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A Kindred Spirit	By : Demonic_Host Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > General Views: 6129 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Blanket disclaimer - I do not own any intellectual properties of the Avatar series or its sequel nor do I make any money from this work.

Chapter List
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A Kindred Spirit
Chapter Two

You had barely seen any of the supposedly magnificent palace despite having resided in it for the last six years. Probably because you'd been a prisoner the whole time. Right now, walking down the ornate halls, you sort of missed the intimate hallways of the dungeons. Everything felt too large and overwhelming. Every sliver of light felt blinding. Not to mention you could feel the tension in the air.

Your assigned guide kept looking back at you in disgust. It wasn't unjustified; you hadn't been given very many resources to keep yourself clean over the years. Your skin had some areas you weren't sure would ever come clean and no amount of braiding would hide the state your hair was in. The only thing That made it manageable at all was the fact that you had the presence of mind to braid it as you hadn't been able to properly wash it out much less had a proper haircut in six years.

Long Feng had made sure to limit your interactions with water just incase you tried to retaliate. What were you going to do - heal them to death? All your mother knew how to do was heal. Or at least that's all she was allowed to tell you and teach you. Like water, your contact with your mother was restricted. It had become less and less as the years rolled on. You'd only been able to see her during healing sessions recently.

"In here," the attendant replied in a clipped tone as they passed you a small wrapped package. "This is the servants' bathing area. Do what you can to clean yourself up."

When they opened the door you couldn't help but try to take everything in. Situated all around the room were depressed areas with chairs sitting in the middle. Near the chairs were small buckets, most of which still looked damp. Hanging above those was a rope attached to some sort of poll with a lid. Vaguely you recalled that being a way that water was carried down from a central reservoir instead of a pump based system.

You barely registered the fact that you'd been left alone as you numbly moved through the room. What hit you most was the sensation. Water was literally all around you. You could feel it in your soul like it was connected to your heart beat. The other interesting sensation was how hot it felt in this room. It was a staggering difference compared to the cell that you were used to.

______________________________

It took you a good thirty minutes to scrub your body down and another ten minutes focused slowly on your hair. Afterwards you dressed yourself in the new clothing provided; attempting to put you wet hair up into a similar fashion as the girl who had been you savior. Unfortunately you could fit it all up into the bun so you had to leave some hanging down.

Once you gathered all the provided materials back up you moved towards the door. You waited for a moment as you tried to decide what to do. That wasn't something you were used to. Normally every decision was made for you. Food, water, shelter, activities...everything except you thoughts. Even those had been controlled in a way considering that your access to information was severely restricted.

Timidly you reached out to try and open the door. It was such a strange feeling when it actually opened, that you hadn't been locked up, that it left you feeling dizzy. You took in a slow breath as you looked around. The hallway might seem like much to others but to you it was the largest, most ornate thing you had seen.

"Let's go. Your presence has been requested."

You nodded. You were used to being summoned. It almost gave you a sense of normality. That very notion coupled with how emotionally invested you'd gotten about being able to open a door left a bitter taste in your mouth. It soured the whole journey that you had getting to wherever it was that you'd been summoned to.

Only at the last moment you were stopped. The new person looked worried and put their finger up to their mouth as a sign to be quiet. You instantly went silent and it wasn't hard to hear what was being said in the next room.

"I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you've had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you're born with. The truth is: they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting down on that throne, and which of us is going to be bowing down. But I know, and you know."

That was the girl who rescued you right?

"You've beaten me at my own game."

Your eyes widened. That had definitely been Long Feng. There was no way you could have mistaken that voice.

"Don't flatter yourself, you were never even a player."

Did..did she just overthrow Long Feng? Who was she?

You nervously fidgeted much to the chagrin of the servant near you. It took what felt like hours till they continued to lead you out from behind the passageway and into the throne room. You had thought the hallways looked huge but this place dwarfed everything you had seen in your life. It was a chamber that looked like it could comfortably hold a small army.

Your rescuer turned to look at you and there was a definite smirk on her face. "You almost look like a real fire nation citizen now that all the filth has been washed away."

You brought your eyes up to look at her which only seemed to please the conquered of Ba Sing Se. You couldn't have known, as you hadn't seen a mirror in years, but it was because of the bright golden hue that you'd footed from your father. Azula was right when she said you looked almost like a fire nation denizen. Your appearance took mostly after your father's family. Which was a little ironic seeing as you had your mother's element.

"Better," she made that comment in almost a malicious tone though you didn't understand the difference yet. "You asked once who I am. Have you figured it out yet?"

"You freed me from my cell, you gave me clothes and a chance to get clean. You took down the most wretched man alive by turning his troops against him. You are a hero."

But you were still very curious about who she actually was on top of that. Especially when she started to laugh. It was as though she had never considered that as a possibility. Or perhaps the idea of it just amused her.

"I am Azula, daughter of Ozai."

The names felt very familiar. Like they felt as though they'd been burned into your skin yet your mother had healed them. You should know them but you couldn't recall why.

"Princess of the fire nation."

Oh, that's why. You stared at her for a moment as you tried to remember if you should bow and which one to use. You decided against the action for the simple fact that she had already acknowledged your presence. It wasn't like you were entering the room for the first time. It was just that you were finding out you were in front of royalty.

You did, however, lower your eyes and keep silent in respect.

"Tell me - how long have you been a prisoner here?"

"Six years," you answered dutifully.

"How old were you when they took you?"

Apparently it was interrogation time. You hated the feeling of her prying into your life, what little you'd been able to have. Your memories were the only things you had left of that time, what little you'd been able to keep through the years. Some of them you didn't even know if they were real or not but every single one you clung to and guarded jealously. You hated telling others about them because, on some level, you felt like they'd try to take them from you just as Long Feng had. Azula, however, wasn't Long Feng. In fact, she'd over thrown him not but minutes ago. She was not trying to take your memories. She had done what you could only dream of doing. It was up to you to finish the job and for that you needed to prove to her that you were loyal, that neither you or your mom would be a threat.

"I...I think I was eleven or twelve years old."

Considering all of the brainwashing that they had tried to use on you it was a wonder that you even remembered your father's name. Remembering your age hadn't seemed nearly as important.

"Why did they keep you for so long? Why not try to ransom you back to your family? A captain's daughter could have gotten a respectable sum."

You really didn't understand her question. You did understand that she was looking for a reason why Long Feng kept you for so long though.

"My mother and I were useful to him."

Now you felt more scrutinized that before. It wasn't just Azula who stared at you intently now. The two girls dressed in green and black with starkly colored make up had joined in on the mental probing.

"My mother and I are waterbenders. We helped to heal all the Dai Li's and other soldiers' wounds."

That made Azula's eyes widen. You mistook that for anger and quickly went into the only bow from the fire nation that you could remember. It felt very strange seeing as the last time you had bowed had been when you father was still alive. They had made you kneel at his execution and plenty of times since then but you had never willingly bowed to another person after his death.

"I promise, I don't want to fight. I don't even know how to fight. I only know how to heal."

You heard her get up from the throne she'd been sitting on. When she was in front of you, you flinched as you expected her rage. Instead you got a calculated response.

"That's something we'll have to fix. Welcome back to the fire nation."
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A Kindred Spirit