Back in the Present
In the morning as Azula looked idly around her room, she was overcome with a distinct feeling of emptiness. There were no clothes, no possessions, and no furniture other than the overly luxurious bed that was currently serving as her seat.
What good was a room without anything to fill it? What good was a room that only had one distinct purpose? Possessions only served to make one vulnerable- but did that make the room any less empty?
It was a stupid line of thought to begin with. The Princess had recently received a significant refresher course in what happened when you allowed vulnerability of any kind. Possessions break or get lost, hopes shatter, friends betray, and family dies- leaving you alone- leaving you empty.
She would not do such a thing to a room- nothing deserved to be made weak for no good reason- through no fault of its own.
Then again you can always get more stuff- and you can fix things that break. The battle was only truly over when you were dead, and Azula was not dead. She had been reborn- like a phoenix- appropriate imagery for the Princess of flame.
Maybe she had been going about things the wrong way after all. Only the weak seek mere victory and wallow in defeat. For the strong the outcomes of individual battles are meaningless- the strong survive regardless.
Azula could feel a weight lift from her shoulders- and she knew from that moment on that everything would be okay.