a/n: The full chapter is about Azula's redemption.

Azula had been travelling for days now. Once she saw a poster declaring her as a traitor to the nation. If not for the possibility of indicating her location, she would have burned the whole forest down like she wanted to. The posters were all over the nation within a few days of her little escapade. She could have taken shelter in the Earth Kingdom but most of it is under Fire Nation now. She could have lived in Ba Sing Se's palace like she deserved instead of living on eating rags, but Ozai took that away too. Like he always does.

But for now she is stuck in the Fire Nation. In order to disguise herself she had cut her hair short, just a little above the shoulder, by a river with her dagger. Her reflection in the clear water showed how tired she was. She sat there for hours contemplating on where she should go next. She knew Zuko and Uncle were together somewhere. It shouldn't be so hard to find them but will they accept her? She put Uncle in jail and they never saw eye-to-eye to begin with.

Then there was another problem.

The only way all of them would be at safety was for them to defeat Ozai. If Azula knew one thing about her father is that he would never let his honor down. And the most weak ones and the most loyal one in his eyes? Right under his nose? Is very dishonorable. Anyways, the only way at defeating Ozai was teaming up with the Avatar.

And the Avatar was alive apparently. Two fire nation soldiers by a waterfall were very keen to tell her without even confirming her identity first.

She knew that Iroh and Zuko had already teamed up with the Avatar. It's easy for them to be all goody-goody. Azula, on the other hand. She did kill the Avatar after all. But she was ordered to do so. Also, would Azula, Princess Azula, ever ask for forgiveness? No. She has lived through fear and control. Plus, the Avatar and his friends were trying to END the war. Why would she want to end the war? The Fire Nation was winning it. She would find the Avatar. Let him defeat Ozai and then take the throne herself. If she was the Firelord with Ozai out of the way, she could free Mai and Ty lee. She would be unstoppable and the Fire Nation would be glorious.

But for now she needed shelter.

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That's what she thought days ago.

Turns out, peasant life was more difficult than she thought. Azula had to do odd jobs for just one meal a day. And that was the best case scenario. Sometimes, when they couldn't give her a meal, they would pay her which was so miserable that she couldn't even buy one fruit with it. And sometimes, they would literally kick her out. Even worse, the one's that gave her work were poor themselves so she couldn't even steal. Everyone was poor. Fire Nation soldiers would come by and take more from the people who had nothing. Tax, it was. More money was required to compensate for the war, they said.

Ironically, Azula learned more about the war and her nation by living among the peasant- commoners more than her palace where they were always taught about how great the war is for all the nations and their people. If this is the state in the fire nation, she wondered what it was like in the other nations. Her own people were miserable. The Fire nation soldiers would take away the most fit of the family, sometimes even children, to fight in war. The screams of the children and begging of their parents haunts Azula in her sleep. The children would never see their mothers or fathers again. They would be on the front lines. A protection for the skilled soldiers.

This wouldn't have affected Azula before, but seeing it up close sure does. She cannot imagine loving parents but she can imagine losing them.

She recalled a conversation she had with a few men...

"Is this a joke? You call this a pay?" Azula demanded the older man while she held the few coins in her palm. "I worked five hours continuously for this?" she continued.

"Look kid, I have nothing more. If you go over straight and then turn a right there will be shop. The price for a meal is a little more than this but if you request, they may give you some out of sympathy since you are a child and all."

Sympathy? They would pity HER? A princess? They should be honored that they get to serve a royalty!

Furious, Azula demanded "SYMPATHY?! AND ME?!"

The man looked confused for a second but then his eyes softened out of pity, angering Azula more. "Are you from a higher family? Did your parents kick you out?" The man shook his head in disbelief. "I will never understand rich people! I may be poor but I would do anything for my children."

Azula ignored the jealousy building up at the bottom of her stomach.

"Look kid," the man said more kindly, "no one here has much. Not even that shop. So they would be doing you a favor by giving you a meal for less price. I agree it's not much but we need to survive. So please go and request them. The war is hard on everyone."

"Why are you blaming the war? It's your fault you don't have any money and are miserable. You should be honored that you live in a nation that is winning it."

"But at what price?" Another man came in. Perhaps from the nearby house(if you can even call that a house). "What honor is there to live in nation that is causing everyone suffering?"

"But the Fire Nation is not bringing misery... it's bring glory-" Azula tried.

"Ah so that's what they teach in school now a days." The second man said as he laughed.

"Just do whatever you want. You will understand the situation soon enough." And with that, the two of them left.

Was she wrong about the war as well? Azula wondered. She had been wrong about Zuko being a fool. Azula's worst fear was confirmed. Her brother did team up with the Avatar and helped some of his friends escape the boiling rock. No one had ever escaped Boiling Rock before that.

She had been wrong about Uncle Iroh being a lazy and weak old man. But he escaped prison in such a "superhuman" way that the guards couldn't even explain it.

She had been wrong about her father loving her. But he never did. He used her as a pawn after shaping her into a monster. And now he doesn't even care about her. He's jolly well on his way to become a Phoenix king.

It seems that, Azula, the prodigy, the perfectionist, the best, was the one that is the least honorable. Wearing rags and eating rags. Barely surviving. She couldn't even take care of herself. How was she supposed to find Uncle and Zuko like this?

She hopes that she can be wrong about that as well.

She has already lost everything. Maybe letting go of her ego wouldn't hurt her.

So she went to that shop, her legs barely keeping her up, and requested for a meal.

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And it was true. She did know about the situation now. She was wrong about the war, she admits it. She was wrong about a lot of things.

Azula continued walking towards the direction where the Avatar was last spotted. Hunting the Avatar down was much more difficult without Mai and Ty lee. She missed them. Summer was near and the sun was blazing. She hadn't eaten anything for the last two days. She realized that she needed to take shelter when someone called her.

"Hey! Hey kid! A little help here please." A man was waving his hand and beckoning her over. He looked young perhaps in his mid 20's. He was struggling to carry some wood.

Azula went to him and helped him carry most of it.

"Wow, you are stronger than you look. Well since we can carry more now, will you help me chop some more wood and collect some berries?"

Well, she did need something to do and so she said, "Sure, why not?"

The man collected his berries while Azula chopped the wood. It was nearly evening when they both returned to his home. His wife thanked Azula saying that the wood would last them a week. And in order to return the favor, Azula could stay with them for the night.

Even thought they lived in poverty, they were happy. They had a young girl of about 5-6. Azula almost envied the family but mostly they put a smile on her face. She helped the woman to cook dinner and the child wandered around. Sometimes, the girl would look up to Azula as if wanting to talk to her but then get shy again. But apparently, she got enough courage to speak to her during dinner.

"You are very pretty." said the child.

Azula just shrugged.

"You know, I used to have my hair like you too. Above the shoulders. But now I am a big girl so Mama said that I can grow it below my shoulders."

"Good for you." Azula said in a monotonous voice.

"So where are you traveling from?" the man asked.

"Yes, I'm a traveler." Azula blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Do you have a name?" the woman asked before Azula could say anything else.

"Name? Of course I have a name." Azula used different names for different people so that no one could track her down. Usually, she had a name ready beforehand, but somehow she forgot to think of one this time. "I'm uh... Iza." she said the first name that came up to her mind.

The child literally squealed. "IZA?! MY NAME IS IZA! WE CAN BE IZA SISTERS!"

Oh no... This kid is a nuisance.

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The family let Azula sleep there that night. She was about to go the next morning but the woman wanted to have a chat with her. After finding out that she had no home, the woman asked her to continue to stay for a few days. Her husband was getting weaker day by day because of a disease, she had a hand injury and Iza was too young. They needed another hand in the house. In return, she offered her a home. Azula had agreed. Not because of the meals and shelter, but because she felt sorry for them. Their family seemed so happy she never suspected that they were having their own hardships. But she acted like she was staying just for what she offered her. The woman just smiled and thanked her.

So now here she was watching over little Iza as she stubbornly tried to light up the wood with some rocks. No one in the family was a bender. After 10 minutes Azula lost her patience and sneakily lighted up the wood so that Iza would think she herself did it. She had a soft spot for the child which she will never admit.

"Wait. I saw that!" Iza complained. "But, wow, you're a bender."

Uh oh. Azula never used her bending because that would give away her identity. She was the only one who had blue fire in centuries.

"You are not going to tell anyone, are you?" Azula inquired.

"Well, on one condition. You need to show me your fire again. Then my lips are sealed." Iza said with a smirk on her face.

Azula smiled. She was impressed. She lit a small flame on the palm of her hand. It did feel good to bend again. Azula missed the feeling of the warmth on her hands.

"Your fire is so pretty." Azula chuckled at the little girl's reaction.

"Some would find it scary." Azula said bitterly.

Iza scrunched her nose, as if deep in her thoughts. Then she ran away to her room and came back with a doll her hands. The doll did not have any eyes. But some buttons were stitched to it instead.

"Her name is Lala. She was very pretty before when she had her eyes. But then they came off. All of my friends thought she was ugly because of that." Iza scrunched her nose in disgust then continued, "but I believed that she can get better. So I stitched these buttons myself. And look, she is so pretty and unique now. My friends still didn't believe me so I let them play with her, and then they all agreed."

Azula just sat there. Shook. How can a girl so young be so smart? Azula believed that Iza had a bright future in front of her.

"She is very pretty." Azula agreed.

Suddenly the girl became sad. "I miss my friends," she said. "We used to live somewhere else. But the soldiers were taking people away for the war. So now we are hiding here."

Azula looked away. She had seen this before but it doesn't fail to make her sad every time she hears about it.

"I hate the war. And I'm scared." Iza looked up to Azula.

"You have really good parents. I'm sure they will protect you."

"But who will protect them?"

"I will. I will protect them."

"And me?"

"I'll protect you too. I promise."

Iza beamed and hugged her. Azula found herself hugging her back.

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A few more days had passed and today Azula was sent to collect water from the river. It was a bit far away. Azula smiled to herself as she thought about what Iza must have drawn that morning. Everyday she made a new drawing for Azula when she had complimented one of Iza's.

Smiling, Azula walked closer to their home with two buckets full of water. However, her smile turned into a frown as she noticed the same Fire Nation soldiers who were recruiting more commoners for the war, gathered around the house.

Oh no...

Azula ran towards the house only to be met with a horrifying scene. Iza was shaking in the corner, badly hurt and bleeding with her eyes fixed on the two dead bodies on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. There was a fight, but her parents lost.

Azula took out her dagger and stabbed the fire nation soldier closest to her. Some of them were fire benders and blasted fists of fire in her direction. Maddened by anger and clearly outnumbered, Azula went to her last resort and firebent.

"Princess Azula..." someone awed as they recognized her.

Azula spun and sent a sudden blast of blue fire towards the soldiers. Some of them backed away while some continued blasted fire back towards her. Dodging them away, Azula fired more blasts of fire at them...

Thirty minutes had passed after the fight. By the time they were done, the whole house was on fire and falling apart. Maybe a few got out alive, but Azula didn't care. She was too busy carrying little Iza in her hands far away from that place before more soldiers come back to capture her. But it was already too late for Iza. Azula was too late. Iza had already lost a lot of blood due to her wounds.

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The nerve of those soldiers, Azula thought angrily, to hurt a small, innocent and defenseless child.

Azula had tried her best to cover her wounds and stop the bleeding but to no avail. Iza was quietly begging her to stop the pain but Azula could only helplessly stare and whisper sweet nothings to her. Tears soaked her cheeks as Iza passed away in her arms.

She failed Iza. She failed them all.

It was dark when Azula was wandering with nowhere in mind. Still shook by grief and helplessness, Azula fell on her knees on the cold stone floor. She failed the only one who were kind to her. The fire nation soldiers knew about her location and appearance. She had nowhere to go.

Azula sat there crying for what seemed like hours. She no longer wanted to be the fire lord. No longer wanted the war to continue. She wanted it to end. So many people would be freed of their grief if the war would end.

Azula missed Mai, Ty lee, Zuko, Uncle Iroh and her mother. She had always missed her mother dearly after she'd left. She didn't want to lose anyone else. What if Zuzu or Uncle died and she never got to apologize for her actions? What if she died and her friends kept waiting for her forever thinking she abandoned them? Thoughts after thoughts crossed her mind as she kept on sobbing.

"Princess Azula," someone called her and Azula took a fighting stance immediately.

"There will be no need for that. I just want someone to have tea and play Pai sho with." said the man who looked old, very very old, while holding a white lotus tile in his hands.

a/n: So a few scenes may seem the same as from the show with Zuko. I tried to show how Azula was on the same road of redemption as Zuko. Also, Ozai always wanted Zuko to turn out like Azula but ironically Azula is turning out like Zuko(which is a good thing!)

Also Azula is an awkward turtleduck as well especially after her redemption and you can't convince me otherwise.

Another thing, I know that the Fire nation soldiers weren't really evil as we saw in the show, but just for the sake of this fanfic let's pretend that the one's here were brutal