The dining hall of the Fire Nation royal palace was designed for large congregations, with enough room to comfortably fit up to fifty guests. Red satin drapes flowed down from the ceilings to cover the walls and the centre table was made of thick cedar pine and inch thick colored glass.
The room was impressive yet practically empty. Clinging to the very end of the table sat a mere three people- all of whom were engaged in a silence that seemed to ambitiously range all the way from uncomfortable to pleasant.
Katara spent a considerable amount of concentration not concentrating on Aang- who sat on the opposite side of the table from her. Zuko was happy to finally be about to have an actual meal for the first time in four days. Aang's mind was too busy to notice the others. He starred blankly at the wall behind Katara's head.
Azula glided in to the room wearing a red silken dress that seemed to blend with the room itself. The dress made the Princess look graceful and delicate- it disturbed Katara how easily someone like Azula could appear harmless, it seemed to call in to question sight itself.
As she reached the seat next to Aang the Princess turned herself towards him. "May I?"
"Of course Princess Azula." Aang was clearly undisturbed by the approach- Sokka would of likely been a stuttering fool.
As the meal arrived the various glares and purposeful non-glares were put on hold. Peace and tranquillity ruled until someone chose the ever-present non-war as a conversation topic. It mattered little who it was that began as Katara and Azula were equally committed within moments. Zuko and Aang both obeyed the basic instinct of avoiding certain death through cowardice.
"...How could you say something like that?" A vein had begun to throb viciously on the young waterbender's forehead.
Azula looked sorrowfully down to her meal before placing her utensils down with the distinct air of someone stuck with the unfortunate responsibility of calming a rambunctious child. "Wars don't end because you just tell them to end. By withdrawing troops you leave the settlers who have made a home there undefended. You may as well kill them on the way back to the ships."
"I have not just abandoned civilians!" Zuko's voice thundered across the room catching both of the girls off guard. "...Fire Nation soldiers have orders to leave only once Earth Kingdom soldiers are ready to maintain order."
Azula combined laughing and speech with impressive grace. "Perfect- unless the Earth Kingdom soldiers decide to be the ones dealing out 'justice'." The Princess's expression shifted quickly from satisfaction to unsure nervousness as she realized she had taken things one step too far.
Zuko was starring at his sister as if seriously considering putting her back in the dungeon. Internally Azula cursed herself for falling victim to something as common as 'habit'- when you've openly taunted someone for most of your life it can be hard to stop.
"I feel I've outstayed my welcome. Excuse me." Azula stood with feminine grace and offered a bow of unspecified intent towards the table before floating off towards the exit.
As Zuko inched mentally towards continuing the conversation he was interrupted by Aang calling out to his sister and getting up to speak privately with her.
As Zuko regained his focus and his temper again inched towards exploding, a servant informed him that a messenger from the Earth Kingdom had arrived- by this point interruptions had reduced his fury to that of a quiet simmer.
"Azula.." Aang's voice was soft, kept low so to not be heard by anyone but its intended target. Azula stopped and turned around with an expression of surprised curiosity. "...I know what you were trying to do."
The boy let it sit by itself without explanation, assuming Azula would choose to delay or continue on regardless of what he did. "Out of curiosity what exactly was I trying to do?"
Denial had been expected but the response felt off somehow, like it contained an unpredictable menace. "You wanted to make me abandon my duty. I am the Avatar, I will do what needs to be done."
"Far from it. No- I wanted you to simply accept the inevitable truth- to accept your 'duty'." Azula's mouth tilted in to a crooked smile giving the impression of someone cheerily anticipating an impending disaster.
"The Avatar's duty is not to kill people. It's to create balance."
"Balance- and how is balance created? By smoothing the bumps- the upstarts- the ambitious." Azula took a step forward putting them both within striking distance of the other. "...That's the clinch- the people on the street, the bullies, bad men- they can be stopped through simple violence." At this point Azula removed her focus and began to scout the walls as if something interesting may appear, her voice becoming mixed with a dreamy detachment as if stating the simple facts of life.
"...A broken hand, a leg- even simply defeating them in battle can stop them. But the ambitious- your prey- cannot be stopped by hurt, or loss or defeat. Because the ambitious do not fear death, they do not fear physical harm- the ambitious only fear obscurity. The only way to truly stop them is to kill them and when it comes down to it- they want you to kill them- because you are the Avatar- and through you their deaths will live on forever."
During the back and forth the Earth Kingdom messenger had made his way across the extensive length of the dining hall and was closing in on his destination. Having lost interest in eating, Zuko stood to meet the messenger halfway- only to have the overly shrouded figure burst in to an unexpected frenzy of movement that resembled some kind of hyperactive fit.
Within a second, blades had slid in to each hand and the messenger lunged towards the unsuspecting Fire Lord. As the newly revealed assassin closed in, Zuko had time enough to wonder why his life was not flashing before his eyes, and to feel somewhat cheated at the absence.
Before he could fully come to terms with his impending doom the assailant suddenly hurtled backwards through the air, over a significant proportion of the room. After several limbless bounces the body came to a rest and smoke began to rise. As Zuko turned he saw Azula with her hand extended, her fingers sizzling with a familiar blackish mist- and of course- her mouth upturned into a smirk filled with self-satisfied smug vindication.