"Speaking of which…"
After Uncle Iroh left and they were about to head toward Zuko and Azula's house, Azula suddenly said, "Zuzu, I think I only invited Kahn, not you. What are you following us for?"
Zuko blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"It means," Azula replied bluntly, "you don't want to play with us, and we don't want to play with you. So, you don't need to follow us. Go play somewhere else!"
"You—! Azula, don't go too far!"
Zuko immediately pointed at his sister, face flushing red with anger.
Kahn sighed inwardly. And there it is—the mood swing. Azula's chaos skill truly knows no limits.
"Alright, enough," Kahn said, stepping between them.
"Azula, don't bully Zuko too much. If he really doesn't come, then I'll just go with him to find Uncle Iroh."
Zuko looked up, surprised and touched. "Kahn… thank you."
Seeing Kahn side with Zuko, Azula's expression darkened instantly. "So, you're taking his side now? He was the one who disliked me first!"
Mai and Ty Lee instantly tensed up, exchanging worried glances.
When Azula got mad, it was usually best to duck and cover.
Kahn, however, was used to her temper by now. "Didn't I just take your side a moment ago? You can't have both."
Apparently, the whole argument had started just because Zuko had been annoyed with her earlier.
Once Kahn realized that, he decided to de-escalate before things got worse.
"Alright, how about this? You both apologize to each other. Mutual forgiveness. Deal?"
"Apologize to her/him? Impossible!" they both shouted in perfect sync.
The two siblings glared at each other and crossed their arms.
Yep, Kahn thought. Definitely related.
Though they refused to admit it, the tension had already cooled. They just needed a graceful way out.
"Since neither of you is saying anything," Kahn declared, placing an arm around each of their shoulders, "I'll take that as forgiveness. Now move—it's time to play!"
"What are you doing?!" Azula suddenly snapped, panic flashing across her face.
"What do you mean, what am I doing?" Kahn blinked.
The moment Azula met his eyes up close, she froze—then abruptly shoved him away and marched ahead.
"I can walk by myself!" she said in a huff, her cheeks faintly red.
Kahn frowned. "Okay… weird."
But at this point, he'd grown used to her random mood swings.
Meanwhile, Mai and Ty Lee had nearly fainted. They had seen him put his arm around Azula—and live.
"Mai, did you see that?" Ty Lee whispered, eyes wide.
"I saw it. That guy just hugged Azula… and she didn't incinerate him."
"Unbelievable! Is that even the real Azula?"
"Definitely. Which makes it even scarier."
Ty Lee's gaze sparkled as she looked at Kahn. He's not afraid of Azula at all! He's… amazing.
For the first time, she felt a strange admiration toward someone other than Azula herself.
The group finally reached Zuko's courtyard.
After some debate, Kahn's decisive vote ended with them agreeing to play a somersault game—Ty Lee's suggestion.
Aside from a light kick from Azula (because apparently democracy offended her), everyone accepted.
Kahn didn't actually care for childish games, but Azula's original proposal had been "sneak into the royal study."
Yeah—no. He was not about to get roasted alive by the Fire Lord for "adventuring."
Azula grumbled but joined in anyway.
To no one's surprise, she and Ty Lee turned out to be the most enthusiastic players.
Mai just stood off to the side, bored as usual.
Kahn and Zuko ended up chatting instead.
Originally, Azula had invited Kahn, but after Kahn performed an "infinite backflip" (thanks to his ridiculous physical talent), he easily won the game.
Azula, furious, kicked him and "disqualified" him on the spot.
Tsk, sore loser.
When Zuko joined him at the sidelines, Kahn leaned over with a smirk.
"So… do you like that girl, Mai?"
"!!!" Zuko's entire body stiffened.
His face turned crimson. "W-What are you talking about?"
Yup. Confirmed.
Kahn grinned knowingly.
Still, despite his teasing, Zuko couldn't string together a coherent sentence.
After a while, Kahn gave up, deciding to "continue his investigation later."
Meanwhile, Azula and Ty Lee kept somersaulting.
Ty Lee was genuinely impressive—her acrobatics looked graceful and fluid, like an artistic performance.
Kahn's "infinite backflip," by comparison, was more… brute-force athleticism.
Azula, talented as she was, couldn't quite match either of them.
Her strength lay in Firebending and combat, not gymnastics.
Seeing both Kahn and Ty Lee outperform her only fueled her frustration.
And so, she started playing dirty.
"Poof!"
A small burst of flame startled Ty Lee mid-flip, and she landed on her backside with a soft thud.
Though unhurt, she sat there, pouting.
"Azula, seriously?" Kahn groaned. "You're that competitive you have to cheat in a somersault game?"
"None of your business!" Azula snapped, hurling a small fireball at him.
Kahn easily dodged, rolling his eyes.
Mai and Ty Lee watched, hearts pounding.
Are they going to fight?!
But that was it.
The argument fizzled out almost as fast as it began. And strangely enough… Azula didn't pull any more dirty tricks afterward.
Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
What the hell happened to Azula?
She was way too abnormal today.