Again, what is from the spirits and what is from the crazy? You decide.
Dr. Ping answered the door in his slippers. Technically, he wasn't on call, but he had made it clear to the King months earlier he would be available any time for Kuei's new love interest. After all, Azula was one of the most fascinating cases he'd ever seen, even when she was well controlled.
To prove it this Azula and the one he had last seen a couple of months prior were two different people entirely. She looked about ten to fifteen pounds thinner, she was a sobbing mess, and the minute she opened her mouth it was abundantly clear that her schizophrenia was lacking its leash.
In addition, she had begun to self-mutilate. On a hunch, Kuei had un- wound the leather arm gauntlets after her startling confession, to find the half-healed welts beneath.
Dr. Ping thought the wounds looked very deliberate and clean, compared to many of the cuts he'd seen in schizophrenics. One of the main complaints of traditional schizophrenia was that victims imagined "bugs crawling under their skin" and would try to pick them out, leaving jagged little nail marks and pustules up and down their arms. In contrast, these lacerations were surgical and precise, and dangerously close to the pulsing arteries beneath the surface.
"Were you trying to kill yourself when you made these?" Dr. Ping wasn't one for sugar coating things.
Azula whisked her arm away, insulted and embarrassed. "I don't remember doing this!" she bit out. "I'm not suicidal if that's what you're asking. I never have been. Only homicidal."
"Are you homicidal now?"
"I'm not, but they are."
"They? Who are you talking about?
"My hallucinations." And she provided an in depth description of what had been haunting her over the past few weeks.
Dr. Ping eagerly jotted down her medical history and sent Kuei out for his patient's bison, who, according to Azula, still had her medication tucked under her saddle.
A few minutes later, Dominatia arrived. The therapy animal poked her head in through the window of the clinic and panted eagerly at the psychiatrist; Dominatia had a rare affinity for doctors. She was around them nearly all the time on account of Azula's condition. Then she peeled the pouch containing Azula's antipsychotics from under her saddle and flung it at Dr. Ping's feet.
Ignoring the bison slobber, Dr. Ping emptied the bag and shook his head. "We don't have this herb in the Earth Kingdom, Azula. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to try you on a different combination of medications and hospitalize you until your symptoms are under control."
Dominatia let out a chortling sound and then bellowed obstinately at the announcement. Bosco also roared a little angrily.
Azula looked positively terrified. She clamped down painfully on Kuei's hand and a tremble racked her body.
Kuei begged Dr. Ping not to place her in the psychiatric hospital even though their institution was leagues above what the Fire Nation had in terms of its treatment options and comfort. Azula concurred with the begging. Dominatia had another idea; she and the others would watch her, just as they had the previous long nights. Bosco also roared that he would help.
"You're quite certain you can handle this?" Dr. Ping asked the bison in all seriousness. Extreme faith in animals was apparently an Earth Kingdom trait.
For an answer Dominatia plopped a soggy but official looking piece of paper at Dr. Ping's feet.
"A certified therapy animal!" Kuei declared. "Why don't we have a program like this for psychiatry, Dr. Ping?"
"Because it's a Water Tribe custom," Azula interrupted, her hand at her necklace again. Her eyes had gone distant and wild as she focused on the corner of the room. "My therapist Unarqa trained her."
Bosco reared his head up and started growling in the same corner Azula's vacant stare had fixed to.
Kuei had to correct him to get him to stop.
# # # # # #
Instead of an institution, she was lead to an elaborate stable that looked more like a miniature palace than an animal's refuge. Inside, it was equally stately; the supports were carved, the walls were ordained with wallpaper and paintings, and the feeding and watering troughs were made of marble. Several simple but elegant couches with wooden legs and silk cushions were set to the sides of the various stalls, so people could spend time with their animals in comfort. The only thing stable like about it was its lack of flooring and abundance of hay billows, which were stacked neatly in the corner.
"I forgot how much you loved animals," Azula said as she surveyed the elaborate structure. Then she noticed something else about it. She looked at him. "Speaking of animals, why are there none in here?"
"There shouldn't be. It's new," Kuei admitted. "I built it exclusively for your bison."
As casual as the statement and his voice was when he said it, Azula couldn't help but note the deeper meaning behind it. He had been planning for her, planning to make her a part of his world much sooner than she ever imagined. She could scarcely believe it.
She turned away from him and put her hand on one of the carved supports. She blinked against the tears stinging the back of her eyes. She heard servants behind her bring in a comfortable roll away bed complete with silk sheets and bedding and a sleeping robe. They set it in the corner as Azula's four bison lumbered in, eager to try out their new digs.
Azula felt the King stroke the back of her head and then press a kiss to the top of her head. "Dearest, please cooperate with Dr. Ping and his staff for me, and then get some rest. I'll be by later to check on you."
And Azula was left with the medical staff.
Dr. Ping, a compassionate but no-nonsense sort of man, quickly demanded that she contract for "no self harm" while in his care, and then presented her with three different medications and some water that he made her swallow in front of him.
"This ought to make you go away,"Azula snarled.
Dr. Ping ignored her irate statement. He could tell that it wasn't meant for him.
"Did you hear what I just said?!" Azula was irate again and pointing in the corner. "I killed you at June's, and I just took my drugs! That means you have to go away!"
"Shh, now," Dr. Ping reassured his patient, leading her to the rollaway bed. "One of those medications was a sedative. It will help you sleep. Unfortunately Azula, it will take some time for these medications build up in your system enough to deter these symptoms. We have quite a long battle ahead of us, but we can get through it together. I am going to contact your brother for your medical records and see if this therapist of yours can come to the palace. In the meantime, I suggest you follow His Majesty's instructions and get some sleep." Dr. Ping called for his nursing staff and they assisted Azula into bed. The physician left explicit instructions for them to check on her during the night and wake him should she exhibit any dangerous behavior.
Once the staff left, the bison surrounded Azula in a semi circle. Bosco laid at her feet.
Despite her attempts to stay awake, she started to drift off. In her last moments of consciousness she saw Sozin again. "Azula, "she heard him whisper. "Stop fighting us Azula, and then you will have what you deserve."
# # # # #
Azula figured out after some sleep, breakfast and much stewing that what Sozin thought she deserved was the Earth Kingdom throne. The means to achieve it was, by default through the death of the King.
The realization terrified her, so much in fact that when the well-meaning Kuei appeared to check on her latter that day, Azula stiffened up and chastised him for not coming with a guard.
Kuei laughed it off. " A guard? Really, Azula?"
She set her lips together. "My brother told you to have one when you were around me. Did he not?"
Kuei couldn't refute her argument since the Firelord, had indeed requested that he protect himself with an armed guard when he courted her. He didn't really think it was necessary, but brought one the next time he visited her.
To his dismay Kuei's compliance did nothing to alleviate her pessimistic mood. She was extremely edgy, detached, and she shrugged away from him when he tried to touch her, checking him with her piercing, amber eyes.
This Azula was very different from the one who had danced with him at his Birthday ball, melted into his arms at his arrival, and stayed up with him all night at the Fire Nation tormenting Zuzu and showing him what it meant to be alive. She was cold, a shell of the woman he loved.
It was breaking his heart.
Dr. Ping assured him it was part of the disease. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but these medications take weeks before they take full effect. She is pushing you away, not because she doesn't care for you, but because she is terrified."
"Of what?"
Dr. Ping sighed. "I suspect her hallucinations, but she is hesitant to reveal everything to me. I sent a hawk to the Fire Nation. My hope is that her therapist will be able to drag it out of her. Her bison has tried, but Dominatia says she's impossible unless she's properly drugged."
This fact was further validated when Kuei attempted to visit her again on the seventh day of her confinement.
"They want to kill you," Azula said the instant he walked in. Her eyes were intense, and she was pacing again. Her hands were formal and clutched at the parade rest position behind her back. Her chin was square and set with her shoulders. Her lips were thin. "I'm trying to figure out how to stop them." She was all calculation and cunning, despite the insanity she was spouting. She looked like a General plotting her next move, not a psychiatric patient spewing nonsense.
Kuei sighed. "Dearest, they're not real. You know that right. The very definition of the word, hallucination is something that…"
"I KNOW WHAT A HALLUCINATION IS!" Azula snapped. Her eyes went from cold to crazy in an instant. A second or two later, they softened, regretting her harsh tone. Her mouth parted, but she didn't apologize. A tear leaked from her eye.
The King just stared at her, undeterred. "I'm not afraid of you Azula, or your hallucinations. I'll be back later to check on you." He turned and left the room.
The door shut to reveal Kyoshi Warrior Azula casually fanning herself in the alcove. She smiled at Azula. "Nice! Although I can't say I'm surprised. You always were terrible at seduction. Much more of that and he'll fall out of love with you more quickly than planned. You know your job is to keep him smitten long enough so we can do ours."
"Go away," Azula growled.
"Such an ingrate," Kyoshi Azula continued, "Don't tell me you don't want to rule the Earth Kingdom. The plan is simple. Marry the King, murder him in his bed, and take the throne. Either that or we could just kill him for you." She leaned into Azula's ear. "You know you were born to rule."
# # # #
Despite Kyoshi Azula's insistence that Azula was born to rule, Actual Azula wasn't too sure of that fact herself. She used to be; in fact she used to be obsessed with ruling. But lately, she rather liked her status as a noble lord of sorts. The bison were easier to deal with than people, and her status as Bison Lord was a perfect middle ground. She was still worshipped, important and adored, but minus the headaches that came from dealing with people. She just had to back sass her bison, take her drugs, and they all got along swimmingly.
Thankfully Kyoshi Azula had vanished, leaving with her thoughts. She strode to the window of the stable overlooking the courtyard's front entry. It was a vast open field upon which she saw some uniformed men assembled. They were in official uniforms which had been adapted from the Dai Li's dress. But they weren't the Dai Li. Kuei had abolished them after their betrayal.
Once they began their training, Azula could see that they were very green, and not in the "I'm Earth Kingdom so I'm wearing Green" way. They lacked discipline, precision of execution, and a good many other things that made for good soldiers.
She heard her nurse knock and then open the door. She came in with a little tray full of herbs and a few pills. "Your medications, Bison Lord."
Azula took her drugs without complaint. "Who is that down there?" she asked, gesturing at the soldiers on the field once she had swallowed the pills down.
The nurse looked out over the foyer. "That is the King's new personal guard." Her work completed, the nurse bowed and left the room.
"Wrong," Azula said after she left. "That is my new project."
In case you care: Contracting for "no self harm" is an actual thing you do with a patient who is believed to be acutely suicidal. You make them promise they won't hurt themselves while receiving treatment.