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muselessscribbles · 2 years

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Rising from the Ashes

Azula X Fem Reader

Warnings- N/A

Word Count- 2,040

Laying in a charred circle surrounded by nothing but her tears, Azula was not feeling the most like herself. Hands bound behind her back she sat up, feeling the tightness in her abdomen as her outbreak had taken much out of her physical state. The princess looked around, to find no one, she did her best to calm her breathing, she would over come this, she had to, failure was never an option in her life.

So she stood, wobbling at first as she tried to clear her mind, fog of emotions that she had never let herself experience clouding her vision and her physical ability. Standing firmly she stayed for a what felt like a few minutes, though it was much longer to the surprise of the mentally shocked princess as when she finally came back to reality the setting sun had vanished and the moon was dead center in the sky above her.

Azula tentatively set her hands ablaze, feeling the warm glow of her flame growing as the confinements on her hands expanded enough to slip off, a solid thud echoing through the empty space as they hit the floor. It was at this very moment that the girl realized how very alone she was, if team avatar had their way, her father would be stopped in no time and she would have no one left. Zuko would undoubtedly want nothing to do with her, the fire nation would see her as a disgrace for failing to be their leader, and all her friends had long since switched their allegiance.

With each passing thought of the people she could mark off her list of hopeful friendly faces in the upcoming post war times, she took strides out of the palace, her feet numb as she was lost in her own mind, a labyrinth of thoughts that were tearing her apart at the seams. As she walked through the landscape, feet carried only by the desire to shrink away and get as far away from her failure as possible, familiar paths turned to a narrow leaf covered path winding through the trees as if it hadn’t been used in far too long.

It was when she stumbled upon a clearing did her mind finally snap back to the real world and she became aware that she didn’t know where she was. Freshly tilled soil in rows in front of a small shack stared back at her tauntingly, as if this is what life would be for her from now on, hiding out in the woods alone until she succumbed to her thoughts.

Only a few plants were scattered across the rows, purple flowers growing on the tips of black stems. The royal flower of the fire nation.

“It doesn’t mean anything, it’s a stupid flower, flowers are weak” the princess muttered, trying to convince herself of her resolve that the meltdown from earlier was a one off event. It would’ve worked, had it not been for a door creaking open and a polite, “are you okay?” It’s calmness and evenness flowing through Azulas jumbled thoughts and it made her break again, cries of anguish ripping their way through her lungs and out of her lips that she desperately tried to will closed. As she sobbed and wailed fire coursed out of her body uncontrollably, the flowers once strong and beautiful shriveled to the ground unceremoniously.

The woman from the house, watched from afar as beautiful blue flames stood out against the clear pain that was their source. It was not long before the young fire bender had exhausted herself, collapsing onto the floor in a circle of ember.

Y/N scurried over afterwards, frowning at the sight in-front of her, a crumpled up young woman body shaking even though she was no longer conscious. Bringing her into her home would be dangerous but she saw no other option. Dragging her into the house was no easy feat, Y/N was a gardener the most exercises she did was plowing the small plots. After getting the stranger inside the house, she went back outside, doing her best to keep the flames that danced around her fields alive, the only hope for the bulbs she had planted was heat, while she had hoped the comet would do well enough, this would surely guarantee their growth.

Y/N had returned to her house, going about tidying up before laying her unexpected guest in her bed, wrapping her within the plush fur blanket, before sitting back into her chair, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep, she was positive her guest would be far too tired to do anything harmful in the event she happened to wake up before her which was highly unlikely.

The sun was just peaking through the small window of the house when they moved over Azula’s lidded eyes. Golden eyes fluttering open, before they snapped completely as she sat up, taking in her surroundings and remembering what had happened, she couldn’t help but feel small and helpless, she was in a strangers home, a strangers who she had stumbled upon and immediately damaged their property.

The door swung open suddenly and a small whimper left Azula’s lips. “Oh nice you’re awake, how’d you sleep sleepy head?” came that same evenly toned calming voice, laced in potent politeness that Azula was not used to.

“Who are you?” She shot back, no one could possibly this cheerful and happy about the events that occurred yesterday. “Oh I’m so sorry!” The woman exclaimed with a shake of her head, turning to face Azula she smiled widely, “let someone stay in my house for two days and don’t even bother introducing myself, I’m Y/N” she said as sat down on the other end of the bed softly.

“Two days?” Azula mumbled in return, “oh yeah that must be a shock, after you wore yourself out, I brought you in here and put you in the bed, after the first day I was bit worried but then you started tossing and turning so I knew you were alive, and now we’re here, I was just about to make congee would you like some?” Y/N offered politely.

“Why are you so okay with this? You probably know who I am, and I ruined your flowers” Azula said defiantly, arms crossing over her chest in a huff. Y/N smiled softly before standing up and starting to work on the breakfast she had decided on, “of course I know who you are Princess Azula, but so what? and don’t worry about the flowers sweetie, your fire actually really helped, once we get some food in you I’ll take you out there to show you, so just relax a little okay? Nothings gonna hurt you out here, not when you’re with me atleast” she said as she lit the wood stove and threw rice into a pot and chopping up some nuts and fruit.

It didn’t take long for a sweet sticky fragrance to fill the small cottage, along with the gentle hums coming from Y/N, Azula felt her emotions coming to the surface yet again, but the soft silent tears she shed were not of the feeling of failure but from the sad pang of realizing just how comforting it was to have someone with her, someone who wasn’t scared of her and seemed happy to help instead of doing so out of fear.

As Azula wiped her eyes, Y/N turned around with two bowls on a tray, an assortment of fruits and nuts laid out besides the bowls, “I wasn’t sure of what you’d like, all home grown, right in my back yard.” She said happily, gardening was a great joy in her life, it seemed to balance out with the fire nation roots that resided within her, seeing growth instead of destruction, kept her on a even keel.

Azula hadn’t prepared her own meal in so long she forgot what it was like, until the very moment that her fingers danced over the finely chopped walnuts, sprinkling them over the aromatic congee in front of her. Y/N watched with a small grin, it was strange to her, seeing such a power figure act like a newborn as if she didn’t know what to do at all. Azula looked up and met the warm eyes and comforting smile and it served it’s purpose of a look of approval that the princess was searching for.

Mixing the nuts into her bowl, she cautiously gathered some into her spoon, lifting it up and getting closer to her mouth. “Be careful princess, make sure you blow on it first, like this” Y/N said, blowing on her own spoonful, watching as the other girl copied her actions, and slowly blew onto her food before she ate it, humming softly at the taste on her tongue and the warmth that spread through her body.

It was as if the simple meal had transported her to a simpler time, she could see her mother preparing a bowl of congee much like this one for her when she was a child, blowing on it for her like only a mother could, feeding her with a kiss on the forehead. Azula could see her and Zuko playing around before it became a fierce one sided competition.

The pair sat in silence as they both ate, Y/N smiling warmly as she watched the Princess eat contently a soft dusting of pink settling on her cheeks. It wasn’t long before both bowls were empty and Y/N had rushed to place them bowls into her sink. Azula watched her, a small smile forming on her face, and it felt unnaturally genuine, not a smirk with malice behind it a real content smile, “thank you, that was really good, I don’t deserve your kindness at all, though I appreciate it greatly.” She spoke, nervously toying with her fingers.

“Of course you do Azula, you actually helped me out, like I said, come on I wanna show you what your fire made” she says softly as she walks towards the bed, hands out stretched and pulling the other girl up gently, linking their fingers together as she lead the way out of her house.

Azula’s eyes widened as she saw the ash ridden clearing in front of her, she had caused this. As she tried to think of how to go about apologizing, Y/N spoke up and pointed to some bright green stems poking out of the soil, some almost a foot tall already. “You see those? They probably wouldn’t have even grown if you hadn’t burned up out here” she explains squatting down among the fullest patch of them, dragging the princess along with her.

“you see they need fire to start their growth cycle, once that happens it’s only takes 9 days to bloom, they’re so beautiful. The symbolism as well” Y/N stated with a smile, “see, they rise from the ashes of forest fires, it’s like natures way of saying that even after everything burns down, it’ll be alright, kinda what you have to tell yourself too princess, you’re gonna be alright even with whatever’s tearing you up inside right now” she said gently, a comforting hand rubbing soft circles on Azula’s back.

Azula hummed at what she was being told, her fingers reaching out to touch the still soft new growth, it was beautiful to her. Seeing such growth from the ground she thought she had permanently damaged, “would mind if I stayed until they bloomed?” She asked, knowing in reality that it was just an excuse to stay, she had no where else to go and the woman next to her had a comforting and safe aura to her this seemed like her best bet.

“Of course princess, it’s only fair you get to see what you helped create. You can stay as along as you’d like, I’d be an honor to help you get back steady on your feet.” Y/N said softly, “it’ll be like me watching you like you’re gonna watch these flowers grow from the ashes” she adds on in a whisper as the pair let the silence grow around them, letting the calm sounds of nature fill in the air.

#romance #avatar the last airbender #atla azula #atla #azula x fem reader #lgbtq #flowers #flame lily

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