Hey! It's been a hot minute since I last touch this story, but I'm finally back for chapter 2 now! This chapter will mostly be following the comics, so please don't be too mad that there isn't that many changes in this one. And if any of you we're curious, Azula will not be getting her signature blue flames in this story.

I have other plans for Azula. But let us start the chapter already!

Disclaimer: I do not own Nickelodeon, which means I do not own Avatar. All rights go to owners, and I recommend this masterpiece of a show.

I Love You, Azula:

Chapter 2:

The Island Of Hira'a

Azula began to groggily open her eyes and silently sat up to take her environment.

The young prodigy instantly saw that this wasn't her room in the Fire Nation palace, but on a ship that appeared to be one of the royal escape vessel's based on how the room was structured. She saw that the sunlight coming through the small window was a bright yellow with a lack of orange, meaning that it was morning. She felt her Fire Bending become more powerful as the sun powered it up.

"What am I doing on a royal escape vessel?" She angrily thought to herself as she got of the bed. She tried to sense if there were people outside of the door and see how many she might have to deal with, but she could only feel two people outside. Azula silently began to open the metal door as she prepared her Fire Bending in case there was trouble.

She came out and felt the sunlight and ocean wind hit her face as she what was ahead. She saw that this ship wasn't near any kind of island and that there were some Flying dolphin fish swimming together in a group. Azula gave off a frown as she knew that the only way out of here was hoping that there would be a map in the control room.

Suddenly, she felt that someone was coming to where she was.

Azula began to go get ready for a fight as she was confident that she could beat whoever this was. She opened her hand and created a orange, hot flame from it. She heard the slight creak of the floor as she began to ready her attack, the flame becoming hotter and bigger as this person was coming. The girl skillfully jumped out to surprise this person.

But one look at who this was made Azula stop her attack completely.

Instead of being a guard or someone who she would never care to meet, the woman in front of the girl was someone that she had known her whole life. Azula made the flame disappear as she actually dropped her guard in front of this person. The woman in front of her was someone that she had lived with, and someone that always scolded her anything that she did.

The person that she thought didn't love her.

"Mother?"

Ursa looked at her daughter with a bit of surprise, about to go back on the room to go check on her. "Azula. What were you about to do to me?"

"Why am I on this ship in the first place?" Azula asked back in her usual demanding voice. Azula gave a calculating look at her mother and tried to see any facial expression that may give away the answer.

"I am the one who brought you onto the ship, but I have a good reason for it." Ursa began to say in a soft way to her still skeptical daughter. The mother let out a sigh as she began to ready herself. "It wasn't safe at the palace, because your father doesn't value your safety."

"What do you mean? Of course he values my safety." Azula exclaimed with her arms crossed. "He may not care about Zuzu's, but that's not my problem."

Ursa let out a sigh, knowing that her daughter was going to say something like this. Azula never really cared about Zuko as, instead of being worried or sad at the idea of Zuko dying by Ozai, she actually smiled and openly mocked this to her brother. The young girl seemed to only focus on to things that she knew would make her powerful.

"Now, go tell whoever is running this ship to take us back to the palace immediately." Azula told her mother like how an admiral would talk to a mere soldier,

"I won't. I'm worried that you may be harmed by your father." Ursa then placed a gentle hand on her daughter's soldier.

Azula slapped the hand away and glared at her mother. "Since when have you cared about my safety?" She turned away from her mother to go demand to whoever controlled this boat to turn them around.

All of a sudden, Ursa grabbed Azula and held her close in a tight hug. Azula became angry at her mother from this and began to try and push her away, even threating to use her Fire Bending on her. Ursa didn't let go as she said something that made Azula stop moving altogether.

"Because you are my daughter. And nothing will change that."

Azula couldn't believe that anyone would ever say that to her in such a genuine way, especially her own mother. The prodigy tried to see if her mother was lying to her, but she couldn't detect any kind of negativity in her voice. Azula didn't know what to do now as she weakly wrapped both of her arms around her mother, Ursa still closely holding her daughter.

"But why?" Ursa was confused by this question. "Why did you bring me instead of your precious Zuzu?"

"I knew that I failed as a mother when I spent more time with Zuko than you. And I knew that there would be to reverse the past, but I knew that I could help you now." The mother whispered to Azula in a soft tone of voice. "I love you, Azula."

Azula remained silent as she heard this. She tried not to show any emotion, but the girl was actually shaking after hearing that. She knew that showing emotion was considered to a weakness by her teachers and father, but the young girl was actually struggling with this. Tears actually began to come down her usually collected face, actually feeling sad for the first in years. She just couldn't believe it.

Her own mother actually cared about her.

Suddenly, the 9 year old began to cry in Ursa's arms as tears began to form and go down her face. Any kind of emotional restraints that she once had we're now gone as she succumbed to all the anger that she had build up in the past years. The girl tried to remain compose so that she would be strong, but her emotions had taken her over for once in her life.

Ursa just gently rubbed her Azula's back as the young girl was struggling to keep her emotions in control. Ursa knew that Azula never cried, and this was mainly true back when she was baby. The young girl no longer looked like a Fire bending prodigy that could beat adults, but rather a normal girl who had emotions as well. Ursa gave a kiss to the forehead of Azula, something the girl didn't even try to stop.

Azula really felt weak as all of this happened.

"Ursa." In-So called out to the woman, who had her daughter right beside her. The night sky right above all of them. "We are only a minute away from Hira'a."

"We are grateful that you brought us here." The Former princess told the main in a kind way. Both Ursa and Azula were in black cloaks so that no one would find out about their identity, Azula remaining silent as she watched the adults talk.

"I still can't believe that you were ever banished in the first place, and actually brought your daughter with you." In-So said in a lower tone so that no one else might accidently hear them. "Are you sure that you will be okay?"

"For the 10th time In-So, you don't have to worry about us." Ursa said once again to the concerned man. "But, just swear to me that you will never tell Ozai about where me and Azula are. Just promise me that you'll do that.

In-So suddenly slowly went towards the ground and bowed to her on the floor. "It is my duty to serve your desires, Princess Ursa."

"I'm no princess." Ursa instantly answered as she looked down at him. "I'm only Ursa."

"Of course."

The ship reached the small dock that was on the water as no one else was there, which wasn't surprising considering the time. Ursa and Azula remained silent as the bridge came out to let the formal members of royalty step onto the wooden dock. In-So watched as the two people that he had been trailing with began to leave him behind.

"Good Luck." He called out to them, making them stop.

Ursa turned around and gave one last smile to the man that she didn't consider a servant. "Thank you, for everything."

The two cloaked girls began to make their way to the village of this island, In-So staying on the ship as he decided that he now must leave the island now. Azula remained silent as she gave a look at the surroundings around her, the moon still up in the sky and making her Fire Bending now feel much weaker now. It took a few minutes before they reached the village of this island.

Instead of being something grand or beautiful, Hira'a was one of the most simplest villages in the Fire Nation. Most of the buildings we're made of stone and mostly wood with green roofs, and only two houses we're actually multi storied. The paths were nothing but dirt with grass and tress off to the side, along with a few tall lit torches. There was still the Fire Nation symbol on some of them homes as a few, but still tall mountains we're far away from the village.

"So... this was your home." Azula remarked as she saw how small and insignificant it was.

"It was." Ursa responded in a nostalgic way as she looked around her old home, trying to contain her emotions after being gone for so long. The two then came up to one of the small houses here, a pen full of pig chicken that were currently asleep right now. Azula decided not to question her mother as the former princess began to move her arm.

Ursa began to knock on the door.

It took a minute before someone came to open the door. A little girl with freckles and brown hair gently opened the door to see who it was, a candle in her hand.

"hello?" She saw the two girls in cloaks in front of her, but decided to not make any comments about. "Oh. Can I help you with something, stranger?"

"Her family would regret calling us 'stranger' if we were back at the palace." Azula thought to herself, giving a smile on the inside.

"We apologize for coming at you at this time. But I'm looking for the Jinzuk and Rina that used to live here." Ursa explained as she removed the cloak from her head. "They were my parents."

"I'm sorry. They both passed away years ago."

Azula eyes briefly widened for barley a second, not trying to show emotion after the breakdown that she had just had. She knew that Ursa did have parents, but she never did meet them as Ozai said that they were irrelevant to them. Azula tried not to think to much into it as she still tried to remain emotionless.

Ursa just gave a nod after a few seconds. "I'm sorry for wasting your time then."

"I wish I could help you two." The girl said to them in a kind way.

"We'll be fine." Ursa responded as she began to walk away from them, Azula not to far behind. "Good night."

The girl didn't respond as she closed the door to the house that once belonged to Jinzuk and Rina.

Ursa felt such deep sadness after hearing that her own parents were now gone too. The woman remembered how she would always try to write them letters back when she was with Ozai, but they never did reach them as the letters that she put so much emotion into were just filed away. Memories of when she was with her parents flooded her mind, back when her life was so simple. She wanted to keep a strong face, but she felt so weak on the inside.

A tear went down the saddened face of Ursa, something that Azula instantly noticed.

Azula felt some odd feeling deep inside her as she saw how sad her own mother was. The former royal member saw emotions from Mei, Ty Lee, and Zuko and would always just treat this like it was nothing special. But Azula had never seen her mother cry before, and it was odd to see her do it right here and now. She never felt this with anyone else before, not even her own uncle.

"Is this... empathy?" Azula silently thought to herself. She always new what that word meant, but merely wrote it off as a useless skill.

Ursa suddenly stopped her tracks as she gazed at something that she thought would've been gone as well. A large wooden stage that had bamboo and rope in various places to hold it up together. Ursa began to slowly come to the stage and walk up the steps, confusing Azula.

"What are you doing?" She called out to Ursa, who began to gently caress the wood.

"This is where I got the part the part of the Dragon Empress in the Love Amongust Dragon play." Ursa remarked as Azula came up to her, a happy, but still sad, smile on her face.

"You mean that show we would always watch whenever we went to Ember Island?" Azula questioned her mother with a raised eyebrow. "Is that why you always wanted us to watch it when we were there?"

"It was." Ursa admitted as she by the wooden edge of the stage, Azula deciding to do that as well. "And this is the same stage that Ikem proposed to me on."

"Who's Ikem?"

"An old childhood that I wanted to be with forever." Ursa then gained a small frown on her face. "But then your father and Azulon came to Hira'a on that same day to propose to me, and I knew it that there was no other option for me. Then the rest is history after that."

The 9 year old decided to not say anything as she closely looked at her mother. Azula could plainly see the pure emotions that were on her mothers face, even if she couldn't understand those feelings. Azula saw how joyful Ursa was being home after being absent for over a decade. Ursa just seemed more happy here then she ever was back in the Fire Nation capital.

Azula decided to ask her mother one simple question.

"Did you ever hate living in the palace?"

Ursa wasn't expecting this answer, especially from someone like Azula. "What?"

"Did you ever hate living in the palace?" Azula repeated in a louder voice, not looking at her mother. "Would you have rather had a life here, away from us?"

Ursa wasn't sure how to responded to this question, but knew that she had to be honest with her daughter. "My life in the palace was miserable to say the least." She began in a gentle tone of voice. "I was forced into a life that I never wanted. I had no freedom due to the guards always watching me, and Ozai would always treat me like a tool that he could use whenever he wanted to. And yet, I was always forced to keep a smile on my face."

Azula silently let out a sigh after hearing that answer. What was she expecting from her mother? Of course she didn't enjoy herself there. The girl knew that Ozai would always treat Ursa and Zuko with little to no respect, but never really cared about it then. What mattered was being the perfect Fire Bender to Ozai.

"But it wasn't all bad though." Ursa then wrapped a tender arm around Azula, something that the prodigy wasn't expecting. "I was able to have a beautiful daughter out of it."

Azula quickly removed the arm from Ursa and moved a foot away from her, making the mother give a small frown. Azula didn't want Ursa touching her after what had just happened, and because it was the same thing that she would do to always comfort Zuko. The two remained silent as Ursa sadly looked at her daughter, who still wouldn't face her.

"What are you two doing out here?"

A man with dark brown hair in a pony tail, and with a nicely trimmed mustache and beard was looking at them on the ground. He wore dark red shirt that exposed his shoulders and had a gray outline on it, along with dark red pants that barely reached his knees. He had white bandages around his arms and a brown band arounds his wrist and ankles, also wearing some simple wooden sandals as well. He looked like an average, thin citizen of Hira'a.

"If your here for a role in this year's show, then I'm sorry. Auditions ended weeks ago." The man explained to them.

"Oh. We aren't here for that." Ursa answered as she looked at the man in her usual kind way, Azula giving a skeptical look at the new comer. "I was just here to revisit my old memories."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that." The man scratched his head in an embarrassing way. "Although, why were you just frowning a moment ago? Revisit memories shouldn't have to be unpleasant."

"It's just hard to come back to all of us, knowing how much it has changed while you are away."

"I see. Do you both have a place to stay?" The man felt bad as Ursa shook her head at the question. "Would you both like to come stay at my home for tonight? I can also buy you two breakfast in the morning."

Ursa and Azula were surprised at this proposal. "You would really do that for us.

"Of course." The man then realized something. "Oh, I don't believe I've introduced myself yet. My name is Noren, head of the Hira'a acting troupe."

"My name is... is..." Ursa tried to think of an answer for Noren, not wanting to use her actual name here.

"It's alright. You don't have to say your name if you don't want to." Noren then turn to face the still silent Azula. "Could you at least give me her name?"

"My daughter's name is... Yeira."

"Seriously, Mom?" Azula thought to herself with a frown at the stupid name she was given.

"Yeira. What an interesting name." Noren remarked as he gently held Ursa's hand, leading her to the ground as Azula jumped off the stage. "You can follow me to my home."

Ursa gave a small smile to Noren for being so kind to them. "Thank you for this. I'm grateful that you did this for us."

"It's truly no big deal." Noren told them as he began to walk home, Ursa and Azula following him.

Azula keep a skeptical and calculating look at Noren as she followed him, not trusting the man for even a second. Ursa was just happy that someone would be so kind to them at this hour, but she was also a bit skeptical about Noren. The man that they had just meet gave a very weird feeling to the mother, something that seemed familiar to her, but couldn't quite place it.

It felt like someone that she knew.

The bright sun shined upon the small island, and now people were finally up and out of their homes. At a wooden table of three seats were an uncloaked Azula, and uncloaked Ursa, and Noren. Azula was still cautious about this Noren guy, even after he gave them a room for both of them to sleep in, but the girl was the only one actively eating her food as the food back on the ship wasn't in the best condition. Ursa and Noren were actually talking about Love Amongst Dragons like they have been friends for years, neither touching their food in minutes.

"Okay. Okay." Noren recovered from the laughing the two just shared. "Honest answer. What is your favorite part of the play."

"The ending, of course." Ursa said like it was the most obvious thing the world. "Having Noren defeat the Dark Water Spirit and return to his mortal love, who actually turns out to be the Dragon Empress. It's hard not to enjoy that part."

"I don't know. I like the ending, but I personally enjoyed the middle more." Noren responded as Azula was now about half way through her bowl of food. "But I do love the Dragon Empress."

"She's my favorite character." Ursa told without any shame. "I always wanted to play her in one of the plays, but I could never get the role."

Noren just chuckled at this sentence. "I think you would have been great for the part, Ursa."

Ursa froze in shock as she looked at Noren in a scared way, even Azula was surprised by this. "I-I don't think I ever told my name to you."

"Oh. I'm sorry, bu-"

"I don't feel comfortable here anymore." A still shocked Ursa stood up from the table and gave a weird look at Noren. "Thank you for everything, but we must be going now."

Azula was right behind her mother as she also left the table as well, now seeing that her suspicions of this guy were right on the mark. Ursa knew that she was a member of royality, but hearing someone that she never say her name made her feel so uneasy. Noren stood up and saw the two about to leave him.

"When we were six, you kicked me in the stomach and pushed my face in the dirt."

This simple sentence made Ursa freeze up completely.

The woman looked at Noren in a very confused and surprised way, Azula also wondering what was going on with Ursa and this guy. Azula was ready to fight this guy if he wanted to, not even going to need her Fire Bending to crush him. Ursa just looked at the man in the most perplexed way imaginable.

"When we were twenty-one, you shattered my heart."

"I-It can't be." Ursa accidentally said in a low whisper, Azula barley able to hear this sentence. There was only person that she had known that would know all of this, but Ozai himself said he was dead. She began to slowly walk up to Noren as if she were in a deep trance.

Ursa placed a soft hand on the side of Noren's face, the man just gave a small smile to her as tears started to form in Ursa's eyes.

"Ikem?'

END OF CHAPTER 2

Sorry that this one was also pretty short, but I just couldn't find a good way to stretch out the chapter. I'm just going that every time I decide to add a chapter to this story, then it would be after 5 chapter new Pokémon chapters! What this means is that Chapter 3 of this will come out after 20 of The Very Best. Until then!