A year had passed since the fall of Fire Lord Ozai. The world was slowly falling back into a state of peace and harmony. For most that is… It had been one long, grueling year in the asylum on the outer islands of the Fire Nation. The asylum was reserved for criminals who are, or had become insane, and their latest member was nowhere short if insanity herself. Princess Azula. The newly crowned Fire Lord Zuko had taken pity upon his sister during her descent into madness and placed her in an asylum where he thought they might be able to help her. They had tried to help her… But their efforts were in vain. Azula's condition had been getting progressively worse every day. It started out with mild hallucinations, but lately she had been waking up in her own fantasy world.
Azula's hands were chained to a wall behind her back and she sat with her legs extending in front of her. Her hair was grimy and tangled up, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Ah, another wonderful day with my dear friends The Avatar!" Azula said as she jerked her head to the left with an insane looking grin on her face. Of course no one was there, but her hallucinations were telling her otherwise. As Azula was striking up a conversation about the circus with her 'friend', the Avatar, an asylum guard walked in with her meal for the morning.
"Good morning, Azula.", The guard said with a monotone in his voice. He had done this day in and day out, and he hated having to come in and feed her.
"Why good morning my good friend! And how is my brother ZuZu doing today? I was just telling my friend the Avatar all about the circus we went to last week!" she said as she nodded to the empty space next to her, with the same insane grin she had earlier.
"Quite fine I guess…" he said as he put down her tray and began feeding her the breakfast he had brought in. It was hard feeding Azula. She would sometimes play games with you, not opening her mouth, or biting down hard on the spoon so you couldn't pull it out of her mouth. "So…. How is the Avatar doing today..?" he asked, trying to make conversation with the insane princess.
"How would I know you fool?" Her grin quickly switched to a death glare aimed at the guard.
Whoa. Didn't see that mood swing coming. He thought to himself. "Weren't you just talking to him?" he said as he gestured toward the empty spot Azula had indicated where the 'Avatar' had been sitting with her earlier.
"Do you take me for some kind of idiot? I can clearly see that there is no one there! I'm beginning to wonder which one of us should be chained up and the other the guard." She snapped at him, maintaining her icy glare. The guard quickly finished feeding her and scurried out of the room.
I have had enough of this! Was his thoughts as he escaped the confines of the cell. He made his rounds to the other patients and made sure nothing was out of the usual as he returned to his desk. As he was sitting down on his desk, a messenger hawk flew through the window and landed on the messenger bird post. What could it be today… He thought as he retrieved the rolled up note from the bird's message capsule.
To the authority of Asylum 59A,
Upon request of Fire Lord Zuko, prisoner Azula is to be allowed out in two days time for a 'field trip' and will be accompanied by a person chosen by Fire Lord Zuko himself in attempt to try and help the prisoner recover from her descent into madness.
At the bottom of the letter was the royal seal of Fire Lord Zuko.
The only thing going through the guard's mind was who on earth would the Fire Lord give the task of taking Azula out on a 'field trip'?