Disclaimer: AtLA is too cool to be owned by me. Respect the Vatar'd.
Warning: Incest. Ye be warned.
Inspired By: The Beyoncé song of the same title. I wouldn't recommend the Cd (sorry B) but the tracks 'Scared Of Lonely' and 'Ave Maria' appeal to my Urzula nature. :) Post-war.
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Scared Of Lonely
"Mom?" My eyes are open before I'm fully awake. I'm not sure what woke me until a blinding light flashes threw the shutters, the entire wooden window frame trembles, resonating the long thunder that always follows a surge of energy. I reach a sweaty palm to the other side of the mattress, finding only bare sheets.
"Mom?" I call out again, the darkness of my bedroom suddenly seems daunting. My mind floods with memories and for a brief moment I even consider that I'm back in my cramped prison cell. I move to thrust the sheets away, but find my legs have been entangled in them. I surge against my restraints in blind panic. "Mom!"
No answer.
I resign to the fact that it was all just a lovely dream, that I'd finally awakened into nightmarish reality, she never really came for me.
A small light emerges from the darkness, the low throbbing shadows a slender frame. I've never been more relieved to see my mother.
"Azula, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Her voice full of concern, candle in hand, her open palm protecting it from the storm.
"I...," She doesn't need to know I was close to having an episode, "I didn't know where you were."
For a moment her eyes are distant, as if she'd heard me say it before. She gives me a warm smile that eases away all thoughts of darkness and fear that had threatened to overtake me.
"I'm sorry baby, the wind blew out the candle." She takes the little dish slanted with the teetering wick and stows it into a glass lantern, closing its small brass door and sealing the clasp. The quavering flame dances in contentment finding protection and reassurance that had long been remiss.
Another rumble of thunder erupts as I pry the sheets away, kicking them down to my feet. My mother looks amused when she curls into bed next to me. She cocks a light brow. "Were you hot or did your blanket just insult you?" I smirk in response, shifting my hands behind my head, sighing in a huff of contented air when she rests her arm across my torso, laying her head down gently on my chest, she makes a sound of appreciation at the heat.
A flash of light, followed by another burst of thunder. She pushes harder against me, I lower a hand to the small of her back, an old reflex of mine. She doesn't care for storms. Never had really. Sometimes she'd come into my room late nights and sleep with me instead of father. That was around the time her and Dad started sleeping in separate rooms. Many a night she would sob quietly trying not to wake me, but I was a light sleeper. In my most frustrated voice I'd ask what was the matter with her.
Nothing dear. I dismissed the answer finding it hard to belive someone would cry for 'nothing'.
Whatever Mom, you're so weird. I turned from her but the mattress still trembled with stifled tears. Ugh, if you need to hug me just get it over with, okay?
I was too young to understand such things, but I was so proud that an adult, especially my own mother, would seek me out for comfort. At those times, especially when there was a storm, I served as replacement for my father. The next best thing. Better than Zuko.
Until Dad found out.
Put aside childish things, Azula.
I agreed blindly, disburdening myself of my mother's company. I knew he didn't mean just her nightly visits. But--
For your own good, my daughter. Of course it was. I could more effectively apply myself to my studies, apply myself to fulfilling every need he required of me. I would be better for it. So much better isn't it?
What an enlivening lie. My own father, jealous of me. Only very recently did I realize this. I have yet to speak to him about it. I wonder what he'd think now. I wonder what he's thinking now. Maybe there is a tempest churning outside his dark cell, no one will ever come to comfort him. Certainly not the wife he banished. For some reason the thought is funnier than I ever anticipated.
I turn my attention to the soft weight pressing against me. "Are you frightened or just being friendly?" My teasing is rewarded with smooth fingertips running down my chest, sliding my robes apart revealing my rapidly burning skin to the damp breeze pushing through the shutters.
"There's no reason to be scared, I have you don't I?" She kisses my neck and I nod slightly in agreement. For some reason she feels safe with me. I'm not entirely sure it doesn't go against her better judgment. I'm not the child I was when she would seek comfort at my side, but, maybe I'm not the woman who would have shunned her either. She is safe with me, isn't she? Fire Lord Zuzu is always telling her to be careful around me. But that's only because he's jealous. The pathetic next best thing.
I rub my hand against the smooth silk covering her back, I'm glad she never had a chance to get to know me as well as my brother had.
"You're right mother. Sleep soundly, I'll protect you from the storm."
I grin as she kisses my robe further open, I know better than to think she could doze while the storm raged outside.
"That's very kind of you dear, but I don't think I'll be able to get much sleep tonight."
My breath hitches when soft lips close around a traitorously taut nipple.
"Well, that makes two of us." I entwine my fingers through her long hair as she pulls back to look at me, her amber eyes tinged with worry. "Oh, I'm sorry dear, do you want me to stop? You've had a long day."
I was rather tired from tedious therapy sessions.
The warmth of my mother and the solace of our chamber was a great relief on days such as this. A small smile of understanding graces her features, but her fingertips stir on the knot of my robes. Childhood memories of sleeping by her side sway me. She didn't want to stop and I wouldn't make her.
"I can't quite comfort you while I'm asleep, now can I? I suppose I'll have to soldier through." I clench my eyes tightly, like it's a chore, but one soon shifts open, I peer down at her. The grin on her face looks so much like my own, I can't help but laugh as she captures my lips with hers.
A sharp bite of thunder makes her hips clench deeply into mine. She doesn't hesitate to move down my body. It is agony at its perfection. I lose focus, thoughts become harder to discern, I am conscious of my mother, writhing sensations turn to the only light present. The twisting flame revels on, insensible to the pained torrents frantically beating up against unyielding earthly barriers, selfishly demanding passage. When the storm finally lulls into a restrained whimper of its former grandeur, I bow out to seemingly pleasant dreams.
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A/N: Dude, I wish I was better at this. Urzula deserves all the shippers it can muster.
This was less fluffy than I originally intended, but alot of their relationship is open to interpretation, and I like exploring it through all angles. But personally there isn't much fluff around this 'pairing'.
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This was very post-war/rehab, as I can't see Azula putting anyone else before herself. Oh, and sorry about the sudden onslaught of symbolism. XD