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The seventh time, Azula wins.
Her lightning arcs and hits true, but this time she makes it stronger, strong enough that all the water nation magic isn't enough to fix it. Zuko dies, because he must, because nothing less would stop the fool.
Zuko dies on the ground with a comet shining overhead and a frantic water tribe girl trying to heal him, and Azula feels - nothing.
She feels everything.
She's won. She's better than Zuko. She's always going to be better than him. Maybe now she can move on -
Azula is so caught up in trying to understand why she isn't happy that she barely notices the shard of ice until it's through her neck
Let's back up.
The first time Azula fights the last Agni Kai, she is confident. She is ruthless. This is destiny; this is how it was always going to end.
Zuko's concern for collateral damage was always going to be his downfall.
But then the water tribe girl is more trouble than expected, and then -
-Zuko gets /up/ -
-and something that has been cracking in Azula's mind for years snaps -
And then she comes to in the arena, alone. The burn of the comet is buzzing in her veins.
She has - slipped, before, lost moments of time in the haze of potential. But never so long, or so vivid.
No matter. It will be over soon. Soon she will defeat him, and her reign will begin uncontested, and it will all be over.
(She loses the second time, too.)
The third time, she is furious, reckless. This is impossible, this is -
She loses without a single spark of lightning.
The forth time, she pauses. It is no use to claim impossibility - this is clearly happening, and she will not ignore what is in front of her. This is an opportunity.
She draws out the fight as the comet flares above them, taking her time to learn everything she can. They haven’t sparred since they were children, and they have both changed since them. She does not know the turns of his body or the new forms he’s using, but she can learn.
The burn of the comet begins to fade, and Azula grabs every last scrap of power for lightning.
-but the current snaps oddly, and grounds itself in her bracers -
The fifth time, she steps away from her position in the arena. Her fingers are shaking.
It is easier to think of this as one of Father's training missions. Establish the situation. Evaluate options. Determine the boundaries and the victory conditions.
The victory condition is obvious: defeat Zuko.
(The loss conditions are less clear. No matter.)
The boundaries, however....
There are two options: either this sequence would repeat or it would not. If it did, then what she did had no long term consequences. If it did not then clearly she had broken the trap and what she did would be justified.
She sets off into the city, going from roof top to roof top. She has a theory, and this would -
- the moment the comet's power begins to wane, the roof tiles beneath her fail and she slides down the roof, falling forever and ever -
The sixth time she comes to with a smothered gasp and an aching neck, her body still humming with the adrenaline of falling.
It doesn't matter. She has her assignment: Defeat Zuko before the comet's power fades. She can do it. She will learn and be victorious and -
She goes down panting, lightning cackling between her fingers. She tries to force herself up, but Zuko is there, hands burning, and is this how he felt when Father -
She blacks out before he acts, and she doesn't know if she would hate his flame or his mercy more.
The seventh time she wins. It doesn't help.
The eighth time is - different.
When Zuko walks in, he is, for the first time, hesitant. He enters the arena like he is uncertain what he will face there, looking around like a man woken from a deep sleep.
(Maybe, she thinks, and then as rapidly denies it. She will not be tied to him in such a way.)
He moves slower, off balance. It would be easier to take him down, this time. She has multiple opportunities to strike a killing blow.
She does not take them.
Only because she has tried that tactic before, she thinks, and the water tribe girl would still have to be dealt with.
The battle drags on, and on, and Azula is almost curious what would happen if the comet passes with them both standing -
-Zuko gets a lucky hit in, the flames bending and warping oddly, and as she goes down she thinks, ah.
The ninth time, Zuko does not show.
Azula paces the arena, back and forth, her sense of time tied to the length of her steps and the infinitely slow creep of the comet.
There is no reason for this change. She did nothing, made no alteration, which means -
She wanted it not to be true but it cannot be denied. Damn him, damn him.
She paces until the comet's power begins to fade, and with it her own strength. She stumbles, grateful that at least no one witnesses her fall to the ground.
The tenth time, Zuko shows. Azula refuses to be relieved.
They battle. Azula starts with the same opening move as the last round - Zuko blocks her flame easily, faster than before.
It will be easier to defeat him if she knows and he doesn't (but does it matter - yes, yes, it /has/ to matter). But that also restricts her movements until he goes off script.
It would be easier if he wasn't /looking/ at her like she's a puzzle he hasn't figured out. The only relief is that her brother has always been terrible at puzzles.
She finally breaks the pattern and Zuko slides back. The comet is nearly past and it feels like she's been awake for too long. She can end this, knock him out and not underestimate the girl, there must be a victory condition -
-Zuko flares desperately and their flames meet and the world goes white.
The eleventh time -
Azula has never believed in hell. The spirits have no such power over humans and there is nothing that cannot be conquered.
This might be hell. Hell might just be her treasonous brother looking at her and making connections and blurting out:
"You're trapped in this too."
The water tribe girl makes noise on the side but Azula ignores her, steps forward with fire blazing. No point in denying the truth.
"Only because you won't /stay/ down!"
He dodges, and returns fire. "You beat me before!"
"Well obviously it didn't take!"
They fight. Zuko is learning just as she has learned, and she would be flattered if she weren't so furious -
The comet's burn begins to fade, and they're still fighting, blow for blow. Azula feels herself weaken and throws lightning – Zuko redirects it, but his aim is off and – everything goes white.
The twelfth time -
Zuko twists and Azula frowns at the airbending move before -
-superheated air, and on its heels a fire so diffuse she almost can't see it -
She breathes in the flames and it burns her lungs. Firebending comes from the breath, she thinks, in between searing pain. She sees her brother's face - horrified, like he hadn't come into this fight prepared to kill her, she'd be offended if - before she falls to the ground.
He hears him screaming someone's name, not hers. Of course it's not hers. He'd never call her name like that, like he needs her.
It's her last thought before she goes.
The 13th time he pulls his blows. He does not use the same trick that caught her the last time - no waterbending movements or airbender stances.
She should press the advantage.
She doesn't.
The 14th -
"You could surrender, you know," Zuko grits out, bracing himself against her flame. She laughs at him.
"So could you, Zuzu." It might be what she's been missing - to not just defeat him, but for him to stay down - to do the impossible and force him to give up. She smiles at him, dagger sharp, and twists to avoid his attack. "This nation has been placed in my care, and I will do my duty to it." Like you couldn't, she doesn't need to say.
"Your duty to the nation," he spits fire, "Or to /father/?"
She blinks at him, smiles in a way she knows will irritate him. "Is there a difference?"
15th –
"Mother /died/ because of him and you're still following his orders!"
"Wha- she died for /you/!" Azula snarls back. "If he'd asked for my death she would have given it to him!"
16th-
"Mother would have never - she loved you!"
"SHE CALLED ME A MONSTER."
Zuko stumbles. Azula is cracking, her fury snapping in the air around them.
"Mother hated me and Uncle didn't care and Lu Ten died and -"
She doesn't finish the sentence. She fears she doesn't have to.
The 17th time she is exhausted. Her body is not aware of time passing but she is, she is so very aware of every moment she has spent in this arena. The loops are starting to layer in her mind, memories blurring like she is slipping.
Maybe she has crumbled. Maybe she only fought once, fought and lost, and this is her mind scrambling for options that do not include failure.
The arena doors open, and Zuko enters and he looks nearly as tired as she. Not an illusion, she decides. She would never inflict this on herself.
Zuko bows, and his hands erupt in flame.
They do not speak.
And yet, Zuko is watching her. He is /looking/ at her, not like a threat and not like a puzzle, and she does not know what it means, only that it offends her.
Fire flares and the comet burns and they battle and they are trapped, never moving forward. The cycle has been broken just like Father always wanted, she thinks, hysterical - but instead of progress they are repeating the same motions over and over like one of her brother's plays -
She goes down, and Zuko stands over her with flame, and she does not understand his expression. She pushes up, calling up lightning -
She doesn't know who wins, that time.
The eighteenth time, Zuko comes to the agni kai alone.
He meets her eyes and does not raise his hands wrapped in flame. He's still /looking/ at her.
"Hey." She raises her eyebrows at him. "I was thinking we could - talk, this time." Her eyebrows go higher. He waves a hand, still free of flame. "Look, we can go back to fighting later."
She is tired. She has never been this tired in her life. She feels like she has forgotten what was like to step outside of this period of time, what it was like to live without the burn of the comet in her veins.
"....Fine."
Her idiot brother smiles, and they sit on the ground across from each other. She doesn't think it's a trick. It would be /dishonorable/ of him.
Silence lingers. Of course he came in without a plan of what to talk about. Azula rolls her eyes.
"...are they worth it?" She asks, staring up at the sky instead of at her brother. "Giving it all up." She gestures to the palace around them. She does not indicate herself. That part should be obvious to him.
"I'm not doing it for them." She looks down at him. "The Fire Nation as it is now - it treats its people as disposable." The 41st, she thinks. "They deserve better than this. The world deserves better than this war. The war has to end. Everything else is secondary."
She snorts. Wants to ask if the other lands he's visited are so much better that they don't need to be saved from themselves, but he asks back first.
"Was it worth it? Becoming what Father wants you to be?" She stares at him in confusion. "You weren't always. I remember."
She snorts, and then laughs. "Because I had so many other options. Mother thought I was a monster, remember?"
Zuko looks down. "....she shouldn't have said that." Azula starts to interrupt, but Zuko plows on. "You didn't deserve that. Neither of us deserved what they did to us."
Azula's interruption dies on her lips.
"You should have had other options." Zuko finally says. "I'm -"
"If you say 'I'm sorry', I /will/ electrocute you again."
Zuko laughs under his breath.
They spend the time talking. Comparing notes, filling in missing pieces, stories from the other side. Azula doesn't bother lying. It's not like it could change anything. They will go back to their places later and play out this drama once more, but for now -
The gates to the arena burst open and the Water Tribe girl runs in, shouting for Zuko. Azula barely notices, because she's suddenly aware of -
"Zuzu. The comet." Zuko stares at her and then looks up at the sky. Azula laughs, hysterical. "The comet has -"
It isn't over, of course. There is the matter of the crown, and the war, and a million consequences for what has happened between them. But for now -
Her brother smiles at her, and the future stretches out ahead of them.