Chapter 11:

The first rays of sunlight were just peeking through the trees when Zuko awoke to warm up his firebending. Like most firebenders, he arose with the sun. This morning, his thoughts were all centered around Azula. He was slightly surprised, however, because every other time he thought of her, he was filled with jealousy, resentment, and even some contempt. This was different. Zuko felt concerned about his sister, which was a new a foreign feeling for him. As far as he had known, Azula never required any assistance; she was strong and decisive, and Zuko could not imagine her ever being helpless.

Yet here she was, as helpless as can be. Zuko had a notion that he was the only one in the group who truly cared for her. He knew that Aang would never let Azula's condition worsen, but that did not mean that he accepted her. Zuko was also very well aware of the rest of the Gaang's disdain for Azula.

In the middle of his stretches, he heard a small sob. Astonished, Zuko turned toward the sound and saw Azula's curled up figure shifting. He silently made his way up the saddle where she lay and peered over the edge.

Two thin streams of tears rolled down the sides of Azula's face. Zuko's mouth opened slowly. He could not remember the last time he had seen Azula cry. He had always thought of her as strong, even throughout the pressures that had been imposed upon her in her life.

Something clenched within Zuko's stomach. Seeing his own sister in pain distressed him to a far extent. He supposed that her suffering was caused by her wounds. Bearing ghastly burns like that would no doubt cause someone to break down into tears, no matter how mighty people thought they were.

But something in the back of Zuko's mind told him that Azula was shedding tears over something more than just her physical injuries. It took a lot to break Azula down, and Zuko had a strong notion of what, or who that could be. He did not want to make any assumptions, however. If what he suspected turned out to be true, then Azula would be in a whole world of mental anguish.

Zuko stared down at his sister. Her eyes were shut tightly, and she was fast asleep. The salty liquid continued to stream down her face, and once in a while, a small sob would escape her lips. When Zuko could not stand seeing her tears anymore, he reached out a tender hand and gently wiped them off. Her skin was searing hot beneath his touch, and she shivered and shrunk away, like a scared child.

Zuko was baffled. It seemed that Azula was a completely different person in her sleep. She was shy, timid, and miserable.

But then Zuko quickly reminded himself of who he was dealing with. No, she's anything but shy and timid. She's Azula. She's calm, cold, calculating, and deceitful. If you're not careful, you'll get trapped in her claws and perish. He swallowed. She's still my sister, and she needs my help. I have to take care of her.

Zuko breathed out. He must find out what truly happened to his sister. She may not want to admit it to the the rest of the Gaang, but Zuko felt that he had to make an attempt to draw out the truth from Azula.

This is the perfect chance, Zuko thought. No one else is awake yet to eavesdrop. This may be one of the few times I can try to get Azula to tell me what happened to her. Who could have hurt her in this way?

He put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake. Zuko felt slightly guilty disturbing her rest like this, considering the fact that she needed all the sleep she could get. On the other hand, the truth really needed to come out, and Zuko was determined to learn it. Besides, as soon as she told him, she could just fall back asleep again. He shook Azula a few more times, not too roughly, but earnestly.

Azula's eyelids fluttered a few times, and then fell shut again.

"Azula," Zuko said in a low voice. She moaned quietly. He grabbed each of her shoulders and hoisted her up to a sitting position. Azula slumped in his hands, but Zuko could feel wakefulness beginning to make its way into her body.

"Azula." Her head lolled slightly as she struggled to open her groggy eyes. "Azula wake up."

"...Ugh..." Azula mumbled. She blinked herself to consciousness with great difficulty. Her eyelids felt like a ton of metal, and her mind was so hazy she could hardly process any information.

"Look at me, Azula," a deep voice floated lazily to her ears. She found that it was familiar, but she wanted to badly to drop back to sleep that she ignored it the first several times. And then suddenly, a sense of alarm shot through her. She recognized the voice, or at least she thought she did. In her foggy brain, Azula was almost positive that the voice belonged to...

"F-father...?" she croaked out.

"No, it's me, Zuko," the image of her brother became clearer.

Azula felt stunned for a moment. Zuko, for a moment there, sounded a lot like Ozai. She didn't know whether to be impressed or scared.

"What do you want, Zuzu?" her voice was raspy.

"Look, I'm sorry for waking you up like this. But I just need to know the truth. The sooner you tell me, the sooner I'll let you go back to sleep." Zuko wanted to sound soothing yet firm at the same time.

Azula gave an airy chuckle. "You can't tell me what to do."

Zuko gave her shoulders a shake and Azula gritted her teeth. "Please. I know we haven't exactly been friendly to each other, but I would like to know what kind of monster could have possibly hurt you like that."

"Oh please. Don't try to sound like you care," Azula averted her eyes.

"I do care."

"It's not like it's your business anyway."

Zuko sighed and awkwardly rubbed his hands up and down Azula shoulders in an attempt to show his genuine concern. He only succeeded in making his sister glare even more. "Of course it's my business," Zuko chose his words carefully. "You're my sister, and..."

"Since when has that ever meant anything to you?" Azula scoffed, interrupting him.

Biting back a scowl, Zuko replied, "Well it does now."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Why should I tell you anything?"

Zuko realized that even in her half-asleep state, Azula still had the ability to be extremely and aggravatingly stubborn. He tried a different approach. "I'd be pretty worried to know that there's something out there powerful enough to put all those injuries on you. I never thought that you would meet your match one day. Something, or someone like that has got to be pretty dangerous. If you told me who or what did that to you, we could get put an end to this creature. You'd get your chance for revenge, and the world would be rid of this threat."

Zuko could see something change in Azula's eyes. He wasn't sure if he succeeded in persuading her to spit out the truth or not. Her golden orbs became dull, and she cast her eyes down to her feet. Zuko scrunched his brows at his sister worriedly.

He added, "Please, Azula. Please tell me."

Azula swallowed several times, her jaw clenching and her expression pained. Zuko put his arm around her and she flinched. He could tell she would've shrugged him off if she wasn't restrained to Appa's saddle.

"Who did this to you?" he whispered softly.

Azula was visibly disturbed. Zuko hesitated. Maybe he should have waited a bit longer before interrogating her in this manner. But how could he? Zuko felt that he would be driven mad if he did not know the truth right away. Azula had received terrible wounds from a very powerful being, and Zuko had a feeling that he knew who had done it.

"I'm not telling you," Azula spat. "Now go away."

Zuko tightened his grip on Azula's shoulder. He looked at her straight in the eye, and Azula would not back down. She stared back. Zuko saw a flood of emotions whirling around in her intense, amber orbs. He no longer saw calmness and sureness, but rather, angst and turmoil.

"Azula..." Zuko battled against himself about whether or not to say it. His reckless side took over and the words slipped right out of his mouth. "Did our father do this?"

Azula stiffened. Her breath caught in her throat as Zuko hit the nail on the head. She could feel a lump in her throat beginning to form, along with a whirlpool of emotions that she had been struggling to banish from her system.

When Azula spoke, she surprised herself at how steady she sounded. Steady, yet lacking her characteristic sarcastic and cunning undertone. "No. My father loves me. He would never do such a thing."

For once, Zuko could tell that it was an outright lie.

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This chapter took me FOREVER to write, mainly because I've been battling a strange spell of stress. I'm just getting over it, and hopefully will get more motivated to do writing! Feel free to send me ideas for this story!