They came during the night. A rush of poisonous nightmares that haunted her lone jail cell, moments after she drifted into her first restless sleep. Whispers fluttered at her ears, invading her fragile mind, repeating the very worries and fears which became real. As the thin line between dreams and reality shattered like ice, the once-feared Fire Nation princess fled into the darkness of her mind, visited by the dead and soon to be. No longer was the time where she merely opened her hand and a warm flame flickered to life, the curls of blue fire dancing across her palm. The cold and dark had hardened her fire, extinguishing the light until nothing remained. Not even a spark.

.-.

'You're a monster. Not like your dear brother Zuko, oh no, you will never be as loved as he is. In fact, you will never be loved again.' That taunting voice crept up next to her curled up frame, a small wispy voice that constantly reminded her how trust was for fools; they were all going to betray her. Mai and Ty-Lee proved just that.

"But daddy loved me," she would protest weakly, whispering to herself. She would often take a chance at countering the murmurs drifting around her, emanating from the dark stone walls, but every time she would get burned.

The voice laughed in her mother's voice, but layered with a cold sting. 'Daddy? Dear, he didn't love you. He never loved you. You were just another soldier to him, someone who would inherit the job of Fire Lord so he could run off like everyone else did. You were too much of a failure for him to love you. Your bending forms were never perfect and your lightning was simply pathetic,' the voice laughed again sharply. "And don't get me started on your fire, darling. Zuko was so much better than you."

Azula threw her head back and screamed at the ceiling, a desperate cry tinged with anguish, but no matter how long she cried, no one would come. She curled her long fingers into fists, her shoulders shaking with sobs as laughter grew stronger in her mind. Her own father never loved her. Her own brother never really loved her. Muttering incoherently to herself, Azula rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, wrapping her arms tightly around herself but tears continued to stream down her face, falling from her unfocused eyes. Her fine clothing that she proudly wore, the silk robes and proud emblem of the Fire Nation pinned in her hair was instantly stripped down to a single, woolen dress, with a red strap tied loosely around her thin figure. There was no pin in her hair. 'No. No, there is someone who loved me'. A single thought crossed her mind, but before she could stop crying long enough to grab it, it disappeared and the darkness returned.

.-.

She came during the night. Mai, with her Fire Lady pin tucked away in her ivory-black hair stood outside the iron bars, simply staring wordlessly at Azula with her sleeves hanging loose over her hands. She simply stared, taking in the pathetic form on the floor, rocking back and forth repeatedly while muttering to herself with eyes wide open. Azula stopped rocking suddenly and her head snapped upwards, but Mai merely narrowed her eyes slightly. This was once the girl who had teased her when she was a child about her crush on Zuko. The girl who tried to throw her in prison because she had proven that her love for Zuko was stronger than fear.

"Come to gloat, did you?"

Mai took a small step back, letting surprise flicker on her face before letting it fall back to an almost bored expression. She had always admired Azula's knack for public speaking, the way she would inspire determination and fear into anyone, just by looking at them. But the way she sounded… this she wasn't prepared for.

"I guess prison hasn't been working for you, has it." Mai said coolly, but gazed at Azula with a pitying kind of dread.

Azula returned to her rocking state, burrowing her head into her arms and shaking slightly, though there was no draft. Mai stood there for a few moments more, before turning away without another glance.

.-.

They came during the night. Phantoms and faint outlines of her father and mother appeared in her cell once again, slightly transparent but still as haunting as ever. They shook their head sadly at Azula, who was sitting trembling on the floor, her eyes boring into her empty prison. The scene shifted, and her brother was standing in front of her, but he was six years old. Azula closed her eyes slowly, and allowed her subconscious to drift into her dream-like state that she inhabited frequently.

*flashback*

A smaller, less sharp-featured Azula was lying huddled on her dark red bed, next to Zuko, who's eyes were wide open with fear. Azula shuddered as another crash of thunder seemed to slam against her window, rattling the enlarged painting of Ozai hanging on her wall and inched a bit closer to her brother. As the rain pounded heavily against the outside of her small room, instead of running to her parents, Azula found herself walking to her older brother's room, before clambering into bed with him to wait out the storm. Zuko hugged his sister tightly, his face also pale but remained strong for his younger sister. His mother had once made him promise to take care of Azula, no matter what.

"It's alright 'Zula, thunder can't hurt you" he said matter-of-factly.

Azula scoffed, her body rigid. "I know that dummy. But it's just loud." She said defensively and put on a brave expression, but cringed and dug her head under her pillow suddenly as the loudest clap of thunder shook the room.

Zuko grinned at the sight of his sister. "You know, the thunder is pretty scary. But it's the lightning that gives me the creeps."

His sister lifted the pillow off her face and her face brightened. "I think lightning is the best part of the thunderstorm," she decided. "The way it lights up like a fire does, but it's more… powerful. More precise, because it's silent. And fast like me." Azula grinned, loosening her grip on her pillow.

Zuko merely shrugged, content with the fact that he succeeded in making his sister forget about the thunder, for now.

*present*

Crying into her arms, Azula repeatedly shook her head, trying to shake the memory of fond times with Zuko. They were no more, only the present where she, the daughter of the ex-Fire Lord, was trapped in a cold, iron prison.

'Don't touch her. Don't let anyone come in.' Zuko had ordered the prison guards before they unlocked her chains and slammed the door to her cell. He had waited a moment until he was alone before placing a single hand on the window of the door, and a tear fell from his eyes. "You'll be safe there 'Zula," he quietly said, then left. How wrong he was.

.-.

They came during the night.

'That water-bender girl with the ridiculous hair-loops, and the boy with the boomerang always strapped on his back.' Azula had thought, and then turned herself around so she sat with her back to the door staring resolutely at the opposite wall, refusing to let them see her face. She would not let herself become a side-show freak, but with her hands clamped tightly over her ears, she rocked back and forth once again.

"Poor girl…" Katara whispered, peering into the darkness for any hint of Azula. "She doesn't deserve this."

"Well of course she does. She almost killed you Katara, and Zuko!"

Sighing in response, the young water-bender kept her eyes on the figure staring at a blank wall, biting her lip as her eyes grew wet. "But no one deserves to be alone."

.-.

She came in the night. Ty-Lee, dressed in her old pink clothes instead of her Kyoshi Warrior outfit, armed with blankets. Her feet padded silently on the cold floor and a shudder ran through her limber body, nervous and scared about what she would find. Silently taking out a key from the folds of her robe, she inserted the red key into the lock and opened the door, letting the light from the torch hanging on the wall flood into the cell and Azula cringed slightly. This time she was sitting on her small bed, her eyes locked onto the floor and was mumbling softly to herself, eyes darting back and forth across the black floor. Ty-Lee steeped hesitantly into the cell, letting her eyes wander around the empty cell in shock.

"Oh Azula…" she murmured, feeling her heart break for her friend, and a single memory crossed her mind.

*flashback*

"Ow! That hurt Azula!" Ty-Lee cried, her lip quivering as she landed hard on her back, the soft grass cushioning her fall slightly but the breath was knocked out of her momentarily.

A ten-year old Azula stood over her friend with her hands planted firmly on her hips, and a scowl on her face. Mai held out her hand and helped Ty-Lee up, brushing some of the loose dirt out of her long braid and scowled.

"Just because she can do a perfect cartwheel and you can't, doesn't mean you have to be so mean Azula!" she huffed, putting an arm around Ty-Lee who had tears in her eyes.

The three young friends were playing in the courtyard of the Royal Palace, Azula watching Ty-Lee execute five perfect cartwheels in a row with ease. Mai had a thoughtful expression on her face, standing a little off to the side as she fingered a small blade she kept hidden up her sleeve that she stole from her father's war room. Azula's eyes had darkened slightly, and without hesitation she had leaned forward and stuck her foot out in Ty-Lee's path, causing her to trip and fall hard on the ground.

Azula laughed with her hands still on her hips defiantly. "What does it matter to me if I can do cartwheels or not? Those are only for silly girls," she said, but a flicker of jealousy crossed her face.

Mai smirked, "Are you sure you're not just jealous? You can barely do one," she let the effect of her words wash over Azula as her face twisted with anger.

"Oh shut up Mai, you don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, turning on her heel and stomped away angrily.

Ty-Lee bit her lip and stared at the girl walking away; she hated making her friend mad, but all she wanted was to be as talented as Azula.

*present*

Gently placing the soft blankets on the foot of the bed, Ty-Lee straightened up. "These are for you 'Zula, I know it must be cold in here," she softly said, and walked out of the cell, locking the door after her.

Azula lifted her head slowly, her dark eyes shooting daggers at the door. But after the footsteps receded, she fingered the blanket on the top of the pile next to her, feeling the strange softness. After brushing the tears from her eyes for the hundredth time, Azula's hands shook as she wrapped the blanket around herself, a flicker of warmth lighting up in her ice-cold heart but soon died.