Chapter 10

Disclaimer .I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Story- Set 5 years after the series ended. A young fire nation officer is given the task of watching after Azula .Can he succeed after others had failed.

Ando walked through the crowd and placed the meal he had been able to order for him and Azula down in front of her. After his victory in the fire bending challenge, the two of them had been swept away by the crowd of well wishers to a nearby inn. The least they could do was have something to eat before trying to find a place for the night. Azula for her part said nothing but Ando was certain she had a gleam in her eye after masterminding his victory. Ando would thank her later though as yet he wasn't quite sure how to do so.

"Eat up conquering hero you did well, though you need to practice a lot harder," Azula spoke up mixing praise with a firm dose of reality. She wondered how many such challengers had been set up in these provinces; conquering them all would be easy with her strategy and Ando doing all the heavy lifting. Personally she felt such challenges beneath her and if she saw Zuko again, she would tell him to state a decree banning such mindless wastes of time.

"Thank you for the advice, though next time give me a warning before you throw me into doing something like this?" Ando responded as he started to eat. While winning the challenge did help provide them with money and possibly somewhere to stay for the night, he hoped that Azula didn't expect him to do every fire bending challenge they came across. He thought about asking her about the dreams she's been having now that they had time to sit and rest from all the walking they had been doing since their escape from the fire nation palace.

"Oh like you didn't enjoy it; I think you like being a hero to the peasants!" Azula retorted while grinning as Ando tried not to look so pleased with himself. She enjoyed getting him to react as it reminded her of earlier days with Zuko. She wondered what was going on back at the capital and if Zuzu had been able to finally get through to his ministers. Smirking Azula pictured her brother complaining to Mai about how tough the role of Fire Lord had been. Azula loved the fact that so far she and Ando had evaded any sign of capture and was confident of doing so for as long as she wanted.

"I guess but we need to be careful," Ando quietly spoke, his eyes still from time to time watching everyone who entered the inn. He finished his meal and waited for Azula to finish hers before getting to the matter at hand which was finding somewhere to stay for the night. As for the dreams Azula seemed to be having, Ando wasn't sure how to approach the subject. Whatever she was dreaming or worse having nightmares about didn't seem to be affecting Azula when she was awake, but it made Ando concerned. The further away from the palace they got the more the dreams may have an effect on her psyche which already can be at times unstable.

"Careful? Please I've got more chance of earth bending than being caught!" Azula dismissively disregarded any worries Ando might have. As far as she was concerned, whomever Zuko sent after them would be at least a day or two behind. As many wanted posters in the world could be posted as Zuko wanted, yet no one had discovered the two of them. If they were discovered, common peasants shouldn't be able to capture them. Besides, who knows, if they were lucky they may meet with those who were supporters of her father's reign and they may side with her to take back the throne. Azula sipped her drink and retreated into her own thoughts leaving Ando to figure out the small details.

"I just thought it's the best course of action your Highness," Ando protested, keeping his voice down to make sure no one overheard them. "You never know what kind of mercenaries could be searching for us," he continued. Anyone that wanted to make themselves a nice profit could easily be searching for them and not all of them might be willing to capture them in one piece.

"I don't care about them, you're getting as bad as my brother and his meddling," Azula shot back, slamming her drink back down which made the people at the tables around them turn and take a look. She glared at them and those that looked at the couple soon were trying to avoid her gaze. Azula stood up and excused herself to get some air, leaving Ando on his own to seek out a room for the night.

Azula strolled through the town which seemed almost abandoned as such was the inactivity outside the small inn. Compared to back in the fire nation capital which had rows upon rows of shops backed from one end of the city to the other, this place was pretty desolate of life. On nights light this one when she was younger, Azula would sneak out of the palace and stroll round to observe how the rest of the citizens lived. Now she was on the run, free to do whatever she wanted, and she was prepared to keeping running as long as it takes, with no set destination and no time table to return. Azula turned to find herself in an alleyway and was about to head back when she noticed she was not alone.

"What's a nice young lady like you doing on her own?" Tuzu spoke smirking as he and three of his men blocked off the alley. Azula ignored them and brushed her way past them only to be blocked off the moment she past.

"Don't you know it's not nice to get in a lady's way?" She spoke keeping her voice calm while inside she raged at such vulgar behavior. The group snickered amongst themselves as Tuzu raised his hands in mock apology.

"Oh my apologizes...your royal highness, my name is Tuzu and after you ruined my little challenge earlier I just had to return you the favor." Tuzu smirked and pulled out one of the wanted posters. Azula raised an eyebrow and glared at him. So that was the purpose of this little run in. Well if he wanted to try and become famous for capturing her he was welcome to try. Azula moved back and blasted a stream of her fire at the group and started running. Tuzu was knocked back onto the ground and yelled at his men to give chase.

Meanwhile after securing a room for the night, Ando was looking around for Azula. He was concerned about her and he hoped that after their disagreement she wouldn't do something rash. He asked a shop owner if he had seen her when he saw out of the corner of his eye Azula racing off in the opposite direction with Tuzu's men giving chase. Ando raced after them trying to avoid colliding with the people who were gathering on the street.

Azula looked behind her and smirked. Now this was the excitement she needed. Leaping up onto one of the store's roofs she jumped from one rooftop to another as her pursers gave chase. Fireballs flew past her as they aimed to slow her down, but Azula skillfully avoided their blasts and taunted them in return. Observing from below Ando frowned and jumped up onto the roof tops, nearly slipping off as he gave chase. The pursuit lasted over another six stores before Azula dropped down into a small clearing and was battling her pursuers in close quarters. Ando dropped down and stood next to her as they were surrounded.

"Isn't this exhilarating?" Azula told him as they stood back to back. Ando would have argued but that could wait until later. Two of Tuzu's men charged in full steam, flames forming in their hands. Azula calmly ducked and the heavy thud of the two colliding echoed through the clearing. Ando meanwhile faced the third one and was on the retreat until he spied a loose rope on the floor. Rolling under a fireball aimed at his head Ando used the rope to trip his opponent into the ground before knocking him out. Tuzu, who'd seen all this occur from a hiding spot began to sneak away until a bolt of lightning from Azula whizzed past his head and shattered a wall.

"You're not going anywhere Tuzu," Azula firmly spoke, blue flames forming in her hands and a look of bad intentions on her face. Ando moved in front of her staring right into her eyes. "It's over. Let's get out of here!" He told her not backing away. The two were locked in a stare down that Azula did not see one of Tuzu's men raise his arm and in one last act send some flames in Azula's direction.

"Get down!" Ando shouted, diving forward and tackling Azula out of harm's way. The flames missed her but hit Ando across his shoulder and back. He winced in pain, biting down on his lip. Azula looked up and got back to her feet ready to finish off Tuzu and his men but in the confusion they had spirited away into the night.

"Why...did you…you fool!" Azula said her voice a mix of anger and confusion. Ando looked up at her and opened his mouth to answer but fell to the floor overwhelmed by the pain. Azula looked around but they were alone as the night fell and a great uncertainty of what to do now crossed her mind. Standing up, Azula slowly dragged Ando's unconscious body away from the clearing…

To be continued.

Hey everyone. Thank you again for following and hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you continue to enjoy it as we continue onwards. I have a few ideas of where it is going but feel free to let me know what you think. Reviews and comments welcome no flames.