CW: Mentioned thoughts of self-harm and suicide. Off-screen domestic violence.

Chapter 49

Azula pulled into the parking lot of the private clinic where she was having weekly sessions with her therapist. Having climbed out of the car, Azula frowned as she noticed the state of her vehicle. While winters could get quite cold in Ba Sing Se, snow was supposedly rare, but it had snowed heavily over the final week of January. Now the February had come with the great thaw, making the streets covered with disgusting grey slop, and Iroh's car now looked gross and dirty. Azula was thankful to her uncle for letting her use the Corvette that otherwise gathered dust in the garage. Iroh had allowed her to use the car as long as she kept it in pristine condition. The car was definitely in need of a wash, but Azula was a bit strapped for cash until her next paycheck, having splurged a little too much on clothes recently. She would just have to wash the car herself, like she already had done a few times before. The great Azula Nakamura, washing a car. Sometimes she couldn't quite believe that this was what her life had become.

Still, Azula was definitely in a more positive frame of mind than a few months ago. Just having the car was amazing, even if it wasn't hers and she had to be extra careful with it. She had been surprised to find out that Katara had given up on getting a driver's license of her own. Azula had been adamant about giving Katara some driving lessons, but that idea had backfired. Katara was simply not a very good driver because she became really nervous and indecisive, questioning herself all the time. Azula realized that perhaps these driving lessons were not a good idea because Katara was quite likely to have an accident at some point, and then Iroh would probably remove her car privileges altogether. Azula had actually become so frustrated with Katara that she had ended up yelling at her friend, causing Katara to tear up. They had made up soon after, agreeing to resume the driving lessons later in the year, when the streets were in better condition.

Of course, there had been another condition to Iroh letting Azula use the car, and that was the promise that she would continue with the attempts of getting along with Ursa and Zuko. So far, Azula had managed to avoid actually doing anything about it, but Iroh was starting to push quite heavily, and Azula feared that very shortly her uncle would force her into a decision between handing over the car keys or actually doing something about Ursa and Zuko. Azula still hadn't decided whether having the car was worth making the effort.

Following her and Katara's return from Cape Kuruk a month ago, Azula had taken a few more steps in her plan of dealing with her father. And she really needed to do something about Ozai. He was still sending threatening letters, and they kept Azula up at night, fearing that one day her father would snap and go through with his threat to shoot her precious horses. Even though Azula agreed with Iroh that it would be illogical for Ozai to sacrifice this leverage with her, Azula knew that her father could act irrationally when he was mad with anger. She didn't think that Ozai was above such a cruel and petty act of revenge against her.

So, Azula had started to work on eliminating the threat posed by Ozai. She had arranged for the photos she had taken at the Puffin Creek estate and the Elk Mountain ski lodge to be developed. The pictures had come out very good, giving her very effective ammunition to use against her father. She wasn't sure if it would be enough, but if leaked, they would definitely put Ozai in the kind of crossfire that even he might struggle to evade. Azula had then made copies of the pictures before seeing a solicitor. Azula knew that she was playing a dangerous game. She had started to play it when she had decided to cut ties with her father, and the game was about to become even more dangerous. Azula knew that as much as her father wanted her back, he would not hesitate to dispose of her if he had no other options to save his own skin. Through the solicitor, Azula had arranged for the copies of all this evidence she had gathered to be sent to Iroh as well as five of the most prestigious newspapers of the Earth Kingdom, in case she ended up suffering a most unfortunate accident.

Azula knew that she would eventually have to confront her father face to face to settle this matter once and for all. This wasn't something that could be handled via a letter or a phone conversation. But there was no way she was ready to face Ozai yet. Just thinking about it made her anxiety spike, heart starting to thud in her chest. No, Azula needed more time to prepare for a meeting with her father, even if time really wasn't on her side. She would go to the Fire Nation to face Ozai only when she was truly ready to do so.

At least things with Katara were good. Things were more than good, really. They'd become inseparable over the past few months. Katara was the kind of friend Azula had always needed, even if she hadn't known it. They were busy discovering more and more new things to do together, mostly as a result of Azula still being very ignorant about a lot of tasks that previously would have been taken care of by the servants of her estate. Katara was definitely not a master chef, but she was very handy in the kitchen, and the two of them ended up having a lot of fun cooking together. Azula kept herself intellectually stimulated by reading Katara's study notes and helping out with some of the courses that were giving her friend trouble, genetics in particular. They spent so much time playing Pai Sho, as well as playing with the cats, Ran and Shaw growing up quickly. Katara was convinced that she had formed a special bond with Ran, and she always took the blue collared kitty to sleep in her room. What Katara didn't know was that Azula occasionally swapped the collars between the two cats, mostly just to mess with Katara. Privately, she laughed herself silly at the notion that nobody actually knew which of the kittens was Ran and which one was Shaw, but Katara just stubbornly believed in having her own special bond with whichever cat happened to be wearing the blue collar. Azula thought it was ridiculously adorable.

Of course, those more intense feelings towards Katara hadn't gone away with time, they had only grown stronger. But Azula had learned to cope and she was handling them a lot better. So, maybe she occasionally stared at Katara with this burning intensity that made her friend look at her a little oddly, causing Azula to blush like an idiot. Maybe sometimes Azula would get so captivated by watching Katara's lips move as she talked, that she would start leaning towards the other girl, as if following a magnetic pull to kiss Katara. And maybe sometimes Azula would have the occasional sex dream that would leave her so tense and frustrated that it gave a new meaning to the phrase of climbing the walls. In short, Azula had a perfect handle on her burgeoning romantic feelings for Katara.

On this Monday morning, Azula had arrived for her therapy session more than half an hour early. Katara had left to attend her classes early in the morning, and since Azula had the afternoon shift at the Jasmine Dragon, she had felt a little bored sitting around at the estate. In all honesty, she couldn't wait to get to work, but perhaps not so much because she loved her job, but because Katara had promised to stop by later in the afternoon for a cup of tea and a snack, as she usually did whenever Azula had her afternoon shift. She only wished that Jin and the other waitresses would stop teasing her with those baseless lies about her becoming utterly doe-eyed and soft as putty whenever Katara entered the Jasmine Dragon.

Having waved at the clinic's receptionist, Azula walked down the corridor towards the office of her therapist, stopping along the way to get some coffee from one of those newfangled vending machines that suddenly seemed to be in every corner. Azula was still waiting for her drink to be prepared, when she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. She turned to face none other than her own mother, Ursa looking at her in wide-eyed surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Azula snapped. "Are you following me or something?"

"What?" Ursa was immediately taken aback. "Of course not! I had an appointment."

"Oh," Azula said. She felt very curious, despite telling herself that she wanted nothing to do with Ursa. It was pretty clear what was going on here, though. They were in the mental health wing of the private clinic. "Well, I guess you can be on your way then," she said, frowning when Ursa refused to move.

"You are looking good, Azula," Ursa told her. "I hope it means that your therapy is progressing well."

Azula hated that Ursa knew that she was seeing a therapist. Of course, Iroh was keeping her mother up to date with her situation and she couldn't exactly order her uncle to stop talking to Ursa. Besides, now that Azula had literally ran into Ursa at the mental health wing, the cat would have been out of the bag anyway. "It is, not that it's any of your business," Azula replied. "Anyway, why are you here? Is this a part of some scheme of turning yourself into a victim of the whole sordid drama of our dysfunctional family?" Azula asked, hoping that she had managed to sound insulting enough to stop Ursa from assuming that she on some level cared about why her mother was seeing a therapist.

"We are all victims of your father, Azula. You, me, Zuko… we have all suffered from Ozai's cruel treatment," Ursa sighed.

"Well, you and Zuko got out easily enough," Azula shrugged. "It mustn't have felt like a particularly cruel treatment, or else I can't imagine anyone leaving their ten year old daughter in the care of a monster."

Ursa flinched as if she had been slapped. Azula felt satisfied, but she was disappointed that the feeling didn't linger. "If I had known how everything would turn out, and what you would have to go through with Ozai, I would have never instigated the divorce proceedings," Ursa forced herself to respond calmly. "I made a mistake, and I can't undo it, Azula. I'm paying for it now, though. It's why I'm here."

"Yes, you're obviously here for a pity party. It's disgusting how you're still making it all about yourself," Azula scoffed. She really hated how Ursa always made it about herself. She was so relieved that she hadn't inherited any of these narcissistic traits from her parents.

"I'm not-" Ursa looked ready to argue, but then something shifted in her expression, making her appear resigned. "I understand why you hate me, Azula. It's alright. I would feel the same if our roles were reversed, I'm sure. I'm just glad to see that you're doing better for yourself. It'll have to be enough. I'll tell Iroh to stop pressuring you into making amends with me and Zuko."

"Well, what's wrong with you?" Azula exclaimed without much thinking, mostly just to stop Ursa from talking. She liked the sound of getting Iroh off her back about all this 'rebuilding bridges' with Zuko and Ursa nonsense. But at the same time, it felt like Ursa was really quick to give up on her - again - and for some reason that hurt.

"I will tell you, but before you accuse me of making it all about myself, remember that you asked me," Ursa said. Azula nodded reluctantly. "After that incident in November, my therapist became convinced that I was becoming a danger to myself."

"Were you? Are you cutting yourself? Are you suicidal?" Azula asked. This sounded more than just a little scary. She liked the idea of Ursa not being a part of her life, but Ursa not being a part of her life because she was dead? For some reason, that didn't feel very satisfying at all.

"I was having thoughts about ending things, yes," Ursa nodded.

Azula felt conflicted when she heard these words from the mouth of her own mother. She took satisfaction in the fact that she had the power to affect her mother's mental state so much. But the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to exercise that sort of power. It felt too much like the influence wielded by her father. "How typically selfish of you," Azula said instead.

"Yes, exactly," Ursa agreed. "I know I have failed both of my children, but I can't be looking for a coward's way out just because I received a painful but honest reminder of my failures."

"Why do you think you've failed Zuko? Just because of the-?" she pointed at the left side of her face where Zuko had received the scalding burn. "He still worships the ground you thread upon," she added bitterly.

"Do you think that Zuko and I have a good and healthy relationship, Azula?" Ursa sighed.

"Don't you?" Azula asked. She was suddenly feeling really confused.

"We haven't been able to have an honest and open conversation for years," Ursa said. "He's harboring so much anger and resentment, and he will not relinquish it. Only Iroh can get him to open up, but only a little. Neither of us are particularly happy, Azula."

Azula wanted to say that maybe she and Zuko deserved to be unhappy, but she swallowed those words, leaving them unsaid. What she was hearing did not align with the picture she had built up in her head. Then again, that picture involved Zuko and Ursa savoring their freedom, happy and cackling with glee every time Ozai chose to punish her for not living up to his expectations. Maybe that picture she had come up with when she had been twelve of thirteen years of age was not exactly a correct representation of reality. "What would you have done differently?" Azula asked instead.

"I don't know. I ask that myself every day," Ursa shrugged her shoulders. "Throwing the boiling water at Ozai was a moment of utter stupidity. I think it all snowballed from there. I had to get Zuko out of there, and I wanted to take you as well, but-"

"But you gave up on me," Azula remarked. "Just as you were ready to give up on me now, and only because I was deservedly nasty to you back in November. For crying out loud, it took that one episode and you were already about to tell Iroh that he shouldn't push for us to reconcile? That just shows how little I've always meant to you."

Ursa began to cry. "I was just trying to do as you wanted, Azula," she sobbed.

Azula couldn't stand her mother's tears. It only made Azula hate her more. But frustratingly, hatred was not all Azula felt at that moment. There was that uncomfortable sensation of a deeply buried pang of sympathy for her mother, even if Azula thought that Ursa was a terrible mother who didn't really deserve a second chance. Did she? "Why should I give you another opportunity to hurt me?" Azula asked.

"You shouldn't, you really shouldn't," Ursa was still crying, but she slowly managed to get a hold of herself, wiping her cheeks clean. "Damn it. Ozai would love this if he could see us right now, tearing each other apart."

"This isn't about Ozai," Azula snapped. "Even though you're right," she admitted. She knew that Ozai would hate it if he saw her getting along with Iroh, Ursa and Zuko. Azula knew that it wasn't a good reason to give Ursa another chance, but she couldn't deny that it served as an effective motivator. "Are you sure you even want this second chance? I don't intend to go soft on you. I'll be vicious and nasty. I'll make you cry and I'll make you feel miserable. It's what I'm good at. Why would you want that?"

"I'll take anything you're willing to give me, Azula, even if all you want to do is to lash out at me," Ursa looked up at her, teary eyed, but also a little hopeful. For just a tiny moment, Azula felt herself struggling to hold on to the hate she felt for her mother.

"I'm still not sure about this," Azula said. "But maybe we can arrange something through Iroh. Katara and I planned to go on a little road trip around Serpent's Lake this weekend, but maybe we can do something the weekend after."

"Thank you, Azula," her mother managed gratefully. "What about Zuko?" she asked.

"Don't push it," Azula frowned. "Or do you want us to get physical again? We're bound to get into a fight. I'm going to be nasty to you, and then Zuko will attack me."

"Alright, we're leaving Zuko out of it," Ursa nodded, looking sad but accepting of her decision. "I'll leave you be, then. I hope to see you soon," she managed a small smile before turning to walk away.

"Whatever," Azula muttered, only then remembering that she had forgotten to retrieve her cup of coffee from the machine. Yep, this was typical Ursa. Always making a big deal out of everything, always making everything about herself. It was just so infuriating.

Sokka was not having a great time as of late. Everything with his job and his studies was progressing according to the plan and he had no complaints about that part of his life. Sokka simply could not forget that encounter from more than a month ago when Yue had brought her Jaguar to his repair shop to have its brakes fixed. Yue had been so obviously unhappy and so ashamed when being confronted about her situation, that she had fled and then on the next day, she had sent someone else to pick up the car for her instead of coming herself. Sokka hadn't seen Yue since, but he still couldn't stop thinking about her.

It wasn't that Sokka still loved Yue, or at least he didn't think so. He was with Suki now, even if their relationship was stagnating a bit due to its long-distance nature. In fact, Suki hadn't called for more than a week, which was a little unusual, but Sokka had noticed that the gaps between their phone calls had been unintentionally starting to grow larger and larger. Of course, Sokka could have called Suki himself, instead of waiting for her call. He told himself that he had simply been too busy, but that felt like a lame excuse. At the same time, Sokka didn't quite believe that this one brief meeting with Yue was the reason why he didn't feel like calling Suki. Yue was a married woman now, and he was over her as far as pursuing a relationship was concerned. Still… he couldn't stop himself from being worried about his ex-girlfriend. Seeing the expression of fear in Yue's eyes had made Sokka realize that something had gone terribly wrong in Yue's life. Something, or someone, had put that fear in her eyes, and he couldn't just stop thinking about it.

Not that there was much Sokka could do about it. He had no idea where Yue and Hahn lived. He had developed the habit of occasionally driving by the Agna Qel'a estates of both Taqqiq and Adjuk families, trying to spot something odd, or even better, trying to catch Yue all by herself and persuade her to tell him more about what was going on. Needless to say, so far Sokka had discovered absolutely nothing. It was why Sokka was currently sprawled on the bed in his apartment late in the evening, staring at the ceiling and trying to convince himself that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. At which point, he was startled by the unexpected ringing of the doorbell.

Puzzled, Sokka got up from the bed and walked up to the doors, opening them to see his broad shouldered, always smiling work buddy Nuktuk standing there. "Oh, hi Sokka," Nuktuk gave him an apologetic looking smile. "So, I was stuck at work really late trying to fix the sputtering engine on that damn Bentley. I was about to close up for the day when someone showed up, asking for you. I would have told them to come back in the morning, but it seemed like an emergency, so… here we are," Nuktuk then stepped aside and allowed someone else to come into the view, the all too familiar lithe shape of Yue. She didn't say anything, merely looking down at her feet in shame. She didn't really have to say anything as the black ring surrounding her left eye spoke volumes.

Sokka reached out and took Yue's hand, dragging her across the doorstep. "Thanks, Nuktuk. I'll remember this one, buddy," he managed a smile at his friend, bidding him goodnight as he closed the doors and turned to face Yue. He didn't even manage to say a word before she broke down and began to weep. All Sokka could do was to hold Yue against his chest and let her cry, waiting for her to stop shaking.

Once Yue had calmed down slightly, Sokka led her inside the small kitchen and put the kettle on fire. "I'll make us some tea," he stated, helping her take a seat at the table. Yue didn't seem to have any other injuries, thank the spirits, but she was in quite the state, unable to get a word past her lips. She was still shaking a little when he pressed the cup of tea in her hand, having poured a generous splash of brandy in it to help steady her nerves. Yue's eyes widened a little as she took the first sip, but then she began to drink, color slowly returning to her cheeks.

"Thank you, I needed that," Yue finally managed to say something.

Sokka sat opposite her at the table. "Tomorrow morning I'm taking you to the nearest police station," he stated. "This can't continue, Yue."

"No… Sokka, please, we can't involve the police," Yue spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "I just need to-… I needed a place where I could stay and think for a while. I'm sorry for imposing, but I just didn't know where else to go."

"I'm glad you came to me," Sokka said. "But why can't you go to police with this?"

"I just can't, Sokka. My father would never forgive me for making a scandal out of this," Yue sighed. "Back in December, you said that I made the wrong choice by going along with this arranged marriage, even after Katara warned me about it. You were right, but now that I've made this choice, I can't have it all be for nothing. I need to make it work, and involving police isn't the way."

"I don't like it," Sokka shook his head. "I wish you would reconsider. If you don't get the police involved, he's simply going to continue."

"I need to speak with my father and convince him to lean more strongly on Hahn," Yue said. "He has been… too forgiving until now. It has only emboldened Hahn and it has made him believe that he can get away with it."

"Why is your father not taking it more seriously?" Sokka really struggled not to become outraged.

"Co-ownership of a highly profitable gold mine up north," Yue said. "But I can get him to listen now, I'm sure of it. Let me just finish my tea," she nodded at her cup. "Then I'm going to call him, if it's okay for me to use your phone."

"Of course," Sokka nodded. He kept subtly studying Yue's expression as she slowly worked her way through the scalding hot tea. It enraged him that the proud, outgoing and confident girl he had known had been turned into a battered wife in such a depressingly short amount of time. "How does it usually happen?" he asked, pointing at her black eye.

"Hahn is very thin skinned and insecure," Yue replied. "Every time he feels that I might be putting him down, he's liable to resort to violence. This time we were just playing Pai Sho in preparation for the U21 finals. Hahn got the wild card, obviously. I beat him three times in a row and he just got so mad, but what was I supposed to do? Lose on purpose to stroke his ego? Maybe I need to learn how to do that, but… ugh, sometimes I just don't know if I can… no, I must. I have to."

"I can't believe you would think that this sort of thing is normal," Sokka sighed.

"I don't think this is normal, Sokka," Yue shook her head. "I know this is messed up, okay? I just need my father to empower me so that I can stand up to Hahn. I need to convince my father to start standing up to the Adjuks. Hahn's father signed the marriage contract. Hahn is violating it with his treatment of me, but my father doesn't want to call them out on it. He will now, though, I'm sure."

"Color me skeptical about that," Sokka muttered. "I've learned not to expect anything good from your father."

"That's a little unfair, Sokka," Yue sighed. "He does care about me and I'll prove it to you. Feel free to listen in as I speak with him. Perhaps it will reassure you."

"Alright," Sokka nodded. Yue stood up and Sokka led her back out into the entryway. Yue picked up the handset and dialed the number of her family estate. Sokka leaned in closer to her as she held the receiver a little away from her ear so that he could overhear. One of the servants promptly answered the phone, sounding overjoyed to hear Yue's voice, eventually putting her call through to her father's room.

"Yes? Yue, my princess, is that you?" Sokka heard a man's voice on the phone. Arnook's voice was softer than he had imagined Yue's father to sound. "Where are you? Are you alright?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"Why are you asking where I am?" Yue asked in return. "Why would you think that I'm not at home?"

"Hahn called earlier, looking for you," Arnook admitted. "He sounded really upset and worried about you. He said that you became hysterical and ran out of the apartment before he could stop you."

"Did he also tell you why I became hysterical?" Yue asked. There was silence on the line. "Yes, I thought so. He hit me again, father. That asshole gave me a black eye!"

"Language, Yue!" Arnook chided her, much to Sokka's disbelief. He felt like chewing the man out, even if he was supposed to keep quiet and not reveal his presence. "I don't know what happened between you two, but this is obviously concerning. I'll be having words with Hahn, believe me."

"Do you think it will work? It hasn't worked the previous three times," Yue said.

"This time things will be different, Yue, I promise," her father spoke, almost pleadingly. "But you need to go back to Hahn. He's your husband. Where are you?"

"I'm somewhere safe," Yue replied, exchanging a quick look with Sokka. "And I'm still debating about going to the police about this, unless you can make sure that this doesn't happen again."

"I said that things will be different from now on and I mean it, princess," Arnook spoke hastily. "Just don't go to the police, please. That would be very unfortunate for everyone involved."

"Alright, I won't do it, but on one condition. I want to be there when you speak with Hahn. He's clearly painting a highly skewed picture about what our marital life is like," Yue insisted.

"Alright, that is fair," Arnook agreed. Then again, to Sokka it sounded as if he was willing to agree to just about anything as long as Yue didn't go to the police. "But you need to go back to the apartment now. It's scandalous that your husband doesn't know where you're spending the night."

"That should be the least of his worries," Yue looked more than a little angry. "Like I said, I'm somewhere safe and you should be relieved about that."

"I am relieved, but-"

"I'll stop by the estate tomorrow morning," Yue said decisively. "Then we'll go and speak with Hahn together. And you will lean on him and you will make sure that he treats me well. Or else… or else I'll do something that you both will regret."

"Yue, don't be-"

"Goodnight, father," Yue snapped, terminating the call. She let out a heated breath of frustration, shaking her head.

"I didn't hear genuine concern for your wellbeing during any point of that conversation," Sokka remarked. Yue turned to look at him, as if wanting to glare at him, but there was no sting to her disapproving stare. "I still think that we should go to the police tomorrow morning." Yue shook her head at that. Her attitude was starting to make Sokka feel a little frustrated. "Why didn't you go to your family estate? Why even involve me if you're not going to listen to anything I say?"

"My father would have immediately brought me back to Hahn," Yue sighed. "I needed someplace safe to stay the night. But not just for my own safety, also to make Hahn and my father realize that I'm serious about not putting up with this any longer."

"I suppose that's good, although I still think you're being too flippant about something quite honestly horrible," Sokka said. "And let me make it clear, I didn't mean to suggest that you shouldn't have reached out to me for help. I'll always be here to support you, Yue."

"Thanks, Sokka," Yue smiled softly. "I really appreciate it, but I'll try not to abuse your generosity in the future. I was just at the end of my wits when I ran out of the apartment. I'll be fine now, I think." She glanced around the sole room of Sokka's apartment. "I just need a place to crash and then I'll be gone in the morning. Anywhere is fine, even the floor will do, really."

Sokka blinked at those words. Of course, he couldn't allow Yue to sleep on the floor. That would be completely ungentlemanly. "I'll set up the bed for you, don't worry," he smiled at her.

"No, I couldn't impose… I can't force you to sleep on the floor in your own apartment," Yue shook her head insistently.

"I won't be sleeping on the floor," Sokka smiled. "There's always the air mattress. Katara used it when she visited in November. It's exactly like the one you used when visiting in Cape Kuruk."

"Ah… the air mattress," Yue chuckled bitterly. "That brings back memories."

"Yeah," Sokka nodded. It brings back memories of the week when we broke up for good, he thought to himself. "Anyway, it's getting really late," he said. "I think it's time we both turned in for the night."

Next chapter: Katara arrives in Agna Qel'a for her first crack at the U21 title. Azula accompanies her as a coach/sparring partner. Also taking part in the tournament are Zuko, Chan, Ruon-Jian and Hahn. Does that sound like a recipe for chaos and destruction or not?