Chapter 1: Shattered like Glass.
-Institution for Disturbed Minds, Boiling Rock Prison-
In the Fire Nation prison known as the Boiling Rock, there existed a mental institution for the more depraved and mentally disturbed cases. They were kept in isolation to help keep themselves and others safe, while also trying to help these souls try to find their sanity again and become better people again.
One such patient was the former Fire Nation princess, Azula. She was admitted to the Boiling Rock for her skitzofrenia, which caused her to see and hear her mother. This, along with Ozai's piss poor parenting skills, drove her to madness.
The doctors of the prison also diagnosed her as a high functioning Machiavellian Personality type with Sociopathic tendencies, and a delusion of discrimination syndrome. This cocktail of psychological issues has been dubbed by the staff at the Institute as a "Piping hot mess" and a "Royal Clusterfuck" mentally speaking.
Right now, she was on her way to a session that was meant to help her, escorted by two guards. One of which was Tai Lee, who was clad in Kyoshi Warrior garb and makeup. She had chi blocked the princess when she tried to attack them.
However, Azula had other plans. "You know what's interesting about the effects that Chi blocking has on the human body?" The Princess said in a feigned jovial tone as she lazily laid her head on the male guard to her right's shoulder.
"I dunno. What?" The man responded, Tai Lee looking at her former best friend warily.
"After your limbs recover from the annoying side effect of paralysis, you still feel numb, but it also—somehow—allows you to become unbelievably flexible. And that can allow you to just about…" the girl said before she trailed off, her arms moving unseen inside her straight jacket, before she did the impossible and got her arms free!
She then—without warning—grabbed the guard by the collar and slammed her head against his face and made him stagger before she got in a handstand and spin kicked Tai Lee and then bolted as fast as she could.
"Alert the others! I'll try and catch her!" Tai Lee ordered her colleague as she took off after her former friend. However as she started to run after her, Azula jumped to the wall and started running before jumping off the wall and through a window and crashing the ground outside, heading towards the cable cars.
The former princess nimbly dodged every attempt to stop her, from simple tackling to bolas being thrown her way. The only one who came close to stopping her was Tai Lee when she eventually caught up.
"This stops now, Azula." The contortionist said as they faced off on the roof overlooking an alleyway.
Azula looked at her angrily, though she wasn't necessarily looking at Tai Lee, rather an apparition of her mother Ursa, who stood behind her. But quickly shook her head, knowing it wasn't real.
"That is too true, Tai Lee, this will end here." The girl said as she got into a familiar stance. "Just not in the way you think." She added before she waved her arms twice in a Crescent shape, before striking, causing a lightning bolt to fly out of her fingertips as she backflipped off the building.
'I thought her chi points were blocked! Did this whole ordeal give her time for them to reopen?!' The former circus performer thought in shock.
As she regained her composure, she soon saw that Azula was gone, and down in the alleyway, the blue flame user had knocked out a guard and switched clothes, and was now on the cart leaving the prison.
Tai Lee cursed as she looked down the now empty alley. Princess Azula had just escaped prison.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in Ba Sing Se, Aang and his friends were going over what to do about the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. The Earth King, who had returned following the end of the war, was with them.
"Wow, I never realized how much of the earth kingdom the fire nation conquered during the war." Aang said as he looked at a map of said colonies.
"Yes. To the people of the Earth kingdom, they are a dark reminder. Like a scar." The Earth King nodded before looking at Zuko. "No offense." He added, but the Fire Lord just waved his words off, indicating he wasn't really offended.
"No, no, it's fine." The new Fire Lord said. "I do intend on bringing healing to the world, but… Recently I've been given cause to question if removing all of the colonies is the best option for everyone." He continued, albeit heavily.
"Why?" Katara asked in confusion at her friend's words.
"When my advisers were preparing me for assuming the throne, they brought to my attention several of the older colonies who objected to the prospect of being relocated." Zuko explained. "Particularly colonies that have an equal population of Earth kingdom people and Fire nationals. People who are friends, loved ones, even a few families who are binational." He continued. "People who, if we relocated them, would lose their friends, families… homes." He added.
"Hm… Yes, I can see how that would be a problem." The Earth King nodded with a frown.
"Let's leave those be, then. Dark reminders or not, the older colonies are proof that other nations can coexist peacefully." Katara commented.
"I don't know guys, Avatar Roku always said that there should only be four nations. This seems like we'd be going down a slippery slope." Aang chimed in.
"How about this then." Sokka offered. "We bring the idea of removing some or all of the colonies to the people of the Earth Kingdom and the colonies, wait a couple years, and then after we let people see the peaceful goings on in those colonies, we'll let the Earth Nation put the relocation to a vote." He added.
"Sounds good to me." Toph shrugged.
"Yeah, that seems fair." Katara nodded.
"I'm always a fan of peaceful solutions..." Aang nodded thoughtfully.
"Your majesty? What do you think?" Zuko asked the earth king. The monarch thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yes. This will work much better than simply forcing all of them to leave." He nodded. "I'll bring forth the idea to the people in the morning."
"And that's why I'm the idea guy." Sokka grinned smugly.
(Later)
Meanwhile in the Earth Kingdom, days later, Azula walked into Yu Dao, the first of the Fire Nation colony. She was still dressed as a guard and as she walked through the streets, she saw the peaceful mingling of Earth Kingdomers and Fire Nationals.
Like an earth kingdom blacksmith who's apprentice was a boy who could fire bend, heating up the furnace and blade for his master as needed. There was also an Earth Kingdom girl who was hugging a fire nation boy close as he bought her a present. And an earth kingdom shoemaker cheerfully fitting a Fire Nation official with new boots.
It was like a melding pot of people and cultures, and this… Confused the princess, if she was absolutely honest with herself.
'This place feels… odd.' The hidden escapee though as she continued walking. However as she came by a shop, a man who was leaning against it eyed her for a few seconds before nodding. This confused her even more before she was suddenly shoved into an alley between two buildings.
"Alright, pal. Hand over your stuff and we'll be on our way." One of them ordered, pulling out a dagger while his partner pulled out a hammer.
Azula slowly got up as she dusted herself off before she started chuckling. "You're hilarious." She mocked the man as she got into a stance. "No earth kingdom thug can take me down." She added.
"Oh, you think you're tough, do ya?" The dagger wielding thug sneered. "I think it's time that changed." He added before he charged.
Smirking, Azula sidestepped the man with little effort and tripped him, causing him to drop his knife, which she caught and threw at him to pin him to the ground by his shirt.
However when she was about to spin around and attack the second man, instead of him, she saw Ursa again. This moment of pause gave the thug an opening to slam his hammer into the side of her head, sending her crashing against a wall and knocking her out.
The first man got up and looked her over, but as he removed her dented helmet, both of them gasped in shock and horror.
"Oh crap, it's Azula!" The first whispered as his body shook.
"Come on, let's book it!" His partner said, getting a nod before the two ran off. As the two left the unconscious girl alone in that dark alley, and the sky slowly got darker as her head was bleeding.
By the time it was night, a boy walked out of the side door of the building on the left side, and saw the unconscious princess laying on the ground and quickly became concerned.
The boy had fair skin, blue eyes and a head of spiky red hair, his facial features were also similar to that of a fire nation man in terms of symmetry, but also had the chiseled-ness of someone from the Earth kingdom. His build also suggested that he was a bender. Lastly he had metal clamps lining his ears and on his ear lobe.
His clothes consisted of a white shirt under a black jacket, metal clamps on his biceps, black pants held up by a grey belt, and a pair of grey boots.
He quickly ran to the girl's side and checked her pulse, giving a silent sigh of relief that she was still alive while also noticing the dented helmet.
"Guess it didn't do its job. Tch." He scoffed before picking Azula up. He then quickly made his way back home, which was at the other side of town.
Though when his parents saw the injured woman, they freaked out and immediately got to work patching her up.
"Son, how long was she like this?" The mother asked. She was an earth kingdom with black hair, darker skin, grey eyes and a figure that seemed bottom heavy, with a C-cup rack, and a waist, heart shaped ass, legs and thighs that seemed slightly larger. But nonetheless, she was very attractive.
His father was, actually, the same official Azula saw earlier. He had graying red hair that was in a fire nation top knot, and had a medium length beard as well as the same blue eyes. He was dressed in official garb that matched his position: the chief of police.
"No idea. I just found her in an alley with that injury on her head. I think some thugs jumped her." The boy replied.
"Either way, you did the right thing Touya." The now named Touya's father stated with an approving nod.
They quickly laid Azula down on a couch while one of Touya's siblings, his little brother Neji, quickly ran in with medical supplies while their sister Hanako started getting warm compressed ready and their youngest sibling, little Sho was carrying Azula's outfit away once it was off.
Once their guest was in some decent clothes, and her injuries were patched up, they placed her in the guest room to rest properly. After that, they met in another room to discuss what to do.
"I got a good look at her, do you think that's who I think it is?" The mother, Temari, asked.
"There's no question. It's Princess Azula." The father, Enji, nodded.
"I heard about her. I thought she was in the Boiling Rock prison." Touya noted with a frown.
"It would seem she escaped. That's not an easy feat." The police chief noted while Hanako, Neji and Sho looked nervous about having a criminal in the house.
"What should we do?" Hanako questioned.
"I'm not sure, sweetie." Their mother sighed as they looked at the sleeping girl in their guest room.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in the Fire Nation Capital, Zuko sat with his girlfriend Mai at their dinner table, enjoying a meal together after a rather long day, when the usually gloomy girl received a message.
"A letter? From Tai Lee?" She muttered before opening it. As she read the letter's contents, her eyes grew wide. "Zuko, you need to read this!" She said in an urgent tone.
As the Fire Lord took the letter, he nearly choked on his Jasmine tea when he got to the really important part. This caused him to drop the letter as he broke out into a coughing fit.
"Azula's escaped the Boiling Rock?!" He coughed out. When his little coughing fit was over, he immediately got out a blank sheet of paper and wrote a message to Aang before calling in a messenger. "Have this delivered to Avatar Aang, now! A dangerous criminal is on the loose!" He ordered his subordinate.
"Yes sir!" He nodded before rushing off.
"It's been several days since she's escaped, she could be anywhere by now." Mai said in worry.
"I know. Picking up her trail will be difficult." Zuko nodded in agreement with equal worry. "Actually spotting her should be fairly simple, though." He added.
"Making a wanted poster of her?" His girlfriend asked.
"Yes." The boy nodded as he had a servant come in.
(A few days later)
Meanwhile in Yu Dao, a few days later, Azula slowly woke up to the site of Touya replacing her compress.
"Ohhh… What? Where am I?" She groaned as she tried to sit up, but her concussion protested otherwise. "Oh my head…" She whined.
"Easy, you took a hard hit." Touya told her as he tried to settle her back down.
"Who are…?" The Princess asked.
"I'm Touya. Can you remember who you are? Anything at all?" He asked.
"My… My name is Azula, but… I—I can't remember anything other than that." Azula replied. This made the boy realize that she had amnesia.
'This is gonna be a tricky time for us.' He thought with a sigh. It was at that moment that Hanako entered the room, and grew nervous when she saw the blue flame user awake.
"Don't worry, little sis. She's safe." Touya told his sibling. 'At least, I hope she is.' He added mentally.
The girl nodded as she approached Azula with a bowl of soup and a glass of tea as well. The princess seemed to smile as she sat up and took the things offered to her.
"Thank you." She told Hanako sincerely.
"Y-you're welcome." The young girl replied timidly before she left.
"Sorry if she's a little shy. Hanako's not good around new people." Touya stated.
"I'm sure many people are." Azula responded as she took a sample of the food and drink offered to her. "This is good." She noted as she took a sip of the tea. This definitely would have really thrown anyone who knew her for a loop, since she usually hates tea.
"My mom does make good food." The redhead chuckled. Azula nodded as she continued to enjoy what was offered to her while Touya left her alone for the time being.
"Well?" Enji questioned as his son came to them.
"She's completely lost her memory. Whoever hit her must have really done a number on her head, because all she can remember is her name. So far, at least." The boy explained.
"Hm… Let's keep an eye on her. The last thing we need is to be attacked unawares." Temari stated after a moment of thought with her husband nodding in agreement.
"If checking on victims of similar muggings has taught me anything, it's that a person's memories when they've been hit like that will either come back on its own time, come in flashes if certain triggers are pulled, or she may remember certain things, but only general things. Nothing specific." Enji noted. "Though to be sure, we should have the doctor look at her just to be safe." He added.
"I'll go contact him." Touya nodded before taking his leave.
Strange times were on the horizon. Would the family be able to handle it all?
Dragon Emperor0: Hello fellow Avatar fans. I hope you don't mind, but I decided to do a little fanfic with my favorite female character as the main focus.
ThermalsniperN7: That's right. Azula's gonna be a new woman in this story. We hope you enjoy this as it unfolds.
Dragon Emperor0: And before you guys ask, yes, Touya is inspired by Dabi from MHA. Ever since his true identity and personality was revealed in the manga, the parallels between him and Azula seemed perfect. So I made a character who could act as her foil and possible here.
ThermalsniperN7: And yes, Enji is also based on Endeavor from MHA, too. That's because when Dragon Emperor0 made Touya based on Dabi, I decided to get the theme going. I hope that makes some sense.
Dragon Emperor0: And as stated by Enji in this chapter, there are very specific ways that Azula could get her memories back, but in all likelihood she probably will only remember the important things, but nothing specific. So she'll essentially be a new person to an extent. Which raises the question: if she doesn't remember everything she's done, does that mean that she's still responsible for the actions of her past self?
ThermalsniperN7. I'm not sure, and as much as I'd rather not say this, I'm quoting the Stalker from Warframe: "You may forget, but you are not innocent." It's… pretty dark and possibly cynical of me to say, I think. Sorry.
Dragon Emperor0: And I think I'll invoke the Redemption arc of Uldren Sov, aka Crow from Destiny. He and Azula are in very similar situations here. So honestly? I think she deserves a chance, at this point? She's not the same person anymore. Anyway guys, see you next time.