The Ultimate Sacrifice
His lust for power was insatiable. I noticed it before we were married all those many years ago. His eyes had an almost primal glint to them and they always hungered for more. It was always more and never less for him. He was never satisfied with just the basic of anything. He always needed more. When he was promoted to rear admiral he wanted admiral. When he was promoted to general he wanted four star general. With that glint came a jealousy though. It wasn't that he had ambition, it was he wanted power and was enraged that other people had power as well. It started when he was passed up for the commanding position of the army attacking Ba Sing Se and became worse when Iroh began to succeed. He needed power, it was his only love.
He would have sacrificed the world to rule the Fire Nation and he almost sacrificed my son to get it. Zuko was rash during the audience with Fire Lord Azulon and he was rightly angered. Yet the punishment he bestowed upon Ozai was unthinkable, yet the response Ozai gave was delighted obedience. I had to make a choice, do I let my son perish because of his father's lust for approval and power from his father, or do I aid the monster in his quest for the throne to save my son and pray that he finds the truth one day and realizes that in leaving I did what a mother was supposed to do. I left Iroh all I knew and told him all I did. I told him to tell Zuko when the time was right.
The pitter patter of the rain drops fell against my hood as I sat on the shores of my home trying to hail a passing boat, the cold droplets lulling my already exhausted mind into a deep ever embracing sleep. The sweet release calling to me, grasping at my mind with soft feathery hands trying to lure me into a darkness that never ends. I clear my head from the grasps of the soothing hands and resolve myself to escape this wretched place. I raise my arm, still numb and fiery red from the exchange with that monster, to my eyes and spot a passing barge in the distance. I signal the pilot and he slows just off shore the ripples from his boat making small insignificant waves against the shore. I swim into the awaiting boats cockpit leaving behind all the lies, the deceit, and the hatred. As I sail away from the island I look at the palace and pick out my little boy's room and with moist eyes and a heavy heart I whisper a good bye as the boat slowly putters its way out into the blackness of the rainy night