Azula despised Commander Zhao more and more every time she crossed paths with him. Tonight, it had been in Pohuai Stronghold. The fortress, imposing as ever, was surrounded by enormous walls that rose above the countryside. It told everyone not to attempt an assault, that attacking would be futile.

  Azula, of course, disregarded that message. She’d developed her skills silently lurking about the Royal Palace. Compared to that, it had been fairly easy for someone of her talents to sneak into the fortress. Getting out had proved a bit more difficult, but not insurmountable. The darkness of the night cloaked her.

  The additional challenge was to not be recognized. A recent purchase had come in handy for that. She adjusted a garish, blood-red mask with gray tusks jutting from both rows of teeth, and then she looked around for her prey.

  She spotted the top-ranking official in the fortress, Colonel Shinu. High up in a tower, he was overseeing a band of archers. They were practicing their skills. She began to climb, but every now and then she watched them. Their accuracy was unparalleled. She decided it would be unwise to antagonize them.

  When she reached the top, she crept up to the roof and waited. Soon enough, a second man joined the colonel. Commander Zhao: the man had grown into a thorn in her side, and he was the true target of her reconnaissance.

  “I wish to use your men, Colonel,” Zhao said. His voice was dark and menacing under the thin veneer of civility, but the colonel was unfazed by it.

  “My Yuyan Archers are a specialized unit, not your playthings,” Shinu said.

  “You may have them back, once I’m through with them,” Zhao answered, “Once I’ve captured the Avatar. He’s the true threat.”

  She balled her hands into fists. The Avatar was hers, even if she agreed with Zhao’s assessment. If she had one-tenth of the commander’s resources, the Avatar would’ve been in her custody already. She’d be heading home and not listening to another one of her uncle’s long-winded lectures.

  “The Avatar is nothing,” Shinu said. “We must finish the war first. Why do you want him so badly? I hardly think it’s simply to capture the boy.”

  There was a pause before Zhao answered. “Victory is the path to royal favor. You know this.”

  There was something in his voice that told her Zhao was talking about her. She gritted her teeth. She would never allow that degenerate to touch her.

  A messenger hawk flew up to the colonel. He opened the container and read the message. Azula wondered what it said.

  Zhao cleared his throat. “Is something the matter, Colonel Shinu?”

  The colonel sighed. “You already know what it says…Admiral.”

  Admiral! Azula’s job just got harder.

  Zhao laughed, gloating. “I’m going to take those archers off your hands, Colonel.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shinu said. He backed away and disappeared down the ladder of the tower.

  Zhao looked out at his new unit. “Soon, princess, soon.”

  Above him, Azula scowled under her mask.

  ***

  Azula stood on the deck of her ship, watching as a Fire Nation frigate came up alongside them. It dwarfed her smaller ship of the line.

  Lieutenant Jee glanced over at her. “I wonder what they want?”

  Her uncle finished his pai-sho game and gratefully took a small cup of tea from a nearby pot. He ventured over to her. “It must be an important message.”

  She grimaced. “We shall soon find out.”

  She gazed at the massive shadow the ship cast over hers. Zhao could’ve easily sent a small messenger boat. He was displaying to her his newfound power. The man was as pompous as he was dangerous.

  The messenger, a self-important man in a red tunic, came on board and unfurled an official document. “By order of Admiral Zhao, anyone who has information about the Avatar is to send it directly to him.”

  “Commander Zhao has received a promotion?” her uncle said, sipping tea. “Well, no one deserves it more.”

  She gave Iroh a disbelieving stare, but then she saw the smirk on the corner of his mouth. She turned to the messenger. “I’ve nothing to say to the Admiral. Now, go back to your ship.”

  “Admiral Zhao wishes—”

  “Admiral Zhao’s message has been received,” she said. “Your mission is finished. You will leave now, or I’ll have you removed.”

  The messenger raised his nose to her and sniffed. “I’ll let the admiral know.”

  “You do that,” she said.

  As the messenger returned to his vessel, Lieutenant Jee frowned but then returned to his duties, leaving Azula with her uncle. He looked at her gravely. “I see something in your eyes I don’t like.”

  “Zhao might as well have fired a shot across our bow, Uncle,” she said.

  “What are you going to do?”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  She gave him a malicious smirk.

  ***

  That night, Azula put on her dark clothes. The admiral wouldn’t see her coming. When she finished, she grabbed the mask and several daggers. She wasn’t as proficient in throwing them as her friend Mai, but they would do in a pinch. If she used her firebending and failed, Zhao would suspect it was her. If she succeeded, she didn’t want to leave any traces. The blue flame that came so easily to her was also very distinctive. She sat at a table and held up her mask. This would be the last thing Zhao ever saw.

  As she waited for night to descend, her uncle knocked on her door. She opened it. “What do you want, Uncle?”

  He stepped into her room and smiled at her. “I won at pai-sho,” he said. “Though I had to sacrifice a great deal.”

  She had no time for his games. She crossed her arms. “I repeat myself,” she said, “What do you want?”

  He walked over to the table and picked up her mask. “I have fought in many battles, and I recognized that look in your eyes today.”

  “What do you want me to do, then?” Azula said. “I can’t let him—”

  “Consider the consequences,” Iroh said. “If you kill Zhao, then what? Do you know what comes next?”

  “I…” Azula didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t really thought of the long-term ramifications of her actions. “I…I will do what I must.”

  “Yes, you will. I have no doubt about that. I merely wanted to give you something else to think about. You are capable of many things.”

  “Thanks, Uncle,” she said.

  “That wasn’t a compliment,” he said with a smile. He bowed to her one last time and left the room.

  ***

  She sneaked into the fortress via a water drain that flowed into the ocean. It wasn’t terribly large, but a small, thin person could squeeze through. She waded through the water and exited a small grate.

  In front of her was the massive courtyard, and all the soldiers were lined up. Admiral Zhao stood on a balcony and addressed them.

  “Warriors of the Fire Nation,” he began ponderously, “I, Admiral Zhao, have done the impossible. I have captured the Avatar.”

  She froze. Was this true?

  “This year will also mark the defeat of all our enemies. Sozin’s Comet will empower us to prevail and spread our greatness to the whole world. We will…”

  He rambled on in a grandiose manner, but she no longer listened. Her mission had just changed. It was a pity. She had really wanted to kill him. Maybe she’d get another chance tonight. One could only hope.

  ***

  She headed down to the dungeon. The men in this stronghold were far too arrogant. They took their defense of the outer wall seriously, but everywhere else was poorly patrolled. Only one guard stood watch outside Aang’s cell.

  She grabbed a spear from a small armory and hid around the corner from the room. She would only get one shot at this. She spun and threw a dagger at the guard’s hand. It stuck there. With a yelp, he dropped his spear. She rushed at him and, using the dull end of the spear, whacked him in the head. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

  She took the key from the man’s belt and opened the door. Before her, with arms outstretched by chains, was the Avatar.

  He looked at her with alarm. “Who’s there?”

  It would be so easy to kill him. She disregarded that sudden thought and ran up to him with the keys. She unlocked his manacles.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Whoever you are. You wouldn’t happen to have a plan to get out of here, would you? It wouldn’t be much of an escape without that.”

  She gave him an annoyed sigh that she hoped he could hear. Of course, she had a plan! What kind of assassin-turned-rescuer did he think she was? She motioned to him to follow her, and they wound their way back through the halls to the outside world. Any guards that saw them were taken out with quick attacks of her spear or Aang’s airbending.

  As they approached the exit, Azula opened the door. Standing in front of her was Admiral Zhao and a nerdy scribe. Before he had a chance to firebend, she ran the dull end of her spear into his stomach. He doubled over in pain. She again used the dull end to hit him in the temple.

  Aang sent a gust of air at the scribe, blowing him into a wall, while she stood over the stunned Zhao. This was her chance. She raised the sharp end of her spear.

  “No!” Aang said, grabbing her hand.

  She looked at him. Were good people always so useless? Maybe he was right. She lowered her spear and ran toward the sewer. Aang ran behind her.

  She stopped, nearly muttering a curse when she reached the grate. Colonel Shinu and several other men were standing right on top of it. There was no way they were getting out by that route.

  On to her backup plan. There was another set of grates on the other side of the next wall. All of them ran to the ocean. She and Aang ran to it, and they scaled it quickly. An alarm sounded. Admiral Zhao returned to the balcony where he’d given his speech.

  “The Avatar has escaped with a man in a red mask. Stop them!”

  They raced up a set of stairs only for some firebenders to punch several fireballs at them. If she’d been able to use her own firebending to block, it would have been easy to stop them. But there was no way she could do it without her blue fire being recognized. Aang knocked them back with his airbending, and both of them reached the top of the wall. She spotted the next set of grates in the courtyard on the other side.

  More firebenders reached the top of the wall and attacked them. She and Aang were pushed back, until they fell off the wall and plummeted toward the earth. He shot a cushion of air, which softened their impact. At least the Avatar was good for something. She’d need to make it count. She pointed to the next set of grates.

  They hoisted it up and were about to jump in when an arrow struck Azula in the upper portion of the mask. Her last thoughts before things went dark were that she was now at the mercy of the Avatar and of the currents.

  ***

  She awoke on a beach, staring up at bright stars in a clear, black sky. Her head ached. She rubbed it tenderly. A knot was forming where the arrow had glanced off her mask and onto her head.

  “Yuyan Archers,” she said, sitting up slowly.

  It was then she noticed the Avatar sitting on a low-lying sand dune. He watched her with sad eyes.

  “If you think I owe you anything…” she said.

  “No,” he said, slowly and kindly, “We saved each other’s lives back there.” After that, he was silent.

  Azula growled. “What is it?”

  He actually smiled at her, a kind smile with no anger or malice. “A hundred years ago, I was on a beach like this with a friend named Kuzon. He was from the Fire Nation. We used to have so much fun together. He’s dead now.”

  “What does that have to do with me, baldie?”

  “Do you think we could have been friends back then?”

  “Friends?” she said incredulously. “I’m beginning to think you were the one the Archers hit in the head.”

  “You just seem very sad.” He was so earnest it made her sick. He handed her back her mask. “You lost this. I like you better without it.” Was he flirting with her?

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t think our little escapade tonight changes anything. I couldn’t let Zhao have the victory, that’s all,” she said, blasting a fireball at him, but it was half-hearted at best. Even she knew it.

  He hopped on a globe of air, grinned at her, and then flew away. She watched him go.

  ***

  Azula sneaked back into her room through the window and pulled up a rope. Her uncle was waiting for her. He stood when she entered.

  “Who said you could be in my room?” Her head hurt even worse now. All she wanted was a long sleep.

  “I didn't touch anything,” he said. “I merely wanted to see how things went.”

  “He’s still alive, if that’s what you mean.”

  He bowed. “You missed music night. The men were asking for you to sing. We had to make do with Lieutenant Jee, although he did sing us an excellent love song.”

  She smirked. “Goodnight, Uncle.”

  “Good night, Princess Azula.”