Azula walked towards the throne room to ask her father something. She opened the magnificent doors and entered the room, where Zuko was talking to Ozai. Their conversation was cut short when the young princess entered.
"Daddy," said Azula with the cutest face she could manage, "can I go to Mount Yuan?"
"Yes sweetie," answered Ozai lovingly. If Zuko had asked, however, he would have been rejected. Yet more proof that he preferred Azula to Zuko.
"Oh, and Daddy," stared Azula with an evil plan on her mind, "can Zuko come too?"
"What! There is no way I'm going to that girly spa place thing!" yelled Zuko. Azula ignored him.
"Yes," said Ozai, "Zuko, you need to learn to take care of your sister."
However, any idiot could have figured out that he really wanted Zuko to leave the palace for a few days. As for Azula, she just wanted Zuko to suffer.
"Guess what girls?" Azula asked Ty Lee and Mai.
"You're getting a new haircut?" answered Ty Lee excitedly.
"Um, no," said Azula. Both girls shrugged.
"Well," started Azula, "We are going to Mount Yuan with Zuzu."
Mai smiled but covered it quickly. She did not really want to go to Mount Yuan but if Zuko were there, it would certainly be nice. Even if the young prince was going through puberty, he was still very nice.
"Isn't this wonderful Mai?" asked a very excited Ty Lee.
"Yes, it is," she admitted without thinking that Azula and Ty Lee, upon hearing this, would have a plan to embarrass them.
"This stinks," said Zuko moodily.
The three girls, Zuko, and Iroh, who had wanted to go, rode a Komodo rhino- pulled sleigh. It was cramped but Azula smiled while Ty Lee and Iroh sang songs. Zuko and Mai were the only ones who seemed to be in a bad mood. Neither of them liked girly things, such as the natural hot springs of Mount Yuan, which also served as a spa.
Finally, after five hours of everyone being cramped in a small sleigh, they arrived at their destination. A friendly man showed them to their rooms, one for the girls to share and the other for Iroh and Zuko. Both of the rooms were elegant and spacious.
Not wasting any time, Iroh and Ty Lee ran to the hot springs. Azula dragged Mai to the hot springs. Zuko stayed in the room and fussed. No one truly wanted to drag him anywhere while he was that unhappy.
However, when the young prince got hungry, he got up and walked around the elegant home. He quickly found what he was looking for: food. He started eating ravenously, without thinking that the food might belong to someone.
"Zuko?" asked a voice, "What are you doing?"
It was Mai wearing a long red bathrobe. Suddenly, Zuko felt self-conscious. They were rather embarrassing the effects that puberty could bring.
"Um, eating," he said with a blush.
"My food…" started Mai.
"It was your food?" asked Zuko, more sheepish than ever.
"Yes," answered Mai.
"Um, I'm sorry, I was really hungry and--" started Zuko but trailed off and contented himself with staring intently at the wooden floor.
"Don't worry, I can order more," said Mai, for once, calmly around Zuko.
Mai did not really care about the food, in fact it was somewhat amusing seeing Zuko stutter like that. The young girl might have chuckled if she was not usually the one in this situation. The two kids stood in silence yet again.
"Hey, what's that?" asked Mai suddenly.
"I don't know," answered the young prince.
Suddenly, they were scared to death when the Fire Nation evil Spirit, known only as the Spirit jumped from the corner. The two kids screamed and hugged each other in alarm.
"Oh, I got you!" yelled Azula happily.
"Azula!" yelled the two scared kids. Azula laughed and revealed Ty Lee, who was apparently also underneath the costume. Both of the girls laughed at their joke.
"Not funny Azula!" said Zuko angrily. Mai frowned.
Ty Lee started giggling but stopped when she heard something on the other side of the hallway, empty except for the four kids. She turned her head and watched. The other three were arguing.
They stopped their argument though when Ty Lee screamed. The other ones screamed too and ran away when they saw yet another ghost, The Fire Nation Spirit of Punishment, terrorizing them.
However, when the children were far away, screaming at the top of their lungs, the "Spirit" removed the mask covering his face and chuckled. The kids would no longer do this kind of stuff, he was sure. Laughing to himself some more, Iroh turned the other way and walked towards the tearoom.
"You were scared Azula!" said Zuko after recovering his breath.
"I was not!" yelled Azula back.
The two other girls tried to recover their breath back but watched, amused, at the childish fight between Azula and Zuko. This was certainly something they would never forget.
"We are never coming here ever again!" concluded Azula. The other kids nodded. For once, all of them agreed with Azula.
Author's Notes: I'm sorry everyone who has decided to cast one of those Alert things on my petty little series or me but I finally have conquered my lazyness and posted this part of the series. I still hope I will not be too lazy to write the nine more that I have planed but...Anyway...I hope this part doesn't sound too fake but my proofreading was, sadly, kind of rushed. Please review!