Chapter Text
There it is.
An unassuming island, covered in jungle and rocky peaks - but Azula could see the stone temple jutting up through the greenery. Exactly as Yue had told her it would be.
…Sun Warriors…
I knew they were real, but… this is their architecture.
They were apparently still around, too. Even from high above, Azula could see that the city was less ruined and overgrown than it should have been, and she could see the glow of fires scattered among the buildings.
“Kraaw.”
That’s why I’m here.
Angling her wings downward, Azula began descending. Trying to land on the temples themselves seemed like a disastrous idea - she hadn’t quite figured out how to control her descent as a fireball yet - and the narrow spaces between them were filled with verdant plant life. But there was an open ledge between two jagged peaks above the city that looked empty enough.
It was even covered in scorch marks, as if it was designed to be a phoenix airfield.
Maybe it was-
It’s probably an Agni Kai arena.
Her feathers rippled. There was something-
“Kaw.”
You’re still here.
There was no way the Sun Warriors would not see her as she was landing, either. Yue had said that they still held reverence for spirits - but would they hold the same respect for her?
What was she even going to say?
I need answers. Answers the moon and the ocean can’t give me.
That would have to be enough.
Five cherry mochi, on a delicate plate. A few sticks of sandalwood - the last they had. One cup of lapsang souchong.
Not enough.
Nothing could ever be enough. Ursa had lived through nightmares before, but this one was singularly horrific - one child killing the other.
All too typical of royalty, however. It was sickening-
“Mommy?”
“Let me do this alone, Kiyi.” She didn’t want her daughter to see her crying again - the poor girl was already confused enough. “Please.”
After a few moments, her little girl let go of her leg, frowning. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
Hurt myself?
As if I haven’t already-
Ikem gave her a long look, but did not try to follow her out of the door. It was for the best.
It was not far to the shrine she had constructed for Azula. At first it had been a pitiful thing, a space on a shelf in her home, but then the family that had brought them the news had offered to help construct a proper one in the village. No one in Hira’a seemed to mind - some of them had even joined in.
Not enough.
As she set out the little smudge of sandalwood, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to see a strange woman in traveling clothes looking at her, one fist clenched at her side.
“Lady Ursa?”
That was not a title she had heard in years - at least not from anyone other than Ikem. “What do you want?”
“I… I brought this,” the woman said softly, holding out a handful of resinous chunks. “Myrrh. From the palace-”
“You stole it.”
She was… must have been a servant…
“It was that or let it burn with the rest. That place didn’t deserve it.” A wry smile flickered across the stranger’s face, but only for a moment. “She did.”
Ursa struck the spark rocks, kneeled down, and wept. She did not notice the crowd gathering silently behind her.
“Azula.”
No honorifics - just a lot of wary stares. Not that she was much of a princess anymore, but she had at least expected more than people eyeing her flaming wings.
On second thought, maybe I should have stayed a phoenix.
“Chief…”
Definitely-
“Cuauhtemoc.” At least it didn’t sound like the Sun Warrior leader minded. “Welcome to Tlacopan.”
So that was what this place was called. Azula was reminded of the same old scroll that had so terrified Zuko - the same one that had told of the stars descending to earth.
This is ancient history.
Azula bowed at the level appropriate for a Fire Lord - the best she could think of. It was hard to know what to say to the leader of a civilization older than her own.
“Like we could have stopped you,” another one of the Sun Warriors scoffed after a few moments of silence. “But-”
“Ham Ghao, please-”
“I was going to say that she must be here for a reason.” Ham Ghao glared at her in a very disrespectful manner. “So why are you here, Princess Azula?”
They-
At least I don’t have to tell them?
“What? Your fire is quite recognizable.”
It took a few seconds for her to unfreeze. “How would you have even heard-”
“We are not completely isolated, Princess Azula,” Chief Cuauhtemoc interrupted - he was still looking at her, too. All of them were, and it was clear that they were suspicious. “There are still some things that we take note of, and blue flame is one of them. Something we would not have expected from a world so spiritually withered.”
So they heard something from traders.
“But no one ever mentioned that you were a phoenix.” Yet another man stepped out from behind Ham Ghao, who frowned, but moved out of the way. “Not that it would be possible to know-”
“So I was born this way.”
“Yes.”
I… was born… a phoenix.
I was born a phoenix.
Azula barely resisted the urge to say it out loud - not that it would have helped her understand that revelation anyway, but it was a habit that she had never entirely broken. Judging by how some of the Sun Warriors were looking at her, maybe she had.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Ham Ghao cut in, stepping back in front of the other man. “What do you want from us?”
“Answers.”
A few long moments of silence - then Chief Cuauhtemoc sighed. “So you came here-”
“Yue sent me. The moon spirit.” Azula glanced upward, looking at the faint silvery sliver visible through the daylight. It was comforting to know that she was up there, even if she was far away. “She told me that you would know more than anyone else, and I trust her.”
Please-
“If you are willing to accept our help, then we will offer it.” The third man nudged Ham Ghao out of the way again, and looked at her with a surprisingly sympathetic expression. “But you will find answers that you will not like - and you may never find the ones you are looking for.”
“I understand.”
As a particularly strong gust of wind rippled across his face, Aang sighed. “We’re not going to make it there before tomorrow morning.”
No response. Ty Lee had fallen asleep on her bag - Mai looked like she was still awake, but she wasn’t saying anything, just staring out at the approaching wall of clouds. Aang didn’t want to bother her.
She can’t be doing well…
I wish she would talk about it, though.
Neither of the Fire Nation girls were his friends - they had been enemies not long ago, after all, and Aang still didn’t know them in the way he did the rest of the Gaang, or the way he had thought he had known Zuko. But Katara and Sokka had gone back to the Southern Water Tribe with their father, and Suki had chosen to stay on Kyoshi Island. Even Toph had left for Gaoling to try to keep her parents safe from the coming storm-
Which left him alone with the task of finding out… well, finding out what had happened to Azula. That, his past lives had agreed, was a job for the Avatar.
But he had never known Azula. Mai and Ty Lee had.
And she was their friend…
They deserved to know, too. Aang hoped he could give them that much.
Azula was awoken by footsteps.
Not that she had been asleep - she couldn’t sleep anymore, or at least she had no interest in trying to - but she hadn’t been conscious either. It was hard to define how time passed for her, now that she was a spirit - especially when she was trying to draw the attention of other spirits.
“Nothing?”
“No.”
Not even a single flicker of-
“You were never going to get Agni’s attention by meditating,” Ham Ghao said from somewhere outside of the small room. “That’s not-”
“It was worth a try.” That was the other man, the one who had walked into the room - she couldn’t remember having heard his name. “And you should sleep and stop saying the same thing over and over again. Someone might think you’re worried.”
“You’re just giving her false hope, Yeshi.”
“Go sleep.”
He’s getting annoyed…
After a moment, Azula heard a huff, followed by the much fainter sound of footsteps leaving. As they slowly faded off, the man - Yeshi? - turned to look at her again. “I’m sorry about Ghao, he’s always been a worrier like that. Especially when he insists on not sleeping.”
I don’t blame him for being concerned.
Yeshi was standing across the room from her, and yet he was illuminated sharply enough that Azula could make out the irises of his gray eyes. She could only imagine how hot it must be-
“Can we walk outside?”
There it is.
Not that I was accomplishing anything anyway…
Nodding, Azula got to her feet, tucking her wings behind her as they stepped out onto the weathered stone terrace. She could almost feel the moonlight brushing her, incorporeal though she was.
“But he is right, Azula.”
“About Agni?”
“Yes - the Golden Hummingbird, as we know her,” Yeshi agreed. “She is the sun, after all. Her light sustains the life of our world, and we revere her for it. But she is also capricious and distant, in a way that the great spirits of the Ocean and Moon are not. She is not a savior, or even a leader.” Then he turned, meeting her gaze. “That is one of the many lies Sozin told.”
He’s testing me.
That was heresy, right down to the different name - at least according to what she had been taught. But Azula couldn’t trust what she knew anymore. She had taken the moon and ocean’s advice to come here, and so far she hadn’t been turned away.
“I’m glad I did not ask the Fire Sages.”
Hopefully that’s a good answer…
It seemed to satisfy Yeshi, at least. “They would also have lied to you. We, at least, will not do that, but I still do not know how much we can help you.”
“You already told me that I was born as a spirit in a human body.” And given her plenty of time to consider the implications, too - but that could come later, had to come later. Only one of them mattered right now. “That is more than I knew. I just want to understand why. What spirit would have done this, and how… and why.”
And what I should do next.
Azula didn’t say that aloud, though. There was no point.
A corner of the Spirit World was irradiated.
Had the long grass been physical in nature, it would have been burned beyond ash - even air would have ignited the moment she set foot in its presence - but it was not, and so the light illuminated a deserted landscape. Empty, except for a sinuous, dark shape in the vegetation - and, of course, the source of the light itself.
“Koh.”
“Agni.” A moment’s pause - then the Face-Stealer went on, “What brings your radiance here?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
“Oh, I would never miss an appearance of the great Golden Hummingbird.” Only Koh could make those words - the one human term she had taken to - sound pejorative. “You never visit-”
Fine, I’ll entertain… this.
“A phoenix,” Agni interrupted. “You would not happen to know-”
“I know many things.”
Of course.
Without waiting for her to reply, Koh mock-sighed, then spoke again. “So you finally heard her - or did someone else have to tell you?”
“You think I listen to the pleadings of every being on that planet, newborn fire spirit or not?” It was unlike Koh to assume-
“But it matters to you now.”
Of course he’s not saying anything coherent-
First the light, and now this?
“What does this have to do with me, then?”
“Actions have consequences,” the Face-Stealer replied, voice still silky smooth. “Or is that a lesson that you were too above the rest of us to care for?”
“I was never above you.” Of course the overgrown arthropod would insinuate that-
“You certainly weren’t above interfering in mortal affairs when you felt the need to-”
What’s so funny?
“-but it would be just like a hummingbird to kiss flowers and then flutter away.” Koh’s expression did not change, but Agni could almost see the smile curling across his noh mask. “So will you take responsibility or not?”
Then the Face-Stealer was gone, just in time to avoid a flare of indignation as Agni finally realized what he was referring to. Good for him - she had become tired of his interference as soon as he showed up, even without resorting to mockery.
Interfering busybody!
It didn’t make Koh’s words any less biting, though - and it didn’t erase their implications. Had she really been so shortsighted?
That… is possible…
If so, then she would have to interfere personally after all. Before anyone else did.