Bolinlover123: I replied in a PM.
Alyce Reide: "Well. At least she feels bad about killing someone." Yeah, she isn't very comfortable with that now that she looks at it from an outsiders pov in a sense. "Though I guess Amnesiac Azula is still kinda jerky, I really hope evil isn't in her personality." She's still Azula so she still has her mean/harsh streak. But she isn't evil. She still just has trouble connecting to people and what not.
gemsofformenos: "I love this caring side of Azula and the choice of you to show it." Soft and caring Azula is precious and I like it when I have the opportunity to write her that way. "A great decision to let her being the one who spends comfort this time." I also figured that I should make the relationship less one sided in that regard. I wanted her to be a source of comfort for Sokka too. Even if he can't bring himself to tell her everything. It's kind of a habit of him to keep harsh truths from her. "I do had this suspicion for myself for a while since the secret halls of Lake Laogai was mentioned," Yeah I was kind of trying to hint at it being him. "Your description of their base is great as ever, I love how you add all these details." Thanks! I feel like description of surroundings has been a little lacking in this fic, so I'm trying to bring a bit of that back. "I feel remembered a bit at your Axca fic, where she was transformed into a human." xP I actually kind of thought back to that one too. "This is a good sign so there may be shocking twists ahead." Suddenly space!Azula. Azula who has been turned into an alien for reasons unknown lmao. "I love how you let him make up his mind and excuse to Azula for not being supportive to her." Despite his flaws, he knows what's right in his heart. He's well aware that if you want to love someone you have to love them in spite of all of their downfalls and flaws. "She'll leave ot to the chance. A decision which isn't Azula's choice normally but due to the situation a logical one and so it is somehow a typical Azula at the same time." Yes, Azula isn't one to just leave things to fate, but with a situation so bizarre, she decides to do it anyhow. "they have found out that the nurse hasn't helped them by free will." She was pretty much coerced. "I feel the final confrontation with Long Feng and her old self might get closer." Both of these things are on the horizon, yes. "Thank you for all your hard work and efforts for this and all your other stories you're sharing with us. Have a wonderful day and keep on having fun with your stories." You're welcome and thank you so much for all of the effort you put into reviews.
RadioDog77: Glad it could help lmao. He's an ass, but like not that terrible. Not in this fic anyways. "You btw have impeccable timing, i swear it was like 2 minutes ago that I posted another review on chapter 34." Lmao I'm pretty sure that this is the second time that happened lol. You just so happen to catch me right as I'm posting the new chapter. xD
Azula lies back, the sofa is rather comfortable and the room is warmly lit, a stark contrast to the facility's operating room. She supposes that, that is exactly the intent. The place looks much more like a living room than anything else, plush pillows surround her and curtains flutter in a breeze that is just gentle enough to only have the candle's flames sputtering on their wicks. If she were to stand and look out the window, she would see a nearly full moon hovering alongside a spray of stars. It helps to know that she is in her own home.
She remains on the sofa, debating whether or not she'd like to find something to read. She decides not to, the text on the page would be buried under her racing thoughts.
She wishes that Dr. Phang and his team would speed things up before she can change her mind about going through with this. She stares at the ceiling until she hears Dr. Phang's voice. She sits herself up and readies herself for the procedure.
"Good evening, princess." He greets. She returns the greeting with as much pleasantness as she can muster with her nerves so on edge. "Are you ready for your treatment?"
Azula picks herself up off of the sofa, "I suppose that I am." She isn't truly ready at all. Not with the swamp's visions so fresh in her mind. That crazed look and Ting-Lao's mention of how he felt like he'd been handling an animal.
It also comes back, Sokka's recount of her striking down Aang.
"I am pleased to hear it." He smiles. "Dr. Yu-Kang mentioned that you are uncomfortable in rooms that remind you of those in the facility."
She nods. "You can say that."
He returns the nod. "In which case, we will do the procedure here. If we find that you are having trouble with the procedure, physical or mental, I will administer a sleeping draught. When you wake up you will be in your bedroom. If you remain awake the whole time, we will have someone accompany you there; dizziness, confusion, and disorientation are very likely side effects. Does this sound good?"
"Yes. Aside from the side effects, anyhow."
The man gives a slight humored smile and withdraws a small herbal concoction. "It doesn't have the most pleasant taste." He warns. "Let me know if you'd like to take it."
"I can manage that." She promises. Though the promise can also apply to the operation as a whole and a vow to herself that she won't let her memories carry her back to a dismal place.
"Lay back down if you will."
Azula makes her way back to the sofa, takes a deep breath, and lays back down as someone wheels in a tub of sopping wet spirit anxious flutters already begin to rise in her chest. She bunches the fabrics of her night robes in her hands.
"Try to relax if you can." Dr. Phang instructs. "This won't be painful but it will be cold. At worst it might be a little uncomfortable."
She nods.
Though she can't help but flinch when they place the first strand of vinces across her forehead. Suddenly the plush cushions have the feeling of a hard and chilly metal table. She feels two more strands, the meet her head with sloppy sounding sloshes. Some water drips down her temples, another trail drips into her eye.
One of Dr. Phang's assistance move to dab the streams away and wipe the liquid from her eye, with a muffled apology. Every now and again they have to catch another drop before it can reach her eye or seep between her lips.
It keeps her somewhat grounded.
"Alright." speaks. "Now that the vines are in place, I will begin using them to beckon the memories forward."
"How does that work?" She asks.
"Fair question." He replies. "Anyone who has a good sense of their own chi and can tune in with the chi around them can tap into the energy of the vines and by extension a person's spirit energy. Only the Avatar can do this without the vines. The vines act as magnets to spirit energies and chi. We place three strands on the forehead to create an opening. Only one of them remains there. We use the other two to dig around in a sense. According to the research notes their glow will change color and intensity when memories are found." He pauses. "I am wearing two strands myself…"
She takes her eyes away from the ceiling to see that he does have a vine wrapped around his own head. Another longer vine is tied to that one and coils down his arm. He ties that one to the one on her head. "In a sense the vine links our minds so that I can detect your spirit energy and memories better." He pauses. "Should you remain awake through this whole process, some of my memories may trickle into your head as well."
"Fascinating." She comments. Fascinating and frightening.
"Are you ready to begin?"
"I am."
She takes a deep breath as he begins dipping into the spirit energy. Luminous purple trails down the vine like water through a funnel. When it reaches her head she can feel fingers of energy.
Uncomfortable is exactly correct in describing the sensation. It has the sensation of a chunk of meat caught between her teeth, but the sensation comes from somewhere within her head. There is a presence, something that she itches to dislodge.
"I need you to let me in." Dr. Phang speaks softly. "You put up a very high resistance even without trying."
"I might have to take the sleeping draught." She answers twice as quietly. She can't see herself fully being able to let those walls down.
He holds out the vial. "In this case, your memories will come to you while you sleep. When you wake they will feel like very vivid dreams for a while. You will know that these things happened to you, but it won't feel like they did. Think of it like a dissociative state. Eventually that feeling will subside."
"Yes, thank you for letting me know." She replies as she brings the vial to her lips.
.oOo.
Sokka finds himself lingering outside of the infinity. He had tried to go in with her but they'd told him that they didn't want him to infringe on the treatment; their diplomatic way of telling him that they didn't want him in the way.
He stuffs his hands into his pockets, deciding that he'd rather not see her so vulnerable anyhow. He'd hate it twice over if she had another episode of flashbacks. Though he has yet to hear any calls or other sounds of distress.
He paces outside the door until Zuko calls him for dinner. He supposes that there's no sense skipping it when he can't really do anything to comfort Azula yet anyhow. He tries to engage with the lively banter of the table but his mind constantly drifts to the room upstairs and down the hall.
Sokka finishes his meal and wanders back to that hallway. He decides that he will wait for her in her bedroom. He pulls a chair up to the bed and flicks his boomerang around, flinching when he knocks over a decorative egg that had been resting upon her dresser. He is in the middle of picking the thankfully unbroken ornament up when the door opens.
Azula is limp in Dr. Phang's arms and Sokka fights back a shudder.
"Can you lift the blankets for me?"
Sokka springs to his feet and does as requested. Dr. Phang carefully lays Azula upon the mattress and lets Sokka pull them over her. "When she wakes up she will be a little disoriented and maybe a bit confused."
"Okay, that makes sense."
"If she needs anything, I will be in the main guest bedroom."
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Sokka answers."
.oOo.
"How are you feeling?" Sokka asks.
Truth be told, she isn't quite sure. There is a pressure behind her forehead. It doesn't beat or ache. It doesn't hurt but it feels terribly congested. She massages her temples as she tries to recall where she is and how she got there.
She half sits up, propping herself up against the pillows and headboard. She is definitely in her own bed. Slowly it comes back to her that she had gone through an operation...no a treatment. She is exhausted and her mind is tingling.
"Do you want something to eat."
She shakes her head. Her stomach is too queasy for food. Visions come and pass in her mind's eye and she has trouble putting them in chronological order. She closes her eyes and lays back down feeling dizzy and hazy.
"Are you alright?" Sokka inquires.
She isn't sure.
She also isn't sure why he cares.
No. No, she does know why he cares…
She knows why he cares and she is unfathomably terrified.