I've been having troubled writing so I thought putting out something short might be nice, tw for dark themes related to lobotomies, inspired by @puppygirllaika they have a great profile, check them out! and if you liked this, let me know and I might do more drabbles/minifics
It was all too much. The voices, the visions. Everyone knew Azula was troubled, ever since the comet. She yelled at people who weren't there, broke anything she could get her hands on or used them as weapons. They tried to restrain her, strapping her to chairs and forcing her into a straitjacket.
Azula burned through every restraint they gave her, lashing out at anyone who tried. She became a liability, to the staff and to herself, her once porcelain body slowly being ruined by malnourishment and her own fire.
Eventually, the Avatar was forced to remove her ability to bend, and though it was offered back to her with improvement, it did little to give her solace. If anything, Azula got worse, clawing at her own flesh, and the flesh of anyone who made the mistake of coming into reach.
Her very existence became a black mark on the Fire Nation, on Zuko. Other former enemies took their defeat with some dignity, even Ozai resigned himself to obscurity, but not Azula. Azula was determined to drag the whole world down with her if she had to.
Then, doctor came in, from the Earth Kingdom. He offered a simple procedure, a poke behind the eye to give a lifetime of happiness, of peace.
Zuko was unsure, until he met one of the man's 'patients'. A happy girl, a demure girl, a quiet girl. "It's non-invasive" He said, "Perfectly safe, the procedure is more for her than you, there's a spirit nesting in her brain, many women have it." He explained.
Azula was dragged into the room kicking and screaming, and woke up after dazed, confused, quiet. She began to struggle with basic tasks, things that were trivial before. Math, writing, playing complex games.
But she smiled when she ate meals she liked, she laughed at the jokes she could understand, she stopped to smell flowers. She suffered headaches, ones so bad it almost felt like it brought back who she was before, but Azula was happy, so, could it really have been all bad?
