Aang stood on a balcony overlooking one of the beautifully maintained gardens of the palace. Such peace and tranquility, so at odds with its occupants, with the former masters whose portraits adorned the spacious, decadent halls in exalted tapestries.
They had made much progress in the meeting, though the talks would continue for a few days more. There would likely be others to follow in time, but for now, it was enough.
At last the unique footsteps and body temperature of Zuko approached. He was lighter on his feet than he looked, almost as if he weren't there at all, like the footsteps of a ghost. Aang wondered how much of the Blue Spirit dwelled in Zuko's gait.
The Fire Lord took in his friend's posture as he turned to face him. "You're angry with me, aren't you?"
"Let's just say if I were Toph, you might be getting a punch in the arm about now. You ambushed me, Zuko."
Zuko placed his hands on the railing and observed the sight just as Aang had. But for him, it came with memories of a simpler life. A prince sheltered from the harshness of the world, of the devastation caused by a war he believed divine and righteous.
"I was going to hand her over, Aang," he confessed in a quiet tone dripping with shame. "My own sister. It wasn't an unreasonable request. And the truth is, I would feel more at ease if Azula wasn't in the Fire Nation. Everything the minister said was valid."
"Then why leave it up to me?" Aang demanded. The last thing he needed was to be faced with extra responsibilities, because he would end up seeing no choice but to take them on as well.
"I guess I wanted to see if you would save me from myself. Stop me from making a mistake." Zuko bowed his head. "As Azula's brother, I'm grateful to you beyond words. I never expected you to take personal responsibility for her."
Aang leaned onto the railing, resting his chin on folded arms. "It was all I could think of. The only thing that seemed right."
A patrol of guards strolled through the garden's stone path. One noticed them standing on the balcony and stopped to bow to the Fire Lord, immediately followed by the others. It was standard protocol that they need not wait for permission to continue their duties.
"Maybe that's what I was counting on," Zuko said, "even if I didn't know it. A solution that no one else could come up with. Just like you did with Ozai. I wondered… I hoped that you could work a miracle for Azula."
A brother's concern for their sister was not an unfamiliar thing to Aang. He still recalled Sokka's ferocity when he had carelessly burned Katara, ignorant of his own capacity for destruction. Zuko, in his own way, was trying to protect Azula, and Aang understood that the task was magnitudes more difficult than protecting Katara. Katara had never tried to kill Sokka. Not seriously.
His vexation with Zuko vanished. If anything, Aang felt honored that he had placed that much faith in him. To do what he could not.
Aang thought of his encounter with the disgraced princess, and gave Zuko a sly smile.
"A miracle is the minimum it will take to get through to her."
The festivities had wound down without further incident, Aang was happy to discover. He would likely be spending his time in the remainder of the congress of world leaders, now that he had ben roped into it and rendered his judgement on a sensitive issue.
The guests were settled into their rooms. Aang felt some trepidation about he and his friends receiving such luxurious housings. It reminded him of the class hierarchy of Ba Sing Se, the economical segregation. But it would also be rude to decline Zuko's hospitality.
So Aang settled into the expansive, lavishly furnished room made to accommodate a foreign sovereign. A bitter chuckle caught in his throat. He supposed there was technically nothing but his dignity and good sense stopping him from declaring himself king and master of all Air Nomads.
At the very least, his living quarters were large enough for each of his friends to be seated comfortably. They arranged themselves in the semicircle of loveseats and chaises that occupied his the sitting room. The table of maroon colored wood sat in the center, hosting an array of drinks, including wine, water and juices.
Ty Lee had divested herself of her armor and makeup. Two Kyoshi warriors had been guarding the door to his chambers, but they had been dismissed. Everyone figured if the Fire Lord was safe anywhere, it was in a room filled with the strongest benders and warriors of their generation. One of them being captain of his guard and another being the Avatar himself.
Katara sat near him, but not too near. They exchanged glances and looked away. Top snorted and sat beside Katara.
Sokka sank into a plush seat with Suki by his side. "Man, I could get used to palace food. Who would have guessed a nation of sourpusses could throw such a shindig!"
"We had consultation," Zuko deadpanned.
The group sat in silence, looking at each other. They took in where they were. What they were doing, and were all hit with the same realization.
"It's really over," Sokka said in a more subdued tone.
Mai swept her keen eyes over the room. "So is this the part where we reminisce about our grand adventures in the war? Because being a governor's daughter was dreadfully boring."
"Man, I bet we got captured more than any warriors in history."
Suki giggled at Sokka. "And one of those times was from me and the girls."
"Thats not something to brag about," Toph said. "Hey, come to think of it, I never got caught until I joined up with you guys. And it was the same day we met! It's like you're cursed or something."
"Hey, at least one of those was on purpose."
Katara smiled smugly. "None of those were as bad as that time Zuko challenged a waterbender during a blizzard. At night."
Mai turned to him, savoring his embarrassed expression. Zuko endured it amicably.
"I admit, I may have made some tactical errors in my haste."
"Aang saved you, though," Katara said, her eyes shining at him with pride.
Aang flushed as a happy warmth coursed through him.
Zuko blinked. "Really? I thought you guys just wanted a hostage."
"Nah, we were gonna leave you. Knowing you, though, you'd have probably managed to survive somehow." Sokka paused, reminiscence in his eyes. "Man, that really was some quality rope."
Zuko sought out Aang.
"Just returning the favor," Aang said with an elusive smile.
Zuko gave a slight grin.
"You two are hiding something," Katara said, looking between the two of them.
They exchanged another glance, this time each of them feeling guilt and trepidation for what was to come.
"You're doing it again!"
"Don't like the taste of your own medicine, Sugar Queen? Unless you were part of the 'original team', certain things just go unsaid."
"Toph, don't be like that. We'd tell you anything, but there's so much to go over…"
Zuko thought about something he could share that wouldn't create tension. One memory stood above the others.
"I once got blown up by pirates."
They all sat in stunned silence as the declaration cut through everything else in the room. Zuko didn't think he'd said anything odd.
"You what?"
He shrugged. "They blew up my ship while I was on it. I faked my death and infiltrated the fleet sailing to the Northern Water Tribe."
Mai sat up. "Why didn't I hear about this?"
"I don't think the news had time to travel back to the mainland before I was discovered alive."
"You weren't, like, hurt?" Ty Lee asked. "From getting blown up?"
"No, it was okay. I only got blown out of the window."
Mai wrapped an arm around him like she was trying to offer comfort. He wasn't sure why, but he appreciated the effort.
Sokka whistled. "Zuko, you are one tough bastard."
The Fire Lord's face paled. "Bastard?"
"Er, yeah? You know, like tough guy… It's a term of endearment, really."
"That has much more dangerous implications in the Fire Nation," Mai said. The different inflections were hard to pick up at first, but once accustomed to her, it became apparent that her tone was colder than normal. "Especially for a royal."
Sokka held up his hands in surrender. "Right, cultural faux pas, gotcha. My bad. I'm sure Zuko's lineage is perfectly sound."
Suki gave him a wry grin, elbowing his side. "Hundreds of people from all over the world come together, and of course you'd be the one to put your foot in your mouth."
"What can I say? I'm a man that braves uncharted territories so that no one else has to."
"Or before they get the chance."
"Wait, you mean the pirates with the waterbending scroll?" Katara asked.
Toph turned her head to Mai and Ty Lee. "You see what I mean about them talking in circles around us? Nobody ever mentioned pirates or scrolls before! Not like I could read the scroll anyway, but that's beside the point!"
Ty Lee's eyes gleamed with excitement. "I've always wanted to meet pirates! Did they have hooks for hands? Eyepatches? Peg legs?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if they had maimed themselves, since they obviously had explosives," Mai offered. Zuko knew that in her mind these pirates were being added to a list of potential threats.
The conversation continued, with certain topics being avoided. The group got along remarkably well for consisting of two smaller bands that had engaged in lethal combat for the better part of a year. Though they agreed unanimously that Ba Sing Se was the worst city any of them had been to.
Aang gave short replies or just nodded along. He was looking for a way to break the news to the companions that had become his family. He knew it couldn't last forever even before his pledge at the meeting.
"Twinkletoes, you're being awfully quiet. Not that I don't welcome the change, but it's kind of off-putting."
He smiled with melancholy. just like Toph to face it head on, and have him do the same. "I was just thinking about how we're going our separate ways soon."
Toph's frowned, her jovial mood fleeing as unpleasant thoughts she'd put off for months made their return. "I guess that is true… I should probably return to my parents at some point."
"The Kyoshi Warriors will be protecting Zuko until we can be sure who to trust."
"I'll be returning to the Southern Water Tribe with Dad and Grandpaku." Sokka and Suki looked at one another, realizing they would be apart.
"I'll be going to the south as well. Master Pakku," Katara said, throwing a glare at her brother, "is going to certify me as the waterbending master for the south. I just have to pass my trials. Make some demonstrations before the chieftains. Show my knowledge of our history. He said I could be the youngest in a century to do it."
"You're going to be teaching?" Toph asked. "Hmm. Maybe I should give it a try instead. I mean, I did do a better job with Aang than you did."
"I'll be polite and say that's arguable. But we both know whose lessons he preferred. Right, Aang?"
"That's because you're too easy on him! Takes more skill to whip a flighty kid like him into twisting the earth to his will."
Katara looked at him expectantly. The foreboding weight on his chest seemed to double as he met those blue eyes he longed for.
Aang wrenched his gaze away, sighed, then stood. "I have something to tell everyone."
Sokka groaned. "Oh no, I know that tone. Is this is Avatar stuff? Because I'm way too full for Spirit World shenanigans right now, Aang."
Aang smiled, but it quickly waned. "I guess you could say that. Something happened during the negotiations."
He looked at the only two who knew what was coming. Ty Lee bit her lip and gave him an encouraging nod. Zuko folded his arms sullenly, bracing himself, rather than offer Aang help. He probably figured Aang didn't need it.
"There wasn't a problem was there?" That was Katara's way. Gentle, concerned.
"There was. The Earth kingdom bartered to take Azula as a political hostage."
"Well, sure," Sokka said. "That makes sense."
Ty Lee bunched her hands into fists. "No it doesn't! That's not going to help Azula get better at all!"
Sokka wasn't sure if he was more surprised by the outburst or the sentiment. "Better? Azula?"
"There's no getting better for someone like that," Suki muttered darkly.
Ty Lee was on her feet in an instant. "Yes there is!" She paused, then added, "Captain! You guys didn't know Azula when we were young. She was different!"
"Not that different," Zuko said lowly.
Ty Lee rounded on him, hands on hips. "How can you say that? She's your sister!"
"Funny how that never stopped her from trying to kill me."
"It did! At least," she counted on her fingers, then held them up. "At least twice!"
"Wait a minute, didn't you lock her up in a nut house somewhere?" Toph asked.
"She's been receiving treatment at the asylum, yes," Zuko said, suddenly feeling oddly defensive of his sister. "But at the moment Azula is here, in the palace. In the dungeons."
Toph felt a tension run through several of those present: Suki, Katara and Sokka, she had expected. But even Mai?
"Sorry, I couldn't tell you," Ty Lee whispered to her taller friend.
"Honestly I'm impressed you could keep it a secret. But it wasn't your job to tell me," Mai said, looking right at Zuko.
"I didn't want to worry you."
"You're developing a terrible habit of irritating your girlfriend and all of her terribly sharp, at the ready knives."
"I visited Azula in her cell earlier tonight," Aang said.
Katara gasped at the thought of Aang alone with that…. woman. "She didn't hurt you, did she?" She reached for him, ready to fuss over any wounds.
Aang smiled sadly as he gently grabbed Katara's hand, placing it back at her side. He remembered the condition of the fallen princess. "Azula's really not in a position to hurt anyone right now."
"But why did you even go to see her, Aang?"
He looked down. "The ministers requested that I take her bending."
There were sighs of relief, and none of them came from the Fire Nationals.
"Well, that settles that. The meetings aren't even over and there's already good news!"
"Sokka… I didn't do it."
"What? Well why not?"
"It just wouldn't have been right."
Sokka leaned forward, hands together. He stared at Aang. "Can anyone tell me how taking Azula's bending is a bad idea?"
"It's a part of her, Sokka, a part of who she is. I don't think taking that away while she's recovering is going to help her."
"As I see it that's the problem. It was a part of Ozai, too, wasn't it?"
"Sokka, Ozai was going to end thousands, no, tens of thousands of lives! Taking his bending was the only way to stop him without killing him."
Sokka turned to Zuko. "Wasn't burning the Earth Kingdom to cinders Azula's idea to begin with?" he demanded.
"Well, she more expressed the sentiment, and my father formalized it into a plan."
"But she wanted to be right there alongside him, didn't she?"
Ty Lee's hands bunched. She wasn't used to feeling so much anxiety, worry and anger. "She aspired to be like Ozai, that's how he raised her! She's not some… bloodthirsty lunatic!"
Raising his brows, Sokka said, "Azula is the only person I've met that I would wholeheartedly give that distinction to. She's dangerous. She took down Ba Sing Se." He glanced at the Fire Nationals. "Granted, it was with help. The difference is that she would do it again, if not something worse."
"It was a bloodless coup, Sokka," Aang said. "She didn't wantonly slaughter anyone, and she could have."
"It's safer to just to take her bending, and eliminate the possibility of ifs. She can learn to live without it. Trust me on that."
"It's not something I'm going to make a habit of doing for any potential threat."
"Have you considered that if you did, people probably wouldn't make themselves threats to begin with? Who would step out of line if they knew you'd come out of the sky and rip their bending out of them?"
"I don't want people to live in fear of me, Sokka!"
The Water Tribe warrior crossed his arms. "Alright, that's not the type of spirit bridge you want to be. Fine. But you do acknowledge the threat Azula posses, right?"
Aang slowly nodded.
Toph frowned. "Wait, if she's not going to the Earth Kingdom, and she's still firebending, what was the resolution?"
Aang sighed. No point in delaying it further.
"To satisfy all parties involved, I'm going to remain in the Fire Nation. From here I can quell any insurrectionists that still want to incite war, and personally oversee Azula's recovery. Zuko's rule will be secured. Azula can stay and get the treatment she needs. The other nations will be at ease."
"You're staying behind?" Katara said in a whisper. He wasn't sure anyone but himself and Toph heard it. The worry he had expected. But the hurt in her voice needled him.
Sokka pondered this. "So you want to, what… rehabilitate Azula?"
"War is all she's ever been taught, Sokka. From the day she was born, Ozai made her into his perfect tool. Then he abandoned her. I want to show her a path in life she's never been offered."
Sokka's brow furrowed. "And you think she'll take it?"
"Maybe not at first, but… It took Iroh years of guiding Zuko to get him to do the right thing. Azula deserves a chance."
Zuko winced, but did not object.
Sokka slowly nodded. "Okay," he said.
"I know it doesn't seem like a great idea, but… wait, what?"
"I said okay. With ears that size you should have heard me, buddy."
"Sokka…"
He laughed to himself, amused by his own jokes. He was usually his own target audience.
"Listen, I don't think it's a good idea, honestly. By all reason it's a terrible idea. But you have a good track record dealing with the Fire Nation that goes beyond mortal sense. You helped those school kids out with that dance party. And you were right about dealing with Ozai. It's Avatar stuff. You just can't argue with these things."
He heard Zuko mutter in confusion about a 'dance party'.
"If you think you can help Azula be, well, not-Azula, then… I can't help but think it's more than she deserves…" Feeling her tense up beside him, he squeezed Suki's hand, causing her to relax. "But maybe that's because you're right about that, too. About wounds from the war clouding our judgement. I mean, Zuko was away from Ozai for years, and look at what a mess he still is!"
"Thanks, Sokka."
"Maybe Azula can be a different person without Ozai breathing down her neck, telling her evil bedtime stories. If it's possible, you've gotta be the one person on Earth that could pull it off."
"Sokka," Mai said. "I apologize."
"Uh, for what?"
"I thought you were an idiot."
"Yeah, well, you're the one dating Zuko."
She glanced at the fuming Fire Lord, who had that bottled irritation that raised his temperature ever so slightly.
She cuddled to him for his warmth and smiled. "Fair enough."
"Sokka," Aang said, touched by his friend's trust in him. He went to hug the warrior, even if it was unmanly.
He felt the breach underneath his feet. Aang spun and stopped the blunted slab of earth from striking his back.
"Toph!"
"Just checking, Twinkle Toes. You really have gotten better with your earthbending. That's what you'll have to be looking out for if you're going to be spending time with the mad princess, so stay sharp. Maybe you don't need me here to watch your back."
"I can feel your bottomless concern, Toph. Thanks so much."
"No problem." She paused, turning serious. "Aang, you know you don't have do this, right? Air Nomad philosophy, all life sacred and yada yada, I get it. But seriously, even you don't have to go this far. Not for Azula."
"It's because it's Azula that I have to go this far. Right then, I was the only person in a position to help her. How could I do any less?"
Toph's sightless eyes stared at the ground as she wore as pensive frown. Aang's heart beat steadily, without doubt. That stubborn, annoying conviction he got about his morals.
"You're… a good guy, Aang."
"Yes, he is." Katara stood up from her end of the chaise. Her arms were folded. "And that's what worries me."
Aang and Katara stood across from one another.
"A bloodless coup, you called it. But you and I both know that isn't true, Aang."
Aang winced, and felt the phantom pain on his back. He smiled weakly. "Well, you brought me back, so that doesn't really count, does it?"
"I can still feel your lifeless body in my arms, Aang. It counts."
The room went deathly silent at this.
"Do you think she wouldn't do the same thing again, if you give her the chance?"
"With her state of mind, I don't think there's anyone she wouldn't shoot with lightning."
"Sounds like a rabid eel-hound to me. Do they rehabilitate those, Aang?"
"Hey!"
Aang met her stare. "No, Katara. They kill them. Is that what you think I should do? Kill Azula?"
"I'd rather that than she hurt you again."
Aang blanched. He hated when Katara got like this. "Then as long as I don't get hurt, it'll be fine."
"You make it sound so easy, Aang."
"I could handle Azula even if she were in her right mind."
"She was fairly challenging before."
"I'm much stronger now."
"You owe her nothing."
Aang palmed his face. "I owe everyone everything! Every person who died wishing I hadn't disappeared. Every person who waited. Every person who inherited a war the Avatar was supposed to stop a century ago."
"You didn't break this world, Aang."
"But I have to pick up the pieces, Katara."
"And that includes Azula?"
"Yes."
"I don't want the pity you feel for a monster to get you killed!"
Ty Lee took a deep breath to refute that, but Aang's next words silenced her.
"She's not a monster," Aang said with firm strength.
"How can you be so sure?" Katara demanded, shouting now.
"Because I've seen it!"
Katara blinked, her anger and worry giving way to confusion.
Aang turned away from their standoff, from everyone in the room. His shoulders slumped.
"To take someone's bending away, to bend their energy, you have to look into their soul. You understand the very essence of who they are. There's no trick or bluff to pull off. No way to hide oneself. Not from this.
"When I faced Ozai during the comet, I looked into his soul. I saw him at his core. A guiltless, remorseless, homicidal fool, that sees the world and its people as things to be subjugated or destroyed. The whole of existence revolving around his own desires.
"I was going to do what the minister's wanted," Aang said. "I was convinced it was the right thing to do. For everyone, including Azula herself. Until I saw Azula's soul."
"What did you see?" Ty Lee asked in a near whisper. She was afraid to look at Azula's aura these days.
"A person drowning in unbelievable pain. Trying to come up for air, but getting dragged down every time. Pains with no outlet but violence and hate. Because she doesn't know any other way!
"Can you imagine living a life like that?" Aang asked, turning to face them. His eyes reflected anguish that was both his and not his. "Unable to find any fulfillment that didn't involve the suffering of others? Because that was what your father taught you? So you would be of use to him? Then tossed aside when you needed him most. I saw a girl frightened and in pain, screaming for help, but no one can reach her to pull her out.
"Of course Azula wants the war. Her family abandoned her. Her friends betrayed her. She doesn't know she has other things to live for besides conquest. It's the only cause that could give her life meaning. The only thing left she can grab onto to try to stay afloat."
"I-I didn't mean to," Ty Lee said, tears welling in her eyes. "It just happened so fast…"
Aang's head snapped up. He waved his hands in front of him. "No! I'm sorry, I was just speaking from… Azula's perspective. That's how she sees the world."
"You learned all that from enerybending?" Zuko asked, stunned. Aang seemed to understand Azula better than he did.
Aang nodded. "She's not alone, either. The people of the Fire Nation have been lead astray for a hundred years. Their culture and society twisted. Told their only purpose is to bring about a glorious revolution to the world by conquering it in the name of the Fire Lord. And that they should dedicate their entire beings to that cause. That's why there are so many still clamoring for it."
"And they see Azula as the best chance to make that a reality," Sokka pointed out.
"Yes," Aang said, nodding. A small grin formed on mouth. "But that also means if Azula were to accept peace as well, they might lose the will to continue fighting."
"Azula herself renouncing Sozin's will?" Zuko mused this. "That would certainly be helpful in quelling any further disruptions and fully unifying my people. They wouldn't have anyone of credible lineage to actually replace me with."
Zuko looked at him with guarded hope. "But is such a thing truly possible?"
Aang's smile blossomed fully now. "It is. Azula can become a great arbiter of peace for the Fire Nation. Right alongside you, Zuko."
"But why does it have to be you, Aang?" Katara asked. "Why do you have to give so much of yourself for this?"
"Katara," he said warmly, loving her for the concern she showed him. "When we found that village with the polluted river, you said that you would never turn away from people that needed your help. Right now, Azula needs mine. I…" His voice faltered. Looking at her, he found it again. "I can't leave her in that state. I won't."
Katara bit her lip. "I… alright, Aang. I can't ask you to abandon someone. Even if it's her." She smiled. "And I'll stay behind with you."
Aang smiled, delighted by the thought, then frowned. "But what about your trial to be recognized as a master?"
"There will be other trials. I'm sure Mater Pakku will understand. You'll need someone to watch over you."
Before he could say anything, Ty Lee threw her arms around him without warning. "Aang, thank-you so much! No one has ever spoken about Azula like that! Never! But I've always known she had good in her. It was always in her aura, just shrinking further as the years went by."
Aang smiled at her and patted her back. "There's good in her. It's just been smothered her entire life. But now she has a chance to let it out." He tried not to blush as Ty Lee was pressed rather bodily against him. He had thought he was an affectionate person.
He noticed the look Katara wore at the sight of them entangled. He gently pushed Ty Lee back.
"Are you sure you don't want us to stay, Aang?" Sokka asked.
Aang shook his shaved head. "I want you all to live your lives. You're as much symbols of hope to the world as I am. Seeing you out and about is bound to do more good than if you were cooped up here with me."
"Cooped up?" Zuko asked.
Sokka nodded. "The palace is pretty stifling for such a big place. Or maybe that's just the Fire Nation in general."
"It's the overbearing nature of high society and its demands. Why do you think I was so eager to leave my comfy home with this group of uncouth, smelly vagabonds?"
"Uncouth?"
"Smelly?"
"Vagabonds?"
Ty Lee, however, nodded vigorously. "Oh tell me about it! That why I joined the circus."
The knowledge that Katara would be with him both soothed and burdened Aang. He didn't want his decision to stand in the way of her dream; he knew how badly she wanted to be a waterbending master before they had left the South Pole. But he knew there was nothing he could say to sway her. Probably nothing anyone could say.
Aang had informed Suki and Ty Lee that he planned to visit Azula the next morning. He meditated, ate a light meal consisting of slightly over-ripened fruit, and completed his ablutions.
There were meetings to be conducted at noon, so he wanted to speak with her well beforehand. He owed Azula an explanation, and he didn't want her to feel that their conversation was rushed.
Her venomous glare set upon him the moment he stepped into the cell. It was surprising to see such anger, such hatred, directed toward him. People tended to like Aang. Especially these days.
At the very least he had been disarming enough to be dismissed. He considered himself friendly, and when trouble arose, when tension was in the air, Aang made efforts to diffuse the situation.
Azula felt nothing of the sort for him. It was pure hostility and the sting of it felt fresh every time he saw her.
"Avatar," she hissed, golden eyes giving him the harsh glare of the sun. "What is the meaning of this mockery?"
He bent himself a stool from the floor, this time a simple one. He seated himself.
"Mockery, Princess?" He would have much preferred to use her name, to build rapport, but he suspected she would find that overly familiar.
"The guards refuse to answer my questions. They keep saying you would explain to me. What is to be my fate, Avatar?"
"Custody of you will remain with the Fire Nation, Princess. There's no need to worry about the Earth Kingdom's demands."
"Then I am to be executed," Azula surmised, slowly nodding to herself. "I never thought Zuko would work up the nerve. Perhaps he will be a suitable Fire Lord. Will he do it himself? As royalty it would be above anyone else's station to take my life."
Aang gaped at her with growing horror as she spoke. "No! No one is killing you! Especially not Zuko. He agrees that you are in no condition to be a political hostage."
Azula sneered. "Ah! So when I find my sanity again then I will be shipped off."
Aang forced himself regain his calm. He had to always keep in mind whom he was dealing with.
"The matter of your involvement in the war has been settled."
"The other nations would never accept that. They'll be out for my blood. I humiliated them by taking their precious city." She leveled him with a viscous smirk. "And you as well, Avatar."
He found it difficult not to look away from such malice. But he had better start building up an immunity to it. "I convinced them," Aang said, offering her a smile. "I've told them that I'll personally oversee that you do not disrupt the peace we're working so hard for."
"You will oversee me?" Azula muttered.
"I'll be remaining in the Fire Nation until Zuko has a more firm grasp as Fire Lord."
The flames of the torches flicked with her anxiety. The princess swallowed, struggling to verbalize her thoughts. "Then you are going to…?"
Aang shook his head. "I convinced them it wouldn't be necessary." He bowed his head, showing her more of his tattoo. "I was gong to, but… when I realized how much damage it would do, I couldn't. I don't want you to think of it as a sword constantly hanging over your head."
She frowned, not comprehending. Her expression shifted between several shades of confusion, all the while burning holes into Aang, assessing him.
She settled on suspicion. "Why?"
"Because taking your bending would only hurt you. The last thing I want is to cause you more pain."
She adopted a visage of anger. "You take me for a fool. I am your enemy, Avatar. Why should my wellbeing concern you?"
Aang set his mouth into a hard line. "You told me to show you mercy, Princess. And I am."
They stared at one another.
Azula scoffed. "This is a trick. You have no reason to spare me."
He frowned, thinking. Azula was a person of calculation. Always looking for a motive. She seemed to believe that there must be some nefarious purpose behind sparing her a terrible fate, trying to suss the reason out and he couldn't follow her twisted logic. That was what Ozai had taught her, both in lessons and by example. Treachery, deceit.
Accepting that he was ignorant, Aang decided to have Azula tell him herself.
"To what end?" Aang asked.
"What?" she snapped.
"Why would I do that?" he asked, the picture of patience.
Azula grit her teeth. That question had been tumbling in her head ever since the Avatar had left her cell, her bending intact. Fear had prevented her from even trying to bend for several hours. But when she finally mustered the courage, the torches in her cell had bloomed ever so slightly.
Why wouldn't he simply take her power and be done with her? What was his greater scheme?
She would tear her hair out if her hands weren't restrained. The answer should be forthcoming to her. She was so good at reading people. The best. And the Avatar was hardly a man of mystery, with those open, honest eyes. He made an effort to hide nothing. The answer was there, it had to be. She simply couldn't see it. Why couldn't she see it? Tears of frustration pricked at her vision, but Azula fought them down.
She stared at him with slitted eyes. "You will reveal it to me in time."
He sighed. "The first thing you need to accept about this, Princess, is that there are people who genuinely want to help you. Who want the best for you. I'm only one of them."
"If you really want to help me, Avatar, then undo my bindings and set me free." She smiled sweetly at him. A disconcerting display, because if he didn't know her, didn't know what he was dealing with, it might have looked convincing. "No one has the power to stop you. My fate is yours to decide, after all."
"I can't do that."
Her sweet smiled died like a witting flower. "Because you're still afraid of me."
"I'm afraid for you. There's nothing I'd like more than to release you," Aang said, eyeing her restraints. "I hate seeing people locked up, even when it's for their own good. But even I know when it's needed."
"I don't need to be leashed and caged like some animal," she snarled.
She seemed rather feral to him. The animals from the zoo he'd created outside of the walls of Ba Sing Se were more docile.
Aang rubbed the back of his head. He considered her request, not fulfilling it, but the implications of loosing her bindings.
"What would you do?" he asked.
She blinked. "What?"
"If I freed you, right now. What would you do?"
Her eyes suddenly glimmered with possibilities. "Well, if you were to see fit to assist me in my divine ascent, then under that scenario, the two of us could take the world, Avatar." She seemed more engaged by the mental exercise than anything else they had discussed.
"You're right. I could help you. I could take Zuko's bending and put you on the throne. Leave him at your mercy."
Azula made a pleased sound as she relished the thought. "You certainly know how to sweet talk a lady, Avatar."
From the tone and look in her eyes, Aang had to suppress a shiver. He stayed focused. "I could do that, Princess. But it wouldn't make you happy, would it?"
His words doused the building fire in her eyes as befuddlement replaced ambition. "Happy?" she asked, saying the word as if she were tasting a new flavor she had never imagined.
"You had the throne. But from what I've heard, you were miserable. Living in paranoid isolation. Banishing everyone from your side until there was no one left to help you fight off your brother. What has changed since then?" Aang asked.
"Stop speaking as if you know of me, Avatar!"
Aang looked at her with sad eyes. "I know that you're in pain, and that you don't have a way to make it stop. So you reach out for the only thing that have ever brought you comfort: hurting others. But that will not complete you, Azula."
She bared her teeth at him. "I know exactly what would-"
"No," he exclaimed, the force of it stopping the princess cold. He had never interrupted her. Few had ever dared.
"If you killed me… killed Zuko. Took the throne. Restarted the war, and conquered the world. None of that would bring you happiness. Because you would still be alone, Princess. And that is what pains you most."
Azula shook her head in wide eyed horror. "You… you know nothing," she whispered. "Clearly you don't understand what loss means, not the way I do."
Aang stared at her. He thought of his people, all dead by the hands of those that shared Azula's ideals. The faces of slain monks burned behind his eyes. Gyatso's name was on the tip of his tongue, but he restrained himself.
This was not about him or his loses. Not about absolving his failings. It was about Azula.
"You've lost your nation, your throne, your identity. Everything you that gave you purpose in life."
She lifted her chin up, a defiant gesture to assert her dignity. Aang stared into the princess' molten eyes.
"So did Zuko," he said.
Azula froze, her mouth slightly ajar.
"Ozai disfigured him, disowned him, banished him from his homeland. And saddled him with a task thought impossible, with a vain hope to undo it all. He lost everything he valued. And it didn't break him. It made him stronger.
"Zuko has been disrespected, imprisoned, and blown up. You called him weak. But as I can see it, Zuko has withstood countless defeats and kept fighting. You, Princess, were undone by one."
"Zuko is weak!" Azula yelled, nearly shrieking. He had not imagined such a frantic tone from her. "He always has been! Too soft, too caring! I'm the strong one! If I had been at my best, I would have never lost to him and that filthy peasant!"
"Peasant?" Aang frowned. "You mean… Katara?"
He should have asked her something else, but the mention of the girl he loved distracted Aang.
"That pathetic waterbender merely tricked me. It's the only reason she is still alive."
Aang narrowed his eyes. "Katara is not pathetic."
Azula smiled as if she held Aang's soul in her teeth. "You should have seen her, Avatar, scampering in the shadows for fear of my power. I'm sure it must be hard for you to imagine."
"Not really," Aang said, an angry heat touching his words. "Sounds like Ozai to me. Since he ran and hid from me when he was at his strongest."
They beheld one another with hard stares. Aang looked away and sighed. He could not let her get to him like this. He had not promised his time and energy to Azula simply to bicker with her.
"Katara is strong, Azula. And I'm not just talking about her bending. She lost her mother to a Fire Nation raid when she was just a little girl. And despite how much it hurt, she did all she could for her family for years to come."
"A mother's love, how touching," Azula muttered. Her eyes seemed far away from him and that moment.
"You deride Zuko and Katara both, but they have strength that you do not."
"So you've come to mock me after all," Azula said in a flat tone. Her sporadic temper seemed to have tired her out.
"No, I'm telling you not to disparage them. Take their strength and make it your own."
She wore a cruel smile. "What strength do you see in those people, Avatar?"
"Trust. Maybe there were times they did try to endure their hardships alone. But what kept them fighting was accepting the people still in their lives, and it made them stronger. Katara had her brother, her father, her grandmother. Zuko had Iroh. And you-"
"And I have. No one," she cut him off with a biting tone. "I was betrayed by the only two I considered friends. One of them now wears the trappings of our enemy as her new attire. The other threw everything away for my brother over me. Traitors, both of them."
He thought it best to avoid discussing the trio specifically, as he wasn't sure where Mai stood. Ty Lee, he was certain, wholeheartedly wanted Azula to recover. But whether Mai shared the sentiment was unknown to him.
But she needed to know that she wasn't alone.
"You have me."
Azula snapped her head toward him fast enough he was worried she'd hurt herself. She could see the unfettered kindness in his eyes.
"You think I've fallen so low as to need the help of my enemy?"
"I am not your enemy, Azula." Aang chewed the words for a moment, then decided to come out with them. "And to be honest, I think you could use all the help you can get."
She gave him a bored stare. "And so you, with a heart of pure gold, have come to save the deposed princess."
Aang shook his head. "I can't save you, Azula. There are decisions that we have to make for ourselves, journeys that we have to take. I can only help you save yourself. But you have to learn to trust me. Trust that I want to help you."
"Trust is for fools, Avatar. Fear is the only way."
Aang glanced deliberately about the cell. "And where has fear gotten you, Princess?"
Azula merely glared at him with indignant rage.
Seeing that his point was made, Aang stood, once more dismissing his earthbent seat. "I want you to think about that until we next meet. You'll be returned to the institution shortly. I will see you there. I still have to attend the peace talks. We'll speak again soon, Princess."
The guards opened the door for him. Just before he stepped through, Azula's voice stopped him.
"I will recover from this, Avatar," Azula said, her words a cold vow. "You want me to make their strength my own? Overcome the obstacles before me? Oh, I shall. I will assert myself, and right the wrongs done to me."
Aang spoke without facing her. "As long as you're better. Become strong, Azula. Even stronger than you were before."
"And you will regret it."
"No, I won't," he said. Aang turned his head to look back at her. He smiled grimly. "Because I will always be here to stop you."
Katara couldn't help but worry. It was in her nature. Not in the same way that Sokka was skeptical to the point of absurdity. For her, it was an extension of her protectiveness. Everything she held dear had been under assault her entire life. It had only recently ended, her constant fear finally dying alongside the war.
Or so she had thought.
Now Aang made it his personal responsibility to 'rehabilitate' Azula, as Sokka put it. He had gallantly saved the princess, as was his wont.
Understanding the situation more now, Katara really couldn't have expected any less from the monk. It reminded her of his willingness to abandon safe voyage into the Earth Kingdom's capital to see a group of unfortunate strangers to safety.
She had to admit, she herself wouldn't wish such a fate on Azula. So of course Aang had to do what was in his power to help. His heart was too kind, too forgiving. Aang couldn't even bring himself to kill a loveless monster like Ozai. It wasn't out of his character to feel compassion for the daughter.
Katara likewise felt great pity for the princess. Of the myriad of unpleasant dreams and memories she'd garnered in the last year, the sight of Azula sobbing, chained down, screaming in fire… it horrified her more than most.
The first, most haunting memory, however, was Aang falling to the ground after Azula shot him in the back with lightning. And the smirk of satisfaction she wore as Aang died.
Her pulse began to race from the memory. Anger burned in her heart… No, it was stronger than mere anger. In the moments she recalled Ba Sing Se, Katara found herself truly hating Azula. Wanting her to suffer. Darker thoughts that she'd never had before. How dare she do that to Aang….
Aang, who now protected her.
She tried to move past it, as she had tried with Yon Rha, the coward firebender that murdered her mother. But once again she couldn't let it go, only smother the emotions. They festered inside her, ready to burst forth like an overfilled water skin.
She had to see for herself if Azula could be trusted. See how much of a threat she posed to Aang still. Katara may need to have choice words with the princess, just as she had with her brother, Zuko, when he had first joined their group. The fear and distrust were many times worse with Azula. Zuko, she could tell had, always been conflicted. Always at war with his conscience. She was unsure Azula even had one.
But she didn't want Aang to know she was going to speak with Azula. He would surely try to stop her, comfort her, assure her that it would be fine. And it might work, she knew. Aang might be able to dissuade Katara. And so she approached the one person she was certain would help her and keep it incognito.
"Hello, Ty Lee."
The bubbly girl paused her kata midway through a strike with her fan. It seemed she wanted to be a Kyoshi warrior in totality, not just name and appearance.
"Hi, Katara. Isn't it a beautiful day?" She continued with a flurry of wrist movement that made her fan look like the falling leaf from a metallic tree.
"Do you have a moment?"
Her fan snapped shut and was quickly stowed into her sash. "Of course. Need something?" Katara watched Ty Lee's hands, for fear of her chi blocking strikes. She might need to break that habit.
"Actually, I do. I need a favor."
"Sure, anything."
"I want to talk with Azula."
A weighty silence passed as Ty Lee processed the request.
The acrobat cleared her throat. "Let me make and addendum: anything but that."
"Please," Katara said, stepping closer. "It's important."
Ty Lee's eyes shifted away from Katara's intense stare. It reminded her a little too much of Azula. "Um, I usually leave the thinking to everyone else, but that sounds like a really bad idea."
"I just need to see her myself. To know that Aang will be okay. That she won't do to him what she did in Ba Sing Se." Katara folded her arms. "What you, Mai, and Zuko helped her do."
Ty Lee winced at the sting of guilt. She couldn't help but feel recall the tense exchange between the Avatar and the waterbender. The state Aang had been in after the fall of Ba Sing Se. Of course Katara was worried.
Biting her lip, Ty Lee nodded. "Alright. I'll take you. But you gotta stay calm! We're responsible for Azula's safety, you know?"
"It'll be fine, Ty Lee. And thank you."
Katara stared at the metal door for a long moment. She took a breath, then nodded to the Kyoshi warrior. They let her in to see the princess held prisoner.
She was exactly a ghost of the woman she had been. An imitation. Her immaculate appearance, even as she was chasing them down to kill them, had always unnerved Katara. But that perfection was gone now. It had been since before the comet.
"Azula."
Her eyes instantly flashed, her features twisting with unbridled hate. "Peasant," Azula spat.
Aang was trying to make peace with the fallen princess. Katara should help him. That was why she was staying behind. To look after him. But more than anything, she wanted a read on the princess. Was she truly capable of changing? Aang spoke so strongly of it that she wanted to believe.
"First the Avatar pesters me, and now you. Is his entire entourage of degenerate misfits going to file in one by one? How mad does a princess have to be to be left in peace?"
Katara felt the anger, but she surpassed it. That didn't mean she was going to let her bad mouth someone precious to her. "Pester you? Aang saved you out of the goodness of his heart. Without his intervention, you'd be on a ship headed for Ba Sing Se. You should be thanking him."
"I'm not thankful for being used; that is the role of peasantry. He's after something. I just haven't figured out his game. But I will." She smiled and tilted her head, staring at Katara from her peripheral. "Maybe he's just gotten bored with you and wants a better playmate?"
Katara wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Only you could attach such filthy motives to Aang's decision. Aang is kind beyond reason. We warned him, but he told us you have so much potential for change…" She narrowed her eyes. "He believes in you. Be happy someone does."
"Oh, the Avatar is defending me even to his friends? How gallant of him. He'd be much better off if he took your advice."
Katara bit her lip. "I'd like to think that he's right, Azula," Katara said softly, her voice unguarded. "All of us would."
Azula's sneer faltered.
"We were mostly against it. But… seeing you after the Agni Kai. No one should be in pain like that."
"Shut up, you filthy peasant! I need no reminders of my humiliation!"
"I just don't want anything to happen to Aang, Azula," Katara said, her eyes boring into the princess. "He's important to the world. Important to me."
Azula's glare slowly melted into a smirk.
"Are you perhaps afraid to lose him like you lost your mother?"
Ty Lee gasped.
Katara felt the blood in her veins stop. She took a step back as if the Azula's words struck her with a physical weight. "What did you just say?"
"Azula, stop!"
"You were young when she was purged, weren't you? My grandfather's work. Are you trying to protect the Avatar the way you couldn't protect mommy?"
Katara felt her thoughts and senses numbed by searing rage. The water skin at her waist began to roil, its contents eager to escape, be put to use. Her breaths came heavy, fast. She couldn't hold onto any one of them long enough to truly get what she needed.
"Would you happen to know the name of the soldier who did the deed? I don't quite have the sway I once did with our military, but I'll see to it they receive commendation for their service!"
"How," Katara said in a dry heave. She felt bile rising to her throat. "How DARE you!"
Her water streamed out of the pouch at her waist, forming a scythe blade made of ice. Katara reared her hand back, tears forming in her eyes.
"Go ahead," Azula said, not a hint of fear in her insane eyes. She tilted her head back, exposing her throat, making an irresistible target. "I'm sure the Avatar will be proud. Do what he and my idiot brother don't have the stones to and put us all out of my misery!"
A wordless shriek of mindless rage flew from Katara and she slashed her hand forward.
The careening scythe melted into a puddle of water as Ty Lee jabbed Katara twice in the arm. Katara barely noticed as she simply heaved in air. When the numbness finally registered, she looked at Ty Lee with betrayed eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I'm responsible for Azula. I can't let you hurt her." Ty Lee narrows her eyes at he princess. "Even if she deserves it."
Azula hummed. "That was rather satisfying to watch from this end."
Katara turned and bolted from the cell, battling with the door until the guards opened it. She ran from the dungeons, her mind filled only with thoughts of finding Aang.
Aang did tell Sokka and Katara that Zuko saved him, but he never told them specifically that Zuko was the Blue Spirit.
I'm glad I managed to update one week later. Got to keep up the pace.