=====================================================
'Oh by Agni, what was she thinking, inviting that boy, Zhan here. Why did she do that? Why?! Agni...No, no, she is a princess, and she'll act like one...'
'Yet she wishes the fire in her stomach, could stop.'
Three hours of combing through the Royal Archives, and a visit to the local Fire Sages had yielded, the result Li and Lo, were looking for; and more. They were both heading back towards the training room when a usual sight in the Training Grounds caught their attention. The young princess and boy seemed to be practicing.
'As much as Azula didn't like the attitude of the boy one bit she had to admit, he was skilled in his arts. Never to admit he WAS better than her, in hand-to-hand fighting.' 'She would rather be eaten by a boar-pig than admit that. Even in her training robe, and without the Royal uniform, he was still a match for her.'
"Less strength, more precision, Princess," said Zhan, blocking her jabs.
'Damn you, precision,' she thought, sending a kick at his ribs.
Zhan swiftly grabbed Azula by her leg, between his hand quickly, sweeping her from her balance.
"Damn," she mumbled under her breath, getting back up. "How can you counter and block everything I throw at you? You aren't, trained to fight, firebenders are you?!".
"Nono, princ...-"
"Azula," she interrupted.
"Azula, I'm merely countering your choice of fighting," he replied, chuckling.
"I counter your strength. For example, your fighting style is powerful and precise on the other, hand you rely on, your firepower to overwhelm your opponents."
"Hmm," she mumbled, 'but honestly she had no idea what he was meaning Agni, he's like Uncle Iroh,'
"Seems, we have an audience," said Zhan, seeing that Li and Lo, had decided to watch their training.
'Oh Agni, there goes my reputation,' thought Azula.
"I think I should take my leave now; since I've taken up a lot of your time...Princess Azula," replied Zhan, bowing.
'Thank Agni, he's mannerable, in front of them,' thought Azula. "Indeed, a good day to you as well."
As soon as Zhan had left, Azula had immediately run up the stairs to the balcony Li and Lo were.
"How much did you see?" asked Azula in her commanding voice.
"Everything," "and from what we saw," "the young boy is very skilled," they said.
"Oh, this is bad. My father won't like this one bit. ME! Getting bested by a NON-BENDER!" Azula yelled furiously.
"Actually," "the boy, isn't such a nobody," "you imagine him to be."
"What do you know?" asked Azula.
"Your father," "Firelord Ozai had instructed us," "to find out about," "everything we could find, about him."
"And?" she asked impatiently.
"This is his family history," said Li pulling out a scroll with the Royal Archive emblem, which Azula quickly snatched and started to read, "well...this changes a lot," said Azula having finished reading the scroll. "Yet, I still think he's up to no good."
"And why is that?" asked Lo.
'Azula then started to recall, everything she had felt around him when he touched her and how she reacted around him.'
"Maybe he had poisoned me?" thought Azula, out-loud yet was surprised when Li and Lo, started to giggle. "What?!"
"Dear Princess," "what you are feeling around him," "is quite natural," "and not any sign of bad will at all."
"What?" asked Azula again, hoping they'd be less cryptic.
"It seems you like the boy," they replied together.
"WHAT!" she yelled out, shocked. "Impossible."
"Be that as it may," "the signs are there," "and you shouldn't deny them," they replied, smiling at her.
She rolled her eyes at the twin's, comments starting to walk back towards her room, the twins giggling echoing behind her.
'Interested? What a joke! I don't have time for emotions. They are for the weak,' she repeated the mantra in her head. 'Yet, what if?'... "GAAH, I hate these feelings."
=====================================================
Back in Throne Room, Ozai was handling some paperwork, when the twins entered the chamber.
"What have you found out?" asked Ozai, setting the papers aside.
"A lot," "and also more," they said, Li handing the Firelord a Royal Archive scroll, which he started to read.
[Name:] Zhan
[Father:] General Zhu
[Mother:] Lady Asiza
[Info:] Noble house (Non-bender)
[Bloodline:] Descendant of Xin Zho Zi
'XIN ZHO ZI?!' thought out Ozai.
"Is this true?"
"But Xin Zho Zi was a great firebender rivaling the Avatar even back then. How can this boy be descendant from him?" asked Ozai.
"Well Firelord," "further studying revealed," "that Xin Zho Zi's bloodline is," "full of surprises."
"What kind?"
"While the boy may be a non-bender," "his bloodline is very powerful," "which have had their share of people," "with disabilities and other problems," "but have produced people with particularly strong gifts."
"An example is of Zhar Xun, the great tactician," said Li.
"Who drove back Jin the Conquerors attacks upon us," replied Ozai, a textbook answer.
"Yet who was also blind," said Lo.
'Impossible,' thought Ozai.
"And yet his son was born a firebender later, without any disabilities," said Li.
"Hmmm. This is interesting," said Ozai, thinking. "A boy with a bloodline like this could be useful."
"Indeed," said Lo, smiling at his twin sister.
"Is there something else?" asked Ozai.
"There is something," "related to your daughter."
"What might that be?" asked, Ozai puzzled.
"It seems," "the princess has a hidden," "interest in the boy," said the twins together.
"Hmmm. Very well, you may leave," said Ozai, 'wanting some time to think.'
'Azula is interested in the boy. Well, he does seem skilled, and someone that isn't scared off by her, personality,' he thought, smiling. The boy had a strong bloodline and could produce a powerful off-spring. 'Then it's settled.'
"Servant!" said Ozai, summoning one to his chamber. "Get me the Princess."
"Right away, M'Lord," said the servant going to bring the princess.
=====================================================
Azula was currently occupied, in her room, having changed her clothes and taken a bath. Admiring the metal claws-gauntlet, 'easy to use, and didn't hinder her firebending. She could easily slip a pair of gloves on and then surprise her enemies. And it didn't even look like an armor piece; apparently, Zhan had made it fit her small hand size, and the decorations on it were good.'
"Princess?" came a knock at her door.
"Yes?" she asked, removing the gauntlet.
"Your father would like to see you," said a servant.
'Oh Agni, not this,' she thought, obvious, that her father didn't like her performance today.
"Tell him I'll be right there."
"Of course, Princess."
'Great!' she thought, starting to dress herself up again.
=====================================================
Ten minutes later, and she striding towards the Royal Throne Room, heart beating. 'Oh Agni, what is fire, am I can gonna say to him?!' she thought, pushing through the curtains into the chamber. "Father, you summoned me?"
"Indeed," he replied, rising from his throne, and going over to her. "Tell me, what do you think of the young boy Zhan?"
"He seems a loyal citizen, and a great fighter," she replied.
"Yes, but what do you think about him?" asked Ozai, kneeling in front of her.
"I..I.." she stuttered, unable to say anything.
"Do you have an interested in him?" he asked. "And don't lie."
'Oh, great...Um, I guess,' she thought.
"I guess so," said Azula, meaning more by the training aspect, than the...emotional one.
"Very well then, if you are that enthusiastic, then you're allowed to see him," replied Ozai, getting back to his throne. "Dismissed."
Azula rose and left the chamber, more confused than ever.
'By Agni! Please give me something to burn!' she thought, going back to her room.
=====================================================