3 Secret Santa fics for Attackfish
Poisoned - Aang/Azula
His skin felt numb. He was dumbfounded. He must have some sort of aliment. There was no other possibly explanation for what was going on in his mind. He was picturing Azula. Not himself defeating her, or them reaching some sort of understand to further peace. No, she was picturing himself dancing with her. Like a happy couple. It was surreal. Even more so since the memory of the time that she had sent a lightening attack though his chest was still fresh.
Something had hit him hard. Love! Its venom had spread wildly through Aang’s heart, infecting his head and causing confusion in his pure soul.
He was vulnerable. His thoughts of her grew more intense and dangerous after each day. If she knew that horrible secret, it would be his downfall.
Untitled - Azula, Iroh
The princess laid in bed, wide awake, all night. She had been abnormally restless lately, ever since her brother had returned to the Fire Nation.
Initially she had decided that is was probably just excitement about having Zuko home, having him available for tormenting. It was hard for her to restrain herself in that matter. She told herself over and over it would be worth the wait for Zuko to annoy their father once again, that she didn’t need to help the process along any. But she really just couldn’t help herself some days. She pictured the sinister expression she would wear when dear old Zuzu finally got himself executed.
She had to be good and patient for it to work properly. With that second embarrassing blow, Zuko’s shame would begin to reflect poorly on their father. It would instill doubt amongst the nobles. If a Fire Lord isn’t able to control his own children, how good of a ruler could he be?
After she had been back at the capital for several days, she became disturbed. She had noticed that she was having a hard time focusing on her end goals. No longer did thoughts of Zuko and Ozai being out of the way fuel her day dreams and thoughts. All Azula thought about was the look in her Uncle Iroh’s eyes when Zuko betrayed him. It had amazed her how quickly their expression had changed when he appeared before Fire Lord Ozai.
Iroh’s eyes were still lost. Azula remembered her father being pleased with how resigned to defeat he was. He even mentioned that Iroh’s expression was similar to how it was when Lu Ten passed away. To Ozai, Iroh was beyond repair and would never be a threat to him or his vision for the Fire Nation again.
But Uncle Iroh was up to something; Azula knew it. He was a lot like her that way. He could act all innocent, but he had sneaky ways, and she was sure he was plotting something. It’s what she would be doing if she were in his position. What was his next move going to be?
She enjoyed watching Ozai eat out of Iroh’s hand, even though Iroh was the one imprisoned. The princess wished her uncle would have taught her useful stuff like that but all he ever wanted to talk about was tea, Pai Sho, and other old man hobbies.
There had to be some sort of escape plan brewing in his old head. She found herself intrigued, speculating what his plans exactly were. She found it fun to pay him a few visits to show him she wasn’t a moron like her father, Ozai.
Perhaps by chance she could catch him, catch him if he let his guard down and revealed part of his plan. Although that wasn’t likely, it did kill some of her free time while she waited for Zuko to destroy himself.
*-*-*-*
The princess interrogated every guard and examined every minute detail of the structure of the prison. She didn’t miss a single thing. She watched how they interacted with each other and with the prisoners. None seemed to be sympathetic to her uncle plight.
“How’s my favorite crazy uncle?” Azula asked sarcastically.
“Azula?!” Iroh said dumbfounded by the presence of his niece.
It was a shock to the old general she visited him. He had figured that to a princess as ambitious as her she would have thought it would be a waste of her time. He never thought she would be bored enough to visit him.
Then things returned to how Azula had imagined they would be. Her visits turned into a battle of wits - the perfect way to pass the time. It was like when she was younger: always trying to get on his nerves, but now it was better. She even got chuckle out of him when Zuko had visited Iroh after she did and whined that he talked to Azula more than him. Zuzu was stupid when he got jealous. That happened often.
When the day the princess waited for arrived, the day of Zuko’s betrayal. Azula remembered watching the panicked guard arrive to tell their father the devastating news of Iroh’s escape. The guard’s words were like salt pouring on her father’s open wound. It delighted her.
Untitled - Ty Lee/Katara
Ty Lee was ready for a change. She yearned to leave the rut she found herself stuck in. She had noticed a pattern in her romantic life that she wanted to break. She wanted to be in charge and have absolute control in a romantic relationship. It had occurred to her that all of her former lovers never allowed her to show any dominance. But, then again, Ty Lee never had interest in having control anyway, until recently. Her experiences in the circus changed her outlook and ambition dramatically. The experience rejuvenated her and allowed her to explore things she hadn’t even thought of.
She wanted to try new things but she didn’t think anyone was interested in that. Azula was pretty set in her ways, and she didn’t even know how to approach the subject with any of the young men who she was seeing. Fire Nation young men were known for being traditional.
Mai would be an ideal candidate for her to try out the new Ty Lee on. At least she had thought so until she talked herself out of it. Mai was pretty open-minded, but she didn’t want anything break the special bond that formed after her return from the circus. Besides, she wanted to dominate someone more challenging, who would put up more of a fight.
Ty Lee smiled as she suddenly remembered cold cruel words the Water Tribe girl had shouted at her after she rendered her bending powers useless. Upon their first meeting she had used her chi blocking technique to temporarily destroy the girl’s ability to bend. The girl’s angry tone of voice reminded her of Azula - it was cold and hurtful, full of desperation for power. Ty Lee knew that she was nothing like what the water bender accused her of being
Now, Ty Lee understood the reaction for what is was - a misunderstanding. But the Water Tribe girl doesn’t know that. Katara had only had seen Ty Lee as her enemy. Ty Lee hadn’t given her any reason to see her potentially in any other light.
The acrobat wondered if there was any harm in acting on her desire to explore a potential relationship with the Water Tribe girl. There really wasn’t anything she could lose.
Ty Lee found herself filled with more excitement than usual, when she imagined running into the Avatar and his Water Tribe friend. She anticipated an excitement, maybe even joy. It made traveling around the world with Azula a fun adventure again.