Disgraced [Princess Azula]

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"ℍ𝕆𝕎 𝔻𝕀𝔻 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝔽𝕀ℕ𝔻 out about this place?" Kyan asked softly. He didn't want to raise his voice because he didn't want to disturb the dead. This was their final resting place; they didn't deserve to be woken up because of a careless boy. "I assume that the Fire Lord didn't take you on a picnic here when you were younger."

"Taking a little girl on a picnic in a graveyard sounds traumatic," Azula replied. Her eyes were unfocused as they gazed at the gravestones around them. The fog bore down around them, pushing them closer to each other. "No, of course not. I doubt my father even knows about this place. If he does, he doesn't care about this garden."

"How did you find out about this place?" he repeated.

"My mother." Azula's gaze hardened as she glared at a gravestone. If she could've, she would've been burning a hole through the stone. "She used to come here to think. Just like me, I guess. But that's the only thing we ever had in common."

"Had?"

"She's gone. Been gone for a long time."

Azula pulled Kyan toward a mausoleum. He didn't want to go into the small building because he didn't want to see a dead body. He was glad that she stopped outside of it. She sat down, leaning her back against the wall of the mausoleum. He sat down next to her, facing the gravestones in front of them.

"Why were you in that place if you're the princess of the Fire Nation?" Kyan asked her suddenly. 

"Even princesses can lose their minds." She laughed mirthlessly. There was no trace of humor in it at all, just a sense of melancholy. "I used to be the favorite royal child. Now, I'm not. It's Zuko. Before I came to that place, I heard rumors that I was being called the 'Disgraced Princess' because of my supposed psychotic break."

"Supposed? What does that mean?"

"I never really thought that I broke," she said, shaking her head. Her uneven hair fell around her shoulders and in her face, but she didn't bother to brush the strands away. "Zuko did, but I've always been like this. My head has always been telling me lies, but I never listened to them until my friends betrayed me." Kyan watched as she picked at the hem of her shirt. "That was all that happened to me."

"I didn't even have a psychotic break," Kyan said softly. "I have always had a strong mind, but I was still put in that place for a reason." He dug his hands into the soft dirt with a frown on his face. "My father put me in that place. I have no idea why because he isn't really in my life that much. Just once a year or so. But the last time I saw him, people came out of the woods and got me. The strangest thing was that they called him a king."

Azula looked at him with suspicious eyes. "You don't know that your dad is a king?"

"No. As I said, he was never in my life much."

"Where are you from?"

"A city just outside of Ba Sing Se."

"Does your dad have these ridiculous round glasses?"

"Yeah." Kyan paused. He locked eyes with Azula, his frown deepening. "How do you know that?"

"Your father is the king of Ba Sing Se. I met him a few times."

Kyan wanted to pull his gaze away from Azula, to stare at the ground, but he didn't. Her eyes were like deep pools of magma, and if he looked away, he would get burned. "Does that mean I'm a prince?" he whispered.

"Yes, it does."

So many different emotions were rushing through Kyan that he couldn't focus on one. The girl in front of him was the only thing tethering him to this world. Everything behind her was out of focus, just like his memories. Were there things that his father did that were kingly? Not really. However, it made sense that he could only visit once or twice a year. He had a city to run and probably couldn't be bothered by a child. 

"Did he ever mention me?" Kyan asked her. "Did my father ever mention that he had a child at all?"

"No." Azula brushed his hair out of his face. There was almost something so gentle about that touch. "Does that mean that you're the illegitimate son of the Earth King?"

"I guess it does." He laced his fingers with hers and said, "I'm a disgraced prince, just like you are a disgraced princess." Kyan paused as she got even closer to him. She rested her head on his chest. When he breathed in, he could smell smoke all around her. "Maybe together, we make something better than that. Together, we aren't disgraced or anything like that. We are the king and queen of our world."

Kyan's mind hadn't been this clear in such a long time. Maybe it was the crisp air entering his lungs. Maybe it was the cool ground beneath him. Or maybe it was the girl in his arms. Whatever it was, he didn't want to let go of it. It gave him clarity and peace.

"That sounds nice," Azula whispered. "It would be a welcome relief for this mess I call a life."

"Right?"

"We probably shouldn't spend too much more time here," she said softly, lifting her head off of his chest. "I don't want to get caught, especially because we're right outside the Fire Nation palace."

Kyan didn't want to leave. This place was soft and quiet and didn't try to break into his fragile mind. Azula was right, it did clear his mind. Before she could stand back up, he wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him. Her eyes were open wide in shock.

"Before we leave, can I do one thing?"

Her eyes flicked down for a second before meeting his again. "Yes."

He pressed his lips against hers softly. He hadn't ever kissed anyone before, let alone a princess. Yet she kissed him back like he was doing something right. Everything else around them faded away, leaving just the two of them in this warm feeling traveling through his chest. Their lives had been interrupted by being put into the mental institution, but they wouldn't have been able to meet if they hadn't gone there. And if they hadn't met, he wouldn't have been saved from himself.

"There they are!"

Azula cursed against his lips before throwing herself out of his arms. Kyan blinked a few times, trying to pull himself out of the feeling from that kiss. When he could finally see again, he cursed, too. Somehow, the guards from the mental institution found them. They were circling Azula and Kyan, leaving barely any room to get out. 

He didn't want to go back to that place. He never wanted to go there again. His hand reached into the waistband of his pants, pulling out the metal thing he and Azula had made. He would use it against these guards just to get away from them.

"Don't try anything," one of the burly guards yelled at them. His gaze was directed toward Azula since she had her hands out, ready to blast them. "We won't hesitate to hurt you."

"It doesn't matter," Azula said. A look of fury appeared on her face. "I've been hurt before. It won't hurt me."

Most of the guards were focused on Azula, so he took his chance to run toward the walls of the garden. He had no idea how he would climb them, but he had to get out. "Stop!" a guard yelled.

Kyan picked up his speed and threw himself into a tree. His hands were climbing and climbing as fast as they could, but someone grabbed onto his long legs that were dangling down. The person pulled him out of the tree, and he slammed into the ground head-first. Spots appeared in his vision as the guard wrapped some cord around his wrists. He was captured again.

He glanced to the left and saw Azula battling the rest of the guards. Blue fire lit up the night around her. She kicked a guard down before jumping into the air. She lit two fires in her hands to use them as jet packs to get away. Kyan blinked a few times, and she was suddenly right next to him, bound up too. 

They both were captured again. And just like that, his mind turned into a cell again. He was trapped in there just like he was going to be trapped in that wretched place. He thought he was saved; it turned out that he was never safe in the first place.