The Officer and the Princess: The Flames Of War

Chapter 11

It was odd to be back in the Palace after so long. To Azula it almost felt like she wasn't in a home, but in a tomb. In many ways this Palace had been her tomb since the day she was born. For fourteen years the only life she had ever known had been in these halls. She could see herself now in the Palace training yard, her father watching over her firebending lessons. How angry he would get when she didn't do it perfectly.

She was about six years old, she had been tired that day. For most of the morning she had been practicing the flame kick over and over again, the jump the, leg elevation, and the landing. She had done it so much that it had become second nature to her so she thought. Father wanted to see her progress. She focused her breathing and took a running start, she jumped and the flame had arched up, Just how it was supposed to. But she had misjudged the landing, when her feet hit the ground she tumbled, rolled and scraped her knee. Her father came running over. Azula at the time thought it was to make sure she was alright. But when he got close Azula could see the rage in his eyes. "What was that!" He asked her in that tone he only seemed to reserve especially for her. The tone when she disappointed him.

Holding back tears she had tried to stammer an apology. "I-I'm sorry father I'll do it right next time." She had reassured him. Of course she would do better, she was Princess Azula, daughter of Ozai she had no choice but to be better.

"No daughter of mine will be so embarrassingly poor at firebending!" Even then Azula hadn't understood, what exactly had he meant by embarrassingly poor, she had mastered flame redirection and the dragons spin, so what if she couldn't get a basic form right? "You will run the drills again and again until it becomes second nature to you. I will not have you be as amateurish as Zuko." That sentence had stung hard, comparing her to Zuko? He might as well just spit in her face, she was twice the firebender Zuko was.

"I will father I promise." Azula had said with as much confidence as she was able to muster into her tiny frame. But she couldn't bear to look her father in the eyes, because then he would know that the confidence was nothing more than a mask.

"Get up." father had said. She hadn't been quick enough for his liking and he reached down and took her by the arm. "I said get up." He had been more forceful that time.

Azula remembered she could see her Uncle Iroh approaching from behind. He had been dressed in his Generals Robes the armor he wore over it  as black as night, golden flames on the Chest piece. "You're too hard on her Brother." Uncle Iroh had told her father. "Let the child be a child for a little while longer."

Ozai had let go of her then and spun on his brother with a speed Azula had never seen before. "How I raise MY daughter is no concern of yours Iroh."

Uncle Iroh had ignored the response and walked past Ozai. Azula remembered how scared she was. No one ignored her father. Uncle Iroh had kneeled down next to her. "Are you alright Little Solider?" He had asked her with one of his signature kind smiles.

Azula had held her breath. "Yes Uncle...I am fine." She had said. She had not been fine, her knee was bleeding and she felt like she wanted to cry, but she had to be strong, never ever show weakness.

"Leave her be!" Ozai had said. "She still needs to practice."

She watched as Uncle Iroh had sighed and looked back at his brother. "I leave for Ba Sing Se tomorrow Ozai, can't I spend just a few moments with my niece?"

Ozai gauged his response before growling. "Fine, but the second you are finished she gets back to her drills." Azula had watched as her father stormed off leaving the two of them alone.

Uncle Iroh had put a hand on her back, gently stroking it in a comforting manner. "Are you sure you are alright little Solider?" He had asked.

"I...I failed Uncle." Azula had told Iroh with tears in her eyes. She knew she couldn't cry, never show weakness but when she was around Uncle Iroh she felt safe to express herself. "I was trying to do the Fire kick, I did it perfectly time and time again but when I went to show dad I failed."