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"Father."
Ozai's golden eyes narrowed as Zuko approached. "What is it, my son?" There was no love for Zuko in his voice; it was painfully clear that he had never loved him. And Zuko understood that now.
"I just want to talk."
"Alright. Let's talk."
Zuko laughed. A cold, humorless sound. Later he would find the time to be disturbed by how much it sounded like Azula's laugh. "You misunderstand. I am going to talk, and you are going to listen. I'm sure it'll be hard for you. You don't have much experience with listening, least of all to me. But you will listen this time. Do I make myself clear?"
Ozai nodded, seeming almost amused. "Perfectly clear."
Zuko could tell his father didn't take him seriously. That would change soon enough.
"See... you miscalculated. You made Azula in your image. You made her manipulative and violent and cruel. You turned her into a weapon. But what you shaped me into is infinitely more dangerous than she will ever be."
Ozai raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?"
"A survivor. For the past three years I've been doing whatever I had to in order to survive. Lying, stealing... and killing," he growled. He grinned, an almost predatory look, at the shock that crossed Ozai's face. "You thought I was too soft to ever take a life. But you didn't account for one very important factor. You never stopped to consider what I'd do if I were truly desperate."
"What is the point of this, Zuko?"
"I've come to kill you," he said simply. Casually. The tone of someone asking what was for dinner, not threatening murder.
Ozai laughed. "You think you can kill me? Even with your bending you wouldn't stand a chance."
"That's where you're wrong." Zuko drew his swords. "Bending might be your only strength, but it's never been mine. One of us is helpless without his bending, and it's not me."
Before Ozai could react, Zuko was holding a sword to his neck.
"I'm the monster you created," he whispered in his father's ear, right before he slit his throat.
That was when Sokka, Aang and Toph burst into the room, just in time to see Zuko standing over his father's lifeless body.
Zuko turned to face them. He approached them, swords in hand.
But he didn't attack.
Instead, he did the most unexpected thing he could have possibly done. He knelt down in front of them, placing his swords on the ground.
"On behalf of the Fire Nation, I surrender."