AN: Hi! First fanfic. I'm here because they say write what you want to read if it doesn't exist. I needed a serialkiller!Azula story and more Toko in this world. So I wrote it. A lot of credit to Blank Pages, Hybristophilia and Synchronicity by electric gurrl, Grief by KorrasamixxTyzulaxxDreams, Unpaid Debts by DearLemonLima and everyone and anyone who has written Toko.
This is in first person POV, but it only switches between Zuko and Azula once per chapter so I hope it's not too confusing.
M for murder, language, references to child abuse, and strong sexual themes (potential sexual content later).
Thank you very much to my beta, electric gurrl.


The Blue Dahlia


"Pain's not bad, it's good. It teaches you things. I understand that." – Charles Manson


Chapter One
Great Expectations


Zuko


Nobody teaches you how to react to something like this.

That was all I could think about as I stared at the detectives sitting in front of me. I had dealt with them before, and the media, and all of those weirdos who collect Charles Manson's teeth or whatever. It was a miracle I even managed to win three elections when half of what people asked me about was a series of famous murders committed by the girl I taught how to ride a bike.

I was about to punch dents in all of the walls but I kept my cool for the cameras.

"Who is in charge of this investigation?" I demanded through tightly clenched teeth.

"Chief Toph Beifong, sir," said the shrimpy man whose uniform barely fit. He looked very out of place when surrounded by the more experienced officers. "She's…" He squinted. "A lovely woman."

"A lovely woman?" I scoffed. "That's not what I need. I need someone to get my daughter back in the next two days before I…"

I didn't have a threat on hand. It was almost as if I didn't even make them. Oh wait. I didn't, because my sister was a total loon and the media would jump on me like fucking hyenas if I said a violent word.

My sister was….

My sister was….

My sister was going to talk. This was her copycat killer. This was her fault in a roundabout kind of way. "I need to speak to this Chief Toph Beifong or whoever."

And I always got what I wanted.

xxx

"We should have known this would happen," Ty Lee said between hiccups. She was taking this poorly, which I understood. She could barely handle the news reports about bodies of people she had never even met, so it was no surprise when it was her own daughter who got kidnapped. After Azula, I could imagine why even true crime or mystery shows gave her chills. "We're the most obvious targets and I didn't even save her!"

I took a deep breath. I took classes in those from an Indian guru who knew my doctor and they were paying off, thank God.

"Okay, I have a plan," I said, holding up one finger. Her bright eyes followed it.

"Your plans suck!" Ty Lee snapped and I tried not to take it too personally.

"My plan is for you to talk to Azula," I stated, smiling. I might have stole it from The Silence of the Lambs, but it was a good plan. Ty Lee was her Kryptonite, after all.

"What would she even know?" Ty Lee spat, furrowing her brow.

"Well, they took our daughter from a locked house with an armed guard protecting us from exactly this scenario. And she's smart. Don't you think it's worth it? She has all of those creepy fans who go to visit her and…"

"Maybe it's one of them," Ty Lee whispered. She sniffed in loudly. "That makes a lot of sense. If they're into her enough to be a copycat killer then…."

"Then they'd be into her enough to be one of those sketchy visitors. Chief Beifong apparently already asked for the paperwork on the visitors. But Azula met them. I'm going to ask her if you can take the names of all of the people who visited her more than once and ask. There are thirteen or fourteen of those."

Ty Lee swallowed. "What if I don't want to see her again?"

"You want to see Izumi again," I said, and it settled the matter.

She was certain to be safe; Izumi wasn't.

xxx

Chief Toph Beifong was not a lovely woman, I discovered within seconds of meeting her. Within a few more seconds of meeting her, I realized she was blind. That was really not a promising combination for the cop I was trusting with my daughter's life.

"Yes, I am blind. Yes, I am more competent than any other cop in California. Haven't you ever seen Master Chef? No, I am not gonna sugar coat anything for you. No, I don't like politicians and I'm not afraid to say it," were the first things she said to me, before I had even shut the door to her office.

"Do you think my daughter's alive?" I replied and she seemed startled by the sudden question. I really did doubt that anybody had recovered from her introduction so quickly before, if at all, but I was focused on one thing and one thing only.

"Yes. For now," Chief Beifong said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked.

"You don't wanna know," she said, touching her knuckles to her lips.

"I thought you weren't going to sugar coat anything," I snarled, steadfast and stolid.

"That's not sugar coating. That's honesty." Toph turned up a palm and shrugged.

"Fine. Talk to me." I pulled out a chair that made a loud screech and sat down.

Chief Beifong paused and tapped her fingers on her messy desk. She had three coffee cups, countless dull pencils, a few water bottles and too many files on it. I couldn't even see the wood. I guessed she couldn't either.

"What was her name again? The Blue Dahlia's last victim?" Chief Beifong inquired and I tried to hold my tongue. "I thought you knew her."

I stiffened. She wasn't allowed to say that, and if I didn't need her, I would've said some very unkind words about that. "She was my wife at the time."

"Riiiiight. Which is how we caught her. So, maybe this copycat killer thought this'd be his grand finale or something else stupid like that," Chief Beifong said, turning up her palms like this was some kind of joke. "What? You think they wouldn't have gone after your kid right away if this was just about their hard-on for the Blue Dahlia case?"

That took me longer to answer.

"I'm planning on finding my daughter before she turns up tortured and dead, thank you," I finally said. I would never give up, or be daunted by this woman. I already lost Katara to a sick freak; I wasn't losing our baby.

"So has everybody who realized their whoever was gone before they died." Chief Beifong shrugged.

"I'm not everybody," I said firmly.

"Mhm," Chief Beifong said and I rolled my eyes.

"I know something you don't," I said and she cocked an amused eyebrow. She looked really smug about it and I wanted to smash her desk in half. I managed to restrain myself. "Azula loved my wife. Ty Lee was always her weakness... and, no one knows, but Ty Lee turned her in because she was trying to divorce her. I think that Ty Lee has the best chance of getting an emotional reaction out of Azula."

"How the fuck did that not get covered by the media? They love that tabloid shit." Chief Beifong demanded, looking almost excited now. "And you marrying her ex-wife? Yikes."

"It didn't get covered by the media because the situation was fucked up enough already. Now focus on finding my daughter," I firmly said.

"I'll give your wife a chance. One chance, and only one chance. If she can get Azula to talk, we'll talk. Got it?" Chief Beifong announced, and I forced myself to stay silent. I would do anything to get Izumi back, including tolerating this obnoxious woman.

"Got it," I grumbled.

She pointed at the door. I hesitated, but decided to leave before she changed her mind.


Azula


I have to admit I expected some poor, pathetic lost little soul to attempt to involve me in this… debacle. It was almost as certain as the pretty fangirls and the less pretty reporters. I did not, however, expect that the poor, lost little soul would be that one.

Her voice was audible from ten miles away. She never did learn the importance of volume . . . or anything not printed in a magazine shiny enough to hold her gaze for more than three seconds either. And her heels were even louder.

I was behind quite sturdy glass, which kept many people out who had wanted to touch me. But despite our past touching, I doubted Ty Lee wanted to do that when she settled in the chair across from me.

"Hi," she said and I had no clue how I was supposed to respond to that.

Hi seemed a little inappropriate of a greeting after seven years of absence and marrying my brother before our bed was cold. I should have said something. I should have made this difficult.

I did not.

"Awfully short greeting, isn't that? Is there really nothing to talk about?" I asked and Ty Lee grimaced. It revealed the slight stains of pink lipstick on her skin. The frayed hair and crumpled clothes that smelled like sweat and yesterday's perfume also were pathetic enough to hold my attention. "How's my brother? Are those hydrangeas coming in nicely still?" I paused. "How's Izumi?"

I have to admit I should have expected that she was going to try to strangle me regardless of the Plexiglas. It was futile, and a little cute, but I should have expected it all the same. She had such purplish circles under her eyes. So sad.

This was going to be fun.

"You're supposed to help me," Ty Lee snarled shrilly and I reclined in my chair with my hands clasped on my lap.

"Supposed to help you? I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. You're going to have to give me a far better reason than supposed to help you," I replied, a smirk creeping onto my lips.

She looked utterly wrathful. It was enjoyable, if a little bit dull. I had spoken to much more interesting people, but I was interested in her more than those crazies who wanted to kiss me, kill me or be me. I knew she was seeking one of those who wanted to be me, and I knew that she was not doing a sufficient job of concealing the papers in her hands.

"Give me one chance to convince you," Ty Lee pleaded.

And I had nothing better to do than respond to her plight.

"I will. I will give you one shred of advice." The corner of my lips twitched, but I doubted that she noticed.

She looked hopeful as she answered, "Yes?"

"This was a stupid move of the killer. Taking Izumi would obviously end their game. Which was exactly the point of taking her. They've imitated things quite well, and so I imagine their grand finale would be an equivalent to mine. Let them kill her and they'll stop killing." That was, as any idiot would know, the last answer she wanted. "A lot of killers want to get caught. This one, I'm sure, wants credit for the glory. How many false confessions have they had? Six, seven…?"

"Ten," Ty Lee softly and begrudgingly replied.

"I've made my point." I smiled mockingly at her and her face flushed bright red.

"If they were copying you they would've taken me," Ty Lee snapped and she did have a point. But it was a point I had already thought about before she even arrived.

"There are two options here. One, they're using Izumi to lure you for a more dramatic and accurate finale. Two, they want you to play your same role," I explained and she inexplicably looked angrier. I had been so helpful with those two suggestions.

"I don't know them. I couldn't play my same role because nobody knows about that. They held back that whole part of the story."

"So, it's either Option A or you do know them." I shrugged insouciantly and she hated me for it.

"I'm not chasing Izumi," Ty Lee whispered.

"Then you're here for a friendly visit. I had no idea. I should've spent more time on my make-up." I smirked again. She looked about to break the glass with her bare hands and it was exalting.

"You are not a nice person," was all she said. It almost disappointed me.

"I know. That's why you married my brother, isn't it? He's so nice. Or does he remind you of me? Can you pretend for just a moment that his eyes are mine? Ever called out the wrong name?"

Ty Lee no longer looked enthused about talking anymore, because I was right and it was written all over her face. She always was an open book.

"Can you look at this?" she asked, feebly attempting to change the subject. It was cuter than a puppy who wanted to go for a walk at midnight.

I saw the opportunity I had been awaiting for this entire discussion and seized it. "How far would you be willing to go for me to look at it?"

"I'm surprised you think you have to ask me," Ty Lee hissed.

"I want you to do something for me," I said and my small smile was real for the first time.

"Mhm?" She muffled her words through her hands.

"Tell everyone about what you did," I hissed through clenched teeth.

Her eyes glittered with satisfying tears. "I didn't do anything. If you're talking about me and Zuko…"

"Well, it really can't hurt for people to know, can it? I would consider it something to buy Izumi time, if you believe that they're obsessed with me. The media would devour it. Well, no, mostly I just want to see it. But that also would happen."

"Goodbye."

"Good luck," I whispered.

Ty Lee ran away.

I expected that.