Again, interaction between Azula and her niece. If you don't really understand, you don't need to XD
At seven years old, the Crown Princess' firebending was enough to rival even her father's, and Zuko was no pushover.
"Let me see the Southern Dragon Claw again." Azula demanded. Kazura took a deep breath and repeated the form precisely. Every step, twist, kick, and leap was controlled and measured, but her flames were wild and beautiful, azure like the cloudless sky above them. When the last part came, Kazura landed perfectly, rising with pride radiating off of her.
"At this rate you'll beat even me." Azula smiled. "Excellent job as usual, Kazu."
"Thank you, Sifu Hotwoman." Kazura bowed with a large smile on her face. "But I know that you're the best firebender in the world. You were able to get into master techniques at my age. I'm only at intermediate." She pouted slightly.
"Well, let me tell you why." Azula said, beckoning her niece closer. "Your grandfather was a powerful bender, and your grandmother is descended from Avatar Roku. Plus, I was born in one of the hottest summers our nation has ever seen." She smiled.
"Wow." Kazura said with shining eyes. "So I'm also descended from Avatar Roku?" She asked.
"Yes." Azula said. "Your father, you, and I…we're all descended from both the lines of Sozin and Roku. Do you know the history behind your father and my great-grandfathers?" Azula asked. Kazura shook her head. Azula patted the stone next to her. Kazura sat next to her.
"Father mentioned something about the war between good and evil in everybody to uncle Aang the other day. I didn't pay too much attention." She said.
"Well, Kazu, your father was right about that." Azula said. "Do you know the story behind his banishment?"
"Yes. It's written in my history book."
"That fast?" Azula mumbled to herself. "Well, then you must know he was banished for speaking out of turn at one of Firelord Ozai's war meetings." Her father's name tasted strange on her tongue, and at that moment she remembered the promise she made to her niece to bring her to see her grandfather.
"Yes. Father then fought an Agni Kai against the Firelord." Kazura said. "And that's how he got his scar."
"Correct." Azula dipped her head. "My father supplied him with a ship, some soldiers, and my uncle went on him on his trip to regain his honor. Zuko valued his honor above all else when he was banished, and he believed that capturing the Avatar and bringing him back to father would restore it." She said. "At the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, Iroh betrayed our nation by working with the water tribe. Your father inadvertently killed a man. Commander Zhao, his name was." Azula said, remembering the reports she read.
"My father killed a man?" Kazura asked softly. Azula looked down at her niece.
"It was war, Kazura." She said, saying the girl's full name, which meant that she was serious. "It was either his life or Zhao's."
"I understand." Kazura said after a moment's pause.
"But your father did tell me he tried to save Zhao. The admiral refused." Azula explained.
"Dad's a good man." Kazura said firmly.
"Indeed." Azula said quietly. "Anyways, after the news reached my father's ears, he called me to give me a mission. I was to capture Zuko and Iroh and bring them home for punishment." She said. "I accepted, of course. Then Li and Lo, my advisors at the time, told me that a royal procession would slow me down. They were right, of course, so I formed my own elite team." Azula smiled faintly. "And that's when your aunt Ty Lee and your mother came into the equation."
"So you knew mom and aunt Ty Lee when you were young, then?" Kazura questioned.
"We went to the same school—Fire Nation's Royal Academy for Girls." Azula said. "Of course you wouldn't know about it since Zuko's adamant about you being homeschooled. Sometimes I don't understand my dolt of a brother."
Kazura giggled, used to hearing her aunt diss her father. "If you're worried about me not having any friends, it's okay, auntie. Uncle Aang and aunt Katara bring Kya over when they come, and aunt Toph also brings Lin over to play, too. They're my best friends in the entire world." She said happily. Azula smiled.
"I can just see you three plowing down anyone standing in your way. A waterbender, daughter of a master and the Avatar, with a firebender, daughter of the Firelord, and finally put with an earthbender, daughter of the first metalbender on the entire planet." Azula listed. "You three will be unstoppable."
"Yeah…" Kazura said dreamily. Azula chuckled.
"Do you want to hear more about your father's struggles?"
"Yes!"
"Well, after I recruited your mother and Ty Lee, we set off trying to capture Aang. He evaded us every time, and the few times we cornered him he escaped." Azula said. "It was frustrating, but he was not my main goal at the time. I wanted my brother and uncle so I could finish the mission I was given. By that time your father and Iroh had escaped to Ba Sing Se, so we had to figure out a way to get into the impenetrable city. The drill failed, of course, because of the Avatar, and that was when I realized that he also had to be prioritized." Azula grimaced slightly.
"And you captured the Kyoshi Warriors and pretended to be them! And then you infiltrated Ba Sing Se, beat Long Feng, and controlled the Dai Li! Inside of the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, you and father defeated Aang and Katara, and you conquered Ba Sing Se within the space of a few days while it took uncle Iroh six hundred days to siege the city but fail in the end." Kazura recited, awe laced in her voice. "You're awesome, aunt 'Zula."
Azula smirked. "Yes, I like to think so too. So what happened next would be glorified in the history books, I'm sure." She rolled her eyes. "Iroh was captured and Zuko and I returned home as conquering heroes. Mai became the girlfriend of your father, and everything was well for a while…until the Day of the Black Sun."
"Aang and the others invaded the city, didn't they?" Kazura asked softly, referring to the capital city in the Caldera where they were right now.
"Yes. My father anticipated an attack and we went to hide in an underground bunker, but your aunt Toph, being a master earthbender, could sense it, and her, your uncle Sokka, and Aang found where my father was supposed to be. However, I was there instead of father, and for the remainder of the eclipse, I distracted the three of them with two Dai Li agents helping me. Of course, the invasion failed, and they retreated, but we took prisoners of war." She said. "And this is when Zuko confronted our father, telling him that he was going to join Aang's group. You could imagine how furious your mother was at that time, since Zuko broke up with her by leaving a note."
"Knowing my mother, I'm surprised that she allowed father back into her life." Kazura snorted.
"I know right?" Azula laughed. "The next time they met was when your father and Sokka broke into the Boiling Rock to rescue Suki and the warriors we had captured during the invasion. They succeeded, but only because your mother and aunt Ty Lee betrayed me." She sighed, face darkening.
"My mom betrayed you?" Kazura gasped, eyes wide.
"I assume she never told you this." Azula said calmly. Kazura pursed her lips, shaking her head.
"But why?"
"Her love for Zuko weighed more than her fear for me." Azula said. "And Ty Lee chi-blocked me moments after Mai helped Zuko and his friends escape. I locked them up, of course. I was seething. Furious. I didn't understand why they would betray me." She barked out a bitter laugh. Kazura placed a hand on her aunt's arm, looking solemn.
"I'm sorry for what my parents did to you, aunt 'Zula." She said. Azula looked at her niece in surprise.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. The two years I spent in the asylum allowed me to come to terms with myself and everyone around me." She said. "And we mended our relationships." She said.
"Still. They shouldn't have done that to you." Kazura grumbled. "I'm going to talk to my parents about this."
"You're a kindhearted girl, Kazu." Azula said gently. "And I love you for it, but do not go to your parents. They were right, and I was in the wrong." She explained. "I burnt all my bridges to my past morals, so to speak." She said dryly. Kazura managed a small smile. "I underwent the same problem as your father did. He told me that for a while after he joined up with the Avatar's group, he lost his firebending."
"You can lose your bending?" Kazura gasped. "I thought only uncle Aang could take away bending like he did to grandfather!"
"There's chi-blocking, do not forget, but no. For firebenders, their ability to bend is not only physical. It has to do with drive and emotion. Many firebenders used rage to fuel their bending, and so did Zuko. When he confronted father, he lost that rage, and he had to find something else to fuel his fire." She said. "And now I have a question for you, Kazu." Azula looked at Kazu intently. "What is your drive for your fire?"
"My drive?" Kazura pondered this for a bit. "My drive…is my love and loyalty to my parents, to you, and to every one of my aunt and uncles. To my family, and I know I have a duty to the nation as Crown Princess as well." She said.
"You speak like someone far older than her age." Azula observed.
"I learnt from the best." Kazura smiled at the woman of twenty-five. Azula smiled back.
"It is a good drive, Kazu." She said. "See, originally I was dominated by the Sozin half of my bloodline. My drive for my bending was cold, calculated precision and the will to be perfect. After I spent a few months raving in the asylum, I calmed and started to think rationally again. My drive fizzled out, and for the rest of the first year I could not bend. I was terrified, until your father came and visited me. He recognized the internal war immediately when the nurses described my frequent fevers. He finally explained that my other great-grandfather was Avatar Roku. I realized that nobody was perfect once he explained all of the mistakes that everyone had made, including my forefathers, Roku, and he himself. My drive grew again, but this time it was with the knowledge that fire is life itself. My passion became my love for my life, which I had not truly treasured until I lost the Agni Kai eleven years ago, and I finally accepted the Roku half of my bloodline." She said.
"So…are you more inclined toward the good or evil side?"
"You can say that I'm neutral. Nothing will make me forget all of the atrocities I committed during the war, but nothing can deter me from striving to be…a good person, in a sense." Azula responded thoughtfully.
"Azula! Kazu! It's time for lunch!" The cheerful voice of Aang interrupted them. Across the courtyard, the Avatar waved at them enthusiastically. Azula stood with a smile on her face.
"We'll join your shortly!" She called back. Aang nodded and went on his way. Azula looked down at her niece, who also stood. "Never forget your drive, Kazura." She said.
"I won't, aunt Azula."
Well, for once I've nothing to say. Hope you liked it!