Chapter 2: Healing old wounds
"Thirteen….fourteen…fifteen" Azula counted each push up. Today was her third session with the Waterbender, she learned her name was Katara and realized she was the same person who beat her so long ago. She also found out her disease was also supposed to have the symptom of disorganized thought, even though she never remembered having that. Her hallucinations were nowhere near as common as they used to be but there were still some other symptoms like anxiety.
But overall she did feel a little better, she's been sick for so long that she forgot what it felt like to be fine. Her yearly evaluation was only a little over two months away so all she needed to do was two things: be sane, and behave. Not the easiest requirements but she had her mind set to it.
Katara came in at their usual time during the week. Azula got into position and they started the session. They went eight minutes without talking to one another, just healing and silence.
"So…. how was your day" Katara said breaking the silence
"Fine" Azula answered and didn't ask a follow-up question
And that was essentially the extent of their interaction for the rest of the session.
Azula had long since given up on meditating and resorted to making sure her hair was perfectly in formation. She already had her healing session with Katara and while it was never set in stone Zuko would usually visit her on Thursdays. Maybe she should actually straighten up, well she didn't really mess with anything that she'd have to straighten up, plus she had been trying her hardest not to burn any of her stuff.
The cell door opened
"Hey Zuko, is there anything about my cell you would say appears messy-" she was taken aback when she saw who it was "hello Mother?"
"Hello Azula," she said in a monotone voice. "I have wanted to visit you for a while, how are you?" she said awkwardly
"Ok" Azula said, still trying to figure out what to say. She picked up her pillow and gently tossed it at her just to make sure. It bounced off of her, she was really there.
Ursa ignored that weird interaction and continued on "I…I haven't gotten to see you much since you got back to the facility, I mean there was those couple times in the palace and-"
"I'M SORRY" Azula spat out interrupting her
"Wha- Sorry for what?" Sorry for what?Sorry For What? That may have been the one and only thing she never expected to hear
"For…for acting the way I did when I was a kid" she said "and trying to kill you a couple weeks ago" she admitted
Ursa nodded "Thank you, that means a lot" she said still deep in thought "Azula I'm…I'm not innocent in any of this, I abandoned both of you when you were young and left you with Ozai" she explained, she actually came here to apologize to her
Azula could have taken her apology and thrown it in her face, and she would have for so long, it was something she wanted so badly. However, now that she knew most of the story and accepted her own grievances, she couldn't. "I saw what happened via spirit magic, it wasn't your fault dad wouldn't let you take us, he would have killed you if you did anything differently"
"Yeah well it doesn't feel that way" Ursa said clutching her head
Azula bit her lower lip "I'm sorry for being a monster"
"Well I wouldn't go that far, you usually stopped when I told you to" Ursa said clearly not understanding, in fact she sounded like she thought she was joking
"Not like that" Azula pointed out "I was an awful daughter and a horrible person to everyone in my life-"
"Stop stop stop," she said standing up, she looked genuinely concerned and even somewhat guilty "Azula I don't even want to know who would tell you something like that" she affirmed, Azula decided to avoid exposing her mother for now "you may have been difficult but you were never a monster"
"...You didn't think I was beyond saving?"
"What, I…." Ursa sighed "I had a lot of fear that you might be, like Ozai had to much a grip on you…but the way I saw you acting recently was…it was overwhelming like it was too good to be true and I can have hope that you would want us to have a real relationship now" her mother explained without a trace of lies in her speech
Azula was somewhat speechless, was she lying? Or was she wrong about this as well? They ended up talking about life and whatever feeling they were comfortable admitting, Azula wasn't sure if she could trust her mother that she never once thought of her as a monster, but in that moment she decided to trust her until proven wrong.
Zuko made his way through the tall dense grass. Brushing off his clothes regularly to keep the ticks away. "You sure we're still on the right trail"
"Definitely" Suki said in full Kyoshi warrior makeup "we gotta keep moving, there has to be some kind of evidence" she said.
They eventually made it to a decent sized spot with a canopy over it "Suki, I think the trail ends"
"What! it can't" Suki said inspecting their trail "No, there's no way this is as far as Azula got" Suki said with confusion "and how did she get back to the palace then"
"I agree there has to be more to the story" Zuko said stroking his chin "I'll ask her about it next time I see her"
"She'll just lie to you" Suki asserted
Zuko thought about this, Azula did maintain a lying streak that lasted since she could talk, he needed to accept he might never get a definitive answer to what happened. "Well what matters is that she's in custody now" Zuko said trying to seem optimistic "Katara said she's been behaving, maybe she's getting better"
"Yeah after she cuts a few throats first" Suki quipped
Another Kyoshi warrior came out of the woods with a lantern. "Did you find anything?" Zuko asked
"Nothing, your sister covered her tracks perfectly" the warrior stated before continuing the investigation "oh and I know I'm not your schedule keeper or anything but you do remember that new ship design is being unveiled tomorrow right?"
"Oh right" he said rushing to put his things away "Suki you should come too, you've been working pretty hard"
"No no, I should stay and keep searching" Suki said rubbing him off
"You sure, I don't have to order you to get some rest do I?" Zuko quipped
"Zuko this is important, I'll be fine you go ahead and get a good night sleep" she warmly said
Zuko hesitantly went back to his carriage, he knew better than to argue with Suki when she's working. Maybe Azula would tell him the truth one day, but maybe at the moment it didn't matter too much, all that mattered was what would happen next, prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
Azula finished another two repetitions of push ups, what started out as simply getting her back into shape turned into actual physical therapy suggested by her doctor. She understandably had some muscle damage after her 'trip'.
Her cell door opened behind her. She looked to see Zuko holding some kind of box. He had stopped by a few times during the three weeks she had been back (mostly they just talked), but he was usually super busy, something about working with the Avatar to create a multicultural city in the former earth kingdom colonies. She wasn't huge on forfeiting the colonies out of fire nation control but at least they would still have some jurisdiction instead of none.
"I had some free time, I thought we could go a few rounds" he shyly stuttered opening the box revealing a pai sho game board
Azula took a deep breath "Zuko I'm trying to be nice to you, I don't want to absolutely destroy you at pai sho" she said trying to sound confident and commanding, to make sure he didn't see any of the emotional insecurity she had about offending him
"I've been playing the greatest master known to man, Uncle, for the past three years" he said confidently obviously trying to keep up with her attitude "I think I can manage" he said setting up the board
One Game Later
"Ok that was a flook" Azula said in shock
"Nope I beat you fair and square" Zuko said with a smug look
She actually considered letting him win when they first started but desperately tried to destroy him after she was pushed into a corner near the halfway point. "Lets go again" she said resetting the board letting her competitive side get the better of her
"You're on" Zuko said cracking his knuckles
They played six more games, he won five, she won only once, it was humiliating, but she hadn't had that much fun in years.
Katara returned at their usually scheduled times, she only has hallucinations in really tense situations when she's alone in her room and has negative thoughts. So she was improving.
"So are you 'dominating' Zuko at Pai Sho yet?" Katara asked trying to build conversation
"No" Azula bluntly said
There was a solid eight seconds of silence that passed by. "So just out of curiosity, how are you doing this?" Azula asked, sick of the silence "how does water heal people?"
"Oh it focuses the bodies energy into whatever injury you have" Katara softly explained as if it was common knowledge "while we're on the subject, your blue fire I've never seen or even heard about something like that before I met you"
Azula paused for a moment thinking of how to put this "no idea maybe I'm just really talented". For years her answer to anyone who asked that was 'perfection' but this girl was currently in control of either her nervous system or circulatory system so she thought it would be wise to hold back on bragging a little, whether it was true or not.
"Right," Katara said, annoyed by her arrogance. "Hey ... .Zuko's the only one who visits you right? Does he…you know gossip"
"Ugh no he doesn't, why?"
"Welllllll, ugh… I found something out recently and it's kinda driving me crazy, I was just thinking if you weren't able to tell then ... .you know what nevermind it's nothing" Katara said dropping the topic. "Alright I want to try something different here, it might fix that anxiety you mentioned" Katara adjusted her hands to be higher on Azula's head, her hands glowing much brighter
"Hahahahahaha" Azula started laughing consistently "HAHAHAHA HEY-" she started shouting with a giant smile "HAHA WHAT'S GOING HAHAHA GOING ON HAHAHAHA" she started laughing uncontrollably and twitching. This actually startled Katara making her lean back.
"Azula if this is some kind of joke" Katara questioned
"HAHAHAHAHA STOP IT, HAHAHAHAHAHA STOP IT RIGHT NOW" Azula shouted, swatting Katara hands away "HAHAHAHAHAhahahaha…." Azula calmed down before dropping to the floor in exhaustion. She took a few deep breaths as she pushed herself up revealing her red eyes and dilated pupils
"Ugh we'll just stick to the old way" Katara said slightly embarrassed
"Yes we will" Azula said before laying back down
Katara chuckled at this but stopped when Azula lifted her head and growled
Zuko took a long look at everyone around him. He was summoned to a gala in Ba Sing Se that the earth king had arranged to celebrate the creation of the United Republic of Nations; he was pretty proud of that name, and came up with it himself. Apparently the Earth King specifically requested Azula come too, clearly just to rub it in her face that she couldn't hold on to the capital for more than a season. Zuko had guards watching her every move, it was her first time off the facility grounds in the two months she had been back. She mostly just stayed to the side and didn't mingle, a part of him shook in his boots that Azula was outside and unrestrained but another part of him was happy she got some time off.
He had been the Fire Lord for almost four years now, he of course had built a reputation of being strong, iron willed, not someone to mess with.
"Fire Lord we're gonna go take a break" some of Azula's security detail left to check out the bar
"Actually… ugh, ok just don't be too long" he responded a few seconds after they left earshot
From the corner of his eye he noticed three earth nobles joking and pointing at her, but when they saw her looking they stopped and speed-walked away.
Zuko approached her "you doing alright"
"Yes" Azula simply said keeping her head down "you know I had every hallway in this place painted red after I took over, but they just had to return it to this disgusting shade of green"
"Well it is their national color" Zuko defended "though… some of these guys could use a shock or two, they already don't like you can we get some lightning" he said worried his joke wouldn't hit
Azula chuckled "do it yourself, you just gotta point your fingers and really want too, some royal blood doesn't hurt either" she gave him some pointers "I'll give you more tips later"
"Fire Lord" some drunk earth kingdom nobles hailed him over
"Gotta go" Zuko said, no one was allowed to say no to a drunk general. After laughing and telling the story of how he saved his uncle from some of his men, the general had to be dragged home from a hangover.
Azula stayed off to the side for the rest of the gala. Zuko never would have imagined she would avoid attention, he expected at best she'd been in their faces defending her position, at worst she'd kill everyone, but instead she stood in the corner the whole night which was extremely out of character. A tiny smile appeared on his face at the sight of her trying to be better.
60 MILES SOUTH
Both Fire soldiers and Earth kingdom troops were constructing a monument for the former colonies. "So are you sure this isn't a hoagie" Fire soldier Ping said to his earth kingdom coworker Cip, holding his dinner
"It's not" he said whipping some sweat off "common misconception, you see a submarine sandwich can only be served hot while a hoagie can be either hot or cold" he whipped again, this time more sweat coming off "think about what's on that sandwich would you eat it co-" Cip said before he started shaking his shirt and sweating straight through his cloutha. He started hyperventilating as he ripped his shirt off. This only made him sweat more to the point where there was actually steam coming out of him "What's Happening!" he said panicking
"Hey" Ping screamed "Hey I need some help over here"
"P….Ping" he stuttered before he fell to the ground as every drop of moisture was misted out of him, he let out one breath before passing out and laying motionless.
"AAAAHHHHHHH" somebody screamed in pain down the hall
Ping drew his spear and ran down the hallway, he found three other fire soldiers dried to the bone laying on the floor. He rushed up the nearest stairs to sound the alarm and alert everyone. The moment he got to an alarm bell another one went off on the other side of the base, only to go silent a couple seconds later.
Ping slowly stepped back, not sure what to do next. Someone grabbed him around the neck and dragged him back down the stairs and pinned him against the wall. He finally got a good look at his assailant, he was a fire nation man in a red uniform with a strange logo on his chest.
"This is the last one Commander, he's construction" he said hailing someone over
Two figures approached, one male and the other female, the came to an uncomfortably close distance to his face "congratulations, you survived against the New Ozai society" the male said in a silky and charismatic way as he begun bending the sweat off his forehead "we just need to ask a few questions and then you can go. One, we heard something about a secret catacombs under the palace, where's the entrance? Two, what is the princesses cell number"
"I… I'm not telling you anything" Ping said with loyalty to his nation
"TELL US" the female screeched as she lifted her hand "you will give us what we want or I will drain every drop of water from your body making you suffer a thousand- NO a gazillion hellish pains across your body and you will be begging me for death" she said with a strange over the top voice "starting-with-your-LIVER" she said launching her hand
Ping screamed in pain as his kidney ruptured and flushed out the back of his thigh. As Ping cried in pain his assailant seemed more disappointed than anything. "Oops wrong organ, I'm so sorry I'm still trying to figure out some new techniques, I'm still working out some bugs" the female said. It was hard to talk over ping's crying so she froze his lips shut with his own saliva
"Keep trying, you're doing such a good job honey" the male said wrapping his arms around her
"Oh you always know exactly what to say" she said in a seductive voice. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Ping stopped struggling to get out as he had a sense of security "Oh well, sorry buddy I guess I can't interrogate you" she apologetically said "not even if I say, did this" she said flinging her fingers
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Ping screamed so loud the intruders were covering their ears in pain, his frozen eyeballs causing more pain than he thought humanly possible. "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, THE ENTRANCE IS A MILE SOUTH….(frantic sobs) with only two guards disguised as farmers, the brat's cell number is 12" he said continuing to make sobbing sounds but nothing getting past the ice
"Thank you, this was very helpful" the female said unfreezing his eyes
"Alright kid guess your suffering is over, was that really so hard" the male said snapping his fingers, the guards did as they were told and dropped him but Ping just layed there in pain
"You are such a good person" the female said positioning her body in a sensual way
"Only when I'm in the presence of an amazing woman" he said in a firm way
"Do you have to do this now-" one of the New Ozai members said before having every drop of water in his head flush out of his nose, mouth, and ears as he proceeded to collapse onto the ground
"Anyone else care to interject" the male said as every other member silenced themselves and stood at attention out of fear. "That's what I thought" the male said with an intimidating presence, "dismissed" he said snapping his fingers and gesturing for them to follow him off the base "enjoy the rest of your evening sir" he said to Ping lying on the floor in pain as they left.
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be updating in 3 days. Thank you for reading and please review