty Lee waved, "Hi Zula!"
Azula appeared to shake her head at Ty Lee's high pitched yell and she started walking towards the command tower, no doubt to come up and take a bath. Ty Lee smiled, another good thing about being on the ship was that she always got to help Azula bathe, there were servants but Ty Lee was more than happy to do it for them.
"Well that was fun, it is enjoyable being to cut loose out here, with no risk of annoying pests getting in the way." Azula wiped her brow with a cloth as she made her way to her private elevator, she had pushed herself during training these past few days and was more than spent.
She found having no set schedule interesting, she could anything she wanted and yet could not decide what to do most days. For the first few days she had trained obviously but with no meetings or lessons she found herself bored afterwards, "I wonder if this is how Mai feels all the time, if so I can understand her attitude, having nothing to do is mind numbing."
Thankfully she remembered what her overly depressing friend did for fun and decided to try her hand at it, playing with sharp objects was enjoyable. Of course being on a ship with a variety of advanced weaponry proved most entertaining. There were ballistae hidden in the side of the ship, a catapult hidden under the deck, harpoon launchers and large crossbows could be placed strategically around the vessel, including her balcony.
And though the shooting an iron bolt as thick as her arm at a target was fun, her favorite instrument of destruction were the six small ports hidden in the decorative bow. One would not notice them if they weren't looking but all it took was the pull of a leaver for a river of flame to shoot out. The wave of fire released was nearly as long as the ship and would incinerate anything in her vessels path, it was beautiful.
She had not gotten to use it on any live targets yet but she held out hope a group of rebels or pirates would show themselves soon. And in the meantime she would spend more time with Ty Lee, she was getting good at this 'being romantic' endeavour and no longer acted like a dolt when her girlfriend got affectionate.
The elevator reached the top of the command tower and she heard the sound of water running as she stepped out. Azula walked into the bathroom and saw Ty Lee filling up the large tub with hot water, she smiled at the girl's foresight.
"I poured you a bath and filled it up with the herbal water you like." Her girlfriend had a not so innocent look in her eye.
Azula smiled, she knew Ty Lee had been watching her and also knew she was the reason for her new training outfit's disappearance. "I should not be surprised, my physical form is quite impressive and if she should be ogling anyone it had better be me."
"You have my thanks Ty, I pushed myself hard today so why don't you help me relax." Azula stripped the sweaty clothing for her form and threw them at an opening in the wall which lead to the laundry room. She was aware Ty Lee had her eyes glued to her and was fine with it, perfection was such rare thing and Ty Lee obviously appreciated it.
She slipped into the tub and let out a sigh, the gentle rocking of the boat made bathing even more enjoyable. She sensed Ty Lee behind her and felt hands on her neck and shoulders. "How do you feel Azula, this should really help you relax."
Azula leaned her head back and settled into the water, Ty Lee's hands were magic. Her girlfriend had, thankfully, gotten proficient enough to stimulate her chi without paralyzing her or causing delirium.
Ty Lee was humming tune, some collection of notes that probably had no place being strung together but Azula did not mind. "Enjoying yourself Ty?"
"Yup, it's fun feeling all the tension leave your body, but I don't think it's healthy to push yourself so hard each day."
"I push myself just hard enough, besides you seem to enjoy it when I'm too spent to resist your urge to cuddle."
"Hey I like cuddling, I don't have to use a blanket when it's cold."
"I'm glad I can be of use as a heat source."
"That not what I meant, it just…"
Azula smiled at Ty Lee's rambling, she was so much cuter when she was flustered and airheaded. She reached up and grabbed the girls braid, Azula pulled Ty Lee's head down and leaned her head back before kissing her.
She saw Ty Lee's eyes widen in surprise before she kissed her back, Azula enjoyed how she could get Ty Lee to stop talking like this. She also enjoyed the feeling of a wet nose nuzzle her face "Wait."
Azula broke the kiss looked to her right, and saw Arkrez staring at her with hose big golden eyes of his. She frowned "What do you want, I am not kissing you."
Arkrez blinked with both eye lids and turned his head to the side before he began pawing her face, he seemed fascinated by her wet bangs. "Awww that's so adorable" Ty Lee had hearts in her eyes as she took in the scene.
Azula felt her eye twitch, her pet had stolen her girlfriend's attention and he was still batting her bangs around like toys. "I loath you" she tried to put as much venom in her voice as possible. Arkrez simply purred and continued attacking her hair.
Azula hung her head while Ty Lee giggled "All right Arky, Azula needs to wash up so I'll give you a treat out in the sitting room." At the mention of food Arkrez quickly followed Ty Lee out of the bathroom while Azula sat in the tub and began scrubbing her hair down. "Who knows what's been on his paws, stupid killer feline-reptile thing, disturbing my hair and stealing my Ty Lee, manipulating her with that innocent face of his…Oh Agni I'm jealous of my pet."
The Princess plunged her head into the water and screamed, her inability to compete with an animal for Ty Lee's affections was humiliating. She raised her head and pulled her hair back, she heard Ty Lee come back and kneel down behind her. "Is every alright Azula, your aura is all dingy."
"I am fine, I am simply contemplating our colony visits and the all the things I will have to do." It was a lie but only a slight one.
"Oh yeah that will be so cool, I've never been to the colonies before, are they different from the Fire Nation." Ty Lee gathered up some soap and began scrubbing the grime out of Azula's hair.
"Only slightly, the culture and customs are practically identical but depending on the age of the colony you can find a few anomalies, and of course there's the diversity."
"The diversity?"
"Yes, citizens with mixed blood are especially common in the older colonies but can be found almost everywhere."
"Oh that's cool, so there will be, like, citizens who are Water or Earth Benders in the colonies." Ty Lee had gathered most of Azula's hair into a series of vertical spikes, the Princess rolled her eyes.
"Absolutely, if they have Fire Nation blood in their veins they are a citizens no matter what they or their ancestors used to be."
"I didn't know that, so all you need is an ancestor from the homeland."
"Yes that is one way and it is the most common route to becoming a citizen, though the other methods are becoming more prevalent." Azula raised her arms and allowed Ty Lee to begin washing her body.
"I think I know what that means, you have to do something impressive right."
"Correct, if one lacks Fire Nation blood they can either do something that greatly benefits the country or join a special military unit."
"Oh oh, I know the name of that unit, it's uh, it starts with an E sound."
"The Embers Ty; it's entirely composed of foreigners, besides the officers of course, and they are considered citizens when they complete full tour of duty."
"Wow there's a lot of ways to become a citizen." Ty Lee had gone back to playing with her hair and Azula was content to simply ignore the fact her hair was in pigtails.
"That's the point Ty Lee, we are more than willing to share our success and prosperity but the less civilized places of the world seem determined to live the life of the barbarian."
"Why is that, we have so much good to share with people, do they not like us?" Ty Lee stood up and started dressing down.
"Their stubborn Ty, the Water Tribes are determined to live their backwards ways at the ends of the world, and despite the Earth Kingdom fighting and conquering itself time and again they see it as somehow wrong when we do it."
Her girlfriend slipped in and got behind her, she started massaging and cleaning her back. "Do you think they all be our friends when you're Fire Lord?"
Azula thought about it, "I don't know about being friends, but as soon as Sozins comet arrives we can wrap up loose ends, though if we only take Ba Sing Se that will be a sufficient."
"That's the great big city your uncle tried to conquer, I remember learning about it in class."
"Yes and if he had actually succeeded we would be in much better shape, it has always been the only power that could challenge us and with it gone we could have started civilizing the interior."
Ty Lee was delicately scrubbing her front but was still paying attention "So it's like the keystone, right?"
Azula raised an eyebrow "Why yes that is a good term for it, you've been paying attention it seems."
The acrobat pulled at her still braided hair and blushed "Well kind of, I heard that word a lot when you talked about bridges and I thought it work well here."
"It is an apt term, if we have Ba Sing Se then we can expand freely and then it will only be a matter of time until the rest of the world joins us."
Ty Lee got into her thinking pose "I bet you'll be the one to take over Ba Sing Se"
Azula was surprised, and a little flattered "What makes you say that?"
Her girlfriend smiled "Because you're you."
Azula was taken back, it was such a simple thought but it revealed just how much Ty Lee though of her, and it was nice.
Azula smiled and gave her girl a kiss, if she ever did take over Ba Sing Se she would have a statue of Ty Lee built as a reminder of this moment. "Well Ty everything is sore so I will probably submit to your cuddling tonight, I have to plan our colony visits anyhow."
Ty Lee smiled and hugged her before hopping out, Azula followed and started thinking about which colonies she wanted to visit. She knew much from reports and books but as a Royal she had a symbolic duty to inspect the nation's interests, and she planned to do just that.