Author's Note: Hi, everyone! I'm writing this story and I published the prologue a while ago. My native language is Spanish so everything I've written is in that language. Since I realized that translating this to English I'll receive more feedback here I am trying to do my best in the translation! ^^
Now I leave you with the prologue of my new multi-chapter story! It will include the Gaang and certain lovable acrobat soon.
Please read and review!
Edit: Thanks BlueLion and Azula for telling me the spelling mistakes in this chapter! I've already corrected them ^^. And a very, very special thanks to Fire Lady Ursa my new Beta-Reader!
Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. It belongs to Bryke.
Azure Flames
Prologue: Alone in the darkness
To be locked in that place made impossible for her to establish the flow of time.
Hours, days, weeks… she couldn't be sure how long it had been since she was locked away in that white-disguised prison.
Two groups, one vertical the other horizontal, of rusty bars divided the small room in half, the deepest section of it was being the residence of the new patient of that mental institution. To the left of the bars a small metal door, the only escape from cage had been welded from the inside. The captive herself had tried to end, with a breath of fire, the life of the only doctor who had dared to enter to her domain, thus sealing the door of her cage and the last possibility to return to the outside.
The walls were painted in a sickly white and they wore it with such arrogance and intensity that the girl was obligated to keep her gaze down on the cold, stone floor. The only remnant of reality in her room was a small, barred window located in the central wall of the cell where some sunlight filtered in the place and tried to fight the darkness inside. But the sunlight and the sight through the window didn't matter anyway: the pair of bonds that emerged from two holes located on the floor chained her wrists and ankles keeping the patient on the floor and without hope of stand up straight, let alone looking through the window.
These precautions weren't founded in cruelty to the monster contained in the cage, but in the need to prevent that the poor souls that visited the room daily suffered burns, bites and scratches for doing their jobs. Even chained and weak the girl threw fire from her mouth and attacked like a wounded, cornered animal.
Insanity, after all, had made her become a savage beast.
The first days in her new abode the captive limited herself to try to escape and attack to anyone who dared to enter her domain, no matter how small it was now. Every time a guard entered to the room to feed the patient she did not hesitate to try to annihilate the poor fool, making her feeding impossible.
Whenever she became violent the guard used a mechanism located outside the room that caused the two holes, which were separated for only a meter from each other, began to suck the chains leaving the girl unable to move lying on the floor. During her stay in that cage she had screamed and cried so much that her throat hurt terribly and her voice had become a little rough.
But right now the former princess of the Fire Nation was quiet.
Azula was sitting with her back on the deepest wall of the cell with her hands lifeless on the floor near of her legs. Days ago she had tried to break her bonds by casting a small fire blade on her fingers, but all she had achieved was that the metal began to melt with her skin burning her horribly. Since that day she barely moved her extremities and she did not attempt to create fire except the one she let out from her mouth.
In a slow movement the girl tilted her head to look at the cell door. How long had it been? Azula could feel how her body weakened at every moment for the fatigue, lack of food and sleep, however, all these things weren't her fault.
The captive's eyes fell on the small tray of food that a few hours ago had been thrown hurriedly near the bars by one of the guards in an attempt to evacuate the room as fast as he could. Azula wouldn't have to put too much effort to approach the bars and take the food but she knew she couldn't have that luxury. She couldn't give up and let them win… let the world win. She was smart and perfect so she wouldn't fall in a trick so predictable.
She wasn't going to be so stupid as to eat poisoned food.
That was the reason she couldn't sleep either. She knew that guards and doctors could enter her cell at any moment to kill her while she slept. Azula knew she couldn't let her guard down not even a second because that would mean an instant death.
The situation was against her… in that place everyone was plotting to murder her. But Azula wouldn't let them win without a fight. No, she wasn't going to let anyone gloat at her expenses.
"You should eat, Azula… your body needs nutrients to stay alive"
Odd. When the voice talked about life, it only referred to Azula's body. The girl's eyes widened in surprise at the sound of it.
That voice... the voice of the being she most hated in the World. Azula turned her head to the left and she wasn't surprised to see a black-haired, golden-eyed woman sitting near the left wall of the room. The woman was dressed in crimson robes with subtle golden decorations on them. A golden hairpin, the symbol of her status as a princess, was hold on to the half-topknot that she was wearing. The women locked her golden gaze on Azula the same way she always had done when she looked at her daughter: an expression full of sadness and sternness.
How much Azula hated that her mother looked at her like that! Since Azula was little, the recrimination in her mother's eyes had been always present. Ursa was always looking at her with a mixture of anguish and fear. Everything was different when Zuko was involved, though. In those times the woman was always laughing, taking about nonsense and whispering words to comfort her son.
Maybe there was a time when Azula wished her mother would smile at her too but, if the price for that was being weak and pathetic like her brother, she preferred to remain without the Ursa's ridiculous gestures of affection. Why would she want them anyway? Her mother and Zuko were weak and soft, just like her father had said to her. It wasn't worth of her time to build relationships with them because she couldn't get anything useful in return.
Still, despite she would never admit it, a small part of her wanted that her mother was smiling at that time in the room of the institution.
"What are you doing here?" – she growled while inwardly cursing her throat ache
"Can't I pay a visit to my own daughter?" – the mother gave her a sad smile
'Daughter'? Don't you mean 'monster'?
"Ha! That's it? Don't act like you were a good, loving mother we both know that you came to gloat!"
"No, of course not, Azula" – Ursa put her right hand near her chest – "I came to help you"
What a foolish, sentimental gesture. Does she really think I'm going to believe her? I'm sorry, Mother. Unlike Zuko I'm not stupid.
"Help me? Do you think I need your help? Don't you see? I'm perfectly fine! I'm happy here!" – at the last words Azula uttered an uncontrolled hysterical laughter
Ursa shook her head and began to look at the room while her daughter seemed to enjoy her own pitiful situation. Finally, the woman sighed and looked back at Azula.
"Is it really worth this?"
The captive, that was still laughing maniacally, began to calm down while she looked at her mother rather disconcerted.
"What?" – she asked still having troubles to keep her laughter controlled
"Is it worth to be here?"
Azula's laughter came to an abruptly end at the words. Not knowing what to say she gave her mother a death glare.
"Is your loyalty to your father worthy of all the pain you are causing to yourself? Is his approval worthy enough to lose your sanity? Is obtaining power worthy to lose your only friends?"
Friends? They never were my friends! They were just two snakes that betrayed me when I last expected!
Azula lowered her head and stay quiet for a moment trying to process all Ursa was saying. At last, gasping a little, she look at her a mother with a gaze that would mean instant death if she wasn't chained up to the floor.
"How… dare… you?" – she whispered pausing between each word to take a breath
Ursa just looked sadly at her.
"You lost the only people that may have felt some kind of affection for who you really are just for your desire of power and perfection"
"Get out… of here…"
"Tell me, Azula. Is being fearsome and frightening worthy enough of to be alone? Is okay with you to change all of the love in your life just for fear and control?"
"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" – Azula screamed while throwing a blast of fire towards her mother
While attacking, the princess fell to the ground without much propriety as tears began to fall on her face. When she could lift her head she noticed that her mother was in the other corner of the room, without a single scratch.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Ursa shook her head again and took one last look at her daughter before disappearing.
"It's a pity that this end like this, Azula… that from now on… you stay alone"
Azula tried to get up as quickly as possible to attack her mother before she vanish completely, but her chains began to run through the holes in the ground, causing that the girl fell noisily to the ground.
"What's wrong?" – one of the guards at the door shouted
"The usual… she's having another fit… as always screaming and throwing fire like a lunatic" – the other guard exclaimed while he was watching through the peephole to the uncontrolled patient – "Agni… she really is crazy…"
Azula began to struggle against her bonds, just managing to make her wrists begin to hurt. Desperate, she began to shoot fire from her mouth.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" – she screamed time and again losing all control of herself
Finally, when she got exhausted, she dropped her head to the ground as she wept uncontrollably. Before succumbing to the darkness of her cell one last thought crossed her mind. She understood that her mother was mistaken in at least one thing.
It didn't start now. Azula's loneliness had begun a long time ago.