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Fiery

"I hate you! I hate you!"

The words had been uttered hours ago, but the meaning behind them was as strong as it had been when Li-Ming had directed them to her mother. She hated her. Hated what she'd done. Even hated the gods for their cruelty and/or disinterest in the affairs of the mortal world. And in the midst of all that hate, she'd sprinted, then jogged, then strode through the Heron Valley, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the source of her hate as possible.

Hate you…the five year old girl thought to herself, remembering her mother's actions and replaying them in her mind. Hate you…hate you…

The Xiansian glanced up at the cloudless sky before returning her gaze to the brown grass below. Hating her mother had a certain appeal to it-at least unlike the gods, she could get a distinct reaction-hurt, shock, anger…Emotions that would come back to bite her when she inevitably had to return home, but as long as her mother went through the emotional turmoil she deserved, Li-Ming was fine with that.

Drought had gripped the Heron Valley for the past few months, the river of the same name having slowed to a trickle. It was drought that not all of the farmers could afford to bare, and since they had obviously displeased the gods of the world, all that was left was to appease them. In her mother's case, a sacrifice. An oxen would have been the usual choice, but she'd decided to go a step further. Oxen were consumed by Men-a poor offering for those above them. No, something purer was needed to appease the deities. Something pure. Something noble. Something…like the sparrow Li-Ming had been nursing back to health after it was pushed out of the nest in the tree outside their house.

Scowling, the young girl kicked up a tuff of dirt, watching it drift away in the dry breeze. Even the birds of the valley were suffering from a shortage of food and water. That was why Chozu (as she called him) had been kicked out of his nest. Why she'd provided for him. Why she was heartbroken when she saw that he'd been sacrificed to appease deities that she wasn't sure even existed.

I'd like to be a sparrow…Li-Ming thought to herself. To just…fly away…

But she wasn't. Not even her blossoming magical abilities were enough to give her true flight. But as she neared the brick wall of the sanatorium, they were powerful enough to carry her up to the top and look down on the lost and the damned.

And the gods have abandoned them as well…the magic-user reflected, looking over the patients and their accompanying healers. Figures…

Her parents didn't want her coming here. "Sanatorium" was a fancy name for "madhouse" they explained-a place for people who had lost their minds. The place where you'd expect to see the barbaric peoples of the West, not the cultured people of Xiansai. And after pointing out that most of the people actually hailed from Kehjistan, and that they all seemed to have a common ailment, Ling-Mi had been outright forbidden from visiting.

Which made her visit all the more.

"It burns!" one of the patients wailed. "They're…gods…behind my eyes! Cut them out! Cut them out!"

Ling-Mi glanced away as an elderly man, once sitting calmly on a chair in the inner garden, began clawing away at his eyes, prevented from gouging them out by the pair of healers that grabbed his arms while a third poured a liquid down his throat.

"Demons!" he cried. "Demons! The fire! Hell…fire…"

Demons…at least half of the people in the sanatorium seemed to attribute their woes to demons. Or devils, or monsters, or any number of supernatural beings. Ling-Mi wasn't sure what to make of it-her parents had always told her that demons would take her away into the night if she didn't behave, but she'd been misbehaving for the last five years and so far, no winged devil had shown up. On the other hand, it was probably no coincidence that all those wailing about demons originated from Kehjistan, while the Xiansian residents were your run of the mill crazies.

Crazies that were so unlike the young woman sitting alone…

Still perched on the wall, Ling-Mi studied the resident. She seemed…different, somehow, and not only for her lack of cries about demons and the like. Tangled black hair, amber eyes, a Xiansian face…there was something strange about her. Maybe it was the gown she wore, Li-Ming decided. All the residents of the sanatorium wore silk gowns, but the way the woman wore it, it was as if she'd dressed in silk before. As in, the type of silk that was reserved for the Ruling Families. Silk that-…

"Well, are you here to visit, or are you just going to keep staring?"

Li-Ming blinked. Had she just-…

"Your heartbeat picked up. You afraid? Or is it past bedtime and you worried about missing supper?"

Li-Ming's gaze narrowed. It was getting late, come to think of it. But this girl had challenged her. Made a challenge in such a manner that she seemed like the kind of resident she could actually talk to. And having never been one to back down from a challenge, Li-Ming climbed the wall and approached the patient.

The woman never glanced at her until she came right up to her. It was only then that her eyes met the child's own, and "child" was what Li-Ming began feeling like in her presence. Her gaze, her posture…it reminded her of how she felt whenever the taxman visited her house. People who knew what they wanted, wanted it quickly and had a way of making you feel like more than an infant than you already were.

"You afraid?" the woman asked suddenly.

Li-Ming shook her head. Lying was easier when you didn't speak.

"Good. I'm surrounded by too many people who've given into fear for my liking."

Her words made her visitor feel even more uneasy. She was reminded of when she'd accidently bumped into the taxman when playing with one of her toys. He'd barely said anything (her parents had been another story), but of what he had said…it was weeks before she played with that toy again.

"So…" Li-Ming began, hoping her voice sounded trim and proper and not like that of the commoner she was. "You're…different."

"Oh I am. Very different."

"You're not bothered by demons then?"

The woman laughed. It was a jovial laugh, but it sent a shiver down Li-Ming's spine.

"Demons…" the woman murmured. "Only to be found in our own kind. Mothers, who spoil their sons…"

"Well, I'm an only child, but-…"

"You work…" the patient continued, now seemingly talking to herself. "You work and work and work. Work for respect. For power. And you gain it. Gain it so that you can bend fire and lightning with but a flick of your hand."

Li-Ming's interest peeked. "Bending" was a word unfamiliar to her, but fire and lightning? Was she talking about magic?

"And then you're betrayed…" she continued, clutching her fist. "Fathers leave you…allies desert you…brothers best you, and take what is rightfully yours…"

"Guess you're not into boys then."

It was a joke. But as the woman scowled at her, Li-Ming could tell she didn't consider it a laughing matter.

And perhaps with good cause. It sounded like the poor girl had suffered from betrayal-something that ran rampant with some of the Great Families. Why she was in a sanatorium was another matter of course, but…

"Zuko…" the girl continued. "Ty Lee. Mai. In Ozai's name, they'll pay. All of them."

"Yeah…" Li-Ming said, not sure how long she could bear listening to ravings about revenge. "So, anyway, you mentioned fire and lighting? You know any magic?"

"I was special…" the patient said. "Born lucky. A prodigy. Azula…named after Azulon…"

The names were unfamiliar.

"Pay…all of them…"

"Um, I hate to interrupt," Li-Ming said. "But like I said…magic. Do you know magic, or don't you?"

The woman (Azula, was it?) glanced up at her. "Magic? What about magic?"

"Yeah. Magic," Li-Ming said. "I can use it myself, look."

With a flick of her hand, the young girl conjured a small ball of fire. A simple trick she'd picked up-actually the same trick that had alerted her parents to the fact that their daughter was a magic user and would likely gain a place in the Yshari Sanctum in Caldeum. A prodigy, they'd call her…when not berating her.

Azula snorted. She did the same flick of her hand, only her fireball was blue, and larger. It was a combination of traits that caused Li-Ming to recoil in surprise, so intense was the heat.

"You remind me of Zuzu," Azula murmured. "Playing with fire. Boring, normal fire."

"Yeah, well…I'm new," Li-Ming said. "But hey, I'm a prodigy, you know."

"A what?"

"Yeah. Special," she beamed, glad to be able to let out the fact that she could not only use magic, but was very good at it too. "I mean, you could teach me."

"Special…" Azula murmured. "A prodigy…"

She grasped Li-Ming's arm. Her grip was firm and…warm, but the five-year old supposed no different from the grips her parents sometimes used on her.

"Think yourself special…" the elder girl continued. "So gifted. So privileged…"

"Well…when you put it that way…"

"You're here to kill me, aren't you?" Azula whispered. "They don't give up. Never will."

"I…you…"

"It won't work…" she whispered. "You won't take my throne. I'll kill you first…"

Two facts dawned on Li-Ming at this point in time. The first was that this Azula was indeed crazy. Not crazy due to demons perhaps, but crazy nonetheless. The second was that her arm was hurting. Not just due to Azula's grip, but from something else.

"Fire…" Azula whispered. "Burns everything…"

Li-Ming's eyes widened. Her arm…the pain…it was burning…

"Let me go!" she exclaimed. "You're hurting me!"

"Pain…you know nothing of pain! Let you go? To regain your honour? To burn me as well?"

In desperation, Li-Ming summoned a fireball from her free hand. She tried to lob it at Azula, but the woman knocked her arm before she could actually start the throw.

"You're weak! You're all weak! You want what's mine!"

Li-Ming started screaming. Some healers started running towards the bench. She stopped screaming when Azula grabbed her throat.

"Daddy's going to kill you…" she whispered. "Just thought you should know…"

Closing her eyes, Li-Ming waited for the inevitable to come.

It didn't. She instead fell backwards as Azula let go. Glancing up through tear-soaked eyes, she gazed at the screaming madwoman, the healers doing their best to restrain her.

"Commoners! Traitors! Assassins! I'll kill you! I'll burn you all!"

Burning…it was still happening. Li-Ming glanced at her right arm and let out another sob, the sight of burnt flesh being almost as painful as the pain of the infliction itself. She let the tears come as one of the healers knelt down, applying a salve of ointment over the wound.

"Come on…" he said, letting Li-Ming bury her wet face into his robes. "It's all right…it's all right…"

It wasn't alright. The burn would heal. The tears would stop. But the memory of the terror she felt would remain.

Glancing at the still struggling crazy lady, Li-Ming never wanted to be so afraid again.

A/N

The idea for this came from a forum discussion where it was pointed out that the female wizard from Diablo III sounds a lot like Azula. Considering that both were voiced by Grey DeLisle, I guess it was to be expected. Anyway, came up with this as a result.