Note: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender. This is just a fanfic of it :)

Warning: Chapter may contain swear words.

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Synopsis: After dying in an explosion, top military engineer Sarah Foster never expected to open her eyes to a new world full of flames and cutthroat politics. Follow her as she takes this new world by storm. si/oc!Azula's twin sister fanfic. Warning: strong language/swearing.

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: T

Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Angst, Humor

Language: English

Crossover: no

Category: Cartoon

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'thoughts'

"speech"

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CHAPTER TWO

Sarah has been Azara for nearly a year now, and she still wasn't sure what to make of her situation. For the past few months, she has been trying (and failing) to come off as a normal baby. As to not freak out her new family.

Which was, what it seems like, a futile attempt now.

Sarah childishly blamed it on the being that was currently attempting to escape their shared prison, doing her best in climbing and scaling the bars of their crib. Sarah, or well, Azara now, looked on dolefully as Azula (whom she still staunchly refused to call her sister), fell flat on her butt once more, while glaring at the walls of their crib accusingly, before getting right back up and continuing her attempt.

Azula has been her only form of entertainment for the past hour, as she amusingly refused to give up. Azula, as Azara came to know, was a really determined and bullheaded stubborn baby when it came to getting what she wanted. She's also very temperamental and prone to tantrums, wailing to high heavens the second she didn't like something.

Another thing to note about baby Azula was that, even at a very young age, she was very possessive to what she believes is hers. Azara thought annoyedly, From the moment they met, after initially screaming as loud as they could (Azara due to panicked realization, and Azula joining in for the fun of it). Azula had decided that Azara was hers, the second her new mother put her down into their shared crib, promptly grabbed onto her with a surprisingly strong grip and refused to let go. Azara flailed around, looking pleadingly at Ursa to get her away from the grabby, happily babbling babe. But, Ursa just stood there with a pleased grin, eyes looking a little misty. Azara looked around looking for someone who could help her, but everyone was looking rather amused at her plight...except for Zuko, who somehow slept through his sisters' loud screeching.

But other than that, Azula was a surprisingly normal baby...at least that was what Sarah...-Azara thought in the beginning.

At first, Azara planned to use Azula as a measuring stick for baby progress, as she really had zero to no knowledge about anything concerning babies. Her cousins from her last life were younger than her, that is true, but the age gap between them wasn't so big that Sarah was old enough to remember what they were like as babies, as she was only a young child then. She really thought she was doing a great job at pretending to be 'normal'.

That is, until she overheard two maids gossiping excitedly about prodigy twins.

Sarah was smart. Smart enough to know that she had to act as expected and hatch a plan to pretend to be a normal baby (lest they attempt to kill her for possession for being some sort of spirit/demon or the other). Smart enough to use what seems to be just another normal baby, of the same age as she is, that wasn't another reincarnated soul (as far as she could tell), as a guide for normal baby behaviour. But, Sarah-Azara (she really needed to get used to the name) had forgotten one glaring fact about the Avatar world.

Azula was a prodigy.

So now, before she even knew it, she had not just toed the line of being not normal, but had, unknowingly, leaped and ran past it by miles.

'So much for planning to blend right into the background then.' she groaned.

Azara had been planning to become unimportant and inconspicuous enough that she would remain unnoticed by the future Fire Lord that-she-refused-to-call-father-because-she-already-had-one Ozai as to not mess up the bending world too much. The same plan that she had unwittingly thrown out the window, the minute she decided to choose Azula as her baby marker.

Azara grumbled as Azula fell once more. Which was a bad idea, as Azula immediately turned at the noise, and started crawling towards her. Azara resigned herself to the next hour of cuddling and disgusting baby drool, knowing that she can't escape it.

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Azara woke up to a cute face peeking into her and Azula's crib. Zuko seemed utterly fascinated with them both. He was alone, without his nanny, which was just strange. Azara looked out the window, only to realize that it was already night time. Zuko had probably sneaked off his room by himself and snuck into theirs.

Azara valiantly tried to detach herself from the human koala that was her new body's sister. But Azula is stuck to her, like super glue. She looked pleadingly at Zuko, but the small toddler just giggled at her.

Little Zuko grinned. "Hi!" he whispered-said energetically in a soft sweet voice. Ever the hyperactive child, her new older brother was completely wide awake despite it being hours past his supposed bedtime. "'Zara let's pway!" He said with a charming grin, seeing that she was also awake. He reached down, patting Azula's already thickening hair down gently, before trying to gently pry her away from her new twin's strong grip. Azula mumbled a bit, producing a huge yawn, her golden eyes opening a bit in a small glare and little face scrunching up in a frown at the disturbance, before falling right back asleep.

"C'mon 'Zula let gwo!" Zuko pouted, insistently trying to get to Azara. Azara just laid there unable to help, as Azula had her arms successfully pinned to her sides.

Before Zuko could get any further, the door opened once more, letting light from the outside spill in. Zuko immediately stopped what he was doing, looking exactly like a naughty child whose hand was caught in a cookie jar. Shuffling on his feet.

A man's voice was heard.

"Zuko, what are you doing out of bed." the man said sternly. "But, fawther I-".

It was Ozai, Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time that she was going to meet the future Fire Lord, and this new body's biological father.

Of the months she'd been here. This was the first and only time she had gotten a glimpse of the man. What an arse. Not even coming to see his new children for months on end. Unless of course, he visited them only when they were asleep.

"Return to your room, stop bothering your sisters." Ozai said coldly. Not even the slightest bit amused at the small toddler.

"Yes, fathwer," Zuko mumbled obediently under his father's cold dismissal, and shuffled off. Looking back at Azara mournfully. Before exiting, shutting the door right behind him.

Azara focused on Ozai, who was looking at the door with a strange expression on his face.

Was that...hatred?...with a bit of something else Azara couldn't discern. That was odd.

Azara doesn't remember much from the Avatar franchise, but she was pretty sure that Ozai only hated Zuko because he was late in showing his fire bending capabilities...Right?

From her limited knowledge of the show, she remembered that children here are usually revealed to be benders around the young age range of four to five. Zuko was a late bloomer, showing fire bender capabilities at the age of six. For the longest time, Ozai thought that he was a non-bender, especially since Zuko was born missing the 'spark' in his eyes that usually identifies children as firebenders. This made Zuko his source of shame, as the first ever member of the royal family that wasn't a bender at all, or so he thought.

Azula, on the other hand, was Ozai's pride. First showing her abilities at the tender age of three, far younger than any other benders. More powerful too. Which got her reputation as a prodigy. Making Ozai compare Zuko to her, and in turn, making him despise Zuko even more, seeing him as weak. Ozai is someone who revels in power, meaning any sort of weakness shown by anyone even remotely close to him is a humiliation.

But now, Zuko's just three years old, far too young to show any bending. So what was his problem? The eye 'spark' isn't even entirely accurate, especially since Zuko in the show has great firebending capabilities even with the lack of it.

Could it be… Is it possible? Does he think Zuko isn't his?

If that's the case…his treatment of Zuko makes a bit of sense. He never seemed to treat Zuko like a son in the show. 'No...wait-' Azara thought. There was a segment of the show that showed Ursa putting in a letter about Zuko being her childhood sweetheart's, 'what was his name? Ikon? Iken? Something like that'. But she only made that up to see whether Ozai was looking through her mail or not. But, judging from the ages of the characters around her, this seems to be from before that happened.

So, could it be possible that Ozai already had doubts long before that? And Ursa's letter only solidified that belief in his mind? Is it possible that he really believes Zuko isn't his son?

Well, there is really little to no Ozai in Zuko's looks. He looks like a little male version of Ursa. Azara shook that trail of thought off. This complicated family just seemed to get a lot more dysfunctional the more time she spends in it. From what she knew, Zuko is really Ozai's son, but… Azara got the greatest urge to facepalm (and would've done so had Azula not had her hands pinned firmly at her sides). Ozai really needs to talk this out with Ursa. Yet something tells her that that would never happen. Considering Ozai's personality in the show, ego and all. Azara sighed tiredly. Her baby brain already exhausted from all the thinking she had been doing.

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Ozai walked closer to his daughters' crib. He had come a few times before, when they were both asleep. This was the first time he really met one of them while she was still awake. It was his youngest. The smaller, more delicate of his twins.

She was staring at him wide eyed. With bright golden eyes she got from his wife.

Ozai stood above them, slowly assessing them. Azara felt like he was looking into her very soul. She wanted nothing more than for him to avert his sharp gaze. But she stayed strong, staring right back at him with the same judgement in her eye.

Ozai let out a deep sigh, eyes closing, breaking off their staring contest. His tense shoulders (which Azara didn't initially notice) sagging down a bit in relaxation. Stern expression relaxing as he gazed at his two daughters.

One asleep, and the other awake.

"Stubborn thing," he grumbled, reaching into the crib, gently but effectively untangling her away from Azula's hold. "You should be asleep, like your twin." he said, and to Azara's surprise, lifting her up. He carried her by the crook of his arm, gently swaying her from side to side, attempting to get her to sleep.

Azara loathed to admit, but it was working. The gentle swaying was making her eyes feel droopy, and before she could stop it, she let out a yawn. Azara mumbled, annoyed at her own body for feeling sleepy. She forced her eyes open glaring at Ozai in rebellion. She was not falling asleep. She wasn't. Damn it.

To her great surprise, Ozai actually chuckled. It was short and barely noticeable, if not for the rumble Azara felt on his chest. "Something just tells me that you are going to be trouble," Ozai said, amused at the glaring child. Azara let out a soft huff and averted her glare. Ozai shook his head. "and stubborn to a fault."

Ozai stayed silent after that, but continued swaying her. After a few more minutes, Azara finally admitted to herself that she was losing an uphill battle. Her eyes were slowly closing despite her efforts to keep them open. Ozai's rhythmic breathing and swaying slowly, lulling her to sleep. With that, Azara slowly but surely drifted off.

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Ozai slowly put the child back down into her crib. Carefully as to not wake her. He snorted as the other one immediately attached herself onto her twin, once more. Not needing to wake to do so.

He quietly backed off. Moving out of the room. Just before the door shut. He once again took a peek back and resignedly grumbled, "Definitely trouble, that one". Before finally leaving.

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Azara woke up the next morning in a grumpy mood. She woke up to the sound of Azula wailing as loud as she could. Still half asleep due to being awake late at night were Ozai had-... wait, Ozai! Azara groaned pushing herself up to a sitting position. Last night was a surprise. Frankly, she had expected Ozai to simply sneer at them and walk away.

But instead, he had picked her up and patiently swayed her to sleep.

Azara expected to hate him from the start, thinking of him as the manipulative cold tyrant who sees his children as naught but pawns. But last night proved otherwise.

It was believed that he had been emotionally and psychologically abusing and manipulating his children from the very beginning, putting them against each other. But, what if that wasn't true. What if there was some unknown factor that changed Ozai into the man that he was on the show?

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