6Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender and do not financially profit from this.
She had screamed, at first. Wailing and spitting as the uncontrolled flames burst from her body. It had seemed like the best course of action at the time. After all, it's not everyday that your world crumbles to dust. The growing cracks in her tinted glasses had finally led to their shattering, leaving nothing but the clear, cold, white light of reality. Who wouldn't scream? Who wouldn't try to burn it all away?
In hindsight, she should have seen the cracks. Betrayal and abandonment. Her so-called friends and her so-called family. She should have seen this coming a long time ago. It had been wishful thinking on her part to think that they would ever be loyal to her, that they would ever love her. Nobody loves a monster. She couldn't blame them. It was her fault. It had always been her fault.
Then came the battle. Her last shred of hope to stem the merciless tide of realisation that seeped into her mind, washing every memory and thought of her own perception. An assault by a vivid and undeniable clearness. It was a forlorn hope. She should have seen that too. As the fires raged and the wind howled, her already tenuous control began to slip further, but she fought on. She couldn't lose. Not to him. Not to someone so weak and pathetic. Not to someone so beneath her. But she did. There was no dignity in such a defeat. No glory. No honour.
She should be dead. She should have at least been granted that meagre amount of respect. To die in combat, as she was, a warrior. But her opponent had denied her that. Such cruelty was beyond even her. So here she was, caged like an animal. Fitting.
Many had come, at first, standing back as her flames licked the walls. The flames were the first to go and they soon after. She did not know how long she had been down here. She did not care. Some still came now and then, offering food or words. She took neither. But this time was different. She raised her head as the door clanged open. A tall, bearded man stepped into the darkness. His armour protested as he knelt down.
"Azula, it's feeding time."
The man half-dropped a ceramic bowl onto the stone floor. It joined the countless others that littered the entrance to her cell. The man looked at the shackled girl. As her fire went, so did their fear. She didn't move. He grunted. "Suit yourself," he snarled, turning towards the door.
She moved, shackles falling to the ground. The man gasped as her weight sent him careening into the wall opposite the cell. The man rose quickly, hand on his sword. All of his training rushed to the forefront of his mind as he prepared for battle, only to dissipate as blue flame came into view. His grip on his sword slackened as fear took over.
"Please," he whispered, "don't kill me!"
"Only one shall die tonight." She extinguished the anaemic ember and smashed her hand against the man's forehead, driving the back of his skull into the wall. The man slid down the wall, collapsing into unconsciousness. She knelt and drew a dagger from the man's belt.
"Only one shall die tonight."
The palace walls came into view, obscuring the moon. She knew them well. Who better than a princess to break into a palace?
There were no guards. This entrance was unknown, except to precocious children of course. She found the crack in the stone and placed her hand inside. Her fingers wrapped around a smooth stone. She pulled. Near the ground, a section of the wall slid upwards. She bent down to examine the opening. It was smaller than she had remembered. But that didn't matter. She was little more than a walking skeleton at this point.
She crawled through the insect infested dirt to the garden that lay beyond. She stood up and automatically began wiping the mush from her clothes. She had done this when she was younger too. It did not befit a royal to be caked in mud and the remains of crushed insects. She held a small flame to the mud, drying it out before she peeled it from her clothes.
Satisfied, she looked up and surveyed the grounds beyond the trees where she stood. Empty. Not for long, she thought, as she remembered the remaining guards in the prison. She had welded the main door shut. They should be through by now. They should be coming here.
She stepped out from the trees and raced across the moonlit garden towards the safety of the shadows. There was a window open above her, but what lay inside was dark. She hoisted herself up, her will overriding her failing body's protests, and slipped into the room.
She knew where to go, though she had rarely been there. Her father had forbidden it, almost never giving permission. She walked down empty hallways. The guards were outside the palace walls and only occasionally walked the grounds. She came to the entrance. There was no hesitation. She placed her arms on the double-doors and thrust them open.
Azula breathed deeply. She was there. That look on her face. Always that look.
She locked eyes with the woman, fingering the handle of her stolen blade.
"Please, forgive me."
Part 2 should be posted within 2-3 days.
