Once Burned

Author's Notes: Another chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own this story! ...Okay, fine, I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or its characters.

Chapter 7

The Gift and the Curse

"What happened back there?! What was that?!" screamed Zuko pointing his arms behind him at the cell as they were walking.

Mai cleared her throat. "What was what, Zuko?" she responded innocently.

Zuko gave her an angry glare. "You know what I mean! What happened with Azula? ...I had everything under control. I was perfectly fine!"

Mai stopped and turned around to give him one of her glares. "Oh really? Because the way I see it, you were not in control. You were sitting on your butt staring up at someone who looked like they wanted to kill you!"

Zuko stopped right beside her. "So, you threaten her with a knife?!"

Mai arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "What happened with you? One minute, you sound all depressed and disappointed and all you looked like you wanted to do was just leave, and now, you're defending her against what I did to help you?!"

Zuko took a few steps forward with his eyes closed to try to reorganize his scattered thoughts. "I...I'm regretting what I did now! Happy?"

Mai's eyes opened up in surprise. "What? You're regretting not getting killed by that...monster?"

"She is not a monster, Mai! She's just...I don't know, confused, scared!" Zuko turned around. "And she needs our help...I may have been a little upset with her actions, but I should have expected that!" He held his forehead in his right hand.

"She attacked you, Zuko...again! Remember? Remember what happened at that Agni Kai?!"

"Yes, I remember, all right?!" He walked up to her, and now they were staring at each other face to face. "But, do you remember what I told you happened at the end?"

Mai turned her head to the side. She took a few seconds to reply. "She only did that so she could be free again...to cause you more pain." Her monotonous voice held its tone.

Ty Lee was behind them standing quietly the entire time holding the scroll. "Umm...guys?"

They didn't hear her. "She never cried before in her life! If she's as cold-hearted as you say, why would she have started then? Huh, Mai? Please, answer that!" He folded his arms. "Well...I'm waiting!"

Mai looked at him in confusion. "Zuko, how can you forgive her for what she did to you...to me!"

"Umm...guys!" Now Ty Lee had tried again with a little more emphasis, but they still didn't notice.

"Oh, so this is all about you now, huh? It doesn't matter what Azula did. It's all about what happened to you, right? Is that it?!"

Mai lifted a finger in protest, but was stopped immediately by a scream. "Quiiiiiiiieeeeeeet!"

They both turned their heads and stared at Ty Lee who was the source of the scream. Now that she got their attention, she decided to take the opportunity to state her mind. "You guys are acting like a bunch of ten-year-olds arguing over a stupid toy!" Ty Lee's eyes narrowed a bit in disappointment. "How can you guys just stand there and argue over what happened in the past, when what we came here to deal with was the now!" Now they both felt guilty, so Ty Lee continued. "Azula...isn't exactly the most healthy person in the world right now. All right, fine, we get it. But, Mai, did you see her? Did you see what she looked like? She looked terrible!"

Now that Ty Lee mentioned it, Mai thought back to what Azula looked like. She looked pretty worn out. Then Mai felt an emotion rise from the pit of her stomach. It was an unfamiliar emotion, one that she didn't usually associate with Azula. Am I feeling...sympathy for her? Then she tried thinking about all the horrible things she did to them. No, Azula's...a murderous tyrant! She's not...a scared little girl...

"Mai, you see it now don't you?" Ty Lee looked concerned for her. Mai looked away. Ty Lee looked at Zuko. "And, Zuko, Mai was only thinking of your safety. She saw you on the ground! What was she supposed to think?" Zuko stared at the ground away from Ty Lee. "Mai, how could you call her a monster?" She held up the diary. Zuko noticed, and his eyes slightly bulged. He tucked away the two scrolls that were poking out of his robes. He asked nervously, "What's that?"

Ty Lee gave him a small smile. "It's Azula's diary. Mai found it in the library. She didn't tell you?"

Zuko looked at Mai with a blank expression. Mai stared back. "I'm sorry Zuko. Yes, that's Azula's diary. At least, it's a part of it. We think there might be more...Are you...okay Zuko?" Zuko was sweating beads, Mai noticed. Something's up. "It's okay, Mai. I'd like to read it some time, if that's okay with you."

"Of course!" Ty Lee nodded. "Okay with you Mai?"

Mai took a while to respond. She nodded slowly. "Sure, why not..."

Then the captain walked up to them "Ah, Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Lady Mai, and Lady Ty Lee, I trust you finished everything you came here for?"

"Yes captain. We're done here. Sorry about the mess back there..." Mai said nonchalantly.

"Mess? What mess?" Just then, a guard came running out of Azula's cell to the captain. "Captain! Sorry to disturb you, but I found one of the prisoners pinned against the wall with blades. We think she might have been attacked...Should we do anything captain?"

All three of them avoided making eye-contact with the captain. He arched an eyebrow. "I see...Well, just take her down, and we'll figure out the rest...hopefully." he said giving them strange looks. "Anyways, I hope everything was prepared to your satisfaction Fire Lord Zuko?"

He nodded. Everything that had happened within the last fifteen minutes flashed through his mind. He turned to look at Mai and Ty Lee. "Let's go."

Mai was the first to move and Zuko followed while Ty Lee filled the back.

"All right, let's get these things off of her." Azula didn't pay any attention to the guards that were now struggling to rip out the blades stuck on the wall. All she could think about was what had happened. They all came to say "happy birthday." She felt regret for what she had said to them. It was a new emotion she barely picked up a few days ago. It felt strange and foreign and Azula didn't like the feeling.

Once she was down, she had slid slowly to the floor with her back leaning against the wall. "Leave, now."

The guards looked at her strangely. One of them opened up his mouth to retort, but the other grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to him. "No! Don't say anything. Let's leave before she turns on the crazy switch!" The guard thought about it and nodded.

"Get out!" She was losing her patience.

They both walked quickly to the entrance and locked the door behind them.

"He was almost in your grasp. If only that witch hadn't interfered, you would have won that battle." The voices were back. She was hearing herself again.

"Dad favored us over Zuko, and now he's only coming to visit you to get your guard down. Yes, he's the jealous one! He's jealous of us!"

Strange. She didn't hear any of the other voices. Just the Azula one talking to her.

Azula hugged her knees to her chest. "But then...why did he try hugging me?" she said out loud.

"I told you! To get your guard down. He's only trying to finish what he started at the Agni Kai!"

"But his hug seemed genuine. He said, 'happy birthday'."

"Fool! You are naive. He was only playing nice...Trust me! Trust yourself! Don't trust the ones who turn your back on you after all this time!"

She thought for a while. "Ty Lee looked like she cared..."

"Why do you still care for them? Mai and Ty Lee were never your friends to begin with. You used them to capture the Avatar, and they were obedient little tools...for a while. Then Zuko showed up and ruined everything!"

Her eyes widened. I used them?

"You always knew from the beginning how useful they would be once you recruited them."

Azula tried covering her ears to stop the voice.

"I'm in your mind dummy! No one's really talking to you..."

"Stop."

"No."

"Be quiet!"

"Not until you listen to me!"

"Shut up!" she yelled loudly. She looked at the ceiling with her hands still on her ears. Her vision became blurry as a wet film covered her eyes. She was crying. She tried blinking back the tears, but her blinking caused two to roll down each cheek. She couldn't help it anymore. She looked down, and the tears came pouring out. She was sobbing.

"Pull yourself together!"

Azula started banging her head against the wall. "Go away!" She does it a second time with much more force to cause a headache.

"I'm you. The only way to get rid of me would be to get rid of you..."

After a few more tries, Azula finally pulled back her head and threw it at the wall with enough force to cause unconsciousness. Her head met brick, and she blacked out.

It was night over the Fire Nation. The moon was slowly rising into the dark sky and Mai and Zuko had gone to bed. Ty Lee tried to do the same. She kept on rolling around over and over trying to make herself comfortable, but she couldn't. She even tried fluffing up the pillows, but nothing seemed to work. As an acrobat, she would be able to find any posture comfortable, but not this time.

She sighed and got up into a sitting position. She kept on replaying what happened earlier on. She buried her head in her hands to rub her eyes. I can't sleep! She frowned deeply. Azula was getting to her. Images of what she looked like, a complete mess, kept on posting themselves on her mind.

That's it! I can't take it anymore!

She had wanted to have a normal conversation with Azula in the first place and that ended up well. Immediately, after leaving Boiling Rock, the three took the balloons back to the Fire Nation. They headed back to the palace and decided to call it a day. Mai and Zuko had graciously asked Ty Lee to stay for a while, and she accepted. Only, now, she wasn't able close her eyes long enough to not think about Azula. She thought about what she was going to do to clear her conscience.

Well, Mai seemed as scorned as ever and Zuko looked like he wanted to talk to her some more, but I don't think he'd want to deal with that right now.

She rested her chin on her hand.

This thing is definitely bothering me! It replayed in her mind again.

What a great reunion that was.

Then an idea popped into her head. But that would be too risky...

She got up and looked outside the window which overlooked the garden. It looked to have a few guards patrolling the area. Two of them were busy talking to each other while the other continued to make his rounds.

I don't think I'd need to worry about them. I'll just have to come up with an excuse that will allow me to not look suspicious.

With her mind set, she thought back to Boiling Rock. Well, here I go.

She tiptoed outside of her room and headed to the place where the balloons were kept. A set of doors was blocking the entrance, and she noticed a single guard posted there. She walked up to him with a small smile. He looked up from his daze, surprised. "...Uh, yes miss? What can I do for you? If you're lost, I can direct you back to where you need to go..."

Ty Lee dismissed the question with a wave her hand. "No, I'm not lost...Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow one of the balloons..."

The guard questioned her motives. "Hmm? Why?"

Ty Lee gave him the most innocent of innocent looks. "I was going to just head back to Kyoshi Island..."

The guard understood immediately. "Yes, of course Lady Ty Lee."

"...And...you know...make a side stop at...oh, say, Boiling Rock?"

Now the guard was curious. "I know it's none of my business, but, what of Fire Lady Mai and Fire Lord Zuko?"

Not Ty Lee had to put on her best acting face. "Well, I kind of already asked them, and they said I could go..."

The guard shook his head. "I'm sorry, miss, but without written permission or them physically being here, I can't allow you to leave."

Ty Lee definitely had an obstacle ahead of her, so she thought quickly. "Okay...You can go wake them up in the middle of the night to check if I asked while I wait here until you get back!" She smiled. "Oh, word of advice, the Fire Lady hates being woken up in the middle of her sleeping."

His eyes opened widely. He shook his head. "No, wait, of course I believe you. As long as you got their permission, it's okay." He opened the door and headed inside with Ty Lee behind him. He called one of the other guards over. "Look, Lady Ty Lee here would like to be escorted to Boiling Rock right away, so if you could do the honors..."

The other man nodded. "Yes, sir. Right away!"

"Well, there you go! Have a safe trip, miss. I shall inform Fire Lady Mai and Fire Lord Zuko of your departure in the morning."

Ty Lee panicked. "No! No, it's okay! I was gonna come back anyways..."

"Right, well, should you not be here by morning, I will have to tell them. Sorry, rules are rules...You understand I'm sure." He smiled.

She smiled nervously back. "Of course. Like I said, I'll be back before then, so you won't have anything to worry about!"

He bowed and headed back to guard the entrance. Ty Lee entered the balloon and signaled for her escort to start lifting them up. He complied and soon enough, they were out in the middle of the ocean heading for Boiling Rock.

An hour and a half had passed, and Ty Lee found herself in the same position she was earlier: bored. She eagerly awaited arrival to Boiling Rock, but it was just a small dot on the horizon a few minutes ago. She looked at the moon. If she didn't get there in time, Mai would definitely scold her for being stupid enough to go back to see Azula.

"Excuse me," said the man who was operating the balloon, "But, we're almost there, milady."

Ty Lee nodded. Finally. A lot shorter than from Kyoshi Island. She stood up to see that the island was bigger than before. She sighed a sigh of relief. Now the hard part was about to begin.

"Get a medic in here, quick!"

She heard a few more footsteps.

"What happened?"

"Captain, one of the guards came in here to give her food, and they found her lying like this."

"Was it one of the guards?"

"No captain. A guard kept watch on her all day. He said that no one came in or out the entire time he kept his post. He said he heard a loud thump, but he ignored it and continued guarding."

Then she heard more footsteps. "Glutton for punishment, huh?"

"Can you fix her?"

She felt a hand grab her head. She felt no pain for some reason. "I can, but she'll need to be taken to the infirmary."

She felt two arms grab her and pick her up. Her head was leaning against something. She slowly opened her eyes a little to see a blurry face in front of her. She couldn't tell who it was. "Well, hurry up man! I saw another Fire Nation balloon docking just now. I'm not sure what they could want in the middle of the night." Everything around her looked fuzzy. Fire...balloon? "I'll have to greet them again. It'll buy you some time." Then Azula succumbed to the darkness again.

"Ah, Lady Ty Lee!" She smiled a little. "You are back again? ...This time, by yourself?"

She nodded. "Yes captain! Um, I just wanted to talk to Azula, that's all. Today didn't go so well as you probably saw..."

The captain thought back. "Yes, I did. It was most unfortunate...Well, she's a little busy now, so you might want to come back a little later on."

Ty Lee raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What could a prisoner be doing besides sleeping in the middle of the night?"

The captain tried coming up with an excuse. He leaned in closer and kept his voice low. "Well...Let's just say, she's not 'right in the head' at this precise moment..."

"Well, crazy or not, I didn't come all this way just to leave without seeing her."

She continued to walk past him. "It's this way, right?"

The captain began to worry. "I can't let you see her. It's for your own protection..."

"Is she really that dangerous?" Then a guard came up to him, panting. "Sir, it was just a mild concussion. Nothing to worry about!" Then he turned to look at Ty Lee, and he covered his mouth in shock.

The captain slapped his forehead. Ty Lee now was definitely curious. "...Is something wrong with Azula?"

"What? No! Of course not! C'mon!" He put on a fake smile. "He's just talking about some other prisoner." He forcefully turned her around in the direction of the balloon. "Now, c'mon. It's late, and I think you should be heading back home..."

Ty Lee became annoyed. "Where is she?" She looked at him with anger written all over her face. "If I have to, I'll get the Fire Lord here to suspend you from your duty as a captain..."

The captain swallowed hard. "Look, the princess...isn't feeling so well right now, okay? My men found her lying on the ground unconscious. We found blood on the wall, and I assure you, they didn't do it." He held his hands up in defense when he saw Ty Lee even more furious at him for lying to her.

"Where is she captain?"

The captain gave up. "In our...dispensary. Our healer is trying to fix her up." Ty Lee started heading for the infirmary, then all of a sudden, she stopped.

"Is something wrong?"

Ty Lee turned around in embarrassment. "Where is it again?" she asked feeling stupid for not knowing where the infirmary was.

The captain rolled his eyes. "I'll take you there myself." So they both headed for the infirmary with a few guards following close by.

Thanks for reading and reviewing all! :) You know, I've been leaving subtle hints about the diaries. I hope you guys have figured out who the mysterious man was in chapter 4! XD If not, then you'll have to wait till next chapter. Next chapter: What is Azula doing to herself? Is she finally cracking? Find out next time! :b