As she sat there on her cot, that very familiar feeling crept into her cell once again. Azula was alone. She had always been alone. She felt lonely when she watched her mother cuddle with Zuko and tell him she loved him. "Nobody did that for me.", she thought. And this was true. Azula was ashamed at her weakness to have let this thought slip into her mind once again. It tormented her every day that she spent at the madhouse. She wanted to go to sleep on this cold winter night. Or at least she thought it was nighttime; her room had no windows. Nighttime was the worst. Azula would often try to remember the time when she was a Fire Nation Princess and when she still had her bending before the Avatar took it away forever. When she was powerful. Now she would just cry her eyes out before falling into another fitfull rest. On this night, however, it was different. It seemed as though the walls of her cell were plastered with the faces of her brother, the new Fire Lord, her "friends" Mai and Ty Lee, and the Water Tribe peasant who had humiliated her on that day of her Agni Kai. The faces mocked her with their words saying things like "The Monster in her cage." and "What a lovely princess you are.". Worst of all, however, was the face of her mother, which had never uttered a single word. As she writhed in her puddle of tears which had gathered quickly on the floor of her cell, the words she had been holding in for so long erupted from the girl's mouth, or rather her soul. "I miss you mommy! I needed you so badly and you left! And I know why! Im no good! And all those years I tried to win love with fear and manipulation. I didn't want the world to love me. I don't care about the world! Only you! I wanted you to tell me I was pretty and watch me practice my bending and hold me like you held Zu Zu! I wanted you to sing lullabies to me and make daddy stop yelling at me. I wanted your love so badly but I had to hide it. I was ashamed. I always knew I was no good. That's why you loved Zuko and hated me! I tried so hard mommy and he beat me again! He won your love again!" By now Azula was practically bursting with choked sobs that could make the happiest man on earth cry. "I tried to be so perfect but it didn't matter. Zu Zu was always destined to be better than me and he was. I was afraid, so i had to be perfect for you, mommy! I'm a liar, a demon, and a monster! That's all I am now. The crazy girl locked away in her hole. All for your love, mommy! The Water Tribe girl took my honor and my pride away. And the Avatar took my bending along with it! And now these faces and visions mock me every moment of my life if you can even call it that! I didn't really want it anyway. I didn't want to be Fire Lord. I wanted you to notice me mommy. I hate myself!" The faces all laughed as Azula rolled back and forth sobbing. Suddenly, her cell door swung open and the faces disappeared. "You're going back to the other room, monster.", said the harsh voice of a guard, "your mommy isn't here.". As three strong guards dragged her down a dark hallway, Azula saw her mother's face once again. After what seemed lIke forever, she was in the other room. This one also had no windows and was dark. The only difference was that this one was soundproof. "Here is your master suite, your highness.", scoffed a guard. Azula could hear their laughter as they walked back down the hallway. For a while, Azula just stared into her mother's golden eyes. They were like hers. The only difference was that Azula's eyes were watery and she began to sob even harder than before. After another weeping episode, her mother finally spoke. "Azula.", she said softly, "I love you." "You always say that!", said Azula, her words like a knife cutting through paper. "I do, Azula. I always have." "Why didn't you tell me that!? Did you know Zuko was better than me back then, too!? " Her face was now strewn with tears flowing like rivers down her cheeks. Her mother's face once again faded into the shadows and the face of a dignified and independent Princess Azula appeared before her. "Look at you! You pathetic mess! Beaten by that peasant and by Zuko again! Wallowing here in this hole. Don't you wish you were still me? I don't exist anymore! The perfection is gone! They all know who you are! Your mask is gone! Only the Monster exists now! Only the faliure exists now! Only the helpless little girl who wants her mommy! You've failed me. You've failed us. Most of all, you've failed Mother.". Azula screamed as she clawed at her forearms and began to cry even harder. The face dissapeared to the same place her mother's had. This was the last straw. Azula crawled over to the cot on the other side of the room. Still clawing at herself, she hopped onto it and gripped her throat with both hands. Before she could start to apply any pressure, Ursa appeared once again. "You have such pretty eyes, Azula. They're just like mine." Ursa smiled at her daughter. The young girl started to scream once again, this time much louder than before. "I HATE MYSELF SO MUCH! IM A DISASTER! I CAN'T BE YOUR CHILD! I'M JUST A FACADE. A BAD LIE! MOMMY LOOK AT YOUR BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL! IM DOING SOMETHING RIGHT NOW, MOMMY! DO YOU SEE ME NOW, MOMMY? ARE YOU PROUD OF ME?" She squeezed a little harder. "Azula,", said the vision, "I'm very proud of you.". "I know mommy.", Azula said in a much softer voice tortured by years of anguish. "I love you mommy." And with those words, Azula sent the final blow and strangled herself into an endless sleep. THE END