Chapter One—Seditious

No one had mentioned who exactly had been sent to the prison under the Palace. But everyone knew. Azula, deposed Princess of the Firenation and former Firelord, hated her new settings. She had only ever been to the Palace prison's to gloat over people she'd put there. Her ruthless streak, while undeniably present, did not extend to torture. Such barbaric measure's were better left to prison guards and people trained for such things. The work was dirty and Azula was far less inclined to take part in something so disgusting. However, her reputation always seemed to inflate the stories of her cruelty, inventing wild scenarios of blood and pain. Sometimes the grotesqueness made her cringe. Now, however, she was glad she had never stopped the rumours. Here, in the prison cells, it helped with people keeping out of her way.

Zuko hadn't seen fit to keep her in solitary like he had with their father. Azula didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted. Did he really think that a place like this—and looking around, she had to admit it was hardly impressive—would keep her for the rest of her life? She made a bet with herself that she would escape within the week and take back what was meant to be hers. It had been hers until her traitorous brother had interfered. In the end, everyone had betrayed her, even her own family. She, not Zuzu, was supposed to be Firelord, beloved among her people. Her defeat at the hands of the waterbender had been humiliating. Mai's words came back to haunt her from that fateful day at the Boiling Rock, "You miss calculated." Yes, she had. And she would never do so again. She could only rely on herself. Azula needed no one. A plan had begun to formulate in the devious mind of the young princess. There were ways out of here; she just had to find them. Her thoughts were interrupted by rancorous sniggering behind her. She clenched her fists, trying to control her anger. If she lost her temper again she would no doubt be locked in solitary for a week and then she would lose the bet.

Both the guards and the prisoners would whisper covertly when her back was turned. She knew what they were saying. It was the usual jokes and disbelief, "What is she doing here?" or "That's princess Azula" then a chuckle. Mostly it would end with "I've heard what she did. Dishonourable" and "Yeah. Traitor. Keep clear of that one. We wouldn't want to be tainted by her dishonour." They would never say any of it to her face, however. None of them had the guts after the first man to dishonour her. It wasn't like she had killed him. His injuries had been extensive, however; extensive enough to discourage anyone from going toe-to-toe with her again.

More often than not, she would ignore them. They were beneath her anyways. But every now and again, the constant flow of insults would insight a rage she just couldn't contain. It usually followed sentences involving the words "dishonour", "Firelord" or "Avatar". Any one of them irked her. She should have been Firelord. She had killed the Avatar in Ba Sing Se. And in no way could anyone associate her with dishonour. That was for her brother. She had never been a traitor. She was the one who had been betrayed. Azula had stood by her nation, serving it until it became her downfall. No. Not downfall. Her right had been stolen from her. Her throne. Her crown. She had lost them all. Even the love and respect of her father. It had been evident that he thought her incapable the moment he had sent Li and Lo to speak with her the day she had banished the Di Lai. Losing his respect. Of all the things that had happened to her, that was the one she grieved the most. All her life her father had loved her, had respected her. She had always been above Zuko; her fathers favourite. Now, she had nothing to show for it.

She shook the thoughts away coldly. It would do her no good to be dwelling on what had happened. She would escape this cell and reclaim what was hers. Then he would love her again. She had a part of a plan now anyway. She knew what she could do and how she would do it. There would be no miscalculation.

After almost six months of being in a prison cell, Azula was barely recognisable as the Firenation princess. This would aid in her escape. She had lost a lot of weight and with it, strength and stamina but she could overcome these. She would overcome these. She always did. She still had some of her firebending, though she was not permitted to use it even to heat herself in the cold nights at the prison. She could bet that it hadn't even been her brother who had given that harsh directive, he was too soft, but rather the callous guards who escorted her to and from her cell.

What they all should have realised was just how powerful she was. Her firebending had no equal now that her father was unable to firebend. As such, no could have comprehended just what you could do with fire alone. And Azula was the Queen of ingenuity. Just like the blind earthbender had invented mental bending, and so Azula had invented the technique that would allow her to escape before anyone was the wiser. Well, in the name of complete honesty, it wasn't that she invented it as such, she had just thought of another use for lightning and blue flame other than combat.

Metal, it seemed, was an earth substance melted down in huge furnaces before being melded into shapes. Without the heat of blue flame and lightning, melting metal would have been impossible for a firebending but Azula had been practicing. If the cooks and cleaners had looked closely enough they would have noticed a peculiar number of mental balls gathered around the corners of the room. Further investigation might have found that they resembled different utensils.

During meals, she had perfected the technique that would let her quite literally walk through bar and locked doors. She knew the layout of the prison like the back of her hand. After all, she had lived in the Palace halls all her life. Even Azula had been a child and played games like hide-and-seek with Zuzu, Mai and Ty Lee. Mai and Ty Lee. The thought of her former best friends was particularly painful, especially considering the way they had betrayed her. She supposed she should be grateful. Without their betrayal she might never have realised that trust was a weakness and people could never be fully relied upon. The only one she could have any faith in was herself. The old adage, "If you want something done right, do it yourself" came to her mind. She smirked at the appropriateness of the saying. Everyone had failed her. She had no trust left to give. Now, she would rely solely on herself. She could do it. She had to do it.

With a new determination, Azula turned to the task at hand and more practical matters.

As the entire prison complex was completely underground—something designed to keep firebenders from the sun—it wasn't like she could just blast through a wall and run. No, she had to be clever, patient and stealthy; things that Azula excelled at.

She wouldn't break out yet, she wasn't quite ready. In a few nights the officers would be having an annual dance. The prison would only have a skeleton crew. No extra guards wandering the halls, but also no doors open. At all. Even the on-duty guards would be locked into their station, a predicament that Azula actually liked. It kept everything quite. Contained.

All she had to do was take out the guards in each room simultaneously so no one could call in the escape or raise the alarm. All the doors would be locked securely behind metal bars. The guards stationed inside the prison wouldn't actually have any keys on them. Fortunately, that wouldn't be a problem with her new technique. There was one small problem: burning through the metal doors would take time and the guards would be sure to notice the glowing red and melting door.

With that kind of warning she wouldn't be able to get past the first floor without an alarm being sounded. She didn't have a plan for that possibility. Instead she was relying on the guards on the lower floors to be slack and slightly inebriated due to the party they wouldn't be able to attend. She had also observed last time she had been down here that the guards lack a certain amount discipline and attentiveness.

She also knew that it was standard prison procedure—not officially, of course—to dump the newbie's with the jobs that no one else wants to do (e.g. looking-after-dangerous-prisoners-that-have-never-tried-to-escape-in-a-dingy-prison-while-a-party-is-going-on type of jobs). So, in reality, she would only have to fool a couple of newbie's. There was really no other time to attempt this and she really wasn't inclined to waiting a whole year to try again. Her lack of a proper plan didn't really bother her, Things would work out. They always did. For her, at least.

She let a small manic grin spread across her lips. Everything was about to work out in her favour. She could feel it.

Most of their hour long lunch break had already passed and Azula hadn't touched her meagre rations. She couldn't help but grimace at the unidentifiable mush of what was suppose to be food on her plate. She never had much of an appetite anymore. She only really ate enough to stay alive. She didn't need the extra energy as the brief walk she was allowed in the mornings and afternoon's was never long enough to do any sort of physical exercise.

Her once beautiful face as now gaunt and pale, all the life and fire that had once graced her golden eyes had dimmed. Yet something in her spirit, beyond her despair and disillusionment, was still that determined core that had defined her since birth.

Clenching a metal knife in her fist, she shielded the movements with her body and slowly heated her hand. She felt the metal soften until she was able to mould the knife into whatever shape she wished. The trick was to keep her hand at a steady temperature. Too much heat and the knife would liquefy, too little and it wouldn't bend. She frowned a moment, rolling the ball of metal in her palm. Perhaps that was the answer to her dilemma.

Like any door, the prison doors were held in place by two locks and four hinges on one side. If she could somehow refine her firebending to a shorter, hotter, steady flame, then she could simply slice through the hinges and push the door open. It would give the guards less time to react and it would be almost impossible to notice. Perfect. Flawless. Now all she had to do was wait. The sound that signalled the end of the lunch break resounded across the room. Azula didn't even flinch at its impossibly loud gonging. She had a purpose. Something to strive for and attain.

Carelessly she tossed the small metal ball into a corner and stood. Finically brushing the creases from the front of her prison garb, she moved towards the door of the prison. Half way there, a violent shove from beside her made her topple to the side before she caught herself just before hitting the door. Her quick eyes flicked over to the perpetrators face, he was openly smirking. Azula took a deep breath and straightened as the men moved into line and were escorted down the hall towards the cells. Remembering her plan, she resisted the urge to throw a fire ball that would have thrown her into solitary and earned her another year in this grungy place. It took her a full ten seconds before steam ceased to come from her nostrils and she was able to walk towards her cell without cold hatred filling her veins. It was a near thing. Only the possibility of a blotched escape plan had saved that mans life.

The guard roughly shoved her down the hall towards her single cell. She had noticed that the guards were considerably more forceful and harsh towards her. She bore the indignation and humiliation silently, secure in the knowledge that it would only be temporary. She made extra sure to get a good look at the man. Pity. He seemed like a veteran and probably wouldn't be present during her escape and no way was she bungling this for some petty revenge on a small time prison guard.

A sudden shove sent her careening into her cell and she glared at the smirking guard as he slammed the door behind her. One second thoughts, petty revenge was looking pretty good.

She needed to kill time and focus her thoughts for the up coming escape. Meditation worked rather well, even without the flames. Usually, she wouldn't resort to it, but this was a special case. She hadn't really needed it before and now she needed to concentrate. Settling down into her preferred pose—legs crossed, arms resting on her knee's—she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She began to focus her thoughts on her surroundings, starting with what she could hear. The clatter of metal against metal, the jangle of keys, the perverse language thrown at the guards by the prisoners. Her sense of hearing heightened until she could concentrate and distinguish each guards' tread scrap across the metal deck. Slowly she shifted to her sense of smell, taking in all the odours offered by the prison. She didn't really enjoy that one much but it certainly cleared her head. Next her focus shifted to her muscles. Consciously she relaxed each and every one of them. Finally she could be alone with her thoughts.

Unfortunately for Azula, they promised no rest at all.

--0()0--

Two days later, Azula was buzzing with anticipation. Tonight she would put all of her hard work together to finally escape this prison. It was time for the evening meal just as the sun was setting. Despite the unappetising menu, she forced herself to eat all of the food knowing she would need the strength it offered. She went over the plan in her head for the twelfth time that day, making absolutely sure all her bases were covered. She was now confident that this would work, that tonight she would walk free of this prison and never come back. Ever. She barely heard the bell sound but reacted to it automatically. Sliding from her chair she made her way to the door, ignoring all the bumps and shoves thrown her way. She had acted the part of the perfect angle today making extra sure the guards could see no reason why she should be locked up. Her plan was going off without a hitch. The usual guard—with the usual gruffness—escorted her to her cell and firmly locked the door behind her. Azula settled down on her hard pallet to wait. The guards would be leaving any moment to head down to the party.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, the lamps snuffed out. Azula put her ear to the floor and cold hear the faint whirring as the doors and gates were locked down with only a few mandatory guards. Escaping at this time would have been impossible if Azula hadn't invented the art of metal bending with fire. Finally the echo of gears stopped. Silence. She pretended to sleep for an extra ten minutes, making absolutely sure they had all left for the party before slipping out from under her blankets and padding to the bars. The cells were so dimly lit that she could barely make out the cells across from her. Perfect.

Placing her heated hands on the bars, she slowly warmed them, being extremely careful that the red glow couldn't be seen. The metal continued to grow hot until the metal dripped onto the floor. Finished there, she moved to the bottom of the bars, cautiously checking the hall way. Soon the metal was dripping through her fingers and onto the floor. Oh so carefully, Azula shifted the swinging bar-door to one side and inched her way through. Part of the way, a resounding clash made her freeze. But as no one cried out or sounded the alarm, she relaxed and inched forward.

It felt so good to be out of there. A rare smile grew on her lip at the pleasantness of so small a thing. Quickly but silently she made her way to where she knew the first set of doors were. As she knew there would be, a portcullis had been lowered a meter and a half from the door. Again she set to work on the bars, carefully melting them. She was fully aware that all a reasonably intelligent prisoner had to do was look up from their cell and piece together the red glow coming from the doorway and she was through. As she stepped through the make-shift door, she felt a tinge of unease as begin between the bars and door reminded her way too much of her cell. Pushing the ridiculous thoughts aside, she studied the doors make. The hinges and lock were clearly visible. She hoped that the overhang around the door would obscure her actions as she coxed a small, fine blue flame from the end of her finger. Surgically she sliced the hinges from the door. Once done she grasped the inside handle and heaved up slowly, keeping the door from scraping along the floor.

Inch by steady inch she managed to wedge the door open wide enough to peer into the next room. The sight that greeted her made her smirk. The guards had obviously been playing a game involving cards, dice, money and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. In the short hour since the party had started, they had managed to drink themselves under the table. A few were still conscious, but nothing she couldn't rectify. She slipped though quickly and stopped, a genuine grin forming on her lips. Well, well. It looked like her guard had missed out on the party after all. He sat slumped against the opposite door, mumbling under his breath. Even the sound of his comrades being forced unconscious didn't rouse him from his stupor. It wasn't going to be as much fun tormenting him while he was like this, but she would take what she could get. Slinking over to him, she sunk to her knees, looking coldly into his small, brown eyes.

"You know," She started amicably; "I would've much preferred it if you had been completely sober during my escape."

Her words seemed to rouse him somewhat.

"That way you would remember the humiliation of me escaping on your watch." She sighed and gave him a cruel smirk. "Oh well. I'll just have to settle for the knowledge that you'll have a massive headache tomorrow and also be in trouble with you superior."

She had the satisfaction of his eyes growing wide with fear—Yes, fear me—before he collapsed to the ground from a well-placed fist to his skull. Azula scowled, wondering why she hadn't just killed the men and therefore eliminated witnesses to her escape. He would suffer more by remaining alive. Yes, that was it. He was going to get the scolding of a life time. Besides, his death wasn't crucial to her escape. She hadn't killed meaninglessly so far, why start now? Shaking her head she rose from her crouch and swept the room with her sharp gaze. The door was still partially open. She closed it. She liked to leave a tidy scene and a bit of a mystery. She set to work on the next set of bars. She was quicker this time as she was sure no one could see her working. The bar swung off in less than a minute and she stepped through, pulling them securely behind her. She went to work on the door.

Five rooms later, she started to find herself nearing the exit, a fact that was made clear by the cool air that began to seep under the doors. She hadn't seen the outside in almost six months and was looking forward to having sky overhead instead of metal and iron.

She snorted at her own ridiculousness. Such thoughts were not going to get her throne back. Better to focus on things that could actually make a difference. It wasn't until she was just 'unlocking' the last of the doors that an alarm sounded. One of the guards must have woken up. She knew she should have just killed them. She worked quicker, her heart pounding in what was genuine fear, a feeling she had only felt as many times as she had fingers on one hand. She didn't want to go back into her cell. They couldn't make her! She wouldn't let them.

One hinge to go.

The alarm continued to resonate through out the prison. She could hear doors locking down as the prion went into emergency shutdown mode. They were going to pinpoint how far she had gotten using the trail of melted doors she had left behind her.

Finally the fire cut through the last piece of metal. No point in trying to be stealthy now. Besides, beyond this door was the ONLY way in or out of the underground prison. She was so close now. Abandoning all subtlety, Azula placed a firm, lightning aided kick at the door and sending it shooting into the opposite wall, taking most of the guards in the room with it. She felt a twinge of guilt as she realised that at least one of the guards behind that sheet of metal probably wouldn't survive.

What was wrong with her lately? First she spares the guards lives and now she felt guilty about killing some peasant nobody? She needed to gain some perspective. These people were expendable. They were mostly peasants, for Agni's sake.

She quickly dispatched the two remaining guards and rushed to the last set of bars and door. Faster than she ever had before, Azula superheated her hands and grabbed the metal. The bars grew warm, then hot until finally liquefying and dripping to the ground. She repeated the procedure with the bottom of the bars and finished in record time. Hastily, she scrambled through, not bothering to pull it shut behind her.

Having an idea, she quickly bent to where the portcullis met the floor and welded the spikes into the ground. That done, she pulled the bars closed, re-welding them as well. Only then did she go to work on the doors hinges.

Hearing shouts and booted feet echoing on the metal decking, Azula lost patience with the welding at the third hinge. Instead, she gave a lightning aided kick to the weakened door, blasting it away in much the same manner as she had with the last one.

The first thing she noticed of the outside world was that it was bright. Very bright. Her next observation was that the moon was shinning in the sky. That didn't make sense. There were stars, too.

She then realised that it was the dead of night and the bright light came from the firebenders surrounding her. Great. So she had just gotten out to go right back in? She almost sighed in defeat before her nature took over

No.

No way was she going back in there. And Azula always got what she wanted. Using her cold anger to fuel her, Azula spread her arms, long blue flames shooting forth, consuming. Overwhelmed, the firebenders back peddled quickly, some of the flames snuffing out in their haste. Not completely satisfied with their distance. Azula opened her mouth, blue flames licking forth, long than the ones emitting from her fists.

In the split instant that they were distracted, she pushed her fists downwards and used the fire to thrust herself high into the air. From her vantage point, she could see the shoreline. There was no point in head over into the Palace now. Zuko would be well informed of whom had just escaped ad be prepared for her arrival. If anything, he was probably on his way here now. As much as she hated to admit it, Azula didn't think she could take her brother on in her weakened state. She was barely able to keep flying like she was. The technique was difficult and required a lot of concentration.

She needed to disappear. Then when Zuko least expected it, she would be there, ready to take back her crown. It grated her that she would be forced to live like everyday peasantry. She was a princess of the Firenation, after all. But there was nothing she could do about it. And she hated that. One day, she swore to herself as she let the hot air take her further and further from the prison. One day, Zuko, when you aren't so protected. I'll be there when you are vulnerable.

--0()0--

There was really only one course left. It galled her like no one would believe. Or perhaps they would. It had been ten days. Only ten days and her idiot brother had managed to drive to the edge.

Apparently he needed to be awarded more credit than she thought. No. Where did that thought come from? It was probably the efficient troop commanders from her time in power or simply dumb luck that had tightened the net. She had refused to leave the Firenation mainland that first night and now her hand had been forced. She wasn't wrong, as such. She was never wrong. But she had underestimated the lengths Zuzu would go to get her back.

Honestly? It was rather refreshing to be chased. All she had to worry about was her own movements. It was full of deception and cunning and she loved it. She had her brother had been playing this deadly game for a while but for once, she was the prey.

The first night she had 'acquired' some peasant clothing from nearby villages. It had taken her almost half the night to find clothing that suited her body shape and was colour co-ordinated. Honestly. The poor people of the Firenation knew nothing about proper fashion. There hadn't even been any silks on their lines. In the end she had gone for a pair of black pants and boots (couldn't go wrong there), a deep red tunic with gold trimming and a black cloak that hid her features. Not that it was really necessary. Her time in the prison had made sure that she was practically unrecognisable unless she ran into the guards from the prison.

Unfortunately, by the second day when she was spotted in the market place, she realised Zuko had thought of the same thing. Damn it. It had been a frantic hunt from that moment onwards. Zuko seemed to be able to predict her movements, know them before she did. She supposed it was his time chasing the Avatar that had given him an intuition when it came to finding people.

That was okay. Azula was also well adverse in the chase and capture of fugitives. So far it had been rather fun. Until she realised something. Her uncle must have been advising. Their trap had been sprung.

She had also 'acquired' a map of the Firenation and she used it to plot movements. Only now did she realise that the entire time she had slowly been herded towards the northern shore of the mainland. She had a choice to make. If she hadn't realised a trap was being delivered, she probably would've taken a ferry eastward to one of the smaller Firenation islands. Doing that would've taken her further from the capital but allowed her to stay in Firenation lands. But she couldn't do that. She was sure that troops on any of those islands would be alerted to the possibility and have plenty of time to lay a trap. No. That wasn't the way to go. She would either go north-east into the Earth Kingdom and the Firenation colonies or she could go north either into the Earth Kingdom or beyond into the frozen wasteland tundra's of the Northern Water Tribe.

Being a Firebender, she had no desire whatsoever to be stuck in a giant bowl of ice. She would go north, but only as far as the Earth Kingdom. The ship would no doubt stop at towns along the way and that would give her the chance to escape properly and bide her time.

So, that was what got her here now. Zuko's damn stupid luck. He wasn't supposed to be like this. She was the lucky one. The favourite. A prodigal Firebender. But now, here she was about to sail off into what could very well be her exile.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't be thinking like this. She would be back one day. Soon. She could feel it. The ship she was about to board was massive. That would make it easy to track but harder to actually find her in it. She was sure she could get lost with the crowd quite easily.

But another thing was that she couldn't afford to actually board with the other passengers (literally or otherwise). They surely had pictures of her everywhere. One sharp eye and her cover would be blown. Things just seemed to get more and trickier all the time. Nothing was going her way. This isn't how it's supposed to be. She had resolved instead to stowaway. A Firenation ship surely couldn't be going that far into Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe territory.

She hid behind a casket of barrels searching for any way onto the vessel. The sides were smooth metal, allowing no hand or foot-hold that she could climb. There were no windows, nothing.

Despite these rather large setbacks, there was something else that hindered her. Something rather important. During the thrill of the hunt, her muscles had been boosted by shear will and the occasional adrenaline burst. Now that she was close to the end, she could feel the fatigue from the too many missed meals and the constant activity after the months being locked away. She was hungry and tired. Hopefully being on a ship might allow her to rest a while and regain her strength.

Something moved in front of her and she ducked low. Then she noticed it was a crane lifting crates and stowing them on the ship. The crates had been taped together and a tarp thrown other the top. It was clear these goods were to be subject to the weather. She took a closer look at the barrels she was hiding behind. They too were crated together but were lacking a tarp. Perfect. Obviously these were to be stored below.

Without hesitating, she pulled the cork out of one and tipped it to the side, allowing most of the water to flow onto the moist ground. Once it felt about a third full, she pried the lid of the barrel out, surprised that it lifted so easily. Luckily she had lost so much weight or she might not have fitted into such a crammed space. Ducking down into the cold water, she pulled the lid as tightly behind her as she could. Now all she had to do was wait.

It felt like forever but it had probably been only a few minutes when she felt the barrel lift beneath her. An unusual feeling of fear assaulted her. What if she was dropped? What if the chains weren't strong enough?The fear made her muscles freeze until she felt a slight bump from landing safely on the deck. She felt movement. The barrel tipped. The thud on the hard deck was painful and she breather water. Choking, she almost panicked. Instead, she calmed herself and managed to roll until her face was free of the liquid. Once there, she closed her eyes and attempted to enter a somewhat calm state through meditation.

The barrel started rolling and Azula with it. It thumped down what she supposed would be stairs and continued on its way. She had been right. This ship was HUGE. And she somewhat regretted going for anonymity instead of comfort. The barrel twisted and turned so much that she couldn't seem to get her bearing. All she could determine was that it wasn't a ship layout that she was familiar with.

Well, of course she wasn't familiar with it. This was a supply and refugee vessel. She had always travelled on a private ship of a Fire Navy vessel.

Eventually, the rolling stopped and she was settled into place. The footsteps disappeared. There was a clang of metal against metal and then the jingle of keys.

Wait—the jingle of keys? Where, exactly, had they locked her? Counting slowly to one-hundred, Azula bided her time.

She heard nothing. Slowly (mainly because her muscles were cold, weak and cramped), Azula pushed against the top of the barrel. It had been sheer luck that they hadn't put her upside down. The lid finally came away with a pop. Azula couldn't scramble out of the barrel fast enough. And when she had, she wished she was back inside. The roof was less than a meter from her head as she sat on top of something wooded… She lighted a small controlled flame in her hand. It took all her concentration to focus just that much. Once she was sure she had a steady light she looked about and couldn't help but gasp.

She sat on the top of other barrels. Their lids dipped sharply in before flattening out and it made her thighs ache to sit on them. They stretched all the way to the back of the room which she estimated to me only about three by two meters. She was situated in front of a door with no window, just a flat smooth surface with no handle. It was only identifiable as a door by the defined door shape made by the metal plating.

The only inconsistency on the walls smooth surface was a very small ventilation shaft. It was so small there was no way she could fit any part of her body besides her hand inside.

The door had no hinges or locks present. Nothing.

She did note, however, that barrels weren't the only thing in with her. From the amount of food rations in the corner, Azula guessed that she was on some sort of aid ship. It was standard procedure for each aid ship to put everything a small village or town would need in one storage room. Then, as they went from town to town all they had to do was unload one room at each village. It was smart, but it also meant that door wasn't going to open until they came to a village that needed supplies.

She needed space. Lighting as big a fireball in her hand as she could, she threw it at the barrel she had come out of. It burst into flame. What she hadn't thought about was the dangerous smoke that would come from such an action. When the realisation hit her that the one ventilation shaft wouldn't be enough, her eyes widened and quickly tried to put the fire out with her bending. For some reason she just couldn't seem to find the strength required for such a move.

Hastily, she uncorked another barrel and heaved it over so it fell on the flames. The water leaked and drenched the wood. The fire stopped.

The smoky smell lingered in the air and she longed to feel the cool ocean breeze on her face once more.

Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes and Azula quickly scrubbed away the odd liquid. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried. Blaming it on the hormones she sniffed once before gathering the half burnt barrel from the floor and stuffing it between the intact barrels and the ceiling. That done, she settled on the floor too tired to scramble across the barrels to the food-side of the room.

Leaning against the cool wood she closed her eyes. Fatigue began to take over and she couldn't seem to move. Her body no longer responded to any of the commands she gave it. Giving up, she curled up and let herself drift into an exhausted sleep.

A/N: Yes, my friends, this is the first chapter of my Azula-loving story. I really feel for the darling girl. I wanted to give her a good note to end on as it were. If you haven't read my profile, you probably should. If you can't be bothered, I'll just put what I said here.

I wanna hear what YOU think about Azula. Her personality quirks and so on. Watch the episodes that show her character again and tell me what you think. Is she just a heartless witch? Or is it more complicated than that? So, send me a review. Tell me what you think

Oh, and I'm always up for my own stupidity begin shoved in my face. Anything at all that you think I did incredibly badly whether it be character personality, punctuation, spelling, paragraphing, etc… let me know.

Thanks.

Luv ya!

Gabzalabza