Azula: Redemption

Chapter 10

I wasn't permitted to lodge with the rest of the crew as they were all led into spare rooms or domes in the back. I stayed put, sitting with Kidon still stunned at the words Rod said. A crown of ice. I supposed that would be a fitting end, a fire princess crowned with ice. I would have to complement him later.

"I'm sorry about the crowd, they just don't know you. They don't know how you are trying to change. I seen you with the Lee Lee, you gave her your jacket not minding that you were freezing. That's good Azula" Kidon said, still staring at the fire.

"No, they were right." I said, looking at the side of his face. "Everything he said about me, was right. I am the princess of fire. Princess of destruction. I don't give a damn about these people. They are my enemies and they always will be." I said more sharply then I meant. But I couldn't help the pain that laced my words. I know who I am supposed to be, the woman I was modeled into. Shaped by my father to be a tool of decimation.

Kidon sighed. I wonder if he heard the pain or if he believed my words. "You'll learn, you have work to do not only physically, but mentally. I truly believe that with Kana's healing, you will become better than you ever thought." He peaked his head out from beneath his black hair, staring me in the eyes.

"How exactly does this healing help me become compassionate? How does it help me not to be a monster? That's something you are born as, not something you can fix." I said, staring right back into his ocean blue eyes.

"No one is ever born evil. They have different brain chemistry than others, that's something they cannot control. With this treatment, you may finally feel in control of your life. And your mother may leave you as well." He added in the last bit with a sort of rush. To get the words in but not draw to much attention to it.

I jumped to my feet, how did he know that? Had Zuko told him or was it just the obvious? That I am constantly tortured by a vindictive, abusive ghost. Or whatever the hell she is.

I stuck my chin up as high as I could and still stare down at him. I wouldn't let him know how much it hurt to know he saw me as weak and as frail. "Since you know my dirty little secret, how about you enlighten me about how you're related to Katara's grandmother." I said inquisitively, with a side smirk tilting my mouth up just so slightly.

Kidon seemed surprised that I had put the pieces together. He shook his head standing up as well, now towering over me. I didn't take a step back.

"Well, you're not just a master of war, but of listening." I looked up higher into his perfectly sculpted face. "My grandmother was Hama, a water tribe woman who was abducted by the fire nation years ago. She became vengeful and blamed innocent fire nation people for the cruelty she endured. After she escaped by a specialized form of bending, she had the ability to control people. To bend the blood in their bodies to her will. She terrorized a town, until Katara and the Avatar put a stop to her. She's in a high security prison to this day." He said, finally giving me some answers to my long asked questions.

"When did she have time to give birth to your mother, or father" I asked. Wanting the full story.

"After escaping the prison, she wondered into the wilderness and survived for years. Learning the ways and customs of the fire nation. One day she wondered into town look for some food to steal, she had no money, but she had her bending. It was an easy task to do, as long as she didn't get caught." He shook his head and continued.

"When she was looking through her options, she seen something out of the ordinary. A water tribe man deep in the burning city. He was a slave to one of the riches families in the area and he was slowly dying in the middle of the square. He was tied to a stake, held together by the fire of his master. The flames were slowly burning him away. His screams echoed through the stands and the trees but no one helped. Hama did, she used her blood bending the stop the burning, to stop the hearts of his masters." I sighed, understanding that she wasn't born a monster, but circumstances made her one.

"They lived in the wilderness for years before finally becoming comfortable and moving into town with their newborn daughter. Their happiness was short lived before her husband was recognized and died in blissful burning fire. In pain, the way he was meant to die previously. That was when she began to terrorize, not only murdering her husband's killers, but the innocents surrounding her." I thought he had finished when he began to speak in a low voice, as if it was painful for him to talk about.

" My mother finally moved when she had me, she had slept with fire nation solider. Hama didn't respond well, abusing my mother and killing her with her harsh words. We moved to the Earth Kingdom and lived there till the rebellion started and I joined forces with the Avatar. And here I am now. That's my story princess. What's yours?" He asked, coming closer to me, almost pressing his chest to mine.

"You're story is full of sorrow. Mine is full of pain. Yet you haven't become a monster, no need to turn you into one now." I stooped down and grabbed my bag and headed towards Kana.