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saby-chan · 3 years

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Fire Lord Ozai: A blood thirsty monster or the less fortunate “Zuko” of his generation?

Hello again and thank you as always for clicking and allotting some of your time to read my humble post! Since I’ve happened to notice quite an increase in posts lately regarding the controversial character and nature of the former Fire Lord, the now imprisoned fallen prince Ozai, and I’ve personally promised in my previous post that I will share my own analysis on him if people asked me to do so (which actually happened), I am here to deliver my own take on this very intriguing man’s character, while also building a potential past for him based on stuff gathered from the show’s cannon.

I would like to start this essay with what I find to be my favorite quote ever: ”Monster’s aren’t born, they are created.” ~ Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto) What I like about this quote soo much and find very inspirational is the truth it holds within its short, yet powerful message. We are often fast to judge a “book by the cover”, to reduce others to what we assume of them by their appearance or latest actions that we’ve seen them do, but never actually take a moment and wonder where they come from, if this person we soo harshly look down upon really has been this way since their very beginning?

I’ve come across many comments on social media related to ATLA, especially on YouTube videos on which people would throw with harsh comments such as “Aang being a coward for choosing to spare the villain just because they saw a dumb baby pic of them” or “Ozai is the essence of evil and even as a baby he’d been a monster”. I can’t help but wonder who hurt these people to make them be so cruel? Like, how messed up must you actually be to say that a baby, a friggin baby, is the embodiment of all evils? Or that a child was a coward for choosing to see his opponent’s last bits of humanity and opted to spare them?

Aang was soo morally conflicted about the idea of killing Ozai not only because it contradicted the morals of his people, but because he himself understood that this man hadn’t always been the cruel beast he came to met in their first and final showdown. It’s important to note here the fact that upon finding that picture, Aang was actually convinced it had to be Zuko as a baby since it looked so innocent and cute and was actually surprised to learn it was Zuko’s father. And that’s the thing, Ozai was born like us all as an innocent and sweet baby. Babies aren’t in any way evil or twisted, they don’t even have the notion of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ defined in their small, still developing minds. In fact, the very choice of the creators to add this picture in the show is meant to tell us this very thing: this man wasn’t always like this. But if he wasn’t always like this, then what happened to make him become this way?

Well, in order to find out the reason, we must go back in time to the very beginning: Ozai’s childhood and upbringing. For this next part I am going to solely focus on the show cannon, as the comics aren’t the products of BryKe and have a lot of inconsistencies to the source’s cannon (you can go and read my other post on why they fail when it comes to Zuko’s character and his family).

From what we know and can easily deduce by ourselves just from their appearances, Ozai and his brother Iroh have a huge age gap between them (somewhere between 10 and 15 years). This has to be our first red flag: isn’t it soo odd that this family opted to have their children at such a long distance between pregnancies? It almost feels as if Ozai hadn’t actually been part of his father’s actual family planning... In other words, he was a ‘mistake’ child (I actually hate having to use this terminology, but it will become relevant to when we expand on Azulon’s relationship with his sons). Sure, some may argue that Azulon actually decided to have two sons in case something were to happen to his first born, but wouldn’t it have been more logical to have his second born at 2-3 years max distance from his first? Why choose to have your second child when you are much older and thus risk having a baby with issues, if your sole purpose of this child is to serve as an insurance that you don’t ‘run out’ of heirs? It just doesn’t make much sense, so let’s go for the moment with the possibility that Ozai was an unplanned pregnancy.

This perspective actually gives way to another very interesting aspect: remember the infamous “Born lucky...Lucky to be born” quote? What if I tell you that there is a possibility that this quote wasn’t Ozai’s personal wicked invention, but actually something he himself heard from his very own father? It had been puzzling me for a long time why he choose to say “You were lucky to be born” to Zuko, which implies that Zuko wasn’t supposed to exist. I mean, it’s soo odd that Ozai went with something implying that Zuko was an unplanned pregnancy, since Zuko was the first born. So my theory is that maybe Ozai wanted to convey a different message to Zuko when he said that quote, but due to his anger he ended up replicating the same line he received from Azulon at some point in his childhood. We never got the exact flashback when the line was delivered from Ozai to Zuko, so we don’t have the exact context that lead to it (remember, we are excluding Yang’s take on the matter from the comics).

I mean, this feels like something that wicked old Azulon would have said to his least favorite child. Okay, so let’s go with the scenario that Ozai was an unwanted child, to which we could also add the possibility that Ilah’s health deteriorated after the first birth, which makes plausible the family’s initial decision of stopping at 1 kid.

Moving on, we know from the old ATLA character wiki’s that Ozai’s character design was made with Zuko in mind, being meant to be a grown up version of Zuzu, without the scar. An interesting choice indeed and even Iroh’s letter to Zuko on Ozai from one of the ATLA books describes Ozzy in a similar way to teenage Zuko in book 1: stubborn, feisty, determined and with a volcanic personality (easy to anger and competitive), so it means that these were intentional choices to imply that Zuko and his father are more similar than we were led to believe at first glance. Maybe Ozai was the “Zuko” of his generation. Also, in one of the interviews on the royal family, BryKe stated that Ozai worked very hard to get where he is in book 3, referring to his firebending specifically (we all know how Ozzy got the throne, so clearly, he didn’t “work hard” for that), so maybe he wasn’t always the strongest man alive, with the most exceptional firebending skills out there, like Azula who showed ease in her learning, but rather someone closer to Zuko’s weaker performance as a child, building his way to success through endless hard work until he became the prodigy we know today.

Continuing with our theoretical scenario, after his birth, the second child show’s lesser skills compared to his brother Iroh (by that I don’t mean that he wasn’t gifted at all, but that maybe Ozai wasn’t as fast and great of a learner like his big bro), so Azulon opts to just ignore him and continue focusing solely on his golden child. In my headcannon I actually think that Ilah survived the birth and so she was left in charge of the younger child’s education and upbringing. At this point Iroh is already 10 or older, so he is forced to focus on his development, which prevents him from spending time with his lil brother, but just for the sake of being positive, let’s assume that Ozai still had both his mother and his big brother to keep him sheltered from Azulon’s darkness for a small portion of his childhood.

I choose to believe that Ozai had his mother’s love for a small bit of his childhood due to his willingness in the show to allow Ursa (who mind you, as the granddaughter of Roku was considered a treacherous individual) to spend a ton of time with both Zuko and Azula and share her philosophy with the children, as seeing his wife playing with their children probably reminded him of his own bitter-sweet memories he had with Ilah. They also probably spent a lot of their time near the turtle-duck pond since that pond’s existence prolly dates long before Ozai and Ursa married and had their own children.

Unfortunately, Ilah dies and little Ozai remains all alone, to be influenced negatively by his father (and even by his grandpa Sozin, we don’t really know for certain when the old man died, so he prolly was there for a short time when Ozzy was still a child). Azulon most likely blames Ozai for his wife’s death as the second birth might’ve really had a huge toll on Ilah’s already fragile body, bringing her closer to death, so he still neglects and ignores the child, if not straight out bullies and abuses him for not being on par with Iroh. This prolly leads to Ozai becoming jealous of his brother since Iroh has their father’s love, pushing them further apart. I headcannon that this jealousy between the siblings led to Ozai complaining to his dad when he finally had too much of their father’s discrimination (at a similar age to when Zuko prolly did and got the infamous line, if not younger) only to get the “Iroh was born lucky, you were lucky to be born!” line with the sole purpose of hurting him since now the child knows that he was never wanted.

When Azulon scolds very furiously adult Ozai in Zuko’s memories for daring to ask to be named crown prince, he literally says something like “What, you dare ask me to betray MY own son?!” (this is like red flag number two), line that pretty much testifies how Azulon chose to pretty much treat Ozai as if he wasn’t his son too, showcasing how much he despised his second born and favored the first child over him. Since we are on the topic of their last conversation, the punishment Azulon gave to his son alone proves this man’s level of sadism, which leads me to be believe that Ozai’s childhood was full of this type of punishments for bad behaviors that could be easily corrected trough a long serious lecture or a lesser punishment focused more on teaching him an actual lesson.

The old wikis also mention on the page about the hall with portraits of the previous Fire Lords that it was the place where Ozai chose to spend most of his time in his youth, seeking advice from his ancestors. I mean, seriously now, if he had a good and supportive father and a present brother in his life, would Ozai had chosen to seek guidance from the dead instead of his living family? That piece of information that was easily overlooked by many proves how lonely this man was in his youth.

So for the most part of his life, Ozai grew up under the toxic influence and abuse of his tyrant father who refused to acknowledge him. Yet he managed to grow up still full of determination to one day prove his worth to Azulon and gain his acceptance (just like we saw with Zuko in book 1, who was desperate to regain his honor and be accepted by his father). But unfortunately, no matter how strong he became or how good of a firebender he was, Azulon was unmoved and unphased by his second son’s performance.

From what we could gather from the little info we received in the show, it seems that Ozai was never sent to the battle field to aid his older brother, being kept as a stay home prince, with the only occasion he actually left home being to search for the Avatar (I don’t think Iroh was sent to do his part on searching the Avatar since he strongly believed that there wasn’t going to ever be one, so it’s safe to assume Azulon assigned Ozai with this mission just to get rid of him for a few years) and the only purpose he ever served to his father was to become part of the old man’s genetics experiment in order to create strong unparalleled firebending offspring (which I am pretty sure were meant to be ‘biological war machines’ used by Azulon in the war, as he didn’t really seem to give a shit about Ozai’s children compared to Lu Ten). So just imagine the level of disappointment and dishonor Ozai must’ve felt as a man and young aspiring soldier to find out that he was going to be used like a ‘non-bending daughter’ in a strategical marriage and never get to serve his country in what he’d been taught was the greatest and most important war for their Nation.

All in all, this marriage didn’t really end up that badly because it seems he and Ursa were actually very compatible. The old wiki for Ursa states that she was a noble woman and the perfect match for Ozai, which leads me to believe that show Ursa was intended to be a very strong willed and determined woman who earned his respect. The show never stated that Ozai never wanted his first born or that he was disappointed with Zuko from birth like the comics say, so it’s safe to assume that Ursa and Ozai actually ended up falling in love at some point since they had not one, but two kids with relatively a short time in between pregnancies.

There are actually many signs in the show that actually prove that these two loved each other and Ozai didn’t abuse his wife: from the fact that they went every year to see Ursa’s favorite play despite Ozai hating the poor performance of the Ember Island Players (I mean, what man would do such a sacrifice as to endure the same torture every single year just to make his wife happy if he never loved her?), Ursa’s undeniable and sincere love for their children (in the show it was never stated that Ursa saw Zuko and Azula as someone else’s children, so if she were indeed an abused woman who was forced to have these children, she wouldn’t have ever loved them to such an extent, especially Zuko who resembled his father the most physically), the fact that Ursa had equal rights in their marriage and raising of their children (her even scolding and grounding Ozai’s favorite child without hesitation), to the most significant scene to the Urzai ship in Zuko’s flashbacks: Ozai sitting troubled all alone in Ursa’s favorite spot by the pond, in a sad and brooding atmosphere, after he lost her, instead of celebrating what had to be the happiest day of his life since he was finally crowned Fire Lord (it’s clear who had more importance in his heart: Ursa meant more to him than the throne, so losing her outshined his achievement). In fact, Ursa must’ve been the only thing that still kept him outside of the darkness that threatened to swallow his heart and once he lost her, Ozai had nothing else to keep him on the right path.

And even as a father, it seems that Ozai wasn’t always cold and distant to his children, as his true self depicted in Zuko’s memories on Ember Island shows him caring for both of his children, even holding Zuko close to him with a protective arm on the boy’s shoulder. Except the Agni Kai, there don’t seem to be any instances in which he was physically violent towards his son before the banishment (Iroh literally let Zuko in to join that faithful war meeting willingly. Would’ve he done that if he knew his brother to be very violent towards his children in case they disobeyed? If yes, then it would make Iroh actually very questionable on a moral standpoint) and even on an emotional level, I don’t really think that he was actually abusive to him (at least while Ursa was there) because from Zuko’s conversation with Zhao, he’s adamant that his father will take him back and even states "You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know anything!", meaning that the father he used to know showed him a level of respect and genuine affection (if Ozai were to bully Zuko since the boy’s very early childhood, do you think this kid would grow up to be so sure that his father wants him around and would he defend this bully when someone badmouths them in front of him?).

Even with Azula, despite people demonizing her from early childhood and saying that she was manipulated since birth by Ozai to become a war machine, I do believe that she shows genuine love and affection towards her father. I do choose to believe that back in the good times when the family was happy, Ozai spent quality time with his daughter, filling in the gap left by Ursa’s neglect. I theorize that the reason why kid Azula badmouthed her grandpa and uncle was because she was being very protective of her father: since she used to like spying and eavesdropping, it’s safe to assume that she prolly witnessed many instances in which the old man bullied or insulted Ozai, favoring Iroh over him. It’s a bit harder to see it that way since her snarky comments involve dark topics, but since they live in a society governed by power and war, I see them as something similar to if Azula would’ve said “Uncle sucks and he will surely be fired from his job!” or “Grandpa is old and weak, he should leave the family business to dad!”. Even the fact that the only thing capable of shattering her to pieces was her father leaving her proves how much she cared for him. Ty Lee and Mai’s betrayal was a big blow on Azula’s control and sanity, but she didn’t breakdown until Ozai discarded her after his coronation as Phoenix King. There’s nothing more painful in this world than to be left behind by the person you loved the most and was there by your side your whole life, whom you wanted to follow to world’s end and back. That was the moment Azula finally realized that the father she used to know and love was actually gone and had been in fact, long gone for years at this point.

But if Ozai cared for his family what made him change? Easy, it all comes back to the fact that his father never acknowledged him. The throne doesn’t seem to be his ultimate goal in life since Ozai discarded of the Fire Lord title very easily, tossing it to Azula without any remorse or hesitation. It was more about the meaning behind getting the crown: replacing Iroh in the line of succession was the ultimate proof of his father’s acceptance, that he wasn’t only a “mistake” and “failure” in his father’s eyes, but since Azulon ended up saying and doing what he did, backfired Ozai and made him understand that no matter how hard he tried, the old man will never see him for what he is. So yeah, for a proud man like Ozai this was a hard defeat to swallow, which in turn sparked his strong desire of winning the war and becoming the king of the world: if Azulon wouldn’t accept him even in death, then Ozai will prove to the whole world that he was above his father and his “perfect” brother by accomplishing what they never could and even better and no one was going to stop him, not even his own family.

This is what differentiates Ozai from Zuko: while both had similar upbringings, Ozai never broke away from his obsession of gaining his father’s admiration, allowing himself to fall prey to the darkness left by Azulon in his heart and abandon his true self, only to become the copy of his abuser, while Zuko stood up to his dad and chose his own destiny. If Aang were to come back around 20 or 30 years earlier, then he might’ve actually been able to save Ozai just like he saved Zuko, but unfortunately it wasn’t this way.

Do I think that Ozai could still be saved and redeemed even after the events of book 3? Definitely! Since he’s actually a broken man and still has a tiny bit of humanity left within, I think he still has a chance to change his heart. The only thing is that it’d be a long lasting process: first off he needs to spend a long time in solitude and reflect on his life’s choices and his past, understand where he went wrong and that what happened to him in his childhood is called abuse, which he ended up replicating on his own children. After he understands his wrongdoings and becomes willing to rediscover his true self, he needs to understand the truth about the war, that everything he’d known was fake propaganda and that there was nothing glorious in what he, his father and Sozin did under the excuse of “sharing their Nation’s greatness with the rest of the world!”. But most importantly of all, the only remedy that could possibly save him is love. It sound cliche, but by responding to hatred with more hate like Zuko did in the comics would never change the world “for the better” or bring it “to reality”. The only way to save both Azula and Ozai would be trough showing them the power of love, hope and empathy, how they don’t have to struggle alone and push everyone away. And especially by redeeming Azula, she would be a very important piece in Ozai’s redemption: since he had a closer parent-child relationship with Azula and cared for her the most when he did care, realizing how much he made her suffer through his actions, that would probably break Ozai enough to make him admit that he was wrong all along.

So yeah, this is my analysis on Ozai’s character using the cannon information from the show and old wikis and why I think he is just the product of a very bad environment and an abusive parent who never showed him love (if there’s a reason for why Ozai might be uncapable of showing a healthy parental love to his children is because you can’t show what you’ve never learnt yourself), being the Zuko of his generation who never got to experience the positive influence of an “Uncle Iroh” to guide him on the right path.

You can agree with me or not on this one, but this is what I choose to believe. Maybe I am way too good by choosing to see any potential good in anyone, but I feel it’s a better way than to counter hate with more hate like Yang did in his monstrous portrayal of Ozai in The Search.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and if you agree with anything I’ve said, feel free to leave a like and to reblog this post.

See you next time and stay safe! Bye-Bye!

Saby out.

#atla #atla rant #avatar the last airbender #ozai #azulon #ursa #zuko #azula

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kyrievali · 4 years

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I've been reading your posts and in one of them you mentioned that Iroh in fact is very shady and Azula has every right to hate him, may you explain why?

Sure, I’ll go into it.

Let me start off by saying that I actually really like Iroh as a character. I think he’s great and well-written. I think the fandom tends to gloss over his flaws and label him as “perfect”, which is not true. One of his greatest failings (aside from making two teenage siblings fight each other for the throne...or really not intervening at all where Ozai is concerned) is his treatment of Azula, and him saying “No, she’s crazy and needs to go down” and essentially writing her off when, if you compare Azula’s personality with Season 1 Zuko, they’re really not all that different. Azula, people tend to forget, is a 14 year old girl who was as much a subject of abuse as her brother. Zuko and Azula were essentially pitted against one another to both gain Ozai’s affection and, more importantly, avoid punishment. The only difference is that she was rewarded and praised by Ozai for her power and cruelty, while Zuko was punished for his “shortcomings”. Zuko’s entire storyline proved how important it is to have a good, guiding parental figure in one’s life, and it’s tragic that Azula didn’t have that.

Now, let’s talk about why Azula probably hated her Uncle.

1. She thinks he’s a failure and, worse than that, weak

And I don’t mean weakness in terms of his firebending skills. Let me explain - Fire Nation citizens are ingrained with Nationalistic pride and complete loyalty to the Fire Lord from a very young age. Iroh, once upon a time, was the heir to the Fire Nation’s throne and the favored son of the notoriously cruel Azulon. He laid a 600 day siege against Ba Sing Se during which his son, Lu Ten, was killed. This tragic event caused him to withdraw his troops, despite having breached the outer wall.

Upon his return home, his father dies under mysterious circumstances and decrees that Ozai will be the heir to the throne. Instead of contesting it, Iroh leaves the Fire Nation and ostensibly spends his time traveling the world, meeting with the Dragons, and getting in tune with the Spirit World. Doing so gives him the knowledge and wisdom to see the error of his ways, at which point he returns to the Fire Nation and serves as a General in the army.

Let’s look at this from the perspective of Azula, or really any other citizen of the Fire Nation. Their country waged a nearly 2-year long siege against the Earth Kingdom - and right when they make progress by breaking through the first wall, the Crown Prince gives up because his son died. Countless Fire Nation lives and resources were spent on this 600 day campaign, and they end up with nothing to show for it. If you look at the philosophy of Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai, they likely would have used the death of Lu Ten to galvanize the troops and double their efforts, in an attempt to exact revenge against the Earth Kingdom for daring to spill royal blood - and so that their sacrifices thus far would not have been in vain.

And then, not only does Iroh withdraw from Ba Sing Se, he also abandons his duties and his country completely. Iroh had a reputation as a fearsome Firebender and cunning strategist - and he just leaves. So now not only is he a failure, but he’s also a deserter, one who abandons his nation while it’s reeling from a humiliating defeat and the loss of its Sovereign, Azulon (who, by the way, ruled for about 80 years).

In Azula’s eyes, all of this amounts to weakness, and as we all know from how she was raised by Ozai, weakness is unacceptable.

2. She is parroting her father’s feelings of resentment

Given that Azula was the favored child of Ozai, it’s likely that she idolized her father and thought he was superior to her uncle, the Crown Prince (for the first few years of her life, at least, Iroh WAS the Crown Prince) and should have been the true heir to Azulon. We don’t see a whole lot of Ozai or his backstory/characterization, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that he, being many years younger than Iroh (it’s never officially stated, but Ozai is around 45 at the time of the show and Iroh appears to be in his late 60’s/early 70’s) had an inferiority complex growing up, and probably some form of sibling rivalry. After all, Iroh is already an adult by the time Ozai is born, and the Crown Prince, who has been groomed from birth to be Azulon’s heir. Ozai is an afterthought; an insurance policy, who at the very moment of Lu Ten’s birth, is outranked by an infant.

Ozai probably resented Iroh his entire life, so it is not unlikely that Azula would probably feel the same way.

3. He’s a traitor to the Fire Nation

Azula is a Nationalist and Ozai’s most loyal enforcer. Iroh’s a traitor, and as far as she knows, a corrupting influence to her brother, Zuko. She also probably thinks that he’s committing treason because (she doesn’t know any better) Iroh wants to be the rightful Fire Lord, and she is not going to stand for that.

4. He reminds her of her mother

Azula is used to being the golden child - a prodigious Firebender, the favored daughter of her father, representative of everything the model Fire Nation child should be. And yet, her own mother does not appear to love her. Her Uncle has stated distaste for her. She thinks she’s doing everything right - because according to Sozin and Ozai’s philosophies and the emphasis of power and loyalty to the Fire Nation - she is; so why do two of her own family members prefer Zuko, the “screw-up” of the family - to her?

It’s clear that Azula craves the love and adoration of others, but she doesn’t really understand it. I think as she grew older and saw more of the world and how people behaved toward her, she understood on some level that she was considered a “monster” and that people were afraid of her; but that’s how she was raised. Fear was power, and power was everything. And growing up, she was only ever positively reinforced for her ruthlessness and cunning by her father (of whom she is very much afraid, by the way...that is made perfectly clear in her attempts to bring Zuko home and also give him credit for allegedly killing the Avatar. Part of it is actually probably due to some level of affection she has for him, but part of it is definitely motivated by having someone else take the heat off of her in an abusive household) and she witnessed firsthand how perceived weakness was punished - so she did everything she could to achieve the ideal of perfection that Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin had proliferated. So she probably never really understood why her own mother and Iroh didn’t like her. And the fact that they both seemed to prefer Zuko, who she’s been taught to think she’s better than, would only further that resentment.

She thinks she can earn people’s affection by being a perfect Fire Nation soldier, because that’s what works with her father - and when it doesn’t work with Ursa or Iroh, two important adult family figures in her life - she doesn’t understand why and, even worse than that, it makes her feel inferior to Zuko.

5. My final point is purely speculative, but...He didn’t do anything to directly stop Ozai’s rise to power

In the years after the war, after recovering from her mental break and maybe rehabilitating to become an advisor to Zuko (let’s be totally honest, a Nation whose entire economy for the past 100 years has been built on war and imperialization is not going to have an easy transition into peace, especially when they are expected to give up their colonies and play nice with an equally corrupt government that was controlled by the Secret Police force which has no qualms about brainwashing its own citizens...also the new Fire Lord is a banished Prince who is the apprentice of the Disgraced Prince and who returned to defeat the pride of the Nation, Princess Azula, Ozai’s Chosen Heir and the Conqueror of Ba Sing Se), Azula’s going to be pretty pissed that her supposedly wise and worldly uncle did not intervene in her megalomaniacal and abusive father’s rise to power.

If my uncle, who never liked me, lost countless Fire Nation lives and resources in a battle that ended with him retreating, abandoned the Crown to go on a sightseeing tour of the world, returned and became a traitor to the nation by foiling the Admiral’s conquest of the Northern Water Tribe resulting in the loss of more Fire Nation lives, escaped from you multiple times and went on to become a tourist and small business owner in an enemy nation, turned your brother against you, did nothing to stop his own brother whom he knew was deeply abusive even after he came back after gaining all this supposed wisdom, and THEN also left you alone with your abusive father while taking your inferior brother under his wing and helping him become an extremely powerful bender who eventually defeats you with the help of a Water Tribe peasant...yeah, I’d be pretty pissed at him, too.

To be fair, she probably never would have willingly gone with them because they were basically just sent on a wild goose chase at that point...but he never even tried to help her.

Anyway, that’s why I think Azula hates Iroh and honestly, she has every right to hate him. He abandoned her Nation and wrote her off completely, so there’s no reason she wouldn’t do the same.

#a:tla #avatar #azula #iroh #a:tla analysis #anon answers #i actually do like iroh btw #i just don't think he's perfect #and don't give me that he's perfect because he's imperfect crap #he's predominantly portrayed as wise #so when he says Azula is crazy and needs to go down #all the fans think that too #and it's sad because azula doesn't get any love #not even from her mother whoops

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atla-hcs-and-bakoda · 3 years

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Bato’s Backstory

ok so this is gonna be long, buckle up. This is my personal interpretation of bato’s backstory, it likely makes no canonical or reasonable sense, but canon does not exist and i make the rules. this is purely self-indulgent crack-treated-seriously. This is what all the other hcs, unless stated otherwise, will be set in.

Note about Bato: in my interpretation of him, he has teal/cyan eyes and darker brown hair than in the show, his skin tone has not changed.

(unfortunately this is not a zukka au, just a bakoda one. bato’s backstory is kind of an au in my mind, so when i do ship zukka, its not in this au)

(the bold letters at the beginning of the paragraphs are for accessibility)

‘Present’ (only a few months after zuko’s coronation) ages: Hakoda & Bato - 41 Kya - 42 Iroh - 65 Ozai - 47

under the cut because oh boy this is long, sorry asdfghfd

So, our story begins in the fire nation, about 59 AG, Iroh is the 25 year old crown prince, and recently had a child with his wife, Minami, on the coldest day of winter. They named him Shui, and they, quite frankly, spoilt him with their love. Minami stayed in the castle while Iroh was at war, and always sang to Shui while putting his hair up or putting him to bed.

One day, when Shui was 9, Azulon decided to take his family to Ember Islands on vacation, like the royal family has been doing for generations. However, there was a bad storm, and the ship got thrown near the south. Little Shui followed Iroh onto the deck, and fell overboard when a big wave hit the other side of the boat, rocking it and making him fall.

The royal family and crew tried to save him, but the waves dragged him under, and once the storm cleared, he was presumed dead. Iroh and Minami mourned the loss of their first son, who died so young that he hardly got to live life at all. Ozai mourned to a minor extent, as he was 15 at the time and wasn’t as bad as he is in the present, but not for as long as Shui’s parents, or grandfather, did.

Meanwhile, in the southern water tribe, little 9 year old Hakoda was wandering down at the seaside with his father when he came across a young boy unconscious in the snow, the cold water nearly freezing him to death. His father hurried him back to the tribe with the young boy’s body. For days, Hakoda sat beside the bed, rarely moving from the spot, keeping watch on the mystery boy. And eventually, he woke up.

Hakoda introduced himself once the boy was fully awake, but when asked his name, the boy said “i...i don’t remember...” So, instead, Hakoda decided to pick a name for him; Bato. The boy agreed to the name, and after a week, got adopted by one of the tribesmen, a close friend of Hakoda’s father. After that, the two children were an unstoppable duo, they did many successful pranks on everyone, including Hakoda’s mother, Kanna.

However, every once in a while, Bato would blurt out something without thinking, and when questioned, wouldn’t be able to remember it at all. For instance, Bato and Hakoda were once watching the stars late at night, when Bato pointed at a constellation and called it Druk. Hakoda laughed, but Bato insisted that was its name. Hakoda asked where Bato learned that, since thats not what their tribe calls it, and Bato had no recollection of learning it.

(This continued well into teenagehood, when Bato realised at the ripe old age of 14 that he was, in fact, in love with his best friend. He didn’t come out for a long time, in fear of his tribe’s reaction. Deep down he knew they’d accept him with open arms, but his anxiety said otherwise.)

At 12, there was a fire nation raid while Bato was at the seaside, and he recognised both the ship and flag instantly despite not being told prior about the Southern Raiders. He ran to tell the chief, and thanks to his quick reaction, saved the tribe to a degree. Many waterbenders still died, however.

At 15, Bato and Hakoda went ice-dodging with their respective fathers- and eachother. Hakoda recieved the mark of the wise, and Bato recieved the mark of the brave.

One night at 15, they were cuddling in Hakoda’s bed (because thats what best friends do, of course. its cold, no other reason, totally not) when Hakoda noticed Bato’s eye color; Teal. not the regular water tribe blue, not a dark blue, or even a light blue, but pure Teal. Although hakoda would still argue to this day that bato’s eyes are cyan. When questioned about his eye color, Bato shrugged and brushed it off as an uncommon trait. But Hakoda realised nobody else in the tribe had cyan eyes, just blue.

Then, at 16, the boys got into a bad avalanche that resulted in Hakoda getting knocked out. Bato woke up hours later, and pulled his best friend out of the snow. He realised Hakoda wasnt breathing, and started to cry, taking his gloves off to cling to Hakoda and try feel the warmth of his pulse, to no avail. He closed his eyes and cried, when his hands lit on fire. When he realised what he just did, he put the flame out and made a plan, carrying Hakoda to the dog sled quite a bit from the avalanche, and set them on course for the tribe while he carefully lit his hands back on fire after a few attempts, and kept Hakoda warm.

Just before they got to the tribe, Hakoda started breathing again, shallowly, and his father quickly took both of them to the healer when they arrived back. This time, it was Bato who sat beside the bed and waited for Hakoda to wake up, refusing to eat much until his friend woke up.

He never told anyone about his bending.

A few months later, Hakoda met and started dating Kya, and Bato’s heart broke. he was happy for hakoda, he really was, but deep down it still hurt him to see him with someone else.

At 20, Hakoda’s father went off to war. At 22, Hakoda became Chief, and Bato became the second-in-command.

At 23, Hakoda proposed to Kya after like 20 failed attempts at carving a betrothal necklace. Bato’s heart broke a tiny bit more, but he ignored it to be happy for his friend. Bato had to sleep alone for the first time since he joined the southern water tribe, he didn’t sleep much when alone.

2 years later, at 25, Sokka was born, and Bato babysat him a lot when Hakoda and Kya were busy. Bato admittedly vented to baby sokka quite a bit, and showed him very minor firebending tricks he practiced during sleepless nights, which was most nights.

At 26, Katara was born, and Bato now babysat two little children, both of which he adored with all his heart. He himself is infertile, so Katara and Sokka were the closest thing he had to his own children.

Things went mostly peacefully for years, until 34, when Kya got killed. After the raid, Hakoda wouldnt eat for days at a time, completely depressed and exhausted. Bato would offer him small plates of food and sit with him, letting him vent or cry or whatever Hakoda needed to do to get the stress and pain out. He also looked after Sokka and Katara while Hakoda couldn’t, and usually slept next to Hakoda’s bed, watching over the chief, along with his kids, as both children were terrified to sleep by themselves, Hakoda was scared of losing them, and Bato couldn’t bare the thought of not keeping them safe.

After years of recovering, Hakoda eventually had to head out to war with the men of the tribe, Bato included. Bato’s heart broke watching Sokka beg to come with them, but he knew it was for the best.

3 months after leaving, Bato came out to Hakoda in the Chieftan’s private room in the boat, and Hakoda accepted him with open arms, and promised to not tell anyone until Bato was ready. Bato fell a lot more in love.

At 5 months, he started very carefully dropping hints to Hakoda that he likes him, slightly-too-friendly-to-be-platonic compliments, cuddling him in hakoda’s room “because its cold” (they were nowhere near cold climates), and other vaugely homoerotic stuff like that. All of it went over Hakoda’s head.

(At 6 months he straight up told Hakoda at night on the deck “Your my stars, Hakoda. Whenever i’m lost, you always bring me home.”, and Hakoda responded “Thanks Bato, I’m happy your my friend too.”, Bato stayed awake all night in utter disbelief. He still teases Hakoda about it.)

1 year after leaving, Bato realised he might not be as much of a guy as he thought he was. He silently decided to put that train of thoughts on hold until the war was over. (In his heart he knew the war would never be over until the fire nation won. especially with sozin’s comet only a year away and- he doesnt remember what sozin’s comet is.)

When his arm got burned, he burned the soldier right back with his good arm out of sight of everyone else, and managed to shove them overboard before the pain hit him. He’s always had a high pain tolerance. After the fight ended, Hakoda carried Bato to the abbey, and they had a tearful goodbye, where Bato quietly confessed his love as Hakoda walked out the room. Hakoda thought about it until he saw Bato again.

When they reunited, Hakoda confessed his love back to Bato, and they kissed right in the open, it took a lot of self control for the other tribesmen to not cheer, they had known for literally forever, the only person in the tribe who didnt know bato was in love with hakoda was hakoda.

Somehow, it took until the war was over for Sokka and Katara to find out they had a step-dad. They already considered Bato to be their second dad, so not much exactly changed.

The day of Zuko’s coronation, Bato got talking with Iroh, and when the topic came to children, Iroh explained how both his sons were dead, one dying at 9 from a storm, and the other dying at 20 from war. When Iroh says his youngest (eldest?) son’s name, Shui, Bato remembers the storm, and Iroh notices Bato’s rare cyan eyes.

They have a nice reunion, although Bato has to sit down for a while to process all this and figure out his family tree. He decides not to tell Hakoda yet, but he does spend a while walking through the palace with Iroh and remembering parts of his early childhood. He cant bring himself to go into the room of firelord portraits.

A month after zuko’s coronation, he sits Hakoda down and explains that he’s a bender, and he’s apparently fire nation royalty. Hakoda gets temporarily mad, but eventually calms down and hugs Bato when his friend told him that his firebending saved both himself and hakoda, and that he would never be like his forefathers or uncle. Hakoda takes a while to fully accept it, but eventually warms up (heh) to the concept, and continues to use Bato as a personal space heater.

Two months after zuko’s coronation, he finally decides to tackle the “i’m not as much as a guy as i thought” issue, and he decides to go to Iroh and Toph for advice over tea, where Iroh suggests some wise stuff, but Toph simply explains what non-binary is, and suggests Bato may be Demiboy. (Although Bato prefers to call himself Demiguy, he doesnt like being called a boy) The Gender Crisis continues for about another week, and takes another half a month for him to come out to Hakoda. Bato was somewhat internally afraid he wouldnt be counted as one of the men, but Hakoda was overwhelmingly supportive, and admitted that he knew Bato wasn’t exactly cis, he just never knew the words to use.

Bato spends a while at the palace after the coronation to get his bearings on being half fire nation and a prince, he learns purple is a very good color on him.(Hakoda later jokes that it was foreshadowing for Bato realising he was enby, as he wasnt blue or red)

He bonds quite a bit with Zuko, Iroh, and Toph during his stay, but eventually goes back to the southern water tribe, the place he truly considers home. Although, he does go and visit the fire nation every once in a while. He even goes to Ember Islands and has a vacation day with both of his families.

After about two years, He finally makes a betrothal necklace for Hakoda, with the symbol of the water tribe on it and flames coming up from the waves, both of them totally cry happy tears when he proposes privately under the light of the aurora.

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avatarstories · 4 years

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izumi’s birthday pt 1: bad memories

AN: I had to split Izumi’s birthday up a bit. trying to fit it all in one chapter would have been just stupidly long. I will say this starts sad, and the second chapter is also sad, though more angsty than sad, but part three will be much happier and have a good resolution.

TW: character death in childbirth (in past, but mentioned), noblewomen being sucky to Izumi.

Izumi was never particularly excited to celebrate her birthday. It was a day of mixed emotions knowing that while her family celebrated her coming into this world, they were reminded of the sharp pang of losing her mother on that day as well. Nonetheless, her grandfather Iroh had insisted on throwing a party to celebrate her 17th birthday. Nobles from the outlying islands, diplomats from the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, and of course her father’s friends and their families who were essentially her extended family. The palace, usually quiet and peaceful (as she and her father preferred) was bustling with guests. Her father had been so busy greeting guests and addressing some Republic City business with Sokka and Aang that she had barely seen him that day. So, she decided to take a walk to his office after she knew he had finished meeting with Sokka and Avatar Aang.

As she walked down the hallway, she overheard two of the noblewomen, a governor’s wife and her daughter, visiting for her birthday festivities talking with each other in the portrait gallery.

“I just hope she won’t be like her forefathers, with the Fire Lady curse,” the mother says.

“Fire Lady curse?” the daughter questions.

“Haven’t you noticed, dear, that all of the Fire Ladies who gave birth to bad Fire Lords have died in childbirth,” the mother answers. “Fire Lord Sozin’s mother died when he was born, as did Azulon’s. Lady Ilah died when she gave birth to Ozai. General Iroh’s wife died when Prince Lu Ten came. Princess Ursa barely made it through Princess Azula’s birth, and of course you know that Lady Mai died when the Crown Princess was born.”

“It seems the spirits had it out for the Fire Ladies that brought bad men into the world,” the daughter replies.

“Indeed,” the mother says “For our sake, let’s pray it’s not an omen about our next Fire Lord.”

Izumi’s breath hitches. The mother turns and sees her. Izumi recognizes her as Lady Niko and her daughter Ichika.

“Your highness, I hope you are well,” Lady Niko says with a bow. Izumi clenches her fists. What an asshole she thinks to herself.

“Good evening,” she says bitterly.

“We were just off to retire,” Lady Niko states. If she has any suspicion that Izumi overheard their conversation, she does not show it. Izumi says nothing. “Well, good evening then.” The women bow again before walking down the hallway.

Izumi is left alone in the portrait gallery. Her father had the portraits of the imperial Fire Lords removed long ago, before she was born. Instead, they were replaced with paintings of more favorable parts of Fire Nation history. There was one of Avatar Roku, one of her grandfather taking back Ba Sing Se, of her father redirecting lightning, and most recently of her Aunt Azula discovering the true nature of fire and being gifted a dragon egg. Even still, there were not enough new paintings to replace the old, and black curtains hung in their place.

Izumi finds herself reaching out to touch the heavy dark fabric and remembers the first time asking about them when she was maybe 8 years old.

"Why are there dark curtains on the walls in the portrait gallery?” Izumi had asked at dinner

“There used to be paintings there, but I had them taken down,” Zuko explained.

“Why were they taken down?” Izumi asked.

“They were of bad men, and I did not want them on display,” Zuko explained. “I didn’t need the reminder of their poor examples. And I did not need them setting an example for you to aspire to,” he answered.

“Well, I will not be bad. Girls are not bad like boys are,” Izumi said cheerfully.

“Girls can be bad, Izumi,” Azula says.

“But I’m a girl and I’m not bad. And so are Aunt Kiyi, and Aunt Katara. They are all very nice,” Izumi states, somewhat defensively. “You are not bad.”

“I used to be bad, very bad,” Azula responds.

Zuko looks at her across the table. “You don’t have to now-”

“She’s going to have to know sooner or later” Azula cuts him off. Azula didn’t talk much about her past, and for Izumi, Azula had always been one to chastise her for being mean. Izumi could not imagine Azula as anything other her stern and wise aunt.

Azula and Zuko are having a conversation with just looks, like only people with secrets can. Izumi looks between the two of them. “Know what?”

“Izumi, I know we have not taught you much about the war yet, but during the war, I was a bad person,” Azula starts. “I hunted down your father and grandfather to try to bring them back to the Fire Nation as prisoners, I chased Bumi and Kya’s mom and dad, Sokka, and Toph across the earth kingdom, I burned Uncle, I put Suki in prison, I tried to drill a whole in the walls of Ba Sing Se, then I actually took over Ba Sing Se, I killed the Avatar, well briefly, I had your mom and Ty Lee locked in the Boiling Rock, and then when my dad tried to take over the world and told me I could be Fire Lord, I tried to kill Zuko and your Aunt Katara when they tried to stop me. Even before the war, I was never nice,” Azula finishes. She sighs “Don’t believe anything is the way it is about you because you’re a girl, Izumi. Anyone is capable of destruction.”

Izumi is quiet. She looks at her aunt, her fire bending teacher, her fiercest protector, the woman who walks her home from school every day, who brushes her hair every morning, who tucks her in at night when her dad has too much paperwork to do, who is the closet thing this motherless child has to a mother. She cannot reconcile Azula’s confession.

“Dad is that true?” Izumi asks.

“Izumi, where else would he have gotten the scar on his chest? That was from when I tried to kill him,” Azula responds before Zuko can.

Izumi does not want to believe these things about Azula. “Well, if you were so bad, then how did the family pass the People’s Approval every year?”

“We did not have People’s Approval before me. That was something I created,” Zuko explains.

“So there used to just be uncontrollably bad Fire Lords and Fire Families?”

“Yes” Azula and Zuko say in unison.

“But we’re different, we learned from their misdeeds,” Zuko finishes. Izumi pulls her hand back from dark velvet. A door opening down the hall pulls her from her thoughts, and she starts towards her father’s office. As she walks down the hallway, she cannot shake the thought that she might be predestined for destruction.

“Is he with anyone?” She asks the guard at the door when she arrives.

“No, your highness. Master Katara, Councilman Sokka, and Avatar Aang just left. Would you like me to announce you?”

“Thank you, but no need. It’s just me,” she tells him.

“Of course, your highness,” he says with a polite nod.

When she walks in her father is staring, with a wistful but melancholic look, at a small ink portrait of himself and Mai that was commissioned shortly after they were married. Her entrance pulls him from whatever thought or memory he was lost in. The thought of him sitting in here alone and thinking of her mother only augments her anger and unease, and it quickly settles in her as sadness.

“Hey, turtleduck,” he says softly and with a smile when he sees her.

“Hi,” she replies, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Sorry, I missed dinner. Sokka, Aang, and I were working on something. And then Katara came in here to tell us off for working too late.”

“That’s ok,” she says, trying to cover the sadness in her tone but Zuko notices.

“What’s wrong, turtleduck?” he says walking over to her.

“I’m almost 17, don’t you think I’m a little old for that?”

“I don’t care how old you are, you’ll always be my little turtleduck.”

Izumi smiles softly. Zuko was sweet father. “You were looking at that painting of mom when I walked in.”

“I was, yes.” He pauses, "I was thinking about what I would tell her about you if I could.”

“What would you tell her?” a few tears well up in Izumi’s eyes, and she tries hard to keep them in.

“Well, I think she’d be happy to know you look just like her,” he starts. “And that you like to read and learn, and there’s nothing that you can’t teach yourself how to do. She’d be amazed that you can make your Aunt Azula laugh. And,” he says tipping her chin up so that she has to look into his eyes, “she’d want me to tell you that you could confide in your father with anything just like she did.”

“I don’t want to celebrate my birthday,” she whispers. A tear rolls down her cheek, and Zuko wipes it away.

“Why not?”

“It makes me feel guilty,” she barely manages to get out. She leans forward, and Zuko pulls her into an embrace.

“Zumi, sweetheart, we’ve talked about this. You have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“What if I just haven’t done the thing I’ll feel guilty about yet?” she strains.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Zumi?”

She doesn’t want to talk about what the noblewomen were discussing in the portrait gallery, and she diverts from her last question.

“I took your wife from you. You’ve been lonely for a long time because I came into the world.”

He holds her tighter against him. “That’s not true, Izumi,” he says firmly.

“Yes, it is.”

“Sit down, Izumi.” He guides her to the red and gold couch in his office and kneels in front of her. He takes one of her hands in her lap between his own, her gaze fixed downwards.

“Look at me,” he says softly.

She swallows and looks up, a tear rolls down her cheek.

“It has been, and still is, the greatest privilege of my life to be your father. The first time I ever saw you, I didn’t think I could ever love anyone more. I would have rather died than see you get hurt.” He pauses and wipes a tear off his cheek with his sleeve, and then does the same for Izumi. “And you’re right, I am lonely sometimes, but it’s not your fault, Izumi. In fact, when I see you smile or do something that brings you joy, I wonder how I could ever have wanted anything else. So don’t you ever think that you took anything away from me because you are the greatest joy of my life.”

She cannot stop the tears at his admission. She wraps her arms around his neck and he hugs her tightly to him. He doesn’t seem to mind that his robes are getting wet from her tears. Let’s pray it’s not an omen about our next Fire Lord plays again in her mind, and now with her father’s words, she only cries harder. He had so much faith in her, and she hadn’t proven anything yet about her ability to lead.

A few minutes later when she had stopped crying, Zuko loosens his embrace.

“I hate when my little girl is upset. You know Azula used to laugh at me because I’d cry when you got hurt or when you were sick. Then one time while I was in a meeting and Azula interrupted it clearly distraught because she found out someone had picked on you at school and she wanted the swiftest punishment imaginable, and I told her, 'now you know how it feels.'”

Izumi lets out a little laugh against his robes.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Want me to make some tea?”

“You’re turning into grandfather,” she quips, pulling out of the hug.

“I’d consider that a very nice compliment, Zumi,” Zuko jokes.

A short while later they are in the kitchens, each with a cup of tea in hand, but a darkness still sits heavy in Izumi’s heart. She knows she won’t be able to shake it off anytime soon.

AN: I love soft Dadko and protective Aunt Azula. I think it’s cool to explore Izumi’s understanding of her family and their past, especially in a way that it mixes with her own insecurities and fears. Next chapter, we get Bumi (who is actually of my favorite of the Gaang Kids, even though I tend to harp on Izumi.)

#avatarstories #fire nation royal family #izumi #zuko #azula

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carnistcervine · 5 years

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Avatar Azula AU(Concept)

I say concept, because at the moment, I have no intention to write this. It was just a fun thought experiment. (But I mean if any of ya’ll like it, you’re welcome to use it :’D)

Here's my interpretation of Azula being the Avatar.

-First things, first. My poor bby Aang must die. ;^; Yes, it is mighty sad, but the Avatar is a reincarnating shithead, so there can only be one at a time(AUs notwithstanding wink wonk). I imagine that he still runs away, because him dying with the Air Nomads would include the chance that he dies in the avatar state... But when he is thrown underwater by the storm, instead of going into the avatar state to save himself, he just drowns with Appa. :c There is a water Avatar, but she is disowned by her village for firebending and dies alone and afraid. Then the earth Avatar after her is born into obscurity and dies from a plague. (Or basically just, two other Avatars are born and fail to stop the Fire Nation before they eventually die) When Azula is born, there has been no confirmed Avatar for a century.

-From a young age, Azula knew she was the Avatar. How? The past Avatars, not wishing for the Fire Nation to corrupt or kill their newest incarnation attempt to consul her and sway her to their side. She does not listen to them, and at first dismisses them as nothing more than her imagination. Her first ability as an Avatar is the ability to: splash water and startle the turtle-ducks. She tells her father of her ability in confidence, hoping to gain his favor. It works! Kinda... Ozai views his children as tools for him to use, and what better than an obedient Avatar daughter? However, he always keeps in the back of his mind, the story of how Roku, the last fire Avatar, nearly killed Sozin. So Ozai keeps an order at the ready, to execute Azula if she ever shows any inkling of treachery. Ozai also uses his Avatar daughter to gain an in with Azulon. Ozai has the Avatar under his control, he may be of use to Azulon after all.

-So rather than killing the remaining captured waterbenders, Azulon keeps them for training his granddaughter. He also sends out soldiers and scouts to capture earthbending masters, and find any air scrolls. Seeing as, Sozin's lack of foresight means the fire Avatar doesn't have an air master to learn from.

-I know that the traditional idea is that Azula's a prodigy, so she must be a prodigy at all elements right? :'D Yeaaaaaahhhhhh, about that... Azula is a firebending prodigy, and very determined. Now, determination is a great thing to have when trying to master any discipline, but Azula lacks the right mindset to master the other elements. She has the drive and will to dominate opponents that makes her a great (corrupt)firebender. In fact the reason she excels in the corrupted firebending style is because she perfectly embodies the drive to crush and destroy others. She's like Zhao, if Zhao had some fucking self-control(and intelligence). However, the other elements do not submit to domination. Air requires freedom, Azula is not free. She is very much under the oppressive thumb of her father and fully within his control. Water requires adaptability and a willingness to bend and flow with change. While Azula is a great strategist, who can adapt her fighting strategies on the fly, she lacks the mental and spiritual fluidity to control water. Azula is rigid in her ways and does not flow. A good example of this being how she broke down completely when her world changed. And I know that traditionally the Avatar has the most difficulty with their opposite element, I feel like she would have the most dificulty with earth. Earth requires stability, and even some stubbornness to control. Azula is most definitely not stable. Her mental and spiritual foundations are shaky at best. Also, I would venture to say that Azula is not stubborn. She often gets what she wants, because she has the ability to dominate others into giving her what she wants. Power and intimidation do not equate to stubbornness. Rather than taking the bull by the horns, Azula would find another angle, and probably scare it off. This is particularly exemplified in her relationship with Ozai. She cannot stand her ground against Ozai, she already knows from Zuko that doing so would earn her a face full of fire. So Azula has two options, intimidate others into following her along, or stand down and admit she's weaker. She's powerful enough that she can overpower(or at least believes she can overpower) most opponents, but the one she feels she cannot, she immediately folds to.

*By contrast, I would like to point out why Aang was an overall bending protegy. He's a free spirit, which allows him to easily master air. He's very adaptable, and his teachings from the monks about pacifism gives him the perfect mindset to flow and seek out other pathways like water. Making him a natural at water as well. Also, there's the fact that he's adaptable enough that he takes on the role of Avatar without too much resistance. Despite his initial greivences. He isn't able to budge earth at all, until he learns to put his foot down. But again, he's open-minded enough that he's a quick study for adapting to other mindsets. He's determined enough to master all four elements in less than a year, so that alone gives him what it takes to take on fire.

*Katara and Toph are a good example of stubborn women. Katara knew she couldn't take down a waterbending master, but refused to back down. Toph's refusal to be helpless fuels her stubborn determination. In fact, she's so stubborn, that she stubborned her way into metal bending.

-Azula soon finds that unlike fire, the other elements will not submit to her will. The previous Avatars are completely unhelpful. They constantly rant in her head, scolding her or pleading for her to do the right thing. She initially tries to bite back, but there's far too many of them and they aren't intimidated by her. So eventually, she learns to tune them out. Their voices resolving to a constant, dull roar in the back of her head. Like a headache that won't cease. Forced to face the fact that she is not perfect, and steadily loosing her father's good grace, Azula's grip on her sanity steadily loosens. As her mental state declines, she starts to see the ghostly forms of the past Avatars haunting her in the background. Their faces are stern, lips set into a thin line. When Ozai realizes that Azula cannot master the four elements, he calls her a failure and dismisses her. Soon after that, Ursa joins the other Avatars, watching her from the background, face soaked in pity rather than contempt. Azula breaks.

-Seeing as Azula can no longer be used as an in to claim the throne, Ozai tosses his daughter aside and opts to have her imprisoned and executed.

-Azula cannot believe that her own father completely turned against her like this. At first, she's deeply hurt and nearly unable to do anything. Then, she's angry. How DARE Ozai abandon her, his own loyal daughter. All the sacrifices she made for him, and he tosses her aside like yesterday's leftovers. She starts to rebuild herself, using her desire for revenge against Ozai as the base. Seeing an opportunity, the past Avatars open up to Azula and help her escape.

-Zuko is completely shook by Azula's downfall. She was Ozai favorite, the golden child. And he just tossed her aside when she stopped being useful to him. Zuko starts to doubt his father. But it isn't until Ozai burns his face and banishes him, sending him to track down his sister, that Zuko finally accepts that his father is an awful, unpleasable man.

-Iroh joins Zuko on his Avatar quest, not to capture Azula, but to join her. They want to help her take down Ozai.

-The past Avatars lead Azula to the Order of the White Lotus. Azula isn't thrilled to be surrounded by kooky old people, and has no interest in being a creature of balance. But taking out Ozai sounds mighty delicious, so she's willing to play along. She also has no interest in the Fire Nation's conquest or war machine, she used to only care about pleasing Ozai, and now she only cares about killing him. Painfully.

-She learns the other three elements as she recovers from Ozai's abuse. Now that she has cut her ties to her father, she is free and masters air. Without the strict regime of her nation looming over her head, she slowly begins to open her mind and masters water. She learns how to stand up for herself without putting others down and masters earth.

-Her initial relationship with the members of the White Lotus is very strained. It's basically the same energy of two cats staring each other down from across the room. As she recovers and starts to open her mind, their relationship improves and she becomes more of a salty/bitter, sass-talking companion.

-She'd never admit it, but she does slowly grow to love those stupid old people and her dum dum of a brother.

-As she slowly recovers, Azula starts to wonder if vengeance is the right path. She's quick to dismiss the thoughts of course, but it's an idea that lingers in her mind.

-On the day of the comet, she confronts Ozai and nearly hesitates at the look of pure fear in her father's eyes. Instead she looks away as she strikes the final blow. Finding that she's unable to look him in the eyes as she kills him. Ozai's death is swift and painless. Not the horrible death Azula originally imagined. Afterwards, Azula initially feels vindicated, then she feels hollow. On the surface she blames the past Avatars for softening her, but deep inside, she realizes that the true reason is because vengeance is empty. Also, she finds that now her fire has lost it's power. She lost the thing driving her, so now she must find another source for her flame.

-With Ozai gone, Zuko ascends the throne, with Iroh as his regent. Zuko tries to reconcile with his sister, but she blows him off and goes to re-master firebending in solitude.

-Ozai goes down gloriously in the history books, a martyr for his cause. Many try to rise up and follow in his footsteps, several attempt to challenge the throne. They're mysteriously picked off by an unknown assailant. (coughAzulacough)

#ATLA #Avatar #avatar the last airbender #Azula #AU #Avatar Azula AU #ATLA AU #My Take

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arrowsbane · 6 years

Text

(extra)ordinary

@shanastoryteller @ink-splotch If I ever wind up being half as talented as you guys, I’ll be the happiest fox alive. So yeah, this one is for you guys. It’s short, but I might continue it later some time.

*Walking Whales borrowed from Vathara’s fic Embers. Go read it. Go. Now.

Let’s tell a story where Aang isn’t the Avatar who ends the Hundred Year War.

Let’s tell a story where he doesn’t have that tremendous burden weighing on a peaceful heart, and thin bird-like shoulders; or the misery of war clouding his spirit-filled eyes.

But remember, for all that things change, things must stay the same.

True, Aang is not the hero of the Hundred Year War; he is not the Avatar to bring about peace. But he is still the Avatar. He will always be the Avatar born after Roku. And now he will be the Avatar whose death drops the burden onto an infant’s tiny shoulders.

This is a world where Aang clung to Gyatso like the child he was, seeking comfort in the only father he had ever known. This is a story where the Fire Nation descended upon a temple still housing a child-Avatar and his kin.

This is a story where Aang stays.

This is a story where Aang dies.

…

Sozin’s Comet roars bright in the sky, and the monks of the Southern temple call up a breeze to chase away the sweltering heat. There’s a crackle as grassy scrub on the cliff-face bursts into flame, and a teenaged monk flutters down to suck the oxygen from the fire. The next thing he knows, he is face to face with an armored body, and fire comes for his life.

He is the first to die – unnamed and unknown in this story. He is one of many faceless children, gone too soon. Murdered because a tyrant dreams of subjugating the world. His death is senseless, but it is not meaningless.

His death warns the others.

…

The Monks move quickly – Air is Freedom, but it is not always kind. Scything winds cut down soldiers, razor-sharp and blindingly cold. It is not enough. It will never be enough.

The younger children, teenagers and infants are herded into the greater sanctum, and sealed in - safe. The bison take to the skies with bellows of rage and fear. There is chaos. There is death. There is war on both sides.

The children are supposed to be safe.

But this is not a kind story.

This is a story where Aang stays.

This is a story where Aang d i e s.

Aang stands his ground, and refuses to leave Gyatso’s side. They battle, back-to-back. Aang is kind and good and shows mercy – Gyatso doesn’t command him not too.

He doesn’t need to, not after Aang sees his kin cut down like sheaves of wheat.

Aang has Kuruk’s rage, and Kyoshi’s bull-headedness. He’s got Roku’s red-hot tears on his cheeks, and agony burning in his bones. He’s got Yangchen and Tian, Song and Min Wen. He’s got a thousand voices tied into his being and Rava wound tight around his soul.

He’s got a thousand reasons to stand and fight, and only one to turn and run.

So he stays.

And he dies.

…

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang - but with a whimper.

A whisper.

A breath.

One last plea.

The echo of a boy ripples out across the world.

‘Save them’, it whispers, ‘Save my people’.

And so the world answers.

In the oceans, the walking whales* raise their heads and listen, before diving deeper towards the poles – where they will sing to the arctic wolves, the otter-penguins, the polar-bear dogs.

In the air, the Bison soar above the clouds, carrying monks and nuns dressed in tear-soaked robes of orange and saffron.

The dragons rage and roar, and they cast Makoto from their hearts and minds, strip her of her name and self. She-who-was-once-kin is no longer theirs; something Sozin will rage over as his life-long companion withers in mind and being until she is a beast of fire-and-flame-and-nothing-more.

And deep beneath the earth, the badger-moles burrow up to the temples, opening up escape routes for an entire people who are in need of asylum.

…

All across the world, Air Nomads – benders and non-benders alike – flee into the night, flee on the winds, on sea, under earth and sky. They hide away in the depths of the Northern Air Temple, in chambers deep beneath soil and bedrock, hollowed out by ancient Badger Moles as a hidden temple of last resort. The old stone statues are worn with age – from a thousand-thousand hands carefully cleaning away dirt and grime as the ages passed.

It’s here in this darkness, lit only by flaming torches that are as terrifying as they are comforting, that the shattered nation grieves.

“What about the Avatar?” rumbles an old Monk who had tended to the gardens on the terraces so high above them.

There’s a hiccup, and a muffled sob from the children of the Southern Temple, huddled together for comfort and warmth, and then –

“Aang’s dead,” whispers a boy no older than nine. He shivers and ducks into his temple brother’s side.

From across the chamber, a Nun dressed in saffron robes, her face chalk white, begins to sob inconsolably. Twelve summers ago, she had birthed a son named Aang.

The Monks and Nuns have no mothers or fathers, no blood brothers or sisters, no sons or daughters. They do not mourn for individuals, it is not their way. But nobody says a word. Her temple sister winds a robed arm around her shoulders, and clutches her close in a firm embrace. No shushing noises are made, no reprimands. The cave is silent, but for her gasping cries.

…

Air is the element of Freedom. People say that the Air Nomads found peace after giving up material possessions and removing themselves from the world…

The sad truth is, that they fled the world, and lost their temples in a storm of fire… it was only when they hid that they found a bare shadow of the promised peace.

What is peace? What is it worth when your children are born never knowing the sun on their faces, or the wind carrying them across the world?

…

After Air, comes Water, an avatar of change and adaptability. The truth is that change is like fighting an uphill battle in a world on fire.

Nanuq is a curious child, always asking why. Why is the sky blue? Why do the seals call? Why do the polar bear dogs howl at the moon?

Nanuq never asks why the ice cracks in the spring, or why the ocean follows the moon.

Had she lived another six years, the elders would have known to train her. If they had been paying attention, they might have known sooner.

But the world is at war and the sky is filled with black snow, and so Nanuq dies in a raid when she’s ten years old – unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, down by the water, giggling as it bent to her will.

…

Then Earth stands firm. If only for a handful of decades. Earth is substance, strength and determination – or pig-headed stubbornness, depending on who you ask.

Temujin is born in the rings of Ba Sing Se, and enlists in the Dai Lee when he’s barely sixteen years old. He’s named the Avatar not long after, and his life becomes that of war for the next fifty years.

Temujin is strong and steadfast - and very, very pig-headed. But he is also kind, and has a heart broken by war and famine and sorrow. Even stone walls fail in the end.

…

Fire is power and will and energy powered by the heat of the sun.

Hiro is both lucky and unlucky in being born into an earth-nation colony.

Lucky because a life under the red-hot iron first of Azulon, who even in his sunset years is every bit dictator of his youth, would have been terrible –

and unlucky because he’s not even seven and already a firebending prodigy when he sneezes and shoots ten feet into the air.

He’s seven, and got the power of the universe at his fingertips and there are angry-starving-raging people who don’t care that he’s a child or that he could be a force for good. He’s Fire Nation, and has the power of the universe in his fingertips and that’s more than enough to condemn him to death.

Death comes on a rusted, blunt farm tool. Death comes too soon.

Fire is power and will and energy powered by the heat of the sun, but even a candle flame can be snuffed out with a pinch of two fingers.

…

Air comes in the fall, and is gone before spring thaws the world oncemore.

Air that is trapped below ground can only be stagnant and dying.

Air is an infant born sickly, and a mother weeping silently.

Air is a puff of wind, too small to be considered a breeze.

…

Water is the element of change. Last time, this time, next time.

Water is patient. Water will wait. Water can grind down mountains, carve rivers a mile-wide into valleys, and turn cliff-faces into waterfalls.

Water always, always wins.

Water is change.

…

The identity of the current Avatar is a mystery – after Hiro’s death, confusion is rampant. Where will the Avatar Spirit go when there is no Air for it to inhabit next?

…

The truth is, the latest Avatar has no idea that he is a bender at all.

Sokka is a son and a brother and a warrior-in-training. His mother died in a raid, his father is away at war, and his little sister is always off playing with her magic water or listening to Gran-gran’s stories about the old days.

Sokka doesn’t have time for make-believe, or hope, or playing at being a Waterbender. He’s too busy hunting and trapping and fishing, too busy trying to train up a pack of four-year-olds and take care of his entire village – small as it is.

It’s a little bit ironic – because in the end, it’s why he’s going to survive.

Everybody is looking for a bender of great power.

Extraordinary, is the term people use to describe the Avatars.

Funny word, don’t you think. Extraordinary. Extra Ordinary.

Nobody is looking for an (extra)ordinary boy…

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firenationskydominion · 6 years

Text

Chapter 2: The Analysis of Ozai

Prisoner Ozai has been moved to a modern house on a distant volcano island, which is not known on Firenation maps as it’s in another dimension. A force field limits exiting the perimeter around the house. Another force field restricts the movements of the prisoner: he can be touched but when he shows aggression the field stuns. The house has advanced electronics to monitor all rooms.

Ozai wakes in the morning, surprised to find himself in a comfy bed in silk sheets instead of his prison cell. He hears beautiful music and birds singing. It’s warm. He thinks: I must be dead, but not reborn. I feel alive, but this is too nice to be hell. A faint beep is heard regularly. It stops when he opens his eyes. He sees a white ceiling, he’s in a wooden bed. Drapes are drawn on one side of the room and a blinking white machine stands beside his bed. A shadow vanishes under the bed. His reflexes kick in. He jumps out of the bed and looks below it. Two blue eyes look back at him. A small animal with blue eyes, a long tail, cream colored with brown paws and snout looks at him. Like a batcat without wings, he thinks. The animal approaches and vocalizes something, then it runs off.

He gets out of his bed and looks at his worn but toned body. He looks into the mirror. He has aged, but he trained in his cell. He is naked and follows the lights on the floor to another room. He remembers entering the pod and then having faded out. And a kiss. He is aroused but feels horribly sick at the same time.

He is startled by a voice coming from a round sphere rolling around on the floor. A digital assistant who greets and welcomes him, shows him the bathroom, his wardrobe and the rooms amenities. Ozai is shocked by the advanced technology and confused, but happy to be free and able to clean up and put on proper Firenation clothing.

Please follow me the sphere says and leads him to a darkened room with a screen in the front. The sphere bids him to sit down and watch. A curtain opens up on the screen and the Fire nation throne room comes up.

Courtroom

Present Firelord Zuko, Avatar Aang, Judge Kanto, Jury members, Timelord Mya in the defense of former Firelord Ozai.

JK: You, Timelord Mya have come forward to demand an inquest into former Firelord Ozais imprisonment. Mya Timelord, would you like to give your opening statement?

M: Firelord Zuko, Avatar Aang, Judge Kanto, dear Jury. I have asked you to join me today to offer you a request. I am a time lord. Whenever I see an imbalance in the time space continuum I come and intervene. In this case I saw that the imprisonment of Ozai will lead to a spiral of violence which will plague your world for centuries and which will ultimately lead to the destruction of your civilization. Furthermore there are legal issues with his imprisonment which I want to elaborate in this court. This is why I have made the decision to intervene. I have a proposition for you. Hand Ozai over to me, as a prisoner. I will remove him from your world for the time being until he is reformed.

JK: In order to judge on your request we need witness accounts. Do you have witnesses?

M: Honourable Judge, I would like to call in Avatar Aang as witness.

JK: Calling in Avatar Aang.

M: Avatar Aang, was Ozai the first Firelord to pursue you?

A: No, Azulon started the quest.

M: Did Ozai start the Hundred Year war?

Aang: No. Sozin started the war. It was then continued with great advances by Azulon and then Ozai took over.

M: So did Ozai kill all the airbenders and the water tribes?

Aang: No Azulon and Sozin did.

M: Was Ozai involved in any military offensives before he took over the reins three years ago?

Aang: No, Iroh led the offensive and siege on Ba Sing Se.

M: So we can only judge three years in which Ozai took over from his father and brother?

Aang: Yes, that’s right.

M: Do you agree that Ozai was not involved in any of the crimes committed by other family members before his reign?

Aang: ....Yes.

M: How about the outer rim of Firenation and the colonies. Is there any cultural exchange or economic exchange between the colonies and the Fire Nation?

Aang: Yes, a few of the cities have really grown in the colonies and are thriving.

M: So I formally object that we blame Ozai for any failings, which were done by any other Firelord and also acknowledge that apart from his later continuation of the ongoing offensive on Ba Sing Se, his main objective was to increase trade exchange.

JK: Objection approved.

M: Then let's see. Ozai planned to scorch the Earth nation, but was defeated by you before he managed to do that.

A: Yes, that's true.

M: Crazy guy, wanting to burn a whole country down, isn't it? Like someone on a rage spree burning down his neighbours house. If he had been a farmer, we'd call him mad for burning down his neighbours crops and give him therapy, maybe lock him up in a mental institution. But it’s his bad luck that he's the Firelord and a powerful fire bending master under the magnifying force of a comet. He clearly had a manic meltdown. So we lock him up in a cold cell without daylight. Do you think opportunity facilitated the crime in this case?

A: I guess so.

JK: No assumptions, please.

M: Fine, my angle here is that we are blaming Ozai for an opportunity he only had because he was pushed into that position. He is manic-depressive. The pressure of the siege led him to experience a manic episode. If we judge him, we must also judge the fire sages and all noble people of the Fire Nation who expected him to do something outrageous, to make his mark as the second born pretty boy son. They nurtured and fed his manic state of mind. But this is not a trial of fire nation society, but of one man. Not a monster, not a demon, just one guy who went on a crazy rampage burning everything because for one moment during Sozins comet he could. A man, who had nothing to his name - except being the second born prince. Who spent his youth not chasing girls but training firebending on Ember island and training his abs. Who - without experience or any formal military role - became the Firelord. A man with a troubled family. A guy who perfected his skills of firebending. The only thing that was left to him after his wife left. A craft, which you ultimately took from him.

A: Yes I did.

M: Firebenders need sunlight. If you lock an earthbender or a waterbender into a cellar, he will still be exposed to his elements several times a day. But a firebender in a cold hole below earth is particularly cruel. He can’t bend fire, but denying him sunlight is torture.

A: ....

M: So why do you all fear him so much still? You have taken all he had. Let me deal with the rest. All I ask from you is to leave him to me. I will take him to another dimension where we will work on his issues. The chances of progress are far better there than here. Furthermore, he won't be able to contact any of his former allies. He’ll be safely locked away.

As second witness I call in Fire Lord Zuko:

M: Firelord, you're the son of Ozai. I understand the pain he has brought on you, like all of us will. But tell me, when you were little, were things different then?

Z: Well, I suppose yes. I remember him as my father. He was always very strict but we also had good times on Ember island on the beach.

M: When did things go sour?

Z: When Lu Ten fell in the war and my father was suddenly pressured by many noble people of the Firenation to become Firelord.

M: How do you mean pressured?

Z: They had all lost family and General Irohs reaction - although very understandable - enraged many of the families who had pulled through similar tragedies.

M: Was your father used to this kind of pressure?

Z: No, I don't think so.

M: Did he have any military role or training?

Z: No, he was a master firebender and was more into expanding that craft. He wanted to be the best and do new innovative stuff.

M: So we have a man who is pushed to a spot, where he has no experience and where his hunger for power ultimately backfired. And he paid a big price for his inquest, didn't he.

Z: Yes, my grandfather, FireLord Azulon asked him to kill me.

M: And yet you are alive!

Z: Yes, my mother found a way to deal with Azulon and went to exile for that.

M: Did you know that your mother had married Ozai on an arranged marriage?

Z: Yes, but on amicable terms.

M: Did you know that she was engaged before and who kept up that relationship even after she became Firelord Ozai's wife?

Z: !!!!!

M: I am sorry to bring this up. But this was the moment when things went sour for Ozai. She told your father that her former fiancé was your father, but Ozai knew that she was lying. She did it to hurt him. He in turn promised her to treat you like a bastard son, so that you would turn out different than him. He loves her still and he loves you, in a twisted way. This culminated in your scorched face and your exile to get you away from him. He still loves your mother, Firelord. And all he does is a futile attempt to get her back.

Z: No, this can't all be true!!

M: I am the Timelord, I see it clearly. I can play it to you, but I want to spare you the pain. Ozai is a conflicted man, full of doubts and a volatile self-esteem, who easily falters under extreme pressure. He is manic-depressive. The loss of his wife tossed him into a manic-depressive cycle. The phoenix king is his manic side. He was left by all women in his life. His mother died young, his beloved wife played him and does so still now. Locking him up is not going to produce any betterment or results.

JK: I want to see if there is any base to your accusations. We will retreat to the private chamber and adjourn this session in 20 Minutes.

Twenty minutes later back in the courtroom.

JK: I am reopening the session after the break. The accusations of Mya Timelord were accurate. I am sorry, Firelord Zuko.

Z: This cannot be....

M: Things are not always the way they look on the surface. Overcome your own hunger for revenge and take an unbiased view on Ozai.

M: As third witness I want to call in the brother of the accused, Retired General Iroh.

JK: Calling in Retired General Iroh of the Fire Nation.

M: General Iroh, you fought for years for the Fire Nation?

I: Yes...

M: In that function you were responsible for directly slaying hundreds of people during the war. Yet you changed sides after your own son died. It took a personal hit to make you fall, the fate of others never left you unhinged.

I: It was a bloody war on all sides...

M: Yet, If you had not gone travelling in those lands during exile, but stayed in FireNation, do you think you would be this amicable towards the other cultures of this world?

I: No, I don't think I would.

M: So why do you think that Ozai, who in fact has never left FireNation but was brainwashed by all his family to hate and look down on anything other, should be lenient? He is a product of his upbringing and of his surroundings. Do you think that he might have changed if you had become Firelord and he had gone to exile instead?

I: (ponders... ) I don't know. He is very strong willed, power hungry, ambitious and has a loose temper. But he might very well have.

M: So in deed, we have someone who never really had the opportunity to learn other views, who is blinded by his convictions, who has manic episodes and we lock him up in a cell where he simmers in his own soup of prejudice, depression and misanthropy. And we call that progress...?

I: ...

Zuko: We cannot let him go like this. Not after all that he did!

M: We are better than him, aren't we? And dont' forget. He will not be free. He will be in a maximum security facility in another dimension, with me. He will have access to daylight. He will have no contact to other people unless it's in alignment with his parole regulations. So are we better than Firelord Ozai?

Aang: I guess so. In order to create balance we must adjust the scale. Punishment is not productive, I agree on that.

M: A dictator is the sum of function inducing fear, appearance and power. You have taken away the function, the fear and the power, what left is just the guy. Let me deal with the guy. You can then focus on rebuilding this world without his shadow. Let his shadow be my problem.

JK: The Jury will now retreat to consult with the Firelord and the avatar.

They left to consult behind closed doors.

JK: We are concluding our session with my closing statement and verdict. The jury together with the Firelord and the Avatar have listened to all objections and inquests of Mya the Timelord. After weighing in the testimonies and the evidence we comply with Timelord Mya's request, under the condition that we get weekly progress reports on the developments and any change of his parole regulations are defined by this panel. The jury will drink the potion of lost thoughts and will forget all said today. I herewith sign the sentence.

Mya approached the Judge and scanned the sentence with a blue stone.

The film ends and Ozai is utterly confused. What is a time lord? Why Timelord and not Timelady? And why does she take such a great interest in him? He feels exposed and vulnerable. He hates that feeling. He almost wishes to be back in his cell. He sits there clenching his fists, trying to control the anger. Who is she to drag his life into the open like this and his feelings for Ursa, his rage, his sadness, his will to outshine his misery? At least the jury is not going to spill the beans to the public. He gets up, angry and looking for answers.

The sphere offers to show him the house. Ozai follows. The house is modern with wood set in nature. Exotic plants and birds are outside the windows. The sphere takes him through a long corridor to a large living room with a high fireplace and gallery on top lining the room. He imagines the magnificent fire and instinctively poses his hand to ignite. Then he remembers his loss of firebending. The room is decorated with antique Asian and Polynesian artworks. Many dragons, which remind him of home. Wherever he walks the beautiful music follows him. The room smells of jasmine and sandalwood. Two beautiful blue-eyed cats are roaming around and a crow watches him attentively from the gallery. On one side, he sees a door to a dining room and another one to a vast library. He goes into the library and sees that most books are not in Kanji. On the mantle are little pictures of Mya and others in silver frames.

The dining room is empty, but a fruit bowl makes him realize that he’s no longer sick and how hungry he is, so he grabs an apple. The other fruit look unknown to him. He leaves back for the living room which has a french window to the terrace.

Ozai is met on the terrace in front of a infinity pool by Mya. She is wearing a sheer blue and green gown over a bikini. She has flowers in her hair. He gets hard immediately seeing her like that.

M: Welcome to the island, Ozai. Thank you for being my guest.

O: I saw that ridiculous trial. I did not think that you despise me that much... dragging my life out like that. I thought you‘d fight honourably.

M: I don’t despise you, I am trying my best to understand you. I wanted you out, I got you out. Sometimes a good result requires bad methods. I am not an angel. I wanted you to see it. No secrets, full transparency.

O: So what is this all about? What am I doing here?

M: We are here to work on your issues. I did not mean to hurt you. I am sorry.

O: So you think I am a crazy man?

M: You’re an overambitious man who did bet on the wrong horse. You took a plausible path, albeit not the most ... humanitarian one. We have opposing views on a few things. But we can work together.

O: Tell me, what am I doing here? Am I your slave? Who are you to distort my life like this.

M: Your story, dear Ozai, does not end in a dim prison cell. You still have a big role to play - a role which will dwarf being the Phoenix king- and to redeem yourself. I will guide you on your journey.

O: I am leaving...

M: Make no mistake, my love, you are still a prisoner. But in a more agreeable jail. If you try to run a force field will contain you. Same for violence. But you are free to move about in and around the house, if you follow my instructions. Our conversation is recorded for further parole hearings. So consider well, if you prefer the cold dark cell.

Ozai seems to be mad, but then he closes his eyes. When he opens them he’s much calmer. He looks around, sees the vastness of the sea, the mountain rising at the other horizon, the surrounding exotic jungle. His spirits rise. He smiles. There are flocks of birds flying over the sea and the scent of flowers is in the air. And the sun is shining full force. He takes off his cloak, stands in the sunlight, showing off his abs, with his eyes closed and fuels in on the sunlight.

M: Are you enjoying the sun?

O: Yes, I feel the sun on my skin! Finally! I feel much stronger. Much more alive.

M: I am glad to hear that.

O: You call me a madman and yet you kissed me...

M: You looked very... kissable. You’re interesting. I am not afraid of you, although maybe I should be.

O: How did I get here?

M: Sorry, I had to sedate you for transport for this location. You‘re not supposed to know where you are.

O: We are not in Fire Nation territory?

M: No, we’re not. I’ll tell you more in due time. Let‘s just soak in the sun, shall we?

Both lie in the sun on loungers in silence for a while.

M: Do you ever get sunburnt?

O: Never...

M: We should record a session for your dear son.

O: Spare me with requests from my son. I don‘t want to think about him now. I want to feel alive again. I want to look at the sea, at the sky, the sun and at you! I want to feel the energy and feel alive from core to shell.

M: You look quite alive to me. Alive enough to answer my questions.

Ozai felt a short tight squeeze on his chest from the force field. He gasped for air, looked at Mya in anger and then complied.

Session 4:

M: What would you do at home on such a lovely day?

O: We were at war. I did not have the luxury to enjoy sunny days.

M: Before you became Fire Lord?

O: Training outdoors, firebending and Agni Kai against other firebenders. Family. Maybe Ember island.

M: And as Fire Lord? How did a typical day look?

O: I was woken by a servant, prepped and dressed. Then I had breakfast, sometimes with my generals or my daughter. Then strategic meetings. In the evening I’d meet with influential families to gain their support for the war.

M: How did you relax?

O: ???

M: You’re so intense, there must be a way in which you let off steam... Making love to beautiful girls and/or boys?

O: I won’t answer that (embarrassed)

M: You cannot just pile on without letting off some steam...

O: Fire bending... training forms... Agni Kai...probably.

M: Now without your bending powers you must be quite stressed out.

O: I meditate.

M: Do you achieve balance?

O: I feel the rage.

M: Too much energy?

O: I don’t like being confined. I was now confined for two years.

M: Let’s try something. Follow me. Sit down to meditate. Don’t be afraid, it’s nothing to be worried about.

So, are you calm and relaxed?

O: I can’t relax.

M: Give me your hands. We will make a journey in your mind.

O: No, thank you. I have no intention to. Last time it left me shattered when I woke up and had to face the grim reality of my prison cell.

M: Fair enough, then let’s just sit together and enjoy the sun, enjoy being alive and have some good tea.

O: Where is the tea?

M: Would you like some? I have some exquisite Gyokuro tea...worthy for a celebration on your first day with me.

Mya goes, gets the kettle, sets up tea in a tiny Japanese tea set. Ozai watches her and is feeling very hot. But he also feels that he‘s restricted by the force field, which creates an invisible pulsating cage around him.

M: Your tea, Lord Ozai.

O: Now I feel alive.

We drink tea silently. Awkward silence. He looks relaxed and musters something akin to a smile. I feel like kissing him, but I restrain myself.

Then I pour him a cherry blossom tea. He closes his eyes and enjoys the smell. When he opens his eyes I see desire in them.

He slowly drinks tea and watches me with his sly ember eyes, like a fox eyeing his prey. His hands reach forward to touch my breasts. He is surprised that there is no stun. I move towards him and whisper in his ears that I’ve stopped the tape and his cage. His arms grab me and we kiss. He drags me to his bed. He undresses me slowly until I am naked. His lips and tongue are on my neck. I feel his breath on my skin. I feel his tongue in my mouth, the heat from his body. The smell of his body. I feel his possessiveness and the frenzy of a madman, the fire and the danger. I taste the salty taste of his sweaty skin. We make love and I enjoy every bit of him until I lose myself. When he did he had gripped the mattress of the lounger, which was now scorched.

O: This feels so good, you feel so good, I have been waiting for this for so long...

He smelled the burnt linen and opened his eyes.

O: Did I do this?

He looked at the lounger incredulously.

M: Remember, Aang said you can‘t bend fire to harm others. So if you find a new approach to firebending, your powers might come back. Sex might be a first clue. We might call it Firefucking or maybe fuckbending?

O: Then let‘s fuckbend ten times a day... he whispered and grinned ear to ear. For the first time since I knew him, he seemed happy.

He was exhausted and I covered us up with a blanket. I took a shower and then I jumped into the pool and he followed me.

O: the water is warm!

M: Yes, I know you folk don‘t like cold water.

He pinned me against the edge and kissed me. He looked tired.

I was getting aroused again, but I worried about him, so I got out.

M: Prison surely strained you. We’ll do a health check to see if you have any imbalances.

O: What health check?

M: Heart, BP, Blood, the usual.

We went to the medical bay.

M: Are you cold. You look queasy.

O: I am not used to stand around like this, exposed in front of a pretty woman.

M: We’re not being naughty now, sorry. O: My dick thinks otherwise.

M: Don’t worry, the check will be over soon and then we can continue our fuckbending research.

Does medical check.

M: Your body has suffered in jail, but we can patch you up.

Moves to desk, mixes a protein drink.

M: Drink this, it will help you recover your strength. You’ll need all of it for our journey.

O: Is the journey spiritual or are we really going away? I am starting to like it here.

M: For the time being we’re here, but our time together is a journey.

We went to the dining room, both hungry like wolves. The sphere had already served different dishes. I was amused to see that Ozai put huge amounts of hot sauce on everything.

After dinner I pulled him into his bedroom. I kissed him and he took me slowly from behind.

I lay in his arms and he caressed my face.

O: You‘re such a strange girl...

M: No one called me a girl since ages...

O: Why did you really save me?

M: You‘re too hot to rot in jail... and then as I said, the world is in turmoil and I need your help. I‘ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

We went to bed and he fell asleep at once.

Ozai woke up, me in his arms.

O: You‘re still here.

M: Yes, I have been watching you sleep.

O: Why would you do that?

M: In sleep we are unmasked. I see your pain, your fear of abandonment. You still love her, don‘t you?

O: Did I say her name in my dreams?

M: ... She hurt you, left you, married another guy she was dating behind your back. And yet, you love her still. You‘re a good guy, Ozai.

O: (laughing) No one ever called me that before!

M: It‘s true. You‘re hurting. Your whole self esteem came crashing down when she ditched you for a farmer. I feel your sadness.

I kissed his head

M: I mean it. You‘re so loyal, that it breaks you. You got played and everyone needs to suffer because you can‘t punish those who have hurt and abandoned you.

O: Whenever I see my kids, I see her.

M: And in her you see your loving mother who also left you so early. You‘re haunted, you need to let go, move on, build a new life. All the violence in the world will not turn the clock back. I know you feel like destroying everything, but it’s not a solution. We’ll fix your broken heart and your complicated life. We‘ll work on it, here.

O: Is that the journey?

M: Part of it. Remember: you now have the freedom to just be Ozai, without the Firelord burden. People here will like you for who you are, not what crown you wear. You don‘t have to induce fear to be loved and respected.

O: Can you bend time? Make all this go away.

M: I so much wish I could. Doesn’t work that way, sorry.

I hugged him and whispered that I’d stay by his side.

O: Until you leave me too.

M: No, my love, you will leave me eventually, but I will always remember and preserve you in my heart.

Ozai closed his eyes. Then he suddenly grabbed and hugged me, held me and kissed my head, then my lips.

O: Mya, you’re a gift from the gods!

M: Ozai, some people consider me a God.

O: Oh, I just fucked a goddess, my goddess of fuckbending.

Mya left to shower and to get dressed. Ozai let the hot water pour over his body. When he got dressed, Mya was already gone. Ozai went out to find her.

He stood in the living room and saw Mya on the terrace. She was sitting at a table. The cats, a black squirrel and the crow were listening to her attentively. Then he noticed that all the shrubs around her were full of songbirds. The ground was full of spiders. She let the crow fly, it let out a craw and was answered by a thousandfold other crow voices. The cats and squirrel ran, so did the wave of spiders. All songbirds flew out and darkened the sun for a brief moment, before they also flew away.

She turned around.

M: Ozai, you are here.

O: What was this?

M: My messengers flew out. I need to know about the state of the worlds.

Mya smiled and approached him. Ozai felt uneasy. This was a type of magic that he had never seen in his world. He was weary of women with mystic powers, he had been burnt once already...

M: We have had two wonderful days, but now it is time to get to work.

O: What are you talking about?

M: I have to hand in a report with your progress and we need to make quick strides. Follow me!

Mya led Ozai through the garden downhill over stone steps. At the bottom of the path they reached a road and next to it was an arena with stone figures.

M: This is the place where we will rediscover your firebending - without carnal pleasures. You can train here.

O: But my bending is gone.

M: We will see. I want you to be ready to use your craft when your bending powers return. I can also show you some new tricks. Clench a fist, yes, but stronger. Don’t let go!

Mya pointed with one finger and then hit his nerve superfast. His fist sprang open involuntarily.

O: Aah! What was that?!?

M: Speed, element of surprise and detailed knowledge of human anatomy.

O: My hand is still sore!

M: I use this if my opponent has a dagger.

O: Honourable warriors don’t fight like this.

M: Not all foes have honour.

O: ...

M: Show me some forms, I want to learn.

Mya and Ozai spent the day practicing forms. As a Timelord Mya had the unique talent to empathize so greatly with people that she would literally replicate them and their abilities. Ozai was a great firebending teacher and more patient than Mya would have expected. After an hour Ozais hands started to smoke and a small flame showed. He was very excited.

O: My power is returning! But, how?

M: You are using firebending for altruistic reasons: you are teaching and helping me. And you’re a motivated teacher. As the Avatar said: to not use it for evil purposes or against others.

After hours passed, Mya had also managed to produce some smoke and Ozai left again for the house.

In the evening Mya wrote her first report.

Report 1: Week 1

This is an account of prisoner Ozais progress.

Ozai is a deeply conflicted person who has detachment issues and who resorts to rash decisions when under extreme internal or external pressure. He has a manic-depressive disorder. In his manic episodes, he shows megalomaniac tendencies, while his depressive side is more subdued. In those episodes, he tends to make self-harming decisions.

Without the shell of his function as Firelord there are traces of kindness. His empathy needs cultivation.

We have these points, which I want to stress in him:

Detachment and inner balance

Cultivation of empathy

Balance

Coping with stressors to avoid triggers

Developing maturity

Sense of self

Responsible decision-making

The same evening, cozied up in his arms in front of the fireplace, we also recorded another session:

Session 5:

M: So, we’re back on tape. Ozai, how are you?

O: Fine. I feel good.

M: Zuko was worried about your dignity. All intact?

O: You showed me that nasty trick and my hand feels dead... other than that all dignified and good.

M: Anything you want to say?

O: I wish that you could also talk to Azula, but I worry for your safety if you did.

M: With her I would take on another approach, not one that might remind her of her mother.

O: I tried my best when they were small, but being a father and a firelord at war, it is hard not to confuse both roles. One gets used to ... violence.

M: Everything was meant to fail from the beginning. And all parents fail their kids. They’re both alive and fierce.

O: Zuko hates me. I am concerned about Azula. My wife... I should have protected Azula from her scheming. I was totally focused on myself, Firenation and the siege on Ba Sing Se.

M: Are you convinced that Zuko hates you? Does it make you sad?

O: Sad?...

M: He‘s the one pestering me about your dignity and your wellbeing...

O: ... I wasn‘t aware of that. It pleases me to hear that. But that boy is just too soft to stand the hardships of being a Firelord. All those Agni Kais I had to fight against usurping generals to strengthen my position. Some of which I had considered personal friends! All those hours I had to learn tactics, strategy, negotiation skills... only to find out that sometimes brute force was the only viable solution. He hasn’t fought or learnt one of these lessons. His days are numbered.

M: Here, a jasmine tea flower. Let me pour you a cup. Close your eyes, feel it.

O: A symbol of love?

M: Of love and redemption.

O: I guess I could use both...

M: You can get love from me, redemption is yours to make.

Ozai was tired after the recording. I sat next to him and took his hand.

M: Things will improve.

O: There are still people who consider me the real god given Firelord. Zuko should have killed me to take the throne.

M: He cares too much about you to do that. Do you still want to be Firelord?

O: More than anything else.

I caressed his face, those beautiful warm coloured but cold eyes. He closed them. Was he yet revealing too much? He seemed sad. We sat next to each other for a while. Then he looked at me, got up and left. I found him in his room. As I wanted to enter, he bid me to leave.

O: I am your prisoner. I want to be alone. Give me some privacy to meditate.

M: Of course.

I retreated.

He sat down to meditate, but he could not concentrate. He had to think about her all the time. He was falling for her and he did not like much of what she said, although it felt true. He missed her touch, her voice, her body... he thought about her all the time. He was falling in love. His heart was on fire.

#ATLA #Ozai #Azula #avatar #avatar the last airbender #zuko #fire nation #fire lord zuko #uncle iroh #iroh

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