Since the computer I keep my last Firebender stuff save on has been "2 weeks" from getting repaired for the last month and a half I've decided to kill some time with some drabbles.

I'm starting with a series of drabbles based on various project I'd like to do but haven't' had time for (and probably never will) or projects I thought about but abandoned.


11/10/25

People have an immense capacity for self deception. I think the biggest example of this is the war. The entire thing is a joke. We claim to be fostering culture on the earth kingdom. What fools. Do people not know that half the plays we treasure came from the earth kingdom, and half that didn't were written by playwrights trained by them? The largest library in the world was contained in the northern Air Temple, and my great-grandfather burt it like a fool!

At least those who claim "progress", having some merit to their argument, but even they willfully deceive themselves. Has a single factory sprouted up in the Earth Kingdom? For that matter has a single factory sprouted anywhere been dedicated to anything but war machines? We build the factories to make the machines to conqueror, to make more factories, yet with no ultimate goal in sight.

Perhaps the argument I respect the best is the Fire Nation's need of resources, at least they are honest. Yet even there the war fails its goals. In order to maintain order, earthbending has been outlawed. Oh they dressed it up in nice terms, as a "barbaric art detrimental to progress" but anyone with an ounce of sense knows what really going on. Yet earthbending is the very art best equipped for mining, even our experimental drill can't begin to match a single earthbender.

When the Fire Nation was began its transformation the invasion and colonies were launched to avoid having to pay for the materials we would need in a large industry. Yet those fools never realized there is no such thing as a free meal. We get the metal as "taxes" freely. Yet we pay for it. Our entire economy is dedicated to war, we pay in the factories dedicated to tanks and ships, we pay in the potential geniuses sent to the coal mines, we pay in the loss of our culture, and we pay in blood.

Though I supposed I should not solely blame the Fire Nation. The idiots in the other kingdoms deserve a measure to. The Air Nomads so willfully blinded themselves that they thought pacifism was a viable philosophy, without realizing their fortress keeping them from the outside world were no longer safe. Sometimes I almost feel they deserved to die for letting themselves be killed so easily, not even fighting back.

And the earth kingdom and Water Tribes! For one-hundred years they have been slowly losing ground. For one hundred years they have lost, and yet they refuse to change. The Northern Water Tribe and Ba Sing Se put their fingers in their ears and close their eyes, thinking they can ignore the entire conflict, it will be someone else's problem. Meanwhile the other area continue to use ancient tactics, not even trying to replicate the tactics and machines that lead to their defeat. Again, some days I just want to let them die for that idiocy.

But the worst is EVERYONE, everyone, on all sides of the conflict still have hope. They still think things will work out. Solider grunts thinking they will survive and be honored. Civilians thinking they will be protected. Earth kings thinking they can hold on. And the idiotic Fire nation civilians thinking that things will ever get better. No the only people who will benefit from this war are the generals and Fire Lord. For everyone else this war will crush them. I've seen the future, it's a boot, stamping on a human face, forever.

And yet here I stand, perhaps the worst of all. I think I can change things. I think I can save the world. What arrogance! What pride! Perfect for a princess, I am certainly my father's daughter.

I've come to the conclusion my first plan isn't viable. Even if I killed father, Zuko would take the throne, and he's just as brutal. While I could try to do the same thing as father, Zuko isn't like my fat, useless, lump of an uncle. He would fight my take-over, and given he leads the army, there is a good chance he's win.

So I've come up with a different idea, I've decided to finally make people's delusions work for me. Perhaps one of the biggest delusions of all is the Avatar. The idea of some supernatural god judging men, forcing peace. They are fools, even if the Avatar existed (and I'm not sure of that) he is long dead, killed at the air temple, once and for all.

Yet people still believe, even my father, his worst enemy, sends out ships to look. And the earth kingdom, if even a hint of the Avatar were to reach them it would rally many. It would not be hard for the Avatar to get them to fight as one, to actually change their tactics to properly counter the Fire Nations. Especially if that "Avatar" had data from one of the most knowledgeable person in the Fire Nation.

I've even found the perfect canadit. Once again thanks to willful self-deception. The Southern Raiders claimed to have killed the last Waterbender in the South Pole, yet if one read the reports with a critical eyes, instead of one wanting glory or to transfer me out of that theater of war, the real picture emerges. The raiders were tipped off after reports of a chieftain looking for a waterbending master. They rightly concluded that he was looking for someone to train another waterbender. Yet the supposed waterbender was a mother. Do these people ever think! If the waterbender was really a mother she would have been looking for training years ago, not now. Furthermore the same reports state that there was a kid, if any of them thought for even half a second what really happened would be obvious.

So I will find this waterbender, I can offer her fame, glory and a chance at training. Her lack of training will explain away her lack of powers. Furthermore, when the Fire princess becomes desperate to capture this "Avatar" it will only confirm her identity in people's minds. I will also need to find a discrete earthbender to help "train" her. Some smart enough to understand the importance of what going on, and discrete enough people won't notice them moving she the "avatar" is earthbending. After that I will formally defect and "train" her in Firebending. With a symbol to rally behind, a forward thinking mentality and knowledge of the Fire Nations capabilities and tactics, the Fire Nation army should be stoppable.

There are only two flaws in the plan. The first is the explanation of the time gap, but given people capabilities for self-deception in other areas I'm sure people will come up with theories to explain it away. The other is that no-body can do airbending from behind the scenes to help her fake that, but that's even easier to explain away, she simply has no trainers so she can't learn.

I've already started my plan, using father's own beliefs about me against him. Formally requesting to have a ship to search for the Avatar. He thinks I'm trying to win his love and respect…. The fool.

Azula stopped writing; slowly she put down her pen. She gave a slight sigh and then tore the pages she'd written on out of the diary, holding this in her hand. A second later they burst into flame. After they had burnt completely, she blew the ashes away and began writing again.

11/10/25

Father has approved my request to find the Avatar. I hope I can properly prove myself. To gain honor just as my brother has done. I will not fail him.

So this drabble is actually based on the original incarnation of "Last Firebender" (long before it even had a title). Unlike what I eventually went with, this one's only difference was making Azula good and Zuko evil with little change to the world at large. The bigger AU came at the suggestion of another poster on a different board (not including links, cause that thread had huge spoilers for the plot).