Azula sat in concentration, pondering what had just transpired. That traitor, Ty Lee, had dared to come see her, dared to feint care for her in her weakened state. How dare she? How dare she come and look down on her, when it was partially her fault that Azula was where she is now? She would spit in disgust if her mouth wasn't dry.
Still. Ty Lee had let her in on some things that she hadn't known before, information that she considered important. Primarily, that her dear Zuzu had lied to Mai and Ty Lee about what he had done to her. Knowing what she did about how things worked, she was quick to realize that if he had lied to anyone, he had lied to everyone.
She leaned back against the wall to take a little pressure off of her wrists, and the pain faded a bit as the shackles no longer bit into them, though the blood did continue to drip down her arm. The pain was something she was used to though, and her mind was still turning, clocking the gears into place.
She was sure that the reason Zuko had locked her away was because he felt that it was the right thing. Her brother had always had a problem with that honor and pride of his, viewing things that he supported and wanted as the right thing. He viewed Azula as a threat the his throne, and his anger at her let his mind place her as evil, and a threat to everyone.
It wasn't that it wasn't true. If she was free, even without her firebending she was a threat to him. She still had many political connections in the fire nation, and while to a lesser extent, in the earth kingdom as well. While Zuko was blinded and bound to his pride, Azula could be whatever she needed to be to get her way. Because of that, Zuko would always fail at politics.
He knew that if she was free, in the early days of his Lordship, she would have started planting the seeds of discontent, and now that Zuko's foreign policy was falling to pieces, would have capitalized on his weakness and overthrown him.
She laughed loudly. "He is afraid of me. Oh poor Zuzu, scared of such a...helpless girl." Her laughter continued until she noticed her mothers face frown and her head to stare her in the eyes. "Oh come now mother. Not going to say anything to back up your precious son? Not going to defend him letting the nation fall apart around him?"
She lunged in that direction, bouncing back and being held in place by her chains. "Where is your son now, mother? You failed! You bet on the wrong horse mother, and look whats happening now!" Her laughter continued for a few minutes before she settled back into silence, just glaring at the older women.
Eventually her mother vanished, retreating from Azula. Mother knew she was right, knew that her love of Zuko had been misplaced. What more proof did she need than his lack of ability to lead? The world was testing him, and Zuko was being found unworthy.
No, when the world tested Azula, she had failed. But she had learned from her mistakes. She had thought then that fear would keep everyone in line, and that her world would remain stable through that. But it wasn't that simple. She realized now that fear was just a single human emotion in a plater of thousands. She had spent so much time exploiting that one that she hadn't given enough consideration to the others.
No, she was in no position to play on fear now. Holding to that card wouldn't get her anywhere except maybe pushing Zuzu to just have her offed and be done with it. No, the emotions that would serve her best at the moment were care and shock, sympathy and compassion. She was very clearly weak and beaten, no firebending, no physical skill to speak of.. No, she was obviously no threat to anyone.
Ty Lee cared about her, for whatever reason. Azula gave some thought and decided that it was what made Ty Lee tick. Caring for others, specifically for her friends, had always motivated her. Azula had always viewed it as a weakness, and a weakness it was. But Azula had never thought to play on that concern, to put it to work for her.
If she could bring her fingers together in anticipation she would, but instead she had to settle for allowing a grin to spread across her features, a grin that she hadn't worn in almost a year. If she let things play out as she predicted they would, and capitalized on the opportunities presented to her, the end of them would leave her in a much more favorable position.