The Princess and the Peasant - (An Azula Epic)

Photographs and Peace

"It would be nice to do anyhow. We could help make the world a better place as a couple." Elle stated with a still present smile while the two noblewomen smiled teasingly at the princess's irate face.

"Absolutely not! As Fire Lord I will not reduce myself to traveling the world to provide charity to peasants!" Azula barked with a glower on her lovely lips while her young girlfriend still held onto her mother's jewelry box.

"What got you thinking about all of this, Elle?" Ty Lee asked with concern in her voice while Elle stared down at the box with a sentimental look in her amber eyes.

"I've just had a lot on my mind. That's all." Elle answered in a quieter voice as she bit her lip while her three friends took note of something hidden in her voice.

"Like the Avatar?" Mai queried as she turned to face the younger girl's thoughtful face.

"I...have something to tell you, Azula-sama." Elle began in an uncertain voice while the older girl rose an inquisitive brow.

"And what would that be?" Azula questioned in a strangely attentive voice only to furrow her brows when her handmaid reached into her bag once more.

"I-it's about Reiko." Elle admitted in a sheepish voice as she withdrew her cellphone while the trio now listened closely.

"What about her? Have you been hiding something from me?" Azula pondered in a stricter voice with annoyance flashing in her stern eyes when Elle's shoulders slumped.

She has!

"Back on the island I...discovered that she left me encrypted messages on my phone..." Elle confessed in a hesitant voice while all three of her friends gazed at her in alarm.

"That was over two weeks ago! And you are only just now telling me this?" Azula hissed with her teeth ground together in her anger only for Ty Lee to frown over in her direction.

"Azula. Stop that. You don't have any right to be angry with Elle. She's been more forthcoming with you than anyone else would have been. So, what if it took her two weeks to tell us? She's still telling us." Ty Lee scolded with her arms crossed over her breasts while Azula turned to glare in her direction.

"I didn't tell you because I knew that you would tell me to ignore what she had to say. And I felt compelled to consider her words. Because it involves the people back home." Elle responded with her hands in her lap while Azula released a loud scoff over her.

"Yes, that's exactly what I would have told you. Because it is painfully obvious that this woman is trying to manipulate you!" Azula snapped while she sunk back in her seat with a snarl escaping her lips.

As much as it angered her to admit it.

For the first time in her entire life she felt concern over someone being manipulated.

It was absurd!

And yet no matter how many times she tried to tell herself that she shouldn't care.

She did.

She cares for this little peasant girl.

"What...do the messages say, Elle?" Mai inquired in a supportive voice with her lips forming a frown while she watched curiously as the girl powered on the device.

"Well...they were recorded in advance. In the event that I declined to go with her. And they're in Japanese too. So just anyone won't be able to make out the words." Elle explained as she chewed on her lip while the three highborn women listened in rising suspicion.

"In...advance?" Ty Lee repeated with worry in her voice while the princess still sneered in her direction.

"Y-yeah. You see phones can be used to communicate with people an entire country away...provided that you have reception from power supply towers. She suspected that I might be somewhere outside of the range of reception...so she recorded messages on the phone she gave me." Elle stated as she held the phone up while the trio gazed at the device in astonishment.