Azula took deep breaths to calm down herself as she tried to take control of her furiously beating heart.

She knew it would all come to this, she was determined, she was ready, she ready for everything, yet when the moment came, she still couldn't contain her excitement.

It felt unreal.

She tried to calm herself down one last time as she walked up the stairs.

She took a small glance at her 'prisoners' to see how they were doing. 

'Kunyo looks relaxed, it is good that he is confident like that. Avatar and his team on the other hand...' 

Even though seeing Kunyo relaxed and confident like that relieved her a little, seeing Avatar so flustrated tickled her anger.

Step by step, they finally reached to the peak where Ozai was waiting for them.

Obviously, their news of coming with the Avatar came to the palace long before they came here, and even if it all looked coincidental, everything was planned out behind the scenes by her father to make it look better for their Nation.

Parading around the Avatar and his team like that, going up these lengthy stairs to get to the high platform where many people could see them... It was all unnecessary things that her father made them do to let everybody in the world know that his daughter had captured the Avatar and locked him up like the animal he is. A grand show of power and authority, that's what it is.

'Well, this will also spell your end.' she snickered on the inside.

'You can't refuse my honorary demand in a place like this where everyone is watching after all, can you?'

Of course, Ozai could rule without people's approval. He would become a dictator if he needed to, but he prefer to stay as an actual ruler as it was way easier to lead a nation that way. He couldn't expect to lead the whole world with just power, he needed loyal subjects, and he would lose quite a lot of them if he actually pussied out from her request.

She took a deep breath and shouted loud enough for everybody in the area to hear her loud and clear.

''Royal father! Your crimes against humanity and the world is not going to be unrecognized anymore!'' She said as she pointed her finger at him accusingly.

Shocked gasps came out of the crowd but nobody dared to interrupt her as she continued her speech.

Ozai's eyes squinted in anger and slight shock as he opened his mouth to put an end to her accusations.

''Azula-'' 

Unfortunately, he was cut off by Aang who 'somehow' broke free from his shackles.

''Yes! Azula has seen the wrongs you have done during your rule and she has decided to lead the Fire Nation into a brighter future.'' he spat out the lines he memorized.

''Agni Kai! I challenge you to an Agni Kai!'' 

Azula's words shook everyone deep to their cores.

A 13 year old girl challenging the strongest man in the world in such a manner.

''She's asking to die.'' they couldn't help but murmur to each other.

''Has she gone crazy? I always knew something was wrong with her.'' a middle aged man whispered to his friend.

''Could it be that wretched Avatar? They have corrupted our princess!'' a woman whispered to her cousin.

''Th-''

Their whispers were cut short as they fell to their knees.

Weaker ones struggled to breathe as the fire lord Ozai finally got up from his seat and looked deep into Azula's eyes with a fury that threatened to burn her alive right now.

Aang and his friends got behind her protectively but Ozai didn't put them in his eyes. He only kept staring at Azula.

He had many questions, how could the daughter he carefully brought up and groomed could go against him, since when did she have such thoughts...

He erased them all. It didn't matter anymore. 

'What a failure.'

''Fine.'' he spat out.

''An Agni Kai to death.''

He would take care of his own failure with an Agni Kai.

'I thought you wouldn't shame me like this, but it seems I was too lenient... It's a pity that someone with your talents has to die.'

''It just so happens to be a sunset.'' 

Agni Kai is traditionally fought at sunset. Right on time, as if the fate willed it.

He brushed past her and walked down the stairs, completely ignoring the team Avatar.

The hard part of taking care of them was finding them, especially since they tended to stay on the part of the world where Fire Nation didn't have much power.

Since they were right here in the fire capital, they were already as good as done. 

He took a glance at the unfamiliar boy, the firebender of the team avatar.

'Strange, he doesn't seem to have any resentment, why would he betray his nation if he doesn't hate me or the fire nation?'

Azula followed after him as she tried her best to look nonplussed.

It was happening. 

It felt unreal, but it was actually happening right now.

A confident smile took her place on her face.

Until now, she couldn't talk back to her father, she could only look up to him and listen to everything he said with total obedience. Even this small talk just now took a lot from her willpower.

'But it's in the past now.'

She could feel her confidence flourishing as if it was a flower.

'I just need to defeat the strongest man alive... Well, the second strongest man.'

She naturally had confidence in her abilities. She knew she was talented, so talented in fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say she was one in a billion talent. But just 13 years was too short for that talent to properly flourish.

That, until Kunyo helped her out.

He not only personally taught her firebending and that strange 'Dao of Explosion' but also gave her some strange medicine to drink before the fight.

'It hurts my pride that I have to rely on him for this, but I will do whatever it takes to win. Besides, he will be my husband soon. It's okay to rely on him a little bit like this. Not to mention, I could definitely defeat my father in a few years of time, I was just unlucky that our fight had to be now.'