Goodnight

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This long day was coming to an end.

Exhausted by the amount of things to do and plans to make, the princess entered her chambers with the last rays of the sun.

With a mechanical gait, she walked to the mirror and sat down, staring at her reflection. Black hair, a stern look of golden eyes that was full of fatigue, forming small bags under the eyes and perfectly straight posture. Her outer state could not describe even one tenth of her fatigue. There were too many things to do this day. No, not just this day, but yesterday as well, Azula remembered that she hadn't slept in over two days.

Exactly two days had passed since she had met the despicable demon. This time had been too full of various events: Meeting the spirit. Vain attempts to get rid of it. A hopeless search for information with constant bickering and promises of painful retribution. A strained reconciliation. False obedience and fulfilment of the requests-orders of the disembodied wretch. Council of War. Gathering information about Master Piandao. Own gathering, searching for poetic literature, preparing a personal ship and other trivialities of preparing for the journey of a member of the imperial family... and now, finally, this day cursed by Agni himself came to an end.

Almost... almost came to an end.

Sighing heavily, she focuses her gaze on her reflection, beginning to remove her armour. Usually the servants would help with this, but right now it was more important to talk to the hated spirit. Azula's strength was running low and she wanted to sleep badly, but talking was more important!

- You wished to speak to me spirit," the princess began first, taking off her shoes with undisguised fatigue.

"You were the first to start a conversation with me, is our relationship getting better?" - her housemate immediately responds with a hint of friendliness.

- 'I don't have the energy for long conversations, I've done everything you asked,' the girl replied, pulling off her second shoe and beginning to remove her breast armour.

"And I'm satisfied with you, do I need to explain anything to you? Maybe you have questions piling up? Perhaps I can even answer them," the spirit continued in a friendly manner, causing a strong urge to grimace.

- I'd like to talk to you tomorrow, when I've had some rest. Our acquaintance and confrontation has made me a little tired," the girl admitted deliberately, not wanting to listen to the talkative spirit any longer.

"Well, in that case we will discuss our further actions tomorrow, and now you can sleep, I will guard your sleep without giving away my presence," the Spirit replied calmly.

- Good, if that's the case," Azula pulled off the last pieces of her armour and threw them on the floor, she put on her night dressing gown and climbed onto the bed, hiding under the covers. With a light flick of her fingers, she extinguished the candles, letting the room fall into darkness.

Covering her eyes, she was about to head into the realm of dreams as...

"Azula," the spirit said her name.

- What? I'm trying to sleep here," the girl said grudgingly, showing some of her annoyance at the pestering demon.

"Good night," the spirit continued, as if nothing had happened.

- What does that mean? - The princess didn't understand the words.

"That's what it means, I wish you good night, so that you sleep and gain strength, in return, according to the rules of decency, you should also say good night to me," - the interlocutor kindly condescended to explain.

Of course she knew all this. His words brought back not the most pleasant memories of her distant childhood. Father, mother, brother-a happy family on a coal island. Warm and vivid memories of carefree days gone by that can never be recalled. Only her mum in her distant childhood had said goodbye to her at night like that. No one else had ever done so. Not wanting to remember her own childhood, Azula hid under the blanket with her head buried.

- ...Good night, spirit," the princess replied after a short delay, her voice indifferent to her trauma and emotions.

Night covered the land of fire, and the girl soon drifted away into the realm of morpheus, ceding her body to the unknown spirit...

(***)

Night. Palace of the Fire Lord.

The princess's chambers were as quiet as the entire palace. Only the rare patrols of guards in pairs, with their quiet steps, broke the silence of the place. Everything was quiet and beautiful. Lying on the large and soft bed, Azula slept peacefully, breathing a full chest with a smile on her face. She slept and had beautiful dreams.

Sleep is an amazing state of mind during which rest occurs. During sleep, a person can see dozens of different scenes, situations, memories, and then in the morning do not remember any of them. Amazing mysteries of the human mind. Princess Azula was sleeping, definitely dreaming, as she suddenly....

- Ah! Ha, ha, ha, ha... - rising abruptly, Azula woke up, starting to breathe heavily, not realising what was happening.

The darkness-covered chambers were instantly illuminated by the flickering candles on the chandelier. The princess kept throwing her gaze from one corner of the room to another, looking around her room with a slight fear in her eyes. Everything was in place, nothing had changed since she had fallen asleep. The table, the wardrobe, the mirror, the curtains and the rest of the furniture stood motionless in their places. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear nothing but that sound and her own breathing. What else was there to hear at night, though? Unless it was the howling of the wind as it strode through the corridors of the palace.

"Hush, hush, you'll attract the guards again. What's wrong? You woke up so abruptly, I was even scared! It was an unpleasant sensation, you know," a familiar spirit voice immediately echoed. Hearing it, she began to calm down, taking control of her emotions.

- Nothing, just a bad dream..." the girl replied, though she didn't believe her own words in the slightest.

Azula's first thoughts were of the spirit's involvement in her condition. He must have been doing something unbeknownst to her while she was resting, but to voice those thoughts was to arouse his suspicions. Deciding to hold them back until she could figure out what was going on, Azula began to calm her trembling heart. There was no doubt that the spirit was to blame for her condition. Something like this had never happened to her in her entire life. And that nasty feeling of dread... She could only speculate and guess at what the spirit had been doing while she slept. What it now felt such instinctive terror from.

"Will you tell me what you dreamed?" - As if not noticing the princess's state, the demon excitedly inquires.

- 'No,' she answers dryly, 'I don't remember, it must have been something unpleasant. It doesn't matter.

"Will you continue to sleep? Shall I sing you a lullaby? Or tell you a story?" - her tormentor tried to cheer her up, but Azula heard that nasty note of pity in his voice.

- "I'll do without," she said in a sarcastic refusal.

"Good, I can't sing as well as I can tell a good story," the spirit admitted easily.

- I suppose I should be the one asking you what happened? You were controlling your body at the time, weren't you? - Azula dared to ask, suspecting the spirit of not telling her much. The princess didn't trust him at all and wanted to get rid of the demon as soon as possible, but alas, she couldn't.

"I didn't realise anything myself. I was lying on my cot, enjoying a pleasant idleness, as suddenly you woke up, giving me a good scare."

- That's it? - The princess asks suspiciously, burying a fingertip in her own hair.

"That's it, I didn't notice anything else," the spirit admitted honestly, except Azula didn't believe him one bit.

- I need to rest, tomorrow we sail from the capital," Azula pretended to be tired and lay back down, wondering what the spirit could have been doing while she slept.

"Sleep well, Azula..."

(***)

The next day, the princess of the fire country left the capital without any problems. Ordering her servants to gather her belongings, she travelled with them, and the imperial motorcade to her personal ship. Taking with her two counsellors, who at the same time were the girl's mentors in many disciplines. That same afternoon, her personal ship sailed from the harbour.

The princess's ship was of the frigate class. Such ships were slightly smaller than cruisers, the bulk of the war machines led by battleships that made up the majority of the Fire Nation's navy. At the expense of size, the frigate had greater speed and a number of other advantages. Chief among these was its low draft, allowing the ship to approach almost any shore unhindered. The personal vessel of the princess of the country was characterised by slightly larger dimensions, rich, even pompous decoration and special deck construction. Particularly remarkable was the superstructure, made in the form of a pagoda.

"You could tell that a very important person was sailing. So much pomp... the ship just screams to be robbed! Your enemies will see you well and recognise you from afar," the spirit then spoke up when he first saw the princess's personal vessel.

For several hours after leaving the harbour, the ship ploughed through the expanse of the sea without meeting anyone in its path, it moved along the laid out course confidently and swiftly. Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot off the deck of the ship, flying high into the sky to the deafening sounds of thunder. After a while it happened again, and then again and again....

The princess once again makes circular motions with her hands, bringing her index and middle fingers together in front of her before pointing them into the sky. At the same moment, a bright lightning bolt bursts from her fingertips, flying high into the bottomless blue in a matter of moments.

- Almost perfect," commented one of the old ladies sitting up high from the main deck, commenting on Azula's efforts.

- There's just one little thing missing," another old woman added, not noticing how dangerously narrowed the princess's pupils were at her words.

- 'Almost doesn't suit me,' the girl replied menacingly to her mentors as she continued to train alone on the deck of the ship.

"Am I the only one confused by the fact that you're being trained by two grandmothers who don't know magic and only know the theory? No, of course they know a lot about technology and the structure of ships, tanks and other military industry, good thing I was present at your theoretical lessons, but lightning?" - Azula's inner Azula inquired, which was habitually ignored.

A circular motion with his hands. Azula's inner Qi splits into two different energies: positive and negative. Next, joining the index and centre fingers of the hands, the two energies collide, forming a charge inside the girl's body. A sharp movement of the hand gives the charge a direction. The energy instantly leaves the mage's body along the given direction, bursting out of the fingers in the form of a large and bright blue lightning bolt.

"GROOM!"

"Seems to me like too much preparation time, but good for you, you're doing the right thing. All that's left is to build up your hand and get the technique into your reflexes, and then you can experiment with stance and guiding fingers," instead of answering, Azula once again repeated the technique, shooting lightning into the sky.

"GROOOM!!!" a deafening sound accompanied the lightning flash.

"You know, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now, and you're still not talking. No, I understand that reputations are expensive, but I don't want you or me to spread rumours that you're not right in the head. Anyway, I've got an idea..." - Another executed lightning conquest technique interrupted the spirit.

"GROOOOOOM!!!" the deafening sound interrupted even the howling of the sea wind, let alone other people's thoughts.

"Figured out a way to interact between us, anyway..." - began the spirit irritably as he was interrupted once again.

"GROOOOOOOM!!!!"

"One more lightning in the sky and someone will lose an arm," the spirit threatened coldly, no longer willing to put up with the girl's whims.

- 'Phew,' Azula shakes the sweat off her forehead and walks to the edge of the deck, leaning on the railing.

- Princess? - asks the old woman interestedly, watching the royal person.

- I decided to take a breather, I'll be back to training in five minutes, - Azula lied without blinking an eye, looking out to sea. The cool sea breeze caressed the girl's face, bringing pleasant feelings.

- Patience, patience is needed in many endeavours, take your time, you will definitely succeed if you continue to put so much effort into your training," the other twin wisely finished for her sister.

"So where was I? Ah yes... the communication between us. Anyway, there's nothing complicated about it. Just blink once if you agree and twice if you don't. I, on the other hand, will try to speak to you with questions that can be answered so briefly, do you agree with such an undertaking?" - muttered the spirit, pleased at being allowed to speak at last.

Morgue.

"Fine! I know you're Daddy's only daughter, you've got your own ship with a full crew, a catapult and a couple of ballistae, not to mention thirty firebenders from the Imperial motorcade, but are you really going to go with all that entourage to Piandao? However he wouldn't take something like that as an assassination attempt..." - expressed the spirit's thoughts that he had been saving up since the morning when he first saw the princess' personal ship and dozens of her guards.

Azula blinked once, expressing her agreement.

"Oh... so you're serious. Well, I'll save my speech about what a stupid idea this is until tonight. I don't mind a ship and personal guards, after all you don't trust me, and your people have enemies enough, and security is always important, but that many people would attract too much attention and would only be a burden to meet the master. On the whole I am not against such escorts, they fit in with my future vision of our adventures. But think carefully, he's turned down a huge number of all sorts of rich sons of various military men. They were probably trying to take advantage of Daddy's status and his money. Of course, you could push the princess status, but that wouldn't be the best option, anyway, we'll talk about it tonight," the spirit gave his long opinion.

Azula remained silent as she pondered his words.

"You can go back to your training, just ignore me less now, it's you know hurtful.... By the way, good for you for taking poetry literature, I can't wait to hear your poetic apology," the spirit gave his admonishment, reminding her of the lingering resentment.

Sighing and exhaling, Azula returned to her lightning conquest training.

The journey to the right island promised to be a long one.