Ty Lee shifted nervously and hid behind Mai a little as they entered the prison complex. It wasn't because she was afraid of anyone inside, but the coming experience was scaring her a little. Confronting something she was responsible for, even if it was for the right reasons, wasn't going to be pleasant. But she had to see for herself, and she had to see if there was anyway for her to help her friend.
Her eyes gazed on the large room as they entered, the brightly lit complex proving to be quite impressive, for a prison at any rate. The building structure itself was made of thick carved stone, shaped back when the Fire Nation hadn't been at war with the world. The prisoners were held in their cells by polished steel bars, crafted right here in the fire nation captiol.
A small group of them were out in the open in the court yard proper, and while there was the occasional lier thrown at the pair, they didn't last long. Once they saw the crown on Mai's head, they were rendered silent. Even the most hardened criminal in the fire nation knew better than to harass the royal family, and these prisoners were on the low end of the crime spectrum.
For the most part, the prison in the capital city was for political prisoners and blue collar crimes. Minor theft, fire bending in a public area. All the more dangerous criminals were sent to places further from the heart of the nation, such as the Boiling Rock. A special prison had been made to house Ozai at the edge of the city, and was constantly monitored by a few squads of men, all specifically loyal to Zuko. Fire bending or no, Ozai still had strong political functions and allies that he could bring to bear. Without being locked away, he could still cause a good deal of trouble for the world, and physical force wasn't the kind that would stop it.
A similar arrangement had been made for Azula, from what Ty Lee had heard. A small wing had been built attached to the prison, and a few doctors had been employed to try and fix the former princess. After all, Ozai had been in complete control while he did what he did. Azula had been...a little less so. Regardless, Zuko had felt that his sister was less guilty in things than his father was, and decided to try and have her helped rather than locked away. Ty Lee had been very grateful, as it eased the guilt she felt a little.
Ty Lee caught herself in thought, though. Was she really a former princess? She was still alive, and her family was still on the throne. She was still Royalty, even if she was a bit unstable. It only took Ty Lee a few moments to decided that Azula still was a princess. In her head she saw Azula roaming the halls of the palace and laughing with her and Mai once she was better.
Her thoughts were back to reality as she realized Mai had stopped outside the door that led to Azula's wing of the building, and a stocky man was hastily walking towards them, a little sweat trailing down his face.
"Fire Lady Mai! To what do we owe this pleasure?" The warden of the facility, Ty Lee was sure. When an important person dropped into a place, the head person always had to make sure to greet them. Ty Lee didn't know politics like Mai did, but her family was a Noble one. There were a few things that slipped down the cracks, intentionally or not.
"I'm here to make sure that my wishes are respected, and that Lady Ty Lee is allowed to see Azula." The warden seemed to visibly pale a bit, and his weight shifted to his rear foot. For whatever reason, he was very obviously disturbed by this request.
"Fire Lady Mai...while I would love to honor your request, we have strict orders that no one is allowed in there except..." He was forced to stop, however, as Mai stepped close and drew up her form, starring coldly into the eyes of the warden.
"Except what? I am the wife of the Fire Lord. Or is a order from me not good enough for you? Should I have word sent to my husband that he has to cut his visit with his uncle short because an uppity little warden has to have word from him directly?" Mai was visibly angry, but Ty Lee knew it was a ploy. Mai never lost her temper in all the time that she had known her. She was breaking character intentionally.
The warden swallowed hard and nodded his head unsure. "Except...nothing Fire Lady Mai." He turned to the guard by his door and nodded his head. "See to it that Lady Ty Lee is taken to see Azula. You are to have three men outside the door, ready to assist her should there be any problems."
The guard nodded and turned to unlcok the door, while Ty Lee voiced up. "Umm...I don't think that will really be necessary, I mean, she can't fire bend... and I don't think she'll hurt me..." It was true, wasn't it? Azula wasn't really a danger to her.
Mai raised her hand slightly, though, calling Ty Lee's attention. "No, Ty Lee. I insist upon that requirement. I don't want you anywhere near Azula without guards a few seconds away. Never underestimate her."
She knew that Mai was just concerned for her safety, but she pouted a bit. She was worried that Azula might take it the wrong way if it looked like she didn't trust her enough to come with armed guards.
Mai spoke up once more. "Ty Lee, will you be alright by yourself? I have some duties I must attend to, but I can put them off if..." She stopped as Ty Lee shook her head.
"No, its alright Mai. Its better if I see Azula alone anyways. She might be overwhelmed if both of us see her at the same time." And, Ty Lee knew, she really couldn't put things off. Mai was growing increasingly worried as time went on. The past few months she had seen little lines set into her face, and the growing shade under her eyes from not sleeping enough. If there was one thing she didn't have, it was the ability to put anything off.
Mai nodded lightly and placed her hand reassuringly on Ty Lee's shoulder before glaring at the warden once more. "If I hear that Ty Lee has any problems seeing Azula, of if she comes back with any injuries, I will see that you are punished, understood?"
The man gulped once more and nodded quickly. "Of course Fire Lady. Ty Lee will find no resistance to seeing the former princess, and she will come back with not a scratch on her." His voice was something of a stammer, and he was very visibly shaken.
Mai nodded once at both the Warden and Ty Lee, and then turned and briskly walked away. Ty Lee knew that she had given up more time than she actually had to take her this far, and was grateful to her for it.
The door opened bringing her eyes back from Mai's retreating form, and the guard motioned for her to follow. As soon as they were through, the door that they had came through closed behind them, and Ty Lee at once noticed the shift in the atmosphere.
While the main room had been well lit and somewhat relaxed, the hallway was more dim, and the overall feel of the place had dramatically shifted to a more gloomy and oppressive sense. It made Ty Lee visibly shiver. Was this the kind of place that Azula was getting treated in?
It took them a few minutes to actually arrive at Azula's room. There were several more doors that they had to pass through, each of them with a guard standing on either side. She wondered why the security on Azula's hospital was so thick. Were they worried someone would try to hurt her?
She got her answer when they got to the room. Except it wasn't a room, it was a cell. She thought at first it was just a storage room or something they were passing, and that the hallway would continue down, a secret door hidden in the wall or something like what happened in books.
But the guard stopped and she looked around, noticing the bars in the door, and noticing more what laid beyond them. Dread clutched at her heart as she peaked through, eyes settling on the cage in the back. She couldn't clearly make it out do the lighting and distance, but she was sure that there was someone in that small cage.
Her breath caught in her throat a bit as the guard tapped his spear on the floor, and after a few moments the gate opened itself. She briefly wondered how that worked before she swallowed her fear back and stepped into the room, the door closing behind her.
What kind of treatment was this? Was all she could wonder as she took a few uneasy steps towards the cage, flicking torch light showing her glimmers of the princess, that little flashing nightmares in her mind.
She was skinny, and a mess. Occasionally Ty Lee saw bruises on her body, and couldn't not notice the dried blood on her wrists from the shackles that held them above her head bitting into her weak flesh. She looked malnurished and half dead, like an abused dog.
Ty Lee almost threw up, but managed to control herself. She couldn't stop her eyes from starting to water though. This was terrible. There was no way that they were helping her in a place like this. It was a joke, wasn't it? Mai playing a terrible little prank on her.
"No mother." She heard a low wisper come from the cage, a flicker of candlelight revealing Azula's eyes to be staring off to right of the cage. "Why are you bothering me? Are you like Zuko? You just love to see me weak, love to see how far I've fallen? Do you take joy in your position over me, mother?"
A small laugh echoed through the room, and Ty Lee stepped back, making a small bang as she hit the door. That was enough though. Azula's eyes shot from whatever she had been looking at and settled on Ty Lee, and she could see the madness in them.
"You to, Ty Lee?" She said, the same little laugh obvious in her voice. "Its just been a veritable parade of old faces, hasn't it? Has it been declared a reunion holiday since I've been in here? Whats next, will Mai be dropping in, or how about dear uncle Iroh? I know, the avatar surely wants to be reminded of how great his abilities are, make sure I can't do so much as light a match."
Ty Lee tried, she really did, but couldn't find any words to say. Shock had settled in, and she was lucky to even still be in the room.
"Ohh? Cat got your tongue, Ty?" A bitter laugh this time. "Just seeing me is enough, you don't feel like wasting any words on me?" Fire flared up in Azula's eyes, hatred, Ty Lee thought. "Well look. Look what your pact with Zuko did, look how great things are now! You must be so happy to see me chained here, no longer out there causing you pain."
Ty Lee did manage to find some words this time, "I...I didn't hurt you for Zuko, Azula. I did it to stop you from hurting Mai. You were both my friends, I couldn't let you hurt each other...I couldn't let you kill her, Azula."
A little crackle of laughter shook through her, loud this time, greasy messes of hair spilling down her face. The laughter was short lived though, quickly replaced with harsh coughing. After a few moments the coughing past and Azula could speak again. "Well, you got what you wanted then. I'm in this caged, chained and locked away, and Mai is nice and safe. No, better than safe, shes Fire Lady, Zuko's little bitch." Her eyes suddenly snapped to the right of the cage again. "Shut up mother. No one asked your opinion."
Ty Lee was crying at this points, there wasn't any stopping it. The situation was completely overwhelming her. "But...but your getting help Azula. Their making you better so that you can be back out there again..." She said it, but even she didn't believe it. Azula seemed worse than she had ever seen her... and at this point, even she didn't really have any hope that Zuko was having her treated for anything.
Azula's eyes drifted back over to Ty Lee, Realization and sobriety setting in, the madness clearing a bit for the moment. "So thats what Zuko told you, is it?" Her face was passive, completely neutral. "That he was getting me help, that doctors were making me right and that one day, I'd be let out and normal?"
She leaned as far as she could forwards, most of her bodyweight pulling on the chains that bound her hands, cutting into them and sending a few trickles of fresh blood down her arms. "Does it look like I'm being treated, Ty Lee? Does it look like I'm any better?"
Ty Lee shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't argue with that, it was true. This wasn't helping...Azula was just slowly dying here. "No, Ty Lee," Her voice started again. "My dear brother is content to let me rot here. I'll die, sooner rather than later, and he'll be free of me for good."
"I'll tell Mai!" Ty Lee declared, her voice trembling. "And she'll talk to Zuko and we'll get this whole things straightened out! You'll..."
Her statement was cut out by Azula's bitter laughter. "No you'll tell Mai, and she probably won't care. And even if she does, either because there is some small lingering feeling for me, which I highly doubt, or because shes concerned for you... either way, she'll try to talk to my dear Zuzu. And do you know what happens then?"
Ty Lee shook her head slowly, and Azula went on, retorical question aside. "Zuzu gets mad and blows a fuse. It doesn't matter that he's been lying, what matters is that Mai betrayed him by going around poor Zuzu's back, sneaking people in to see his demon of a sister. Mai gets upset, and they fight a bit, but eventually Mai backs down to save her little relationship, and things go back to the way they were."
Ty Lee tried to speak, but the door behind her opened, and her guards were standing at attention looking at her. "Lady Ty Lee. The time given to you to spend with this prisoner is elapsed. You are to come with us and be seen out of the facility."
Ty Lee nodded slowly, her eyes drifting back to Azula as she walked after them. "Not for me, Azula." She whispered, just loudly enough to carry the distance. "Never for me."