A/N: You guys arent going to like it but i am going on a small haitus. See my other two stories i have run out of buffer chapters for so im going to take a break to build them back up so i dont geel pressured to rush them. I know this is only like 4 chapters in so I apologize but this is what im going to do. Dont worry though, i will be back and not abondoning shit (barring deatg or imprisonment and even that one just wait until i get out). So enjoy and see yall in a few months.
A wall of fire cut the throne room in two, illuminating the otherwise dark, cavernous room. A figure kneeled before the wall of flames; his head bowed low. His dark armor reflected the fire light, his hair pulled into a ponytail. "Rise," a deep, and powerful voice carried through the roaring flames. The man looked up to see the shadowed form of the Fire Lord sitting on his golden throne behind the wall of fire. The man rose to his feet, placing his hands behind his back. As he stood, his dark eyes bore a sharp gaze, scanning the other man for even the slightest signs of impertinence. The Fire Lord reached up to stroke his beard as he observed this commander. "As you are no doubt aware. My daughter, your betrothed, has been captured by the enemy."
"Yes, my lord," the man said. "The report says that, judging by the damage surrounding the battle, she must have been captured by earthbenders."
The Fire Lord hummed in thought. "What a shame that my daughter would be captured by such weaklings. She puts shame upon her training and her bloodline. I will be sure to correct that when she returns." He leaned forward; his face half illuminated by the flames. "For now, I will assign you this task. Find my daughter. Prove you are worthy of her hand by rescuing her from her incompetence."
The man bowed to the Fire Lord. "I will gather my troops and leave at once, my lord. I will return with her in hand," he promised before turning around and walking to the massive doors.
"Go with my blessing General Sangen," the Fire Lord promoted the man before him. "Go and carve your name into the Earth Kingdom and bring back my daughter."
It had been two weeks since Percy had taken her on their first walk. After that, they had gone on walks every day, Percy showing her various parts of the old Earth Kingdom city. They had avoided populated areas of the palace, Percy wanting to avoid questions as to why such a dangerous war asset was allowed to leave her cell. The Fire Nation princess sat at her table, drinking a hot tea. After weeks of good behavior, they had afforded her many amenities. From books to tea and some softer blankets. She was quite comfortable now, she spent the beginning of her morning practicing her katas, then sat for a nice tea, and after her walk would spend the rest of the day reading and watching out the window. Oh yeah, Percy had the captain of the guard, Balo, expand her window if ever so slightly so she could see out better. She couldn't fit her athletic form through it, maybe Mai could have, but she was more… defined than her slender friend.
Her room's door opened and the prince of Omashu walked through it. His hair cropped short and his sea green eyes bright with life and happiness. She had never seen eyes quite like his before; the sea green rolling about his irises like waves of the oceans. "How has your morning been princess?" he asked with a grin.
Azula set her cup down before rising to her feet, annoyance gracing her features. Under normal circumstances, Azula would require those around her to use her titles to address her. However, something about the way he used them annoyed her. She didn't think he was mocking her, but it felt as though it carried a different weight. "Same as every time you ask me that question, Percy," she answered, smoothing over her green outfit.
Percy crossed his arms, glaring at her playfully. "I don't recall giving you permission to call me that."
"And I do not recall caring," Azula responded with a smirk.
Their journey through the palace was uneventful, the two exchanging the smallest of small talk. It's not like Azula could really contribute anything, spending all of her time in her cell. If she was being honest, Percy was beginning to annoy her. She had tried everything she could think of to manipulate him. She had tried misdirection, appeasement, intimidation, even seduction (something she suspected he found great amusement in), but nothing worked. It was almost as if he was so brutally honest that her attempts at manipulation rolled off his shoulders like water off a turtleduck's back. Not that she meant honest as if he would never lie, but that he was honest about himself. A rare quality in one so young. She was genuinely impressed at his ability to ignore her machinations. She even had a degree of control over her father, limited as it was. Yet here was this minor prince, making her look like a fool, if only to herself.
This fact irked her to no end. How dare he not succumb to her. She did not expect him to break her out of her cell or let her go but maybe lower his guard just enough for her to escape. Maybe she could earn enough favor to have an opening. But no, he was always on guard around her, no matter how relaxed he seemed. She never had her opening. So, she decided to bide her time. The Fire Nation would come for her, she was sure of it. And when they did, she would enjoy the look on his handsome face when she struck him down. Though, then she would miss those eyes…
"Anyways, the boar-q-pine charged us again after Balo had smacked it with the boulder. So, I threw my spear and managed to drop the beast when I struck it in the eye," Percy told her, unaware of her thoughts. "The koala sheep shepherd was so thankful, he practically pleaded for us to stay for dinner. Being the nice guy I am, I joined him." He had brought her through one of the side entrances to the palace and into the main city itself.
Azula looked around, surprised. So lost in thought was she that she hadn't realized he had taken her out of the palace. This was her first glimpse beyond its opulent walls, and what she saw surprised her. The city unfolded before her; quaint, bustling, and alive. People moved with purpose, their smiles genuine, their interactions warm. It was a stark contrast to the rigid hierarchy of the Fire Nation's cities and colonies. Here, everyone seemed connected, like an extended family. Azula, accustomed to formality and distance, felt oddly out of place. The safety and order she knew were present, but there was an unfamiliar sense of community; a thread that wove through every street, every conversation. They felt… free.
She shook her head. This wasn't right. The only way to ensure a trusting and safe society was the threat of force upon a population for wrongs committed. That was what she had been taught. Fear was control and control made everyone safe. But here she was, watching the citizens of some minor Earth Kingdom city live safe and carefree. She knew this wasn't a set-up. Percy couldn't have forced these people to appear this happy, this connected. She had spent her life dealing with those that fake every interaction. And these people were anything but fake. She couldn't see a lick of fear in any of them. It made no sense to her. It felt wrong.
Percy continued on, undeterred by her internal struggle, forcing Azula to catch up to him. "Why are we here?" she asked him in confusion.
Percy shrugged. "You've been going on about the superiority of the Fire Nation. I figured I would show you how we do it and see how it compares," he explained to her, offering her his elbow. Azula quirked an eyebrow at him. "It would be weird for the prince to be seen with a woman and not offering her his arm. Will also draw suspicion away from who you are. They would never suspect we would let you out of your cell without half the army to guard you."
Azula rolled her eyes before begrudgingly looping her arm through his. "Was this just your excuse to get me to hold your arm?"
"The world may never know," Percy quipped as he led her into the city.
Azula had become accustomed to the lack of air in the city atop a mountain. From her cell, Azula could see in detail the four hills the city rested on and the complicated, but ingenious delivery system that crisscrossed the cityscape. She didn't understand how anyone could live in the chaotic life of this city. Now that she was walking through it, her confusion was amplified. The streets had no rhyme or reason, just paths bent into the sides of the hills that might lead somewhere but also might end in a dead end. Despite this, Percy never once got lost. Never once was turned around by the loops and offshoots. His knowledge of the streets of Omashu surprised her. Eventually, they arrived in a small garden, cared for by several old ladies, and they sat on a stone bench. A delivery chute sat behind them, stone carts passing by periodically. They stayed there in silence for several minutes, watching the city and mountain ranges in the distance.
"Sometimes I come here just to sit and relax," Percy explained to her. "This is one of the few green patches in the entire city. I don't know, but just the connection to nature seems to give me some kind of peace of mind."
Azula filed that information under 'weird things he has said.' As she looked out at a particular mountain, she thought about home. The Fire Nation capital, nestled in the bosom of a long dormant volcano, was far grander in scale, if not overall aesthetics, than Omashu. She missed it. She missed the warmth of the volcano beneath her feet. She missed the hot springs scattered around the capital, her spring particularly, her skin felt dry in the thin air of the mountain top. She missed her friends, Mai and Ty Lee, the most. She missed Ty Lee's quirky attitude and aura searching. She even missed Mai's dreary and bland personality. It was then a thought occurred to her. It was time to change tactics. "At home, I had my own hot spring," she told him, shocking him that she was actually telling him something personal. "It wasn't much. Just a small pool on the outskirts of the volcano's mouth. You would like it. Small, quaint. My friends and I would go there to relax." Her eyes watched him carefully.
"You have friends?" Percy asked, surprised.
The princess' quizzical gaze turned to a harsh glare. "Yes, in fact, I do," she snarked. "It is important for royalty to form alliances with the nobility. My father introduced me to Mia and Ty Lee to bring our families together. They proved to be competent, and so I have kept them."
Looking back on things, maybe she wasn't as good of a friend as she needed to be. She wondered what they thought of her capture. Were they worried about her? Worried about their standings? Or were they relieved to be out from under her thumb? She wouldn't be surprised by any of these cases being true. She then thought of her father. No doubt he was already planning to make an example of her, the crown jewel of the nation captured by the lowly earthbenders. She expected he had already used this to his advantage; riling up the nation's citizenry with tales of the monstrous Earth Kingdom that kidnapped their beloved jewel. It's what she would have done. "Every so often, we would get away from the bootlicking politicians and oppressive tutors."
Percy snorted at that, much to her annoyance. "I am surprised your father let you get out on your own like that."
Azula shrugged. "My father mostly leaves me to my own devices. He only calls upon me when he needs something." If only it was as simple as that. Her father had been manipulating her, her whole life. She understood that, even accepted that. It was him that brought her Mai and Ty Lee, believing that building connections to powerful nobles was important. It was him that sent her to the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls, so she could better learn the arts of war and the courts. He was the one who developed her need for duty to the throne and to sacrifice herself for the good of the nation. Even if it was her hand in marriage that was required of her. "His name is Sangen."
Percy's eyes widened as he looked at the smaller girl. "The guy who took down General Fong's fortress?"
"Yes," the princess answered, annoyance flashing across her gold eyes. "He is the commander of the forty-first heavy brigade, which mostly consisted of heavy tanks and Komodo rhinos. He is… powerful. His men sing the praises of his bringing low the walls of Fong's Fortress. They compare it to when my uncle breached the walls of Ba Sing Se. Preposterous really, someone of common blood surpassing one of Agni's blessed. But still… he has his uses. For now."
Percy quirked an eyebrow at her, a question rising to his lips. "Is that kind of arrogance learned or are you just born that way?"
Azula's response was cut off by the sounds of children screaming. Percy looked up to find a cart in the delivery system rocketing down the chute with three kids inside. The boy in front was bald, with a blue arrow tattoo on his forehead. The girl and boy behind him appeared to be members of a water tribe. The boy seemed to look back at the others before waving his hands backwards, the cart gaining speed rapidly. Percy looked at the kids in shock. What do they think they're doing? Someone is going to get hurt. The prince stood quickly and ran to the chute. He didn't have a lot of time. He reached out to the water around him, pulling from the moisture in the air even, and coated the inside of the chute with said water. Upon the cart contacting the water, the water froze and clung to the sides of the cart. The ice rubbed the sides of the chute, slowing the cart as it melted from the friction. The more the cart ran over the water, the more ice accumulated before the cart came to a complete halt next to Percy, with a massive plume of ice on its back. The three kids looked at the ice in shock before looking at Percy, who glared at them.
"You three mind telling me what you think you were doing?" he asked, his tone calm and firm, like his father taught him.
The three shared looks before the bald boy spoke, "I was showing my friends around the city?" Now that they were up close, Percy could tell that the tattoo flowed down the back of his head and under his tunic.
Percy quirked an eyebrow at the boy before looking the other kids over. The girl seemed sheepishly apologetic, while the boy eyed him as if analyzing any weaknesses he could pose. "Who are you three and why are you here?" he asked, guards began filtering into the garden and several approached them.
"I am Aang, this is Katara and Sokka. And we live here," the now named airbender tried to argue.
Percy growled in annoyance. "Here is what is going to happen, you are going to answer my questions truthfully, or I will throw you in the brig," he threatened them. "Now, what are an airbender and two water tribe children doing this far out?"
Aang's eyes widened before he relented. "How did you know I was an airbender?" he asked the prince.
"That move you did to accelerate the cart wasn't very subtle," Percy explained to him. "The implications of you being an airbender aside, I am more concerned with the safety of my citizenry. If you don't want to answer me, then you will answer to my father." He looked at the guards around him and gestured to the kids. The soldiers moved forward, escorting the kids away from the garden.
Percy turned and saw that Azula hadn't moved from the bench, and she was staring at him in shock. "What?" he questioned her as he walked back to the bench.
"You're a waterbender?" she asked rhetorically, an intense look in her eyes. As if she was suddenly reevaluating everything about him. "How interesting."
Percy shrugged as he came before her, shrugging off her uncomfortable stare. "You assumed that I was a nonbender, but I never confirmed nor denied it." He took a breath, "Unfortunately, we will have to cut this walk short. I will have to help deal with this situation."
Azula nodded. "I understand," she said as she rose to her feet. "After all, it's not every day that the Avatar drops on your doorstep." She grinned at him with a knowing look. Percy felt uneasy as he looked into those eyes. It was like a switch was flipped, and she went from the vulnerable teenage girl to the weapon of the Fire Lord.