Ch2

Azula struggled to her feet, winded from the fall. Directly ahead of her, seeming to glide over the water stood the image of her mother. Ursa's back was turned to her daughter, seeming to stare into the woodland, her long hair draping elegantly down her back over the crimson robes she wore.

"Y-You..are the reason for all this," Azula wheezed. "This was all your doing! You've been plotting against me since the day I was born!" She struggled to her feet, putting one foot in front of the other as she began to pick up momentum. "What more could you possibly want from me?"

Her mother stood motionless without a word of reply. She didn't turn to face her daughter nor did she deviate at all from her gaze to the trees. Water dripped from Azula's breeches and skirt, splashed up from her hastened rush forth. She propped herself against a tree root to catch her labored breath. The sounds of rippling water and drips hitting the otherwise placid surface were the only sounds to be heard in the ominous void. It was as if they were suspended from reality. Her hands began to grow in heat as did her rage.

"You've always favored Zuko," Azula hissed. "You were never there- You never cared!" Her eyes narrowed at her mother, who did not even grant her the respect to turn and face her. Her mom remained silent. "You've always feared me! You won't admit it of course, but you cower away from power! Something I have always possessed!" She recalled how her childhood played out, just as she had over and over again in her travels. She could always impress and appease her father, but her mother always seemed to look down on her. Mom was never satisfied, never happy. She hated her, wished she was never born, that was why she never loved her own daughter. How could she? How dare she?

Azula's fist clenched by her side as her eyes narrowed menacingly. "You- You've gotten everything you could have possibly ever wanted!" She shouted at her cold-shouldered mother. "Father has been defeated. I have been deposed! Discarded! Deprived of what was rightfully mine! I had it all, everything I wanted- deserved! Everything I had worked for, despite you always opposing me- given to- To Zuko! Just as you've always wanted!" Water began to form and accumulate in her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She was frustrated and distraught! Her hands shook in anger. "Everything- Everything! I lost everything!" She shouted as she propped her hand to throw a blast of fire at her mother. "...you've always hated me," she accused with a sharp tongue.

"No, Azula. I love you, I always have," the voice of Ursa said, though she did not turn to face Azula. Azula paused, her hand still cocked and ready to throw forth. Her eyes widened, shaking more tears to stream down her face. That same phrase wrenched her heart. "...But you are a monster."

Azula's brow furrowed and her nose crinkled. Fuming with tears, she closed her eyes and thrust her fist forward, unleashing a powerful explosion of blue flame at her mother. The light from the raging fire was blinding, taking the view of Ursa from sight behind the flash. She dropped her attacking arm as the rush of flame ceased. Opening her eyes and breathing vehemently, found her mother nowhere to be seen. No longer was she standing before her in the water. Instead, in her place, was a burning remnant of an old tree stump. The flame danced violently on the old forsaken wooden fossil. Azula sobbed quietly as the flames danced.

The remainder of the day passed slowly. Azula wandered through the overwhelming swamp land. It seemed to go on forever. She painfully clambered over enormous tree roots and reluctantly waded through waist-high water, hoping to find the edge of the swamp to no avail. Her previous tears had dried, leaving streak marks down her cheeks, and her physical condition- although not worsening, was not improving either. Eventually she would have to find better medical assistance. She wasn't sure how, where, or when that would happen, but she was certain that she'd likely have to threaten said person for assistance. She was a wanted war criminal after all.

Despite forcefully pushing herself through the dense terrain, one detail of her appearance remained well kempt. She still kept all hairs in place, her topknot tight, and the characteristic bangs which framed her face neat and crisp. She was dignified. Some mud, water and trees weren't going to change that.

And then there were the visions. She grappled with the vision of her mother she had confronted. She appeared so real, as if she could reach out and touch her. Her mind was playing tricks on her! Imagining motherly images and maniacal monsters. She was playing tricks on her. Just as she had been for the past years, even after her banishment.

"She will not get the best of me. I'll allow her no more to make a fool out of me!" She grumbled through clenched teeth. "Not with my own mind!" Nothing here was real. They couldn't hurt her...could they?

The remainder of the day's travels brought little progress or hope of finding an exit. As the sun, wherever it was in the sky, finally began to set below the horizon, it became clear to the deposed princess that she would need to hold her position for the night.

A weakening flame danced before her on the pile of sticks and broken branches she had managed to gather. She sat before the fire in silence, hugging her news to her chest, as she gazed at the brilliant orange and red hues which illuminated her face brightly against the consuming dark. Azula had never extensively stayed in a forest, let alone a swamp before. Sure they had camped out on a few occasions in woods and by riversides during her pursuit of the Avatar across the Earth Kingdom, but this was different. She caught herself on the thought as it crossed her mind. "They" echoed and ricocheted around her mind. She recalled her nights with Mai and Ty Lee, many times just the three of them on their full lonesome, spent together before a campfire much in the same way as she was now.

Compared to that, this swamp experience hadn't been as nice or as coordinated. It was darker, the dense canopy blocked any and all opportunity to see the night sky. As she looked up, all she saw was the darkness cast beneath the treetop canopy. The illumination from her fire dissipated before it could reach the upper layers of the towering trees, consumed by the low hanging darkness. The canopy acted in a manner similar to the ceiling of one of the royal palace's great halls, being so high the light from individual torches or fires couldn't illuminate them well in the darkness. This swamp was also dreadfully quiet, even more so now in the late evening hours when the sun had disappeared below the horizon. Azula appreciated silence, and normally dreaded obnoxious noise. But this was deafening. It was almost too quiet, even for her liking. It was too perfect, almost so that this silence was unnerving. No croaking toads, no fluttering wings, no chirping crickets, just dead silence. The water surface around her was still and placid, like black mirrors. The setting felt like a scene of purgatory on earth.

"Mai," she grumbled. "Mai could you pass more wood to burn, the fires dying." Her arm was extended to her side with an open and waiting palm which bobbed expectantly for further fuel for the fire. "Mai!" She lifted her head and began to open her eyes. The campfire had weakened as it had been burning for hours. The ordeals of the day, the wreckage, injury treatment, and mental lapses, had exhausted her and she fell asleep burying her face to her knees. She drowsily blinked as she looked around in the dimming glow. "Mai? Ty Lee?" She saw no one.

She remembered her circumstances. She was alone. Of course there would be no one here. And why would I want them here anyway? She didn't need them, she could handle herself. And what she needed was rest. She was out of gathered wood, and she had finally found a position which she had gotten marginally comfortable in. Of course it was nothing in comparison to her rather large bed she used in the palace, but as long as she sat still her sides didn't hurt. And this was the first time for the entire day they didn't pain her.

Once the fire dies, she would be enveloped by the darkness of the swamp. Who needs them? She thought. Who needs those traitors?

She drifted off once more, closing her eyes and burying her head into her knees. The darkness consumed her as the fire died.

"Look at you," a hauntingly familiar voice seemed to whisper directly into her ear. "Oh my, how far you've fallen. What an utter disappointment."

Azula's eyes opened. She was engulfed in the dark, a tangible black. She lifted her head from her knees, still drowsy but now alert to the sudden voice. It sounded so close. She could barely see her hands at an extended arms length in front of her.

"Who are you?! Where are you?!" she threatened at a heightened voice. "You'll regret approaching me like this!"

"To think we used to be so powerful...It's pathetic. You are pathetic. Everything that has happened to you, you deserved for being so weak."

"Where are you?!" she called into the darkness. It was her own voice speaking to her. "You dare approach me and then you run?!"

"I'm not going anywhere," her own voice spoke back. A blue flame ignited, seeming to float in the darkness. It began to circle around the princess. She followed the glowing flame with her head, watching it as it circled around her back. The light cast from this bright blue flame did not radiate farther than the small halo of light immediately surrounding it. Just as it passed her left side, the flame snuffed out, leaving the seated princess in the dark once again. Her eyes shot left and right in the dark.

The flame ignited in front of her.

Standing over Azula with one arm held out almost lifelessly, the other hanging simply by her side, was an eerie and lifeless reflection. The same woman she had saw a glimpse of earlier among the trees in the distance. The one who followed her. Who tormented her, haunted her, preyed upon her. The armor of her Fire Nation outfit seemed darker than it naturally already was, but the gold trim was missing. Her jet black hair hung down, frizzled, and covered the most of half of her face. Her exposed eye twitched of rage as it bore its deadly gaze down on Azula. She could see the tear stains down the apparition's cheek, and made note of her smeared rouge lips.

"I'm you," it hissed.

Azula threw a fist forward at the girl who stood above her, launching a single fire blast. It dodged and pushed down on her. Azula came face to face with the monster of the dark. She reflexed in fear as she looked it in the face in her one exposed eye. The apparition grabbed hold of her shoulders firmly and pushed, tackling Azula into the ground. But instead of hitting the ground, she was driven through, seeming to fall into a bottomless black void.

She was consumed by the darkness.