A new idea I was just inspired to write today. The idea popped into my mind and I just had to get it down. I really hope you all enjoy it!

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Real Friends

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A real friend would never make their friend do this. A person with a heart would never do what she was planning, nor would they send out whom they called a friend to do the deed. Real friends didn't do that. Mai would never admit it out loud, but she often wondered if Azula ever was truly a real friend. There were many times when it seemed not. Even when they were little, Mai and Ty Lee had often been forced into playing with Azula, most of which were cruel games Azula had invented her self and often sent her into a cruel cold laughter. Mai shifted uncomfortably at the time where Azula placed an apple on her head and told her she would aim her fire for it. She could still remember so vividly, how her whole body tensed. She was scared, and did not want to participate, but did not move. Whether it was fear of being burned, or fear of Azula she still didn't know. She did know she was thankful for when Zuko tackled her into the water, extinguishing her. The two had been embarrassed yes, and Azula's cruel laughter and mean remarks did not make it any easier. Azula was like that, bullying, cold, mean. Her eyes never held any warmth. There were other times as well when the two girls felt scared of Azula. They dared not admit it aloud, but they knew, and Azula did too. She would smirk coldly, her eyes flashing that dangerous flash they always seemed to wear when she was thinking of something cold to do. Real friends wouldn't order their friends to do things to make them uncomfortable, which could risk their lives. Real friends didn't order their friends around like slaves, making them bend to their every will. Real friends didn't order their own friends to kill someone else, or to betray family. Azula was never a real friend. She had lied to Mai, and Ty Lee and to Zuko. The troubling thoughts hadn't returned to Mai until earlier that afternoon. The scene wouldn't stop replaying in her head.

The three girls occupied the throne room of the Earth Kingdom's capital castle. Azula, of course, sat idly in the throne, smirking to Ty Lee and Mai.

"As you know, Zuko has now become apart of our happy little family. You must be very pleased Mai." Mai bit her tongue, her normal porcelain mask taking over her features, unchanging. "Unfortunately, both of yours joy will be short lived. It's come to my attention that Zuzu just can't be trusted. He's been sneaking around too much, traveling down to talk to Uncle, sneaking around the palace. Now, we just can't have that, can we?" Azula smirked to the girls, who had stayed silent this whole time. "I've come up with a plan. I told Zuzu he was going to be heading home before us. I made a little white lie; he thinks Father wants him home, to celebrate his wise decision. Unfortunately, he won't even make it out of the city. I want you two to take care of him." Her eyes flashed coldly, cruelly. Ty Lee gasped loudly and Mai felt her own chest tighten.

"Azula…you can't really want us to do that?" the small girl in pink questioned who she thought of as 'friend'. Azula looked to her dangerously and it was enough to make the girl take a frightened step back.

"That is all." Azula waved a lazy hand, dismissing the two.

Dismissing like servants. Mai's thought came out bitterly. She wasn't surprised her stomached jumped at the truth of it. Servants. That's all they ever really were to Azula. Never friends, never comrades. Servants, pawns in her cool cruel game. Merely there for entertainment and to boss around, to take care of the dirty work. She knew they couldn't kill Zuko, she knew that she couldn't kill Zuko. And she knew if they didn't, Azula would kill them all, if not punish them greatly for their disobedience, their defiance. And then she realized. That was not a real friend. Real friends didn't punish their friends. Real friends didn't ask them to kill someone, someone that was family. Real friends never did any of that. Azula wasn't a real friend, and she never was. Mai stood up from the front stairs she had been sitting on and hurried off to find the bright pink girl, the only one she could ever have really called a friend…the only one she ever did. They would escape, be it in the dead of night or the day of Zuko's planned death. They would help Zuko and his uncle from the clutches of Azula and escape to where they could be free. Free from a cold-hearted girl who was so consumed by hate and the want for power. Together, they could be free. Mai did not know whether they would stick together or not, and she did not care. As long as they helped one another. That's what real friends did. They stood by one another, helped one another, and loved one another. Azula never did any of that. Azula was never a real friend. The picture of a young Azula flashed through her mind, and then a present one,

"It is an honor to have friends with me." Mai clenched her teeth, ignoring the churning of her stomach.

"Azula always lies." Real friends never did that either.

Azula was never a real friend, and she never would be.

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So…what do y'all think about this one? I dunno if it's my best work, but the idea jumped into my head and I just had to get it down lol. I kinda like it. If it gets enough (good) reviews, I might just continue it on into an actual story.