Disgraced, Used, and Abused

High Tensions

Azula laughs as she listens to Fei Fei tell the story of how the two of them got trapped inside a restaurant for a night. "And so," Fei Fei continues. "We had nothing to do but use a metal bar and break the windows! Thankfully, the store owners didn't hate us, so they let us off scot-free."

"They only did that because Madam Akako promised them "compensation" for the crime we committed," Azula remarks, rolling her eyes as she drinks some of Iroh's tea.

"Or," Fei Fei points out. "What if we were so beautiful they thought we were angels from the heavens?"

"Or," Azula continues. "Maybe you're schizo and need to take your meds."

"Honey, that's you,"

Zuko chuckles as he places his tea on the coffee table. "You two always bicker. How do you not hate each other?"

"How could I ever hate 'Zula?" Fei smiles as she shrugs. "I don't think I know a single person who hates her."

"Well," Ty Lee starts. "Look around the room. I can name at least 3."

"Tell me about it," Suki silently remarks as she takes a sip of her tea. "She isn't a saint."

"I know," Azula replies sternly, looking at Suki with an annoyed expression. "But I'm not the devil either."

Ty Lee scoffs. "You are to some."

An awkward silence fills the room as Ty Lee and Azula stare each other down.

"Um," Zuko laughs awkwardly. "Why don't I take Fei Fei on a tour of this airship?"

"Great idea!" Suki replies as she grabs Fei Fei by the arm. "Let's go and talk together, yeah? Earth Kingdom style!"

"Ight," Fei Fei laughs as she gives Azula a knowing look and walks out of the room. Azula rolls her eyes as her brother tries to hold back his laugh as he walks out with the two.

"What's your problem?" Azula asks Ty Lee when everyone left the room. "I know I'm not your favorite person in the world but why the fuck are you making things so awkward?"

"You really need to ask?" Ty Lee stands up, enraged. "You know what? You're a bitch! I mean, when we were younger, all you could do was push me down and treat me like a second-class citizen. But now what? You've "changed." Bull shit. I know who you really are Azula, you're a narcissistic cunt who thinks everyone is beneath you. That's why I chose Mai over you! Because you never cared about us, any of us! All you would do is use us as ponds. Now you have a shiny new chess piece to play with and it's aggravating!"

Azula scoffs as she stands up as well. "I did care, I cared a lot! Why do you think I went insane? Oh, because Zuko ran away? Because Mai betrayed me? No! Because you did! The one person I thought had my back betrayed me!"

"Why do you think I did that Azula?" Ty Lee cries out. "I'll tell you, you tried to kill Mai!"

"I was hurt when Mai betrayed me," Azula states calmly, slightly scaring Ty Lee at the sudden change in emotion. "But I knew she would eventually. She loved Zuko and I knew it. But you? Ty, you were my best friend. I cared about you more than anyone else, and you really hurt me. I went fucking insane because of it. So you can stand there and call me a bad person, but never EVER say that I didn't care."

A small tear falls down Ty Lee's cheek. She closes her eyes and uses her palms to rub it away. "It sure didn't seem like it!" She looks at Azula with anger. "You forced me away from my home, my dreams just so you could hunt down your brother. And you ask yourself why everyone hates you. I can give you the answer because you don't let anyone actually love you."

"I know this might be hard to believe," Azula starts sarcastically. "But I was going through something called, "Indoctrination." What, did the circus fry your brain off?"

"Just admit that you didn't actually care about me,"

"But I did,"

"Then why did you never act like it?!" Ty Lee screams.

"Think about it," Azula starts. "You know my father, you know how he treated me. You know what values he taught me, what ideas he told me to believe. I was told that the only way to obtain loyalty was to use fear. I am sorry about what I did to you, but you have to understand why I did what I did."

Azula grabs Ty Lee's hands, bringing the girl closer to her. Ty Lee scoffs at the sense of de ja vu overflowing her as she remembers that this is how they used to comfort each other when they were teenagers. "I hate you," The acrobat says silently before bringing Azula to a warm hug. "But," She says as she sobs into Azula's shoulder. "I think you've changed. You're aura's different."

"You still believe in that shit?"

"I just forgave you, don't ruin it," Azula laughs at this, hugging the acrobat back and resting her head on her shoulder.

"We good?"

"Yeah," Ty Lee smiles as she breaks the hug. "When did you start speaking like that?"

"Like what?" Azula questions in genuine curiosity.

"Like you're from a gang in the Earth Kingdom?"

"When I join a group of illegal prostitutes."

"We-...We need to catch up," The acrobat remarks as she leads Azula back to the table to sit down.

"Remember that one time," Ty Lee laughs as she picks up her tea. "When you tried to flirt with Chan at the beach house but he rejected you so hard you burned it down."

"Shit," Azula chuckles as she rubs her temples. "Had to bring that up. Worst. Memory. Ever."

"I know, that's why I brought it up,"

The two girls laugh as they sit back down, drinking their tea. Azula smiles as she looks out the window to see the beautiful horizon in front of her. "I'm fond of those memories."

"There's the Azula I know," Ty Lee points out. "All diplomatic and stuff."

"The Azula you knew died a long time ago," Azula replies, picking up her tea and drinking it. "Ya' got anything stronger?"

"Just because I forgave you doesn't mean I'm allowing you to drink again," The Kyoshi warrior says sternly. "You need help 'Zula."

The Princess shivers at this comment, bringing her knees to her chest in a sigh. "I know."

"I mean," Ty Lee continues. "How did the drug addiction start?"

"Well," Azula scoffs. "When you're fucking disgusting old men, you want something to help clear your head. Fortunately, for Fei Fei, she chose something non-addictive to smoke. But like a dumbass, I thought that I needed something stronger. Look where we are now."

Ty Lee gives Azula a pitying smile. "You'll get through it."

"Bull shit," The Princess replies, drinking the last of her tea. "You know that Ruby Tears are legal in the lower Rings of Ba Sing Se? The emperor is some idiot who didn't thoroughly check through his laws. Anywhere in town, you can get it."

"That-"

"Insane? Stupid? Tell me about it. The man needs better advisors," Azula says nonchalantly as she rubs her temples.

"When did you start?" Ty Lee questions, staring at the other girl intently.

"About 3 years after running away," The Princess answers. "Helped with the voices." She says quietly.

"Helped? There's an ed in that," The acrobat says worryingly. "It doesn't anymore?"

"What are you? Some kind of therapist?" Azula leans back into her chair and looks the other way.

"You've said too much," Her father tells her loudly. "Such an embarrassment, trusting someone so blindly. Trust is for fools, girl."

"Yeah," Azula answers. "It helped. Doesn't anymore, even if I take a heavy dosage." A small tear falls down Azula's face as she turns to look at Ty Lee. "I'm trusting you with this. If you break my trust I'll break your neck."