Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

Hopeless

Azula had been restrained when she was removed her from the chained position over the water grate. She was exhausted and hung loose in the arms of the imperial soldiers her brother had ordered to take her back to the palace. She had been dragged in an unenthusiastic effort by two imperial soldiers, the legs of her pants pulling and catching on the ground, injuring her slightly. Azula was then carried by one imperial soldier when her brother had objected and reprimanded them for such poor treatment of his ill sister. Her head was slumped against the man's arm and lulled forward when he got a better grip on her.

She wasn't left with her element free to use. Her hands were gloved with cloth against her skin and encased in special fire resistant mittens that kept her fingers splayed, unable to fire bend. She was muzzled with a flexible fire resistant mask over the lower half of her face that didn't hinder her breathing. Azula's ears were obstructed with a similar soft material and although her ears were blocked her hearing remained if somewhat dimmer than usual.

For the time being until Sokka, Toph, and Suki arrived, Zuko, Katara and multiple imperial soldiers had brought the former princess to her room in the palace intending to keep her there until they decided what to do with her. It was obvious that she couldn't be sent to a prison in such a state and prince Zuko not having had his coronation decided openly to any one listening that maybe they could take her to a mental institution to be rehabilitated.

Katara would have objected and voiced her opinion about sending her to prison anyway to pay for her crimes. But her heart wouldn't agree with her brain to say such a thing when she witnessed Zuko's painfully lost expression as he looked upon his little sister. It was the look on Zuko's face that eventually changed Katara's mind.

Azula had fallen asleep somewhere between the trip from the arena to the palace and she was now sleeping peacefully where they had placed her on her bed.

"I wonder how they are doing?" Zuko asked his voice unnaturally soft.

"We will find out soon." Katara spoke matching his tone; she rested a supportive hand on his shoulder.

The other members of the gang arrived hours later, all hyped, happy, and relieved from the ending results. Katara immediately embraced Aang, reluctantly Zuko joined them (still a tad uncomfortable with open affection) and it resulted in the entire group joining in. The group hugged elated that every one of them had prevailed. The hundred year war was finally coming to a well deserved close.

Sokka was full of boundless energy and Suki was doing her best to help him at least contain it knowing there wouldn't be sleep for anyone that night. Last thing they needed was Sokka grating on their nerves from hyperactivity, which she doubted would happen, but she didn't want to tempt fate. It was a once in a lifetime moment or so she hoped and she wanted everyone to savour it in their memories for the rest of their lives. Suki's attempts proved futile when Toph released her own uncontainable excitement and didn't at all help to quell Sokka's somewhat.

Aang was also ecstatic though he was subtle, his feelings expressed through the blissful smile on his face and his relieved demeanour.

The fire lord, feeble and weak that had travelled with them back to his own land was quickly dealt with. Ozai was stripped of his title, disgraced and shipped off with Fire Nation soldiers to be officially entered into prison awaiting a trial, if he was ever honoured with one.

By Zuko's request Aang had agreed to take away Azula's fire bending in the brief conversation they had shared.

Aang with one too many interruptions from Sokka eventually told them about what had transpired with the former fire lord and his newly learned energybending.

When they entered the bedroom holding the former Fire Nation princess, Zuko was surprised to find she was awake. She stared at them angrily, her eyes bloodshot from her breakdown in the arena and the dark circles seemed to be more prominent now under her eyes on her pale skin.

Zuko was agitated visibly seeing his sister up close in this state. They had previously restrained her by her hands and feet to the bed posts cautiously, in case she had woken. Four imperial soldiers waited outside her room whilst she had been resting, but they had secured her anyway for extra safety in her unstable state.

"Azula, father has been defeated." Zuko informed her, avoiding her eyes immediately as they spoke of danger and pure rage. "Aang has removed his ability to bend."

Azula went rigid on the bed with the knowledge and began to struggle unsuccessfully against the binds keeping her in place.

Zuko bent over her body and moved closer toward her face, she inched into the soft mattress trying to escape from his close proximity. "I'm sorry, Azula...but Aang is going to take yours too." He whispered apologetically.

Haven't you taken enough?

Azula erupted in horrified screams and shrieks from her throat, but were muffled by the repressing gag in her mouth. Azula's eyes quickly filled with tears that fell freely down the sides of her face and she looked to Aang who was moving closer with unrestrained fear. Zuko became anxious due to the presence of that particular emotion he had never seen on her face.

Azula whispered through her gag, to only her the knowledge of what she spoke. She looked to her brother with seemingly pleading eyes, but he turned away from her unable to see the intense gaze he had never witnessed before in her golden eyes.

Aang stood beside the bed, his head tilted as he regarded the former princess. "Could you untie her?" He asked Zuko.

Zuko faced him, ignoring Azula to focus on the matter. "Why?"

"She needs to be sitting upright. I took Fire Lo...Ozai's at an angle and I think it would be easier that way."

Zuko ushered the imperial soldiers from outside into the room and had them hold his sister down as he went about the bed untying the knots. With the four men helping them they put Azula into a new position despite her protests and squirms trying to break free of their holds. They had placed the former princess on the floor retying her arms outstretched to the bed posts on either side of her. She was resting on her legs when they lifted her to tie her ankles, and secured them with another two pieces of rope looped through the main one and attached the two extra pieces to bed's legs on both sides to restrict her movement. So she couldn't bring her legs out from under her to firebend or kick Aang.

The soldiers wordlessly left the room when dismissed and closed the door behind them at prince Zuko's wish.

He watched Aang approach his sister, apprehensively. Though defeated and unable to move any amount she still struggled and she exercised her lungs in an exaggerated amount with piercing screams that breached the silence warranted by the mask's gag.

Azula panicked watching the boy in front of her reach out and unbutton the top buttons to her clothes. Her desperate and confused eyes sort her brothers and he returned his own confusion seeing Aang open his sister's shirt.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked an edge to his voice and he moved to stop the Air Nomad from inappropriately touching his sister.

"I have to touch her skin over her heart." Aang explained, gently.

"There's no other way?"

"No, not that I know of. If it wasn't so dangerous I'd try through her clothes, but I don't know what would happen, if anything at all." Azula's wild and terrified eyes stared up at him, but he paid her no mind, not able to with the energybending lying ahead. Aang focused his eyes on Zuko, waiting for his decision.

"Continue." Zuko said.

She shook her head violently when Aang placed his hand on her forehead. He reached his other hand into her opened shirt and placed his hand slightly under her bindings on her chest. She shrieked at his touch and noticed how her brother had again turned his back to them. The last thing she remembered seeing was her brother leaving the room, opening and closing the door behind him.

Aang was successful and left the room to seek out Zuko without words to his former adversary, on the way he told the guards outside the bedroom they could move her back on to the bed. Azula was overly exhausted and had no fight left in her.

The mask was soon removed as well as the gloved fire resistant mittens and the soft plugs pulled from her ears. She was repositioned and retied to her bed.

Azula never remembered crying so much in her life after loss of her firebending. She felt an overwhelming sense of violation and never looked her brother in the eyes again.

The former princess was left in the comfort of her room after that. She was only bothered occasionally by her brother or the servants who catered to her every need though she often openly insulted and threatened them for doing so until she would cry to herself with despair.

She had buried her pride readily and had reduced herself to a low degree by begging her brother when he was within earshot to end her.

The group of friends had debated amongst themselves what the future should hold for Azula and it was a positive vote that she receive help at the closest mental facility to the palace.

After fire lord Zuko celebrated his coronation and his ascension to the throne, he had made arrangements for Azula at her temporary new home. Zuko had been especially adamant about Azula's recovery, acceptance, and her earning her place back in the palace to be in the upcoming days, weeks, or months. He never once relinquished his hope.

It was unfortunate to say, Azula had. And within a few short days of her firebending being taken away, she died. The healers had informed the fire lord she had died of natural causes, which at first he had refused to believe.

Zuko had scoured over the final records of her last days with tears, grief, and bloodshot eyes. He found out in the reports that Azula hadn't needed restrains in the end, even with her hand to hand combat capabilities she had surrendered wholly to her new life. He clenched his jaw in anger when he realised he should have noticed the start of this downward spiral when she pleaded for death. In his heart he knew Azula shouldn't have given up without a new fight, she should have sworn revenge.

They had hand fed her, he read sadly. And she had spent the last days of her life on her cot in the corner of her hospital cell staring at the wall when she wasn't sleeping.

She hadn't risen to the bait with either her intelligence or shrill screams when one of the healers discovered a junior healer had been taunting her. She no longer interacted in a world she believed held nothing for her. Azula had gone with hopelessness.

Indifference was the main emotion displayed on his face when his oldest child relayed the news to him openly grieving for a sister that never was fully realised.

Former fire lord Ozai had turned away from fire lord Zuko uninterested in his words, though his last sentence hung heavily in the air.

Zuko's last spoken words drifted and settled in his mind no matter how much the former fire lord tried to resist them. They reverberated off the walls, echoed in his ears and stayed with him long after his prodigy's body was cold.

"You killed her."