The day after the Fire Nation princess arrived in the Yu Dao colony.
— Everything looks so appetizing, it's a pity I can't taste it. Oh! How about these?—I suggested to Azula, helping her choose sweets for tea.
Right at this moment, I was behind her; we were looking at the menu of a local confectionery. It turns out that in this era, they already existed. My surprise knew no bounds when I saw the menu. I immediately wanted to try everything, just like a small child. I hadn't tasted sweets for a long time, and Zula wasn't particularly willing to help me with this. Her strict upbringing was showing, as were the common rumors about the harm of sweets.
After looking through the entire menu, Azula called a waitress.
— We'll take these—Zula showed the waitress her choice. — And also jasmine dragon tea, for me and my friend.
— Alright, it will be ready in ten minutes, but I must warn you that this tea is very expensive—the girl answered politely, taking the menu from her hands and leaving the table.
— We have enough money—Azula replied.
This confectionery, by the way, was the best in the province and had opened only half an hour ago. There were very few customers in the establishment, so we didn't have to wait long for the order. Soon, Azula and Mai were brought appetizing desserts along with cups of hot tea. Having listened to his opinion, Zula herself wanted to check the truth of these words, having scheduled an important meeting in this pleasant place. But she came here too early. I wonder if it was her punctuality or personal desire? After all, sometimes all of us want to try something sweet.
— They are even more beautiful in person—I sadly noted the appetizing sweetness that I was not destined to taste.
— Jasmine dragon…—Mai said calmly, sitting opposite at the same table and looking at the served cup of tea.
— Do you care now? I placed the order for both of us, since you said you didn't care—Azula replied to her friend.
— I'm indifferent to the taste of tea. I just remembered that it's your uncle's favorite drink—Mai said almost emotionlessly, taking a sip, after which she reached for a piece of sweet rice cake. Biting off a piece, she smiled almost imperceptibly and said: — Delicious.
— Yes, that's it. A governor treated me to it at a meeting. — Azula took a sip of jasmine tea. — Not bad. And how do you know my uncle's favorite tea?
— From your brother—Mai replied calmly.
— Zu-zu…—Azula said with a slight hint of condescension. — Do you correspond with him? How are his searches for honor and sanity going?
— So far, he has only found all possible types and recipes of tea. In the last letter, he said that the entire ship smelled of it—Mai replied with a slightly wider smile, clearly remembering something good.
After these words, Azula frowned and fell silent. She did not want to talk about her relatives anymore. Unpleasantly bitter feelings arose in the girl's chest every time she remembered them. Even the red bean paste rolls did not taste as good after this topic was brought up.
The conversation unexpectedly ended on its own. The girls preferred to silently drink tea and enjoy the taste of sweet pastries. Immersed in her own thoughts, the princess looked with interest at the ordinary people—the visitors and clients of the establishment. Out of the corner of her eye, Azula noticed Mai looking at her with a fixed gaze.
— Sweets are so pleasant and so distant. I wonder if it's possible to buy sweets to go at this place? I would be very grateful—I reminded Azula of my presence. Looking at the rare visitors of the tea house turned out to be a surprisingly boring activity.
Zula cast a calm glance at the place where I was. Her eyes scanned my ghostly figure from head to toe. Without lingering, she returned to contemplating her tea and pastries. And it was at this moment that Mai chose to speak.
— You know, you've changed—Mai said in a calm tone, placing the empty cup on the table.
— What makes you think that? I'm still the same Azula you've known since childhood—the princess replied with no less confidence, meeting her friend's confident gaze.
— It's hard to say what the changes are, most likely your overall behavior has changed, as has your reaction to certain things. You… became softer. Yes… softer—Mai continued to calmly reflect aloud, not reacting to how menacingly Zula's eyebrows had shifted.
— Personality changes throughout existence. Change is the essence of life; there's no need to be afraid of it and lie to yourself. Sorry-sorry, I won't distract you from the conversation with your friend anymore—I deliberately broke into the girls' conversation, earning an angry look from the princess.
— Nonsense—Azula replied confidently, not intending to agree with our opinion.
— Your interest in tea, which you used to hate—only Mai had her own set of arguments and facts.
— I've never tasted it—however, the princess was not going to give up without a fight, starting to make excuses.
— Your soft attitude towards the Mayor's daughter—Kori.
— She's just a child, albeit a slightly talented one. And in the future, she can serve both me and the entire country well.
— That didn't stop you from doing away with people before. And most importantly, we came here as ordinary citizens. Look—Mai glanced at the rare visitors of the establishment, starting to speak quieter—none of them even suspect your status. You even dressed appropriately so as not to attract attention. Buying a few things you'll probably never wear again.
— Green looks disgusting on you, by the way—I didn't stay out of the conversation, adding my "important" opinion.
— Enough—the princess said coldly, raising her hand—that's enough. I'm just tired of all the universal adoration. Once, I wanted to find out how people would behave with me if they didn't know who I was. Is that a taboo for a person of my status? Never mind, you don't have to answer—Azula explained to herself rather than to her friend, deep in thought at the end.
Mai silently watched the princess's changes. It was difficult to tell what the girl was thinking from her cold face, and I decided to speak again.
— There is nothing shameful in being interested in everything new and unknown. At your age, everything unknown and forbidden seems so interesting and exciting. I understand you; Mai understands you too, she just, as usual, prefers to remain silent. Order another cup, take some rolls with you and don't forget to enjoy yourself. Life, you know, is valuable for such moments—I said to Zula, who had turned her attention to me, placing my hand on her shoulder, becoming partially material. No one would see me anyway, no matter how hard I tried, but the girl, feeling my support, turned the corners of her lips into a slight smile.
— Another cup?
— I won't refuse…
After some time spent by the girls in silent tea drinking, the one we were waiting for appeared at the confectionery. A man whose appearance was perfectly described by the word harsh or even menacing. A meter wide, two meters tall. Bald, bearded, muscular, with a tattoo on his forehead and glistening prosthetics for his right leg and arm. As soon as he entered, all the visitors turned their eyes to such an interesting and formidable visitor. Yes, the mercenary was impressive, very impressive with just his appearance alone. But for those who knew his reputation, his skills in firebending and his ability to master the special bending of explosions were even more impressive. However, I personally became interested in where he got such prosthetics and how he used them.
And while I was wondering about this, the man inspected every client of the confectionery, making almost everyone present tremble. After that, he went to Azula, recognizing her as the princess at first glance.
The conversation between the mercenary and the employer was terrifyingly short, and his voice was intimidating. The visitors began to quietly retreat from the confectionery, not wanting to be with such an impressive person. The man agreed to all of Azula's conditions, but for this, he demanded his price. The price was small for the princess of the world's dominant country, but quite large by local standards. But before sealing the contract, Azula wanted to see the special bending of explosions. For this, the girls and the mercenary went far beyond the city walls.
— You have so few scars on your body, but you're missing an arm and a leg. Who was able to take them from you?—Azula asked, trying to find out more about the mercenary, as soon as our group left the city walls.
— No one. Bending—the man answered with some difficulty in his deep voice, as if every word caused him pain.
The princess still tried to find out more about him, but he said that his throat was also damaged. It was not very pleasant for him to speak, and frankly, it was painful. Therefore, he was terribly silent and spoke in extremely short phrases, sometimes resorting only to gestures. All the way, I was only busy examining the mercenary's energy, straining my eyes.
He was a normal firebender. Rather, he was a good firebender with perfectly developed energy and powerful Chi. In some places, his energy was even better than Azula's and her father's! Namely, his stomach chakra and forehead chakra were open. But it wasn't just that that made me look at this cupboard for so long. My interest was caused by his missing limbs, or rather, the iron pieces that replaced these limbs.
His prosthetics—they didn't work thanks to technology, but thanks to Chi! I don't know who and how came up with this, but it was insanely brilliant. The bender seemed to have merged with his prosthetics and could control them almost as freely as his native limbs. It was very interesting to watch this work. So interesting that I missed the way to the testing grounds, as well as the beginning of the tests, being too interested in the activity that had begun in the mercenary's body.
A powerful clap distracted me from my thoughts, as if a powerful firecracker or even a grenade had exploded somewhere nearby. Out of the corner of my eye, I even noticed a flash of light somewhere to the side. As soon as I turned, I immediately noticed a small crater a hundred meters away from our group. It was about two meters in diameter and was located right in the middle of a dense mass of earth. The city walls were not visible; we had probably moved quite far from Yu Dao.
— Excellent, now show me the most powerful bending you are capable of—the princess ordered with obvious enthusiasm. She clearly liked the sight.
The man looked at her with doubt. Seeing the predatory gleam in her eyes, he said nothing. Choosing a target further away, he sharply tensed his abdominal muscles, while at the same time leaning forward a little. A barely noticeable beam shot out from his forehead, which almost instantly covered a distance of hundreds and hundreds of meters. After that, a bright flash of light appeared in the distance, and a second later we were deafened by the sound of an explosion. The shockwave even reached us, ruffling the girls' hair.
— Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…—sincere laughter with a touch of madness flowed from Azula. — Excellent! From now on, you work for me!
The man did not answer. And while the princess, her friend, and the mercenary were walking back to the city, I managed to fly and look at the traces of the explosion bending. The huge pit that had formed at the site of the explosion was impressive, very impressive. I wanted to compare it with the destructive power of lightning bending that was familiar to me. I compared them. His bending really surpassed lightning by an order of magnitude, or even several. You can hide from lightning, redirect it, and protect yourself with metal, but you can't do that with a powerful explosion. Not to mention that the mercenary creates an explosion faster than Ozai creates lightning. I think Zula also guessed all this, immediately wanting to get such power for herself.
Quickly catching up with the group, I continued to examine the mercenary's Chi. It seemed that he could repeat another dozen, or even more, such explosions. How did the authorities miss such power? Maybe Ozai is not so smart, but how did Azulon miss this diamond? Senile dementia? Probably…
And while I was thinking about these questions and the mercenary's past, he and Azula managed to get to the city, draw up a contract, sign it, and seal it with a special imperial seal. After which, the man went to Azula's ship. They even assigned an escort for him. There were enough free cabins on the ship, and the budget would feed one more person. Especially if he was so valuable and strong. After finishing with the mercenary, the princess returned to the mayor's estate to check the state of affairs in the colony. Mai followed her friend all this time. They were busy with their own affairs until the evening.
At one point, Azula ordered her friend to wait. Immediately after that, she looked at me, shooting a glance in the direction of the door that led to an empty room. The hint was obvious and clear.
— Yoaru, I want to talk to you—the girl ordered in an authoritative tone, walking to a chair and sitting down in her usual empress pose.
— You haven't talked to me in that tone for a long time—I noted with a smile, flying higher to the ceiling, forcing the girl to look at me from below. The topic of the conversation was as clear as the day outside the window.
— His bending, will I be able to learn it?—and here was the reason for her behavior. Yes, Zula was interested in this bending much more than in some fire healing.
— I think so, and it will be given to you much easier than healing. There is nothing complicated about explosion bending. It's just like with lightning; most of the creation process is identical. The key difference is to connect the negative and positive Chi not in your own body, but far beyond it. Did you see his beam? It was the Chi of different polarities; formally, it's not one beam, but two beams that connect at the point of explosion. The connection point can be controlled; it doesn't have to hit an obstacle—I shared everything I had managed to understand during the day. There was no point in hiding this information from me, because everything Azula could do, I could do too.
— Interesting…—Zula said thoughtfully. — And how did such power go unnoticed by my father?
— I'm wondering the same thing. In any case, don't even think about training without my presence. We'll have to talk a lot more with Berkroot about his bending. You saw for yourself how dangerous this sub-species of firebending is. You'll be left without a couple more limbs—I said didactically to the girl, making her frown in indignation.
— What do you take me for?—the princess was indignant.
— A maniac obsessed with the idea of power?—I replied with a hint of sarcasm.
Snorting, the girl turned away offended and headed for the exit of the room. As they say: oops, I offended her. But I knew how sharply she reacts to this.
— I was just joking; you're actually a vulnerable girl who no one understands. I didn't mean to offend you, Zula. But, hey, weren't we planning to visit the circus performance this evening?
— Your apologies are very meager. Maybe you'll try to improve them with poetry?—the princess stopped, turning around to show her smirk.
— Hah. A familiar situation, nevertheless, a meeting with Ty Lee awaits, or are you afraid to meet your childhood friend?
— Oh, please.
Snorting once again, she left the room. I followed her, wanting to meet Ty Lee no less than Azula did. In the princess's memory, she was the most interesting person Zula had ever met, and of course, she appealed to me. I wanted to see her in person, not just in memories. Having finished with our business in the mayor's mansion, we went to the circus with Mai. Tickets for the performance were bought yesterday; for them, the princess did not even hesitate to strain her people. On the way, I advised the princess to buy flowers for her friend; she agreed and bought them, earning another strange look from Mai. After that, the girls went straight to the performance.
Zula and I had long discussed options for inviting her friend to the team. With my little hint, she came up with a harmless plan. Otherwise, her threats could have ruined the relationship with such a positive person and become the cause of a possible betrayal. Remembering how the princess had changed since we met, I waited for the performance to begin. People were taking their seats. Azula and Mai, as usual, occupied seats for special guests.
The performance began…
I didn't see anything fascinating or funny in the performance, although the people around me liked it. The spectators ohh-ed and ahh-ed with admiration and burst into laughter at the actions of the local clowns. Alas, I couldn't understand the local humor. And so, a circus is a circus; it was just a little different in this world. Firebenders performed various tricks, using their bending to entertain the audience. Huge men carried no less huge things and showed their heroic strength. Various jugglers, painted clowns, throwers and swallowers of all kinds of sharp and long things, and other clowning for the sake of entertaining the public. In general, there was nothing special about it.
The only thing worth mentioning separately were the various acts with trained animals that performed various tricks. I admired them with sadness and interest. The local nature had done a great job, creating a bunch of animals unknown to me and adding hybrids of representatives already familiar to me. And I was sad because of the harmless animals that were trained for tricks and the fun of other, especially stupid animals. In general, looking at unfamiliar animals was the most interesting thing in the circus. The fire tricks were just tricks, and all the other clowning was not interesting to me.
The last act was the acrobats. They performed last for a reason. It was the best thing the circus had. And the favorite, of course, was Ty Lee. She was much more beautiful than in memory, so to speak; the childhood friend from afar had grown into a beautiful girl. I involuntarily stared at her, her beauty, flexibility, sense of balance, and a crazily beautiful smile; the girl was so pretty that I didn't notice when the performance ended.
— Let's go, it's time to meet my friend in person—Azula gave the command, and she and Mai followed in the opposite direction from the crowd that was heading for the exit.
Getting backstage was as easy as pie. No security or prohibitive signs. And where were the circus managers looking? However, if you remember Ty Lee's skills… and if the others in the circus were just as talented, they had nothing to fear. The girls found their friend in her personal dressing room. Which was no small recognition of her talent. At this time, Ty Lee herself was taking off her makeup, standing on her hands in front of the mirror and using only her feet.
— Ty Lee…—the princess spoke first.
— A…—the gymnast turned around, and for a moment, recognition flashed in her eyes, and her face broke into a smile. — Azula!
The girl jumped from her hands to her feet, spun, dodged, and somehow fell prostrate in a special way, performing an overly respectful bow before the princess, practically falling to her feet. Waiting a second or two, she sharply stood up and quickly approached Zula, embracing her.
— Mai! How happy I am to see you! Were you at the performance? I thought I was imagining things, but I saw you! I didn't think you would ever come here for a performance—the girl continued to speak enthusiastically, happy to meet her friends.
— As cheerful as ever—Mai answered coolly, stoically enduring the friendly feelings of her friend, who had pounced on her with her hugs. However, despite her tone, she also hugged Ty Lee in return.
— Here, this is for you—Azula held out a bouquet of flowers uncertainly, catching another look from Mai.
— Flowers? Personally for me? Thank you—the acrobat buried her nose in the bouquet, inhaling the aromas of fresh flowers and experiencing sincere happiness. It seemed she was even embarrassed by such attention. But no, I probably imagined it.
At this time, I continued to admire the girl. Up close, I was able to appreciate all her beauty much better than from a distance in the stands. But not only her beauty and impressive forms captivated my gaze. Her aura stood out from all the ones I had ever seen. And her chakras, they were open! Absolutely all of her chakras were open. I had never met a person with all their chakras open before.
— Yes, we were looking at what… what do you call it?—Azula continued to speak in her manner, but then Lee turned around to put the bouquet on the table, but I was behind her.
— Oh, who are you?—we met gazes. — Is he your new acquaintance?—Lee turned her head, looking for answers from her friends…