Damn that stupid storm outside. I suspect it was the action of the 'oh so great avatar, Aang.' It has been exactly three years after Sozin's Comet and subsequently the end of the war. I still shiver from the thought that I, the once greatly feared Princess Azula, have been defeated by a peasant water tribe girl and the pathetic traitor known as my brother. I have fallen and so has father. After our defeat, father lost his ability to bend and I was shipped off into a mental health facility.

I can only think of one word to describe that place.
Hell.

Every second of my life there was monitored. Their watchful eyes were everywhere and it disgusted me. Many times when I glared back at them, I would be questioned for my actions and then locked in an empty room. Even there, they were still watching. Many of the guards that were in charge of watching me would glance at me with a mix of emotions. At first there was fear, but soon it turned to hatred and anger. They watched me fall and laughed. I'm not an idiot - far from it - and despite the fact that I had little to no freedom, I planned out an escape plan. I was mostly locked in my room with some necessities. They would bring me food that way I had no reason to leave the room. I constantly wore chains on my wrists and ankles that prevented me from firebending. As another sign of precaution, they would inject drugs into me that made me too weak to even react to certain things. The first time I tried escaping, I was unaware of the drugs since they had placed it in my food and I crashed into a wall. Thinking it was just my clumsiness from the lack of light my eyes received, I continued to walk. When one of the guards saw me and attacked me with fire, I tried to jump out of the way but could not move. It was then I realized they had tampered with my food. For the next few days, I refused to eat and since I am still technically royalty, they decided to just inject me with the drug every morning at noon sharp and leave my food alone. Even if I tried to escape before noon, it would be a lost cause since the drug lasts for 24 hours, meaning the drug is still in effect.

I had tried to memorize the terrain, but every time I left my room, they placed a blindfold over my eyes. It wasn't until last year that they even let a visitor into my room. My therapist was very happy with my progress and I passed his expectations with flying colors. I had managed to convince him that I deserved some alone time with myself right after I turned 16 and he agreed a blooming young lady needed time to herself. I realized that in this hellhole I'm stuck in, he was my most powerful weapon. Since then, every day I had an hour all to myself. I spent the time practicing my firebending after I managed to take off the chains. My progress on that wasn't as great as I thought. It was almost impossible to start a fire in the room I was in. It was designed so that fire couldn't survive there. Soon after that, I told my therapist that I needed a friend... at least I know I'm still as great as a liar as before. Twice a week, I had a girl with the name of Kiki visit me. During one of our boring and tedious conversations, she revealed that I was held in the facility on Venus Island, home of many volcanoes. I had studied the geography and landscape of Venus Island years ago, but with some more information from Kiki I was able to form another escape plan.

Two days ago, I put my plan into action. A week before I had finished my plan, I was able to sneak into the cafeteria where everyone besides me here eats. Everyone was relaxed and celebrating the anniversary of the end of "that horrid war." To me, it was a reminder of how I failed. I snuck into the kitchen and managed to steal a jar of chili powder and any other spices I could find. I waited for morning to come. Half an hour or so before noon, I swallowed everything I had stolen from the kitchen. You see, when I was a child, I had found out that my body reacted differently to spices and spicy food. Instead of feeling a burning sensation on your tongue, sweating, or tearing up, my body seemed to absorb the heat. A few minutes later, I felt the spices working. I breathed deeply as the temperature inside me rose. As predicted, some nurses opened the metal door and walked into my bleak and cold room. I looked at her weakly as she walked towards me. She started examining me and when her hand accidently brushed mine, she quickly flinched away. I smirked inwardly at her reaction. She motioned her assistant to come forward and then touched my forehead. Again, she quickly snatched her hand back. I saw her glance down at my hands and look up at me with suspicion and fright when she realized I wasn't firebending.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me. I stared at her blankly and then coughed to clear my throat and to make my case more convincing.

"I feel terrible. My throat is killing me and I feel di – " my legs gave out and I collapsed to the floor. My eyes were snapped shut but I heard the nurse gasp loudly and screaming for back-up.

Multiple thundering footsteps were heard as several men ran into my room.

"What's wrong?"

"She's hurt! I need you to remove any metal on her and then carry her to the medical office." The nurse ordered. There was a moment of hesitation and no one said anything or moved.

"But… we can't remove her chains."

"Sure you can! I've seen you done it billions of times!"

"But she's a special case. If we remove it, nothing will prevent her from firebending. She's too dangerous!" On a normal case I would've smirked at his comment and the fear in his voice, but I had to stay calm and look fragile.

"This girl is unconscious; she can't do anything right now! She's sick and needs medical attention now. If you don't believe me, just feel her forehead!" I felt a rough and sweaty hand touch my forehead and fought to not snap his hands off for touching me with such disgusting palms. He finally pulled his hand away and I felt the chains tied around my ankles and wrists loosen and then disappear. The second they were gone, I flew up and punched the guard closest to me and kicked another away. He crashed into a wall and fell down with a grunt. The nurse and her assistant tried to run out the door but were blocked when I kicked another soldier away. He landed right in from of them. The two ladies froze in shock and I took that opportunity to knock them both unconscious. I inhaled and then exhaled to calm myself. I walked over to one of the soldiers and smiled for the first time in a long time.


"So what did that bitch want?" I gritted my teeth and my fingers twitched as heat rushed towards it. I gave the guard a look of confusion.

"Who?"

"You know… that Princess Azula? What happened to her? I heard that nurse screaming for help."

"Oh you know, she got sick and had to be carried to the medical room." I lied smoothly.

"Pfft! What a weakling, and to think we used to fear and respect her!" He scoffed. I managed a strain smile.

"Yeah… how pitiful." I walked away and didn't turn back even when he screamed at me. I had only one goal right now. When I got to the exit, I looked around to see no one was near or coming. After I saw the sight was clear, I quickly stripped myself off of the guard's uniform and ran out.


Even the air outside was fresher. I hadn't even realized how much I have missed the world outside. It feels so good to finally feel and see the sun again. My body quickly absorbed the heat from the sun's rays and felt my power return. My legs continued to move at a fast pace as my eyes darted around my surroundings to view the world I haven't seen in three years. I knew the guards would find out sooner or later that I have escaped and then they would send out soldiers to try to capture me back. They'll probably contact Zuko too. In the worst case scenario, Zuko and his little friends along with the Avatar will come and try to capture me back themselves.

Just as I predicted, by the second day, soldiers surrounded the whole area. I hid behind a small volcano and peeked out slightly to see a group of men coming their way towards here. There were far too many people and I wasn't completely confident in my skills yet. What happened next shocked me and everyone else. I wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence or my powers, but a volcano nearby began rumbling. Its loud groan caught everyone's attention and suddenly molten lava shot out. It splattered into some of the unfortunate rocks and melted some while others had no effect. The lava spewed into the sky. By now, everyone was running, including me. The panic made it easy to go unnoticed. I ran away from the guards and stopped only when I couldn't run anymore. The sun was setting, meaning I would be even weaker soon. I had to find a place to rest until morning comes. I scoured the area for what appears to be hours until I found a decent looking cave. It certainly didn't welcome me like a cozy bed or a nice hot shower, but it was better than nothing. I didn't dare to light up a small fire for fear that it would lead others towards my destination. I had, however, lighted up some fires in some other directions hoping to distract the soldiers and lead them away from here. All went well until a few hours later in the middle of the night.

I was content in my slumber but was awoken by the familiar hushed voices. My eyes narrowed as my head began to clear. I would recognize them anywhere. It was the voice of Avatar Aang; Katara the waterbender; Sokka, the older brother of Katara; and Toph, the blind earthbender. I silently crawled towards the center of the cave where the moonlight wouldn't shine on me, but I knew they would find me sooner or later.

"Are you sure she's here?" Sokka asked. I assumed Toph nodded because she answered,

"Yes. I can feel her. She's in that cave." I froze and held my breath. I had forgotten the blind girl could "see" using her feet.

"What cave? There's no cave nearby!" Katara exclaimed.

"The cave right in front of you!"

"There's nothing there." Sokka murmured. By now he was sure Toph was crazy and probably dirtied her feet too much to "see" correctly.

"Well, if she won't come out then I'll make her come out." Aang said with determination in his voice.

That's when he used his powers to cause absolute chaos. I shrank deeper towards the ground when I heard the faint rumbling of a serious storm outside. I hope he gets send to the deepest pit of hell where he'll be burned to death. If that doesn't happen, I'll personally make sure he gets the experience. I felt the ground all around me rumble and shift. I almost shrieked at the sudden movement but covered my mouth in time. If they heard me, it was all over. The rocky ground suddenly became wet as I realized he was trying to flood the whole area. I felt the water rise towards me knees as the ground continued to shake and roar. I stood up and hoped the water doesn't drown me but it seemed to be rising higher and higher. I saw a faint glow outside and realized they were holding torches of fire. I couldn't let them see me. I slowly took a step back, then another, and continued to do so. My limited view of them became smaller and smaller until there forms disappeared completely. Just as I disappeared, I heard a faint,

"Look, this is the cave Azula was in!" Then the wind shifted and a strange power lifted me into the air.