The palace was chaos. The bodies of several Royal Guards laid still in the garden. A team of firebenders worked together to put out the fire that reigned at one of the wings of the palace.
Azula didn't pay attention to any of it. The prodigious firebender ran towards the royal chambers inside of the palace, where she supposed her son was at. Toph followed right behind her, feeling with her feet the lifeless bodies surrounding them. There weren't too many, but it was a notable amount. Men who had given their lives for the Royal Family, men who had family of their own, now laid dead or on the verge of death due to the attack.
As they approached the chambers, Azula could hear the desperate yells of her brother. There was also some indistinct chatter, though neither the princess nor the earthbender could make it out at the distance and between the wall.
"Lee Ten!" Azula yelled as she opened the door to the room. Inside was a red-eyed Zuko, who had clearly spent the past half-hour crying his eyes out. Ursa was also there, with some stray tears on her eyes, as well as Lord Iroh. Somewhere on the side of the room stood Sokka with a furious look in his face. His family surrounded him, all with pensative and worried looks in their faces.
Azula stepped towards her brother and grabbed his collar, bringing his face closer to hers. "Where is Lee Ten?"
Zuko didn't reply. His face morphed into one of pain and began to cry once again. The princess got angry at the lack of response on part of her brother, so she grabbed his collar harder with her right hand and brought her left arm back, summoning blue flames on her palm. "Answer me you imbecile before I make your face symmetrical again."
"Azula stop." Sokka said, stepping forward and grabbing her arm.
She shook it away from his grasp. "Not until he tells me where Lee Ten is."
"We don't know where he is. He was taken away by the attackers."
It was an arrow to her heart, and a spear to her stomach. If she hadn't gone to drink her worries away, if she hadn't lashed out at that dinner, her son would be safe with her. She would've been able to counter the attack and defend her son. But now he was away, Agni knew where and in which conditions. That young boy, who laughed at her awful jokes as if they were funniest jokes in all the world, was now gone. It wouldn't have happened if she had stayed in Ido. If she had just stayed as Dr. Rina, nothing would've happened to her son.
Azula didn't notice when her tears started to fall. She only felt some strong arms envelop her in a warm hug, giving her comfort in the distressful time. Her actions were pathetic. She was Princess Azula, and she wouldn't let some peasants get the most important thing in her life without a fight. They may be her compatriots, her subjects, but right now they were her enemies. They messed with her son, and they were going to feel the wrath of the prodigy.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and with blurry eyes, the princess turned her head to see who had dared to lay a finger on her. She wasn't surprised to see a teary Ursa waiting for her response.
"What do you want?" the Princess tried to sound commanding, but her voice trembled against her will.
"I know you're in pain right now Azula, but could you please heal Kiyi? She was in the middle of the attack, and I don't know what happened, but-"
"Where is she?" Azula cut her mother off.
Ursa looked at her eldest daughter with wide eyes. "I-in the medical ward."
Without another word, the blue flame firebender released herself from the embrace and walked quickly out of the room, leaving a silence in the room. Her pace was quick, and her mind was replaying the most effective healing techniques she has learned in her fifteen years of palace exile. Whatever Kiyi suffered must've been from either firebending or from a weapon, most likely in the torso. If it was a burn, there wouldn't be much to do. Just a process of removing dead skin, which would depend on the severity of the burn, and then apply an ointment. It would probably scar a little better than Zuko's scar, but it would scar, nonetheless. If she had a stab or another type of wound, then Azula was thinking of performing a quick surgery depending on the severity. And later, of course, do her chakra/chi bending thing.
When she entered the medical ward, Azula was disgusted by the horrible smell surrounding it. It was a mixture of the metal smell of fresh blood, and the oily smell of burnt bodies. Only one time in her life had she smelled such thing before. A public execution from a traitor. The first public execution her father ordered as Fire Lord. She remembered how Tatsuko, her old history professor, looked proud on the pyre as his beaten body was lit on fire. The reason for his execution was never clear to the young princess.
A traitor tried to corrupt your young mind.
That was all her father ever said on the matter. It always made her suspicious how one day she was telling her father about her history lessons, and the next day her father named her teacher a traitor. Azula wasn't stupid. She knew she was at fault for his death, just like she was at fault for her mother abandoning her and Zuko—partially at least.
The smell was horrible, and the memories it brought her were even worse. But it wasn't the time to reminisce on her childhood. It was time to do her job as a healer.
She spotted Kiyi at a center bed, laying down with a bloody sheet on top. Nurses were surrounding her, all looking frantically for orders on what to do. Without a second thought, Azula made her way to her sister's bed and examined her condition.
The twenty-something year old firebender had a very visible stab wound on her mid torso, which Azula was praying hadn't punctured any major organ. Her unconscious state was due to both blood loss and what seemed to be a hit on the head if the bump meant anything. First thing first, Azula needed to prevent more blood loss.
"Bring me the suture kit and alcohol." The princess said out loud, wishing for any of the nurses to follow her command.
Nobody wanted to inquire the wrath of the princess who had just lost her son, so they quickly went and brought her a kit. Without a word, the princess the princess carefully applied alcohol on the wound, and then began to work. As she was about to inspect further, the princess paused abruptly.
"P-princess?" a nurse asked
"Where are my forceps?" Azula asked in a controlled voice.
The nurses all looked at each other in confusion, "Your…forceps? Forgive me your majesty, but you only asked for the suture kit."
"A person with at least one brain cell would've also figured out what was happening and brought me a surgery kit. You were here to know that a stab wound like this indicated internal damage, yet your brain did not identify that I would need surgery equipment to heal my dear sister. Tell me, are you on the spectrum?"
"On the spectrum of what, your highness?" The nurse asked with a scared voice.
"Of mental retardation, of course. Either that or you are voluntarily trying to kill my sister with your incompetence. So, tell me which is it." The princess asked. "And while your coworker is thinking of an answer that doesn't make her look unfit for this job, one of you idiots can get me the surgical equipment."
The medical staff all dispersed, trying to find a surgical kit fit for the insufferable princess. As soon as they had walked away, one of the nursed handed the princess the surgical kit.
Without even a thank you, Azula began working on the wound in front of her. "Are you not going to answer me subnormal?"
"I-I" the nurse stuttered.
"It's actually a trick question. You see," the princess said as she closed the organ wound with small shots of fire to perform cauterization. "either way, it really shows me that you're a person without much intellect. Want to know why?"
The nurse bowed her head. "Why, your highness?"
"There is nothing more stupid than crossing my family." Azula began to use a tube to suction the blood out of the body, along with using a towel to get the remaining blood. "Not even the inbred Fire Prince Zakuo would've dared to do such a thing, and you know just how stupid that specific person was."
As soon as she had started, the princess-turned-healer finished closing the wound and turned to face the scared nurse. "Those who mess with my family get the worst faith possible. I am not a believer of the death penalty. I believe it is too lenient. But you know what I am in favor for? Torture and human experiments/research as a form of punishment. And believe me, I have so many questions about how certain chemicals react on a living's person body, as well as what part of the body is the most sensitive to pain. I have no qualms about conducting these things myself. People can call me cold-hearted, and that's usually true. But if you ever harm my family, I will show you what the insane princess can do. Now run along lowlife, I need to concentrate on the life of someone infinitely times more important than you."
Wordlessly, the frightened and insulted nurse quickly walked away from the princess. Azula, satisfied with her threat, turned back around to face Kiyi. With a deep breath, the firebender closed her eyes and put her hands on top of her sister's body. She could feel her chi all over the place and her chakras unbalanced. With great effort, the princess worked hard on her energy bending to balance the chakras out, allowing for a better flow of the chi. Then, she placed her hands on Kiyi's head and began to bring some more energy to the brain in order to allow for a faster mental recovery.
It was a novel procedure. There was no guarantee that it would work, but it made sense to Azula. The brain works with energy, so if there's enough energy, a person should heal faster. She also wanted to try and see if this could increase intelligence on people. Higher electric current on the brain would mean that the brain would get more motivated to work, which could increase intelligence in a person. It was a theory only, but she still wanted to try it. Nevertheless, doing this to heal Kiyi would do no harm, so why not try to heal her sister faster with a new method?
Slowly, Kiyi began to open her eyes.
"Kiyi, you're awake."
"T-they took him. I tried t-to stop them, but they-they were too many. I'm sorry Azula." Kiyi said with tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Did you hear anything by any chance? Anything that might help us locate them?" Azula asked with a stern voice.
Kiyi shook her head. "N-no. They only said they were going home."
Azula sighed and stood up. "Alright. Sleep now, it'll help with your recovery. You lost too much blood because of the incompetence of the nurses."
The princess began to walk away until Kiyi called her. "Wait! They said something about a lake…they said something like they'll drown them in the lakes. It seemed like a joke, but it might be important."
The princess froze as she recalled the only place where there were lakes close to each other. If they had said lake, it would've been different. But apparently, they said lakes, with the 's'. She remembered from her geography lessons and from her own life having seen these two lakes. She remembered going to them with Lee Ten when he was little and was nagging about wanting to learn how to swim. Back then, the ocean was too far to go only to learn how to swim, and the river was too dangerous. The lake was where Lee Ten learned to swim, and she was certain it was the same lake she now dreaded would be the place of his demise.
She clenched her fists and walked back to the room where everyone else was waiting. Zuko was slumped in his seat, and everyone else had sorrowful faces. Azula entered the room with a neutral look, marching her way to the Avatar.
"Give me the bison."
Aang widened his eyes at the request. "What? I'm not giving you Appa."
"I'm going on a rescue mission. You either give me the bison or I'll take it by force." Azula declared, lighting her hand with blue flames.
"You can't take Appa alone. I'll have to go with you." Aang explained
Azula sighed. "Alright. I guess it wouldn't be too bad having the Avatar as a fighting ally. We leave in thirty minutes, that should be enough to bid your goodbyes."
"I'm going too." Zuko stood up
The princess turned to him. "No, you're not."
"They took my daughter!" he yelled
"That means they'll be expecting you. This is not a simple rescue mission. This is somewhat of a suicide mission. The odds that we survive unscratched are zero to none, and there is a high possibility that at least one of us dies. They are waiting for us to go there so they can kill us all in one place. They want to get rid of the Royal Family, and what better way to do it than making it seem as if we were attacking their base of operation?"
"They attacked us first."
Azula rolled her eyes. "Of course, they did, but you forget one simple detail." She walked towards her brother with an indifferent look in her eyes. "The winners are the ones who write history. If they succeed in killing the Royal Family, they will be the saviors of the people. You're the Fire Lord now, you can't put your life at risk like you did when you were banished. You are responsible for the whole nation, and anything were to happen to the rest of us, you're responsible of keeping the Royal Family alive and with heirs. So, you're not coming."
Zuko looked like he was about to give his rebuttal, but a hand placed itself on his right shoulder. He turned his head and found his uncle. "Your sister is right Zuko. This is not only a family matter, but also a political one. You cannot play into the hands of the rebellion."
The Fire Lord sighed and closed his eyes. Dread filled his whole body. He was leaving the life of his only child in the hands of his sister and the Avatar, which was a good team in terms of power, but it still left him powerless in the outcome.
"Toph should also come." Azula said out of nowhere. "She's levelheaded when it comes to the fight, and she is almost as good of a bender as I am."
The blind earthbended smiled. "Wow, a couple of drinks and we're already buddies. Didn't know it took that little."
"It's only about strategy." Azula frowned
"Right, keep telling yourself that." Toph grinned. "Don't work, I won't tell anybody about your dilemma with-"
"I think someone else should join us. Not Katara, as we don't want to leave the kids orphaned if anything happens. Not Mai, because she's Fire Lady, and Kiyi is in the hospital. I don't think it should be Suki, because last time you were in a mission in that area, I had to save your life—which I'm still waiting for my thank you. It can't be Sokka, because it's the same predicament as with Katara. So, it looks like Ty Lee is coming, if it's alright with her." Azula said, looking at the acrobat with a neutral face.
Ty Lee nodded her head. "I'll go. You'll need a chi-blocker."
"Excellent. We leave in thirty minutes, so be sure to bid farewell to whomever you feel some sort of attachment to." Azula said before turning around and walking out of the room.
The princess went to her room to gather some of her clothes for the journey. It would be around five days give or take, but if they flew at a higher altitude, it may be less time. Regardless, she needed comfortable clothes for the journey. She put her clothes in a bag, along with some medical supplies and books.
A soft knock on the door made her pause her packing. She knew who it was from.
"What do you want mother?"
"I know you don't want to talk to me." Azula rolled her eyes at the words spewed from her mother's mouth. "But I came to bid you luck on your journey, and to give you this."
Ursa approached the firebender and took her hand, handing her a small necklace with a fire symbol on it. The beads were red, and every now and then a gold bead appeared, making a beautiful pattern.
"Your grandmother gave it to me when I married your father, and her mother gave it to her. It has been my good luck charm for quite a long time. I want you to have it."
"Why?" Azula looked at the necklace with scrunched eyebrows.
Ursa sighed. "I have been a horrible mother to you. I do not wish your forgiveness, because frankly I do not deserve it, but I do wish to show you that I care for you. This is going to be a dangerous journey, and although you're the strongest woman I know, a little luck never hurt anyone."
Another knock came from the door, and a familiar Water Tribesman peered into the room. "Azula, can we talk?"
"I love you Azula. Good luck on your journey." Ursa touched her daughter's face before walking out of the room.
Sokka entered the room, looking back at the woman who had just exited the chamber. "I thought you hated her."
Azula sighed, putting the necklace on her pocket. "She's been trying to make amends."
The non-bender nodded, walking slowly towards the bed and sitting down on it. Azula looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you want?"
"Do you have to be so straightforward all the time?" Sokka scoffed"Peasant, I'm not in the mood right now for your shenanigans."
"I'm not either. Look Azula," Sokka stood up again and put his hands on Azula's shoulders. "Lee Ten is my son too. I have an idea of how much you're hurting right now, but I think you might be hurting even more than I am. Just, promise me you'll come back."
"I have no intention of dying."
Sokka chuckled. "I was not referring literally. Azula, you're different from the Azula back in the war. I fear that this journey might change you, and all the positive change you've made in your recovery might disappear. You've been different since the attack, and that's to be expected. I'm not judging, believe me. But please, try your hardest to bring Lee Ten back, but don't lose yourself in the process. Keep that in mind, please."
Azula stared at the tall man in front of her. His eyes screamed sincerity, and his words made her feel better about herself. There had been a change in her when she found out that her son had been kidnapped, and it had not been a good change. She felt similar to her old ways, cold and distant with the world—not the person Lee Ten knew as his mother.
Before she could even think about it, her body acted on its own accord and moved forward to lock her lips with his. It was short and sweet, but Azula soon took control of her body and broke away from the blushing and paralyzed Water Tribesman.
"I'll-I'll see you when I get back." Azula said, stuttering for the first time in a while. She grabbed her bag and headed out the doorway, leaving a stunned blushing man behind.
The princess marched down to the front of the palace, where the Avatar's sky bison stood. Everyone was already outside, seemingly waiting for Azula. Without a word to anyone, the firebender propelled herself to be on top of the bison. The Avatar gave his last goodbyes to his wife and children, Toph did the same with her…boyfriend? Her male companion. Ty Lee bid goodbye to Mai and Suki, and easily jumped on board of the Appa.
"So, Azula, where exactly are we going?" Aang asked from the head of the sky bison.
"We're going to Ido."