I'm back hopefully for good to continue the stories I promised to finish. I will try to update both stories bi-weekly or hopefully sooner. Finals are coming up quickly. This story needed a complete overhaul in terms of writing and plot , so I'm giving it that. I still have a lot to learn about writing but hopefully those who follow both my stories noticed an improvement over the 5 or so years I've been writing through high school to college now. I drew inspiration from other writers who wrote about this as a plot point a long time ago, and this has been waiting to be released. I hope you all enjoy it.

An AU where Aang drowned at sea. The next Avatar was unrealized. Captured in a Fire Nation raid at a young age. The next was too stubborn to figure out a way, and stayed safe in the walls of Ba Sing Se. The Avatar in this story was born a prodigy. Destined for greatness. Trained in the art of war and strategy, but burdened with the spirit of balance. A child built around the war she must end. After avoiding her destiny for 11 years she is forced into the world on an adventure to save it.

She was three when she first bent fire. Everyone around her knew she would be a prodigy. No one thought it was because she had mastered fire thousands of lifetimes in a row.

She was five when she got upset and a jug of water exploded next to some servants, sending them scattering. They never saw her step from behind her hiding place to look at the mess she made. Monster. That's how they saw her - Ozai's daughter. They were lucky all she did was scare them. Her own thoughts began to take over: Disgusting - Waterbender - Avatar. She began to cry.

She was seven when the past lives started to speak to her. Traitorous whispers that she tried to ignore. This wasn't supposed to happen, however as the old one, Roku, had said, "It was a matter of urgency." It became much harder to ignore the values of the Avatar spirit within her once she'd acknowledged them.

She was nine playing outside, when Ty Lee found out her secret. A botched front handspring had almost ended with a broken neck, but her hands had blasted just enough air to propel her into a standing form. After a moment of dead silence, Azula rounded upon her friend quickly.

"Speak of this to anyone, and you will never speak again." The princess snarled threateningly. It was admittedly a dark threat for a nine year old girl, but self preservation had won out long ago for Azula.

Ty lee's face turned ashen, and her head bobbed up and down rapidly. The play-date didn't last long after that, but Azula was certain her friends fear of her would keep her didn't pick Ty Lee out of all the other girls at the academy because she liked cartwheels after all. No, Ty Lee would not say a word anyone about Azula's bending, because Ty Lee feared her.

Is it better to be feared than loved? The old voice of Roku chimed in, which she ignored with determination.

However, the sobering reminder that she couldn't continue to deny the spirits intruded the forefront of her thought and stayed.

Thus, Azula mulled over her self denial for the remainder of the day in her dark room. Denial would lead to avoidance, and that was something she did not do. No, she was supposed to be aggressive like the cold, blue fire she commanded - always moving forward with controlled purpose. This problem needed to be acknowledged in order to be controlled. The spirits of the past were also becoming more restless. Terrible visions plagued her sleep such as being scorched alive as Aang while trying to escape the genocide. That vision would have traumatized any other nine year old, but the old Avatar spirit could not have her inactive.

Perhaps, taking steps to acknowledge herself would appease them for now. Just enough that could sleep. She threw the comforter from off her legs, and climbed from her bed.

Her hunt for control over her power lead her to the palace library.

For a month she scoured the shelves for information on bending other elements, but came up empty. Then, she found an entrance to the palace tunnels, and her exploration led her to the catacombs, where she found old texts hidden among the skulls of ancient dragons, that described the innate differences between firebending and waterbending. Despite the vague description, after hours of studying the one scroll, Azula divulged the basics of the bending form.

After several nights of practicing the form without water, she decided to find a sufficient place in the palace to practice her heretics bending. The training rooms were eaxctly what she needed. While during the day Zuko's and his tutors occupied the hall, no one used them late at night, and the guards only passed by a handful of times. This made it the perfect place for nighttime bending which she read her connection to the water would be the strongest.

Unfortunately, father also had picked up on her frequent visits to the library. However, he had appeared rather pleased at his daughter's thirst for knowledge. If only he knew what she truly was, then he would have her bound and chained, everything she ever hoped and dreamed for stripped away by her own father and nation.

"The Avatar," she recalled her father's expression looking akin to him tasting something rancid, "hides in the Earth Kingdom behind the walls of Ba Sing Se, and should he be apprehended, he will be chained, and kept alive just enough so that the cycle does not reset." Azula considered this and dared to hope.

"Won't the Avatar be born again in the firenation if he dies? Wouldn't that make the Avatar a firenation citizen?" Azula schooled her face, trying to make the inquiry as light as possible. Ozai only laughed harshly.

"The Avatar's purpose is to bring 'balance'," Ozai spat, "The last firenation Avatar, Roku, had threatened Sozin with death should he attempt to spread the greatness of the firenation, so Sozin killed him, and then failed to wipe out the air nomads, leaving the Avatar spirit wandering the nations, keeping just enough hope alive. The Avatar must be imprisoned for us to see our glorious nation rule the world." Azula swallowed a large lump in her throat and bobbed her head. She had to reconcile with fighting her Father now, just as Roku had once said.

She shook her head at the memory, as the spirit's of her past lives challenged Ozai more and more frequently in her mind, causing a great deal of conflict inside her. As if on queue, Roku chimed in. He is a menace to balance. Consider the suffering of others the rule of the fire nation would bring, you've seen it for yourself. Your duty as the Avatar is to bring balance, It is in your nature-

"Silence," She hissed, "Do not lecture me anymore, I know what he says is wrong, that doesn't mean I can do anything."

Suddenly, someone rapped quickly on her door, startling her.

Steadying her breathing, she called, "Come in."

One of her father's servants stumbled into the room quickly, looking rattled - perhaps it was bad news.

"Your Father wanted me to inform you that your Uncle would be arriving at the palace in a week. He will be meeting personally with him and you are expected to be present." The servant rambled off his message quickly, and was subsequently dismissed with a wave of her hand.

Now, Iroh was thrown back into the mix of the palace. Azula could have cared less, really.

Iroh strolled into the throne room, walking with none of the pomp that came with being a fire nation prince. His clothes had been reduced to traveling wares, dirty and tattered from months of use on end. Azula wondered if this man was truly her Uncle.

The Dragon of the West stopped before the flames her father sat on and looked up to Ozai, then to Zuko where his gaze lingered for several moments, then over to her for only a mere second of eye contact before he focused back to the firelord.

"Welcome home, General Iroh." Azula could hear the gloating smirk plastered on her father's face, as he sat on the throne once meant for his brother.

"Much has changed in my absence, Ozai." Iroh started with a flat tone that seemed to make him seem like a shell of his former self. The flames rose every so slightly at Iroh's casual rebuttal to his brother.

"You will address me as Firelord Ozai now." Ozai sneered, "After your failure to bring down Ba Sing Se, and capture the Avatar, our father revoked your birthright and made me the heir in your place."

Azula watched Iroh carefully, searching for any hint of suspicion in the old man's gaze. However, Iroh suprised her by shrugging.

"Perhaps that was for the best anyways, brother." The flames rose even higher, but Iroh seemed unperturbed, "I never could see myself mounting the stress of ruling a nation and managing a war at the same time at my old age." The flames remained steadily above their normal height, indicating Ozai hadn't missed the continued insolence of his older brother.

"Perhaps indeed." Ozai ground out the words, managing to keep his temper in check. "Welcome back to the palace, your quarters have been seen to and there is an open seat on the war council for all your... accomplishments in the war."

Iroh shook his head, "While I am afraid that my interests lie elsewhere, away from the war, I will accept the seat." A minutiae of suspicion wrinkled Azula's nose. Perhaps Lu Ten's death had shaken Uncle more than she thought.

"If that is all, then I have more important matters to attend to." Ozai's dismissal gave way to quiet breathe of relief from Azula. Iroh stood, bowed, and left as he came, while Zuko stood and ran around to catch up with Iroh. Azula held back a scoff at her brother, but gracefully followed behind, watching them carefully.

"It is good to see you too, Prince Zuko." Iroh hugged the boy tightly, not batting an eye as she scowled and stomped past them both.

That night she found Uncle Iroh practicing something very different from firebending in the training rooms she usually occupied. His arms extended slowly, and he directed one back around, under his stomach and to the point of his other fingers. Azula cursed under her breath, waiting for her Uncle to stop repeating the movements so she could use the room. After several repetitions Iroh finished his bizarre workout, and Azula hid in the shadows, observing as he strolled through the doors, whistling a soft tune as he ambled down the empty hall.

Azula shook her head at his nonsense, and crept into the room, annoyed at how much time she had missed out on. Time that she needed, as she still had yet to truly command the water.

The nights continued in the same pattern for months. Iroh practiced his strange hybrid technique that bent nothing, and Azula followed in after. Eventually an epiphany struck her as she watched Iroh perform the moves for what must have been the thirtieth night in a row. His movements resembled a waterbenders, redirecting a flow of water through his body.

She shivered in excitement, as a sudden curiosity struck her about her Uncle. He had truly changed after Ba Sing Se. Yes, her Uncle was always a peculiar man, but practicing a waterbending technique as a firenation general was unheard of. The revelation sparked hope, and curiosity in her young soul.

So, for a year the young avatar watched her Uncle from the shadows, discovering that perhaps she was not as alone in the palace as she once thought.

Iroh strolled about the palace quietly, humming to himself, despite the anxiety the bubbled in his stomach. In his hands he clutched a letter, that had cleverly been left in the pocket of his armor. The training rooms, at midnight. A single, hastily written, made him less fearful that it could be blackmail, and he was confident in his own fire bending to dispatch any threats, should he be ambushed. However, something egged at the back of his mind that this was something he would not expect, and he took comfort in the silence of the palace for the rest of his walk.

He found himself in front the training hall, hearing only one distinct, light set of footfalls in the room.

Quietly, he opened the doors to the room and slid in, unnoticed in the darkness. The sunroof was opened, letting the cause of the noise bask in the moonlight. A small girl, her back turned to him, stood in the center of the room with a basin of water. Then, she turned her head, beginning a series of movements, and Iroh's brow furrowed at the unexpected, usually haughty face - now serene in the quiet atmosphere of the training room. She almost looked like such a different person without her usual air of arrogance, and malice, but the girl could not be mistaken. Azula. Now, this made him reconsider everything, as to his knowledge Azula only operated under the orders of Ozai. Perhaps his brother had raised suspicions about him.

However, Azula's unusual movements gave pause to his thoughts.

Her arms moved gracefully, not at all like the aggressive motions of firebending. A bizarre idea nicked at the back of Iroh's mind, but he dismissed it as impossible. Yet, he could not tear his eyes away from his niece as she moved around the basin with her back to him.

Then, she stopped, and looked back at him. Panic flashed briefly through the eyes of his ten year old niece before she schooled her expression.

"It's not nice to keep a lady waiting, Uncle." Her voice held no inflection of hostility, but he noticed her pace around empty floor, casually making her way over to him.

"So you were the one who left this? If you wanted to talk you could simply have asked, Niece." His tone was warm, inviting, and curious, but Azula didn't seem to let her guard down. She looked him up and down, then looked back at the basin. After a long moment she swallowed, and addressed him.

"Would you believe me, Uncle? Zuko says I always lie, I'm sure he's told you such things." Iroh nodded, careful not to show his apprehension as the veiled threat of Ozai sending her in his steed played out in his mind.

"I have heard him say that once or twice." He conceded, as the girl casually sat before him, making him do the same.

"Zuko thinks I lie only to cause trouble, but sometimes you have to lie to protect yourself." Now that caught Iroh's attention. What would the daughter of Ozai need protection from?

"I can only imagine you would lie to protect something very important." Azula smiled, nonchalantly, and their eyes met. The bright golden eyes of Azula looked on nervously, while Iroh's darker amber warily regarded his niece.

"I think you would too, Uncle. Especially with some of the things I've seen in your study." She removed an ancient, yellowed scroll, and unrolled it, "You seem to have an understanding - sympathy father would call it - for the other elements. I saw a waterbending scroll hidden among your things." Iroh watched closely as the scroll revealed movements he'd seen her perform moments ago. He wondered just what else she had discovered while snooping around in his study. He decided to ignore that little detail, as scolding would likely cause a retreat from her.

"I picked up on many things in my, yes, I studied with the water tribes for a brief time before I returned." Iroh answered warily, knowing now that she was blackmailing him.

"Yes, you also have changed quite a bit since you've returned from Ba Sing Se." Her phrasing innocently probed him for answers, and her tone didn't seem inherently malicious, but most telling was her the taught brow and nervous tremble of her lips. Her usual arrogance had suddenly vanished and Iroh found himself at a loss. Just why had she called him here?

"War and loss can do that to a person," Iroh answered carefully, still unsure of what exactly his niece was looking for.

"And how do you feel about the war, Uncle? You told my father several months ago that you didn't have interest in the war. Yet, you haven't rejected the fire nations conquests, but I've found some interesting materials in your study, that and you seem to have pulled away from the ways of the great firenation." Her disarming tone contrasted her tense arm muscles, and straight back, but he ignored it. He sensed that for once, Azula did not feel in control of what was happening.

"You are quite observant, Azula." Iroh ventured. The entire conversation felt like a delicate dance around a hidden subject, which Azula seemed reluctant to reveal.

"I've been told. I've also heard some of the things you tell Zuko when you teach him. Little things that change the way he thinks about the world, or at least you try, I think Zuzu is too dumb to know exactly what you're saying. But I do, and I think you ... how should I say this ... your fire burns differently than the rest of the firenation." Azula fixed him with a single, look, that Iroh had seen in his own soldiers before. A strengthening of resolve, the commitment to do something that took a great deal of courage,

"You are correct in saying that." She nodded, as if figuring as much, then stood.

"You have been honest enough, and I think you know what I can do to you after reading through your books. Now, I think it's time I am honest as well." Azula purposefully marched over to the basin.

"I need a teacher, Uncle." She whispered, gazing into the water longingly, "I think you would understand, what it's like to be surrounded by people who don't think like you do. Who cannot teach you in a way that aligns with what's inside you." She swished her hand a foot over the basin, and the water flew from the bowl, spilling onto the ground plainly visible in the moonlight. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and Iroh's heart skipped a beat.

All her strange questions made sense now. Here he'd thought it impossible, even with Roku's suggestion that he begin his search closer to home. That would mean the Earth Avatar had died long before his siege at the wall. Lu tens loss was for naught. No, losing Lu Ten led him here. To a girl who needed his guidance.

Yet it felt, impossible. Iroh had taken Roku's words into consideration, but to think this? That the spawn of Ozai would also be the one to restore balance. It must be fate. He watched Azula stew over the water basin, as he numbly realized she had attempted a crude imitation of waterbending. She is not in control yet.

"I know you see the world in a similar way, I just cant- I" Her voice broke, "I'm the princess of the firenation. Why- why did the spirits curse me? I can't even think anymore Uncle! I wanted fit the role I was born into, but I have two." Her breathing became labored, and the bowl sloshed even further, controlled only by Azula's raw emotion. "And they both operate in opposite to each other. If I want to be the Avat- what the spirits want me to be then I have to sacrifice my own nation for that, and then, if I want to be the feared fire nation princess that has always been in my mind, then I give up something greater than just my nation. I give up a part of me that wants peace and balance! Father doesn't care for that, and I can't please him anymore! I can't even bend this stupid bowl of water! I'm supposed to be a prodigy! I just need a teacher!" Her emotional turmoil struck something deep within him. Her bravery in admitting that their own nation - her own father - was in the wrong mirrored what he went through on his own journey.

Iroh wordlessly rose to comfort her, enveloping his niece in a tight hug.

"The spirits are louder than ever, Uncle - I'm not even very close with the spirit world, but things are urgent, something is coming! I need to take action to quiet them, and Roku has told me I can trust you." She mumbled tearfully into his robes, tugging at the aged general's heartstrings.

"You can. I will teach you everything I know." Iroh whispered fiercely. He'd been under the assumption that Azula was nothing more than a smaller mold of Ozai's character. He'd missed something great by not looking hard enough, and now he thought of Lu Ten. His loss had changed the very nature in which Iroh thought about the world. Now, he realized that perhaps he could find redemption in Azula - a girl - his niece - a princess - the Avatar - Avatar Azula, Princess of the Firenation.