Title: Second Hand Smoke
Rating: K
Characters/Pairings: Ozai/Ursa
Summary: He thinks of her the night he takes the throne…
A/N: Written for 31days, theme "you are second hand smoke". If it's not obvious, this was written last summer, way before the revelation in S3 regarding Ursa's bloodline.
She was always amazed by his firebending ability. Oddly, her family had risen to nobility without a single firebender among their ranks – oh sure, there was a stray uncle or cousin somewhere in there, but no one in her immediate family was gifted, and she hadn't grown up with it the way he had. The first time he reached over his plate at the dinner table and simply snapped his fingers, setting the candles on the centerpiece alight, she had actually clapped like a child, utterly delighted by something so simple. (She was then mortified at having behaved so immaturely, but he had, unbelievably, been charmed by it.)
It is her Ozai thinks about the night after he's crowned Fire Lord, unable to sleep for the excitement, leaning against the balcony rail outside of his bedroom, observing as much of the tiny nation that he's slipped out from under his brother as he can see from his vantage point.
He's sure she's not dead – she's run off somewhere. There are ships that will get her to some tiny island that belongs to no nation, and from there she can springboard into the Earth Kingdom and hide like some common peasant. He thinks of her living like some poor widow, and curses her stubbornness, and his.
His nation gleams in front of him, and if Ozai squints he imagines he can see the ocean, and even beyond that, the Earth Kingdom, where she surely is. Waiting for him. Watching to see what he'll do.
She was always amazed by his firebending ability, and Ozai spreads his palms, allowing flames to spring up and dance against the night.
He'll cover the world in flames, he thinks, the water tribes, and those tiny islands, and most of all the Earth Kingdom, and she will be amazed.
Originally posted 07/24/2007