#and I get it! I am KEENLY aware of all the reasons someone wouldn't want to be friends with me

[laughinglynx]

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[kigozula]

Gladiator Chapter 229

His fingers trailed over her face delicately, brushing a few stray hairs off her face, before saying:

"What sort of father could ever be disappointed in a daughter like you?"

Her words tumbled out of her in a clumsy, interrupted yet interconnected mess… and then they stopped once she felt the weight on the bed shifting, once her father took his seat by the side of her mattress. Azula swallowed dryly again, venturing a wary glance at his face…

His brow was drawn together… but not in wrath. Not in disappointment, or displeasure.

Was that… compassion?

"If what Zhao explained is true… then I'm not certain anyone could have done better" Ozai said "Whether you or anyone else. It may not sound encouraging of me to say so… but the threat you faced seems to have been one of the very worst the Fire Nation has handled so far. And to think it happened to rear its head exactly when you were substituting for me…"

"Do you… truly believe that?" Azula asked, her chest heaving as she breathed far more frantically "Y-you're not… disappointed?

Stray dogs often flinched out of habit when anyone raised a hand in their direction, assuming the world was out to get them, regardless of whether there was ill intent in the gesture or not. It was unexpected that a Princess would ever react the way such humble creatures would, and yet she gasped, recoiling when Ozai's hand appeared within her field of vision…

Only to cup her face delicately.

His eyes were golden, clear… and emotional. Far more emotional than Azula remembered seeing them. Was she imagining things? Was all this a dream, a rather strange one? Or was her father truly offering her a gesture of kindness… one she wasn't entirely sure she deserved?

His fingers trailed over her face delicately, brushing a few stray hairs off her face, before saying:

"What sort of father could ever be disappointed in a daughter like you?"

Her lips parted, though no words came from them. Her eyes gazed at her father, struggling to unravel this unexpected, unbelievable glimpse of the single kernel of kindness that still nestled in Ozai's dark soul. Her mind, muddled by the effect of her chi's corruption, couldn't process his words immediately.

"As far as I understand… you saved the Fire Nation with your actions, however reckless as they may have been" Ozai said "If the truth is as Zhao spoke it… then you were vital to ending this threat. As your Fire Lord… your loyalty to your nation fills me with pride. As your father, however…"

"As… my father?" Azula repeated, once Ozai fell silent for a moment. He swallowed hard, his teeth gritted.

"I'd rather appreciate it… if you wouldn't give me such reasons to fear for your health and wellbeing anymore, is all" he determined "I'm proud of you… but I am quite distressed by how readily you've jumped into danger, not only in this situation but in countless others. I want to believe Zhao, truly… that you did it because no one else could. But if you do anything like this again, and I discover someone other than you could have handled the problem without you jumping headfirst into danger…"

"You'll… scold me?" Azula asked, her question more childish than she expected it to be. To her surprise, Ozai laughed softly.

"Perhaps" he said "It sounds so very daunting when you put it that way, doesn't it?"

"It… it does" Azula smiled too, weakly.

"Then I suggest you give me no reasons to do so" Ozai said, lowering his hand. Azula grew keenly aware of its warmth only once it wasn't touching her skin anymore "You… you're recovering slowly, from what I've heard?"

"I guess… I'm not too aware of my improvements yet" Azula mumbled "I was unconscious until yesterday in the morning, I think… I don't really know. I can't remember much… not from yesterday, or from the previous day"

"You can't remember how you wound up in this shape, then?" Ozai asked. Azula bit her lip.

"Barely. I… I was hoping to help my dragon, and then… then I was wounded" she whispered "My guards kept the Spear in check, I… I think. Then I was on my dragon, and then… then Sokka helped me"

"The gladiator?" Ozai asked. Azula tensed up, as though she had forgotten who she was talking to.

"Y-yeah. He… did something. I don't really remember what" Azula whispered: it wasn't a lie, at this point she only knew something had exploded before Sokka found her, and she didn't even dare ask what it was "He tried to help… t-then I fought the Spear with my fire a-and his sword, and… I can't remember what happened to me after that. Just… woke up here"

"I see" Ozai whispered: again, he startled her by reaching to brush her hair out of her face "It seems the world constantly wants to put you to the test, does it not? The challenges you've faced… it's uncanny that someone has been able to overcome them as often as you have"

"Maybe I'm just… a lot less lucky than I thought I was" Azula said, with a weak grin. Ozai smiled and shrugged.

"I suppose. Though that you've survived, and recovered, from all your ordeals so far indicates that maybe fortune still favors you, to a fault. Perhaps it will favor you this time as well"

"I… hope so" Azula said, closing her eyes as Ozai withdrew his hand again.

The weight on the bed had been comforting, to a fault: it vanished once Ozai rose to his feet again