Firelord Ozai was not happy hearing about the reappearance of his brother. Not at all. He had thought him dead, even more so as Zuko had reappeared without Prince-General Iroh. Now Iroh was on his way back home and Ozai was sure it would mean trouble. His brother had always been trouble. Like Ursa, his wife. Their marriage had only been because of the prophecies. His father had wanted them to become true, to use the strongest bender ever born in the war. But their first child had turned out to be a disappointment and the second child, though a very strong and powerful bender had not managed to impress her grandfather enough to use her.
It all had been fine for a while. Even with his firstborn a failure and his father ignorant to his daughter's uses, Ozai had coped with the life that was chosen for him at Ursa's side, patiently waiting for his chance to prove himself to his father. But when the time came, Azulon had decided to only send Iroh and his son into the war against Ba Sing Se. Not him. He had been supposed to stay back and continue his family-life with a wife who wouldn't love him, a son who was incompetent in everything he touched and a daughter who had been supposed to bring him fame and credit, but was ignored.
Ozai had turned frustrated, and the only thing that had been able to cheer him up was his daughter, who continued to grow stronger and stronger in her bending. Somehow his feelings to her had grown stronger whenever she had shown him a new move she had learned, and some days after his brother had left for war, Ozai had found himself attracted to his second child. Ursa hadn't had shared his bed in years, but she had had a very close eye on both children. So Ozai had known he had to distract her somehow, if he wanted to get closer to Azula.
It was then that he finally had found a use for his first born. A letter from Ursa, supposed to go to her former boyfriend had helped his cause. So he had turned his anger and frustration against his son, causing Ursa to focus her attention on Zuko. Azula had finally been left to him. Of course, Ursa had noticed the changes in her daughter, but she never had guessed what really was going on. At first, Ozai had only showered his daughter in presents, praises and affection. Once that had turned her fully to him and against her mother, who would care more for Zuko and less for her, he had started to have secrets with her. He had promised her to become Firelord one day, if she would be nice to him, and of course she had wanted to be nice to her daddy. It had started with him asking for kisses, hugs, sitting on his lap and had increased slowly over the time.
Once the message of Lu Ten's death had reached them, Ozai knew he had to act. Iroh had decided to return home, and Azulon had still not shown any interest in changing the situation. Ozai had tried to talk reason to his father, but had been denied and ordered to kill his son as a punishment for treason. For some reason, Ursa had found out about his plan and had come to stop him. Her offering to save her son had been even better for his plan. Not only would he get rid of his father, but also of Ursa. And he would become Firelord. Ozai had thought about letting Ursa take Zuko with her, but had decided against it, since he had seen some uses in the boy, especially because of his plans with Azula. It turned out he had been right. And he had been able to also use Zuko to get rid of Iroh as well, after some time.
But now Iroh was going to return to the home-land, and Zuko was still out there somewhere. Ozai sighed deeply and let the flames around his throne flicker up to the ceiling. He missed his daughter. Maybe he shouldn't have sent her after Zuko. But someone had to go to take care of his son, and he had no other he would trust with that issue. Azula hated Zuko, fearing that he might take her place as Firelord, exactly as Ozai had planned. It bound her to him, wanting to be close to him, to make sure, Zuko can't come in between. Not that Ozai would ever let that happen, but it was useful that Azula thought it could happen. What Ozai was worried about more was his brother. Iroh could turn all his plans around and ruin his way to victory. Again Ozai sighed and tried to think about something to get rid about his brother, without anyone suspecting him. Now he regretted not watching Ursa creating the poison she had killed his father with…