For the Love of a Princess
- Thread starter drakensis
- Start date
Lanceavalon said:
At some point Liao needs to be in a situation were he can dress up and act like this.
It does put me in mind of something else. possible omake
Azula: How is he?
Iroh: I'm very sorry, he's going to die.
Azula: No!
Liao: I am? It doesn't even hurt much.
Azula: Is there anything I can do?
Liao: My only regret is never marrying you Azula.
Azula: AVATAR!
Aang: Sorry! ... er, yes. What can I do?
Azula: You're the nearest thing we have to a fire sage. Marry me to Liao right now.
Aang: Er... dearly beloved.
Iroh: (discreetly kicks Liao)
Liao: Ow!
Iroh: He's in terrible pain, skip to the important bits.
Aang: Do you, Liao -
Liao: Yes!
Aang: D-
Azula: Yes! (Grabs Liao in a passionate kiss)
...
...
Liao: Well if that was heaven then death was remarkably painless.
Azula: ...wait, you don't seem very badly hurt.
Liao: I said... oh Iroh, you utter bastard. I can't believe I fell for that.
Azula: What.
Liao: Not that I'm complaining, but all he said was that I was going to die.
Azula: And?
Liao: We're all going to die someday.
Iroh: What can I say, I love weddings.
Azula: I'm going to kill my uncle.
Liao: After we consummate the marriage. ... What? However it happened it's not like I'm didn't want to marry you, Azula.
Azula: Good point. Uncle, you have a headstart of however long this takes us.
Aang: Shouldn't you be running?
Iroh: The way those two are? No, no hurry.
One difference between Liao and the asshole general that Zuko thought he was going to fight in the Agni Kai is that if Liao's going to send a bunch of raw recruits into a meatgrinder, he'll march in there with them and do his damnedest to get them out the other side.
A couple of dozen garrison troopers would be lucky to even slow Zuko down, much less Iroh.
A couple of dozen garrison troopers would be lucky to even slow Zuko down, much less Iroh.
Iroh: "So where are we going next?"
Aang: Holds up a map labelled 'Top Ten Honeymoon Destinations!'
Aang: "Well since we've already passed one, and two's currently in the Fire Nation colonies, I was thinking three."
Iroh: reviews the map and nods sagely
Iroh: "I see, good choice."
Katara: "Won't this get Azula even more upset with us once she figures this out?"
Aang: Gives Zuko a quick glare before turning and smiling at Katara.
Aang: "No worries, it's Zuzu's wedding present!"
Aang: Holds up a map labelled 'Top Ten Honeymoon Destinations!'
Aang: "Well since we've already passed one, and two's currently in the Fire Nation colonies, I was thinking three."
Iroh: reviews the map and nods sagely
Iroh: "I see, good choice."
Katara: "Won't this get Azula even more upset with us once she figures this out?"
Aang: Gives Zuko a quick glare before turning and smiling at Katara.
Aang: "No worries, it's Zuzu's wedding present!"
Despite AzulaÆs impatience to be off, it would take time for reports on the location of the Avatar to arrive. I took the time to track down some of ZukoÆs former crew, most of whom were generally unhelpful in that wonderfully obtuse way that they had. Silent insolence, I believe it was called at one time. Captain Jee, formerly ZukoÆs lieutenant, was an absolute master of it. It was probably a good thing for them that Azula wasnÆt asking the questions and a better thing for me that she didnÆt hear what I was asking them.
Then again, she had other things on her mind for the few days we were waiting. I was on the deck, working on a little project of mine when she stormed out of her rooms. ôLiao! That little beast bit me!ö
ôGoodness, I canÆt imagine how painful that must be.ö I rubbed my neck and saw her colour slightly. ôLet me have a look.ö She had, indeed been bitten, although not hard enough to draw blood. ôA terrible injury, your highness. May I ask the fate of the perpetrator?ö
ôThe... are you testing me?ö Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
I smiled. ôLife is the test, Azula. Now, you have a prospectively useful minion to recruit. You know heÆs aggressive and until youÆve won him over heÆs going to be snappish. How are you going to handle this?ö
ôI will punish his transgression,ö she told me, turning to walk away. ôHe will never dare attack me again.ö
I kept my voice mild. ôThat is a second-rate solution, Azula. Fear is only half the equation. You know better than that.ö
Her voice was silky sweet, a danger sign. ôPlease educate me.ö
ôAllow me to use your brother as an example.ö I pointed at Azula. ôHe fears you û a perfectly reasonable reaction. And fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. A tool that hates you will turn in your hand, frequently at the worst possible moment. Show weakness, even for an instant, or even the perception of weakness, and your own agents might turn against you.ö And on that basis, I really shouldnÆt try reconciling Zuko to Azula and vice versa after saying that. ôBut how does Zuko feel about your father?ö
Azula was a great many things, but she was never stupid. ôZuko fears our father... but he does not hate him... because Zuko loves him.ö
ôAnd because of that, even now, Ozai would barely have to raise his hand for Zuko to return to loyal service. There is no question that your father is a genius in the field of leadership. It is often sufficient that those below you fear your wrath. But how much stronger than that is the control that you have over your servants if they also desire your approval for its own sake?ö
She blinked. ôAre you sure you just donÆt want me to hurt the mutt?ö
The suggestion elicited a bark of laughter from me. ôAzula, I donÆt even like dogs. For all I care we can spit-roast the little -ö
And thatÆs when she slapped me. I guess that if she was really angry with me I would have been on fire. Women. Who can fathom them?
ôYou are not cooking my dog.ö It went beyond being a statement of fact. It was a decree.
ôAlright, alright. Just a turn of phrase.ö I held up my hands in surrender. No point making a fight over nothing.
She nodded her head approvingly and then reached up to brush at my cheek. ôI see your point about how to train him though. That is quite insightful of you. IÆll sure that father will be very pleased to hear that you hold him in such high regard.ö
No doubt. IÆm sure second-degree flattery will secure me a prestigious promotion somewhere really distant and highly dangerous. ôWell I donÆt like to gush.ö I returned my attention to the improvised oven I was building on the deck.
Azula, feeling suitably mollified, pretended to notice it for the first time. (1) ôWhat in the world is that for? ThereÆs a perfectly adequate kitchen, you realise?ö
ôI donÆt think that the cooks would appreciate what IÆm planning to cook.ö I pointed to the cup-cake shaped patties drying on a platter. IÆd moulded them once experiment showed that mixture had dried enough and hopefully sunlight would further reduce the water content before I placed them in the oven.
She looked them over suspiciously. ôWhat are they?ö
ôCaked black powder.ö
Very slowly Azula stepped back from them. Firebenders tend to be naturally just a little bit wary around that stuff since itÆs quite possible, if embarrassing, to create fire or sparks unintentionally. I seriously doubt Azula had ever done that without being in full control, but even so... ôFireworks?ö
ôWell, thatÆs where I got it from, yes. It has other uses.ö
ôThat doesnÆt include eating it.ö
ôEat... ah. No. IÆm not precisely planning to cook it. And all things considered, this is something I want to have a lot of room around me for. And possibly something to hide behind. If IÆm correct, then once itÆs dried out and ground up, what is left will be quite a bit more potent than it was before. Concentrated, if you will.ö
Azula stabbed her finger towards the cakes. ôSo after baking them in your oven, youÆre going to grind them to powder? Something that could cause incidental sparks right in the middle of your concentrated black powder. How can you possibly construe that as anything but recklessness?ö
ôI do have some fairly substantial precautions in mind.ö
She took a deep breath. ôI absolutely forbid you to do this on my ship. I will have servants carry out anything even remotely hazardous about this, while you will supervise from a safe distance.ö
I considered that very carefully. ôCan we qualify that down to them doing anything hazardous to me? I was rather hoping to hurt some people with this.ö Possibly including your father, but letÆs not dwell on that detail.
.oOo.
Unfortunately, before I could resume my experiments at a new and more acceptable to Azula location, news arrived that the Avatar had been seen trying to cross the Kolau Mountains. Trying, because most of the army that had taken Omashu was still in the area and had managed to put enough flaming boulders into the sky to drive him back north again.
Eventually, he would either go somewhere else or find a way around the mountains. Or, as was actually the case, go under them but there wasnÆt much point revealing that to anyone, was there? But that left a window of opportunity and so we had to rush south quickly.
For a given value of quickly, of course.
Even the gruesome twosome of Li and Lo had noticed this, and as we stopped û again û for camp when it was barely approaching twilight, they voiced their concerns.
ôWhen tracking your brother and uncle, travelling with the royal procession may no longer be an option.ö
ôMay no longer be wise, if you hope to keep the element of surprise.ö
Azula was looking quite sinister. This might be because she had the sheep-dog puppy curled in her lap and was petting it in a way that Blofeld would have died envious of. ôYouÆre right,ö she agreed. ôThe Royal Procession is deadweight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble.ö Her eyes flicked to me. ôI need a small, elite team. Liao, itÆs time for me to introduce you to some old friends of mine.ö
ôSchool friends?ö I wasnÆt guessing, of course. ôOmashu.ö
ôI donÆt like that name.ö She ruffled her petÆs wool casually. ôIÆll have to do something about that while weÆre there. Conveniently however, another friend of mine is also in the area. Have you ever been to the circus?ö
LiaoÆs memory indicated yes, so I nodded. ôNever with you though, which will make this time far more memorable than any other.ö And then I remembered how sheÆd persuaded Ty Lee to join her. Ye gods, what if she took my words as encouragement? ôIs there something particular about circuses that you enjoy?ö
ôJust one of the performers. I believe I may have mentioned Ty Lee to you once or twice.ö
ôOh yes. One of your conquests.ö I arched one eyebrow. ôShould I be jealous? There are all those fascinating tales about the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and what the students get up to.ö
ôYouÆll have to share some of them with me at some later date. But thatÆs rather like me asking about your adventures as a cadet in the army. I assure you we girls were always happy to entertain ourselves by imagining what you young men got up to together.ö Her cheeks were somewhat pink, although I was uncertain of the precise cause. ôShould I be the jealous one?ö
My impulsive tongue decided to get me into trouble. ôOh it doesnÆt count if youÆre cadets, your highness. Everyone knows that.ö AzulaÆs eyes went wide. Looked like IÆd gone outside her comfort zone there. Hmm. Probably best to reel that back in. ôIt builds character and self-discipline, doing close order drill with a raging,ö I trailed off for just a touch longer than taking breath would require, letting her mind meander through the blanks. ôHangover.ö
AzulaÆs eyes were just a hair wider than she probably thought that they were. She managed to avoid squeaking out an enquiry, probably because Li and Lo were cackling shamelessly. I turned and eyed the two old women with a look of innocent confusion. ôWas it something I said?ö
.oOo.
Ah yes, the ineffable scent of the circus. Magical. In the same sense that the scent of the sea is in fact the smell of rotting vegetation along the shoreline. I tried very hard not to pay attention to the sources of the various odours that assailed us as we made our way through the pink tents (2). It was quite early in the day, so most of inhabitants were more concerned with maintenance than entertainment.
Azula stopped suddenly and turned to face one of the tents, outside of which a young girl was in a handstand. No... a fingerstand, one finger from each hand. Was that even possible? Granted she was a bitty little thing... ôTy Lee. Could that possibly be you?ö The question was evidently rhetorical. And that answered my question: her fingers were probably so reinforced with chi that she could drive nails with them.
ôAzula!ö She smiled with every sign of actual joy, flipped to her feet, pirouetted and sank to her knees, grovelling. The motion made it clear if I hadnÆt noticed before that she might be a small girl, but she wasnÆt a little girl. A moment later she bounced out of that and jumped forward to embrace my fiancÚe. ôIt is so good to see you!ö
ôPlease, donÆt let me interrupt your... whatever it is you were doing.ö
Ty Lee didnÆt seem at all upset by AzulaÆs dismissive words, instead bouncing happily into another gymnastic posture, one that IÆm sure would have cracked my spine if I tried it. Imagine lying on the ground, propping your chin on the heel of both hands and then curving your legs back until one is pointed directly forwards over your head. Ouch.
ôTell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly our parents didnÆt send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in -ö Azula sighed in distaste. ôPlaces like this.ö Given the direction of her attention û upon two men trying to move a reluctant mother platypus-bear wearing a red vest and a cap away from her cub û I could see her point.
ôI thought they sent you there for the usual educational reasons: turning you into carbon copies of themselves.ö I smirked sideways at Azula. ôWhat? ThatÆs the usual purpose of the institution.ö
ôYou say that as if itÆs a bad thing.ö
ôWell that depends on which parent youÆre expected to emulate, doesnÆt it.ö
She frowned, thought about my words for a moment and then shook her head. ôTy Lee, this is my fiancÚ Liao Quan. IÆm sure you remember him.ö
Her face scrunched up and there was one hundred percent less squee than I had, on some level, expected. ôIÆve never met him before, Azula.ö Then she smiled brilliantly. And, I feel, less than entirely sincerely. ôBut I remember everything that you told me about him.ö She folded her other leg forwards and planted her feet on top of her head, then gave me a slightly dubious look. ôI thought youÆd be glowing with the light of ten thousand suns. She said that about you, you know.ö
I did. AzulaÆs idea of a romantic letter had settled down a little from that level of purple prose, over time, but it was still memorable. ôShe merely saw herself reflected in my eyes.ö
Azula responded by shifting ever so slightly closer to my side and squeezed my hand. ôAre you sure youÆve never met? YouÆre cousins, after all.ö
ôThe opportunity never seemed to arise,ö I murmured. ôWell met, my cousin.ö
ôYeah, sure!ö Chirpy, happy... and just that little undertone of distaste. Okay, seriously. How had I managed to get on Ty LeeÆs bad side? I mean, as best I recall she hardly had one!
ôAnyway, IÆm terribly glad I found you, Ty Lee.ö AzulaÆs smile grew predatory. ôI have a proposition for you. IÆm -ö
I coughed.
ô- weÆre hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, donÆt you?ö
ôOh yeah, he was so funny!ö
ôAh... heÆs thrown me into the sea at twice so far,ö I pointed out. I decided the fact that Azula had gotten the same treatment didnÆt need to be raised.
ôReally?ö There was absolutely no need for Ty Lee to sound so enthusiastic about that detail.
Azula smiled. ôI would be honoured if you would join us in our mission.ö
To my surprise, Ty Lee seemed genuinely torn. IÆd expected her to be less happy about the idea. ôObviously, it would be dangerous. Why donÆt you think it over? We want to see your show, after all. Azula tells me that itÆs not to be missed.ö
Just for a moment, while Azula was giving me a significant look whose meaning I really couldnÆt decipher, Ty Lee looked daggers at me. ôSure, youÆll have a great time.ö I didnÆt miss that she said nothing about her enjoying having Azula in the audience though.
.oOo.
(1) If anyone thinks for an instant that anything happened on the ship that she didnÆt know about it, I have a bridge to sell them at a bargain price.
(2) IÆm not sure why they were pink. Possibly theyÆd once been red and simply faded. Possibly Ty Lee won a bet. I was rather afraid to ask.
Then again, she had other things on her mind for the few days we were waiting. I was on the deck, working on a little project of mine when she stormed out of her rooms. ôLiao! That little beast bit me!ö
ôGoodness, I canÆt imagine how painful that must be.ö I rubbed my neck and saw her colour slightly. ôLet me have a look.ö She had, indeed been bitten, although not hard enough to draw blood. ôA terrible injury, your highness. May I ask the fate of the perpetrator?ö
ôThe... are you testing me?ö Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
I smiled. ôLife is the test, Azula. Now, you have a prospectively useful minion to recruit. You know heÆs aggressive and until youÆve won him over heÆs going to be snappish. How are you going to handle this?ö
ôI will punish his transgression,ö she told me, turning to walk away. ôHe will never dare attack me again.ö
I kept my voice mild. ôThat is a second-rate solution, Azula. Fear is only half the equation. You know better than that.ö
Her voice was silky sweet, a danger sign. ôPlease educate me.ö
ôAllow me to use your brother as an example.ö I pointed at Azula. ôHe fears you û a perfectly reasonable reaction. And fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. A tool that hates you will turn in your hand, frequently at the worst possible moment. Show weakness, even for an instant, or even the perception of weakness, and your own agents might turn against you.ö And on that basis, I really shouldnÆt try reconciling Zuko to Azula and vice versa after saying that. ôBut how does Zuko feel about your father?ö
Azula was a great many things, but she was never stupid. ôZuko fears our father... but he does not hate him... because Zuko loves him.ö
ôAnd because of that, even now, Ozai would barely have to raise his hand for Zuko to return to loyal service. There is no question that your father is a genius in the field of leadership. It is often sufficient that those below you fear your wrath. But how much stronger than that is the control that you have over your servants if they also desire your approval for its own sake?ö
She blinked. ôAre you sure you just donÆt want me to hurt the mutt?ö
The suggestion elicited a bark of laughter from me. ôAzula, I donÆt even like dogs. For all I care we can spit-roast the little -ö
And thatÆs when she slapped me. I guess that if she was really angry with me I would have been on fire. Women. Who can fathom them?
ôYou are not cooking my dog.ö It went beyond being a statement of fact. It was a decree.
ôAlright, alright. Just a turn of phrase.ö I held up my hands in surrender. No point making a fight over nothing.
She nodded her head approvingly and then reached up to brush at my cheek. ôI see your point about how to train him though. That is quite insightful of you. IÆll sure that father will be very pleased to hear that you hold him in such high regard.ö
No doubt. IÆm sure second-degree flattery will secure me a prestigious promotion somewhere really distant and highly dangerous. ôWell I donÆt like to gush.ö I returned my attention to the improvised oven I was building on the deck.
Azula, feeling suitably mollified, pretended to notice it for the first time. (1) ôWhat in the world is that for? ThereÆs a perfectly adequate kitchen, you realise?ö
ôI donÆt think that the cooks would appreciate what IÆm planning to cook.ö I pointed to the cup-cake shaped patties drying on a platter. IÆd moulded them once experiment showed that mixture had dried enough and hopefully sunlight would further reduce the water content before I placed them in the oven.
She looked them over suspiciously. ôWhat are they?ö
ôCaked black powder.ö
Very slowly Azula stepped back from them. Firebenders tend to be naturally just a little bit wary around that stuff since itÆs quite possible, if embarrassing, to create fire or sparks unintentionally. I seriously doubt Azula had ever done that without being in full control, but even so... ôFireworks?ö
ôWell, thatÆs where I got it from, yes. It has other uses.ö
ôThat doesnÆt include eating it.ö
ôEat... ah. No. IÆm not precisely planning to cook it. And all things considered, this is something I want to have a lot of room around me for. And possibly something to hide behind. If IÆm correct, then once itÆs dried out and ground up, what is left will be quite a bit more potent than it was before. Concentrated, if you will.ö
Azula stabbed her finger towards the cakes. ôSo after baking them in your oven, youÆre going to grind them to powder? Something that could cause incidental sparks right in the middle of your concentrated black powder. How can you possibly construe that as anything but recklessness?ö
ôI do have some fairly substantial precautions in mind.ö
She took a deep breath. ôI absolutely forbid you to do this on my ship. I will have servants carry out anything even remotely hazardous about this, while you will supervise from a safe distance.ö
I considered that very carefully. ôCan we qualify that down to them doing anything hazardous to me? I was rather hoping to hurt some people with this.ö Possibly including your father, but letÆs not dwell on that detail.
.oOo.
Unfortunately, before I could resume my experiments at a new and more acceptable to Azula location, news arrived that the Avatar had been seen trying to cross the Kolau Mountains. Trying, because most of the army that had taken Omashu was still in the area and had managed to put enough flaming boulders into the sky to drive him back north again.
Eventually, he would either go somewhere else or find a way around the mountains. Or, as was actually the case, go under them but there wasnÆt much point revealing that to anyone, was there? But that left a window of opportunity and so we had to rush south quickly.
For a given value of quickly, of course.
Even the gruesome twosome of Li and Lo had noticed this, and as we stopped û again û for camp when it was barely approaching twilight, they voiced their concerns.
ôWhen tracking your brother and uncle, travelling with the royal procession may no longer be an option.ö
ôMay no longer be wise, if you hope to keep the element of surprise.ö
Azula was looking quite sinister. This might be because she had the sheep-dog puppy curled in her lap and was petting it in a way that Blofeld would have died envious of. ôYouÆre right,ö she agreed. ôThe Royal Procession is deadweight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble.ö Her eyes flicked to me. ôI need a small, elite team. Liao, itÆs time for me to introduce you to some old friends of mine.ö
ôSchool friends?ö I wasnÆt guessing, of course. ôOmashu.ö
ôI donÆt like that name.ö She ruffled her petÆs wool casually. ôIÆll have to do something about that while weÆre there. Conveniently however, another friend of mine is also in the area. Have you ever been to the circus?ö
LiaoÆs memory indicated yes, so I nodded. ôNever with you though, which will make this time far more memorable than any other.ö And then I remembered how sheÆd persuaded Ty Lee to join her. Ye gods, what if she took my words as encouragement? ôIs there something particular about circuses that you enjoy?ö
ôJust one of the performers. I believe I may have mentioned Ty Lee to you once or twice.ö
ôOh yes. One of your conquests.ö I arched one eyebrow. ôShould I be jealous? There are all those fascinating tales about the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and what the students get up to.ö
ôYouÆll have to share some of them with me at some later date. But thatÆs rather like me asking about your adventures as a cadet in the army. I assure you we girls were always happy to entertain ourselves by imagining what you young men got up to together.ö Her cheeks were somewhat pink, although I was uncertain of the precise cause. ôShould I be the jealous one?ö
My impulsive tongue decided to get me into trouble. ôOh it doesnÆt count if youÆre cadets, your highness. Everyone knows that.ö AzulaÆs eyes went wide. Looked like IÆd gone outside her comfort zone there. Hmm. Probably best to reel that back in. ôIt builds character and self-discipline, doing close order drill with a raging,ö I trailed off for just a touch longer than taking breath would require, letting her mind meander through the blanks. ôHangover.ö
AzulaÆs eyes were just a hair wider than she probably thought that they were. She managed to avoid squeaking out an enquiry, probably because Li and Lo were cackling shamelessly. I turned and eyed the two old women with a look of innocent confusion. ôWas it something I said?ö
.oOo.
Ah yes, the ineffable scent of the circus. Magical. In the same sense that the scent of the sea is in fact the smell of rotting vegetation along the shoreline. I tried very hard not to pay attention to the sources of the various odours that assailed us as we made our way through the pink tents (2). It was quite early in the day, so most of inhabitants were more concerned with maintenance than entertainment.
Azula stopped suddenly and turned to face one of the tents, outside of which a young girl was in a handstand. No... a fingerstand, one finger from each hand. Was that even possible? Granted she was a bitty little thing... ôTy Lee. Could that possibly be you?ö The question was evidently rhetorical. And that answered my question: her fingers were probably so reinforced with chi that she could drive nails with them.
ôAzula!ö She smiled with every sign of actual joy, flipped to her feet, pirouetted and sank to her knees, grovelling. The motion made it clear if I hadnÆt noticed before that she might be a small girl, but she wasnÆt a little girl. A moment later she bounced out of that and jumped forward to embrace my fiancÚe. ôIt is so good to see you!ö
ôPlease, donÆt let me interrupt your... whatever it is you were doing.ö
Ty Lee didnÆt seem at all upset by AzulaÆs dismissive words, instead bouncing happily into another gymnastic posture, one that IÆm sure would have cracked my spine if I tried it. Imagine lying on the ground, propping your chin on the heel of both hands and then curving your legs back until one is pointed directly forwards over your head. Ouch.
ôTell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly our parents didnÆt send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in -ö Azula sighed in distaste. ôPlaces like this.ö Given the direction of her attention û upon two men trying to move a reluctant mother platypus-bear wearing a red vest and a cap away from her cub û I could see her point.
ôI thought they sent you there for the usual educational reasons: turning you into carbon copies of themselves.ö I smirked sideways at Azula. ôWhat? ThatÆs the usual purpose of the institution.ö
ôYou say that as if itÆs a bad thing.ö
ôWell that depends on which parent youÆre expected to emulate, doesnÆt it.ö
She frowned, thought about my words for a moment and then shook her head. ôTy Lee, this is my fiancÚ Liao Quan. IÆm sure you remember him.ö
Her face scrunched up and there was one hundred percent less squee than I had, on some level, expected. ôIÆve never met him before, Azula.ö Then she smiled brilliantly. And, I feel, less than entirely sincerely. ôBut I remember everything that you told me about him.ö She folded her other leg forwards and planted her feet on top of her head, then gave me a slightly dubious look. ôI thought youÆd be glowing with the light of ten thousand suns. She said that about you, you know.ö
I did. AzulaÆs idea of a romantic letter had settled down a little from that level of purple prose, over time, but it was still memorable. ôShe merely saw herself reflected in my eyes.ö
Azula responded by shifting ever so slightly closer to my side and squeezed my hand. ôAre you sure youÆve never met? YouÆre cousins, after all.ö
ôThe opportunity never seemed to arise,ö I murmured. ôWell met, my cousin.ö
ôYeah, sure!ö Chirpy, happy... and just that little undertone of distaste. Okay, seriously. How had I managed to get on Ty LeeÆs bad side? I mean, as best I recall she hardly had one!
ôAnyway, IÆm terribly glad I found you, Ty Lee.ö AzulaÆs smile grew predatory. ôI have a proposition for you. IÆm -ö
I coughed.
ô- weÆre hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, donÆt you?ö
ôOh yeah, he was so funny!ö
ôAh... heÆs thrown me into the sea at twice so far,ö I pointed out. I decided the fact that Azula had gotten the same treatment didnÆt need to be raised.
ôReally?ö There was absolutely no need for Ty Lee to sound so enthusiastic about that detail.
Azula smiled. ôI would be honoured if you would join us in our mission.ö
To my surprise, Ty Lee seemed genuinely torn. IÆd expected her to be less happy about the idea. ôObviously, it would be dangerous. Why donÆt you think it over? We want to see your show, after all. Azula tells me that itÆs not to be missed.ö
Just for a moment, while Azula was giving me a significant look whose meaning I really couldnÆt decipher, Ty Lee looked daggers at me. ôSure, youÆll have a great time.ö I didnÆt miss that she said nothing about her enjoying having Azula in the audience though.
.oOo.
(1) If anyone thinks for an instant that anything happened on the ship that she didnÆt know about it, I have a bridge to sell them at a bargain price.
(2) IÆm not sure why they were pink. Possibly theyÆd once been red and simply faded. Possibly Ty Lee won a bet. I was rather afraid to ask.
Now that I think about it, its likely Lesya,the Family connection, and Tylee using her relationship with Azula to differentiate herself for said Family.
Liao's engagement to Azula must be tieing poor Tylee in knots seeing as I'm betting Azula's aura has never been this POOFY before. That would be proof to her at least that Liao's actually making Azula happy where Tylee herself only every managed amused on most days
Liao's engagement to Azula must be tieing poor Tylee in knots seeing as I'm betting Azula's aura has never been this POOFY before. That would be proof to her at least that Liao's actually making Azula happy where Tylee herself only every managed amused on most days
ôWeÆre deeply honoured to have the Fire LordÆs daughter and her fiancÚ at our humble circus. Tell us if thereÆs anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable.ö
Azula stroked her pet. She hadnÆt named it yet. IÆd suggested Snappy, but she didnÆt go for it. Pity, the potential for jokes was almost limitless. ôI will,ö she assured the circusmaster.
Up above, Ty Lee was beginning her routine. Given the height involved, I really couldnÆt see all that much but she seemed to be supporting herself with one hand on an upturned table, itself resting upon a spindle on the high wire. While herself being upside down. An impressive feat of balance.
ôIncredible,ö Azula crooned as Ty Lee switched hands. ôDo you think sheÆll fall.ö
The circusmaster seemed insulted by the notion. ôOf course not.ö
ôThen wouldnÆt it make it more interesting if you removed the net?ö
The poor man û boggled slightly. ôUm. The thing is, the performers -ö
ôYouÆre right, youÆre right.ö Azula appeared to relent. I knew better, but the circusmaster closed his eyes in relief. ôThatÆs been done.ö
Leaning over, I whispered, ôWhat are you thinking?ö into her ear.
She smiled smugly and turned her own head so that her lips were next to my own ear. I could feel her breath tickling against my skin as she whispered: ôWhy not set the net on fire?ö
Now even if I knew it would work out in the end (1) and even if Ty Lee didnÆt like me very much, I do think that that was an unnecessary thing to do. So I smiled slightly and whispered back: ôWouldnÆt that discourage the wild animals from waiting below to eat her?ö
ôWhat wild animals?ö
I drew back slightly and looked at the circusmaster. ôWhat sort of dangerous animals do you have?ö
ôWell, our circus boasts the most exotic assortment -ö
ôRelease them all!ö Azula ordered.
.oOo.
ôWhat an exquisite performance.ö Azula had brought flowers to congratulate her friend on the success of the night (2). The audience certainly hadnÆt minded having an animal act underneath the trapeze, even when a couple of the herbivores had fallen prey to the carnivores present. I suppose the circus had more in common in some ways with the ancient Roman tradition than with the more modern equivalent. ôI canÆt wait to see how youÆll top yourself tomorrow. Are you going to set the net on fire?ö
Ty Lee stared at herself in the mirror rather than face her friend. ôIÆm sorry Azula, but unfortunately there wonÆt be a show tomorrow.ö Her eyes were very wide, possibly to hold back tears. She stood up to place the headpiece sheÆd been wearing up on a hook.
ôReally?ö
ôYou donÆt think IÆd leave you to handle a dangerous fugitive like your uncle alone, do you?ö She turned and smiled. ôIf the offerÆs still open?ö
Azula smiled triumphantly. ôOf course youÆre welcome, Ty Lee. And just think: itÆll give you and your cousin time to get to know each other.ö
ôThank you so much.ö Her smile slipped ever so slightly. ôI have to settle a few things with the circusmaster, but IÆll be back before long.ö
ôTake all the time you need.ö Azula could be gracious in victory although she rarely chose to be. ôWeÆll be leaving for Omashu in the morning to collect Mai.ö
ôItÆll be just like old times.ö Her eyes flicked to me. ôWith one addition. Azula, could I borrow my cousin for an hour or two? He can help with my luggage and we can get acquainted.ö
So IÆm not only superfluous, but she also thinks IÆm a packhorse? If I wasnÆt such a nice guy IÆd probably do something unpleasant to her luggage. Mind you, IÆm not that nice a guy. I reached over and touched AzulaÆs shoulder. ôSince weÆre parting for a while, and neither of your chaperones are here...ö
The kiss was almost tentative, as if Azula was uncertain of being so demonstrative in front of Ty Lee.
I kept my arms around her. ôIÆm going to miss you.ö
ôYouÆll only be an hour or two.ö
ôIt will feel like forever.ö
She leant forwards and our lips met again. Funny how that happens. When she drew back, she was breathing heavily. ôHow do I look?ö
ôNot a hair out of place,ö I assured her, reluctantly letting her step away. ôI can see IÆll have to try harder.ö
Azula laughed. ôYouÆll burn your... lips.ö
ThatÆs the sort of thing I might have said. Was I redeeming her? Or corrupting her? Was there any difference and did I care? ôOr my heart.ö
She kissed me again, fiercely this time, and then she was gone and I was faced by Ty Lee, or at least her back. I will admit to having been sufficiently distracted not to have noticed if she had turned her back prior to our public displays of affection or had waited until Azula was gone. Either way, her ignoring me was ostentatious û æIÆm ignoring you, canÆt you tell that you do not have my attention?, do you not realise I am snubbing you?Æ û and essentially pointless since by turning away Ty Lee was facing her mirror, which was reflecting me right in front of her face.
I picked out a convenient closed chest, pressed down on the lid to check it would bear the weight and then sat on it. Patience is not only a virtue, but also a very apt weapon upon the social battlefield.
The silence was awkward, grew uncomfortable and finally became intolerable. For her, anyway. Ty Lee was born to chatter.
ôYou seem very attached even if you didnÆt see each other for years.ö
ôMeeting each other again has changed our relationship,ö I admitted. ôAfter two years of being restricted to writing back and forth, itÆs intoxicating, seeing and hearing all the things that the letters couldnÆt tell us about each other. At least, thatÆs the way I feel.ö
Ty Lee laced her fingers together and then turned around. ôI need to get into that chest.ö
How could any gentleman refuse so charming a petition. I stood up and stepped aside to give her access. When she stepped past me one of her fingers stabbed out, striking my elbow before I could react. The arm went numb immediately, hanging limply. A curious experience and quite unpleasant. I can see why Aang and his companions would flee her.
Hmm. That might imply that they were more fearful of Ty Lee than Azula. Interesting, if not something I would necessarily share with either girl.
Rather than react aggressively, which was LiaoÆs instinct û and a powerful one û I merely arched my one eyebrow. ôIf youÆre making a point, consider it taken.ö And my own point in return: fear or anger would be the expected response, would mean falling in with Ty LeeÆs plan, whatever it was. My apparent indifference was not something she had anticipated.
And so, she hesitated and then opened the chest, removing garments that I shall not describe for your titillation. Once she was well out of arms reach she turned again. ôWhose idea was it to turn the animals loose?ö
ôMine.ö I paused for her to assess that. ôAzula wanted to set the safety net on fire.ö
Ty LeeÆs voice was sugary, sweet and insincere: ôThe two of you deserve each other.ö
ôSpirits forbid we should all receive what we truly deserve.ö
.oOo.
The walk to Omashu wasnÆt all that strenuous û all I had to do was keep pace with the poor devils carrying AzulaÆs palanquin. Which was about the size of a small car. Given that there were only four of them, we werenÆt moving all that fast. Hopefully she was intending to leave the thing behind when we reached the æagile and nimbleÆ stage of pursuit.
ôSo,ö she asked, as we crossed the bridge into Omashu. ôDid you two enjoy yourselves after I was gone?ö
We exchanged looks. ôIt was an interesting conversation, mostly about you.ö
ôYeah,ö Ty Lee agreed quickly. ôLiao was telling me how youÆre getting along now that you donÆt have to communicate with letters.ö
ôI sort of miss that,ö Azula admitted.
ôIÆll start writing one, next chance I get.ö I glanced over the side of the bridge and fought back a gulp. It was quite a drop to the canyon below and I was relieved once we reached the gates and had solid ground under our feet again. IÆm not an airbender and frankly I could live without dealing with heights.
Which probably means IÆll have to confront them at some point soon. Joy.
Mai was waiting for us outside the GovernorÆs mansion. Presumably the guards had sent a warning ahead to prepare a suitable welcome. No sooner had the palanquin been placed on the ground than the princess had jumped down and she walked ahead to greet her friend. Ty Lee lagged a few steps behind while I waited, leaning back against the palanquin while they had their girl talk.
The girl bowed her head, clasping her hands in front of her in petition. ôPlease tell me youÆre here to kill me.ö She raised her eyes to look at Azula, smirking slightly and then the two of them snickered at what was obviously an old joke.
ôItÆs great to see you, Mai,ö Azula said fondly, giving her a perfunctory hug and then stepping back so Ty Lee could throw herself wholeheartedly into the taller girlÆs arms.
Apparently surprised by her presence, Mai returned the hug. I noticed in passing that like Azula she wore her fingernails long and sharp, which was particularly obvious with the dark red nail polish she was wearing. ôI thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling.ö
Ty Lee stepped back slightly. ôWell Azula called a little louder.ö
ôI have a mission and I need you both.ö
Mai stepped forward immediately. ôCount me in. Anything to get me out of this place.ö Her eyes flicked left, towards the mansion. Possibly she didnÆt so much mean out of Omashu as much as away from her family.
ôIÆm in awe of your friends, Azula.ö Now that reunion was over, I walked a little closer. ôLady Mai, itÆs been quite a while, hasnÆt it?ö
She nodded without any great show of enthusiasm. ôLiao Quan.ö
Unlike Ty Lee, Mai had met Liao once or twice although we werenÆt exactly friends û or much of anything to each other when you came down to it. Just faces in a crowd, and since LiaoÆs marital future had long since been decided, there had been no political reason for MaiÆs parents to seek closer ties to me. AzulaÆs letters had made enough mention of her to cover for at least some knowledge on my part though. ôI saw a lot of soldiers on the streets û is the city restless?ö
She frowned slightly. ôMost of the rebels in the city managed to escape last night. They took my little brother hostage.ö
ôNow thatÆs playing with fire.ö I frowned. ôOkay, bad pun. But they have to know that theyÆre going to get b- that theyÆll be facing the wrath of a very angry governor if one hair on his head is hurt.ö
ôHow did they manage to get out of the city?ö Azula asked, focusing upon the tactical situation.
Mai grimaced. ôThey pretended that they were stricken by pentapox. Dad had them driven out of the gates to spare the rest of the population.ö
ôPentapox?ö I frowned. ôWhatÆs that?ö
ôOh, I think IÆve heard of that.ö Ty Lee said. ôIsnÆt that the one that rots bits of your body until they fall off?ö
ôWhat bits of your body?ö Azula asked with rather gruesome interest.
I consulted LiaoÆs memory while . Nothing came to mind, confirming that Katara had invented it on the spur of the moment. ôItÆs the first that IÆve heard of it. Is it something local?ö
ôHow would I know?ö Mai sounded bored by the whole thing.
ôI suppose it doesnÆt matter. Have they made any demands regarding your brother?ö
She shrugged, although I donÆt think she was quite as indifferent as she pretended.
Azula and I exchanged looks. ôThat sort of behaviour canÆt be tolerated,ö she declared. ôItÆs clear IÆm going to have to straighten things out here before I can continue with my mission.ö
She swept into GovernorÆs mansion, with the rest of us trailing behind her. Family time was over and now the princess was back in business. And unlike her, I knew we were heading for our first encounter with the mighty and feared Avatar that had been the Fire NationÆs bogeyman for generations.
I probably should have taken that a bit more seriously.
.oOo.
(1) For Ty Lee. I didnÆt particularly care about the wellbeing of the animals, and setting predators loose next to a fire seemed a touch dangerous in general.
(2) The fact that they were black may have provided something of a mixed message through.
Azula stroked her pet. She hadnÆt named it yet. IÆd suggested Snappy, but she didnÆt go for it. Pity, the potential for jokes was almost limitless. ôI will,ö she assured the circusmaster.
Up above, Ty Lee was beginning her routine. Given the height involved, I really couldnÆt see all that much but she seemed to be supporting herself with one hand on an upturned table, itself resting upon a spindle on the high wire. While herself being upside down. An impressive feat of balance.
ôIncredible,ö Azula crooned as Ty Lee switched hands. ôDo you think sheÆll fall.ö
The circusmaster seemed insulted by the notion. ôOf course not.ö
ôThen wouldnÆt it make it more interesting if you removed the net?ö
The poor man û boggled slightly. ôUm. The thing is, the performers -ö
ôYouÆre right, youÆre right.ö Azula appeared to relent. I knew better, but the circusmaster closed his eyes in relief. ôThatÆs been done.ö
Leaning over, I whispered, ôWhat are you thinking?ö into her ear.
She smiled smugly and turned her own head so that her lips were next to my own ear. I could feel her breath tickling against my skin as she whispered: ôWhy not set the net on fire?ö
Now even if I knew it would work out in the end (1) and even if Ty Lee didnÆt like me very much, I do think that that was an unnecessary thing to do. So I smiled slightly and whispered back: ôWouldnÆt that discourage the wild animals from waiting below to eat her?ö
ôWhat wild animals?ö
I drew back slightly and looked at the circusmaster. ôWhat sort of dangerous animals do you have?ö
ôWell, our circus boasts the most exotic assortment -ö
ôRelease them all!ö Azula ordered.
.oOo.
ôWhat an exquisite performance.ö Azula had brought flowers to congratulate her friend on the success of the night (2). The audience certainly hadnÆt minded having an animal act underneath the trapeze, even when a couple of the herbivores had fallen prey to the carnivores present. I suppose the circus had more in common in some ways with the ancient Roman tradition than with the more modern equivalent. ôI canÆt wait to see how youÆll top yourself tomorrow. Are you going to set the net on fire?ö
Ty Lee stared at herself in the mirror rather than face her friend. ôIÆm sorry Azula, but unfortunately there wonÆt be a show tomorrow.ö Her eyes were very wide, possibly to hold back tears. She stood up to place the headpiece sheÆd been wearing up on a hook.
ôReally?ö
ôYou donÆt think IÆd leave you to handle a dangerous fugitive like your uncle alone, do you?ö She turned and smiled. ôIf the offerÆs still open?ö
Azula smiled triumphantly. ôOf course youÆre welcome, Ty Lee. And just think: itÆll give you and your cousin time to get to know each other.ö
ôThank you so much.ö Her smile slipped ever so slightly. ôI have to settle a few things with the circusmaster, but IÆll be back before long.ö
ôTake all the time you need.ö Azula could be gracious in victory although she rarely chose to be. ôWeÆll be leaving for Omashu in the morning to collect Mai.ö
ôItÆll be just like old times.ö Her eyes flicked to me. ôWith one addition. Azula, could I borrow my cousin for an hour or two? He can help with my luggage and we can get acquainted.ö
So IÆm not only superfluous, but she also thinks IÆm a packhorse? If I wasnÆt such a nice guy IÆd probably do something unpleasant to her luggage. Mind you, IÆm not that nice a guy. I reached over and touched AzulaÆs shoulder. ôSince weÆre parting for a while, and neither of your chaperones are here...ö
The kiss was almost tentative, as if Azula was uncertain of being so demonstrative in front of Ty Lee.
I kept my arms around her. ôIÆm going to miss you.ö
ôYouÆll only be an hour or two.ö
ôIt will feel like forever.ö
She leant forwards and our lips met again. Funny how that happens. When she drew back, she was breathing heavily. ôHow do I look?ö
ôNot a hair out of place,ö I assured her, reluctantly letting her step away. ôI can see IÆll have to try harder.ö
Azula laughed. ôYouÆll burn your... lips.ö
ThatÆs the sort of thing I might have said. Was I redeeming her? Or corrupting her? Was there any difference and did I care? ôOr my heart.ö
She kissed me again, fiercely this time, and then she was gone and I was faced by Ty Lee, or at least her back. I will admit to having been sufficiently distracted not to have noticed if she had turned her back prior to our public displays of affection or had waited until Azula was gone. Either way, her ignoring me was ostentatious û æIÆm ignoring you, canÆt you tell that you do not have my attention?, do you not realise I am snubbing you?Æ û and essentially pointless since by turning away Ty Lee was facing her mirror, which was reflecting me right in front of her face.
I picked out a convenient closed chest, pressed down on the lid to check it would bear the weight and then sat on it. Patience is not only a virtue, but also a very apt weapon upon the social battlefield.
The silence was awkward, grew uncomfortable and finally became intolerable. For her, anyway. Ty Lee was born to chatter.
ôYou seem very attached even if you didnÆt see each other for years.ö
ôMeeting each other again has changed our relationship,ö I admitted. ôAfter two years of being restricted to writing back and forth, itÆs intoxicating, seeing and hearing all the things that the letters couldnÆt tell us about each other. At least, thatÆs the way I feel.ö
Ty Lee laced her fingers together and then turned around. ôI need to get into that chest.ö
How could any gentleman refuse so charming a petition. I stood up and stepped aside to give her access. When she stepped past me one of her fingers stabbed out, striking my elbow before I could react. The arm went numb immediately, hanging limply. A curious experience and quite unpleasant. I can see why Aang and his companions would flee her.
Hmm. That might imply that they were more fearful of Ty Lee than Azula. Interesting, if not something I would necessarily share with either girl.
Rather than react aggressively, which was LiaoÆs instinct û and a powerful one û I merely arched my one eyebrow. ôIf youÆre making a point, consider it taken.ö And my own point in return: fear or anger would be the expected response, would mean falling in with Ty LeeÆs plan, whatever it was. My apparent indifference was not something she had anticipated.
And so, she hesitated and then opened the chest, removing garments that I shall not describe for your titillation. Once she was well out of arms reach she turned again. ôWhose idea was it to turn the animals loose?ö
ôMine.ö I paused for her to assess that. ôAzula wanted to set the safety net on fire.ö
Ty LeeÆs voice was sugary, sweet and insincere: ôThe two of you deserve each other.ö
ôSpirits forbid we should all receive what we truly deserve.ö
.oOo.
The walk to Omashu wasnÆt all that strenuous û all I had to do was keep pace with the poor devils carrying AzulaÆs palanquin. Which was about the size of a small car. Given that there were only four of them, we werenÆt moving all that fast. Hopefully she was intending to leave the thing behind when we reached the æagile and nimbleÆ stage of pursuit.
ôSo,ö she asked, as we crossed the bridge into Omashu. ôDid you two enjoy yourselves after I was gone?ö
We exchanged looks. ôIt was an interesting conversation, mostly about you.ö
ôYeah,ö Ty Lee agreed quickly. ôLiao was telling me how youÆre getting along now that you donÆt have to communicate with letters.ö
ôI sort of miss that,ö Azula admitted.
ôIÆll start writing one, next chance I get.ö I glanced over the side of the bridge and fought back a gulp. It was quite a drop to the canyon below and I was relieved once we reached the gates and had solid ground under our feet again. IÆm not an airbender and frankly I could live without dealing with heights.
Which probably means IÆll have to confront them at some point soon. Joy.
Mai was waiting for us outside the GovernorÆs mansion. Presumably the guards had sent a warning ahead to prepare a suitable welcome. No sooner had the palanquin been placed on the ground than the princess had jumped down and she walked ahead to greet her friend. Ty Lee lagged a few steps behind while I waited, leaning back against the palanquin while they had their girl talk.
The girl bowed her head, clasping her hands in front of her in petition. ôPlease tell me youÆre here to kill me.ö She raised her eyes to look at Azula, smirking slightly and then the two of them snickered at what was obviously an old joke.
ôItÆs great to see you, Mai,ö Azula said fondly, giving her a perfunctory hug and then stepping back so Ty Lee could throw herself wholeheartedly into the taller girlÆs arms.
Apparently surprised by her presence, Mai returned the hug. I noticed in passing that like Azula she wore her fingernails long and sharp, which was particularly obvious with the dark red nail polish she was wearing. ôI thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling.ö
Ty Lee stepped back slightly. ôWell Azula called a little louder.ö
ôI have a mission and I need you both.ö
Mai stepped forward immediately. ôCount me in. Anything to get me out of this place.ö Her eyes flicked left, towards the mansion. Possibly she didnÆt so much mean out of Omashu as much as away from her family.
ôIÆm in awe of your friends, Azula.ö Now that reunion was over, I walked a little closer. ôLady Mai, itÆs been quite a while, hasnÆt it?ö
She nodded without any great show of enthusiasm. ôLiao Quan.ö
Unlike Ty Lee, Mai had met Liao once or twice although we werenÆt exactly friends û or much of anything to each other when you came down to it. Just faces in a crowd, and since LiaoÆs marital future had long since been decided, there had been no political reason for MaiÆs parents to seek closer ties to me. AzulaÆs letters had made enough mention of her to cover for at least some knowledge on my part though. ôI saw a lot of soldiers on the streets û is the city restless?ö
She frowned slightly. ôMost of the rebels in the city managed to escape last night. They took my little brother hostage.ö
ôNow thatÆs playing with fire.ö I frowned. ôOkay, bad pun. But they have to know that theyÆre going to get b- that theyÆll be facing the wrath of a very angry governor if one hair on his head is hurt.ö
ôHow did they manage to get out of the city?ö Azula asked, focusing upon the tactical situation.
Mai grimaced. ôThey pretended that they were stricken by pentapox. Dad had them driven out of the gates to spare the rest of the population.ö
ôPentapox?ö I frowned. ôWhatÆs that?ö
ôOh, I think IÆve heard of that.ö Ty Lee said. ôIsnÆt that the one that rots bits of your body until they fall off?ö
ôWhat bits of your body?ö Azula asked with rather gruesome interest.
I consulted LiaoÆs memory while . Nothing came to mind, confirming that Katara had invented it on the spur of the moment. ôItÆs the first that IÆve heard of it. Is it something local?ö
ôHow would I know?ö Mai sounded bored by the whole thing.
ôI suppose it doesnÆt matter. Have they made any demands regarding your brother?ö
She shrugged, although I donÆt think she was quite as indifferent as she pretended.
Azula and I exchanged looks. ôThat sort of behaviour canÆt be tolerated,ö she declared. ôItÆs clear IÆm going to have to straighten things out here before I can continue with my mission.ö
She swept into GovernorÆs mansion, with the rest of us trailing behind her. Family time was over and now the princess was back in business. And unlike her, I knew we were heading for our first encounter with the mighty and feared Avatar that had been the Fire NationÆs bogeyman for generations.
I probably should have taken that a bit more seriously.
.oOo.
(1) For Ty Lee. I didnÆt particularly care about the wellbeing of the animals, and setting predators loose next to a fire seemed a touch dangerous in general.
(2) The fact that they were black may have provided something of a mixed message through.
IÆll skip past the lambasting that Azula gave to MaiÆs father. It was embarrassing watching a middle-aged man grovelling to a slip of a girl and her decision to rename the city as New Ozai merely highlighted her daddy issues.
Ostensibly AzulaÆs plan was straightforward: meet with the rebels in front of the statue being built of her father (which would be even larger than the one in Fire Fountain City and I winced at the expense of moving it part by part to Omashu) with the captive King Bumi and hand him over in return for TomTom. Even without my foreknowledge, I would have had my suspicions about that.
ôThe terms are three of them and three of us.ö
ôTy Lee and I will accompany you,ö declared Azula. ôLiao will oversee delivery of King Bumi. WeÆll use a crane to move the casket that heÆs imprisoned him in. That way thereÆs no risk of him using his earthbending to cause problems.ö
I scratched my head. ôOne thing that bothers me is how theyÆre planning to get into the city to make the exchange. ItÆs not as if theyÆre walking up to the gates. TheyÆre coming to the heart of the city, which means that they still have a high degree of access to Omashu.ö
ôYouÆre right. Just another mess made by the Governor. WhatÆs the point of driving the rebels out of New Ozai if they can come back any time they want to.ö
ôIf it was that easy then they wouldnÆt have needed to fake a plague to get out the gates.ö My brow furrowed. ôWhatever their method is, it must be something that works for a small group but not a large one. If itÆs earthbenders bringing them in then they canÆt have access to many of them.ö
ôWhy does it matter?ö That was Mai, betraying one hundred percent more interest in my tangent than I had expected.
I smiled at her. ôI donÆt approve of kidnapping. And I intend to ensure that my opinion is widely known and widely respected. The degree to which I think this should be taken would be such that anyone contemplating this course of action will have screaming nightmares at the very thought. IÆm sure you understand that my interest in their proposed escape route is more than academic.ö
Mai nodded slowly. Ty Lee looked startled. Azula smiled approvingly. If one of them called me Charlie I think IÆd probably die laughing.
.oOo.
There were three small figures standing on the scaffolding when Azula and her friends reached the agreed point of exchange. The angle looking down from the crane wasnÆt great, but with the aid of a spyglass I could make out that one of them was wearing an orange turban and that the other two were wearing blue. That made it fairly evident who they were.
Good. If my presence was sending sufficient ripples at this stage to have changed this, then I would have had to discard almost expectation I had.
I nodded to the craneÆs operator and he started unspooling the chains holding King BumiÆs casket, dropping it down behind MaiÆs party. The mad king of Omashu had been living up to his name the whole time we were moving him, and it was something of a relief not to have to listen to him anymore.
Of course then there was a brief moment of conversation and Mai stepped forwards, giving the handsignal to abort. How unexpected!
ôIÆll leave this in your hands,ö I said, slapping the operator on the shoulder as he started hoisting the casket up again. With my other hand I lifted my Ba Chui from where it had been resting in a corner. ôLooks like something just went wrong down there.ö
Leaving the cab I ran across the scaffolding, to where IÆd left a convenient rope and pulley when we were planning this. Down below, a dust cloud marked Aang kicking off for a rescue attempt and I saw Azula charging to meet him, blue fire slashing in front of her. Aang leapt up over it and out of sight, below the planks I was crossing. A moment later he emerged into sight again, this time on his glider. So much for his disguise.
That wasnÆt my concern though. I knew that Azula would head for a pulley near the centre of the structure but my own was at the far end. Grabbing a loop that IÆd prepared, I dropped off the edge of the scaffolding. A weight on the other end of the rope hurtled upwards û it was lighter than I was, but just heavy enough to keep my own plunge from being terminal.
As it was, I reached the far end of the platform just in time to see Sokka skidding on the back towards the edge. Since he was carrying TomTom, that was no small concern. Swinging off the line û which promptly whipped upwards again without my weight at the end û I landed practically on top of him as he scrambled to his feet.
Ty Lee, who had been closing in as well was suddenly whipped backwards when a water whip latched onto her ankle. Turning, I kicked SokkaÆs feet out from under him, careful to make sure that heÆd land on his back rather than the baby and pumped my left hand, sending a ball of fire to dissipate the water.
Sensibly, Sokka took the opportunity to scramble away, heading for a ladder leading further down the structure but I caught hold of him by the back of his bandoliers and hauled him back. ôLet go of the baby.ö
ôI did already!ö He was already twisting around to try to get free, but his hands were empty, so I dumped him off the edge of the scaffold.
ItÆs not as harsh as it sounds. I could have thrown him down to the next large section of decking, which was thirty or forty feet down. Instead I was nice about it and aimed for a platform only one level down. Unless he landed badly I figured he wouldnÆt have more than the wind knocked out of him.
Blue fire rushed from the sky and I couldnÆt resist looking up to see Azula apparently flying (sheÆd let momentum on another pulley fling her high in the air) and hurling more of her trademark waves of blue fire at Aang and Bumi. Unfortunately what this accomplished was breaking the already weakened chains supporting BumiÆs casket and dropping the two back down into the construction site.
I didnÆt wait to see if Azula had a landing site in mind for herself. Instead I scooped up TomTom and ran for where Ty Lee had bounced to her feet. ôGet the kid clear.ö I shoved TomTom into her arms. ôGo!ö
She looked indignant for a moment and then acquiesced, running into the shadows below the scaffold. Great, baby clear, thatÆs objective number one out of the way. IÆm not psychotic after all. With a crash Azula landed in one of the stone basins used to carry goods down OmashuÆs chutes and started careering down one of said chutes in hot pursuit of Aang. Okay, objective two (recapture Bumi) seemed to be in the bag. Easy enough since he wasnÆt actually trying to escape. That left me with...
The sound of water pinpointed where Mai and Katara were fighting. Right, get AzulaÆs friends through this intact. And since Ty Lee wouldnÆt be around to tamper with KataraÆs bending that meant that Mai could probably do with some help right now. I poured fire into the head of the Ba Chui as I ran, the metal almost glowing with the heat.
Katara had latched a waterwhip on MaiÆs right arm, freezing it to trap the limb before the older girl could hurl more steel at her. I brought my fiery club down where water began to freeze, shattering part of the ice and vaporising water. Spinning, I brought the weapon round in an arc that would have clipped the waterbenderÆs head if she hadnÆt retracted her truncated whip block it, more water flashing to steam.
ôThe child is safe.ö Reassurance for Mai and although she did not know it was intended that way, for Katara.
Once, twice, thrice. Hot metal smashed into shielding water. My breath was hot and fast. She was not giving ground and she was probably not tiring herself as much as I was. Fire is all aggression, water redirects that force. In a contest of endurance, I would lose.
Of course, this wasnÆt a fair fight. Mai had freed her arm at last and three daggers spun through the air towards Katara. The waterbender shortened her whip, spinning off a second one to lash at the floor. A board broke, one end flipping up to catch two of the knives and she ducked her head to avoid the last. It didnÆt quite work û the blade was sharp enough to slash through her braided hair as it whipped behind her. About half the hair fell away, leaving the rest to unravel which seemed to startle her.
ôI realise youÆre both girls, but did you really need to style her hair in the middle of a fight?ö
Who said that?
Two pairs of eyes glared at me.
Oh crap, IÆm a dead man.
Apparently attacking her hair was enough to convince Katara to move over to the offensive, which broke my rhythm and let her smack me across the face with the thickest portion of her whip. The look on MaiÆs face as I crashed backwards to the floor, pain announcing that my nose was broken, was profoundly unsympathetic although she didnÆt let feminine solidarity prevent her from sending several darts at Katara, one of which caught her in the leg.
Katara screamed in pain, which was punctuated by Sokka û presumably under the impression that it would be faster than coming up and over the edge û riding Appa up through the scaffolding. I will leave to your imagination the damage that a six ton flying bison does when he decides to ram through relatively simple planking.
Mai, being on her feet, was able to jump away from the devastation. I, being flat on my back, was in a less enviable position as the decking erupted upwards and I fell to the next level. Given it wasnÆt so very different from what IÆd done to Sokka myself, some might call that karma.
By the time I had scrambled to my feet, Appa was already soaring off over the city, in the same general direction taken by Aang and Azula.
Mai jumped down. ôAre you hurt?ö
I glanced over the broken boards, an plan already forming. A crazy, dangerous plan, pretty much like everything that had happened so far. ôNothing serious. You?ö Finding what I was looking for, three planks still held together by a set of crossbeams, I picked it up.
ôThe same.ö She stared at my prize. ôWhat are you going to do?ö
I started running for the nearest chute. ôTheyÆre all headed the same way as Azula. Are you coming?ö
ôComing where?ö She ran after me and then saw my destination. ôAre you... Stop.ö
I didnÆt. A moment later sharp metal was flying at me. I later deduced that she was trying to pin my clothes to the scaffolding to force me to a halt. At the time, I didnÆt have the time for such reasoning û I swept the boards around to intercept the knives. ôThanks, I needed some handholds.ö One more step and then I dived into the chute. At the last minute someone crashed into me, a desperate last minute tackle, but all it did was bounce us off the side of the chute as I began to slide faster and faster down it, Mai hanging desperately off my side, trying not to be ground to mincemeat against the stone.
ôIdiot!ö I shouted, kicking off fire behind me to power us out of the side-by-side slalom that her momentum had put us into. Gripping one of the knives embedded in the wood, I managed to draw my legs up under myself and onto the planks.
Mai yelped into my ear, writhing against me as she tried to keep hold. ôYouÆre an idiot.ö
IÆd never tried my hand at winter sports, but this felt uncomfortably like attempting to bobsleigh on a tea tray. It would have been risky with just me. With two of us...
Well, it wasnÆt like I could stop us at this point. We were going way too fast. Which suggested a certain problem would present itself in three or four minutes. ôStop playing around and get on my back!ö I shouted, the wind inside the chute snatching my words backwards.
With me holding still for her, Mai was able to do so. Then, with a groan, I pulled my knees forward and pushed my shoulders up, leaving her clinging piggy-back upon me while I was kneeling up on the boards. The air resistance was trying very hard to drag us off them and I had to tighten my grip as I looked ahead.
Even with my new, higher posture I couldnÆt see all that far ahead. The elevation of the chute meant that most of what I could see over the sides was nothing but empty sky. I couldnÆt even see Appa, which probably meant that they were far ahead of me and lower down. And with my feet under me, I couldnÆt exactly throw more fire backwards to accelerate us faster than we were already going.
Not that I was really worried about AzulaÆs ability to handle Aang û if the little monk stood and fought, I was confident that at this point sheÆd make mincemeat out of him. Which would have its own problems, of course. And with Katara injured there was no chance whatsoever that Aang or his friends would be doing anything other than getting the hell away from Omashu.
Unless, of course, the sight of KataraÆs blood convinced Aang to go all Avatar State on Azula.
CouldnÆt this damned thing go any faster?
I had only a momentÆs notice, the sight of broken torii over the chute, to identify the place where Aang must have tried to slow Azula down by dropping the wooden beams in her path. The path where her cart had blasted through the obstruction was mostly clear, but I hurled a wave of fire ahead anyway to remove some secondary debris from that. I had to force the fire ahead of us to avoid running face first into my own flames, and as it was the move slowed us.
Of course, that wouldnÆt work on the next obstruction: the stone Bumi would have bent up to stop Azula if the events of the chase had taken place as I recalled them from the show.
ôHow are you going to stop us?ö Mai actually seemed to have calmed down.
ôIÆve been wondering about that,ö I told her and was rewarded by her nails jabbing into my pectorals, even through my shirt. ôYouÆre perfectly free to get off and walk, you know.ö I saw the irregularity in the chute ahead of us now. The slope had eased somewhat and weÆd stopped picking up speed, but we were still moving dangerously fast. ôIn fact, I insist.ö
With a convulsive heave I straightened, snapping one foot forward to brace myself against MaiÆs knife before the force of the wind hurled us back off the boards. At the last minute I whirled my arms, dislodging her grip and then forced the most concentrated flame I could manage forwards, driving me back against Mai as we arced over the boulder, the abruptly halted planks shattering beneath us.
Ostensibly AzulaÆs plan was straightforward: meet with the rebels in front of the statue being built of her father (which would be even larger than the one in Fire Fountain City and I winced at the expense of moving it part by part to Omashu) with the captive King Bumi and hand him over in return for TomTom. Even without my foreknowledge, I would have had my suspicions about that.
ôThe terms are three of them and three of us.ö
ôTy Lee and I will accompany you,ö declared Azula. ôLiao will oversee delivery of King Bumi. WeÆll use a crane to move the casket that heÆs imprisoned him in. That way thereÆs no risk of him using his earthbending to cause problems.ö
I scratched my head. ôOne thing that bothers me is how theyÆre planning to get into the city to make the exchange. ItÆs not as if theyÆre walking up to the gates. TheyÆre coming to the heart of the city, which means that they still have a high degree of access to Omashu.ö
ôYouÆre right. Just another mess made by the Governor. WhatÆs the point of driving the rebels out of New Ozai if they can come back any time they want to.ö
ôIf it was that easy then they wouldnÆt have needed to fake a plague to get out the gates.ö My brow furrowed. ôWhatever their method is, it must be something that works for a small group but not a large one. If itÆs earthbenders bringing them in then they canÆt have access to many of them.ö
ôWhy does it matter?ö That was Mai, betraying one hundred percent more interest in my tangent than I had expected.
I smiled at her. ôI donÆt approve of kidnapping. And I intend to ensure that my opinion is widely known and widely respected. The degree to which I think this should be taken would be such that anyone contemplating this course of action will have screaming nightmares at the very thought. IÆm sure you understand that my interest in their proposed escape route is more than academic.ö
Mai nodded slowly. Ty Lee looked startled. Azula smiled approvingly. If one of them called me Charlie I think IÆd probably die laughing.
.oOo.
There were three small figures standing on the scaffolding when Azula and her friends reached the agreed point of exchange. The angle looking down from the crane wasnÆt great, but with the aid of a spyglass I could make out that one of them was wearing an orange turban and that the other two were wearing blue. That made it fairly evident who they were.
Good. If my presence was sending sufficient ripples at this stage to have changed this, then I would have had to discard almost expectation I had.
I nodded to the craneÆs operator and he started unspooling the chains holding King BumiÆs casket, dropping it down behind MaiÆs party. The mad king of Omashu had been living up to his name the whole time we were moving him, and it was something of a relief not to have to listen to him anymore.
Of course then there was a brief moment of conversation and Mai stepped forwards, giving the handsignal to abort. How unexpected!
ôIÆll leave this in your hands,ö I said, slapping the operator on the shoulder as he started hoisting the casket up again. With my other hand I lifted my Ba Chui from where it had been resting in a corner. ôLooks like something just went wrong down there.ö
Leaving the cab I ran across the scaffolding, to where IÆd left a convenient rope and pulley when we were planning this. Down below, a dust cloud marked Aang kicking off for a rescue attempt and I saw Azula charging to meet him, blue fire slashing in front of her. Aang leapt up over it and out of sight, below the planks I was crossing. A moment later he emerged into sight again, this time on his glider. So much for his disguise.
That wasnÆt my concern though. I knew that Azula would head for a pulley near the centre of the structure but my own was at the far end. Grabbing a loop that IÆd prepared, I dropped off the edge of the scaffolding. A weight on the other end of the rope hurtled upwards û it was lighter than I was, but just heavy enough to keep my own plunge from being terminal.
As it was, I reached the far end of the platform just in time to see Sokka skidding on the back towards the edge. Since he was carrying TomTom, that was no small concern. Swinging off the line û which promptly whipped upwards again without my weight at the end û I landed practically on top of him as he scrambled to his feet.
Ty Lee, who had been closing in as well was suddenly whipped backwards when a water whip latched onto her ankle. Turning, I kicked SokkaÆs feet out from under him, careful to make sure that heÆd land on his back rather than the baby and pumped my left hand, sending a ball of fire to dissipate the water.
Sensibly, Sokka took the opportunity to scramble away, heading for a ladder leading further down the structure but I caught hold of him by the back of his bandoliers and hauled him back. ôLet go of the baby.ö
ôI did already!ö He was already twisting around to try to get free, but his hands were empty, so I dumped him off the edge of the scaffold.
ItÆs not as harsh as it sounds. I could have thrown him down to the next large section of decking, which was thirty or forty feet down. Instead I was nice about it and aimed for a platform only one level down. Unless he landed badly I figured he wouldnÆt have more than the wind knocked out of him.
Blue fire rushed from the sky and I couldnÆt resist looking up to see Azula apparently flying (sheÆd let momentum on another pulley fling her high in the air) and hurling more of her trademark waves of blue fire at Aang and Bumi. Unfortunately what this accomplished was breaking the already weakened chains supporting BumiÆs casket and dropping the two back down into the construction site.
I didnÆt wait to see if Azula had a landing site in mind for herself. Instead I scooped up TomTom and ran for where Ty Lee had bounced to her feet. ôGet the kid clear.ö I shoved TomTom into her arms. ôGo!ö
She looked indignant for a moment and then acquiesced, running into the shadows below the scaffold. Great, baby clear, thatÆs objective number one out of the way. IÆm not psychotic after all. With a crash Azula landed in one of the stone basins used to carry goods down OmashuÆs chutes and started careering down one of said chutes in hot pursuit of Aang. Okay, objective two (recapture Bumi) seemed to be in the bag. Easy enough since he wasnÆt actually trying to escape. That left me with...
The sound of water pinpointed where Mai and Katara were fighting. Right, get AzulaÆs friends through this intact. And since Ty Lee wouldnÆt be around to tamper with KataraÆs bending that meant that Mai could probably do with some help right now. I poured fire into the head of the Ba Chui as I ran, the metal almost glowing with the heat.
Katara had latched a waterwhip on MaiÆs right arm, freezing it to trap the limb before the older girl could hurl more steel at her. I brought my fiery club down where water began to freeze, shattering part of the ice and vaporising water. Spinning, I brought the weapon round in an arc that would have clipped the waterbenderÆs head if she hadnÆt retracted her truncated whip block it, more water flashing to steam.
ôThe child is safe.ö Reassurance for Mai and although she did not know it was intended that way, for Katara.
Once, twice, thrice. Hot metal smashed into shielding water. My breath was hot and fast. She was not giving ground and she was probably not tiring herself as much as I was. Fire is all aggression, water redirects that force. In a contest of endurance, I would lose.
Of course, this wasnÆt a fair fight. Mai had freed her arm at last and three daggers spun through the air towards Katara. The waterbender shortened her whip, spinning off a second one to lash at the floor. A board broke, one end flipping up to catch two of the knives and she ducked her head to avoid the last. It didnÆt quite work û the blade was sharp enough to slash through her braided hair as it whipped behind her. About half the hair fell away, leaving the rest to unravel which seemed to startle her.
ôI realise youÆre both girls, but did you really need to style her hair in the middle of a fight?ö
Who said that?
Two pairs of eyes glared at me.
Oh crap, IÆm a dead man.
Apparently attacking her hair was enough to convince Katara to move over to the offensive, which broke my rhythm and let her smack me across the face with the thickest portion of her whip. The look on MaiÆs face as I crashed backwards to the floor, pain announcing that my nose was broken, was profoundly unsympathetic although she didnÆt let feminine solidarity prevent her from sending several darts at Katara, one of which caught her in the leg.
Katara screamed in pain, which was punctuated by Sokka û presumably under the impression that it would be faster than coming up and over the edge û riding Appa up through the scaffolding. I will leave to your imagination the damage that a six ton flying bison does when he decides to ram through relatively simple planking.
Mai, being on her feet, was able to jump away from the devastation. I, being flat on my back, was in a less enviable position as the decking erupted upwards and I fell to the next level. Given it wasnÆt so very different from what IÆd done to Sokka myself, some might call that karma.
By the time I had scrambled to my feet, Appa was already soaring off over the city, in the same general direction taken by Aang and Azula.
Mai jumped down. ôAre you hurt?ö
I glanced over the broken boards, an plan already forming. A crazy, dangerous plan, pretty much like everything that had happened so far. ôNothing serious. You?ö Finding what I was looking for, three planks still held together by a set of crossbeams, I picked it up.
ôThe same.ö She stared at my prize. ôWhat are you going to do?ö
I started running for the nearest chute. ôTheyÆre all headed the same way as Azula. Are you coming?ö
ôComing where?ö She ran after me and then saw my destination. ôAre you... Stop.ö
I didnÆt. A moment later sharp metal was flying at me. I later deduced that she was trying to pin my clothes to the scaffolding to force me to a halt. At the time, I didnÆt have the time for such reasoning û I swept the boards around to intercept the knives. ôThanks, I needed some handholds.ö One more step and then I dived into the chute. At the last minute someone crashed into me, a desperate last minute tackle, but all it did was bounce us off the side of the chute as I began to slide faster and faster down it, Mai hanging desperately off my side, trying not to be ground to mincemeat against the stone.
ôIdiot!ö I shouted, kicking off fire behind me to power us out of the side-by-side slalom that her momentum had put us into. Gripping one of the knives embedded in the wood, I managed to draw my legs up under myself and onto the planks.
Mai yelped into my ear, writhing against me as she tried to keep hold. ôYouÆre an idiot.ö
IÆd never tried my hand at winter sports, but this felt uncomfortably like attempting to bobsleigh on a tea tray. It would have been risky with just me. With two of us...
Well, it wasnÆt like I could stop us at this point. We were going way too fast. Which suggested a certain problem would present itself in three or four minutes. ôStop playing around and get on my back!ö I shouted, the wind inside the chute snatching my words backwards.
With me holding still for her, Mai was able to do so. Then, with a groan, I pulled my knees forward and pushed my shoulders up, leaving her clinging piggy-back upon me while I was kneeling up on the boards. The air resistance was trying very hard to drag us off them and I had to tighten my grip as I looked ahead.
Even with my new, higher posture I couldnÆt see all that far ahead. The elevation of the chute meant that most of what I could see over the sides was nothing but empty sky. I couldnÆt even see Appa, which probably meant that they were far ahead of me and lower down. And with my feet under me, I couldnÆt exactly throw more fire backwards to accelerate us faster than we were already going.
Not that I was really worried about AzulaÆs ability to handle Aang û if the little monk stood and fought, I was confident that at this point sheÆd make mincemeat out of him. Which would have its own problems, of course. And with Katara injured there was no chance whatsoever that Aang or his friends would be doing anything other than getting the hell away from Omashu.
Unless, of course, the sight of KataraÆs blood convinced Aang to go all Avatar State on Azula.
CouldnÆt this damned thing go any faster?
I had only a momentÆs notice, the sight of broken torii over the chute, to identify the place where Aang must have tried to slow Azula down by dropping the wooden beams in her path. The path where her cart had blasted through the obstruction was mostly clear, but I hurled a wave of fire ahead anyway to remove some secondary debris from that. I had to force the fire ahead of us to avoid running face first into my own flames, and as it was the move slowed us.
Of course, that wouldnÆt work on the next obstruction: the stone Bumi would have bent up to stop Azula if the events of the chase had taken place as I recalled them from the show.
ôHow are you going to stop us?ö Mai actually seemed to have calmed down.
ôIÆve been wondering about that,ö I told her and was rewarded by her nails jabbing into my pectorals, even through my shirt. ôYouÆre perfectly free to get off and walk, you know.ö I saw the irregularity in the chute ahead of us now. The slope had eased somewhat and weÆd stopped picking up speed, but we were still moving dangerously fast. ôIn fact, I insist.ö
With a convulsive heave I straightened, snapping one foot forward to brace myself against MaiÆs knife before the force of the wind hurled us back off the boards. At the last minute I whirled my arms, dislodging her grip and then forced the most concentrated flame I could manage forwards, driving me back against Mai as we arced over the boulder, the abruptly halted planks shattering beneath us.