Yay, cute little Azula! I kind of imagine this as one of those moments she looked back on while she was staring into the campfire at Ember Island, or something. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or the characters mentioned here.
The watery moonlight seeped onto the floor beneath the curtain's end. In the darkness, a small child sat holding her breath. Golden eyes froze fixed on an unnamed point before her.
She held absolutely still. Even a rustle of the sheets would destroy her concentration.
The familiar creak of the door drifted through the walls. She was, no doubt, headed down the hallway now.
Azula silently counted the footfalls, though she couldn't hear them. Only a moment later, Zuko's heavy doors wheezed open. Minutes passed, but Azula sat like a marble statue, surrounding picturesquely by rumpled ruby sheets. Her lips parted softly.
The curtains in the hallway were whipped back and forth cruelly by the wind. Azula could even hear it through her door, and yet everything in her strained for something else . . . something more. The light pitter-pat was un-mistakable: carefully-slippered feet treading carpet. Azula stared at her door with round eyes. Open- open, she willed them.
At last, the silence resumed. It was over. Azula blinked rapidly and clenched her fists in the blanket. Why hadn't she come? Why wouldn't the door open? Something tightened inside her chest, until she finally felt it burst. Immediately, the tears turned hot as they seeped out and she leveled a murderous glare at the door as if it was its fault. Her nose winkled as a bitter taste filled her mouth.
When she could take it no more, she turned and buried her head in her pillow. Zuzu was probably asleep and oblivious. Only Azula had waited up the entire night to see its outcome. And Mom had chosen him over her, once again. But she already knew she was a failure in her mother's eyes. She already knew the look Ursa gave her while Father stood motionless . . . but at least she had his approval.
The door inched open soundlessly, and one pale hand wrapped around its edge. Ursa slipped inside and, after a moment's hesitation, planted her lips softly against her daughter's hair. Then, like an apparition: she was gone.
Azula was already lost inside the dark silence of her pillow. She thinks I'm a monster.
Poor little Azula. I imagine that she was more clued in than Zuko that night, as she found out that Ozai was going to kill him. On show, we never see Ursa saying good-bye to Azula, but it's hard to believe she would write off her only daughter - no matter how messed up she is. Even now, Azula is lost.
Aww . . . look at that pretty little button down there! It just pleads, "Click me! Click me!" Doesn't it? Reviews are super appreciated! .