honey [azula]

hunting the avatar

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

misogyny much?

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AFTER weeks of tracking the avatar and being completely clueless as to where he had been, news finally arrived that the avatar was on Kyoshi Island. And after the news arrived, it didn't take long for Zuko to order Ariri and two other soldiers to prepare themselves for battle.

Airi didn't know if Zuko would actually ask her to fight after the agni kai and her display of firebending. She hadn't decided, as she prepared herself for a battle that would probably result in an embarrassing loss for Zuko, if she wanted Zuko to ask her to fight or not. She was terribly bored on the ship, truth be told, and trying to teach Zuko how to firebend properly wasn't satiating the itching need to express her power. But she was uneasy to unleash her full power on a bunch of children, even if those children were supposed to be her enemies.

"Let's go," Zuko ordered when she and the other soldiers met in the room in the ship where they kept the war rhinos. "Airi, with me."

So he wanted her to be his bodyguard, or he wanted to make sure she didn't do anything he didn't want her to do. Whatever it was, Airi sighed slightly, and Mai came to mind. She hadn't been quite as close with Mai or Ty Lee as she had been with Azula, but as she found herself missing their presence as well.

The two teens sat uncomfortably on the rhino, neither of them wanting to touch the other. Airi thought her scowl was going to permanently etch onto her face as she glared at the back of Zuko's head (mostly his ponytail).

"Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko called as they reached the quiet center of town- the people here had clearly heard the fire benders were coming. "Find him." The other two soldiers spread out across the village. Airi stared ahead.

The Avatar thought that Airi was helping him. Zuko thought Airi was helping him and the Fire Nation. In her last encounter with the Avatar, she had convinced herself that by letting the avatar go, Azula would come to her. There was no reason to make that excuse this time, and yet she still felt guilty to use her powers against a boy.

Suddenly, interrupting her train of thought, a girl, no older than 13 at most, her face painted artfully and golden fans in her hands, emerged from behind a house, running at full speed towards the war rhino. Zuko surprisingly kept his cool and aimed a fire blast at the girl. She dodged the first one, then the second, and then a familiar boy emerged from where the girl had- it was the boy from the water tribe, the one who traveled with the Avatar.

And now Airi was falling off the rhino and rolling into a standing position. The girl and Zuko had engaged in one-on-one combat, and the Avatar's friend had turned on Airi. "I guess training's over."

The girl in face makeup huffed in amusement, her fans redirecting a blast of Zuko's fire. Another girl in the same makeup and outfit, identical fans in her hands, dropped from the roof and joined the first girl in combat against Zuko.

The Avatar's friend- maybe his name was Sokka?- pulled out a curved sword. Airi let a sigh slip out; she really did not want to fight him. She lowered herself into a defensive stance but did not reveal her firebending yet, instead opting to pull out a set of long daggers. If this boy was going to fight her full out, she didn't want to reveal her upper hand right away.

"Sorry," Airi said lightly, knowing she wouldn't actually hurt him. In three quick moves, the boy was disarmed and laying on the ground, the breath knocked out of him. Turning back to Zuko, she saw that he too had taken the upper hand in his battle, though with much more consequence, as the buildings surrounding him had been set ablaze.

"Nice try, Avatar!" Zuko called. "But these little girls can't save you."

"Misogyny much?" Airi muttered under her breath, glancing at the beaten girls with slight pity before following after Zuko, her eyes glancing to burning buildings, pity filling her heart. These people didn't deserve to have their homes burnt just because they were harboring a boy.

"Hey, over here!" Aang called. Zuko turned to face the boy, satisfaction spread over his face.

"Finally," Zuko breathed out, instantly sending two large fireballs towards Aang.

Airi turned back to the burning buildings, deciding that Zuko probably didn't want her help, even though he needed it. It wasn't like she was going anywhere, just performing a bit of damage control. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes until she could feel the fire of the building like it was a second sense. It was a bit harder since it wasn't fire she had made, but she felt in control of it eventually. With several calming breaths, she suppressed the fire, reducing what she could to embers and gathering the rest to her hands to extinguish it there.

When she opened her eyes, the building had mostly been saved, and Aand was gliding off towards the flying bison.

"Back to the ship!" Zuko barked, turning back to the ship with full speed. "Don't lose sight of them."

"Zuko, we cannot let this village burn to the ground," Airi spoke up. He ignored her if he even heard her through his own tunnel vision. She sighed, rolling her eyes, and she caught sight of the group of female warriors. "Where's the worst of the fire?"

Surprisingly, they trusted her. Either they had seen her put out the fire earlier or they were desperate enough to have Prince Zuko's babysitter help them. They quickly led her to the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. Working quickly, Airi did the same process again, moving faster than she had the first time. Again, the statue was not completely saved, but it was no longer a burning mass of flames.

Airi turned to the warriors and offered them a fire nation bow. They responded with the earth kingdom one. At that moment, Airi knew that she hadn't helped the Avatar because she wanted to be with Azula again- though she very much did. Azula would have come for her anyway eventually. She did not want to see this war stifle what was. Yes, the fire nation was powerful and technologically advanced, but nowhere in the fire nation was there an island fully defended by powerful female warriors. Every nation had its own culture, its own customs, and just because the fire nation had grown powerful did not mean that it was right.

Her mind swirling, she turned and ran back to the ship, even though a pang of steady guilt had set into her heart. Because she was a part of the bad guys, the conquerers, the oppressors, and she was running back to them, even though she knew that. All because she could not let go of what was. Airi knew, just as she always had, that she would do anything for Azula.

Even if it meant being the bad guy.

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

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written: 10/2
edited:-
word count: 1245

an: hello everyone! i hope you enjoyed the chapter- some very important seeds are being planted here that will come into play later in the story (like when airi and azula are back together cough cough). i have a problem for making villains and anti-heroes the main characters in stories in case you couldn't tell (but it's because I love a good character arc and redemption story). on that note, leave your thoughts on the ponytail down below (I'm sure you can tell what mine are by now). see you all next week xx
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