Sometimes, Azula felt like she was missing something. She acted with more skill and confidence than any person, but every so often something happened that completely derailed her. "You could puncture the hull of an empire class fire nation battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea..." She still blushed angrily at that memory. It had seemed natural at the time, just a small compliment, but Chan's reaction had been completely humiliating. She had rarely experienced self-doubt in the past, but she couldn't stop returning to that encounter and wondering how she had managed to fail so completely at carrying on a normal conversation.

Flirting. That was supposed to come naturally, right? Ty Lee could do it effortlessly and she was completely empty-headed. Even Mai could manage. Why did she struggle with this when everything else she tried came so naturally? Of course, she had dedicated her life to the important things. Bending, fighting, the art of leading a nation... that was what really mattered. She thought back to Chan again. She wished that he understood the forces that directed her life. If he had known that she could bend lightning, surely he would have been impressed! Not more than three or four benders in the country could do that. Or he could have admired her as the probable future ruler of the nation, his future Fire Lord. But lying in bed at night, she wished that she could have forgotten these things, that she could have understood the simpler way he lived. Maybe she could have flirted as carelessly as Ty Lee and wouldn't have embarrassed herself so publicly.

On those lonely nights, she sometimes wished that she could ask someone for advice. Most people she knew respected her, but feared her. That was proper. They had to be frightened of her, or they wouldn't revere her as they should. But it did mean that she couldn't lower herself and show weakness before them. Even her brother and friends, they were afraid of her too. Normally she preferred it that way. It was only when she stared at the ceiling above her bed that she wished that she could confide in them. She did still regret that she had slipped and shown them that one wound in her heart that evening on the beach. Most girls could go to their mothers for love and support, but that hadn't been an option since she realized her mother feared her like everyone else. And so, Azula lay awake and night and wondered what inside her was missing.