Chapter 57

"Is that all you've got, Captain?" Azula taunted. They were practicing hand-to-hand sparring, the only thing they could match each other well in. "Don't you want to win the massage? You know how skillful my fingers are." She referred to the terms of their bet: whoever won the little match would get a massage from the loser.

She surprised him, and suddenly he was in a headlock. He laughed in delight at being caught.

"I'm glad I won." She whispered in his ear, in a deep, impossibly seductive voice. "I want your hands on me." She reached down to caress his chest, and her lips brushed his jaw. He growled and tried to flip her, but she dodged and danced away, teasing.

"Next event: archery," she announced. "Your handicap is 20 extra paces. Winner decides how much clothing the loser wears while you give me that massage."

The morning bugle sounded, waking Raiden from his delicious dream. He groaned at the loss of his fantasy, but then smiled when he remembered that the scene from his dream was not so outlandish, after all: he'd spent the previous night in Azula's arms, and had a date with her again tonight. If everything continued to go so well, a sparring session like that, with its attendant massage reward, might be in his near future.

Azula dreamed she was lounging on a sofa in the library, a book in her hand. She was mildly interested in the book, but distracted by the warm chest she was leaning against. Raiden's arm casually draped around her, as he held his own book, a smaller one, to the side. She could smell tea and sweetcakes on the table. A sense of comfort and peace surrounded her. She felt a soft pressure on the side of her head, as he pressed a kiss to her hair. All was right with the world.

When the dawn light woke her, she stayed in bed a few minutes, lingering in the contentment of that vision.

The previous night's date had gone better than she had imagined. She had confessed to Raiden how she had treated Aang, and it didn't scare him away. He had reassured her that she was different now, and that made it easier for her to believe in herself. She could feel the change inside her, the slow evolution that had begun when Raiden had suggested Szeto as a model, solidifying, becoming permanent. With every kiss, with every friendly, accepting gesture, he showed her the goodness within herself.

She recalled Aang telling her, "You should be chosen, and desired, and cherished." For so long, those words had served only to point out her loneliness. Now, finally, they were true! Raiden had chosen her. It nearly made her giddy.

She pictured the two young men side by side and wondered how she had ever been so infatuated with the first that the other had been invisible. Her current beau was by far the more handsome, to her mind. Aang's ears were always too big, she thought to herself. And that was before even considering the issue of hair. She blushed, remembering the way she'd run her fingers through the captain's silky black tresses. His hair symbolized his honor, and though it was shorter than most men's, since he'd cut it when she'd cut hers, she considered him the most honorable man she knew. She'd wanted to immerse herself in his honor, but the closest she could come was to rub his hair on her face in a strangely gluttonous way. He hadn't seemed to mind, though.

She had been a little disappointed that he had declined to share her bed, but accepted that he was probably right that it was more prudent to wait at least a while. His paradoxical explanation, that he valued her more than the other women he'd slept with more quickly, had mollified her ego, making his refusal easier to take. In contemplating making that offer, she had decided that because of their positions, she should not pressure him if he showed the slightest reluctance; she was somewhat proud of herself for following through, despite their electric attraction. She had placed his preference over her own desire, and didn't begrudge it one bit.

Did that mean she loved him? Putting the other person's needs first, even at your own detriment—that was how Chibi had defined love. She had thought she loved Aang, but wasn't sure anymore if that was true. Maybe she hadn't really loved him until the moment she let him go. Every bit of her relationship with Raiden was so different from her coerced engagement, that it barely made any sense to compare them. Azula didn't even think she knew what love was. She had certainly never seen it modeled. But Raiden—she thought that with him, she could finally learn.

Does he love me? It was a tender, achingly vulnerable question, one that scared her. She thought of a childish game Ty Lee used to play with flower petals as a little girl. Somehow she always got a yes, which made Azula convinced she rigged the game somehow, counting the petals or pulling two at a time. She pictured herself, the Fire Lord, plucking petals like a lovesick teenager, and grimaced. Pathetic. Better to put aside the question of love. It was silly, and besides, so premature as to be irrelevant. She could tell that Raiden was attracted to her, that he enjoyed kissing her, and being her friend, that he felt gratified by her interest in him. That was probably enough for now. Maybe they could figure love out together. She liked that idea.

Azula thought back to the previous night. Once she got used to kissing, she was able to notice that there was something off about the way Raiden kissed her. It didn't quite match the way he acted towards her when they were just talking as friends. His kisses were surprisingly distanced and impersonal, but, since he was the first young man to willingly kiss her, she had no idea how to explain what was missing. Perhaps she was imagining it. She still enjoyed kissing him, of course, immensely. Maybe it would be different tonight, or would change with more time together.

She thought over the day's plans: training, meeting the lawyer, council meeting, opera. When she remembered that today was the day when she was scheduled to meet with Raiden for archery training, she leapt out of bed, eager to begin the day.

She practically skipped to the training grounds, where the sight of the captain filled her with even more elation. She approached Raiden to greet him with a kiss.

But he stepped back, cutting his eyes to the side. There were other guards and trainers present, he was reminding her. She understood: he wanted her to pretend they weren't together for one last hour, until she met with the lawyer to nullify that ridiculous old law.

Fine, she could accept that. But that didn't mean she couldn't have fun.

She picked up a bow and drew an arrow, holding it incorrectly on purpose. "Captain, is my stance right? Adjust me, please."

A raised eyebrow told her that he knew exactly what she was doing, and was perfectly willing to play along. Stepping close behind her, he ran his hands over her hips and shoulders, touching her more freely than he ever had during their previous archery practices. Then he reached around her to rest his palm over her abdomen. "Strong and tight here," he whispered in her ear. "Your balance comes from your core."

Her arrow flew wide of the target, proving that she needed much more correction, indeed.

They continued like that for the next hour, pretending to be student and teacher. Flirting this way was even more fun than it had been before their date, because now they knew their attraction was reciprocated. She wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and pull his lips down to her throat, and not being allowed to fulfill that desire immediately built up a delicious tension that promised to make that evening's planned date even more exciting.

Her meeting with the lawyer was tedious, as it took some time to find the ancient statute, and then to decide exactly how to change it. The old man urged her to consider Charyu's perspective and imagine herself as a parent protecting daughters from predation, but she dismissed that idea, knowing she'd never have children. He suggested replacing some of the language to lighten the potential consequences for the guard in question, but that didn't go far enough. She opted to simply strike the entire law, making it completely invalid. The lawyer recommended keeping the change secret, for her own privacy, but she insisted on entering it into the public record, so that Raiden's right to date her could not be questioned. Once their work was done, she ordered the man to copy out the official document on a fancy scroll, so she could present it to the captain. As he worked, she decided to write her own private proclamation to go with it:

Whereas Captain Raiden is an honorable, kind, and sexy young man who has caught the attention of the Fire Lord,

Whereas Captain Raiden has saved the Fire Lord's life from assassins and her reputation from her own mistaken notions,

Whereas Captain Raiden has gallantly accompanied the Fire Lord on a relaxing vacation to Ember Island, on a secret mission to the source of firebending, and on a romantic hunting trip in the royal forest,

Whereas Captain Raiden has proven himself a brave guard, a trustworthy friend, and a skilful kisser,

Whereas Captain Raiden and the Fire Lord shared a most enjoyable hour on the couch in her chambers last night,

Whereas Fire Lord Azula desires the company of Captain Raiden at the opera tonight,

And whereas the ancient, sexist statute forbidding their relationship has been nullified,

Tonight is hereby declared Raizula Night, in honor of the Fire Nation's new It Couple.

She had a servant run her proclamation, and a copy of the invalidated law, to Raiden, and then notify Joshu of her legislative action, so that he could update the agenda for today's council meeting. Then she bid the tiresome lawyer farewell and went to her room to put on her formal robes.

Azula came last into the council chamber and took her seat at the head of the table. Her foot scooted to her right until it found Raiden's under the table, and then his hand touched hers.

The news of the referendum was in: the colonies had chosen independence.

Azula made the ambassador present the detailed election returns, eager to learn if her generosity had influenced the former colonists' opinions. She was gratified to hear that more voters had chosen the Fire Nation as a first choice than the Earth Kingdom, and that the majority of the voters who had chosen independence first, chose the Fire Nation second. It was somewhat satisfying to be preferred over the Earth Kingdom, at least.

With the council's input, she drafted a pronouncement of official diplomatic recognition of the new nation and its independent status, promising that once its new government was seated, the Fire Nation would extend an invitation to build an embassy in Caldera.

Then they proceeded through the rest of the agenda. Most of the other items were routine matters of revenue and trade.

"What is this final item, my lord? Charyu's Law nullified?" asked a general.

"That was an obscure old statute concerning the personal lives of members of the royal family," Azula answered vaguely. She and Raiden had agreed to make their relationship public, but she found a part of her enjoyed sharing a secret with him.

With a knowing smile, the secretary of finance wondered, "Was there a particular reason to change this law?" She recalled that he was a history buff who had written a book on the Camellia-Peony War.

Azula glanced at Raiden as discreetly as she could, and he nodded.

She announced, "I'll be attending the opera tonight with Captain Raiden. Before we appear in public together, it was necessary to ensure that he would not face any adverse consequences for the kind attention he's shown me."

"Congratulations to you both," offered the education minister, former headmistress of the Royal Academy for Girls, making Azula blush. It was as if the couple had just announced their engagement. The rest of the council made echoing murmurs.

The Fire Lord nodded acknowledgment, then adjourned the meeting. When they stood, it became clear that the captain had been holding hands with Azula under the table. He lifted her hand and kissed it, just as he'd done at her prompting at the end of his first council meeting. His eyes over her knuckles soothed her embarrassment. As they left the council chamber, their fingers intertwined.

The two walked hand in hand toward the fork in the hallway where they usually had to part after council meetings. Suddenly, Azula felt Raiden pull her by the hand to the side, through a door she'd never noticed before. Before she knew what was happening, he was all over her.

He kissed her hard, plunging his tongue deep into her mouth, lips moving frantically, as if to devour her. As soon as she recovered from the surprise, she matched his frenzy, clutching the back of his neck. Thrilled and eager, she kissed back with equal fervor, locking her arms around his shoulders. His arms pressed her tightly to him, making her wish she hadn't worn her armored breastplate. His fingers dug into her sides at its edges, so that she arched into him, but the hard chestpiece separated them and prevented her from feeling his body against hers.

By the time he moved to her jaw, she was breathless. "Starting Raizula Night early?" she murmured coyly when she recovered.

"You made us a couple portmanteau," he growled with wry humor. Then he grabbed her backside to pull her up against him, the better to reach her neck. His teeth scraped down the side of her throat, making her shiver.

"Glad you liked it," she gasped.

"'Like' is not the word." His kisses turned softer then, and that unnameable distance also came back into them.

His solemnity alarmed her, though she had no idea why. She broke away from the kiss, trailing her lips down to his neck, where she sucked hard on his pulse point for an instant, then playfully snapped her teeth at him.

"Save it for tonight, Captain. We both have work to do this afternoon."

"Of course." Though she had meant her correction flirtatiously, he instantly stepped back.

She felt a sense of loss as soon as he left her arms, but knew she had asked for it. She compensated by straightening his uniform, a convenient excuse to touch him again. For the first time, she noticed where they were. It was a closet where servants had stored cleaning supplies and linens.

"Interesting choice of location," she remarked.

"I wanted a moment alone with you, and couldn't wait hours," he admitted, looking down and blushing.

"I didn't object," she reminded him. Since he still looked abashed, she reassured him some more. "In fact, I quite enjoyed that kind of kissing. That…pace, that urgency." Her words seemed to help, because he grinned at her. "But the royal box is more comfortable than this place. And so is my room." She paused, and noticed his mussed hair. "You should straighten your topknot."

"There's no mirror in here. Would you do it for me?"

"Bend down, I can't reach."

He knelt before her on one knee, that posture making it all seem serious again. She stepped around behind him, pulled out his loose ribbon, and re-tied it straight.

"There. Now you're respectable." Then she paused, remembering her attempt to fake kissing Chan. She hadn't worn red lipstick today, but she had no clue what she would look like after such a vigorous makeout session. "What about me?"

He chuckled. "You always look perfect."

"I know." She offered Raiden one more quick kiss before slipping out of the closet.

In her personal office, she found a telegram that made her smile. It gave her a vision of a future as part of a full, happy family, something that had seemed impossible since her delusions about Aang had been shattered.

Now, she thought ahead a decade, two decades, and realized that she actually had options, and that she didn't have to consider them alone. In fact, she could not make this decision without input from a partner, and perhaps others as well. A part of her was unsure about asking such a serious question so soon, but the rest of her felt impatient to settle it all immediately. Everything was finally coming together, all of her short and long term problems solving themselves. She'd gone from misery and loneliness to this new bliss so quickly she could barely make sense of it.

It's all because of him, she thought gratefully, touching her lips. "'Like' is not the word," she repeated to herself.

Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter! Please leave me a review! Thanks for reading!