Title: Absolute Control
Characters: Iroh, Ozai
Rating: PG
Summary: Explanation on Iroh's behavior while in prison
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.
A/N: If this seems familair it's because I had it posted separtely before but decided to combine all my Iroh fics into one collection
Iroh sat in the cell reflecting on how things came to be. As he mulled over his past, especially his past with his brother, one memory stuck.
"Brother, you know why you're not now the Fire Lord?" Ozai asked in a mocking tone. "It's because you lost your mind when Lu Ten died. Everyone knew, even Father. Why do you think he changed his successor?"
Iroh frowned seeing through his brother's words, "You know that is a lie."
"Come on," Ozai said shortly. "Anyone put in the situation father was in would've done the same. Considering how much time and manpower you waste when you abandoned your duty and lost us our best chance at Ba Sing Se. I can't imagine the impact of damages that you inflicted on father with that failure; he was so disappointed in you. It's obvious that we would have won if you weren't such a fool."
Iroh wished he could just ignore his brother's words, but they hit him where it hurt, his brother was always good at that. After a few moments of silence he noticed Ozai was looking at him expectantly, waiting on his reaction. Iroh didn't trust Ozai's motives, the whole set up felt like a trap. The general decided that retreat was the best strategy and left the room without another word.
Looking back on that old memory Iroh realized that he ended up right where Ozai had always wanted him. Ozai finally had absolute control over his brother's life. It was depressing at first, but Iroh cane to realize that he had to and could take advantage of even in this horrifying situation. Since Lu Ten's death, Ozai always made remarks about Iroh's mental state, normally not flatteringly. Iroh knew it was time for him to use his brother's insulting theories against him. If his brother expected him to be senile and mad, he would oblige his brother, or at least appear to and hope no one would catch on until it was too late.