This is chapter 4
I hope you enjoy this one :)
"Mai! It's so good to see you!" The girl said as soon as she saw her best friend, she ran to her and hugged her.
"It's good to see you too." Mai responded warmly, she truly missed her.
She's been waiting at the docks for her to get her back to the palace where Aang and Zuko were waiting for them to arrive, The Firelord and The Avatar decided to set this one out as per Mai's request, Mai told them that Ty Lee can be really touchy when it comes to discussing Azula, so she needed a familiar face to prepare her for the matter before she gets to talk with the avatar about it.
The two girls broke the hug, "You seem rather happy." Mai said.
"I am! It's been great in Kyoshi Island, the girls introduced me to each and everyone in the village, it's a small village so it wasn't a big deal, they all warmed up to me, I learned the ways of Kyoshi, I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life." Ty Lee said excitedly. Mai smiled, "I'm really happy for you, sister." the two girls then walked to the carriage that was going to take them to the royal palace, Mai took the chance to speak to Ty Lee about the matter while they were at it.
"Listen, Ty.. I'm taking you to the palace for an important meeting that you'll have to attend."
"Ooooh, a secret meeting.. Tell me more!" The girl said with her usual excited mannerisms.
Mai told her the entire story, from the moment Zuko decided to heal Azula and until the recent events of Zuko putting his position on the line for Azula.
Ty Lee was stunned to say the least, her usual smile was wiped out and her face went completely pale,
"No.. No! Oh spirits! I shouldn't have come back. What's she gonna do to me? To us?! and you agreed to this?! how could you?!" Ty Lee practically shouted.
Mai calmed her down, "She can't do anything, Ty.. We have the avatar here with us."
"The same avatar that she murdered before? Oh yeah, I feel completely safe now!" Ty Lee said sarcastically.
"It's different now." Mai tried to reassure her, but Ty Lee had none of it.
"I knew coming back here was a bad idea, tell the coachman to stop, I'll go back to the dock and take the nearest ship back to Kyoshi Island." Ty Lee said with panic consuming her face, her hands were sweaty and so was her entire body.
Mai took her hands to calm her down, "Ty, stop! Azula is harmless now. she wouldn't dare to do anything, other than the fact that Zuko promised her the throne, she also has something to lose.. Her bending." Mai said.
Ty Lee's panicking stopped, "What?" She asked confusedly.
"Avatar Aang can do to her what he did to Firelord Ozai, you didn't see how she acted when she as much as thought that Aang was going to take away her bending, I saw Azula frightened for the first time in my life.. she values her bending more than anything else, and so she would be afraid to cross the line with the avatar, that's why I know we're completely safe, if she tries anything rash to me, you or Zuko, Aang wouldn't hesitate to rid us all of her once and for all." Mai said,
Ty Lee thought for a second, Mai's hands were still on hers, Mai sensed that she was easing up and so she took a sigh of relief, "There you go." Mai said.
Ty Lee sighed, "Alright.. What do you want me to do?" She asked.
Mai smiled at the girl, "That's more like it.." She said, as she told Ty Lee of her role in all of this, Ty Lee hesitated but then she agreed to it.
They arrived at the palace and they got to the firelord's office, "All hail, Firelord Zuko!" Ty Lee said with a bow as soon as she entered the office.
Zuko chuckled at this, "It's good to see you, Ty."
The Firelord got off his chair and shook hands with the girl, same as Aang before her, the girl didn't shake his hand, but instead she hugged him tightly, Zuko was used to this from Aang so it was no surprise, he returned the hug almost immediately.
"Avatar Aang." Ty Lee greeted the avatar as they hugged each other.
"It's good to see you again, Ty Lee.. how's Suki and the village?" The Avatar asked as they broke the hug.
"They are both great, Suki is a really great teacher."
Aang chuckled, "Yeah, she is.. I remember the time she was training Sokka, he looked so funny wearing that Kyoshi Warriors dress."
Everyone in the room broke laughing as they imagined it, including Zuko who said, "I wish I were there to see this." They caught up for some time before they finally got to business, Zuko and Mai were sitting at the office, Aang decided to take the chair near the sofa, while Ty Lee took the sofa.
"Alright, Ty Lee.. As Mai probably told you, we're here on a mission to heal Azula, It's very important for Zuko to see her well again and apparently in their mind, I'm the only one to do it, so I decided to give it a go.. but I can't do this without the needed intel for the job, as you already know, I'm not very familiar with Azula, whatever conversations we've had in the past ended with a fight.. I need to start a conversation with her that wouldn't end with such drastic results, that's why I need your help.. could you please tell me everything you know about Azula's personality?" Aang broke it down to the girl.
Ty Lee was getting nervous again, she looked at Mai who gave her a thumbs up, encouraging her to start, Ty Lee sighed and spoke up, "I believe Mai and Zuko have told you enough about how she handled matters from their perspective so I won't tell you everything I know, just things that she would do just for me." Ty Lee said, and Aang nodded.
Ty Lee sighed as she continued, "Alright.. Azula has never been acting bad around me at all, in fact, she's always been very soft with me. I know it's hard to believe but Azula does actually have a kind heart, she cared about us, me and Mai, she's never been mean to us, maybe Mai because Mai has defied her a couple of times, but I made sure to never annoy her, and so she always showed me her good side, there was this time at a party on Ember Island where I told her that boys have been hunting me like crazy, she told me that's because I make it too easy for them, I cried.. mostly because I believed what she said was true, but then Azula actually apologized and said that she's jealous of me, seeing me cry moved something inside her that's been dead and buried for years, and I believe that's the motivation she needs to get her back to her older self, she needs something that makes her emotional.. in a good way, I mean." Ty Lee said.
Aang was gawking at her the whole time, "A kind heart? Are you for real?" The Avatar questioned.
Ty Lee sighed and looked the other way as she said, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."
"No.. I didn't mean it like that, I was surprised is all.. Come on, you're telling me that a person who thrived on terrorizing people actually has a kind heart, how did you expect me to react?" Aang said.
Ty Lee snapped, "She didn't thrive on terrorizing people! she only did what she thought necessary to make her father happy!" She practically shouted, apparently Ty Lee still has some feelings towards Azula that she couldn't let go, they have been best friends after all.
Aang put his hand in front of him, "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to insult her, as I said, I'm surprised is all."
"That's alright." Ty Lee pardoned.
"I agree with the whole moving her senses part though.. Azula needs something very emotional to make her feel again, But what could it be?"
They kept thinking for some time, but they couldn't reach an agreement, as nobody thought of anything, and Aang was running out of time. "We'll keep it for another day, but for right now, I'll go give Azula a visit, I'll try talking to her.. Maybe she's going to give me a hint." Aang said.
"That's a great idea." Zuko agreed.
"Yeah, and while you're at it, we'll keep looking for a solution." Mai chimed in.
Aang then left the room, heading for the asylum, the road there was long, and so he took his precious time to think, he couldn't believe what Zuko has put him through, he still can't cope with the fact that he's going to help the person that made his life a living hell during the war, the person that hurt him the most, he couldn't count how many times Azula put him and his friends in danger, not to mention that she actually murdered him at one point, she endangered the lives of his gang multiple times during the war, the gang wouldn't have agreed to this if they were here, especially Katara who absolutely hates her guts,
however, he wondered what General Iroh think of this, Aang once discussed the matter with the old general, Aang told Iroh that he can't find a way to deal with Azula, and if he should take away her bending, Aang expected Iroh to defend his niece, only for the old general to say that she's crazy and she needs to go down, Aang was surprised, but after seeing Azula in person, he understood what Iroh was talking about.
A person like Azula that's beyond any help can never change, she's always sought power and only power, she's blinded by her rage for each and every person other than her, what could possibly make such a person fare better? Aang couldn't think of anything, and so he kept walking. He finally reached the asylum, he took the stairs and got to Azula's cell.
"I knew you wouldn't resist coming back here so soon, Avatar.. I'm just that charming." Azula said sarcastically as soon as she saw Aang coming.
The Avatar took a seat in front of her cell and sighed, "Hello, Princess. How are you doing today?" He asked.
Azula smirked, "Aw, nobody has asked me that in ages.. you're so kind." The Princess said sarcastically once more.
"I wish I could say the same about you." Aang responded.
"That's rude."
Aang stopped to think for a second before he asked a question that's been eating at him, "What drives you forward, Azula?"
Azula was caught off by the question, "I beg your pardon?"
"It's just that.. I've never been able to figure you out, The part about making your dad happy as a child, I've already figured that out but.. you're not a child anymore, not to mention that your dad is in prison, and he's powerless.. so it can't be your dad that drives you forward at the moment.. it's something else.. so what moves you forward right this very instant? what makes you wake up the next day feeling the need to get closer to?" Aang asked.
Azula was still caught off guard, she never thought the avatar's questions would be this hard-hitting, "Good question." Azula said, genuinely pondering.
Aang waited for a minute before asking, "You don't know?"
"I do.. it's just.." Azula said, before she trailed off and frowned, "You know what I'm gonna tell you.. I wake up every day thinking that I need to pay a visit to the island of Noneya.. "Noneya" business!" Azula said and actually laughed.
"I've heard it before, from an earthbending student." Aang said in a deadpan voice.
Azula frowned, "Aw.. I thought I would be the first one to make you fall for it."
Aang sighed again, He kept looking at her for some time, watching over her, trying to predict her next move, trying to read her, but nothing came, Aang couldn't actually get anything, she was just smirking at him devilishly which made it quite uncomfortable to keep eye contact with her.
Aang sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, "Alright, Princess.. We're starting today at sunset, we're taking Appa and we're going to your favorite place.. Ember Island.. so prepare yourself, you're going out of prison, I'll tell the guards to give you your clothes, and remember.. if you try anything rash, the deal is off.. not just that, I'll also remove your bending." Aang said simply, which made Azula disturbed at how neutral he looked when he said it, Aang then continued, "So play it wise, and just do as I say, can you?" he finished with a question.
Azula looked at him for some time, but then she smiled and said, "Don't worry, Avatar.. I'll be a good girl." She said, biting her lips and playing innocent, Aang was disgusted by the display.
"Alright.. then we're good to go.. I'll see you in a couple of hours." The Avatar said, before heading out of the cell, leaving Azula to her thoughts.
Aang kept reminding himself that he's doing this for Zuko, otherwise, he would have done something that wouldn't go along with his air nomad beliefs.
He just hopes for this matter to end well, for he doesn't want to add Zuko the list of friends he lost.
That's it for today's chapter, more to come very soon.
Please, don't forget to review and have a good one :)