"Co on, open your mouth, the steamboat with food is coming in~" Azula, six years old, almost seven, held a pair of tal chopsticks and brought mashed food to the mouth of a little girl sitting in a high chair.
The little girl was barely over a year old, but her golden eyes looked curiously at Azula's attempts to feed her. Yet she refused to open her mouth. She didn't want to eat puree; she wanted to go out and play.
"Kiyi, eat or you won't get out of here," Azula threatened, staring at her little sister with narrowed eyes.
"No," the little girl nad Kiyi refused, causing Azula to despair.
"There's no choice; I won't take you to watch Shisui train." Azula, as always, chose the more direct and subtle route, the smile barely showing as she watched her little sister seemingly give in.
"Bad Azula," the little girl complained, her mouth hanging open, but that didn't stop Azula from continuing to feed her.
"If you want to grow big and strong, you have to eat. You can't just refuse; you'll feel weak afterward," Azula advised, using the chopsticks to clean the leftover food from the side of Kiyi's mouth and feeding her again.
"But boring," Kiyi complained again, making Azula pause for a mont to stare at her.
"Being around Shisui does make people smarter, first Zuzu and now Kiki," Azula murmured as she saw how her one-year-old sister could already string so words together and even understand their aning.
Since the day Shisui brought the reflection of the spirit world to the earthly world, news that the royal family would have a new mber spread like wildfire throughout the Fire Nation.
Aside from a sense of national happiness, especially since the year of Kiyi's birth was declared tax-free, many people beca more curious about the younger mbers of the royal family.
For example, attempts to propose to Azula failed when it was discovered that she was already engaged to Shisui. So tried to challenge this, but the combined political pressure of a Fire Lord, a forr Fire Lord, and a Sage from the Fire Temple quickly quieted things down.
The title of 'Sage' bestowed upon Shisui by the Avatars was recognized by both the Fire Nation and the Sages of the Fire Temple, who endorsed such recognition.
Imagine a six-year-old child receiving such a title; even the spies of other nations spread the news around the world, and except for a little skepticism, the things Shisui was pushing were now common knowledge.
Knowing that even much of the 'expensive' and boutique food enjoyed by many of the world's wealthy and nobles was the creation of a child had a greater impact than any of the social changes Shisui had promoted.
But food is one of the things that can break down any barriers between countries and cultures, everyone loves good cuisine, and Shisui even brought them ways to delicately prepare those things that people ignored or didn't want to eat.
Now, when you talk about potatoes, people don't think of that pig food, but of the delicious mashed potatoes, French fries, or all the different dishes that can be made with that tuber; the mashed potatoes that Kiyi eats are the ones made with potatoes.
As the months passed since that spiritual event, the training of the three children beca more sophisticated and arduous, and each of them already knew what they wanted to specialize in, and even Ty Lee and Mai joined their training.
The integration of Ty Lee, Mai, and the newest mber of the royal family, Kiyi, ca naturally. Azula's friends bonded with Shisui and Zuko, while little Kiyi enjoyed chasing after her older siblings.
The little girl was a rambunctious one-year-old who was already curious about everything, wanted to put everything in her mouth, and liked to see shiny things like Azula's firebending, Zuko's complicated sword moves, or Shisui's waterbending.
Perhaps because it was the first face she saw when she was born, Kiyi loved Shisui very much and would constantly chase after him or want to be near him when he trained with his spear or waterbending.
Not to ntion, the girl owed her life to Shisui. As one of those present at Ursa's birth, Shisui used waterbending to heal the mother and daughter from the complications of childbirth.
Kiyi had been born with the umbilical cord tied around her neck, in many cases a death sentence, but for a Water Master with good Chi control, using the healing properties of water easily solved the problem.
"Co, since you're done, I'll take you to the others," Azula said after giving her sister a drink and wiping her down with a warm cloth.
On the way, they passed through several corridors, and when the servants saw them, they lowered their heads and slowed their pace, showing the respect they deserved. In the past, Azula would have stopped to bother the servants, but she had long since stopped doing such things.
As they passed a large window overlooking the capital, large chimneys could be seen in the distance, spewing white smoke. Kiyi gazed at the sight with sparkling eyes, curious as to why there was sothing so high in the world, but Azula did not stop to admire the scenery.
When they reached the training ground, the two girls saw Ty Lee, Mai, and Zuko looking together at an open space several dozen ters away, where a sparring match was taking place.
A heavy boulder rose from the ground and was hurled at soone, but jets of water shot up, splitting into three and hitting the huge boulder.
The three jets of water sliced through the rock as if it were paper, but they did not stop flying, and even changed shape as they flew, turning into arrows. Water suddenly appeared in the form of an ice shield, protecting itself from the stone arrows.
Tentacles of water erged from the ice, grabbing the projectiles and squeezing them tightly into gravel, then twisting like snakes, rising into the sky and turning into white steam that soon condensed.
The temperature was raised by the influence of the steam under high pressure, but as the white jet moved forward, a cone-shaped stone wall stopped it, deflecting the steam in several places.
"Wow, if Petra had made a normal rectangular wall, Shisui's steam would have exploded it, this conical shape is what Shisui calls aerodynamic, isn't it? Or hydrodynamic if it's in water," Zuko said, absorbing much of the battle he was watching.
"Both of them change the states of their elent as easily as breathing, approaching them would be a tedious thing," Ty Lee said with an unusual tone of seriousness in her voice.
"Petra lost," Mai muttered under her breath, although it was now much more audible than before.
"Yes, she lost," said Azula, who had just arrived and watched the end of the fight.
Shisui simply ignored his parried attack and charged forward, jumping over the conical rock wall and directly facing his opponent, a green-eyed girl who smiled at the sight.
The girl tried to attack, but the faint water vapor around her condensed into small strands of solid water that enveloped her hands and feet. When Shisui fell, everyone could see that the boy's golden eyes were out of focus, and his expression was particularly strange.
"He's seeing Petra's aura, that's cheating," Ty Lee complained with a hint of envy in her voice.
She had the sa ability as Shisui, only the two worked very differently. Hers was a permanent vision that served more to detect emotions and personality, and even, if she tried hard, to use her Chi to alter another's aura to cause ntal disturbances.
Shisui's ability was sothing he had to activate, which affected his temperant due to the sensory load it carried, but it allowed him to see people's auras, beco more accurate, predicts their intent to act, and attack the points where a person's aura changed, disrupting their energy cycle, which translated into a loss of stamina.
Sa skill, different use. Abilities like this were sowhat rare in the world, but not uncommon. People were known to be able to hear the voice of all things and connect with an animal, and so even had an incredibly keen sense of sll.
"I lost," the girl said with resignation, she was Petra, another 'Child of Misfortune' like Shisui.
She and Shisui had t at school and had gotten along imdiately, especially since they had beco rivals in a way. Sure, Azula had been reserved towards the girl, but eventually, she was able to put up with her, after all, she had already 'won' Shisui, so to speak.
"You've improved your earthbending after leaving your vicinity, that's remarkable," Shisui said, releasing Petra and waving his hands in a circle.
All the water used in the battle, no matter what state it was in, floated towards him, and then it began to swirl, mixing in motes of Chi. Eventually, it all coalesced into a small drop of crystal clear water, but at the sight of it, his companions felt a touch of absurdity.
When Shisui got tired of the relative scarcity of abundant water to fight with, he ca up with the disturbing idea of concentrating as much water as possible into a single drop.
Even though he doubted it was possible, his cognition of Chi made it relatively possible. It wasn't as overkill as he thought, and he could only control two of those drops at a ti, but it allowed him to carry enough water for a fight.
This thing was very heavy, and he had to constantly use his water control to control it, training himself in the process. This attitude of constantly training and integrating it into his daily life was tried by the others out of curiosity, but they rejected it, except for Zuko.
After he had learned to forge his sword with Piandao, Piandao had left him free to do whatever he wanted with the knowledge he had imparted to him. He taught him not only how to use a weapon, the sword, but also the philosophy of that weapon.
Zuko then integrated that philosophy into his daily life, and though he looked like a child, the sparkle in his eyes was sothing anyone could notice. It was like a shiny new sword that had yet to see blood, but there was no doubting its lethality.
"You're still so over the top," Petra muttered before kicking the ground and growing a piece of greenish crystal from which she plucked a piece to put in her mouth.
The sweetness of the crystal soothed her discomfort at losing, but her movents were so skillful and fluid that they implied one thing: she had lost to Shisui many, many tis.
"Give so to Kiki," Azula demanded as she approached with her younger sister in her arms, the little girl wanting to be carried by bro Shisui, who didn't refuse.
"Shisui!" the little girl hugged the child, who shook the little girl's black hair before offering her the piece of sweet crystal Petra had given her.
"I still find it strange that sothing that looks like glass is so sweet and tasty," said Ty Lee who was also chewing on a piece of sweet crystal that the little girl couldn't stop eating.
"The surprise is that this King Bumi guy agreed to sell sothing to our nation," said Mai, who ate only a small piece of this crystal before giving the rest to Ty Lee who looked at her with puppy eyes.
"The Beifongs seem to have had sothing to do with it, Father says that the family still had business with our nation even when the war was at its bloodiest," Zuko added what he knew, plunging the atmosphere into a sowhat heavy silence.
"It's not going to end just like that, is it?" said Petra, who, contrary to what one might think, held no grudge against the Fire Nation.
Perhaps as part of their attempt to take advantage of these 'Children of Misfortune', since Shisui's birth, so support has been given to the few confird children, usually a product of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom.
Previously, this type of mating was not seen very often, mostly because it occurred in colonies or refugees from the Earth Kingdom who were trying to find a better life and instead of going to cities like Ba Sing Se, they chose the Fire Nation.
Petra was the daughter of an Earth Kingdom blacksmith and a Fire Nation woman, so what made this man go to a place that could be considered dangerous for people like him?
His motives were simple: Petra's mother saved him, and from that mont on, he fell in love with her and vowed to never let anything bad happen to her. Even with the silent rejection of his presence in a hostile land, the man worked his way into the woman's heart.
Petra was born into a loving ho, and the Fire Nation's rejection of her and her father eased, and the man was even hired by the new factories to build tal steamships.
Shisui's example of how a 'Son of Misfortune' could inevitably progress was used as political propaganda, in part Azulon's intention to use him as a tool was fulfilled by this situation, but at least it could be said that it was for sothing good.
The school Shisui attended had a teacher from the Earth Kingdom and a nurse from the Water Tribe. In so places, there was talk of less cruelty in the prisons and even the possibility of joining the Fire Nation as long as they were loyal to the nation.
Of course, many refused, almost all of them, but there was no longer any need for the prisons where the prisoners were abused; now they were just regular prisoners until the war was over.
Except for a few important or dangerous people who had to remain in solitary confinent, the rest had liberties. The concept of barbarism associated with the Fire Nation had not changed, but now more nuance was added.
Sure, it wasn't easy to change nearly 100 years of war, repression, oppression, and resentnt; the war wasn't over either, but at least everyone else in the world rembered one thing: Firebenders are still human.
"Many hope that it will be the Avatar who ends the war, others that the Fire Nation will get to the point where they don't need him, others that peace will be made by all the nations working together.
Whatever the ultimate reason, I just want to explore this vast world. We are only in one part of it, you know, what will be beyond the known seas? Maybe another continent, maybe nothing, but the idea is interesting," Shisui answered Petra's question, making the girl wrinkle her face.
"I can't believe the world is round, why don't we fall?" the girl asked desperately.
"New Ton-Ton said sothing about 'gravity,' I don't understand much, but it sounds better than 'spirits,' doesn't it?" joked Zuko, making the others laugh with him.
"I thought Shisui was going to give us a lecture on that, he has that habit," Ty Lee said, looking at the boy who was lifting little Kiyi into the air.
"No, now I'm paying attention to this little cutie, who's the cutest, you are!" Shisui skillfully let Kiyi go, causing the girl to giggle constantly.
"She looks more like your sister than ours," Azula complained, though she was smiling.
"Obviously, can't you see we're twins?" Shisui pressed his cheek against Kiyi's, who pulled on his long hair, but she tangled her fingers, causing Shisui to yelp in pain and the others to tease him.
"You look like you need a haircut," a woman's voice could be heard behind Shisui, and when he turned around, it was Ursa who had approached them, then untangled her little daughter's hand and took her in her arms.
"Would you like to cut your hair?" asked Ursa, causing Shisui to look at her in surprise, no one had ever asked him this question before, but when he saw Ursa's smile, he nodded.
"Yes, please," Shisui felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and when he looked back, it was Azula and Zuko smiling at him.
"I heard you complaining about how long your hair is," Zuko said, pointing at Shisui's long hair.
"And how tedious it is to wash it, so we told Mom to help you with that," Azula finished, making Shisui feel warm in his heart.
"Finally, the reign of terror of 'Shisui of the Beautiful Mane' will end!" exclaid Ty Lee dramatically, sitting down on an uncomfortable Mai's shoulder.
"A lot of girls at school will be crying because they won't be able to try to steal a lock of your hair!" sneered Petra, her comnt causing Azula to grit her teeth.
"Those...! Turtleducks..." Azula was about to say an ugly curse word, but her mother glared at her and could only choose the cutest, most harmless animal that ca to mind.
"Is Shisui popular at school?" asked Ursa knowingly, but Shisui's blushing face cheered her up quite a bit.
"You have no idea, Mom! They're like bees to honey, they're always approaching him just to be near him, they're stickier than Kiyi," Zuko replied, teasing Shisui, but when he noticed the smile on his friend's face, he felt a chill.
"Like you and Mai, Zuko?" Shisui's question made Zuko turn incredibly red, and Mai looked a little embarrassed as well.
Causally, both children looked at each other for a few seconds before averting their eyes to the laughter of the other children, but for Ursa, this was all interesting, so she gave Mai a critical look.
'She will be a beautiful woman in the future, maybe I should talk to Ozai about this situation in the evening,' Ursa blushed a little at the thought of what she did with her husband every night and quickly focused on Shisui's long hair.
"What hairstyle do you want?", Ursa asked, attracting the attention of the others.
"I want..."
The next morning, an 8-year-old Shisui with a different haircut attracted a lot of attention from the students and teachers. His hair was now much shorter than before, with the sides of his head much shorter than the top, with the hair cut in a way that gave him a wild but delicate temperant.
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AN: Gradually the characters will grow and change! A new addition and the newest to the group of protagonists is Petra, a skilled Earthbender!
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