Destined Love, Interrupted

Azula had always been very invested in family.

It was a beautiful night in Ba Sing Se, the last days of spring bringing a warmth and clearness to the air that encouraged couples to go outside and look at the stars or make excessive amounts of eye-contact or whatever people liked to do on romantic excursions. (Kissing was usually involved, she knew. She had written that down in her research journal.) But there was also just enough of a lingering chill to encourage the couples in question to stay close and maintain body contact- unless they were both Firebenders, but Azula was the only female Firebender around, and she certainly wasn't looking to get romantic with anyone right now.

(There would be plenty of time in her 30s to learn to talk to boys, pick a mate in accordance with the latest eugenics, have her first kiss, get married, and start producing royal heirs, in that order. Except for that last part, the whole process could be accomplished in less than a week, she was sure.)

No, tonight was not about her. It was about her brother, dear Zuzu, at last back in the good graces of the Fire Nation but completely unable to rejoice in it. The death of the Avatar and the fall of the Earth Kingdom apparently weren't enough to distract him from his Zuzu-ness and convince him to return to the Fire Nation in victory, but he was a boy, so there was at least a 37% chance he could be distracted by a sufficiently attractive girl. Azula happened to have one on hand she knew aligned with Zuko's morose tastes, thanks to over a decade of evidence, and as always a combination of destiny, genius planning, and hard work were achieving her goals in an elegant and effective manner.

She was sure absolutely nothing could derail her plan!

Nothing!

(A chill wind took that opportunity to make a traitorous assault on the back of her neck. She frowned, took a deep breath, and warmed herself with a flare of her inner fire. Stupid meaningless wind.)

Azula watched from the bushes in a cozy corner of the Royal Earth Garden (which would really have to be renamed, now that the Earth Kingdom had fallen; perhaps the Victory Garden? The Fire Lord Ozai Garden? The Avatar's Last Stand Garden? So many fun possibilities!) as Zuko and Mai came in through oppositely positioned gates and spotted the little dining area she had ordered constructed near a fragrant plum tree.

A red canopy with plenty of lanterns hanging from it created a welcoming little shelter that evoked the comfort of the Fire Nation and would hopefully give her big brother a hint. A table had been set out (with a white tablecloth, because green simply would not do and the pink one was just tacky) where a delightful dinner had been laid out around a trio of lit candles. Azula did not know why a lit candle would make people amorous, but she could definitely approve of being excited by flames, and if one candle was good, then Zuzu probably needed three to get him out of his own head.

After all, he had informed her earlier, just as she had finalized plans for their return to the Fire Nation, that he had decided to remain in Ba Sing Se. To do what, she couldn't fathom, and if she couldn't figure it out, then Zuzu certainly had no idea. He was just being his usual contrary self, and she knew the fix for that.

(Well, she knew two fixes, but burning the other side of his face seemed excessive. Ha!)

In the warm light, as the breeze filled the space with the honeyed scent of plums, Zuko and Mai noticed each other and came to simultaneous awkward halts. It would have been a moment worthy of the theater, if they both had not proceeded to both squint at each other in confusion.

Hidden beside Azula in the garden foliage, Ty Lee (who had provided minimal assistance with this setup and invited herself along to observe) grinned and made a high-pitched sound almost inaudible to the human ear. Azula made a shushing motion, but the enthusiasm was infectious, especially given the success of the plan so far, so she turned away to hide her own grin.

Over in the light, Mai broke eye-contact with Zuko and made a show of looking around the garden. "Where is everyone? Azula told me that Admiral Liang was visiting and wanted to join us for dinner. All of us."

"She told me the same thing," Zuko said, his voice flat and each word bitten out. "She's up to something..."

Mai, who was a good girl deep down and could take an obvious hint even without an overt threat of violence, moved towards the dinner table. "Well, the food doesn't look that awful. I guess we shouldn't let it go to waste."

The sat down opposite each other and immediately began divvying up the dishes, all without making eye contact again or speaking another word.

Typical. But Azula was prepared for this. Behind her bush, she moved Ty Lee out of the way and motioned for one of the Dai Li agents skulking in the shadows, the one who had claimed he played a good pipa. Perhaps a little romantic music under a conveniently picturesque plum tree would clue Zuko in to the rewards on offer from life back in the Fire Nation-

And then the plum tree erupted in a shower of fruit, petals, and unholy light.

And then a girl tumbled out of the explosion and smacked into the dinner table hard enough to knock it over as lanterns fell from their hooks and the canopy tipped over. Zuko and Mai dived out from under it, ruining their nice clothes by rolling across the grass to a decent attack range, and came up brandishing flames and knives.

In her bush, Azula sighed. She'd put a lot of thought into selecting that tablecloth.

Also, now her brother might stay in this stupid conquered city and marry an earth-peasant or something, and that would just be embarrassing for the whole family.

In a way, Zuko was almost grateful for his dinner with Mai going up in flames and plum-blossom petals. His last dinner with a girl had involved a misguided attempt at juggling and a jar of shrimp paste smashing open all over his head, so an assassin being the one to make the mess was a big step up.

Not that this dinner with Mai was like his date with Jin. For one, Mai already knew him- as well as anyone could know him, he supposed. And she had known him for quite a while, all the way back to distant childhood memories of the first family vacation to Ember Island, to an encounter on the beach that had probably been arranged by one or more power-hungry parents, to days of innocent friendship that eventually became more.

Except another way this wasn't like Jin was the mystery. Those days had, in truth, been so complicated. And so much had changed since then. How did Mai feel about him now? How did he feel about her? And why, if he cared so much, hadn't he talked to her even once in the weeks since he had restored his honor under Ba Sing Se?

Speaking of questions, Zuko was starting to wonder why this dinner-interrupting assassination attempt had started with an exploding tree.

The assassin groaned something like, "Not funny, Kya!" and stood up. The Royal Earth Garden was dark now with the torches smothered, but the moon and stars and burning tablecloth shed enough light to reveal a surprisingly short height and a visage twisted by severe squinting. Her age was hard to tell with her face like that, but she was perhaps younger than Azula.

Zuko decided she was right. Whoever Kya was, this wasn't funny at all, not after what had happened to the Avatar under Ba Sing Se. So he threw a fireball at Squinty's head.

She could see that much, at least, and deflected the flames with a swipe of her hands even as she gasped in clear surprise. She was a Firebender.

Zuko knew how to deal with other Firebenders. He kicked out a wave of flame which would look like it was moving on the same path as the fireball- but a twist of his leg arced it downward towards Squinty's feet. Most Firebenders in a solid defensive stance would be forced to stumble out of the way, breaking their root and source of strength, leaving them vulnerable.

But instead, so quickly it had to be a reflex, Squinty threw herself into a leap, peaking in a twisting kick which sent her own arc of flame expanding at Zuko's head.

That-

That was one of Azula's moves!

How did-

Wait-

Fire was still approaching his head.

Except now it was too late for Zuko to do anything but backpedal frantically, trip over a bush, and fall into the foliage with a roar of surprise and frustration.

Okay. He was off to a rough start in this fight. But he didn't have shrimp paste in his hair, so he still considered himself ahead.

Mai leaned over him with no expression on her face and said, "Good try. You can relax now while Ty Lee and I take care of it." And then with a swish of her robes and cape (he still found himself surprised at how good she looked in Ba Sing Se greens), she was in fighting motion.

Zuko hadn't seen them in action in a while, but it turned out Mai and Ty Lee had grown into a perfect duo. They mixed long- and short-range attacks, both of them so well trained that their coordinated movements were as natural as breathing. Mai filled the air with blades that were almost invisible in the dim light, nevertheless demanding the target's full attention if she didn't want to die. Meanwhile, Ty Lee cartwheeled on a safe path through the metal storm that would take her within arm-reach, at which point this fight would soon be over, given her qi-blocking abilities.

But somehow Squinty had taken a position through which not one blade was passing, despite the darkness and her own obvious poor vision. And that position let her meet Ty Lee while still in the middle of a cartwheel. They bumped into each other, and Ty Lee recovered masterfully, twisting and flipping to her feet and striking with her usual precise precision. And yet none of the hits landed, Squinty deflecting every single one with diverting palm strikes of her own. Amidst all the activity, Squinty somehow also knew Mai was coming up behind her with razors in each hand, even though even Zuko only noticed at the last moment. Squinty ducked under one of Ty Lee's strikes to spin and throw a jab of her own at the inside of Mai's right elbow, followed quickly by another to the left.

Mai's arms fell uselessly to her sides, blades dropping the ground and clattering.

Mai hissed, "You got me instead of her!"

Ty Lee backed away in obvious horror and said, "No I didn't-"

(At the same time, Squinty babbled, "Wait- Mo-")

And that's when Azula burst out of the shadows with blasts of fire beneath her feet, getting right up close to Squinty and landing a flame-less palm strike to Squinty's solar plexus. The girl's breath burst out of her with a pained cry and she dropped to the ground, curling up and hugging herself in agony as she tried to catch her breath.

Zuko hauled himself out of his bush and approached the former battlefield. On the way, he passed by the smoldering remains of the dinner setup and spotted something glittering in the wreckage that wasn't a piece of plate or candleholder. He leaned over and picked up a pair of delicate spectacles made from golden wire.

He dropped them in a pocket and came to join the others. "What are we doing with her?" He summoned a flame in his hand to shed some light on the situation, and then scowled at his inadvertent mental wordplay. He preferred to do that kind of thing on purpose.

The light revealed Azula stroking her chin like she was posing for a portrait. "I suppose that depends on who she is. Do you recognize her?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, I thought you knew all the young teenagers trying to destroy the Fire Nation. There's certainly been enough of them crossing your path."

The fire in Zuko's hand flared and then flickered, and he focused on keeping his breathing steady. For a moment, he had almost been able to forget about everything- the Avatar, Uncle, and the ship would be leaving tomorrow for the Fire Nation. His shoulders sagged, but he covered it by angling his hand to shed more light on the still-wheezing Squinty.

He said, "I don't- actually, she does look kind of familiar. But- I don't think I've met her?"

"Helpful as always, Zuzu."

Squinty looked up at him with something like horror on her face. (But he was used to that, after the last few years.) She tried to say something like, "D- Da-" but she still couldn't catch her breath. Azula must have hit her hard.

Mai leaned over her. "Well, I sure don't know her. But as fun as this guessing game is, why don't we just wait for her to answer our questions?"

Zuko had to admit it was a sensible suggestion. Mai had always been good at keeping things from getting too dramatic. He recalled that, back when they were kids, some people had called her a 'mood-killer,' but Zuko knew that moods could be very dangerous and sometimes had to be put down for the good of society.

Azula crouched down beside Squinty. "Well? Any time you'd like to begin explaining yourself, you have a ready audience. Or, I suppose we could just starting lighting bits of you on fire until you scream something informative?"

Azula, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy moods a little too much.

Squinty's breathing steadied, but her gaze was as wobbly as it could be as she tried to focus on Azula. "M- master?"

Azula smiled. "Not officially, but I am considered somewhat of a Firebending prodigy."

Squinty gawked for a long moment, then went limp on the garden grass and sobbed, "I don't know what's going on!"

Zuko could sympathize. Sometimes he wanted to weep when confronted with Azula's arrogance, but even more relatable was the confusion and frustration in Squinty's voice. He'd lived it since Azula had killed the Avatar and told him that he had restored his honor and could go home.

And the worst part was that he didn't even know why he wasn't happy.

But at least there was no shrimp paste in his hair.

He'd always been something of an optimist.

Izumi - Princess of the Fire Nation, heir to the Burning Throne, daughter of Fire Lord Zuko the Redeemer and Fire Lady Mai of Ten Thousand Hidden Blades, sole Firebender pupil of The Azure Scourge, honorary Kyoshi Warrior, and Mommy's Little Plum Blossom - had no idea what was going on and she wanted to go home and her family had attacked her and none of this was bully!

The pain of that final blow had been bad, yes, but seeing the people she knew look at her with such disdain had made her lightheaded. Dad had looked so terrifying, scowling like that, worse than Izumi had ever seen him before. Mom was wrong, her eyes so dead and her gaze so flat - even while attacking - like she didn't even consider Izumi to be human.

Izumi had never noticed an absence of love before. Sure, there were lots of people who didn't love her, even a few who outright hated her (mostly without ever meeting her), but this was like she had lost something she never realized could go missing. It was a nightmare, this world of twisted shadows that she couldn't even see properly without her spectacles, and it was all she could do to stop herself from crying again. She was distantly aware of being carried, of being thrown in a chair and her hands and feet being bound by stone, of a sharp voice stabbing at her with questions she didn't understand.

No.

No.

She would not let this destroy her.

She was Princess Izumi of the Fire Nation, heir to a legacy of such strength that it could afford infinite kindness! Maybe she got pulled into some kind of evil mirror world like out of an old Avatar story or one of Bumi's stupid lies, but she could handle this. She was just a few years shy of adulthood. She would not be defeated by malicious illusions with no basis in reality.

She sniffled, focused her mind, and pushed away her despair. And the first words she heard were the sharp voice saying, "Perhaps we'll leave her to you, Mai. Why don't you show her how versatile knives can be?"

Wait what?!

Izumi squinted. She was in some kind of fancy receiving room decorated with green tapestries and statues of very intense badgermoles, but not as intense as person looming over her. And that figure looked a lot like Mom, except somehow thinner and drabber and for some reason wearing an elegant green outfit with a cape but no crown. Even with her bad vision, Izumi could detect the lifelessness in this Mom's eyes.

Mom turned her gaze away from Izumi and drew a tri-blade from her sleeve. She placed it on a standing tray to her right. Then she drew a razor disk from somewhere in her robes and put it next to the other blade. Then a series of long needles. Then a stiletto. Slowly, Mom proceeded in this way, laying out a variety of knives and other steel.

Was-

Was Evil Mom going to hurt her?!

That-

That couldn't-

-could it?

This was not bully! Not bully at all!

Then Dad burst into the room, and for some reason he was also wearing green, over a brown tunic. He looked to Mom, who paused in her work, before turning to Izumi. He cleared his throat and said, "I am too- um, weak and kindhearted to allow a girl your age to be hurt. Please, tell us- um, who sent you to kill us? Give me something so that Mai doesn't need to get- uh, harsh?"

Evil Mom covered her mouth with her hand, leaned towards Evil Dad, and whispered, "Good delivery."

And Evil Dad cleared his throat again and hissed out of the side of his mouth, "Thank you."

Izumi blinked.

Bully! Something she recognized! They might be weird mean monster versions of themselves, but Mom and Dad were still complete dorks who whispered too loud. Perhaps she could reason with them.

Taking a deep breath, Izumi stuck out her royal chin and said, "I didn't come here to kill you. I don't even know how I got here! I was at the Western Air Temple with Bumi and Kya. And it was daytime even though it was storming! And then I'm here and it's night and you all attacked me even though I didn't do anything to you and you're acting like you don't even know me!" She tears welling up in her eyes again, but mentally shooed them away and hiccuped instead.

Evil Dad said, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

Evil Mom snorted. "Liar."

"I'll be fourteen at the end of the year!"

"So," Evil Mom said, twirling a razor around a finger, "you're thirteen. And I don't know anything about the Western Air Temple, but if you know King Bumi, then you must have been to Omashu recently. Er, I mean New Ozai."

Izumi blinked. "King Bumi? New Ozai?!"

"And," Evil Dad said, ignoring her outburst, "she's a Firebender and knows our fighting styles. I can't explain why she has no memory of it, but she sounds more like a lost tourist than an assassin."

Evil Mom nodded. "Plus she's an immature crybaby who can't act her age."

Izumi winced. That hurt almost as much as Evil Dad's punch. "Am not!"

"Azula and Zuko just killed a warrior younger than you who didn't cry when he was in trouble," Mom said like she was talking about what they had for lunch. At a surprised glance from Evil Dad, she added, "It was the fully empowered Avatar, so it wasn't like they were bullying anyone."

Izumi blinked. "Well, obviously they weren't being good if they were killing someone." She shook her head. Dad would never kill a kid, even with his sister helping him. What kind of weird nightmare reality had she-

Wait.

Ba Sing Se?

Avatar?

Everyone being so small and cute even though they were mean?

This was kind of like Dad's stories! How when he was a teenager he made a mistake and sided with the Fire Nation against Uncle Aang, but then he realized he'd been wrong and helped save the world! And Mom had supported the Fire Nation until her beautiful love for Dad led her to change sides and help him, bringing Auntie Ty Le along! And the real villain was Dad's sister, who couldn't handle that their father was evil and continued to hurt people until-

Well, that was a longer story and Izumi was only really involved near the end, but the important thing was that when Azula was just a teenager she had conquered Ba Sing Se before bringing Dad back to the Fire Nation and-

Izumi gasped.

Too many details lined up. But it didn't explain why everyone was being so mean. Unless-

Was this- was this not a weird nightmare mirror world? Had Mom and Dad and Auntie Ty Lee once been just as mean as Azula? Had Uncle Aang died at some point? Could Avatars do that?

Dad grunted. "She's scared again." He took a deep breath and stepped toward Izumi. "It's okay, I can protect you from Mai and her knives if you tell us the truth. I- uh, think this is all a misunderstanding, but you have to tell me the truth about how you got here."

Mom sighed. "Zuko, she's probably more scared one of the dreaded slayers of the Avatar than me." She turned to Izumi and brandished a knife. "I don't use these on kids. Usually. But I can protect you from Zuko and Azula. Mostly. You just need to tell me how you got here. As much as you can remember."

"She doesn't need to be scared of me," Dad moaned. "I'm not going to hurt her!"

"You did kick fire at her."

"You threw knives at her! And anyway, she was attacking us!"

"You mean crashing into the dinner table and then crying like a baby with a dirty diaper? And believe me, I know that sound."

"She wasn't crying like a baby! And since when do you spend time with babies, anyway?"

"I have a little brother now." She gave a little smirk, and Izumi automatically smiled in anticipation of her version of a joke. "Don't kick fire at him if he cries when you finally meet him."

But Dad didn't seem to have brought his sense of humor along with him to this violent interrogation. "I kicked fire at her because she came out of nowhere to explode a tree and knock over the dinner Azula obviously set up so that you could seduce me into going back to the Fire Nation!"

Mom just stared at him for a moment, her face not moving. Then she said, "Fine. I understand now."

Izumi's stomach turned to lead. She knew that when Mom got like that, she was pissed. "Please don't be mad at each other! It's okay, I'm still very intimidated by Mo- Mai and want to tell D- tell Zuko all my secrets! For real!"

Mom and Dad turned to stare at her.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Azula said as she stepped in through the room's door. "You two can't even do a proper 'Good Guard, Bad Guard' routine. Listen to her, she's taking pity on you and was probably going to feed you more lies! Perhaps it's just as well that dinner was cut short."

Auntie Ty Lee trailed in after her and made some kind of motion. Izumi squinted and decided it was probably a friendly wave and not a Sun Warrior hex-gesture. She went to wave back but remembered that her hands were encased in some kind of stone behind her chair's back.

Azula stood over Izumi and continued, "I don't have time to turn you over to the Dai Li to be broken. I have a ship to board tomorrow, and their methods are slow. So I have a choice before me. I can either accept that I'm not going to get any answers before I return to the Fire Nation, if you aren't just insane, or I can cut my losses right now-" She held up her right hand and blue flames burst to life over it, combining with the green crystal lamps to turn the room a shade like Auntie Toph's face after riding a dragon. "-and take another child's life this week."

"She's not bluffing," Mom said as she leaned back against a stone badgermole and crossed her arms.

Dad looked away, the blue light making the unscarred part of his face look unhealthily pale. His fists were clenched at his sides.

Izumi swallowed. "I already told you, I was at-"

"-the Western Air Temple and then flew through the air on a cloud of rainbows to the Earth Kingdom, yes. I heard all that. I find it a tad unbelievable."

"Er, I never said I flew anywhere and there were no rainbows-"

"I was exaggerating for comedic effect!" Azula moved her burning hand closer to Izumi's face. "You are being mocked, in case you are too stupid to understand my considerable wit."

The fire was really hot, which shouldn't have been a surprise, especially not for a Firebender, but for some reason Izumi felt like she was meeting her element all over again. She was starting to sweat, and her own Firebending wasn't any help with her arms and legs locked into place. If Azula didn't believe her, maybe she could come up with some kind of plausible lie? What else was going on back during the Hundred Years War?

Azula frowned. "I can see in your eyes that you just decided to deceive me again. Oh, well. I suppose I'll never get the full story behind this." She moved her hand even closer-

Dad said, "Azula, don't-"

-Azula rolled her eyes-

-Mom turned her face away-

-Izumi cried out-

-and Auntie Ty Lee shouted, "I figured it out!"

Azula drew her hand back and turned to Ty Lee. "You know what's going on with the intruder?"

"Huh?" Auntie Ty Lee frowned. "No! I don't know anything about that. I just figured out how to find out!"

Dad said, "How?"

"I have special powers!" Auntie Ty Lee twirled on one foot until she was facing him, then leaned forward and smiled (causing him to take a big step back). "I can see auras and sense emotions."

Mom groaned. "No, you can't."

"Of course I can." Auntie Ty Lee spun again and waved dismissively at her. "This girl is so expressive and I am so charming, I can combine her reactions to my interregional- um, my interruption- I ask her questions and my magical ninth-sense will piece together the truth!"

"You mean your sixth-sense." Azula let the flame in her hands go out.

"Sixth? You mean most people only have five senses?" Auntie Ty Lee tapped her chin. "That explains so much."

Mom said, "Not that I care either way, but are we really entertaining this idea?"

Izumi was wondering the same thing. But when she looked at Azula, she found her with her Calculating Face on.

"Ty Lee might not have any magic powers," Azula said, "but she is quite perceptive in her own way, and her delusions about how it manifests don't impede her. In any event, we can always burn the girl alive later. Why not let Ty Lee try? After all, I gave you and Zuzu a chance, however miserably you bungled it."

Maybe it was the relief of not having her face burned off, but Izumi couldn't help giggling. "Zuzu?"

Dad scowled at her, but Azula ignored it all and said, "Very well, Ty Lee. You may proceed. I expect this will be most interesting."

But Auntie Ty Lee averted her gaze and twiddled her fingers together. "I need you guys to all leave the room so I can be alone with her."

"What? Why?"

"I can't do it while people are watching." Auntie Ty Lee brightened and held up her hands. "You know! Like how it's really hard to pee when you know someone is listening?"

Azula immediately made a face. "What?! Would why- No. Never mind, I don't need to know! Very well. You have the room. We'll wait to hear from you." She pushed Mom and Dad out as she fled. Mom threw one last glance at Izumi.

Then she was alone with Young Auntie Ty Lee.

Auntie winked and whispered, "Azula hates thinking about bodily functions that don't involve catastrophic organ failures."

Izumi could only think to say, "O-kay."

Auntie grabbed a chair and sat down in front of her. This close, Izumi's vision was mostly able to focus properly. It was strange seeing such a young version of a face she knew so well.

While she stared, Auntie continued to keep her voice low and said, "Azula is trying to listen and she won't give us much time alone. But if we're careful, we can have some nice girl-talk."

"O-kay."

"And by 'girl-talk' I mean we're going to talk about your pre-dic-a-ment."

"O-kay."

"How far into the future are you from and which of us are you descended from?"

"O-" Izumi's brain caught up with what Auntie had just said and she promptly choked. After coughing up the next syllable and some of her dignity, she managed, "Wh- what?"

Auntie patted her head. "It's okay, dear, I'm here for you. Us time-travelers have to stick together."

"Y- you- what?!"

Auntie made a shushing motion. "You talked about the Western Air Temple. My family visited those ruins on vacation once. There's a grove near the hanging temples, with every tree bearing a different kind of fruit. It's cute, or it would be if anyone was taking care of it."

Izumi forced her jaw to stopping hanging around like dead weight so that she could properly respond. "The sacred Xunqiu Grove."

"Oh, is that the name? Did they finally put a museum near the temple like the guide was talking about?"

Izumi honestly had no idea how to respond to that. If this was during the war - and everyone thought Uncle Aang was dead - how could she explain anything? That Uncle Aang and the Air Acolytes were restoring the Western Air Temple with her dad's blessing? That she was friends with Uncle Aang's kids, and she and Kya had run and hid from Bumi to mess with him, ending up in the forest above the temple cliffs? And that a storm had come in unexpectedly, and they tried to take refuge beneath the trees in the Xunqiu Grove? That they had been beneath the plum tree when the thunder started, and Izumi was worrying if she'd have to try to redirect lightning for the first time?

How could she explain the feeling that had creeped up on the back of her neck, the same feeling she had whenever Master demonstrated lightning-bending? How she'd pushed Kya away and then there was a light so bright it made everything go away and then it was dark and she crashed into something hard and someone with Dad's Firebending style was kicking flame at her and Kya was nowhere to be seen but Izumi couldn't see anything anyway because she'd lost her glasses and then Mom and Auntie were-

No, wait, Auntie had been there for that part.

Actually, maybe Izumi could just start with the storm? "So, does lightning not mix with the grove? Because there was all this light and I thought I'd fallen into the Spirit World or something! But then- I'm here! And everyone is young and Mom-"

Auntie's eyes practically lit up. "I was right!" She reached a hand out and brushed Izumi's face with her fingers. "I can see so much of Mai in you. And you have some of that same nervous wet-owlkitten quality she had before she got good with knives and found her strength."

Izumi felt her face warming. "I- I thought she made up that she was shy when she was little- you know, so that I'd feel better about not talking my entire first day at the Academy."

Auntie giggled. "Oh, for sure, she didn't talk at school, either. I think the first time I heard her voice was when she threw rocks at the nasty girls trying to beat me into the ground."

"That's how you met?! Bully!" Izumi nearly stood up before she remembered her arms were bound around a chair and she was technically a prisoner being interrogated. "She just told me you met at Pre-Academy and you seemed interesting."

"Oh yeah, she was a real hero, and those girls were definitely bullies. I was a little too trusting back then." Auntie's smile twisted into a smirk. "Now - quietly, so Azula doesn't hear - please tell me that Zuko is your daddy. That would be so wonderful, and you're kind of cute in the way he is."

Izumi found her face growing even warmer, all the way up to her ears, and tried to keep her expression strong and professional. "What's so wonderful about it?"

"Wow, yeah, Zuko's definitely the father. He and Mai go together so well! I'm relieved that worked out. Or works out. Ugh, time travel talk is so annoying." Auntie sighed. "Well, the good news is that there's a chance we can still get your parents together and we won't have to figure out what will happen if you don't get will-be-borned."

It was probably lucky Izumi had been blushing so much, because at those whispered words, her blood went ice cold, so she ended up a very pleasant room temperature. "What do you mean, I won't be born?"

Zuko tried to stop himself from pacing, but it never seemed to stick.

He'd stare at the closed door, behind which Ty Lee was doing something weird with Squinty. Then he'd look at Azula to see if they had to tolerate this presumption and wait out in the hallway like servants. Azula would roll her eyes at him, so he'd look at Mai to see if she was willing to stand with him against this disrespect. But Mai would keep playing with one of her knives, ignoring him in a way that felt like she was paying a lot of attention to him. That would get him antsy, and he'd start pacing again until he realized he was supposed to be avoiding that. And then the whole thing would repeat.

Zuko knew he had patience, but for some reason it wasn't answering his summons right now.

It didn't help that he had a theory about why Mai was not-quite-ignoring him. He hadn't meant to yell at her like that. The way she'd suddenly withdrawn, so differently than how Uncle had always reacted to-

Uncle-

To divert himself, Zuko took the spectacles he'd found out of his pocket and examined them. Although the green crystals gave everything a pallid appearance, the spectacles were clearly well made, the lenses precisely cut to fit tightly into the golden frame and the arms curved at the end to hold solidly on the ears. Despite the thinness of the metal, it seemed to be fairly solid, so maybe it was just a gold coating on something stronger.

He held the spectacles up to his face to look through the lenses. They distorted the world in front of him.

There was probably some kind of relevant metaphor in that, but Zuko had never been very fond of poetry outside of the theater.

"Trying to take up the Earth King's sense of style?" Azula said.

Zuko lowered the spectacles and glared at her. Now she wanted to talk. "What do you mean?"

"He wears spectacles of a similar style." She folded her arms and gave him a look. "I thought that perhaps you wanted to evoke his image, since you're set on staying here in his city."

"Don't mock me, Azula. I'm nothing like that coward of a king."

Surprisingly, she nodded. "True enough. That's why I don't understand why you want to stay here. There's nothing to be afraid of back home!"

"I'm not afraid!" He felt a burning in his chest, and huffed a cloud of black smoke to balance his Inner Fire.

"Then why stay here?"

"Why are you so concerned with whether I go or stay?" Zuko stuffed the spectacles back in his pocket and turned away from his sister. "Maybe you're the one who's afraid of something."

"Me?!" Azula barked a single, loud laugh. "I don't really care what you do, since you're generally so worthless. It's just neater if I bring you back along with the rest of my victory."

At that, Mai raised her head a little, although she still didn't look at anyone. "But you did put all that effort into getting me to seduce Zuko. Too bad for everyone I'm apparently a really bad temptress these days."

Zuko turned his face away so that no one, especially not her, could see his wince. He didn't know why he had accused her of trying to seduce him. He didn't really think that. But he had been so mad, and he knew Azula had manipulated that whole situation with the dinner. Still, the way he had said, the way he had included Mai in the blame-

But he knew where her true loyalty lay, even if they had found a way to be happy together before he was banished.

Zuko started pacing again.

"Yeah," Auntie Ty Lee was saying, twisting on her chair so that she could sit on top of its back, "I almost wiped out my whole family line when I had my little incident. My sisters were running around the temple being loud and kicking up all the dust, and the tour guide was going on about where the Air Nation armies had trained, and it was just so boring that I went exploring and got lost. It started to rain, and when I found the grove, I sat under the cherry tree. Rain always puts me to sleep, so I started to drift off, but then I was started by the sound of thunder and a bright light- and then I fell into a bath tub set under a cherry tree in a private garden in what turned out to be the age of Fire Lord Yosor."

Izumi blinked. "That was a long time ago! He was the Fire Lord who had Avatar Szeto as his Grand Advisor!"

"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, my great-great-great-lots-more-greats-grandmother was about to leave on a journey across the Fire Nation to meet my lots-of-greats-grandfather for the first time and marry him by arrangement. I fell into her bath in a burst of pink petals and spooked her. She thought I had to be a demon and bad omen- understandable, but at the time it seemed kind of mean. Once I figured it all out, I tried to explain I was just a time-traveler, but that got them even more upset because time-traveling demons are worse than regular demons, I guess. So my Lotsa-Greats-Grandmomma wouldn't leave her rooms in the tower of her family's mansion, no matter how much they asked her to come down. Even her childhood friend Samdhup, an Air Nomad who was supposed to escort her to her wedding, couldn't get her to come out."

Izumi was trying to blink her way through all the information, but it was just making her dizzy. "So if she didn't marry your ancestor, you couldn't be born?"

"Yeah. I wasn't thinking about that at the time, though. I was still kind of young to wrap my head around this four-dimensional stuff."

"Four- what?"

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I didn't. I was a good girl and just wanted to help make everyone happy again. It was only later that it popped into my head that I was guaranteeing my own life. And then the real demons showed up."

"Real- what?!" Izumi put a lot of effort into not thinking about her childhood fears of the things that might lurk in the dark corners of the Fire Palace and almost entirely succeeded. "Are you saying I'm going to get demons?!" She checked around the room, and the only thing even remotely demonic were the badgermole statues, and nothing that round and cute could be dangerous.

Auntie frowned and slipped back down onto the seat of her chair. "I hope not. I'm not entirely sure if it was a time-travel thing or they just had demons back in Fire Lord Yosor's time." Auntie tapped her chin. "Well, after a few days I convinced Nomad Samdhup to sneak into her room and try talking to her face to face- you know, since they were lifelong friends and so close. I was going to spy, because they were in there together for a long time, but then I was found by the demons again. I'll just say it got really scary but just when it seemed like all hope was lost-" Auntie paused. "Is this as tense as I hope it is?"

Izumi nodded fanatically. "I am on the edge of my seat for reassurance about the demons."

"Good! Well, when it seemed like all hope was lost, the demons melted into flower petals and I was safe! Lotsa-Greats-Grandmomma had come out of her room and agreed to go get married. And I guess that fixed things!"

Izumi wasn't so sure. "Bully for Grandmomma. So you're saying that restoring your ancestry destroyed the demons. So- what, they were there to kill you because you weren't supposed to exist?"

"I like to think so. It means I'm a demon-buster!" Auntie giggled, but then leaned forward with a glare. "But don't call my Lotsa-Greats-Grandmomma a bully! She was very nice once she came out of her room, even though she still thought I was a kind of demon. She even let me ride in the sky bison with her to attend the wedding." Auntie's glare snapped into a grin. "That's how I got home! The wedding was performed by a Fire Sage in an old temple- and the temple was surrounded by cherry trees. And guess what happened!"

Izumi tried to back away, but she was still stuck in a chair with her hands and feet bound in stone, so she had to live with Auntie's nose practically touching hers. "Um, since you consider this guessable, there's probably some obvious narrative structure, so I'm going to go with a thunderstorm? Like when you were at the grove? And you were in or near a try at the time?"

"Wow! You're right! You're smart and know some nice words." Auntie leaned back again. "I woke up back in the grove, in my time, soaking wet and with my sisters painting bad words on my face."

"So one possibility is that getting your ancestors together created the conditions for you to find your way back home. Or I guess you could have lucked out. But it also might have been a dream." Izumi squirmed shrugged as best as she could with her arms bound behind the back of her chair. "Uncle Sok- er, I mean that someone my parents know says that dreams are psychological manifestations. Maybe you just had anxiety about your family and I'm not going to get chased by demons for dropping in on my parents' first date?"

"Huh, your uncle knows some weird words, too. But how did I know that Greats-Grandmomma had an Air Nomad friend named Samdhup? No one else in my family had ever heard of it until we found pages of her journal hidden in one of the walls of our house during a renovation!" Ty Lee pointed at Izumi. "Gotcha! Also, when did your mom and dad start dating?"

"When they were teenagers in Ba-" Izumi's mouth went dry. "Sing-" She tried to croak out the last word, but couldn't.

"Se," Ty Lee finished with a nod.

"Say what?" Dad said as he burst into the room.

Izumi startled so hard her chair fell over.

Zuko had only been able to wait so long with Azula's condescending attitude and Mai's unspoken hostility. Ty Lee could just learn to deal with having someone watch her exchange gossip with strange little girls who squinted too much and for some reason were on the floor still bound in their chair. He heard Azula and Mai following him in.

"What," Ty Lee said.

Zuko stopped short. "What?"

"You said to say 'What.' I thought it was a royal order."

Both Squinty (still on the floor) and Mai snickered at that.

Zuko clenched his fists. "Don't ridicule me."

Ty Lee actually drooped in her seat. "Sorry. I was just trying to have some fun with you."

He sighed. Now he probably looked like the bad guy to all the girls. He tried to lighten the mood with, "So what have you learned? Is it like Azula said? This girl traveled through the air on rainbows?"

Everyone stared at him. Finally Ty Lee said, "Um, no. Azula said she was joking about that, remember?"

Zuko felt a headache coming on. He looked to Azula, who was leaning against one of the badgermole statues. "Do you want to take over?"

"No need. You're doing just fine, Zuzu. I'm rooting for you."

"Ergh." He pinched the bridge of his nose against the pressure building in his head. "Ty Lee, just please tells us what you learned."

"Honestly, nothing all that interesting, compared to the rainbows." She stood up and moved to pick Squinty and her chair off the floor. "Just an embarrassing story about Mai's cousin Mimi being sent to Ba Sing Se when they heard about our victory here as part of the Sozin Youth League, and a journey she mostly doesn't remember because she caught pentapox in New Ozai and has been feverish and hallucinating for most of the last week."

Mai said, "My cousin?"

Azula said, "Pentapox?"

Squinty said, "Sozin Youth League?!"

In the silence that followed, Zuko felt the need to point out, "That doesn't explain how she got into the garden or why the tree exploded."

Ty Lee shrugged. "The fever still has her a little addled. But I guess it's also possible she's a demon from beyond time and space who can pass through walls."

At the word 'demon,' Zuko noticed, Squinty winced.

Zuko looked over to Mai. "Do you really have a cousin named Mimi?"

Mai's face revealed nothing. She just said, "I have a lot of relatives whose names start with M. Why doesn't Mimi here explain how we're related?"

Zuko thought it was a good test. He crossed his arms and loomed over Squinty. Playing the 'bad guard' was more his style, anyway. "Well? Answer her!"

Squint/Mimi blinked up at him. "Oh, well, Mo- Mai's mom is Michi, who is cousins with Mingzhu, whose daughter is Mui, who is my mom."

Zuko looked back to Mai. "Did you get all that?"

"Yeah," Mai sighed. "And those names check out. But I could have sworn Mui's daughter was still a kid."

Zuko looked down at Squi- Mimi. "She is, though?"

Mimi stuck her tongue out at him. Little brat! Zuko was about to do the same before deciding it wasn't dignified enough for an honorable prince.

Honorable prince.

Zuko suddenly felt very tired. Why was he involved in this mess involving a stupid kid, anyway? "Well, Azula? You're the one who really cares here. Are you buying any of this?"

His sister didn't immediately reply. She stared at Mimi for a long time, and then her gaze flicked back and forth to Mai a few times. Finally, she gave a long look to Ty Lee before finally saying, "It makes as much sense as anything. Mai's family does seem likely to want to keep an eye on her in our hour of victory, especially if she's going back to the Fire Nation without them. And of course we can't underestimate all the reports of this new pentapox plague. As long as she's not contagious, I see no harm in letting her recover with us on the journey back home."

"Really?" Zuko could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Isn't it all a little convenient for you?"

Azula's eyebrows rose. "If it bothers you so much, you better come along with us. You can protect my pretty friends from this flying rainbow demon like the big strong prince you are."

Ty Lee laughed. "Rainbows again! Good one, Azula!"

But it was Mai who Zuko had glanced at when Azula had said 'pretty.' And her sharp eyes had caught him.

Feeling his face warm, Zuko turned and headed for the door. "Protect them yourself! I'm staying in Ba Sing Se, and that's final!"

But Azula just said, "Where are you going? We still haven't had dinner, what with all this drama."

"I'm not hungry! I'm going to bed early!" Zuko slammed the door shut behind him, and figured he could decided if he had just told the truth once he was away from his stupid sister and her transparent manipulations. This was why he didn't want to go back to the Fire Nation.

Yes, that made sense. He was sure of it.

Izumi's jaw was hanging open. She'd never seen Dad act like that! He was taking a tantrum like a child! And he was calling her a kid?

She was brought back to reality by one of the green guard people - the Dai Li, Mas- Azula had called them - removing the stone bindings from her wrists. She quickly stood up and flexed her arms, then took a defensive stance with her back against the wall and a view of the guard, Azula, Auntie, and Mom.

She tried to keep her voice even as she said, "So, uh, what now?"

Azula stood up from where she was leaning and tugged her tunic straight. "Now I suppose you chaperone your cousin and do honor to your family and the Sozin Youth League with good behavior. Also, that squinting is unbecoming in one of my traveling companions. The Earth King wears spectacles, too, and left behind quite a collection in one of his bedrooms. The Dai Li here can show you, if you'd like to try them to see if they work for you. I am going to get some dinner, and I wish for some time to think, so I will be eating alone."

Izumi knew that Auntie Ty Lee's story hadn't fooled Azula at all. But she watched as Azula walked off without another word- or even so much as an intimidating scowl.

All this, and demons might be on the way, too.

Izumi gave a long, deflating sigh.

Auntie giggled, "See, Mai? She even sounds like you!"

"And she does have our chin," Mom said. She went over the standing tray from earlier and began collecting all the blades she's left there. "I guess it's Family Time again. (Ugh, and here was I looking to having the house to myself all summer.) And- what? You follow me around to make sure I stay out of trouble or something?"

Izumi was in no mood for Mom's mood. "Nope. I don't care what you do. I'm going to go see if any of the Earth King's glasses will let me see." She looked to the Dai Li guard. "And I can find my own way, thanks."

Then she ran off in pursuit of her daddy.

TO BE CONTINUED