Chapter 6
For the first time in my entire life, I heard Mai scream. I wasn't the only one who was startled by this. Ty Lee, the attendants, her parents; we had never heard her scream, ever. I shuddered upon hearing the blood curdling screech that came from Mai's mouth. She was in labor and in the room were just me, Ty Lee, Zuko and the midwife. My hands flew up to my mouth seeing Mai writhe in pain.
Ty Lee started biting her nails and Zuko was holding Mai's hand, who squeezed his hand really hard. Another scream from Mai and then the room was filled with a baby's cries.
"It's a girl!" the midwife said cheerfully.
After she cut the umbilical cord and wrapped it up in a blanket, the midwife stood up and Zuko reached for his newborn daughter. She scoffed and turned away from him.
"The mother holds her first!" And with that she handed the newborn to Mai.
"Anya," Mai smiled. "I finally get to see you,"
Ty Lee wiped the sweat from Mai's forehead and I helped her get up so she could lie down in her own bed next to her child. Mai held her child in her arms and fell asleep, exhausted. I stood with Zuko and Ty Lee as we looked at the new princess. She was so tiny and looked frail; I had never seen a newborn before.
"So her name is Anya?" I whispered.
"I guess so, Mai and I never discussed it," Zuko whispered back.
"Mai decided on her own; remember how she nearly killed him when she hit her fifth month?" Ty Lee whispered as well.
"Ok, let's leave so we don't have to keep whispering," Zuko suggested and we all left the room.
I walked back to my room while Zuko and Ty Lee discussed something. Once again, as I curled up on my bed, I wondered if I would ever meet someone. Soon, Ty Lee came into my room and sat at the end of my bed.
"'zula, I know what you're thinking," she swung her legs back and forth. "You'll find someone and you'll have kids too,"
I didn't answer; I couldn't think of a response. I reached out to my bedside table and picked up a hand mirror. I wanted to look at how my face had changed but instead I saw something that made me jump.
"Are you ok?" Ty Lee asked.
"Yeah, uh," I bit my lip. "I just want to be alone for a bit,"
"Uh, sure," she looked worried but left.
I peered into the mirror again and I looked behind me, startled. I turned back and picked up the mirror again.
"You'll find someone," it was her; my mother.
"You always hated me, so why are you trying to comfort me now?" I growled at the reflection.
"Because you're my baby, and I love you,"
"You thought I was a monster!"
"No, baby, I never thought that!"
My lips trembled and let the hand mirror fall to the floor, breaking the glass. I hid in my safe spot, which was under the covers of my bed. Hot tears poured from my eyes and onto my pillow. My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right, of course, but it still hurt. I gripped the sheets and bit my lip.
No matter how hard I tried to wish it away, the past was the past but it still happened. I couldn't undo the damage that I had done. People would always remember that I was crazy, power hungry person who destroyed anything that got in her way. That was why I refused to even take one step outside the palace walls. I, Princess Crazy, would have to deal with the burden of all the sins that I had committed.