"OK, Azula," Zuko started as they walked along the halls of the palace. Azula hadn't said anything other than the reluctant "good morning" and the short replies to yes or no questions. He had suspected she was just a little nervous or left-out in a way. He'd probably be the same way if he had been in prison for three years and then taken out by the same person who put him in there who happened to be his sibling.
"Where are we going?" she asked, looking around as they walked into the courtyard garden. Zuko felt suddenly very unwanted, but he knew why; Azula knew they were going to the turtle duck pond which she hated doing when she was a kid…but more or less, she probably sensed they were going to talk about Ursa. It was a good thing Zuko was holding her hand otherwise she probably would've run back to her room.
"Azula, you're mental state is…well, a little unstable," he explained. "You're going to see a therapist of some sort." He heard Azula sigh irritably. "But don't worry, it's only for an hour minutes and I'll be right there if you need something."
"Of course, Fire Lord Zuko to the rescue," Azula muttered under her breath, sarcastically. Zuko rolled his eyes and continued walking around the path until they had reached the set of stairs that allowed them to walk down into the grassy area of the courtyard.
As Azula walked the grass beneath her made soft crunch noises, bringing back some old thoughts and memories to view. She pushed them all to the side of her attention as she followed her brother. But as they approached the turtle duck pond, Azula failed to see the person sitting at the base of the tree for a memory had forcefully pushed itself into her mind.
--
"First set, Azula!" Ozai roared as Azula hung over her knees. She took in a deep breath before standing up straight and getting into the starting position with her knees bent and her arms crisscrossing over each other, her open palms facing a set of candles upon a wooden desk. She twisted around adeptly, throwing small minor flames in different directions but before she got even remotely close to setting the candles alight, she stopped and got into a different position.
"Second set," Ozai ordered. Azula nodded curtly before flipping up into the air and sending a bolt of fire in the direction of her father who merely separated the flames with a smirk on his face. Azula continued to move around skillfully for a couple moments before she stopped, her arms and legs spread with two fingers on each hand pointing at the candles, her legs slightly bended.
"Finish," Ozai demanded. Azula reeled her hands back and pushed fire through her fingers as she jabbed them in the candle's direction. Two small jets of red flames raced through the air for two of the candles, setting the wick on fire once in contact. Before she could start to finish the last set, a strong hand landed on her shoulder. A chill ran down her back in the memory and in the present.
--
"You OK?" Azula blinked and saw Zuko leaning in front of her with a sort of concerned look on his face. She nodded faintly and gestured for him to continue walking. Zuko smiled and led her even closer to the man sitting against the tree. She eyed the stranger, suspiciously.
"Hello," the man greeted, holding his hand out to Azula as she and Zuko finally got within range. "I'm Doctor Xu, your trainer." Azula quirked an eyebrow and gave Zuko a quizzical look. Zuko merely smiled.
--
"So what is your approach, Doctor…Xu?" Zuko asked, looking down at a sheet of paper consisting a list of names for therapists and such. Doctor Xu was a weird looking man—his hair was spiky and unruly to the point where it looked like he put a bomb in his hair in the morning; his face had a couple scars, but beside that, he looked friendly.
"Training," he responded, a grin on his face. Zuko quirked an eyebrow. "Patients I treat usually have gone a little mentally unstable for whatever reason," he started. "Confidence is one of the things they lack, and since Azula has been in prison, her confidence is pretty low considering she used to be the best of the best. Right?"
"Probably," Zuko replied, a little uncertainly.
"Confidence for Azula is what, exactly, Lord Zuko?" Zuko paused.
"I don't really know…I guess it would be that security feeling that she gets that ensures she could win her fights…but when I won the Agni Kai…that must've shattered it," he said, his eyes wide. Doctor Xu nodded and wrote something down on a sheet of parchment.
"I would imagine her fighting skills are pretty dormant since she hasn't been able to use them in three years," Xu started again. "If I could activate them with a set of training, we could get her confidence back."
"We?" Zuko questioned.
"You're her brother—If she trains without proper knowledge and support, she'll go right back to that power-hungry Princess we all know," Xu explained. "Ozai used to train her with force and cruelty, but I'll train her with modesty and sympathy." Zuko smiled.
"You're hired."
--
"Your brother and I have settled on some agreements, so…Are you ready to get your fighting skills back?" Xu asked, a preppy tone in his voice to which Azula quirked another eyebrow and took a step back.
"Uh…" she started, glancing at Zuko who had taken Xu's seat against the tree. He motioned for her to accept, so she replied with, "Sure…?" Xu grinned, but the next second his face took over a serious look as he instructed her on something about 'self-defense' which made Zuko laugh—If there was anything he knew about his sister, it was that she didn't need self-defense; She could just look at someone wrong and they'd leave her alone.
"—So, I'm going to show you a set and guide you through it, and then you'll do it by yourself," Xu said as Zuko tuned into the lesson. Azula still looked pretty skeptical, but she was accepting it at least. She had a look of confusion on her face, though—When Ozai taught her, she had to pay attention to every move he did and remember it in one single set before she would have to perform it perfectly. But this time, she had someone who was going to guide her through it and give her more than one chance to get it right.
"And what if I don't get it the first time?" Azula asked, uncertainly. Zuko motioned for her to come over to where he was sitting. She gave him and Xu a hesitant look before she walked over to her brother who had gotten to his feet. "What?" she asked.
"Azula, this isn't Dad—He isn't going to hurt you if you screw up. If you do screw up, he'll show you the set again and give you as many chances as you need," he explained, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Which I'm sure won't be too many considering how determined you are," he added, smiling at her encouragingly. Azula blinked and pulled the left corners of her lips back in a slight smile as she turned back around to Xu.
"Alright, old man," Azula started, smirking. "Teach me."
--
The following sixty-two minutes (Azula was yelling at the end) consisted of blood, sweat, will-power, and possible sprained ankles. Azula went along with everything pretty well and she got practically everything on the first try, except for the whole "discipline" thing Xu was trying to force on her. At some point, Azula had nearly pushed Xu into the pond because he kept repeating the same thing over and over again for probably about seven minutes straight…But Zuko was getting a little agitated as well, so he "didn't hear" Azula yelling at Xu for the last five minutes of the lesson, plus two unnecessary minutes.
Unfortunately, Azula's joints and muscles weren't quite accustomed to fighting anymore unlike her will. This proved to be more painful than it should've been—Azula's ankle had twisted too far for its own good and that ended with a supposable sprained ankle. But she didn't even tell anyone until Zuko pointed it out about twenty minutes later. By that time, Azula had jacked her knee up as well. But her will-power was too strong, so she kept on pushing even with her injured joints.
The siblings walked along the path once more, but this time Azula was leaning on Zuko with her elbow on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her torso in case she tripped or did something related to falling. She had been very reluctant to have Zuko help her (she almost shoved him into the pond as well as Xu when he went to assist her), but he convinced her that she couldn't walk anymore without injuring herself beyond repair.
"I think that went well," Azula stated sarcastically as she shot a look down at her injured leg. She glared at the useless limb before her gaze went back up to the path ahead. Zuko merely chuckled at her comment.
"Do you think you could undergo at least three hours of constant talking?" Zuko questioned, summing up the next hours which were planned to be some sort of actual therapy rather than training. Azula sighed.
"About…?"
"…I really don't know," Zuko answered. "Random stuff; How your life was and/or is, what you think is interesting…blah blah blah…That kind of thing," Zuko guessed. Azula shifted her upper body a little as they slowly advanced towards the hall into the palace corridors.
"So long as I don't have to walk anywhere or do any more exercises with Doctor Juvenile back there," Azula said, glancing over her shoulder at the Turtle Duck pond where Doctor Xu sat, waving, even though they were more than a couple king's legs away from him. "He's a fucking creep."
"So, you think you can sit through three hours of practically nothing today?" Zuko asked, ignoring his sister's last comment. Azula yawned, stopping momentarily so they didn't have to walk with her eyes closed.
"I'll probably pass out," Azula stated, rubbing her back with her fingers. Zuko rolled his eyes and was about to dismiss the statement as a lie, but he saw the bags underneath Azula's eyes and way she was hardly keeping herself walking straight.
"How much sleep did you get last night?" Zuko questioned.
"Two hours maybe," she answered, looking at her feet. Zuko sighed.
"Alright, we'll have to wait for tomorrow to get those therapy sessions back into your schedule." He looked around the halls to get a good idea of what area they were in so he could bring Azula back to her room. "You feel up to eating lunch?" he asked once they reached her chambers.
"How far away is that?" Azula queried.
"About four hours," he replied. Azula yawned again and nodded curtly before walking into her room and shutting the door behind her. In about a week, he had gotten Azula to somewhat trust him and become more outgoing like she used to be. He walked off towards the library to talk to the soon-to-be Fire Lady and the Melon Lord, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
--
When lunch came around, Zuko was a little nervous. Mainly because Mai would be at the table and he had a little voyage that he needed to get someone to do; He couldn't go and Azula certainly wasn't ready for traveling yet. Toph probably could, but she most likely wouldn't want to. And Mai…well, she probably wouldn't do anything for Azula nowadays since she's not under her command anymore.
"Hey, Zuko?" Zuko looked over at Toph.
"Yeah?" he questioned, glancing at the door as Mai walked in.
"Do you think it's a good idea to have Mai and Crazilla at the table together?" she asked, already playing a scenario in her mind. In her mind, Azula and Mai were having a major food fight, except it was a deadly fight for some reason…Poisoned food? Nah. Why would you eat the food thrown at you in a food fight anyway?
"Uh, not necessarily…?" Zuko answered, uncertainly. Toph scoffed.
"I won't start anything if she doesn't," Mai stated, blandly as she walked past the two and sat down in her seat. Zuko smiled, but Toph muttered something about Azula flipping out and attacking Mai even if she didn't start anything.
"Well, let's just see how things play out, shall we?" Toph asked, a sly grin on her face. Zuko went to ask what she was thinking, but Azula walked into the room and caught his attention before he could. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Toph added as she sat down next to Zuko and across from Mai.
Azula looked a little more rested, but she still looked tired. Her hair was left down, much to Zuko's surprise, and she wore one of her old robes. He immediately recognized the robes as the ones she wore when he came home after Ba Sing Se. He was a little surprised they even fit her still, but he brushed that aside as Azula sat down next to Toph.
"Sleep well?" Toph asked, chuckling. Azula gave her a strange look, but she shrugged and looked down at the table. Zuko walked over to his seat and sat down, his nerves sky rocketing as Mai shot a glance at her old friend across the table.
"Does your leg feel any better?" he asked Azula, hoping she wouldn't attack Mai. Much to his pleasure and surprise, all she did when Mai looked at her was look right back at her with a blank look on her face.
"Yeah, a little," she replied, looking up at him.
"I'll have a doctor look at it if it doesn't improve too much," Zuko said.
"It better not be that freak that got my leg screwed up in the first place," Azula glowered. Zuko laughed while Toph gave him a questioning look. Mai was quiet as she fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. Azula seemed to notice her silence, so she shot her old friend an expectant look. Mai looked up at the sudden attention pointed at her, her eyes immediately catching Azula's gold ones.
Once again, Toph resisted yelling something that would probably get the two girls attacking her. As she looked over her silent quote, Toph realized Sokka would probably say something like it. She pursed her lips at the thought of Sokka.
"Hey, Sparks, when's Twinkle Toes getting here?" she asked, interrupting the two girls' staring game. Zuko looked from Mai and Azula to Toph.
"He should be here about—" At Zuko's interrupted words, the door suddenly opened and in came Twinkle Toes wearing his yellow robes and that same wooden necklace. A smile adorned his face as he approached the table, bowing to everyone in one single bow. Before he could even take a seat though and before anyone could say a word to him, Toph had gotten to her feet and embraced her friend.
"Hey, Toph," Aang greeted as he returned the hug. They parted and, almost as expected, Toph slugged him before walking back to her seat. He laughed and sat down next to Mai, giving Azula an almost encouraging smile. "Hello, everyone."
"Hey," Mai greeted, looking back down at her plate. Aang gave her a quizzical look, but she couldn't see it, so he gave it to Zuko who shrugged after giving his greetings. Azula smirked suddenly. Zuko saw this and swung his feet around to the left side of his chair so he could easily get to his feet if he had to stop her from doing something to someone.
"Well, isn't this a pretty picture?" Azula started. "I never thought I'd see such a sight—used-to-be traitors and used-to-be enemies all sitting together for lunch."
"But things have changed," Aang started, optimistically, as he gave everyone at the table a huge grin. "We should all be friends by now. I think we all are, even if some of us don't feel like admitting it," Aang finished, glancing at Mai and Azula. "Some of us just need to talk," he added through emphasized words.
"And by some of us, you mean me and Mai?" Azula guessed, sighing.
"I said some of us, so that could mean Mai and Toph, too," Aang said, nervously. Toph shook her head and crossed her legs. He kicked one of Toph's legs under the table, not bothering to take his smile off his face since Toph clearly couldn't see facial expressions.
"Ow," Toph muttered. She glared at Aang before nodding enthusiastically, a fake grin on her face. She nudged Azula on her arm and told her something under her breath. Azula laughed, shortly and somewhat quietly, but it was without malice for once.
"So—" Mai started with anger clear in her voice.
"I'M SAYING IT, DAMN IT!" Toph interrupted. Everyone except Toph and Azula quirked an eyebrow at her. "TENSION! FA SHAM!" she yelled, waving her hands excitedly in the air. "I believe you had something to say, Mai?" Toph said, a big smirk on her face. Mai snorted and denied it, laughing.
The following hour or so consisted of talking, eating, snorting, and laughing. Even Azula contributed to the happy hour, but not as much as Aang and Toph did. Everything was finally at peace within the palace, but Zuko knew Mai and Azula still needed to talk.
