"How is she doing?"
"I don't know, she has always kept to herself" her mother sighed nervously, "but she's refusing to unpack, or even come out of her room."
"I suppose that's to be expected," the man replied,
"I'm worried- what if he comes back and tries to take her?"
"Then we'll stop him," he assured, "We have dealt with these things before ."
"I- I know that- I just,"
"Don't worry," The man said, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder, "There's a lot of good men and women out there looking for Ozai, I'm sure they'll find him."
"Thank you Dr. Lawton."
"I'll come back tomorrow to speak with her again," He assured, making his way out the door.
Azula stared down at them from atop the stairs, fists clenched; biting on the inside of her cheek. Of course, child protective services couldn't just leave her alone. Dr. Lawton had been insistent on talking to her everyday, and while she was excellent at dodging his questions, it was still a constant annoyance.
Three weeks ago Azula was happy living her life in her Father's care. She hadn't spoken to anyone, besides her two best friends, in three years.
That was until her father's mansion was suddenly raided, by cops, while he was away.
Azula was taken in custody and asked a bunch of questions, none of which she was expecting. She thought the cops had come to arrest her father for his ties with the Agni Kai, but they hadn't. In fact it seemed like they had zero clue he was involved with any sort of mafia activity at all.
To make things worse, her grandfather Azulon was nowhere to be found, he was now supposed to be her legal guardian, but no one could get a hold of him. It seemed like he completely vanished.
She was stuck, stuck with her awful mother; loser brother; her annoying old friends. The only people she had now were Mai and Ty Lee, but she couldn't tell them what was really going on.
She felt so alone.
Ozai needed to hurry up and come back for her already, he promised she wouldn't be left behind.
"What are you doing?" A familiar voice behind her asked, making her jump.
"I don't see how that's any of your business Zuzu," She glared up to him as she walked down the stairs,
"Azula, Zuko! Are you ready for school," she asked nervously,
"As I'll ever be!" Azula mocked in a cheerful tone. It was going to be her first day back to her old public school, needless to say she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Azula, I know this is hard on you-" Ursa started,
"Don't." Azula said simply as she grabbed an apple from the kitchen.
"Why are you such a- butthead!," Zuko groaned,
"Wow- great insult dumbass."
"At least I have enough honor to not curse in front of our mom!"
"Please don't argue," Ursa pleaded, "Zuko will you please drive your sister to school today."
"I'd rather die then show up to school with him-" Azula argued, "Can't I just walk?"
"No Azula, how will I know if you get to school safety?" Ursa stated, "Please just go with Zuko, he drives Katara, Aang, and Sokka to school everyday too! It won't be just you."
Azula rolled her eyes, "Great, now I will show up to school with not one loser but four."
"Hey! We're not losers!" Zuko whined
"Then why are you called the loser squad?"
"No one calls us that!" He huffed, "And might I remind you, you used to be in that squad too!"
"Unwilling! It's not like I-"
Ursa sighed heavily, "That's enough arguing! Azula you're going with Zuko and that's final!"
Azula just groaned as she stormed outside,
"It's not like I want to drive you!" Zuko sneered
"Zuko, I know Azula is difficult, " She sighed, handing him his lunch, "but she's having a hard time right now, so please try to bear with it."
Zuko signed and nodded as he shoved his lunch into his backpack,"I understand."
Ursa walked with Zuko outside and hugged him tightly. She looked to Azula stepping towards her,
"Don't even think about it, Ursa," Azula said pushing passed her towards the car.
"Bye mom," Zuko said following his sister, "See you after school!"
Sokka, Katara, and Aang were all waiting next to Zuko's car. Even though she had been here for almost a month, she had luckily been able to avoid them. It would be an understatement to say things did not end well.
They had all been neighbors since they were little. Zuko became quick friends with them, which meant Azula had to hang out with them too. She wouldn't admit to having actually enjoyed their company, some more than others, but when her parents got divorced Ozai assured her she would be better cutting ties with them.
So she did.
"Hey guys!" Zuko said, walking over to them.
"Morning Zuko!" Aang smiled brightly towards Zuko before he noticed who was beside him, "A-and Azula!"
Sokka and Katara both exchanged glances before glaring at Azula,
"I guess now that big daddy is gone you think things can just go back to how they were?" Sokka scoffed,
"Oh please, I thought I made it clear I'd never willingly hang out with any of you losers." Azula retorted, swallowing the knot in her throat as she glared at them.
Sokka stepped towards her angrily before Aang quickly put his arm over his chest, "Please, let's not fight."
Azula walked past the group and climbed into the passenger seat of the car, hoping to avoid further conversation.
"Mom is making me drive her," Zuko signed
"We're not mad at you Zuko, but it's not like we can just play nice with her!" Katara said,
"Didn't say you had too, just ignore her." He replied, "Come on, let's get going."
They all exchanged glances before getting into Zuko's car. The usual playful banter was replaced with silence.
Azula stared at her phone, trying to ignore how heavy the air around her felt. She was sure mother did this to her as a punishment of some sort.
Aang broke the ice and started talking about some project he was working on for school. Azula felt a wave of relief as the others joined into conversation for the rest of the ride.
As soon as the car parked at the school Azula was out of it,
"Hey wait," Zuko said, following her out of the car, "Do you want help- like signing in?"
"Oo playing the big brother role now, are we Zuzu?" Azula smirked,
"Jesus Azula! Do you have to be a bitch all the time!?" He sneered,
"Pulling out the big boy words now that Ursa's gone?" She responded,
"First of all-, " Zuko started before he was interrupted by a small squealing cheerleader,
"Azula!" The girl squealed, tackling Azula, "You're actually here!"
"Clearly." She responded, stunned by Ty Lee's embrace, "Can you let go now?"
"Oh sorry!" She smiled, "I've just- I haven't seen you, like in the real world, in three years! You got so pretty!"
"Well of course I did!"
Zuko and his friends stood there awkwardly, Ty Lee's cheerfulness was both infections and terrifying.
"Oh my god!" Ty Lee gasped, "I didn't mean to interrupt, I'm sorry!"
"You didn't, let's go." Azula said, starting to walk away, "These losers aren't worth our time."
"Don't be so mean." Ty Lee said following her, before turning to wave at the gang, "Bye guys! See you later!"
Katara and Aang both waved back before looking over to their more annoyed friends. Zuko looked like he was trying to come up with some amazing comeback, while Sokka was stomping off into the school building,
"Todays sure off to a good start," Aang sighed, patting Zuko on the back, "Come on, let's get to class."
Zuko just sighed and followed his friends into the building.
Meanwhile Ty Lee continued rambling about her school life as the two girls found their other friend,
"Azula," Mai smirked, "Don't try to pawn Ty Lee off to me, she hasn't shut up about you all month."
Azula looked from Mai to Ty Lee, who kept talking despite her friends displeasure,
"Fine," Azula sighed, "But you're picking me up for school from now on. I don't think I can take another ride with Zuko's friends"
"Weren't they your friends at some point?" Mai questioned,
"Not the point!" Azula groaned, "I don't want to have to deal with those losers, and Ty Lee's overbearing cheerfulness."
"I see your point." Mai nodded, looking over to Ty Lee,
"Oh come on!" Ty Lee frowned, "Can't I be happy we're finally together again?"
"Absolutely not." Mai said,
"Ug!" Ty Lee groaned, "Whatever! I know you guys are happy about being back together too!"
"Are not!" Both Mai and Azula lied. Ty Lee just shook her head and grabbed both of her friends by their arms,
"You two are impossible!" Ty Lee said, dragging her friends into the school with her.
Azula walked down the hall with her friends. She looked around at all the different students, some stopped and waved at Ty Lee, others went through their lockers bickering with their friends.
Ty Lee and Mai both stopped at their own lockers,
"Azula, do you know what classes you have yet?" Ty Lee asked,
"No, I still need to goto the office." She said
"Want us to come with!" She smiled,
"You just want an excuse to skip class." Mai said, rolling her eyes.
"What! That's not true!" Ty Lee insisted, "What if Azula needs help?"
"I assure you I won't." She said, starting to walk towards the direction of the office.
"Wait!," Ty Lee started,
"Calm down, I'll see you at lunch." Azula assured as she kept walking before her friend could protest further.
She heard the bell ring as she stepped into the office, students behind her scrambled to get into their classrooms.
"Oh, hello." An older lady said, "Shouldn't you be off to class?"
"It's my first day, I never got my class schedule." Azula said approaching the desk,
"I see! My apologies," The lady replied, "What's your name?"
"Azula Kouen."
"Ah! Here you are!" She smiled, "Azula Kouen, 16, Senior, correct?"
"Correct." Azula nodded,
"Alright, let me just print your schedule for you!" She said, typing on her computer, "Your locker number is 0226, and your homeroom is class 205; AP Algebra. I can take you there if you'd like?"
"No thank you, I can manage." Azula assured,
"Okay well," The lady said, handing Azula her schedule, "If you need anything else let me know!"
Azula nodded towards the other lady and stepped into the now empty hallway. She would be ten minutes late to class by the time she found her homeroom.
She looked down at her schedule as she approached the door. Azula know it was stupid to be nervous, father would shun her for such stupid behavior, but she couldn't help it.
Azula took a deep breath as her hand went onto the door, pulling herself into a confident smirk. She'd make sure the students here knew,
She wasn't going to be stuck with them,
They were going to be stuck with her.