Azula's Recovery - Avatar: TLA

10.5 - Azula

Azula sat with Ling at the entrance to the tent, watching as the sun went down over the shoreline. Her body ached after a day spent swimming, surfing, playing and duelling. Now, they'd just finished eating dinner, and she was fully content to spend the evening lazing about with her friends.

Looking around, it was still strange to her that so many people had come to celebrate her birthday with her. After her mother had left, birthdays had all but been forgotten. Ozai never saw the value in celebrating anything – things could always be better. 

Azula had never really cared about her age; her father had told her it would just be another barrier. That she shouldn't worry about being 5, 10 or 14. She should only worry about being the best. Better than the generals, elders, advisers and sages. 

Today had been great though. Playing volleyball had been so fun, and the thought of Zuko trying to distract the other team with his antics still made her giggle. Katara had been very patient while teaching her to surf, though Azula did suspect the waterbender had splashed her a few more times than necessary. Strangely, she found that she wasn't that upset. She probably would have done the same. 

Sokka's whirlpool had certainly been another highlight – she'd never laughed so hard in her life.

Azula leaned back on her elbows and noticed Zuko and Mai sneaking out to the side of the tent, before putting their arms around each other and walking down the beach. She found herself smiling, happy for them.

Ling started telling Azula about her older brother's plans to elope with some girl he met, when everything seemed to slow. 

Energybending, Azula had found, was much easier around midday when the sun was at its peak and it was practically impossible at night. Even so, she could always feel it when she was close to other people. Her range was incredibly short she'd found, only a few metres, but it was strange to feel the movement of the guards or the Kyoshi Warriors training. 

Bigger movements seemed to demand her attention, the energy working up, bigger, stronger and harsher. That's what she felt now – it was still far away, but the energy drew in, and she felt the pull of it towards the tree line on the edge of the beach. 

Azula stood to get a better look when – FWOOSH!

A massive fireball was sent straight towards Zuko and Mai on the beach. Azula barely had a second to call out his name before another fiery blast was sent towards her tent.

Without hesitating, she punched her own flames through it and the fire dissipated. Azula scanned her surroundings in seconds – Mai pulling Zuko to his feet after tackling him out of the way, Aang countering another fireball sent their way, Katara and Sokka herding the other partygoers away from the tent, Suki grabbing Azula's hand, "Come on!" she yelled. 

Azula followed her friend's lead, running towards the tree line to capture their assailants. It occurred to Azula that Suki was either incredibly brave or completely insane to go after their attackers as a non-bender, but Azula knew she could hold her own. Or rather, she hoped. 

It didn't take them long to catch up, they could see five people running up ahead of them, and they called out to even more people further up. Azula was pretty sure she could sense twelve in total, and was a little concerned about her and Suki's odds.

Azula had never had a problem with numbers like that before, but she'd also never had a problem with killing people before. This would be different.

"They're getting away!" Suki growled in frustration.

"Stay back!" Azula shouted, swiping her fingers across her body to generate a quick blast of lightning. It struck a tree, right as one of their attackers raced past it. Unfortunately for him, he was knocked back by the blast. He landed on his back, and two of his friends tried to pick him up as the others ran on.