Chapter 103

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I stared at the old man in contemplation, if my intel was correct he was the greatest water bender this side of the world had, and considering where I was, I had to be careful he had the terrain. The area where we were was wide enough for the two of us to fight, but not wide enough to avoid getting some unwanted attention.

If I limited myself to hand to hand combat, I would inevitably be captured, but would have a higher chance to escape later on, on the other hand, if I went all out and somehow managed to lose, my chances of escaping would be close to none.

"That stance, you are a fire bender are you?" His face was scrunched up in anger, so much for option A.

"What a perceptive old man," I chuckled, keeping my eyes fixed on his legs, the best body parts to observe for giveaways to tell when a water bender was about to attack.

"Very well." Pakku sighed, and with a swift move of his hand, an ice pillar formed beneath me, I jumped right on time using the pillar as a platform, while taking the opportunity to throw a few short but precise attacks at him. The easiest way to win a battle against a water bender is to disturb their flow, no flow, no dangerous attacks.

Normally this would be easy, but fighting a grand master and disrupting their flow can be hard or in some cases impossible, "Blue Fire, you are Azula," Pakku commented, calmly walking towards me.

"What can I say, I'm a girl… and I like matching things, like my name and the color of my Fire," I smiled, buying time as I tried to find a plausible escape route, fighting this old man would take too much time, and if I made even one mistake would lead to imprisonment, so the best path for me right now was to escape and continue with my mission.

But knowing this man, and my reputation, the chances of that happening on its own were slim… so plan B it was… dodging his attacks while keeping his attention on me, and that way moving the battle unknowingly to a civilian populated area. But not any civilian area, one with a lot of stakes.

"Looking for an escape?" Pakku said, narrowing his eyes at me, "In your file… it says you are not one to run from a challenge," he was trying to weaponize my pride, clever, but even back then it wouldn't have worked.

"Oh well, you know how trendy we girls are," I rolled my eyes at him, dodging his attacks one after the other, "One day I like this, the other I like that, who knows maybe I will not find you annoying in a week… cross your fingers,"

"Your attempt at humor is depressing," Pakku stated, creating a water whip on his right hand, "I will end this sad show now," he added, bringing his arm down with thunderous strength.

"Adorable," I mocked, burning his attack away into a steamy explosion, "But inefficient,"

"You can't win by simply dodging," Pakku stated.

"I know, normally that would be the case, but considering how old you are… I think there is a chance you will die while I dodge one of your attacks," I smirked, pointing to my watch, "The clock is ticking, I have what you lack, time,"

"Hilarious," Pakku said, no humor behind his tone, "But you will not escape nor outlive me on this battle,"

"It seems old age helps in certain aspects… but no matter how wise and strong an old man is… it's still an old man," I laughed pointing to my right, "Does this place look familiar?"

"What are you…." Pakku's eyes went wide and I smiled.

"Uff, is this the moment you find out you are senile?" I smirked, "Now… allow me to present you with the options you have at hand, you can one… let me go… or two, see how every little kid in the school district burns while we fight… you could probably stop my fire, but how good are you at stopping lightnings?" Now all he had to do was take the bait, and let me go…

"You are as crazy as they say!" Pakku snarled, "Leave! And never come back!"

"I knew we would see eye to eye," I winked at him, "Bye," and with that I ran away, disappearing inside the busy streets behind the school district, leaving a very angry and disturbed old man behind.

Now back to my real mission, finding Akira, helping him recover his memories and then… killing life? No, that doesn't sound right, oh well, one step at a time, one step at a time.

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[Pakku POV]

Hesitation was something Azula didn't have, at least according to Iroh, his description of her was that of a monster, ruthless, uncaring, unforgiving… a product of her father and yet I saw her hesitate… I saw emotion behind her eyes, and it wasn't what I expected.

When she threatened to kill the kids in the school district just to escape, I felt her words had no real weight behind them, she was simply baiting me, and I happily took the bait.

Betting on the fact Iroh had been wrong I decided to let her go, maybe she was on her own path of redemption, one that was already changing her, from a remorseless killer to a human.

I was unsure what would've happened if I didn't allow her to escape, but a part of me was sure she would've find another way to get a way out, not involving civilians.

"I wonder if Akira has something to do with her being so different," I wondered out loud.

I suppose time will tell, how much Akira and her had change, and if my assessment was correct or not, "She was right though," I chuckled, "I am getting to old for this," if only Akira had stayed, he would've made the perfect replacement for my role in the tribe, god knows I need to retire.