Chapter Nine: Self-Improvement

It was a nice house in one of the nicer districts. It had two stories, and the sound of music could be heard within. Azula knocked on the door and waited for what seemed the hundredth time. She wasn't sure how many days in a row she had taken lessons.

The door opened, and a dark-haired woman looked through.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Isaribi?" asked Azula. "One of the greatest musicians in Ba Sing Se?"

"Yes." said the woman.

"I'd like you to take me as an apprentice." said Azula.

"I'm currently with someone-" began the woman. Azula raised a bag filled with gold. The woman looked through it. "-a spot just opened up, didn't it?"

She took the gold, closed the door and walked in. Ty Lee shifted nervously. "Azula are you sure you want to spend all our money on one lesson?"

"Don't worry." said Azula. "There isn't going to be a tomorrow." Then she drew out some coins and tossed them to Ty Lee. "Besides, I saved some. Why don't you get us some pastries and we'll be here when you get back."

"Right." said Ty Lee, nodding.

At that point, a young child was sent packing out the door. Isaribi nodded. "I'm ready for you now."

A few minutes later, Azula was playing the horn with practiced ease. She'd tried this many times, and now she was doing far better. The teacher was looking at her in something akin to awe.

Azula finished the lesson.

"...And you're sure you've never played the Tsurugi Horn before?" asked the teacher.

"No." said Azula proudly. "Ask Ty Lee and Mai."

"Well she tried when we were kids, but she gave up after her brother beat it at it." said Mai.

"He did not beat me!" said Azula.

"Well he was playing better than you." said Mai.

"I would have crushed him eventually if I kept at it." said Azula.

"But you didn't." said Mai.

"...Well anyway, thank you for your lessons." said Azula.

Azula found that thanking people was an excellent means of getting people to do what you wanted. She'd gotten into the habit of being nicer. It helped when she couldn't fall back on her bloodline to get people to cooperate.

The next morning Azula walked out of the room, dressed and ready for the next day. Ty Lee opened her mouth. Azula quickly put a finger to it. "Hey Ty Lee, no I don't want any sausages, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

She removed her hand.

"What is it, Azula?" asked Ty Lee.

"Could you help me with practicing my acrobatics?" asked Azula. "I'm pretty good, but I'm hoping to get better. Particularly as flexibility."

"Um, okay. But what about the coup?" asked Ty Lee.

"Good point." said Azula, removing the note and handing it to Mai. "Mai, take this letter to the Emperor. That will take care of things."

"Alright." said Mai.

And just like that, the coup was derailed. Again.

Later as Azula practiced her stretches with Ty Lee. In the process, she got a newfound appreciation for just how hard Ty Lee had to work. The cheery girl could do poses that Azula couldn't in her wildest dreams.

They practiced until the sun was setting. Finally, Ty Lee hated. "Well, this was fun Azula. You really have been working at your acrobatics.

"Still, we should probably stop for today."

Azula stood, feeling the strain on her body. "Why?"

"Well these movements kind of take a lot." said Ty Lee. "You've got to build up to them. Let's pick up tomorrow."

Azula sighed. "There isn't a tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" asked Ty Lee.

"Nevermind." said Azula. She'd had to insist twice for them to keep going. Last time she'd quit early. It wasn't getting any easier.

"What's wrong Azula?" asked Ty Lee.

"Well I tried this yesterday." said Azula. "But I guess my physical abilities don't carry on through the loops.

"Thanks anyway, Ty Lee."

"Um, okay." said Ty Lee. "Azula, are you feeling okay?"

"Of course." said Azula. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Well it's just you've been really, really nice today." said Ty Lee. "You don't usually thank us or anything."

Nice? This couldn't be. A Fire Nation Princess was to be feared. Obeyed and known as beautiful and terrible. Not... nice. "I've decided to try and improve myself."

"Well I think it's a really good change." said Ty Lee. "But um, maybe we should do it after we conquer Ba Sing Se."

"Been there, done that." said Azula with a sigh. She turned to walk off.

"So where are you going now?" asked Ty Lee.

"To learn a new life skill. I'm not really sure-" began Azula.

And then a bunch of Earth Kingdom soldiers appeared before them. Earth hands grabbed them by the arms. "You're under arrest in the name of the Earth King, Princess Azula."

Azula smiled. Time to get back into practice on one of her existing skills. "-good news Ty Lee. I know which life skill I'm going to learn next."

The man was perfectly ordinary. He was not wearing a uniform, merely black, flowing garments. He had glasses and was reading.

"Excuse me, you're the head torturer of the Dai Li aren't you?" asked Azula, who had made all the arrangements for the coup ahead of time.

"Yes that is me." said the man, glancing up and eyeing her. "Though the term is 'Head of Interrogation.' There is a difference."

Azula let it pass and put on her nicest expression. "I was hoping you could help me out. You see, I've always had an... amateur interest in torture, and I was hoping you could give me some lessons."

"I think our priority should be on the coup." said the man.

"Trust me." said Azula. "I've accounted for every variable.

"I even have a prisoner lined up for us to work on." That water peasant would be broken. Again. Not that it would matter.

The man put down his report and leaned back in his chair. "Well, first I'd like to know exactly what kind of experience you have on the subject."

"Well I'm fairly knowledgeable about inflicting pain-" began Azula.

The man raised a hand. "Please. Interrogation isn't about pain. It's about psychology. We Dai Li don't hurt our prisoners. We don't break them.

"We reshape them."

Azula imagined forcing that water peasant into doing whatever she wanted. Maybe she could chain her to a throne. Have her dance for her while all her enemies were killed in front of her. "I like where this is going."

"Now why don't we begin the lessons."

Practice, as they said, made perfect. The Dai Li methods had nothing to do with pain. It was about pulling the right levers in the person's head. Azula had always been good at pulling levers, and with a few more loops she was even better.

The Head of Interrogation looked on impressed as she completely broke another subject. "...And you're sure you've never tried this before?"

"Not before today." said Azula. "Though I dabbled before."

"You are a natural." said the Head of Interrogation. "I've never seen anyone pick up the skills this quickly. You could have a long career ahead of you.

"Especially since you did all this by engineering the downfall of Ba Sing Se." Oh right, that happened in the background. "Out of curiosity, what do you intend to do with it?"

"Oh I'm leaving that for another day." said Azula with a smile. "I've decided I'm going to attend to some personal matters on the next day."

"What kind of personal matters?" asked the Head of Interrogation.

"Revenge." said Azula. "With a bit of fun. It's important to enjoy what you do." That was what she told herself anyway.

Except, as Azula awoke the next day, she realized she didn't really hate the water peasant anymore. She would probably enjoy torturing her, of course, and maybe something more. But she didn't feel any personal hatred.

Why not? What had changed? She'd ended up in prison who knows how many times because of her. It was only fair to hurt her. Except it was nothing more than an inconvenience to Azula. She'd just wake up the next day, no harm done.

Why did she care about this?

"Hey, Azula. Azula, wake up sleepyhead." said Ty Lee, right on schedule. "You've got to try these sausages. They're the best."

"Why don't I want to get up?" asked Azula. What had changed?

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Ty Lee.

"I never used to have a problem with this." said Azula. "I like hurting her. That water peasant deserves it for interfering with me."

"Um, Azula, I'm not sure I understand." said Ty Lee.

"I should leap at the chance to break her again." said Azula. "The method would be different. The experience would be different.

"So why don't I want to?"

"Um, are you talking about torturing someone?" asked Ty Lee.

"Yes. Obviously." said Azula as she sat up. "I like hurting people who inconvenience me. But... there wouldn't be any victory in it."

"Azula, you're scaring me." said Ty Lee.

"No, no I am not going to tolerate this." said Azula. "Uncle will not rub off on me. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation! I will make my enemies suffer!"

And she stalked off to make her preparations. Soon they were made, and she tracked down the water peasant. Unaware as always.

Azula caught her unawares as she had many times before.

Except when she got the water peasant to that isolated cell, Azula did not bother to blindfold her. She bound her and set up the devices. With the light, she could break her in ever more creative ways.

But she didn't want to.

Why not? It was a different method. She had no idea how she would react. It couldn't be that Azula had gotten attached to her? Even if she had, it didn't matter. She could torture her as much as she wanted and there would be no consequences.

The water peasant woke up. Azula said nothing.

"What... where am I?" asked the water peasant.

Then again the same could be said for Ty Lee and Mai. Azula could have tortured them instead of the water peasant. And it wouldn't have mattered.

That too would have been a new experience.

"You, Azula, let me go!" said the water peasant.

Did she honestly think that would work? Azula knew she wasn't bright, but she hadn't thought it went that far. Then again maybe she was just self-centered.

"You, I don't know how you got into Ba Sing Se, but you won't get away with this!" said the girl, struggling. "Aang, Sokka and Toph will find me!"

Azula could have tortured her as much as she liked. A few loops ago she would have shocked her with lightning, but she'd done that already. Looking at the light, she knew she could try something new. Torturing the water peasant wasn't about getting answers; it was entertainment.

"...Stop staring at me like that." said the girl. "You're a horrible person you know that! Chasing the Avatar across the world! Sacrificing your friend's brother just for an advantage!"

Except Azula didn't want to torture people anymore. Why not?! What had changed? Somehow this was Uncle's fault!

The girl had changed from anger to confusion. "What do you want?"

Uncle had done something. He'd said a bunch of things, the nonsense he always did. Said that what she had been doing hadn't satisfied her. But she'd always listened to Father instead.

And now it just wasn't doing it for her anymore.

"SAY SOMETHING!" screamed Katara.

Azula stood up. She could try to convince herself this was fun, keep doing it over and over again. But she'd be lying to herself. She could say it was revenge, but being sent to prison didn't matter to her anymore.

But it obviously mattered a lot to this girl. That was something.

"...Not today."

Azula walked out and shut the door behind her. Katara could spend the rest of the day in prison. That was longer than she'd spent. It still counted as revenge.

The day was still young. So Azula headed for the Jasmine Dragon.

Author's Note:

And that's a wrap.

This chapter took a while to put out. I wasn't sure what to have Azula work on and how to factor it into her overall character arc. I had the idea of having one of the skills she learns be interrogation — a sort of twist to the whole thing. And then I realized that Azula had changed a lot more than she liked to admit.

Do you think this development is unnatural? Should I have had her go through with it?