It's complicated

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"Awake," I voice the change I saw in the girl.

- Yoaru? - She says sleepily, opening her eyes. - What happened? Where are we? What time is it? Or is it day? - Immediately began to show activity no longer sleeping beauty.

Azula was about to sit up, but I didn't let her.

"Hush, you'll attract the guardsmen, and I'd like to talk to you alone for a while before I let you go to them," I put my hand on the girl's shoulder, helping her lie back on the bed. And without giving the princess time to resent me, I ask the next question, "What's the last thing you remember?"

- Why such a strange question? Though..." the princess stretches out thoughtfully, "My memory is somewhat hazy.

"I was wary of that. Try to remember yesterday, better start from the beginning, it will be easier that way," I tell the girl in a soft voice, not wanting to give her any more reasons to worry.

- Can't you just answer me what happened to me? - Alas, my soft, soothing tone was to no avail.

"All in good time. Now you can start reminiscing about the previous day. Don't worry, everything is fine and under control now. You are in the mayor's mansion, it is guarded by your soldiers. Our conversation won't take long, and it will be extremely useful," I insisted.

- Okay," Azula replied warily as she relaxed on the bed and began to recount what she remembered. I sat next to her and listened intently.

The story started in the morning, but the simple platitudes of morning procedures and topics of conversation with my friends were not interesting to me, as well as most of the orders and actions of Zula in the relations of her subordinates. All this I already knew from her mates. The presence of these memories was gratifying. Their presence meant that her brain had not been damaged by the poison and her memory was intact. Which meant that the evil princess was fully recovered.

Soon the princess' story began to come to a familiar end.

- ...Walking around the city. We were, you might say, having fun. Everything was wonderful, but... suddenly there was an attack. The killer was an amateur, however... I underestimated his stupidity. He attacked swiftly and was instantly met with fire. His life was cut short in an instant. Only death did not frighten him. By the time I realised it, he had already inflicted a small wound on me - a scratch. And then... next... next... I can't remember anything specific. Just Mei and Tai Li's concerned looks, and the blue sky. Yoaru, what happened next? - The princess's pensive gaze fixed on me, wanting answers.

There was no reason for me to hide them.

"The knife was poisoned. One scratch was enough to kill you. As you've probably guessed by now: it didn't work. The assassin acted according to plan, inflicted a small massacre on the healer and his assistants, then went looking for you. The assassination attempt could have been successful if I hadn't been there. You can get all the details of the killer's identity from May. As I suspected, she's doing a fine job as your deputy. The soldiers have dug up solid dirt on everyone he's ever had contact with. It looks like it was a personal initiative, then you can read the investigation reports and check it out for yourself," I dumped the news on the girl, watching her impartial face carefully.

Azula didn't seem to be impressed by the near assassination attempt. However, near-death experiences leave no one indifferent. And her next question only proved my theory that I was only wearing a mask.

- Could I have died?

"Yes, you could have, but no, you're still alive. I saved you. I'm not the only one. When you meet me, thank Tai Li properly. She was invaluable in your treatment. As were several of the guards who worked quickly. Those with medical knowledge, but you can check with Mei. I'll just say that your healers kept you alive until I got here, and then I did my best to make you well," I told her, remembering how hard it had been to deal with the poison.

- I see..." Azula replied with a single word.

However, the girl's tone was full of thoughtfulness. Staring at the ceiling, she indulged in thoughts, immersing her mind in the abyss of her own thoughts. Driven by an interest to peek into them, I decided to inquire:

"All in all, we're almost done. Lastly, I want to ask how are you feeling?"

- Normal," the girl replies calmly, but... I won't be fooled by such a trivial lie.

"Really? You managed to escape death, and now you feel so terrible?" - I say to her in feigned surprise, lying down next to her and continuing to stare at her uninterruptedly.

- I told you, I feel fine," she answers me more harshly, starting to get angry.

Nice. A thought flashes through my mind from seeing the girl's slight anger.

"Normal means it's bad, but I won't tell you that. Or leave me alone, my problems aren't your concern. I think I've gained a bit of your trust after all that's happened between us, but if not, I won't bore you with my questioning," a bit of inherited acting skill, and here Azula feels somewhat uncomfortable with the guilt she feels. Had she been in her right mind, my game would have been immediately exposed, but recent events and the girl's thoughtfulness played into my hands.

With a deep sigh and a long exhalation, she continued.

- I don't know. It feels weird. Everything seems to be okay, but at the same time it's not. I've... never been this close to... the end of my life," Azula answers me in a thoughtful voice with frequent pauses in speech, avoiding a word like 'death'.

"Do you want to talk about it? Share your worries? Thoughts? Worries? Fears? I'm always ready to hear you out," I offer in a friendly voice, offering the girl a bit of privacy.

-Hmm..." she squints. - No. There's nothing to talk about. I'm fine. I'm just a little confused.

For some reason, I felt a certain disappointment and bitterness. Azula is Azula, she's always been and always will be difficult. But I would have liked more trust between us, especially after what I did. It's only for Azula that recognising feelings is difficult. In her mind, feelings are for wimps, at least they used to be. The girl still can't figure out herself, her feelings, and admit the existence of her fears.

"Is that so? Good. In that case, I'll leave you to it. You can rest, or you can go make your subordinates happy. The news that you're alive and your father won't charge them for your death is sure to please people," I answered the princess in a cool voice, getting up from the bed and slowly moving away.

But I was prevented from leaving by a word said in my back.

- Yoaru...

"Yes?"

- You saved my life.

"I wasn't the only one who put effort into it, but that's generally true.

- It's just... I want you to know. You can count on the Emperor's gratitude,'' That's how, still she feels gratitude. Even if she doesn't understand how to express it. Such nice words, it's definitely a successful progress in our relationship.

"Nice. I'll remember your words. For now, I advised you to get some rest and by morning, please everyone with your recovery. I, on the other hand, will return to my business and... Azula. I'm glad you're alive. Try not to get into such dangerous trouble again and don't make me worry," I decide to be a little frank before I leave.

Still, this incident has made me look at my relationship with her in a different way... relationship? No, the word 'interactions' would be more appropriate. Not to say I don't want more.

I've grown attached to the girl.

I guess it was an inevitable outcome, because for quite some time I could only communicate with her. My feelings don't get in the way of my goals, though, and if need be, I can crush them, just as I'd done in my previous life. But will the goal be worth the sacrifice?

In the meantime, the princess was content to stay in bed. It was late at night. Sleep refused to come to her. Instead of resting, she thought long and hard about the scar she had received from the assassin. A cut on her forearm, close to the joint of the elbow, where the blow had come. I hadn't cleaned it up, I hadn't had the strength, and then I'd forgotten it was there. I'll talk to her about it. I wonder how she'll feel about it.

Finished peeking as soon as she fell asleep, I went back to where I left off. Namely putting my knowledge to paper. I had a little help from Ty Lee. Well, how helped, she delivered everything I needed to the room and locked it up, and I was already working quietly by myself.

I've been doing this for a week now, and even though I can only work in the cities and not all the way through, I've already done a lot, even the opposite, a lot. I think: I've already written enough for the spirit board, and it's time to slow down. And my knowledge is not so precise and extensive. It will be difficult to reproduce the technology on my own, without someone else's help. But at the same time, with the help of the first Fire Mistress and ruler of the world, I will be able to change the world beyond recognition. If only I wanted to.

Why am I bringing this up? It's simple. I was running out of knowledge to put on paper and realise in the future. Which meant I'd soon have more free time.

Soon, in the meantime, I worked safely until dawn.....

The sun was illuminating a new day.

I went back to watching Azula with the first rays of the sun. I wondered how much her behaviour would change after such a close encounter with death. I had no doubt that she would change at least a little. There was already evidence of that. And in the not too distant past it had happened. She was no longer the arrogant bitch that appeared before me at the moment of our first acquaintance.

The princess was not in her room, but I had no trouble finding her.

As I thought, the girl had changed her outlook on life a bit. The first thing she promised to do, after a long conversation with Tai Li, was to reward everyone who had distinguished themselves in this incident, namely Mei, Tai Li, and a few guardsmen with medical skills. Everyone would be given a medal each, well other benefits on top of that were also provided to the lucky ones. Zula had learnt to be grateful for the service.

Regarding the assassination attempt itself: the princess wanted justice, not a silly massacre for attempted murder. Old Azula might well have had the entire city scorched, or at the very least executed, or the mayor removed from office for attempting to assassinate the Emperor's person. There was a lot of things that could be dragged in there, but she acted more restrained now. Not punishing people who were only indirectly responsible for the assassination attempt, but sticking to the law and showing mercy. After all, the mayor is responsible for any crimes that happen in his city. But aside from this incident, he had no crimes behind him, so the princess only decided to reprimand him and scare him a bit.

Amazing gentleness on her part.

Watching the girl all day, I noticed that Azula began to spend more time with her friends, getting more pleasure from such a pastime. And their interactions had changed as well. I could see with the naked eye that she trusted them more than ever before. It was evident in the more personal conversations, as well as in other little things. If their friendship was still somewhat questionable before, it was now perfectly visible, Mei and Tai Li were indeed the princess' most trusted confidants. The girl even allowed herself to talk her friends into getting together and playing a game to brighten up the evening. It seems this is a game they haven't played since they got off the ship.

How quickly time flies, busy with routine things they did not notice how the day full of work and problems ended. And now it was evening, the girls gathered together in one of the bedrooms of the mansion and began to play...

- Is this edible? - asks the acrobat from her friends sitting next to her.

- No," replies the princess with a smile.

- Can I touch it? - Tai Li continues.

- No.

- Is it fun?

- Yes.

- What could it be? It's so complicated! I want to enlist the help of a friend! - playfully exclaimed the circus girl, throwing an adoring glance at Azula. At the same time, the girl had a piece of paper with the word "Joy" pinned to her forehead.

- It's not according to the rules," Zula replies with a smile, enjoying the game and not hiding it.

- Okay, in that case, does it have something to do with me? - Ty Lee continues to guess with even more enthusiasm.

- Yes.

- Very much related, - with a small smile supported the princess Mei who was sitting next to Azula.

- Circus! - Tai Li enthusiastically makes another attempt.

- No...

The game continued. Tai Li said the wrong thing over and over again, pouted sweetly at failures and rejoiced again, returning to the game with renewed vigour. The girl was quite smart and savvy, it didn't take her many tries to guess the word. When she did, the girl's joy was unbounded.

- Joy!!! Ha ha! I am Joy! What a wonderful choice of word! - Saying that, the acrobat was bouncing merrily with happiness. She enjoyed playing this kind of game the most.

- That's right, you guessed right,'' Azula replied with a smile, having had a lot of fun while playing the game.

After that it was Mei's turn. After a bit of consultation, the girlfriends decided to give her the word winter. The girl guessed it in seven questions, without any difficulty. It was much faster than with Tai Li. It was Azula's turn. Her word was dragon, and for the girl, the word she chose was a lot of trouble and difficulty. She took much longer to guess than her friends, but in the end, she got it right, even if it took her about thirtieth attempt.

- Dragon? Interesting choice," the girl said with a small chuckle, looking down at the piece of paper she had taken off her forehead.

- It took us a long time to find the right word for you. I suggested comb, but Mei insisted on dragon," Tai Li replied to the princess.

- 'The comb is too easy, the dragon choice is perfect. It's connected to you and yet complex enough that it can't be guessed quickly," Mei decided to explain her word choice to the princess.

- Hmm. It was fun," Azula remarks with a smile, throwing a glance at the window, it was a dark night behind it. - Let's finish up here. Tomorrow we leave the city, time to go get ready for bed.

The girls agreed with the princess and dispersed to their rooms. Azula, however, was in no hurry to go to bed. Instead, she decided to air out her room by opening the window and watching the stars. Seeing such an interesting moment as the most appropriate, I reveal my presence by flying out of the wall and addressing her.

"Azula?"

- Yoaru," she turns around, giving me a look, "following us again?

"I'd call it a little surveillance," I grin and fly closer, throwing a glance at the starry sky outside the window. My reply elicits a similar chuckle from the girl.

- I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you for a bit before I went to bed," the tone of her voice seemed strange to me, Azula continued to look at me as if gathering her thoughts.

"I wonder, and what are we going to talk about?"

- I just realised something. Remember, you once asked if I perceived you as a man and a possible partner for a relationship.

"The words were a little different, but the point was well conveyed. Have you finally decided on an answer? For a long time you evaded it," I answer the girl, remembering that many days have passed since that conversation. And our conversation is getting more and more interesting.

However, the next words of the princess made me very surprised.

- It was more complicated than I had originally thought. No, I had thought about it before, but the candidates around me were only contemptible. But your intelligence and knowledge..." he glanced at me, as if looking for something else to praise me for, "you could start a new war for them. A bloody, brutal war, with huge casualties... a beautiful war. You should be careful if you don't want that sort of thing.

"Oh, I'm careful myself," I answer her with a smile, compliments from Azula are something new. And even though, they are unusual and very specific, the mere fact of having them speaks volumes.

- Still, you're a spirit and I'm a human. We can't be together as long as there's such a big difference between us. But if that little flaw disappears..." her smile grows wider, standing right in front of me, her shoulders proudly squared, she continued in a self-assured tone, creating a flame in her hands for some reason.

- Together! You and I will be the strongest couple in the whole world! We will rule over people, decide the fate of millions!.....

OOH!

Yes, this kind of thing was a bit shocking, but considering the character, upbringing, and the fact that it's Azula. Such an offer could be seen as... I don't even know how.

"Ahem. Too harsh. Is this a marriage proposal? Or are you offering to take over the world, and afterwards your father's power?", - I decide to clarify what exactly she is offering me here.

- One doesn't preclude the other," Zula replies, extinguishing the flames in her hands. - And my father will sooner or later grow old and retire. And since I am almost the only and best heir, that future is inevitable.

"Or he'll be helped, like his father was. Don't you count Zuko?" - I think of the other members of her family.

- That's right. To be Zu-zu's heir would require capturing an avatar. Even so, he won't be in power for long. I know my brother too well, he's pathetic.

Of course he won't. With princess ambitions like that, he'll be quickly helped out of office, straight to the spirit world.

- And-and...I'm waiting for an answer," the girl said demandingly, looking at me expectantly.

"Um. I don't even know how to say this or what to say. I've never been offered anything like this before, especially in this form. I'm a bit confused by all this, but I think: it's worth discussing in another setting. You can't just say "yes" or "let's date" or something like that. But overall, I've said before, I find you likable, intelligent, and generally very attractive. But relationships... that's a long conversation and the time is later," I dodge the topic. I didn't think such a personal conversation would cause me difficulty.

- No. We'll discuss it now," her determination was striking, but I had the facts on my side. Facts that it was time to voice.

"Aren't you embarrassed that we're being overheard?" - I cast a glance toward the door, where the auras of my girlfriends shone through the walls. No wonder they were interested in our conversation. Azula's voice was a little loud in places, so they heard.

- We've been compromised, let's go! - and to the sound of stomping feet, the girls fled to their bedrooms.

- Hm! - She looks at me, I look at her, we stand there. - Well, I'm going to bed, can you close the window?

"Sure. Good night," I say to the girl as she leaves.

Left alone, I turn my attention back to the starry sky outside the window. She's so complicated...