Chapter One: The Gift

"Trust is for fools. Only fear is reliable." was what she had always believed in.

And, she was right.

However, the current Azula was tired.

She was tired.

So tired of it all.

BOOM!

"AHHHH!"

"Please! Someone! Help!"

In one final attempt to spread fear, Azula consolidated her chi to create a powerful explosion befitting of a firebending prodigy. A technique so powerful that even the Avatar— both the past and present reincarnations— would feel threatened.

She would make Aang regret not taking her bending away.

She wanted everything to burn.

The aura of death lingered in the air. Red was everywhere. The fire tore through the city, burning everything in its path, leaving a desolate trail of ash and rubble behind.

The young girl with messy hair walked towards the palace where she once lived in all glamor and glory.

"AZULA, STOP!"

The former crown princess of the fire nation turned around at the sound of his older brother's voice. "Zuzu?"

"Enough of this! You promised to Aang. You promised to the avatar that you'll change."

Widening her eyes, Azula gasped. "Oh, Zuzu. Did you forget?" Then, she grinned. "Azula always lies."

Zuko's eyes darkened. With a wave of his hand, he had the fire warriors surround Azula. The same fire warriors who swore loyalty towards her.

"Zuko!" / "Mai! Wait!"

Azula heard two pairs of voices she knew very well. The lovesick fool and the circus freak, her so-called friends.

"Mai and Ty Lee. Fancy meeting you here." Still grinning, Azula spoke. "I wonder why you two were not in prison. You were once my accomplices after all. When I kill, you helped. When I torture, you watched. When I say fetch, didn't you always fetch?"

Mai tightened her grip on her stilettos while Ty Lee bit her lower lip. Oooh, guilty as charged.

"Shut up!" Ordered Mai as she gave Azula a dirty look.

"I love Zuko more than I fear you."

Azula remembered the last time she saw that look during Mai's betrayal at the boiling rock. She scoffed.

"I guess being the girlfriend and the childhood friend of the fire lord has its perks." Azula glanced at Zuko. "How about my perks, Zuzu? As your sister, I should receive something right?"

"I gave you mercy but you wasted it." Zuko scanned the surroundings. "Now, look what have you done!"

"Isn't it beautiful?" Azula opened her arms like an artisan presenting her masterpiece.

Dark billowing smoke drifted across the air, sure to suffocate those who inhaled it. The yelling, the cries, the increasing roar of the fire; everything added chaos to the burning capital city.

"I'll burn the old fire nation. I'll destroy everything, so you can start anew. I'll be the villain so you can play the hero with the avatar. Such is my gift to you. Congratulations on becoming the fire lord, my brother dearest. " She cheered.

"You…! This is madness!" Ty Lee shouted.

Roar! The last sky bison's roar caught everyone's attention.

"It's the Avatar!" Many expressed their relief because their savior had come.

"Aang, you go first. We'll help put out the fire," said Katara.

Aang nodded and jumped out of Appa. Using his staff, he glided to the air. He landed between Azula and Zuko. Anger filled his eyes as he saw Azula's mad appearance and what she had done.

"Why?" He asked. "Why do you do this?"

"Why not?" Azula laughed. "How about you? Why? Why did you run away?"

"Come to think of it, in the first place , none of this would have happened if you had fulfilled your duty hundred years ago. A lot of people died you know..." Azula frowned and feigned concern. "And it's all because dear little Aang couldn't handle the responsibility that came with his powers."

"Stop! It's not—!"

"Dear little Aang was weak! Deep inside, the great avatar was a selfish little boy who ran away because he was scared." Azula laughed like there's no tomorrow.

BOOOOOOOM!

Aang dashed towards Azula with fists burning red. Yet, it was all for naught. Azula's golden eyes glowed as her skin cracked, light bursting from within.

Each and every one of the evacuation centers in the fire nation— not limited to the capital city— exploded. That includes some schools and inns in Omashu, Gao Ling, and the other lands previously occupied by the fire nation.

Following the explosion, everything went silent.

Katara dropped to the ground in utter horror and despair. Everyone she had saved is now dead. The evacuation center exploded with all those people in it.

"No!" Katara was about to rush forward when Toph stopped her.

"It's too late. We need—"

A beacon of intense light stopped Toph's speech.

Katara's eyes widened. Isn't that where… ? Oh no. "Aang."

The light coming from Azula blinded Zuko and the rest. Anxiousness crept into their hearts as silence pervaded the scene.

Seconds passed, they regained their vision. A miniature crater appeared. Whereas, Azula disappeared. A wounded Aang in avatar state stood still and looked at Zuko.

"She's… gone."

After saying those words, Aang slipped into a coma. Nobody ever found Azula's body. The great thinkers thought the avatar sent her in the spirit world, alongside her physical body. With the exception of the avatar, no mortal had ever came back from the spirit world. And so, they pronounced her dead.

Azula died.

But not without taking countless lives with her.

Princess Azula hated traitors to her country. Who could have thought she would become the worst traitor by setting her own nation in flames?

Azula may not have been the fire lord like she had always wanted, but she did become the avatar slayer.

Aang never awoke from his coma.

The avatar died.

For real this time.

Surrounded by black and nothingness, Azula experienced a state of bliss for the first time in a while.

Azula could recall everything. She knew that she died. She could recall her failures and the betrayals. Strangely so, she did not care. Those things didn't matter anymore.

Azula felt nothing. No emotions. No sensations. No senses.

In here, there's nothing to do, nothing to prove, nothing to think about, just the purest state of being she had ever experienced. Finally, she can rest.

But, happiness never lasts long.

This place didn't want her anymore.

It contracted. It tried to push her away. Azula didn't want to leave. It failed.

Azula thought it was the end, but she was wrong.

It contracted again, this time tighter. It was stubborn. But, Azula was stubborn too.

She fought back. She struggled. No means no! She would never leave. She liked it here.

Azula didn't know how much time had passed, but judging from how weakened the contractions became, a lot of time did.

Azula relaxed. She won.

At the very least, she thought she did until light swallowed her entire being.

‐–— hi, i had an impulsive moment. i didn't really planned this out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and ATLA. All rights belongs to their respective owners.