The captain of the Firelord's Personal Guard (the one traditionally assigned to guard the Firelord, not the Kyoshi Warriors, who seem to have somehow gained the Firelord's trust and consequently follow him practically everywhere these days) enters the room just in time to do nothing more useful than stare as one of the aforementioned Kyoshi Warriors dumps said Firelord rather unceremoniously on his ass.
The Firelord blinks a few times, staring up at her from his seat on the ground, and the girl has the audacity to laugh right in his face.
The Firelord scowls, face flushing, and mutters something under his breath that his captain can't make out from his place by the door, which prompts another laugh from the Kyoshi Warrior as she crosses the distance between them and offers her hand.
The Firelord eyes her hand almost warily for a moment, then accepts. The second he's back on his feet she twists, sending him flying over her shoulder. This time the Firelord hits the ground and rolls, using the momentum of the throw to regain his footing.
The fact that they're both unarmed is of little comfort to the captain as he watches his Firelord continue to get his ass handed to him for the next twenty minutes. If anything, it makes it worse, the realization that the Firelord would be more or less helpless if he found himself in a situation where he was required to rely on hand-to-hand combat to defend himself.
Never mind that the Firelord is also a firebender. It's always been a known fact, or it was before his banishment, that Firelord Ozai's eldest was a mediocre bender at best. The fact that he only won the Agni Kai against his sister on a technicality-Firelord Azula having both dishonored and disqualified herself by attacking a bystander during the battle-has done nothing to improve that reputation.
The captain is impressed by the way his Firelord continues to get up no matter how many times the Kyoshi Warrior knocks him down.
The way he chuckles, blushing a little when she plops down beside him, making a smart comment about how he's getting better is almost endearing in spite of the fact that he's Firelord, and could easily have her executed or imprisoned or worse had he taken the comment any other way than in the spirit it had been intended.
The fact that most Firelords, at least the ones the captain has experienced personally, would consider the warrior's words an insult of the highest caliber is interesting, especially since the Firelord appears to be not only entirely unoffended, but completely unaware that perhaps he should be.
"Fancy a round, Captain?" The girl tosses in his direction, grinning. The Firelord looks his way as well, unmarred eye wide with sudden concern.
"Don't do it." The warning is almost comical, especially alongside the revelation that the Firelord's concern is entirely for his captain. "Not unless you want to regret your life choices when you wake up tomorrow."
"Aww, still sore?" The Kyoshi Warrior doesn't sound at all sorry. Or sympathetic.
"You threw me into a wall yesterday," the Firelord reminds her, tone mild.
"And who's fault is that?"
"Yours. You threw me into a wall."
The girl laughs, tossing her head, completely unconcerned by the accusation. "Well?" She asks, smiling once more at the captain.
Five minutes later he's gained an entirely new estimation not just of his Firelord's skill in hand-to-hand combat, but of his own ability to take a hit from someone fully trained in the art of unarmed combat.
His estimation only goes up when he hears his Firelord complain from the sidelines that the girl is pulling her punches.
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me.
Author's Note: Been a minute, but here we are. Hope you enjoy.
