Prompt: "They say I'm a traitor. Maybe I am. All I know is I did what I had to do."
Azula couldn't remember how it happened. One minute she was fighting one of the asylum guards, blue flames scorching his chest in repeated pulses, and the next her forehead slammed against the ground. She hasn't been taken off guard like this since Ty Lee's betrayal at the Boiling Rock. The guard never hit her or she would have seen it, so who did? A viscous throb on the back of her head brought her back to her current situation.
She was vulnerable to the enemy.
Azula hissed through her teeth, methodically pushing herself off the ground and back on her feet. It was then that she noticed the Water Tribe boy grinning at her with his stupid boomerang in his hand. He almost blended in as a member of the Fire Nation, donned in a traditional red tunic and loose pants.
"Never underestimate a guy and his boomerang," he said, waving the weapon in his hand haphazardly. "You know, I'm officially two-for-two on wiping out Fire Nation siblings with it. Think I could have hit the Fire Lord with this thing?"
Azula smirked. "I think little boys should keep their toys at home and remember who they're really messing with."
Azula, don't do this, sweetheart. She gritted her teeth painfully as her mother's voice echoed through her head. Now wasn't the time for a breakdown. Azula meticulously planned this escape for several weeks, waiting until the fireworks exploded during the festival to channel her lightning at the cell gate. The chance of her bending even working seemed rather unlikely considering her lack of training the past few months, but the familiar crackling in her fingertips brought a long-forgotten power back to her.
That is, until boomerang boy interrupted her plans.
In all of the months she sat in this cage, never once had he stepped in the asylum. The probability of him choosing to surprise her with a visit during the biggest festival in the Fire Nation was miniscule-and yet, here he stood.
"I'm not afraid of you Azula," he commented. When she glared at him, he shrugged lazily. "You see, while you've been in here wasting away since the end of the war, I've trained relentlessly. I'm a pretty great swordsman now and, as you've learned, dangerous with a boomerang. Not to mention one of the only people smart enough to realize you'd try your luck at escaping while the rest of the city enjoyed fire flakes, fireworks, and music."
"Your name is Sokka, right?" When he didn't respond, she continued. "Well, Sokka, while it is quite impressive that you would figure out my plan, you didn't account for one small detail." Azula spread her legs into a firebending stance, planting her feet firmly on the floor. "I don't intend on leaving any witnesses."
"Well Princess, I don't intend on letting you leave." Sokka assumed his own stance, shoving boomerang into his belt and unsheathing a new sword, one far less intimidating than the last time they faced off, she noted.
She blasted a blue ball of fire at him and he jumped to the left, barely dodging it as it scorched part of his tunic. He started running closer to her, moving incrementally faster with each bolt she fired at him. Noticing his figure approaching, she cartwheeled further down the corridor, cursing the bagginess of her gray garb when it interfered with her fluidity.
He swung the sword towards her arm, which nicked her skin when she didn't move quick enough. At the sight of blood staining the hideous uniform, she sent a fiery fist towards his face, growling when he swiftly moved and avoided her punch.
"Did you really think you'd be able to escape?" he questioned, pressing closer with his sword. "Everyone in the city knows your name, knows your face. All it would take is one guard to tell Zuko you're gone and every bounty hunter in the Fire Nation would be looking for you."
She frowned at him, keeping her arms raised offensively in front of her. "No bounty hunter stands a chance against me. I'm a prodigy."
"You were a prodigy." Azula barely held back her wince at that statement. "Now you're dirty, untrained, weakened, crazy-"
"I'm not crazy, peasant!" She shouted, letting her resolve slip slightly, summoning another blue flame to her hands. Azula felt the brick wall against her back and cursed herself for not being more aware of her surroundings. Had her senses really taken such a big hit while being held captive?
Sokka held his sword steady in his hands, staring her down. His expression darkened slightly, looking less like the funny guy riding the coattails of the Avatar and more like the warrior she suspected he truly became while she sat locked away.
"Okay, not crazy," he compromised. "But you're haunted. Haunted by the past, by your mistakes and your failures. You tried to ignore it, to keep it locked in a box in that pretty little head of yours. But eventually, that box became overwhelmed with its contents and burst. You haven't been the same since, have you?"
He knows about you, Azula. He knows I love you, he knows I'll never leave you.
Azula tried to shake the thoughts out of her head. She glared at him, fire ready to explode out of every orifice. "You know nothing about me, don't be so presumptuous."
He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows.
"I don't have to presume anything," he stated, slowly lowering his sword to his side. "Zuko knew you were slipping from the moment he saw you during Sozin's Comet. Katara knew, too. And I know now. That stoic girl with all the control in the world is gone, instead consumed by whatever grief is inside you."
Kill him, Azula. Show him just how much control you have. This voice, sounding suspiciously like her father, almost brought her to her knees.
Mercy, Azula, her mother whispered.
Azula roared fire, the strength of the flame burning her throat as it ripped its way out of her. Sokka's eyes widened at the blue forcefield, running back down the hallway. When the first roar finished, another weakened flame clawed its way up her throat, taking far more of her energy than the first, black spots suddenly darting across her eyes.
When she finally stopped, swaying slightly on her feet, she glanced at Sokka. To her chagrin, instead of a face of fury, his eyes glimmered in pity. The shame that radiated through her burned, infuriating her even more.
"Don't look at me like that, you peasant," she snapped. "I'm still the Princess of the greatest nation alive."
Sokka sighed softly, taking another step towards her. "No one can help you out there," he commented. "Life is going to be much harder outside these walls. The whole world will be watching you and hunting you down. Everyone is waiting for you to fail."
"It's better than being trapped in here," she said. "If I stay locked in here, all I'll do is wait to die. This isn't living." She wrapped her arms around her, hardening her expression. "The Avatar thought he was being merciful by not killing me, but it was his cruelest action yet."
"You deserved to be punished, you were a criminal," he said. "Azula, you hurt a lot of people. And I'm sorry that you're hurting. Believe it or not, I don't find satisfaction watching you fall apart." He took another step closer, now standing right in front of her. "But you're where you need to be. You need to be here, where you can't hurt anyone else. The medical staff here can help you."
You're going to allow him to talk down to you? Her father's commanding voice dominated her mind again. You're no daughter of mine. You're weak, like your brother. Like your mother.
Azula's chin trembled at the reprimand from her father. His disappointment stabbed her in the chest. It's not real, she whispered to herself. He's not real, he's not here. You're strong.
"You think they're helping me here?" She laughed, bitterness sharpening its edge. "Want to hear my daily schedule? Wake up, lay on the floor, permitted bathroom break, meal consisting of sludge, sleep, wake up, permitted bathroom break, more sludge, sleep. Repeat over and over again. I'm trapped in a cage with no sunlight, no guards communicate with me. They're not helping me, they're leaving me to wither away in silence. Zuzu wanted me to be nothing and if I don't escape, I'll fade away."
Sokka frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His newly toned muscles bulged with this motion and Azula couldn't help but draw her eyes towards them. If he noticed, he didn't mention. "If the guards are mistreating you, I'll speak to Zuko about it. He wants you to be better, to heal."
She scoffed. "Zuzu doesn't care about me, he never has. I can't say I particularly care about him either, but for any of us to pretend he feels any form of affection for me is foolish."
"He does care," Sokka insisted. "He could have thrown you in a prison cell and let you rot, but he sent you here so you can improve."
Zuko loves you, but you pushed him away, her mother criticized.
"No, he let me rot in here instead," she noted, sweeping her arms in a gesturing motion. "At least in prison, I would be able to go outside. And he did let me rot. If he truly cared, wouldn't he have visited me? Do you know that, until this very moment, no person has visited me?"
"He thought if you saw him, it would trigger a breakdown," Sokka defended. Azula laughed again at his naivete. He's a fool who will believe anything someone tells him. Azula smirked inwardly at the thought, her mind running through a new idea.
Azula sighed and glanced down at the floor, softening the expression on her face. "No one has ever loved me or cared about me. I'm either a tool or a burden. Maybe I'm better off dead."
He stepped closer to her, gently resting his hand on her shoulder. The fingers from his other hand tipped her chin up until they were making eye contact, amber combating blue. "Self-pity isn't a good look on you, Princess."
Her eyes widened slightly as he caught onto her plan and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable with his physical contact. Noting his focused stare, she suddenly punched him in the chest, her hand ignited in a flame as blue as his eyes. His body slammed against the ground, a burn searing his chest as he moaned in pain. The front of his tunic now burnt away and exposed his chest. She tried to ignore the heat that suddenly flared on her cheeks.
He knows, he knows, he knows.
End him now, her father commanded. Leave no witnesses, leave no one behind.
Azula moved closer to Sokka, her footsteps echoing throughout the corridor. Holding his arm above his wounds, he tried to crawl away from her, but the pain inhibited him from moving too far. She smirked, walking until her feet were suddenly next to his chest.
You're not a monster," her mother whispered. Leave him, be merciful.
Kill him, kill him, kill him. Do not fail me again.
Squatting next to him, Azula finally let herself look at him. His hair grew longer, pulled back into the familiar wolf's tail, but the normally shaved part around it was scruffier, giving him a more rugged experience than his younger self. If he weren't her enemy, Azula would have found him attractive.
"You don't have to do this," he groaned at her.
She nodded. "You're right, I don't." His eyes lit up in hope. "But I'm going to do it anyway." She leaned forward and grabbed his cheeks, pulling him in for a kiss. He froze against her for a minute before slowly kissing her back. The kiss was gentle, far more gentle than anything she was used to, but she didn't mind.
Sokka used one hand to cup her cheek, his calloused fingers pulling Azula out of the moment. She ripped her lips away from him. They both sat there, holding each other's faces, breathing the same air. They may have been there for a few seconds or a few minutes, she couldn't say.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. When Sokka's face scrunched in confusion, she stood quickly before delivering one swift kick to his face.
He fell to the ground unconscious.
Kill him, Azula.
Leave him, he did nothing to you.
Kill him, he's barely alive. Kill him or he'll find you.
You can be good, you can make the right choice.
Without Sokka's distraction, the voices echoed all around her. They no longer seemed trapped in her head, but swarmed around her like a flock of spiderflies. She collapsed to the floor, covering her ears with her hands. It's not real, it's not real. They're not real.
Kill him NOW.
Leave him alone, sweetheart.
Swallowing back the lump forming in her throat, she stood quickly. Azula glanced at Sokka again, her stomach dropping at the figure that refused to move at all. The blood from her kick pooled on his face as his cheek started to swell. If not for the subtle rise and fall of his chest, she might have believed he already died.
But he was alive.
Azula straightened her posture, pushing her shoulders back, and left the cell asylum.
Go back and kill him now or you're a traitor. You're betraying your nation right now.
You did the right thing, I'm so proud of you.
Tears streamed down her face as the voices told her the things she was most afraid to hear. Azula felt like a traitor to her father and simultaneously, finally felt the pride from her mother that she's sure Zuzu experienced all the time. The conflict within her hurt, a pain she hasn't felt since her defeat during Sozin's Comet. She resisted the urge to clutch her chest as she abandoned her city.
You didn't kill him, you fool. He will come find you.
Azula smiled to herself, thinking of her kiss with Sokka.
"Yeah," she whispered to herself. "Maybe he will."