Chapter 27 – The identic faces of two magnets

The days following their arrival on Ember Island passed quietly. At least from Zuko's perspective. Azula seemed to have learned the lesson and was behaving as normally as one could hope. She was courteous and polite while sometimes letting out a bitter or mocking comment. But Zuko only had to frown or squeeze her hand in his under the table for her to come back to her sense and apologize.

His little sister was making real effort to take an interest in them and integrate herself into the group. Zuko even thought his friends might start liking her.

Aside from Sokka who kept glaring at her and refused her from coming closer than a few feet to him and Suki, whom he was coddling so much that the young warrior would sometimes sigh in exasperation.

Once or twice, Zuko had caught the furtive glances Azula gave at Suki's rounded belly when they were at the beach. She probably felt remorse for wanting to hurt her baby and Zuko saw that as an encouraging sign.

Toph looked rather indifferent. She and Azula had little interaction and Zuko couldn't wonder. Nothing and no one in the universe were most opposite than these two girls. While Azula was all grace, finesse and refinement, Toph embodied robustness, honesty and love for simple things. However, strangely enough, she seemed less hostile towards her than his other friends. Zuko remembered with a wave of affection how she had come to find him, that night, when he had begged Aang and his friends to join them. Toph had been the first to believe in him. Did she also see Azula's good side? This idea filled him with hope.

Both Aang and Katara would make great effort to be kind to Azula, even when she was unpleasant or when her haughty, capricious temper showed itself in all its glory.

The evening when Katara and Sokka decided to prepare their famous octopus salad recipe for them, Azula overplayed the disgust so much that Zuko had to call her to order out loud and took her into another room to reprimand her sharply. But Katara, far from being indignant, offered to prepare something else for the princess who had accepted with disdain.

Zuko was deeply grateful to them. He knew it was difficult for them too.

Despite these tensions, Zuko thought they were having a pleasant stay. He sometimes managed to forget the war, Lu Fang, Mai and the rising criminality that had been gnawing at the capital like a plague for several weeks.

Another day they all went to the theater to attend a new adaptation of Love amongst the Dragons performed by the Ember Island Players. The play was a disaster, and they all had a good time commenting on the artists' terrible performance.

On the way home, Azula told everyone how she and Zuko as children used to go to the beach to re-enact the scene where the two protagonists engaged in a deadly fight.

"The Spirit of Water…" Aang asked, smirking. "Isn't that the mask you were wearing when you pulled me out of the Temple of the Fire Sages?"

Zuko didn't have time to answer.

"Is it true?" Azula wondered, sounding very interested. "He who always complained about not having the right to play the role of the Dragon Emperor. Oh, Zuzu!" she cried, clinging once again to his arm. "You wanted to leave the best role to your baby sister, right? Even far from me, you were thinking of me!"

"No that's not it!" he snapped, terribly embarrassed, freeing himself from her grip. "I don't know, I don't want to talk about it!" he blushed.

Azula smiled and, addressing the whole group:

"Anyway, if Zuzu and I were to replay a scene today, I think I'd choose the next one instead." She followed this retort with a perfectly infuriating flutter of her eyelashes that was nothing like her.

Zuko would have liked to beg Toph to open a breach in the ground so that he could disappear forever. The others must have shared his feeling. The scene that followed the final confrontation was that of the declaration of love and the kiss between the Dragon Emperor and his beloved.

After several days of teasing, Zuko had finally convinced himself that Azula was overplaying the role of the adoring little sister. It was all too obvious that she was having fun at his expense. He had seen her bite her lip once or twice after an outing like this, as if to keep herself from laughing. He had no idea why she was doing this. Besides, it didn't really intrigue him anymore: he was out of patience. This comedy had to stop, now!

"Azula," he breathed, approaching her and grabbing her arm a little too vigorously. "You can't say things like that! We have already talked about that!"

"What!" she defended herself in a falsely candid tone. "It's a very beautiful scene. The text is absolutely wonderful. It's pure poetry! And I'll gladly leave the role of the Dragon Emperor to you this time!"

Toph burst out laughing and that lightened the mood a bit, butthe cheerful atmosphere had cooled considerably after thatand Zuko refused to talk to his sister until they got home.

In the evening, after dinner, they all gathered on the beach around a campfire that Zuko took care of lighting and tending. Cheered up by the bottle of wine he had almost emptied by himself, Sokka began to sing bawdy songs of his tribe. Suki and Katara looked mortified, but Aang and Toph burst out chuckling. Zuko himself ended up offering a smile and, forgetting that he was angry with her, he turned to his sister whose face remained stoical.

She didn't even try to hide the exasperation and contempt the young warrior inspired in her and began to yawn ostensibly when Aang started to recite a poem by Guru Laghima, an Air monk who, it was said, had acquired the gift of flying without the aid of a bison or a stick.

"A worthy firebender can use his bending to do the very same," she whispered to Zuko but loud enough for everyone to hear. "And none of our poets ever felt the need to write verses about that."

"I never had that ability," Zuko reminded her, offended. "And I don't consider myself an unworthy master!"

"Oh, you are different Zuzu," she simpered without bothering to speak in a low voice. "Everyone knows you're a slow learner. But if I believe Ty Lee, you have hidden talents just waiting to be revealed. When the time is right, I'll be happy to teach you." She accompanied this enigmatic sentence with a smile full of mischief and Zuko saw the flames reflected in her brown-golden eyes.

Zuko didn't see at all what she wanted to talk about or rather, he was afraid to know. So, she knew what had happened in the dungeons of the palace? Would she have the audacity to joke about something so serious? Not in front of his friends who still hadn't forgiven them. His annoyance with Azula escalated.

Aang had stopped talking and all eyes were on them. Zuko chose silence, hoping to avoid an argument, and swallowed the reply that was burning on his lips. How could she still question the superiority of his bending when she couldn't even start a fire like the one they were sitting around that night?

"Please excuse us Aang. Finish your story, please. Azula will be nice and stop insulting your culture!"

Aang smiled and his eyes narrowed until they closed completely.

"No, no, it's fine," he smiled. "I understand that this is not exciting for everyone! I was done anyway. Now that we've listened to Sokka's song and my poem, maybe you two could tell us about a Fire Nation legend or myth?"

"Does it have to be as boring as what you just recited to us?"

"Azula!" Zuko cried, grabbing her wrist. "Stop being rude!"

"That's a real question! I know hundreds of poems. Father made me learn them by heart to make my memory better. But these are very mysterious old texts. You guys wouldn't understand a thing. If you want a typical story of our nation and adapted to your level, Zuko can tell you The Tale of the Sun and the Moon."

"Why me?" he complained.

"Because your princess is ordering you to, brother dear. Come on, don't be shy. Your friends are waiting."

"Come on Zuko!" Aang encouraged him, soon imitated by the others who echoed his words, Sokka's drunken voice dominating all the others.

"Alright Alright! But I tell stories very badly, you are warned!"

Trying to remember the first words of the tale their mother told them when they were kids, Zuko began. The story lasted a long time and after a while, a sweet serenity enveloped the small group. The sound of the waves nearby accompanied the words of Zuko who told his story, sitting on the sand, his gaze fixed on the fire which cast glowing reflections in his golden irises. Near the end of his tale, as Zuko recounted how the Moon Spirit covered itself in flames to please the Sun, he felt Azula move closer to him.

A pleasant silence fell over the little cove where they were gathered. Gazing skyward, Zuko thought of his mother. Where was she now? Was she still thinking of him? What would she have thought of his current relationship with Azula?

The silence continued, only interrupted by the caress of the waves on the fine sand.

After a while, the couples reunited. Sitting on the sand, in front of the fire that was sending crackling embers towards the indigo sky, Aang opened his arms to welcome Katara, who leaned against his chest, and hugged her. Sokka and Suki imitated them.

Azula stared at them with the interest of a disciple watching his master's movements. She pressed against Zuko and took his hand, which she passed over her shoulder, inviting herself into his arms. She abandoned herself against him, like Katara and Suki had just done with their respective fiancé and put her hand on Zuko's chest, which she began to gently touch. He didn't dare push her away, but he felt the eyes of the others on them and could only imagine their discomfort.

Alone, a little apart, Toph had leaned against several large rocks she had dug up with her bending. They were now adapted to the shape of her back. She seemed completely indifferent to the displays of affection taking place a few feet from her.

Zuko felt trapped. He would have liked to push Azula away but how to do it without hurting her? And at the same time, it seemed so obvious to him that she was doing this on purpose.

Not for the first time, he wondered if Azula hadn't suggested this idea of a stay with his friends to mark her territory by making others understand that Zuko was fully hers. Or was she trying to test him by forcing him to choose a side?

A little further, Sokka and Suki started kissing and Zuko understood that he had to act before Azula had the idea to imitate them. He got up and forced his sister to move away from him. He avoided looking at her so as not to see the disappointment in her eyes and announced:

"It is very late. I think I'm going to bed."

Aang yawned and replied that he was right and that he and Katara would soon do the same. Sokka and Suki weren't listening to them, too busy kissing to pay attention to them.

Sitting a few feet from them, Azula was staring at them with a strange look that could express both disgust and envy. And even, Zuko was certain of it, a bit of curiosity, as if she had hoped to learn from them.

The idea seemed odd to Zuko. Azula must have kissed plenty of boys. How could it be otherwise with a physique like hers? The familiar sense of jealousy rose up inside him, causing the usual outburst of conflicting feelings. He planted himself in front of his sister and extended his hand. She accepted it and Zuko helped her up.

"I'll walk you back to your room," he told her. "Good night, everyone," he called out.

They walked up the path that led to the vacation home. Halfway through, Azula began to show signs of weakness. When she tripped for the second time, Zuko offered to carry her on his back.

He clearly saw her blushing in the moonlight. Azula would behave very differently when she was alone with him. The inappropriate allusions gave way to awkward and furtive glances, to uncertain half-smiles. Despite her obvious embarrassment, she accepted his offer and clung to his shoulders.

Azula was not very heavy. Yet when they finally reached the top of the cliff and entered the deserted house, he was sweating profusely.

He carried her to the door of her downstairs bedroom. Sensing the risk, he nevertheless accepted her offer to enter the room with her.

Seeing the beads of sweat on her brother's forehead, Azula walked to her small bathroom adjoining the chamber and returned with a towel which she dabbed on Zuko's face and chest.

"The Fire Lord who thinks he's a burro? Decidedly, I have seen everything in my life!" she joked, breaking the tense silence that had settled as she wiped her brother's neck.

When she was done, she put the towel on a side table beside them and met his eyes. He thought he had gone back to three months ago, to that evening when it all had started. The signs seemed to multiply. The night, the towel laying on the side, Azula's scarlet mouth hemmed in a mischievous smile.

Leave, poor fool. Get out of this room now!

But his legs wouldn't obey him.

"I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable in front of your friends tonight," Azula said taking a very different, much more serious tone. "I didn't realize that was inappropriate. Sometimes, you know…" she hesitated, "I have a hard time understanding what other people expect of me."

She looked up at him with two beautiful eyes full of a strange candor, wringing her hands in an air of perfect contrition and Zuko felt a knot form in his entrails.

Azula probably took his silence for encouragement. He let her slowly approach him and wrap her arms adorned with gold bracelets around his neck. He inwardly refrained from putting his around his sister's slender waist and waited, heart pounding, to see what her next move would be. He had the unpleasant impression of being in the middle of a fight, surrounded by an opponent as dangerous as he was unpredictable.

"You're so good to me, Zuko," she cooed, nuzzling her nose into his shoulder. "Despite all the trouble I've caused you, you still take such good care of me."

"It's normal," he stammered, patting her back awkwardly, "it's my duty. I just want you to be fine."

Azula ran her fingers along the scar on Zuko's cheek, took his hand in hers and gently guided it to her hip. It was the first time since the beginning of their stay that she had been so enterprising. They fell silent again and Zuko struggled futilely against his heart which was betraying his strong emotions. Snuggled up against him, Azula must feel every beat.

"I don't think your friends like me very much," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"That's not true," he lied. "It's just that these things take time. Katara didn't accept me right away when I joined them. I had to prove myself to her for her to trust me. It might be the same for you."

"Do you know what I believe?" Azula said like she hadn't listened to him at all. "I think the truth is that she and her idiot brother are jealous of our relationship. Have you seen how they bicker all the time? They look like children, it's pathetic! They must be so envious of us! You and I get along so well despite our old quarrels, don't you think?"

"Don't talk about Sokka that way," he warned her, ignoring the obvious provocation.

"Did you see how he was kissing his peas- his fiancée earlier?" she corrected herself just in time.

Zuko wondered if it was a trap and the fleeting impression that had crossed his mind a few minutes earlier gripped him again. It was exactly like fighting against an opponent whose blows you couldn't anticipate. Zuko thought he knew his little sister well, but she always managed to destabilize him and bring him down. He still wondered what he would answer when she continued:

"I definitely don't understand what he finds in her. Certainly, this girl is not ugly, and she doesn't lack courage, but she is so ordinary! Well, I guess banality attracts banality. Just as power seeks power. If I was a man, I think my choice would be more Katara. At least her bending makes her an interesting partner. But she's already with the Avatar..."

Zuko scowled and coldly replied:

"They are siblings. It seems that it is an obstacle for most people. Well, if that makes any sense to you…"

Azula chuckled and brought her face closer to his. She put her index finger on Zuko's lower lip, his throat instantly went dry.

"Shh… no sarcasm, Zuzu. It hardly befits a king. Leave that to your crazy little sister." She twirled a lock of Zuko's hair around her finger. "I understand her a little," she said in a caressing voice.

"Katara," she clarified, when he raised a questioning eyebrow. "Not everyone is lucky enough to have a brother as powerful and attractive as mine."

The tension rose in the room and Zuko held his breath. He wondered what he should do if Azula grew more audacious. He knew that the situation could escape him at any time and that's what he absolutely wanted to avoid. But part of him was curious to see how far Azula would go. If he could at least lift the veil on her intentions...

But above all, he was afraid of hurting her again by rejecting her too harshly. Under Azula's forearms, fine marks, white or purplish, were there to remind him of the price of his neglect.

To his relief, Azula released him and walked away to sit on the large bed. There, she took off her shoes and massaged her lower back, stretching her chest, a grimace of pain appearing on her face. The movement made her chest stick out and Zuko looked away.

"Are you in pain?" he worried.

"It's been a long day," she sighed as she began to untie the braid that hung over her shoulder. Was Zuko only imagining the seductive tone he perceived in her voice?

Fascinated, he stared. Finally, she casually ran her fingers through her ebony hair to give it a shape. It waved a bit from the braid that had held it together all day. As always when she dropped her mane, a stubborn lock of hair came to rest on her forehead.

"We walked a lot," Azula complained. "All these evenings of chatting and listening to the pointless stories of these peasants are exhausting me. I would like to rest but my feet and my back hurt terribly. I think I'm going to have an awful night."

She forced the plaintive tone of her voice and moved back a little in the bed to lean against her pillows.

"If only there was someone in this room who knew how to give quality massages. But I believe there is only a princess and her mount," she smirked, slowing the flow of her words, a predatory gleam illuminating her tawny gaze.

She let a silence pass and added: "But perhaps this burro would be interested in a new ride? I wouldn't say no..."

Did she just say? … What nerve!

Appalled, Zuko suddenly wanted to decamp. Azula's little game was no longer amusing him, and he suspected her of mocking him. Well, he wouldn't make it easy for her!

"If you are in pain, I can ask Katara to come see you. She will know how to relieve you."

Azula looked displeased and hurt:

"You are too cruel, Zuko. Don't you understand anything? What I need now is not a girl who looks down on me and only cares for me out of obligation. I want my older brother, someone who cares about me at least a little bit. I've been so badly hurt. So, don't you mind seeing me in pain?"

Guilt gripped him immediately. Azula always knew how to get the reactions she wanted from him. And each time, he fell headlong into her trap.

"What the others will think if they see me coming out of your room after we've been supposed to be in bed for an hour?" he tried.

"They will think that the greatest monarch in the world knows how to take care of his family. A good ruler for his loved ones is a good ruler for his people. Have you never been taught that, Zuzu?"

Smiling, she patted the spot next to her on the bed.

"Come on, brother dear, don't be shy. I promise to be a model little sister. You should see your face," she laughed. "You look like you're afraid I'll bite you."

"I'm not afraid you'll bite me," he answered laconically.

And to prove he thought what he said, he sat on the edge of the bed, making sure to sit far enough from her to clear up any misunderstandings.

A maddening smirk tugged her ruby lips and she stretched out her leg to rest it on Zuko's lap. He took her bare foot in his hands and began to knead it without looking at her.

"Oh Zuzu!" she said after a moment, closing her eyes and sighing in relief. "You really have dexterous fingers. I'm already starting to feel better."

And she held out her other foot, wiggling it a little to get her brother's attention.

He took it in his hands, like the other, and Azula thought smart to add: "I don't understand why Mai has left. With such talent, I have no doubt that you know very well how to satisfy a woman!"

Zuko froze and an icy shiver ran up his spine.

"This is- this is very inappropriate, Azula…"

"Is it?" She pretended to be surprised without even bothering to open her eyes. "If you say so… You are the expert! But don't be so prudish, Zuzu! I was joking. It's too easy to drive you crazy!"

"Is it just to drive me crazy that you're playing this little game?"

"Would you prefer I do it for another reason?" she asked seductively, raising an eyebrow, a sly smile tugging the corner of her mouth.

Anger was starting to wash over Zuko. He felt it dawning in his chest and gradually gaining all the space. He forced himself to calm down and took a deep breath.

"I prefer that we stay silent if you don't mind."

"Very well," she said, her voice suddenly warmthless.

Silence settled and far from lessening the embarrassment Zuko felt, it only increased it. He risked a glance at his sister's face. She had closed her eyes again. She had gathered most of her hair to one side and it fell like an onyx waterfall over her bare shoulder. Her chest was rising slowly and Zuko's gaze lingered a little on the soft swell of her breasts, their insolent tips appeared under the light fabric of her clothes. Azula opened her eyes at the same time, and he quickly looked away, blushing like a child caught red-handed.

A man has the right to look. A man has the right to look...

The litany, so often repeated, went through in his head, again and again, like a mantra.

Without realizing what he was doing, he frantically kneaded the sole of Azula's foot.

"Zuko, you're hurting me!" She exclaimed after a few moments.

"Oh! Excuse me!" And he immediately released her foot, his cheeks redder than ever.

But Azula didn't seem to be upset.

"My turn now, Zuko."

The tone was adamant and Zuko didn't move when Azula sat up, grimacing. Her pelvis always made her suffer as soon as she changed position, but she rarely complained about it.

"After all this effort to carry me here, you must be exhausted."

She placed herself on her knees behind him, as she had done the night he had come to tell her about Kojiro. His throat tightened at the memory.

When Azula's hands settled on his shoulders and began massaging it, they felt as cold as ice-water.

One of them quickly left his shoulders to lose itself in the low-cut collar of his tunic and Zuko held his breath.

"You should take this off," she whispered in his ear.

And before he could protest or even react, she pulled the tunic over his head. Dazed, petrified, he didn't resist.

"Azula…" he tried.

She left his back to face him, stepped over him and sat astride his lap.

"I just want to be a good little sister to you Zuko," she breathed through her lips as she pressed them to his neck. Small discharges left his skull and traveled to his body.

"After everything you've been through lately, you must be so nervous. Let me help you relax."

The poisonous words pierced Zuko and spread throughout his body like the venom of a cobra. Azula spread her knees and slid onto him.

He immediately got hard between her parted legs, and he heard her sigh in contentment. She gripped his neck, pecking his cheek with feverish kisses and threw her head back.

"Oh Zuko!" she moaned as she gently moved back and forth against him. Then faster and faster. Zuko couldn't help but let his body respond to her grinding.

He vaguely raised his arms, ready to push her away but instead of reaching her shoulder, one of his hands landed on her chest and in his panic, as he tried to pull it away, he involuntarily tugged at the fabric that hid her breasts.

"Do you want me to remove it?" she asked him in a hot breath, planting her eyes, darkened with desire, in his. "I will if you want, I really don't mind."

Oh yes, he wanted her to remove it! He would have torn it off with his teeth!

His whole being was screaming at him to stop. So he was furious with himself when he heard his whispering voice answer: "I do"

Azula's cheeks flushed adorably and Zuko waited, heart beating, as she grabbed the hem of her top to pull it off.

When she was shirtless in front of him, they stopped moving and Zuko, his eyes downcast on that charming chest that haunted his dreams, was momentarily unable to speak.

It was really happening. Azula was going to offer herself to him. And he had every intention of accepting this present. So much for morality, so much for the nation and what the others would say. They would think about it the next day. At the moment, there was a gorgeous and awfully desirable girl in his lap, waiting with pounding heart for his hands to caress and pleasure her.

"Zuko?" he heard her murmur, distant and uncertain and looked up into her face again. He read the concern in her eyes, the fear, perhaps, of disappointing him. Zuko was surprised. Azula had always seemed rather confident in her physical assets. Her cat eyes were wide open, watching for his reaction. Zuko could see the small pulsation in her throat. Azula was as nervous as he was, and he paused for a moment.

"You don't think I'm pretty?" she whispered, breaking the deafening silence.

Slowly, too moved to speak, he brought a trembling hand to her breast and brushed it gently, teasing the tip with his thumb. Azula gasped.

"You're beautiful," he finally said, his throat dry.

Azula gave a nervous laugh that sounded like deep relief. She leaned forward and their lips met, drawing them into an endless kiss. She started to move over him again and Zuko let out a groan of contentment. The heat caused by the rubbing of the fabrics that still covered the lower part of their body was truly intoxicating.

Around them, the glow of the flaming torches hanging on the walls redoubled in intensity for a second.

Never mind, he repeated to himself. It was too delicious. His sister was no longer sick, she was sober and knew what she wanted. He moved his hands down to Azula's waist and held her firmly against him to better press the proof of his desire against her and to feel her breasts crush against his chest. She let out a strangled moan and compulsively dug her fingernails into the flesh of his shoulders.

Like the first time he'd touched her, he marveled at the ease with which their bodies discovered and adapted to each other. All the times he had allowed himself to imagine this scene, in the mists of a semi-sleep, when dreams mingled with reality, when the ideas buried deep during the day surfaced, he was convinced that the sensation would be strange, that their bodies wouldn't match, that they would repel each other like the identical faces of two magnets.

Yet the gestures came as naturally to him as if it were Mai he was holding in his arms, and soon he allowed himself to run his hand through the silk of her black hair, to her lower back, over her breasts and found himself enjoying the new taste of those ruby lips from which so much sarcasm and hurtful words had escaped throughout their lives. He marveled that so much venom could spurt from such soft, sweet lips.

Azula broke the kiss and her voice rose in the room, panting, full of eagerness.

"Love me, brother. Please! I want you to love me!"

"I do," he replied obediently without thinking, as if numbed by all these maddening sensations.

"No! Love me more! Show me how much!" she demanded, pressing herself closer to him and bruising his shoulders with her sharp fingernails.

He had never wanted her so badly and he felt something break inside him, like a wall collapsing. Driven mad by his desire, he leaned back on the bed, carrying Azula in his tracks. She let out a little cry of surprise. He rolled her onto her back and placed himself on top of her, plunging his head into her neck and pressing his palms to her chest, which was heaving rapidly in the rhythm of her arousal. Azula's whole body shuddered with delight, and she let out a small cry that he tried to stifle by putting a hand over her mouth.

"Hush, Azula!"

If anyone were to hear them...

Then something unthinkable happened. Azula bit into his hand, forcing him to release her. Zuko cried out in protest and looked down at his sister whose pupils shone with a strange, slightly frightening light. Zuko thought he saw in them a subtle mixture of rage, terror and desire.

"Shut up, you little slut! Do you want everyone to hear you?"

The insane words had escaped his sister's parted lips, full of savage fury.

Zuko suddenly stopped moving. He froze on top of her, and his ardor immediately cooled. Guilt and remorse returned to his insides, and he suddenly realized that it was pitch black and the room was very dark, lit only by the wan glow of the moon which cast its rays on the sheets, shading Azula's skin of a somewhat ghostly bluish tint. The torches around them suddenly went out.

Azula stared at him, gasping, her eyes wide with horror. Did she realize what she had just said?

"W-what?" he stuttered, unable to say another word, his gaze probing her.

Azula's pupils kept going from right to left, as if trying to avoid his gaze or convince herself that all of this wasn't real. She looked mortified.

"Sorry… I-. That's not what I… Oh, no, no, no, no!"

And she stirred under him to free herself. He got up to let her go and watched her, kneeling on the bed, grabbing her top, putting it on her with trembling fingers. Speechless, he let her back against the headboard where she cupped her head in her hands and began rocking back and forth, mumbling words he didn't understand.

He approached on all fours towards her and then heard the content of her words:

"...stay pure, you have to stay pure! ...disgusting things with your brother? Did you let him do disgusting things to you? Have you ever bled?"

Zuko's heart stopped beating and he paled. He would have liked to hug her but was afraid of scaring her. She didn't even seem to see him anymore; she had gone to a world of shadows and terror where loving brothers no longer existed.

"Azula?" he cried, sitting up against the headboard next to her. "What's happening? Did I – Did I hurt you? Talk to me please!"

Zuko didn't know why but he was terrified. For no reason, he thought of a gigantic black sun drawn a thousand times in charcoal on scattered parchments. Then the image vanished immediately, as if hidden by huge threatening clouds.

"You'll never tell! Never! Do you hear me? Or I'll kill you! Don't tell anyone! Don't tell anyone!" And she began to chant these same words over and over again, raising her voice a little more each time, until she cried out in a shrill voice.

"I won't say anything, Azula!" he promised, screaming too, unable to contain himself, tears welling up at the edge of his eyelids. "Calm down, please!"

What did I do, Agni, what did I do? I broke her! I messed her up!

Zuko's whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Next to him, Azula continued to rock back and forth, more and more violently and her head hit the headboard, once, twice and she began to howl; they were the howls of a wounded wolf and Zuko couldn't remember ever hearing a more heartbreaking sound. He threw himself on her and grabbed her by the waist to prevent her from hurting herself. Azula's panic seemed to redouble, and he struggled to contain her.

The bedroom door swung open and Aang appeared, Katara and Toph following him.

The three young people froze when they discovered Zuko, shirtless, half lying on his sister who was struggling like a madwoman.

"What's happening here?" the young airbender shouted.

"Zuko! What are you doing?" It was Katara's high-pitched voice and Zuko thought he had gone back five years when he'd started shaking a hysterical Azula on her bed at the asylum.

"Help me instead of just standing there! She's relapsing!"

Orange flames regularly escaped from Azula's hands, which she threw haphazardly into the void. Fortunately, not powerful enough for a real fire to break out. Aang came to help Zuko immobilize Azula.

Both arms held against the bed, by Zuko on one side and Aang on the other, Azula surrendered and let out long sobs, like the ones she had shed the day of Agni Kai.

"Please!" She begged in a childish voice. "Don't hurt me anymore!"

Azula had already lost all combativeness and Katara dared to advance towards her, cautiously.

From the leather skin she wore slung over her side, she released a limpid, slightly shiny water that she directed in a soft hiss towards Azula's head. The water seemed to penetrate her skull and Azula calmed down very quickly.

Her breathing soon returned to normal, and she stared glassy eyes at the ceiling.

"Zula?" Zuko tried, leaning over her. "What did you do to her?" he asked Katara, a little worried.

"Don't worry, it's a relaxation technique. It doesn't hurt her and there will be no consequences."

"Why… Why haven't you done this before? When she…"

"The patient must be calm enough to proceed. It's dangerous to manipulate the water in someone's brain," Katara explained patiently. "It's possible that she retains no memories of what happened in the last hours, that's all."

"Are you… are you erasing her memories?"

"Not exactly. It's a bit like blurring them to make them more bearable. It's a hypnosis technique that Taïma taught me. For Azula, it will be like the fragments of a dream when she wakes up."

"So she won't remember what happened? Not really?"

"Not really," Katara replied, gently placing a pillow under Azula's limp head.

Zuko decided to ignore the suspicious tone of her voice and avoided looking at Toph who he knew was silently counting his heartbeat.

She won't remember anything.

Zuko thought he was going to collapse in relief. He leaned back against the headboard and buried his face in his hands, taking three deep breaths.

"Zuko, what happened?" Aang asked.

"I don't know. It's confusing. We talked. We were arguing and…and all of a sudden, she was delirious. I don't understand."

Azula calmed down next to him, and her eyelids began to close. Katara kept one hand flat on her forehead. She looked like a mother taking her child's temperature. But Zuko knew she was still using her strange healing powers. Aang and Toph had their eyes fixed on him; even Toph who couldn't see anything stared at him.

He suddenly realized that he was still shirtless. What if Azula had left lipstick marks on his neck and cheeks where she had kissed him? He sat up in search of his tunic. Scanning the floor, his gaze fell distractedly to the bedside table. An object was there that should not have been: a small glass vial containing a lilac-colored liquid that he knew well.

"Her treatment..."

"What?" the other three asked in one voice.

"The vial is full! She didn't take her treatment this morning! I got it! That's why she had this breakdown."

"After just one oversight?" Aang asked skeptically. "Don't you think that's a little weird? The last time it took days before she started having symptoms. No? What do you think, honey?" he said, turning to Katara.

She shrugged.

"I don't know… She hasn't been on treatment for very long. I suppose that an oversight can have serious consequences. We'll give it to her as soon as she wakes up. Zuko, I think it's better that you cut our vacation short and go back to the Caldera."

"You're right," he admitted as he stood up and picked up his tunic, which he quickly pulled over his head in the absurd hope that the others wouldn't notice. "You guys can stay here and enjoy the last few days before the boat comes back for you. I'm going home tomorrow with Azula on Appa. If she's sick, I don't want her to harm you."

"I'll go with you," Aang announced. "It's safer."

"No way!" Zuko replied, more briskly than he intended. "She's my sister, it's my responsibility. It's up to me to take care of her. Everything will be fine for me, don't worry."

The others did not discuss further and with a pang in the heart, Zuko understood that this decision should relieve them.

When Azula had fallen asleep, Aang and Katara left the room, leaving Toph and Zuko to watch over the princess.

None of them spoke. He stood there, seated on a simple stool, and stared at his sister's tear-streaked face. That night, Zuko made a decision that, perhaps, would break both of their hearts.

From that day on, he would never touch Azula again, stop even looking at her, stop thinking about her inappropriately. He resolved to be what he had never managed to be: a brother to her. Nothing more.

That would be fine. She would forget what happened that night. But could he? He would remember what they did on that bed, and that memory would eat at him again and again. It would kill him slowly. Perhaps he could ask Katara to do to him what she had just done to Azula and give him the satisfaction of oblivion. Yes, that would be nice.

His mother's last words came back to him:

Never forget who you are. You have to stay strong and brave.

I'm Azula's brother. Nothing more. Her brother. She's my baby sister. I'll never forget that again.

And though neither of the other two people in the room could see him, he buried his face in his hands to wipe the tears from his golden eyes.

Aang and Katara walked in silence until they came to the entrance hall, between the great staircase leading to the upstairs rooms and the gigantic wooden door opening to the outside.

Katara broke the silence: "When Zuko said he was arguing with Azula when she had her breakdown"

"He was lying. I'm aware." Aang cut her off. "His tunic laid on the floor. And there were traces of red on his neck and on Azula's," he explained.

They stopped talking. Outside, they heard the exuberant voice of Sokka who was singing another of his bawdy songs, then Suki's much more measured voice, gently reprimanding him. This levity, which contrasted so much with the pain and the anguish of the scene they had just witnessed, hit the couple like a dagger in the heart.

"Let's not tell them," Aang muttered. "They wouldn't understand..."

Katara grasped for her fiancé's hand and squeezed it in her own. They paused, silently sharing a long, wordless gaze.