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Chapter Text

two men in a room are separated by a wall of bars.

one of them standing up, wearing royal clothes with the Fire Nation crown pinned in his hair.

the other sitting on the floor, in prisoner rags no sign of him ever being royal.

they both glare at each other with blazing fire in their eyes.

"So your my other self, who doesn't have any love for anyone" Ozai2 said in his cold voice "And your my other self who loves his family unconditionally 'grunt' all I've got to say is your wasting your life on something as pathetic as love " Ozai1 said sneering at the very idea of loving anyone, not his pathetic wife, his worthless son, his weak brother or his expendable daughter, the torches in the room burned brighter and Ozai1 knew it wasn't him as he had no bending

"Says the man who's laying in a cell with no bending, no throne, no power at all" Ozai2 said as he smiled in glee knowing full well, he was right before his smile vanished and he looked down and away from his alternate self "Let me ask you, what do you know about our mother."

Ozai1 was confused "Why what do you want to know" " I want to know what you know about her" a moment of silence pasted by "I know that I killed her, that she wouldn't have loved me even if she had lived, that I was a mistake" Ozai1 said with little emotion in his voice, a psychotic smile on his face, Ozai2 listened and when Ozai1 stopped he spoke "It seems I know more about her than I thought, my brother has told me a lot about our mother" "Oh really what can you possible know from Iroh?"

"I know that she's a waterbender" Ozai1's eyes widened in shock "I know that she was excited to have me, that she had five siblings, two brothers and three sisters, and that I wasn't a mistake" his voice cracking in the end "Now what about our father was he as cruel as mine."

Ozai1 took a moment to think "I know he hated me the moment I was born, and Ilah died, that he wanted a powerful bender in his family which is why he set me up with that pathetic woman Ursa, th-" "Wait, he set you up with Ursa" Ozai2 was confused "How did you meet Ursa?" "I meet her when dear father found her in Hira'a, the fire sages told him that he would make the family stronger by aligning his bloodline with the past Avatar Roku's bloodline, how did you meet her?" "I meet her on Ember Island, we bumped into each other, then my father introduced us a few years later, she and I dated for a few years, then we got married."

Ozai2 than decided to ask about his other mother "What about our other mother?" "Who?" Ozai1 looked genuinely confused "Chika, Iroh's wife" "Oh, her? she was as weak as Iroh, she tried to care for me but I couldn't care less ab-" before he could finish his sentence Ozai2 lost it, he grabbed Ozai1's collar and pulled him to the bars a ball of fire in his free hand, before he calmed down and let his insufferable self-go "For your information, she genuinely tried to help you, she helped he, and for that as far as I know she was my only true mother" Ozai1 glared at ozai2, how dare he attacked him, he didn't care about what he was saying

Ozai1 decided it was time for him to ask him some questions "What do you have to say about your son?" "That I love him despite his lack of spark unlike you who said he was born lucky" "That's because he was" "NO HE WASN'T I WOULD DIE FOR MY SON" Ozai2 yelled furiously, he remembered how his father ordered his son's death, how he begged Ursa to kill him, take the kids and flee the capital and how happy he was when his father died to his wife's airbending ensuring Zuko and Azula's safety

"What about our daughter" "Don't you mean daughters, Azula and Kiyumi?" "No, just Azula" "I love her too, and Kiyumi, where you just love your expectations for her not just her."

"What about our brother?" Ozai2 took a moment before taking a deep breath "it's complicated, but I've been patching our relationship" "I knew you were pathetic, but this is so much lower than pathetic."

"I think I've wasted enough of my time with you, goodbye" Ozai2 walked back towards the door as Ozai1 yelled out "YOU KNOW YOU WILL LOSE, JUST LIKE ME, THE AVATAR WILL TAKE YOUR BENDING AWAY, YOU'LL BE EVEN MORE PATHETIC THAN ME"

"We'll see about that."

Chapter Text

two women sit in a room in the Caldera Grand Palace

one of them wears imperial royal robes with the fire consort’s hairpiece in her hair, the other while still fancy was not nearly as grand as the other's

they both sit at a table sitting in silence before one of them decides to break it

"So you aren't Fire Lady?" Ursa2 asked "No, just the mother of the Fire Lord, and you are happily married, to Ozai?" Ursa1 asked she didn't quite understand how anyone could love that, that monster that she had to call her ex husband

"Yes he and I are happy together, why is it that you aren't" Ursa1 took a moment, but that moment lasted a lot longer for her, she remember all the horrible things her Ozai did to her, to her kids "He isn't a good person, he's cruel, heartless, a small man who was trying with all his might to be big, he didn't have any love for me, his brother, his kids, or even himself" "Well this might surprise you but my husband does do some, morally questionable things" Ursa1 looked at her other self confused "Than how can you love him?" "Because even though he does some cruel things, he has a man with the heart of a dragon, he has enough room in his heart for his family, when we meet on Ember Island he an-"

"wait you meet on Ember island, I meet him in Hira'a when he and his father came to, collect me" Ursa1 remembered that horrible day when Azulon and Ozai took her away from those she loved "No he and I meet on Ember Island, I was walking along the beach as the sun was coming up and I found myself running straight into him, he and i argued until I realized he was quoting lines from a play, than we talked until the sun rose and Iroh came and they both left, I didn't even get his name" Ursa2 giggled as she remembered that day, Ursa1 listened to her other self story and wondered 'How did my Ozai turn into a monster where she has a loving husband' Ursa2 continued her story "several years later Fire Lord Azulon came to my parents house with his son so that i could meet him, and when he and I looked into each others eye, we knew who we were, he and I dated for several years than Ozai proposed and we got married"

Ursa1 than decided to ask about the other man who was her husband "What about Ikem?" "Ikem, our old friend, is he your husband?" "Yes, I was engaged to him right before Ozai happened" "Well, he and I were friends but, I didn't love him, he did try to ask me out but I was thinking about the man I meet on the beach so, i said no, and when he found out our, secret, well that was the end of everything between us"

"What secret?" "You know our secret" Ursa2 said as she moved her hands in a weird way, almost like bending moves "I'm afraid I don't know what your talking about" Ursa1 was confused, what was she talking about, ursa2 looked around to make sure no one was watching before standing up, she closed her eyes and moved her arms in a graceful fashion, the air in the room starts to blow around causing the windows to close and the lantern on the ceiling to sway before it all comes to a halt and Ursa2 sat back down, Ursa1 looked in awe "Your an airbender?" "Your not?"

"Well you see, because I'm of Avatar Roku's bloodline that's how I'm an airbender, and when Ikem found out he reported me to the Fire nation soldiers who told Ozai, i thought he would arrest me, or even kill me, but instead he kept it quiet, not telling his father, he killed all those who knew except for Ikem who fled into the forest, after that he proposed" Ursa1 listened in shock, would her Ikem have turned her in if she was an airbender?

Ursa2 decided it was time for her to ask some questions "What about your kids, how are they"

"Well, Zuko is the Fire Lord, Azula is, well I don't know where she is" Ursa2 frowned "what happened"

"Well Azula took after her father and became a lot like him, don't get me wrong I love my little girl but, she can be so difficult and, now she out there, it's been years and i just want her to come home so we can be a family again" "what of Kiyumi?" Ursa1's sadness turned to confusion "Kiyi i thought you said you and Ikem weren't involved?"

"What does Ikem have to do with Kiyumi, Ikem isn't her father, Ozai is" Ursa1's face was of pure shock, Ozai was Kiyi's true father, was that why she was able to firebend, she would still love her but, this changes everything with her "Well, she is doing good"

Ursa2 stood and moved to the side of Ursa1 and hugged her "I'm sorry you had to go through all that" Ursa1 returned the hug "Well I think it's time for me to take my leave, may Agni watch over you and your family"

"and to you and your family as well" Ursa1 said as Ursa2 walked out of the room

Chapter Text

two elder man sit in a bedroom in the Caldera Grand Palace

both wear royal robes and both sit at a table playing a game of pai sho and drinking tea

"So tell me, how is your relationship with our brother?" Iroh1 asked as he finished sipping his tea "It's complicated, he and I have gotten better in recent years ever since Azula was born" Iroh2 said remembering the letter Ozai sent him "That's good to hear, and he and Ursa are happy together?" "Yes, he loves her and his children more than anything

Iroh1 smiled' he had wished he could go back and help Ozai find the light like he did and while Iroh2's Ozai wasn't exactly a saint if he could love his family than maybe he could fully find the light, but what helped this other Ozai love? "Why do you think your Ozai loves his family, we both know it wasn't our father who did it"

"I have my wife to thank for that, she treated Ozai more like a son than a brother and she stood up to father in his defense, even nearly challenging him to an Agni Kai" Iroh2 said, Iroh1 knew his wife tried to treat Ozai right, but he refused her help, it seems she was the turning point

"What of our son?" both Iroh's sank into their seats "He died when I besieged Ba Sing Se" "Than it seems we both failed to protect him" "Indeed but luckily, we have other members of our family to lift us back up when we feel down" both Iroh's smiled,

Iroh1 had Zuko being like a son to him and Iroh2 had Kiyumi's birth to help with the pain of Lu Ten's death, the Irohs finished their game and their tea and stood up "I wish you luck" "As do I" they bowed to each other and left

Chapter Text

two teenagers stand in the throne room, one has a giant scar on his face, he wears the fire Lord's robes, and the fire crown sits in his hair, the other wears royal robes with a heir hairpiece in his hair with no scar

"Hello there" Zuko2 said awkwardly to his other self "Hello to you as well" Zuko1 said while not as awkward as Zuko2 still had some level of it

"So, your dad gave you that scar?" Zuko2 asked, Zuko1 put one finger on his scar and closed his eyes as he signed "yes, after I spoke against a plan by General Bujing he challenged me, a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai" Zuko2 remembered that day, his dad did punish him for speaking out of term but it was him working on law books, and his dad fought the Agni Kai against Bujing in his place, just how did they end up with two different kinds of fathers?

now he was unsure about what to ask, worried about how his other self might react, but before he could think of what to say Zuko1 asked "So, your father, loves you?" Zuko2 paused and decided to think before he speaks for once in his life "Yah, he cares a whole lot about family" "What about your sister"

"Azula?" Zuko2 said "She and I have a great relationship, how's your relationship with her?" Zuko1 took a moment, he loved his sister but with all she's done and him not knowing where she was "It's complicated, I love her but, she's a criminal trying to destabilize our nation" he could only hope Azula would one day find the light like he did, than, than they could be a family again

"Is your mother still around" "Yah, why what happened is sh-" "Oh no, it's just after she helped da- Ozai kill Azulon she was forced to flee" "Oh, no she did kill Azulon but no one but me, dad, Azula along with Lo and Li know" Zuko1 did feel a little bit jealous of his other self having an almost perfect life, but he was happy with what he had

"What about Uncle?" "Is he a tea loving doting uncle in your world" "Yes, but he's a bit more than that, he the father I never had with Ozai" "That's good for you" at least his other self had a father figure in his life, he clearly deserved happiness

"I'm sorry you had to go through that" "It's okay, and I'm glad you have a loving family who cares for you" the two Zuko's hugged and Zuko2 left the throne room

Chapter Text

two girls stand in a forest, one wears royal robes with a heir hairpiece in his hair, the other wears a ragged set of clothes

the two of them glare at each other menacingly before Azula1 moved to attack her other self with a fireball aimed at her face

Azula2 dodged it with ease before sending a jet of fire at her attacker, Azula1 evaded and advanced on her target with fire daggers and Azula2 engaged with her lujiao dao, after a brief struggle Azula2 sat on top of Azula1 with her lujiao dao held at her throat "So, are we done here?" "No, no we are not I will beat you and you will never recover from your humiliation at my hands" Azula1 yelled "Well as you can see i have the advantage on you so why don't we talk it out, I hear that you family and my family are quite different"

"Since when did you care about family, if you really are me than you would know that family doesn't care about you" "I think that's where you and I are different, my family actually cares about me, at least that's what I know about me, why don't you tell me more?" Azula1 decided to tell her other self about her family and how they all abandoned her

"My mother was scared of me the moment I was born, she thought I was a monster, if he had just let father kill Zuko she could have protected me from him, Mai and Ty Lee betrayed me and I'm sure when the time is right they'll betray you too, my mother replaced me with a little rat"

"Okay, I'm not the best with feelings but did your mom ever say you were a monster like did she say it to your face" "Well, un, n-no but, she was obviously thinking it, the first time I firebended she was afraid, afraid of me" "Well with what you said of your father who is very different from my father it makes more sense if she was afraid 'for' you not 'of' you" Azula1 froze, that wasn't true, no, no no no h-her mother was afraid of her, right?

"Well if she did love me she would have let Zuko die, then she could have stayed to protect me rom father" "Really cause as far as I know you aren't the easiest to get close to, so even if she willingly allowed Zuko to die I doubt you would have let her protect you" Azula1 felt sick, over course she would have let her mother protect her, right?

"As for Mai and Ty Lee, well i can kinda see why they would betray you, you not the nicest girl to be around" "How dare you" Azula1 snapped "I had them with me since we met, i kept them afraid of me, if th-" "Wait you made them fear you?" "Of course, oh don't tell me you're all about, smiles and hugs" Azula1 said with a somewhat mocking voice "no, but I do know from my mother that fear is no way to make allies, she said trust and kindness make allies" Azula2 knew her mother didn't like it when she refereed to her friends as allies but she had been using that word so much she kinda just let it happen not even bothering to correct herself

Azula1 stuttered "W-well you are clearly a fool, trust is for fools, fear is the only way" "If fear is the only why than why do you no longer have any allies, your friends abandoned you, your fire warriors as you call them have abandoned you, and now yo have nobody to turn too, so really who's the fool here" Azula1 lost it and tried to shoot a lightning bolt at Azula2, however Azula2 was expect her to snap sooner than later and flawlessly dodged her attack "STOP IT, STOP IT, you think your so much better than me, well what about your brother is he still as pathetic as ever" 'Well Zuzu isn't nearly as good as me but he isn't that far behind"

after another quick fight Azula1 tired herself out while Azula2 stood up barely breaking a sweat "let me ask you a question than, if your just gonna dodge me all day" Azula1 said, it was clear than fighting would get her nowhere, maybe if she learned something from her other self than she could find a way to win in a battle of minds "Fine, you have my attention'

"How's your father?" "Well unlike your father who clearly only seems to care about power, my father puts family first he told me that Zuzu and i are a team, we're stronger together than apart, he also didn't want to kill Zuko the night grandfather ordered him to instead he work with my mother to save his life and mine since I went to protect him and UNLIKE someone who simply gloated about how he would be dead soon" Azula2 said, great it seems even when she was asking the questions her other self still held all the cards "And your mother"

"She loves me and I let her in, again unlike someone who blocked off and took basic parent scolding as if she hated her and was afraid of her" before Azula1 could ask anymore questions Azula2 went on a rant 'And as for the rest of my family, yes Uncle Iroh is as always his royal tea loving kookiness self, but I still love him simply because he is family, My brother is my best friend unlike you, if fact I'm sure your brother doesn't even care about you anymore given how you are and has if he had loved you he's given up on you, and for our little sister love her just like the rest of my family"

Azula1 wasn't expecting that, but she was confused about the last one "What do you mean by little sister" "Why do you look confused you literally said Kiyumi was a little rat" "B-but t-t-than that means" "Yes this Ikem or Noren or what ever his name is isn't Kiyumi's biological father, her true father is Ozai, our father"

Azula1 felt that the world had paused, Kiyi wasn't her half sister, but her full sister, and that would mean her mother wasn't trying to replace her, she must have been pregnant with Kiyi the day she left the palace, she couldn't take it anymore and broke down crying right than and there "IT ISN'T FAIR, HOW IS IT YOU HAVE A LOVING FAMILY AND I HAVE NOBODY" 'Well as I said you didn't really let love in, you just put on a mask of intimidating and fear and sure enough people got tired of it and left you" Azula1 didn't pay attention she was too wrapped up in her own emotions, she hated to admit it but her other self's words seemed to hold truth

she remembered the day when she made her first spark, how she had been playing with her mother, actually having fun with her when her father walked in and said how pathetic she was for not firebending yet despite have a spark in her eyes, than a few minutes later he burnt one of her toys and her father smiled with joy at the fire, the fire not her, while he mother stiffened at the sight of the fire and how she put on a face when father said she was a true prodigy

he remembered how she and Zuko once played together until she started to be rude and started bullying him and how he said "I hate you Azula, I never want to play with you again, you monster" which ultimately ruined what remained of their friendship

she remembered how she used to treat Mai and Ty Lee nicely before she switched to fear and regularly mistreated them both, she couldn't take these painful memories and she broke down crying in a similar way to what she did when she was defeat by Zuko and the water peasant, Azula2 just watched as her other self cried on and on until she seemed to fall asleep

"it seems like my work here is done, I'll leave you here to think about yourself" Azula2 started walking away leaving Azula1 in the dirt of the forest

Chapter Text

two girls sit in the palace nursery they both look the same in terms of looks and clothes

"Hello, I'm Kiyumi" "I'm Kiyi" "Our names sound the same" "than let us be friends"

the two girls played with the variety of toys in the nursery until one of their moms came "Mom" both girls yelled excitedly "uh, which one of you is my daughter?" the two girls looked to each other "i think it's me, you the Fire Lady right mommy" "yes dear, and your father is the Fire Lord"

Kiyumi jumped into her mothers arms "wait I thought my brother Zuko was the Fire Lord"

Ursa2 bent down and put her hand on Kiyi's head "In this world yes your brother is the Fire Lord but in our world he still a prince"

"Oh okay, bye"

"What do we say dear?" "bye"

Chapter Text

Zuko thought the only crazy thing that would happen for the day had come and gone, but now he was standing in front of the last person he'd expect

his father

or maybe he wasn't his father, maybe it was his other self's father

that would explain why he was looking at his scar with shock

"Uh, Hello there, Ozai" Zuko1 said trying to get his attention

"Who gave you that scar?" Ozai2 said "uh you did" Zuko1 said

those words cause Ozai2 in the room to almost fall to the ground if not for the nearby table

Ozai2 was shocked at what his other self did to his son

he was aware that his other self wasn't the best father, but to go as far as to scar his flesh and blood, what about Azula was she scarred as well, his train of thought was intruded by Zuko who was now standing into front of him trying to get his attention "Hello, can you hear me?"

Ozai2 snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Zuko1 "Sorry it's just, your father is everything I swore I would never be to you or your sister" Zuko1 looked into his other father's eyes, where he would normally only see anger, hate and evil he saw concern, love and care

"Well, that's good to hear, I guess" Zuko1 looked down before he decided to ask Ozai2 a question "So you love family" "Yes, family means more to me than all the power in the world, unlike your Ozai who is the exact opposite, in fac why don't we talk about some of our extended family you most likely don't even know about" Ozai2 and Zuko1 left the throne room to the Fire Lord's office

"What extended family are you talking about?" "I'm referring to your grandmother's family" "Rina?" "No, Ilah"

Zuko1 listened to Ozai2 as he told her about how she was a waterbender apart of the Northern Water Tribe Royal Family, and how he met Ursa on Ember Island in contrast to how it happened in his world

in the end Zuko1 was shocked at how little he knew about his family, in the end Ozai2 left the throne room and Zuko1 left to continue on with his day

Chapter Text

after Azula1 cried for a few minutes her other self had left and she was all alone again, then she looked up and saw her mother, or who she thought was her mother standing in front of her looking down at her with wide eyes

"Azula, dear are you alright?" she got down on her knees and looked her over, Azula1 looked over her mother and she looked different than her illusions, she was wearing the fire consort for the Fire Lady in her hair and she was wearing the robes of the Fire Lady

"What do you want?" Azula asked bitterly, Ursa2 looked hocked at the rude tone of this Azula1 "I appear to have transported to you, tell me what's wrong dear" "What's wrong, what's wrong, WHAT'S WRONG, I'm all alone and my other self has the perfect life and my family has abandoned me"

"Well from what I've heard your family misses you and you've been walking the wrong path your whole life" "Whatever, my mother thinks I'm a monster" "I've spoke to your mother and she misses you, I'm sure your brother and uncle do as well"

Azula1 ignored the tears in her eyes and looked away "What makes you the genius of the family, your not even part of any noble family, as far as I knew you just some peasant from Hira'a" Ursa looked unfazed "You don't know about your great grandfather do you?" "Og course I know about my great grandfather Fire Lord So-" "No no, my grandfather, your great grandfather on my side of the family"

"Why does that matter?" "Well from what I know I married Ozai out of love, your mother was forced to marry Ozai because of my heritage"

"Yah yah yah, what's this grandfather of yours?"

"Avatar Roku"

time seemed to stop for Azula1, she was related to Roku, she suddenly felt Ursa2 embrace her "You suffered a lot, but maybe you can find another path for yourself"

Azula burst into tears, after a few minutes she looked up to see Ursa2 gone

she got back on her feet and made her way towards the fire nation capital