Royalty: Chapter 1, Part 2
(Cont from next journal for post length...)
Ursa, that is not true!” Ozai’s eyes glanced to the crown. “These past few years, I have been obsessed… I have learnt my lesson now.”
“So you’ll spare Zuko’s life?” Ursa tried not to sound too hopeful while speaking those words.
Ozai bowed his head, sighing. “I cannot…”
“Then you have not learnt your lesson!” Ursa glared up into Ozai’s bowed gaze. “Ensure that my son is not harmed, or I swear to Roku I will plague this entire palace-!!” before Ursa could finish, Ozai had struck her across the face. Though not hard, this has caught her off balance. He had not dared to smack her, at least not for around a year…
“You are a princess; do not speak of treason within the vicinity of several highly-trained guards if you truly know what’s good for you!” Ozai hissed. As Ursa gripped to her cheek, he glared at her while she glanced back with uncertainty. “Forget about Zuko. Even if I were to defy my father’s words, he is as good as dead! I am willing to make our son’s end a quick and painless one; that is as much as I can do for the boy. Place that crown back upon your head, now. I will never let you leave, Ursa! I care too much for you; you have a position to uphold as a mother… Our daughter needs you! Have you simply stopped caring?”
Those words stung Ursa. She still cared very much for Azula, however concerned she was for her daughter’s future. Ursa stood completely still for a second, then sighed. “You are right, my lord…” She reached for her hair, crown in hand. Ozai smiled and she smiled back at him…
In the flick of a wrist, threw the cloth tying her hair into a topknot onto the floor, along with the precious golden crown signifying their marriage. Hair fell in front of her face as she folded her arms. Looking up at the shocked expression she had gained from her husband for her callous act of rebellion, and down at the crown she only allowed one word to escape with a shrug of her shoulders. “Oops…”
Ursa had expected yet another slap around the face, which she would take with dignity, and was surprised to find that Ozai had calmed down significantly. “Please, my darling… Do not do this to me. We can make another boy.”
Ursa’s mouth fell open. The nerve of him! What had happened to her husband!? “No child we produce could possibly replace Zuko!”
Ozai smiled softly, as though amused by her words, and shook his head. “We are perfectly capable of producing a better heir and a better firebender, an altogether better child. We are still young, still talented… Please, just consider the possibilities-“
“There will be no more heirs after this, Ozai! I will not allow any child of mine to become a tool for your gratification!!” those words came out in a shrill burst of anger. Ozai had stepped back slightly, expression dormant.
“You misunderstand me, my lady wife… In no way is my aspiration intended for my gratification!”
“So then do what is right! Spare our baby boy!!” Ursa yelled directly at his face, voice desperate.
Ozai’s teeth gritted with impatience. “Do you not know who I am? Do you not know of the duty I have been given, the honour I must uphold!?”
Ursa had quite lost control at this point; avoiding all eye contact with Ozai she walked towards the knife stuck in the wall, “I see right through you!” yanked it out, then turned back to face Ozai, wearing an enraged expression that looked quite unfitting on her delicate features. She stormed towards him. “You are a heartless screw-up who believes that those you consider as weak should suffer for your own tactless mistakes!!”
Ozai yelled out in rage at her words, grabbed the wrist she now held the knife in and yanked her close to him. “You will bear me a new male heir to the throne, Ursa! You will bear me a child, dead or alive!!”
Ursa, in a state of panic, had written her own suicide note and kicked her lord husband in the privates. Ozai gave an unearthly roar and fell to the floor, eyes scrunched in pain. Though surprised with her action and terrified of the consequences, Ursa kept her resolute disposition. “Children are biologically out of the question if I die, you idiot!!”
Ozai’s single reply was a whiny groan, to which Ursa shook her head. The sight was just pitiful… Leaving her husband struggling to regain his pride, Ursa spun around. “Goodbye, my Lord Husband… By moonrise; my son, daughter and I will be gone from this place… Best of luck with the war, my lost love…”
Ursa had taken a single step when Ozai reached under Ursa’s dress and grabbed her ankle; screaming, she fell hard on the floor. Skin bruised and lip bleeding slightly at the side, Ursa struggled to get away as Ozai slowly sat up. “Do you believe so?” He knelt still, shaking with anger. “You... foul-mannered… dishonourable little whelp!!”
Ozai grabbed Ursa by the top of her dress, pulled her to her knees and pressed his face into hers, her blood brushing against his cheek as he spoke. “You will be confined to the palace dungeons for the rest of your days! When I have tired of you, I will leave it to the Fire Sages to decide your fate!!” throwing Ursa back onto the ground, grunting as the pain of her bruises was added to, Ozai let out an almighty bellow. “GUARDS!!!”
Ursa abruptly swung herself up upon this note. She snarled viciously and clawed Ozai across the face. As he fell sideways to the floor, yelping like a wounded tiger, his wife held her hands up and set them alight with white, scalding fire. “Ursa, no!!”
Breathing heavily through pure rage with a scowl to show, Ursa thankfully seemed to regain herself upon acknowledging her husband words, her hands reabsorbed their fire and her expression softened. Ursa took her glare away from Ozai and looked up to the ceiling, running her hands through her hair she muttered words such as “Control… I have to keep calm…”, and upon the sudden realisation of all that had just occurred, looked down at Ozai once again. Her husband was now sitting on the floor in a defeated slump, the scratch-marks his wife had left on his face now stood out as four red lines. Ursa knelt to the floor, something of an idea forming in her mind… “I have a proposal, Ozai…” she spoke aloud. Ozai then looked at her, confusion evident in his expression.
Guards then rushed inside as Ozai opened his mouth to speak. “Sire, you called for us?”
Ursa looked at her husband with pleading eyes. It was Ozai’s word against hers. She was at a total loss of control… If Ozai were to disregard her words, Zuko would definitely die…
“Are you both alright… sire?” the guard was anxious for an answer, staring directly at the prince’s profile, the left cheek where the scratch marks lay hidden from view where only Ursa could see them.
Ozai took a deep breath, “It matters no longer,” and turned away. “Leave us.”
Ursa felt her chest relax with relief, the guards turned away after making way for a moment of confusion and left Ozai and Ursa in each other’s privacy.
“Your proposal, my dear wife?” Ozai turned to Ursa when he was sure the guards were out of earshot, giving her a look of suspicion and distrust.
Ursa ignored this expression as, gathering her composure once more, she stood to the ground. “Spare my little boy’s life; and you can have what you’ve always dreamed of since childhood…”
Ozai’s eyes lit up, the same way they usually did in their youth when he was about to receive something he wanted. This unnerved Ursa; however she dared not show it. Thereafter, Ozai’s expression quickly shifted to one of amusement and, standing himself up so Ursa had to look up at his face, said, “Please… Do carry on.”
“You have to think of a plausible plan, he’s aware of your hesitance!” Ursa thought to herself with a panic she forced down into her stomach. Knowing Ozai all too well, she decided to trust her instincts. “I do not know how… how I will phrase this, Ozai-”
“Time is not on our side, Ursa… Construct your proposal now, or I will call the guards back.” Ozai smirked.
Ursa could not believe her ears! Was Ozai… goading her!? She held back a furious expression. A calm, smirking face that caught Ozai off guard for a moment emerged over her face. “Your father is in the way…” she tenderly ran her fingers across the area she had scratched her husband in the face. “Just another obstacle between you and your true right…”
“What am I thinking!?” Ursa had to ask her mind as she took her husband’s soft, manicured left hand in both of her own, clearly arousing the man. “What is preventing you from… knocking it down, my dearest?”
“… My kindred love and admiration for him… Oh, I want to prove my worth to my father so badly, my darling…” Ozai took his hand away from hers and wrapped his arms around Ursa’s shoulders, his own sunlit eyes boring into hers. “Please… Help me.”
“I will… I promise…” Ursa wrapped her arms around his waist, deciding to side with Ozai’s good temperament. Despite what he had said and done to her, Zuko had to come first… “But you must promise not to lay a finger on Zuko…”
Ozai paused for a moment, and then nodded in suspiciously lax agreement before he spoke, “… Your proposal?”
Ursa sighed, waiting a moment to form a plausible statement in her mind. She then, reluctance evident in her tone, said, “I will convince Azulon to pass Iroh’s birthright to you.” She broke away from their embrace. “You do not have to do anything.”
Ozai, sensing this reluctance, thankfully misinterpreted her feelings slightly. “… Are you saying you would… take out my father?”
Ursa was taken-aback by this. “No, no! I merely hoped to convince the man through fairer, non-fatal means!”
“I’m not so sure about that…” Ozai said in a soothing voice. Ursa masked an expression of confusion with what she thought was a serious one. Was it now Ozai’s turn to play the mind games…? “My father is difficult to reason with…”
But Ursa knew better than to buy in to what Ozai was saying as the truth… She looked at the pearl dagger clasped in her hand and then, placing it on the bedside table it once sat atop of, turned back to Ozai and sighed, “I must try. I may be able to save his life. However, should I fail…” and she turned back to look at the blade of the dagger once more, thoughts drifting towards Zuko… “I may have no choice in the matter.”
Ozai turned towards Ursa, and she looked back. A look of disorientation was set across her husband’s features. This was not the first time Ozai had lost a woman he loved dearly, and the fact that he remembered Ursa only deepened the emotional wound. Ozai looked away for a brief moment, and then he met Ursa’s eyes again. “… You are sure you wish to do this?”
Ursa turned her grim-featured face away from Ozai, she bowed her head. “I will protect Zuko at any cost… Even if that cost is to become murder… …”
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It was all too easy…
Planning in the closet… It felt almost like it once did before when they were young… Plans on how best to “assassinate” Zhao as he strutted down that very same hallway as though he owned the entire palace… Plans on what to do with those ignorant guards that had dared to insult Ozai’s father behind his back… Plans on what to do with those guards who were just plain ignorant… Those childish schemes had now led up to this very moment…
“Then you agree… Your father should only be slain if he refuses to comply?”
“With my coronation as well as our boy’s safety…”
“… Do you swear, upon your life, that no harm will befall Zuko during your reign?”
“Only if you swear to leave dutifully, as banishment instructs, if the wicked deed is to be done…”
“… Yes…”
Inside the closet, Ursa then bowed her head as she spoke. Ursa knew one thing, and that was that she did not trust Ozai with either of her children… She planned to leave with them, but had to be careful not to infringe the rights of her and her husband’s vow while doing so for fear of Zuko’s life. She had to be careful… “I will…”
Ozai looked below her eye line upon her response. “Then I must request our ring…”
Ursa, knowing what he meant, held up her princess crown in the palm of her hand and stared at the object with sorrow. What she once thought of as an accursed material item, now found herself in need of … “But… … I…”
“Should you turn to your last resort; the object will be a menace… You will not be able to sell the item on fear of life and death, nor will it be wise to keep it with you.” Ozai stated, holding a hand out. “It is in my best interests to keep it…”
Ozai was right, and Ursa knew it. She did not see a life similar to that of her current one ahead of her if Azulon were to fall to the grave and she could predict that, in time, all material objects will mean nothing to her… She slowly took a hold of the large, curved flame shape of pure gold that adorned the crown and placed it onto Ozai’s palm. He closed his hands around the base of the headpiece. “I wish you good fortune, my beautiful wife.” Kissing her on the lips, he turned towards the door. “Midnight is approaching…” And with that, he left. Leaving her standing inside the dark closet…
Yes… All too easy…
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I was going to end this chapter on a cliff-hanger; but just over 10 pages of typing are enough for the first chapter, I think…
Little!Azula will definitely be back. Probably not in the next chapter, but most likely in the one afterwards.
Thank you for read first chapter of my fanfic. I hope you like! Dziekuje.
________________________________________________________________
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to those peoples at Nick, Viacom, Mike and Bryan, etc…
_____________________________________________________________________
Ursa, that is not true!” Ozai’s eyes glanced to the crown. “These past few years, I have been obsessed… I have learnt my lesson now.”
“So you’ll spare Zuko’s life?” Ursa tried not to sound too hopeful while speaking those words.
Ozai bowed his head, sighing. “I cannot…”
“Then you have not learnt your lesson!” Ursa glared up into Ozai’s bowed gaze. “Ensure that my son is not harmed, or I swear to Roku I will plague this entire palace-!!” before Ursa could finish, Ozai had struck her across the face. Though not hard, this has caught her off balance. He had not dared to smack her, at least not for around a year…
“You are a princess; do not speak of treason within the vicinity of several highly-trained guards if you truly know what’s good for you!” Ozai hissed. As Ursa gripped to her cheek, he glared at her while she glanced back with uncertainty. “Forget about Zuko. Even if I were to defy my father’s words, he is as good as dead! I am willing to make our son’s end a quick and painless one; that is as much as I can do for the boy. Place that crown back upon your head, now. I will never let you leave, Ursa! I care too much for you; you have a position to uphold as a mother… Our daughter needs you! Have you simply stopped caring?”
Those words stung Ursa. She still cared very much for Azula, however concerned she was for her daughter’s future. Ursa stood completely still for a second, then sighed. “You are right, my lord…” She reached for her hair, crown in hand. Ozai smiled and she smiled back at him…
In the flick of a wrist, threw the cloth tying her hair into a topknot onto the floor, along with the precious golden crown signifying their marriage. Hair fell in front of her face as she folded her arms. Looking up at the shocked expression she had gained from her husband for her callous act of rebellion, and down at the crown she only allowed one word to escape with a shrug of her shoulders. “Oops…”
Ursa had expected yet another slap around the face, which she would take with dignity, and was surprised to find that Ozai had calmed down significantly. “Please, my darling… Do not do this to me. We can make another boy.”
Ursa’s mouth fell open. The nerve of him! What had happened to her husband!? “No child we produce could possibly replace Zuko!”
Ozai smiled softly, as though amused by her words, and shook his head. “We are perfectly capable of producing a better heir and a better firebender, an altogether better child. We are still young, still talented… Please, just consider the possibilities-“
“There will be no more heirs after this, Ozai! I will not allow any child of mine to become a tool for your gratification!!” those words came out in a shrill burst of anger. Ozai had stepped back slightly, expression dormant.
“You misunderstand me, my lady wife… In no way is my aspiration intended for my gratification!”
“So then do what is right! Spare our baby boy!!” Ursa yelled directly at his face, voice desperate.
Ozai’s teeth gritted with impatience. “Do you not know who I am? Do you not know of the duty I have been given, the honour I must uphold!?”
Ursa had quite lost control at this point; avoiding all eye contact with Ozai she walked towards the knife stuck in the wall, “I see right through you!” yanked it out, then turned back to face Ozai, wearing an enraged expression that looked quite unfitting on her delicate features. She stormed towards him. “You are a heartless screw-up who believes that those you consider as weak should suffer for your own tactless mistakes!!”
Ozai yelled out in rage at her words, grabbed the wrist she now held the knife in and yanked her close to him. “You will bear me a new male heir to the throne, Ursa! You will bear me a child, dead or alive!!”
Ursa, in a state of panic, had written her own suicide note and kicked her lord husband in the privates. Ozai gave an unearthly roar and fell to the floor, eyes scrunched in pain. Though surprised with her action and terrified of the consequences, Ursa kept her resolute disposition. “Children are biologically out of the question if I die, you idiot!!”
Ozai’s single reply was a whiny groan, to which Ursa shook her head. The sight was just pitiful… Leaving her husband struggling to regain his pride, Ursa spun around. “Goodbye, my Lord Husband… By moonrise; my son, daughter and I will be gone from this place… Best of luck with the war, my lost love…”
Ursa had taken a single step when Ozai reached under Ursa’s dress and grabbed her ankle; screaming, she fell hard on the floor. Skin bruised and lip bleeding slightly at the side, Ursa struggled to get away as Ozai slowly sat up. “Do you believe so?” He knelt still, shaking with anger. “You... foul-mannered… dishonourable little whelp!!”
Ozai grabbed Ursa by the top of her dress, pulled her to her knees and pressed his face into hers, her blood brushing against his cheek as he spoke. “You will be confined to the palace dungeons for the rest of your days! When I have tired of you, I will leave it to the Fire Sages to decide your fate!!” throwing Ursa back onto the ground, grunting as the pain of her bruises was added to, Ozai let out an almighty bellow. “GUARDS!!!”
Ursa abruptly swung herself up upon this note. She snarled viciously and clawed Ozai across the face. As he fell sideways to the floor, yelping like a wounded tiger, his wife held her hands up and set them alight with white, scalding fire. “Ursa, no!!”
Breathing heavily through pure rage with a scowl to show, Ursa thankfully seemed to regain herself upon acknowledging her husband words, her hands reabsorbed their fire and her expression softened. Ursa took her glare away from Ozai and looked up to the ceiling, running her hands through her hair she muttered words such as “Control… I have to keep calm…”, and upon the sudden realisation of all that had just occurred, looked down at Ozai once again. Her husband was now sitting on the floor in a defeated slump, the scratch-marks his wife had left on his face now stood out as four red lines. Ursa knelt to the floor, something of an idea forming in her mind… “I have a proposal, Ozai…” she spoke aloud. Ozai then looked at her, confusion evident in his expression.
Guards then rushed inside as Ozai opened his mouth to speak. “Sire, you called for us?”
Ursa looked at her husband with pleading eyes. It was Ozai’s word against hers. She was at a total loss of control… If Ozai were to disregard her words, Zuko would definitely die…
“Are you both alright… sire?” the guard was anxious for an answer, staring directly at the prince’s profile, the left cheek where the scratch marks lay hidden from view where only Ursa could see them.
Ozai took a deep breath, “It matters no longer,” and turned away. “Leave us.”
Ursa felt her chest relax with relief, the guards turned away after making way for a moment of confusion and left Ozai and Ursa in each other’s privacy.
“Your proposal, my dear wife?” Ozai turned to Ursa when he was sure the guards were out of earshot, giving her a look of suspicion and distrust.
Ursa ignored this expression as, gathering her composure once more, she stood to the ground. “Spare my little boy’s life; and you can have what you’ve always dreamed of since childhood…”
Ozai’s eyes lit up, the same way they usually did in their youth when he was about to receive something he wanted. This unnerved Ursa; however she dared not show it. Thereafter, Ozai’s expression quickly shifted to one of amusement and, standing himself up so Ursa had to look up at his face, said, “Please… Do carry on.”
“You have to think of a plausible plan, he’s aware of your hesitance!” Ursa thought to herself with a panic she forced down into her stomach. Knowing Ozai all too well, she decided to trust her instincts. “I do not know how… how I will phrase this, Ozai-”
“Time is not on our side, Ursa… Construct your proposal now, or I will call the guards back.” Ozai smirked.
Ursa could not believe her ears! Was Ozai… goading her!? She held back a furious expression. A calm, smirking face that caught Ozai off guard for a moment emerged over her face. “Your father is in the way…” she tenderly ran her fingers across the area she had scratched her husband in the face. “Just another obstacle between you and your true right…”
“What am I thinking!?” Ursa had to ask her mind as she took her husband’s soft, manicured left hand in both of her own, clearly arousing the man. “What is preventing you from… knocking it down, my dearest?”
“… My kindred love and admiration for him… Oh, I want to prove my worth to my father so badly, my darling…” Ozai took his hand away from hers and wrapped his arms around Ursa’s shoulders, his own sunlit eyes boring into hers. “Please… Help me.”
“I will… I promise…” Ursa wrapped her arms around his waist, deciding to side with Ozai’s good temperament. Despite what he had said and done to her, Zuko had to come first… “But you must promise not to lay a finger on Zuko…”
Ozai paused for a moment, and then nodded in suspiciously lax agreement before he spoke, “… Your proposal?”
Ursa sighed, waiting a moment to form a plausible statement in her mind. She then, reluctance evident in her tone, said, “I will convince Azulon to pass Iroh’s birthright to you.” She broke away from their embrace. “You do not have to do anything.”
Ozai, sensing this reluctance, thankfully misinterpreted her feelings slightly. “… Are you saying you would… take out my father?”
Ursa was taken-aback by this. “No, no! I merely hoped to convince the man through fairer, non-fatal means!”
“I’m not so sure about that…” Ozai said in a soothing voice. Ursa masked an expression of confusion with what she thought was a serious one. Was it now Ozai’s turn to play the mind games…? “My father is difficult to reason with…”
But Ursa knew better than to buy in to what Ozai was saying as the truth… She looked at the pearl dagger clasped in her hand and then, placing it on the bedside table it once sat atop of, turned back to Ozai and sighed, “I must try. I may be able to save his life. However, should I fail…” and she turned back to look at the blade of the dagger once more, thoughts drifting towards Zuko… “I may have no choice in the matter.”
Ozai turned towards Ursa, and she looked back. A look of disorientation was set across her husband’s features. This was not the first time Ozai had lost a woman he loved dearly, and the fact that he remembered Ursa only deepened the emotional wound. Ozai looked away for a brief moment, and then he met Ursa’s eyes again. “… You are sure you wish to do this?”
Ursa turned her grim-featured face away from Ozai, she bowed her head. “I will protect Zuko at any cost… Even if that cost is to become murder… …”
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It was all too easy…
Planning in the closet… It felt almost like it once did before when they were young… Plans on how best to “assassinate” Zhao as he strutted down that very same hallway as though he owned the entire palace… Plans on what to do with those ignorant guards that had dared to insult Ozai’s father behind his back… Plans on what to do with those guards who were just plain ignorant… Those childish schemes had now led up to this very moment…
“Then you agree… Your father should only be slain if he refuses to comply?”
“With my coronation as well as our boy’s safety…”
“… Do you swear, upon your life, that no harm will befall Zuko during your reign?”
“Only if you swear to leave dutifully, as banishment instructs, if the wicked deed is to be done…”
“… Yes…”
Inside the closet, Ursa then bowed her head as she spoke. Ursa knew one thing, and that was that she did not trust Ozai with either of her children… She planned to leave with them, but had to be careful not to infringe the rights of her and her husband’s vow while doing so for fear of Zuko’s life. She had to be careful… “I will…”
Ozai looked below her eye line upon her response. “Then I must request our ring…”
Ursa, knowing what he meant, held up her princess crown in the palm of her hand and stared at the object with sorrow. What she once thought of as an accursed material item, now found herself in need of … “But… … I…”
“Should you turn to your last resort; the object will be a menace… You will not be able to sell the item on fear of life and death, nor will it be wise to keep it with you.” Ozai stated, holding a hand out. “It is in my best interests to keep it…”
Ozai was right, and Ursa knew it. She did not see a life similar to that of her current one ahead of her if Azulon were to fall to the grave and she could predict that, in time, all material objects will mean nothing to her… She slowly took a hold of the large, curved flame shape of pure gold that adorned the crown and placed it onto Ozai’s palm. He closed his hands around the base of the headpiece. “I wish you good fortune, my beautiful wife.” Kissing her on the lips, he turned towards the door. “Midnight is approaching…” And with that, he left. Leaving her standing inside the dark closet…
Yes… All too easy…
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I was going to end this chapter on a cliff-hanger; but just over 10 pages of typing are enough for the first chapter, I think…
Little!Azula will definitely be back. Probably not in the next chapter, but most likely in the one afterwards.
Thank you for read first chapter of my fanfic. I hope you like! Dziekuje.
________________________________________________________________
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to those peoples at Nick, Viacom, Mike and Bryan, etc…
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