Chapter One

The sun was just rising on the island of Taipa. But it was a cold sun, filled with emptiness. A cold that really bothered the Taipa inhabitants since they were always used to the tropical whether of the Fire Nation. It was too early to complain, though, no one was up yet. Every peaceful Taipa citizen was at their beds, under their comfortable and warm blankets. Except for Lee Kan, a young twenty year old security guard of the Taipa Mental Institution who was forced by the absurd and frustrating duty of watching the building as he stand by and stare into nothingness, while wearing that small uniform that only covered his chest and waist. He was holding his arms, shivering with the low temperatures of that morning.

The Taipa Mental Institution was the most respectable and qualified establishment of the whole world, which, of course, took care of the crazy people that now slept in their metal, empty and small bedrooms. The building was quite enormous and was located very far from the island's town so that, in the nights, no one could hear the disturbing screams of unexplainable rage that came from the inside of those rusty metal walls. The security guards that worked there had to stand those screams every day, while thinking over and over why they were there. Lee Kan was no exception. At least he didn't have to stand the screams right then, since everyone was asleep.

Lee Kan decided to walk a little bit in order to warm up himself. He walked through the empty halls of the institution while putting a hand on the wall and feeling that the walls were more freezing than him. He took a glance at one of the cells and saw old Faing, an ex admiral of the Fire Nation who had been in service for more than forty years. Lee Kan still remembered the day they brought him in. The healers said that he was suffering from a strong shock after Fire Lord Zuko had announced the war to be over. But Faing just got worse every day, and he now lay in a white bed, sucking his thumb like a little kid. Lee Kan couldn't blame Faing too much still, he was in a shock too when the Fire Nation, at the brink of victory, at an inch from world domination just retreated and suddenly apologized to every other nation and returned their lands to them. Lee Kan's dream had always been to go to war in the Earth Kingdom and he was quite disappointed when he learned this could never be true. These thoughts reminded Lee Kan of another crazy person that had arrived to the mental institution about two years ago and who Lee Kan had always dreamed of serving in battle.

The security guard walked inside the high security part of the building, where the most dangerous and most insane prisoners were. He knew which was the cell, number 784. From the day she first arrived she was hot news in the whole island. A member of the royal family, there in the small and forgettable island of Taipa, who would have thought? And ever since he had laid eyes on her, he knew she wasn't crazy, she was a complete genius, but she was just… strange.

He arrived at her cell and looked through the small window there. Her cell was the biggest, but it was also the darkest. It also helped that the walls were black because of all the fire that had been released inside of it. She had no bed; she had burned it. She used to take the ashes of the clothes they gave her to wear and paint her nails with it. Lee Kan couldn't believe that that woman had once been a beautiful and determined war machine. She was still dangerous, though, her fire bending was irrepressible. They had even tried to get her into one of the Boiling Rock coolers, which were supposed to take away her bending for a week, but it didn't work on her. Well, how could it? She was one of the most powerful fire benders in the world, perhaps the most powerful. But she couldn't control it, she couldn't control herself.

"What's the reason you keep staring at me like if I were some painting?"

Lee Kan took a step back from the door with fear. She spoke to him, clearly, she was showing some progress. It still didn't matter, if she ever healed, she would just go back to a prison, and that only meant, no more happy meals.

"Come closer." She called him.

But Lee Kan couldn't, from now on he would be afraid of looking into the room with ashes, he knew it. He was about to leave when he heard her calling him back again.

"Please…" She whispered.

The girl was now pressing her face against the small window on her cell's door. Lee Kan looked at her face filled with ash and got a bit closer, feeling sympathy for the fire bender. The princess' eyes where yellow, and where very powerful and intimidating, Lee Kan was afraid to stare at them for too long, but he did anyway, not knowing what he was getting into.

"You are a good fire bender, a good soldier." Said the girl. "I've hared the way you talk. I see the way you think."

"But I don't understand what you are thinking." Said Lee Kan with absolute fear. "I don't even know if you just want to kill me."

"Believe me, killing you would not be favourable for me at all." She said but Lee Kan sensed some lies in her words and he took a small step back. "Don't even think to walk away!" She screamed outraged. "No one walks away from me again!"

But now Lee Kan had even more reasons to get out of there running, but he didn't, he had wanted to meet the Fire Nation Princess a long time ago, ever since he had been spoke of her beauty and intelligence.

"You've been hurt." Said Lee Kan, trying to understand a reason behind her actions.

"In much more ways than one." Said the princess. "By everyone I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, then you are weak!" Screamed the girl. "Only the week feel sorry, so don't lie to me, because you are not weak! You are strong. You should feel as I feel."

"How do you know we both feel the same way?" Asked Lee Kan.

"Because I'm a people person." Answered her. "I've hared you talk, I've hared you receive all the news about how our great nation is slowly collapsing. How the traitors are now in charge and how the government is turning a hundred years of victory and glory into a hundred years of darkness and corruption. Oh, yes, you feel as I feel."

Lee Kan looked around in order to see if there was anyone listening then he got much more closer to the Fire Nation Princess.

"Maybe… maybe you're right. Maybe this is all some big pile of crap. I just want… I just wanted to go down fighting, for my people, my nation."

"Sounds like if what you want is a war." Whispered the teenage girl with those deranged eyes.

"Yes! Wait, no… no…" Lee Kan was now grabbing his hair with frustration. "I just… look, my father was a Fire Nation soldier, and now with all this propaganda and this people saying that this war was just a big mistake… It makes my father transform from a hero into a villain. And that's just…"

"We are all villains now. And forever we'll be unless we do something about it." Said the princess.

"But what?" Sighed Lee Kan.

"Let me out." Whispered Azula. Lee Kan looked at her in the eye and she noticed in that second that he was not going to free her, she had to keep talking. "Let me out and we'll both have what we want. I'll have my revenge and you… you will become the hero that freed the icon, the legend, the saviour of this nation. The last real seed of fire."

Lee Kan actually found himself considering it, he was sweating now, he was extremely nervous. This choice would determine how history would judge him. Finally, he listened to his father's advices and answered.

"I'll do it. But I want to help, I want to help bringing Fire Lord Zuko down." Said Lee Kan. Azula smiled with an enormous greed and a great sense of happiness filled her empty heart.

"Be certain of that. Now let me out."

Lee Kan went for the keys he has attached to his waist, but then hesitated.

"What?" Asked Azula impatiently.

"It's not goanna work. I can't get you out of here." Said Lee Kan.

"What do you mean you can't, you rat?! You are holding the keys right now!"

"Yes I can get you out of the cell, but not out of the building." Said Lee Kan. "There are loads of guards outside and…"

"Darling, just open the cell, I'll take care of the guards." Grinned Azula creepily.

"Wait, you can't hurt them! They are my friends!" Said Lee Kan horrified.

"No one will get hurt, I promise." Said Azula impatiently. "Now, would you please open the damn door?"

Lee Kan didn't think when he did it. He inserted the key into the keyhole of the security door and turned it. Immediately all the lockers disabled and an automatic bell began to ring.

"Oh, no! The alarm! I'm sorry, I didn't knew this would happen!" Screamed Lee Kan moving and looking everywhere around expecting guards to pop up at any minute.

Azula didn't care, at least not yet. She placed a foot outside what had bee her prison for the last two years and felt the sun's light, which didn't enter into her room, invade her whole body. She took a deep breath and raised her arms with her eyes closed. She was free, and many would not like that.

"What do we do now?!" Screamed Lee Kan who seemed to be in the middle of a break down.

"Calm down!" Shouted Azula releasing herself from her trance. "You need to take me to the basement, now!"

"Alright, follow me."

Both started running down the hall, Azula had problems running, she hadn't run in a long time. But her determination helped greatly. Azula stoped running for a second when they pass through a big window and the fire bender approached it.

"What are you doing?"

Azula pointed both her fingernails into the sky through the window and from them emerged a blue fire that escaped the building and illuminated the outside. As soon as this happened, Lee Kan started to hear small crashes everywhere in the building.

"Someone is attacking the building!" Shouted Lee Kan terrified, and then he looked at Azula and realized she didn't seem surprised. "Who are they?"

"Old treacherous friends, as always."

They kept running and reached the stairs, they quickly started the descent. Lee Kan was much more calm now but those explosions disturbed him, where there catapults firing at the institution? What was going on? Whatever was happening, there was one thing certain: there was no turning back.

They reached the basement were they kept all the medicine and drugs for the patients and now, Azula seemed even more impatient. Her left hand was shaking uncontrollably and she tried to hold it with her right one, she didn't seem to care though and still had that creepy grin on her face.

The wall of the basement suddenly blew up. All the rocks fell over the floor and many of the barrels, which contained medicine where all over the place. Azula seemed to have expected this and she seemed happier than ever. Lee Kan looked at the hole that had been made in the wall and saw a long and dark tunnel and two people running towards them from the inside.

"My lady, time to go!" Shouted one of the men that had entered from the tunnel.

Lee Kan took a moment to appreciate him. He was an earth bender, the earth kingdom's symbol was stamped on his robes and he dressed the colours, green and black. Also, he seemed to use a strange round hat very typical of the Earth Kingdom.

Azula waited no more and ventured inside the tunnel, running, alongside the earth benders. Lee Kan decided he might as well follow. The four of them were running through the tunnel brightened only by Azula's fireball on her hand. Lee Kan was extremely nervous now.

"Where are we going?" He asked and after nobody answered he realized that had been a very foolish question.

They ran for five more minutes and finally they reached the end of the tunnel. One of the earth benders removed the earth above him and the other one raised the tunnel's floor up on the surface. Lee Kan coughed and looked around him. There were now three more of this strange looking earth benders and they were talking to Azula very seriously.

"It was easier than expected." Said one of the earth benders. "We were careful as you told us so."

"Very good. I want to offer, first, my apologize for that little inconvenient two years ago, but I assure you, I still believe now that trust does not exist in your allegiance. But I know you and I have common interests." Said Azula sharply, the earth benders said nothing, they just lowered their heads. Suddenly, one earth bender asked:

"Who's this?" He referred to Lee Kan, who was approaching to introduce himself.

Azula shot fire from her fingertips without even turning right into Lee Kan's heart. The security guard dropped dead quite immediately.

"Does that answer your question?" She asked very serious.

The earth bender swallowed in panic and agreed nodding. Azula smiled weakly, it was not a smile, it was a disfiguration of her own face, a fake emotion.

"Know this, there is no place for the weak here, only for those with strength. Now, bring me some clothes, this stupid white uniform is really annoying."

"Of course, princess." Said one of the Dai Li before leaving.

"Let's go." Said Azula then. "We have people to kill."