honey [azula]

hole

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

the daughter i never had, but always wished for

❉ ╤╤╤╤ ✿ ╤╤╤╤ ❉

"SAILING into fire nation waters?" Iroh sighed, staring after his nephew, clearly disappointed. "Of all the things you have done in your sixteen years, this is the most foolish."

Airi knew she should have been excited to be going back into the fire nation after almost three years. And she was, to an extent. She was excited that there was a possibility that she would see Azula again, but she was also nervous. Had she changed too much for Azula over the years? Was she too soft now, too hard, too ugly, too boring? Even more surprisingly, she had found that she was worried for Prince Zuko- he really hadn't done something deserving of banishment in the first place and now he could be facing worse, all in some stupid goose chase for a child. 

"I have no choice, Uncle," Zuko replied after a beat of silence, determined. 

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?" Iroh said, the anger in his voice melting away to fear. "What will happen if you are caught?"

"I'm chasing the avatar," Zuko said, turning away from the telescope to look Iroh in the eyes. "My father will understand why I'm returning home."

"You give him too much credit," Iroh sighed, shaking his head. "My brother is not the understanding type."

"There they are," Zuko muttered, ignoring his uncle. "Helmsman! Full steam ahead!"

Airi turned to Iroh. "He'll be alright, Iroh," she said, though suddenly, she was not so sure. "The avatar brings him hope, we should let him have it."

"Thank you, Airi," Iroh sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I worry too much for him."

"You worry the right amount," she argued. "He may not admit it, but he needs your worry and wisdom because they mean you care about him. Without you, I don't know what he would do."

Their conversation was interrupted by the catapult being loaded out onto the deck, flaming balls of the most disgusting smelling material Airi had ever seen before included. 

"Urgh," Iroh scrunched up his face, turning to Zuko. "Couldn't you shoot them down with something a little more fragrant?" 

"On my mark," Zuko called, too absorbed in the chase to respond to Iroh. "Fire!"

Of course, none of the fireballs met their mark. Airi wasn't surprised, and the appearance of a naval blockade didn't rattle her either. She pointed to it. "A blockade."

The expression on Zuko's face would have been priceless if the situation hadn't been so stressful. Iroh meekly attempted to calm his nephew. "Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters. If you turn around now, they cannot arrest you."

"He's not turning around," Zuko declared, watching the avatar through his telescope. It was clear what he was going to do next.

"Please, Prince Zuko, if you are captured by the Fire Nation, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the avatar!" Iroh begged. 

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Zuko sighed, turning to the helmsman. "Run the blockade!"

Airi turned to Iroh as Zuko strode off to the front of the boat, eyes never leaving the bison. "I don't know if he knows how much like Lady Ursa he is," Airi sighed as she thought of the presumed-dead Fire Lady.

Iroh smiled, though the warmth behind it was forced. "You mean his stubbornness, I assume?"

Airi shrugged. "And his ability to do anything that he sets his mind to. He's never going to stop chasing the Avatar until he decides there is something more worth his energy."