Chapter One: Second Time Around
Azula awoke on cushions of the finest silk and felt the rays of the sun on her face. She turned over in her bed, then forced herself to wake up. Sitting up she brushed aside her hair and made her way to the door of her room. Then she hesitated.
Something wasn't right.
Last night she'd conquered Ba Sing Se. Last night she'd moved her quarters to the Earth King's room. A final show of dominance. The Avatar was dead. Zuko had been brought back into the fold. And Uncle was a prisoner.
So what was she doing here?
She opened the door and walked in to see Mai and Ty Lee eating breakfast. Ty Lee glanced up and smiled. "Azula, you're awake. You've got to try this breakfast. They have the best sausages."
Azula could have sworn she'd heard that before.
Ty Lee looked concerned. "...Azula?"
She'd stood right there yesterday. The meal Mai and Ty Lee was eating was the same. Azula composed herself. "You said that yesterday. What are we doing back here? Where's Zuko."
The was eerie.
Mai blinked. "Zuko? I didn't even know he was in Ba Sing Se. Is he?"
Azula blinked. "We just took over Ba Sing Se. The coup succeeded completely."
Ty Lee laughed. "Oh, I get it. You must have been having a really good dream."
"Dreams don't get that lucid, Ty Lee." said Mai.
"Maybe it was a hallucination." suggested Ty Lee.
"Okay, what did we do yesterday?" asked Azula.
"Well we entered Ba Sing Se a couple of days ago pretending to be the Kyoshi Warriors and were welcomed by the Earth King." said Ty Lee. "Then you had us pretend to be idiots in front of the Dai Li so Long Feng would try to use us as a pawn. Um, you made a deal with Long Feng to command the Dai Li. We're pretending to be stupid, so he underestimates us."
"Right, right, I must have... had a very imaginative day." said Azula. "Well, no sense in altering the plan any." Had she had some kind of vision of the future. "Still, if it was only a dream Zuko won't be here."
"Zuko?" asked Mai.
Azula shrugged. "Once I've set the Dai Li in motion I've got a tea shop to visit. Oh, Mai, Ty Lee, I need you to find someone for me. Someone we didn't know was here."
"Who?" asked Mai.
"The waterbender peasant." said Azula. "Her name isn't important. The one who always accompanies the Avatar."
"What is she doing here?" asked Mai.
"Too complicated to go into now. There are some unforeseen aspects to this situation." said Azula.
Between giving commands and subtly undermining Long Feng's authority, Azula slipped down to the Jasmine Dragon. Overthrowing Long Feng had been fairly easy. The first step was impressing the Dai Li with her skills. From there, she needed only point out the obvious. That the Fire Nation was winning this war.
And that the best way to make sure Ba Sing Se's economy went undamaged was a seamless transition of power. Straight into the hands of the Fire Nation.
Of course, none of the earth peasants in this place thought about any of that. Azula walked quickly through the streets. At last, she found the Jasmine Dragon. There was Iroh and Zuko. Were they serving tea?
No wonder Zuko had been in such a hurry to defect? This must have been humiliating beyond measure. Wait, was he smiling? That was odd.
Either way, it didn't matter.
Azula made her way back. "Well, so Zuzu is here. Well, I've already put him over to my side once. I'm sure I can do it again. No sense in changing the plan any, either."
She gave orders for Iroh and Zuko to be invited to serve tea to the Earth King and then she met with the Dai Li. Standing before them, she appeared fierce. "The Earth King and the Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li. They imprisoned your leader, Long Feng. Soon they will come for you. Seizing power today is a matter of life and death.
"This coup must be swift and decisive. The Earth King and each of the five generals must be taken out simultaneously. Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government." She went to one of the men and got close. "If I sense any disloyalty. Any hesitation. Any weakness at all, I will snuff it out.
"That is all."
They dispersed to go about their duties.
"Nice speech, Azula. It was pretty and poetic, but also scary in a good way." said Ty Lee.
"Yeah, I thought you were going to make that one guy pee his pants." laughed Mai.
Azula flinched in irritation. "I've heard this before. This exact speech. No matter. We've cleaned up the loose ends ahead of schedule."
Sure enough, Zuko and Iroh came. This time it was far earlier in the day. They looked oddly peaceful. Last time Azula had been focused on the mission, but now she knew it would work.
"What is taking so long?" asked Zuko.
"Perhaps the Earth King overslept?" suggested Uncle.
"Something isn't right." said Zuko.
Azula walked forward with her Dai Li. "As always, Zuko, your powers of observation border on passable. It's almost remarkable with your left eye."
Zuko stood and glared at her. "Azula."
"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname, the Dragon of the West?" asked Iroh.
"Grab them. Now." said Azula.
It didn't do any better than last time. Iroh blasted the Dai Li away and blew a hole in the wall. He and Zuko fled out into the halls, and Azula pursued. Like before, Uncle escaped into the courtyard. And like before Zuko stopped at the hole in the wall.
"Hmm, I'll have to act more decisively against Uncle in the future." said Azula. "Still, it was good of you to not escape when you had the chance."
"I challenge you to an Agni Kai, Azula!" said Zuko.
"I would, but, as they say, 'when in Ba Sing Se.'" said Azula. "I'd hate to be perceived as culturally insensitive. Take him."
As the Dai Li grabbed Zuko, Azula walked back to meet with Mai and Ty Lee. "Now, we just need to attend to that waterbending peasant."
Oddly enough they ran into her by accident. She was running down the hall when she bumped into Azula, and both of them fell over. She looked up.
"Sorry," said Katara, "I was just looking for the Earth King. I need him to sign... something..." She saw Azula. "Azula, you're-"
Ty Lee hit Katara in the shoulder, and she fell to the ground unconscious. Azula stood up and picked up the scroll. "I'll be sure he gets the message."
"Ma'am, we're about to launch the operation." said a Dai Li agent.
"Very well.. Let's go speak with the Earth King." said Azula.
As they walked, Azula read the scroll. She'd heard about the eclipse before, but this battleplan was very interesting.
"What is that, Azula?" asked Ty Lee.
"Plans for an invasion of the Fire Nation." said Azula, before burning them to cinder. "Oh well."
They entered the throne room, and the Earth King looked up from petting his bear. He smiled. "Ah, the Kyoshi Warriors. How can I help you?"
"There's been a change of plans, Earth King." said Azula. "And there is going to be a change of leaders in a few moments."
"What?" said the Earth King.
Before he could move, Ty Lee leaped to land by him and knocked him unconscious. Azula walked forward and glanced to a guard. "Get him out of my sight."
As the Earth King was led away, Azula stretched and eyed the throne. She could take it now. But why waste the dramatic moment? "Well then, I do believe we've finished our schedule early in the day, haven't we ladies? Oh right, there is one other thing, isn't there?"
Long Feng came with most of the Dai Li. "Now comes the part where I double cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation Princess." Nothing happened. "I said: Arrest her!" He looked to the Dai Li. "What is wrong with you?"
"It's because they haven't made up their minds." said Azula. "They're waiting to see how this is going to end."
"What are you talking about?" asked Long Feng.
"I can see your whole history in your eyes." said Azula. "You were born with nothing. So you've had to struggle, and connive, and claw your way to power. But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you are born with.
"The fact is: They don't know which one us is going to be sitting on that throne. But you know. And I know." She'd done this before. And it wasn't nearly as satisfying the second time around as she sat in the throne.
Long Feng kneeled. "...You've beaten me at my own-"
Azula blasted his head off with lightning. "There are only so many times I can hear the same mindless hubris before I can tired of it. Dispose of the body."
"Yes, Princess." said the Dai Li agent. "Oh, and the people you told us to watch for. They've entered the tunnels below."
Azula blinked. "Well, things are happening quickly, aren't they?
"I'll just have to go and greet them. Ty Lee, Mai, keep an eye on things here. In particular..." She looked at Bosco, the bear. She'd never seen anything like him. Suddenly she was curious. "What kind of bear is that?"
"It's a... bear?" said the Dai Li.
"What do you mean? A platypus bear? A mole bear?" asked Azula.
"No, just, a bear." said the Dai Li. "The creature is entirely unique."
Azula sighed. "Fine. Ty Lee, Mai, watch over... the bear."
"Right." said Mai.
Azula made her way outside and entered a passage made by earthbending. Slipping down it, she made her usual dynamic entry. Just like before, Zuko and Iroh were standing together. Just like before the Dai Li captured Iroh.
What she had seen had been a vision. A vision of her great victory!
"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle." said Azula. "But you, Zuko. Prince Zuko. You're a lot of things. But you're not a traitor."
"Release him immediately." said Zuko.
"It's not too late for you Zuko; you can still redeem-" Azula stopped. Zuko's face was whole. There was no scar on it. "-what happened to your scar?"
"I..." Zuko looked away, "nothing."
"Not nothing." said Azula. "It was there when I captured you, and now it's gone.
"Nevermind.
"You have a chance to regain your honor."
"The kind of honor she offers is not for you." said Iroh.
"Why don't you let him decide, uncle?" asked Azula. Then she went near to Zuko. "I need you Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day. This glorious day in fire nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love.
"You will have everything you want."
"Zuko, I am begging you." said Iroh. "Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."
Azula looked to Zuko. "You are free to choose."
Then she motioned for the Dai Li with her to leave. From there she went after the Avatar alone as before. It was a perfect execution of drama.
Like before she found herself outmatched. Like before the fight was interrupted when Zuko. Like before there was a tense silence.
And then Zuko shot her in the face.
It didn't kill her.
The blast didn't leave any scars, either. As it turned out the water peasant was quite as talented as healing. Either way, that was how Azula found herself locked up in prison. The Earth King was bad on his throne. The Dai Li had been locked away as well.
As she saw her in cell with her hands bound she stared. "What!" she said finally. "I mean... I did everything the same. Everything right. I hit all the right buttons.
"How could... How could this happen?
"How could I lose?" She processed everything that had happened. Zuko had been imprisoned longer with the water peasant. "The scar. Somehow Zuko healed his scar. But how?"
She saw it.
"The water peasant." She slammed her fists against the ground. "Damn it..."
Azula awoke on cushions of the finest silk and felt the rays of the sun on her face. She turned over in her bed, then sat up. Not bothering to brush her hair out of her eyes, she stood and rushed out of the room.
Something wasn't right.
There was Ty Lee and Mai eating the exact same breakfast. In the exact same room. Ty Lee looked up happily. "Azula, you're awake. You've got to try this breakfast. They have the best sausages." She paused. "Azula?"
It hadn't been a vision. It hadn't been a dream. Azula was reliving the same day. "...What is going on?"
Author's Note:
I've wanted to do a Groundhog Day Loop storyline for a good long time now. Unfortunately, I could never find a character who it really worked for. In order to make the fic type work, you need to have a character who experiences a single day of immense importance.
A day with a great many possible variables at that.
Also, the character needs to be capable of developing. Certain characters are unsuitable for groundhog day loops because they are such monsters that the loops would end up being horrific. At the same time, the character has to be, at the very least, a huge jerk. Otherwise, the groundhog day loop wouldn't have a purpose.
Then I watched Crossroads of Destiny. The entire episode takes place throughout twenty-four hours, and there are a truly massive number of variables. If even one character acts slightly differently the entire plot could be derailed.
