A/N: New chapter! Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think! And Happy Valentine's Day for those that choose to celebrate it

Word Count: 4772

14. Opening Up a Bit (Confessions of a Concussed Mind and an Annoying Animal)

Percy saw Azula doing the lightning thing she did and it shocked him.

Heh.

It'd just been a spar for him, but apparently not for the princess.

He let the water flow around and over him, watching it crash down on the girl right as the lightning leapt up and through the water. The demigod still stood within the back of the wave so the electricity wrapped itself around him.

Percy felt it. He definitely felt it. Though it wasn't unlike anything the Grace siblings had thrown at him over the years. Only not as powerful. Once the wave had passed, and he still felt the electricity coursing through him, he stabbed his sword into the ground.

Almost as quickly as it had come over him, he felt the electricity leave through his feet and sword.

He stood up, stumbling slightly, to see the princess laying quite a way down the sandy riverbed, unmoving. His own clothes had scorch marks few and far between, thanks to the water not actually touching his body as it came over him. All of that water that he'd thrown out of the river flushed around the two of them, back into place.

Percy's stilted walk took him over to the unconscious girl. The demigod quickly felt for her pulse, feeling that she was most certainly still alive. He put his hand above her mouth and felt breaths coming out.

At least she's alive.

He looked over her form, then back at their surroundings.

Well, I guess this is probably what would've happened if Chiron didn't intervene. Or if the Oracle hadn't interrupted. He laughed to himself slightly. Although Thalia's might've hurt a bit more, I reckon I still would've won.

The boy picked up the princess before walking over to the river. Her limp body, soaked clothes and armour not helping at all in his efforts. With barely a thought, the beginnings of a small, open canoe made of ice sprung out of the river. He pulled the boat over to the side and stepped on it.

Holding what was practically a curved sheet of ice in place, he laid the princess down on one end. The demigod took off his shirt and placed it next to her, lifting her onto it and hoping that the small difference in warmth would help. Then he slowly let the ice trundle down river.

Looking ahead, he saw his main problem. The rapids.

Well, there's an easy way to not have to go through them.

He held back the river. Letting the water beat against the tug in his gut. Whilst doing that, he pulled water around the sides and turned his sheet into more of a hull, just for better protection. Percy also thickened the ice under the two of them.

Just go over them.

It was child's play compared to being back on that beach against Ares. He was mostly fully fit and it was also not the ocean. The sea was much more untamed than a smallish river. Not to mention he'd grown so much since then.

He felt himself rise up, as the water level dropped away from the rocks exposing much more jagged spires below.

With a wave of his hand, he pushed the water under him forward, moving his ice ship along behind the crest of the wave. The small canoe-like vessel tipped skywards and he had a light tussle with the water to hold them straight.

Percy felt water hitting and crashing over the rocks below and with every second, they got closer to the lake.

With a huge splash, his wave dispersed out into the main body of water and his little ship flew out into the deeper section of the lake. The princess looked unmoved, which was his main priority with that little stunt.

He sat back, looking at the water below him. His arms were singed and his hair stuck up into the air at crazy angles. Percy settled into a little seat he made for himself, pulling on the tug in his gut to bring them back around the shoreline of the lake.

In little to no time, they'd chugged their way around to the beach in front of his own place. He slid the ice canoe all the way up the beach and then let the water recede. The ice melted away leaving the princess laying on the beach atop his shirt.

Thankfully, it seemed that no water had landed in her airways, so he didn't have that as a problem. With her lying there, he sat above her head and began to heal just like Katara had showed him. He put a hand either side of her temple and pushed his power towards her.

At some point, the ever-curious Siosi had trotted down to see what had crashed onto the beach. But Percy just sat, eyes closed, healing the princess.

And much like his mother used to do for him whenever he got hurt, he started humming.

Azula's eyes fluttered groggily. She felt the sand underneath her back and her head ached painfully. She closed her eyes tight after getting a flash of bright sunlight that blinded her.

Then she heard the humming, and the princess felt like a little kid again.

She lay, sinking into the sand as the water wrapped around her with the sun beating down. And she was blissfully unaware of anything else.

The princess let herself drift away, feeling like hours were just minutes, before she really tried listening.

The humming was strange. It sounded unlike any music she'd ever heard. It was upbeat and catchy. She felt her head start to move up and down to the tune. She could almost feel something brushing through her hair.

Mom?

She felt the humming stop and the water around her didn't feel as comforting. Azula squinted open her eyes to see four sea-green ones staring back down at her.

She shot up and looked at him.

"Am I dead?"

He looked her, very confused.

"No…?"

"Why are there two of you?"

"You can't deal with one of me, what makes you think there are two?"

The two Percy's swayed in her vision, looking at her and seemingly pleased with themselves.

"You're dead. I did it again." Her despairing voice, strained and cracking. "I hit you with lightning. And I heard my mum, she was humming. Like she did when I kid- OW"

Her rambling was cut short by the pounding in her head that had increased tenfold, as she'd desperately looked around for Ursa. She bent over from where she was sitting and held her head in her hands against the wet sand.

"Easy. I think you've got a concussion." He said, tentatively putting his hand on her back.

Azula was too focused on the pain to really acknowledge the contact though.

I must be dead, otherwise how can he be alive? How can I hear my mum?

"A concussion?"

It was all she could mumble out with her head feeling like it was about to explode.

"Yeah. A head injury. I think that's why you're talking more openly than usual."

He looked at her knowingly and she was distracted from the pain slightly, remembering what she'd just admitted. Before she could fully pick apart everything about it that embarrassed her, he continued speaking.

"Lie back down." He requested gently. "It'll help with the pain."

She felt herself lean back onto the sand and almost immediately felt his hands on either side of her head. Once more, the water felt like it was massaging her mind as the throbbing slowed slightly. It seemed he made an attempt to lean over her head to shadow her from the sun.

"I thought I did it again." Azula whispered.

She shuddered, recalling Percy's body wreathed in lightning, seeing the electricity go through the back of the Avatar, picturing it arcing through Junsik. Her fists clenched again and the pounding on her head increased further.

"Well, I'm still here." He said, comfortingly.

His voice helping her ground herself in the fact that she hadn't killed him. Her breathing steadied slightly and her eyes opened to see him looking down on her with a slight smile. His double gad disappeared.

"And anyway, it'd take a bit more than a small shock of lightning to kill me." He continued, cheekily.

She saw his smile grow slightly and understood exactly what he was doing. But the princess couldn't find it in herself not to rise to the bait.

"My lightning is little then, huh?" She asked, part jovial, part defensive.

"Yup. You heard me."

Surprising herself, she didn't feel the need to throw any fire or lightning at him at his jab at her.

There was a pause as she just let the waves of the lake ease her mind, along with whatever Percy was doing.

"I didn't mean to do it." She said, out of nowhere.

He looked at her questioningly. She knew what it sounded like, but Azula felt like she needed him to know it.

"I didn't mean to hit you with the lightning. I just…"

She trailed off, looking up at him, waiting for him to interrupt, but she realised very quickly that he wasn't going to. The princess was only just realising the weight of her uncle's advice to her.

"I got angry." She said, almost too obviously. "And I don't-"

She winced, thinking of her father.

"I don't like failing. It's never meant good things for me."

Percy looked at her, almost too understandingly for her liking. As if he knew exactly what that wince meant for her.

"I get it." He replied, as if just proving what she thought.

Thankfully, he changed the subject, although she wasn't happy with what he changed it to.

"You said you heard your mum?"

She couldn't meet his eyes. His hands somehow felt even gentler on the sides of her head.

"My mum used to sing to me all the time." Percy said.

Azula's eyes darted back to his face, looking at him staring out at the lake with a deep sadness in his eyes. She was surprised he wasn't asking her about what she meant. He was just sharing about himself seeing that she wasn't comfortable doing so.

"I miss her more than anything."

The princess just watched him, enraptured, as he opened up to her some more. She tried pushing down the envy that rose within her with how he talked about his mother.

"What happened to her?" She asked, automatically.

He looked down at her, as if she'd interrupted a moment between his mother and him. Not angrily, but taken out of a trance.

"I don't know."

He looked resigned to her fate and it made her want to take back the question. But the more he talked, the more desperately she wanted to know him.

"Last I heard, I think she was ok." He finished.

"Why can't you go back and see her then?"

It seemed to her like an obvious question, but that was contrasted with the hurt in his eyes. She didn't know if that hurt was from her.

"I'm sorry." Azula backtracked.

The apology came out easier and much faster than any time previous.

"No. It wasn't you." He wiped away his eyes. "I have no way to get back to her. I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

There was a soft cawing sound from behind him and Percy's hands left her head. He looked out to the horizon and she sat up to do the same, only to see the sun starting to lower towards the water on their left.

"You're right, Sio. It's about to get cold." He chuckled softly.

The boy stood up and bent over to pick up his shirt off the sand. He shook it as he walked, the ostrich horse leading him up the beach. The princess hadn't even realised he was shirtless the whole time.

Azula looked over towards where she assumed her mount was still tied up, over in the trees. The thought of having to spend a cold night out by her animal again just making her head hurt that little bit more. She just sat there despondent.

"Hey." Percy shouted back to her, shirt flung over his shoulder.

She turned to look at him, gaining a glint of hope in her eyes.

"I said it'll be cold out soon. There is space in my little cabin for a missing fur blanket."

She saw in his eyes quite a bit of humour and even with her flushed cheeks, she couldn't stop her heart from skipping. She didn't know quite what the extent of his offer meant, she assumed just a roof over her head and walls around her that weren't made of cloth. But whatever way it was given to her, she was taking it and holding onto it close.

Without a word, she pushed herself off the ground, feeling much better. Her head didn't pound and her hands remained still as she wandered up the beach towards his place.

Percy strolled up to his lodging, Siosi ahead and Azula trailing him.

'What are you doing, dumbass? You know who she is.' His friend cawed from in front of him.

The demigod was keenly aware of the fact that the princess was in earshot. She'd tied her own animal up to a tree just outside the clearing and was now carrying her fur pelt and satchel with her. The bag seemed very beachy, which intrigued him, but he didn't ask.

My fur pelt. He thought with a little laugh to himself.

"I'm just trying to help."

His ostrich horse snorted at him.

'Help out the fiery-'

"Yes." He cut her off, as they both came to a halt in front of the stairs.

'Your funeral. Don't blame me if she burns all our work down.'

"Our work?!" He asked incredulously. "How was any of this yours?"

'You would've gone crazy without me, dumbass.'

With that, the animal strutted up and into the house. He was sure that if she didn't have a beak, Siosi would've had a satisfied smirk across her face. Percy could practically hear it as it was.

"Stupid ostrich horse." He mumbled to himself.

"What was that about?"

Percy turned to find the curious face of the princess behind him. It wasn't a look he'd gotten from the princess before and it intrigued him. There wasn't any ulterior motive behind it, just a genuine inquisitiveness that was decidedly… cute? Even with her still princess-ly features.

"Oh, nothing. Just my ostrich horse claiming to have built this whole thing." He replied, loud enough that Sio could definitely hear.

'That's not what I said, but it may as well be true.' Came the cawing from inside.

Percy rolled his eyes at the sound until he turned his attention back to the princess. Her expression had turned challenging.

"Oh, I don't know." She said. "I'd believe an ostrich horse built this before I believed you did."

The demigod's eyes widened and he stood still as she smirked evilly at him. Well… that might have been a slight exaggeration but it definitely felt evil to him.

An ostrich-head-like protrusion exited his doorway in the fading light.

'Oh, I like her. She can come in.' She said. 'I'm not sure about you though.'

Azula turned to him smiling.

"What did it-" She stopped herself, "What did she say?"

Percy was just looking between the two, dejectedly.

"I'm not telling you that."

It was all he could splutter out as a snickering ostrich horse returned back into the house.

"Why not?"

Azula looked up at him, all too innocently, as if she knew exactly what his companion had said. Percy shook his head, only for the princess to walk past him with a smile on her face.

"Oh, and this is my house. You don't decide who comes in and out." He called out to Siosi.

He just sighed solemnly when he was met with silence, before he walked up into the cabin. He entered to see his friend curled up by his makeshift fireplace and Azula draping her fur blanket in the corner of the main room, away from his bedroom.

'If you're going to come in, at least make yourself useful and light the fire.'

Percy raised his eyebrow at his increasingly confident ostrich horse and her beady eyes met his unflinchingly. He moved over to her and sat next to her on some of the shoddy furniture he was able to make. It wasn't too dissimilar a quality to when he lived with Jin and her family, although in his more familiar style from back home.

"She insults me and compliments you once and suddenly you're on her side."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw the princess hiding a very genuine smile on her face as she unpacked her satchel. He saw a beach towel and other things being laid out carefully around the area she'd chosen.

'What can I say? I appreciate people who speak truth to dumbasses.'

"Uhuh, and how about your new best friend does it for you?"

'Great idea, get her to come over here so she can do just that. She'd definitely light a fire better than you.'

Percy turned to her with a smirk on his face.

'No. No. Don't you say it. Don't-'

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

'You asshole. You know I can't do that.'

"Mmhmm. And what are you doing to do about it?" He said, proudly.

Afosiosi huffed and turned her head away from him dramatically.

"What are you asking me to do?"

They both turned their heads to see Azula standing there with her hands on her hips, looking like she was trying not to laugh. Her stern façade breaking ever so slightly. He didn't know how much her new outlook was due to the head injury she'd just received, but a concussive positivity seemed to be the most like reason he could think of.

'Oh, my saviour has arrived.' Siosi cawed.

Percy turned to the incorrigible animal.

"Really? She's your-"

'Absolutely.' She interrupted him.

"I- Never mind." His eyes returned to the princess. "Could you please start a fire in there?"

She rolled her eyes at him but seemed to have rather flushed cheeks. Azula moved to in front of the opening with the shoddy chute above it and easily began a small fire with her firebending in the kindling left over from the previous night.

'My saviour.'

The princess made her way back to the smattering of terrible furnishings and sat across from him on the other side of their little space. Percy sat, with Siosi very much shuffling into his side for warmth, watching the crackling of the flames shift between logs.

All three sat in silence, the fire being the only sound. Every so often, he would get up and move some of the firewood from around the side of fireplace.

After a while, Percy felt the princess' eyes on him. When he turned, she averted her gaze to the roof and was once again red in the cheeks.

That could just be the fire…

He wasn't that convinced though.

"So…" She began, breaking the quietude. "How'd you manage to build all this?"

She looked back down at him, interestedly.

"Well, you saw me chopping up the wood." He responded, unintentionally evasive.

The princess raised her own eyebrow at him before he followed her eyes to the ceiling.

"Yeah, but everything up there."

'Oh, that was all me.' Siosi piped up.

Percy just closed his eyes, sighed and shook his head. They shot open though when he heard Azula snort in laughter. She held her hand over her face in embarrassment but he just gave her a big smile.

"Sorry, it's just really weird to think that she can talk. And your reactions are… well."

She was clearly holding back laughter and Percy found himself laughing along with Sio.

"But seriously, how did you get them up there?" She continued.

Percy sent a quick glare the ostrich horse's way as her head popped up to interject again, before answering.

"I've found that being a… waterbender, using water and ice is very useful to do a great many things." He said, this time purposefully vague.

She gave him a deadpan stare.

"Fine." He conceded. "I lifted the logs with water and used stairs made out of ice. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Yes, it does for now. Thank you."

She turned back to the fire, raising her chin in the air petulantly. Percy laughed at her softly and a proud smile grew on her face.

The sounds of the fire returned and the chorus of nocturnal animals outside started. The demigod relaxed into Siosi's side as he settled into his position.

His eyes flickered over to Azula who seemed to have something on her mind. She was staring intently at the fire and looked to be in deep thought.

"You know, when I was a kid, my whole family used to go on a beach vacation."

Her gaze remained firmly on the fire, as if looking for something. He stayed quiet, not really knowing where she was going.

"That's why I was talking about my mum earlier. She used to… Well, I have a few good memories of her on the beach."

She looked at him with a lot of pain hidden behind the gold in her eyes.

"What happened to her?" He asked, softly.

Azula averted her gaze with a wince.

"She was a traitor. She ran away." She said.

It sounded to Percy as if she was forcing herself to speak spitefully of her mother, but he wasn't going to judge her on emotions surrounding parents leaving. Those were complex, he knew that with way too much firsthand experience. Instead, he changed tact.

"I used to go on trips to the beach with my mum too."

She looked at him inquisitively.

"What was she like?"

"She was the best." He smiled at her. "I owe who I am to her. She did everything for me."

Percy saw a flash of envy cross the princess' face, and he knew exactly how that felt. Every time people had spoken about their father's, or every Father's Day, he'd felt exactly the same. To her credit, she didn't let it stop the conversation. Azula moved on quickly to asking him more questions.

"Were those trips to the beach just with your mum?"

"Yeah, I didn't know who my dad was for most of my life, and he couldn't have been in it anyway."

Azula nodded, still watching him intently.

"So, my mum and I used to take this old…"

He trailed off, realising he couldn't exactly describe things like cars without incurring a lot more questions.

"Well, we used to go to this special beach, the one where she met my father, and we had this tiny little cabin full of sand. About the same size as this one here."

The girl sat up and leaned towards him. He felt a puff of air come from his lap and realised that Afosiosi had made herself comfortable with her head on his leg. She appeared to be sleeping, but he never really knew with her. Percy lightly stroked her neck and she shifted even further onto him.

"Every time we would go there, we'd have to sweep the whole place, top to bottom. But even with all the sand, it was by far the best, every single time I went up."

"What would you do?"

"Oh, when I was younger, I used to just splash about in the sea. Fling sand everywhere and basically make my mum's life a nightmare, though she always just laughed and usually played with me. As I got older, it became more of a safe space. Away from all the worries."

He finished, unable to meet her eyes. They seemed to peer at him, trying to get answers for themselves. When they couldn't, he saw her turn back to the fire.

"I used to do something similar with my brother." She said.

"What, you'd throw sand at him?" He asked, smiling.

She turned, expression matching his.

"Yeah, and I'd always win too. He couldn't handle my excellent sand throwing."

They both chuckled and Percy looked at her as her eyes returned to the flames. The fire flickered kindly off her face, in stark contrast to when he'd seen her with fire around her before. The gentle warm orange light seemed to soften her features that had previously been slightly angry and disconcerting.

"Did you ever go back when you were older?" He asked.

Her hands clenched slightly.

"Yeah, not too long ago…"

Ah, not a safe space for you then.

"It did make me realise some things though."

Her golden eyes left the fire and met him. She said it in a way that he felt he shouldn't follow up, but he was so tempted to. The girl looked up at the ceiling and leant back once more.

Whether it was the hunt, the weight and soft plumage of his companion on his lap, or the comfort of the fire, Percy's eyes began to droop.

In the company of the Fire Princess, the demigod nodded off to sleep.

Azula sat deathly still as the boy in front of her fell asleep. She didn't want to move, as to not wake him.

She'd been flying by the seat of her robes the whole night, but it seemed to have been working. With how that ostrich horse talked to him, she'd quickly realised that maybe insulting him wasn't the worst thing. Her attempt at compliments had clearly failed last time, so what did she have to lose.

Insults she was good at, but she'd seen people get offended by them and not want to speak to her. It happened throughout her childhood, not that she cared about those people. But the tone seemed different when Percy talked to and about his ostrich horse.

She'd tried, desperately, to replicate that tone, and it seemed to work. The princess had found that teasing was just like manipulation but without any intent. Or… ill intent towards the other person.

There had been many awkward moments where there was silence and she'd wanted nothing more than to break it up with something. Anything really. But she'd forced herself not to.

And it'd been oh so worth it.

Azula had to remember to thank her uncle for his advice. She'd never really liked him, but he certainly did know that boy. The very same boy that looked angelic lying across from her. She'd never felt so freed as she stared up at the ceiling. All thoughts of her father and the Fire Nation no more than fleeting embers dying before they could cross her mind.

Even with the fire, she had no problems feeling sleepy. But what she did want, was her blanket. The princess turned and saw it sitting over in the corner. Pushing herself up silently, she moved over and picked it up. As she walked back, she saw both of them laying there. It was cute, really. But blanket-less.

Her eyes drifted over to the only isolated room in the cabin. With deftly light footsteps, she went in to see two blankets. One on the floor in the corner and another in what seemed to be some sort of bedframe. It was basically just four pieces of timber lashed together, but the fur blanket was laying in the middle of it. There was also a growing pile of feathers in the corner, not that she knew why.

Thinking that Percy would prefer his own, instead of the feather covered one, she picked it up and walked back into the fireplace area.

She draped the pelt over the two of them, watching them get comfortable with a smile before doing so herself.

It was weird for her. Azula had never felt the blossoming of warmth from within her as she looked upon her own action. The cold, harsh, red fire within her was replaced with her very own blue and she found she much preferred it. The usually distant heat of the fire burning next to her felt right at her cheek.

The last thing she saw before she went into a blissful sleep was the beautiful smile on the boy's face.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! A lot of character stuff in this chapter. Azula learning some social skills too. Next chapter hopefully soon!

Some review replies:

WildMan98: Glad you enjoyed it! The Fire Lord's conditioning is definitely still influencing her, you're right. The internal conflict will continue, but this chapter you got more of the other side of that conflict. Thank you!

Death Fury/Jctherebel/Iamironman15/HellRaiderS: Thank you all! Glad you liked the chapter and hope you had fun with this one too

Deeznuggets2121: Yes! It is one of my favourite aspects of writing the story and I'm glad you find it the best part

Fleet Corner Trimmer 2415 L.S: I'm glad I could surprise you with the story and that you enjoyed Percy's character in my writing. I get the motivations, although they are definitely there, just a little internal and implied, though the paper thin aspect might just be my writing. As always, appreciate the constructive criticism and I hope you enjoy how I continue the story!

xianxialuver: I appreciate both your reviews! It's great you're enjoying it and hope that continues

CRUDEN: Ahhh yes, the third... well not quite

Thank you all for the reviews. That and interacting with all of you who are passionate about the characters and stories is why I posted this to begin with, so I appreciate it!

-PS