Chapter Text
Azula walked down the streets of Ba Sing Se, the orphanage was starting to feel a little cramped and she had nothing to do inside. Hanna was busy training on her own, Jet was doing bookkeeping and Azula was in no rush to get back into the record keeping part of politics, it was her least favourite part.
Azula had earned a pretty penny from her chores, the work ethic Ozai drilled into her came in useful for that. It was a hot Late-Autumn day. She felt her mouth dry, “Jasmine Dragon Tea shop.” She read the sign in the air. She decided to go in, turning into the tea shop, Azula saw her uncle, pouring tea to a customer, “spirits…” She whispered, quickly ducking out.
Azula hid around the corner, her eyes as wide as the moon. She took a moment to calm down, before deciding it was probably best to just go home and spend the rest of the day inside. She stepped out from her hiding place, only for her fear to immediately come back when she was met with Zuko and his friends standing right outside the tea shop.
They didn’t immediately recognise her, it wasn’t until Toph said, “Azula?” That they all came to the realisation. Their shock turned to a battle stance, but Azula wasn’t so confident in her abilities anymore, especially not in a five versus 1, so she fled.
Azula shoved past them, narrowly avoiding a tentacle of water that grabbed at her ankle to trip her up. She had to feel the minorest of changes in the earth to dodge Toph’s attempts to stop her. Azula didn’t look back, she wasn’t going to make the same mistake she did when she met Ursa and Jet, she doubted that she’d be so lucky to crash into someone that would vouch for her.
Azula ran the entire way back to the orphanage, the densely populated upper ring prevented her chasers from attacking her at the risk of harming civilians. Azula dodged past a horde of nobles to get home, crashing through the doors of the orphanage with a loud bang. She finally stopped, bending over and leaning on a table in the hallway to catch her breath.
The whole orphanage heard the doors crash open, and the whole orphanage ran out to see what happened. Ursa ran up to Azula, “What happened? Is everything alright?” She asked the girl.
“I.. he..he’s here…” Azula panted out.
“Who’s here, Minh, use your words.” She said, but her question was answered when the doors of the orphanage swung open again, and she was met with the sight of her son.
The children of the orphanage whispered, “Why is the avatar here?”, “Is Minh in trouble?”, “What’d she do?”
Ursa sighed, “Well isn’t this wonderful.” She said, in a tired voice. “Come, we’ll talk in my study, there’s privacy in there.” She said, looking around at the kids, “Hanna, can you take care of things for a little while?” She asked.
“Sure, mom.” She said, ushering the kids away from the study.
Ursa moved to her study, Jet and Azula followed first, then Zuko and Team Avatar. Jet and Azula sat on a small couch, Ursa sat in her chair, Zuko and friends elected to stand. “What’s going on!?” Zuko asked, “Why did that girl call you mom, and, and why is Azula and Jet here!?” Zuko was very irritated already by the onslaught of new information.
Jet glared at Zuko, but he was too busy making sure Azula was okay to get into an argument. “Calm down, Zuko, I’ll explain everything to you.” She said, “a little over a year ago I found Jet and a few other kids living on the streets, so, I decided that something should be done, so I opened an orphanage. That’s my job now, I run this place with Jet’s help.” She told him.
Zuko scoffed, “You’re running this place with a terrorist?” He asked.
Jet stood up, “Hey! People in your seat spent a century terrorising my people!” He shouted.
“Jet-” Ursa stood up, trying to stop him but he brushed her off.
“So, what? Because you had a change of heart suddenly you get let off for all the heinous acts you committed? But I can’t change? What sort of double standard is that!? If you think you can just come in here and-”
“Jet!” Ursa shouted, shutting him up. “Let me handle this.” She told him.
Jet sighed, taking a step back. Azula stood back up, feeling weird being the only one sitting now. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“What are you here for, Zuko?” Ursa asked.
“To take Azula into custody, we can’t just let her roam free, she’s a danger!” He insisted.
Ursa stood between Zuko and Azula, “I can’t let you do that, Zuko.” She told him. “She’s staying right where she is.”
Zuko was confused at why his mother was betraying him for her, “Why’re you taking her side!?” He asked.
“Because she needs help. She’s fifteen, Zuko, she isn’t a crime lord.” Ursa told him.
“You don’t know what she’s been like for the past 7 years!” He argued.
“No, you’re right, and I can never apologise enough for that, but I know what she’s like now, and she’s told me about that draconian asylum you locked her in, so if you want to arrest her, you can arrest me too.” She declared.
There was a long silence in the room, “Zuko, maybe we should go, before this escalates…” Katara told him.
Zuko relented, storming out of the orphanage. His friends were a bit more polite in their departure, apologising for the disturbance before they left after Zuko.
Ursa let out a sigh, following them out and closing the main door. She went back to Jet and Azula, where she was met with a tight hug from her daughter. Ursa slowly hugged back. “Thank you.” Azula told her mother, “For protecting me.” She added.
Ursa smiled, “Of course, Azula, it’s my job to protect you.” She told her.
“Why’d you call her Azula?” Hanna, who had walked into the doorway, asked.
The three in the room jumped, as Hanna approached. Ursa and Azula’s hug parted, they looked at each other then Hanna. “My name is Azula, not Minh.” Azula admitted, “and I’m not from Omashu, I’m from the Fire Nation, Ursa’s my mother.”
Azula waited for the shouting, the feeling of betrayal, the anger, but all she got was a very high-pitched, “My mentor is a princess!?” She asked.
Azula couldn’t help but laugh, “Uhm, yea, I guess.” She said. “Not so loud though, I’d like to keep my anonymity please.” She asked.
Hanna nodded, “Your secret is safe with me.” She said. “So, if you’re a princess, then can you like use that to get the Kyoshi Warriors here!? You know like, use royal connections and stuff?”
“Hanna!” Ursa scolded, “Try to be a little sensitive.”
“No, it’s fine, uhm, the Kyoshi Warriors and I have something of a chequered past, and besides I don’t have any princess connections left.” She told Hanna.
Hanna sighed, “That’s alright. I guess we’ll just have to stick to our normal training then.” She said, “Speaking of..” She looked at Azula hopefully, “you said you’d look over my work today? If that’s still okay?” She asked.
Azula smiled a bit, “Sure, I’ll be there in a second, why don’t you warm up?” Hanna nodded, running out of the room. Azula turned to her mother, “Iroh’s here too, he runs a shop. It’s called the Jasmine Dragon, I thought you’d want to know.” She said.
Ursa nodded, “Thank you for telling me.” She said, “Now, go have fun with Hanna.” She said.
Azula nodded, running off to the mansion’s back garden. Ursa shouted after her, “And no more stealing my stones!” She yelled, though she doubted Azula cared to hear.