A/N I'm SO sorry it took so long. Many, many apologies, and please, please review! Anonymous reviews ARE enabled!

Chapter Thirteen

Azula sat at the table, eating her breakfast calmly

Azula sat at the table, eating her breakfast calmly. Her worthless brother and his peasant bride had obviously had some sort of fight. The girl seemed to have regretted whatever had transpired between them, and attempted to be kind anyway, a kindness that was snubbed by Zuko's silence.

The next day she remained silent and sullen, and Zuko seemed to regret his actions over the course of the day and made several attempts to be pleasant with her. His attempts were futile, and on the third day after their fight, they simply sat in miserable silence. Azula decided to act.

After poking her food listlessly around the plate, Katara left the table. A few moments later, Azula excused herself as well, following Katara. She caught up quickly.

"Katara."

Katara whirled around in surprise; realized who it was that had called her name; took a battle stance; and instinctively looked around for water. To Katara's surprise, Azula looked shocked and almost hurt at this. "I'm sorry," Katara said, not really meaning it, still bitter towards Azula's actions during the war. "You surprised me," she added coldly. Azula winced at the blatant dislike in Katara's obvious lie.

"I didn't mean to," she said softly, a foil to Katara's harsh tone. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" Katara's eyes narrowed further in suspicion. "About what?"

Azula opened her mouth as if she were about to say something, then stopped and shook her head. "Never mind. I'm sorry I bothered you." She left before Katara realized that she had said her last words with the slightest hint of regret; leaving Katara with a tiny worm of guilt. She quickly buried it and returned to her room, plopping down into a chair.

Azula returned to her room as well. There was nothing else interesting she could do at the palace. As per her parole, she was only allowed inside the palace. She could enter the Capitol City only if she was accompanied by a member of the royal family and a company of guards, offering her little else to do, since neither Zuko nor Uncle would ever consent to let her out of the palace.

Even in the palace, there were still places forbidden to her. She was not allowed on the battlements, or in the armory. The war room was also forbidden to her. She could not go to the training grounds to practice and spar. She was not expressly forbidden to Firebend, but the places in the palace most suited for bending practice were.

In prison, the food had contained a drug that had left her perpetually weak, and consequently unable to Firebend. Since she had left prison and regained her bending, the only fire she could call up was a weak orange flame that could barely light a lantern. Azula missed her blue flames and lightening, and she hated that she was forced into this weakness.

Azula held her hand out and tried to light it on fire, an action that she often repeated in her room. A small flame sputtered to life in her hand, a flame so tiny the flame of a candle's would outstrip it. It flickered and Azula concentrated all her strength on keeping it alive. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple with the effort. It winked out anyway.

She growled and threw herself into her chair. It made no sense. What had happened to her? Why couldn't she bend properly? Azula had always had a strong will, and had never had any trouble conjuring flames before. Standing up, she took a stance and punched the air, a move that, only a few years ago, she could have used to project a torrent of flames twenty feet. Now, only a few sparks were produced, sparks that quickly went out.

Azula's hand's curled into fists, her fingernails nearly slicing her palms. She took a few deep, calming breaths. Firebending was a failure at the moment; but she had other plans.

Katara quickly found herself bored with the palace. Most of the noble ladies here had a few talents that they had been bred and raised to appreciate. Katara saw the other ladies with their accomplishments and found herself woefully lacking.

She eventually decided, upon discovering the (rather small) music conservatory in the palace to learn an instrument. She asked for directions from the guards, who accompanied her to the music conservatory. She was met with a room full of instruments but rather void of people.

One older gentleman welcomed her genially, and showed her the many instruments that they had in the conservatory. As they toured and Katara tested out several instruments, she carefully asked why the room was so empty. The older gentleman's reply was that the war had drained the money that went toward improving the arts. As a result, he was the only one in the palace running the conservatory.

After trying a few notes on nearly every instrument in the room, Katara finally decided to learn how to play the banhu. The older gentleman, named Jing, opened the cabinets containing banhus, and pulled out a rather beaten banhu.

"Just until you've learned, your Highness. Then, you may find a much fancier instrument to play."

Katara and Jing had just begun her lesson when the door opened. Azula walked in, and balked at the sight of Katara.

"Good evening, your Highness," Jing said, bowing to Azula. Azula motioned for him to get up.

"I wanted to relearn the matouqin," she said softly to Jing.

"Of course," he said, going off in search of one for her to play upon. He walked down far toward the other end of the room, before digging through the cabinets and searching. Azula stood awkwardly and Katara sat on her stool, equally awkward.

Katara frowned. It had been a few days since Azula had made that strange attempt to talk to her, and ever since, she saw her everywhere. The former princess' sudden appearance jarred Katara, making her fearful that Azula might be following her, planning something.

However, mixed with her suspicions, sympathy had begun to form. Katara had done her best to squash these feelings, but her nature was forgiving, and, having had always looked for the best in people her whole life, Katara found herself making excuses for why Azula had so suddenly appeared.

"Perhaps she's always been like this, and you're just paranoid after actually talking to her," she had muttered to herself as she pondered. Not only did she find herself making excuses for Azula, but Katara had also noticed that while Azula suddenly seemed to be everywhere, she was everywhere alone. Of course, the palace guards and staff were always present, but Azula herself had no company, even though Mai and Ty Lee were both in the palace.

As Katara reflected on Azula's odd behavior, she realized that she was staring quite rudely at her. Katara turned pink as their eyes made contact.

"Good evening," she said stiffly.

"Good evening," Azula replied. "We had such a lovely day, today," she added lamely.

"Yes," Katara muttered. There were a few moments of awkward silence. "What are you doing?" Katara asked with a touch more suspicion in her voice than she had intended.

"I learned the matouqin as a child," Azula replied as genially as she could. "I wanted to relearn how to play. I've forgotten everything from my childhood. I was also planning on having tea after I secured lessons."

"Oh," Katara replied. "What kind of tea do you like?" she said from lack of anything else to say.

"Green tea is my favorite," Azula replied. "And you?"

"Green tea, too."

"Would you care to join me?"

Katara's mind had been working furiously during the whole conversation, trying to locate any hint of what Azula was planning, and now, it drew up blank.

"No," Katara said forcefully. Her face instantly burned and Azula went somberly from the room. Katara felt awful, and left soon afterward.

Jing was left quite confused at the royal ladies.

Katara had had only a margin of guilt or sympathy for Azula before. After their terribly humiliating half-conversation, these feelings only intensified. Katara wasn't even sure why. She was supposed to hate Azula, and with good cause.

She flopped onto her bed and groaned. The way things were going, Katara was never going to have a friend in the Fire Nation. She would live the remainder of her life alone and hated in the palace that felt more and more like a prison to her.

When diner was ready, Katara realized that she wasn't very hungry at all, and remained in her room, reading. It was a piece of Earth Kingdom literature, of which there was plenty, since it was the largest nation in the world.

The particular piece was about a man forced to commit a crime to feed his starving family, and wound up serving years in prison. At the beginning of the story, when he was released from prison, he was a hardened man, and quickly resorted to a short-lived life of crime. One man's kindness was enough to open his eyes.

Katara felt her sense of guilt increase as she read the novel. It was true, that redemption was possible. While he had never proved himself to Katara in the few weeks that Zuko had traveled with them during the war, he had somewhat proven himself to the other members of the group. True, Azula had been her enemy years ago, but it was possible that she could have changed. Wasn't it?

"I'll only find out if I try," Katara mused out loud. "Maybe she just needs someone to show her that redemption is possible." The story of Shinkei was only fiction; Katara knew this. But, she also knew that in every story, there was a grain of truth. Resolved, she made her plan.

The next morning, Azula received a note from Princess Katara, inviting her to have tea in her chambers after lunch. She smiled slowly.

Ila poured the tea carefully for Katara and Azula. She bowed and left the room. There was a moment of silence while the girls sipped their tea. Katara set hers down, nearly spilling a few drops. Azula noticed her shaking hands, and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," Katara said. Before she could stop it, she explained. "I've never been this close to you before without fighting." She winced before she had even finished her sentence. Her first attempt at making a friend in the palace was sure to fail.

Azula remained quiet for a moment before she responded. "I don't blame you for being nervous. I must be a monster to you."

"No!" Katara quickly claimed, before lapsing into silence once again. The girls sipped their tea again to avoid speaking. Azula put down her teacup first.

"In a few months, we're going to be sisters." She didn't miss the slight cringe in Katara's face, which turned crimson a moment later. "Before that happens, I need you to know something, and I need to say it. I…" She faltered. "I'm sorry."

Katara was completely blown away.

"For everything," Azula added. "All that I've done to you. To your family, friends." She looked down. "Your country."

"You don't have to–," Katara began awkwardly, her suspicions rising again. This wasn't the Azula she knew, even taking into consideration her newfound desire to find forgiveness.

"I didn't know any better," Azula continued. "All I knew was what I was told, and I never thought that you were any more than the enemy. It's a despicable way of thinking." Azula hung her head in shame. Katara felt a wave of sympathy bury most of her doubts. She knew that this was a difficult thing to admit, having experienced the same thing.

"I used to feel that way, too," Katara admitted.

"I don't want to keep feeling this way. I want to get rid of the past. I don't want to be enemies. I want us to be friends."

"Friends?" Katara echoed lamely, the doubts she felt earlier rising slightly.

"I've been so lonely since I've come home," Azula admitted, seeing the distrust in her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself. "My parents are gone, the only family I have left hates me, and my own best friends are avoiding me. I'm completely alone."

"I know how you feel," Katara murmured. Her feelings wrestled with each other. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive some of the things you've done to me," Katara said slowly, her stomach lurching as she saw Azula's face fall. "But that doesn't mean that we can't still try to be friends."

Azula's face lit up.

Azula and Katara walked, arms linked, through the gardens. Katara was eagerly telling Azula anecdotes of her childhood, most of them involving Sokka and his follies. They strolled past the flower gardens, whiling away their time with conversation.

Eventually, Katara ran out of stories, and Azula offered many tales of Zuko as a young child, most the stories involving him doing something stupid, or ridiculous. They passed by a lone willow tree, as Azula finished the story she was telling.

Their laughter stretched to the person brooding underneath. As Azula and Katara walked past, moving on to different subjects, Zuko straightened up from underneath the willow, a sour look on his face.