Azula's Recovery - Avatar: TLA

11.3 - Azula

Azula was already sick of snow. The way that walking on it required enormous snow boots, that still sunk into the snow in awkward places. It was an absolute mission no matter where they went. 

After an early breakfast, their party had headed out towards the spa, taking in the city as they went. Katara had assured them it was only a fifteen-minute walk, but it had taken them at least half that time to just get the hang of walking and to figure out how to navigate the snow. 

Finally, they were off, slowly, but steadily. Zuko had quickly learned that trying to heat the air around them only resulted in the snow melting into slurry, making it even harder to walk. So they walked on through the miserable cold.

As they walked Azula noticed some children playing at the edge of the street. They had two snowy walls which they hid behind, as they pelted each other with handfuls of snow. Shrieking and giggling they went on for ages. Another girl stood off to the side, moving her arms every now and then. At first, Azula thought the girl was supervising, but when she moved, Azula noticed small balls of snow appearing in stacks. The kids wasted no time picking them up and throwing them at their opposition. 

"What on earth are they doing?" Zuko said, asking the question she, Mai and Ty Lee were all thinking. 

"That, my friends, is the ancient, deadly, wonderful...snowball fight!" Sokka said with so much enthusiasm Azula couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not. Deadly? With children playing it?

"How do you win? I mean...what are the rules?" Azula asked, turning to observe the children again, "Obviously, you have some form of cover, but they've been hit multiple times and are still in the game, so getting hit doesn't disqualify you– UGH!" The snowball hit her square in the back.

Azula whipped around, finding her friends all wide-eyed...except for one. Sokka grinned, as he patted another one in his hands, "SNOW BALL FIGHT!"

Katara, Aang, Suki and Kiyi dived for cover, the first two bending a small ice wall to protect them. Sokka threw the snowball at Azula again, but she dived out of the way, tackling Zuko behind a building. 

The siblings looked at each other, completely panicked. We're firebenders! We don't do snow!

Mai and Ty Lee seemed to have disappeared, but every now and then, a targeted snowball would nail someone in the chest or back...Mai. 

Azula was assessing the battlefield when a voice chirped from behind her, "Need some help?"

The kids from before seemed to have noticed the bigger fight, and were now waiting behind Azula and Zuko with wide eyes. The girl who'd spoken had been the little waterbender from before.

"Yeah, can you explain what we're supposed to do?" Zuko asked, again ducking out of the way of a stray snow ball. 

"Sure!" the little girl waved her arms and a wall appeared around the corner of their building. They ducked behind it, closer to the action, but more protected. She moved again, and a neat stack of snow balls appeared. "You grab the snowballs, and you throw them. Simple."

"Yes, yes, but how do you win?" Azula asked impatiently.

"It's not really like that. It's just to have fun." The kids looked at them wide-eyed. Zuko and Azula exchanged a confused look. 

"All right then, here's the plan. You," Azula pointed to the waterbender, "Keep us stocked with snowballs. The rest of you," the other kids snapped to attention, "stay at the outside edge of the wall, let us know if anyone pokes their head out, or if there are any incoming snow balls. If you see a chance, fire!" 

The kids nodded solemnly and took up their positions. Zuko knelt beside her and let out a laugh, "This is so ridiculous..."

"Focus Zuko, I'm not having any slackers on my team," Azula poked her head up quickly, to survey the scene before them. Mai and Sokka had teamed up, a deadly combination really, and were stationed between two buildings, carefully picking everyone off as they appeared. Katara shot volleys of snowballs, while Aang seemed to just be keeping Suki stocked as she pummeled Sokka and Mai. Ty Lee was nowhere to be seen until, there! She and Kiyi had managed to get up on the roof, and were raining snowballs from above.

"All right, let's go." She and Zuko took turns leaping up, and throwing the snowballs. They worked pretty well as a team, until Zuko tried melting a snowball before it hit Azula, and a bunch of water splashed her face. The kids all laughed, but Katara took the opportunity, and melted their little ice wall. Completely exposed, Zuko, Azula and the kids all split, rushing for cover. Azula ran away from Sokka and Suki's barrage, creeping around the side of a building and ending up in a small alleyway. She checked behind her, only to turn back to Katara's determined grin. 

Oh no... The snow lifted around the waterbender, forming tightly packed snowballs when, "Wait!" Azula shouted, before she'd even thought about what she would say. "Let's team up! I can melt their snow balls, and scout things out, and you can fire at them." 

Azula was aware that Katara had been doing really well without her before, and that the water bender may not even need her, but Azula had to try. 

Katara considered, so Azula went on, "What about this: everyone is positioned in a rough circle right? Remember in the Agni Kai, how you slid along the water? What if we did that, you move us along, pelting them with snow as we go, and I'll keep you protected. We'd win in seconds."

The girls faced off, but not for long, Katara's face broke into a grin, "Okay. Let's do it." Clearly the waterbender wanted to win more than she wanted to pummel Azula. Perhaps they were more similar than Azula had first thought.

Azula grinned back and they checked their opposition again before standing back-to-back. Katara froze a disk around their left feet, leaving their right legs free for balance. Then, they were off. 

Katara bent the snow into a smooth track, about a metre above the ground. Their friends seemed stunned for a moment, but all made the mistake of targeting the two girls. Katara bent snowballs at them, while Azula shot small, concentrated blasts of fire at the snow balls, turning them to steam. 

They passed Suki and Aang first, showering them with snow, although Azula was pretty sure her new ally had gone easy on them. Next was Zuko and the kids from before, Katara just dumped a heap of snow onto them, the kids giggling as Zuko struggled to get back up.

"Bye Zuzu!" Azula crooned and Katara laughed as the slid onwards. Mai and Sokka were next, and Azula knew they would be tough to beat. Sokka and Mai proved to be excellent shots, and Azula missed one snowball, which hit Katara's arm. The snowballs around her right side dropped uselessly, and Azula winced, Oops!

Katara grunted and shot her arms forward, again pouring a whole bunch of snow over her brother and friend. Sokka came up spluttering about how benders always ruined everything, when he received another snowball straight in the mouth. Katara and Azula laughed as they kept going. 

Katara brought them higher, so they were in line with Kiyi and Ty Lee, who simply surrendered. 

Azula and Katara cheered, claiming their victory as Katara unfroze their ice disk. Then, the waterbender created a snow-slide, for Kiyi, Ty Lee and Azula to slide down. 

Sokka was still complaining, so Azula sparked him at the same time Katara splashed his face with water. The two of them blinked at each other in shock before breaking out into laughter again. Maybe Katara wasn't so bad...

"Come on Sokka, you're just sad you can't beat me anymore. Let's go, the spa awaits!" Katara said, and they all cheered.

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Hello friends!!! How are you today?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter it was a heap of fun to write. Love you all and see you next week!