The Legend of Percy: Book 2 - Through Grief

21. Invasion Plans (A Little Bit of Deja Vu)

Azula woke up with her hand still clasped by Ty Lee. A small smile graced her lips at the gesture. Mai was significantly further away from her on the bed. Whether that was from Mai's general lack of touchiness or to avoid bumping into the princess' shoulder, she didn't know. But either way, the small act was appreciated by the princess.

Her moment of bliss was interrupted by shifting her shoulder accidentally. The pain came flaring back up her arm. The firebender squeezed Ty Lee's hand slightly, before letting go. She sat up, trying to move her arm as little as possible, before sliding off the end of the bed to avoid waking the other two girls.

As she stood up at below her bed, her scanning eyes noticed that her armour had been replaced by a completely new, untarnished set. The shoulder pauldrons completely unmelted, as though last night had never happened. She walked around to where the armour sat, behind the divider between her and the bed. In the mirror, she saw her bandaged shoulder and how her whole arm sagged down on that side. Any time she pulled it up, a mind-numbing pain overcame her.

In order for her to get through the morning meetings though, she had to get into her royal armour. Using her right arm, she pulled on her pants and robes that would cover her body in between her skin and the metal. It was painful, but she pushed through. Azula then strapped the waistband around her with the Fire Nation insignia on the middle.

As she lifted her armour up and over her shoulders, she had to wince through the searing shards that felt as though they were digging into her. When it was finally on, and she could relax her arm, the princess found that it was at least somewhat bearable.

She moved back around the divider to look at the bed. Ty Lee was still sleeping soundly, her arm very much adorably extended to where Azula had been sleeping. Not for the first time in her recent memory did she want to stay in blissful ignorance of her duties to spend more time with some people she cared about, but once again, she was unable to do so.

To her surprise, Mai's spot on the bed was empty. The princess had to remind herself not to move sharply to stave off the pain. But after turning slowly to the door, she saw her friend leaning against the frame.

Azula received a concerned eyebrow raise.

At a flick of her head, Azula followed her friend out of the room and into the corridor, presumably to let Ty Lee sleep some more. There were no guards in the hallway, which she found odd but was pleased that she could have some privacy.

"How are you doing?" Mai asked, in a low tone. "How's your shoulder?"

"It's okay." She supplied, hiding most of her pain.

Her dagger-throwing friend didn't seem to believe her, although Azula appreciated how she didn't press the issue. The princess gave her a small smile.

"You have the royal war meeting today, don't you?"

The firebender nodded.

"Okay, I might go spend time with Zuko before you all go to that." Mai said. "Are you sure you're all good?"

She figured that her friend wasn't only talking about her shoulder.

"Yes, of course. Go." She said with a smile, waving her good hand down the hallway for her to follow.

Mai smiled, before her regular grey persona came back as she walked away. Azula followed her with her eyes, her brain turning over quickly as she tried to sort out what to do.

Dai Li first.

The princess strode through the labyrinth of columned pathways like it was on the back of her hand, keeping up her royal façade in front of the periodic guards lining the walls. Once she'd reached her meeting room, she ordered one of the guards standing in front of it to get her Dai Li agents to her for a report.