[Intro — room tone, rain against glass, almost no music] [Azula — very quiet] I haven't moved your jacket. Not because I think you're coming back. I just... don't know what the room becomes when the last thing you touched isn't where you left it anymore. [Old phone recording clicks on] [Juri — OLD RECORDING, playful] Hey, Princess... you're doing that face again. [Juri laughs] [Recording stops] [Long silence] [Azula — whispered] Do it again. --- [Verse 1 — Azula] They told me grief gets smaller if you give it enough time They lied The room just learned your absence and I learned how to hide mine Your cup is still beside the sink Your side is colder every night Sometimes I wake and reach for you before my mind remembers why And for half a second you're alive Then I lose you again. --- [Juri — OLD RECORDING] I'm not sleeping. [Azula — spoken, fragile] You were always sleeping. [Juri] Shut up. [Juri laughs harder] [Azula inhales sharply] [Azula] I can't remember how your laugh ended. [pause] I remember how it started. But not how it ended. --- [Chorus — Azula, restrained, beginning to crack] I lost you once when your heartbeat stopped When the world kept moving and mine did not But I'll lose you twice when your voice turns strange When I hear this recording and can't remember your face So stay in the static Stay in the noise Let broken speakers keep something of your voice Because death took you once But time... Time keeps taking you piece by piece. --- [Verse 2 — almost only piano] [Azula] Your shoes are still beside the door like you're late coming home I hate them there I hate the thought of moving them more There's a hair tie by the bed I used to complain about Now I hold it in my palm like something sacred God... Look what you did to me. [Juri — OLD RECORDING, amused] Zula? You listening? [Azula immediately, whispered] Always. [Juri] Good. Because you're terrible at pretending you don't care. [small laugh] [Recording cuts] --- [Azula — spoken] You didn't know. You had no idea. You were talking about tomorrow like it belonged to us. [pause] And I let you. --- [Verse 3 — Azula, voice breaking more] I remember things that shouldn't matter The way you'd kick the blanket off and steal it back an hour later The way you'd say my name when you wanted something The stupid little pause before you said “Wife” just to watch me react I remember all of that So why... Why can't I remember the exact color of your eyes in morning light? [long silence] No. No, no, no... Don't take that too. --- [Juri — OLD RECORDING] Princess... [Azula freezes] [Juri] You know I love you, right? [Very long silence] [Azula tries to answer, fails] --- [Bridge — no music, only breathing and recording hiss] [Azula — spoken, unraveling] I knew. I knew. I just thought I'd have another morning to say it. Another stupid dinner. Another argument. Another night where you'd annoy me until I finally smiled. I thought there would always be another chance. [voice trembling] There wasn't. --- [Juri — OLD RECORDING, distant] Come here. [Azula] I can't. [Juri] Come on, Wife. [Azula breaks] Don't call me that. [pause] Please. Please don't call me that when you're not here to hear me answer. --- [Final Chorus — Azula, no belting, almost collapsing] I lost you once when they took you away But I lose you every morning when another detail fades One day I'll play this recording and your voice will sound new One day I'll hear you laughing and won't remember being there with you And that's the part nobody warned me about Death wasn't finished when you died It left time behind to finish the job So stay in the static Stay in the hiss Stay in every useless recording I almost deleted Please... Stay somewhere. Anywhere. Just don't disappear completely. --- [Everything drops to silence] [Juri — OLD RECORDING, very soft] Hey, Princess... [pause] Love you. [Click] [Silence] [Azula — barely audible] I love you too. [pause] I love you too. [voice breaks] I love you too. [long silence] Why didn't I say it when you could still hear me? [Azula quietly reaches for the phone] Play it again. [Recording restarts] [Juri — distant] Hey, Princess... [Cut to silence]
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