The way she supposed the be, where she supposed to be

After being in the warden for a year, Azula started asking for Zuko, more precisely, she started asking about her big brother Zuzu. The doctors didn't inform Zuko of this till after another six months, for they thought that his visit could hurt her slowly regaining mental health.

Even after being informed of the despaired pleas begging him to visit, it took Zuko another six months before he had worked up enough courage to finally come and visit her. And when he looked at her in the white cell, he wondered why he didn't come any sooner. Because it was his sister sitting in there, not Ozai's daughter, not the princess, nor the monster, just his little sister. Zula, who would craw into his bed if the lightening scared her, Zula with whom he used to play at the beach, Zula before she learned to fire bend. Zuko saw her there, sitting with her hair dishevelled, a blanket wrapped tightly around her, looking ever so scared. And before any of the guards could stop him, he opened the cell and scoped her up in his arms.

Zula, I'm so sorry for leaving you here alone.

On his way back, he started wondering who exactly was the monster between the two of them.

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After his first visit, Zuko made sure to visit at least once a week. The doctors always made him pull his hair down before seeing Azula, and he had started to wonder why. So one day, he entered the cell with his hair still up, wearing the flame crown in his topknot. Within a second though he knew. Azula screamed "Don't let him touch him, please mommy, keep him away from me, don't let daddy do this to me anymore"

So every visit after that one, he made sure to do everything exactly as the doctors told him.

And instead of heading back to the palace, he visited his dad, and did what someone should have done years before.

He made sure his dad couldn't ever do that to HIS little sister anymore

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Azula's mental health rapidly improved between his weekly visits, and it was after his fourth visit that she mentioned remembering some of the things she had done in the past. Fear clawed at Zuko's heart, he didn't want to lose his little sister all over again. But to his surprise and relieve, she started crying, telling him she was so sorry, that she wouldn't ever be able to redeem herself. Knowing the feeling all too well, he embraced her again, taking on the role of his uncle. He told her that she had all the time in the world to redeem herself, and even if she never truly would redeem herself, she could at least try, and that would make up for the past.

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After being institutionalised for about two and a half year, Azula made her comeback into the world, a different world then the one she left behind when she went into therapy, a world changed for the better by her brother and his companions. Making her way through the capital, her brother walking right beside her, she couldn't help but feel proud when she looked around. The people, her people, looked so happy and peaceful, glad that the war was over. And she wondered why she had wanted to continue it a little less then three years ago.

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She was there, on his left side when her brother committed the ultimate crime, the betrayal to their nation. When he married the water bender, the very one that had beaten Azula at the Agni Kai. She watched as they exchanged their vows, and watched as the crowd cheered. She was there when the generals tried to fulfil a coup, she was there when she, her brother and his water bender, stopped their rebellion. She was there when her brother announced to the nation that his wife was pregnant, and she was there when Katara (as she had come to call the water bender) had to suffer the loss of her first child. But she wasn't there when they announced their second pregnancy and she wasn't there when Zuko decided to name his firstborn Zula.

After all, she had some redeeming to do.

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The news of their pregnancy reached her when she was staying at the northern air temple, helping the Avatar, Aang, and his wife Toph take care of their orphans. And the new of the naming reached her when she was helping rebuild the earth kingdom. Soon enough the whole earth kingdom knew the name of the heir of the fire nation, after all, Azula couldn't contain her pride.

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After three years of rebuilding the earth nation, she returned home, taking the news that Mai had given birth to her first born, an earth bender named Lee. The welcome back wasn't anything like the one she was expecting. The whole court was there, but most importantly, Zuko and Katara were waiting there for her, with her namesake. Before anyone could stop her, little Zula ran down the stairs, jumping in the arms of a very surprised Azula.

Aunt Azula, you're finally back home. Mommy and Daddy told me all about you. Are you really going to teach me how to make blue fire?

And Azula couldn't help but feel as if she had finally found her way out of her darkness…