Hope
Azula does not sleep. Not yet. Even though her lids are heavy, her mind has nearly stopped racing, her heart is slowing…her eyes remain open, staring into the darkness of her room.
The young girl waits, waits for something she hope will come. Hope.
It probably won't, the sensible part of her chides. Stop hoping. There is no hope.
Monster.
The sheets are gripped tighter in her small hands. It will come, it must come.
Her mother comes to the door, her shadow cast upon Azula's bed. "Good night, Azula."
Azula sighs in her 'sleep'. Ursa leaves. There's no kiss.
The Beauty of Laughter
How long must he wait?
Zuko sighs, leaning against the wall of the teashop. Iroh had found someone to talk to about tea: a nice lady, with gray hair and vibrant green eyes. Uncle had promised to buy new blades for him today; yet, he was still in the teashop after closing, talking about tea to an old lady.
It was almost more than he could stand.
Iroh comes out, with a laughing old lady. She's beautiful in laughter. She's still laughing as she walks away.
Zuko opens his mouth, Iroh says very softly: "Aren't people beautiful when they laugh?"
Anticipation
Jet remains still—absolutely still. He can feel the excitement of the friends behind him.
Not friends. Family.
Longshot is as calm as ever, perching in the branch beside him with an arrow at the ready. The Duke sits behind him, almost shivering with excitement and anticipation. It would be his first raid. Pipsqueak is behind them all, where the trunk is strongest. Smellerbee is on Jet's other side, closer. He can feel her shivering, too. And it isn't her first. He notices the knife in her hand, white-knuckled.
The tramp of feet, and clank of armor.
It is time.
Despair
The silence of the forest chills her to the bone.
Something is wrong.
Suki twists behind her, to signal to her sisters with her hands. They move forward, barely daring to breathe.
Their makeup is gone, their clothes as well. Azula had taken it all. They wear their hair down around their bare shoulders, with nothing but white sheets on their bodies. They have to keep moving. They have to warn him, protect their Kingdom.
"Suki…" one of them breathes, off to the right. They move closer, following her gaze.
Ba Sing Se stands wounded; the blood-red flag shines.
Despair.
