Flames of Destiny

22. ZUKO DOESN'T DO COMMUNICATION

Azula tossed and turned in her bed, the comfort of sleep only out of arm's reach. She scowled even with her eyes closed. It had been a good day for her. She finally got to see her father after waiting for days. She was even praised for her efforts.

So why doesn't she feel less than satisfied about it?

Golden eyes snapped open in a show of annoyance and Azula got off her bed. She made her way toward her wardrobe to don the inconspicuous cloak hanging on the clothes tree standing next to the large cupboard. She made a quick stop at the Palace Kitchen before leaving the Palace premises.

The moon was high in the night sky as the Princess made her way towards the Capital City Prison, the path now committed to the young firebender's memory. She entered the tower and marched straight down to the lowest level before opening the metal door.

Percy was lying on the ragged sheet for a mattress when she entered. Green eyes snapped open to see the Princess taking out a plate from the basket in her arm and placing it right in front of his cell.

Then, like the night before, silence blanketed the room. The sound of the ventilation was drowned out by the blood rushing in Azula's ears. They remained so for a few minutes - the firebender just standing stiffly, glaring daggers at the man who continued to wear a face of disinterest - until the tense atmosphere was broken by a tired sigh that escaped Percy's lips as he sat up.

"Is there something I can help you with?" His tone was bored as if he could be doing anything else that was more important than being visited by Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.

"I have questions," the words tumbled out of her mouth in a demanding tone before her mind could even formulate a proper sentence.

Through the dim lighting, she saw Percy raise a raven black eyebrow at her statement before eyeing the plate disinterestedly. "So? You think offering me a drumstick will make me spill my life story?"

"You'll answer me anyway" she waved him off before looking at the plate. "It's komodo chicken," she offered, "it's better than prison food I'd wager. beats prison food,"

Instead of reaching for the plate, Percy's eyes scanned the ground in search of something before he stretched his arm to pick up a pebble to examine it. Then he tossed it aside and watched as it bounce off the concrete wall.

Azula felt her perfectly plucked eyebrow twitch. His clear disregard for her and her 'peace offering' infuriated her, and she wanted to– Azula took a deep breath, reigning in her thoughts from straying too far. Once she felt her boiling blood subside, she opened her eyes with a renewed focus on the 'why' she was here.

"Who are the Children of Zoos?"

Azula expected his reaction to being one of panic, of wide eyes and stuttering lips as he stumbles his way to a bad and blatantly false denial. She did not expect Percy's answer to in a chuckle so soft the Princess almost brushed it off. But when she noticed that the man's shoulders were shaking, she realized that he was laughing. The sound was coarse and hollow, but it was a laugh all the same. She felt her eyebrow twitch again.

She kept her tone as even as possible. "Does something amuse you?"

The laughter began to subside, but Azula did not doubt that her prisoner was smiling.

"Ah, if only Thalia and Jason could hear that," he lamented. "They'd offer a fist bump, but then they probably won't since it came from you."

"Are you mocking me?" Her question came out in a growl, any semblance of composure uncharacteristically gone as he began to grind on her nerves.

"Would it matter if the answer was 'no'?" Thick sarcasm laced his reply, "For the record, the answer was not 'no'."

"I will not ask again–"