Redemption and Reflection
She was beaten. Now a shadow of her former self, Azula sits in a dark prison cell awaiting her trials. Once royalty and now a lowly prisoner, she had given up on hope, given up on redemption, refusing all care that was in her rights as a human being, refusing to reflect on her past actions. The ten by ten cell that she now sat in limited the person that she could have become, just as her duties in her past life did. Once she believed that she could become great, that her part in killing the avatar could grant her the status that she thought was so rightfully deserved, but now realized that it just bound her, limited her life to only one path, just as the chains that bound her hand and feet now did.
Azula thought back to the day just before the final confrontation, where that tiny part of herself that wanted to become something greater than just a glorified bounty hunter planted a little seed of doubt that caused her ultimate downfall. The deadliest sin of all; pride caused this. Azula was Proud in the position that she had achieved by her father's side, proud that she had completely dominated her brother; proud at the false fatherly love Ozai had bestowed upon her. Only now, she realized it was all an illusion, a façade that she had put on to block out the death of her mother, an ill-fated series of decisions that had made her the failure that she was now.
Only then did she realize that little version of herself that she saw in the mirror that day was right. She could have brought about a change in herself that would have led to her redemption, just as Zuko did. But pride once again, barred the way, clouded her judgment. She wanted to receive the attention and love from her father that Azula thought she so rightfully deserved, only to have any hope of getting that ripped away by her brother who had risen above the petty needs that her family's political life showed to be the only way forward.
She was in a different place now, one of peace and quiet. On her first day in the small prison, Azula had to be bound and gagged to stop the bright blue flams that were so full of hatred and destruction from wreaking havoc. Once she realized her mistakes, and retreated into a place of quiet contemplation, she found that she could not firebend, no matter how hard she tried. The hate filled methods that Ozai had taught her now no longer applied. The chains, the cell, the loathing no longer bound her. She was free. Free to pursue peace and quiet, to seek the forgiveness of those that she had wronged, free to seek the perfect family life that she so desperately wanted, that Zuko now possessed.
On that day, she cried and wept her eyes out, for the sins that she had committed, and finally, for her lost mother that had never returned. The name Azula once carried the weight of royalty, but has since lost all meaning until this day. To her, the name signified reflection, redemption and not retribution or detestation. After three long months, Azula was redeemed.
She sat quietly, and awaited the outcome of her trial.