Chapter 7: family

Azula shook as she felt cold on most of body. "Ohhhh" she moaned as she started to wake up. She didn't have her perfect vision yet but she noticed three figures with their hands floating over her, and her sitting in a strange oddly colored bin.

"HUH" Azula yelled as she twitched, startling the figures. She uncoordinatedly threw her arms around and pulled herself out of the bin, which she finally noticed was actually a tub full of water. She finally got control of her body and got into a fighting stance "Get your hands off me you pathetic…" she said

"Ty Lee" a familiar voice said, Azula turned around and it was the water tribe man she released back at the enemy camp. "It's Bato do you remember" he said offering her a cup of tea

Azula looked back at the other people and realized they were waterbending healers. She also moved her left shoulder around, it made a clicking noise or two but it was working fine again. Her skin, which was covered in cuts and bruises earlier, was a little more clear now. She had many new scars on her body but other than that she was fine. She looked around and she was actually in a barn of some sort, that she still couldn't explain "ugh sorry but where…"

"It's fine we can understand if you're a little jumpy" one of the healers said

Azula accepted the tea from Bato and sat back down "how did you guys find me?" she asked

"After I left I made sure all the other prisoners had a way home. Once that was done I went for help at a water tribe outpost that was recently installed, on the off chance that what that gang told us was true" Bato said taking a seat next to her "me and any other men willing to come went to slay a spirit, you just beat us to it"

"You saved us all" one of the healers said, forcefully shaking Azula's hand. She was touching her so none of this was a hallucination. "Those two farm boys saw part of the battle and how you vanquished the creature, they helped us bring you back to their farm and get you back into shape" she said pointing to two fire nation boys around ten years old telling a story to the water tribe men.

"And here are your old clothes" another one of the healers said, bringing Azula her old armor, she didn't even realize she was wearing peasants clothing until now. "I stitched them up a little, but there was an awful lot of damage" she said "don't worry we kept you out of sight from these soldiers" she said referring to the soldiers playing Pai sho

"Umm thank you" Azula said accepting her armor back

"This is gonna be a great war story," Bato said, raising a cup of tea. "So that monster was Jia Lisha, those lunatics were actually right" he said in a nervous tone "can't believe it, if you hadn't stopped it we would have been late and the world would have ended" he took another sip of tea

"Don't mention it," Azula said. She went into a closet, locked the door behind her, and changed back into her armor. She then returned the peasant clothes to one of the farm boys.

The farm boy looked her up and down, "you're pretty and you fight monsters, can I have some of your hair?" he asked. Azula almost punched him in the face but didn't want to make anymore of a scene

Bato laughed at this, it was a little insulting but Azula probably would have done the same if it happened to someone else. "Do you need anything else, food maybe"

"Actually, can I have a pen and paper?" she asked. She proceeds to write a letter to be sent to the earth kingdom. Azula skimmed through what she wrote, she needed to make sure it said everything it needed to 'Dear Mayu, I am sorry to tell you that your former husband has passed away….. He went to great lengths to try and improve himself for you and has truly proven himself….he was a incredible help and without him I wouldn't be alive today….Eichi's friend Azula'

"Bato" Azula said walking up to him "could you send this with the outgoing mail" she said giving him the letter

"Of course" he said "is this to let your family know you're ok" Bato said, Azula's ears perked up in fear when she heard that.

"Umm yes" Azula lied

"Well the healers say you should be alright, you've in treatment for two days"

"Two days?" Azula said, not realizing how much time had passed "I really have to go

"Yeah I'd be eager to get home too, can we give you a ride" he offered

"No, I actually don't live too far from here" that part wasn't a lie, the capital city wasn't too far from here, she could see smoke stacks exhausting. It was hard because the sun was still a few minutes away from rising, but she could still make out the smoke from the sky. She looked toward Bato, another person who (for some reason) selflessly helped her "oh and thank you, for…for saving me"

"Any time" he said saluting her "it was an honor to meet you" he said going to sit down with the others

Azula stepped outside, and started walking. Only one problem, she wasn't sure where she was going. After walking for a few minutes she found a large rock and sat down to think. There were a few options, either go back to Zuko and their mother and be forced to face everything between them, run away and know that they are happy and safe, maybe hide in plain sight but stay close.

Once again there was no good choice, the moment she got off this rock was the moment she would make a wrong/right decision. She wished she could just sit there forever and not have to choose.

She got the feeling she was being watched again. Only she knew exactly by who "now you show up" she said referring to when she was trapped in the rubble. She looked to the left to see her mother sitting next to her in silence. Azula quickly waved her hand through the hallucination just to make sure. "I know, I know what you're gonna say" she said "I wish you and Zuko would just get along, just go back and apologize" Azula said trying to imitate Ursa

Her mother just sat there without saying anything, she just rolled her eyes in response.

"But… I feel like it's too late" she said "I do care about Zuko and I guess you. But it's like he said, we…. I managed to mess up our relationship and maybe it will be that way for the rest of our lives" she said with a sigh

Ursa just sat there and raised her eyebrow, her face showing doubtfulness.

"Don't look at me like that" Azula said "I mean it would be nice to start being a better family, but I feel like I'm just being selfish if I go back and have Zuko try to deal with me anymore than he has" she felt hollow inside, she couldn't explain it. "I mean trying to forgive me would take a lot of effort. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot more than he deserves to go through." Yes there was also the very high chance of her going back to prison. But the truth was she didn't care about that part, at all, her main focus was how others would feel to see her. That was a first.

Azula looked to her left and her mother was giving her a little smile, Azula gave a little smile in return. "I mean maybe he would prefer if I was there, and that does show he cares, I would never know without…." Azula said looking back to her left, her mother was gone. Azula looked to the ground deep in thought. If she just ran off then that meant leaving things at where they were, at how horribly she treated the people in her life

Azula got up and dusted off her clothes. She took a look in the direction of the capital, the smoke stakes blazing, and the sun starting to rise. Then she took a look in the opposite, dense forests and the night sky still showing. Azula's head started spinning again, and she knew it wouldn't stop until she made her choice. Azula took one step toward the night sky.

"No"

Azula ran toward the Capital at top speed, absorbing the sun's gorgeous light. She needed to see Zuko and she needed to see him now.

Azula sprinted toward the capital as fast as she could, regardless of injuries or stamina. The city landscape was now in full view, the palace in her sights. She needed to see Zuko, she needed to tell him how sorry she was. It didn't matter if she went back to prison, she just needed to try and fix things.

Azula ran through the streets passing and shoving through people. "Watch it kid" a man said before going on his way. Azula ignored them and kept going. She was so focused on getting where she needed to be, she didn't catch a single face in the crowd.

The palace was finally in her sights straight ahead, but the front gates were guarded. They would never just let her walk in and she couldn't wait another minute. She ran around the perimeter wall and noticed an open window. She listened carefully and there was no one on the other side. With all her strength she leaped toward the wall and used her fire to gain extra air. She made it to the top of the wall and pulled herself over. There was no one patrolling the gardens so she was able to get to the palace wall okay. There was a well placed lattice board leaning against the wall for her to climb.

She climbed as fast as she could and pulled herself in, and realized where she was. She was in her old room. It was exactly how she remembered, it was well made and kept clean. But there was one thing that was new. A small folded card on her old nightstand, she picked it up and it read 'reserved for Princess Azula'. Zuko actually cared enough to keep her room reserved in case she ever returned. Azula couldn't hold back a tearful smile. Only more of a reason to see him.

She ran out of her room, through the grand hall, and into the dining room. She knew Zuko's old room was just down the hall to her right so she would have to try there first. She sprinted over to the room and reached out to the door knob. And she froze. The thought of Zuko on the other side of this door made her shiver. The thought of looking him in the eye terrified her. This was her final chance to turn back. Would she even be able to get a word out, would he just call the guards on her the moment he saw her. But she had to do this, she had to see him and try.

"I trust you" she whispered as she slowly opened the door

"Good morning Kayo" it was him, she was never so happy nor horrified by the sound of her brother's voice. He was fixing himself in the mirror and wasn't looking, he didn't know it was her which bought her some time.

Azula kneeled onto the floor. She put her hands under her knees to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"I don't think I'm ready for breakfast yet but maybe in about five minutes start some waffles, and send Kiyi some…." he turned and froze "...Azula". His face, a mix of shock and a little fear.

It was now or never "Zuko I….I….I….I'M SO SORRY" she said breaking into tears "I know how little that means, you always cared and I was awful to you" Azula had no idea what she could say to make things better, she just said everything she felt. "I didn't have the right to do or say what I did and maybe I can't make things better, but I'll try to…" she was cut off by a hug

Azula didn't hold back anymore, she just returned his embrace and cried into his shirt. She wasn't sure if he forgave her or just wanted to shut her up, it didn't matter. She started to feel him crying into her hair "How could you forgive me so soon, I don't deserve it"

"I was never mad" he said through tears "but I was terrified that I wasn't enough to help you". But he was, he may not have known it but he was.

For the first time in so long, her head wasn't spinning. No conflict, no doubt, in that moment everything made perfect sense.

She felt another pair of arms joining the hug from behind her. After a moment she realized who it was and snuggled up, it was her real hands this time, hands she could feel.

Zuko squeezed her tighter "I love you Azula, I do"

"I love you Zuko, I know that now"

THE END

And that's it! Thank you so much for reading to this point. I'm also writing a sequel called 'AZULA and ZUKO', where Azula has to actually prove herself. It's also going to star a lot more Avatar alumni (they're all going to show up but it's mostly going to focus around Azula, Zuko, Suki, and Ty Lee) I'm still working on it and I should start posting in a couple months. Anyways I hope you enjoyed, Thank You for reading and Please Review!