The summer of Sozin's comet had passed since the Avatar first descended and graced her prison. One couldn't tell this from weather, as the islands remained hot and humid year round. She'd known when the staff and their more stable captives celebrated the fall solstice in some menial affair she'd refused to attend.

Socialization, the doctor said. Mingling with her subjects was not something Azula found appealing, most especially in the sorry state her defeat had left her in: as equals to the other patients. She didn't want to associate with them any more than she had already been forced to. Their lives were to be moved and shaken by the whims of their betters. Azula was meant to be their better. Their shaker. Not their peer.

Though that did not mean she remained ignorant of them. Each was a potential threat, or asset, should she turn them to her favor. Their bearings, their mannerisms, provided plenty of information. She didn't need to exchange words to learn of them. Yes, it was good to observe again, to learn from seeing alone. The clues her eyes gathered. She had lost her mind but not her touch for reading people.

Some were the slovenly, lowborn that she would have naturally anticipated as patients. Those who were made weaker than the elites, who lacked prestigious pedigrees and a lineage to be announced proudly at court. With clumsy, careless motions, though not to the extent of the Earth Kingdom savages she had witnessed. Their culture raised more keen minds and strict behaviors, unified under the glorious purpose of glorious conquest and service to the Fire Lord.

Those uncivilized wretches should have accepted their gracious teachings and benevolent guidance, most especially after their superiority had been proven by taking the precious jewel of a city, the very penetrable Ba Sing Se. Yet they still defied them. Resilience is good and well, but the defeated should obey the victors. That is the divine law of the world. They deserved to burn to cinders, and a new, compliant peoples would shuffle forward from the ashes of what was once the Earth Kingdom. Let the futility of defying Agni's will forever be seared into their inferior breed.

She shook away her indignant thoughts. Those lands were beneath her concerns for the moment. She had to right the wrongs of her own country first.

A group of three girls passed by, giving furtive looks and a wide berth to the princess. Azula noticed them, but did not spare them a glance, otherwise occupied as she was. She needed to maintain focus on her breathing.

Those were the patients that surprised her, they who were born of higher class. And they accounted for roughly the same numbers as the lowborn. Their posture and the distance they walked from one another bore the learned and rigid markings of the Royal Academy for Girls she'd attended in her youth.

The one in the middle was the head of this group. The image of those three made her think of the traitors she'd once handpicked to be by her side. A bud of longing sprang to life, until Azula mercilessly severed it before it grew.

Why were so many daughters of noble lineage within the facility? Was it a place to keep their daughters where they would certain to remain chaste until they could arrange beneficial marriages for them? Certainly a monastery would be a better choice, and lack the stigma of having received treatment in this nuthouse.

No… They were off-kilter. Skittish. Not the proud nobles they were meant to be. Those who helped mold and shape the nation while pursuing their own ambitions.

Mei's father had been incompetent as well, and he had been made governor of Omashu. Had she come to expect too much of the nobility? Was she alone the only component one?

Her mind, unbidden, summoned the day of the comet. Staring up at Zuko and that whore waterbender through the blur of tears. She must not have looked any better than the patients here when she'd been chained up, screaming in rage and humiliation.

Her pulse, already accelerated from her activities, quickened further.

These two groups, the commoners and the nobles, had naturally separated themselves, with the patients forming clusters that reflected the social hierarchy in which they had been born. Azula naturally felt no camaraderie with any of them. She was as distant from the nobles as the sun from the earth. The final group she identified she likely shared the most in common with.

Soldiers from the war. Some of the wounds they sustained were more visible than others. The limp of one was probably from an encounter with earthbenders. One sporting a nasty, jagged scar on her right cheek from some bladed weapon. The wound that lie beneath the surface, visible to Azula, were their cracked minds.

The way they tensed when they saw her in passing. The jittery movements of their hands. The way they would respond to the sound of thunder on these rare tropical storms that passed by. One even saluted her out of a long instilled reflex. She then paused in confusion at her own actions and excused herself with a quiet apology.

That had given Azula the familiar thrill of power she'd craved for months, that she had thrived on her entire life. She would even go so far as to say she could not exist without it. It sustained her. When her presence alone was enough to cow an entire enemy legion into compliance.

She certainly wasn't going to get such a feeling from that pesky monk.

It had been nearly a month since she had last seen him; fall was the season of his people and he had seemed quite enthused when speaking of his reconstruction efforts. Busy with his temples and other matters of returning the world to an era of complacency and stagnation, he remained her sole visitor.

Not that she had expected otherwise. Azula hadn't gone to visit her brother or her betrayers during their imprisonments either, so she supposed that was fair. She didn't need them, anyhow.

Azula did not remain idle in the time between the Avatar's visits. The others could spend time drooling over themselves and each other. But she had a world to conquer.

Sweat trickled down her furrowed brow as she commanded her body to complete a harsh sequence of physical training. The princess kept herself from gritting her teeth as she powered through her fifth set of hot squats. Her calves and thighs protested, but that pain simply meant progress. Her clothing, damp with sweat, clung to her legs as she rose and fell.

It was hard, but that made it worthwhile. Azula enjoyed pushing herself, knowing that her potential was virtually limitless. She had always maintained a visual in her mind of her desired outcome, the end result of her efforts. The painting to be completed, and the enemy to be cut down with a final, masterful stroke. Every word spoken to a pawn, unwilling or otherwise. Every step in the dance of a fight. Always she laid a path of victory for herself and walked it without looking back.

During her years of tutelage in firebending, there were times that the princess would wonder if that was the day she would surpass her father. When she had first achieved the ability to burn her flames blue, hotter than any other, the thought burgeoned in her mind as this newfound power illuminated the darkened sky of the training yard. From that point on she had known that she would overtake her father someday. It was inevitable.

Then Ozai revealed truth to her. One day in the early hours, no instructor awaited her, but her father himself. He would be her instructor for the day, and had cleared his schedule. He had taken her out of the palace to a secluded cliffside overlooking the sea. They were completely alone, and their guard kept the perimeter cleared. Her father's instructions that no one interrupt.

He commanded that she demonstrate every single technique that she had learned and mastered since her training began. She had found it tedious to go back to the basics. But he sat motionless, piecing gaze upon her.

The added pressure of her father's attention made her perform as flawlessly as she had ever done. Not a single motion wasted, everything timed to utter and total perfection. The ideal display of firebending.

When she had completed the final set with a flurry of blows, she caught her breath and straightened.

She looked toward her father. He smiled ever so slightly, and nodded.

"Well done, my daughter."

And suddenly the hours she had spent demonstrating her techniques had been more than worth it. A feeling of elation coursed through her. Her father's praise was rare and all the more potent for it.

"The time has come. Observe."

He stood before her.

Then he had shown her the technique for generating and firing lightning. The bolts of purest firebending shot out over the the ocean, and birds left their trees nearby. No wonder he hadn't shown her this in the palace. Prying eyes to see the sacred technique, and the damage it could cause to the palace itself. Such power not meant to be contained within walls.

Such swiftness and precision that far outstripped her even now. Something she could achieve with only years more training. She had seen him perform the technique only once. Then he passed instruction and the finalization of her training to Li and Lo as he tended to other matters.

She had sat for a time and pondered what she had witnessed. She recreated it again and again in her mind. From then on she had a clear picture to surpass.

But now… Now things were different.

The vision in her mind she was to rebuild herself into, the fierce deity incarnate that she had rightfully been before her disgrace. A powerful and revered figure sat atop the fire throne, enshrouded by blue flames, her subjects prostrated before her magnificence. And every one of them would, upon a single glance of her majesty, know that she was by birthright superior.

Long had Azula held this image of perfection. She couldn't remember thinking otherwise of herself. But now, when she sat upon her throne, a shadow would be cast over her. An obelisk towered over even her, the four elements effortlessly swirling at his command, eager to do his bidding and wash her away in a tide of his power, should he but simply wish it.

Everyday she remembered how he had demonstrated her complete powerlessness before him. It had been humbling… humiliating. And it gave her purpose. That accumulated anger had stayed with her day and night. It lodged in her brain beside that feeling of Ty Lee's paralyzing jabs robbing her of function, her brother besting her in their Agni Kai, and that dammed peasant wrapping her in chains. But even as vile as those other indignities were, they were one time affairs. Azula was constantly assailed by Avatar's mere presence, and the inability to bring him down.

His sense of ease in her presence was profoundly distasteful. She'd always kept everyone around her on edge. They knew a single word from her could end their existence. Even her mother, especially her mother, Azula made uneasy. The only one who had never feared her, but celebrated all that she was capable of, was Ozai.

She doubted even now that Zuko, as Fire Lord, could remain calm in her presence. His inferiority and fright would get the better of him, manifesting in that compensating anger of his. A bit of bait and he would react. It would always be easy to uncover the frightened child beneath the surface.

The water witch she had gotten to easily enough; Azula was certain she lay awake fretting about what she could be doing to her precious Avatar. And Ty Lee had never lost her fear of her, she was certain, she could see it even while bound in her cell.

But not the Avatar. Her molten glare that made lesser men quiver he endured, apologetic with a smile, but undeterred in keeping her company. Any change in her tone, he simply listened.

His confidence was well-founded. That she could not deny. He would sit idly with her as they would meditate, knowing he could handle anything she could muster.

Intolerable. Insufferable.

Denied access to her bending, the finances of the royal coffers or legions of loyal soldiers, and her mind still an untrustworthy ally, physical ability was the princess' only asset. This would do more than merely keep her from dulling, but push herself even further.

A year, the doctor had given her. For the dosage to cease completely, and be fully flushed from her system. She could do much in a year.

As the rest of the world softened under the Avatar's guidance. Azula would be stronger, faster, more agile, with greater stamina.

Make the strength of others her own… Sage advice the Avatar had given her. She had already made an effort toward this in her life. Not only in recruiting the considerably talented Mai and Ty Lee, who provided skills that she would find in no firebender, but also emulating their abilities. Though she would never be as nimble as the acrobat, or as accurate as Mai, she had significant skill in their arts, enough to compliment her bending and elevate herself as a warrior. Her horizons now went beyond the two traitors.

Besides which, getting her hand on any bladed weaponry would be quite challenging at the moment. Even at her most persuasive, she doubted she'd ever have convinced the Avatar to smuggle her knives.

Azula remembered Suki, the captain of the Kyoshi Warriors… Proud, defiant, brave Suki. Her plaything, whom she had toyed with, demoralized and imprisoned once she'd had her fun. Azula recalled her movements the day the boiling rock had its pristine reputation tarnished with the first ever escape of prisoners. Time in captivity had somehow rendered her much more formidable; she had taken imprisonment as an opportunity to grow stronger.

How satisfied Suki would be to see her current predicament. That the Crowned Princess of the Fire Nation now took an Earth Kingdom peasant warrior as an example. No doubt that painted face would sneer. Worse, what would the Avatar say if he knew? She could imagine that gleam of joy in his eye, the fool.

Pride would have prevented her from taking inspiration from such lowly sources, but Azula had nowhere to go but up as things were.

All these people who waded through the defeats she handed them, and returned stronger. Well, Azula was not to be bested in willpower, and her fall was so grand, so total and complete, that she had the highest climb to make. And once she reached that pinnacle, she would go even further beyond that.

Before her father had sent her to complete the cherished task of imprisoning his son and brother, Azula had been the slightest touch uncertain about how she would fare against the other bending elements. Not once did she doubt the superiority of fire, but she had no experience. Her father assured her that as the culmination of generations of Fire Nation ambition and ability, she would easily topple her foes. Time abroad to the Earth Kingdom had done much to affirm this.

She dropped to the ground, rapidly transitioning from push-up, to hot-squats, to jumps. Core strength, the power of her legs and the strength of her arms, flexibility. She focused on all of these things, what made her better than her adversaries.

Everyone else was so slow. The languid pace of waterbending, though at times faster than it appeared, was not enough to catch but for that one time in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. Cunning had saved her by convincing Zuko to join her. Her brother had actually proved himself useful.

The predictable slams and throws of earthbending were easily telegraphed and avoided. Though the little mole rat of an earthbender had thrown her to the ground by shifting the earth beneath her. A clever trick. But she had been distracted by her other opponents at the time. That wouldn't have occurred had she focused on her exclusively.

Those moments were but exceptions. Those two were the best their respective bending disciplines had to offer, and Azula proved that she was a superior.

Are you? asked a treacherous voice in her head.

The only one with comparable speed was the last airbender. He was far more slippery and agile than any foe she could have imagined. She could never forget or forgive how he had embarrassed her on multiple occasions.

Azula vividly recalled chasing him through that ghost town, rushing through to the top floor of a dilapidated building and nearly falling off a second story that wasn't there. He sat there floating on a ball of air, waving and smiling as she flailed her arms in the most undignified manner. Were he not so softhearted he could have taken the chance to inflict a serious wound on her.

Her teeth began to grind now, and her anger and embarrassment gave her a fresh wave of energy and motivation to power through one more set, running through every exercise she had done one after other, performing each one until she simply could not then moving on to the next.

Even back then, he meant her no harm, restraining his power.

That made him weak, despite having all the power in the world. He lacked the will to carry out his vision. Sozin had such a will, to create a world as he saw fit.

…And yet the Avatar had managed to win the war regardless. He now traversed the world while she remained constrained to the whims of his likeminded ally, Fire Lord Zuko.

These thoughts drove Azula to demand more of her body. Twenty sets of flips, forward, backward, then an arial to the side, front, then back, an arial to the side.

Her entire body shook when she finished, but she dropped and performed a final set of push ups. Her arms and lungs burned, the sweat dripped into her eyes, but she shut them and finished.

She stood to her feet, and felt herself sway, as though she would fall. Azula fought the urge to collapse and heaved. They may have seen her bound and carted around, but Azula would be damned if she allowed them to bear witness to her falling into the dirt.

Azula stood and panted. Shameful for a firebender to lose control of her breath. Much she had learned to shut out and push through, but the confounding thought of the Avatar had begun affecting her more strongly than she could tolerate.

An attendant approached with a gleaming glass of water on a tray, with a towel draped over her arm. "Water, Princess?"

She recognized her as one of her regular attendants. She carried less fear and concern for her than the others did. Azula understood the subtle difference from the servant and the sub-servitude found in the palace. The woman might be a loyal to her.

She carefully took the glass and downed it in a more hurried manner than her dignity would otherwise allow. She placed the emptied glass back on the tray and took the towel, patting her face dry. She would of course need to clean herself before-

"I have taken the liberty of drawing you a bath, Princess Azula. Your appointment with the doctor is approaching."

Ah, this feeling was a familiar one, the servants able to anticipate her routines and fulfill her desires without the need for her commands. But this was only a small taste of what was rightfully hers. And it was more valuable to her since her ability to track time had slipped away from her during confinement.

She nodded to the women and departed for her room. Perhaps when she razed the entire facility to the ground, this one would be spared.

Her thoughts turned toward the approaching meeting, and in turn to how she would guard herself and her thoughts. Subjects she would want to veer away from, which lead her back into thoughts of that annoying monk.

She was certain he had come to regret his leniency, his mercy. He should have come to hate her for the devastating defeats she had delivered to him. And yet… his actions indicated otherwise.

Always did the voice reach from the back of her mind to tell her that he had some purpose behind his kindness. Just as she had when gathering her former friends.

Azula wasn't a fool, no matter how she could feel herself cracked. The Avatar was much kinder to her than he needed to be. He could have made her life hell.

He would always start their conversations the same way. Without fail he would deliver a greeting and ask how she had been faring since his last visit. She had always thought he would begin to fish for some deeper answer. She herself had little patience for listening to the minutia of day to day living.

But he never got around to actually asking her anything of importance. If he was interrogating her, the Avatar was doing a spectacularly terrible job. He simply kept her company and talked with her. They had even begun to have meals together.

Azula could admit to herself and herself alone that… it was tempting to lower her guard around him. He seemed so earnest that part of her was convinced that he couldn't be after any deceit.

It was odd in a way. Someone with so much power should set her on edge with his mere presence. He had the power to dismantle her utterly, and she was certain there was nothing to be done against him if he so chose. If he landed on the island one day and decided to kill every person there, who could stop him?

She could use the others on the island as a shield. But if he came for her and her alone, there was nothing to be done. Perhaps she could evade him for a time.

And though the thought crossed her mind once in a while, it was more a mental exercise. She never considered it a possibility.

The only person she had been in the presence of that was stronger than her was her father. And though there were times she could feel the stirrings of his ire. She had made certain that he would never discard her the way he had done to Zuko. By being the perfect daughter, and the greatest instrument of his will.

There was always an element of fear, but even so, she had accustomed herself to being in his presence and at his whim. His power was both an aspiration and guiding light for her. She had come to bask in his strength, as she was determined to one day eclipse it.

In all these ways, it seemed the Avatar had taken such a place. The one she feared, the one she sought to surpass, the one whose strength she both acknowledged and feared.

The Avatar taking the place of her father in her mind… Certainly her psychiatrist would love to dismantle that thought. She must never know.

Perhaps she should ask him in return what he got up to when he was traipsing about the world. What information would he provide? She was surprised that he spent the time with her that her did.

Not too far from where she stood, the faint sounds of expelled fire reached her. The other firebenders training. Her eyes drifted toward the walls separating the her from witnessing the art of her people, that in which she surpassed all others. Very faintly she could see wisps of smoke rising into the sky, and the faint flashes of fire shot from their bodies.

She felt a hunger for it unlike any she had ever known. The way only starving could teach one the treasure of a meal. She could feel the beginnings of flames on her fists, the heat curling around her body…

But she didn't dare try, not yet. Not when she was certain it would fail. Just a bit longer now. Patience.

The fresh scent of soaps and oils clung to Azula as she made her way to the doctor's office. A light meal settled in her stomach, replenishing her strength, and giving her a sense of fulfillment. Even the slop of the island's chefs tasted better to her after thorough exertion.

The door was open. She walked into the room, closing the door behind her with a firm tug. That was a decision the doctor left for the patient, she had noticed. And of course Azula had only one choice. It just wouldn't do for the woman to think Azula feared being alone with her in any way.

The doctor sat in her chair, motionless. Her head inclined toward Azula, though her eyes were closed, as they usually were.

"Good afternoon, Princess Azula. You're on time today."

Her sense of time had slipped away from her moons ago, when every day was consumed with the effort of shutting out the voices and separating what was real and what were figments conjured by her mind. It brought her some comfort to know she was able to get some of that impeccable and effortless timekeeping back. But surely the doctor knew this about her.

She sat with folded arms, facing the doctor. She would never take the lying position on the chaise, allow this woman to take a physical position of power over her while she lie helpless like domesticated livestock waiting to have its intestines spilled for consumption.

The silence stretched on for a bit. The floor was hers. She could discuss anything at all under the sun. But she was not keen to give her enemy anything that might be used against her. Unlike speaking with the hapless Avatar, this woman sought insight with her every word and action. Azula knew this well, but she hadn't been trained to do it… She had simply known people, how they functioned.

And she suspected this woman also had a gift for it. She wondered is this was common amongst the visually impaired?

"You seem more calm these days, Azula."

"Is that right?" These were her first words of the day. Unless it was the doctor or the Avatar, she spent her time in silent concentration. She used to shout at the hallucinations, but that had changed since gaining renewed focus.

"You used to express far more agitation during our sessions."

"It is amazing what not being confined to a straitjacket can do for one's sense of mind, is it not?"

"Well, we needed the restraints because you were so volatile. You would never call yourself harmless, would you, Azula? Those are merely the needed steps to prevent someone as powerful as you from wreaking havoc. Take it as a compliment to your strength."

Azula smiled grimly in response.

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Well enough."

She nodded. "Have you been enjoying your exercise? We always recommend this, but few take to it with your gusto. I'm told you don't miss a day. Sometimes you go twice a day!"

"No matter the intentions you all have for me, I refuse to waste away in silence within these walls. Not that you would understand. You may be a firebender, but you aren't a warrior."

The elderly woman chuckled. "My exercises have always been rather light. Though I was noted to be quite talented in my younger years, I chose to use my gifts for healing instead."

Azula thought she smelled blood in the water, and she wasn't certain if it was the doctor's or her own. The doctor was offering a look into her life, as it were. It was nothing she'd kept hidden, as Azula had no interest. But with her mind feeling a bit more clear, some more insight to her foe could be useful. And… she was bored. The monotony of doing nothing but training was wearing on her. Though these mental spars against a passable foe also served to keep her mind sharp.

"Didn't quite have the stomach for soldiering, did you?" Azula asked.

"No, I think not."

Azula felt the thrumming of irritation as she was strongly reminded of the Avatar. What was with these people admitting to their weaknesses so freely? Instead of making them harmless and pliable, they made her feel ineffectual by disarming her of the tools of manipulation.

The doctor sighed and leaned back into her comfortable looking chair, tilting her head toward the ceiling. "If I were to burn someone, I would feel as though I had burned myself. If I witness someone being burned, I would feel as though I myself were burned."

Compassion. Empathy. Just as the Avatar had claimed.

Azula felt her face twist in distaste. "You remind me of a certain someone. How can one born with the divine art be so soft of heart?"

The doctor 'looked' in her direction now. "You speak of Fire Lord Zuko? General Iroh?Or Avatar Aang?" she asked.

Azula paused. She supposed that would describe them each rather well. The Avatar was a firebender, in theory, but she had never seen it herself. Iroh had probably taught the monk after making his escape during the eclipse. Using the Avatar to defeat the brother that had outgrown him. An inspired move, she couldn't help but think.

It occurred to her that Zuko may have taught the Avatar. The thought of Zuko teaching filled her with a mixture of levity, contempt and disbelief, and she hurriedly dismissed it.

"I was referring to my dear brother. If he weren't weak, I wouldn't be alive to endure you or this cursed facility." Azula drummed her fingers on her lap. "I suppose in a way he is so oblivious that his kindness is a true cruelty. It's actually rather impressive in that light."

"When did you first consider your brother to be 'soft-hearted', as it were?

Always she tried to worm her way back into Azula's childhood. As if that were the root of all the world's problems. As if she would learn something that would fix or break her. Well, there was nothing there.

"I have always known. He was weaker than me, slower than me, dimmer than.. well, anyone, really. It simply took time for everyone else to realize. Once my father made a display of Zuko's feebleness, it became common knowledge."

The doctor grimaced as if she had been struck by an unpleasant odor. "As all off the Fire Nation had, I heard the tale of how Fire Lord Ozai burned and banished Prince Zuko for some breach of propriety."

"Oh, no. He burned him for his disrespect. He banished him for his cowardice. You should have seen the pathetic way Zuko groveled. He never could back up his own bravado."

The doctor paused. Her left hand clenched ever so slightly, not quite making a fist. She did this when something that Azula said struck her. Though Azula was unsure how, precisely, it was affecting her.

"You were you in attendance for the Agni Kai?"

Azula felt herself smile as her mind drifted back to happier times. This she recalled with clarity. From the smell of the burning bazaar, to the nervous twitches she could see in Iroh as the time approached.

"Front and center," she answered. "The look on Zuko's face when he saw it was Father that he would be dueling… Ah, that expression was the last time I had a clear view of his face before the burn. It was marvelous. My coward of a brother exposed to all the top military for the weakling that he was."

To think that fool is leading the Fire Nation at this very moment…

"Do you think that was the right thing for your father to do to his own son?"

Azula shrugged. "Father needed a proper excuse to get him out of the way. He knew from the moment I was born that I was his true heir, just as he was Azulon's."

"And what of General Iroh?"

"It was obvious to me even as a child that Uncle was possessed of a softer heart. Traits that Zuko inherited." Weaker elements seemed to permeate even her prestigious bloodline, but she supposed that was a matter of numbers. So long as the truest amongst them emerged to embody Agni, all would be well in time. "I assure you that if Zuko or I perished, Father would never have crumbled the way Iroh did. He would have stayed to fulfill his charge, given to him by his lord and father, and burned Ba Sing Se to the ground."

The doctor folded her hands in her lap. "You are saying Prince Ozai would have been unaffected by your passing?"

Azula felt her mouth open as a matter of course. She always knew the right thing to say, the perfect parry. Yet nothing came to her.

She thought of how her death would impact Ozai. If she were to somehow be so cloddish as to perish in battle. Lu Ten was an odd case, to actually die on the battlefield that should have been his dominion. The only member of the royal family to be killed by the enemy in the hundred years of war.

Dying in an attempt to take the very city she had toppled so easily. Azula couldn't imagine that happening to her. She had liked Lu Ten. Even knowing he was an obstacle to her father's ascension, he seemed competent and dutiful, a reliable prince, so much unlike her brother or his own father. Yet when he revealed himself to be weak, she resented herself for any affectionate thoughts she'd had of her cousin.

She imagined herself lying dead in a pool of her blood. Perhaps her chest cavity crushed by jutting rocks. The hand of Ba Sing Se's finest general having struck the blow himself. Twitching and struggling until she lay still. She felt almost… a sense of peace take her.

Azula, Granddaughter of Azulon and Illa, Daughter of Ozai, passed. A nation in mourning. But what of the battle?

She replaced Iroh with her father. Sitting with his generals assembled before him as he was delivered the news of her demise. Strong, merciless, calculating Ozai.

He would learn of whom had felled her, and nod, saying it was an acceptable death. Then he would send for her body to be preserved, and mourned after. He would then continue to plot the downfall of Ba Sign Se, and take the city within a matter of weeks. As Iroh should have done.

That was what a proper general should do. Her father was capable of this. And yet… She felt herself wince internally.

A part of her balked at the idea of him carrying on in the same manner. That couldn't be the case. He had put so much effort into raising her, training her. He loved her, surely. But he himself had warned her against the chains of attachment and sentimentality. And used Iroh as an example.

Silence stretched on as she let the scenario play out in her head.

She too a deep breath. "He would have held himself together. Maintained his composure. Omashu," she said. "When I arrived to the city to have things in order, I renamed it to honor my father. Had I died fighting he would have taken the Earth Kingdom capital city as a tribute to his beloved daughter. It would only be proper."

"New Azula, eh? I do rather like the name."

She narrowed her eyes, not trusting the reason behind the doctor's smile.

"Instead, Iroh allowed his son to die for nothing and gave up, making Lu Ten's life and death meaningless. Spineless and dishonorable."

"Does that upset you on Prince Lu Ten's behalf?"

She was surprised to feel that, yes, she did feel a simmering anger towards Iroh for letting Lu Ten go unavenged. It made the divine family look weak, that their blood could be spilled without reprisal. It should have fueled Iroh into a righteous and cleansing inferno that would ring throughout history alongside the death of the airbenders.

"Well, my father would have avenged me. It's unfortunate Lu Ten in his resting place can never say the same. Instead Iroh liberated the city I conquered so he could run his tea shop."

"And if then Prince Zuko had passed? What would Prince Ozai have done?"

She had known that Ozai was quite prepared for the death of his son. Prepared to cary it out himself when commanded by his own father to do so. But she was different. Zuko was a blemish on the perfection Ozai sought. She was the embodiment of his aspirations.

She remembered pleading and demanding when he had boarded the ship as the Phoenix King, and remembered her fear. Fear that she would be next to receive his scorn. Her pulsed quickened at the memory, dejection and shame swirling in her.

"A proper funeral would be held, befitting his royal status. But Father would hardly be heartbroken over the matter."

"So that your father did not need you, your brother, or anyone in the world is a quality of strength?"

"Loss is inevitable. In the end, we must all rely on ourselves and our own could stand alone."

Once the words left her mouth, Azula instantly felt she had made a mistake. A feeling strengthened as the doctor nodded and said, "But Ozai was alone when he was defeated by Avatar Aang."

Azula blinked.

"Without his brother, his wife, his son or his daughter. Bereft of the bonds he'd accumulated in his life. Nothing but his own strength, and at the height of his power. He was defeated, then his bending taken from him. Leaving him with nothing but the stone floor and cold iron of his cell bars."

Her father, the pinnacle of strength that had been a beckon to her life. Laid lower than a common pickpocket.

"Your father carried his ideologies to the furthest extremes he could. And you see the result."

Was everything she had worked for, everything she had longed to be, her entire life… had it all been a waste?

"Azula, it doesn't seem to me that being alone is the answer."

"It will forever be preferable to a dagger in my back!"

"Even were it your own father?"

"What?" She had felt control of the conversation wrestled from her, but the doctor had firmly placed her off-balance.

"Perhaps together you two could have overcome the Avatar. But the Phoenix King left you in the Fire Nation."

"He did not abandon me!" she blurted. Even in her own ears it sounded like the desperate plea of a child.

"It's natural to be fearful, Azula." The doctor said, her voice never losing its calm, soothing tone. "No one wants to be betrayed. Being vulnerable is one of the risks of opening yourself up to others. Not showing a prepared face to them, but to truly expose yourself. Quite terrifying business, wouldn't you say?"

Trust no one. Trust no one. Rely only on yourself. Your strength, your cunning.

"And yet… we're all quite vulnerable alone, are we not?"

She had relied only on herself. As the Avatar had told her, she had no one but herself when set upon by her brother and the peasant. Only her own power. And she had crumbled, as had her father.

Azula thought over her words, one of the rare instances when she simply listened, when the point raised made too much sense to ignore outright. She had been cornered, and silently glowered at the doctor. Yet there was no malice. She only felt a sense of defeat.

"I've had contact with your grandfather, by a measure at least."

An interesting turn. The doctor was granting her reprieve from that part of the conversation. What victories she did gain, she never seemed to lord them over Azula.

She would take the offered change in subject. "Is that so?" Her voice sounded tired in her own ears.

"I found myself treating soldiers who had returned from the war. Engaging in physical therapy to facilitate recovery. But there were wounds unseen in each of them. Wounds I would recognize even in those who finished their service with their bodies intact."

Curious… She spoke of the selfsame wounds that Azula had noticed in the patients? It seemed the two of them had very different reactions to observing these mental conditions.

"I began to realize the toll this war was taking on those who returned from it… As if they had left pieces of themselves behind. I dedicated my life to treating these unseen wounds that so many of us carry."

Despite her steady resentment of the woman's existence, there was something to be said of contributing to the wellbeing of one's countryman.

"Word must have reach the palace that I treated my patients so well, that the recovery rate was high."

"Did they return to military service? Your patients?"

"Some did. Most, however, decided to retire and become civilians. I still hear from them from time to time. Some even chose to remain and help other patients."

That would certainly never be her. "Why waste the time and resources if they aren't fit for duty?"

"People need a place to return to, Azula. The Fire Nation was protected from the harshest consequences of the war, since it was always fought abroad. And this is our home. It wouldn't do well for citizens to see their fellows returned broken."

Azula gave a slow nod. She could see the value in it.

"Word reach Fire Lord Azulon, and he approved me to a position within the royal family's team of physicians."

"You could have served in the royal palace? You would have been well compensated and cared for, provided you could competently perform your duties."

"Oh, it was a flattering offer. But I chose to help all that I can. I couldn't tolerate my skills only being used to help those most fortunate… and… well, those most responsible for the wounds inflicted.

"Though this was also an ignorance on my part, I confess. I didn't imagine that within those walls could be people in dire need of my help as well. I wonder how things could have been different had I taken the position?"

Azula briefly imagined a life where she would have encountered this woman as a child.

"I'd have paid no mind to your drivel, I assure you. I likely would have done my best to get you banished."

"Haha, perhaps it would have done no good. The royal family is a stubborn lot. It seems you only learn through your own trials."

Suffering will be your teacher. Ozai's words to Zuko… Perhaps he was more right than even he knew?

"And yet here I am treating the princess of the Fire Nation regardless. Fate is a funny thing. I suppose it didn't bring you to me until the time was right. After all, healing cannot commence until you are ready for it to begin."

"Is that what you call this? Healing?"

"But of course. Compare yourself now to the day you were admitted. Don't you feel happier?"

She attributed it more to an absence of complete misery. The same desperate clawing at her mind to right the wrongs done to her, erase her shame, take back her freedom, her nation, her throne.

She had the same desires, but now there was structure to her thoughts and goals.

"You do seem more at peace, even… content, dare I say."

A rage struck between her eyes, powerful enough to flood her vision with flames. But she merely narrowed her eyes, a gesture unseen. "Do you think me content to languish here for the rest of my days, is that it?"

"Not at all. I know it remains your fervent desire to be free of our facility. Naturally it is our wish that all of our patients are well enough to leave."

"I will be free of this place. And free of you."

"Certainly you have the best teacher for freedom."

Azula merely raised a brow. She couldn't have seen it, but somehow the doctor was able to detect such things.

"Freedom is one of the core tenants of air nomad philosophy."

"The Avatar," she muttered. "You consider him a teacher of mine?" she asked, unsure how to feel about that.

"Perhaps friend would be a better word."

"Friendship is for fools," she said coldly. The words came without thought or calculation. The doctor was just too good at getting to the heart of her…. Or Azula was so far gone that it had become too easy.

"I am certain Avatar Aang would beg to differ."

"What the monk says is of no concern to me."

"Oh? Even though I asked him about his talks with you?"

Azula was torn between her curiosity and stubbornness. It shouldn't matter, but… What conspiracies were being wrought behind her back?

She took a disinterested tone. "I presume he tells you what delightful company I am."

"Exactly so!" she answers, smiling. "He never says a bad word about you, and only looks forward to seeing you again."

Azula looked away, unsure what to say in response.

"Are you still meditating when Avatar Aang is not present?"

Azula never relaxed when in the presence of this women, their session and inevitable battle of wills. But whenever she mentioned the Avatar, Azula felt her guard tighten to the point of suffocation.

"What of it?" she asked, masking her trepidation with indifference.

"You used to simply watch him, did you not? What changed?"

"So you are checking on our visits," she accused.

"Azula, I do tend to travel through the facility from time to time. There are a number of matters I must check on. The two of you are in plain view."

"View? An interesting choice of words, don't you think?"

She chuckled. "I suppose it is. However, my question remains unanswered. What made you decide to join him?"

"The Avatar holds no power over me. Once I made this clear, there was nothing further to be gained from prolonged silence. And it was dreadfully boring. He may be keen to waste his time, but I am not."

"You think the Avatar was wasting his time? I couldn't disagree more. I think his presence has helped you tremendously."

The notion of receiving help from him caused her eyes to narrow. "He is simply persistent to the point of negligence, I'm sure. He must be needed elsewhere."

"But you could always refuse his visits. I made that clear you were not obligated."

Her nose wrinkled in anger. "And I made it clear that I would not be cowed by the presence of another. I won't cower in my room simply because that monk is near. I will confront him face-to-face. Until the day he's had enough."

"Would driving him away prove your strength?"

"It would prove that he is the same as the others, no matter how much he thinks otherwise."

She was unprepared for the next question. It had been some time since the topic had been broached.

"Azula, when was the last time you saw your mother?"

She stiffened and glared out the window. "What does it matter?" she asked, her tone sharp.

"Well, it was your most troubling behavior, that you saw her wherever you looked. It seemed to be the largest factor in your… collapse. Perhaps I shall rephrase the question: are you still seeing your mother?"

Azula drummed her fingers on her arms. "Not very often," she confessed, her voice not as strong as she would have liked. She damned her weakness, could feel the scorn of her ancestors, but she felt relief to speak the words to another. "Less so than before."

Her eyes had been scanning shadows and reflections, waiting for the visage of her mother to appear like a specter. But she rarely did, and when Azula caught a glimpse of her, the woman never spoke, so she had been spared the lies.

"I've only seen her a handful of times since…"

"…Since the Avatar began to visit you?" she suggested.

"…"

"Could we attribute some of your calm to his visits?"

"Correlation is not causation."

"Have you considered talking about the issue you have with your mother?"

Azula looked into the old woman's eyes with a withering glare, uncaring if she could see it or not. Azula would make her ire felt. "What have you told him?"

"I haven't revealed that to Avatar Aang, I assure you. Though," the doctor said, rubbing her chin, "I do think it would be good for you to share, were you comfortable with it, of course. Your thoughts are your own, after all."

"Indeed they are. And there is no possibility I will share such a weakness with him, especially not him of all people."

"Why is that?"

"The Avatar is not some simple nurse. That is not his role in my life. He is a man I must surpass."

"Surpass?" she questioned.

"I will become stronger than he is. I will defeat him. That is my goal. Everything else in the world will align properly once I have done this."

"Quite an ambitious goal, though I suppose I should expect nothing less would satisfy you. It is good to have something to strive for. At the very least it's given you something to focus on and drive you."

Something she wouldn't have had without the Avatar. The doctor didn't say it, but Azula was certain she was thinking it, and that made her think it as well.

"Well then, I imagine you'll want your bending back for such an otherworldly task. For now, let's check your chi, Azula."

Azula stood feeling eager. She wasn't entirely unfamiliar with this type of inspection. She would often present her form for Lo and Li to judge as she learned the advanced techniques of firebending, reserved for the truest masters.

The doctor traced two flaming fingers near Azula. The heat did not inspire any fear in her, but hunger. The gnawing in her being that could be satiated by nothing but her own flames dancing again.

"The flow of your chi is strong. I would think you haven't been taking the dosage for months, but the stronger a person's chi is, the more quickly they recover from the potion."

She was unable to hide her urgent desire, and didn't care to. "When will I be able to firebend?"

"I can't say for certain, but… At this rate, in another month or so."

That was too long. She wanted it now! She felt the urge to reach out and shake the woman, demand she somehow return her power at once. But she calmed herself. Patience. Take no risk, or they will take what progress she had made. She must strike only when ready.

"Azula. You are truly doing better. You are healing."

"Well enough to be released?"

"I think we are still steps away from my being able to sincerely recommend that."

"Steps away, you are always so utterly vague. Give me a timeframe!"

She smiled patiently. "You are used to schedules and deadlines. For things to be run like a machine. But you are not a machine, Azula. You are a person. A living, breathing creature of flesh and blood, and emotion. No two people heal in the same way for the same ailments. You must take all the time you need. Not what you think you should need."

There should be nothing wrong with her to begin with. Nothing to fix. She was perfect. Or had been… hadn't she? Yet even so she was cast down. Then had she been anything she'd thought herself to be?

"Do you feel ready to leave as you are now? I was certain you wouldn't be satisfied revealing yourself to the world until you are stronger than you once were. Am I mistaken, Azula?"

The doctor managed to win her over, as Azula saw the benefit for herself. She couldn't show the pale imitation of herself to the world. No, at the very least she needed her bending fully restored.

And she knew just the monk whom would be all to eager to help make that happen.