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The first thing Zuko felt was fear. It was something instinctual, a subconscious feeling that something was very different and very wrong.

He pushed himself up and realize the first part of the "wrongness."

This wasn't his bed. Which meant that this wasn't his room.

Where was he!? Where?! How did he get here?

His head felt strange, heavy as he brought it up, eyes blinking open. Why was everything still fuzzy?

And why could he only see one side of his nose?

He started to clutch at the blind side of his head and felt...something there. It was some kind of fabric, and it was held tight on his head.

Why was it tight?

"Prince Zuko, you're awake!"

He cried in alarm at the voice, muffled through one ear, and nearly fell out of the bed in the process.

"Please, don't move so quickly, My Prince! You'll only worsen your injuries!" the voice called, and he suddenly felt a hand gently yet firmly push him back on the bed before he might slip off.

He didn't fight it, too busy groaning as his covered-face began to throb beneath the cloth. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice slurred and almost foreign to his own ears as he squinted towards the voice.

"I am Chazun, Prince Zuko. Your Physician," the man answered patiently, falling silent as Zuko stared at him.

Zuko 's vision cleared just enough for him to see the brown eyed man, his hair and beard greying yet not showing any white yet. He was wearing white robes, a color reserved for funerals and doctors.

A doctor. Something about that made Zuko very worried about the bandages on his face.

Along with the stinging sensation beneath them, growing more intense and spreading slowly.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, the words softly echoing in his own good ear.

"You were injured, Prince Zuko," Chazun explained with a consoling voice. "We've been treating the wound as best we could-"

"What wound?" he asked suddenly as something, some memory poked at the back of his mind.

There was a long, heavy silence at that as his mind drifted back to a dark throne room, lit by fire.

"Prince Zuko, what do you remember?" Chazun asked warily.

Zuko scowled, then flinched. "I...I was burned," he remembered as his hand shook.

Right, he had jumped to save...to save...Azula?

Why would he need to save Azula? Why would she be in danger, and just standing there waiting for it?

Why would he need to protect her when Grandfather and Father were th-

"No," he whispered in shock, clutching the side of his face.

He had to protect her because Grandfather ordered it.

"No, no, no, no!" he whispered with dread, his body paling.

He had to protect her because Father was going to kill her.

"My prince, you must-" Chazun called urgently, only to step back as Zuko swiped out his fist with a weak flame about it.

"Get back!" Zuko demanded frantically as he became incredibly aware of one thing and one thing only. "Where is she?! Where is my sister!?"

"Zuko!"

The whole world appeared to freeze to the prince, his own name echoing in his ears. His gaze went to the door and saw the speaker was already approaching his bed; his mother. "Oh, Zuko," she whispered with too many emotions, bringing her son into an embrace without another word.

"Mom," Zuko said, love and sorrow and tiredness all in his voice. "Mom, Azula! Wher-"

"She's fine, Zuko," Ursa promised, pulling back to smile. It was a strange smile, so proud yet somehow almost broken in a way. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

"But Father! Grandfather!" Zuko exclaimed, not sure what else to say. How could any of them be safe after that?

"Your father is gone, Zuko," Ursa said bluntly, unsure if Zuko would be relieved or heartbroken by this.

Zuko blinked. Gone, that could mean many things. "You mean he's...?" he swallowed, his meaning clear.

Ursa shook her head. "Firelord Azulon, was...wrong to do things in that manner, but he did not intend harm to come to you or your sister. He didn't want to believe his own son would do such a thing, but felt he needed to know," she explained carefully, her tone bitter, her fingers trembling with motherly rage.

Zuko wasn't sure he understood, not really, but he nodded all the same. Azula was safe. Grandfather was...maybe safe to be around? Father was gone. That made sense for the most part. "Mom? What's wrong? Why does my face hurt so much," Zuko asked, cringing as he felt a stabbing sensation in his face if his facial muscles moved too much.

The Fire Princess looked pointedly to the doctor. "I thought it was time to hear how the prince was feeling before giving him more medicine for the pain, Lady Ursa," Chazun explained carefully.

Ursa scowled, but understood the need. They had to be sure that the damage wasn't worse than just a scar. As bad as that was, it could be much worse for the young prince. "Zuko, Doctor Chazun will take care of the pain, but he needs to ask you some questions to try and make sure you're getting better. Okay?" she asked in a sweet, encouraging voice.

Zuko nodded softly, but had a question of his own that remained unanswered. "Where's Azula?"

"She went for a walk, Sweetie. You've been asleep for a while and I made her get some fresh air," Ursa explained.

Meanwhile

"Monster!"

Azula didn't react. Not when she was slammed against the tree, not when she was held there by fists as tiny as her own, not when normally bored eyes glared wrathfully into her own and certainly not when that word left the tongue of a friend.

"What did you do to Zuko!?" Mai demanded, looking more emotional and more animal than she ever had in the past as she pinned the princess to the tree.

"Mai, stop it! Can't you see she's upset too!" Ty Lee stated, trying to pull Mai off of Azula, "Her aura-!"

"I don't want to hear it from you, Ty Lee! I want to hear it from her!" Mai demanded, refusing to be moved.

Azula's golden eyes met Mai's gaze, and the young princess thought it was kind of funny. There were a hundred ways she could destroy Mai in this exact moment:

Cruelly lay into her feelings for Zuko, to have caused this sort of reaction.

Call for guards, who would instantly be upon Mai for harming one of royal blood.

Or simply overpower her, fight her off. It would be easy, even without Firebending. She was faster and stronger than Mai. She could wrench these hands from her person and dislocate the arms with enough effort.

But she didn't. Just like she didn't answer Mai. One should only defend what was worth protecting, and Azula couldn't find much worth in herself at all right now. Her mind, her bending and even her royal blood felt wasted on her. So she just stood there, limply against the tree, and let one of her only friends hate her.

Still...

"Am I a monster, Mai?"

That question made the courtyard go quiet as Mai stared at the princess in shock.

"Azula," Ty Lee breathed with a shuddering sadness to her voice, cautiously approaching Azula.

For neither girl had ever seen the young princess cry as she did now, tears flowing freely. "Mo-Mother says I'm not a monster," Azula continued. She didn't sniffle, she fought away all stuttering. Even without the desire to hold up her image, some traits were just too habitual to let go of. "But parents lie, sometimes to be nice. But I don't think you've ever lied to me, Mai. Am I a monster?"

"I..." Mai's grip slackened, not sure who she was even talking to anymore. This wasn't the Azula she knew. "I didn't mean it, Azula. I, just- What happened?"

Azula smiled. It wasn't cruel, it wasn't cunning. It was just...empty. "My father was going to kill me, and Zuko saved me," Azula explained, her smile widening to clearly painful degrees, as if it was somehow important for her to smile as wide as she could. "And he didn't even need to. How f-funny is that?"

Ty Lee gasped, the shock broken, as she leaped forward to embrace Azula. "Oh, Azula! I'm so...I can't believe anybody would be so horrible! Your own father!"

"I guess it says something about what kind of daughter I am," Azula remarked self-degradingly.

"What's gotten into you?" Mai asked quietly, placing a hand on Azula's shoulder.

Azula stared at the ground, almost desperate to ignore the warm embrace of the affectionate acrobat. "I was walking to my death, Mai, and I realized...the world wouldn't be bad without me. Maybe even better."

"Don't talk like that! You know that's not true!" Ty Lee defended, looking downright afraid of how her friend was talking.

"Is it?" Azula asked with an empty smirk. "Father would still had Zuko, and could always try for another child. I thought Mother believed I was a monster; she says I'm not, but...maybe she'd have a child easier to love than me. And Zuko wouldn't have me to torment him."

"Azula, Zuko loves you," Mai stated, squeezing her shoulder.

"I know. He's too stupid to realize he shouldn't," Azula agreed, almost like it was funny.

"What about us?" Ty Lee asked with a small voice. "Did you really think we wouldn't miss you?"

Azula didn't say anything for a moment. She looked so small and empty to the girls, like a puppet whose strings were cut. "I'm a poor choice of friend. You'd both be better off with-"

Azula stopped. She was prepared for and anticipating Ty Lee's hug. She never planned for Mai giving her one as well. "It's official," Mai said with a sigh. "You're the new DumDum, Azula."

"W-what?" Azula asked softly, caught off guard by the stoic girl's affection.

"I don't understand what happened, but I know this, Azula," Mai said as she pulled back with Ty Lee, both smiling at Azula; Ty Lee's wide and warm, Mai's small and accepting. "We love you, Azula. You're our best friend."

Azula's legs trembled, fingers gripping into the tree. "W-why?"

It felt like their eyes told a hundred and one answers to her question, answers she was desperate to hear, answers she didn't believe she'd understand.

"AZULA!"

But that interruption wasn't entirely unwelcome.

The trio looked over in alarm as a familiar blur rushed towards them. "Zuko, wh-GAH?!" Azula tried to ask, only for her older brother to literally crash into her. The princess found herself completely bewildered out of her self-pity as she found herself soaked in the pond with Zuko hugging her very tightly. "Umm, what?" This was all she could say as Zuko stood up, still hugging her and essentially holding her now. She looked to her friends, wondering if this was still reality, as they stared in equal bafflement.

"Zula!" Zuko never called her that. In fact, she wasn't sure he was calling her that now. His voice was just so slurred and groggy that her name came out like that, like he was still half-asleep. "You're okay!"

"Yyyyes, I am, Zuko," Azula said awkwardly, blushing a bit as her brother continued to hug her like an oversized stuffed animal, both of them still drenched. "What are you doing here?" she asked, really wanting to turn around and get a look at him- because Ty Lee and Mai's expression were melting a bit towards horror, and she had a good idea why.

"I was worried about you and snuck out," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I kept burning through the killerpains."

"You means painkillers?" Azula corrected automatically, wincing at the implication. A Firebender's inner flame could be their own worse enemy in terms of medicine, mistakenly burning away cures and treatments.

"Zuko...your face," Ty Lee said softly. "What...did..."

"My dad did this," Zuko answered before scowling in a stupidly thoughtful way. "Or not-Dad. Dads can't be Dads anymore if they try to kill their kids, right?"

"Zuko, put me down, you need to return to the doctors," Azula instructed weakly.

"I will. After my sister stops looking so sad," Zuko stated with a grin.

"This would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing," Mai muttered softly, looking at the prince in concern. "Zuko?"

"Hmm?" Zuko turned to look at her, refusing to release his sibling even slightly.

"Does it hurt? Right now, I mean?" Mai asked, feeling very stupid for asking an obvious question, but it was a bit concerning between the bandages getting wet and talk of painkillers.

"Of yeah, it hurts a lot. Like a hundred butterbees on my face," Zuko answered, completely serious as the girls winced. "But I thought something bad might have happened to Azula. And it's not as bad as before."

No one dared to ask what he meant exactly by "before."

"But thank you for asking, Pretty One," Zuko said with a grin.

"P-pretty one?!" Mai asked in alarm, her face turning red.

Zuko nodded, Azula still in his surprisingly strong grasp. "That's what I used to call you before I knew your name, Mai."

"Oh, oh, what was I called?" Ty Lee asked eagerly.

"Poodle-Monkey," Zuko answered instantly.

"Hey, why don't I get a cute nickname?" Ty Lee asked with a pout.

"But poodle-monkeys are cute?" Zuko answered with a head tilt.

"Oh. Okay then!" Ty Lee accepted, doing a complete reverse in her demeanor.

"Brother," Azula spoke up with a small voice. "Please let me down."

Something seemed to click in Zuko's compromised brain, releasing his sister with a concerned and curious look.

Azula shuddered, Mai and Ty Lee watching her with sad eyes as she turned to look up at Zuko for the first time.

She paled; She had seen him in the hospital bed plenty now, but seeing him standing there somehow made it all the more real. Most of his hair shaven off, the left side of his face practically mummified. But she could still see the edges of the wound peaking out beneath the bandages.

She fell to her knees and started to wretch, her previous meal spilling onto the ground in a disgusting display of weakness on her part. She didn't care. All she knew was that her brother was scarred for life and it was because of her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered over and over again.

She blacked out, she realized. One moment she was heaving in the garden, the next she was being carried through the palace as fast as Zuko's legs could carry them. In a bridal carry no less, Zuko holding her close to his chest as if his sister was some precious artifact that needed protecting.

The idea would have made Azula laugh days ago. This entire day would have been hilarious to her. Now she could only cry softly.

"Zuko, there you-!" their mother's voice came in relief, cut short at the sight. "Azula? Is everything okay?...Why are you both all wet?" she asked in concern, kneeling down in front of them.

"Azula is sick." This was all Zuko said as he adjusted his hold on her. "I'm taking her back to the doctor with me."

Ursa stared at Zuko for a long moment, processing what she was just told: Zuko snuck out of the medical wing, found his sister, and carried her all the way through the palace while injured and drugged himself. Ursa couldn't help smiling at her little prince. "Well, let your mother help then," Ursa said as she took Azula from Zuko, and laid the princess against her shoulder.

Azula wanted to protest. To say she was fine, that she could walk just fine, that they didn't...that they shouldn't worry about her. But words failed her right now. All she had left now were two words: "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, my dear," Ursa promised softly as she stood up, using her free hand to take one of Zuko's, leading them both back to where very worried doctors would be waiting for them. "I don't know where you got this horrible idea in your head, Azula," Ursa whispered to Azula. "But you are very loved and precious."

Azula's hands gripped tightly into her mother's clothes, letting those words sooth her mind.

She wondered, was her mother lying to Azula or herself?

Still, Azula appreciated it all the same.

After all, it was a beautiful lie.

Elsewhere

Crown Prince Iroh was a troubled man. As any father should be, having to watch his own son die in battle. His normal exuberance, enough on its own to keep warm many home-sick hearts, was long drained away. His orders were simple and somber, but no less wise. The retreat from Ba Sing Se was a dangerous one; Earth Kingdom forces harassed and raided them, both professional soldiers and guerilla resistance. It was a long journey back to the Hu Xin provinces, and Iroh was determined to minimalize any further lose of life of his countrymen.

Six hundred days was far, far too long to be away from home.

But the retreat was met with mixed reactions among his soldiers. He could not fault them. It was why he had not called off the siege sooner; no one wanted to return in defeat. And there was no minor victory with that accursed city, it was all or nothing. And once his army had gotten through the first wall, he had unknowingly trapped himself between the growing cost of life and the common desire to see this through to the end. Because no Fire Nation- No, no force at all had ever penetrated Ba Sing Se as they had. Victory was just out of reach.

It had taken the death of his beloved son, Lu Ten, to realize that the cost had become too much. It had been too much for a long time, he believed.

Still, as frustrated or disappointed as some soldiers were, there was an overall sense of relief as well. It was impossible not to feel so, having spent nearly a year within Ba Sing Se, the enemy soldiers and the dreaded Dai Li making life a genuine nightmare for even the veterans of the Fire Nation army. They had to be on their guard still, yes, but that was normal and predictable danger that many soldiers would gladly take over Ba Sing Se.

In truth though, Iroh was not so certain he was going home with his forces. It wasn't shame or fear that made him waver, but...

He felt lost, adrift in life with his son gone, his very world. His eyes had often found their ways often to the distant horizons, contemplating a different destination. One where humans normally did not tread.

Yet he held off. He had to make sure the survivors of his failed siege reached friendly territory alive. That would be at least a week still, likely longer. More than two if the Earth Kingdom forces felt emboldened enough to pursue him further than they normally dared.

Yet all his plans and uncertainties had been dashed when he received two important messages.

The first was not to him specifically, but a proclamation sent to all corners of the lands controlled by his country: His brother, Prince Ozai, had been banished and stripped of all he ever was, even his name. He was not to be given refuge or aid by any citizen within the Lands of the Fire Nation, colonies or otherwise. Along with this was a poster of him, depicting a scar upon his neck that Iroh knew his brother had NOT possessed before. However, it was the crimes that were most troubling: Dishonor in the highest, attempted murder of the royal family and one's own children.

Iroh had paled harshly at that message, but managed to control himself at the key word: Attempted. Whatever this madness was, Ozai had not killed his children. He worried for Ursa, her death might have been covered up, but chose not to dwell on that. What he did dwell on was the second message, which was specifically for him.

"Crown Prince Iroh,

My Son. I would wish that this message finds you in pleasant times, but I know this is not possible in your time of grief. Know that I would not call upon you now if it were not a matter of urgency: you are needed at the capital. This is not a matter of war or politics, Iroh, but of family. Your brother has proven himself irredeemable and I believe I may have lapsed in how I decided to test his foolishness.

Forgive your father's selfishness, my son. I know I have already asked much of you, but I believe Ursa's children need you. And while I cannot pretend to know your feelings, Iroh, perhaps it is you that needs them as well. You are not the only one that grieves for Lu Ten.

Your Father,

Firelord Azulon"

Iroh had scowled long and hard over the meaning of these two messages. He knew his brother was power hungry. He even knew Ozai held Zuko, the man's own firstborn, in contempt for reasons both clear and unknown. But Iroh knew his father well. As much as the old Firelord disfavored and disapproved of Ozai at times, their father had never marked his younger son with any true contempt. At least not the kind that would make Azulon banish and brand Ozai, let alone declaring the man Nameless and his old identity effectively dead in the eyes of their laws.

Something had happened, obviously. But was it something he could help with? Oh, there was no question it was within Iroh's means to give aid, be it emotional or political or anything else.

The issue was if he could bring himself to, if he wouldn't collapse inward and cause more harm than good.

His eyes looked to the dawning sun, the presence of Agni's greatest gift arousing his army in a timely matter all on its own. As the silence of the camp began dying to the cacophony of men preparing to travel once more, his mind flashed to memories of his own beloved son. But unlike before, it was not memories of just him and Lu Ten, but of his seeing his son with Ozai's children. Playing, laughing, teasing. Showing them Firebending to their delighted eyes.

Lu Ten had been an only child, but it had never seemed so when he was around Zuko and Azula.

For the first time since the death of his son, Iroh smiled. It was small, but it was there. No one could ever replace Lu Ten, but he could protect and help the family he had left...the family Lu Ten loved.

When he met with the officers of the army, to plan for the next part of their journey, they all stopped to stare at him. Even those unhappy with abandoning the siege looked relieved to see their great general in a better state of mind.

The Dragon of the West smiled. It wasn't happy or sad, but patient and wise. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Soldiers of the Fire Nation: Shall we go home?"

End of Chapter

And there it is, the third chapter. For the record, I did not plan on Drugged Zuko before I wrote that scene, it just dawned on me. While it brightened the mood a bit, it wasn't like the girls were going to NOt react to his bandages and everything. Still, yeah, Azula had a very back and forth moment with Mai and Ty Lee. Still, yeah, Azula's issues are NOT going away anytime soon.

And Iroh is coming back. Maybe not going on his Spirit Quest. Which, you know, is a game changer on its own.

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64