Chapter 3: Above

Going home was a relief for the youngest daughter of the Sozin household. She no longer had to deal with Ty Lee and her constant optimism or Mai and her constant depressing demeanor. The only reason she bothered to hang out with them was because their families held influence, influence which the Sozin's were all about taking advantage of. It didn't hurt that they followed her every command either. But, sometimes, she felt she needed a challenge, someone who wouldn't give in so easily. Jet, her ex-boyfriend, was one of them. He became to dominative, though, and began to boss her around. Needless to say, it didn't end so well for Jet. Might be why he doesn't go to her school anymore, but perhaps not...

Anyways, she'd been feeling like she needed a challenge for awhile. Now, unfortunately or fortunately, her no good brother arrived. He'd always presented a challenge. Not always hard, but a challenge all the same and, unlike Jet, he knew not to try to control her.

Smirking to herself as she entered her father's mansion, she had half a mind to go drop in on little Zuzu and pay him and Uncle Fatso a visit.

She quickly dashed that thought when one of her family's butlers approached her.

"Miss. Sozin, your father would have you meet with him in his office for a moment," he tells her will a small bow, avoiding eye contact because he was not worthy to meet her gaze like an equal. She and Ozai were so far above the petty help that it was laughable they were even allowed in their presence.

She nodded, a sign of acknowledgement and of dismissal; to give them, the help, anymore of a response would make them think they could have conversations with those they should worship as gods.

The man quickly bowed deeper to her and backed away as did the maids and other butlers as she passed them on her way to her father's home office.

Once she was down the hall from Ozai's door, she stopped and looked in one of the hall mirrors, making sure nothing was out of place. After all, it wouldn't do for her to show up a mess. To be anything less than perfect would tarnish her father's image of her and be considered an insult.

Finally, satisfied with her image, she made it to his door and knocked, very curtly, twice.

"Come in," her father's voice called through the door.

She entered without hesitation; hesitation was a sign of weakness. "You had something to discuss with me, Father?"

He gave a slight downward tilt of his head from where he sat in his high, leather back chair. "I did." His eyes were assessing her, looking for any imperfections. He'd fine none, she'd made sure of that.

"And?" she prompted.

Ozai leaned back in his chair a little, not all the way back, though, that'd be seen as lazy. "You are aware your brother is attending your school now, correct?"

"Yes, Father," she dutifully answered. "I am aware."

"I want updates on him every week, keep tabs on him. I don't want him or my failure of a brother tarnishing our family name anymore than they already have. Understood?"

"Of course, Father."

"Good," he said by way of conclusion. "See you at dinner."

She bowed deeply to him before she turned around and exited, ignoring her father's gaze still piercing into her from behind.

"Azula!"

The golden-eyed girl turned around, shutting her locker as she did so. "Yes, Ty Lee?" she drawled, rolling her eyes.

It was the morning after her first day with her brother being back and she found she couldn't sleep as well as she normally did last night, which was ridiculous. Now she was in even less of a mood to put up with her so called 'friend.'

"It's Mai!"

All she gave her in response was a raised eyebrow. "Yes, and? What about her? Did she start slitting her wrists again?"

The cheerful girl gasped. "Azula! No, she hasn't-No! And we swore we'd never talk about that, it's not nice."

She just rolled her eyes again. "What does it matter?" She couldn't care less whether she said anything about it or not. It's not her fault her 'friend' couldn't deal with emotions and had to resort to cutting herself.

"Azula! You know why! It's not her fault and we have to be there for her. Besides, she's stopped, why bring it back up? She doesn't need to be judged for it."

The older girl just snorted and started to walk away to her first hour. "Too late," she muttered under her breath.

Luckily Ty Lee didn't hear her or else she would have gone on another tirade in her friend's defense. "Azula, that's not what I came to talk to you about."

The young Sozin turned around sharply, hip cocked out and hand on hip. "Then what is it? Spit it out."

The usually outgoing girl suddenly grew shy, looking around cautiously before stepping closer to Azula to whisper in her ear, "Mai still has a crush on Zuko."

Azula tried not to let her surprise show. "What?" came her venomous and clipped response.

Ty Lee nodded, smiling. "She never grew out of it. It's so cute, don't you think?"

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "No, I don't think it's sweet, I think it's childish." How had she not remembered Mai had a crush on her brother? "It should have only been a phase." And it should have, but obviously not.

"Oh...," Ty Lee said sheepishly and taking a small step back, realizing she'd said something wrong.

Seeing the girl clad in pink trying to retreat, Azula adopted a more calm façade. "Where is she now, Ty Lee?" She needed to have a talk with the girl before she did anything stupid. She hardly showed any emotions as it was, so it's no wonder why Azula might miss something like a newly rekindled love interest for her. At least, that's what the brunette reasoned, because she hated missing anything, no matter how small the detail.

A.N.

I hope you guys liked this chapter! XD Again, sorry for the wait! I've been busy with school and taking two AP classes.

About the chapter: I didn't mean to go into any background about Mai or make her kind of depressed, but it just happened and I hope none of Azula's comments about it offended anyone. None of Azula's comments should ever be taken seriously because she's just Azula and this is how she is. She doesn't care who she offends.

Anyways, I feel most of this chapter was just background on Azula, showing you guys how her home life in this is and how she feels about her 'friends.' So, I hope you enjoyed it.

REVIEW!