Zuko Alone

It was a very warm spring morning in the Earth Kingdom as a man riding on the back of an ostrich horse walked along. The man riding on the back of the bird horse was the disguised Prince Zuko. The banished Firebender kept a stoic face as he rode through a rocky terrain. He had been riding through the Earth Kingdom for several days now and it was starting to take a toll on both him and the ostrich horse. His steed stumbled a bit as it passed by a tree but continued going. 
They soon came across an old wooden bridge built high above a wide river. The wood creaked when the ostrich horse went across. But after taking a few steps, the ostrich horse's leg went through the old wood and Zuko fought to control the struggling animal. The ostrich horse was able to free itself before continuing forward. 
It was much later into the day as Zuko continued to ride along. When he sniffed the air, the smell of meat came to his nostrils. Stopping the ostrich horse, Zuko looked around before looking down a hill. He could see a slab of meat roasting over a fire. The sight of meat caused him to clutch his stomach as it growled quietly. Deciding to get a meal in order to keep going, Zuko placed his hand on the hilt of his swords. But before he went to make a move against the man, he saw the guy getting up and walking over to a woman sitting under a dried-up tree. When he took a closer look, he saw that the woman was pregnant. Deciding to do the right thing, Zuko removed his hand from his weapons before carrying on.
The sun was shining harshly down on Prince Zuko and the ostrich horse as they trudged along. His steed groaned quietly as they walked through an old battlefield. Blackened and dusty earth coins were littered all over the place. Zuko raised the water pouch to his lips but became disappointed when he found that it was empty. With a sigh he moved it away from his mouth. As they continued through the battlefield, Zuko began to feel the effects of the heat and fatigue in his body and started dozing off. But he was able to snap himself out of it as he gasped and sat up straight. He wasn't able to keep himself from dozing off again and his eyes closed. 
He saw a woman smiling in the dark. She turned and walked away while lifting a hood over his head. But he remembered that the woman was his mother when she had disappeared. Prince Zuko once again snapped out of his daze and continued to ride. 
It was early in the afternoon when Zuko and the ostrich horse came to the outskirts of a small village. 
Everyone in town was hustling and bustling as Zuko walked in. Zuko looked about the streets before guiding the ostrich horse in a certain direction. Up ahead he saw a group of men in Earth Kingdom uniforms squatting and playing a game. 
"Come on, spider-snake eyes!" A man said as he raised his fist and shook it. 
He threw a pair of dice down and they tumbled when they landed. They both stopped on a pair of fives and the man looked happy. The others looked a little miffed while he raised his fists and cheered, "Ha, ha! Yeah!" 
His friends responded by lightly punching him in the gut. The man in the back gave a small smirk and shook his head. The sound of the groaning ostrich horse made them look up to see Zuko coming up to the stall behind them. The leader's grin fell when he looked to Zuko and had a feeling about him. The disguised prince also cast a glance to him as well. Zuko hopped off of the ostrich horse's saddle and walked up to the stall. A merchant was running it. 
"Could I get some water, a bag of feed for the ostrich horse and something hot to eat?" Zuko asked. 
"Sorry to say, but not enough here for a hot meal." The merchant said with a shake of his head. But then he shrugged as he offered. "I can get you two bags of feed." 
Zuko sighed before accepting the man's offer. 
Two boys were hiding behind the store counter. One handed the other a egg and the boy stood up. Then flinging his arm forward, he threw the egg at one of the soldiers. It smacked him in the back of the head and the soldier cried, "Ow!"
The others looked to him as the yolk started to drip. Zuko watched as the boys high tailed it out of there. All four looked to see Zuko standing there and got up. 
"Hey! You throwing eggs at us, stranger?" The lead soldier asked.
"No." Zuko answered simply without looking back.
"Do you know who threw it?" Their leader questioned.
"No." Zuko answered again.
"Is that your favorite word?" One of the soldiers asked. "No?"
"Egg had to have come from somewhere." The leader pointed out.
"Maybe a chicken flew over." Zuko turned and suggested.
The same soldier laughed as he found it funny. But another look from his boss shut him up. 
The vendor came out with the two bags of feed, but just as Zuko was about to make a grab for it, the leader came up and grabbed them first. 
"Thank you for your contribution. The army appreciates your support. You'd better leave town. The penalty for staying is a lot more than you can afford, stranger. Trust me." He patted one of his hammers.
"Those soldiers are supposed to be protecting the people of this town from the Fire Nation, but they're just a bunch of thugs." The shopkeeper explained.
Zuko walked back to his ostrich horse. But just as the disguised prince was about to get on, one of the boys from earlier popped his head up on the other side.
"Thanks for not ratting me out." The boy said with a smile.
Zuko just hopped up onto the ostrich horse and prepared to take off. The boy then grabbed hold of the reins.
"I can take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse." The boy said.
The two soon arrived on a farm. Zuko was a little astonished to see a bunch of pig mixed hybrids all around the place. Zuko had hopped off the ostrich horse and continued to follow after the boy as they walked. As they passed by all the cow-pigs, sheep-pigs, chicken-pigs and maybe a few other kinds of pig hybrids, they were all grunting, squealing or clucking about. The boy looked and pointed out, "No one can ever sneak up on us."
"No kidding." Zuko turned his head to the boy.
"You a friend of Lee's?" A man asked walking out of the house.
Lee came running out of the barn with a smile on his face. His father looked to him when he pointed to Zuko. "This guy stood up to the soldiers! By the end, they were practically running away." 
"Does this guy have a name?" A woman, obviously Lee's mother, asked as she came out of the house. Zuko was a little worried when he tried to come up with a name. "I'm, uh..."
"He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to, Sela. Anyone who can hold their own against those thugs are always welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms." Lee's father said, shaking his head.
Sela looked up and said, "The real soldiers are off fighting in the war." Lee smiled when his mother said, "Like Lee's big brother, Sensu."
Zuko didn't say anything but Sela then said, "Supper's going to be ready soon." Then she offered. "Would you like to stay?"
"Thanks. But I should be moving on." Zuko shook his head. This caused the family's face to fall.
"Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you two work for a while, and then we'll eat." Sela said as Zuko nodded in agreement.
Zuko and Gansu sat on their knees as they hammered some nails into tiles for the roof. They worked for about an hour and had covered a majority of the roof. Lee climbed up the ladder and looked to Zuko before asking, "You don't seem like you're from around here."
Zuko stopped hammering for a moment before shaking his head.
"Where are you from?" Lee asked.
"Far away." Zuko answered without giving much detail.
"Oh." Lee said as if it explained a lot. And just as Zuko was about to hit another nail into a tile, Lee asked, "Where are you going?"
It made him stop in mid-swing, annoyed. Gansu looked to his youngest child and said, "Lee, give it a rest. Stop asking this man personal questions."
"Yes sir." A dejected Lee sighed and leaned his face against the ladder. But after the two men swung the hammer a few more times, Lee looked to Zuko again and asked, "So how'd you get that scar?"
The question made Zuko miss the nail and instead whacked the hammer against his thumb. "Ow!"
"Lee, it's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about." Gansu said. "A man's past is his own business." 
He then resumed hammering as did Zuko.
Flashback
It was a nice day over a pond as it's waters were still. But soon that stillness was broken when a woman gently dipped her finger into the water and created ripples. The ripples seemed to attract a turtle-duck as it quacked and swam over to her. The woman turned her hand over and opened it to reveal a few bread crumbs. A little turtle-duck swam over and took the crumb from her hand as it's siblings and mother soon joined it. Sitting by the woman was a young boy and both were wearing Fire Nation clothing. The boy looked to the woman and said, "Hey Mom, do you want to see how Azula feeds the turtle ducks?"
The boy then chucked a huge loaf of bread at one of the turtle ducks and it created a huge splash. But the mother looked to her son and questioned, "Zuko! Why would you do such a thing?"
The little turtle-duck resurfaced and shook off the excess water from it before the mother duck swam over to it. Then with an angry quack, the mother turtle-duck made a beeline for Prince Zuko before biting him on the ankle. He cried out in pain. "Ow!" He tried to shake her off, but the mother turtle-duck wouldn't let go, "Ow! Ow!"
"Ow!" Zuko cried when his mother carefully removed the turtle-duck from Zuko's ankle. She set the angry mother back in the pond as the turtle-duck quacked before swimming away. The turtle-duck looked back before giving a few harsh quacks and swimming off. All the little turtle-ducks followed after her with one racing to catch up to them. The young Prince Zuko sat where he hugged his knees and glared, "Stupid turtle duck!" He looked away and said, "Why'd she go and do that?"
"Zuko..." His mother said as she sat beside him. Knowing from experience she said, "That's what moms are like." He calmed down a little when she wrapped her arms around him. "If you mess with their babies..." She teased him by pretending to take a bite, "They're going to bite you back."
Zuko started laughing as they held each other close. Mother and son rose from their spots and started to walk back into the palace. They soon came to another section of the grounds that had a few trees here and there while a fountain sat in the middle of it. Three little girls were currently playing about. Well, two were, the third was currently sitting under the tree. The younger Princess Azula started to do a cartwheel, but fell on her back at the end. The younger Ty Lee came cartwheeling across the courtyard finishing up with a midair spin before landing on both feet and raising her arms. Feeling a little jealous, Azula got up before shoving Ty Lee to the ground. Azula started laughing while Ty Lee looked to her friend and said, "Azula!"
The younger Mai was playing with her fingers when she looked to her left. Her face was slightly surprised when she saw Prince Zuko walking with his and Azula's mother. Her cheeks started to blush and she quickly looked away with a smile before he could see. But Azula happened to be watching it before looking to her brother. And just as Ty Lee rose back onto her feet, Azula leaned to her and started whispering to her, "Watch this."
Ty Lee giggled as she knew that Azula had something funny in mind. Azula ran up to the walkway and said, "Mom, can you please make Zuko play with us? We need equal teams to play a game." 
"I am not cartwheeling." Zuko refused. Azula crossed her arms and looked miffed with her brother when she said, "You won't have to. Cartwheeling's not a game." Then she muttered, "Dum-dum."
"I don't care. I don't want to play with you." Prince Zuko still refused. Azula uncrossed her arms and said, "We are brother and sister." Then trying to make it sound like a good thing she said, "It's very important for the two of us to spend time together." Looking to their mother she asked, "Don't you think so, Mom?" 
"Yes, darling." Their mother agreed as she did have a point. Looking to Zuko she said, "I think that it's a good idea for you to play with your sister." She rubbed the top of his head, "Go on now." She walked off to leave them alone, "Just for a little while."
Prince Zuko sighed before joining his sister and her friends out in the yard. Azula walked over to an apple tree before plucking a fruit from the branch, "Okay. Here's the way it goes." 
All four children walked across the grounds before stopping at the fountain. Both Zuko and Mai didn't look very amused by what Azula was planning for the game but didn't say anything. Setting Mai in front of the water fountain, Azula then placed the apple on her friend's head before explaining, "Now what you need to do is, try to knock the apple off the other person's head."
"Like this." Azula said before joining Zuko and Ty Lee. Mai looked up to the apple on her head before looking to Azula with an unamused expression. The princess brought her left hand close before extending her arm and throwing a small jet of fire from her two fingers. The flame hit the apple at the top and it made Mai very worried before she looked to the others. Zuko decided to try a different approach by running at the apple, and Mai in the process. Mai screamed as he came right at her. Zuko was able to knock the apple off of Mai's head, but also ended up knocking Mai off her feet. Both of them fell into the fountain with a splash and it caused both Azula and Ty Lee to start laughing at them. Azula looked to Ty Lee and said, "See, Ty Lee, I told you that would work." 
"Aw, they're so cute together." Ty Lee said as she looked between the two in the fountain. Both Mai and Zuko glared at the two. While Zuko stomped out and away from the fountain, Mai stood up and said, "You two are such..." She couldn't think of the right words. "Ugh!"
Zuko stomped across the walkway just as his mother came walking down the steps. When she saw him she held up a scroll and said, "I was just coming to get you and Azula. Uncle Iroh has sent us a letter from the war front." She then noticed the state of her son and commented. "You're soaking wet!" 
"Girls are crazy!" Prince Zuko shouted as he walked right past her. Ursa could only quirk a brow as she had no idea what was going on.
The three had reconvened in another room in the palace. Ursa unrolled the scroll and began to read what Iroh had wrote to them…
When Iroh wrote the letter…
There was a large V-shaped hole in a towering wall. A large pile of rubble sat at the bottom while the Fire Nation forces made camp there. Iroh sat at a table with two Firebenders standing guard and wrote the letter, "If the city is as magnificent as its wall. Ba Sing Se must be something to truly behold. I hope that you all may see it someday…" He laughed a little when he joked, "If we do not burn it to the ground first."
Ursa held the letter in her hands as they all lightly laughed from Iroh's joke. Ursa then continued to read, "Until then, Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, please enjoy these gifts."
Zuko and Azula looked over to a couple of servants that held objects on pillows. The two ran over and Zuko stopped by a servant that held a blade in its case. Ursa read, "For Zuko, a pearl dagger from the general who surrendered when we broke through the outer wall.
"Note the inscription and the superior craftsmanship." Ursa read while Zuko unsheathed the blade. Looking down at the inscription he read, "Never give up without a fight."
"And for Azula, a new friend." Ursa read when the princess reached the servant. She didn't seem too keen on her present as she picked up a stuffed doll. The doll was wearing fancy Earth Kingdom clothing as Ursa continued, "She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls." 
"Yuck." Azula cringed at the sight of it. An idea crossed her mind and a grin formed on her face as she asked, "If Uncle doesn't make it back from war, then Dad would be next in line to be Fire Lord, wouldn't he?"
"Azula, we don't speak that way." Ursa scolded her while Zuko started carefully swinging the blade around. Ursa thought the notion would be heartbreaking, "It would be very awful if Uncle Iroh didn't return to us."
"And besides, Fire Lord Azulon is still a picture of health." She reminded her. Zuko stopped playing around and turned to his sister before questioning, "How would you feel if our cousins wanted Dad to die?"
"I still think that our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his royal, tea-loving kookiness. And Aunt Malva is just the youngest of the three and can't be a Fire Lord." Azula stated as she looked at the doll in her hand. She held it out in her hand before setting it ablaze. 
End flashback...
That evening, Zuko laid on a pile of hay in the barn. While he was sleeping Lee quietly sneaked into the barn. Lee made sure to stick to the shadows as he quietly sneaked up to Zuko's pile of hay. The boy looked down to the sleeping prince before looking to the sheathed swords hanging up on the wall. Lee gently started to lift it when Zuko shuffled in the hay, making him freeze for a moment. But when Zuko didn't get up from his spot, Lee carefully took the swords off the wall before quietly making his way out of the barn. When the barn door shut, Zuko opened an eye and looked to the door.
Lee soon came to a stop in a huge field of sunflowers before unsheathing the combined blades. Splitting them apart, Lee started swinging them around and hacking off a few flower heads in the process. "Hah!"
"Heh! Hah!" The boy shouted when he swung the blades again. He slashed some more as he jumped and spun through the air. When he came back down he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Then he looked to his right at the dead tree before starting to impale it with the blades. He soon was out of breath as he continued to plunge them. Zuko quietly walked up behind Lee before saying, "You're holding them all wrong."
Him surprising Lee caused the boy to fall back with a yell and disappear in the sunflowers. Lee slowly came back up and faced Zuko with a sunflower on his head. Knowing that he had been caught, Lee stood up and held the swords to Zuko. Zuko took them, but instead of being angry with Lee, he said, "You need to keep this in mind, these are dual swords-" He brought them together in their combined form, "Two halves of a single weapon."
He moved back a few feet to demonstrate what he was talking about. He fluidly swung them around as he said, "Don't be thinking of them as separate weapons, because they're not." He moved and swung again. "They're just two different parts of the same whole."
Zuko quickly spun around before slicing the heads off of a few more flowers with the left blade. Maneuvering the blades to where they sat horizontally in his arms, Zuko walked back over to Lee and presented him with the dual swords. Lee carefully took them before moving his arms and the blades like how Zuko had. He spun them around before turning and rushing at the tree. Then with a yell he was able to use the blade in his right hand to slice a stick from the dead tree. Zuko was a little surprised and impressed with how Lee had learned that. When he landed, Lee looked over to Zuko who had a smile and nodded in approval. Lee gave a happy grin before he and Zuko started to make their way back to the farm.
"I think that you'd like my brother Sensu." Lee said as they walked down the path. Lee had a smile when he said, "He used to show me stuff like all the time when he was around."
"I'm sure that he'll be home soon." Zuko said with a reassuring smile. Lee still had a smile on his face as he appreciated Zuko's words.
The next morning, Zuko started getting ready to hit the road. Gansu, Sela and Lee all came walking out. Sela had a lunch box and handed it to him.
"Here, this should get you through a few meals." Sela said. Zuko was about to take the lunch box. But the sound of rumbling came in the distance and everyone looked to see a huge dust cloud heading their way. They all looked to see the soldiers riding up to them on armored ostrich horses. 
"What do you think they want?" Gansu asked.
"Trouble." Zuko answered.
Gansu glared at the oncoming soldiers and questioned, "What do you want Gow?"
"Just thought someone would tell you that your son's battalion got captured." Gow said, even though he didn't look too upset about it. Their eyes widened to the news. Gow looked to the other soldiers and asked them, "You boys remember what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"
"Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the front line unarmed is the way I heard it." The soldier on the right said. He spit on the ground before darkly chuckling as he said, "Then they just watched it all go down."
"You watch your mouth!" Gansu angrily said to make them stop. Gow didn't like how Gansu was talking to them and rode his ostrich horse forward. But before he could get close enough, Zuko moved his ostrich horse in front of Gow's. Both sides glared at each other but didn't make a move against each other. But deciding it wasn't worth it, Gow said, "Why should we bother rooting around in the mud with these here pigs?" He turned his ostrich horse before looking at Zuko and saying, "I mean it when I say to get out. Hear me."
The group then rode off the farm. But as they left, it caused Zuko to think about another time when tragic news was given.
Long ago...
It was another day in the courtyard of the Fire Nation Palace. Prince Zuko and Princess Azula laughed as they were playing in the yard. Azula chased after her brother across the grass while a servant stepped out into the yard. The servant carried a scroll in his hands and approached Ursa who was sitting under the apple tree by the fountain. She turned to the servant when he stopped and knelled to present her with the scroll. Ursa thanked them before the servant took their leave. Ursa stood up as she read the scroll, but the news on the scroll broke her heart as tears rolled down her cheeks. Zuko and Azula stopped playing when they noticed the look on her face. They walked up to her and she told them, "Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin Lu Ten did not survive the battle."
Prince Zuko gasped while Azula did look at least a little sad. Tears started to roll down Zuko's cheeks as he hugged his mother.
End flashback.
Gansu and Sela hug each other sadly.
"What's going to happen to my brother?" Lee asked as his parents were embracing themselves. Zuko hung his head. Gansu broke the embrace and told them, "I'm going to the front. I'm going to go find Sensu and bring him back to us."
Sela started to sob at the thought of losing one of her sons. Gansu started to walk off, but turned back to Zuko. He approached Zuko and said, "I wish you luck on the road. No matter what those thugs say, you'll always be welcome on this farm."
Gansu walked off with Sela following after him. 
"When my dad goes, will you stay?" Lee walked up and asked.
"No. I need to move on." Zuko said, shaking his head.
Zuko then reached and pulled something out. He handed Lee the dagger that Uncle Iroh had given him. With a small smile, he said. "Here. I want you to have this."
Lee took the dagger and Zuko told him, "Read the inscription on the blade."
Lee unsheathed the small blade and read where it came from, "Made in Earth Kingdom."
"The other one." Zuko quickly said. Turning the dagger around, Lee then read, "Never give up without a fight."
Zuko then started to head out. Lee watched him go before placing the cover back on the dagger. The ostrich horse bleated out as it walked down the path. Lee watched him go until he disappeared into the distance.
Flashback
Zuko and Azula were in another room since not a lot was going on. Zuko once again had his dagger out and pretending to fight an enemy as he swung it around. Then groaned whe he pretended that the imaginary enemy got him. Placing his free hand over his heart he fell to the floor with a thud. Azula, who wasn't impressed, shook her head and commented, "You waste all your time playing with knives. You're not even good."
Zuko blushed in anger to that comment. He quickly got back up on his feet and retorted, "Let's put an apple on your head, and we'll find out just how good I am."
"By the way." Azula said, getting up from her chair. "Uncle's coming home."
"Does that mean, we've won the war?" Zuko asked, not knowing what was happening. Azula glared as she said, "No, it means that Uncle's a quitter and a loser."
"What are you talking about?" Zuko questioned, knowing that wasn't true. He defended Iroh by saying, "Our uncle is not a quitter."
"Oh, yes he is." Azula argued as she went around one of the columns. When she faced her brother and said with an unimpressed look, "He found out his son died and he just fell apart."
"A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground." She told her beliefs of what to do. Leaning up against the column she smirked when she said, "Not lose the battle and come home crying."
"How do you know what he should do?" Zuko questioned, thinking that Azula was being unfair to their uncle. He became sad about his cousin as he said, "He's probably just sad that his only son is gone..." He hung his head when he added, "Forever."
Ursa came walking into the room and said, "Your father has requested a audience with Fire Lord Azulon." Then she ushered. "Best clothes, hurry up."
"Fire Lord Azulon." Azula sneered at the name and title of her grandfather. Zuko ran past his mother as his sister then said, "Can't you just call him 'grandfather'? I mean, he's not exactly the powerful Fire Lord that he used to be." Ursa wasn't liking the way that Azula was talking even when she said, "Someone will probably be ending up taking his place soon."
"Young lady, not another word." Ursa reprimanded. But Azula just ran out of the room while Ursa gave her daughter a worried look, "What is wrong with that child?"
...
The family reconvened in Fire Lord Azulon's throne room. The four sat in a row a few feet from the flaming wall of fire while Azulon sat behind it. Ozai didn't glance to his children and asked, "And how was it that great-grandfather Sozin managed to win the battle of Han-Twe?"
"Great grandfather won because..." Zuko started as he turned to his grandfather, but couldn't seem to remember the lesson. Azula was quick to pick up.
"Because even though his army was outnumbered, he cleverly calculated his advantages." She said before continuing. "The enemy was downwind and there was a drought. Their defenses were burned to a crisp or obliterated in minutes." 
"Very good, my dear." Prince Ozai commended and Azula was proud of herself. Ozai then said, "Now, would you show your grandfather the new moves you have demonstrated to me, please?"
Azula rose from her spot before walking up to the throne. Fire Lord Azulon watched as his granddaughter prepared herself. Azula stood straight up and brought her arms in. Then she extended them out before raising them to where they were parallel with the ground. She faced her right and brought her left hand next to her right before bending once and returning to her normal stance. Then she moved her hands in a circular motion and held them to her belly before moving them in a circular motion and leaning backwards while keeping her hands close. Then she quickly turned to her left before extending both her right hand and foot before launching two balls of fire from them. Then she turned and jumped before unleashing a blast of fire from her left palm at the floor on her right. From his spot, Ozai smirked on how well his daughter was performing. Azula did a few twists, spins and jumps while unleashing a blast of fire. At one point she sent a ball of fire out before bringing it back and sent it away and brought it back again. Zuko was watching in amazement and couldn't help but feel a little jealous about how well his sister was doing. Azula finished by rushing up to the throne and jumping up unleashing a blast of fire with a kick. She landed in a kneeling position and bowed her head. Ozai then said, "She's a true prodigy. Just like her grandfather, for whom she's named."
Azula walked back over to her family and sat down next to her brother. Leaning to Zuko she tauntingly whispered, "You'll never catch up."
It really irked Zuko for her to have say that. Deciding to prove her wrong, Zuko rose up and walked up to the throne. Looking up to his grandfather he said, "I'd like to demonstrate what I've been learning."
This made Ozai's grin fall into a frown. Standing straight just like his sister, Zuko waved his arms before bending at the knees and extending his arms out just as Azula did. Then he brought his hands together and moved them in a circular motion. Then leaning back on one foot, Zuko accidentally set off a small flame. Fire Lord Azulon watched his grandson with mild interest as he had his hands clasped together while watching. Zuko jumped and tried to firebend while kicking, but fell short. His fall caused Ursa to nearly get up, but she stayed back when she saw that Zuko was alright. Zuko took deep breaths before becoming determined and got back up to his feet. He ran up to the throne and jumped up to kick a blast of fire, but once again ended up falling short and fell on his behind.
Azula smirked at her brother's failure while Ursa got up and rushed to her son's side. Tears flowed from Prince Zuko's eyes as he dejectedly said, "I failed."
"No." Ursa disagreed and brought him to where he faced her. With a kind and loving look she said, "I loved watching you. That's who you are, Zuko-" What she said next really inspired and comforted him at the moment, "Someone who just keeps on fighting, even though it's very hard."
"Prince Ozai." Azulon said, not sounding happy. "Why are you wasting my time with this pup?!" Wanting to get it over with he said, "Just go ahead and tell me what you want." He dismissed the others by saying, "Everyone else, you may go."
Ursa, Zuko and Azula all rose off the ground and quickly made their way for the door. But as Ursa walked through the curtains, Azula grabbed Zuko's arm and pulled him off to the side. Zuko was looking very worried when he questioned, "What are you-"
But Azula shushed him as they hid behind the curtains. They moved to a spot and peeked behind the curtains. They saw their father still kneeling before their grandfather as he said, "Father, you must have realized, as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended. After his son's death, my older brother abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he will return home to us?
"But I am here, Father, and my children are alive." He continued while raising onto his feet. But Azulon didn't seem to be in the mood for this as he ordered, "Just say what it is you want already."
"Father." Ozai told him of his wish, "I ask that you revoke Iroh's birthright." Stepping closer to the throne he said, "I am your humble servant," He kneeled as he said, "here to serve you and our nation. Use me."
"You dare suggest that I betray Iroh, my firstborn?" Fire Lord Azulon questioned as he believed that it was a horrid thought. He became angrier when he said, "And directly after the demise of his only beloved son?
"You are just like your grandfather, my father, Ozai." Azulon said as the flames started to rise. He reminded, "He angered our first ally the Titan when he took things too far. And you are doing the same today. I think that Iroh has suffered enough, but you…" His anger greatly flared when he said, "Your punishment has scarcely begun!"
The sight of his grandfather's anger made Zuko quickly run out of the throne room. But Azula cast one glance before looking back through the opening in the curtain.