Azula was true to her word, and made my time in the palace even worse. I didn't even think that it was possible. I was given the most ridiculous of tasks for weeks: cleaning the ceiling, remove the pit from every cherry in her bowl, comb each individual strand of hair on her head, and so on and so forth. One particular morning, after a night of having to bathe Azula and do even more mediocre chores, my body ached as I trudged to the Staff's Quarters. All I wanted to do was lay down, even though I knew that it was only a matter of minutes before I would have to get back to work. Just as I reached up to push open the door, a hand clamped over my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my arms and torso. My body was jerked back and dragged through the hallway. There was no water nearby for me to bend, and I was too sore to put up much of a fight. I squirmed as much as I could and tried to yell, but I knew deep down that nobody was going to help me. I was dragged into the kitchen, and the door was shut. My captor released, and I instantly swung my arm bent water from a dirty teapot into the assailant's face. Out came a familiar groan as the hood revealed an even more familiar face. "Zuko?!"

He only replied with a pained groan and a strained, Mhm.

"What is your problem?" I kept my voice low. "You of all people should know not to do things like that to me! If your sister catches us—"

"I'm not worried about Azula, and neither should you," he said, holding his hand to his one good eye— which I had apparently hit. "I really want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I visited Uncle," he said quietly. "Or, at least, I tried to..."

"What do you mean by 'tried'?" I asked, bending slightly cleaner water to heal the black eye that I had caused.

"A guard saw me. I panicked, so I left."

I sighed. "Well, I hope you were going to apologize."

Zuko's nose wrinkled. "For what?"

I pulled away from him, looking him directly in the eye. "You're kidding, right?" He shook his head. "You aren't kidding. Of course you're not kidding..."

"What do I have to apologize for?" He asked, his voice breaking out of sudden anger. I didn't want to have this conversation. It would only result in me replacing his black eye, and something told me that he still wouldn't understand what he did wrong. I moved to leave, but Zuko stepped in my way and held his arms up to block the door and keep me from passing him. "I'm finally accepted by my father and my country! I've restored my honor after nearly four years! Why can't you just be happy for me?"

I glared, throwing my arms in the air in exasperation and sarcastically shouting, "Congratulations!" I lowered my voice and scowled. "You've invented a new kind of stupid. Not just any kind of stupid, either." I was pacing now, unable to look at him or contain my frustrations. "You've invented a damage-you-can-never-undo kind of stupid. No— A nobody-could-have-done-this-but-you kind of stupid. An opened-all-the-cages-in-the-zoo kind of stupid. A clearly-you-didn't-think-this-one-through kind of stupid!"

"What did I do that was so awful?" He shot back.

"What did you do?" I echoed, spinning to look at him once again with narrow eyes. "Let's review. Thanks to you, the world's only beacon of hope is now dead. You betrayed the man that has raised and loved and protected you like his own for your entire life, simply for the approval of a sick-minded imbecile that mentally and physically abused you. You betrayed me, Zuko! Just when I thought you were beginning to change!"

Zuko rose his voice to match mine. "I have changed!"

"For whom?!" I shouted in return. The sun was beginning to spill into the room. "So, yeah, you know what? Congratulations! You've redefined your legacy and destiny as the inconsiderate, pompous prince that I never thought you'd become!"

"I did this all for you!" He said defensively. "I sacrificed everything for you!"

Disgusted, I echoed, "'Sacrifice'? What do you know about sacrifice? Iroh sacrificed everything for you. I gave up so much for you, Zuko. I gave up a peaceful life in Ba Sing Se for you! I loved you through everything that you've ever done— including attacking my home tribe!— and you're nothing but reckless and selfish in return! You're so obsessed with restoring honor and your destiny that you've never thought once about how it affects others!" He stood there, speechless. I was so worked up that I was breathing heavily, as if I'd just run around the entire palace. "Now, get out of my way," I said, coldly, and shoved him aside. "I have a spoiled brat to attend to." I looked back one last time and said bitterly, "Congratulations!"

I slammed the door behind me. I pushed my way through the staff members that were pretending that they had been cleaning rather than listening in on a majority of that argument.

Author's Note

This is going to be the last update for a while, so I hope you guys enjoyed! I also hope you took notice to how many Hamilton references/lines I used haha. I'm sorry that this was so short!