Fire and Wind: Royal Reunions

Over the days she had been allowed to walk free of her cell, Seng had noticed how the soldiers looked at Azula. They obeyed her orders without any hesitation, playing the part of model soldiers as they raced to do whatever she had commanded. And yet there was always an undercurrent of something other than loyalty in their actions, and it didn't take long to realize what it was. Fear. They were afraid of her.

Seng didn't understand at first. Azula was intimidating, there was no doubt about that, and she was probably the best bender that Seng had ever come across, much less fought, but she’d never call her scary.

At least, until today.

“Princess…” The captain of the ship bowed low as he stopped just behind Azula, his tone remorseful, “I’m afraid the tides won’t allow us to bring the ship into port before nightfall. Perhaps longer.”

He couldn’t see Azula’s face and thus, couldn’t gauge her reaction, but Seng could. She saw the way that Azula’s features shifted in annoyance before smoothing over in an instant. When she spoke, it was in a smooth, collected tone that Seng had come to know her for.

“I’m sorry, Captain. I do not know much about the tides.” She said, glancing towards the man cooly, “Can you explain something to me?”

It was a simple statement, and yet everyone nearby tensed with its utterance, as if they could sense something that Seng hadn’t yet seen, hidden below the surface of their princess’s genial demeanor. The captain seemed to sense it too, and he swallowed visibly, seemingly shaken by the innocuous statement, “...Of course, Your Highness.” He said, staring straight forward as Azula passed him by to stand on the edge of the deck.

Azula stared out over the ocean, taking in the ebbing waves with a serene gaze, “Do the tides command this ship?”

The captain didn’t seem to understand what his princess was asking of him. “I-I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in.” Azula said, recounting his earlier words. She glanced back at him, her eyes sharp, “Do the tides command this ship?

Sweat beaded on the captain’s brow as he realized the dangerous position he had put himself in. He did his best to remain firm and keep his voice level as he answered, “No, Princess.”

Azula nodded, as if she had been expecting the answer, “And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?”

Again the captain swallowed. He closed his eyes as if he was praying to the princess, and answered once more, “No, Princess.”

“Well then, maybe you should worry less about the tides who have already made up their minds about killing you, and worry more about me, who’s still mulling it over.” Azula said, turning to give the quaking man a glare. Her proclamation rang over the deck, registering in the ears of all who heard it, and Seng frowned deeply

She gazed up at the cloudless sky, feigning a thoughtful look as she listened to the wind sweeping across the ship.

“There’s a storm brewing.” She said aloud, as if she were just making a simple observation, yet everyone heard her, and every eye on the deck turned to face her. The captain looked utterly shocked that someone had interrupted Azula, while the girl herself merely raised an eyebrow.

“Is there now?” She asked, staring Seng down, “I do not see a single cloud in the sky, and yet you say that with the confidence of someone not afraid to be caught in a lie.”

Seng turned her eyes to the princess, easily meeting her gaze as she spoke stoically, “Call it intuition. Like you firebenders can sense the rising sun, I can feel the storm on the wind. If I’m right, it’ll be here in a few hours.” She closed her eyes, listening to the wind whispering in her ears, bringing with it the smell of ozone in her nose, “It’ll be a big one too. Probably big enough to keep us in port if we’re too close to the shore.”

Azula studied her intently, golden eyes searching for any sign that she was lying. After a moment, she smirked, “Well well, I had no idea that airbenders had such a useful ability. I’ll have to speak to the sages and update the records when I return home.”

She turned towards the captain, speaking imperiously, “Prepare a boat for departure. If we can’t sail into port then we will simply row in.”

The man bowed hastily, “Right away, Princess.”

“Oh, and Captain?” He froze as Azula’s voice took on a frosty quality, “You would do well to remember your station. If you ever disregard my orders like that again, I will ensure that you are well acquainted with those tides that you are so fond of.”

The captain was practically shaking in his boots, not even daring to look at his princess, “I… I understand, Your Highness.”

“You are dismissed.”

The man practically jogged below deck, and Seng walked up to Azula’s side as they watched him disappear. Azula glanced at her, “You’ll be assisting me ashore. I don’t trust anyone here to keep a proper eye on you while I’m away. I assume you don’t have an issue with that?”

The question was sarcastic, but Seng shrugged anyway, “It's not like I have much of a choice even if I did.”

“No, you don’t.” Azula agreed, “We’ll be picking up some… cargo, I suppose you could call it. While it is aboard the ship, you are not permitted to airbend in any way, shape, or form, understood?”

Seng rolled her eyes, “I’ve barely used it for years. What’s a few more days?”

Azula frowned, whether at the disrespectful tone or the reminder that Seng was basically a nonbender without her spear, Seng wasn’t sure. She smoothed her face out quickly though, turning to look out over the open ocean. In the distance, so far away it almost seemed to be a mirage, dark clouds were rolling in, pushed by an unseen wind on a course straight towards them all.

“Indeed. I had nearly forgotten how utterly pitiful you are without your weapon. Truly a shame.” Azula mocked with a smirk, making Seng scowl, “Luckily for you, if everything goes according to plan, you won’t even need to raise a hand in defence.”

~~~

Azula briefed Seng on her plan on the way to their destination. Apparently the entire purpose of this excursion was to get her brother and her uncle, Iroh, back to the Fire Nation to stand trial as traitors. Seng wasn’t sure of the full details and honestly she didn’t really care as long as it didn’t involve her, but those were the broad strokes.

Seng’s job was to stay silent while Azula convinced the pair of them to return to the ship with her, which was why she was leaned up against the wall of the rather modest house the two of them had found themselves in, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the wall.

It took around an hour for their quarry to show up, time that was spent in mind-numbing boredom just waiting for them to walk in the house, and Seng was sure that if she was capable of it, she would have fallen asleep standing up. As a matter of fact, she could feel herself dozing off at the forty-five minute mark, but just as she actually closed her eyes to get some rest, the door opened and two people entered, arguing loudly.

Somehow, they didn't seem to notice Seng and Azula were already inside the house when they entered, though it may have had something to do with the way that the older man was so enamoured with the colorful shells in his hands. He placed them on the table, grinning widely as he took them in, “You don’t know what you are talking about, Zuko! Look at these magnificent shells! I’ll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come.”

Walking in after him, a scarred boy with a striking resemblance to Azula huffed angrily, “We don’t need anymore useless things! You forget, we have to carry everything ourselves now.”

Seng took the boy in. He was tall, lean, and sported a massive, glaring scar on the left side of his face. It was an ugly thing, even she would say that, the skin permanently stained a deep shade of red and wrinkled to the point that even his ear had shriveled from the heat of the flame that had produced it. Seng frowned deeply, remembering the story Azula had told her. His own father did that? How absolutely horrific.

Seemingly not content to wait to be noticed, Azula made herself known before the two of them could get into a debate about the usefulness of the shells the old man had acquired, “Hello Brother.” She called out to them, catching their attention. Her eyes glanced towards the old man and her tone noticeably lowered, “Uncle.”

Zuko immediately took a hostile stance as he noticed that she was sitting in his home, “Azula! What are you doing here?” He demanded.

Iroh glared at her suspiciously, before his eyes trailed to where Seng was standing, leaning against the wall. Gold met grey, and the old man gave her a strange look. Azula tsked at her brother’s perceived rudeness, “In my country, we exchange a pleasant hello before asking questions. Has your time away made you so uncivilized, dear brother?”

Zuko snarled at the address, “Don’t call me that!”

Iroh stepped forward, placing a placating hand on his nephew's shoulder as he gave his niece a suspicious look, “To what do we owe this honor?” He asked, before glancing at Seng once more, “And who is this young lady you’ve brought with you?”

Azula glanced at Seng, “You can ignore her. This is a family reunion after all. It should be about family.”

“Family?” Zuko asked, incredulous, “You don’t care about family. What do you want, Azula?”

Seng eyed the two of them. They didn’t really seem like royalty, at least to her. Azula practically oozed regality with every movement, extruding an easy sense of authority that even Seng, who had long since learned to ignore such things, was compelled to listen when she spoke. Compared to her, these two were lacking. While Iroh had a hint of steel behind his eyes that told Seng he wasn’t everything that he appeared, Zuko was… soft. He was angry, sure, but behind that there wasn’t anything that spoke to Seng and told her that he was someone to be respected or feared. Were they really members of the same family?

As Seng studied the pair with a critical eye, Azula frowned, taking one of the colorful shells between two manicured fingers, “Hm, and here I was trying to be pleasant. It’s a shame that both of you are so quick to get to the point.”

The shell shattered into pieces, and the old man frowned as the shattered pieces fell to the table below. Azula dusted off her fingers, getting rid of residual debris, before putting her hands behind her back and addressing her family in a much more polite tone, “Very well. We can dispense with the niceties. To answer your question, I’ve come with a message from home. Father has changed his mind and your banishment has been rescinded. He wants you back. Both of you.”

Her words were met with silence from both parties. Zuko looked stunned, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, while the old man still looked skeptical. Azula continued, “ I’m sure you’re wondering why. Father has heard of plans to overthrow him. Treacherous plots to take the throne. Right now, family are the only ones he can really trust.”

Still nothing, and for the first time, Azula’s facade fell just the slightest bit, annoyance overtaking her once genial tone, “Did you hear me? You should be happy, excited, grateful even! I just gave you great news!”

The old man stepped forward, “I’m sure your brother merely needs a moment to-”

Azula gave him a harsh glance, “Don’t interrupt, Uncle!” She hissed, before turning to her brother, her tone becoming lighter, “Well? I still haven’t heard my thank you. I’m not a messenger. I didn’t have to come all this way.”

Zuko was still too stunned to speak, “Father regrets? He… wants me back?”

Seng’s hands curled into fists against her chest at the almost lost sound of his voice, and Azula gave the most sincere smile that Seng had ever seen from the girl, stepping away from her brother, “I can see you need time to take this in.” She said, her tone full of false sincerity, “I’ll send for your answer later this evening, once you’ve decided whether or not to rejoin our family.”

She turned towards the door, gesturing for Seng to follow her, “Let’s go, Thief. We’ll give them time to think about our offer alone.”

Seng glanced towards the pair. Zuko was staring out the window, lost in thought, while Iroh was staring at her intently for reasons she couldn’t discern. She ignored it, turning away and ignoring the churning in her stomach, “Coming, Princess.”

~~~

The storm was raging in full force by the time that Zuko and Iroh arrived on their tiny boat. Their belongings were utterly soaked, and they weren’t any dryer, dripping like water-logged cats as they climbed onto the deck. Seng wasn’t much better, but she was more than used to being caught out in bad weather, so she was barely affected by the downpour.

Azula on the other hand, was dressed in much more appropriate attire. A long, tarp-like robe covered her armor, emblazoned with her nation’s colors and symbol. She smiled widely as she held out her hands, welcoming her family aboard.

“Brother! Uncle! Welcome! I’m so glad you decided to join us.” She said, a wide smile on her face. Seng stared at her, marveling at the acting on display. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that the girl was truly happy to see them both and actually intended to bring them home. She knew better though, and judging by the look the old man was giving the soldiers around him, he did as well.

The captain of the ship stepped forward, addressing his princess as Zuko stared around the ship, taking in the splendor that he had left behind, “Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?” He asked, keeping in theme with the plot.

Azula nodded, smiling at her family happily, “Yes. Set a course for home, Captain. I’m sure they dearly miss it and can’t wait a second more to return.”

A wistful look overcame Zuko’s face, and Seng felt a pang in her chest at the almost hopeful smile that crossed his lips, “Home.”

This was awful, but everything was going according to plan. The former prince didn’t suspect a thing and though the uncle seemed suspicious, he didn’t have anything to prove those suspicions correct. Once they were in their rooms and the doors were locked tight, then everything would be over and done with, and Seng could get rid of this guilty ball deep in her gut.

But then everything went wrong. The captain, either stupid or merely absentminded, completely unraveled the ploy with a few simple words.

“You heard the princess!” He called to the men around him, “Raise the anchors! We’re taking the prisoners home!”

Silence reigned across the deck as everyone present realized what the man had just shouted. There was a beat, and Seng tensed as Azula gave the fool a glare that would kill a lesser man. He sweated, realizing his folly, “Your Highness… I-”

All at once, things burst into motion. Iroh moved before anyone else, reacting with surprising swiftness as he turned to the group of soldiers nearest to him and sent them flying off the deck with a blast of fire. The rest of the contingent, realizing their cover was blown, rushed forward to take care of the would-be prisoners before they could get their bearings, but it was too late.

Zuko ducked underneath a spear, kicking the man in the leg before blasting him in the chest with fire, sending him to the ground. He turned to Azula and Seng, golden eyes blazing with white-hot rage, “YOU LIED TO ME!”

Azula smirked, utterly unconcerned by her brother’s words, “Like I’ve never done that before.”

“AARGH!” Zuko rushed towards her, but was waylaid by more soldiers who rushed in to block his path. Even two on one, he managed to fight them off rather easily, showing that he really was Azula’s brother, before continuing on his path towards his sister.

Azula stepped forward, preparing to meet him, but she suddenly paused, frowning as she looked towards the old man who was rapidly thinning their number of soldiers with astounding ease. She clicked her tongue, turning to Seng.

“I’ll leave dear Zuzu to you, Thief. Hold him off while I deal with Iroh before he divests me of all my personnel.” She ordered. Seng nodded, and she rushed off towards the old man who was currently pushing a soldier towards the edge of the deck with calculated bursts of fire.

‘Guess everyone in this family is some sort of firebending freak.’ Seng thought, turning towards Zuko. He wasn’t paying attention to her, focused on his sister and the betrayal she had wrought, ‘Well, almost everyone.’

She hooked her foot underneath one of the spears that had come from the fallen soldiers around her and kicked it up into her hand. Taking aim, she threw it right into Zuko’s path, adding just the smallest amount of airbending to make sure that it flew straight in the ripping wind of the storm around them.

The spear slammed into the deck in front of the former prince, stopping him in his tracks. He turned to look at her, confusion on his face as she picked up another spear, leveling it at him, “Your fight is with me, Prince.”

Though confused, Zuko seemed to realize that he would have to go through her to get to his sister. With a roar, burning orange flames extended from his closed fists, acting as false daggers. Seng gripped her spear tightly as he ran towards her, swinging an arm out wildly as he tried to burn her with his fire.

Seng battee his arm away with a heavy swing of her spear. She ducked the next one, before swinging the tip of her weapon at his face to get him to back off a bit. He ducked back, dodging the whistling spear tip, before growling and moving in once more.

Almost immediately, it was made apparent Zuko wasn’t anywhere near as skilled as his sister. If Seng had to place him, she’d put him a bit above a normal firebender. Sure, he attacked with a ferocity that she had seldom seen before, swinging his fists and blasting fire like he had some sort of personal vendetta against her, but it was wild. Unfocused. It was a far cry from Azula’s elegant bending that was more akin to dance than an art of war.

Still, without her airbending to help her out and the unfamiliar weight of the spear in her hands, it was easier said than done to turn the fight in her favor. Though he may not have been as skilled as his sister, he more than made up for it with his stamina and ferocity, and Seng’s more agile conservative style of fighting wasn’t helping things.

Seng held her borrowed spear up, catching Zuko’s fists just a few inches away from her body. He grunted, trying to push his hands down and force his flaming daggers upon her, but Seng just managed to keep him at bay, though she had to use practically all of her strength to do so.

“Why are you helping her!?” Zuko demanded, trying to force his arms down. Seng grunted, falling to one knee as she braced her arms against her body, “I’ve never seen you before! Are you one of her friends?”

Seng wanted to laugh at the notion, but the flaming knives sizzling the front of her tunic kept her from doing so, “Friends? I don’t think so.” She said, searching for a way out of this predicament.

Zuko’s eyes narrowed, his scar twisting with his growing anger, “Then who are you!? Why are you helping her!? What did she tell you!?” He demanded, leaning into her face. Seng’s gaze sharped, and immediately, her mind formulated a plan to help her turn the tables.

She glared at Zuko, shifting her weight just a bit and wincing as the fire pressed against her chest, sizzling her skin, “I don’t have to explain anything to you.” She said, before shooting her head up and cracking her forehead against his nose as he leaned too close. There was a crunch but not the one that Seng had come to associate with a broken nose, and Zuko reared back as his flames died in his hands, and the airbender didn’t waste the opportunity that had been presented.

Surging upwards, Seng batted away one of his flailing hands and brought the end of her spear to bear, striking him across the face with a loud crack. Zuko cried out, stumbling backward and clutching his bruised cheek, before he turned an enraged glare her way and let out a ferocious roar.

He brought a fist back and thrust it forward, and Seng’s eyes widened at the fireball that manifested from his body. It was larger than some of Azula’s though nowhere near as hot. Still, it would be more than enough to do some serious damage and, knowing that she wasn’t allowed to just use her bending to disperse it, she jumped to the side to dodge, rolling across the deck as the flames crashed upon the metal where she had just been standing. Water sizzled and turned to steam as she stood back up, eyeing her opponent warily as he huffed angrily, practically exhaling steam with how worked up he had gotten.

Where was Azula? Surely she wasn’t having that much trouble with that old man.

A glance in her direction immediately proves Seng’s thoughts wrong. Orange and blue mingled in the rain as Azula and Iroh exchanged bursts of fire at a close range. Even from this distance, it was clear by the way that she was struggling to keep up with the old man's strikes that Azula was the one on the back foot. And as the fight continued, Seng’s eyes widened at what she witnessed next.

A burst of fire aimed at her face forced Azula to duck, and another aimed at her feet made her step back in an uncoordinated stumble. Taking advantage of this, the back of iroh’s hand came across Azula’s face with force, stunning her. While she was dazed, he pressed forward, slamming his rotund stomach into her much smaller and lighter body. Azula stumbled back, unable to regain her balance with the ringing in her ears, and slipped right off the edge of the ship, falling towards the churning waves below.

The man seemed to realize what he had done as his eyes went wide the moment she slipped off the edge. He tried to grab her, but he wasn’t quite able to get ahold of her before she was out of reach, falling into the sea.

Thanks to the storm raging around them, the waters around the ship were more turbulent than ever before. Combined with the weight of Azula’s armor and the dazed state that she had been in before she fell, even if she could swim, she wouldn’t be able to do it for very long. The anger of the sea always won out against the struggling will of man and the sea was particularly angry today.

Recognizing all of this in an instant, Seng cursed. She turned towards Zuko who was staring in the same direction as her, disbelief stark on his face, and whacked him on the back of the head with her spear, sending him to the ground.

“Zuko!” The old man cried, racing towards his nephew. Seng ignored him, throwing her spear to the ground and rushing past him like he wasn't even there, before leaping off the side of the ship after the wayward princess who had been swallowed by the sea.

Inhaling deeply, Seng’s cheeks bubbled as she dove down through the crashing waves, shooting into the ice-cold water like a spear. Her eyes stung as they filled with salty water, but she ignored it as she caught sight of the princess struggling to float back to the surface just a few feet away. Seng’s eyes narrowed, and she shot downwards, reaching the girl in only a moment and wrapping her arm around her waist. Azula jerked in surprise but once she realized what was happening, she didn’t hesitate to grab onto Seng in turn, clutching close to her for survival.

Angling her head downwards, Seng made sure that Azula wasn’t going to slip out of her grasp, before exhaling with all of her strength. Bubbles shot down towards the sea floor even as the two girls rose up and away from it. Seng concentrated on her breath, knowing that she only had a single shot to do this if she wanted them both to survive.

Luckily, it seemed that the spirits were on her side. Her head crested the ocean’s surface, breaking through into the open air above. She immediately took another deep breath, filling her lungs with much needed oxygen, before unwrapping one arm from Azula’s body and closing her eyes in concentration.

With a few flailing motions, wind swirled around the pair hard enough to stir the water underneath them, before shooting the both of them up and away from the ocean on a column of air. It was a violent gale that was born of desperation instead of practice but it did its job, sending them both flying up to the deck of the ship where they crashed, sprawling on the ground like freshly-caught fish.

As soldiers rushed to help Azula, Seng sprawled herself out on her back, panting harshly as she stared at the roiling clouds above. Judging by the lack of fighting she could hear, Zuko and Iroh had either been caught or had gotten away, which meant that Seng could rest for now and get some much-needed air back in her lungs.

She took the respite provided to ask herself what in the world she was thinking. Why did she do that? She had the perfect opportunity to get rid of Azula by just letting her drown. Nobody else on this ship would have been able to stop her if the princess was gone. In the chaos of trying to save her from drowning, Seng could have gone to her room, stolen the key to her collar, and been gone before anybody was any the wiser.

So why hadn’t she?

The answer eluded her the longer she thought about it, and in the end she gave up even trying to rationalize it. Maybe she had a bout of temporary insanity, or maybe some part of her thought that the girl would be thankful enough to set her free. Whatever the reason, what was done was done. It wasn’t like she could just throw her back in the water.

As she slowly moved to get up, Azula was already standing once more. She spared the tired airbender a glance before turning to look out over the ocean where, in the distance, she could see flames burning a path into the storm. A quick glance down the side of her ship revealed what she already knew, and Azula frowned as she noticed one of the life rafts had disappeared.

“I didn’t realize my brother would be so cowardly.” She said as she watched the fires propelling the boat away from her ship disappear into the night, “I suppose I should have expected it. After all, Zuzu never was much of a fighter.”

As she spoke, Seng slowly walked up beside her, wringing water out of her tunic for all the good it would do her in this downpour. She stared after the fleeing pair, “You gonna go after them?” She asked.

Azula scoffed, “Look around us. Practically all of my personnel are either unconscious, drowning, or in no condition to fight. We’ll never be able to catch up to them anyway in a ship that small and nimble anyway. They’d evade us the moment they caught sight of us on the horizon.”

Seng crossed her arms, “So what are we doing?”

“We?” Azula raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t aware you had any say in what I decide to do with my time.”

“I’m along for the ride, aren’t I?” Seng shrugged, “Whatever you decide to do, it affects me too.”

Azula gave her a calculating look, “Hm… Fair enough, I suppose. In any event, we’ll be postponing the capture of my brother in favor of more important pursuits.”

“The Avatar.” Seng surmised, and Azula nodded.

“I’ll report what has happened here today to my father, specifically that captain’s incompetence. He’ll wish he drowned with the rest by the time I am done with him.” Azula growled. She then glanced down at herself, frowning, “In the meantime, I need a change of clothing and a hot bath. Assist the men out here and then return to your chambers. I will call for you if I have need of you.”

Seng gave Azula a mocking bow, “As you command, Princess.”

Azula ignored her as she turned away, walking back towards the bowels of the ship. Seng herself moved to help up a struggling soldier who was left alone, when she was suddenly stopped.

“Oh, and Thief?” Seng turned back to Azula as she addressed her, confusion in her eyes as the princess eyes her intently, “I suppose I should thank you for saving my life. I don’t doubt that my men would have rescued me in time, but pneumonia is an affliction I would rather not stomach so… thank you.”

Seng stared at the princess, utterly stunned, and Azula held her gaze for one more moment before looking away and walking off, leaving the airbender staring at her back as she disappeared into the ship.