Chapter 3: Azula's Quest

Zuko paced back and forth in front of his throne, then finally sighed and turned to Azula and the High Fire Sage. The two of them had just finished relating the story of Azula's vision, and what the former princess believed she must now do. "You're absolutely certain that what you saw was real?" The Fire Lord asked.

"Certainty is, perhaps, impossible in this world, Majesty," the High Sage replied. "But my order does not take visions such as that which your sister received lightly, and the dragon that I myself saw was no dream. I believe that Azula received a true visitation tonight, for good or ill."

"Besides, Zuzu," Azula put in, smiling slightly at seeing her brother flinch at the taunting nickname, "If I was lying, do you honestly think I couldn't have come up with a better story to convince you to let me out?"

Zuko seemed to consider this, and then nodded. "You're right," he said. "It doesn't really seem like your kind of lie, and I trust the Fire Sages at least."

"But not me," Azula said with a wry smirk. "Really, Zuko, I am hurt. I would have thought that helping to take down an entire rebellion would have at least let you trust your little sister a bit."

Zuko looked at her incredulously. "And that's supposed to make up for tormenting me my entire life before that? Not to mention helping Father do all of the terrible things he did during the war."

Azula frowned, considered. "You do have a point," she admitted.

"Can you two stop snarking at each other and get to the point?" a rather irritated voice put in from near one of the walls where Mai was leaning, eyes half closed. "Some of us like to sleep, you know."

"The point is this," Azula said. "First, our mother disappeared years ago – the night that our grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, died, in fact. Second, father admitted he banished her but never said where, assuming he even knew, and if the rumors I've heard over the years were correct, this was because she had something to do with Grandfather's death. Third, no reliable source has seen her since. Fourth," here she paused, "fourth, I saw Mother earlier tonight, in a vision the most esteemed Fire Sage believes to have been true. Fifth, and finally, I'm not one to believe blindly in superstition, but the message seems clear to me – others may have searched for Mother and not found her, but not family. You have to stay here and keep the Fire Nation in line, but I have recently found myself with no duties and a surplus of time. I will find our mother, and I will bring her home."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise, and he glanced sidelong at his betrothed before turning back to Azula. "That was not what I was expecting to hear from you tonight, but it still doesn't add up. I know you, Azula. If you were just planning on running off to chase Mom you wouldn't have come here first; you'd have snuck out and been on your way already, probably with a half-dozen guards you'd tricked into following you. What do you want?"

"Well, one thing I don't want is your army chasing me all over the world," Azula said, "so I thought it would be best to tip you off. But while we're on that topic, you might be aware that the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation are on different continents. I'll be needing a spare ship and crew."

"What?" Zuko almost exploded. "I'm still not even sure I'm going to let you out of my sight- much less search for Mom- and you honestly think I'm going to be handing over national resources to you? Military resources? If I needed proof you were still craze, that would be it.."

Azula snarled and stepped towards Zuko, fire building around her clenched fists. How dare he talk to her like that, the little… but then the High Fire Sage hurried between the royal siblings, palms outstretched in a blocking position. "Listen to me, both of you!" he said. "Destiny is in play here. I do not claim to understand what tonight's vision portends, but the last time one occurred and was ignored, a hundred years of war followed! It is clear to me that if the princess believes she must undertake this search, she needs help, and this may be the only way to do that."

Azula shuddered and stepped back, struggling to pull her irrational anger into line. Zuko too seemed to relax somewhat, though he kept a wary eye on his sister. There was a small flash from Mai's corner, and Azula suspected that a knife had just vanished back up her one-time friend's sleeve.

"Besides, Zuko," the princess said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Father let you have a ship when he banished you- surely the noble hero can do better than the evil tyrant?"

"That ship was Uncle's," Zuko said. "Without him I would have had to search the whole world for the Avatar on foot."

"You still haven't answered my question," Azula said. "Can I have a ship or not?"

Zuko regarded his sister thoughtfully, then nodded. "All right- here's what I'm offering. You can have a ship with no weapons, crewed by elite firebenders handpicked by General Akai for their loyalty to the throne – not to you. He still hasn't forgiven you for what you did to his men- I think he can be trusted to pick people you can't manipulate."

"You don't need to worry about that, Zuko," Azula said. "Believe it or not, I am being sincere this time."

"And if you are you don't have anything to worry about. Besides, that's not what worries me." Zuko looked at her straight on. "I'm worried about what might happen if you lose control."

Well then, Zuzu, Azula thought, it seems we finally agree on something.

/

It was a small, stripped down warship, similar in design to the one that Zuko himself had used during his banishment. This make was fast but one of the weakest the vast Fire Navy produced- it probably didn't even have a name, Azula thought wryly. Still, it would serve her purposes well enough.

It was several days after Zuko's initial agreement that he was able to find the ship. Now the Fire Lord and his general stood on the docks with the captain and crew of the vessel, giving them last-minute instructions. Azula herself stood back, wearing simple warrior's clothing similar to that which she had worn during the War while hunting for her brother and the Avatar.

Captain Shin was a severe-looking older man in officers' armor, and his expression gave a clear look at his opinion of this assignment. Azula had been popular among the military during the war, certainly moreso than her father, but after word of her mental breakdown had spread the Fire Nation as a whole had begun to fear her. Azula didn't normally mind being feared- it eased command considerably, in her opinion- but it helped to be respected along with the fear. Now she was simply hated, a fact that the former princess found unsettling on some level she didn't fully understand.

For a moment she considered turning back. Traveling around the world on a ship full of people who might well like to see her dead was a rather daunting prospect, now that she thought about it. Looking at the Captain's scowling face, she could well imagine him calculating how to kill her and make it look like an accident- there must be many ways to do that when one was ship's master- and she knew that Akai's soldiers could well decide to avenge the comrades she had killed after recovering her firebending power at any time. Going on this quest, Azula would be surrounded by enemies.

"No," she whispered. This wasn't right- that kind of paranoia was her madness talking. There was little love between the royal fire siblings, but Zuko at least didn't want Azula dead and she doubted that these men would defy their Fire Lord. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that finding her mother was the only way to find- and thereby heal- herself, and so even if there was danger Azula was willing to risk it. She had promised herself that she would never descend into a state of animalistic madness again, and like all of her family when the princess had her mind set on a goal there was nothing that could keep her from reaching for it.

Azula slipped away from the shore and stepped into the shadow of a larger ship to compose herself. It wouldn't do, after all, for her new traveling companions to see her in her troubled state. Out of sight, the princess closed her eyes and breathed deeply- and was suddenly struck was a powerful blow to the chest, knocking her backwards breathlessly.

Azula quickly opened her eyes and dropped into a fighting crouch, looking squarely at her attacker. She could tell little of their features due to the dark cloak- was it black, blue or violet? Her eyes couldn't tell- and the fact that the shadows seemed to cling to this person as though they were alive.

"What do you want with me?" Azula demanded, preparing herself to release a bolt of lightning at a moment's notice.

"To talk," the figure said in a melodious, feminine voice. She reached up with slender hands and lowered her hood, revealing a face that seemed only a year or two older than Azula's, its most striking features its chalk-white skin and those strange violet eyes.

"Talk?" the princess demanded. "You could have done that without hitting me."

"True," the shadow-wrapped girl said with a shrug. "But things are more fun this way."

Azula snorted. "I'm afraid I have to disagree. You want to talk, then talk. If I like what you have to say, I might actually let you walk away without blasting you."

"I know what you are, Princess," the shadow said. "You may have convinced your brother and the Avatar that you're sorry for what you've done and that you're trying to change, but I know that it is a lie. You are what you have always been, Princess Azula- the spawn of a tyrant, delighting only in the oppression of your people."

"I hear that speech about once a week," Azula said, shrugging. "Are you going anywhere new with this, or shall I fill in the rest myself?"

The shadow smiled. "The time isn't right, but you and I will have a reckoning. But first I will let you walk the earth so that you will learn in your heart that you destroy everything you touch. You will lose everything you are and have, as I once did, and will come to know yourself and your Nation for what you are- vile and monstrous to the core. Then, when I see in your eyes that you understand, I will kill you, just as I killed your father."

Azula acted without conscious thought. Her hands swept through the familiar motions and a bolt of lightning shot towards the shadow-girl, too fast to doge- and surely she didn't have the power to redirect it! The shadow's hand came up so fast it seemed to blur, and when the lightning struck it seemed to bend and passed harmlessly to the side.

"What are you?" Azula whispered, shaken.

"Vengeance," the shadow said with a bow. "Good-bye for now, Princess. I'll be watching you." Before Azula could move the girl slipped into the shadows and was gone.

The princess stood there unmoving for some time, attempting to process what she had seen. Her father's killer, now stalking herself, and possessed of some strange power that could deflect even lightningbending. It was not a pleasant thought.

She heard someone shouting her name, so she hurried back towards her own ship. Zuko was the one who had been calling so she hurried over to him, though she wouldn't humiliate herself by bowing to him. "You were shouting?" she asked.

"Where were you?" Zuko said. "Your ship's ready."

"I was just getting my thoughts together," Azula replied. She considered mentioning the assassin, then decided against it. The strange girl was her problem, not Zuzu's- she would handle it without his help. The princess turned away from her brother after a moment and began to march up the ramp into the ship.

A hand on her shoulder gave her pause. Azula turned and faced Zuko again. "What?" she asked. "You're not going to launch into some over-emotional farewell, are you? Wouldn't that be a bad joke."

"Listen," Zuko said, not meeting her eyes. "I know a bit about what you're about to do- traveling the world after Father banished me was probably the most important time in my life, even if I didn't think so at the time. Without that I wouldn't have become the person I am today. So what I'm trying to say is- good luck."

For a moment Azula stood still, unsure of what to say. Then her eyes hardened again. "I was born lucky, remember?" she said. "I think I'll get by." She hurried aboard the ship, followed by her crew, leaving the Fire Lord standing alone on the docks. Azula stood by the rail as the ship pulled away and headed east, watching the capital slowly shrink into the distance.

/

Zuko watched his sister's ship sink slowly over the horizon, then turned and began to walk back towards the palace. The ministers would be appalled, of course, that he hadn't taken a litter, but Zuko had decided from the moment he took the throne that the ministers were not going to have a say in whether or not he could walk in public when he wanted to.

The Fire Lord felt a silent presence at his side and looked up to see Mai gliding along beside him. "Well?" she asked. "How did it go?"

"Fine, I guess," Zuko said. "Maybe I'm going crazy too, but I almost want her to come back healed. I guess that seeing her like she was after the Agni Ki- chained up, helpless, insane- I just couldn't hate her anymore. I still don't trust her, but I can't hate her either."

"Maybe you're right," Mai said, "but even if she does come back sane and healed, will it make her less dangerous, or more?"

Zuko shook his head. "I wish I knew."

/

Azula lay on her bed in her cabin on the ship, looking up at the wall hangings depicting symbolism of the monarchy. Apart from the hangings and a few clothes she hadn't brought any of her personal possessions along- they'd just get in the way.

Her mind kept returning to her strange attacker. The other girl had promised that they would meet again- next time Azula planned on being prepared. She knew that her lightning had been ineffective- perhaps all bending would be as well. But Azula knew that there were ways to fight that didn't involve manipulating the elements.

Looking up at the ceiling, Azula smiled slightly. Before reaching Earth Kingdom shores, it looked like she needed to call on an old friend.

/

And so we come to the central plot of Path of Fire – Azula's search for her mother. A few of my early reviewers wondered why Zuko didn't come along, since he was quite a bit closer to Ursa than Azula ever was. The big reason I went ahead and had Azula herself spell out in this revision – Zuko's a monarch, and he can't just up and leave his country to go travelling the world on a quest without a defined end, particularly since he doesn't really have anyone trustworthy enough to serve as regent (Mai would probably go with him, and I doubt Iroh would do it). Second, Zuko has already had agents looking for Ursa since he took the throne, and none of them found anything conclusive; he really doesn't think Azula will be any luckier in that regard, though he hopes the journey will help settle her mental state. Finally, do you really think "cooped up on a small ship with Azula" is something Zuko would willingly subject himself to?

Azula also has her first meeting with our mystery girl this chapter, mostly so the latter can have an excuse to taunt her (and her reason she gives for why she's stalking the Fire Princess is only part of the truth). This character (who does have a name that will be revealed in a few chapters, I promise) was designed to be, in some respects, to Azula what Azula herself was to the Gaang in book two – a powerful, ruthless, skillful opponent who always seems to be several steps ahead and who is too tricky and dangerous for a straight fight to effectively defeat (and she's a darkness-themed character opposed to a fire-themed character, to boot!). Of course, Azula always has a plan, and her enemy's ability to counteract bending put her in mind of another "friend" who she hasn't seen in some time…

But that's a story for next time.

-MasterGhandalf