The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

From This Monstrosity

It was midafternoon, Zuko and I had just gotten back from my visit to my father's new family.

We were both just chilling in Zuko's room, I was mostly just still processing new information.

"I hate him so much." I stated after a while of silence.

"Yeah, I bet."

"Like, he's so pathetic. I don't even know why I was having nightmares about him. He is just manipulating, he has no power." I said, a sudden surge of confidence in me.

"Well, technically he does have power. He's the royal doctor. I bet he has access to everyone's medical records in the Fire Nation." Zuko thought aloud.

"Who decides if he is the royal doctor?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess my dad." Zuko said.

"How can I convince your dad to fire him?" I questioned.

"You can't be serious. You're willing to talk to my dad about this?"

"Well, I sorta already did. I made him suspicious. So I figure it won't be too hard to put the final nail in the coffin." I presumed.

"Yeah, but then you'd have to like, speak to him." Zuko said.

"Maybe Azula can help. She loves to make people suffer." I said with a tiny smile.

"Don't involve Azula with your dealings. It will only lead to trouble." Zuko warned. He silenced himself as he heard footsteps outside the door. He opened the door to investigate, but no one was there, only a scroll on the ground. He picked it up, and I looked at him with curiosity. "Why would someone leave a scroll on the ground?"

"I don't know." Zuko said. He sat back down next to me and opened the scroll.

"I can't read it what does it say?" I said eagerly.

"You need to know the story of your great-grandfather's demise. It will reveal your own destiny." Zuko read aloud.

"That's pretty weird." I said. "Who knows how your great grandpa died?"

———

"Didn't you pay any attention in school, Zuko? He died peacefully, in his sleep. He was ancient." Azula said after Zuko asked her about Sozin's death.

Zuko stared at the royal painting in front of us, his brow furrowed in anger. He started walking back to his room, and I stayed next to Azula. "I'll be back later, Zuko." I turned to Azula. "Wanna help me do something?"

"Sounds boring." Azula replied, looking at her nails.

"But it involves ruining someone's life!"

"Count me in!" Azula said with joy. "So what is this all about?"

"I hate my father, so we need to talk to your dad into firing him from his royal doctor position."

"Ok, that does sound fun, but talking to my dad is a lot of work. We would need to have a very strong case." Azula cautioned.

"Well, I can make a strong case. Y'know, he's been giving citizens this drugs that makes them sick so they keep coming back and giving him money."

"Smart man." Azula stated. "But I don't think that will worry my dad much. If it isn't personally affecting him, he won't care."

"How about my father lying to yours about a 'missionary trip' he took for 20 years?" I suggested.

"20 years? How old is this guy?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably like   50-something."

Azula started walking, and I followed. "It's a compelling argument, but I'm not sure. Talking to my father is a big risk, I wouldn't want to be on his bad side, like Zuzu is."