#ragzie scribbles

Azula’s hair was in a simple top-knot, tied with a green ribbon, with the bangs framing her forehead, even and pretty. The rest of her hair fell over her shoulders – over the humble Earth Kingdom Yukata with short-sleeves and golden embroidery. She looked clean and well-kempt. The Earth Kingdom guards stood behind her on either side – as if to accompany her rather than to intimidate her.

She looked like she owned the entire world when she walked in.

But her eyes . . . Her eyes told a different story. A story, Katara thought, that only she noticed.

Nobody said a word. Nobody had to. The entire meeting hall was silent after months of yelling and chaos when Azula entered and stood a good distance from the meeting table.

After a moment of contemplation, a moment too long, Azula opened her mouth. “I always knew incompetence knew no bounds. But a room full of it? My, My . . . What a sight!”

An Earth Kingdom official raised from his seat in defiance. “You have no right to speak unless spoken to!”

“Oh, don’t I?” Azula mocked, as she strode towards the huge table around which they were all seated at.

She scanned her gaze over each and every one of the members participating in the meeting, stopping a second longer on Katara, and then moving on.

"You're here to answer for the war crimes that you've committed in the war." The official replied sternly. He braced his palms on the wooden table. "Crimes that require immediate attention."

Katara's vision never wavered from Azula. Her hand reached back to her water-skin as she saw Azula's eyes flicker with something dangerous – something that she's seen more times than she could count.

Azula took a step forward. The person sitting at the table in front of her, cowered in anticipation. Or was it fear? Katara didn’t know.

Azula’s head tilted slowly. “War crimes?”

Even from this distance, Katara could see the Earth Kingdom official gulp.

“Would you elaborate on that, please?”

Katara didn’t know what to make of Azula’s tone. It was neither menacing, nor threatening. It wasn’t even raised. And yet, somehow, she felt a chill run up her spine.

“Yes.” The Earth Kingdom official was saying, but Katara was only paying attention to Azula. One small slip-up and Katara knows it’s game over for all of them. “You’re here to answer for the war crimes you’ve committed under your father’s name and banner.”

“What crimes, specifically?” Azula’s eyes narrowed.

The officer blinked. “Uh . . . genocide?”

Azula pulled her head back. “Really? You’re gonna start blaming me for my great-grandfather’s crime?”

“It was a crime committed by your ancestry.”

“Then shouldn’t you be blaming Zuko as well?”

The officer sat back down. “Fire-Lord Zuko has answered for his crimes in more ways than one. He’s proven himself to be redeemable. You on the other hand, have not.”

Azula fell silent. She moved closer to the table and the person sitting directly in front of her was now visibly shaking.

“You’re General Han Jao, am I correct?”

Katara felt another chill up her spine with the way Azula said that piece of information. Not because of the tone, but because that piece of information is confidential. Nobody outside of the meeting hall knows the details of the participating Council members. Unless Azula’s known this information for a long time and remembered it with almost superhuman reminiscence from the days she spent at the Earth Kingdom capital, there’s no way she could’ve acquired this particular piece knowledge.

The General’s eyes widened. Katara understood that he’s realised the same too.

“And your grandfather’s name is Han Teo, the only son of Han Jin before him, correct?” Azula recited with deadly precision.

This time, the General’s jaw fell.

Azula hummed. “Hm . . . If I remember correctly, General Han Jin, along with General Yue Sang raided a sky bison island near the Eastern Air Temple and killed 226 bison herders – men, women and children, just so that the Eastern Air Nomads would stop their peaceful flying over the Earth Kingdom lands during the comet festival.” She then turned her gaze lazily towards Aang. “I bet even you didn’t know that.”

Katara could clearly see that Aang didn’t know that, judging by the horror that filled his eyes.

“So . . .” Azula sighed with finality in her voice. “When are you going to be punished for the crimes committed by your ancestry, General Han Jao?”

Han Jao hung his head in shame.

“I’ve been inside a jail cell for crimes that you can’t even properly blame me for.” Azula continued. But Katara could see the fire starting to smoulder in her eyes and she held the water-skin on her back tighter. “Crimes that each and every one of you here has done exponentially compared to mine.”

Azula ran her eyes over each member sitting at the table, again, in silent contemplation. She stopped when her eyes landed on Aang. “What about you, Avatar?”

Aang perked up immediately, fixing his attention on her.

“Do you think each and every one of the Fire Nation soldiers was alive after you wiped them out with the Ocean Spirit during the Battle of the Northern Water Tribe? Does the Air Monk philosophy of ‘All life is sacred’ enjoy selective application?”

Aang’s face crumbled with guilt.

“Enough!” A voice boomed from the other end of the table. All eyes turned.

Iroh raised from his seat. “Enough of your mindless tactics to make your wrong-doings seem less than what it is, Princess Azula.”

Azula’s sharp gaze burned a hole, hot even from where Katara was sitting. “Oh, I’m sure you’d know, Uncle.” Her mouth spelt the word as if the very relationship made her want to chew her own tongue and spit it out. “After all, that’s precisely what you’ve been doing this whole time.”

“What are you saying, Azula?” Iroh’s voice dripped with a kind of danger that Katara’s never heard from him ever before.

Azula’s chin tucked in slightly. “What have you done to suddenly dissipate your 600 days outside Ba Sing Se’s walls, Uncle? You think a few wise one-liners, a ton of tea and a Pai Sho game till your butt falls off, could ever replace the lives lost by the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom soldiers during the time you laid siege? During the time you burned mercilessly? During the time your son died?”

Iroh inhaled sharply and Katara knew that that struck a nerve.

“All those able-bodied soldiers wasted away and for what?” Azula’s voice raised slightly. “Absolutely nothing.”

Iroh squeezed his eyes shut.

“I gotta say, Uncle.” Azula shrugged slightly in haste. “Your mindless tactic of making it seem like you’re a wise old man now away from the spoils of war, could work wonders on imbeciles like them.” She gestured towards the whole table. “But it would never work on me. Especially when you weren’t even smart or wise enough to conquer Ba Sing Se on your own and had to waste the lives of able-bodied soldiers to even touch its walls. I’m ashamed that I’m even related to you.”

A long moment of silence followed Azula’s monologue.

Then Iroh spoke up. Slowly. Carefully. “A man’s past does not define his present or future.”

Azula’s quick to reply. “Then what makes you think that a woman’s past does? Especially mine?”

It wasn’t long before Iroh’s head hung in shame and he sat down too.

Katara never knew that Azula’s quick tongue and sharp wits could defeat someone just as easily as her lightning.

But she wasn’t the type to give up easily. She neither raised her voice, nor raised herself from the table as she spoke. “You’re still a murderer, Azula.”

When Azula’s golden-brown eyes fell on her in a sharp glance, Katara found herself catching her breath. Her eyes were piercing. But if one looked closely, they’d find confusion and conflict in there as well.

Katara . . . looked closely.

“You murdered Aang. In Ba Sing Se.” She stated.

Azula’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry. I’m confused. Am I blind? Because I see the Avatar sitting right there. Alive.”

“You killed him. I brought him back to life.”

Everybody’s stunned silence suffocated Katara. Perhaps it’s expected. No one except her and Aang discussed in detail about what exactly happened when Azula struck him with her lightning. No one except her and Aang knew that he died that night.

Not even Azula.

Azula tilted her head, brows furrowed and questioning. A long moment of confused contemplation later, she spoke. “Are you a sorcerer?”

Katara knew that that question was genuine. Katara knew that Azula truly did not understand her words. She could see it so clearly in those golden eyes.

“No. I healed him.”

“You can’t heal the dead. That is, if I am to believe your words.”

“Believe it or not, I-”

Azula interrupted her. “Perhaps I’d believe it better with a live demonstration.”

Katara looked at her, astonished.

“Perhaps . . .” Azula turned to Aang, a smirk slowly growing on her face and a crazed look in her eyes. “Perhaps the Avatar could volunteer to help with the demonstration.” She took a step forward in Aang’s direction. Her fists clenched, her trimmed nails digging into her palms. “Perhaps the Water Tribe needs to gather around and anticipate the birth of the new Avatar.”

Katara saw fumes escaping Azula’s clenched fist.

“IN CASE YOU FAIL TO BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE!”

Azula suddenly lunged forward as rapidly as her own lightning, a streak of weak, blue flames dancing inside the meeting hall, right in front of her face.

The blue hue almost licked Aang’s nose, before, just as suddenly, it turned into puffy, hot, white steam, swirling around them in a loud WHOOSH!

Azula whipped her head around, her crazed eyes and screwed-up face training their razor-sharp focus on a standing Katara, with her water-skin open and dripping, and arms held aloft – completing a move gracefully.

Azula narrowed her eyes – the implication of what just happened weighing down on her heavily.

“Congratulations, Princess Azula.” Hakoda said, after a moment of silence. “You’ve just earned yourself an extra-long jail time.”

The two Earth Kingdom guards who stood behind her stepped up to lock her wrists. Surprisingly, Azula did not resist. She was compliant.

Bewildered, even.

That did not sit well with Katara. It was as if Azula was ashamed at herself for acting out of turn. As if she was chiding herself for not being as poised and stoic as she’d always trained herself to be. As if nonchalance was the only thing keeping her from going completely insane.

For the first time in years, Katara gazed at those golden orbs being led out the meeting hall and didn’t find bile rising up to her throat.

***

“Azula’s right.”

All eyes turned to Katara, the buzz of the hall falling silent. It’s been two days since the incident with Azula and Katara could not stop thinking about this. The thought had been gnawing at her brain slowly like termite – dominating with every bite. She hadn’t slept much, but she’s never been more awake; more alert.

Those were the first words she’d spoken aloud in the meeting, since Azula. For two whole days those nut-headed bureaucrats talked their mouths off, threats and vile accusations spewing like venom against Azula and Katara could not take any more of it. They were so blinded by their own arrogance that they failed to see the point so clearly laid out in front of them, Katara thought.

But that did not stop Katara from believing in what’s right. Nor did it stop her from speaking it out loud.

“What?” Hakoda turned to her, thinking he misheard his daughter.

“Azula is right.” Katara repeated it louder. Clearer.

“What are you talking about, Katara?” Hakoda’s expression morphed hard.

Katara straightened her back. “How long has Princess Azula spent in prison?”

Silence ensued as eyes turned to look at each other, trying to make sense of the Water Tribe Princess’ words. Finally, one of the Earth Kingdom officials answered, “Six months and twelve days.”

“What does that have to do with anything, Katara?” Hakoda’s confusion addressed Katara directly.

Katara steadied her voice. Almost like she knew the reaction to her subsequent words – “How would it make you feel if I were the one in prison instead of her?”

Hakoda blinked slowly, tilting his head. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Katara . . . You are not a war criminal.”

“Neither is Azula.”

Hakoda pinched the bridge of his nose. “That is for this Council to decide upon.”

“The very Council which has done nothing but talk ever since the war ended.”

“What would you have us do, Princess?” An Earth Kingdom official spoke up. “Jump straight into action without giving thought to it – just like Fire Lord Ozai did?”

Katara clenched her jaw.

“It is our duty to punish wrong-doings that happened in the war, Katara.” Hakoda’s tone softened. “To prevent it from happening again.”

“You’re yet to name the wrong-doings of Azula, dad.” Katara chided.

Hakoda frowned. “Katara, what are you- It’s Azula for spirit’s sake! You know her more than I do! You know how dangerous she can be!!”

“She’s a child!” Katara raised her voice. “Just like Aang or Sokka or Zuko or Toph or me!”

“Katara’s right.” Aang chimed in meekly. “The war was not easy on any of us.”

“All of you are not the same as Azula! You cannot compare yourselves to the Fire Nation!” Hakoda looked like he was about to burst a vein. “You know what happened, Katara. You were there when Kya-” Hakoda’s voice broke, tears springing up his eyes in a flash. “You were there when they took your mother away from us.”

Katara saw Sokka clenching his jaw from the corner of her eye.

“You know how the war shattered our family apart.” Tears were falling freely down Hakoda’s cheeks. “We’ve never been the same since Kya-”

Katara turned her voice to stone. “Did Azula kill mom, dad?”

Hakoda stunned himself into silence, taken aback.

“Did Azula give orders for the Southern Raiders to lay waste to our home?” Katara continued, her own tears burning her cheeks with heat.

Sokka rose up in fury.

“Katara! Are you out of your mind-?! She’s a psychopath! She’ll murder us all if given the chance! You saw her that day, didn’t you?! You were the one who stopped her from reaching Aang – again! She needs to be punished!”

“If you’re going to start punishing people, do it fairly.” Katara lifted her chin. “Starting with me.”

Silence filled the room. Hakoda’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, Katara?”

Katara inhaled deeply. “I found out who killed mom, dad.”

Hakoda’s eyes shot wide. “What?!”

“Zuko and I tracked him down.”

Zuko spoke up. “But you never harmed him, Katara.”

“Yes.” Katara nodded. “But remember that ship, Zuko? Do you think all those soldiers survived after I washed them off the deck?”

Zuko’s brows raised suddenly. “They did.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“You cannot do this to yourself, Katara.” Zuko’s voice was calm. Soothing. “Azula’s great at manipulation. She’s gotten inside your head.”

Katara fell quiet. “Maybe she has. But that still does not excuse our deeds. Or our treatment of her.”

She looked around the table. “Azula’s still a child. Zuko got a second chance. Why shouldn’t she?”

***

The rusty wooden door creaked horribly as the Earth Kingdom soldier opened it. The sound made Katara’s skin crawl. But that’s not why she’s edgy today.

No.

Stepping inside the jail cell washed a strange sense of dread over her. She did not like it. The dimly lit dungeon, the musty stench, the unmistakable chill – everything screamed bad news.

But that was nothing, compared to the bundled-up figure perched on a wooden bed, trying to read a book from the light of a single, dying candle.

Azula.

Katara moved inside cautiously.

The creak of the door closing shut again, did not seem to bother Azula. Katara noticed that she was at the last few pages of the book. Azula kept looking over at the candle at regular intervals, before running her eyes over the text at lightning-speed. It was as though she was having a race with the candle – to finish reading the book before the flame runs out.

Katara did not understand it.

Azula’s a fire-bending prodigy. Can’t she just make up her own fire to complete her book?

And then it hit Katara.

She’s probably not allowed to fire-bend here.

But then a second thought hit Katara as well.

Why did they give her fire in the first place?

It did not matter if the fire was dying out. Katara still put her hand instinctively on her water-skin. Ever cautious. Ever alert.

And at that exact moment, the fire ran out. The entire room went black. It faintly registered in Katara’s head that Azula did not finish her book.

“I’d tell you to make yourself at home, but that would be a lie.”

She almost jumped out of her skin when Azula spoke suddenly.

The sound reverberated around the barely furnished cell.

Katara breathed easy. But she did not remove her hand from the water-skin. The darkness suffocated her. Mostly because she couldn’t see what Azula was up to.

She heard a faint shuffle, and then suddenly, Azula’s voice was right in front of her face.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Katara almost slapped her with water on instinct. But stopped herself just in time, clutching her chest. She felt her heart bruising her ribs with each beat. She was sure Azula could hear it as well.

“Spirits, Azula!” Katara exclaimed, rushing her breathing back to normal.

The fire-bender remained silent though.

Katara calmed her racing heart, focusing more on hearing than sight.

Azula spoke up again, but this time, Katara was ready for it.

“Why are you here?”

Katara contemplated her answer for a moment. She could almost make out Azula’s outline against the high window placed on the cell’s wall. It was a New Moon night, and the light of the stars did not reach inside the cell enough to illuminate it. Her eyes began adjusting to the dark. It was slow, but welcome.

“Starting tomorrow, you no longer have to stay here.” Katara chose to say. The cell made her voice sound strange. Her words hung in the damp air like a blanket.

She waited for Azula’s response. Frowning at the lack of it, she continued. “Aang will escort you.”

A beat passed.

Katara opened her mouth to speak again but Azula suddenly beat her to it.

“To my new and demoted jail cell, I suppose.”

“Not really.” Katara stated.

Azula fell silent again, obviously confused.

“We have agreed on something different.” Katara tried to explain. But she honestly did not know how to put it into words.

How do you talk to your mortal enemy?

It’s not like Azula spared them all because she made a choice on her own.

No.

She had to be caged like a wounded animal lashing out. She had to be contained – stopped. Katara knew this was a terrible idea. She could let her be. Let her rot in this cell forever. Reading books under dying candles and eating two meals a day, with nothing but the cold to keep her company. She really could.

But something in her mind would not let her leave Azula in this state.

Something told her that she could rectify this. Rectify her.

It wasn’t really anything. Just a hunch. Just that little spark of an idea which had already taken root at the back of her mind while the officials went on and on at the Council meetings. And Katara already knew that she had to try it out.

Even if there’s a sliver of chance . . . even as small as a grain of salt, she’d take it.

She had to.

And Azula . . . well . . . Katara liked to think that she could somehow repair the broken shards of the Fire Princess’ mind.

After all, Katara never, ever turned her back on people who needed her.

“Not interested.” Azula’s voice pulled Katara back from her thoughts. “You may leave now. Have a good evening.”

Katara was taken aback. “That is not your choice to make.”

“Oh . . . I didn’t realise you liked this cell that much.”

“What?”

“You’re welcome to stay. Although I don’t think you’ll like the food here. It’s staler than Elephant-Koi fish jerkies.”

Katara almost rolled her eyes. “I was not talking about the cell, Azula.”

“Either way.” Azula’s bed creaked a little as, Katara assumes, she sat down. “My answer is no. I’ve grown quite comfortable around here.”

Katara knew that there was no use talking to her anymore. It’s not like Azula has a choice. So, she turned around and began walking to the cell door, already exhausted with the conversation. “Pack your things, if you have any, and be ready tomorrow, Azula.”

“Tell my brother to go jump off a cliff!” Azula suddenly burst out. “I’m not a puppet he can pull the strings of.”

Katara replied calmly as the guard opened the cell door for her. “Zuko had nothing to do with this.”

She left Azula with that.

***

Katara eyed the fire-bender sitting across from her on Appa’s saddle as sunlight fell on her.

The wind blew on her dark, free hair, which had grown significantly over the months she was in her cell. The bangs had been cut short, to spread evenly across her forehead, giving her an almost child-like look, but that did not take away the intensity of her eyes currently trained on the book Katara saw her reading the night before.

She was paler than Katara remembered. And leaner.

Maybe the lack of a heavily exquisite Fire Nation armour has exposed her true self to the outside or something, Katara thought.

Maybe-

“Team Avatar!” Toph’s sudden exclamation pulled Katara out of her thoughts.

“Yeah!” Aang chimed in from on Appa’s head. “Although, I miss Sokka and Zuko.”

Katara smiled. She noticed Azula rolling her eyes before focussing on her book again.

“I don’t think I miss riding on Appa though.” Toph mocked. “Hundreds of feet in the air with no sense of sight. Just what a blind girl wants.”

“Well, at least someone in your pathetic team has humour.” Azula suddenly spoke up, smirking. “And here I thought this was going to be a dry ride.”

“Humour or not,” Toph said while crossing her legs and putting her arms to the back of her neck. “I’m going to enjoy this vacation.”

“It’s not a vacation, Toph.” Katara was immediate to chide. “We have work to do.”

“Not my problem.” Toph dismissed her.

“You volunteered.”

“To go on a vacation! That Council was sucking the life right out of my body.”

“Why am I on a vacation?” Azula quipped.

“This is not a vacation!” Katara shrieked, already done with the pair.

Azula frowned. “What is it then?”

Katara hesitated. “I don’t know . . . A rehabilitation . . . of some sort . . . ?”

“Pfft. Lame.” Toph huffed.

“Whatever!” Katara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Aang suggested it. Ask Aang.”

“I’d rather jump of this beast and die than go on a vacation with you lot.” Azula scowled.

“You need to have an upbeat attitude, Azula!” Aang said excitedly. “Because this is going to be ama-zing!”

Azula blinked for exactly one moment, before getting up with finality. “Alright, I’m gonna jump. See ya!”

And with that she began putting a leg outside the saddle.

Katara immediately rushed to hold Azula’s wrist, pulling her back down to safety. “Are you crazy?!”

Azula let out a maniacal laugh. “Yes! Now let me go.”

“No!” Katara yelled. “Shut up and stay down!”

“Make me!”

Katara gave her a confused look. “I literally just did!”

“Oooh . . .” Toph interrupted, grinning. “It’s not even day one and I am loving this already!”

“Calm down, girls!” Aang remarked. “We’ve still got a whole day’s ride ahead of us.”

Toph groaned. “Ugh! Can’t we just be off of this giant, flying island already?!”

Appa grumbled suddenly.

Toph immediately reached her hand out to pat the gentle beast. “No offence, Appa. I just hate it when I can’t see. Where are we going, anyway?”

“To the Eastern Air Temple!” Aang beamed.

Azula whipped her head around. “To the Eastern- WHAT?!”

Toph groaned, again. “Oh, just kill me with a rock.”

“Come on, guys. Don’t be mean.” Aang pouted. “I thought Guru Pathik would be the best person to guide Azula.”

“Excuse me?” Azula looked offended. “I don’t need some Guru goody-goody to guide me. I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

“Yeah, me too.” Toph lifted her hand. “I officially don’t like this vacation. Aang, land Appa right now. I’ll find my own way home. Thanks.”

Aang hesitated. “Uh . . .”

“Shut up, Toph.” Katara declared. “Don’t be such a cry-baby. We’re reaching the Eastern Air Temple, and that’s final. Anybody who has second thoughts can take it up against me.”

She looked pointedly at everybody, daring them to oppose. Azula just rolled her eyes. Toph waved her hand in the air and rolled over so she could pretend to be watching the view from Appa’s saddle.

“That’s what I thought.” Katara said as she settled back down.

“Ahem.” Azula cleared her throat.

Katara frowned and looked down. Only then she realised she was still clutching Azula’s wrist in her hand.

She pulled her hand away with a jerk, as if Azula’s skin scorched her.

***

“Umm . . . Aang?” Katara called out, confused, but her voice had a tinge of panic. “Why are we going down?”

The sun was way below the horizon and stars were starting to dot the dark sky. But that still did not rid Katara the view of the way Aang jerked himself awake.

“Wh- What?” He rubbed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Katara looked all around and sure enough, they were descending.

Faster every second.

Toph sat up straight. “What’s going on?”

Azula was alert too. Her hair, loose and free, flowed behind her steadily as if it were a curtain.

“Aang?” Katara looked over at him again, but this time her eyes screamed panic.

They were whizzing past the distance, almost free-falling now. And sure enough, the descend grew rapid.

Katara clutched onto the saddle for her dear life, the intense wind trying to break her hair free from braids too. Azula grabbed the front of Appa’s saddle, yelping as her arm almost ripped apart from her body.

“I think Appa fell asleep!” Aang was swinging wildly, clinging to the noose on Appa’s horns.

“You think?!” Katara screamed sarcastically, flapping around in the gush of wind.

“WAKE UP, BUDDY!!”

Toph’s little arms reached out for the saddle, but she calculated it a bit too late. Her fingers slipped and she flew up in the air.

“KATARA!”

“TOPH!” Katara’s hair came loose just as she reached out to grab Toph. “GRAB MY HAND!”

The water-bender’s heart almost stopped when she realised, she couldn’t reach Toph as fast as she thought she could. She watched in horror as Toph drifted away from her swiftly.

Toph waved her arms around in fright. “I can’t find it! KATA- UMPH!”

Sudden, pale, and slender fingers wrapped around Toph’s belt and yanked her forward, wrapping an arm around her middle and locking her close in an iron grip before Katara could even blink the rapidly forming tears away.

Azula.

She’d managed to hold on to Toph and the saddle at the same time. The earth-bender squeaked and clutched Azula’s kimono in a death grip, turning her knuckles white. She held on like a little monkey.

Aang was still screaming his head off, trying to wake Appa.

“I think we’re gonna crash!” Katara yelled.

Aang blasted off right in front of Appa’s face. “Appa!! Come on, buddy, WAKE UP!!” He pulled open the beast’s eyelid and waved frantically.

Suddenly, with a huge groan, Appa blinked awake. On laying eyes on the fast-approaching ground, he roared and jerked around, almost flinging Azula and Katara off the saddle.

“CALM DOWN, APPA!!” Exclaimed Aang, as he swiftly navigated the gentle giant to slow down, and make the impact as cushioned as possible.

The booming crash still was bumpy and hurtful. Katara flew out of the saddle and landed right next to a huge boulder, groaning and moaning in pain.

Toph pulled up a bed of loose sand just as Appa landed and threw them out. She leapt onto Azula's arms as they slid down Appa's side and hit the ground with a 'thump'.

"Thank you, Katara!" Toph nudged Azula's cheek with her nose, before heavily planting her lips on the same spot with a loud "Muah!"

Azula's ears lit up a bright red. "Um... yeah- yes... I am Katara."

Hearing Azula’s voice, Toph immediately leapt out of her arms. “Oh! For Spirit’s sake! I can’t believe it’s happening again!”

Azula couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.

Toph gave a disgusted look before she fell to the ground. “Ugh! Finally! Solid land. I can see again!”

“No-” Katara immediately called out, stomping her way towards Appa and the others, her hair flying in all directions. “No, no, no, no, NO! We cannot land!”

“We don’t really have a choice, Katara.” Aang exhaled, sounding tired. “Appa’s exhausted.”

“But-” Katara looked around frantically, dusting the dirt off her clothes. “We cannot land!”

“Why?” Toph groans. “Is the ground molten lava or something? Trust me, it’s not.”

“No…” Katara hesitated. Her eyes darted quickly over to the fire-bender before she spoke again. “We cannot land while Azula’s still with us.”

Azula crossed her arms and arched her brow. “Don’t worry, peasant. I promise I will not eat you.”

Katara matched Azula’s stance. “Do you also promise not to escape?”

“Oh, please!” Azula rolled her eyes. “If I wanted to escape, I would have done it long back in that wooden cage those imbeciles put me in. Did they really assume wood’s fire-proof?”

Katara’s pools of ice narrowed in suspicion. “Then why didn’t you?”

“Boredom, is one way to put it.” Azula sighed and picked her nails. “Escape and go where? Do what? It’s bad enough that you imbeciles won the war. And besides, I wouldn’t be able to access the vast collection of Earth Kingdom books on Administrative History if I went rogue, now, would I?”

“Didn’t take you for a bookworm, purple platypus-bear.” Toph sniggered.

“Didn’t take you for a kisser, pebbles-for-eyes.” Azula retorted.

“Hey!” Toph exclaimed as she put her foot out. “I can see very well, thank you very much!”

“My cheek would say otherwise.”

Toph went beet-red.

“I have a plan.” Katara stated as she pulled out a big chunk of metal from her hand-bag that had fallen on the ground while they landed. “Toph, metal-bend one end of this around Azula’s wrist.”

Toph stepped forward. She hesitantly took the piece of metal from Katara’s hand. “I don’t know, Katara. This seems . . . intense. She literally just saved my life.”

“Yeah . . .” Aang stepped up. “But we have no choice, Toph. She still tried to attack me at the Council Meeting. She’s dangerous.”

“’She’ is right here!” Azula announced with a scowl.

“And ‘she’ is spending not a moment longer without binds.” Katara concluded, gesturing towards Toph to metal-bend.

Toph sighed, knowing well she isn’t going to win this argument. Why was she even defending Azula in the first place?

Toph did as she was told. The cold metal bent easily around Azula’s pale, delicate wrist, safe and secure. If Azula felt uncomfortable about it, she didn’t show. Her face settled into a dead-pan nonchalance that only she could pull off.

Toph let go as Katara stepped up.

“Now, bend the other end to my wrist, Toph.” Katara instructed.

“Katara, are you sure?” Aang’s face contorted in worry.

The water-bender nodded once, with conviction. “Yes. Do it, Toph.”

***

Katara felt warm.

That’s weird. She wasn’t even inside her sleeping bag.

They had all decided to rest up and reach the Air Temple the next day. It was more of a forced compulsion than a voluntary decision, taking Appa into account, who was already fast asleep by the way.

But now, it’s the middle of the night and Katara didn’t know why she was suddenly perspiring under the cold air and open sky. She turned to her side, forcing herself to go back to sleep.

The metal-bind on her wrist felt uncomfortable, compelling her wide awake. It was frustrating. She opened her eyes reluctantly, blinking under the bright, full-moon.

Her gaze immediately fell on Azula lying right beside her.

Her golden-brown eyes glistened on-par with the stars, awake and alert, staring at the open sky without as much as a blink.

“Pondering ways to melt your way out?” Katara questioned silently. The night was quiet. She did not feel the need to raise her voice.

The fire-bender stayed mum.

That’s a first.

If Katara knew anything for sure about Azula, it is that she always had a snide remark to throw. Always.

Katara’s uneasiness spiked. The heat flowing through her veins felt like they were burning her from the inside out. She shifted on the temporary hay bed, seconds away from bolting through the woods at top speed.

The water-bender couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re awfully quiet.” The words flew out of her mouth before she could clamp it down.

That did it. That made Azula blink.

“And you’re awfully not.” The fire-bender mumbled.

It was too late to back away. So, Katara pressed forward. “And with good reason.”

“It better be . . .”

Katara’s mind scrambled to find something – anything. She can’t just go poking around prodigies without something reasonable.

And at that exact moment, she felt it. She felt the heat. The waves of warmth crashing over her. And then – she realised.

It’s coming from her. From Azula.

“It’s like I’m sleeping next to a furnace!” Katara beseeched.

Azula closed her eyes in irritation. “Then don’t.”

“As if.”

“Then stop complaining.”

“As if.”

“Dear Agni, just kill me with embers.”

Katara fell quiet for a moment.

She shifted again. But this time, she addressed the issue directly. “Stop it!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, peasant!”

Katara tightened immediately. “Who are you calling peasant, you insufferable brat?!”

“Guys!”

Aang’s voice cut through the air suddenly.

“Just go to sleep. We got a big day ahead.” He groaned, before turning to the other side on Appa and slipping right back to sleep.

“Sorry, Aang.” Katara called out weakly.

Silence fell over the make-shift camp once again.

Katara’s sleep seemed to elude her, no matter how she tried. She counted sheep, repeated the same thought again and again, counted her breathing (and Azula’s beside her, but she would never admit it), but nothing in this world would’ve put her back to sleep. And suddenly-

Her bright blues blinked up at Azula without her permission.

A strange kind of comfort swept over her with just . . . observing.

Azula’s boiling heat had gone down, Katara noticed, but it was present nonetheless.

Her golden-brown orbs were still trained on the open night sky – as if she was painting a picture in her head. As if she was intent on committing the whole sky to her memory.

She spoke suddenly, startling Katara.

“Stare any longer and I’ll scoop your eye-balls out and eat them for breakfast.”

The water-bender averted her eyes quickly. “I- I could still kill you without eyes.”

Azula sniggered. “Sure, you can.”

Katara let out a silent gasp in protest. “I’ve learnt a thing or two from Toph.”

“And she still can’t tell the difference between me and you.”

That snapped Katara.

She leapt on top of Azula in a flash, hand flying out to grab the fire-bender’s neck. “Don’t you dare insult Toph’s disability again!”

Azula immediately tried to push Katara away. She had to struggle, the metal-binds making it an awkward angle for her to fight from. “Move, peasant! You’re ruining my view!”

“Of what?!” Katara tried to yell as quietly as possible, scared of waking Aang up again.

“The sky!”

Katara paused. “What?!”

“Get off, you fool!” Azula huffed, before she finally found a firm holding to successfully push Katara off of her.

The water-bender fell, her back to the ground with a thump.

Azula adjusted her ruffled up clothing with the hand that was not bound. “Absolutely juvenile! Agni, just let me die.”

Katara was still confused. “The sky?”

“No.” Azula said. “The decorated palace ceiling. Of course, the sky, you idiot! I did not have the privilege of enjoying the night sky inside my cold, wooden cell. I had to run myself warmer and stare at a blank wall for 6 months! So, I’m sorry if it doesn’t amuse you!”

That put Katara’s racing mind into a skidding stop.

She blinked, panting a little from her previous outburst, a sudden gust of guilt hitting her smack in the face.

All this while, Zuko had been the face of the Fire Nation for Katara. And when she was finally ready to forgive him, she had unwittingly replaced his face with Azula’s. She wasn’t aware she’d done that – until now.

She wasn’t aware that the hatred spewing from her all this while towards Azula was actually her hate towards the Fire Nation. Mixing it in with all the wild things Azula has done in the past, it’s been impossible for Katara to see her as another human being.

Although she argued in the Council Meeting that Azula was just another child like the rest of them, she wasn’t sure she believed it herself – until now.

It’s like the idea of Azula going through the same war – the same trauma – the same expectations that she had gone through, simply seemed to evade Katara’s mind – until now.

It all began to sink in for Katara.

“Go show your pity somewhere else.” Azula’s stern voice interrupted Katara’s train of thought.

Katara blinked several times. “P- Pity?”

“Yes. It might have worked on my weak brother and urged him to turn on his own Nation, but I’m not like him.”

“I never said you were.” Katara corrected. “And it’s not pity.”

“Yeah, right.”

“It’s not.”

Azula turned her head partially, without looking at the water-bender, focussing on the trees lining the woods at the edge of the clearing. “What is it then?”

The sound of Azula’s question hung heavily in the air. It was silent – almost a whisper. But it still rang in Katara’s ears.

By the time she answered, Azula had already closed her eyes.

“I don’t know.”

***

yeah so . . . lemme know what you think!

and lemme know how you think the story is gonna go 👀 part 2 will come soon so take your guesses hehehehe

happy azutara week y'all!!