gemsofformenos: "It's bitter that beside all this decay and the constant fear to loose herself to the parasites, this fate offers her a freedom she wouldn't have otherwise." Its one of those things that just unsettles her very much. "It fits to her that she considers to stay and not to risk spreading the infection toward possible uninfected areas in the world." I feel like she wouldn't want the dishonor of spreading infection. "So she follows the goal to try to find her father and a ray of hope remains, cause the prison seems to be a save place so far." For better or for worse she seeks him out; he usually brings out the worst in her. "Really excited to read how things will go on for Azula." I have a plan for her. It might not be what is expected, and it wasn't my original plan but I think I'm gonna go with it lol.
HammerTide: that will be seen in this chapter.
Azula supposes that she should be reluctant to keep company with the sort of people who take up residence in a prison. But among all other things that it has taken from her, the universe has stripped her of her standards.
The man and woman exchange glances.. "You're alive, princess?" The man speaks.
"For now." She spares them a snide comment.
"Wait out here." The woman says before disappearing into the prison.
Azula finds herself a spot against the gate and leans upon it. She wishes that they would simply let her in. Instead, they give her ample time to dwell upon and dread what her father might say to her. She will tell him only what she needs to and distort it heavily. She won't make mention of her helpless days of being chained to the grate nor that she had failed as a leader. She won't mention that she had a group at all.
"As far as my father will know, it was only me and you this whole time."
Li nods, "as you wish."
She hears the screech of metal as the prison doors open. Azula's stomach lurches.
The inside of the prison looks, in comparison to the outside of it, rather trashed, though she has a feeling that it has always been this dirty. "You've kept them in their cells." Azula notes.
The woman nods. "The warden brought the infection in from the outside, several inmates have already contracted it. We can't figure out how to tell who is infected already nor how to kill them so we keep them in cells."
"That's where all of our infected go." The man adds. "Guard and prisoner."
"Makes the disease easier to contain." The woman continues. "And keeps the violent infected from getting to us."
But they can't seal every nook, crack, and crannie. "Sometimes a new person gets infected regardless." The man confirms Azula's suspicions.
"Do you take many outsiders in?" Li asks.
"You're the first outsiders that we've seen." The woman answers.
"They don't know, do they?" Azula asks.
The man shakes his head. "They know that there is an epidemic…"
Azula can't help but think that it is probably a pandemic at this point.
"...But they don't know how devastating it really is."
Azula scoffs. "You're fools to keep them in the dark."
"Fools!?" The woman frowns. "We're keeping order. It'd be anarchy if they found out…"
"Well I hope that they don't find out on their own." Azula shrugs. "I don't know what you're going to tell them when you deplete your food supply."
"Shall we bring Ozai to his daughter?" A second man asks.
"Zekyul," the woman turns to the first man, "fetch the ex-Fire Lord."
.oOo.
Azula hasn't felt this queasy in ages, her stomach ties itself in knots. Li sits next to her and rubs the back of her hand in an attempt to free her of at least some stress.
Ozai, hands cuffed and chained, is shoved roughly into the room. He looks just as dreadful as she; long scraggly hair, unkempt and unshaven beard-it is much longer now, and hollow cheeks. He looks nothing like the proud Phoenix King that she had last seen. His muscles have deteriorated drastically, giving way to emenciation.
"Father…" She can't keep her eyes from welling up.
"What happened to you?" He grumbles. "Did they lock you up too?" It comforts him some that the disgust in his voice seems to be directed at the them he refers to.
Her face falls under his judging gaze. "For a while, yes…" She trails off and gives a nervous shift. She has already said too much.
"You let your brother break your leg?"
She shakes her head quickly. "The disease is worse than you've been told. The Capital is in ruins. The palace is…" she falters. "Newly destroyed."
Something flickers in his eyes.
Shock?
Anger?
Disbelief?
"How many people are left?"
Under his stare, despite her best efforts, she crumbles. "There were about twelve of us in my group." She curses herself slowly, wondering just what it was that made it so hard for her to lie to him. "They're dead, father. All except for myself and Li." She draws a shaky breath. "I...I couldn't..." She has already dug herself this deep. Perhaps it is her mind desperately reaching for comfort. "I was their leader, I got them all killed. If you had been there…"
She awaits his disapproving comments. "They're all dead, I saw them all die." She adds softly, if only to fill the quiet that has befallen the room. "I'm the only one left."
The berating never comes. Instead, he takes her fragile and spent body into his arms and lets her cry into his shoulder. He pats her back, roughly, but she knows that he means to console.
"I expected no less from you. To survive when no one else can. I'm proud of you."
Her tummy tingles with pride and hope before it falls away to shame, "but I couldn't keep my people alive."
He rubs her back in soothing circles. "That doesn't matter. Out there, everyone needs to fight for themselves and if they die, then they aren't strong enough for this world. They aren't worthy of living."
Azula nods in agreement. But she doesn't think that Ruon nor Bujing had been unworthy.
"This is an opportunity!" He declares with a bold and sweeping arm motion. "We'll take back what your loathsome brother and the Avatar have taken from us." He pauses. "We'll build a new nation for the strong. We'll build it from the ashes of the nation your brother weakened."
Her heart plummets and for a second, she can't place why. She realizes that she doesn't want to make a grab for power, she just wants to find a safe haven, one where she, Li, and her father can sleep easy.
"You and I. We're worthy. We survived." Ozai declares.
She thinks of the parasites rolling and churing beneath her flesh and abruptly pulls from her father's embrace. She apologizes and mutters something about the prospect being jarring. He shushes her and repeats, "you were strong enough to keep from getting infected. You survived."
"Yes, father." She whispers. "I survived." But that is as far as it extends.