Strangely enough, Xisheng discovered that Princess Azula now had a greater understanding of sunrise than the day prior. Before, 'first thing in the morning' had translated to eight O'clock. Now, the Princess was actually on the deck of the ship as the sun rose above the horizon of the darkened ocean. Xisheng had made absolutely sure he was present on the deck at that time, because he was pretty sure that the Princess wouldn't be pleased with his absence or tardiness after directly ordering him to be there.

To be honest, Xisheng had been surprised to learn that the Princess woke up this early to train. Being a Royal, he figured she would be less inclined to be up this early, especially of her own accord, but here she was all the same, stepping onto the deck of the ship that would have been completely unoccupied were Xisheng not standing on it as well. Even this early she looked completely perfect, devoid of fatigue, irritability, or anything else Xisheng attributed to being an early riser. He for one was not such an individual. Thankfully, his helmet hid the early morning scowl that marred his face.

"Good to see you, Lieutenant. It's difficult enough to find a good sparring partner as it is, it would be truly lamentable if you disappointed me."

Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at his teenage superior. She said that like he had a choice in obeying her orders. "I'd never miss a chance to train with a legendary Firebender of your status, Your Highness."

Azula unknowingly returned the expression Xisheng had given her. "As talented with flattery as we are with fighting I see. Well, perhaps you are actually more skilled with the prior."

Xisheng inwardly winced. He had to admit, the Princess had quite the talent for being so subtly scathing. She wasn't even directly insulting really, but it still stung. Still, he couldn't just not answer. "Yet you've still selected me to be your training partner, Princess."

"Well, I didn't say your skills weren't passable. Just that they may be sub-par in comparison to some of your other abilities. That said, I haven't exactly tested all of the Royal Guards here personally, so I can't say for sure if you are the best on board. But I hardly have time to spar with every single soldier beneath my station, and you've proven yourself to be capable enough to at least keep my skills sharp. I've never missed a day of training before, and I don't intend to start now. I do hope you'll fight with as much fervor today as you did yesterday, Lieutenant."

"I'll give it my all, Your Highness."

"We'll see if that's true only after I've pushed you to the limit."

Within a few moments, Xisheng found himself engaged in a sparring match with the Princess again. But this time was a little different. While Azula had mostly toyed with him the other day, this time she launched into the combat with measured ferocity that was clearly designed to push her opponent to fight harder. The first azure blaze that came Xisheng's way could have incinerated him had he not tried to mitigate it in some regard. Still, his defensive fire wall only softened the blow that still engulfed him in searing heat. It really was a good thing that Fire Nation armor was naturally fire resistant.

However, even though Azula acted a lot more aggressively this morning, the rest of the duel was still mostly similar to the one before it. Xisheng tried as many techniques and approaches as he could think of, but none of them even came close to scratching the Princess. To be fair, Xisheng did actually catch her by surprise sometimes. He would throw a kick she didn't see coming or interrupt a standard combo with an unorthodox attack, and Azula would clearly be caught off guard.

But the problem was that even when he surprised her, his attacks weren't fast or strong enough to take advantage of the opening. She could still react fast enough to avoid or overpower the attack. Xisheng had skill and creativity, but not enough power to make the most of it. At least not against a foe like Azula.

Within a few minutes, Xisheng was flat on his back and heaving for breath. Azula was completely unmarred and seemingly relaxed to the fullest. "Well, I'll applaud you for your effort, Lieutenant. Not for success, but this and that are wholly separate."

Not sure if it would be inappropriate to stay downed in the presence of the Royal Family, Xisheng struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he did so. "Am I at least applauded for my versatility, Your Highness?"

Azula seemed amused by the question as she checked her nails for some invisible dirt no one could ever possibly notice. "Yes, actually. I'll admit I'm impressed with your ability to change your approach in the middle of combat. Were I a lesser Firebender you would actually be formidable. Where did you learn the moves that aren't part of our standard military forms?"

"Well I...just made them up, honestly. You spend a few years fighting in battle and you're sure to come up with new moves. Right around the time the Earthbenders started getting used to the old ones."

Azula graced him with a look that was both curious and intrigued, but ultimately she merely spoke one word.

"Interesting..."

The young ruler to be left it at that, effectively dismissing Xisheng to go lick his wounds and his pride, a task that was only mildly difficult. He had not been seriously injured after all, and he didn't really feel bad for losing to a Firebending prodigy. Still, even though he told himself that, he had to admit that it kind of stung to lose to a girl so young.

Aside from these duels in the morning, Xisheng's days went by fairly normally. Much of what he did was no different to what had been required of him as a regular soldier: mandated drills with his comrades in arms, maintenance of his equipment, guard duty, and the like. Obviously there was no patrolling since they were all confined to a single ship, but that task from the past was replaced with other more specific tasks.

Occasionally, it was Xisheng's turn to join a team of guards that swept the ship and looked for security breaches or other hazards. Mostly as a matter of principle: no one really believed that an assassin had somehow sailed out to this ship while on the open ocean and boarded it without detection, but it paid to be wary. Besides, someone could have stowed away from the very beginning of the journey and somehow remained undetected. Being paranoid was just part of the job.

But while there were many similarities to the regular Army, Xisheng's experience was a bit more solitary than he had imagined it would be. Prior to being transferred here, Xisheng had been among men and women he had been fighting alongside for some time. But he was brand new here, and a stranger by a large margin. Even Akuwagata, who had been the 'new guy' before him, had actually been with the Royal Guards for several months. Xisheng, who had only been around for a few days in comparison, felt very out of place.

It wasn't that he was treated badly or anything. Everyone seemed fine working with him. He was often asked about his experience at the North Pole, which none of the guards had participated in. But ultimately, the Royal Guards felt a little... overtly reserved. They were so professional that it was hard to really feel a sense of camaraderie with them. Maybe it was part of the job, to keep up the visage of unflinching and perfect soldier, just in case a member of the Royal Family noticed you. But whatever the reason, Xisheng just didn't feel as comfortable with them as he had with his old unit. Perhaps that would change in time, but for now, it meant he didn't do much socializing.

In what was perhaps the last thing he had expected, this situation actually led Xisheng to look forward to his morning job as Azula's punching bag. Yes, he definitely ended up with some serious bruises every single day, but at the very least, Azula was interesting to speak to. And the challenge of facing her was kind of exciting, even if Xisheng consistently lost every single time. The prospect of winning was out of reach, but honestly, Xisheng felt accomplished any time he managed to force any kind of surprise out of Azula. Any time he caught her off-guard or 'almost' got her, he was exhilarated. Of course, any time Xisheng did almost actually get Azula, she would immediately go way harder in retaliation, perhaps trying to remind him that she was never really going all out and that he shouldn't get full of himself.

But despite always losing, despite knowing that Azula wasn't giving her all in their bouts, Xisheng felt that the experience was markedly improving his abilities. Every other day, he was ordered to spar against another Royal Guard by the Guard Captain to help keep the unit sharp. And at first, Xisheng had felt that, most of the time, he and his opponent were evenly matched. At the very least, they had initially seemed like a close contest.

After a week of Azula's hellish 'sparring', Xisheng found himself feeling a notable difference against them. They started feeling much less formidable, because compared to Azula's skill even when holding back, they were. By merit of acclimating himself to Azula's performance, Xisheng started to have a consistent edge against other Royal Guards in sparring. Sometimes, they even seemed laughably easy compared to what he had grown used to. It was due to this gradual change that Xisheng believed his experiences against Azula were making him a better fighter. Not good enough to challenge her, but good enough to defeat his fellow guards in combat with what he would consider only moderate effort.

On the deck of the ship about a week and a half after he had been conscripted as Azula's training partner, Xisheng faced the young royal once again. As always, their duel was lit by the orange glow of dawn. As always, it was a fierce struggle. But for the first time, Xisheng found himself feeling rather good about how it was going. They had been going for two minutes already, which was quite a long time in a fight, and Xisheng had yet to be hit even though Azula was using the same amount of effort she had used in every previous duel.

Fact of the matter was, Xisheng was reading her better than he had been. He had started to figure out certain things about the way she fought: when she liked to apply pressure, which openings she was comfortable punishing and which ones she tended to stay on guard against. He had even deduced which side of her body she tended to angle towards him in most scenarios.

Of course, these were things Xisheng did not have the raw physical prowess to take advantage of. He was not fast or strong enough to exploit them in such a straightforward manner. But as he rolled away from one of Azula's blue streaks of flame, the recently promoted soldier acknowledged that he could exploit them psychologically. Martial combat was a matter of strategy as often as it was pure physical traits. If you knew how your opponent thought, if you knew how they would act or react to a certain situation, that was a weakness that could be exploited.

Part of the mind games was presenting yourself as predictable. In almost all of their fights so far, Xisheng had established himself as an evasive defender. Circumstances permitting, he always evaded an attack rather than trying to endure it. He knew that Azula had picked up on this aspect of his fighting style already. And though he had proven many times already that he could be unpredictable in a fight, Xisheng had never extended that unpredictability to his defense.

It was possible that Azula would not fall for this ploy. But there was also no reason to not try it. Xisheng was just reaching the end of the evasive roll he had taken a moment ago. Azula, always focusing on calculated aggression, was already launching another fireball at his new position. Ordinarily, Xisheng would have immediately dodged again, generally while trying to close distance. He knew that Azula expected this of him.

This time, Xisheng didn't move. He raised his left hand to intercept Azula's fireball and mitigate the damage as best he could, and with his right, he launched an immediate counterattack with as much speed and force as he could muster, creating a brief moment in which Azula's blue flame passed by his own by a hair's breadth, like two comets en route to different sides of the sky.

When Azula's fireball drew close, Xisheng could already sense its overwhelming pressure, and he knew he would not be able to actually stop it. He was going to take a heavy hit, and it was probably going to hurt. But the brief look of stunned shock on Azula's face as she registered an unexpected danger she had comfortably ignored the possibility of made it all worth it. Her eyes widened, her eyebrows shot up into her hairline, and Xisheng could swear on his mother's life that he could see the 'oh shit' moment going through the young girl's mind.

The fact that the orange fireball almost actually reached Azula proved just how off-guard she had been caught. Alas, the blow was thwarted: Azula regained control of the situation and swiftly diverted the incoming attack over and away from her face, whereas Xisheng caught Azula's fireball square in the palm of his left hand, which was slammed back into his chest before kicking back his whole body entirely. He slammed heavily onto the steel deck of the ship, knocking the wind out of him immediately. Azula was none the worse for wear, physically. As always, he had been soundly defeated.

And yet, the Crown Princess didn't have that smug look on her face that she usually did when she won. If anything, she seemed to be appraising her fallen opponent quite deeply, still looking a little stunned by his gutsy attempt to hit her.

"This... is the first time I can say that you almost got me. Unbelievable... slipping up against a mere soldier...?"

Xisheng coughed some of the soreness from his chest as he sat up on the deck. He didn't get to say anything, since Azula actually directed her voice to him this time.

"Why did you do that?"

At first, Xisheng didn't understand what she was getting at. "How do you mean, Princess?"

Azula's brow furrowed as she tried to get to the root cause of this. She had won, as always. She'd even won unscathed, just like always. But the fact that she had almost been caught lacking was enough to disturb her. So she had to know how this had happened.

"That attack, at that moment. Why did you do it? A wild flailing strike in a last-ditch effort to make any headway? A miscalculation on your part? Did you misread the next move I was going to make, and find yourself with no alternative?"

It was obvious why Azula wanted any of these to be the answer. Because if any of those were true, it meant that she was not at fault. While one could take unpredictable errors of the human opponent into account when strategizing, it was impossible to actually know how those errors would manifest or when. Even the best strategist couldn't predict when their foe would make a mistake. They could only be prepared to take advantage of mistakes when they appeared. If Xisheng had just messed up, she could not have actually done anything to be prepared for his strategy falling apart in that exact moment. In that case, she would actually deserve praise for reacting so quickly and efficiently to something that she could not have predicted.

Xisheng wondered how honest he should actually be when answering this question. But ultimately, he figured that lying to the Royal Family was just bad practice.

"Thus far, there are certain ways that you react to the actions I take in battle, Princess. Every time I roll to avoid an attack, you always apply pressure to try and get me while my footing is uncertain. Ordinarily, I always evade a second time to avoid that followup. I knew that you knew that. So this time, I played into the action I knew you would take, based on the action you believed I would. I never take hits I don't have to take. Except when I do. I knew you would be caught off guard by this."

Azula scowled as she contemplated all of this. This meant that she had slipped up. She had underestimated her opponent's ability to read her movements and patterns. Even worse, she had been arrogant enough to just assume that she could not be baited by her own complacency. Her opponent had deciphered her behavior, set her up for an opening to exploit, and taken perfect advantage of it when it all came together. If she had been facing a bender of superior speed and power, Azula would have been on the receiving end of a mouthful of flame. That someone obviously inferior to her as a combatant had come so close to getting the better of her was infuriating. In fact, as far as Azula was concerned, Xisheng had gotten the better of her. If he had just been a more powerful fighter, she'd have lost to his strategy.

Xisheng was, of course, unable to miss the very troubling expression on Azula's face. Wondering if he had insulted her in some roundabout kind of way, he wasted no time in trying to save some face.

"Forgive my presumptuousness, Princess. I did not mean to say that I presume to know the thoughts of the Royal Family. Nor did I intend to place you in harm's way."

Initially lost in her own thoughts, only now that Xisheng was talking did Azula realize that she was probably making a scary expression that was giving him the wrong idea. Then again, maybe he would have gotten said wrong idea either way. He had, after all, come dangerously close to blowing her face off. Though their duel was sparring, Xisheng had gone all out in his attack, putting every possible effort into actually hitting Azula with a lethal blow. Officially, no Fire Nation citizen should have ever had the audacity to do such a thing.

But Azula was not displeased by this. The whole reason that she had commanded Xisheng to be her sparring partner on this trip was because he fought her when she demanded it. Not the illusion of a fight, not standing around and letting her wail on him, but an actual fight. When she told him to fight, Xisheng tried his utmost to defeat her, royal status be damned. There was a drive and determination to that notion that she greatly respected, mostly because she felt herself a kindred spirit in that regard. Doing your utmost to surmount any and all obstacles, regardless of how formidable they may have been: that was a rare trait.

With that in mind, Azula made a conscious effort to lessen the severity of her expression. She was still livid, but she was angry with herself for falling short, not for Xisheng for almost getting the best of her.

"Don't apologize for giving your best, Lieutenant. If every warrior of our nation fought with such drive to succeed, this war would have been over long ago. I ordered you to fight me, not be a target for me to practice on. I'd be more insulted if you were daring to hold back against me. Be that as it may... you've still been defeated, so our session is over. I expect to see you tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

With that, Azula wasted no time in walking away, a little more hurriedly than usual. Despite what she had just said, Xisheng couldn't shake the feeling that she was still bothered by the final moments of their fight. But although he was troubled by that, Xisheng couldn't deny that he also felt nearly giddy with excitement. He, of all people, had made the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation sweat in a fight, even if it was only for a brief moment. There was no way anyone back home would have believed it.

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Roughly two weeks into their trip at sea, each day of which Xisheng had been thrashed by Azula quite thoroughly, the Princess' retinue finally reached their destination, which was little more than the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom. They were stopping at a small port town under Fire Nation control, where the trees were in full bloom with gorgeous petals of pink and red. All of the Royal Guards were gathered on the deck of the ship, waiting for their Princess to brief them on why they were here.

Thankfully, the young girl was pretty quick to fill them in as she came to stand at the fore of the assembled soldiers. "We will soon be apprehending my Uncle and my brother. I am going to be confronting them alone, but I expect all of you to be ready for anything when I bring them back to the ship. That said, try not to act too hostile; I'd like to avoid a conflict here if at all possible."

While it went against the instincts and training of the Royal Guards to allow the Princess to go anywhere by herself, there was little they could say to stop her from doing what she wanted. As for Xisheng, he was curious as to how Azula could know for certain that their target was in this town. Sure, you could use some deductive reasoning to determine that this town was the most likely place for them to have come after the North Pole, but she seemed entirely confident that they were there, with no room for error at all. He supposed that was a question he should just leave unanswered, tallying it up to the Princess' machinations that were beyond her troops. Maybe the rogues had just been reported by one of the town's citizens.

Either way, the Princess was only absent for a short time before she returned to her ship, though she was alone when she did so. This prompted a bit of confusion from her guards, who had expected their targets to be in tow, but she dispelled their confusion easily enough as she walked up the ramp. "My uncle and brother will be along shortly. Do line up and give them the proper respect owed to the Royal Family, would you?"

The guards could only assume that Azula had somehow convinced Iroh and Zuko to come along willingly. It was certainly the only explanation for why they would come to the barge of their own accord, or why they would be treated with any respect. That said, there was no need for an explanation in that regard. They simply did as they were told and didn't make assumptions, content to leave the planning to their Princess. They knew it was unwise to make any assumptions on Azula's behalf.

So they did as instructed. Twelve of the Royal Guards, Xisheng among them, went to stand on the dock, waiting for the arrival of their 'guests.' They only had to wait for ten minutes for the Prince and the traitor General to descend from their mountain resort, what little they had in their possession with them. It was truly little beyond clothing and some bare necessities, but Xisheng was more concerned with the suspicious look in the General's eyes above all else. The young Prince Zuko looked completely at ease, eager to return home for the first time in many years. But Iroh was clearly expecting treachery, eyeing every single guard with doubt.

Of course, Xisheng couldn't blame him for being suspicious. He had not killed the guards that had witnessed his treachery at the North Pole. Surely they had relayed news of his actions to their superiors, and by now Ozai had to have known what he had done. He did not believe that his defense of the Moon Spirit would just be overlooked. Still, it would have been foolish for him to do anything rash without a reason. Until it was obvious that they were in a compromised situation, he would rather play along.

Azula stood at the top of the boarding ramp with two of her guards flanking her, where she exhibited a personality Xisheng was almost certain was false. Either that or his short time in her presence had yet to reveal a far nicer side to her.

"Brother, Uncle; welcome aboard. I imagine you're quite ready to return home."

Zuko made some whimsical remark about returning home after so long, understandable considering his absence, but Xisheng ignored it in favor of the ship's captain, who proceeded to shout orders back to his crew on the deck. "Raise anchor, men! We're escorting the prisoners home!"

Everyone present visibly stiffened as the captain practically ruined everything in a mere moment. Azula shot him a glare that promised fitting repercussions for his foolishness, but more importantly, Iroh immediately turned to attack the two guards nearest to him on the dock, catching them unawares and tossing them into the water. The next pair of guards attempted to retaliate, but the old man was faster than he looked, and they were swiftly knocked away before they could do anything either.

As for the captain, he was standing between Zuko and his sister, so he quickly found himself thrown overboard by the scarred Prince, who was directing an enraged glare at his younger sister.

"You lied to me!"

Despite her own irritation with how this situation had turned out thanks to one foolish blunder from an incompetent moron, Azula managed to remain as calm and collected as ever at Zuko's approach. "Hardly a first, Zuzu. But before you do anything foolish here, do consider your actions; attacking now will be committing a crime against the Fire Nation. That would be very unwise."

Zuko ignored her advice entirely, stepping up to fight the two guards that were protecting the Princess. As for Xisheng, he had to trust in Azula's ability to defend herself (and he certainly had faith in that), as he and the rest of the guards focused on Iroh. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the dock prevented the guards from simply swarming him with superior numbers. They could only really attack one or two at a time, and this meant they had no real advantage. Against one or two enemies at a time, the Dragon of the West easily outclassed his foes, even being the elite Firebenders they were. After all, there was as considerable of a margin between average and elite as there was between elite and legend.

Still, it was an terribly pathetic encounter. Nearly every guard that attacked Iroh was defeated within one or two blows. The pattern was simple enough; the guard would attack, Iroh would deflect or divert it, and then he would shove them over the edge of the dock with his superior weight and poise. Perhaps the guards were refraining from powerful Firebending attacks because they were supposed to take Iroh alive, but they would never manage to beat him if they didn't give it their all. When the line of soldiers was diminished enough to place no one between Xisheng and Iroh, the recently promoted elite Firebender decided against engaging in melee in favor of launching a fire blast large enough to engulf the dock with both hands.

Unfortunately, an attack of this magnitude wasn't overly difficult to disperse for the Dragon of the West, who simply kept his stance as he shouted back at his nephew on the ship. "Zuko! We need to go, now!"

Xisheng tried to catch him off guard while he was glancing over his shoulder, but the dual fireballs that came at the traitor general from both sides were easily caught and sent right back at him. Xisheng deflected those to either side of himself, refraining from attacking again as he contemplated his best approach to this fight. Unfortunately, he got the feeling that this engagement would be uncannily similar to their last one, which was infuriating since he outright hated this traitorous coward. Still, even if he felt he had no chance, Xisheng would do everything he could: after all, even the Princess had found that to be an admirable trait of his.

On the deck of the barge, Azula was doing her best to hold back a sigh as she effortlessly dodged literally every move Zuko tried to hit her with. The guards that had been protecting her had been dispatched far too easily, which frustrated her immensely, but more than that, she was trying to get Zuko to understand why everything he was doing right now was a terrible idea.

"You're making a mistake, Zuko."

"My only mistake was trusting you!"

Azula leaned back to dodge another swipe of Zuko's flaming daggers, wondering how anyone could be so dense. "Zuzu, we're only here to arrest Iroh. He's the only one that committed treason."

"Prisoners' definitely sounds like more than one person to me!"

The Crown Princess caught her brother's hands at the wrist when they came at her in a downward swing, pitting their similar golden glares against one another. "The captain was a fool that made an assumption. I technically didn't specify that you wouldn't be a prisoner, but I had no way of knowing that you weren't in league with Iroh until now."

"In league with what? He's done nothing wrong!"

"He teamed up with the Avatar and attacked an Admiral and his retinue. That's treason, Zuko."

Naturally, the banished Prince didn't accept this. He had been taught that his sister always lied. Strangely, he couldn't quite remember who had ingrained that notion in him. "You're lying! Uncle would never help the Avatar, he knows how important capturing him is to me!"

With a smirk, Azula kicked her brother away, lowering her already casual stance as she did so. "Then by all means, feel free to ask him about it, Zuzu. Ask him where he was and what he did during the invasion at the North Pole. I know you're a little slow, but even will be able to recognize evasion when you hear it."

Despite the futility of his efforts, Zuko prepared to engage his sister again, only to be interrupted when his Uncle came racing up the ramp. "Zuko! Don't waste your energy. We have to run!"

Azula briefly contemplated attempting to fight both of them to take Iroh prisoner, especially since her Uncle was clutching his side. He had apparently been wounded, which meant that Azula could have an advantage. But even so, it was likely that she would need all of her attention to defeat the Dragon of the West, and that meant Zuko could be moderately dangerous if they fought her in tandem. Confident though she was in her skills, Azula also wasn't a complete fool. Still, she wasn't going to let them get away without sowing a few seeds of doubt.

"Go ahead and run along, Zuzu, but do try to think for yourself while you're at it. Look back on your hunt for the Avatar. Ask yourself how much Iroh ever really helped. I think you'll see the truth soon enough."

Zuko looked like he wanted to object or otherwise defend his Uncle, but he was clearly conflicted. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, he felt that Azula may have actually been onto something. But he wasn't going to just trust her at face value like this. He would investigate things himself. For now, he was far more inclined to trust his Uncle than his younger sister.

With a clear opening to escape, Iroh led his nephew off of the ship and down the boarding ramp, passing the prone Royal Guard on the dock there. Objectively, Iroh appreciated the soldier's skill. Subjectively, he had to admit that tendril of flame to his flank had really hurt. Still did, actually.

Azula casually sauntered off of the deck of her ship as she watched the now fugitive duo flee the docks, eyeing the entirely defeated Royal Guards that were mostly clambering back onto the dock by now, soaked through with seawater. Only one of them was actually incapacitated on the dock itself, though the masked soldier was slowly pushing himself to his knees. There was a rather severe scorch mark in the center of his chest piece.

"I'm going to assume that's you, Lieutenant Xisheng."

The soldier glanced up at the completely unscathed Princess, only to bow his head a moment later. "Forgive me, Princess. I was completely useless."

Azula glanced around at the other recovering soldiers, making sure to raise her voice loud enough for all of them to hear her. "Well, at least you weren't absolutely humiliated like the rest of these incompetent, pathetic fools. In fact, you did actually wound my traitorous Uncle, did you not? That's more than anyone else here achieved."

"But I still failed. The mission is a failure because I was too weak."

The Princess scoffed. "The mission is a failure because someone is an idiot. Get up, Lieutenant. You can berate yourself when I think you deserve it. You haven't proven as useless as the rest of these fools."

The Princess turned on her heel and began walking back to the ship, with Xisheng slow to follow her considering the gradually dulling pain in his chest. However, he was forced to stop when the Princess did the same, the young girl glaring down at the water where the captain of the ship was just beginning to climb back onto the dock. Naturally, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed the scathing glare of the Crown Princess on him.

"Captain, I suggest you jump right back in that water and find another way home. Unless you'd like to be thrown overboard once we're out to sea instead?"

The bearded captain visibly gulped before releasing his hold on the edge of the dock and slinking back into the water. It would have been kind of comical if Azula's threat wasn't so obviously real.

"The rest of you had better be on the ship in the next sixty seconds if you don't want to be left behind."

The rest of the Royal Guards, still reeling from their recent defeat, now hustled to get back on the ship, fairly certain that the Princess never made empty threats. Xisheng simply followed the rather terrifying teenage girl up the boarding ramp, incredibly relieved that he seemed to be one of the few people with her favor on the ship. Apparently, guts and enough combat prowess to be somewhat respectable could go a long way.

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Later that night, as the ship was docked a little farther along the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom, Azula contemplated her next move as she rested on the palanquin that sat at the top of the stairs on deck. Her two advisors, an extremely old pair of ladies who happened to be twins, sat to her left and right. Four of the Royal Guards were prostrated before her on the deck, though Xisheng was not among them. They simply stayed still and silent as Azula listened to the two crones beside her.

"When tracking your brother and Uncle, traveling with the Royal Procession may no longer be an option..."

"May no longer be wise..."

The two of them finished together. "If you wish to keep the element of surprise."

Azula resisted the urge to sigh. "Lo, Li: believe me when I say that my appreciation for the novelty of your rhymes and downright unsettling unity you have has been lacking for quite some time now. Likely since I was a toddler. Don't do that again."

The old women said nothing, merely nodding their acknowledgment as Azula continued.

"Still, you're absolutely right. Aside from the logistical issue of moving this many people about, the Royal Procession has proven to be quite... inadequate. I gain no benefit from bringing along all of these worthless sods, two of which were bested by Zuzu of all people. No, I need a small team, and preferably one where the term 'elite' actually means something."

"Most wise of you, Princess Azula."

"Indeed. Thankfully, I know just the people I need to bring along. I think we'll be visiting some old friends very soon."

Naturally, the Royal Guards present for this discussion were a little uneasy with it all, but considering their humiliation at the hands of the traitorous Dragon of the West, they supposed they were getting off easy. Certainly easier than the captain earlier, and that seemed a like a blessing to be grateful for compared to what could have happened to them as punishment instead.

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Despite his injury, Xisheng was present on the deck of the barge at the crack of dawn the next morning. He was not sure if the Princess would care to be there herself all things considered, but as per the usual, she likewise stepped onto the deck of the ship just as the sun was rising. Apparently, her training was one thing she was absolutely determined to keep punctual. For the record though, she did seem surprised to see Xisheng there.

"Lieutenant. I thought you'd be recovering from your wound today."

Xisheng bowed to her, gingerly since the aforementioned injury did hurt quite a bit. It hadn't really pierced his armor or anything, but the concussive force of the blast had given him quite the bruise. "You never gave me permission to cease this routine, Princess. Some pain and suffering won't obstruct me from my duty."

"Is that so? Well, in that case, I assume you're ready for today's session?"

Xisheng would have scoffed at the euphemism. Even though he had done alright a few times, most of their 'sessions' felt like him getting hopelessly throttled. At any rate, using such a word to describe a fierce duel seemed a little strange. But he had more important things to worry about right now.

Since he had acknowledged that his abilities were growing thanks to his fights with Azula, and especially since he had been soundly defeated by Iroh yesterday despite that growth, Xisheng had allowed a certain stray thought to take root in his mind. A somewhat absurd thought, but one he wanted to explore all the same. He knew he was taking a big risk here, but it felt like the potential reward was worth it.

"Actually, Princess... if you would allow it, I have something I would ask of you."

Azula was noticeably surprised at such a thing, though she had no initial quarrel with it. At the very least, Xisheng had earned the right to politely ask a question in her eyes. "Very well. I do hope it's important."

Knowing that what he was about to ask could quickly result in many bad things he did not wish to experience, Xisheng got to his knees and bowed before the Princess, prostrating himself completely before making his request. After all, he knew he was overstepping his station here.

"Princess, please train me!"

Simple as that, Xisheng laid out his desires, and Azula suffered a very rare moment of confusion where she didn't know what to say. Of course, it didn't take very long for her to find her voice.

"Excuse me?"

Unsure if it was wise to continue, Xisheng nevertheless did so. He had already said it: it was too late to rescind the request now. "I must be stronger. If I were taught by someone as talented as you, I could be."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at him, an expression that Xisheng couldn't see considering his position. "You honestly think I'm going to use my precious time and effort to train a mere soldier? I'm surprised you have the gall to even ask. What makes you think a member of the Royal Family would ever agree to such a thing?"

She didn't sound angry, or even irritated. Just... factual. Of course, that was equally scary when it came to her. Nevertheless, Xisheng hoped his reasoning would be seen as admirable, or at least forgivable.

"I have served both you and my nation poorly, Princess. Twice I have had the Dragon of the West before me, and twice I've allowed him to escape. I know you do not need my protection as a Royal Gaurd, but I would like to at least be useful to you. I want to serve my country to the greatest possible capacity I can manage. I know I am overstepping my boundaries in asking this of the most prodigious Firebender of the Royal Family, but I know the future self molded by your tutelage would be far more valuable to this country than anyone else I could be."

Azula allowed a few moments of silence to pass between her and this Lieutenant that was certainly not cut from the same cloth as the rest of his comrades. Having agreed with Lo and Li's advice, Azula had been planning to ditch the Royal Procession wholesale. But admittedly, even before now, she had quietly questioned whether or not she had wanted to leave Xisheng behind as well. She at least held him in somewhat higher regard than everyone else on the ship. He had his uses. Not to mention, she was consistently finding new admirable qualities in this man, which was rare for her. She didn't often find other people admirable in any way.

As a perfectionist at heart, Azula understood the drive to improve on a truly integral level. She was always seeking to improve, regardless of the risks or obstacles. Xisheng was doing the same here, going so far as to risk the consequences of insulting the Royal Family to make it happen. Moreover, it was a rare day indeed to find someone this dedicated, both to his duty and his nation. After all, were any of the other guards out here trying to convince the Princess to teach them so they could better serve? Certainly not.

That said, Azula did think the position of teacher was beneath her station. Why should she of all people use her time to train up someone weaker than her? Why spend her time and effort to make someone else better for their own gain?

But was this situation really like that? Xisheng wanted her guidance not so he could gain greater glory for himself, but so he could better serve her and her cause. In the brief time he had been in her retinue, the newly-minted officer had already proven to be the most dedicated of all of her guards. Besides, he was quite possibly the only man besides her father that Azula actually had some halfway decent modicum of respect for. He wasn't pretentious enough to reject the idea of asking for assistance from someone better than him. He understood his own weakness and sought to make it stronger rather than hide it. He had guts, unyielding loyalty, and the will to fight any enemy. He was a rare one definitely, and Azula had already admitted to herself that he had potential. With a teacher of her caliber, perhaps he really could reach an astounding level of skill.

Honestly, perhaps this was actually a good idea. Azula herself would probably get more practice by teaching her skills to another rather than effortlessly beating him up with them. After all, you could only find so many ways to demolish a weaker foe before you stopped gleaning anything useful from it. But teaching your skills required you to explore new perspectives and angles of your craft, to find new and better ways to understand it.

And if she were going to form a small, elite team to hunt her enemies with, what better candidate than someone who was completely, totally loyal to her, and one that she could train herself? She would never have to question his level of competence if she were the one teaching him. She would always know how good he was and what he was capable of. He was actually a prime candidate for her envisioned team.

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"Say that I actually had enough pity to spend my time on a grunt like you, Lieutenant. What guarantee do I have that you'll take it as seriously as required?"

Xisheng maintained his bow. "All I can offer is my word, Your Highness, as well as your brief experience with me."

Normally, Azula would have scoffed at such a notion, but her brief experience with Xisheng was actually a pretty good indicator to take into consideration. He didn't back down from any challenge, no matter what the odds. Few soldiers would fight their hardest against the Dragon of the West and the Crown Princess, especially knowing that they stood no chance. There was a foolhardy determination about him, one that Azula actually appreciated.

"I see. So when my tutelage grinds you into the dirt, and your body begs for mercy, you will ignore it and stand up to suffer my teaching time and time again, yes?"

"I swear. I will never rest unless you command it, or death takes me."

Inwardly, Azula had to admit that there was a certain drama to this situation that may have been unneeded, but it was honestly amusing, so she did nothing to rectify it. As for making this decision, she figured there was no harm in giving it a shot. At best, this young officer continued to impress her and serve as a valuable asset. At worst, he failed to meet her expectations, and she could get rid of him with little more than a snap of her fingers. It was really no big deal for her to see how this worked out, especially because she did honestly believe it had potential.

"Very well then, Lieutenant. Congratulations, you may very well be one of the only Firebenders in recent history to ever be a personal pupil to a member of the Royal Family. Now all you have to do is stay alive long enough to reap the benefits of my tutelage."

Actually flabbergasted that he had succeeded in getting the Princess to accept him as a student, Xisheng nevertheless managed to get to his feet without delay, bowing again when he was finished. "Thank you, Your Highness. I will not let your graciousness be wasted on me."

"That remains to be seen. That said, we may as well start now. Be grateful; today at least we can focus less on actually doing anything and more on making sure you actually understand the most important core concepts. I mean, one would think you did already, considering your ability in a fight, but you'd be surprised how seemingly strong a Firebender can become even with their art rooted in a flawed understanding of the element. That being said, tell me what the most important physical aspect of Firebending properly is."

"Breathing. The most potent Firebending is achieved through the power of the lungs."

"Well congratulations, you're already a better Firebender than Zuzu and probably half of all the benders in our nation."

Honestly, Xisheng was not sure if that was supposed to be an actual milestone, but at least he was off to a good start. Under the ruthless teachings of his new teacher however, he wasn't sure how long that would last.

----------------------------------------

Within the next two days, the Royal Barge stopped just once in some coastal town, in which Azula had tasked her guards with entering the settlement and gaining information on a rather particular subject: the circus.

Naturally, none of them knew why on earth their Princess would be interested in such a thing, but they knew better than to ask questions. Once they had ascertained where the circus would be stopping next on their Earth Kingdom tour, the barge had set sail again for the next port that would place them closest to that destination.

Xisheng would have been curious as to the nature of their destination as well, were he not far too busy with his new training regimen to care. Somehow, someway, it had actually been less painful to have Azula beating him up than it was to be trained by her. As she had said the day she had accepted him as a student, the first morning had been nothing but a discussion and lecture on the many core facets of Firebending. The proper way to fuel it physically, the proper way to power it emotionally, its true nature as an element, and how Firebending had the greatest potential for evolution of all the elements.

That last tangent had interested Xisheng the most. Like any kid that had paid attention in school, Xisheng knew that there was supposedly an ancient art of bending that controlled energy in its purest form. No one knew how to do it today, and no one really knew much about it other than the fact that it had supposedly been more powerful than any of the four bending arts that existed now. All anyone in the Fire Nation knew was that it had once existed, and now it did no longer, at least not in its original form.

Azula had told him that she believed Firebending to be the only incarnation of 'energy bending' that still existed. And she had made quite the fair point on the matter. Of all the four bending arts and nations, only Firebenders could create. Waterbenders needed a source to draw their water from. Earthbenders could not do anything if they did not have earth present to manipulate. Even Airbenders needed actual air to control, though it was difficult to imagine many places on the planet where air was absent.

Only Firebenders could create their own element. Their own energy. They did not need a preexisting flame to manipulate. For this reason, Azula believed that Firebending had the greatest potential to evolve beyond what it was. Other elements may learn new ways to control their substances, or new substances within their element that could be controlled, but they could never create something of their own. The Crown Princess had used her ability to generate lightning as the prime example. Lightning certainly had nothing to do with fire. It was not related to fire in any way, so how could it be controlled by Firebenders, unless what Firebenders truly did was bend energy in the form of flame rather than flame itself? If that were true, who was to say what other forms of energy Firebenders could learn to control?

It was theoretical, of course. Even Azula had admitted that her thoughts were mostly conjecture, whether she believed them or not. But she had done a fine job of convincing Xisheng of it all. Firebending was indeed unique in comparison with the other elements. There must have been a reason why.

Unfortunately, Xisheng hadn't really had any time to dwell on this theory regarding Firebending, because the day after the philosophy lecture was over, Azula actually began the physical aspect of training. Granted, on the first day it was little more than Azula putting him through his paces to see how well versed he was in the core of Firebending, forms both basic and advanced. She had been more interested in his poise, the fluidity of one stance to another, the integral parts of fighting that were the same for every martial art.

The issue was that she didn't stop with a simple assessment. The moment she spotted anything amiss, even the slightest mistake in a stance or form, she would make him run through it forty times. He had practiced one single stance for a whole hour that day simply because he held his arm a fourth of an inch too low. The same occurred throughout that day with most every other form. Xisheng had imagined that Azula was a perfectionist of some sort, but he had not expected her to be quite this radical about it.

Still, as much as it sucked, Xisheng didn't complain or even consider giving up. Besides, he imagined that this was probably still the easy part of Azula's training. Who knew how rough it would be when she actually went out of her way to teach him something new and expected him to master it to absolute perfection?

Either way, Xisheng was already experiencing a deep seated fatigue by the time the barge pulled into the port town they had been heading for. He normally would have been glad for this, because it meant Azula would leave the ship and he'd have some brief reprieve from her demands. However, he got the feeling that he would not be so lucky now considering his new relation to her.

He was unfortunately right on the mark. When the boarding ramp was lowered onto the docks of the Fire Nation occupied town, Azula ordered him along. "With me, Lieutenant. It could be a potentially... hazardous trip to our destination."

Obviously that was just an excuse to bring her new pupil along, but it did not pass completely without contention. It was surprisingly Lo and Li that tried to get her to take something else along.

"Princess, surely you do not wish to walk? Take your palanquin, it will be much more comfortable."

Azula rolled her eyes as she turned back to the two old women. "Did you not just tell me that the Royal Procession was slowing me down just a few days ago? While I admit walking carries little appeal for me, neither does making this short trip three times longer because I used the palanquin. I think I can survive something as plebeian as walking."

Most of the procession present seemed appalled that the Princess would choose something so suited to commoners as walking, but they certainly weren't going to oppose her wishes. Regardless of what it was, she could do what she wanted, and that being the case, she wasted no time in descending from the ship to the town below, with Xisheng on her heels.

The settlement itself was quickly skirted since it was little more than a starting point to their actual destination, though Xisheng took the time to observe the state of the town as he passed through it. He was always curious to see how well an Earth Kingdom settlement occupied by the Fire Nation was doing.

While Xisheng didn't know the exact name of this town or when it had been conquered in particular, he estimated it to be a fairly old dominion. The lack of construction work throughout the settlement meant most of that had been accomplished already. Building superior housing and living space for the people of the town was always one of the earliest orders of business, right after the fulfillment of the even more basic needs like food and medicine. There weren't many people panhandling on corners, and most everyone looked at least decently healthy and fed. There was still a present level of lower quality living present, but it was more subtle than obvious.

More than that, the presence of Fire Nation soldiers in the streets didn't seem to bother anyone. Everyone looked completely comfortable with the soldiers standing watch over their town. Or at the least, they seemed unconcerned by it. Xisheng even saw a young child approach one of them to ask him something, prompting the Fire Nation occupier to kneel so he could hear the boy more clearly.

"Reassuring, isn't it?"

Xisheng drew his attention away from the green roofed buildings marked with the red flags of the Fire Nation to look at Azula instead. "Is it, Your Highness?"

"Well, I daresay it's a good sign to see occupied towns stable, developing, and generally free of obvious strife. That's the endgame for all nations seizing territories from others, is it not?"

While Azula was certainly not mistaken in that, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder if the young Princess had any further opinion on the matter. Xisheng had some grand idealistic goal in mind that meant he wanted the nations to intermingle and advance through human ingenuity and wisdom, but he knew that an altruistic goal like that was far from universal in his nation. Plenty of people just wanted things to go well in occupied towns and colonies because it benefited the occupying country. That was why he subtly prodded Azula for a more detailed explanation.

"True. Though I wonder if the gains are worth the cost of investment into these Earth Kingdom towns..."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Only time will tell. You can't know whether or not an investment was worth it until that investment pans out, after all. Yu Dao was worth the investment all those years ago. This town many not be. But as far as risk and reward is concerned, it's no great loss to invest some effort into these towns if we want them to become valuable settlements in the future."

"So we are only doing this for our benefit, correct?"

"Well, there is a more idealistic notion I've occasionally heard spoken of by scholars, propagandists, and bleeding hearts. But personally I don't care for it. The Earth Kingdom brought their level of poverty and sickness on themselves, and I personally don't think it's our job to fix that for them. But, if we are going to expand our own borders, we may as well solve the problems of the land we take, correct? Otherwise they'll just become our problems later."

Xisheng frowned under the cover of his helmet as the two of them passed beyond the outskirts of the small settlement. So Azula did know about the idealistic goal of the war, but she didn't care for it. Still, it wasn't like she was actively against it, so at least under her guidance the mission could still be achieved. Honestly, as long as the Fire Nation treated their taken territories fairly well and got rid of the spirits along the way, the goal could be achieved by default.

Of course, Xisheng also acknowledged that he was an idealist with hopes for the future that far outstripped common sensibility. Most people didn't care about something as grand as revolutionizing the world of mankind by destroying the stagnant status quo forced upon them by spirits from another plane of existence. Even Sozin hadn't specifically spelled that out as a goal when declaring the war. He had just stated that the spread of the Fire Nation's enlightenment could elevate other nations to their level, and that it could only happen by dismantling the foreign governments that still bowed to the old ways forced upon them. And who knew? Maybe that had been a load of shit he had made up just to justify some warmongering. But even if it was, the idea itself had sparked many believers: people who started to take a good, long look at the world, only to see just how much ancient tradition and dogma was truly holding humanity back, and just how much of the world order would have to be torn down and remade to overcome them. Xisheng was one of those people who believed that a radical shift in humanity's paradigm was the only way to truly reach the best possible future for them.

Be that as it may, he certainly couldn't go off and give the Princess of all people a philosophy lecture, so he stayed silent, simply hoping there were enough people in the Fire Nation's upper circles that believed in the cause to actually carry out the revolution once the war was over.

The circus the duo was heading for hadn't set up very far from the town, though Xisheng wondered why they would bother doing a performance at such a small place. Regardless, the tall red tents of said circus could be seen just a few minutes after Xisheng and Azula left the town itself, and Xisheng gave silent thanks that it was so nearby. Azula even made sure to tell him that she would have forced some sort of training on him as they walked if it had been a more considerable distance.

Gratitude aside, it was a short trek to small city of scarlet tents, where Xisheng was met with the altogether pleasant sight of cooperation between the varied performers of nearly all stripes. Granted, it was really only a mix of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens and nothing else, but the atmosphere was one of relative joy and overall enthusiasm. It was obvious that the people who were here wanted to be, and that they enjoyed the people they worked with. It was another example of how cooperation between nations, even in something as simple as entertainment, was good for the world. It was debatable whether or not the Avatar of the past would have bothered intervening in something like this, but either way, Xisheng was sure this circus would have been relatively frowned upon by many in days gone by.

While Xisheng was enthralled with the sights and sounds of a locale he had never before experienced, which included a fair deal of interesting animals he had never laid eyes on, he still managed to follow Azula throughout the camp without trouble. After all, the Princess herself seemed to know exactly where she was going. Xisheng wasn't sure how, but he knew better than to question her on things such as this by now.

So, he decided to continue his observation of his surroundings instead, until Azula finally spoke herself. However, it was clear that she was not speaking to him.

"Years go by, some things change, and some remain exactly the same. You'll have arthritis by the time you're thirty, doing things like this."

Now aware that they had arrived at their destination, person though it may be, Xisheng turned his full attention on the person Azula was speaking to, though he was surprised for many reasons upon doing so.

The most prominent reason for his initial shock was the fact that the girl he was looking at was completely upside down. She was doing a handstand, obviously, but she was supporting her own weight with nothing but her index fingers. An incredible feat in and of itself, it spoke volumes about ridiculous upper body strength besides. Or ridiculous extremity strength? Xisheng wasn't sure, but either way he was completely in awe of the display.

On another note entirely, he was stricken by the fact that the girl's tight shirt (or half of one rather) did very little to actually restrain her considerable... assets, in her current position. He did his best to focus on something else since it made him feel guilty, but the next target of his gaze was the toned muscle of her bare midriff, and that really didn't help. Not for the first time, he was glad he wore a helmet that hid his face.

A brief look of surprise crossed the girl's face before it was replaced with a joy that lit up her chocolate brown eyes all the same as it did her smile. Xisheng got the feeling this was someone with quite the 'enthusiastic' personality.

"Azula!"

She recovered from her handstand, spun around in a way that would have whip lashed anyone nearby with her long brunette braid, and bowed to the Princess of the Fire Nation all in one fluid movement. To call her lithe was an absolute understatement. Xisheng wasn't even sure how she got back up from that bow as effortlessly as she did to crash into Azula with a hug, something Xisheng would have questioned were it not for the rather obvious familiarity between the Princess and this girl.

"It's so good to see you again!"

Azula actually smiled back at the girl, and not in the same way she smiled when she was about to pulverize Xisheng in a sparring match. She actually looked somewhat happy herself, which was almost disconcerting for a soldier who had never seen such a distinctly pure and positive emotion from her.

"Likewise, Ty Lee. But don't interrupt your regimen on my account, we both know it won't hinder the conversation."

Ty Lee apparently took that to heart, because she immediately flipped backwards onto the ground, her torso supporting her body as she stretched her legs over her head at an angle Xisheng would have thought impossible until just now. She even touched the heels of her feet to the back of her head. If it were anyone not nearly as good looking Xisheng may have found the whole thing disturbing.

As for Azula, she glanced around at her surroundings as if she had only just now taken notice of them. "You know, Ty Lee, you said you were going to join the circus, but I wasn't sure if I was ever supposed to take you seriously. But here you are, so I guess you were telling the truth. That aside... I have a favor to ask of you."

Resting her chin in the palms of her hands, a strange juxtaposition of normalcy considering the contorted angle her body was in, Ty Lee glanced up at her childhood friend with a mockingly irate expression. "Rude. All these years and the first thing you want to talk about is favors? You don't even want to start with a 'how have things been' or 'what have you been up to'?"

Azula cocked an eyebrow at the brunette. "Well clearly, you've been up to being in a circus. And I've been up to being me, just like before. I just figured there was no need to ask."

Ty Lee shook her head in bemused disappointment. "Yep, some things really do never change... so, what's this favor?"

"I'm actually on a very important mission right now. You remember my old windbag of an Uncle, don't you?"

"You mean Iroh? I guess. I mean, I don't remember him that much other than a few of his bad jokes, but yeah."

"Yes, well, he's become a little... treasonous, lately. I've been tasked with tracking him down and bringing him back to the Fire Nation to be tried for his crimes. Much as I hate to admit it, it's a difficult prospect, and I need your help."

Ty Lee's expression quickly changed to one of uncertainty. On one hand, she wasn't really eager to go anywhere, considering her love for the life she had been living for the past few years, as well as the many friends and coworkers she had here. On the other hand, Azula was her friend too, and a very important one, for obvious reasons...

"You... need my help? I mean, like, really really?"

Azula frowned minutely at her. "I know I'm asking you to leave... well, whatever it is that makes you happy about this place. And truth be told, maybe I could catch Iroh without you. But I would feel much more confident if I had someone I could trust at my side. Look, you don't have to choose now. I-"

"Only if you promise to come watch tonight's show!"

The Crown Princess cocked an eyebrow at the conflicted yet resigned expression on her friend's face, having not expected her to actually skip her gracious consideration period. Then again, this was Ty Lee they were talking about. Impulsive was one of the more polite ways to refer to her personality. Still, while she was glad that Ty Lee was quick about her decision, she wasn't very enthusiastic about the ultimatum.

"Couldn't I just... I don't know, watch the part you're in?"

Ty Lee adopted some sort of expression that was probably supposed to be stubborn or defiant, but the pout made it look more childish than anything else. "How would you know what part I'm in unless you're there for the whole thing?"

Azula sighed, aware that she would be making a minor trade off for a great gain but still reluctant to accept that sacrifice. "Fine, fine... it is soon though, right? I certainly can't afford to loiter around all day...",

"Don't worry, it's not too late into the evening! And you'll love it! My aura is always the pinkest when I'm performing, trust me!"

The Fire Lord's daughter tried to smile away her skepticism, though she failed immediately. "Oh, I trust you alright... I bet its positively rosy, not at all like its usual hibiscus."

Azula's clever wordplay went right over Ty Lee's head, so she simply rewarded the Princess and her lack of enthusiasm with a beaming smile. "Alright then, I'd better practice to make double triple sure I do it all without a hitch! Just be back here at seven and you'll get a front row seat, I promise!"

Despite her lack of desire to attend a circus act, Azula smirked. "Actually, do you think you could make it two front row seats?"

Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow at her long time friend, but her confusion lessened a bit when Azula pointed at the masked guard next to her, who seemed as surprised as Ty Lee did. "Oh... sure? Yeah, I bet the ringmaster won't mind at all."

"Excellent. Then I'll be on my way for now, Ty Lee. I'm... looking forward to it."

"Oh, Azula, you don't have to pretend to be excited. I know you would rather die."

"Yet you're still making me do it."

"Well I have to get some sort of compensation for leaving, right?"

The Princess shook her head ruefully. "Ah, I knew my sadism rubbed off on you somewhere, Ty Lee. Loathe as I am to admit it, I'm actually proud of you. We'll be back at seven."

With that, the Princess turned on her heel to make her exit, briefly reciprocating a wave Ty Lee gave before the acrobat jumped into another contortionist exercise that looked unhealthy but was probably the exact opposite. As for Xisheng, he tore his gaze away from the limber body of his newest acquaintance (not really even that since he had not been introduced in any way) to instead accost his teacher.

"So...two front row seats, Princess?"

"Come now, Lieutenant, you didn't think I was going to suffer alone did you? We're in this one together."

"Well, j-joke's on you Princess, I actually wanted to go."

Xisheng briefly wondered if he was being too casual with a member of the Royal Family, but apparently Azula didn't think so. "We'll see if you still think that when they try to get a Platypus Bear through a flaming hoop. It's painful, let me tell you."

"Well, at least your friend's act will probably be entertaining. She seems, uh, capable?"

Azula actually scoffed, though she smiled nonetheless. "Capable indeed. I'm certain that's not why you're so eager to see her perform."

"Quite frankly, Princess, the implication you're making wounds me."

"Is that implication wrong?"

Xisheng didn't give a response to that, leaving Azula to to mentally roll her eyes at the typical male desires. Besides, it was just poor taste.

She didn't have to be nearly as brazen as Ty Lee to be equally attractive.

----------------------------------------

Later that night, Azula and Xisheng, the latter in uniform as always, sat at the fore of the audience during the final act of the circus they had been coerced into attending. Azula could have had the entire audience ejected for a personal show instead, but she had decided against it. Why bother ruining everyone's night? Besides, all that did was draw more attention to herself, and while she was fairly certain there wasn't much in the way of risks right about now, she was nevertheless prudent enough to avoid doing that.

That said, Azula had disliked most of the circus as much as she had expected to, but she inwardly admitted with some reluctance that Ty Lee's part was both impressive and entertaining. Of course, it was not as if Azula didn't already have an inherent appreciation for her friend's talents. Many people mocked Ty Lee for what she could do, something Azula attributed to jealousy more than anything else. Those people were just mad that Ty Lee could do something they couldn't, and her prodigious acrobatic talent was but one of those incredible skills. It was the other talent Ty Lee possessed that Azula was truly interested in for her mission. Iroh would be nothing more than a frail old man without his bending.

Of course, it would also be nice just to have someone on her side she knew she could trust. Having subordinates on your team was one thing, but having friends was another. The loyalty of your friends was always stronger than those that served you. Even to herself though, Azula was reluctant to admit that she would also simply be glad to actually have a friend around again. It had been many years since she had been able to actually call anyone around her by that moniker.

In an effort to avoid admitting any such weakness, Azula focused on Ty Lee's performance as raptly as Xisheng did, the latter of which was absolutely flabbergasted by the girl that was currently balancing on a very unstable assortment of objects all resting atop a tightrope. If she was even off by a tiny margin, the entire thing would roll one way or another and throw the girl atop it all to the net below.

Speaking of the net, Azula was kind of miffed by its presence. She knew it was there to offer some sort of peace of mind to both the audience and the performer, but she knew better than anyone else here that Ty Lee didn't need it at all. Heck, Ty Lee knew it too. But the latter was probably too carefree to bother telling the ringmaster any such thing. As for Azula, she disliked the safety measure because it inhibited the experience. She and Ty Lee were different on almost every level, but they both shared a passion for a certain practice. Azula loved Firebending, and she loved Firebending without constraints or restrictions. She practiced her bending in its purest form, without any type of inhibitor to hold it back.

Azula knew for a fact that Ty Lee thought the exact same way about her acrobatics. When they had been together as kids, the young back flip enthusiast had always been testing her abilities in dangerous places. On the rails of a bridge, the ledge of a higher story of the palace, even the roof that one time... she had even expressed how pointless it was to test her limits if there was no possibility for real failure. This was the one thing that she and Azula had one hundred percent in common with no stipulations.

"Ringmaster, I have a request."

The somewhat aging man that was apparently in charge of the whole show bowed to her. "Of course, Princess, anything you like."

"Set the net on fire."

Needless to say, the gray bearded man did not comprehend what was said at first. "I...I'm sorry?"

"The net that you use to ensure the acrobat doesn't die. Set it on fire."

"B-b-but, Princess! As you j-just said, that net is-"

"Ringmaster. I hope you aren't telling a member of the Royal Family no?"

The man gulped, hesitating for only a moment more before turning to use his bending to set the net alight with orange flame. Azula smirked at her success, but needless to say, even Xisheng had to speak up. As Azula had figured out already, he was prone to speak out for the benefit of others even if it was a risk to himself.

"Princess, I know it's not my place, but... Ty Lee is your friend right? What's the meaning of this?"

Azula looked moderately irritated to be questioned by her pupil and certainly displeased with the tone he was daring to take with her, but all things considered, she supposed his incredulity and concern were completely warranted. "Oh, calm down, Lieutenant. This wouldn't have fazed Ty Lee when she was eight, never mind now."

Xisheng's body language said he wasn't entirely convinced, but he decided against questioning Azula a second time, seeing as how he had miraculously survived speaking out of turn and so rudely to her. To the Princess' credit though, at no point during the performance after that did Ty Lee falter in any way. She started sweating a lot more (something Xisheng inwardly admitted he enjoyed), but she never seemed truly worried or bothered even as she flipped and twisted through the air to the gasps of the much less confident audience. As for Azula, she watched the entire performance after that point with a pleased smirk. Xisheng got the feeling it was less because she was enjoying the show and more because Ty Lee was performing on a level that matched her capability. Azula seemed like the kind of person that wanted those around her to reach their maximum potential, though for whose benefit, Xisheng wasn't sure.

Either way, the rest of the act went without a hitch. Ty Lee's astounding acrobatics, greatly enhanced by the little stunt Azula had pulled, was the crowning achievement of the entire show, or at least it seemed to be so considering the thunderous applause she received when she finally finished. Unfortunately, Azula and her escort were forced to wait for the audience to spill out of the tent, and even then they had to wait for Ty Lee to return to whatever counted as her quarters around here and prepare for the rather abrupt journey she had been presented with earlier that day. She probably figured it would be a good idea to take a quick bath after Azula's heat wave as well.

But at least she was quick about it. When she returned to the main tent, however, Xisheng got the feeling it was because Ty Lee didn't have much to actually bring. Aside from switching back into the pink clothes he had first seen her in, she only had one small bag full of what could have only possibly been personal amenities and maybe different clothing. What was more noticeable was the rather cross look she had for Azula, though the Princess hardly appeared to be intimidated.

"Oh come on, don't give me that look."

"You set my safety net on fire!"

"Seriously, Ty Lee, you and I both know that you were literally in no danger whatsoever. As if you would ever fall."

While she was glad to know Azula had such faith in her abilities, Ty Lee felt the need to point out something kind of important. "Azula, the safety net isn't for me, it's for the circus! I mean, what if the tightrope snapped? Or something else went wrong that I couldn't control? If I died in an accident like that the reputation of the circus would plummet!"

Azula shrugged, clearly not concerned with the circus' reputation. "Alright, I'll admit that's a fair point. But you're not really going to tell me you didn't enjoy it are you?"

Ty Lee looked like she wanted to object, but in the end she relented. "It was kind of exhilarating. I'm all for safety, but you kind of lose that thrill when you know there's no danger, y'know?"

Xisheng glanced between the two girls from behind the safety of his mask. He had questioned earlier how on earth someone with Azula's personality could be friends with someone like Ty Lee, but apparently they both had this particular thing in common. Many would have called it crazy. Or maybe just foolhardy. Xisheng decided not to call it anything lest he incur anyone's wrath.

----------------------------------------

The day after the strangest recruitment Xisheng had ever witnessed, the Royal Barge was once again on the move to a destination Azula apparently didn't feel like sharing. Of course, considering that the captain of the ship was no longer present, Xisheng wasn't sure who Azula was actually ordering to move the ship around, but he supposed it was ultimately irrelevant.

What was far more relevant was the fact that Xisheng had finally asked himself what the Princess was really up to. Sure, she could have just been gathering useful allies for her hunt, but there seemed to be more to it than that. He didn't know what she was planning, and though he trusted her judgment, he wasn't entirely comfortable with being left in the dark.

It was something he would have inquired about were he not completely focused on surviving the current sparring session. Even after being reunited with a long absent friend, Azula took no break whatsoever for the training regimen she had established for the student she had so graciously taken as her own. Unfortunately, she decided that the best way to determine milestones was trial by combat, and today was the day she felt like seeing how well Xisheng had taken her first level of instruction to heart at the crack of dawn as usual.

One would not think that the simple mastery of basic forms would do much to improve an already skilled Firebender, but Xisheng was surprised to find that he felt a bit better in his bout with Azula. It was not a massive improvement, but he felt... sharper. Cleaner in execution. There was just a little less wasted movement in each of his attacks, and with that conserved movement came an equal amount of conserved energy. A minor improvement perhaps, but maybe this was what made Azula as good as she was. She mastered every aspect of the art, from the most complex to the absolute simplest... and that level of mastery on even the lowest scale improved overall performance to a significant extent.

Not that it made a considerable difference this time. As per the usual, Xisheng found himself constantly outpaced and outmaneuvered until the very end, when he was summarily dispatched with a low sweep of flame that knocked him off his feet. Especially since Azula was on guard for mind games after the one time he had almost gotten her with that. It was no different than the usual outcome he had come to expect, but still a slight hit on his pride.

Naturally, Azula didn't help him up or anything, leaving him to do that himself as she gave a brief analysis on the session. "Adequate as usual. Don't take that to mean you haven't improved at all though. There's more acuity to your movements than there was before we started. It may not seem like much of a difference, but even half a second of improved speed and reflex can determine the course of a battle. Suffice to say, you've advanced as well as I've expected from our very brief... 'relationship.' We'll definitely move onto something more challenging than simple forms next time."

Xisheng, out of breath as always, simply bowed to his teacher as he headed back to the lower deck of the ship. While he did indeed wake up every morning at the crack of dawn to train with the Princess, he had no issue at all going back to sleep after she was through with him, provided there was nothing important that needed to be done instead. It was probably also a good thing that Azula didn't know that was what he did after every lesson as well.

Either way, he made his escape easily enough, leaving Azula all by herself on the deck of the ship; for about ten seconds at least. She didn't even have time to begin her own usual training regimen before getting jumped by the only person in all of creation that would ever jump her.

"Azula, who is that anyway? That's the same guy you brought to the show with you right?"

Azula resisted the urge to sigh. She was honestly glad to have Ty Lee around again, but preferably not to disturb her typically mundane and more importantly peaceful mornings. Not to mention that the brunette's ability to appear out of thin air was startling. Where had she even come from?

"Ty Lee, why are you even up this early?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Don't you know that your aura is always at its peak when you're in tune with nature?"

"Right..."

The recently recruited acrobat took a single step back from Azula to level a determined gaze at her. "Anyway, you didn't answer the question! Who is that guy?"

Knowing Ty Lee's capacity for making everything far more dramatic than it needed to be, Azula tried to give a nondescript reply. "Isn't it obvious? He's one of my guards."

Her friend crossed her arms. Despite her lack of a brilliant intellect or anything, she certainly wasn't an idiot. "So you personally train all of your guards like that, huh?"

Knowing full well that there was no point in saying otherwise, Azula gave up on any particular acting. "Fine. He's an exceptional Firebender and soldier that begged me to train him so he could be more useful. I said yes because he has more potential than any of the other rabble around here. He stood up to my Uncle in combat twice."

"Interesting. Is he handsome?"

Though Azula should have expected Ty Lee to ask that question, and while ignoring everything else that had been said besides, she was nevertheless caught off guard. "What? How should I know?"

"How would you not know?"

"In case you haven't noticed, he wears a helmet."

"And? He's never taken it off?"

Azula wondered why she had to push it this far, prompting her to sigh. "It's called 'uniform', Ty Lee. He has to wear it anytime he's around me."

Ty Lee frowned at her. "Yeah, but he's your student and you don't even know what he looks like? Just... seems kind of rude if you ask me. Besides, you aren't curious at all? There's no way you haven't wondered what he looks like."

"I have, but I don't care nearly enough to do anything about it."

"Well do it for me then, I wanna know!"

Honestly, Azula knew this would continue for as long as she refused to give in, but she was too stubborn to do that. "And what, I should just order him to remove his helmet without any reason whatsoever? Like that's not suspicious in any way?"

"Just invite him to eat with us or something. That'll work."

This suggestion almost made the Princess laugh out loud. "Invite a common soldier to eat with me? You can't be serious."

On the other hand, Ty Lee didn't see any problem. Then again, for obvious reasons she'd never cared much about social trappings. "Why not? You said he was exceptional and really brave if he fought your Uncle twice. Doesn't he deserve some kind of reward? People who get rewarded when they do well want to keep doing well in the future. It's called positive reinforcement."

As much as she didn't want to, Azula admitted that was a halfway decent point. Technically, Xisheng hadn't gone beyond the call of duty since everything he had done was just part of his duty, but considering how well he did it and to what extent compared to all of his comrades, he did deserve some kind of accolade. Besides, Azula had to admit she was just a little curious as to what he looked like. It felt weird and unnatural to have a relationship with anyone yet have no face to put with their voice. Hell, she'd gone two weeks already not knowing what he looked like. That had been fine when he was just a soldier good enough to warrant sparring with, but if he was going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future...

"...fine. I suppose I'll condone it just this once. Be grateful."

As usual, Ty Lee got way more excited than Azula thought was necessary. "Alright! You'll be thanking me, Azula, I bet he's really good looking!"

"He could be the most handsome man to ever walk this earth and it wouldn't change the fact that he's beneath me, Ty Lee."

"Totally fine by me, Azula. Just means there's no competition if he's drop dead handsome."

"It also means there will be no one to pass him off to if he's a blight on all eyes everywhere."

Ty Lee shrugged. "I'll take that gamble. No risk, no reward, right?"

With that, Azula's acrobat friend exited the conversation in favor of getting into her typical morning routine, and Azula decided to do the same, convinced that Ty Lee was harping on something completely irrelevant, but willing to indulge her anyway just to get her to settle down about it.

----------------------------------------

When evening came around, Xisheng had just barely taken one step into the mess hall with the rest of the guards before he was stopped by one of them from behind.

"Lieutenant. The Princess summons you."

Considering his current position in regards to her, Xisheng wasn't quite as nervous at that fact as he would have been otherwise, but he still couldn't think about anything really good he could be summoned for at this time of day. All he could really imagine was another training session.

"Where is the Princess now?"

"Currently on the bridge, Lieutenant."

Xisheng nodded his acknowledgment to the identically dressed soldier before exiting the mess hall he had just entered and heading back on deck so he could enter the command tower from its entrance there. Surprisingly, Xisheng didn't have to actually go very far to find the Princess, because she was even waiting for him in the hall outside of the main bridge.

"Took you long enough. Come on."

Without anything more than that, Azula turned to walk away from him, expecting Xisheng to follow her without dissent, though the soldier was clearly confused. "Your Highness, if I may ask-"

"You may not."

Giving up on getting any sort of answer, Xisheng simply shook his head and followed the Princess. It was a short walk though, because she only lead him to one level up. Even the door she stopped at didn't look like anything special.

"I assume the messenger I sent caught you before you ate dinner, Lieutenant?"

"He did..."

"Good. Come on then, before I change my mind about this."

Azula pushed the door open, revealing a room that was moderately nicer than the rest on the ship, though only relatively speaking since it was technically still a cabin of sorts. However, it was obvious that it was intended for the Royal Family member using the ship, and no one else save their guests. There certainly wasn't anywhere else on the ship with actual rugs and tapestries, not to mention an actual porthole as a window to the outside world.

"Princess, isn't this...?"

"Yes, the private dining room for my personal use. Don't bother saying something about protocol or worthiness or whatever tripe you can conjure up, clearly I'm allowing you to be here."

Even though she said that, Xisheng stepped into the room nervously. "But...why exactly?"

Before Azula could answer, Xisheng received his reply directly in his right ear from the other person already present in the room that he hadn't noticed. "Because she's way more curious than she'll ever admit, of course."

Xisheng flinched as he laid eyes on an exuberant Ty Lee, the exact opposite of Azula, who looked none too pleased with her proclamation. "Do ignore her, Lieutenant. I'm allowing this because, as I so aptly stated but a week ago, you may very well be the only competent soldier on this ship, and certainly one of the most dedicated. You deserve something for your efforts at any rate. Most people like to receive just rewards for the risks they take. Consider this yours for your willingness to give your all in the pursuit of my Uncle."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes at Azula's long winded evasive explanation. She was really good at hiding her true intentions under logical pretenses, but she knew better. She was totally curious. Princess and prodigy notwithstanding, she was a teenage girl. She could pretend she didn't care, but she wasn't fooling one of her two closest friends.

Xisheng glanced at the table in the center of the room that was strewn with significantly more luxurious foods than he had likely ever eaten. That wasn't what he was worried about though.

"Princess, while I truly appreciate this generosity, it's against protocol to be out of uniform in your presence..."

Wishing for once that people could stop making things so needlessly difficult, Azula simply sat in her chair and refrained from making any exasperated movements. "I was under the impression that the Royal Family dictated protocol. Consider it fine for you to be out of uniform from now on, provided the other guards aren't around to see it."

While Xisheng was slightly against the notion, he had to admit he was also kind of glad that he could lose the helmet every once in awhile. Cool as it was, it did get kind of stuffy in there. "W-well... if you insist, Your Highness..."

With both girls sitting at the table, Xisheng felt momentarily self-conscious. Truth be told, he hadn't really been around too many girls in the past few years, aside from military soldiers and comrades. He certainly hadn't been near any that were this attractive. Or nobles for that matter. But he was under orders here, albeit indirectly. Furthermore, he'd have to be a real idiot to refuse an extraordinary event like this one. It wasn't every day that a member of the Royal Family invited a common soldier to something like this.

With that in mind, Xisheng tried to school his features into something neutral before making to remove his helmet. And while he tried not to be obvious about his own observation, he nevertheless gauged the reactions of his audience as he lifted the protective gear from his head.

Whatever crossed Azula's face was hard to interpret. All Xisheng could really tell was that it wasn't disappointment. It seemed to be something positive, or at least not negative. Unfortunately a vague neutral expression was hardly more reassuring than a negative one.

Thankfully, Ty Lee was a lot more expressive, going so far as to blush a little and smile at the same time. "See? I told you, Azula. We should have bet money or something, I could have become rich just now."

Xisheng frowned for a second. "You were betting on me? What about me exactly?"

Ty Lee seemed perfectly happy to divulge that exact information. "On whether or not you were-"

Unfortunately, Azula was not. "Debating whether or not you would bear the most common Fire Nation traits. I must say, Lieutenant, I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours. You are Fire Nation born, aren't you?"

"Colonial, actually. My father's heritage is Fire Nation, my mother's, Earth Kingdom. I always figured that had something to do with my... er, disorder."

Ty Lee frowned at his choice of words. "Hey, don't call it a disorder! I think they're really super unique! And they're really beautiful too!"

Xisheng quickly realized that trying to maintain his image as a soldier was a lot more difficult without a helmet to hide his expression. It was significantly harder to hide a blush for one. He wasn't sure anyone had ever complimented his looks that straigtforwardly before.

"Ah, well, that doesn't change the fact that it's somehow abnormal..."

"Well this room only has abnormal people in it, so who cares? I like them a lot! I think it's really amazing that you have two different colors like that."

Xisheng could only blush further, prompting Azula to cut the exchange short. "If you're done flirting, Ty Lee, I would like to eat sometime..."

Her reply came with a pout. "Come on, I wasn't flirting. Those were just honest to goodness compliments! The flirting comes later when you aren't around."

Unable to determine if that was a jest or not, Xisheng decided that it may have been a good idea to get all of this over with before he ended up making a complete and utter fool of himself. So he sat in the only free chair available, hoping it would be enough initiative to get the meal started.

To call the situation awkward was a massive understatement, though it was so for a wide variety of reasons. For one, Xisheng had literally never eaten anything of this quality. Food fit for a Princess was certainly beyond his means in life. Second, he was in a rather casual setting with two women of nobility, one of which was the Princess of his entire country. And finally, he was eating dinner with two extremely good looking girls, one of which had made it more or less clear she thought he was attractive too. Or at least that his eyes were. Maybe everything else was bland.

Either way, he found it difficult to pay attention as Azula spoke of a recent Fire Nation victory over the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, which also happened to be their current destination. She mentioned something else about a noble family that was governing there that provided Ty Lee with considerable excitement, but Xisheng missed whatever it was specifically because he came upon a new problem a few minutes into the meal: he was feeling especially sick. Downright nauseous really.

It had practically come out of nowhere, but it was growing pretty fast. Might have had something to do with the soup that had ingredients he had probably never even heard of. That, and just the general sense of anxiety he was feeling on top of that. Now the problem was that he was pretty sure he was going to be sick, and within the next few moments. He certainly wouldn't be able to make it back outside in time to take care of business there, and there was no suitable receptacle in this room.

He could always go to town in his helmet, but he risked making a mess that way regardless. He had one option, and one option only. This room had a window, because when did nobility ever eat without a view? It was Xisheng's only choice. Rising from the table slowly at first but moving faster when he realized he was running out of time, Xisheng made a quick dash for the window, which he thankfully managed to open with enough speed to achieve his objective.

Needless to say, his actions confused the girls in the room, though Azula voiced it since Ty Lee didn't even really know his name yet. "Lieutenant, what are you-?"

Her tentative question was cut off when Xisheng heaved over the side of the window, thankfully out of anyone's sight. Of course, it was not like anyone could misinterpret the situation regardless...

Azula stared at the man in the room in shock for a moment before sparing a dubious glance at the spoonful of soup she had halfway to her mouth. "...perhaps the chef needs to go overboard next..."

Worried that Azula may have been seriously considering punishing someone for something that probably wasn't his fault, Xisheng struggled through his horrendous embarrassment to stop her train of thought.

"N-no, Princess, it's not the cook's fault."

"It sure seems to be the cook's fault. You certainly weren't sick this morning or any other time today."

Once he made sure there were no vestiges of his unseemly display left, Xisheng slowly turned back to the room itself, staring at the floor to avoid eye contact. "It's because... well, I haven't eaten anything even remotely close to this in months. Maybe even over a year. I just... I don't think my body is used to food this... exquisite... after all this time."

Azula cocked a curious eyebrow at him. "What exactly are the rations for a front line soldier in the Earth Kingdom Lieutenant?"

"Uh... rice, mostly... occasionally whatever we can scrounge up from the surrounding area, but most front line battlegrounds are stripped of vegetation and animals quickly, so... generally three parts rice, one part whatever else is available..."

"Truly? I can't imagine such a bland diet for so long a time. Still, I suppose there's no use in making you eat anything that will make you sick..."

Xisheng hung his head in shame. Seriously, he had just thrown up in front of the Crown Princess and another lady of nobility. "M-my apologies, Princess..."

"Never apologize for things that are outside of your control, Lieutenant. It's both unbecoming and illogical."

"Uh, o-of course, Your Highness."

"Well then, all things considered, I'd say you're probably better off returning to the regular mess hall for dinner, Lieutenant. Not that your company is frowned upon of course, but you certainly aren't going to find anything you can stomach here. I prefer lots of spice and seasoning in my diet."

Nodding with some level of remorse because he would be leaving what was technically an extremely lucky situation, Xisheng nevertheless donned his helmet, bowed to his betters, and left the room. He would apparently have to let his body acclimate to something finer than military rations at some point, but tonight was not that point.

The moment Xisheng closed the door behind him, Ty Lee beamed at Azula. "So, no competition, right? I don't have to share?"

Azula smirked back at her. "You can't share things that don't belong to you, Ty Lee."

"But Azula, you only own his career. His heart is still fair game."

"You literally just met him. You hardly know anything at all about him."

"That's pretty much the same for you though! You didn't even know what he looked like until ten minutes ago!"

Azula couldn't really refute that one. "Point taken. Let's make another gamble then. Soldierly traits notwithstanding, I bet he's a romantic dunce with a bland personality."

"Fine. Then I bet he's a really great guy and he's super intuitive with girls. Are we going to actually bet money on this one?"

"Absolutely not."

"Darn."