Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 27: Insomnia and Gifts
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Fire Nation)
They pushed their way out of the bushes to see koala sheep sleeping the grass. "This is it," Sokka said as he looked at the map. "The official rendezvous point for the invasion force."
"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked him. All she could "see" were grassy plains right next to cliffs.
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on the map," he explained. "It's uninhabited, and the harbors surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place."
"Nice choice, Sokka," Katara told her brother as they set up camp. "And we're here four days ahead of schedule." They had a few days to relax before things became serious again.
"Wait, four days!?" Aang asked, leaping up into the air and freaking out. "The invasion is in four days?"
Sokka yawned. "That's four days from now. Relax, Aang." He went to sleep the minute his head hit the sleeping bag. Akela slept next to him.
"Sokka's got the right idea, Aang," Katara said to the Air Nomad. "We're here. We're ready. The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." She lay down on her sleeping bag and followed her brother's example.
"…I guess," he agreed reluctantly. He lay down on the ground and tried to go to sleep.
The doors to the throne room were knocked down and Aang came in, with a large amount of hair, a headband, and a yellow jump suit. "Your days of tyranny are over, Fire Lord!" he declared, doing poses that would have made any of the Konoha Eleven slap him across the face. "I'm bringing you down!"
The supposed Fire Lord, who looked nothing like the actual Fire Lord, put the bundle of grapes he was about to eat and looked at him. "Really?" he asked. "How do you plan on doing that when you're not even wearing pants?"
He looked down. Sure enough, there were no pants. "Oh no!" he cried, pulling a cover with the Air Nomad symbol on it out of thin air. Eyeballs began to appear out of nowhere and looked at him before disappearing.
"Not having pants isn't your biggest concern right now," a voice from behind him said. He turned around and saw Naruto, jian out and ready to use. "That would be me." Before Aang could say anything, he flew towards the pants-less Airbender, swinging his jian.
He awoke with a gasp and furiously checked his pants, making sure they were still there. His actions woke up the resident lemur. "It was just a dream, Momo," he said with relief. "I still have my pants." He stood up. "Well, I better keep training." He walked and started his training, which was basically kicking a bush repeatedly. Momo just went back to sleep.
Azula was awake but was planning on not opening her eyes. She was planning on staying one with her bed. That is, until her sixth sense went off and she rolled off the bed to avoid a knife flying at her. "I hate you, Naruto," she growled from the other side of the bed.
"No, you don't," he replied with a grin from where he stood against the door. "Besides, I had to wake you up somehow."
"You couldn't have just shaken me awake?" That would've been a much better alternative to knives.
"Why would I do that when I can train you at the same time?" He walked over to her closet and pulled out some of her clothes. He put them on the bed, went back to the door, and waited, facing the hallway.
Azula glared at him briefly before started to change. She could still remember the first time she woke up and there were no servants waiting on her. Naruto had told the servants not to come into her room to dress her. She had yelled at him, demanding who was going to dress her. "You have arms and hands," he had told her with a calm voice that she had found infuriating. "I assumed you knew how to use them." From that day on, she had dressed herself. She hated doing it at first, but had eventually grown used to it. When Naruto offered to have the servants come back, she said no.
When she had finished dressing herself, she looked over at the door. "I'm done," she told Naruto.
"Good to know," he answered, turning to face her. "What do you want to do before the party?"
She thought it over and shrugged. "Let's see how Zuko is doing."
"Lead the way."
Katara, Sokka, and Toph woke to the sounds of Aang punching a tree, repeatedly. "Hey, how long have you been up?" Katara asked, walking over to him.
"A couple hours," he answered as he circled the tree, hitting it as he went. "I got a lot more skills to refine if I'm gonna fight Ozai." He stopped and started to pant.
"You know, there is such a thing as overtraining," she remarked. He didn't listen to what she said, he just punched the tree. It made him fall and had all the leaves fall out of the tree on top of him. This made the others look at what was going on (Toph was looking in a different direction).
"You don't get it, do you?" he asked Katara as he got out of the leaves and began to circle her. "My form is bad, I'm sloppy and I still don't know any Firebending. Not even the basics." His left eye was twitching as he said those last words.
"The eclipse will block off the Firebending, Aang," Sokka pointed out to him. "You don't need to know it." That, plus the Fire Lord being completely powerless, gave the advantage to them.
"Okay, well I still have to work on everything else. I better spend the whole day training." He quickly bowed to both Sokka and Katara before running off on an air ball.
"This will go on for a while, won't it?" Sokka asked his sister.
"I hope not," she replied.
"I hear that. But now I have to do something that's probably going to take most of the day."
"What's that?" Toph asked.
He turned to face Akela, who was still covered in black soot. "Time to give you a bath," he announced. That was one of the few times the members of Team Avatar saw the wolf cringe and have his tail droop between his legs. "Akela, don't make this harder than it has to be," the Tribesman said warningly as the wolf began to back away. "You were the one who jumped into the soot. You knew this was gonna happen." The wolf still tried to run but didn't get far due to the fact Sokka had leapt for him and wrestled him to the ground.
It took the combined efforts of Katara, Toph and Sokka to give the wolf a bath. He kept struggling to escape and had almost succeeded twice. By the time they were done, it was time for lunch. Akela's fur was now white again, but he kept glaring at everybody. He finally forgave them when everyone was going to sleep.
That was when Aang reappeared. He walked back into camp, yawned and fell to the ground. "Good night, Katara," he said. "Good night, Sokka. Good night, Toph. Good night, Appa. Good night, Momo. Good night, Akela. Good night, Appa and Mo—"
"Go to sleep already!" Toph yelled at him. He flinched but followed her instructions.
The doors were knocked and Aang stood before them. He snapped his fingers and smoke began to pour in. He ran in and stood before the Fire Lord. "Your days of tyranny are over, Fire Lord. I'm bringing you down!" He looked down for a brief moment. "And this time I brought pants." He had indeed brought pants. They were covered in chains and locks.
"So, it seems," the Fire Lord remarked. "But are you prepared for…your mathematics test?" A giant abacus slammed into the ground behind Aang.
"Math test?" he repeated in stunned horror. "Oh no! I forgot all about the math test!"
"Well, here it is," Naruto said from above. He looked up and all he saw was a jian coming down at him.
He came awake with a gasp. "I gotta be ready," he declared. He got up, walked away from the camp and began training again. This time, he circled a group of sleeping koala sheep. However, his noise woke Katara, and she came over.
"Aang, it's the middle of the night," she told him. "You need to go back to sleep."
"But I forgot my pants and my math test," he replied, making her confused for a moment.
She took a deep breath and stopped him. "Aang, sleep," she told him. "Please, for me." He looked at her. He had bags under his eyes, showing how long he had going without sleep. He nodded in agreement, and she led him back to the camp.
Azula knocked on her brother's door. "What is it, Azula?" he asked, opening the door. He was dressed for the day but looked like he hadn't left his room yet.
"I was wondering if I could get a look at my present," she said with an innocent smile on her face.
While that smile might've fooled a stranger, it did not fool him. "No. You'll get it at the party tonight."
"So, there is a present," she said, the innocent smile disappearing for a triumphant one.
"Of course, there is. It's your birthday. You thought I wouldn't get you a present?" He was right, of course. It was Azula's fifteenth birthday and he made sure to get her a present.
"That's good to know," Naruto said from where he stood behind the birthday girl. "The one problem I've got is that war meeting."
"Let it go already, Naruto," Azula told him without turning to face him.
"He knows today's your birthday and yet, he's still having the meeting." If the blonde had a scale of rude things the Fire Lord did, that ranked high.
"Wait, what meeting?" Zuko asked, confused by what they were saying.
The Fire Paragon looked at him. "You mean you didn't hear?" he asked. "Your father decided to have an important war meeting today."
The Scarred Dragon was surprised by that piece of news. "Why haven't I heard of this meeting? I didn't get an invitation."
"Probably because it's so obvious that you should be there," Azula told him, making it sound like she was speaking to an idiot.
"Azula, be nice," Naruto told her before looking at Zuko again. "The meeting's in about a half hour."
"Why so early?"
"He's not completely inconsiderate." He gestured at Azula. "So, will you go, now that you know?"
The prince of the Fire Nation thought it over for a moment. "The last time I showed myself uninvited to a war meeting, I got myself in trouble. If my father wants me to be there, I'll gladly go. Until then, I'll just stay out of the way."
"You're sure?" the blonde asked.
"Yes."
"Alright, we'll go now." He and Azula walked away from his door, leaving him alone.
"I'm surprised," she said as they walked through the halls. "I thought he would've started acting like a child when he heard about it."
"He's grown up, Azula," he replied. "He's trying to learn restraint. If he wasn't invited, then he'll accept it."
"But we both know that Father wants him there." It might not have been official, but Zuko was battle-tested and achieved victory. For her father not to have him there would've been stupidity.
"So, he'll send a messenger to get him," Naruto replied. He knew that the Royal Flaming Asshole would not want to look inconsiderate and stupid to his generals.
"Wake up, Aang," he heard someone say. "Wake up, sleepy head." He opened his eyes and saw the actual Fire Lord Ozai standing over him. "Rise and shine! You overslept. You missed the invasion." The Fire Lord began to laugh and that was when Aang realized he was riding a flying hippo cow that could breathe fire.
He woke up fast. "SOKKA, GET UP! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS!" he shouted at the sleeping Water Paragon.
"What? Who's talking?" Sokka asked as he woke up, his hand going for his jian and drawing it. Realizing he wasn't in any danger, he put it back and tried to go back to sleep.
"Relax! It's still two days before the invasion," Toph said grouchily as she and Katara woke up. The blind Earthbender was tired and being woken up like this wasn't helping.
"Sokka, you've gotta get up and drill your rock-climbing exercises," Aang said, trying to get the Tribesman up.
"What?" he asked, unsure of what he had just heard.
"In one of my dreams, you were running from Fire Nation soldiers, trying to climb this cliff, but you were too slow, and they caught you!" the Air Nomad explained in a half-panicked voice.
"That was just a dream, Aang. I'm a good climber," Sokka tried to reassure him, not moving from where he laid.
"Then climb that cliff! Climb it fast!" Aang pointed at a nearby cliff, trying to get his friend to move.
"No."
The sleep-depraved Avatar turned around and saw Toph about to drink something. "Don't drink that!" he shouted at her.
She spat it out, hitting Katara with it. "Why? Is it poison?" she asked while Katara bent the water off.
"In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion, and you had to stop to the bathroom! We died because of your tiny bladder. And you need to start wearing your hair up," he told Katara. "In my dream, your hair got caught in a train and OW!" He said that last part because Sokka had hit him across the back of his head.
"Would you calm down?" Sokka asked him. This was really getting old.
"Aang, I know you're just trying to help, but you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling," Katara told him, trying to be reassuring.
He took a deep breath to calm down. "You're right. I'm losing my mind." He began to pace around the camp, his eye twitching while he played with his fingers. "It's like every time I think about how stressed I am, I just end up more stressed. I'm like a big growing snowball of nerves," he finally said after doing that for about twenty minutes or so.
"Of course, you are," Sokka said, looking up from the piece of armor he had started working on for Akela. "That's 'cause you gotta fight the Fire Lord, one of the evilest people on this planet. If you don't win, we're done for."
"Sokka, you're not helping," Katara told her brother. It was this kind of thing that would just make Aang more stressed.
"What? It's true. That's the deal. He knows it." He stood up as he talked to her. She tried to force him to sit down again, but he swatted her hand away and glared at her.
She looked away and walked over to Aang, who was getting more nervous. "You know what?" she said to him. "I've got just the thing! Get ready to be de-stressed!"
She led him to a hot spring underneath the ground. "These yoga stretches can really work wonders if you do them in extreme heat. Reach up." She placed her hands together and stretched them over her head. "Reach for the sun." He followed her example. "Feel your chi paths clearing." They stretched side to side before bending down and touching their heads to the ground. "Now close your eyes. How are you feeling?"
"I feel…really warm," he told her.
"Good, good. Go on."
"Like there's this warm feeling all around me. This heat…like I'm in the Fire Lord's palace and he's shooting a bunch of fireballs at me! And the whole world is being engulfed in flames!" He began to freak out again.
"Maybe your stress is the kind you need to talk out," she suggested.
This led to him having somewhat of a therapy session with Sokka. "So what is bothering you?" Sokka asked him as he rested his head on a koala sheep. The Tribesman sat on the grass nearby while Akela lay next to him.
"You know what's been bothering me," the Air Nomad replied. "I have to face the Fire Lord in a few days."
"But why are you so afraid of him?"
"You said it yourself. He's the evilest person on the planet!"
"I said that he's one of the evilest people in the world. There's never just one evil person, there are always more." That was something he had learned, and it made him scared.
"Well, I'm supposed to face this one and save the world!" Aang exclaimed, focusing on the present rather than the future.
"Actually, it's more like just this side of the planet," The Tribesman remarked. They didn't even know what was going on in the Elemental Countries, aside from the two cloaked figures who appeared in Kouzan.
"Okay, but what can I do to feel better?"
"Want to try screaming into this?" He offered the Avatar a koala sheep. He took it and screamed into the fur. "…Didn't work?" the Water Paragon asked him.
"What do you think?" he said as he handed the koala sheep back.
The meeting was over. Sure enough, Naruto had been right. Ozai had sent Zuko's servant, Há, to get him. "So, how did it go?" Mai asked Zuko as he exited the chambers. He had told her about the meeting just as Há had arrived to get him.
"…When I got to the meeting, everyone welcomed me," he said in a slightly surprised voice as they walked away. "My father had saved me a seat. He wanted me next to him. I was literally at his right hand."
"Zuko, that's wonderful," she told him. "You must be happy."
They stopped and stared at a painting of Ozai. "During the meeting, I was the perfect prince," he said, looking at the painting. "The son my father wanted. But I wasn't me." And that had scared him. He was beginning to feel like he didn't know who he was anymore.
She gave him a hug. "Don't let it get to you." She let go of him. "Come on, we still have a birthday to attend to." He smiled as they walked away.
As they did, Azula and Naruto came out of the chambers. "I cannot believe you said that to him!" Azula said to her bodyguard as they walked away.
"It had to be said," He replied, like what had happened was nothing important.
"You threatened the Fire Lord in his own war meeting!" She almost shouted at him, furious at the unusual behavior he displayed at the meeting.
"It wasn't a threat. It was a warning." And it was one he intended to keep.
"But…did you have to make it in front of everyone?"
"Yes," He answered firmly. "We both know that he's been thinking about it ever since I came here. If I hadn't warned him, he might've actually tried to do it. Think of the two men who came after me in Kouzan."
Azula nodded as she recalled Itachi and Kisame at Kouzan, brazenly announcing in front of both armies that they were after the blonde Paragon. "Now, multiply that by a thousand," Naruto continued. "The shinobi who tried to drag me back are at half of their peak strength. If the Fire Lord had carried out the invasion of the Elemental Nations, the Fire Nation Army would find themselves in a war of attrition that they cannot win. It would be like trying to conquer Ba Sing Se for a good chunk of your childhood; it will take a long time, and the price of the victory wouldn't be worth it."
"I…guess you're right." She gave a small smile. "Although I will admit that seeing Yāo Jing flabbergasted at what you said was a perk."
"I'm glad I made you happy." He looked back at the chamber entrance, which still had people coming out of it. "Let's go. We don't want to stay around and have a 'polite' conversation with Yāo Jing or the Royal Flaming Asshole."
"Do you have to keep calling him that?" She asked with exasperation. That was her father he was talking about.
"It's a habit, and one I'm not willing to drop."
"Alright," Toph said to the Air Nomad. "What you need is a good old-fashioned back pounding to relieve yourself."
"Pound away," Aang told her. He was lying on a bed of pillars. She began to stomp on the ground, bending the pillars to randomly pound into his back. "Ah! Ow! Ah! Toph…I…think…this…is…bruising…me!" She stopped pounding, but he literally vibrated off the bed.
"Sorry, I forgot you have baby skin," she apologized as he sat back up. "Well, there's one other thing we can try." She stomped on the ground again and something in the distance flew into the air and landed in her hand. "Acupuncture," she declared with a big grin, holding a boar-q-pine in her hand.
When Aang heard that and saw the animal in her hand, his legs suddenly found strength again. He decided to do what any sane person would do when offered by a blind girl to have sharp, pointy things stuck in their body: he ran away screaming.
The birthday party had gotten underway, and it was in full swing. People were still coming into the ballroom and offering their congratulations to the birthday girl. "This is starting to become annoying," she muttered as she stood where everyone could see her and go to meet her.
"What do you mean 'starting?'" Mai asked beside her. "It's not even my birthday and I feel like I want to kill somebody."
"Uh…Mai, you feel like that every time someone is annoying you," Kankurō said.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked, her hand reaching for one of her hidden knives.
"Mai, could you please not kill my brother?" Temari asked her. "We still need him, despite how idiotic he acts sometimes."
"Hey, I'm not the only one who's done that!" he retorted. She had her moments of idiocy as well.
"Knock it off, you two," Gaara told them without even looking at them. "We're in the middle of a party." To have a fight start between siblings in the middle of a party such as this would make them seem quite rude.
"Sorry Gaara," the two apologized. They were representing the Land of Wind and Sunagakure here at the party. It would not do to start fight.
"Personally, I just hope that they don't bring boys to meet you and offer wedding proposals," Ty Lee stated, standing on the other side of Azula. "I think I'd be sick just watching them try to impress you."
"That's not going to happen," Naruto and Zuko said at the same time, making the group look at them.
"What did you do?" Azula demanded with a scowl. She knew they had done something.
They shared a look before shrugging in unison. "We might've gone to all the noble houses that had teenage sons a couple of days beforehand," Zuko admitted.
"And we may or may not have threatened them with horrifying deaths if they even thought of proposing to you," Naruto said. He looked at Zuko. "Which threats did we use again?"
"Let's see." He thought it over. "There was being slowly burned alive."
"Right, I remember that one. We also used suddenly being drafted."
"There was the threat of being decapitated with a small, rusty knife."
"Did we use getting lost at sea?" the blonde asked.
"Yes, and being stampeded by komodo rhinos."
"Okay, we get it," Mai said, interrupting them. They used a varied number of threats on any teenaged boys to keep them from proposing marriage.
"And why exactly did you feel the need to do that?" Azula asked them, being extremely annoyed with both her brother and her bodyguard. "I could've handled them myself."
"Actually, it was more along the lines of so we wouldn't have to hear them trying to get you to like them. We agreed that your birthday party should not be a bloodbath," Zuko explained.
"Thank you for your consideration," she told her brother with obvious sarcasm. "Besides, the only way any boy would be able to court me is if they defeated me in an Agni Kai."
"Um…going by that statement," Naruto said, his cheeks blushing, "the only person who'd be able to marry you is me." This made Azula also blush and made them avoid eye contact.
The rest of the group shared a silent groan. "Will these two just admit their feelings already?" they thought in unison. "This is getting pathetic."
Ty Lee saw someone in the crowd. "Quick, hide me!" she cried, leaping behind Azula's back.
"Ty Lee? What's wrong?" Mai asked her friend. She had never really seen the acrobat act like that.
"It's my mother and sisters, they're coming this way!" she said in a half-panicked voice. Everyone who knew what that meant quickly started looking around for the people in question.
"Form a line!" Azula ordered the group in a whisper when she found them. They all quickly got into a line to hide Ty Lee.
It was just in time, too. "Princess Azula, my congratulations to you," Ty Lee's mother said as she and the Ty Lee lookalikes stood in front of her. "I beg your pardon, Princess, but have you seen my daughter?"
"I see six of them," she answered with a dry sarcasm, looking at the six lookalikes of Ty Lee.
"Ty Lee, your Highness. We haven't seen her since she's come back."
"She's been living with us," she said like it was the most obvious thing.
"But where is she now?" Lookalike number 1 asked her.
"Yeah, we thought she would've been here," Lookalike number 4 said.
"I think she said something about going back to the circus," Naruto told them. He was trying to get them to leave, but it looked like they weren't getting the hint.
Lookalike number 6 snorted. "That's just like Ty Lee. She could've done something respectable."
"Instead, she joined the circus," Lookalike number 3 finished. "Could she do anything worse?"
The blonde glared at them. "Be glad we're in the middle of a party, otherwise I would've clocked you both upside the head for that insult," he threatened the two of them.
"I'm half-tempted to let him," Azula remarked.
Their mother understood the threat. "Apologize, you two," she snapped at them.
"Sorry," they apologized, but their faces didn't show a single iota of remorse.
"C'mon, Mom," Lookalike number 2 said. "It's obvious she's not here."
"I'm sorry for taking up your time, your Highness," the mother and the lookalikes bowed and then walked away.
"Some friend she is," Lookalike number 5 muttered, loud enough for them to hear her.
"Are…are they gone?" Ty Lee asked from behind Azula.
"Yes, they've left the party," Azula told her, seeing the lookalikes and their mother leaving the ballroom. "I guess they just wanted to find you."
"Sorry guys," she apologized. "They've been trying to get me to come back and find a husband."
"They want you to come back just for that?" Temari repeated, incredulous.
"Assholes," Kankurō swore, throwing a glare at the exit where they had left.
"If I tried to skewer them to the wall with a knife, would you guys tried to stop me?" Mai asked the rest of the group. Her expression was murderous, and her fingers itched to grab a knife handle.
"Are you kidding?" Temari asked back. "I'd give you the knife."
"Same here," Kankurō agreed.
"I could hold them down if you want," Naruto offered.
"I would help," Gaara said. "I can see why you left for the circus now," He told Ty Lee. "It has done wonders for you."
"You really think so?" she asked, not sure if he meant it or not.
"Of courseit did," Naruto reassured her. She was better off now, being away from her mother and sisters.
Night had fallen again, and everyone was pretty much ready to go to sleep. "Thanks for everything, guys," Aang said as he sat on the ground and held his legs.
"So, do you feel less stressed?" Katara asked him. "Ready for a good night sleep?"
"Uh…I kinda think I sorta might feel slightly feel a little better…maybe," he offered a little weakly.
"I guess we're good then," Sokka declared before yawning and laying his head to rest. Both Katara and Toph followed his example. Aang put his down on the ground and closed his eyes.
This dream came and went in flashes. First, he was steering Appa through a storm while avoiding a giant Momo. Then he found himself in the Fire Nation Royal Palace. He saw Toph, who had no eyes, disappearing into the ground before him. He saw Sokka trying to run away, only to be smothered by the earth. He saw Katara surrounded by flames. He went to go help her, but his feet were frozen. The ice spread to his entire body, holding him in place. A fire had taken the shape of Ozai and started laughing. The heat melted the ice and made him fall into water. As he sank, he hit bottom and the world flip over. The bottom of the water became the layer of ice that trapped him. As he looked through the ice, he saw Zuko standing above him, the comet flying through the sky. Then he found himself standing on a small hill, looking out at a green field with mountains in the background. The comet crashed into the ground and turned everything into a scarred wasteland.
As he looked on, he felt a giant burst of pain. He looked down and saw a jian sticking out of his chest, blood dripping from the blade. "This is all happened because of you," Naruto's voice whispered in his ear. "You should not exist, Avatar."
He woke up screaming that woke up everyone, even Appa. "What happened, Aang?" Katara asked him as she, Toph, and Sokka ran over to him.
"It's the nightmares!" he told them. "They just keep getting worse and worse!"
"Do we need to talk again?" Sokka asked him.
"No, that won't help! Nothing helps. There's only one thing I can do. I'm going to stay awake straight through the invasion!" He started to shake and twitched, making the others look at him like he had lost his mind (Toph just smiled). Knowing there was nothing they could say that would change his mind, all they could was go back to sleep.
The next morning, as Katara stood on a cliff-face and stretched, he was walking around behind her. "Invasion," he muttered. "All aboard for the invasion."
'You don't look so good," she told him, walking over to him. "You sure you can't just lie down for a little nap?"
"I told you, I can't go back to sleep," he replied, turning to face her. Why couldn't she see that?
"Aang, staying up all night can't be good for you." If anything, it was probably very, very bad for you.
"Actually, staying up all night has given me time to think. And I've realized some big things, Katara." He looked out at the sea.
"What big things?" she asked him, taking a few steps forward.
"I see everything so clearly now. What really matters, and why I'm really doing this." He turned back to face her. "I'm doing this to save the world. But more than that, I'm doing for the people I love." He walked right up to her. "I'm doing it for you, Katara."
"Aang, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying…I love you!" He kissed her. After being caught off guard, she smiled and returned the kiss.
"What are we doing?" she asked in a whisper, breaking the kiss.
"What our hearts have been telling us to do for a long, long time. Baby." He dipped her. "You're my forever girl." He puckered up for another kiss.
"Aang!" Her voice snapped him out of the daydream he was having. "I was just saying you should take a nap."
"Oh, I guess I kinda drifted into a daydream," he told her, quickly turning back to face her.
"What was your dream about?"
"Um…living underwater?" he said, although he made it sound like a question.
"Sounds neat." She walked away as he chuckled nervously. Once she was away, he breathed a sigh of relief. That had been a little too close.
After everyone had given their congratulations to Azula, it was decided to give the presents. Each family came up to as she sat at the head of the table, Naruto standing at her side. Many gave her a present that was something she didn't want or need. Her father wasn't one to give her a present (she had been expecting that), and neither was Yāo Jing (she figured that, if anything, her bastard sister would somehow turn the present into something that'll kill her). Which was why her friends decided to go last in the giving of presents, that way, she had something to look forward.
After the last family had given her their present (a gem that had been in their family for ten generations), a servant stepped forward, holding a roll of paper. "Princess Azula, your friend, the Lady Kori, had left this for you. She said that she was sad that she could not give to you personally." He unraveled the paper and showed it to her and to the crowd.
It was a painting, done in color, of Kori, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. It had been when they were in Yu Dao. They decided to relax one afternoon in the mayor's garden. As they lounged around, a nearby artist was trying to find inspiration. He saw them and asked them if he could paint them. They agreed and he got to work. He didn't have them pose. He wanted them to go on as they were. Once he was done, he thanked them and left. Before she had left for the capital, Kori had tracked down the artist and asked if she could have the painting. He happily gave it to her once she explained it was for the princess's birthday.
The painting showed them lounging in front of a large tree. Ty Lee was sitting on her elbows as she watched the game of Pai Sho that both Azula and Kori were playing. Mai was sitting opposite of Ty Lee and was fiddling with a small knife. Azula and Kori were sitting on opposite sides of the Pai Sho table. Both managed to look focused and relaxed at the same time as they focused on the game in front of them. Azula's arms were crossed, while Kori's right hand hovered above a Pai Sho piece, deciding whether to move it or not.
"It is a magnificent piece of work," Azula declared as she looked at the painting, remembering that day. "I wish Kori could be here, so I could thank her in person for this gift." The servant bowed, rolled up the painting carefully and walked away.
The Sand Siblings stepped forward. "Princess Azula," Gaara began. "Our gift to you is this." He offered a small statuette of Azula's mother, Ursa, made from sandstone. "We know that your mother has disappeared, but we hoped that this would give you a small amount of comfort and would also help you remember her."
She reached out and took the statue hesitantly. Ursa's hands were folded together. Her stance was regal, but not cold or rigid. She wore a small smile on her face. As Azula held the statue, the smile seemed to speak of her love and care for both of her children. "Thank you," she told the Sand Siblings. "I will treasure this, for it does remind me of my mother." She handed the statuette to a servant, who carried it away.
The Sand Siblings stepped away and Ty Lee walked forward. "This is my gift to you, Azula." She offered a pair of gloves. "I helped make them. It's made from the finest leather in the Fire Nation."
She took the gloves and looked closer at them. They were made of black leather and were fingerless. There were holes where her knuckles would go and an open space on the back. The ends would be held closed by use of a button. "Thank you, Ty Lee." She tried on the gloves, flexing her fingers to get a feel for them. "These are quite striking and are also useful." The acrobat lit up with a brilliant smile. Knowing that hugging her friend right now would've been frowned on, she bowed and walked away.
Mai walked forward. "My gift to you, Azula, is this." She held a belt, but it wasn't just any belt. It was the belt from the weapons store, the prototype. "I saw you making eyes at it and figured you might want it."
Both Azula and Naruto smirked as she took the belt. They knew that if she had bought the belt herself, Ozai would've been furious. But if she had gotten it as a gift, there was nothing he could do. "Thank you, Mai. I thought you would've brought some daggers with it as well." Mai didn't say anything. She simply stepped aside.
Zuko stepped forward, the last in the line. "This is my gift to you, Azula," he said. He held a small pillow in his hands and on the pillow, rested two identical daggers. "I forged them myself from Yu Dao metal. Well, forged one and re-forged the other."
She took the daggers and looked at them. The blades were straight and double-edged, so one could slash with either edge. Their handles were black and made of leather. They had a cross guard made of simple metal. She then noticed an inscription on one of them. "Never give up without a fight," she whispered, realizing where that dagger had come from. It was the dagger that Zuko had gotten when Iroh had broken through the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. It was the dagger that she wanted herself. Now, he was giving it to her as a gift, of his own free will.
Then she noticed that the other dagger held an inscription as well. "Always remember Lesson number 3," she read quietly. She looked quickly at her bodyguard, who gave her a wink. "Thank you, Zuko," she said aloud as she placed the daggers in the belt's built-in scabbards. "I will be sure to cherish this gift." She stood up and faced the crowd. "I thank you for your gifts," she announced to them.
Ozai also rose. "Now, let us eat." He clapped his hands once as everyone gathered around the tables. "Bring in the feast!" The doors to the ballroom opened and servants carrying the food came in.
Aang was hiding in a bush, waiting in ambush. He leapt out into the open and rolled behind a rock. "Put'em up, Fire Lord!" he declared. His opponent was a tree with the picture he made from noodles and a target beneath it. He leapt into the air and bent a couple of blasts of air at the target. They flew overhead and hit Sokka, knocking him down.
"Hey, I'm trying to build Appa some armor here so he doesn't have to go into the invasion naked," he told the sleep-deprived Airbender. "He's your bison."
"Ozai's defense is impeccable," he said, ignoring Sokka. "I'll have to try a different approach." He leapt into the air and threw about four punches of air at the tree. When he landed, he found out that he had missed all four times. "You think you're untouchable, don't you, Mr. Fire Lord?" he accused the tree.
"Boy, you are really starting to lose it, kid," said a voice from behind him.
He turned around and saw Momo. "Momo, did you hear something?" he asked before turning to check around him.
"No, but I said something." He turned to face the lemur and saw that was him who was talking. "You, my friend, are just a few plums short a fruit pie," Momo told him. He took a step back, shook his head and covered his eyes with his hands. When he opened them again, the lemur was speaking in his normal chitter.
"That's more like it," he said, briefly patting Momo's head. "I'm so tried that for a second there, I imagined you were talking to me." The lemur just cocked his head. "Oh, Momo, let me explain." He began to speak like the lemur.
While he and Momo were having this 'conversation,' the others saw them. "Aang?" Katara spoke out, getting his attention. "We're all starting to get a little worried about you."
"You've been awake too long," Sokka stated.
"And you're acting downright weird." Toph told him.
"You've got to take care of yourself. You can't go on like this," Appa declared. Nobody seemed to notice that the bison was standing on two legs and talking!
Aang groaned. "Look, I appreciate what you guys are saying. But the stress and the nightmares, they were just too much. Staying awake is the best way to deal with it."
"Yeah, leave the kid alone!" Momo told them, surprising Aang.
"Hey, who ask you?" Appa demanded. They began growling at each other.
Aang tried to calm them down. "Guys, come on."
"No! I am sick of this guy always mouthing off and telling me what to do," the sky bison growled.
"Oh, you don't like it?" Momo asked him. "Well, let's go right now!"
"Would you two knock it off?" Akela asked the two of them, finally speaking. "What are you going to do? Slug it out like samurai?"
"Sokka, what should we do?" Aang asked Sokka, grabbing his shirt.
"About what?" Sokka asked, like he couldn't see what was happening.
"About that!" He pointed at Momo and Appa. Both were dressed up in samurai clothing, Momo wore the fur at the top of his head in a topknot and wore a blue yukata. Appa wore samurai armor that was colored red with an arrow on the helmet. While the lemur was only wielding one katana, the sky bison was using three.
Akela groaned. "I just had to open my mouth," he groaned. "I'm not doing commentary this time!" he yelled at the two before turning his head to Sokka. "Wake me when they're done."
"Sure thing, Akela," the Tribesman replied. The wolf padded away. Meanwhile, Momo and Appa charged at each other, screaming battle cries. Their swords clashed together and they stayed there, trying to push the other back.
Meanwhile, the koala sheep had broken into parties, one for the lemur, and one for the bison. "Appa! Appa! Appa!" cheered one group. "Momo! Momo! Momo!" cheered the other group. The two fighters disengaged and stepped back. Appa split his third into two and then resting on his tail. He spun into a twister and went at Momo. The lemur was able to block all the sword strikes, which was impressive.
"Come on, guys," Aang tried to talk to them. "We're all on the same side."
At that moment, a six armed and floating on a cloud Guru Pathik showed, waving two cups of onion and banana juice and playing a veena. "Chakras, chakras, everyone loves chakras," he sang. "Chakras, chakras, chakra sandwich taste good. Yum!"
As Appa and Momo fought, the koala sheep cheered. As they did that, rocks formed like snakes began to slide through the grass, around Aang and then away. The Ozai tree started dancing and Aang was surrounded by a ring of rocks and koala sheep while Appa and Momo still fought.
That was when he realized the insanity of it all. "I just need to jump in a cold waterfall!" he declared before running screaming like a loon.
"That was a good party!" Kankurō declared as he, his siblings, and Naruto made it back to the room the Sand Siblings had been given.
"Yes, it was," Temari agreed. "The food was great!" She had eaten a great deal of tasty stuff at that party.
"I'll be sure to let the head cook know you thought so," Naruto told them with a smile on his face.
"We can let him know ourselves tomorrow," she replied as she flopped onto one of the beds.
"Plus, I can't wait to see how Azula does with those new knives of her," Kankurō said with excitement.
When he heard those words, Naruto flinched. "What is the matter, Naruto?" Gaara asked him, noticing the flinch.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I need you guys to do something for me," he told them, opening his eyes again.
"What is it?"
He pulled out one of the seal tags Teams Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy had brought with them. "I need you to go home."
They were shocked to hear him say that. "What? Why?" Temari asked.
"This isn't your war," he answered with complete seriousness.
"I thought the war was over," Kankurō said, still not believing that he had heard what he had thought he heard from the blonde.
The Paragon of the Fire Nation shook his head. "Just because the Fire Nation took Ba Sing Se, doesn't mean the war is over. Tomorrow, the Avatar will be visiting us with a few of his friends."
"How do you know this?" Gaara asked him.
"That's classified information." He wasn't going to say anything else about it.
"But we can still help you fight them," the Kazekage said in protest.
"Gaara, if Ba Sing Se hadn't fallen, you would've been fighting alongside the Avatar tomorrow as well as the Konoha shinobi," the blonde pointed out. He had been glad to prevent that, as he really didn't want to fight them.
"We're your friends, Naruto. Why are you refusing our help?" Temari demanded.
"It's because you're my friends that I'm refusing. This isn't your war, guys. This isn't your responsibility. You should go home while you can." He gave them a small smile. "Vacations have to end, right?"
"We're not going to leave you to fight this alone, Naruto," Kankurō declared to him. "We will help you."
"No, you won't. And if you won't leave willingly, I'll make you leave," he said in reply, quietly threatening them.
"Very well, Naruto," Gaara said, surprising his brother and sister. "We will go home. It's time I went back to my duties as Kazekage." The blonde was right. Vacations had to end.
"Thank you, Gaara." He handed the redhead the tag.
The Sand Siblings stood around the tag as it was placed on the ground. "Will you come to visit?" Gaara asked him.
"Probably not," he answered with a shake of his head. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that it was a bad idea to go back to the Elemental Countries, even if for a visit.
"Then we will come visit you again."
"No, don't do that. Just stay there, please," he practically begged his friend. "This side of the world has enough trouble with the Avatar and the Royal Flaming Asshole. We don't need shinobi thrown into the mix."
"Very well," As his siblings gathered around him and he focused on the seal, he heard Naruto walked out of the room. "Goodbye…brother," the Kazekage said in a whisper.
Naruto walked down the corridor. He didn't look back, but he heard the sound of a POOF! He kept on walking, but he had heard the whisper.
As he walked back to the camp, Aang saw what looked to be a bed of clouds in front of him, cradled by mist. He walked up to it and started testing it, making sure it was real. "Oh look, another hallucination," he said, not believing what he saw. "An imaginary bed made out of clouds."
"Hey, it's real! We spent hours on it!" Toph told him. Both Katara and Sokka stood next to her.
"We made for you. A good night sleep will probably take the crazy away. We hope," Sokka said as he stood next to a group of shaved koala sheep.
"Look, you guys keep telling me I need to sleep, but I can't!" Aang told them angrily. "The invasion's tomorrow!"
"Aang…" Katara began, only to have him cut her off.
"No, Katara! There's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need sleep. What I need is practice. Quick, hit me!" He started to wobble as he tried to take a fighting stance.
"I'm not going to hit you," she told him.
"You want me to do it?" Toph offered, only to have Sokka nudged her in the back.
The Waterbender walked closer to him. "Listen to me. You've been training for this since the day we met. I've seen your progress. You're smart, brave, and strong enough."
"You really think so?" he asked. She nodded.
"We all do," Sokka told him with complete confidence. "You can do this, you're ready."
"You're the man, Twinkle Toes!" Toph agreed.
"Thanks, guys," he said with a smile. He gave a big yawn and rubbed his eye. Katara helped him lay down on the bed. "You know what? I think I am ready." he declared as he fell asleep, the others watching him.
The doors were knocked down and Aang flew towards the faux Fire Lord, sword in hand. "Your days of tyranny are over, Fire Lord!" he declared.
"Really?" asked the faux Fire Lord. "You're going to take me out? You're not even wearing pants!"
He smiled smugly. "No, Fire Lord Ozai. You're not wearing any pants."
He looked down and saw no pants. Pulling a cover with the Fire Nation symbol on it out of thin air, he held in front of his nether regions. "No! My royal parts are showing!" he said, screaming.
Aang looked around and saw no sign of Naruto. In the real world, he had a smile of victory on his face.
Azula sat in front of her mirror. Dressed in a sleeping robe, she had let her hair out of her bun and was brushing it, one of the few pleasures she allowed herself. She heard the door open and knew it was Naruto. "Where did you go?" she asked, not turning to face him.
"I saw the Kazekage and his family off," he replied.
"Will they be coming back?"
"No."
"A shame. I liked them." She continued brushing her hair. The silence between them went on for a couple of minutes.
"Did you enjoy the party?" he finally asked her, a curious tone in his voice.
"I did," she answered, putting the brush down.
"Then why does it sound like you're both mad and disappointed?" He could tell that just from her voice.
"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe it's because my bodyguard didn't give me a present. I was wondering what he was going to give me." She had been wondering that for the last couple of days.
He laughed when he heard that. "Don't worry. He got you a present. It was just something he wasn't going to show in front of her father."
Now she was curious. "What is it?"
He walked up behind her. "Close your eyes." She did so. She heardsomething moving and then felt something cool against her chest. "Now, open them." What she saw took her breath away. Hanging around her neck was the same beautiful green crystal he wore. "Happy birthday, Azula," he said.
"It's beautiful," she said in a whisper. She didn't know what else to say. It was simply beautiful.
"And so are you," he replied. Turning around, he started to walk away.
"Wait," she said, standing up from where she sat and turning to face him.
"What is it?" he asked, turning back to her face.
She stood in front of him. Her hands slowly reached for the belt at her waist. Untying it, she let go and grabbed the edges of the robe near her neck. She pulled the robe off, letting it slide down her arms and down to the ground, leaving her wearing nothing but her present.
To say Naruto was stunned would've been an understatement. "What the…?" He tried to think but couldn't.
"Way to go, gaki!" the Kyūbi cheered from inside his cage. Before he could even reply to the fox, Azula walked right up to him and kissed him hungrily on the lips. This sent them crashing down onto the bed, with Azula on top of him. "Oh, no way is a host of mine going to be on the bottom!" the fox declared before sending a tiny amount of his chakra to Naruto.
With a savage growl, he flipped Azula, making her land on the bed and pinning her hands there. They stared at each other as he hovered over her. Golden eyes investigated blues one and vice versa. He began to kiss her, hungrily devouring her lips. She returned with equal passion and the room filled the sounds of heavy kissing and small pants. He let go of her so that he could explore of her chest, letting his hands know everything inch of it. She quickly untied the cloth-belt, letting the vest fall open and opening his shirt, freeing his chest.
Her hands began to roam around it, her brain almost begging her to know what it felt like. She began to stroke her finger around one of his nipples, making him shiver and groan. Seeing her victorious smile, he got back at her by finding a particular spot on her back. He pressed down, making her arch her back and gasped, which he took advantage of by invading her mouth.
As his hands trailed down to her hips, he suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"We shouldn't do this," he replied, taking his hands off her hips he stood up and stepped away from her.
She sat up. "Why shouldn't we?" It felt right to her.
"We just can't, Azula. I'm your bodyguard." That was all he could be.
"I don't care!" she shouted, surprising him. "I love you!"
He fell quiet. "I know you do, but I just…" He struggled to say the words, but they wouldn't come out. "I'm sorry." He closed his shirt and vest and left the room.
Azula watched him leave. "No, I'm sorry," she whispered. She threw herself into her pillow. "I shouldn't have done that." She repeated to herself as she cried into the pillow. That had been so stupid of her.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING HOLY IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" the fox bellowed at him as he walked down the corridor. "That girl stripped naked in front of your eyes, all but jumped your bones and you walk away?!"
"That shouldn't have happened, Kyūbi," he replied, trying to focus on where he was going. The corridor was thankfully empty, so he could speak to the fox aloud.
"And yet, it did."
"With your help," he accused the Bijū. "I felt your chakra." He was horrified that he had allowed the fox's chakra to use him so.
"I was trying to help you! For the love of Kami, she said she loved you and you walk away?! When did Naruto Uzumaki become a coward?" the Kyūbi demanded.
"I'm not a coward!"
"You walking out of that room says otherwise!"
"I had to do that."
"No you didn't, you just ran away from her like you do with everything else. You pushed the Sand Siblings away and now you pushed her away!"
"I PUSHED HER AWAY TO KEEP HER SAFE!" he shouted. If he said the words aloud, they would've rushed down the corridor before him.
"What do you mean?" the fox asked once the echoes had faded away. He wasn't sure about what the blonde was talking about.
"Think about it, Kyūbi. What would people think if someone saw us sleeping together?" Naruto asked. "That kind of news would definitely reach Ozai's ears and if not him, it would reach Yāo Jing. And she would take to him with embellishments. What do you think Ozai will do if he found that his daughter had slept with her bodyguard, one of the few men in the Fire Nation that doesn't obey his every command? No doubt he would try to have me killed and have her severely punished. Then Yāo Jing would use the opportunity to have Azula killed. I refused to admit my feelings for her so that doesn't happen."
"…I can see what you're talking about," the Bijū admitted. "But didn't you ever think about what she thought?"
"No, and that's probably what led to this." He took a deep breath to steady himself and lose his anger. "Look, we have more things to worry about then my personal problems. We need to focus what needs to be done."
"I was." They passed a balcony, which gave them a look at the weather. "Looks like there might be a storm coming in," the Kyūbi commented.
"In case you haven't noticed, Kyūbi, this side of the planet has been in a storm for the past century," Naruto said back, walking passed the balcony.
"No, I think this is a different storm," the Bijū thought to himself.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
Now, I just have one question about the dreams Aang was having. What in the hell were the writers smoking when they came up with that stuff!? You don't get those kinds of dreams and they certainly don't make you try to stay up for four days straight!
For the people who are going to complain that I have Azula's age wrong, I direct you to the first chapter. I clearly stated that Azula was only a year younger than Zuko. Therefore, it was her fifteenth birthday.
That warning to Ozai will be made clear when we get to Sozin's Comet.
I would like to think that since Gaara can control sand, he can form it into sandstone.
I found it odd that, despite talking about them, we never saw Ty Lee's sisters. So I brought them in and made them sound a bit snotty. I do feel sorry for their mother; she had to carry all seven of them in her womb for nine months. You gotta respect her for that. The reason I used the word lookalike and numbers was because I wasn't going to think up six different names that all sounded similar to Ty Lee. I didn't need that headache.
Yes, I sent the Sand Siblings home. Did you think I was going to keep them there until the end? I didn't do that with the Konoha shinobi and I didn't do it with Kori. It would've gotten way too complicated if they stayed.
As for those of you who want to see more of the bedroom action, that's not gonna happen right now or even soon. If I am going to do that, I want to be sure I can actually write it. One of the things I hate about most Fanfiction writers is that when they write this kind of scene, they write like they're doing a screenplay for a porno! If you're going to write a sex scene, try to write it erotically. That's what I'm gonna do (or least try).
I'll see you all next chapter!