#I tried to give him a mix of ursa and ozai

[poopiefart420]

childlike wonder

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

One of my favorite subtle details between Zuko and Azula is how Azula almost has this sense of ownership over Zuko.

Azula yearns for love and control and she sees them as reliant on each other, all mixed with the use of fear to enact control and to manipulate love. Azula wants Mai and Ty Lee to fear her because in her mind, having them fear her gives her control over them—in turn, she can manipulate them into loving her.

It genuinely feels like that's what she longs for with Zuko. She so deeply craves affection because her father withholds it and her mother and uncle both clearly favoured her brother.

So she tries to control Zuko. She frightens him. Deceives him. Isolates him. Manipulates him.

Yes, it's out of envy. There's malice to it. And of course, because it earns her favour with her father. But no one can tell me otherwise that she does all that so that she can keep Zuko to herself.

I think, in some twisted way, she pushes for Mai and Zuko's romance because it allows her to keep them both close. Her brother and her friend; a way for her to exert control over them. It's like she's playing dolls (ironic, given she destroyed Iroh's gift) and her favorite plaything is Zuko. Like a child who doesn't understand how to show care for their beloved toy, Azula abuses Zuko because she loves playing with him the most. I could even go as far as to say she projects her feelings for Zuko onto her. Using her friend to express the love she herself can never show to her brother.

Every act Azula does screams this need for control and affection, and the one she targets the most is Zuko. She loves him, but because Ozai only shows attention to Azula is by manipulating her, she in turn does it to possibly the one person she truly, utterly loves.

The fact that Azula's VA clearly supported it, and Zuko's VA was familiar enough to at least joke about it with her just hammers home how visible Zuko and Azula's chemistry were.

Her clear obsession with being the only one to humiliate, dethrone, and/or kill Zuko. The way she goes soft only around Zuko, even if it is still to further her machinations. In the midst of her breakdown, where she no longer had the bandwidth to tell another lie, she still thought of at least putting Zuko under the care of a physician.

20 years I was just a child and even then I could recognize with such clarity that Zuko was the singular object of Azula's honest affections.

Like, yeah she was clamoring for Ozai and Ursa's love. She wanted the throne, but mostly because it represented in her mind Ozai's "fatherly love". She believes herself above both Mai and Ty Lee, yet craves for them to be her equals. To be her friends. And then, Zuko.

Dumb-dumb. Zuzu. Begging for him to play with her. Dragging him around the palace. Why would she care about an Earth Kingdom Doll when her favorite toy is right there? Always searching him out. Always having enough time and energy to humor him and talk to him and even listen to him.

She takes Ty Lee's advice at Ember Island, but it's Zuko that she always has time to lend an ear to. Even if it's just to torment him with word games and machiavellian tactics. She doesn't hate or love anyone as much as she does Zuko.

And Zuko dreams of her. Fears her. Envies her. Hates her. Loves her. In a truly twisted way, they complete each other.

In another timeline, Nickelodeon studios burned down after Zucest canon controversy destroyed their reputation, but at least in that timeline we got the most fucked up ship in reality and I think that universe is worth living in.

(Anyway may I ask if we could become mutuals so I can shout and have someone scream at me about Zucest? No worries if the answer is no!)

Okay, anon, who gave you permission to not only look into my mind to see my 3am rambles about Zucest, but to also post them? Rude XD

For real, the thought of Azula being possessive of Zuko and seeing him kind of like her little plaything gives me life. I love them being obsessive, deranged, and codependent with each other. It makes me as happy as them being all soft and apologetic.

And I love, love, love how you described Zuko's weird affection/resentment for her too. It reminded me of this silly meme I mad a while back:

And of course we can be mutuals, I'm always eager to talk about my favorite ship. And you can send all the zucest stuff to my main @hello-nichya-here

[juniperhillpatient]

“🎶dad’s going to kill you🎶”

I feel like this scene gets twisted & mixed up a lot & part of that is weird ret cons in the comics that I’d prefer not to get into but in the context of the show, let’s remember this is a 7(?) year old. Now as an adult sometimes I’ll laugh at uncomfortable moments (everyone who’s ever been to a Halloween haunted attraction with me knows I giggle maniacally when I’m scared lol) & as a kid it was even worse, laughing when people cried etc. The fact that Azula was only - what? - 5 or 6? 7? idk young - during this scene is easy to overlook because she’s just illustrated her immense intelligence. There’s a reason “gifted kids” are stereotypically socially awkward.

Kids have to learn emotional & social skills at a young age & that gets messed up when intellectual pursuits beyond their developmental stage are pushed. Also, Azula & Zuko’s positions are unique as royals in an imperialistic family. Ursa scolds Azula for violent or cruel behavior & thinks there’s something wrong with her, even though Azula is only acting the way her father encourages her to act. I’ve seen some speculation that Azula maybe didn’t think there was a real possibility that Zuko was in real danger or she’d be more scared. I disagree. She answered Azulon’s questions about the Fire Nation military flawlessly in the scene before this. She’s demonstrated that she understands the royal court with her comments about how Ozai could become Firelord. She’s also shown that she can be casual about death with her lack of reaction to Lu Ten’s death. These aren’t moral condemnations, they’re observations about her behavior.

“Azula didn’t understand that Zuko might really die” is a fine theory but I think Azula is too smart for that. I also think we have to remember what a master she is of hiding her true emotions behind a mask. She’s so good at it she can even lie to Toph, who can feel when people lie. Azula doesn’t always lie but Azula always keeps her emotions close to her chest, she’s been conditioned to believe she has to. That’s why the breakdown hurts so bad. Years of repressed hurt & fear are spilling out over her broken edges.

Azula understands the questions Azulon asks her, she’s being taught about the Fire Nation & it’s values, she knows what Azulon is capable of doing. I interpret Azula as fully understanding what’s happening. I think that’s why she tries to tease & goad Zuko into running away. It’s often ignored that regardless of how she goes about it, Azula ultimately saves Zuko’s life by talking about what she overheard. I also think she fully understood the potential repercussions. She wasn’t supposed to spy on that conversation & she knew it. She knew she was committing treason by sharing private plans made by the Firelord, let’s give her credit for her intelligence & understanding of politics.

I interpret Azula as having fully understood the situation. However, I don’t think she’s a soulless monster for laughing & teasing Zuko about it, even if it’s completely understandable that Zuko wouldn’t know how to interpret this behavior & in the aftermath, probably considers it a traumatic memory. Even years later, he chants “Azula always lies,” the mantra he said to himself that night, even though Azula wasn’t lying then. I want to be clear that I’m not discounting how traumatic this was for Zuko to hear, or for him to lose his mother & watch Azula act blasé about it afterward (even if we later see that losing Ursa affected Azula too. the emotional distance between the siblings is a tragedy. they could have been there for each other, but their situation prevented it.) Still - back to my original point - Azula isn’t emotionally mature at this point in the story. We learn in “The Beach” that even as a teen she still hasn’t learned how to behave in social settings. Why would she understand as a small child how to convey horrifying information to her brother in a proper way when she wasn’t even equipped to emotionally process what she heard herself?

The tragedy is that after Ursa leaves, the distance between Azula & Zuko grows. I can just picture them both laying in their separate rooms, thinking about that night. Azula knows that Zuko could have died, & it feels like Mom blamed her, & Mom never said goodbye to her & she doesn’t know why. The last interaction they had was Mom scolding her, & Mom always thought she was a monster…. She could become disposable to Dad too, it could happen if she doesn’t keep outdoing Zuko…. She has to always be the best, or she could be treated like Zuko….

And Zuko just keeps hearing that sing song voice in the back of his mind. Azula would have laughed if he died. Azula always hated him, & only cares about outdoing him & Mom is gone & he’s left with Dad, who only ever looks at him with disappointment & disdain… Azula keeps saying “you’ll never catch up” & the mocking hurts so bad… it’s not fair how Azula is so adored & loved & he’s all alone, he has no one… Uncle Iroh is around again, but he’s different after Lu Ten’s passing. quiet. Distant… Zuko just wants to make his father proud but the task feels more impossible every day. Then one day he begs to go into a war meeting, he wants to show that he understands the Fire Nation military. He wants to make his father proud. But what the men are saying is horrible & he just has to speak up….

[attackfish]

Hi! I absolutely love the Katara/Zuko switch and Azula/Sokka switch AUs, so I was curious if you have an au where Zuko and Sokka switched?

I do. Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. Before we go on to the Gaang and the rest of their Kyoshi Island adventures, it behooves us to spend some time with former prince Sozu and his mother, and in the Fire Nation more generally. Ursa takes her son home, to Hira'a to find her parents, only to find that they are many years dead, and Ozai never even let her know this. She is furious, and griefstricken, and her son is right there, needing her to take care of him. She can't fall apart. She has to hold it together for him. Perhaps there's a nasty symmetry to it, she killed his one grandfather, only to find his other grandparents are dead as well. Or perhaps the symmetry is in that Ozai never told her that her own parents were dead, and that he used her to kill his own. But either way, Ursa knows they can't stay here, not now.

2. Sozu, for his part has never met his grandparents and has no reason to grieve, and things are still too new and scary for him to have any idea what he feels as far as the rest of it. He's not stupid. He knows his grandfather ordered his sister's death just before he and his mother had to run. He knows his grandfather is now dead, and Azula isn't. Young as he is, he puts that together pretty fast. He knows that people who kill rulers get hunted down. His history classes and music classes, and poetry and beadtime stories are full of such tales, and how he's in one.

3. So when he and his mother are approached by a strange man that his mother doesn't know, he's terrified. And when that man claims to be her old fiance, but she doesn't recognize him? Sozu is suspicious. The hair at the back of his neck rises. The man takes them out into the forest, and Sozu is certain, no matter what his mother says, that they are going to die. But then they meet a spirit, who gives his mother a new face. But not him. He doesn't want one, no matter how much his mother presses. The spirit asks if she wants to forget her past, and start again with her new face, but she said she can't, because she has her son. Sozu will remember that in the years to come.

4. I could describe in detail what becomes of the boy once known as Prince Sozin after this, but instead I will say that his life is quiet. He and his mother and Noren move away from Hira'a, to another small western island, and another tranquel village. His mother, now calling herself Noriko, marries Noren, and whatever Sozu's mixed feelings about this, their life is quiet and happy, and normal. Sozu goes to school with the other village kids, and earns extra pocket money helping fisherfolk carry their catch off their boats. He plays in the sand, and jumps into the waves, and swims, runs, and plays like any other kid. But he and his family have a secret, and that never goes away. And he never forgets that he has a little sister named Azula, even as his mother gives birth to another little sister named Kiyi. He never forgets that Ozai is his father, and what his father was like. And he always says to himself no, not really, as he pledges loyalty to Firelord Ozai in class every morning. He and his family have a secret, but unlike some kids, he knows what that secret is, so it unites them, instead of separating them.

5. Iroh returns home to find not only his father dead, and Ursa gone, but his nephew, Prince Sozin gone as well. Ever since Lu Ten's death, everything has felt surreal and disjointed. Things melt together, but they never seem to connect. This is just one more thing that is out of place and indiscribably wrong. Maybe it isn't indiscribable; maybe somebody else could describe it, but Iroh can't. Nor can he grasp the fear in Azula's eyes when she looks at her father. The way she tries to please him, shows off for him, is almost like the way Lu Ten showed off for him, but somehow cometely different, like everything is a distorted version of the world he once knew. Each time he tries to surface from the grief, the world outside of it just seems so alien and off-putting. The grief is familiar, safe in it's own way. But finally, when Azula is eleven, he gets up the will, and asks her if she would like him to help her with a firebending technique she can't quite get. She laughs at him at first, but she's so desperate to impress her father, and so terrified of failure, that eventually she says yes, so he shows her, and he helps her get it, and maybe one day she would have opened up to him, come to trust him, but neither of them ever get that chance, because Ozai sees them together, and he sends Iroh away. He gives him a small ship and a crew, and tells him he's supposed to hunt the Avatar, as their father and grandfather did, but Iroh knows all he's really supposed to do is disappear.

[number1villainstan]

Wednesday: Phoenix Queen

Yes, I know, I didn’t do Monday or Tuesday. In my defense it’s a busy week for me and most of the prompts kinda suck.

Ao3, FF.net

Ozai came himself to give her the announcement.

She sat among the plants in her garden, thinking on the cold dry Northern Earth Kingdom climate and the humid heat she’d been used to in the Fire Nation. Other plants, hardier plants, grew here, and she’d familiarized herself with new poisons and new fruits as she’d settled here. Even the soil itself was different—rockier, sandier, with woodier plant material mixed in it, much like the people that still didn’t quite trust her. She lived here now, yes. But she’d never quite belonged here.

So she couldn’t say she was unhappy to see Ozai again. He’d come to visit her before, sparingly, once every one or two years, and he’d always come dressed like an Earth Kingdom commoner to throw off everyone else. But not this time. This time he was in full regalia—new regalia—full of red and gold that grabbed at one’s attention and made Ursa sure that there was a full courtload of servants and the fanciest palanquin one could imagine just around the bend in the road. She’d heard of his dramatic entrance into the Earth Kingdom, burning everything in his path, but of course he hadn’t even tried to touch the tiny village in the far north where she lived.

“Hello, darling,” Ozai said, just like every other time he’d come here. Like there was nothing out of the ordinary about this visit. 

Still, Ursa found herself struck by a sense of finality. Perhaps soon she would leave this little cottage and her little garden full of foreign plants and this little town full of foreign people for the last time, finally reunited with her husband. This wasn’t her home, she was sure, but still—was she ready to leave? She’d built a life here, after all.

“Hello love,” she answered, sitting back on her heels from where she’d been kneeling in her garden.

“So,” he said, “there’s something a bit different this time.”

She looked him up and down. “I noticed.”

A little sheepish chuckle, a noise reserved solely for her, escaped his nose. “Yes, I suppose I’m dressed for the occasion. Well, since you’re probably wondering what it is,” he continued, stepping through the gate to walk over to and kneel beside her, “I suppose I should tell you.” He cupped her cheek, so familiar, so gentle. “Come with me, darling. Be my Phoenix Queen.”

His eyes were almost pleading. Ursa stared into them, relishing the sight and sound and smell of her husband, so rare and so beloved in her life now. They’d been apart for so long. But she loved her little house here just like she loved him. “I don’t want to leave this place,” she said, her voice dropping to a murmur.

“You don’t have to, love,” he whispered back. “Not forever. This can be a vacation home, like Ember Island without everyone watching.” Yes, that sounded nice. He’d always loved coming here to this seaside village with its crisp sea air.

It sounded perfect to Ursa. “Yes, I think that would work. But I need time to pack. Give me a few days.”

“Of course, love,” Ozai said, standing up and kissing her forehead. “I have lodgings in town and I can send servants to help if need be. I can’t wait to have you home with me.”

“And I can’t wait to come home, darling,” she said back, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It would be so good to finally have her life back.

[lightdancer1]

One entirely intended benefit of making Ursa a more complex person with that common backstory across all my Avatar AUs

Is that it gives her relationships with all of her children, though it is neither all of her life nor its singular driving force, specific dynamics that become much more nuanced. Outside the Canon Continuation-verse there is no equivalent of the Bastard Letter because she does love her son, and allows him to be a fully rounded human being. Ursa and Zuko is Ursa at her best because she not only raises her son, but allows him full expression of humanity *including flaws and bad days.* This is as much because Ursa's own ambitions lead her to want to raise a model prince and then when Zuko isn't one, quite, to accept that *his* imperfections are what makes him a person. And in treating him *as* a person to not so quietly flout Azulon's intent for her children.

Her second child, to whom she is invariably an antagonist (though only in the Azula Heresy AU a villain and that because she's the Fire Lord and the person who handles the 'how do I not create a chain reaction of one usurpation after another' by re-establishing a lot of old theocratic traditions) is a case of her projecting her own not always deeply hidden resentment of her life and her own fear that her slice and dice firebending makes her innately monstrous. At no point is Azula as a child different to any other child, and since children are capable at times of tremendous cruelty and still being otherwise normal *without* in-built fire powers and adding them to the mix makes it more complicated, she is given an inability to be flawed, to have bad days, or to simply be fully human from *Ursa just as much as Ozai.* To Ozai her less savory traits he tries to build up are a sign that she's like him and he's less alone (except that she doesn't develop APD because she has just enough good things in life to avoid having her negative traits be the only ones reinforced like Ozai did). To Ursa anything less than a ceramic doll of an ideal princess with her Firebending 'normal' was a sign of the monster waiting to happen.

Why? Because Ursa knows exactly how her own unique Firebending and grand heritage ended up for her and in her view she's trying to stop history repeating itself.....and ends up woefully mistreating her daughter and showing why 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions' is a saying.

In the one AU where she's the straight up villain she goes beyond this to deciding 'Ozai and Azulon were doing it wrong, I can do it better and more wisely than they can' like Fire Lord Iroh in the Dragon-verse in a very broad sense. But lacking Dai Li technology she tries emotional manipulation that she's ultimately not very good at and manages to destroy things at the most utterly complete level precisely because absolute power and god-complexes smother any lingering elements of 'oh shit now I see what I did wrong.'

Azula Heresy AU Ursa is the one case where she's the outright villain *to Azula* as well as more broadly. The Dragon-verse version *is* a villain but not to Azula personally, neatly subverting one of the big elements of the canon's protagonist-centered morality. After her Damascus Road moment she changes her views and actions to Azula.....and is still an imperialist who ultimately sides with her son's bid for the throne and isn't very concerned about fighting the people fighting against the Fire Nation's war and still in her own eyes a loyal supporter of the bigger goals.

As for Kiyi, she doesn't exist in the Azula Heresy, mostly because the Fire Lord can't marry an actor, not that Ikem considers this that great a loss at a personal level.

[lamperette]

Avatar au 4

Separation anxiety/panic attack zuko (if I got it wrong please correct me)

Due to his anxiety he was always attached to someone mainly his mother, sister, uncle, cousin and a few select servants(until they mysteriously disappeared due to azulas jealousy). His family had mixed reactions ozai didnt care, azula didnt understand but followed what ozai was doing thinking it was right, azulon didnt approve of it and wanted him to get over it, lu ten was supportive and one of the few zuko latched to, iroh did his best to understand to help zuko with this, ursa was obviously the one he was attached to she tried to help zuko overcome it but enables it so zukos attached to her until she not there anymore.

It was few months until iroh returned when he did zuko was a mess he was stressed from becoming the crowned heir, losing half his family, and is anxious and paranoid because ozai wants him to just get over it. Iroh takes up caring for zuko who he promptly attaches to.

During his banishment iroh works to help zuko overcome his separation anxiety. (Zuko is fine as long as iroh is with him but wont leave the ship).

One day iroh tries to test zuko by encouraging him to go into town on his own but he panics and has to be carried back(iroh was watching from afar and saw him panic and collapse) some crew members tease him.which angers him so he goes to him room.and refuses to leave. Later he decides he has to do this sooner or later and changes into earth kingdom clothes and grabs his sword(comfort item) and goes out . It goes fine for like half an hour an zuko decides to go back only to see the ship is gone.

Not knowing he left the wani left for its next port leaving zuko all alone he starts to panic and accidentally reveals his firebending to the people and runs away before anything can happen.

In the woods he has a full blown panic attack and is crying. As he panicking he doesn't notice a large figure coming towards him...its appa. Even tho hes scared of appa he doesn't move he thinks appa will hurt him until he realizes appa is comforting him which he accepts.

The gaang show up following appa and is shocked to see zuko but upon seeing him panicked they immediately go to help putting the aside the whole avatar hunt stuff. After learning what is happening to zuko they agree to form a truce and help zuko find his ship which makes him relieved.

They board appa but zuko doesn't remember where his ship is going so they travel the nearby area not knowing the ship.found out they lost zukos and went back for him. They end up camping for the night with zuko on appa for comfort and aang tries to befriend zuko not wanting to be enemies. They travel for a bit and start to get to know each other and start to become friends. Together they help zuko come to terms with his anxiety to which he grows attached to them.

Eventually they find the ship and before they drop off zuko hug and say goodbye. Zuko returns to the ship and is immediately pulled into a hug by iroh and the crew doted over him(they do care about him and in the past few days they learned a lot about him from iroh and care even more now). They take him to the medic to check him over, he's fine, while zuko talks about what happened. They notice a change in zuko right away and are happy.

Now zuko doesn't want to capture the gaang anymore he really just wants to make sure they're ok the crew and iroh are up for that as they support zuko. They start checking up to make sure they're alright, giving them food and letting appa rest on the ship on they're way to the north. Zuko doesn't want to betray the firenation or join the avatar yet do decides to be neutral in the war.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 15)

Warning for blood and death in this chapter.

She had been there when her mother died. She had been there when their sunny day turned so abruptly sour. When the clouds unleashed a big one without warning. It was just like the most recent storm, the news anchors had failed to adequately report the incoming storm and so they, alongside, several other families had gotten caught in it.

The day had been so kind and promising. Ursa packed their lunch, three grilled hot dogs that Ozai had left for them before heading off to help out at the marina, a bag of hotdog buns, a bowl of watermelon, and several water bottles. Zuko, newly sixteen, insisted that they bring some of the leftover cake too.

Ursa had caved and they were on their way out for a day of shell hunting and tubing. Azula couldn’t have been more pumped, she knew that she would come out bruised and sore, she always did in her successful efforts to outlast Zuko. In doing so, she had taken some rather hard falls. She very vividly remembers a summer ago when they’re competition got particularly heated. Both she and Zuko were clinging on for the sake of their pride. Typically they could last a good ten minutes of Ursa speeding over the waves before a good bump would dislodge one of them. They were on minute twelve. Her hands were cramped and achy from clenching the tube’s nylon handles for so long. But Zuzu had still been clinging and she would too. He let go first. She found out why soon enough. He informed her later that she had been tossed several feet into the air and did several backflips both before and after hitting the water. It had knocked the wind out of her and her entire body ached for days. But she had won.  

The sky was so blue. The clouds were fluffy and white and the seagulls circled and squabbled over dropped french fries. Nobody seemed to have noticed when they suddenly disappeared. Maybe if they had, they would have known something in the air was amiss.

But everyone remained, a group of college kids at a volleyball net, a family building sandcastles, a different family departing with fishing poles at the ready, and a couple and their dog throwing a frisbee.

Ursa arranged their lunch and as they ate, she inquired about how Azula was enjoying her first year of high school so far. She had said that she was only a month in and needed more time to decide, but that she loved her new surf team so far. It was much more serious and competition driven. And then Zuko got to talk about how well his cooking was improving.

She remembers the smell of sea and barbeque in the air as she helped Ursa load the rest of their shells into the back of the car. She remembers the smell of the sunscreen that Ursa sprayed on her when she refused to do it herself. She remembers how her mother too smelled of sunscreen but also faintly of strawberry perfume.

Strawberry sunscreen, still lingers in her mind. Strawberry sunscreen is what she remembers most about her mother.

She tries to focus on strawberry sunscreen instead of strawberry colored blood mixing with seafoam.

They had just secured the innertube, a bright orange and blue thing with a company logo and name plastered in bright red on the front. The air seemed electrified, and in retrospect, maybe Azula should have said something. But she hadn’t and they were well into the ocean a crackle of lightning upset the waves.

It happened so unprocessablely fast. One minute there was sun and in an instant there was an impenetrable curtain of rain. How quickly fluffy and white had turned to wispy and concrete.

They abandoned their tube and hurried into the boat. Her heart had never raced faster and she thanked every higher power there was that she had Zuko had been so furiously competitive. They probably wouldn’t have had the ability to cling on for so long otherwise. Even still she was shaking by the time Ursa managed to reel them in.

There was no time for relief, she helped her mother navigate while Zuko helped hold her steady. Azula could see the shore. She could also see a boat turn over, spilling several fishing poles. She hadn’t known it then, but she would later find out that a girl in her class named Yue and her family had perished.

She zeroed in on the shore and guided her mother around rocks and debris. They were going to make it, they were going to…

She hadn’t spotted the reef on time. She underestimated the tides.

The tides pulled them right into the reef and shredded the bottom of their boat. They were going down and fast. Lifejackets were no match for such ruthless tides. She saw Zuko go overboard first. The same wave took her mother. She had room in her arms for one of them.

She emerged from the water with her legs and arms shredded. Blades of coral proved to be just as merciless as the tides. The sensation was searing and blood trickled down her arms and legs. She felt so dizzy and weak. She couldn’t tell how much of the blood was hers and how much was Zuzu’s.

She dragged him to the shore and scanned the water for her mother. The woman was fighting the waves, and for a moment, Azula thought that she would make it. Maybe she would have if their boat hadn’t…

Azula’s memory goes blank there, she just remembers seeing blood on the seafoam. Blood like strawberries and foam like sunscreen.

She never did tell Zuzu that she had to choose between he and their mother. She never told father.

.oOo.

He writes the letter out, it is sloppy with haste, but he thinks that it is to the point. It will probably speak for him better than he can. He bunches it up in his hand and shoves it into his pocket, alongside his first AA chip.

He tries the beach first. He finds Zuko and Katara, he hears them calling out for Azula but the girl is nowhere in sight. Nor does he spot Jet. It occurs to him that they are looking in the wrong place. Of course she won’t be on the beach, not as furious and upset as she is. His second guess is the cliffside, but he would have seen her already. Those are her two usual spots. There is one other.

Ozai considers taking the car, it would be alot faster but he thinks that walking is the way to go. He isn’t one to place his bets on gut instincts, that is what Iroh does. This time he does though, he walks for several miles. Walks until his already spent and exhausted body threatens to give. What a horrid way to spend his birthday. It is his own fault, he reminds himself.

He takes a deep breath and resumes his walk until he comes upon a rickety old park. It had been a dilapidated wooden accident waiting to happen when Azula was just a child, now it is completely crumbled. The only thing left standing is a rusty old merry-go-round, the only metal structure at the park. The shoreline that it is built on is a cluttered mess of driftwood, broken shells, and pollution; glass bottles, both broken and intact, deflated beach balls, discarded plastic shovels, forgotten goggles now fogged with algae, and empty beer cans.

It smells potently of dead fish and runoff. Ozai isn’t sure why she still wanders over here, but he does find her. She is perched upon a structurally unsound picnic table. Jet stands next to her, likely aware that any more weight will collapse the rotting table. He has a hand on her back and is rubbing ever so tentatively while she rather openly vents.

Jet notices him first. “She doesn’t wanna talk to you, old man!” He brazenly declares.

Ozai opens his mouth to berate the boy for his brash disrespect. Instead he says, “no talking involved, just give this to her.”  He leaves no opening for the boy to decline. He isn’t sure if he should stand here and wait as she reads it or if he should begin making his way back to the lighthouse and hope for the best.

He stands with his arms folded while he waits for Jet to hand his daughter the note. He never drops his glare as he passes it off. Azula looks briefly at him before unfolding the note.

He tries to read her expression as her eyes follow the lines. She sets the note aside and presses her lips together. Her brows crease and her eyes narrow, she fixes them straight on the crashing waves in front of her.

Ozai waits. She is drawing the minute out.

.oOo.

Azula isn’t quiet sure how to take it. She can’t recall a time when her father has ever apologized to her--or anyone for that matter--vocally or otherwise. She fidgets with the note for a moment. It is very short and concise, a little lacking, but it is an apology no less. An apology and a thank you. She rubs her lips against one another and squeezes Jet’s hand harder. “Why?” She asks at last.

“Because,” he answers. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

“No.” She says. “If you appreciate what I tried to do for you then why? Why did you get angry with me? Why were you angry with me before.”

“Before?”

“You wouldn’t let me visit you. It’s because I tried to leave, isn’t it?”

The statement seems to take ten years off of his life. Suddenly he looks so tired. “I wouldn’t let you visit me because there are some things that you don’t need to see. You already saw your mother…” he trails off.

Her stomach knots all over again.

“I wasn’t angry with you.” He says again. “I’m not angry with you.”

“Then why did you…”

He rubs his hands over his face. “I just wasn’t expecting company, Azula. You don’t like to  be seen before you’ve had a chance to fix your hair and makeup.” He tries.

It is a fair point. Even still… “I thought that it would be a nice surprise. You know Katara and I thought that you would want to meet…” She trails off, unsure if this is a good time.

“Your boyfriend?” Ozai guesses. She opens her mouth but he answers before she can ask, “I can’t imagine that he would be so bold if you were just a friend.”

Jet gives a slight chuckle.

Azula crosses her arms.

“Come home with me. We will gather your brother and Katara and have that cake. It would be a shame if you wasted all of that time cooking for nothing, yes?”

.oOo.

Azula nods. That slight pout doesn’t leave her face. She has grown so much, in the last two years. But there are still moments, still small flashes when he can see that she is only a child. “You are getting the smallest piece though.”

He rolls his eyes but he will let her have this one, it is fair enough all things considered.

She continues. “Cake is for grateful fathers.”  This gets another chuckle out of Jet.

But he is grateful, and not just for the cake. He is thankful that she won’t walk the same path that he has. She is resilient--he can’t help but stare at the scars on her legs, she has too many of them for a girl so young. She is strong, maybe stronger than he is. And she is moving on, just as she had done with her mother.

“Your brother is going to be a bit harder to convince.”

Azula shakes her head, “he just doesn’t think that you’re trying. I think that he’ll come around when I tell him that you walked all of this way just to hand me a note.” She holds up her cellphone. “It was on the whole time.”

Ozai sighs, he always lets his temper drive out clear thinking. For once that is probably better. “Would that have been as effective?”

Azula thinks for a moment before shaking her head again. “You walked all that way just for me.” She flashes him a smug smile.

“That or he really wants some cake.” Jet comments with a shrug.

“He wants the cake because I made it.”

“We made it.”

“It was my idea!”

At least he can take comfort in that he hadn’t irreparably broken her mood. He can take comfort in that he hasn’t lost his girl.

[debcroft13]

Regal

He'd been having a practice fight with his older brother, a way of burning with anxious energy, a way for Iroh to worm  his way into his head to see where his head lay. After all, the youngest prince was getting married in a few days, well even the prince wasn't immune to nervousness over marrying someone who was a mere stranger to him.

Yet during the talk with his brother things got heated between them, Iroh who  had been married to a noble woman of power and of note. Iroh got dirty with his words, low even. Iroh didn't understand that even though the Fire Lord himself dictated a short courtship with Ursa, Iroh tried to give his wisdom, tried to say he was a lousy man unworthy of Ursa  his brother had got him with a dirty words and then a dirty move. 

His skin was burned  as he lay on his bed, the young prince huffed as a doctor treated the small  burn wound, it wasn't life threaten, he'd heal in few weeks but Ozai watched from his bed as his brother bowed apologetic to him, Ozai scorned him with a hateful look.

Yet when the door to his room flung open Ozai smiled as his betrothed rushed to his side as  servants followed  them carrying many herbs and mixing bowls and placed them for her and she  kissed his hand.

" As soon as I heard what happened, I brought the best herbs for such injures" She assured 

 Ursa dropped his hand as he turned to Iroh  as she stood up.

She eyes the servants with a meaningful look and left the stuff they  brought for Ursa and left. Ursa walked to Iroh who simply laughed awkward  and she slapped him.

" Don't you laugh, how could you hurt your brother like this? You knew of our wedding day and how it was fast approaching?  I heard why you two got into a heated fight during your little spar."

She held her hand in pain as it ached after hitting him hard.

Iroh noticed her stubborn look and she stepped to him.

" You said vile things about our engagement Iroh...Iroh.. you should get out by site." she demanded angry 

Ozai laughed grinning his bed, as he shifted in pain, he loved the fire within Ursa, she was strong like him and challenged him at every turn.

" You should obey her you know. Your soon to be little sister when she is like this  is to relent."  Ozai advices  amnused

Iroh bowed to her  a bit, as he left holding his face a bit from her slap, he left the two be. Ursa eyes turned to look into his and  began mixing herbs for him.

" I'm not happy with you either, I swear you did this so you don't have to marry me.” She responded lightly 

Ozai sat watching her amused yet he watched her work mixing and muttering.

" I had every reason to lose my temper, that brother of mine understands little of our bond our connection, how could you say I don't want to marry you." 

Ursa came to his side holding her mixed herbs, she looked to his bare chest to his wound, she pour her medication into his wound, he hissed as she rubbed  it in and she  washed her hands.

"You deserve some pain, I know you'll be dragged to marry me injured or not, but I doubt you'll come to our arranged meeting tonight."

He shifted painfully, yet the pain wasn't as bad as before her herbs mixed into it but it was still hard to move.

"I don't think so, but I have a gift  for you .. I intended to give you it tonight."

He pointed to his desk where a box with gold dragons engraved on it was placed.

" Bring me the box and I shall open it and show you."

She obeyed him, she  handed  him the box over without peeking inside. Yet he opened the box for her and took a gold flame shape crown out, it was a curved flame nothing like his crown or the Fire Lords crown.

" When we are married you shall wear this to indicate your new status as my wife and Fire Princess, you'll be the only one with a crown like this within a lifetime as I had it shaped for you and you alone.

Ozai watched her come close, she ran her hand over her crown in awe, felt it  in her hands as she smiled delighted.

" This is beautiful.." Ursa said in awe

"As you are, a crown befitting of you my love." Ozai complimented  flirtatious 

She forgot her anger,she hugged him close as he brushed her hair with a sly smile  on  his face.

" Let me see you with it on, let me see how regal you'll look with it on."

She moved in close, he moved painfully to slide the crown into her bun  and she  touched it as she the look to  his reaction and saw his  looks of satisfaction.

"Perfection."

@urzaiweek2020

[firenationember]

Destruction, Everywhere (OC Fic)

3/?

Previous Chapters

I walked with my nose in the sky, occasionally looking down at my feet to make sure I didn’t trip on anything. I carried around my makeshift torch, hoping nobody was out here to see it. I stopped in my tracks when I noticed a faint glow ahead of me, crouching as I listened for any voices or other signs of life. I debated walking away or approaching the light, curiosity getting the best of me.

As I got closer, I could hear the crackling of a fire and faint snores. I peaked around a tree to see Zuko, sound asleep on the ground. The prince looked so different asleep; his typically angry scowl was replaced with a soft, peaceful expression. Even earlier when he stopped by, he looked softer and acted kinder. Has he really changed after all? I mean, I’m a firebender, and they learned to trust me, right? I never tried to kill them, several times, but his apology sounded sincere. Something about the gentleness in his voice, the hesitation in his words made me believe they were genuine.

Maybe I just have a soft spot for him. When I was 9, the royal family decided to visit our village, for whatever reason. It was a brief visit, but it was enough to get everyone to gather around. I remember hearing the Fire Lord make a comment about wanting to leave as soon as possible, already sick of wasting his time here. I remember feeling angry and then feeling ashamed because he was right, this town was nothing special and even at my young age, I knew that. People behind me started pushing, yelling in excitement, and as I tried to get out of the way, I lost my balance and fell forward into someone. We tumbled into each other without falling and I looked over, apologies spilling out of my mouth as I regained my balance. That was the first time I looked into his glistening honey colored eyes. I remember the heat rising to my cheeks as I bowed.

“Prince Zuko, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you trip.” I was nervous of what would come next, knowing it wouldn’t compare to the humiliation already growing in my chest.

“I’m not my dad, you don’t have to bow.” He smiled at me, easing the knot in my stomach.

“Yes, she does Zuzu, you’re the Heir Prince of the Fire Nation.” His sister, Princess Azula, chimed in matter-of-factly next to him. Queen Ursa walked over to see what was happening, smiling at me as she got closer.

“Hello. What’s your name?” The queen asked me, kindness dripping in her voice. I bowed before speaking.

“My name is Draya, your majesty.” I felt a sudden tight grip on my arm; I glanced over to see my mother had finally found me in the crowd. She bowed to the Queen while introducing herself, apologizing for my actions. Ursa gave my mother a smile before returning her attention to me.

“Are you alright, Draya? I am so sorry you were pushed in all this rowdy nonsense.” The Queens voice was soft and swift. I remember being shocked at her question, never having heard it from my own mother. Before I could respond, Fire Lord Ozai barked at his wife and son to catch up so they can carry on, Princess Azula already have sauntered off with boredom. I bowed once more as a goodbye and watched as they walked away, my heart skipping a beat when Zuko turned around to wave. It was in that moment that I realized the Fire Prince was my first crush. The next day was the day the Fire Nation army invaded, and my family was killed not long after that. I always wondered if that was the reason for the visit, a goodbye to the people in my village. Kind of like checking the harvest before burning the field to the ground, crops and all.

I was so lost in my memory and emotions that I didn’t realize the branch I was leaning on started to break, causing me to fall on the ground with a big thud. I scrambled to get back up as Zuko woke, sitting up in panic.

“Who’s there? Stay back.” I hear the sleepiness in Zuko’s voice, surprising me with the alertness in his firebending. I easily jump over the flame and into sight, the cool surprise on his face reassuring. He stood up and rubbed at the sleep on his face, not seeming to be on defense. Our eyes found each other for a second before I looked around, unable to meet his gaze. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” He asked, no ounce of anger in his words.

I shifted in place, realizing that I hadn’t thought about what I would say to him if I found him. Honestly, I never thought I would have to talk to him… again.

“I wasn’t exactly looking for you, I just came across your camp while I was out for a walk. It’s not like you’re far from the temple, anyway.” I finally said, my eyes never leaving the sky. I heard him shuffle and poke at the campfire. When I finally looked over, he was sitting on the floor. I took it as an invitation to join him, sitting on the opposite side of the fire. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes, and I was beginning to feel suffocated by the feeling of how bad of an idea this was.

“Draya, right?” He finally asked, my stomach flipping at the sound of my name ringing out in his voice. I gave one firm nod, unclear what else to say. He gave small soft nods, pausing for a bit before his next question. “So, you’re Aang’s firebending teacher?”

“No.” I say quickly, causing him to look at me with confusion. I sigh, weighing my words in my head. “I mean… I am a firebender, I just… don’t know how much more I can teach Aang. I don’t want to leave, especially after what just happened with the Fire Lord,” I notice him flinch at the mention of his father, “but I’m ready to keep traveling on my own. I’m no help to the Avatar anymore. He may not want to accept your help, but maybe they’ll listen to me. I’ll talk to everyone in the morning. Aang needs a firebending teacher, who’s a better fit than the Fire Nation Prince himself?” I hear Zuko scoff at my words, looking away.

“I was banished, remember? It’s just Zuko.” I smiled and shook my head.

“You’ll always be the Prince to me.” The color drained from my face when I realized I spoke out loud, hoping to have kept that thought in my head. I looked at Zuko, my eyes wide and my apology ready to pour out of my mouth before I was cut off by his voice.

“Have we met before?” He asked, a curious smile dancing across his face. “Something about you is really familiar, I just can’t figure out what.” As he’s mulling it over, I panic. I don’t want Prince Zuko to remember me for who I was, I don’t want him to tell the others. What would they think of me? I realize I have to say something, so I think fast.

“I doubt it, I grew up in a small village. Nothing much other than farming and sand.” I laugh, remembering the Fire Lord’s comment. He snapped his fingers and his smile grew.

“Yes! I remember your village; it was one of the only work trips father ever took us on. I literally ran into you!” I was ready to apologize for our run in when I realized what he said. I stared at him with disbelief.

“You remember that… you remember my name? That was so long ago…” I trailed off, remembering the result of that visit a mere 12 hours after. I looked away as Zuko got up to sit closer to me, keeping some distance between us.

“I do. I remember because I asked me mother if we’d ever be able to visit again, and she told me about the invasion it suffered. I just figured everyone… I was only 10; it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that the village we just saw, the people we just met, were gone.” I found comfort and sadness in Zuko’s words, until a question came to mind.

“So, that day your family visited, you didn’t know your father was planning to invade and destroy my village?” I asked, realizing I assumed all these years that they all knew. Zuko’s expression was mixed with rage and grief.

“My mother always told me it was destroyed when earthbenders tried to invade and take control of your villages’ connections to the Fire Nation. ‘Lost when it was trying to be saved’ she said.” Zuko’s voice was small, so quiet I almost didn’t hear it. “If you would’ve told me a year ago my father did that, I wouldn’t have believed you. Now?” He shakes his head and turns to me, a question dancing on his lips. “Your family?” I stare at him, his eyes warmed by the fire. My breath caught in my throat, my head spinning with words I wanted to say, before I stood up as quickly as I could.

“I should go back, before everyone starts to worry. Like I said, I’ll talk to them. Come by tomorrow, okay?” I start to walk away before he has a chance to stand up and respond.

“Wait, Draya?” I turn around to look at Zuko, smiling.

“Goodnight, Prince Zuko.” I said, giving a quick bow before disappearing as fast as I could into the forest.

Chapter 4

[attackfish]

im sorry if you already talked about this and I just missed it but 5 hcs Sokka Katara role swap where Sokka was the last waterbender of the water tribe instead of Katara.

Never apologize for asking for an AU i might already have. If I do, I'll just right a continuation, like I am now. Continued from: [Link], [Link], and [Link].

Also I know the prompt was about Sokka and Katara, but they're not the only ones in this universe with their bending statuses mixed up, and there are other people I need to give some attention to.

1. Ozai never had much time for either of his children growing up. They were useless to him, and their lack of bending ability made them a mockery of why his father married him to Ursa in the first place. And indeed, when he takes the throne and banishes Ursa, the very first thing he does is remarry, to produce a bending heir. And his wife, a bender and noblewoman, soon becomes pregnant.

2. But almost as soon as she announces her pregnancy, she loses it. These things happen, so Ozai tries again. Again she becomes pregnant, and again she miscarries. Ozai sets her aside. Her family is forced to flee court in disgrace. Her brother in the navy is demoted. So Ozai marries a third time, to a young, blueblooded firebending widow, with a young firebending daughter. Azula hates her on site, but she smiles and plays nice with both of them. Still, the little girl prefers Zuko, who plays dolls with her, and is actually fun about it. But then this wife becomes pregnant too, and announces this. And less than a month later, she miscarries. Indeed, the ordeal weakens her so badly that she nearly dies. She lingers on the edge of death as Ozai casts her aside, and her family is forced to collect her.

3. Ozai never thought to consider what plants might dwell in the royal garden, or what knowledge Ursa might have taught an interested and curious Azula. He's considering it now. And he finds himself furious, and reluctantly impressed. Still, he needs a firebending heir, and Azula will not get in the way again. He calls her to him and tells her he could have her executed for poisoning the Firelady. He tells her she will be leaving. He is remarrying, and she, his eleven year old daughter, will not get in his way, so she is going off to school. Yes, well, Azula says, be sure to send Mai and Ty Lee with her, since they've been helping her fool her teachers into thinking she's a firebender since she was eight. Oh, thinks Ozai.

4. Mai sometimes wonders if she and Ty Lee were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if Azula looked at them and just knew, knew there was something weak about them, something that made them easy to control. At first, Azula said it was a prank, to fool the teachers into thinking Azula was a bender. It was just a laugh. But soon, Azula started making it clear that it was serious business, deadly serious, and she and Ty Lee would regret it if they ever told. And then, suddenly, Azula is heir, and Ozai has brought Mai's brother and Ty Lee's sisters, to stay in the palace.

5. Soon after Ozai banishes Zuko, Zuko is given word that Azula is a bender. As he searches the world for the Avatar, he is also looking for the secret to becoming a bender, since his sister obviously found it. More than three years later, when Aang deals with the problem of the Firelord needing to be a firebender, by giving him his father's bending, he ironically finds himself in the position of having found the Avatar, brought him to the palace, and learned the secrets of becoming a bender. And now of course he very suddenly needs to learn how to firebend.

[seyaryminamoto]

More Gladiator asks: great analysis on Ozai's side of Urzai's relationship. Would like to know more of the mysterious Gladiator Ursa's side of the relation as well -- why does she like Ozai (if she does) and what does she think of his bonding with Azula too. E.g. Who corrupted who? Do they love each other? Is he more happy about Azula than he is with her. Why her husband dislikes their son? // More complications...

Hehehe, no one ever seems to ask about Ursa’s opinions on things, I’m glad someone finally did xD The upcoming answer is a bit spoilery, soooo…

I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating: Ursa isn’t her canon counterpart here. She’s highborn, raised by nobility, and she demands a certain respect, not in the same direct and obvious way as Azula, but she does anyhow. Ursa definitely was attracted to Ozai physically right away, but she remains the picture of traditional perfection around him during their first encounter. And on the next ones, when their impending marriage is practically a done deal, she pretty much forces Ozai to up his game while wooing her: she refuses to be bought and paid for with fancy jewels, something Ozai has already implied in past chapters. And as I’ve always written Ozai with Zuko in mind, especially in his youth… my Ozai is more than a bit awkward about winning over Ursa. But much like Zuko would have been in similar circumstances, Ozai decides he won’t give up and he tries and tries and tries again, with different approaches and varying levels of failure each time (?) which amuses Ursa quite a bit. And while he’d be outraged to be laughed at… it’s not quite so bad when she’s the one laughing.

By the time their wedding hapens, Ozai actually is VERY awkward about certain things precisely because he has grown to crave Ursa’s approval. She’s probably the second person he’s most eager to please, right after Azulon. So when Ursa is nervous about their wedding night, instead of being the dickhead everyone must picture him as, Ozai actually backed off and didn’t demand anything from her. And if there’s one thing that endeared him to her, beyond the shallow “omg he’s hot” realization upon first meeting him, it was this xD Ursa becomes much nicer to him after he decides to privilege her comfort over their alleged marital duties, and he waits until she’s actually ready to make a move (okay, who am I kidding, it’s Ursa who makes her move, Ozai doesn’t have the guts xDDDD). This, as well, is inspired by the fact that I cannot picture Zuko forcing himself on someone whose approval he actually cares about: and as Ozai isn’t a complete monster here, he respects Ursa the way she wants him to (not to mention, he’s probably afraid of disappointing her with his performance and putting it off is a good idea until he learns what he’s supposed to do, ahahahaha :’D).

There’s a few other moments that damn near push Ursa into fully loving Ozai, most of them at the earliest stages of their relationship. But that’s the first real important moment for them, and the other stuff that endears him to her is waaay too much fun, so instead of telling you about it I’ll just save it for Part 3′s flashbacks if ya’ll don’t mind (?)

As for her opinion on Azula and Ozai, she starts off happy for Ozai’s closeness with his daughter: Zuko has never been too friendly with his father (now, this I do want to spoil: baby Zuko actually pooped himself the first time Ozai held him, that’s legit the way their relationship started in Gladiator x’DDDDDD), so when Ozai is more attached to Azula right off the bat, Ursa is pleased for it. But when Azula proves to be a force of chaos in her own way, Ursa starts to worry. Zuko is more of a crying baby while Azula is a mischief one that never does as she’s told, so imagine how much fun it is to put them together :’D it’s a mess. Therefore, Ursa tries to make them get along but nope, no use, Azula is too defiant, independent and stubborn! But she doesn’t realize there’s anything out of the ordinary in her children’s relationship until a certain thing I’ve already referenced in-story happens, meaning, Azula’s little plot to become Piandao’s student too… it’ll be fun showing that from Ursa’s POV xD

At that point, Ursa starts having more conflicts with Ozai because she realizes he’s become Azula’s enabler. He’s been encouraging what she considers Azula’s least acceptable behavior, and while Ozai starts off backing down to please Ursa (as he does over the Piandao matter), eventually he starts to bicker back and stand his ground. I don’t really think Ursa believed Azula “corrupted” Ozai, but she most definitely thought they were terrible influences on each other. Azula was, after all, a child who needed guidance… and where Ursa assumed Ozai would give it, he instead seemed to decide his daughter was fine just as she was, and spurred her to continue doing whatever she pleased to rather than telling her to get along with her brother or anything along those lines (Ursa’s main concern). I can’t say that she thinks they love each other? But she wouldn’t mind much if Ozai loved Azula better than her, because as it is, Ursa absolutely loved Zuko more than anyone else. Azula told Sokka as much:

“I don’t know what brought on the downfall of their marriage, but I never did have any reason to believe she loved him. Not if the way she treated Zuko was the standard for how she loved someone. She never treated anyone the way she did Zuko.“  

So Ursa wouldn’t have been up in arms about Ozai genuinely loving their daughter… the problem is, what’s going on there isn’t EXACTLY love, it’s more like Ozai wants to make sure Azula can do whatever she wants in life, no consequences, and Ursa isn’t big on that. If Ozai were affectionate and happy with his daughter in innocent and harmless ways, Ursa would have been blissfully pleased… but that’s not what was happening and it definitely became a wrench in their relationship.

Also, it must be said… Ursa doesn’t hold Azula responsible for the decay of her relationship with Ozai or for anything, really, despite Azula has assumed Ursa holds her responsible for just about everything wrong in the world xD there’s a LOT about her mother that Azula absolutely doesn’t understand. I know the story so far reads as “Ursa is the true monster here! She’s the WORST and Azula’s perceptions of her are 100% spot-on!”, but… outside of “Zuko was her #1 favorite human being ever”, Azula’s perceptions of her mother aren’t completely accurate. It doesn’t mean she was wrong about everything, absolutely not, but Ursa is way more complicated and less straightforward than that in Gladiator. 

And of course, Ursa doesn’t quite understand Ozai’s problem with Zuko, and to be honest that’s just as pivotal for their conflicts as Ozai’s enabling of Azula. Ursa loves Zuko heaps, and it baffles her that Ozai sidelines him to such extent to favor Azula. And the more conflictive things get between the two adults, the more Ursa tries to shield and defend Zuko, and Ozai retaliates by further encouraging Azula and standing by her. It’s pretty toxic, why lie? But neither side really looks for a compromise or a genuine solution, they’re in so deep they can’t see the full picture at all and they don’t realize how much harm they’re causing their own family just out of a nasty mix of pride and stubbornness. Cue the irony that Azula starts rebelling against her father, if only in subtle ways, and Zuko is completely estranged from both his parents… and that’s literally when both siblings started to get along :’) what does that say about Urzai’s A+ parenting, I wonder? :’D

I don’t know if I answered all your questions x’D but this is Gladiator!Ursa, to a fault. She’s a lot more than meets the eye, very complicated and complex, and boy, I can’t lie, I really look forward to writing her properly by Part 3 :’) but ahaha you’re getting a glimpse of her in Part 2 so LOOK FORWARD TO THAT! :DDDD

[beckytailweaver]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (fic stuff)

Since I’m trying to work on something (ANYTHING!) and I seem to be in an Avatar mood of late, I’ll throw this up here.

These are fics, potential fics, and mostly-concrete ideas that have existed in the back of my closet for a very long time, since the good old days of watching ATLA when it was shiny and new and cool. Most of them are also so old that LOK didn’t exist yet or was in its infancy.

Note: These are mostly gen fic. If pairings come up they are not the central goal of the piece; they will be mainly canon as it existed at the time the fic was outlined. Treat them like the scenery (no ship war drama allowed in my workroom, that’s what stopped me participating in the fandom years ago).

I’d kinda like to put some feelers out and see what folks think would be most interesting to work on.

Read on:

The End of the Circle Post-canon continuation, my oldest ATLA fic, conceived and outlined before comics or LOK existed. Does some headcanon worldbuilding based on what was available at the time of the original series. Dragons and spirits and legends coming to life, oh my!

Status: outlined, some scenes written, firm endpoint, world built.

Summary: Roku warned Aang that he could not die in the Avatar State, or the cycle would end. Azula’s lightning killed Aang in the Avatar State. To their good fortune, Katara’s spirit water was able to bring Aang back to life, but there are Consequences—for the Avatar and for the world.

Wild Fire Canon AU/semi-rewrite. Also born before LOK was a thing so Druk doesn’t exist. It borrows some concepts from the idea of Toph and her badgermole family. It breaks some TLA canon around the edges but it’s all in good fun.

Status: outlined, many scenes, ending fully plotted.

Summary: The young Fire Prince was burned and disowned by the Fire Lord, cast away and abandoned on the hostile shores of the Earth Kingdom before his kindly uncle could aid him. Disfigured, angry, and lost, young Zuko finds solace in the wilderness when he is taken in by a most unusual protector: A dragon.

Phoenix Legacy Not-a-time-travel “time travel” fic. It was born after seeing Season 1 of Avatar LOK and...kinda liking it but not? (I mostly lost interest in LOK after S1.) And wanting to add some more classic feel to the season. No information from subsequent seasons was used to outline it (thus there is no Druk) but recently I have gone back and “fixed” Zuko’s daughter (giving her the correct name and appearance), and added her nameless daughter (Iroh II’s sister) for lulz. Basically a rewrite of LOK Season 1 with a TLA character along for the ride to shake everything up, because at the time I was disappointed that there was only Katara and no other Gaang members out there kicking the new Avatar into shape.

Status: outlined, a few scenes written, ending plotted; not to be a rehash.

Summary: A phoenix cannot die by fire—it can only be reborn. When Ozai claimed the title of Phoenix King, he had no idea what sort of spirit he might be invoking. When he lost his ancestor’s war and his crown, the spirit’s blessings were unknowingly conferred upon his heir: The hapless Fire Lord Zuko, determined to bring his nation to peace. Seventy years later, there’s a tragic explosion in a tea shop in Republic City, and exiled traitor Fire Prince Zuko wakes up to an unfamiliar world full of unfamiliar faces. The last thing he remembers is an Agni Kai under a Comet, catching lightning to protect a friend.

The Prince’s Prisoner Another ficling born before the comics or LOK were really a big deal and/or I didn’t know about them. Basically during TLA S1, rather than fleeing Prince Zuko’s clutches, Aang decides to remain his prisoner. The original reasoning for this was a kind of modified Peggy Sue: Aang effed up his final battle with Ozai for reasons, his soul is sorta sent back in time to do-over from his iceberg wakeup. The problem is that this is not a perfect process and he doesn’t actually remember everything, only some very important faces, feelings, and concepts. The idea of Zuko as a dear friend/teacher/trusted person is one of these things. Thus, in defiance of all visible logic, Aang trusts S1!Zuko with his life and keeps his promise to go with him. In spite of his Water Tribe friends continuously trying to rescue him, Zhao continuously trying to capture him, and Zuko himself continuously trying to avoid being befriended by his ticket home. (”I’m your prisoner, not anyone else’s.”)  Intended to be a funny and heartwarming friendship/journey story taking a different angle at the series.

Status: tentatively outlined with very few scenes skeleton’d out, season 1 definite, endpoint undecided but can continue throughout the series. The premise mechanic is a bit flimsy; it’s less concrete since it’s supposed to be fluff, angst, and friendship.

dragon!Zuko AU fic Everybody has to write one of these, it’s like a law. Here’s mine: Ozai’s cruelty during the Agni Kai with his young son invoked the wrath of Agni, bringing down a magic from a time before memory and no one knows if it’s a blessing or a curse. When Zuko’s face burned, the fire didn’t stop there, and when the flames went out a young dragon was left on the floor of the arena. Uncle Iroh came to his rescue before the rest of Court could gather their wits, and then had to get him on a boat and out of the Fire Nation before Ozai could decide whether to make him into a pet or a trophy. Part 1: Rather than going on a mission to hunt the Avatar, Zuko and Iroh are on a road trip to keep Zuko alive and secret from the world (Ozai wants to usurp his brother’s title of Dragon). Iroh and his crew end up raising this stubborn angsty dragon prince; since he can’t turn back into a human he has to come to terms with being a dragon most of the time (which can’t talk), and he can often be Very Dramatic about it. Part 2: Years later, there’s rumors of the Avatar’s return and Zuko (who has sort of learned to take a human shape again) sees an opportunity to spare his own life and go home by offering his father a bigger prize than a dragon’s head...

Status: very general outline, some scenes conceived and a general plot/endpoint. Part 1 is in the 3 years pre-canon, Part 2 is during canon, including the grumpy dragon hiding out in Ba Sing Se.

Years Gone/Avatar kids AU S1/pre-canon rewrite. Some whim of fate cracks open Aang’s iceberg three years early (a storm, a passing boat, pure chance?) and he tumbles out into the world in the same year that Prince Zuko was banished. Despite befriending some Water Tribe children who would love to go adventuring with him, he’s got to get home to the Southern Air Temple and that’s where he runs into young, angry, raw-wounded Prince Zuko on his first visit. The tiny chase ensues up and down the entire temple. Aang will of course be friendly but escape. And this begins a probably-ill-advised adventure with a lot of kids who are entirely too young to be camping across the world on a bison (but it’s exciting!), chased by another kid entirely too young to be leading a manhunt. The Comet is three years away so there’s plenty of time for adults to tear their hair out over this. Zuko is a tiny ball of determination, rage, and tears. Aang feels bad for him and tries to make with the befriending even as he’s dodging the fire tantrums. Occasionally during adventures Zuko just gets scooped along for the ride in Appa’s saddle, no one’s sure how these weird truces get called, but Iroh sips tea and directs the crew on a new heading and they’ll pick up their prince at the bison’s next stopover most likely after the kid pendulums back the other way and remembers he’s trying to nab the Avatar again. So Zuko spends 50% of the time yelling and chasing the Avatar and 50% of the time sitting in Appa’s saddle learning tentative smiles and being offered berries and seal jerky, all the way from the South Pole to the North. (It’s slightly terrifying to realize that Aang and Zuko are currently the oldest kids in the party and are actually in charge of this terribly irresponsible expedition.)

Status: general outline, a couple of scenes written, particular S1 plot points, no endpoint yet. Possible bonus content: Toph and/or Suki come along for the ride because why not.

The Blacksmith of Ba Sing Se This is a very old Lu Ten Lives! story. Lu Ten always knew Uncle Ozai envied him, but secure in his position he didn’t really care about it until he took an arrow in the back during the final battle of the Siege of Ba Sing Se. With unknown assassins among his own ranks and no safe place to retreat in the melee, the wounded prince decides to fake his own death by hiding in the rubble, and then swapping clothes with a slain Earth Kingdom soldier half crushed in the ruin. At first, it’s only to get to safety until he can get to the bottom of this. But Lu Ten is picked up by the EK medic teams after the surprising withdrawal of the Fire Nation troops, and ends up spirited away into the heart of Ba Sing Se—where he discovers that it’s hard to escape. He also discovers a whole new world, and a whole new perspective, and, keeping out of the authorities’ notice, eventually manages to make a life for himself as Chang the Blacksmith, a humble craftsman with a wife and kids. This...is much nicer than war, death, and Court politics. Years later: refugee Zuko walking home from his job at Pao Family Tea Shop runs across a little boy crying over his broken toy in the dusty street...

Status: nebulous outline with a few particular sketched scenes. Takes place mostly in Ba Sing Se, outcome indeterminate. It could be mixed with the Lineages concept from below.

Lineages / not Ozai’s kid AU Not really a concrete plot so much as a campy idea from long before the Avatar comics blundered through Ursa’s backstory. There was a phase in the fandom (I think the Search comics drew off of that) where it was popular to imagine almost anyone else than Ozai as Zuko’s Secret Real Dad (the boy deserves a better father) and Iroh was often selected as primary candidate. (I know, Iroh is already the real dad and stepped into Ozai’s cold empty shoes like a pro.) Me, deciding that I had to be different, decided to offer up Lu Ten on that altar. Justifications: Iroh and Ozai looked to have a pretty extreme age difference and there was no solid age for Lu Ten at the time of his death, but his picture looks mature enough. Deals with family secrets and the political issues of muddying the lines of inheritance in the middle of a war. Also takes a crack at Ursa having a clever hand with Azulon’s last will and testament on Ozai’s behalf, with provisos.

Status: nothing really more than a vague concept without enough plot to stand on its own. Without a viable framework, it could work better/well folded into The Blacksmith story, above.

I’m open to opinions and/or asks about these. Trying to get a spark going! (I need to be working in a fandom, ANY fandom at this point! ^_^;; )

[avatarsymbolism]

Katara and Zuko Parallels, Part 5: Loss

In order to make some of my longer metas more readable, I have decided to break them down into more easily digestible bites. The Complete Post can be found here.

As I’ve mentioned, one of the biggest themes that ties our narrative trio together is loss. It motivates everyone. It’s what makes it hard for Aang to let go of Katara, and makes him so upset when Appa is kidnapped. It’s what makes Katara so determined to succeed in the war against the Fire Nation, and so angry at Zuko. It’s also what makes Zuko both want to restore his father’s love, and eventually defect.

Loss is everywhere.

So, of course, Katara and Zuko parallel each other in that they both lost their mothers to the Fire Nation at a relatively young age. Ursa was banished as part of a deal that would spare Zuko’s life, and Kya sacrificed herself to spare Katara’s life.

These two events affected who Katara and Zuko became when they grew older. For Katara, it meant becoming fiercely protective, and doing everything in her power to protect the ones she loved and cared about. This is the driving force that makes her protect and vouch for all the people she has saved or tried to save from the people in “Imprisoned” and “The Painted Lady” to Aang, Jet, and Zuko in seasons 2 and 3. In the show’s continuity it’s the parallels between Aang and Kya that really helps push Katara to continue to protect the ones she loves, and consequently to view Zuko as “the face of the enemy,” up to the latter half of Book 3. The consequence of this parallel is that Katara eventually connects her losing her mother to Zuko himself. This eventually culminates with Katara saving Zuko’s life in the finale after he risked his life to save her from Azula in a moment that parallels what happened to her mother.  

Zuko’s story is a little different. He lost three parental figures in the course of the series, and losing these parental figures affected him in different ways.

First, he lost his father’s love, the one thing he he wanted the most. This is what motivates him to go after Aang, and even to betray his uncle. It’s a destructive driving force that blinded him to his true calling.

We won’t talk too much about Lu Ten and Iroh, but just know that, like Ursa, Zuko’s losing Lu Ten ties into Zuko’s empathy arc and helps him connect with the people he meets in the Earth Kingdom. In a similar vein, the Kya-Ursa connection is one of the factors that lets Zuko empathize with the people whom his nation views as enemies as well. Iroh also plays into the mix by becoming Zuko’s motivator after he realizes he doesn’t need Ozai’s love. Here, “I want to make Dad proud” transforms into “I want to make Uncle proud.”

That said, as mentioned before, Ursa’s influence on Zuko is twofold. On the one hand, it’s what ultimately makes Zuko able to stay true himself by leaving the Fire Nation. But, before this happened, Ursa’s influence on Zuko played out a little differently, with Zuko’s memories of his mother making him nostalgic for how things used to be before his banishment. At this time, staying true to himself was less about being his own person and freeing himself from Ozai’s influence, and more about fulfilling his role as Ozai’s son and heir and returning home.

Still, the fact remains that as soon as Zuko stopped being blinded by his need to win his father’s approval, his memory of Ursa became a positive motivator, and was the push he needed to join the Gaang

And, speaking of nostalgia, “North and South” does a great job of not only elaborating on Katara’s “protect all the people” arc and giving it a second conclusion, but it also turns what used to be only a parallel between Aang and Zuko into one that features all three of our central characters.

This parallel, connects Zuko, Katara, and Aang together even more by showing us just how much they feel they’ve lost, and just how much they want things to return to normal. With Katara and Zuko especially, it demonstrates why their loss is such a potent motivator. It’s what helps them make it through the day, and want to push themselves against the odds. These are characters who lost something that affected them deeply, who want so hard for everything to return to normal, and yet all they can do is try to cope and try to somehow move on from what happened to them.

[the-jade-cross]

Flame of the Heart - Chapter 5

“SLAVE!” Azula yelled the moment she entered her room.

Shira looked up from where she was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed. It had been almost two years since she had been enslaved into Azula’s services and since then, some things had changed. She and Zuko still met whenever they could but since that night that Shira gave Zuko the diary, nothing had passed between them other than the things of two close friends. After some persuasion on Ursa’s part, Azula was instructed to not tie Shira up unless Shira was in trouble. However, now Shira had to sleep on the floor but that was better than being tied up. Also, whenever Azula wasn’t in the room, she had to sit cross-legged at the end of Azula’s bed until needed.

“Get my hair all dolled up! There is going to be an Agni Kai today!”

Shira flinched at the mention of the gruesome dual, but she obeyed, getting up and situating the hair materials as she began to brush Azula’s hair.

“Aren’t you the least bit interested?” Azula snapped, “Not even going to ask me what it is about?”

Shira bowed her head in apology, “Forgive me your highness. What started this dual?”

Azula smirked evilly into the mirror, “My brother.” Shira knew that if she stiffened or froze that Azula would suspect something, so she didn’t, but she clenched her toes inside her sandals. Zuko! What happened?

“He was in the war council room and spoke up against one of the general’s ideas.”

Shira bit her lip, glad that Azula was too busy looking at her nails to notice. Of course, Zuko would do something like that. She expected no less of him.

“Who do you think will win the Agni Kai your highness?” Shira inquired.

“Probably not my brother. What do you think?”

Shira shrugged, “I do not know the strength of your brother, nor of the man he must fight against… I wouldn’t know.” Azula nodded, “Rightly so. You wouldn’t know.”

Shira bowed her head and just managed to remove her hands from Azula’s hair before the girl tried to singe Shira’s hands by catching her hair on fire.

After Azula had doused her hair, Shira continued. When she finished, Azula changed into a clean outfit before heading out of the room. She paused in the doorway to give Shira an evil smirk.

“He’s fighting against my father. Don’t be surprised if you are called to help bury him!” With that, the princess left, leaving Shira shaking violently in fear…. The king! Zuko was going to get killed!

On the other side of the door, Azula smirked before looking up into a pair of golden eyes who smiled evilly down at her. Azula smiled, “It’s done. She knows.”  

******

Zuko sighed as he knelt in the ring, waiting for his opponent. He wished it would just be over with so he could go visit Shira that night. They had agreed to meet on the roof, one of their favorite meeting spots. Suddenly, he heard the faint footsteps of his opponent behind him and turned to face him, the towel falling off his shoulders…. But he froze.

The man standing at the other end of the ring was not the general…. But…. His father?

“Father?” Zuko asked, shocked.

Meanwhile, Shira had managed to escape Azula’s room and was rushing as quickly as she could towards where she knew the Agni Kai was being held.

She only hoped that she got there in time to warn Zuko… before he faced his father. She knew Zuko wouldn’t go up against his father but she also knew that Lord Ozai was not a forgiving man, therefore she knew he would no doubt not pardon Zuko even if the boy begged forgiveness.

When she finally came upon the ring, there was a crowd of people surrounding it, so she was unable to even see the ring itself. Finally, deciding that she had no other choice, Shira ran over towards the archway where Ozai had entered through, she began to slowly scale the wall, cringing whenever her hands scraped the slippery stone but she didn’t give up. Meanwhile, down in the ring….

“Please father, I only had the fire nation’s best interest at heart. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn!” Zuko cried, falling onto his hands and knees, pleading with his father.

“You will fight for your honor,” Ozai replied with no feeling in his voice.

Zuko felt tears spring to his eyes. Why did he have to be so stupid? “I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son!”

Ozai laughed, obviously either not taking what Zuko said seriously or because he didn’t feel that Zuko was right in that area, “Rise and fight prince Zuko.”

“I won’t fight you,” Zuko replied, keeping his head down.

Ozai snorted, “And what if I told you that I would kill your pathetic little water bender friend?” Zuko frowned. He didn’t know any water benders…. Wait…. Didn’t his father mistake Shira for a water bender!?!?!?!

Zuko’s head snapped up at this, his amber eyes wide in shock. How did his father…. But then he saw it… the look in his father’s eyes. It was pure hatred…. No sympathy or mercy.

“You think I wouldn’t notice my son going missing every evening?” Ozai hissed, “I am going to make sure that girl doesn’t get away with it.” “SHIRA DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!” Zuko cried, forcing the tears off his face with the back of his hand. “She is the best friend I have!” “And that is a position that someone of her status shouldn’t have,” Ozai replied simply. “You will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher.”

With that, Ozai raised his flaming hand and struck his son on his left eye. Zuko let out a blood curdling scream that stopped Shira who had made it halfway up the arch.

Looking over her shoulder, all she could see was Ozai’s back…. But then she saw Zuko crumble to the ground…. clutching his hands to his face. Oh no….

“That was for disrespecting me,” Ozai replied simply, “And this…. Is for your little friend.” With that, Ozai lifted his other hand up, letting it burst into flames. Grabbing his son but the wrist, he dragged Zuko to his feet, but the boy was too weak to even stand so he was just hanging from his father’s grip. Ozai lifted his hand and prepared to strike the other side of Zuko’s face when suddenly, a bright light flashed into his eyes and he brought both hands up to shield his eyes.

The light was blinding but it disappeared in a second…. But then it appeared again but from a different angle. Ozai frowned when he saw that light was reflecting off of metal helmets that were hanging on the walls. Turning around to see where the source of light was, he stared in surprise.

Practically hanging on the stone arch was Shira. She had one hand at the top of the arch, keeping her up while her foot was pressed against the arch, giving her some leverage and helping to not put too much weight on her arm. Her other leg was hanging there and from her hand, was glowing a bright light… the source of the light.

“Whaaaaat?” everyone present cried looking at the girl.

Shira had an infuriated, horrified look on her face but she hid her fear well beneath her scowl. She looked like she had just come out of hell, breathing heavily, her hair all over the place and sweat pouring down her face but despite that, she looked more beautiful than before.

“Do not touch him!” she yelled.

With that, she leapt off the arch and landed lightly on her feet, barely making a noise as she faced Ozai. The man smirked and let go of his grip on Zuko, dropping the boy to the floor. This movement seemed to wake Zuko a bit and he opened his eyes groggily. All he saw was Shira…. And his father…. Wait…. Was Shira there? What was she doing there!?

“And why should I do that?” Ozai replied, “You’re nothing.” Shira smirked, “Even if the past is in the past, there are parts of you that will never die. I might not be anything now…. But I was once like you…”

With that, the girl spun around on her feet, dragging her fingers along the dusty ground and as she did, something seemed to emerge from the ground. When she stopped spinning, she rose to her feet, clenching her hands at her side.

Rising on either side of her were two long vines! Massive and thick, they were probably as thick as Shira’s body and as long as five of her!

“What is going on!?” Someone cried form the stands.

Shira smirked and lashed out at Ozai with her hands. The vines followed her hands and one of them whipped at the king. Ozai dodged it and tried to burn it. He managed to burn one to a crisp but the other kept coming at him. Finally, he pinned it down and was about to burn it as well when he was blinded again. This time, when the light subsided, he saw where the real source was coming from…. Shira was bending light?

The girl had held out her two hands on either side of her, perpendicular to her body. Light had shone down onto her palms and had reflected off of them like they were made of glass, shining right into Ozai’s face!

Shira smirked, “I was once a princess,” she replied simply, “And you know what I was known for?”

Without waiting for Ozai to guess, she lashed out her hands again but instead of vines appearing, two long light whips appeared and lashed at Ozai. The man managed to dodge the first but the second one grazed his arm, causing him to cry out for it was ten times hotter than fire!

“For being the last of my kind,” the girl whispered.

“A light and plant bender,” Ozai whispered before smirking evilly, “Good to know.”

With that, he lifted his hands and Shira suddenly felt her arms pinned behind her. Shucks! She was always bad at knowing when someone was behind her or not!

“I will spare Prince Zuko the shame of having another burn on the other side of his face, but he must be banished from the fire nation until the day when he brings the avatar to me alive,” Ozai announced.

Shira frowned. The avatar had been missing for a hundred years! How was Zuko going to find him!?

“And you,” Ozai said, turning to Shira, “You will receive a just punishment for mixing with people above you and for striking the Fire Lord. Take her away!” “SHIRA!” Zuko cried but his voice was drowned out in Shira’s screams as she fought against the men holding her.

What was going to happen now?

[setaripendragon]

Like Fire and Water - Part 4

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 Yeah, you probably saw this coming. But oh my god, Azula is simultaneously so easy, and so very difficult to write. She has some very clearly defined traits (like her vicious ruthlessnes and shrewd calculation) but at the same time, she’s clearly very fucked up about her mother, and the topic makes her kind of unstable. I hope I did her justice.

“Azula!”

Looking up from her maps, Azula called for Ty Lee to enter the tent. It wasn’t as large as Azula was used to, but if she wanted to move fast with a small unit, she had to make some sacrifices. Across the small room, Mai glanced up from sharpening her knives, before rolling her eyes at Ty Lee’s cartwheeling entrance, and going back to her work. “A courier just brought this letter for you.” Ty Lee announced, coming to a stop kneeling beside Azula’s chair, holding up a plain envelope on flat palms like an offering.

Ty Lee always knew how to improve Azula’s mood. She took the letter with a smile, even though she was vaguely perplexed by the fact it clearly wasn’t a scroll, which was favoured in the Fire Nation, or a military correspondence, as those would be on the thin fire-proof paper that worked so well with heat-sensitive ink for secret missives. It was addressed plainly, to ‘Princess Azula of the Fire Nation’, and when she flipped it over, Azula saw that the seal belonged to the Bei Fong family.

“Why would Earth Kingdom nobles from Gaoling be writing to me?” Azula wondered aloud.

“Gaoling?” Ty Lee inquired, bouncing to her feet and leaning over Azula’s shoulder to peer at the letter. “Where’s that?”

“South of the Si Wong Desert.” Azula informed her absently, breaking the seal and pulling neatly folded paper out of the envelope. She stared at the first line for a moment, bewildered to the point of speechlessness, which didn’t happen very often.

“Ooh, Mai, it’s from Zuko!” Ty Lee exclaimed gleefully.

Mai’s head came up again, her gaze sharp with interest. “Oh?” She asked, trying and failing to sound bored. Azula didn’t bring attention to it, though. Let Mai try to pretend she wasn’t still half in love with Azula’s foolish brother if she wanted to. Maybe Azula would even let her have the pieces once she’d finished breaking him. “What does it say?”

“Honoured sister,” Azula began reading aloud.

“I would start with saying how I hope this letter finds you in good health and all of that, but I don’t really, and I feel like a lie would be a poor way to start such an important letter. So instead I’ll say that I’m pretty sure this letter will find you alive, since you’re annoyingly hard to kill.”

“That… doesn’t sound like Zuko at all.” Mai muttered, getting to her feet and coming to stand at Azula’s other shoulder.

“It is a bit more venomous than Zuzu usually gets…”Azula mused, squinting at the letter suspiciously.

“Maybe he’s still upset about you hurting General Iroh?” Ty Lee suggested.

“Maybe…” Azula mused. She was absorbed enough in her thoughts that she didn’t object when Mai tugged the letter out of her hand and carried on reading it herself. There was something about the choice of words that was irritatingly familiar. It didn’t sound like Zuko, but it did sound like someone, if only she could think who would dare to impersonate her brother, even in writing.

“As much as I honestly do wish some grisly fate upon you, I still feel that it’s my duty to inform you of news about our family, which is why I went to the trouble of writing this letter. You may already know this, because you would be cruel enough to know and not tell anyone, but-” Mai stopped reading abruptly. Azula looked up to find her staring at the letter with shock written all over her paler-than-usual face.

“What?” Azula snapped sharply.

Mai gaped soundlessly for several long seconds, but she recovered herself before Azula had to ask twice. Good thing, because Azula didn’t ask twice. She cleared her throat, and met Azula’s eyes as she repeated from memory; “-but Lady Ursa, our esteemed mother, is alive.” Going by the look on Mai’s face, she was wondering – the same as Zuko – if Azula had known that Mother wasn’t dead.

She’d suspected, of course. Or… wondered, might be a better word, because she’d never quite thought about it. What did it matter, anyway? Dead or banished, it wasn’t as if she had any power over Azula anymore, so it was of no consequence. Except… Except there was a faint ringing in Azula’s ears, and she couldn’t quite seem to find enough air.

It did matter. It shouldn’t, so Azula ruthlessly squashed the part of her that hurt at the thought of her mother abandoning her like that. She shook away those stupid, weak emotions, and gestured for Mai to keep reading. She didn’t, though, the letter dropping to her side in a limp hand while the other came up to massage the bridge of her nose. “Spirits, I can’t even imagine how Zuko must have felt…” She murmured.

Azula considered scorching her bangs off to remind her to pay attention, but before she could succumb to the impulse, Ty Lee had twirled in, snatched the letter, and flung herself up onto one of the support poles, hanging upside down from her knees with the letter in front of her face.

“Whether or not that’s news to you, I’m fairly sure you don’t know that she’s in good health. I really do hope you have enough of a heart left to care about that, since she’s your mother. She’s well, and currently living in Ba Sing Se’s lower ring. Not the most glamorous of places, I know, but she seems happy here. Much happier than she was in the Fire Palace. She’s working as a scribe, which pays pretty well, since you probably don’t know but a lot of people here don’t know how to read and write.”

Ty Lee peeked over the bottom of the letter. “People in the Earth Kingdom don’t know how to write? But I thought they made a big deal out of their written contracts and stuff?” She asked, sweet and innocent in her confusion.

Azula rolled her eyes. “The nobles keep written contracts. The peasants have to make do with verbal contracts. The Earth Kingdom nobles seem to think that keeping their subjects ignorant and dull is the way to keep their power, when actually it only ensures that the foundation of it is weak and easily broken.” She sneered. It was a good distraction from the turmoil making a mess of her insides. She felt… offended that Mother was working at all, even if her work wasn’t as menial as it could be. But she shouldn’t care whether her mother was alive or dead, working or slaving or lounging in the lap of luxury. She was nothing to Azula anymore.

“Oh, that is pretty stupid.” Ty Lee agreed, then pitched her voice with an actor’s flourish as she began reading again. “The most important detail, and the reason I felt obligated to write to you, is that she has, this past autumn, remarried.”

“What?!” Azula snapped, losing her tenuous hold on her composure.

“That’s what it says.” Ty Lee confirmed, although she didn’t quite dare repeat it, watching Azula with wide, concerned grey eyes.

“Give it here.” Azula ordered, snapping her fingers in Ty Lee’s direction. The acrobat swung down in a graceful flip and bounded the two paces necessary to pass the letter back into Azula’s hands. Azula scanned the letter from the top until she found the paragraph that began with the sentence Ty Lee had just read. Of course Ty Lee had read it word for word, Azula knew that Ty Lee was loyal, and would never dare lie about something like that to Azula’s face, but she had to see it for herself. She had to be sure.

“The most important detail, and the reason I felt obligated to write to you, is that she has, this past autumn, remarried.” Azula repeated out loud, her tone one of disbelief. “Given her banishment and status as a traitor to the Dragon Throne, she is, of course, legally dead within the bounds of Fire Nation, and therefore her marriage to Fire Lord Ozai is null and void. So not only was she free to marry again, but the marriage itself held to the traditions of not just the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom and-” Azula nearly choked on the words as she read them, horror and rage filling her as suspicion formed in her mind. “-the Southern Water Tribe, as well.”

Ty Lee squeaked. Mai sucked in a sharp breath.

Azula felt everything inside her go deathly still at that confirmation. She was not the only one to pick up on what that might mean. If it had only said ‘the Water Tribe’ she might have passed over it as simple emphasis that all traditions had been observed. Some of the more addled folk in the colonies did that, mixing and matching customs from everywhere for their weddings and funerals. But no, Zuko had specified Southern Water Tribe customs. So to exclude the Northern Tribe meant the ones specified were important. Fire Nation customs because Ursa was born and bred in the Fire Nation, a noble lady of the Fire Nation, no less, and Earth Kingdom customs because she was living in Ba Sing Se, the very heart of the Earth Kingdom, and for their officials to consider it binding, she must observe their customs…

Which left only one reason for the wedding to have included barbaric customs from the frigid south.

Azula wanted to set the letter on fire.

She didn’t, only through a profound effort at self-discipline, and because she needed to know which Water Tribe barbarian she was going to have to incinerate for touching her mother. The more rational, coldly logical part of her tried to protest that Ursa was as good as dead to her, and so whatever scum she chose to lie with should mean nothing to Azula, but…

But, Azula rationalised, their family was tainted now. Father might be able to disavow Mother, but there was no way for Azula to deny that she shared the woman’s blood. And now there was every chance of a Water Tribe brat sharing that blood, which was simply unacceptable.

“Perhaps one of us ought to finish reading that?” Ty Lee suggested. “I’d hate for it to go up in flames before you found out exactly who this guy is.” She pointed out. That was one of the reasons Azula liked her. Ty Lee was so good at understanding her thought process and anticipating her needs. Wordlessly, Azula let her take the letter again.

Thankfully, Ty Lee forwent any dramatics, and simply read the next paragraph. “Yeah, you read that right. Your new dad is Water Tribe. Specifically, he is Chief Hakoda of the Whale-shark Tribe, son of Kanna and Suluk, and temporary Chief of the united Southern Water Tribe.” She paused, blinking. “Well, at least she’s not marrying below her station?” She offered.

Azula considered burning her plat off, then gave in, and laughed. “One way or another.” She remarked caustically. Ty Lee blinked, and then caught on to the double meaning in what she’d just said, and giggled. Even Mai cracked a wry and faintly mean smile. “Is there more?” Azula asked, forcing herself to sound brisk and professional, even though she wanted to snarl the question.

Ty Lee nodded, and took the unspoken hint to keep reading. “I don’t know if there’s any point telling you more about him, as you probably don’t care to hear anything good about a Water Tribe Chief. But I will say that it’s clear he loves her very much, and personally I think he’ll make her a far better husband than Fire Lord Ozai. Chief Hakoda would never ask her to turn on her family, after all.” Ty Lee frowned and looked up. “What?”

“Oh, don’t be disingenuous, Ty Lee.” Azula snapped, getting to her feet because she couldn’t bear to sit still any longer. She paced the short length of the tent, trying to calm her mind and mostly failing.

“Fire Lord Azulon dies and Lady Ursa disappears the very same day?” Mai asked pointedly. “Oh, yes, I’m sure that was just a coincidence.” The sarcasm dripping from her words couldn’t be any more obvious, but Azula was still impressed that she’d managed to answer Ty Lee’s question without outright stating things that could get her into trouble.

Ty Lee stared at her for a long, drawn out moment. “Oh.” She said, voice small. She looked back down at the letter, but didn’t seem inclined to keep reading. Azula snatched it out of her hands as she passed her.

“Which brings me to my final point. As much as we might hate it, we’re a family now, and that should matter. If nothing else, it should matter that our attempts to kill each other will upset our parents, even if we can’t bring ourselves to care for any other reason. Our mother would very much like to see you again, and our father would very much like to meet you. I could go without ever running into you again, but I can at least promise to hold to a truce while under our parents’ roof. Make of that what you will.

“Signed-”

Azula stopped. And stared. And then reread the entire letter, feeling like she’d just been punched in the sternum. “What? How did Zuko sign it?” Ty Lee asked, bouncing on the spot in her curiosity and impatience.

“It’s not from Zuko.” Azula said, her voice sounding oddly distant to her own ears.

Mai caught on first. “Oh.” She breathed, and stepped up to Azula’s side to check the last line of the letter. She froze, whole body going still as she ran into the same brick wall of realisation that Azula had just encountered.

“What? What?” Ty Lee pressed, inserting herself against Azula’s other side to peer at the letter.

Mai cleared her throat, and said those horrible words out loud. “Signed, your not-so-loving new brother, Sokka, son of Kya and Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe.”

“Sokka?” Ty Lee echoed, sounding puzzled. “Isn’t that that cute Water Tribe boy with the- Ohh…” She trailed off wincing. “That’s awkward.” She observed. “And, oh, wasn’t the girl his sister or something? And she’s a water-bender. Didn’t Fire Lord Azulon decide to wipe out the Southern water-benders?”

“Capture.” Azula corrected. “In case the Avatar had been reborn.”

Ty Lee nodded, but her expression was still screwed up into a moue of discomfort. Azula agreed with her on that. She could barely begin to process the idea that her mother had married- Never mind that now apparently that Water Tribe idiot could call her sister.

“May I?” Mai asked, and Azula let her have the letter. It should be simple, she told herself, going back to her pacing. Kill the Water Tribe barbarian and his Avatar-loving spawn, and put their family back to rights. That should have been her first and only thought. And the Water Tribe boy had promised to a truce, had all but invited her in, and she could use that.

She consciously didn’t try to imagine the look on her mother’s face if she attacked the Water Tribe barbarians in front of her.

“There’s another sheet.” Mai said abruptly, and Azula looked up. Mai was rubbing at the corner of the paper, which came apart under her fingers, and she slid the front sheet away to look at the page beneath. She took one look at the paper, and pointedly averted her eyes. “It’s from Lady Ursa.” She explained, holding it out to Azula.

Azula snatched it from her with lightning quick fingers. It was a good thing Mai hadn’t read any of it, because Azula might have burned one of her hands in punishment, and then she would be down one expert knife-thrower, which would have been unfortunate. She recognised her mother’s handwriting even before she tried to focus on the words, and hated the small burst of… something that filled her chest. Relief? Hope? Gratitude? Wonder? No. No, no, no. She was not pathetic, and she was not weak. Zuko had clung to their mother’s skirts and gone along with all her useless sentiments. Azula was above that, she was stronger than that, better than that.

Her hands did not shake as she finally read the letter.

To my beloved daughter,

There is so much I wish to say to you, and most of it should be said in person. However, I do not know whether you wish to see me, or even if you could if you wanted to, so I shall have to make do with writing these things, and repeat them if and when I see you again.

First of all, know that I am sorry. Perhaps you did not see my leaving as an abandonment, and perhaps you do not care for my apologies, but you have them, never the less. I left you behind, and for that I am so sorry. Know that I would have taken you with me, if I could. I was harsh, in our last conversation, and I regret that more than I can say. The only explanation I can offer is that I was scared. It is no excuse, but it is the truth. I was more frightened than I have ever been before, and I knew I had only limited time to act, to protect both Zuko and you. And I am sorry for not protecting you better. You may not understand me when I say I am sorry for not protecting you from Ozai, but I am.

Secondly, know that I love you, and I will always love you, no matter what. I can be angry with your choices – and I am, Azula, I will not lie – and still love you more than the sun. You are my daughter, and I would kill for you in a heartbeat. It was not only to protect Zuko that I left my Marriage Blade buried in Azulon’s chest. I had hoped that if he gained what he desired, Ozai would allow you and your brother space, to grow as you pleased, rather than as pleased him.

Last of all, I hope Sokka’s letter has not upset you too much. I know not what words to offer you, in explanation. Only this; one of the reasons I love Hakoda is because he has shown me, in all those little ways that matter most, that he loves his children fiercely, and would love mine just as much, if given the opportunity. Zuko, I think, is beginning to understand what that means, and where Ozai has wronged us all so terribly. I hope – and know that I have very little right to ask – that you will give him a chance, at least, to show you, as well, what Ozai has never, in all my years of knowing him, been able to give.

As for his children, I do understand the awkward position my marriage has put you and your brother in, far better now than I did at the time, although I still would not take it back. I can only hope that the four of you will not do each other permanent harm, and I do know better than to ask any more of that from any of you, although you and Katara in particular, I think. (Oh, Azula, she does remind me of you, at times, the talented younger sister, privileged and burdened both by her power. And her hot-temper makes her cruel in ways I think you would appreciate, although she is as straight-forward as Zuko at his worst, even when she’s aiming to wound.)

Yours with love and hope,

Ursa

Azula swallowed, and tore her stinging eyes away from the letter to find both Mai and Ty Lee watching her with solemn, expectant gazes. She didn’t know what to do, and that was more terrifying than even Father’s wrath. The echo of her mother’s voice rang in her ears. ‘Monster’, Ursa had called her, and Azula had learned to wear the description with pride, but… to know that her mother regretted that, that she could write of apologies and love, turned everything on its head. The references to Ozai were confusing, frustrating, irritating, but in that bit at the end she could hear the sideways little smirk her mother might wear while saying it, the sneaky and dark-edged humour that would lace her voice.

She didn’t know what to do about all of it, though. She always knew what to do. Zuko was the one who flailed about, trying and failing to figure it out, always just a bit too slow, a bit too late. Unbidden, an old, old memory came back to her, when she’d said as much to her mother. She’d been four years old, and confused and disappointed by her older brother’s failed attempts at fire-bending when she had already figured out the basics. ‘Give him time,’ her mother had said, smiling softly, ‘he doesn’t know what to do because he hasn’t figured out what he wants yet. He’ll get there at his own pace, and so will you.’

Azula didn’t know what she wanted. Maybe she had never really known. She’d thought she had, but if one little letter from her mother could send her into such turmoil, then everything she thought she’d known about herself was a lie. A dark, bitter smile curled her lips. She thought she’d chosen to follow in her father’s footsteps, since Zuko seemed to fit so much better in their mother’s shadow. But perhaps she’d missed a few things in her youth and inexperience. Perhaps the situation called for some reconnaissance, before she committed to a course of action.

“Pack your bags, girls.” She ordered, flipping the letter closed and planting the other fist on her hip. “We’re going to Ba Sing Se.”