"I see. So that's what happened." Iroh said, stroking his beard.
The three teens had just finished explaining to him why on earth his niece was a child once again. He never expected for them to say that spirits were involved, though. Iroh supposed that it did make sense. How else would a teenager revert back to their child form? This raised more questions than answers, though. For starters, why had the spirits chosen Azula of all people for whatever plans they had? Wouldn't Zuko be a better fit? The boy at least had some good in him, unlike his sister, who just seemed hellbent on becoming just like Ozai. What were the spirits thinking?
"Great, now you know why Azula is a child. Can we PLEASE go look for her now?" Sokka asked.
Iroh turned and looked at Sokka, "You seem to be very worried about my niece."
"Of course I'm worried! We have no idea where the two of them went off too, and Azula is a sitting duck without her firebending. Which means she can't defend herself against Zuko. Who knows what he'll do to her? We have to find them before something happens!"
Iroh supposed that the boy had a point. It was strange not thinking of Azula as a threat, but she really wasn't a threat to them now. Not while she was stuck in that form, anyway.
"Very well. But first, we should find the avatar. I'm sure that he would want to help."
Zuko and Azula both coughed as they came up for air, finally finding land to walk on after having fallen into a river. The both of them took deep breaths before looking at each other.
"Are you alright?" Zuko asked, looking his sister over to make sure that she wasn't injured.
"I think so-OUCH!" Azula shouted as Zuko touched her arm.
Zuko stopped what he was doing and inspected her arm. He winced upon realizing that it was bent at an odd angle, signaling that it had broken at some point during the fall.
"Your arm is broken. I'm going to have to set it back into place. Take a deep breath, ok?"
"Wait, wait, what are you doing? You aren't touching my arm!" Azula exclaimed, backing away from her brother. Her arm did indeed hurt like hell, but she was pretty sure it would hurt even more if she let the dum dum set it for her. She would much rather wait for the others to find them and have Katara heal her. She said as much to Zuko.
"And who knows how long we will have to wait until they show up? Don't worry, it won't hurt that much, I promise." Zuko said, hoping that this would reassure his sister enough to let him help her.
Azula stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and making her way over to him. When she sat down in front of him, Zuko gently grabbed her arm.
"Alright, are you ready? 1, 2!"
CRACK!
"OUCH! WHAT HAPPENED TO 3, YOU IDIOT?!"
"What?! Zuko was here and he and Azula went off to fight?! We have to find them!" Katara said.
"Yes, I know that! The old guy over there insisted that we find you guys first before we went looking for them. Which, we did. Now let's go." Sokka said, making his way over to Appa.
"It'll be interesting to see Zuko again, won't it, Mai?" Ty Lee said, smirking at the older girl.
"Not the time, Ty Lee."
"You have a thing for this Zuko guy or something?" Toph asked.
"Yep! They're practically boyfriend and girlfriend!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
"Great! Maybe you can convince your boyfriend not to kill his sister, Mai." Sokka said.
"Would you calm down? He isn't going to kill her. He may not even want to fight her when he finds out that she's unable to firebend. Their relationship may be a hot mess, but they don't hate each other to the point that they would want the other one dead." Mai said. Those two didn't get along at all, and sometimes it certainly did seem as if Zuko hated Azula. But she was sure of one thing: beneath all of that, they did care for one another.
Once everyone was safely aboard Appa, they took off in search of the siblings, hoping that they were both in one piece. A short while later, they saw smoke coming from the woods, and landed. They were greeted with scorched trees and small bits of fire still burning in certain areas.
"So, what was that you said about Zuko not wanting to fight his sister?" Sokka said sarcastically.
"Shut up. Come on, let's look around and see if we can find them."
They all nodded and began searching for any signs of Zuko and Azula. Sokka made his way over to the cliff, and stopped when he spotted the burn mark on the ground. He also noticed that some pieces of the cliff fell off. Which could only mean one thing.
"GUYS! COME OVER HERE!"
The others ran to where Sokka was, wondering what he had found that caused him to shout like that.
"What is it, Sokka? Did you find something?" Aang asked.
"Take a look at the ground. There are scorch marks right where my foot is, and parts of the cliff seem to have fallen off. You know what that means, right? One of them had the other cornered at this cliff, and proceeded to attack them. The attack made the other person lose their balance and fall off the cliff, and down into the water below. And I'm willing to bet that the one who did the cornering and attacking was Zuko." Sokka explained. He really hoped that Zuko would have enough sense to catch Azula before she fell to her death. If he had, then that meant that both of them would have fallen into the water. The question now was, where were they?
"Azula! Hold still!"
"It hurts, dum dum!"
"I know, which is why we need to wrap your arm up!"
The two siblings were sitting side by side in a forest after Zuko had managed to pull themselves out of the river that they fell into. He was glad that his sister was alive, but he was not expecting her to act like…. this. It was like she was a child again!
Then again, those spirits turned her into a little kid.
Actually treating Azula like a child was something new for Zuko. He had never actually seen Azula as a child. Just someone that he had to defeat if he wanted to gain their father's favor. Now, though, seeing her like this? He didn't know what to think.
He did know one thing, though. Seeing Azula like this was awakening feelings inside Zuko, feelings that he wasn't even aware he had when it came to Azula. Feelings of protectiveness. For the first time in a long time, he felt the need to protect his little sister and keep her safe, no matter what.
Eventually, Azula stopped moving, and Zuko was finally able to put her arm into a makeshift sling that he made by tearing off a piece of his arm sleeve.
"There, that should do it for now. Try not to move that arm, ok? And let me know if it hurts." Zuko said.
"...Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Azula asked.
"Wha-hey! Look, I know that our relationship isn't exactly ideal, but I do care about you, Azula. You just make it difficult for me to show that."
"Why, because of my constant teasing of you?"
"Yes!"
She sighed. Her brother truly was pathetic.
"I hate to break it to you, Zuko, but it's what siblings do. Tease each other and all that. It's in the job description." She said, thinking about Katara and Sokka. She desperately hoped that the others would be able to find them soon, so that way her arm would be able to receive proper treatment. Although she had her doubts, since it was starting to get dark. Which meant that she would be spending the night with her idiot brother. Lovely.
"Yeah, well, have you ever thought that you take your teasing too far sometimes?" Zuko asked.
Well no, actually, she hadn't thought about that. She just always saw it as harmless fun, messing around with her brother. His reactions made it worth it. Had she really been taking the teasing too far?
"...No, I didn't think about that. Why would I?"
Zuko rolled his eyes, "Typical for you. Anyway, you have some explaining to do."
"I do?"
"The whole thing about you turning into a kid. Mind telling me how that happened?"
Oh, right.
"I don't really get it myself, but I'll tell you anyway. I was in Omashu with Mai and Ty Lee, and we encountered the avatar and his companions. We were going to make a trade, a trade for King Bumi and Tom-Tom, Mai's little brother. I said that it didn't seem fair to trade a child for a king, and that a child could never be more important than a ruler. Right as Mai was calling the deal off, I heard these voices in my head. Next thing I knew, I was like this. I began to freak out, and that's when Mai suggested traveling with the avatar, since this had to be related to spirits. And if anyone knew anything about spirits, it would be him. So, we've been traveling with them ever since, hoping that he'll be able to help me."
Zuko was silent for a few moments. So the spirits decided to make Azula into a child again, for whatever reason. Although if he had to guess, it probably had something to do with what she said about Tom-Tom.
"Sounds like you got hit with karma, Azula."
"What are you talking about?"
"You said that this all happened during that trade, right? So, maybe the spirits overheard what you said and decided to give you a taste of your own medicine. By turning you into a kid who really can't defend herself, just like Tom-Tom."
"Hey! I can defend myself just fine, thank you very much!"
"Right, which you did so well against me back there."
Azula wanted nothing more than to slap him, but a part of her admitted that he was right. Besides, didn't the spirits who did this to her say something along those lines?
It was quiet between the two of them for a while as Zuko got up and started a fire to keep them both warm. He then shocked her by bringing her closer to him, as if to extend his body heat to her.
"So, what else have you guys been up to?" He asked.
He actually wanted to continue talking to her? That was shocking. Usually he couldn't wait to get away from her.
"Well, recently we came across this village that had been attacked by some Fire Nation soldiers. We ended up staying the night with one of the villagers, and I actually made friends with a girl who lives there. We played games and everything. It was really fun!" Azula said, smiling at the thought of Sayo. Zuko didn't know how she kept doing it, but his sister managed to surprise him again with her words. She actually made a friend with some earth kingdom girl? His thoughts were interrupted as she began to speak again.
"Everything was going fine until the next day. While Sayo and I were outside playing, some Fire nation soldiers attacked the village, hoping to find Aang since they saw his sky bison. We ran back to the village, but got cut off by a soldier. He threatened the both of us, demanding to know where Aang was. I obviously wasn't going to tell him anything since I still need Aang's help. So I decided to play dumb, which the guy didn't like. He attacked me and then he threatened to kill Sayo if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know. I couldn't let him do that to her, so I firebended at him. That's when I noticed that my bending is significantly weaker than what it should be, and that I get tired too easily whenever I use it. Which is why I couldn't fight you earlier, Zuko. In the end, I managed to knock the guy out with my lightning bending, and Sayo and I made our way back to the village."
"Azula", Zuko started, "please tell me that you killed that guy."
"Umm, pretty sure I didn't. Why?"
"Why? What do you mean 'why'?! You just told me that you used both your firebending and lightning bending against him. You are the only known firebender alive who can bend blue flames, and the only other firebender who can bend lightning other than father. If that soldier recognized you, what do you think would happen?
"...Do you really think that I haven't thought about that? That the others haven't?"
"Then why are you being so calm about this?"
"Because I don't want to think about it, ok?! Father wouldn't do anything to me. I'm sure that he would hear me out."
"Yeah, because that worked out so well for me during my agni kai with him 3 years ago."
"...I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." Azula said, getting up and walking away from Zuko.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look for a spot that's comfortable enough to sleep in, what does it look like?"
"Oh no you don't, you're staying right next to me." Zuko said, carefully picking her up and walking back over to where they were sitting before.
"What? Why?" Azula asked
"So I can make sure that nothing happens to you, that's why."
"Since when do you care about me?"
"Shut up and go to sleep!"
When Zuko woke up the next morning, he noticed two things. One, they still hadn't been found yet. Two, his little sister was attempting to climb a tree, despite the fact that her arm was broken.
"AZULA! What are you doing?! It's dangerous for you to be doing that with one working arm!" He shouted.
Azula stopped what she was doing at the sound of his voice, and turned to Zuko, "But Zuzu, I saw a butterfly! And it looked really pretty! I wanted to show it to you!"
What?
This wasn't like Azula at all. What in the world had gotten into her? Could this be a result of getting turned into a child? Having moments where she actually acted like a kid? Whatever the case, he had to get her down from there before she hurt herself even more.
"That's nice Azula, but how about we get you down from there? I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Azula pouted (since when did his sister pout?) but relented. She then jumped down from the tree, which nearly gave Zuko a heart attack.
"WAIT, DON'T JUMP!"
He sprinted forward and caught Azula before she could hit the ground. To his surprise, the girl was laughing.
"That was fun! I wanna do it again!"
"What is wrong with you?"
Giggling was his response.
Zuko sighed. How in the world did the avatar deal with this? As Zuko began contemplating what he should do to keep Azula occupied and make sure that she wouldn't try to climb any more trees, he heard a loud groaning sound from above them. He looked above him and saw the avatar's sky bison slowly descending. As soon as it landed, the people on board got off of the saddle. One of them happened to be his uncle. He should have known that Iroh would have been searching for him, even if that meant teaming up with the avatar.
"Azula! Are you ok?!" A voice said, frantically. Zuko turned to the sound and saw that the water tribe boy was running towards him and Azula. When the boy finally reached them, he took Azula out of Zuko's arms and into his own, inspecting her for any injuries.
"Hey! Be careful with her!"
"I could say the same thing to you! You're the reason why the both of you fell over that cliff, aren't you? And what happened to her arm?!" Sokka asked.
Before Zuko could answer, Azula spoke up.
"Hi, Sokka! Don't worry, I'm fine. My arm is broken thanks to that fall, but Zuzu has been taking really good care of me! He put my arm in this makeshift sling that he made so it wouldn't hurt so much. Oh! I saw a butterfly a little while ago. Do you want to see it? It was really pretty!" Azula said.
"Umm, sure? But first, how about we let Katara take a look at your arm, ok?"
"Ok!"
As Sokka took Azula over to Katara, Iroh made his way to Zuko.
"I'm glad to see that you are alright, nephew. You made me worried."
"I'm sorry, uncle. And I'm glad to see you, too. How did you guys find us?" Zuko asked
"We saw smoke rising in the distance, and concluded that you made a campfire for the two of you at some point in the night." A voice spoke up. Zuko looked and saw Mai walking towards him and Iroh.
"Mai!"
"Glad to see that the two of you didn't kill each other, Zuko."
Mai stopped in front of Zuko and took in his appearance. It was weird seeing him in Earth Kingdom clothes, and not seeing him with his ponytail was also going to take some getting used to. All in all, he didn't look too bad.
"You don't look that bad. And I like the haircut."
"Thanks. You look good too." Zuko said, blushing.
Iroh looked at the two of them and chuckled. Some things never changed, he supposed.
"Well, I'll let you two catch up. I have to talk with Azula about something."
Azula moved her arm around. It was good as new! It was like it had never been broken to begin with. She turned to Katara and gave her a big smile.
"Thank you, Katara!"
"You're welcome. I'd give it one more day before you move that arm around like that though. And before you say anything, it's because I want to make sure that it's 100% healed, ok?"
"Hmph. Fine." Azula said, pouting.
Aang walked over to the girl and smiled, relieved to see that she was ok, "It's good to have you back, sifu Azula." He said.
Azula blushed. She really did like being called that.
"Sifu Azula, huh? Well now, that's interesting. I never would have dreamed that you of all people would agree to train the avatar, Azula." Iroh's voice said from behind them.
The group turned around to see Iroh staring at Azula with an unreadable expression on his face. Sokka stood in front of Azula, as if to shield her from Iroh.
"What do you want?" He asked
"I mean you no harm, I just wish to talk with Azula about something, is all."
"Talk? About what?"
"Why, her predicament, of course." Looking behind Sokka to stare at Azula, Iroh continued "I think it would be best if you came with me and Zuko, Azula. I've journeyed to the spirit world before, and I might be able to do it again to find out how to help cure you. And I also have friends in high places that would be more than willing to help."
Azula blinked. Friends in high places? What did that mean?
Before she could respond, however, Sokka spoke up again.
"No way, she's not going anywhere with you guys. Aang is the avatar, which means that he knows way more about spirits than anyone, even you. Besides, I don't trust either one of you as far as I could throw you, which wouldn't be very far to begin with!"
"Oooh, someone's protective."
"Shut up, Ty Lee!"
As the others laughed, Iroh turned back to Azula, waiting for her answer.
"Well, Azula? What do you say?" He asked.
Azula looked at her uncle. It didn't take her long to come up with a response. It was an easy question to answer, after all.