Fireheart

Chapter 4

For once in my life , everything seemed to be in the right place. Me and Haru spent the rest of the night staring up at the sky in partial silence, save for me slurping the partly-melted, slightly warm and fuzzy strawberry smoothie and crackers. For once, I was not fearful of the dark that came at night in the locked room, and I actually awoke peacefully, green light still collected in my eyes.

“Good morning, Princess.”  

I awoke and rolled over, to see Haru sitting in a black leather lounge-seat across the bed I sunk my body into. I grinned cheekily, and my eyes danced.

“Azula. My name’s Azula.”

“Azula.” he repeated after me. I groaned, and rolled over in the bed towards the opposite side. “Where am I?” I asked.

“Your brother’s office-room,” He murmured. My ears pricked up as my spine shot up. “You put me in Zuko’s room?!” I snapped.

“Yeah, sorry about tha-”

“What’s going on in here?!” Zuko slammed open the door and dropped various scrolls. his mouth gaped open like a river-bear waiting for fish.

“What the hell? Azula……...Haru……...What???? What’s going on? Has the entire world gone mad?”

“Zu-zu! Hi, funny story, heh-” I stammered, and clutched the blankets around me, even though I could feel the soft silk of a night-gown floating around my skin.

“Wait, what? Who changed my clothes?”. I gasped, and stood up in the bed, nearly hitting my head on the bed post. Mia, dressed in her usual starched, high-collared pink dress, nodded and gave a quiet “Me,” from the corner of the room.

Thank Agni it was Mia. It could’ve been that….that….

Haru.

Zuko, obviously over-worked and tired, wore dark rings under his eyes, his black hair tousled. I almost felt sorry for him, but then I remembered: I was Azula! Azula doesn’t back down from a fight.

“Zuko, I order that you allow me in this room!” I snapped, surprising myself.

“What?! Why is Haru even here! Azula, tell me!” He groaned.

“Not telling! Get out, go do your work somewhere else!” I retaliated.

“Haru, bring her back to the room late-”

“No! I’m not going back in there!  It’s a horrible place! I’m not, I’m just not getting in there anymore!”

“Azula, we’re only putting you there because it’s for your own good!” Zuko barked. “No, you’re putting me in there because I’m an inconvenience!” I spat the word out like it was a piece of filth, “I have been locked up for years now! You really think that I’d want to be fire lord anymore?”

“Azula, you’re not an inconvenience, You’re unstable.” Zuko held my arm, trying to steady me.

Unstable?

Really?

The excuses that people come up with these days.

Pathetic.

“I don’t care what you say, I’m not going in there. It’s a prison.”

Zuko sighed.

“Why the hell are you so stubborn? Why can’t you just understand that you’re not “okay” and give up?!” He ran his hands through his hair.

“I AM OKAY!” I yelled. “WHY DON’T YOU TRY TO UNDERSTAND ME? YOU THINK YOU HAD A HARD LIFE??!!!”

“Oh, put a sock in it, Azula, we’re siblings. You think it was easy living under your shadow while father made you his perfect little girl and I was the leftovers??”

“Oh yeah, you stole the crown right from my head! Then-”

Zuko slammed the door behind him, and lunged at me. I readied myself, prepared to retaliate. “Zuko, Stop!” Haru raced to shield me from my brother’s furious blasts of fire. It nearly burned him, but Zuko retracted his fire as soon as the heat of it brushed against his friend’s cheek.

“I’m so sorry!” Zuko yelped, glaring at me. “Look what you’ve made me do!” He accused me rudely. I stormed over, and slapped him across the face with the back of my hand.

“Shut up okay? Just SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed at my stupid brother. Haru had crumpled in a heap of green and brown rags against the corner. Luckily, the fire hadn’t done too much damage, just a few blisters on the neck, singed eyebrows and an angry, red, welt on his cheek. Not serious enough to leave any scars, but painful. I rushed over, and helped him up.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just get me some ice, and a towel please….” He muttered, green eyes glazed over. I felt blood on his head. A lot of blood. Probably hit it on the wall.

“Hey! You have to stay awake! You’ve hit your head, and lost a lot of blood. Hold on, and I’ll get the doctor. Just stay still, and STAY AWAKE.” I propped him up on Zuko’s bed, and dashed off to find the royal doctor, while Zuko just stared stupidly out the door. I banged on the physician’s door, but it was locked, and there was a brass sign saying,

“Closed. On holiday to Ember Island. Will be back in a week. Sorry for any inconveniences caused.”

I gritted my teeth to stop screaming in frustration.

“Damn you!” I yelled, and kicked the door, which only resulted in hurting my weak legs more. There was only one other healer I knew in the palace: Katara. I raced down the hallway, to my old bedroom, which now had a shiny gold plaque which read ‘Katara’. I seethed with rage, that Zuko DARED to give my room to his girlfriend, just to spite me. I banged on the door.

“Katara! You in there????!” I yelled.

A tanned, long-haired, blue-eyed face popped out.

“What?” Katara mumbled sleepily. “I’m having a nap, ‘Zula. Can ya come back later? I’m really, really tired.” She rubbed at her eyes groggily. Smoke curled from my ears at this statement.

“There’s no time!!! Zuko got mad at me and tried to kill me, but the fireball hit Haru, then Haru hit his head on the wall, and there was a lot of blood!!! Hurry up for goodness sake!!” I yelled frantically, waving my arms.

“Holy spirits, girl, get the doctor then!” She murmured, heading back to bed. But I grabbed her, and shook her by the shoulders.

“The doctor’s on holiday!! You have to help him! You’re the only healer in the palace!!!” I grabbed her hand, and pulled her down the hall. We arrived back at Zuko’s office, where Zuko was trying to wipe the blood off his perfectly clean, stainless steel walls with some spare scrolls of parchment.

“Bastard! You worry about a little bit of blood on your wall, when your friend has just broken his skull? Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!” I screamed, kicking a vicious fire-whip at him, scorching his expensive leather boots, causing him to cringe.

“Hey! Calm down! We don’t want any more injuries in here!” Katara reprimanded sternly. I snorted indignantly, for she sounded a lot like my mother. “Go get me a basin of water, some ice, a bandage and a towel please.”

I raced off again, despite my limp, and that I was exhausted from just now’s doctor-search. I ran to the nearest bathroom, and got the items needed. I raced back, careful not to spill the water or drop the towel, and plopped them all down on Zuko’s desk. Katara used her bending to lift the water from the porcelain basin, and put it on the wounds. The water started glowing, and it flowed around for a bit before seeping away. Katara fetched the towel from the basket, but I insisted on doing it myself, and motioned for her to give it to me. I wiped Haru’s face dry, and wrapped his head with the bandage, like he had wrapped mine a week ago. Then, I sat down on Zuko’s couch and fell asleep.