The Golden Wolf Warrior
By: Agent-Ayu
Chapter 13: Two Lovers
Note: Here it is the first chapter to Book 2. Mainly focused on Cazu.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer from Prologue still applies.
Cazu groaned as she stretched reaching as far as she could towards the sky. She had to grab the side of the ship to prevent herself from falling because she was slightly lighted headed after a much needed stretch. The Fire Nation princess looked out to the ocean enjoying the freedom her father had given her.
The ship was heading eastbound to one of the near by Fire Nation colonies. Cazu and the crew have been out at sea for nearly a week. Everyone on board the ship was full of optimism. Most of the crew who worked the ship never left the Fire Nation. It was a new experience for them as well as their princess.
Despite her status, Cazu was always up and helping the crew out with whatever she could. She never cared for her status as princess, which surprised a handful of the crew members. Cazu was currently on break from sweeping the deck.
"Princess Cazu?" The captain of the ship asked.
Cazu snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Oh, yes Captain?"
"Princess, I'm afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship in to port before nightfall."
"Oh? Darn, I was hoping to look around the village. Are you sure there's no way for us to pull into port?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Do what you must so we get into port safely. We wouldn't want to upset the Ocean Spirit now would we?" Cazu smiled towards the captain.
The captain didn't know how to respond. "I'm not sure if I understand, princess."
"Don't worry about it captain. The ship is in your hands. Make sure we arrive safely." With that Cazu began sweeping the decks again.
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When twilight was upon them, the ship was a little closer to the port than they were earlier that day. The tides were still fighting against the ship. Cazu was standing in the middle of the deck with her eyes closed. She slowly breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth trying to feel the setting sun on her.
Once her mind was focused. Cazu bent her right knee down into an angled front stance as she brought left hand down and up, she shifted to her left side repeating the same motion. She brought her fingertips together briefly before shooting her right hand out as if to send an attack towards the sea. Like previous attempts before a huge explosion blew up in Cazu's face.
The force of the explosion threw Cazu to the ground. Cazu blew out a small ball of fire from her mouth in frustration as she stared to the sky. She laid down on the deck's surface not caring to get back up this time.
"You understand the motion."
"However, you do not understand how to separate your yin energy from your yang energy."
Cazu turned her head to the right looking up at the stairs to the cabin doors. At the top of the stairs sat two old women who were watching Cazu very closely. The two old women were identical twins. They have been training Cazu since she was five. The Fire Nation princess had still yet to figure out who was who.
"How is it that you two know how to firebend, but are not firebenders yourself?" Cazu asked as she sat up.
"Anyone can learn, teach, and understand the art forms." One of the old women replied.
"Not everyone can perfect the art forms to become true firebending masters." The other twin replied immediately afterwards.
"Li, Lo, please stop speaking in riddles." Cazu practically begged as she covered her face with her hands.
"It's no riddle." The two replied at the same time.
"What did you mean about true firebending masters? It's not the first time you've said that to me."
"Any firebender can be a firebending master." Li started.
"But only those who find their drives can be a true firebending master." Lo continued.
"Find your drive, you find the sun, find the sun, you become one with Agni." Together the twins finished.
Cazu stood up and looked towards the barely visible port. Her mind wandered off to Ty Lee. It was then did Cazu feel the world around her shift slightly. Without thinking Cazu went through the motions to lighting bend again. For a split second she thought she had it. However, Cazu found herself looking up to the sky again.
"Almost perfect."
"You lost focus at the last second."
The princess groaned in frustration.
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"Princess. I'm sorry, but I must object. I have no business wearing your clothes so we can fool the colonials that I am you." Zeng objected.
"Zeng, please! I'm asking you- no, begging you as a friend not a servant to master thing to do this for me. Most of the colonials don't know what I look like." Cazu started pleading.
"Which is exactly why this is a bad idea."
Cazu sighed and sat on her bed. "Not for me. I don't want people to know I'm the Princess. Ty Lee doesn't even know I am here…"
"Yet. She doesn't know you're here yet. Once you walk off this ship word will spread to the circus real quickly."
"That's why I need you to go out there pretending to be me! If I go out there I'll never be able to get out of the village to go see her. Don't make me get down on my knees, I will if I really have to, but I'd rather not."
Zeng rolled her eyes. "ALRIGHT! I'll do it. You owe me big time."
"Thank you!" Cazu hugged Zeng.
After informing the whole ship of the princess' plan, the entire village waited at the ports waiting to get a glimpse of their princess. The colonials created a semi-circle around the gangplank watching as two rows of Imperial firebenders walked down to the port.
Following the Imperial Firebenders was Zeng pretending to be Princess Cazu. Cazu was close behind Zeng disguised as a servant. All of the colonials were in awe to see their 'princess' for the first time.
Trusting the Imperial Firebenders to distract the crowd and helping Zeng, Cazu slipped away from the Royal Procession. Once she made her way out of the crowd the firebender ran into the words making her way up to the circus.
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As Cazu walked through the woods she placed a poncho over her servant clothes. Cazu froze when she heard someone talking just near the woods' edge. Slowly she walked up to one of the near by trees and hid behind it as she peeked around the tree and smiled. She smiled because it was Ty Lee who was talking.
Ty Lee was petting the head to an Armadillo Lion. "You've gotten so much better standing on your brother as he spins. Good job girl!" The acrobat praised the Armadillo Lion.
Cazu's smile grew with each passing minute. Just being a few feet away from the acrobat sent Cazu's heart flying. Two years was too long for her to be away from her girlfriend. Just as she was about to make herself known to the acrobat she hid again as another member of the circus troupe approached Ty Lee.
"Hey, did you hear? The princess is in the village!"
"What? Are you sure?" Ty Lee asked.
"Yep. The Royal Procession and ship is at the port right now!" With that the female circus member ran off, most likely to go see Zeng as the princess.
The acrobat turned her attention back to the Armadillo Lioness. "I thought Cazu would at least let me know she was going to come." She said sadly.
The lioness licked Ty Lee's face trying to cheer the girl up. Ty Lee giggled. "You remind me so much of Cazu. I always knew she was a lioness. She's strong, brave, and she's noble. I don't mean her noble status either. I miss her so much." Ty Lee pressed her forehead into the lioness' muzzle as if to hug the animal.
Ty Lee snapped her head when she heard a twig snap followed by someone cursing. She got into a fighting stance a lot of benders were not familiar with. "Who's there?"
The firebender sighed as she realized there was no recovery for her error. Slowly she stepped into plain sight. Both girls didn't know what to say. Cazu walked up to Ty Lee until they were at arms length.
"Hello… Ty Lee."
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Azula and Sokka were trying hard not to kill the music nomads. The nomads have been driving them crazy since they first ran into them. It is because of the nomads they were standing outside the mouth of a cave that supposedly had a curse.
"What exactly is this curse?" Sokka asked.
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever." Chong explained.
"And die." Lily finished.
"Oh, yeah, and die. Hey-"
The firebender rolled her eyes and ignored the rest of what Chong had to say. Her arm was shaking as she tried to restrain herself from hurting the musical nomads.
"Hey." Katara grabbed hold of Azula's arm. "I'm so proud of how you're not attempting to murder them."
"Trust me, it's really hard to. They're driving me crazy Katara." Katara smiled and pecked Azula's cheek.
"Hey, someone's making a camp fire!" Moku exclaimed.
Azula and Katara looked to the sky looking at the black column of smoke. "That's no campfire, Moku."
"It's the Fire Nation. They're tracking us."
"So, all you need is to trust in love to get through these caves?" Aang asked.
Katara wrapped her arms around Azula's arm giving it a light squeeze. "If that's all we need we can make it." The waterbender whispered to her girlfriend's ear.
"I would hope so." Azula smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too." Katara lightly pecked Azula's lips before everyone walked into the cave.
They were just barely out of sight from the cave's mouth and they suddenly heard a loud boom closing the natural source of light leaving the group in the dark. Azula held out her hand cast a small blue flame giving an ominous light through the cave. Appa was on his hind legs trying to dig through the trap.
"Do you guys have a torch?" Azula asked.
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Ty Lee closed the distance between her and the firebender by wrapping her arms around Cazu's midsection. She closed her eyes and placed her head on the princess' shoulder. Cazu returned the embrace wrapping her arms around the acrobat's shoulder holding the pink clad girl closer.
They pulled away just enough to bring their lips together. The kiss sent a renewed spark between the two girls as they deepened the kiss. When they finally pulled back they were breathing heavily due to the lack of air.
"I missed you so much." Ty Lee hugged the firebender again.
"I missed you too. So much more than I could ever say to you in my letters."
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"I wanted to surprise you. Did I pass?" Cazu felt Ty Lee's lips on hers again, confirming the princess' answer.
Ty Lee pulled Cazu over to a near by bench as they sat down. "How did you get out of the palace? From what you told me there was no way your father would let you out. Especially if it was to see me." The acrobat looked down at her lap sadly.
Cazu lifted her girlfriend chin so they were looking each other in the eye. "After pulling a few typical teenage girl out bursts on him, we have come to an understanding. Also I am to track down this girl."
The princess handed a rolled up scroll to the acrobat. Ty Lee carefully unrolled the scroll and read it's contents. The pink clad girl became serious as she realized she was reading a wanted poster.
"Cazu, you don't plan on… killing her are you?"
"I actually don't plan on bringing her back to my father. I want to fight her to see who's the better firebender. She grew up in the Water Tribe. She has to have learned to firebender in the waterbending style. This is an opportunity I can't pass up, Ty Lee. My firebending style is slightly different from the other firebenders because of all the acrobatic techniques you taught me. Fighting someone who firebenders in a different style sounds so exciting I could hardly sleep when Zeng handed me the wanted poster about a two months ago."
The firebender was practically bouncing in her seat of excitement like a little kid. Ty Lee giggled seeing her girlfriend's aura spark many shades of pink. She missed these moments with the firebender. Leaving Cazu behind was the only thing Ty Lee regretted doing when she ran away from home. Ty Lee thought back to that night Cazu had caught her on the edge of Caldera City and how the firebender begged her not to leave. It took a little convincing, but Cazu finally understood why Ty Lee was leaving and gave the acrobat a kiss before heading back to the palace while Ty Lee left the Fire Nation.
"Well, you better get going." Ty Lee said as she stood up as she reached for the sky stretching. The acrobat knew she was giving her girlfriend a good view of her muscular lower back. Cazu mixed looked of question and lust. Ty Lee grabbed hold of Cazu's hands and forced the firebender to stand. "The sooner you find that girl, the sooner I can have you all to myself. How soon do you think it'll be until I see you next?"
"I'm not going to dive in head first searching for that girl, Ty Lee. My second stop is to Omashu. Mai is more than likely bored out of her mind there. After I see her I'll stop by here again before I go searching for that Water Tribe firebender. Okay?"
"One week." Ty Lee wrapped her arms around Cazu's neck drawing the firebender's face closer to hers. "You have one week before you come back to visit me. If you get done early the better, but if you miss your deadline, the next time I see you I'm going to chi block you and you will not get away from me."
The princess smiled as she quickly kissed her girlfriend's nose. "I promise I'll be back in one week or sooner."
"Good."
They sealed the deal with a kiss.
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Katara and Azula had been wandering for several hours. Even though they were cut off from the sun, Azula's natural feel for the sun allowed her to estimate how much time had gone by.
"We're not going to make it are we? I love you with all my heart, Azula. I know you love me just as much, so why can't we find our way out of here?" Azula could tell from Katara's voice that the waterbender was tired and hungry.
"I've been wondering about the inscription back in the tombs." Azula replied calmly.
"The one with the statues?"
"Yes. It said 'Love is brightest in the dark.' I wonder if that had more than one meaning behind it. There's the meaning we first interpret of how love can bring the light into dark times like the war. But what if it had something to do with the tunnels as well."
The waterbender's eyes widened slightly as she understood what her girlfriend was saying. "That's right. Oma and Shu made these tunnels so they could meet in secret. There had to be a way for them to find each other with out someone following them."
Azula turned her attention to Appa. "Don't worry boy, if my theory is correct we won't be in the dark for long, okay?"
Appa barely gave a groan. Getting the bison's approval, Azula closed her palm distinguishing the flame. Almost immediately crystals on the tunnel ceiling showed a small path lighting the tunnel.
"They look like crystals!" Katara explained.
"I wonder if they're made of the same crystals in Omashu. They lit up the rooms to the palace the last time we were there." Azula replied slightly proud that her deductions were once again correct.
"That's how the two lovers found each other. They just put out their lights and followed the crystals. Azula you're a genius!" Katara glomped and kissed her girlfriend.
"Yeah, I know." Azula teased.
"Watch it, Azula. You're head is getting rather big for this tunnel." Katara countered lightly slapping the firebender's arm.
The sky bison groaned getting the attention of the two girls. "Right, find exit and then we celebrate. That must be the exit right there. C'mon Azula!"
Like many times before Azula was dragged by the waterbender. After so many years, the firebender could care less. The two girls made room for Appa to run ahead of them as they followed him closely. They squinted their eyes as the sun beamed down towards them upon exiting the cave. Appa was already lying on his back relieved to be out of the tunnel.
"I know how you feel, Appa." Azula joined the sky bison lying on the ground soaking up the energy of the sun in her veins. Katara sat down stroking Azula's hair.
Suddenly Azula shot up. "Wait, what about the others?"
As if on cue two were blown out from the wall on either side of the tunnel's exit. Once the debris cleared, the two girls could clearly see the two badger moles carrying their friends. Both the firebender and waterbender looked at each other before giggling.
While Katara said her goodbyes to the nomads and Chong trying to give Sokka his words of wisdom, Azula looked out towards the hills she and her friends would have to cross to get to Omashu. Aang walked up to Azula also staring at the hills.
"I guess this makes it official. I really wasn't a player in the game for Katara's affection. Wasn't I?"
"No, you weren't. Don't give up, Aang. I'm sure you'll find someone out there and they'll love you for who you are. Not because you're the Avatar. We don't want a repeat of Kyoshi Island now do we?"
Aang smiled and blushed at the memory. "No, we don't. Let's go. The sooner I learn earthbending the sooner I can learn firebending."
"Aang." Azula warned.
"I'll be patient. I promise."
"You better, or I will attempt to murder you this time."
The two benders laughed before joining their friends to finish their journey to Omashu.