Chapter 25

Azula Always Lies

"We don't look anything alike," Azula stated plainly as the wagon bumped and rocked down the road.

"Huh?" Yu looked up at her as he slouched against the opposite wall inside the wagon. He was still trying to find a comfortable position among the barrels and crates the merchant was transporting. "Ok, wait, back up a bit here. I feel like we're in the middle of a conversation that we never actually started."

"You told him we were brother and sister, yet it didn't seem to occur to you that we look nothing alike. If you're going to lie, you need to take the details into consideration."

"So what? You think I should have told him we're a couple or something?"

Azula laughed. "If you give any consideration to the way I look in comparison to your own appearance, then no, I think that would be an even less believable story."

"Aw, you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"You're hilarious."

"Well I try."

"'Try' being the operative here." Azula looked at him and studied him for a moment. "You're also not as much of an idiot as you let on."

"Was that a complement?"

"Just an observation. There are rare times when, dare I say it, you actually seem clever. Then, like you were doing yesterday, you act like a fool when it seems to suit you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were doing it specifically to agitate me."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Not until just now. Thank you for confirming my suspicion. So, passive aggressive personality then, is it? I guess I can't really blame you. It's not like you're any match for me physically or mentally. I suppose in the end I left you little choice but to retaliate like an angry toddler. I do have to hand it to you, there's not many people who would seek to make me angry on purpose."

"So, does that mean you're impressed?"

"No, I'm just too tired to hurt you right now."

"Eh, I'll take what I can get, especially from you. Hey, not to stray away from the subject of me getting pummeled or anything, but didn't you say you'd actually tell me what's going on?"

"I did, didn't I," Azula paused for a moment, making sure she had the story organized in her head. Then, after a beat, continued.

"Fine, I suppose I owe you that much, but first, let me ask you something. How much do you know about the war?"

"Not much. It was started by the Fire Nation. Lasted a hundred years. Then the Avatar shows up and put an end to it all. And I guess the guy that's the current Fire Lord, that Zuko guy, helped the Avatar with all that, and now the worlds at peace and stuff."

"Yes, 'and stuff,'" Azula sighed for dramatic effect and looked out the back of the wagon for a few seconds. Making sure the look on her face was just mournful enough to look convincing without going overboard.

"Well then, it would seem my brother's propaganda has done wonders. Everyone in the world thinks him the hero and my father and I as the villains. Just like he planned it."

Azula turned and looked directly at Yu. He was once again struck with that distinct feeling of being prey trapped in the gaze of a predator. It was so subtle, yet so threatening, Yu couldn't even be sure if Azula was doing it on purpose or not.

"When my father became Fire Lord, he had every intention of ending the war. Unfortunately, he found that it wasn't that simple."

"Why not?"

"If you'll not interrupt, I'm trying to explain."

"Sorry."

Azula shot him a look that let him know that his silence was more appreciated than an apology. He kept quiet.

"The Fire Nation had far too much invested in the war. The nobles, the generals, the regent governors, had acquired more power, land and influence than they'd ever had before in our Nation's history. If my father had simply called an end to it all, there would have been a revolt or a coup. It was a precarious situation. He had to keep the appearance of war rolling forward while at the same time trying to convince them that peace was in the best interest of our country, and the world. May father was forced to walk a tightrope... and then there was my mother." She paused again. Closed her eyes and made an excellent show of holding back tears. She 'calmed' herself with a few long breaths and continued.

"When I was young, my mother always spent a great deal of time with my brother, and practically ignored me. I grew up always thinking that my mother loved him more than me. It was only later that I realized the truth. She never loved him; I doubt she was even capable of it. He was just someone she could mold. She simply found him more useful than me." Azula stopped again, but this time it wasn't part of her act. For some reason the words caught in her throat and she had to fight down an odd sensation in her chest. She pushed past it and dismissed it as a side effect of exhaustion.

She continued.

"You see, my mother was a devious and power hungry woman. Unknown to my father, she'd been making deals with prominent nobles behind his back. She even brought my brother, Zuko, in on it. Her plan was to have my father assassinated and put Zuko on the throne so she could rule through him."

"Hey wait, Zuko? That's the guy who's Fire Lord now right?"

That look again. Yu shut up.

"When my father discovered her plan, he was as devastated. It tore my father apart to have her arrested and banished, but he had to for the sake of his country. My brother was another matter."

"My father tried to get through to him, but my mother's influence was too strong. Years later during a war meeting, my brother made his move. He spoke out against my father and tried to incite a coup. My father responded the only way he could, and challenged him to an Agni Kai before things could get out of hand."

"A whosamawhatsits?"

"An Agni Kai. It is an honor duel between fire benders. It broke my father's heart to have to fight his own son, but he was left with little choice. My Father won, and Zuko was banished. Though in that, my father decided on a plan that just might allow him to end the war once and for all. As a condition of his banishment, my father promised Zuko he could return if he found the Avatar. My brother set off. Then, three years later, something terrible happened."

"What?" Yu sat in wide eyed anticipation.

"He found him."

"Wait, I thought the Avatar was a good guy? Why is it bad that your brother found him? Wasn't that what he was supposed to do? Did I miss something?"

"The Avatar turned out to be a twelve year old boy. How difficult do you think it was for my brother to manipulate him? Besides, when my father banished my brother, he never actually expected him to find the Avatar. In truth, he did so in hopes that traveling the world would open my brother's eyes to the suffering and strife caused by the war. He had hoped that when my brother returned, Zuko's eyes would be opened and they could work together to convince the nobles and generals that calling an end to the war was the right thing to do."

Azula shook her head and lowered her eyes. She let out a somber sigh (not too long, she didn't want to overdo it. Emotional cues needed to be subtle, lest they come off as insincere.) She was never very good at crying on cue, so instead she gave a slight twitch to her right eye that would be interpreted as blinking back a tear. When she felt her pause had hit the appropriate emotional resonance with Yu, she continued.

"Despite what my father had hoped for, Zuko's banishment only steeled his determination to take the throne for my father. When my brother found the child, he cared nothing of peace or restoring balance. All he saw was a means to achieving his goals."

"Reports started flooding in about attacks on our Earth Kingdom colonies. By the time word had gotten to the palace it was already too late to stop the chaos. Fear set in and panic resulted. All across the colonies, reagent governors declared martial law and began mobilizing their troops to invade neighboring provinces in hopes of finding the Avatar. My father had lost all control. Just like my brother planned.

Azula continued her story for another two hours. Zuko, the grand puppet master, manipulating the Avatar and the war itself for his own selfish goals. When talking of her father, she replaced him with someone far more suitable to the tale, seeing as how it only made sense if this imagined Fire Lord came across as a well meaning yet ultimately incompetent leader that was utterly incapable properly managing his own country. It wasn't that difficult of a character to create, she just imagined the Fire Nation under Zuko's control.

As for her part in the tale, she had to be a bit more creative. She couldn't come across too altruistic, considering that she had already beaten Yu up once, and by no means had acted kindly toward him. Her revisions followed suit.

In the end, the "peace" the world now enjoyed was nothing but a ruse. Her brother ruled the Fire Nation from the throne and the Earth Kingdom from the shadows (with the help of their equally sinister uncle, who coincidently resided in Ba Sing Se to keep a close watch on his Nephew's city). The Avatar was still his puppet, nothing but a poor misled little boy (Azula was worried that her brother had something horrible in store for him.) And, of course, she was thrown in an asylum to be sure that no one took her tale seriously.

Once her tale was done, she applauded herself silently. A play write might spend years and not be able to spin such a tale.

"I realize I've been mostly... unpleasant ever since you've helped me escape. I would like to apologize for that. But, as you now understand, the weight on my mind has not been insignificant. My entire country, as well as the entire world now hangs in the balance and I fear I am the only one that can set things right."

"I... I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"I believe that I can expose him for what he really is, but I need your help."

"Me? What do you think I can do? This all seems way over my head."

"Then you're in luck, because I'll be doing the thinking. Tell you what, let's make a deal. You're trying to find out who you are. I'm trying to get my Kingdom back. It would be an easy task for someone of royalty to uncover that kind of information. Help me with my brother, I I'll help you find out who you are."

It didn't take much time for Yu to think it over. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing much. My brother will be coming for me – I have no doubt of that. Simply keep your senses open and tell me when you detect any Firebenders, especially in large groups as my brother will most likely have escorts. There shouldn't be many in the Earth Kingdom, so that makes your job easy. All you have to do is keep me informed and I'll handle the rest."

Yu didn't say anything and just gave her a thumbs up.

"Fantastic. Now, if you don't mind, I'm tired from all that talking and I could really use some sleep. Keep an eye out, will you?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure the old man up front doesn't try anything funny."

"Wake me if he does. I'm not confident you'd be able to stop him," Azula said with a wry smile as she closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable in her small spot in the back of the bouncing, creaking wagon. She was asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes.

Yu looked her over for a moment, letting everything she'd just told him sink in.

That was a heck of a story... Wonder if any of it was actually true?

Appa was already making short work of the bushes along the river bank while the rest of the gang set up camp in the clearing behind him. Momo spiraled down through the air and landed beside the great beast and began drinking from the river.

Long shadows, cast by the low hanging sun shining its light through the trees, played over their campsite before beginning to fade as the sun met the horizon.

"Make sure you don't heal it too much. I wanna make sure it leaves a cool looking scar."

"Sokka, that's the stupidest thing you've ever said." Katara moved the water over his wound. "I'm not going to hold back on healing you just because you want to show off. Now sit still and stop squirming."

Toph got busy setting up rock shelters while Aang gathered firewood. They still had some food left over from their eventful visit to Senlin village, so they wouldn't need to gather any tonight.

"Ok, that should about do it. Now, for Toph." Katara stood up and looked behind her as Sokka pulled his shirt closed. Toph, who had been walking up behind them, waved her hand dismissively at Katara.

"No thanks sister. It's just some scrapes and bruises. Nothin' I haven't dealt with before. We Earthbenders are built tougher than you waterwimps."

Katara rolled her eyes and turned to see it Aang was back. "Is Aang still out gathering firewood?"

He hadn't spoken much, even to her, since they'd left Senlin village yesterday. He was still blaming himself for the current situation. He hadn't said as much, but Katara knew him well enough.

"I'll go see if he needs any help," Sokka said, jumping to his feet.

Aang was barely paying attention to what he was doing, listlessly gathering twigs and branches as he stared through the trees and up towards the moon. It's pale light shimmered off the surface of the slow moving river just beyond the tree's. In another two days it would be full, maybe then he could try and contact the moon spirit.

Aang sighed. This was more frustrating than dealing with the Fire Nation. At least then he knew who and what he was fighting against. His trip into the spirit world left him with more questions than it did answers and he still didn't understand how the moon spirit tied into all of this.

That's why they were still heading to the Northern Water Tribe. If there were any answers to their waterbending troubles and it's connection to Yue...

The sound of a snapping twig caught his attention. Aang dropped the meager amount of wood he'd gathered and spun around, ready for a fight.

"Woah! Hey, settle down. Just me," Sokka waved his hands in front of him as he approached Aang.

"Sorry Sokka. I didn't hear you approaching." Aang turned around and started picking up the firewood.

"Hey Aang, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Aang stopped what he was doing and turned around. "What is it?"

"The other day, when I got mad at you. I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. I know you and Katara were both worried, and you didn't know what was going on so..." Sokka paused. This sure wasn't the mood he was trying to strike. He wanted his apology to be a bit more lighthearted. Now it felt all awkward and he didn't even know how he was going to finish this sentence.

So he didn't. "Hey, you remember back in Ba Sing Se, at the Jasmine Dragon when I first caught you kissing Katara."

Aang started laughing, "Yeah. I didn't think a face could get that red. You really freaked out."

"I know, I know. See that's what I'm trying to get at. Sometimes I let my feelings talk instead of my head. When I blew up at you back there, I wasn't really thinking. I was just concerned about Yue and I took that out on you. I'm really sorry."

"Thanks Sokka. That means a lot."

"And don't you worry. Whatever this thing is, whatever's happening with your Waterbending, Team Avatar will get to the bottom of it. Besides, with all those past lives of yours, I'm sure you've faced way tougher things than this, even if you don't remember it."

Wait a minute! The past Avatars!

"Sokka, you're a genius!" A genuine smile crossed Aang's face for the first time in days.

Sokka looked perplexed for a moment then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but I agree with your assessment."

"I can ask the past Avatars if they know anything about this Kaji spirit. Can you bring the firewood back to camp? I need to find somewhere I can meditate."

"Sure, fine." Sokka bent over to start picking up the wood Aang dropped. "But I think this is just an excuse to make me do your job."

Aang made his way to a small clearing by the river. The ground next to the river was wet and muddy, certainly not the Ideal spot to sit down and meditate. Aang planted his feet, shifted his arms and pulled the bedrock up through the earth until he had circular flat slab of rock sticking a few feet above the ground. Another shift of his hands sent the remaining mud up through the air and into the river, with a final blast of air to dry his new meditation surface. Aang was ready.

He sat down, crossed his legs and took in a few long deep breaths.

With the rhythmic swaying of the wagon as it lightly bounced over the well worn road, sleep came fast.

There was no sense to the dream. The images made no sense, occurred in no order and held no meaning, but the feelings were real. That's all that felt real. The feelings and the emotions were more than just real. They were overwhelming. Like drowning in a violent churning sea made of nothing but raw seething emotions. Hate, rage and malice. Surrounded by them. Consumed by them. Writhing and fighting to escape, but escape was impossible when that's all there was.

No, there was something else. More than just an emotion. There was an idea. A thought. Something to grab onto.

Revenge.

That was it. The one single, solitary idea that existed here. The only thought to grasp onto to keep from falling deeper into this madness. The single driving force binding all these emotions together and giving them direction. It solidified them. It gave them power. I gave them a voice.

They cannot do this. Leave me like this.
A shell
A husk.
A shadow of what I once was.

I was betrayed.
Turned on by my own.
Imprisoned in myself and left to rot.
Alone.
Powerless.
...
Afraid.

I am free now.
Escaped from my prison.I will have my revenge.
Against them and all they've created.
I will not forgive.
I cannot forgive.

This world will burn!

Yu snapped himself awake. He was drenched in cold sweat, his hands were shaking and he was breathing like he'd just been trapped under water. He felt slightly nauseous. He felt unclean, as though he were covered in something sticky, noxious, and terrible. Something deadly and poisonous. Not just for him, but everyone around him. It took him a few moments to steady himself and a few moments more to get past the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

There was pain in his hands. He looked down only to realize he was balling his fists so hard they hurt. He relaxed his hands and tried to stop them from shaking.

As he calmed down and the dream slowly faded a few moments later, he laughed softly to himself.

Just a bad dream. That's all. That's all it was. Just a dream. Nothing to get worked up about.

Azula was still sound asleep. He must have dozed off shortly after she did. It was dark in the back of the wagon. Slivers of moonlight crept in around the canvas covering the back of the wagon. Growing and shrinking and moving across the floor of the wagon as the canvas swayed with the movement. He wondered for a moment why the merchant hadn't stopped for the night. Had it just gotten dark? Was he planning on riding through the night? Was there an inn he was trying to reach? Yu decided he really didn't care.

Now fully awake and the dream faded, he leaned his head back against the wooden wall of the wagon and drew in a deep cleansing breath. He held it for a few seconds then exhaled slowly. Calmer now, he reached up and pressed his fingers against his temples to help relieve the pain.

His headache was back.

Next: Aang speaks to an Avatar from the Sun Warriors. As the ancient Avatar reveals to Aang what it know of the Kaji, Aang begins to realize the situation may be far more dire than he could have thought.