A/N: So this is my first time writing anything about Avatar, and about either of these characters...I hope it's not horrible!

This takes place either right at the beginning of B2/W2 or shortly before it. As for Azula...I was going to have this be after she escaped in that graphic novel, but that didn't quite seem to fit with how I ended up characterizing her...so...I'm really not sure.

"I like powerful men," the girl said coquettishly.

Was this child trying to flirt with him? Ghetsis had been sitting here, minding his own business, in this seedy hole-in-the-wall that didn't ask questions, when this girl, dressed to the nines in Boutique clothing, had accosted him. Did she even know what happened to pretty little girls who wandered around here unsupervised?

The very first thing out of her mouth had been, "You are Ghetsis Harmonia, correct?", so there was no chance that this was just some random prostitute that he could ignore. He'd have to be careful. Even though this place tended to overlook wanted men, he still did not want his name shouted out in the middle of a crowded room.

He opened his mouth to answer, but just then a fight broke out on the other side of the room. One man tried to hit the other with his tankard of beer, only to miss terribly. The glass sailed right over the girl's head and hit the far wall with a resounding crash.

Well. At least that had shut her up.

"Let's go outside," Ghetsis finally said.

Once they were both standing in the alley behind the building, Ghetsis looked this girl over more carefully. The moon was almost full, so there was reasonably good light. She was even tinier than he had originally thought…he knew he was unusually tall, but she barely reached his chest! She didn't seem older than twelve or so…until one looked at her eyes. They were an odd golden color, and held no fear. In fact, with those eyes and that purr of a voice, she was oddly reminiscent of a Liepard.

Or maybe...a Zoroark? Could this just be an illusion of a human form? But Ghetsis had experience with Zoroark and their trickery (the Freak's "Zori" had tormented him for fifteen years, after all), and this didn't seem to be the same. No, this girl was all human, for better or for worse.

"I've known many powerful men. I've known many weak men too," the girl was saying, bringing Ghetsis back to reality. Was she still going on about that?

"What do you want?" Ghetsis snapped. This seemed to please the girl. Her smile was fierce; almost feral, even.

"I thought you'd never ask," she drawled. "I'm not from here, you see. I came from a place…well, let's just say it's very far away. I ran into a bit of trouble with a creature named Pa…Pal…"

"You don't mean Palkia by any chance?"

"It's very rude to interrupt, you know. But yes, it was Palkia. It transported me to this world, and so far I have not been able to find my way back. I have spent time assimilating…I got new clothes-the boutiques said I wasn't stylish enough for them, can you imagine?"

"Hardly," answered Ghetsis dryly. Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered hearing of a very strange robbery in a famous boutique in Kalos …but what did that matter to him? Why was he still even listening to this girl? He had had quite enough of little girls poking their nose into his business recently.

He moved to sic Hydreigon on her, only to freeze with his hand on the Pokeball by what this girl said next.

"…And I was even able to find one of these odd creatures of my own to serve as my companion."

In a split second, she had retrieved her own Pokeball from seemingly nowhere and pressed the button. A Pokemon emerged in a blur of scales and fangs and coils that took up most of the small alley.

She had a Gyarados of all things. Not even Ghetsis himself had ever been able to bend one to his will!

"At first he thought he might like to eat me…can you imagine?" the girl laughed as she called it back. "I was able to demonstrate to him that it would be very much in his best interest to join me. And I got it one of those Technical Machine things, so it even knows Fire move now!"

(And just what was so special about a Fire-type move in particular, besides increased type coverage?)

Of course, he could just send Eelektross out to deal with it…but if he could get it on his side without having to make the effort of stealing it right now…

"What does any of this have to do with me, girl?" he snapped quickly to hide this thought process.

"I met these three lovely gentlemen who said that you used to have a certain orb in your possession that might summon this…Palkia. Unfortunately, they also said you had given it away, but they refused to say to whom. I had to punish them for that. And they're still alive, if you're wondering."

Who was this girl, to be able to get the upper hand on his Shadow Triad?

"If you want me to help you get back to your world," Ghetsis said slowly, "then you must help me first."

The girl silently sized him up. She seemed to stare for an especially long time at his prosthetic eye, then muttered something that sounded like all the world like "It's on the wrong side."

"I beg pardon?"

"I said, it wouldn't be wise for you to get on my bad side," she said a bit too smoothly. Well, whatever.

Ghetsis then rather abruptly pointed out that if they were to work together, he might as well know her name so he could stop thinking of her as "girl".

"Princess Azula," she replied smugly, and held out her hand for Ghetsis to kiss. More pretend royalty? He decided to play along for now and obediently kissed it. This was slightly awkward given the large difference in their heights.

Still, princess or not, there was obviously more to this Azula then she was letting on. Otherwise he would have never tolerated her presence for this long. Hopefully he could endure her tagging along with him for a brief time, then make quick work of that Gyarados.

And perhaps it wouldn't be all unpleasant. She was quite the hot-blooded young thing. He could swear he could even feel heat radiating from her at this distance, though that was probably just his imagination. And he was quite sure that she was neither a virgin nor anything close to it. No doubt she'd be trying to insinuate herself into his bed in the near future…and he wouldn't put it past her to try to murder him in his sleep while she was at it. He would have to be vigilant about that.

Regardless, she was obviously also very intelligent, although maybe not quite as much as she thought she was. Colress was starting to prove to be a disappointment, and of course Zinzolin couldn't be completely trusted, so Ghetsis was in need of a strategist.

"If only my so-called son was half as clever as you," he mused.

Azula bent over double and started wheezing. Ghetsis's first alarmed thought was that she was having some sort of seizure, but no. She was laughing.

"And what is so funny about that?" he inquired in a more-than-slightly irked tone.

Azula was able to gasp out, "Some things never change!"

A/N: As it turns out, Azula got lucky (as usual) in that the Gyarados had a Careful nature, so it was more likely to think things through.

I cut the story off before they reached any final agreement (I doubt Ghetsis will be pleased when he finds out that Azula "forgot" to tell him a few things), so what happened next is up to the reader's imagination!