Helpless.

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

In the back of her cell Azula slumped against the wall. Between the pale exhausted look on her face and the empty eyes gazing at the transparent wall of her cell she looked dead to the world.

She knew something was wrong with her. That much was painfully clear no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise. But she wasn't crazy! No. Never. Not the Princess of the Fire Nation, not the rightful heir to the throne.

She was just...sick. Yes. She had caught something. Like when a fever got too strong or when one drank too much wine.

No, she had been infected! That had to be it. That's when things began to go downhill. Mai must have had some kind of poison on her knives, or maybe the servants back at the palace...

The palace was gone. That's what everyone kept telling her. The fire nation, the world was gone.

Her father was gone...

She hadn't seen her father since he left to complete his destiny and take over the world. Only through what Zuko and the Doctors had told her did she know his fate. A war criminal.

His powers stripped...just a man now.

She still could create fire for now. But what if the Avatar tried to take it from her like he had her father?

What else could they take?

Images flashing through her mind. Medications, procedures. Those unsettling tentacles that belonged to the voice in her head, the world around her. "Stacy" How dare she speak in such a kind an loving voice? Azula knew better. Azula knew what sort of damage love could bring.

What was the voice plotting to do to her while it spoke so sweetly? Her mind? Not if she had any say! And why shouldn't she!? She is Princess Azula! From Birth her destiny was perfection and greatness. The heavens above had sent to the planet the perfect girl, born to the man destined to rule the world.

...or so they'd thought.

But he was gone, they were gone the world was gone! Azula too...must be gone.

Yes, that made more sense didn't it? Azula had died...no was killed. MURDERED! Murdered by those so called "Doctors" that had promised they wouldn't hurt her. That they only wanted to help her! Zuko probably gave them the order! Kill her so he wouldn't have to worry anymore about the only loyal family their Father had left.

Father...

These thoughts and more swirled about in her fractured mind but her body never moved, barely blinked. You couldn't even really tell she was breathing.

This was all that was left, of the Proud Princess Azula.

Comments

[kungfu-sexnun.livejournal.com]

This . . . doesn't look like a nice place.

And yet, Nima hasn't turned back yet. Being a bender doesn't necessarily mean letting go of fear, but it does mean having a certain amount of confidence in your ability to get out of a bad situation.

And surely if she could come across anything terrible on this ship, somebody would have warned her by now.

So when she realizes she's found a prison, she hesitates for a moment - but not before spotting a girl in one of the cells, still almost as death, looking sick and tormented.

Compassionate response is a-go.

"My friend? Are you all right?"

A dark-haired girl with familiar arrows is peering into Azula's cell, getting closer to the bars than she should.

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

A voice in her head asking such a foolish question.

Or was it?

As the world swam into focus again Azula blinked slowly. Her glazed eyes traveled slowly along the figure on the other side of the invisible wall that kept her in this hole.

She was not unattractive. No where near as beautiful as Azula once had been, but there was something unsettling about this new vision. Those eyes that positively dripped compassion. The soft concern in her voice.

It made her sick.

And just as she opened her mouth to speak to the vision, demand it give her some peace in this tiny hell her eyes settled on the arrow.

Yes...THAT arrow.

Suddenly her eyes became sharp, frightened and angry all at the same time. Her voice was horse from all the screaming she had done already as it rasped out, "Who are you?"

[kungfu-sexnun.livejournal.com]

"Don't be afraid."

She opens her hands to the girl, demonstrating her lack of weapons. "I'm just exploring. I'm Sister Nima, of the Eastern Air Temple. What's your name?"

She wonders if this prisoner has been mistreated. Her voice is so raspy, and she looks so frightened. Nima is aware that prisoners are sometimes mistreated, but if Stacy would save her people from annihilation, and by saving them keep hope alive for the rest of the Nations, why would she hurt a poor girl in her prisons?

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

"An air nomad..." Azula's eyes snapped open and a shiver started somewhere in the center of her body and began to creep along her body as information began to whirl through her mind. They were a weak foolish people. Tiny and pathetic, the fire nation was performing a mercy by ending their lives before the war really took off.

"Impossible." She determined, "Another vision." She mumbled turning away.

[twilit-midna.livejournal.com]

"You're not looking so great, Princess."

Midna had ventured out here once she'd heard about the whole 'thrown in the brig' thing. Sure, Azula had seemed unstable, even dangerous, but she hadn't actually attacked Midna. So. What had set her off?

"Although I guess you're not supposed to, this being a prison and all."

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

Azula heard another voice and...there was that creature again.

"I still haven't figured out what you are." Her eyes settled in Midna's general direction but seemed to look through her at something that wasn't there. "No creature from my experience."

[twilit-midna.livejournal.com]

Midna grinned, a toothy expression that lit up her entire face. "Didn't I tell you that you could call me Midna? So don't sweat the little stuff."

She leaned back in mid-air, staring right back. "Glad to see you remember me."

[knifeurrib.livejournal.com]

She couldn't kill her. Not here, not in a cell. As much as she would like to, she was being watched. Mai honestly didn't know why she'd come - maybe to see her again for herself. Maybe to talk. Possibly because she wanted to send a clear message.

Whatever brought her here, Mai was standing beyond the bars, watching Azula quite closely for any sign of movement or aggression.

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in the visions of her madness Mai appeared. Lovely. Perhaps Ty Lee was near as well?

She tried to find her voice to call out to Mai but no sound came. She felt strangled suddenly by the plant suit and reached up to pull at the collar. It was cold as ice and so tight! She had to get it off so she could speak. Her face grew flushed because Mai was there to witness her helplessness.

She brought both hands up to her neck and began to scratch at the collar, digging her nails into her own flesh until they were stained with blood.

A cry of pain burst from her lips and she panted, finally the air seemed to come. Stacy had tried to kill her, or so she thought. Just another stroke of madness.

"You were right." She rasped at Mai her wild unstable eyes on her friends. She had a twisted sort of smile, cruel and sharp, "You're still right."

[knifeurrib.livejournal.com]

Mai watched with a sense of horrified fascination as Azula started to scrabble at her own neck, struggling with the plantsuit for some reason. There was blood. And then Azula smiled at her. Smiled and spoke and told her she was right.

"I know that."

She took a step closer to the bars to look down at the former princess. It was almost sad.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew. If you every try to hurt Zuko again? I'll kill you. The others, they'll listen to the Avatar. They won't try to hurt you. But me? I don't care what the Avatar thinks."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"The hell is this?" said an arrogant book.

Yeah, here he was again, trying to fix things. Why the hell did he even try?

"Princess," he added after a moment.

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

All that elected was a groan from her and she closed her eyes sinking lower to the ground. She was too tired to deal with this hallucination again. "Go away." she ordered in her best "Annoyed princess voice."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"...Why would you even think that would work?" Zetta asked, establishing a new bar of hypocrisy for himself.

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

She had heard about the fight, and how hurt some of the crew members were, even friends. But she couldn't help but worry that maybe it was too big of a blow for someone who had just come out of the pods.

So she made her way down to the brig, if anything to see how the newest denizen of it's depths was doing, and maybe offer her some of the tea she had made.

"H-hey... Are you okay in there?" Yeah stupid question Ronnie, what do you think? she shook her head and just looked back to Azula shyly.

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

Azula's gaze remained blank and empty as she sat still as a stone. The voice drifting through her head was unfamiliar and nervous. Something she wasn't used to hearing.

it reminded her of something.

"Make sure to take all the pits out this time." She mumbled mistaking Ronnae for one of her servant girls.

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

She tilted her head curiously, "I... I assure you the tea has no pits miss..."

She knew that look all too well... she wore it a lot of times back then, and that made her feel worse for her.

"I h-have some if you want it... It's strawberry mint tea."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

She didn't think she should be here.

That was an understatement of course. Being here was just a reminder of when she had been here, for all Mai's talk she had never been in the brig. Kaya had. There was a moment of quiet nostalgia, until Kaya realized most of the people she knew from here were podded, and it made her sad. For a moment.

Then she got a hold of Azula, proud, deadly, insane Azula. For so long Azula had represented the anti-thesis of what Katara had bee about: fair play, respect, gentleness, all lost to this monster of the Fire Nation, this cruel person that had made her, in mere seconds, contemplate ending her life.

Too much power for a person to have, even if she didn't know it.

"So you're the great Azula," Kaya said, looking her over. "Huh. I guess you're more imposing when you aren't in what you might call 'peasant clothing.'"

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

Azula didn't stir from her position, didn't turn to look at Kaya, just remained on the floor, her head tilted slightly. Only blinking slow and not often.

Finally she spoke, "Voices...noise, that's all it is. Voices talking at me, through me, in me. Don't listen, don't trust them. Can't trust them. They'll lie to you Azula...but you know better." Talking to herself her lips barely moved. Her voice was raspy and dry though she was covered in a cold sweat.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya sighed. "You know, not to interrupt your little...whatever that is, but I did come down here to tell you something. I told it to someone who was too pathetic to waste my time with, but I learned. So now, I'll tell it to you."

And right about now, her voice was serious.

"Those guys, they don't remember me, and they could say what they want, I'm not in their GAang. So its simple: if you ever try what you did before, with Zuko? I will end you. That's all. Mai can say she will all she wants, but she isn't a bender and she knows it. I am, and I was trained by the person that beat you. Don't think I would hold back."

[8wings.livejournal.com]

She knew that face. Not the person, she didn't even know her name. But she knew that expression of utter dazed hopelessness that went with the feeling that your mind was steel blocks being slammed together between your ears, clashing and crushing and screeching against the walls of your skull. Even in the few instants she'd seen her on the Obs Deck, fire flying like tears, she knew.

She's seen that look in the mirror.

"Hello," she said softly. "My name is Anwei. May I ask you a question?"

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

Another voice, another question, was this one in her head?

No, it was another one of those hallucinations wasn't it? No it wasn't anyone she knew. It wasn't a talking object either.

A doctor perhaps? Yes. She was soft like a doctor. Another one of those "Specialists" who would put her in another room, probably strapped down so she couldn't burn anyone.

"Probably." she heard a voice say and it took her a moment before she realized it was her own. It sounded nothing like she remembered herself sounding. Where was the commanding power and charisma?

[8wings.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," she said. Because that was what she remembered from those times; times when her mind seemed to be a wailing child lost in her head, surrounded by shadows, jerking her limbs at random. She remembered those few people who had been kind, who had treated her as a person, not as a thing or a monster or a toy.

"My question is, do you know what you need?"

[complicatedcop]

There was the click of something in her meatsuit pocket as she came in.

The security cameras in the brig recorded the most uncanny conversation they'd likely ever recorded as Zam pulled up a chair to Azula's cell and sat backwards on it.

"This your big plan, kid? Rotting in here?"

[burnedbrighter.livejournal.com]

"A minor setback." During what sounded like uncanny lucidity compared to the rest of her conversations from that day. It couldn't last of coarse. "I'll escape this prison soon enough and my revenge shall be had."

She didn't blink, didn't move. Just answered honestly watching this newcomer suspiciously.

[complicatedcop]

"And then what? You'll get killed in the process. Or after. For someone who seems to have some pretty damn high ambitions, that seems like a waste to me."