Rise from the Ashes (Tyzula)

Chapter One: What are you waiting for?

Treetops and solid ground taunted the girl, inviting her to a quick death. She had two choices atop the towering cliff she stood upon; take a step back and live, or take a step forward and end it all. Of course, she had made her decision long before her arrival.

The drop was steep, but it didn't scare her nor excite her. It brought her peace. Only once before in her life had she held peace in her hands. Three months ago, she almost reached it permanently, but now all she had to show for the failed attempt was two, large scars on the insides of her forearms, the healed wounds spanning from her wrists to the crooks of her elbows. People always got in the way, but they wouldn't today. She had finally escaped the overbearing doctors and nurses of the mental hospital she had resided in for the past six months. They couldn't stop her now. She knew they were looking, but by the time they'd find her, Azula would make sure she was dead.

She thought about her brother, Zuko. She had tormented him endlessly his whole life and was nothing less than horrible to him. It was his forgiveness she seeked the most and his forgiveness she deserved the least. Under all of her layers of sarcasm, crude humor, jealousy, and suppressed sadness, she loved him dearly. But, she couldn't admit it to herself until it was too late. Now, she was certain she had ruined her chances at ever redeeming herself.

She thought about her ex-friends, Mai and Ty Lee. She thought about how she had belittled them and teased them since they became friends as kids. She thought about how she manipulated them and made them fear her to get her way. She kept them close, but apparently not close enough. She missed Mai's attitude, which equated to that of the sound of flatlining, something Azula found hilarious and endearing. Mai's dark personality and unique humor had always made Azula smile, along with Ty Lee's energetic and lovable attitude.

Ty Lee was more than just a friend to Azula, Ty Lee was someone Azula had fallen in love with when they were children. Azula remembered the first day she saw Ty Lee at the Royal Fire Academy. She became enraptured and felt drawn to talk to her, which she did. After that day, they became friends, and after that day, Azula never stopped thinking about her. Even today, Ty Lee struck a chord with Azula. It was her betrayal that hurt the most and cut the deepest. Still, she couldn't bring herself to hate or even dislike Ty Lee. She had too much love in her heart for the girl to give in to such a dark notion. She couldn't blame her for switching loyalties either, Azula deserved it and she knew it.

She thought of her father, which prompted to shift slightly more towards the edge subconsciously. No one knew the true nature of the relationship she and her father had. Everyone thought that he favored her and would do anything for her. Everyone thought that he spoiled her and showered her with his unconditional love and trust. They were wrong. Zuko once complained to his father that only Azula was permitted in the rooms under the castle and that he wanted to see what was down there. His father scolded Zuko and told him not to ask again, saying it was where Azula trained. Zuko sulked, walking out of his father's chambers without knowing Azula had heard the whole thing. He thought his father was devoting all of his resources to support and help Azula grow, but the true reason he wasn't allowed below ground was because it held horrors only Azula was subjected to.

She was abused emotionally and physically, not always by her father but sometimes her so-called 'teachers'. She was locked in dark rooms for days at a time, beaten, and tortured. Azula's father chose her at a young age, seeing the potential in her by the time she was six. The selfish part of her wished Zuko got his wish to become his father's prodigy so he would have to experience what she went through instead. Ozai believed that this would make his daughter strong and prepare her to be an invincible and fearful leader. The scars she harbored on her back were numerous and ghastly and they never faded or went away. Her father didn't turn her into a leader, her father turned her into a monster.