Destiny Altered (READ DISCLAIMER)

10 - She Burns

That evening, Aang and I enjoyed a quiet vegetarian dinner at the guesthouse. We talked about the peace negotiations, and it sounded like things were moving along in the right direction. There were some in the Fire Nation that weren't pleased that the war had ended, and there was some dispute over whether or not to dissolve the Fire Nation colonies. But there at least was a willingness to find a compromise, which made Aang and Zuko's jobs much easier.

"How is Zuko holding up?"

"He's doing really well, actually. The negotiations haven't been as grueling as he thought they would be."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Things are going well with Mai?"

"Things with Mai are good. They both seem to be enjoying themselves. But something else recently happened that has made Zuko very happy," Aang said excitedly.

"What?" I asked.

"After searching through the records in the Dragonbone Catacombs beneath the palace, he finally learned what happened to his mother, Ursa."

"And?" I asked.

"She was sent to a Fire Nation labor camp on the outskirts of the Fire Nation, working in the banana ash crop fields. Zuko immediately flew there to release her, and she's home now," Aang said, smiling. "She's glad to be home and obviously, so is Zuko. She was asking about Azula and would like to see her at some point…"

"This is great news, Aang!" Knowing that Ursa was alive and wanted to see her daughter was definitely a good thing. I also knew how much it meant to Zuko to be reunited with her. "But I don't know if she's ready to face her mother yet. Azula only recently got some mental stability back and is just starting to sort things out. A lot of her angst is tied up with how she feels about her mother and even Zuko. A part of her blames Ursa for letting Ozai get to her. I'm afraid that seeing her mother right now might push her in the wrong direction."

"I figured it probably wasn't time. But I thought that you should know, in case you or the doctors felt the time was right to tell Azula about Ursa."

-0-0-0-

The next day, I visited Azula. As usual, Chan was there to give me an update. "She's been falling asleep more easily the last two nights. But her dreams are disturbing her. She still won't talk to anyone besides you, so we have no idea what they are about." He handed me a pair of keys. I looked at him, surprised. "It's good if she gets to move around a little more. It probably isn't necessary to keep her chained up when you're in there. I'll be upstairs, but of course, the guards are in the hallway should you need anything."

Thanking him, I entered Azula's room. She looked up at me as I said hello and for the first time she actually said a proper hello in return. Even though she didn't smile, I could tell she was glad to see me.

As I had the last few days, I did about an hour of waterbending on Azula. Only this time, most of it was done with her lying facedown so I could work on healing the wounds on her back and releasing some of the tightness in her shoulders—another one of those spots the body tends to store things.