AN: sis I just made this so much more complicated and I am so sorry I could not help myself. Also sorry it's rly blotchy I wrote in different sections. I'm sorry for the late update, I'm going to be honest shits really hitting the fan rn just in general and it's hard to keep writing this especially bc well I want it to be good for y'all.
BOOK THREE: EARTH
CHAPTER THREE: THE WESTERN AIR TEMPLE
Azula woke up in the arms of the man who had destroyed her, the man who had turned her against her own nature and corrupted her. She woke up in the arms of her father. Instantly she became aware. She wasn't sure what happened next, but she was aware of being shot with lighting. She was aware of the falling sensation and then aware of the blackness. She was once again in a fog, only this time it was the fog of her own making. He was surrounded in her own memories and was a victim to herself.
For what felt like days Azula had been trapped here, afraid to meditate or commune with the avatars because that would mean going back into the spirit world, and Agni told her she was never going back. Instead she just stayed in this dark corner of her mind, fearful of what lies beyond do anything but wait. For what she didn't know, but she knew when it came she would.
And she did, she began hearing voices, distant yet familiar. They weren't talking to her, but she knew what they were saying was important. She walked through the fog, which parted in her path, and eventually found herself on a hilltop, standing on a strangely engraved stone.
There were three other people, an older looking earthkigdim man, a young women with green eyes, and a man, a man who looked strangely familiar. He was earthkigdom, perhaps not much older than Azula. It took her about ten seconds to place where she had seen him from, he was in the spirit, Yun, that was what he was called was it not. She began to cross over to him, wondering how she was seeing him and why, when she heard the older man speak.
"This spirit, father glow worm, will be able to determine which one of you is the avatar." He said, before holding out a knife to the girl. "Kyoshi," he said, followed by something else Azula couldn't make out.
Kyoshi, avatar kyoshi. The earth avatar before her, or Aang or whichever one of them was the avatar. She turned to look at the girl closer, realizing that yes, this girl was a giant much like the former avatar. Only, she had never seen a picture of kyoshi without her makeup, which must have been why it didn't click. About to turn her attention back to the scene, Azula was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she faced the giant women, decked out in her armor and makeup. Azula turned back to the scene that was unfolding and saw again kyoshi, only younger and not decked out in her garments.
"What-" she began to ask before kyoshi shook her head, silencing her and indicating for her to watch as the memory unfolded. And so she did.
She watched as the great spirit came from the tunnel, the giant eye or father glow worm as he was called. She watched as the dizzy children, perhaps on the smoke the weee meditating, her offered to the creature. She watched as the creature attempted to sample their blood, and the boy, Yun, threw himself in front of Kyoshi to protect her in vein. She saw the man's eyes dim as he realized he was not in fact the avatar. She saw the spirit take him and the memory fade to black.
Looking over her shoulder Azula stared up at the powerful women, questioning why she must see this. Yes, it explained what happened, but it also opened many more questions. Kyoshi looked down at the princess with sympathetic eyes and spoke.
"You saved my friend and for that I owe you, for that reason alone I tell you this," she said, causing shivers to snake their way up Azulas back. "None of this is as it seems princess," she whispered as if someone may be listening. "Raava may be the spirit of light but she is not always good. Just like this, we, the avatars, we make mistakes." She said, looking around before continuing. "You were a…" her images faded in and out, along with her voice. Azula was able to catch mere fragments of what she was saying. "Aang is the——next in the cycle——cut out—lied to you—broken——Vaatu——imprisoned—our mistake—-part of him free—-" she faded away fully until once again Azula was alone.
Azula was unable to determine what Kyoshi had said, and after thinking long and hard decided it could wait. What mattered right now was returning to her friends and saving the world from her father.
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Getting to the southern air temple was easy, but climbing down to the actual structure wasn't. Having no rope, Katara had to find a stream and use the water to bend a slide down. Though on the top it looked easy, it was a true feat. Not only did she have to make the shape as she was sliding down, once she made it to one of the structures she had to hold it in the air, the natural pull of gravity making it very difficult.
As soon as the three girls, one carrying the unconscious princess, had slid down and were safely on solid ground, if that expression even worked, she let go of the structure and the ice went tumbling into the cloudy abyss below. It was terrifying, the fact that the sound of it hitting the ground never did seem to follow. Almost as if the drop went on forever.
Katara shivered and shook her head, before finally looking around. It was, simply put, beautiful. The temple was made of upside down structures, connected by bridges and wo0ven in beautiful patterns. There were so many, and she could tell even more extended into the cliffside.
Katara gazed at Ty Lee, whose eyes, instead of being filled with awe, were filled with pain. Katara had never asked just how Ty Lee knew where this temple was, but looking into the stormy grey eyes she wondered if perhaps there was more than the girl was originally letting on. However, she would push that thought away for later, when the girl wasn't already so overwhelmed.
Katara walked over to Ty Lee, and held out her arms. The small girl had carried Azula for the whole journey, refusing to let anyone else hold her. Perhaps now that they were here she may feel different, especially considering how exhausted she seemed. "Do you want me to hold her," Katara asked gently.
Nodding Tylee allowed her to as they made their way through the temple.
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It had been three days since arriving at the temple and still Azula had not woken up. Mai and Ty Lee had began making preparations for staying here long term, while Katara had been working nonstop on healing the girl.
She whipped sweat from her head as she bent the water around Azulas, the glow that was once strong becoming fainter as Kataras energy lessened. Still, she kept bending the water and trying to find what was wrong with Azula. It wasn't physical, she knew that. For the past few days she had worked nonstop on unlocking her chakras and fixing the flow of energy through her body, but she was stopped at the chakra in her throat. It was clogged, more than clogged, it was dammed. Her truth chakra was impossible to unlock no matter how hard Katara worked on it. She knew it dealt with lies that a person told themself, only from what she had seen Azula didn't lie, at least to herself. She lied outwardly but for her to belive one of her lies.
The thought had come to Katara that it wasn't one of her lies, but perhaps the avatar. Since the spirit of the avatar was strongly tied with her own, perhaps one of the past avatars had lied to her. But still, why would that have happened and what would it be, these were the questions Katara couldn't seem to answer.
A knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts, and Katara turned around and saw standing in the doorway Tylee, holding in her hands two glasses of lichi juice. The gardens had been in good shape and Ty Lee seemed to know how everythign around here worked, and so they were not at a loss for food or drink. The girl held out the cup, and invitation and Katara nodded, allowing her to come in.
After handing Katara the glass Ty Lee sat down, legs folded underneath herself and began sipping gently on her own cup. "You seem tired," she noted in a sad voice, feeing bad for the water bender.
"I am," Katara rasped before taking a sip from the cup. She closed her eyes, enjoying the flavor and the soothing liquid.
"Then rest," came the emotionless voice of the knife thrower. Mai walked through the door without asking permission and plopped down on a nearby pillow.
"Mai you know it's not that simple," Katara began but was interrupted by the acrobat.
"Yes it is Tara," Tylee said placing a gentle hand on her leg. "You've been working nonstop for three days, the only time you slept was when you passed out from exhaustion and you woke up less than twelve hours later." She noted, remembering the time she had found the girl slumped over in the healing water.
"So what, is this an intervention." Katara turned angrily to the two girls, feeing betrayed. Mai scoffed but Katara shook her head. "Look I'll sleep when she's awake okay?" She said angrily before returning to the water.
There was a long pause, the girls realizing that she was not to be argued with. "Well, is there at least some way we could help?" Ty Lee askek, stroking the girls leg soothingly. She remembered it always calmed Azula and could see it taking the same effect on Katara.
Katara paused, thinking. "While, actually, yes, there is." She said. She saw their faces change, refer to help in any way and asked the question. "Did Azula every belive any of her lies that she told?" She asked, noting the puzzled look on her friends faces. "Did she ever fall for her own tricks or anything?"
Mai seemed taken aback, as if that would be preposterous, but Ty Lee paused. "There was the, you know, with what Ozai did. She kind of blocked it out, but I mean, she never lied just forgot." Ty Lee said, fighting her fingers.
"I thought about that, but, I don't think that's it. When I was working on the chakra it seemed to be something deeper, something fundamental that shaped who she was. It's hard to explain." Katara said before shaking her head. "I guess we will never know until she wakes up," she said before begining to work again.
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Azula had spent the last few days in her mind, roaming around various memories searching for a way out. She was sitting on a bench in the garden or the palace, of course knowing it wasn't real but simply a haven her mind constructed. Still, after having to relive some of the hardest moments of her life she needed a break from her memories, especially those involving…
She heard the angry voice of her mother and look up from the bench she sat atop, hidden within the greenery. Her father and mother were arguing, something she recalled they did often. Only, now it was her mother who seemed to be the mad one.
"If they find out the truth about that girl, they will hang Azula," she said, and Azula tilted her head. She didn't remember this, while, not in the whole sense of the word. Aza had to remember it only she couldn't recall… she listened with intrigue to the conversation, watching the scene unfold.
She noted the red mark on her fathers face, her mother must have slapped him, she realized with an amused chuckle. Knowing this wasn't her father made it easier to look at him without fear.
"You could have let her go, released her with her mother and she would have been find but instead you chose to keep them both." Ursa yelled angrily at Ozai. "Now Mira is dead and Azula will be too."
"Silence," Ozai hissed as he gripped Ursa by the neck, her feet raising off the ground. "Mira is dead because that good for nothing bitch was of watertrive descendant, Azula is my daughter, and as far as they know yours," he said before releasing her to fall on the ground. "You we're friends with that lying water whore so you had to know, if anyone finds out about azula I will have you hung along with her," he hissed before leaving the gardens.
Ursa waited minutes before breaking down into sobs, punching the ground and yelling at the dirt as if it could change anything. A small child approached her and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her.
"Mommy are you okay?" Little Azula asked, seeing the tears on her eyes. Her mothers expression changed from one of sadness to anger, pushing the girl from her and whining the dirt from her dress.
"I'm fine Azulas," she hissed before pausing, "shouldn't you be at firebending training."
Azula shrunk in her mothers cruel gaze, the scene faded into blackness.
Azula was left speechless upon watching the scene, confused. She knew it was real, only it couldn't be, if Ursa wasn't her mother then-
"That's what I was trying to tell you," the voice of kyoshi said, though the avatar was no where to be seen. "When you were young, you learned the truth but lied to yourself. We inturm lied to you as well, created fictional people," the images of the two previous avatars, the earth and water, formed before disappearing, "to support this lie, fearing the truth would break you."
"What, the truth that Ursa wasn't my mother, I could care less about that bitch," Azula said. She felt betrayed but still didn't seem to fully catch on.
"No Azulas, the truth about you. You aren't a fire bender, your a water bender, and you never succeeded Aang in the cycle."
Aza was shocked, but to confused to allow for it to sink in.
"Raava split herself, creating you as a temperory solution, once you die you will not join us as part of Raava, you are not the avatar."
Azulas thoughts froze, how could she not be the avatar. It was Aang who wasn't the avatar, she was. Even if somehow she was the water avatar that still meant she was the avatar? Right. She-she didn't understand at all, nor did she think she wanted to.
"I don't understand, why are you telling me this?" She asked, the only true question that seemed to matter.
"In severing herself, Vattu latched onto Raava and a small part of him escaped his prison." She began, Pausing slightly. "Raava now knows that this peace resides in you, and plans to, once she can, pull herself from you and trap Vaatu again, only you would be with him."
Somehow this didn't shock Azula as much as everything else. But still, "why are you telling me this?" She asked again.
"I am telling you this because when you freed Yun from the spirit, you showed it could be done, find out how you did that and I can help you, I owe you princess." She said before her voice faded.
Azula looked around at the blackness, pondering all she had learned. She realized she could no longer allow for whatever was happening outside to simply happen. She had to stop the war and figure out a way to sever and reseal Vaatu, and she didn't have a lot of time.
-three months later-
Azula's long dark hair flowed freely down her back as she sat on the edge of the pool, her feet dipping in the water. She wiggled her toes and took another sip of her litchi juice, slurping the last from the container. "I ran out, '' she pouted looking at the cup sadly.
"Well you shouldn't even be drinking Zula you should be training," Ty Lee shot back at her as she and Katara turned to look at the girl. Katara gave Azula a pointed look that said "if I'm to learn this so are you" and nodded her head.
Azula shrugged, "what I'm just enjoying the view," she said, winking at the two girls. Katara blushed and Ty Lee burst out giggling.
Mai, who was sitting away from them in a shaded patch, rolled her eyes. "Pervert," she said with a slight smile.
Azula sighed, letting her smile drop as she dipped her hands in the water. Covering the whole way up her arms where scars, scars that seemed to be bolts of lightning. No matter how hard Katara had tried, she couldn't seem to get rid of them. But, Azula didn't want her to. She needed to be reminded of how horrible of a person her father was, and it was easier to hate him if she could see what he had done to her. She growled, her mood Fowler by the thought of him.
"Why are we even learning this when I should be focusing on furthering my firebending." She clenched her hands into fists. She had trouble firebending for a while, and since she found out the truth, that she wasn't a fire bender, she had been unable too.
"And how are you gonna do that, every fire bender is either working for your dad or hates your guts." Mai said as she stood, brushing off her pants.
"That may not be true," she said, recalling what she had come by in the library. All three of the girls turned towards her, awaiting an explanation. "In the great library of the knowledge spirit I read a scroll. A scroll that hinted as to the whereabouts of an ancient fire bender faction. They call themselves the sun warriors."
AN: ya I said what I said. Does ur brain hurt bc mine does. Anyway, has anyone noticed the website is down, like I can't find any way to get on or check my pm. Idk just wondering.