Title: Totality

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pairing: Azula/Zuko

Rating: PG.

Word Count: 677

Summary/Description: Men do not become tyrants in order to keep out the cold. (Azula's eyes were as sharp as ever.)

Warning/Spoilers: Incest? Innuendo? No real spoilers, but you should probably still have knowledge of the latest going ons.

A/N: 31 days, February 22nd: my heart is harden'd; I cannot repent. First part of the summary is a quote by Aristotle. I borrowed a book on Hitler from the library: Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, by Alan Bullock. That quote is on the first page. When I first saw it I was like… OMG. AZULA. :P Many thanks to Ali Wildgoose for the excellent plot bunny! (smooch)

Disclaimer: I am not worthy of owning the sheer awesome that is ATLA.

In the end, it was the Water Tribe guy – Sokka… yeah – that did it. Of course, he'd had considerable help from Toph, in terms of rendering her immobile, but it was Sokka who had knocked Azula unconscious with a solid blow from the hilt of his sword.

Zuko was glad he hadn't been there for the actual moment.

When he arrived with Aang, she was already bound, just as they had bound his father. They had her where they were keeping all of the prisoners for now, just outside of the jail. Her hands and feet were encased in dense metal clasps to prevent firebending. Her hands were strung up over her head. Her garments were dirty and bloody, and he could see a large, dark red bruise hear her temple, presumably where Sokka had struck her. Her eyes, though, were as sharp as ever when Zuko stood before her, and she held her chin high, every inch a monarch.

Her eyes narrowed hen she saw him, and she gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Here to gloat, Zuzu?" she asked. She sounded amused at the prospect. "Do make it quick; I'm told that if I fall asleep in this position it will be terribly uncomfortable when I wake up."

Zuko scowled, and tried not to get angry. Aang and the others were nearby. Though not actively listening to the exchange, they weren't trying to hide their curiosity either. He didn't want to suddenly transform back into the big dumb angry Fire jerk, not in front of them.

"No, I'm not going to gloat," he said, as slowly and calmly as he could. "I came to…" He faltered. He had not been able to say these words to his father; after the Fire Lord's defeat at Aang's hands, Zuko had been livid and uncontrollable just thinking about the things his father had said and done. He couldn't speak to his father. But Azula… was different. She had to be different.

He clenched his fist, and tried to look directly in her eyes. It wasn't easy; she could mock him without saying a word.

"I came," he began again, "to offer you a chance." She said nothing to that, she simply looked at him. Taking that as incentive, he continued. "I know that you're not going to like being locked up in that cell; you're not going to like having nothing to do, nothing to fixate your mind on. Now, either way, you're going to have to pay for that you've done, but if you change sides now, and give your loyalty to—"

"Zuzu." Azula closed her eyes as she said the word, a smile splitting her lips.

"…What?" he said, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and hope.

"Come closer."

Zuko gave her a suspicious look, but it was hardly likely that she could try anything, shackled as she was and with as many people around him, so he took a step forward.

"Closer."

He took another step; this one brought him within very closer range. He could touch her by extending a finger but one inch.

Azula opened her eyes, and leaned forward as much as her restraints would allow. Zuko could hear as she parted her lips; he felt her breath wash over his ear.

"You're a fool," she said, very calmly.

Zuko felt something slick and horrible twist in his gut, and it was as if someone lit a fire in his head.

She leaned back, expression nonchalant.

"Now, if you're not going to kill me, do hurry up and put me in my cell." She said it in that clipped, unaffected tone of voice. "Staring at walls should be more entertaining than all this."

Zuko stared at his sister, expression stony. She stared back, arching a brow.

Without saying another word, Zuko turned on his heel and began to walk away. Winds fanned the flames in his mind, and inexplicably, Azula began to laugh.

"You're going to wish you'd killed me," she called after him in a sing-song.

Zuko didn't turn back.

A/N: I'd appreciate your thoughts.