Darkness swept over her room. She had been grounded for days but It hadn't been too much of an inconvenience yet. Her mother mostly just forced her to eat with them and try to make her a part of this fake family. Ursa was wasting her time, but then again Azula had been wasting her time as well. Tonight was the night she would finally do something about the itching feeling that crept in the back of her mind. Eating away at her sanity.
She memorized her mother's schedule, she should be asleep by now. She would have to be fast, Ursa usually woke up early in the morning. While she never came into Azula's room, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Azula opened her closet, dressing herself in dark jeans along with a long black hoodie. She stretched a black mask over her face as she walked over to the neat pile of boxes that stayed perfectly against her wall.
She scanned over each box before grabbing on from the top. Azula placed it gently on her bed, using her sharp nails to slice apart the tape that held the box together. The only thing in the box was a large teddy bear. Azula carefully picked it out of the box, shaking it lightly. It was still as heavy as she remembered,
"Good thing I've always hated bears," Azula mumbled as she looked over the teddy bear with disgust. She flipped it over, gripping the loose stitching on its back and ripping it open with her nails. Azula reached her hand inside the bear, only pulling out her lighter, as well as a small compact gun her father had given her for emergencies. She dropped the bear back into the box,
She would be sure to stitch it back up later.
Azula grabbed the gun in her hand. It was loaded, one round was all she had. She would have to be careful. Azula carefully placed the gun in her pocket, making sure it was concealed, before throwing the lighter into her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.
She pulled her hood over her head, tucking her hair into the hoodie before walking over to her window. Faint mur murs could still be heard from Zuzu's room. He wouldn't notice her slip out, he never did, but she would still need to be quiet.
Carefully she slid her window open before quietly climbing onto the roof. She slid down to the edge of the room. Kneeling down and slipping into her yard.
The streets riddled with darkness, the only light beaming down from the street lights. Azula hid in the darkness, quickly strolling through the empty streets. The bus she needed to catch would be arriving soon.
The streets appeared to be silent until the sound of a tig breaking behind her made her spin around. She couldn't see anything, no one was there. Azula kept walking, feeling eyes on her as she moved. She kept checking behind her, only to find nothing, not even the shadows that had been haunting her.
Maybe she was going crazy.
Azula stopped in front of a bus stop, sitting herself down on the bench. Luckily she hadn't missed it. Buses were few and far between at this hour and she currently didn't have a better mode of transportation.
The light above her flickered, consistently leaving her in total darkness. Azula could still feel eyes staring darts into her back. She looked behind her again, still nothing. A pit fell in her stomach, borrowing itself inside her, making her chest tighten; how annoying. She didn't have time to be anxious.
Her head turned back to the road as headlights came into her view. The bus stopped in front of her before opening its doors and letting her inside. She was quick to slide her change into the counter and speed towards the back of the bus. Totally obvious to the person who had followed her onboard.
Azula sat in the back. There were few passengers on the bus. Some of them were even asleep. Most of them were turned facing away from her, making it hard for her to observe them, but they didn't seem like immediate threats.
It was a long time before Azula reached her stop. Her eyes had almost gone drowsy by the time she arrived. She shook her head, trying to wake herself up again before stepping off the bus. A shiver went up her body. It was colder outside than she remembered.
Azula ignored the continuous feeling of someone following her. Choosing to pick up her pace instead of wasting time checking behind her. She was just being anxious for no reason, it was ridiculous.
The houses surrounding her slowly became bigger and bigger as she walked. She was close.
Azula turned, moving herself up the driveway of a large house. It was almost the size of a mansion; secluded; no pesky neighbors to bother her. She walked closely to the large walls that served as fences along the driveway. Being careful to stay in the darkness, not wanting to be caught on any cameras. Quickly she came to a halt as soon as she heard voices coming towards her.
No one should be here. The cops had stopped investigating this place days ago.
Azula carefully hid in the bushes as two large men passed her by. One of them wore a suit, the other a vest that was proudly showing the fire insignia burned into his left shoulder,
"Agni Kai," Azula mumbled as she placed her hand on her left shoulder, "What could you be doing here?"
She was careful to crawl away from the men, sticking close to the wall.
There was no reason for her grandfather to have men searching her father's house unless he was looking for something. But why? It couldn't be anything good. It might mean Ozai ran away from not just the cops but Azulon as well. One thing is for sure, she needed to be careful. If her father and grandfather were fighting these guys wouldn't be happy to see her.
"Hey! Stop right there!" One of the men yelled, making her freeze up. How could she have been spotted? She was being so careful! Azula turned to the men, still laying low to the ground, only to realize they weren't yelling at her but someone else. She moved a few leaves out of the way, squinting to get a better look at who they were apprehending,
"Sokka?" She whispered as her eyes widened. Why was he here? He must have been trailing her. At least that meant she wasn't crazy. She sighed, mentally slapping herself for being so careless. Father would be disappointed,
"I said stop!" The man repeated, raising his gun towards Sokka, "What are you doing here?"
"H-hey! Woah look I don't want trouble-" Sokka insisted with both of his arms raised,
"He's seen too much already, Azulon wants no witnesses." The other man said as he approached Sokka. Azula could see the beads of sweat rolling down Sokka's forehead while he frantically looked around,
"Leave him Azula," The dark voice whispered in her ear, making her body go cold. Azula bit hard on her lip as she felt a hand cross over her cheek, "He serves as a good distraction."
Her fists tightened as she watched Sokka try to plead for his life. The voice was right, she would be able to get in easily while he was killed. So why was it hard to turn away? Father would tell her she shouldn't care for him anyway, to let him die,
"Sorry kid. Bosses orders," The man in the suit stated, pointing the gun straight for his head. He was about to pull the trigger before suddenly collapsing onto the ground. Standing before him was Azula, shocking both the other man as well as Sokka. Before either of them could move Azula cocked her gun and pointed at the man who was still standing,
"Why had Azulon sent you here?" Azula asked in her best commanding tone. Trying to stay steady as she glared him down,
"You look far too young to know that name," He said coldly, "Who are you?"
"I don't think you're in the position to be asking questions," She answered back, "Now answer me."
"I only answer to Azulon," He replied, shaking his head, "Sorry little one."
Azula bit the inside of her cheek, she knew he would report back to her grandfather. Azulon would know it was her. There wasn't another teenage girl crazy enough to stand up to two armed guards. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to calm her mind,
"He needs to die Azula," The voice said again. His words echoing through her mind. He was right, so why did her hand start shaking. She should be ready for this, it was supposed to be easy, just like father said.
When she opened her eyes she was quick to realize she had them shut for too long. The man was now rushing towards her forcing her to step back, almost losing her own footing. Panic ran through her mind as she tried to find a way to correct her mistake, but he was coming towards her too quickly and she couldn't shoot. His hands reached towards her gun but before he could grab it he was met with a fist to his cheek, pushing him off balance and sending him to the ground. Azula looked up to Sokka who was shaking his fist in the air,
"Owww-" He complained before Azula quickly slammed her gun into the man's head, knocking him out. She turned to Sokka a little surprised. She hadn't been expecting him to act that way,
"Thanks," Azula grumbled, masking her shock with a glare, "Now tell me what the hell you're doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here!" He said as he gestured back and forth between her and the two now incopasitated men on the floor, "And how the hell did you get a gun!?"
"Of course you'd ask that," Azula sighed, sliding the gun back into her pocket, before grabbing one of the guards and dragging them into a nearby bush, "A little help?"
"What do you mean of course I'd ask that! It's a perfectly logical question Zula!" He replied, his vision now steady on the other man laying on the ground. Sokka groaned before finally deciding to help her move him into the bus.
"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," She said, slightly out of breath, "Now tell me, why did you follow me here?"
"I saw you leave your room late at night, I was worried you were running away, I don't know," He sighed, "I didn't think you would be trying to break into someones mansion!"
"I'm not breaking into anything." She insisted, a confident smirk painted across her face "This is my house, is it so wrong for me to want to visit my home?"
Sokka looked at her, his mouth now gaped open in shock, "Wh-what? Well no? But the gun-"
"Don't worry about it." She said before grabbing his hand and pulling him with her into the darkness before anyone else could see them, "You need to get out of here. Now."
"I'm not leaving you here with sketchy crime dudes!" He said, tightening his grip on her hand,
"You're the one who almost got killed," Azula sighed, looking down at their hands and quickly ripping hers from his, "I was perfectly fine."
"I wouldn't have walked into them if I had known they were crazy people with guns," He insisted,
"Yeah you would've called your dad here and had this place lit up with cops instead, so helpful," She said, rolling her eyes. Before he could open his mouth again she slammed him against the wall and placed her hand over his mouth, "Shh"
Two more men slowly walked by them, talking amongst themselves. Sokka looked down to Azula, her eyes were trained on the guards. His face flushed slightly when he realized how close her body was pressed to his. She hadn't seemed to notice.
The sound of footsteps faded as the men walked down to the street. Azula leaned away from him as she looked around checking for anyone else. A small breath escaped Sokka's lips when she finally let go of him,
"Alright it should be safe for you to leave now," Azula stated, pointing towards the street,
"Like I said I'm not leaving without you," Sokka insisted again , "Clearly neither of us should be here."
"Speak for yourself- you're the one who followed me here remember." Azula glared, "But if you insist on staying, don't get in my way."
Sokka watched as she continued to walk towards the house. He looked over to the street and then back to her, she had made it to one of the windows and was finding a way to unlock it. His dad would kill him if he found out what he was doing, it's not like him and Azula were friends anymore. He should leave, he knew that,
"So you decided to stay?," Azula whispered as Sokka walked up behind her. She had been able to get the window propped open and was sitting on the ledge, already half way inside the house, "Just don't cry about it later okay?"
"I'm not going to cry about it," He complained, "I'm a grown ass man now, remember?"
"Sure you are" Azula rolled her eyes as she finished climbing into the house. They were in the living room on the ground floor. She hadn't seen it in months but it appeared to be untouched. Her head turned down the hallway, she could hear loud crashing sounds coming from the kitchen. Azulons hentchmen would be inside as well. Azula glared at Sokka as he climbed through the window, "Just keep your mouth shut and follow me okay?"
"Okay-" He nodded reluctantly,
"What did I just say?" Azula whispered, still glaring at him. His face scrunched up as she turned away from him, staring to go down the hall. He should've left when he had the chance.
The shuffled slowly down the hallways. Sokka followed Azula carefully, staying as close to the wall as he could. Hentchmen had been piled up, rummaging through each room. Sokka and Azula had been careful to pass by doorways, so far going unnoticed.
Azula stopped suddenly making him almost run into her. She pulled Sokka into a corner as a man walked past them, turning down a different hallway. A breath escaped her lips as she peered around the corner checking to make sure it was safe before continuing down the hall.
"Shit," She whispered, before backing up into Sokka. There were three men guarding the foot of the stairs. She leaned against the wall, rubbing her forehead with her hand. She couldn't go in and fight them, they needed some type of distraction. Azula looked up to Sokka who was already looking down at her. He seemed to be biting down on his lip, trying to keep himself from saying anything, "What is it?"
"I thought you said no talking," He whispered back a slight smirk appearing on his face,
"Is now really the time?" She glared, rubbing her forehead harder, "Just tell me your idea already."
Sokka's smirk grew as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small earpiece, "We could use it to distract them."
"Where did you get that?" She said as she reached for it only for him to hold it higher over his head and out of her reach,
"Took it off one of the assholes you knocked out while you were busy opening the window," He whispered proudly, "Now admit it, I'm amazing."
Azula just glared at him before quickly jumping up and snatching it from his hands, "I will admit no such thing."
"Hey!" He pouted trying to take it back. Azula was quick to slap his hand and place the earpiece on her ear making Sokka sigh in defeat, "You're no fun,"
"Assistance is needed at the front gate right away, over." Azula said over the earpiece, ignoring Sokka's complaining. She peered around the wall, waiting for the hentchmen to react.
One of the men put his hand to his ear as he listened to her request, "We will be right there, over."
He gestured to the other men to follow him as he went to exit the house. Azula grabbed Sokka's arm and pulled him quickly away from the wall and up the stairs, being careful not to run into anyone else.
Upstairs was surprisingly empty. As they looked around they couldn't seem to find a single person patrolling the area. Azula started to look in each room. Starting with what once had been her bedroom, it appeared to now be in shreds. The books pulled off the shelves, furniture broken. It reminded her of how her current room had appeared to look the other night.
Among further inspection, all the rooms appeared to be this way, even the bathrooms. Azula could feel her heartbeat quicken as she sprinted away from Sokka towards her father's office. It was also destroyed. His desk was flipped over along with his chair, the portrait was torn down, books scattered on the floor. Even his alcohol cabinet was smashed up, expensive whiskey wasted on the floor,
"Thanks for abandoning me Zula!" Sokka whisper yelled as he finally caught up to her, finding her standing in the middle of the room, "It's greatly appreciated!"
Azula ignored him, running over to one of her father's bookshelves. It was empty, but otherwise untouched. She grabbed it, picking it up and dragging it away from the wall,
"What are you doing?" Sokka asked, but again she didn't respond. Instead she frantically ripped a panel from the wall, revealing a small keypad, "Woah-"
She rapidly typed numbers into the keypad. Upon pressing enter the wall next to her slid open exposing a small room. Azula smirked as she walked inside, completely ignoring Sokka who was yet again stunned in surprise. Father had kept this room a secret to everyone, even her. No one was supposed to know the password. Surely if he found out that she had spied on him and memorized the code he would be upset, but it wasn't the time to worry about that.
"So this is why you came here?" He said, looking around the room. It was small. Filing cabinets made it impossible to see the walls. Only a small light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room, "What exactly is all of this?"
Azula still didn't respond to him, instead she was scouring through the cabinets. He watched her pull out different files, looking at each one before deciding whether or not it was worthy of going in her backpack.
"Shit shit shit-" Azula finally said as she started to rip open all the cabinet drawers. She desperately searched through all of them, spilling the files onto the floor,
"Zula?" Sokka questioned, placing his hand on her shoulder. The action stunned her for a second before she turned to him,
"We need to get out of here," She stated urgently,
"Well that's what I've been trying to tell you-" He started, looking a little peeved off,
"No you don't understand. Someone's been here!" Azula declared as she threw more files into her backpack before zipping it back up and throwing it back over her shoulder, "My uncle and my cousins files are completely gone, along with some others."
"So?" He looked at her confused,
"Everything should be here! My father wouldn't have taken them with him," She said, starting to panic as her eyes darted around the room, "We need to leave-"
Except she couldn't just leave could she? If someone had found this room, it couldn't be long before Azulon did as well. If her father and him were fighting like she suspected he would be sure to use all this as evidence against him. Her eyes kept darting until they finally landed on her father's alcohol cabinet.
Father always had a backup plan. What would he do?
She pulled the lighter out of her backpack and stared at it for a second before slowly walking over to the cabinet and picking up one of the remaining bottles of whiskey,
"Zula?" Sokka questioned, but it was like she didn't even hear him. She held her lighter to her face, her thumb stroking it quickly, making sparks jump before her eyes, "Azula!"
"Do it Azula," The deep voice whispered into her ear. The room darkened around her, cutting off Sokka's pleas of sanity, "Burn it all to the ground!"
She felt it absorb her as she threw the bottle into the small room, waiting to hear it crash; splattering all over the cabinets. Azula looked at the small fire dance around a top her lighter before she threw the lighter into the room as well.
Time froze as Azula watched the fire ignite, inflaming the small room. It didn't take long for the fire to destroy every paper in its path. Quickly gaining size,
"Azula!" Sokka said frantically as he shook her, wiping the smirk from her face. The darkness that covered the room was cast away revealing that the fire hadn't been contained in that room. It spread quickly, attaching itself to the alcohol that had been spilled all over the floor, "Seriously we have to get out of here!"
She took a step back from him before looking around the room. The door they came through had been covered in flames, their only way out had to be the window. Azula sprinted over to it, she tried to push it open but it refused to budge. On further inspection it would appear her father made sure to bolt the windows in his office, how had she not noticed that before?
"Shit," She mumbled, before turning towards the doors again. She didn't think this through. What was wrong with her. Azula covered her face with her hands, she's never been so impsulive before,
"Move-" Sokka said out of breath. Waiting for her to move before slamming her father's chair into the window. It bounced off the first time, and the second time. She watched wide eyed as Sokka took a deep breath and slammed it into the window a third time making it shatter to pieces. Azula quickly took off her hoodie and cleared away any excess glass before climbing out the window.
Azulon's men were already scrambling away from the house. They must have seen the smoke. Sokka and Azula both jumped down the side of the house. Landing in the yard. She groaned, pushing herself onto her elbows, looking back up at the window. Smoke was protruding out of it. This time Sokka was the one to grab her arm and pull her away, sprinting towards the street despite the slight limp in his step,
"You're crazy," Sokka said, still out of breath. He had his hands places on his knees as he was keeled over trying to breathe, "Completely insane,"
"I was going to compliment you on not being totally useless but if you are going to be rude-" Azula replied, also out of breath,
"No no go ahead, continue," He chuckled back, finally catching his breath and standing back up straight before mumbling, "Jesus christ,"
"Come on, let's get out of here," She sighed throwing her jacket around her waist and tying it, before she started to walk down the sidewalk,
"You at least owe me an explanation Zula!" He said, following her down the street,
"Do I?" She asked, sounding a little bit annoyed,
"You just set a house on fire!" He yelled back,
"Fine fine," Azula sighed, stopping at the bus stop and sitting down on the bench, "I will answer your questions until the bus comes, fair?"
"What? No!" Sokka groaned, falling down next to her, "Just- why did you come here?"
"Maybe I was homesick," She answered,
"The truth," He said glaring at her, making her roll her eyes,
"My father is missing. I needed his information in order to find him," Azula said, showing him the files she had shoved into her backpack,
"Alright accept he's not missing he just ran away from the cops because you know- he's a wanted criminal!" Sokka replied to her making her glare back to him,
"He wouldn't leave without me unless he had something wrong," She insisted. Her face was stoic but Sokka could see the doubt flash in her eyes,
"But Zula he's not exactly-" Sokka started,
"Next question." She said, cutting him off and looking away from him. He sat there for a second, staring at her as he opened and closed his mouth trying to think of what to say,
"Fine- why were those men trying to kill us," Sokka finally said, giving up on trying to talk about Ozai,
"The kind thats none of your business," She answered,
"You said you would answer my questions," He glared, clearly growing more upset as Azula looked down to the ground in silence. Sokka stared at her waiting for an answer that wouldn't come, "Zula- please just tell me what's going on."
Azula bit her lip, opening her mouth for just a second before seeing the bus turn onto their street "Sorry Sokka. Times up."
"Bullshit!" Sokka yelled as he stood up, "I deserve an answer Azula!"
"Why! You're the one that followed me here!" Azula yelled back, "I didn't ask for you to come here! I don't owe you anything, you're lucky I even answered you're stupid questions!"
"Wow! Sorry that I was worried about my friend sneaking out in the middle of the night-" He started,
"Not your friend," Azula correct,
"Right my bad, my best friends little baby sister," He sneered, watching her grit her teeth, "Next time I'll do the right thing and tell my dad instead. He can bring the whole police force-"
"Is that a threat?" She glared, digging her nails into her hands,
"Does it need to be?" He glared back, "I can call him right now- I'm sure he could use what's in your backpack to find your father,"
Azula's eyes went wide as the bus approached them. Maybe he was bluffing, if he told his father surely he would get in huge trouble as well. Maybe it was worth it for him to see her pay for everything she had done to him,
"Fine-" She mumbled, "I'll tell you, but not here."
"If you're tricking me-" He started,
"I'm not," Azula sighed as she climbed onto the bus, "Have some faith."
Sokka glared at her as he followed her onto the bus, "It's not my fault you make it sooo difficult."
Sorry this took so long to post- also sorry for any grammar errors. I kept getting called into work on my days off so it was hard to finish! I'll try to get the next one up sooner :3