A/N: Umm...so, this is my first Avatar fanfiction ever. It was written for Blake's Challenge over at "A Little Piece of Heaven" forum, which is number eight in the general category. The prompt was ""The closer we get to the light, the deeper our shadow becomes". I thought of many things at first, like Phantom of the Opera, Lion King, Warriors, so on and so forth until I was watching Avatar this morning. And even though the episode I was watching had absolutely nothing to do with Azula, the prompt suddenly reminded me of her. So...enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Eclipsed
"There's something off about her, I can't explain it but she's slipping."
His gold eyes, carefully calculating every movement his sister made, betrayed no emotion. But deep inside, his mind was churning. There was certainly something off about Azula, yet he couldn't place it. Her stance, her appearance, even the way she ran at him screamed the very antithesis of what she was.
It was strange, he briefly reflected. As the comet drew closer, and the light became brighter, Azula had become lost in the darkness of her own mind. Zuko felt the strangest feeling of all, even as he and his sister dueled: regret. This was not the way things were supposed to happen.
Yes, he had always known that there would be an epic duel between the two of them. It was not the standard battle of "good versus evil", for he had been evil once. It was not the standard battle of two heirs fighting over the throne, for all he wanted was to help put an end to the spell that his father held over the world. It was two children, really, resolving the long-standing tension between them the only way they knew how. The only way they had been taught how. With bursts of flame and calloused words.
He felt the heat of battle and the intensity that both of them were pouring into it. He wondered for a moment, if their father would've been proud, but then it occurred to him that there father simply would've been amused, watching his kin pit against each other. The adrenaline pumped through him, mingling with his regret, and a newfound sense of pity as Azula's deranged cackling rang through his ears. The urgency of the comet, and her coronation hit her harder than any blow than he could've dealt.
Which is what made the battle easier, in a way. As unpredictable as she was in her current mental state, her blows were less than accurate; no one else was there to aid her in the fight. His confidence grew, as well as his pity and regret. He would never say this out loud, but the words echoed in his head: Poor Azula.
Azula had all the tactical skill and wit to be a brilliant general. She could've been the youngest, and the first woman general to have ever graced the ranks of the Fire Nation army. There was so much potential that had been wasted in Azula. If she had realized, like he did, how badly their father was manipulating them, she would've been an excellent ally.
It occurred to Zuko that she could not realize how badly she was being manipulated, since she was such a mistress of manipulation herself. She had relied so heavily on manipulation that she feared she would soon fall victim to it, retribution for all the pain she had caused. He didn't even need to finish her off. She was already doing that for him.
However, he was wrong to misjudge her so quickly. He assumed that, due to her current state, she wasn't able to hone down on breaking relationships. He cursed at himself as he raced toward the lightning, which was heading straight for Katara. As he absorbed in the lightning, he realized that his mind had been eclipsed by his pity for Azula. He treated her as less of a threat, and paid the ultimate price.
Now, obviously we know that Zuko is okay. But since this is Zuko's perspective, he doesn't know that at the time. Just to clear things up. Review, critique, see ya later!