Azula: the New Avatar

3 - Escape

Azula was barely keeping herself together. She couldn't trust anyone. She had to pretend everything was fine, and she pretended like her life depended on it. Mostly because it did.

She'd reported the kidnapping to her father, telling him how she'd handled it but leaving out the airbending. She griped about the last archer getting away, which made him frown, but she figured it would be better if he knew the archer was alive and assumed he was delusional. She wasn't fooling herself into hoping he hadn't heard the other side of the story.

In the days that followed, she kept noticing his strange, intensely scrutinizing gaze fixed on her, and she made sure to never even let on that she was nervous. She found herself wishing for Mai and Ty Lee, but she knew that was a useless dream. In practice, their presence would probably just make things worse. She would either have two more people to keep her secret from, closer to her than anyone else, or there would be two more liabilities that could give her away.

The thing she was most surprised about was her eagerness for Zuko to arrive. She knew that she'd missed her brother from time to time, but this wasn't just excitement for a reunion. She was dying to get out, to get freedom. No one to hold an image for, a shoulder to shamelessly lean on when she needed it, someone that would love her through any mistakes.

The more she dwelt on the thought of being forced to leave her father, the more she realized that she'd been making herself believe that she enjoyed being there in the first place. Now that there was no other option but to leave, she was discovering how badly she wanted to. Of course, that was one of the few things she didn't want to tell Zuko; he might feel betrayed, considering how long he'd been out there trying to get back.

Still, she was looking forward to leaving when he got there. If he got there, she had to remind herself sharply. Don't rely on him too much. Three years can change a person.

Not Zuko, her mind wanted to protest. For better or for worse, Zuko is who he is. He doesn't change unless he's forced to, and even then it takes time and effort.

So, of course, she was counting on his love for her and his hope for their relationship to outweigh everything she'd done and his love and hope for their father and his approval. A risky move, she supposed, but Azula was confident. She'd had him figured out inside and out for years, even if that knowledge hadn't necessarily been used for the most righteous of purposes.

Whether out of loyalty to her or their father, though, he had to be on his way. If he wanted in Father's good graces again, all he had to do was show him the letter. If he wanted to try to repair their relationship, he would somehow get her out of the palace. Then she could start her training in the other elements, which excited her more than she would like to admit. She still believed that fire was superior-obviously, as evidenced by the fact that they were taking on taking on three other nations and winning-but opening up new facets of attack, power, control-it fascinated her.

She brought herself back to the present, where she was walking down the corridor to the Firelord's audience hall. She took a deep breath, hoping against hope that he was summoning her for something unrelated to her monumental screw-up. She opened the doors and strode in confidently, falling to one knee in front of the throne. She waited silently, carefully controlling her heart rate, staying calm.

"Your brother wrote me a letter," he said finally. It was all she could do to not tense up. Had she miscalculated? Instead, she looked up, her face the picture of polite curiosity, slightly amused, as if they were speaking of a child with unusual mental challenges.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked in the tone of calm interest.

"Well, it's about you," Ozai said.