New Student (Zukka fic)

Part Fifteen

Azula's morning was filled with waiting.

There were people waiting on her, of course, with fresh towels, and hand-picked cherries (pitted), and steaming cups of coffee. The servants, sorry, hired help, asked her many questions, waiting for her commands.

More coffee, miss?

Would you like your towels warm or cold, miss?

Do you prefer your windows open or closed, miss?

Azula's personal least favorite attendant, a wisp of a girl named Sakura, inched forward, not daring to look her in the eyes. That's what was wrong about her, Azula supposed. She never waited for a command, she just moved as quickly out of the way as possible before Azula could say anything. 

"Sakura. Do you remember what I told you yesterday?"

The girl froze, and Azula could feel her trembling. "I-I'm not sure, miss."

"Yesterday, I nearly choked on a cherry pit during lunch. I told you to specifically make sure that all my cherries from now on are pitless. Now tell me, what do you think I discovered when I bit into one this morning?" Azula picked up a cherry from the bowl and gazed at it thoughtfully.

Sakura went white as a ghost, and Azula thought that was a rather nice color on her. "A...a p-pit?" she peeped.

She clapped loudly. "How intuitive of you, Sakura! I've got another question for you now, then. Do you have anything to say for yourself before you're fired?"

The servant's knees instantly hit the floor, and she clasped her trembling hands together. "Please, miss, have mercy. This job is all I have, I promise I'll serve you better in the future-"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Oh, very well, stop your groveling. You can stay, only because I find dealing with you in any manner tiresome." She waved a hand to dismiss them. "Get out, all of you. I can dress myself, none of you have any taste."

They hurried out of her bedroom, nearly tripping over each other in their haste. She'd have to ask Father for a replacement in staff.

She slipped out of her silk robes and selected a white cropped sweater and a tight-fitting black skirt with a lot of zippers on it. She put her freshly-brushed raven hair up into a bun, purposely leaving two tendrils escape, and applied a layer of red lipstick. She eased her feet into a pair of jet black booties, and accessorized the outfit with a diamond necklace. 

Now to wait for her guests to arrive.

Azula had a little time before she needed to be in the entrance hall, so she spent a while browsing on her phone. There was nothing particularly new or interesting, until she scrolled down near the bottom of her feed. It was an advertisement for a tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon. They were having a sale today, buy two cups get one cup free!

She scoffed. She was surprised the shop was still in business, given the general carelessness of its owner. Her lazy uncle's obsession with tea had always mystified her, and she was even more confounded by the fact that it had somehow passed onto her brother. Living with Uncle Iroh for five years might do that you, she supposed. At least they were both out of her hair, hopefully forever.

The door opened, and a servant shuffled inside and bowed her head. "Miss, your guests have arrived."

....................

"Azula!"

Before Azula could even react, she was wrapped inside a bear hug and almost lifted off the ground. "T-ty Lee..let g-go..." she squeaked.