The dining room of the Fire Palace was a majestic hall, filled with ornate braziers, and with walls covered in flowing silken curtains. There was room to comfortably seat fifty, but at the moment only five sat around the furthest edge.

Zuko sat at the head of the table with Katara and Aang on one side, Toph and Sokka on the other. The group was waiting for the food to be brought out, chatting idly amongst themselves.

Princess Azula entered the hall wearing a long flowing red silken dress that seemed to compliment the curtains. While the way she held herself was certainly similar to the Azula the group knew, the outfit made her look far too feminine and delicate to be the monster that had viciously hunted everyone currently sitting at the table at least once. All but one pair of eyes tracked her as she approached, each with varying degrees of scowling or shock.

"Aang, it's good to see you again. May I?" Azula's words rolled off her tongue with a practiced gentleness, her actions indicating that she wished to sit next to him.

"Of course Azula." Everyone at the table believed Aang to be strangely composed- although they all had largely differing reasons for why he shouldn't be. Katara unconsciously demanded the boy fight for her position, Sokka was thinking something close to 'yowza', and Zuko would expect anyone so close to Azula to be shaking in fear.

In the time it had taken everyone to stew appropriately in their respective emotions the food had arrived.

"So- Sokka. I was expecting you to be halfway to Kyoshi by now. Worried Suki may have forgotten you already?" Azula said conversationally, as if her first appearance at anything where she wasn't assaulting someone wasn't any big deal.

"I can't leave just yet. I'm needed for things."

"I'm sure we'd be able to manage without you. We'll just ask the servants to prepare less food." The princess had seemed to of developed a unique pitch for speaking to Sokka, the watertribe boy wasn't appreciative. His response was cut short by Zuko raising his glass and clearing his throat.

"I'm glad to see that we are all finally together again- in peace." The last words were empathised with a half scowl towards his sister and Sokka. "...To peace between the nations- may it last until the end of time."

Azula let out a soft laugh as if amused by a small child who had said something far beyond their understanding.

"Everlasting peace is funny to you is it? Where would the world be without people losing their families to war?" Katara was filled with an incensed anger, pouring all the misery and pain of her devastated childhood onto the warmongering princess.

Azula ignored the emotion of Katara's outburst, explaining as if recounting an inevitable universal truth. "There will always be conflict. Just because you declare peace does not mean it will be so. The only way to ensure peace is to own the world- and it seems that solution has been deemed unacceptable." The end was said as if a joke. No one of the table seemed amused.

"That isn't peace Azula." The princess' words had only cemented a belief that she was evil incarnate within the young waterbender's head.

"The world will continue, and people will rebel, or think that their lot in life is less than they deserve, or demand 'justice' for wrongs long forgotten- and people will die. Even now Fire Nation ex-nationals are likely being dragged through Earth Kingdom streets all in the name of a speedy military withdrawal. Where is their peace, their justice?"

Zuko had gripped the table, his sudden voice full of restrained anger. "We have not abandoned anyone Azula, Fire Nation guards have remained until replaced by Earth Kingdom guards."

"The Earth Kingdom guards will be the ones doing the dragging."

Zuko's restraint quickly crumbled, sharp anger filling his voice. "Not everyone wants war Azula."

Azula remained composed and detached. "But everyone wants revenge."

"I don't, you certainly don't seem to."

"We can't always have everything that we want." Utensils clashed to plates, and the few eyes not on her already were now snapping between the royal siblings. Except Toph's, but she's blind.

"...I think I'll take my leave." The princess stood slowly and glided away from the table.

Before she could reach the door she felt a small hand lightly touch her shoulder. "Azula..."

The flutter of confusion that passed across the princess' face was removed too fast for anyone to actually see. "Aang."

"I understand what you were doing- before- on the balcony." Azula's expression remained neutral but in truth she was unsure how to respond at this point.

"...It's my role to bring balance to the world, but I am not a killer- and even if it comes to that..."

The princess saw her opening, her tone sharp and cold. "It will. Just because I was intending to hurt you doesn't mean what I said isn't true Avatar. Powerful people value their honour more than their lives- powerful people wish to live on forever- they fear obscurity, not death."

Across the room at the same time a servant appeared to interrupt the hole left by the siblings spat. "A messenger from the Earth Kingdom my Lord."

"Send him in." Zuko's voice had now taken on a tiredness that had been previously banished.

The Earth Kingdom messenger was covered from head to toe in harsh black coverings, his legs and arms noticeably unrestricted- there was something 'off' about his appearance that the Fire Lord could not place.

The man stood before the Fire Lord and with a sharp upward swipe produced a steel blade as the limb ascended above his head- ready to strike. As time slowed to a halt, and Zuko waited patiently for his life to flash before his eyes, the messenger suddenly flew across the room and crashed against the furthest wall with a sickly thud- his body smoldering.

Zuko turned his body sharply and saw Azula with her arm outstretched and her fingers smoking. She stared right at him with a sly grin upon her face.

"Everlasting peace."

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AN: Banishment is continued in 'Right and Wrong' which can be found via profile. By continued I of course mean bi-'tinued', or post&pre-'tinued'- which of course means that I realised that to get a proper ending for this story I'd need a proper beginning and villains and heroes and intrigue and whatnot. So 'Right and Wrong' branches out and widens the focus from Azula a bit. Banishment will stay where it is- it doesn't finish and no one grows or learns life lessons but it works well as a fairly in depth character study even if it doesn't seem that way at first glance.

If you enjoyed Banishment you'll enjoy 'Right and Wrong'. It's mostly the same whacky fun. Peace out. Feel free to leave feedback, on how this decision has fundamentally damaged your life, in either reviews or via PM.