To a strict Physics teacher for teaching me the value of hard work…

oooooooooo

Chapter 4

Princess Azula was still young enough that she didn't have to deal with many dilemmas. But this one was destroying her. Usually, it was just a matter of counting pros and cons, but when feelings were involved… When you let feelings get involved. It got harder.

She didn't want Miss Omori gone anymore, she was sure of that. She wanted to see her punished even less. If only the woman hadn't said that. If only she didn't go breaking the Fire Lord's rules… If only she just kept her mouth shut like she taught Azula to do sometimes…

Azula couldn't just let it go. The woman insulted everything she held dear: her nation's history, her family's honor, her very sense of self. Fire Lord Sozin, her great grandfather, had always been her favorite. The way he won battles, how he changed the course of Fire Nation history while all his predecessors were useless. She could make peace with what he'd done, after all if the airbags really didn't have an army, then it was the smart thing to do… Ambush was the smart move… She would have done it. Would she? No matter how much she tried to convince herself of that something in the back of her mind whispered.

Weak… Dishonorable… Cowardly…

Everybody knew the airbenders died out because they would not yield to the Fire Lord. They died for their stubbornness and the world was better for it, that was the story. But another thing everybody knew was how Fire Lord Azulon died of natural causes and although she didn't exactly know what killed him, she knew it was not natural.

All of this was proving too much for Azula to handle and when in the middle of a firebending lesson her father yelled out: "Where is your head, Azula?!" She told him everything.

And after getting everything off her chest, she didn't even get a straight answer from him.

"Every Fire Lord does what is best for his people. I do, my father did and his father before him."

A few days later, inevitably, Zyra Omori made her way through the halls of the palace. Azula cut off her way to the throne room. She was panting, but luckily, she made it from her combat training on the other side of the palace in time.

"Princess." The woman bowed. Azula found it incredibly wrong, which was odd since she usually loved people bowing to her.

"You need to listen to me… If you don't want to get punished, you have to apologize to-"

"Azula, I know what-"

"No! We're not in school now, we're in the palace. You're going to listen to me… I told him about what you said in class."

"I know." The woman still had that easy smile while she tried to walk past Azula.

"Then why are you not terrified?" Azula grabbed hold of the teacher's hand, like that could keep her from leaving. "Your family name means nothing to him. He can do with you as he likes."

After hearing that Miss Omori crouched down next to her and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Don't worry, Princess. I can handle myself."

"I'm not worried," Azula rejected disgustedly. "I'm the one that turned you in."

"I'm not scared."

"You should be. My father is the most powerful man in the world," Azula announced and the woman actually shrugged. "Maybe I'll tell him about the detention."

"I had a valid reason every time." Miss Omori stood up and continued walking towards the throne room while Azula followed, silently grumbling to herself.

"I wouldn't want to be you right now," the Princess said before the giant door opened before them.

But if I were you, I would play it smart from now on.

oooooooooo

Azula was used to the sight of the Fire Lord, sitting on his throne, his face covered in shadows, but she couldn't imagine how it looked to someone new. Her teacher wasn't a commoner, but being at the mercy of the Fire Lord couldn't have been pleasant.

The announcer spoke their names. Her father had the wall of fire, separating the throne from the rest of the room, burning quite high today, no doubt to seem more threatening. Azula hoped that meant he'd chosen intimidation over punishment, while she followed Zyra to the flames. To her credit, the woman's step never once faltered.

Once they were right in front of the Fire Lord, they both bowed deeply. Azula told herself she came to be able to interject if the woman told any untruths, but she knew that was not it, entirely. She also doubted her father would do anything really bad to Miss Omori while Azula watched.

The wall of fire disappeared, and the Fire Lord stood up slowly, gracefully. Azula was still on her knees, awaiting his word to raise, but the teacher straightened of her own accord.

"And who died and made you Fire Lord?" she asked, smiling, and Azula's stomach sank, fearing she was about to witness her first murder. But to her surprise, when her eyes darted to her father, she saw a smile forming on his face. And she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him smile like that at anyone but her.

"Zyra, it's been far too long… But a nice surprise seeing you here."

"It's hardly a surprise, your guards came to my house."

"I meant, I was surprised to learn of your return to the capital and the subsequent hiding."

"Hiding?" The woman chuckled. "I walked the streets every day, Fire Lord."

"Well, you look well. The capital agrees with you."

"And absolute power agrees with you…"

Azula stood up, since she realized no one was paying attention to her, then stared blankly at her teacher.

"Matches your eyes." Miss Omori added.

The Princess shifted her gaze briefly to her father, who was somehow still smiling, and then back to her teacher.

"I think Azula is more than a little confused," the woman said.

"I understand she thought she'd gotten you in some kind of trouble."

Azula hated this. This felt like an adult thing, and if it was, she was completely out of the loop. And she hated very few things more than that. What was happening?

"I did break the law," Miss Omori said, and her father actually laughed slightly, waving her words off. "I repeated to those kids exactly what you told me about the Air Genocide when we were their age."

"It's no problem. I was going to tell Azula soon. In a year, perhaps."

Azula still took turns staring at each of them. Her confusion must have been painfully obvious since they finally turned their attention to her.

"You see, Azula, Zyra and I are very old friends," her father explained. It wasn't enough.

"I told you I went to the Boys' Academy. I met then-Prince Ozai during my first week." The woman smiled before delivering the last part. "And I beat his face into the dirt."

"You and I remember that fight very differently," Ozai said.

"I trust it's hard to remember, after having your head struck so many times."

The Fire Lord laughed at that.

"So you've been friends since then?" Azula asked.

"Essentially," Miss Omori answered. "I moved at one point. Your father got married."

"Azula, you can leave now. Zyra and I would like to have some time to catch up," the Fire Lord addressed his daughter.

"But father, the matter of the information she shared…"

"Is closed. Go, child." Ozai waved her off.

As Azula was heading towards the door, she saw her father gesture for the announcer to leave as well. If there was no one at the door that meant she could hide behind the curtains again and listen in. That was exactly what they deserved after excluding her like that.

Slowly, the door closed and, thinking Azula was out of the room, her father stepped forward, trying to kiss Miss Omori. Azula held in a gasp. She'd never even seen the man kiss her mother, this was… Unexpected.

Miss Omori put a hand on his chest to hold him back.

"You're married," she said.

"Not anymore, I'm not."

"So it's true? Farm Girl's dead then?"

Azula's eyes went wide. That had to be referring to her mother. Yet she also didn't know the answer to that particular question.

"She might as well be…" her father said. "You have to know, there was never anything more than procreation between us. I ridded myself of her, first chance I got."

"I have to ask. The Fire Lord, how did he…?"

"Killed. Not directly by my hand, but I killed him, Zyra. Finally."

Azula was prepared to hear a lot of different responses from her teacher, but not the one that actually came.

"Good." There was a coldness to the woman's voice, that Azula didn't recognize. And it was scarier than her father's loudest yelling.

"He'd just ordered me to kill my son."

"He always was a monster." Miss Omori drew a bit closer to him then stopped herself. "I cannot even imagine what that feels like. I don't know Zuko, but I did come to know Azula and she's… Wonderful."

"I'm glad we agree on that."

"Yes, she's so smart, so focused. I mean, she does have some entitlement issues, maybe she could work on controlling herself better… What?" She stopped when she saw him smirking.

"I remember knowing another girl with similar problems…" He got her to smile too. "I even remember her blowing up our chemistry lab when we were fourteen."

"Well, I don't know what-"

"I believe our teacher told you he didn't think a woman could keep up with his lesson plan."

"No, he told me the most complicated chemicals a woman should be handling are those in perfumes."

"So you do remember…"

"Of course, I remember. I spent a month distilling chemicals from perfumes to use them in my explosive."

"I didn't mean it as an insult. I have a special fondness for my daughter, and I think that is, in part, because she reminds me so much of you that I could pretend…" He made a pause. "Pretend she was yours and mine, not mine and that woman's. Like she was supposed to be."

"Ozai…" She shook her head and took a step away. "You have to know, I didn't come here for this."

"Of course… You came for work. You're a teacher now, somehow."

"It's a long story, but-"

"One I'd like to hear."

"It's a good fit for me."

"And according to what I hear from Azula, you're doing an exquisite job at the Girls' Academy."

"I'm doing what I can… With the scarce resources. It's better than when we were kids, but it's still behind what the boys have."

"You're forgetting I'm Fire Lord now. I could transfer both you and Azula there." He paused. "But seeing your expression, I presume that you have a personal interest in the Girls' school, so I'll just give you enough money to get what you need to work. Simply tell me how much and I'll write it down right now. I'll even make you headmistress to manage it all."

"That's generous, my Lord, but I don't want to be anything more than a teacher right now. The girls need me."

"As you wish, my Lady." He headed past her and towards the door. "If you'll follow me, we'll get you all the books and rulers you could ever want."

oooooooooo

Zyra sat on the floor mixing paints for another painting session with Azula. She couldn't seem to get the brown right and the girl was bound to notice and make her do it again. Her mind wasn't really in it today, however, since it was too busy thinking about Ozai.

No, not Fire Lord Ozai. She wasn't sure how she felt about him yet.

Prince Ozai. The young boy who used to pull her hair and firebend at her when she'd outperform him with the wrong assumption that she'd let his title protect him from her retaliation. Prince Ozai. The sarcastic teenager with an irresistible smirk who loved putting his hand around her to let everyone know she chose him.

"You're not done with the paints yet?" Azula asked from the door.

Zyra hadn't even noticed she'd stopped mixing the brown paint.

"Almost. Mind helping?" She couldn't stop herself from smiling when the girl sat down on the floor and started helping without a word. Only a week ago, she would have at least protested a little. At least said they'd split the job and that Zyra should do her part.

But now Azula just sat there, silently mixing paints.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Whatever you want."

"Are you my mother?"

Zyra jerked to look at the princess. Where had she gotten that?

"How? How would that work?"

"I don't know…" the girl looked back into the paints.

"I'm not. I'm not anybody's mother." It was true, yet Zyra hated saying it. She'd always thought she'd be someone's mother by this point in her life. "Did you listen in on your father and I yesterday?"

"I might have…"

"Well, you shouldn't do that, young lady. You-"

"I saw you kiss my dad." Azula blurted out.

"You didn't."

"How do you know?"

"I know, because I didn't kiss him yesterday."

"But you did kiss him some other day?"

Zyra sighed.

"Come on, I'm young, I'm not stupid!" Azula continued. "There's obviously more to the story and my dad won't tell me anything… He just says you were his best friend, but I know that's a lie. Ty Lee's my best friend and I don't kiss her."

Well, we weren't yet kissing at nine either… Things change.

"If I tell you-"

"Yes, yes, alright!"

"Let me finish… If I tell you what happened, will you drop this?"

"If you tell me the truth." The girl looked honest enough.

"Alright." Zyra took a deep breath. "You already know we met when I transferred to the boys' school. I was about your age then. The boys loved teasing me during my first few days and I mostly ignored them, until this little…punk, tried to set my hair on fire with his bending during recess, then laughed with his idiot friends. Knowing he was the better bender, I charged him head on, and tackled him into the pond before he knew what was happening. In the water he lost the advantage, so I could punch him and shake him and shove his head into the pond mud. I almost drowned him not knowing he was the prince."

"Woah." Azula turned to the woman completely, as they both abandoned the paint cans.

"Yes, that is the downside of not thinking things through. In any other group of kids, I would've been the one whose parents-"

"No, no… I mean, you were fun. And intense."

"I wouldn't call almost accidentally assassinating a prince fun."

"I would… You were challenged, you made him regret it. I presume he stopped teasing you after that?"

"We went through a competitive phase, but soon realized we were too similar not to be best friends. Then we bullied other people. Together."

"And…?" Azula asked.

"No and… It's not a part of my life that I'm proud of."

"What happened in between then and now? It's been decades…"

"Well, when you get to a certain age, Azula, you start looking at people differently. Ozai and I started liking each other so much we asked our families to be engaged. And they eventually said yes."

Zyra decided to exclude the part where they had a secret relationship that lasted years, together with the all the making out in hallways, running away from personal guards and sneaking into each other's rooms. It did not set a good example for the child.

It was fun, though…

"Later he went to serve in the army, and I followed him," she continued. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out for me there, so I enrolled in the university closest to his camp so we could still be close and-"

"Then why didn't you marry him?"

"Your mother," Zyra said before thinking.

"But he didn't love her, he said so yesterday." The princess didn't appear to have any problem accepting that fact.

Ozai must not have been good at pretending…

Now, why did knowing that make Zyra feel good?

"It didn't really matter. He didn't have a choice."

"How? He was a prince. He-"

"Had to obey the Fire Lord's orders. Ozai and I were engaged for years and Azulon would still not let us get married. Now I know it was because he was searching for your mother."

"But why? I don't understand. Your family is as rich as they get, why would he choose some commoner for his son instead?"

"Azula, about what I said last night about your mother… I'm-"

"I don't care about that."

Zyra wanted to apologize, but she realized it was more for her conscience than for Azula.

"Azulon chose your mother for her genes. Avatar Roku was her grandfather and he thought that meant-" Zyra stopped, realizing this was brand new information to Azula.

"I'm related to the Avatar?" She looked around. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew. The Fire Lord searched for Roku's descendants for years… Iroh was already married when he found your mother so that left only Ozai."

"He broke your engagement? Can you even do that?"

"If you're Fire Lord, you can do whatever you want… He didn't even ask, he just said what was going to happen next." Zyra took in a deep breath. "I heard from my parents. They told me I had to marry someone else quickly, or I'd bring shame to the family. I was old for bride standards already, so the only offer I got was from an old man who lost two wives already."

Of course, Zyra couldn't tell the girl the reason she hadn't gotten any other offers then was the fact that she wasn't a virgin anymore. That was unacceptable in a young noble woman, money didn't make a difference.

She also couldn't tell the girl how Fire Lord Azulon offered to marry her instead of Ozai since his wife was gone. Even Ozai didn't know that.

He would have killed him sooner if he'd known…

"So what did you do?"

"I said no." Zyra almost cringed remembering how young and naive she'd been then. "I pledged my love for Ozai and refused to marry anyone but him. Ever. I said I didn't care what they did to me, that love was more important. See, that was the deal the two of us made the night before. That we wouldn't let them force us into anything. That we'd stay united."

"And then…?" Azula asked once she realized Zyra didn't want to finish her story.

"Then your father agreed to marry your mother." Zyra stood up, picking up the brush and continued working on the little part of the wall that Azula allowed her to touch.

"He caved? He betrayed you…" She could hear Azula asking from behind.

She'd allowed her thoughts to go down that road too many times in earlier years, she couldn't go there again. It hurt too much.

"No…" She shook her head. "He obeyed direct orders from the Fire Lord."

"And you married the other guy?"

"No." Zyra looked at the little princess. "I refused so I was stripped of my family name, of all my titles and banished to the colonies. I-"

She had to stop herself from saying how, at first, she expected Ozai to change his mind and come rescue her. How she was homeless and almost starved at one point.

"It wasn't as bad as I make it sound." She stroked the girl's cheek to reassure her. "I found a family willing to employ me to tutor their daughter. Then I got more teaching offers, and… Well, I wouldn't have thought it for me if not for the circumstances."

"Are you going to marry my father now?" Azula asked carefully. Zyra was expecting it, but it still caught her unprepared somehow. Why did she find it easier to reject Ozai to his face, than like this?

"That's not why I came back, Azula. Now, with my parents and the Fire Lord dead, my brother was able to give me my family name back. That's it… I didn't come to steal your father or-"

"I didn't mean it like that…" Azula picked up a brush too and started working not that far from the teacher despite that part being pronounced finished already. "I just thought… You'd both want to. That you'd be happy."

And that was when Zyra realized Azula wasn't jealous, or afraid of losing her father's attention. She wanted this. She was missing a mother and well… Zyra was the next best thing.

"I'm afraid this situation might be too complicated for you to understand, Princess. You will someday, when you're older, I promise. But for now, all you need to know is that I will not be marrying your father." Zyra truly hoped that would be it for today, concerning that topic.

"You're right, I don't understand… If you were honest with me, then this is what you've always wanted." Azula paused in thought for a moment. "Is it my brother and me? Is it because of us?"

"No, no… You see, I did love your father once, Azula, but that changed. If enough time passes, you become a different person, and the person you loved changes as well, so your feelings can too. You can stop loving someone without anything, or anyone being to blame."

"I understand that." Azula turned back towards the wall and changed the color she was using.

"You do?"

"Sure. It's like what happened with my mother. She used to love Zuko and me, but then she stopped. So she left."

"No!" Zyra dropped her brush to the floor and pulled Azula so she could look at her. "Listen to me, Azula. It's nothing like that for parents. They have no choice but to love their children."

"That's not true." Azula chuckled.

"Yes, it is."

"So your mother, the one who banished you and left you all alone, she loved you?"

"She thought she was teaching me a lesson, I'm sure she told herself it was for my own good. She was wrong, and she was cruel, but I'm sure she loved me in her own way. They all do."

"Then why did mine-" Azula stopped herself since the words came out desperate and needy.

"I don't know, dear. I never met her. But I know she loved you." Zyra had never hated Ursa. Not even when the girl was marrying her fiancé. Much like Zyra, the girl was a victim, never given any choice in how her life was going to go. She'd felt sorry for her, but she'd never been able to bring herself to actually hate Ursa. Not until now. She hated what the woman's absence did to Azula and she hated that despite having nine years with her daughter, the little girl didn't seem to believe her mother loved her.

Zyra knelt down and embraced the Princess who didn't even try to fight it.

"I'm fine." The girl's voice was almost back to normal. No child should have gotten that good at hiding her emotions yet.

"Of course, you are."

oooooooooo

Okay, so I know I made some creative decisions in this chapter than not everyone will like, but if I'd just left everything as it is, Zyra would have gone to see Ozai and just DIED, which I'm not ready for.

I think this will kind of freshen up the story a bit, and I did hint at Zyra having like something happen to her in the past, so I'm not a terrible author… And I hoped it would make her into more of a person on her own, than just a person to tell Azula smart stuff…

About her hate for Azulon, it's understandable with the situation, I think. Like Azulon is to her like the incarnation of everything wrong and evil in the world. He basically ruined her life…

And I am kind of personally open to the possibility that Ozai wasn't always pure evil like he was at the time of the show. I want to believe it's not too late for show Azula so, I kind of have to believe people aren't born evil then…

If your read the Search comic, there's a flashback scene where Ursa tells Ozai that she sometimes pretends that Zuko is the son of her ex-boyfriend, and true love she was with before him, so that kind of inspired me to think: Maybe Ozai had a life before Azulon decided to choose him a wife.

Anyway, if you have time for a comment it will be much appreciated :)