Chapter 12: Challenges

The sun slid down towards the horizon, and Ursa turned towards her door, waiting for Jian Chin to come. True to schedule, the door opened, but this time the warlord himself was not present. Two of his soldiers stood there, one of them wearing an elaborately patterned cape. Ursa had seen this particular man before and knew he was one of Jian Chin's officers; they had never spoken, but she knew his name was Xang.

"My Lady," Xang said, "my lord Jian Chin requests your presence on the tower this evening."

"Does he," Ursa murmured. "And if I refuse?"

"Jian Chin will not be refused in this house."

"Very well." Ursa sighed and stood. "Lead me to him."

The two soldiers marched the Fire Nation noblewoman through the crumbling halls of the castle that Jian Chin's ancestors had claimed for their own. Paintings and decorations were hung haphazardly, but they could do little to conceal the fact that the fortress was old and decrepit. Compared to the grand palaces in Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation capital it was a joke, and made its master look like a fool for believing he could conquer either.

They came out atop the fortress's tower, where Jian Chin was prone to standing and looking towards the west and the lands he dreamed of ruling. Now the warlord sat by a table that had been set with candles and a meal- hardly special compared to what Ursa had once been used to but far superior to the food she'd been eating for the past several years, and she could feel her stomach rumbling involuntarily.

"I hoped that you might enjoy getting out of your room for one night," Jian Chin said, sounding oddly hesitant. It was all Ursa could do to keep from either rolling her eyes, bursting into laughter, or sobbing hysterically- or perhaps all three at once. What was it about her that led to every power-mad tyrant she met ending up attracted to her (or, in the case of Fire Lord Azulon, seeking to marry her to his son)? "Will you join me for dinner?" The warlord continued.

Ursa focused and put on the mask of cool politeness one perfected in the Fire Lord's court. "I would be honored," she said in a tone that showed she meant no such thing but would join him anyway. Xang motioned to the other soldier, and the man hurried forward and pulled back a chair, which Ursa sat down in with regal grace. Jian Chin's eyes never left her.

"Leave us," the warlord ordered his men after Ursa was seated. Both bowed to their master and departed. Though she was quite hungry, when Ursa began eating she made certain to do so with stiff formality, never meeting Jian Chin's eyes. She didn't enjoy the man's company enough to make him want this to be a regular occurrence. Across the table, Jian Chin was eating with all the grace and culture of a wild hogmonkey. Another reason not to look- Ursa didn't want to spoil her own appetite.

Finally, as the moon was beginning to rise, the warlord spoke. "You are beautiful in the moonlight, Lady Ursa."

"Save your flattery," Ursa said. "I know what you are, and I've done my best to make it clear to you that I'm not attracted to you on any level. Why do you insist on this farce?"

Jian Chin stood and began to pace. "I have a vision," he said, "of an Earth Kingdom united under a single ruler- not like it is now, with cities that do whatever they want and an Earth King who is a toothless symbol, but truly united. Then it can pool its resources and become the greatest civilization in the world, and whoever accomplished it would go down in history as one of the great heroes of all time." He turned to look directly at Ursa. "I intend to be that hero."

"And you think that by marrying Fire Lord Ozai's former wife you will get respect and glory that will help you become the greatest leader in the Earth Kingdom," Ursa finished, having heard this speech before. "But that is what I don't understand. My husband was a monster- the entire world hates him. Why do you think that associating yourself with him will do you any good?"

Jian Chin paused and adjusted his crown. "Because you can admire Ozai's achievements even while hating him. Whatever else he was, he came within inches of dominating this world- what conqueror wouldn't want to be associated with that kind of power and drive?"

"There was nothing about Ozai worth admiring," Ursa said stiffly. "And if glory's all you care about, why not simply force me?"

"Because you must come to me of your own free will," Jian Chin said. "That is what will prove that I am a leader as strong and powerful as the Fire Lord himself. And, I must admit, I admire your resistance. You are a challenge, Ursa, and all great warriors enjoy challenges." His eyes grew hard. "But if you resist me much longer, I may lose my patience." He stamped one foot on the floor, and the fortress rumbled with his power. Jian Chin was not a truly skilled bender- he lacked the discipline and patience for that- but his raw power was tremendous. It was why his people still served him, even though for the most part they hated him.

Ursa looked at the warlord briefly after the ground quieted, her expression impassive. Tremendous his power might be, but she had dealt with tremendous power before, and he was not the only dangerous person who sat at this table tonight. Perhaps he needed a reminder of that fact. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply in and out. The candles on the table flared brightly and then their flames shot into the sky, and Jian Chin stumbled back in shock. Ursa rose to her feet and stood, framed by fire – a suitable image indeed. "I may not be the warrior you are, Jian Chin," Ursa said, "but the noblewomen of the Fire Nation are not helpless fainting flowers, whatever you might think. If you try to harm me, I will fight back, and it will not go easily for you."

The flames died down, and Jian Chin stepped forward again. "A challenge," he repeated softly to himself. Then he called for his soldiers and ordered them to escort Ursa away.

/

Azula didn't know the name of the Earth Kingdom port where her ship had put in, and she didn't particularly care. It was exactly like any number of places along the coast of any nation- a medium-sized town that had sprung up around a natural harbor and become a nexus for all manner of travelers and merchants. They had docked here in the early evening the day after the pirate attack, and now Captain Shin and his soldiers were unloading the prisoners and handing them over to the local authorities.

"We've been after this crew for a while," the Earth Kingdom commander said. "Captain Shang and his men have been causing us a lot of trouble. I can honestly say this is the first time in my life I've been thankful to see a Fire Navy ship."

"Don't thank me, Commander," Shin said, and gestured towards Azula. "It was the princess who killed Shang and defeated his waterbender. The rest of us just helped."

"Princess?" The commander's eyes widened and he stared at Azula, seeming to realize exactly who she was. He blinked rapidly several times, and then hurried off to join his men rather faster than politeness allowed.

"Why did you do that?" Azula demanded when he was gone.

"I thought that you appreciated being known and feared?" Shin replied.

"You potentially jeopardized this mission. I'm trying to keep a low profile, Captain. People in the Earth Kingdom hate me because of what happened in Ba Sing Se. If it becomes common knowledge that I'm on board this ship, I doubt things would turn out well."

Shin snorted. "I have a copy of my orders back in my cabin, complete with your brother's signature. No one can threaten this ship without causing an international incident."

"That still doesn't answer why." Azula's eyes bored into the captain's. "Tell me. Now."

"Maybe I was just curious to see how he'd react." Shin paused for a moment. "Or maybe I wanted to see how you'd react."

"His fear was an appropriate reaction," Azula mused, almost to herself. "I am royalty, and was until recently his nation's enemy. He should be frightened of me."

Shin shook his head. "Must be hard, going through life hoping everyone's afraid of you."

"Spare me. You're an officer- surely you've used fear to get your men to obey you at least once."

"I do my best to lead through respect, princess. My men follow me because they know I'm a competent leader and a good soldier, and that I wouldn't risk their lives needlessly." He looked at her intently. "The problem with fear is that it leads to hate, and sooner or later everybody else realizes there's more of them than there is of you, and well- that's the end of it."

"You understand nothing," Azula snapped, and she turned and stalked across the deck, heading for her cabin.

/

Later that evening, Ty Lee was lying on her back on her bed, staring up at her cabin's ceiling, when the screaming started. The acrobat sat bolt upright and listened intently. There could be no mistake- that sounded like Azula!

In an instant Ty Lee was on her feet and hurrying to the cabin next to hers. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she'd never heard Azula make any kind of sound like that before- whatever was happening, it wasn't good. She pulled open the door and hurried inside.

Azula was tossing and turning on her bed, her eyes tightly closed. She'd stopped screaming now, but whatever nightmare had her in its grip wouldn't let her go. She was moaning incoherently and every so often mumbled something that Ty Lee couldn't make out. The acrobat didn't know what to do. On the one hand, this wasn't exactly something she could fight, and Azula wasn't even awake to talk out her problem (nor was she likely to do so truthfully in front of another person under any circumstances). But Ty Lee was basically a kindhearted person, when push came to shove, and Azula was clearly in distress.

"Shh, shhh," Ty Lee said softly, walking towards Azula and reaching out to pat her hand softly. "It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Azula's hand twisted around and seized Ty Lee's wrist. Her eyes were open now, but they were vacant and staring- it was obvious that whatever she was seeing, it wasn't what was happening in the cabin. Before Ty Lee could react, Azula hurled her away from the bed and back against the wall before collapsing again.

"Yikes," Ty Lee muttered. "What was that for? I was just trying to help!" Azula's only response was to curl up tightly and continue making pained noises. "I guess you thought I was trying to hurt you, huh. Well, I won't try that again, but maybe if I just sit here so that if you do need help I'll be here you won't mind." Ty Lee sat down with legs crossed by the foot of Azula's bed.

"I think lots of people wonder why I stayed with you when I could have just run away and forgotten all about you," the acrobat said softly. "Everybody thinks you're cruel, and you use people, and I guess they're right. But seeing you like you are right now or like I heard you were after Zuko beat you- it's just sad, and it hurts that something like that could happen to someone. I know you don't think about things like friendship a lot, but it matters to me, if you understand what I mean." Ty Lee hung her head. "I guess I'm kind of out of practice being serious- you know I don't do it a lot. But what I'm trying to say is- I just want to help."

Ty Lee fell silent and sat there for Spirits-only-knew how long, until finally she gave a great yawn and her head fell forward into her lap.

/

When Ty Lee woke up, Azula was crouched in front of her. The acrobat started for a moment, then leapt to her feet. "Azula, you're awake!" she said happily.

"You stayed here all night?" The princess asked, her tone disbelieving. "I saw you here, but I thought it was just another hallucination."

"Well, yeah," Ty Lee admitted sheepishly. "I mean, you sounded like something was really wrong, and I couldn't do anything about it, but I guess I just couldn't leave you."

Azula studied the acrobat intently, her eyes filled with some emotion she didn't seem to understand how to show. Really, for someone so smart about other people, it was amazing how little the princess really understood about expressing emotions herself. Finally she leaned in close and said "Never speak of this to anyone again," in a tone that brooked no argument, and left the room.

Ty Lee sighed. "You're welcome," she murmured, and hurried out on deck to practice her acrobatics.

/

This chapter we get a chance to check back in with Ursa and Jian Chin. There's a bit of dark comedy for me as a writer in terms of just how very unimpressed she is with him, and he's too stubborn to admit or realize that fact. Jian Chin is the sort of person who really just doesn't know how to give up, and he lacks the perspective to strategize effectively around problems that have him stumped. As for Ursa herself, I rewrote a few parts of this section to emphasize that she is a dangerous person in her own right – after all, this is the woman who killed* the monarch of the most powerful nation in the world and made it look like natural causes to protect her child. At the moment she's still too guilty/apathetic to make much of an effort against her captor, but still, Jian Chin doesn't fully appreciate who he's been dealing with.

As for Azula's side of the story, the bit with her and Ty Lee is a scene I'd had in mind since I knew I'd be bringing Ty Lee in for Path of Fire. I think it largely speaks for itself, but I think it showcases both the lingering torment in Azula's mind and Ty Lee's pity and desire for help; at the moment, I think Ty Lee is the only real friend Azula has. Of course, Azula still doesn't want the knowledge of her "weakness" made public.

-MasterGhandalf

*So far as the show led us to believe. I consider "The Search's" statement that Ursa merely made a poison that Ozai used to be a retcon; Ozai described her actions as "vicious" and "treasonous" in the show (he's not really an objective source, but he is the only one we got), and what she did in the comics counts as the latter but not really the former, IMO. I'd always assumed Ursa had a more… direct role in Azulon's death, and that's what this fic went with.