ATLA: Azlua

Aftermath Part One

Azula slowly stood as well, her smile fading. "Of course it's different. You two are my subordinates. Duty comes before friendship."

Mai shook her head, her voice trembling with anger. "Now you're lying to yourself! You've never fully trusted us. I can't even talk to Zuko without your Dai Li spies reporting everything back to you."

Ty Lee moved to hold Mai back, her eyes wide with alarm. "Mai, please—"

Mai shrugged Ty Lee off, her face twisted with fury. "This is exactly what I mean! Friends don't do this! I had friends with the rebels who trusted me, and we trusted each other! What we have here is nothing but control and fear."

Azula's eyes narrowed, a low growl escaping her throat. "Trust is for fools. If you had any sense—"

"Shut up!" Mai shouted, her voice cracking. "Stop doing that! Stop hiding behind your father's twisted teachings. Trust is what I need, what we need. You told us to follow you, but to do that, we need to trust each other, and you know what? I don't trust you."

Blue flames flickered to life in Azula's hand, her eyes blazing with fury. Ty Lee, now on the verge of tears, stepped between them, her hands outstretched. "Okay, let's take five, alright? Let's just cool off—"

Mai shook her head, her voice dripping with contempt. "No, Ty Lee. You might be able to blindly follow her like an obedient puppy, but I can't."

Ty Lee recoiled as if she had been slapped, her face crumpling in hurt. Azula's voice was icy, her eyes locked on Mai. "Mai, tread carefully. Your achievements so far are the only reason I haven't burned you to ash."

Mai's expression darkened, and she grabbed Azula's flaming hand, pressing it against her own cheek. The flames licked at her skin, but she didn't flinch. "Then do it. Be like your father. Burn me. Because that's where zero trust gets you. I killed one of my friends for you. Hong Li was my friend, and I killed him for you. Because you hold the one I love hostage. It was an act taken out of fear, not loyalty. So use that clever head of yours and choose."

Azula's eyes widened, her anger faltering for just a moment. She hadn't expected this—Mai's defiance, her raw emotion, her willingness to die to prove a point. The flames in her hand flickered, her resolve wavering. She could feel the eyes on her, the weight of Ty Lee's tears, and Mai's desperate, angry gaze.

Azula's own emotions churned within her. For so long, she had believed that trust was weakness, that vulnerability would destroy her. Her father had drilled it into her, over and over, until it was the only truth she knew. And yet, here stood Mai, challenging her, demanding that she change. Demanding that she become something more.

The blue flames dissipated, leaving only Azula's bare hand. She stepped back, looking at both Mai and Ty Lee. Her voice, when she spoke, was softer—not gentle, but not as sharp as before.

"Mai, Ty Lee... you both are invaluable to me," she said, the words carefully chosen. "But I cannot trust you. I don't think I'm capable of trusting anyone completely. But I can try." She turned her gaze to Mai, her expression unreadable. "The surveillance on Zuko will be lifted. He will remain on the island, but you may visit him without a Dai Li escort. Ty Lee... don't follow me."

With that, Azula turned on her heel and walked out of the room, her footsteps echoing in the silence she left behind.

After Azula left the room, the tension hung in the air like a thick fog. Mai and Ty Lee stood there, staring at the door, neither of them quite sure what to say. The intensity of the argument seemed to echo in the silence, and it was clear that the wounds left by Azula's words were still raw.

Ty Lee turned to Mai, her wide, hopeful eyes searching her friend's expression for some sign of reconciliation, but Mai's face was closed off. Her jaw clenched, her eyes narrowed, her mind clearly elsewhere.