Chapter Six
"Hello, Azula." Iroh said, smiling at the former princess. Azula was bound up in a straitjacket. She'd been screaming and raging until Iroh came in and sat down. She had only recently been recaptured and brought back to the psychiatric center and her doctors feared that they wouldn't be able to help her this time. Too much damage had been done in the time she had been gone.
"Azula, I'm sorry. I had as much of a duty to help you as I did to help Zuko. I failed you all your life." Iroh said gently.
Azula had a look of intense hatred and rage in her bright, golden eyes, dark shadows under her eyes. She still had that same madness in her gaze that she had when she and Zuko met after the attempt on his life. She had seen her mother again, but it hadn't helped calm her down. Zuko had hoped that seeing their mother again would help Azula make progress in her healing. It definitely hadn't. She'd escaped shortly thereafter and continued to be a thorn in Zuko's side. Zuko managed to track Azula down and have her re-arrested and brought back to the center.
"What do you want from me? The only time anyone is ever nice is when they want something! Nobody does anything for nothing! What do you want from me! WHAT MORE CAN MY OWN FAMILY TAKE FROM ME!" Azula screamed.
"Why don't I let your arms out of that jacket? Then we can sit up together and just talk?" Iroh offered. There was a guard outside. Iroh looked at him and nodded. The guard walked away, seeming uncertain about this.
He unbound her arms and helped her sit up.
"You look tired, Azula. I'll make some tea." Iroh said, taking out some cups and heating up the water, putting leaves in some bags and offering one to Azula.
"No. I don't want your nasty tea!" Azula snarled.
"Please? Do it for me?" Iroh asked.
She couldn't trust him though. How did she know that he didn't put poison in her tea? How did she know that he hadn't been sent by Zuko to remove an embarrassment to the family, a threat to Zuko's rulership? Their father had wanted her to be the new Firelord, not Zuko. Zuko must know that if Azula got out of the center, that there was the very real chance that she could take her place as Firelord and he was afraid of what she could do.
Iroh took Azula's tea and took a sip of it, gargling playfully to show that he was really drinking it, then swallowing the liquid.
"Mmm… Jasmine." He said. She snatched the tea, smashing the cup on the floor.
"I can't trust you! I can never trust you! You're Zuko's lackey! Just like everyone else! Everyone has betrayed me! Even my own father! Get out! Get out now!" Azula screamed.
Iroh sighed, bowing politely and finishing off his own tea, picking up the shards of the cup and putting them in his bag.
"I love you, Azula." Iroh said gently, heading out.
"Please, take care of her, Zunar." Iroh said. He knew that Zunar was in charge of Azula's case.
Azula gasped as she woke up, panting as the vestiges of her dream faded. She'd almost forgotten about that day. How could Uncle still want to help her after how badly she'd treated him?
-0-
"You're looking much better… Even just a week and a half, you've put on a few pounds. You need to start training again… I bet that you didn't get much exercise in the hooskow."
"Well… Most of the… Wait, what?" Azula asked, laughing at the ridiculous word Ty Lee had just used.
"Hooskow… Prison, jail… Nuthouse if you prefer."
"Ah, of course… The hooskow! Well, most of the patients got plenty of exercise. We had an exercise yard, a sparring studio, a weight room. It was very well appointed, really. But I was in solitary a lot. You'd be amazed how offended they got when I tried to kill them. I was in isolation for my safety and everyone else's. So I lost a lot of my agility and strength, I'm afraid. They kept me decently fed, though, so I didn't start sagging or anything." Azula said. Ty Lee laughed nervously at Azula's rather dark joke.
"Ah, well… You'll be joining my Chi Blocking School… I'll insist that you go running every other day with me. I run every day, but I don't expect that of you just yet. We'll do stretching at home and at the school, and we'll need to find someone to catch you back up on your Firebending."
"I can't keep accepting all these gifts from you, Ty Lee! Why are you being so damn nice to me!" Azula demanded, seeming almost angry. Ty Lee smiled.
"Well… I talked to Zuko. He's gonna be the one choosing the Firebending teacher… Warning, it might end up being Lo and Li. But you can't continue to stagnate like this. You'll never start feeling better emotionally if you don't start feeling better physically. Come on, what's the harm? I love you, Azula. That's why I'm helping you."
"I love you too, Ty Lee…" Azula said, their faces mere inches from each other. A strange electricity was coursing through Azula. She felt a shiver run down her spine after Ty Lee had said she loved her and tears filled her eyes. Love? It wasn't something that she was used to experiencing.
"Are you alright, Azula?" Ty Lee asked, her eyes wide with concern.
"I'm… Fine… I'm not used to people telling me that they love me. At least not telling me and meaning it." Azula said. Ty Lee nodded, holding Azula in her arms, kissing her gently on the lips, her fingers stroking through Azula's now much shorter hair. Yu had given her a short hairdo, but one that suited her well. Azula kept flipping it unnecessarily. It was more of a pixie cut than anything else. Ty Lee thought it was cute, but Azula seemed not to quite be used to it being so short.
Azula leaned in eagerly to the kiss, her left hand moving over Ty Lee's side, her lips moving down her cheek and jaw to her neck.
As Ty Lee was about to pull Azula's shirt off though, the doorbell rang. Azula cursed as Ty Lee got up and walked to the door.
"Oh… Hello… Can I help you?" Ty Lee asked politely. She didn't recognize the person.
"Hi, my name is Osak. I was an orderly at the hospital Azula was staying at. I… Guess we were sort of friendly. I was disappointed when I got transferred to a different ward and I couldn't work with Azula anymore. I was there when she first got in. I was there when I found out she escaped.
"I heard she'd gotten discharged a while ago and I wondered how she was doing." Osak said. Ty Lee smiled. Osak seemed like a nice person.
"Why don't you come in? Azula's inside." Ty Lee said.
"Yes, I've asked around town and heard that she was living with you. Is she doing okay?" Osak asked.
"See for yourself. Azula! You have a guest!" Ty Lee said. Surprisingly, Azula didn't seem happy to see him.
"Osak! You abandon me and then you come back all these years later!" Azula demanded.
"No! No, of course I didn't abandon you. They transferred me. I asked if there was any way I could stay on the same ward with you. But my bosses, they felt that I was a better fit for another ward." Osak said. Azula could see that he was disappointed.
"I'm glad you finally got out. You seem to be doing well. Your hair is looking much better and you look like you're happy here." Osak said.
"Yeah, well… Ty Lee has been better to me than I deserve." Azula said.
"I'm glad. Former patients need a strong support network. Have you gotten back in contact with Firelord Zuko and re-established contact with your family?" Osak asked.
"Yeah. Zuko actually took me to see my father. I got some closure with him too, crazy as that seems." Azula said, warming up a bit to him.
"Sit down. I'm not going to set you on fire or anything." Azula said.
Osak sat down across from Azula.
"It's great to see you doing so well. Okay, personal question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I always got sapphic vibes from you and Ty Lee. Are you living with her as a friend or as… You know?"
"Oh, we're dating. We're gay as fuck for each other." Azula said bluntly. Ty Lee blushed, but chuckled slightly, glad to see Azula letting her guard down a bit.
"Ahaha! That's great. I'm really happy for you. I can only stay the day, then I have to get back to the Fire Nation. I go back to work in two days. But I'd like it if we could… The three of us I mean, get dinner in the city." Osak said. Ty Lee sat down with Azula, hugging her tightly.
"Sure. We could do that. How are you doing at the hospital? Are they finally giving you the pay you deserve?" Azula asked. Osak chuckled.
"No. But I did get a raise and a promotion. I'm the head of the orderly staff now. They saw how good I was at handling… Forgive me, unruly patients and they felt that I could handle unruly staff as well. I honestly preferred working with the patients though. It was more rewarding. The patients aren't paid to be there. They're often put there against their will and need patience and understanding." Osak said. Azula nodded. She'd benefitted a lot from Osak's patience and understanding.
He'd encouraged her to at least give Iroh a chance, to talk with him and at least try to bond with him. It was hard at first. Azula's paranoia and painful memories of her family made it hard for her to trust Iroh. But Uncle kept coming back and Osak kept coming into her room and they would chat about her talks with Iroh and over time, Azula warmed up to Iroh and actually, for a while, she became obsessed with Osak, which was the real reason he was transferred. She wouldn't cooperate with any other orderly besides Osak and that kind of codependence wasn't conducive for her recovery.
Osak wasn't given an option but to transfer and he knew he had to go. He missed Azula, but he could see that his moving on was good for her.
"I hope you didn't give my replacement too much trouble." Osak said. Azula laughed.
"Oh, no. Of course not. A few burns, some electrical scars. But no sort of trouble." Azula joked. Osak chuckled as well. While Azula was obsessed with him and mistook her obsession for love, he cared for her, but was able to keep enough distance to know when it was time to move to a new area.
He still cared for her and wanted to see her improve. She was clearly doing much better and Ty Lee was really helping her, he suspected.
"Okay. Well, why don't we meet at Tomaph's for dinner tonight? Say 6?" He asked. Ty Lee nodded. She loved that restaurant. They had great food and a friendly atmosphere.
"We'll see each other again then." He said, heading out the door.