Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Chapter 25

Haunted

Azula wiped her brow as she continued to work. She had absolutely no idea what she was working on, but she continued to work anyway. Dreams were like that. There may not have been a reason for what you were doing in them, but still you persist. How could she tell it was a dream? Well it was fairly obvious. She had been having the same dream for the past few weeks. Every night she would find herself working on some large project. The first clue that it had just been a dream was that she was just a small child the first time she had it. Each night that the dream returned she would be just a few years older.

There was another big clue as well. Her father was there with her. Whatever it was that she was working on, he was working on it too. He would not say anything, but he would work tirelessly beside her. Every once in a while he would look her way and give her a smile and for some reason she would feel herself smiling back and suddenly redouble her efforts on their project. It was all very strange. She blinked a few times and wiped the sweat away again, but this time when she pulled her arm away all she could see was the roof of her dark room.

Azula sat up in her bed and stretched before sliding into her slippers and adjusting her nightgown. She used to wonder why these dreams came to her and what they could possibly mean, but there were more important things to think about during the day. First and foremost was her class at the University that she attended twice a week. Second, there was the maintaining of The Jasmine Dragon's finances on account of her not being comfortable with Uncle Iroh doing it. One of the most important and time consuming tasks was making sure that idiot cook knew his place and did not forget it.

The day started with its usual monotonous activities. After showering and taking care of her hair, Azula prepared for a day of working in the tea shop. It was not like there was anything better to do. There was Ty Lee's suggestion to get together with Mai and go out to the mall, but it was highly unlikely that Mai would even be willing to go out before noon. She despised mornings. So for now the most constructive thing available while she waited was working. Her paper for her class was long since written and she had no errands to run, so why not? Besides, if the cook were there she would have someone to torture. Dwight was his name, she remembered, but she made absolutely sure that she never used it. He may get the idea that she did not loathe him with every fiber of her being.

"Mornin', sweetheart!" the cook smiled to her when she entered the kitchen. He was always early so that he could have snacks prepared for the early patrons. Regardless of her personal opinion of the man he was at least efficient in his work. However annoying he may be. "You don't look so good, honey. You sleep okay?"

"I slept fine," she said flatly. "And if you call me one more little pet name, I'm going to shove the first utensil I find down your throat."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with the same smile. "I've got some nice pies goin' in the oven right now. Wanna try some when they're ready?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon. Nothin' tastes better than some freshly cooked apple pie."

Azula only raised an eyebrow at the statement before she went back out to the front of the shop. It was still a little early to be opening so she took her time going over the figures from the previous day's work. She had not been there so that girl Meng had played hostess. She was not very competent in Azula's opinion, but without her around Uncle Iroh would need her seven days a week. Azula handle the girl as everyone else she felt was fairly useless that she could not rid herself of. She allowed them to do their horrible job, then she went behind them and corrected their mistakes and rubbed them in their faces until their idiocy ceased. The system usually took a while.

After counting and recounting the money from Meng's work, Azula was not pleased to find the discrepancy in the numbers. She spent the next hour or so going over all of the receipts from the previous day before she was certain that it was a simple error in calculation on Meng's part. How could anyone screw up simple addition when they had a calculator? She was surrounded by morons.

"Pie's ready!" the cook called. "Sure you don't want some, sweetheart?"

The cook stood with that idiotic smile on his face and said pie in his hands. Without even thinking about it, Azula reached out and flipped the fresh pastry into the cook's face. She almost surprised herself with that one. The cook pulled the pie off of himself very slowly before wiping his face and licking his hand.

"I coulda swore that you said you were going to shove a utensil down my throat."

"I was," Azula said, trying not to smile at her handiwork. "Somehow this feels more satisfying. Now get back in that kitchen and prepare something for our guests. Uncle will be down shortly to start brewing the tea."

With the exception of the cook's up close and personal encounter with his pie, that was the way that mornings usually went for Azula. It was monotonous enough to almost allow her to think of what her dreams could possibly mean. Not that she let herself ponder what event could have triggered a non-existent experience of bonding to formulate in her subconscious mind. Even if her mornings were so routine she could do them with practically no thought. Nothing seemed capable of breaking the dull routine.

"Good morning, Azula!"

Except an eccentric scientist/inventor bent on annoying her with his every breath.

"Suki let you off of your leash?" she replied.

"Not for a second," Suki's voice came. "Do you have any idea how much trouble he would get himself in without me?"

"Is it even possible that he could get into more?"

"It's me," Sokka answered. "The universe hates me."

"Point taken," Azula said. "What do you want?"

"Tea please!" Sokka exclaimed, his mood changing instantly.

"Take a seat somewhere in the back," Azula told them. "I don't want you scaring away business."

"Aw," Suki smiled as she tugged Sokka's arm. "She still loves us."

After making sure that the customers were all content and comfortable at their tables, Azula took a short break to find out what it was that Sokka had really come for. It was not as though his crude taste buds could enjoy something as refined as tea. She was not surprised to see him idly stirring his cup as she joined them at their table.

"So what is it that you want?"

"Why can't we do the small talk thing?" Sokka asked. "There's supposed to be a small talk thing where we dance around the thing we really came to talk about. It's selfish of you to just skip it. I had it all planned out this time too!"

"Sokka, honey, we talked about this," Suki said before sipping her tea.

"Yeah, but you and me talk all the time! I wanna talk with her!"

"Sokka, you bother me every day you see me on campus," Azula interjected.

"And?"

"Get to the point," Azula said, her patience wavering.

"Fine," Sokka groaned. Suki placed a packet in her husband's hand. Azula recognized it almost immediately as a business contract.

"I haven't signed anything," Sokka told her before she could say anything. "Even though Suki says it looks good to her, I knew you would want to see it before I did anything with it."

Azula took a short initial glance a the first page of the contract before she set it down on the table. Sokka stared at her expectantly with a Cheshire grin. It was obvious what he wanted her to say. She flipped up the first page and took another glance and then set the papers aside.

"I'll read through it later," she said.

Azula knew it was not exactly what Sokka had wanted to hear, but at least she did not flat out refuse like she had done the last few times he had brought up the subject. Judging by what she had read it was a generous offer by average business standards. However, by Azula's standards it merely appeared acceptable. After folding the contract she excused herself from the table and got back to work. It was not long after that Sokka and Suki packed up to leave. While Suki walked out the door, Sokka grabbed Azula's arm gently causing her more unneeded aggravation.

"What now?" she asked.

"Are you alright?" The concern in his voice was surprising. He was the second person to think that something was wrong.

"I'm fine," she glared.

"You sure? I don't know what it is, but something's off about you today."

Azula's face scrunched into an angry frown. Recognizing imminent doom when he was faced with it, Sokka made a hasty exit. She did not know why it had bothered her so much, but it was irritating that people felt the need to check up on her. The whole rest of the morning and into the afternoon Azula was in a foul mood. A mood that did not improve when a large, lively group of teenagers piled into the tea shop. Somehow she just knew who was leading the rabble too.

"Yo, Princess!" Toph practically screamed. "You gotta take the rest of the day off!"

"You're annoying the other customers," Azula warned coldly.

"Forget about that!" Toph said. "You're gonna love this!"

"There's a concert going on at the city park!" Aang exclaimed.

"It's an all out party!"

"I don't remember hearing anything about a concert," Azula said. "And I don't particularly care. Now leave before our paying customers do."

Out of the corner of her eye Azula could already see some of these people trying to push tables together squeezing behind her customers. Many of them looked put off by the young people and all of the noise and commotion they were making.

"Lighten up, Azula. Have some fun once in a while!"

Now one of them was doing a poor rendition of what Azula could only assume was a song by whatever band was playing in the park.

"Yeah!" Toph agreed. "I mean, my old man doesn't do this kinda thing very often. It's kind of an early birthday present since he's gonna be outta town on a business trip for the next couple weeks."

"Enough!" Azula shouted above all of the noise. "Get out! All of you, out!"

Azula started grabbing people one after another and pushing them towards the door. She was not going to have this chaos in her work place. It was completely unacceptable. Toph of course was the source of the problem so Azula had to be sure that she did not try to come back later as well. After a lot of yelling and a few menacing threats she managed to get everyone out and The Jasmine Dragon began to settle back down into its normal atmosphere. That is everything settled except for Azula.

For some reason she could not shake the uncomfortable feeling within her. It was a sensation that she was familiar with, but she did not understand where it was coming from. She was fatigued most likely due to the dreams she had been having as of late, but she was also inexplicably angry. She was practically seething. Granted that idiots in large quantities had this effect on her, but usually they were not this long lasting. As she sat and pondered on what the problem was, she felt an arm drape around her shoulders.

"You should go upstairs and get some sleep, darlin'," the cook said as he rubbed her arm. "Me an' Iroh can handle things down here."

She wanted to hit him. She really, really wanted to hit him. But he was right. The smart thing to do would be to go upstairs, get some sleep, and worry about the tea shop another time. Uncle was capable of serving customers on his own, and though she loathed to admit it the cook's people and math skills were good enough to host and manage the register competently. She moved out from under his arm, jabbed him in the ribs, and climbed the stairs.

Sleep came quite easily once she hit the mattress. Almost instantly she found herself back in that same dream. She was once again older than the last time. The dream seemed to catch up to the present judging by her self image. Whatever it was they were working on now towered over her. She could not reach the top even when she jumped. She looked around and was troubled to find that it was like that in all directions. She was trapped within. This only troubled her more when she saw her father leap up and pull himself onto the structure. She extended her hand in the hopes that he would help her to climb out, but he only smiled down at her.

"Father, please help me," she heard herself say to him. "I can't reach the top."

"We are finished," was all that he replied.

Her father vanished from sight and she felt the cold, biting feeling of abandonment that he left behind. Then she heard the horrifying sound of concrete scraping against itself. She watched, dread engulfing her, as a large slab slowly slid its way over the top of the walls that surrounded her. In the center of this slab was a hole. A hole that appeared barely large enough for her to fit her arm through. Then the water came. It flowed in, unhindered by the opening left to it. With amazing speed it began to rise above her ankles, then to her knees, and her waist. It continued to rise until she had no choice but to tread water to keep her head afloat, but still it did not stop. She pressed the side of her face against the room of her flooding prison in a last ditch attempt to take in a breath.

Finally she was submerged. There was nothing she could do. She pushed against the unmoving stone, trying to raise the lid or push down the walls. Nothing. There was no give to that wall. No matter where she moved herself to she could accomplish nothing. Slowly she felt herself slipping away. The harder she fought against it, the more she struggled, the more quickly she faded. Eventually she allowed herself to stop fighting. She just stopped, suspended by the water and resigned herself to the inevitable. It was pointless to even bother trying anymore. She was smart enough to realize long ago that this was how it was going to end. Quiet. Tired. Alone.

Azula snapped to consciousness as she took a deep breath of air. She gasped for breath as she looked around her room, frightened and nearly hysterical as her pulse pounded through her body. She felt the warmth of the trail her tears had left on her face before she wiped away the evidence that they were ever there. All of the fear and anxiety that had come with her dream transformed into rage and hatred. This was all his fault.

She kicked the door of her room open and stomped her way down the stairs. She paid no heed to the customers that stared at her and ignored the calls of her uncle and the cook. She was halfway down the block when she heard a car horn and someone else calling to her.

"Hey, Azula!" It was Sokka. He had that stupid smile on his face as he pulled the car alongside her and matched her pace. "Hey, have you gotten a chance to look over that contract yet? I know that I'm probably coming off as really selfish here, but that money would do my family some good, you know? According to Suki, we'd be making enough so that my dad won't have to work anymore."

"Shut up!" she yelled at him as she came to a stop. "Do you know what I think of your stupid contract, your idiotic problems, and your minimum wage dad?" Azula pulled the folded contract from her pocket and tore the papers into halves before ripping them again. She threw what remained in her hands into the window of Sokka's car and did not bother to wait for him to reply.

That computer was her success. It was one of her greatest accomplishments and she did it without his help. She had come this far in life as a great success without any help from him at all. Everything that she was she had become on her own. He was nothing. Another block or so down the road she flagged down a taxi and order the driver to take her to where she knew she could find him. She was going to make sure he knew just how successful she was. Just how much she did not need him. Just how much better than him she was and always had been.

* - * - * - * - *

"I want to see him now," Azula growled furiously to the woman behind white desk of the reception room. "I have a right."

"Yes you do, ma'am," the woman replied as calmly as she could manage. "But I'm afraid he's in the middle of a session with his doctor right now."

"Then call the doctor and have them include me in the session!" she demanded. "That's what they've been trying to do isn't it?"

"What is going on out here?" another woman asked as she emerged from one of the doors. "Young lady, you are bothering our patients with all this yelling. Do I have to call security?"

"Where is Ozai?" Azula asked. "I demand to see my father."

Now the doctor seemed to understand what was going on. She came over to Azula with a smile on her face and patted her shoulders.

"You must be Azula," she smiled. "I'm Dr. Qiaohui. I was hoping you would come. When would be a good time for you to come in for that family session?"

"Now," Azula said flatly. "I want to see my father now."

"I'm actually in the middle of a session with Ozai. I believe he would need more notice so that he can better prepare himself to see you. That is one of the reasons that I asked for you to make an appointment to come in and do the sessions with us."

"If I do not see him before I leave, then I will not come see him at all."

Azula could see the doctor weighing the pros and cons of Azula's unannounced, unexpected visit. She knew before the doctor did just what the woman was going to decide on. People were easy to read. Her father would be no different. She would see right through him for the useless thing that he was. She would eat him alive just as she had done with anyone else who had crossed her. Just like he deserved.

Dr Qiaohui escorted Azula through the double doors that led to her office. She asked that Azula wait outside for a moment while she informed Ozai that she was there to see him. Waiting was not something she was in the mood for, but it allowed her to formulate the exact words that she would say to him. She would remind him of how he used to beat on her and her mother to make himself feel stronger. Then she would be sure to point out how much stronger than him she was because of all of his weaknesses and flaws. She did not care what that would do to whatever progress he doubtfully made.

"Okay, Azula," the doctor said. "We're ready for you."

Stepping into the office, Azula saw him for the first time in years just sitting at a small table. The man had not changed much physically. There did seem to be an air of calmness and peace around him, but one look into those eyes and Azula could see the fire and menace that was his true character. Just as she had thought, Ozai was playing this woman and all of these people for saps. Something Uncle had once told her he was very good at.

"Hello, Azula," he said, feigning meekness. "I'm so glad to see you again. You look well."

"I did not come here for idle chitchat," Azula told him. "I came--"

"You look so much like your mother now."

The words stopped her cold. She did not know why, but they did. She stared long and hard into his eyes, and there she saw it. The veiled threat. She knew what he was doing. She would not let him. She tried to speak as she looked down at him, but then she realized she was no longer looking down. She was sitting across from him at the table.

"She was such a kind and strong person," he mused. Fake tears began to form in his eyes as he continued. "Stronger than anyone gave her credit for. She was able to brave the horrific storm that I put you all through and protect you. I don't blame you if you hate me. I hate myself. I took all of that life and courage that she had and just crushed it out of her. I was such a monster."

Though Azula knew that Dr. Qiaohui would never catch it, Azula knew what the statement was meant to be. He was a monster then, but what was he now? Whatever it was, it was sucking away Azula's words. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She felt like that same small child from long ago all over again. The one who could never stand up to this . . . this thing. The overwhelming darkness that seeped from his very being engulfed her and she could feel herself drowning in his malevolence.

"I wish things had been different," he went on. "I wish they hadn't turned out the way that they did. I wish I could be there with you and your brother now. I hear that you're both doing well with your uncle. I've even heard that he has that tea shop he's always wanted. I'm glad for him."

Another warning. He still knew what they were doing, even from within the confines of prison or this stupid hospital that he was slowly lying his way out of. How could the doctor not see through this act? Azula's hands gripped the arms of the chair tightly. She could feel her nails beginning to dig into the wood.

"Perhaps when I am well, I might be able to enjoy some tea with you all there?"

Azula's breath hitched. He made it sound like a question, but she knew better. If he could hear things, could he still reach them as well? The thought made her blood run cold and she felt it drain from her face. The doctor asked her if she was okay, but Azula could no longer hear her. She was trapped by this man just like she used to be. She was drowning in the walls that he had helped her build and she would never be able to escape them.

"I miss you."

"That's enough."

The second voice was joined by a hand on her shoulder. Azula turned away from her father's eyes to find her brother Zuko standing beside her. The world began to spin again as she breathed and her senses came back to her.

"Zuko," Ozai smiled. "I'm so glad that you could come and see me."

"I didn't come to see you," Zuko told him. "I only came for my sister. You mean nothing to me."

"Zuko, please," Ozai said. "I only wanted to see--"

"Shut up," Zuko ordered. "I know what you want, and you're not going to get it here."

"Please," Dr. Qiaohui said. "Your father only-"

"I don't consider him my father," Zuko said sternly. "I don't consider him anything but a monster and a coward. A coward who could only find strength and power by beating on his wife and two defenseless children. Well I'm not a child anymore, and I won't let you hurt us. Actually, I should thank you for one thing. I finally know what I want to do with my life. I'm going to join the police force and make sure that people like you can't hurt anyone else."

Azula could feel her brother pull her to her feet. He guided her to the door before he turned to say one last thing to the man they had once called their father.

"This is my family," he said. "I won't let you hurt any of us anymore. If you ever try to come near us again, I will kill you."

"You're not man enough to take on the responsibilities of a family," Ozai said, his voice threatening.

"Zuko is more of a man than you could ever hope to be," Azula said. She had found her strength again thanks to her brother. She would not lose it again. "You're nothing but a poor, pitiful excuse of an existence. How something so repulsive and insignificant could have ever had any kind of hold over us baffles me. I almost pity you." Her eyes now turned on the doctor who had pulled the monster from his cell. "And you. I hope you burn for ever letting that thing loose again."

The two of them then left, leaving Ozai behind them. Neither of them cared to know what his reaction to their words was. They did not need to. He was nothing. They walked in silence along the sidewalks of the city as they traveled back to The Jasmine Dragon. As the sun began to set it was she who broke the silence.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked.

"Uncle and Dwight," Zuko said. "Sokka too. They said you had been acting funny all day. It was like you were mad at something, but they couldn't tell what. When they told me you just stormed out for no reason it was pretty easy to tell what was going on."

"Is that so?" she asked. It was a reasonable deduction. It was exactly what she would do. Whenever she was faced with a challenge she would always burn through it. It was something that everyone who knew her could clearly understand about her. She should have expected Zuko to know.

"Did you really mean what you said back there?" he suddenly asked.

Azula did not look at him. She knew that he was not looking at her. Neither of them really understood each other all that well, but there were things about each other that they simply knew. This just happened to be one of them.

"Every word," she said. "Though I'll deny it to my dying breath if you ever told anybody."

"No one would believe me anyway," she heard Zuko laugh. His arm wrapped around her shoulders then in a comforting and brotherly gesture. Out of respect for what he had done for her, and partially out of the pride that she felt for him for doing it, Azula did not shrug it off.

That night she had the dream again. She was still trapped in her cell of water, slowly drowning. She felt powerless, scared, and utterly hopeless. In her heart she did the one thing she had never done before. She cried out for help. As she did a small light caught her eye. There was a crack in the wall accompanied by a rhythmic banging sound. She pulled herself to the wall and tried her hardest to push it. Finally, the wall crashed down as another bang sounded on the other side. The water rushed out, carrying her with it.

Azula felt something all around her. Unlike the walls and water however, this was much more warm. She opened her eyes and they began to adjust themselves and focus in the blindingly bright light. All around her were people. She could not see who they were at first, but slowly their faces came into focus.

Zuko.

Uncle.

Sokka.

Suki.

Katara.

Toph.

Aang.

Mai.

Ty Lee.

They were just standing there. Standing around her. Standing with her. Her eyes drifted passed them to see Ozai far off in the distance. No. Not in the distance. He was just small. So very small and insignificant when she was surrounded by these people. The people who mattered. The people who cared. Her family. Her friends. As she lay there on her bed, finally coming to the end of the dream, Azula smiled as a grateful tear slid down her sleeping face.

A/N:I love writing Azula chapters. I don't know why. Here's hoping that everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. The dream and the concept of this chapter was greatly influenced by Linkin Park's "The Little Things Give You Away."

The name Qiaohui means "skillful and wise." How unfitting is that?