This one is gonna be very short and to the point; I wanted to try my hand at the whole drabble concept; saying something meaningful with a confined amount of words.
"Where do we go from here?" It was such a weighted question that Azula didn't know how to answer it. Yet they kept asking. "What's next? What now?" No matter how it was phrased she couldn't tell them. Truth be told, Azula didn't think she'd keep them around. She had every intention of using them to achieve her needs and fulfill her plans and then discard them when she was done. They'd kidnap a few kids, make a bold statement and then they'd be on their own. But she had grown fond of them. Still, she didn't even have a plan for herself, much less a plan for we.
She supposed she would have to make one.
"Are we going to kidnap more children?" The girl standing nearest to Zirin sounded all too eager.
"No." Azula replied.
"So what is our next goal then?" Zirin spoke up.
Azula tossed a small rock into the pond and watched the water fan out in small ringlets. It made her wonder—had she really touched these girls so deeply that they wanted to stay with her? That they looked up to her enough to ask her what's next?
Did they really not realize that she was as lost as they were?
Yes, she had a plan. She was going to shape Zuko into the leader he was supposed to be. But she too longed to know where to go from there. What place did the world have for her after Zuko became the ruthless leader she needed him to be? What place did the world have for a bunch of women with minds like no one else's?
At least she wouldn't have to find out alone.
The girls, her girls, were looking up at her. Waiting for her to finally answer Zirin's question. "We go where the world calls us to go." Whatever that means, she added to herself. Because what else could they do? She was a woman of pride and a woman who had pride for her Nation. A woman who would go quite far to make sure that it was at its most glorious.
Eventually the Fire Nation would need her again, and Azula would be ready when it did. When she found her place, the rest of them would follow in suite. Perhaps no one else could save those girls, but she would. And maybe that was her purpose. Maybe that's where she was supposed to go from where she stood now.