breathe.
"Good morning, Azula," Lily said quietly. Azula, standing at the window and watching the rain fall, nodded. "How are you this morning?"
"Better than... earlier this week," she replied, with a hint of embarrassment. Lily sighed softly in relief and sat against the desk.
"This week hasn't been a good one," she agreed, "but I'm confident."
"Are you?" Azula asked, and then laughed hoarsely. "I'm glad one of us is."
"You're doing better," Lily insisted. Azula shrugged.
"I'm not seeing demons and attacking my own reflection anymore, no, but I'm not sure this qualifies as good." There was a very long pause, and Azula finally sighed and turned slightly. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, as though trying to get the words out before she stopped herself, "for the other day. The teacup..."
"Can be replaced," the other woman finished evenly. Azula rolled her eyes.
"I suppose I should also apologize to my brother, although I doubt I'll see him again," she mused.
"I think he'll come," Lily said, wary of Azula's notoriously unstable temper. Luckily, Azula was as sane as she'd been in over a year, and simply smirked bitterly.
"I doubt it. I attacked him, you know."
"He's your brother," she continued, gaining confidence. "You may not think it, but he does love you."
She was quiet for a moment, and then asked in a very soft voice, "Does he?"
"I believe so."
"Hmm."
There was another long, pregnant pause. Finally, Lily broke it. "Is there something you want to say, Azula?"
Azula turned, and she appeared much smaller than she really was, like a little girl tugging at her father's sleeve. There was an aura of apprehension about her, and she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out for a long moment, and then finally - "Will I ever be - well?" she asked, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Or will I always be... like this?"
"I..." Lily began, and found herself unable to meet Azula's eyes, "I don't know, Azula," she finally said, resigned. "Maybe. The mind is... complicated, and the future moreso. There's no way to know what you'll feel or think tomorrow, or a week from now, or a year from now. All we can do is just... keep going."
It wasn't the answer Azula was looking for, but it wasn't the answer she'd expected either. The once-proud princess looked back to the window, closing her eyes as lightning flashed and thunder shook the air. "I used to be able to make that," she whispered.
"I know."
"I don't... I never will again, will I?"
Lily hesitated, but found that the truth was her only answer. "No," she said simply. Azula nodded, and her shoulders slackened suddenly as though a great weight had descended upon her.
"That's all," she sighed, her voice a shadow of its earlier strength. "You can go now."
"Azula - "
"Please," she said, and looked up, eyes dry and face pale. "Let me be." Her voice was low but even, calm but desperately broken, heart-wrenching in its quiet resignation. Lily nodded slowly.
"Of course, Azula," she whispered, and stood up to leave. "You don't have to do this alone, you know?"
At the window, watching the rain, Azula replied, "I'm used to being alone. I'll be fine." She turned to Lily at the door and smiled as brightly as she was able. "Don't worry about me, Lily darling, I'll be just fine."
"Who are you trying to convince?" Lily asked, unable to let it go. Something sparked in Azula's eyes, and she turned back to the window abruptly.
"That's all," she said loudly, in a very authoritative, Princess of the Fire Nation tone. 'You may go."
Lily sighed and left.
Azula continued to watch the lightning.
A/N: I'm not too happy with this one, but I wanted to show Azula on a relatively good day, and also to shift her from a more manic state to a depressed one, and also to bring up the issue with her bending and how she's coming to terms with things.