Zuko had followed his sister to visit their uncle. They found him just in time for tea. Zuko didn't like tea, but he liked his uncle enough to not be rude. Azula jumped right into her questioning.
"What do you know about the Mechanist?"
The General considered the question for a long moment before he began to speak. "The Mechanist is an inventor in service to the Fire Nation. He invented the steam powered engines for our naval fleet."
"And his name is just the Mechanist?" Zuko asked, he'd been thinking about that for some time.
"That is what he is known now. Some say he traded his name to a Weaver spirit in order for endless creativity!"
"That can't be true, you can't trade a name!" Azula cried.
"That is just one of the stories told about him. But he should not be disturbed. He does important work for our country," Iroh set a plate of sweets down on the table for his niece and nephew.
"But who is that boy?" Azula asked, accidentally revealing that she had been in the workshop.
"Ah, his name is Teo. He is the Mechanist's son. I believe he is a year younger than you are, Azula," Iroh filled in, curious as to what the fire princess wanted such information.
All other conversation was interrupted when Lu Ten returned from his training mission.
Teo lay in bed in the room behind the workshop that he and his father shared. It had nearly been a month since the Princess's visit and since then, nothing interesting had happened. The only notable thing about today was that his father and the guards had gone out to the mountains to test one of the new inventions.
He didn't have much to do when his father was away, so he had slept in. But now he was just bored. Teo pulled himself into his wheelchair and headed into the main workshop area. It was cloudy today, which meant the only light came from the lantern that he lit and hung on the back of his chair. He hated being alone on days like this.
The sound of the workshop door opening startled him out of his gloomy thoughts. "Who's there?"
"I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation!"
And soon Teo sat before the older princess. "What... what are you doing here?"
"Is that any way to speak to your superior?"
Teo shrank back in his chair, afraid she might hit him.
"I order you to play with me," the Fire Princess demanded.
"What?" Teo was surprised. He was nobody. Not even the servants acknowledged his presence. Only his father and the guards assigned to the workshop bothered to interact with him.
The Fire Princess sighed as if it was a chore to explain herself to him. "Mai and Ty Lee had to go home last week. Zuko is away with Mother. I am bored and you will play with me."
"Oh. Yes, Princess. What would you like to play?" Teo was still stunned. Unsure if this was really happening.
The princess looked down at him. Inspecting him as if he were an animal on the market. It was then that he realized that he was still in his long sleep shirt. He self-consciously tugged the hem down to hide his legs.
"What's wrong with you?" The princess had no concept of personal space, she leaned over him and poked at his thin leg.
"My uh.. my legs were crushed when I was a baby. They don't work right," Teo resisted the urge to back away.
"We're going outside," she said after growing bored with poking him.
"I need to change clothes," Teo turned his chair around and hurried back to his room, pulling on a clean shirt and shorts. He then wrapped his legs in a clean set of bandages. He was so focused on his task that he didn't hear the princess come into the room behind him.
"What are you doing now?" She asked.
"My father made me these braces to keep my legs straight," Teo held up the metal and leather contraptions and showed her how he put them on. Once he was fastened in properly, he looked up at her. "I'm ready now."
Azula just turned around and headed out the door to the workshop.
Teo hesitated at the door. He'd never left the workshop without his father before. But the Fire Princess's glare kept him going.
Soon, they were out in a small garden overlooking the ocean. Azula didn't seem to be as impressed as Teo was. He then looked up at her, waiting to be given instruction on what to do next.
"You don't bend, do you?"
"No. My Grandfather is an earthbender, but I've never met him," Teo replied.
Just when Azula was about to open her mouth, a fat raindrop hit her square in the eye. Both children looked up and were met with the rain. The Fire Princess looked at the precipitation as if it had offended her, where Teo just spread his arms out and laughed.
"What is wrong with you?" The Princess demanded.
"I've never been outside in the rain before!"
Teo's confession stumped Azula and she stared at him a moment. "Well how about this?" She started to firebend in the rain, making twirls and sparks that quickly dissolved, but lit up the dark afternoon.
Teo happily applauded Azula's antics, which just prompted her dance to continue.
"Azula! AZULA!" a cry came from the palace as Ursa emerged, carrying a large parasol. "What are you doing out here? You're soaked to the bone!" The Fire Lady fussed over her daughter a moment before she looked at Teo. "Both of you are going inside right now."
The younger Fire Princess and the Mechanist's son shared a look. They had been caught and will be punished for the fun they had. But Azula, not wanting her mother to drag her inside, grabbed the back of Teo's chair and started pushing him towards the workshop. As she pushed him towards shelter, she leaned over and whispered in his ear "I won't be in trouble and neither will you. You followed my orders. We will play again."
Once they were out of the rain, Ursa looked around the empty workshop, then addressed Teo, "When is your father returning?"
"He said he would be gone until the day after tomorrow," he said quietly, shivering in the dark room.
"We can't just leave him alone in here!" Azula looked up at her mother, a determined expression on her face.
"If you enjoy his company as your companion, Azula, I will not stop you. But you will have to ask your father when you are not dripping all over the place," the elder Fire Princess looked down at the boy again.
The Fire Princess ran back to her room to change her clothes, leaving Teo alone with her mother.
"I apologize for my daughter's rudeness. Things may change for you, if my daughter wishes your company." Ursa started pushing Teo's chair towards the royal servants' quarters.
"No one ever speaks to me, except my Father. It was nice," Teo kept his eyes on the ground, so he didn't see the surprised look on Ursa's face. They were silent until Ursa pushed open the door to one of the empty servant's rooms. "You can stay here until your Father returns. I can get you some of Zuko's old clothes. They should fit you."
And then Teo was left alone in the small room. He barely had enough space to lift himself from his chair to the bed. By the time he got out of his braces, all he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't notice Ursa returning with the clothes, or her helping him into them. The bed was comfortable and warm. He dreamt of Azula dancing in the rain.