Ashes of Devotion [ATLA - Azula x OC]

[Lucernello]

AN: So I know this chapter is early again, but I'm confident I can post this one and then have one on Friday as well. I get paid this week so I'm not having to pump more hours, should be manageable.

Anyway, boring real life. Let's head to fun fantasy life.
Luce

PD: Enjoy a meme Aurora, one of my readers, made:

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99 A.G

Aang led them through the temple trying to remember the way. For him it hadn't been long ago when he had been there, walking through these corridors, yet now each wall and passage felt so alien to him.

The stone had been cleaned, the walls had no dust in some places and a few of the broken decorations had been placed together again, but they still seemed to be arranged in a way it wasn't before, and he could still see some scorched stains here and there.

It made him feel like a stranger. He wanted to hate the Fire Nation for being here, for walking through the halls where the monks had lived, for touching everything that belonged to his people. But the place didn't look destroyed. It looked quiet and lonely, and that just made Aang feel sadness instead.

Katara and Sokka followed behind him, both of them trying to stay quiet. Sokka kept looking around corners with his club raised while Katara had one hand close to her waterskin. Aang appreciated it, even if he didn't think he would be able to fight anyone here.

The thought of fighting against people who had tried to preserve the memories of this place felt wrong, and pointless.

They only saw one soldier on their way. He had been carrying a box filled with old scrolls and almost dropped it when he saw them. For a moment Aang froze, expecting shouting, flames, or someone calling for help. Instead, the man looked at him, then at Katara and Sokka, then turned around and walked the other way without saying a word.

Sokka blinked. "Ah, right, he must have already been told to leave us alone."

"Maybe Iroh isn't so bad, right?" Aang said, unsure.

"Or maybe this is all part of their very strange plan to make us lower our guard." Sokka whispered.

Katara frowned. "You already did that while eating their food."

"That was just tactical to see what they did." Sokka replied. "They could have poisoned Aang."

Aang almost laughed, but he thought better of it, even if the situation was funny. It would be better if they didn't get attention from the Fire Nation soldiers. He kept walking, following the path toward the sanctuary. The closer they got, the more he remembered.

Gyatso had been the one who told him that he would have someone to guide him through his Avatar journey. Aang had voiced his worries to him and he was reassured that someone would be there at the beginning.

Now he wasn't sure there would be someone waiting for him there at all. He had never imagined that everyone would be gone. Aang had run away when he overheard that he would have to be separated from Gyatso, and the guilt of never seeing anyone ever again was eating at him.

He focused instead on at least checking the sanctuary and being here in the present instead of the past.

The sanctuary doors came into view at the end of the corridor, tall and round, marked with curling patterns that moved in circles around each other. Aang stopped in front of them and felt his throat tighten. They were still closed and they had not been broken down at least.

Sokka quickly walked past him and began looking around the corridor, checking behind a pillar, then another, then leaning halfway around the corner with exaggerated caution.

"What are you doing?" Katara whispered.

"Making sure nobody is waiting to jump at us the moment we open the mysterious ancient door." Sokka replied. He checked behind a small statue, then nodded to himself.

"Alright, coast is clear. Let's get inside before the old tea guy changes his mind." He grabbed the door and pulled, then pushed when that didn't work.

Sokka planted both feet on the ground, pulled harder, then placed his shoulder against it and pushed with a grunt. The door didn't move at all. He stopped after a few seconds, breathing through his nose in exhaustion.

"Okay, great. Very secure. Aang, your people were good at doors."

Aang chuckled lightly. "Only airbending can open it."

Sokka slowly looked at him. "You waited until after I fought the door to say that?"

"I thought you were still checking something out." Aang said.

Katara covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Sokka pointed at both of them, clearly insulted, but Aang could see relief in his eyes too. They both understood that no Fire Nation awaited them inside.

Aang stepped forward and took a breath. He moved his arms in the pattern Gyatso had shown him, guiding the air into the carved grooves around the door. The stone circles began to turn, slowly at first, then faster, grinding against each other with a sound that echoed through the corridor far louder than Aang expected.

"That was not subtle." Sokka muttered, sharing a worried look with Katara.

Aang winced as the door continued to move, the stone rumbling through the floor and up his legs. When it finally opened, the noise faded into the sanctuary, and they all waited for someone to come running. No one did.

"Inside, quickly." Katara said.

They entered together hurriedly into the dark room. The sanctuary was colder than the rest of the temple. There was little light compared to the corridor and they had to wait until their eyes adjusted to see further in.

Aang stepped forward slowly, looking at the rows of statues arranged in circles around the room. There were so many of them, each one carved with care, each one sitting with calm dignity. Some wore robes he recognized as Air Nomad clothing. Others wore Water Tribe furs, Earth Kingdom armor, and Fire Nation garments. At first he only stared, confused by the feeling that he knew them somehow.

Katara noticed it first. "Aang… these people are from every nation."

Sokka moved closer to one of the statues. "And they're arranged in a pattern. Air, water, earth, fire."

Aang's eyes widened as the realization reached him. "The Avatar Cycle."

He walked deeper into the room, passing face after face. These were not only statues. These were his past lives. Hundreds of them. People he had been and somehow still was, even if he didn't know how to reach them. The thought made him feel smaller and heavier at the same time. He stopped before a Fire Nation statue, an old man with a stern face and robes carved like flame.

"Avatar Roku." Aang whispered.

"You were a firebender? No wonder I don't trust you." Sokka said, jokingly.

For a brief moment, he thought the statue's eyes shone. Aang took a step closer, breath catching in his throat, but before he could say anything, a blur of wings and fur shot through the open doorway.

A flying lemur swooped into the sanctuary, carrying a scroll almost as big as its body, chittering loudly as it circled above the statues.

"Hey!" Sokka shouted. "What is that thing?"

The lemur landed on one of the statues and hugged the scroll to its chest. A second voice echoed from the corridor, angry and young.

"Get back here flying rat!"

A Fire Nation teenager stormed into the sanctuary, fists clenched and face twisted in frustration. He stopped the moment he saw them. His eyes moved from Sokka, to Katara, then to Aang's arrow.

For a second no one said anything as they stared at one another. Aang analyzed his face more carefully, his face had a nasty burn scar on his left eye, and he was clearly surprised at first then angry.

"Wait a minute…How did you open this room?!" he yelled at them.

"We found it like that?" Aang replied unsure, already preparing an attack in case they needed to run out of there.

"Don't lie to me! You think I wasn't here before? You think I don't know what this place is? The Fire Nation has sanctuaries like this on their temples as well. Those can only be opened using firebending. This one can only be opened using airbending!" he said while getting into a fighting stance.

"So, who among you is the Avatar?" he asked threateningly.
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His uncle was really losing it if he hadn't realized that the Water Tribes rarely stepped out of their own territory without a reason, much less kids like these, not to mention he didn't demand they surrender their weapons. The oldest looking had a club, and the youngest a long wooden staff.

For Zuko it was clear that the Avatar had reincarnated again, following the cycle. The logical explanation was that the airbender had hidden in the Water Tribes then left instructions for the next Avatar born to the water peasants, who had helped a new Avatar get the basics of airbending to open the sanctuary.

The southern raiders clearly missed a waterbender on their campaign and now he finally had the chance to regain his honor and go back home. After so many years of pain and overseas travel, suffering through his guilt and sorrow, his mission finally didn't feel impossible to complete.

The prince got into stance, ready to attack them should they try to escape. "So, who among you is the Avatar?" he asked, ready to force the answer out of them.

The youngest of the trio stepped forward and took a huge breath in and Zuko was confused. Was he going to scream for help or something? Then he got his answer as he was blown away all of a sudden. He easily lost his footing and was sent flying backwards, hitting a wall in the corridor.

In daze and hurt, Zuko called for his crew. "Help! The Avatar is here!" he yelled as he saw the trio run away from him. With difficulty he got up and ran after them.

"Hunt them down!" he yelled at the first soldiers to approach. He saw the kid again attack two of his men ahead, using airbending to push them out of the way.

'How is he so skilled in airbending when there are no airbenders alive to teach him.' he thought. His mind was still trying to make sense of what he was seeing while still in pursuit of his target.

Zuko quickly caught up to them using the same technique he learned to steer himself in the parachute, to navigate through the temple and obstacles. He didn't waste any time and attacked him, but he dodged his fireballs with ease and they continued fleeing down the temple.

As other soldiers joined Zuko believed he could take him prisoner. If they continued that path only a cliff was waiting for them and he would have them. But all of a sudden the young Avatar did something to his staff and from it sprang wings in action. He took flight while the other two grabbed onto him as they jumped off one side of a cliff.

For a moment they plunged downwards and Zuko held his breath. 'Had they killed themselves instead of risking getting caught?!' he thought. His thought was interrupted by the flying rat passing by him toward their direction as well.

Then they emerged from a giant flying beast that took to the skies too quickly for something of its size. Zuko threw a powerful fireball their way but again the Avatar used his staff to redirect it upwards harmlessly.

"No!" he screamed, frustrated. "Lieutenant, get word to the ship quickly, we must follow them somehow as quickly as possible."

"My prince, I will send word at once… but getting the entire crew to the ship will take its time, we only have one glider." Jee said.

"No, get the parachutes, we will use them to glide to the coast ourselves, forget the provisions we have here, we still can get more on the way if we head to Chin Village. Hurry!" Zuko said.

"Right away!"

"And where is my uncle?!" Zuko asked another soldier, exasperated.

"I believe he said he was going to take a nap, sir." he answered.

Zuko's only response was to throw fire around him, absolutely furious.
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Lin was in a good mood. They had gotten a railway track all the way to New Ozai in almost record time and assimilated their delivery system with the help of earthbenders to feed supplies to great effect.

It was a great test and she was hopeful that they wouldn't run out of supplies in the future campaign. A few days back, she had received the official orders. She would march to Ba Sing Se with a convoy of armored trains and railway guns, while the army moved alongside them as they built the tracks that would give them the reach they needed to attack the outer walls.

Lin wanted the navy to also help her land troops on the other side to bait them and split their forces but with the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe capital no ships would be spared for her. She would have to come up with a strategy to storm the walls when they launch their attack.

At least the admiral in charge of the invasion had not deemed the gliders to be really an important asset and she would have all of the ones available for her campaign. Truly an oversight on his part whoever that was. They did not understand the power of an airforce.

With their full power she could attack earthbenders from above that would surely try to repair the wall, even while they were hammering with shells. She had equipped the gliders with more bombs, altering a bit the design of the artillery shells. They could offer close air support effectively, although they were lacking a machine gun of any type.

They still hadn't been able to replicate a rapid repeating rifle although the research for it was underway according to her father. Equipping the gliders with machine guns and then maybe engines would be the way to go in the future.

Although if they could win now, the war would be over and the need to develop more weapons would go down. Maybe she could introduce the idea of commercial planes and help her already rich family get even more rich.

As Lin arrived at New Ozai with the test train, Azula rushed to meet her in the station they had quickly built.

"Lin! You are back, and great timing. I have a present for you." Azula said smugly, handing her a scroll.

As she read the scroll, Lin couldn't help but smile. It is a report of how many people took the bait of rebellion; some were eliminated and others imprisoned. And there were even footnotes of the families threatened as well. A very successful mission again.

"Good job, my princess. This is a great gift." Lin said, smiling at her.

"Of course it is, it's me. Now, what is my reward?" she asked, expectantly.

"Well, I was going to suggest we take a small vacation actually, would that be a good enough reward?" Lin asked. "We still have to wait for the weapons to be built and assembled, and although I have some paperwork to do here and there, I should be able to manage that from Chin Village."

"Vacations sound nice. There is a beach close by. Or we could bring Toph and terrorize the Kyoshi islands again." Azula wondered aloud.

Lin chuckled. "I think I harassed them enough, we are trading with them already so let's not antagonize them further. Their wood is actually quite better than the one we can get ourselves in the region. Although the beach sounds nice."

"My family used to go to Ember island when I was a child. But I didn't bring swimming wear here. Maybe we can order one to be tailored for us, I hear Toph's family has nice fabrics and quality linen clothing."

"I suppose we can ask her then to get a few pieces ordered through her father for us. We could visit Gaoling ourselves to go buy them too. The trains are faster than expected after all, it would be a nice girl plan." Lin said, absentmindedly.

"Oh, great, I should get my things ready to depart then." Azula said, but she remained still. After a second of silence she seemed to hesitate, but then spoke clearly. "I missed you."

"Aw, I missed you as well, Azula." Lin said, hugging the young girl. It's true that in this life she had few friends, but she was glad that at least the ones she did have were loyal, competent and comfortable people to have around.

True, the princess could be too much at times and her humour was usually a bit sadistic or dark, but it was understandable for someone who grew up in the middle of a war. Back in her own world, people around her used to have similar humor as well.

There was a possibility that the young royal was not used to hugging though, she was too stiff and Azula didn't seem comfortable much. That obviously didn't mean that she couldn't get used to it so Lin assumed that was her royal upbringing and didn't think much of it and kept hugging her for a bit. She moved away as Captain Zhou coughed to get her attention.

"General, it's good to have you back." he said, fondly.

"Captain, get your things prepared, we are moving out, only the garrison and the administrative team will remain behind. New Ozai is to be managed by the Ukano family so they are to arrive soon." Lin informed him.

"Wait, Mai is coming here?" Azula asked, finally snapping out of it.

"Yes, she should arrive in the city with her family in a few days. Do you want us to wait for her before departing?"

"I would like to see Mai but we can visit her after our vacation, we have to go through this city anyway."

"As you say, Princess." Lin bowed. "Then I say we let Toph know about our plans, if we leave her behind she will be insufferable for a long time." Lin said, vehemently.

Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't know if she will like the beach that much, but yes, let's not leave her behind." Azula said.

"Wait, you are finally getting a vacation, General?!" asked Captain Zhou, surprised.

"Well… yes, I don't have much to do other than light paperwork before the next campaign so a few days of rest will be nice." Lin replied.

"Uhm, are we getting vacations as well?" Zhou asked, unsure.

"Yes, Captain, most of the officers are required to be on standby just in case but your next duties will be quite light. You better let everyone know." Lin said, seeing Zhou's face lit like a set of candles around an angry firebender.

"I thought I would never see the day." he said, happily. Lin scoffed.
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Aang kept looking ahead to the skies. Part of him expected to see the Fire Nation following them already, the angry teenager shouting from the back of one of those flying machines, or soldiers riding something else impossible that Aang had never seen before.

Another part of him wanted to forget the problem altogether. He never asked to be the Avatar and it was obvious that no statue would give him answers, even if it was a previous reincarnation depicted.

His hope for his people had been crushed, and he wanted to leave the temple behind with the ashes of his people. He held Appa's reins a little tighter.

"Where do we go next, Aang?" Katara asked from behind him.

Aang nodded without turning around. "We will head east then north through the continent."

"Good…" Sokka said. "Because after that very peaceful visit to the Fire Nation's secret mountain vacation home, I think we should keep moving before scarface finds a way to follow us."

"I agree, and we need to be careful, they might have alerted other Fire Nation soldiers. You remember the ship stranded in our village, Aang? They have thousands of them." Katara said.

"Yes, we should keep moving, they could have more of those flying machines as well." Sokka said worried.

"Appa is faster than them though."

Aang tried to smile, but the expression didn't stay for long. There were too many things to worry about and not many answers yet.

"It's good that we packed plenty of supplies, I think it should last long, maybe we can gather more later in the journey, there must be Earth Kingdom cities that the Fire Nation couldn't touch." Katara said, gently bringing the conversation back to something practical.

"Actually, now that you say that, I visited a friend of mine in Omashu. It was a great fortress in the mountains, if anyone was able to repel the Fire Nation it would be them, they are hardworking people and very pragmatic. They have this very complex delivery system with carts that would go mighty quick. I used to ride them with my friend Bumi."

"How far away is Omashu?" Sokka asked.

"Well… I'm not sure but I will know once I see some of the landmarks I know from my time."

"Well, alright then. As long as you don't burn more of our food we won't need to stop that much." Sokka said, wounded all over again. "Just don't feed it to a campfire."

Aang lowered his shoulders. "I thought it was for starting a fire."

"It was seasoned just the right way." Sokka lamented.

"It is not that great, Sokka." Katara admitted.

"How can you say that?" Sokka said, pointing at her as if she had committed treason. "It is one of the best foods we have in the South Pole. No one respects tragedy here."

Appa gave a low groan beneath them, and Aang patted the top of his head. "Appa needs to rest too. He hasn't flown this much in a long time, and he needs food as well, so we might stop more than you think."

"How much food exactly?" Sokka asked suspiciously.

Aang hesitated. "A lot. He is a vegetarian though, he can eat hay, fruits and vegetables, and sometimes even a few types of grass."

Sokka stared at the back of Appa's head. "Of course. Why would the giant flying bison not also be a giant eating bison?"

Katara gave him a tired look, but Aang felt a little grateful they didn't complain too much. In reality, Appa was trained to fly for a long period of time, he just didn't want to keep thinking about how everything was wrong with the world he used to know.

So now he was looking to distract himself a little and live life while still journeying to their destination. There was an island somewhere in the east that he wanted to visit again. He remembered the sunlight on the water, and Elephant Koi so large you could actually ride them as they surface constantly.

He remembered laughing and having a great time, even if he was scolded afterwards by his mentor. He remembered it fondly and it was a nice escape from the worries that didn't have an immediate solution either way.

He thought for a second if he should tell them where they were trying to go, but he was scared they might find it childish. If he told them, Sokka would probably say they didn't have time for riding fish while the Fire Nation was chasing them.

Katara might understand, but she would look at him with that worried softness that made him feel guilty. He didn't want either of those things. He just wanted one familiar place and a good enough time to forget for a bit what he just discovered.

"So, how far east are we going here before heading to the continent?" Katara said after a while.

Aang glanced back at her, then quickly looked ahead again. "I'm sure we will start seeing a set of islands, I don't remember which one it was that I have in my memory but the coast shouldn't change, right?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "You don't know where we are going?"

"Well… not exactly, but I will surely know when I see it." Aang said.

"That sounded like guessing."

"It was confident guessing."

Sokka groaned and leaned back against the saddle. "I hate confident guessing."

They followed the ocean for a while, passing coastlines, more mountains, and rocky islands that looked nothing like the place in Aang's memory. Each time he saw land ahead, he would stop to see if that was the one.

"Let's camp for the night and carry on tomorrow." Aang said, after a few hours of flying in different directions searching for it.

'When will my luck turn right?' Aang wondered, guiding Appa to land.​

 

[Lucernello]

AN: Hello. Sorry that the chapter is late, I had power issues in the week which delayed me. A big one though as the city basically had to break apart the sidewalk in the entire block to replace cables that were old and had suffered after a current transformer blew out. I'm thinking on making a discord server to announce when issues like that happen, so that maybe I can let you guys know. Let me know if that is something that you would appreciate or if you just don't really care and wait for the chapter anyway.

In other news, I have been reading more lately. It has been a bit hard to find good ones due to many resorting to using AI, which turns them into mostly boring ones, and the dialogues are shit so it's a bit bothersome. Still there are a lot of good stories out there luckily.

On-going stories I recommend that so far have been great:

Burnt Lotus by arg3nt -> TLOK OC focused fanfic
Weep Not For What Was Lost by Mighty_Retief -> ATLA fanfic with Azula as the main character, very good.
Anything from Failninjaninja -> the author writes mostly Youjo Senki fanfiction which I discovered after comments were made comparing my character to Tanya.
Darth Cain, the Reluctant Sith Lord by Zahariel_Scholar -> Star Wars Sith OC
The General's Shadow by angelart_99 -> Star wars fanfic OC with no knowledge

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Luce
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99 A.G

The shop in Gaoling had looked modest from the street, yet the interior proved larger than expected, full of folded fabrics, hanging garments, woven sandals, sun hats, and bathing clothes arranged in careful rows by color and size.

It smelled faintly of soap, sun-dried linen, and the sweet oil the shopkeeper had used on the wooden floor. Azula decided it was good enough for what they were looking for, besides, she was brimming with excitement she was having trouble hiding in.

Toph dragged her feet beside the entrance, one hand pressed against the wall as she pouted and made her complaint known. "I still think this is dumb. I don't swim."

"You do not need to swim to go to the beach, Toph." Azula said, pretending to examine a row of folded garments while watching Lin from the corner of her eye.

"Well, what is there?"

"Just a bit of sand, sun, and water. There is also sometimes a nice breeze in the air, it's relaxing."

Toph pointed at her with suspicion. "Don't lie to me, you don't know what relaxing is."

Azula scoffed, "Of course I know what it is. When I was young, every summer we would go to Ember Island and the Royal family beach house."

"That doesn't sound particularly fun with what you told me about your family." Toph said, then frowned harder. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. I just don't think it is for me, you know?"

"Well, you are not wrong, it was a bit boring, but I did relax in those moments back then. I think you should try it first." Azula said.

Captain Kaida stood near the door with her hands behind her back, she was the only one who would be dressed in military clothing, and their lone bodyguard. The rest of the soldiers had been left behind after Azula declared the outing for girls only, she also made it an order so there was no debate about it either.

Lin had accepted the plan without complaint, though she had been skeptical about the whole swimsuit idea. At least she seemed receptive to relaxing on the beach plan. Now she stood before a rack of bathing clothes with a lost look on her face.

Azula stepped closer, unable to keep the bright pull of excitement from rising in her chest. "You should try a few of them, Lin."

Lin lifted one metal hand, paused, and took one folded piece of dark green fabric between two careful fingers. "Isn't it too… revealing…? It seems too small."

"It is supposed to be that way." Azula said, wondering what kind of strict education the Renshi family must have for a swimsuit to be too revealing for her.

"You look uncertain." she said.

"I was expecting something like a full body swimsuit, not this." Lin said, calmly, turning the garment over once. "I just have never needed this." Lin said plainly.

Azula bit back a smile. Lin sounded calm, as always, but there was something wonderfully strange about seeing her out of place. On a battlefield, Lin moved so confidently and strong, as if nothing could stop her.

Seeing her out of her element, confused and uncertain, was something totally new. Azula was happy to see new parts of Lin. Before Azula could answer though, Toph suddenly stiffened, and her head turned toward the street.

"Oh, no." Toph lamented.

The door opened a moment later, and Lady Beifong's voice filled the shop with soft horror. "Toph?!"

Toph's shoulders rose almost to her ears. "I'm not here."

Lord Beifong stepped inside beside his wife, richly dressed, pale with surprise, and clearly unprepared to find his daughter back at Gaoling. His eyes moved from Toph to Azula, then to Lin's metal arms, remembering who she was and immediately paled. Whatever he was about to say died in his mouth.

"Captain, please keep Lord Beifong, Lady Beifong company outside, we are currently occupied."

Kaida moved at once, polite and firm. "Lord Beifong, Lady Beifong, as the General said, please step outside."

They protested, but the captain was not someone you could go against under normal circumstances.

Toph groaned. "I better at least say hi to them, I won't be much help anyway, I can't see the difference between them."

Azula caught Lin's arm and guided her toward the curtained changing area; she wasn't going to waste the opportunity to be alone with Lin while she tried the different garments.

"Here. Try that one first, it looks like it will fit you nicely."

Lin followed, still holding the bikini. "Won't the owners get mad at me for wearing ones I might not buy?"

"No, everyone allows it."

"Why?"

"Well, I guess because the sizes are not standardized so it's difficult to know beforehand if it will fit right."

Lin considered that. "Ah, I see...I understand now." Then, she stepped inside the box but didn't close the curtains.

Azula waited for a second before she realized what Lin was actually doing. She was just undressing without a care in the world and Azula's mind froze for a second too long before rapidly closing them for her.

"Lin! The curtains are there to keep your privacy!" Azula said flustered, feeling the heat rise to her face and her pulse quicken.

"Oh, alright." Lin answered, unbothered now safely behind the curtains.

Azula waited outside with her arms folded, trying to regain her composure, slowing her breathing. It was hard to do while listening to cloth move and metal fingers click softly against the changing-room wall, her mind betraying her, picturing Lin without clothes.

Azula forced herself to remember the purpose of the outing. Lin needed something suitable for the beach, Toph still needed to be convinced to choose one for herself, and a princess of the Fire Nation should have been able to manage a clothing shop without losing control of her own face.

Then Lin stepped out and she couldn't help but stare. The bathing suit was simple, and enough coverage that Lin would hopefully not complain much, yet it left her shoulders bare and showed the pale scars that ran around the edge of where her prosthetics started and her flesh ended.

Her metal arms caught the light from the window, and without the uniform and armor, you could contemplate her muscled and toned body. There were also scars around her chest and a few on her belly.

Lin looked down at herself. "It doesn't feel tight, but I don't feel much at all. Does it look fine?"

Azula forced her face to remain bored. "Yes, it does."

"I just hope it won't tear with my vents in the back, they bother the straps I think." Lin said, concerned.

"Let me see." Azula said, softly.

As she turned around, she couldn't help but ogle her. Her back showed the same signs of hard work, and her butt was pulling her attention. Still she forced herself to look at the metal parts embedded in her spine as if they were patches on fabric.

The vents she mentioned were four angled plates, placed diagonally to not bother her movement. She carefully lifted the strap so that they would rest on them and not above them, while making sure her chest was still covered.

"If we move it like that, it shouldn't be a problem." Azula said.

"Great, I just hope it doesn't burn either." Lin commented, turning around.

"Are you expecting to fight someone or something?" Azula smirked.

Lin looked toward the front of the shop, where Toph was now loudly telling her mother that she was not a doll. "That may depend on the day."

Azula almost laughed, then pressed her lips together before the sound could escape. "So what do you think?"

"It is comfortable actually."

"We are buying it, then. But let's try the others as well."

Lin nodded once. "Alright."

By the time they returned, Toph had both fists clenched and her face turned red with frustration. "I'm not wearing some frilly thing just because you think it's pretty."

Lady Beifong looked wounded. "Toph, I only want you to have something nice. Besides, with you being away I normally wouldn't be able to."

"I can get it myself!"

Azula walked to a shelf, chose a green bathing suit with strong ties and plain edges, then pushed it into Toph's hands. "This one, it should fit you nicely."

Toph pinched the fabric. "Is it ugly?"

"No." Lin answered.

"Is it fancy?"

"No." Azula answered.

"Can I kick someone's butt in it?"

Kaida answered before Azula could. "Probably, and you would look great while doing it."

Toph's grin came back in full force. "Good. I'll try it."

Lin looked at Azula with faint confusion. "Should we have picked one with that in mind?"

Azula watched Toph march toward the changing area with the garment clutched like stolen treasure, while Lady Beifong sighed in defeat and Lord Beifong pretended not to hear anything.

"I know it's weird for me to say it, but we won't be looking for a fight. It's fine as it is."

Lin nodded faintly. "Right, what else do we need?"

"Ty Lee would be good at knowing that... I think a parasol to block the sun, just in case, fabric to sit on maybe, and a few towels."
​

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The beach between Qinzao and Gaoling was colder than Azula remembered the beaches of Ember Island being, still, it was not a problem as the sun still warmed the sand and the wind carried enough heat for a firebender to find it pleasant.

The sky was clear, the sea rolled in long green-blue lines, and only a few people had come down to the shore, mostly fishermen repairing nets, children digging near the dunes, and two old women sitting beneath a cloth shade while pretending very badly that they were not staring at Lin.

Azula could not blame them much. Lin had changed into the bathing suit they bought in Gaoling and had brought a second set of metal limbs for the outing, darker and less polished than the ones she wore with her uniform.

They were still well made, everything from House Renshi was decent enough, but Lin had explained that salt water wouldn't damage them severely, and they weigh less so swimming would be easier. The downside was that they would break if used for fighting.

Now she stood in the shallow water, letting the waves break around her metal ankles while she looked down at the foam with a curious look on her face. Azula sat on one of the fabric pieces they had spread across the sand and tried very hard to seem normal about it.

She had tested the water and it was too cold for her taste, she would swim in summer. Besides, the sun was pleasant and they didn't have to use the parasol in the end, it wasn't hot enough and Azula thought she could feign taking a careful look at Lin meanwhile.

The scars across Lin's shoulders and back were easier to see in the sun. Darker shades of skin crossed around the edges of her plating, like a diverse palette of colors. The rougher ones were where flesh met metal near the base of her spine.

The vents along her back were dark against her skin, four angled plates that looked a bit out of place and they gave her a threatening look. Azula thought everything overall made her look exotic. Not only was it unique, but it was exciting to look at, from her perspective.

As Lin turned around to walk over where she was, Azula felt her face heat and looked away before anyone could notice she had been staring. Toph was sitting farther up the beach, safely away from the water, with both hands buried in the sand and an expression of deep betrayal.

"This stuff feels even worse than lava!" Toph exclaimed.

"I mean, it is still very small rocks, you should be able to bend it." Lin said, now close to her, looking amused.

"It's terrible, it's like trying to focus on a million things at a time!" Toph snapped. "I keep bending only a fraction of what I intend to."

Kaida knelt beside her, out of armor at last, though she still had her military officer uniform. "Well, I still think it is cool to be able to do so at all."

"I guess so…" Toph grumbled.

"Better learn it soon, I want a sand sculpture of myself." Azula said.

Toph threw a handful of sand toward her voice. Azula leaned aside just enough for most of it to miss.

"I hardly know what you look like, If anything I would do one that looked like me." Toph said.

"Tsk."

"I think we could still do one without bending." Lin offered.

Azula smiled despite herself, then glanced toward Lin again. She looked calmer than she had in the shop, though still out of place in a way Azula found difficult to stop watching. She leant down and scooped a bit of sand, watching how it got into her joints.

Azula rose before she could lose her nerve. "Lin, walk with me."

Lin looked back. "Along the shore?"

"Yes."

Toph lifted her head. "You're leaving me with Captain Fawner?"

Kaida looked deeply unimpressed. "I was just encouraging you, but I guess you want me to say you are terrible because you cannot bend a little sand, huh."

"Hey! It is just a nickname, there is no need to make a fuss."

Azula glanced at Kaida and caught the captain looking at her for just a moment longer than necessary. Azula could give her the order if she wanted, but she knew that the captain saw and understood more than what she let on.

"Well, you still have to practice, right?" Azula told Toph, raising her chin. "And besides, you complained that you couldn't see in the sand well until you could bend it."

"I'll learn and then we will see who is complaining when I bury you in it."

Azula walked away before Toph could add anything else. Lin followed at her side, her steps leaving deep marks. For a while, they moved with only the sound of water rushing over the shore and gulls crying somewhere above them. Azula watched the waves climb over their footprints and erase them.

She had a few things she wanted to talk about, but she could admit that her feelings made her a bit nervous. It was a novel feeling not being able to be as confident as she always was. Still, she forced at least one of her many questions she had in her mind out, once they were far enough away.

"I was just wondering… What do you want to do after the war, Lin?"

Lin took a moment to answer. "I have not thought that far ahead."

"Really?"

"I have to admit, since I have memories of this world, my concern has been war."

"That far back? Was it your family that forced you to…?"

"It was not my family that made me concerned with war, no." Lin said, looking toward the horizon. "Still, I suppose I would keep helping the Fire Nation. In my mind, there are ways to better our nation as a whole, from infrastructure to comforts, I know I can make them better. I also know that it is human nature to wage war and I would like to prepare the nation before the next one breaks out."

Azula looked at her, surprised by how much she liked the answer. Although it was a bit plain, it had a clear goal in mind and one she could actively work with.

"When I become Fire Lord, I could give you that. A real position, I mean. You could help me improve the nation properly. I also want to lead our nation to greater heights."

Azula felt her pulse hurry again and pushed through it before she could retreat into something crueler. "I want you by my side when the time comes."

For a moment, Lin said nothing. Then her expression warmed with a gentle smile. Lin reached out and took her hand gently, her metal fingers careful around Azula's smaller ones.

"I would love that, Azula." Lin said. "Thank you."

Azula forced her mind to keep listening to Lin, but she found it hard with her mind stuck like her fingers. She heard something about forming a team of great minds chosen by their citizens to participate in projects and laws to better the nation, but she couldn't focus much on it.

Still, she would be by her side, that was all that mattered to the princess.
​

---

Their newest member of the group, the flying lemur, felt like a Momo to him, so he had named it such, ignoring Sokka's comment being a "totally uncool name".

Riding the Elephant Koi had seemed like a wonderful idea, and when he first saw them moving through the water, huge and bright and powerful beneath the sun, for a little while it had even felt like the kind of fun he had been missing since waking up.

By now, most of the excitement he had felt for the Elephant Koi had been washed away by the memory of a much larger fish bursting from the sea behind him with its mouth wide open, showing an alarming set of sharp teeth.

"What was that thing?" Katara asked.

"I don't know." Aang said, and he didn't, he had never seen a larger predator co-existing with the Elephant Koi

"Well, let's not stick around to find out." Sokka said, keeping his eyes on the water. "Time to hit the road."

Katara was about to answer him when the brush around them moved. Seven girls stepped out from between the trees, their painted faces calm and their green armor layered neatly over their clothes. Their fans were already open, and they quickly spread around them.

"What business do three water tribe teenagers have with our island?" One of them said.

Aang felt they looked somewhat familiar. They looked intimidating, and Aang was about to explain what they were doing, but sadly, Sokka had something to say first.

"Wait, are those fans?"

"Sokka…" Katara warned, already tense.

"I'm just saying, it's hard to be scared of fans. What are these girls going to do, gently blow air at us until we leave?"

The warriors, clearly offended, moved together too quickly for them. One swept Sokka's legs from under him before his laugh had fully left his mouth, another turned Katara's arm aside when she tried to pull water from her sleeve, and Aang was frozen in his spot, trying to come up with a way to deescalate the situation.

A fan struck behind his knee, another caught his wrist, and a third girl moved close enough to tie his arms before he could twist free. They hesitated with Appa but ultimately resolved that they would capture the humans instead and avoided him.

The blindfold came next, then the feeling of being dragged from sand to packed earth while Sokka protested loudly and Katara told him to stop making everything worse. Aang found himself tied against a wooden statue, and he could feel Katara and Sokka bound close to him.

"You three have some explaining to do."

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we are throwing you back in the water with the unagi." A girl said.

"Untie me, unfair cowards, if it weren't for your ambush you wouldn't stand a chance!"

When the cloth was finally pulled from Aang's eyes he could see now that an elder from the village stood before them, along with the rest of the warriors who captured them on the beach.

"Now tell us, who are you? And what are you doing here?" the warrior said.

"As if a bunch of girls would scare me." Sokka said in defiance.

"It seems the unagi is going to eat well tonight."

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it, my brother is just an idiot sometimes." Katara said.

Aang thought he had to defuse the situation as fast as possible, before Sokka could say something else he didn't mean.

"It's my fault." Aang began. "I'm sorry we came here, I wanted to ride the Elephant Koi."

"How do we know you are not one of her people? She has been toying with us for a long time now." the elder accused. "Kyoshi is staying neutral but that doesn't mean you are not here to start trouble for her."

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang said, relieved that they had something in common they could maybe relate with.

"Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here 400 years ago! She's been dead for centuries." the elder said, angrily.

"I know her because I'm the Avatar." Aang said, seeing no reason to lie.

"That's impossible, the last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago." the warrior said.

"That's me!" Aang said, sheepishly.

"Right, they are clearly sent by her, we cannot feed them to the unagi, but we can arrest these impostors. Carry on." the elder said.

As the warriors approached, some with their metal fans opened, Aang was unsure what to do.

"Aang… do some airbending!" Katara suggested.

'Oh… right. Silly me.'

He drew in a breath, let the air gather around him and quickly pushed himself upwards cutting his restraints against the statue and slowly falling to the ground.

"It's true… You are the Avatar!" The elder said in disbelief.

'This is it! My time to shine and show them my airbending trick!' Aang thought.

"Now check this out!" Aang said, pulling her marbles out of his winter coat and making them spin midair.

The villagers in the distance who by now had gathered to watch the commotion cheered and even one of the adults was freaking out. Clearly his trick impressed people.

'Now if only Katara could have the same appreciation for it.'
​

---

Aang expected the village to calm down once everyone knew he was not a threat, but Kyoshi Island didn't look calm at all. On one hand, children followed him everywhere, running behind him in little groups, asking him to airbend again, or if he knew Avatar Kyoshi, or whether he could make marbles spin forever or fly all the way to the moon.

Aang tried to answer them because they were excited and because it felt nice to be looked at with wonder and innocence for a change, but it quickly became difficult to do anything without someone watching him.

On the other hand, the adults were different. They bowed, offered food, and stepped aside when he walked past, yet many of them lowered their gaze unable to look him in the eyes. Aang did not understand it at first. He thought maybe they were embarrassed about tying him to a statue, which would have been fair enough, but most of the villagers had nothing to do with that.

And he had been freed almost immediately. Some of them smiled at him and then turned away before the smile reached their eyes, and others watched from their doors with folded hands and worried faces.

The leader of the warriors, Suki as she introduced herself, stayed close during all of it. She was polite, but she also moved wherever he moved, standing close to him at all times. Aang had never had a bodyguard before, and he was not sure he liked it.

"You don't have to follow me everywhere, you know?" he said after they escaped the children for a few moments near the edge of the village.

Suki looked toward the houses, checking the street before answering.

"You are the Avatar, Kyoshi island is not as safe as I would like it to be."

Aang frowned. "Is this about the Fire Nation?"

Suki was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Partly."

He glanced back toward the village. "Are the people worried I will lead them here?."

"No…I assume the people living here feel…guilty. The Fire Nation is already here, not right now but they regularly come to the island."

"What?!"

"It is true." Suki said, and her mouth tightened. "Kyoshi Island currently trades with the Fire Nation."

Aang stared at her. The words reached him slowly, and for a moment he thought he had misunderstood. "You trade with them?" he asked again, almost whispering.

"We used to trade with Gaoling. An Earth Kingdom city that seemed too far away from the war. Sadly, the city fell under Fire Nation control, and they used to buy most of our Elephant Koi meat. So after they took it, they offered us to keep trading. We also send wood from the inner forests when they ask for it. Our islands have a lot of hardwood, and they use it for building."

"But they are the Fire Nation!"

"I know."

Aang felt the pleasant feeling from the village fade. "Why would you help them?"

Suki turned her fan in her hand, opening and closing it once while she chose her words.

"Because we want to stay out of the war. We are small, and we don't want to involve ourselves in the fight, we feared they would take over if we did. At first we accepted because the other choice might have been worse, but then, the trade paid off." Suki said, pointing to the harbor.

Aang looked toward where she was pointing, where one of the fishing boats rocked beside the pier. There was another boat there too, bigger than their fishing ships but not by much, surrounded in black metal.

"They gave you that boat?"

"We traded it, yes. It reaches the mainland faster than our fishing boats, and it can travel even when the wind is bad. They also sent tools that help plow the fields, metal parts for construction, and even a machine that helps make roads. The last novelty they brought were flares, which we began using near the shore."

"Flares?"

"For the unagi." Suki said. "They are a stick that fires a ball of light into the sky, it scares it back long enough for fishermen to work near the deeper water. It also helps when we need clay from the seabed."

Aang wanted to say it was wrong, and part of him still thought it was. The Fire Nation had burned the Air Temples, hunted people across the world, and taken city after city. Trading with them felt like helping them keep doing it.

Then he looked at the village again, at the children who had cheered for his airbending and the old people watching with tired eyes, and he didn't know what to think anymore. Kyoshi Island was clearly too small to make a difference.

It was a place full of families who wanted to progress and remain far away from most conflicts, and he could understand that feeling. In hindsight it painted a hopeful view; they had managed to talk things out with the Fire Nation, which meant that it was possible to reach a peaceful solution.

"I think I understand." Aang said softly.

Suki looked at him. "I don't like it."

"I see."

Suki's shoulders eased a little. "Still, I'm glad you are not mad at us."

Aang gave her a small smile, then noticed that her face had grown serious again. "There is something else, isn't there?"

"Yes. You might remember the elder mentioned a girl. If you are going to travel through the south of the Earth Kingdom's territories, you need to remember her name: Lin Renshi."

Aang nodded, though the name meant nothing to him. "Who is she?"

"A Fire Nation general now. Young, pale hair, metal arms and legs, usually in black armor. If you see her, do not fight her."

Aang blinked. "That will be difficult, I don't want to fight anyone, but I'm the Avatar..."

"That is why I am telling you. She came here once a couple of years ago. We tried to stop her because we thought we had the upper hand as she approached the village alone. She defeated all of us before we understood what was going on. None of us could touch her."

"All of you?"

"All of us, at the same time." Suki said, her voice low with old frustration. "Luckily, she did not kill anyone. Although for us, it was humiliating to no end. She beat us that easily and then talked to the rest of the village without a shred of tiredness, she didn't even lose her breath on us."

Aang hugged his staff a little tighter. "She sounds scary, and then what happened?"

"She wanted to respect our neutrality and speak with us to buy water for her and her men, who had docked on our island by accident after a storm. If we had talked to her instead of attacking she wouldn't have done anything to anyone here."

"We get rumors about her all the time. The mainland says she led the Fire Nation through most of the southern Earth Kingdom. Omashu was the last great city to fall, and people say she was the one who led them to victory. Some call her the Evil Spirit of the Fire Nation. Soldiers run when they hear she is coming, and there are rumors that Agni blessed her by her appearance."

Aang swallowed. "Do you believe that?"

"I believe she is the most dangerous foe you will face north of here. She can be polite, and she can be reasonable, but if you make yourself her enemy, she will become a terrible one."

Aang had wanted to go to Omashu next. He had wanted to visit the city again after so long and remember the lovely time he had there with his friend Bumi. Now he was hearing that Omashu had fallen, and behind it was a girl with metal arms and legs who scared even warriors like Suki.

"I'll remember that…" Aang said, trying to sound braver than he felt. "I won't fight her if I can avoid it."

"Good."

Still, Aang wanted to flee the conversation altogether now. "I want a bit of time to think things through now, may I walk alone?"

Suki nodded and stepped aside, though she still looked like she might follow him. Aang started down the path, holding his staff close to his chest. He needed time to think.​