As I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of that camera again. Thunder rolled outside the palace. Shortly after the photograph was taken, all hell broke loose.
Zuko was banished. He was off on some goose hunt to find the Avatar. My mother was dead. My father was unconcerned with me. Not that I cared. But every once in a while a nod would have been nice.
The face of my unconscious mother, burnt and bloody was now lying in front of me. I suppressed every emotion that I was going through my mind. I looked up at the unchanged face of my father. "Follow." He spit. I did what he said.
We walked for a distance before he stopped. He dropped the woman some distance outside the city limits. Before we returned he spoke to me. "Look carefully and be sure to think before betraying me, Azula." I blinked up at him, despising him. Then and idea hit me. If I played my cards right, I could take Zuko's right as Fire Lord. I bowed low. "How could I betray you, Fire Lord Ozai?" He smiled in satisfaction and we returned to the city.
I opened my eyes and recognized the red and orange of my bedroom walls. I sighed sitting up and walking to my mirror. I started at the beautiful woman in the mirror. I didn't realize right away that that stunning woman wasn't me. I pulled my hair up and smiled in satisfaction. Then I noticed my bangs weren't lying correctly. After too many tries for my patience I let out a snarl and grabbed the scissors. "I'll make you SUBMIT!" I shouted more pulling than cutting my bangs off. I smiled happily staring at the brown locks on the floor in front of me.
"It's a shame, you had beautiful hair, Azula." I let out a startled scream looking at the woman talking to me in the mirror. She had the serene and patient face I never had. "Mother." I hissed. "Why are you here?"
She sadly smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Azula."
I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about? I AM Fire Lord Azula, Mother! You should be happy for me! You would be happy for ZUKO!" I screamed.
"Can you not see what this is making you?" She said. Something clenched in my stomach. I was sick of hearing her words.
"You thought I was a monster! How am I so different now than I was then?" I screeched. She looked up at me. There were tears in her eyes. "The difference is now you've become one."
I didn't want to hear any more. I took the scissors in my hand and smashed them through the mirror. My mother's face faded to my own. There was blood running from my neck in the reflection. I squinted my eyes, dropping the scissors and feeling my neck. I pulled my hand back to see blood running down my icy hands. I watched it drip. I turned around and walked through the shattered mirror, leaving red footprints behind me. I wiped my hand on the wall and exited my room, going towards the bathhouse.
Ty Lee met me with extremely worried words. Mai also seemed somewhat worried. Why? I never showed any worry for them. They held me down while they made someone fixed up my hands and feet. My mother's face haunted me when I closed my eyes. I kept them open and focused on other things. I slowly slid into the blackness of the unconscious world.