Chapter 31
Hours later, Zuko and a thoroughly cried-out Ty Lee met outside the palace entrance to make their way to see Dr. Liu.
Zuko was noticeably solemn. He hadn't broken the news of Azula's disappearance to anyone else yet, figuring that many would call for an immediate and broad search to find her. As much as he actually wanted this to happen, wishing for peace of mind regarding his sister's whereabouts and whatever she was doing, he was worried that some of the foreign officials would not treat her kindly if they were the ones to somehow locate her first. Unlike many in the Fire Nation who continued to see her as a prodigy to be reckoned with, some foreigners still held grudges against her for the side she'd taken during the war.
The young Fire Lord wanted to visit the scene of the escape first, speak with the doctor to get more information, and then he would consider launching a recovery effort.
They walked in silence, Ty Lee trailing slightly behind Zuko, both occupied by their own thoughts. A number of soldiers were escorting them to an airfield, where a ship would take them to Azula's former holding place.
The airship they boarded was a scaled down version of the ones so famously used during the Hundred Year War. Most of those had been lost during the final confrontation with Team Avatar. Post-war, a great effort was considered to reestablish the might and force of the Fire Nation's army, but Zuko found it would be far too expensive and the resources would be better allocated for rebuilding civilian homes and historical buildings. Little by little, their technology would be updated and rebuilt, but for now, a few smaller airships for simple travel purposes would suffice.
The pair sat at the front of the ship, near the captain in charge of navigation. From down the hall, Zuko felt a whoosh of heat as firebenders generated the ship's power and soon they jolted into the air.
Ty Lee held her breath. She had never been the biggest fan of flying. Performing acrobatics high off the ground where she was in control was one thing, but being suspended hundreds of feet in the air, relying completely on the stamina of firebenders was another. Her hands were clenched into fists in her lap and she focused on them to keep from staring at the rapidly receding ground.
Zuko, meanwhile, stared at what lay outside the wide window. They had risen straight off of the ground and were beginning to slowly propel forwards. The trip would only take ten or so minutes, it was much quicker than waiting for the ferry, though the fresh air of the sea would have been nice.
He watched the volcanic terrain of the caldera fade beneath him as they began to move over the glistening blue waters of the sea. Zuko kept his eyes trained on the bit of coastline that still was within sight, part of him hoping he'd see a flash of blue flame erupt from somewhere nearby. He sighed. Don't be dumb, she wouldn't do something reckless.
Glancing to his left, he saw Ty Lee sitting white-knuckled. She clearly would have preferred the ferry. Zuko tapped her shoulder and she turned towards him, chewing her lip.
He offered a small smile and pointed out the window, "Don't worry, it'll only be for a few more minutes. I think I can already make out the shoreline we're headed for."
Ty Lee gave a short nod and simply returned to her previous position. Her stomach was starting to feel a little queasy, so she tried to occupy her mind with happy thoughts of cute animals and bright auras to distract herself.
Thankfully, Zuko was right. After another five minutes, the airship slowed and began a steady descent to the flat expanse of land on the north side of the walled-in mental facility.
Even from the air, the building looked quite imposing. Its metallic surfaces glinted oddly in the dying sunlight. Zuko couldn't help but wonder how exactly his sister had managed to get out of the place unnoticed. It was well guarded and Toph herself had made sure that the metal wall and gate surrounding the building were secure. As far as Zuko could tell, from the slowly landing airship, there didn't appear to be any damage to the facility at all.
How did she do it?
They landed softly in the grass and exited the airship. Ty Lee savored the feeling of the ground beneath her feet and let out the breath she'd been holding throughout the short trip. The soldiers had prepared the Fire Lord's palanquin and Zuko was about to refuse, so he could walk alongside Ty Lee, when she quietly shook her head, "It's fine. Go ahead."
He watched her face scrunch into a forced smile before she turned away from him and began to walk towards the institute, her hands fidgeting behind her back. Those were the only words she'd spoken to him since he left her at lunchtime.
Zuko knew Ty Lee was disappointed in him for the way he'd handled Azula's situation. And now that he'd held her back from seeing Azula before she escaped, he felt terribly guilty. Ty Lee hadn't been her regular bubbly self in his presence since… the war? Was that right?
She had resided on Kyoshi Island up until last summer, always refusing the requests Zuko sent for guard opportunities. Suki or some other girls usually came in her stead. Ty Lee's visits to the palace only began after she decided to start seeing Azula. And those visits had been strained at best.
He sighed again as he stepped into the palanquin and watched Ty Lee's retreating back through the sheer red curtains. Everything's such a mess.
Another few minutes' walk and the small group arrived at the front entrance of the facility. The few guards that were left outside had bowed respectfully as the palanquin passed, but Zuko could sense the whispering at his back. He knew Dr. Liu had kept information about Azula's stay here strictly confidential, but he doubted the man could avoid this newest bombshell getting out. Zuko could only imagine the tales the guards would spin.
He hoped their whispers would stay within the walls of the institute.
Zuko emerged from his palanquin and reunited with Ty Lee. Her arms were crossed as she restlessly tapped her fingertips against them. She nodded her head towards the door and led Zuko inside the place he hadn't visited in a long time.
Dr. Liu was leaning against the front desk, clearly waiting for the duo to arrive. As soon as they entered, he immediately bowed and apologies tumbled out of his mouth.
Zuko instructed him to rise and asked the only question on his mind, "What exactly happened?"
The doctor looked sadly at Ty Lee, who had ceased her fidgeting upon entering the building. Her eyes were cast down at the floor and she gripped her arms tightly. Dr. Liu felt his gut clench at the sight of the poor woman, "Let's go to her room, I will explain everything there and perhaps you can enlighten me about something as well, Fire Lord Zuko."
They descended to the basement, all the while trailed by Zuko's soldiers. Ty Lee usually took these stairs with at least some level of excitement, but today was completely different. Her footsteps were heavy and her shoulders slumped. Knowing that the source of her visits was no longer here made this whole process seem empty and unnecessary. She wasn't so sure why she came. Did it really matter how she got out? All she knew was that Azula was gone and she was unsure if she'd see the princess again.
They soon reached the door to Azula's room and when Dr. Liu pulled it open, Ty Lee was sort of surprised the whole thing hadn't been scorched and blown to oblivion. It was as intact as ever.
Zuko furrowed his brow as he took a look around, "When did all of this happen?" He gestured to the padded walls and carpet.
Dr. Liu bit the inside of his cheek, fearing this part of the meeting. Ty Lee briefly met his eye, knowing exactly why he appeared so nervous. Zuko will not be happy the doctor kept so much from him…
"Please, let's sit. There are a few things you should know," Dr. Liu led them to the chairs and couch of the guest portion of the room and waited until the Fire Lord was seated before taking a seat of his own. He launched into the now weeks-old story.
"Several weeks ago there was an incident. Your sister had a violent hallucination and ended up conjuring lightning—"
"What?!" Zuko's face was a medley of surprise, confusion, and anger. "You never thought to mention this earlier?"
Dr. Liu swallowed, but maintained a calm demeanor. He had known that Zuko would react like this. "I'm sorry, Fire Lord Zuko, but please allow me to finish. I will explain myself and everything that has happened."
Zuko glared at him but stayed silent, signaling for the doctor to continue.
"Azula hallucinated your father attacking her, first physically and then with lightning, injuring her leg. She also sustained bruises on her neck. Obviously your father was not actually in the room, so it stands to reason that Azula inflicted these injuries on herself. We removed her from the room as soon as the guard notified me of what happened and our healer treated her. Her leg is fully functional, but there will probably be some scarring. After the incident, we made these changes to her room to prevent such a result if it happened again."
He paused, gauging the Fire Lord's reaction. Zuko blinked and turned to Ty Lee, who was sitting silently beside him. He spoke tersely, "Did you know about this?"
She raised her eyes to meet his, "Yes. Dr. Liu sent me a letter as soon as it happened and I went to see her the next morning." Zuko clenched his fists in his lap. Ty Lee saw and headed off the outburst, "I didn't tell you because I figured you'd just lock her away for good."
His gaze relaxed slightly, "I wouldn't have… punished her for doing something she couldn't help."
"Isn't that what you've been doing this whole time?"
Her voice was soft, but Zuko received the message like a shot to the chest. He stiffened, "Let's not do this again here."
Ty Lee tossed her braid over her shoulder and stood up, wandering through the unlocked barred door and roaming around the room. She sat on the edge of Azula's bed and waited for the doctor to resume speaking.
His quiet voice soon rang through the room as he filled Zuko in on everything. The suspicious and continuous burns, the cooling, the gradual allowance of time alone with Ty Lee. At this, Zuko's head jerked towards the woman as she leaned back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't say a word.
Dr. Liu then told of how he'd agreed to two visits to the patient care room and eventually a private bath. Although the Fire Lord's temper was rising at his orders of containing Azula having been so flagrantly disobeyed, he kept quiet and let the doctor go on.
Finally, the man explained what happened that morning. Finding out from two of the outer gate's guards that Azula had escaped under the guise of the man who'd been in charge of her that night. How she'd knocked him unconscious with lightning and apparently blasted through the hinges of the barred door. How she wore the guard's clothes and hid him in the closet near the stairs. How she simply walked outside to freedom, roughing up two more guards on the way.
He also shared the newest information: that she had torched a stable, terrified the man in charge of the animals, and taken off on one of them. The guards could not say whether she left on ostrich horse or mongoose lizard, or which way she went. Their footprints were scattered in several directions in their hasty escape from the flames. Probably to throw the pursuers off, exactly as Azula intended.
Zuko sat listening to all of the words, but was not able to fully comprehend them. After several moments of silence he spoke up, trying to contain his frustration, "So, after all of the reinforcements we made to this facility, after all of the guards we hired, after years of carefully keeping her in this room, she just walked out the front door?"
The doctor held the gaze of the Fire Lord and uttered the unfortunate answer, "Yes."
Zuko slammed a fist against the stiff cushions of the couch he sat on. He glared furiously across the room after a hysterical laugh erupted from Ty Lee.
"Is something funny?"
Ty Lee rested her head against the wall as a crazed smile spread across her face, "You don't think it's funny? All of your efforts didn't even faze her. She just left. She was so unhappy and trapped in here that she walked out. Just like that. You should have listened to me, Zuko. When she was treated kindly, she seemed to feel at least a little better. All of this…" she indicated the blankets and pillows, "I was trying to help her, while you just threw her in a metal box for four years, expecting her to get better on her own. Even if she never admits it, she has feelings. I know she was lonely and hurt over thinking she'd just been left to rot in here."
Zuko clenched his teeth and quickly glanced at Dr. Liu, who seemed awfully tickled by what Ty Lee had just said, "I know. But you waited four entire years to see her. Did you forget that?"
Ty Lee merely looked away as Zuko continued, "I told you I didn't go about this the right way. But if you remember, I also said I was going to change that. You, Mai, and I were all going to talk about what to do next. It just so happens that Azula's timing is wonderful as always and she managed to get out before I could start to fix how I treated her in the past."
Dr. Liu intervened and changed the subject before the tension of the conversation erupted, "If I may, Fire Lord Zuko, I am curious about the lightning. Azula was able to conjure it down here, when she could not even produce her regular flame. Had I known she could do this all along, we would have taken other precautions."
Zuko tore his gaze away from a still wickedly smiling Ty Lee, wondering if part of his sister's personality had managed to latch on to the innocent acrobat before she escaped. He inhaled and swept a hand over his hair before explaining the differences between firebending and lightning generation.
He then commented, "It's difficult to do. I can only redirect lightning, though I've tried many times with Uncle to produce it myself. I… didn't think she would be able to do it so far below ground, but I guess lightning is more about the surrounding energies of a place and less about temperature and breath," he bit his tongue. Still though, conjuring lightning in a metal room so far beneath the ground is… Ugh. Dammit, Azula.
"I see. I'm sorry, I did not realize the difference," the doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Zuko couldn't blame the man for not knowing. Only a handful of firebenders were able to understand and produce lightning. It just so happened that Azula was one of them.
"It's alright. I didn't think she could do it here either." His mind suddenly focused on the people his sister had struck down, "The man she hit with lightning, is he alright? And the others?"
Dr. Liu paused and looked concerned, "He is alive, but his injury is serious. He was hit square in the back and is still unconscious. The other three men are fine. The guards were quickly treated for minor injuries and released earlier this afternoon, while the stable keeper is resting in his own home. He was more psychologically shaken than anything else."
Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. Well, she didn't kill anyone, so that will work in my favor when I break the news to everyone else.
"You said she broke through the hinges of the door. How? Lightning doesn't just shatter metal," Zuko stroked the dark little beard at his chin.
"I'm afraid I don't know. I simply assumed it was the force of the lightning. Perhaps we will learn more after our extensive investigation."
Zuko filed this away in his mind before continuing to talk to Dr. Liu about what to do next. While Azula wasn't exactly a criminal escapee, Zuko knew he couldn't simply let her run free. Despite this, they agreed to wait on sending out notifications to nearby villages in the Fire Nation. Zuko didn't think she would attack anyone; there was no reason for her to do such a thing.
He was admittedly a little nervous though, now that she was roaming under the sun, her bending would be back to full strength. Even if she'd been isolated and out of practice for so long, Zuko knew it was better to preach caution than recklessness when it came to Azula.
He decided to inform the Avatar and his friends tomorrow morning. Zuko would run the decisions by Aang and would be glad to take any insight or suggestions regarding the best way to treat her disappearance. He figured it would be best to wait to formulate any plans on foreign soil until he talked it out with everyone.
Part of him knew, however, that now that Azula had wriggled out of this place, finding her and bringing her back would be nearly impossible. She was terribly smart and could probably avoid capture for as long as she wanted to. She had the upper hand, as much as it annoyed him.
While he and Dr. Liu discussed these plans, Ty Lee stared blankly at them, feeling quite unlike herself. Talk about a dingy aura. She hadn't thought Azula's sudden disappearance would bother her so much, but it did and she couldn't seem to shake the weight from her shoulders.
Her feet swept back and forth along the carpeted floor, rustling against something. She bent over and came across the meadow she painted for Azula in the patient care room. Picking it up, she felt a flash of silly anger. Why? Did I really think she would take something like this with her? Dr. Liu glanced over as she tossed the paper back to the floor and lay on the bed.
She slipped her hand beneath the dislodged pillows, searching for the one gift Ty Lee thought Azula might take with her. When her fingers only brushed against cool sheets, she knew the little crest was gone. This only made her feel worse. She didn't care about what I made for her. She only wanted the thing that was originally hers. I was just the messenger that happened to bring it to her.
Ty Lee found herself growing increasingly angry at Azula for running away instead of facing her issues. I was trying to help you… She caught a whiff of the shampoo that she brought for the princess so long ago and her mind flashed back to what they'd done in this bed. The chill that spread down her back at the pleasurable memory betrayed her feelings of anger. Ugh, get her out of my heart. I'm sick of this feeling.
She stood up suddenly, alarming the two men on the other side of the bars, "I think I'm going to head home."
Zuko nodded and figured it was a good idea. He wanted to get back before it was too late, so he would have time to think of how to share this news with everyone tomorrow.
Dr. Liu stood and bowed again, "My apologies for this, Fire Lord Zuko. I cannot say it enough."
Zuko looked sternly at the man, but again, found he couldn't blame him entirely for what happened. His own conscious was feeling too heavy at the moment, "Thank you. I'm sure we'll be in contact."
He waved at Ty Lee to follow him, offering a small smile. She looked at him in such an uncharacteristically detached way, that it disturbed him. Her voice was quiet, "I'll take the ferry."
Zuko couldn't hide his hurt expression, but acquiesced, "Of course. Have a safe trip. You are welcome to join me at the palace in the morning when I tell everyone about what happened. I'm sure they would like your input on what to do."
Ty Lee nodded and agreed to think about it. Zuko exited the room and soon the footsteps of he and his soldiers faded.
Dr. Liu approached the clearly dejected Ty Lee. He put a hand on her shoulder, "This isn't your fault. You must know that this isn't your fault."
"Maybe if I had just… I thought she might stay because of me. I thought I was getting through to her, but at our last visit, before Zuko told me to stop coming, she said she hated me. She still doesn't trust me. I don't think she'll ever forgive me," she toyed with her braid and spoke half to herself. "Do you think she'll ever…?"
As much as he didn't want to be, Dr. Liu felt that being honest was the best thing for her right now, "I don't think so, not fully. With time, she might return to her old ways around you, but without proper help, I think it will be extremely difficult for her to trust anyone again. What happened that day cut her deeply."
Ty Lee sighed, having no tears left to spill. When someone else says it, it sounds so hopeless. She looked at the doctor's kind brown eyes and barely smiled, "We aren't exactly what you'd call a healthy relationship, huh?"
He smiled softly, "Not quite. She was being quite genuine when she requested the one on one visit with you, after you sparked the visit to the patient care room. Even with those faint instances of care, I think it would be easier for you to entertain the idea of just being a friend to support her for now. You can both work out the other romantic aspects after some more time has passed."
She swallowed that bitter pill of advice, knowing he was right. Mai had told her to give up long ago, but Ty Lee couldn't help holding on to an ever fading shred of hope. Now it seemed that shred was all but obliterated, and being Azula's friend would have to do. The thought of the princess possibly being truly grateful for the care room trip was barely reassuring.
You think she was being genuine. You can never know for sure.
Several minutes later, Ty Lee waited at the coast for the last ferry of the day. Dusk had fallen and cast its eerie spell over the landscape. The water glistened and a chilly evening breeze tousled the hair on her forehead. She sat by the water as a few other people gathered to head back to the city, and stared up at the sky.
Mai would be back from Omashu in a few days and Ty Lee was very much looking forward to unleashing all of these feelings on her. Mai would not be happy about it; the thought cheered her slightly. Ty Lee could only imagine the torrent of eye rolls and sighs that awaited her.
A/N: Hey everyone, I'm sorry I've been MIA for a bit. Work has been absolutely atrocious and I'm afraid I'll only be able to post every couple weeks/once a month for the foreseeable future. Once I've finished a very large project for work, I'll be able to focus on this and post regularly again. Just need a little more free time to spend ironing out the direction I want this to go. No worries, I promise I won't abandon this story ^_^ Azula would kill me.