Ignoring Tai Lung entirely, Azula turned her focus back to the still-hesitant Ty Lee. "I was planning to fetch Mai after you," she said smoothly. "She's in the Earth Kingdom after all, and the three of us could be together again. We haven't met since we left the Royal Fire Academy for Girls."
Ty Lee's eyes brightened instantly. "Mai is here?"
"She and her family came to the Earth Kingdom," Tai Lung answered before Azula could. "Her father was put in charge of managing a district of settlements and villages or something along those lines."
Azula shook her head then corrected Tai Lung. "Your information is outdated. Her father is no mere administrator anymore. He's the city lord of Omashu."
Tai Lung raised a brow at that. "I didn't hear of any invasion toward the city. Nor that we conquered it."
Azula shrugged as though it were of no consequence. "We were assembling a full invasion force at the same time as the North Pole siege fleet. The war council expected a bloody battle, and instead the mad king, Bumi, surrendered the city without a fight out of nowhere; I guess he knew the futility of resisting the inevitable."
At that, Tai Lung fell quiet. He remembered the mad old king well, Bumi, despite his age, was the most skilled earthbender Tai had ever crossed paths with. His forces weren't weak either. Omashu had resisted Fire Nation pressure for over a century. For the king to simply surrender… it made no sense. What was he thinking?
Azula's eyes sharpened as she returned to her true goal. "So," she said, turning to Ty Lee, "what do you think? Will you come with me?"
Ty Lee hesitated, her gaze flickering toward Tai Lung before returning to Azula. "I'm really sorry, Azula," she said softly, "but I want to travel with Tai Lung. I wish you the best of luck on your mission."
Azula's hand clenched tightly at her side. She had come here fully expecting Ty Lee to accept. Even if she hadn't, Azula had other ways of persuasion. But with Tai Lung standing beside Ty Lee, she could do nothing.
In the end, Azula forced a thin smile. "It's fine, Ty Lee. I understand. It was nice seeing you again." She turned on her heel, her guards falling in behind her.
"Why not stay the night?" Ty Lee called quickly. "I have a performance piece tonight."
Azula didn't turn back. "I have a mission to finish. I've already wasted enough time coming here." And just like that, she was gone.
Ty Lee stood there, troubled, watching her retreating figure. She looked up at Tai Lung. "Azula is my friend… and I turned her down, and she looked disappointed and sad. Do you think I made a mistake?"
"No, not really," Tai Lung said flatly. "Her mission is ridiculous to begin with. The Fire Lord, Ozai, is worried about the royal family's reputation. I don't understand where he gets the audacity and shamelessness to send her on such a mission."
Ty Lee chuckled at his bluntness, her worry easing slightly.
After a moment, she asked, "Is it okay if we set off to Omashu tomorrow?"
Tai Lung's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you want to help Azula?"
Ty Lee shook her head quickly. "No. I just want to visit Mai, assuming she hasn't already left with Azula. Besides… I've never been to Omashu before. Or any major Earth city."
"I have no objection," Tai Lung replied. "I haven't visited Omashu either. I heard they have some kind of unique mailing system there."
Ty Lee's face lit up with a smile. "Thanks, Tai."
——————
The city of Omashu lay beneath a haze of smoke and industry, its streets quiet but tense under Fire Nation control. At the heart of the city, in the chamber of the once-proud city lord, and upon the high chair where authority was meant to rest, Azula sat with a poise that was both regal and suffocating.
Before her, the city lord and his family, Mai's family, kowtowed, their foreheads pressed to the floor. The silence was broken only when Mai's father, with his voice trembling despite his efforts at composure, dared to look up.
"I apologize," he began, his words uncertain in the presence of the princess. "You came to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon, we are arranging a trade with the resistance to retrieve Tom-Tom."
Azula's eyes, sharp and unblinking, turned on him with disdain. "Yes," she said, her voice clipped and dripping with mock sympathy. "I am so sorry to hear about your son. But really, what did you expect by letting all the citizens leave?"
She rose, her expression as cold as steel, and her words cut sharper than any blade. "My father entrusted this city to you, and you are making a mess of things."
The weight of her accusation scared Mai's father, he collapsed into a deeper bow, his voice strained as he repeated, "I apologize, Princess."
Azula stepped forward, passing by the groveling figures without another glance. "You will stay here," she ordered flatly. "Mai will handle the hostage situation. That way, you won't have another chance to ruin anything else."
Behind her, Mai stood without protest. She followed Azula out in silence, her expression unreadable.
As they walked through the corridors of Omashu's palace, Azula's voice broke the silence, low and edged with annoyance. "It would be useful to have Ty Lee at times like this. But she chose to stick with Tai Lung. I still cannot believe she would rather wander around with him than come here."
Mai cast a sidelong glance at her. The irritation was clear in Azula's tone, but Mai's own reply was delivered in her usual, dry calm. "The two rarely see each other as it is, Tai is always traveling. And you know how insecure Ty Lee is about her face. Tai was the only one who never minded the scar or reacted to it."
Azula's steps faltered just slightly, her mind tugged unwillingly toward memory. The assassination attempt. Her own guard had betrayed her, and though the assassination meant for her had failed, Ty Lee had not walked away unscathed. A scar now marred her friend's face, Azula had always suspected Ty Lee deep down had blamed her for it.
Sometimes, even Azula would have a flicker of guilt when she saw Ty Lee's face. But what she could never quite grasp was how Tai Lung bore it so easily, how he seemed to look past such a disfigurement without the slightest care. It baffled her. And part of her felt jealous of Ty Lee. She, the princess of the fire nation, had no one that genuinely cared about her like Ty Lee.
But Azula dismissed the thought as fast as it got into her head. There were more pressing matters. First, the hostage trade. Then, her uncle and her brother.
——————
When the sun reached its peak, the two sides met for the trade. At the tallest structure in the city, a building now crowned with scaffolding for the statue of Fire Lord Ozai, Azula and Mai stood side by side, staring ahead.
Behind them hung a cage of iron, more coffin than prison, swaying from a heavy chain. Through the narrow window, the unmistakable face of King Bumi peered out, his wild grin unbothered even in captivity.
On the other side, three figures walked forward, carrying with them the small, innocently laughing child Tom-Tom.
The shortest of the three stepped forward, his voice firm but cautious. "We are ready to trade."
Azula's smile was thin, sharp, and cruel. "I am sorry," she spoke, "but a thought just occurred to me. It hardly seems fair to trade a two-year-old child for an old king, one of the strongest earthbenders in the world."
Mai's eyes flicked to her brother. For a moment, there was a change in her expression. Then, coolly, she stepped forward and said, "You are right, princess. The deal is off."
The decision was made. Azula surged forward, blue fire erupting from her hands, lashing toward the trio.
The captors' faces turned to horror. The boy with the staff swung it, unleashing a sudden, powerful gust of air. The girl moved fluidly, bending every drop of water she carried, sending it forward in full force. The third, clutching Tom-Tom in desperation, hurled his boomerang into the fray.
The attacks collided midair with Azula's blazing fire. For an instant, the attacks of the two sides clashed and came to a halt. Then the combined force pierced through the fire, hitting Azula and driving her back. She flipped midair, landing with grace, her narrowed eyes fixing on the trio once more.
But they were gone.
"They escaped," Mai murmured, her tone as flat as ever. "I know you're terrifying, but what did you do to them to make them run like that? I've never seen anyone flee so fast."
Azula's expression hardened, though a flicker of confusion passed through her eyes. "I am not sure. But just now, that was airbending. The boy with the staff… he is the Avatar."
Behind them, in his iron cage, King Bumi had been chuckling the entire time. Yet even his laughter faltered as his eyes widened in surprise. His old friend had run so fast, so abruptly, that even he was left stunned. He had planned to tell Aang to leave him behind. But Aang had not even attempted a rescue.