The Princess and the Peasant - (An Azula Epic)

by grither55

Princess Azula believes that she was born with a divine right to rule, and she rules through fear alone. Until, a commoner girl enters her life by giving her a fire lily. Through this act, Azula finds herself undertaking a life-changing journey with her new companion to ascend the throne, save the world from an otherworldly threat, and find her humanity. Femslash.

7. The Protection of the Princess

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The Protection of the Princess – Chapter Seven

Team Azula and their strange new companion were now making their way through the commoner districts below Hari Bulkan.

"I demand to know all about this...ailment of yours." Azula ordered while gazing down at Elle as they made their way through the commoner city.

"Oh, I have a breathing condition. I have to take an inhaler to stabilize my breathing on a regular basis." Elle informed while her mistress glared down at her with irate amber golden eyes.

"In other words, you are weak." Azula snorted while Elle's shoulders slumped as she gazed down at her.

"Azula!" Ty Lee scolded while frowning with her hand on Elle's shoulder.

"Tell me, servant. What happens when we retrieve your…medicine? It will run out sooner or later no? Have you given that any thought?" Azula inquired while staring down at Elle with cold eyes.

"U-um, I did…I was hoping that Her Highness could replicate it somehow…" Elle admitted shyly while the older girl glanced down at her sternly.

"Do I look like a physician to you, servant?" Azula asked icily while she glared ahead with Ty Lee still frowning.

"I bet you can figure something out, Azula! You are so brilliant! If anyone can replicate her medicine. It is you." Ty Lee praised sweetly while Mai sighed under her breath.

Azula noticeably swelled in confidence while walking with her lips curving into a smug smirk all the while Ty Lee smiled victoriously.

When in doubt just stroke Azula's ego!

"Azula-sama is the smartest person in the whole world! The most beautiful too!" Elle cheered happily while smiling up at her mistress's smirking face.

"I am rather amazing yes…" Azula agreed in a gratified voice while she scanned her fingernails smugly.

"There is no one more amazing than Her Highness." Elle chirped while Ty Lee giggled down at her.

"Seriously, Azula. I can see why she is your favorite. This girl is a total brownnoser." Mai stated dryly while Azula glared over her shoulder.

The princess's callous eyes never failed to notice when the girl turned to her with a sudden look of curiosity in her gaze.

"What is a brownnoser, Azula-sama?" Elle inquired abruptly while peering up at the three stunned taller girls.

"Seriously?" Mai repeated with disbelief lacing her voice.

Was this girl that naïve?

"You…don't know what a brownnoser is, Elle?" Azula asked in a taken aback voice while peering down at her pet while the girl chewed on her lip.

"No. I've spent most of my life isolated from the world in the family estate. I don't know much about the world other than what I have read in books inside our library…I haven't had much social interaction with anyone besides my brother." Elle explained while gazing up at the three women with innocent amber eyes.

"I told you that we have to look out for her." Ty Lee remarked while patting Elle's back as the girl blushed up at her taller form.

"A brownnoser is someone who spends the bulk of their time with their face buried in someone else's ass." Mai stated in a deadpan voice while her two friends stared on humorously as she gazed down at Elle's thoughtful face.

"Mai…" Azula warned in an icy voice while her friend gazed back with teasing eyes.

"But I-I haven't had my face in Azula-sama's…bottom." Elle protested naively while a blush developed on her cheeks just as all three girls stared down at her in unison.

Even Azula's mouth was agape in surprise while Ty Lee now peered down at Elle with her face overtaking a literal shade of pink.

"Wow. You sure are a sheltered girl, aren't you?" Ty Lee commented while she gazed over in amusement at the princess's stoic face.

"Servant. Pay no mind to Mai. She is just miserable because her fiancé ditched her." Azula taunted while she stared down at Elle as the girl nodded faithfully.

"As you say, Azula-sama…always as you say." Elle agreed warmly while Azula gazed down at her in gratification.

"I bet if Azula pulled her pants down right now…you would pucker up on command." Mai teased in a playful voice while her two friends turned to glare at her.

"That is a bit mean, Mai." Ty Lee spoke in an almost big sisterly manner while she frowned at her gloomy companion.

"Azula-sama saved me from a lonely life. I am forever grateful for her mercy. As her sworn servant I will always obey her. No matter the order." Elle chimed innocently while her words produced an uncomfortable silence in the air.

"Good girl. It pleases me to know that you would kiss my ass if I ordered you to do so." Azula purred while she patted the smiling girl's head while her friends coughed nervously.

"She…just proved my point." Mai muttered while gazing down at Elle with a slight bit of amusement in her eyes.

"W-well you do have a beautiful backside, Mistress…it is a very lovely bottom." Elle stammered while peering up at the princess's smug face with worshipful eyes.

"You were right, Ty Lee…she is adorable." Azula announced as she turned to her blushing friend with her palm still resting in the girl's hair.

"Well like I said, Azula. With devotion like that you really should try to look out for her." Ty Lee stated while smiling awkwardly down at Elle's beaming face.

"Hm. Indeed." Azula agreed while patting the girl's little head once more before placing her fist back against her hip.

"So…where exactly are these bullies?" Mai asked while she gazed down at Elle's naïve face.

"Oh! They were frequenting a tea shop the last I saw them. I was thinking we might check there." Elle answered while the three-women exchanged comical glances.

"Tell me, servant. How is that pacifism working out for you now?" Azula purred while glancing down at Elle while the girl smiled all the while.

"You have got to be joking. You are a pacifist and you are friends with Azula?" Mai questioned dryly while even Ty Lee blinked in astonishment.

"It is a good thing that we're here to look out for our little pacifist." Ty Lee stated while she patted the girl's shoulder while the princess snorted snidely in agreement.

"It is working out quite well for me. I have made friends with three powerful highborn women…one being Her Highness herself. I have never been the sort to start trouble. I just go with the flow! And here I have flowed." Elle declared to the amusement of Ty Lee while peering up at Azula with the woman glaring down at her in response.

"She has got a point actually." Mai stated while the princess folded her arms over her breasts gazing down at the handmaid.

"Here you have flowed. And you can just as easily flow back into the streets." Azula informed strictly while the small blonde padded alongside her.

"Azula…you shouldn't get mad at her when you are the one who asked it to begin with." Ty Lee commented while grinning down at their petite new friend.

"I will do as I please, thank you very much, Ty Lee." Azula scoffed while Elle peered up at her with a finger on her lip.

"Do…you need another hug, Mistress Azula?" Elle requested tenderly while Azula stiffened much to her friends shared amusement.

"No. No, I do not." Azula replied sternly while glaring down at the younger girl's beaming face.

The girl was cute…that much she will admit.

"I think she does." Mai stated while paying Azula's icy glare little mind while watching in amusement as Elle drifted closer to the princess's side.

"Servant! Don't you even…I told you that I don't need a hug!" Azula protested as she tensed when Elle leaped onto her belly once more.

The two noblewomen stared on in puzzlement while Elle embraced their princess around her midsection.

"From now on whenever you are angry I am going to give you a hug!" Elle cried out as she nuzzled the princess's taut stomach while pressing her face into the squirming woman's robed flesh.

"No! No. You will not! Now detach from my stomach at once!" Azula growled out while folding her arms as she fixed her grudgingly adorable pet with a glare.

"Aww! She is really sweet, Azula." Ty Lee exclaimed while smiling over at the two while her friend rolled her eyes in response.

"Even if you look like you're going to set someone on fire! I will hug you each and every time, Mistress Azula!" Elle cheered out joyously as she detached from her mistress's side while peering up at her scowling face with a bright smile.

Azula turned away while her eyes pierced Mai's skull as the gloomy noble snickered with a hand over her mouth.

"You do that, servant, and you just might find that you are the one I set on fire." Azula declared coldly while staring down at her pet while the girl bounced alongside her.

"You know I really like her, Azula!" Ty Lee announced while placing her arm over Elle's shoulders once more while the shorter girl smiled shyly up at her.

"I thought you might. Now let's…just get to this accursed tea shop." Azula sighed while brushing her hair from her eyes with a lazy finger.

To think that she was actually tracking bullies in the commoner districts for her handmaid…

There was no way that her father could ever be allowed to hear of this.

Luckily for her, he was far too busy to be concerned with such trivial affairs.

It wasn't too long before the three women stood at the top of a staircase with their younger companion while the princess tapped her boot impatiently as she watched Elle peer down over the rails.

"They're actually here. They really are as preppy as I thought they were." Elle stated while she glanced up at Azula's callous face.

True enough there were two Fire Nation girls seated at a table chatting with one another in the multi-leveled balcony of the picnic table area outside of the commoner café.

"I almost feel sorry for them. But not really." Ty Lee spoke while she stared down at the two-snickering girls with angered brown-gray eyes.

"These two are the ones? Very well, my servant. In recognition of your admirable loyalty I will mercilessly punish them. Wait here." Azula announced while striding forward with her hands clasped behind her back and menace in her step.

Her two-childhood friends visibly shivered only to gaze on in confusion when the servant girl pulled on the princess's arm to stop her.

"Oh, no! I don't want you to hurt them, Azula-sama. Now that you have tracked them for me. I will negotiate this matter peacefully." Elle insisted while the woman gazed down at her with her face scrunched up in mockery.

"You can't be serious." Azula snorted with her hands on her shapely hips while they watched the girl shake her head.

"Mhm! I don't want to see them get hurt. I may not like them…and they may have bullied me, but I still wish them well. Please wait here while I politely request for them to return my medicine." Elle explained while smiling gently as she turned to walk away with her backpack on her shoulders.

The three highborn women exchanged a baffled glance with Ty Lee being the most understanding of the three.

But even Ty Lee was finding that Elle was more compassionate than her.

"See what I mean, Azula? She is a really sweet girl…a bit naïve but sweet. She would be lost without us to look after her." Ty Lee spoke while she turned to the princess as she scowled after Elle's marching form.

"On that I agree with you. Well…let's take a seat and order a tea. I am certain that the girl has it all under control." Azula scoffed as they strode down the steps while she observed her young admirer approach the two girl's table.

The three women seated themselves on the overlooking balcony while they watched the petite blonde naively stride across the distance of the café.

While even waving kindly at the two girls!

The two girls were now noticing their victim approaching as they exchanged a glance while smirking in a manner that was eerily like the sadistic princess.

Only…on a much smaller and pettier level.

Ty Lee sighed while she sat beside Azula as she gazed at her friend observing the situation with unconcealed amusement in her eyes.

The stupid girls couldn't even see Azula on the upper balcony from where they were seated.

"Look who it is, Irri. It's Goldie." Arra mocked after noticing the small blonde walking towards their table.

The taller of the two girls turned to stare at the approaching girl with cruel intent in her gaze.

"Hello, there. We ran into each other a few days ago. I have reason to believe that you took something of mine." Elle greeted with a bafflingly polite voice while the princess tried to stifle her own laughter.

Even the usual apathetic Mai seemed to find the girl's absurdly courteous manner of handling a dispute rather comical.

"If it isn't Goldie! And you actually have new clothes! You must have taken up pan handling! I can just see your sign now. Will give blowjobs for coin." Irri taunted while gazing up at Elle's still smiling face.

"Yeah! Who did you blow?" Arra sneered while both girls sat unaware that Azula was gazing down at them with predatory eyes.

'Those girls are so dead…' Ty Lee thought while folding her arms over her bust while she gazed at the princess's waning smile.

"Huh…who did I blow? Look…I can see that there has been a misunderstanding. If I did anything to offend either of you. I now offer you, my apology." Elle spoke in a cordial voice while her new friends gazed over at her back in disbelief.

'Why is she apologizing to them!' Azula questioned with her eyes narrowing in increased aggravation while her friends watched her ire boil over slowly.

"You apologize?" Irri questioned while gazing up at the nodding girl.

"Mhm! I don't know what I did to anger you so terribly, but I am willing to take responsibility for my actions." Elle explained while the princess stared on furrowing her brows in disgust.

The two girls glanced at one another while the shorter girl shifted on her feet still smiling.

"With that out of the way. May I please have my medicine back now?" Elle pondered as she held out her hand for Irri to give it back.

Irri began to smile in a manner that was clearly deceptive to the three highborn women.

Yet Elle continued to smile genuinely seemingly unaware.

The three looked up from their table as a waitress dashed forward to greet the reclining princess.

And then she dropped down into a deep kowtow before the princess's feet.

"H-how may I serve you-" Yoo trailed off only for the princess to raise her hand to signal that she wanted her to be silent.

It was a rude gesture to be certain.

But when Princess Azula signaled that she wanted silence.

One had best obey.

If they sought to keep breathing that was.

"Do not announce my presence. If you do…I will be certain that you lose your job." Azula stated icily while Ty Lee gazed down at the bowing waitress with sympathetic eyes.

The poor girl could only nod in a terrified manner uncertain if she was even allowed to speak.

"With that out of the way…we would like three teas." Azula commanded curtly while leaning back in her seat.

"Y-yes. I will bring those back right away…" Yoo assured as arose from her kowtow while she bowed her head to the princess.

Before she turned around to spring back inside of the commoner cafe.

"I hate tea." Mai muttered glumly with Ty Lee gazing at her in amusement while the princess quietly scoffed.

"You hate everything." Azula remarked while turning back to her young handmaid's situation down below.

"Well, that fixes everything. Of course, I will give it back." Irri commented as she smiled at Elle's relieved face.

Up on the balcony Ty Lee's lips curved into a pissed off frown as she turned to Azula's emotionless face watching the scene carefully.

'What a cruel bitch…but still…I have no right to judge…given that I am sitting with Azula.' Ty Lee thought while staring down below as the girl arose from her seat.

"That is great to hear! Clearly this was all a misunderstanding." Elle stated while peering up at the taller girl's smiling face.

"Is…she really that naïve?" Mai muttered quietly while turning to Azula as their drinks were set down before them by the fearful waitress.

"It would seem so." Azula replied with her lips curling into a frown while the waitress sunk down into another bow on all fours at her feet.

As Yoo bowed before the princess's pointed boots.

She could only hope that the difficult young woman has been pleased with her service.

Ty Lee was the only one of the three that glanced down at the poor girl in pity before gazing back downward to the scene below.

Her brown-gray eyes watched with a protective gleam as the Fire Nation girl approached Elle's shorter frame.

"Yeah. A misunderstanding. We weren't really trying to set your hair on fire. We just got a bit carried away!" Arra remarked with a feigned apologetic smile while trying to stifle her laughter.

As soon as Azula heard those words she glared down at Elle's back with heavy annoyance permeating her stare.

Even Ty Lee.

Easily the most compassionate of the three of them was glaring down at the two girls no longer caring if they died.

'Why would she even care if I hurt them? This is ridiculous!' Azula thought while staring down at her young handmaid with clear bewilderment in her eyes.

She just could not understand it…and as a prodigy who excelled at almost anything, she put her mind to.

It truly got on her nerves when she could not understand something or someone.

Perhaps…that was why she was finding herself becoming fond of her servant.

Elle…was an enigma.

"The past is the past. Perhaps we can be friends now?" Elle asked with her hand extended with the taller girl stepping over her.

The three highborn women exchanged a baffled glance.

With even Ty Lee failing to comprehend why the girl would even consider being friends with someone who tried to set her hair on fire.

"Right…let's be friends. Here is to our new friendship." Irri informed while holding her hand out before the shorter girl.

At this moment Azula groaned while holding her right hand over her face as she ground her teeth together in ever rising aggravation.

"That sounds great. My name is Elle!" Elle chimed while staring up at Irri's smiling face as she reached out to shake her hand.

What came soon after had been expected by all on Team Azula yet infuriated them all the same.

A slapping sound resonated through the air while Elle soared to the stone flooring with a new bruise on her cheek.

The princess stared down at the girl's crumpled form while she tried to suppress the grating sense of anger upon seeing her admirer struck in the face.

Ty Lee had already stood up from her seat with her fists clenched while Mai gazed up at her with curious tawny eyes.

It took a great deal to piss off Ty Lee.

But those two girls managed to do it.

"Sit down, Ty Lee. She has it all under control." Azula commented wryly while gazing up at Ty Lee's outraged face.

"Azula…how can you even say that?" Ty Lee demanded while staring back at her friend with disgust in her eyes.

"She is the one who wanted to settle this peacefully. This is what her foolish pacifism will get her. It is naïve and pathetic." Azula spoke while she stared at Ty Lee's scowling face before all three of them peered back below.

Irri cruelly removed Elle's backpack from her shoulders all the while snickering with her fellow bully.

"You are even dumber than I thought you were! Why would I ever want to be friends with you! Thanks for bringing the backpack to me though! What sort of moron brings back what I was trying to take in the first place? Idiot." Irri sneered while gazing down at Elle while the younger girl held a hand to her cheek as she sat up slowly.

"I see. I…suppose we have not progressed forward, but instead moved backwards." Elle announced while staring up at Irri's mean face with a downcast look in her eyes.

"You see? Brilliant deduction genius! It wasn't a mistake that I took your little breather. I knew that you would be stupid enough to come running back for it." Irri taunted while leaning over the kneeling teenager's marred face.

"Please give me my stuff back. Or…I will have to call my friends over." Elle insisted as she gazed up at the two-laughing girls.

"You have friends? I doubt it." Arra snorted while gazing down at Elle with a smirk on her lips.

"What friend might that be? The unscrupulous looking man that tried to abduct you?" Irri questioned while unzipping the girl's bag with a cruel grin on her lips.

Azula sat unflinching while sensing her two friends staring at her in a questioning manner.

Ty Lee's brown-gray eyes narrowed as she scowled down at Azula trying to resist the urge to puke.

"You know what is really depressing, Azula." Ty Lee began quietly while turning to stare at the princess's callous face.

"What, Ty Lee?" Azula sighed while pondering what her problem was lately.

"If you had seen this passing by a week ago you would have laughed with them…applauded them even. Maybe even joined in. I can't help but ponder if the only reason you care is because you like how she strokes your ego." Ty Lee declared in a furious voice while mustering up the nerve to glare down at Azula's shocked face.

A bead of sweat dripped down Mai's cheek as she turned to Azula's displeased countenance.

Azula glared up at Ty Lee with narrowed amber golden eyes that shone with fury over being back talked twice in one day.

"You forget your place, Ty Lee." Azula warned icily while gazing between her handmaid's bruised cheek and her childhood friends judging eyes.

"No. I don't. You are in charge. But I question if you were deserving of that fire lily." Ty Lee stated while meeting livid amber golden eyes.

A unanimous flinch was felt by both Mai and the poor waitress entrapped in the midst of their argument.

It would generally be considered suicidal to tell Princess Azula that she was not worthy of the flower gifted to her from a peasant girl.

And Ty Lee just did.

"You dare…claim that I am not worthy of a foreign peasant girl's flower?" Azula pondered in a tone devoid of her usual casualness that she used with Ty Lee.

"Azula…you are the strongest person I know…you are beyond beautiful and you are a prodigy to boot. But not all relationships are founded on fear. Some…believe it or not…are forged by compassion." Ty Lee explained while leaning on the table as she met her angered friends stare.

The tension continued to build up between the two with Azula only calmly marginally over the compliments to her looks and prodigy talents.

"What's gotten into you lately, Ty Lee?" Azula inquired in a more leveled voice while frowning up at her childhood friend.

"I feel like our friendship is slipping. And I don't think that you care and I wonder if you ever did." Ty Lee admitted while she folded her arms over her bust while the princess peered up with taken aback eyes.

Before Azula could even mouth a response.

Her attention was regained by the conflict down below.

She began to feel a growing sense of anger to see the stupid girl bending over to intimidate her admirer.

"N-no. Not him. I have three friends. Older girls. And my best friend…she is a firebender!" Elle retorted as she stood up shakily to meet the cruel girl's gaze.

The girl's declaration came across as a shock to the three noblewomen.

Azula gazed down at Elle with puzzlement in her eyes while sensing Ty Lee's stare of disapproval.

She turned to meet her friends gaze while sighing heavily with her annoyance nearing its peak.

"Ah. We had it backwards, Irri. She took up rugmunching for coin." Arra laughed loudly with her words flowing freely through the air high up into the three noblewomen's ears.

Azula's blood began to boil when she heard the remark that directly insulted her womanhood.

A snort of amusement resonated from Mai that was silenced speedily with a spin of her head.

Her eyes pierced Mai's skull and even Ty Lee fell into a nervous silence.

"So what? I am a firebender. Now why don't you go eat some carpet…or whatever it is that you do." Irri called out while holding the girl's backpack out of reach.

Azula set her tea down scowling all the while having long since decided to brutally torture the girls.

This was beginning to get embarrassing watching this pathetic display.

"Eat carpet? Why would I ever eat carpet?" Elle asked naively while both girls blinked in disbelief before their roaring laughter once more echoed throughout the balcony.

The princess held a hand to her face while groaning under her breath while the gloomy noblewoman did the same.

The two exchanged a shared incredulous look before turning to Ty Lee's still furious face.

'Just how naïve…is this girl?' Azula thought while placing an arm on her chair before sighing heavily.

"Oh, wow! You really take stupid to a whole new level, don't you? You know…I bet. That anyone you think is your friend…is just using you. Your face screams easy prey. I would know." Irri informed while smirking down at the shorter girl as she began trying to retake her pack.

Azula continued to gaze back at Ty Lee whose brown-gray eyes never ceased conveying an unspoken judgement.

Her lips curved into an even deeper scowl understanding quite clearly that Ty Lee was silently accusing her of stringing the girl along.

'Ty Lee has some nerve! I have treated this girl quite graciously!' Azula thought while exhaling a puff of flame through her nostrils.

"That is not true! Now please give me my stuff back!" Elle exclaimed while making a swipe for the bag only for it to rise out of reach.

"Come on you can do it, shrimp! Just a little further! Ooh, you almost made it!" Irri taunted while laughing over Elle as the girl stumbled forward pitifully.

The princess tapped the tabletop while meeting her friends angered stare before sighing as if it was a big inconvenience for her to have to stand.

"Please give it back!" Elle repeated with the bag being held out of reach just as the second girl walked up behind her friend.

"Would you look at that…a little jewelry chest… " Arra trailed off while whistling over her friends' shoulder as they both taunted Elle.

"D-don't you touch that. That belonged to my mother!" Elle shouted with the first signs of anger in her voice.

"You want it? Then jump higher, Goldie! Maybe if you jump high enough, you will be able to make a grab for your precious medicine as well. But you are going to have to work hard for it!" Irri yelled out while her friend dangled the inhaler above the petite girl's head.

The two girls stood above the small blonde, one with the backpack and its contents in hand.

And the other cruelly draping the medicine over her head just as her fingers failed to grasp it every time.

"I-I will get my medicine back…and my backpack back. The only difference will be the shape in which you walk away from here. If you give both to me now…we can still resolve this peaceably." Elle attempted to reason while Azula rolled her eyes from far above.

"Really? You are going to beat us up? You can't even jump without panting!" Arra hollered while swiping the inhaler out of Elle's reach just as the teenage fell down holding her chest.

"What's this? Is this a diary?" Irri questioned mockingly while carelessly flipping the book open.

"T-that's none of your b-business…p-put it down!" Elle stammered as she stood up shakily while holding her chest as she continued to wheeze.

Azula finally stood up from her seat alongside Mai as they two glanced at one another before following after Ty Lee who had already began storming down the steps.

"Ooh, that condition is hitting you hard. I suppose you can't make the jump! How sad." Arra spoke while smiling when the girl knelt rasping for air.

"P-please give it to me. I am having t-trouble-" Elle trailed off before she began coughing painfully yet the two bullies paid her no mind.

"Look at this, Arra! It is a romantic sketch of Princess Azula. Oh, and there is another one. And some foreign scribble. It looks like someone has a crush on the princess." Irri snickered in a mocking voice as she flopped through the book with her friend leaning over the gasping girl.

"I…can't breathe." Elle managed to rasp out while Arra continued to mercilessly hold her medicine above her head.

The moment Elle collapsed while wheezing for air was the moment that Azula narrowed her eyes while feeling a baffling sensation of anger overcome her.

Oddly enough…

It wasn't just because the brat's mocked her indirectly.

Elle was weak…the girl was a commoner…and yet she was fond of her.

On some level…she genuinely liked Elle.

And somehow, she found her anger over Elle's humiliation was greater than the indirect insults to her own person.

Yoo had long since stood as she watched the scene unfold from above while shaking her head as she watched the princess and her friends leap down to discipline the girls.

The two bullies had never even realized that Princess Azula had been watching them bully her apparent friend the entire time.

"Come on, Goldie! I even bent over to make it easier for you." Arra exclaimed while staring down at Elle's white face as she squatted over her.

"Ha! Is this an entire diary of foreign scribble dedicated to Princess Azula? Perhaps I will send it to her so that she can look it over." Irri snorted with a taunting smirk on her lips.

Only for her eyes to widen when her arm was suddenly twisted behind her back by a powerful and skilled hand.

"No need. I am right here." Azula purred icily into the now terrified bullies' neck while swiftly retrieving her admirer's little diary.

Irri also found herself standing at point blank with one of Mai's blades pressed into her neck.

And Mai now held Elle's backpack in her other hand.

"We have been watching the entire time." Mai informed curtly while Irri turned her head in puzzlement as she gulped while she now sweated in terror.

A savage cracking noise resonated through the air while Arra soared before landing painfully against the stone wall of the café.

The girl slumped over with a split lip while Ty Lee landed nimbly over Elle with her inhaler in hand.

"These girls are not pink. Not pink at all." Ty Lee growled out with her friends gazing at her through the corner of their eyes surprised by her anger.

Azula and Mai were able to tell by the tooth that landed beside Arra that Ty Lee hit her hard.

Very hard.

"You should have just given it back when you had the chance. But at this point…it is too late." Azula spoke while glaring a hole through the back of the trembling girl's skull.

"Y-Your Highness, I can assure you that I meant no p-personal insult to you! I-I was just speaking in general!" Irri stammered while both women gazed at her with pitiless eyes.

Ty Lee knelt over the rasping girl who met her gaze with grateful amber eyes while her brown-gray eyes softened as she began to gently rub her back.

"Here, Elle. We are your friends. We really are. Right, Azula?" Ty Lee inquired strategically while handing the girl her inhaler before glancing up to meet her friend's cold gaze.

Azula met Ty Lee's eyes before turning to glance down to meet Elle's gaze whilst the girl tried to smile up at her despite her labored breathing.

She had already more or less told the peasant girl that they were friends in private…

With her mind made up she returned her piercing gaze to peer into the foolish bully's terrified eyes.

"Yes, Ty Lee. The girl is my friend." Azula announced callously with her words jarring a beaming smile onto her servant's lips.

"There. You heard it from Azula herself. Now breathe…slowly." Ty Lee cooed out warmly in a sisterly voice while watching in concern as Elle began to breathe into it as if her life was on the line.

"I-I…didn't know t-that she was with your group, P-Princess." Irri insisted before crying out in agony just when Azula bent her arm once more at a horrific angle.

"As if that changes a thing." Mai snorted while lowering her blade before turning to glance down at their apparent new companion.

It didn't shock her to see that Ty Lee cared about the girl.

No.

What did astonish her was seeing that Azula cared.

This girl…Elle…somehow.

She managed to win over Azula's cold heart.

And that, was no small feat.

Truth be told she was a good deal pissed as well.

The girl was rather sweet…even if she was painfully naïve…and even if she had a tendency to kiss Azula's ass.

"Allow me to explain the gravity of your situation. This young girl is my royal servant…and also my friend. In order to perform the work, I assign her…she needs her…breather. Your actions have directly impacted me personally. I, Princess Azula have been forced to track you two fools down in order to receive optimum service from my servant." Azula explained with her eyes narrowing into a truly imposing death glare.

Elle peered up at Azula's back with a widening smile as she continued to rasp with her choking slowly dying down while Ty Lee peered down with a tender look in her eyes.

Irri's screech filled the café while Vana stared down from above shuddering when the girl sunk onto her knees with a broken arm.

"I was going to punish you from the start. But my naïve little servant pleaded for me not to harm you. She requested to handle the matter peacefully…" Azula spoke while turning to stare down at Elle with icy eyes while the petite girl trembled under her stare.

"S-sumimasen-" Elle squeaked only to cough once more while the princess rolled her eyes down at her.

"Ugh. At least wait until you can breathe before you start kissing Azula's ass." Mai stated while leaning over the girl while Ty Lee gazed comically down at Elle's blushing face.

"Mai has a point, Elle. Azula can wait." Ty Lee assured as she smiled gently down at Elle while the girl nodded obediently.

"And well…we all saw how that turned out didn't we?" Azula concluded while looming over the cowering girl with her merciless amber golden eyes never leaving Irri's face.

Irri swallowed in pure terror as she sunk onto her knees gazing at the woman's pointed boots.

All the while recalling the girl's words.

I have three friends. Older girls. And my best friend…she is a firebender!

Only now did she realize just how horribly they've messed up.

'How did that pathetic girl ever befriend Princess Azula!' Irri thought with her eyes agape in mounting fear.

"Y-your Highness…what are you g-going to do to me?" Irri inquired while staring up at the princess's utterly wrathful countenance.

"That is a stupid question. Don't you think? You damaged what belongs to me. It is not your place to hit my servant." Azula answered in a terrifying voice before ruthlessly kicking Irri in the face.

The others watched without pity as the girl soared onto her ass with a brutal welt now adorning her cheek.

It did not escape Mai's notice how peculiar it was that Azula chose to bruise the girl in the same location that she bruised Elle.

"P-please f-forgive me, P-Princess. Mercy!" Irri begged while the princess regally strode forward with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Her words amount to less than hippo cow shit!" Ty Lee shouted from where she knelt by Elle while the girl peered up at her with calmer eyes than before.

The other two women glanced over their shoulder at the two before Azula continued to walk forward with noticeable anger in her step.

"Mercy? You want mercy from me? How strange…just moments ago you seemed content to watch my servant suffocate." Azula remarked before cruelly stomping down on the girl's throat while she towered above her with her intimidating gaze causing the bully to whimper pitifully.

"W-we w-were going…to g-give it back!" Irri stuttered out with her entire body quivering in terror so great that her hands became pale and clammy.

There was a moment of tense silence in which Azula closed her eyes as she chuckled softly with her friends peering back at her quietly.

Then her eyes abruptly snapped open while she glared down at the hysterical girl with a monstrous death stare.

"Now that…is hippo cow shit." Azula snarled before she brutally stomped down on the girl's face as she savored the piercing scream of pain that her victim emitted.

Even Ty Lee couldn't help but flinch after witnessing the merciless stomp.

'Wow. They pissed Azula off a lot more than I thought. But still…they deserve it for what they tried to do to Elle.' Ty Lee thought as she observed with a grimace while Azula loomed over the girl with her fists clenched at her sides.

"You were so confident when you were tormenting my servant. Here is a piece of advice for you, commoner. I suggest you listen well." Azula purred in a dangerous voice while staring down at the now crying girl.

Elle's breathing finally began to stabilize while she sat back beside Ty Lee who was still gazing down at her in concern.

"Are you okay now?" Ty Lee pondered gently while Mai stood over them also gazing down in slight concern.

"M-mostly." Elle answered in a soft voice while she released a few more slight coughs.

Though she knew she needed to act fast if there was any hope of convincing her mistress to spare their lives.

"Don't lay a hand on my mousy little royal servant…unless you are prepared to handle her mistress, and I am her mistress." Azula declared in a possessive voice while she bent down to grasp the paralyzed girl by her shirt.

By this point Yoo stood with her co-workers and the mutually terrified owners of the café.

The owner had expressed a grievance over the princess possibly beating a girl on his business grounds.

He had even demanded that she go request the princess to take it elsewhere!

Needless to say, one can guess that she told him to kiss her ass.

Elle listened with widened eyes with a blush on her cheeks.

As the two noblewomen glanced oddly down at their seeming new companion while they noticed the way that the girl blushed over Azula publicly declaring that she belonged to her.

'There is no doubt about it! I belong to Azula-sama. This…this is truly where I belong!' Elle thought while she leaned back with admiration in her eyes as she gazed upon the woman's tall visage.

"I-I understand, Y-Your Highness!" Irri screamed out while she pitifully shook with a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I am bigger than her. Stronger than her. And much, much more ruthless than her. I do not fall so easily as a young girl with a lung condition." Azula announced while she held the defeated girl before her face with her merciless stare ever piercing the girl's soul.

Both Mai and Ty Lee exchanged a mutually understanding glance before gazing down at the young girl seated before them.

Not only did they notice that Azula cared about Elle, and vice versa.

It also did not escape their notice that the princess was beginning to act dangerously possessive of her admirer.

"You foolishly spurned the servant's mercy. Now her mistress is here. That mercy is long lost to you…and now you are under the judgement of her mistress." Azula concluded in a chilling voice before she coldly hurled the girl across the length of the balcony.

The long-defeated girl slammed into her companion against the wall from where they now lay side by side with Arra slowly awakening with a pained groan.

Her jaw throbbed horribly and a bit of blood was dripping down her lip.

Then she spun around to face Irri's brutalized visage in mounting dread before paling as she turned once more to find herself gazing up at Princess Azula in the flesh.

The two girls could only cower with their bravery long since reduced to ashes in the wake of Azula's fury.

"Azula…you shouldn't do this on the café grounds…you are terrifying the employees. They didn't do anything wrong. The waitress obeyed your commands…and she was kind. Can…we take this elsewhere?" Ty Lee requested as she gazed at the princess's tall back while the woman turned to glance at them with icy eyes.

Ty Lee's words did little to calm the two terrified girls.

In fact, it seemed to only rend them into a further state of panic.

Mai couldn't help but gaze back at Ty Lee still somewhat taken aback by her anger.

Usually she would be the first to plea Azula to show mercy…

"S-she was with…the p-princess?" Arra asked in a butchered voice while nursing her injured jaw as she gazed at Irri's sobbing face.

Though in post haste she realized it was a stupid question.

"Worry not, Ty Lee. They will be going straight to the Capital Prison. But first…I would like two more hot teas." Azula called out while turning around with her eyes peering upward at the wary employees.

"T-two teas, P-Princess?" Yoo repeated in a clearly intimidated voice while shivering under the woman's icy gaze.

"Two hot teas…" Azula purred in a lethal voice that sent shudders down the spines of all before turning her gaze to her recovering handmaid.

"Why do I get the feeling…that we aren't drinking that tea?" Mai sighed before taking a seat beside the other two.

"Servant." Azula commented curtly while paying Ty Lee's chiding gaze little mind.

"She has a name, Azula…please try to use it." Ty Lee stated with her controlling friend gazing at her briefly before turning back to the small blonde.

And sure, enough despite Ty Lee trying to get Elle to remain seated the girl was already attempting to rise to bow before Azula.

The girl's eagerness to serve seemed to be a trait that Azula adored.

If her slight smile that she was now casting in Elle's direction was any indication.

"Mistress?" Elle responded as she speedily bowed at the waist before Azula while the woman smiled down at her in approval.

"Azula…please don't make her kneel right now." Ty Lee sighed yet even so she still smiled at Elle's bashful face.

The girl was truly adorable.

And somehow…she realized that Azula thought much the same.

The princess held a hand to her chin as if considering a matter of great importance.

What that matter was…one could only guess.

"Elle…." Azula remarked while peering down at the young girl with an imposing gaze.

She couldn't help but muse that she savored the way her little admirer's name rolled on her tongue.

It sounded…pure.

The two women glanced down at Elle further taken aback by Azula amending her speech to factor in the girl's name.

'That is something. It's a start at least.' Ty Lee thought while she gazed at the small girl as she remained bowing at the hip.

Elle's head was bent in reverence to the princess all the while a peaceful smile of belonging formed upon her lips after hearing the princess speak her name.

"T-that is the first time you've said my name!" Elle cried out while she listened to the sound of the princess's boots striding forward.

"That is your name is it not?" Azula purred before coming to a stop over the bowing girl while ignoring Ty Lee's scrutinizing stare.

"That is the first time you've called her by name?" Ty Lee asked while folding her arms in judgement yet her words were naturally ignored.

"It is. How…may I serve you, Mistress Azula?" Elle questioned while Azula peered down at her noticing that she was still clutching her chest.

"You may stand." Azula informed while waving her hand as if she was permitting a great kindness whilst her friends rolled their eyes.

Elle straightened with her head coming up to the princess's lower chest while she gazed up at her divine love interest.

"Y-yes. Stand…" Elle answered before coughing slightly while the woman continued to stare down at her.

"Are you alright now?" Azula inquired to the amazement of her team while staring down at the girl with her brows furrowed.

"Um…provided…I avoid strenuous physical activity for a few hours…probably…. I…apologize…" Elle mumbled while peering down at her feet while amber golden eyes swept over her face.

The two bullies could only sit there and feel their despair rise even further.

Just by being forced to witness the princess's interactions it was evident that they hurt someone that she cared about.

"That is no big deal…right, Azula?" Ty Lee spoke softly while staring up at her friend's stern countenance while she continued to peer down at Elle.

"You have done good work thus far. You are the first servant that is able to properly remove the cherry pits. I will permit this." Azula declared while tilting her head to gaze down at the girl's brightening face.

"I think I get why Azula likes her so much." Mai muttered while observing the interaction with Ty Lee turning to her frowning.

"Don't call her a brownnoser again, Mai. She is not a brownnoser." Ty Lee replied as she turned to the other woman surprised to see her nod in agreement.

"I thought she was at first. But now I see that her desire to please Azula is genuine. It is the little details with Azula…and this girl is probably the only person capable of memorizing every order." Mai explained while they turned to the girl in question.

"A-arigatou gozaimasu, Azula-sama." Elle stuttered with another minor cough just as a long finger slid underneath her chin.

Her face was raised upward and then comically tilted to the left followed by slightly to the right.

"When we return you will be seeing a royal physician. Both for your face and…your condition." Azula spoke with her lips curled into a frown while the girl nodded obediently.

And now an even greater smile had emerged upon the innocent girl's lips.

"Wow…Azula is-" Ty Lee began only to be silenced by her gloomy friends' hand.

"Dunce. Don't draw attention to it." Mai whispered before releasing her hand with Ty Lee looking somewhat abashed.

"Yes, Azula-sama…as you say." Elle agreed before performing a half bow with Azula's strict gaze supervising in recognition of her loyalty.

"Good girl. That is what I like to hear. Now listen closely. This is the part where I scold you." Azula stated while removing her hand from the girl's chin to place it on her hip.

"Azula!" Ty Lee yelled out with disbelief in her eyes while her friend glanced over her shoulder warning her to be silent.

She just sank back in her seat while folding her arms angrily.

"Y-yes, Princess…" Elle murmured with a noticeably deflated demeanor.

"How can you be so soft hearted as to care what happens to someone who tried to set your hair on fire? You put on your little show in some futile effort to convey these two-little fools in a positive light. All to convince me…to show mercy. And look what it got you. Tell me…would you have been hit if you had deferred to my will?" Azula demanded icily with her words causing her young servant to shake.

"No. N-no, Mistress I…would have not." Elle responded before coughing mildly once more while Azula's sharp gaze paid close attention to her cough.

"Would you be coughing now had you yielded to my will?" Azula questioned meticulously while folding her arms over her breasts.

"N-no." Elle answered lamely while shifting on her feet as she began to feel like a puppy being disciplined by her owner.

Given how the princess had already announced that she was her pet…the comparison was quite apt.

"You never once even tried to hit them. They dangled your belongings above your head while you hopped about like a tiger monkey." Azula scolded while still scowling down at the petite girl shrinking under her stare.

"Azula…that is not very fair. If she would have tried to fight them the result would have been the same." Ty Lee protested while she shook her head as she gazed at her leader's back.

Elle had fallen into silence with her eyes remaining fixated upon the princess's boots.

Her tongue had long since failed her.

"Even if they were taller…stronger…and even if they were benders. You should have stopped begging them…and fought back. Even if the result was obvious…never beg those that are beneath you." Azula instructed while glancing down at Elle when she raised her little eyes upward.

The rest of Team Azula were rendered into astonishment to see Azula not only show a margin of kindness.

But to hear her compliment Elle not once, but twice!

Elle could only stare up at the princess with her mouth hanging open in awe.

"I have graciously taken you under my wing. If you haven't noticed I am rather fond of you. You do not have to beg such gutter trash any longer. All you have to do is serve me. If anyone is giving you a problem just come to me. And I will handle it." Azula assured with her lips curving into a composed smile while placing her palm on the girl's head.

Now the princess's childhood friends were truly rendered speechless.

"Wakarimashita, Azula-sama!" Elle giggled underneath the woman's palm while peering up at her with devoted amber eyes.

"I told you this before, but I will repeat it. If anyone should be so foolish as to mar what belongs to me…I will kill them. Without hesitation." Azula stated while removing her palm from Elle's head as she peered down at her with fond amber golden eyes.

Mai sat there sighing while turning her apathetic eyes to the two terrorized bullies while musing that the idiots must be regretting the day that they ever even met Elle.

"Yes! I belong to Her Highness!" Elle cheered while Azula's lips curved into a pleased smile before turning to gaze across the balcony.

"That you do. Now listen well, my servant. There are three kindnesses that I very rarely grace…well anyone with." Azula spoke as she set her hand upon the girl's shoulder.

"Three kindnesses, Azula?" Mai snorted in amusement as she stood up behind her smiling leader.

"That is right, Mai. We will call it the three kindnesses of Princess Azula. I rather like the name." Azula remarked in a self-important voice while smirking down at her beaming servant's adorable face.

"The three kindnesses of Princess Azula…Azula I am not certain if I want to know what these supposed three kindnesses are." Ty Lee stated while walking up behind Mai while her eyes drifted to the two girls' only now beginning to pity them.

Just slightly though. They were still little monsters.

"It sounds brilliant, Azula-sama." Elle answered while smiling up at the taller woman's entertained face.

The other two women gazed down at their younger companion while watching as Azula seemed to almost swell in height every time the girl praised her.

"Hm. I thought so myself. The first is my protection. You are the first to receive it…remember that. The second…is my friendship. Only two others have been graced with such a kindness…though their gratitude is questionable…." Azula announced sagely while her eyes drifted about scowling when one of two rolled her eyes at her.

"Um…Azula, you kind of set my circus net on fire…" Ty Lee trailed off while gazing at her friend with less anger than earlier.

"Two kindnesses from Azula-sama! I will forever remember." Elle assured while she bowed speedily even when Mai gazed down at her in deadpan.

"Very good. At least someone is grateful around here." Azula scoffed while staring at her two-childhood friends in a spoiled manner.

The two women said nothing as they exchanged an uncertain glance while waiting for their leader to conclude her speech.

"The third and final kindness…that you will be the first, and only one to receive is my tutelage." Azula stated sternly while staring down at the small blonde with hardened eyes.

"Tutelage, Azula-sama?" Elle asked with genuine worship in her voice while she beamed up at the princess.

"Just…what are you planning on teaching her, Azula?" Ty Lee inquired nervously while gazing down at Elle's sweet face.

Hopefully she stays that way…

"What else, Ty Lee? I am going to toughen her up." Azula responded pridefully before patting the petite girl's shoulder with her hand all the while her two friends stared at her in horror.

"T-toughen me up?" Elle squeaked with noticeable fear in her voice while her mistress stared down at her nodding sternly.

"A-Azula, she is a sweet girl! She has the most adorable crush on you…and y-you are going to brutalize her?" Ty Lee stammered while even their gloomy friend gazed down at the girl with a grimace.

The princess rolled her eyes before glancing down at her admirer's widening eyes with cold amber golden eyes.

"Ugh! Ty Lee! I didn't mean combat training! She wouldn't survive. No. I am going to correct that absurd little pacifistic nonsense of hers." Azula clarified to the partial relief of her two-childhood friends while gazing down into faithful amber eyes.

Elle listened attentively while smiling up at Azula with admiration in her innocent stare with the woman quirking a small smirk in return.

"You are the first and most likely only one to receive all three from me. Consider yourself honored." Azula informed strictly while Elle nodded with the upmost graveness in her eyes.

"Yes, Mistress Azula. I am honored." Elle chimed while she bowed at the waist before her looming mistress's visage.

"My…she is a good girl, isn't she?" Azula purred with an evident interest in her voice while she turned to her two uncomfortable friends'.

"Y-yeah, she is, Azula." Ty Lee mumbled while staring down at Elle with worry that had yet to leave her eyes.

"I am overjoyed that you think so, Princess." Elle stated happily while Azula still smiled down at her.

"By the time I am through with you. You won't hesitate to defend yourself. Be it verbally or physically. You will learn to stand up for yourself..." Azula explained in a strangely thoughtful voice while her friends still listened in puzzlement.

"Does that include standing up to you?" Mai asked in a deadpan voice only to gaze on unsurprised when the woman shook her head.

"Everyone except for me. Don't you ever disobey me!" Azula snapped in a voice of absolute sternness while the girl nodded with clearly intimidated eyes.

"Azula…you are scaring her." Ty Lee chided only for the princess to literally wave her concerns off.

"I-I will never disobey you, Azula-sama…but…please do not take this the wrong way. But…what you are describing…is not me." Elle mumbled while the princess gazed down at her with a frown on her lips.

"Is that so? We will give it a go anyhow." Azula stated in a tone of finality while turning with Elle under her palm to face the two terrified bullies.

"Y-Your Highness…y-your tea has been done for several minutes now. I was afraid to interrupt you…it has cooled down a bit. Would you prefer if I got replacements?" Yoo announced from the sidelines as Azula peered at her from the corner of her eye.

"A wise decision. No. That will not be necessary. I will heat it myself." Azula replied before she accepted both cups while her childhood friends observed warily.

"What a-are you going to do to us?" Arra asked in a terrified voice while Ty Lee gazed away growing vastly unnerved.

"Azula." Mai attempted to reason only for the woman to ignore her as she walked forward with Elle under her hand.

"Y-you are…not going to make her…Azula! You are!" Ty Lee shouted with clear anger in her voice while gazing at the innocent girl's face in horror.

Within moments steam was arising from the boiling hot tea while Azula turned to stare down into Elle's wide amber eyes.

"That girl…the one with the split lip. She was the one who taunted you with your breather. That is what you got for your pacifistic nonsense. Now. I want you to take this cup of boiling tea, and dump it on her lap." Azula commanded in a glacial voice while Elle peered up at her with emotional eyes struggling to process the order.

It shouldn't have come across as a shock to them.

But both Mai and Ty Lee were appalled that Azula wanted to take Elle's sweet nature and twist it into something cruel.

"P-please don't! W-we are sorry!" Irri screamed in a broken voice while backing away with Arra as they hit the wall.

"I…" Elle trailed off while her fingers were pried open and the cup was carefully set within her hand.

"Hold it carefully. That is boiling water. The objective is to burn them…not yourself." Azula spoke while closely supervised her servant to ensure that the girl did not get burned.

"Please stop it, Azula! She isn't that sort of person!" Ty Lee called out more for the girl's sake than her cruel bullies.

"That one there…she hit you in the face when you generously offered peace. She even planned out your torture in advance. Dump the other cup on her face." Azula continued while gently sliding the second cup into the girl's trembling hand.

Her fingers steadied her frightened handmaid while slowly bracing the girl as she walked her forward.

"M-mercy please! I-I'm sorry! We're sorry!" Arra yelled out while shivering horribly under the princess's callous death stare.

"Azula-sama…" Elle muttered while the princess ushered her forward with her hands waving her on.

"Do it, servant. They showed you no mercy. So, show them none!" Azula ordered in a severe voice while the petite girl stood before the two paralyzed girls.

Elle's bangs shadowed her eyes while Ty Lee gazed on in disgust alongside Mai.

The two noblewomen shared a mutual look of distaste while Ty Lee winced as she watched Elle move forward to throw the tea on command.

And then one moment later everyone gazed on in shock when the cups of tea were harmlessly tossed aside well out of range of anyone's skin.

Tea splashed upon the stone flooring before Elle turned to face Azula who was gazing down at her with evident surprise in her eyes.

"I…cannot do that, Azula-sama. It is just not me. I hope that this does not affect my place in your service…" Elle announced while peering up into the woman's recovering eyes.

"You disobey me? The first order you disobey is showing mercy to your tormentors?" Azula demanded with disgust lacing her voice while Ty Lee approached from behind.

A sense of relief was in both noblewomen's eyes at least knowing that Elle would not turn into Azula junior.

"Azula…please…enough." Ty Lee stated as she stepped up beside Elle in a sisterly manner while she frowned back at her displeased leader.

"As I told you before…I am empathetic. I am quite skilled at seeing other people's point of view. I can understand them. I may not trust them…I may want to hurt them. But that is not how I want to live my life!" Elle explained to the bewildered woman before turning away with Ty Lee observing her closely.

"You empathize with the girls who tried to set your hair afire? And here I thought that we had already reached the limits of your naivety." Azula commented as she folded her arms over her breasts while she scowled down at her handmaid as she approached the girls.

"I…d-don't get it. Why…would you hesitate. I…didn't hesitate to hurt you." Irri blurted out while her friend gazed at her with frightened eyes telling her to shut up.

"And I rest my case. Even these sorry commoners agree with me." Azula spoke while scanning her fingernails yet even so Elle had piqued her interest.

She had been trying to see if she could coax Elle into becoming more like…well like her really.

Yet somehow her curiosity has only grown after witnessing the girl prove that her purity could not so easily be stained.

"Why? This is probably something you'd hit me again for…if I wasn't with my friends…but I feel sorry for you." Elle announced as she threw her backpack back on her shoulders while peering down at the two baffled girl'.

The princess quirked a brow curiously while turning to her mutually puzzled friends.

"What?" Irri asked while she still shivered under the princess's predatory stare.

"I feel sorry for you. And…I don't just mean…your current um…situation now. I truly pity you two. If you put this much thought into bullying me…then you two must be very miserable." Elle explained while grasping at her straps before stepping up beside her mistress who was gazing down at her in surprise.

"You…how…" Irri trailed off only for Azula to glance at her with callous amber golden eyes that had her sweating once more.

"You might want to watch what you say. Just a hint." Ty Lee commented as she stepped up behind Azula to place her hand on Elle's shoulder.

"I can only gather that you two are simply trying to take your insecurities out on me. Someone else is bullying you…so you have to take it out on me. Perhaps an abusive lover…sibling, or even your mother, or father." Elle remarked while the three noblewomen still gazed down at her in bewilderment.

Irri's eyes shone with humiliation while she gritted her teeth under the younger girl's grating gaze.

"You flinched when I said father. I can only presume it is so." Elle declared while peering up at the princess's stoic yet piqued gaze.

"Shut up! Don't you talk like you know me." Irri snapped while Arra continued to cower beside her.

"Oh, I don't know you. I am just speaking from personal experience. My older brother used to abuse me." Elle stated factually with her words earning a compassionate glance from Ty Lee.

Azula turned to her handmaid while pondering if the girl was actually going to broach that in public.

Irri gazed up at her with grudgingly curious eyes while Elle clutched at her backpack with tightened hands.

"It…got so bad that he started to change me. I would often spend entire days thinking of nothing but all the possible ways that he could die. Every time we ate a meal together…I would just think…maybe he will choke today." Elle confided to the shock of even the princess.

"Elle…" Ty Lee muttered in an attempt to sooth when sensing the girl's fear beneath her hand.

"This consumed several years of my life, until finally late one night I tried to cut his throat…he lived. Unfortunately. But…I realized something in the wake of that night." Elle spoke while staring down at Irri while with grudging intrigue flashing in her curious eyes.

'An abuse victim…clinging to Azula?' Mai thought in complete disbelief while turning to the princess's emotionless face.

There was no doubt about it…this girl was literally clinging onto Azula as if she was her last lifeline.

Ty Lee scowled in a protective manner while silently wishing she could pay the girl's wretched brother a visit.

"I had lost sight of all that I once was! I wasn't happy anymore. My dreams were lost to me…all that existed was my hatred. And that is why I left! So, I could be weightless." Elle stated with returning cheer to her voice while her new friends gazed down in mutual bafflement.

"Near weightless by the look of it." Mai commented while Ty Lee gently slapped her arm in rebuke.

"I am now weightless. Like a feather blowing in the breeze. I hold no ill will against either of you." Elle declared in a relaxed voice while smiling even with bruises gracing her cheeks.

"A feather blowing in the breeze? You truly are a whimsical little peasant." Azula snorted in evident amusement while smirking down at the girl's brightened face.

"That's so, Your Highness. I flow where I flow. And here I have flowed." Elle spoke happily while her three new friends stared down at her in amusement.

"Wow. You know I've never seen anyone so carefree in Azula's presence." Ty Lee chirped while her princess still gazed down at their young companion with marginally fonder eyes than earlier.

"Right…here you have flowed. Fortunately for you I have decided to keep you. It would be a bother to go back to finding pits in my cherries." Azula remarked in a spoiled voice while scrunching her nose up in distaste.

"It sounds horrible, Azula." Mai replied in monotone while her friend just sighed heavily as if it was a tremendous burden to shoulder.

"Well! I guess that is it then! At least for me. I have my medicine back. I am over it and done with it." Elle chimed while gazing at the two puzzled girls' before turning to peer up at her mistress's scoffing face.

Even Ty Lee couldn't help but blink over Elle's prompt dismissal of their cruel behavior.

"That's it? You are over it…just like that?" Azula snorted with her brows furrowing down at the dainty girl's little face.

"Yep. I mean I still don't like them…either of them. Frankly I think they're pretentious bitches…just being honest here." Elle responded much to the princess's amusement as she peered back at her humiliated bullies.

The sound of laughter flowed into the air while Ty Lee gazed down at Elle with a warm grin on her lips.

But much more puzzling was the sound of Azula chuckling softly.

"Hm. That is the first time that I have heard you insult anyone that wasn't your brother. There is hope for you yet. Perhaps I can still toughen you up…slightly." Azula remarked while peering down at the timid girl with domineering eyes.

Although her friends found themselves trying not to shudder at their leader's declaration.

"I can't say I disagree with her. Are we done here, Azula?" Mai complained while Azula gazed between them before glancing back down at Elle with a cold smile about her lips.

"I suppose so." Azula answered while Elle smiled up at her with her innocent amber eyes.

"Considering how I am probably doomed…I may as well speak my mind. You are an annoying little shit." Irri stated while Arra sunk back in horror while she glared pointedly at Elle's grating smiling face.

"Irri!" Arra cried out in a terrified voice while shaking under Azula's callous gaze.

Even if Elle was just the princess's servant.

Insulting her in the princess's presence by extension also insults Azula.

"By all means. Feel free to speak your mind. But you should be aware…that it can always get worse." Azula spoke while gazing down at her fingernails while meeting the now gulping girl's gaze.

"Think of me what you will. But neither your words, nor actions will hold me down. If Felix failed to do so, then neither can you. This is but a fleeting moment in time. And I am already past it!" Elle announced as she began to stride away with the three noblewomen gazing at her in ever rising puzzlement.

Irri gazed at the Elle's back with anger in her bruised gaze.

How dare she!

If she was not standing beside Princess Azula, she would not dare speak to her like that!

"Once more…I agree with her. This is becoming boring. You two can stay here as long as you like. As for me. I am done with this drama." Mai stated in a dull voice while walking past Ty Lee with the two sharing a brief knowing glance.

"Aren't you going to plead for me to show them mercy?" Azula inquired playfully while turning to gaze at her servant's back.

Once more the two began to shiver as they realized just how badly they messed up.

Arra most of all.

"You are the Crown Princess of this nation. It is not my place to tell you what to do, Azula-sama. You are my mistress. You make the decisions. Not me. And I am happy with that arrangement." Elle answered with a warm smile on her lips just as she turned to face her mistress while promptly bowing at the hip.

In all their years knowing Azula, neither Mai nor Ty Lee have ever met anyone so joyful to be in Azula's service.

Nor have they ever seen the princess treat a servant so well.

The princess's amber golden eyes remained fixated upon her handmaid all the while her lips continued to curl upward in increasing approval.

"I like that answer. You are a well-behaved girl…and my best servant. I will have to keep you on hand at all times." Azula stated with her palms folded behind her back as she surveyed her courteous servant with fond eyes.

"It pleases me that I have won your approval, Your Highness. Do I have your permission to walk ahead?" Elle questioned with her arm held over her chest while Mai approached gazing down at her sighing.

"Elle…you don't have to ask for Azula's permission just to walk a few feet." Mai commented in her usual deadpan while stopping to stand beside the younger girl's bowing form.

Ty Lee just peered at Elle with kind eyes while turning to Azula's vastly pleased countenance.

"Pay Mai no mind. You have the right idea…you may walk ahead. But first I have one question to ask you." Azula declared while staring down at Elle with possessive eyes.

"Yes, Azula-sama?" Elle replied while peering up at the woman's beautiful from with enamored eyes.

"Tell me, servant…do you think that I should show mercy?" Azula pondered in a sadistic voice while peering over her shoulder at the quivering girls.

It was evident to Team Azula what the princess was trying to do and it was working.

She was instilling even more terror into the girls by making them feel like their victim was the one who would decide their fates.

"Well…like I said. It's your decision, Azula-sama. But…they are clearly unhappy. People like them…will most likely live on to lead a depressing existence devoid of any meaning. They will continue to bully people weaker than them…and when you look at it like that. They're lives are really sad." Elle explained as her eyes drifted to Irri's furious face.

"Y-you-" Irri began only to be silenced by her friend's palm while Ty Lee glanced down at them with brown-gray eyes warning them her to keep her mouth shut.

"Sad?" Azula repeated while staring at her peculiar pet with curious amber golden eyes.

"That's so. They must be. How can it not? They have nothing better to do than steal a girl's medicine. Just to wait all week for her to return for it. If they have nothing better to do with their time…what else would you call it?" Elle responded while her mistress's elegant laughter once more flowed into the air.

"I suppose that is the epitome of pathetic." Azula agreed while placing a hand on her shapely hip with her eyes peering down at her polite servant.

She decided that was one trait she liked about Elle.

The girl was the most courteous commoner that she's ever met.

"When you look at it like that…executing them could be seen as granting them release from their pain. So…you could be viewed as merciful if you kill them." Elle stated with a thoughtful gleam in her eyes while Mai gazed back at her in surprise.

Is she trying to play on Azula's sadism?

"What? Merciful?" Azula asked in a clearly distasteful voice while she scrunched up her nose as she turned to the two terrified commoners.

"Mhm. You would be depriving them of all of their misery." Elle chirped while her mistress stared down at the girls in amusement.

"I would hate it to be said that Princess Azula was merciful…" Azula trailed off while sighing as if the concept was intolerable.

"People could start to call you Princess Azula the merciful. Kindly putting the unhappy out of their misery." Elle remarked while Azula glanced down at her with surprise in her gaze.

"Did you just crack a joke?" Azula snorted while smiling in amusement as she gazed down at her beaming servant.

"It could be viewed either way!" Elle exclaimed with a wide smile on her lips.

"I see. You really don't hold a grudge." Azula stated while the younger girl's smile widened from ear to ear.

"I do not…because I would like to think that my kindness is greater than my wrath." Elle spoke as she clutched at the straps of her bag while Azula eyed her with her interests clearly piqued.

Elle's words had an impact on all present, even one as apathetic as Mai.

It was quite apparent that Elle was the complete opposite of Azula.

And yet strangely, the young girl was seemingly drawn to the princess.

"Hm. Very well. That will be all for now. Mai…you may proceed ahead with…Elle. Do try to keep a close eye on her though." Azula concluded in a stern voice while watching as Elle arose from her respectful bow.

Mai gazed down at the beaming girl before turning back to her princess nodding in understanding.

"Right. I will look after your treasured handmaid. Come along now, Shorty." Mai commented with her arms folded over her breasts before she began to walk away with Elle in tow.

"Watch yourself, Mai." Azula growled out while curling her fingers up against her biceps scowling all the while.

"I'll see you soon, Azula-sama! You too, oneesan!" Elle called out cheerily while the two women glanced at each other in a questioning manner.

"Oneesan?" Ty Lee pondered as she turned to her friend blinking curiously to which Azula lazily shrugged her shoulders in response.

"She speaks in a peculiar manner." Azula stated while they gazed after her servant hopping happily alongside the mutually puzzled Mai.

"It means big sister!" Elle shouted out while waving at the two while Mai gazed at her with a baffled look in her tawny eyes.

The girl's announcement took even the imposing princess aback while she stood beside the ecstatic friend.

"Aww! Azula! She just called me her big sister! We will be over shortly, little sister!" Ty Lee exclaimed just as she waved at the two with a large grin adorning her cheerful visage.

Azula still had yet to respond.

She found that she was staring after her little servant with uncharacteristic confusion in her usually composed amber golden eyes.

"Big sister? What does she think? That this is an adoptive family?" Azula scoffed while she turned to her still smiling friend.

"I guess so…and apparently you are the head of the family." Ty Lee spoke while gazing at Azula with a bright smile while the woman scrunched up her nose with a scowl on her lips.

"Ugh. Enough of this nonsense and focus on the matter at hand…" Azula trailed off in a more menacing voice than a moment ago while turning to face the two-trembling girls.

At this point the two bullies had long since understood that they have dug themselves in a hole so deep that they may never escape.

They cowered with their faces pressing against the floor while the employees of the café had long ago ushered their remaining customers inside.

Even Ty Lee shivered when she caught of glimpse of Azula's wrathful face.

"So…" Azula began in a purposefully delayed manner while glaring down at the girls as they prostrated with their eyes glued to the floor.

There was a moment of pause before the regal woman continued.

"I give my womanhood away to my servant in exchange for a few coins?" Azula demanded in a voice so glacial that the air seemed to suddenly take on a freezing chill.

Ty Lee visibly flinched while sweat began to drip down her brow.

She wasn't the subject of her princess's wrath…and yet she found that her hands were literally trembling.

Which was to say nothing of the two girls who were once more to the point of hysterics.

From the moment when those words left those girl's mouth Ty Lee knew that it would come back to haunt them.

Had they never said that. They may have gotten off much easier.

But…she damn well knew that there was no way Azula would let such an insult slide.

"Y-Your Highn-" Irri started to stutter only to be savagely kicked in the face once again.

Arra watched her friend soar with blood landing on the stone flooring with pure unadulterated terror in her eyes.

"You will be silent until your Crown Princess says otherwise! You do not have the right to speak!" Azula bellowed with rage in her voice while she stood towering over the sobbing girl.

Ty Lee finally began to understood just how furious Azula was over the insult.

It was…truly terrifying.

Yet…

'It's…almost like Azula waited for Elle to leave before unloading all of her rage…could it be…that Azula doesn't want the girl to fear her? Is…that possible?' Ty Lee thought while her heart began to race in the face of her powerful friends' fury.

"You dare to infer that Princess Azula solicits her servant for sex? You have the nerve to state that I pay the girl for oral pleasure? You have the gall! To imply that the princess of the Fire Nation tosses her handmaid a few token coins in reward?" Azula hissed while staring down at the two with a stare so callous that Arra began to wet herself.

Ty Lee swallowed in terror while staring down in newfound pity after observing one of the girl's begin to piss herself.

The sound of liquid hitting the floor resounded into the air followed by a thunderous thudding of the princess's footfall.

A boot slammed into the shrieking girl's head while she shook underneath the woman's weight.

The princess stomped down upon the horrified commoner while staring down at her with monstrously narrowed eyes.

"To put it in commoner tongue…she munches on my rug for pay." Azula stated icily while gazing down at the crying girl while she peed in her long since soiled pants.

"A-Azula, m-maybe you should…" Ty Lee stammered only to cower when the princess slammed her boot upon the floor once more.

"Do not give me orders, Ty Lee. I will not tolerate defiance from you thrice in one day." Azula informed in a voice devoid of any warmth while glaring over her shoulder at her cowering friend.

"U-understood, Azula." Ty Lee muttered before falling silent with her hands clasped before her.

"Unfortunately for you two. My kindness is not greater than my wrath." Azula spoke while she gazed down at the girl under her boot and then to the other to the right.

The two had been attempting to steel themselves to hear something along those lines.

But…now they found that there was no way to prepare for the wrath of Princess Azula.

"The good news is that I have decided to spare your lives. I can't have it said that I ordered the execution of two Fire Nation citizens. Just as it would surely be…it would not be prudent." Azula announced while unfolding her hands behind her back just as her cruel eyes swept about.

Though brutalized the two girls began to cry in relief while Ty Lee gazed away grasping at her arms.

Azula was so cruel.

Every moment that it seems like there was hope for her she comes back around and acts even more monstrous.

The longer she watched this the more regretful she began to feel for having earlier wished for their deaths.

Even after what they have done…this was…too much.

"However, I cannot simply let you walk away with a slap on the wrist. I will not allow it to be said that I let such disrespect to go unpunished." Azula continued with her hands falling to her sides while staring down at the girl's shaking forms with merciless eyes.

Her amber golden eyes were agape in a livid manner, narrowing all the more with every passing moment.

"You have disrupted the quality of my service, forcing me, the princess of the Fire Nation to track down mere commoner bullies in the commoner districts, and to top it all off, you have publicly slandered my womanhood!" Azula snapped in a voice that resonated far and wide.

The girls shook as if they were being whipped with every word that carried out of the woman's regal lips.

"And last but most certainly not least. You could have very well killed my favorite royal servant. The girl belongs to me. Any attack on her person will receive a response in kind from her mistress." Azula declared while she tightened her fists in cold rage.

Ty Lee glanced up in surprise while she noted the look of pure rage in the princess's eyes.

Azula was difficult to read…

But…listing the attack on Elle must be Azula's unspoken way of declaring that she cared for the girl.

As…much as a woman like her was capable of anyhow.

"I am her mistress. A mistress has a duty to defend what belongs to her. What sort of mistress would I be if I let this go unpunished?" Azula remarked in a domineering voice while she loomed high above the terror-stricken duo.

Ty Lee once more felt a stab of unease over Azula's fondness for dominating all under her domain.

Even an innocent girl that simply sought to give her a fire lily.

Azula felt the need to make the girl kneel in submission, to turn her into a human pet!

Then yet another shiver crawled down her spine as she gazed on in horror to see the princess's palms light up with blue fire.

"N-no! No! P-please! N-not that! Y-Your Highness! I-I'm sorry P-Princes! I'm so sorry!" Arra screamed out from beneath the sole of the towering woman's boot.

Irri was too frightened to even form words.

She lay on the ground with a bloodied face while watching with widened eyes when the tall form of Princess Azula bent over her friend.

"I suggest you stay still. The more you struggle…the more this will hurt." Azula spoke while she crouched over the screaming girl.

Ty Lee audibly gulped before rapidly gazing away with unnerved brown-gray eyes just before a piercing wail filled the once calm city air.

Both customers and employees of the café turned their heads while a unanimous shudder was felt by all in the building.

The scream was so prominent that the cup that Yoo was holding fell from her hand and shattered upon the floor.

An action which would usually incur a scolding from the café owner.

Yet no words of rebuke were uttered.

The man was far too busy shaking with a pale complexion from where he stood with a rag in hand.

"Only a fool would cross Princess Azula." Yoo whispered with sweat dripping down her brow as she shakily knelt to clean up the broken cup.

Then the second scream resonated into the air.

The other girl she mused with a grave expression in her eyes.

Mai was walking with Elle when the scream ruptured the once calm atmosphere.

The sound was so intense that they both turned around with widened eyes.

The she heard a second soul piercing cry that caused her to shake ever so slightly.

"Azula…" Mai trailed off in an uncharacteristically shaken voice just before she loudly swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"I-I thought as much. Azula-sama is not weightless." Elle stated with a slight stutter while the noblewoman raised her brows in a questioning manner.

It was a rather curious statement from one so young.

From a young girl that had a tendency to act like a child and then the next moment she was stunningly mature for her age.

It was evident that Elle was not inferring to Azula's body mass.

But her psyche.

The sound of boots striding up the steps mingled into the air along with agonized cries of pain while Ty Lee shakily glanced down at the burned girls.

Irri had been scarred in the same location that she had bruised Elle.

The same had been done to Arra.

"Oh, and one more thing, girls. If I should ever hear of you approaching my servant again…you will spend the rest of your days whittling away in a cell devoid of light." Azula called down from where she stood at the top of the staircase.

The words were spoken without an ounce of remorse.

Azula's gaze was utterly merciless while peering down at their sobbing forms for a final time.

"Y-yes, P-Princess!" Irri cried out in a broken voice while she knelt cradling her burned face with her eyes agape in unfathomable agony.

"Excellent. I believe that we are all finished here. Ty Lee, let's go." Azula commanded while she strode ahead of her intimidated friend with a noticeable satisfaction in her step.

Ty Lee could only nod while she trailed after Azula all the while gazing at her robed back.

Did Azula just get scarier…because she seemingly cares about someone now?

She wasn't certain.

But she knew one thing for certain.

Only misery would come to those that got on Azula's bad side.

AN:

I just wanted to give a brief explanation for Elle's insistence to handle the matter peaceably.

Elle isn't the sort to hold grudges and she just wanted her medicine back. She was kind of in a sticky spot, she doesn't wish to see harm upon her bullies but she needed to get her inhaler back.

She knew that the moment Azula laid eyes on them that they would be punished severely. Azula most likely was going to banish them from the Fire Nation or something like that.

Elle wanted to give them a chance to hand it back while Azula was watching in the hopes that it would convince Azula to show them mercy.

Unfortunately, Elle is a little too innocent and she didn't think about the possibility that giving the girl's more time to talk would not be in their best interests.

I also want people to keep in mind that Elle's extreme naivety and ignorance regarding things like sex and slang stems from her parents dying when she was five years old. And living with an abusive brother who went out of his way to impede several years of her education.

Most of what she knows came from books in the family library. Which is no substitution for a proper education.