Yes! Yessssss!!!!! Finally! I've been trying everyday since ... well, a while ago, to upload this second chapter, and here it is! The site finally let me upload it! -happy dance-
... Okay, I'm over it now. Please don't let that outburst get in the way of reading this chapter. Thank you and happy reading!
Oh, I almost forgot! -Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of the characters. I always forget to put the disclaimer on the first chapter.
I awoke to the warm, tingling sensation of sunlight that had rested too long upon my fair skin. Breathing in deeply, I rolled over into the shadows, where the sun had not yet risen high enough to reach. A second or two later, as I opened my eyes, I noticed that they felt swollen and bloated. Touching my fingertips delicately to the area just beneath my eyes, the realization hit me that I had been crying for a long time last night.
So, the words entered my mind as I sat up in my bed, yesterday was real. The wound my brother received was reality; the mental picture that would forever be branded in my mind was not a figment of my imagination. Zuko was now officially a banished prince of the Fire Nation -- a shame and disgrace to the royal family for disrespecting my father in such an uncivilized way. I felt my heart absorb more hatred for him. Did he honestly think that he knew better than the highest ranking generals and commanding officers in the Fire Nation Army? He had some nerve commenting on the battle tactics of those men.
And yet, as I thought these words to myself, I could not help but feel a sympathetic chord being strung in my heart. Something was gently pulling on an emotion that I did not want to be woken back up; upon realizing this I immediately sat cross-legged on my bed and began a ritual I had developed to curb such emotions.
Closing my eyes, I took in several deep breaths, discarding all emotions and focusing solely on the creation of fire. I placed my hands at an arm's width in front of me, and, centering all my concentration on my fingertips, produced a small flame.
The purpose of this exercise, which I had originated myself, was not to create a large amount of fire, but rather to increase the intensity of the flame. Gathering together all the rage I had in my body, I brought it together and released it; my body tensing as I felt the heated emotion travel from all parts of my body to converge at my fingertip. Slowly opening my eyes, I looked at the once red flame that now burned a light blue. Satisfaction twisted the corners of my mouth into an evil smile, for, at the tender age of ten, I had created something that took years of mastery among other Firebenders -- a blue flame. I watched with sheer delight as the flame danced, hovering just above my fingertips as I released a satisfactory chuckle. I could almost feel the power coursing through my veins, and it invigorated me in a way my ten-year-old self had not yet known. Suddenly, and without warning, I clenched my fist, extinguishing the flame. Opening my hand back up, I stared at my palm. It appeared to be unaffected and perfect, as if the existence of the fire that had been there not two seconds ago never was, and it was all in my imagination.
At that moment, a firm knocking on my door caused me to jump, and I whipped my head around to stare at the door. A voice was heard on the other side.
"Princess Azula?" I snarled as I recognized the one who had spoken; though I was not sure of his name, he was an obnoxious servant whose every word and action seemed to irritate me.
"What is it?" I snapped, feeling as though I was a snake sinking my poisonous fangs into the neck of innocent prey. However, his knocking had startled me, and though no one was around to witness my jump, it embarrassed me nonetheless.
"Your father wishes for your presence in the Dining Hall immediately." My eyes danced with pleasure at the thought of speaking with my father. There was no doubt in my mind that he wished to speak with me about Zuko's banishment, or some other type of important topic that resulted from the Agni Kai. It also somewhat pleased me the way the servant behind the door was obviously cowering in fear of me, for the change in his voice became apparent after I so venomously lashed out at him. It was only inevitable, I thought to myself as I climbed out of my bed, he should know better than to startle the Princess.
"Tell my father that I will join him as soon as I have prepared myself for the day," I responded with an arrogant tone, implying that I still needed to get dressed, as well as other necessary preparations, such as washing my face and brushing my hair.
There was a slight pause and a shuffle of feet outside my bedroom door, and the servant's slowness angered me.
"Well?" I seethed, the tone of my voice demanding an answer. "Are you going to deliver the message?"
"I, well, your Highness … Lord Ozai seemed especially impatient this morning, and I would hate to worsen his mood with news such as that."
"News such as what?" I said, with a mockingly innocent tone. "Please tell me, for I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Well, Princess…" the servant cleared his throat. "When your father is in an impatient mood, I do not like to further aggravate him by having to make him wait even longer."
"Oh?" I responded, continuing my innocent routine. "And I suppose that to appease my father I should show before him immediately, dressed in my nightclothes rather than appear respectfully?" My anger, now fully released, raged uncontrollably, much like a wildfire that is started in a place that has not seen water for years. "Do you mistake me for my brother? Do you think that I would disrespect Lord Ozai in any way?"
"N-no, Princess Azula. I'm sorry, I will --"
"I am not my brother," I screamed, letting out all the anger that resulted from his banishment, all the emotion that I had allowed to be pent up inside of me. And not just rage, but sorrow as well, for, though I did not admit it to myself at first, I pitied my brother and would deeply miss him for quite a few weeks after his banishment. "My brother is a pompous fool who thinks only of himself!"
"I will deliver the message right away Princess Azula!" The servant managed to say before I had the time to continue my rant. And although I heard his footsteps stumble down the hall as fast as he could go, I threw myself face-down upon the floor with a sickening thud, and clenched my fists in anger, locking my jaw in a snarl. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes again, except this time their presence was not because of sorrow, but because of the emotional strain I put on my body at that time. My breathing, which had considerably deepened, brought forth barely audible moans as I desperately tried to find a way to channel my fury.
"Zuko, why…?" I asked myself, teeth clenched, though I dared not finish the question. My first instinct had been to ask why he had done something like that to get himself banished, why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut? Then I could grow up with a brother, then maybe I could somehow make amends with him over the unspoken tension that seemed to emerge between us with my birth. But my mind would not let me finish the question. My mind would not let me feel anything but rage.
So high was the tension that I put on my body, so strong was the feeling that I had to maintain this emotional barrier I had built up, that my body physically could not take it. My nose felt pressured, and I opened my eyes just in time to watch a small drop of blood roll off the tip of my nose and onto the floor. I immediately stood up and ran over to my wash basin that sat atop a finely carved table. Taking the small cloth that I used to wash my face with every morning, I held it up to my nose in order to catch the rest of the blood as it slowly trickled down onto my lip. The sight of the blood had diminished my rage, and I no longer felt tense and confused. My first priority was to stop the bleeding.
Being only ten years old and not very learned in the anatomy of the human body, or cures for injuries, I was not sure how to stop the blood, but it seemed logical enough to hold my head back and sniff, so that the blood would have nowhere to go but back up into my nose. Continuing to hold the cloth up to my nose, I tried this method for a few minutes until it caused me to start coughing. In order to stop the coughing, I brought my head back to its regular position and even leaned forward a little as I held my stomach. That seemed to allay whatever germ or bacteria caused me to cough, and I decided to bring the cloth away from my nose to see if I had stopped bleeding. I felt nothing on my lip afterwards, and even dabbed my nose a few more times, but no new blood appeared on the cloth. Folding the cloth back up so that the blood was not visible, I placed it back on the table next to the wash bin and started for my dresser, so that I could change into a suitable outfit for the day.
However, on my way over to my dresser, my stomach started feeling sour and my vision began to fog over with shadows. Clutching my head, for I started to feel light-headed at the moment, and holding my stomach, I slowly dropped to my knees as I watched everything fade into darkness. An immense heat came over me, like someone had just started up a fire behind me, and I felt like I was going to throw up any second. My vision continued to fade as I felt tiny beads of perspiration form on my forehead and the rest of my face. Feeling like I was going to fall over, I silently rejoiced when I heard an abrupt knocking on my door.
"Azula?" The voice was my Uncle Iroh's. Though I had taken a disliking to him recently, it relieved me that someone had shown up to rescue me at that moment in time. "Your father and brother are waiting for you. What is taking you so long?"
A moan escaped my lips, for I felt as though talking would cause me to throw up. A final, single drop of blood, one that had managed to stay hidden until that very moment, started its way out of my nose just as my uncle opened up the door to see what was wrong.
"Azula!" He said, bending down to hold me once he saw my position on the floor. "What is wrong?" Taking quick note of my face and the blood coming from my nose, as well as observing the sweat on my forehead, he quickly picked me up and placed me on my bed in a sitting position. My vision slowly came back to me, and my urge to throw up alleviated.
"Your nose is bleeding, and you are burning up!" He stated as he reached over to grab the cloth from my wash bin. Without looking at the cloth, he soaked it in some water and brought it to my forehead to sponge off the perspiration, but when he held it up to do so, he noticed the blood.
"Azula, why is this cloth covered in blood?"
Finding my voice, I managed to respond. "My nose," was all I said.
"How did your nose start to bleed?" He questioned, looking more concerned for me than usual, for I always had the impression that he favored my brother over me.
"I don't know," I lied. "It started all by itself." It bothered me that my nose started bleeding because of the tense state I had allowed my body into several minutes before, and I did not want to discuss this with my uncle. Trying to guide the subject off the bloody cloth, I clutched my stomach and said, "My stomach feels sour." Though I did not feel like I had to throw up anymore, I found that mentioning my stomach pains would distract my uncle from my bloody nose.
"Hm," he said, wiping my forehead off with the dampened cloth with a spot that had not been bloodied. "You probably just swallowed some blood from your nosebleed, is all. I think you will be fine." He took the cloth in his own hands; I presumed so that he could take it to have a servant wash it. Holding me under my arms, he lifted me off the bed and placed me on the ground, not letting go until he was certain that I was able to steadily stand on my own. Feeling much better than I had a few minutes ago, I waved a hand at him, and said, "You can go now, Uncle. I still need to get dressed. Father is waiting."
A silent pause ensued, and though I was not looking at him, I imagined the face my uncle was making at the moment, and I crossed my arms across my chest in despise of him.
"You know, Azula," he said quietly. "Sometimes physical illnesses that seemingly have no cause are in fact the result of a mental or spiritual imbalance." He leaned down to make his face equal with mine, and though I felt him staring into my golden-brown eyes, I refused to return the gaze.
"Is something bothering you, niece?"
I did not respond. He misinterpreted my spiteful silence, thinking that something indeed was bothering me and I was merely hesitant to tell him. My silence, however, meant that I was finished with the conversation and wished for him to leave the room. Expecting him to read my mind, I walked over to my dresser and started pulling out some clothes.
"Is Prince Zuko's banishment the source of your displeasure, Azula?"
His last remark caused me to freeze completely. I stopped pulling the clothes out of my dresser, and my mind started racing furiously. It irritated me that he referred to my brother as "Prince Zuko". Though my uncle was merely calling him by a name that he truly was, a prince, no one else had ever called him that; not my father, nor my mother before she had mysteriously disappeared, though she did affectionately call him her son, and I certainly did not refer to him by that name. Oftentimes when speaking to me of Zuko, the servants and soldiers merely called him "your brother", and this suited me well, for it implied a derogatory tone that he was not worthy of being called "prince". Of course, only my Uncle Iroh would call Zuko a prince.
Deciding to demonstrate to my uncle my awesome abilities that I had not yet shown another soul, I turned around with a no doubt mischievous look in my eyes, and brought forth a small flame with my fingertips. "Uncle," I said threateningly, as I concentrated my rage like I had before while meditating. "I think you had best leave the room. I need to get dressed." Out of the corner of my eye, I secretly rejoiced when I noted the red flame start to burn blue. My next goal, I stated to myself in a mental note, would be to produce the flame blue to begin with, rather than turn it from red to blue after I had already brought it forth from my fingers.
"Azula," my uncle responded, taking his hand out of his sleeve to produce a blue flame as well. "I respect both you and your wishes. But it is unhealthy to have your emotions build up inside of you while you sit back and deny their presence." With that he diminished the flame in his hand, undoubtedly produced merely to prove to me that he was neither intimidated nor impressed by my abilities, and took his leave of my room.
After he had left and shut the door behind him, I rid my fingertips of my blue flame as well, and went back to getting dressed. Though my body was preoccupied with preparing myself to meet with my father, and apparently my brother also, as my uncle had stated, my mind was left in a stagnant slump. Willing myself to forget what my uncle had said about mental and spiritual imbalance, I dismissed all emotion from my mind and play-acted that I was Fire Lady Azula, preparing myself for an important meeting with those inferior to myself.
For, already in my childish mind, I had begun to believe that the throne would one day be mine. Following in my father's footsteps, I would take the royal birthright from my ignorant brother and claim it as my own, just like Lord Ozai had taken it from his idiotic and overly-sentimental brother Iroh.
By the way, this will not be a Zukocest story (a story where Zuko is paired with Azula). Sorry for those of you reading this that were hoping for that. Of course, if you want to, you can interpret the story that way ;) but as the author I do not intend it to be so.