Chapter Text
Azula's heart pounds in her chest and half-deafens her ears but she maintains determined control over her breath.
In.
And out.
Around her, she can hear Agni chitter-chortle between the too-loud beats. A fire shield had been a -- quite literally, it would seem -- laughable choice of defence against the Father of Fire.
In.
And out.
It hardly matters in the end. There is nothing she could do to defend herself against Agni's whims. She lives because it pleases the Sun Spirit. She had known that from the first. It remains a terrifying lesson to experience first hand.
In.
And out.
Off to her left, Ty-Lee's eyes are wide and rimmed with tears, hands plastered over her mouth. On her right, Mai stares and gapes in a decidedly un-Mai-like fashion.
Azula dares to look past the roof's eaves, out to the lava field where Father had been practicing.
In.
And --
And out.
Father is bent over, arms holding his midriff, and laughing without restraint. Azula has never before witnessed Father in such a state. The closest comparison she has is perhaps when Father had fallen to giggling over Azula's swift mastering of the blue flame.
In.
And out.
There is a shameful lack of achievements on Azula's part to account for Father's merriment today. There will be no open pride or earned affection this time.
Azula does not know what will come after the laughter. None of Father's old patterns seem to hold true since he became Agni's Herald. Azula has no recourse but to learn Father's new patterns.
In.
And out.
Her heart has begun to settle, allowing Azula to hear in more than snatches between beats.
One of Agni's silly, little lemur forms hops onto her foot and perches its forepaws on her knee. Its large ears pivot and twitch. Several of the other matching forms hop and skitter along roof tiles. It's a very good imitation of animal life for a spirit, but Azula still prefers the many-legged dragons Agni had allowed her to ride, or the serpentine streams of living fire with which she found her blue flames.
"Agni," she greets. This is not an easy position to bow in, particularly without dislodging the fire spirit attached to her person. She still makes an attempt to affirm her respect for the great spirit, though it ends more as the sign of the flame under a nod than a proper bow.
"Fledgeling," Agni returns, jumping up to balance fully on her knee. The fire spirit reaches out. Azula freezes in place. Agni wraps a small paw around the lock of hair framing the right side of her face and tugs lightly.
Azula blinks.
Agni chitter-chortles again, though only from the one manifestation this time, and releases her.
This is not at all something Azula had been expecting. She glances back to the lava field, but Father is not where she last saw him.
The sudden sound of a firebending strike is their only warning.
Azula yelps and Mai shrieks as the Fire Lord comes flying past the eave of the roof. Father flails, throwing one arm down to catch the slanted surface of the roof and turning his ill-controlled arc into a somewhat controlled tumble landing. Father groans, sounding somewhere between resigned and frustrated. She's never noticed before, but Father sounds remarkably like Zuzu when he does that.
And then Agni swarms Father, burying him under half the flock of chittering lemurs.
Ozai takes a moment to be sure he has reclaimed control of his breath after laughing. Then, he charges at the wall of the palace. He takes two steps up the vertical surface and then performs a concussive fire-blast kick to --
Ozai yelps.
Too much!
Instead of providing just enough of a redirection and boost to allow Ozai to catch the roof, the fire-blast sends him flying past the eave altogether.
Ozai manages to catch the incline of the roof under one hand and redirect his unanticipated momentum into a roll. ...Unfortunately, he left the muscle memory for that maneuver in his previous body. It still works, mostly.
Ozai groans and then finds himself mobbed by white lemur-bats. Ozai doesn't try to get up right away, too busy grumpily trying to calculate how much he needs to hold back his concussive redirection moves now and how long it will take to train his body to instinctively perform recovery tuck-and-roll landings. One hand absently settles on the back of the lemur crouched on his chest and scratches lightly between the little thing's shoulders.
He only realises what he's done when Agni's purr starts to vibrate through him. Ozai's fingers freeze mid-scratch and he looks down at the fire form under his hand. The purr fades away. Agni's ears perk and his tail lashes in anticipation.
"Um..." Ozai utters. He might be a little too used to Momo.
Agni laughs. A small paw bats his nose before he can react and the lemur-bat form escapes from under his hand, quickly becoming lost in the rest of the flock.
Ozai blinks and sits up, scattering yet more of Agni's manifestations. One lands on his right shoulder and another two crowd his lap. One slips under his hand and arches its back, and, well, he can take a hint when it's that blatant. Ozai gently scratches down the lemur's spine as Agni presses into the offered attention.
"Father," Azula greets him, one of Agni's other forms sitting on her knee.
"Hello, Azula," Ozai returns. He carefully picks up Agni, cradling the fire form to his chest and scratching behind large ears. Ozai hadn't realized purring could sound so smug but Agni manages it as he sprawls in Ozai's arms.
Okay, then. Good to know.
Another lemur form hops into his lap to fill the emptied space. Ozai represses an amused huff.
"Miss Mai," he continues his greetings, and he's relieved by how little the sight of her actually reminds him of his wife. She's too young and far too obvious with her emotions. He'd have an easier time imagining the girl in front of him as his daughter alongside Azula than seeing her as his wife. He'd been afraid interacting with this time's Mai would remind him of what he's lost. If anything, seeing Mai like this just makes him feel nostalgic for his childhood, and that is a far gentler ache that he already knows how to deal with.
"Fire Lord Ozai," Mai says, nodding in place of a full bow. Seeing as they are all sitting on a roof and Ozai made a complete fool of himself not a degree ago, that's a better adherence to protocol and more respectful greeting than he's inclined to demand from any of the girls.
The lemur by her feet creeps closer and Mai glares at it. Agni stops, but the slow wave of his tail is more patient than resigned.
"Miss T--" Ozai stumbles over his own tongue but presses on despite his sudden concern, "Miss Ty-Lee."
The girl sniffles and blubbers something that might have been a return greeting, face bowed low over the lemur clutched to her chest. There's another lemur pressed to the girl's side. Both forms in contact with Ty-Lee flicker with snatches of color like dragon's fire.
Ozai clears his throat and addresses Azula in a quiet voice. "I think you should check on your friend, Little Dragon." Azula glances at Ty-Lee with reluctance before squaring her shoulders and Ozai realizes his mistake. He catches Azula's shoulder and adds, "A true friend's loyalty can go beyond all logic. Check on her kindly, Azula."
Azula's flash of trepidation is quickly hidden as she nods. "Yes, Father."
Ozai nods back and releases his daughter.
Azula shuffles closer to Ty-Lee and asks, "What's wrong?" Her tone is stiff and not precisely gentle, but the effort to be less demanding and condescending is clear to anyone who knows Azula.
Ty-Lee blubbers more incoherent words, peeking up at Azula with a tear-streaked face.
If Azula hadn't already looked uncomfortable, she certainly does now. "I can't understand your caterwauling," she doesn't quite snap, "Take a breath and speak, Ty-Lee."
Ty-Lee gulps down a lungful of air and holds it.
And then she does it again.
And again.
One more time.
Azula shows better patience for the attempt at breath control than she had for half-sobbed mumbling.
Finally, Ty-Lee extends the Agni manifestation in her hands for Azula to inspect and says, "I can hold fire, Azula! And I'm not burned!"
Azula's head tilts as she considers the statement. "I suppose if Zuzu could bend and I had not been blessed with the ability, I would also find that distressing."
Ty-Lee's eyes flit through a riot of emotions. Her mouth opens, but closes again without anything said. Frustration firms her jaw for a moment before something almost defeated takes its place. "I don't know how to say it," she finally admits, drawing Agni back to her chest and wiping away tears with the heel of one hand.
"The little dancer required assurance of her welcome in my hearth," says the fragment of Agni in Ty-Lee's arms, "I offered direct greeting as proof of my goodwill."
Ty-Lee nods rapidly and hugs the manifestation closer.
"My parents say you shouldn't trifle with spirits," Mai cuts in, edging away from encroaching lemurs with a narrow-eyed glare.
Azula scoffs. "Only fools would trifle with spirits," she says, "However, we may as well surrender the nation to our enemies now if we do not trust Agni."
Mai starts, looking over at Azula and then back at the surrounding white fire lemur-bats. "Agni?"
"So I am," the entire flock responds, the synchronicity of the statement turning it almost eerie. Agni laughs, not the chittering lemur-bat sound, but the deep chuckle Ozai is used to hearing from the great spirit. Lemurs run into each other and reform until their little group of four is walled in by the lazy loop of a dragon made of white fire.
Ty-Lee squeals a cheer of, "Fluffy!" and tosses herself on top of Agni's tail in a full-body hug. The fire of Agni's tail proceeds to take on more flickering colors around the half-buried child.
It's not the first time Ozai has seen Agni produce colors other than white with his fire, but Agni's anger had been a clear cause then. Agni shows no sign of anger now. So, what is causing the wisps of color in the Sun Spirit's fire?
"Would you recognize me more easily in this form?" Agni asks, drawing Ozai's attention, though the question was not aimed at him.
Mai shrugs, cautiously reaching out to brush testing fingers through the dragon's mane. "I haven't been taught much of spirits except to avoid them."
Agni huffs in dissatisfaction. "False heralds and the unreasonable second charter have eroded much," he grumbles. Agni grows intent as the spirit says, "Lady Mai of Second Fire, you will not remember our meeting, but you have managed to wrest a favor from me. What would you ask for?"
The words fall out of Ozai's mouth before he can think better of them. "You've met Mai?"
When? How? For what purpose? Why is this the first he's hearing of a meeting between his wife and Agni?
"We have conversed before," Agni says, "Once."
"Wh--"
"Child mine," Agni interrupts and warns, "do not interfere in spirit bargains to which you are not party, particularly not the payment of deals already agreed upon."
Ozai digs his fingers into the flesh of his legs and forces himself to say, "Yes, Agni."
"Peace," Agni says, "Schemer and deal-maker though I am, trickster I have played rarely. Furthermore, I am the debtor between the two of us. Mai of Second Fire is in no danger from me."
"What did I give you?" Mai asks, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"That which was mutually deemed precious but impossible to preserve without intervention," Agni answers.
Mai scowls before her face smooths of all expression. Her hand drops back to her side. "You won't tell me what it was."
"You have my answer, Lady Mai of Second Fire," Agni says. The great spirit's voice is neither cruel nor dismissive, but it is firm.
"Can I have it back?" Mai asks.
"No."
"Fine." Mai considers the fire spirit waiting for her request. "Can I have time to think about what favor to ask for? I'd hate to set an insulting price for something 'mutually deemed precious' out of haste."
Agni's grin unfurls slowly, full of sharp dragon teeth. "I will allow it. The wise do well to request as much."
Mai nods sharply. "What are the limits? No experienced 'deal-maker' would agree to a completely open favor."
"It cannot exceed my ability to provide. It cannot require infringement of the current spirit charter. It cannot disrupt schemes I have already set in motion. It cannot be something which would result from actions I would have taken regardless of your request."
Mai sighs. "How am I supposed to know how to avoid the requirements of your secret schemes and a charter I've never read?"
"I will tell you if your request is invalid," Agni says, "and you will be allowed to make a different request."
"And how do I let you know when I have decided on a favor to request?" Mai asks.
"Light a candle and speak my name," Agni responds, "I will find you."
Mai shrugs. "That seems easy enough."
"Indeed," Agni agrees. "Consider your price well, Lady Mai of Second Fire. It is not often I allow myself to be cornered as debtor in a deal."
"I will," Mai vows, lifting her chin.
Agni chuckles. "I will take my leave." The spirit gently shakes Ty-Lee out of his tail and onto her feet. To Ozai, he says, "Enjoy your time with your fledgeling, child mine. They tend to grow faster than their parents anticipate." And then Agni leaps off the roof and disappears in a shower of sparks over the lava field.
Ozai looks over at Azula to find her already studying him, and then she asks, "Is Agni the reason I am 'Little Dragon' now?"
Ozai laughs and grins. "Agni called you 'dragon-hearted' once. He gave the definition of fierce, loyal, and ruthless. I couldn't argue." He shrugs helplessly and tugs lightly on his daughter's hair.
Azula smirks as she preens. "I am quite fierce," she agrees.
"Oh, Little Dragon, that has never been in doubt," Ozai assures. "Now, how were you three planning to get down from this roof?"