Chapter 4:
Azula knew that she needed to gather as must rest as possible that night before facing her father at dawn. The moment she exited the throne room, she snarled at her servants to prepare a hot bath for her, as well as massage every muscle in her shoulders and back. The servants scattered to do her bidding. Azula would normally smirk at the sight of the fear on their faces, but tonight, she simply wasn't in the mood. Her heart was mercilessly rapping against her rib cage, and the princess felt a little dazed at the previous events.
One thing that Azula was sure of was that she would absolutely not suffer the same fate that Zuko did. During the fateful Agni Kai between Zuko and Ozai, her brother had outright refused to fight back. Azula cringed at the thought of doing such a pathetic thing. No. She was going to throw everything she had at her father, and prove that she was not a weak failure.
As she lowered herself into the steaming water sprinkled with herbs, Azula thought back on the times when Ozai had personally trained her firebending. She would remember him attacking her with flames, and her struggling to counter those attacks. It had been a while since their last training session. Partially because Azula's skilled had skyrocketed enough, and not to mention that Ozai was preoccupied with world domination, and Azula was busy chasing after the Avatar.
Tomorrow, I will show him what I can do, Azula took a deep breath.
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Normally, very few servants were up and about in the early morning. There were the cooks that were just beginning to prepare breakfast, and the scanty servants cleaning the halls.
Today was a whole different matter. By the time the first light of dawn came, the whole Royal Palace was jammed packed with boisterous crowds. The crowd consisted of servants, administrators, generals, and noblemen and women, dragging their children with them. And they were all here for one reason: to witness the magnificent duel of the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation princess.
The guards in the palace flooded out, controlling the crowds and directed them outside, where there was a vast open space for the Agni Kai to occur. Normally, the battle would be held inside in a special hall. However, since the two most powerful firebenders in the world were battling, common sense stated that they would require more room. If they tried to duel inside, they might end up taking down the entire palace.
Azula had risen an hour early to warm up and meditate. She had forced herself to sleep last night, but she was so anxious about the fight that she could not sleep soundly. After stretching and warming up with some firebending forms, Azula began to dress. Normally she would have the servants dress her, but for today, Azula needed some time to focus and think without outside distractions.
She realized that it had been years since she participated in an Agni Kai. No one had dared to challenge her, at least not until last night. Azula pulled on dark red pants, and tied the belt loosely. She then slipped on a pair of unique boots (if that's what you could call them). They were made of soft leather, and did not cover the soles of one's feet, nor the front of it.
Pulling on a sleeveless red top to match, Azula looked at her appearance in the mirror. With a bit of annoyance, she thought about how much she disliked the fact that the participants in an Agni Kai were required to shed their outer clothing. She was a princess, and should be expected to dress elegantly and modestly.
Brushing off the thought, Azula slipped two identical golden rings up each of her biceps. Looking at her long, loose hair, Azula knew better than to attempt to tie it up. That was when she called upon one of the servants.
When she exited the room, two guards stood nearby, waiting to escort her to the arena. Azula draped on a scarlet robe and followed the guards who were making a path through the crowd for her.
Azula took in a deep breath and ignored all of the noise, chaos, and clamoring. If she wanted to perform to the best of her ability, she needed to focus. As she breathed in the crisp morning air, she caught sight of her father, her lord, and her opponent.
Ozai strode down the aisle, looking more intimidating than ever. His golden orbs blazed into hers, and Azula met them.
"This duel ends when one of us can no longer stand," her father's deep voice rang through the air. "Let's see just how powerful you are."
"You won't be disappointed," Azula replied evenly.
The two duelers made their way toward the opposite ends, and then knelt down in a low bow before each other. Azula smoothly threw her robes off her shoulders, and Ozai did the same. As they readied themselves into the most advanced firebending stances, Azula caught sight of her father's solid slabs of muscle, bulging through his skin. She felt the aggravating sensation of fear creeping into her veins, despite all of her efforts to quench it.
Azula shook her head slightly, banishing all other emotion besides determination. It doesn't matter that he's my father. I will come at him with everything I have.
When the gong sounded loudly, Ozai made the first move, spinning in the air and releasing a great ball of fire. Azula sank deeper into her form and diminished her father's attack with a burst of her own flames. She could feel the heat and intensity of the attack. If she had waited even half a second later, she surely would have suffered some burns. Ozai did not hesitate; he rapidly punched the air, and on his command, bolts of fire blasted from his fists.
Azula let loose her distinctive blue flames, creating a snake that promptly destroyed each of Ozai's orbs of fire. She then retaliated, her toned limbs moving with such speed that the crowd had trouble keeping up with her movements. Blue heat blazed from her body as she assaulted the Fire Lord with vicious attacks.
Ozai merely smirked, pleased at seeing his daughter's skill. He steadily blocked each and every one of Azula's attacks with a minimum amount of difficulty.
Azula gritted her teeth, kicking and twirling in midair. Each time, her flame-covered legs made contact with Ozai's solid, muscular arms, which bore orange flames of their own.
Calm your mind, Azula forced herself. He must have an opening somewhere! Her eyes darted all around her father's form, searching for a small weakness, anything that might give her the upper hand. She had already known that this was going to be a challenging fight. Her father was stronger and more experienced.
Ozai coolly blocked Azula's attacks, wary of leaving any openings. He felt a spark of triumph when the princess, let her form slip up a bit. She had been so absorbed in looking for openings in her opponent that she accidentally left one on herself. It was only for a small fraction of a second, but it was enough. Ozai snatched up the opportunity and slammed a rock-hard fistful of fire into Azula's ribs.
The princess was violently blown back. She collided hard with the ground, but swiftly rolled over and landed gracefully back on her feet. Her face betrayed a small glimpse of pain, but then an calm and emotionless mask took over. Azula struggled to ignore the throbbing of her ribs. She made a mental note to never make the same mistake of leaving herself open again.
"Come now, Azula," Ozai growled. "You can do much better than that!"
Azula's jaw clenched at those words. She summoned a dangerous amount of lightning and directed it toward her father. Ozai jumped out of the way and kicked his legs out. A gigantic ball of orange fire erupted from them thundered toward Azula. She blasted the attack with her blue fire and both of the flames evaporated into the air.
Ozai and Azula stood facing each other. Neither of them averted their eyes. Their breathing was heavier, but they were still strong. The crowd was exclaiming loudly, not cheering for any particular person, but for the thrill of watching the fight itself.
Just from looking at her father's face, Azula knew that this battle was long before over.
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