"I want that glib and oily art
To speak and purpose not; since what I well intend,
I'll do't before I speak."
- William Shakespeare, King Lear, 1.1.227

Months passed. I was getting better at finding out which food was drugged- the smell gave it away. I would eat the safe food, then conceal the drugged food under my robes and throw it in the latrine, later. Clever, right?

But now that there was hope of escape, I became even more discontent. I saw my father everywhere, his finger raised to his lips in a gesture of silence. He was there, lurking behind every door and in every shadowy corner. Whenever I saw his shadow I became so full of hope I couldn't help but laugh, long and deep, shoving a fist in my mouth so the guards wouldn't hear, come over and see him there.

As the weeks passed, I could feel the fire in my body again. It had left me for awhile, but now it was back, and I would lay awake at night, curling my fingers around a tiny blue wisp of flame.

"Why did you leave?" I whispered. Now that the warmth was back in my body in my soul, I couldn't bear to think of losing it again.

My father entered from the doorway, where he had been watching. I hadn't seen him there, and I jumped up, bowing low. He waved me off, and I stood again.

"Father."

"Azula. It is time. You have your fire back now. Look at these bars," he said, gesturing to the iron bars that separated our rooms. "You can melt them. The guards are asleep. Do it now, and run away from this place!"

"Thank you, Father," I said. Tears were forming at the corners of my eyes. I owed him so much- he gave me back my fire, and now my life.

"Go!" he bellowed, and I leaped towards the bars, heating them enough to bend out of the way. I slipped between the cracks and ran down the hallway, feet soft on the tiled floors. I stopped at an intersection, turning this way and that to look for an exit. Then I spotted my father running down one of the hallways.

"This way, but make haste!"

I stumbled before sprinting after him, just as an alarm started ringing throughout the building. The torches on the walls all lit simultaneously. I cursed.

A guard spotted us as we were rounding a corner.

"Get back here! I need backup!" he shouted.

I panicked, my eyes rolling in my head. Father looked at me in contempt, and I struggled to regain my calm.

"Which way now, Father?"

He only glared at me, then turned and walked towards the guards.

"Wait!" I shrieked.

He slid in neatly next to a guard and started advancing towards me menacingly.

"What did I do to disappoint you? I've done everything you asked!"

I was now cornered. My father looked me straight in the eye and said "Kill her."

"Wait!" I shrieked again, and as flames rolled towards me I let out a desperate flame kick, driving the guards back.

Then my visitors burst through the circle of guards.

"Azula!" one yelled.

I looked around me. The guards were not standing in Firebending poses anymore, they were drawn inwards, scared. There were no flames licking at my ankles. And Father… Father was gone.

I looked back to the three men who came to talk to me.

"Azula…" one said carefully. "Why are you able to Firebend?"

"You've been drugging me!" I screamed. "Admit it!"

"Don't you feel better, less stressed, when you eat the food?" one asked calmly.

I nodded, slowly, uncertainly. "But Father…"

"What?" one asked, his interest peaked.

"Father. He told me not to…"

"…To eat the food?" one prompted.

I nodded uneasily.

"Azula, your father is still in jail. He hasn't been here to see you.

You're hallucinating."

I felt faint. Is it true? Am I crazy? I thought. I nodded, shifting back into a neutral pose. One of them stepped up and patted me on the shoulder. You see, I thought they were right. I thought I could trust them. I was wrong! You can't trust anyone!

Excuse me, where was I?

So I turned to follow them, and that's when I saw it.

One of them had a ponytail and blue robes on under his Fire Nation cloak, one had a long brown braid, and one was short with a bob of black hair. The Avatar was trying to trick me! I roared, sending a violet arc of fire towards the waterbender's back. It hit her and she fell, smoking. The non-bender and the earthbender stared at me in horror, and I smirked back before taking off down the hallway. I emerged from the building into the cool night air for the first time in a long time. Too long.

I was running into the forest adjacent when I spotted my father lurking against a tree. I almost didn't stop, but he called out to me.

"Azula."

I turned and bowed.

"I am sorry my daughter. But I had to test to make sure you were loyal to me. After Zuko…"

"I understand, Father," I said, my chest swelling with happiness. He didn't abandon me!

"Then you will understand when I say I must leave you." I said nothing, and he continued. "I must retake my throne. You must find the Avatar and kill him."

"Yes, Father. I will." I will make you proud.

"Good." He smiled, showing nothing but the sharp tips of his teeth.