Chapter 49: Azula’s Thoughts on Romance

A/N: In case some of you are wondering, there’s a skill I haven’t given a description (and might have forgotten to show that it was a newly added skill), Mental State.

Mental State (Mind/ Passive Skill)

- A spiritual state, a state that all skilled martial artists wish to achieve. Ex: Embodying a wolf. When skill activates, an illusory form appears behind the user, the higher level the skill has, the more visible and strong the illusory form is. Once a certain level is reached, the skill if ‘manifested’! (A version of the [Form and Will Fist], "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist", a real martial art.)

- Executed skill/technique will be completely embodied and manifested.

- Faint but strong mental energy covers the body, +20% physical buff (Strength, speed, and defense).

***

Her plan... her surprise...

A surprise she had planned out for her dad.

When the fifth match would be called out, she would step out and enter the arena, surprising her father. But at the rate her father was going about with this, she won't be appearing any time soon.

With this feeling of dissatisfaction building up, Yue felt like she couldn't wholly love her father at the moment.

'Is that Genji?'

Before Yue left with her father, she had noticed Genji and smiled sweetly at him before disappearing. She would have waved at him, but since he's blind, she couldn't do anything. Not even go talk to him since her father is forcing her to follow him.

‘I’ll talk to him tomorrow,’ thought Yue as she walked away a bit happier.

***

Later that day, over at the Fire Nation's Royal Palace, Azula was reading the note the messenger had sent.

A smirk was on her face after noticing that Genji was finally found and it even interested her at how he had infiltrated the Northern Water Tribe.

'Just what will he do now...' thought Azula as she raised the corner of her lips.

Reaching over to her writing table, Azula brought out a paper and wrote on it before placing it back on the messenger bird.

After sending away the bird, Azula turned to look at the door of her room before heading over to her bed and pulling out a book from her hiding spot.

It had already been quite some time since she had been let out of the punishment freezer.

Her time in there wasn't agonizing, but the visits her father took down there to mentally abuse her and then offhandedly praising her to keep her loyalty and dependency to him, the Fire Lord.

However, after finally being woken up from her illusion of believing her father to be everything to her. The person she 'worshiped' and followed around believing that he's someone very amazing. Now, she just believes that he is a very delusional man.

Anger would bubble up in her whenever she would think about her father, but when she would stand before him, she would feel very afraid.

Azula can't even look Ozai directly in the eyes.

The fear she subconsciously has for him is enormous. A fear that has been nurtured for years ever since she was born.

Until very recently.

What changed? Nothing.

Nothing but the discovery of a certain genre of books.

Romance.

Romance novels.

Azula had taken up Genji on his recommendation of reading books and stories and romance, and since then, she felt her world expand.

She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt warmth whenever she would read.

She felt a desire and the need to head out into the world and search for this thing called romance. A foreign concept that she has never experienced.

Azula has heard of it, but she had never seen it in person. To read it was such an experience that she was very glad to have received.

Wishing to leave to search for this, Azula began to desire this more and more. She didn't care if she feared her father or not, or whether she would be punished or not. To just simply experience this and see if it's truly all it is hyped up to be is truly all she wished to experience.

That was the reason why she was able to temporarily escape her father's mental torture and 'tank' right through it.

At first, Azula would read these romance stories with contempt. Contempt towards the both characters that would fall in love with each other.

She would read on as these two characters would fall for each other and all she could think about was how these two characters had no ambition or drive to take over their country or become prominent people that rule over other people.

But as she read more and more books, Azula began to realize that they had ambition and drive to conquer. Not the people or the city or government, but the heart of a single person.

This intrigued Azula.

'To conquer someone through their heart.'

This was something that continuously rang in her head.

She was very intrigued by a certain book.

A certain story of a young woman and a young man who loved each other dearly, but they were both of different worlds. They were on different sides, stuck in a power struggle between two opposing sides.

They were afraid of what would happen if their people find out about what they have both been doing, they didn’t wish to see their people do something dumb like starting a full-blown war.

Yet despite the fear, the lovers would meet in secret. This is the kind of book that Azula read.

A book that showed her how love would make one triumph over fear. The act of acting despite fearing something, the courage to move for love.

There was another book she had read, one where a pair of lovers would move together, their love affecting the people they know in a positive way.

Near the end of the story, the man had defended his wife from another man, but this other man was a noble and someone who sought revenge against the male lover.

Then, as if by some astounding luck, various people all came together to defend the pair of lovers against the noble. They advocated for them and protected them from death. And despite how some of them had died, they continued to protect the pair of lovers.

'The power of love... conquering the hearts of people... and true courage of acting even in the face of fear.'

The three things Azula had learnt just from reading romance books.

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Her thoughts grew dark. Her blood boiled. It was as if she was going insane. But somehow, she couldn't stop reading the books.

And after many days, she realized that she was being influenced by these books. That she was starting to desire romance and romance only. Even though she knew nothing of romance itself.

It was so strange, because she had never desired romance before.

So she thought, maybe I'm not normal. Maybe everyone desires romance and romance alone.

Azula even believed that her desire for wishing to rule over the Fire Nation and to help her father become even more amazing was because of a type of 'romance'.

A romance... a type of love...

It disgusted her... the fact that she wished for her father to become someone great. However, this realization also allowed her to realize something.

'I have always wished for love from my parents...'

Love from her mother. Love from her father.

She never experienced love from her mother. To be taken away at a young age by her father and being put into an abusive relationship, Azula had always believed it to be normal.

Normal until one day she had listened to the words of a peculiar man.

Now, she wished nothing more than to drop her father into despair and pain for all the pain and grief he had given her throughout all these years.

Besides that, all she wished for was to meet once more with her mother and ask for some type of forgiveness. But the anger remained there.

'How could she just leave me?! Why didn't she save me from that monster?! WHY DIDN'T SHE STILL LOVE ME TILL THE END?! Was her fear towards father much greater than her love for me?'

This made Azula hate herself even more, to be someone so terrible that they don't love you enough.

'Perfect... who cares about being perfect anymore,' thought Azula as her eyes turned glossy from forming tears.

She closed the book momentarily and closed her eyes, letting a single tear slide down her cheek. She took a deep breath and took a couple of seconds to calm herself down.

Once she was calm, Azula revealed a fierce look on her face, with a sharp glare that can even frighten a dragon.

"Father... he did all this. To mom... Zuko... TO ME! I won't forgive him... I'll never forgive him. I will tear down everything he has ever worked for. Slowly take one thing at a time away from him. Then, when he's in despair..."

Azula smiled, revealing a very frightening dark side to her as she thought about all the things she could possibly do to her father. Things that will traumatize the average person.

"Princess Azula! The Fire Lord requests your presence," said a Eunuch after knocking on Azula's door.

It was then that Azula's expression changed like it was nothing.

With a smile on her face, Azula responded to the Eunuch with her usual venomous playful tone.

"I will be there."

...

The next day arrived like the flip of a page.

Genji and the rest of the city had all gathered at the arena, ready to continue the competition.

Everyone was there, including Yue and the impatient Arnook.

Something Genji still took notice of.

'This bastard is definitely waiting for something, but what the hell is it. I don't see anything out of the ordinary,' thought Genji as he did a quick scan of the surroundings with his Spirit Sense. 'There's nothing... like usual...'

Genji shook his head and maintained his Spirit Sense skill and focused it on the arena as he saw both contestants head up to the arena, ready to fight against each other. This time, Arnook didn't do an opening speech, he was visibly worried about something as he remained sitting down.

Even Yue was a bit concerned as to the way he was acting.

"Begin!"

The match started and both figures began to fight.

The opponent sent some ice discs flying to a young female waterbender, ice discs that could slice an arm off quite cleanly.

Psh!

The ice discs were destroyed before they could even reach the woman by a single water whip with a solid small block of ice at its tip.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the young man the woman was fighting against was frozen in place by some ice.

Everyone gasped in shock and amazement, believing the woman to be the cause of his freezing. They cheered but the woman wasn't happy.

She didn't make ice cover the young man, so she looked around, looking for the culprit.

The opponent's figure seemed to have a bit of confusion in his eyes as he realized he couldn't do anything to stop the attack. His hands were frozen in place and his body became immobile.

He was unsure of what was currently happening, he didn't even see the girl make a single movement. How could he just be taken down this easily?

Confused, the young man glared at the woman, "Are you cheating?"

The woman however didn't answer and instead continued to search for the culprit of this attack.

Genji stood up and even Yue stood up as they looked at the arena in shock.

"Was that... a spirit?" muttered Yue as she looked at the young man who was frozen in some ice.

Arnook, who was nearby, heard Yue and began to quite visibly smile. He had been waiting for this moment for the past two days already and it was here!

'Finally!’ thought Arnook as he stood up and looked at the arena in joy before turning to look at Genji.

!!

A pair of fierce golden eyes stared at Arnook, causing him to stumble back in fear. He looked at Genji with shock and saw as he was being looked at with disappointment.

Anger filled him up and it just left him. Arnook remembered about the spirit and just quiet couldn’t fear Genji anymore since he felt safe behind the attack of the spirit

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