[Drabble]
Warning for (non-graphic) suicide.
Player: banerry
Subject: Azula, Zuko (dropped)
Table: C
Prompt: 001- Defiant
Good rulers weren't executed. It was an undeniable fact. Death in battle was different (provided that the opponent was a worthy one, of course)-- to go down fighting was to go down in a blaze of glory, honorably serving your country and your people. But to meet your end at the hands of a hangman, standing unresponsive with your hands tied and a hood over your eyes? That was just weak, and if there was anything that had been drilled into Azula since she was a small child, it was that leaders were never weak.
That was why, when the news of her sentence trickled down into the darkest and deepest cells of the palace dungeons, Azula knew what she had to do.
The war had only ended a day ago; Zuko wanted to carry out the sentence quickly, before word got out to the community and rescue missions started to form. It would be unfortunate for the few friends his sister had acquired there, he knew, and he wasn't without sympathy for them-- but times had changed, and the new Fire Nation government considered Azula a war criminal now. On a personal level, he wasn't sure that he was very happy with the idea either, but the law was clear. If he were to bend it now, especially for the sake of a family member, he'd be seen as soft and easily manipulated-- unforgiving traits in the eyes of his already skeptical subjects. And after all, he reminded himself ruefully, she wouldn't have hesitated to do the same thing to me.
If he had known that Azula knew, she would have been put under constant surveillance-- he knew how her mind worked far more than he wanted to. But after being away from palace life for so long, he had forgotten how much servants and jail guards liked to gossip, and how easily they forgot that the prisoners that they guarded hadn't lost the use of their ears. By the end of her fifth hour in prison (still reeling in shock from the quick and unexpected takeover), she knew it all.
Lightning would be the easiest way. It was called the cold-blooded fire for a reason; if she wasn't perfectly calm when she used it, she would electrocute herself. Ironically, making sure that she did it wrong just right took nearly as much time as preparing for a perfect sequence would have-- first she had to push back the numbing shock that had startled to settle in after her capture. This wasn't very hard to do.
Ty Lee lying. Ty Lee disappearing. Father's betrayal. Father dying. Ty Lee coming back, without her memories, and then leaving again. Lisa disappearing, and coming back after a year. Being beaten, dying here, and not even getting to say goodbye... She felt the rage starting to bubble up inside her, along with a strange aching sadness and a profound sense of loss. All the things she would never get to do; to see; to feel again.
Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and raised her right hand to strike.
--
At the first sounds of crackling, the guards jumped to attention, taking off at a run down the long hallway towards the Fire Lord's cell. It grew and grew, getting louder and brighter and stronger with each passing moment, and suddenly there was a tremendous flash and then...
Silence.
One of them was sent in the check the body; he came out less than twenty seconds later and gave a curt nod of his head.
--
The news was delivered to the Fire Lord promptly. Zuko leaned against the war room door and closed his eyes for a long moment, silently saying a prayer for his strange, lost (evil) little sister.
Then he turned to his desk and picked up the book, flipping it open to the main community page. He had an announcement to make.
Player: banerry
Subject: Azula, Zuko (dropped)
Table: C
Prompt: 001- Defiant
Good rulers weren't executed. It was an undeniable fact. Death in battle was different (provided that the opponent was a worthy one, of course)-- to go down fighting was to go down in a blaze of glory, honorably serving your country and your people. But to meet your end at the hands of a hangman, standing unresponsive with your hands tied and a hood over your eyes? That was just weak, and if there was anything that had been drilled into Azula since she was a small child, it was that leaders were never weak.
That was why, when the news of her sentence trickled down into the darkest and deepest cells of the palace dungeons, Azula knew what she had to do.
The war had only ended a day ago; Zuko wanted to carry out the sentence quickly, before word got out to the community and rescue missions started to form. It would be unfortunate for the few friends his sister had acquired there, he knew, and he wasn't without sympathy for them-- but times had changed, and the new Fire Nation government considered Azula a war criminal now. On a personal level, he wasn't sure that he was very happy with the idea either, but the law was clear. If he were to bend it now, especially for the sake of a family member, he'd be seen as soft and easily manipulated-- unforgiving traits in the eyes of his already skeptical subjects. And after all, he reminded himself ruefully, she wouldn't have hesitated to do the same thing to me.
If he had known that Azula knew, she would have been put under constant surveillance-- he knew how her mind worked far more than he wanted to. But after being away from palace life for so long, he had forgotten how much servants and jail guards liked to gossip, and how easily they forgot that the prisoners that they guarded hadn't lost the use of their ears. By the end of her fifth hour in prison (still reeling in shock from the quick and unexpected takeover), she knew it all.
Lightning would be the easiest way. It was called the cold-blooded fire for a reason; if she wasn't perfectly calm when she used it, she would electrocute herself. Ironically, making sure that she did it wrong just right took nearly as much time as preparing for a perfect sequence would have-- first she had to push back the numbing shock that had startled to settle in after her capture. This wasn't very hard to do.
Ty Lee lying. Ty Lee disappearing. Father's betrayal. Father dying. Ty Lee coming back, without her memories, and then leaving again. Lisa disappearing, and coming back after a year. Being beaten, dying here, and not even getting to say goodbye... She felt the rage starting to bubble up inside her, along with a strange aching sadness and a profound sense of loss. All the things she would never get to do; to see; to feel again.
Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and raised her right hand to strike.
--
At the first sounds of crackling, the guards jumped to attention, taking off at a run down the long hallway towards the Fire Lord's cell. It grew and grew, getting louder and brighter and stronger with each passing moment, and suddenly there was a tremendous flash and then...
Silence.
One of them was sent in the check the body; he came out less than twenty seconds later and gave a curt nod of his head.
--
The news was delivered to the Fire Lord promptly. Zuko leaned against the war room door and closed his eyes for a long moment, silently saying a prayer for his strange, lost (evil) little sister.
Then he turned to his desk and picked up the book, flipping it open to the main community page. He had an announcement to make.