CHAPTER 1
Middle of the Ocean,
Fire Lord Royal Barge.
5th day of the voyage.
Fire Lord Zuko had been staring at the horizon watching the sun go down on the superior deck of the barge for a while now.
They were late, he thought.
The letter his friends had sent him a few days before said; that they will meet him on his way to Yu Dao. Which, according to the Captain, was less than a day away. And they were still, nowhere to be seen.
In Yu Dao, they were going to wait for Toph, Suki and the Kyoshi warriors to join them. They have been in Cranefish Town for almost two years helping establish a chi-blocking and metalbender police force.
From there, they were all going to travel on the Royal Barge to Ba Sing Se.
Zuko had to admit that he was a little bit nervous and anxious about seeing his friends again. Almost three years had passed since the last time he saw them, back in the Pole. They all had been busy with their own stuff. Aang with his Avatar things, and Zuko with his own Fire Lord problems. But they have remained in contact through correspondence.
However, what worried him most at the moment, was how they were going to react when they found out about…
A roar in the sky pushed him out of his thoughts, and back into reality.
The huge flying bison roared before landing on the deck of the barge softly.
Appa licked Zuko from head to toe as a greeting.
"Hey Appa," he smiled softly, "I missed you, too." he said before patting the huge animal's head.
Aang's head popped out behind the reins of bison. "Hey, Sifu Hot-man!" said the Avatar with a joyful, but still childish smile.
"Hey Aang," Zuko greeted him, not bothered by his nickname, "It's been so long," he affirmed when the airbender landed gently in front of him.
"Too long," Aang said, surrounding Zuko into a welcoming embrace.
They split apart when the sound of dropping bags distracted them.
"Zuko!" Katara said with a smile, happy to see him in so long, and just as her boyfriend did; she embraced him too into a hug.
"It's good to see you too, Katara." said the young Fire Lord.
"Buddy!" Sokka said behind his sister, stretching his arms at each side to also squeeze him into a hug.
"Hey, buddy!" they patted each other back, "I missed you all," he admitted, "It's been so long."
"Too long." Sokka agreed.
"By the way, happy -very belated- birthday," Zuko congratulated him, "I'm sorry I missed it. But these last couple of months have been hectic."
He waved a hand carelessly. "Nah… Don't even mention it."
The Fire Lord smirked. "In that case, even if it's almost two months late, should I cancel the little feast I planned for you as compensation?" he teased him.
"Really?" Sokka raised his eyebrows excited. Zuko snickered at his reaction, he knew Sokka really enjoyed Fire Nation cuisine. His mouth was already watering at the mere thought of food.
"Huh?" Katara tilted her head, now taking a better look at her friend. "You are letting your hair grow."
Zuko nodded. "Yeah… I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to even get a haircut," he shrugged. "But, it's starting to grow on me"
"You should leave it… It fits you." Katara complimented him.
The Fire Lord smiled a little. "Thanks."
Zuko took a little glance at his friends. During the almost three years apart, they had all changed.
Aang had gotten -finally- way taller than Katara, maybe even a head taller than her, and almost as tall as Zuko. His voice was deeper than the last time he saw him, and he was also stronger than he remembered.
Katara was also taller, slimmer and her hair was longer.
But the one he was more surprised about, was Sokka. He was even taller than Aang. Probably even taller than himself, and he was really brawny. He almost seemed like a completely different person from the water boy he remembered.
"You guys must be starving," Zuko said.
"A little."
"Sokka insisted for a quick lunch break," Aang explained, "That's why we got here a little late."
Sokka scratched the back of his head, "Guilty," he said, "But you didn't wait for too long, right?"
"No," Zuko replied.
But truth to be told, he was more worried about who he was making wait for him. She did not like to be kept waiting.
"We are meeting Toph and the others tomorrow, right?" he inquired, "I didn't get a confirmation before leaving the Fire Nation."
"Yeah," affirmed Katara.
"Toph and the Kyoshi Warriors have been doing an amazing job in Crane-fish Town," Sokka said.
"I kind of miss them. I got used to having them around, back in the Palace…" he admitted, as he led them inside the barge, and towards his office. "And also, they were always very helpful." Zuko added.
"Like when they helped us with Azula and the kemurikage…" Aang uttered, "By the way, any clues of her?" he inquired.
Zuko glanced away and rubbed his neck. "W-We can talk about that at the dinner…" he wished to avoid the subject -at least for now-, so he turned to Sokka. "By the way, how are you doing with the whole breakup thing?" he knew barely anything about the subject, even though he knew their friends had broken up almost a year ago.
"I'm totally over it." Sokka said with a soft smile, "It was for the best, you know?" he shrugged, "And also, Yoro is a cool guy. He is the captain of Toph's father's guards. So as long as Suki is happy, I'm happy."
"That's nice. I suppose." Zuko muttered.
"And how is Mai?" Katara asked.
The Fire Lord blushed. "Well, we have been meeting, eventually and…"
…
It has been almost an hour since Zuko had called for her presence. Almost an hour she had been waiting for him in his office.
She was sat in his chair facing the door with her feet on the desk and playing with the old handy dagger that Mai had once gifted her. So long ago. She was throwing the dagger, catching it, twirling it in her fingers, and repeating the process over and over, until she finally heard voices on the other side of the door.
She got her feet off the desk when she heard Zuko's voice. The door opened.
"... It's been a long time and just let me explain before…" Zuko jolted up when a small dagger flew next to him and got stuck in the wall next to his head. "What the…?"
"It was time for you to show up!" she snapped bitterly, crossing her arms and legs. "You know how long I have been…" the Princess stopped talking when she realized who was the company of her sibling. Her eyes went to each one, as they all had defensive stances. She acknowledged the Avatar, the water bender, and… "You." Azula frowned.
"You." Sokka squealed, jolted and shocked.
From all the people he could have imagined to find there, Azula was the least probable. Not after what she had told him the last time they had ran into each other. She had been so convinced about not returning to the Fire Nation, that he couldn't avoid been stunned about seeing her there. Not after how they had parted ways.
"You." Azula frowned even deeper.
Seeing him standing there, had brought back the rage she still held for him. The last time they had crossed paths had been under unfortunate circumstances, which had ended in him, betraying her. Just like everyone else.
"You."
The Princess rolled her eyes as she leaned forward on the desk. "You know, in my country, we exchange a nice 'Hello' before anything else," she grunted. Zuko made a grin remembering that she had once told him the exact same words many years ago. "Are you all this uncivilized?" she tilted her head, teasing him.
"Azula," Zuko scolded her. She leaned back on the chair, still smirking. Zuko sighed, and then turned to watch the very, very confused and shocked faces of his friends. "As I said… It has been a long time." he said, pulling out the dagger from the wall.
The three newcomers were still too astonished to say something or formulate a question.
It was Azula who talked, first.
"Huh," her eyes went to the monk, "You are finally taller than you girlfriend." Azula made sure to point out quizzical to the Avatar.
Aang blinked a few times. "Yeah," he said proudly, "I surpassed her a while back." the Avatar relaxed a little, if she was going to attack them, she would have done it already.
"Why is she here?" asked Sokka, gaping and frowning.
"Hey… Your voice finally stopped being squishy…" she mocked Sokka.
"It was never…" he squeaked sounding more sharped that he would have wished. Azula raised her eyebrows, and her smirk grew bigger. "It was never squishy!" he said deepening his voice.
The Avatar relaxed even more as he chuckled, as well as Katara who was still alert to any movement of the Princess. "What are you doing Zuko?" Katara inquired, "And why is she here? We knew you were looking for her, but..."
"Are you crazy?!" Sokka snapped, elated.
Zuko took a deep breath, before starting his explanation. "Well, we…"
"Wait…" Azula interrupted him, "Hasn't Zuzu told you?" she questioned, mischievously.
"Tell us, what?" All three said at the same time, equally confused.
Zuko snorted and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was a topic he had wished they had reached more warily. "Thanks… Azula," he grunted a little irked.
"You are welcome." the Princess replied with that iconic smirk of hers.
"You guys, should all take a seat," he suggested to his friends while tossing the little knife in the desk in front of his sister, giving her a serious look which the Princess translated to Be nice.
She rolled her eyes.
"W-What are you doing?" Sokka asked, warily, "W-why are you returning her the pointy and very lethal thing? Which, she could use to kill one of us, including you..."
Azula huffed. "I never miss, savage. If I wished to kill him, I would have done it." Zuko gave her a bad look. She ignored him, as she returned her attention to play with the dagger in her fingers.
"That doesn't make me feel better, at all," muttered Sokka.
"Just sit and let me explain," Zuko said sitting in one of the couches across from his friends. Zuko sighed and leaned forward supporting his elbows on his knees. "The thing is... First, you all knew I was following her trace."
"Yeah, but you never said why?" Katara pointed.
"That takes me to the second point; she is here because I asked her. I never had intentions of throwing her back into the Asylum or behind bars." he said. All three jaws fell, "I needed help with my duties and there is no one better than her to help me deal with all the issues I was having a hard time with." he explained and glanced at his sister who was focused on her nails at the moment. He raised a hand to stop Sokka and Katara from protesting and interrupting him. "And lastly, she is coming with us to Ba Sing Se because she is not only my sister, she is also the Fire Nation Princess..."
"Which tried to kill you, and us…" Katara said, sternly.
Azula rolled her eyes annoyed, putting away her dagger. "I admit, that was nasty," she said grimacing in agreement, "Yet, here you are all, huh?" she retorted, "Complaining till death... Now, I know why all of you are friends…" she snorted, mockingly.
"Azula…" Zuko chided her bitterly.
She sighed. "Fine." she waved a hand carelessly. "I will shut up," Azula uttered.
Sokka huffed. "Like you could." he muttered between teeth.
"What did you say, peasant?" she roared, scowling at Sokka.
"Told you." said Sokka.
"Guys, please," Aang interfered, "Let him finish."
Zuko gave him a thankful look while Aang softly smiled back. The Fire Lord rubbed his face. "She is the Princess, and also…" he made a pause.
"Go on. Don't be shy…" Azula pressured him to finish with a smirk.
Zuko gulped. "She is my Royal adviser." he added.
"Are you crazy?!" Katara squealed, baffled "Your what?!"
"Your royal what?!"
"Tsk. Oh, jeez," Zuko snorted, "Thanks for the support." he said, sarcastically.
"No. I mean, we do support you. Of course, we do... " Aang rushed to say, but he was also surprised by the news. "But, it's a little..."
"Suspicious…" Sokka intervened, frowning, "Are you sure you are our Zuko?" he asked warily, narrowing his eyes.
"Huh?" Zuko raised his eyebrow. Azula rolled her eyes. "What do you mean by that?" the Fire Lord inquired, bemused.
"You guys. Remember when Long Feng used hypnosis on the Joo Dees?" questioned Sokka, looking at Zuko very cautiously.
"What about that?"
"Listen," he said making them get closer. Everyone looked at him intrigued about what he was going to say, even the Princess. "Once Long Feng was gone, Azula used to be the leader of the Dai Li," he made a pause to glance suspiciously at the Princess. "What if she hypnotized him just like they did with Jet?" he pointed at the Princess accusatively, like if he had just figured out a huge conspiracy.
Katara and Zuko´s eyebrows twitched.
Azula laughed. "That's ridicu…"
"You are right!" Aang snapped his fingers, agreeing with Sokka.
All eyes landed on the Avatar.
"What?" Zuko, Azula, and Katara replied at the same time ,making a grin.
Azula sighed while rubbing her temple, exasperated. "Are you all that dumb?" she asked glancing at him, frowning.
"She didn't hypnotize me…" Zuko assured, sulking.
Sokka narrowed his eyes. "That's what you would say…"
Katara next to him slapped her forehead. "Agr... Sokka..."
Azula leaned forward on the desk, placing her hands entwined on it. "You seriously think I would waste my time with a silly trick like that?" she asked, scowling. He couldn't be that dumb, could he?
"Well, you have tricked him before." Sokka said, matter-of-factly.
"Not by hypnosis, you moron!" she grunted, "I used to trick him into doing stuff." she admitted, "But it was... by conviction; popularly known as manipulation." she cleared, "You only need a little conviction and a mind below the average to accomplish that. It's that not hard. Everyone can do it just by... using eventually long phrases, and telling them what they want to hear."
"You think you are so smarter than everyone else…" he said, bitterly.
Azula smirked. "On the contrary... I don't think I am, I know I am…" she said cockily, "And I have proved as much to you all many times…"
"Yeah? Say one time." he demanded.
The Princess placed a hand under her chin thoughtful. "Humph… Gee... I don't know… Little things like..." she made a grin,"... Infiltrating Ba Sing Se and taking total control of the city all by myself? Or, humph, I don't know… How I was able to destroy your plan of the invasion on the Day of the Black Sun? Not to mention, I was able to hold back not only you..." she pointed at Sokka quizzical, "and you…" then pointed at the Avatar. "...and also, your little earth bender friend." Azula started to play with her bangs. "Oh, and I did it all without my bending, so…"
"Oh, shut up." he snarled, pouting. She had made a point, and in all honesty, the Day of the Black Sun was something that was a soft spot for him and his ego. "I said name one, not three." Sokka muttered.
"Enough!" Zuko intervened after losing his patience. "You calm down!" he pointed at Sokka, "And you…" he turned to his sister, "... be nice."
Azula snorted. "Don't you see I'm trying, Zuzu?" she retorted, "But it so hard!... Overall, with him." she nodded towards Sokka with her head.
Katara had to agree on this one with the Princess, -even if it was the last thing she wanted to-, but her brother was being quite ridiculous. "Yeah, Sokka, you are being right now quite…"
Sokka turned to glance at his sister with disgruntlement. "Hey! I'm your brother!" he squeaked, "Little support?"
"See? Even, she can't stand him!"
"I wouldn't say I can't stand him." Katara uttered.
Aang, who realized that the vein in Zuko's forehead was about to explode, decided to intervene. "Guys, guys, please…" he said raising his hands trying to calm down the situation. "Zuko is right… We have to calm down, and have a civilized conversation." the Avatar said, "So, what about 10 minutes of everyone trying to be cordial?" he proposed.
No one said a word.
Sokka and Azula were pouting and glancing away.
Katara cleared her throat and poked her sibling with her elbow in the ribs.
Sokka huffed. "Fine! I will agree if she agrees."
Azula rolled her eyes and let out a sarcastic snort. "I will agree if he agrees." she refuted.
"Grow up." Sokka muttered.
"Look who's talking, you little sh…"
But before the Princess could finish, someone came out from behind the painting, jolting them up.
"Enough!" she shouted, "Stop it!" Kiyi commanded.
"Kiyi?" Zuko asked, surprised by the presence of his little nine-year-old half-sister. "How long…?" he inquired, baffled.
She ignored him and stepped in the middle of the room, pointing at Azula and Sokka. "You two fight too much…." she complained.
"Blame him"
"Blame her." they pointed at each other.
Kiyi grunted. "Agr...Tsk! Not even how much I want to spy on you is worth a second more of this…" she muttered, peeved, covering her ears with her hands.
Zuko's eyes widened. "You wanted to…" he was dumbstruck at the little one. None of the five adults had noticed her presence in the room
"Wait…" Azula looked at the little girl. "What are you doing here? And how long have you been hiding there?" she asked intrigued, narrowing her eyes. "I heard your mother saying you were napping." the Princess quirked a brow, inquisitively.
Kiyi shrugged, innocently. "I was a while ago. But not anymore."
"Why are you here anyway?" Zuko inquired.
"I was bored all by myself and I heard when Zuzu sent for you." she explained, looking at Azula. "So, I thought I would just sneak in here and listen."
"So, you sneaked in here because you wished to hear our conversation?" Azula crossed her arms over her chest.
Kiyi nodded. "Yeah," she admitted, carelessly.
Zuko looked to her, ready to reprimand her. "Little miss, that's wro…"
Azula smirked. "I'm proud of you." she said, smiling proudly at Kiyi.
"What?" refuted Zuko in disbelief, "Azula!" he said, pestered. "Don't encourage her!"
"What?" Azula shrugged innocently. "At her age, I was sneaking into grandfather's war meetings, so?"
"Of course, you were…" Sokka mumbled, but she was still able to hear him.
"Tsk!" she rolled her eyes displeased. "Anyways," she turned her attention on Kiyi again. "You. Go wait outside. Now. And it's an order."
"But, you were going to…" she tried to protest.
"Discuss important things that you are going to find boring…" Azula made a grin of nuisance, "So, go get washed up. It's almost dinner time. Your mother is going to look for you at any moment." Kiyi pouted, but nodded in agreement before heading towards the door. "And Kiyi," she called her, "From now on, I will be alert in case you want to sneak in again, got it?" she winked an eye to the little one.
Everyone else -except for Zuko- was watching the interaction perplexed and astonished.
"Since when did you turn so good with kids?" Katara turned to question the Princess. If she recalled correctly, Aang had said that she had been the mastermind behind the massive kidnapping that occurred a few years ago, back in the Fire Nation, hadn't she?
Zuko side smiled. "I told you, it has been a long year."
"So, wait... then, how long has she been here then?" Aang asked, curious.
"Around eleven months." the Fire Lord replied.
"A year, next week." Azula clarified.
Her brother turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you keep count?" he inquired.
Azula looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You don't?" Zuko didn't answer. She sighed, "Anything else you morons would like to noise around?" she questioned. The loser gang -as Azula nicknamed them- denied. "In that case... Later drifters," she said before walking out of the office and heading towards her room.
The voyage had no other end than getting them to Ba Sing Se and make every preparation and negotiation needed for the new -all nations- integrated city, which was going to be located where Crane-fish town now was.
Zuko had been really insistent -she had rejected the idea of it a few times- on her to join him on the voyage, due to her amazing negotiation skills, and because during the last year she had been helping him in the Palace as his advisor. Things were better than ever, even better than when their father had been on the throne.
Over a year ago, she had never imagined that she would be back in the Fire Nation Capital, least of all step a foot in the Palace or turn into Zuko's adviser, but life gives many turns and one of those was Zuko appearing in Lian Yu, looking for her.
"Come home. Come home and shout at me. Fight with me. Make fun of me, if you must. Just... come home, please."
Kiyi knocked on her door half an hour later, to tell her dinner was ready and served. Since she had returned to the Palace, her little half-sister followed her everywhere. In the beginning, she had found it a little odd, strange actually, but by now, she was used to. After all, Kiyi was one of the reasons why she was back in the Fire Nation.
Kiyi had done a few changes in her life, -she was the one who insisted for her to eat with the rest of the family instead of alone in her room-. But overall, for all the things she had done, Kiyi was the only one that had never judged her for her past. Her innocence and ignorance of her past were one of the things Azula appreciated most of her. And it was probably one of the main reasons why during the past year, she had grown fond of her little nine-year-old sister.
"Did your mother notice that you weren't asleep?" the Princess inquired, as they walked towards the dining room.
"Nope," Kiyi denied smiling. "What did you guys talk about when I left?"
"Boring stuff." said Azula, sitting in her usual place.
Ursa and Noren were already at the table when the girls walked in talking.
Usually, Zuko would take the head seat, with his mother next to him. And since the Princess started to join them for the meals, Azula would take the other head, at the farthest end of her mother and her husband. After Azula joined them, Kiyi switched places, from being at the other side from Zuko, to sit next to the Princess.
"You always say that when it's important stuff." Kiyi pouted, inflating her cheeks.
Azula smirked. "You are getting sharper every day, huh?" she uttered.
Kiyi natural curiosity reminded her of her own at her age.
"She is a lot like you, you know?" Ursa intervened, "She reminds me of you at her age." she said with a warm smile.
"And you wish she didn't, don't you?" Azula muttered, bitterly.
"Azula…"
"... It's an amazing idea, okay?" Zuko barged in the room, followed closely by his friends.
"Stop it, Sokka." the waterbender pleaded, "It's not going to happen."
"Just picture, this…" said Sokka, but his words were left in oblivion when they noticed that they were no longer alone.
"Lady Ursa," said Aang with a smile, "It's been so long." he walked to greet her and her husband with a little bow. They stood and did the same. "How have you all been?"
"Very well. Thank you for asking," she smiled, "Look at you… You have gotten really tall."
Azula huffed and rolled her eyes annoyed.
"Noren, Ursa. It's so good to see you again." said Katara.
"Yes, yes, yes…." the Princess interrupted waving a hand carelessly. "Can we end this gibberish and please get to the dinner...?" she said, irked, "The sooner we are done, the sooner we won't have to see each other's faces for the rest of the day."
Sokka and Katara opened their mouths to reply to her rudeness, but when the servants began to bring out their food to the table, they chose the wiser approach and just took their seat at the table.
The Avatar took the empty place next to Zuko, with his girlfriend between him and Kiyi. In front of Kiyi was Sokka, who pouted while taking a seat next to Azula, who ignored his presence.
"Hey Kiyi," Aang greeted the little girl, "Earlier, I didn't get a chance to tell you, but you have gotten so tall."
"I know. I'm the tallest of my class." the little girl smiled, "You also got really tall. But you are still… bald."
The Water Tribe people snickered at the comment of the little one.
Sokka rubbed his hands as he looked around the table not knowing at what plate to dig into first. So, he decided to dig into all of them at the same time.
Azula spent the meal in silence hoping to interact as little as possible with the rest of the diners. She only hoped for this trip to be over soon, preferably in a smooth way. She knew her brother's friends were wary about her presence there, and she couldn't care less about how they felt or thought. However, she hoped that their distrust won't influence Zuko's, putting at risk everything they had been working on for over a year.
For months, she had been working with Zuko trying to ameliorate the obsolete laws of the Nation. It had been really challenging work from both of their parts, but right now, the Nation was better than it had been in previous years.
It was almost until the end of the dinner, when two pairs of chopsticks crashed in the plate trying to hold at the last piece of meat.
"Let go." said Azula with a disgruntled look.
"You let go. I got it first." Sokka replied, equally annoyed.
"No, you didn't." the Princess grunted.
"I did..."
"Sokka." Katara reprimanded him, fully aware of how childish her sibling could be about meat.
"Be a gentleman, would you?" she grunted, tightening the hold of her food.
"I would love too." he said ironically, with a fake smile, before narrowing his eyes. "But not with the meat."
They stared at each other with deadly glares, not blinking and without letting go the piece of meat.
When a third pair of chopsticks stole the piece of meat from them, they both glanced at the meat stealer, gaping.
Kiyi let out a moan. "Whoa… It was really good. The last piece is the best." she uttered, savoring the last piece.
"You little…"
"Hey!... You!…" Both snarled.
Everyone else in the table laughed. The little one had outsmarted the two more intelligent people at the table.
Kiyi smiled. "It tasted good." she left out a big sigh.
"She is doing it on purpose, right?" Sokka snarked, vexed.
"Tsk! Of course, she is… Wicked child." Azula muttered, throwing her chopsticks onto the table carelessly before crossing her arms.
"Now, I'm full." Kiyi said, patting again her belly and leaning back on her chair.
"You have a big appetite child," said Sokka.
"You are the one to say Sokka." Katara said, smirking. "I'm surprised you didn't jump at her to try and take it." she teased him.
"He wouldn't, would he?" Azula said, quirking an eyebrow.
From time to time, Zuko had shared histories of his friends, and a few of them included getting in trouble for Sokka's voracious eating habits.
"I wouldn't guarantee that," the waterbender replied, "Especially when it's meat."
"What's your favorite food?" Kiyi asked Sokka curiously.
"Everything meat-related." Sokka answered in a heartbeat.
The girl crossed her arms and closed her eyes scowling. "Hmmph… In that case…" she said, after a little pondering. "You will be my husband." she stated.
Her last words caused a stunned reaction in the table. Every pair of eyes turned towards her.
"What?!" Sokka squealed with his eyes widened.
"Heh?" said Azula, confused, making a grin. "Hey, kid... Why do you want this clown as a husband?" she pointed at him with a nod. "You can do much better."
Sokka turned his attention towards the Princess, incensed. "You know I can hear you, right?" he grunted.
Azula glanced back at him. "Yeah… Now eat and shut up." she said pointing at his almost empty bowl of rice.
He pouted. "You…"
"What?! What?! Huh?"
He opened his mouth to say something, but instead stuffed his mouth with food while sulking.
A little after that, the dinner was over and after Azula wished a good night only to Kiyi, before leaving towards her room
Even though her room in the Fire Lord's Barge was still big, it was smaller than the one on her own barge.
Her barge was bigger and faster than his, but this one had more rooms, -which was quite convenient for her-. She certainly didn't want to end up sharing rooms with any of her brother's friends. It was already bad enough being forced to co-exist with them for a little over a month.
Azula left her chamber a little after midnight. Her journal and pen in her hand.
During her days in the institution, the physicians came up with a few ideas to help her ease her troubled mind. Some of the ideas helped, and some others didn't. Painting, writing, healing talks, and many, many more, were a few suggestions.
One that worked, was to write in a journal all the thoughts that crossed her mind that day, whenever she could fall asleep.
For a long time, she had rejected the idea, arguing that it was useless. But after Zirin and the girls convinced her, she started to enjoy it.
At first, it was only furious scrawls. Then, angry words which soon turned into phrases. Then, full paragraphs. Until, they finally became actual, full pages. And lastly, it turned into a habit. A habit that even after she went back to the Palace, she still, from time to time, does.
The smell of salt-water filled her nostrils. There was barely any wind on the deck and there was no other light than the one from the moonlight.
She leaned on the railing. The reflection of the moon on the water was perfect. The ocean was calm, in peace. The only the sound was the barge crashing against the waves.
Azula's mind was completely at ease. It has been like that for almost seven years now. And she intends to keep it that way for as long as she can. Even after five years, the constant fear of losing her mind was still there. Just remembering how horrible it felt not being in control of her own mind, how vulnerable she had felt, but most of all, how alone she had been and that made her shiver.
By being her brother advisor, she had been given another chance. Another chance she knew she didn't deserve... but Zuko, for some reason, did.
For so long, she thought he didn't want her in his life. Before returning to the Palace, he had been looking for her. Initially, she had thought that he wanted her back to throw her back into the institution, or in a cell. So, by any means, she refused to go back.
And when he had showed up in Lian Yu, she was astonished that he had taken the time to search for her. But what had startled her more, had been his words... I'm not leaving. Unless, you agree to come home he said, firmly, back then.
Their relationship had never been easy. Maybe because of her. Maybe because of him. But one thing she had been sure when she had accepted to go home with him, it had been that this time, she would at least try to make things work between them.
Try and fix what was broken.
Twenty years of constant fighting and trying to kill each other had just been too much. It was pointless and exhausting for both of them.
She was exhausted and even though she would never admit it, she wanted a family as much as he wanted one.
Azula noticed the shadow coming out of tower when she was almost done with her writing, but it wasn't until it got close to her that she realized who it was.
She stayed there in silence, hoping that he will not notice her and would eventually go back inside. She didn't feel like talking to him. She was still a little peeved for what had happened between them, not only a couple of hours ago, but also what had happened over a year ago.
He leaned on the railing looking at the sky and muttered something she didn't get to hear.
Her intention of going unnoticed went to the drain, her pen slipped through her fingers clumsily. The noise alerted him of her presence.
He let out a frightened scream, aghast.
Azula smirked. "You still scream like a girl," she mocked, "I see you haven't changed."
"I got more handsome. But I don't think it shows," Sokka muttered. She rolled her eyes. He took a few steps closer in her direction. "What are you doing here?" he asked, when he could finally recognize her silhouette.
"I should be asking you that. I was here first." Azula retorted, casually.
"What are you doing?" he asked when he noticed the notebook in her hands.
She sighed, and gave him an irked glance. "If you are not going to answer me, then you should have the decency to not ask me the same" Azula replied.
"I needed to think, but... I guess, I will go."
The Princess shrugged. "I don't mind. As long as you promise to pretend to ignore me and keep doing your stuff, I will promise to ignore you and keep doing my stuff." she proposed.
Sokka nodded. "It seems like a good deal."
He leaned on the rail with his forearms, still looking at the sky, but this time he was silent.
She glanced at him through the corner of her eye. He was staring at the moon, something she had noticed he was quite fond of doing. She didn't realize when his attention moved on to her.
"You kept your hairstyle." Sokka pointed out, remembering how he had complemented her once about having her hair in a half updo, saying it made her look prettier.
She gulped. "Well, it's easier to style in the morning." she said, finishing her writing or at least trying to.
"What are you doing?" he asked after a while, looking at her writing non-stop.
She didn't stop writing. "I guess someone is still not good at keeping promises, huh?" she muttered with a smirk not glancing in his direction, remembering how he had betrayed her.
"What? What is that supposed to mean?" he frowned, confused.
She looked up at him. "Don't pretend to be a fool. You know what you did," said Azula, galled.
"What did I…?" he asked, disoriented.
"But don't worry, I already forgot it." she cut him, returning her attention to her writing. And indeed, she had -mostly- forgotten about it, but she has not forgiven him.
He raised a brow. "You are throwing at my face a promise I broke? And what about you? Huh? What about it?" Sokka grunted. As far as he knew, she had been the one who broke their promise, not him.
"Me?" she grunted, turning to be face to face to him. "Wait..." she made a pause, raising her eyebrows. "Are you still mad at me for something that happened over a year ago?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Grow up." she said, fumed.
Sokka clenched his fists and tightened his lips before replying. "You know what? Yes! I'm still mad at you for that!" he snapped, irked, pointing at her. "You left me there! No goodbye. No note. Nothing. I woke up and you were gone." he accused her.
She had made him furious.
Back then, in Lian Yu, they had made a promise to each other. But they had both broken it.
When he first saw her in the Barge, he had been stunned to find her there, but he was most shocked when he found out she had been back in the Fire Nation for almost a year now.
"So?"
"So...?" he huffed, furiously. Azula saw a vein in his neck pop out. "Spirits! You are unbelievable!" Sokka shouted, " After everything that happened. After we..."
"After everything that happened?!" she quirked an eyebrow, "What? Did you thought we were friends?" she said, quizzically with a smirk.
"Well, yeah."
She rolled her eyes. "I told you, I don't have friends." Azula said, bitingly.
"You keep saying that, and…" Sokka sighed, his rage decreasing.
"And what?" she grunted, narrowing her eyes.
"Nothing." he shook his head. "Agr!... You are just impossible!" he muttered.
"What the hell is your problem?!" the Princess bellowed, irked, "Are you trying to blame me?"
"No." he replied, "I just... I just, want to know…" Sokka exhaled. "Why you disappeared like that? I just…"
She interrupted him. "Fine. As you seem much intrigued, I will tell you." she said, irked and approached him slowly in a menacing way. "I told you from the first moment, I wasn't willing to come back to the Fire Nation. I told you that every time you insisted and yet, you tricked me... I found the letter…" Azula uttered in a tone that made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle.
"What are you…?"
"You thought that I wasn't going to find out?" she questioned, "I found out what you were planning. And I left like that because yes, no matter how much I wished to trust you, I couldn't. And how right I was…."
"It's not what you…"
"It wasn't too much of a coincidence that the same day you were supposed to depart, Zuko showed up." she stated, "For people like you, who say one thing and do another, I don't have friends. Because they are all fucking traitors. And I'm sick of all of you."
And like that, she left him there. Standing alone, in the middle of the night.
A/N:
HUGE SHOUTOUT TO RAGNARVONSLAV for all helping me revise this story and correcting my stupid-ass spelling and grammar mistakes.
So here it is, FINALLY! The first chapter to this beloved story of mine. And probably my favorite so far.
Okay, Fist I have to explain some things.
This story follows canon, including the comics (which, I'm not very fan off, but works for the plot) It happens 3 years after Imbalance. Which, takes me to the next point... The ages.
Goods..., This is the one things that took me the longest to figure it out -almost like the plot, hahaha- because I just... I can't. As I said; I'm not a fan of the comics. Firstly for the turn that Azula's story has taken, and also because if you try to fit them chronologically it's just... IMPOSSIBLE.
For what we know, the Promise starts one year later after the end of the war. Then, it ends with the beginning of the Promise. Which in my mind would make Azula- 15, Zuko-17. But... If you look at almost every official page, the stories are placed in different years. Which -for me- doesn't make sense. Then, we have the riff and the smoke and shadows comics, which for me the S&S happens like weeks probably months AFTER THE SEARCH, but again, they are placed years apart -which doesn't make sense, at least for me. If it does for you, please explain it to my dumb brain.
So for me, MY time line is something like this (In Azula's age.)
In The promise, she is 15. The search-15. The rift-16. Smoke and shadow-16. South and north-17. Imbalance-18 (I know she doesn't appear in those but, just as reference)
Which, would make her 22 at the beginning of my story. So, in summary:
Azula 22 Zuko 24 Sokka 24
Aang 20 Katara 22 Toph 20
Kiyi 9. -I know we don't know her exact age. But, she was supposed less than 5 during the search. So, for the way she acts in that comic, I made her 2 (also, highly inspired by my nice) so if you do the math. She is 9.
If there are any more comics published after Imbalance... I will totally ignore them - that includes Legacy of the FN-. But I will use the books of Rise of Kyoshi and Shadow of Kyoshi as a historical reference. (If you haven't read them, it's ok. I'm not going to be giving spoilers or make TOO MUCH reference.)
Lastly, has anyone noticed that lately in fics where we age Azula, she is mostly 21? I don't know. At first I was going to make her 23, but for different various reason it didn't worked with the timeline.
Finally, feel free to ask any doubt in the comment. You can also find me on tumblr under the same username: Libbysatton25.