Iroh watched passively from the throne as the palanquin was carried into the deserted throne room. Within its gauze curtains, Azula’s silhouette could be seen sitting calmly. The Fire Lord drew in a breath to brace himself, and found that the exhale did not carry with it all his nagging worries.

She shouldn’t be here, as the sanctions set by Avatar Aang forbade her and Xing from stepping foot ever on the Fire Islands for at least ten years. Being carried on a cushioned litter right from the moment her ship docked was bending the rules a bit, but Aang had allowed it due to the circumstances.

Beside the palanquin bearers, Ty Lee and Suki walked at a slow but wary pace. Not the sort of wariness to anticipate danger, but one that expected a more awkward sort of trouble.

Iroh felt bad for Azula’s friends, but this meeting had to be made.

The palanquin was set down, and only after the soldiers parted the curtains and took a few dozen respectful steps back did the rest of Iroh’s welcoming party make themselves known from the shadows.

Zuko offered a casual bow, managing a friendly smile as he did so. “Thank you for coming back, Azula.”

“It was an urgent summons,” Azula answered a little curtly and gave a bow from where she sat, never breaking her gaze from either him or Iroh. “The Avatar made it seem like the most momentous thing.”

Unsurprisingly, Zuko was taken aback. “It is! I mean, we found our mother, Azula!”

Only then did his sibling turn her attention towards the others, her gaze lingering on the pensive Ursa for a few seconds before moving onto Noren, her husband, and their daughter Kiyi who stood between them.

Azula’s expression did not change as she nodded as if finally acknowledging their presence.. “So I see. I’ve been briefed on what has happened… It is good to see you well and whole, mother.”

Iroh glanced to his side to see Ursa managing a tight smile as she nodded back. “I’m glad you are doing well, Azula.” The edges of her lips tugged upwards with some genuine warmth. “I heard a dashing young man has won your heart. Congratulations on your engagement.”

The princess of Ba Sing Se sniffed with false humbleness, some levity peeking through her otherwise expressionless mask. “Yes, well, Xing is more than a little dashing…” Thin smirks appeared on Ty Lee and Suki, with the latter gaining a little color in her cheeks.

“Anyway, I see congratulations are in order for yourself as well.”

Noren offered a more welcoming smile as he introduced himself. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Azula. I am Noren-”

“My mother’s old flame,” Azula interrupted with a slow nod, her tone neither judgemental nor resentful. “In case my uncle or brother have not offered it yet, my apologies for my delusional father’s attempt on your life.”

The man managed to keep smiling as he waved off the sentiment. “It is alright. Fire Lord Iroh has already apologized, and you have no reason to apologize for what your father has tried and failed to do.”

“Most gracious of you,” came the polite reply. Then Azula turned to her half-sister, and her mask slipped to allow a smile to form. Despite knowing that she’s changed, Iroh was still surprised to see the naked warmth exuding from his niece.

“And you must be my half-sister.”

Unlike her more reserved parents, Kiyi fearlessly smiled and waved back. “I’m Kiyi! You’re not as scary as they said you’d be!”

Iroh was not the only one wincing as the girl so guilelessly relayed the sentiment she’d picked up from the Avatar and his friends. Thankfully, Azula broke into a chuckle instead of taking offense. “Only scary to those that I can’t be friends with, Kiyi. Now-”

Azula shifted in the litter and seemed ready to rise, but the movement, along with her words, were halted when Ursa suddenly reached out to pull Kiyi back towards her protectively.

The atmosphere immediately dipped. Azula stared at her mother for a moment, and Iroh was wincing again as he saw the warmth banished from her eyes.

“I see.”

Her smile became a thin, brittle thing, and she sighed as she slowly adjusted herself to pull out something from behind her, making her movements as slow and blatantly harmless as possible for Ursa’s sake. In her hands was a small doll, a small dragon in green and red.

Azula leaned out of the palanquin to place the doll just outside of it, staring blankly at her mother the whole time.

For her part, Ursa was immediately regretting her impulsive move. The pain in her eyes told Iroh all he needed to know. Just as her fond memories of Zuko remained, so too did her impressions of the younger, more malicious version of Azula, and despite Iroh’s and Zuko’s assurances, that impression still dictated Ursa’s instincts.

“This is for Kiyi. If she is allowed to have it.” Azula returned to a sitting position, though her posture was now as stiff as her expression.

“Azula, I’m sor-”

“You are free, of course, to check its safety for yourself. There shouldn’t be any hidden barbs or poisonous dyes in it.”

“Why would there be barbs or poy-son-os dyes?” Kiyi asked, oblivious to the tense mood, causing Azula’s smile to warp into a sad, hollow smirk.

“Azula, please-”

“Because someone wanted to hurt whoever owned that toy.”

“That’s mean.”

“It is indeed, Kiyi.” Azula gave her half-sister a wan smile, and then swept her gaze to the discomforted adults before her, pointedly ignoring her mother’s pleading look. “I suggest someone take my half-sister out…to play?”

“I’ll…I’ll do it,” Noren quickly answered, and led his daughter out of the throne room.

Everyone watched the two of them leave, and along with them went the last of the warmth and innocence. Azula finally focused her attention on Ursa, raising a hand to cut her off before she could try apologizing again. The hollow smile the daughter gave her mother sent a pang into Iroh’s heart that twisted and writhed.

“I’ve grown up now, mother. I understand. Where I stand in your estimations, what I was, what I’ve become…”

“Azula, please, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s alright, mother. I was a terror. A monster. A heinous sack of shit wrapped in the form of a princess. You’ve every right to fear for your truest daughter from me.”

Iroh had to interject, beating Zuko to it. “Azula, please. Your mother still loves you. She’s never stopped loving you. You know it was Ozai who forced her to leave.”

Azula’s head bobbed in a stilted manner. “I do. Which was why when she left, she woke Zuko up to tell him how much she loved him.” There was a flash of emotion in her eyes then, a hurt that caused Ursa to raise a trembling hand to her shocked face.

Azula forced herself to shrug. “I know you love me, mother. I’m not that foolish to think that you never did. But I also know that love…love comes in degrees. And what you held for me was not worth waking me up for as you did for Zuko. Nor was I the well-behaved, gentle child to deserve the reassurance and comfort that he had.”

Iroh wanted to rebut the claim on Ursa’s and Zuko’s behalf, but the words couldn’t form. He had no right to anyway, the deepest part of him knew. He’d failed Azula badly as well, neglecting her in favor of nurturing Zuko, failing to see and guide her ambitions and instead naively treating her as a gentle maiden.

“That’s enough, Azula!” Zuko said, holding his softly sobbing mother. “Mom doesn’t deserve this.”

“Deserve?‘ His sister’s voice cracked as she rose up from her seat. “I’m merely stating the facts. As I’ve said, I have grown up enough to realize the truth, so there is no need to force ourselves to put up pretty lies. Mother loves you more than me, and it’s mostly my fault that that’s the case. Father hates you because of…reasons, which then herded my education towards becoming nothing but a standard for him to sadistically compare you to. And like a naive fool, I thought that meant he loved me.”

Iroh fell back into his seat as bitter anger and resentment finally broke through Azula’s passive mask, while Zuko had to shield Ursa from his sibling’s gaze and her rising voice. “I’m such a monster that it took a self-imposed villain and a whole regiment of seasoned psychopaths to tolerate me and show me their brand of love. Trained throat-slitters who had the patience and understanding to guide me and grind away my stupider tendencies. A boy who respected me as more than just a cooped up princess, and whose love for me was more than just an obligation.”

The princess’ rant was cut short when her friends placed gentle hands on her shoulders. Both Ty Lee and Suki also offered silent, sympathetic looks that leached out the bubbling bitterness in Azula. There was silence for a few seconds as the two girls comforted their friend, which caused the pang of regret in Iroh to twist further as he saw how they cared for her when her own family could not.

Azula drew in a breath and visibly, forcefully calmed. “My apologies for my…outburst.” There was still no warmth, no attachment in her gaze as it rested on Ursa. And yet, Iroh could hear the slight tremor in her voice. “Mother. You don’t have to worry about me or my presence. I’ve been removed from the royal family in all but blood. I’ll remain in Ba Sing Se, far away from Kiyi and yourself. You’re free to enjoy the family you’ve always wanted, deserved even.”

Ursa broke into a wordless wail and almost dragged Zuko down, but Azula ignored her and glanced at the uncomfortable guards behind her. “Come. Enough time has been wasted.” Said palanquin carriers turned to Iroh with uncertainty.

The Fire Lord looked to his niece, whose cracked mask was likely at its limit, and then he glanced to his sister-in-law, who was in tears and seemingly kept on her feet only by Zuko’s assistance, and trying to form sentences in an effort to salvage ties with her daughter.

Iroh had expected cold relations, he had expected some yelling. But he was not prepared for Azula’s near-immediate dismissal of her own mother. He’d been naive and misjudged the severity of how abandoned she must’ve felt. They’ve all been.

This would take more than just a sit down and dinner.

He gave a heavy sigh, and slowly nodded at them. The men hurriedly went to the palanquin, doing a remarkable job at ignoring the scene before them. Azula too was no longer looking at her mother’s way as she ignored Ursa’s pleas and apologies. Her friends Ty Lee and Suki were unsettled, but remained silent and by her side. Iroh did not blame them if they supported Azula on this matter.

As the palanquin was lifted, Azula fixed her gaze on him and forced out a minimally polite smile as she bowed in it. “Thank you for your time, Fire Lord Iroh.”

WIth that, the litter turned and began to leave the throne room with the echoes of heavy sobbing trailing after it. Iroh slumped in the throne, and shared lost and concerned looks with Zuko who was still struggling to calm Ursa down.

He then rose up and walked over to the stuffed doll Azula had left behind. The toy dragon of embroidered silk was posed in a defiant roar. While the material was of the highest quality, the needlework was clearly not the best, being uneven and loose in some places.

Iroh turned the doll over, and found a simple message stitched on the dragon’s underbelly.

“For my sister Kiyi”

Iroh sighed aloud. Where to even begin trying to salvage this?