Zuko was tired.
Lu Ten had just died and Uncle had disappeared after Ba Sing Se.
Now he had to listen to Azula taunt him about how dad was apparently going to 'kill' him.
"I know you're lying Azula, just go away."
Azula had become mean since he learned to Firebend.
At first, it was fun, their weakly sparring sessions were always entertaining and he learned a lot from them. It was also the only time he and Azula spent alone together, and he liked hanging out with her.
Sure she always beat him, but she told him what he did wrong. And she would help him come up with new ideas on how to improve.
After they were done they would even try to mix their flames, trying to see what colors and shapes they could make out of them.
The best one they got was when his gold and her blue mixed and created a bright neon green. They showed mother their green dragon and she told them it was a 'jade dragon that would make the earth king jealous'.
But one day their father caught them training and it wasn't fun anymore.
He started making it a daily occurrence, not letting their spar end until one of them was unable to continue.
That always ended up being him and he hated it.
He wasn't even allowed to give up either.
He usually was stubborn, but after fighting with an injury for the third day in a row he had enough.
He tried to take one of Azula's blasts without defending himself. He figured he would lose the spar faster and that would be the end of it.
But his father realized it and he was punished heavily for it.
After the week it took to heal all his injuries he fought Azula with everything he had in every spar.
He still lost, he never even hit her, but he wasn't punished and that's all that mattered.
Now he and Azula barely talked, and when they did she usually just made fun of him.
Like she was doing right now.
"I'm serious Zuzu. Gramps got all mad at dad because he wanted Uncle Fatso's birthright. Gramps told him,"
She lowered her voice in an imitation of their grandpa.
"You must learn the pain of losing your firstborn child. And dad agreed."
Zuko felt his stomach clench in dread, trying not to think of his father trying to kill him.
"You're lying Azula, father wouldn't kill me."
Azula just patted his shoulder, "It's okay Zuzu. Who knows, maybe we can get a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you."
He screamed at her to go away as his mother walked into the room.
"What's going on here?"
Ursa walked in to see her two children arguing. It was how she usually found them these days and killed her a little inside.
There was a time when she thought they would be able to care for each other, she still held the Jade dragon they made close to her heart, after all.
But after Ozai turned their weekly meetups into daily training any chance of that was ruined.
He imprinted the idea onto Azula that she needed to be better than her brother, and try as she might Ursa was never able to convince her otherwise.
Now any time they're together they fight, and the only thing she can do is try to stop them from fighting each other. She had wanted to teach Azula how to be nice to her brother, but Ozai made it very clear she wasn't allowed to teach Azula anything.
Azula was his masterpiece, and when he found out she was teaching her kindness he threatened to isolate Azula for training purposes.
Azula already struggled with loneliness, her only friends were Mai and Ty Lee, and she didn't think Zuko was allowed to be her friend anymore.
Ursa didn't want to risk having Ozai isolate her completely, she feared that would kill any chance her daughter had at one day being happy.
So now she had to solve another argument between her two children, hoping that one day they would get along better.
Zuko looked at her and pointed at Azula accusingly, "She lied and said that dad was going to try and kill me!"
Azula spat back, "I didn't lie, I heard him say it!"
Ursa paled in fear as she heard their squabble.
She grabbed Azula's arm, dragging her away from Zuko so he wouldn't hear what she needed Azula to tell her.
She looked her daughter in the eyes, "I need you to tell me everything."
.......
Ursa had just finished poisoning Azulon and now had to leave the palace. She should have already left, but she had to try and see her children one last time.
She had already tried Azula but Ozai had kept her hidden, Ursa had to give up on seeing her that night.
Now she was in Zuko's room, ready to say goodbye to her only son. She didn't know what would happen to her now.
She didn't expect Ozai to keep his promise of just banishing her. She knew he would send assassins at a later time to finish her off. She had to disappear before they were able to find any traces of her.
She knew she couldn't take her children with her, Ozai would overlook her leaving but not his children.
He wanted to groom Azula into his successor and he didn't want the embarrassment of having his firstborn flee.
No, she had to leave them alone, she knew it would be hard for them but she needed them to survive.
She hoped one day they would forgive her, but this was the only way she could save them.
She shook Zuko awake, watching as he droopily opened his eyes.
His birthmark was just as beautiful as it always was, she studied it one last time, knowing it would be the last time she sees it.
"Mom? What's going on?"
She looked at her child who was still looking at her half-awake.
"I have to leave now Zuko."
Zuko's eyes snapped open, "What? What do you mean you're leaving? What's going on?"
She looked into his panicked eyes and held him close, "Zuko, I can't tell you but I promise that everything I'm doing is for you. Zuko, I need you to promise me something."
She held him by the shoulders and forced him to look at her, "Never forget who you are Zuko. Promise me that."
Zuko looked at her and slowly nodded, tears in his eyes as he held her close.
Ursa pulled away as she took off her necklace, it held the rings she and Ikem gave each other. Ozai never cared about her old life, he only wanted his heirs so she was allowed to keep them.
She took the rings off her necklace and placed them in Zuko's hand.
She knew she was running out of time but this was the last thing she could do.
"Zuko I wasn't able to see Azula, your father stopped me from doing so. I need you to give one of these to her. They're my prized possessions, I'll always be with you two as long as you have them."
Zuko looked at the rings in his hand and nodded.
Mom had never told either of them where she got them but they knew she loved them. She never seemed to take them off.
If she was taking them off now then...
She really is leaving.
He wanted to stop her, to tell her not to go, but when he looked back up she was already out the door. He watched with tears in his eyes as she closed it behind her, never looking back.
He cried, he lost track of time for how long he cried. He didn't want to sleep, he knew when he woke up she wouldn't be there anymore.
He looked at the rings in his hand and remembered what she said.
He took one of the old strings he had lying around and tied one of the rings around his neck.
He snuck out of his room, carrying Azula's ring in his pocket.
......
Azula pretended to sleep as she heard her dumb-dumb of a brother leave through the window.
Idiot... If your gonna try to be sneaky then at least wait until I'm asleep to do it.
She snorted at the thought of her dummy of a brother trying to sneak up on her.
He probably wanted to get back at me for this morning. Too bad he's too much of a baby to go through with it.
She huffed as she opened her eyes, seeing the gold ring Zuko left on the counter.
Oh...
She remembered how panicked and desperate mom looked after hearing what grandpa said. Azula had been poking fun at Zuzu but she didn't think father would actually kill him.
He was blessed by Agni, it would have been inviting trouble to kill someone blessed by the spirits.
But now Zuzu left her one of mom's rings, meaning he had seen mom and now neither of them would see her again.
That's why he was here...
She felt a lot of emotions, anger, sadness, betrayal, and fear.
But she had been trained to control her emotions so that's what she did.
If she hid the ring in a hidden compartment of her dresser that even dad didn't know about, then that was just because she didn't want Zuzu to have something she didn't.
Nothing more.
...........
Agni was worried.
His human had been distraught ever since his mother vanished.
Agni watched as he lashed out at people to hide his pain and grief. He had always had a short temper, but now he didn't try to contain it. He screamed at anyone who annoyed him, pushing away the few people that used to care for him.
His sister was better at hiding her pain, but he knew she still kept her ring close to her chest. He watched her go to a jeweler and ask for a golden chain, one to put the ring in and make it into a necklace no doubt.
But his human had always been painfully honest and so he didn't hide his pain, he lashed out at everyone and everything.
Agni mourned his human, he used to shine so brightly before his father snuffed that out.
Agni wasn't allowed to directly interfere with mortals unless they directly interfered with him. That meant that he couldn't punish Zuko's father unless he tried to summon Agni himself, or visited the spirit world.
He truly wished he could though, his human was suffering and Zuko's father was the cause.
But he couldn't interfere so he just watched, as his human spent another day alone and trained until he collapsed from exhaustion.
He wanted his human to feel better, he had suffered enough.
But he didn't know what to do. His human was lonely without his mother and he wasn't allowed to connect with his sister like he used to.
As he was brainstorming what to do to help his human he heard someone enter his domain.
Agni!
Agni was shocked as his sister, Tui, entered with her husband, La.
Tui, La, what are you doing here?
Tui hugged him and explained the trouble her human, Yue, was having with her brother.
La spoke up, We figured since you're Tui's brother you could tell us why Yue's brother doesn't hang out with her anymore.
Agni got a little annoyed at the comment.
He hung out with Tui all the time. He had been a little busy the last 100 years but his Firebenders were suffering and he had to watch over them.
But as much as La sometimes annoyed him, he knew La was disgustingly in love with Tui. Agni couldn't imagine a better husband for his sister.
So he ignored the comment and answered honestly,
I don't know Tui. My human is having the same problem, his sister doesn't hang out with him anymore and he's been lonely since his mother left.
Tui and La were stunned.
La spoke up first, You have a human?
La couldn't believe it.
Agni had rarely blessed specific humans before. If you didn't count the Firebenders then it had been centuries since he last blessed someone. Since humans came around La could count the number of humans he blessed on one hand.
Agni nodded, expecting their reactions. He rarely blessed humans. He preferred to keep to his Firebenders and be impartial to the rest.
He was the Sun, he was meant to provide light and warmth to all, he wasn't supposed to choose.
But that night years ago as the boy's mother begged him to save her son, he complied.
He had witnessed his Firebenders kill and die for the last 100 years. He wished for them to see that they were only bringing ruin upon themselves.
Zuko, the boy who had suffered his father's cruelty, was ideal to end the war. He chose to bless him because Zuko was a chance at saving his Firebenders from themselves.
But now his human was sad and hurting and Agni didn't know what to do.
What should I do Tui, my human is sad and I don't know how to cheer him up.
Tui thought it over.
She had never expected Agni to bless a human too. Sure he had blessed some before but they were few and far between. The only spirit she knew that blessed humans less was La.
But now Agni had a human and they were lonely, and she had a human and her human was also lonely.
Agni watched as Tui smiled, feeling a little worried for his human.
I have a wonderful idea.