I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, By Dylan Thomas
Visitor 2
The next person who had come to visit her surprised Azula greatly.
Two days had gone by since the Avatar had visited her. She tried with all her might to forget their conversation.
But she couldn't.
The Avatar was wise; Azula would give him that much. But he was too...willing. He wanted to get inside her mind, to try to feel what she felt. He tried to help. He tried to care.
Azula thinks him to be foolish. She knows that when you care, you become weak.
You will just get burned in the end.
The arrival of this visitor had not been much appreciated. Azula had been meditating, something that the doctors made her do every once in awhile. She supposed they thought it would calm her.
But it actually does the opposite. Luckily, Azula is good at hiding things.
She was sitting on the cold ground when she was disturbed. Voices came from outside the large, concrete door that sealed the hallway. Such noise would not have been heard but any other, normal inhabitants of the prison.
But Azula was not just a normal prisoner.
The voice that she heard was one of a young girl, and you would have thought any human like that to be delicate.
But the voice was anything but.
"I can do it myself!" barked the girl's voice. Azula thought she had heard it before.
Another voice said something in a hushed tone, too soft for Azula to make out it's owner, or to tell what had been said.
"Ridiculous! I'm a master earthbender! No to mention the Rumble Champion three years running now!"
The other person said something else. The voice got a bit louder, obviously losing patience.
"Don't care. Now get out of my way. I'm going in. We can do it the easy way, or the hard way. You choose."
A pause, then a loud sigh. Then, the large door opened. Azula didn't open her eyes as she heard the footsteps come closer.
The person dropped to the floor, not saying a word. It was so quiet that Azula could her the girl's soft breathing. Then:
"Evening, Crazy-Cakes."
Azula slowly opened her eyes, narrowing them. The sight in front of her would have been comical, but Azula was not amused right now.
The earthbending girl was sitting on her back, arms crossed behind her head, face tilted upwards. She was smirking, too. Azula knew that the floor hadn't been cleaned in ages. But the girl seemed not to mind.
As Azula sat with her legs crossed she studied the girl. Images flooded her mind.
It was one of the Avatar's companions. The blind one. The one who somehow fought exceptionally well, even with her disability. The one who had the nerve to mock the princess of the Fire Nation. And even with said princess glaring at her like she was the one who had taken her firebending, the girl did not seem afraid.
And Azula found it fascinating.
"Guess you're not much of a talker, huh? Or maybe your messed up brain can't comprehend what I'm saying," the girl said.
Azula's eye twitched. "I can understand you perfectly," she snapped.
"Well that's lovely. I hope it's okay that I joined you. Though it's not like you had much of a choice, seeing as-
"What do you want? I have better things to do than talk to some dirty little peasant," Azula said.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
That made Azula close her mouth.
A moment of silence passed before the girl talked again. "Well, to answer your question, I'm here to give you a 'therapy' session. The girl made gestures with her fingers when she said 'therapy'.
Azula gave a short laugh, then smirked. "Your friend already tried that," she said. Then she added, " and failed."
"I know. That's because he's too soft. You should have seen him during his earthbending training. Yeesh."
Azula did not reply. The Avatar learning the elements wasn't anything she really cared about, or wanted to remember.
The girl changed her position. She now lay on her stomach, holding her face up with her elbows, feet kicking in the air.
"So I hear you're gonna die," the girl said bluntly.
On the inside, Azula was livid. How dare the earhtbender say something like that to her? On the outside though, her expression didn't change.
The girl continued, "So's you're pyscho father. But you must know that it's inevitable right? That must be why you aren't trying to break out of here. Either way, you're probably not gonna last long."
"There's nothing you can do," she added, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
It was if the girl had read Azula's mind.
"Shut up!" Azula yelled. The other girl winced.
They were both silent again. Each girl was wary of the other. Azula looked at the girl cautiously. Her milky green eyes stared ahead blankly, but her brows were furrowed, as if something was puzzling her.
"You know," she finally said after awhile, "I used to be in the same position as you are now."
Azula raised a delicate eyebrow. She didn't want to admit it, but she was interested. How could the tiny earthbender ever have had to deal with what she does now?
The girls face softened. "I used to live with my parents. And I loved them. But it was as if I was invisible. Anything I said went unnoticed. All they cared about was that their precious little blind daughter was helpless."
Her voice had hardened. "That meant I was confined to my house, only going out to the gardens. Always being watched. Not having a say. Not being able to do anything for myself. Completely, utterly helpless."
She stopped. Her voice trembled when she spoke again. "But they were wrong." She suddenly stood up. Her hands were clenched. "I'm not helpless. I'm a master at my element. What I have to say is important." She slowly hung her head. "But they had to learn that at a price."
Azula took the information in. Somehow, the earthbender knew that her story related to Azula's.
And that scared Azula the most.
Azula closed her eyes, starting to return to to her meditating, knowing that this certain visit was over.
"By the way," the girl said, "the name's Toph." Azula secretly admired how proud her voice was.
"And why should I care, peasant?" Azula replied in a condescending tone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, let me rephrase that," she said, not hiding her sarcasm. "Bei Fong. I'm Toph Bei Fong."
Toph could not see Azula's eyes snap open and widen.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited! You guys rock! I hope you like this chapter!
