Azula Always Lies

By JAJ_THE_EARTHBENDER


Zuko stepped hesitantly down the stairs. He hadn't seen her since the comet. The day he saw her cry out in despair, chained to the floor. It had been several months since then, and he wanted to face her. He considered it part of his personal growth, but it also just so happened to be a request from the Avatar. And that was as good of an excuse as any.

As he stepped onto the dungeon floor, he glanced over at the guard to his right. She was looking at Zuko with apprehension. "Are you sure you want to do this, Firelord?" She asked.

Zuko nodded. "I'm sure."

The guard sighed and nodded. "Okay... I'm warning you, though. She's in a mood. I mean, she's been in a mood for a while."

"Yeah, that sounds like her." Zuko said, smiling. The guard shrugged and unlocked the door. "Take the first left."

Zuko entered the corridor, and then turned left to encounter a door. He looked down, readying himself, then he unlocked the door and opened the door.

"Hi Azula," He said. "Zuko here."

There was no response. Azula sat against the side of her cell. Her hair, once clean and severe, was now unkempt, greasy, and covering her face. Zuko couldn't help but wince in pity at his imprisoned sister. He looked down, twiddling his thumbs, then he fixed his eye on her again.

"I guess I'm not surprised that you don't want to talk." Zuko admitted. "The guards are all afraid of you." He added, smiling, "So I guess some things haven't changed."

Azula still said nothing. Zuko took a step towards her, with caution.

"Ty Lee asks about you." Azula's head lifted by a fraction of an inch upon hearing this. Zuko knew he had hit a nerve. "And I know Mai thinks about you too, even if she doesn't say it."

Azula sank back down. "They're both traitors." She said. Her voice was quiet and hoarse. Not quite the laserbeam it had once been. Zuko looked to the side, relieved to hear a response, but disappointed by the content of it. "And you can tell them I said that." Azula added.

Zuko raised his eyebrow. "You care what they think?"

"No." Azula insisted defensively, then she crossed her arms and looked the other way.

Zuko studied Azula for a moment, his brain churning, before he sighed and sat down on the ground in front of her.

"I know you probably think I wanna rub it in," Zuko started, "And I for a long time. And then I realized that I was having dreams about you almost every night. You were a blue dragon, and you were lying dead on the floor. I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, I talked to Aang. He told me that he deals with nightmares a lot too. And he told me that I should come here and talk to you in the spirit of openness and communication. So, I'm here. And I'm ready to talk."

Azula smirked. "What else did the Avatar tell you? How to weave a friendship bracelet out of straw?"

Zuko looked surprised, then he smiled slightly. "You sound just like dad."

Azula turned towards him, sharply. "That's a compliment. Though I know you don't mean it that way." She looked away, paused, then after a moment, looked down. "Have you seen him?" She asked, hesitantly.

Zuko nodded. "Yes, I have."

"Oh, Zu Zu." Azula said, a mischievous grin on her face. "I suppose you cried to him about that scar."

Zuko rubbed the right side of his face. "No." He replied. "I talked to him about mom."

Azula blinked, before crossing her arms. "Don't you dare bring her up." Then she grabbed the bowl full of rice to her side and hurled it at the side of the cage, shattering it. Zuko watched this with sadness and understanding.

"You know," Zuko offered, "I understand how you feel right now."

"Of course you do." She replied, venomously, "You're a failure and a weakling."

Zuko surprised himself by agreeing. "Yeah, you're right... I failed a lot." He said, "But you never failed. Not until Sozin's comet." Azula's eyes widened. "It must have been really painful."

"Stop talking." She demanded, flatly.

"I want you to know, because... I don't think anyone has ever told you this... You don't have to be angry, Azula."

Azula looked at her brother, confused and even a little bit amused. "I beg your pardon?"

Zuko looked at her with support. "I'm not even talking about your feelings. I'm talking about your bending. You don't have to use anger to fuel your fire. There's another way." He looked at his sister, who was staunchly facing away from him. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell by her gesture that something was happening inside of her head. He decided to leave it there, and stood up.

"I'm here for you, if you ever want to talk." He turned to walk away, then stopped, hearing her reply.

"Don't bother, Zu Zu. You can babble air nomad proverbs to me as much as you want, but you'll never change the way I feel about you or what you did to the fire nation!"

Zuko turned around to look at Azula, who was clutching onto the bars, staring back with wide eyed intensity. Zuko gave her an honest look of understanding, before he shrugged. "Azula always lies."