Takes place pre-show, but is highly spoileriffic up to 3.11 (The Invasion). Also likely to be Jossed into oblivion. Nevertheless…


It took all of my self-control not to spit in my husband's face when Zuko told me what he did to Prince Iroh, and after it became clear he would compound his terrible misjudgment by letting an innocent child (my son, my own son!) serve as the lash the Fire Lord intended to flog him with…I was given no choice. It is not in my nature to wish anyone harm, but a cornered tigerat with kittens is not considered the most dangerous beast in the jungles for nothing.

Azulon, you old fool. You elevated the women of your land above the beautiful, useless porcelain dolls of the court at Ba Sing Se, and above the gentle, obedient healers of the North Pole. You ordered the schoolmasters to sharpen our claws and strengthen our arms so that we may fight for the Glory of Our Nation, and forgot that not all of a woman's enemies wear green. You think that because I must light my lamps with a match that you have nothing to fear from me.

Such things I learned in the school you founded. History, literature, deportment. How to serve tea. How to direct the servants. How to dress and paint my lips to win myself a husband. And. Such a vital and, that means more to me now than all the tea I spilled and the bland poetry I penned. For example: the dried saliva of the Greater Star-Nosed Mole, while not as effective as it would be directly from the tongue of the beast, is still sufficient to render your victim's limbs very weak and sluggish. Or perhaps another: a succession of swift, fierce blows to pressure points between the Fire chakra and the release points in the hands, feet, mouth, and nose block the flow of chi and therefore creation of heat and flame.

I was a very dedicated student. You said so yourself when your son presented me as the object of his youthful affections. I wed Prince Ozai hoping to turn him from the path Fire Lord Sozen laid out for my country. The betrayal he perpetrated on his truest friend may have been conveniently omitted from the state history texts, but my grandmother did not spend nearly forty years as the Avatar's consort without picking up a thing or two. Ta Min taught her children and her children's children the truth, not so that we would pursue vengeance for her murdered husband, but so that we would know how exquisitely just and kind the men of these islands can be. The great passion in our blood can be turned to love as easily as it turns to war.

I failed to turn Ozai, more spectacularly than I was willing to admit until now. But Zuko—my joy and my jewel. He does not shrink from pain or hardship in pursuit of his goals, but is hesitant to inflict it upon others unless there is no other alternative. His love for this country runs as deep as my own, and I can only hope he has the strength to douse our reckless conquest before we burn ourselves to ash.

I fear I will not return from this horrific errand to see him become a man. Prince Ozai's patience with me is worn to the breaking point. He is not one to hesitate to remove any obstacles in his path, nor regret the loss of what we once shared. I must trust in Prince Iroh's skill in raising good sons, as fragile as he is after his own was so cruelly snatched from us. I left him the Heir's crown and strict instruction not to let any rumor of what will transpire tonight to reach my children's ears.

There are no goodbyes to say but one. I have spent all night trying to think of what I should tell him and come up blank; likely those words will be the last he hears from his mother's lips. So much rests on him, I wish…

I can't delay any longer. Perhaps it will come to me.