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Chapter Text

It was nearly midsummer in the Fire Nation. The fire Lilly's had begun to bloom, birds chirped as they danced in the air. Life finally seemed to be getting back on track in the fire nation after the one hundred years war. Citizens of the capital celebrated another year of bountiful harvest and enjoyed the warm sunny days visiting ember island and taking strolls through the city. For Zuko, however, this time of year didn’t bring the joy it brought others. It had been two years since Azula and her followers escaped after they kidnapped some of the Fire Nation's children. No matter how hard he searched or how close he came to finding her, the fire lord was never able to locate the exact whereabouts of the lost princess.

Zuko had never given up hope that Azula could be saved. Even after everything she had done; almost killing him in the Agni Kai, causing chaos with her band of kemurikage cosplayers, or just the general disarray she seemed to drag along with her, he never stopped hoping she would come home. Zuko had his doubts, sure. After all, Azula had done so many terrible things. But in his heart of hearts, he never truly gave up on her. All that he wanted was to bring her home.

As time passed, Zuko began to realize that Azula’s afflictions and actions were not completely her fault. Rather, she had been held hostage by the people around them and the expectations they put on her. And Zuko partly blamed himself. Maybe, if he had been there for her, maybe if he had shown her love and compassion like his Uncle had done for him, her fate could have been different. As a child, Zuko had always hated that Ozai favored Azula over him, but being the tyrant's prodigal child was what lead her to her dissent.

When it seemed like all hope had been lost and most people had given up on her, a tip came in from a small island on the coast of the Fire Nation. An older gentleman had spotted a hooded figure in an alley helping a young boy fight off some thugs who were harassing him. Most importantly, someone who could produce a blue flame.

It was odd, the Fire Lord thought. It wasn’t like Azula to reveal herself so obviously if she was trying to remain hidden. She must have been playing at something. She was calculating, not one to make mistake. But according to the man who spotted her, she scared off the thugs and helped the young boy get back the things they had stolen from him and went on her way. Maybe she was changing, but Zuko didn’t want to get his hopes up. He had to keep his sister’s past actions and betrayal in mind. Still, he had to know if it was her.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea”, Ty Lee told the Fire Lord. She was sitting cross-legged on a large oak table in the center of a great hall. Zuko stood on the opposite side of the table studying a map. “You know what she is capable of. And if she still has her followers with her, you all will be way outnumbered.”

As soon as the tip had come to him, Zuko decided he would take a small group of soldiers to check things out, enlisting the help of Suki and some of the Kyoshi warriors. He wanted to keep the operation under wraps. If it wasn’t her, no harm no foul. But if it was her, he knew that the chances of bringing her home were far slimmer if he came upon her with an army. In any case, Zuko knew that she would fight before she either ran or came home. If the situation were to get out of hand, the Fire Lord planned to have another group of soldiers on standby near their location.

Zuko shook his head as he folded up the map he had been examining. He handed the parchment over to one of the palace’s servants who put it with the rest of the group’s traveling gear. “She’s right”, Mai agreed with her friend as she leaned against the burgundy wall. “If it is Azula, you guys don’t stand a chance.”

“I have to try”, Zuko said solemnly. “This is the only way I might be able to get her to come home.” He placed a reassuring hand on Mai’s shoulder and smiled at her. “Besides, if anything does happen, we will have back up”, he assured the two.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you?”, Ty Lee asked, jumping off the table.

“I think it would be best if you two stay here”, Zuko told the girls.

Suki entered the great hall dressed in the traditional Kyoshi Warrior garb and face paint, accompanied by two of her fellow warriors. Zuko turned to the Kyoshi Warriors and bowed. “Thank you for the help Suki.”

The warriors bowed back to the young Fire Lord. “We are here to help in any way we can”, Suki told him. “And he’s right Ty Lee”, she told her fellow warrior. “The way things ended with you three, if Zuko wants any chance of getting his sister back, it is best for you all to stay behind.”

Mai scoffed and crossed her arms. “Why do you even want to bring her home?”, she asked in a low voice. “All she does is ruin people.”

Zuko looked down at the wooden floor and sighed. “It’s not her fault.” He paused. “If things had been different, SHE could have been different.” His voice became soft, the guilt he felt apparent on his face.

“It’s not your fault, Zuko”, a woman’s warm voice echoed behind them. The group turned to the door to see Ursa standing in the entranceway. She walked over to Zuko slowly, the red gown she wore flowing behind her. “I heard what happened.”

Zuko was frustrated that someone had told his mother that they may have found Azula. Apparently, keeping things secret didn’t apply to his mother in the soldiers' eyes. He would have to make a note of that. “So, you know”, Zuko asked her, pinching the bridge of his nose. Ursa gave him a small nod. “Does Kiyi know too?”

“I thought it best not to tell her.”

“Good”, Zuko responded. His little sister was still young and didn’t have the best track record with change. And to add to that, telling the girl that he was trying to bring her kidnapper home would not go over well with the child.

“Do you think she can be saved?”, Ursa asked her son. It was a peculiar way to word it, Zuko thought. But he knew exactly what she meant. Azula needed help and they both knew it. “The last time I saw her, she didn’t seem the most stable. How can you be sure that she will even listen to you?”

“I don’t know if she will”, Zuko replied. “But she helped someone. I have to believe that means something, right?” He looked to his friends for reassurance but didn’t find it.

Suki laughed. “How do we know she didn’t set this whole thing up?”

“We don’t”, Zuko sighed. “She’s calculating and sneaky. She probably did want to be seen. But I have prepared for the worst and I at least have to try.”

Suki sighed. “Well, regardless, you can count on us.”

Chapter Text

At the moment, Azula was confident in her mission. She and her followers had managed to turn the new fire lord into a harsh ruler, one who enacted a strict order over the people of the nation. This strong rule was short-lived once the kidnapped children had been rescued from Azula and her followers, Zuko apologized to his people for turning into his father. Even so, Azula saw this as the beginning. She hoped that these events would make her brother think differently, rule differently. The way she knew he needed to rule. But after months of trying to create more chaos to further harshen Zuko's rule, each time ending in failure, her followers started to become doubtful that their leader could lead them to the end goal they had set out to achieve. It was becoming more and more obvious to all of them that Zuko would not and could not be made into the ruler that Ozai once was. 

The fading confidence her followers had in their mission caused them to rethink their allegiance to the disgraced princess. Slowly, one-by-one, they began to leave her side. Just seven months after the events that had started it all, every single one of them had left her. Azula was all alone again. And once again, the destiny she so desperately clung to began to vanish in front of her eyes.

For most of her life, the young girl had been driven by a single goal. Power. Everyone around her feared her; her friends, her subjects, her family. She couldn't deny it, nor did she want to. For her, having people fear her just gave her more power. The only person who wasn't fearful of her was Ozia. He was the only one who seemed to truly appreciate the natural gifts the girl possessed. When she realized that the man she had held above everything else only saw her as another pawn in his own quest for power, she was crushed. Before that great battle between the avatar and Ozai, Azula had assumed she would be by his side for it all. But he left, threw her away just like everyone else in her life had. She became unstable. It was as if the one certainty in her life had been ripped from her grasp. Everything she had built and worked for was gone. It was only after she was released from the mental institution and fled on her own that she saw another path, another certainty. She would turn her brother into the strong, cold-hearted leader that their father had been.

This new destiny she had put upon herself was taken from her when her followers abandoned her. She fled into hiding by herself, running from her past failures, searching desperately for some other purpose. Whether or not Azula had known it, she had never led a life dictated by her own will. Her drive had always come from the expectations and paths others had forged for her. Being alone, not having a clear path in front of her she could follow, Azula began spiraling again.

After spending a year on her own, Azula found herself wandering through a large forest on Shuhon Island. Like Zuko those few years ago, she had lost her center, her bending abilities becoming weaker and weaker with each day. It was a weakness she could not have, one that filled her with rage. She tried to bring herself back to the feared bender she had once been, but no matter how hard she tried she could not do it. At this point, the once fiery and driven girl had become, in her own eyes, worthless.

Azula found a small creek running through the center of the forest surrounded by a dense formation of lush trees. The sun had begun to set, and knowing that she would be provided cover from any wandering eyes, decided to make camp for the night. A few months prior, Azula had taken an ostrich-horse from some drunken farmers she stumbled upon at a pub. She pulled the reigns of the large beast towards the river, allowing it to drink from the icy stream. As the animal clumsily lapped up water, dehydrated and desperately trying to quench its thirst, the runaway princess began to unpack her belongings. She set up a small burlap tent and filled several leather canteens with water from the flowing creek.

Satisfied with her makeshift camp, Azula began searching the forest for some dry wood to build a fire. Luckily, not far from the stream was an old dead tree. She pulled off several of its dry limbs and made her way back to her camp. Once she had stacked the limbs in a sort of teepee formation, she lit a small blue flame in her hand. Staring at it, she wondered if she could make it larger. Maybe, all of the other times she had failed to bend to her full potential had just been some sort of a fluke. She stared at the dancing ember in her palm, concentrating on it and using all of her strength trying to grow its size. After about there minutes of trying with no success, she gave up and reluctantly lit the tinders. Enraged, she kicked the leather pack that she had set beside her, scattering its contents all around her. Azula fell to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest, and started crying.

Not at all in the mood to eat, Azula decided she would go to bed hungry. She had packed away more than enough food to last her and the ostrich-horse more than a week, so she figured that if she was starving tomorrow, she could just eat a bigger breakfast. Before settling into bed, Azula walked over to the river and splashed her face to clean off the salty tears from her cheeks. As Azula stared at her own reflection in the stream, her bronze eyes twinkling back at her in the moonlight, twigs broke from somewhere in the forest. Something or someone was nearing her location. The princess brought herself to her feet quickly and turned towards the sound. She knew if it was someone coming after her in her current condition, bending wouldn't do her much good. So, she lifted her hands in front of her and prepared to take anyone on using only her fists. 

The figure of a tall man appeared in the forest, walking towards her. "Who are you?", Azula yelled to the intruder. The man didn't respond. When he got closer, the light from the fire lit up his face. It was an old man, far too old to be out in the middle of the woods by himself, Azula thought. His clothes were old and dirty, his grey beard long and unkept. He paid little attention to how defensive Azula was being and stopped in front of her with a grin on his face. 

"I won't ask you again", Azula shouted at him. She had little time or faith to trust anyone approaching her would come in peace. "Who are you? Are you following me?"

The old man chuckled, confusing and angering Azula. "I mean you no harm", he said while waving one hand at her, holding the other to his chest under a burgundy cloak. Azula gritted her teeth.

"Show me your other hand!" As instructed, the man pulled back the fabric of his cloak. His hand was burnt, scarred badly most likely from a fight. Seeing this did not ease Azula's suspicions of the man, but rather put her more on edge. If he was a fighter, a soldier, he could be a distraction for anyone trying to take her back to the capital, back to Zuko. 

The man realized that the sight of his hand distressed Azula and covered it back up. "I am only trying to get some water", the man confessed as he pointed to the stream, being careful not to move to suddenly and set her off. "You do not need to be afraid. I just want to gather some water for my tea. My name is Shen."

Azula scowled at him. "Leave now, or else you will regret ever stepping foot near here." Shen didn't listen. The old man slung the large sack off his back and laid it on the ground, taking a small metal tea kettle from it. He slowly walked towards the stream, Azula watching him carefully as he did. "Tell me why you are here."

"I already did", the man said confidently. "I am just passing through and had a hankering for some tea." Shen knelt down and filled the kettle with water. "Would you like some?" Azula looked at him, confused. He didn't seem to be shaken by the defensive stance the princess had towards him. She looked around them to see if anyone else was with the old man. As she scanned her surroundings, she realized the old man was alone. Still being cautious of him, she lowered her defenses.

Shen walked towards Azula's campsite and set the tea kettle on the fire. "What are you doing?", she asked him. 

"Oh, do you mind?", he replied. "It is already lit." Shen sat down in front of the fire and crossed his legs. He grabbed the pack he had set on the floor behind him, taking out a small wooden box full of tea leaves and two porcelain cups. "Come on now, I have been journeying for so long by myself. And by the looks of it, you could use some tea just as much as I could." He lifted the kettle top off and placed some of the tea leaves in it to steep.

Azula walked cautiously towards the man. "Where are you going?"

"I am traveling to see my grandkids in Gaoling." Shen patted the ground next to him, ushering Azula to take a seat next to him. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest, unmoving from her position across from him. 

"Why are you walking to the port? A man of your old age should not be traveling on foot so far." Steam began to pour out from the spout of the small kettle. Shen grabbed the pot with his good hand and poured tea into each of the porcelain cups.

"You see", Shen said, handing a cup to Azula which she reluctantly took. "My wife and I used to live on the edge of Fire Fountain City, not far from where we are right now. She and I used to enjoy camping in these woods, so I thought I would take my time and re-visit some old memories." The old man lifted the tea cup to his mouth and took a sip, smiling as the hot liquid touched his tongue. "Jasmine tea. Never fails to warm the heart."

Azula was still holding the cup in her hand. "Why isn't she with you then?", she asked him.

The man looked down solemnly and raised his cup once more, taking another sip. "She passed away some time ago." 

Azula needed to see if he was telling the truth and she knew that if he was lying, she would be able to tell. She still didn't trust him, so she asked him "What happened to her?"

"I couldn't protect her", Shen said, the sadness he felt apparent in his voice. "We were taking a walk in these woods, long before the war had ended, and were overtaken by some bandits. I fought them off as best as I could, but it was four benders against one. She wasn't a bender, you see. They wanted to take a golden necklace she was wearing, one that her mother had given to her when she was a child. It was irreplaceable." The old man paused and took another sip of hot tea. "I did my best, but the group's leader burnt my arm and knocked me to the floor."

"Oh, don't tell me", Azula interjected. "You kept on fighting even though you knew you couldn't beat them."

"Yes", Shen replied. Azula laughed. "They had ripped the necklace from her throat and my wife was trying to fight them while I was injured and laying helpless on the floor. I couldn't just let them hurt her. I had to try and protect her."

Azula could tell he was being truthful and decided to sit across from him. She lifted the cup to her nose, taking in the floral scent of the tea's steam. It hadn't been poisoned with anything she would have been able to smell, so she took a sip. It was better than anything she had in months. Still, she was curious to know what happened to his wife. "What happened after that?"

"When I realized that she was trying to fight them off on her own, I used my good arm to try and fend them off. One of the benders, and earth bender, shot a rock aimed at me, but it hit her in the temple. I didn't know it at the time, but that was all it took. She was gone. Still, I tried to fight them off. I was a farmer, so I wasn't the best fighter. They got the best of me and knocked me out. When I woke up and realized what happened, they had already taken everything from me."

Azula felt no remorse for what happened to Shen's wife. In her mind, the woman should have just given up the necklace. If she had, maybe she would still be alive. "She should have just given them the necklace", Azula told the old man, taking another sip of her tea.

"Oh, my dear", Shen laughed. "That necklace was the only thing she had left of her family. They all died during the war. She wouldn't have given it up willingly, and I knew it. My wife was more stubborn than any fire nation citizen I have ever known, which is saying something."

"That seems like a whole lot of trouble over some silly trinket. If you knew she wouldn't give it up, you should have run. You had no chance."

Shen sighed. "You are young, so you wouldn't understand. When you love someone, you will give up everything to protect them. A love like ours, what we had, that is something worth losing everything over." Azula laughed. "You will understand one day", Shen told her. "Still, I wish she had given up the necklace. But it doesn't do well to dwell on what could have been."

Azula shook her head. The princess had never been willing to die for anyone, and no one would have ever been willing to die for her. "Love is a weakness. Putting someone in front of yourself is a weakness." She sipped the last bit of her tea and handed the cup over to the old man. "My life has no room for such a thing."

Shen raised his eyebrow at Azula. "I can tell something is troubling you. Your spirit is very loud." Azula was horrified by what he said but had to remain neutral. "Even though you face may not show it, I can see that you are unsure of yourself. Maybe, you don't know what path to take, maybe you have no greater purpose."

Azula stood up calmly. No one had ever been able to read her so easily. Even though she was rattled, she would not show it. "I know my purpose." A blatant lie.

"You may say that", Shen said while putting up his belongings and emptying the kettle. "But you wear a mask. Only when you take it off will you find your true destiny."

"I think its best you leave", Azula told Shen.

The old man nodded in agreement and slung his sack over his shoulder. He stood up and began walking back in the direction he came from. Before he was out of sight, he stopped and turned back to Azula. "True destiny is not something that others can give you. It finds you when you least expect it, and it may not be what you thought it was. If you are ever in Gaoling, you will have a place to stay at Moon Flower Farms." And with that, as quickly as he came, he was gone.

She thought about that night for weeks after she met Shen. How had the man been able to read her like that? How could he have known all of it? Azula tried to push those thoughts down, but she could not deny that she was shaken by the whole thing. 

Azula was buying smoked sea slug from a small makeshift stand in a shady part of a small fishing village off the coast of Shuhon Island. As she paid for her food, (with stolen money), a group of brutish looking men passed her, rambling on and arguing over something. At first, the princess ignored them. No need to get sidetracked from what she was doing. She only became intrigued when one of the men loudly blurted out, "Well they could take him out, no problem!" The man's companions shushed him, one of them punching him in the gut. They quickly dragged their friend into an alley. It was obvious to Azula that he had accidentally said something he wasn't supposed to. Reluctantly taking what the old man had told her into consideration, Azula decided to pursue the information further.

"Could they mean Zuko?", Azula thought to herself. She walked over to where the group of brutes had disappeared, making her way calmly as to not catch the attention of any wandering eyes. As she leaned on the side of a building, her ear turned towards the group, she listened carefully to what the group was saying. 

"Come on man!", one of the men whispered. "You know we have to keep this on the down-low."

"Yeah", another one interjected. "We aren't even supposed to know about them."

While the group was rambling on vaguely about whoever they were supposed to keep secret, a young boy walked past Azula. He was struggling to keep a large sack of purple berries on his back. The young boy turned into the alleyway, a decision he would soon regret.

"Look what we have here", the secret-spilling man said. "You brought us a snack."

The little boy clung to his pack. "I'm just trying to go home", he whimpered.

"Give me that", the man said as he snatched the sack from the child. He started shoving berries into his mouth. "Hm, these are good."

Azula laughed to herself. "Those are poison berries stupid." In the corner of her eye, Azula noticed some officers approaching the alleyway. If they saw what was going on, the men could be arrested and Azula could miss her chance to get information out of them. If she stepped in now, she could scatter the group and corner the man who had just ingested a hand full of poison berries. Its effects would be hitting him pretty soon anyways. She swiftly stepped into the alley, ready to confront the men. 

The group looked at Azula. She had her face covered by a black cloak so they could not see who she was. "Get lost", the man with purple berry juice around his moth shouted. 

Looking for a quick fight, the princes wasted no time trying to talk them down. Before they knew what was happening, she was throwing her fists at the largest man, knocking him to the ground with ease. "What the...", one of them said, surprised. Two of them ran at Azula, hands lit with flames. Luckily, she knew a bit about chi blocking from her former friend, Ty Lee, to disable the men's bending temporarily. Before they knew it, she had rendered the group defenseless in less than a minute. The man who had eaten the purple berries was laying on the ground in pain as she defeated his friends. 

Azula lit a small blue flame in her palm to scare the men off. "Let's go!", the larger one yelled. The three men fled the scene, leaving their sick friend on the ground behind.

"Thanks", the small boy told his mysterious savior. She grabbed the sack of berries and gave it back to him. Azula didn't say anything to him. Instead, she turned her attention to the man rolling on the floor. Azula grabbed the brute by his shirt and dragged him around the corner. 

"So", Azula began while she threw the man to the ground. "Tell me about this group."

Chapter Text

"So", Azula began while throwing the man to the floor. "Tell me about this group."

The sick man laying on the ground in front of her clutched his stomach as he writhed in pain. "Was this part of your plan?", he asked. "Poison me and get me to talk?" He winced again then turned himself onto his side, trying to ease his condition. "I won't tell you anything!" He used all the strength he could muster to spit at Azula's feet.

Pitiful... Azula thought to herself. The man that had looked so menacing before was now nothing more than a weak and helpless looking being, curled up on the floor and covered in dirt. She grabbed the man's shirt and pulled him up so that he was propped and pinned up against the hard brick wall under her fists. Azula stared at him, her terrifying bronze eyes piercing into his soul. It was a glare that Azula had perfected over the years. One she used to strike fear into her enemies. One that never failed.  

"Look", the man said, his voice trembling. "You don't understand. I can't." The man paused. "If I tell you anything and they find out, they will come for me. I'll be done for." 

"You have two options", the princess snarled. "You tell me what I want to know now and you might be able to survive if and any attacks this group sends for you. Or..." She paused and lit a small blue flame in her hand. Ever so confidently, Azula held the flame near the man's face, threatening to burn him with it. "You can choose not to cooperate and, well, let's just say, your fate will be much more certain." She lowered her face to his and whispered, "I would go with the first option if I were you." 

"Wait", the man gasped. "You're..." Azula was older, her face slightly aged, and she wore no makeup. The princess looked like a different person from the one most people were familiar with, meaning the man hadn't been able to identify her. The sudden shock that the young woman standing in front of him had to have been the prodigal daughter of Lord Ozai, the only person known with the ability to create a blue flame, left him unable to produce words.

Azula threw her arm across the man's neck, increasing pressure on his windpipe, slowly choking him. The man grabbed at her wrist and tried to pull it off of his throat, but she was too strong for him to stop her in his weakened state. "All right", he tried to yell, the words barely squeaking out. "Let go!" Azula glared at him before releasing his throat. She placed her grip back onto his shoulder. As she did, the man clawed at his neck and gasped desperately for air. 

"Talk..."

"Why do you want to know anyways?", he asked. The man quickly regretted that decision when Azula began to raise her hand in a fist to strike him across the face. He held his hands in front of him in protest. "Nevermind, I don't need to know." The man gulped and then began, "There is this group, right. In the Earth Kingdom. They are based in a little town called Yan Village in Zhou." His voice trembled as he explained. "It's a mining village, or at least was a mining village that was a Fire Nation colony during the war. Our army basically stripped the place of all of its resources to build their ships, weaponry, armor, all that stuff. You know. When everything ended, a man named Mianju Chen was able to rise to power in all of the chaos. The Earth Kingdom officials think he is bringing back order and prosperity to the region, but it's all a lie. He is basically a dictator to the people. Mianju uses Yan as a base for his operation since there is no interference from officials." The man paused. "He's the leader of this group that calls themselves the 'Order of the Dragon'. A pretty unoriginal and pompous name if you ask me. But, apparently, they see it as fitting since the Fire Nation killed off all of the dragons and they want to do the same to the royals. "

Azula rolled her eyes at him. "I don't care whether you think the name is pompous or not. What are they planning?" She tightened her grip on the man's shoulder. He winced at the pain it incited.

"It's an underground organization made up of people whose lives were ruined by the Fire Nation", the man whispered. "It started off small, but now there must be thousands of members. They could do easily do damage with their numbers as they are, but Mianju is waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I don't know exactly what they are planning, all I know is that they are determined to get revenge on the people who wronged them. On the fire nation royalty."

Azula waited for him to say something more. She needed to know how to identify this Mianju. "What does he look like?", she asked him.

"I don't know what he looks like, I've never actually seen the man. But I did hear that he has some sort of dragon tattooed around his left arm." 

"Why have you not told any authorities about what you know?", Azula asked the man. "How do you even know any of this?"

"When you are in my line of work, you hear a lot of things. The only people who would know about them could benefit from the fire lords fall from power. When chaos ensues, smugglers can charge a lot more for their services. So I chose to remain neutral. Plus, it's not like any of us didn't come out worse off because of the war. I say, whatever happens, they get what is coming to them."

Azula released the man from her hold causing him to slump down to the ground. She turned to walk away but first said, "You don't tell anyone I was here, I don't tell anyone who gave me the information. And if I find out you gave me bad information, I find you and leave you much worse than you are now." The man sighed with relief and shook his head quickly up and down in agreeance. "Good. Go drink some water, it will help", Azula told him before disappearing around the corner.

After getting all of the information she needed, Azula quickly headed back to the abandoned processing plant she had taken shelter in the night before. Rusted meat hooks hung from the ceiling above her, light peering through the metal roof slats every so often in the spots where they had rusted. The ostrich-horse was laying on the floor near the back of the building asleep. Azula sprinkled some of the feed on the ground in front of the animal so that it could eat. She sat down on the floor and pulled out a small brown journal, as well as an ink pen, from her sack and began to take notes on what she had learned.

Order of the Dragon

-Leader Mianju Chen, dragon tattoo on arm, rules harshly

-Based in Yan Village, Zhou

-Seeking revenge for Fire Nation hostility/damage during war

-Numbers unknown but many

-Yan: a mining village stripped of resources

-Occupants of the village assumed to be poor and easily manipulated (can use to advantage)

-Smugglers are familiar with the group's existence

-Officials do not know of this group or their plans

-Little/No interference from Earth Kingdom officials

-Dragons seem to be important somehow, keep in mind

-Most likely will be able to find citizens who want Mianju gone

Need to find out more, make sure he was telling the truth...

Azula tore her notes from the journal and stuck the folded piece of parchment into the inside pocket of her shirt to make sure it would not fall into anyone else's hands. She reached into her sack once more and took out a dingy, old rolled-up map of the Earth Kingdom and laid it out in front of her. Looking at the map, she began to create her plan.

Azula quickly saw her path in front of her. If she could take control from Mianju Chen and lead the Order of the Dragon in an attack against the Fire Lord, she could seize power from her brother and take her rightful place at the throne. The princess had her doubts that the order would be able to accomplish such a task on their own. But under her leadership and alongside the knowledge of the nation she possessed, their odds would be favorable.

Her first step would be to find transport across the ocean to Zhou. The only small port she knew of in the vicinity of Zhou was off the coast of Goaling. She would be able to sneak onto one of the boats leaving from where she currently was to the port. Luckily for her, she already knew of a place she could lay low once she arrived in the Earth Kingdom. The old man she had met in the forest, Shen, had offered her a place to stay on his farm. He was unassuming of her, so he would have no reason to have any suspicions of her. If what he told her was true, the farm was on the outskirts of town, hidden away from any wandering eyes. In order to blend in once there, Azula would have to find some clothes that more similarly matched earthen fashion. Her pointed ember red boots, burgundy pants, and red and gold long sleeve shirt would put a target on her back. She would be able to find something suitable in town before she got on a boat.

Getting to Yan Village from Gaoling would be a little more tricky. She would not be able to take the ostrich-horse with her. It would stick out too much and draw unwanted attention, making it harder to sneak onto a boat. According to the map, the journey to Yan Village would take her at least five days on foot. It would not be preferable, but if she had no other choice, she could do it. She would need to stock up on supplies and find a ride if she could from Shen. 

Once she reached Yan Village, she would have to do three things. First, she will find out more information about the order. What the group's leadership structure was like, the size of the group, the identity of the members closest to Mianju, and when and how the attack would go down. Her second priority would be to work on her bending. If any of this was to work, she needed to be at full strength. Seeing as Yan Village was a mining town, there would be plenty of hidden spots she could use to do just that. Thirdly, she would need to find some allies who she could easily manipulate into fighting alongside her. From them, Azula could find a place to lie low. She deduced that there were bound to be people who despised Mainju and would want him to be taken out. They would make perfect allies.

Azula had never been to Yan Village, which worked both for and against her. No one would know who she was or what the disgraced princess looked like, but she would also have no contacts there. Her plan would be risky and hard to accomplish, but she was determined to make it work. With the way that her life was currently going, having a goal to work towards was just the thing she needed. This was the new purpose she thought she needed to get back to being her former self. No longer did she want to turn Zuko into her father. No, she would become the person she had always thought she would be; Fire Lord Azula.

Chapter Text

Zuko and his team arrived at the small fishing village where Azula was last seen under the cloak of darkness. If this mission was going to go the way Zuko had hoped it would, they would have to use any advantage they could give themselves to sneak up on his sister. Arriving at night would cut down the risk of being spotted by someone who could potentially alert the lost princess, as well as give them the element of surprise.

As an undercover scout traveled into the village to talk to the old man who had originally spotted the princess, Zuko, the Kyoshi Warriors, and the rest of their crew waited in the forest. Everything was eerily quiet. Not a single sound could be heard from the village or any animals that may have been lurking around them. There wasn't even a gust of wind to offer repose to the stillness the group felt. Because of this, they all had to be especially quiet, their only refuge from the silence the voices in their own heads. Nothing was right, and every one of them knew it. 

After waiting for almost an hour, the group heard twigs snapping underneath the foot of someone approaching them. The guards that had accompanied Zuko dimmed their oil lamps to camouflage themselves from any intruders. To everyone's relief, it was just Peng, Zuko's head guard that had gone to scout out the impending situation. In order to blend in better with the people of the village, Peng left behind his armor and dawned casual, everyday Fire Nation citizen attire. It was certainly an odd sight to see; the older man looking so casual when everyone knew him as this strict and serious person.

"Sir", Peng said to the Fire Lord, bowing as he greeted him.

"What did you find?", Zuko asked in a hushed voice.

"The only valuable piece of new information I was able to learn from the man was the location where the princess was spotted. Nothing else of relevance came from my talk with him. However, while walking back to camp, I spotted an old abandoned building." Peng pointed towards the coast in the direction of the building. "It is the only place, besides this forest, I could find where someone would be able to hide from the outside world. I suggest we look there first. If she was wise, she would have used that building as a shelter until she moves on to her next location."

Zuko stood up and rubbed his chin. Azula was smart, calculated. If she were to hide anywhere in the village, the princess would have done exactly what Peng said. "Alright. While it's still dark, we should go check it out. Suk, you lead the Kyoshi Warriors and go in through the back. I will lead my guards through the front." He pointed at the extra soldiers he brought along for back up. "You all stay hidden behind us and watch our backs."

"Remember, if Azula is still here, she is dangerous", Suki added. "If you hesitate even one bit, she  WILL  get the drop on you. Move quietly and swiftly. And most importantly, stay focused."

"Right", Zuko said. "Everyone got it?" They shook their heads up and down in unison. "Good. Let's go."

The abandoned building wasn't far from where they were. Once they approached their positions, Zuko and Suki lead their teams in with caution. As soon as Suki entered the broken down structure, something stuck to the wall underneath an old kitchen knife caught her attention. Before looking at what it was, she checked every last knock and cranny for any signs of the lost princess. There was no trace of her, except maybe for whatever was pinned down by the rusty utensil.

Suki walked over to where the knife protruded from the wall and found a note. The paper was salty and wet from the ocean air that surrounded the building, the ink used to write the words slightly smeared. She pulled the knife from the wall and examined the letter. "Uh, Zuko", she said as she tried to decipher the blurred words on the damp paper. "I think Azula was here."

Zuko ran over to Suki and snatched the paper out of her hands. The ink writing on it was barely legible anymore, the only clear word was his old nick-name; 'Zuzu'. He began to read it out loud, slowly. "' Oh, Zuzu. I would say that I'm'  pride-? No, ' proud of you for finding my hideout, but any person with half a brain would know that this is where I would go. Unfortunately, by the time you are reading this, I will be long gone. I'm guessing you heard about what happened the other day. I was hoping you would so that I could leave you this. Sadly, there will not be any family reunions anytime soon. You must stop looking for me and attend to your nation. XOXO, Azula"

"XOXO Azula!" Zuko balled the note up and lit it on fire in his rage. "She is just taunting me now", he shouted.

"By how damaged the note is, I would guess she has been gone for at least a week", Suki told the group.

"It's Azula", Peng told the Fire Lord. "You had to have known this was a possibility."

"Of course I knew", Zuko shouted, throwing his arms in the air as he turned to the man. "Of course I knew! But..." He paused and tried to collect himself. Zuko took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing. "But I was hoping it would be different..."

As soon as Azula formulated her plan to take the throne, she set out to find new clothes and transportation to the Earth Kingdom. Luckily for her, the same day she learned of the so-called 'Order of the Dragon', she was able to find a small merchant ship leaving the village at dawn that would make the journey to Port Wan, the exact port near Gaoling she had her eyes set on. Once she had the appropriate Earth Kingdom attire, she changed into her new outfit and dumped her old clothes and notes out into the ocean so that any evidence of her plan would be destroyed. She would leave no trace of her altered identity behind.

Before sneaking onto the boat, the princess left a letter for her brother. She knew it was possible that someone would have seen her and reported the incident to the fire lord, sending him on a quest to find her

Azula hid behind a large stack of crates holding dried fish and weaponry in the cargo hold of the ship. She slept through the majority of the sea fairing journey. No one had seen her board, so the princess did not have to worry about anyone looking for her in the hiding spot. After so many restless nights, the swaying and rocking of the boat gave her the calm she needed to rest before she started on her journey to take back the throne.

Altogether, the voyage to Port Wan lasted two days. Because the cargo hold had no windows, the thud of the vessel against the dock was the only way Azula knew that they had arrived. Once the cargo bay seal opened, Azula covered herself in the dark green cloak she was wearing and ran out as quickly as she could. Nowadays, on small merchant vessels such as the one she had boarded, stowaways were pretty common. These boats were typically preyed upon by trespassing voyagers because of their ease of access. One stowaway running off the boat after they had docked was nothing new for the captain or crew of the vessel, so they paid her little attention. The captain yelled at her as she debarked, but the princess knew that the incident wouldn't be reported.

She didn't waste any time finding transportation to Gaoling from Port Wan. Small port towns like this one were full of travelers passing through; many of whom brought along beasts that would carry them from place to place. Just as she had found the ostrich-horse before, she was able to stealthily take an eel-hound from some drunken, rich captain who had been spending his morning at a small tavern. It wasn't until nightfall that the drunken oaf even realized the creature was missing. 

The journey from Port Wan to Gaoling took less than two days on the speedy animal. Once she arrived in the city, Azula asked the owner of a small cabbage stand (who would most definitely know the location of "Moon Flower Farms"), how to find Shen. The merchant gave the princess directions to the farm and she made her way there.

Moon Flower Farms was farther from Gaoling and even larger than Azula had imagined. The main house was hidden behind fields upon fields of growing corn stalks and other grains. The building was massive; big enough to comfortably house four families. To the side of the structure was a large, wooden slat farmhouse. Azula secured the eel-hound next to a water trough in front of the barn where it could drink and re-hydrate itself after the long journey it had just taken. As she neared the house, meditating on the front lawn, she saw a familiar face; Shen.

Without even moving or opening his eyes, the old man recognized her. "Ah, I was wondering when you would make it", he said to the approaching woman. 

"Sensing my soul again", Azula replied plainly, rolling her eyes.

Shen opened his eyes and stood up, having to hold and support his back to do so. "Threw my back out on the journey here", he explained. The old man dusted his trousers off and added, "You have a very loud spirit. It would be hard to miss. Luckily for y, you came just in time for dinner. My daughter Mira is making supper for everyone and there will be more than enough dumplings and jook to feed an extra mouth." Shen began to walk towards the house and noticed Azula was not following him. 

"That is alright", Azula told the man. "I have been traveling for a while now and just want to rest. I would prefer it if no one knew I was here. I'm too tired to make pleasantries with my hosts, and would rather sleep in the barn if that is okay with you." She posed the statement as an offer but knew he would agree to it.

Shen walked back over to Azula. "Aa an old traveler myself, I completely understand. You may stay in the barn if you prefer, but only under one condition."

"You didn't say anything about 'conditions'", Azula retorted.

"Just this one", Shen said. "Tell me your name."

Azula came up with a fake alias quickly. "Umei."

Shen chuckled. "Finally, I can put a name to your face." If he knew she was lying, he wasn't showing it. "Well, Umei, there is a spare room available for you if you so choose." He turned around to walk back towards the house and told her, "I will sneak you some food later", before entering.

Chapter Text

Just as he promised, Shen brought Azula some leftover dumplings and jook later that night. She had not eaten a proper meal in such a long time, making this one taste better than anything she had ever eaten in the palace. As she sat by herself in the barn and scarfed down the food, she could hear Shen's family talking loudly in the main house. All of his grandchildren and children, enjoying each other company like a normal, happy family. Some small part of her was envious of them; as a young child the princess had wished for her family to be close like theirs was, but she was older now. Such things didn't seem important to her anymore, so she did not attempt to join them. 

After Azula finished her meal, she laid back on a pile of dried grain stalk and stared up at the roof. The moonlight peaked through every so often in places where the slats did not meet. She was unbelievably uncomfortable. Tiny sticks and stones that had somehow made their way into the heap pocked and prodded into her back. The floor would be much more comfortable than this. Azula placed a small blanket down atop of the dirt and laid back down.

As the moon crept higher into the night sky the air grew cold. Lighting a fire in an enclosed space was not an option and despite her extensive training in fire bending, no one had bothered to teach the princess breathing techniques used by some to warm their bodies even in the coldest of temperatures. All she could do now was curl up into her self and cling the cloak she wore to her body. The eel-hound must have been feeling the chill of the night air as well because it reluctantly curled up beside her, it's back to her's, huddling close to the fire bender for warmth.

Azula hadn't been asleep for long when she heard something strange coming from just outside the barn. It was only a faint whisper, like wind streaming in through the cracks between the wooden slats in the roof. It was so quiet that it should not have been able to wake her up. She decided it was nothing more than gusts of wind and fell back asleep, wrapping her cloak tightly back around her body.

Minutes passed with no interruption. Suddenly, a hushed voice called out her name, clear as day.  Azula...

She almost couldn't believe it. There should have been no reason for anyone to know her true identity; she had been so careful to cover all of her tracks. The fire bender sprang from her position on the ground to her feet and got ready for a fight.  Shen must have known who I was and given me up,  she thought to herself. The disgust she currently felt towards the old man was extreme.

She stayed quiet for a few minutes, listening carefully to determine just how many people were waiting for her outside. The walls of the barn were thin, so it should have been easy to hear anyone lurking. The lightest thud of someone's boot stepping to the side would have been perceivable. Instead, she heard only silence.

The voice called out again;  Azula . This time, the words faded into the distance. The princess peered through the crack in between the massive barn doors and saw a white light growing dim as its source moved away from her.

Through the opening, Azula couldn't see anyone. She cracked the barn doors ajar to get a better look at what was going on. The large wooden planks creaked under their weight as they swung on their hinges. If anyone was outside waiting for her, that simple action would have caused them to jump at the chance to grab her. But, no one came. As she looked out at the source of the light, she saw that it wasn't coming from some oil lamp or torch like the fire bender was expecting. Rather, it was coming from what looked like a person. The figure was wrapped in a halo of bright light that would have been blinding if Azula was any closer.

Surely she had to be seeing things. What was in front of her was impossible, wasn't it? Azula rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up from this strange dream. When she opened them again, she was still looking outside of the barn and the person was still there, walking away from her.  This is impossible , Azula said to herself in disbelief. The figure called out to the princess again as it entered a small grove of blossoming pear trees. The light emanating from the being bounced off of the white petals on the trees, creating the illusion that they were lit up just as the being was. Whatever this spirit was moved quickly away from her.

The princess sprinted after the spirit into the grove. When the figure was clearly in front of her, she could see that it was a young woman. The only notable feature Azula could discern, besides the glowing white light radiating from the woman's body, was short, dark brown hair that cascaded down her face and ended directly over her shoulders. Was it a spirit trapped between the planes of the human and spirit world, or was it some trick that would be used to capture the princess? Regardless of what it was, Azula needed to know what she was dealing with. 

She entered the grove after the spirit and as soon as she was under the trees, some strange energy surrounded the firebender. Azula couldn't quite place the feeling, but it was warm and inviting. A feeling that she had never quite felt. It was as if she was home, though not in the sense of being back in the palace. It was more like she somehow belonged there.

As Azula got closer to the edge of the grove, she could see a cliff that overlooked a small lake. Standing on the edge, waiting for the princess, was the woman. The closer she got to the strange being, the brighter the light got. Azula shielded her hands over her eyes so he would not be blinded by the immense glow. Suddenly, a loud, high pitched ringing noise echoed in ears. The noise soon became unbearable. Trying to offer herself some relief to the piercing sound, she cupped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "Who are you?", Azula shouted to the being. As soon as she spoke, the ringing and glowing stopped. She opened her eyes cautiously and put her fists in front of her, ready to fight if she had to.

The woman turned around slowly so that she was facing the princess. She was beautiful; freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks, eyes the same green as leaves from a dragon-lily bush, her smile glowing just as much as the moon above. The scent of freshly cute roses filled the air. Azula was taken by the young woman's beauty. Gazing upon her face sent a flurry of butterflies swarming in her stomach, though it wasn't unpleasant. It was a feeling she had only felt once before for her friend Ty Lee, and just as she had done before, she pushed those feelings down. After all, this spirit wasn't real, right? And she could not let such a feeling distract her from her mission.

Azula asked again, this time raising a flaming fist aggressively towards the being. "Who are you?"

The woman peered into Azula's bronze eyes and whispered, "Come find me." The mere sound of her voice made Azula feel like she was being wrapped in a warm embrace. Frustrated with what she was feeling, the fire bender threw a ball of blue flame at the woman. The flaming orb passed straight through the woman's chest and she disintegrated into the night sky.

Azula stood in place, unmoving and looking at the spot where the stranger had been. Confusion, frustration, loneliness; all feelings that had enveloped the princess's soul. She had no clue what to make of what just happened. The thought that it was all in her head bounced around in her mind. It wouldn't be her first time she had seen visions of a person who was not there. She had been so focused on trying to make sense of what had just unfolded before her that Azula didn't even notice Shen approaching her.

"Umei", the aged man called to her. "What are you doing up so late?" He held an oil lamp in front of his face so that the light would shine on Azula.

"Did you see that?", Azula asked desperately, seeking validation that she hadn't been imagining things.

Shen looked around him. He hadn't a clue as to what Azula was talking about. "No", he told her. "I just heard someone shouting and came to see what was going on."

Azula turned around so that she was facing Shen, the shock and confusion painted plainly across her face. "A glowing..." She began to describe what she saw, but thinking of the absurdity of it all stopped herself.

"Ah", Shen chuckled. "You had a vision, didn't you? Someone calling to you, perhaps."

Again, Azula had no clue how the old man knew as much as he did. "What?", she asked.

Shen walked to the edge of the cliff next to the fire bender. "The groove behind you is thousands of years old. The roots of those ancient trees grow deep into the ground and run farther in every direction that you could imagine, reaching across the nation. Long ago, in the early days of Avatar Kyoshi, this place was said to show people visions of their brightest futures. The soul of the person whom they were connected to, someone who would play a major role in their life." Azula stared out at the dark water below her and back to the trees. It didn't seem to be as ancient as Shen was describing, but the things she had just seen told her that it somehow was.

"Those who knew of its secrets would travel from every corner of the nation hoping for a glimpse into their future. Most came and experienced nothing. Only those with battles being waged in their hearts were lucky. Most earthbenders are not the spiritual type, so given the unreliability of the tales, it was forgotten over the years."

The firebender couldn't help but laugh. "Visions of the future?", she chuckled. "I have a hard time believing that." 

The wise old man shook his head. "Do you think your own eyes deceive you?" Azula looked down at her feet, thinking about how her mind had played tricks on her before. Shen could sense her disbelief. "Even if you don't believe in such things, you can't deny that you saw something strange tonight. Tell me, did you feel anything being near them? Like you belonged somehow?"

Azula didn't know how to respond. "I guess I did", she said reluctantly. 

As if Shen could hear her thoughts, he said, "Believe in what you saw. It was not a trick." He put a reassuring hand on Azula's shoulder. "Being given a vision means that you have conflict within yourself. While this conflict can be frustrating and will pull you in different directions, I firmly believe that whatever was shown to you tonight was meant to help. As I told you before, one finds their true destiny when they least expect it. Destiny is a winding road that often leads to places we may least expect."

Before turning back to walk to the house, he added, "Never forget what happened here tonight. That battle which you are fighting within yourself will come to an end one day, and its outcome can only be decided by you. One day you will realize that this world is much stranger than it appears to be."

Shen left Azula alone on the edge of the cliff. She stayed there for a few minutes, looking out over at the dark water of the lake. Maybe it was real, maybe she somehow had been given a glance into her future. A million questions raced through her mind. The thought of having conflict within herself confused her. In the past few months, she had been questioning her purpose was, but she had figured it out, hadn't she? Sure, she was questioning whether or not taking the throne was the right thing to do, but she never actually gave in to that feeling. And who was this woman? Why did she make Azula feel so welcome, and what kind of role would she play in Azula's future?

No, she couldn't let anything distract her from her mission. Azula stomped off back to the barn and tried to fall back asleep, but the image of the woman who's beauty had taken the fire bender by surprise would not leave her mind. Her previous meeting with Shen had sent her on her current path, so she reluctantly decided not to take his words lightly.

Azula grabbed the small journal she had taken with her as well as a piece of charcoal from her sack and walked out of the barn so that she could sketch the woman's face in the moonlight. Once she had finished the sketch, she held the book up into the moonlight. Again, the nerves in her stomach began to twist as she gazed at the face before her. "This is silly", she whispered to herself, burying her face into her knees. With a sigh, she begrudgingly walked back into the barn and laid on the floor, leaving the book open beside her so that she could look at the woman's face while she fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Liang was stuck in her mind as she sat across from her friends at Xi's Tea House. Even though the sun had just come up, the place was filled with people grabbing a quick bite to eat before they headed off to work in the mines or fields for the day. Resources had become scarce in the past few years, and this particular tea house was the only place that seemed to have enough food to feed everyone. Xi, the owner and an understanding man, often offered food in exchange for goods rather than money since most of the villagers were broke.

The two brothers sitting across from Liang were talking amongst themselves. Mamuro, the older of the two siblings, had light brown hair and brown-green eyes. He was much taller and more muscular compared to his more slender brother, Kano. Like Mamuro, Kano had light brown hair, but his skin was slightly more tanned than Mamoru's and his eyes were a deep blue. Indicative of their dual water and earthen nationality, both brothers wore a mix of water tribe furs along with the more traditional brown and olive earthen fashion. 

It was odd for Liang to be so quiet. The young woman was normally so cheerful and talkative in the morning. Now she was silent and looking out the open window behind them. Mamoru saw this and decided to speak up. "Hey", he asked the girl. "What's goin' on in that head of yours? You are being awfully quiet this morning."

Liang sighed and unfolded her arms from her chest. "I don't know", she said. "I just had this really weird dream last night and I can't stop thinking about it."

Kano took a sip of his green tea and chimed in. "Well, why don't you tell your two dearest friends about it." He smiled and put his arm around his brother, pulling him in closer and ruffling up the man's hair. Kano was always one to crack a joke or do something dumb to lighten the mood.

"Kano...", Mamoru scoffed. He shook his brother off of his shoulder and ran his hand through his short brown hair to fix the mess Kano had made. "Yeah, maybe it will help you get out of your head."

"I guess", she said reluctantly. Liang rubbed her face in her hands then put them in front of her. "So, I was in this forest, right? Well, not really a forest, more like a grove on the edge of a cliff. But I wasn't standing on the ground, it was like I was floating in the air, just watching what was in front of me. There was this girl, probably my age. She was beautiful and..." She stopped herself before she started gushing over how attractive this character in her dream was. "Anyways, she was talking to this spirit. But I couldn't really tell what the spirit looked like or what they were talking about. The girl got mad and threw fire at the spirit and then, that's when it ended."

The brothers looked at each other, confused. "That doesn't seem so weird...", Kano said. 

"Yeah", Mamoru added. "I have had much stranger dreams than that. Once, I dreamt that I was an elephant-koi that was flying in the sky."

"You what?", Kano asked, laughing and nearly spitting out his tea. "You, oh great and stoic Mamoru, dreamt that you were an elephant-koi flying in the sky?"

Mamoru pinched the bridge of his nose, regretting so freely sharing that information. "Listen, we aren't talking about me, okay."

Liang looked back out of the window and propped her head in her hand. "The dream itself wasn't all that weird. What was weird was how real it felt. I could feel the wind blowing on my skin and I could smell the pear trees around me. Think about it, have you ever been able to smell things in your dreams?"

The brothers thought about it and both shook their heads. "Come to think of it, I don't think I have", Kano said.

Liang slumped down in her chair and crossed her arms across her body again. "Exactly..."

Mamoru looked out of the window behind him and realized that it was almost time for him to head to work at the governor's office. He gulped up the last remaining sips of his jasmine tea and stood up. "I wouldn't read too much into it", he reassured her. "Wish I could stay longer but Governor Mianju has asked me to come in early today. They found some woman who might know who has been stealing from the governor's grain stores, and he wants me there to question her."

"I don't see why they want to catch them so badly", Kano whispered to himself.

"Look", Mamoru sighed. "I don't necessarily think what they are doing is awful, but they are messing up the order that Mianju has created. I don't have time to get into this with you right now." Mamuro skulked off out of the tea house, leaving Kano and Liang by themselves.

"He's right", Kano told Liang. "I wouldn't read too much into it."

"I guess you're right", Liang reluctantly added. "Do you think that they will be able to figure out who the thief is?" 

"I don't know, but given that he is helping people, I doubt the woman will give any information up."

"Why do people just assume it's a guy?", Liang asked, unusually ticked off by the gendering of the bandit.

Kano looked at her confused as to why that upset her so much. He just shook it off though as he had something else on his mind. Liang noticed that Kano suddenly became nervous and was twiddling his thumbs. "So, Liang, now that it is just the two of us, I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay", she replied with an air of suspicion.

Kano took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe grab dinner with me later."

"That's it?", Liang asked. "Why are you so nervous right now? Don't we all usually get dinner together?"

"No, no", Kano replied. "I mean just the two of us. Like a...", his voice trailed off, nervous to finish his sentence.

Oh no , Liang thought to herself, panicking.  Please don't be asking me out on a date.  She had known for a long time that Kano had feelings for her. It was obvious to everyone in the village. But never in a million years did she think he would actually do anything about them. They had been friends since they were four, and the two brothers were more like a family to her than anything. Liang didn't want to break his heart by saying no, and she certainly did not want to do anything to mess up their friendship.

Objectively, Kano was a catch. He was handsome, smart, funny. One of the only waterbenders that lived in Yan. All of the other girls in the village swooned over the boy and dreamed of being able to call him theirs. Kano could have any girl he wanted, but for some reason, he had to have a crush on his friend. She didn't like Kano the way he liked her and she never would. And right now, Liang really did not want to get into the details of why. 

To avoid the impending awkward conversation, Liang quickly interjected a reason why she would be busy that night. "Sorry, I can't do anything tonight. I promised Auntie Biyu that I would help her fix her shed, which will probably take all day and I will be exhausted afterward." 

"Okay, well what about..." Kano began to say. 

Liang wasn't the best liar, so she decided the best course of action to end what was happening was to leave the situation altogether. "Oh, would you look at the time?" She stood up and began to leave, yelling back, "I have to get over there. Let Mamoru know that I won't be joining you guys tonight, okay?" 

In case Kano had followed behind her on his way back to the fields where he worked, Liang walked in the direction of Auntie Biyu's house. Once she was confident she wasn't in sight of him, Liang let out a huge sigh of relief. If that had gone anywhere else, well, she didn't want to think about how awkward it could have gotten.

Liang started walking back to her house. She was fortunate enough that her parents had left their small fortune to her before they passed away, so she didn't need to work. It was one of the few good things they had ever done for her. The fact that she didn't have to worry about money was something she always felt guilty for as she watched the rest of the villagers struggle to get by, but she helped them out in any way she could.

The path back to her house was a straight shot through town. When she had almost reached her house, she spotted some boys harassing a young woman who was leading a visibly exhausted eel-hound into town. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to them, but they had bothered Liang before so she decided to intervene.

"Hey", she shouted at them, running toward the group. They didn't turn to acknowledge her at all.

"Come on", one of the boys said to the stranger. "Let me show you around." Still, the girl did not turn to acknowledge them. "I promise I don't bite." The boy reached to grab the woman's shoulder, but she turned so that he only grabbed the sack she carried on her back. He pulled this arm away, spilling the contents of the bag on the ground. The rest of the boys just watched and laughed.

"Leave her alone", Liang shouted. The ring leader didn't turn to see who it was and shoed her off.

"She's fine", he said.

Liang lowered her body and thrust her arms down, sinking the boys' feet into the ground. They struggled to try to get out of the earth bender's grip, but she spun the earth beneath them before they could anything so that she was looking at their faces. Once they realized who she was, they quickly became apologetic.

"Liang", one of the boys whimpered. "I didn't know..."

Liang folded her arms across her chest and looked at the helpless young men as they sank further and further into the ground. "I thought I taught you all a lesson last time you tried this with me. Do you need another one?"

The boys waved their hands in front of them, reassuring her that they didn't. "We will leave, okay. Just let us go."

"If I catch you all doing this again, I will not be so nice as to give you a second chance." Liang raised her fists and released the earth from around them. Like scared little puppies, the boys fled. Liang walked over to the stranger and started to help her pick up her things.

"Sorry about them", she said, placing food and knick-knacks into her arms. "They are really obnoxious like that. Tried it once with me, but as you could see, really regretted it. Their parents must not have..." She stopped talking when she picked up a journal that had fallen out of the bag. It was open to a page with a charcoal drawing on it. The cloaked stranger tried to reach for the journal, but it was too late. Liang had seen it. The eyes were the same, the nose was the same, the freckles all in the right spots. There was no doubt that it was a sketch of Liang.

"I don't need help", the stranger said as she yanked the journal from a surprised Liang's hands. "I could have handled them on my own."

The stranger put the sack back on her back and began to walk away. "Why do you have a drawing of me?", she asked.

Azula stopped dead in her tracks at that comment. Her face turned white. She never bothered to look up to the girl who had helped her, so she hadn't seen her face. "That was you?" Her voice trembled as she asked the question.

Liang walked over to Azula slowly and carefully. "Yeah", she replied softly. "Who are you?"

Azula slowly turned on her heels so that she could face Liang and pulled down her hood. When her bronze eyes met Liang's green ones, the same nervous feeling flooded Azula's body. She gulped. When the other girl got closer, she could smell freshly cut roses just like she had on that cliff. 

"Sprits! You're...", Liang started, pointing her finger at Azula and covering her mouth in shock. Azula was scared that this stranger would somehow recognize the fire princess for who she really was. "You're the girl from my dream..." You're even more beautiful in person,  Liang thought to herself.

Azula's jaw visibly dropped. Some way, some how, both of them had seen each other the night before. "Last night, I saw you. On the cliff..." The fire bender could hardly believe it. They stood in silence for a few minutes, trying to wrap their heads around the shock of it all. "Shen was right... again", Azula chuckled to herself.

Chapter Text

Mianju gazed out onto the city in front of him through the massive window in his office, watching as the village's citizens began their day. His office was ornately decorated, full of books and old artifacts from every nation. A skillfully hand-made red oak desk sat in the middle, embellished with golden dragons wrapping around each leg and spitting fire from their mouths at the top. The state of his office was vastly different from that of the rest of the village. It looked more like something from the palace at Ba Sing Se, not the poor mining village of Yan.

A knock came at his office door. Still looking out of the window, he called out for the person to enter. His secretary stepped in, a sheepish woman with bright green eyes and long black hair name Yuzo. She placed a stack of papers down on the desk and told him, "Mamuro and Cheif Tole are here with Mrs. Xi."

The governor smiled an evil, conniving grin. The opportunity to discover the identity of the village thief was finally here. Despite all of the security the governor had put on their stores, this bandit had somehow continually been able to sneak in and steal food from them every night. No one had a clue as to how. "Tell him to bring her in", he said in a low voice. Yuzo bowed and walked back out of the office to tell the men know to escort Mrs. Xi in.

Mianju sat down behind his desk, rolling the sleeves of his silk, olive-colored button down to his elbows so that the dragon tattoo warping around his arm was visible. It was something he always did when he needed to be intimidating, the mark drawn on his skin a symbol of his power. Mamuro walked into the office first, Cheif Tole leading the older woman cuffed after him. The chief brought the woman to the chair in front of the governor's desk, forcefully pushing her down to sit. The two men took their spots standing behind the woman, waiting for the governor to begin questioning her.

"So. I hear you may know who this thief is", Mianju said in a threatening tone. "The one some of you people refer to as 'the shadow'". He stared into her eyes, piercing into her soul. Everyone in the village knew what Mianju was capable of, there wasn't much more that he needed to do to strike fear into poor old Mrs. Xi.

Mrs. Xi was trembling but didn't say a word. Chief Tole kicked the back of her chair. "The governor asked you a question", he shouted at her. 

"I don't know anything", the old woman replied, her voice shaking. 

"We know that you have been in contact with them. There are multiple reports from people who saw them visiting you two nights ago", Tole growled.

"I know you think that this person is helping you", Mamuro said. His role in this interogation was to act as the good cop, so he was more gentle than the other two. "But you have to understand. What we are trying to do here is bring order to this village and build it back up from the shambles of what the fire nation left. This thief is disrupting what we are doing. The stockpiles of food we have are to be saved for the upcoming cold season."

As if something clicked in the old woman, she became confident and laughed at Mamuro's statement. "Ha! There is more than enough food in that stock to feed the village right now and three other cold seasons combined!" The governor scrunched his eyebrows in anger. "You lot are keeping the food from us to make controlling us easier so that we are dependant on you. And to top it off, you are taking money from us, spending it on spirits know what." 

Cheif Tole brought a swift hand across the woman's face, leaving a red imprint of his hand on her cheek where he slapped her. Mamuro made no effort to stop Tole's assault on the helpless woman in front of him. "Watch your tone, you insolent woman. You have no idea what you are speaking of."

Mrs. Xi stared down at her feet. "If I had any doubts before, they have been swept away. How this office is decorated tells me that what I am saying is true." She paused and looked up at the governor, tears welling up in her eyes. "Look at you, living it up while the rest of us starve. You may have most of the village fooled, telling people your lies, saying you are here to help. But I know better. The person who you are treating like some villainous criminal is the only one who is actually helping anyone. And I know that."

Mianju was unphased by the old woman's remarks. Cheif Tole raised his hand to slap Mrs. Xi across the face for her insubordinance, but Mianju raised a hand to stop him. Instead, the governor stood up and walked around his desk, sitting on it in front of her. He tilted the woman's chin up so he was looking down on her threateningly and said, "I don't have time for these games, Mrs. Xi. Tell me who this person is. If you don't, I will have Tole here take you away and lock you up for the rest of your life. Your attempt to protect them is futile. We will catch him. So you might as well tell us what you know now and save yourself."

The old woman snarled and spat in his face. Mianju grabbed her cuffs and threw her to the ground before wiping his face off. "I do so admire your loyalty, but I pity your ignorance. Is giving your life up to protect this person really worth it?"

"I have seen many tyrants in my life, you are no better than any of them. I firmly believe they can save us from men like you, so yes. It is worth it."

"Have it your way", Mianju replied. He nodded his head to Tole to take her away. The chief dragged her out of the door, leaving Mamuro and the governor alone in the office.

Mamuro began to follow Tole out, but Mianju stopped him. "I want to discuss something with you." He motioned to the seat in front of his desk while making his way to his own chair. "I wanted you to come early today, not only to interrogate Mrs. Xi, but because there is an important issue I want to discuss with you."

"What is is it?", Mamuro asked.

"Before I tell you, you are loyal to our cause, are you not?"

"Full heartedly. I believe what we are doing is important", Mamuro answered.

"That is what I wanted to hear", Mianju replied. "Mamuro, within these past few years, you have more than proven yourself to be a vital part of this system. As an enforcer, you have shown strength, loyalty, and courage. And because of that, I want to bring you into my inner circle."

Mamuro's face lit up with excitement. He had known of Mianju's inner circle for some time now. Becoming apart of it had been his goal ever since he became privy to it. Not only because he believed in what they were doing, but because he knew that as a part of it he would have more opportunities to better him and his younger brother's life. "Sir, I am beyond honored."

The governor laughed approvingly and folded his hands on top of his desk. "As you are aware, our little village was left to fend for itself by the fire nation after the 100 years war ended. What they did was cruel and inexcusable. And if I am correct, their actions also left you and your brother without parents. Having to take care of your little brother all of those years, all alone. It must have been hard on you."

Mamuro sighed. "They did. Our parents died when the fever hit seven years ago. The Fire Nation kept all their medical supplies to themselves to heal their own, and left our sick to die."

The earthbender was getting angry, the sadness he felt for his deceased parents turning into hatred fueled by the memory of those who had allowed his family to suffer. It was clearly written on his face and in his eyes. Mianju knew he could easily rile him up, and if there was one thing that was for certain about Mamuro, it was that he cared for his family more than anything. "I imagine you harbor a great hatred towards the royal family."

"You have no idea", Mamuro snarled angrily.

It was the exact response Mianju was looking for. He knew the young man sitting across from him could not be persuaded to carry out the plans he had without a motive. And the desire to have justice for the ones he loved was one of the strongest, especially in Mamuro's case. "You want justice?"

Mamuro looked intensely at the governor, gripping the front of the desk and leaning forward. "More than anything." 

"And justice you shall have. It is what ALL of us will get." Mianju pause. "Before we go any further, I need you to make a vow to me." Mamuro nodded his head, his desire for justice overshadowing everything. He would do whatever needed to be done to get it. "Vow that you will keep what I am about to tell you a secret. A secret that will you protect with your life."

Mamuro put his fist to his chest and straightened himself up, saying, "I swear my allegiance to you, Governor Mianju. I will do what must be done, and protect the information you give to me with my life."

Mianju slid the stack of papers on his desk towards the earthbender. "This will tell you everything you need to know. Hide it somewhere safe in a place only you know." Mamuro took the stack and began flipping through the pages. "For now, I will tell you that I am the leader of a group called 'the Order of the Dragon'. We seek justice for everything that was taken from us by the fire nation, specifically the royals, during the war. Our numbers are growing every day. And soon, we will be strong enough to launch an attack on Fire Lord Zuko and take what is owed to us. No less than two months, I suspect. That outline will give you a better sense of what we are planning."

Mamuro nodded his head up and down. "You can put your trust in me, Governor Mianju." 

"Good. I want you to go home and lock yourself away somewhere. Study the plans as well as you can. We are having a meeting in three days. I will send Yuzo to you with instructions later. Until then, I want you to find the identity of the thief. Do whatever needs to be done. Now get going, before anyone can become suspicious of me meeting with one of my enforcers for so long." Mamuro held the stack of papers under his arm and bowed to his superior before swiftly exiting.

Chapter Text

"Who are you?", Azula asked Liang. It had been a few minutes since either of them had said anything, both still trying to process the shock of meeting each other in real life.

Liang bowed slightly to Azula, maintaining eye contact with the woman from her dreams as she did so. "I'm Liang. Liang Liu." She extended her hand out to Azula, which the princess cautiously took to shake it. "And this is the part where you tell me your name...", Liang added curiously.

Azula thought for a second before replying with another false name. She couldn't give her the same name she gave to Shen. There would be too many connections between her encounters, making it easier for anyone looking to track her down. "Mizuki", she finally responded. 

"Well Mizuki, it is a pleasure to meet you." She released Azula's hand. "I have to say, I thought I was going crazy." Liang stepped back, scanning the princess up and down to make sure she was real."But here you are, right in front of me." She paused for a moment then pointed at the journal that was in Azula's hands. "Why did you draw a picture of me?"

The firebender moved the journal so that it was behind her, embarrassed that anyone had seen the drawing, let alone the person whose likeness she based it on. Her father had always told Azula that her hobby of drawing was a waste of time, so she hid it from everyone. "Well", Azula started. "I kind of saw you. Or, a vision of you, I guess." She was out of her usual confident headspace. Realizing this, she put on a mask of indifference.

"In the forest?", Liang asked excitedly, grabbing Azula's shoulders. When she realized she had gotten a little bit too eager, Liang let go and stepped back, rubbing her arm nervously.

Azula too took a step back. "Technically, it was a grove", she responded. 

"I had a dream of you. Ha, it sounds kind of creepy when I say it. But, I guess you saw me too, so..." In her head, Liang cursed herself for being unable to control the words spewing from her mouth at the moment.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Yeah. So, who were those guys?"

Liang pointed her thumb behind her in the direction of where the boys had runoff. "Oh, them?", she said, raising her eyebrows. "Just some of the governor's lackeys." The mention of the governor caught Azula's attention. Could Liang know valuable information about Mianju? "They think they can do whatever they want since they work for him. Avi, the guy who was messing with you... He had been trying to get me to go out with him for years. Wouldn't leave me alone about it, or take any hints that I was in NO way interested. Put them in their place more than a few times." 

Liang folded her arms across her chest confidently. She seemed pretty proud of herself, leading Azula to the conclusion that flattery would be an efficient way to gain this girl's trust. After all, this could be her chance to learn more about Mianju. And though she did not want to think or even acknowledge it, she did genuinely wanted to get to know the girl. But, Azula being Azula, she told herself that any bond she would create with this earth bender would be nothing more than a means to her own end goal. She grinned kindly at the earth bender. "Well, you must be a powerful bender to have scared off all three of them with your mere presence. I'm quite impressed."

Liang blushed and shuffled her feet. "Ha, I'm not half bad." She coughed and straightened herself back up, putting her hands behind her back. "So, are you new around here? I would remember if I had seen you before. Your face would be pretty hard to forget." Stupid, Liang thought to herself. Why would you say it like that?

"Just passing through", Azula responded. There was an awkward pause between them.

"Do you want to come over to my house for lunch?", Liang blurted out. A bit too eagerly, she realized. She started again, "I mean if you aren't doing anything. You and your eel-hound look like you two could use a proper meal. Besides, I've got more food than I know what to do with and my house is near here, so..."

The gears began to spin in Azula's head as she formulated her plan. This was her opportunity to begin her takeover of the order and she would seize it. Besides, it didn't hurt that the company would be more than pleasant. "Why not", she told Liang, shrugging. 

"Great!", the earthbender shouted. She cleared her throat. "Um, I mean, great", she said more quietly. Liang grabbed the bag from Azula and slung it on her back before Azula could stop her. "This way", she told the woman she knew as Mizuki as she began walking the way back to her house.

When they reached Liang's house, Azula was astonished at how lavish it was. The princess was under the impression that all of the inhabitants of Yan Village were dirt poor. But from the looks of it, Liang was doing just fine. More than fine, in fact. The house was surrounded by a large, brick wall. One that was built with handcrafted red and brown bricks rather than earth bending. It was a real display of wealth, especially in the Earth Kingdom. The main house was enormous, painted a dark blue with gold trim lining the edges of the roof. Directly adjacent to it a large stable and in front of the house was a large rose garden with a reflection pond. Roses, Azula thought to herself, mmakes sense. In the center of the rose garden there was a statue of what looked like Avatar Kyoshi and her bodyguard Rangi, posed as if they were in battle. 

"You like it?", Liang said when she noticed Azula looking at the statue. "I made it myself. With earth bending."

"You, made that?", Azula asked. The statue was so detailed that creating it with only bending was beyond any skill that the princess previously thought Liang could possess. There was no question beyond it, the Fire Princess's host was one of the most powerful and skilled earth bender's she had ever met.

Liang nudged the firebender's hip with her own and said, "You aren't the only one with any artistic ability." She stopped in her tracks and told Azula to stay still. "Watch this." Liang closed her eyes and stomped the ground, reading the vibrations coming from Azula's body. She lowered herself and punched her fists up, raising a column of earth the exact height of the princess. As if she was bending water, the earth bender moved her arms in fluid motions, twisting and turning the earthen slab. After a few moments of manipulating the earth, she punched her arms back into her stance and the column turned into an exact copy of Azula. Liang opened her eyes to see Azula's shocked face. "Cool, right?"

Azula's jaw dropped at the skill conveyed before her. How this girl could do such a thing was beyond her. She almost blushed but composed herself before she did. "How did you..."

"I heard of an earthbender traveling with the avatar who could see things using the vibrations from the earth and figured it out myself." Liang motioned at the newly formed sculpture and bent it back to its original place in the ground. "That is just one of the few things I can do with it."

Liang and Azula walked to the stable that was adjacent to the main house. In front of the building, in a fenced-in pasture, a single ostrich horse was drinking water from a trough. It lifted its head to look at the two of them as they passed by then went back to lapping up water. It was odd to the princess that only one animal was contained in the large enclosure. Even more peculiar, when they entered the stable, it was empty but had obviously been occupied by at least a dozen animals at one time. Liang opened one of the stalls so that the eel-hound could lay on the hay covered ground. The beast immediately fell to the floor, exhausted. She gave it some water and food and closed the stall behind them. 

"Why do you have such a large stable and no livestock?", Azula asked about the empty building. 

"I only need one ostrich horse", Liang told "Mizuki", leading the other woman out of the stable. "After the war, most of the people here fell into debt. A lot of families had to sell all of their livestock to get by, which hurt them in the long run. So, I gave the rest of our ostrich-horses and eel-hounds to those who needed them the most."

"You just gave them away?", Azula asked, confused as to why someone would give up such valuable creatures for free. "You could have sold them and made a profit."  

Liang shrugged. "I didn't need the money." She could tell that the notion of doing something good for no reason other than helping others confused Azula. It concerned her a bit, but Liang didn't want to make any assumptions about the stranger. "I'm sure you would have done the same thing. Now, come on. This way, Mizuki." She motioned to the fire bender to follow her and walked to the main house. 

"This is not at all what I expected", Azula commented, looking around at the estate. "I was under the impression that everyone here was..."

"Poor?", Liang interjected before Azula could finish. "Yeah, like I said, most people are. My parent's died and left this place to me, along with their small fortune. One of the few good things they ever did for me..." Azula took note of the contempt the girl had for her deceased parents, knowing that this bit of information could come in handy one day. She almost felt guilty for thinking such a thing given that the young woman in front of her was obviously so charitable. And there was something special about her that Azula could not place, but she could not and would not let any feelings of guilt or anything else get in the way of her goal.

When Liang pushed open the massive, ornately carved wooden door to the house, Azula was surprised as to how empty it was. There were shadows on the walls where large paintings had once hung and scratches on the floor where furniture had been.

"Yeah, I know", Liang said. "It's kind of empty. But it's just me here, and I don't need a ton of stuff. And most of the things reminded me of my past, so I just sold it all." She closed the door behind them and set Azula's bag on the floor.

"Right", Liang said, turning on her heels to face Azula and clapping her hands together. "Let's fix you up some food." 

The two of them walked into the kitchen which was one of the few rooms that wasn't mostly empty. Liang went into the cupboards and took out a tin of pink, fluffy rose buns. She placed them on the circular table in the corner of the kitchen and pulled a seat out for Azula to sit. "For you while you wait. Made them myself."

Azula sat down and began to scarf down the rolls.  She hadn't realized just how hungry she was until she began to eat. "These are amazing", the fire princess remarked of Liang's baking skills. 

"Thanks", Liang said. "They are my friends favorites, so I make them a lot. What kind of tea do you like?", she asked, lighting a fire in the fireplace and setting a pot of water above the flame. 

"Green", Azula replied, still scarfing down the rose flavored pastries.

Liang laughed and took some green tea leaves from a jar on the counter to put inside a teapot for steeping. "That's my favorite too." She filled a clay pot with clear broth, adding some noodles and vegetables to it, and set it on the fire to cook beside the kettle. Liang took a seat at the table across from Azula and grabbed one of the rolls from the tin between them. 

"You mentioned something about the governor back there", Azula said, taking the last bite of the bun in her hand. She didn't want to raise any suspicions as to why she was so curious about the Mianju, so she acted ignorant of the situation. "Are they really so powerful that even their lackeys can push people around with no consequences?"

Liang busted out laughing. To her, the notion that this wasn't true of any governing system was laughable. For her entire life, the governing bodies ruling the village held so much power that they could do almost anything the wanted, within reason, without any negative consequences. It was all she knew and had a hard time believing anywhere else could be different. "Isn't that how it is everywhere?", she asked. 

Azula shrugged, seeing her point, and knowing it to be true. "I guess." The princess wanted to test the girl a bit more to see her stance on the ruling power of the village. "Though, it shouldn't be, right?"

"It shouldn't. But that's just how it is here. Governor Mianju took power after the end of the war. He really had no power at all, but..." She paused for a second, tearing off a piece of the bun in her hand and shoving it angrily into her mouth before finishing. "He took power after something happened. Otherwise, he would not have had the opportunity to do so."

The pause in Liang's statement gave Azula the impression that Liang was holding something back. A piece of information she would get at another time if it became pertinent, but for now, she couldn't ask too many questions. "Everyone thinks he is doing a fantastic job", Liang continued. "Most people in the village see what he is doing as bringing back peace and order to this place. But he really isn't. Mianju is no different than any other power-hungry, corrupt, greedy man trying to take control over people who can be easily manipulated because of their situation."

The water in the pot began to bubble over. Liang stood up to take it off the fire and poured the boiling water into the teapot to allow the green tea leaves to steep. "So why don't you do something about it?", Azula asked carefully. The earth bender shut her eyes and sighed. She grabbed two teacups from the cupboard and placed them on a tray, along with the teapot. The steam from the cooking noodles wafted a savory scent of hot broth and vegetables into the air, indicating they were done as well. Liang prepared two steaming bowls of the noodles and placed them on the tray, along with some utensils, and carried it over to the table.

 "Believe me... I have tried.", Liang replied softly as she set the tray down. She placed a teacup and bowl of noodles in front of her's and Azula's spot before grabbing the edge of the table and slowly sitting back down. " But I'm just one person. I'm not strong enough to do anything about it when no one else sees what I see. No matter what I do, nothing seems to work." 

Azula took a sip of the broth and poured herself a cup of tea. "You are one hell of a cook, Liang Liu", she remarked, trying to flatter the young woman. But Liang did not respond. She had her head propped in her hand, solemnly sipping at her cup of green tea, feeling helpless to the fact that she was powerless to Mianju. 

Liang had had enough of feeling helpless, and as if her entire demeanor shifted, decided to change the topic. "So, tell me about yourself Mizuki", Liang told Azula. The woman's sudden shift in attitude was quite startling, but the princess had to admit, the impressive 'skill' of being able to do that so quickly and seamlessly was not one many possessed. Just seconds ago, the earthbender had been so down and out about the state of her village, but now, she was happily slurping up noodles.

Azula knew that asking any more questions about the governor would not be effective at the moment, so she decided to leave it alone. "There isn't much to tell."

"Oh, come on. I highly doubt that." Liang thought to herself as to what she could ask. "Okay, well how about this. I already know you can draw, really well. Where did you learn to do that?"

"It's just a hobby of mine", Azula said nonchalantly, reaching for another pastry from the tin. 

"That's it?", Liang asked.

Azula shrugged. "What else do you want me to say?"

"I was hoping for more than that", Liang said, disappointed.

"Well, that's all there is to it." 

Liang sighed. She was starting to get the sense that the girl sitting across from her would be hard to crack. "I will get you to open up one day."

Azula set the roll down and propped her elbows up onto the table. She had to shift any questioning from herself. "So, what do you have planned for today? I'm assuming that since you are here with me right now, you don't work."

"I have to go deliver some things to a few people." Liang sipped some more of the broth from her noodles. More than anything, she wanted to spend more time with the young woman from her dream. Taking 'Mizuki' along on her deliveries would be the perfect way to do just that, as well as show her around the village. "If you want, you can tag along. And since you are new in town, I can show you around."

Liang nervously waited for Azula's response, so hoping that Azula would say yes. "I would love to", Azula said. Liang grinned ear to ear, excited to spend more time with this mysterious stranger. Azula smiled back, confident she had found the ally she was looking for.

Chapter Text

It had been a few hours since the three friends had gone their separate ways but Kano couldn't stop thinking about how terrible things had gone with Liang that morning. He kept questioning whether or not Liang had been making excuses as to why she couldn't go out with him for dinner. Mostly, he worried that if she had been, Kano scared her off. Even though he had an enormous crush on Liang, their friendship was more important than anything. Kano tried to focus on his work to get his mind it off of his mind.

Kano was out delivering bundles of grain to the market. He finished his deliveries quicker than he had anticipated and decided to go take his lunch break at home. His and Mamuro's house wasn't far from the market and he wouldn't be gone too long. No one would be the wiser.

When he got to his house, the first thing Kano did was clean the dirt and grime from the fields off of his hands. Once they were clean, the water bender lit a fire beneath their stove and placed the pot of leftover jook from the night before on top of it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while he waited for his meal to heat up. The house looked empty, as it should have been. It was only when Kano sat down to eat that he realized he wasn't alone. From Mamuro's office, he could hear someone shuffling papers around. He crept quietly towards the office door and put his ear against it to listen. There was definitely someone in there.

"Whoever you are, don't think you can come in here and steal from us so easily", he threatened the intruder. 

"It's just me, stupid", Mamuro yelled back. 

Kano tried to open the door, but it was locked. "What are you doing home right now?", he asked. It was odd for Mamuro to be home at this time in the day. Any other day, his brother would have been out working as an enforcer for Mianju. 

Mamuro stepped out of the office and shut the door quickly behind him. He couldn't let Kano know what he was doing and quickly came up with an explanation. "Just had to do some paperwork for the governor."

"Okay...", Kano said, slightly suspicious of his brother. He grabbed the dirty bowl he had been eating out of and began cleaning it in the sink. "So, I tried to ask Liang out this morning."

"And?", Mamuro asked. He could tell by Kano's body language that it didn't go the way his brother had hoped. "Did she say no?"

"No. She didn't say no." The water bender set the clean bowl aside to dry and walked back over to the table, slumping down in a chair. "She just said she couldn't get dinner tonight. I don't know if she even understood I was trying to ask her out."

"Do you think she likes you the same way you like her?", Mamuro asked. He had spent the majority of his life around the two of them. It was painfully obvious that Kano had a crush on Liang, but he could not say the same for her. He had noticed the way that Liang looked at some of the girls in the village was very curious, and there had been rumors a few years ago that she wasn't at all attracted to men. Rather, that she liked women. Mamuro saw nothing wrong with it if she did, like some others in the community. But he didn't want to assume anything, especially when the rumors came from a group of girls who always had it out for Liang. If she did, it would explain so much, but he couldn't tell his brother that. "I hate to say it, but I don't know if she does." 

Kano burried his face in his hands. "I don't know", he sighed. "But what if she does? I have to try, right?"

Mamuro placed his hand on Kano's shoulder. "You would probably regret it if you didn't." He sat down at the kitchen table across from Kano. "That reminds me. I am not going to be home for dinner tonight."

Kano huffed, disappointed that he would be eating alone. He was so used to having breakfast and dinner with his found family and he really didn't want to eat alone considering how things with Liang went that morning. "Come on, Mamuro. Why?"

"I've got a plan to catch the bandit. 'The Shadow'." He shifted in his chair, a confident grin on his face. "They have managed to escape us every other night, but tonight, it will be different."

"What are you planning?", Kano asked. He personally had no qualms with this bandit. The two brothers didn't talk about it much, but Kano always thought that the governor was too powerful. Mamuro knew that Kano thought this, but disagreed. In his eyes, everything he was doing alongside Mianju was revitalizing the village. And the governor was very convincing that he only wanted the best for his community. Everything Mamuro was doing was for the betterment of his family and his home. 

"I'm going to set up a trap. We haven't been able to figure out how they get in and out of the stores undetected, so I am going to have people stationed in every possible spot." Mamuro paused. "Whatever they try, we will catch them."

"Whatever you say...", Kano told Mamuro. He stood up and grabbed his satchel. "I've got to get back to work. I'll leave some food out for when you get home."

Back at Liang's house, Azula helped Liang load up a cart with several sacks of rice and vegetables. She didn't question where it all came from, figuring that Liang had simply purchased the supplies at the market in the middle of town. Still, it was strange as to why she so much food. 

Once everything had been packed up, Liang attached the cart to her ostrich-horse and the two women were off. Their first stop was to a part of town where a few elderly residents lived. Out of everyone in the village, these were the people who were the worst off. Most of them were on their own and if it weren't for Liang's kind heart, would go hungry most nights. She gave each of them a sack of rice and some vegetables and refused each time they tried to give her something in return.

After about an hour or so they had delivered all of the food. Azula expected that they would head back to the estate, tired and sweaty from being out in the sun for so long. But Liang had one more stop to make. "We have to go to the market before we go back", Liang told Azula. She could see that the other woman was uncomfortably hot. "Then we will go back, I promise."

"You know, when I agreed to help you run errands, I was expecting to go shopping or something", Azula replied. 

"I know. I'm sorry this is taking so long", Liang said. "Thank you for coming with me, though. I usually have to do this all by myself."

They came to the middle of the village where the marketplace was and Liang hitched the cart to a post. As they walked through the market, Azula made sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. But she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The market was just full of vendors selling their cheaply made wares and people bargaining prices for nearly rotten food. It was all normal for a poor village like Yan. 

When the two young women got to Xi's Tea House, Liang spotted an interesting stall adjacent to the building. A few items in particular caught her eye. "Wait right here", she told Azula, leaving the fire bender to go check out the stall. Liang grabbed a few items and handed the vendor a few coins. She returned to Azula carrying a bag. "For you, Mizuki", she said, handing it over to Azula. 

"What is this?", the princess asked. She was expecting to open the bag and find some cheap knick-knacks like the ones she had seen at all of the other stalls and shops. But instead, it was full of paints and brushes. She took out the glass jars and looked at all of the vibrant colors they held. The one that caught her attention the most was a jar of jade green paint the color of Liang's eyes. 

"It's not every day you find this stuff in Yan", Liang said to Azula. She was smiling at the fire bender. "Consider it a welcome gift."

Azula genuinely didn't know what to say. Rarely had anyone given her anything without some sort of agenda. But here this girl was, giving her a thoughtful gift just because she knew Azula would appreciate it. Her heart began to flutter in her chest. "I don't know what to say", Azula told Liang. "Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it", Liang said. "Maybe you can paint a portrait of me like the one in your journal with all that stuff one day." She opened the door to the tea house and led Azula inside. 

The building was pretty empty considering how packed it had been in the morning. A woman behind the counter, drying off some teacups, noticed Liang and Azula walk in and ushered them over. "Liang", she said. "Right on time." 

"How are you doing Jun?", Liang asked the woman.

Jun shrugged and flung the towel in her hand over her shoulder. "Same as always." She looked over at Azula. "Who's this?"

"This is Mizuki. She's just helping me out today", Liang said.

Jun waved to the firebender. "I don't think I have ever seen you around."

"I'm just passing through", Azula replied.

That was a good enough response for Jun. "Mr. Xi is in the back. Seems like he is in a bad mood today, but he wouldn't tell me why", she told the two of them.

"We will go see what's going on." Liang grabbed Azula's hand and dragged her to the back of the shop. The fluttery feelings Azula had felt before resurfaced and she quickly tried to push them down. It was becoming increasingly clear to the princess that keeping her feelings in check would prove to be much more difficult than she thought when it came to Liang. 

They found Mr. Xi hunched over the stove brewing a pot of tea. He didn't lift his head or say anything to greet the two women when they approached him. Liang pulled out a sack of coins she had hidden in her shirt and handed it to the old man. "From last week", Liang said to him. 

He opened the bag and looked at the coins. "Thank you, dear. I don't know what I would do without you." If it weren't for Liang's help in selling all of the goods people traded him, along with some contributions of her own that she snuck in, the tea shop that so many relied on would not be able to keep its doors open. 

Normally, Mr. Xi was very cheery when she came to visit. Today he was somber, just like Jun had said. "What's going on with you?", Liang asked the man. "This isn't the Mr. Xi I know." 

"They took her", Mr. Xi replied softly. A tear fell down his cheek and landed on the hot stove, evaporating into the air with a hiss. 

"Mrs. Xi?", Liang asked worriedly. "Why? Who took her?" 

"Mianju and his men. They said she knows who the thief that has been stealing from them is."  The old man broke down in front of them. 

Panic coursed through Liang's body and the room began to shake. "Are you doing that?", Azula whispered to her. But Liang wasn't listening. Azula could see the anger, confusion, and fear written across the earth benders face. Her fists were balled up so tightly that her fingers turned white. "Liang", Azula shouted, shaking the girl trying to get through to her. When Liang realized what was going on, she clutched her chest like she couldn't breathe. 

"What's going on?", Jun shouted, running into the kitchen. When she saw Mr. Xi crying over the stove and Liang's panicked reaction, she knew exactly what was happening. "Not again."

"Has she done this before?", Azula asked. 

Jun nodded her head. "Not in a very long time. But when she gets a panic attack, something just comes over her and she loses control." 

Panic attacks, something Azula was unfortunately all too familiar with. Never had she lost control of her bending because of them, but earth bending and fire bending were vastly different in many ways. The princess had no clue why all of this was happening to Liang. Maybe she was close to Mrs. Xi, or maybe it was something else. The reason for all of this didn't concern her right now. All she was focused on was helping Liang.

"Go get her some water", Mr. Xi told Jun through his tears as the ground beneath them began to shake even more.

"Look at me", Azula said calmly to Liang. "It's going to be okay. Just breathe. Follow me." Azula inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, raising and lowering her hand with each breath to show Liang what to do. With her other hand, she traced circles around on Liang's back softly. Zuko had done the same thing for her a few times when they were kids. It was the only thing that had ever really helped her in those situations and she hoped it would help now. 

Liang followed Azula's lead and soon the building stopped shaking. "I'm so sorry", the earthbender apologized to the group. Jun handed her a cup of water which she gulped down. "I just...", she began to say but stopped herself mid-sentence.  

"How did you know to do that?", Jun asked Azula. 

"It's happened to me before", Azula told the woman. "Why don't I take you back home", she said to Liang.

The earth bender nodded and followed Azula out of the kitchen. Before they left, Liang stopped and told Mr. Xi, "It will be okay. I'm going to make sure of it." 

Chapter Text

The ride back to the estate was a quiet one. While Liang was stuck in her own head, thinking about what Mr. Xi had told them, Azula was processing what had happened back at the tea shop. The more she thought about it, she became increasingly angry and disappointed in herself about how it all had gone down. 

For one, she had allowed her feelings to cloud her judgment and impede her actions. Had she really sunken so low as to allow this to happen? Right then and there she could have dug deeper into the situation, asked questions about everything. And she should have, the opportunity to do so was sprawled out right in front of her! Instead, she was only focused on Liang's problems and lost sight of her own goal. Azula had allowed herself to be weak.

Sure, Azula knew that there was some sort of weird, annoying thing going on between the two of them. Never acknowledging it would be a poor decision on her part because if she didn't, those feelings could potentially resurface all at once and ruin everything. No, she would not let that happen. This slip up was more than unacceptable. She had to be perfect. She had been taught to be better than this. After all, she's Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, and rightful heir to the throne. There was a certain way she had to act, and her actions in the tea shop were far from what she expected of herself.

It was ALL unacceptable. So, just like she had done so many times before, she acknowledged what happened, composed and corrected herself, and pushed all those feelings down, burying them deep inside herself where they would remain locked away for the rest of her life. This time, Azula would make sure to keep it that way. No more feeling guilty about using Liang, everything Azula would do from here on out would be solely to complete her mission. 

After the encounter at Xi's Tea Shop, Azula was left with a lot more questions than before. She already suspected that Liang had information about the governor, but now she was certain that there was something Liang wasn't telling her. The earthbender's reaction to finding out that Mrs. Xi was taken by the governor told the princess that Liang was much more involved in all of it than she was letting on. If her scheme was going to work out the way she wanted, Azula couldn't risk having any unknowns. She needed to get an explanation out of Liang.

As soon as they got inside the house, Liang plopped herself down on the long gold and white couch sitting in the den. She was still being very quiet, so Azula went into the kitchen to make some green tea. Once the tea was ready, she poured each of them a cup and sat on the edge of the couch not occupied by Liang. 

"So, what happened back there", Azula asked. 

Liang reluctantly sat up and sipped at her tea. "I don't know", she responded, staring at the floor. 

The earthbender was still keeping things hidden which infuriated Azula. But she knew she had to keep a level head about it if she was going to get Liang to talk; keep her questions simple and her motives hidden. "Were you close with Mrs. Xi?", Azula asked.

"Well", Liang said, taking another sip of her tea before continuing. "I mean, we weren't really close, but I knew her." She turned to Azula and a tear welled up in her eyes. "I haven't had that happen to me in a long time. It was so scary. It was like I couldn't control myself, I just kept on thinking about Mrs. Xi and why she was taken away and...", she paused. "If it weren't for you, it could have been a lot worse." Liang leaned over and hugged Azula. She nuzzled her head into the crook of Azula's shoulder. "Thank you."

Azula smiled half-heartedly. "Don't mention it", she said plainly, patting the earth bender's back to get the girl off of her. Liang let go of Azula and went back to sipping her tea. "So why did you get all panicky then?"

"I kind of blame myself, I guess...", Liang told Azula. 

"Why?", Azula asked. "Are you the thief or something?"

 "Me? Pft..." Liang laughed. "Please. I already told you that I can't do anything about the governor. I wouldn't dare try such a thing."

The certainty in Liang's response put Azula off slightly. She wasn't completely convinced. "Who is this bandit, then?"

"'The Shadow'", Liang said sarcastically. "At least, that's what people call them. They have been stealing from the governor's stores and giving it back to the people."

"So you, having all of that food and giving it out to all of those people today, just had nothing to do with it?", Azula asked. Her suspicions grew as she put it all together. "Are you sure?"

Liang shook her head and placed her cup of tea on the floor. "You have it all wrong", she assured Azula. "I have more than enough money to buy food for a few people every week. I'm no thief. I swear."

Still, it would take more to convince Azula otherwise. "Why do you feel guilty about Mrs. Xi then?"

"Becasue", Liang said. "Mrs. Xi told me that she knew who the bandit was and I knew she could have been taken if anyone found out." She paused. "And I didn't protect her from Mianju's men." 

If Liang was lying, Azula couldn't tell. She was great at reading people so if Liang was telling a false story then that made her just as good at fooling people as Azula was. She thought about it. Everything the earthbender was telling Azula tracked. Liang was wealthy enough to buy all of that food no problem, and she was clearly a charitable, empathetic person. It was obvious that Liang just wanted to help and protect people, so she seemed to be telling the truth. But still, Azula was suspicious of the story. 

"Is there something about the governor that I should know?", Azula asked.

Liang became defensive. "Why are you so concerned with all of this? I thought you said were just passing through town, so why do you even care?"

By Liang's reaction, Azula could see that she had overstepped. She was smart, cunning, so she would have no problem getting the information she wanted from Liang even if she had to trick it out of her. It would all come together soon, she was sure of it. But she needed Liang if she was going to take the throne from Zuko. She was her only lead so far. So Azula decided to cease her questioning for now as to not further Liang's suspicions. "I am. Just curious", she replied nonchalantly. 

Azula's answer seemed to be good enough for Liang. The earth bender yawned and stood up from the couch. "Well, I'm tired. I think I am going to head in for the night. Do you need to stay here?", she asked Azula.

"That would be great."

"You can stay in this room", Liang said. She brought Azula to an empty, dusty room. Like most other spaces in the house, it had been filled with decorations and furniture at one point. Now, the only things occupying the room were a bed, a simple dresser, and a desk. Liang stomped her foot against the floor, sending a quake through the room and shaking the dust off of everything. "I'll grab you some fresh clothes."

Liang left Azula alone in the room and went to her own. The princess sat on the bed and bounced up and down. It was soft and comfortable, a complete one-eighty from the ground she had grown used to over the last few months. Liang came back and placed a pair of white shorts and a tanktop on the bed for Azula to sleep in. She also placed three clean outfits reminiscent of the one Liang was currently wearing in the dresser. Before she left Azula alone, she told her, "If you get hungry, you can have anything in the kitchen. And don't go snooping around, okay?" 

Azula nodded her head and Liang left. She stripped herself of the dirty, sweaty clothes she was wearing and put on the pajama set Liang provided. The sun had just begun to set, and she wasn't hungry for dinner just yet, so Azula laid on the bed and stared up at the cream-colored ceiling thinking to herself.

A few hours had gone by and it was now pitch black outside. The moon was nearly full, stars speckling the clear night sky. Azula tried to fall asleep, but her mind wouldn't allow it for some reason. If she couldn't fall asleep, she decided she would use this time in the best way she could; testing her fire bending. She crept outside of her room and looked around to make sure that Liang was asleep. A dim light peered out under the door to the earth bender's room, but everything was quiet. Deciding that Liang wouldn't notice if she left, Azula snuck out of the house to find a place she could practice in secret.

Behind Liang's house was a large dirt patch that used to be a field. Trees surrounded it, giving the spot some cover from the area around it. This would be the perfect place for Azula to practice in secret. She took a deep breath and lit a small flame in her hand. To her surprise, it was no longer blue. Rather, the flame she now produced was red and orange. She would have been more infuriated by it, but the flame dancing in her hand was far more intense than anything she had been able to produce in recent months. All things considered, it was a win. 

The fire bender lowered herself into a horse stance and punched balls of hot flame out from her fists. With each back and forth motion of her arms, the flames grew in size. Still not where she wanted to be, but she was getting somewhere. Gaining confidence in her ability, Azula leaped into the air and kicked down swiftly, sending a wave of fire out from her foot reaching at least five feet in front of her. Yes!, she cheered herself on in her head. 

Now that she knew she could at least bend flame at a somewhat average level, Azula wondered if she could create lightning. She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, bringing her hands to her chest. In back and forth motions, the fire bender moved her hands across her chest and to her sides rhythmically. Slowly but surely, a small spark formed. Just as it was gaining strength, a figure appeared running across the back of the house. She shot the small spark to the ground, fazing it into the dirt with a soft fizzing noise so that she could turn her attention to this person. 

Azula hid behind a tree to get a better look at the figure. There was just enough light from the moon to see them clearly. They wore lightweight black clothes and dark, steel bracers. Their face was covered with matte black and grey paint in some sort of "war paint" pattern which made it difficult to discern any particular features. Where the person's arms were exposed at the shoulder, Azula noticed scars reminiscent of those gained in battle. With all of the uncertainty she had faced with Liang, she wondered if it could be her. But this figure didn't look anything like the earth bender. Their hair was black and they were far more muscular than the earth bender seemed to be. But who else could it be if not Liang?

Wherever this person was headed, they were in a hurry. Azula followed just far enough behind them so that she would not be noticed. They ran towards a forest near the estate and once they reached the tree line, leaped into the air. It was like they were stepping up to the branches of the trees on what Azula could only describe as an invisible set of stairs. Must be some variance of jet propulsion, Azula thought.

They moved quickly and silently through the branches of the trees. Azula couldn't use jet propulsion to keep up with them and risk giving herself up. And to be completely honest, she wasn't even sure if she could even do so in her current state. The fire bender ran as quickly as she could but lost them at one point. Despite not being able to find the person in the trees, she continued in the direction that they were headed until she could see the main part of the village in front of her. 

Azula looked around for the figure. The village was empty and dark, not even a street lamp was lit to light the way. She looked around for the mysterious person and finally found them leaping from roof to roof. They stopped on one roof and scoped out the area below them. Azula ran to catch up with them and hid behind the building that the mysterious figure was on top of.

The building, which was a small prison, was surrounded by at least two dozen guards patrolling the area. Some of them carried dual broad swords and long polearms, most likely non-benders, while others would rely on their bending to attack. Whoever was locked up must have be high priority, Azula thought. She quickly realized that it wasn't anyone inside the prison they were concerned about, it was the person trying to break in.

Mamuro was stationed outside of the prison, ready for a fight and giving orders to the enforcers and guards around him. He knew that 'The Shadow' would eventually come for Mrs. Xi once they found out she had been forcibly taken. All he had to do now was wait.

A top of the neighboring building, the bandit hid in the cover of the shadows, shielded from any wandering eyes by the darkness. They knew that Mianju's squadron of lackeys must have been waiting in a trap to catch them. Still, they would risk their own life to right the situation they had unwillingly forced Mrs. Xi into. 

It would be difficult to slip in unnoticed with all of these enforcers and guards on patrol. 'The Shadow' took their time devising a plan of action. Some sort of diversion would need to be created in order for them to be able to leap across the buildings without being seen. Doing so would decrease the time they would have to free Mrs. Xi because anyone in the vicinity would know that 'The Shadow' had arrived. But it was their only way forward.

Azula was patiently waiting and watching for the person whom the village had dubbed 'The Shadow' to make a move. Finally, they stood up and stomped the ground. Her heart jumped when she realized what they were doing. Seismic sensing was a very new bending skill and there were not many benders in any nation, let alone Yan Village, who could perform the feat. It had to have been Liang. She was the thief, she was the reason that Mrs. Xi had been taken. That was why Liang had felt so guilty about it. Azula knew that she should have trusted her gut.

Liang had gotten a read on all of the people who were in the area. She noticed that someone was hiding behind the building that wasn't an enforcer or a guard, watching her. She crawled over to the edge of the roof and looked down. When she saw the woman she knew as Mizuki staring back up at her, her heart sank. Mrs. Xi was already in danger because of her, and now another person could be put in harm's way. 

"You have to leave", she whispered down to Azula. The fire bender just stared up at her. "Go", she urged Azula.

Before Azula could say anything or try to stop her, Liang punched her arms up and bent a column of earth in an alley adjacent to the prison. The ground quaked and a rumble echoed through the air. It drew the attention of all of the enforcers and guards. "Get ready!", Mamuro shouted to his squad as they ran in the direction of the column.

Liang jumped into the air, dust stepping across the void between her and the roof of the prison. Mid-air, she broke off chunks of the column and sent them flying towards the governor's men. Several of them were knocked unconscious, but not too severely hurt. 

"Where are they?", one of the enforcers shouted. 

"It's a diversion. Back to the prison! Now!", Mamuro yelled.

Mamuro and his squad ran back to the building, leaving behind their fallen comrades. Liang had already slipped into the prison through an open window. She found several guards stationed in front of Mrs. Xi's cell and took them by surprise. The bandit sank them into the ground, raising spikes of dirt to detain their hands. She searched their bodies for a set of keys but didn't find any. 

"In here!", one of the guards yelled.

Liang had to act quickly and did the only thing she could think of. She raised a chunk earth from the dirt floor and slashed it back and forth against the lock of Mrs. Xi's cell in an 'x' pattern. "I'm going to get you out of here", she told Mrs. Xi in a lowered tone so that none of the guards would recognize her voice.

Mamuro and his remaining enforcers bust in through the front of the prison. Panicked, Liang turned around and bent a wall between them. With the few extra seconds she had given herself before the wall would inevitably be lowered, she continued to strike at the lock.

"Don't worry about me", Mrs. Xi told Liang, grabbing the earth bender's hand to stop her. 

"I can't leave you", Liang cried, yanking her hand from the woman's grasp. 

"Do what we always talked about. Free our village." Mrs. Xi was smiling at Liang. She wasn't worried for herself, but for the young woman who's only goal was to help people. 

Behind her, Mamuro lowered the earthen wall that Liang had erected between them. "It's too late now, 'Shadow'", he laughed. "We've got you surrounded."

Liang looked back to Mrs. Xi. The old woman nodded to Liang and told her, "I have all of the faith in the world in you."

As much as Liang hated leaving Mrs. Xi behind, she couldn't wait and think too much about it. As soon as she turned away from Mrs. Xi, she knew what she had to do. Mianju would be stopped once and for all. But first, Liang had to escape. She cracked the rock under her control and sent the shards flying at the weapons the guards were holding. Mamuro bent the sunken guards free and they all rushed Liang. One of the guards nearest her caved the walls of the hallway in on top of her.

Mamuro was certain that they had caught the thief. "Here we go", he said excitedly. He lifted the rubble from the ground only to find a hole where Liang's body should have been. "They can tunnel", he growled angrily. Liang sprung out of the ground several feet behind them and ran out of the building.

As they chased her out, the earth benders in the group sent flying chunks of rubble at her and attempted to trip her up by summoning mounds of dirt under her feet. She managed to dodge most of their attacks, anticipating their movements using the vibrations in the earth. She tried pulling the ground from beneath her assailants as best as she could without directly looking at them. Only a few of their attacks actually hit her. Taking several blows to her back, arms, and legs hurt and she would wake up with several bad bruises in the morning. But despite the pain coursing through body Liang pressed forward, finally making it outside of the prison just to be surrounded again.

"Just make it easier on yourself and surrender now, thief. There's nowhere else for you to run", Mamuro taunted.

Azula was watching as all of this happened, trying to decide what to do. Helping Liang would mostly likely result in Azula's cover being blown. On the other hand, if Liang alone was captured, there wasn't much she knew about Azula so there was no possible way that Liang could expose her. Finding other allies and leads would be difficult, but not impossible. At this point, she had successfully turned off all of her emotions towards the earth bender so she felt no remorse in watching everything play out. Letting it all happen was her best option. 

Liang scanned her surroundings for an escape route. As of right now, her only choice was to dust step her way out. If she could run across the rooftops in the opposite direction of the estate, she would be able to outrun Mianju's men without leaving a trail that led back to her. She jumped into the air to the top of the building on the other side of the road. Most of the guards were too shocked by the feat to act, but not Mamuro. He didn't miss a beat and shot a spike of earth into the back of Liang's right shoulder. It dug in deep, ripping an even more agonizing pain through her body. She cried out and faltered midair, nearly missing the roof of the building. At the last second, she was able to catch her footing and continue leaping from roof to roof away from the prison.

"Follow her!", Mamuro ordered.

Azula snuck quietly away from the scene and headed back to the estate when she knew that Liang would be able to escape. Once Liang returned, the two of them would have a much more serious discussion about Mianju. Even though she had not heard the conversation between Liang and Mrs. Xi, she was almost certain that after everything the earth bender would want to go after the governor. Everything was falling into place.

Even with her injury, Liang was able to evade her assailants. Mamuro, the enforcers, and guards searched for 'The Shadow' for hours. Their efforts were in vain as they were unable to come up with any evidence of the bandit's true identity. The only thing they could find was a path of blood that trailed across rooftops, but even that trail ended shortly after a few buildings. Mamuro was infuriated that he was unable to catch 'The Shadow'. His pride was hurt, taking it all very personally. He had a new sense of purpose. He would continue his search and do anything he had to in order to find them. He WOULD catch 'The Shadow'.

Liang's path forward was clear now. Stealing from the governor was no longer satisfactory. She would take him down and free her village. For Mrs. and Mr. Xi, Jun, Kano, for everyone, even Mamuro. She would right the wrongs she had allowed to happen for all of these years. They would finally be free.  

Chapter Text

Dawn was slowly approaching and Liang had still not made her way back to the estate. Azula was waiting patiently for the earth bender, scribbling a crewed drawing of the man who had been apparently in charge of the prison operation in her journal. She sat in silent contemplation as she traced the short stub of charcoal across the paper, considering everything. Liang being 'The Shadow', the numerous faint scars covering the young earth bender's body, and her apparent and extensive knowledge of attack strategy told Azula that there was a much darker, deeper side to Liang than she had originally anticipated. 

It didn't sit right with her, being lied to like that. That sort of feeling of deceit brought to the front of her mind all of the times she had been lied to by the people she thought she could trust the most. By Ty Lee and Mai at Boiling Rock, when her father left her to fight the avatar after everything she had done for him... Every time her mother told her that she loved her... Those times always left her damaged, breaking off a little bit more of herself every time.

While this particular instance wasn't quite the same soul-crushing experience as the others, she was still left feeling less than. Maybe it was just a result of thinking back to those few years ago when she had to leave everything behind. Liang didn't owe her the truth. Azula knew that. They had just met, and this particular falsity she had kept from her wasn't directed towards her in any way. It was to keep herself safe. Still, it reminded her once again that in the end, everyone lies. For one reason or another, in the end, the only person she could truly depend on or trust was herself.

To Liang's fortune, in Azula's earlier years emergency field medicine had been part of her curriculum as she studied bending and war tactics. Knowing that 'The Shadow' would return in need of such medical attention, Azula searched the house for some basic medical supplies. She managed to find some thread, clean cloth, alcohol, and a sharp enough needle that she could use to stitch up Liang's injury. Additionally, she found two wooden buckets in the kitchen; one she would fill with water to clean the wound and the other she would use to collect any evidence of Liang's injury to incinerate and destroy any piece of evidence of her being the shadow.

Finally, after sitting in silence alone, she heard shuffling around near the front door. Azula stood up from the couch she had been sitting on and slammed her journal closed, setting it to the side with the piece of charcoal on the short oak table in front of her. She sauntered over to the door and cracked it open to see who was outside. When she saw Liang's looking down at the ground and holding herself as best as she could on the planter near the door, Azula opened it all the way.

Bloodied, coughing, and clutching her stomach, Liang crashed through the entryway into the house with a loud thud. The earth bender laid on the floor unmoving, breathing sharp breaths through the pain she was feeling. The sharp fragment of rock poking out of her back, falling and rising with each staggered inhale and exhale the earth bender took. Azula rolled her eyes and slammed the door closed behind them. Without saying a word to Liang, she went into the kitchen and brought a chair over before lifting the earth bender to her feet by her shirt and setting her down in it.

"You lied to me", Azula said to Liang harshly.

She got no response. The young woman remained slouched in the chair, panting as if she could not breathe. 

Azula sighed and walked to the other side of the chair so that she could access Liang's injuries. There was a piece of black fabric wrapped around the earthen shard stuck in Liang's back which she had torn from the bottom hem of her shirt off and hastily wrapped around the wound to stop the bleeding. The lower portion of Liang's torso was visible and from this small portion of her body alone Azula counted at least a dozen dark bruises. She removed the damp fabric from the wound and tore the hole in Liang's shirt wider to get a better look at it.

The rock resembled that of a small kitchen knife's blade and the cut around it was gaping. This was undoubtedly a result of leaping across buildings when Liang was escaping the prison. Azula took hold of the shard and slowly removed it, careful to not exacerbate the wound anymore than it already was. Liang's body tensed up from the agonizing pain the motion caused and grabbed the sides of the chair to stop herself from screaming. The seat of the chair creaked and her knuckles turned white under her tightening grip. 

Azula tossed both the bloodied piece of Liang's shirt and the shard into the empty bucket she had found earlier and proceeded to clean the area with a wet cloth. "You owe me an explanation, Liang Liu..." 

Liang groaned at the question. She was tired, in pain, and not in the mood to be answering any questions right now. "Can we not do this right now, please?", she begged with the fire bender. 

It was no use. Azula was beyond the point of leniency with Liang. No more waiting for answers, she would have them here and now. She grabbed the needle and thread from the table beside them and held them in front of Liang's face, showing the earth bender just what was at stake. "You are in no position to be making any requests right now Liu. There is no way you can do this on your own. So, either you talk and I help you, or I leave you here by yourself and your wound gets infected and you die. It's up to you"

A single tear rolled down Liang's face, streaking the already smudged war paint she had on. "Really, Mizuki? You're going to be like this after I just had to run for my life with a rock stuck in my back?" She sounded desperate when she asked the question, but Azula folded her arms across her chest and nodded. The fire bender was not about to cave.

Liang sighed and closed her eyes. She hated that the other woman was doing this to her, wishing for her to be understanding and caring. After all, Azula had been that way back at the tea shop. Why was it different this time? But she knew that Azula was right. No matter how cruel it was, she would have to do as Azula said. There would be no way she could close that wound herself. "Fine", she finally gave in, weakly wiping the tear from her chin. 

Satisfied with that response, Azula poured alcohol on the needle and her hands to sanitize them. She doused Liang's wound as well without warning and Liang grabbed hold of the edge of the chair once again. 

"Come on!", Liang huffed. "At least give me a warning!"

"I have to admit", Azula began to say as she started the first stitch. "I'm very impressed. No one has managed to lie to me before like that." 

"I've gotten pretty good at lying", Liang replied half-heartedly, trying to take her mind off of the pain any way she could.

"Makes me wonder what else you lied about." Liang winced as Azula cut and tied the thread before starting the next stitch. "You mentioned before that there was a reason that Mianju came into power. Considering everything that I saw and the guilt you so clearly feel for everything, I'm assuming you have something to do with it. Am I correct?"

"You are..."

"So", Azula replied. "Let's start there. How did it happen? And don't leave anything out."

Liang was quiet for a brief second, trying to figure out where she should start.

"During the war, like every other fire nation colony, fire nation soldiers occupied the village. When it ended, they were replaced by some soldiers from Ba Sing Se. Scum, really. The ones no one had any real use for. They were no different than the soldiers from the fire nation. "

Azula began another stitch and Liang winced in pain. "Can you, I don't know, at least give me a warning before you start another stitch?" She asked, turning her head to the right so she could face Azula.

"It will hurt less if you aren't thinking about it too much", Azula told her as she pushed Liang's chin back forward. "Just continue."

Liang sighed and began again. "It was all a mess. They took advantage of us, treated us lower than dirt. A few months after they came here, I saw a group of soldiers harassing some kids who couldn't have been older than six or seven for no reason other than to make themselves feel powerful and I just couldn't take it anymore. I was already so angry because both of my parents died not long before the war ended. And I just broke. So, I..."

Again, Liang paused. Her next few words stuck in her throat, not wanting to admit what she had done. "I came up with a plan to take matters into my own hands. A stupid plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. I thought that if I could damage some of their equipment or something, really just annoy them, they would leave. I mean, Yan Village isn't of any importance to anyone in this nation, so why would they even try after that. But I didn't think everything through. I didn't mean for it to go as far as it did..."

Liang began to cry, pulling at her hair in her distress. No longer was she thinking about the pain she was feeling or the stitches Azula was putting into her back. She was only thinking about what she had done. The screams of the soldiers, the rage coursing through her body. And the peace she unwillingly and unwantingly felt while it all played out before things had gone too far.

Before Liang could pull apart her stitches from this reaction, Azula grabbed her fists and pushed them away from her head.

The earth bender continued through her sobs. "They were camped out at an abandoned mine border by a mountain. That night, I snuck out and caused a rock slide that would crush all of their gear. And it did, I destroyed all of their weapons, food, carts... all of it. But I overestimated my strength and didn't stop myself when I should have. I mean, you saw what I did back at the tea shop when I couldn't control myself. I kept on chipping more and more of that hill away. Before I realized what I was really doing, I couldn't stop the landslide from reaching their tents. A lot of the soldiers got hurt because of me, and the commander died. Mianju was second in command, so he took the commander's spot."

You shouldn't have done that if you couldn't control yourself...  Azula thought to herself. The reckless, vengeful girl Liang was describing seemed to vastly contrast who she was now. Azula had seen Liang's caution at the prison. Something must have changed in Liang after that night. But still, the earth bender's display in the tea shop showed Azula that she didn't have full control of herself. That would be an issue, something she would have to work with Liang on if her plan was to be executed smoothly. 

She couldn't quite comprehend why Liang was feeling this way. Yes, Azula understood that she blamed herself for Mianju's rise to power. But the empathy this young woman was feeling for the soldiers alluded her. Azula didn't particularly have any empathy was so ever for earth kingdom soldiers to begin with. The way she saw it, anything that Liang could have done was justified if everything she was describing was true. The earth bender wanted something done, and she did what she thought she had to. Casualties were just a side effect of war. Inevitable. And while the nations may not have been officially at war, what was happening in Yan Village was because of said war. So, in her mind, it would have been justified, a means to an end. After all, if Azula had learned anything in her years of study and teachings in the art of war, ruthlessness and will were the keys to success. Compassion wasn't part of it. It was unnecessary, a hindrance to one's end goal. 

Azula chose not to comment on this thought. Liang hadn't been versed in war efforts as rigorously as she had, else she would not feel regret. At least, that is what Azula concluded. She let Liang continue in silence as she continued stitching up her wound.

Again, without warning, Liang turned around quickly, pulling on the thread still in her back and yanking the needle out of Azula's hand. She grabbed onto Azula's shirt and cried into her shoulder, yanking Azula from her train of thought. The fire princess didn't know what to do.

"You have to understand, I wasn't myself. I was angry with the world, with... everything. Before I realized what I had done, it was too late. If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened."

It was true. But if Mianju hadn't risen to power, the opportunity at hand to take back the throne would not exist. Some part of her was grateful that Liang had lost control those few years ago. 

"I don't quite understand though. Why did you start stealing from them?", Azula asked as she pushed Liang away from herself and turned the young woman back around to finish stitching up her back. Liang hadn't pulled the stitch out in a way that would do any real damage.

"I ran out of money", she replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. The young woman's inability to sit still while Azula was trying to stitch her up was becoming more than irritating.

"Stop moving!", Azula yelled. Liang seemed to understand as she lifted her head up and froze in place. Azula composed herself before continuing."How? You said you inherited a small fortune from your parents."

"'Small' is the keyword there. I used as much of it as I could on food for others and keeping the tea house running. When I had just enough to keep myself fed, clothed, all of that stuff, that's when I started stealing. I realized that Mianju was hoarding more food than he needed for his own use, so I became..."

Azula finished Liang's sentence before she could. "'The Shadow?"

"Yeah, that's what some people call me I guess."

Azula tied the last stitch on Liang's back and tossed the rest of the thread and the needle into the waste bucket. "You went to the prison to save Mrs. Xi, didn't you?", she asked.

"It was my fault. I had to at least try to get her out." Liang sighed again and buried her face in her dirt-covered hands. "It seems like, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to help, I always end up making things worse."

"Well...", Azula whispered to herself. She wouldn't exactly disagree with that statement. "Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

Liang lifted her shirt up to look at her stomach then looked down at her legs. "No, just bruises."

"Alright." Azula washed her hands off with a clean rag and water before asking, "So, now you want to take care of Mianju altogether?"

"I do", Liang replied without skipping a beat or taking any time to think it over. The certainty in Liang's voice was sweet in Azula's ears.  

"Well, you are in luck then," Azula said confidently before sitting across from Liang on the table.

"Are you going to help me or something?", Liang asked, laughing at the absurdity of the notion. 

"Yeah, I am." Azula could see the uncertainty in Liang's eyes of the idea. 

"And why would you want to do that?", Liang asked. "I mean, you saw what I am going up against, right?" 

Azula quickly came up with something to say. "I want to help. And I can. Back home, I trained with the best masters and at the best academies. You want me on your team." She thought that what she was about to say would put Liang on edge as soon as it came out of her mouth. "Not only that, but I am a fire bender. You want me on your side."

The earth bender folded her arms across her chest and looked down at Azula. "Oh, really?", she said sarcastically. "Come on, with those eyes? I mean, not every fire bender has the same color of eyes, and no one else would have probably thought about it, but I was taught to be very observant. I kind of already suspected it."

"Okay then", was all Azula could say. Again, she was impressed by the earth bender's skills. She was uncertain whether Liang would trust her or not because she was a fire bender, given the woman's history with the nation. "What, do you not trust me?" 

"I don't know if I trust you...", Liang started. "But I don't  not  trust you."

Azula nodded her head. Gaining Liang's trust would be easy.  We can work with that,  she thought to herself. 

"What is in it for you?", Liang asked in a low voice. She was smart enough and experienced enough to know that most people wouldn't risk their own lives to help a stranger. The more she contemplated it, she came to a realization. "It wasn't a coincidence that you happened upon Yan Village, was it?"

"No, it wasn't", Azula told her plainly. There was no use in flat outlying to Liang now. If Azula didn't give up at least a half-truth, there would be no gaining her trust. "In truth, I cam here for Mianju. I heard about what he is doing and wanted to see it for myself. I know how some villages have been left to rot by the fire nation royal family and their nations, sNow that I know what is going on, I just want to help."

"Okay", Liang replied skeptically. She pondered the offer for a short time. Even if she didn't completely trust the woman she knew as Mizuki just yet, if she was a skilled fire bender, having her by her side while she was trying to through Mianju out of office would be helpful. "Fine. Let's do it", she finally responded after a few minutes of silence. 

"Alright. Let's get some things straight first, though", Azula said. "You need to tell me everything you know. And no more lying. If you lie again, it's over."

Liang nodded her head to show she understood. "We need to make a cover story for why I got hurt because Mianju and Mamuro will be looking around for anyone with my injury. It's probably why he did it." 

So, that's the name of the man that was at the prison . Azula thought to her self.  Good to know.  "Agreed", she replied. "I should probably come up with one too. If they do come looking here and find me, chances are they will be suspicious after what happened. And that is the last thing we need right now."

"I told Kano that I was going to Auntie Biyu's to fix her shed."

Azula raised her eyebrow. "But, we didn't do that. And all of the people we delivered food to saw you."

"Yeah, but I can just say that I was headed that way after I dropped the stuff off. Auntie Biyu's mind is not what it used to be. She forgets things all of the time, so if she doesn't remember me stopping by, we can just write it off as that. I can just say that I fell on my shoulder. The slats on the roof of the shed are super rickety and need to be replaced soon anyway. Plus, I did mention fixing it myself to her before."

It would be a believable lie, so Azula decided they should stick with that story. If anyone questioned them further, she would be able to come up with something quickly. Now that that was taken care of, it was Azula's turn to come up with an alibi as to why she was staying with Liang.

"Do people know a lot about your family here?", she asked Liang. 

"No", Liang replied. "I mean, people know that I have a ton of family spread all over the world, from all nations... but we were never close."

"Good. Then we can say that I am your distant cousin who stopped by on my way to Omashu while I was out traveling the world to 'find myself'."

"I would have told Kano and Mamuro about that though", Liang said.

"Wait, you are friends with the man who was attacking you?", Azula asked, caught off guard by that revelation.

"Kind of. We were really good friends when we were kids, but because of his work... And after what happened, I don't know..." Her voice trailed off as she replayed the moment that Mamuro, one of her oldest freidns, a person she considered her found family, purposefully shot a projectile into her shoulder. Even if he didn't know it was her, it confirmed that her suspicion of him becoming the person Mianju was bound to make him into was true.

"You have to keep being his friend. On the outside at least", Azula told her. "And we can just say I dropped by unannounced. If anyone asks anything else, well... we are both great at lying apparently, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay", Liang replied, satisfied with the plan. Acting like everything was fine with Mamuro would be hard, but she knew she would have to do it. That she could do it.

Liang could feel her head starting to spin and closed her eyes, placing her head in her left hand. She started to ask Azula to grab her a glass of water, but the fire bender was already on it as soon as she could tell that Liang was fading. When Azula returned, she handed the cup of water to Liang and watched as she chugged the whole thing down.

"We should burn these", Liang said as Azula grabbed the empty cup from her, pointing at her clothes. What she was wearing would be a big red flag to anyone who would inevitably come snooping around.

"We can burn them with these", Azula agreed, motioning her head to the bucket holding the bloodied cloth and earthen blade. "While you get changed, I am going to look around for something we can use as a sling for your arm."

Liang nodded her head and struggled to pull her braces and armbands off, tossing them aside into the wooden bucket. "There might be something in there", she said, wincing in pain each time she moved her body more than she should have, pointing to the plain-looking wooden dresser in the corner of the room. Azula looked through its drawers and found a long piece of white silk. It would do.

She turned around back to Liang and was surprised when the girl was trying to take her shirt off. She assumed Liang would want to go into her room to change, but she didn't seem to care. Liang used her good arm, trying to lift the shirt over her head, but couldn't muster enough strength to do so. And even if she had been strong enough to lift her arms over her head, the pain she felt in her right shoulder each time she moved her arm was too much to bear. Azula stopped her before she could go any further.

"Don't do that!", Azula scolded her. "You'll pull the stitches." She hastily threw the silk fabric to the side and grabbed the bottom of Liang's shirt, freeing first her left arm, then pulling the shirt over Liang's head, and finally slipping it down her right arm, leaving her with only a chest wrap on her torso. Azula tossed the dirty black shirt into the wooden bucket with the rest of the evidence from that night's endeavors and looked back at the earth bender.

The scars that had been visible on Liang's shoulders were nothing compared to those covering her stomach and back. The woman was covered in them, along with more bruises speckling her skin than Azula could quickly count. Even so, the countless deep purple and brown blemishes covering her body paled in comparison to the scars which appeared to be old, leaving behind dark shadows of the past. Beyond that, in the light of the candles that were lit, Liang's toned stomach, back, and arms glistened with sweat and dirt. 

"Yeah, I'm covered in them", Liang said once she caught Azula staring.

Those hadn't been the only feature of the earth bender Azula had been eyeing. But still, she was curious about them nonetheless. "What happened to you?"

"My father", Liang grumbled.

Azula could see there was anger behind her words. "Your father?", she asked. 

"Yeah", Liang began. "He was a general in the military. He made me train when he was home. If I did anything imperfectly, or not up to his standards, well...", she pointed to the pink scar on her stomach just above her abdomen. "Like this one... I couldn't dodge a pebble he shot at me while I was balancing on a log." She laughed, not because the moment was funny, but because she thought about how helpless she was to her father's methods she had been. "I was only six."

"Well, that is the best way to make you perfect. To put you in real-life situations", Azula told her. That had been her theory anyway. "You have to be perfect to be strong. Imperfection can result in weakness."

"Spirits, that's what he said too." Liang was visibly saddened that Azula was agreeing with her father's methods. But she knew it was just the 'fire bender' way, so to say. "Still, I was just a kid and he was training me like I was one of his soldiers. 'War wounds', as he called them. And no matter how hard I tried, I could never live up to what he wanted me to be." 

"What about that one?", Azula asked as she pointed to the most prominent wound on the earth bender's chest, striking down from just below her neck down to her lower left side. 

"Ha, ironically that is just from me falling out of a tree", Liang told her. 

Azula laughed. "You should come up with a better story than that. It looks like you could have gotten that from an Agni Kai or something." She picked the white silk fabric off of the floor and cradled Liang's right arm in it before tieing it off across her body. "You know, I can kind of relate to what you said. About not living up to your father's expectations."

"You can?", Liang asked as she yawned. The hours she had spent up without sleep were becoming unbearable.

"Yeah, I can", Azula told Liang softly. But going into detail about feeling like a disappointment in both her parent's eyes was no something she wanted to go into. Nor was it a bit of information she thought Liang should know. So, she decided to change the subject to the growing drowsiness Liang was feeling. "You need to get some sleep. We can finish talking about everything in the morning." 

Liang stood up slowly from the chair and her knees began to falter. Before she could fall, Azula wrapped her arm under Liang's good shoulder to help steady herself and walked her to her room.

"I will burn all of this stuff tonight", she told the earth bender as she helped her sit on the edge of the bed. She lowered herself to take Liang's shoes off so those could be destroyed as well. "Can you can get your pants off on your own? We need to burn those too." Liang nodded her head softly in response, the weight of her eyelids making it difficult to keep them open. "Okay while you do that, I am going to go get some washcloths and water to wipe that paint off and dirt off your face. And while I'm at it, tell me where the paint is because we need to get rid of that too."

"You're very thorough, you know that", Liang told Azula, yawning.

"We have to be. We can't risk even anything." 

Liang pointed to the red oak vanity across from her bed. Azula rummaged through the drawers, astounded by how much make up this one girl had, and eventually found two jars of thick dark paints. She picked them up and made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her before going into the kitchen.

When Azula returned to Liang's room she had already gotten herself under the covers and was sitting upright on some pillows for support, her pants sitting at the foot of her bed. Azula picked them up and slung them over her shoulder before bringing the rags and a fresh bowl of water over to a nearly asleep earth bender. She wet one of the clothes and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Liang so she could remove the now very smudged war paint on Liang's face. 

"Thanks", Liang said, resting her hand on Azula's leg for a brief second. "If it weren't for you, I would be in much worse shape than I am right now. I really appreciate it."

 "Don't mention it", she told her plainly as she continued to clean off Liang's face. "But don't think that just because I did this for you that we are all of a sudden 'close' or something."

"Whatever you say, Mizuki."

As she continued to take the paint off of Liang's face, Azula noted how innocent the young women looked without it on. No wonder no one suspected her of being the bandit. With those features, she looked so unassuming. Azula finished removing the grey and black from Liang's face and threw the paint-covered rags into the bowl of water. Whatever Liang had used to darken her hair was now faded, and with Azula closer to Liang's face, she could smell ash. "That is just soot in your hair, right?", she asked. Liang gave Azula another weak nod and turned to lay on her stomach. "Okay, then we don't have to worry about that so much then. I'll go take care of these things and let you get some rest. I'll sleep on the couch in case anything happens." 

Azula walked out of the room, carrying Liang's black pants and the dirty rags with her. Before she closed the door behind her, she heard another, faint, "Thank you", from Liang. She hesitated for a second, then shut the door softly behind her.

She gathered all of the evidence together and placed everything in the fireplace in the kitchen on top of some dry wood. Creating a small red flame in her hand, she lit the wood on fire and watched as it all turned to ash. As she sat there, kneeling by the fire, watching the dancing flames and smoke rise to the chimney, she thought to herself how everything was falling into place. 

Finally , she thought to herself. 

Chapter Text

The two siblings started their morning like any other. They woke up at dawn, ate breakfast, and then started fire bending training with Master Zhuan. 

The training area had been specifically built for training the Fire Nation royalty's children. It was a large dirt field surrounded by grey and ember brick walls with circular cutouts every so often, the back of the field lined with practice dummies and supplemental bending tools.

This particular summer morning was grey and gloomy and the royal siblings would be practicing defensive maneuvers. Zuko's least favorite type of weather to be practicing in, particularly for what they would be doing that morning. Those types of clouds always meant winds that ripped through the cutouts in the wall which made it difficult to control the flames he produced. It especially made it difficult to control fire aimed at him given this added variability. Azula, however, never seemed to have trouble with this, and Zuko was more than jealous and ashamed that his five-year-old sister was already a better fire bender than he.

"Hey. I wasn't ready for that!", the young prince shouted at his bending master as he attempted to dodge multiple orbs of red hot flame being hurled at him, one after the other with relentless speed. Azula was doing the same exercise as her older brother and was faring a whole lot better.

"Balance, Zuko", Master Zhuan said calmly as he continued throwing balls of fire at the two children with the help of his two assistants. "In any real-life situation, the enemy will not wait until you are ready. You are used to positive jing, action. This exercise is a practice in negative jing. Focus on dodging or redirecting your opponent's attacks."

Azula glanced over at her struggling brother beside her in between projectiles and smiled a mischievous grin. She looked around the training area for her father, hoping that he would be there to see how much better she was doing than her brother. But Ozai was nowhere to be found. Ursa, however, was close by, standing above them on an outlook and worriedly looking at her son.

Wishing to impress her mother and pull Ursa's attention onto herself, she shouted to her, "Look how good I am doing!" Ursa only looked over at Azula for a short moment and gave her a slight nod, then turned her attention back to Zuko.

Even at a young age, Azula understood that she would never compare to her brother in her mother's eyes. But that still hadn't stopped her from trying. 

Being ignored by her mother angered the young princess. That anger quickly became misdirected at her brother, and in an attempt to get back at him she tried to direct one of the flames aimed at her towards him. She kicked her left leg around her body, directing the flame in a sort of wave in his direction, but miscalculated and was hit in the abdomen by another shot shortly following the one she had redirected, knocking her to the ground.

Zuko had been quick enough to notice Azula's intention and dodged her attack in addition to the ones being aimed at him from his master. He saw his sister laying on the floor and immediately ran to her aid. "Are you okay?", he asked, genuinely concerned for his little sister.

Azula pushed him back hard causing him to fall flat on his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs. "I'm fine", she told him harshly.

The training gear they had been wearing was enough to protect her from the blow she took, but it still hurt. As soon as she sat up, her heart sank when her eyes met her father's unrelenting glare. He did not look impressed in the slightest with this misstep. 

"What was that?", Fire Lord Ozai roared at his children, his words echoing off of the walls aiding in the already menacing effect his voice held. Master Zhuan and his assistants quickly paused to bow to the Fire Lord above them now standing next to his wife.

Zuko finally stood up to stand by his sister, trying his best not to cough too loudly from having the wind knocked out of him. Both of them stood silently, looking at the ground to avoid their father's gaze.

"Look at me when I am talking to you", Ozai shouted at his children. Their eyes immediately shot up to look at him. Zuko was practically shaking in his boots while Azula did her best to appear unafraid.

"I expect better from my children", he began to lecture. "You two are of royal blood. There are no exceptions, you MUST be perfect. This is a simple exercise. Especially for a child of your age and skill, Zuko. Even your little sister can handle it with ease." 

Hearing her father seemingly give her praise at the expense of her older brother lifted Azula's spirits. She smiled smugly at Zuko, but that happiness was short-lived. "And you, Azula. Why did you try to lash out like that?"

Azula looked up at Ursa and then back at Ozai. Zuko quickly realized that Azula had gotten mad at him for drawing Ursa's attention, but chose not to say anything about it. 

The Fire Princess began to defend herself to her father but was quickly cut off. "You know what, your reasoning doesn't matter", he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You cannot let your emotions get in your way. It makes you weak, imperfect. In an actual fight, the outcome for such an outburst would be catastrophic. You are smart, think before you do something!", Ozai yelled. "You cannot afford to be weak. YOU must be perfect."

Zuko woke up feeling even more tired than he had been in a long time. "It was only a dream", he reassured himself as he tried to compose himself before getting out of bed. A combination of his past and the wanderings of his mind.

Ever since they discovered the note from Azula in that little village off the coast of Shuhon, he had been plagued by dreams of memories from their childhood like the one he had that night. They were becoming more frequent as time passed from then on. He wished he could stop them from coming. They remind him of how things had been when they were little. How they BOTH had been treated by their father, and increasingly showed him how their mother favored him over his sister. Reliving those memories filled him with guilt about how he could have done things differently for his little sister. How things could have ended differently if he had.

Those dreams woke him up most nights to a point where it would be impossible for him to fall back asleep with the memories still fresh in the forefront of his mind. But they also fueled his need to find her and try to make things right.

After a few days of searching for Azula without any real leads coming to fruition, the Fire Lord had to return to the capital to take care of his nation. While he wanted to stay out there, aiding in her search, his duties as the fire lord out shadowed his desire to find the lost princess. He left Peng and several other of his elite royal guards behind to continue their search. He had hoped that in doing so, he would feel some relief in the situation by putting his efforts into his work as the Fire Lord. Though, that certainly was not the case. If anything, not being so active in Azula's search brought him more anxiety. 

"Good Morning, Zuko", Ursa said to her son as he approached her and Kiyi sitting on the stone bench in front of the turtle duck pond. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"No less than usual", he told his mother. She was aware of her son's failure to get a good night's rest in the last few days so there would be no point in trying to hide such a thing. Neither did he feel the need to.

Kiyi was happily throwing bread crumbs to the tiny turtle ducks, paying little attention to the conversation going on behind her. Ursa made sure that the child was not actively listening before continuing the conversation. "So, what did Peng find?", she whispered to Zuko as he sat down next to her. 

"Nothing yet", Zuko replied distraughtly.

"Hmm", Ursa thought to herself. "Did you call off the search then?", she asked. Zuko stared blankly at his mother in confusion. "I could have sworn I saw Peng riding in."

"I don't know why...", Zuko began to say, but as if he was waiting for the perfect time to interject, Peng came running towards them.

"Lord Zuko", the guard shouted across the garden, nearly out of breath. He stopped just in front of them and bowed. "Sorry for the intrusion."

"Peng", Zuko said. "You didn't tell me you were returning so soon."

"Ah, yes", Peng began to say. "We found a man, Shimahara, who was in direct contact with Azula while she was still in the Fire Nation. We weren't able to get much out of him, but we may have gotten a lead as to where Azula was headed. I would have sent a messenger hawk with the message but I had reason to believe that this message could be intercepted."

"Let's talk inside", Zuko told his guard. He nodded to his mother as he rose to his feet and smiled to his little sister before leaving the gardens to go back inside with Peng. 

Zuko's office was large and ornately decorated. Golden and black painted dragons lined the front of the doorway as if they were protecting the room that held so much important information. Bookshelves filled with both ancient and newer texts about the history of the fire nation as well as tapestries depicting the most important events in the fire nation's past lined the ember red walls. Where once hung a portrait of his father on the back wall now hung a painting of himself. This new portrait vastly contrasted the one of his father, where Ozai's portrait was meant to convey strength and fear into anyone who entered the room, Zuko's was much more friendly. 

The Fire Lord took a seat behind his grand redwood desk which had a pile of official documents waiting for his signature plopped on its center. He sighed as he stared at all of the paperwork waiting for him. His least favorite part of the job.

Peng waited for Zuko to be seated before taking a seat in respect for his superior. 

"Please tell me you have good news, Peng", Zuko told the guard as he moved the pile of paper to the edge of his desk.

Peng took a small scroll out of the chest pocket of the casual shirt he had not yet changed out of and handed it to the fire lord. "Shimahara is a smuggler. We weren't able to get much out of him. He made it very clear that he was more scared of your sister than he was of us. But we still got enough to start looking in the right direction."

Zuko pulled on the burgundy ribbon that held the scroll together, unraveling the scroll and laid it out flat in front of him. He began to read what Peng had jotted down. 

Confirmed Shimahara was cornered and threatened by Princess Azula while ill from berries four days before note was found. Princess Azula's possible current location somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. Most likely sailed from the port as a stowaway. 30 vessels regularly make the trip to the earth kingdom to 10 different ports, 16 of which made way in the estimated time of her escape. 

"She's going to the earth kingdom?", Zuko asked as he read the contents of the scroll.

"Most likely", Peng said. "After hours of grilling him, he finally mentioned something about the Earth Kingdom. As soon as he said it, he seemed fearful, which told me that Azula would have traveled there after what he told her. I already have my men talking to the port master both in the village near Shuhon and the possible ports for instances of stowaways, as well as the captains of the ships. We estimate that there was a possible three to four days between when she questioned him and when she would have left, given the quality of the note she left."

Zuko sighed. "I don't like this", he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If she was getting information from this man that lead her to the Earth Kingdom, that must mean she is up to something." 

Since they found the note and heard of Azula helping the boy, Zuko had hoped that it meant that his sister was changing. Was becoming better. Of course, he always knew that the possibility of his sister being up to something was greater, but he was still hopeful. He wanted his sister to be better.

"Hence, the reason I feared the message could be intercepted. If Princess Azula is indeed still in the nation, she would know to look out for our hawks. I know this isn't necessarily what you wanted to hear", Peng said, aware of the hopes the Fire Lord had regarding the princess. "But we are headed in the right direction now, at least."

"But Azula did help that boy, didn't she?"

"From the conversation I had with Shimahara, it seemed to me like she was just trying to get information from him, and helping the boy was just a way to make sure the attention was taken off of them as quickly as possible."

Zuko retied the scroll and pushed it to the edge of the desk with the rest of the papers. "And what of Shimahara?"

"I have had him transferred to Boiling Rock under pretenses of conspiracy, withholding information, and smuggling", Peng replied. "I also instructed the warden to continue questioning him and to keep what we are doing under wraps. If he is able to break Shimahara, he will let us know."

Peng rose from his chair and placed his hands on the edge of Zuko's desk. "As for me, I will leave here promptly to continue the search."

Zuko stood up as well and walked around his desk to stand beside his guard. "Get some food and rest before you go", he said. "Thank you Peng. You are dismissed."

Peng bowed to his Fire Lord and exited the room, leaving Zuko by himself. As soon as the older man was gone he collapsed down into the seat in front of his desk, propping his elbow on the arm of the chair and resting his head in his hand. 

His worst fear had been confirmed and his hopes of being able to get through to Azula and make things right had been destroyed. Even after the taunting letter she left him, he still had some hope for Azula. Now, that wish was nothing more than what it was. A wish. He should have known better, given that this was Azula they were dealing with. Zuko cursed himself for holding on for so long and now knew that if and when he found Azula, there would be no room for such a dream. She would need to be apprehended and treated as the criminal she was further proving herself to be.