Perfection.

It's what her father asked of her. What her people expected of her. The very thing she strived for herself. She was so close. Just one hair out of place. Or maybe two. Or three. If she were truly honest with herself she'd see where she went wrong. She underestimated them. All of them. Her friends. Her brother. The Avatar. Even her own father. She underestimated his own greed, his own ambition. She thought she had him matched, but she was wrong.

When she suggested burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground she never expected him to take that as a cue to throw her the Fire Lord crown and don upon himself a new title. That shocked her. That rattled her. It excited her. But it also made her nervous. Made her snap. Too much change at once can be detrimental to one's psyche after all. She had just lost her two closest friends and allies, her brother was out there somewhere planning her and her nation's downfall and then her father decided to drop the weight of an entire country on her shoulders? It was all too much. She could feel it weighing her down all too quickly. It all became too much for her to handle.

Before she knew it, she had lost it. She became paranoid and rid herself of all potential traitors. No more allies to betray her was what she thought. Even the servants had to go, assassinations tended to come from the inside. Then she saw her. Her mother, damn that Ursa, telling her she loved her and how proud of her she was. That was what broke her. She knew her mother would never be proud of her. Proud of what she became. She'd be proud of Zuko. Of his choice to side with the Avatar and go against their father. Their mother, wherever she was hiding out, would be cheering him on just like she always did as she silently judged her for her cruelty and bad decisions. So she cried, knowing that she was hallucinating something she always wanted. She knew she had her mother's love, Ursa was too good a woman to hate her own child, but she never had her acceptance. Her mind was slipping away like the water cascading down her face in tears.

All too soon it all came crumbling down. Her father was defeated by the Avatar and she by her own worthless brother and some peasant from the Water Tribe. Chained and helpless she began to cry again and breathe fire. She needed to get the energy out while she could. It was burning her up inside, she was so on edge. She eventually collapsed from exhaustion, both from the fight and her tumultuous couple of days as the ruler of the Fire Nation, and woke up in captivity. There she stayed only hearing the news in snippets. Zuko was crowned king. Him and the Avatar sought to rid the world of Fire Nation colonies. All "peace making" garbage. Something had to be done.

She began to plan. She had to find a way to get the crown back. She had already forgotten how much ruling her nation damaged her. She missed the power, the prestige, the freedom. She got ahold of her father and together they plotted. Zuko came for her just as planned and everything was set in motion. Of course, she failed but at least she managed to escape. She ran for the valley her newly found mother used to get a new life. On a whim she decided. This was it. This could fix her. A new life. No father requiring perfection of her. No people relying on her judgment. No disappointed mother or sanctimonious brother. Just her with a new face, no memories and a new life. She saw the goddess approach. As she looked at her new, somewhat plain image with a blank mind all she could think of was one familiar word from a distant past.

Perfection.