This doesn't tie into any of my other stories, it's its own thing... I was sort of thinking about Azula lately and feeling so sorry for her (she'd hate that...) so I decided to share this.
For anyone who hasn't read the Search or Smoke and Shadow: Kiyi is not my OC, she's Zuko and Azula's younger half-sister. She's 14 here, so Azula is somewhere between 25 and 30.
oooooooooo
The trick to avoiding capture while on the run was pretty simple to understand. One just had to throw away any thought of ever being completely safe. Once you were a fugitive, that's what you were until they caught you.
Azula was quick to internalize that rule. No matter how comfortable she felt, she remained aware that her faith could change at any moment. Even years after her escape from the mental institution she was prepared to move her whole life at the smallest sign of trouble. Whether it was a prying neighbor, a single wanted poster or someone following her home.
That's why she immediately noticed when a cloaked woman started shadowing her on her way from the market. She made a couple of wrong turns to make sure, before passing right by her house and leading her stalker into an abandoned, dark alley.
She waited for the woman to make the turn and when she did, surprised her by stepping out of the shadows and pinning her to a wall. Now that she had her hand around her stalker's throat, she could see it was not so much a woman as it was a girl, pale and weak, trying desperately to speak, but letting out only quiet gasps as she struggled for air.
"I'm... Your... Sister..." the girl managed. Azula needed only one look into her desperate eyes to know it was the truth. She loosened her grip and the girl fell to the ground, clutching her throat and gasping for breath.
"You're her brat... How dumb of Zuko to send you first. Where is he anyway?" Azula's palm lit on fire as she turned around violently, "Come out, come out, Zuzu!"
"He's not... Here... It's just me." Kiyi found the strength and the courage to stand up again.
"You expect me to believe you've found me all on your own? That a ten-year-old succeeded where an army has failed?"
"I'm fourteen."
Azula shook her head and then started walking away.
"Hey, wait!" the girl followed.
"Just run home, Kiki!"
"It's Kiyi."
"Thanks. Just run home, Kiyi!" Azula quickened her pace, but so did her half-sister.
"I can't. Ever. I ran away." Kiyi said like she was unloading a big burden from her heart. That was the first time those words actually left her lips.
"Well, write a sad song about it, why don't you? And leave me alone." Azula thought a hitwoman was onto her, and it just ended up being a teenage drama in progress, "Go find your mom if you want a shoulder to cry on."
"No, I hate her." Kiyi said with an especially toxic tone. Azula almost liked it.
"I never want to see her again." the girl added, "That's why I wanted to find you. So I could live with you."
"Are you insane?!" Azula snickered, "Didn't you hear the stories? I'm dangerous."
"I don't care about that... We're sisters." Kiyi smiled innocently.
After hearing that Azula stopped and made eye contact with her.
"I don't have a sister." she said strictly.
