Chapter 12
Misunderstandings
She was still unconscious as Sokka carried her, following the guards in front of him. He could see Ty Lee, with a few other guards walking close beside her. Ji was in front, looking back every so often to check on them.
They reached the building and began to walk inside when Sokka saw Ji speaking to one of the guards that had stayed behind during the chase. The man nodded and quickly left his post, obviously carrying out some order Ji had requested.
He then turned towards Sokka and made his way towards him as the others continued to walk in.
"This way," Ji turned down another hall as the others continued another way, back towards the cells. Sokka followed Ji, as well as the few guards still close behind.
They entered a room that looked to Sokka like their healing area. He walked into the center and gently lowered Azula down onto the mat that was laid there. He remained knelt beside her, grimacing as he saw that her head was still bleeding.
Ji looked down at Azula, then knelt beside Sokka, sighing as he said, "Lady Jeng will be here shortly."
Sokka didn't respond, but just remained looking at Azula with a frown.
Ji sat motionless for a second, looking at Azula as well. Then he turned to look at Sokka, paused for a moment as he watched the young man, then said, "It's a good thing you went in after her, otherwise she'd probably be dead. She's lucky to have a guy like you."
Sokka turned and looked at Ji, furrowing his eyebrows, "What? No, I'm not with her," Sokka said quickly. "I don't even like her."
Ji raised his eyebrow, staring at Sokka with a suspicious look. Just then the door opened again, and Lady Jeng rushed in, still in her night attire.
Ji immediately stood up, facing Lady Jeng who had now found her daughter lying on the mat. She looked at Azula with wide eyes, then to Ji as she said, "What happened?"
"Lady Jeng," Ji bowed slightly before continuing, "They had escaped somehow. We caught up to them and…" Ji hesitated. Lady Jeng waited patiently, waiting for him to finish his explanation.
Ji sighed then said, "I apologize Lady Jeng, but I would like to request that Rui no longer remains here as your guard."
Lady Jeng furrowed her eyebrows for a second at Ji's sudden change of subject, before realizing the relation. She looked to Azula then again at Ji, who frowned, confirming her thoughts.
She tensed as her instincts as a mother made her want to take care of Rui herself at this very moment. She hadn't been with Azula for majority of her young daughter's life, but she was still her child, and Ursa was still her mother; and everyone knows not to mess with a mother bear's cub.
"Remove him from this building. Immediately," Lady Jeng stared at Ji, still tense.
Ji nodded, "Yes, my lady.
"And one more thing." Ji looked towards Sokka, Lady Jeng following his glance. "The young man there saved her from drowning and carried her back. He uh… wouldn't let anyone near her."
Lady Jeng looked back at Ji, furrowing her eyebrows. Ji shrugged as a way of saying that he really didn't have an explanation for Sokka or who he was.
She frowned slightly then said, "Thank you."
Ji bowed again before turning and walking out the door, the guards following him, leaving Ursa, Sokka, and Azula alone.
Ursa looked back at Sokka and Azula, furrowing her eyebrows once more as she stared at them both intently. She watched Sokka for a moment, before he turned to look at her, his face serious.
"The healer should be here any moment," She said before moving towards her daughter.
She knelt down beside her across from Sokka, frowning as she stared at her face. She slowly reached towards her, cupping her cheek in her hand for a moment, before caressing it along to her forehead, brushing aside a few hairs.
Sokka watched her and frowned realizing that Azula's notion of her mother not loving her had to be entirely wrong. He looked back down at Azula, thinking about what he had said to Ji. He had told him that he didn't even like Azula. He realized though that that wasn't completely true. There was a part of Azula that he didn't like. And the other part of her he wasn't sure. She had thought that her mother didn't love her, and Sokka had just assumed that was correct, given their situation, and that the reasons must be because Azula was a monster. Obviously though, Ursa did love her daughter, and for some reason Azula had a hard time believing that.
Sokka looked back up to see that Ursa had been watching him. Her face was grim as she continued to look at Sokka.
They both turned their attention towards Azula again when they heard her groan. She scrunched her eyes shut before opening them again, letting out a growl of pain.
"Azula," Ursa said urgently as she reached towards her daughter.
Azula immediately shifted away from Ursa, suddenly letting out a cry of pain as she did so. She gritted her teeth in pain as she moved her good arm towards her shoulder. Ursa frowned, then hesitantly moved towards her again, saying more softly this time, "Azula…"
She let out another cry however as she sat up, much too quickly, turning away from her mother, and consequently towards Sokka. Sokka frowned, slightly moving back, unsure of what to do, but allowing Azula her space.
Ursa tried reaching towards her one more time as she said, "Please, Azula, you need to lie down."
Azula's face hardened as she said, "I'm fine." She remained turned away from her mother and glared as she stood up suddenly with the intention of backing up her statement.
Sokka quickly stood up as well, knowing she wouldn't be able to stand. Azula growled as she felt her head pound and her shoulder throb in protest, and stumbled forward, shutting her eyes closed from the pain.
Sokka stepped forward, carefully putting his hands forward to stop her from falling. He wanted to avoid touching her injured shoulder however, so he placed one of his hands faintly on her stomach, and the other on her uninjured shoulder with more stability.
She instinctively gripped onto him for support as she felt her body scream in pain, refusing to comply with her determination to show how strong she was.
"Azula…" Ursa stood as well, frowning at her daughter.
Azula tensed and released her hold on Sokka, turning towards the door as she tried to make her leave. She stumbled once more, falling this time onto her knees. Sokka stumbled towards her, somewhat catching her as she fell. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she remained kneeling on the ground, unable to pull herself up again.
Ursa opened her mouth to say something, but stopped as she decided against it, knowing it would only provoke more resistance from Azula.
Sokka frowned as he carefully kept his grip on her waist and shoulder, unsure if she would be able to even sit up by herself.
Just then the healer opened the door, stepped in and apologized to Lady Jeng for not being there sooner.
The healer turned towards Sokka and Azula and moved towards them, kneeling in front of Azula. She slowly opened her eyes and glared up at the healer.
He looked her over once, then frowned as he took in her injuries.
It was then that Azula realized that Sokka still had his hold on her, and it irritated her that she needed help, and not to mention that anyone dared touch her. She weakly tried shifting away as she growled in a threatening voice, "Let go."
Sokka was just about to move his hands when the healer said, "Actually, he's going to have to stay right where he is. We're going to have to put that shoulder back into place I'm afraid, and you'll-" He stopped as he saw the look on her face, clearing his throat slightly as he continued, "I mean… I'll need his support to keep you from moving."
Azula growled again as she knew the healer was right. He moved towards her, frowning as he said, "I'm sorry, but this will hurt."
Azula's face hardened again as she turned slightly towards the side so that Sokka's shoulder was in front of her. Sokka shifted as he kept one of his hands on her waist and the other in front of him, on her good shoulder. Azula turned her face away from Sokka, her body tensing.
The healer reached towards her shoulder, lightly placing his hands in the right position. Sokka felt Azula tense, then grip his shoulder, already in pain from the slight touch.
The healer paused for a second, frowning before he said quickly, "I'm sorry, my dear."
Before Azula could even make any sort of response or reaction to his words, he quickly and firmly gripped her shoulder, jerking it back, then forward, her shoulder popping very distinctly as he did so.
Azula screamed, gripping onto Sokka tightly as the pain became too much to bear. Her yell became hoarse as it turned into a shuddering groan, her grip only tightening even more. With eyes scrunched close, she turned her face towards Sokka so that her face was against his shoulder, her jaw clenching as she forced herself to scream no more. She let out a pained growl as she kept her forehead pressed against Sokka.
Sokka had winced at the pop of her shoulder and was now frowning as he tried to remain still. He turned his head away, knowing she was in awful pain. He kept his hands firm as he held her in place, not allowing her to move so that she wouldn't hurt herself.
The healer moved back, frowning still as he knew how much pain Azula was in. He then stood, turning towards the other side of the room to retrieve the right items for Azula's injured head.
Sokka looked up and saw Ursa still standing where she was earlier, frowning with a sad look in her eyes partly from the pain Azula was going through and partly from the fact that Azula refused to let her anywhere near.
The healer returned, holding a washcloth and bowl in hand.
"Miss…" He said almost apologetically, trying to get Azula's attention.
Azula growled again as she turned away from Sokka towards the healer, her back now leaning against Sokka.
The healer dipped the washcloth in the bowl then slowly moved it towards the gash in her head. He gently dabbed, resulting in a low hiss from Azula. He continued to dab around the cut, eventually wiping the blood away.
"If you could," The healer looked towards Sokka, nodding in the direction of the mat, where Azula probably should have been the entire time.
Sokka carefully stood, keeping his grip on Azula so that she would follow his lead and stand with him. She weakly stood, allowing Sokka to support her as he guided her back to the mat. She knelt down at the mat as Sokka slowly let go and stood back.
The healer continued his work as he spoke to Sokka, still keeping his attention on his work. "You know, she's very lucky to have a guy like you."
Sokka tensed as he said quickly yet again, "Oh, no, I'm uh… not with her."
Azula tensed as well and glared at the healer for a second before closing her eyes once more, the pain too potent and distracting for her to deal with ridiculous misunderstandings at the moment.
He looked up to see Ursa looking at him calmly and he said again even quicker, "I'm not with her," hoping that Azula's mother wouldn't get mad. She simply furrowed her eyebrows slightly, watching him carefully for a moment before turning back to the healer.
The healer finished healing her wound with a small bandage, then looked towards Ursa as he stood. He spoke to her for a few seconds as Sokka looked back at Azula, who still remained knelt, her eyes closed from the numbing pain.
He looked back to Ursa and the healer. The healer nodded, bowed slightly then moved towards the door. Ursa then looked towards Sokka, still frowning as she said, "Thank you. I'll take care of it from here."
Sokka looked back at Azula, then at Ursa, who truly did look thankful for him being there. Sokka nodded, then followed the healers lead, stepping outside the door to find the remaining guard waiting for when he would be ready to go back to his cell. Sokka took one last glance back into the room, then turned and allowed the guard to take him back.
The door closed and everything remained quiet. After a few moments of silence, Ursa carefully stepped towards Azula, kneeling down beside her once more. Azula remained still, her eyes closed and her jaw tense.
Ursa sat still for a moment, her hands in her lap as she watched her daughter and knew that she was in more pain than just physical. Her face became sad as she gently moved her hand towards Azula's face, lightly placing it on Azula's cheek. She felt Azula begin to faintly shake as she caressed her face more firmly now that Azula hadn't turned away.
Azula's eyes remained shut as she tried to stay still. Ursa kept her hand where it was as she said quietly, the sadness in her voice obvious, "Azula…"
She felt her tense suddenly, her shaking becoming more uncontrollable as tears suddenly slid down her face. Azula turned away from Ursa, her back now facing her.
Ursa closed her eyes, overwhelmed with the pain in her heart before looking back towards Azula, knowing that what happened next would be the hardest conversation she has ever had with her daughter.
AN: Da da da DA! New chapter, and look, only a week. I have to admit, all your guys' reviews really motivated me to get this out to you guys asap ^^ So here you go, enjoy, and know that the Sokka/Azula will ensue quite soon.
And sorry for the uh… cliffy? If you can call it that lol. Not to tease, but this little convo between Azula and Ursa will be quite the chapter, I'm kinda excited to write it.
Oh and one more thing, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Anariel Tindomerel, who is probably my most faithful reviewer and fan, or at least the most enthusiastic XD Thank you! Your reviews always make my doubts disappear and motivate me to write the second I read them.
And thank you to all of you who reviewed! This quick update is for all you guys!
