The cool morning air would otherwise calm General Iroh, who would enjoy nothing more than a fresh cup of tea and a hearty breakfast to go alongside, but instead, it simply reminded him that the fight would continue. Every campaign was different, with a new target, new enemies, and new weapons or technology, but the basics stayed the same; one of those was the ever present dread that he would accidentally doom his men through some stupid, easily corrected oversight. So, he stood over the battleplans with his comrade, Admiral Jeong Jeong, who had been his navy-counterpart for over a decade on some of the most fruitful Fire Nation campaigns he'd partaken in.

Jeong Jeong strategised differently to Iroh, with a cautiousness and pragmatism that could dissuade even the most headstrong patriot to avoid a needless fight; Iroh, on the other hand, preferred deceit and experimental tactics, trying to confuse his enemies and divert resources from where they ought to be. The thing they could both agree upon was that the most straightforward, bloodless way to victory was the best one. Starving out one's opponent, while not pretty, or quick, worked more often than not, and with their superior supply networks and naval superiority, the Fire Nation was in the best position to follow such a strategy.

That was what they had decided upon for their latest operation, which aimed to secure a vital military base from the Earth Kingdom, to ensure that they could no longer threaten Fire Nation efforts along the northern side of the West Lake; the base was located in a hilly region just to the west of the lake itself, located by the water passage the Fire Nation regularly used to resupply its bases further east. It had been a thorn in their side for years, and the navy constantly had to provide more protection to convoys to prevent them from being raided by small Earth Kingdom vessels.

"So... their forces are supplied via the north, through the hills, either from their strongholds in the mountains, or Ba Sing Se itself." Iroh acknowledged the geographic situation, "Those hills are hard to traverse, and with earthbenders at their disposal, they have a clear advantage."

"The forests to the west are littered with villages. If they could be secured, and Fire Nation garrisons established, they would be forced to be more selective with their supply routes." Jeong Jeong gestured to another area on the map, "We would be in a prime position to cut them off entirely."

"However, they would still have the advantage of earthbending." Iroh noted, "Perhaps we need to set up siege weapons first."

"Without a beachhead, that seems infeasible; if we move them close enough to strike the base, the earthbenders will be able to counter with ease."

"The beachhead would be easily defended by the fleet, but that brings up the question of how it could be established... what do you think, Jeong Jeong?" he asked, knowing that the Admiral might have a few ideas on how they could best land.

"I think that if your forces feinted an attack from the north, moving from our closest bases, they would appear to be a reasonable threat to the base, drawing out the earthbenders. If you already have your trebuchets ready, you can lay waste to their forces without endangering your men... and that gives me the time to send in a landing party."

"That would work." he agreed with his idea, "If I was personally leading those forces in the north, that would certainly get their attention. They might think they could capture me."

"I was imagining just that." Jeong Jeong noted, "You shouldn't underestimate their abilities, Prince Iroh."

"I never have. That's why we will have our weapons at the ready... it's not as if we're running at them with only our firebending and fists." he joked, and the Admiral huffed, amused, if only briefly, by his comment.

"As for the villages, we could move in at the same time, more discreetly, and negotiate with the local leaders; if they allow us to occupy the land, it will block their supply lines, and allow us to be in a better position to attack the base." the General gave his own thoughts on the plan, "This will still take a few weeks at least, even if we get a beachhead."

"No battle is quick when one side is dug in. If at the very least, we can stop their raiders, and destroy their hidden ships, then they won't have a chance to harass the convoys."

"They are your responsibility, after all." Iroh conceded, "I think that will-" he began, before being cut off by another person barging into the room; the Prince turned around, and realised who exactly it was.

"Colonel Mongke." he addressed the man, who knelt down before the Dragon of the West, "What news do you bring from the front."

"My forces have scouted around the hinterland, as you requested, and I tried to induce the enemy to draw out, so we could gauge their abilities and numbers."

"Draw out?" Iroh raised a brow, "I know I wanted a report, but you didn't need to get them into a fight... that would be wholly unnecessary. A simple spotting of their base and everyday operations would be sufficient."

"Well, we did get them out, your highness." Mongke assured him, "We attacked the village nearest to the base, by the foot of the hills; when it burnt-"

"Excuse me, when it burnt?" Jeong Jeong asked, clearly disgusted by the thought of what the Rough Rhinos had been doing, "You were on a scouting operation, Colonel, not a... what- what do you think it is that the General expects of you?"

"To solve problems." the Colonel answered his question as if that was all there was to their job; Iroh realised that he had perhaps not specified enough what he wanted them to do, but instead just told them to get as much information on the enemy forces as they could.

"You serve the Fire Nation by fighting enemies no ordinary soldier would be expected to." Jeong Jeong corrected him, "And civilians are not those enemies."

"They were supplying the enemy. Those villagers weren't just sitting there with their heads in the sand."

"And that does not give you the right to kill them." the Admiral retorted, "How many lives were lost just so you could anger those soldiers?"

"Two dozen or so." he admitted, the number sounding right, though Iroh was disgusted to admit that he could even say that with confidence; he knew how people reacted to atrocities, on both sides of the war, after interrogating prisoners of war, or speaking with his own subordinates.

"Colonel, though the Admiral is not your commanding officer, you ought to listen to his words." Iroh warned him, "I did not send you to burn villages to the ground; that could barely ever be justified, but you did do your job... as ruthless as it was."

"I appreciate your support, your highness." Mongke bowed for him, "I apologise for the inconveniences my men might have caused. I will make sure to remind them that our goal is not wanton destruction."

"No, it is not. It is to intimidate, yes. To fight, certainly, but not to slaughter innocents." he warned him, "Leave now, before the Admiral tries- no, does something he might regret. I will have new orders for the Rough Rhinos by nightfall." he ordered him, already seeing the rage in Jeong Jeong's eyes; as Mongke left the room, the Admiral remained as calm as he reasonably could, before cracking, throwing his fists down into the map that lay before them.

"What kind of reprimanding was that?!" he shouted at him, "That man should be court martialed at the very least... and executed at the worst, along with his guilty subordinates." he gave his own opinion, which was clear enough from his prior words.

"What good would that do? It would just make soldiers fear using force when it is actually required. I know what he did was reprehensible. It certainly was... but I can't have him thrown in jail, or burnt to ashes by my guards, even if he deserved it."

"Why?" Jeong Jeong asked him, "How can you tolerate this?"

"Because I need us to win. I know sacrifices will happen along the way, and I know some might seem pointless, but we cannot win this war by being wholly merciful."

"You say that after just telling me you think we should negotiate with the villages." he scoffed, obviously finding his words to be hypocritical.

"I do, but..." he mumbled, before turning away.

"But what? You're afraid?"

"No, I'm not afraid." he assured him, glaring the Admiral down, "I will make sure Mongke is punished in another way. I can't ignore my own oversight; I am just as much to blame for this as he is."

"If so, then why not resign?" Jeong Jeong asked, and Iroh raised a brow.

"I can't resign. My country needs me."

"No, it needs a leader who can win battles with grace and honour. There is no honour in using fiends like Mongke." he retorted, and pointed a finger at him, "So, what, you're just going to continue as if nothing happened?"

"I never said I disagreed with you... I never thought he would go so far with the orders I gave."

"Well, I guess the great Dragon of the West can still make mistakes."

"I have made many mistakes, my friend... this probably will not be the last." he admitted, knowing that like any person, he was flawed, and it was up to him to try and amend those mistakes, if it was even possible.

Jeong Jeong just eyed him coldly for a few moments, before he turned around, "I will have my subordinates informed of your plan, General." he formally addressed their prior discussion, "The base will fall, and you will have your victory." he assured him, though his tone was now far colder, and his glare stoic, his rage having subsided.

"I will make sure that cannot happen again. I promise." he stressed, not wanting his friend to doubt his desire to make sure the Rough Rhinos crimes weren't repeated.

"I think we both know I have good reason to doubt your promises... look at where they got Fire Lord Sozin."

"A great empire... and countless innocents dead." Iroh recalled, "I will not build my victories on the bones of those who did not try to fight us valiantly."

"Even if you did, would it be fair?" Jeong Jeong quipped in return, and that just made the Prince sigh.

"No, war is never fair. It wouldn't be worth our time if it was."


The Capital Temple was a magnificent sight, perhaps the only structure Azula could compare to the Palace itself; the morning sun shone down on the courtyard in front of it, where she could see a pair of Fire Sages awaiting her. Alongside her brother, and a group of Imperial Firebenders, she had travelled to the temple with the express goal of fulfilling her uncle's request. They were to read their great-grandfather's last testament, which would supposedly answer all their questions about Avatar Roku and their ancestry.

Both royals were dressed in their formal robes, and her brother had had his now trim hair tied into a small top-knot, instead of letting it hang down as he had since cutting it off. On the ride there, her brother had remained quiet, though she had made an effort to try and prod some answers out of him, somewhat curious how he and Mai made their way to seize control of a whole battle group, before freeing their uncle. He was unresponsive, barring his one or two word replies, which didn't give her any details.

Now, as they paced into the temple, the Fire Sages approached them, and bowed to their superiors, "Prince Zuko, Princess Azula. It is an honour that you have come to visit. The Fire Lord foretold us of your arrival." one of them, apparently the more senior Fire Sage, explained, "Come with us. We shall take you to the catacombs."

The siblings nodded, and with that, they followed after the Fire Sages, who led them towards a large medallion that took the shape of a flower in the centre of the courtyard. One of the Fire Sages strode forward to the centre of the medallion, before crouching down, bending fire into it; suddenly, Azula heard some mechanical noises as a secret passage was revealed; she knew that the Dragonbone Catacombs existed, but she was surprised to see the entrance was so easy to reach, albeit unknown to those who did not understand the purposes of the medallion.

"So, this is it." Zuko spoke up, "Do we just... enter?" he gestured to the staircase that had appeared before them, and the Fire Sage nodded.

"That you do, your highness. As per the Fire Lord's request, you have full access to these catacombs... though he told me that you seek Fire Lord Sozin's personal archives." he noted, furrowing a brow, "There is a door marked with his form in the catacombs... that is where you will find it." he explained, before he handed Zuko a small oil lamp, "This will help you see while you read."

"Thank you." the Prince acknowledged him with a bow, though Azula simply eyed him for a moment before following her brother down the staircase; she turned around momentarily, knowing that the Imperial Firebenders did not have the right to bear witness to whatever was contained in the catacombs.

"You may all remain here while my brother and I attend to our... required readings." she explained herself, somewhat humoured that her uncle had given her homework, "Fire Sages, ensure that they are attended to in the meantime." she ordered the old men, who bowed to her in respect.

"Of course, your highness." they replied in chorus, before she continued down the staircase, falling into the darkness of the catacombs.

Following her brother down, she bore witness to the catacombs, and noted that they were worthy of their namesake, as the long chamber was filled with dragon bones. Zuko had stopped for a moment, glancing around as Azula overtook him, intent on finding the door the sages had spoken of. She noted that there were a number of doors, presumably leading into the many archives stored in the catacombs; the history of the Fire Nation, not erred by Sozin's retelling, as she had realised it to be. As a young girl, it quickly became obvious that the history they were taught in school was simplified at best and lies at worst, embellishing the achievements of Sozin and Azulon after him, making the efforts of the Fire Nation seem far more noble than they were.

She had still agreed with the idea of the war back then, but she was under no presupposition that it was started to 'help' anyone; it was a blatant grab for power, and she thought that her ancestor had been justified, with the wealth and strength of the Fire Nation at his disposal. The world had been remade, though if it was truly what the man had intended, she had no idea; perhaps in learning what Sozin had really considered his life's achievements, then she would learn to understand his perspective, however blind he might have been to the unnecessary nature of his actions.

"What good does it do the Fire Nation keeping all these histories locked away?" she asked her brother, assuming he had his own opinion.

"I think I am qualified to say that the truth can be, at times, less helpful than the fiction." he admitted, before furrowing a brow, "And who is to say that the Fire Lords before Sozin had any more truth in the historical documents they had commissioned?"

"Touché, Zuzu." she replied with a purse of her lips, approving of his judgement; in her eyes, liars were abound wherever one looked, in the past or present, and her brother was smart enough to know simply trusting anyone's words was a foolish endeavour, "Perhaps somebody ought to discern the lies from the truth and tell our nation's history... in a way that helps the people understand."

"What? That our rule has always been righteous? What other end would you make of that?" he asked her, believing that she'd just use such an overhaul for her own ends, or more accurately, the ends of their family, the reigning dynasty of the Fire Nation.

"To learn from our mistakes. That's what." she retorted, raising her chin as she eyed her brother, who seemed a little unnerved.

"No... you're right." he conceded, "Sorry." he muttered quietly, amusing Azula, who knew he didn't like to apologise to her, even when she was right.

"Having your own mistakes bite you in the butt certainly puts things in perspective, doesn't it, Brother?"

He glanced back at her, and nodded, not saying anything else as they approached the door the Fire Sages had mentioned; she noticed that the statue of Sozin stood tall with the Fire Nation's emblem emblazoned on its chest. She stepped closer, and placed a hand on it, firebending into it, which caused flames to spurt out of the eyes, nose and mouth of the statue, and filled up the door as well, causing it to open up.

"That was a bit much, don't you think?" her brother noted, seeming to think that it was a bit gaudy; she could see why he thought that, but she was more interested in the mechanics of the door itself, finding that it, like other firebending doors, could come in handy if one wanted a hidden room.

Being as concerned about her own security as she was, she kept that in mind as she stepped into the small chamber, which was filled with artefacts and vessels, with a large statue of a dragon coiled up in the middle of the room. She noticed that in the dragon's mouth sat a scroll, rolled up in an ornate casing.

"That must be it." Zuko observed, striding forward to pick it out of the dragon's mouth, before unfurling it, "Of course it's long." he sighed, and Azula let out a snicker.

"What, don't you appreciate our required reading, Zuzu?"

"I appreciate that Uncle's giving us the history of our ancestor, but I'd prefer him to just explain it himself... this will just be a pain for our eyes." he admitted, as he sat himself down in front of the dragon, and Azula sat down beside him, knowing she should just read alongside him, instead of bothering to wait for him to finish with it.

He laid the lantern between them, allowing it to light up the parchment, which the Princess eyed with interest; it begun as she expected, with Sozin speaking rather generally about his feelings on his life, but he quickly turned to his regrets, which first and foremost concerned Roku, who was his childhood best friend; that seemed to intrigue her brother, who turned to face her, hand on chin.

"Why would he hunt down his reincarnation... if they were friends?" he asked, and Azula gestured to the parchment.

"I'm sure he'll explain that." she assured him, and they continued reading; it went to lengths to explain the Fire Lord's youth, before he ascended to the throne, with the marked event being the departure of Roku after he had learned of his identity as the Avatar.

The following text was most interesting to Azula, as it gave her ancestor's actual thoughts on what would become the 'grand plan' of the Fire Nation, in which they would spread their prosperity to the other nations. The Fire Lord had no mention of the violent force he had applied to achieve that aim, but clearly seemed to think that the war was unnecessary, just as she did, with some romantic idealism that the other nations would just accede to Fire Nation hegemony, as it would be preferable to poverty and rule by virtual criminals, at least in the case of the Earth Kingdom.

Azula was not under the same presuppositions, though of course, her ancestor didn't have the hindsight of seeing the full extent and drawn-out mess the war would become. She had once thought it would be possible to quickly end it, but after seeing the resistance the Earth Kingdom was still putting up after her uncle's tremendous victories, she doubted it would ever be possible, even if her father got his way.

Sozin then spoke of how his friend had rejected his offers when he came to him, suggesting they build the world better together; she winced at that, wondering what might have become of the world if Roku had accepted his offer. Prior Avatars had gotten involved in politics sometimes, from what she understood, especially Roku's predecessor, the famed Avatar Kyoshi; but all of that involvement hadn't been personal, and was done to uphold 'the peace' as the Avatars had seen it. She knew that if Roku had done what Sozin wanted, then the war mightn't have ever happened, even if Sozin's conquests would have become merely trade agreements, small colonies, and some aid to the Earth Kingdom, mediated with the help of his friend.

The next section was a bit more biting for Azula, as it drew back to something she'd heard her grandfather speak of; the corruption and inequality of the Earth Kingdom, the gender-based discrimination of the Water Tribe, and the morally culpable inaction of the Air Nomads. The Fire Nation, unlike any of them, had the willingness to act and change, both itself and the world. She found herself in agreement with Sozin, though she understood now that it was used to justify things far darker than could be reasoned from the facts alone.

The Dai Li, for one, were mentioned, as a standing epitome of Roku's hypocrisy, or more generally, the hypocrisy of the Avatars in general; they got to pick and choose who they allowed to rule, all in the name of balance, even when their actions had led to tyranny, immiseration, and corruption that only worsened the state of the world. The Dai Li were established to protect the 'cultural heritage' of Ba Sing Se, which just sounded like the riches and lands of the elite, who hide behind their walls from the unwashed masses; in the end, Kyoshi continued what the Earth King had done before her, and it would go on for centuries.

"Well... Sozin was right about them." he admitted, before narrowing his eyes, "And the Avatar is meant to be the righteous one?" he scoffed, and Azula just nodded, agreeing with the sentiment wholly.

Remembering what they did to her cousin only angered Azula, and made her think, that at the very least, her ancestor was right about them; the idea that they were even willing to betray they own nation and work with her father disgusted her, even if she could approve of the concept of the Dai Li itself. She understood that the state would not simply maintain itself; some authority was always required, whether against those who would seek to undermine its laws or the very state itself, as her father seemed intent on doing.

"Righteous?" she raised a brow, recalling what her brother just said, "Righteousness is self-evidential. That seems to be Sozin's whole way of thinking, and Father taught us to think the same way."

"And you think he's right?" Zuko asked her, sounding sceptical of such an ideology, despite the fact that he likely followed it to justify his own stances, as Azula liked to; however, it had become apparent as she learned more about the world, and the war itself, that such ideas would only lead her to arrogance, which itself would make failure certain.

"No, I don't." she narrowed her eyes, "To be righteous is to have others agree with your actions... all the moral spiels our uncle might give won't add up to much when everyone disagrees on anything. Agreement arises from common goals and beliefs, which aren't all too common when it comes to invading other nations and destroying others." she declared, feeling the last part was obvious enough, but knew emphasising the Fire Nation's actions would make it clear why she disagreed.

"Well..." he mumbled, turning his gaze away, "We don't agree on things... but we're working together right now."

"We have a common goal, Zuko." she reminded him, before she gestured back to the scroll, "Can we continue?"

He nodded, and with that, they continued unfurling the scroll to read it. Sozin described how Roku had reacted to his idea, and how it had been a waste of time, if not a mistake; he lamented that he didn't try harder to persuade him, and Azula understood that sentiment. Part of her felt that her father could have been reasoned with, before everything went awry, and she was sure that if she hadn't gone off on her quest to gain respect from her nation by capturing the Avatar, then she could have retained her father's respect, and stopped him from setting their nation against itself, or at the very least, made sure the conflict ended quickly, whichever way it might have gone.

Sozin then went onto explain how the next few years of his life went, when he had followed what Roku had told him; he remained at peace, refusing to act on his plans, and married, expecting an heir. that child was, surprisingly enough, named Roku. It seemed that at the time, he still held a great amount of respect for his friend, and her ancestor even said so himself, describing how he had worked with Roku to mediate a conflict between some warlords in the Earth Kingdom; though Sozin didn't say so himself, she guessed he was trying to prove that he didn't want to harm the Earth Kingdom, but simply assist them.

Then, the part she expected happened; his son died of a freak illnesss, and his wife grew distant and depressed, and Sozin had lost his optimism. The conflict in the Earth Kingdom grew stronger, and Roku was always away, trying to stop the infighting; the Fire Lord was left to tend to his nation, hoping to build upon the strength he had found it in when he ascended to the throne. Trade routes were sabotaged by privateers for years, and eventually, he had had enough; the Fire Navy, which had been but an assembling of wooden ships with steel plating and catapults, was given the funding it required.

"So, that was it." Zuko noted, "That was the beginning of the war."

"When Sozin was barely in his forties?" she asked him, not recalling that was how the official histories were told, "The war began ninety-nine years ago." she reminded him of a well-known historical fact.

"No, read it." he gestured to the text, pointing to the next section, which described what he set out to do; it seemed innocuous, and he described it as such, guarding the merchant ships that sailed between the Fire Islands and the Earth Kingdom, from both nations, and ensuring that trade could continue unabated.

That however, was what Sozin called 'a taste of the power' he saw himself achieving; that aspiration he had told his friend about grew closer and closer to being attained as he built up the Fire Navy, and brought his peacekeeping operation right to the shores of the Earth Kingdom. Trading posts were established to ensure tariffs were followed, and negotiations were made with local elites to procure more goods for the burgeoning markets in the homeland.

"That doesn't sound like a conquest, Brother. That just sounds like what the Earth Kingdom did in the Water Tribes, or even here. They set up similar operations. I recall learning in class that was why the port town was first built... it was the Earth Kingdom's traders, not our own."

"It's Sozin's vision, Azula. That's what he always wanted... prosperity. It was just a natural escalation, to ensure that the Earth Kingdom could see those same benefits our people have enjoyed."

"That isn't how they see it." she admitted, recalling how those rebelling prisoners had treated her, and spoken about the crimes of her nation; that boy, Haru, had addressed her with such contempt and fear that she was both impressed and confused- the Fire Nation was meant to be feared for its strength, but to those who it ruled, it was meant to be an engine of progress.

"And you've spoken to Earth Kingdom fighters?"

"Yes." she confirmed, which surprised her brother, "And though I don't think all their responses have been justified, our nation's grand plan has only made us despised amongst those who don't already serve us."

"And what good does resisting do for them?"

"Not much." she admitted, "But the track record of our nation doesn't fit with the rhetoric our ancestor used." she argued, gesturing to the statue behind them, "What of the dragons?"

"That was Grandfather."

"His son... his responsibility." she retorted, "How could a leader do that to one of the many things that made our nation great?"

"You make it sound like grandfather was stupid." he commented on her question, rather than answering it.

"Not stupid. Arrogant. I think the very same of our own father, but I would never doubt his intellect."

Zuko raised a brow, before he turned his gaze back towards the document, "Let's just keep reading." he told her, and she agreed with her silence, her eyes scanning down the parchment as her brother continued to unfurl it.

Sozin's story only escalated from there, with his trade posts becoming the first colonies, as local leaders were placated, and then threatened, when they didn't bend to his trade agreements. He brought newfound peace and prosperity to the colonies, and by extension, the homeland. At that point, Azula could commend her ancestor for at least trying to avoid violence. The Fire Navy's power was already being put to test, blockading those non-compliant settlements, but firebenders hadn't been sent to destroy villages, or forcibly remove people from lands desired for colonists.

At that point, the colonies weren't even that in name, only 'associated cities' and 'friendly provinces', where the local governments worked in tandem with the Fire Navy to ensure a steady flow of commodities from the colonies to the homeland, and of manufactured goods from the homeland back. Prosperity, as she knew it, was achieved; but of course, greed was what got in the way of peace, not poverty or desperation.

The local rulers were placated, or at the worst, fearful of their overlords, but benefited greatly from the colonisation, while their people were forced into new jobs and homes as the economy shifted away from simple subsistence. That annoyed some, especially the landlords, who lost all their tenant farmers, according to Sozin's account. Those landlords, the elite of the lands that would become the first colonies, scurried to their superiors, the governors, who were powerful warlords who ruled the pieces of the Earth Kingdom like their own little empires.

The Earth King didn't have anything to do with the conflict at that point, nor the Dai Li, or any of the Earth King's loyal armies, just a bunch of irregulars raised up by the warlords, sent to raze the trade posts and expel the Fire Nation before they harmed the interests of those foolish aristocrats. And with that, Sozin was forced to respond in kind, sending divisions into the Earth Kingdom to protect his subjects living there.

"No, Zuko." she gestured to the following paragraph, "This is the start of the war."

"And this... this makes it sound like they started it."

"Oh, they did... but does that justify what happened to the Air Nomads? Or the Southern Water Tribe? Was the whole reaction really necessary?" she asked him, and the Prince just sighed.

"I think I need to keep reading to make a judgement on that."

"How considerate." she mockingly addressed his thoughtfulness, though in truth, she appreciated that he was actually willing to hear Sozin out rather than just bag on him because his actions might have betrayed whatever principles Iroh instilled in him.

The war, or set of short wars that followed that initial attack on the Fire Nation's outposts began the war, at least as people in the homeland saw it; they were put into a frenzy of nationalism, wanting nothing more than to protect their innocent traders and settlers who were only in the Earth Kingdom to build the land up, not to conquer it. But conquer Sozin did, his armies laying waste to the disorganised rabble sent his way, feeling confident that he could bring an end to the insolence and arrogance of the aristocrats and warlords alike. That was when the first true colonies were taken, such as the now well-regarded and integrated city of Yu Dao; it was also when Roku finally caught a whiff of Sozin's actions, or as he described them, reactions.

When Roku confronted him in the throne room, Sozin was infuriated, believing he had acted in the best interests of the Fire Nation and the settlers who had done no wrong, in his eyes; Roku was blinded by his view of the four nations, and his inability to see the corruption that lay before him. Like Kyoshi before him, he could have acted to try and pacify the situation on the ground, but he only had eyes for Sozin, believing his acts to be tantamount to destroying the balance he was entrusted to maintain. So, he was nearly killed for doing what he believed in, something that would have understandably enraged him even further; Roku, being his best friend, had decided to spare him, but warned him against taking any more land in the Earth Kingdom, on the threat of death.

"But it wasn't his fault." Zuko commented, gesturing at the parchment, "Even if they didn't need to take the land... Sozin was just defending the Fire Nation." he acknowledged, before shaking his head, "I can't believe our ancestor was both the Avatar and a fool."

"No, I don't think he was foolish to think that." Azula conceded, "The Hundred Year War still happened, Zuko. Sozin attacked the Air Nomads, and he struck the Earth Kingdom; he only delayed the inevitable."

"But he didn't kill him?" her brother asked, before shaking his head, "Both these men seem terrible, for different reasons, but terrible nonetheless."

She tilted her head, unsure if she wanted to agree with such a view; she knew that both men had their flaws, but the rationale behind both their actions were sound. The only reason for conflict, in the end, was perspective; if Sozin had explained what had really happened in the Earth Kingdom, instead of letting his friend come to his own conclusions, then things might have turned out very differently.

Her eyes returned to the parchment, and as her brother continued unfurling, she read along, with Sozin's account continuing on, his tone growing more sombre. The Fire Lord genuinely wanted to make peace with his friend, and did his best to follow through; he either respected Roku still, or simply had a strong sense of self-preservation.

He had his forces draw back from the frontlines in the Earth Kingdom, but retained control over the colonies, eventually negotiating peace, which was on their terms, not his. Earth Kingdom forces occupied the countryside around the colonial settlements, which became exclaves within the Earth Kingdom, and were still subject to a complex system of tariffs and taxes.

The prices of commodities increased greatly, forcing Sozin to negotiate trade deals directly with the Governors, and that worked for some time. However, the Earth King, and his underlings in the Earth Kingdom's high command, had found out about the events in the provinces, and the monarch decided to reinforce their authority, to prevent something like Sozin's first war from happening again. Given the Earth King lacked much authority in his own city after the Dai Li's establishment, he flexed his authority in the provinces, and this led inevitably to another civil war, which Avatar Roku had to intervene in.

The conflict raged for over a decade, and the warlords submitted to the Earth King's diktat, and the treaties between them and Sozin were scrapped, with new negotiations started by Roku to ensure that the two nations could discuss trade matters on an equal footing. Sozin was infuriated by this, as it forced Fire Nation merchants to continue paying tariffs and taxes, instead of allowing the Fire Lord himself to pay off the warlords to bypass the tariffs.

This new situation was barely tolerated, and Sozin decided to compensate by further expanding the Fire Nation's investments in the colonies, building up industry in Yu Dao to provide metal goods in exchange for the raw ingredients from the Earth Kingdom. An arms industry even began picking up speed, with the Earth Kingdom forces in need of armour and arms as the Earth King continued his reforms of the military. Sozin allowed his subjects to continue trading weapons, as it justified the testing and development of new arms, even selling the Earth Kingdom older ships that were replaced by the first steel frigates and cruisers, now the cornerstone of the Fire Nation's military.

"I can't believe he actually did that." Zuko murmured, "Why would he even bother helping them?"

"They'd have more weapons to kill each other with." Azula replied with a bemused smirk, "You know how the Earth Kingdom is. They love fighting each other more than we love our spices."

This build-up was done in secret for the most part, justified as an exchange of technology and resources with the Earth Kingdom. However, fearing that his enemies would actually gain the upper hand, he sent spies into the Earth Kingdom to stir up dissent; the same aristocrats who had tried to destroy his colonies all those years prior formed a great hammer by which he could batter the Earth Kingdom, to prevent them from gathering their strength entirely.

The next civil war, of many, was fought over the militarisation of the borderlands in the western Earth Kingdom, spurred on by Sozin's own military build up; the aristocrats didn't want their prime workers being conscripted into the army or hired to build their forts and roads, and played Sozin's tune perfectly. Protests became a full-on revolt, and though the burghers, who benefitted from Fire Nation trade and the influx of well-paid soldiers, refused to partake, the peasants were riled up by nationalistic rhetoric, leading the charge against the Earth King's lackeys who nominally ruled the provinces. The new conflict was much longer than the last, raging on until the eve of the Hundred Year War itself, and this provided a perfect distraction for Roku while Sozin continued his efforts; the Fire Lord knew while his friend lived, he could not attack the Earth Kingdom openly.

That led to the story Iroh had told her, and now with the context, she understood why it had gone the way it had; Sozin came to help his friend, still being a man of honour, but left him to die, a man frustrated, wishing to renew his nation and the world, to stop them from continuing their petty squabbles, by unifying them under his banner. She didn't miss the irony of the war being a great unifier for the Earth Kingdom, instead of leading to its immediate incorporation into Sozin's empire; all that infighting became a thing of the past once the Air Nomads were destroyed and the Fire Navy started bombarding every coastal city they could reach.

"So, he killed him." Zuko acknowledged, "That's... that's something Father would do."

"Except Father's never had a friend in his life." she retorted, making her brother snicker.

"You can't know that for sure. How could he persuade all those people to fight for him?"

"How did Sozin?" she questioned him back, and the Prince's eyes narrowed into a serious glare.

"Hatred and fear."

Her eyes turned to the end of the parchment, which described what followed, the destruction of the Air Nomads, and the war itself; the Fire Lord destroyed the Air Nomads out of paranoia, fearing the return of a new Avatar who would destroy him, and began to seek out any threats to his reign, believing that only he could protect the Fire Nation, and bring true peace to the world. In a way, Sozin was right; only subjugation would bring absolute peace, but she had her doubts over the longevity of such an arrangement.

His invasions were swift, but the Earth Kingdom, having fought an insurgency for decades, was quite ready for a fight, even if they were no match technologically; the Water Tribes were another thing entirely, but Sozin himself only bothered to attack the Northern Tribe once, and that was a failure. He wrote the account on his deathbed, wishing that the other nations could have seen his aspirations as the good-intentioned ideas they were, rather than as the atrocities they justified. The Avatar was never found, and Sozin spoke only of the fear he had for what his descendants would face when he returned.

"Oh, he had no idea," she grinned with pride, as she clenched a fist, "that I would wield the Avatar as a weapon against our enemies instead." she declared her intent, knowing Aang would be the key to peace, both with the other nations, and internally.

"I think he did." Zuko admitted, "But I don't think he thought anyone could ever work with him. Not after what he did to Sozin... and the Air Nomads."

"So you agree... destroying the Air Nomads was wrong?"

"How couldn't I? They were no threat. The only threat amongst them was the Avatar... but if those stories about him being frozen were true, then Sozin massacred them for nothing. Thousands upon thousands for nothing but a few empty temples and a war with the rest of the world." he declared his thoughts plainly, and Azula raised a hand to her cheek.

"Purposeless violence doesn't fill one's heart with vigour, does it, Zuzu?"

"No, it never does." he agreed, and seemed to ignore her mocking addressal.

"Escalation is... well, you've seen what father's done, what I've had to do. It was do or die."

"No, do or lose some." she retorted, "You could have comfortably awaited Uncle's return with your friend in Shu Jing, couldn't have you, Brother?"

He narrowed his eyes on her, "But I had to act. To protect Uncle... to stop the conspiracy."

"And did you?"

"I stopped two Commanders." he snapped back, "Imprisoned one and killed the other. What did you do? Kill a few assassins?"

"I prevented those scions of the Fire Navy loyal to Father from capturing the Avatar." she retorted, "The ones that were already out of port, and not ready for you to beat up."

He narrowed his glare at her, and dropped his gaze down, "It was a team effort." he conceded, "But... that escalation, it was necessary. To stop Uncle from dying, to stop the Avatar from being caught."

"Certainly, I'm not disagreeing with you. But you can see from this account, Brother, that escalation may lead us to a place where we are destroying the very thing we claim to protect." she gestured to Sozins' account, and Zuko nodded, surprisingly in agreement with her; he usually would just abrasively refuse to do so, which indicated her brother had matured somewhat in her absence.

"I don't want to become Father... that's why when I harm others, I will always do it with principles in mind. You don't go around killing people because you simply don't like them. You do it to protect yourself and your nation, to protect the innocents their actions might harm."

"I am a servant of the Fire Lord, just as much as you are." she conceded, "I will never claim to be a paragon of virtue, but simply effective at what I am entrusted to do. You were-" she began, before realising what she was about to say was utterly abhorrent for her tongue; she couldn't admit the virtue of her brother's sense of honour, no matter how much he spited her in the past.

"I was what?" he asked, and she turned her gaze away.

"I once despised your naivety and innocence, and your willingness to rebel against our father for the sake of your beliefs." she explained her feelings as they were, but refrained from stating what she had really had in mind, "Giving up oneself for the sake of victory is no victory at all."

Zuko blinked a few times, before turning his eyes to the parchment, "So... did Sozin really win after all of that?"

"You can never have everything." she acknowledged, before narrowing her eyes, imagining what her father must have thought after his plans had gone awry, and he had neither of his children by his side, "Father should have considered that before he betrayed us."

Zuko's expression softened for a moment as he glanced towards the exit, "I... I feel like I should apologise."

"For what exactly?" she asked, "You haven't been the kindest brother, Zuko." she bluntly addressed his past behaviours for what they were; she didn't blame him entirely for what he'd done over the years, understanding that he had to react somehow after their father's treatment of him, and that was before he'd had assassins sent after him.

"I should have done something sooner. I knew father was hiding things, probably more than you could have realised at the time. I could have stopped him, or at least, persuaded him to act otherwise."

"You can't persuade him." she retorted, shaking her head as she realised the impossibility of actually controlling her father, "Nobody can."

"He must have some weakness." her brother suggested, and she almost laughed.

"Other than the obvious physical ones, I don't think he spent his entire life becoming a heartless killing machine for nothing."

"Well... it will be for nothing, when we're through with him." Zuko declared confidently, and she narrowed her eyes, considering what he had said a few moments earlier.

"Do you think this fighting could have been prevented, truly?" she gave him the question she wanted an answer for, but knew nobody could provide, except for maybe her father, if he was willing to divulge his innermost thoughts, something that seemed nigh impossible.

"I wish every day that I could have done more. Told Grandfather, maybe. I don't know. I'm not a genius... or a master strategist. I'm only sixteen."

"And I'm only fourteen, but we've done things nobody else our age could... because we're capable, and it's necessary."

"That's the closest thing I've gotten to an actual compliment from you." he acknowledged with a small smile, "Except for that weird thing you said about being naïve and innocent, but I don't take those as virtues."

"Wisdom isn't something you're born with." she mumbled, before rising to her feet, "That's why I want to learn as much as I can... to gain insight into why the world is the way it is."

"So you can rule... right?" he asked her, and she just turned away, pacing towards the door.

"So the Fire Nation may prosper... and we don't needlessly escalate ourselves into another endless struggle."

"Father won't live forever... he will be stopped." he retorted, and she sighed.

"It's not him that you should fear, Brother. It's what he thinks is possible."


Sokka missed a good meal more than he expected he would, and sitting by a campfire, he wished that some nuts and berries he had scavenged from the forest weren't all he was going to eat; Aang and Katara weren't very happy about it either, but they were distracting themselves with some childish game of pointing out shapes in the clouds above them.

The sun hadn't set yet, and he was wondering if there was enough time to try and go on a hunt; though he was only experienced doing so in his homeland, he knew his techniques must come in handy, enough so that he might actually catch something. Of course, that'd annoy Aang, whose vegetarianism forbade him from eating animals. So he rose up to his feet, deciding that he should at least go have a look, and see if he could spot some animal tracks; it was a little harder in the woods where there was so much underbrush and little light at that time of the day, but he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"What's wrong?" Katara addressed him, and he just pointed off into the darkness of the woods.

"I wanna go see if I can find some more food. Those nuts and berries were... well, I'm not satisfied."

"Come on, you don't know what's out there." she warned him, "It's dangerous."

"Yeah, and so is starving."

"You're not starving." she assured him, "We had enough to share among us... I know you like your meals, but we can't always get what you want."

"Yeah, I figured that out a long time ago." he grumbled, crossing his arms as he paced into the woods, just glancing around by the edge instead of venturing inside, "Don't you find it weird that we haven't seen any animals here?"

"I mean, maybe they're afraid of us." Aang suggested, "They don't want to be eaten."

"It doesn't matter what they-" he began, before sighing, not wanting to draw himself into a stupid argument with Aang; he was a vegetarian, and the Water Tribesman an enjoyer of meat, so they could never come to an agreement, "Never mind." he refused to continue, "I'm just going to have a look for a second. I won't be long."

"Scream if you get in trouble. Momo will be able to tell." Aang assured him, and Sokka glanced over at the flying lemur, who was presently sleeping.

"I'd hope." he mumbled, before departing, pulling out his jaw bone dagger, guessing he could use it to listen for any animals rustling about, if there were any nearby.

Sokka furrowed a brow as he listened to the dagger vibrate in the tree trunk beside him, noticing some rustling nearby, and it wasn't in the same direction as the campfire, where the others were.

"Got you." he declared with a grin, glad that he'd finally found something to eat, or if he was lucky, a number of things.

He pulled out his boomerang, and began to slowly walk into the woods, crouching down as he eyed around intently, trying to see if anything was amiss. The head of a cat-deer would be very hard to miss juxtaposed against the dark bark of the trees; however, to his frustration, he couldn't see anything but trees. If anything, that was unnerving, so he got lower, and eyed through the underbrush, trying to see if he could see anything, maybe tracks or even some little feet off in the distance. To his shock, he did see feet, except they were in boots, very clearly belonging to a person, who he couldn't otherwise see.

"Oh crap." he muttered under his breath, rising to his feet, only to see an axe being swung at his head.

Sokka almost screamed out of shock, but instead just screamed because he was falling flat on his behind with some distance between him and the two other people he could trust to save said behind. The person standing above him was some burly teenager; he looked like some kind of bandit, wielding an axe, and certainly looking able to use it.

"Sokka!" he heard his sister's shrill, fearful voice in the distance, and footsteps immediately after.

"Don't move." the boy warned Sokka, and he complied, not thinking his boomerang would be doing much against an axe of all things.

What concerned him more than the axe was the fact he could see others pacing past the boy, in the direction of Aang and Katara, which implored him to act, "Stay back!" he shouted out to them, hoping they'd actually listen and not get themselves made hostages by the sly fiends.

He glanced back, frustrated that he was unable to see past the bushes in the way, and thus, see if the others were alright; he heard a whistle a few seconds later, and his gaze turned back up, noticing someone new standing above him. It was a teenage boy, taller and leaner than the one with the axes, wielding an odd looking sword with a hook on the tip of the blade; he had messy hair, a reed in his mouth, and some hodgepodge armour that looked uncomfortable and oddly intimidating.

"Who are you?" the taller boy asked him, "What's with the clothes?"

"Water Tribe." he clarified why his clothes were blue, which he realised in hindsight would be odd for someone in the Earth Kingdom to see, "Why are you pointing that at me?"

"Because you're in our turf." he told him, his glare suggesting that he wanted them gone, but then, he glanced up, "Who's with you?"

"My sister and our friend." he explained, keeping out the part where he revealed Aang was the Avatar; if things got violent, that surprise would come in handy.

"We're not going to hurt you!" the boy called out to the clearing, presumably trying to get Aang and Katara to come meet him and his group.

"What's going on?" Aang called out, and Sokka cleared his throat, deciding to choose his words wisely; he didn't want to needlessly agitate the people holding weapons in his face.

"Just ran into some... forest people." he gave the best answer he could, "They don't want us here."

"Actually, I never said you had to leave." the boy clarified, "You just need to tell me what you're doing here."

"Passing through... I doubt anyone actually comes here otherwise."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." the boy mumbled, before waving his sword a little in Sokka's face, "Now, could you tell me why you're here if you're from the Water Tribe."

"Going to the North Pole." he answered honestly, and he blinked a few times.

"Wow, why didn't I think of that." he commented on his own thought process, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you there." he apologised, though the sword in Sokka's face didn't make that feel very genuine.

"The swords and axes say otherwise." he warned, and the boy just scoffed.

"Oh, we need these... to fight the Fire Nation, that is. You don't like them in the Water Tribes, do you?"

"No, they have done some terrible stuff to my tribe-" he began, before the boy cut him off by offering him a hand.

"Well, then, we have that in common." he acknowledged, "The name's Jet." he gave his identity, before gesturing to the others with him, "These are my Freedom Fighters: Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak."

"You made those names up." he scoffed at his clearly fake name; it sounded far too cool to be a real name.

"Got me there." he conceded, and waved his hand a little above Sokka's face, "Come on, I won't bite."

The Water Tribesman cautiously accepted his hand, and was hoisted back up to his feet; he immediately turned around, seeing that Katara and Aang were watching, both eyeing off Jet's group; he did the same, realising that they were all seriously outnumbered, though their wielding of weapons solely indicated none of them were earthbenders.

"If you want some place safe to camp, you can come to our hideout. It's deeper into the forest." Jet explained, and Katara strode forward, seeming interested in the offer.

"So, you guys fight the Fire Nation?"

"Yeah, we do. We just got back from beating some scouts, and took some blasting jelly from them." he explained, gesturing to the barrels that some of his group were carrying.

"What's that for?" he asked, and Jet shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know yet." he admitted aloofly, before glancing back towards Katara and Aang, "So, will you take the offer?"

"Yeah, we will." Katara agreed to it, and Aang gave a supportive nod; Sokka, despite thinking the group would be on 'their side', as it was, felt a little uncomfortable going to stay with a bunch of armed teenagers, even if he was one himself.

There was a reason, after all, that his father hadn't let him come join the warriors; he was naïve, and too eager, not knowing well enough what he'd face if he went to fight the Fire Nation. That was what he thought at least, besides the obvious reason of needing somebody to stay back and protect the village.

Sokka strode over back to the others, and eyed Appa, wondering if they could fly their way to wherever they were being told to go, or if they would have to walk, "How far away is your hideout?"

"Not far. That's why we had to see if you were dangerous... we can't have anyone just walking up to it." Jet explained, and Sokka eyed his group, wondering if any of them had anything to say about strangers coming to stay with them.

"Are you all okay with us just going to your hideout?" he asked, surprising Jet, though his group didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"It'll be fine." the person he'd called Smellerbee replied; she was an odd looking girl with face paint and short cropped hair, though she looked quite fierce, "If Jet thinks you will be alright, then we will let you come."

"Good to hear." Aang eagerly smiled at them, "Come on Appa, we gotta get moving again." he called on his sky-bison, who let out a dissatisfied groan; he probably would have preferred to just continue resting, after spending the better part of the day flying them north.

So with that, Appa began trudging into the forest, towards Aang, who followed after Jet and his group; Sokka remained behind them, though, wanting to make sure they weren't getting followed, if they had really just fought some Fire Nation soldiers.

"How do you know you're not being tracked?" he asked the boy beside himself, who Jet had called Longshot; he wore a conical straw hat and wielded a bow arrow, and looked solemn and stoic.

He didn't speak, just pointing to his ear, and Sokka let out a snicker, finding his confidence a little amusing, but he didn't say anything else, not wanting to offend their hosts.

"So, why are you out in the forest?" Katara asked Jet, and he cocked his chin up.

"Oh, well, we're here because we have nowhere else to go. None of us have any family except each other." he explained their situation, which seemed clear just from the look of them; orphans and outcasts, refugees from the war, the kind of people he'd expect to have a serious bone to pick with the Fire Nation.

"So, why do you fight them?"

"We've all lost to them... families, homes, livelihoods. Most of us haven't had a life without the war, and all the destruction they've wrought." Jet explained, narrowing his eyes, "We're trying to fight back, and free this land from them. Make them pay for what they've done."

"They're giving themselves their own comeuppance." Sokka clarified, feeling that someone out in the woods mightn't actually know what was going on with the Fire Nation itself.

"What?" Smellerbee turned to face him, "What do you mean?"

"They're going to destroy themselves... sorry, are destroying themselves. The Fire Lord's brother is trying to seize the throne... haven't you heard?"

"Uh, honestly, no." Jet admitted, genuinely surprised by what he'd just heard, "So, does that mean they'll withdraw from this area?"

"I'm not stealing Fire Nation intelligence, we've just been around and heard things." he admitted, before furrowing a brow, "But they might."

"That's good to hear." the leader acknowledged with a smirk, "I'd like to see them run off with their tails between their legs, but that's just as good."

"But whoever wins that war will come back." Smellerbee stated the obvious.

"We'll be ready." Jet assured her, and Katara tilted her head, eyeing the boy with an expression that Sokka could only describe as awe, but he wasn't sure if that was the emotion she was feeling.

"That's brave of you... to stay and fight them."

"We can do it... and they won't have a chance to find our hideout." he confidently declared, making Sokka roll his eyes; if the Fire Nation could somehow find and get rid of all the Air Nomads, who had sky-bisons like Aang, and could literally fly, he was pretty sure his confidence was misplaced.

"What's so special about it?" Aang asked, seeming curious as he glanced around the forest.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough."


Palanquins were always too tight and claustrophobic for Zuko, but he didn't want to complain; it bet walking back to the palace, so he kept his mouth shut. Across from himself sat his sister, who had her eyes set on the window, looking out onto the street. He didn't imagine there was anything too interesting to look at, but he was sure it was better than her staring him down.

However, his mind wasn't on his sister, no matter how unavoidable her presence was at that very moment; it was back on the things they had learned from Sozin's testament, and what she had to say about it. Though it seemed clear after their prior interactions, as well as comments from Mai, he was now coming to the realisation that Azula was not the same person she had been when she left the palace. Perhaps she was still the same person on the inside, but her goals and views had certainly shifted, and in some rather stark ways.

Zuko considers his internal conflict as he and Azula return to the palace, and he begins to consider whether his patriotic views are righteous or not. She believed that Sozin was wrong, though perhaps not with everything, which was something he'd never expect to leave her mouth. In a way, her talk about escalation was right, but she hadn't realised, that in their father's escalation, he had forced her to take a new stance, one that she might have otherwise abhorred if not for the circumstances. Zuko too did what had to be done, but until he returned home, he hadn't considered what truly differentiated their father and uncle, besides one person being on the throne rather than the other.

"You're obviously thinking about something." Azula addressed him, and Zuko raised his hand from his cheek, not having realised that she had been watching him think, "And not something stupid, like about Mai." she added on, as if to make her comment any less creepy; it only made him feel a little embarrassed, though after all the mocking they had given each other through their childhood, it was a little hard for her to offend him.

"Don't even think about calling her stupid to her face." he warned his sister, who just smirked, clearly amused by the idea.

"I wouldn't dare." she assured him, before she began tapping her nails on the edge of the window, "I'm simply telling you that having your mind constantly on the girl you pine after is a stupid distraction, not that she herself is lacking intelligence. That's hardly the case." she explained, her verbosity itself annoying him, though he didn't want to start an argument over something so petty.

"I'm aware." he mumbled in response, before he too eyed the window, though the opposite, so he wasn't looking her in the eye, "I was thinking about the testament, and what you said."

"What exactly? I run my mouth more often than not, Brother." she admitted, her honesty oddly refreshing, though he hadn't expected any kind of self-deprecation in his presence.

"About the escalation, and right and wrong." he clarified, before sparking a flame on the tip of his thumb, "We're being forced to make decisions that nobody since Sozin has. We're having to choose what we want to do with the Fire Nation."

"Well, Uncle is." she corrected him, "We're just along for the ride... not too unlike this palanquin. We could tell them to walk us right to the beach, but they won't; their job is to take us home." she gave an odd metaphor, but he understood it; they couldn't choose the path of the Fire Nation, only follow what had been set before them.

"But there's more than one path home." he noted, realising that related to their own future.

"Now you're getting philosophical, Zuzu."

"I'm not trying to say what's set to be or anything like that." he assured her, not having any belief in fate; he knew it was a bunch of shit, and he wasn't going to act like their was some divine purpose for their lives or actions, "Fate doesn't exist. Only action does."

"Precisely." she agreed with his point, "So, we must act... and given your new role, you're going to be doing a lot of that."

He pursed his lips, realising that he had gotten what he had always wanted, in a way; more power and responsibility than Azula, though he knew training the Avatar wasn't an unimportant task in the slightest, she wasn't going to be actively doing than anytime soon, and it wouldn't last all too long, unlike what Iroh had entrusted to him.

"You know, I was jealous of the responsibilities you got, but now, in hindsight, I wish I hadn't wanted more of it."

She looked as if she was about to laugh at that, but held her tongue, "I am not too interested in responsibilities at this very moment. They seem to be nothing but something to distract my mind." she admitted, "I need a goal, not a responsibility."

"Catching the one person who taught you most of the things you know about leading, fighting and politicking." he answered her statement, which wasn't necessary, but humoured her; the Princess raised her hand up to her cheek and scratched at it, seeming to be deep in thought.

"The more I learn about the world, the more I realise I know nothing about it." she gave a thought, and Zuko raised a brow, wondering what she meant by it.

"Well, nobody can know everything." he admitted, knowing it was by virtue of what knowledge was, impossible.

"I need to know enough, and enough is something I've always struggled with." she admitted something he'd already figured out long ago; she was an extreme perfectionist, in more than just her firebending.

"I have too... just not in the way you were thinking." he admitted, knowing his own abilities or skills were never enough for Ozai, or simply, not comparable to Azula's.

"That's just..." she mumbled, before turning her eyes away, "Nevermind."

"Father." he finished her sentence for her, "You got your attitude from somewhere, Azula."

"Attitude to work, perhaps." she countered, "Not when it comes to duty... or life."

The Prince's expression softened, realising that despite his teachings, Azula was forgoing them, and not remaining loyal, even if it might have been in her best interest to do so.

"So, what did you mean when you mentioned escalation, morals and all that?" she asked, recalling what he'd first addressed, "That you think we have to one-up father in our do-goodery?"

"No, it's not like that... I mean, that if we're going to have a war, we have to make a side. Our side has to stand for something, not just a man."

"You say that like Uncle's going to keel over dead." she retorted, seeming almost offended by the idea.

"I want him to reign for a long time... long after this fight is over, but that doesn't mean he can win on charisma and renown alone."

"No, we can't." she agreed with his point, "That's why we have to make peace with the other nations, despite the pain it will cause."

"For who?"

"For all of us." she snapped back at him, now seeming agitated, "I'm angry at them for what they did to Lu Ten... but that doesn't mean that I want to just let father win because of it. He's responsible as well... even if he didn't start the war."

"As we read, it was more complicated than one person doing anything."

"Well, that's other than Roku dying. That made it a lot easier for the Fire Nation." she acknowledged, and Zuko just sighed.

"His lack of action caused the war, as much as Sozin's posturing and idealism did." he conceded, before he tensed up, realising that there was something eerily similar between Sozin and his uncle, not his father, as he had first assumed, "By that logic, as Father is the on the side of the status quo, he found himself in the same position Roku was."

"I don't think making a comparison between the two of them is helpful in the slightest, Zuzu." his sister retorted, now just seeming frustrated by his commentary.

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, feeling as if he had caught onto something, "But Azula, that's the problem. We're not thinking about what's happening."

"No, I am." she assured him, "You're just overthinking it. Uncle is leading our nation, and he will fulfil his promise to end the war. What of that makes him the radical?"

"That he thinks it can end." he admitted, "To what ends will he go, or make us go?"

"He always gives us the choice to refuse." Azula snapped back at him, surprisingly reassuring, given her tone, "Unlike you know who."

"And... how can we be sure of our decisions?" he asked, "If Sozin was so caught up in believing his own righteousness, what's to say that we don't fall for the same trap?"

"Because we're smarter. We can learn from history, Brother... and before you say that stupid proverb: history rhymes, it doesn't repeat, and we're not on the side of bloodshed and fruitless endeavours."

"What, like going to capture the one person nobody else was able to find for a century?" he asked her, actually wanting an answer to that; searching for the Avatar was a quest he hadn't expected her to choose of her own free will, given the track record of Azulon, Iroh, and Ozai before her.

"I wanted to try." she admitted, before smirking, "And I succeeded, Zuko. Can anyone else say the same?"

"From what I've heard, you were just lucky." he retorted, and her expression shifted immediately; he would have usually expected a quip about how she was luckier than him, endowed by fate to succeed while he would fail, or at the very least, imply as such.

Instead, she remained silent, just looking at him, as if he was dead before her, "I'm..." she mumbled, "I'm not lucky."

"No, I'm pretty sure you are." he stressed, feeling that luck was the reason she was able to even find the Avatar, the one person who could help intervene and stop their father's insane plans, and perhaps, even make peace between the remaining three nations.

"That might have been a coincidence, or luck, but I'm not going to say that I'm lucky."

"Why?"

"Because of Roku. He's the cause of all of this. Our strength, our... conscience, even. What makes us capable to rule doesn't even come from our father... it comes from her." she told him, and Zuko felt a pang in his chest.

He just looked down, trying hard to remember, but only receiving a blur in return; his mind's eye couldn't even reach back to see her, to see what he could have had. It was as if the part of him inherited from his father was mocking him, for even daring to want something that most children had.

"I can't... I can't even remember her face." he mumbled, "But I remember her hands." he told her, looking at his own, before eyeing hers, "She would hold mine when we went through the gardens. That's all I can really remember." he admitted, and he realised a few moments later that tears were falling down his cheeks; he wiped them away, and internally chastised himself from crying in front of the one person who would never let it down.

But he didn't hear a single quip, only seeing the look on her face; it wasn't disgust, or even apprehension- she just seemed solemn, as if she too regretted what had happened, even if she really had nothing to do with it. He could blame her all he liked, but she was just a baby, born only to have their mother die hours after.

"I will never know her." she admitted, "You only have glimpses, and... we both have what she gave us."

"What was that?" he asked, wondering if she was talking about their firebending skills.

"I think it is our courage." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "We certainly didn't get it from our coward of a father."

"Yeah, you can say that again." he snickered, before he turned his gaze back to the street, "I never thought I was that brave. I never had the guts to confront him."

"About his treachery?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No, about anything. I wanted to... but I was afraid. I was afraid that he'd hurt me."

"He could have." she conceded, "Uncle would have stopped him." she decided on what would have eventuated in such a scenario; Zuko, however, disagreed with that belief.

"He wasn't always here." he retorted, "All those years, while he was away on campaign, I was afraid he'd never come back."

"I understand." she spoke up, seeming to indicate she felt the same; Iroh was there for them both, and if he'd died in the war, then there was no telling how things could have turned out for them, but Zuko was already rather sure what he would have done.

"No, I don't think you do." he warned her, "Do you know why I learned to generate lightning?"

"It wasn't to impress Uncle, was it?" she asked, clearly not believing such a presupposition; he could tell by the look in her eyes- it was rare to get any kind of fear out of her, but there she was, seeming actually concerned by his thoughts.

"I would have killed him." he admitted, "I wouldn't have cared... Agni Kai or not. I wasn't going to let him rule over us with fear."

"I don't think that's what Uncle would have wanted you to do." she stressed, as if she knew exactly what Iroh would think.

"Don't speak for him. He can do that himself." he snapped back at her, before sighing, "It's not on you. It never has been." he told her, knowing she never bore Ozai's expectations like he did; even if she followed them, she never failed.

She just stared him down, now seeming angry at him personally, "That's because I found a way to never fail. Why do you think I did all that training? I didn't sit through Lo and Li's lectures because I liked their creepy way of speaking and long-winded explanations."

"I know you trained... but you were training to fight soldiers, enemies of the nation." he acknowledged, "Because that was what he expected of you."

"Yes, I did." she agreed, "I did that, because if I didn't, he would have treated me just as he treated you."

"I figured." he conceded, knowing that she must have feared falling out of his graces just as much as Zuko feared stepping out of line, "But I was ready to do what Father's doing right now?"

"Betray me?" she raised a brow, and Zuko just scoffed.

"Azula, you might be strong, but you don't scare me." he assured her, "I might have feared your plotting, but that's no longer an issue... it hasn't been for a while."

That made her laugh, and she pointed a finger at him, "That's because our interests align."

"And I'm glad they do... it's about time we had some certainty."