A/N:
Before I continue this story, I have some explaining to do.
1: The reason behind Ursa adopting Senshi, and nobody else, was because at that point, the Fire Nation was in war. Any able-bodied child on the streets would be taken into custody by Fire Nation soldiers and trained in the arts of war, so, homeless orphans were a rarity. Senshi is clever, and I'd hoped you would be able to guess that he was agile by the way that he climbed into the rafters.
2: I'm not going to explain Senshi's unique fire-bending yet, as it would lead to spoilers.
3: The reason why I'm giving Senshi sword fighting is because his bending leaves him drained. I know that I should have explained the repercussions of him using it, but, honestly, it didn't cross my mind. Senshi's style of fighting is more like Sokka's, but with a long katana-like blade with a much longer hilt, and while Sokka concentrates on defense and attacks, Senshi's style is based on a more imperial style.
4: Azula's not impressed. She's just never seen crimson fire before.
5: I'm not really sure if it is going to be a harem. At this point, the only people that I can see being involved are Azula and Ty Lee, and Tenshi hasn't met Ty Lee yet.
His flaws include: Being left drained by his power, fear of spiders (Hey, everybody needs their quarks,) loyalty to the spirits, and dislike of anyone that attempts to harm any member of his family. This usually puts him at odds with Aang, but you'll see.
...
"Happy birthday, Senshi!" Yelled the members of the Fire Nation royal family. Senshi had spent the day training, seeing as he already finished the schooling that he needed to be a bodyguard. As soon as the boy stepped into the throne room to speak to his father, he was bombarded by his friends and family. Senshi was happy that his mother, Ursa, gave him a birthday. Living on the streets until he was eight, Senshi never really knew when he was born, he would just call himself whatever age he felt. He had been living in the palace for the past four years, and today marks him as Princess Azula's personal bodyguard. As if he didn't spend enough time with her already. Senshi swears that that girl has some kind of unhealthy obsession with his hair.
The boy looked around at everyone in attendance. His immediate family, including Ozai, Zuko, Azula, Ursa, and Uncle Iroh. A couple of cousins and a few of Azula's little friends from the academy made up Senshi's birthday.
"Heh, you guys didn't have to do this." Senshi said, embarrassed. His brother, Prince Zuko, laughed.
"What's the matter, big brother? Nervous?" The scarred boy asked. He had gotten a large burn in a sparring match with Azula. Azula was angry at Zuko for something, and thought that the burn was proper punishment. This happend two years ago.
"Don't worry, Sensen." Said the nine-year-old Azula. "I won't order you to do things that are TOO embarrassing."
"I'm your bodyguard. Not your servant." Senshi waved at his adoptive sister dismissively. Azula pouted slightly, but merely as a joke.
"Now that you are a registered Fire Nation soldier, what are you going to do?" Asked Ozai.
"I plan to make you proud, father." Senshi answered, bowing. Both of Azula's little friends from her academy were watching the boy. The first was an emotionless girl named Mai, whom was only looking his way because he was the birthday. The second was an extremely perky girl by the name of Ty Lee, whom Senshi has caught watching him many times before, making today no different. Senshi was never formally introduced to them, but he has seen them many times on his trips to meet Azula at the academy.
Ozai smiled at his surrogate son.
"You already have, Senshi." Said Ozai. "You've come a long way from the boy that my wife found on the streets. I am happy to call you son."
Senshi could feel tears threatening to burst from his eyes, but he held them in. He would not cry on the happiest day of his life. Not in front of his superior.
"I believe." Continued Ozai. "That there is cake. You may open your gifts afterwards."
AFTER CAKE
The first gift was from Uncle Iroh, whom gave the boy a book on different tea recipes. It may have seemed like a lame gift, but Senshi had taken quite the liking to tea since moving into the palace. Mai had given him a few throwing knives, knowing that Senshi had wanted to learn to use them. Ty Lee gave him a nice leather hair tie that had the Fire Nations symbol on it. Zuko bought Senshi a new dagger, because lets face it: Daggers are awesome. Azula gave Senshi a studded gauntlet for his hand-to-hand combat.
"I suppose it's my turn, now." Said Ursa. She put her hand into her pocket, puling out a small box. Senshi took the box and opening it. What he found inside made his heart do spins. A small coin attached to a length of golden chain. In the middle of the coin was a pure diamond set into the coin. Surrounding the diamond was a garnet for Zuko, a sapphire for Azula, a ruby for Ozai, and an amethyst for Ursa. Tears once again threatened to spill over, but they were forgotten when Senshi felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Come. I have two more gifts for you." The Fire Lord said. Senshi nodded and followed the man out of the room, entering what appeared to be a large safe. Ozai walked up to the safe, putting in the combination and stepping back. Inside was a long box, just a little bit taller than Senshi. Ozai removed the box from it's resting place and presented it to the boy. Senshi opened the box, revealing a beautifully crafted katana. Senshi noticed that the reason why the sword was so long was because the handle was almost two feet long. The sheath was a clear, black masterpiece. The handle had white wrappings with gold thread thrown in. There was no guard, and that was fine. Senshi believed that the only swordsman besides Zuko was a master swordsman he'd heard about named Piando.
"Th-thank you sir."Senshi said. The fire Lord smiled, but motioned for him to follow him more. Senshi happily followed him, curiosity eating away at him. The Fire Lord led them back into the throne room, but there was a differance. In the middle of the room sat one last box. It was fairly large, with the Fire Nation seal on the top. Senshi walked over to the box, removing the lid. His eyes went wide at the contents. Inside was a Fire Nation benders uniform. There were many differences about this suit than all the others. There were pockets in the pants, because Senshi liked resting his hands in his pockets. Instead of the basic Burgundy color of most benders, this one was pure black with white trim. There was no helmet, instead there was a leather mask that covered the entire upper half of his face. The mask was hard leather, with small metal studs, for head butting opponents in fights. A small, red Fire Nation emblem was pounded into the center of the uniforms breastplate. Senshi knew what this meant. His adoptive father was accepting him into the ranks of the Fire Nation army.
"I... I don't know what to say." This time, tears did fall from Senshi's eyes. He finally belonged somewhere. This was by far, the happiest day of Senshi's entire life.
"Just say thank you." Said Ozai. "You're my son. There is no reason to be so formal."
Senshi finally broke down, throwing his arms around his father, being filled with joy and love.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Senshi was wearing all of the things that he received for his birthday, knives in his belt, dagger strapped onto his upper arm, fighting gauntlet's on his hands, sword at his hip, and necklace around his neck. He was supposed to meet his sister after her classes were out for the day, but that was fifteen minutes ago.
Suddenly, Senshi heard the sound of a furious shout coming from the other side of the building. The young prince sprinted around the side of the building and noticed his sister, Ty Lee, and Mai were cornered by seven large fire-benders. Azula may have been a prodigy, but remember, she was only nine. She hasn't had the training for these situations yet. The men were obviously intending to kidnap the princess of the Fire Nation for a hefty ransom. Senshi wasn't about to let his sister go through that.
Racing forward, the boy drew his sword, slashing into the first mans back, leaving a deep wound that he will never forget. If he lives, that is. The next man turned quickly, launching a volley of fireballs at Senshi, but they were slashed away with ease. Senshi was taken by surprise when an eighth kidnaper knocked the sword from his hand, turning him around quickly and picking him up.
"I DON'T LIKE BEING MANHANDLED!" Senshi shouted at the top of his lungs, before breathing a steady stream of normal colored fire into the mans face. The kidnaper fell to the ground screaming. Even with the help of the girls, Senshi was still outnumbered, four to six. Time to even the odds. Senshi whistled as loud as he could, Azula almost laughed at what he was doing. Suddenly, there was the loud sound of howling as people started screaming. The kidnapers continued trying to get to the princess, before one was ripped to pieces by a giant, grey wolf with a Fire Nation harness. The wolf was at least as tall as seven feet at the shoulders, and she was angry.
"What the fuck is that thing!?" Shouted one of the men, fearing for his life. Senshi snapped his fingers and Kiba ran to his master, bowing her head to the boy lovingly.
"What you have done is unforgivable." Said Senshi, petting Kiba on the head. "What is their sentence, Princess Azula?" Senshi retrieved his sword as Azula inspected her nails.
"Death." Was her answer. Senshi didn't enjoy killing people, but it was apart of the job.
The screams of the would-be kidnapers echoed down the street as a clear reminder that the princess is not to be touched.
BACK AT THE PALACE
"You had him kill eight men?" Ozai asked his daughter after Senshi was sent out of the room.
"Father, they attacked me and my friends. I couldn't let them live." Azula spoke up in her own defense. Senshi would have done it for her, that's why he was sent out of the room.
"Don't you realize what you may have done to the boy?" Ozai asked. "The first kill was expected, to get the message across. The second kill was just as mandatory, as was the third, but the other five men could have been imprisoned. You took the boys title of protector and gave him the infamy of a killer. What you've made him do may have changed him forever." Ozai sighed at his daughter. "Zuko has decided to undertake the quest of finding the Avatar, along with my brother. I want you to fix this before they leave tomorrow. Understand?"
Azula nodded, but hollowly. The last thing that she wanted was for her beloved Sensen to change. Sho liked him the way he was. She loved him. She knew this, but people would believe that improper, even if Senshi was only adopted. She would tell herself that she didn't care what others think, but in all honesty, if she didn't care, she wouldn't be such a perfectionist.
'I have to make this right.' Thought Azula. 'I don't want him to change.'
The princess found the silver haired youth sitting out on the bench in the gardens. Azula found that in the last four years, Senshi was one of the few people that she could have a true conversation with. They were both misunderstood. Maybe it was during one of these conversations that Azula fell in love with him, but she didn't know, nor did she care. She just wanted to be with him, at all costs.
Senshi knew that Azula was there. Being a soldier and personal guard to royalty, he was taught to know whenever there was an intruder. He knew it was Azula by the sounds of her footsteps. He almost questioned his own guess when she sat down and placed her head on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he saw that it was in fact Azula.
"I'm sorry." She said to him.
"What do you mean?" Senshi asked, perplexed.
"I made you kill those men." Answered Azula. "Father says killing those men could change you. I don't want you to change." She threw her arms around Senshi's waist and let small tears fall. (A/N: Remember, this is an alternate possibility that could happen if Ozai wasn't just a bid dick. This is how I believe Azula would turn out with a kinder father. Still cold, but having her little soft moments.) Senshi had the girl look him in the eyes.
"Relax." He said. "I'm still the same old Sensen. I will only change if you want me to." Azula smiled at him and hugged him a bit tighter.
"Thank you, Sensen." Said the girl. "I love you." Azula fell asleep like that, with her arms around Senshi, the oblivious object of her affection.
"I love you, too, Lala." Murmured Senshi, using his nickname for Azula. Senshi lifted the sleeping girl in his arms, bridal style and went to take her back to her room.
...
A/N: Sappy Shortish Chapter! Another time skip will take place in the next chapter. You get nothing else from me!
Remember, I need four OC's as freedom fighters against the fire nation. Just tell me their element, personality, and what they look like. Freedom fighters are only earth or water, but if you want a fire-bending OC, I'll see what I can do.
Colin E. Chambers.
