"Princess?... Azula? Can you hear me?" The ghost asked again. She ignored it. Her head was itchy. She wished her arms weren't bound to her sides so she could scratch it. Apparently they shaved her head yesterday after she began tearing her hair out. She didn't remember that. They must be lying.

The ghost reached out and touched her face. It was soft. Warm. Are ghosts warm? It didn't matter.

"I wish you would talk to me Azula... Or anyone really. It's been almost three months and you haven't said a word. Mai acts like she doesn't care but I know she's scared too."

Mai? What's that? Who is that? It didn't matter. "I'll come back tomorrow. And the day after. I'll keep coming back until you talk to me 'Zula." The ghost said, floating away from her.

"I...I love you Azula. Even after everything you did. Everything you did to me. I'm not giving up on you, I promise." The pink apparition disappeared then, sure to return.

What had she ever done to a ghost?

It didn't matter.

...

"Azula. Look at me."

This ghost was different. Green. Short. Round. Something about his voice was soothing though. It wasn't at all like the annoying scratchy hiss of the ghost with the angry red face who called her "baby sister". Whatever that meant. Her eyes tried to focus on him, really they did, but after a moment they wandered back to the floor. The ghost sighed then as she felt something tugging at her arms. Belts were loosened and straps were undone as the straight jacket was pulled away from her. Her stiff fingers were then wrapped around something warm, steam hitting her nose.

She didn't react until a gentle hand was lifting hers upward towards her mouth.

"I thought some tea might help. It's awfully cold in here don't you think?" The ghost said, giving an exaggerated shiver, obviously trying to make her laugh. She said nothing, as usual, but did slowly sip the strange drink in her hands. "Tea", was it? What is that? It didn't matter. She tasted nothing as the warm liquid ran down her throat, but he was right, she was cold and it helped.

"Listen to me Azula. We are going to get through this. All that is required is time, patience, and care. On your end as well, you can never hope to heal if you don't even care to try. I know you've never been particularly fond of me, but I have always loved you. Since the day you were born, when my brother put you in my arms and you smiled up at me... I knew from that moment that you were just as much mine as you were his. I knew that if anyone ever tried to hurt you I would burn their world to ash and leave them broken among the cinders." The ghost said, steel in his voice that didn't seem to fit at all.

"I love you Azula, I will always love you. And I will never leave you again."

There was that word again. Love. What did it mean? Why did the ghosts keep saying it to her?

"I know that together, not just me but together with all the people who love you, you will find the light again."

The ghost kept talking but she was no longer listening. After a time he was gone. She was alone, and cold again. But she was loved. She knew that, even if she didn't know what it meant.

But it didn't matter.

...

This takes place in the same timeline as my other two stories, it's the Azula/Ty Lee story I promised like 3 years ago. I will get back to Reclamation Project at some point but I wanted to try something new. As always, please review.