This is the final part of the Visiting Hours trilogy featuring the one and only Phoenix King of Getting his Butt Whooped. This was originally written as a companion piece to my discontinued fic, the Years After where Azula returned to help Zuko and the Gaang against Hama's revenge plan. Just thought I'd put that out there in case you get confused with some of the bits in there.


Visiting Hours: Ozai


Darkness clouded the Fire Nation, as it was late in the middle of the night. Almost everyone was in their houses, asleep with their families. Keyword: almost. For the guards at the Capital City Prison, there was no time to rest with some of the nations highest ranked prisoners situated there. Recent chaos had erupted in the city and one of their most infamous prisoners had escaped, but they had since been recaptured and security was now tighter than it had ever been. So, it was no surprise that a hooded figure didn't go unnoticed by the guards.

"Intruder! Stop where you are!" The guard yelled at the person.

The so-called intruder simply lifted their head and took off their hood, revealing their face to the guard who stood back in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" the guard asked.

"You should know why I'm here," they replied. "Where is he?"

The guard gulped and lead them to their requested cell. Meanwhile, the hooded figure was already thinking about what they were going to say. Although they had seen the prisoner a mere few months ago, nerves were beginning to settle in which was something that they rarely felt.

"He's in there," the guard said, unlocking the door and letting them in.

The hooded figure nodded and stepped inside, letting the door shut behind them as they did so. The prisoner in the cell glanced at their sudden visitor before grunting in displeasure.

"I see that you've decided to visit me. After everything that I've done for you, I cannot believe that you would do what you did to me. I would expect something like that from Zuko, but from you?" the prisoner vented.

They scoffed. "You give yourself too much credit, father."

"It's what I deserve. From the moment you were born, I helped mould you into the bender that you were, and this is how you repay me? With a knife in the back?" The former Fire Lord Ozai berated his daughter, Azula.

"That's all you have to say? Because that's all you did. You were never a father to me and I'm ashamed to say that it took me as long as I did to realise that," Azula said.

"So, you've said. It's a shame though, Azula. I put so much faith in you. You were always my favourite and you go ahead and let me down like you did? You're nothing but a failure, Azula," Ozai said.

"And your point is?" Azula asked.

"Failure is not an option. Failure means that you gave up, you quit. You failed, Azula. You lost to your brother and that water tribe peasant and failed at taking the throne away from Zuko," Ozai said.

"I did not quit, nor did I give up. You should try looking at yourself, Ozai. You have to rely on other people to keep you in power. You lost against the Avatar, a twelve-year-old kid and had your bending taken away not once, but twice. That makes you a failure too, Ozai," Azula said.

Ozai growled. "Don't you talk about me like that, Azula! That was meant to happen. The Avatar was always supposed to win, you can't stop the inevitable. But what will happen is that I will once again rise as Fire Lord. My supporters will not allow that useless brother of yours to retain his title as Fire Lord."

"And I will not allow you to ever get anywhere close to that crown ever again. I'm glad that we've reached that understanding," Azula said.

"You were always quick lipped weren't you, Azula. One of the many traits that you got from me. What did you learn from your mother? Nothing because she didn't love you like I did," Ozai said.

Azula visibly tensed and looked down at the mention of her mother. Ozai grinned to himself, knowing that he had struck a chord with his daughter.

"Did I hit a soft spot?" Ozai asked.

"Yes, you did, and you know that. If you really loved me then you wouldn't have said that, knowing that it would upset me. If you really loved me then you wouldn't have abandoned me on the day of Sozin's Comet, knowing that I was on the brink of my sanity," Azula said.

"That was your own fault, Azula. You should have kept your head on straight. I trained you to be a strong firebender and you allowed yourself to get lost in your own head. You should've known better than that," Ozai scolded her.

"If you knew that I was losing myself as you say I was, then you should've stepped in and done something to help me. I was going insane and you just let me lose my sanity. That's what made me realise that you never cared about me and you never would," Azula said.

"All of a sudden you feel like standing up to me now that I'm weak. You're just as spineless as that brother of yours," Ozai spat.

"I'm not spineless, nor is Zuko. He had the courage to stand up for what he believed in, and you scarred him because of it. He ultimately made his choice on where he stood, when he could've easily stuck with us, but he took the riskier option instead. I've seen Zuko do plenty of stupid and reckless stuff, so he is not spineless. In fact, he is the opposite," Azula said with a twinge of pride in her voice.

Ozai scoffed. "Aw, how sweet. The two, treacherous siblings and their equally treacherous mother sticking together."

Azula glared at him. "Don't you talk about my mother that way!"

"Oh, so you stick up for her now? I thought you hated her, just like she hated you," Ozai said.

"I do not hate mother. Not anymore. And she never hated me, she wanted to help me, but you never let her get close to me. I was able to see past the lies that you fed me, and mother and I are now working on mending our relationship that you so happily damaged. That includes Zuko, Noren and Kiyi too," Azula said.

Ozai growled. "Don't you dare speak of that coward Ikem and his peasant offspring. They have no belonging in your life, Azula."

"Don't you talk about my sister and my father that way. Whether you like it or not, Kiyi is my sister and I have grown to love her just like a sister should. And it's safe to say that Noren is the father that you never were. He and mother have done more for me in the past few months than you ever did," Azula hissed.

"If you want to have those peasants in your life, then be my guest. But mark my words, Azula you will now be branded as a traitor by my supporters. They will do anything they can to bring you down along with that imbecile of a Fire Lord you have," Ozai said.

Azula shrugged. "That's fine by me. I don't want to be associated with those supporters of yours anyways. And Zuko, your son is not an imbecile of a Fire Lord. He's had that title for the same amount of time that you did, and he's done more for the Fire Nation and the rest of the world than you ever did. If anything, that makes you the imbecile of a Fire Lord."

"That pathetic excuse of a bender is not my son and now, you are no longer my daughter, Azula," Ozai hissed.

"I'm sure that would make Zuko more than happy and I don't care if you don't consider me as a daughter anymore because I don't consider you as a father and I never will again," Azula declared.

Ozai growled. "Ugh, get out of my sight right now you pathetic waste of space!"

Azula chuckled. "Do you really think that you're in the position to make any demands, Ozai? I'm the visitor and I can leave whenever I want. Meanwhile, you are stuck in that cell for the rest of your life and I hope that you rot in the pits of Vaatu's lair where you belong."

"And you will be joining me, too, Azula. Because let's face it, you were never any saviour before. You were just as evil and conniving as I was," Ozai said.

Azula nodded. "Yes, you're right. I was that. But I've moved on from that and now I'm a better person. I've forgiven myself for what I've done and to me, that's all that counts. As long as I have my own self-respect and dignity, that's what matters. You, on the other hand have none of that."

Ozai shook his head. "Sooner or later Azula you will realise the mistake that you've made in siding with that oaf of a brother you have, and you will regret the day you turned your back on me. When that day comes, I might just take back what I have said."

"Don't count on it, Ozai. Now, if you excuse me I will be going back to the palace to be with my brother, my mother, my sister and my father. Enjoy the luxuries of prison, Ozai because that's all you're going to be getting for the rest of your life," Azula said.

And with that, Azula turned around and left Ozai in the prison cell where he belonged, content with what she had said and what she had done. For the first time in her life, Azula had stood up to her father and she was happy with what she said, and she knew that she never wanted to see his face ever again.


And that's the end of the Visiting Hours trilogy. I wrote this a few months ago, back when the Years After was still a thing but now I've discontinued that story and I didn't really want to delete this, since I like the idea of Azula standing up to Ozai. You guys should definitely check out my other works since they're going to be incorporated into this at some point. Anyways, reviews are appreciated and if you haven't already checked out my other fanfics, then you really should.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Jose the Noob: Well, I just updated the Years After so go check that one out. I do have another modern-Kataang fic coming around the corner so hold your patience, it's coming.

Avatard: I'm glad that you liked it and I hope that you will continue to keep reading cause you know, reviews and all.