sirenspull | [VIDEO; an hour after dark]

[ A messy line of text streams across a rampant new post on the network, apparently something of an accidental keysmash that reads, IM~H W#RHR AH [KTRARRR[#'APAA??/ Moments later, the Video kicks in and shows someone upside-down in reds and golds, the bottom of a disapproving grimace visible over the edge of the screen. He doesn't look pleased, probably wouldn't even without half his face melted into a permanent squint, but there's something else wrong.

His shirt is burned through and one hand is clutching a nasty mess in the centre of his chest, trembling badly as blue sparks shiver through him at odd moments. ]

— ey! Can anyone hear me? Who are these guys? [ Standing some way from the Greeter unfortunate enough to find himself serving a shift with one very pissed off prince, he hoarsely tries to be heard. ] Don't they understand? I have to finish the — ungh! The Agni Kai, I can't go and hide in a house somewhere! I —

[ Coughing in pain, he turns over the NV to inspect it, fortunately righting the screen by accident as he pauses to catch his breath. ]

K-Katara, are you okay? Did she get you — huh? Who's there ... ?

[ It's dark outside, that much is apparent from the off. Throughout his heated rant, Zuko's wandering has taken him outside the baseball diamond and straight into the path of something that welcomes him the good old-fashioned Darkness way; the NV clatters with a tinkling of brass as he throws himself into a ferocious attack, flames flaring to scare off the moving shadows across the street.

Scooping up his communication device, huffing and pounding footsteps can be heard for a few seconds before his back hits a wall and he hisses urgently, golden eyes wide with alarm and pain. Slumping down to crumple over his knees, he gasps and fights for calming breaths, tiny electrical shocks zipping over his skin and the dao swords strapped over a shoulder. ]

Can't — Can't keep moving. [ Teeth grit against the sting of being forced into combat so soon after sustaining a blast of redirected lightning back home. To the normal eye, though, it looks like something tried to chew through his gut. ] That's it. I've had enough of these games, I want answers. Now!

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[ Briefly closing his eyes, he pinches his brow. ]

You met Azula on Ember Island?

[A small smile.]

No, she's been gone over a year now, but she was here once.

In this place, you mean.

[ Still all the unsure about things, half-convinced he really did die. Still, if this woman says she's met Azula and has remained in one piece, kudos to her. ]

You actually spent time with her?

Yes.

[She knows. That's why she's being gentle and speaking as if to a wild animal. It worked on Azula.]

My dog got loose and she found the collar. She was living on the streets, and I gave her a place to stay.

Azula was living rough?

[ It feels a little like being humoured when she uses that tone, but he's far more interested in what she has to say. ]

Are you sure we're talking about the same person? My sister would have burned a family out of their house before falling homeless.

[Aaand there goes the straightened back, and the almost curl of the lip. She liked Azula and had no delusions about how sick the girl was.]

Your sister was homeless, scared, and unable to care for herself. Not to mention very, very sick.

I don't need a lecture on my sister. [ — curtly, he bites back his reply. ]

I'm asking you why she let herself get in such a state.

[She protected your sister, okay Zuko? Geez.]

Because she was sick. She couldn't handle the change in circumstances and it broke her. I took care of her.

How is all that even possible? [ Wounded and sore, he's in no mood to debate Azula's worth. ] She just tried to murder me and one of my friends.

I don't know.

[At least her tone softens?]

She kept claiming to be the Fire Lord, but, I didn't understand, and, with her illness, I didn't give it any weight.

[Meaning, your sister was psychotic and Mercy thought it part of her psychosis.]

She is not the Fire Lord, she can't be. We were taking her down before that mess got started —

[ He isn't sure where to start explaining. ]

How much do you know about her?

[Mercy shakes her head.]

Only that she felt completely and utterly betrayed by everyone she'd ever met and ever known, including her family. She spoke of your father some, but only enough for me to know she was the favored child. And he'd abandoned her.

I didn't press for obvious reasons.

Sounds like she lied to you, too.

No.

[Mercy can smell a lie.]

What she felt? Was real. It was her reality. Whether anyone else saw it that way is a different issue. But for whatever reason, she truly believed it.

Listen to me! Azula is ruthless. They were about to crown her Fire Lord before I got there and we engaged in Agni Kai, a fight to the death. I'm — I should still be there.

Maybe so. I don't know.

[Mercy has no problem admitting that.]

All I know is what I observed, and what she said. And from what I saw, she was a very broken, disturbed little girl and needed help, not more hatred.

You think I'm being hateful toward her?

I didn't say that.

[Teenage boys are going to drive her to drink. Except Kurt.]

I think you saw one thing and I saw another. I also think that perhaps your sight was colored by the past, whereas all I had was what was in front of me.

She was kind to my dog, she lived by the rules of the house. She couldn't care for herself in a very basic way and she was sick.

The past? Right, because she's had such a hard life and magically turned good a second before trying to kill me — every single time. I get it now! Azula is just majorly misunderstood, I wasn't paying attention.

I never said that.

[She's going to the werewolf bar and getting smashed and it's all Zuko's fault.]

Your sister was sick in a very profound way. I doubt anyone knew it, or even saw it until it was far too late. I saw it because I couldn't see anything else. There wasn't anything else for me to see.

Maybe she was different before, but by the time I met her? No, that's what she was.

Really? My heart bleeds for her.

[She just shakes her head.]

I spoke to your uncle about it when he first arrived. Perhaps he can explain it better.

Maybe.

If you need help with anything, my name is Mercy.

That's appropriate.

[Video]

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