Two days later…

Morning again in the Bian Que charity hospital and the bedding wing as alive with activity and light. Beds were filling up steadily with more patients were arriving by the hour; mostly older people it seemed, all coughing and hacking in some form. As a result, every window was propped open allowing in the warm, morning breeze and plenty of radiant sunlight. There almost weren't any open beds remaining. It appeared she and Meilin had their 'mishaps' at the right time.

It was mid-morning and Azula had just awoken. Neither she nor Meilin had eaten breakfast yet, but before they could, to both of their surprise, the door to the bedding room opened, revealing Katsumi and the attendant girl named Aimi.

"Katsumi!" Meilin rose from her bed and flung her arms around the young woman's shoulders.

"Meilin," Katsumi said peacefully and returned the embrace.

Azula watched the exchange silently from her reclining position on her own bed.

Meilin pulled back but kept her hands on her older friend's shoulders. "How's everything at the Chens? Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, everyone's fine," Katsumi replied warmly, smiling softly at her younger friend.

Meilin breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her arms. Katsumi turned her head toward her other friend.

"Hi, Yuki." She gave her firebending roommate a sympathetic smile.

"Good morning, Katsumi," Azula replied quietly.

The young woman frowned and her jaw fell a bit. "What happened to your hair?"

Azula scowled. "It got burned," she muttered. "It had to be cut."

Katsumi regarded her injured roommate sadly, and sighed. "You didn't show up when you said you would. We thought…" Her shoulders fell and her frown deepened. "We thought you had died," she whispered.

"No, I'm very much still alive. I'm just… Recovering is all, from wounds incurred while I was attacked… By certain men, trying to do certain things to me that shouldn't be spoken aloud, if you understand me right." She stared intensely into Katsumi's gray eyes. The young woman hadn't 'danced around' the topic as subtly, or quietly, as she should have.

Katsumi's eyes widened. The quiet concern she had greeted her injured roommate with sloughed away entirely, replaced by fear and understanding. She shut her mouth and nodded. "I understand." She paused to swallow and to collect herself. "How are you… Feeling?" She chose her words carefully.

Azula shrugged. "Much better. Especially with Meilin here to keep me company." She flashed a smile at the green-eyed teen. Meilin smiled back.

Katsumi turned to Meilin. "And how are you feeling?"

"Much better. Nothing really hurts anymore. I'm still… Very sad about Hao but… Being with Yuki's made it a lot easier..." She paused. "Are you here to take me home?"

"Yes." Katsumi nodded. "Rong came with me. We have shoes and a change of clothes for you."

"Meilin," the attendant girl entered the conversation, speaking cordially. "Doctor Izumi wants to have another look at you before you leave. Can you come with me, please?"

"Okay," Meilin complied. "But I want to say goodbye to Yuki before I go."

"That's fine," the attendant assured.

"I'll be right here," Azula commented in a wry tone.

Meilin departed with the attendant girl, leaving her and Katsumi alone.

A short spell of silence followed.

"So…" The black-haired woman began, breaking the silence and turning her gaze to her younger friend. The native woman's eyes scanned her roommate's wounded body, noting the various bandages. "Is this all from… That?" She kept her voice low.

Azula nodded, slowly, and smirked. "Did you bring me any of your cooking?"

Katsumi blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh, just kidding," the former princess chuckled. "Although I could go for some of your special breakfast pancakes." Her stomach growled and her mouth began to water. "The food here is rather bland and yours so good."

Katsumi gave a soft smile. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"Meh." She shrugged and glanced away casually. "As good as I can be…" She turned her eyes back to her older friend's. "I am happy to see you," she spoke sincerely.

Katsumi smiled.

Azula felt warmed by the young woman's reaction although something in her eyes remained hesitant, distant even. Maybe it was the same residual fear Meilin had shown after hearing her story. No matter. She'd just have to go to work on her too. She'd come around like the Earth Kingdom teen had, and she, without a doubt, would; Katsumi was a real Fire Citizen. She knew what firebenders were like and this city had been her home for much longer.

Katsumi's smile faded before Azula could address her older friend's apparent concerns. "You really did it, huh?" The young woman whispered.

"Yes," Azula answered calmly. "And you helped me."

Katsumi's head tilted in confusion. "What?"

"You helped me into my 'clothes'," she refreshed the young woman's memory. "You wanted me to do it or else you wouldn't have helped me get dressed. That's okay. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You had a hand in this. You should feel proud."

Katsumi's face was strained. She didn't reply.

"Katsumi," Azula teased, staring into the young woman's reluctant, gray eyes. "Don't be so worried. Nobody saw me. Nobody was 'left'." She kept her descriptions vague and gave a subtle smirk.

"All of them?" The young woman asked uneasily.

Azula nodded. "All of them."

Katsumi inhaled a deep breath and glanced away in discomfort.

Azula frowned. "What did you think was going to happen?" She asked gently, her voice absent of any anger or disappointment. She genuinely wanted to know.

Katsumi winced. "I… I don't know."

"You don't know or you can't imagine it?"

The young woman's expression changed a soft amount. It appeared she had helped sharpen her thinking. "I… I guess I just can't imagine it."

"Well, don't let it weigh on you," Azula suggested pointedly. "They're gone and we're still here." She faltered. "Ex-except for Hao, of course..." A shadow of fresh sadness crossed her face and cooled her heart. Her own eyes lowered and she was struck by memories of the older teenage boy sitting across from her at dinner; him talking to Meilin, laughing with her, making her green-eyed companion happy, and slowly finding out he was more important to her than a mere friend.

She was surprised that Meilin wasn't more visibly shaken by Hao's death. Meilin must have been… Just more resilient to heartache, much more resilient than her.

"Have you told the police about him?" Azula asked in a quiet, pensive tone.

"Yes." Katsumi shifted her gaze back to her younger friend's. "Mr. Chen told them yesterday. They're going to interview Meilin tomorrow or so. They were…" She hesitated. "They were all looking… For who did it," she stressed the word, implying 'did it' wasn't Hao's murder. "He… He's very nervous," the young woman stammered. "Mr. Chen, I mean."

Azula chuckled. "Let him be. He doesn't know how complete 'it' was." She smirked wickedly. "Tell me, did he soil himself after I left? I want to know!"

Katsumi sighed and her shoulders fell. Her head hung low, her eyes closed and her face was wrung with pain. "I'm sorry, Yuki, but the Chens said you can't live with them anymore."

A frigid wind blew through Azula's core. "… What?"

Katsumi opened her eyes and met her younger roommate's own. The black-haired native appeared utterly dejected. "I know you think what you did was right, and it might have been, but... But a lot of police are looking for who did it, and I'm… I'm sorry. The Chens said they can't have you living with them anymore."

A knot twisted in Azula's belly. She gazed at the young woman searchingly, trying to find the embellishment, lies or humor in her gray eyes…

… There was none.

"But they won't know who did it," the runaway princess whispered earnestly. "Nobody saw me. I suppose I understand why they feel this way; it's entirely reasonable. Just tell them what I told you when you return, that nobody saw me. I was completely thorough."

"It's not just that, Yuki, it's…" The young woman winced in awkward discomfort. "It's that they don't think the charity home is safe with you around."

Azula's heart frozen.

Katsumi sighed. "They think you should be with people who are less vulnerable and weak. Those are their words, not mine. The wards and Meilin and all the others will just keep inspiring your 'protectiveness' and get everyone in more trouble…" Katsumi frowned into her younger, firebending roommate's eyes. "I'm sorry, Yuki," she spoke tenderly.

What the young woman had said… It was all diplomatic-speak for 'too dangerous' and 'volatile', 'irresponsible' and 'delinquent'. Katsumi had been sent here as the bearer of bad news. The knot in the fugitive princess's gut twisted tighter. "But… But I did this for all of you. I got injured for all of you. I fought and was almost killed for all of you."

Katsumi's eyes lowered, sadly. "You also threatened Mr. Chen… With fire." Her eyes lifted back to her roommate's. "You shouldn't have done that, Yuki." Her voice was raw and full of anguish. "Certainly you know that was wrong, right? Right?"

Azula stared into the young woman's gray eyes, her insides churning with dread. "What exactly are you telling me?"

Katsumi sighed. "What I'm telling you is… Rong and I brought your clothes, and some money, provided for by the Chens. It's not a lot but it's a decent amount." Her tone brightened a little as if mere 'money' made any of this better. "It should help you for a while…" And just like that, her spurt optimism faded. "But you can't come back to the charity home. You need to find somewhere else to live. I'm sorry."

Azula continued to stare at roommate of nearly two months. She appeared genuinely sad… And truthful. "But you wanted me to do this… Right? You're happy, aren't you? None of you are going to… Tell anyone, right?"

Katsumi shook her head. "Of course not," she said quietly with a little bit of her older, admonishing tone leaching through. "We're not stupid."

"Then why I can't stay?!" The younger teenager's voice rose sharply.

Katsumi winced. "Because you threatened him, Yuki," she repeated. "You threatened to do the same to him as you did to… Well… You know…"

Azula's chest tightened. "I… I didn't mean it!" She dropped her voice to a sharp whisper. "You understand that, right? I said what I had to. It was just an empty threat!"

Katsumi continued to frown. "And you said the wrong things, and kicked him, and held fire at him, and left anyway after he told you not to, and, well… You know the rest."

Azula fell silent. Doctor Izumi had already chastised her for ignoring her commands. Now the Chens were punishing her for the same…

… And she couldn't do anything about it.

Katsumi's face crumpled. "They think this will just happen again with you. Lots of people don't like the wards. People will keep trying to steal from them, or hurting them or trying to keep them out of their neighborhoods. That's okay," the Taizao native assured. "They can handle it. We can handle it. What they can't handle is you picking fights with people, or them harboring a… Uh…" She trailed off.

Azula's brow lowered and her eyes narrowed in anger. "That is not what I am."

Katsumi winced but stood her ground. "I… I know, but they think you might be, and, well… You kind of are now. I'm sorry, Yuki," she repeated. "There's nothing I can do."

"Well sure there is!" She argued back, speaking louder but still keeping her voice low. "Tell them the truth: I'm not some criminal or delinquent. This was a controlled action, to protect people."

"Yuki…" The young woman tried to interject.

"I didn't do this because I wanted to or because I can't follow orders! I planned this! I had a strategy! I took necessary action!"

"Yuki," the young woman spoke more firmly.

"Tell them they're being ridiculous! Tell them they need me! Tell them—"

"Yuki!" Katsumi raised her voice high enough to overpower hers.

Azula shut her mouth.

Katsumi stared into her younger, former roommate's eyes, and lowered her voice down to a whisper. "You can't come back. If you do, they'll tell the police on you. I'm sorry," she said emphatically. "You can't come back. This means goodbye."

Azula's mouth gaped open in shock. Katsumi had been told to say these things by people above her. The young woman had no choice in the matter. She wasn't lying.

A few moments later, she closed her mouth and scowled. "And how do you feel about this?" She hissed.

Katsumi's shoulders slumped and her face sagged. "I have to do what I'm told."

A bubble anger of rose in the injured princess's core. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment and exhaled slowly to calm it down. Once her anger had cooled, she turned away from the black-haired native and stared at the far wall, where the sunlight beamed. "So this is what I get?" She asked in a dark, brooding tone.

Katsumi didn't respond.

Her face hardened into a rueful glare. "Of course it is," she muttered bitterly and closed her eyes.

"What will you do?" Katsumi asked with concern.

"Oh, don't worry about me," she assured her former roommate in a dismissive, flippant tone. "I'm the dangerous one." She fell silent and didn't respond to any of the black-haired woman's further comments. Eventually, the young woman realized there was nothing more she could say. "I'm sorry," were Katsumi's final words before she fell silent too.

Some time later, multiple sets of footsteps approached and stopped near her bed. Her eyelids peeled open, just as two slender, brown arms wrapped around her neck and a familiar cheek press against her own.

Someone had told her.

"I don't want you to leave!" Meilin moaned, now dressed in normal clothes.

"I have to," Azula replied. "I have no choice in the matter."

"What will you do?"

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out."

"But you can barely wash clothes or dishes. You can't cook and your left hand doesn't work."

Azula chuckled and eased Meilin off herself with a gentle nudge. "Oh, Meilin," she chided her foreign friend softly, raising her right hand for the green-eyed teen to see. "I can do this remember?"

Yellow flames flared into existence at the tips of her fingers and danced like candle wicks in a breeze. While studying her non-bending friend's face for her reaction, she caught sight of Doctor Izumi and the attendant girl standing nearby. The woman's expression was somber.

She must have broken the news.

Azula extinguished the flames promptly. "Don't worry about me," she assured Meilin in a calm, assuring tone. "I'll be fine."

I hope…

Her show of firebending seemed to allay some of the worry from the non-bender's face. Meilin pulled out of the embrace and stood against the edge of the bed, staring down at her injured, native-born friend. "But where will you go?"

Azula shrugged. "Somewhere."

"Will you tell us where? So we can visit you?"

She chuckled again, amused by the Earth Kingdom teen's insistence… And touched by her devotion. "Of course," she answered with a smile, although, in actuality, her former acquaintances probably shouldn't know where she goes.

Meilin's eyes slid away from hers. "I understand why they're doing this."

"As do I."

"Please don't be angry with them," Meilin pleaded, turning her sincere gaze back to her friend's. "They're good people. They've helped you and me so much. They're just doing what they think is right."

"Yes, they are," she nodded in a cordial manner. "And I'm not angry."

Instead of further words of kindness or support, Meilin fell silent. She simply frowned at her while her green eyes turned misty and her lower lip quivered.

Azula chuckled and smiled in affectionate disgust. "What's the matter? You look as if I'm dying."

Meilin sniffled and lowered her eyes once more. "I guess I'm just…" Her cheeks visibly warmed. "Sad… And… Confused." Her eyes lifted back to her roommate's amber, and stayed. She seemed very shy suddenly, embarrassed even. "I liked having you around. I know we weren't together long, but… But I guess…" She trailed off and clenched her hands nervously. She glanced away for a moment before she took a deep breath and met her native friend's eyes again. "I just don't understand how someone as powerful as you can have any respect for a nobody like me."

Azula's lips parted and her insides glowed. The former Earth Kingdom citizen recognized her power and drive and firebending… And acknowledged their value. Perhaps her crafted tale about how 'Yuki' felt inspired by their country's princess—by her, the real her—had done its job. She closed her lips and smiled at her green-eyed friend. "I'm a firebender, Meilin," she said softly. "This is what we are."

"Yeah, I know," Meilin muttered and glanced away again, her reaction betraying the halfhearted nature of her agreement.

Azula's face hardened in a scowl.

No, she didn't know. She would never know the power of her firebending or the burning desire to spread and grow that churned inside her. She would never know the depth of responsibility that had driven her to quell that fight in the square, to flatten those goons in public or even annihilate those criminals in the castle without so much as a moment of hesitation. She'd only know that 'Yuki' had done those things and that they weren't something she, nor anyone else, should ever know or understand.

They would just see her as a killer, or a murderer, or someone who had broken the law, who they had to distance themselves from. They'd never understand what had led a mere 'citizen' to go to war for them. They'd never understand why their princess had fought for them, why their princess had acted as would have a soldier.

Then, her face softened and her eyebrows rose.

Maybe there was a way they could understand.

"Katsumi." Azula turned to the black-haired native. "Can you reach under the bed? There's a bag full of my clothes. That red mask should be on top."

Katsumi knelt down and did as requested, reappearing with the red oni demon mask in her hands. Parts of its exterior as charred from the battle, and if one looked close enough, blood stains could be discerned.

"You can keep this, by the way," the charity home's chef remarked politely. "The telescope, too. Mr. Chen said they deserve to be in more useful hands." She handed the mask to her younger friend. Azula took it… And handed it to Meilin.

"Take this," she offered the mask to the green-eyed non-bender. "It's the last thing those fiends saw."

"Oh..." Meilin reached forward tentatively. "Okay…" She grasped the mask and took it from her native friend's hands. The uncertainty in her face returned. She didn't say 'thank you' nor did she appear to understand the gesture.

Azula's lips curved. "I'm a nobody too, Meilin, but I'm also a firebender. I can do things you can't. I have abilities you'll never know, but with that mask…" She nodded at it for emphasis. "You'll have a little piece of how it feels. Put on that mask, and face yourself in the mirror, and you'll see what they saw; you'll see the face of a firebender…"

She smirked.

"… But with green eyes."

Meilin's lips pursed but her effort was useless. Her smile spread across her face like wildfire, and she giggled, glancing down at her hands, at the mask that her firebending friend had worn. Perhaps she was still ashamed of the bloodlust she had discovered inside her, or maybe she was just self-conscious of the people around her knowing that bloodlust was there. Either way, when Meilin lifted her gaze, her expression was peaceful and warm. "You know, I remember what you said to me, back when we first met, that I'd never have revenge, that I was weak for never wanting it."

Azula nodded, recalling that night when she had brought her to tears. "Yes, I remember."

"Well… Maybe you were right, in a way, but… Since knowing you… I guess I… Kind of did get revenge, huh?" She chuckled awkwardly. "Only you got it for me."

Azula grinned with affection at the adorable Earth Kingdom teen. "Oh, Meilin." She tilted her head playfully. "I didn't get revenge. I enacted justice upon those scum. Slaughtering those monsters was as pleasant as…" She trailed off thoughtfully, searching for the best analogy. She found it, and smiled. "As unpleasant as smushing worms in my bare feet and feeling their slimy entrails between my toes." She gave a cute shrug. "They're gone and that's all that matters. They weren't worth revenge."

Meilin blinked. "Oh," she said blankly. She glanced away briefly, at Doctor Izumi, who merely grinned at her in return. Meilin's eyes flicked back to her friend's. "Well… Goodbye, Yuki," she said at last.

"Goodbye, Meilin."

Meilin turned to leave, the mask remaining in her hands. Katsumi followed. "Take care, Yuki," the young woman bade farewell and clasped her younger friend's left hand in her own.

Azula dwelled on the young woman's touch. "You too, Katsumi."

Katsumi's soft hand slipped out of hers and the young woman followed Meilin and the attendant girl away. Azula twisted her torso and craned her neck to watch her old roommates leave. Meilin turned her head and their eyes met one last time before she too disappeared through the bedding wing's door… And from her life.

Her time at the charity home… Was over.

Azula took a deep breath and sighed, turning back around and leaning back against the pillows. Doctor Izumi hadn't left. She remained standing next to her bed. "I guess no good deed will go unpunished, huh?" She muttered to the doctor.

"Maybe," the woman replied mildly. "Did you really threaten them?"

Her heart sank with regret. "Yes," she whispered faintly.

"Did you mean it?"

She hesitated. "No," she answered finally. "They just had to believe I did." She closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

What now? I'm at the hospital like how I started; injured, recovering, relying on the charity and goodwill of others, with Doctor Izumi standing over me. It's like I've gone nowhere. It's only been seven weeks. I have a whole lifetime of this to survive…

She opened her eyes and turned her gaze to the doctor's. She smiled. "I don't suppose you know of another charity home that could take me?" She broadened her smile into a toothy grin until she realized the doctor might not appreciate her attempt at humor over such a grim situation. She had also disobeyed her and the Chen's. Not only that, but her joke might not have been funny. Her face sagged back into a dejected frown and her eyes fell away from the doctor's.

"Actually…" The doctor began, her tone optimistic and bright. "How would you like to live with me and my family?"

Azula blinked. "What?" She turned her head and stared quizzically at the doctor, her mouth gaping open. "Really?"

"Mmhm," Izumi hummed pleasantly, nodding. "I've already talked it over with my family. We'd be happy to have you with us."

Azula searched the doctor's face. "I… I…" She closed her mouth and collected herself. "Why?" She managed to ask.

Izumi raised a playful eyebrow. "Are you saying you don't want to live with me?" She teased.

"No!" Azula replied quickly, feeling her heart pulse. "It's just… I don't…" Her eyes continued to search the woman's honest face, her mind at a loss, her world spinning around her. "I don't know what to say."

The doctor smiled. "You can start by saying 'yes'."