Author's Note: I would like to thank all the people that take the time to read this! You are all great, especially the people that help me improve with reviews! (I value constructive criticism) I was reading another fic today and read the author's note which said the author was sorry for not responding to reviews and I was like "Omg, have I been snubbing my readers?!" so I promise to be better about that in the future! Also I have been having a friend proofread my stories, and when I sent her Chapter 3 she was like "not enough action, too much introspection"... so this is the last chapter where the main focus is mental struggles, the next one is more 'action-y'. Also note that I did some more minor detail altering. Enjoy! ^_^

As she first began to regain consciousness, all she could feel was a throbbing in her head.

She opened her eyes, trying to focus them on the ceiling above her. The pain seemed to inhibit her waking, and she groaned as she attempted to sit up. There was light streaming in through the window next to her, and she could hear waves gently splashing against the shore.

Thinking back to the last thing she remembered, she remembered her dream. She remembered hearing her own voice screaming even though she was sure her mouth hadn't been moving.

The throbbing in her head got worse. Her eyes smarted and she gritted her teeth in pain. She pressed the heels of her hands against her face, pushing as hard as she could, trying to make the pain go away. Her wrists felt heavy and she could feel shackles rattling about her wrists, but there were no longer any chains connecting her to her bed.

But the pain got worse, it only ever got worse. And voices seemed to spring up out of the corners of the room.

Failure.

Inadequate.

Monster...

With the last utterance the pounding in her head became unbearable. Her eyes started to water from the pain behind them, and her body instinctively balled itself up in the fetal position.

She had to stop the voices in her mind. If she could stop the endless nagging of her demons she knew her pain would subside as well.

Drawing her hands away from her head and pushing the hair out of her eyes, she looked around her blurrily. She searched for something in her surroundings, anything. A few meters away she spotted a washstand, upon which rested a bowl and a few towels.

Fear. She had wielded it like a tool, like so many of the people she had used. She had thought that was the only way, to use fear on those around her... but the fear that was so familiar to her now was completely different.

Rolling out of bed and onto the floor, she hit with a soft thud and struggled to her hands and knees.

She reached out, stretching her arm as much as she could and jerkily pulled the washstand to her, slopping water onto the wooden floor. When it was close enough to her she used the legs and stretchers of the stand to haul herself up into a kneeling position.

Love. She flinched at the word, gripping the edges of the stand so hard that the water in the bowl before her began to shake. She hadn't loved her entire life, she despised it, saw it as a weakness. No one had ever loved her, she had had to take everything she wanted by force. If something was given to her, it was because she fought for it, she deserved it, not because of petty emotions. Not even her mother had said that she loved Azula, not even...

She hunched herself over the washstand, trying to forget the memories the dream of last night had recalled. That cheerful and carefree face clouded her vision, dancing before her eyes. Her usually playful eyes serious.

She plunged her head into the washbasin. Magically the voices stopped and the pain began to edge away, if only slightly. She held her face underwater, relishing in the peace it brought. For one split second she thought to inhale the water before her, but her body rebelled and she felt herself catapulted backwards by her own instincts.

She fell against the bed and slid down to the floor. Coughing and sputtering, her hair was soaked, and the thin white shirt she wore began to absorb the water dripping from her face.

Pulling the wet hair out of her face, she looked around the room. It was familiar, and yet strange. She hadn't been here in what seemed like forever and the memories it brought back threatened to tear down her momentary clarity of mind.

The room was made entirely of wood, like the rest of the house. The walls were mostly left bare with no paint or ornaments, while most of the furnishings were painted a deep red. There weren't many of them, in the years it had been since she had lived here most of the furniture had rotted away and what little was left made the room seem spartan.

She struggled to her feet, using the bed to support her weakened limbs. It was only then that she noticed the shackles around her ankles. The length of chain between them was short, and made it hard to move her legs.

She gradually made her way to the doorway and stopped when she smelled food. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten and her stomach seemed to lurch against her spine as her mouth watered. She put a hand to her abdomen to try and dull the pain, and felt the prominent edges of her ribs underneath. She grimaced. Her time in a cell had made her weak, but that would change.

She slowly made her way down the long corridor that led to the kitchen and pantry. She moved carefully, trying not to fall or trip as she walked. She had almost made it halfway to the entryway of the kitchen when her chains caught on a board that had sprung itself from its nails. She instinctively brought up her hands to break her fall, but as they struck the floor a searing pain shot out from her wrists. Her outstretched arms slowed her fall only a little, and her head smacked into the floorboards.

Groaning she rolled over and put a hand to her face. Her forehead stung and she pulled her hand away with blood on her fingertips. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to get up, slowly and carefully pushing herself to her feet with the aid of the wall.

As she turned to go back down the hallway she recognized a doorway off to the side on the opposite wall. It was a large arched doorway, with ornate double doors that had once been painted red. The paint had started to flake and the handles were rusty, but she knew what lay beyond it.

She pushed the doors open with a slow creaking sound and walked out onto the decking that lined the walls of the room. The room was large and empty, with a series of sliding doors that made up the far wall. They were open, letting in sunlight and exposing the small unkept garden that was behind the house.

She could still remember the warm summer days when she, Ty Lee, and Mai had spent hours playing, reading, or studying their school texts for when classes resumed. She had hated watching Ty Lee practice stretches and handstands, the girl smiling all the while. Azula would laugh and smirk at her whenever she fell over, but Ty Lee would always tearfully get back up and try again. That had been one of the things that had drawn Azula to Ty Lee, her dedication was a useful asset… or so she had thought.

Azula had put her trust in Ty Lee, her above anyone else. She could still remember her own stupidity at the Boiling Rock. As Azula had faced off against Mai she had turned her back to Ty Lee, showing a moment of weakness… of trust. She wouldn't make the same mistake again.

She could feel the energy flowing through her body, the heat that was building up near her hands. She was on the verge of setting the room on fire, not caring what damage it caused to the rest of the house or herself, when she heard Ty Lee's voice behind her.

"Azula?!"

Caught in the middle of remembering this very person's betrayal, she tried to spin around, to bring Ty Lee into her line of sight, but the chains at her feet hampered her movement. Halfway turned around she fell, landing at the top of the stairs that led down into the room.

Ty Lee ran forward with one of her hands outstretched, reaching down to help Azula to her feet. She was dressed in a lightweight green kimono that seemed designed for ease of movement and not protection. She was taller than Azula remembered, and her features were different, changing her into a pretty young women instead of the girl Azula remembered.

Azula raised her hands, willing herself to recall the rage she had possessed just moments ago. Slowly blue flame sputtered to life in her hands, and she thrust them out at Ty Lee trying with all her might to incinerate the girl. But her movements were slow and labored, lack of practice preventing her from swiftly attacking. Ty Lee grabbed her arms just below her manacles, applying pressure with her fingers that made Azula's arms twitch and the flames in her palms die.

The once foreign feeling of helplessness swept over her.

"Let go of me!" she screamed.

"Azula, listen to me, please. I ‒ "

"Why? Why..." Azula said through bared teeth. She hated the look on Ty Lee's face, she hated everything about her. Her eyes, her braided hair, her coddling expression.

"Your brother is giving you a second chance, we convinced him to let ‒ "

"No! Why did you... " she hated that she had to force these words out, that she was looking up into Ty Lee's face, practically begging her to answer. Had she still had the power she once did... but she had to know. She didn't know why, but it had been eating away at her for a lifetime. If she could just find an answer...

Ty Lee lowered her head and loosened her grip on Azula's arms.

"I was tired of staying silent, I was tired of watching what you had become. You may not have been able to see it, but what you were ‒"

"I was the most powerful person in the Fire Nation! Countries bowed to my will!"

"And you were prepared to kill your own friends!?" Ty Lee was looking at Azula's face again as she spoke. "I thought if I stood up to you, maybe I could save the people I loved... and save you too."

Azula laughed.

"Save me? You? A circus freak like you? You're pathetic, I don't need you. Leave Ty Lee, just leave." Azula couldn't keep her eyes open, her head had begun to hurt and the throbbing from earlier had returned.

"No! I wouldn't have left before if you hadn't sent me to prison, and I am not going to leave now. This is the first time I have spoken to you in years! You have a second chance!"

I think you're confused, all of your life you have used fear to control people...

But what choice do I have, trust is for fools...

You miscalculated, I love you more than I fear you...

I love you Azula.

Azula jerked free of Ty Lee's grip and pushed her away, almost sending herself down the stairs in the process. Her shoulders shook. She was trying to build herself back up, trying to prepare herself for the inevitable. Her head pounded and her heart beat abnormally in her chest.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed as the voices took root in her mind. She wanted to look up at Ty Lee, to try and find her face among the shadows, but she was too afraid to open her eyes.

"Leave me alone..." she whispered again. Her body was wracked with sobs, and tears started to fall from her eyes. She felt helpless, she felt alone.

She felt the sensation of falling again, falling through darkness to the voices in her head. She felt the cold fingers of fear and despair grab her and pull her downward. But suddenly she felt a gentle touch, as if someone was reaching out to her across the abyss. It pulled her upwards, and she felt like water was rushing over her. Suddenly she felt that she could breath again, she felt warmth, she felt arms encircling her.

She was sobbing, but she no longer felt afraid. She no longer felt alone.

With her head resting on Ty Lee's chest, all she could hear was the sound of her own crying.