Azula's Side
By: Juria
Notes: All characters are copywritten to Mike and Brain, not me. I've had this in my head all day, and it's time to let it out.
Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee had ben following the Avatar's group for the past three weeks, always hiding in the shadows. Azula's eyes shifted from Mai, back to the small house on the outskirts of the Fire Nation village, then to Zuko, her brother, the traitor. Giving a simple nod, the three girls lept from the trees, and landed in between the Avatar's group and the small home.
"Nice to see you again, Zu-zu." Azula said with a smirk, as she, Mai, and Ty Lee got into their fighting stances. Aang got into his fighting stance, as did those who were able. "Azula, don't do this. You're outnumbered." Aang said in a calm, yet firm tone.
Azula scoffed at him. "Please, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. Why not, I did it once." she said, this time getting an enraged Katara, who had to be held back by her peers. Mai and Zuko stared eachother down, Mai's gaze going back and forth between Zuko, and the blind girl who seemed to be way too close to him. "Ah, robbing the cradle Zuko?" Mai asked with a glimmer in her eyes. Toph spat at her feet, before cracking her neck. "Listen here Chucky, I could kick your ass all the way back to Ba Sing Se if I wanted to."
"Then why don't you do it!?" Mai snarled, her hands one her daggers. Ty Lee winked at Sokka, who found himself lost in the acrobat's gaze, until a punch in the arm from Suki snapped him back to reality. As the warriors circled eachother, each one waiting for the other to make a move, a sudden wall of fire shot between the two groups, causing all combatants to flip backwards.
Suddenly, a voice Zuko thought he would never hear again pierced his ears. "Zuko, Azula, that's enough!" The Prince and Princess both turned their heads to the voice, then ordered their respective groups to stand down. Aang and Iroh exchanged a glance, the older man responding with a nod, and Aang withdrew his staff.
One by one, the warriors sheathed their weapons, while the two firebenders, Zuko and Azula, both ran off towards the voice's carrier. "M..Mother?" Zuko asked, his lip quivering. As soon as the voice's carrier removed her hood, Zuko embraced her. "It's so good to see you again." Ursa smiled as she hugged her son. "Zuko, I thought I would never see you again." she said softly. Then, mother and daughter locked eyes.
Both groups expected the two to start fighting, then, the unexpected happened. Azula ran towards her mother, but instead of being greeted with the same compassion, she was met with a hard slap across the face, like a gun going off. Azula's head snapped to one side as she held her face, a stern look in her mother's eyes, the same one from her childhood. "Azula, what were you thinking?" Ursa asked.
Azula glared at her mother, then gave a blank stare to Mai and Ty Lee. "Do whatever you wish." she said in a monotone, before walking past everyone. A look of concern grew on Ty Lee's face, as well as Toph's. Even though she'd tried to hide it, Azula was shaking, and upset, but too proud to show it to anyone else.
The rest of the day was met with an uneasy truce, with Ty Lee being the only one to make friends, while Mai just tried to ignore her former boyfriend's interaction with Toph. As day turned to night, Zuko went off to find his sister. While he searched, Mai and Ty Lee finally told Ursa Azula's side of the story.
"Please, Lady Ursa, you have to talk to Azula. Her aura is turning black. She's falling apart inside. " Ty Lee pleaded. Ursa's gaze remained solome, staring off into the distance. "Tell me, what has my daughter told you about me?" she asked. At this point, Mai actually glared at her, seeing her own parents, as well as her friend's, in Ursa. "She's told us you thought she was a monster. She's told us you neglected her. She's told us you favored Zuko over her. What kind of mother favors one child over the other?!" Mai shouted, this time doing everything in her power to not throw a knife by Ursa's head.
Iroh shook his head. "Lady Ursa, maybe, it would be in the best interest of your daughter to find her, and straighten things out. If she has confessed what her friends are telling you, then there may still be some hope left for her. But if anyone is going to end this cycle, the cycle that I myself have witnessed with my own eyes, occuring to both children, maybe you can, if you let yourself." he said with a firm stare.
Ursa sighed deeply, then stepped out the door, and into the night, to find her children. "So, do you think it'll work?" Toph asked, calmly sipping her tea. Iroh sighed. "That, my dear friend, is up to them."
Meanwhile...
Azula sat on a hill, overlooking the small village, the cool night air rushing through her, as tears stung her eyes. She spun around when she felt a presence next to her, but went back to her original pose, her chin resting on her knees, when she saw who it was. "What do you want, Zuzu? Come to gloat?" she asked, sniffling and trying not to cry.
Zuko calmly sat next to his little sister. "You used to cry a lot when we were younger. From the time you got stung by the porcupine-hornet, to the times dad would knock me around." he said, but his voice wasn't one of pity, but remorse. "I don't need your pity." Azula said, her lip quivering.
Zuko gently placed a hand on his siter's shoulder, before she let him wrap his arm around her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let her hit you." he said sternly. At the mere mention of those words, Azula broke down. "Why did she love you more than me? What was so wrong with me?" she asked, all the while whimpering. Zuko sighed. "Hey, at least dad loved you." he said, trying to cheer her up. Azula sat up, tears in her eyes. "He loved me?, He loved me?" Zuko stood up, as Azula ripped into her right sleeve, then he saw it, her arm scarred and bruised. "Do you call this love?!" she shouted, collapsing and crying.
Zuko gently held his sister, hearing her cry, a knot in his stomach making him regret his decision to tell his father the Avatar was alive.
Meanwhile...
Ursa watched her son hold her daughter, listened as they talked. She knew what she had to do, and she knew that it wasn't going to be easy. She had to make amends with Azula. Cautiously, she walked over to her children. "Zuko?" she asked, breaking Azula of her tears. Through her red and stinging eyes, Azula managed to glare at her. "What do you want?" Azula asked, turning away from her.
Ursa took a deep breath, prayed to Agni herself, then sat down. "I want to talk, to you Azula, just the two of us." she said calmly. Zuko gave his mother a nervous glance as he walked away. "Azula, honey, don't you want to ask me anything?" Ursa asked. For a few minutes, the mother and daughter sat in the darkness, the only sound being the wind. "Why?" Azula suddenly asked.
Ursa sighed. "Why what, dear?" she asked. Azula turned to face her, and for a minute, she saw her little girl again. "Why did you love Zuko more than me?, Why did he get to hear stories, and all I recieved was lectures?, Why was he cuddled and praised, and I was turned into a weapon?!" Azula shouted, all before turning away from her mother once more.
Ursa sighed deeply. "Azula, I'm sorry. I was a young mother, and a fool. I'm sorry that I favored Zuko over you. I see now that I was wrong in so many areas. If I could take it all back, do it all over again, I would have taken both of you with me. You were such a brat as a child, there's no denying that, but I still handled it wrong. Instead of giving you love, all I showed you was abuse, and neglect. I never once thought about you, until now. Azula, please, forgive me." she pleaded.
Azula faced her mother, this time tears once again forming in her eyes. "Did you know dad hurt me? After he burned Zuko, and after you left, her hurt me. That's why I focused on my firebending so much, so he had a reason to not hurt me, so he had a reason to keep me alive. I'm not a daughter to him anymore, I'm a weapon, and it's all because of you!" Azula shouted, her lip quivering.
Ursa sighed, then took her cloak off, and wrapped it around Azula's shivering frame. "Come on, it's getting cold. You could get sick." she said, gently helping Azula to her feet. Once she got to her feet, Azula hugged her mother, sobbing into her shoulder. Ursa just held her daughter, letting her cry, finally seeing her daughter as the woman she was turning out to be, not just the child she once was. After several minutes, mother and daughter walked back to the house, to begin a chance at renewing the love once lost.
The End!!
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