Azula is wishing she could claim to be bored. But Mother won't leave her alone. Every hour or so, she's back talking to her, trying to coax her into believing that she loved her. Azula couldn't figure out why it was so darn important to Mother. She could care less.
The guards fed her three times a day, a bowl of rice and some fruit. Water was available in waterskins that were refilled at every meal and were enough to last through the day. She'd tried to talk to them, sway them to her side. But she wasn't having much luck so far.
Fear wasn't working, since she was locked up, her firebending was weakened greatly with prolonged sunlight deprivation, and Mother wasn't helping by interrupting most of her conversations with things she couldn't ignore. The guards all thought her insane. They couldn't see or hear Mother's ghost. She tried to appeal to their patriotic side. But that didn't have much effect since their view of honor and loyalty was so strongly tied to the Fire Lord's current opinion. Whatever he thought, as a general rule, they thought too. She didn't yet know enough about them to try to appeal to their sense of family, long term security.
One of them has a daughter, another has two very young sons. That's all she's managed to figure out so far, from what little she hears of their discussions. The echoes in this place make it hard to distinguish words at a distance. She can only hear them when they are close by.
The sound of the door creaking open interrupts her thoughts.
"Come to see me so soon, Brother? I knew you would miss me." She smirks and turns to face him. He is dressed in a robe with a hood. He clearly wishes nobody to know he is here. That's your first mistake.
"I'm not sure you have a concept of what missing someone is." He retorts. His tone is pointedly bland, but she can still hear...something under the surface. She has no idea what it could be though.
"What do you want? I'm busy." She waves a dismissive hand and turns back to face the wall behind her.
"Doing what? Talking to yourself?" He scoffs.
"Ask the guards. I'm sure they'll tell you all about it." She sighs in exasperation.
"Do you know where Mother is?" His tone is almost gentle. Almost.
"I'm right here, Azula. I'll never leave you. I love you both." Her mother's face appears from the shadows again. Azula clenches her fist. I will not acknowledge you! Not with Zuko here! But maybe I can use you to my advantage.
"Mother is dead, Zuko. She has been for years." She turns back around, wanting to watch all the pain stretched across his face.
"You said when she left that nobody knew where she was. How can you be so sure that she's dead?" He's keeping his face blank intentionally, but she knows he can't keep the game up.
"And nobody did. At the time." She shrugs. "What makes you so sure she's alive?"
"Father told me she was banished. During the day of Black Sun."
"He was lying to keep you there until the firebending came back. He told me all about it. You're so pathetic, you know."
"I told him that I found someone in the city who saw her leave. He admitted that he had only banished her. But he doesn't know where she is."
So Father is still alive after all. This is good news. Very good.
"Well, sorry to say, but I'm pretty sure she's dead. I found out just before our Agni Kai." She relishes the brief look of fear and grief that flashes across his face.
"How do you know? Who told you?" His voice is a tiny bit lower than normal. Anyone who didn't know him would miss it. But he's getting pretty upset.
"Well, if Mother were alive," She lets her voice turn ominous, "then how is it that her ghost won't leave me alone? She made me lose to you. She's comes and speaks to me at all hours. Explain to me, brother, how that can be if she isn't dead?" She clenches her fist and shoots a very dim red flame in her brother's general direction.
"They're right, aren't they? You're insane. You're seeing things that aren't there." A number of different emotions play across his face. Azula can't decipher one from the rest.
"I AM NOT INSANE!" She thunders. "Now leave me to whatever peace I might find in this place! Be gone!"
The odd emptiness that she'd felt the first day in this place when her mother had disappeared comes back with a vengeance when Zuko slams the door behind him.
Father is alive. Somehow, the thought makes the emptiness go away. I must find a way to get word to Father that I'm still here. I must get someone to listen to me!