#phoenixfell

Azula looked shocked at the child that was approaching her. She blinked a few times and tilted her head.

She crossed her arms once the shock had worn off, and her eyes narrowed to a glare as she watched the boy.

“I am Princess Azula, and I’m here because I live in the palace, like the rest of the royal family. Who are you and why are you here?” She looked around, frowning deeply. “Where are your parents?”

Continued 

Tukkuttok looked at the old and frail man behind bars with little more than pity, but it made his heart hurt. The young man knew that the former fire lord could not bend. It seemed as though he could hardly move, yet he was damned to wither away behind these bars for Spirits knew how long. 

"Ah! I knew it."

Some would think that something as trivial as the weather to become essentially meaningless with the passing of time. This was however not the case for the phoenix, who still rather enjoyed watching the snow fall after all those centuries.

The fact that she couldn't exactly ever feel cold probably helped with that.

Persephone watched him with a sad expression, something pained in her eyes.

She knew this story all too well, unfortunately. Not his, specifically, of course, but stories where parents had ruined the trust of their children. After all, everything she’d been through in life, didn’t she no longer trust her own mother? Her husband? Even just the thought of him made her want to grimace.

Yes, it was a cruel, wicked world they lived in. His father never wanted him. It was a horrible thing she’d seen too much of in humanity- parents who had children for any other reason than wanting the child. It hardly ever turned out good for anyone, so she thought.

But to be banished after showing such genuine dedication as he described? That was even lower than even tolerating him, keeping him around for the pure fact that he was still family, wasn’t it?

Well, at least his father wouldn’t waste his time any longer.

Persephone stood and walked slowly around to sit back down in front of him, looking up at his face.

“You don’t have to know,” she answered, her tone surprisingly gentle for the way she normally was so upbeat. It seemed she certainly knew when it was appropriate to slow down. “All I’m tellin’ you is I promise I won’t ever drop you, or turn you out or away. You have a place, with me, for as long as you want it- if you do. But I won’t go back on that promise, you have my word.”

It seemed as if ignoring the young Avatar had done nothing to deter him.  

So finally, Ozai’s head tilted, his eyes golden, hollowed; swirling with a tempest of emotion as they swiveled to regard the boy.

“Of course I would.  I would know exactly where to find and kill you.”

For him?  For this Avatar, who had cursed him with this fate?  This emptiness, this darkness?  There was no bravado, there was no goading.  There was nothing but hatred that dripped from flat words like venom from a snake.

And it absolutely was poisonous, the mix of both a burning leer and words thick with malice that sent an unmistakable shiver down the Avatar’s spine. Ice and fire alike seeped through every vein and threatened to puncture his heart, suffocate him, but Aang held steady even so. He knew he wasn’t in real danger; indeed, their fight—or at least that specific one—was over. So, why—?

Well, even if Ozai couldn’t touch him, he was beyond certain his friends would kill him when and if they found out about this. You’re too soft. Too kind. You care too much.

No, this wasn’t about compassion, this was... Zuko wasn’t the only person who needed closure.

So Aang found himself where he was now, seated patiently and benevolently on his side of the bars to combat all spite churning from the other. His hands twitched from where they were tucked in his lap—a twinge of hesitation, always (Why did he always hesitate?)—before he took a steadying breath to calm his own fragile nerves.

“That’s pretty bold of you,” he remarked, exuding more confidence than he truly felt. (Because yes, if Ozai had been the one to find him in ice... It wouldn’t have been much of a fight, now would it?) “But that’s not what I meant; I think you know that.”

“You know I would have shown you if you’d just asked me,” she said, a little bothered by him grabbing the phone. 

Izumi hugged her red robe closer to her and tugged the farther in front of her face as she made her way through the halls of the prison. Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been as hard as she thought it would be to get past the guards. Yet she still needed to keep herself hidden as much as possible. If the guards found the teenage princess wandering around the prison, they would immediately take her back to the palace and inform her father.

Stopping in front of the cell she was looking for, she glanced around to make sure no one was near, took a deep breath, and quietly entered. Pushing the hood off of her head, gave her a good view of the man bend forward behind the bars of his cell.