Destiny Altered (READ DISCLAIMER)

4 - Healing Begins

At dusk, I made my way back over to the hospital. I got more nervous with every step I took. I was heading into unknown territory—territory of the mind and of the spirit. It seemed to me like it would be more of Aang's strength, but he insisted that this was something I could do—something I should do. He had faith in me—faith that I will succeed—even if it took time.

Lazu was there to meet me when I arrived, and he took me down a hallway leading to a staircase that wound down into the ground. Before making my descent, I glanced out the window where I could see the moon begin to rise.

We walked down yet another hallway to a room all the way at the end. Lazu opened the door to an observation room, where a middle-aged woman was sitting and taking notes. She looked up when we entered the room.

"Katara, I'd like you to meet Zee. Zee, this is Katara."

"It's nice to meet you, Katara," Zee bowed in greeting, her smile soft but still reaching her gray eyes. "Lazu told me that you would be coming by this evening."

"It's nice to meet you too, Zee," I replied, bowing as well. My gaze left hers for a moment, and I could see to my left the room in which Azula was being kept.

"This entire wall looks to be made of glass, but I know that can't be the case. Azula could easily break it and cause some serious damage."

"Actually, it is made out of glass, but it's one-sided glass with a special coating that makes it virtually unbreakable. She can't see us, but we can see in. As you can see, this allows us keep an eye on the princess around the clock."

"Amazing…" The Fire Nation was known for its ingenuity with inventing machines for war, but it made sense that they could put some of that to other uses.

"Before you go in to see her, there are a few things I should tell you. We had to use some energy blocking on her in order to disable her bending abilities temporarily and prevent her from attacking us the first several days she was here. We haven't used them the last three days since being out of the sun has pretty much done the trick. That, and the temperature is much cooler here underground.

"When she first got here, she was panicked. Her eyes indicated that she wasn't quite seeing us. She was still going through some kind of nervous breakdown. She has calmed a bit since then, but is extremely paranoid and mistrustful of everyone she encounters."

"Thank you, Zee." Zee then opened the door that led to Azula's room and walked in. I followed her.

"Princess Azula, someone is here to see you."

The princess did not respond. When I walked to Zee's side, Azula came into view, and I had to hold back a gasp at what I saw. Azula's wrists and ankles were shackled and chained to the sides of the bed, which was bolted into the wall. There was enough slack where she could move around, but not get away from the bed. Her hair had been cut to her shoulders and her sharp nails filed to blunt edges. She wore a simple white sleeping shift. A far cry from the powerful princess I remembered hunting us.

Zee showed herself out, and I slowly approached Azula. Pulling up a chair a few feet away from her, I took a seat. She was sitting in the middle of her bed, still not looking at me, but I knew she knew I was there.