Chapter Text
Zuko wasn't at dinner.
He'd been sent to his room, and he'd gone there without question. He hadn't tried to debate or argue; he'd gone to his room and slammed the door.
And that was it.
No more Zuzu in the academy.
Azula scowled, her fingers twitching as she stared down at her plate. What an idiot. She thought as she jabbed her chopsticks into her dumplings.
Zuko was an idiot. What was he even trying to do? She'd thought he was insane when he started talking back to Dad, but apparently he was also suicidal.
Zuko had actually yelled at Dad.
Because... why'd he even do that?
Azula's fingers tightened around her chopsticks; she ground her teeth. She shook her head. Idiot. Useless. Thinking about Zuko was useless. He'd gone and done something unnecessary and gotten himself punished for it; that was his fault. Not Azula's.
She wouldn't have ever done something so stupid.
Azula scowled as she jabbed at her food. She scowled. She didn't understand it. She didn't care to. She wanted to eat her food and go back to her room. She had to start preparations. She had to excel in training in the morning. She had to impress the royal tutors once they resumed her lessons.
Azula had to excel while she was stuck in the palace.
The sooner she proved this entire incident was all a... a fluke, the sooner things could go back to normal. Dad would understand this wasn't indicative of anything; it was nothing. Only... only a tiny inconvenience that would never recur.
A slight setback at most.
Azula would prove it. She'd do everything required of her at the palace. She'd already replayed the fight in her head on the carriage ride back. She'd made one mistake. She hadn't known about the pauper's finger poking ability. That was it. She knew about it now.
Stopping it was a simple matter.
She'd just break his hands in the next fight.
No more finger pokes.
Other than that, the only other thing she had to note was that the peasant could take a burn better than most non-benders.
She assumed this Sazaki person taught him how to do that.
Take a burn and keep going.
Ty Shit was a durably annoying sandbag; she'd give him that.
Next time she'd burn him worse. Permanently if she had to. He wasn't even in the academy anymore, so she wouldn't even be punished for it.
She'd turn up the heat next time.
And durable or not, next time, the pauper would go down and stay there.
The second her punishment was over, and she found where that peasant and his sister lived, she'd pick that annoying little rodent apart piece by piece.
Azula would correct all of it. Now that she knew to watch out for his weird Qi Blocking nonsense, she wouldn't get caught off guard again.
It was a single fluke.
It happened once.
It wouldn't happen again.
Azula would ensure it.
Azula stiffened as she heard her mother say, "Daughter, your neck..." Azula froze, realizing she had been unconsciously scratching the bruise on her neck. It had purpled and darkened more and more as the day progressed. Azula dropped her hand.
She scowled, "What, Mother? It's nothing." She snapped, ignoring Ursa and returning to her food. Another reason she needed this dinner to end. She needed to go to her room and grab some makeup. She had to find a decent way to cover this... this blemish on her neck. Conceal it. Remove it.
Mask it until it healed.
Ignore it until it stopped itching.
Azula froze as she felt her fingers touch her neck by instinct. She lowered her hand to her plate and kept it there. She refused to let a little bruise affect her.
It was nothing. It didn't matter.
Once she got her hands on that loud-mouthed pauper, she'd pay him back double. Triple. She'd strangle him by his throat and see how he liked it.
One mistake. It had been one mistake.
She would correct it.
All she needed to do was get past this dinner, and she could start preparing immediately. She just had to get through this dinner without any mistakes.
But dinner had just started.
And of course this was the one time Mother decided that Azula was worth her attention. Ursa frowned, "It's nothing, it looks like you've been bruised."
Azula set her jaw stubbornly, her gaze glued onto her food. "It's nothing." She grumbled. She needed Mother to stop talking. Stop bringing it up.
Ursa didn't. She was persistent.
Annoyingly persistent.
Ursa frowned, seriousness and pity in her eyes that made Azula's blood boil. "What happened?" Ursa asked. "And why did you cut your hair?"
Azula's fingers tightened so tightly around her chopsticks they snapped. She took a breath and said. "It is nothing." She said. "It's nothing."
Azula ground her teeth, refusing to say anything else.
Ursa frowned, her eyes narrowed. Ursa shifted her gaze towards Ozai, who had been eating with a scowl on his face. Ursa asked. "Ozai, what happened?"
Azula paled, her body freezing slightly.
Ursa said. "And where's Zuko?"
Ozai scoffed harshly. "Zuko is in his room. He'll be there until his punishment is decided." Ozai said. "As for our daughter..." Ozai's glare drifted.
Azula stiffened as Ozai's eyes landed on her. Azula kept her face perfectly neutral, her posture perfectly balanced, her eyes down and lowered. Dead silent.
Ozai said. "She lost a fight today at the academy. That's where the bruises are from." Ozai turned back to his plate. He scoffed. "I do not know about the hair. I can only assume it was the boy's way of adding salt to the wound. But it matters little."
Azula didn't look up from her plate, but she could practically hear the table quiet.
Ozai scoffed. "I've decided to pull Azula out of the academy for the time being. Zuko as well, for his seemingly endless disrespect towards authority."
Ursa blinked in surprise, her eyes wide. Her expression seemed to war between disapproval, probably because her 'poor little Zuzu' was getting pulled out of the academy, and something close to concern; Azula figured that was for Zuzu as well.
It didn't really matter; Azula had already decided to bite her tongue for this dinner. Azula knew better than to speak when Ozai was already angry.
Azula wasn't Zuko; she wouldn't go seeking a greater punishment for... For some reason.
Whatever reason Zuko had in his thick skull during the carriage ride home.
Azula stiffened as Azulon looked up from his meal. He mumbled, surprised, "My granddaughter lost..." Azulon raised a brow. "To whom, might I ask?"
Ozai said. "The Ty Heir. Ty Shuk."
Instantly, Azulon scowled. He glanced at Azula. "You lost to Ty Wen's grandson?" He frowned. "You couldn't have lost to anyone else? At all?"
Azula's face turned red; she scowled, biting her tongue so badly she might chew a hole through it. She hadn't known about his stupid Qi blocking.
That was it. Ty Shuk had gotten lucky.
Next time he wouldn't.
But Azula wasn't an idiot; talking back to Ozai might be a good way to earn a greater punishment. But talking back to Azulon was a death sentence.
So she held her tongue, refusing to speak, setting her jaw, and picking at her food with her broken chopsticks. She heard Azulon shake his head.
Azulon grumbled. "How disappointing."
Azula ignored it.
Ursa asked, eyes narrowed almost suspiciously, "Why were you fighting with Zuko's friend?"
Azula had a harder time ignoring that.
Azula scowled, "Who said I was fighting him? Maybe he was fighting me." She muttered. "He barged into my class and attacked me." Azula jabbed at her food, killing her dumpling with vengeance. "Maybe Zuko should have had a better choice of friends."
Ursa didn't say anything, but her lips thinned. She said. "I have a little trouble believing Zuko's friend would attack you for no reason whatsoever."
Azula ground her teeth, stubbornly looking down at her plate. She lied. "Yeah, well, I didn't do anything," she said. "He's the one who threw the first punch."
Azulon grumbled, "And the last apparently."
Azula's face burned red; she lowered her head and glared at her food. She scowled and jabbed at her plate until her dumplings were mush.
If she pretended they were Ty Shuk's entrails spilling out of his body, it would make her feel better.
Azula continued taking out her anger and embarrassment on her dinner.
Meanwhile, Ursa, having realized Azula wouldn't say anything, sighed and shook her head. "Fine." Ursa glanced at Ozai and frowned. "And you," Ursa frowned, "Why are you pulling her and her brother out of the academy? They just started."
Ozai said. "And it was obviously too soon an endeavor," Ozai scowls. "Our son has been to detention more than class. And our daughter has just made a public spectacle of the royal family. Neither deserves to be in the academy."
Azula flinched, hiding it the next second. She made sure to keep her eyes on her plate and her body still.
Ozai narrowed his eyes. "Azula will be pulled out temporarily." Ozai turned to Ursa and grumbled. "Zuko will be pulled out permanently."
Ursa stalled, frowning. "What?"
Ozai scowled. "You heard me. He will be pulled out permanently and resume his previous tutoring under the royal sages. Inside the royal palace, where he can't embarrass the royal family any further with his antics." Ozai's glare darkened. "He will also no longer be allowed to speak to the Ty Family. I've had just about enough of that family's problems."
Ursa frowned. "You're being too harsh." She said, "They've only been attending the academy three weeks. To suggest isolation is extreme."
Ozai scoffed. "Well, what else should I do, Ursa?" He scowled. "They have both proven to be incapable of representing the royal family correctly."
Ursa's lips thinned. "And how should that be?"
Ozai huffed. "Without raising any questions regarding our competency," Ozai said. "This is not some random teaching house from your backwater village. This is the royal academy we're discussing." Ozai narrowed his eyes. "The children in attendance are noble children, who will tell their parents every unsavory detail of how our children have acted."
Ursa frowned. "And you believe isolating Zuko, stripping him of the first friend he'd ever had, will teach him to act better around other noble children."
Ozai narrowed his eyes. "I think ever since he met the Ty Heir and interacted with the Ty Family, they have given us nothing but problems. I could tolerate it when I believed it was just brief little dissidences, but the Ty Heir has taken it a step too far. Zuko will not be allowed to interact with that boy anymore."
Ursa frowned, narrowing her eyes as she watched Ozai eat his dinner with a cold indifference. Ozai took a bite from his plate and drank his cup.
Once Ozai was done, he set his cup down.
And Ozai said idly. "It will also make it easier when we decide the Ty boy's punishment," Ozai scoffed. "As well as the punishment fitting for his family."
Azula perked up slightly; for the first time since dinner started, she actually looked a little happy about the contents of the conversation.
Ursa, meanwhile, froze. "Punishing the boy? Seems a little extreme, doesn't it?" Ursa frowned. "From what I gathered, he was already expelled."
Ozai scoffed. "For breaking academy rules. He was expelled. That is the extent of what the academy is allowed to do." Ozai narrowed his eyes. "But his crime of attacking royalty still needs to be accounted for. And that is a matter to be handled by us." Ozai frowned. "The boy challenged us. He disrespected us. There is not a more punishable offense."
Ozai's lips thinned. "He should be punished for treason, locked up at Boiling Rock, or served an early draft at least. His family should be punished as well. Fines. Imprisonment. The details matter little. As long as they're punished." Ozai scowled. "Otherwise, we risk letting the entire nobility know that they can attack us, without consequences," Ozai growled. "And without fear of reprimand."
Ursa frowned. "By that logic, we are also letting the nobility know that the royal family is not above petty punishments, and will punish anyone who wishes to excel," Ursa said plainly. "You talk about this in terms of respect," She frowned. "I fail to see how punishing a boy for winning a schoolyard fight earns us respect in the eyes of the nobility."
Ozai ground his teeth. "It reminds them who they serve."
Ursa said flatly. "It shows them we are weak. And scared of competition."
Ozai scoffed. "He showed a public act of disloyalty to the crown and to the throne," Ozai said. "Call it what you will. He should still be punished."
Azulon grumbled. "It would be a waste of his talent to lock him away," Azulon said. "He would serve the Fire Nation handsomely if he's allowed to mature."
Ozai scoffed. "And he would be a detriment like no other if he's allowed to defect." Ozai scowled. "He's already shown a willingness to attack royalty."
Ozai's eyes narrowed. "Who's to say his heart is truly behind our nation's glorious cause?"
Ursa's lips thinned in obvious disagreement.
Azulon snorted, as if remembering an old joke.
Azula, meanwhile, had been listening silently. Her head was low, ensuring she didn't draw attention to herself. She was no longer the topic of discussion.
Good.
Her face was perfectly neutral.
Her mind was not.
Her lips twitched upwards. She wanted that Peasant punished for what he did to her. The exact manner in which it was accomplished mattered little.
Boiling Rock. Forced Deployment. Burning. Flogging.
As long as Ty Shuk was hurt at the end of it, she wouldn't complain.
Instead, Azulon huffed. "While normally I would agree with you," Azulon snickered. "This is a special case. He will never defect the Fire Nation."
Ozai paused slightly, frowning. "What do you mean?"
Azula frowned. She glanced between her father and grandfather, her brows furrowed. She wanted to know too. Mostly because she wanted that pauper locked away until he had grey hairs. But she was also curious. What could the peasant have possibly done to earn grandfather's faith in his allegiance?
Azula narrowed her eyes.
But what her grandfather said next made little sense to her.
Azulon picked at his food and rolled his eyes. "Sazaki's training him to be the next Shade. Has for a while now." Azulon muttered. "Therefore..."
Azulon took a bite from his plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Azulon said simply. "He will never defect."
Azula frowned. That name again. Sazaki. Was he a sage or something? Azula felt like she should have heard of him before if he was this important.
But she hadn't. So she didn't understand her grandfather's message.
Ozai, however, seemed to understand immediately.
Ozai's eyes narrowed. "So he's going to be the next Vachir." Ozai frowned slightly. "I suppose that explains... a few things."
Azula blinked quietly and stared at her father.
What?
No...
No, it didn't.
Vachir the Bloodhound. The Pride of Yuyan.
The best Yuyan archer currently under Colonel Shinu's command. An efficient and loyal warrior. And the golden standard of Yuyan potency and skill.
In any other era, he would be considered the best Yuyan Archer in the Fire Nation employ. Hands down. It wouldn't be a competition.
In this era...
There was another name usually brought up in the same breath as his.
Shi Mo the Vulture. The Scourge of Yuyan. The Yuyan archer so bloodthirsty he was expelled from the Yuyan's homeland, Pouhai. And left to rot.
Right now, Shi Mo was rumored to be serving under General Uyanga's employ.
When conversations turned towards who the best Yuyan Archer was in the Fire Nation. It usually boiled down to those two names.
Shi Mo and Vachir.
Azula had heard of both, obviously. The sages had kept her up to date on current Fire Nation military matters. Big names and other conquests.
She knew of Vachir the Bloodhound.
She didn't know what Ty Lee's brother had to do with Vachir. Ty Shuk wasn't even Yuyan. How was he supposed to be the 'next Vachir?'
It made zero sense.
And what Azula's father and grandfather said next made even less.
Ozai took a bite of his meal. Letting out a silent huff. "Fine." He said." Let's say the boy's loyalty isn't in question. Our reputation has still been stained."
Azula blinked in surprise. Unable to hide it. What? That was it? The peasant had attacked royalty. There wasn't a more traitorous thing to do.
And her Dad was just... moving on. From all of it?
Azula hissed. "Dad, what are you talking about?" She asked, losing composure briefly. She sputtered out, indignant. "He attacked me! Cut my hair. He-."
Ozai said flatly. "Won."
Azula froze; her back stiffened.
Ozai said coldly. "He won."
Ozai glanced disapprovingly at Azula.
Ozai said. "And you lost." Ozai frowned. "Now my father and I have to do damage control. If you don't appreciate the specifics of our conversation."
Ozai narrowed his eyes. "Next time. Don't. Lose."
Azula paled, her hands clenched underneath the table. She lowered her head and muttered. "Yes... Dad..." she whispered, refusing to react outwardly.
Ozai huffed, turning back to Azulon. Ozai said. "Our reputation is still in doubt," Ozai said. "The princess was defeated by an outsider. We can't sit back and do nothing. Nobles will talk."
Azulon hummed, contemplative. He grumbled. "I suppose that is true." Azulon sighed, tapping the table with his finger. "Alright... give me a couple days."
Azula frowned, keeping her head down and her mouth shut.
Azulon said. "I'll think on a solution."
Dinner ended soon after that.
Meanwhile...
Zuko was starting to hate sharing his dreams with a dead avatar/super dead great-grandfather. Zuko sighed as he sat at the turtle duck pond.
Roku was sitting beside him, fishing with an old wooden pole.
Roku said. "You're wasting your breath."
Zuko muttered. "Great, another lecture."
Roku rolled his eyes. "You got yourself expelled, for what? Nothing." Roku frowned. "I wouldn't call it a bad thing in the grand scheme of things. But still..."
Zuko scowled at his reflection in the pond's surface.
Roku said. "Your sister won't care," Roku said idly. "She'll either see it as inane or pity. The concept of kindness for the sake of it is lost on her."
Zuko ground his teeth. "Maybe this time, it won't be."
Roku huffed. "You could live a hundred lifetimes, and she'd still end up the same. Some people never change, some things never change."
Roku watched as a dream fish circled the dream bait.
Roku said. "You've changed nothing," he said. "And I'd rather not see you make a habit of martyring yourself for someone undeserving of it."
Zuko scowled. "What do you know?"
Roku snorted. "Too much," Roku said. "Selflessness is a blessing as much as it is a curse. And you are undoubtedly cursed with it, great-grandson."
Roku glanced at Zuko.
Roku's gaze darkened. "So quit being stubborn," Roku said. "Be selfish. Protect your friends and leave your sister to the fate she's chosen for herself. You'll lose everything otherwise."
Zuko grumbled. "We don't need to have this conversation anymore," Zuko said. "I'm not changing my mind. I'll change her."
Roku scoffed. "How?"
Zuko sighed. "I don't know."
Zuko glanced at the pond, the dream fish causing ripples. If he looked close enough at his reflection, he could imagine his scar was still there.
Zuko mumbled. "Slowly, I guess..."
Roku muttered. "Good luck with that."
Zuko huffed. "Thanks."
Zuko rolled his eyes and sat by the pond's edge. He wasn't dumb. He knew Azula. He'd dealt with her for a lifetime. Zuko wasn't expecting a 'thank you' for what he did back on the carriage. If Azula did that, Zuko would start thinking his sister had been replaced by another spirit lost in time.
Zuko hadn't gotten himself expelled because he expected Azula to be grateful.
He'd just done it because he... he got angry; that was his reaction. He wasn't sure why he did it. Even now it sounded like a stupid decision in his head.
But he still did it.
And even though he wasn't allowed to be friends with Ty Shuk anymore. Or see Ty Lee again. Or visit Ty Wen's acupuncture shop, it mattered little.
For some reason, he didn't regret it.
So Zuko sat in the dream, watching the pond as he let the dream minutes trickle by. He didn't expect anything out of Azula, at least not right now.
So Zuko didn't expect it when, in the middle of the night, someone kicked his real body. His body in the real world woke him up from his dream world.
Zuko was surprised when he blinked open his eyes and found Azula standing over his bedside, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. She frowned.
She said. "Hey, loser..."
Zuko didn't expect anything out of Azula. Not an apology, not a thank you, not anything. That's how she'd always been. Zuko wasn't dumb. He knew his sister. He knew that getting himself expelled by yelling at Ozai wouldn't mean much to Azula. Even if Zuko had only done it because he'd been angry, angry when he watched Ozai belittle Azula for a single loss. Zuko had suffered a lifetime of Ozai's disappointment; the fact that Ozai could look at Azula the same way infuriated Zuko to no end. He wasn't even sure why.
Zuko should have been happy, vindictive. Azula had made his childhood hell in his first lifetime.
Watching her get in trouble for once should have made him feel better.
But it didn't.
Zuko had been angry.
Zuko had gotten himself expelled because he had been angry on Azula's behalf.
And still, Zuko knew that wasn't something she'd appreciate.
She would just think it was stupid.
Zuko hadn't expected anything out of Azula.
Azula ground her teeth. "Why'd you do it?"
He probably should have remembered that Azula hadn't expected anything out of him in the first place, either.