A/N: A new chapter has arrived. I hope you enjoy and as always, leave a review if you want. I appreciate any and all interactions with my story.

Word Count: 4172

16. Monsters, Martial Arts and Wrestling (I Get My Butt Kicked)

Percy let his ice canoe trundle along the river, with a frozen gemsbok bull carcass at the front. He still really didn't know what to think about the princess.

At first, he'd just been trying to show her a better path. Continuing the work of Mai and Ty Lee on Team Save Azula. But he could tell that what was happening was slightly different. He'd thought his teasing was just to get her out of her shell, to stop her from hiding behind a royal façade and to challenge her beliefs. But with how her teasing back had affected him, he thought that it might've been different.

As he slightly raised the water to pass over the rapids once more, he couldn't get the girl out of his mind. It was partially helped by the fact that, as he came to his own beach, there was no sign of her anywhere.

Percy threw the animal over his shoulder, its cold body pressed against his shirt, and walked up to the clearing. He passed by a tied-up and very hungry looking mongoose dragon so he sliced off a bit of meat for it and defrosted it before continuing on.

The midday sun was just passing through the leaves directly overhead as he moved between shaded areas. He came upon his clearing with the outdoor firepit around the side of his cabin. Siosi sat curled up in front of the stairs.

'Back so soon?' She greeted him oh so kindly.

Percy threw down the meat just at the edge of the open area, freezing it even further under the shade of a tree.

"Yeah, it wasn't too difficult."

'That looks like a pretty tough catch.'

He looked at his companion with an eyebrow raised. It was a rather large animal, but he didn't really know if it would be good to eat.

"Oh yeah? Tough meat or were you giving me a compliment?"

'Definitely tough meat, dumbass.'

That's what I thought. He sighed.

"So, where's your new best friend?" He asked her.

'Ooo still so salty, sea boy.' She chuckled at him. 'Don't get too jealous over there.'

The demigod rolled his eyes.

'She just walked off.' She finally answered.

"Did she leave?" He asked curiously, although it seemed that Siosi interpreted his inquisitiveness as something else.

'No, she didn't bring any of her stuff with her. I think she just went to explore.' She replied. 'Your crush hasn't left you.'

"Hey! I don't have a-"

'Hi Princess!' Siosi squawked.

It took all of Percy's willpower to not whip his head around to look. He just stopped what he was about to do to their food to look at the ostrich horse. The joking distraction done by the Stolls many times over being something he refused to be caught out with again.

"Yeah, you're not going to get me with that."

The frustrating bird kept its beak firmly pointed out of the clearing and away from him.

"What's she not going to get you with?"

Azula's voice came to him from right where Siosi was looking.

Instead of looking at her, he just lowered his head in resignation as he heard the cackling laughter from his friend.

"Nothing." He muttered, shaking his head.

"Right." She said, disbelievingly. "So is that our food?"

Percy turned to face her. He was immediately thankful that she'd changed out of the bikini. The distraction it had caused him made everything just that little bit more difficult and he knew that was his own dam fault. Her flowing hair was still left down, fluttering quite nicely in the light breeze.

"Yeah. Have you eaten… whatever this is before?" He asked.

"I can't say that I have, no."

There was an entertained lilt to the way she spoke, although it wasn't as confident or challenging as it had been before he'd ran off.

"Well, it'll be a first for both of us then."

She chuckled in reply.

"Could you make a fire over there?"

He pointed over to a place where he had a bigger fire pit, especially for meals like this where there were large pieces. Azula nodded and they both began their tasks in silence. Percy skinned and chopped up the meat as well as he could with his sword and the princess collected wood of all different sizes, clearing a circular section for the fire. The quiet only interspersed with the snickering of his ostrich horse.

Azula sat, watching her fire burn with a spit type structure over the top of it. She heard chittering sounds coming from the ostrich horse, some which she assumed to be laughter considering how Percy was reacting to them. But apart from that, it was rather peacefully silent with the crackling of the flames.

Unfortunately for her, every so often the red embers that flew up would be a stark reminder of her Agni Kai. The diagonal line of scorched skin would jump at her. And as she looked away to escape the visions, her eyes would be drawn to a Percy that was once more wreathed in lightning. She clutched at her stick, prodding at the fire to turn over the embers and dying wood fuel.

Percy came over with a chunk of meat and Azula's eyes saw the rest of the animal frozen again in thick ice. He skewered a few pieces of it on the newly cleaned spit and settled it over the fire. He stood across from her, with the sun beating directly down onto the two of them.

"I didn't mean to." She spoke up.

It took the princess a few seconds to realise that she might need to provide a bit of context for what she meant. Especially considering she'd already said it. Percy also seemed content to let her figure that out for herself as he remained silent.

"Hit you with lightning. I didn't mean to do that."

Maybe that's why he ran away?

"Oh, right. Yeah, you already said. Don't worry about it."

He shrugged, continuing to slowly spin the meat.

"But… I hit you with lightning. Aren't you mad? Why are you still talking to me?"

It seemed something she'd said was funny to him, as there was a low chuckle reverberating around the open air. Even Siosi seemed surprised by the reaction, albeit only slightly.

"What?" Azula asked, insecurely.

"No, don't worry about it. It's just that, if I stopped talking to people who'd hit me with lightning, I'd lose a few good friends."

"You've been hit with lightning before?"

To her knowledge, only the royal family had been able to generate lightning.

How common is it where he comes from?

"Uhuh. And even if it wasn't lightning, if I didn't talk to people who'd hurt me in a fight… well. I don't think I'd have many friends, if any at all."

He kept chuckling to himself, watching the meat. But Azula couldn't take her eyes off of him. The blasé attitude to being injured by friends, even if it was in training or whatever he did, it was strange.

I guess that's not why he ran away.

The princess began to shake as she thought of her next question. Her last fight with a firebender fresh on her mind. Her hand searing down from his shoulder to his hip.

"So you don't think I'm a monster?"

Her voice wavered slightly as she felt all too vulnerable for her liking. When she raised her eyes to see his reaction, she was surprised to find he'd actually stopped turning the meat. Percy was looking at her with a saddened curious expression.

"No." He said, definitively.

Her eyes widened as she felt like they were stuck to him.

"Really?" She asked, hope just creeping into her voice.

"Yes, because I don't think people can be monsters."

That idea confused the princess.

"Why?"

There was a pause as Percy seemed to be gathering his thoughts. But for Azula, the silence was interminable.

"Because monsters, at least where I come from, didn't really think about doing what they were doing. They just did it."

What kind of monsters has he been facing?

"No." Percy continued. "People always have a choice to do what they do. There are exceptions, but those are usually few and far between. If you can choose to do good or bad, then you're not a monster, you're human. A good or terrible human, but still human."

Azula looked into his eyes, begging him to answer the question she hadn't yet asked, but saw that she wasn't going to be let off that hook.

"Am I a terrible person?" She asked, with only slightly more conviction than she had her previous question.

"Well, that depends."

Percy looked back down at the meat, starting to turn it again as it had been cooking the same side for a while. The sun had started its journey down to the horizon, moving just so that shadows started to appear on the boy's face.

"What have you done?" He asked.

And just like that, all her memories flooded her.

"I-"

She was interrupted by the lightning leaving her finger and entering the Avatar.

"I don't-"

Azula saw her flames arcing across the Agni Kai.

"I don't know." She said, miserably.

Her head fell into her hands as she desperately tried to push out all the visions. Her fingers pushed against her skull in a last-ditch attempt to rid herself of them, as if to try and pull out the memories.

Percy's voice floated over to her as she felt water begin to massage her temples.

"What happened that made you ask me the question?"

Azula shook her head as answers raced through her brain.

"Specifically." He clarified.

The water started to feel soothing and she calmed enough to speak.

"The Agni Kai." The princess whispered out.

"Okay."

Percy materialised in front of her as his hands delicately pulled hers away from her head. He placed them on her lap and put a circular, wooden plate, that seemed to have been created from a slice out of the trunk of a tree, in between them. He sat beside her on the log with his own plate.

"Now, can you tell me what an Agni Kai is, and what you did?"

And with that, a dam broke. All the years of secluded, one-on-one study with her teachers under the advisement of her father, and the time spent at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, came out. All the intricate details of the honour system in the Agni Kai and social and political gains and losses spilled out. Her head whipping around between him and the food, her hair flicking into her eyeline every so often.

Percy just sat there. His eyes did wander but she could tell he was always listening. He nodded and hummed his way through her rant as he ripped into the meat with his hands. The barbarity of the act made it all the more enticing for Azula to partake, so she did it too as she ate. The princess found it rather fun, and unlike anything she'd ever done as a royal. The more she pulled apart her food, the more her words came out.

She felt it come out with barely a thought, but she knew she was delaying telling him the exact story. Scared.

Because maybe I'm not a good person.

Azula shook her head, finally coming to the end of the setup of royal life and Agni Kai's, and arriving at her betrothal.

"So, I got this letter."

Percy's eyebrows raised understandingly.

"Yes, the letter that you saw."

The boy looked as if he was about to interject. She thought, most likely, to correct her and say he didn't actually see the letter. The princess gave him a quick glare and his mouth snapped shut.

"It was my father, telling me that I was betrothed."

The waterbender's eyes widened dramatically.

"You're married?" He asked in a whispered shout.

He was obviously trying desperately not to interrupt or be loud. He failed on one of those counts.

"No." She clarified.

At his confused look, she waved the question away, hoping that he'd realise she was about to answer that very question.

"But when I went back to the capital, and when everything was about to happen, there was only one way I could see myself getting out of the marriage." She paused dramatically. "I had to make him lose his honour so he couldn't be seen marrying a royal."

Percy gained a look of realisation at that piece of information, clearly putting together her Fire Nation history and that moment.

"You challenged him to an Agni Kai." He said, quietly.

A hush fell over the two in the light of the afternoon sun. Its rays seemed a lot colder than before as Percy's body felt like it moved further away from her. Even the eyes of the ostrich horse seemed to be judging her.

Azula's hands gripped the plate tightly as she fought to keep the memory at bay.

"Did you kill him?"

She almost missed his near silent question, but she answered just as quietly.

"No." She replied quickly.

There was another silence that seemed way too long, but it sounded like he let out a breath of relief.

"So, what happened then?"

His soft voice seemed to persuade her to keep speaking.

"So we were fighting, and it wasn't really even a contest. He tried insulting me, it didn't work." She said, matter-of-factly.

Azula was desperately tried to cling to her emotionless mask that would allow her to tell the story without going into an attack.

"I was about to shoot lightning at him, when I stopped."

She couldn't bring herself to tell him why she had. But for some reason, she wanted him to know that she did actually stop herself. Whether it was to convince Percy that she didn't mean to hit him with her lightning, or to convince herself, she didn't know.

"I pointed my finger into the ground and it blew him across the arena."

Azula glanced up at his eyes to see them trained on her, unflinchingly. She averted her gaze just as quickly, knowing where the story was heading.

"The fight was all but over, but my father…"

She trailed off and thought she saw Percy nod his head understandingly. Although that could've just been her wishful thinking, with her hair partially blocking her sight.

"Everyone had heard the man dishonour the royal family and me in the fight, and the Fire Lord couldn't allow that to stand."

Also that didn't matter. You knew it didn't matter. He would've made you do that anyway.

As the princess looked into the fire, watching the embers explode outwards into the air, she felt Percy's hand ghost over her shoulder before settling on her knee.

"What did you do?" He asked, softly.

"I sliced across his chest with my fire." She said, her head drooped.

Azula felt his hand leave her knee momentarily, and it felt like a stab to the chest. Even after it returned, giving her a modicum of comfort, she felt like her question was answered.

I am a terrible person.

She moved away from Percy down the log and he didn't follow. She couldn't blame him, but it didn't help the hurt she was feeling.

"I'm a terrible person, aren't I?" She asked, dismally.

It wasn't a rhetorical question, but with how she felt, it may as well have been. She hoped that Percy would say no, that he'd say she wasn't. Again, he didn't give her that satisfaction.

Out of her periphery, through the dark strands of her hair, she saw the boy with his elbows on his knees looking into the dying fire. After a lengthy pause, he began speaking.

"Well, from where I'm sitting, there's two ways you can look at it. Now that you think what you're doing is bad."

Azula turned to look at him, but he kept looking at the small flames, quietly crackling away.

"The first is continue. You keep doing things the way you have been and push away the voice that's telling you it's bad."

The princess' eyes shot away from him.

How can he know about the voices? He can't! He doesn't. She tried to calm herself down. It could've just been an expression… yeah…

She wasn't comfortable with that, but her attention was grabbed by the waterbender once more.

"But I get the feeling that hasn't been working all too well for you."

He looked at her with a knowledgeably pained smile. Azula winced in response.

"And the other way?" She asked, weakly.

"You be better."

He put it so simply that she had to look at him, surprised.

Just like that?

"It's not easy." He continued, apparently reading her mind. "But you try to do the good things instead of the ones you now see as bad. You make that choice. You've already started."

Her wide eyes met his in shock. Percy just smiled at her.

"You tried to not hit me with lightning."

"You believe me?" Azula asked, quietly incredulous.

"Of course. I know when you lie." He smirked at her.

The princess was surprised about how pleased him saying that made her feel.

"Plus, I'd hope your aim was better than that."

He lightly nudged her side and it got a chuckle out of her. Even through her defensiveness at his taunt.

"You can choose to do the good things. It just takes time, hard work and patience. Like all things." He looked at her with eyes full of optimism. "You can choose to not be the monster you think you are."

He turned away from her and she mirrored him. They both watched the last of the embers cool until it was a mere ball of ash. Percy's words being played over and over again in Azula's mind. She placed the last piece of the surprisingly nice but tough meat in her mouth with her fingers.

Can I?

Percy figured Azula had stopped thinking positively when her hands began to clench once more.

That's not good. But I wonder…

He spoke without thinking, remembering a way he used to blow off steam and ignore his overwhelming, negative stresses. The demigod figured that, given her recent history with bending, she might also benefit from a similar training method.

"Hey. Have you ever fought without bending?"

A startled princess turned to him, clearly not expecting the question.

"What, like with weapons?"

Her hand went to the sleeve of her robes and he was curious but didn't press the matter.

"No, without weapons. Like a spar."

She seemed to be thinking for a second.

"I used to practice my firebending forms like that, I think. It was so long ago when I started."

Percy chose to ignore how it was slightly sad that she couldn't remember things from before she'd started training.

"Alright, let's go on the sand then."

He heard some heavy rustling in front of him when he stood up, as he only just remembered Siosi laying across from them. Percy stood and was quickly followed by his ostrich horse. He heard the princess standing up behind him as well. He was only a little way down towards the beach when the trot of talons caught up to him.

'Are you really going to fight her?'

"Why not?" He asked back, very aware of the princess being just in earshot behind them.

'After what she said?' Siosi asked.

The demigod just shrugged, unphased.

'Your funeral, dumbass.'

He saw the sand begin in front of him and he bent over, taking his slightly tattered shoes off before stepping off the grass. The soft feeling of the beach beneath his bare feet was always a welcome one for him. It seemed Azula followed his lead and took off her own next to his.

Siosi settled on the edge of the sand, ruffling her feathers and getting prepared to watch them. The princess stepped out onto what Percy was now thinking of as a fighting ring and looked at him, curiously.

"So, how are we fighting without bending?"

"Oh, you know, like sparring."

Azula still looked at him, quizzically.

"Like your training." He clarified, although she still looked confused.

Percy rolled his eyes. It was obvious she wasn't going to get it with words. He stepped forward and threw a soft punch towards Azula's shoulder. Faster than he'd expected, her other hand wrapped two fingers around his wrist and pulled him forward. The princess' leg came out and he was sent tumbling over her hip.

She still held his wrist as his back crunched against the sand. The girl smirked down at him and it was the first time he'd been properly reminded of Annabeth. Her throw, whilst slightly different, was all too similar to Annabeth's judo throw. The same one she'd done to him after landing the Argo II and one she'd done to him a hundred times over throughout knowing her. That was the only reason why a tear formed in the corner of his eye.

The momentary connection was gone almost immediately as Azula pushed off him with her foot, stepping back and getting herself into a stance. The only noticeable change in Percy were the increasing tears pooling in the corners of his eyes, knowing that she was truly gone, and was completely irreplaceable.

Recovering from his memory, he rolled sideways into a kneeling position, looking up at his opponent. She'd apparently figured out exactly what he meant at the worst time for him.

Just my luck.

Siosi's head had popped up and was cackling once more. Only this time it was just slightly less embarrassing than previously.

'She got your dumbass. Best minute of my life so far'

Yeah, yeah. He thought.

As Percy stood up, Azula's leg came up and kicked at his head. He shielded himself with his arms, feeling her foot smack against them. He was forced to step back as he felt the whoosh of another of her limbs fly in front of him.

Taking the space to get a look at her, he saw the princess skid to a halt on the sand, showing off a rare smirk. With that, he saw her body duck down and a leg swing out towards his own. Only his exceedingly quick reflexes allowed him to jump up and back, away from the strike. But Azula kept coming.

Her next kick came at his midsection and he took it, sliding back on the loose surface. After stepping over yet another sweep of her legs, he saw the foot coming once more. This time, as it connected with his abdomen, he caught it and held on.

He began to twist around, to hopefully throw her onto the ground, but Azula's momentum took her up. She pushed towards him and right as he twisted, her other leg wrapped around his shoulder. She threw all her bodyweight towards the way Percy was twisting.

As her legs pulled down, he felt himself go weightless and his feet left the ground. With Azula rolling, his arms braced his fall until the girl sat atop him, with a wide grin. She looked down at him with sand sprinkled in her hair until she pushed off his chest and took a few steps back.

Percy looked at himself, sand caking all of his clothes. He could feel it in his hair and he was entertainingly frustrated. He hadn't ever fought someone like her before. She used something similar to the martial arts he'd seen Annabeth do, but very different. Her movements were a whole lot more fluid, yet so much more intense. The kicking reminded him of kung fu, but he couldn't be sure.

He heard Siosi still laughing and squawking away, obviously enjoying herself as he lay in the sand. Deciding he'd had enough of being on the ground, he stood up and planted his right leg into the sand behind him. Once he'd gotten a solid foothold, he exploded forward and just rushed her.

Whether it was his surprising speed, his wingspan, or the difficulty of moving in sand, his arm caught the princess' waist as she tried to slide to the side. The demigod's weight advantage and the momentum helping him spear Azula directly into the ground, feeling a satisfying slam onto the sand.

He poked his head up to see a wincing princess underneath him. He'd been in enough spars to know people's limits and when to feel bad. It was safe to say, he didn't feel bad at all.

Percy pushed off the sand, grinning himself. He started walking backwards until he saw a flash of red. Azula sprung up on her hands and pushed into the air.

The last thing he saw was her foot swinging down about to connect with his head.

A/N: Some more Percy and Azula centred story. One of the biggest things I think differentiating Azula and Zuko as characters is Zuko has an ingrained sense of goodness from his mother, which is why I don't think Azula will truly change without doing some internal questioning that Zuko never really had to do. Or at least, not to the same extent. And then a fun little fight at the end that has a lot more deeper meaning than it may appear.

I can't promise next chapter will be out in exactly a fortnight with university and life stuff building up. But I will definitely try. It all depends on the amount of time I have extra to write. I hope you did enjoy this chapter though.

Some review replies:

Icefire99: Thank you! I hope you like how it continues in this chapter.

Erikhullum: I absolutely get that, but while being a reference to Arion, it also acts as a way to make Percy not have a full support system in Siosi. If he got everything he needed emotionally from the ostrich horse, it would give him less motivation to connect on a deeper level to a lot of the characters. Also Siosi is definitely affectionate, but she shows it in very specific ways. It is definitely okay to have friends who are more physically there for you than emotionally. And it suits Percy, as shown by him having Thalia and Clarisse as friends.

HellRaiderS/Death Fury/MiaMorn: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

namer1: So no, the idea is not to replace Azula and Zuko. I haven't really changed anything with Zuko's character development, so he's independently growing almost identically with canon. The idea for me was to see how the two characters of Percy and Azula (who have almost polar opposite philosophies and morals) would clash, and how that could potentially lead to a different outcome for Azula in the long term.

Artorias78: I mean, if me being entertained by the emotional investment you have in my story can be considered sadism, then maybe haha. I agree though, Azula doesn't realise how much she's changed, and I feel like that's the only way this would work. Also, Ozai will be Ozai.

Deeznuggets2121: Ty Lee's letter was indeed still inside the satchel. Who knows what Azula's reaction would be, but I don't think it'd be good.

Zero4Hire: Yup, she's definitely making decisions she would never have made as early season 2 Azula. Her distracting him is quite fun haha

WildMan98: I'm glad you loved it! Got quite a bit more internal conflict in this chapter!

CRUDEN: He definitely is that.

Iiesuu: It's awesome when that happens, isn't it? I'm glad you're loving it and I hope you continue to enjoy!

Savva103: .

Guest: Yeah, you're absolutely right about that in chapter 1. However it was also about Percy just meeting this group, not trusting them, and them going against his wishes within seconds of him asking for that. Percy's also never gone around in an assassin-like manner either. It's a difference of principles and justification. They're definitely justified to do what Hakoda was about to do, and what Sokka was forced into doing, but on principle (much like Aang's pacifism at the end), Percy wanted to lock them up instead. It's not a matter of Percy defending those soldiers' actions, but his own code of ethics that he doesn't want to break.

Xaverian: He has lost his Achilles Curse. This is after Heroes of Olympus so he's definitely lost it. I don't remember the curse coming up really. With fire he's always had somewhat of a resistance to it, as mentioned multiple times but mainly in Battle of the Labyrinth when he's exploded out of the volcano. I don't know what you mean by shaft to the chest though.

Thank you for all your reviews! I look forward to seeing you all in the next chapter!

-PS