The war room of the Fire Palace had not been used for close to two decades. During the twilight years of Azulon's rule the Fire Lord had decided that meetings of any kind that involved the Fire Lord were to be held within the Fire Lord's chamber. As no war meetings were permitted without the Fire Lord present, the war room had stood collecting dust, a relic of a more familial age.
Now it stood restored and spotless- a physical testament to the new regime. From here in to the future Fire Lords would ask for council, respect their advisors and rule with love rather than fear. Suggestions to rename the room to 'the peace room' were quickly rejected due to 'being just one step too far' and for 'being the worst suggestion ever to be dreamt up ever'.
The room itself was a perfect balance of efficiency and grandeur, surrounded by golden statuettes and flowing pillars, while maintaining an uncluttered path to all functional points. Where the room was free from recreations of famous war heroes or ancient sets of armour, there hung paintings of the greatest Fire Lords and of ancient mythical beings.
There were only three walls within the room, the forth instead opened onto a marble terrace. The view was split between the magnificent city below and the rolling lush hills of the royal garden, the scene combining the magnificence of manmade architecture and the relaxed gracefulness of nature. The surrounding mountains were split by a narrow gorge that lead straight up to the terrace, as if nature itself had conspired to enhance the room's magnificence.
Mai Bo Feng leant lazily over the sandstone banister of the terrace, looking out over the view with earned disinterest. She was attempting to temporarily escape from the strange circular feud that continued in the war room behind her.
There had never existed a more apt time for her to feel abysmally bored and, in quiet contemplation, she was beginning to wonder if wiping out the entire world might not be the best option after all.
It was halfway between a shouting match between Zuko and Sokka, over the relevance of war reparations to people without a concept of ownership, that Azula burst in to the room. Silence conquered the room; noise was ill-prepared for such a surprise attack.
The princess made quick and calculated strides towards the balcony. The automatic repositioning and counter moves of the room's original inhabitants were rendered significantly ineffective by a combination of confusion and uncertainty.
Mai was staring straight at the Princess as she approached; the noblewoman's face remained unsurprisingly unaffected. Azula's hand latched on to the noblewoman's neck and lifted her with surprising ease, their bodies pressed together as Mai became perilously close to plummeting down to the jagged rocks below.
Azula's eyes bore in to Mai's as she uttered her first words in a deadly tone. "You killed my father."
Sokka had reached the doorway first, and was preparing to warily make his way over to the two, as a dagger landed in a pillar inches from his head. Mai's arm sunk slowly back to help balance herself on the railing. "Okay, point taken." Sokka raised his hands insupplication and backed away with far more haste than he had approached.
Azula continued as if nothing had interrupted them switching seamlessly to a more conversational tone. "So I thought that I should kill your father- but that would not be important to you. I could kill your mother, but that may be a blessing. And your brother would be meerly unfortunate- if even that." A pause- for dramatic effect. The pair's eyes bore in to one another; Mai refused to show emotion. Azula's eyes burned with cold fury, her head rocking slightly in an unconscious imitation of a cobra ready to strike.
"...So then, after all that I decided that the only person's death that would hurt you would be my brother's. But then I'd have no one- then I'd have nothing left in the world. And as much of an idiot as he can be- even I need something to prove that I exist." It was at this point that Mai began to falter, her expression threatening to turn to worry. Azula's current sentiments were uncharted, for one of the exceedingly few times since the two had met Mai could not read what the princess's next step would be.In that moment, for the first time in her life, she legitimately acknowledged the fact that she may actually die.
"That brought me here Mai, my friend- my sister. That brought me to this question..." With this Azula manoeuvred Mai's hands so as to lock her palms to the princess's stomach. As Mai heard a small click her eyes shot open, confusion and panic spreading across her face- while the rest of her body went deathly still for fear of allowing the unlatched blades from hurtling forth in to her friend's belly.
Azula leaned in, pulling Mai towards her as she did. The action kept Mai's hands in position but allowed their bodies to slide close one another- almost touching down their entire length. "...if I had died- would you of cared?"
Tears were falling down Mai's cheeks, her face was desperately trying to hold it's stoic composure but was being assaulted by unwanted twitches of sadness and desperation. "Yes." The word was even and soft, spoken with absolute clarity and truth.
The princess reached above her head, pulling Mai's along with her own. When fully extended Azula unclenched her hands, allowing a twin bladed steel shuriken to spring violently from each of Mai's wrists. The two women remained staring at each other for the five second eternity it took for the blades to plummet back solid ground and embed themselves in the marble floor a foot apart on each side of the girls.
Noise reconquered lost ground, silence was ill-equipped to survive an extended campaign. Azula exited the room as she had entered, amid confusion and without opposition.