Dude! You're married?!" Sokka blurted out, a matching look of shock that was also on Katara and Aang's faces.
"I'm not married yet, you twit, I'm engaged." Harry corrected him before gesturing to Azula. "Her dumbass father is the Fire Lord and figured that having his only daughter married to the Emerald Dragon was a great idea. He kind of insisted on it and since Azula and I liked each other anyways, we figured that it wasn't really much of a problem."
"You have such a romantic way with words," Azula drawled, giving him an unimpressed look that made it clear she thought that he needed a better way to describe how they got engaged. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "Harry, why?"
"Why what, Azula? Why what?" Harry asked innocently.
"Why did you leave us?" Azula said, struggling to keep her voice flat. "Why did you leave me? Why did you run? Why leave The Fire Nation?"
"I don't know if you remember but I tried to bring you with me," Harry replied. "You're the one that refused." He reminded her.
"You were asking me to abandon my home!" She glared at him. "My father!"
"Your father?" Harry scoffed. "Your father that doesn't even care for you, either of you." He added, gesturing to both her and Zuko.
"Our father loves us," Zuko responded, near instinctively.
"I can see the love right on your face, it's glaringly obvious to anyone with at least one working eye," Harry replied, causing Zuko to growl. "Tell me, Zuko, what kind of love did he give you when he challenged his own son to a duel in front of the whole Fire Nation? And for what? Because you spoke out of turn? He loved you when he banished you?" Harry asked before turning to Azula. "You know I'm right, even if you don't want to admit it."
"He's still our father," Azula pointed out.
"Is that right?" Harry asked in a curious voice. "Tell me, if you weren't a fire-bending prodigy, then how much of a father would he be for you? Huh? If you didn't show potential then how long do you reckon it would have been before he married some other women and made some more heirs? Huh? He doesn't love you, either of you. I love you! I fought for you, I killed for you! I care for both of you more than he ever does or ever did! You're just tools for him! Don't you understand that?!"
"You're wrong!" Azula snapped, sure her father was never affectionate and he truly might not love Zuko, but she knew that her father loved her, even if it was only a little. "He loves us, I know he does! Please! Please just stop this madness and come home!"
"I am not returning to the Fire Nation," Harry said firmly, shaking his head. "Not so long as your father is on the throne."
"Harry, we can convince him to spare you, we could keep you out of jail and..."
"It doesn't matter," Harry cut her off. "So long as Ozai is on the throne, I am not returning to the Fire Nation. I don't intend to step foot in the Fire Nation until one of you takes the throne," Harry told them, gesturing between the brother and sister.
"Why?" Zuko asked, looking frustrated.
"Because I promise you that if I go to the Fire Nation right now then I am likely to break my promise to you," He said to Azula.
"What promise?" Zuko demanded.
"Shut it!" Azula told him before turning her attention back to Harry. "Harry, please."
"Excuse me," Aang coughed and took a couple of steps forwards. "I'm sorry to interrupt but maybe you call could join us. We're trying our best to bring balance to the world and..."
"You!" Azula said suddenly, her eyes narrowing at Aang's direction. "You put these ideas into his head, you took him away from me!" She growled, her eyes practically glowing with rage.
"Azula," Harry said quickly. "Calm down and..."
"No more!" Azula roared before stepping forward and quickly rushed forwards.
"Azula, stop," Harry stepped forwards and tried to stop her. "You need to..." Azula ignored him and jumped over him, using her firebending to boost her higher and to get her quicker to Aang.
"Oh shit!" Sokka blurted out.
"This is not good," Iroh sighed. "Not good at all."
"Sir, I'm sure it'll be fine." One soldier said encouragingly.
"No, no, it won't be," Iroh said stubbornly, shaking his head. "It is...a lost cause, hopeless."
"He's right," A second soldier solemnly agreed. "The colouring on the apple is all wrong." He said, gesturing to the apple on Iroh's painting. The painting was of a white tea cup with a red dragon design, surrounded by an odd variety of fruits.
"Respectfully, you are both being dramatic," The first soldier said with a shake of his head. "It is a perfectly good attempt."
"But not good enough," Iroh insisted. "Another paint canvas please," He requested the guards by the door before he turned his attention back to the painting.
Iroh often enjoyed painting, it was a fun little hobby of his to help pass the time, it also kept his mind busy while he was waiting on his tea to be ready. And right now, he needed to keep his mind busy or else he would continue to worry, not for himself, but for Zuko and the other children. Iroh had done his best to encourage Zuko to follow a different path instead of blindly following the one his father had laid out for him, often times he wondered how successful he had been. But now, Zuko was with Azula and the others.
Iroh was fond of Ty Lee, he found her to be a cheerful and rather polite girl. Sure, she went along with whatever Azula wanted, but she was a nice girl. Mai - a girl that Zuko seemed to be very fond of in an entirely different way - was hardly perfect either, very closed off, and not very social. Still, Iroh had no reason to dislike the girl. Then there was Azula, his niece. When she was younger, he couldn't help but get the feeling that the young Fire Nation princess would soon follow exactly in his younger brother's footsteps. Fortunately, that eventually changed.
The change happened ever since young Harry had entered into her life, Iroh had seen her change in front of his very own eyes. She was still incredibly devoted to her father, but he was no longer the centre of her universe. His brother's emotionally distant approach to parenting had not helped him there, Harry hadn't been as affectionate as Ty Lee would have been but he had been massively skilled and close enough to Azula's age to keep her interested long enough for Harry to lower his guard around her. It has been a pleasure for Iroh to see the two getting closer with one another, day after day.
A large sigh escaped the former general's lips, it was such a shame that things hadn't worked out.
"Those had better not have been sent with intent to kill!" Harry said warningly as he used his two metal sticks to bat away several throwing knives sent at him by Mai.
"I'm not trying to kill you," Mai stated as dry as ever.
"That's okay then," Harry said calmly as he joined his two sticks together to form a big stick before dodging a dart and using the stick to slap away a knife, his thoughts were mostly preoccupied with the battle going on behind him. As he battled Mai and Ty Lee, he knew that Azula and Zuko were battling Aang and the two Water Tribe siblings. Harry could only hope that the three of them could last long enough for him to help. Harry was brought out of his thoughts as he saw Ty Lee rush up to him, she dodged under his stick before hitting it out of his hand.
Ty Lee tried to follow up her attack with a punch to the head, Harry ducked under before stepping back to dodge her left cross, he raised his leg to avoid her shin kick before he tried to counter with a jumping knee to Ty Lee's face. She back flipped back to avoid his attack, Harry caught a knife sent to him by Mai before tossing it back at her. Ty Lee didn't hesitate to use the temporary distraction to rush towards him as Mai dodged the knife. As soon as TY Lee had gotten in close she started exchanging blows with Harry, both of them throwing punches and kicks at each other. Harry managed to block and dodge all of Ty Lee's attacks, unfortunately, she was doing the same with his own.
As Ty Lee tried to throw a right hook to his face, Harry raised his left hand and allowed his gauntlet to transform into a shield, surprising Ty Lee whose fist crashed against his shield, she yelped out in pain and stepped back while Harry followed up by using his other hand to punch her in the gut, knocking her back and onto the ground. The gauntlet on that arm transformed into its shield form in time to block a knife that had nearly hit him in his hip.
"Sorry, Ty Lee." Harry apologised before his shields turned back into gauntlets just as his stick flew straight into his hand, surprising both Ty Lee and Mai. To Mai's credit, she barely paused before throwing another knife at Harry. Harry transformed his stick into a pair of nun chucks and swatted away several of Mai's weapons. "Nice try, but I know all your tricks," Harry said as he tossed his weapon high into the air before clapping his hands together, hard, sending a wave of air straight at Mai. Mai tried to dodge but wasn't able to, and found herself knocked back and off the platform. "Are you okay, Ty Lee?" Harry asked in a concerned voice as he caught his weapon just as it fell back towards the ground.
"Fine," Ty Lee groaned as she climbed to a kneeling position. "You still punch hard, thanks for holding back."
"You're welcome," Harry told her before sending a wind blast at her, sending her straight off the platform as well. Harry turned around and spotted Katara battling Zuko, behind her Sokka threw a boomerang that curved around Katara and nearly hit Zuko in the head, though the Fire Nation Prince managed to dodge in time before countering Katara's water attack with a fire blast of her own. "Zuko!" Harry called before shooting a green fire blast at Zuko, Zuko's eyes widened and he quickly raised a fire wall to defend himself. Harry's attack crashed into his wall, destroying it and throwing him backwards. Zuko rolled to his feet but was not able to do more as Sokka had closed in and knocked him out with a well-placed attack from his club.
"Damn, he's stubborn." Sokka let out a heavy breath.
"Where's Azula and Aang?" Harry asked quickly.
"Um..." Katara trailed off and pointed past Harry's shoulder, the emerald-eyed warrior turned around and saw Azula chasing Aang all over the Omashu slides, with Aang narrowly avoiding a lightning blast that had nearly hit him right in the head.
"Crap baskets," Harry sighed. "Get Appa," Harry told the two of them. "We're going to need a quick getaway."
"Stay still, you little brat!" Azula roared, throwing a high-powered lightning blast in the Avatar's direction, her rage increased immensely when she saw the bald little monk dodge her attack, resulting in her lightning destroying one of the Omashu slides.
"I'm not even that much younger than you!" Aang protested before adopting a thoughtful look. "I'm actually technically much older than you." He added before quickly conjuring a wind-shield to block a powerful blue fire attack, the shield did its job but wasn't much help when Azula's second attack smashed through it and knocked him backwards and off the slide he was standing on. He managed to twist in mid-air and landed on the slide below before sliding down it on his wind scooter.
"You're not getting away that easy!" Azula growled before leaping down on the slide below, ready to chase after him, only to stop when she spotted Harry standing in front of her, his hand raised in a calming gesture.
"You know, I rather like these slides," Harry said in a conversational voice as he looked around at all the damage that Azula had caused. "You're lightning blasts have definitely gotten better." He added in a complementary manner as he turned his attention back to her.
"I've been practising," She sniffed. "Now, move out of my way, I'm going to go kill that little bald midget and then you're coming with me, back to the Fire Nation."
"That's not going to happen, Azula," Harry said calmly, shaking his head.
"Why the hell not?!" Azula demanded as she walked over and stopped right in front of him.
"I'm not going back to the Fire Nation, not while your father is on the throne," Harry told her bluntly.
"Why not?!" Azula hissed angrily. "Why won't you come back?! To your home?! To your family?! To me?! What did my father do to you that made you hate him so much?!"
"There is a list," Harry answered honestly. "And it's not just me that he's hurt. Take a walk around the Earth Kingdoms, Azula. Take a walk through a Water Tribe. Your father, just like his father, preaches about how the Fire Nation is doing what's best for everyone. But that's just a load of armadillo-bear shit. I am going to stop this war, one way or another."
"But why fight against the Fire Nation?!" Azula screamed. "We're the winning side! The right side!"
"We are not," Harry said without hesitation. "The Fire Nation is definitely not the good guys here, and I promise you, now that I'm with the Avatar, it is definitely not the winning side either. Azula, I will not change my mind, I'm not going back to the Fire Nation. But you, you don't have to sink with Ozai's ship. Please, forget him, he doesn't care for you. You're just a tool to him, you and Zuko. Please, get him, get Ty Lee and Mai while you're at it, and join us! If not then at least leave the Fire Nation."
"He's my father!" Azula said stubbornly, tears dripping from her eyes. "I can't abandon him!"
"Then I hope we can stay out of each other's way until the war ends," Harry said, his face blank whilst his voice was slow and controlled. "I don't want to hurt you, Azula. Stay out of my way." He told her before turning around.
"Where are you going?!" Azula blurted out before Harry could even take a step.
"I'm going to go to the Avatar, and we're going to stop this war, together," Harry told her, sounding as determined as Azula had ever heard him sound.
"No, you can't!" Azula said quickly, rushing forwards and grabbing him by the shoulder before spinning around. "You can't do this! Please!" She pleaded desperately, tears openly dripping down her, a sight that most in the Fire Nation couldn't even begin to imagine. "Please!" She grabbed his hand and held onto it as tightly as she could. "I need you, Harry. Stay, stay with me. Stay with me, please!"
"I'm sorry, Azula, I love you but I've got to," Harry told her apologetically, his emerald-coloured orbs staring right into her amber-gold eyes. "I'm going now, you can blast me if you want, but I'm going. You do what you got to do." Harry gave her a short nod before he extracted his hand from hers and turned once again, he paused and looked back at her. "See you around," He told her before he jumped to his right just in time to land on Appa as the sky bison flew under him before shooting straight towards the air.
"Harry!" Azula called after him, her voice piercing through the air. It took Harry a considerable amount of effort to not look back at her. "HARRY! HARRY!" Azula screamed after him.
"They're gone," Zuko growled as he stopped behind her. "We'll get them next time, we'll probably have to..." Zuko trailed off as he looked at his sister who was staring into space, her red face covered in drying tears.
"He...he left me," Azula whispered so low that Zuko was barely able to hear her. "He left me," She repeated brokenly.
"Azula," Zuko paused, not entirely sure what to say. Comforting someone was never his strong suit, he especially didn't know what to do when the person in question was his seemingly unbreakable sister. "I...look, I'm crap at this but...Harry still loves you and..."
"Truly?!" Azula asked quickly, turning to face him, looking far more vulnerable than Zuko could ever recall her looking. An odd look in her eye made Zuko seem very worried, feeling like one wrong word or even breath could result in him having to fight for his life. "He...he loves me?" She asked hopefully, desperately.
"Of course!" Zuko said quickly, for his own health if nothing else. "You know that, he loves you! There's no doubt in my mind, none at all."
"He...he loves me..." Azula repeated to herself softly, a hint of disbelief in her voice along with a touch of amazement. "...He loves me...loves me...loves me. Yes, yes, you're right, Brother." She said, sounding as if she had come to a major realisation. "Yes, he loves me, it's the Avatar that's gotten in the way. Tricked him, tricked my Harry into staying away from me." She growled furiously before her face shifted into a serene smile. "But I won't let that happen. I will not let that happen, nobody is coming in-between us." Zuko watched as her smile turned into a smirk that seemed much more familiar to Zuko. "Come Zuko," She said, sounding like her regular old self. "We have work to do."