The Avatar World's Wackiest Romance continues. We revisit Cinderella in this chapter, with an Air Nomad Flair.

General Fong offered, but Kuei insisted on carrying Azula up through the tunnel. Instead, Fong assisted by lugging a strange and ancient book the princess had strapped to her back. The two of them thought it odd that she would have an encyclopedia attached to her, but that was a mystery for later. Their main concern was getting Azula to safety.

Kuei wasn't a body builder, but Azula was by no means heavy either. Her lighter dress and unconscious state made his task easier, though he liked to think that Azula would have let him hold her even if she was aware of things.

He reached the mouth of the tunnel and set Azula down gently on a stretcher that the General's men had readied. Dr. Ping, a psychiatrist Kuei had thought to bring, hovered briefly over the princess. He shook his head. "From what I can tell she's going to be all right. Then again, I haven't touched wounds like this since medical school. We should take her to her brother. The palace isn't far, and it's her best chance."

Kuei and his General agreed and readied the balloon for travel. Dominatia hurriedly slipped on her saddle and grinned at Kuei.

"On the way back, dear," Kuei politely refused her. "I'd like to stay with your Lord in the balloon."

Dominatia sniffed with understanding, then warbled a command at the other three bison who were staying behind. They bowed submissively, and Dominatia took to the skies, bellowing to lead the way.

Kuei sat down next to his love on the stretcher. General Fong and crew took over from there, guiding the balloon behind their fluffy guide. He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Azula's hand and covered her with a blanket.

Bosco curled up next to Azula's cot and Kuei pet the bear's snout. "I think she's going to be Ok Bosco," Kuei shared. The bear yawned in seeming agreement and his paws pushed the large Air Nomad book as he shifted position. Kuei stole a glance at the large volume and the reason, he guessed, that she was in that hole to begin with.

Curious, Kuei picked up the heavy book. It was an Air Nomad artifact, and a good deal of the book contained guidance concerning the bison. It talked about grooming, medical care, bonding patterns with humans,and proper ways to mate them. However, there was also a section in the back containing a great deal of history and poetry and science as well. Over the past few years, much of Kuei's kingdom had taken a real interest in Air Nomad culture, and the King was no exception. In the back there were several legends. One in particular caught his eye.

This story was about a beautiful Air Nomad woman who had garnished the attention of a Fire Lord centuries earlier, then lost a shoe while at the ruler's Ball.

The Fire Lord searched the land for her for almost three years, trying that blasted shoe on every eligible woman in the Fire Nation. Finally, one of his advisors suggested he search outside his kingdom, and that's when he found her. It turns out that she was an Air Nomad peasant. Her lifestyle of constant wandering made her very difficult to find.

When he finally found her she tearfully confessed: "I wanted you to remember me as you thought I was..a noblewoman, an intellectual, not as a poor Air Nomad girl who was lucky enough to earn the love of a king."

Kuei had just finished reading the story when Fong touched his shoulder to alert him. Kuei stood up to find Caldara gleaming below them. They touched down gently at the palace courtyard.

They were greeted by Zuko almost immediately. The young Firelord liked company, and didn't have a taste for doormen or butlers. If it was someone trusted, he preferred to do the greeting himself. He was wearing a gentle smile that faded when he saw his sister's limp form in Kuei's arms. "What happened?"

"We think she went treasure hunting in a dangerous area of the Temple," Kuei answered as he handed Azula over to Zuko's medical team. "I came to court her and found her bison very distressed near a hole where she was trapped."

Zuko smiled at the bison who had her tongue lolling out at him expectantly. "I know I'm going to regret this, but you can have some sake later, Dominatia."

The bison beamed.

In spite of their difficult history together, Kuei could see that Zuko did care for Azula. He directed the servants to prepare her old room and ensured trained nursing staff was available to her. Zuko also offered Kuei and his procession hospitality for the night. Like a dutiful brother, he stayed in Azula's room until he was sure she was stable, then left to attend to his affairs. On his way out Zuko invited Kuei to dine with him later that night.

Kuei politely refused, wanting to stay by Azula's side as much as possible. He did promise to join the Firelord for breakfast the next morning.

Throughout the afternoon Kuei watched Azula sleep, delighting in the ebb and flow of her chest as she breathed and the soft way her hair billowed about her striking features. It was difficult to believe that this young woman had once been a psychotic death machine. Now she was just psychotic.

The road to bravery had been an imposing one for the King. He'd tried charging into battle. Needless to say that was an epic fail. He'd tried talking himself into bravery; also a ridiculous waste of time. But somehow he found it through Azula. She made him brave. He never would have gone into a dark foreboding tunnel, even accompanied by his favorite pet and trusted General, but the thought of Azula in peril had out shadowed all concern he'd had for his own mortality. In hindsight he hadn't even thought of it.

Azula was a confused, schizophrenic shrew, a woman that most men would steer a hundred miles from. She was also arguably the most dangerous, cantankerous, relentless bitch on the face of the planet, but he loved her for what she was, and he loved her for what she was trying to be. Against all odds he did.

Around dinnertime, she woke suddenly and the King leaned in to help her sit up.

The princess didn't fight him, but her eyes darted about, taking in the sights and sounds of her old room. "I'm at the palace," she noted, then her eyes locked on Kuei. "What are you doing here?"

"I was watching you sleep."

"Watching me sleep?" Azula didn't know whether to be touched or creeped out. She told him so, and Kuei burst into laughter.

"You have a very interesting definition of creepy Azula. I can see I'll never be bored around you."

Azula sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly aware of her appearance. She couldn't look good, having been unconscious for at least a day. She was also vividly aware of the scanty shorts and baggy sleeping shirt the nursing staff had put on her, certainly not attire for a princess or Lord of anything. She drew the blankets over her selfconsciously, wincing in pain as she wriggled her legs under the silk sheets. "What happened?" she asked without looking at him. "I thought I was dead. I think I was supposed to die… Why didn't I?"

Kuei put his hands in his lap, turning them over in study. "The physician's aren't sure. By all means, you should be dead. They think that statue hit you with a lot of force, and you were pinned with stone fragments when General Fong and I got to you. But, you didn't suffer any crush injuries or breaks. Mostly, you were just bruised."

Forgetting herself, Azula whipped the covers off of her legs. Splotches of purple, blue, and ruddy brown distorted her smooth ivory skin. "I can see that. I can also see that it's hideous," she grumbled. She shrunk back against the bedding, and shifted, wincing just slightly. She looked out the window into the palace courtyard where the fountains were playing. This palace, this place held so many memories for her. If she squinted hard enough she could see her eight year ghost outside jumping through hoops of fire and catapulting off of balance beams as Ozai screamed corrections at her. "Why is it, Your Majesty, that the older we get, the less we know?" she asked him.

Kuei didn't answer, but took her hand. She let him, but only lightly returned the touch. Her amber eyes locked on his; they were still intense, but wavering slightly. "When I was young, I thought I knew everything. My father had me run gauntlets all the time. He used to tell me that the Air Nomads were an inferior race. They were weak, unworthy of life, and he called them every obscenity imaginable. But you should have seen the death machine these people concocted. It was…breathtaking and desperate and terrifying all at the same time." She fell back against the bed, panting a little with pain and effort. Her bruised rib was beginning to throb. "I'd never seen a gauntlet like it. An inferior race couldn't' have built that. It actually scared me. You know very little scares me."

The King's eyes softened. "I scare you."

Azula let out a breath. "You confuse me."

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The two of them shared dinner in mostly comfortably silence, or what little Azula could choke down as her appetite hadn't fully returned yet. The nurses shooed Kuei out of Azula's room shortly afterwards. They wanted her to take some pain medication and sleep so her body could heal, but they allowed the King in once she was snoring as long as he promised not to wake her. The first tired rays of evening were filtering in through the window, amber and tranquil. He drew the curtains to shut out the soft light, pressed a light kiss to her forehead, and then and settled in the chair next to her.

He planned to stay for only a short time. Kuei was in all things a gentleman, and meant to leave when the moon was up. But it had been a long day for him, and what started as an innocent cat nap soon progressed into REM sleep. He awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of creaking bedsprings and maniacal giggling.

To his surprise, Azula was wide awake, jumping like a giddy five year old on her bed.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then horror. "Azula! Stop! You'll hurt yourself!" The King reached for his deranged love and took her firmly by the arm to ground her. Instead of halting her, he pulled her too quickly and she toppled over him, pushing them both backwards so that the blushing monarch landed back in his chair with his half-dressed girlfriend straddling him.

At that point Azula's girlish giggling evolved into an uncontrollable laughing jag. She threw her arms around Kuei and then pressed her forehead against his neck as tears of mania flowed from her eyes. "I can't hurt myself, Majesty!" she declared between guffaws.

"Now Azula, we know that's not true. You've just been through…."

"Narcotics!" she interrupted gleefully. Then her laughter ceased and she drew her face away from his neck. She smirked at him and touched his nose with her finger affectionately. "I've been through a lot of narcotics! I'm fairly certain they gave me too much," she whispered, "That's why I can't hurt myself right now." Then she kissed him. Now the fact that she kissed him was shocking enough, but what was more shocking was the way she did it. It was uninhibited and primal, like a mooselion gumming its prey or a dragon clawing its mate. At one point Kuei wasn't sure if she was showing him affection or trying to eat him, and he was loving every minute of it!

At last he realized he had to stop her before it progressed to inappropriate levels; he drew away from her awkwardly. "You really should get back into bed now. "

"I don't waaaannnt to go back to bed," Aula sulked, and she stuck her lower lip out. It was adorable, sweet, and sexy all at the same time. "I'm sick of being in bed."

"You're in bed because you're sick."

"I'm in bed because I was injured, and I don't want to be in bed anymore!" She leaned into him, her eyes gleaming, the neckline of her shirt gaping to reveal a generous amount of skin. "I want to do something fun. Don't you want to do something fun?"

Kuei gulped as he took in her beauty. "More than you know."

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