I hold onto Bolin's hand tightly as we all walk through the city towards a small restaurant I found years ago. We receive looks and gasps as we walk down the road, though no one bombards us, rather they just smile and wave as we pass.
"This is so weird." Mako mutters.
"I know, and I thought people looked at me a lot." Korra says and I chuckle slightly as I look at my friends who walk completely overwhelmed.
"Yeah, it is a bit much, it's not really something you get used to." I say as I let go of Bolin's hand to push open the door to the restaurant. I smile as I take in the atmosphere. This place is small and rather off the radar, but I fell in love with the food and people the moment I found it.
"Princess Ulazu, it's good to see you again." The owner, Churo, smiles as he walks towards us. He is tall, and his large white beard swings from side to side as he reaches me. He bows his head respectfully, but I roll my eyes and pull him in for a hug. I has been close to a year since I had last seen the older man, and I feel like I have really returned home now that I'm here.
"It's good to see you too, Churo." I smile as I draw back to look at his aged face, "is there any chance we could get a table?" I ask and he lets out a laugh.
"Of course, it's not like we're ever struggling to seat people." He says and I smile. He guides us to a table in the corner, a large smile on his face as his eyes remain on me. I slide into my chair and Bo quickly sits next to me, Asami taking the seat on my other side and we all turn back to Churo who watches us closely. "I'll go get you a couple of menus." He says with a nod as he rushes away again. I keep my eyes on him as he leaves before turning back to my friends.
"How'd you find this place?" Asami asks as she takes in the simplistic decorations.
"My brother and I found this place before he went to work in the United Forces," I tell them with a smile as I think back to the fond memories, "Iroh would take me here every time he'd come back, sometimes we would be here so late we'd bribe Churo to let us stay longer." I say with a small laugh.
"You'd pay to stay longer?" Mako asks in amusement. I look up across the table to smile at the older firebender.
"Oh, no, never with money. Sometimes we'd wash some pots, wipe some tables," I laugh, "Once we even sang him a song."
"You know, this trip to the Fire Nation is really showing me how musical you are, Ulazu." Korra says with a large smile. I chuckle and shrug.
"I guess so." I say continuing to smile. Churo returns and hands out some menus, also giving us a large jug of water to share amongst ourselves.
"Princess Ulazu is surprisingly good," Churo says joining in our conversation, "you should ask her to sing for you at some point. Music to my ears." He compliments. I chuckle as I grow flustered from the old man's compliment. I have never been complimented for my music before, it's usually something I would keep to myself and the thought of performing for my friends again makes me feel nervous.
"Thank you, Churo." I mumble, praying that my face isn't as red as it feels.
"You have to sing us something when we get back to the palace." Bolin says placing his hand on my thigh to force me to look up. I meet his grin and I begin to grow shy. I know I placed the pipa for them, but that was to express emotions that needed to be said yet I struggled to find the words. I'm not sure I can just do it for entertainment.
"Ask, don't demand." Churo snaps and my shyness drops instantly as I turn to see his glare on Bolin.
"Churo, it's fine," I say quickly wanting to remove the sudden hostility, "these are my friends, and this is Bolin, my fiance." I say. He continues to glare at Bolin and so I move my hand to the one Bolin rested on my thigh. We sit awkwardly for a moment as the glaring carries on, so I start to order, my friends following my lead, and when we're done, Churo turns to leave us. I sigh and squeeze Bo's hand before turning back to my friends.
"Ula, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset him." Bolin says and I give him a small smile.
"Bo, you have no reason to apologise. I'm sorry, Churo is never usually like that." I reply.
"Well, why don't we plan where we're going on our tour of the Fire Nation?" Asami suggests. I let out another soft sigh before smiling to her, grateful at her attempt to move the conversation away from the bizarre attitude Bolin had received.
"Yes, I know as soon as we get back my mother will be asking." I say.
--
I take the final bite of my food before pushing my bowl away from me. We now have a plan of where we're going and I have to say I'm feeling somewhat confident about it. All I need to do is go to these towns, show my face, tell them my promise for my reign as Fire Lord and then move on. With my friends by my side I know nothing can go wrong.
"Princess Ulazu, please can I have a word?" Churo asks. I look to him briefly before turning back to my friends.
"We're just heading to the bathroom, then we'll be ready to go." Korra says as her and Asami scoot out of their chairs and head to the restrooms. I nod and give Bo a small smile before sliding out of my own chair to leave the bending brothers.
"Of course," I say turning back to Churo. He bows his head and guides me away from the table towards the small break room out back.
"Princess, I-" Churo begins, but he stops short, hesitating. I frown slightly and watch the man curiously. In all my time knowing Churo I've never seen him unsure about what to say. He's a man who knows his mind and he speaks it unapologetically. This behaviour just isn't like him.
"Churo, if this is about before, it's behind me. I just hope you know that Bolin meant no offense." I say with a friendly smile, however it soon slips as I watch a guilty expression form on Churo's face. He drops his gaze to the floor and confusion hits me.
"I'm sorry, but not for what I said." He says after another moment of hesitation. I frown and take a step towards him.
"Then what are you sorry for?" I question. He looks up at me and licks his lip nervously. I go to take another step but I freeze as I hear a yell.
"Ulazu!" Bolin shouts, panic in his voice. My eyes are wide as I look over my shoulder to see a large, tall man standing in the doorway, blocking my path to Bolin. I turn back to Churo who looks down again.
"I'm sorry." He mutters again, a large tear rolling down his cheek. Another yell fills my ears and I spin on my heel, bending fire at the large man standing in my way. The sudden attack catches him off guard and he is sent flying back. My heart beats frantically in my ears as panic pumps around my body at an alarming rate.
"Bolin!" I yell frantically. I sprint back to the table to see seven firebenders surrounding Bolin and Mako. They both fight back, but they are being overwhelmed. I bring fire to my fingertips and immediately bend powerful shots at the two men closest to me. The fireballs slam into them, forcing them both into the walls, knocking them out cold. Bolin and Mako look up to me, but I don't take notice of their startled expressions. I'm angry, beyond angry, and these thugs are going to receive my wrath.
I inhale deeply as the five remaining men look my way, and after a split second I release a breath of fire upon them. The flames are large, but I don't care about burning the place down. I am so far beyond caring. I lift my hands up and heat bend the flames that come close to Bolin and Mako to ensure that they don't get burnt, but I don't have to for long because they soon drop, and so do the thugs. They groan in pain on the floor, but I ignore it. I move past them to Bolin and instantly fling my arms around his neck. He embraces my shaking body tightly to match my death grip on him and he sighs into my neck.
"What just happened? Why did they attack me?" Bolin asks. Korra and Asami come running back into the room and I hear their gasps as they look at the scene before them. I release Bolin and meet Korra's eye.
"Get the Domestic Forces here." I order Korra and she nods running out of the restaurant immediately with Mako close by her side. I look away from them to Churo who stands on the other side of the restaurant, his eyes glued to mine. "Explain. Now!" I shout in rage. I storm towards the old man and he backs away slightly as fear flickers over his eyes.
"Princess Ulazu, please, it has to be this way." Churo starts and I frown as I stop in front of him.
"No, that's not an explanation. I am going to give you one chance to tell me why you would try to kill Bolin." I spit and he sighs holding the sides of his head as he looks to the floor.
"If you marry Bolin then there's a chance our next Fire Lord will be an earthbender. A lot of people aren't happy about that." He says and I clench my jaw.
"And so that's a reason to kill him?" I question angrily.
"Don't you see?" He says as he looks straight into my eyes, tears starting to fall from his eyelashes, "people are planning to kill you. Killing Bolin is the only way to save you." He says as the tears fall. I stare at him for a moment longer before taking another step towards him to close the distance. I grab a hold of the scruff of his top and I stare at him, fire burning behind my eyes.
"This isn't you saving me, this is you showing me who you truly are. An accomplice to a terrorist group." I hiss. I sense heat signatures approach and so I turn to see Korra and Mako return with ten Domestic Forces officers. Their eyes widen at the scene they walk into, but their eyes soon cling to me. I walk towards them dragging Churo with me. I shove him to the closest officer causing him to grunt in pain as he hits the floor.
"They are all part of a terrorist group. I want them arrested and taken to Boiling Rock." I instruct. The officer closest to me nods her head before grabbing onto Churo.
"Of course, Princess Ulazu. We will take them there immediately and begin interrogations." She says.
"See to it that any information you find out is sent directly to the palace." I tell her and she nods again as her men begin arresting the other thugs, each of the groaning and grunting in pain from the rough movements.
"Of course." She says again. I watch as Churo is forced out of his restaurant and my heart burns in pain. I have trusted that man for a large majority of my life, how could he betray me that easily?
"Ulazu, are you okay?" I hear Bo's voice. I shake my head to remove my thoughts before looking to my friends. I clench my jaw and walk towards them to regroup.
"Bolin, I should be asking you that. Did they hurt you?" I ask him and he shakes his head.
"N-no, I'm fine," he replies.
"Churo's part of a terrorist group?" Korra asks and I sigh running my hands over my face.
"I knew there would be a small handful of people that wouldn't be confident with me marrying Bolin, but I didn't realise it would be taken this far." I admit. My thoughts rush through my mind and I'm struggling to see what I should do. On one side, I want to beat down every terrorist and everyone who wants to lay a hand on a single hair on Bo's head. But the other side of me knows that I can't do that just yet, not when I'm so in the spotlight with my coronation so close.
"So, what can we do? If we get married then people are going to try to kill you, you heard what Churo said." Bolin says sounding clearly stressed, not that I really blame him. I let out a small laugh as I turn to Bo.
"Don't think a group of terrorists is going to get you out of marrying me." I joke, but my joke only seems to make Bolin frown more.
"Ulazu, this is serious. We don't know how big this terrorist group is, we don't know how many people are out there planning your death." He cries out.
"Exactly, we don't know how big it is. I'm not putting my life on hold because people's minds are not progressive." I say and I know how uncomfortable Bolin is about this by his facial expressions. I don't want to put Bolin in a bad position, but Churo said people were planning to kill me. He was only trying to kill Bolin to save me. As long as he isn't in danger then I'm not changing anything until I have my facts.
"So, what do you want to do? Should we go back to the palace and tell Fire Lord Izumi?" Asami asks. I bite my lip as I think for a moment, but I soon take a deep breath.
"No, I will call my mother and inform her about the threat, but our plan to tour the nation is still in place and we're starting it right now." I answer her.
"Are you sure this is a smart idea?" Korra asks. I let out another laugh as I shake my head.
"Honestly, I have no idea. But this tour needs to happen and we might also find out more about this terrorist group." I say. We all share a look, my eyes hovering over Bolin praying to see him give me any indication that he approves, but he doesn't let up.
"Ulazu, we're with you." Mako says and they all nod in agreement, even Bolin does reluctantly.
"Thank you." I say genuinely. I thought this tour was going to be a fun, laid-back time with my friends, but of course, it has to turn into another stupid Team Avatar adventure. I just pray to the spirits that this isn't my final one.