Azula liked fighting, no, that was an oversimplification. She liked fully experiencing her ability to disrupt the world with her hard-earned power and training, which set her apart from common battle maniacs.
Did she like war? No. Did she like chaos or killing? Neither. However, she couldn't deny that she enjoyed creating flames, raising the temperature of her surroundings with her mere presence, and summoning lightning from her fingertips at will.
She hadn't grown up with perfectionist complexes or narcissism, but she did like having things under control. You could say she liked keeping everything in order, especially herself.
So why was she smiling as the intense blue flames flowed from her hands? She knew better than anyone else because her motive for eliminating her enemies was no more than conflict or political issues.
She smiled because she was using all her power to safeguard what was precious to her: her family, her friends, and her partner. The fire inside her burned brighter, knowing that what she was doing was for what she wanted.
Of course, anger was part of her motivation, in addition to the protective emotions she felt. She saw the nobles, the military men, and the elders who called themselves alchemists as a plague that she had to eradicate.
They dared to try to separate her from Shisui! All for politics! No, it was more short-sightedness than real justification. Shisui strengthened everyone, but ironically took power and influence away from these people.
The alchemists hated Shisui because he shared the knowledge they had guarded for themselves, causing them to lose influence. Some in the military hated Shisui because he took away their means of gaining 'honor' and 'achievement.'
The nobles who aligned with this crude attempt at rebellion hated Shisui because he opened the minds of the 'peasants' and provided them with the 'luxuries' they once enjoyed, such as art.
They refused to accept the changing times. They could not stand that Shisui kept almost no transcendental secrets to himself. They could not stand that he shared what he learned or researched and revealed how to do things.
It was as if Shisui could have become the strongest, but chose to strengthen everyone instead! Why wasn't he like them, even though he grew up in the royal family, the noblest in the nation? This was the crux of the matter.
They didn't like what was different. Their superiority, acquired through decades of war, had allowed them to cover much of the known world. Ironically, however, it had also confined their minds to what was in front of them, preventing them from seeing any further.
Now, faced with a figure as "brilliant" as Shisui, they didn't know how to respond. The worst came when they learned of the Avatar's resurgence. If Shisui was a normal mortal they had seen develop, what would this Avatar, whom they hadn't seen in 100 years, be like?
They were afraid! Azula could see the fear in their eyes as she lunged at them, propelled by jets of blue fire shooting from her feet. The princess maneuvered across the terrain quite nimbly, approaching her enemies with a big smile on her face.
From afar, people could only see Azula attacking her enemies with restraint and care. The blue flames shooting from her feet stood out quite a bit, and with a raucous laugh, the princess stood out among her kin.
Her movements barely clung to the strict martial style of the Firebenders, blending moves typical of the Waterbenders, Earthbenders, and, most recently, the Airbenders.
Her figure, constantly moving and leaping, was like a comet across the battlefield. If it wasn't her flames, then it was the lightning she could summon with just two fingers. Electricity behaved like a docile snake in her hands but was deadly to her enemies.
The roar of the lightning made her enemies tremble. For the first time in a long while, nobles, generals, and alchemists saw this element again, which deterred those who dared to oppose the royal family.
Inspired by her apparent freedom on the battlefield, Azula created a blue fire hawk that followed her everywhere. She hurled it at other fighters and interrupted fights as she saw fit.
However, she abruptly calmed down when an old man with a large white beard stood in front of her. Though gangly, Azula sensed a vague sign of danger, so she stopped, focusing her golden eyes on the man.
Xu Fu was an alchemist who had been alive since the beginning of the war started by Sozin. He was a very old man and the target of Shisui because of their differing opinions.
"Princess Azula, is it necessary to fight? I notice that your spirit is 'tainted' with strong murderous intentions." Xu Fu stroked his beard and looked at Azula with his cloudy eyes.
"Fool! Shisui himself taught us elemental purification. Do you think I would let myself be consumed by something like that?" Azula asked mockingly, causing the old man to stop moving.
"Shisui's knowledge has grown, but he ignores the fundamentals. Some things should not be shared; they should be guarded by a few to be of real value.
If everyone knows medicine, what use will healers be? If everyone knows how to cook, what use will cooks be? We all have our roles, and we must stick to them. Like you, Princess. You shouldn't have left the palace."
Xu Fu's words were no longer as polite and melodious as Azula remembered them.
This made the princess smile even more since, with her emotional intelligence, she knew this man was perhaps the most opposed to change in the nation.
"Old man, even my father doesn't force me to stay in the castle. Why should I listen to you?" Azula asked, looking around.
Her relatives and guards were fighting. Although she was surprised to see Zhao on the royal family's side, it was clear that her family was winning. She even saw her friends fighting their own battles, which excited Azula.
"Shisui simply made us shine with him instead of overshadowing us. Why are you refusing?" Azula asked curiously before letting loose a lightning bolt at a soldier who tried to sneak attack her.
"Time is running out. A great evil will arise in a few decades, and while the Avatar must fight it, our nation must be ready. Everyone must know their place, so we can have a chance to participate," said Xu Fu. He didn't explain much, but a thought popped into Azula's mind.
"He means Vaatu?" Despite everything, it seems those old men are still hiding things. The only good thing is that he's still thinking about the nation," Azula mused before striking a fighting pose.
"Old man, wouldn't it be easier to be clearer? You can see the things Shisui has brought about! Now, anyone who puts in the effort can accomplish more than pigeonhole themselves into a simple role.
Or would you have liked to be an alchemist since you were a child? Didn't you want to be something else?" Azula's question caused the old man to let out a long sigh.
"I wanted to be a navigator and explore the world, but never mind. Come on, Princess. Let me show you how fiery the last fathoms of old age can be." The old man pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his robe and bared his torso.
The old man's chest was covered in burns, yet he also had a muscular physique. Xu Fu clenched his fists, and his body thundered before flames covered them.
"I admit that maybe my ideas are a bit outdated, but they're what I know. I don't understand, and I partly hate myself for that, because if I were 50 years younger, I could try to learn and understand.
Come on, Princess. Show me if change is better than the status quo! Show me if it was worth it to let you leave the castle!" Xu Fu was very old, and his voice was hoarse, but Azula could hear him.
"As you wish, Alchemist." Azula lunged toward Xu Fu. The flames in her hands turned into fire missiles that flew straight toward him. The old man did not move to dodge them.
It wasn't that he didn't want to; he just couldn't. He was over 100 years old, probably almost 200. Without moving to the side or mixing moves from other nations, he struck forward with pure Firebender martial arts.
A whirlwind of orange fire emerged horizontally from him, shielding him from the flames. Then, his foot slid forward, and a line of flames emerged in front of him like a whip, trying to hurt Azula.
Azula stomped hard on the ground in an Earthbender-inspired move, creating a wall of fire. She then jumped, propelled by flames shooting out of her foot. She spun in midair and kicked several arcs of blue fire toward Xu Fu.
"Too many tricks, princess," Xu Fu said. He did something Azula did not expect: he simply extended his hand forward and snatched control of the blue flames she had thrown at him.
Xu Fu now controlled Azula's attacks. He smiled as he felt the power of the blue flames and compressed them into a marble. He threw the marble at Azula, who had just descended to the ground.
She didn't expect this. Feeling the control of her creation being taken away made her angry, but she didn't let the anger consume her. She simply dodged the fireball thrown at her.
"I'll save that trick for later, old man," Azula muttered before separating the chi in her body into positive and negative. Arcs of electricity appeared in her hands. Instead of throwing them as usual, she compressed the lightning in her right hand.
Then, a sound similar to a thousand birds flying was heard. Xu Fu slightly bent his body, unsure of what to expect from the princess. Usually, the royal family could not contain lightning; they simply produced it and immediately threw it at a target.
Xu Fu could not understand why this was different now. Was this all because of the changes brought by Shisui? He didn't care. He was too old for whatever nonsense the youngsters came up with. Right now, his aging body only wanted one thing:
To fight! Perhaps it was innate in firebenders to want to fight. Intrigued by what he was seeing, however, the alchemist couldn't help but voice his doubts.
"What's that?" asked Xu Fu, and Azula stared at him before smiling.
"Shisui once told me a story about a man who discovered lightning bending on his own. He took it further than anyone else could. He cut a lightning bolt with his bare hands.
Of course, I don't want to do what he did, but the sound of the birds created by the electricity makes me think..." The electricity in Azula's hands gradually detached from her in a controlled manner.
She put a lot of mental energy into this, and, under her careful control, a hawk made of pure electricity appeared in front of the two fighters. Azula smiled as she created another hawk made of blue fire.
Azula felt comfortable surrounded by two elemental birds of different shades of blue. Xu Fu saw this and felt for the first time that his mind, solidified by years of maintaining the status quo, was opening up to new possibilities.
Shisui didn't like him because he was a Waterbender, but if Azula was also on this path of changing the world with her innovations, not only Shisui, maybe he could try to learn, try to accept it.
However, he knew he no longer had a chance, so he simply let Azula demonstrate his techniques' potential, first showing why he was an accomplished alchemist.
Azula sent both hawks toward the old man, who inflated his lungs with air and spat forward a wave of embracing fire that threatened to reduce everything to ashes.
Azula made a cutting gesture with her hand and gained control of the fire for a moment. She separated it into two streams that passed by her without hurting her while her elemental creations collided with the old man, causing an explosion.
Azula didn't look at the explosion's result, though. She had already turned her back on him and looked up at the sky, where she saw her elder brother shining like the sun. Then, a flame of a different blue appeared in her hand and became the third fire hawk she had created.
"Looks like Zuzu has a lot of things to explain to me later," Azula said before going back to continue fighting. By then, however, the fight was about to end.
She just wanted to test the effect of her new flames on others.
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AN: The Q&A still! Write on this paragraph a question! Only about this fanfic or another story I have upload in this site. You can try a personal question, but maybe I won't answer it.
Xu Fu: An alchemist from China in the court of Qin Shi Huang. Being an Alchemist in this fanfic too, he could lived a long life!