Chapter Text
“There’s nowhere else you’ve considered interning?” Ursa asked.
Azula sighed, rolling her eyes. Ursa had asked her this at least a hundred times now. It was exhausting. She expected so little of her mother yet she was always still disappointed.
They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Outside, it was raining hard. Ikem was at his office job, Kiyi was still asleep, and Zuko was already at Sokka’s because apparently if Zuko went a few waking hours without making out with his boyfriend he died. Science.
“No,” Azula said. She wanted to say something about how an internship at a private detective’s office should be something a mother could be proud of but she was trying to avoid guilt-tripping. According to Ursa, Ikem, Zuko, and even her therapist – who had taken their side of course – she had a habit of doing that.
“I’m just worried it will be dangerous.”
“As dangerous as leaving two of your children with a violent, manipulative psychopath for eight years while you live your romantic fantasy with your high school sweetheart?”
Shit. The words slipped out before Azula could bite her tongue. She was always doing that. Years of using her words like weapons died hard. Ursa looked like Azula had slapped her.
“I was brainwashed,” Ursa said. Right. Eight years of being drugged into forgetting everything about her old life. Ursa and Ikem were both in extensive therapy for the trauma Ozai had caused them. Azula’s own therapist loved to remind her that she wasn’t the only one that had suffered because of Ozai.
“And I helped lead the team that un-brainwashed you,” Azula reminded Ursa, keeping a steady voice. She didn’t let her regret over what she’d said show. She was still fuming. “I suppose you’d be happy if I lived my life in a glass bubble and never used my considerable talents to help anyone else ever again.”
Ursa sighed. “You know that isn’t what I meant,” she said. “I worry, that’s all.” She reached across the table and tried to touch Azula’s face. “That’s my job.”
Azula stood up and backed away. “You know there was a time I actually wished you would worry about me,” she said. “A time when it was your job. But that’s over.” So much for not guilt tripping. Resentment had a habit of showing its ugly face when Azula most wished it would stay buried. She just wanted Ursa to say ‘Congratulations on your internship, Azula! Great job!’ It felt like it shouldn’t be too much to ask.
Ursa stood up too. “You’re not being fair.”
It was absolutely the truth and Azula knew it but now that Ursa was saying it she could never admit it.
“I’m going for a drive.”
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think it’s fair to ask for an estimate.”
Azula wrinkled her nose. “I survived many years without having curfews or having to give estimates on when I would be home, Ursa. Let’s not pretend I owe you anything.”
“I’ve told you a hundred times. You can call me Mom.”
“I’d rather not.”
Azula stormed out of the kitchen and grabbed her keys. Zuko didn’t have to give an estimate of when he’d be home. Of course, Zuko always volunteered the information because he pretty much kissed the ground Ursa walked on.
Azula stormed out to her Cadillac and climbed in, turning on the ignition. She turned on the windshield wipers and headlights and pulled out of the driveway. She didn’t actually know where she was heading. The autumn mist and heavy rain matched Azula’s black mood. In a moment of petty rebelliousness she decided not to put on her seatbelt just because she knew how much it bugged Ursa when she forgot.
It was the second day of autumn break. One year ago at this time of year Azula had rescued Ursa and Ikem and countless other opponents of Mayor Ozai from being brainwashed by an underground government lab into allowing themselves to be drugged and forgetting their old lives. Of course, it wasn’t fair for her take all the credit. Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Aang and Toph had helped. And they couldn’t have done it without Ty Lee, Suki, Mai, Jet and the Freedom Fighters who had blown up the government lab. That’s when ‘Team Teen Vigilantes’ – a term coined by Sokka – had formed.
Azula had decided after having a complete mental breakdown and almost resorting to torturing Jet in order to force his memories to return that she needed therapy. She’d tried to be a better person – she’d made new friends and gotten closer to Zuko. She’d even made an effort with Ursa.
Now she was back for autumn break after spending the summer at Ursa’s house and getting along with her semi-well. Maybe more time apart would have been better. Azula felt like all she did with her mother was try. She tried to forgive her for favoring Zuko and Kiyi. She tried to forgive her for leaving – even if it hadn’t been her fault. Ozai had almost killed Ursa and then brainwashed her for years. This was his fault.
Cornfields and rolling hills covered in forests with red and orange canopies whished past on either side of the road. Thunder rumbled in the distance and the rain was coming down harder and harder. Azula turned on her defroster, and fiddled with the settings, still lost in thought over how to deal with her mother’s latest trend of acting like a ‘cOnCeRnEd PaReNt.’
Azula was jolted out of her reverie by a dark shadow stumbling into the road in front of her. She screamed and slammed on the breaks, swerving. Her Cadillac slid off the road. Azula caught a glimpse of a smiling face that made her insides feel cold before her car hit a patch of mud and rolled onto its roof.
An evil, glaring face was fixating on Kya. Katara was hiding under the bed, her eyes filled with tears and her fist stuffed in her mouth to keep her from screaming. Mom told her to hide, so she was hiding. Her tiny eight year old body was trembling and pressed against the wall. She could see her mom and the stranger from her vantage point. Later, she couldn't remember anything about the person except the eyes - cold and dead and evil and determined. Katara would never forget that. A moment later there was a scream and a thud.
Katara woke up in a cold sweat, shaking. She hugged herself and wiped the tears that had formed in her sleep from her eyes. Outside, it was thundering. Heavy rain was pouring down her windows. She glanced at the time. It was around ten.
Laughter from the other room informed her that Zuko was here. She tried to steady herself. It was just a dream.
Katara grabbed her phone and dialed Azula, laying back into the pillows. She knew Azula would be able to talk her down from freaking out about the nightmare. She always could. Azula had watched her father beat her mother almost to death at eight years old and believed her mother was dead for years, so she understood about the nightmares. Katara had gotten used to calling Azula whenever they happened.
The phone rang for awhile.
“Hello. If you’re hearing this I likely do not wish to speak with you. Please do not leave a message.”
Katara hung up, frowning. That was weird. Azula always answered, for her at least. She tried again. Again, no answer. Now Katara was starting to worry. She sat up, stretching and looking out at the pouring rain. The nightmare was still fresh in her mind. She considered that her racing heart was likely making her paranoid.
Surely everything was alright. Right?