Starts two years after the end of the war, as Azula suffers in the asylum.

Nothing in the Avatar world belongs to me. I hope you all enjoy the story, reviews and comments welcome.

Azula's Journey, Book One: Self Discovery

Chapter One – The Escape

Azula took a deep breath before she extended her right hand and slid out her right foot. She focused on a spot on the far wall, which took the image of the many faces she felt had betrayed her in the past. Her first punch was to her mother who thought her a monster, and her second to her father who feared her so much he left her behind on what was to be his greatest day. More faces followed until she finally saw that of her brother. It was her favorite firebending form because it made her feel powerful, unstoppable, things her brother had taken from her.

"Enjoy your time as Firelord Zuzu, one day I will return to take what father promised me."

She delivered one more ferocious kick and blue flame leapt from her foot and smashed against the stone wall. Strands of black hair fell over her face, as she took a few deep breaths to recover her wind. She turned her head to the sound of the far door opening and sighed dejectedly at the sight of a familiar face.

"Is it that time again already doctor?"

Doctor Zhang came to her cell every day at the same time, but he always stopped in the area between the door and her room. He was there to help her, but even he feared her. She looked at him through the metal bars and in some twisted way his fear was the only good thing about her time in the asylum. It reminded her of the way things were before she was imprisoned there.

"How are you doing today Azula?" He asked with a smile.

"I'm doing fine Dr. Zhang, my time here has really helped me. I think I can finally let go of my anger."

Dr. Zhang stared at her for a moment before he shook his head and began to applaud.

"Amazing," he said with false praise. "If I were meeting you for the first time I would have believed you. You are still an accomplished liar."

"Thank you doctor, I try."

She curled her lips into a smile and stared at him through the blacks strands of hair before she pulled them from her face. She hated the one on one sessions, but she figured if she had to do it, she might as well have fun.

"Practicing again I see," Dr. Zhang observed, as he stared at the burn mark on the far wall which was still smoldering. "It's all you've done every day for the past two years."

"How would you suggest I spend my time here doctor?" She inquired as she looked around her cell. "It's not like I'm lounging on the beach on Ember Island."

"Perhaps it would be better if you were," Dr. Zhang suggested as he stepped closer to the bars. "Then you could reflect upon why you are here."

She quickly thought back upon the string of events that started at Boiling Rock and finally led to her defeat at the hands of her brother and the waterbender Katara.

"I am here doctor because I was not strong enough to defeat my brother and his little friend," she answered angrily before she threw a punch and the air ignited into blue flame at the end of her fist. "I am here doctor because my friends did not fear me enough to stay loyal."

She turned to the doctor and stepped slowly towards the bars, which caused Dr. Zhang to quickly back away.

"Are you afraid of me doctor?"

"No, no I am not Azula."

She knew he was lying, how could he or anyone else not be afraid of her? He saw her as every bit the monster her mother and brother saw her as.

'There are other ways to earn loyalty Azula," he lectured her having gathered himself.

"Like what doctor? Love, friendship, trust," she countered before she began to laugh.

"Yes, those are a few of them," Dr. Zhang answered.

"Please doctor, spare me," she snapped before she began to pace behind the bars. "And I should not have had to earn anything. I was their Princess, the future Fire Lord," she continued as she became increasingly upset. "They owed me their loyalty," she roared before she turned away from the bars.

"So you've learned nothing from your defeat and your time here," he scolded her.

"I've learned many things doctor. My uncle loved and trusted my brother, but my brother betrayed him. I trusted my childhood friends and they betrayed me," she explained.

She stared at the back wall for a few moments before she let out a heavy sigh, turned and looked back at Dr. Zhang.

"See Doctor, that's what love, friendship and trust get you," she quipped before she stepped back towards him. "So tell me doctor, aside from fear of consequence, what other way is there the keep loyalty?"

"You think fear is the only way, but when it came down to it, fear was not enough to keep those who followed you in line was it?"

She thought long and hard on the question, and though the answer pained her, she allowed it to pass her lips.

"No, no it didn't," she conceded.

"So what does that tell you?" Dr. Zhang pressed her.

"That there is no such thing as loyalty or friendship, or love for that matter," she answered, perhaps being honest for the first time in the session. "People will turn on you when it suits their purpose."

Dr. Zhang sighed heavily and shook his head as he stared at her. His look was almost the same as the one her mother used to have.

"You can save your disappointment doctor," she said before she turned her eyes away. "You are not the first to be dissatisfied with how I turned out."

"I am not disappointed in you Azula, I feel sorry for you," he said sincerely.

"You wouldn't be the first there either doctor."

"Are you talking about your parents?"

"Yes, my mother she…she," Azula began to explain.

Her shoulders slouched and her eyes dropped to the floor before she let out a loud sigh. She stared at the floor a few moments before she looked up at the doctor who had the joy of a breakthrough written on his eyes. She allowed him a few moments of happiness before she began to laugh out loud.

"What, I don't," the doctor stammered.

"Come on doctor, were you really expecting some huge breakthrough, some big heart to heart that starts my road to recovery?" She said as she continued to laugh. "You really believed that didn't you?"

"I really want to help you Azula, you just have to talk to me," he implored her.

"Why, so you can be the great Dr. Zhang, the one who cured the evil Azula?" She mocked him as he stood surprised.

"That has nothing to do with it."

"Please doctor, don't insult me, I know you're lying, I can read you like a book."

"How?"

"What can I say, I'm a people person, and I know a liar when I hear one," she explained before she cut her eyes at him. "Like I said, everyone is in it for themselves in some way."

"There is nothing inside you is there Azula?"

"Yes, but nothing you're looking for doctor."

Dr. Zhang had talked to her almost every day for the past two years, but still he looked as if he could not believe what he was hearing.

"Then I am truly sorry," he said with a sigh before he shook his head.

"Don't feel bad doctor, you can always try again tomorrow."

"I'm afraid there isn't going to be a tomorrow Azula, at least not here," Dr. Zhang replied as he walked back towards the far door.

"Giving up doctor?"

"Unfortunately yes Azula," he answered before he slammed the bottom of his fist into the door twice.

"So can I leave?"

"In a way you are Azula," he said as four guards came through the door. "You brother has been monitoring your progress or lack thereof, and he gave me some instructions."

"Yes, Zuko. My dear brother who has not come to visit me once since he became Firelord," she said as the guards entered through the door. "What instructions has he given you?"

"He said that if after two years you still refused to even try to get better, that you would be transferred to Boiling Rock Prison," Dr. Zhang explained. "This room could be better used for a real patient."

"Anything is better than here," she said before she stepped back from the door. "I'm sure Zuko has let everyone out of Boiling Rock by now, it can be my own little island paradise."

Two of the guards came into the cell while the others locked them in and waited. Azula was used to the drill, because they did it every time they took her out of her cell to enjoy the serenity of the gardens. She had to make fists and have her hands placed in metal gloves before they were secured behind her back.

"Well doctor, it's been fun. Maybe you can come to Boiling Rock and we can do it again," Azula joked as she was led out by the guards.

"I hope you find peace Azula," Dr. Zhang said as she passed.

Azula gave no further response to Dr. Zhang and never once turned to look at the man she had talked to almost every day for the past two years. She exited the asylum where three more guards waited, one who looked to be an Imperial Firebender.

"Greeting Azula, I am Captain Zhu, and I will be taking you to Boiling Rock Prison," the Imperial Firebender said with a wide grin.

Azula looked down to the pier where an airship was waiting, but it looked like no airship she had seen before.

"That doesn't look like a Fire Nation airship," Azula commented.

"After the war Fire Lord Zuko repurposed all airships in production to be used a civilian transports, to better connect major cities throughout all the nations," one of the guards explained.

"What are those smaller ships for?" She asked.

"Former war balloons that are used to take individuals to smaller villages and towns along the way were an airship would be unable to land," another of the guards explained. "You use a lever to extend the platform away from the airship, and then use fire to power the balloon," the guard continued.

"Enough, the prisoner does not need to know the details of how our airships operate," Captain Zhu scolded the guard. "She will not have use for either for quite some time anyway," he added as they walked up the ramp to the airship.

"Being a civilian transport there is no brig, but there are plenty of rooms we can secure you in," Captain Zhu said before he pointed down the hall. "And since there's nothing but ocean between here and Boiling Rock, it's not like you're going anywhere."

Azula felt the airship lift off as four of the guards escorted her to a room at the very far end of the hallway. Two waited outside the door while the others took her inside and sat her in a chair which had chains hanging over the armrest.

"Let me make sure these are secure for the ride to Boiling Rock," one of the guards said as he circled behind the chair. "Do not worry Princess; there are still those who wish to see the Fire Nation reach the goals of your father," the guard whispered.

It was rare that Azula was taken off guard, but it was one of those instances, even more so when she felt the guard unlock her gloves.

"Who are you," she asked confused.

"I am Lu Chen and we are from the Order of the Rising Phoenix. We wish to see you on the throne of the Fire Nation," he whispered.

"Does my brother know of you?" She asked.

"I'm sure he has heard whispers of us," the guard answered.

"So it seems my dear brother does not care about my treatment, he wants to send me to Boiling Rock because it is more secure," she reasoned as dark plans began to weave their way through her mind. "He did not want me in Capital City Prison because it may have been within your reach."

"Yes it seems that way Princess," Lu Chen agreed. "And that is why we felt it urgent that we free you before you reached Boiling Rock."

"So everyone isn't happy with my brother's vision of all the nations being one happy family."

"No Princess," Lu Chen answered with disgust. "All we need is you, and we can see all nations combined under one ruler the way they should have been," he added with a wide grin.

Azula had never believed in fate, because it meant that she was not in complete control. But however it had happened she had been provided a chance to exact revenge upon all who had wronged her, and finally sit upon the throne of the Fire Nation.

"Not even the avatar will be able to stop us," the other guard said.

"So will you join us Princess?" Lu Chen asked.

"Absolutely."

"We will create a diversion at the front of the ship, and while the guards are busy with us, you can make your way to one of the smaller air balloons and escape," Lu Chen explains. "You remember what I said about how they work?"

"Yes," Azula answered as she struggled to keep her voice down in all her excitement.

"There will still be two guards outside, but I'm sure they'll be no problem for you," Lu Chen said before he and the other guard exited the room and pulled the doors closed.

Azula was anxious as she waited for the diversion, it seemed to be taking forever. She had suffered in that asylum for two years while her brother sat upon a throne that was rightfully hers. She tried to envision the moment when he lost his power and the look upon his face when he realized it was her doing. Soon more dark visions crept into her mind, as she thought about what she would do when she finally caught up with all those who had betrayed her.

"Soon, very soon, you're all going to pay."

She felt a vibration in the ship, but it was the sound of an explosion that pulled her out of the world she was in. Her anxiousness turned to anticipation as the ship was rocked by another explosion. She pulled her hands from the metal gloves and dropped them to the floor before she stood and ran to the door.

"Secure the prisoner," one of the guards screamed from the other side.

She drew back her hands and took a deep breath before she thrust her fists forward and sent a stream of blue fire exploding through the doors and down the hallway. It had been so long since she felt powerful and in control. But as she stepped through what was left of the flaming doors and past the bodies of the guards it felt like past days.

"I'm back," she declared before she took off down the hallway.

"STOP!" A guard yelled as he emerged from around a corner followed by two others.

She didn't slow down or even wait for them to attack. She leapt into the air and delivered two spinning kicks, which sent knives of blue flame cutting through the air. She landed, slammed her fist to the floor and watched as a wave of blue fire swept away the last guard. She turned to the outer door and blew it open with a stream of blue flame before she leapt onto the platform outside.

"Great, a storm is coming" she fumed as she looked around at the dark skies.

The sky was dark as night, and only the flash of lightning provided light. She ran carefully down the platform as thunder crashed and shook it beneath her feet.

"That's far enough."

She looked ahead and there was a shadowy figure between and the air balloon. She could not see his face in the shadows but knew by the shadow of the three pronged helmet exactly who it was, the only Imperial Firebender on the airship.

"Captain Zhu."

Lightning cracked behind him and blue light fell across the platform as she stepped slowly towards him.

"I knew this was all a rouse to help you escape," he said as he took an offensive stance. "But if you wish to escape, you will have to go through me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she said as hair blew across her face.

Zhu stepped forward and sent a stream of fire towards her, but she leapt forward and flipped before she sliced his flames in half with a kick. Fire crashed onto the platform and flames ignited all around them. She propelled herself forward and sent a stream or fire towards Zhu, who raised a wall of flame to block it. The sheer force of her attack pushed him back to the edge of the platform, as she continued her onslaught. Zhu leapt over her and sent flames down from above her, but she extended her hand and deflected them with blue fire. She did not even wait for him to land before she swept her leg and sent a coating of blue flame over the platform. Zhu shot flame beneath him and scattered the blue flames enough to land safely.

"Impressive, you have not lost any of you strength in that asylum," Zhu praised her between heavy breaths. "I can keep this up for a very long time, but do you have that luxury?" He asked as lightning cracked behind her and the confident look on Zhu's face was shown in the blue light.

She stepped forward to attack again, but she paused as she saw two guards run onto the platform. She realized that the longer the fight went on, the more guards would appear until even she was overwhelmed.

"Surrender, you cannot escape," Zhu proposed, just as the first of the rain drops hit her face.

Lightning cracked behind her again, and in the blue light she knew just how she could escape the airship. She took a deep breath and began to wave her arms slowly through the air, and quickly the air around her crackled with lightning. She looked over at Zhu and his men, who began to back away in fear of the rare power. They had only taken a couple steps before she extended her fingers and strands of lightning raced towards them. Zhu tried to raise a wall of fire to protect them, but the lightning shattered it in a violent explosion.

"You were saying Captain Zhu," she gloated as she walked over to them.

"You will not get away, we will find you," he said with pain through clinched teeth, as he held his side. "You will only get so far in that balloon before we catch you."

"You assume too many things Captain Zhu," she countered as she grinned.

She walked to the end of the platform and climbed into the air balloon, before she used blue flame to light the furnace and fill the balloon. She waved her arms and her body began to crackle with lightning once again, before she sent lightning into the airship's rudder.

"What are you doing?" Zhu screamed as she tried to sit up.

"As I said Captain, you assume too much," she said before she pulled the lever and extended the platform away from the airship. "You assume I will leave this airship intact for you to be able to follow me," she yelled back.

"You would kill everyone, even those who came to rescue you?" Zhu screamed with disbelief etched upon his face.

"I am all that matters Captain," she said before she pulled the lever again and released the balloon. "I WILL sit upon the throne of the Fire Nation."

Strands on lightning jumped around her body before she thrust forward her hands and sent lightning into all the propellers on her side of the airship. Rain began to pelt her as she watched the ship began to plummet from the sky in flames. She piloted her balloon away, but she kept an eye on the airship for as long as she could to make sure it crashed into the ocean.

"What are you doing Azula?" She asked herself as she thought about all the people who were aboard the airship. "You really are a monster."

But if everyone already thought her a monster, why should she be anything but. Her mother, her brother, her friends, even her father saw something in her he feared. At least if she was thought of as a monster she would be feared, respected.

Azula tried to keep her bearings in the heavy rain and wind, but she had a bigger problem than getting lost. She felt her body become cold from the rain and she struggled to keep fire going into the furnace. She knew that she had lost altitude, but she did not know how much until she began to hear the water of the ocean beneath her. Lightning cracked in the distance and she could see the rough ocean waters for a moment beneath her in the flash of light.

"Come on Azula, you're not this weak," she pressed herself as her hands shivered.

She took a deep breath and tried to force flames from her hands, but soon she couldn't generate any fire at all. She felt the balloon continue to slowly descend until she could see shadows of the waves even in the darkness. She clinched the rail and braced herself for the crash, which came quickly, and she struggled to stay in the ship as it slammed into the water. She looked around but all she could see through the rain was shadows.

"This can't be happening," she screamed as the metal ship began to sink into the water.

She had the throne within her reach, but all of a sudden it seemed that she would never see it. Perhaps there was such thing as fate, and it seemed that fate like everyone else was against her.

She gasped at the sight of a large wave in front of her, which lifted the ship into the air and turned it sideways. She held onto the rail and looked down at the water where it seemed her journey would end. She closed her eyes as the wave turned the ship upside down and soon there was nothing but darkness.