Archive of Our Own ^beta

Riding down into the valley on her mongoose lizard, Azula shot a large burst of blue flames at a nearby tree, knocking it down to cut off the Avatar and his group’s best chance of escape. The tree fell with a loud crash, echoing through the valley. Ty Lee and Mai were on either side of her, and the three of them moved in perfect synchronization as they rode up to the group, fanning out slightly to block off another possible escape route. Though she would never say it out loud, Azula had to admit that they fought well together. It was a nice change to have people around that were actually competent.

Even so, they still hadn’t successfully captured the Avatar, and Azula was getting more frustrated by the day. Every time they got close, the Avatar and his stupid air bison would somehow slip out of her clutches. She knew that she was capable of capturing the Avatar; it was only a matter of time. But the more time that passed, the angrier her father would be with her when she did finally return home, Avatar in tow.

“My, my, you’re easy to find. It’s really astounding that my brother hasn’t captured you yet,” Azula said, tossing the disgusting clump of fur she’d picked up as far away from her as possible. Had all the air bison shed this much? If so, their extinction had truly been a blessing for the world, particularly for anyone with allergies.

Finally taking the time to examine the group in front of her, Azula realized immediately that she’d made a mistake. She’d been so relieved to find another trace of the Avatar after the trail had gone cold for weeks, that she hadn’t even considered the possibility this time that the bison and the Avatar wouldn’t be together. The boy seemed far too sentimental for that. But now, here was the air bison, alone with a group of girls holding shields, and no Avatar in sight.

The longer Azula looked at the group, the more she began to develop an uneasy sense of familiarity. The golden shields hid the faces of the girls standing in front of them, but the green skirts and golden helmets created a distinct color scheme. And had Azula caught a glimpse of white face paint as they approached? But that was impossible. It had been a long chase after the Avatar, and the stress must be getting to her more than she’d realized.

“What do you want with us?” the girl in the front shouted. And oh, Azula definitely knew that voice. That voice brought up memories that she’d spent two years pushing away.

“Who are you, the Avatar’s fangirls?” Azula asked dismissively, the bad joke the best thing she could think of as she stalled for time. Inside, her mind was racing, as she tried to figure out the best way to handle this situation. She thought she had been prepared for every possible fight, every eventuality, when she set out to hunt down the Avatar, but clearly there had been one possibility she had never considered. Kyoshi Island was still supposed to be neutral (and if she paid a little more attention to it on the map than some of the other colonies during strategy meetings, that was just a coincidence). Surely she was mistaken. This was a different group of Kyoshi warriors, right?

“Oh, I get it,” Ty Lee said, a delayed reaction to her idiotic joke, and Azula wanted to smack her, or punch someone, because this whole situation was just ridiculous. What were they even doing? “Good one, Azula.”

The girl in the front let her shield drop, just slightly, revealing familiar makeup covering even more familiar features. Brown eyes that were staring straight at her. “Zula?” Suki asked, and Azula took a brief moment of comfort in that she sounded equally surprised to see her.

Azula sat, frozen, still poised for battle, trying to figure out what to say. Beside her, Ty Lee and Mai were silent, their faces an impassive mask, but Azula could feel the weight of their confused gazes on her and saw the glint of recognition in their eyes at her childhood nickname.

Clearly recognizing her now, Suki lowered her shield even further, breaking the center of her formation, and Azula’s brain screamed at her to take the opening. This was her chance. She should strike now while the girl was least expecting it. Azula could incapacitate her and her entire band of warriors, even kill her if she desired.

It was stupid of Suki to let her guard down like that, it was a mistake and a weakness, there was a war going on, how dare she assume that Azula wouldn’t hurt her…and Azula looked at the girl she hadn’t seen in two years, this stupid girl who was stupid enough to trust Azula when she barely even knew her, and she sighed, lowering her hands. “Suki. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Suki stepped forward, and both Mai and Ty Lee shifted slightly, ready to jump into action, but Azula shot them each a quelling gaze. “Behave yourselves,” she said sternly. Then she raised her voice, loud enough to carry across the clearing and to the Kyoshi Warriors. “Suki and I are allies. We have much to discuss. Try not to kill each other while we’re gone.” With that, she hopped down off her mongoose lizard, and walked up to Suki, trying not to drink in the sight of her too obviously. “Is there somewhere we can get some privacy?” she asked stiffly.

Suki nodded. “Follow me.” She led Azula around the edge of the clearing and down a hill. They walked in silence through the forest for several minutes until they reached a small glade within the trees and Suki finally stopped, apparently deciding they were out of earshot by now. Azula tried to figure out what to say, but was distracted by the feeling of Suki’s arms on her, pulling her in for a hug. Azula allowed herself to be held for just one single moment before she pulled away. “I’m sorry,” Suki said. “I just didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“I didn’t think so either,” Azula said. She stared at Suki, taking her in. Her hair and makeup looked the same, but her features were slightly different than the face Azula had pictured in her mind for the past two years, a little older. “What are you doing here?” She had intended for it to be accusatory, but the words came out soft and quiet. Azula was immediately disgusted with herself at the sound.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Suki said, leading her to sit down on a nearby log. They sat side by side, legs pressed together, and Suki explained everything. Suki told her how the Avatar had come to her village, followed shortly after by the Fire Nation trying to burn the village to the ground (so this whole situation was Zuko’s fault, like always), and how it had made her realize she needed to do more and join the war effort. She had led a group of her warriors to the mainland, and they had been assisting the Earth Kingdom ever since. Only a day ago, she had found the Avatar’s bison alone and injured and made it her mission to help care for it.

“But enough about me. Zula, what’s going on? Why are you here? Who are you fighting for?”

“It’s a long story,” Azula replied. She hesitated for a heartbeat, her mind playing out twenty different possible scenarios, trying to figure out which one would spin the situation to her favor. For some idiotic reason, she ended up going with the truth. “I wasn’t completely honest with you when we met. My real name is Azula, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation.”

Suki stared at her, jaw dropped open. “You’re Fire Nation,” she said flatly.

“Yes,” Azula replied. Was that not what she’d said?

“Fire Nation royalty, to be specific.”

“Again, yes.”

“Sorry, I just need a moment to process this. I was already surprised to see you again after two years. Then I find out that the evil Fire Nation princess I’ve heard so much about, who is chasing the Avatar and my friends, just happens to be the same person as the first girl I…” Suki trailed off mid-sentence.

“The first girl you what?” Azula asked, confused.

“The first girl that I let spar with me!” Suki finished, speaking overly loud considering it was just the two of them in the clearing. “Yeah, the first girl I sparred with, who, uh, wasn’t a Kyoshi warrior.”

Azula tilted her head, not sure why that would qualify as a milestone, but decided to ignore it. “How did you know I’m chasing the Avatar?”

“You match the description of the crazy fire lady Sokka was telling me about pretty much exactly. And you only found us because you were following the Avatar’s bison. It’s not exactly hard to figure out.”

“I guess,” Azula sneered. She felt uneasy, like the situation was slipping out of her control. But that was impossible. Azula never lost control.

“So what do you plan to do with the Avatar when you find him?” Suki looked like she already knew the answer but was hoping Azula would tell her otherwise.

“Take him back to my father,” Azula answered honestly. She watched a strange look cross Suki’s face, as if she was just making the connection that Azula being a princess meant her father was the Fire Lord.

“Look, I’m going to tell you something that I know you’re not going to like, but you need to hear it,” Suki said. “Your father is going to lose, Zula. Maybe he’ll burn the world down with him when he does, but he can’t win. I’ve seen how powerful the Avatar is, and he isn’t even at full strength yet. Eventually, your father is going to lose this war. And even if some miracle happens and he does win, he’s still going to destroy the whole world in the process. There will be nothing left for you to rule. Is that really what you want?”

Azula jumped up, pulling away from Suki as if she’d been burned. She paced back and forth across the clearing, trembling with fury. “How dare you speak to me like that. You think you can insult my father and get away with it?” She called blue flames to each hand. “You dare insult the Fire Lord to my face? I should burn your mouth shut as a punishment, so that you can never speak again. I should kill you for such treason.”

Suki stood up from her log. Sensing the motion in her peripheral vision, Azula whipped around to face her, brandishing great spheres of blue fire. They stared at each other for a moment, frozen, Azula’s chest heaving.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Suki said, breaking the silence. She took a step forward. “He doesn’t deserve your allegiance.” Another step.

“Stay back,” Azula warned, pulling her hands into a fighting stance. The flames grew.

Suki moved closer. She didn’t even look afraid. “You don’t need him, Zula. If your father is so powerful, why does he hide away in his palace? Why does he have to send you out to do his dirty work?”

Azula felt her chest heaving with exertion, and her voice became shrill with rage. “I’ll burn you, I will!”

Suki stepped into Azula’s space. She was so close, she had to be feeling the heat of Azula’s fire, but she didn’t falter. “What has he done to earn your loyalty? Given you those?” She gestured towards where Azula’s sleeve had risen up, revealing the burn scars that littered her forearm.

“Enough!” Azula screamed, and the world exploded in a blast of blue fire.

Azula wasn’t sure how much time passed, awash in a blaze of blue, before she came back to herself. When the flames died down, she found herself standing on a small remaining patch of grass, still green other than two singed footprints, surrounded by a ring of scorched black earth. The nearby trees were charred and smoking. Suki was still close in front of her, and Azula tried to ignore the wave of relief that washed over her at seeing her unharmed. Their eyes met. Azula opened her mouth instinctively to speak, unsure of what she was going to say, and then the exhaustion from her burst of flame hit her like a komodo rhino and her legs gave out.

Before Azula could react, strong hands wrapped around her back, catching her in a gentle hold. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Suki said in a hushed voice as she lowered Azula to the ground carefully. When Suki let go, Azula’s body felt cold.

Azula hunched over on the grass, embarrassed by the indignity of the position and ashamed of her own weakness, staring at her traitorous legs. She’d never produced fire quite like that before, such a huge outpouring of flame that was beyond even her own control, and she berated herself for the lack of discipline. It had been a waste of valuable energy, which she should have been saving for her next battle.

Suki sat down beside her in a fluid motion, graceful despite her long skirts. Azula flicked charred bits of grass at Suki’s face to cheer herself up. Though she would never admit it, Azula felt raw and tired from their conversation, like a wound with the scab peeled off. Her outburst had drained the energy from her body, but her thoughts were still racing.

Azula didn’t love her father, but she respected him. The idea of betraying him had never crossed her mind.

“I have a duty to my nation,” she said at last. “To my people.”

“This war isn’t what your people want. Not many people are able to get out, but I’ve met a few Fire Nation refugees on the ferry to Ba Sing Se. They live in fear of the Fire Lord and his government, and they send their children off to die in a war that won’t benefit them. They’re scared and unhappy. It’s been one hundred years. What do they have to gain if you finally win the war? Resources from the other nations that have now been destroyed?”

Suki spoke of fear as if it were a bad thing. But Azula had always believed that fear was necessary. To be feared was to be powerful. What was left without it?

Gazing off into the shriveled trees, Suki kept talking, gesturing with her hands as she did so. Every few seconds, she would stretch a little too far, and the back of her hand would brush against Azula’s arm. Each touch felt like lightning. “Leaving Kyoshi Island was hard for me. The very idea of it went against everything I’d ever known. When I suggested going to the mainland, most of my village hated the idea. I lost some of my warriors. The elders were furious.”

Suki didn’t fear her, Azula realized. She never had, even when they first met on Kyoshi Island.

“I wasn’t sure I could go through with it,” Suki continued. “But the rest of my girls stood by me, and we left together. I don’t regret it. I had a responsibility to my village, and I still do. But I had to do what I thought was right.”

Azula had a duty to the fire nation. She would do whatever it took, make any sacrifice needed, for the strength and power of her nation. She had a responsibility to serve the Fire Lord. Anything else would be treason of the utmost degree.

But as the crown princess, didn’t she also have a responsibility to serve her people? Wasn’t that really her duty? And if the Fire Lord was destroying her people, tearing their nation apart, didn’t she need to do something about it?

“Do you really think the Fire Lord is going to lose?” Azula finally asked.

“Yes,” Suki said. “The Avatar is back, and he’s powerful enough to defeat the Fire Lord, but it’s more than just that. He gives people hope. People are starting to fight back.”

If there was one thing that Azula was sure of, it was this: she did not lose.

“Besides, with you on our side, he wouldn’t stand a chance,” Suki added. “Fire Lord Zula. Has a nice ring to it, right?”

Suki still wasn’t using her proper name. Azula considered correcting her, but decided that Suki’s disrespect wasn’t her top priority right now. She had other things to focus on. Like committing treason against her father.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to betray the Fire Lord and follow a child Avatar in battle instead.”

Suki nodded. “Pretty much.”

Azula sighed. This was going to be the start of many headaches. “Say I did decide to join you, what would our next steps be?”

“Aang and his friends are currently in Ba Sing Se, trying to get an audience with the Earth King to discuss strategy for the war. If we take Appa, we could reach them within a day’s flight. We’ll join them and listen to whatever plan they’ve figured out, you’ll probably hate it and come up with a better one, and then we go defeat the Fire Lord.”

“It’ll be that easy,” Azula said drily.

Suki shrugged. “I thought you liked a challenge. Besides, I think the hardest part will be trying to keep you from murdering anyone. Aang’s a pacifist.”

Azula stared at her. “A what?” She’d never heard that word before. It sounded like a disease.

“Someone who doesn’t doesn’t like violence. Aang won’t kill anyone.”

“You can’t be serious,” Azula said, horrified. “The Avatar plans to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him? That’s the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.”

Suki laughed, then grew serious. “Zula, I’m glad you’re doing the right thing, but I know this will be hard for you. He’s still your father, even if he is kinda evil. Maybe we can find another way.”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Azula promised. She refused to be a liability. “When the time comes, I’ll do what needs to be done.”

Cutting off Suki’s further protests, Azula got to her feet, brushing off her clothes and ignoring the slight shakiness of her legs. She extended a hand to Suki and pulled her up from the ground. But Suki didn’t let go of her hand once standing, instead adjusting her grip to interlace their fingers. Azula stared at her blankly, puzzling over the strange warm feeling she had. Maybe the fire had melted some of her brain cells.

Suki just smiled at her. “We should get going,” Suki said. “We have a lot of work to do.”