The Warriors Of Kiyoshi

(A/N)This story is Azira POV if you are a little confused.

Azira remembered what it was like, arriving in the Fire Nation Capital. Everything was so big and new and so-different, than her small farm-life that she had been living with Hana. But every breath here had been a breath of fresh air.

She remembered what it was like, getting to see her father in the evenings. Her father, General Arun, was a busy man. After her mother had died, he found it best and prudent to let Hana care for her.

But Azira was a clever child. It took one letter to convince him to let her come and stay. To let her come and be with him in the capital.

She remembered his warmth, the way his fire was a part of his soul. She also remembered the day he dropped her off at the Academy, introducing her to young Prince Zuko, and his sister Princess Azula.

Azula, even back then, had a sharp tongue and a quick wit. She always seemed to be plotting something.

"So you're the nonbender," Azula had said, surveying the older girl.

Azira had smiled stiffly, giving Iittle more than a nod. And after long, Azula had given up on trying to torment her. She was, after all, boring in Azula's eyes. But not to Zuko. They had been children.

They understood one another. They understood being ignored by a parent. They understood losing a mother. They saw each other for what they were.

She remembered going to train with Master Piandao with Zuko. They trained together. They worked together. And that hadn't ended when he was banished. She had scars too. He wasn't a friend after that, though.

He was simply the person she was protecting.

But still, she had thrown away years of friendship for the avatar. And in all of these thoughts, Zuko's golden eyes seemed to be asking her a simple question:

Was it worth it? Betraying me?

Azira still wasn't sure if it was. She had betrayed him, and ergo betrayed her morals and beliefs, and her country. She had been silent thus far on the trip, used to being quiet. Used to be ordered to be silent.

"You have no idea where we're going, do you? Sokka asked, slight exasperation bleeding through his tone as he looked at the pre-teen avatar.

"Well I know it's near water." Aang said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Azira nearly snorted. "Specific.

"Were getting close! I think! Hey, Katara! Wanna see a trick?" Aang questioned.

So this is what puppy love was. Azira was glad she had missed out on this particular phase of life, finding it easier to just close her eyes and let the warm air wash over her.

"Stop bugging her, airhead. You need to give girls their space when they're doing their sewing" Sokka insisted.

At that, both Azira and Katara piqued an eyebrow, glancing at the pantless boy in front of them. And she thought Zuko was annoying at times.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked, narrowing her gaze.

"Simple, girls are better at sewing and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things." Sokka said, gesturing emphatically.

Azira and Katara locked eyes, a smirk crossing their features. Katara tossed him back his pants, hole still in plain sight. "Have fun with that!" Katara exclaimed.

"You are aware that as a woman, I was a highly skilled and elite warrior for the Fire Nation?" Azira asked, crossing her arms and staring down the boy.

"That's-that's not-" Sokka just stammered, shaking his head.

"Oh relax! Where we're going, we won't need pants!" Aang said, pointing up ahead.

"The day just gets more horrifying as we go." Azira deadpanned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azira stared at the giant creature cutting through the water, then back at the avatar. "You can't be serious." She stated, crossing her arms and staring down the child.

"But-he's the whole reason we're here!"

"Yes, and if you die on the fish, then the world is screwed." Azira pointed out.

"I'Il be careful! I'm gonna go ide the elephant-koi! With that, Aang stripped off his clothes and jumped into the water.

"Unbelievable Azira murmured, watching him swim out to the creature.

Katara began poking around and looking around at the landscape where they were and Azira just sat down on the sand. "So do they have beaches in the Fire Nation?"

She looked up, finding Sokka standing there, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. I've never been though." Azira admitted. "Did you swim often?"

"Not really. The water was always too cold in the Southern Pole."

"Makes sense." Azira felt the tension, palpable in the air. It was uncomfortable, just sitting here with Sokka.

Finally, the boy just let out a deep sigh. "1 just-I wanted to say sorry" He blurted, eyes falling on her in slight confusion.

For a moment, she just stared at him, unsure of what to say. "For what? She finally questioned.

"For being a jerk. And assuming you were evil." Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck and casting his eyes on the ground. "I was wrong."

Azira was unsure of how to react. The simple fact of the matter was that no one had ever apologized to her. For anything. Certainly not Hana or her father. Not Zuko. But it was this watertribe boy, who she barely knew.

Noting her frown, Sokka's gaze narrowed. "Are you okay?"

"l just-" Azira breathed in sharply. "You're the only person who has ever apologized to me. For anything."

His pale blue eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

"Yes, really" Azira admitted. "It's..kinda nice. Thanks."

He beamed, but before he could say anything else, they heard a screech fall from Aang's lips. In seconds, Azira was on her feet and assessing the situation.

"What-" Sokka started.

"There's something bigger in the water." Azira breathed out, placing a hand in the water and sensing the energy shift to something bigger.

Just then, Katara returned, eyes wide at the sight of Aang being flung through the air. He crashed into the water, out of breath. From behind him rose a large gray fin that cut hundreds of feet into the air.

Aang took off, nearly running atop of the water. But for however fast he ran, the creature cut through the water equally as fast. Aang sped onto the shore, slamming straight into Sokka.

"What was that thing?" Katara asked, eyes wide as Aang quickly pulled on his clothes again.

"I don't know!"

"Well, let's not stick around and find out." Sokka said.

For once, she agreed with him. "Let's get out of here."

Before they could even take a step, darkness had entered her vision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing that Azira was acutely aware of was the fact that she was tied to a post. The second thing that she was acutely aware of was the small knife that she kept in her sleeve for moments such as this.

Thank the spirits for Mai, because if not, she might've found herself in deeper trouble. Her and Mai weren't exactly friends, but they worked together often enough to pick up on a few secrets.

The blade edged towards the ropes and that was when her companions began to groan awake. "You four have explaining to do." An older voice snapped.

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi." A younger feminine voice cut in.

"Show yourself, cowards!" Sokka demanded.

Immediately, their blindfolds were taken off, revealing a bunch of teenage girls in ceremonial garb and face-paint.

Presumably war-paint.

"Who are you? Where are the men that ambushed us-

"Do you ever stop being sexist?" Azira harshly questioned, wanting to slam him into a tree. "Clearly, they're the warriors."

The one in the front seemed to smirk at her words. "She's right. There were no men. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Its my fault. I'm sorry that we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant-koi." Aang said, guilt spilling into his voice.

"How do we know that you're not Fire Nation spies?"

Ah, there it was. Clearly the village leader, with his beard and the eldest among them. And there Azira was, in her gray clothing and lack of subtlety.

"Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way!" The man continued.

Aang perked up at the mention of Kyoshi. "This island is named after Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

"Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here over 400 years ago! She's been dead for centuries!" The man spat out in annoyance.

"I know her because I'm the avatar." Aang proclaimed.

Azira could have hit him too. Sooner or later, people were going to start figuring out that the avatar wasn't just a myth or dead. And they would want to catch them.

"That's impossible! The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared over a hundred years ago!" The girl exclaimed.

Azira's blade broke through the rope and Aang grinned, shooting into the air. Wind billowed around him and he dropped back to the ground as the entire town went into a shock of gasps and hushed whispers.

"It's true! You are the avatar!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A day later, Azira had changed into some light blue and beige clothing, finding it much more comfortable than her Fire Nation clothing, which she promptly burned. As much as she found their welcome here a grateful presence, what with food and supplies being given to them, Azira knew that they couldn't stay.

As long as the Fire Nation existed and was out there, that meant that Aang wasn't safe. So they couldn't just stay wherever they wanted. Azira made her way to some of the village elders, who were helping prepare some supplies.

"You didn't pack much, dear, did you?" One of the elderly women questioned.

Azira smiled tightly, keeping her distance. "Not really. My presence...was an unexpected choice."

"Ive found that nothing is coincidence." She said, handing the girl a sleeping mat. "Im sure that you're with the avatar for a reason."

Azira wasn't so sure about that. Her reasons were certainly selfish. She just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, away from where she had been. Kyoshi seemed fine as any. And maybe someday, she'd return.

The simple truth of the matter was that Azira didn't consider anywhere home. She didn't have one. But she wanted one, desperately. She didn't know what it meant to be safe. To not be on her guard.

But she remembered what it was like to have a mother. To have someone who loved her. And it was something she would give anything to have again. She just wasn't sure that she deserved it.

Making her way with the supplies through the square and where Appa was resting, she found Sokka sulking at the creature's feet. She let out a deep sigh, setting her pack down. Then she turned and kicked Sokka's foot.

"You're not really still upset about those girls taking you down, are you?"

He just grumbled and then put a hand over his eyes, letting out a sigh. "Maybe upset isn't the right word?" He suggested.

Staring at him for a moment, Azira finally just gestured for him to move over and she took a seat beside him. "Then what's really on your mind?" She questioned.

"They took me down so fast. So easily. You've obviously trained. But I-I didn't have that. My dad and all of the warriors in our tribe were gone before I even knew how to fight. How can I protect Katara or Aang if I don't know how to do it?" Sokka admitted quietly.

For a moment, she just sat there, contemplating his words. She ran a hand through her dark hair, which was down

and billowing around her face. "You know, Sokka, it's really brave of you to admit that. But you're doing a great job so far."

"So far, yeah-"

"Sokka, why don't you just ask the Kyoshi Warriors to train you?" She asked, pointing at the house at the top of the hill. "They train every day. And the reason why I'm a skilled warrior is because I was willing to take a beating, willing to learn from my failures."

With that, she left him there to contemplate her words

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azira's sword felt heavy in her hands as she stood in the woods. She needed some peace and quiet. Needed to get away from everything. Needed to train for herself.

But the sword-

It didn't feel right.

She remembered the day she made the sword, in the forge with Zuko and Piandao. Carrying it around was like carrying a piece of her friendship with Zuko around. It was heavy and felt like a slap in the face.

Swords were for honor, for loyalty and bravery.

And at the moment, Azira didn't have any of those things.

Just then, someone came bursting into the clearing. It was one of the children. "It's firebenders! They're here!"

Azira's face hardened. She had a feeling she knew exactly who it was. She grabbed her sword and she hurried back down the hill and towards the town. Finding the Kyoshi Warriors gathering, she looked to the leader, Suki.

"Listen, if this is Prince Zuko, you leave him to me." Azra insisted.

Suki just stared at her for a moment before nodding. "He's all yours." She promised, then darted off towards the rooftops.

Azira crossed over, ducking behind the end of the buildings. Just barely peeking her head, she could see the soldiers. True to her gut feeling, four Komodo-Rhinos stood near the statue of Kyoshi.

From a distance, she could just barely recognize Zuko sitting in the center. "Come on out, avatar!" He shouted. "You can't hide from me forever!"

The Komodo-Rhinos started forward, moving through the lane. Just then, the Kyoshi Warriors leapt from the rooftops, knocking the soldiers down. Azira moved swiftly, darting around and through the fray, eyes set on Zuko.

It had to be her that faced him. He had been her friend and she owed him that much. Azra sprinted forward, snow pulling away from beneath the Komodo-Rhino's feet. The water redirected in the air, sharpening and solidifying into icicles.

Zuko's eyes went wide at the sight, and he blasted fire outwards. She slid under it, flames harmlessly sailing above her head. She directed the water upwards and it blasted him straight in the face, knocking from atop his Komodo-Rhino.

Eyes set on her figure, Zuko growled in anger. Azira sensed what he was going to do seconds before he did it. He kicked his feet in a circle, fire expanding outwards. Her hands went up instinctively, snow around her flurrying to stop the fire from burning her.

"Zuko-" Azira started.

"You betrayed me!" Zuko snapped.

"No, I betrayed the Fire Nation." Azira insisted, backing up.

"There's not a difference!"

"Isn't there?" Azira begged. If he could only see sense, see the truth; that his father didn't love him. That nothing he

did would change that. That the Fire Nation was wrong.

"You were my friend!" Zuko roared, blasting fire at her.

She dodged, kicking in his knee and sending him sprawling to the ground. "No. I don't think l ever was. I was your subject. I was your soldier. You were my friend. But I was never yours."

Before he could say another word, she tossed the sword at his feet. "Az-

"I don't want it"

With that, the snow propelled her forward and away from him. He let out a roar of anger. Her attention directed to putting out the fires that were spreading from home to home, but before Zuko could even get a few more feet towards her, Aang was there.

"Hey! Over here!" Aang called.

Zuko went sprinting towards Aang, fire blasting. Aang's eyes flicked to the discarded fans on the ground and in

seconds, they had levitated into his hands. He blasted Zuko through the nearest house and Azira's eyes went wide.

"Spirits, maybe he should use fans more often." She murmured.

With that, they set off to go somewhere else. After all, they had things to do.