The sun was already high, but the ship seemed wrapped in a different climate:
heavy, tense, charged with something unseen, but breathed like a perfume.
Azula and Suki had stretched the atmosphere to the breaking point.
Ren noticed it in every step, every furtive glance, every overly controlled breath.
Perfect.
That kind of tension was a resource.
An energy.
An emotional vein to exploit.
It all depended on how he molded it.
Suki was on the deck, cleaning a scratch on her light armor. The breeze stirred a few loose strands of her brown hair as she tried to calm her breathing. Her hands, however, trembled slightly.
The conflict with Azula still burned her.
Ren appeared behind her with silent steps.
"You look disturbed," he said softly.
Suki turned abruptly, but upon seeing him… her expression softened.
He radiated calm.
A calm she didn't have.
"I'm not disturbed," she replied, though her voice sounded less firm than she intended. "I just… need to think."*
Ren watched her with a focus so intense that Suki felt he could read the last corner of her soul.
"You shouldn't carry what you feel alone," he said, moving to her side. "Not after everything you've lived through… and after what I saw last night."*
Suki lowered her gaze.
"You heard…?"
"What was necessary," he replied. "Enough to know that Azula sees something in you that threatens her."*
Suki pressed her lips, uncomfortable.
"She thinks I… that I want to take you away from her."
Ren didn't answer immediately.
He just moved a little closer, until Suki could feel his warmth.
"And do you want to?"
The question was soft, but as precise as a scalpel.
Suki swallowed.
"I… I don't know what I want.
But what she said… the way she spoke to me… it was as if I were an obstacle."
Ren touched her forearm with two fingers, with a delicacy that made her skin crawl.
"You're not an obstacle.
If you were, you wouldn't have achieved what you did on your island.
If you were weak, you wouldn't have survived Zuko's attack.
And if you were irrelevant…"
He leaned in slightly, so close that Suki held her breath.
"…I wouldn't be here talking to you."
Those words pierced her.
She knew it; he knew it.
"Azula isn't jealous for nothing," Ren continued in a low voice. "She's jealous because you have something she wants. Something she thinks she can lose."*
"And what is… that?" Suki asked, her heart pounding against her chest.
Ren smiled softly.
"My attention."
Suki felt the blood rush to her face.
Her defenses cracked.
He saw it. He felt it.
And then, like planting a poisonous seed disguised as a flower, Ren added:
"But don't give away your value.
If Azula wants to compete with you… let her.
Show her who deserves to be by my side."
Suki's breath stopped.
It was a challenge.
It was a push.
It was a promise hidden in ambiguous words.
"Are you… saying that I…?"
"I'm saying," Ren interrupted, "that I want to see how far you can go."*
Suki felt something burn inside her chest.
Determination.
Desire.
Pride.
And Ren walked away just when she was most vulnerable, leaving her with the idea planted like a dart:
To prove she was the most worthy.
Later, Ren entered the ship's makeshift war room. Azula was there, surrounded by maps, arms crossed, her expression so cold it could have frozen steel.
She didn't even look at him.
"You're late," she said.
Ren closed the door behind him.
"I was observing something interesting."
Azula clicked her tongue, irritated.
"If you're referring to the warrior, I don't want to hear—"
"Suki is affected by what you said," Ren interrupted.
Azula looked up, her rage shining for a second… then morphing into satisfaction.
"Good. She should be.
She has to learn that she can't get close to you as if she were your equal."
Ren walked around the table, approaching.
"Why does it bother you so much?"
Azula pressed her lips, annoyed by the question.
"Because she's an invader.
Because you are mine.
Because you're by my side.
Because what we share, no one else will have."
Azula's voice had lost its coldness as she spoke; now it was pure fire.
Ren moved closer.
"And what will you do about it?"
Azula's jaw tightened.
"I'll show her I'm the one on your level."
—"You… competing?"* Ren raised an eyebrow. "I never thought Princess Azula would compete with anyone."*
Azula stiffened, as if he had struck her pride.
"I don't compete," she spat. "I win."*
Ren smiled.
It was exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Then win."
Azula blinked.
"What?"
Ren took a lock of her hair, barely brushing it with his fingers.
"Show her you're better.
Show her you deserve my loyalty, my time… and what you desire most from me."
Azula's heart beat so hard that even Ren felt it in the air.
"Ren…" she whispered, with a dangerous intensity. "If you ask me to rule the world with you, I will.
But if you ask me to compete for you… I will destroy whoever is necessary."*
Ren inclined his head, as if in approval.
"That's what I want you to do."
Azula smiled.
A beautiful smile.
Cruel.
Triumphant.
"Then I will consider Suki… the first obstacle."
Ren touched her chin with a finger, soft, intimate, causing Azula to shiver.
"Don't destroy her," he murmured. "Just… win."*
Azula closed her eyes, breathing deeply, as if the idea were too delicious.
"I will."
Ren stepped away then, his shadow stretching over the map table.
Two women.
Two obsessions.
Two warriors fighting not for power… but for him.
Perfect.
Just what he needed.
Ren left the room with an invisible smile.
The competition had begun.
And he was the prize.