Violent Delights, ATLA

chapter three, summer children

03
SUMMER CHILDREN

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT SUMMER that Azula always adored. Perhaps it was how the spicy meals tasted more exciting — you'd break out in cold sweat even worse during the summer days and yearn for milk (but Azula had always been good at tolerating her spices and was, to an extent, addicted to them). Perhaps it was how the sun burned brighter and the power surging through her veins seared hotter, allowing her to learn to perfect her firebending further. Perhaps it was the way ice cream tasted sweeter on her tongue, the flavour more rewarding once she treated herself to it after her father praised her for her talents with a pat on the shoulder.

People have said Azula was a spitfire but never to her face. Powerful fire was often weld by the ambitious and the princess was no exception. She started showing her firebending prowess when she was three and had only begun climbing higher from there. Zuko said embracing her power and bathing in their father's praises had changed her, but Azula herself retorted that he was only saying such things with bitterness because he was jealous of her prodigal talents. He called her a liar and ran away. But perhaps he had a point. The servants used to look at Azula in awe but after she threw a tantrum when her favourite headless doll went missing, they'd hardly look her way. She told her father about it but he only said it was no matter because it meant they were starting to respect her like how they respect him. It put a smile on her face knowing she was following in her father's footsteps.

People have said Azula was a phoenix prodigy. Raw talent never seen before emerging from her small fingertips. Icy blue fire captivating anyone who bore the fortune of being able to witness her firebending. Her tutor once said her flames were like a blue sun in the palm of her hands and she was special because no other firebender possessed an innate power such as hers.

Most importantly, her father had said Azula was a fortunate child born lucky and her soul was an everlasting flame constantly burning a bright blue like the fire she wield, for it will never extinguish.

It is said that in the Fire Nation, the best time of day to practice your firebending would be in the afternoon when the sun was directly overhead. Firebenders rose with the sun. Azula was determined to correct her form and perfect her firebending so she could become the best. She was only seven but her ambition shot farther through the clouds and her determination was as unshakeable as alloyed metal.

Blue fire made their home on the palm of her hands as she straightened her back and shot at nothing, perfecting her skills. Her private tutor wasn't present because as soon as Azula complained about him, Ozai fired the man and promised to give her a new one. Now, she figured practicing by herself in the spacious serene hill a little away from the palace was best. No stupid servants being clumsy, no stupid turtleducks quacking noisily, and no stupid Zuzu to annoy her.

In her peripheral vision, she noticed a curious pair of eyes watch her. As princess of the Fire Nation, Azula found the staring rude but considering she was in a good mood, she let it be and called them out politely. "Impressed by what you're seeing?"

"Very." The voice belonged to a girl and then she removed herself from the shadows so smoothly, it had been like she blended with it. She wore a neat half bun with wavy hair past her shoulders and was clothed in a batik dress but her most interesting feature were her eyes the perfect colour of molten gold. "Your blue flames are beautiful."

"Why, thank you. Are you a firebender too?"

"Yes, but you're far more talented than I am." She admitted. Azula smiled upon hearing her humble honesty.