Chapter 18 – The Long Day
Aang followed Zuko through the maze of corridors and although his airbending made him one of the fastest people in the world, it was difficult for him to keep the pace. Ahead the Fire Lord walked swiftly and confidently. His face was as closed as it was in the days when they were enemies, and the fury he saw on his features would have seemed frightening to anyone who didn't know him well enough to know what a sensitive and generous man was hiding beneath this angry mask.
The Sages probably wouldn't have agreed if they had been asked, the young Avatar thought bitterly. He could only speculate on what the Elders must have said to each other after he and Zuko left the Temple where their meeting had taken place.
Fortunately, Aang had been there to ease the tension. He preferred not to think about what Zuko would have done if he hadn't tempered his fury. He had to admit that he was impressed by Zuko's authority and charisma. When reminded of the awkward and worried young ruler who had sat on the Fire Throne five years earlier, Aang was seized by a dissonant mixture of pride, tenderness and concern.
Zuko no longer hesitated to make his own decisions, nor did he feel the need to justify all of his choices. He did not even seek advice from wiser ones than him on any political questions, even the most major. Aang supposed it was a good thing that Zuko was growing more confident. But as the situation evolved, this quality was becoming a matter of concern.
More than anything, Aang feared that he would one day have to be the one to put an end to the new Fire Lord's tyranny. The nightmares plaguing him for nearly two years -since Azula's return to be precise- did little to allay his worries.
More than once had he seen in a dream the terrible confrontation between Roku and Sozin, the odious betrayal of the latter while his predecessor fought with all his might against the raging elements, on the volcano where he lost his life.
In the early days of Zuko's reign, Aang had refused to think about it. Nothing could be worse than Ozai and he trusted Zuko absolutely. He was so convinced of his good intentions, that he did not imagine that the young firebender could one day follow his ancestors' steps.
But the way he had spoken to the Sages today, the threats he had made against them… These were not the words of the philanthropic and wise leader he thought he knew. These were the words of a despot.
It was Aang who had the idea to give the Fire Sages the power to control any possible authoritarian drifts by the Fire Lord. He had whispered this idea to Zuko at the time when the latter was still tormented by the memory of his bad actions and when he kept demanding Aang to promise to end his life if he ever happened to turn out like his father.
Following in Ozai's footsteps was Zuko's worst fear. Yet they couldn't have been more different, right?
In front of him, Zuko accelerated further.
"Wait for me, Zuko!" Aang cried out.
"Hurry up!" Answered the impatient voice of his friend who had just disappeared around the corner of a new corridor. "I don't want Azula to be alone for too long."
"Toph is watching her, you don't have to worry!" He tried to reassure him.
Zuko didn't answer. Aang had no choice but to follow suit.
Azula, Azula, Azula… Zuko only had one thing in mind.
They hadn't had time to talk about Zuko's interrupted confession in the practice yard, when he confessed to them that he had let things go out of hand with Azula recently. The horror of what they had discovered next had momentarily driven all further thought from their minds. A little ashamed, Aang had to admit having hoped that Azula's crime would have turned Zuko away from her, that he would have opened his eyes to her true nature.
When would Zuko finally put an end to this unhealthy obsession?
The Fire Lord was ready to start a war and to risk the ire and distrust of the Sages. What they were suggesting, however, was not so unreasonable. None of them had the impudence to propose the princess' imprisonment, even less to condemn her. They just wanted to keep her away for a while, to deprive her, temporarily at least, of her status as Crown Princess. Zuko was surrounded by enemies. The possibility of one or more assassination attempts on his person could not be excluded.
The Sages had spoken to them again about the small groups advocating for Azula's return to the throne. The latter were closely watched by Zuko's secret services, but action on their part could not be ruled out. Moreover, it was very bad for the popularity of the Fire Lord to let Azula's action go unpunished. Sooner or later the soldiers would learn what had happened to the son of one of their commanders. And what would happen then?
Zuko had immediately overreacted.
"You cowards! I know what you are really thinking! The moment that I have stripped Azula of her crown, you will demand my abdication! Thus, it would prevent you from having to swear allegiance to her and you will finally have the opportunity to get rid of her, and of me, all at once!"
The Sages had denied of course. Shyu, the Great Sage who had helped Aang enter the Temple years before, exchanged a worried look with the Avatar and was quick to reassure Zuko: after all, the Fire Lord had not broken any constitutional rules; they had no reason to take such extreme measures. The Sages relied on the wisdom of the Avatar they claimed to serve, for that was their ancestral role.
Aang was divided: he would have liked to affirm that he had no doubt about the moral integrity of the Sages. But the old men had so fiercely opposed any societal and progressive reform in recent years that he himself found it hard to appreciate their wisdom, Shyu aside. So he could understand Zuko's paranoid behavior. This was not, however, a reason for reassurance. There were loopholes in the laws they had drafted together; Zuko, the Sages and himself, a few years before. Several articles were open to interpretation.
Aang must have used his Avatar status and his friendship with the Great Sage to convince the Elders to give Azula a delay, until she got better.
He had promised to find a solution to accelerate her recovery himself, and he had vouched for the princess. He would personally take care of watching her while waiting for her guilt to be proven or ruled out. He was already wondering how he was going to honor this promise from Omashu where he had planned to go the next day. But the situation was even more serious than he had thought at first. The Avatar's presence was required here. He could still send Sokka and Suki to find Iroh in the legendary city.
This had reassured the Sages a little. But not Zuko who, the moment Aang had made this commitment, darted at him with a hard and hostile gaze.
Aang was sure his disapproval went beyond a simple matter of pride. He knew that Zuko didn't like people interfering in his private affairs or making decisions for him. But the expression he had seen in his friend's golden eyes... It wasn't just the outrage, or even the hurt pride of a ruler challenged in his authority. On the long way back to the palace, Aang had wondered what it was. But he could have spared himself all this reflection because when they reached the palace gates, Zuko slammed him violently against the wall and looked at him threateningly. Too stunned to react, Aang only stared, eyes wide open, at his friend's face, contorted with rage.
"I want to make a few things clear, Aang. You may be the Avatar and one of my best friends, Azula is my sister, my problem! Officially, you are responsible for her, but I want to be sure that there is no misunderstanding between us: no one, not even you, approaches her in my absence. You take care to bring order to my nation and me, I take care of Azula."
"Zuko…" Aang swallowed hard when he was back from his stupor. "Do you really think I would try to hurt her?"
Zuko didn't answer. His golden eyes searched for Aang's gaze and pierced his for a long time. Finally, he bluntly released him and resumed his walk.
Aang couldn't believe it. It took him a few seconds to catch his breath. This time he had no more doubts. Zuko wasn't worried that Aang would hurt Azula or neglect her protection. It wasn't like an enemy that he had looked at him, but like…
A rival.
Did he really fear that Aang was willing to get closer to Azula? That he'd try something with... her?
Azula is mine. Stay away from her! This was what Aang had read in his friend's fiery gaze and clenched jaw.
He would have liked to talk about it with him, but Zuko was already too far ahead.
They were now in the hallway leading to the royal family's private apartments and in the distance Aang could make out two familiar figures stationed outside Azula's door.
Toph was still there and had been joined by Katara. As soon as he reached them, Zuko inquired about Azula.
"No problem!" Toph replied as Aang walked up to them, out of breath. "Very-dear-Princess hasn't left her room and she's sleeping peacefully. We didn't hear her wiggle a toe! So what did the old goats say?"
Seeing that Zuko was clearly not in an explanatory mood, Aang conveyed the latest news himself.
He read in Katara's ultramarine eyes the anguish and doubts that assailed him. Yet it was with her usual, benevolent and reassuring tone that she spoke, placing a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder:
"That's good news, isn't it? This will give us some time to prepare her defense. Toph told me that Azula was sick. We will put her back on her feet, Taïma and I, I promise you. Meanwhile, you, Sokka, and Aang will prepare for her defense."
"What about me, am I counting for nothing?" protested Toph who had listened to her, casually leaning against the door, both hands crossed behind her head.
"I'm not saying that!" Katara replied, obviously irritated.
Aang realized that they must already be arguing before they arrived.
"It's just that with your frankness and your temper a little... fiery, I don't think you're the best person to handle such a delicate situation."
"Oh, yes? I'm too boorish to help Zuko, right? And since when is it the Sugar Queen who rules the Fire Nation?"
"That's not what I'm saying!" Katara said instantly. "But Azula needs real care! And the boys will have to write a text! As far as I can remember, you still can't read, nor write! Please let me know if I'm wrong!"
Eager not to be involved in their argument, Aang looked away. He had long since given up interfering in their childish arguments. Either way, it never got very far. He had learned to dodge the pieces of rocks and the shards of ice that sometimes flew in the path of the two girls.
"Here is, take that, Miss-I-decide-everything!"
A cubic stone had come out of the ground, turned on itself, and flew straight to Katara who responded by generating a curtain of ice against which the pavement crashed violently. The ice shattered and the sound of thousands of crystals falling on the stone floor echoed through the deserted room.
"You two, stop right now! Do you not have any respect?" Zuko yelled fiercely. "My sister is there, on the other side! She's very sick and she needs to rest! Looks like it doesn't matter to you!"
"Excuse us, Zuko, we weren't thinking..." Katara apologized timidly. "We just wanted..."
"I don't care about your stupid quarrels and your corny problems! You don't understand anything of what I'm living through now! You're there to help me but from the start you haven't moved a toe! It's still the same chaos in the colonies! Outside, small groups of fanatics are stirring up the anger of my citizens! The Sages want my head! My wife doesn't trust me anymore and thinks I'm cheating on her with my own sister! And Azula is… Azula has gone crazy again! She burned a poor guy's face, just like that, because he had… I don't even know why! And you, you stupid peasants, you are there with your sickening concern, pretending to want to help us, but I know what you really think!"
He was screaming now and Aang bit back the retort that burned on his lips. If Azula hadn't been awakened by the sound of the fight between Toph and Katara, her brother's vociferations must have done it.
He didn't need to say anything though. Katara's gaze suddenly darkened and her usually very soft features changed. A terrifying expression crossed her sapphire eyes. Katara had given that look only once at Aang since they'd been together, and he had hoped he'd never see that angry air on her pretty face again. Fire was a destructive element, but one too often forgot that it was water that had the power to put it out.
"How dare you?" She burst out. "We all came here, we gave up everything we were doing, everyone we love, to come and help you! Our grandmother is sick, I don't even know if she will still be there when we get home!"
Silver beads escaped Katara's eyes at that moment. She wiped them away with a rageous gesture and continued:
"And this is how you thank us? By making bodyguards out of us, or by locking us in a laboratory to find a remedy for the incurable disease of your crazy sister. And to relieve a poor guy whom she completely disfigured! How can you talk to us like that when we have crossed half the globe just to help you and fix your mistakes! You're about to start a war for the beautiful eyes of this weirdo who tried to kill all of us at least once. So I think she can stand to be disturbed during her nap!"
They all stood there, paralyzed, including Zuko. Aang had never seen Katara so angry, except when she left with Zuko on Appa's back to find her mother's killer.
He stood ready to intervene, his stick in hand. In the corner of his eye, he saw Toph's figure placed in a fighting stance. But to his great relief, it wasn't necessary. Aang wasn't sure he could keep his calm if Zuko went after Katara.
The Fire Lord opted for wisdom, which was rare enough -for him- to be noted. Still, the Avatar didn't like the shadow that had just passed over his face, nor the glow that shone in his dilated pupils.
"We'll talk about this later." He warned, his brow furrowed so hard one could barely make out his eyes in his marble face. "Azula must be awake now. You, stay here just in case... I'll see how she's doing."
To his left, Aang could hear Katara's jerky breath. She was out of her, her blue eyes, full of angry tears, flashed in Zuko's direction. Toph, next to them, remained strangely mutic and Aang was sure she was silently admiring the young waterbender's outburst.
Standing next to his friends, he watched Zuko carefully turn the doorknob and stealthily enter the room plunged in semi-darkness. The first light of the day filtered through the window frames. The atmosphere was strangely peaceful and silent despite the shapeless heaps littering the ground here and there. Aang stepped forward but Zuko appeared in the doorway and barred his way, defiantly hardening his features.
"Stay here. It's up to me to go."
The tone was measured but beneath the apparent calm the warning was all too clear.
Aang stepped back, his face as dark as his friend's. Zuko closed the door in front of him before he could glance at the bed.
The three of them stood there, Aang, Toph and Katara, not daring to look at each other and they all jumped at the same time when the door opened again and Zuko suddenly reappeared in front of them, his face emptied of all his colors, the corners his mouth falling strangely to either side of his jaw, eyes wide-open.
"Azula is no longer there. She's gone." He announced blankly.
Aang felt his entrails liquify and thought he heard a ringing in his ears. His fingers closed like talons around his stick.
The two girls looked just as stunned. Toph was visibly dismayed to have failed such a simple mission. Their eyes went from Zuko to Aang and from Aang to Zuko.
Brown eyes met golden ones, and with a simple nod, Aang followed Zuko into the deserted room. The latter drove him to a heavy tapestry which he lifted. Behind which they found a wooden door that led to a stone staircase leading down to an underground tunnel. Aang glanced at the bedroom window which was closed from the inside and returned his attention to the secret passage. Azula must have been there.
If the Fire Princess was really wandering outside, relapsing, then it would be a long day for sure.
Dawn had barely unfolded its pastel colors and the morning dew still clung to the leaves of the trees surrounding the palace. To the west, the sky was still tinted in a deep blue, for a few more minutes, while to the east, pink and blue clouds haloed by a gold rim stained the horizon. The pleasant morning freshness Ty Lee felt on her cheeks would make the atmosphere breathable for the next two hours. Then it would again be the terrible heat of a scorching July in the Fire Nation.
Ty Lee loved her country, but she missed the milder, more temperate marine climate of Kyoshi Island. She could have enjoyed the idea of going to the sea the next day to find her comrades, but the feeling of bitterness prevailed for now. The certainty that she was abandoning Azula at her worst kept her from rejoicing.
Azula hadn't seemed to care about Ty Lee the last few days and no longer insisted on holding her back, but Ty Lee knew it was when she looked strongest that the princess was most vulnerable.
She hadn't had the time or the courage to see her since her horrible discussion with Hikaru the day before in the tavern. What could she have said to her anyway?
I know what you did. You disfigured a man. You're crazy, you're a monster.
She hadn't wanted to see Kojiro, even after Hikaru's suggestion. His disturbing description was enough. When she had regained her ability to speak, Ty Lee had asked him if he knew what had happened. Azula couldn't have attacked him for no reason, could she?
According to Hikaru, Kojiro had been unconscious most of the time since his assault, numbed with shock, insane pain and by heavy sedatives. Many witnesses claimed to have seen Azula sitting astride Kojiro, screaming insane words, shouting in a shrill voice, "For the Fire Lord! For the Fire Lord!"
Did she do it for Zuko? Did Kojiro have the recklessness to criticize him in front of Azula, or to laugh, once again, at the rumors that were circulating about an alleged incestuous relationship between the Fire Lord and his crazy little sister? Was Azula so mentally disturbed and so madly in love with Zuko to react with such violence?
Apparently, Zuko did not know more about it, and it was not to ask her for an explanation that he had summoned her the day before, in the morning.
Intimidating and majestic on his throne, seated behind the wall of flame he had generated around him, he had glared hard at Ty Lee, when she had bowed down to the curtain of fire that separated them.
She had been unable to defend herself or justify her actions when he had sharply criticized her for her irresponsible behavior. What went through her mind? Taking the princess to the streets of the Capital! To introduce her to strangers! She had put Azula's life and honor in danger. It was an unforgivable failure.
"I could have you locked up for high treason," he told her. "I'll be lenient, in recognition of your efforts to help Azula. But I don't want to see you with her anymore. You have a terrible influence on her. She is a princess, and the fact that you have renounced your virtue and your own honor does not entitle you to deprive Azula of hers. You will return to your island tomorrow. I gave orders. Your boat will leave at noon. I don't want you to see my sister again before you go."
There, Ty Lee had wanted to protest. Azula wouldn't understand if she left like this, without a word for her. She would surely be mad with rage! But Zuko had remained unrelenting.
Could she at least say a word to Mai?
No.
Head bowed, Ty Lee had left the throne room and then the palace. She had spent part of the day walking along the coast and had found refuge in a small, deserted cove where she came to play as a child with her sisters. She thought she remembered having been there once with Azula, Zuko and Princess Ursa. Or maybe it was another beach? That day, Azula had given her a demonstration of firebending and Ty Lee still remembered the feeling of jealousy that had gripped her heart as she gazed at the orange flames her friend made appear out of nowhere, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"If you show me how you walk on your hands," the princess had said, "I'll show you how I bend fire!"
But despite her best efforts and deep concentration, Ty Lee hadn't even managed to generate the smallest spark. Azula had laughed at her and when Ty Lee came back, in tears to Ursa, the latter had berated Azula, "It's not nice to brag, Azula."
Then, turning to Ty Lee, she wiped her tears away and told her that some people were born with gifts and some not. She herself didn't master any element, but that hadn't prevented her from becoming a princess, she added with a smile.
Ty Lee was very fond of Princess Ursa and often wondered what could have caused such a loving mother to abandon her children overnight.
Since then, Ty Lee had learned to accept that she would never be a firebender. And that no longer bothered her. Azula was perhaps lucky to have been born with such a gift. But this talent for mastering the flames did not predispose her to happiness. Her sad existence was sufficient proof of that.
Today, Azula was barely the shadow of the mischievous little girl and the proud teenager she had known. Trials, disillusionment, and illness had scarred her. And after what she had done to poor Kojiro, after this disgusting comedy with Zuko, Ty Lee was not sure she would find the strength to support her again. She had wanted to help Azula, sincerely, but she failed. She doubted now that it was even possible. You couldn't help a person like Azula. She couldn't do anything for her friend anymore.
And Mai, whom she hadn't seen privately more than twice since her return. Mai who looked at her with contempt and spoke to her only in an icy tone...
Yes, better to return to her island. That's where her life was, with the other girls. It was infinitely easier to be friends with someone like Suki.
Just as she thought of her, the young warrior appeared in the training yard, smiling despite the dark circles under her eyes and her slightly pale complexion, devoid of the ritual makeup they usually wore.
"Already up?" She asked Ty Lee who was brooding over her dark thoughts sitting on the stands. "I thought it was a propriety of the firebenders to wake up at dawn!"
She stretched. The movement lifted the bottom hem of her tunic and revealed the soft swell of her stomach and Ty Lee smiled.
"Morning sickness?"
"How did you know?" Suki sighed as she joined her on the stands, her eyes raised to the sky. "The midwife tells me it should be over by now, I'm almost five months gone. When it isn't nausea that pulls me out of bed, it's insomnia or bladder problems! But she also affirms that it is undoubtedly because it is a powerful warrior!" She added with a tender smile, a hand resting on her stomach.
"I can't wait to meet your baby!" Ty Lee said enthusiastically. "Hope it will be a girl! She can join our group!"
"Sokka is hoping for a boy to take him hunting in the frozen southern steppes." Suki replied, rolling her eyes again. "As if a girl couldn't do that! But in truth, I think above all that he is afraid of being surrounded by a band of Kyoshi warriors!"
They exchanged a smile and fell silent, savoring the moment of calm and the morning chill before the oppressive heat of the day. At this hour, the worries seemed less concrete, almost unreal. The rosy glow of dawn and the golden fringe that traced the outline of the wispy clouds provided a calming spectacle.
Suki broke the silence, much to the regret of Ty Lee who would have liked this moment of calm and serenity to continue.
"So, are you leaving today?"
"Yes, at noon. Zuko had my things packed… I take the first boat that leaves for Kyoshi."
Suki's purple eyes darkened and took on an indigo hue. Her voice dropped an octave when she spoke, "I find it deeply unfair. After everything you've done for Azula..."
"I understand. He worries about his sister. But I'm sad to have to leave like this… I never imagined it would end so badly."
Ty Lee had spoken with Suki the day before about her meeting with Zuko. She and Sokka had been indignant at the Fire Lord's decision, but she had refused all their offers to intervene.
"Did you go to see Azula anyway?" Suki asked.
"No." Ty Lee replied, her eyes clouding with tears. "I just wanted to explain it to her... so she wouldn't think I was abandoning her again. Ah!"
She stood up and pulled a slightly crumpled envelope from the inside pocket of her tunic, which she handed to Suki.
"Can you please give this to her if you see her? Please, I know that I demand a lot and that you don't like Azula but it's important for me."
She gave Suki one of those pleading looks only she knew, and the young warrior couldn't help but smile at her.
"Sure, give that to me!" she said, holding out her hand.
"Thank you! You know, if I had known that things would turn out like this, I..."
But she stopped.
Was it a trick of her imagination? Or an illusion due to the twinkling of the rising sun which was reflected on the windows of the palace? She couldn't say but Ty Lee could have sworn she saw a fleeting flash of lightning. She took a step forward and narrowed her eyes to get a better look, when Suki suddenly threw herself on top of her and pinned her to the ground.
"Ty Lee, be careful!"
She had the fleeting vision of a blue lightning streaking the sky, of an indistinct crimson shape and a curtain of black hair; then she was forced to close her eyes so as not to be blinded by the torrent of dazzling azure flames which finished their run just where she had been a second earlier.
An explosion sounded near her, and her ears ringed for a moment. Ty Lee thought she heard Suki's voice in the distance shouting something at her and she felt a hand shake her unceremoniously.
"Get up Ty Lee! We can't stay here; she's going to kill us! Hurry up!"
She?
Ty Lee forced herself to open her eyes and sat up straight. The sight she discovered left her speechless.
How could the peaceful landscape she was gazing at with Suki a minute earlier have turned into such hell?
They were surrounded by blue flames higher than themselves. There was no way out.
"Ty Lee! Use my hands as support!" Suki yelled, beside her.
Ty Lee understood what she wanted but she refused to leave Suki alone in this ring of fire.
"No! I'm not leaving you here!"
"The fire will go out on its own! There is nothing for it to spread to, and I have enough space to breathe until then! Do what I tell you, it's an order. We have to stop her!"
Ty Lee took a deep breath and, full of a fierce determination, she stepped back to gain momentum. She ran to Suki whose hands were cupped, jumped, leaned on her friend's open palms, and performed an impressive frontal somersault that propelled her over the wall of flame. She landed on the dusty floor of the practice yard, on the other side of the wall, and found herself facing Azula.
Her friend was unrecognizable. Dressed in a crumpled crimson tunic, hair loosened and terribly tangled, traces of black kohl smearing her cheeks, she stood in front of Ty Lee. Her bust heaved at an abnormal rate. Her face was twisted in a grimace of pure hatred, her white teeth clenched together between her scarlet lips. In her amber eyes danced a demented glow that Ty Lee hadn't seen in a long time.
"Azula! What's wrong?" She cried as she walked over to her.
But a flash of light, directed at her feet, forced her to dodge by rolling to the side.
The princess gave a howl of rage and made a lance of fire appear in her hand. She walked over to Ty Lee, who thought she saw death dancing in Azula's eyes.
Ty Lee was still on the ground, too shocked to react. Azula approached again and when she was on top of Ty Lee, she brandished her weapon.
"Azula! Stop it! It's me, Ty Lee! Azula, you recognize me, don't you?"
"All I see is a vile traitor! A dirty, little traitor! You were right, father! She's been lying to me all this time! She deserves her punishment!"
Reflexively, Ty Lee glanced over Azula's shoulder, almost expecting to see Ozai's tall figure and stern face loom behind her, leaning over her to whisper his orders into her ear.
"You said you were my friend! I trusted you!" Azula yelled, her voice broken with both anger and sorrow. "But all this time you were plotting with them! Since my birth you have done everything in order to destroy me!"
Behind Azula, a new wall of fire appeared and Ty Lee, for the first time in her life, knew what terror really was. Surrounded by blue flames that devoured the sky, her flaming spear in hand, Azula was terrible. A thought suddenly crossed Ty Lee's mind, dreadful, terrifying.
What if she burns my face? What if she disfigures me like poor Kojiro?
At that moment, Azula threw herself abruptly on Ty Lee with a roar of fury. Fortunately, the young acrobat managed to roll onto her side and the spear landed inches from her face. This gave Ty Lee time to leap to her feet and get into a fighting stance.
"What are you going to do without your little fans? Do you think you can challenge me? You don't have a chance against me!"
Azula had turned to her. She had made the fire lance disappear and Ty Lee could now see the electricity forming around her clenched fists.
"Azula, please! It's me, it's Ty Lee! I love you; you know that!"
"Liar!" Azula yelled, in a shrill voice. "LIAR! I know what you did! You told Mai everything! And you told everything to Zuko too! From the start you plotted to separate me from him! You want to steal him from me, right? You all want to steal him from me!"
"Azula!" Ty Lee shouted out of breath, one hand thrust forward to keep her from advancing, the other resting on her side. "I don't understand what you're talking about!"
"LIAR!" Azula repeated. And as she screamed that word, a jet of flame escaped from her mouth. Ty Lee assumed it was unintentional as the fire died quickly, as soon as it hit the ground, a good distance from Ty Lee.
The princess's figure was now surrounded by lightning crackling around her, eager to be directed at their target. Feeling her last hour coming, deprived of any possibility of retreat, Ty Lee closed her eyes.
But the pain she had expected did not come. Behind her tightly closed eyelids, Ty Lee heard the impact of a body falling to the ground and a cry of pain and indignant surprise.
She opened her eyes to find Suki who had managed to escape from the ring of fire where Azula had imprisoned them. She had thrown herself on Azula whom the power of the blow had thrown against the ground.
Suki rushed over to Ty Lee to ask how she was doing. The princess took the opportunity to get up. The wall of fire behind Ty Lee began to lower and the two Kyoshi warriors, after a sharing a knowing look, leapt over the flames and set off running in opposite directions, to flee Azula's wild and unpredictable attacks. She now seemed to throw flames and lightning randomly.
Ty Lee managed to hide behind a pillar in the gallery that bordered the courtyard and took the opportunity to catch her breath. Her throat was extraordinarily dry, and her heart was pounding furiously in her chest, as if trying to get away.
"No point in hiding, little bitches! I'll get you both!" Azula yelled in the middle of the courtyard.
Where was Suki? She had to make sure that her friend had been able to hide too. With tears in her eyes, Ty Lee let out a sob and tried to regain her composure. But at that moment, a scream caught her attention, freezing her entrails. She turned and saw Suki, on the ground, at the Azula's mercy. The mad princess approached her, looking threatening.
She had to stop her. She had to block her chi before Azula had time to generate a lethal lightning bolt. Suki raised her large pleading purple eyes to the princess.
"Azula!" she implored in a scared little voice, "Please… My baby…"
Azula's crazy eyes then slid down from Suki's face to her abdomen, then back to her face. A cruel smirk stretched her red lips and Ty Lee, seized by dread, knew what was going to happen.
She wouldn't arrive in time. Her heart contracted violently in her chest when she saw Suki's terrified gaze, which visibly came to the same conclusions. The young woman closed her eyes and hugged her stomach in a desperate attempt to protect the little life inside.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion: Azula stretched two fingers towards Suki's slightly plump belly and Ty Lee had time to glimpse the lightning that intertwined around her wrists, like tiny luminous snakes that crawled, crackling towards the tips of her fingers.
Ty Lee dived to pin Azula to the ground but in her haste, she had jumped too early and landed heavily on her stomach at least three feet from the princess.
"No, Azula, no!" she begged her, "Don't do that!" She pleaded, crawling towards them.
Azula released her tremendous energy. A sinister crunch cut through the air and Ty Lee closed her eyes so as not to see what was following.
It was screams and a particular commotion that prompted her to reopen them. She looked up, terrified at the dreadful sight she was about to discover and, totally stunned, saw Suki, very much alive but trembling all over her body, still sitting on the floor, her hand raised in front of her in a desperate attempt to protect herself. Right next to her, a still smoking hole dug and blackened the dirt floor, where the lightning had fallen, only a few inches from its target.
Azula never missed her mark. Dazed, Ty Lee turned her head in the direction from which the cries of rage were coming.
Azula was behind a stone wall that had appeared out of nowhere, standing in a precarious balance, her two feet buried up to the knees by two mounds of earth which held her prisoner.
With a sob of relief, Ty Lee, still prone on the ground, saw Toph and Katara appear in front of her. Katara walked around the wall to help a distraught Suki to get back on her feet as Toph, with both feet firmly planted in the ground, threw her hands forward, in perfect harmony with her element: all around her, large stones whirled, ready to be directed towards her opponent.
Azula had nearly fallen when her ankles suddenly found themselves trapped, but she quickly regained her balance and already, two discs of fire were circling dangerously around her hands, ready to strike her enemy.
"Toph!" Ty Lee yelled to warn her of the danger.
At that moment, a huge wave burst out of nowhere and hit the ground, where the princess was. The two discs of flame disappeared and Azula was thrown back onto her back, her body twisting oddly because of the rock shackles that still held her legs.
Ty Lee turned her head to the left: Katara was standing a little further away, in a fighting posture, looking determined and ready for another attack.
Ty Lee took the opportunity to get up and ran to the princess who was coughing and spitting water, her wet hair stuck to her face.
She reached her and when her hazy eyes met Azula's demented gaze, she felt like a dagger had been stabbed in her heart.
Her friend was gone.
There was no longer any trace of the hurt young woman who had thrown herself into her arms a few weeks before to seek comfort; nor of the friend who had squeezed her hand by the canal as she watched the luminous lanterns rise in the summer sky. Nothing more of the girl who had agreed to paint the lanterns of the little brats of the Capital that very same evening.
Only a raging fury, a wild beast.
A dragon… she thought. A deadly and magnificent azure dragon whose wings had been cut off.
Tears in her eyes, leaning over her friend, Ty Lee braced herself. She had promised herself that she would never come to this end again. But Azula left her no choice.
Her voice broke under the weight of grief as she whispered these words:
"I'm sorry Azula. I love you."
Azula closed her eyes and Ty Lee saw two big tears forming at the edges of her eyelids, as if she understood. Then, Ty Lee's expert hand hit the acupuncture points that would temporarily block the princess's chi, crippling her for the next few hours.
As soon as it was over, she looked away so as not to see the accusing gaze the princess was darting at her. The others ran up to them and Ty Lee stood up and took a few steps back to let them deal with Azula who started yelling insults at them and commanded them to leave her alone.
The sense of dread that could be heard in her shrill voice made Ty Lee feel like her heart was being crushed and she collapsed to the ground, a few feet away, plunging her face into her hands, her whole body shaken with violent tremors.
"What's going on here?" A voice shouted to Ty lee's right.
Beside her, a man ran past, raising a cloud of dust in his path.
Ty Lee looked up and saw General Kadao rushing towards the small group of girls, looking panicked. She had the impression that it all only concerned her from afar and she jumped in surprise when two hands closed gently on her shoulders.
"Come on, it's over." Mai's calm, benevolent voice whispered into her ear. "Come with me, I'll take you back inside. You did right."
Ty Lee decided to let herself be guided, too upset to protest. She accepted the helping hand her friend extended to her and straightened up.
Mai dragged her away from the courtyard from which one could hear the long, hoarse and heartbreaking sobs of the princess who still lay on the dusty ground and tried to struggle in vain, judging by what Ty Lee could hear.
It seemed to her that the sound of her tears echoed against the marble columns and she heard them ringing for a long time in her ears, long after Azula was silent and she was transported to a safe place, where she could no longer hurt anyone.
"LET ME THROUGH!" A voice shouted from the other side of the armored door which gave access to the long corridor leading to the dungeons. "Open up, I'll kill her! I'm going to kill her with my own hands this fucking crazy bitch!"
Zuko, who had hesitated for a moment in front of the door of one of the underground cells, jumped and turned away sharply when he heard the loud voices. It took him a few seconds to identify its owner. He would never have imagined that such a rage, such a ferocious hatred could emanate from Sokka. His friend had always been the soul and the life of the group. He was the one who eased tensions thanks to his good mood and optimism, the one who settled conflicts and gave them hope in the darkest moments.
There was a great commotion on the other side and Zuko guessed that the guards were restraining Sokka. Katara and Toph's voices also rose, apparently trying to reason with him.
"Let go of me! I will kill her, I tell you! She tried to kill my wife and my baby!"
Zuko's heart contracted painfully in his chest, and he almost forgot the wild beast's cries that came from the padded cell where Azula had been locked in and in front of which he was standing.
Zuko suddenly felt very old and very tired. He simply wanted to run away from all this commotion, lie there, curled up on the stone floor of the dungeons, and sleep, sleep until someone came to wake him up and assure him that it was just a horrible nightmare, that Azula was fine and waiting for him in the garden for their daily walk.
She would greet him, with that slightly sly smile as disturbing as it was charming and would coo reproaches for having kept her waiting. After just a few steps, she would stealthily slip her arm under Zuko's and stand there without a word, cheeks a little pink. She would patiently listen to him complain about his ministers and the visitors who came to make their grievances to him. She might laugh and offer him her valuable advice while teasing him about his lack of leadership skills. Perhaps he would retort something unpleasant, and she would pretend to be upset. They would then walk side-by-side in silence and Zuko would have pulled her out of her sulk by nudging her gently, or, if he was in a gallant mood, bending down to pick some fire lilies for her. She would then accept the flowers with a look full of disdain.
It was a little childish game he was willing to indulge in to please her. A way like any other to communicate with Azula. And he didn't care about those who didn't like it..
Another violent knock echoed against the metal door, just behind him, and roused Zuko from his reverie. The precious memory of those passed out moments shattered, as if a rock had been thrown against a glass wall. Reality got the better of him and he was there again, all alone, in that sinister corridor, lit by a few torches, forced to witness the mental decline of his little sister, to suffer the wrath of his best friend, to recognize the extent of the disaster to which all this had led them.
On the one side, his friend, transformed by rage; on the other, his mad sister, who threw herself against the door of her cell and shouted threats and insults. More than anything he feared that she would get hurt and could only congratulate himself on having had this cell padded a few weeks before Azula's return, in anticipation of possible episodes of dementia. They had never used it before. Indeed, even the most spectacular crises that had struck Azula in the months following her return from asylum looked rather minor beside this new breakdown. The poor creature that screamed like a beast on the other side of the door had nothing left of the elegant, poised young woman with the subtle intelligence he had grown to love.
Before being interrupted by Sokka's rage, Zuko had listened, heartbroken, to his little sister's poignant struggle against the physical and psychic bonds that held her. She was able to move again according to the thudding knocking on the door; but the chi blocking still hampered her firebending and he had been forced to bear the lamentations of Azula who could no longer create even the smallest spark with growing pity. He imagined her bumping into walls, throwing herself to the floor, twisting into grotesque positions to free herself from the metal bracelets that held her wrists behind her back. Zuko thought that she could have saved herself all this trouble: these handcuffs had been forged by Toph herself and only a scorching heat could overcome this mighty alloy. He wasn't sure that even Azula herself was capable of it.
As calmness seemed to have temporarily returned to Sokka's side, Zuko took the opportunity to take a look at what Azula was doing. He pulled on the latch that opened the rectangular trap placed in the door, at head's height. It took a while for him to spot her in the darkness of her little padded cell. He shifted a bit to let the torchlight pass behind him and finally saw her, the small figure curled up in a corner of her cell. She was sobbing. A curtain of black hair hid her face.
"Stop it Sokka! What are you doing?"
It was Katara's panicked voice that had appeared at the other end of the hall. And before Zuko had time to wonder what was going on, a violent jerk shook the metal door with a resounding crash. The guards' indignant voices rang out and there was a great uproar, the sounds of a fight.
"What's going on here?" Zuko shouted, at the end of his tether, leaving his spot to walk towards the origin of the uproar.
"Zuzu?" he suddenly heard a small, panicked voice call behind him. "Zuzu, is that you?"
Zuko jumped up and stopped. He hadn't expected her to be lucid enough to notice his presence, or even remember his existence. She hadn't even reacted when he opened the hatch.
He immediately turned and retraced his steps. She was already there, standing against the door. Her large brown-golden eyes, widened in terror, seemed to beg him.
"Azula?"
"Zuzu! Get me out of here! I don't know what I'm doing here! I'm scared, Zuzu!" She implored.
He wouldn't have felt a sharper pain if she had ripped out his heart and torn it apart with her sharp fingernails. Fighting the urge to open the door and rush over to reassure her, he pressed both hands against the metal panel, closed his eyes, and spoke to her.
"I'm here Zula. Don't be afraid."
BANG!
Another knock on the door at the other end of the hall forced Zuko to turn around. This time he saw it come off its hinges. Momentarily abandoning Azula who called him, weeping, he ran in the direction of the noise. He stopped just in time to not take the full brunt force of the heavy metal panel that swung open right in front of him.
He had only a fleeting vision of the chaotic scene on the other side: the two guards on the ground, Katara in tears who tried in vain to hold her brother by the arm and Toph who immediately straightened between the young warrior and Zuko.
"Stop Sokka! It is useless! Suki is fine now!"
"I don't care! Someone needs to take care of her, once and for all! And if he doesn't, I'll take care of it myself!"
Zuko had never seen Sokka in this state. A mad rage distorted his usually sympathetic features and his hands clenched to fists, and on his bare shoulders, all his veins could were protruding. His blue eyes, darkened by anger, had turned as black as coal and Zuko couldn't help but take a step back.
"Where is she?" Sokka asked, taking a step towards Zuko, looking threatening.
Despite the deep friendship between them, Zuko had never seen Sokka as a serious opponent. Not for a bender of his stature. Yet something in Sokka's eyes, in his voice, made him want to curl up on the floor and beg him for forgiveness. To tell him how he was sorry for what Azula had done.
They had told him everything. He had listened, sitting, heart pounding, in the small living room, to the heartbreaking testimony of the inconsolable Ty Lee, who explained to him how, as she was chatting quietly in the courtyard with Suki, Azula had appeared out of nowhere and had savagely attacked them. How she had pursued them, the insane words she had addressed at them. How she ended up holding Suki at her mercy and how she aimed at her stomach before releasing the deadly lightning, too long contained within her.
At one point in the story, he had felt a strong pressure on the back of his head and he was sure his heart had stopped beating for a few seconds.
Sitting in an armchair, facing him, Taïma seemed to share his dismay and his pain. She had remained silent the entire time of Ty Lee's tale.
Zuko had cast a desperate glance at Mai who was holding Ty Lee by the shoulder. The expression on her face was even more indecipherable than usual. She didn't seem sad, happy, or shocked.
"Where is she now? Where is Azula?" he asked.
"Kadao and the others took her to the dungeons." His wife replied, "To the padded cell you had set up for her when she returned."
Had Zuko only imagined it or was there a note of reproach in her monotonous voice? Not only reproach... But also, a certain contentment which irritated him deeply. As if she had said "I told you so". That feeling made him want, for the first time in his life, to punch Mai in the face.
Instead, he asked his wife to take Ty Lee to her room where she could rest. She could stay in the palace one more day, time to recover from her emotions. Mai did so and gave him a strange look as she left. Zuko remained stoic and refused to look up at her.
Zuko was then left alone with Taïma and they had spoken. A long time. It was perhaps the saddest conversation he had ever had. He was in tears when he left the healer for the dungeons, the item she had given him hidden in his jacket pocket.
Zuko was now facing Sokka. A handheld out in front of him to deter him from advancing any further, he tried to collect his thoughts to find something relevant to say but his brain was as if stuck, unable to formulate coherent thoughts. Sokka continued to stare at him from his full height, an expression of fierce hatred twisting his brassy face.
"Zuzu!" Azula called away in her pleading voice.
The anger on Sokka's face turned to fury and his ocean gaze briefly met Zuko's golden eyes and all happened very quickly.
They were on the ground in an instant, rolling over each other -like some peasants- Azulawould have said.
"Stay away from her!" Zuko shouted, sitting on top of Sokka, a fist raised above his face.
But the young warrior was not impressed. He pushed Zuko with his legs and sent him away. He stood up very quickly and a silvery bolt cut the air around them. Sokka now held his sharp katana (note: Sokka used a Jian in the series) in both hands and looked at Zuko with a murderous glare. Zuko, still on the ground, was breathing hard. It didn't occur to him for a second to use his bending to defend himself.
But Toph and Katara must have thought differently because they immediately came between the two men, back-to-back, in a fighting posture.
"Sokka," Katara said, "I know what Azula did is unforgivable. But we can't fight eachother."
"This crazy bitch wanted to kill my wife and my child!" Sokka cried out, foaming with rage. "And this motherfucker keeps protecting her!"
Then turning to Zuko, he barked: "I thought you chose a side five years ago, when you joined us!"
"I did!" Zuko protested sharply, deeply upset. "How can you say..."
"So why is she still here?" Sokka asked, stepping aside to look at Zuko whom Katara's body was hiding from him. His chin pointed towards the door of the cell against which Azula had started to throw herself again, screaming like a wounded animal.
"You should have killed her when you could." Sokka continued huskily, looking down at his sister. "On Agni Kai day, you shouldn't have spared her. The world would be better without her."
Rage surged in Zuko so violently that he was afraid, for a moment, of catching fire. He felt his inner flame ignite and become blaze. Smoke escaped his nostrils and the corners of his mouth. At his fingertips, an electric current passed but he was too furious to be surprised or marveled by it.
"You're going to take back what you just said. Right now!"
He was surprised to have spoken so calmly. His heart was pounding so hard against his ribs that it seemed extraordinary to him that it was still in his chest. Something throbbed in the area of his larynx.
Zuko later surmised that it was probably these signs that alerted Toph and prompted her to act.
Zuko had already pointed two fingers in Sokka's direction and, seized by an incredible sense of power, he felt the tremendous energy starting from his stomach, spreading through every cell of his body and crossing his arm.
The first lightning he had ever managed to generate in his entire life died the instant Toph trapped Zuko's fist in two blocks of earth that she had suddenly raised from the ground.
Zuko let out a cry of frustration and gave a murderous look at the young earthbender who met his gaze without batting an eye.
"Katara, take your foolish brother away from here!" she ordered.
Zuko returned his attention to Katara and her brother. Both looked at him with wide, terrified eyes, and Sokka seemed to have lost all fighting spirit. His saber hung miserably at the end of his arm, useless.
As Katara didn't move, Toph turned around and shouted: "NOW!"
"Okay..." Katara stammered.
The Water Tribe siblings exchanged a look and Sokka nodded. He sheathed his weapon and stared contemptuously at Zuko, then turned on his heel. Katara in turn plunged her sapphire eyes into those of Zuko who read in them a deep disappointment. But he didn't care at the moment.
The two young people left the room. The heavy knocked-open door slammed violently, and silence fell, interrupted only by Azula's moans and the thud of her cell door.
There was a loud crackle and the stone blocks exploded around Zuko's hands who looked at them as if he was seeing them for the first time. A little hesitant, he stood up and dusted his clothes. He looked down to meet Toph's hazy gaze. He would never cease to marvel at the authority and fierce determination that emanated from such a small person. He felt like a little boy caught at fault when she spoke:
"We're going to pretend nothing has happened yet. I will try to forget that you wanted to throw a deadly lightning bolt on my best friends, and I will even consider the possibility of speaking with them to calm them down. Meanwhile, you'll see Princess Crazy. You'll do what you have to do and when you come back to see us, I hope, to use Sokka's words, that you have indeed chosen a side."
With that, she turned on her heels and quickly disappeared through the door that separated the dungeons from the spiral staircase leading to the upper floors of the palace.
Ashamed and furious at the same time, Zuko allowed himself a few seconds to come to his senses, trying to ignore the heartbreaking calls from Azula who begged him again from her prison.
"Zuko! Zuko! Where are you? Answer to me, I'm scared!"
A series of images and memories crossed his mind and he had to put his hands on his temples to fight off a nascent migraine.
He first remembered the look on his friends' faces when they realized he was about to kill them.
He thought back to Azula's smiling face months before, as he placed the crown that had been confiscated from her for so long back on her head.
He thought back to the softness of her breast under the palm of his hand and the fleeting sensation of her lips against his.
Then it was the molten face of Kojiro, who was dying in his darkened room. The astonishment on Aang's serene face when he had threatened him a few hours earlier.
And Mai… the pain, the anger and sorrow in her half-moon eyes when he confessed to her what had happened with Azula in the bathroom.
The angry people. The Earth Kingdom demanding Azula extradition ...
It was all his fault. All these lives, these relationships, these efforts ruined by rash choices. A series of bad decisions had spawned the disaster that was his life today. And that of Azula. Not to mention the state of his nation.
It was his fault that his little sister was in this condition. He had nourished her with false hopes, had underestimated her suffering and above all, had forgotten how dangerous it was to turn your back on her.
Behind him, Azula was crying. She looked like a young child in terror calling for her mother. Except that this child no longer had a mother. She no longer had a father. She only had one brother left. An older brother who, by wanting to protect her, by wanting to love her, had destroyed her.
Moving a hand to his thigh, he felt for the small object in his pocket that Taïma had entrusted him with, overwhelmed by grief. He knew how to use it. The only question now was whether he would have the courage to do it.
Azula was lying on a dark, cold but strangely soft ground.
Her whole body was in pain. Her limbs were crippled by stiffness. It was strange because she also felt like all her muscles had melted. Her back ached and horrible contractions regularly twisted her stomach.
She wanted to put her hands to it but she found them pulled back to her back. Something cold surrounded her wrists: heavy metal bracelets.
The fire inside her licked her veins and entrails. It was as if she was being consumed from within and she had to muster all her willpower to contain the cries of agony that threatened to pass her lips.
She tried to concentrate enough energy in her fists to produce the necessary heat that would melt the metal that imprisoned her. But nothing happened. Her hands hadn't even moved. She tried to move her legs; nothing either.
An icy terror seized her. What if this traitor Ty Lee had permanently blocked her chi? What if she remained paralyzed for life?
For a long time, Azula was unable to breathe normally. Her breathing was horribly short and her gasps and sobs echoing through the empty room didn't really help her calm down.
But soon she found that she could wiggle her toes. A little later it was her legs and her neck.
She almost cried in relief.
When Ty Lee had blocked her chi at the Boiling Rock, she had regained the use of her limbs before her bending. The same would surely happen. She just had to be patient.
But it was very hard in her momentary situation.
Where was she? Had she been captured by their enemies from the Earth Kingdom? She must have passed out at one point or another. Perhaps Ty Lee and the peasants had delivered her to Lu Fang themselves?
Had she been taken back to the asylum? Or into prison? It was so dark.
She looked up to find a source of light. And suddenly the realisation struck her: there was no window.
This simple observation dispelled all other thoughts.
Panic swept over her again… the feeling of twinge in her arms became unbearable. She contorted on the floor in a desperate attempt to break free from her shackles but only managed to hurt herself. Seeing that her efforts were useless, she began to crawl on the ground. Her skull hit the wall, but she didn't meet the resistance she expected. A soft and thick covering lined the walls: a padded cell!
No, no, no!
Not that! Not the asylum, no way!
At the cost of a grueling effort, she straightened up on her shaky legs. When she was up, she called for help. No one opened or answered. So she rushed forward to throw herself against the padded wall. A metallic sound echoed through the cell. The door!
Taking a few steps back, she tried again. Under the padded layer, the metal panel vibrated but the door resisted.
Still no response.
Despair washed over her and overwhelmed her. She dropped to the ground and stood there, her face against the floor. Big tears rolled down her cheeks, stuck her hair to her lips. Scattered strands entered her mouth. It was driving her crazy!
After a while, she heard knocking from afar and the sound of shouting. Her heart beating wildly, she recognized her brother's voice. Zuzu! Was he coming to save her? Turning her head, she saw an opening in the door which had the size of a trapdoor, and which had not been there earlier. She got up as best she could and approached it.
"Zuzu! Zuzu, is that you?"
A face appeared in the frame. The adored eyes staring at her from the other side shone with a strange glow. She leaned against the door and scrambled up on tiptoe to raise her face to the same height. But she lost her balance.
"Azula!"
"Zuzu! Get me out of here! I don't know what I'm doing here! I'm scared, Zuzu!"
"I'm here, Zula. Don't be afraid."
But before she could answer, he was gone, and she was alone again.
"Zuzu!" She implored him.
She heard bursts of voices again. Then, the sound of a door smashing against a wall. Screams and the sounds of a fiery fight on the other side increased her panic tenfold and she began to throw herself against the door again, struggling furiously against the metallic bracelets. What were they doing to her Zuzu? She had to help him, he needed her, like she needed him. She jumped to her feet to try and see through the hole, but she wasn't tall enough. Frustration, anger and fear took possession of her, in turn, depriving her of what was left of her reason and lucidity.
Finally, silence and calm settled in again. Was Zuko injured? Was he… No.? She didn't want to consider it. He was just gone. He had abandoned her once again. Yes, for sure he did.
In the depths of her despair, she finally returned to the corner of her cell, curled up on the floor and waited, sobbing harshly.
When finally, the heavy, armored door she had been locked behind opened with a sinister creak, Azula was too exhausted to lift her head. The diffused light from the torches rushed into the padded cell and all she saw was a huge shadow that gradually grew until it took up all the space.
Father had finally found her. She wouldn't struggle, she didn't have the strength anymore.
Two strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up. She uttered a small cry of terror that she quickly stifled.
Don't show your fear!
She found herself sitting with her back against the wall and finally discovered her visitor's face.
When she recognized the angular jaw, the long dark hair, the sun-colored eyes, the ruined cheek, she let out a loud cry and threw herself forward.
Zuko caught up to her just in time and she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder, her whole body shaking by violent sobs.
"I thought- I thought you were..." she stammered, unable to finish her sentence.
"Shhh… I'm here, Azula. Everything is fine, calm down."
If only she hadn't had her hands tied! She could have wrapped her arms around his neck and stayed there, forever. She so desperately wanted to snuggle against him. At that moment, everything was forgotten: his rejection, his betrayal, his conversation with the Avatar and the Sages in the Temple. He had come back for her. He was going to save her, take her with him, bring her home!
After a while, Zuko pushed her away slightly, gently and made her sit down. Azula devoured him with her eyes, unable to take them off him. She tried to lean towards him again, but he pushed her away again with a little more firmness.
"Where are we?" She asked weakly. "Are we still in the Fire Nation?"
"Yes, these are the dungeons of the palace," he replied. "We brought you here until you regain your senses. Do you remember what happened?"
"It was your friends who attacked me!" she replied immediately in a hasty voice. "They were at least four against me! And there was Ty Lee, that infamous traitor! That bitch!"
She had to stop to keep her voice from shaking. Thinking of Ty Lee was too painful. Mai and that little slut from Kyoshi had stolen her friend from her before she had a chance to regain her trust.
As Zuko said nothing, she continued, "Do you understand what they are doing, Zuzu? They want to get rid of me to take your throne!"
"No, you are wrong Azula..."
Zuko's voice was incredibly weak, almost sad. It was almost the voice of an old man. Azula looked at him incredulously. Didn't he understand?
"Open your eyes, Zuko! They have been plotting against us for months. Your friend the Avatar is so obsessed with avoiding war that he is ready to give in to the Earth King's blackmail. He ordered your peasants to capture me and deliver me to Lu Fang! He has already convinced the Sages to do so! Thus, he will avoid war! He will get rid of me, and he will steal my bending from me, just like he did to father! I know it! Father told me! Then he will take yours and he will steal your throne, without even having to fight!"
In front of her, Zuko looked at her with wide disbelieving eyes. He looked scared. Well! He finally understood. Her brother had always had a slower mind than her, but now he got the proof that those he called his friends were conspiring against them. He couldn't deny it anymore.
Zuko looked preoccupied now. He turned his face away, staring at the ground, lost in his thoughts. After a long time, he raised his head and spoke, "They say you attacked them first. That you were going to kill Suki and her baby. Why did you do that, Azula?"
Azula was speechless. Had Zuko become deaf or just stupid? Hadn't she just explained to him? The Kyoshi Warrior, that bitch, had stolen her only friend! Wasn't that enough? A stupid and useless baby, not even born yet. Wasn't that a small price to pay? Father had always taught them that we had to fight to keep what belonged to us, whatever the price.
These peasants would not stop pestering them until they had stripped them of everything they loved, she and her brother. They had robbed her of Ty Lee's friendship, taken her crown. They had made Zuko a weak ruler without any ambition. And now they were turning them against each other, insinuating doubt in Zuko's troubled mind. Like their parents, and Uncle Iroh did before.
Now that they had learned to get along, to love each other, that they had overcome their rivalries, they still wanted to separate them.
Together, Zuko and Azula would be almost invincible, and these fools knew it. Zuko only had to realize and accept this truth. Then the world would be theirs.
"Don't you understand?" she insisted. "It's part of their plan! First, they want to isolate us, to weaken us. She stole Ty Lee from me because she knew I'm stronger with her. And now they want to steal you from me, but I won't let them! I won't let them do it!"
Suddenly, as she said the last word, a violent cramp contracted Azula's stomach and threw her, bent over, on the cushioned floor. The trapped fire, fueled by impatience and anger, suddenly grew and flared up. She let out a heart-rending howl that echoed against the walls.
Zuko was on her in an instant.
"What's going on, Azula?" he cried in a panicked voice, much higher than usual. "Are you in pain?"
The stomach pain was already fading but the fiery flame, demanding to be released, continued to lick her entrails and spread throughout her body, causing a dull, almost unbearable pain.
"Azula?"
"Get me out of here, Zuzu! Free me from these chains! It makes me go crazy!"
"I can't!"
What was he talking about? Of course, he had the power! Struggling with all her might to keep the pain that consumed her at bay, she raised her amber eyes to him and reasoned, "You are the Fire Lord! You can do whatever you want! We are going to get out of here, and they'll have to answer for their treason and their crimes! We will destroy them, you and me. We will burn them down! All of them!"
Zuko didn't answer. In the half-light, she saw a deep sorrow spread on his face and dig furrows there. Zuko seemed to have aged ten years.
"I know you think of them as your friends and it's hard," she said in a softer, almost cuddly tone. "But you are wrong. You will see Zuko, it won't be that hard. You won't suffer because we will be together!"
He turned his head to her and gave her a strange look that she couldn't read. His lips quivered a little and formed words she would never hear. Then he approached her and lifted her off the ground. He took her in his arms and with some effort, made her sit on his lap in the stance of a mother cradling her child.
He first wiped Azula's tear-glistening face and replaced the locks of hair that had stuck to it. Finally, he hugged her to his heart. They stayed there for a while. Azula closed her eyes. Zuko stroked her hair and would sometimes lean in to kiss her forehead.
Never had Taïma's herbal teas and powders had such a soothing effect. The fire contained in her, without completely dying, gradually lost its vigor and was soon no more than a docile flame which purred in her chest.
"I'll fix everything, Azula. I know I made some mistakes, but I will fix them now." He said softly, continuing to run his fingers through her long black hair that he was untangling.
She did not answer, rather savoring his caresses, the tenderness in his voice, the regular sound of his heart beating so close to her ear, his masculine scent which delighted her and without which she would never be sated.
He was hers. All hers. Those who had wanted to separate them had only to contemplate their defeat. They had tried to steal him from her, envious and bitter as they were. They were jealous, that's all. Jealous of the beauty and the purity of their love.
The Avatar's acolytes might have managed to neutralize her, but in the end, she was Zuko's choice. She felt her heart overflow with a deep affection for her brother, an unconditional and transcending love. There were no longer obstacles, nor taboos. A love powerful enough to tame the trapped and fiery fire that now crackled quietly in her bowels. It was soft and painful at the same time.
She had been taught the art of rhetoric, how to craft eloquent speeches. She knew how to deceive or seduce with sweet words coated with honey. With one word she could silence insolent people audacious enough to contradict her. She mastered the subtle art of conversation perfectly and possessed an innate sense of repartee that she was often envied for. She could talk about military tactics, diplomacy, art, poetry or philosophy for hours without ever tiring her interlocutor.
But Azula didn't know how to talk about love. No one had ever taught her how. It was a foreign language, enigmatic gestures and syntax, empty words, meaningless to anyone who has never felt them. An inaccessible world to which only Zuko had the key. Maybe she could… She was willing to try. Just three words. Three words she had never said:
"I love you."
Zuko's eyes reopened, and he looked down to her face. They stared at each other for a moment, breathless, stunned, unable to speak. Then, without giving him time to think further, Azula craned her neck and pressed her wet lips against Zuko's.
He didn't push her away. After letting her press two more kisses on his half-open mouth, he began to respond. He kissed her softly, several times. These weren't the passionate kisses she liked to imagine during her sleepless nights or her lonely strolls in the palace gardens. Either wasn't it the kind of innocent, chaste kisses a sister would give to her brother to say goodbye. Azula didn't know what to compare this feeling to. All she knew was that she could have gone over and over again.
Nothing was heard except the sound of their lips parting to meet better after.
It was Zuko who broke their last kiss. He moved a little below her and rested his forehead against hers.
"Please Azula, forgive me. I love you too."
Azula didn't see the syringe when he took it out of his pocket. She just gave a little cry of surprise as the fine needle entered her thigh and the liquid seeped into her veins.
She didn't understand right away. He gently laid her down on the padded floor. It was only when the serum spread throughout her body, paralyzing her limbs one by one, clouding her brain, that the realisation came to her. She gave him a dazed look and tried to say something, all in vain.
Then astonishment gave way to panic.
When she began to arch her back, tossing violently and writhing on the ground, Zuko laid down on top of her to contain her spasms. He whispered something in her ear that she didn't understand, and her desperate sobs were the only response she was able to give.
Already, darkness enveloped her. The last thing she saw was Zuko's tear-soaked face leaning over hers. There was the fleeting sensation of his lips on her forehead.
Then, nothing.
So, what do you think ? I know I'm leaving you on an evil cliffhanger. I would really like to know your opinions, reactions, about this chapter but also the previous ones. When I am satisfied, then I will consider the possibility of posting chapter 19 ^^! (Who mentioned it is an odious blackmail?)