She'd seen her before. Too many times before.
The woman in was everywhere. In the mirror, in the pond, in the puddles, and sometimes just standing in the corner of the room.
She would laugh and taunt. As if seeing glowing, avatar state self everywhere she went wasn't bad enough. This woman with her disheveled hair and her tired eyes always seemed eager to join the party—flaunting that devilish smirk the entire time.
She'd stare Korra down with a wicked and mad gleam in her eyes. She'd lean in as close as the glass of the mirror would allow and whisper "I was oh so alone. I'm glad you could join me." She would pause…fade away for a drawn out minute or two and then continue in a hiss; "welcome home. Welcome to the madness. Once you're here you cannot leave." She would fizzle away once more, blending into the background of the mirror beneath the dirt and grime smeared on the surface. And her face would fade in once more and she would scream…shriek; "the doors are locked now avatar. The madness is in you. And you are in it!"
The more the woman appeared, the more intense it became. The atmosphere thicker and heavier than the time before.
Everything was actually tolerable at first. She could zone the woman out and just focus on her initial hallucination. But by the firebender's third appearance, Korra would be left on the floor screaming. That or she'd be spewing balls of fire at nothing, drawing unwanted attention to herself.
By the 5th visit from the hallucination she'd come to know as Azula, Korra would find herself screaming at her, challenging her to fight.
To which she only received a string of words that really hit hard—they were all too; "go ahead fight me. I'm not real, you can't actually hurt me…avatar. I've killed you before…" the smirk doubled in size. "I can do it again…drive you to the edge and let you push yourself over."
That had Korra's fist meeting glass. The mirror didn't shatter, but the fracture was rather unsightly and her knuckles spurting fresh blood.
"That only works once or twice." Azula cocked her head as her body stared to fade. "Soon I'll be strong enough to stay after the glass breaks…just like mother."
After that encounter Azula would appear to Korra in chains thrashing wildly and screaming incoherently. And the words Korra could make out were hideous and full of despair. Azula vowed that Korra would end up in chains like her…bound and cast aside where the world could no longer see something…one so unsightly.
Because that's what they did. They locked people like she and Azula up. What a better way to take care of a problem than to put it where you can no longer see it…no longer have to deal with it.
Eventually Azula became so powerful, her other hallucinations seemed to cease.
In the passing days Azula had only grown more violent, threatening to kill Korra. Screaming about how it would be better that way…better if Korra was dead. Because the only way to cure the madness is to simply die.
"I can see the fear in you eyes." Azula would say each time as she left. "You fear me. You should fear me." There'd be the slightest twitch of a smile before she'd sulk back into the shadows or whichever surface she appeared on.
In the last few hallucinations, Azula didn't even speak. She'd just rest in Korra's peripheral vision…where Korra could only vaguely see her. She was a mere blur in the corner of Korra's eye.
But she didn't need to see Azula to know that she was crying.
No, sobbing. Bitterly and to herself.
In that time Korra's avatar state self had worked its way back into her mind.
And Korra had enough. Despite it all, Azula was right, the madness would never stop…
Not unless she ended it herself…
That was how Korra found herself on the edge of a cliff, staring into the rough churning waters. She had no intention of bending the currents once she found herself in them.
No one would find her. No one could stop her. No one even knew where she was at or how she was suffering.
She put one foot over the edge. Hovered it there.
Waiting.
But Azula's face did not appear in the waves to coax her in nor to tell her to keep fighting the madness.
Korra sucked in a deep breath and prepared herself to lean back.
"Don't you dare." Hissed a hoarse voice from the forest. A hoarse voice strained with age. "Step forward, foolish child."
Korra obeyed…sort of…she took one step away from the edge.
"Great, now do it again." The woman demanded. She stepped out of the forest.
The sight alone had Korra stumbling back and losing her balance. She her rear hit the ground just shy of the edge.
The old woman clicked her tongue. "Just what are you doing?"
"You're…you're not real." Korra stuttered.
"Is that right?" The woman drew closer to Korra. For someone who looked so small and frail, this elderly woman was strong. She hoisted Korra up with one hand only. "If I wasn't really here, you wouldn't be standing upright."
"What do you want?" Korra asked.
"I want to know what you are doing scampering around my new backyard." She motioned to a makeshift fence and then to a large hollowed tree.
"I. I was just. I was doing what you told me to do Azula." Korra muttered.
"Have I met you before?"
"Sort of. In a way I guess." Korra frowned.
Azula appeared to be ready for a further explanation so Korra told her of the madness and of the visions. It took up a fair chunk of time and apparently was a waste of it too, for Azula was practically on the floor howling with laughter. Such a powerful laugh that the old bat was practically choking herself.
Korra could simply cast her this judging but questioning look.
Azula regained composure and wiped a tear from her eye. "What an odd thing. To have visions of someone you never met." She started chuckling again. "And to listen to them. No, no, no dear, don't do that. That's what they want you to do."
She put a hand on Korra's shoulder. "You see…the madness is in you. The madness is in you and I both. But you don't give into it." Azula jabbed Korra in the forehead. "You fight it. You fight it until you win." She lowered her hand. "Though I recommend you fight it somewhere privet or people will probably think you're crazy or something…that's why I'm out here."
"But we are crazy aren't we?" Korra pointed out.
Azula shrugged. "We aren't crazy…we simply have this tendency to do crazy things." She tugged Korra towards the tree. "Child you have a lot to learn. Good thing I'm the perfect person to teach you."