"My dear niece, I beg you to reconsider," Iroh pleads, his niece, Azula, glaring at him while his nephew, Zuko, sits wrongly in a nearby chair. "I'm telling you this is in your best interest."
"And I'm telling you, dear Uncle," Azula replies coldly. "That I am in no need of a tutor. My body might be useless now, but I assure you my mind is as sharp as ever. If I am just given the supplementary reading material, I will not only be caught up, but I will be light years ahead of the hollow headed commoners in my class."
"I'd have to agree with her on this one," Zuko says. Iroh turns his head to give Zuko a slightly chastising look. "I-I mean, the part about the being ahead part, not the... useless body part."
Azula rolls her eyes.
"If we're done here," she says and puts her mouth on the straw connected to her motorized wheelchair. She blows a light amount of air into it, turning it left to go to her room.
"Please, wait!" Iroh calls and Azula reluctantly stops, turning a bored gaze back to her uncle.
"You get one more," she says. "If you fail, you're not allowed to talk to me for a week."
"Can I get in on that, too?" Zuko chimes in.
"Listen," Iroh says with a sigh, ignoring Zuko's comment. "I know that you'd excel just studying by yourself, but you can not ignore reality forever. You will have to face your classmates again soon. We just want you to be accustomed to talking to people again."
"Not like any of them would care to talk to me again anyway," she mumbles. Her eyes drift past her uncle and land on Zuko. He's giving her a pleading look to go with what Uncle Iroh wants. Even though every cell in her being wants to deny him, she supposes that she owes him this much.
"Alright, since you're being so pushy, I'll heed your wish. As long as you don't get someone dim-witted, I'll allow myself to be tutored by whoever you see fit."
"We will search tirelessly for someone who can meet your standards," Iroh says with a gentle smile that irks Azula.
"May I take my leave now?" she asks. "I have better things to be doing."
"Of course! I'll call you when it's time for tea. We're going to be having jasmine tonight."
"Oh, joy," Azula thinks to herself. She steers herself back into her room, leaving her family to do as they please.
Azula enters her room, immediately pushing the door closed and heading towards her computer.
"Computer," she says. It gives a little ding to indicate it's listening. "Search for 'spinal damage procedure.'" The computer dings again and Azula looks at the search results flooding her screen.
"Innovative new technology for spinal injuries"
"The cure to broken spines doctors don't want you to know about"
"Experimental new procedure in Thailand shows promise"
After quickly reading through her third article, she hears a knock on the door, followed by the sound of it opening.
"Azula?" Zuko says as he comes in. Azula quickly closes the tabs on her computer and turns to look at Zuko with what can only be described with a death inducing stare.
"Did Father pour boiling water on your brain, too?" she asks. "Don't just barge in here whenever you feel like it. I didn't even have the opportunity to respond!" Zuko puts his hands up defensively.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it would be a big deal."
"Well, it is. Do you think just because I'm disabled, I'm not entitled to my privacy? I would have thought better of you, brother."
