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Azula hadn't had alot of luck with the Sensoriums before, typically they reflected her own shattered psych and that was miserable for her on every level.

But with Zuko's help ~~sucker~~ Azula had found ways to calm her mind when it began whirling too fast.

It was all about fire, the life giver, the destroyer. The fire inside her that kept her going.

And so she entered the Sensorium today with a controlled confident walk and brought the world up around her.

Fire Nation Capital during the Fire Days Festival had always been one of Azula's favorite times in the past. She could walk through the festival with respect and without fear. People moved to let her pass, she never had to stand in line for the things she wanted to buy and the entertainment was always top class.

And it didn't hurt that she had gone to more then a few of these with Mai and Ty Lee.

Still this recreation didn't fill her with the warmth and nostalgia she had been hoping for. She moved through the crowd of simulations quietly and felt something else, something different and all together unpleasant.

Regret? Homesick?

The stalls of colorful masks and puppets, spicy food and beautiful trinkets did little distract her from this and she turned her eyes to the sky as beautiful golden paper lanterns glistened and began to lift into the sky powered by the flames of her people.

"How many of you even wondered where I vanished to?" She wondered out loud though none of them made notice. "Did even one of you object to his rule? Or were you all too pathetic and cowardly to even consider getting involved in your own futures?"

She looked back to the lights in the sky and tried to focus on the fire again. Even if this simulation wasn't pleasing her she wouldn't let her own delicate mental state ruin her festival.

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"I suspect even with training, it can be both of those things if it needs to be. To the person on the other side of a conflict." But that wasn't a criticism, just an amused observation.

"There is a reason we are unsurpassed in size and strength and size." She bragged "For the nation with the smallest landmass we have proven ourselves superior."

...She seemed a bit hung up on the size thing.

"It's a lovely city, I have to say. Festival or not. It has a real touch for flair that I like. You don't see that in cities I know, not any more..."

A better time, maybe. When magic hadn't been completely chased out of the world. Thinking about it was enough to make him just the slightest bit somber.

"Why is that?" Azula inquired taking a seat on a stone bench watching him carefully. "Were you the only one who appreciated it?"

"Oh, it's a long story." He flopped down onto the stone bench too, a respectful distance apart from her. Gesturing at the fire dancers, he said, "A long time ago, things like magic and the supernatural used to be common, and open. But that scares people who don't have powers. A group of people started using technology to rub magic out of the world... and over time, they mostly succeeded. But when magic became a hidden thing, so did the parts of the human spirit that believed in it, and the world became a lot colder. It lost most of its soul."

Azula nodded thoughtfully, "People often fear that which they don't understand. And that which they fear they lash out upon."

After a moment, "Perhaps when your world is restored you'll have the opportunity to put right the follies of such people." Azula surprised herself with such an optimistic thought. Maybe it was just something she hoped for herself.

"That depends on how, I guess..." Not about to get optimistic, he nevertheless felt a little cheered. He had no personal doubt that someway, somehow, they'd manage to put the universe to rights again, but it was still reassuring to hear someone else speak of it as a matter of certainty. "It won't be easy, but what ever is that's worth doing?"

"An old saying, but as true now as it ever has been." Azula agreed with a silky smooth smile, "We have amassed an army of individuals, each of some significance in one way or another even down to the most mundane peasant. We have technology that the people of my world could never even dream of." She gazed up at the simulated night sky, "And...at the risk of sounding utterly childish we have one more thing that has propelled my people to the greatest heights of perfection." She brought her gaze back down and in her eyes was the flame of ambition, "The will to succeed. At any cost."

Any cost? He wasn't sure about any cost... but he rather suspected that the costs he would be called upon to pay certainly wouldn't be unreasonable by any stretch. And so he smiled, and nodded.

After a moment, he said, "Ever considered giving lessons in this?" He tipped his head to indicate the firebending still producing its spectacle on stage.

Azula seemed amused by the idea, "Well the only other Firebender from my world is my brother..so no I suppose I haven't." The idea of her taking a student was charming enough. She'd like someone young and innocent enough she could mold their brains how she liked.

"Well, I may not be from your world, but I can do something pretty similar with my own chi. I'm always interested in improving my skills, and you might just have given me the impression that you're pretty good at it," he said with a wink.

Neither young nor innocent, is our Morgan, though.

Azula felt him stroking her pride and appreciated it, "I'm what they refer to as a prodigy." She said rather immodestly. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to offer my knowledge to our crew, those who have the gift of flame." Not that she would straight out offer to him.

"I wonder how many people actually could do it the way you do. From everything I see, it looks like you just control it with movement of your body?"

It looked remarkably close to his own technique, actually, though that wasn't surprising.

"If not performing exactly as I do if nothing else it may improve their technique."

She rose to her feet and began moving through some basic stances.

He watched her curiously, analyzing her motions as a matter of reflex.

"You're good," he said. He could tell that much just from her basic motions; after all, those most fundamental movements were the foundation of everything else. "Almost all your life, I bet?"

"Since I was able to." Azula acknowledged, "My perfection however has suffered due to my recent time spent locked away."

"That could be a hindrance, yes," he said, leaving it up to her to explain why she was locked up, or not, as she preferred. "It hasn't suffered terribly, though, to watch you move."

That little stroke to her ego didn't hurt. And now feeling compelled to back up her claims she launched into a complex maneuver of kick combinations and lashing out both high and low in blurs of movements and spurts of orange and red flame.

The sensorium people moved out of her way as she danced through the street in combat form. One could see where each strike would leave an opponent broken or burned.

Exactly what he'd expect a style based on the element of fire to look like. He rose from the bench, following a respectful distance behind as she moved.

No... he definitely wanted to learn from her, now. Or at least train. His own preferred style would be disadvantaged against hers, which meant he ought to get busy breaking himself of preferences.

When she finally came to a stop she was sweating and didn't look as pleased with herself anymore. "While there are some...flaws. You get the general idea." The flaws were mostly evident only to herself and her nature as a perfectionist, the most painful one being she still couldn't manage the blue flame in her more complex attempts at bending.

"No style is perfect," he said. Do might come close, but even it was a perfect style reflected on imperfect practitioners. "My preferred style is closer to aikido, a lot more throws and redirection, so if I used that you'd probably beat me pretty handily. But it was certainly nice to watch no matter what."

Azula brushed her bangs back into place and gentle set herself back onto the bench, "Then perhaps it's your turn for a demonstration?" Her eyes picked over him with intense interest. Watching and learning from other styles could be the key she'd been looking for!

"I'm the last person to brush off a lady's commands," he said with a grandiose bow. "Any requests? I like to think of myself as versatile, after all."

"Hmm..."

The crowd parted and some targets appeared, a bald boy, a dark haired young man with a scar on his eye, a dark skinned boy and girl in blue, and a tall bored looking girl with pale skin.

"Let's see how you dispose of them."

A more cynical person might actually suspect that she'd chosen these four for a reason.

"Any rules? Weapons, whatnot?" He looked over his four opponents cautiously as he waited for her response.