A/N: Set after the defeat of Azula. I apologize for any errors still prevalent. Hope you enjoy!

The First Step

Chapter 1

Downfall

A fallen princess cries in agony as she falls into the grim clutches of insanity. The crimson light radiating throughout the sky could only atone her abrupt defeat. Zuko couldn't help but feel cheesy at this spectacle of madness and despair.

A puddle filled lay in front of Azula.

Her broken mind slowly comprehends what has happened.

Defeat

The puddle has steadily grown since its creation from the master waterbender, who defeated her. Its slow growth was created from her tears, a small fountain describing her feelings at the current moment. She could sense the onlookers witnessing her. But she didn't care as they would just feel pity for her.

As her pride slowly drained through her eyes, she could only think: The divine right to rule has betrayed her, like everything else in her life. She muttered as she wept "…filthy peasant". Then slowly raised her head out of shame and quickly glanced at the water tribe girl. The girl had a concerned yet sad expression.

But was she now a peasant? Tears stopped flowing down her cheeks. "Hmhmf I may not be Firelord but I'm still the princess, the princess of the fire nation."

Her thoughts muddled her head. She looked down at the puddle and inspected her reflection below. "What have I become?" Fresh tears flowed down her cheek and dropped into the puddle below.

(x)

"Zuko…" Azula muttered softly. "Can you do me a favour?" Her back straighten a little bit, limited by her restraints behind her. Zuko cautiously walked towards Azula with the help of Katara. Every step induced a small shock of pain across his chest. Every step was a great effort as his face reflected this.

"What's on your mind Azula?" Zuko replied with slight hesitation. He tried to make out a smile. He knew something bad was going to be said.

"I have disgraced the Fire Nation... So I'm asking you to kill me." She said with whatever pride remain. She looked at the ground with a flimsy focus to try and conceal her emotions. But it was clearly seen what she was feeling.

"Please… It's the only way to regain my honour" Her pride was entirely absent and only sorrow could be heard. Her neck slumped and it seems for the first time in her life, she was defeated physically and mentally. Defeat was new to her and she didn't know how to deal with it.

Zuko bent down while relinquishing Katara's grip in front of her, onto his knees. He grunted and held his chest in pain. "Trust me Azula, there is another way to redeem yourself" Zuko replied with a quirky smile on his face.

Before Azula could protest she found herself free from her makeshift shackles. She didn't know what to make of this. Her hands comforted her wrists as the shackles were a bit too tight.

"What are you doing Zuko?!" Katara gasped with surprise, her face filled with shock as she stepped back a little. "Don't worry, it's okay" He looked behind himself and gave Katara a convincing look. "Could you spare us a moment in private" He asks polity.
Katara complies and walks away slowly towards the ceremonial hall unsure to trust his decision.

(x)

Azula was still looking at the ground but her gaze shifted towards her hands once more. Another set came upon them, and she was embraced by her brother. "Please don't ever say that again" He said softly and felt his little sister nod her head on his shoulder. She was shell-shocked, tired and didn't know what to think, or feel or do. Zuko then started to take off her armour with some difficulty. When the armour was finally off Zuko propped himself up with his sister and they proceeded where Katara went before. As they walked he could see bruises were her armour was. It seems she was in physical pain too but her withered face shown nothing of it.

The cityscape around them was burnt from their epic battle as blue and orange flames were still present. The flames radiated light around them and reflected off the water scattered from the second battle, a sight that reminded him of someone in Ba Sing Se. Even though he was in immense physical pain, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled softly. "It's over" He thought and saw Azula groggily look up and be phased by the beautiful light.

He carefully placed his sister on a banister and she just kept her eyes low with a sad expression written across her face. "I'll be back soon and we shall-"Azula passed out, with Zuko to catch her just in time. The injuries incurred in the battle left her exhausted. Although her expression was weathered with sadness he could see a slight smile form on her face. "Hopefully she'll be alright" He said to himself before calling for Katara.

(x)

She could feel light bounce off her face. Azula opened her eyes and they were greeted with the warm familiar glow. It was morning and she was in her bed at the Royal Palace. The princess closed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

As she slowly opened her eyes again she felt immensely relaxed. But this was short lived as she heard footsteps outside her room. "Was it a servant, assassin or even Zuzu?" She thought and found herself next to the door with her left ear placed to listen. "What am I even doing...?" She muttered scornfully as she opened the door and began to walk outside. Indeed it was just some servants carrying linen and haven't sensed her presence.

The princess was walking intently towards the kitchen but a couple servants greeted her. "Good morning princess was your rest-"The princess just ignored their greeting and walked past. As she walked her golden eyes met the floor with disgust and as she arrived at the kitchen she saw the familiar strange shoes. She looked up and saw her brother and glared at him accordingly.

"Azul-"She interrupted him with a tone of extreme hatred "You... What do you think you're doing with this... pe... peasant-"Suddenly she realized there were more than 2 people in the room, it was filled with enemies of the Fire Nation?! She could make out familiar faces of previous foes. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, her apparent boyfriend, her traitorous uncle, a young, blind peasant-

She entered a combat stance immediately and waited for them to respond. They replied with fearful expressions then glanced behind her. A hand grasped her shoulder. It could sense her tense muscles and she looked around to see it was her brother Zuko. "Azula, these are our friends." He said as comforting as he could. With this newly acquired intelligence, her stance grew sloppy and the people in the room let out a sigh of relief. As she was looking around for food she noticed the Avatar just entered the room. "Morning everyone" He remarked cheerfully, "Zuko's coronation starts in 10 minutes" and as he spotted Azula he let out a welp of surprise. He raised his arms quickly in defence and then looked at Zuko who had a confident look in his face, signalling there isn't anything to worry about. He replied with a smile and continued his walk to Katara.

Azula then dropped whatever was held in her hands. A jar of nuts crashed to the floor and several people in the room jumped in surprise. Pleased with this, she walked to her brother and intently looked at his dish. The room was quiet again. She could feel everyone was looking at her, but in caution. As she glanced around, they minded their own business. The Avatar was by Katara's side and they hugged each other. Fortunately this was close to her as she was still grabbing bread from Zuko's plate and was stuffing them into her pockets.

Casually she walked towards Aang and quickly grabbed his neck with great strength, letting her fingernails puncture his delicate skin and briskly threw him outside the room. A sickening thud was suddenly heard. Blood started to drip from her razer like fingernails.

She then grabbed Zuko and held their faces up close to ask a question. "Where is… my father? She asked with sheer malice. Zuko could feel the Avatars blood be plastered onto the back of his head. Everyone in the room got up. The Dragon of The West walked towards her and kept a respectful distance to say solemnly "My brother committed suicide in prison after his defeat" Azula's eyes focussed away from Zuko.

"Am I free now? What could this possibly mean for me…"? She thought quickly.

"His dying words were, he was proud of his daughter" Even though Azula was a people's person, She couldn't tell if he was lying or if he wanted him to lie. She saw his eyes move in direction of the exit. The Avatar was unconscious on the floor with blood dripping from his forehead and neck. "Azula its okay, no one is here to hurt you-"She interrupted with desperation "Because you all already have?" Her face felt red and she felt everyone focusing on her. Warmth was felt in her free hand. She lifted it up and saw blue flame erupting from her palm. She may be outnumbered but she still had a hostage. She bended the rich fire into a very refined one and spun Zuko around quickly, and held it to his neck. She wasn't going to take any chances with these people. "I'm going to have a private chat with Zuzu with no interruptions." Her voice had regained some pride and confidence but less of the latter and smirked slightly. Zuko motioned his friends everything was okay and was led outside the room. As they exited she let go of Zuko and he followed obediently in silence.

Behind her, she could sense brisk footsteps meaning the Avatar's friends rushed to his aid, also hearing the water tribe call out his name in fear. She smirked delightfully and walked gracefully at this development.

(x)

Azula finally stopped walking when she reached the old turtle duck pond. Zuko was quiet for the brief walk but opened his mouth to ask a simple question thoughtfully. "Azula, do you know where our mother is?" She laughed and threw small pieces of bread into the pond; the turtle ducks gracefully ate her offerings. "I thought you were going to eat-"But he stopped. His eyes opened widely and let out a gasp. His mother was present the whole time, a hooded figure on a seat. The hood fell back onto her shoulders with the aid of slender, caring fingers. Despite the years apart, there wasn't a sign of aging, maybe he just didn't care what she looked like. Her voice was soft but comforting "Zuko..." It was apparent her cheeks were already stained by tears, but fresh tears started to form. "I have missed you so much" She got up quickly to be embraced by her son. "I missed you too" His head dug into her shoulder, a feeling he almost had forgotten.

Azula was still throwing bread bits into the pond. There wasn't any ducks present. Zuko was behind her and asked what she was doing and the meaning of her behaviour before. She looked behind and smirked to answer his question, as he turned her smile morphed into an agonising frown. "She never loved me… she thought I was a monster"

He started to walk off in preparation for his coronation. "Oh I know where mother is, but if I tell you, what will become of me…Fire-lord Zuko?" Her voice was filled with bitter and contempt. Zuko could only gasp at this new development. He had to be careful with his words now as he stopped and walked back to his sister.

Azula intently studied his face as he thought to himself and as he tried to speak he was interrupted by a Fire Sage. "Prince Zuko please come, it is time." Azula just smiled at Zuko's frustrated face, popped a bread bit into her mouth and looked back to the pond. The prince walked off trying to hide his frustration but his uneven, brisk pace revealed his truer feelings. Azula just giggled but stopped as she saw Mai walk past. Her jaw dropped and stared with great focus at her former friend she trusted. She got up and followed her stealthily with a wide menacing grin. "Oh Mai, it's time for a little reunion" the princess thought to herself with glee.

A/N: I got no idea what I'm doing as I started and wrote bit of a quarter 4am. Thanks for your time. Sigh... I've edited it 4-5am again. It somehow feels better to do this so late- well early in the morning.

A/N: 2 Err this could have been released ages ago like real ages ago. Sigh I'll keep this in mind for the future. (Although what was written back then was a very rougher than what you see now)

All copyright goes to their respective owners. I own nothing, or do I… muahahahaah