Chapter Text
"It should be here," Azula's brother, Zuko, scowls as he looks down at his phone.
Rain pounds down upon their clothing and their backpacks. Azula's dark hair is soaked through and sticks uncomfortably to her skin. Lightning strikes from somewhere behind them, illuminating half of Zuko's scarred face. His lips are curled into a scowl, creating unnecessary wrinkles on his face. Azula rolls her eyes.
"Put the phone away, it'll be obsolete in this weather," Azula tells him, "and it is here."
Zuko puts the phone away but looks over at her, his brows knitted together. Without any other words, Azula places her hand out in front of her. The area in front of them looks empty and desolate, but as Azula places her hand forward, the image shifts. Her hand disappears and the view in front of them begins to ripple, like waves on the water. Azula roughly grabs onto her brother and shoves him forward, and he disappears with a startled yell.
A second later, Azula takes a deep breath and glances behind them before entering. Her entire vision shifts and the rain suddenly stops. She blinks and an enormous town stands in front of them, lit by moonlight. There's no rain inside of the shield and the streets are empty of people.
Inhaling through her nose, Azula closes her eyes and re-opens them, to see her clothes are completely dried as is her hair. Zuko looks over at her and attempts to do the same thing, but fails. With a roll of her eyes, Azula touches his clothing and heat bends. His clothing instantly dries and he shakes his mop of dark hair to get it out of his eyes.
"June said our house is on the outskirts," Azula says to him, "it'll look abandoned, but it's enchanted."
Zuko nods, "Are you alright?"
He grabs her arms and moves her sleeve to examine the fresh scar that stems from the inside of her wrist to her elbow. Even with her powers, it scarred and Azula jerks her arm away.
"I'm fine, let's keep moving," Azula tells him and though he frowns again, he nods.
The siblings make their way toward the other side of town, both silent but on edge. Azula has her ears perked for any sounds, but hears nothing but quiet conversation and music. The streets are empty and it only makes the siblings more uneasy. They pass an expansive building with "Republic High" plastered on top and keep moving.
"I'm so excited to go through high school again," Zuko says sarcastically.
"You've done it a billion times, it'll be fine. It's just...different now," Azula shrugs.
"Yeah, because we can't use our powers," Zuko murmurs, "or we'll only get more eyes on us."
"You can use them, just don't be a moron about it," Azula tells him as they begin to walk up a large hill, "don't overdo it, a little flirting here and there, a little mind reading and you'll get perfect grades."
"Easy for you to say," Zuko fires back, "you're the prodigy."
Azula clenches her jaw and Zuko sighs, "Sorry, it just comes out sometimes. You can't erase a millennium of hate."
"I know," Azula concedes, "but we need each other right now. No matter how much we hate each other, we have to work together or we'll die."
"I don't hate you," Zuko tells her.
Azula doesn't say anything as they finally reach their destination. The two-story house looks unimpressive, far from the best place they've stayed at. They've been to Dubai and Paris, to Zurich and Berlin, to Hong Kong and Beijing, but now they're stuck in the Midwest. How pathetic.
The front door has been completely ripped off and sits off to the side. The windows have been boarded up and it's badly in need of a power wash. Moss grows along one side and the grass surrounding the house is overgrown and covered in weeds. Even the house lights look broken.
"Lovely," Azula blows a strand of hair out of her face, "let's get inside."
Zuko nods and follows her inside. As soon as they walk through the doorstep, their surroundings change again. The inside was modern, complete with a television and a marble coffee table. The floors were a dark wood and the walls were painted a light color. The kitchen was full of stainless steel and light cabinets.
"She did a good job, but we have to fix that door, I'll put wards up," Azula tells him.
"Let's just get settled in first, we can fix it tomorrow. It'll look strange if we break in today," Zuko says.
Azula reluctantly nods and follows her brother up the stairs. There are three rooms upstairs, two complete with nameplates for each sibling. Azula rolls her eyes at the unnecessary details but enters her room. The room is full of black and red, her favorite colors. In the middle of the room sits a queen-sized bed and Azula throws her backpack onto it. A laptop, not even out of the box, sits on her desk next to a floor-length mirror. She bites her lip as she walks over to the mirror and gently takes it off the wall. She turns it away, so the wooden back faces her, and rests it against the wall. There's a lone window in her room and she walks over to it.
Peering outside, she sees the entire town lit up with a streetlights. It's much smaller than they're used to living in, and Azula can see the few stores they have here. Still, it's more well-protected than a big city like New York or Chicago, so they would settle here for now. Turning her attention to the forest on one side of the house, Azula makes eye contact with multiple pairs of eyes by the trees. From this distance, all Azula can see is the glow of their eyes. She knows they can't see her, no one would be able to see through the magic on this building, but it still puts her on edge.
There's around twelve pairs of eyes, all huddled next to one another. The wolves stare up at the house, as if they can sense her and her brother. Azula knows their kind, knows that the mutts are trying to stick their noses in places they shouldn't and turns away. A lone howl breaks the silence and she hears more werewolves join in. Soon enough, the forest is quiet again and the eyes are gone.
Laying down on the bed, Azula stares at the ceiling. At times like this, she wishes her body needed sleep or food, or anything to pass the time. She knows they have a few more hours before sunrise and settles in for the new day to come.
As soon as the sun is up, Zuko knocks on her door. Azula answers it almost immediately and he gives her an expectant look. She sighs, grabs her sunglasses, and follows him downstairs. Grabbing onto his hand, she murmurs one of the only spells she knows under her breath and begins to move their conjoined hands in unison. They move from room to room, Azula repeating different variations of the same spell. Her legs shake as they get outside, but she knows the biggest one is yet to come.
"Are you okay?" Zuko asks her.
"I'll be fine, we need to finish this," Azula says and grits her teeth. Exhaustion radiates through her body and she closes her eyes and imagines an enormous shield around their house. Murmuring a new incantation, Azula relies on her brother's energy and her own to finish the spell. She imagines the energy being released into the air around them, filling the air and forming a bubble.
Blood seeps from her nose as she finishes the spell and Zuko grabs onto her to steady her. She opens her eyes and wipes her nose to see golden liquid on her finger.
"You should rest, I know that takes a lot out of you," Zuko suggests.
"We need to fix that door first," Azula tells him, "it would be suicide to leave the front door open. None of the reinforcement spells will work with only a doorframe."
Zuko presses his lips together but nods. He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and hands it to her, she presses it to her nose until the golden blood stops flowing. She doesn't say thank you, not that she would ever say that. They weren't like that, and it was a miracle they hadn't gotten into a larger fight by now. When she puts the handkerchief away, Zuko takes it as a go-ahead and lets go of her before beginning the walk down the hill. The sun hasn't been up for long, it could only be seven in the morning at the latest, but they walk slowly.
Azula pulls out a ripped passport and glances down at it, "You ready, Lee?"
Zuko frowns, "As ready as I can be, Jin."
Pocketing the identification, Azula takes a minute to bask in the sunlight. The siblings had both agreed on getting new identities and after finding the perfect victims, they "became" them. Of course, Jin had a different nose than Azula, and Lee wasn't scarred like Zuko was, but it was good enough to pass. The streets seem more lively now, and Zuko puts his sunglasses on. Azula follows his lead as they walk into the square and she ignores the way some heads turn to stare at them.
"This isn't suspicious at all," Azula muses and her brother elbows her.
"Like we had a choice, if Zaheer wasn't up our ass we would've enrolled at a more normal point," Zuko snorts.
"Shit happens," Azula smirks and they finally spot a hardware store. Azula takes the lead, walking in front of her brother and trying the front door. It opens and the siblings enter the empty building. There's a lone worker at the cashier's desk, who looks up as soon as the door opens.
"Can I help you?" He asks around the toothpick in his mouth.
"We need hinges, a screwdriver, and screws," Zuko says.
"Aisle 4 and 7," he says and pushes back his long brown hair, "you two new in town?"
Zuko leaves her side to get the items they need. Azula takes a step forward toward the worker and he sits up in his chair.
"We're visiting family," Azula lies, "we'll be here for a few months maybe."
"I'm Jet," the worker smirks at them, "we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
"Oh? Will we?" Azula purrs.
"Hopefully, but the town isn't that big. Are you two going to Republic High?" Jet asks, "I'm a senior."
"Oh wow, so are we," Azula says in a fake-excited tone, "what's there to do around this town anyways?"
"Shit all," Jet snorts, "mostly house parties. Just stay out of the woods, alright? I don't want anyone getting hurt, especially since you guys are new."
"The woods?" Zuko asks as he pops back into the conversation with the items in his hands.
"Whole lotta wolves around here," Jet says, "they're big as fuck. We've had a few people get attacked, as long as you don't go in there when it's dark, you'll be fine."
"What do you know about these wolves?" Azula lowers her sunglasses and meets Jet's eyes.
His eyes widen before they glaze over, his tone changes, becoming less confident and more monotone, "There's myths that there used to be a cult of wolf worshippers in town. Everyone's taught not to go into the forest, that's the number one rule."
Azula hums and places her glasses back on. Jet blinks and then his posture changes, getting his swagger back as he scans their items, "That's good to know, thank you Jet."
He smiles but looks equally confused, "Uh yeah, of course."
Azula plasters on a smile and her brother frowns as Jet bags their items. Zuko throws down a twenty and takes their items without any other words. Azula throws a flirty wave off her shoulder as they leave and Jet winks at her.
"I hate men," Azula says as soon as the door shuts behind them.
"He's human," Zuko adds, "he seems scared of the woods. Not like he's one of them."
"He can't be human," Azula lowers her voice, "maybe he's just presenting that way. June said the town wards don't let anyone in that's human."
"And are we sure anyone else knows that?" Zuko asks.
Azula rolls her eyes, "I'd assume the adults would. Maybe the wolves just assume they're alone here with humans."
"Great, we're surrounded by mongrel dogs," Zuko shakes his head.
"You're sounding like me now, Lee," Azula smirks.
"What should we say we are?" Zuko asks.
Azula thinks for a moment, "Humans? We can feign innocence, it'll get less heat off of our backs if we act unaware of them."
"They'll sniff us out," Zuko shakes his head, "wouldn't you think so?"
"They've never met things like us," Azula says cockily, "they won't be able to differentiate the scent enough for it to be noticeable. That's what Father told me at least."
Zuko noticeably flinches at the mention of their father, "Okay."
"Don't worry about it, Lee, we get in, we do our jobs and we get out. And we can finally go home," Azula speaks, "we just need to keep our heads down."
"Fine," Zuko agrees, "first, let's just fix this damned door."