"Cold Flame"

A/N: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender as cool as that would be,this story is a post-finale based thing expressing some closure for my all time favorite character,Azula. I am going to update as often as I can so please leave comments and tell me what you think of it. Thank you and enjoy.

Chapter One

(Zuko's POV)

It's been a few months since the war ended,since the Avatar stripped my father of his firebending. It's been a few months since he and my sister have sat idly in prison,in the hopes of many that they will rot and die like they deserve.

"Zuko?" My beloved wife,Mai,came behind me resting a hand on my shoulder. "Aren't you going to come to bed? It's late and you look exhausted."

"I'm Sorry..." I sighed heavily. "I'm just thinking..."

"Of your father?"

"No." I said softly to her.

In truth I wanted him to rot,he lead a life of deceit and bitter evil,resenting his family and using others to rise to his former power. As much as I yearned for his love and affection such a short time ago I have learned not to respect such a beast let alone acknowledge him as family.

Mai came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist,resting her head on my shoulder and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

"Your sister?"

Azula. My only sister,she was just like him in almost every way. That unquenchable thirst for power,she was willing to destroy anyone who got in her way,and just like my father did to Uncle Iroh,she betrayed me and tried to steal my rightful place on the throne. Among other things. I put them away for a reason,aside from their high treason against the Fire Nation and the rest of the world,I want them to gain some reform.

"There is no hope for my father. He will always be a demon in human flesh...But Azula...maybe there is hope for her." I walked out onto the balcony of the palace outside of my royal chambers and looked out onto the court. Mai stood beside me and looked at me with her usual skepticism.

"How do you figure that? She nearly destroyed you,Katara and even the Avatar himself. She was my best friend once and she crossed so many lines...if anything she has the potential to be worse than your father." She protested.

"Was I any different a year ago?" That made her fall silent. "I hunted the Avatar for two years with hatred and blood lust coursing through me like there was fire in my blood. I went to so many lengths to simply get on my fathers good graces and I resorted to so much violence and chaos,was I any different than Azula was? Our only difference is that she was the prodigy and I had to work to survive. Other than that our goal was the same,destroy anything and everything so long as it pleases Father."

"I suppose you're right..."

"I never had to rot in a cell for the crimes I committed then,although my punishment was unjust it was heavy. Banishment...two years on my own were the best thing that anyone could have done for me..."

"So what are you saying?"

"Despite her likeness to our father,I think there is some good in her still." Again with her skeptical look,before she could protest again I elaborated. "When we dueled together that day...there was something so off about her,her perfection was gone. She had banished all of her servants,guards,and everyone who she thought could not be trusted and then fought me so sloppily,not like her at all and in the end...she went insane,and for the first time in a long time I saw her being human. I saw her cry."

Mai nodded and as usual already knew what I was thinking. the following morning I summoned Azula to the war room. My father was transferred to the boiling rock but she remained in the palace dungeons,heavily guarded. Even as they brought her in she was shackled by her wrists and ankles,hair matted,dirty and in her face as she hung her head low so she could not see me. Four guards surrounded her.

"Leave us." I said to a guard.

"But...Fire Lord Zuko...She's high risk and shouldn't..."

"Leave the keys." I halted his useless argument.

With a nod and a bow he left the keys and they all left,leaving me alone with her. Descending from my throne I approached my sister slowly and picked up the keys left for me. Gently, I reached to her and slid my fore and middle fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face up. They kept a muzzle on her so she would not shoot fire at anyone. It pained me to see her this way,her gaze met mine,those golden eyes tainted with red from what looked like constant crying. I couldn't stand it.

"I'm going to take the muzzle off." I stepped to her side and unfastened it from the back.

When it finally came off she took the deepest breath and exhaled. My heart jumped because I thought she would spit flames like before. Perhaps my trust in her wasn't so sincere after all,but I needed to give her this.

Coming around again I looked at her,she looked the same as ever,just dirty,but emotionally she looked like a whole different person. She didn't have the same spark in her eyes that she once had.

"Azula..."

"Brother..." She murmured back at me. "Why have you called for me?"

Taken back at her question I wasn't sure how to answer at first,clearing my throat I continued to release her of her shackles.

"I'm giving you an opportunity if you choose to accept it."

"A bigger jail cell?" She smirked. At least her humor wasn't lost.

"No." I replied,tossing the chains off to the side. "A life abroad. To see things the way I had to when I was gone for those two years hunting the Avatar."

"So you're banishing me?!" She stepped back the fire in her eyes returning again. "You throw me in a dingy jail cell for six months and now you're damning me from my own home? What kind of opportunity is that?"

"Don't be so ungrateful. You're lucky to even be alive right now let alone out of your cell. You could have ended up like Father at the Boiling Rock,he has no chance of getting out of there so long as I am Fire Lord. But you, you have a chance to fix the things you've done and redeem your honor to this family."

"This family is nothing to me." She said angrily through her teeth. "How do you know I won't betray you?"

"If you were anything like our father,you would be rotting with him. He doesn't have an ounce of compassion but you to some small degree...you do. And this family is something to you otherwise you wouldn't have called me 'brother' just a moment ago. Take this opportunity Azula,take it and become your own woman. Don't be his puppet anymore."

"Zuko." A dulling voice interrupted from behind.

I turned to find Mai standing there as she said, "Her escort will be here in the morning."

"Thank you."

"Escort?" Azula glanced over my shoulder at Mai.

"I think you'll be pleased with this." Mai turned to leave.

"An escort?" Azula said again as I turned back to face her. "Who? And why for that matter?"

"I wasn't alone when I had to leave here."

I think that relieved her,her angry stance seemed to calm down a little and she just stood there staring at me confused. Mai had made arrangements for an escort from the Earth Kingdom to come to collect Azula and take her to Ba Sing Se to stay with Uncle Iroh at his tea shop for a while. Uncle helped me on my path and I figured he could do the same for her. She is his only niece after all,even if she is a little crazy. Initially she was not thrilled with the idea of going to stay with Uncle but it was either that or her cold jail cell.

(Azula's POV)

"An Escort?" I asked my brother,confused by not only his sudden generosity but family values towards me,his diabolical and "insane" sister.

Zuko and I always had that hate/hate relationship,some times we would pretend to get along but in the end it was always the competition he could never win. Now that he finally beat me why the sudden change of heart? This could be taken as weakness. I am not weak. I am not Zuko.

I hate what he did to me,to our home and family. After all I had done for him in Ba Sing Se,leaving him the credit so he could have his 'honor' back.

"Who? And Why for that matter?"

"I wasn't alone when I had to leave here."

Great. Is he sending the smelly old tea-obsessed fat man?

"It's not what you're thinking..." Zuko sighed,rolling his eyes. "Uncle Iroh won't be the one escorting you back,although the way things are planned now,you will be meeting him in Ba Sing Se to live for a while. He helped me on my path,maybe he could help you with yours."

What can I do in this position? It's either this or my lonely jail cell. Prison is not for me and not for the reasons Zuko could imagine. I spent six months in one spot,perhaps Father was luckier than me,where he is he can be exposed to other human beings but in the palace dungeons I can not. It's lonely,dark and I'll admit a bit frightening when it's too quiet. I don't even remember my first few weeks there. Except one thing...I think my mother came to see me...I don't remember seeing her but someone was there,a woman,when she touched my hand or face her skin was so soft,her sweet whispered would echo through the corridors and through my mind long after she was gone telling me it would all be all right and that maybe if I were good I could be free again...I felt so crazy that I just blocked it all away. Mother thought I was a monster and disappeared ages ago,why would she show up now? Then I thought of the night of my coronation and how she appeared in my mirror,just a twisted fantasy so how was this different?

I felt so ashamed in front of Zuko as he spoke,hot tears ran down my face thinking about that cell,that touch and that voice that gave me hope...Reluctantly I agreed to Zuko's terms.

"Good." He smiled at me and boldly embraced me as he never had before. "I'm glad to see you want to change."