She's snarling like an angry otterlion as he slides the door shut, keeping his back pressed to the heavy iron. Even shackled, they all know she's dangerous, as if it wasn't obvious by the increased heat in the room.

The sweltering prison's decorations may have once been beautiful - insane or not, she's still a Princess. But all that remains of the lavish colors are charred scraps of silk and paper. He approaches her as if she was an angry dragon, hands held out peacefully.

"You," she hisses. "You're going to do it, aren't you?" Aang pauses, unsure of how much she knows.

Azula answers his unspoken question. "Fire Lord Zuzu told me that if I didn't..." she laughs shortly, as if in the middle of a joke, "if I didn't behave, this would happen."

"I'm not here to hurt you," Aang insists, and steps closer. "I just want to help."

"You're going to help? By making me suffer and waste away like Father did?" she sneers at Aang's grimace. "You're even easier to read than your friends," she spits out the last word as if it was a distasteful curse.

He's been steadily walking toward her, and now he's within arm's reach. Within reach of a fire blast, should she choose to do so. But she's just watching him cautiously, though he can see how steady she's keeping her breath.

Then, when he places his hand on her forehead, he sees it - the flash of fear that crosses her face before she reworks it into another vicious scowl. "You're going to do it," she says with much less force, as if it's just dawned on her.

He pauses, and they stare at each other. He can't do this, he realizes, not to her. Azula's barely older than he is. He hesitates.

Then, suddenly, she shrieks and pushes her head against his hand. "Do it!" she screams before collapsing forward, sobbing painfully.

Aang stumbles back as if burned. Azula tries to lunge after him; but try as she might, all she can do is rattle her chains.

Zuko and Katara burst into the room, having been listening for any struggles. Aang backs up to them for support. "I can't do it," he gasps. He can see their disappointment, but neither one says it out loud as they guide him out of the room.

What bothers him more than that, though, is the way that Azula's screams seem to follow after them.