"I have good news for everyone: our Royal Girls' Adventure Team is officially revived today!"
On the very first day after Kahn left the Fire Nation Capital, Azula strutted out of the palace with excitement, gathered Mai and Ty Lee, and made this "important announcement."
Ty Lee raised her hand eagerly. "Why is it a revival? Didn't our adventure team always exist?"
"Excellent question!"
Azula nodded, pleased with herself, then spread her arms dramatically.
"Because today marks the return of the true Royal Girls' Adventure Team trio!"
Mai frowned slightly. "Just the three of us? Where's Kahn?"
"He's busy with something and won't be around for a few days."
Azula waved the matter off as if it were trivial.
Mai and Ty Lee didn't question it. They had noticed that Azula and Kahn had been out together often lately, and they more or less understood the situation.
"That's not the main point," Azula continued, her familiar mischievous grin slowly returning. "The point is that our long-awaited trio is reunited."
Her eyes gleamed with excitement, the kind that said she was planning something chaotic.
"Sisters," she said, "don't you want to do something fun?"
Ever since Kahn appeared in her life, Azula's… less-restrained hobbies had decreased significantly
(Kahn: What did I do?).
But with him gone, she suddenly felt nostalgic for her old chaos-filled days.
Mai shrugged. Ty Lee nodded immediately.
"Of course!"
"Yeah, it's been kind of boring lately."
Even though Azula often bullied them during their adventures, neither Mai nor Ty Lee were saints.
If they were, they wouldn't have become friends with Azula in the first place. Each of them also had their own troubles at home that they preferred not to think about.
So letting loose with Azula wasn't the worst idea.
Thus, the first day without Kahn became a day of pure indulgence for the three girls.
They "educated" some boys they disliked, snuck into restricted rooms for secret exploration, and ended their spree with a pleasant afternoon tea.
During tea, conversation shifted naturally to recent events.
Mai had been gloomy after Zuko's departure but had adjusted.
Ty Lee's life remained simple—just normal school days. Most of the talking came from Azula, who recounted her most recent mission.
Eventually, without realizing it, they drifted to the topic of Kahn.
"So," Ty Lee asked, "is Kahn also on a mission this time? Like that mission you two did together?"
"More or less. Don't ask too much—it's not something you should know."
Azula leaned against the chair arm lazily and added in an unnervingly casual tone:
"If Kahn's situation gets exposed, I won't be able to save you."
Ty Lee froze instantly and shut her mouth with both hands.
Mai then asked, "How are things between you and Kahn lately?"
Azula stiffened almost imperceptibly. Ty Lee perked up, her curiosity instantly revived.
"It's fine. Everything is going smoothly," Azula replied, shrugging.
But this time, her acting was clumsy—far more clumsy than usual. Her awkwardness was obvious from the way she averted her gaze.
Mai sighed inwardly. She had never expected Azula—Azula of all people—to have someone she liked.
When Azula once came to her asking for romance advice, Mai nearly broke her years-long cold facade on the spot. She'd even had a nightmare that night.
In the dream, Azula's confession failed—so she buried the boy alive.
Terrifyingly, Mai felt that it was something Azula could actually do.
And when she later learned that the boy was Kahn, her feelings became complicated—half impressed, half pitying the poor kid.
She didn't know what Kahn thought of Azula, but she sincerely hoped he would act wisely.
Getting back to the topic, ever since Azula had sought her for relationship advice, Mai had paid attention to their progress. But judging from Azula's reaction today…
It was safe to say: there had been absolutely no progress at all.
"So nothing between you two has changed?"
"Of course it has!" Azula snapped defensively. "We're definitely more in sync. We understand each other better. Our progress is—"
Then she trailed off… and fell silent.
"...Alright. There hasn't been any progress."
She had clearly tried, but she wasn't good at expressing affection, and Kahn was comically dense.
The combination made things nearly impossible.
Ty Lee asked, "Why don't you just tell him directly? If you talked it out—"
Mai instantly imagined Azula burying Kahn alive after being rejected and shuddered.
"Don't listen to Ty Lee," she interrupted quickly. "She's never had a relationship. She doesn't know anything."
Ty Lee: "???"
That sounded personal.
Mai ignored her and continued, "You need to change your behavior so Kahn starts seeing you differently—not just as a normal friend, but as a charming girl."
She didn't actually know much herself, but she'd done her best to cram advice from girls' magazines before helping Azula.
She really had sacrificed a lot for this friendship.
Azula agreed, but putting it into action was hard.
Even when she gathered the courage to comfort Kahn some time ago, she had ended up sounding more like she was threatening him.
As she'd said before, romance was not one of her talents.
At that moment, Ty Lee suddenly clapped her hands.
"No wonder those girls at school failed! They must have messed up the steps!"
"Hmm?"
Azula immediately honed in on the key detail. "What girls?"
Mai paled internally.
Ty Lee, however, was oblivious and cheerfully explained.
"Oh! Don't you know? Kahn was really popular at school! Girls confessed to him all the time before he left."
A dangerous smile spread across Azula's lips—her eyes still as cold as a glacier.
Ty Lee regretted speaking almost instantly.
"I'm sure you two won't mind explaining this in detail," Azula said slowly, staring them down like a predator locking onto prey.
"I'm very interested in Kahn's school life."
...
Author's Note:
The full completed version of Avatar: Rebirth of the Strongest Firebender — Part 1 (ATLA) is now available on Patreon!
Part 2 — Arc 1, set in The Legend of Korra era, has also been completed and continues the story into the next generation with stronger enemies, expanded worldbuilding, and major character developments ahead.
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