Unlike the trip to the South Pole, which was a combination of a scouting mission to find the Avatar and a diplomatic mission, the trip to the North Pole was entirely a matter of diplomacy between two countries. For this reason, the entourage was quite large.
Hundreds of Fire Nation ships traveled the seas, their smokestacks spitting smoke and leaving a trail of sea foam in their wake. It was an impressive sight; however, they were not preparing for war this time.
They were a demonstration of power. Peace had not yet been officially signed, and the Fire Nation had just experienced internal turmoil that could have escalated into a devastating conflict: civil war.
Although the worst-case scenario did not play out, it was a clear warning to Ozai: There were forces in the world that did not want to see his people prosper and perhaps loved conflict more than he did, something that made him wary.
The letter from the leader of the North Pole, though unpleasant in parts, opened a necessary door at just the right time. It would be the first real attempt at dialogue in many years.
Yes, Ozai planned and requested a full diplomatic meeting to arrange the long-overdue peace treaties. This made the Fire Lord proud to some extent, as he had not needed the Avatar to guide him to this point.
He did not share the Red Lotus's thoughts, but one must sometimes prove that one possesses the will to change and improve things independently.
For this reason, Chief Arnook was more open to receiving them. Of course, he demanded that only one ship with the diplomatic retinue approach his waters while the rest remained in the open sea.
But that would be for the future because they had not yet come that far. The water temperature had hardly changed, and the sun shone freely in the sky.
Shisui sat in a meditative pose on the deck of the ship. His closed eyes occasionally twitched, and the chi in his body sporadically surged through his skin before fading away.
"What are you trying to accomplish this time?" Tai Lee asked Azula quietly, taking care not to interrupt the sage's meditation.
"Something about externalizing one's essence. I don't know why he suddenly became interested in that," Azula answered. She was comfortably sitting in a beach chair wearing only a bikini, her body exposed to the sun's rays.
Her friends were doing the same, but, unlike her and Mai, whose clothing was more modest, her other two companions were more extravagant.
Ty Lee, a free spirit, had her back bare as she lay face down on the chair, covering her butt with only a piece of cloth. Petra wore a bikini so thin that, if it weren't for the sparse patches covering the key parts, she might as well be walking around naked.
"You know how he is. He'll come up with something. If he gets it right the first time, that's fine. If not, he'll dive headlong into it until he masters it," commented Petra, quietly sipping a glass of ice-cold juice.
"I wonder what it would look like. Haven't you noticed how many of the things Shisui does follow a specific aesthetic?" Perhaps because she was exposed to the sun and sea breeze, Mai spoke in a higher tone and at a normal speed, completely relaxed.
How could one not be? She was hanging out with her closest friends, tanning, and, most of all, her eyes would occasionally fall on Zuko, who was training shirtless on the deck of the ship.
The prince stared out to sea, trying to accomplish something, but he just couldn't. Realizing that there were still possible threats lurking, he decided to improve his power or, failing that, branch out a bit more.
He was already powerful with the sword, and he had combined its use with fire. He had even put lightning in his power. However, there was sub-bending that caught his attention due to a certain community in the Fire Nation.
They were well aware that they were descended from the Sun Warriors. However, the Fire Nation hardly followed those traditions, diversifying and transforming old rituals and celebrations into something different.
However, there was a group of people who used Firebending in a way reminiscent of their ancient roots: the Combustion-benders. They were few but highly respected by the Fire Nation.
Zuko had one of these people under his direct command in the military, and he signed him up for his entourage when Zuko ascended to the throne. It was this person who explained the basics of Combustion-bending to Zuko.
However, knowing a concept does not automatically make you capable of carrying it out. Zuko tried to provoke a small explosion using the center of his forehead without much success.
'At least my father gave me those facts about Sozin,' Zuko thought, remembering the contents of the scroll about redirecting the heat of a volcano.
Zuko already knew that story and was familiar with that technique. He had applied it to create his sense of heat. However, knowing the actual content opened his eyes to a new world: temperature control.
He could make his fire solid and control it so that it wouldn't burn anything he didn't want. However, he had never thought to delve into heat except to sharply increase the temperature of his flame when it was time to attack.
'Don't push yourself. If it doesn't come to you, just let it burn for a while,' Zuko mused before glancing in the direction Mai was facing and noticing how she winked at him.
"Is it me, or are you not so frigid anymore?" Ty Lee teased. She turned her body and covered her breasts with her arm, but that didn't stop her from teasing her friend.
"Hmmm," Mai snorted. But she noticed that she was feeling quite perky today. Could it be that her drinks had more in them than just juice? Knowing Ty Lee, who ordered them, she wouldn't be surprised if they had alcohol in them.
"Let her! It's good for her to have fun and be more cheerful!" Azula defended her sister-in-law but only earned mocking looks from Ty Lee and Petra.
"You're just saying that because you want to be an aunt!" Petra pointed out the main point of the matter, causing Mai to turn slightly red and Azula to lift her chin in pride.
"I can't be the only one who suffers on her own," replied the princess, placing her hand on her lower belly. Her face now wore a smile full of loving maternal pride.
"It's curious that that thing is only several days old and already has such a vibrant aura. Is Shisui human? That little thing doesn't even have a heart yet." Ty Lee focused her eyes on her friend's belly.
Her passive ability to see auras told her that, underneath Azula's vibrant pink aura, there was a smaller gray one that was still undefined.
It wasn't alive, but it already had an aura, which intrigued Ty Lee greatly. She may not have been a super researcher like her girlfriend or Shisui, but she wasn't dumb or ignorant.
'Is Shisui's essence powerful enough to impregnate Azula directly and produce such a special result?' thought Ty Lee, because yes, Azula was pregnant.
Even though only days had passed since that moment, Shisui took it upon himself to fulfill the princess's request. Using his knowledge of life, he nurtured Azula properly.
With his perception, stemming from his gift and affinity for the concept of life, he noticed the beginning of what, in a few months, would be considered a life. For now, though, it was just a bunch of constantly replicating cells that had an aura.
"Are you envious?" Azula asked, squinting her golden eyes as she looked at Ty Lee as if she were prey.
This provoked Ty Lee to palm her chest, exposing her small breasts to the air. She didn't care that there were two men present; she trusted them so much. It's not like they had never seen each other naked as adults.
"No! Well, yes, because you'll get your boobs puffed out, and that makes me envious." Ty Lee made a show of this point, touching her breasts before bringing her wicked claws to Azula's.
"Stop! I'm barely days pregnant. They haven't grown!" Azula growled, trying to avoid her friend's invasive grip but failing. Ty Lee was an expert at this, and their trust allowed them to play these kinds of games healthily. After all, they were very close friends.
"You can become pregnant if you externalize your essence and combine it with Petra's. If one of you decides to be the mother, technically, the result will be a being that combines the energetic signature of both of you. Although you will only be daughters," Shisui abruptly interrupted. This allowed Azula to finally get rid of Ty Lee's groping, something she was used to.
But the Sage's words certainly got everyone's attention, even Zuko's. He had been trying to control the ambient heat directly and had surprisingly gotten a partial breakthrough in that area, improving his understanding of the subject.
"How could something like that be done!?" Petra asked urgently. Shisui simply leaned back on the ship's deck, looking up at the clear sky with a smile on his face.
"First, you must externalize your essence, your inner self, by creating an energy construct that simulates you. The details of that, let's leave aside for a moment. With this construct, which is essentially you, you mix part of your essence with Ty Lee's.
According to my idea, there would be no risk, and you wouldn't lose that part of yourself. However, the combination of the two would create a cycle between you that could produce a new life if you wish.
Do you know that I often go to the spirit world? I have seen those beings reproduce. Don't ask; it was an accident that time... Anyway, that's how spirits propagate. You just replicate that in the earthly world," Shisui explained, glossing over a lot of technical content and many of his ideas, like something he discovered by accident.
'Dual cultivation' could be achieved if two people capable of what Shisui described fostered that energy cycle rather than wanting offspring. It was his idea, and when he achieved it, he would certainly guide Azula to reach that point.
Exploring more of the spiritual aspects of himself, life, and the world was his driver to achieve the externalization of his essence, as well as this thought.
"Boo! I thought you had managed to give people penises. I wanted a gigantic cock!" joked Ty Lee, earning a spanking from Petra, a smack on the head from Mai, and a pinch on the waist from Azula, three in one!
"Silly girl! Can't you see that I want you to help me develop that technique? His words are bait," Petra explained, although she was already convinced and wished to participate in investigating this matter.
"Stop reading those novels, Tyty. They're making you sick," Azula said, jokingly placing the back of her hand on Ty Lee's forehead.
"Hopeless pervert. I should confiscate your books," Mai commented, causing Ty Lee to roll her eyes.
"Looks like an attempt to rebel against her destiny of being passive," Zuko added, making Ty Lee blush. It was extremely rare for her to blush, and it indicated that Zuko's words had hit home.
"You had already convinced me anyway. Will that ability be useful for more than just upgrading my small breasts?" Ty Lee asked, a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Oh yes. You'll be able to create an energy version of yourself. If you want, you can change its appearance..." Shisui blinked dramatically several times before revealing another motive for achieving such a technique.
"You'll be able to make a huge version of yourself: a destructive, super-powerful energy colossus. Cool, and extremely awesome..." Shisui began to describe how he imagined himself driving what would technically be a Susanoo or a Gundam.
After all, he had never left his childish side behind. Although many people desired that technique in his past life, now he had the opportunity to bring it to fruition.
How could he not drag others in to contribute to his research?
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AN: Confidence between women is... xD. And we have a future baby~! Woooooo but the plot isn't about that. but with this chapter you can notices that the fanfic start it second half part.
Also, there is someone on Pat/tre/on who put an audio of the first 39 chapters of this fanfic, but I don't have an account on that site. Please, if you search the name of this fanfic on Google, you can find him and report him :c He didn't ask me for my opinion!