nephertiri: Past tense is never a good sign, that's for sure. Thank you so much :) it's a fic that has taken a lot of planning (and a healthy douse of day dreaming). But it has been fun. I'm happy to hear that you like it so far.

gemsofformenos: Thanks! It's one of my favorites so far. Yes, this was a very, very low point for Azula. "Ozai is putting more pressure on her and ignores completly, how the situation is breaking her." He very much upped the pressure and the abuse. It was starting to go beyond terrible words. "and she's believing, that she deserves this." She's carrying a lot of guilt because it was kind of hitting in full that this may have been how she made other people feel and it doesn't sit well with her. "It's completly unbelievable for me, how a father could do this to his child." Same here, but there are some pretty cruel people in the world. It's always refreshing to find a TyLee or a Teo who do nice things for the sake of being kind. "It makes me angry and so terribly sorry for Azula. Good job!" A girl needs lots of love and a hug or two. Thanks again. :D

"The burden, that TyLee was raped by Jet and almost Katara is gnawing at her last bit of strength, she had. She felt guilty for ignoring TyLee, for making her believe, that she couldn't talk with her about that. For hanging out with Jet after he had done this to her." It's certainly not an easy thing to cope with. True or not she feels as though it was her fault and that's something that isn't healthy for her. "She is about to clean the air between her and some people, but somehow this makes me a bit nervous about your further plan with her." Yeah, wrapping up business, so to speak, is never a good sign. "This and the fact, that she has handed this special volleyball to Teo leaving me deeply worried. I think she has made a decision for herself and I fear she's planing to end her life in order to end her misery." She has options and unfortunately, that is one of them. "The only hope I have is, that Teo might have become a reason for her to fight on. Katara also has reached out a hand and the coach has told her, that she still counts on her" but these are all options too. "Maybe these fact could give her back some confidence and are able to comfort her." Right now it is just very hard for her to be confident. She kind of views compliments and such as people just pitying her. "And it seems, that he's making progress." He is getting somewhere with her, because he genuinely cares for her. "Well, I think always more people, than anyone could imagine." Exactly 9/10 I feel like there is always at least one person who would miss you and that for me is worth holding out for. "She needs help, comfort and support and a great amount of it." Exactly. "I hope Azula dares to take more of it in order to help herself and letting him support her more." Azula does have a bit of trouble reaching out though. "A really strong chapter and almost painful one to see, how Azula is about to loose her fight." Thanks, like I said, I think that that one was one of the strongest chapters thus far and I'm really proud of it. "Still a good job with handling so much characters and plots in this story, in my opinion." Thanks. To be honest it was a very hard decision trying to decide if wanted to address Azula and her situation first or Katara's. Because both a very, very important to the plot. But I think I found the right working order for it.

He turned the volleyball in his hand. "You're welcome." He didn't quite no what else to say, he hadn't expected a thank you. Azula never seemed like the sort to vocalize gratitude, she always struck him as the sort to display it through action. He handed her the ball back only to have her push it back towards him.

"Hang onto that for me."

"Yeah, sure." Teo replied.

He watched her stand. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and headed for the door. He looked down at her backpack and supposed that he was supposed to watch it for her. He inspects the volleyball further. She had clearly used it a lot, to the point where she—who had a habit of keeping her things neat and pristine—couldn't keep the dirt and the wear and tear off of it.

Upon closer inspection he noticed that a sharpie had been taken to it. Though the ink was smearing some and fading, he could make out that they were a bunch of congratulatory messages from her teammates, her coach, Mai, TyLee, and from her father. There was even a little something from Zuko, but that one was faded beyond legibility.

He fit the ball comfortably under his arm, unsure of exactly how long he was supposed to be watching it. Some time slipped by, maybe somewhere between five and ten minutes and something awful stirred in his belly. A sense of dread that was ambiguous and out of place.

He watched Katara stand up and head for the doors.

Teo gave the lunchroom a swift sweep and whipped out his phone. It isn't much of a message, a quick, "where'd you go?" To which he received nothing back and the feeling of foreboding swelled. And then he noticed three dots appear on his phone's screen. They flooded him with incomparable relief. 'Home.' He released his breath.

Another minute came to pass.

He felt the weight of the volleyball in his lap.

He though, for the first time in ages, about Ruon-Jian. The jerk who had made his life so difficult. The jerk who suddenly stopped treating him terribly. The jerk who had an entire assembly put on in his wake. And the sense of unease crashes over him in full. The volleyball suddenly felt very heavy in his hands because it occurred to him, she had spoken in the past tense.

He didn't give it a second though, he stuffed the ball into his backpack and wheeled for the cafeteria doors.

"Practicing for the cripple Olympics!?" Chu-Leng called.

Teo shoved him to the side with more force than necessary. A satisfying thud and a, "fuck you too, legless" came from behind him, not that he had the time to relish in his small victory. His arms were throbbing by the time he made it down the hall. Just what did he think he was going to do? He didn't even know where she was and, in his haste, he didn't check the obvious place…

But then he didn't think that she would risk going into a bathroom so close to a crowd.

So close to help.

He texted again, asking her where she was.

'I didn't know how much I missed Ruon… I know you didn't like him much…'

Teo's level of stress heightened that much more. He ought to find someone. He ought to but he could only think of how the staff had done so little to help him. Could only think of how Chan was allowed back into the building even after trying to beat him to a pulp.

He wheeled himself into the parking lot, and scanned it for her car, maybe she had gone home. He truly hoped that she hadn't, he'd never get to her that way. He caught sight of Katara before finding the car. He met her eyes. With his own, he followed the direction she was pointing in and rushed that way.

He found her with her head slumped against the car seat, her eyes somewhat glossy. She was so still, it chilled him. He knocked lightly on her window, hoping that she was still able to hear him. Her movements were unsettlingly slow. The way she turned her head, it was uncanny, limp and robotic. Her head sagged again and a sweep of black obscured her face.

He knocked again. Maintaining her agonizingly slow pace, she swatted her hand at the lock, missing it the first few times. Finally, clumsy fingers unlocked the doors. He pulled the driver's side open and took her hand. Her cold, shaky hand.

He could see two bottles of pills on the seat over and a third on the floor, where it had rolled partially under the car seat.

Her breathing was growing shallow. Teo sought to make desperate eye contact with Katara, but she had disappeared, hopefully to get someone. He sent her a speedy text and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

He didn't know what else to do, so he pulled out the volleyball and handed it back to Azula.

"It's yours Teo." She whispered. She cupped her hand over his.

"It's…" he started.

"I can't use it anymore."

"You can once you get back on the team…"

She shook her head. "No point." She closed her eyes. His stomach plummets, he had to get her to keep them open.

He set the volleyball down and looks at the names on it, grasping for anything that could help him convince her to keep fighting. Usha and Chan were useless names. Her father—he recalled her speaking not so fondly of the man. He found Zuko's name.

"You have a brother, right?"

"I don't know…" she murmured, his spirits sink further. She was delirious. "I don't know if he's still…I haven't seen him…" Perhaps it wasn't delirium but her thoughts were growing disconnected and cluttered. "He didn't like me anyways."

"Wh-what about TyLee?"

"I miss TyLee." She nuzzled her head against the steering wheel. "I'm tired, Teo." She smiled. "I can sleep soon…" She drew in another labored breath. "And then I can be happy. Everyone can be happy that way."

"I won't be."

Azula nodded, "you will be, you'll see."

Teo rubbed the back of her hand. "You're one of the only people who talks to me."

"That's why you're going to sit with Katara tomorrow. She's a nice person."

"So are you."

"I'm not nice. That's why I'm alone."

"You're not alone." He tried to offer a reassuring smile. "Katara came out looking for you before I did."

To that, she was silent. She only spoke up again to mumble, "it hurts, Teo." Her hand fell over her chest. She clutched it until little halfmoons were left by her nails.

"Physically or mentally?"

"Both…" Her already soft voice was growing weaker still. He could see that she was shuddering all over. Her hand was twitchy in his own—from stress and fear or the pills tainting her system, he couldn't tell. "Teo…I…I…" she trailed off. He held his breath as she fought to vocalize whatever was on her mind. "I changed my mind." She let another span of silence draw out. "I don't want to die." He gripped her hand tighter. "I just want it to stop…"

"Me too." He muttered. "I think we can all use a break." He wanted to slap himself. She was breaking in front of him and he made things about himself, he made a pathetic attempt to save, "but you could use one the most, though!"

No wonder no one talked to him. He had such a way with words.

He heard a scuffling behind him and turned to see who it was. "Katara's here." He beckoned her into Azula's line of sight.

She gave a reluctant wave and to Teo she muttered something about an ambulance in route. He hoped that it would hurry because her shaking was becoming more violent. Violent to the point where she was jerking. Violent to the point where Katara moved him out of the way and lowered Azula's seat back, doing her best to keep the girl from hitting her head on anything.

He felt sick to his stomach. What if, when the seizure came to pass, it decided to take her with it?

.oOo.

They made him go back to class as they loaded her into the ambulance. Barely breathing, yet still trying to whisper something that sounded like an apology. He didn't know her all to well, but he let Katara hug him for a time as they watched. He wished that principal Roku hadn't shooed them both inside. Class was the last place he wanted to be, but Roku and a well-meaning Yangchen were rather adamant about using their studies to take their minds off of something that was, from that point, beyond their control.

But it was all that was on his mind. How it wasn't fair, she had changed her mind…

The thoughts followed him until the final bell rang and he was wheeling himself to the spot where his father usually met him. He spotted Chan a little ways down the hall and his blood boiled. For the second time that day, Katara appeared behind him. "He…" she nodded her head in Chan's direction. "Shouldn't even be here. He should be in a holding cell with my brother…it's not right."

"What happened to your brother."

She was quiet for a long time. "He…I don't really want to talk about the details."

"That's fine." Teo replied.

"Jet is in the hospital because of my brother and Chan. Chan did most of the work but…" she trailed off. "Jet is a minor and Sokka isn't. They didn't catch Chan in the act and neither did TyLee's camera. So he's going to get away unpunished—like he always does—but Sokka is going to get locked up and it's all my fault."

"How is it your fault!?" Teo threw his hands up. He didn't know how much more bad news he could take. "I've seen what Jet posted about you."

"Apparently I have to wait until the court date to talk about that. Hopefully the judge will understand why Sokka did what he did…" She trailed off again. "Honestly, I'm so confused."

"You must be if you're talking to me and not TyLee or Suki."

"I'm mad at Suki and I've already talked to TyLee. I guess I wanted to talk to you because, I could use another friend."

"You and Azula both." Teo muttered. "What are you confused about?"

"I guess it's more like conflicted. I'm so angry that Chan didn't take any blame. But he. He saved me. Even if he didn't do it for me, he still saved me. But he let Sokka take all of the blame."

"This school is such a disaster." Teo said, glumly. "It was never like this at my old school."

"I wish I never met Jet."

"Tell me about it."

.oOo.

"Rough day, bud?" His father inquired.

"My friend…my girlfriend is in the hospital."

"What for?"

He didn't want to say it because he knew that he could have stopped it, if only he had paid more attention. "There was a…uh…she was on medication and they didn't mix well."

"I'm sorry to hear that you had a rough day, bud."

A rough day? That's all his father had for him? When had their communication become so awful. A year ago, perhaps even a few months back, the man would have known all of the right and reassuring things to say. But he couldn't bare a fight at that moment so he said instead, "I wish you could have met her."

"I will meet her, Teo. When I call us both in sick and take you to visit her. Just get me the hospital name."

Teo's face brightened. There was the father who knew what to say. "Thanks dad, I'll get the name."

He tried to focus on that small ray of light as he lay in bed. He hoped that it would carry him to sleep. He had no such luck, laid awake for the better portion of the night, unable to get the images out of his mind. She reminded him of his mother. She was another body he found only half-alive in a car, behind the wheel and in pain. Another person he couldn't help. It was burned into his brain, the image of her convulsing as Katara tried to keep her steady. The image of a soft froth seeping from between her lips as her unfocused eyes seemed to glaze over even further. The only thing that reassured him that she was still alive, was the frantic pace at which they hauled her off. He couldn't imagine them rushing so fast for a corpse.

He picked up his phone and sent Azula a text wishing her well and asking her for the hospital name and room number. He sighed, he wasn't sure that she had the energy or desire to reply, much less if she even had her phone on her.

Teo fought to make himself comfortable on the bed. He had just as little luck with that as he did with sleep. The buzz of his phone startled him. Startled and relived him all at once. He could sleep a little easier…he had a room number.

.oOo.

Despite a healthy flow of conversation from his father a decently steady stream of texts from Azula, being in the waiting room was agonizing. After some fifteen minutes, her texts stopped coming and he had to rely solely on his dad's talk of his cliental and the interesting stories they brought. Finally, a nurse motioned for him to follow him. "She's still drowsy, she falls asleep and wakes up in spurts." The man informed him. "Don't be surprised if she nods off while talking to you." Teo nodded. The nurse gave the door two knocks before entering. "You have a visitor, Azula."

"Can you wait outside for a bit, dad?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Sure thing, bud. Just get me when you're ready."

He gave a thumbs up and entered the room.

She turned her head, "hi, Teo." Her voice had a gravely hint to it.

It hurt him to see her looking so frail. Her skin was such a pale hue, her eyes rimmed with dark circles. The IV buried in her skin had him shuddering. The only thing that soothed him was the steady pulsation of the heart monitor.

"I hate hospitals." Azula murmured. "Last time I was here…" She rested her hand atop her ribcage.

"Hospitals aren't fun." He agreed.

"They want me to see a therapist…"

He didn't need to ask to know the answer, but it seemed like the most appropriate place to take the conversation. "What for, exactly?"

She lifted her hand, displaying her scabbed knuckles. "They said that my hands were swollen because I was dehydrated from. From…"

"From throwing up?"

She nodded.

He took her hand again, noting that the swelling had gone done some. "I take it that they fixed that for you."

Azula nodded again. "They made me eat." Nothing in her tone indicated that she was pleased by this, she sounded rather distraught. "Something about electrolytes. But that's what the IV is for, they didn't have to make me eat so much."

Teo sighed. "Have you considered that you're in a hospital with people who know how much you need to eat to stay alive?" He didn't mean to sound so condescending.

She is silent for a moment. "That's not what I'm here for. I'm here because I took those pills."

"Yes, and they found another problem that needs addressing." He was wholly certain that the two problems were linked. "Do you at least feel better?"

"I feel like hell, Teo. My head hurts. My stomach hurts...everything just hurts."

"It hasn't even been a day. Of course, it's going to hurt still." He brushed some of her hair out of her face and then watched her shift about, trying to find a position that ailed her less. "I'm sure you'll feel better soon."

She shook her head. "I don't want them to commit me. I'm not crazy. I don't need to go there."

"I know you're not crazy. They're just afraid that you're going to hurt yourself again."

"I won't." She insisted. He sensed sincerity. "I already told you, I changed my mind."

"They didn't hear you say that. And not eating counts as hurting yourself." He paused. "You don't want to talk about this, do you?"

"Not at all."

He struggled to come up with something to talk about. Truth be told, he didn't really know where her interests lay. He called himself her boyfriend but the only things he knew about her was that he cared about her and that she had a lot of baggage. He knew her personality, her history, and her status. But she spoke very little of the mundane aspects of herself. He didn't know her favorite color nor her favorite song. He didn't know what kinds of books she liked to read or if she liked to read at all. He only knew that she enjoyed volleyball but he didn't know enough about that to engage her in a conversation. He almost laughed aloud because it was so obvious; now would be the perfect time to ask about those little things.

"What's you're favorite color?"

She furrowed her brows, "hm?"

"Your favorite color. Do you have one?"

"It's blue."

"Really?" He cocked his head. "I always thought it'd be red."

She shook her head. "No." She yawned. "It's blue." And she nestled her head against the pillow.

"I used to like green. But now I like purple because it reminds me of my mom." He stated.

"Purple is a nice color. But blue is superior."

He chuckled. "Okay. What about movies? What kind of movies do you watch?"

"I am a huge fan of chick flicks and sappy romance, can't you tell?"

The deadpan snark is comforting. He would have missed it so much. He laughed again, this time a little louder. "Well gee, if I knew that, I would have taken you to see The Notebook on our first date."

She smiled.

A pretty smile.

A weak smile.

With a weak laugh.

But it was a smile and a laugh, no less.