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Azula had never halted from proving herself. A new motivation rose from the ashes of each year of betrayal she's carried the burden of. She now sits rigidly on the throne; her throne. With a slight slump of her back, due to the lack of proper grooming for the position. All she did was mirror him, he had not had the training either. No matter. She was keener on the idea that second-borns were naturally inclined to rule. The crown that sat on her head was heavier, tensing her head the more she made sure to sit upright.
The room burned in blue. The representation of the chilling strikes of lightning on bodies to get to the place she is in.
"I'll be better than him; better than all of them." she mutters to anyone but herself. Skin pale, absent of warmth or color. Absent of companionship, an emptiness gnaws in her chest.
Flame rose to the ceilings of the quarters, charring the bronze that supported the expansion. Everything burned as bright as the comet; her eyes deadlier than a viper.
The Avatar has been murdered. Zuko had not gotten up from the bolts he absorbed, the water peasant dealt with. Iroh had fled yet she expects to be confronted years during her rule. She will be prepared.
And so, the reign of Fire Lord Azula has been officially commenced by the Fire Sages.
This was simply yet another milestone. Everything had just started.
//
Two decades later, she had given birth to two son twins; She gives birth to Zuan, her first-born, noting the brighter shade of gold his eyes exhibited. He had that sparkle every firebender was born with. She delivered Zuon, who had wider, darker eyes. The shape was unusual for people of their race.
Her expectations had been tainted, the infant barely looked like a fire bender. It was reminiscent of what Ozai said that fateful day when he declared she was born lucky and he was lucky to be born. The second-born should not have had to resemble Zuko at the very first period of its existence!
//
Years later, Azula observes the growth of each twin individually. Zuan, her first-born is diligent, detail-oriented, thorough, takes on responsibility with ease, participative, insightful, competitive, strong. Good. Much like herself. Zuon is empathetic, emotionally charged, stubbornly authentic, animated, unambitious.
Much like her late brother. This gave birth to a certain detest towards Zuon, she looks down upon him, but since Azula had simmered over the long strenuous years, she tests her ability of mercy.
The idea of Prince Zuko's existence had drastically faded throughout the decades. Children were educated with the mere fact the Fire Lord Azula was Ozai's only heir, his memory wiped out from books, and his remaining belongings in the palace conflagrated. Although buried in the Sages' temple, nobody had ever visited, or at least not without secrecy. Ozai's painting in the entrance hall had been taken down, and replaced with Azula's. The citizens and staff are forced to remember her alone.
She had been the one doing most of the legwork during the Hundred-Year-War to begin with. Ozai only sat there and took her credit.
//
As time went on, Azula finally, for once entertains the subconscious gnawing at her head for the longest time at what would happen if she and Zuko ever agreed on alliance. As a young child, she found that above unacceptable, disgraceful, honor-tainting, even. Now being a mature head lady of a Nation, she muses.
Ozai and Ursa's co-parenting kept each other from ever agreeing with one another, intentionally or not. Zuko's ability paled compared to hers in skill, but his intentions and moral compass were somewhat personally upright. Something Azula lacked from the get-go. What would have happened if they were given the chance to exercise those traits they lacked... together?
These were useless, time-consuming wonderings. Zuko is dead. There is nothing more to think about.
Yet this thought led to her reflecting on how she treats her sons. In this realm Azula is victorious, and Zuko that been foolishly defeated by none other than. In another, they would have been unstoppable together. Could she undo the mistakes her parents made toward her children?
She contradicted that thought immediately. There had been no mistakes. Only one was destined to rise to power, never two. And Zuzu perished because of his stupidity. But there was one thing Azula had not learned from Ozai; Partnership.
In this realm she is thirty, each grueling decade striking her to the ground and mercilessly teaching her to unlearn what she had been indoctrinated with. And she's not near done; she is only in the midst of it, there was no telling when it is all going to end, but she had learned to trust Zuan, her first boy.
He was simply a copy of her, only more reserved. She didn't need to learn how to step into his shoes. She was once in his; endlessly proving herself to the Fire Lord, completing almost every mission with utmost perfection, desiring total power and control. Her fourteen-year-old son was just as she was. She felt the pride she was starved of once upon a time.
Azula knows where his loyalty lies. Azula was never full of herself, she did all possible within her capabilities for her nation and her father. Zuan is well trained. Groomed with every minuscule detail he had been prepared for, and the simple training two Fire Lords in a row had lacked.
He controls court when Azula can't.
When Azula hallucinates.
//
More years have surpassed, and she had a mission to fulfill. Truly reminiscent, upon the act of discipline. Carrying the plated armor than protected her shoulders, unclasping its inner layers, withdrawing her heels... leaving her in Agni Kai attire underneath. Gold bands tied around her arms which were believed to hail protection towards the fighter wearing it. An ancient cultural belief.
The stadium was abundant with people of importance; War Generals, Admirals, Chancellors, nobles, and families alike. Rumors flying around like wildfire, comparing the event to decades dating back. The only time the upper ring of Fire Nation folk dared to speak his name.
The Exile of Prince Zuko.
The panging of drums, clashing of cymbals, and blows of the Tsungi horns had halted the very moment she set foot on the stone surface of the Agni Kai chamber.
Streams of golden sunlight bled through the stadium from above, exaggerating the Fire Lord's toned figure.
A pair of amber eyes widened before her. As he turned around to duel. The set of eyes she's grown to loathe the moment it was born. His muscular figure turned limp and frail, lips quirking to a frown, brows elevating.
"Mother!" the boy kneels, and he pleads, begging for mercy.
"I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"
"I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"
She hears two voices. Zuon and Zuko, during his Agni Kai. Many years ago. Her ears perk, goosebumps rising up the length of her arms.
"I didn't mean to bring up those people, I just wanted to ask a question! Please!" Zuon drops his head to the warm granite, among the roars of the stadium, his chest beats.
The Fire Lord stalks her way toward him. A figure of might before the boy, an intimidating force ready to take him out.
"Rise and fight me, Prince Zuon."
"Rise and fight me, Prince Zuko." they say in synchronicity.
It was a different voice yet again. Masculine. Powerful. One in particular that she has not heard in many long years. In a moment of hesitance, she turned her head to view her back, only to meet with a bold red flag with the fire insignia stitched onto it. Nobody was there. She faced back towards her son. He was shedding tears, his figure blurring...
"What are you waiting for, Fire Lord Azula? Aren't you going to teach him respect?" Ozai tilted his head to face his daughter. He was wearing the same attire as he did that day. He did nothing but wait.
"What are you doing here?" she squints her eyes to look closely, this could be another trick.
"Your son disrespected the name of the Fire Nation -- or, Azula's Fire Nation by mentioning myself and your dead brother. Aren't you going to punish him?"
Azula glares at the boy yet again. Fists clenching, her eyes closing momentarily. She lifts her hand, yet it remains absent of fire.
She does not light her palm. A sigh escaped her mouth.
"Zuon. Get up." she commands under her breath, for only him to hear. "I'm not going to fight you. Get up."
The Prince faces his mother, doing as told.
"It is unwise to justify a duel with a fourteen-year-old boy. This was a grave mistake." Azula publicly announced, her voice reverberating through the chamber. The audience was still in motion, taken aback. The Fire Lord was never known to show mercy publicly, or even at all.
"Prince Zuon will be punished using a different form of discipline. This will not be the case. Dismissed." her arms are crossed, and Zuon wiped his tear-stained face and bowed to the ground. Sending the Fire Lord his sincerest gratitude.
"Why didn't you do it?! Coward. You know he deserved it. And your blades are dulling."
"Incompetent." her father spits.
Azula continues to duel the strongest men present in the stadium, the show must go on after all.
...
Fire Lord Azula rests in her quarters. Ozai had been following her since the Agni Kai, stating unprecedented advice and criticism. She acts as if he was not there; a ghost, a see-through window. But finds it without ease when she blocks his messages out of her headspace.
"Fire Lords show no mercy! What you did was foolish."
"Unacceptable."
"You have no honor. This Nation will surely go to the dogs."
"He deserved what your brother Zuko got."
"I had overestimated you. I am very disappointed, Azula."
She threw her fist against the wooden vanity, eyebrows knitted and her face melting into a foul scowl.
"Leave me!" she ground her teeth, chest starting to swell. No. She couldn't be overwhelmed by this. None of what he says was real. He wasn't real.
"You're supposed to be locked in prison, rotting at your old age. You are no longer the Fire Lord nor are you my father. You don't have a say in my life or how I treat my sons!"
"I will always be your Father, Azula. I'm the reason you are where you are. Never forget that."
"Like hell, I won't."
She had vowed to be better than him. Yet his dialogues were going to eat her alive, but nobody was around her.
Ozai was never there.