Azula shivered over her bucket, wishing once again that she didn’t need it. Tears fell down her cheeks. Would that she were free of this curse. Would that her father loved her.
Someone knocked at the door of her quarters. She quickly emptied the bucket out a window and then straightened everything: her hair, uniform, stray tapestry, her sink. She even picked a few stray pieces of parchment from the floor. She lit some candles to cover the smell of her bucket.
She unrolled a map on her table and then leaned over it as though she’d been poring over it for hours. “Come in.”
The door opened, and her uncle entered. He bowed to her. “Azula.”
“What is it, Uncle?” she said with as bored an air as she could manage. He must never know of her weakness, her imperfection.
“I would have thought that you might be meditating.”
“Meditating is a waste of time,” she said, “For the weak.”
“I see,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m here with an update.”
“Don’t tell me,” she said, “The Avatar’s still nowhere to be found. Reports have him in many places.”
“Yes.”
“Even I can’t figure out a pattern,” she said. “He must truly be a master of subterfuge.”
“You say that as if it’s a thing to be admired,” Iroh said.
Azula walked over to a chair next to a table and sat down. “He’s good at what he does, but so am I.”
“You have a plan?” Iroh said.
She smirked. “It’s already in motion.”
***
On the deck of her ship, Azula was practicing using her feet to launch fireballs. The late afternoon sun glistened on the sweat of her brow.
“Your strikes are precise, but you lack something,” Iroh said, coming up to her.
She wiped her forehead with a fine cloth. “Yes?” She waited, but he said nothing. “Spit it out, Uncle!”
“Patience,” he said, grinning.
She rolled her eyes. “Is this one of your lessons?”
“If only you would learn any of my lessons this quickly.”
She scowled and walked over to the railing. “Why don’t you teach me an actually useful skill, like lightning bending?”
“You are not ready,” he said simply.
“I’m skilled enough.”
“Your skill isn't the problem.”
“What other kinds of problems are there?” she said.
Iroh was about to answer when a servant ran up to them. “I bring news. The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island.”
“See my captain for payment,” she said, not even bothering to look at him.
The servant bowed and stood there, as if waiting for something.
Azula’s eyes flashed with disdain. “Go, before I refuse to pay you!” Fire leaped from her fingers.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The servant yelped and ran away. She glanced over at her uncle, who shook his head in disappointment. She growled quietly and snuffed out the fire in her hand.
“Kyoshi Island,” she said eagerly. “That is only a few hours away!”
“Spies?” Iroh asked.
“Does that surprise you?” she rubbed her fingers against her uniform. “I told you I had a plan.”
“Nothing surprises me about you,” he said.
She clenched her jaw.
***
Azula led a team of soldiers on Komodo rhinos. They raced over Kyoshi Island toward the village as the sun was beginning to set. It was plenty of time to capture the Avatar. Her pulse quickened as she thought of him. She would be ready this time.
As she approached the village, she split her nine men into three groups. She would lead one into the center of town to draw their attention. The others would wait for her signal.
The village was made completely of wooden buildings. It only made sense. These rustics lacked the fine ability to construct grand structures. She looked up at the statue of the Avatar Kyoshi and grinned. It was fitting that she would capture the new Avatar in the shadow of the old one.
“I seek the Avatar!” she called out.
As she’d expected, an attack came. Unexpectedly, however, it came from women wearing long green robes and white face paint. They jumped on her men with expert kicks, knocking them off the rhinos.
She smiled and whistled, and her other men rode into the village to aid. More of the female warriors joined the fray, and soon the chaos of war surrounded her. She jumped down from her rhino and charged into it.
Before she reached her men, a woman in green leaped from the rooftops onto the ground in front of her. "Leave our island, or face the Kyoshi Warriors."
“Out of my way!” Azula said. She punched a fireball at the girl. It knocked her onto her back. Azula sent another fireball to finish her off, but another woman in green ran in front of her and blocked it with her fans.
“I won’t let you hurt them,” a boy’s voice said.
She could hardly believe what she was seeing. “Is that you, Sokka?” Azula laughed. The boy was dressed in exactly the same garments as the women were, and he brandished the same fans.
He grimaced enough to be noticed through the white face paint. “I’ve been learning to respect women.”
Azula snorted. “I’m glad for you.” She punched a few fireballs at him. He deflected them until she came in close and kicked him.
“If you’re here, then the Avatar can’t be close behind.”
As if on cue, the Avatar showed himself. He flew down on his glider and landed in front of her. His eyes never left Azula, but he spoke to Sokka. “Get everyone out!”
Sokka nodded, and the other women in green disappeared. She nodded to her men, who gave chase. The Avatar would be hers.
Aang spun his staff. “Stop this!”
“Hmm, no,” she said. She made a roundhouse kick and sent a whip of fire his way. She followed up with several more fiery kicks.
He blocked many of them, but by now, the village was a burning mess.
“Don’t you care about collateral damage?”
“Why do people ask the strangest things when we’re fighting?” she asked. She sent another blast, knocking the staff from his hands.
He reached down and picked up some fans. He waved them together, fanning an immense blast of air at her. She jumped and flipped sideways out of its path as best she could. The tail edge of the strong wind caught her foot, spinning her wildly. She crashed onto the porch of one of the huts. Her armor scraped against the wood of the floor. For a split second, she lay there, stunned.
That was all the time Aang needed to retrieve his staff and open it into a glider. He quickly flew away.
She jumped back to her feet. “He's good,” she said. She fired a few more blasts at his retreating form, just for good measure, and then she scanned the area for her men. They were not faring well against these Kyoshi Warriors. She would rectify that with harsher training.
“After them!” she yelled, mounting her rhino. Her men did likewise. “Back to the ship!”
They rode towards their ship, but before they reached it, the Avatar rose from the sea in front of them. He was riding an unagi. The massive sea snake shook the water from its scales and roared.
Azula stopped to gape at the sheer size of the thing. "Of course, the Avatar has one of those."
When did Aang find the time to tame that thing? It opened its jagged mouth wide, and water sprayed forth onto the burning village. Much of it covered her as well. She wiped the water off her face and sniffed it. The water was slightly sticky and more than a little smelly. Disgusting.
Aang was full of surprises.
***
Azula and her men raced back to the ship. As soon as they were on board, she jumped off the rhino and pointed at the sky bison. “Follow him!”
To their credit, the men rushed to follow her orders. She took off her helmet and wiped the grime off her forehead. Was that…mucus? She wished she had her bucket right now.
Her uncle walked up to her, and she braced for another of his lessons.
“Was it necessary to burn down the village?”
She glared at him. “You and the Avatar, you say the same things."
He refused to answer her.
She sighed. "I didn’t mean to burn it down, but it was in my way. If you had taught me to bend lightning, I would have caught him, and all the other damage would have been unnecessary.”
He shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”
She didn't need this. It made her feel grimier than she already was.
“Ugh,” she said, “I'm taking a bath.” She stalked back to her room.