“The girl is strange Ozai.” Ursa muttered. “I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”
Ozai tugged at his beard, pacing about the room. “Strange? That’s power like I’ve never seen!”
It had been well over an hour since their parents had slammed the door on them and started their chatter. Azula stood there with her ear to the door until one of the palace guards directed her away. More specifically led her to Zuko’s room requesting that she play with him until her parents sought to talk to her.
In truth Azula…for once, hadn’t meant to cause a stir. She was just doing what she was told—to practice her bending. She’d never seen her mother look so mad and so confused.
The guard sat her down next to Zuko. It would seem he wanted to play with her just as little as she, him.
And so they sat there in silence, Azula watching Zuko gracelessly swatting that silly dagger Iroh had given him around.
Azula sighed. There was never anything to do when Mai and Ty-Lee weren’t there. And that was how she found herself running through her bending techniques. Quick and—unlike Zu-Zu—graceful. The fire erupted from her palms and dispersed in the air. Jumping and kicking fire mid-air was always one of her favorite moves.
She landed at her mother’s feet.
The woman grabbed her wrist. “No more of this!”
Zuko’s attention was now drawn his eyes filling with a smug twinkle…finally she was getting in trouble and not him.
“No more of what?” Azula grumbled.
“This!” She made a sweeping motion. “This blue fire. Firebend to your heart’s content, just keep the blue out of it.”
“I can’t!” Azula protested. Leave it to her mother to make her feel like there was something wrong with her. She was pretty proud of her blue fire at first. But with each scolding Azula felt more and more at unease.
“Azula!”
“I can’t. I tried the first time you told me. I can’t make it go back to orange anymore.” She pouted.
“Lo and Li figured as much.” Ursa muttered more to herself than Azula. “Then we’re just going to have to make something up.” She looked down at Azula (whom was still sticking her lower lip out in a full on pout). “I’ve never seen blue fire before. It’s evil, it has to be. I don’t know what we did to the spirits to have them do this…”
“Nor do I.” Ozai smirked, coming up behind Ursa. “I don’t know what we did to have them bless our daughter with such power.”
Azula wrenched her hand out of Ursa’s grasp and ran to stand by her father.
Her father...the one who didn't make her feel like a freak--like her abilities were evil...
***
Ursa had gone behind her husband’s back the day after. She had assembled a good sized crowd. It wasn’t the whole of the Nation , but new in the Firenation spread as quickly as the element they all marshaled.
It would be enough.
Ursa stood before the crowd and told them of a ‘tragic’ accident that took place a few nights before. One that bought gasps and stunned looks to the listeners.
And that was how Azula became known to the world as a nonbender.
Apparently, during one of her training sessions she overworked herself and had ruptured some of her key chi points…therefore blocking her own ability to bend. Not only that but she supposedly couldn’t walk right either—but that was ‘something the healers would have fixed soon’.
Azula told Ozai not to leave. She knew her mother was waiting for the right moment to put the lie out in the open.
Now Azula was that clumsy screw up who couldn’t bend nor walk.
“It’s for your own good.” Ursa claimed that night. “If they found out about your blue flames…Agni knows what they’d do to you.” She brushed a hand over Azula’s hair. “I was afraid for you, baby. I’ve heard about people who can make fire from their heads! They take people like that and try to turn them into weapons…or they try to display them like circus animals. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“So you told them I can’t bend?” Azula huffed, her arms folded over her chest.
“There are plenty of very important and famous nonbenders out there…”
Azula zoned the rest out, suddenly more fascinated with her pillow and the notion of sleep.
She could hear the two fighting long into the night. After Ozai found out about the rumor Ursa had spun the man set on giving her hell—telling her of how she just wasted so much potential and how she really messed up this time.
Azula heard a slap.
And then more angry words.
She had a choice; Azula could either go with her father and show the world she could in fact bend. Or she could heed her mother’s words and keep it a secret.
In the dark of her room she let a small blue spark dance around her finger.
It felt right.
It felt strong.
She could keep it a secret for a good long time. But Azula knew well and good that her flame would burn blue for the world to see eventually. The only question was if it’d do so sooner or later.
From distance away Ozai watched his daughter marshal the sapphire flame.
A grim grin etching onto his face.
Be it tomorrow or when the child was older, she would set the world up in blue flames.
