Zuko, poised like a drawn arrow in the prow of the boat, threw fireballs to light the way ahead of them. There had been a brief flash of light, maybe Azula throwing up a distress signal, he told himself desperately. But the nearer they got to the forest islet, the dimmer his hopes became. He shouted her name until he was hoarse as the boat meandered frantically around where she had hit the water, and where she might have been able to swim to. Not far, according to Katara, in water this cold.
"Breath of fire," Zuko muttered, "she knows Breath of Fire. She can survive."
"She can," Katara said softly, "but would she have wanted to?"
Her words, spoken gently, were as knives to Zuko. "She might have made it to the islet. Signal the troops on the shore to get out here to search. We'll get started!"
Katara looked at the undulating obsidian waters, but couldn't bring herself to tell him she thought it was hopeless. Dully, she followed Zuko as they began searching by the light of Firebending.
Something about the forest made Katara uneasy. It seemed to have its own luminescence. It was also strangely still despite the breezy seaside weather.
More search parties arrived presently, and the islet was searched from top to bottom. Katara, exchanging a few words with hospital orderlies shuttled over by Zuko's frigate, suddenly noticed a yellow gleam on the horizon. They'd been at it all night.
Shortly thereafter, she trudged up to the summit of the island. There was something definitely odd about this place. At the very summit was a clearing covered in a strange tile-like pattern of hexagons. Possibly some very ancient temple had once stood here, but Katara felt there was something very profound here, though she knew not what.
Zuko was sitting against one of the old trees, his knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried in his folded arms.
Katara knelt beside him and said, "Zuko?"
Looking even more tired and unkempt than ever, he looked blearily up at her.
"I'm sorry Zuko," Katara said, hating having to do this to him, "There's no sign of her. I'm afraid…oh Zuko I'm so sorry…I don't think she made it."
Zuko stared at her, stricken. Then he coughed once, and the tears ran freely. Katara drew him into an embrace as the Fire Lord sobbed with grief.
Azula felt air enter her lungs. She felt her chest rise accordingly, and then lower as the air left. She felt a weight on her, and warmth, or at least an absence of cold. She opened her eyes, which, as it turned out, were there to be opened. Then she shut them again as she saw the shape of a figure looming over her, black and menacing.
"OH, EXCUSE ME," said a voice like a falling block of steel, "MY MISTAKE."
When she awoke a second time, it was to find herself lying in a luxuriant bed in a spacious chamber. A fireplace was crackling away at the far end of the room.
She moved her fingers and toes, and then raised her arms. Good. Everything seemed to work, although she felt stiff as a board. Wincing, she propped herself up and looked around. The room was totally unfamiliar. Not just in the sense that she'd not been here before, but that the room was unlike any she'd ever seen. The walls seemed to be divided into panels by fluted frames, and the walls at large were painted a kind of pastel blue. The bed was a four-poster, but the blanket and curtains were a pale purple. The fireplace decoration was of what looked like winged infants carrying trumpets with fruit coming out of them! The curtains over the windows were drawn, but a hint of light coming around them indicated it was day. Still stiff, Azula managed to find her way out of the voluminous heap of soft sheets and heavy blankets that had been piled with abandon on top of her.
She looked down at herself in surprise. She'd been clad in some kind of white gown that fell to her ankles. It was covered in a kind of woven pattern that swirled and trailed all over it, especially around the cuffs of the sleeves. Compared to her red and gold silk nightgown, it was as alien as if she'd been clothed in seaweed.
She looked around. Her hospital tunic and robe were nowhere in evidence. There was a large wardrobe in one corner. She went to that and opened it. It contained a single robe, made of a woollen fabric but of high quality, and a pair of slippers. She put them on and explored further, finding a very fine, small bathroom.
Then she moved to the curtained windows, and pushed the fabric aside. Her jaw dropped.
The street outside was broad and lined with palatial houses, although once again they were of a style she couldn't recognize from anywhere in the Earth Kingdoms or the Fire Nation. They had extensive gardens around them, although the trees were bare. It was bright and sunny outside. Coaches drawn by…some strange four-legged, long-muzzle beasts with long swishing tails rattled along the cobblestones and ladies walked up the street in voluminous skirts and fur scarves with gentlemen in dark, form-fitting clothing with silver and gold flair here and there.
Azula smiled a bit. So she was among the aristocracy. Good. These were people who would understand her. But this was not Ember Island. So where was she?
With that, Azula turned and headed toward the large double doors which, she deduced correctly, led into a long hallway. With a furtive air, she scurried down it, listening for any sounds of voices.
It suddenly occurred to Azula that she didn't know whether she should expect to be regarded as a guest, or a prisoner. It also occurred to her what the Lion Turtle had said: she needed to seek to rebuild her life in another world.
She froze in the hallway. Just what had the Lion Turtle been doing, bringing its paw down towards her before she'd blacked out?
Azula moved on, with increasing urgency and heart rate.
She arrived at the top of a large staircase, and for the first time, caught the faint sound of voices. She crept across the landing to the door whence it came. Listening carefully, she heard a man's voice. It was indistinct, except for a sudden exclamation:
"Hruuugh!"
Azula frowned and moved back. Was she in another hospital for the insane?
Moving quickly and quietly she rushed down the stairs toward the big doors, which she hoped was the exit.
Just before she arrived at the door, it opened. Azula's eyes widened. Two figures stood in the door. One was tall and wide, and clad from head to toe in heavy, old leather, even a kind of helmet with goggles.
The…creature next to the apparition was small, scruffy, hideously mottled and wearing armour.
Despite her methodical mindset up until now, confronting this living strangeness was too much. Her reaction was instantaneous. She blasted blue flames out of her hands. Both figures were blown over backwards. Azula sprinted past them and down the street just as fast as she could go.
Lady Sybil picked herself up and pulled off the dragon-proof headgear. She was quite bald – retaining one's own hair was a pointless endeavour when you bred pedigree swamp dragons, and could afford the best wigmakers in the city.
She coughed, waved some smoke aside and said, "Good Heavens! That was the very child I was telling – oh my, Corporal, you're on fire!"
"Kind of you to warn me, ma'am," said Nobby Nobbs, who was attempting to quash the small grease fires breaking out on his breastplate. He tried to snuff them with his helmet, but only succeeded in igniting the inside of the helmet like a temple brazier. There was a smell of bad lamp oil.
"I've heard of 'hot-footing it' before," Sybil breathed, "but that was just absurd!"
"Reckon she looks Agataean, ma'am," Nobby opined, setting his flaming helmet gingerly on the cobbles, "I hear they've folk there what eat fire and then cough it up at you. It's entertainment. I've never heard of them throwing it at you, though."
"Well, standing here talking about it won't do any good. I won't let a guest in need go wandering into a strange city in nothing but a dressing gown and nightie."
"Personally," Nobby said, "I wouldn't dare walk through this city without armour and a truncheon. Only way to travel, really."
"That's enough of that, Corporal," said Lady Sybil, suddenly sharp, "Now extinguish yourself and go get Sam!"