Mother

[bentflame]

It always seemed to work the same way- Azula would leave every interaction with her mother absolutely furious, ready and willing to fry anyone who made the mistake of crossing her path.
After a time, however, the anger would fade and be replaced with mere frustration- and sometimes, sadness, loneliness, and confusion (those- in her mind, at least- weaker emotions that she rather liked to pretend didn't exist). Invariably, she would end up escaping to her room after the first stage (often leaving in her wake at least one or two servants in varying stages of injury) to climb into her bed, curl up under her luxurious down comforter, and ignore the fact that ever since that night when she had made that stupid, stupid mistake, being completely alone just made her feel worse.

It simply didn't make sense. She truly hated her mother- she didn't desire to have a better relationship with her, and if she were to somehow turn up dead, it wouldn't matter to her in the least- the only emotion she would feel would be annoyance at whatever circumstances stole her job, her right, from her. There were no repressed feelings, no desire for her love- it did hurt, a little bit, to know that she was a monster in her mother's eyes, but that had nothing to do with her personal feelings towards the woman (and besides, she had never denied it).

During these times, she was able to gain just a little bit of comfort by reminding herself that when the war was won and the Fire Nation had proven itself to be the most powerful nation in the world, she would have the time to hunt down her mother and end her. Until then, however, she had to focus on the task at hand, which was much more difficult when she kept popping up.

It really was a good thing that she didn't see her mother all that often.

Comments

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"...You're lucky, then."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I suppose so." What was Ty Lee getting at?

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Can I come over there?"

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

... Ah.

Azula considered. Really, it wasn't as if she asked Ty Lee to come- therefore, she could hardly be considered weak if she said yes. In fact, she'd be being logical- after all, it was a cold night.

"I suppose," she said coolly.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Thanks."

Ty Lee scrambled up and crossed to the bed...It was much easier this time around. Thank the spirits or whatever controlled the weather. Ty Lee would have an excuse, at last... Within moments she was at Azula's side again.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula stayed still and silent, waiting to see exactly where on the bed Ty Lee would settle.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

She chose a spot next to the princess but not too close, for fear of making her intentions too clear.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula lay in silence for a few minutes, her breathing slow and relaxed. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and quiet.

"I hate her."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

There was no doubt of who Azula meant. It was clear that only person could arrouse such a statement.

"I know," Ty Lee responded, in an equal low and quiet voice. "She has no right to treat you like that."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula emphatically nodded in agreement, her hair rustling against the pillow. "Exactly. She has no idea how to show the proper respect to a member of the royal family- the royal family that she was kicked out of, I might add." Almost unconsciously, she shifted closer to Ty Lee.

"She's... pathetic."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Yeah...if she's not part of your family anymore than she's got no place to talk....totally pathetic." Ty Lee moved a little bit closer, herself.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Exactly. Exactly." By this time, Azula's head was very close to being in Ty Lee's lap.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Totally." Ty Lee was watching Azula but curiousity held back anything further than the one word she spoke.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula sighed heavily, but said nothing more. She absentmindedly picked at the corner of one of her pillows.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee stifled a yawn quickly.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula didn't really have anything to say. Earlier, she had had a huge rant about her mother going on in her head, but that had kind of flown out the window. Now she just felt a bit tired.

Leaning back a little bit more (when she shifted again her head was suddenly pillowed on Ty Lee's leg, though she made no move to change her position again), she primly folded her hands across her stomach and closed her eyes.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee noted the position of Azula's head but made no move. How quickly things had changed in a few days, she noted. She repressed the urge to touch her hair.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

After a few minutes had gone by, Azula suddenly realized the absurdity of her current position. Ty Lee had been right- it was fairly chilly in the room- and yet she had partially come out from under the covers to lean against Ty Lee. How idiotic.

Sitting up a little bit, Azula tugged her heavy blanket towards her, planning on wrapping it around them both. That would be the logical thing to do, after all.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee waited, getting a good sense of what Azula was going to do. After all...it was her bed.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Lean forward," Azula ordered, attempting to bring the blanket around behind both of them. "You said you were cold, didn't you?"

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee obeyed the order automatically.. "Yes, Azula."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

After arranging the blanket behind them, Azula leaned over the other girl and tugged it closer in the front, so only their heads were sticking out. Of course, she could have just lit a fire, but the fireplace was all the way across the room and it would have taken a while for the warmth to reach them. No, this was better.

Casually, Azula slumped back against Ty Lee.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

It had been cold, by Fire Nation standards. Which really wasn't that cold to most, but the bed would have been warmer than a mere chair in any situation. "Thanks."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Mm-hm." Azula shut her eyes again, leaning back and relaxing her shoulders.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee felt her relax and instinctly, put a hand on her shoulder.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula leaned back against Ty Lee even more, shifting slightly so that the back of her head rested lightly against the other girl's shoulder. Lazily, she brought one arm out from under the blankets and sent a blast of fire towards the fireplace. As she had reasoned before, it would take a while to heat up the room, but Azula hated waking up cold.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee shifted so she would be closer to Azula. She had noted the movement of lighting the fireplace but didn't pay it much heed.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula let out a soft sigh, completely relaxed. This was really so much better than arguing with her mother. Though quite frankly, she was surprised at how calm Ty Lee felt- the last time that... something like this had happened, the other girl had been a bundle of nerves.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

It was true that Ty Lee had been nervous the last time, though that feeling had been only because of the situation....This really was much more the type of thing Ty Lee was used to, even if it normally was with a boyfriend.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula's head lolled to the side, her forehead coming in contact with Ty Lee's neck. Her skin was warm.

This really was quite bizarre.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Hm."

Maybe this visiting Azula idea wasn't so bad after all...

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Hm? Yes?" Azula's voice was quiet and sleepy.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"It's nice."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula raised her eyebrows slightly. "What is?" She knew the answer, of course; she just wanted to see what Ty Lee would say.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"This...it's nice." Ty Lee didn't know exactly how to put it but she hoped that was enough.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Hm." Azula settled her head a little more firmly into the crook of Ty Lee's neck, but she didn't comment further.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

She gave a small sigh...well, this had been going well.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

A heavy, drowsy silence permeated the room, but it didn't seem at all awkward or unnatural. Still propped up against Ty Lee, Azula heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance, and smiled very slightly. She had always loved thunderstorms.