If Azula were to look back and chronicle her existence up until this point, she would say that altogether, life had not been extraordinarily unkind to her.
Her life had been one of wealth, luxury, and the praise that she was duly deserved. As Crown Princess of the Fire Nation and, for as short as it had been, former Fire Lord as well, her name was scrawled into the annals of her nation’s history and would remain that way for as long as said nation remained true to its heritage. She’d made her mark on the world, however one may look at it and think of her.
But that was a lifetime ago, or at least so it felt.
Azula carefully controlled her breathing as she ducked in a dense patch of foliage. Above her, a figure danced through the beams of light careening through the canopy, leaping from branch to branch like a spider-monkey, searching. Ty Lee.
Even from this distance, Azula could recognize the way she moved. There was no mistaking that fluid grace, the effortless way she contorted her body through the air as if gravity itself was merely a suggestion she occasionally chose to indulge in. Three years ago, Azula would have grudgingly admired it. As it stood, she thought about how difficult it would be to fight against on an empty stomach.
Azula waited for her former friend to pass before darting left and striding through the underbrush. The forests of the Earth Kingdom were thick with foliage and fauna of all shapes and sizes. A cat-viper hissed at her as she strayed too close to the rock it was lounging on, slithering into the shade of a tree and watching her with wary eyes. Azula used its basking platform as a foothold to launch herself towards a tree branch, swinging off onto a cliff just above.
The sound of a whip cracking somewhere in the distance made her spine straighten. She glanced behind her, scowling as she caught sight of a pink snout nosing through the brush a small length away.
I should have burned that village to the ground, she thought, turning away just as the blind visage of the shirshu poked its head through the bush.
Since escaping from the asylum that her dear brother had so kindly discarded her in, Azula’s life had been one exhausting chase after another. Zuzu had honestly surprised her with his quick reaction to the news of her escape, spreading word of the “insane princess” far and wide. A threat to peace, he called her, and he wasn’t exactly wrong.
Unfortunately, Azula hadn’t had much time for scheming her traitorous brother’s downfall during the past three years as she was much too busy running from whatever hunting party had seen fit to track her down like a rabid animal. She was lucky to find a place to stay for more than a month before being forced on the move again.
Her most recent stint in civilization had been the longest yet, in a small port town called Guan Ju. It was the kind of place where people came and went all the time, harking their wares or looking for a ship to take them away. Azula had found menial work as a fishmonger, reluctantly settling in among the masses she had once reviled. Three months she spent there, looking over her shoulder at every turn, before she slowly—foolishly—started to relax.
Of course, that was about when Ty Lee rolled through town, alongside a bounty hunter who had apparently been tracking Azula’s scent for a month.
Azula had abandoned everything at the first whiff of trouble, stealing a ratty skiff and taking off before they could reach her. Unfortunately, her escape had been noticed.
Even with her firebending to propel her, the skiff was horrifically slow as it rolled across the turbulent waves of the Earth Kingdom coast. Even worse, the shirshu was apparently more than comfortable bounding across rocky beaches for short stretches, and the tides easily brought her scent within reach of its incredible nose.
Deciding that it would be a dim fate to take the boat onto open ocean, Azula abandoned the skiff out of sight down the coast, setting it ablaze to disperse her scent, and fled into the dense woodland. That had been three days ago, yet the chase had continued.
There was a bleak irony to the situation, Azula recognized. Just a few years ago, she had been on the other end of this situation, relentlessly perusing her quarry across the land. How the tables had turned.
Pressing herself into the shadow of a rocky outcropping, Azula took the opportunity to catch her breath. A river rushed nearby, masking the sounds of her heavy breathing. She was running on fumes, her stomach cramping with every inhale. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, and even that had been nothing more than a handful of berries she’d gathered from a bush. Before that, it had been a rabbit she’d charred on a stick.
Survival had a way of humbling even the most refined palates.
The sound of movement above her made her freeze. A rock tumbled down the cliff, landing just in front of her hiding spot, quickly followed by an annoyed groan. She glanced down to see the shadow of a figure just above her, and cursed.
Knowing that she couldn’t move out into the open or she would be discovered, Azula looked for an alternate path of escape. After a bit of frantic searching, she found it; an opening in the rock, partially obscured by a tangle of roots and creeping vines. A cave.
Azula had just made it through the gap just as the soft thud of feet hitting earth reached her ears. She turned, one hand darting backwards and then jetting forward as she lowered her stance. Blue flames roared from her fist, a torrent of azure fire directed at the silhouette that had materialized behind her.
Faced with her flame, the figure didn’t bow. Their arms swept from one side to another in an arc, and the river nearby erupted and flowed towards them. Azula’s fire collided with a curtain of water, erupting into a thick cloud of hissing steam that billowed outward through the chasm.
“Give up, Azula.”
An infuriatingly familiar voice cut through the haze. Azula’s jaw clenched as a figure stepped through the dissipating steam, dusky brown skin and blue Water Tribe robes coming into focus. The young woman’s face was set in a determined glare, blue eyes like chips of ice and dredging up unpleasant memories of cold helplessness in the former princess.
“Ah,” Azula drawled, carefully controlling her breathing in case of an attack. “So you’re here too, peasant? Strange; one would assume the Avatar’s fiance would have better things to do than chase a poor refugee through the mountains.”
Katara’s face twisted with an impressive amount of rage. A gesture and the water she’d used to block Azula’s attack coiled around her arms like a pair of living serpents, ready to strike. “You're not a refugee. Or did you forget that you burned a village to the ground just a few months ago”
“I wasn’t aware that defending oneself from a lynch mob constituted terrorism,” Azula replied coolly, though her mind was racing. Katara’s presence changed things considerably. Ty Lee and the bounty hunter were one matter, but she was in no position to fight a waterbending master. She was tired, hungry, and the sun was beginning to set, sapping her of what little strength she had left.
Trying to buy herself some time, Azula decided to fish for some information. “Tell me, did my brother send you as well? Or is this simply a personal vendetta?”
“I just happened to be nearby when I heard you showed your slimy face,” Katara said.
“Convenient,” Azula said, her voice dripping with disdain. “And how fortuitous for Zuzu that you were so close. Does he at least pay you for your services, or do you just enjoy acting as his errand girl?”
Katara’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not doing this for Zuko. You’re a danger to everyone around you. You always have been.”
“How poignant.” Azula took a measured step back, noting the way Katara eyed her. “And what exactly do you intend to do with me?”
“That’s not my decision to make,” Katara said. “Though if I had it my way, I’d lock you up and throw away the key. You’re pure evil. Just like your father. You tried to kill your own brother!”
“Fratricide is surprisingly common in the royal family,” Azula pointed out, taking a small amount of pleasure in the way Katara’s expression tightened. “I’m just one of the few who failed on the attempt. If Zuzu wasn’t such a softhearted fool, he would have returned the favor. But he didn’t, and now we’re here.”
Katara’s eyes widened as Azula spun on her heel and kicked out with a leg, sending a flash of flame towards her. Azula didn’t wait to see how the waterbender reacted, turning and fleeing into the cave as steam hissed behind her.
The narrow channel opened into a wide cavern surrounding a pool of restlessly shifting water. Azula figured it must be channeled from somewhere—maybe the river outside. She looked around for another exit.
Azula’s heart sank as her golden eyes swept the cavern, quickly finding that this was a dead end. The only way out was the way she’d come in, and Katara would be stepping through that entrance at any moment.
She looked down, searching for an outlet below, and paused.
The pool at the center of the cavern was just that, a pool. There was nowhere for the water to flow from, yet despite that, it shifted and churned like a living thing. The pool glowed with unknown power, casting a luminous glow onto the stone walls surrounding it.
Azula realized at once what she had stumbled onto. She’d read about places like this in the royal archives, back when she still had access to such things. This pool or perhaps the water itself sat between the physical world and the spirit realm, belonging to neither yet claimed by both. They were said to have mystical properties, but try as she might, Azula couldn’t remember anything that might help her out of this desperate situation.
Heavy footsteps echoed behind her, and Azula turned to see Katara silhouetted in the narrow entrance, watching her with a stoney expression. No doubt Ty Lee and that blasted bounty hunter were right behind her.
“That’s enough, Azula.” Katara demanded. “There’s nowhere left to run.”
As much as Azula hated to admit it, she was right. She was exhausted, starving, and the sun was moments away from dipping below the horizon. And even at full strength, the only thing more disadvantageous than taking on a waterbender of this caliber in an enclosed space would be fighting an earthbender under a mountain.
The thought of the asylum rose unbidden in her mind. The cold stone walls and screaming of madmen down the halls. The pitying looks from the attendants. The whispers that never stopped, even when she was alone.
Azula’s jaw tightened. Never again.
Another set of footsteps echoed through the cavern entrance, and Azula’s expression tightened as Ty Lee stepped into the cavern, her painted face a mask of complex emotions.
“Well, look who finally decided to join us,” Azula called. “A step behind as usual. Bravo, Ty Lee. It's good to see you haven’t changed.”
Ty Lee’s eyes slowly slid across Azula’s form, taking her in. She frowned as she saw how dirty and emaciated the princess had become, and a small notion of guilt crept into her eyes before she quickly blinked it away.
“Come home, Azula,” she pleaded. “We can help you. You don’t have to live like this.”
“Help me?” Azula laughed. There was a manic edge to it that unnerved even her. “I’ve already had a rather large dose of your help. More than I can stomach, actually. I’d rather not spend the rest of my youth clawing at the walls of a stone tomb to escape the ghost of my mother.”
Her words revealed more than intended and Azula pursed her lips as Ty Lee gaped at her. She glanced behind her at the churning pool of water, deliberating. “No... I think I’d much rather take my chances elsewhere.”
“Azula...” Ty Lee’s voice came out strained as she saw what Azula was thinking. “Don’t.”
Azula smiled at her “friend’s” concern. It wasn’t a pleasant expression.
Ty Lee took a step forward, her hands raised. Even from across the cavern, Azula could see the way they trembled. “You don’t have to do this. We don’t have to bring you back to the asylum. We can figure out another way.”
But Azula had already made up her mind. There was nowhere to run, and she wouldn’t go back to that awful asylum, nor would she bear the look of pity on her brother’s face when he saw her.
She took a step back, her heels perched precariously on the edge of the chasm. The waters of the pool churned below, crests of luminescent liquid reaching towards her as if asking her to take the plunge.
Katara took a step forward and Azula’s head snapped towards her. Gold burned into icy blue, and Azula smiled. “Tell Zuzu I’ll say hello to grandfather for him.”
“Azula!” Ty Lee’s shout followed her as she took the final step backwards, careening towards the spirit pool’s embrace.
She landed without a splash. The water was colder than the heart of a glacier and Azula couldn’t help but gasp, letting out precious oxygen. The water rushed to fill the void in her lungs, chilling her to the core.
Azula didn’t fight the current as she sank deeper into the pool, the image of Katara and Ty Lee looking down into the water becoming murky and dark as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss.
You’re a monster, Azula.
Her mother’s voice. Soft and disappointed, the way it had always been when speaking to her. Of course the woman couldn’t let her go in peace.
You always have been.
“Shut up,” she wanted to say, but the words came out as bubbles that were swallowed by the void. Her lungs burned, screaming for air that wasn’t there. Her fingers twitched uselessly at her sides.
I never loved you. How could I? You were wrong from the start.
Mother... The pressure was unbearable now, compressing her chest until she was certain her ribs would crack. Her heart stuttered in her chest. This is all your fault, you know?
Another voice came then, scratchy and unbearably soft. A voice she hated like nothing else
Azula, Zuko whispered, mournful and full of regret. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.
Sorry? She wanted to scream. You put me in that place! You took my throne and left me to rot!
I’m sorry, sister.
Azula’s eyes were growing heavy and she let them slip shut as she drifted away, only to be brought from the brink by yet another ghost.
You are my greatest failure.
Father? Azula wondered, but she had never heard his voice like this. He had never spoken those words to her; she made sure of it.
We had the world in our hands, the voice continued. But you weren’t strong enough to keep it. You had such potential, Azula, and you squandered it.
The words struck deeper than any blade could reach, and for the first time, she found herself reviling the man. She had spent her life chasing his approval, molding herself into the perfect weapon, the perfect heir, the perfect daughter. And for what? For him to dismiss her at the very end, just as everyone else had?
I hate you, she thought as fog overtook her mind. I hate all of you.
Then burn, daughter, her father’s voice replied coldly. Use that anger, and burn until there is nothing left.
Azula’s eyes snapped open to daylight, and she surfaced with a violent gasp, brine filling her mouth as she choked and retched. The world spun around her, a kaleidoscope of gray sky and dark water.
The cave was gone; Katara and Ty Lee were nowhere to be found. There was just water in every direction, interspersed by metal husks that jutted out of the ocean like crags around a beach.
Azula kicked weakly, trying to orient herself. Her limbs felt like they were filled with lead, and her lungs burned with every ragged breath, but she was alive. Now she just needed to ensure she stayed that way.
Survival instinct took over, and Azula turned in the water to find anything to latch onto. There was nothing close by but to her relief, she spied a shore just a small distance away. She paddled towards it, using the waning strength in her limbs to bring herself to salvation.
The sand was coarse and rough underneath her palms as she crawled onto the, the surf lapping at her heels as she gasped for air.
She stayed there for a moment, head bowed, simply breathing. Then, instinct reasserted itself, and her golden eyes began to sweep her surroundings, taking stock of unfamiliar territory.
The beach stretched out behind her, a narrow strip of gray sand bordered by dark, choppy water. But it was what lay before her that made her breath catch.
Massive structures rose in the distance, taller than any building she had seen in all four nations. Odd metal carriages rumbled along flat gray paths at speeds that seemed impossible, belching noxious fumes from their rears. The air itself tasted wrong, thick with acridity and an underlying tang that reminded her of the factories during the war.
And beyond it all, rising from the ocean like a monument to greatness, was a structure that defied explanation. A great metallic platform jutting from the waves, its surface dotted with bizarre machinery and topped with a shimmering, translucent dome of light. It was like nothing she had ever seen, and it nearly stole her breath away.
Azula stared at it for a long moment, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing.
Where am I?
She pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, swaying slightly as her body protested the movement. Her clothes hung heavy with seawater, dripping onto the sand below. She took a step forward, then another, her eyes never leaving the glowing shield in the distance.
Where in Agni’s name had the spirit pool sent her?
“Ma’am? Are you okay?”
Azula spun towards the voice, her body shifting into a defensive stance on instinct. Her hands came up, fingers splayed and ready to ignite, but the motion sent a wave of dizziness crashing through her and she stumbled.
The woman who had spoken took a step back, raising her hands in a placating gesture. She was older than Azula by perhaps two decades, with gentle lines around her eyes and dark hair streaked grey. Her features were similar to those Azula had become accustomed to in the Earth Kingdom, but possessed a certain softness that they lacked. Her garments were strange.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, her voice soft. “You’re soaking wet. Did you fall in the water?”
Azula eyed the woman. She wished to ward her away, to not let her get too close, her body was weak, and the brief surge of adrenaline that had propelled her to her feet was already fading.
“Can you hear me?” the woman asked. Her dark eyes swept over Azula’s form, taking in the ragged state of her clothes and the wild look in her eyes. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve had a hard time.”
Azula’s lip curled. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion, peasant.”
The word slipped out before she could stop it, a reflex more than anything. The woman blinked, seemingly more bemused than offended. “Well I gave it anyway. Do you need help?”
Azula’s instinct was to refuse but the words died in her throat as another wave of dizziness crashed over her, and she shook her head free of stars.
She was in no condition to do anything. As much as it galled her to admit, she needed time to recover, to figure out where she was and what had happened to her. And as much as she distrusted the stranger’s apparent kindness, she recognized an opportunity when she saw one.
“Fine,” Azula said through gritted teeth. “But touch me without permission and you’ll regret it.”
The woman’s eyebrows rose at the threat, but she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she simply nodded and reached into the bag slung over her shoulder, producing a thin wrap that she held out.
“Here. You’re shivering.”
Azula hadn’t even noticed. She looked down at her hands and found that they were indeed trembling. Whether it was from cold or exhaustion, she couldn’t say, but she grabbed the wrap all the same and draped it over her shoulders.
“My name is Maya,” the woman offered. “What’s yours?”
Azula deliberated for a moment before settling on, “Lin.”
“That’s a lovely name,” Maya complimented as Azula stood. She gestured toward the nearby city. “If you want to come with me, Lin, I have somewhere warm where you can rest.”
She strode onward, and Azula was left but with no choice but to follow lest she gets left behind.
“Why are you doing this?” Azula asked suspiciously. “I can’t imagine it’s common practice to pick up vagrants around here.”
“Oh it’s certainly not,” Maya chuckled, glancing at Azula. Her eyes lingered on Azula’s face, a soft note entering her tone. “But you remind me so much of someone I lost that I can’t help but want to help you.”
“Who?”
“My daughter,” Maya said mournfully. “I imagine she’d be around your age by now had she not... Well, there’s something to be said about remembering ghosts of the past, and you’re her spitting image.”
Azula said nothing to that. She didn’t know how to respond to such a statement, nor did she particularly want to. The concept of a mother seeing her lost child in a stranger was foreign to her in ways she didn’t care to examine.
They walked in silence for a time, Maya leading the way through streets that made Azula’s skin crawl. The buildings loomed overhead, and the people were strange. The sheer scale of the city was staggering, and despite herself, Azula found her eyes darting this way and that, cataloging details.
The streets grew narrower as they walked, the towering buildings pressing in on either side like the walls of a canyon. The crowds thinned here, replaced by sporadic clusters of people who eyed them with varying degrees of suspicion and disinterest. Paint marred the walls in colors and symbols that meant nothing to Azula, yet carried an unmistakable sense of territorial claim.
Maya walked with the unhurried pace of someone who knew these streets well, her attention split between the path ahead and the young woman beside her. Azula, on the other hand, was much more vigilant, and thus noticed the looks they were getting.
“Almost there,” Maya said, gesturing ahead. “Just a few more blocks.”
Azula nodded curtly, her gaze snagging on a group of men loitering near the mouth of an alley they were passing through. There were four of them, with close-cropped hair and clothes emblazoned with the same colors she’d seen on the walls. One of them said something to the others and they turned, eyes settling on the pair of women with an interest that made Azula’s hackles rise.
“Keep walking,” Maya murmured, her voice tightening. “Don’t make eye contact.”
Azula’s jaw clenched. She had never been one to avert her eyes from anyone, but she recognized the wisdom of avoiding unnecessary confrontation, especially in her current state. Unfortunately, caution was not something the world seemed interested in affording her.
“Well, well,” one of the men drawled, stepping directly into their path. He was large, easily a head taller than Azula, with a face that looked like it had been broken and poorly reset. Repeatedly. “What do we have here?”
“Excuse us,” Maya said, her voice steady despite the tension Azula could see in her shoulders. “We’re just passing through.”
“Passing through?” Another man moved to flank them, cutting off any easy retreat. “This is Empire territory. Nothing passes through without our say-so. Especially not some bitch.”
Maya stiffened beside her, and Azula felt the woman’s hand brush against her arm. The men circled like wolf-vultures scenting blood, and Azula eyed one as he started dangerously close.
“Look at this one,” the first man said, his eyes raking over Azula with a predatory leer. “Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
His hand strayed towards Azula’s rear, and that was about when she decided she had had enough of this.
Her hand shot out, catching his wrist in a grip that made his eyes widen. For a heartbeat, everything was still. Then fire bloomed from her palm, racing up his arm with a roar that drowned out his scream.
“Try to touch me again,” she said, her voice carrying over the shrieking, “and I’ll reduce you to ash.”
She released him, and he stumbled back, slapping at the flames that crawled up his sleeve. His companions froze, shock rooting them in place as their comrade rolled on the ground, desperately trying to smother the azure fire that refused to die.
Azula turned to face them, a sneer curling her lip. The wet clothes that had clung to her body began to steam, moisture evaporating as her inner fire stoked itself to life.
“Shit! She’s a cape!”
“Silence!” Azula snapped, having no notion nor care as to what the man was talking about. “I’ve been through quite an ordeal, and I am in no mood to be accosted by gutter trash.”
The man who’d been burned had finally managed to smother the flames, but his arm was an angry, weeping mess of blistered flesh. He looked up at her with fear and hatred in equal measure, cradling his wounded limb against his chest.
“You’re gonna pay for that!”
The word died in his throat as Azula stepped forward, flames dancing in her palms. The azure light cast strange shadows across her face, illuminating features that had been described as angelic by some and demonic by many more. Right now, with her golden eyes gleaming in the firelight and her lips curled in a cold smile, she was sure looked every inch the monster her mother had always claimed she was.
“None of you are listening,” Azula said, her voice dropping to a dangerous purr. “I said I was in no mood.”
One of the men, bolder or perhaps stupider than the rest, lunged at her with a guttural cry. Azula simply twisted her wrist, sending a lashing of blue fire across his chest that sent him staggering backward with a howl of agony.
“Stop!” Maya’s voice cut through the chaos, high and frightened. “Please, just let us go!”
Azula ignored her. These fools had tried to take advantage of her weakness, and that was unacceptable.
The remaining men were backing away now, the fight draining from their eyes as they watched their comrades writhe on the ground.
“What’s the matter?” Azula asked, tilting her head with mock curiosity. “I thought you wanted to play. Wasn’t this your intention? To corner two women in an alley and have fun with them?”
She raised both hands, the blue fires flaring higher. The light danced across the walls of the alley, casting the fools’ fear in stark relief.
“If you're starting to get cold feet, I'm more than willing to have my own fun in your place.”
The screams that ensued were quite possibly the greatest thing she had heard in months.