Morality Chain
Disclaimer: I own nothing
The room was silent.
Azula, hands clenched and eyes tight with anger, glared at her older brother, who at least had the good grace to look contrite.
Another moment of tense silence passed before Azula took a deep breath.
"That," she said, very slowly and deliberately, "Was my. Favourite. Comb."
"I'm sorry, okay? It was – I wasn't paying attention."
"Of course you weren't, Zuzu," Azula said as she clutched the two pieces of finely carved jade in her hands. "When do you ever pay attention? You just bumble along life like some dimwit clod and who cares if you break something that belongs to someone else? It's no big deal! After all it's not like mom will punish you for it or anything!"
She could see Zuko's brow furrowing – his shoulders tensing up – and his response was no longer conciliatory.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have just left it lying right there were someone could step on it by accident!"
She'd struck a nerve, but at that moment Azula couldn't have cared less.
"Yes, it's my fault. I should have known my brother was a clumsy oaf who can't do anything right! For you, even walking down a hallway becomes a great struggle not to mess up, doesn't it?"
She could see his fist clench unconsciously and for a fleeting moment Azula wondered if she'd pushed him too far, and if he was really going to take a swing at her.
But no. Even aside from the fact that he knew his attack would never land on her, he wouldn't lash out at his younger sister over something like this.
He was still too nice.
Too soft.
Too weak.
Instead, he squared his shoulders and turned away, walking swiftly towards the door.
"Sometimes, I really hate you," his voice was soft and the words were muffled from being forced out through gritted teeth, but they were unmistakeable all the same.
Azula stood still, watching silently until Zuko had gone and she whirled, throwing the pieces of her broken comb to the ground as hard as she could.
(X)
The first thing Azula became aware of was the sunlight shining directly in her face. Her eyes fluttered open and she instinctively screwed them shut again against the harsh glare.
The second thing she became aware of was a dull pain hammering away at the back of her skull. She focused for a brief moment, taking a deep breath and silently willed herself to ignore the pain – at least for the moment.
The third thing she became aware of was a gentle rocking motion that indicated that she was on a moving vehicle. Just as she processed this, the world around her lurched again – violently, this time. The pain in her head spiked as well, and she let out an involuntary grunt of discomfort.
"Azula?" the voice was familiar. Zuko. So he was here too.
Pausing another half-moment to gather herself, Azula sat up in bed, once again doing her best to ignore the pain in her head as it flared in intensity.
"Where are we?" Azula said.
Or at least, that was what she had planned to say. The moment she opened her mouth she realized that it felt like someone had stuffed cotton into her throat. All she actually managed was a thick, bleary "Where?"
"We're on an airship," well, Zuko seemed to have understood the gist of her question, at least. "The water pe – Sokka, he's the one driving it."
"They're headed for wherever the Avatar is hiding," Mai this time. Azula hadn't noticed her coming up behind Zuko – a further indication of just how out of it she was, since she made it a point to notice this sort of thing. "I'm still not sure what they plan to do with us, but it's not like they've locked the door to our rooms. Yet."
"Where's Ty Lee?"
The silence that greeted her told Azula all she needed to know.
"You left her?" No, she thought. We left her.
She left me.
"We didn't have a choice. You..." Zuko trailed off before trying again. "You..."
Azula's glare tightened. She had... yes, she had fainted. Shortly after reaching the ground and disembarking from the cable car. The exact circumstances behind that were still hazy, though.
"Then, what are we waiting for?" Azula pushed herself to her feet, and any resolve or determination she'd intended to display was ruined by the fact that her legs were wobbling and threatening to give way. "We've... we have to..."
"Azula!" in any instant, Zuko was at her side, his arms helping to prop her up.
"I'm fine," she said although she knew she wasn't fooling anyone. "Ty Lee needs our help."
"You can't help Ty Lee the way you are now." She knew Zuko was right and she hated having to admit that to herself. "We need to find a place to rest first."
"Rest?" her laughter was a harsh rasp. "Where exactly would we find to rest, Zuko? We're Fire Nation fugitives now, going to Agni-knows-where. Do you honestly think the Avatar's friends would consider doing something like giving us shelter? Taking us in?"
There was a silence amongst the three in the room before Zuko let out a sad chuckle.
"No, of course not."
(X)
"I cannot believe you are all seriously considering taking them in!" Sokka threw up his hands in exasperation. "Did they drug you while I was away on Appa? It's drugs, isn't it? Evil Fire-Nation drugs that make you weak-willed and suggestible-"
"Sokka, calm down." Suki lay a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody's decided anything yet. We're just floating possibilities."
"Yes." from his position at the head of the table, Hakoda nodded once. "Those two siblings are Fire Nation royalty. Their presence is both an immense opportunity... and an immense risk."
Sokka stole a quick glance over to the steering wheel and control panels of the ship, just to make sure they were keeping a steady altitude and still heading in a straight line for their destination. "Okay, so run this by me again, because when I got back the only thing I saw was the princess lying on the floor looking dead to the world and the two of them fussing over her and then I heard you'd decided to bring them with us because the prince looked so sad and pathetic and if I didn't know any better I'd think you'd found him attractive or something. Let's start with that."
"We couldn't turn them away. Not just then," Suki's eyes were downcast. "Not after Ty Lee was the one who sacrificed herself to let us to escape."
Briefly Sokka was reminded of the energetic girl that always seemed to be at Azula's side, and he sighed. "Okay, fine, so dumping them and running at that point would have been a total jerk move and not at all something the good guys do. Now what? Even if we're going to be on not-really-enemies-anymore terms with them, we could just drop them off in some town with food and medicine. Heck, money too if we're feeling extra generous. Why bring them... back?"
"From a pragmatic standpoint?" Bato, one of the other Water tribesmen to have successfully escaped took a deep breath. "Everything we know about Princess Azula suggests she is an extremely dangerous person. I, for one, would feel safer if I knew where she was. Especially since there appears to be a decent chance she is no longer of the Fire Nation and hence a free agent."
"Of course, bringing her to the Avatar's location is a very risky move," Hakoda shook his head. "If she were to turn on us-"
"She'd have to fight off Aang, Katara, and Toph at the same time. Plus the rest of us, of course," Suki glanced around the table. "I – look, I know she's good, a firebending prodigy and all that, but if push came to shove, she couldn't fight her way out."
"There are far too many variables in combat to make a judgement like that," Hakoda said. His voice was even, but his words held the weight of immeasurable experience behind them. "And even in the event we won a fight with her but with someone being grievously injured – or worse – it would still be too high a price to pay."
"Would it even come to a fight, though? She did aid us in escaping, and her own defection from the Fire Nation seems sincere – especially since one of her companions was sacrificed to ensure it worked."
"She could be playing the long con!" Sokka stood – wobbled slightly as the airship shifted, trying to emphasize his point. "Look, she's Fire Nation. They're capable of anything. She might have just thrown the girl to the dogs to buy our trust that way!"
"I... don't think so."
"Suki?" Sokka turned to her, curious, but she had already turned away.
"And we're back to where we started," his father closed his eyes, rubbed them, and Sokka remembered suddenly that he hadn't rested in almost a day. None of them had, really. And whoever had transported to the Boiling Rock probably hadn't put comfort high on the list of priorities for transporting prisoners. "We could put it to a vote -"
"Have we asked them?" Suki suddenly spoke up as she turned back to the discussion table.
"Huh?" three pairs of eyes turned to look at her.
"Guys, you all have – we've spent the entire time here discussing whether or not we should let them come with us. Do they even want to come with us? I mean – I don't know. I don't know what they're really after or their ultimate goals or – or anything. I think before we make a decision... we should probably hear their own view on this."
"True," Hakoda rubbed his chin. "I'd almost started thinking of them as prisoners." His expression darkened slightly. "That could well end up being the case, of course, but yes, their views might have merit.
"Sokka, Suki, you're slightly more familiar with them than I am. Would you mind going to check to see if the Princess has awoken yet?"
(X)
The moment the two of them were alone in ship's cramped corridors, Sokka whirled to face Suki.
"All right, what's the matter?" he stared at her, a frown on her face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Her! And you! All this! You've been the one arguing the hardest for trusting them and letting them stick with us – if that's what they want in the first place and all that. Suki, these people captured you. And then she used you as bait. To trap us! And then at the Boiling Rock she held you hostage!
"Of all the people in the world, why are you sympathizing with them? With her?"
Suki swallowed hard, and suddenly found herself unable to look Sokka in the eye.
"Yeah, maybe you're right," she said softly. "Maybe something's not right with me now. But I... you weren't there, Sokka. You didn't see her after Ty – after the other one sacrificed herself for us."
The cable car had shuddered to an abrupt halt, and everyone on board was now rushing out. Suki scrambled for the door, hauling the still struggling Warden along.
As she stumbled down the platform into the forested area surrounding the outer island of the Boiling Rock, Suki heard a thumping noise behind them and turned to see Azula jumping down from the cable car roof.
It wasn't a smooth landing, however. As she landed, Azula almost stumbled, one hand reaching out to the ground to steady herself.
"Azula!" Zuko and Mai had hurried over to her side.
"Ty Lee..." she didn't appear to see them, the grasping hand reaching out again – this time it seized ahold of a nearby tree branch. She paused for a moment, her grip tightening in a manner suggesting she was trying to pull herself upright – and the branch burst into flame.
Taking a half step back, Suki stood watching in silence. After a moment's consideration, she let go of the Warden, letting him fall to the ground with a thumping noise. They were out of the danger zone – the Fire Nation could pick him up at their own leisure later.
Meanwhile, Azula had stumbled forward again, seemingly more dazed and disoriented than before.
"Azula?"
"I... have to go... back..." by what appeared to be an act of sheer will, Azula took a single step backwards and forced herself upright. "I..."
"Azula, stop for a moment and calm down."
"Shut up!" Azula jerked away, wrenching her arm free of Zuko's grip. "Ty Lee's trapped there and it's my fault! She was following my plan and my plan wasn't good enough and now she's... she's..." the last outburst had apparently taken most of her remaining strength, because she now slumped forward, onto Zuko's shoulder.
Suki blinked. Had she caught sight of... tears? She couldn't be sure. And now Azula's face was hidden from view. After a long moment, it became apparent that the princess had just passed out.
There was an awkward silence before Suki heard the distant sound of Appa's roar. In a few seconds, Sokka had swooped down beside them.
"Dad!"
"Sokka," his father returned a warm smile. "I see your plans are as reckless as ever."
"Well this wasn't all or even mostly my plan – but there's no time for that! Look, the escort ships are going to be making their way over. There's an airship in the clearing over there that's lightly guarded and it's still primed for travel. If we can take that, we're home free!"
"You heard him!" Hakoda turned to face the few Water Tribesmen that had joined him in escaping. "Let's move!"
As they all set out together, Suki stole one last glance at the prince – currently shifting his sister into a more comfortable position to carry while the quiet girl stood at his side, knives at the ready.
For some reason she could not explain, she felt a tug at her heartstrings.
"To be honest, I'm not sure either," she said as she started walking down the corridor. "I thought so too before, you know? Azula was just cold and cruel and – the enemy.
"But... after Ty Lee... I thought I saw something in her. Something lost and alone. I don't know what it is. But... I think we should at least try to help her." a smile played across her face as she looked over at Sokka. "After all, we are the good guys. Aren't we?"
"Okay, fine. So maybe she's not all bad. But you know what? It's still risky, letting them see where Aang is. I mean, what if they've got bugs!"
"Bugs?"
"Bugs! Like, I dunno. It's the Fire Nation! They've got weird things there! Like, what if they got bugs that were small and they liked to cling on to people's clothes and the whole time they're letting others know where you are or something-"
"Sokka, stop being silly."
(X)
"They're offering to let us stay with them?" Zuko frowned as the door creaked shut.
The water tribe boy had just knocked on the doorway to the room. After letting himself in, he'd explained the current situation. And now he'd let himself out again, obviously anticipating that they'd need some time to discuss the matter.
"He's dumber than I thought," Azula muttered. "Why would he even make an offer like that? Does he think we'd accept it?"
She saw Zuko and Mai exchange glances.
"So, let's say we don't accept. We each go our own ways and we have nothing to do with each other any more. What then?"
"What then?" Azula echoed. "We go find and rescue Ty Lee, of course!"
"Azula," Mai closed her eyes. "You really think we can do that?"
"And why not? Didn't I – didn't we – take over Ba Sing Se by ourselves? And when Zuko was captured didn't we find him and break him out? Didn't we just break in and out of the Boiling Rock?"
"That's not the point and you know it," Zuko leaned forward and his eyes were hard. "All those cases? We had something to go on. We knew the places to go to search for information. At this point we're starting blind. There's no way they're using the Boiling Rock again for Ty Lee given that – as you said – we just broke in and out of it again. She could be in any of the maximum-security prisons across the Fire Nation and we both know that we have no shortage of those
"Then we break in and hunt down the records -"
"You're missing the point. Both of you," Mai's voice cut into the growing debate.
"What do you mean?" Azula frowned at her, and she pretended to not notice.
"Yeah, what are you talking about, Mai?"
"All of us." Mai gazed at the two of them, locking eyes with Azula for a long moment. "Want Ty Lee to be safe and free. Rescuing her is something we all plan on doing. The question is what would be the best way to go about it."
"... So you're saying you want to take their offer and go with the Avatar?"
"I've nothing against him. He's powerful, as are some of his friends. Even if they're not going to help us, their presence alone would be useful."
"Me, work with the Avatar?" Azula could feel her anger building at the very thought. "He's the biggest enemy of the Fire Nation!"
"Are we even Fire Nation any more?"
"We -!" staring at Mai, Azula could feel her breath being choked off even as she started to speak. "You – Mai, how dare you..."
She couldn't continue. The way Mai had said it, delivered the question in such a straightforward manner, it had struck a raw nerve.
"What are you saying, Mai?" Zuko was just as outraged as she was, but somewhat more articulate at this point in time. "What do you mean?"
"As far as the Fire Nation is concerned, we're wanted criminals now because you kind of disowned your birthright. Not only that, we attacked the most secure prison they have," Mai shook her head once. "You think you'll be able to step into another Fire Nation institution for the rest of your life?"
"It's not like that!"
"Then what is it like?" Mai's glare hardened. "Because, and I'm not sure you've actually noticed, you haven't given me any good reason why you two chose to up and leave. And on the day we were supposed to actually win the war for good, too."
Silence fell upon the room.
"Now me? I honestly don't care much. The country you're born in is the equivalent of someone reaching into a bag of Pai Sho tiles and drawing out one at random. That's why I agreed to all this. Because I care about you, not a country. But I know you, Zuko. And Azula too. Being Fire Nation mattered to the both you," a pause. "Matters. Present tense."
Azula didn't answer. She couldn't. All of a sudden she felt a strong pressure in her chest, rising and squeezing her and refusing to go away. She felt her breathing coming in short gasps that she didn't know how to stop.
"The Fire Nation is rotten," Zuko was still willing to speak though. He leaned forward in his seat, a dark expression on his face. "Or at least the head is. Mai, on the day of Sozin's Comet, Father... he plans to use the power of the Comet to raze the entire Earth Kingdom to the ground."
Mai sat very still. Even in her current state, Azula half-smiled at her friend's obvious shock and distress.
"And you decided you wanted no more part in any of this."
"Well, yes," Zuko sighed and stood before walking over to lean against the gently rocking wall of the airship. "Although... to be honest, I keep turning it over in my mind. If I'd stayed... would I have been able to change anything?"
"We both know the answer to that," Azula said without looking up.
"Yeah, I guess," another sigh from Zuko. "But I still – we were kinda sidetracked immediately by having to detour to the Boiling Rock, but... if I just left like that, it'd be wrong.
"You're wrong, Mai. I'm still Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. But with the nation the way it is... it's because I care about it so much that I can't let it continue. I was told all my life that the Fire Nation was the greatest of the four countries... but it isn't. Not the way it is now."
"So, it's not just running away any more," Mai took a deep breath. "You want to bring the Fire Nation down."
"No! Yes. Maybe," Zuko ran a hand through his hair. "Not the whole nation, I guess. But Father... anyone who advocates genocide belongs in a dungeon cell, not a throne. Whether it's the Earth Kingdom..." he trailed off.
"Or the Air Nomads."
A brief pause. And then Zuko nodded once. "Yeah. We need to stop this war. And stop fath... stop the Fire Lord."
"So we're joining up with the Avatar, then," Azula said in a quiet, bitter voice.
"... If they'll let us," somehow, that statement failed to make Azula feel any better at all.
(X)
"I really have gone crazy. I knew it. Gran-gran told me too much mountain air wasn't good for you, and now I've gone and spent too long up here."
"Katara..."
"Or maybe it was the stew. I knew letting Toph help to pick out the ingredients was a bad idea – I still have no idea what she actually threw into the pot!"
"Katara."
"Or maybe I haven't gone crazy. Maybe you've gone crazy. Maybe the whole world has gone crazy and I'm the only one left who's sane around here. Why not? That's really as good an explanation as any for why you're bringing the prince and the princess of the Fire Nation here!"
"Katara! Look, it's not like any of this was my idea!" Sokka threw his hands up into air. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he'd been doing that a lot lately. Matters for later, though. "And I pinched myself too! Extra hard! I made sure I wasn't dreaming or anything!"
"I don't believe this!" Katara all but spat those words out.
"Katara, I am right there with you on the not-believing-this-ness thing."
"Obviously not, since you somehow played an active part in making this happen." If anything, her expression only got more annoyed. "You know, realizing you'd gone out there managed to rescue dad was supposed to make me feel like I couldn't possibly have been any happier."
"My rescue was made possible due to their contributions. And their sacrifice." Whatever else father had been planning on saying as he'd walked up to the two of them had to be cut off as Katara turned to give him a brief but heartfelt hug. "I still don't trust them, Katara. And neither should you. But for now... we won't treat them as the enemy."
Katara pulled away, clearly upset at his words. "Do you know how many times they nearly killed us? And do you know you're talking about the woman who brought Ba Sing Se to its knees? You can't trust anything she says or does! This has 'trap' written ALL over it!"
Sokka craned his neck slightly to see that the Fire Nation members were still standing in a small group near the point they had disembarked from the airship. None of the others had taken the initiative to try to drive them off – Sokka had suspected it would have been Katara to do so and so he'd made sure to intercept her first thing – but after the shocked gasps had died down they were still getting uneasy stares from... well, everyone.
"They lost one of their own while making our escape. From the Fire Nation, I mean," Sokka stumbled over his words briefly. "So, that's kind of why... they're being sincere about this. I think."
Her glare only deepened as she shifted her gaze to stare at them. "That'd be just like what I'd expect them to do. Cut off one of their own in order to buy our trust, and then..."
"Okay, time out, Katara. We're getting into weird territory here," Sokka lay a hand on her shoulder. "And trust me, no one wants to be advocating for their side less than me."
And it was the truth too. Maybe that's why his argument wasn't really doing anything to convince Katara. Because when it came down to it, Sokka wasn't sure he believed it himself.
For a moment, the mask of anger on Katara's face slipped and she just looked sad and worried.
"But I thought you wanted a firebending teacher! You said so yourself!"
The sound of Suki making her own argument got Sokka's attention and he looked up to see Suki arguing with Aang.
"Yeah, but not them!" the Avatar gestured wildly at the Fire Nation members. "After what they've done, there's no way we can trust these guys! I meant someone like Jeong-Jeong or... or someone else!"
Shifting his gaze a bit more, Sokka caught sight of Toph, sitting off to the side and seemingly not paying any attention to any of the proceedings anyway.
"I don't know what happened at the Boiling Rock, Sokka," Katara said after a long silence. "But I... those of us who weren't there can't do it. We can't trust them at all."
(X)
"I've heard enough," Zuko heard Azula speaking before she turned and began to walk away.
"Azula?"
"They don't want us here; they're clear on that, if nothing else," Azula's voice was even, but Zuko could tell that she was boiling with anger and anxiety. "And I've better things to do than stand here and be stared at like some circus sideshow."
Pivoting on one foot, Azula turned and stalked towards a direction Zuko could only guess was the exit out of the temple complex they had found themselves in.
"Wait!" a voice was familiar to Zuko and it took him a second to catch sight of the waterbender that travelled with the Avatar charging forward. "You're not leaving just like that!"
Azula stopped and became very still. Zuko could see the fingers on her hand clenching slightly. "Do you presume to restrain me, peasant?"
The tension in the area ratcheted up another notch and Zuko resisted the urge to wince. He could see the others in the Avatar's group shifting slightly, presumably getting into battle-ready positions, and he found his hands automatically to draw his swords.
He shook his heads and forced himself to be still. Now was not the time for hasty action.
"I think bringing you here was a terrible idea. But now that you are here, letting you leave would be even worse," the waterbender took a single step forward, uncorking the water pouch at her side in one smooth motion. "Who knows? The instant you're out of sight you might summon a fleet of airships on us or something. I'm not taking that risk."
At this Azula did turn back, a sneer etched on her face. "Think what you want. But I am not your prisoner. I stay or go by my own will."
The waterbender's eyes narrowed and she shifted her centre of weight lower to the ground. Preparing to fight.
Zuko could tell that Azula's body had tensed as well, muscles coiled in preparation to dodge or strike. And more – at his side, Mai had already shifted her stance and surreptitiously grasped several of her knives – her gaze was flitting back and forth as she picked out priority targets.
If it came down to a fight... well, there wasn't much of a choice at all. He would be protecting his sister and Mai. But right now, fighting was the last thing he wanted.
"That's enough," the voice of the Sokka's father – Hakoda – cut through the air as he stepped forward, placing himself in between Azula and Katara.
"Dad?"
"We offered them the choice to come here freely. They took it in good faith. To prevent them from leaving now would break that faith."
The waterbender's eyes darted back and forth, but apparently her father's words had gotten through to her. She relaxed her stance, although she was still glaring at Azula.
Studiously ignoring her, Azula turned and walked further away, quickly vanishing into the maze-like hallways of the Air Temple.
"Azula!" Zuko started to go after her – and then he felt Mai tug hard on his arm.
"Stop it," Mai said in a low voice as he turned back to face her, "If you go after her, you'll only make her feel worse."
"... What?"
Mai opened her mouth to speak, and then glanced behind her at the rest of the Avatar's group, obviously not wanting them any of them to overhear her. She beckoned Zuko further away from the others, and aside from a few sharp glares thrown their way, no one else moved after them.
Once a fair distance away, Mai turned back to face Zuko.
"You've realized it already, haven't you?"
"Realized what?"
"Zuko, we both know you're not that dense," Mai's finger was now poking into his chest. He hated it when she did that. And she knew it too, which was probably why she reserved it for when things were serious. "All that talk about the Fire Nation being rotten and the evil of its actions; those don't matter to Azula. In normal circumstances she'd had gone along with all that, and with a smile on her face."
"I know," suddenly he found himself unable to look Mai in the eye. He glanced down at the ground, knowing what she would say next.
"But she left them anyway. She left a life she was happy in and had no problems with."
"... Because of me."
"I won't say she's wrong or right to do what she did. But now she's upset. Frustrated. And even though she would never admit it, she's also afraid. So..." Mai shrugged. "Give her some time."
Zuko stared in the direction that Azula had stalked off.
"All right," he finally said with a nod. "And in the meantime, we need to decide how we're going to handle these guys."
As he turned back to face the Avatar's group, he wasn't too surprised to see that they had formed a huddle too.
(X)
"Okay, so first order of business: What do we do about them?"
"We can't accept them," Katara said, her voice flat and tone brooking no disagreement. "They're our enemy."
Aang sighed and reached up to scratch his head why were they here and why did Sokka and Suki even let them come with us? "Look, we were all a little surprised and confused at the news here, so maybe we could let Sokka and Suki explain their side of the story? I mean, look guys, I don't want to say I don't trust your judgements, but this is a kind of a big deal either way."
"You already have the gist of it," Suki raised and lowered a shoulder. "When we went to the Boiling Rock to try to free Sokka's dad, we ran into them. They'd apparently defected from the Fire Nation at that point, and they were trying to free one of their friends who had been captured.
"We ended up working together to break out and escape the place, and... well," an expression of helplessness crossed Suki's face. "I saw what they were like when not, you know, trying to capture us all the time. They're people. Humans."
"That just makes it worse, you know," Katara shook her head as she stared at the ground. "You can see them laughing and talking and... well, being people one minute and the next they're doing the most vile things you can think of and -"
Katara sounds upset. Should I try to comfort her? No, I don't think that's the right time. Aang shook his head. "All right. But... why bring them here?"
"To be honest? They didn't seem like they had any other place in mind. So we decided to ask them, and they agreed to come here. I'm not sure about the princess, but the prince – Zuko – he has something weighing on his mind. I think he might need your help for something."
"Yeah, okay." Toph cricked her neck and clambered to her feet. "You know what? I heard all this earlier already. I don't think I need to sit through this again."
"Toph, this is important."
"And am I going to change any of your minds by talking about this very important matter? No," Toph turned to walk away, but paused. "But if you want my opinion, Twinkletoes? You were asking for a Firebending teacher. Now you have two on a silver platter."
And then she strolled off.
"You know, when we have something we really desperately need delivered to us on a silver platter my first thought isn't 'Oh wonderful!'" There was a slight grimace on Sokka's face. "No, my first thought is 'Wow, obvious trap!' Is it just me? Or has fighting the Fire Nation the past year or so just made me incredibly paranoid?"
"... Suki?"
"Yes?"
"You said they'd left the Fire Nation and are on the run from it. Did they say why?"
"I... no. I think it was a rather personal reason for them."
"Well, we might need to ask them. We really do need to know their motivations, after all."
(X)
Toph walked quickly through the halls of the Western Air Temple, every step she took sending out a reassuring wave of vibrations that let her know where everything was.
She hadn't been lying when she'd said that she thought the conversation was pointless. But the real heart of the matter was them, wasn't it? The ones from the Fire Nation.
Of course they'd been unfamiliar with her being blind. When the tall girl had pulled the prince away for what was presumably a private discussion, they hadn't taken Toph into account. She'd heard it all, and now she found herself interested in the Azula they were talking so much about.
So yeah. Let those guys sit and chat amongst themselves. She wanted to go see the princess – and maybe find out a bit more about her.
Azula was on a higher level had stopped moving by now – her earthsense told her that. Making her way to the isolated chamber deep in the recesses of the Air Temple, Toph paused outside the doorway.
"Hey, princess. You in there? 'Cause ready or not, I'm coming in."
There was no immediate response, so Toph shrugged and stepped into the room.
She stepped through the doorway, and frowned. She could sense that the princess was carrying something, although she couldn't tell what.
"What's that you have there?"
"What, can't you see? I'm – ah, yes. You're the blind one."
She frowned. "Oh, you noticed."
"Hm," there was a dismissive note in the princess' voice, but it faded away as she shifted her pose – Toph felt that she was turning over the thing in her hand, giving it a closer look. "This here is a skull."
"What? Yeesh. Talk about morbid," a broken piece of rock served well enough a bench, so Toph sauntered over and settled herself rather heavily on it. "So what's so fascinating about it?"
"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering. It's obviously one the Air Nomads, you know. I'm honestly a little surprised even the bones managed to last this long.
"I wonder... what did this person think as he or she died? Do you think she was afraid? Or perhaps he was angry. Angry at us for making an unprovoked attack on him."
Another long silence.
"Hey, Earthbender. Do you think this person died hating the Fire Nation?"
(X)
Footsteps alerted Aang to the fact that Zuko and the tall girl – was Mai her name? He wasn't too sure – were approaching him.
All right, be calm. Be focused. Aang stood to face him.
"What do you want, Zuko?"
He could tell that Katara was glaring daggers at the prince. Suki was looking at him, concern on her face. Sokka, meanwhile, kept his gaze fixed securely on the ground in front of him.
Zuko took a deep breath and said, "Look, I know it's hard for you to trust me. And to be frank under most circumstances I admit I wouldn't really want to hang out with you either.
"But this... isn't most circumstances."
Aang frowned. He wasn't able to tell lies like Toph could, but it was easy to spot there were was an undercurrent of... worry? Anxiety? In Zuko's voice.
"What is it?"
"I need your help. And I can provide information for you, if that'll make it easier to trust me."
There was silence around the group of them. All eyes were now fixed on Zuko.
"I know... I have information on the Fire Lord's plans for the war."
(X)
There was a dismissive snort from the earthbender.
"Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. I don't think you care either way."
"No, but there are people who think I should," Azula almost let the skull drop idly out of her hands, but then she shook her head and placed it carefully on the ground.
"And are there people who think you shouldn't?"
"My father, I suppose. That is, if he can even spare the time to think of me any more," she found a bitter smile playing across her features. "After all, I am a deserter."
"So... why'd you leave, then?"
Azula frowned as the same question that had been gnawing at her surfaced again. She knew why she had run away.
Had it been worth it?
Ty Lee...
She shook her head. "That is a private matter."
"Oh, come off it, princess. You just admitted to my face you don't care that the Fire Nation murdered all the Air Nomads. So it's not going to be about any of the policies the Fire Nation have been championing for the past hundred years. You've got something else that pulled you away."
Azula sighed and rubbed at her eyes. Yes, she had been uncharacteristically off her guard today. Part of it was the earthbender's rough, blunt nature (and how on earth did she manage to make the word 'princess' sound like an insult instead of a title?), but she also had to admit that she still hadn't fully recovered from... whatever it was that had caused her to pass out.
"Maybe. But even so I see no reason why I should draw you into my confidence."
The earthbender sighed and rubbed at her head. "Okay, then. Let's change topics. Do you want to stick with us?
No. No I don't. You have nothing to offer me. Except of course, that wasn't true. They had things to offer Zuko. By extension, they would have things to offer her.
That was how it was, wasn't it? As long as she put her priority on Zuko's well-being, that was how it would be.
Father... were you right?
"I..." she closed her eyes. This wouldn't do at all. She needed to project an image of strength and confidence (although she had to admit to herself that everything she'd seen of the earthbender told her that the girl wasn't one who was easily intimidated) and now, riddled with questions about herself as she was, she just didn't know if she still had it in her.
Suddenly, she felt very tired.
"Look, I'm not saying you have to buy into our whole 'good guy' thing. I'm not saying I've bought into it one hundred percent, either. But... y'know. Perspective. For the longest time I never got to see a lot of the world. And now I've travelled half of it – or it feels like that much, anyway."
Azula didn't respond.
"So... I don't know what the others are gonna decide. Maybe it'll work out. Maybe it won't. But if it does... well, as long as you're not the enemy, I think it wouldn't hurt for you to stick with us for a bit. Trust me, there's never a dull moment with these guys."
The sound of an explosion came from the central courtyard, shaking the room and dislodging clumps of dust and dirt that had lain there for a century.
"What did I tell you?" the earthbender said without missing a beat.
Chapter End
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