Zuko's Regression

Part Nine

Lei's stomach pinched in hunger. It must have been days since Mai's last visit, and only one tray of food had been slid to her in that time.
Lei felt like she was losing her mind. She wasn't healing as well as she should have been, most likely due to dehydration and starvation. Her only form of entertainment was the shadows on the walls from the lamp that never seemed to go out. If only Lei were a bender, she could have knocked the door down with a burst of flames, or destroyed the entire stone cell with a wave of rock, or even used her own sweat and blood to cut through the steel lock caging her. Alas, Lei didn't possess any of those abilities. She had never felt so pathetically helpless.
Perhaps that was why Azula allowed her to live. She wanted Lei to feel small and powerless. She wanted Lei to remember her place.
The sound of footsteps down the hall was followed by the clicking of the lock. Lei didn't even bother to look up.
"I'm not kissing you again," Lei groaned. "Not unless you brought me a roasted turtle-duck."
"As if I would ever muddy myself with your sort," a voice dripping with disdain replied. "I'm not my brother."
Lei raised her head. Azula stood framed in the doorway.
"How can I help you?" Lei asked dryly.
"I want you to see something," Azula said with a smile.
Lei was too weak to resist as the fire princess clamped heavy chains over her wrists, securing her arms behind her back. A gag was inserted into her mouth.
"Walk," Azula commanded.
Lei heaved herself up from the floor. Her head swam and her vision blurred for a moment. Every bit of pain she had felt since her capture came back with a vengeance. Lei bit down on the gag and forced her legs to move.
The princess walked behind her, giving directions at every intersection in the vast hallways. Lei begrudgingly followed orders. She couldn't outrun a toddler in her state and one wrong move would no doubt end with her burned to a crisp.
Whatever game Azula was playing, Lei had no choice but to fill her role.
Lei was led like a mouse-dog on a lead to what looked like some sort of bedroom: if a bedroom could be as big as an entire block in the slums of Ba Sing Se. The bed alone was bigger than the entire upper floor of Lei's old apothecary.
Princess Azula grabbed hold of the chains restraining Lei's arms and pulled her to the balcony.
The fresh air was like a blessing against Lei's skin.
Lei turned her gaze to the sky and saw to her dismay that she had been trapped here even longer than she thought. The position of the stars and phase of the moon indicated that the solar eclipse was nearly upon them. Lei was no expert and couldn't be sure, but she guessed they only had a day or two until the eclipse.
"Yes the stars are beautiful," Azula sighed whimsically, "but the real show is there."
Azula very intentionally pointed with her hand which wasn't missing two fingers. Lei knew it was a bad idea, but she followed Azula's prompting anyway.
Another balcony was visible a short distance away. Lei had to crane her neck slightly to get a clear look.
Zuko stood with his arms resting against the balcony's edge.
Lei's heart ached at the sight of him. She almost didn't recognize him. His hair had been pulled up in a similar fashion to Azula's. He wore a severe looking fire nation outfit, embezzled with gold and red and black. He looked like a prince. He looked like an enemy.
Dressed up like he was, Lei could see the resemblance between Zuko and his sister. With a shudder, she could even piece together his resemblance to the portraits of the fire lord Lei had seen.
Lei sent out a silent plea for him to lean out further and look her way. He didn't. Instead, a new figure joined him on his balcony: Mai.
Lei pulled on her restraints slightly as Mai placed one hand on Zuko's shoulder. He turned to the girl beside him and they spoke to each other in hushed tones. They were far enough away that Lei couldn't tell what they were saying, but it didn't look like a conversation between enemies.
Lei was helpless to do anything but watch as Mai took Zuko's hand and entwined their fingers. Lei waited for Zuko to pull away, but he didn't. He turned so that he faced Mai fully. They continued to speak softly as Mai's hand inched up his shoulder to rest on the nape of his neck.
Lei grunted and pulled against her restraints harder. Azula giggled softly behind her, but didn't comment.
Lei felt a physical pain stab through her heart as Mai leaned forward and kissed Zuko. The knife twisted when Zuko didn't pull away. The knife yanked free and her heart stopped as he touched Mai's waist and gently pulled her flush against him. It was the same thing he had done to Lei countless times.
An involuntary whine escaped Lei's throat as she watched the man she loved kiss someone else.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Azula hissed in Lei's ear. Lei had almost forgotten the fire princess was behind her.
Hot tears made from a mixture of heartbreak, betrayal, and anger spilled down her face.
"Now you understand how poor Mai felt when she learned some disgusting, pathetic earthen girl had stolen Zuko from her."
Lei grit her teeth to hold back a sob.
"I'm so happy for her," Azula whispered. "Aren't you?"
Lei could only watch as Mai gently tugged Zuko away from the balcony and out of sight. She didn't want to think about what might happen next.
"That was fun," Azula said with uncanny exuberance. "Now that you have really experienced everything you inflicted upon me and my friends, I can finally kill you."
Lei's knees buckled underneath her. She couldn't fight. She could barely even move. She didn't want to die like this.
"Ugh," Azula groaned. "Could you at least try not to be so pathetic?"
Lei suppressed the sobs that wanted to tear through her body. Now was not the time to panic or lose control. She was facing an enemy. She had to be smart.
"Even I don't want to kill you like this," Azula sniffed. "Maybe Ty Lee is rubbing off on me."
Lei doubted it.
"There's no rush really," Azula continued with an air of blaise. "I'll just kill you in the morning."
It was almost a relief to be back in her cell.
Though she knew it was pathetic and weak and that she didn't have the hydration to spare, Lei curled up in a ball and allowed herself to sob.