i. 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 ━━ ( azula. )

chapter one.

a beach settled on the horizon.

"and why are you moping? did you not enjoy the show?" etsuko smiled softly at the stranger's questions. her toes curled from their place in the sand, covered by the waves that ever so often lapped over her feet. she glanced up to see another girl her age, her features being that of a prime example of a purebred fire nation citizen and her eyes shining with the hardness of a firebender.

"oh, the volleyball game?" etsuko asked. the stranger raised an eyebrow at how light her words were, as if she would be taken with the next tide. how weak. "i've seen plenty of those."

"maybe, but none quite like mine," she cackled. etsuko could hear the crackle of the volleyball net, the one her uncle had let her set up for the local kids. she would have to tell him it was set on fire.

etsuko simply hummed in response, looking back to the vast and unforgiving ocean before her. it was a sight she had grown up with, living on an island, but now she saw it in a different light. she had to appreciate it before everything was gone.

eventually the stranger scoffed in boredom. etsuko thought she would leave, perhaps kick some sand in her face along the way, yet she sat down and looked in the same direction. "what's your name, mopey?"

"etsuko."

"that means joyful child. how disgustingly sappy."

etsuko's smile only deepened, and the stranger watched as an unrecognizable emotion settled into her eyes. "yes... well, you don't have to remember it. i don't want you to. what's your name?"

"azula. be grateful you're in my presence."

etsuko glanced to the stranger– azula– curiously. "i am grateful. for every word. why wouldn't i be?"

that caught azula off guard, and she was not the type to be caught off guard. so she brushed away etsuko's words and changed the subject.

"were you invited to chan's party?"

"no. i'm going anyways."

"oh, how rude of you," the undercover princess chuckled. "i love it."

"they'll get over my presence," etsuko mumbled in that wispy voice of hers. "maybe they'll even use it to their advantage after i'm gone. they'll say how i was friends with them, and how they had so much fun with me."

"what, do you think you'll become famous? you look as talentless as a ramfrog."

"there are other ways to become well known in your hometown." etsuko stood to her feet for the first time since azula had met her. wet sand clung to the bottom of her legs and covered her red skirt. "i'll see you tonight then, azula?"

"if you're lucky," she scoffed in return.

etsuko walked away, down the shore, leaving azula to wonder what her problem was.