Sometimes Azula wonders why she still puts up with her job, and right now is one of those times. She’s sitting in a meeting, stuck at a rectangular conference table between two men who clearly need to reapply deodorant, half-listening to the typical debate that occurs every time she’s scheduled to give a presentation to potential investors. It’s all the same as it always is: half the room is fine with Azula giving the presentation, the other half is extremely opposed to it. This other half is the main reason Azula questions why she still works for the company. They’re so focused on Azula's past - namely her father’s arrest and her subsequent breakdown when she was freshly 16 - and refuse to look at or even consider the current Azula.
These colleagues refuse to acknowledge that Azula has healed in the nearly 9 years since her infamous breakdown. They only see the Azula from the front pages of the tabloids with headlines like “Teen Daughter of World-Famous Actor Accused of Tax Evasion Goes Crazy!”, not Azula as she is after years of grief, therapy, and trying to avoid anything having to do with her dysfunctional family. It’s easy to ignore the competency of a girl who graduated with her master’s degree at 22 and has been working in the industry for almost 3 years when she has publicized sh*tty mental health.
It’s when one of the men beside her decides to pop into the conversation with “I don’t think she’s capable of this. I mean, what if she snaps again?” that Azula finally stands up, taking a deep breath to calm herself, and looks around the room with fire in her eyes. The discussion comes to a halt, all eyes focused on her as Azula makes direct eye contact with her boss and proclaims, “I’m done.”
“What do you mean, you’re done?” he asks incredulously.
“It’s not all that hard to understand,” Azula sighs. “I’m done. I quit. Consider this my formal notice. Good luck deciding who will replace me for tomorrow’s presentation.” With that, she walks out of the conference room, making a beeline for her desk. She keeps few things in there, just some pens and notepads along with her laptop, and shoves them into her laptop bag. For good measure, Azula opens each of her desk’s drawers just in case she left something in one that she forgot about.
When Azula pulls out the very bottom drawer, a sealed white envelope with her name written in neat script peers at her. She grabs the envelope, surprised by its weight, and gently places it in her bag before closing the drawer and walking out of the office for the last time.
It’s not the longest walk to the parking lot where her car sits, but the entire time Azula’s stomach twists with anxiety. What’s in the envelope? Why was her name on it? When did she even put it there? As soon as she sits in her car and locks the doors, Azula reaches into her bag and pulls out the envelope hastily. She practically rips it open and jumps in shock when a rusted key falls onto her lap. Azula places the key in her cup holder, pulling out the note accompanying it from the envelope.
Azula,
I’m glad you opened this letter when you truly needed to. Don’t lie to yourself, I know you forgot about this until now. The key unlocks the door to my home in Pelican Town. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I’m sure it’s a bit run down. Would you mind checking on it for me? Feel free to stay there for as long as you like. Sometimes a change of pace is what we truly need to learn to love our lives. Remember to be kind to the townspeople!
With love,
Uncle Iroh
Azula sighs, placing the letter down in the passenger seat as she hits her head against the steering wheel, making her horn drone on for a good ten seconds before she pulls her head up again. Of course her old uncle would have some wee-woo bullsh*t type of advice. She hasn’t seen the man in a decade since he and her brother had left to travel the world, but she could imagine his voice reading the letter to her loud and clear. It was almost as if he was haunting her from beyond a metaphorical grave.
She turns her key in the ignition, rolling her eyes while continuing to think about the letter. What good would getting away from the city do her anyways? She thrives in the city, there are bars she can go to after work, plenty of shopping centers, and a public library within walking distance from her apartment. The city was fine, Azula just needed to find a job where nobody knew who she was. If that was even possible.
Azula groans and smacks her head against the steering wheel again. Who’s she kidding? Finding a job where nobody knows who she was? She’d have to go into witness protection and legally change her entire identity for that to happen. For the first time in her 24 and a half years of life, she considers that her uncle may be…right. A burning feeling overwhelms Azula’s chest as she grapples with the fact that she might, for once, have to listen to her stupid uncle who practically abandoned her when all she needed most was a family who loved her. Well, maybe she didn’t have to listen to her uncle specifically. Azula’s therapist always told her to “shake things up a bit, try something different!”. So maybe, just maybe, Azula would consider moving to Pelican Town, at least for a little bit.
–
The lock squeaks as Azula inserts the key into the door of Uncle Iroh’s old farmhouse. She prays for no mice or co*ckroaches as she pushes open the door to find a fully furnished living room without a speck of dust covering the place. “Well, at least it’s better than outside,” Azula grumbles as she kicks her shoes off at the door. The girl paces around the house lazily, discovering a clean kitchen, slightly run-down but functional bathroom, and a perfectly made bed that she immediately flops in. She doesn’t even get to lay around for three minutes before loud raps are heard on her door. The girl groans as she stands up and makes her way to the front, opening the door to a cheery redhead with her arms full of farming tools.
“Good morning!” the girl smiles. “My name’s Suki. I’ve been taking care of the farmhouse since your uncle left. Sorry it’s not so nice outside…” she blushes as she says the last part.
“I, uh, thank you?” Azula mutters. “What are those?” She points to the tools precariously balanced in Suki’s arms.
“They’re your uncle’s farm tools! I’ve been keeping them at my place since nobody’s been using ‘em. At least I can use the ax sometimes!” Suki laughs. “I’m the town carpenter. If you need anything built feel free to let me know!” Azula stares blankly at the other girl, who scratched at her head awkwardly. When it became clear that Azula wasn’t going to respond, Suki filled the silence. “Anyways, I hope you get settled in well. You should come into town to meet everyone sometime! Oh!” Suki reaches into her pocket, pulling out a few bags of what appeared to be seeds. “These are for you. From my mom. She’s the mayor. Uh, do with them what you please, but, hopefully you plant them considering you have a farm now.”
Azula raises an eyebrow at the energetic but awkward girl. For a second she debates completely icing her out, but then her uncle’s voice plays in her head telling her that she needs to make a fresh start for herself. Azula sighs internally, wondering why she ever decided that old man was right. “Thank you,” she replies sincerely. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Azula, by the way. I’ll see you around.”
Suki beams at her, giggling as she replies with a “nice to meet you too!”, calling out a goodbye as she exits the farmhouse. “See ya around!” Suki yells just before Azula closes the door. She begins to inventory her tools, an ax, a hoe, a pickaxe, a scythe, and a dingy little watering can that appears to have been used past its expected life span. Azula then goes through the packets of seeds Suki gave her, finding stacks of parsnip seeds. With a resigned groan, Azula drags the tools and seeds out the front door. She spends the rest of the day clearing out the farm, grumbling about “I don’t know how to do this sh*t. I better be doing this right…”, and attempting to plant the parsnip seeds in neat little rows near a pond she found while clearing.
–
Azula spends her first two weeks in Pelican town being an almost complete recluse. Almost, because Suki seems to enjoy forcing her presence on Azula when the grumpy girl is attempting to clear more of the farm and tend to her plants. That, and Azula has had to walk to the general store a few times to pick up some basic ingredients for cooking and a variety of seeds so she doesn’t starve herself while she waits for her food to grow. Azula, however, considers it a personal win that she’s had enough alone time to only have interacted with the shop owner and Suki thus far. That is, until the beginning of her third week in town.
Azula’s awoken by loud pounding on her front door at an hour when no person should even be awake. She reaches to check her phone for the time, confirming her suspicions that it’s too early in the morning to be dealing with anyone’s bullsh*t, and lays back down in bed. Loud pounding startles her once again and she moves to place a pillow over her face to muffle the sound. It seems to Azula that the pounding on her door is only getting louder, so she accepts defeat and groggily makes her way to the front door, only to open it to find a bald-headed manchild holding a black cat in his arms.
“Good morning, new neighbor!” the boy exclaims. “Is this your cat? I was on my morning walk and I saw her scratching at your door and thought she may have gotten out in the night.”
“She’s not mine,” Azula responds grumpily as she attempts to slam the door in the boy’s face. He sticks his foot out and stops the door from closing, much to her apparent misery.
“Well, I know she isn’t anyone else’s, I take care of all the pets in town and I’ve never seen this little cutie before,” he sighs. “I suppose she’s a stray…”
Azula opens her door a little more, raising an eyebrow to tell the boy she knows he’s trying to guilt trip her into taking the cat. The audacity of this man! Asking a complete stranger to take care of a cat you found on your stroll at the asscrack of dawn should be illegal, really. The little cat lets out a slight whimper and Azula feels the muscles in her face soften. The poor baby had to be lonely, she thought, and she was probably hungry too. Azula groaned as she opened the door fully and made grabby hands at the boy, who happily passed the cat into her waiting arms.
“Are you gonna adopt her?” the boy asked, a little too excitedly for Azula’s tastes. “What’s her name? And what’s your name? Oh spirits, forgive me for being rude. I never introduced myself. My name is Aang! I take care of the animals in Pelican Town.”
“Yes I’ll adopt her, I’m naming her Mochi, and my name’s Azula. Now, can I please go back to bed?”
Aang blushes as he listens to Azula rattle off her list of responses. “Sorry,” he says shyly, “I’ll let you go now. But you might want to wash her before you head back to bed. I’ll bring some anti-flea stuff for little Mochi later, okay?”
“Ok. Thanks.” Azula closes the door with her foot, suddenly preoccupied with the purring cat in her arms. She leans down to give Mochi a kiss on her little head, but pulls away before she can. “Agni, you smell bad,” Azula groans, “let’s get you washed up so I can go back to sleep.”
–
By the middle of summer, Azula has gotten herself into a routine. She still hasn’t explored most of town, but she’s a regular at the general store and has met a decent amount of the other villagers in town. In the mornings she tends to her farm. By the afternoon, usually Suki shows up to her home with a new story and a loaf of bread or some sweet treat her mother baked. If Suki is busy, Azula will head to the town library and read books until she grows tired. Sometimes she’ll chat with Hakoda, the town archaeologist, who teaches her more about curation and digging than she ever thought she’d know. Once the library closes, or Suki leaves, Azula settles in for the night, eating dinner, playing with Mochi, and getting ready for bed. Azula really does not care for her routine being interrupted. Unfortunately, Suki quite enjoys interrupting her routine.
“What do you mean, ‘what beach’? You’ve lived here for months now, and you didn’t know we have a beach? That’s literally connected to the ocean? Where did you think we were, Ohio?” Suki gasps. The two girls are sitting on Azula’s front porch, watching Mochi run around the mostly-cleared farmland and yelling at her when she tries to eat any of Azula’s plants.
Azula shrugs, playing with the cookie Suki brought her instead of eating it. “Haven’t explored much, I’m a homebody. Sue me.”
“Sprits, next you’re going to tell me you’ve never been to the mines,” Suki sighs, turning to look at Azula who wears a guilty expression. “YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO THE MINES?” Suki dramatically throws her head into her hands, muffling a scream. “Azula, you’d love the mines. You get to fight monsters in the mines. You get a sword. It’s right up your alley!”
Azula laughs brightly. “I would not be opposed to checking out the mines.”
“Well, you’re not doing that with me. I hate the mines. I’ll send Toph your way though, she loves it down there. Which honestly doesn’t make sense, considering she’s blind, but that girl has killed more monsters than anyone in town. Anyways…” Suki stands up, pulling at Azula’s arm to bring her to her feet. “We’re going to the beach. I’m going to introduce you to Sokka.”
The two women arrive at the beach in no time thanks to Suki’s insistence on dragging Azula by the arm at a speed Azula could barely keep up with. Suki lets go of her hand and runs to the dock, Azula trailing behind. Once Azula reaches the end of the dock and rounds the corner near the house built alongside it, she’s greeted by the sight of Suki back-hugging a relatively tall man with tanned skin and, as Azula’s brain loudly proclaims, a stupid-looking ponytail. The man laughs as he greets Suki, turning around quickly to peck her lips before he notices Azula’s presence. “Hey!” he calls, “you must be Azula. Suki’s been raving about you for the past few months, I’m glad to finally meet you!”
“Yes, that’s me,” she quips. “And who exactly are you?”
The man turns to Suki with a pout on his face. “Babe,” he whines, “you’ve been telling me all about her, but she doesn’t even know who I am? I’m hurt.” He dramatically clutches his chest, continuing to sport the pout that slowly morphs into a teasing smile as Suki’s face goes red.
“Sorry,” Suki laughs nervously, “Sokka, this is Azula. Azula, this is my boyfriend Sokka.”
Azula looks at the couple quizzically. The pair seemed to be the affectionate type, still touching shoulders despite the dramatics Sokka pulled a minute ago. She supposes they could be regarded as cute, what with their obvious affection for each other. Azula guesses that the two have been together for quite a while, but yet she still decides to tease Suki. “How long have you had a boyfriend and why did you never tell me about him?” she asks in the most stern voice she can muster, trying to avoid laughing at the pair’s matching shocked expressions.
“I, uh…” Suki stutters as she tries to come up with a response. “We’ve been dating for 3 years now. I could have sworn I’ve mentioned him to you before, though!” This, of course, is entirely plausible given Azula’s tendency to zone out Suki’s constant chatter whenever she’s attempting to focus on planting seeds or clearing out a root she missed.
Azula bursts into laughter as she watches Suki nervously ramble on about how she swears she’s mentioned Sokka in previous conversation. “I was just messing with you,” Azula laughs at Suki’s obvious confusion. “Nice to meet you, Sokka. What, pray tell, do you do living on this beach?”
“Oh, you know, a little bit of everything,” the man quips. “Writing poetry, entertaining guests, waking up to see the sunrise, heading to the museum to visit dad and argue with him over whether the fossils I find are important or not...” Suki punches his arm, trying to get him back on track. “Oh, and I’m the town fisherman too. That’s like, my main job”
Sokka’s rambling allows Azula to discern a few things about the man. First and foremost, it’s increasingly obvious to her why he and Suki get along. Azula also comes to the conclusion that Sokka must be the son of Hakoda, and at that moment decides she’ll be nicer to him than she originally planned. She couldn’t bear to disappoint one of the few people she’s made a connection with in this town. Last, Azula knows that, as soon as Sokka mentions his occupation, he’s going to attempt to teach her to fish. It’s almost like deja vu when the man turns to her excitedly, asking “Azula, do you want to try and fish? I know there’s a river and a pond on your land.”
“Absolutely not,” Azula proclaims. “I have neither the patience nor the will to learn how to catch those slimy little creatures.” Her eyes shift to the girl still pressed against Sokka’s side, who sports a disappointed expression on her once jovial face.
“C’mon, Azula, don’t knock it until you try it,” Suki encourages. “Besides, if you learn to fish you could get your dinner without having to be nice to whoever you’d run into at the general store.” Damn the redhead and her logical reasoning. Azula still had a relatively low social battery after deciding she was going to start fresh, and sometimes dealing with complaining customers or overly-friendly store owners was simply too much for her to handle.
“Fine,” Azula concedes with a sigh. As soon as the syllable leaves her mouth, Sokka runs into his home. It doesn’t take a minute before he’s back outside again, returning with a wooden fishing pole that he happily hands over to Azula. She’s reluctant to take the object, disliking the feeling of the foreign object in her hands, as she attempts to pay attention to Sokka showing her the different pieces and parts that she’d need to use to fish. When he finishes, Sokka grabs the pole leaning against his house and stands next to Azula.
“You ready?” he asks.
“I suppose,” she grumbles.
Sokka spends the rest of the afternoon and early evening helping Azula learn to fish. Suki sits quietly next to the pair, fiddling with Sokka’s tackle box and seemingly organizing it in a color-coded order. The fisherman catches at least four fish before Azula manages to get one. Her victory is celebrated with a whoop before she is shushed by the couple, warning her that she may scare the fish away with the loud noise. By sunset, Sokka has managed to catch a baker’s dozen of different types of fish, all of which he hauls back into his home one at a time. Azula, however, has managed to catch one fish and a pile of trash.
“I’m done with this!” she groans as she tosses her pole onto the dock with a little more aggression than she had hoped to. She ignores Sokka’s yelp of “hey, be careful!” as she begins to rant. “Fishing is the most boring activity known to man. I just have to stay here quietly all day in the sun, and for what? A sad little sardine and a pile of trash? No thank you. You can bet your ass that I will never be fishing ever again!”
Sokka and Suki look at the woman with twin expressions of concern on their faces and it makes Azula almost feel bad. Keyword there being almost. Azula was absolutely not going to feel bad about her outburst, fresh start be damned, when fishing yielded her next to nothing for her day of hard work. Sokka gently smiled at her, sighing a defeated sigh. “At least keep the pole,” he said quietly, “just in case.”
Azula balls up her fists, preparing to call the man some long-winded version of “stupid”, before she catches Suki looking at her with her eyebrows raised in her peripheral vision. Azula slowly unclenches her hands, taking a deep breath and cursing herself for her slight attachment to the girl’s friendship and her promise to do better. “Thank you, Sokka,” she says through slightly gritted teeth. “I’ll keep it just in case.”
The man’s face lights up as if he expected her to snap the fishing rod in half at his suggestion. “Good!” he cheers. “You never know if you’re gonna need it. Better to be safe than sorry, am I right?” Azula raises an eyebrow at him and he shyly looks to Suki for confirmation. “Right?”
“Right, babe,” the girl smiles. A pleased look washes over Sokka’s face and it takes everything in Azula to not gag right then and there. Sure, yes, she had already admitted that the pair made a cute couple. But really? Did they have to be so affectionate right in front of her? Azula thought of her fate as the inevitable third wheel of the two, knowing that Suki would drag her to the beach more often now. As if the girl was reading her mind, she turns to Azula and giggles. “Don’t worry, Azula! You’re not the third wheel, you’re actually the fourth!” Sokka bursts into laughter at his girlfriend’s statement. “Sokka’s little sister is actually the original third wheel.”
“Well, I’m sure we’ll get along swimmingly,” Azula mutters, watching the pair dissolve into a fit of giggles as the moon begins to glow in the sky behind them.
–
Azula does not get along with Sokka’s sister. In fact, she’s pretty sure she hates the girl.
At the beginning of fall, Azula comes to the realization that she can explore the town at night. Why? First, she doesn’t have to deal with people. More importantly, however, nobody is alert enough at night to notice the reclusive girl rummaging through their trash cans. Azula is confident that if city-Azula saw her now, she’d be repulsed. On what earth would the Azula, the rich daughter of a multi-millionaire and proud holder of a Master’s degree with no college debt, sink so low? Azula laughs to herself at the thought. She’s discovered through her late night adventures that the people in town are actually quite wasteful. Azula has discovered full gemstones worth hundreds of gold in their trash cans. And, if Azula can make a profit, she will.
It’s on one of these midnight excursions that Azula stumbles upon the broken-down community center. She approaches the building cautiously, trying the door handle before realizing that it’s locked. With a huff, Azula makes the decision to commit a crime. Specifically, breaking and entering. She pulls a bobby pin out of her top knot and inserts it into the lock, shimmying it around quickly until a quiet click is heard.
Upon entering the building, Azula is welcomed with broken glass from a fishtank in the corner and books strewn across the floor in a haphazard fashion. She lets her curiosity get the better of her as she walks further into the main room of the building, choosing to turn down the hallway to her left and explore that side of the building. The first room Azula enters is filled with shelves that line the wall. A small collection of canned goods covered in cobwebs sits on one, a dusty blanket on another. She guesses that this must be the center’s pantry.
Azula exits the room and makes her way to a closed door across the hall. She pushes open the door, wincing at the squeaking of the hinges, and enters the room. Bookshelves line one wall, a large rug sits at the center of the room, and it appears that a strange, square object sits at the center of the rug. Azula’s heart drops to her stomach. Surely this isn’t a little too suspicious, right? She’s definitely not entering an area set aside for something like a cult meeting, she hopes. Azula makes her way towards the object, bending down to further inspect it in a similar manner to how she inspects artifacts at the library.
The plaque, as Azula discovers, is brightly colored and covered with what seems to be the text of a foreign language. Azula considered herself proficient with languages, after all she was fluent in five of them, but the writing system was like none she had ever seen before. Puzzled, she ran her fingers along the strange words, wondering what could be written there and why the plaque was even in the decrepit building anyway.
“Who the hell are you?” a rough, feminine voice rings out from behind Azula. The girl whips around, coming face to face with possibly the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen in her entire life. The girl is short, at least three inches shorter than Azula herself, but her solid stance makes her appear downright terrifying. She has captivating blue eyes and a lovely darker complexion, her deep brown waves framing her face and drawing attention to her soft cheeks. The pretty girl knits her eyebrows together, pursing her full lips. “Hello? Did you even hear me?” she scoffs. “Who the hell are you, and why are you here?”
It takes a moment for Azula to find her voice, but she eventually replies to the woman. “I’m Azula. The new farmer? I’ve only been here for a few months…”. She finds herself trailing off, feeling awkward but obligated to answer all of the girl’s questions. “I was just exploring town, I didn’t mean to cause an issue.”
“Sure you didn’t,” the girl rolls her eyes. “Breaking into a place for fun is literally the definition of ‘causing an issue’.”
“I… I didn’t…” Azula stutters, dropping her head to avoid looking at the woman’s eyes. The nerve of this stranger! Who is she to tell Azula what she’s doing wrong! How did the girl even get here in the first place? “Wait,” Azula starts “didn’t you have to break into this place too? I don’t see a police badge. So who the hell are you?”
The woman’s nostrils flare, her face turning red as steam seems to blow out from her ears. “Of course I had to break into this place!” she screeches. “I’m supposed to be the only person who knows how to! I come here for peace and quiet, not to be interrupted by some recluse who only leaves her house at night!”
“So sorry I found your secret spot,” Azula deadpans, raising her head to make eye contact with the girl once again. “But like you said, I don’t leave my house. Who am I going to tell about your little illegal activities? Suki? Or Sokka? I doubt either of those two idiots is much of a threat.”
The color drains from the girl’s face as she walks close to Azula, hoisting the girl off the ground and gripping her arm tightly, her face mere inches away from Azula’s own. “Do not! Do not tell them I come here,” she mutters through gritted teeth. “If you do, I swear to all the spirits that I’ll beat your ass.”
Azula’s breath catches in her throat at the girl’s proximity to her. Why would she be so concerned about her spot getting found out? And by Sokka and Suki, of all people. Those two probably already knew about this place. Azula starts to connect the dots in her head. If Suki and Sokka know about the community center, they don’t know the pretty girl comes here at night. And, based on the girl’s reaction, she really doesn’t want the couple knowing that she’s here. Which, of course, means that the three of them know each other. Azula scans the girl’s face again, focusing on her bright eyes and tanned skin. She looks almost familiar somehow…if only she could…Wait. “Holy sh*t,” Azula laughs quietly.
“What?” the girl demands. “What’s so funny about all this?”
“You’re Sokka’s sister, aren’t you?” Azula responds calmly. She notices the girl’s eyebrow twitch, her jaw set in a straight line. “That’s all the confirmation I need really,” Azula smirks. “You’re upset with me for being here not because I’m here, but because this is where you come to hide from your brother and his girlfriend.”
The girl releases her vice grip on Azula’s arm, stepping back a few paces and drawing a breath. “Fine. My name is Katara. Yes, I’m Sokka’s sister and yes this is where I come to get some alone time. Is that so much of a crime?”
“Not at all,” Azula replies. “Trust me, Suki comes to visit my farm daily. What I don’t understand is why you had to be so hostile from the get-go.” Anger rises to Katara’s face once again, but she takes in a deep breath before looking Azula dead in her eyes.
“I didn’t recognize you. For all I know, you could have tried to kill me.”
“But I didn’t.”
“How was I supposed to know that?!”
“I’m relatively harmless.”
“As if.”
“Really. Ask your brother. The most violent thing I’ve done to him has been pushing him off the dock.”
Katara stifles a giggle as she responds with “I don’t even know you, why should I believe you?”
Azula rolls her eyes. “That’s why I told you to ask your brother, dumbass.”
“Ugh,” Katara whines. “Can you just leave me alone? There’s no need to start name calling.”
“My pleasure.” Azula wipes her hands against her pants as she heads for the door of the room, pushing past Katara with a smirk on her face. “Have fun with your alone time. I hope to never see you again.”
Katara calls out a “likewise”, but Azula’s already out the door of the community center before she can finish it.
–
The next morning, Azula checks her mailbox only to find a note written in elegant cursive handwriting addressed to her.
Azula,
Welcome to Pelican Town. I am truly sorry to have not reached out sooner, but the universe first had to fall into place before we could make contact. This world is full of beautiful magic, but we still must follow the guidelines of the spirits! Please come to my tower in Cindersap Forest this afternoon. I have important information for you regarding the community center.
Best,
Yue
Azula stares at the letter in confusion. Who’s this Yue person, and why does she know Azula’s name? Better yet, how does she know that Azula’s interested in the community center? Mochi rubs against Azula’s leg, looking up to her owner and letting out a curious-sounding meow. Azula sighs, reaching down to scratch between her cat’s ears, and resigns herself to another day of socialization, consequences be damned.
–
Azula seriously believes that she has been drugged by the wizard, Yue. Really, what was in that cauldron? Forest magic? Junimo sprites? What did all of this even mean? Yue told her that she would be able to communicate with the junimos. But what even is a junimo? Azula’s head pounded as she jogged towards the community center just as the sun was setting for the day. After all, Yue, if she was even a real wizard at all, claimed that the forest magic Azula was given would allow her to read strange communications. Azula decided that she’d only believe it when she saw it, and immediately made a beeline for the plaque in the community center.
She quickly picks the lock to the main door of the building and enters quietly, dashing down the same hallway she explored the night before. The door to the room creaks again when she opens it, and Azula is surprised to see Katara sitting on the floor in the same spot Azula sat in last night, inspecting the plaque. Azula all but flops next to the girl, craning her head over the plaque as she protests about her personal space, and Azula waves her off dismissively as she begins to read the text. Once she reads the whole thing, Azula lays back onto the floor, rubbing at her temples.
“Are you on drugs?” Katara asks, only to be met with a dirty look. “I’m serious. You’re acting like you’re on drugs.”
“I don’t know,” Azula groans.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Katara yelps, flicking at the girl’s forehead. Azula slaps her hand away. “How do you not know if you took drugs or not?”
“I didn’t take any drugs,” Azula moans. “But I might have been drugged.”
Katara softens her expression a bit, putting one hand to her forehead and sighing. “Why do you think you were drugged?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Azula scoffs, “maybe because I can read the plaque when I couldn’t last night? And it’s telling me to complete these bundles to like, I don’t even know. Save the town or something?”
“Alright, yeah,” Katara says slowly. “Definitely on drugs. Come on.” She pulls Azula off the floor similar to how she did the night before but a bit more gently. “We’re going to my place.” Azula shoots her a disgusted look. “No, it’s not weird. I’m a healer. I’m helping you get whatever's in your system out.” Katara loops Azula’s arm around her shoulders while maneuvering her arm to hold Azula’s waist. Azula fights back a blush as Katara pulls her out of the room.
“No need, thanks,” Azula murmurs. “I’m fine. Just need to rest and process all the weird sh*t the crazy forest lady told me. Hopefully I’ll figure out what a junimo is in my sleep.”
Katara halts in her tracks, making Azula stumble. She would have fallen if not for the firm grip Katara had on her waist. Azula tries not to think of that too much. “Crazy forest lady? Azula, did you take drugs from a stranger? In the woods?! How stupid are you?”
Azula smacks the arm around Katara into the girl’s shoulder. “I’m not stupid,” she protests. “I’m a genius. I didn’t know I was taking drugs, obviously. That phony wizard Yue must have drugged me. Why else am I able to read a foreign language fluently and put up with your insufferable ass?”
Katara’s face pales and her grip on Azula’s waist goes slack. “I’m choosing to ignore your rude comment,” Katara says between deep breaths. “Yue isn’t a phony, Azula. She’s the real deal.”
“What do you mean?” Azula jumps back, her back hitting the wall of the hallway. “Obviously she isn’t real, Katara. Magic doesn’t exist. It can’t exist.”
“Listen to me, would you?” Katara groans. “Magic does exist, at least in Stardew Valley it does. For most of us, it’s little things. Flowers blooming earlier than they should, finding a patch of spring onions in the same place you picked clean the day before. But we’ve all heard the legends, Azula. The junimos? They’re the forest spirits. I promise you magic is real.”
Azula looks at the girl, completely straight faced. “You accuse me of being on drugs, and now this?” she gasps. “Take a look at yourself! I’m going home. If I’m lucky, this will all be a dream.”
“It won’t be,” Katara whispers, so quiet that Azula could barely hear her.
“Yes, it will.” Azula speeds past the girl, heading towards the door that will get her out of this cursed building. “It has to.”
“If you say so,” Katara resigns. “Are you going to be alright to get home?”
Azula opens the door, turning back quickly to look at Katara. “I’ll be fine.”
She dreams of a renovated community center that night.
–
It takes until nearly the end of fall for Azula to accept the fact that magic is real and that she was chosen by the junimos to help rebuild the community center. She sleeps restlessly, dreaming of spirits and magic and friendship for weeks on end, until she finally decides to humor the so-called forest spirits and bring them five of her best ears of corn. The dreams stop after that. Resigned to her fate, Azula works hard to bring offerings to the junimos, much to her dismay.
The first day of winter is the first time she visits the mines. Azula had started to work on a bundle that required her to offer gemstones to the spirits, and after a few days with no luck trying to surface collect them she decided to pay the mines a visit with one Toph Beifong, daughter of the general store owner and self-proclaimed adventurer extraordinaire.
Despite her blindness, the small woman proved to be a formidable fighter against any monster that touched the ground. Azula, with her rusty iron sword she bought at the Adventurer’s Guild, had to take care of anything that flew. Which, in her personal opinion, was possibly the most annoying task in the entire mining process. Bats and bugs came out of nowhere, and Toph’s high pitched screams whenever something hit her in the head were more irritating than Sokka insisting she try to fish again.
Azula and Toph got along immediately, much to Azula’s surprise. The girl was crass and somewhat immature, but she was witty and Azula respected that Toph was unafraid to be an asshole. She matched Azula’s energy. The two women found themselves in the mines nearly every day for two weeks, and with their daily adventures they became fast friends.
Occasionally, the girls found themselves spending time in the library researching what their adventures in the mines had let them find. Typically, Azula feels at home in the library, but today a knot settled itself in her stomach. When the girls were walking from the mines to the library, they passed Katara and Sokka, bickering while on a walk together.
“I can hear you thinking, princess fire-pants,” Toph whined, pulling Azula back into reality. “What’s on your mind?”
Azula could tell her nothing, but she knew well enough that Toph would push her into confessing. She sighed quietly, before closing the book she was pretending to read while her mind wandered. “Hypothetically, what would you do if you thought someone was beautiful? Like, super pretty. But then they opened their mouth and they were kind of annoying. And they absolutely hated you.”
Toph swivels her chair around, facing Azula. “Why are you asking me this?” she asks, putting on an extremely serious tone. “Really, Azula, I’m like the worst person you could have asked.”
“Because…because you’re my friend? And I need advice,” Azula stuttered.
Toph erupted into rowdy laughter that got her shushed by Hakoda, who was sitting at his desk trying to work. “I’m honored, princess, really,” Toph choked out between her attempts to catch her breath, “but have you forgotten that I’m blind? Seriously, asking me about someone you think is hot is stupid. How am I supposed to know how attractive a person is when I can’t see them?”
“I…f*ck,” Azula curses. “That was insensitive of me, I apologize.”
“It’s all good,” Toph, calmed down from her fit of laughter, snorts. “I may not be able to answer based on physical traits, but I can still give you advice. How well do you really know this person? You could have just had a bad first impression of each other, or something. Get to know them better. Yeah, they’ll see that you’re a bit of a bitch, but they’ll learn to appreciate it.”
Azula huffs at Toph’s words, unable to refute the comment on her personality. She supposes the girl is right. She did make a terrible first and second impression on Katara.
“Who’s this mystery person anyway?” Toph questions.
As deadpan as possible, Azula replies, “Sokka, obviously.”
Toph snorts again. “Nice try, princess. I know you’re a lesbian disaster.”
Azula huffs again, this time deciding to call the younger girl out. “How exactly did you know that, huh?”
“Instinct,” Toph replies, making finger guns. “That and, well, you just confirmed it.”
Azula slams her head onto the table as Toph continues to laugh at her misery.
–
On the third Wednesday of the winter, Azula checked her fridge only to discover it barren. She groaned as she threw on her winter boots and heavy coat, unexcited to make the trip to the general store. Why couldn’t she have realized her lack of food yesterday? She noticed that she was out of hay for the chickens Aang convinced her to adopt after Suki insisted on helping her build a coop. It would have been convenient if she had realized she needed to buy human food, too.
Azula pulls at the doors to the general store but they don’t budge. She pulls again, cursing under her breath. Still, the doors refuse to open. Azula’s eyes look for the store’s posted hours, thinking she must have come too early for the shopkeeper to have opened for the day. A pit forms in her stomach as she reads “Wednesdays: Closed” on the sign. She kicks at the door with her toe, wincing as a shock vibrates her foot. Azula groans, knowing that Sokka’s insistence on her learning to fish had finally come to bite her in the ass. She marches home to grab her fishing rod from the very back of her closet, heading out to the pond on her property only to find it frozen. She tries to go to the river and slips on the ice on the banks, nearly falling in.
Azula lets out a little whine as she picks herself up from the ground and stomps toward the path at the very southernmost edge of her property that leads to the forest. She walks over to another section of the river, near Aang’s shop that he never seems to open and a cute little cabin that Azula’s convinced is abandoned at this point. She’s never seen anyone go in or out of there, never seen the flicker of a light in the window. Azula sets herself up in front of the cabin, hoping the structure will block a bit of the frigid wind that makes her face and hands tingle with pain.
She casts her line, praying to the universe and the junimos that she can catch a fish for dinner quickly and head back to her farmhouse before she gets frostbite. Unfortunately for Azula, the universe is keen on ignoring her demands. She fishes up multiple pieces of trash in her hour and a half attempting to catch a fish, quickly becoming frustrated and hangry. She’s about to call it quits and resort to begging Suki for food when she hears “Hey, do you need some help with that?”. Azula turns to find Katara looking at her with a soft smile on her face and a medical bag in her hands, and rolls her eyes.
“Not from you, thanks,” Azula replies.
A slight pout crosses Katara’s face. “I’m just trying to be nice to you. You are sitting outside of my cabin in a pile of trash, afterall.”
Azula’s face warms with embarrassment. Of course this cabin isn’t abandoned. How could she be so naive? “I, uh, didn’t know you lived here?” Azula mumbles. In her head, she chastises herself. Nice going, Azula, she thinks, real smart response.
Katara laughs, “Well, I suppose you do now.” She goes to unlock the door of her cabin, quickly stepping inside, and returns to Azula’s side with her hands free. “I’m serious about helping you, though. Sokka and I talk. I know how much you hate fishing.”
“Of course,” she groans. “That blabbermouth has probably told the whole town at this point.” Katara lets out a snort, nodding her head in agreement. Azula didn’t know it was possible for her face to feel even warmer. Why did everyone have to know that she sucks?
“He’s actually only probably told dad and Suki,” Katara reassures her, placing a comforting hand on Azula’s shoulder. Azula looks at her, confused. Why was Katara being so nice to her? “Listen,” the brunette sighs, “I’m sorry I was a total bitch to you when we met. My friends all really seem to like you, and I feel bad that I was immediately hostile. I want to start fresh, if you’re ok with that.”
Azula regards the girl curiously. She definitely knew a lot about starting fresh. Azula heard her uncle’s voice in her head again, like he was the little angel on her shoulder, reminding her to be kind. She gently removes Katara’s hand from her shoulder before holding hers out for a handshake. Katara accepts. “I’d like that,” Azula says with a smile. “I’ll kill you if you tell them, but I like your friends too. Even if Aang gets on my nerves because he’s never in his damn shop.”
Katara barks out a melodic laugh, cute even with the occasional snort and quick attempt to catch her breath. “He really never is,” she giggles. “He’s always at the saloon.”
Azula’s jaw drops. “You’re seriously telling me that the little monk boy spends most of his time at the saloon? With the town drunks?”
“There’s an arcade in the back,” Katara replies. “He likes to go play with Toph. She’s surprisingly good at video games, somehow.”
“Huh.” Azula feels tension on her fishing line, turning quickly away from Katara to reel whatever got caught in. Excitement builds, the weight of the thing is a bit heavier than the trash she’s been finding. As quickly as her mood improved, it dropped again when Azula pulled an empty trash bag out of the water. Beside her Katara snorted, and Azula turned to face her with a pout. “Not funny. I want dinner.”
“Well, I’d suggest holding your rod a different way so you can hold it tighter when you actually catch a fish,” Katara says. “Fish fight back. You want to have a good grip on that thing. Have you tried moving spots?”
Azula stares at the girl blankly, tilting her head sideways like a confused puppy. “What do you mean, moving spots? When Sokka taught me how to do this we just sat on his dock for hours.”
Katara started to laugh, but played it off as a cough when Azula shot daggers at her with her eyes. “Sokka’s lazy sometimes,” she replies. “If a spot isn’t working well for you, you need to move a bit. C’mon, you’re coming with me.” Katara walks a ways away from her home, following along the river until she finds a spot she deems worthy. Azula trails after her like a baby duckling. “Try here,” the short girl demands.
Azula holds her fishing pole, preparing to cast it, when Katara yelps. “Don’t do it like that, you’re gonna take my eye out! Be careful when you have people around you!” Azula casts the line a bit more gently than she had been doing. When the bobber floats steadily on the surface of the water, she feels Katara’s arms wrap around her from behind, encasing her hands and moving them to hold the pole in a different way. Azula blushes at the sudden heat, suddenly all too aware of Katara’s hands on her own, Katara’s body pressed against her, Katara quietly whispering a “there you go, that’s right” into her ear. The pretty girl pulls away from her far too quickly than Azula’s brain wanted her too, but her body thanks her because she thinks if Katara stayed closer to her for any longer she may have had a heart attack.
“And now,” Katara pauses dramatically, “we wait.” The girls sit in silence for a few minutes, Azula surprised at the lack of awkwardness. She hasn’t had a moment of quiet around Katara since they met, and it seems almost… Peaceful. She could definitely get used to this. Before Azula gets too lost in her thoughts, she feels a harsh tug on her line, watching the bobber go under the water. “Spirits, Azula! Reel it in!” Katara yells.
Azula proceeds to struggle with the fish, thanking Katara in her head for the warning that fish fight back. She stumbles over a rock, getting a little close to the river’s edge when she feels Katara’s arms firmly around her waist again, keeping her steady. Azula reels in the fish as Katara keeps her on the shore, pulling it above the water. She gapes at the size of the fish, it has to be nearly two feet long. “Agni,” Azula breathes, “I caught a fish.” She pulls her rod away from the water, dropping it into a nearby snowbank as she turns to face Katara. “Katara, I caught a fish!” Azula’s joyful expression is mirrored on Katara’s beautiful face, and Azula can’t help herself from tackling the girl in a hug, the two falling to the ground with Azula on top of Katara. “I did it!” she cries. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for helping me!”
Azula sobers from her joy quickly, realizing that one, she accepted help, something she never would have done before moving to Pelican Town, and two, she was hugging this super beautiful girl and probably nearly freezing her neck by holding her against the snow. She pulls herself off of the girl reluctantly, struggling to make eye contact. Katara laughs at her quietly, tucking a strand of Azula’s hair that became loose behind her ear. “You’re welcome.” The two smile at each other, both refusing to be the first one to say something, and Azula hears the fish flop over in the snow.
“Oh, sh*t, I…” she begins, looking at the other girl, “I should probably go. I have to make dinner, after all. You should eat too.”
“I will,” Katara says. “Do you know how to clean that?” she asks, gesturing at the flopping fish that Azula pulls into her hands.
“Yeah! I actually really like to cook,” she admits. “When I was a kid I would always watch my family’s chef in the kitchen. She let me help when I got a bit older.”
“You had a chef?” Katara gasps.
Azula’s heart plummets to her toes. She knew that most of the people in Pelican Town either didn’t know or didn’t care about her former scandal and accepted her as she was. She, however, hadn’t exactly announced that she came from wealth to anyone. “I did, yeah,” she responds quietly. “But I’ve been taking care of myself for nearly a decade. I promise I won’t get food poisoning, or something.”
“Good, I’m glad you’ll be safe,” the brunette smiles at Azula again. Azula feels her heart skip a beat. She really, really needs to get Katara to stop smiling at her before she actually has a heart attack. “If you ever need help fishing again, let me know, okay?”
“I will,” Azula smiles back at the girl before turning and walking in the direction of her home. Azula intends to keep her promise.
–
It doesn’t take long for Katara to weave herself into Azula’s routine. On Wednesdays, Katara helps her to fish. With the girl’s help and the occasional gifts from Sokka, the once seemingly impossible challenge of finishing the fish tank bundle is slowly but surely becoming more possible. On Sundays, the women walk around the forest to forage and stop by the overpriced traveling cart that sits near the entrance to the secret forest. Katara often protests about going into the secret forest, but by the second week of spring Azula obtained the galaxy sword, which can slay the slimes haunting the area in one swipe. Occasionally, Azula runs into Katara helping her dad out at the library or Katara comes to the farm with Suki when she visits.
Azula discovers that Katara’s a casually affectionate person. It doesn’t take long for the typically grumpy girl to enjoy when Katara loops her arm through Azula’s during their Sunday walks or leans her head against Azula’s shoulder while they sit on the edge of the river and fish.
Katara checks Azula’s bumps and bruises every time she comes back from the mines with Toph, worry crossing her face whenever Azula comes to her home with a particularly nasty-looking wound. Luckily, she only had to give the pale girl stitches once, when she claimed she got into a fight with a skeleton but Toph laughed and said that Azula fell and cut her arm on a crystal. Azula blushed deeply when Toph revealed her secret, but Katara laughed as she squeezed her cheek, teasing about “awwww, you don’t have to be embarrassed, ‘Zula. Accidents happen.”
Suki wakes Azula up bright and early in the morning on the day of the egg hunt, dragging her into town square in her pajamas and forcing her to participate. “You didn’t even show up last year,” Suki whined. “The least you could do is play along. Your biggest competition is Toph.” Azula smirked at that, ready to kick her friend’s ass at the egg hunt. When the event was over, Katara came over to console the overly-competitive girl who was upset about losing to Toph, complaining about how the blind girl must have some sort of sixth sense that allows her to see with her feet.
It’s practically deja vu for Azula when she hears sharp knocks on her door at 8 in the morning on a day near the end of the spring season. “I swear to Agni if it’s Suki again…” she mutters under her breath as she heads to her front door. Yes, Azula is a farmer and should probably wake up earlier in the morning to tend to her plants and animals. Would she ever willingly do that on a Saturday morning? Absolutely not.
“Good morning!” Katara’s cheery voice rings in Azula’s ears, the sound of it wrapping her in a warm embrace as the short girl makes her way into Azula’s home. “Are you excited for today?” Katara asks. Azula’s eyebrows knit together, her brain working overdrive to remember why exactly today was important. It was a Saturday, so she didn’t have any weekly plans with any of her friends. So why was Katara bothering her so early in the morning?
“What’s today?” Azula asked, still genuinely confused and racking her brain for a possible explanation.
Katara’s delighted expression drops into a sad one as she steps closer to Azula. “Did you forget?” she questions. “Today’s the flower dance. You promised me and Suki that you’d go last Saturday, remember?”
The memory pops to Azula’s memory, albeit faint, of her tending to her rabbits while Katara and Suki rambled on about their lives while playing with Mochi. At some point, Suki asked her a question and she replied “yeah, sure,” without really paying attention.
Azula pulls her mouth into the most realistic smile she could muster. “Of course I didn’t forget, I’m just messing with you! I’ll see you later this afternoon, yeah?”
Katara’s face lit up. “Oh thank the spirits! See you later!”
–
Azula shows up to the dance right as the event starts, uncomfortable in the fancy clothes she once lived her day-to-day life in. Her gray trousers seemed too stiff, her cropped shirt a bit too tight, and her blazer too big for her shoulders. She scanned the crowd quickly, walking over to her friends. Aang was telling a story loudly while Sokka and Toph howled with laughter, Suki holding Sokka’s hand with a smile. The red haired girl was the first to notice Azula’s appearance, calling out to her. “Azula! You’re here!”
“I promised, didn’t I?” the tall girl responds, taking a seat besides Aang at the end of the table. She turned to the boy quickly, shooting daggers with her eyes as he shrunk back into his chair. “You better be in your shop tomorrow. I need more hay.”
He giggled, responding with, “I’ll be there tomorrow just for you, Azula! Come by whenever you’d like.” Azula matched the smile on his face, laughing as she told him that he’d better be.
“Guys, it’s Katara!” Sokka hollered, standing up abruptly. “Katara! Over here!” Azula looked to where the man was facing, spotting Katara as her heart beat harder in her chest. The girl wore a simple white sundress and had flowers weaved into her hair. Her typical updo was undone, her long waves flowing freely over her shoulders. She really was the most beautiful girl Azula had ever seen. Azula felt a kick to her shin, and she let out a grunt as she turned to face Suki, who was looking at her with a fire in her eyes.
“Stop gawking and go ask the girl to dance, damn it,” the girl ordered. Azula’s hands clammed up and began to shake.
“What do you mean, ask her to dance?” Azula hissed at her friend.
“Ask her to dance,” Suki deadpanned. “It’s a dance. That’s kind of what you do at these things.”
Azula drew in a deep breath as Katara approached their table, finding her way next to Azula and looking down on the girl with a smile on her face. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Azula replied awkwardly. “You look…nice. So nice that you could beat out an entire fleet of sweet old ladies at a niceness competition. Because you look so nice.” What the hell was that, Azula? the girl thought, mentally smacking herself in the forehead.
Katara looked at her with a puzzled glance, but a smile formed on her lips. “Thanks, ‘Zula, you look really pretty too.”
“I, uh…” Azula stuttered, not knowing how to respond to the compliment. “Thank you?” Katara giggled, seeming ready to reply, when a soft melody started to play from the speakers lining the dance floor.
“Spirits, the dance is starting!” Katara gasped. She turned to look fully at Azula, offering her hand. “Dance with me?” Azula’s eyes widened. She nodded furiously, allowing Katara to pull her up from her seat and bring her to the dance floor. The girls danced to the beat of the music, starting on opposite ends from each other and moving to meet each other at center. Azula kept sneaking glances at Suki beside her, trying to keep up with what the other dancers were doing, but eventually gave up on the well-known choreography and began to sway to the beat. She made eye contact with a beaming Katara, who moved quickly to meet her in the middle. Katara wrapped her arms around Azula’s neck, Azula’s own hands finding their place on Katara’s waist, and the two girls danced to the music.
The song ended all too soon, and the couples broke up as the mayor moved onto the floor and began to make her speech. Katara pulled Azula back to the table, sitting her down and moving to sit on the tall girl’s lap. Azula yelped in surprise, but found herself slipping her arms around Katara’s waist to keep her secure. Katara leaned back to Azula, whispering in her ear, “Thanks for dancing with me, I’m really glad you came.”
Azula was glad she came, too.
–
It was the second week of summer when Azula finally finished all the bundles for the community center. The town praised her as a hero, but she kept telling them that anyone would do the same. She may have even cried a bit when the townspeople surrounded her in a group hug. Inside the center, the junimos were jumping up and down, just as excited as the town was. Azula wouldn’t have been able to complete the center without the help of these little guys. She remembered a secret note she found in the mines one day that told her that the junimos loved gemstones.
After the center had cleared out, Azula marched over to Toph’s place and smacked on her bedroom door. “What do you want!” the short girl called as she opened the door. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Hello to you too, asshole,” Azula scoffed, rolling her eyes fondly at her friend. “Since you couldn’t tell, I was rolling my eyes at you.”
“Oh, I could tell,” Toph snorted. “I suppose you want to go to the mines?”
“Yep.”
“You’re a big girl, go on your own,” Toph replied, starting to close her door. Azula stuck her foot in the doorway.
“What the hell?” she yelped.
“I’m busy. Gotta help my mom with some stupid meditation thing she wants to try,” Toph grumbled. “If you want to go today, you’ll have to go yourself.” Toph kicked Azula’s foot out of the way and slammed her bedroom door. Agni, the girl was in a mood.
Azula marched out of the general store with a huff, checking to make sure she had her sword on her. Once she confirmed that she did, she hiked up the mountains and went into the mines. She got into the rickety old elevator, pressing the button to bring her down to one of the lowest floors of the mine. She knew her chances of finding a higher quality gem were down there, and the junimos deserved the best.
It didn’t take long for the girl to find a ruby, and it seemed to her like the monsters weren’t out for the day. She headed down the ladder to the next floor, surveying the area as she hopped off. Sure, she came to the mines for the junimos, but who said she couldn’t look for stuff for herself too?
Azula rounded a dark corner and felt a sticky presence on her shoe. She kicked it away, swinging her sword at the slime. The screeching of bats overwhelmed her ears as the creatures moved to attack her, scratching at her skin and clawing at her hair. More slimes attacked her feet. Azula swore she felt a void spirit run at her at least once. She swings her sword wildly, her energy draining as she backtracks towards the ladder she used to get down to the floor. She wards off the bats, the slimes still chase at her, and there’s definitely a void spirit behind them. Azula reaches the ladder and climbs and climbs until she reaches a level of the mines with an elevator.
The girl curses under her breath as she leans against the walls of the rickety elevator, pressing the button to take her to the top. Her breathing becomes labored and she pulls her hand to her face, revealing red stains of her own blood covering her skin. Agni, she was probably going to die. If she survived, Katara would probably kill her anyway.
The elevator stops and Azula drags herself out of it, black spots appearing in her vision. She’s exhausted. A nap sounds really good to her. Azula checks her backpack quickly, making sure the gems she mined were still in there. Upon confirming they were, she smiles weakly. Hopefully one of her friends will know to deliver a gem to the community center for the junimos. Black spots swim in Azula’s vision, and she decides to lay on the floor of the mine for a nap.
–
“Damn it, Toph, why would she go to the dangerous levels on her own?” a hysteric voice shrieks out. Azula can only see darkness, her eyelids too heavy to open. She feels cool hands on her body, wiping at her arms.
“I don’t know!” Toph yells back. “I told her to go on her own, but I didn’t think she was going to go too deep! She’s great at combat, she should have been able to handle it on her own anyways!”
“Well, apparently not!” the hysterical woman - Katara? - screams. “Or else she wouldn’t be in this state!”
“Katara,” Toph says cooly, confirming her suspicions, “the mines are a strange place. Sometimes floors get completely overrun with monsters when you don’t suspect them. Trust me, they’re really good at keeping quiet until they have someone to attack. That’s probably what happened to Azula. She got ambushed.”
“sh*t,” Katara cursed, “I didn’t even think about that. Thank you for finding her, Toph,” the older girl sighed, “who knows if she would be alright if you hadn’t.” Azula tries opening her eyes slightly, feeling little specks of light filter in as she did. Katara was worried. Katara was worried about her, because she got hurt. Her stomach sinks. She needed to see Katara, to let her know that she’s still here.
Azula forced her eyes open, temporarily blinded by the light. She swiveled her head around, noticing the familiar decorations of Katara’s home. Azula was comfortable and she assumed she was lying in Katara’s bed. Katara’s hand clutched at her own, and she took her hand and interlaced their fingers as she spoke. “Kat…Hey.”
Katara turned to look down at Azula, and for the millionth time in her life Azula thought that Katara was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. The girl had tears in her eyes, her lip was swollen, probably from biting it in worry, but she was still just as beautiful as ever. “Azula,” Katara gasped out, leaning down to pull the girl into a gentle hug, “you’re awake.”
A snort was heard from across the room, followed by Toph saying, “I’ll take this as my cue to leave” and the sound of the front door closing. Azula felt Katara’s hand tremble as it held on to her shoulder. She returned the embrace quickly before pushing the girl back.
“I’m ok, Kat, don’t worry,” Azula smiled at her. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
“You did, you idiot,” Katara hiccuped, an attempt at a laugh through her tears. “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me? I was worried sick. I got you all cleaned up and you’ll be fine, but I swear to the spirits if I have to keep you from dying ever again I’ll kill you myself.”
Azula laughed, bringing her hand up to cup the other girl’s face. “There’s the Katara I know. Funny enough, as I was passing out I was thinking about you.” She could feel Katara’s face heating up at her comment, and it took everything in Azula to not kiss her right then and there.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I was laying there, thinking that I was probably going to die.” Azula snorted gently. “And then I thought, no, this won’t kill me. Katara will kill me first.”
The crying girl punched Azula’s shoulder gently. “You know me so well,” she giggled, leaning her forehead to rest against Azula’s.
Azula’s heart raced faster than it ever had before. All she had to do was lean in just a little bit and she could kiss Katara, tell her without words that she’s here, she’s safe, and that she appreciates her. So that’s what she does. Their lips connect gently, Katara gasping at the contact before she reciprocates. Azula pulls back, but Katara chases after her, capturing her lips in a more passionate kiss. Azula’s hand tangles in Katara’s hair while Katara grips the back of her neck. Azula shudders as Katara licks gently into her mouth, granting the girl access. She would let Katara have all of her. She knew that from the beginning, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
The women pull away for air, resting their foreheads against each others’. Their hands are still intertwined, Katara’s thumb runs gently along the top of Azula’s hand. “If you couldn’t tell,” Azula whispers, “I really, really like you.”
“When we first met I never thought I’d like you,” Katara whispers back, “but I do. I really, really like you too.”
–
The next morning, the women wake up together. Katara heads to the kitchen, intending to make breakfast for the two of them, and opens her refrigerator to find it completely empty. She groans, heading back to her bedroom, where she flops on the bed and wraps her arms around her girlfriend.
“I have no food,” Katara whines.
“We could always go fishing,” Azula jokes, running her fingers through the other girl’s loose locks.
“Absolutely not. It’s Sunday, the general store is open.”
Azula pulls the girl’s arms from around her. Katara whines and tries to reattach herself to Azula, but is met with the click of her girlfriend’s tongue. “No ma’am,” Azula says sternly. “We’re getting dressed and going to the store. Get up.”
Reluctantly, Katara pulls herself off the bed and goes to change, tossing Azula a spare set of clothes that she hopes will fit the tall girl properly, and within five minutes the couple walks out the door hand in hand, headed to the general store. They approach town square, hands still intertwined, Katara using her free hand to wave to Sokka, Suki, and Toph outside of the community garden. Sokka glances at the two girls’ intertwined hands, shooting his sister a puzzled look.
Katara giggles, stopping in her tracks. Azula looks at her confusedly, surprised when Katara quickly pecks her lips before starting to walk towards the general store again. She hears a groan from Sokka.
“You owe me a hundred gold!” Suki cheers. “I told you they’d get together before next year!”
“f*cking finally!” Toph calls out.
Katara and Azula look at eachother, dissolving into a fit of giggles as they enter the general store.
