AN: Hey guys! I'm sorry it's taken me ages to put up this chapter (I blame writer's block and school) but I finally got around to posting it. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter because things get...interesting. As always, R&R please and thanks to the people that did!
Soza shut the door to her room with barely a sound, dimly aware at how strangely calm she was. The shock of the last few hours was wearing off, leaving unexplainable exhaustion in its place. A pain had been building at the base of her skull ever since they had returned to the ship, making every slight movement of her head sheer agony. What's wrong with me? It's like I don't even care about what I've done. It's like Zuko meant nothing. Numbly, she sat down on the edge of her bed, staring sightlessly at the palms of her hands while trying to ignore the throbbing in her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the handle of the door turn and she looked up in surprise as Azula entered. Her expression was unreadable as she sat down next to Soza.
"Why Azula?" Soza lifted her eyes to her sister, her face glazed with pain, "Why did you have to trick him like that?" her voice rose to a yell, the anger she had been suppressing finally making itself known.
Azula tried to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at her sister's outburst while she stretched herself casually on Soza's bed.
"I believe the word you were looking for was 'we.' 'We' tricked him. In fact, I shouldn't be getting the credit. I'm not the one who told dear Zuzu his banishment was lifted. You did that all by yourself." Soza paled as her words sank in, unable to say anything.
"And you did it so well. If only Zuko would believe me as blindly as he did with you." A look of pain washed over Soza's face and she stood up abruptly and moved to the far end of the room.
"He'll know something's wrong. He won't fall for this." Soza said firmly, determined not to meet Azula's eye.
Azula smirked at the younger girl's naiveté.
"Yes he will because he trusts you. Of course that will change after today, but he did trust you." She sat up and stared at the Soza's hunched shoulders.
"Zuko will come and nothing you do now can change that." Azula slid off the bed and silently approached her sister, the familiar predatory gleam in her eye. Soza remained rigid, struggling to not let Azula's words get to her. She could feel rather than see Azula lean down next to her right before the prodigy whispered in her ear.
"It was almost like you enjoyed lying to him."
Soza growled and whipped around, "I'm not sick, Azula. I lied because I had to!"
"Oh I know," Azula smiled unconcerned with her outburst, "but you enjoyed it too."
Doubts whirled around in Soza's head as she realized that Azula's words rang a little too true.
Mentally she shook herself, "No I didn't! And when Zuko finds out he will know I had no choice. He will understand." The conviction in her voice disgusted Azula. Doesn't she realize how pathetic Zuko is?
"He's proved he can't comprehend the concept of honor to family, so how could he possibly understand this? He will hate you for what you've done."
Denial was reflected in Soza's eyes as she backed into the wall "Shut up okay? I – I need to think," she clutched at her head with her shaking hands before sliding down the metal wall.
Azula lifted an eyebrow as Soza curled her arms around her knees and hid her face from view. She was getting to her faster then she had planned. All she had to do was push her a little farther…
"What's there to think about? Zuko will hate you so stop wasting time agonizing over what you've done."
Soza lifted her head, comprehension burning on her face. Her expression was uncharacteristically fragile, hanging onto Azula's every word.
"Are you sure he'll hate me?"
"Yes because he doesn't understand, Soza; but you don't need him or his approval anymore. Look how far you've come with my help." Azula leaned her shoulder against the wall, crossing her feet while gazing down at her.
"I don't want him to though," Soza's headache was worsening, making argument nearly impossible. Azula's logic was taking its toll on her determination to believe in Zuko as she desperately fought to focus through her headache.
"You wanted him to leave anyway Azula. You were glad he was banished."
The princess shrugged, "Of course I was. I saw him corrupting you, preventing you from reaching your potential. He made you think he cared about you, when in reality he just didn't want another sister who was better at everything." A wave of dizziness washed over Soza as she tried to shut out the words that cut through her again and again. Could it be true? Had Zuko been using her?
"I wanted him to leave for your sake." The usually cold voice seemed to have an uncharacteristic tone of warmth.
A tear trickled down Soza's cheek and she turned her head away. In her current state, Azula knew Soza was extremely susceptible to her mind games. She recognized what a powerful asset Soza could be, but that didn't mean she was averse to manipulating her just a little.
"You did the right thing."
"Do you think so?" The young prodigy's voice was broken, all traces of resistance gone.
"Yes I do." Azula knew she had her as she saw the change in Soza's eyes. Another tear welled up in Soza's eye before she wiped it away.
"When you have collected yourself, return to the deck. I told Zuzu to meet us here by sunrise." Soza nodded imperceptibly as Azula turned to leave.
She took one long breath and pushed herself off the floor. And immediately she knew something was wrong. Her head seemed to explode from the pent up pain and she was down on all fours again. The room swam in front of her unfocused eyes and Soza felt as if her skin were on fire. She raised her eyes to look up at Azula, but all she saw was black and she was falling…
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Azula watched as her sister collapsed onto the floor. Her body continued to shake, whether from pain or exhaustion she didn't know. She felt a momentary flash of concern for her sister before sighed in frustration. She should have expected this. Crouching down, she felt her Soza's forehead and was surprised by how hot it was. This wasn't good, Zuko and possibly Uncle might be coming in a couple hours, and she needed Soza to be there when Zuko realized her betrayal. Oh well I can use this to my advantage. She smirked to herself and rolled Soza onto her back, before turning to call out to the guards stationed outside.
"Guard!" A young Fire Nation soldier banged through the door, eyes slightly wide with fear.
"Yes Princess?" He looked down at Soza's prone form and looked questioningly at Azula.
"Move my sister onto her bed and call a servant to take care of her. Report back to me about her condition in an hour."
"Right away, Princess" He bowed low and gently lifted Soza in his arms and placed her on the small bed.
Azula made sure he had performed his duty before exiting the room without a single glance of concern at her sister. She had more important things to do than worry about Soza at the moment. Zuko and Soza had unknowingly given her an interesting idea….
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Soza jerked awake, looking around wildly at her surroundings. She strained to see something, anything, but still all was black. A soft bluish glow suddenly appeared out of nowhere on her right. For some unknown reason, Soza felt the urge to go toward it. No sooner had she thought it, then she was engulfed in the glow. A weird humming filled her ears as the glow grew brighter. The humming grew to an unbearable shriek and Soza gritted her teeth in pain, blocking her ears with her hands in a vain attempt to shut out the noise. All of a sudden, the glow flew away from her and flashed brightly for a split second, forcing the princess to shield her eyes.
"Soza." She felt herself cringe with fear at the authority in that voice. Soza looked hesitantly up and saw an old man surrounded by the bluish glow. He was clothed in Fire Nation robes and had a long white beard and piercing eyes that were fixed pointedly at her.
"Who are you?" She felt ashamed at how badly her voice shook.
"I, child, am Avatar Roku." His fiery gaze had softened barely, and the way he looked at her reminded her vaguely of Uncle Iroh.
"What do you want with me?" She stood up shakily and was surprised by how much the other man towered above her.
"You are faced with a decision that will decide the fate of the world. I am here only to warn you not to be fooled by the words of others. I can't tell you the consequences of your actions, but I hope that you will prove yourself a worthy Princess of the Fire Nation."
"What are you talking about? What choice?" The late Avatar only shook his head sadly.
"I'm sorry, Soza. You must find out for yourself." With these words, Roku started to fade until Soza was left alone in the dark again.
"Come back! I don't understand what you want from me!"
A hissing noise behind her made Soza whip around. A forked tongue darted out from the dark and two golden pinpricks glowed menacingly above it.
The princess backed away slowly as a gigantic blue dragon emerged from the darkness to face her.
"You must choose now, Soza." It hissed slithering around her until all she could see were its blue scales as its head darted back and forth.
"Wh-what?" Her eyes didn't leave the dragons as it stared unblinkingly back.
"You need to embrace your true self and stop pretending to be a pathetic weakling. Be strong like your sister." An unbidden image of Azula's firebending power came to Soza's mind. A sudden yearning to bend like that seized Soza. After all, she was a prodigy. She knew she could firebend just as well as Azula.
The dragon seemed to sense her thoughts. "You are indeed a prodigy, but some people have tried to hold you back." Zuko's face flashed in her mind.
"Don't listen to that thing, Soza." The dragon hissed in fury and slithered away from the firebender.
Zuko had appeared by in front of her, his face unscarred, as she had always known it.
"I was never jealous of you, I love you." He was pleading with her to believe him and his arms were outstretched, reaching toward her to embrace her.
"Zuko…" Soza tried to move towards him, but the dragon's voice echoed at her side.
"He doesn't care about you. He's manipulating you like he always has."
Soza froze at its words, doubt seizing her once again. Zuko looked a little too pleased with himself, as if he expected her to believe that he was simply a concerned older brother looking out for her. He was smiling encouragingly at her, just waiting for her to run to him just like she always had done. Soza suddenly loathed the very sight of him. She had trusted him completely and he had lied.
The young firebender stared at her brother, who's expression was becoming fearful.
"Soza?" Her eyes flashed as all the anger she was feeling erupted and she let loose a torrent of fire at Zuko, engulfing him in flames as he screamed in agony.
"Shut up Zuzu." Soza felt no remorse as her brother writhed in pain on the floor in front of her. She felt free as he finally stopped his twitching and lay smoking in front of her, blue flames licking happily at what was left of his body.