Zaya was introduced and then forced to interact with her family. "I'm Kiyi." She wanted to run away. Kiyi, like the rest of the royal family, wore an elaborate Kimono tunic. "Can you show that famous blue fire? Azula said it's not a toy, but I just want to see it once in my life, so please?" Zaya relented but did it by making a rude gesture as no one was with them, just to show how uncomfortable she was being in the highest of society. "It's so cool! How do you do it?" Zaya thought about it.
She remembered what her mother told her and what she told herself. "Unending focus. Every movement is perfectly filled with focus. A focus on the emotions perfect for that goal." Kiyi looked rather bored at the explanation. "It's not a toy." She extinguished the flame.
Her aunt decided to continue the small talk. "Have you ever not been focused?" She remembered fighting the red blades, enhanced by the heat of the bender's fire, and she grabbed her scar. "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it." She nodded.
Fire sages had brought Zuko and Azula to the former war room."Why are you so worried?" He asked, as they had advised him to stop the wedding between Zaya and Bumi.
The oldest sage spoke. "Your sister was a prodigy because your great-grandfather was an avatar who gave her the power to match." Zuko nodded and cursed the fact that they advised his father and grandfather into an arranged marriage. "Air feeds the fire, and as such, their child would be born with outstanding power that would only be equal during Sozin's Comet." She stared at them with wide eyes. "Two lines of Avatar's meeting and at this short Time will create a flame existing with no fuel." Azula thought about this, imagining if a child like that existed during the hundred-year war, his father would just have them killed or forced to marry Azula to keep them close.
Izumi met her cousin, and the first thing she said was. "So you're my Impoverished cousin?" Bumi panicked, and so did Kiyi but grabbed snacks if a fight would break out.
Zaya just smiled, a fire in her eyes. "And you're my little spoiled cousin, isn't that right, princess?" Both had the same type of fire in their eyes.
The heir then spoke. "Want a tour of the palace?"
Zaya answered. "Sure, why not?" With a smile, she followed her.
Bumi looked perplexed. "What was that?" Bumi asked while Kiyi chuckled.
"Girls have to have some secrets, Bumi." Kiyi grabbed Bumi. "Time to change into the right clothes!" Bumi wanted to give an excuse, yet no luck as her grip was close to cracking bones.
The sages glared. "There are no wars," Zuko said, standing his ground. "We're in an era of peace, even if what you say comes true. This child won't need to use these powers, and they will be raised in a world of peace, not one of conquest or strength of bending." The sage's eyes turned to Azula.
"What about her?"
Azula spoke. "I won't teach My grandchild. How about that?" She said with a smirk.
The fire sages all started discussing.
Zuko was annoyed, the elderly men were usually independent of family affairs, but it was easy to assume they were terrified by how invested they were. Even at the back of Zuko's mind, it whispered, the idea of a second Ozai was terrifying to him. Even then, as long as Aang was there to help, it was alright.
Still, only a few are born evil. "I proposed that the child join us." Both Azula and Zuko let out an annoyed sigh as the younger of the fire sages said.
At a party in Caldereta Park, he was dressed in Royal garb, and Bumi hated the sleeves. "Why?" He asked one of the women who was dressed.
"It's tradition, Bumi, and don't be a little kid about it." She spoke with a smile. Zaya came back with a sigh, and Izumi put the makeup on.
Bumi was looking around, wearing Red grabs and where everything was too long. Zaya was chuckling. "You could fly off if a strong wind hits you." She joked, and Bumi rolled his eyes before they froze, seeing Zaya in makeup. "W-who's the model?" He got a light hit on the top of his head by Bumi.
Zaya tried to get back to Bumi, yet she was blocked by some noble trying to get favors with the Fire lord. Trying to gain some point with her might be the best way but one. "I wish we knew you earlier, would have set you up with a real man." Zaya looked at the forty-year-old woman with dyed black hair to hide her aging. Zaya simply created a current between her pinky and thumb and offered her hand.
The woman hoped this was the start of a friendship; however, it shows how far the apple was from the tree as she was tased by the fire bender. The woman let go of shackles, yet being noble meant she couldn't show any sign of weakness. "Anyone else wants to annoy me with waste?" The women stayed silent, and Zaya went to find a chair since it seemed that a few fire nation soldiers of the united forces were bombarding him with questions.
She made a cup of tea. "That was a surprising act." Said an elderly woman in her sixties.
Zaya sighed. "They deserved it." The woman raised a brow, questioning her look. "They were bad-mouthing my Bumi Bear. Wouldn't You do something if someone was bad-mouthing your loved one?"
Her mouth twitched. "You look too much like your mother." Zaya raised an eye. "That wasn't an insult." Zaya chuckled.
"I almost forgot her face, but I remember her being beautiful. She's still beautiful." She heard one of the nobles calling her mother a monster, and she stayed silent.
"she should apologize for everything that her monster of a mother did." One of the nobles said to her friend to shut up. Once she saw the glare from the woman next to Zaya, they all looked away and became silent.
Zaya sighed. "They should apologize for making her a monster." Ursa's eyes widened. "I wonder if he's still alive, I hope he is stuck in some cell." Ursa relaxed once she said that. "How was my mother when I was a child, Granny Ursa?" She smirked, seeing Ursa's surprised expression.
"Did she ever talk about me?" Zaya Shacked her head. "It looks like she raised you right."
Zaya thought about it. "She was taken away when I was twelve. Tough but fair, Though the summer spent in the desert was great." She said with a smile. "She only bought me toys only when I mastered a new Katai," Ursa starred as it sounded rather like Ozai. "Every night, I would climb into her bed, and at some point, she would just let me in without a fuss." Ursa smiled at that. "Why aren't there any good drinks here?" She just asked to hide in her tracks.
Ursa drank her tea. "So that the groom stays virile and in case the bride is pregnant." Zaya froze up, and Ursa raised that reaction. "Aren't you a bit young?" She had a smirk on her lips.
"Now you remind me of my Mom! That smirk whenever she wins, be it paisho or combat training." Ursa just kept the smirk, knowing she was. "Yes, when you have a near-death experience, life feels too short to worry about anything." Ursa nodded, understanding her reasoning. " And I'm an Adult. I can make my own mistakes." Ursa chuckled at that response.
"So, are any names planned?" Zaya stared for a moment, realizing she didn't have any ideas. "Ryu is a good name." She looked at her grandmother.
Zaya thought for a moment. "I like it. How did you have one ready?"
"That's what I wanted to name Azula if she was a boy, but he wanted to gain favor with his father and said if it was a boy, he would name him Azulon." Zaya snorted, holding herself back. "What's so funny?"
Zaya cleared her throat. "Mom would set my hair on fire if I named my daughter after her. She did every time I challenged her to an agni kai, and luckily mom would only set the tips on fire so I could— She was tricking me into baths!" She face-palmed, only realizing it now.
Then Izumi came, finally getting away from brown-nosing nobles. "How do you find the celebration?" She made a fart noise. "What have you two been talking about?" Ursa whispered into her ear. "Oh! How about Nemu? I heard it makes sure children sleep well at night."
Zaya sighed. "Stop giving me perfect names for my new pet." She blinked at them.
Bumi came, and she pinched his cheek, pulling as a punishment for not finding her as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry." Her cheeks were puffed up as she continued his punishment.
They had sat down, and everyone was tired. Zuko didn't want his future great-nephew to be a fire sage mostly because he Didn't want to decide anyone's fate before they even saw the world. "How about this? Once he reaches the age to be an apprentice, we let him choose?" The fire sages looked annoyed, while Azula just looked frustrated.
Zuko thought about it; at least it allowed the child a choice instead of forcing him to join. "Fine." Azula let out a sigh.
"Finally, you stopped babbling. Hopefully, the engagement banquet is over." She left the former war room with Zuko following behind.
Mai met with the crowd before heading toward the bride. Zaya was sitting next to the snack table, not caring one bit as she ate two. "You must be Zaya." She stated this as a fact, to which Zaya answered. "You're either a guard dressed up as one of these heartless monsters, or you are as paranoid as me." She spoke nonchalantly. "The knife throwers had those holsters too. They were also the guards when there wasn't a show." Mai showed no emotions, yet internally she was surprised.
She decided to continue. "You're a performer?" Zaya looked at Mai, confused. "You aren't?" Mai chuckled but stopped once. Main did answer. "Yes, I worked at the circus after I got tired of eating trash." Well, there's her chance to make fun of Azula jumping out of the window and exploding as the fire lady lets out a disappointed sigh. "No need to feel guilty. It wasn't your fault or anything. By the way, are you and Izumi related?" Mai answered. "I'm her mother." Zaya nodded and raised a brow. "What?"
Zaya ate a cookie and said. "Is your face paralyzed?" Mai sighed, not surprised at the question. "Your mother ever mention me?" Mai asked, not because she cared more about a line of gossip. "Last I remember, she did mention a monster that fired needles from its claws whenever she told me stories." Mia was not surprised. "Why aren't you with your husband?" She asked, looking for the groom only to see him telling his tall tales. "I don't like being with the upper class, Bumi is just telling his battle story, and I'm just happy to have my mom back." Mai looked at Zaya and noticed Bumi talking to a pretty woman. "Aww, isn't that cute?" Mai couldn't read her emotions as she asked the question. "What?" Zaya smirked. "She thinks she's worth his time." The fire lady gulped. Now she saw the mannerism.
She walked next to Bumi. "She's a keeper." She said not as congratulations but as a warning. Yet the eldest son of the avatar simply answered. "Of Course she is! Zaya is the love of my life." Mai just shakes her head.
Appa landed in the fire nation. Katara was wearing her best dress for the occasion. "Come on now! We're not missing your brother's engagement party just because you're jealous!" Tenzin and Kya jumped off Appa's mumbling about something.
Aang came down. "Knowing Bumi, his stories, and Zaya… we really should spend a day getting to know her." Both children looked terrified, even though one was twelve and the other fourteen.
Katara looked around and saw the bride-to-be next to the snake table sitting. "Why is she alone?" Katara and Kya answered.
"She's weird, she made me and Tenzin eat a bowl of sea prunes for ruining her and Bumi's date." Kya hoped for her mother to be angry at Zaya or pity them.
Her mother had other opinions, though. "She can handle kids, that's for sure." She spoke happily with Kya down trot. "I will introduce myself, Aang—" Her husband was being attacked by nobles. "Keep the flies out of the way." Katara walked to Zaya, yet Zaya walked away into the crowd. "What the?" She looked around, yet Zaya was good at hide and seek, or she was afraid of her for some reason.
Katara then found Mai drinking. "How are you, Katara?" She said, uninterested. "Congratulations on your son's engagement." She said if it had become routine.
Katara just shrugged her attitude off. "I'm looking for Zaya. Do you know why she's avoiding me?" Mai shrugged.
She took a drink of wine. "I noticed she hasn't touched a drink since the start of this. Azula argued against it, but Ursa argued for it, and Zuko will listen to his mother over Azula." Katara noted the first bits of the conversation.
She decided to ask later. "What can you tell me about her?" Mai sighed.
"She's somewhat paranoid, has experience fighting, isn't the jealous type, knows what she wants, worked at a circus, and said she ate trash before joining the said circus." Katara took a spit take at the last one, and she spat at the governor of ember island, who was too concentrated on showing pictures of his newborn daughter to care.
"Are you sure?" Mai nodded. "But I thought she was Azula's daughter. Why would she—"
Mai interrupted because she wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible, and a small part of her wanted to defend her. "You forget Zaya's mother was taken into custody when she was twelve, and she escaped into the Earth nation wilderness afterward." Katara was stunned.
"It was basic survival," Izumi said, having spied on the two. "Yea, she told Bumi, and he doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut, so he told me." She told the two while being a bit tipsy. "She slept inside of Platypus bear after it bit her on the arm. He said. After it but her enough to pierce the skin, she pointed her index finger into the side of the bear's head and whoosh-cooked brain." She said, chuckling a bit before her mom took the glass she was holding. "Aww, I'm an adult." Mai drank it.
She looked at her. "And I'm your mother, Izumi. I have seniority over you." Izumi pouted.
Katara saw Zaya walking back to the snack table. "Sorry, I need to have a conversation with my daughter-in-law." She ran and grabbed Zaya. The moment she turned, Katara was reminded of the same eyes that had attacked her and Aang so many years ago. "You!" She said in a shocked tone.
Zaya froze and looked around, hoping whatever spirits Katara wouldn't make a scene. "You're prettier than I expected!" She made a fake smile and laughed.