A/N: My first one shot and competition all in one! This is written for and inspired by the 'Sharing a Bed' competition by alyssialui for ATLAFC.
Fire is Life
"Tell me about your earliest memory," the idiot of a man sitting in a chair outside my cell asked. Not removing his eyes from the scroll in front of him. Coward, he can't even look at my pinky toe without shaking in his peasant made boots.
"Oh, well," I airily breathed out fondly reminiscing. "It was the first time I bended fire. A man in the court had been pestering me with too many questions and I burned his shin" I watched the so-called 'psychiatrist' gulp and increase his intake of breathes. How I loved watching them squirm!
"Relax, it was only a quip." I leaned back against the wall of the asylum walls, readjusting the chains so I could be more comfortable.
"Very amusing your highness," he remarked in a monotone.
"My real first memory was when I was quite young. A time before I had lost all respect for my failure of a brother."
"Failure? I believe your brother is the Firelord." My eyes snapped up to the man and well... I can't quite describe the next few events that took place, without scaring the children do love to hear the tales of myself, my brother, and the air bending tattooed freak. So I shall skip the gory details and leave that for only my pride to enjoy.
Long story short however, the next day I was assigned a new cell and a new 'psychiatrist' since my prior would only be able to psychoanalyze his own doctors for the next several months.
"Good morning princess Azula, my name is Kazuki. I will be taking over Kyofu until his full recovery." I pursed my lips from behind the metal mask they placed over my mouth to keep from fire bending. I sighed exasperatedly.
"Okay number seventeen, how long do you think you have before you either run out of here screaming or run out of here without one or more of your limbs," I quirked my eyebrow up. He surprised me by looking me straight in the eyes for a change.
"I believe I will be in here until I am able to help you get past whatever it is you need help accepting, forgiving, or letting go of." I decided to give him a week before completely breaking him down. I admired strength and dedication in people.
"Shall we pick up where Kyofu left off," he read over the last scroll the last buffoon had left.
"Being carried out by seven healers? While it's most ideal for me, I'm not sure how much you would enjoy it," I cackled at my own joke. He simply sent me a dissatisfied look.
"What? It was funny, you should laugh," I snapped.
"There will be a time to laugh later," he suggested and pulled his chair closer to the new cell despite the guards' worried glances. He waved them off. "For now, we will talk about your earliest memory." I figured I would comply having nothing better to do at the moment.
"Very well, my first memory was when I was very young. We were at a family function and I had displayed my fire bending abilities to my father, uncle, and grandfather where Zuko had yet to even produce his first flame. My father and grandfather were very impressed with me. There was a catch though, they were furious that Zuko was not excelling in his duty to the Firenation like I was. I remember that later that night at dinner, my father had said that it was my mother's fault that he was not yet bending. He began to strike her; the servants pulled myself and Zuko away from the table.
They prepared us for bed instead of our mother that night. An hour past our bedtime, Zuko had snuck into my room and awoken me.
"Azula," he called out. I sat up in and found him standing at the foot of my bed.
"What do you want," I asked, maybe a little forcefully, but not enough for him to tear up the way he did.
"Do you think moms okay," he asked trying to be the brave boy he never has been pull back the tears.
"No, I think if dad has killed her he would be right to," I laid down, finished with the conversation.
"Azula, I'm being serious," Zuko yanked the blanket off of me from the bottom of my bed. I sat up again with a huff.
"Of course I'm being serious. If you really can't bend, then it is her fault because she can't either and that means she passed that onto you. Maybe he'll kill you too," I remarked.
He continued to stand at the foot of my bed as I impatiently waited for him leave. Nothing has annoyed me more than a weak character.
"Teach me," he commanded.
"Not at this hour," I shrugged and laid back down.
"Do it or I'll tell the staff to sneak water chestnuts in your food for a week; you know they'll do it for me," he threated moving from the foot of the bed to the side I was facing way from. At three years of age, I hated water chestnuts more than my brother so I haughtily stood up from my bed and commanded him to come to the center of the room.
"Stand strong," I yelled at him. He spread his feet a shoulder width apart and held his arms in front of him in fists.
"Fire is all about anger," I advised. "Even if you're not angry, make something to be angry at."
"Like what," he asked. I lit a tiny spark up and shot it at his feet. He screamed like a child and began crying.
"That really hurt Azula," he finished stomping out his foot. I shrugged.
"You're such a wuss, that's why you'll never fire bend, that or mom really is a traitor to the Firenation."
"Shut your mouth Azula," he threatened.
"No, because I'm right and you know it. If you don't fire bend that means mom has failed in giving this nation a strong male leader who can actually protect its people." He growled and clenched his fists.
"That's not true," he yelled.
"Maybe I'll get the throne instead so that our people wont have to deal with a weakling as its leader."
"Shut up," he screamed and a blast of fire was sent in my direction. I folded my arms with a smirk and returned to my bed while Zuko stayed frozen in the same stance as he just had fire bended in.
"Thank you Azula," he said from the side of my bed.
"Yeah, yeah, now leave I'm tired," I shooed him away but he didn't leave.
"What is it," I huffed turning over on my side so I could see him. He was being such a noxious brat that day. He could have been crowned at that moment but he would still find a reason to be an emotional mess.
He fiddled with his hands for a while not looking me in the eye. I could tell he wanted something else.
"Spit it out Zuzu," I huffed again.
"C-Can I sleep in here," he asked. I rolled my eyes and scooted over to the edge of my bed. He climbed in on the other edge. We looked as if neither of us wanted to be in that bed. However I think, looking back, that on that night we needed each other."
"Hadn't you just said you were okay with your brother being killed," Kazuki interrupted the story. I realized the nostalgic and calm state I had gone into remembering that night and felt oddly disgusted with myself. Petty moments such as those meant nothing to me.
"Yes, well as children I guess we would say and do things that we didn't understand. I'll never understand allowing him to sleep in my bed."
"Maybe it was your subconscious love for your brother that kept you from denying him." He jotted a few notes down on his paper.
"Yes, and right now I think my subconscious is telling me to relive the events of yesterday." I melted the chains holding my right hand off the wall and went to slash them at him. He pulled up a wall of frozen water calmly. I was surprised. The fools had suddenly adopted a brain. They hired a water bender as my psychiatrist. Clever, but I could find many more playful ways to deal with this man.
"I'll be back in tomorrow Princess Azula," his calm voice was muffled through the wall of ice. A dart was shot from one of the guards through the ice and stuck into my leg. I laughed at the prick. My vision started to fade and the twenty guards came running into my cell to reattach my hands to new chains.
}{}{}{
"Azula," Zuko called out from the other side of the bed.
"What brother," I snapped.
"Do you really think dad is going to kill mom tonight," he asked from the other side. I was silent for a while.
"No." I said a little quieter and softer than I had the rest of the night. I heard watched him sigh with relief.
"Azula," he called out again.
"What," I asked again, starting to feel my own childish tears well up in my eyes, remembering the way my father had stroke my mother and the way I could feel it as if were my own face.
"I promise that no matter what, I will always take care of you. You're my sister." We fell asleep together like that. Separated far apart but with the knowledge that the other was still within the others reach if need be.
}{}{}{
My eyes blurred open and before I was fully awake I could already feel my brothers presence in the room.
"Well hello Zuzu," I cooed from my restrained position on a chair, they always made me look in a better condition when my brother was around.
"Don't bother firebending, we had someone block your chi before you fully woke up." A guard from the side commented. I laughed.
"Fear has a magical ability to make people act smarter," I sniveled at the guard whose scar was still visible from the time he had forgotten to block my chi before waking up.
"Why are you here, its Tuesday, you come on Wednesdays," I turned my attention back to Zuko.
"A meeting was canceled today." Zuko bent over to pour some tea. I rolled my eyes.
"So you came here to spend the time with me. How sweet," I teased. He looked me straight in the eyes. I lulled my head over to the side not being able to hold it up any longer from the effects of the chi block and sedative. His gaze turned sympathetic. We were very far apart from each other since it was all the rules would allow for, but I could hear him loud and clear.
"I promise that no matter what, I will always take care of you. You're my sister." The words rang out in my head continuously, alternating between the child version of him and the older version. My eyes opened wide. I could hear my mother whispering at me. He's lying. I laughed. Silly Zuzu, there's no need to lie, I know the truth. I laughed harder. Zuko is a traitor to the Firenation, you should kill him. I laughed even harder and pulled against the restraints.
Zuko stood up from his seat and calmly began walking away. I began to spill drool from my mouth as I laughed.
If you kill him, maybe then it will please me.
Zuko reached the door and the guards turned to follow him out. I could still see Zuko standing outside the door. My laughter filled the entire cement cell.
He's escaping, KILL HIM NOW! I finally freed of the chi block and exploded my cloth restraints off my body. I charged for the door in an almost drunk stagger with my laughter turning into harsh sobs.
"Fire is rage," I screamed out of the bars on the cell door.
"Fire is anger," I screamed again breathing fire out. Zuko and the guards dodged to the side. Zuko pulled up to door again, without fear.
"Fire is life Azula," he said to me. "I'm going to help you get yours back on track."
A/N: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it. I really like Kazuki, I might use him in future chapters of Firelily or maybe the sequel to it.