So apparently writing about the Fire Siblings is my new hobby (or should I say therapy? lol). I hope you like it.
It was late at night. The Fire Lord was exhausted after a long day of tiresome meetings. He would probably be sleeping already if it weren't for his youngest sister, who sat on his bed looking really upset.
"I can't believe Mom grounded me! It's so unfair!" Kiyi was holding her knees to her chest looking up at Zuko.
"Kiyi… you burned half of the garden. It wasn't that unfair." He gave her a weak smile.
"But I didn't mean to! I just made a little mistake…" She muttered the last sentence, a little bit angry at herself for making such a mistake.
Zuko looked at her, frowning. Sometimes she was so much like Azula that it scared him. He shook his head and sighed. Right now, all he wanted was to get some sleep.
"Come on, Kiyi, it's late… Can we talk about this in the morning?"
But she wasn't listening…
"Why was she that mad anyway? It was just a bunch of flowers…"
"Yeah, but-"
Suddenly, someone opened his door. Zuko wished it had been Ursa coming to take Kiyi to bed, but Azula was the one who entered. She was already in her nightgown with her hair down, her face unpainted.
"Zuzu, I will need to borrow some of your servants in the morning, okay?"
"What? Why is that?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I fired half of my staff and haven't had the time to hire replacements…" She shrugged.
"What? You fired them? Again?" He looked at her, astonished.
"Yeah… Since you no longer want me to banish them, I only fire them when they disappoint me,"Azula said looking at her nails, not really getting why Zuko was making such a big deal out of a silly thing like this. Then, she looked at his bed and finally noticed Kiyi. "And you? Why are you here?"
"Mom grounded me, can you believe it?"
"What?" Azula's eyes widened. Then she walked across the room and sat in front of the little girl. The princess frowned, suddenly getting really angry at her mom. "It was because of the thing with the garden, wasn't it?"
"Yeah-"
Zuko stared at the two girls on his bed, incredulous. Suddenly he couldn't help but imagine how different life would be if he were an only child. Probably fewer problems and more sleep. He sat on his bed beside Azula, rubbing his temples.
"Alright, can't you two go talk somewhere else?" Zuko spoke, sounding beyond tired now. "It's been a long day. I really want to go to sleep."
Both Kiyi and Azula glared him. Of course they wouldn't leave him alone that easily.
"You can't sleep now. This is important," Azula said, giving him a judgmental glare.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Alright, Azula, have my servants… Now please leave?"
The princess groaned and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not talking about that, you idiot!" She nudged him angrily. "I'm talking about Kiyi's problem!"
Azula's eyes were widened at him, as he looked back at her, confused. There was an unusual concern in her eyes that he didn't understand. He knew Azula cared more about Kiyi than she would ever admit, but why was she that worried anyway? And the worst part was that she was looking at him as though she expected him to do something. Actually they both were…
"Zuko?" Azula shook him abruptly by the shoulder. "Are you sleeping with your eyes open? Did you listen to what I said?"
"No… I mean, yes." He shook his head trying to be more awake and sighed. "But I don't get it… what is there to talk about?"
She gazed him, angry.
"About how you are going to tell Mother to rescind her punishment?"
"What-"
Kiyi gasped and jumped getting closer to them.
"What? Can you do it, Zuzu?"
He looked at Azula and then Kiyi with a puzzled look on his face.
"No, I-"
Azula rolled her eyes again and cut him off.
"Of course, he can! If there's something Zuzu can do well it's dealing with our mom."
Kiyi laughed.
"You are right, Azula. She always listens to him! It will work!"
"Wait, wait, wait…" Zuko raised his voice, looking at them, stunned. "I can't do that. Azula!" He glared at his older sister. "I shouldn't interfere…"
Kiyi's smile faded, and she looked at him with a mix of disappointment and anguish. And he could see the disappointment on Azula's face too. Oh great. Seriously, he could not handle the two of them together…
"Zuko… What's the matter with you? Clearly, Mom overreacted. It was just a stupid garden, and I'm pretty sure Kiyi is sorry. I mean she didn't even do it on purpose…" As I used to do it for instance, he could almost read her mind saying it. "It's not fair." Azula crossed her arms, waiting for a response.
Suddenly, he realized what this was all about. How could he be so stupid? Kiyi was much sweeter and nicer than Azula was, that's for sure. But still, in many ways, they were so alike that their mother often didn't know how to handle Kiyi... And Azula definitely hated seeing that happen.
"Azula…" he said softly. "I-"
"Come on, Zuzu, just tell me you are going to help the little brat and I'll leave you alone."
He couldn't help but smile looking at Azula. She claimed that she didn't care for anyone, but now here she was trying to help her baby sister not be grounded. It was at the very least really ironic.
"Alright, alright… I will talk to her." He finally gave up.
Kiyi jumped up to hug him, screaming, "Thank you, Zuzu!" Then she hugged Azula, who made a disgusted face. "And thank you, Azu! You two are the best!" Azula rolled her eyes, softly pushing Kiyi away.
"Don't think I did this just because I'm nice. You owe me a favor, are you listening?" Azula asked giving a serious look to her younger sister.
Zuko rolled his eyes at her, trying not to laugh at Azula's obvious lie.
"What would I have to do for you, Azu?"
"I don't know yet, but believe me I won't forget it… "
Suddenly Azula started talking to Kiyi about how to make sure people would pay their part in a deal and how to find someone's greatest weakness…
Zuko rolled his eyes and dropped himself at the side of the bed.
"I thought you two would leave now that I agreed to help…"
"Wait a minute, Zuzu… This is important," Kiyi said in a very serious tone.
Azula laughed. "Yes, and you know, you could stand to learn a thing or two as well."
He groaned, realizing that they wouldn't be leaving any time soon and his coveted sleep would have to wait.
Credits again to purpleplatypusbear21 who helped me with my english :)
