Chapter 1

Conversation

She hated it, she hated being locked up with these worms, she hated how other people looked at her, she hated being treated like some sort of beast. Despite all of those looks being well deserved, she couldn't help, but grumble. Everyone there was insane, everyone there was troubled. She did not belong there. She was better than that, but yet there she was...all because of her brother and her mother.

Though it was an even trade, her father loved her while her mother loved Zuko, so it was only natural that they would get a parent each. It was just a shame that she got the losing parent, and as a result she was stuck here. Resisting her urge to burn such a place to the ground. Not like it mattered, the only reason she was out of such a nasty jacket was because of her persevered good behavior. However if the princess knew that she was going to be sent to a room with a bunch of rats, she would have kept it on.

"Oh, and what do we have here, a beautiful girl in such a place is a rare sight..." The teenage boy smiled as he glanced at the amber eyed girl, his gray eyes seemed almost empty as he held two drinks in his hand. His brown hair covered most of the top part if his head, it was obvious by what he was wearing he was differently an inmate...though using that term was probably wrong.

"Though, it looks like you had some trouble cutting your hair..." He joked as Azula simply glared at him, she had no intention on making small talk with someone of his stature as the teen sat next to her. He took a sip of what ever was in his hand as Azula simply glared at him.

"Disgusting, I wonder how adults can drink it..." Azula looked at the drink next to her foot, it looked like some kind of tea. Which probably made sense since they wouldn't give any of the patients something sweat to drink.

"Maybe they are training their endurance..." Azula made a small statement before returning to silence as the teen laughed.

"I see, you're pretty smart," It seemed that he was delighted with her response as Azula looked at the drink, if it was something for adults, it was only natural that she should drink it as well. As she took a sip, her eye twitched, he was right. It was disgusting, perhaps the older you get, the more suicidal you get, that is the only reason Azula could understand enjoying a drink such as this.

Oddly enough, despite saying it was disgusting he continued to drink it, "You know, maybe it's not so bad once you get use to it, ah just a pointless drink no?" His voice was always relaxed, his eyes never leaving an odd lull. As if he was stuck on one emotion.

"Hmm, well miss, do you smoke pipes of any sort?" Azula gave a harsh frown, she was trying not to reply to such a person, but that couldn't be ignored.

"No, something like that would poison me, though I expect someone like you does that..." Azula counted that as an insult as the teen shrugged.

"Nah, I don't do anything like that, with that being said...for someone in a mental institute you are pretty picky. I mean humans take in poison everyday, so it's only natural that you would build up an immunity to it," He pointed that out as Azula grumbled before taking another sip, she hated it, but since it was something an adult would do she had to do it.

"You know... it's been a while since I talked to anyone," The teen joked, not losing a hint of emotion despite saying something rather sad.

"Hmm, did they keep you locked up?" Azula made a remarked, she wouldn't put it past the people here, they seemed more focused on trying to make the people in the institute like everyone else than sane.

"Huh, what are you talking about, I'm still locked up, I'm out of focus with the rest of humanity..." He let out a chuckle. "They say someone who kills people for no reason is just crazy, can you believe that?" Azula eye twitched, it seemed that she discovered why the person in front of her was in such a place.

"I mean think about it, there is no way someone like me who is out of focus could have a conversation with someone in focus," Azula didn't know what he meant as her lips curled, she wasn't like the person in front of her. She was above everyone else, unless that is what the boy meant.

"Hmm, so you're saying that we're out of focus?" Azula replied on a whim, as the teen sat back on the chair.

"Yeah, it's not a matter of who is out of focus, the one's who are out of focus with the rest of society are the ones that are wrong..." Azula sighed, maybe she really was talking to a madman, that is exactly what a crazy person would say once the Princess started to think about it.

"Really, then maybe society is the one out of focus instead?" Azula pointed this out as the teen closed one of his eyes before taking a sip of his drink.

"What do you mean?" The teen asked a simple question, perhaps he already knew what the princess was going to say, he simply wanted to get it form her mouth.

"Exactly what I said, didn't you say that just now? It's like the majority rule. The views of the minority that aren't the same as the views of the majority are said to useless and unusable...it doesn't matter who is right or wrong, if you don't fit in you are left out regardless of if you are truly right or wrong." Azula grumbled as she said those words, she truly thought that, perhaps staying in a place where no one really wants to help you was the problem.

They simply wanted to make you closer to everyone else, that is how society works.

"Oh, I guess saying that, it means people like us aren't really crazy or evil, though I guess that's the problem with the world," The teen laughed, Azula simply waited for him to keep talking, perhaps she was actually interested in what he had to say.

"Let's use bending as an example, it doesn't have to be bending, but it's pretty easy to follow," The gray eyed teen took a deep breath, as if he was preparing a long winded explanation, perhaps he had this conversation with someone else.

"Benders, their job is to use bending arts to attack or defend against people, they can be used for something else, but that is why they exist. But not just attack, no they painfully train and practice to skillfully attack people.. To effectively attack, and effectively defeat others, they diligently work on it everyday. As if they were sharpening an ax. What do you think about that?" The teen smiled as Azula cocked her eye.

"So? There are people like that, and?"

"No, that's all, before war started they just attacked each other without the need to kill. Sure someone could have died by accident, but I doubt it was considered murder. Isn't that the strangest thing ever?" The teen laughed again, his expression never changing once as the princess gritted her teeth, he really was an odd person.

"...You mean it's okay to kill?" Azula asked bluntly as the teen simply shook his head, it seemed that she was wrong.

"No, no, you aren't suppose to kill...but you could. Isn't that the strangest thing ever? That's not all, Benders bending is considered weapons most of the time, I doubt they are supposed to be used on average people without such a talent. It's amazing, they know benders bending is a weapon, so why allow to use of such an art in the first place? If it's a weapon that can be used to kill, they should simply abolish it. Killing is wrong, killing is wrong, that is what every always says, but the world is full of tools that is used to end another life. Even the rules of the land allow it, but killing is wrong. That can only be considered evil. If common sense is what it thought of as good then we aren't the wrong ones...the world is the wrong one." The teen closed his eyes as Azula tapped her lip, she wondered if she could even reply to such a statement as the teen added a rather funny comment.

"With that said I don't hate bending, I a bender myself you know," He laughed at his own comment as Azula added her own interpretation.

"Well, it's natural, people are interested in strength and skill they can easily understand. That is why things like competition will never go away. Oddly enough, the competitions people like the most are the ones that the contestants hurt each other the most." Azula pointed this out as her thoughts raced.

To admire the strong, people like Azula could only think of the results of her actions rather than the meaning behind leading to those results. While they might be similar, they are fundamentally different.

Things that you can focus on and lose yourself in, those who value bending, those who love cooking, those who love fighting. If people could decide what they love before birth, then advance in it, then the world would be a perfect place to live.

But that ideal is flawed, full of holes and shattered pieces,

The teen simply laughed at the princess "Ah, you are pretty smart, I had a friend like you once, though, I don't think he wanted anything out of life at all," The gray eyed teen pointed this out, it was strange. Azula couldn't imagine him with any friends. "To me, he seemed pretty empty, though that would could probably be exchanged with something like loneliness,"

Azula simply scoffed at such a statement, it seemed the person the teen was remembering lack any sort of drive. "Well then, what about you...do you have anything you want?" Azula asked, she was bored and the person in front of her had been entertaining up to this point, she would give him a gift of listening to his dreams.

"Ah, me, I had something, but I can't do it here...though I don't plan on spending more time here..." The teen sighed, as he got up from his seat and dusted himself off.

"Well, I must be going now, things that need to be done," It seemed he was satisfied with cutting things short, as he walked away. Azula looked down at her drink before saying something to herself.

"Being an adult...no doubt that is a horrid thing,"

Author note.

I wanted to make a fic, that made you think. Nothing really happened now, but it will pick up next chapter.