Who we were • The 100 Backstory Book

•Azula•

The girl stood in the forest, her eyes watching. She didn't blink as she looked around, taking in everything.
The charred remains of her childhood house were still standing, and she could clearly make out the different rooms. the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen.
this was where it had started, the first chain of events that had made her- well, her. The dark, ever-changing shell that was herself.

She didn't know who she was now, how different she was from then. The grounder was strong, but she needed to relive the past to carry on in the future. Azula closed her eyes as she fell to her knees.

the girl was much younger, sitting in a wicker chair. She giggled as her father danced around the room, a ceramic pot in his hand. he lay it on the table for a moment to sweep the little girl up in his arms.

"Spin me around!" She called as she was lifted up into the air. Her father laughed, and with a wink did as she said. The girl let out a scream of laughter as she flew through the air.

"Again! Again!" She cried as her father put her down.

"Honey, do you want diner or not?" He said to her, a twinkle in his eye. Azula sighed, and nodded a few times.

Her father resumed cooking, whisking egg whites while singing a song. The little girl bounced up and down as she sang along.

"Through the trees and the glade
through the forest and the rain
I will always come back to you because I-"

knock knock knock.

The young girl and her father stopped signing abruptly. She climbed down from her chair, running over to the door.

"I'll get it!" She called to her father, who only nodded in return. he knew what was going to happen now. he had suspected it for a long time.

"Hello?" She said as she opened the door. There was nobody there. The girl looked left and right, then left and right again. To her dismay, even the gardens were void of life.

"Nobody's here, daddy." she said as she marched back into the kitchen. Her father, who had stopped cooking, was looking grimly out the window, unresponsive to her statement.

"Daddy?" she asked, coming up beside him and clinging to his leg. he blinked a few times before looking down and picking his daughter up.

"Darling Azula, can you do me a favour?" he asked as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She nodded, a huge smile on her face.

"I need you to go find some wild mint in the forest. There should be some by the Great Tree." He said, picking her up. Azula followed his gaze out the window, finding the biggest tree in the forest.

"Okay daddy! you can put me down now!" She said happily, squirming to get down.

Her father smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead. She lept down, a spring in her step and dashed out the doorway. She made it to the tree easily, although it was a long journey for a five year old. She bent down, collecting the mint. As she raised it to her nose to take a sniff, she smelled something else. Like a fire.

"Daddy?" she called as she stood up, facing the direction of her house. Smoke.

The girl started to run, forgetting all about the mint. She dashed through the forest with an urgency to see her father, see her family. As she reached the edge of the forest, she could see her house.

It was engulfed in flames.

"Daddy!" She cried, running to the burning fire. It was hot- too hot. but where was her father?

"DADDY!" Azula fought against the heat, pushing deeper into the house. She was in the kitchen now, where was her dad?

There! Crisp brown eyes, staring at her from another room. They looked sad, and angry. She hardly had time to yell out before a burning plank, falling from the ceiling obscured her vision. He was gone, and she was trapped.

Azula looked up from the memory. She could still feel the heat rushing over her body, still had the scars. She had escaped that burning house that night, and left at it everything she had ever loved. Sure, she had come to make new friends, but they had died too. Everyone she ever cared for was done, dead and gone.

Her mother- Left once she was born.

Her father- Burned alive.

Her loyal soldiers- Obliterated in rocket fire.

Azula had a sob story- but so did everyone else. it was a harsh world, and she was one of the only people able to accept that and move on.

She was going to fight. She was going to fight as hard as she could for her survival.

Everyone in her past- were weak.

And she was strong. She would bear the weight of the world if it meant she could survive.

So the grounder- the fighter- the soon to be second- stood from the ashes of her past and fought her way to the future.

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Full credit goes to: ObssessedRavenclaw