The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 83 [~|~] The Bargain // The Awakening

Azula walked calmly through the Fire Nation Palace, not a single hair out of place as she turned for the Fire Lord's Hall. Pushing through the red curtains, Azula walked forward confidently, Ozai following her movements. Reaching the end of the columns, Azula kneeled, bowing deeply to her father out respect.

"What matter do you wish to speak with me about, Azula?" Ozai asked as Azula sat up into a kneel, her hands clasped in her lap.

"I wanted to speak with you about the traitor," Azula began before pausing. She had predicted that the mention of Azara would incense their father. And incense him, it did. The flames around the Fire Lord rose dangerously as he narrowed his eyes.

"What about the traitor?" Ozai demanded, his eyes flashing with anger as he glared down at his other daughter. "Has she become a nuisance in her prison cell?"

Azula shook her head calmly, knowing she had to be strategic about every single word she used. "No. As far as I've heard, she hasn't uttered a single word since arriving on our shores."

"Then why are we speaking about that despicable traitor?" Ozai growled out, the flames rising around him once more.

Ozai prided himself on making few and far between mistakes. As the second born, he had to struggle to be perfect to win any of his father's attention. But one of his biggest mistakes was allowing Azara, who was on the cusp of true obedience, to travel around with her buffoon of an uncle and her older brother.

He had no intention of speaking about her or seeing her until her execution.

"I have been doing some thinking, Father, and after a lot of reflection . . . I believe that the traitor is more useful to us alive than dead," Azula announced as Ozai's eyes narrowed.

"You would suggest I show mercy to your traitorous sister!? The one who up and left us, left you, for the Avatar and his friends to betray the very nation she was meant to serve!?" Ozai snapped, his voice growing louder with each phrase as he swung his hand to the side in anger.

While Azula was an exceptional manipulator, it was clear that she had at least learned some of her techniques from her father. Ozai was well aware of how Azara's decision to abandon the Fire Nation had harmed Azula, no matter how hard she tried to deny it or argue otherwise.

He may not have been the most doting father while his children were growing up, but he had always been exceptionally perceptive, particularly with his children's weaknesses. He needed to know their weaknesses if he was to improve them, and his children had quite many weaknesses. First, their mother, but she had been taken care of.

Which left Azara.

Azara, even while the children were small, had been the glue between the siblings. She was a natural born peacemaker—a trait that Ozai had hoped to stamp out before—and held the three of them together. Ozai did not understand his children's attachment to each other. But he could use it to his advantage.

"Not mercy, Father, but merely strategic forgiveness," Azula corrected gently, waiting patiently for his response.

"What do you mean by 'strategic forgiveness'?"

"You and I both know that above all Azara is a traitor, one that should have been stamped out before she could do any substantial damage to the Fire Nation," Azula responded smoothly, Ozai nodding at her words. "But the fact of the matter is that she was not. She's already done damage to you, this family, and to the Fire Nation."