"Hello, Zuzu. To what do I owe the great honor of a visit from the Fire Lord?"

Zuko decided that his sister may not be well, but she was certainly acting like herself today. He regretted that it had been so long since he last visited, but a lot had happened recently. He also noticed she was wearing actual clothes this time instead of the usual pajamas. And her hair was fixed—she looked more like herself, too.

"I'm your brother. Do I need another reason to visit? Besides, I care about you, Azula." He inwardly cringed as he added the last part—not because it wasn't true, but because she had a tendency to toy with him whenever he made any attempts at expressing such sentiments.

"Oh, Zuzu, you're so dramatic sometimes," she intoned.

Yup, there it is. A classic Azula line.

"But I suppose family is important," she continued. "We're all we've got. Unless you count our crazy Uncle. How is General Teabender these days?"

Well, there's Lee. But Zuko didn't think Azula was ready for that bit of news. And also Katara. But his sister wouldn't be thrilled about that announcement, either. Besides, he'd botched his proposal in Ba Sing Se and planned for a much better one during their upcoming trip to the South Pole. He'd venture to guess as to why she didn't mention their mother.

"Zuzu, you can't space out like a wolfbat. People might think you're crazy." Azula said the last word in a sing-song voice.

He came back to his senses. "S-s-sorry. Um, Uncle is fine. He's in Ba Sing Se. But enough about him. How are you?"

"Oh… you know what they say. About the silver lining."

Zuko laughed. That was another thing he'd botched. The saying about the cloud and the lining. One version ended with something about a silver sandwich. Wow, that was back at the Boiling Rock when he and Sokka rescued Suki. And now those two were engaged. His second attempt involved the moon instead of a cloud. With the person to whom he was engaged... sort of.

His sister scowled at him. "You're doing it again, bat boy."

He cleared his throat. "Um, good, Azula. I'm glad you're able to find a little hope. Even when it's cloudy."

"Mmm. Clouds are interesting, Zuzu. You know why?"

"Uhh, because they have a silver lining?"

"No, dummy. Think beyond your stupid silver lining for a second. Clouds are made up of water, dust, and air. I just think that's… interesting."

Zuko didn't get it at first. And then he did. "Oh. The elements. Except for—"

"Oh, fire is there. The conditions have to be just right. And then…"

Zuko thought he saw it flash in her eyes before they said it together. "Lightning."

He shivered. She smiled.

A few minutes of silence passed before she spoke again. "You know how lightning outlines the clouds when there's a storm?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I think of when I hear that saying… about the silver lining."

Zuko closed his eyes. It made sense coming from her. She had always been a perfect storm. And always beyond his reach.

"Zuko, I'm sorry."

His eyes shot open. "What!?"

He couldn't decide what shocked him more—the use of his real name or the apology—and he had no idea what she would be sorry for.

The moment was so fleeting and so surreal. She reached out with tentative fingers and touched the spot on his chest where under layers of thick crimson fabric a scar spoke of a very different exchange between brother and sister. Gold eyes met copper and melded together like precious metals, but only for a split second, because then the heat was too unbearable for them both.

"Ming!" Azula called out suddenly. "Will you please tell the Fire Lord that I am tired and do not wish to have visitors right now?"

Her guard came to the door and looked questioningly at Zuko. Azula dropped her hand and turned away from him. He made a motion toward her but then thought better of it. "Umm, I'll see you… next time."

She didn't answer until Zuko was a few strides past her door. "Will you tell mother?"

He stopped and turned to look at her, but she still faced away from him. "Tell her what?"

"That I'm sorry."

"You can tell her yourself. She's also in Ba Sing Se, but I expect her return any day now."

"Just tell her for me. OK?" Azula's voice was just above a whisper.

"Sure."

Zuko made it halfway down the hospital corridor before the realization hit him. He ran back toward his sister's room with the speed of an eelhound. "Ming! Azula!"

They burst through her door to find her sitting on the edge of her bed with the belt of her tunic looped around her neck. The slipknot had been tied and hung loosely at her collarbone, and she gripped the other end tightly in her hands. Even after Zuko lifted the noose from her neck, she wouldn't let go of the loose end.

"No, Azula, no! Don't! Please—what were you thinking?" He knew words were likely pointless, so he sat next to her on the bed and pulled her into an embrace. He couldn't remember the last time he'd hugged his sister—or if he ever had.

"There is no silver lining," she whispered. "Only darkness."

He could feel the wet heat from her tears on his neck. And then the same on his cheeks from his own. "It's always darkest before the dawn," he choked out.

She stiffened at the mentioning of one of their mother's sayings. She tried to pull away, but he held on tighter. No, Azula. Like you said. We're all we've got. It wasn't entirely true, but in that moment, it felt like it.

"Mother hates me," Azula said in her normal voice—as if she hadn't been crying at all—as if she hadn't just tried to take her own life, even.

Zuko then released her. He had to remember, this was Azula. And she could be as creepy as a catgator. "She doesn't hate you."

"Easy for you to say. She just loooooooooves you, Zuzu."

Zuko rolled his eyes. So we're back to this now. "Ming, can you get us some tea?" He hoped she understood his emphasis. A little sun poppy and a nap would do his sister good. "Azula, Mom wasn't the only one of our parents to play favorites. We're both pretty fucked up because of them. We just have to… move past all that and try not to make their same mistakes, I guess."

Azula eyed him with an expression he couldn't quite read. "Hmm, so no world domination for you, dear Fire Lord?"

Ugh, OK, tea please? Hurry Ming… "Azula—"

"What about domination on the homefront? Does Katara like it rough?"

"What!?" Zuko didn't think Azula could possibly be talking about that, but he thought back to the one time he felt guilty about things getting a little rough.

"Aww, Zuzu, you're blushing. I would have never thought—"

"Shut up."

"Well, mother didn't like it rough. But father sure liked to give it to her."

"What!?"

"Poor little Zuzu. Come on, don't tell me you didn't know. That's probably why she left, dum dum. Because she was weak… and a coward."

"Don't talk about Mom like that!"

"Whatever. Of course you'll defend her. You're her favorite. I don't know why she didn't just fight back. Maybe if someone would have told father no for once, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"You know Ozai wouldn't take no for an answer."

"He could have been a great leader if he'd just had his priorities straight."

"Of course you'll defend him. You're his favorite." Ming! Tea!

Azula's guard arrived as if she heard his silent demands. A spread of tea was presented before them. His sister breathed in the steam and took a long sip.

"The sun poppy tea, huh? It's easier to just put me to sleep than deal with me."

"Azula, you just tried to kill yourself. You're not thinking clearly. You need to rest."

"You and Mother, always taking the easy way out. Pretending like you care when you really don't."

"STOP TALKING ABOUT HER LIKE THAT! And I do care! I—love you, Azula." He didn't know what came over him. First he was hugging her, now this? He knew it was true, but it was an unsettling sort of emotion. Like he knew he would do anything to protect her. Like something he'd felt for her before but had lost over the years. It felt raw… and a little bit painful. Like maybe she had even tried to hurt herself before. There was this conversation by the turtleduck pond...

"No, you don't," she replied curtly. "Love is for the weak anyway. You're weak just like her. And you took father's punishment just like her."

Azula's eyes rested on his face, the scar, for just a few seconds before she yawned and shifted her position in the bed. "Goodnight, Zuzu. Glad we could have this sibling bonding moment over our family history. Come back when you want to share more horror stories."

Zuko gaped at her. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. He didn't know what to think about this whole visit with Azula. It was time to leave now, he supposed. He stopped at the doorway to give Ming special instructions to keep a close watch on her. Another thought struck him, but he wasn't sure if she would hear him or not.

"You know Azula, Mom didn't fight back for a reason. She did it to protect us." He sighed. Maybe she wouldn't understand the sacrifice. He still couldn't fathom it, really. Not since he'd seen Ursa's scars. He wondered how Azula knew. Had she actually seen him? The idea made him feel a little sick to his stomach, so he pushed it out of his mind. No, Azula, Mother didn't hate you.

"She took his punishment so that we didn't have to." With that, he left.

A/N: Welcome to the conclusion of the Darkness Trilogy! I knew the story would have three parts when I started, but I feel like I've come a long way since Zuko's nightmare in the first chapter of Darkness Before Dawn. Hell, the characters have come a long way, too. Except for Azula, so maybe she'll get some attention in this installment.

I apologize for not including the suicide trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter. I wanted the reader to realize it at the same time Zuko did. But I don't take these things lightly as anyone who has followed me since the beginning would know. For some, this isn't fiction, it's reality. My author's notes won't help, but there IS help out there.

Like the other two parts of the series, the title comes from a saying, "Every cloud has a silver lining," and that expression is shared in a conversation between Katara and Ursa as a Joo Dee in Not Stalking Firelord Zuko, Chapter 23 by Emletish. I wouldn't be writing my own trilogy if I hadn't stumbled upon hers.

If you're landing here for the first time (because I am shamelessly using this chapter to earn points in a writing competition) then there are 60 chapters that set the stage for this scene/fic. There are also a couple of references to the Ozai-Ursa backstory, Burning Passion, which is my darkest piece in the Darkness universe.

Speaking of the competition, this is for the Nets, Level: Four, an unfortunate turn of events with a wolfbat, eelhound, catgator, and turtleduck. Word count: 1678