Avatar the last Airbender/ The Legend of Korra What If
Chapter 2: Difficult times
(Disclaimer I do not own Atla or Lok)
(Inspired by Lyondor's story "The Avatar and the Fire Nation Princess" from archive of our own)
(This is an adaptation fanfiction with a different direction for the story that I am writing)
It had been a week since Korra was first sent to the Fire Nation Palace and given to Princess Azula. Over the course of the pass few days Princess Ursa kept her promise to help Korra in anyway she can in order to make her feel more comfortable at the Palace. For example Ursa requested to have Korra's chains removed from her hands and feet. Ozai was not pleased with this, because he was concerned that Korra would use her water bending to fight back and try to escape from the Palace. However, Ursa was able to convince Fire Lord Azulon to agree with her request and the guards removed the chains from Korra. Unfortunately the child still had to wear the collar around her neck. But at least Korra could move around better without having to worry about the chains on her hands and feet. Princess Ursa also did her best to bring as much food and water to Korra each day in secret without anyone finding out. Ursa and Korra would have conversations whenever they spent time together and their relationship grew. In some ways
Princess Ursa saw Korra not just as a friend, but as a second daughter too. She may not have known Korra enough since her arrival at the Palace, but the time she spent with the child each day allowed her to form a bond that made her feel more connected to Korra. Ursa would do anything to protect her from harm. She only wishes she could free Korra from slavery and help her return to her original family. Unfortunately Princess Ursa knows she cannot do that right now, because it's too risky right now, but hopefully she can find a way to help Korra escape from the horrors of the Fire Nation, but for now she must wait and be patient.
Aside from her friendship with Princess Ursa, Korra's relationship with Princess Azula has not really changed all that much. Korra tries her best to follow the rules Azula has laid out for her. However, there have been one or two moments when Azula decided to punish Korra not because she broke the rules, but simply for no explanation whatsoever. Korra at first thought it may have been due to the fact that the Princess might be bored and just wanted to do this for fun, but she can tell it's something else and she doesn't know what it is. During those moments where she got punished Korra could also notice something about the way Azula behaved it clearly had a different effect on her after she punished her slave. For example Korra was ordered to fix Azula's hair in front of a mirror one morning and while she was doing this Azula became infuriated that Korra messed it up. She then punched her in the stomach knocking her to the floor, but than when she saw the fear in Korra's eyes and than looked at herself in the mirror Azula had tears in her eyes and went straight to the bathroom to cry. Korra was confused and without hesitation she tried to check if Azula was alright, but the bathroom door was locked so there was no way Korra could check to see if she was okay. Korra could hear Azula crying and there was nothing she could do to help make her feel better. Even though Azula has treated Korra badly she could never bring herself to hate the Princess. The Fire Nation may have taken everything away from Korra when they kidnapped her and her parents, and while she despises the Fire Nation Korra could stand Princess Azula. An hour passed by and Korra was really worried about Azula. She knocked on the door to get her attention and started speaking. "Mistress are you alright, you've been in their for an hour and I'm really worried about you. Please come out, because I care about you a lot." Korra said in a calm voice. After a few seconds the door opened and Korra saw Azula with tears still in her eyes. Korra wanted to say something to the Princess, but Azula wasn't in the mood so she wiped the tears from the eyes. After that she quickly got dressed and grabbed the leash saying "Let's go I don't want to keep my family waiting." She said. Korra obeyed Azula and the two left the room to meet up with the Royal family at the dining room.
Korra was still concerned about Azula, because even though she treated her badly she wanted to do the right thing and help the Princess feel better. When they arrived at the dining room Azula tied Korra to the door like she normally did. She then sat with her family and had breakfast. Throughout that time Azula was in deep thought she couldn't concentrate, because she was still upset about what happened earlier between her and Korra. "What is wrong with me, I shouldn't have punched Korra so hard. Now she probably hates me even more than ever. I don't blame her, she has every right to be afraid of me. I'm nothing more than a monster to everyone around me." Azula thought to herself. Korra could tell from Azula's facial expressions that she was still upset she began to think to herself. "I feel so sorry for Azula, I know she treats me badly, but there has to be something I can do to help make her feel better. Maybe if I try asking Azula what's bothering her it will help." Korra thought to herself. Korra then saw the family finished with their meals and just like the last few days Azula untied Korra from the door and ordered her to clean up the table and help the servants with washing the dishes. Azula then told Korra "After you finish with your work here meet me in the Royal gardens. My friends will be coming over today and I'll need you for our activities." She explained. Korra replied "Yes mistress." She said. Korra proceeded to help the servants with washing the dishes and cleaning up the table. After that she made her way over to the Royal gardens and was approached by Azula who then introduced her to friends.
The first girl was a very optimistic one with a smile on her face and wore pink clothes and had long hair tied in a braid. The other girl was a very bored child with no emotion on her face. She wore clothes similar to Azula that were fiery red. The girl in pink spoke to Azula "Who is this?" She asked, Azula replied "Ty lee this is Korra my personal slave. My father gave her to me as a birthday present." She explained. Ty lee's eyes widened after hearing this and she then approached Korra introducing herself and asking so many questions to her. "Hello Korra my name is Ty lee, I can't believe I'm meeting a slave for the first time. How long have you been a slave? What tribe are you from? Are there more slaves like you?" Ty lee asked which made Korra nervous, because she did not feel comfortable answering so many questions at once. However, before she could say anything Korra was approached by the second girl. She spoke to Azula saying "So I see you finally, got yourself a slave, I must say I'm impressed." She said, to which Azula responded "Thank you Mai." Azula said. Mai then spoke to Korra "So Korra how does it feel serving the Princess?" She asked. Korra turned to Azula then back to Mai and replied "It's alright." She said. Mai seems happy with her response and then turned to Azula saying "So what are we going to do today?" She asked and Azula responded "I'm not sure." She said. Ty lee then came up with an idea. "I know how about I teach you some acrobatic moves like cartwheeling." She said, Azula then replied "Okay sure sounds fun." She said. After that the girls begin their activities in the Royal gardens.
Meanwhile, in another section of the palace, Princess Ursa was spending time with her son Zuko while feeding the turtle ducks. "Hey mom want to see how Azula feeds turtle ducks." He said as he threw a piece of bread at one of the turtle ducks. It made the turtle duck get knocked into the water. Princess Ursa gasped at this and responded "Zuko why would you do that?" She said, to which Zuko felt guilty and concerned about the poor animal. The turtle duck resurfaced from the water and bit Zuko on the foot. Zuko yelled in pain, so his mother quickly removed the animal off his foot and placed it back into the water. Zuko now angry complained "Stupid turtle duck why did she do that?" He asked. Ursa then spoke to her son "Zuko that's what mothers do, if you mess with their babies they will bite you back." She explained. Zuko then apologized for his actions "I'm sorry mother." He said and his mother replied "It's alright Zuko I know you didn't mean to do it." She said. Zuko then had a sad look on his face as he asked his mother something important. "Mom do you think Azula will hurt Korra?" He asked, this question made Ursa worried as she was still concerned for Korra even though she wasn't with her right now. Princess Ursa knew that Azula was having her friends over today so she'll try to check in on Korra to make sure she's alright. Ursa then responded to Zuko's question "I know you worry about Korra sweetheart and trust me I do too, but I do not think your sister would do anything to hurt her." She said.
Zuko still felt uncertain about this, because even though he did not spend a lot of time with Korra he still cared about her wellbeing and wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to her. "Are you sure?" He asked, and his mother responded "I'm sure of it and I promise I will make sure that nothing bad happens to Korra, because I care about her very much." She said. This made Zuko a little bit better and after the two of them finished feeding the turtle ducks they decided to leave and head over to the Royal gardens to where Azula and her friends are playing. Meanwhile back in the Royal gardens Azula was trying to learn how to do a cartwheel with the help of Ty lee teaching her. Azula ended up failing to perform a cartwheel as she landed on her butt. Ty lee manage to perform a perfect cartwheel, but Azula was jealous of this so in response she pushed Ty lee to the ground and laughed. Ty lee ignored it and got back up. Meanwhile Mai was reading a book while sitting underneath a tree. Korra however, was tied to the same tree and was told by Azula to stand there until she needed her for something. Korra was still concerned about Azula even though the princess seemed to be in a better mood than she was this morning. Korra was still determined to make sure that Azula was alright and find out why she was upset to begin with. "I have to find out why Azula was so sad and make sure she is doing alright." Korra thought to herself. At the same Korra noticed Princess Ursa and Zuko walking towards the Royal gardens and couldn't help but smile seeing them. Korra may not have known Zuko all that well but she could tell he enjoyed spending time with his mother very much. Ursa was really kind to Korra during the times they spent together too, it reminded her of all the time she spent with her family before the Fire Nation took her away from them. Mai noticed Zuko walking by and blushed a little, unfortunately Azula noticed this and whispered something into Ty lee's ear making her giggle. Korra saw this and didn't know what Azula was up to, but she could tell it wasn't good. Azula then walked over to Zuko and her mother to ask something. "Mom will let Zuko play with us we need another person to play a game?" She asked. Zuko replied "I am not cartwheeling with you or your friends." He said.
Azula crossed her arms and responded "You won't have to cartwheeling is not a game, dumb dumb." She said. Zuko then replied "I don't care I don't want to play with you." He said, to which Azula responded "We are brother and sister, we should use this time to spend time together. Don't you think so mom?" She asked while pretending to smile innocently. Before Princess Ursa could answer her daughter she turned her attention to Korra who was tied to a tree. Ursa wanted to take Korra away from Azula and make sure she was alright, but she did not want to cause a scene in front of her friends so for now she decided to have Zuko play with his sister while she goes to check if Iroh has delivered a scroll to the palace. "Yes I think it's a good idea for you to play with your sister. Go on I'll be right back I just have to check if your uncle has delivered a scroll to the palace." She said to her son, before she left the area Ursa whispered into Zuko's ear saying "Zuko please make sure Azula doesn't do anything to Korra while I'm gone alright." She said. Zuko replied by saying "Yes mother I promise." He said. After that Princess Ursa left the Royal gardens. Zuko and Azula then walked over to where Ty lee, Mai, and Korra were standing. Azula untied Korra from the tree and brought her over by the pond. Azula then grabbed some apples from the tree and started explaining a game she wants to play. "So here's what we're going to play. All you have to do is knock the apple off the person's head. Zuko knew where this was going and stepped in to stop his sister from going any further. "No way I'm not going to let you use Korra as target practice." He said, Azula rolled her eyes and replied, "Relax Zuzu I'm not going to use her for target practice, that's why I'm using Mai instead." She said, to which Mai responded "Why me?" She asked. Azula then explained "Well I need Korra to hold the apples and I know Ty lee won't participate so your it." She said. Mai sighed and just did what she was told and stood in position while Azula placed the apple on her head. Korra held on to the other apples, but felt bad for Mai that she had to be the one used for target practice. Azula decided to go first and shot a fire ball hitting the apple and knocking it off Mai's head. Korra then placed another one on Mai's head and watched as it was now Zuko's turn. Zuko unlike his sister messed up, for whatever reason he decided to run towards Mai and tried to shoot a fire ball closer, but ended up tripping and knocking himself and Mai into the pond. Azula laughed while saying "See I told you it would work." She said, Ty lee then said "Aww they're so cute together." She said. Mai got out of the pond and responded "You two are such uhh…" Mai couldn't finish her sentence because she was angry with being humiliated by Azula. Zuko felt the same way and got out of the pond too. Korra did not like seeing this, she knew that Azula and Zuko did not get along very well, but she didn't think that the princess would pull a prank on her own brother like that. Korra then noticed Princess Ursa returning to the Royal gardens with a scroll in her hands. "I was just coming to get you, Uncle Iroh just delivered a message from the war front. Why are you all wet?" Ursa asked, to which Zuko replied "Girls are crazy!" Zuko said in anger. Ursa then turned her attention to Azula and said "What happened here?" She asked, Azula then responded "Nothing mother, Zuko is just bad at playing games." She said.
Zuko furious by this said "She's lying, Azula set me up for a prank and made me fall into the pond on purpose." He explained. "Is this true?" Ursa asked, "No mother." Azula said. Zuko then said "It is true mother she's always trying to make me look bad, because she's sick in the head and won't leave me alone." He said to which made Azula angry. "Don't you dare say that about me. I'm not sick Zuko, you just can't help the fact that I'm better than you." She said. Korra didn't like where this was going and needed to do something before it got worse. Korra quickly dropped the apples and ran over to Azula begging her to stop. "Mistress please don't do this, I don't want you get upset." She said. Azula got even more angry, because her slave was being disobedient. "Stay out of this Korra." Azula said, Korra replied "But I care about you and…." Korra wasn't able to finish her sentence, because Azula yelled at her. "I SAID SHUT UP!" Azula said as she slapped her hard in the face making Korra fall to the ground. She then ignited a flame threatening to burn her. Everyone gasped at this. Princess Ursa grabbed Azula's hand and said "Young lady that is enough." She said. Azula came back to her senses and realized what she had done. Korra was crying and backed away from Azula while Mai and Ty lee helped her up. Azula started crying too, because she felt completely guilty for what she had done. Princess Ursa then said "Azula go to your room and when I'm done helping Korra, you and and I are going to have a long talk." She explained. Azula nodded and did what she was told. After that Princess Ursa then told Mai and Ty lee to go home back to their families. Once that was taken care of Princess Ursa ordered Zuko to wait in the palace until she finished helping Korra get healed up.
Princess Ursa then took Korra to the healer to get treated for the slap she received from Azula. During the whole time Korra thought to herself "Azula was going to hurt me really bad right in front of her friends and family. Why is she so cruel, even when I try to help her she still treats me terribly. Is this really my fate. Am I to forever be tormented by the Princess of the Fire Nation. I know my mother and father want me to be brave, but I don't know if I can keep doing that." She thought to herself. Meanwhile, back in Azula's room, the Princess laid in her bed crying as she couldn't believe she lost her temper again. She nearly burned Korra if her mother hadn't stopped her from doing that. Azula then thought to herself "I truly am a monster. My mother hates me, my brother thinks I'm sick in the head, my friends are afraid of me, and worst of all I nearly tried to kill Korra. I don't deserve to live. Is this my destiny to be viewed as this monster throughout the Fire Nation?" She thought to herself as she kept crying even more.
Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the story. The next one will be longer I promise, but I wanted to make sure that the direction for this story is going keep changing just as I promised the author when I got their permission to write this. Please leave a review and I'll make sure that the next chapter will be updated. Thank you so much and I hope you have a good day.