Standing at the center of their garden, Azula stared at the flowing fountain. Her mind kept replaying the scene of her mother and her dear brother Zuzu getting along at the pond. Like always.

Azula bit her lip in frustration, her hands balling into fists.

‘Why… Why does she keep playing favourites?’

For years, Azula asked that question to herself. She couldn’t understand why. Whereas Zuko lacked in all areas, according to her father’s standards, she excelled. And yet her mother chose him over her again and again. Whenever she told her mother about her achievements, all she would get was a plain “That’s nice, dear” or a “Well done, Azula”. But whenever her brother did something miniscule in comparison, she would sing his praises.

‘She’s so unfair…!’

Azula’s anger simmered just beneath the surface, begging to be released in some form, and she obliged.

Entering her stance, she began practicing her standard firebending forms with extreme intensity. Azula’s movements were precise. Her form? Perfect. But this time, she fuelled it with her rage. Her frustration. Her bitterness towards her mother and brother. They served as a potent form of fuel, enhancing her firebending’s power.

Her emotions clouded her mind. Just as she launched an arc of fire after performing a crescent kick, she failed to notice Nathan being in the path of her attack.

“Do—!” Azula yelled, but the momentary distraction caused her to lose balance and fall to the ground. “Ah!”

“Woah!”

To her surprise, Nathan quickly stepped away from the attack just when she thought it would hit him. He approached her fallen and disgraceful form. “You okay, Azula?” he asked with a level of concern for her that she found odd.

“I’m perfectly fine,” she said bitingly, standing up and patting the dust off her clothes. “Why are you here?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you were watching us back there. Why didn’t you join us?” he asked. “You okay?”

Again, his concern puzzled her.

“There was no reason for me to join you,” she lied. It had become easier since she had first done so. Though she was surprised that he managed to spot her when she was being careful. “Besides, I’m practicing my firebending, which is far more important than feeding turtle ducks bread.”

“Yeah… I saw that. You looked pretty angry. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No. I am—wasn’t angry.”

The fact that she slipped and Nathan caught it immensely annoyed her.

“Aha… So you are angry,” he said with an insufferable smile on his face. “But it seems like you’d rather not talk about it, so I won’t ask. Wanna play a game instead?”

“What game?”

“It’s called… Zen Showdown. It’s a game where there is only one winning condition: You have to meditate longer than everyone else does. Wanna try it?”

“That sounds incredibly boring and stupid. No, thank you.” Azula turned around and began to walk away. Besides, she had never meditated once in her life.

“You’re just saying that because you don’t think you’ll win against me.”

Azula halted mid-step. Turning around, she glared at Nathan challengingly.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me, kid.” Nathan crossed his arms. To add to the disrespect, he also had the audacity to lean down to her height. “I think you’re just afraid of losing to me in a meditation match. What? Can’t sit still and close your eyes any longer than five minutes?”

Azula’s glare turned into a smoldering scowl. “You will regret challenging me.”

“There’s the spunk I expected. Why don’t we add some stakes as well? Whoever loses has to do a small dare,” he said.

“Deal.” She sat on the grass in a meditative pose and closed her eyes. “There is no way I’ll ever lose.”

“Oho. We’ll see about that.”

Nathan followed her lead and entered his own meditative pose across from her. Soon after, the only sound around them was the sound of nature and their breathing.

-=-

“Mom, do you think Nathan’s okay?”

Ursa patted her son’s head. Her mind was still replaying that moment of Zuko emulating Azula. While she loved both of her children dearly, Azula’s influence on Zuko frightened her. And yet, Ursa couldn’t blame her daughter for what she was becoming. Ever since Ozai had found their daughter's prodigious firebending talent and her less empathetic predisposition, he had been shaping her and making her fit into his mold. She had done nothing to stop him. She wasn't even sure if she was able to. In return, Ozai ignored Zuko for not meeting his standards, leaving it to Ursa to care for him.

Ursa wanted to help both of her children, but she feared what Ozai would do if she opposed his control over Azula, his favored child.

‘Mother… Father… I don’t know what to do…’

The horrifying image of Azula becoming as cruel and power-hungry as Ozai haunted her thoughts.

“Mom? Mom, you okay?”

Ursa snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at her son with a smile. “Yes, dear. I’m doing just fine. What were you asking?”

“I asked you if you think Nathan’s okay. He seemed like he was in a hurry when he left.”

“I’m sure he’s okay, Zuko. Nathan’s probably busy with something. But if you really want to, we can go looking for him.”

“Really? Let’s go!” Her son enthusiastically stood up. “I wanted to ask him some questions. Oh! Maybe he could teach me how to fight like he did against dad’s soldiers! Like this! And this!”

Ursa chuckled as Zuko began clumsily replicating Nathan’s fighting style, almost tripping on his own feet.

“Settle down, Zuko. Nathan will probably be more than happy to teach you.” Ursa walked in the direction she saw Nathan heading towards. “Come on. He might be nearby.”

-=-

Nathan had been peacefully meditating when he heard footsteps approaching.

“What are they doing?” Zuko asked in a whisper.

“…I think they’re meditating,” Ursa whispered back.

“Oh. But why?”

As soon as he said that, Nathan opened his eyes and silently gestured for them to stay silent.

Understanding Nathan’s gesture, Ursa led Zuko away. “I think we should leave. We shouldn’t disturb their meditation,” she whispered.

“But…”

“No buts, young man. You can ask Nathan questions later. Now come. I think it’s time for you to study.”

Nathan silently sighed with relief and returned to meditating. It had been a small gamble of his to appeal to Azula’s pride and ego. She was in a foul mood, probably because what she saw earlier made her jealous. He knew Azula wasn’t the type of person to talk about her issues to someone that easily, so to help her calm down, he made up this meditation game.

Thankfully, she took part in his “game”. Though he may have drawn Azula’s ire with how he provoked her into doing it.

He wouldn’t be distracted again until around thirty minutes later, when the loud growl of a hungry stomach drew his attention and amusement.

‘She’s hungry, huh? I’m surprised she lasted this long without complaint. Still, it’s not surprising that competitiveness is one of her best motivators.’

He himself wasn’t someone that liked competing with others for the sake of winning or for the sake of proving his superiority, but Azula having this trait fit her personality quite well.

After another thirty minutes, Azula’s stomach roared again.

Unable to hold his composure and pitying the hungry girl, Nathan slumped over with a hand covering his grinning mouth. “I give up. You win, Azula.”

“Hmph.” Crossing her arms, Azula narrowed her now open eyes and raised her head victoriously. “Of course, I won. You never had a chance of beating me.”

“Yes, yes. I bow to her majesty’s majestic roars.” He playfully grinned and bowed with obviously fake subservience in his manner and tone.

Azula’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and she quickly stood up. “Are you making fun of—?!”

She suddenly staggered and placed a hand on her forehead before almost falling to the ground. Nathan quickly caught her and helped her stand.

“Woah. You okay?” he asked, crouching down and inspecting her condition. He knew what happened to her was the event that occurs whenever someone stood up after sitting for a long while or when they hadn’t been hydrated enough.

“I feel… dizzy. And everything is blurry,” she groaned in reply.

“That’s not good…” he said worriedly. “Let’s go find your mom or one of the servants.”

Gently picking her up, Nathan put her on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Just hold on tight, Azula. Sorry about giving you a piggy-back ride without your permission, but it’ll only be for a while. The symptoms will go away in a minute or two.”

As he walked back, Nathan admired the way the sunset tinted the sky in a blend of yellow and orange hues so mesmerising the best painter in the world could paint it and the actual sight would still be more beautiful.

‘Maybe I should start drawing or painting. It shouldn’t be that hard to learn either skill. I could even make some money out of it, like Picasso.’