Like Mother Like Son
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It was several weeks into Ozai's rule and Azula could not be more pleased with her father and her nation. Additionally, her father has taken a liking to teaching Azula politics and military tactics during his spare time, furthering Azula's belief that she will be his heir in the end.
"Father, will Zuko be Fire Lord after you?" Azula inquired while leisurely chatting with her father one afternoon in the training quad. Her legs swung back and forth idly under the bench they were sitting on.
"Come now Azula, I have just become Fire Lord. Do you think I'll be gone anytime soon?" Ozai asked rhetorically. He brought his arm up and in a rare act of affection, putting it around Azula's shoulders. Azula smiled sweetly up at him in return.
"Although if I'm being honest," Ozai started, "I would have preferred you be my first born. It would make certain things…easier."
Azula raised an eyebrow in curiosity at his last words.
"My own son is a failure. He's too much like his mother," Ozai muttered more to himself than Azula.
"Do you miss her?" Azula cautiously asked, waiting for his anger.
Instead, he just answered despondently, "Every single day."