Sighing, Azula exhales calmly, waking from a vision that the spirit had sent her. Her first glance notices a hand withdrawing from her forehead. It was him, the one she had been talking to for so long in her own memories. A spirit with an extremely pompous and grandiose name that even he himself disliked, and to which he was not the slightest bit suited.
The princess quickly notices the differences in her recent companion. During their recent conversation, which took place, as he put it: "in the depths of her mind," the spirit looked slightly different. Not that he had changed physically, he just became somewhat transparent and bluish, like a ghost. Which, by his very nature, he was. One could see the room's walls through his body. His transparency was especially visible under the light of the lamps that no one had turned off. However, as soon as Azula woke up from the vision sent to her, her body's emotions and needs reminded her of her pathetic situation.
— It seems much less time has passed in reality than in my inner world. I think about an hour, or a little more — the ghost said thoughtfully, looking around the room and at the exit from it. It was as if he was examining the guards who were still guarding the entrance to their princess's chambers.
Feeling the pain from her wounds along with her body's other needs, Azula once again felt the full spectrum of her heated emotions, which, after several hours of almost complete absence, were much more intense and were further amplified by hormones. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes. Her cheeks, ears, and entire face turned red. It became difficult and painful to breathe, and light tremors gripped her body. She wanted to laugh out loud, but she held herself back with all her might, not wanting to attract the attention of the guards. The realization of what she had to do made her feel very conflicted.
— It's time to confirm everything we agreed on earlier, Azula— Zula? — the spirit turned, noticing the girl's terrible condition.
— What's wrong? Are you okay? I thought our conversation would calm you down, and there wouldn't be any problems upon returning to reality. Maybe I was wrong somewhere, after all, it happened by chance. How do you feel, does anything hurt? — the spirit mumbled, filled with concern for the girl. He began to carefully examine her body with a piercing gaze. But no matter where his gaze fell, he could not find the reasons for Azula's current state.
— Come closer, please — the princess said, and the spirit immediately closed the distance, bringing their faces together so she could whisper her problems into his ear.
— What's wrong with you, are you in pain? We agreed to trust each other more, tell me about your problems — his eyes, his tone, everything spoke of worry. He was afraid that he had done something wrong and harmed the princess without malicious intent, purely by accident.
— I… I… — with tears in her eyes, a red face, filled with embarrassment and a slight pain, she quietly whispered through tightly clenched lips. Azula looked extremely pathetic right now. It was extremely rare to find the princess in such a state; there were very few such lucky people.
— Don't be afraid, everything will be fine. Whatever happens, we will deal with it. Together, we are stronger — the spirit's gentle voice was soothing, and giving in to him, Azula began to speak.
— I need to pee…
— …
Princess Azula swore to herself and would tell no one what happened next. It was so awkward, so shameful, so disgusting that she wanted with all her might to forget what had happened. She wasn't even comforted by the spirit's words that they had already gone to the toilet and the bath together numerous times. He had seen her naked, knew absolutely everything about her, and the girl had nothing to be ashamed of his attention.
But it was different then, completely different from now! The princess had never been so helpless, she was so ashamed of it that she was seriously interested in the spirit's ability to delete these moments from her memory. Nothing helped. Not the spirit's words that the maid would not remember anything, nor other words of comfort, nor the fact that no one saw anything and would certainly not find out. She would remember this moment for the rest of her life, this look, be it the maid's or the spirit's. And what was most terrible, she would have to repeat it more than once.
And all because of the conversation that soon followed with the spirit.
— … Zula, I want to examine the injuries you received — the companion changed the subject, stopping his attempts to convince her that nothing terrible had happened and that something like this could happen to anyone. And they, as friends, or rather, those who want to become friends, should trust each other and provide help.
— And? What do you need from me? I'm not in the best mood. Leave me alone, I need to get over the humiliation I just experienced. And stop calling me that! It reminds me of Zuko, come up with some other nickname — the princess continued to grumble quietly in response, not wanting to attract the attention of the guards. The guards had successfully ignored her orders to cease guarding. They were much more afraid of her father than the princess herself, who, in their opinion, would not be able to kick their asses for such a thing anytime soon.
— S-sigh. I know this has affected you deeply. But I need to examine your wounds from the inside, we already talked about this. I can speed up your healing. Do you mind if I inhabit you again? It's a necessary measure.
— Fine, do what you have to. You've probably already done this more than once without my permission — Azula didn't stop grumbling, trying to avoid meeting his gaze. She wouldn't be able to look into his eyes again anytime soon after what had happened between them.
— Take it easy. I'm just observing a certain decorum. To get into you without asking, whenever I want, is too hypocritical even for me. After all, we are allies now, and, I dare to hope, something more than just acquaintances who cooperate only under duress — the companion calmly explained, approaching the girl.
— Do what you have to — she grumbled softly in response, and the spirit hovering over her rushed into her body. Azula felt a surge of strength, like a breath of fresh air, or a gulp of cool, crystal-clear water after a long day of training. It was a pleasant feeling.
— Whoa! This is nice — the spirit noted, experiencing similar sensations — let's see what you have here. Hmm. Uh-huh. Right…
After a couple of minutes of examination.
— Bad news. There are far more problems than I thought. The doctor either lied to you about your wounds or was unable to accurately determine their severity. But I think he decided to keep the most important thing to himself — the spirit calmly explained, falling into thought, having finished examining the girl, so to speak, from the inside.
— What? How dare he! Are you sure?! How serious is it? — Azula slightly raised her voice, shocked by the spirit's words. Fortunately, the guards did not hear her, and she lowered her voice to her usual whisper in time.
— Nothing is irreparable, but you should reconsider your behavior. Without me, you would have certainly been a cripple who would always limp on one leg.
— I'll execute him — Azula hissed with determination, no worse than the most venomous snake.
— No, you won't do that — came an equally decisive response from her companion.
— Why not? — the girl wondered angrily, not understanding why the spirit didn't want to execute a factual traitor.
— You don't understand? Azula, you yourself forced him to lie to you. The importance of your life and the guards standing nearby, who hinted to the doctor that he would be executed on the spot if he didn't cure you. Of course, he may not be competent enough, you would know better, you're the princess. But in my opinion, he didn't have much of a choice. Lie and live longer, or tell the truth and risk not surviving your wrath. He chose the option where he had a better chance of surviving. Do you understand why he did it? — the spirit continued to speak, explaining as if to a small child.
In a sense, this was true. Although Azula had not been a child for a long time, she knew nothing at all about some aspects of human life. Always relying exclusively on fear, and rarely on bribery and her high position, the girl simply did not realize that it was possible to communicate with people in a different way. Not having realized the existence of another way during her life. The girl relied exclusively on fear and tried to constantly remind everyone of her power, maintaining fear in the hearts of her subordinates, following the example of her father, the Fire Lord.
— Fear… — the princess replied dryly, understanding the truth of her companion's words. Although she wanted to execute the doctor in the cruelest way possible, it would be a waste of resources.
— Correct. You can rise to the very heights of power through fear. But it's impossible to stay there relying only on this specific feeling. Think about these words until you fall into a sweet sleep.
— My ancestors would disagree with you — Azula still replied confidently.
— Really? We don't know how Sozin died, but we can guess how Azulon died. A cheerful old man who showed no hint of illness, died under strange circumstances at a very convenient time for your father, while simultaneously rewriting the laws of succession in Ozai's favor. You and I both know perfectly well what really happened. Do you really want to rule in a similar way and with a similar end? I understand that sometimes it's necessary, but using such harsh methods on a constant basis is too presumptuous — the companion's words inadvertently stung the girl's heart.
She no longer wished to talk about anything, internally understanding the partial truth of his words. If anything, she would not want to end up like her grandfather, after whom she was named. The former Fire Lord — Azulon.
— I assume we have more pressing problems than the topic of Fire Nation rulers and their methods of retaining power.
— Of course, but how we solve these problems is also important. Think about my words — the spirit asked gently.
For a while, they both remained silent, until the corners of the girl's lips curved into a slight hint of a smile. Feeling calm and content, Azula said warmly: — Good night, Yoaru.
— Hmm? You shortened my name? Oh, how sweet. You know, from your lips it sounds quite eloquent! — the spirit noted mockingly, Azula could even feel his teasing smile. The counter-sarcasm had no effect on the spirit with an incredibly grandiose name.
— Pfft.
— Good night, Zula. Sleep well and regain your strength, and I will try to heal your body. It won't work in one night, but I think in a week you'll be walking without help again.
— I wish…
The princess fell asleep, habitually giving up control of her body to the spirit.
Azula's consciousness slept soundly while the spirit was busy healing her, manipulating the girl's internal energy. Which had become much more responsive than before. However, the spirit had no experience in healing wounds with the help of Qi. The recovery process promised to be very long. The situation would have been completely dire if Yoaru didn't know what a healthy princess's body should look like. All he had to do was figure out how to return the girl's body to the healthy state she had previously been in. Which he spent the whole night doing, achieving considerable success.
By morning, the girl's condition was significantly better. However, she still needed help with everything. At dawn, when the girl woke up and tried to move, she did not feel pain. However, her limbs obeyed her with difficulty and were constantly trembling with small convulsions. The girl sincerely thanked the spirit, while at the same time enjoying such a small victory over her wounds. She was doing this until the captain of the imperial retinue, who had taken command of the ship, came to her with a report. After reporting, he waited for further orders.
— How long will it take for the ship to arrive at the capital now? — the princess clarified after thinking over the information she had received. Due to the damage from the battle with the sea monster, the power of the engines was reduced, and in order to avoid the risk of increasing the number of holes, the ship's speed was significantly reduced.
— Given the ship's current speed, we will arrive at the port tomorrow evening — the captain of the guard reported with a straight back. The travel time to the capital had increased by almost a day, they were lucky that the storm and the monster attack happened so close to the capital island.
— I see, leave me.
— My Lady, what about the possibly hidden traitors among the crew? — the captain asked, since a large part of his report was devoted specifically to this exciting topic.
— I believe I gave an order, Captain — the princess put pressure on him, looking at the captain with very angry eyes, as if pouring out all her irritation and anger.
— My apologies, I will correct myself! — feeling that he was not welcome in the imperial chambers, the captain left, leaving Azula completely alone. The guards guarding the entrance silently watched him, punching their fists to their chests. The captain paid no attention to them, hurrying to leave the upper floor of the pagoda.
— This is exactly how you push people to reconsider their loyalty — the spirit spoke to Azula after a long silence. They were both interested in listening to the captain.
— Do you think he should have told me how everything really happened and that there was no betrayal or treason? — the princess said sarcastically in response.
— I want to say that it could have been done more gently. Much more gently, but let's not waste time in a meaningless argument, I feel your strong hunger, you urgently need to replenish your strength and eat. Ring the bell — the spirit hurried her, having learned to feel the girl's condition better after her failed assassination.
— I don't want to. I'm ready to endure.
— What? What do you mean, endure, Azula? Don't you understand that your body needs resources in the form of food to recover? A large amount of food! Otherwise, you will only worsen your condition! If you want to get better faster, ring the bell! — the spirit got angry at the manifestation of her character, although in this case it was more like stupidity.
— I haven't recovered from one humiliation yet, and you're pushing me towards the next one.
— Everything will be fine, I'll possess the maid as soon as she's alone, you have nothing to worry about… — after the spirit's short persuasion, the princess finally rang the bell.
Soon the maids brought breakfast to the princess's bed. It didn't take long, since the cooks, under the supervision of a couple of guards, had already prepared it and tasted it. If anything, they took the safety of the ruler's daughter with all seriousness. As soon as the girls laid the various dishes on the table, the entire staff of maids left the room, with the exception of one. The door closed, and a second later the girl's gray eyes became clouded.
In the next moment, blinking, the maid examined Azula with a piercing gaze of golden eyes. A smile of anticipation appeared on the face of the previously meek maid. Various small details of her facial expressions and body movements directly indicated that this was now a completely different person. A person who was not afraid of the princess at all. Watching such a change, Azula involuntarily shuddered at the woman's dominant smile. Suspicions began to fill Zula's mind…
— Look, I managed to take a spoon, maybe I can do it myself somehow? — the princess said with a certain apprehension, demonstrating the spoon in her trembling hands.
— No-o-o-o-o — he slowly drew out, and his dominant smile became wider and more brazen.
After a little while.
— Ah-ah-ah — a small spoonful of soup went into her open mouth.
— Come on, Zula, half is left. For Ty Lee. For Mai. For dad. For mom. For your brother. For your uncle. You don't like them very much, but oh well. Now, again — with each new person, another spoonful of breakfast went into the princess's mouth. Azula had no choice but to grimace from the negative emotions that overwhelmed her while the spirit in the maid's body enjoyed the pathetic position of the imperial person.
— Stop! What are you doing? — the princess hissed like a snake.
— I heard that's how mothers feed their children with a spoon. I didn't think it could bring so many positive emotions — Yoaru quietly replied in the maid's body.
— They must be stupid mothers. Feed me silently, don't attract the attention of the guards!
— You're so cute when you're angry. Okay, just a little left, and then there will be meat with salad and your favorite cherries. Mmm, deliciousness — the spirit brazenly tasted a few cherries.
— Those are mine!
— Well, you'll share with me, your best friend. And besides, I need to taste them, what if they're poisoned? — answering her offended statement, he took a few more cherries. — What a delight, they are especially wonderful without the pits.
— Is this some kind of revenge? Hey. Leave some for me!
— Of course, how could I forget about my little darling. Mwah! — at the end of his words, the spirit controlling the maid's body moved closer, affectionately kissing the princess on the forehead.
— I didn't give you permission to kiss me — the princess continued to grumble indignantly, not knowing whether to be angry or embarrassed. And in the meantime, the spirit did not allow her to think for too long.
— Open your mouth, the little ship is sailing into the bay — scooping up soup in the spoon, he again began to feed his problematic princess.
— Just shut up already…
This day promised to be very long.
However, Azula was mistaken about this. The day flew by quickly. After breakfast, she began to perform a breathing technique to restore her strength. Then she handed her body over to the spirit, and he continued to actively heal her. As he got exhausted, he would return the body to her. She would again demand food, perform the breathing technique, and hand control back to the spirit. And so it went until the evening.
This routine was brightened by their conversations about everything and nothing, starting with the lives of citizens and ending with music and nature. It turned out that Yoaru was a lover of violins, not for nothing had he advised her to learn that specific instrument when she was still studying under Piandao. Evening came, and the princess was quite tired after such an exhausting day.
Usually, at this time she would perform ablution procedures to wash off all the dirt accumulated during the day. Despite spending the entire day in bed, she still managed to get dirty. The spirit allegedly accidentally missed her mouth, justifying it with the factor of a time limit on possession. Of course, Azula didn't believe him at all. After a short persuasion, it was decided to go take a bath, but the girl was still moving with difficulty and needed help with literally everything.
— I can manage myself — the princess answered with displeasure, as soon as the doors closed.
The guards remained outside, while Azula and one of the maids were inside the bathroom. Yoaru quickly inhabited the woman. This was perfectly visible in her eyes and characteristic body movements, not to mention the undisguised emotions on her face. The spirit gladly took advantage of the princess's position and helped with all the little things, not forgetting to abuse them a little, showing the girl his warmth and hugging her on every occasion.
— You can. But not as effectively. I can wash you thoroughly in all the hard-to-reach places. Are you still shy? And this is after we've gone to the toilet together? Zula, I didn't know you were such a modest little thing.
— Oh, here we go again… — the girl sighed resignedly. — You're not going to stop doing this, are you?
— No. And we'll see what it's like to hug in reality, let's go faster. I remember we both wanted this. Get undressed! — without waiting for the princess's answer, Yoaru began to strip the maid's body he had possessed.
— The bath is kind of for one person — Azula casually reminded him, looking at the bath that could easily fit three people, but size was not the point.
Of course, the girl understood her companion's hints. She simply did not want to share a bath with anyone. But in this case, the spirit would not care about her desires. She even guessed his excuses. He very deftly and quickly freed the maid's body from all its clothes, and was now curiously feeling himself in different places. At the sight of this, anger began to ignite in the princess. Which was surprising, because Azula saw no reason to be angry at all.
— We'll just have to make some room, I can't let you accidentally drown in the bath. And I need to come up with an excuse for amnesia, otherwise excessively frequent occurrences might alert not only your subordinates, but also your father. And I'm sure he has his own ears among your subjects. The girl simply lost consciousness in the hot water, nothing unusual.
— Oh, how could I forget, you need help even with such things, forgive me — the spirit repented, realizing his monstrous mistake, as soon as he stopped feeling the chest of a strange body.
— I can get undressed myself — but her words had no effect, Yoaru began to swiftly strip the girl of her clothes.
All the princess could do was hide her embarrassment with the most arrogant look of an empress. Putting in all her effort, continuing to pretend that this was the plan all along. This whole situation was wildly unusual for the girl and she was simply at a loss, not understanding how to react. Trying to command or intimidate would not work, the spirit had clearly shown this, and she did not know how to influence people in any other way. Yoaru quickly helped Azula get undressed. After that, Zula used her willpower to heat the water to the desired temperature, and they got into the bath to soak in the hot steam. It was only a little cramped, their legs touching each other, sometimes reaching to their thighs. But what made the girl feel much more uncomfortable was the fact that her naked body was being brazenly looked at with a very strange smile. At the sight of this smile, she could barely hold back a shiver.
— Could you stop looking like that? — Azula said discontentedly, using all her willpower to remain calm, at least externally.
— What? Is there something wrong with that? If I'm looking, it means there's something to look at. You are very beautiful. My gaze is complimenting all the factors of your appearance — at these words and especially the piercing gaze, the girl became embarrassed — but you are definitely right. I have little time, and wasting it on tales of your beauty is too careless, I should help you wash yourself.
Yoaru quickly moved closer to Azula, embracing her. The girl did not expect this and unconsciously hugged him back, not knowing what to say as her mind was completely overwhelmed with feelings. It was so unusual, but all the bad things seemed to disappear from the world and only a warm, gentle, wonderful feeling remained. What was it? She didn't know, but she wanted it to continue for a little longer.
— Well, we've figured out the hugging, it was magical. And now it's time to get down to business! — the possessed girl quickly grabbed a washcloth and soap, preparing for work.
Azula only replied timidly: — Be gentler — Yoaru only smiled affectionately in response, looking into the girl's eyes.
— Whatever you say…