callmeaprincess | Inbox for labyrinthum

[She lets out a small sigh of relief for his mother, then chuckles at the next comment.]

Many call my father a "doddering old fool" - his decision isn't always what I'd make, but his heart is in the right place. We took care of each other when my mother died.

I'm glad you had your uncle to guide you, even if Azula doesn't feel the same way.

Uncle is more a father to me than Ozai ever was. I am honored to have been his... well, project for about four years. Despite him losing his own son, he didn't turn his back on me. Ever.

[ He huffs out a breath. ]

Uncle's the same way. A doddering old fool who has a heart of gold and a mind like a steel trap. He broke out of the Fire Nation prison his own brother put him in and retook Ba Sing Se for the Earth Kingdom.

[This quickly makes more and more sense to her. His uncle lost his own son, so Zuko filled that void, just as he fulfilled the father role Ozai never did. She's genuinely touched.]

That's beautiful. You're both heroes who saved each other from what your father destroyed. Nothing proves this more than how you present yourself now, Zuko.

...If only it were so simple for your sister.

[ He looks at Jasmine, his left eye narrowed, because he's having a hard time with it again. ]

Azula is, unfortunately, what Ozai made her. She had some tendencies, when she was little, but Ozai fed them, indulged them, made them so much worse.

[ Place the blame on Ozai. All of it. ]

[She notices the struggle with his eye - Jasmine has always wondered how he got the scar but never wanted to pry. Now she deeply suspects that Ozai is responsible for that, too.

He reminds her all too much of Agrabah's former vizier.]

When someone with that much power tells you something, you easily believe it. Even if it's a lie.

But, why her and not you? You were his heir.

[ Zuko rubs the scarred eye, absently. ]

A couple of reasons. One; Azula was a firebending prodigy, much better than me at it. Two; when I was a child and Uncle Iroh's son died, Firelord Azulon, my grandfather and Iroh and Ozai's father, ordered Ozai to kill me so he would know the pain of losing his heir.

[ A deep breath. ]

Instead, Azulon died, and Ozai became Firelord.

[ Then, his fingers gently brush the scar. ]

After I called his general an idiot in my thirteen year old way, Ozai and I fought an Agni Kai - ritual combat. I thought I was fighting the general. I was shocked when I saw my father across from me. I tried to stop it, but Ozai had decided I needed taught a lesson. Then, he banished me. Best thing he ever did for me.

[Confirmed. This is one of those times when Jasmine hates being right. In Agrabah, only one person was the source of corruption - but for an entire royal family to encourage such ruthlessness, and with Zuko's own father at the centre of it all...

Not to mention what it did to Azula. She has no scar on her face, but she wonders how much deeper, and more raw, the scar in her heart must be.

She puts her free hand over her cheek, to mirror Zuko and reflect his pain. She leaves it there as she processes everything.]

I'm so sorry. Even if you spoke out of turn, no one - let alone a child - deserves such punishment. That's not discipline, just... cruelty. Overcoming that, and exuding your kindness now, shows unbelievable resilience.

No wonder Azula behaves with arrogance, when she was taught all her life that she's the best. If you've replaced your father now, then she must be the last trace of his influence... and the most hurt from it.

The greatest kindness my father ever showed me was burning my eye and banishing me.

[ And Zuko believes that. ]

She is. I don't know what her problem here is, but father was not kind to her, nor did he care about her, only what she could bring to him. He tried to brand himself the Phoenix King, by burning down the Earth Kingdom. We stopped him, but whatever happened before he left the Calderon broke something in Azula. She had everything she ever wanted and yet had nothing.

[The comment makes her wince; she understands why he would say that, because it means the idealism of his father was broken sooner, but it's a process no one should ever have to endure.

The war crimes... it's almost haunting how used to that knowledge she became after being stuck here with Azula for so long. But one thing that was always clear to her was how much she pushed her family away - her mother in the memory she saw, Zuko despite all of the months here, her uncle... except perhaps her father, the supposed closest person to her. But if he was invading elsewhere while his daughter was at home, and she was as upset as her brother claims now, then that leaves her with a very haunting conclusion.]

Was she alone?

[ He nods. ]

Father was attempting to burn the Earth Kingdoms to the ground and fighting the Avatar. No one but servants around. By that time, she'd imprisoned her two friends, Mai and Ty Lee.

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