Second Coat of Paint

Chapter 3

"Well, I think you should try it from time to time. See how good you can get with practice. Maybe even find a tutor."

The girl chuckled then, refreshing the paint on her brush. "A painting tutor? My father would lose it... I mean... Can you imagine? You can't."

"It's not such a crazy idea. Maybe you'd enjoy it." No one would hurt you in those lessons, Zyra had to stop herself from saying.

"I probably wouldn't. It sounds like a waste of time... I'm a Princess and drawing won't help me serve my nation. It won't help us win the war."

But it could help you feel happier.

There was some silence, while Zyra tried to get the shade of green exactly right for the grass.

"Thank you for not... Making a big deal out of Tuesday," Azula whispered, but made sure Zyra heard her. Tuesday. The day the little Princess collapsed into her arms and sobbed.

"Of course not. But I still stand by what I said. I'm here if you want to talk."

"I don't. Really." The girl diverted her gaze. "That was just a one-day blunder, I'm fine. I won't do that again."

"Azula, out of all the things I saw you do and say, that is definitely not the one you should be embarrassed of. It's perfectly normal." Zyra reached out and touched her shoulder. "I promise you."

"Well, I'm not upset anymore. I think that it's over now, I don't need to talk. My brother is the one who's taking it hard." The girl paused slightly there, like she wasn't going to continue, but did it anyway. "Every night, I hear him crying."

oooooooooo

Azula caught herself looking forward to working on the painting with Miss Omori. Looking forward to their talks too. The woman tried to ask about her mother, about Zuko and her friends, but they mostly talked about history. Azula read the new textbook she'd gotten cover to cover once already. She'd managed even though it took a lot of late-night reading under the light of her firebending. The teacher never shuddered at Azula's ideas or thoughts, even the ones that were particularly violent or merciless... She only offered a counter opinion, sometimes just smiled to herself. Azula even tried saying some truly heartless things, it wasn't hard to come up with them, she'd just quoted her father, but the woman still didn't look shocked, just offered her opinion.

The more time they spent together, the less Azula felt the need to challenge the woman in the classroom, so she stayed out of detention for a few consecutive days. Then one day Ty Lee tried a new hairstyle with two braids instead of one. Azula'd told her she didn't like it, and Ty Lee went to sit elsewhere during class. It was because of Miss Omori that she dared to do that without fearing the consequences. Azula wasn't just losing power there, it was nearly gone. Once Ty Lee had left, Azula heard Crooked and Chubs talking about Ty Lee's hair and chuckling. At least there was still one power she had. Azula set the fat girl's desk on fire and lied that she was aiming for her head.

Once she got to detention, Azula discovered Miss Omori had been working on the painting without her. She then insisted the addition wasn't good and made the woman paint over it in white. Azula tried to ignore it, but she couldn't. She cared about this stupid painting and she wanted to come to this room every day.

That's why the day after, when History class was almost over and she still hadn't gotten detention that day, she tripped Mouse over her foot as the girl was passing her desk for no reason. The day after that she called Crooked a low-born imbecile. And the day after that, she made Mouse cry by commenting on her singing voice.

"I know what you're doing, you know..." Miss Omori said one day, as Azula was painting the slight details of the water surface on the wall.

"I'm not really good at reflections, but I'm trying to make it-"