A/N: Titling chapters is a bitch.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I own nothing.

Respect

Zuko hasn't done much besides sit by the turtleduck pond since Mother left. Azula doesn't understand, doesn't even pretend to understand the appeal of the stupid place. She supposes, of course, that for poor Zuzu who was actually welcome to accompany their mother to the pond, it holds some form of sentimentality. Personally, Azula has been a bit too eager to rid herself of the remnants of her mother's memory.

She liked the pond when she was younger, she recalls, but then she threw a piece of bread at a baby turtleduck. Mother scolded her, and Azula didn't particularly grasp why she was upset, but she decided it was best to stay away from the pond if it would stop her mother from giving her that look so often.

Azula's kind of relieved that her mother didn't say goodbye to her when she left because she knows she would have just gotten that look again. Mother doesn't seem to understand the child that isn't a carbon copy of her nauseating sweetness like Zuzu.

He's acting just like Mother, Azula thinks to herself, sulking by the turtleduck pond. That happened frequently enough whenever their parents had an argument. She supposes Mother simply decided to take her temper tantrum a little further away from the royal chambers this time. But Zuko has to stop this now. It's been over a week, and the new Fire Lord doesn't have much patience for his son's antics. Azula's not sure why he didn't just kill him like Grandpa said to, but she knows Mother had something to do with it. She wonders if her poor brother has connected those dots yet.

As has been the case for a few years now, Azula has to be the one to nudge him along.

"Zuzu, don't you think the turtleducks are getting a bit fat?"

Her brother barely moves, muttering that he hasn't been giving them food today. His hair, uncharacteristically hanging free, hides his face.

Azula sighs dramatically and sits next to him. This was their mother's favorite spot, in the shade of the old tree as the setting sun glinted across the water. Admittedly, it is a beautiful view, much to her irritation.

"What do you want, Azula?" His voice isn't as hoarse as it was during the first day, when he drove his throat raw calling for Mother and then screaming at Father and then crying in his room. It was quite the spectacle, but nothing out of the ordinary for the hotheaded prince. He will have to discipline his emotions now that he is next in line for the throne. At least, until Azula figures out how to get him out of the way.

"I was just wondering if you'll be rejoining training soon. The instructors miss you, and Father is going to notice you're falling behind eventually."

It's really for his own good for Azula to be Fire Lord, honestly. Zuko would hate the throne, just like he hates all the other formalities and rituals in the palace. And it's not like Azula wants to hurt him, the way Father seems to want to hurt Iroh. She would make Zuzu a respected general like their uncle and let him wander the world with his little army, just like he wanted when Lu Ten was still supposed to be Fire Lord. Zuko never aspired to power, not like his father and sister.

"What does it matter? Let him send me away. Maybe he'll send me to wherever Mom is." Zuko's clenched fists release a flash of fire.

That's another reason her brother can never rule the country. He's just so rash sometimes. Knowing him, Fire Lord Zuko would probably undo all the progress of the Hundred Year War by upsetting the wrong noblemen over a dinner argument blown out of proportion.

"Don't be ridiculous. Father would never tell you where she went if he was trying to punish you." If she's even still alive, she adds silently.

"I'd find her," Zuko practically growls. "If I just had a ship, I could find anyone. The world's not that big."

And now he's preparing himself to spend his life chasing a ghost. How is her brother supposed to help her rule if these are the kinds of ideas he pursues?

"Well, you should at least train some more before you leave for your quest. Even if you found Mother out there, how would you bring her back home and into the Fire Nation's good graces? You need to earn some more respect as the new crown prince before you do things like that, Zuzu." Her brother stays silent, staring into the water. Azula smiles to herself, knowing he's considering her words, before continuing. "Uncle Iroh will be back tomorrow. After Lu Ten's last rites and the mourning period have passed, he'll need something to do around here. He might train you in all those Earth Kingdom fighting styles he's learned."

Secretly, Azula thinks her uncle's knowledge of other nations is boring at best and distracting at worst. Fire is the superior element, after all, and pure firebending is what has brought their nation so much glory in the war so far. Zuko, however, idolizes Iroh. The promise of learning from the famed general may be enough to shake him out of this little episode he's having.

He finally looks over at Azula, and she suddenly realizes she hasn't gotten a good look at her brother in days. His face is drawn, his eyes are dragged down by bags and dark circles, and he's noticeably paler. Azula was always the one with nightmares as a child, but maybe they've gone to her older brother now.

"Do you really think if I train enough, I can bring Mom back?"

"Not just train," Azula corrects him. He needs to be a somewhat reputable prince, even if she doesn't plan to let him be Fire Lord. "You need the country's respect. Including Father's."

"Yeah," Zuko nods, more to himself than her, before looking at her closely. "Will you help me find her, when I'm ready?"

Azula manages to keep herself from scoffing. It's not that she wants Mother to be gone forever, it's just that she can imagine the scene if the two of them went looking for her. Mother would be elated to see Zuzu, and then she would catch sight of Azula and give her that look before embracing her anyway and telling her children how much she loved them and blah. She doesn't like that picture, doesn't like the lump it leaves in her throat or the strange burning it brings to her eyes. Still, her support may be what Zuko needs to hear.

"Fine. You probably wouldn't be able to find her without me anyway, dum-dum."

He frowns at her, but the corner of his mouth still lifts slightly. "Do you promise?"

Azula hates promising anything, but she can't turn back now - she's so close to getting him away from this depressing pond. "Sure, Zuzu. I promise."

Zuko's face seems to brighten a bit, and he gives her a real smile despite how tired he looks. "Don't forget."

She never forgets anything. He should know that by now.

"It's almost dinnertime," she says, swiftly changing the subject. "You should actually eat something tonight, so you have the energy for tomorrow." Lu Ten's funeral will likely not be as big an event as Azulon's, but the death of a royal family member is still a formal (tiring) occasion. She blinks, noticing the burning in her eyes is back again. She really should see a physician to make sure it doesn't bother her during the ceremony.

"I'll come inside in a minute."

A princess knows when she's being dismissed, so Azula stands and walks back to the nearest palace entrance. She turns to watch her brother and sees him sitting straight and tall, the almost-set sun casting him in profile with golden light. His jaw is clenched, and with his hair down, he looks very much like Father.

Father is Fire Lord.

Lu Ten is dead.

Iroh is defeated.

Mother is gone.

Zuko is next in line.

Azula is not going to fall to the sidelines like the rest of her family, but she doesn't want Zuko to be cast aside either. She'll just have to keep an eye on him, she decides, and make sure Uncle Iroh doesn't teach him too many strange things that anger Father. She and her brother have to be the ones to carry the Fire Nation into a new era.

Zuko finally follows her into the palace.

A/N: Yeah, I don't know. This is really just a character study / a challenge to myself to see if I can write Azula. She's just a fascinating mind to try and understand, especially when analyzing periods of her life outside the main show timeline.

Let me know what you think, how you interpreted her in this story, etc. - and thanks for reading!

~Bobbi