Gladiator Chapter 363: The Next Move 5, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

The Next Move

Nothing had improved. Nothing had changed for the better. Her husband's stubbornness and distance remained exactly as it had been since their conflict had begun.

At times, Ursa thought she was stuck in a nightmare. She hoped she would wake up one day, turn in bed and find him smiling fondly at her, with that glint of mischief she had ever been enraptured by in his golden eyes. But either she woke up alone, or she found his back towards her, instead.

Their intense tryst hadn't repeated itself. The dignified side of her was grateful for that. The less dignified side pondered how to approach him, how to anger him enough to trigger that kind of reaction anew… for that might just be her only way to convince him to touch her. The only way to get his lips upon her body, his manhood inside her depths.

She refrained from acting on that impulse. She wondered if he had similar thoughts to hers. If he did, she held her silence, nonetheless, and he held his own.

Her relationship with Azula proved even more disheartening: she had better days with Ozai once before, which made the distance far more hurtful. But with Azula… it felt like their relationship had only ever been in free fall and it would only speed up further towards utter destruction with each day. The girl was unruly, her caretakers failed to discipline her appropriately, and it seemed that the loss of her opportunity to train with Piandao had bolstered her rebelliousness to a point where Ursa dreaded that it bordered on malice.

Was it any wonder that Ursa would only find solace with Zuko, then? She could sit with him by the turtle-duck pond and relax after a day spent dealing with her family's deterioration. She could travel to Shu Jing with him and know that, at least until she met Piandao, she could be free of worries while she read books to him before bed, or as she taught him the names of the stars as they sat together on deck after dinner, or when she rejoiced in his displays of swordsmanship mastery. He was confident, bold, innocent and spirited… he was her haven in the midst of the chaos of a family run to the ground.

A family she had run to the ground, according to Ozai.

Lu Ten was too busy these days to spend as much time with his cousins as he liked. Still, he succeeded at bringing the four family members together for his brief recitals whenever he dropped by with his guzheng. But even he could sense the distance between his uncle and aunt, and he even asked Ursa about it once:

"Is everything okay? I thought you liked that song…" he asked her, after Lo and Li took Azula and Zuko to bed, and Ozai retired for his late-night training. "I added some flair to it, but you didn't react at all…"

"It was beautiful, dear," Ursa said, with an affectionate smile. Lu Ten offered her a weak one of his own. "I'm sorry I'm not all here lately. It's been… a trying time for us."

"Why? If I can inquire, that is," Lu Ten said, eyeing her with uncertainty. "Would you rather talk about it with my dad, maybe? We'll still be here for a little while, as far as I know we're not set to be deployed right away…"

"Oh, don't… don't worry, Lu Ten, truly," Ursa offered him a tense smile.

While she had made efforts to bond with Iroh, even inviting him and Lu Ten for several vacations in Ember Island across the years, she wasn't about to offer her brother-in-law further reason to suspect that her family was in shambles. Iroh had mellowed out towards the rest of his relatives after Daiyu's death – not so much towards his enemies, whom he would be fighting quite soon, once he left for his upcoming campaign in Ba Sing Se –, but he might slip into old habits and give away to Azulon that something was wrong between her and Ozai… and that was the one thing Ursa and Ozai remained in cold but complete agreement over: they would show the Fire Lord no weaknesses to exploit, standing as a united front against him regardless of the circumstances.

"If you're sure…" Lu Ten said, eyeing her with uncertainty. Ursa's eyes sharpened.

"Don't even think about it," she said, her voice no longer as easygoing as before. Lu Ten winced, cheeks flushing.

"Are you a mindbender or something?" he asked. "How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Because you're terrible at hiding it, dear," Ursa smiled slightly. "Don't talk to Ozai about it. You shouldn't involve yourself in this, Lu Ten."

"Ugh. I mean, I guess, but… it feels weird that you two aren't getting along as well lately," Lu Ten pouted. "I guess everyone has their ups and downs, but… never really thought the two of you would, too."

"I didn't either. And yet… life can surprise you. And not always in positive ways," Ursa sighed, shaking her head. "But you have enough worrying to do about other matters as it is. Enjoy your time in the Palace as best as you can, Lu Ten. Everything I've heard about Ba Sing Se suggests that it's going to be a long time before you can come home, so…"

"Yeah, plan's to make it a siege, as far as I understand… and I'd say I shouldn't discuss that with a civilian, but you're such a highly ranked civilian that I think it should be fine to talk about it, right?" Lu Ten smiled guiltily. Ursa chuckled.

"Indeed. So don't waste your valuable time worrying about us, Lu Ten," she said, smiling kindly at him. "Ozai and I will find a solution eventually. We have to."

The words were meant to reassure Lu Ten, but they wound up deepening Ursa's sense of dread: what if she failed to appease her husband? What if she never could make amends for her mistakes? What if he refused to make up for his own?

She went to bed alone for another night. She woke up and he lay at a fair distance from her, arms crossed over his chest, his back in her direction. If this was how an argument over their daughter's education would unfold, Ursa certainly dreaded what their conflicts might look like if anything far more serious happened to their family…

But it was, indeed, all about Azula. The girl was unaware of the kind of trouble she had stirred up with her demands to learn swordsmanship. She kept acting up, getting into whatever mischief she cared to… but worse than that, Ursa had the slight suspicion that, on the days she spent traveling with Zuko to Shu Jing, her daughter's caretakers would yield control of her education to her father. He might just be training her behind Ursa's back, all be it to shame her by proving that she did not, in fact, have the final say upon anything in their family…

The best way to keep that from happening would be to approach Azula from a new angle. To find a way to bring her into her fold, teach her to get along with her brother and to stop embodying every twisted ideal her father had designed for her. Inviting her to the turtle-duck pond with herself and Zuko might be a positive start, Ursa hoped… she could take advantage of that opportunity to begin teaching Azula how she would be expected to behave once she began attending the Royal Academy for Girls…

She reached Azula's assigned study room to find it empty.

"Lady Ursa…" Lo, or Li, whichever one of the pair it was, awkwardly greeted her while her sister busied herself by looking through the room's furniture. Ursa stood by the door, scowling. "We are sorry. We were careless for a moment, and before we knew it…"

Ursa glared at the open window: oh, that girl was impossible.

"I'll find her. I meant to take her out of your hands anyway," Ursa said, shaking her head. "Could the two of you attempt to enforce proper rules on her next time? I suspect she must be taking all attempts to establish boundaries as challenges to overcome instead."

"That… that might be the case," the other twin said, bowing her head remorsefully towards Ursa. The Prince's wife sighed, storming off down the hallways. Good thing Azula would begin attending school soon. Everything Lo and Li were failing to teach her would be far more easily conveyed by the well-trained teachers from her former school.

She wasn't in her room, or in her brother's room, stirring up mischief there. She wasn't in the kitchen, nicking mochi as she had taken to doing lately – her last stomachache had taken days to fade, and Ursa had made it categorically clear to the kitchens to withhold from making mochi again until Ursa allowed it anew. She had the feeling a full decade might not suffice to teach the girl proper restraint with the sweets she was so addicted to.

But Azula wasn't there, either. Where was she? Ursa shook her head, storming through the corridors. Azula had a knack for doing this too, vanishing without a trace… were there hidden corridors in the Palace? Secret passageways? Ursa would have asked Ozai, but she didn't dare when he was in that foul mood. Perhaps she should have asked Lu Ten, the mischievous young man might know a thing or two about that. Azula snuck off far too easily, far too often, for it to be explained through anything else… though, curses, how had she found any secret passageways to begin with? Her intellect would be a thing of wonder if it weren't so exhausting to keep up with a child like her.

By sheer impulse, even desperation, Ursa stepped outside. A brief visit to the turtle-duck pond might not be a bad idea, if just to soothe her worsening mood, before finding the girl and deciding whether or not to bring her along after all. Curses, Ozai was to blame for this. Ursa would be far calmer if he didn't keep her on edge all the damn time, if she didn't feel as though she were trying to raise two kids on her own due to his damnable tantrum and the distance he kept expanding between himself and his family…

There was someone by the pond, though. Ursa frowned when she glimpsed the small figure from afar: she sped up, recognizing the typical attire her daughter wore… as well as the flash of flames she could wield with renowned ease.

"Azula…?" she called: the girl appeared not to hear her. "Azula!"

The largest turtle-duck squawked, padding aggressively towards her. The girl moved and struck forward: a blast of flames poured from her hand.

The turtle-duck didn't reach its target before winding up with singed feathers.

"AZULA!"

This time, her voice was far louder than would have ever been deemed appropriate. This time, whatever focus the little Princess had held broke entirely: the panic and surprise in her eyes at being caught only worsened once Ursa reached the pond, gasping in horror. The turtle-duck, fortunately, had been smart enough to dive and stifle the flames with the pond's water. Its feathers had been damaged, but she wasn't badly hurt. It squawked aggressively again, but this time it padded eagerly towards the other end of the pond, where smaller ducklings awaited, calling it back with likely confusion and concern.

Ursa counted them: she knew exactly how many turtle-ducks there were in the pond, she often visited the place after all. She glimpsed a smaller one with singed feathers, but everyone was alive and safe away from the firebender who had attacked them…

Ursa's eyes narrowed with anger: Azula had started slipping away quietly, but she failed to do so when her mother moved faster, grabbing her wrist firmly and dragging her away from the pond.

"M-Mom! I didn't…! That wasn't…! Mom, let go!"

"How many times have I already told you to stop doing that, Azula?!"

"Stop it! You're hurting me!"

"Oh, so now I'm the one who's hurting you?" Ursa said, her voice charged with disbelief as she released Azula's hand, only once they were inside the Palace's corridors, away from the pond. "You don't like pain, but you hurt others all the time! You were practicing your firebending on a turtle duck just now! Do you think he doesn't feel pain?"

"Father said I had to practice more of my bending to make my fire hotter," said Azula, lowering her gaze. Ursa scowled: so he was training her still, or at least, giving her tasks to improve her training. The wretched man… "And he doesn't care if I attack those stupid animals…"

"Azula! How can you say such things?!" Ursa exclaimed. "They're living creatures! You can't treat them like this!"

"Father doesn't mind that I do!" Azula yelled, avoiding looking at her mother.

Her rebelliousness struck again, of course it did. To think she had wanted to bring the girl to see the turtle-ducks, only to find her already there, doing what she had been doing… she could have picked anything else. She could have tested her firebending's heat by any other means, if that truly was her intent, and yet she had chosen the spot she knew her mother loved in the Palace, attacking the creatures she knew Ursa prized…

None of that could have ever justified Ursa's next words. She would realize that later… but she didn't at that moment. The turmoil in her heart, the stress, the anguish she had been feeling over countless matters balled into an outburst she never imagined possible for herself… and yet she inflicted it upon her daughter all the same:

"Well, clearly your father doesn't care to see that his daughter is becoming a monster!"

She had seen Azula cry since the moment she was born. The girl was mischievous, but she certainly wept often when things didn't go her way. She was too sharp for her own good, she would find trouble in life if no one reeled her into control…

But Ursa's words had said failed to do so, anyway.

The impact of her latest statement would not be easy to measure… but if there was one thing Ursa could see, plain and clear, it was that her unmeasured words had hurt Azula far more deeply than she imagined possible once her daughter's tearful eyes met hers.

"A… Azula…" she stumbled over her own words. Azula snarled, closing her eyes, trying to stop the tears to no avail. "Azula, I'm so…"

She couldn't even finish the sentence. The final word got lost somewhere. Perhaps in the wretched pride she had failed to let go of, just as much as Ozai refused to let go of his own.

If she had said the word, would anything have been different? Would it have been possible for her to fix what she had broken? This couldn't be another impasse, another conflict as bad as the last, it couldn't be a bigger problem than she was ready to field…

But her failure to speak the final word of that obvious sentence proved costlier than Ursa expected it to be: Azula turned on her heels and she ran away from her mother.

"Azula! AZULA!" Ursa called: fear gripped her chest, dread of having messed up beyond repair again… the girl was gone. She ran shockingly fast for someone as young as she was. "Come back!"

Not again. Not this again. She hadn't messed up yet another time… it couldn't be another irremediable, catastrophic clash like that which had started this entire debacle between her, Ozai and Azula, could it?

Ursa snarled, covering her face with her hands: she was overwhelmed. Ozai's unhelpfulness actively harmed everything. Azula was out of control, and her only hope for that to change was the impending beginning of her schooling. But if that failed… what would she do? Could she truly turn her back on her daughter and expect total strangers to amend everything Ursa had done wrong? Should she leave others to resolve the problems she had created, simply because she could barely keep up with them anymore?

She snarled before starting on her way after Azula: the girl was so fast, so clever that she had likely snuck through more secret passageways all over again. But she had to find her. Wherever she was hiding, Ursa needed to find her and tell her… tell her she hadn't meant it. Tell her it was about Ozai, not about Azula. He was the problem, not her, not her daughter…

But was that truly the case? Was Azula entirely blameless when…?

Yes, she was. She was a child. She wasn't even six years of age yet. By no means could she ever blame…

But Zuko had never been like this. Zuko had never been so unruly, so dangerous… he was a firebender too, and he didn't set people's robes on fire out of mischief, he didn't scare his tutors, he behaved himself fairly well, perhaps better than expected for a boy of his age. Why couldn't Azula be like that, too? Why was Azula…?

Was it her fault? What the blazes had she done wrong this time? Was it Ozai's fault? Was it hers for leaving Azula unsupervised in Ozai's control for too long? Was that why this kept happening? Was it Ozai…?

"It seems I'm quite a terrible person, aren't I? A man who uses his child as a weapon to inconvenience his father…"

She snarled: she couldn't blame it on him either. This entire conflict had begun when she had first pinned all responsibility on him. If she had never said those damnable words and gotten her point across differently, Ozai wouldn't have escalated this conflict into the cold war they now had to hold. She couldn't simply blame him. She couldn't blame Azula either, for if she did, her bond with the girl would be destroyed irreparably. She needed to do better. She needed to find her. She needed to make amends…

She didn't succeed until well over half an hour later: she breathed out in relief upon finding her daughter in the Palace anew, walking quietly in the corridors.

"Azula… oh, I've been looking for you all over the Palace," Ursa said, approaching the girl as Azula slowed to a halt.

The little Princess didn't turn around. She didn't bother looking at her. Ursa couldn't tell if she had stopped crying yet… though the tense shoulders suggested she was angry now, instead. Maybe she wasn't crying anymore, then… Ursa swallowed hard. Vulnerability might have been her initial impulse, but perhaps later. Coddling Azula wouldn't help matters in the least. The girl was emboldened enough as it was.

"You shouldn't have run that way, Azula…" was Ursa's choice for how to open the conversation: and of course, that, too, was a mistake. Azula glared at her over her shoulder, and Ursa's stomach sank nearly as badly as it did over Ozai, these days. "Please, Azula, I…"

"Mom! Mom, Lu Ten is leaving!"

Zuko's interruption was unwanted. For once, Ursa would have chased the boy away and told him to give her time with his sister… if it weren't for the words he had spoken. Her eyes widened as she turned her attention to him. Zuko ran past Azula without even acknowledging her.

"A guard just told me that Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten are about to leave to Ba Sing Se, Mom!" Zuko exclaimed, yanking Ursa's robe eagerly.

"Oh, my… so soon?" Ursa said, frowning. This was decidedly inconvenient. As much as her conversation with Azula was urgent, it would be months before any of them saw Iroh and Lu Ten again, at best. It was better to say goodbye properly first. She'd ensure Azula knew their conversation would happen later. "Well, then, we must go with them to say farewell and wish them luck on the battlefield."

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" said Zuko, reaching up to take Ursa's hand. "Let's go, mom!"

Ursa smiled reassuringly at her son, hoping to turn that smile to Azula next…

The girl was gone.

"Azula? Azula! Come back! You must say your farewells to your cousin and uncle!" Ursa exclaimed. A new source of anguish gripped her heart as she glanced desperately around herself: the nearby rooms were closed. Where had she snuck off to? And so fast, too? Again…?

"Maybe she went on ahead," said Zuko, shrugging.

Ursa breathed deeply: she surely had. She had to: Azula truly loved Lu Ten, after all. He was probably the person she got along best with… besides her father. What Zuko had said might have compelled her to run to see her cousin as soon as possible…

She wasn't near the palanquins, though. No guards had seen her leave. She was nowhere to be found, all over again. Ursa wanted to scream… but she didn't do that. She couldn't. She had to keep her composure, so she simply ordered the guards by the walls to ensure to find Azula, keeping her inside the Palace should she turn up too late to join her in the harbor.

But she never did join them at all. Ursa bid farewell to Lu Ten and Iroh with Zuko… and Azula was nowhere to be found.

Confronting her about it over dinner had the catastrophic result she had expected. Her attempts to reason with Ozai backfired all over again. He dug his heels deeper, constantly siding with Azula, no matter how unreasonable the little girl's arguments might be…

But that would have been fine, if it weren't for the very last thing Ozai dared say across that new, chaotic argument:

"It is wrong not to make use of your strength when you have plenty of it! It is wrong to restrain your daughter and hold her back when she was born for greatness! This child is the most powerful and talented to be born to the Fire Nation in centuries! I will not have you poisoning her mind with your feeble ideals when she is far above them! The weak will fall before the strong, and all those who are weak will be certain to fall before Azula! She is my legacy, my daughter, my rightful heir and I will not have you or anyone else turning her into anything but what she is!"

Zuko had looked devastated. Ozai's rage had seemed everlasting.

But Azula had smiled.

Ozai had declared her his rightful heir, and she had smiled.

There was no chance that Ursa would hold back that night. Ozai wouldn't possibly avoid the consequences of his actions for a moment longer. If it was an argument he wanted, that was exactly what he would find.

"How dared you?" Ursa hissed, once he finally arrived in their room. Yet again, it was well past midnight, but the Prince's wife's outrage kept her awake for however long was necessary to confront him. "You called Azula your rightful heir in front of Zuko. You…!"

"What of it?" Ozai snarled. "She is. Just as much as the boy is, regrettably enough."

"Regrettably?!" Ursa exclaimed. "Ozai, he's your firstborn son! He's your child every bit as much as she is!"

"And somehow I don't see you interrupting dinner to tell me tales of his misdemeanors the way you would over Azula's," Ozai snarled. "She's your child every bit as much as he is. And I have given you just as much space and room to wield your magic over her, haven't I? To reel her back into becoming whatever bland woman you think she should grow into. I was a terrible influence on her last I knew, now, wasn't I? So I backed off. I've spent less time with her over the past months than ever before, and it's all for your convenience, Ursa! Is it quite so hard to get along with Azula, to reform her into your petty belief systems, by any chance?"

"You dare call me petty? When you've spent as long as you have without even touching me, barely looking at me, barely speaking to me, because I said something that hurt your feelings?!" Ursa exclaimed. "I've been trying, damn it, to teach proper behavior to Azula! You've backed out and left me to parent our children alone! You're so busy all the time, aren't you? Talking to nobles and meeting with military officers…! What exactly are you up to, damn it, that you can't even make enough time to check on your son's progress with his latest tutors? I've handled Azula's enrollment in the Royal Academy on my own! You're acting as if you had nothing to do with this family…!"

"I have… because I'm quite sure you'd rather that were the case," Ozai hissed. Ursa balked.

"You've lost your mind," she said, shaking her head. "You… Ozai! Stop it already! Just stop! Listen to me for once in your damnable, stubborn, foolish life…!"

"Are you going to do it again?"

Ursa froze. A smirk spread over Ozai's face.

"Go on," he said, stirring a dark feeling inside her gut. Dread… but that dread merged with something else, far more pleasant. The resulting sensation was utterly disturbing. "Slap me as you did. Hit me. Do whatever you want to exteriorize that rage, Ursa. I've earned it, haven't I? So do it. Go for it. You'll feel far better once you do, I'm sure…"

"What's… what's gotten into you?" Ursa said, stepping away from him. Ozai stepped forward. "Stop it, I said. Ozai…!"

"Then… no?" Ozai said, raising an eyebrow with indifference. He sighed. "This conversation is futile, if that's not your intent. I'll sleep elsewhere tonight for your comfort, Lady…"

"No! What are you…? Ozai, stop putting up walls and trying to distract me or dissuade me with… with whatever the hell you were thinking!" Ursa exclaimed, eyes charged with tears: that, somehow, seemed to give him pause. "I don't need you to sleep elsewhere! I need my husband! I need you to be here, present, to worry about your children, to do right by them! I am not your enemy! You aren't mine, either! I… I don't want to hurt you, Ozai, please…!"

It should have been obvious that she didn't want to. She certainly didn't scare Ozai, as far as her physical prowess was concerned. Perhaps that was why it seemed to excite him that she would attack him… he had certainly built up a twisted fantasy she wanted nothing to do with. She wouldn't hit him just to ensure he had reason to return the favor, should he feel like it… she wouldn't hit him just so he had an excuse to abandon her and their family for good. She couldn't do it. She wouldn't…

Ozai's emotional display, brief as it was, faded away quickly. He huffed softly.

"I see. I misjudged the situation," he said. "Good night, Lady Ursa."

"Ozai… Ozai!" Ursa exclaimed: he turned on his heels and left their room.

It was truly a nightmare. One she couldn't wake from. One that never seemed to end. She dropped on their bed, yanking her hair, tears spilling down her face without control. She didn't want to blame him, she shouldn't blame him… but she did. If he was reasonable for once, this entire matter could be resolved in the blink of an eye. If he just understood she was trying to do right by their family…

The feeling of vertigo continued to grip her on the next day. It worsened beyond measure when she kept pondering how to fix this, what to do to improve the situation, how to get through to Azula, how to snap sense into Ozai…

The first thing became far less likely when she walked upon her children in the most violent scuffle she had ever seen between them.

Azula held Zuko by the collar of his shirt. Her other hand was raised over his head, sparks blazing in her fingertips.

"AZULA!"

Her voice, for once, seemed to reach her daughter before she could do something she'd regret.

Zuko fell on the floor when his sister let go. Azula's face was a mask of true fear and terror. Ursa's outrage surged so much more strongly than anything the girl had ever seen… and yet again, she turned tail and fled.

"AZULA! AZULA, GET BACK HERE! AZULA!"

The Palace had never heard such fierce roars in her voice before. The Palace seldom had cause to find concern in the activities of the second branch of the family beyond the occasional conflicts between the children. The Palace had never seen Ursa losing her temper to such an extent… but that fire in her voice dwindled as she approached Zuko, kneeling beside him, gripping his shoulders as he seemed to stop halfway to pushing himself back up.

"Zuko… Zuko, are you alright? Did she hurt you? Zuko…!"

The boy wept. But his tears weren't caused by physical pain.

He punched the floor. He snarled.

He was frustrated. The source of his tears was frustration.

It didn't matter to him that his sister had nearly hurt him. That she could have hurt him badly: his pride had been injured. That was all he could see. That was the source of his conflict with his sister. A constant need to prove themselves, to assert superiority, and why? What could possibly explain such a violent, unacceptable behavior from…?

"She is my legacy, my daughter, my rightful heir…!"

Of course.

Ursa meant to confront him again that day. This time, she refused to let him walk away. This time, she would make it abundantly clear to Ozai that she'd had enough: he would no longer get away with his irresponsible handwaving of Azula's misbehavior, her remorselessness, her lack of understanding of the gravity of her hostility towards her brother…!

But when Ursa crossed paths with Azula again, about two hours later, the girl's words floored her at once.

"I'm sorry."

Zuko blinked blankly, frowning at his sister: her face didn't match her words at all. The haughty, confident expression she bore across her features didn't suit her any better than her empty apology…

"Azula?" Ursa said, eyeing her daughter with suspicion.

"I shouldn't have hurt Zuko or fought him," Azula continued, with that same tone charged with mirth. The tone that compelled both her mother and brother to suspect her words weren't truthful. "I acted out and I'm sorry, Zuko. It won't happen again."

"W-what? You won't fight me again?" Zuko said: apparently, that concept outraged him far more than an empty apology.

"She's your sister, Zuko," Ursa said, firmly. "You shouldn't be fighting at all."

The boy shrank upon hearing those words… but he shot a begrudging glare at Azula.

She smirked.

"I will go think more on what I've done in my room until dinner. Or… do you need something else, Mom?"

It was as though the girl had grown ten years older in the span of an instant. But she hadn't. She was still the same child she had been before… but she talked, carried herself in a way that no child should. With a confidence, an arrogance, that didn't leave much room for her childish innocence any longer.

"Azula… what you did today is unacceptable," Ursa said, frowning. "Your brother is not your enemy. Fighting each other as you did is out of the question. You are family. You are siblings. You're meant to protect one another… not to fight. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom. I do," Azula said, simply: the tone of her voice suggested, yet again, that she was lying.

Ursa's heart tightened: could she accuse her child of lying to her out of sheer instinct? Even if the girl's behavior erased all pretense of subtlety, she wasn't saying anything wrong. If Ursa lost her temper at her when the girl was telling her exactly what she should have wanted to hear… wouldn't it turn Ursa into the menace? The unreasonable one? The problem to get rid of?

Ozai might just think so. Azulon would immediately agree, and he would find any excuse to get rid of her and tear their family apart even further. She couldn't make any mistakes in the Royal Family, at least, none of this magnitude. If Azula was lying… then Ursa would have to catch her red-handed at breaking her promises. Beyond that… this was out of her hands.

"Very well, then," Ursa said, breathing out slowly. "Go to your room to meditate if you must."

Azula nodded and took off, head held high, gait strong and steady.

She had showed absolutely no fear when merely two hours ago she had been frightened to tears.

What had he done? What was it this time? Ursa didn't know. She couldn't know. She didn't dare approach him again… not after seeing Azula like this. What would he do? What would he say? Would he simply take advantage of her confusion to further muddle matters… or would he attempt to seduce her through utterly nonsensical violence? She shivered at the thought. The way he had looked at her…

It shouldn't have caused that dormant, spent part of her heart to come to life anew, not when her sense and caution were warning her away from a man who seemed determined to prove she had misunderstood who he was. A foolish, weak part of her soul urged her to believe that Ozai might just change again if she coaxed him back into bed the proper way, that he might open up to her and understand her, too…

But she remembered how he had left her that night. How he had fucked her, and then left. Never had he elicited a more disturbing feeling inside her heart than the one he had evoked within her on that opportunity. She wouldn't be able to take it if he walked away from her and destroyed her every hope of amending their relationship.

So instead… Ursa hoped he would stay away. She hoped he would keep his distance. Until she was ready to handle matters on her terms, until she could ease the disquiet in her heart… until he was ready to be a father again. And if he never was…

Then she'd have to pick up the slack. For both her children's sakes.

Azula would begin school in a matter of days. The challenge of meeting numerous girls her age and adapting to a new life and education system would be difficult to handle even for her. The other drawback of Azula's new schooling, of course, was that Ursa would have less opportunities to help her children bond, as one of them would be absent frequently.

Thus, a few days after the interrupted spat between Zuko and Azula, Ursa sought Azula in the Palace grounds: the girl had been practicing more firebending, under Lo and Li's watchful stares.

"Lady Ursa," the older women said: Ursa thought she saw a flinch of emotion in her daughter's gaze, but it was quickly replaced by the new, apparently mature expression she always seemed to bear across her face these days.

"Mom," she said, simply.

"Are you quite done for the day?" Ursa asked Lo and Li. "I require Azula for the evening."

The girl couldn't hide her surprise… or her confusion. There was no need for such a wary expression, but perhaps she expected trouble. She had behaved herself so much better over the past days that it might genuinely distress her if her mother had any cause for complaint…

"Very well," Lo and Li said, bowing their heads towards Ursa.

Azula gritted her teeth: it didn't look like she was all that happy to know her caretakers wouldn't be with her, but she still stood her ground. Ursa stepped forward once Lo and Li were gone, kneeling slightly. Her willingness to lower herself to Azula's level caught the child by surprise.

"We're going out. You, me and Zuko."

"Zuko…?" Azula said: of course she sounded confused, maybe even a little disappointed, but she didn't show it. "And… Dad?"

"He's busy, I'm afraid. Perhaps he'll join us some other time," Ursa said: she offered Azula a hand, and the child hesitated before taking it. "Let's go."

She didn't need to be so cold, so harsh… but for some reason, showing herself enthusiastic and kind to Azula proved so much more difficult than Ursa could understand. A part of her couldn't help but wonder about her change, about what it meant… about what its source might be. And yet right now, there was an unusual innocence to her daughter's demeanor… the way she gripped her hand suggested she didn't want to let go of it at all. Ursa caressed the back of Azula's hand lightly, but she kept herself from speaking. For whatever reason, she appeared prone to saying terrible things she shouldn't around her daughter. Keeping her silence, while showing she wanted to be around her, might be a more productive method to heal their relationship than explaining herself. Her emotions might just get in the way otherwise.

Zuko was surprised when Ursa fetched him, too. He seemed displeased that Azula would be holding Ursa's hand, but that attitude faded away quickly once Ursa offered him her other hand. Within moments, the three of them had climbed a palanquin together, and they traveled to Ursa's intended destination: the Royal Theater.

The royal balcony was cleared for their use, as it ever was. The children's uncertainty over attending the theater without their father faded away quickly once they were jumping from chair to chair in the balcony, competing over who would find the one with softest and smoothest cushions. By then, Ursa's mood had improved sufficiently to find their antics amusing, and she laughed as she informed them that all seats would be the best they could possibly be, for the theater would never offer mediocre facilities to members of their family.

What mattered most, truly, was that the unnerving, distant, cold expression on her daughter's face, that odd sense of superiority, appeared to be gone now. Her innocence was back… and she was happy to sit at Ursa's right hand, while Zuko sat at her left, once the curtains were ready to be drawn.

"Is it Love Amongst the Dragons again, Mom?" Zuko asked, pouting. "I don't like it…"

"How could you not like my favorite play, Zuko?" Ursa gasped, shaking her head in false displeasure. "Azula, is Love Amongst the Dragons the best play of all time, or not?"

"Uh… yes," Azula decided, guessing at what her mother wanted her to say. Zuko winced.

"W-well, it is! It is! I think so too!" he lied, and Ursa laughed, reaching over to caress Zuko's hair affectionately.

"It's quite alright, dear. You've just never seen Love Amongst the Dragons like this… neither of you have. The Ember Island Players have their own rendition, but I'm quite sure I have never brought you to watch the Royal Troupe's version. So… you'll see it today. How about it?"

"Is it better?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. "On the last one we saw in Ember Island, the Water Spirit fell off the stage and he had to be replaced and…"

"And that actor did the bending effects wrong!" Zuko laughed. "Remember how it looked like he was a firebender instead of the Dragon Emperor? And the Dragon Emperor had the waterbending effects instead?"

"They picked up the wrong colors backstage…" Azula said, giggling.

Ursa smiled, a slow sense of tranquility dawning in her. They were talking placidly… they were sharing laughter over an experience that had amused them both. It wasn't that all the bad blood between them was gone… but it could be. She just had to keep trying.

"Perhaps the Water Spirit was simply… a firebending water spirit," Ursa suggested, playfully. Azula laughed again, and Zuko gasped in surprise. "And what's so funny about that? Surely you can imagine that the Dragon Emperor, too, might be a waterbender, or… oh, I know! Perhaps it isn't waterbending… but blue fire."

"Fire isn't blue!" Zuko laughed. Azula chuckled as well.

"Perhaps the Dragon Emperor is just so extraordinary that his fire can be blue too," Ursa said, proudly. "Why not?"

"Mom… you're being silly," Zuko laughed. Azula smiled, biting her lip as she no doubt wondered if Ursa would react adversely to Zuko's apparent accusation. She did, of course, gasping and bringing a hand to her chest.

"Silly, me? Perish the thought!" she declared, shaking her head haughtily.

She wasn't one to play the fool to entertain others often. If anything, she was the one who would tease deviously, making use of her wits to turn people's words or actions against them… but not today. Not this time. Perhaps showing herself more playful, more easygoing, would be the trick to help her children bond properly. To build the relationship they deserved, where neither would be the other's enemy, most unlike their father and grandfather, or their father and uncle…

Or their father and herself.

The lanterns within the building dimmed. Then, the curtains rose: excitement flowed as the musical tunes that accompanied Love Amongst the Dragons flowed into the theater, and the excited crowd watched the expert actors put on a performance that enraptured them. Even Zuko and Azula kept their silence for most the play, only occasionally making comments or asking questions – they knew the story by heart, having watched it almost every summer when their family visited Ember Island, but they had never seen this portrayal. Their excitement brought a fond smile to Ursa's face, and she dared hold their hands as their little legs dangled over the edge of their seats, eyes bright and peeled for what they were seeing on stage.

The atmosphere between them was nothing like what it had been before. Zuko and Azula laughed all the way back home this time, talking excitedly about the play, even reciting the lines to each other at times, and playfully enacting scenes that had captured their imagination entirely… but as much as Ursa had hoped matters would improve permanently after experiences like these, she certainly had known the change would not be immediate, nor would it be perpetual…

"I'll be the Dragon Emperor!" Azula declared, proudly, once they had climbed off the palanquin inside the Palace. "And you're the Water Spirit, Zuzu!"

"What? No! I'm older, I get to be the Dragon Emperor!" Zuko pouted. Azula scoffed.

"Cousin Lu Ten said I was the Strongest Dragon Ever Seen! So I am the Dragon Emperor!" Azula smirked.

"That's not a real title!" Zuko pouted. "Mom, tell her I get to be the Dragon Emperor!"

Azula winced. Her eyes rose to Ursa's… and she dreaded to be told she couldn't play the character she liked best. She braced herself for it… but there was a hint of hope in her eyes, all the same.

Ursa smiled fondly at her. A smile she didn't often offer her daughter… before kneeling by her son.

"You can let your sister be the Dragon Emperor this time, can't you?" she asked. Zuko yelped, and Azula's smile couldn't have brightened any further. "You'll be the Dragon Emperor next time."

"B-but…! She won't let me!" Zuko pouted. Ursa raised an eyebrow and glanced at Azula.

"You'll let your brother be the Dragon Emperor next time?" she asked. Azula nodded promptly – and again, she was childish, innocent rather than arrogant in a way that disturbingly mirrored her father's most unpleasant behavior… Ursa smiled again and turned to Zuko. "See? She promised. Now you can play at being the Water Spirit. But on one condition, both of you: no bending."

"What? No bending?" Azula pouted. Ursa nodded.

"Even today's performers weren't using real bending," she said. "Please, Azula? Promise you won't use your bending to play at Love Amongst the Dragons, okay?"

"I… oh. Well… fine," Azula said, hands on her hips: some of her arrogance seemed to return, and she eyed Zuko with the pride of someone who knew herself victorious. Zuko scowled at her. "Then… I'll chase the Water Spirit!"

"W-wait, I'm not ready!" Zuko winced, stepping backwards: Azula roared menacingly, and Zuko sprinted out of his mother's vicinity, dashing away from Azula as fast as his feet could carry him – which, fortunately for him, was quite fast, since he was taller than his sister, if not by much, and his legs were longer because of that.

Ursa laughed, watching the two kids run circles around her at first, then scatter towards the rest of the Palace grounds, behind trees, statues, ornamental stone arrangements… even Zuko was smiling by now, teasing his sister over how she wasn't going to get him.

It wasn't impossible. It could be done. Bad days hadn't been banished for eternity only after one good day… but Ursa could salvage this family if she tried. If nothing else… she could heal the harm upon her children. One way or another, she would succeed at it.

A prickling feeling on the back of her neck compelled Ursa to turn around and glance at the roofed corridors of the Palace: it chilled her to recognize Ozai's figure by a threshold that led into the Palace itself, eyes set on her.

His expression was unreadable, more so from such a distance. He watched her… watched their kids, running amok wildly, laughing and burning out their energy with a strange chasing game with rules they were coming up with on the spot. Neither Zuko nor Azula noticed their father was nearby. They would have ceased all revelry if they had.

Perhaps that was why Ozai didn't approach them, not even to tell off Ursa for what she'd done, if he found fault in it. Which he surely did. She braced herself for nothing else.

But instead, he nodded in her direction. He walked back inside the Palace… and Ursa's heart seemed to thaw and tighten at once. She gritted her teeth, longing to scream after him, to tell him to join in, to forget the past and embrace his family again… and yet the relief of seeing him walk away without worsening matters was too strong to forsake. He might not be ready to face her, or his children, yet. One day he would understand he was welcome… that he was part of the family, that Ursa cherished his role as their children's father.

She resolved to continue on this path. To keep the children with her as often as possible to ensure to do right by them, rescuing them from the dark fate that seemed to hunt down those of their bloodline… and if one day, Ozai finally opened the door to her once more, she would reach for him. If the time came when she truly could believe he meant to do right by his family, she would open up to him fully once again. For now… all she could do was give him the space he needed to find himself and sort out whatever he needed to unravel to belong with his family anew.

Two days later, Zuko caught a cold. Ursa spent most her time tending to the boy and sitting with him in the physicians' wing of the Palace. She woke up by his bedside on the next day, immediately realizing she was forgetting something, though it took her a moment to realize just what it was.

Once it clicked, she should have known that taking her time to clean up, dress in fresh clothes and at least arranging her hair to a semblance of decency would be the wrong choice. She should have forsaken her dignity and rushed to the Palace gates at once, hoping to bump into Azula halfway there… but she didn't do it.

By the time she reached the threshold of the Palace, the little girl, clad in her new school uniform, flanked by Lo and Li, was already climbing the palanquin that would take her to the Royal Academy for Girls.

But she didn't stand alone.

Tall and elegant as ever, Ozai stood by that palanquin, speaking quietly to his daughter. Whatever he told her, Ursa couldn't hear it from such a distance. The elderly ladies nodded sagely at whatever Ozai said to them... and Azula simply sat in place, watching her father with wide, keen eyes.

The palanquin bearers closed the curtains once Ozai stepped back.

Azula didn't see her.

The urge to run in and wish her luck on her first day did come to mind… but Ursa didn't dare approach. She remained frozen on the spot… watching as Ozai sent her off, as the palanquin was raised, as it was carried away into the city. The Prince turned his back on his daughter, marching back towards the Palace while Azula braved the world outside the Palace walls by herself, for the very first time.

Ursa's eyes met Ozai's once he reached her. Her uncertainty was evident, but he made no acknowledgement of it. He simply nodded, making to walk away.

Ursa's hand shot out, gripping his right arm's sleeve.

Ozai slowed to a halt.

"Is she…?" Ursa asked.

"She was not upset at you," Ozai said, curtly. Ursa's eyes widened.

"I didn't mean to… Zuko is sick," Ursa said, gritting her teeth. "I was with him since last night. But is she…?"

"Is she what?" Ozai asked. Ursa swallowed hard.

"Scared?"

Their eyes met. A million thoughts and feelings seemed to cross between them, bridged by their gazes… but none were spoken aloud.

"She is our daughter. She will learn quickly that she has nothing to fear," Ozai said, simply. "She will excel. She always does."

He wasn't wrong about that. Azula had never failed to be extraordinary when it came to learning anything new. But even though Ozai did not say it outright, he had confirmed it: Azula was scared. She faced this new challenge alone… Ursa had failed to stand by her side once more time.

Ursa gritted her teeth, lowering her hand. Ozai lingered near her for one more moment… then, he resumed his march as Ursa sighed in defeat. Again, her failings when it came to Azula seemed to pile on and on, even when she didn't intend for it to be that way. With any luck, her father's support would suffice to motivate the young girl to keep her chin up… to rise against this new challenge, unprecedented as it would be for her, with the clarity and strength of heart to prevail and conquer this brand-new life experience for her.

Memories of such troubling times, of terrible days with but a few good ones interspersed between them, often threatened to send Ursa reeling, so many years later. When her worst mistakes replayed inside her mind, sometimes as vividly as though she were making them anew, she would withdraw into herself, and she would break.

Such thoughts had been rounding her mind constantly that day: she hadn't crumbled under their weight, which came as a strange, if welcome, change of pace. It was almost as though her troubled heart knew that she couldn't let herself fall apart on that particular day… as though these memories of her long-estranged daughter were but the lead-up to something important.

When a somber Piandao summoned her and Iroh for a private meeting, Ursa knew that her intuition on the subject had been spot-on.

"The battle of Yu Dao has been lost," Piandao told them, once they sat in a private room of the Palace: Iroh gasped. Ursa reacted with a scowl.

"Why?" she asked.

It would seem an insensitive question… but it was the right question to ask. Iroh stared at her in disbelief, but Piandao sighed.

"Battles are constantly won and lost in wars… but nothing suggested we would be poised to lose this one," he said. "I have received word from Jeong Jeong. He lives, and his orders ensured that the bulk of the army would survive as well. He has lost the airship, as well as several hot-air balloons, most of the siege weaponry they had prepared…"

"How many dead?" Iroh asked.

"Hundreds. Half the waterbenders are missing in action," Piandao said. Iroh covered his mouth with a hand. "The enemy appears to have new technologies, or repurposed technologies, and the defenses around Yu Dao were far too strong to be broken. But where Jeong Jeong made no direct mention of which Fire Nation military leader was capable of outsmarting and outmaneuvering him quite so strongly… Sokka seems to be certain of who it was."

"Sokka? He sent word to you?" Ursa frowned. Piandao nodded.

"How would he be certain of something if he's in the North Pole…?" Iroh asked, though a sense of dread tugged at the pit of his stomach. "Did Jeong Jeong give him any further information?"

"I doubt it. I have the feeling Jeong Jeong wants to keep this particular truth under wraps… whether out of pride, or out of fear of what General Sokka's reaction might be if he knew for sure who is the one leading the enemy forces," Piandao said. Iroh shook his head nervously.

"N-no. You're not saying…"

"It's Azula."

Ursa's voice didn't ring with the concern Piandao would have expected from her. Both him and Iroh glanced at her, finding Ursa strangely calm… eyes slightly narrow, perhaps with confusion, perhaps with curiosity.

She raised her gaze, meeting Piandao's eyes.

"Azula defeated Jeong Jeong," she said, simply. Iroh scowled.

"The Fire Nation defeated our forces," he said. Ursa shook her head. "This is not about Azula on a personal level, Ursa. This is…"

"Pardon my bluntness, General Iroh…" Ursa said, and suddenly her voice was charged with vitriol. "But if you intend to lecture me on how to feel about the knowledge that my children are in battlefields, surviving against all odds, even overcoming their enemies when they're not expected to, I'll advise that you remember your own tragedies and refrain from wishing them unto me."

Piandao froze. Iroh, too, seemed stunned by her harshness. Ursa's heavily furrowed brow daunted them fully.

"What do the letters say?" Ursa snapped, turning to Piandao anew. "Hand them over."

"Ursa…" Piandao said, even if he complied. "I know why you would find relief, perhaps, in knowing that Azula has overcome a dangerous hurdle…"

"But if she is working alongside Ozai, alongside… the Fire Nation?" Iroh said. "That makes her our enemy."

"She is not my enemy," Ursa said, curtly, taking both letters and scanning them coldly. "If you expect me to hope that Jeong Jeong prevails against her, you are out of luck. I'd much rather she kills him in cold blood."

"Ursa…!" Iroh gasped.

"Need I repeat myself, Iroh?" Ursa snapped, glaring at him from over the papers. "This is my daughter. Curse me all you want for choosing her over the world, but I have never hidden my intent to do so. Her survival matters most to me. I have no compunctions over accepting that much. Her life matters more to me than any wars or causes or conflicts. If Ozai has sent her to fight this war… well, he is as much of a bastard as he ever was. But if she prevailed…"

Her chest heaved: pride she should not feel over her daughter's achievement swelled inside her. She had felt no differently when Zuko had helped conquer Omashu or Ba Sing Se, and she learned he had been successful. Just so, the fear of losing her son over the horrible wounds he had sustained remained far too vivid and latent in her heart: it was bad enough to experience that over Zuko, and she certainly didn't wish to relive it with Azula.

"Curse him for choosing her for…" Ursa hissed, shaking her head and setting down the letters. "It's as if he wants to ensure that nobody will ever forgive him for any of the worst sins he has committed. Whenever you believe he has reached the apex of stupidity and pure malice he could possibly attain… he proves you wrong."

"He hasn't changed much over the past twenty years, if so," Piandao said, bitterly. "Ursa, this is a dark scenario. This could even put Azula on Sokka's path, on Zuko's, as their enemy. We don't know what kinds of threats Ozai is dangling over her, forcing her to fight to the bitter end even if it is against her will."

"And it's even worse if it isn't, indeed, against her will," Iroh said, scowling. "I sympathize with your plight, Lady Ursa, but I cannot hold Azula's safety above the wellbeing of the world…"

"Terribly flexible of you to lick your own boots so boldly before us, Iroh. I commend you for your talents," Ursa said, her voice charged with dry mirth.

"I…! I've forsaken much for the sake of protecting this world!" Iroh exclaimed, brow furrowed. "That you have always been willing to do terrible things to save those you loved does not justify your disinterest in the lives that have been lost to your daughter's choices…!"

"Considering the greater culprit over the deaths on all battlefields is the man whose grand choices disgraced my daughter and worsened the Hundred Year War… perhaps you'd do best to stop lecturing others as eagerly as that and reflect on your own behavior for once, General Iroh," Ursa snapped.

Piandao slammed his hands on the table before them, startling them both. The conflicted expression on his face spoke for itself.

"Bickering… over whose philosophy is right or wrong is not going to be productive for anyone," Piandao said, firmly. "We need to decide, right now, what our course of action will be. Ba Sing Se remains defended, but sitting idly here and doing nothing when Princess Azula is in Yu Dao might be… might be a dangerous choice."

"Do you expect her to come here?" Iroh asked: the fear in his face was genuinely satisfactory to see for Ursa, but she didn't say a word about it.

"I don't know. But I would have expected Sokka… to decide on attacking Yu Dao personally next," Piandao said, hands trembling over the table. "He's acting as though the battle hadn't been lost at all. He wants his forces to charge forward… he asks me to send messages, organize the troops so that the ships they've recruited may travel together to the Fortress, and then, into the Fire Nation. Ignoring Yu Dao altogether."

"Is that so?" Ursa said… and then she smiled. "Well, that seems appropriate."

"Is this why you're not bothered or worried?" Piandao asked, and even he glared at Ursa now. "Because you were confident that Sokka would never hurt her?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, exactly," Ursa said. "What I believe is… that I can have faith in him. Just as I have faith in Zuko. Whatever Azula may have done in Ozai's service… Sokka will always show her compassion."

"And what if she turns against him?" Iroh scoffed. "You make no sense. Do you understand which side of the war needs to win in order for the world to find peace?"

"I certainly understand that this world won't find peace as easily as that, even if the White Lotus does win," Ursa hissed. "It's hardly a guaranteed notion even if Sokka succeeds. Indeed, I would prefer they prevailed over the Fire Nation: but my daughter won't be a casualty on the battlefields that will end this war. She has already proven herself superior to Jeong Jeong… and if she remains in Yu Dao, and Sokka moves on directly to the Fire Nation, it means he's avoiding that clash until the true leader of the Fire Nation forces is defeated. A smart move on his part… and a smart move on Azula's, having prevailed where everyone took for granted that she would be defeated. But I'm sure you want to lecture me on how I should be upset over this outcome, how I should have been emotionally prepared to not only hear that my daughter is leading warriors and benders in a battlefield, but that Jeong Jeong captured or even killed her in battle?"

"I didn't…"

"What outcome do you think would have occurred if Jeong Jeong had prevailed, then?" Ursa asked, sardonically. "Peaceful, diplomatic talks? Don't make me laugh. He would do no such thing when he had an army of that magnitude at his disposal. I have been stuck among you lot for long enough to know that Jeong Jeong is about as merciful as my own husband. Shrewder, certainly, but still as ready to kill others, if not with his own hands. Do you think I'm a fool? Do you think I don't know why he allowed me to escape the Fortress as often as he did? Do you think I don't understand what his choices tend to shape into, after spending well over fifteen years as his captive?"

"You're not…" Iroh said, but he held off from finishing his sentence and shook his head. "That is not my point. You're pretending Azula's victory doesn't represent a catastrophe for our war effort: General Sokka has but one weakness, and everyone knows it's her. Ozai… is using your daughter, to this moment, and he will continue doing it until she gives him exactly what he wants. And that's the complete destruction of our forces."

"Perhaps," Ursa said. Iroh scowled.

"That wouldn't bother you?"

"If you have never loved someone as deeply as to think you'd sacrifice anything, break your soul, corrupt it beyond compare, to ensure their survival, that's hardly my concern," Ursa said. Iroh's jaw dropped. "I'm under no delusions that I'm being… morally correct, I suppose, over what I'm saying or doing. This rotten world can go to hell: the only reason why I haven't given up on it altogether is because of my children. They matter more to me than your cause, than making correct, palatable choices… I did something terrible, Iroh, you know I did it with my own hands, don't you? And I would do it again if it would save my children. Just as it did that night."

"My father… was not a good person, either," Iroh said, eyes cold and harsh. "So tread carefully, Ursa. The last thing you want to do is to follow on his footsteps."

"A needless warning: Ozai has long beaten me into doing exactly that," Ursa's deadpan tone struck Iroh as a slap might. "I don't know, truly… whether I'm losing my mind or regaining it. But… Azula is safe. Azula has triumphed. If Sokka is correct to believe it was her doing… then I can only take pride in her achievements and hope that she continues to prevail against everything that comes her way, whether from Ozai's direction or from the White Lotus's."

Iroh scoffed: Piandao raised a hand to calm him, a stern scowl on his face.

"I summoned you both because you need to know the situation. But I also want to hear your advice on how to proceed," Piandao said. "If Azula moves out to strike at Ba Sing Se, our situation won't be precarious, but it won't be optimal either. If she remains in Yu Dao, we cannot launch a new attack on a city that apparently is considerably well defended. Our options are limited. We can settle for supporting through messenger hawks… or we could push forth and attempt… attempt something unthinkable."

"You don't mean to send Lady Ursa to the Princess's doorstep, do you?" Iroh scoffed: only those words brought a reaction from Ursa beyond bitter satisfaction. "Though it might not be a bad idea. Azula is bound to lose her grip on reality if her mother returns to her life with no warning…"

"Be quiet," Ursa hissed, frowning and eyeing Piandao with confusion. "You weren't pondering a possibility as absurd as that, were you?"

"I was pondering… something along the lines of sending you to the Fire Nation, instead," Piandao said. Ursa's eyes widened.

"She is a liability in a battlefield," Iroh said. "Being a murderer hardly makes her a qualified soldier."

"Iroh," Piandao sighed, turning his attention to him. "Would you wish to rejoin our main forces? Or would you like to rush Yu Dao and provide Azula with whatever chance for vengeance she might wish to unleash upon you?"

"I… no," Iroh admitted, lowering his head.

"I can't help but feel… that none of our options are actually doable," Piandao said, elbows on the table, hands covering his face. Ursa eyed him remorsefully. "The idea of sending Ursa to destabilize the Fire Nation's defenses with her sheer presence could serve our purposes, but..."

"But what?" Ursa said, curtly.

"Would you wish to do it at all?" Piandao asked. "I wouldn't even know where to begin. You could very well bait Ozai's attention away with your mere presence…"

"But I'm bound to be hunted," Ursa said, bitterly. Piandao winced. "They will come after me. That man will seek to kill me. If he has a chance, he will use me, dead or alive, to cause even more trouble in the Fire Nation than he could ever be worth. That's the core reason why my survival has been kept secret, or isn't it, Piandao?"

"It is," he acknowledged, frowning. "Then… we stand ground here. We continue to serve as the coordinators of communication for our forces. We need to hold Ba Sing Se. Yu Dao… can wait."

"I'm afraid it must. More so if Jeong Jeong abandoned the attack… if General Sokka intends to move past the city, too," Iroh sighed, shaking his head. "This is madness."

"War is never simple," Piandao said. "If it ever looks that way to anyone, it's probably because they're standing too far away from the battlefield."

Iroh sighed. He pushed himself up and walked out of the room, still shaking his head. Ursa's glare followed him until he was gone.

"You understand why he's as cross with you as he is, don't you?" Piandao asked.

"Naturally. I killed his father," Ursa said, bluntly. Piandao stared at her skeptically.

"You're siding with the Fire Nation…"

"I'm siding with my daughter. Refuse to see it that way if you will, it makes no difference to me," Ursa said.

"So, you would continue to side with her if she turned her back on the Fire Nation and joined us?" Piandao asked.

"Naturally," Ursa said, simply. Piandao scowled. "Do you still believe I'm siding with Ozai, by any chance? That I'm clinging to the belief that there's anything good left inside him? If there is, it's not worth rescuing from the corruption around his soul anyway. The wretch sent her to lead forces in a battlefield… I'm proud of her for succeeding, and outraged at him for demanding something like this from her."

Her fists trembled over her lap as Ursa scowled: if only Ozai were here, she would certainly slap him as many times as she cared to. Yes, perhaps he would find a twisted manner of pleasure in the act… but she couldn't care less if he did anymore. She had changed from the woman she once had been… she no longer believed faithfully in her own inherent goodness, or how correct her choices always were. She knew she was twisted, wretched, more experienced, less prone to clinging to hopeless delusions. She was selfish, she was harsh… the blood on her hands would never be wiped away. She had spent years trying to live with that. Iroh's resentment for what she'd done to her father rivaled the one she felt towards him for the heinous fate he had inflicted on her daughter.

"The point is, though… that we need to win this war, Ursa," Piandao said, sternly. "We cannot afford to lose it. If you truly believe Ozai must be dethroned, that he's a hazard to your children, to the world, it means you cannot side with Azula as wholeheartedly as you did just now. You can't…"

"You heard what I told Iroh… and now I direct it towards you," Ursa said, harshly, firmly: "Have you ever loved someone as fiercely, as desperately as to sacrifice anything for them, becoming an utter monster if that's what you must do for their sake?"

Piandao froze on the spot. Ursa scowled heavily.

"If you have never felt that way… then don't dare tell me how I should feel, or how I should act. You don't understand the gravity of what either of you are trying to convince me of. This war needs to end… but I will not see it achieve its conclusion over my daughter's corpse. Iroh lost his son to a war: I have no interest in following on his footsteps. And if you have ever loved someone that way… then I ask you now to fathom forsaking them. To fathom leaving them behind, turning your back on them, because everyone around you insists that it's for the greater good. Imagine accepting that person is lost to you, even when they're still within your reach. You know that just speaking out against those voices might help you save that person… and yet, due to all this pressure, you'd choose to do nothing, to stand down and watch as they destroy what you hold dearest. That, Piandao, is what all of you are expecting of me. To make matters worse… I can't even do anything, no! I can't. I would only worsen Azula's circumstances if I tried to reach out to her. But if you expect me to sit here and condemn her for giving Jeong Jeong the humbling he was long overdue for? You'll be waiting forever. I swore to Sokka I would choose Azula over everything, and I have no intentions of breaking that vow."

Piandao snarled, and Ursa stared him down for another moment before rising to her feet. It wasn't every day she managed to silence him so effectively.

"I suppose I'm the infuriating one today," Ursa whispered. "I'm sorry for making your life more complicated. I thank you for informing me of what was happening. I… I'll take my leave now."

Piandao covered his face with his hands: her words should not have hurt as deeply as they did. They should not have left him questioning his every decision since that desperate woman, soaked in sea water, tears spilling across her face, had knocked on his door in the mansion, back in Shu Jing.

Could he truly blame Ursa for choosing Azula over everything… when he had done the same thing for Ursa herself?

He could have stayed in the Fire Nation. He could have forsaken her and accepted Jeong Jeong's certainty that Ursa was a lost cause. He could have remained Sokka's master instead of leaving him to fend for himself. Instead… he returned. Instead, he ventured out to find Ursa every single time, saving her life when everyone expected him to give up on her, for she was worthless. For her beliefs were unacceptable. For she had yet to truly forsake the Fire Nation's ideologies.

But he had fought for her, time after time, saving her without being asked. Her life mattered far too much. He could not stop doing it.

If Iroh had the strength of heart to forsake even what was most precious to him to win the war… then no doubt he was more heartless than anyone else Piandao knew, no matter if he did it for the right reasons. Perhaps the true reason why this war had yet to end, why it might never end, was because no one with true power could truly put the world's needs above their own…

He hoped Sokka would succeed, somehow, though he did not wish that his apprentice would forsake what he loved for the sake of the greater good. If someone could find a way to both rescue Azula and fight this war to its true conclusion, it was Sokka. Piandao hoped he might not need to sacrifice anything… for he had already lost far more than any man should.

But the dark storm clouds that seemed to rise in the horizon suggested that the end of the war would demand for sacrifices beyond measure once again. Ursa's deep faith in Sokka's love for Azula might not be misplaced… but if the Princess was fighting alongside her father, however unwillingly, this war might just conclude with two lovers forced to battle one another… and once it came to that, Piandao did not know if Sokka would be able to change fate so he wouldn't be forced to choose between the world or the woman he loved.

Ursa had killed Azulon for her family's sake. Piandao had put his everything into saving Ursa from herself as many times as he needed to. It was easy enough to imagine that Zuko would choose his family over everything. But Jeong Jeong had forsaken the lives of his men, on numerous occasions now, to privilege winning a war and saving the world. Iroh had foregone his son's soul, focusing instead on fighting that war, and the mistakes he had made upon doing so were still haunting him now.

Could Sokka find the right choice? Could he sacrifice the woman he loved for the sake of the world… or would he choose Azula, and let the world burn?

Toph's placid breakfast with her parents, along with the large group of gladiators that Gaoling's mansion had grown accustomed to hosting by then, was interrupted by Jet's sudden arrival. His heartbeats raced quickly, alarming the earthbender at once when he knelt by her side.

"News from the warfront," he said. "Letter arrived just now."

"What is it? Something wrong?" Toph asked: her own heart sped up, her mind immediately rejecting any possibility of harm or failure for her allies… for her friends.

"This message says they won in the North Pole, but it cost a lot," Jet explained. "Apparently, the Water Tribe won't be as reliable an ally as we were betting on. They can only afford to send fifteen ships to join our fleet."

"That's not much to brag about," Toph said, frowning.

"Worse than that… our troops in Yu Dao were defeated. Or rather, they retreated."

"What?!" Toph gasped. She slammed a hand on the table by sheer impulse, startling the others near them.

"Toph? Is something wrong…?" Poppy asked, glancing at Jet with confusion. His relationship with her daughter had been apparent all along thanks to Toph's shamelessness, but it was evident that he was her second-in-command, and not simply her lover. Whatever news he had offered Toph, it most likely related to the war.

Toph snarled… it seemed she wanted to answer earnestly, but she didn't dare do it. Instead, she raised a hand towards her mother, asking her to wait, before turning her attention to Jet again.

"What happened? How many casualties? And what the hell are we supposed to…?"

"Jeong Jeong was outsmarted, we don't know how many casualties," Jet said. "But… the message says we're to move out, regardless. We take the ships we've captured, rejoin the rest of the fleet at the Fortress's waters. From there…"

"Off to the Fire Nation," Toph finished, frowning.

Her heart burned with intent and determination. Curse Jeong Jeong for failing… she had little trust in the man, but he was supposed to be a respectable military leader. Short of having faced someone with the intellect or capabilities of Azula in her best shape, he…

Her frown deepened. She turned to Jet, reaching for his wrist, as if to grab the letter in his hand.

"Was it… her?" she asked. Jet winced. "The one who beat him. Jeong Jeong. Was it…?"

"Master Piandao doesn't seem sure…" Jet said, swallowing hard. "But he does mention it's a possibility that it was her doing."

"Fuck. Fuck!" Toph snarled.

That complicated things far more than she was ready to handle right now. Curses, Azula couldn't be making matters worse than they already were… her mind couldn't help but shift towards Iroh, wondering if he would be pleased with himself. If he would deem Azula's potential participation in the Fire Nation's defenses as vindication… as a full-blown excuse to kill her, for she had chosen to stand by her father.

Toph refused to believe she had made that choice. At least, she hadn't done it short of being coerced into it. She scoffed: if they were to move out… Piandao couldn't be the one giving that order. Sokka had, and Piandao had conveyed it, and…

And that meant that Sokka was avoiding Yu Dao. He was leaving the Fire Nation to its victory there… and he was targeting the actual source of Azula's likely strife and sorrow.

The clever Blue Wolf was a few steps ahead of her, as always. A slight smile spread over her face at that thought.

"Then… then we move out," she declared. Jet swallowed hard and nodded. "Spread the word. Tell everyone to get ready. Set up the ships. Let's get going."

"Toph…" her father said this time, holding his wife's hand as they sat across Toph at the table. "You're… you're leaving? Are you quite sure? It could be…"

"Dangerous? I know," Toph said, firmly. "It always has been. But if we win the next one… the war might just be over. I know that's what Sokka is thinking anyway. So… I'll go on and make it easier for him still. This war isn't going to end unless we do our part… and I'm ready to do mine."

Her determination was as fierce and firm as it had been on the day she had first abandoned this mansion to join the Superior Gladiator League, far away from home. This time, she fought for more than just herself. This time, she knew she would wield her power for a greater cause than any she ever imagined she would fight for.

"I'll be off, Mom, Dad," Toph said, firmly. "I'll come back… and I'll eat all your cellar's food all over again. I promise."

Poppy broke down in tears: she walked over to Toph's side of the table to hug her, and it wasn't long before Lao joined her in doing the same. The earthbender sighed, wrapping her arms around her parents as well. As confident as she was in her abilities, in the strength of their army, she didn't know when she would have a chance to return to her family. For once, there was no unwillingness in her gesture. Her parents seemed to crumble emotionally over her, but she remained firm and strong, as the sturdiest of stones… ready to charge into the battle that would determine the fate of their world, at long last.

She gathered her troops across the next days. Joined by the rebels from Gaoling, the bulk of Toph's squads in the Gladiator Army boarded civilian and military ships alike, docked in Gaoling's harbor, and sailed to the northwest. The constraints of the ships resulted in a fair number of willing fighters staying behind in the city, simply because the ships could not carry any more soldiers, and because Gaoling, too, could not remain undefended.

They returned to the Fortress to find fifty ships in its vicinity: Colonel Shiju and General Fong had gathered the vessels they had been tasked with finding, and they were ready to set sail. Their group had been the first to reach the Fortress's shores, where they awaited the rest of their forces before setting out to the Fire Nation.

Fifty ships would not suffice to transport over ten thousand willing fighters. Numerous discussions on how to proceed, how to bring over as many forces as possible, were inevitable, just as they failed to provide full solutions to the problem. One of many unfortunate decisions to be made was the forsaking of mounts: there would be no cavalry forces this time, for the ships simply could not accommodate ostrich horses, much less moose-lions, for the prolonged time they would need to do so.

The last bastion of the Gladiator Army to arrive was Jeong Jeong's. The demoralized army, three weeks after their fateful defeat in Yu Dao, traversed the Earth Kingdom with initial uncertainty. Once General Sokka's orders arrived, carried forth by his firebending allies, the group confirmed that they would march on the Fire Nation directly. With that, the more emboldened and vengeful members of their forces regained their enthusiasm. The more distrustful ones, those who had lost their faith in Jeong Jeong after what they believed was mismanagement of their resources in Yu Dao, as well as utter cowardice on the Grand Lotus's part, were eager to follow the Gladiator, the leader they acknowledged as decisive and strong instead of Jeong Jeong.

That would have bothered the Deserter if he weren't riddled by guilt over the wrong calls he had made in Yu Dao. Even Sokka's allies appeared startled to find him so ready to follow the Gladiator's orders. Jeong Jeong had mulled the matter over countless times, attempting to find a way to prevent the Princess's absolute triumph, any alternative he had overlooked… but nothing came to mind. At least, nothing she couldn't have countered with her available resources.

It was a rather dark mirror to how she had likely felt after he had nearly killed Sokka in that forest clearing, three years ago.

After so long of trusting himself and his abilities, of believing firmly in his strategic prowess and feeling vindicated by fighting for the right cause, the independent, strong-willed Deserter found himself doing the unthinkable:

He believed in another man's leadership far more than he believed in his own.

The sight of the Fortress's walls, once they finally approached it, relieved him profoundly. They would set out to the Fire Nation next. The ships the others had gathered would bring them across the ocean… they would lead them to the man who had secured the most miraculous victories against the Fire Nation's forces so far. Even when General Sokka had responded to his letter with no shortage of vitriol over Jeong Jeong's deliberate omission of Azula's involvement in the battle for Yu Dao, Jeong Jeong could only put his trust, his faith, in the Gladiator. It was an unthinkable outcome, one his prideful self should have rejected violently. Leaving his fate in the hands of a man whose emotions were clearly compromised, who could be easily manipulated by the enemy's right-hand woman, who lacked the experience of decades leading troops, who hadn't even joined the Order of the White Lotus, would have never been his chosen course of action…

But every hope rested in Sokka's hands now. If they were to win this war, the best way to do so was by charging against Fire Lord Ozai as soon as possible, just as Jeong Jeong had proposed, just as Sokka had agreed they should. It was what their forces were preparing for… and they would spend the next weeks ensuring to bring their troops across the ocean, to the Fire Nation's islands, all the way to their rendezvous point in the Slate's island… Avatar Roku's destroyed home. The place where so much had begun… where Iroh had proven himself, and in doing so, he offered the White Lotus the first true hope of change through the Avatar's prophecy. A prophecy that had appeared to have been broken… a prophecy that Prince Zuko might yet fulfill, if he was ready.

But Sokka, unconcerned with any prophecies and predictions, needed no supernatural guidance to push forward. He would march ahead with his own strength, carried by the faith of the thousands, millions, who trusted him to free their world from darkness…

The Princess would not be in the Fire Nation to dissuade or distract the Gladiator from fulfilling his duty, his self-appointed destiny. The war would finally end… the war had to end.

All pieces were in place for the final push to begin.

"Reports from Yu Dao confirm that the Deserter's forces have been repealed effectively. Princess Azula's strategies with Takase's weapons have proven successful enough to daunt them away from attacking anew."

Ozai grunted in acknowledgement of Aonu's report: the man certainly idolized his daughter, going by the enthusiastic tone with which he explained the situation in Yu Dao. The War Minister smiled as he filtered through his documents, finding one of the latest he had drafted for the Fire Lord.

"This is our first breakthrough in the war, no question about it. The first uncontestable victory against the enemy forces," he said. "The rebel army can be broken, Princess Azula has proven that. They may have retreated to Omashu, judging by the scout reports regarding movements to the south. While we cannot commit to a greater attack on Ba Sing Se just yet, I suspect the city won't be as defensible as it was before, now that their main armies have moved out. It might be the right moment to begin pondering how to retake the cities that…"

"We cannot afford to retake Ba Sing Se."

Aonu's smile froze on his face before fading gradually. The Fire Lord had been visibly relieved, weeks ago, upon first hearing of his daughter's successful venture at retaining Fire Nation control over Yu Dao. But his improved mood had dimmed quickly, and Aonu scarcely could imagine why.

"My Lord… would you rather we focused on retaining control over the land we still hold claim over?" Aonu asked. Ozai sighed, and he shook his head. "My Lord?"

Ozai pushed himself to his feet. He paced behind his desk, hands linked behind his back.

"Unless their forces are led by utterly incompetent fools, which I sincerely doubt we should believe, considering how far they have come… the rebel army did not retreat as it did solely out of fear of Azula's great prowess as a leader and strategist. The Deserter is not the type to accept a defeat lying down, as it were. Therefore… our victory is still not their loss. They are up to something… and considering how most of our efforts to stop them from acquiring sufficient ships have not been as successful as intended, it's quite likely, I'd say, that they… that they will simply come here, directly."

"You… you don't believe that they would be so reckless as to attack the Fire Nation yet," Aonu said, uncertain. "They couldn't possibly…"

"Do not let your emotions dictate the flow of your train of thought, War Minister," Ozai snapped. Aonu flinched. "We may not want them to: that does not mean they won't come here. We have lost the bulk of our navy. Our maritime defenses are at their weakest, regardless of our efforts to bolster them through civilian ships. The Gladiator, among many things, is an opportunist. He will see this chance to strike… and he will seize it."

"Isn't it more likely that the defeat in Yu Dao will give them pause?" Aonu said. "I would assume that, upon realizing that she's in the city, as an enemy, he might…"

"He might be emboldened into confronting her?" Ozai asked, skeptical. "Perhaps, if he's a mindless buffoon whose mind solely obeys the mandate of his loins. And yet everything we've seen suggests otherwise."

"Then you think… that he'll take advantage of the Princess being in Yu Dao to strike at the heart of the Fire Nation?" Aonu concluded, frowning.

"If he has the mind of a true military leader… he will do exactly that," Ozai said. "If he knows his own weaknesses, if he understands our strengths, he will know better than to waste time and efforts chasing after Azula in Yu Dao when he could far more easily charge against our forces when they're not obeying her leadership."

"Then…" Aonu said, nervousness gripping his heart again. "What should we do? If we can't field an army to retake the cities that were taken first… I thought that was our greater purpose. I thought…"

"That… may come later. Should we be victorious," Ozai said: his voice gave away, however, that he questioned that would be the case.

He breathed deeply, chest tight with concern and uncertainties. Azula had delivered exactly what was expected from her. She had been as fierce and strong as ever, rendering the Deserter helpless against her superior strategies and might. She even had taken numerous waterbenders into her custody, going by what Aonu had conveyed. It was no surprise that the first of his victories in this new stretch of the war would only be attained by her hand… but he didn't know if it would also be the last.

It was guaranteed to be, should he task Azula to remain in Yu Dao now.

A small burst of relief came alive inside his troubled heart once the right course of action manifested in his mind. He turned towards Aonu, who met his golden eyes with his green, unable to mask his fear over the dark projections Ozai had offered him pertaining the upcoming stages of the war.

"War Minister… you will send a bird to Yu Dao," Ozai said, his mind made up. "Summon the Princess back to the Palace: I will have her join me and our army in defending the Capital."

Aonu's eyes widened: the triumphant sensations he had felt earlier, upon entering this room, were nowhere to be found anymore. But Ozai's determination had surged and strengthened by now: Azula would stand with him. She would defend this city across what might become the final battle of the Hundred Year War.