And we're back to Elle and Azula!
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Flames That Protect – Chapter Thirty-Seven
The birds flew high in the horizon atop a desolate mountain ledge that sat before a vast valley that stretched on as far as the eye could see.
The air was calm and desolate.
Until a large burst of azure fire abruptly shattered the quiet mountain air.
A great stream of blue flame tore above the edge of the ridge just before the princess soared into the air with her young companion cradled against her armored bosom.
Elle lay curled up in Azula's arms with her face pressed into the powerful woman's plated chest while sweat stained callous amber golden eyes peered down at her.
Elle released a soft whimper while the princess's strong muscular womanly arms held her tight.
All the while she listened to the older girl release a dominant growl in her quivering ear.
"M-my hero." Elle stuttered with her hands grasping at the now smirking princess's shoulder pads.
"Did you really think that I was going to let you die down there? What sort of woman do you take me for?" Azula scoffed with a haughty roll of her grudgingly exhausted eyes before pulling her little girlfriend into the crook of her neck.
"I…love you Azula-sama…with all of my heart and soul. And…I want you to know that no matter what happens…I am forever loyal." Elle confessed with an adorable blush on her cheeks while she bashfully hid her face in her mistress's ebony hair.
Never even noticing how amber golden eyes were staring down at her with an unusually softened countenance.
One that was reserved for her and her alone.
"I…know Elle and…I…am so very fond of you. You're a good girl." Azula spoke with affection in her stern voice while she found herself holding Elle's emotional face into her sweating cheek.
Her flames rippled below her while Elle peeked up at her with a timid smile when long fingernails gently brushed against her fair skin.
And then she began to laugh sweetly while her mighty princess released another dominant snort against her forehead.
"O-oh Azula-sama. My princess charming." Elle swooned with her powerful princess snarling into her cheek.
"Damn right I am. And don't you forget it peasant." Azula scoffed in a supremely pompous voice just before her boots touched down on the ridge.
The princess skillfully skidded to a stop with her blushing handmaid in her arms just when Zoi hurled herself over the edge with Nako's wrist in her free hand.
The two dropped down unceremoniously in the rocks while they lay there wide-eyed gazing up at the hot sun.
At the same moment Mai jumped over the edge with her hand pulling Ty Lee up.
The two noblewomen promptly fell down onto their knees panting with their eyes agape in pure exhaustion.
The others quickly followed suit with Saro leaping up with the other soldiers and the Dai Li dropping down alongside him.
"W-woah. My body…it feels like jelly." Ty Lee gasped before collapsing onto the ledge beside Zoi.
She was so exhausted that she didn't even care that the woman she previously hated was laying right next to her.
It was odd…
But she wasn't so certain that she felt the same about her anymore.
That wasn't to say that the woman hadn't been cruel to them.
But…she now saw that Zoi had her positive traits.
Some anyhow.
"Seriously Azula. That was insane." Mai breathed after falling down on her back while even the Dai Li sat panting on the cliff side ledge.
"Please. Maybe to you. But that was nothing to me." Azula boasted with an arrogant smirk on her lips before gently setting Elle down while her little girlfriend still held onto her chest.
The two noblewomen rolled their eyes in their leader's direction but ultimately decided that they were too worn out to muster a retort.
"…The next time I see your uncle. I am…going to castrate him." Zoi commented in a casually exhausted voice while the other two noblewomen shuddered beside her.
And just like that they went back to thinking that the captain was deranged.
"Only if we do it together." Azula remarked before falling down onto her tired bottom with her strong hands pulling her pet down with her.
All the while Nako lay on her back with her cheeks beginning to overtake a green tint.
"I…don't feel so good." Nako moaned with her words earning her glances from many of her new comrades while Zoi turned to her warily.
"Puke on me…and you will find yourself longing to return to that climb." Zoi stated in a frightening voice while Nako hastily rolled over only for the two noblewomen to quickly scoot out of her way.
"G-got it-" Nako answered only to crumple over retching while Azula stared down at her with disgusted amber golden eyes.
"Ugh. I still find it hard to believe that this one came to my aid." Azula sighed with a roll of her eyes while her childhood friends glared over in her direction.
"I don't know if you're aware Azula but it's generally considered rude to make fun of someone that just saved your life." Mai informed with a scowl on her sweating face while her leader turned to glare down at her.
"For once the Saolin cock chaser is right. It's very disrespectful to speak that way to such a loyal subordinate Princess." Zoi quipped while sitting up only for two pairs of eyes to glare at her and another shimmered in amusement.
"Hm. Of course. I suppose you are right." Azula taunted with her sadistic eyes watching Mai's exhausted face boil over in fury.
"Cunt." Mai hissed with the others listening in humor while Zoi turned to her to spit at her feet.
"Piece of shit." Zoi snarled with a hateful expression while the other woman glowered up at her.
"You're not pink! Not pink at all!" Ty Lee snapped from where she sat beside her friend while Azula's annoyed groans flowed into the air.
Along with the sound of Nako puking her guts out.
"That's enough! Cease this right now or I will kill all three of you!" Azula roared with her voice echoing into the air while her childhood friends flinched in renewed fear.
"Can…this day possibly get any worse?" Nako complained with a hand over her forehead before shakily sitting up.
"Calm yourself Nako! You're alive. And in one piece." Azula commented with her callous amber golden eyes staring at the pale faced Nako.
"Yes Nako. Try not to be so down! You're a hero now! You'll go down in the history books as the legendary pilot that saved Fire Lord Azula!" Zoi exclaimed before patting the terrified woman on the back while Azula glared at her with an embarrassed scowl.
"I…am?" Nako asked in a dumbfounded voice only to cough when Zoi roughly slapped her back once more.
"Absolutely! I hereby dub you Nako the Bold! Savior of Princess Azula." Zoi announced with her words causing the others to listen in amusement while the princess stiffened in increased humiliation.
"Nako the Bold." Azula snorted with a haughty roll of her eyes while Elle propped herself up behind her.
"It has a nice ring to it!" Elle cried out while Azula turned to briefly glare down at her.
"Eh…I just did what any loyal Fire Nation citizen would have done." Nako insisted with her words earning her another stare of approval from Azula.
"Actually, there are a great deal of people who Azula has tormented that wouldn't have done the same." Mai stated with a deadpan countenance while the princess's amber golden eyes burned a hole through her skull.
"W-well I can't speak for them but Princess Azula has led me well thus far." Nako protested before wiping her mouth with a cloth while the princess released a victorious scoff.
"And I shall continue to do so. If any would be assassins are listening. Let it be known that only the loyal will be spared from my wrath!" Azula barked with an angry hiss while her paranoid eyes began to glare about once more.
Her two-childhood friends could only shudder when they took note of greatly increased paranoia in their friend's eyes.
The princess's glare had a terrifying effect on all present.
Aside from Zoi that was.
"No really Nako. Do you even understand just how famous you are now?" Zoi conversed with a hand on the shorter girl's back while Azula's eyed seared a hole through the back of her head.
"No?" Nako answered with sweat on her brow while Azula still glared at everyone present on the ridge.
"Ah well then. I'll just have to set the scene for you." Zoi chatted with a hand still on the girl's back while her princess narrowed her eyes in her direction.
"Zoi." Azula warned in a glacial voice with her lips in a thin line.
"In an astounding show of might. Our great princess just fought the Avatar to a standstill! She broke through the limits with her bending. She mastered her lightning generation in ways never seen before! And she is the first firebender in our day to conduct her flames through a blunt object! On top of that. Our Princess Azula even invented an ingenious defensive bending technique! Pretty amazing, isn't she?" Zoi explained with a nod while the princess's scowl gave way to a proud smile.
All the while Mai and Ty Lee just sighed when they noticed their princess's ego soaring through the proverbial roof once more.
"Princess Azula is most definitely amazing!" Nako agreed with evident admiration in her eyes while the princess's smirk grew even larger.
"Humph. Of course, I am. Oftentimes my brilliance amazes even myself. Such are the burdens that come with being royalty." Azula sighed in a spoiled voice while Mai rolled her eyes.
And then the sound of cheerful clapping resonated into the air while Azula glanced down at her beaming handmaid with a pleased smile on her refined lips.
"You go Azula-sama! You're the best there is!" Elle cheered with a hand tugging on the taller woman's red sleeve.
Ty Lee couldn't help but smile in the young girl's direction.
Elle's presence truly had a calming effect on everyone.
Seemingly even Zoi too.
'Elle has become the heart of this team. Things wouldn't be the same around here without her…' Ty Lee thought with a reflection of sisterly affection in her warm eyes.
"Just you wait my young admirer…with my strength and your new power combined, together we will dominate this entire planet! The Avatar's tears of despair will only serve as fuel to quench my flames! We will rule for all time! And only woe and suffering will come to anyone who stands in our way!" Azula declared with a violent grin forming upon her red lips while her young girlfriend sat beaming up at her.
While the two noblewomen sat in a silence so great that they were pretty sure they heard crickets chirping.
Considering how close they were to a forest they likely were.
"D-does that mean that we're a team Azula-sama? You…and me?" Elle requested in a lovable voice with her hand still grasping onto the princess's sleeve.
The princess peered down at her with thoughtful amber golden eyes before briefly mulling over her handmaid's.
She held up a finger to her chin with a regal smile on her lips.
"Hm. I suppose I could allow it. Very well servant. You can be my little battle partner." Azula stated with a nod while her childhood friends stared at her back in horror.
"A-Azula." Ty Lee stammered in newfound fear for the younger girl's life only to sigh when the girl cried out in joy.
"Alright! We're a team! Nothing can stop us! Not even the hardest of video games! We'll defeat every game we play together!" Elle chirped with a fist pumping in the air while the princess groaned down at her.
And once more Ty Lee managed a laugh alongside the mutually amused Mai.
"Ugh. You and your little peasant games." Azula scoffed in a conceited voice with her handmaid still holding onto her elbow.
Only for her attention to be regained by her captain's voice.
"Do you understand how you are a hero yet?" Zoi queried in a playful voice while Nako just shook her head.
"Not quite." Nako answered with a sigh only to cough when her back was slapped once more.
"After accomplishing all of that. Our noble princess. Agni bless her soul. Would have fallen to a completely humiliating death if not for your quick rescue." Zoi stated with a nod while the others shivered in terror when the princess's amber golden eyes quickly lost her sense of humor.
"Zoi! Shut up!" Azula hissed with a fist clenching at her hip while Zoi turned her head to smile back at her.
"That would be a pretty embarrassing death after establishing herself as such a legendary firebender don't you think hm? She may well have gone down in history as the only known firebender to push her bending to such astonishing limits. Only to die immediately afterward…stabbed by a nameless assassin in the back and splattered like a crushed cherry at the bottom of that mountain chasm." Zoi spoke with an amused voice before she pushed herself to her feet.
"Captain…" Saro trailed off only to shiver when he turned around and caught a glimpse of Azula's wrathful face.
The two noblewomen wisely remained silent while their leader leveled her subordinate with a livid stare.
"A-are you trying to get me killed?" Nako stammered before she shakily stood while she gulped under her princess's cold stare.
"No Nako. I am trying to get you to understand the significance of your heroics. You saved not only the princess's life. But her future throne. Her legacy. Everything. That was no small feat. That my friend…was a feat for the ages." Zoi insisted while Nako gazed up at her with awestruck brown eyes.
"I think we get the point Zoi!" Azula snapped with a sliver of pink in her furious cheeks while she stumbled to her feet glaring at her strangely proud soldier.
"And to top it all off…it was your first kill, wasn't it?" Zoi asked with another tilt of her head while Nako stared up at her in puzzlement.
"I…didn't kill him. The princess did." Nako protested only for Zoi to chuckle while she shook her head.
"No, Nako. You killed him. You put the spike in his throat that left him completely defenseless. His life was over the moment you stabbed him. Your first kill was saving Princes Azula. I don't know of any other single soldier that can make such a boast. Only you." Zoi declared with respect in her voice while Nako began to blush over the lavish praise.
"You know she's right Azula. That is a pretty big claim to fame!" Ty Lee commented while her friend folded her arms over her breasts with a deep scowl on her lips.
"I suppose so." Azula admitted in a grudging voice while she gazed at the nervous Nako with approval in her amber golden eyes.
It was always good to know who she could depend on.
The princess mused with her cold eyes flickering between the pilot and her young handmaid.
"Erm…as much as I appreciate the attention. Could you please stop now?" Nako requested with her plea causing while Zoi slapped her shoulder.
"Yes indeed. Nako the Bold! I shall personally see to it that all know the name." Zoi exclaimed with Nako reddening in a mixture of flattery and embarrassment.
"P-please don't. I prefer just Nako." Nako pleaded just as she began to walk away sighing all the while.
"Nako the Bold!" Elle shouted happily while Azula just stared down at her sighing all the while.
"Nako the Bold!" Ty Lee cheered with a grin while Azula turned to roll her eyes at her.
"I'm staying out of this." Mai muttered flatly before standing up on her tired feet.
"Nako the Bold!" The soldiers exclaimed in unison while the captain smirked down at the red-faced woman.
"Oh, very well. Call her that if you please Zoi." Azula spoke with mild amusement in her voice while she folded her arms over her chest.
"Can everyone please…please stop now?" Nako begged before speedily walking several paces away while Zoi gazed after her with a grin on her lips.
"You are a strange woman Zoi." Azula snorted with a shake of her head while her handmaid stood up beside her.
"Well then. I believe that it's time that we handed our gear over." Zoi commented before unhooking her gun.
And then tossing it at the feet of one of the hardened earthbending assassins.
"Take the gear back down and bring both the abled and the injured back up." Azula ordered before throwing her and Elle's gear down while the stoic men nodded in understanding.
"Yes Princess!" The Dai Li answered in unison while the princess gazed on with an evident delight for power in her cold eyes.
Everyone else present followed suit by throwing the gear down before the gathering of earthbending warriors.
The ten slung the tools over their shoulders before turning to jump off the edge only to halt when the princess called out once more.
"And do be certain that you don't drop the crippled. Try to bring them up alive." Azula stated to the surprise of her childhood friends with an emotionless countenance.
The Dai Li bowed offered their princess a final bow before leaping off the cliff side.
The sound of the earthbending warriors sliding down the lethal mountain cliff echoed throughout the area.
Only for it to slowly die down when the Dai Li got further away.
"Come. Let's get go find a suitable camp." Azula commanded with her fists on her hips before striding away while Elle scampered after her heels like a loyal puppy.
"I get camp with Azula-sama!" Elle cried out happily while Azula peered down at her with callous amber golden eyes that concealed her growing affections.
"But first a word of warning…" Azula trailed off in a menacing voice with her cold eyes sweeping over her shivering subordinates.
The princess's face contorted into a truly imposing glare while she cast her ruthless gaze upon all but her girlfriend, her childhood friends and the young pilot.
"If I see anyone make even one suspicious move, I will bath every single one of you in the blanket of my flames! Is that understood!" Azula bellowed in a paranoid voice while she clenched her teeth at her rapidly nodding audience.
"A-Azula try to calm down. None of us are going to try to kill you." Ty Lee stammered in a frightened voice while Azula reeled around to scowl at her.
"One of my own soldiers tried to cut my line! Do not tell me to calm down! There may be spies among me even as we speak! Traitors plotting against me!" Azula ranted in a manic voice before stomping off while she pulled on the collar of her pet's shirt.
The two noblewomen exchanged a frustrated glance once more knowing full well that their leader would not let this go.
The assassin had been right.
Azula will obsess about this for the rest of her life until she drives herself and everyone around her mad!
"Y-you can trust me Azula-sama. I'll keep an eye out for you." Elle offered meekly while she was dragged along like a leashed puppy.
"I know I can! And rest assured my pet that if anyone so much as tries to lay a finger on you I will immolate them until nothing but ashes remain!" Azula announced in a possessive voice with a snarl on her regal lips while Elle beamed up at her as she stumbled alongside her.
"T-that's my princess charming! She's so authoritative!" Elle gushed with a hand on her cheek while her big sisters gazed on in humor as she was pulled ahead by Azula's stern hand.
Nako scratched her cheek while she followed in the rear.
Her princess really liked this girl!
Even though it surprised her greatly.
She couldn't help but muse that they were cute together.
"Azula! Please don't kill us if we approach Elle!" Ty Lee sighed while following after her seemingly insane leader.
"That girl's freedom vanishes more and more by the day." Mai commented dryly while Ty Lee nodded humorously in agreement.
"Pardon me Princess. But I can't help but notice that you wasted no time going for your assassins throat." Zoi remarked with a frown while Azula glared at her over her shoulder.
'Damn you Zoi! I knew that you were going to rub that in.' Azula thought with a furious snort of blue fire exuding from her nostrils.
"We were on a cliff! There was no way to bring him back for trial at such a perilous height." Azula scoffed with her fist on her handmaid's shirt while her subordinates stared at her in deadpan.
"Of course, Your Highness. I have no doubts that you would have shown him the same mercy that you implored me to show your friend. No doubts at all." Zoi snorted with a trace of defiance in her voice while her princess scowled back at her.
"It would be unwise to test my foul temper Zoi. I am in no mood for backtalk right now!" Azula snapped with venom in her voice only for her soldier to wave a placating hand in the air.
"I meant no disrespect by it, Princess. Really. I didn't. Tell me though…what are your thoughts on the nature of the assassination?" Zoi inquired in a curious voice while she walked a short pace away from her furious leader.
"Most likely my fuddy-duddy uncle…. or an unknown face in the Capital…or even Zuko." Azula snarled with pure rage in her eyes while Mai stared at her in disbelief.
"Zuko? Zuko may not be fond of you Azula. But he wouldn't hire a man to try and kill you while you were scaling a cliff." Mai argued while her princess stared over her shoulder with piercing amber golden eyes.
"Really? Zuko betrayed this country and sided with the enemy. On top of that! My noble uncle killed seventeen Fire Nation citizens today. Zuko refused each and every offer to surrender. In favor of returning on another day. As the enemy once more!" Azula hissed before she spun around to glare at the other woman's increasingly distraught face.
"Zuko…couldn't have known that would happen. When he finds out he'll…be horrified." Mai insisted in a quieter voice while Azula managed a bitter chuckle.
"Tell me Mai. Does that change the body count?" Azula demanded in an increasingly merciless voice while she took a menacing step towards her unnerved subordinate.
"N-no." Mai muttered with unusual fear in her voice while she stood sweating alongside the similarly fearful Ty Lee.
"But he will do so again…won't he?" Azula pressed in a terrifying voice before coming to a stop before her two intimidated subordinates.
"Yes." Mai answered in a barely perceivable voice while Azula stood so close that she could feel the other woman's hot breath on her cheek.
"I do not wish to see my brother brought to harm. I would prefer to bring him back…and once I were to become Fire Lord, I would clear Zuko of all charges. But Zuko…doesn't want that. Does he?" Azula questioned in a lethal voice while Mai stood in a speechless silence.
"N-no." Ty Lee stuttered with a nervous countenance while Azula glared between the both of them.
"He would prefer to conspire against me with the rebels! He would risk my death without a second thought but you dare chastise me for doing the same!" Azula snapped with her fist grasping Mai by her shirt while she trembled in her fury.
Mai remained silent while she stared fearfully into Azula's increasingly unhinged eyes.
Azula was seeing enemies all around her just as she knew she would!
"P-please don't fight." Elle pleaded off from the side with the others standing beside her.
"Azula…p-please let Mai go. She isn't the one that hired your assassin!" Ty Lee exclaimed only for her leader's hand to shove her aside.
"Zoi is right about one thing. You have no loyalty to this nation. You probably wouldn't even care if I died. As long as you had your precious Zuko." Azula growled with her face leaning in to glare into the other woman's stunned eyes.
"That's…not true. I…don't wish death on you Azula." Mai retorted with insistence returning to her voice while the other woman's amber golden eyes shimmered in unbridled rage.
"I don't believe you. Which is why…I am going to give you this warning." Azula drawled in a violent voice with Mai staring back with nervous tawny eyes.
"A-Azula-sama please." Elle stammered with her hand tugging on the back of the taller girl's shirt while she peered up at her mistress's curved back.
"I do not want to kill you. But if you are going to stand in my way. In mission after mission. While my soldiers die time after time again. If you think! Even for a moment that you can cross me so casually without rebuke! Then you are sadly mistaken!" Azula roared in the Mai's frightened face only for a small body to speedily step in between them.
An unnerving silence filled the warm summer air while Elle stood with her arms open wide between the two feuding highborn women.
Mai gazed down at Elle with grateful tawny eyes while Azula tried her best to glare callously down at the shaking girl.
"P-please don't hurt each other!" Elle shouted in a sorrowful voice while Ty Lee approached from behind gazing down at her with touched brown-gray eyes.
"It's alright Elle. We're not fighting. Right…Azula?" Ty Lee asked in a pleading voice while Azula still glowered down at Elle's emotional face.
Zoi stood silently observing the scene with the most composure out of anyone present.
"You are too soft-hearted Elle for your own good. You would do well to toughen up if you want to survive in this world." Azula stated in a frozen voice only for her eyes to widen in surprise when Elle's eyes flashed with unmistakable hurt.
Just what was it about this girl's bright eyes that made her feel pause?
"With all due respect Azula-sama…I know how to make it on my own just fine." Elle answered with a resolute nod only for the princess to roll her amber golden eyes down at her.
"You make it on your own? Now that's a laugh." Azula scoffed with her arms folded over her breasts only for the two noblewomen to stare at her in disbelief.
"I…do. I…didn't grow up in an extravagant palace! I survived for eight years on my own before I came to this land! I may be a weakling but I know how to get by! I…survived the fall of Rosa and I survived Felix! I survived by keeping my head low!" Elle exclaimed with heavy emotion shimmering in her eyes while the princess stared down at her in increased surprise.
Even the ruthless captain was taken aback by the burst of emotion.
And most puzzling of all was how she said 'this land'.
But even so the princess hardened her gaze while she frowned down at her overly emotional admirer.
"Is that so? You certainly did a fine job getting by in that filthy alleyway. And you did just as good a job keeping your head low when you had petty bullies trying to set your hair on fire!" Azula snorted in a frigid voice to the surprise and anger of her two subordinates.
"Azula!" Mai shouted with a spark of returning rage in her eyes while she stood behind the now upset smaller girl.
How could Azula go from carrying this girl up a cliff to mercilessly taunting her struggles!
The princess's amber golden eyes briefly glared over the other woman's face before gazing down at her girlfriend once more.
The mere sight of the girl's misty amber eyes was all it took for her to feel something akin to remorse bubbling up from within her belly.
"I-I…didn't care about searching for food or shelter. Because I didn't want to be anymore!" Elle cried out in a broken voice that provoked a spark of regret in Azula's callous eyes.
The statement shocked and provoked a sense of alarming concern in the three highborn women.
All the while Nako and Zoi gazed on with taken aback eyes in amazement to see just how deeply their princess was taken with this girl.
"Azula…why would you say something that cruel to Elle?" Ty Lee inquired with her fear having gave way to a mix of sadness and anger while the princess pridefully scowled down at their sensitive young friend.
"I…didn't intend to…" Azula trailed off in strained effort at apology while she stared down into her handmaid's wet amber eyes.
Meanwhile both Mai and Ty Lee just stared at their leader for what seemed like an eternity.
When a single tear dripped down Elle's lovely cheek Azula found her lips pursing into a displeased frown.
And without giving it another thought she took another step closer towards her young girlfriend while she stared down into her admirer's saddened eyes.
"I didn't mean to make you cry. Come here. Let's go take a walk together…just the two of us." Azula sighed in a softer voice with her fist gently pulling the sad-faced girl forward while her amber golden eyes momentarily lost their edge.
"W-why can't you and Mai just get along?" Elle asked in a still upset voice while the frowning princess tugged continued to tug her forward by the collar of her shirt.
The younger girl's innocent query produced an expression of guilt in Mai's eyes and spurred Azula to cast a furious glare at the noblewoman once more.
"Perhaps it's because Mai betrayed me at the very moment that my airship was destroyed…leaving us marooned on this miserable island!" Azula bellowed with returning rage in her cold eyes only for Elle's small body to intercept the two of them once more.
And yet again she found herself halting in her step while her distressed young servant stood between them.
Mai stared down at her adopted sister's back with her unusually concerned tawny eyes while Elle stared up into Azula's taken aback amber golden eyes.
"She stuck a land mine to my back…not yours." Zoi reminded in a bitter voice while Azula reeled around to glare at her over her shoulder.
"I wish you understood Azula-sama. I really do." Elle mumbled in an upset voice while Azula turned to frown down at her once more.
"Understood what Elle?" Azula questioned in a less abrasive voice than mere seconds ago while her admirer's bangs hung in her sticky eyes.
There was something off about her servant's disposition and she already decided that it displeased her greatly.
"I…just want our time together to be happy. I…don't want it to be filled with sorrow just like…everything else that's ever happened in my life. I…want our memories to be good ones. That way…if we should ever be torn apart…the memory will give comfort." Elle explained in a strangely worried voice while her three highborn friends gazed down at her in a speechless silence.
And for once Azula was finding that her words of response were dying in her throat.
She was well aware that Elle was long past the point of being a liability.
And yet…she couldn't stop herself.
"Come on everyone, let's walk a short distance ahead." Zoi suggested with a wave of her hand before she began walking in the other direction.
Nako wasted no time in following while all of the other soldiers took to following after them.
All the while the three women stared down at their young friend in shock never even seeming to pay the other members of their party much mind.
"Elle…we're not going to be torn apart. You're one of us!" Ty Lee soothed with a hand on Elle's back while the younger girl gazed away into the distance with a solemn look in her eyes.
"Y-you don't know that. I don't know how I got here. And for all we know. One day…I could vanish in the blink of an eye." Elle muttered in a distraught voice with her clammy hands grasping at her sleeves while her three friends mulled over the disturbing thought in a newfound sense of worry.
They all knew that Elle was raising a completely valid point.
One that all three of them found to be a terrifying possibility.
Not that Azula would ever admit as such aloud.
"You underestimate me. Even if that did happen. Even there is a link between this land and another. I am more than capable of discovering it." Azula declared in a sanguine voice with her fists on her hips.
"Yeah! If there's anyone capable of figuring out it's Azula! We all know how brilliant she is!" Ty Lee agreed with a nod while the princess began to smile smugly once more.
"Hm. There is no better. Now I command you stop crying or I will imprison you for all time!" Azula ordered with a commanding finger pointing down at the smaller girl's unusually glum face while her two subordinates sighed in exasperation.
"Azula…" Ty Lee scolded lightly with a hand over her forehead while the egotistical woman ignored her protests.
"It's…not that simple." Elle answered with a finger wiping at her cheek while the princess scowled down at her.
"Too bad! When I give you an order! You will follow it. Simple or otherwise!" Azula exclaimed with a haughty huff while she loomed over the unusually quiet girl.
"Could you just stop and let the girl talk? You are ten times worse than a chauvinistic man." Mai remarked from behind Elle while Azula turned around to glare daggers through her skull.
"You not only betray me. But compare my likeness to a man for the third time all in one day?" Azula snapped in a foul tempered voice with her lips curling into a cold glower.
"If…I should find myself sent back someday…I will most likely…be killed." Elle admitted without warning while Azula and the two noblewomen glanced down at her in shock.
"Is…this about your brother?" Mai pondered in with a concerned frown adorning her lips.
"In…a sense. B-but not in the way that you're thinking. I…won't be able to duck my head and keep to myself anymore. Not now that I know that I possess this power." Elle mumbled while averting her eyes from the older girl's concerned eyes.
Ty Lee stared at her young friend in escalating worry while a look of anger began to shimmer in her eyes.
'I swear Azula…if you so much as even consider using Elle as a war tool. I'll take her and hide away with her. Someplace you will never find her.' Ty Lee thought with her fists balling in her fury.
"Y-you see since gifted abilities are…rare…to say the least. People with them…are hounded and sought out by the governments. I…would most likely be put in some kind of involuntary training program. Which…I will not be able to pass. Not with my health problems." Elle lamented while she chewed on her lip with her friends listening in rising alarm.
All the while the other two women turned to gaze at Azula with their eyes expressing a silent warning not to take advantage of their young friend.
The princess's lips pursed into a thin line before turning around to glare at the two with offended amber golden eyes.
'How dare they! I have never once mistreated Elle! I just carried the girl up in my arms up a mountain!' Azula thought with a protective rage in her callous eyes while she peered down at her saddened pet.
"E-even if I try and live a quiet life. I…know that it won't take long for Felix to find out. And he…he won't hesitate to sell me to a foreign government. He would do it…without a second thought." Elle spoke softly with her worried eyes staring down at the mountain ledge.
Renewed disgust for Elle's mysterious brother began to flow through Mai and Ty Lee.
And they couldn't help but once more muse that it sounded like a certain somehow, they knew.
Azula knew what was going through their heads.
And it only caused her to gaze at her subordinates with her red lips clenching together.
The princess released a furious snort with blue flames exuding from her nostrils while she watched in grudging concern when her handmaid began to slowly pad away.
"And…when they see how weak I am. T-they'll just…just redistribute me" Elle spoke in a barely perceivable voice with a fearful emphasis on the word 'redistribute.'
"Redistribute?" Mai queried in a soft voice with her tawny eyes shimmering in a desire to protect the girl she has come to call little sister.
"I-I…have heard it said that there is a way to take…your gift away from you and redistribute it to someone…more suitable. In…other words. Kill me. A-and give it to someone…stronger." Elle confessed in a silent voice with dread in her eyes while all three of her friends stared on in newfound horror.
And suddenly the image of a fantastic new land that they had all conceived of Elle's homeland turned into something much more twisted.
They now understood that beneath their young friend's fascinating devices lurked something…darker.
Neither Mai, nor Ty Lee or even Azula herself had yet to form any words of response.
The three highborn women gazed at their young friend with uncertainty in their eyes when Elle turned to face them once more.
To their disbelief the peculiar girl was smiling once more despite the sad look in her amber eyes.
"And that's why I would rather experience nothing but joyful times with all of you. Because…b-because at any moment it could all come to an end." Elle announced with her tresses hanging in her eyes while the three girl's all stood in a shameful silence.
Azula stood with her mouth ajar in uncharacteristic unease while her fists hung at her hips.
If anyone else had told her those words she would have mocked them for being a sentimental fool.
And if they had said that they could be killed for their weakness. She wouldn't care.
But…not this one.
After all of the time that she has spent with this young girl.
The mere thought of anyone delivering a killing blow to her admirer brought forth a deep sense of rage within her veins.
It was stirring up a strange feeling within her that she has never felt before.
It was almost like her bending was reacting to this unknown threat to the girl's life.
And then without so much as even saying another word they watched in growing alarm when the girl turned around and darted down the rocky slope.
"Elle! Where are you going!" Ty Lee shouted in a frightened voice while Elle darted away with her hands gripping the straps of her backpack.
"Get back here Elle!" Azula demanded with aggravation in her amber golden eyes while she glared after her handmaid dashing off towards the trees.
"What are you waiting for Azula? Go get her!" Mai urged in a mutually distraught voice while the princess growled in annoyance.
"Cry baby peasant." Azula snorted with pompous shake of her head before taking off towards the tree line while the other two girls took off after her.
'She won't get far. A young girl with a lung condition has no chance of outrunning me! Even when my chi is drained!' The princess thought with her boots stomping into the ground before jumping high into the air to close the distance.
Indeed.
Catching her little servant would be a trivial matter.
Just when she neared the trees, she noticed that Zoi was standing before the start of the mountain forest.
"She went that way." Zoi commented in a casual voice with her hand pointing behind her while Azula nodded curtly.
"I will return shortly. Don't go too far away." Azula commanded with her cold eyes briefly gazing at the other woman's composed face.
"Got it. Although I do have something that has been on my mind for a time now…regarding the assassin." Zoi stated while her princess scowled before turning away.
"It can wait." Azula growled with her eyes flashing in paranoia once more.
But she knew that she couldn't risk something happening to her companion by delaying her pursuit.
"No. Actually, it can't. I don't think you should leave that girl alone. The assassin may have been after her." Zoi advised in an abrupt voice while Azula turned around with a brief flicker of surprise in her callous eyes.
The princess silently mulled over the possibility while her soldier gazed back at her with thoughtful golden eyes.
"Normally if an attempt was made on your life…while you were with a commoner. Logic would dictate that it was you they were after. After all, you are the heir to the Fire Nation throne. But in this case…you were carrying a commoner with the power to challenge the Avatar." Zoi explained with a nod while her princess listened closely.
'She…is making a good point…is my uncle behind the attack?' Azula thought with flame spewing from her lips akin to a wrathful dragon.
"But there is no real way to tell. He could have very well been after the both of you. If so…the two of you climbing together was a golden opportunity he couldn't pass up. Either way…if you really value that girl. I suggest you keep her close by at all times." Zoi concluded in a serious voice while she watched Azula speed off without so much as saying another word.
All the while Mai and Ty Lee made their way down the cliff ledge while they followed after their leader.
The princess's eyes hardened into a merciless glare with her fists balled up at her hips before bounding into the woods.
Strange as it was.
She decided that she would continue to make good on her promise to protect the girl.
With that in mind she ran through the forest retracing her handmaid's painfully apparent footsteps.
Until…
Elle sat with her head in her knees gazing down at a small mountain stream when she heard the distinct sound of angry boots stomping up behind her.
"You are so fortunate that I am fond of you. I wouldn't put up with this from any other peasant." Azula stated with her sophisticated lips pursing into a scowl while she glared down at the smaller girl's turned back.
"I…know." Elle murmured in a downcast voice while she listened to the much taller woman growl above her.
"I clearly recalling telling you to stop crying." Azula grunted in a stern voice before plopping down on her backside beside her sullen pet.
"S-sumimasen." Elle stuttered in a timid voice while Azula now sat above her sighing heavily with her callous amber golden eyes peering down at her.
"Well! What are you waiting for peasant? Come here." Azula scoffed with a haughty wave of her hand while she turned to peer down at her crying girlfriend.
"O-okay." Elle answered with a sniff before turning around when strong arms greedily grasped ahold of her.
Her backpack was swiftly removed from her shoulders while she meekly allowed the older girl to drag her into her arms.
"You seek my breasts? Is that right?" Azula pondered in a noticeable silken purr before pulling her little admirer into her arms.
"A-Azula-sama." Elle muttered in a shaken voice that gave away her desperate need for the woman's comfort while Azula drew her into her lap.
"Well go on then. Put your face in my chest if it will stop your blubbering." Azula sighed with a wave of her hand while she stared down at her petite pet pressing her little face into her chest once more.
"A-arigatou gozaimasu Princess." Elle spoke in a muffled voice with the barest hints of a blush on her fair cheeks.
"I will not allow it to be said that I do not indulge your desires…childish as they are." Azula remarked with her palms resting on the back of her pretty handmaid's golden head while she held the girl into her armored bosom.
"I know…you're so good to me Azula-sama." Elle replied with her face propped up against Azula's armored breast while a fingertip lowered to gently stroke her blonde locks.
"Hm. You like that? Pressing your face into my body." Azula pondered in a marginally subdued voice before reclining on her backside against a rock.
"I-I do." Elle admitted in a bashful voice while she listened to the captivating woman hum thoughtful above her.
"Very well then. We shall continue to incorporate this into our schedule." Azula declared with a refined smile on her regal lips while her fingers continued to play in the smaller girl's hair.
"I…would very much like that." Elle murmured before shyly pushing her face deeper into Azula's plated chest while she savored the heat that her mistress's body gave off.
"Why did you even bother running off like that? We both know that you could never outrun me…or any of my soldiers for that matter." Azula commented with her lips pursing into a thin line once more when Elle sniffled against her chest.
"I-I don't know. I didn't really think it through. I…just wanted a moment alone with you I suppose." Elle confessed with her fingers wiping at her cheeks while the princess's arms held her tight.
"I see. You were seeking reassurance in my dominance." Azula boasted in an ever-smug voice while the tiny blonde finally cracked a slight smile.
"That's so Azula-sama." Elle agreed with a nod while she closed her eyes against her girlfriend's bosom while stern eyes still peered down at her.
"Do you truly believe that I would ever allow that to happen to you?" Azula demanded in a voice of absolute sternness while narrowing her imposing eyes down at her terrified girlfriend.
The young girl's eyes shimmered in gratitude before pushing her eyes into her princess's black and gold chest plate.
"No. I…know you wouldn't. But…I'm scared. So very scared. I…always thought myself a dud. But now…I'm not. I…don't want this. I don't know what it does other than turn his power off. But I don't want it." Elle lamented in a fretful voice that took the princess back.
"You don't want to possess power?" Azula queried in a bewildered voice while she gazed down at her worried love interest curled up in her arms.
"No! It's no good. No good at all. It's a bad, bad thing." Elle insisted in an adamant voice while Azula listened with confused amber golden eyes.
"That is preposterous Elle! Power is a good thing. I can help you learn the secrets of your power…we may very well find that it has other uses. Uses…that could be used to kill those who seek to…redistribute you." Azula explained in a protective voice while she stared down at her trembling handmaid.
It was an utterly foreign concept to her.
To hear her young admirer state that she feels that it was bad to possess power.
"No. No. You don't understand Azula-sama. It's not like here…where mystical powers like bending are the norm. It might be a good thing here. But…it's not where I come from." Elle muttered in a distraught voice while the woman's hands grasped the back of her head.
"Humph. Like I said before. Your homeland sounds dull and unimaginative." Azula snorted with a brilliant roll of her elegant eyes while she continued to possessively stroke her submissive girl's cheek.
"I…would rather be a nameless face in a crowd of hundreds of thousands. Then be an exotic freak for the governments to poke and prod at." Elle admitted with a nervous swallow only to find herself being drawn out of the woman's chest peer up into Azula's piercing eyes.
As soon as she gazed up into her princess's unfathomably strict eyes, she felt a pleasurable shiver travel down her spine.
And then two strong palms grasped ahold of her face with an adorable blush spreading across her cheeks.
Only to gasp in delight when Azula pulled her to the ground alongside her while her smaller body plopped down into the grass beside the woman's much taller frame.
All the while her young heart continued to race rapidly when she found herself now gazing directly into callous amber golden eyes.
Azula's hot breath washed over her brows before lightly blowing her hair from her eyes while timidly pressed her face into the woman's cheek in a silent plea for comfort.
"That will not happen. Because I forbid it. Do you understand girl?" Azula growled with her armored body stretching out in the grass while drew her timid girlfriend into her cheek.
"Y-yes Azula-sama. A-as you command." Elle stammered in a spellbound voice with her fears beginning to ebb while Azula dominantly exhaled against her trembling cheek.
"I…like you peasant. I…like you a great deal." Azula confided in a softer voice with the barest traces of a blush on her cheeks while she offered her young girlfriend a charming smile.
"I…like you too Mistress. I…would really like to be your peasant forevermore." Elle spoke in a love-struck voice while her heart continued to drum while the woman princess's lips curved into a grin.
"Oh, my little peasant. What am I ever to do with you?" Azula sighed in a fond fashion before pulling her little love's face closer until they began to rub noses.
"W-whatever you want Azula-sama. I submit myself to your rule…for as long as I live…for all of my days." Elle answered in a bashful voice when Azula's nose pressed into her own while the woman smiled at her in approval.
"I like that answer. I've said it before and I will say it again. I am going to keep you. I…am never going to let you go." Azula purred in a possessive voice while she pressed the tip of her nose into her girlfriend's quivering nose.
"I-it makes me so very happy to hear that. I…don't want to leave a life like this." Elle mumbled in a tone of yearning only for a shy smile to grow on her lips when the woman cupped her cheeks.
"There…may be the possibility that this power only works on the Avatar. In that is the case…then you are just as defenseless as you were before." Azula began with her fingers grasping Elle's cheek while gentle amber eyes peered back at her.
"T-that's what I am worried about." Elle stuttered with a worried expression in her eyes only for her anxieties to vanish when controlling amber golden eyes stared back at her.
"Well then…the solution is clear…" Azula trailed off in a sanguine voice with her amber golden eyes staring back into emotional amber eyes.
"It is?" Elle asked in a voice that was in terrible need of the older girl's guidance while the princess smiled charmingly before her eyes.
"I will just have to kill them for you." Azula announced in an enticing manner with an irresistible smirk upon her crimson lips while Elle's amber eyes widened in innocent emotion.
"Y-you would do that for me Azula-sama?" Elle requested in an abashed voice with pink spreading across her cheeks only for her heart to beat even faster when Azula growled against her cheek.
"Of course, I would! Do you really think that I would ever allow you to be brought to harm?" Azula questioned in a voice of grudging affections while a grateful smile began to form on the younger girl's lips.
"No. I know you wouldn't. I know I can depend upon my princess." Elle admitted in a tone of endless adoration while her princess lowered her mouth before her ear with her warm breath tickling against her skin.
And then Elle lay there motionless with her heart pounding rapidly while Azula pressed her lips against her ear.
"I am going to find my way to your homeland…and then I will kill them all. However, many that may be. Even if it is hundreds of thousands. I will do it…for you." Azula snarled in a wrathful voice with her palms still clutching Elle's stunned face while she pressed her handmaid into her sweat stained cheek.
"I-I don't know what to say Azula-sama…I…" Elle breathed in a voice of tremendous emotion with a moved tear dripping down her cheek.
"Say nothing then. Just know this. You are mine. And I…will not have it said that Princess Azula doesn't protect her girlfriend." Azula hissed with her lips against her trembling handmaid's ear while she cupped the younger girl's delicate cheeks.
Elle found herself unable to form a word of response.
All she could do was lay there with her head in her caretaker's palms when she felt soft lips press a gentle kiss upon her ear.
"Don't you worry your little mind over it. I won't let anyone hurt you." Azula spoke in a supremely possessive voice with her callous eyes peering back into Elle's appreciative amber eyes.
"Azula-sama…" Elle trailed off in a tender voice while Azula's red lips still curved into a refined smile.
"There now…no more crying. You have nothing to fear. Because I am strong. Do you understand girl?" Azula ordered in powerful voice that flowed into her young handmaid's ear while she gently brushed the tears from Elle's lovely cheek.
"W-wakarimashita." Elle agreed with a bashful nod while she blushed when her beautiful princess held their foreheads together.
"I have something that I want to show you…I want you to look around you and tell me what you see." Azula commented in a spellbinding voice with her palms on Elle's enamored cheeks just before tilting her handmaid's head to the side.
Elle peered out of the corner of her eye in puzzlement only for her eyes to widen in awe when a wave of blue fire swept over their entwined bodies.
Until she found herself laying in the mighty princess's toned arms with a dome of azure flames surrounding her on all sides!
Her stunned amber eyes turned to gaze back into hardened amber golden eyes just before she found herself being drawn in even closer than before.
"B-blue fire. I see Her Highness's blue fire." Elle answered in a captivated voice while she shuddered pleasurably under Azula's confidently smiling gaze.
"Wrong." Azula replied with a growl while her spellbound handmaid shook under her grip.
"T-then…what do I see Princess?" Elle stammered with a shy smile on her lips while the intense heat of the flames caused a bead of sweat to drip down her brow.
Or was it Azula's irresistible amber golden eyes that were the cause of her abnormally warm temperature?
"You see…a shield." Azula sighed with a charming smirk on her lips while she stroked her fingers against her pretty handmaid's gasping face.
"A…shield?" Elle repeated in a voice of boundless appreciation while Azula leaned in to whisper in her trembling ear once more.
"My lovely little peasant…you see flames that protect." Azula spoke in a beguiling voice with her smirking lips brushing against her speechless peasant's ear.
"Flames…that protect." Elle mumbled with a peaceful expression returning to her eyes while her face fell into the crook of the princess's neck.
"I…am going to make you a promise Elle…a promise that I've never made to anyone else. So, I suggest you listen well." Azula declared with her arms wrapping around Elle's small back while the girl buried her face in her neck.
"What…what does this promise entail Princess?" Elle pondered with a love-struck blush while two strong arms crushed her into a near suffocating embrace.
"If anyone should ever try to hurt you…if anyone should ever bring harm to you. I will kill them." Azula snarled with her crimson lips contorting into a glower while she held her little girlfriend beneath her burning flames.
"A-arigatou gozaimasu Azula-sama! Arigatou!" Elle cried out in a moved voice with her happy eyes pressing into silken dark hair.
Only to find herself shivering in delight when Azula parted her hair to peer down into her awestruck eyes.
"You belong to me little lady." Azula purred in a softer voice just before leaning down to press her lips upon her paralyzed handmaid's forehead.
"I…I…am Princess Azula's little lady…" Elle trailed off in a lovesome voice while she stared up into Azula's smug amber golden eyes.
"That you are peasant. That you are." Azula stated in a sighing voice while her fingernails dug into her little girlfriend's plush golden hair.
"Y-you…you are the best thing that has ever happened to me Azula-sama. I…just want you to know that." Elle murmured with her eyes closing against the taller woman's plated chest.
"Humph. I already knew that Elle." Azula stated in a pompous manner with Elle curled up against her chest once more.
The small blonde buried her face in her princess's black and gold plating while stern amber golden eyes stared down at her with just a margin of fondness in her gaze.
The princess's eyes shone with a peculiar emotion while her lips pursed into a thin line.
"Listen…Elle…" Azula began in a voice unlike her usual sadistic self while her little lover peeked out from her bosom.
"Yes Azula-sama?" Elle responded in a diligent voice with her loyal amber eyes gazing up into reflective amber golden eyes.
"About earlier…when I…made you cry. I…" Azula muttered in a frustrated voice with her cold eyes staring down at the smiling girl in her arms.
"It's alright. I wasn't crying because you hurt my feelings. I was crying…because I don't like to see my family hurt each other." Elle explained in a soft voice while the princess's eyes shone with momentary surprise.
"Still, I…am…" Azula spoke with a growl coating her voice while the younger girl still beamed up at her.
Elle said nothing while she watched her princess struggle to form the words of apology that she has never heard her say before.
"Sorry!" Azula snapped with a conceited scowl on her lips while Elle retreated back into her bosom.
"Like I said…you have nothing to apologize for. Our bond…it's so much deeper than words can ever convey. There are no words or actions that can harm our bond. Because…what we share is timeless. But even so…arigatou Azula-sama." Elle assured in a passionate voice with her hands grasping at her girlfriend's robes while long fingers continued to gently pet her cheek.
"It is…isn't it." Azula answered with a content countenance while she lay with her head upon the grass.
"That's so." Elle mumbled in a serene voice with a sunny smile upon her lips before closing her eyes in her older girlfriend's armored chest.
"That's my peasant…you just stay…right there." Azula commanded with her crimson lips curling into a pleased smile once more while she held her little handmaid against her armored breasts.
Elle nodded in understanding before burrowing deeper into Azula while the powerful woman never released her from her hold.
All the while the princess peered down at her with a sophisticated smile on her regal lips.
Her little handmaid was right.
Their bond truly was everlasting.
Indeed.
It was as endless as the stars in the sky.
It was infinite.
AN:
Alright, so Azula is rightfully furious with Mai. So much so that if not for Elle she would have attacked her in this chapter. But luckily for Mai, Elle is there to offer her a shield of sorts.
As for Azula's rudeness to Elle, now that she has so many people watching their interactions she feels like she has to act cold to Elle to keep up her image. There will be one or two more times in the next ten chapters where Azula acts like an ass in a futile effort to act like she doesn't have feelings for Elle.
And this chapter we learned something major about Elle's world. As I have said before, the nature of rare talented people possessing an unnatural power in Elle's world will be touched on in book two. Right now, I am just setting the scene.
Whether or not Elle's power can be 'redistributed' will be touched on later. Whether anyone can even redistribute any power will also be explored later. It could just be a tactic to control people or it could be truth. We'll just have to wait and see.
We're going to be backing away from the harrowing danger for the next twelve or so chapters. Now that the climb is over, we'll see some more light hearted stuff over the next ten or so chapters.
Azula, Elle, Ty Lee and Mai will just talk about random things, and have conversations like friends do. We'll see lots more ElZula fluff and learn more about Elle's painful past.
And thank you gg for telling me about that song. I looked it up and I can see what you mean.
Anyhow, thanks for reading everyone. Next chapter will just be Elle trying to get her three friends to sit down and chat with her.
Stay tuned!