Welcome back all of you wonderful people who for some reason or another found this. Chapter Two for all of you, I didn't really think I would make a second chapter this quickly but the sheer number of people who read this in one bloody day! Sheesh. Anyway I was inspired to make a second one MUCH sooner than I planned, so here you are you wonderful people! Enjoy.

Chapter Two: Weight of Pain

Soft, that was the only thing that could describe this sensation, soft. Not hard like the cell, not cold like the dark, and not foul like the madness. Simply soft, that's all it was. Azula's slowly awakening mind could not understand this feeling, for it had been so long since she had experienced it. For a moment the ragged woman simply let herself simply be enveloped by the sensation. It was nice, nice to be able to enjoy such a small thing like this for however briefly she had it.

As her eyes opened she winced slightly, the room was very dark but the few dim lights that scattered the small room were still much more than she was accustomed to. After a few minutes of struggling to keep her eyes open, they had finally adjusted enough to the point where she could see. Raising her head she saw that she was on a small bed and the room itself had the look of simplicity and sparseness.

Dark red sheets adorned the bed; the dark wood walls were sparsely decorated with only a simple fire nation flag on one to show the room was even inhabited. The lights had all been dimmed, presumably so she wouldn't be blinded the minute she opened her eyes, and the door was nothing more than a sliding paper screen. What Azula could not understand however, was why she was here to begin with. She had no qualms with leaving the cold stone of the cell far behind but, why? Why was she suddenly, after however long she had been there suddenly moved to, in her opinion, a much more lavish cell? Indeed she didn't even know if she was currently a prisoner or not.

No chains bound her legs or arms, no restraints on her person to be seen, the room was nice enough, and there was even a change of clothes for her at the foot of the bed. None of this spoke prisoner, more it spoke unknown. That was what Azula was wary of, that she did not understand. It was what made her wary of the madness, wary of herself, and wary of this new room. For the moment she decided to simply wait, seeing as there was nothing else to do. She glanced back down at the clothes near her bed, and then back at the ones she was currently wearing. The choice for that was simple.

Gingerly stepping of the bed, Azula picked up the small pile of clothes. It consisted of a plain cloth tunic, dyed red like most of the clothing in the fire nation, and a pair of loose pants. The pants were loose allowing for ease of movement, and colored a deep black with gold lining the top and bottom of it. In between the two was a long strip of leather, she assumed this was for fastening the pants so they did not slip. Quickly pulling off the ragged remnants of the prison uniform she began to dress herself in the new clothing. The sensation of having new clean clothing was, to Azula, beyond words. It was like being bound in soft clouds, so different than the constant scratch and pull of the prison wear.

Lying back down on the soft bed, Azula allowed herself to relax; if this was to be her new prison then she would have no problems with it. Staring at the ceiling the golden eyed woman went over the events she could recall from the previous… day? Night? Did it really matter at this point? Shaking her head Azula glanced at the door. It was vaguely transparent allowing for a person standing near it to be seen as well as the outside hallway. She wondered if someone had been watching her, it would make sense, they don't take prisoners out of their cells and then leave them to their own devices. Closing her eyes again Azula resolved, that with nothing else to do, sleep was the best option available. However her dreams seemed to disagree with her.

The nightmares, they were always the same ones, came to haunt her dreams again and again. Scenes of her, blackened and burned, lying in pools of her own blood while oily black shadows stood over her laughing. Then they shifted and became people, people that Azula knew. Her family, her friends they all stood over her, faces twisted and contorted into grotesque masks of hatred and laughter. Mocking her as she lay there dying, laughing at her inability to survive, at her weakness. Tonight was different though, despite everyone she had ever know or respected standing above her, one face stood out. Ty Lee, a mask of hatred, loathing and contempt on her beautiful face.

'Can you ever be anything but a failure?' She would say, but it was not in her own voices. Always they would speak in the same mocking, sarcastic tone of the madness.

'Pathetic weakling, your life worthless, your victories pointless, all of it nothing.' Laughing they would chant 'Worthless.' They would chant this again and again as Azula lay there in her blood, dying slowly, painfully.

The one who wore Ty Lee's face knelt down and whispered to her, voice dripping with hatred, 'How could I ever love someone as pathetic as you?'

Golden eyes snapping open, Azula bolted upright, hand clutching at her chest, and breathe heaving. Her heart pounded against her chest, as if it were trying to flee from her body itself. A cold sweat had formed on her brow. Shakily wiping it away with her sleeve she attempted to calm her racing heart. As she came back to her senses, she glanced around the room. She saw that someone had come into the room as she had slept. For the ragged prison clothes had been removed and a small metal platter of food had been placed at the foot of the bed where the clothes once where. Moving off the bed, Azula glanced at the platter of food.

It was by all accounts nothing special. A simple meal of soft bread, a slice of soft yellow cheese, and a small apple, a clay pitcher of water accompanied it. Most would not be impressed by such a meal but to Azula she could not imagine a more delectable platter of food. Having been fed the mushy slop that was pushed through the slot of her cell, this was fit for kings. Sitting herself on the floor Azula quickly began to eat, first biting into the apple. The crisp taste and sweet juices almost made the former princess cry with delight. Closing her eyes Azula simply allowed herself to enjoy the meal. Enjoy something she had not had, and desperately wanted back. When Azula had finished she glanced back down at the platter and froze.

Her reflection, she had not seen in it so long. The face that greeted was not what she remembered. This face was gaunt, pale, and ragged. The high cheekbones and smooth skin that had marked her as royalty was not as it should be. Her bones were far too obvious, her skin to pale to be healthy, her hair a mess of black strands, oily and slick.

"I don't look like this." She muttered to herself, unable to take her eyes of those of the reflection, "this isn't me… this… this is the face of…"

'Of a failure?'

Azula stiffened. Not here, not now, in the cell it was fine, it couldn't take anything from here there. Here however, all of these things she had seen and experienced… NO! She wouldn't let it take anything from her.

'Take from you? There is nothing to take! Look at yourself. A ragged shell of your former glory, a maggot in the body of a lord. No, there would be nothing for me to take, only improve. You think yourself in control? You think that you are master here? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! No, no, no, no, no. That is not how it will work. But for now I don't need to do anything, you'll destroy yourself in the end. All I have to do is pick up the pieces, and then I will have what is mine.'

Azula squeezed her eyes shut, willing the voice to be gone, gone to the farthest corners of her mind. This was hers, not it's, and she would never let it take it. Not again.

'That's right, push it all away, push the pain and the guilt away. Bury me deep inside; let me fester, LET ME ROT!' It screamed, pain flaring in Azula head, making her cry out in pain and clutch her head.

The sudden noise of the door moving open jerked her from her pain. Quickly turning to see the face of the person who had invaded her solitude, the blood rushed from her face. Her heart began to beat very fast as fear overtook her. Why, why, why! Why her of all of them, why her!

"Hello Azula."

Azula had to fight to keep her voice from breaking as she spoke the words she had dreaded speaking for so very long.

"Hello Ty Lee."

And that's that, for now anyway. If you enjoyed leave a comment, if you hated it leave a review saying what could be changed to make it better. Thank you for viewing and I will have the next chapter up when I can, Ciao!

Draconian Calocor