"And yes, they have missed to explain, what kind of mental illness Azula has developed." Part of me feels as though they are keeping it purposefully ambiguous for the sake of not having to research an actual one."I think these both issues goes along with the other. " I would say so. I'd also like to know how she met Zirin and the others.
"Like I said, the terrible sad thing about these stories is, that this behaviour tends to reproduce in the next generation." Exactly, she displays what she has been taught. "so she interacts with other people like she is used to be treated from others." That's basically how I see it as well. "And also Zukos love for Azula. I have seen for myself, that he has loved his sister in the cartoon, but the way the comic has worked on with him, has lost this glimmer of genuine love, in my opinion." I feel like there were moments where he tried to be compassionate with her in the comics but it felt a little insincere. And I attribute this to lackluster writing. "That you have given the family such a loving and peaceful moment." Heaven knows that they needed a kinder moment lol. "And Azula is suddenly the person, who is able to bring all together in this loving moment. She's the one, who closes the rifts between them and pushes aside the differences between the family members for a moment." Exactly. Nothing like a lil' baby princess to bring the rest of the family together lol.

She was so close to the edge. He noticed her doing things. Small things at first, like leaving candles burning in her room as she slept and leaving the doors and windows open and unlocked. And then it was more mild, she would cross the street without looking up at all and just generally make herself unaware of her surroundings and whereabouts. On one occasion, his niece had wandered into the bad side of town. From there she began crossing bridges and makeshift paths that weren't tested for stability. She would take food from people she'd never met.

That was what had done her in.

Azula still had a controversial reputation and a good cut of people who wanted her body to fall lifeless. The princess had accepted so many food and drink offerings it was impossible to trace exactly who had tinged their 'gift' with poison.

It didn't matter in that moment. What mattered was driving the poison out of her body. It was slow acting had her bedridden for a little over a two weeks. She had grown disconcerting thinner. Her body spasmed every now again, sometimes launching itself into an all out seizure.

During one such instance, she had fallen from her bed, knocking her arm into the nightstand. The first blow alone had been damaging, the twitching had snapped the bone more.

Zuko had been the one to find her weeping to herself with her arm bent awkwardly. A spill of blood seeping where the bone had popped through skin that had almost no thickness to it. The physicians saw to it that her arm was bandaged accordingly. She was monitored intensely since the incident.

Oftentimes Ursa would sit at the foot of Azula's bed telling her old stories and lore. It was hard to tell if she was ignoring the woman out of resentment or because the poison had drained her to the point of complete indifference.

Indifferent accept for the few occasions where the pain was too much and she finally had to whimper.

Iroh wondered why she had done it, why she had been so careless.

He thought that she might have wanted to die. But this death was so cruelly slow that she was probably regretting it. Or at the very least, regretted that she hadn't found a faster way. By week three, a sickly hue had taken to her skin. By the middle of week four her face, fingers, and toes were puffy, with poison and her breathing was growing shallow.

That was when the Avatar returned with exotic and rare herbs. There was a tireless effort to crush and mix them and then a bigger effort to get the princess to swallow it safely with her throat as swollen as it was.

By week five the swelling had gone down and her face was settling into a less grotesque hue. Week six had her breathing right and the seizures occurring less frequently. By week seven color was returning to her face and she had her appetite back.

By week eight she was walking again.

Slowly and dizzily, but she was on her feet.

Iroh thought that she still ought to be in bed resting, but a fire like that wouldn't dim easily. She was already trying to get herself back into the habit of firebendng.

Seeing such a renewed vigor in her had him considering that the poison had been a good thing.

It had showed her that, despite it all, she still had a family that wanted to take care of her, wanted to see her alive.

It had given Ursa the inspiration to try to make amends with her daughter. It had given Zuko the willingness to forgive her, even though she didn't yet make an apology. It had given Iroh himself the desire to reach out to her at last.

And for so long he was certain that his words and advice had fallen on deaf ears. From across the room she stared at him.

Her cheeks were still somewhat hollow and her clothes still fit her alarmingly loosely. Her eyes still had bags, but there was life in them. He hadn't seen her look so passionate, so alive, since her fall from grace.

She turned away.

He watched her light the fire in her palm and run through the most basic firebending stances. She did so slowly, taking the care to not do something that would have her bed bound again. For the first time in so long, Azula was smiling.

Perhaps today he was the day he would teach her some new techniques.