Azula
Sela runs as fast as her legs can carry her, hoping to find the two polite strangers on their way out of her village. She spots them taking a rest in an open field and darts for them.
“Please, you have to help me. Those soldiers came back and threatened Lee, and he pulled out a dagger. I don’t know where he got it, but they took him.” She explains in a rush, barely able to catch her breath.
Kelani’s heart drops, remembering that Zuko gave Lee his pearl dagger as a parting gift this morning. Zuko glances at her with the same worry on her face. The three of them hurry off into the village.
Once they spot the soldiers taking Lee away, Zuko pulls out his dual swords and prepares to fight them off. Kelani remembers the early hours of the morning when she saw Zuko helping Lee learn how to use the swords. The sun had barely started peeking over the horizon, then. Now, the heat was blazing down on them.
Zuko takes on the soldiers in a stacked fight, letting Lee get away and flee back to Sela. One of the soldiers knocks Zuko out, and Kelani almost rushes to help him until she notices him move, and stand, shooting fire out of his hands and feet at anyone close enough.
Everyone who gathered around gasps and steps back in fear. The soldiers taunt Zuko, calling him a liar and a traitor. When he identifies himself they throw his banishment back in his face. Kelani glances back at Sela and Lee who look on in disgust and horror. Lee makes sure to hide his face from Kelani.
Zuko comes over, and tries to offer his dagger to Lee again.
“I hate you!” Lee yells, quickly turning back and hiding against his mother’s legs.
“I’m so sorry-” Kelani tries.
“Get out of here!” Sela demands, holding her son tighter.
Defeated and rejected, Kelani and Zuko head back to where they left their ostrich horse. Neither of them say anything the whole way. Zuko mounts the ostrich horse and offers Kelani a hand.
After riding in silence for most of the day, Kelani tries to speak.
“I don’t think he meant-”
“Yes, he did. And even if he only hates the Fire Nation, he might as well hate me, too.”
Kelani considers this for a minute.
“I don’t hate you.”
Zuko turns his head to try and look at her. Her arms are wrapped around his torso as they ride off farther into the Earth Kingdom.
“I hate the Fire Nation, and this war, and your father, but I don’t hate you.” She continues, leaning her head against his back. Her heart pounds as she holds him a little tighter. “You’re not them, Zuko.”
She can feel his shoulders slump.
He wants to believe what she’s saying, but it sounds like a lie. He’s on a mission ordered by his father to help him and the Fire Nation win the war. Or, at least, he was. Now, he’s on the run from the Fire Nation just like everyone else who hates them.
“The next town we come to, you have to call me Lee.”
Kelani pouts to herself.
“But Zuko is so much better.” She whines.
His heart flutters at her words, and at hearing his name again. He missed how it sounds when she says it. She’s right, it’s much better than Lee.
“Well, I’m still a fugitive. And we’re getting closer to the colonies now. My real name would be a dead giveaway.”
“What about your scar?” Kelani asks before she can stop herself. She knows it’s a stupid question, and probably a hurtful one. “Fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean-”
“The colonies, and the majority of the Fire Nation, don’t know about the Agni Kai. Only that I was banished. It would reflect poorly on my father if they knew what he did to his own son. And he can’t have that.” Zuko explains.
Kelani is stunned, and says nothing. Though, this explains why she didn’t recognise him when she first met him. The pirates knew about an Agni Kai and a banishment, but not the scar. And no one truly knew what Zuko looked like after that.
“I stand by what I said, I hate your father.”
“Part of me hates him too. And yet I still want his approval.” Zuko grumbles the last part hoping she won’t hear it. She does.
“He’s your father. And I’m sure that was a big part of how you were raised. He’s the fucking Fire Lord, everyone wants his approval. You can’t fault yourself for that.”
Zuko sighs.
“My sister always had his approval. But I had to work for it.”
Kelani’s brows furrow.
“But weren’t you first born?”
“When I was born, they didn’t think I had the natural spark of a firebender. My father wanted to get rid of me. My mother fought him on it, and later I showed signs of firebending. So, I’ve always been seen as a failure. But Azula, she was born gifted and he knew it.” Zuko explains, making Kelani’s heart break.
“That’s disgusting, he’s a monster.” She breathes, still not fully comprehending the way a father can feel that way about his son. “And you’re not a failure. You’re a fighter.”
“That’s what my mother always used to say.” Zuko thinks back to the last time he saw his mother.
“Used to?”
Zuko gulps.
“She disappeared when I was a kid. I barely remember what happened. She came into my room one night to tell me she loved me and the next day she was gone.”
Kelani’s body erupts in chills. The thought reminds her of her own parents’ disappearance and death. Her second thought is how horrible that had to be for Zuko. She’s disrupted by the sound of voices in the distance.
“What’s that?” She asks.
Zuko directs their steed towards the rundown, vacant town where the noise is coming from. They ride into the middle of a standoff between Aang and Azula. Zuko pulls on the reins to stop them in their tracks.
The dust kicking up catches Aang’s attention and he looks over, shocked to find Kelani and Zuko. Azula follows his gaze and grins.
“Oh, hello, Zuzu.” She says.
Her cold tone sends a chill up Kelani’s spine.
Zuko steps down from their ostrich horse, and approaches his sister.
“The Avatar is mine, Azula.” Zuko says through gritted teeth. Kelani shares a look with Aang.
Kelani can tell that Aang feels trapped, but also confused. Almost like he wonders if he can propel himself out of the situation with airbending. Zuko and Azula seem distracted enough that maybe he could pull it off.
“Aang!” They hear in the distance.
Kelani turns the ostrich horse around to see who said it. She finds Katara, Sokka, and a young girl, all running towards the commotion. Iroh follows behind them, adding to Kelani’s confusion.
“Kelani?” Sokka says, surprised to see her.
“Who?” The young girl asks.
She looks to be around the same age as Aang, and it’s clear evident by her pale eyes that she’s blind.
“A pirate on the run, and former ice princess.” Sokka explains with a wave of his hand.
“I thought your moon girlfriend was the ice princess.” The girl replies.
Sokka and Kelani tense at the mention of Yue.
“Woah, struck a nerve,” the girl says.
“This is Toph, Aang’s earthbending teacher. Also a former princess of the Earth Kingdom, also the Blind Bandit.”
Kelani nods, watching the young girl grin at the mention of her title.
There’s a loud crash, and the group turns their attentions back to the firebenders fighting for Aang. It’s lucky this strip is abandoned, otherwise plenty of businesses would be ruined from them catching on fire or being collapsed after one of them is thrown into it.
“Holy shit…” Kelani breathes, watching the two firebenders fight each other. “Who is that?”
“Zuko’s sister.” Katara says with a scowl.
“Oh.”
Kelani gulps, watching them fight. Based on the context of Zuko’s family relationships, this fight was a long time coming, and both of them want to win.
“They are both so angry,” Iroh adds, looking upset to see them fighting so harshly.
In one foul swoop, Azula strikes Zuko down and corners Aang. She turns with Aang tucked behind her to find everyone ready to fight her for him.
“Alright, I know when I’m beaten.” Azula says, smirking. “A princess surrenders with honor.”
Her smirk grows wider as she sizes up her opponents and fires one last shot towards Iroh.