"Ah, the brave knights return: Twinkle Toes, Sugar Queen, and the Fairy Princess," Toph called loudly from where she lay beside the campfire. "What took you so long, anyway?"
"Jet," Katara mumbled simply.
"Your dead boyfriend?" the blind earthbender inquired with a frown.
"He's not my boy-!" Katara started heatedly.
Toph cut her off. "Whatever," she said, raising her hands in defense. "But seriously, I thought he was dead."
"He was supposed to be. Apparently, he found a healer. I find that impossible to believe considering my waterbending is far superior to what any simple healer can do," Katara told her grudgingly.
"Don't flatter yourself, Sugar Queen," Toph snorted. "Though," she added, "couldn't you have healed him with that Spirit Oasis water? That stuff you said you got from the North Pole?"
"Hey, I know that stuff," Zuko said suddenly. Everyone turned to face him, as if they had forgotten he was there. "Yeah," he continued uncertainly, "the water peas-I mean, Katara, was...uh...going to heal my scar and all..."
"What?" Aang asked sharply, giving Katara a small frown. "You were?"
"She said she had been saving it for something special..." Zuko trailed off after receiving several odd looks. "What?"
"Yeah, why didn't you use it on Jet?" Sokka asked suspiciously. "I mean, it was before Aang was electrocuted and I know you carry that thing with you at all times. After Jet helped us, you would think..."
"It didn't occur to me at the time!" Katara snapped. Now everyone was looking at her.
"Oh, so using it on a stupid scar is better than saving someone's life?" Aang demanded.
"Hey!" Zuko exclaimed angrily. "It isn't stupid."
Katara pushed the firebender out of the way to see Aang properly. "Does it matter?" she asked. "Jet lived, so what's the problem?"
"This isn't about Jet!" Aang shouted. "This is about me!"
"Aang, you've lost me," said Katara, shaking her head.
"Yeah," agreed Sokka, "you aren't making much sense to me either."
"That Oasis Water was used on me," Aang replied, crossing his arms.
"So?"
"I could have died if you had wasted it on Zuko. And it would have been your fault. You were 'saving it for something special'? Huh. Last time I checked, making your enemy's face pretty didn't qualify as something special." Aang looked furious.
"Ha!" Sokka laughed, jabbing Zuko in the ribs. "He called you pretty."
"No he didn't, you miserable oaf," Zuko hissed, roughly shoving him into Toph.
"Well, I'm sorry Aang," said Katara. "I didn't know it meant so much to you. But what does it matter anyway? I used it on you in the long run." She held her arms out to him. He turned away. She lowered them slowly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Aang answered bitterly, flopping down on Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Zuko said, "I guess I shouldn't have said anything."
"No kidding, Princess," said Toph, kicking up a small bolder to stub Zuko's toes. He gave her a hostile look even though he knew she couldn't see him.
Katara kneeled down next to Aang. She touched his shoulder. He shrugged it off. Katara sighed, trying to think of something to say. "I see your fever has subsided," she finally said.
Aang ignored her.
"And, I forgot to thank you for coming down to the Fire Nation even though you shouldn't have," she went on gently.
"Apparently," Aang muttered, "I didn't need to. Zuko had everything taken care of."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko demanded, aghast, from where he stood with his fists raised. "Are you suggesting that I...I...? UGH! Disgusting! Ugh! Water peasant!" Zuko shuddered at the very thought. "I only did that because I no longer wanted to be in her debt...because I felt sorry for her and...because you two love each other and...Ugh!"
Iroh, Toph, and the Earth King were laughing from their seats around the fire. Sokka, however, found none of this amusing. He was glancing suspiciously between his sister and Aang, wondering if it was true. He, of course, knew of Aang's affection towards Katara; but for her to love him in return...Preposterous!
"Aang, you're being ridiculous," said Katara. "You know that we all hate Zuko-"
"Gee, thanks," Zuko muttered, interrupting her.
She ignored him and continued, "He's an incredibly hot-tempered, angst-ridden, depressing, (not to mention ugly), double-crossing devil's child who is insensitive to other people's feelings and would as quickly kill me as he would insult me. Overall, he's a selfish moron who was always jealous of his sister. If he'd had the chance, he would have killed you in a heartbeat if it meant being in daddy's favor. And after tonight, he can go to hell for all I care."
Aang smiled. "Thanks, Katara. That really makes me feel better."
Zuko, however, kept his arms crossed and gritted his teeth. "It's nice to know how you all truly feel about me," he told them hotly. He snorted. "And you call me insensitive." He sat next to his uncle. Though, if he expected any sympathy, he didn't get any.
"She's right you know," Iroh told him. Zuko cursed and stood up to walk over to the other side of the fire to sit away from everyone else.
"I can take a hint," Zuko mumbled. "I know when I'm not wanted."
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Several days later...
Azula leaned against the doorframe where she had waited silently for an herbalist to finish up with Mai and Ty Lee. The Fire Nation Princess had generously lent her two loyal friends a place to stay while they recovered from their injuries they had sustained during the Agni Kai that had gone horribly wrong.
Mai's nightgown was lowered to her waist. Her back was red and irritated with blisters and white pus dripped down her skin. The healer was rubbing a foul-smelling amber salve onto the wound. Mai was wincing and cursing in pain. "Stop that!" she snapped. "You're rubbing my skin off!"
"She's just doing her job," Azula sighed.
"Well, I'd like to see you withstand this torture! I'm the one your accursed brother burned," Mai snapped. Her face softened. "Though, I'm sure he didn't mean it," she added in a monotonous tone.
Ty Lee looked up from her bandaged arm that had been sliced by a piece of flying metal by courtesy of the blind earthbender. "So you still...care about him then? Even after everything that's happened?" Ty Lee found this difficult to believe.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mai muttered. "Besides," she added, wincing as the healer tore more skin on her back, "I wasn't the one who let him go." She dared a glance at the Princess.
Azula was silent. She went over to the window and gazed down at the courtyard they had played in as children. She half-wished things were back to the way they once were. Before her father became Fire Lord. Back when Zuko hadn't completely disgraced himself...Before her mother left. Yes, Azula missed Ursa despite her brother's indifferent beliefs. Azula only had a different way of displaying her longing for her mother. She had grown cold and power hungry. She didn't want to be vulnerable so she had refused to show her feelings to others. She had always been jealous of how much more affectionate her mother had been to Zuko than to Azula. Perhaps that was why Azula always acted like she didn't care.
While Azula stewed in her own thoughts, Ty Lee stood up and left to avoid the awkward silence. "Why did you do it?" Mai asked as the healer finished up. She put her hands back into her sleeves and allowed the old woman to lace up her nightgown. The healer then went to join Ty Lee.
"Because...," said Azula finally, bowing her head, "he's my brother."
Mai shook her head in wonder. "I never thought I would see the day. You actually have affection for another human being. I know this isn't much coming from me, but I'm proud of you."
"No, Mai," Azula snarled. "Affection is a sign of weakness. You shouldn't be proud of me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to face father after this."
"I won't tell if you won't," Mai rasped, pulling her sheets up to her chin.
"You don't understand! I am to be Fire Lord. With that title, I am given the responsibility of fulfilling my father's dream. My grandfather's dream. My dream of world domination. People always attack those weaker than them. Do you think I can run entire nations with the notion going around that I, Princess Azula, am a feeble dictator? Someone will just come along to overthrow me. I want to keep everyone scared...like I used to. I don't want to be one of those weaklings; I don't want to end up like my brother." Azula beat her fist on the window pane in frustration.
"Azula," said Mai gently, "you're the only one who preys on the defenseless. There's no harm in showing that you aren't the ruthless conqueror that everyone makes you out to be. If your people would do anything, they would respect you for being human every once in a while."
"Mai! I am going up against everything that I have ever believed in. That's more difficult that conquering the other nations. Not only have I had second thoughts about my hatred towards Zuko; but I've thought about all of those people I've killed. Innocent people. Honestly, I can't come up with a good reason for murdering any of them. Were any of them threats? No! I did it for my own pleasure. To see them suffer as I have suffered. That isn't a reason at all." Azula would not cry; she was not the crying type. Where there should have been sadness, she felt anger. "I shouldn't feel this way!"
"When you're Fire Lord, perhaps you can change all of this. You can stop the ruthless fighting and-," Mai started.
Azula turned on her, fire escaping her lips. "Am I really hearing this? From you?" She glared at Mai furiously. "If I didn't know any better I would have thought you had joined the Avatar."
"Well...," said Mai uneasily. "Have you ever wondered if you were on the wrong side?"
Before Azula could reply, there was a brief knocking at the door and a frilly pink blur cart-wheeled in, announcing that Ty Lee had returned. She glanced between her two friends before saying, "A messenger has arrived, escorting a prisoner. Apparently the prisoner knows the whereabouts of your dear brother and...the Avatar." She waited for Azula's reaction before adding, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything..."
"No," said Azula curtly as she strolled pass Ty Lee. "I was just leaving." She slammed the door behind her.
Ty Lee frowned, her little nose wrinkling in confusion. "What was that all about?"
Mai replied in her usual bored tone: "I think Azula is more human than she lets everyone know."
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"Let me go, you morons!" Jet shouted, struggling in the firebenders' grip. He had been a fool for attempting to take on an entire fleet of Fire Nation soldiers after they had wandered into his woods from Ba Sing Se. Apparently, they were looking for some fugitives that were presumed to be in the area. Jet had been the only one to be captured; the rest of the Freedom Fighters had disappeared. In exchange for information, the soldiers had promised to release him. Jet had admitted to knowing where the fugitives were; but he openly refused to tell them, knowing that it would also give away the Avatar's position. So he had been dragged on to a metal ship and sent to the Fire Nation. The soldiers had laughed, telling Jet that Princess Azula wouldn't be quite as generous as they were. She would kill him whether she got the information out of him or not.
Jet was dragged into what looked like a throne room. Curious scorch marks decorated the walls and several tapestries were in mere tatters. The large, curving throne was vacant. Jet sighed in the relief of knowing he wouldn't have to face the Fire Lord; though the relief didn't last long after he caught a glimpse of the woman standing next to the throne. She was quite beautiful, granted, with silky, raven-black locks and a perfectly-sculpted, ivory face; but there was a hard blaze in her malevolent golden eyes. Jet found himself unable to look away.
"Do you know why you are here, filth?" Azula asked, stepping towards him, her boots clinking on the metal.
"Of course," said Jet, trying once again to shrug off his captors. "You're going to try and torture information out of me."
Princess Azula did not smile. This surprised Jet, for he always heard of her cruelty and he thought she would have found the prospect of torturing him amusing.
"Yes," she agreed, "I am. But I don't have to. This is your last chance, peasant. Where is my brother?"
"I'll never tell anything for the Fire Nation," Jet spat.
She shrugged slightly. "Fine." Princess Azula turned to the guards. "Cut off his hands."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's not be too hasty," said Jet with a nervous laugh. "Surely we can talk this through? Neither of us like your bastard of a brother, so we have something in common. I'm sure we'll hit it off if you'd give me a chance..."
"Guards," she said. "I've changed my mind. Cut off his head."
"Okay, okay! I'll show you where he is! Just don't cut off my head, alright?" Jet didn't know why he was doing this. He was the sort of person that would die for a single cause. If he could set the Fire Nation back enough for Aang to get the upper hand, he would do it in a heartbeat. So why was he giving in to the princess?
A small smile graced Azula's face. She looked genuinely happy. "Let him up."
The guards raised Jet to his feet, though they didn't relax their tight grip on his arms. "Do you want me to organize a team for you?" a guard piped up from the right of Jet.
"No," said Azula with a smile. "We're going alone."
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Sorry it took me a while to update; school got in the way of things. Well, I hope you liked it! And just to let everyone know (for one of my reviewers wants to know), this is NOT a Zutara fanfic. Sorry to disappoint the rest of you. Also, if any of you are getting bored I promise I'll put some fighting scenes in the next update. Please review!