This one's a tad shorter, but it's a reasonable section from it. The time skips after the end of this tidbit, and it just... cut itself off on its own at that point. So yeah. Enjoy~

2.

Azula let him lead her along, staying quiet the rest of the trip. She did indeed head straight to the royal spa as soon as they were back at the palace. She seemed to absolutely adore being rude to the servants, mostly because she could. After an hour, however, she quieted down, seeming sullen, and even frightened. When her hair was finally combed out, she hurried to leave, hunting Zuko down and, irreverent of what he might have been attempting to do, plastered herself to his side. "Hi, Zuzu…"

Zuko looked up when he felt a presence next to him. He was surprised for a moment, but then that subsided and became concern. "Hi…" he greeted quietly, setting the reports he had been scanning through on his desk; he'd been shuffling through a pile of paperwork while Azula was in the spa. "Anything wrong?"

She cuddled up to him, clinging tightly and shivering with fright. "I-I…don't…know if I should tell you…it's stupid, and I feel stupid, and just…forget it…just…" She sighed, pressing her eyes shut to try to hold back tears. She felt like a small child all of a sudden, and she didn't like that feeling at all. "Spirits I haven't been this pathetic since I was knee high…."

His brow creased as his sister rambled. "You're not stupid or pathetic…" He hesitantly put his arms around her and gave a light squeeze. "You don't need to tell me, but I'll always be here to listen." He tried to remain as optimistic as possible so she would open up, he told himself. A somewhat concerned, yet reassuring smile played upon his lips.

She smiled weakly, holding onto him for comfort and support even still. "I-I wouldn't know where to begin. It's stupid. I just…" She sighed in frustration, hiding her face in his shoulder. "I'm seeing a lot of stuff today. I…can't get away from one of them. Are you sure you haven't let dad out of prison?"

"Positive, " he said, one hand going to rest on the back of her neck. His thumb stroked gently over her smooth hair as his face twisted in thought. She was hallucinating about their father…. It was understandable, yet it frightened him a bit to know she was seeing him. "I don't think I'd ever let him out, honestly." He sighed and hung his head, trying to think of a way he could calm Azula.

She nodded and cuddled into him, just staying quiet for a few moments. Then she let out a whine, pressing her eyes shut. "No," she insisted, reaching up to put her hands over her ears. "I'm not going to. Be quiet…"

"Azu, " He sighed, concern clear in the quiet name. "Look at me." he said, calloused hands going to the sides of her face gently.

She put her hands over his, looking up at him with wary eyes. "I-it's not usually like this… I don't know why it's so bad today." She bit her lip, taking a few deep breaths before finally relaxing a bit. "I want the mirrors covered. All the hallways that use them for decoration… I want them taken down, Zuko, please…."

Zuko nodded and brushed his thumbs over Azula's cheeks. "They'll be down by the end of the day, I swear on it." he said quietly, one hand moving to rub in small circles on her back. "The mirrors will be gone, and father will be out of your mind."

"I don't think even taking away the mirrors will get rid of him," she said sadly, cuddling up to Zuko and relaxing under his touch. "He wants me to kill you… I keep saying I won't, he's getting angry but I won't give in," she insisted. "This is the first time I've had what I really wanted, even if I have other problems. I won't give it up."

The crease returned to his brow as he looked at Azula. Their father was telling her to kill him? That was hard to think about for the young Fire Lord; at least his sister was strong enough to not give in. He was thankful for that. "I'm glad you finally have what you want, Azu, and that you're not going to give into whatever he tells you." he said, pulling her a bit closer and sighing.

"I wanted my brother. All these years…I've treated you so badly because I was angry. You didn't care about me, you didn't want me around…so I thought if I hurt you back it would make it better somehow. But now you understand…now you're acting like a brother…the rest of the world could burn down for all I care," she murmured, holding tightly to him.

Zuko hesitantly pressed a kiss to the top of her head, with a sigh. "I was stupid for not being considerate of you… You'll always be my sister, no matter what, and I've realized that." he murmured, holding her closer. "I'll always be here for you."

She stayed like that for several moments, but she soon leaned up to press a gentle kiss to his lips. It was just an innocent, sisterly kiss, or at least, it had been intended as one. The way they related to each other at the moment was changing so wildly she could barely keep track of herself.

He was caught off guard by her actions, gold eyes widening for a moment, before he did the same in return. It was a surprise, yes, but calming as well to the young Lord's frazzled nerves.

She smiled, nuzzling into his good cheek, resting her head on his shoulder. "Shut up," she whispered, a smile still on her lips. "I don't need you any more. I have Zuko," she insisted, but she sounded calmer, not panicked by her visions but simply reminding them to be quiet. She reached up and put her hand on Zuko's cheek, still settled happily. "Sing to me?"

Blushing lightly, he thought. He'd never been asked to sing before, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. Sure, he'd heard Uncle sing a few times, but wasn't very knowledgeable on the topic. Making a face, he tried to recall the words to a song.

Moments later, the Four Seasons song Uncle had sang so many times before came to mind. Clearing his throat, he recited the lyrics to the best of his ability. He was sure his voice was horrible, but he tried.

She smiled despite his bad singing, just glad to have something to listen to besides her hallucinations. "I shouldn't distract you from your work so much. What are you working on?" she asked after he'd finished the song, trailing her hand down to rest idly on his shoulder.

Placing a hand over Azula's, he looked to the stack of ruffled papers and half-rolled scrolls. "I was just looking at reports, " he said, eyes raking over one of them distantly. Something about a man getting arrested for theft, how boring.

"You know," she mused thoughtfully. "You could always delegate it to someone. Make some servant feel important, and have less work for you to do…"

"I could do that, " he hummed, looking from the papers to Azula. "They could just set aside the occasional odd report for me." Nodding, he decided it was a good idea. He'd been on the same task for a few days, after neglecting the pages for so long.

"Of course… I could always help you with you work, too…" she offered, reaching up to trail a finger over his ear. "It might be fun to let me do the work for you…"

His brow creased. "Why would you want to do work? …you just got home." he murmured, gold hues flicking from his cluttered desk to Azula.

"So I can help you," she answered, nuzzling into him. "You work hard…you need an assistant."

He nodded slowly, resting his head on hers. "If you really want to, " he murmured.

"I want us to get along, helping you out will help that," she answered easily. That and it would let her keep an eye on the goings on of the Fire Nation without making him suspicious that she was up to something.

Hugging her to his chest, he let a smile pull at his lips. He wasn't too sure what to say, but the help would be gladly accepted, as long as she was alright with doing it.