Disclaimer: I currently hold no right to Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters and am unlikely to in the near future.
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The prison that the princess found herself in was missing some of the key components that the prisons had in her imagination. When still young she dreamt up fantastic stories of adventure and intrigue often in tandem with her partners in crime- Ty Lee and Mai. Certain adventures had brief stopovers in horrific Earth Nation prisons from whence they would be then required to conduct dashing and skilful escapes.
But this prison lacked several things that she imagined, and at this moment she was not with the people she'd imagined she would have by her side- they were instead traitors who chose prepubescent bald children over lifelong friends.
Lacking the howling screams of the sickly, the strange drips from unidentifiable sources, the clanking with no apparent reason and the rotting decay of long forgotten prisoners was in truth likely preferable to their presence. But this gave little comfort to the princess whose only solace was to concentrate on useless things so as to avoid the crushing horror of finding herself alone, abandoned and defeated.
Iroh found his niece standing in the middle of her cell with her back perfectly straight and her hands behind her back as if at attention. He found the sight less disturbing by reminding himself who he was dealing with. Azula specialised in putting her enemies off balance and would not willingly put herself in such a position that would even hint at weakness.
He realised that as he approached she was staring right at him without moving her neck to do so. It appeared that the first words were left to him. "I wished to see how you were, as nice as this prison is- it is not the place for a young woman to spend her days."
"While not a place for royalty, I will remain here nonetheless until the commencement of my trial." Azula's tone held no emotion, as if reading from a pre-prepared parchment.
"There will be no trial Azula." Iroh's face was beginning to show signs of regret and sadness, his features became bogged down by past emotions.
Azula's tone examined the words as she spoke them, feeling them out. "Then I will be executed without a trial." Iroh's eyes widened at this, his brow furrowing as if he didn't know what to say. "To be honest I did not think Zuko would circumvent tradition so visibly, it is not as thought I expected a fair trial but..."
"There will be no execution Azula, Zuko would not do such a thing. You fought against the Avatar but you did so under the command of your lord... and you are his sister."
Azula gave a quick laugh at this, seeming to find the situation instantly ironic. "Ah banishment- well I must say that it is fitting in a way. The banished princess. I suppose it will give me time to reflect- write my memoirs. Will I be tasked with capturing some arbitrary mythical figure also? A unicorn perhaps? Or maybe the Golem Lord?"
Iroh took time to pick his words carefully, the pain he felt but did not see from the princess tore at his soul. Such bitterness and betrayal in one so young, he now saw his part in creating a turmoil perhaps equalling that found in the young prince that he had charged himself with guiding.
"Fire Lord Zuko wishes that you would come out of this cell, he has committed to pardoning you of all actual or perceived wrongs."
"Really- and you are his messenger boy? Surely you have earned a better role with your treachery than that Uncle."
"I came because I believed I could convince you, and because I wanted to show you that you are not alone."
Azula stood unmoving, she was unsure as to how to respond to such a statement.
Iroh continued his explanation. "We both know that Zuko suffers from stubbornness at the best of times, he sees your stay here as a petty attempt to force him to come to you in order to offer his pardon and as such will not give in. I know that you are here because you believe this is where you would have been taken regardless, and you would not allow such a victory to be savoured by your opponents."
The only flicker of acknowledgement came as Iroh touched upon Azula's motivations for her self-imprisonment. The princess had underestimated her Uncle for so long that it was off-putting to hear a reminder that he was in fact a keen strategist. Azula admitted within herself that she had fallen into arrogance- she would need to better evaluate enemies from here on out.
As Azula spoke she unconsciously stroked an invisible hand sized mark on her lower back. "Very well, I will speak with my brother."
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AN: Not big on author notes, but feel free to rec the story to friends, Avatar fangroups or whereever else if you like it. Updates are generally done in advance and posted based on an arbitrary and variable system based on reviews, views and the position of the moon.