The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of emotions for Azula. She'd never felt as light or giddy as she had in the presence of Ruon Jian. He had a way of easing her with the slightest tilt of his shaggy little head. So filling was his presence that Azula had quickly forgotten about the only girls she could really count as her friends.

Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula had happened upon each other at the park today. Azula just needed some air from the heavy weight of her father's disappointment.

She was dressed to jog a bit, but saw Mai and Ty Lee playing with TomTom and walked over. They looked like deer caught in headlights when they saw her.

She'd been texting them all week to hang out. She figured she'd been getting the runaround, but she just expected them to grow a pair and tell her outright to her face how they felt. This resentment had been brewing for a while. Moreso on Mai's end than Ty Lee's, but it was still there.

They'd been hanging out less and less towards the end of last year. Even with her going to training camp there had been a significantly fewer amount of calls and texts between the trio. Azula was no stranger to being alone. Her father had raised her that way.

Mai's family pushed them into friendship in the hopes of securing business investments. She'd overheard Mai's mother discussing her "waywardness" and "being a bad influence" dozens of times before. It never bothered her though. What was more pathetic? A grown woman forcing a friendship between a little girl and her daughter or having a spineless husband who would brownnose anyone for a check?

There was really no love lost. Ty Lee's betrayal was more devastating, but not unexpected. The girl had always been an easily manipulated follower. As much as she went on about wanting to be seen as different from her sisters, she had no identity of her own. She could be turned in anyone's favor at the drop of a hat.

Knowing all that, Azula couldn't say that she still didn't feel hurt.

"Well, well. Isn't it nice to see the two of you out and about."

She waved at the easily excitable TomTom. He smiled back at her, his hand waving goofily.

Mai looked scared shitless. Her eyes bugged out and showed more emotion than Azula had ever known the girl to show. She dropped the plush toy she was holding for her brother onto the ground. Ty Lee, finally stunned out of her stupor, picked it up for her and handed it to TomTom.

"Hi, Azula!" Ty Lee greeted nervously.

"Oh, cut the bullshit! I'm not in the mood."

"Are you ever?" Mai snarked, finally finding her courage.

"So she suddenly has a voice," Azula mocked.

She watched Mai's eyes shrink into tiny, angry slits.

Good.

Maybe that emotionally constipated bitch would finally reveal herself just to be like everyone else. A vindictive, double-crossing cunt just like all the other girls.

"Unlike you, my father actually allows me to speak and form my own ideas." Mai smirked knowing she had hit a nerve.

Ty Lee stood between the two, seeing where this was going. "Let's calm down, guys," the bubbly girl suggested. "Our auras are all out of whack."

"Tch. Your father bends over at the chance of a dollar. The only thing he allows you to do is social climb for his benefit."

Mai frowned so hard that a line crease formed around every feature of her face. She gathered TomTom in her arms as he thrashed around resisting. She closed her eyes as a small smile brightened up her face.

"True. But at least I can say for certain that both my parents love me no matter what."

Azula grimaced. Mai was really resorting to low jabs. The girl must have been feeling particularly bold today. She had half a mind to slap her silly.

Ty Lee – still standing between looking as stupid as ever – looked like she was about to cry. "Really Mai?! That's so low."

"I don't care, Ty Lee. She's a total bitch and you've been telling me for years how you regret ever meeting her."

Ty Lee didn't have the courage to look into Azula's eyes. There was no defending herself from the very true accusations. She'd only ever said that after particularly hard days hanging out with Azula, but that wasn't all she thought of her.

Azula stepped closer to the both of them. "It seems that you both have a lot to say about me. Too bad you're both too chickenshit to say it to my face. I'm glad you're finally leaning into your full bitchiness Mai. It suits you better than that whole 'I hate the world' schtick. You just hate yourself because you'll never have the courage to stand up to me nor your parents. So you just brew and brew until you get irritated enough for one of your childish outbursts and then the process starts again."

Azula was standing directly in front of Mai by the end of her monologue. Mai tried to put on a brave face, but she was still scared of what Azula could do. Azula jumped at her just to fuck with her and laughed at Mai almost falling down in fear.

"I'll let you think you really won, but it doesn't matter what you say to me now. You were still too scared to tell me anything. Hell, I would've respected you a hell of a lot more if you had. I've never pretended to be anything but myself as horrible as I am. But you, you're a wolf in sheep's clothing who hides behind my horribleness to mask your own despicable behavior. How many times have you left TomTom unsupervised to do god knows what with those posers you call 'friends'?"

Mai had nothing to say. She licked her lips, the dryness seeping in from her nervousness.

"You had no problem calling on me when you needed someone to cover your ass for all the bullshit you did and now look. You pretend you're on some higher moral ground than me to lure Ty Lee in your clutches. How pathetic. Why don't you be a woman about it and say what you mean to my face. Tell Ty Lee that you think she's a stupid whore with no future outside of adult entertainment to her face!"

Azula reveled in the silence that passed. Mai was completely shell shocked. Ty Lee stood behind Azula close to tears. If Azula's dirty laundry was going to be aired, then why not take everyone else down with her. They hadn't been friends in years. All three girls knew it, but held onto each other out of a sense of familiarity.

Azula whipped herself around to face the now depressed Ty Lee. "And you," she pointed to the ditzy girl. "I didn't expect much of you. You've never been hard to convince so I'm not too shocked, but don't come out here acting as some peacemaker when you're just as guilty as the both of us."

The tension had become too thick. Azula felt her eyes getting hot and throat getting tight. She scoffed at both of them before running off to god knows where.

….

Azula wished she could call Ruon Jian. As annoying as he was, he was a good distraction and really caring.

She laid in her bed in her room in the darkness. Lo and Li had looked so worried when she bolted through the front door holding back tears. She'd locked herself in her room and shut away all sources of light.

Sniffling to herself, she felt silly. She had known for a long time that this was an inevitable end to their sham of a friendship. Now that she thought about it, none of them had actually liked each other. There was always something malicious lying underneath all of them.

Azula didn't make for a great person to want to befriend anyway. If Ozai hadn't scared them off, then it was her overbearing need to be the leader of everything and demand their favor. She was quite careless about how she treated others. Everyone was disposable. If they no longer served their purpose she'd cut them off and reel in the next sucker.

Azula buried her face into her pillow and allowed a few teardrops to fall. She really wished she could be a better person. She really wanted to be. But old habits die hard. Maybe she'd never change. Maybe she'd be the monster her monster her mother said she was. Or worse, she'd turn out to be just like Ozai.

Azula shuddered at the thought. Thankfully, she heard rustling from another room.

The young girl wiped her face and bolted out of bed. She peeked her head out of her bedroom and surveyed all over the hall until she saw light pouring out of the door of a familiar room.

Azula smirked. It had been a while since she bothered her dearest older brother Zuko.

She followed the usual path to his room, her shoulders quaking with silent giggles as she neared. She stood at his door watching him search frantically through all his drawers. She reveled in the joy of seeing him jerk away, afraid, when he finally peered up and noticed she was standing there.

"Jesus Christ, Azula! What the hell are you doing?" he said, still on edge as he resumed rummaging through his drawers.

Azula shrugged, a simple smile set in place. "Nothing out of the ordinary, Zuzu. But I do wonder what has got you so frantic that you're turning your room upside down," she replied breezily.

Zuko rolled his eyes as he started to remove sloppily folded clothes out of their places. "I told you to stop calling me that."

"I ignore most things you tell me."

"Whatever," Zuko shrugged.

Azula inched cautiously inside. She didn't miss the way Zuko's shoulders tensed as he listened to her soft footsteps.

"Are you sure I can't help you? Creating a mess this big must mean you really can't find what you're looking for."

Zuko stopped, ran his fingers furiously through his air. He seemed to contemplate the genuineness of her kindness for a moment. His eyes darted back and forth from her face to his dressers. He sighed in resignation as he flopped backwards onto his bed.

"I'm looking for something Uncle Iroh gave me years ago. A dagger with a phrase on it he got from his time in Ba Sing Se."

"Oh," Azula replied nonchalantly. "That. Yeah, I'm sure it's in your closet on the shelf inside of that shoebox."

"How do you know that?" Zuko questioned annoyedly, his brows creasing together menacingly.

Azula shrugged as she smiled deviously. "I use it sometimes. You've always been pretty lousy at hiding things from me."

Zuko huffed at her. Azula smirked, stifling the tiny laugh trapped in her throat.

He slowly walked over to his closet anticipating the worst as he pulled the dagger from the exact location Azula had described. He twirled it through his fingers as he observed Azula who looked down at her feet, twiddling her fingers anxiously.

Zuko's mouth opened and closed several times resembling a fish. He turned towards and then away from Azula several times, gestured in her direction along the way and still could not bring himself to speak. He ambled back over to his bed and sat up, staring at the beautifully carved dagger in his hands.

"You know," he started slowly. "Mother really does want to see you."

Azula scoffed, her eyes permanently glued to the floor now. Only the trembling of her voice betrayed her. "That woman," she murmured, tongue cutting through her words for emphasis. Azula dusted her pants off and pretended to pick at the dirt under her fingernails.

"Well, Zuzu, I'm nothing if not considerate. I wouldn't want to intrude on you nor mother's little fantasy. I know for both of you that doesn't include me."

"I don't understand why you're making things so difficult. She asks me about you every time I come over."

Azula titters in that mocking manner he had so long become accustomed to. His fists clenched and his jaw tightened. Azula knew how to set him off with the simplest actions.

"Foolish Zuzu. You're so naive. One day, you'll learn that they'll never love you nor I more than they hate Ozai."

Zuko had no rebuttal for what she said. Only eyes that burned with a fiery rage and deep seated hatred and jealousy that had been set in place the moment his father had dubbed Azula lucky. He scoffed and angrily packed a suitcase.

"Say whatever helps you sleep at night, but have you ever thought for one moment that maybe it's you causing all this strife? That maybe you're the reason for all this misfortune?"

….

FROM RUON JIAN: NEW MESSAGE

To: Azula: Hey! Haven't heard from you in a couple days. Wanted to make sure you're alright :P

FROM AZULA: NEW MESSAGE

To: Ruon Jian: Nothing much besides the usual hubbub. I do hope your practices have been going well. I'd hate to have to comfort you after being benched for an entire game.

FROM RUON JIAN: NEW MESSAGE

To: Azula: Aaawww you don't need an excuse to be close to me Azula. You can just ask me ;)

FROM AZULA: NEW MESSAGE

To: Ruon Jian: You're such an idiot.