Your Breeze, the Fuel to my Fire
Chapter 1: The Sinking of a Ship
Everything in Azula's life had fallen apart in one instant. In one second, she was ready to shoot lightning, but the next second she was frozen in ice. She got herself right where her enemy wanted her. And that was it, she got immobilized by the waterbender.
After more waterbending, her brother got better enough to order around; he got Azula taken away. Her mother was following her through every corridor. The guards were confused by this and called some doctors, Lo and Li came with them. "Azula, this is for your wellbeing," the set of twins said as she was being put in a straitjacket.
Azula found herself in an infirmary rather than a prison cell. The doctor analyzed her symptoms and believed she suffered a psychotic episode, which was likely the onset of a mental disorder. He injected the fallen princess with an anti-psychotic. When Azula looked up, her mother was gone, again, and reality set in.
X-O-X
"Zuko, stop moving, I'm trying to capture the moment!"
"Of course sweetie, I guess this tea is going to serve itself"
"I wanted to do a painting, so we always remember the good times together."
"That's very thoughtful of you Sokka—wait! Why did you give me Momo's ears?" criticized Katara looking over Sokka's shoulder.
"Those are your hair loopies," Sokka defended his artwork.
"At least you don't look like a porcupine, my hair is not that spiky!" complained Zuko.
"I look like an alpha male," said Mai showing a hint of emotion as she is a beta female.
"And why did you paint me firebending?" asked his ex-fling, Suki.
"I thought it looked more exciting that way," Sokka explained as if it's obvious. Momo landed on the table seemingly expressing his grievances as well. "Oh you think you can do a better job, Momo?"
Aang looked at the scene unfold cherishingly and headed outside, patting Appa on his way.
"Hey, my belly is not that big anymore! I really trimmed down," Aang could hear Uncle Iroh now from outside.
"Well, I think you all look perfect!" noted Toph as a joke still in the room as everyone else.
Katara followed Aang outside. Finally, a moment alone between them ever since the war is over; it's been a few days only, though. They looked at each other knowingly. This is their moment, the right time, no more confusion as she had said before during the Ember Island's play. They kissed. This is when they're supposed to live happily ever after...
After a whole year ever since Sokka and her found the Avatar in the iceberg, Katara, now 15, is in the ripe age for the secondary sex to present. When they break out the kiss, Katara can really smell the tea from outside and it made her wrinkle her nose. Not like tea is her favorite drink, but its smell has never been unpleasant either.
"Did-did I kissed you wrong? You made a face," asked Aang.
"Ah no, it was the tea smell, my nose might to be a little too sensitive today—plus the wind might be helping by blowing the scent outside," she tried to rationalize her odd reaction to sweet smelling jasmine tea.
X-O-X
The group brushed off many symptoms like this from Katara for months. The heightened sense of smell eventually turned into an angry-alphas radar. Which turned out to, not only detect possible enemies, but to help out her omega brother anticipate when something was up with his lover. Toph would make fun of her while training about how easy it was to make her break a sweat. Being in a relationship must have turned her weaker, or so Toph would boast about. Even Suki, now 16 and safe to assume she was going to stay a beta, had to recommend Katara to bathe more often as her body odor was too strong. And Aang had to stop her a few times for being overly aggressive with some alpha opponents.
The group still had other problems for them to be able to connect any of the dots about Katara. It was time for their focus to shift to Azula since it was finally her trial day. Zuko was glad to see Azula coming into the courtroom without a straitjacket and only accompanied by a nurse. Such a contrast from when he'd been visiting her at the infirmary; the treatment seems promising. As bleak as the methods might have been, the Fire Nation's medical and psychological sciences advanced plenty during the hundred-year war. From what Zuko can tell, they're far beyond those methods. But it should not be forgotten how all those advancements got to the level they are now.
Azula's eyes first meet her brother's, who has been observing her with support. Then she spots Katara, and the scent comes after. Involuntarily, Azula scrunched up her nose, "of course I lost to two alphas vs one beta."
"You must still be hearing visions, where did you got I'm an alpha?" Katara retorted with the intention to hurt.
"Your attitude just now."
"MY attitude?! By attitudes alone YOU'RE the mindless primitive al—"
"Katara, please, let's just get this going." Sokka had to intervene before his alpha partner did in a not so good way. He knew that this day had been a sensitive topic to Zuko. Not to mention that, as an alpha, Zuko has been seeing the signs and has been telling Katara the very same thing that Azula just concluded with just one beta whiff, but the waterbender does not want to listen.
"I also only lost because I had a breakdown, otherwise you would been fried by my lightn—"
"Azula, you too, please." Zuko intervened for his sister as well. I guess some things never change, like Azula's flippant ways.
After many hours of deliberations, Azula was sentenced. Three years in prison, with the possibility of serving a portion as house arrest for good behavior. Mandated psychotherapy sessions; and once deemed stable enough, reparations. The latter, to be determined by current world affairs at the time of her release. She didn't get more because the judge took into consideration that Azula was just a child. A child that hadn't even presented yet, a daughter influenced by a perpetuator of a senseless war.
Once back at the palace, Aang and Katara were hosted in the same bedchamber, much to Sokka and Zuko's disapproval. But the former couple argued about the latter not being officially mated and yet share sleeping quarters or tent wherever they go. Aang was ready to call it a night after such an emotionally heavy day, but Katara had other ideas in mind. In the few months since they first kissed, Aang and Katara have explored sexually here and there. After all, even if one stays a beta there are still changes in the body that get pubescents curious. They had agreed beforehand that it was too early for both of them to do the deed. But tonight, Katara seemed determined to trample over their previous agreement.
"Katara, this isn't like you," Aang said with apprehension.
"Come on, it's just a matter of time before we finally—" Katara finished her sentence with half-lidded eyes.
"Is not just now or what you want us to do now! has been a while since you've been switching from irritable to lovey dovey and-and— what is that?" Aang couldn't help fixating his eyes between Katara's legs.
"W-what—?" Katara looked down, shock settling in her face as she noticed the bulge protruding through her pants and tunic.
She bolted to the en-suite bathing area, pants already coming down on her way there. She got her tunic out of the way from one of the double side slits and saw it, her clitoris was now enlarged and erect; a penis.
Aang had followed her behind, "you're an alpha now, Katara."
X-O-X-O-X
Still, Aang and Katara decided to continue dating despite the lower odds of conceiving children. And despite Katara's interest in using her new appendage for sex instead of the other way around. At least Avatars are generally betas, or so they told themselves to justify their attempts to build a romantic relationship. Truth is, that isn't a solid fact of life, like in the case of Kyoshi, an alpha female. Presentation ages vary from 14-16 years of age with some rare poor ones presenting as early as 13 or as late as 17. Any presentation outside of that range can nonetheless occur. But those are an indicator of a major hormonal anomaly that warrants a visit to the doctor. Bottomline is that Aang could also present at any moment now.
After two years of being in a relationship with Katara, Aang, now 15, started showing the same symptoms as his girlfriend when she presented. It was harder to tell because there was no extra organ to grow in him. By that point, they were sexually active both Katara and Aang doing the penetration. Only when Aang popped a knot in her was when they couldn't deny it anymore. Aang was also an alpha now.
That pushed Katara to her limit, sometimes nature is stronger than one's will. Aang and Katara were no longer compatible. No matter how much one can love someone, some things are just dealbreakers. A sex life that one does not has to push themselves into, the prospect of children, in their case. It became too much of an abyss to be able to meet the other in between.
It was over between the two alphas.
While the gaang experiences tension and bad blood between its main members, someone in a Fire Nation prison eagerly attends each therapy session. While the war heroes deal with growing awkwardness in their group dynamics, the convicted princess is glad to regain control of her own mind. While Team Avatar navigates a post war world and its nuances to heal it, Azula is glad to be done with the torture of her brain's imagined pity from her mother.
While Aang and Zuko try to figure out how to best decolonize the Earth Kingdom; Katara wants to instead work on re-establishing the Southern Water Tribe as it once was before the war. Meanwhile Azula is gradually unlearning her father's upbringing. Slowly opening up to the idea of living outside of his shadow. Better yet, she wants to build her own legacy exactly the opposite of his; out of spite, to rebel against him.
As time passes, Aang and Katara recognize that they cannot keep going on like this, yet it is so difficult to go back to being the friends they once were. The process to build something anew that was once broken is slow but steady. As the time of her release from prison approaches, Azula is curious to experience Zuko's new Fire Nation. She's curious to see how she'll do working to help keep the newfound peace in the world. Once out of prison and in house arrest, the palace is pretty much the same as before. A golden cage, not enough to grasp how everything works from outside those walls.
And with all that, another year had passed in the blink of an eye, 3 full years since the end of the war. At 18 years old now, she has completed the first 2 parts of her sentence. The therapy part, she opts to continue on her own since it has helped her so much. Azula's mental condition has been in remission for a long while with the help of a regular dose of anti-psychotics. In the back of her head, she continues to attend therapy because she's scared of going through an episode again.
But things are looking up, onto the reparations part of her sentence she goes. For her first reparations mission, she must work with the Team Avatar to bring down a new group of terrorists. They oppose Zuko's new era of peace, making schemes to incite a violent reaction from the new Fire Lord. They're planning a coup and must be stopped before that.
Now well past the presentation ages, Azula is a beta; who would have thought? A mediator? Peacekeeper? Level-headed? Definitely not phrases she would've used to describe herself. If personality traits alone determined one's presentation, she'd been an Alpha for sure. But alas! Stereotypes are harmful. Otherwise, society still wouldn't let omegas do physical jobs or hold important positions, and the like. As much as society has progressed in some areas, there are other struggles that omegas still face. And Azula is glad those aren't something she has to deal with at least...
A/N: Hope you like it!
Azula majority of the time is portrayed as the "dominant" type in fanfics, I like to switch expectations whenever I can.