Chapter 2: The Rising Sun

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

A hand slammed down on the snooze button and its owner groaned. He had to go to school today. He wasn't looking forward to it. Going back to school meant seeing Katara again, and the last thing that he wanted was another confrontation. He still hated himself for what he did. He blamed himself for driving her away.

"Zuko," his older sister's icy voice said from the intercom by the door, "Up. Now."

Zuko Sozin sighed as he kicked the sheets off of his bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water began to wake him up, and he thought about why it happened. It was all because of Aang. He brought a simple happiness to all their lives. It always seemed that nothing could get him down, and as long as he had anything to say about it, nothing would get his friends down either. But once he left, everything went bad, like none of them could function without him. Zuko's arguments with his father got worse. He didn't know what to do with all the anger inside of him. He started to take classes at Black Sun to relieve the stress, but Zhao's constant insulting and comparing him to his sister just made it worse.

His sister... Azula Sozin was a monster. Controlling, charismatic, and sociopathic, Azula knew how to take someone apart both physically and mentally. She was a bully throughout her childhood, and she had grown to be just like their father. Unfortunately for Zuko, whenever their father was away on business, Azula, being the elder of the two, was left in charge. Ozai would ignore Zuko when he was around, but Azula would torture Zuko when he wasn't. And Zuko didn't know which was worse. At least Azula acknowledged him. His father, unless they were arguing, acted like he didn't exist.

Ozai Sozin had been a Californian senator for nearly thirty years. An independent candidate, Ozai used his natural charisma and his great skills as a public speaker to win hearts and votes. Pundits called him a political televangelist, and in many ways he was. But that persona was a ruse. At home he was cold, unfeeling, and distant. In front of the cameras, he seemed like he wanted to reach out to the world, but at home, he constantly pushed his own son away. Maybe he blamed Zuko for killing his wife. She died giving birth to him.

Zuko felt a pang of guilt. He tried to let the hot water wash away his anger and worry. But it didn't work.

All too quickly, Zuko got to the kitchen, dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt. He had dressed in black since Katara left him. The clothes, mixed with the long, black hair that he let cover his left eye, gave him quite the first impression on people.

Azula laughed out loud when she saw him. She did this all the time. It was yet another way that she tried to make him doubt himself. And it worked. His self-esteem had been at an all-time low over the summer, and Azula did everything within her power to make sure it stayed that way.

"Again with the emo look, Zuzu?" she snickered at him.

"Fuck off, Azula!" Zuko snapped back.

She began to walk towards him, that cold, calculating smile frozen on her lips. "Look, I'm only saying that you need to stop dressing like you're about to slit your wrists. People will be creeped out. Not that you weren't creepy already." She stopped right in front of him.

"I don't give a damn what you-"

But Zuko didn't get to finish his sentence, because Azula chose that moment to sweep his legs out from under him. He hit the ground hard. "What the hell was that for?" he shouted.

"Come on, Zuzu, you know what Sensei Zhao always says. Always be on your guard. If you ever want to catch up to me, you have to stop being so weak. Don't ever let your guard down."

"What does that have to do with school?" he growled back.

"Nothing," she replied. "You're just too easy to mess with."

Zuko shot her a glare as he stood up and headed for the garage. He had nothing to say to her now. He just wanted to leave, to get the day over with. She followed him through their large mansion, not saying a word. She just wanted to make him feel uncomfortable. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the garage door, and was about to leave when Azula chose to deliver her final verbal volley.

"Say hi to Katara for me."