I do not own Avatar: TLA or Avatar: LoK for that matter.

This plot bunny started from reading Embers by Vathara, I was quite struck by the thought, not of an evil and insane Azula. But a Ruthless and practical one. Seriously, go read Embers. Over a thousand pages of wonderful writing. And please, let me know how you feel about my characterization of Azula.

She stared at her reflection, neither of her friends knew, they saw what they wanted to, so did her brother. She hated this, all of it. Any intelligent human being would have, even dear Zuzu could see it if he wasn't more concerned about his honor.

"The war is killing us."

The death was slow, that much was true. Each bit of steel that left the Fire Nation, each soldier, and each fire bender that never came back, was lost resources. And the colonies weren't producing fast enough to keep up with need. They couldn't.

Azula sighed as she sat back, her robe allowing her to relax in ways her armor never did. She longed for the baths, but felt no need to head towards them. Not since the night she'd walked in on Mai and her brother. It had been awkward, for all of them, though Azula hadn't shown how disturbed she'd been by the heated and clumsy make out session.

Taking a breath, Azula forced her thoughts back on track. A wandering mind could not be allowed to distract her from this. She looked from her calculations, to the plans for her Father's attack, and had a thought, a traitorous thought, "Father is a fool." The blasts from the most powerful benders, drawing power from Sozin's comet, would leave the Earth Kingdom a wasteland. The resources lost would be gone for years, forests lost, farmland turned into a vast desert, a land where nothing would grow. It would be a waste.

Azula was not a fool, she saw how close Zuko was, how close to the edge. He'd been warring with himself, his own leadership qualities, as, unrefined as they were, were obvious. A general he wasn't, a leader he was, something she'd hated for years. One of the many reasons she detested her brother and she could only see one way it would end. He'd break loyalty to their father.

A man he'd idolized, done everything he could to please him, even throwing himself into a task everyone thought impossible. And in at least one aspect he'd succeeded were every other had failed, all but two water tribe children. Find the Avatar.

Azula reached up to grasp the bridge of her nose. In private she could at least try to relieve the headache coming from the stress.

"If Zuzu leaves father to join the Avatar, he'll go for Uncle. The man's practically raised him since his return." Azula stood, her course of action set in her mind. Her father would attempt to destroy the Earth Kingdom, and end up ruling over a land of the dead. Without Earth benders it would be years before the land would recover. And that could not be allowed to happen. She removed the robe and replaced it with a gown befitting her station as she walked.

Redemption

The door creaked open and Azula sneered. Uncle may have been a traitor and a fool, but the man was the from the blood of Sozin, the brother of Ozai, once the heir to the throne until Lu-Ten's death. A small part of Azula's heart weakened. Her cousin was a sore spot for her. A loyal member of the family. Her cousin. She shook her head. "Guard. When I leave here you will work to make my Uncle's accomadations more habitable. He is still a member of the royal family." The guard nodded solemnly. She turned to Iroh as the guard hastily closed the door. "Hello Uncle Iroh. How has your stay been?" Her tone was, as ever, laced with the undercurrent of disdain she held for all but her father. Which made this whole thing worse.

Her Uncle tensed, and she smiled.

"So, the reports were false. You have lost none of your edge after all. But the guards would hardly recognize a dragon in the den of pig-sheep, would they?"

"What do you want Niece? You are not usually one for pleasantries." Iroh stated, his voice a little rough from disuse.

Azula stared straight at him, giving nothing away, thinking carefully about her next words. And then she commited treason.

"Father's wrong. Make no mistake, I have had no change of heart, but the war has gone on long enough, our people die, our steel is left to rust in foreign battlefields. We cannot continue the war much longer. If we do, the number of our young men who join the army and don't come back will not leave a viable population."

Iroh kept his back to her. "You always were cold Azula, you don't care, not about anyone except my brother. But your logic has always been impeccable. Why do you come to me with this? Do you expect me to challenge him to an Agni Kai, my honor is broken, I have no rights."

"You're right, you don't. But that's not why I've come. Zuko will take the eclipse as a chance to escape and seek the Avatar, he's close to the breaking point. You've imparted to him your peace loving ways. And I see no other way for him to take the country and reforge it. He will seek the Avatar because he's not strong enough on his own. Intelligent in it's own way. He knows he cannot stop what is to come. Not alone."

Her Uncle seemed to swell with pride, before he sunk into himself again. "And what will you do with this knowledge?"

Azula hesitated for less than a second. But one as practiced as Iroh picked up on it. "I, don't know Uncle. Part of me wishes to crush him here and now, prevent him from betraying father. I have never been, conflicted. Father was right, always. Now, I see he isn't."

"Azula, niece. You have come to a crossroads. For your brother, it was between right, and wrong. For you, the choice is much harder. Your love for your father has twisted you, in ways it didn't your brother. Your choice is between action and inaction, you may act as though you know none of this, and continue with the war as though you didn't. You may choose to act on your suspicions of your brother, end his life, end the threat to your father, or the opposite, and act to destroy your father for the safety of the Fire Nation and your brother, as your mother chose to do, to save you."

Azula's world rocked on it's axis. "W-what?"

"I have thought long and hard on your conversation with your brother the night my father died. He told me of it once I asked. From what you told him you overheard, I expect my brother was ordered not to sacrifice Zuko, but you."

Azula looked at Iroh. "But I,"

"Unless you heard otherwise, I have little doubt. With Lu-ten gone, Zuko was the heir apparent, and not the favored child you are. You're death would set back Ozai's plans and my father was not the kind to favor a second born girl over a first born son."

A cold chill went down Azula's back. She could feel the truth of these words. She'd taken what she wanted from that conversation. "But if I was wrong."

"No, mother thought I was a monster. She wouldn't have done that, not for, me."

Iroh turned around and looked at his niece. "Dearest Azula, she was your mother, a monster you may be, but you were hers. Never underestimate what a mother will do for her children, no matter their faults. No matter your faults. She loved you. So tell me, how will you proceed?"

Azula stared at her Uncle, a man she'd despised most of her life. "I don't know. But your counsel has been, illuminating, Uncle. I hope you will be more comfortable soon." She turned to leave and stopped when she heard Iroh laugh.

"I'm sure I will Azula. Thank you for caring about these old bones, when your own father doesn't." He stopped and looked thoughtful. "You might be interested in learning, that you and the Avatar share more than you'd ever realize, a bond born through your blood and his spirit."

Azula turned. "What nonsense. We are nothing alike."

"Perhaps not. But one does not need to be alike to be family. You, are not just a descendant of Sozin. But of his best friend, Avatar Roku as well." With those final words. The Dragon of the West turned, and Azula left.

Redemption