12Ikem was waiting for the group at the palace gates. The man shared the same haggard look that the rest of them did- a night that featured a kidnapped daughter and a disappeared wife would not allow him to sleep. He half-stumbled into a hug as he embraced Ursa and Kiyi, eyes closing both in relief and in rest. "Thank the spirits..." he murmured.
Azula awkwardly sidestepped past her stepfather, sensing that there was no positive conversation to be had there, and continued through the palace gates. Despite wanting to stay for his mother, Zuko went in after Azula- there was technically still an apprehend-on-sight order on the princess, so letting her walk in alone was not a good idea. Mai and the Kyoshi Warriors followed suit.
...
The second person awaiting the group was Kei Lo, who surprised Zuko with a punch to the face.
"What the hell was that for?" Zuko shouted, rubbing his cheek. Suki stepped forward to restrain him, but Zuko signaled that he was fine.
"What do you think?" Kei Lo shot back. "Do you know how much danger you put my girlfriend in? She could have been killed!"
Zuko was about to give a reply, but Mai held him back, saying. "Let me handle this." Turning to Kei Lo, she told him, "I can take care of myself, hon. I'm a better fighter than you are, remember?"
After a moment, she hastily added, "But your concern is touching."
Azula had started to walk off again, so Zuko jogged up next to her. A smirk was on his sister's face, and Zuko only held out for a few seconds before asking, "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Azula drawled. "It's just that you lost your girlfriend to a completely inconsequential peasant. That's a new low, even for you."
Zuko shrugged. "He might be better for Mai- I think our relationship might have been doomed given how messy our past is. Besides, I can't tell Mai who to love."
"Yeah you can," Azula retorted. "How do you think father got mother? His natural charms?"
"And look how that turned out for him," Zuko countered. "He was overthrown by one child, and had half his face melted off by the other."
"I suppose that's true," Azula agreed. "Oh well, we'll just have to get you a new girlfriend."
"Wha- that's not necessary."
"Maybe the water peasant. She seemed awfully concerned when I hit you in our Agni Kai..."
"She already has a boyfriend!"
"Or maybe the fangirl. You spend all day with her, right? There's probably some attraction that's been building up..."
"She has a boyfriend too!"
"I mean, if I were to fake-assassinate you, they would probably run straight into your arms..."
"AZULA!"
…
"Azula!"
Azula flinched. 'Shut it out,' she thought, 'shut it out...'
Two hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders, and Azula startled in surprise. "Oh..." she mumbled, "you're actually here."
"Azula! I called your name five times! Were you so deep into meditation that you didn't hear me?"
"No, I've been... erm... I've been practicing ignoring your voice."
"What... why would you do that?" Ursa asked.
"...I don't want to talk about it."
…
"Azula, I'm busy right now. Wait, wait, you actually might be useful here."
"Well, of course I'd be useful, dear brother. And since I'm such a good sister, I'm willing to extend my help."
Zuko gave Azula a look of exasperation and sighed. "Well, basically I'm wondering what to do with Ukano. He committed treason, but then again, he was just your minion and here you are with more or less a full pardon."
"Well, it's not like he has the bargaining position I had when you made your offer to me- don't give me that look Zuzu- so I would say off with his head. You do want to get back at Mai, don't you?"
"Wha- I don't... You know what, I'll let him off with a warning this time, just because it's basically the opposite of what you just said."
...
"I don't trust you."
"Mhmm."
"I still can't believe that you managed to convince Zuko that he's safe around you."
"Mhmm."
"I've got my eye on you. I beat you before, and I can do it again."
At this, Azula sighed and put down the scroll she was reading. "Yes, I've been meaning to thank you for that."
Katara reacted with surprise. "You wanted to... thank me for beating you? Uh, it's nice for you to show some humility, I guess?"
"Of course," Azula replied. "Our duel made me realize that I'd fallen complacent in my training. I can now fire lightning with minimal need to move my fingers, which means I can still kill you even if you freeze me in a block of ice."
"...Yeah, I really don't trust you."
…
"Where will you go now?"
"My my, so eager to get rid of me, dear brother? I didn't know you felt so unsafe around me. I personally was thinking that I could oversee your foreign policy."
Zuko chuckled. "And have you restarting the war? I don't think I want our foreign policy to be threats, assassinations, and coups."
Azula put on a puppy-dog face. Zuko was not swayed. "Okay, fine. I was thinking about joining the Fire Warriors. They are probably the most competent firebenders, besides me of course, that I have ever met."
Zuko smiled. "I'm... actually happy to hear that. I think they could be good for you. And you aren't... bothered about them turning on you?"
Azula shrugged. "Eh, they saved me from mountains of paperwork and having to be diplomatic. I think I'd rather let you be bored out of your mind."
…
"Okay, I believe you. Will you please go away now?"
Ursa was about to knock on the Azula's door but held back, not sure whether or not the princess had company already.
"Yes, I heard you the thousand other times you said that."
Well, it seemed like she was talking to herself again (the palace servants had noted that propensity). Azula saw her in the mirror when Ursa opened the door, and she muttered, "Well, there's two of you now, so I suppose one of you is real. What are you doing here, mother?"
"I... I thought you might like to join me for lunch today?"
Azula snorted. "I figured that my dining alone would be an indicator that I would not wish such a thing."
"Well, it's just that..." Ursa said, fidgeting nervously, "I was talking with Iroh"- Azula's eyes narrowed in disgust- "and he said that you might not mind your, um, visions if we got along better."
Azula sighed. "I would normally be loathe to follow any advice that comes from him. But I am rather at my wit's end at the moment, so I am willing to entertain his foolish notions."
A wide grin seized Ursa's face and she grabbed her daughter's hands with her own warm ones, pulling her from the room.
…
Another knock on her door. Azula sighed, getting up from her meditation and opening her door. To her surprise, it was not her mother there, but rather Suki. "Hmm, I suppose you are here to tell me what a terrible person I am?"
Suki shook her head. "No, it's not that... you said that you'd never gotten to be a girl. I asked Ty Lee, and... well, I'm here to show you how to do your hair!"
Azula stood dumbfounded. "I feel like neither of us trusts the other enough for that to happen. Aren't you worried about what I might do?"
Suki shrugged. "Eh, if you were planning on killing me, you would have done it already. You've had your chances."
Azula scoffed. "That's a terrible reason. I chose not to kill you for completely tactical reasons."
"Yeah, okay. So, here's how you do a topknot..."
…
"The Fire Warriors are leaving tomorrow."
"I assume you are going to leave with them?"
"That would be correct. I've probably overstayed my welcome anyways."
"Well," Zuko chuckled, "Maybe that wouldn't be the case if you hadn't threatened the Avatar, the Water Tribe leaders, and the stability of the peace we've worked so hard for."
Azula snorted. "I'm pretty sure that Water Tribe snitch exaggerated on all those counts, brother. You should do some internal cleaning if you have advisors like that."
"Well, whatever the case," Zuko replied, moving from behind his desk to embrace his sister, "these past weeks have been a lot more peaceful than I could have expected. You still have somewhat of a temper, but it's a lot better than what it was before. I think I can trust you with knowing how I got my colored fire."
Azula's eyes widened in anticipation. "Well, go on."
"There's just one condition," Zuko continued. "There is another who knows of this secret. You have to let him accompany you to this place."
"Okay," Azula conceded. "Where is this place?"
Zuko grinned mischievously. "Ask Iroh."
"You suck."
A/N:
So S&S 3 got leaked 2 weeks ago, which means I technically didn't finish this in time. Knowing what happened made me not as gung-ho about finishing this. But I said somewhere that I was going to finish this by the end of March, so... yeah.