A/N: This is a part of a collaboration with my team for the semi-finals round of the Probender Circuit, so it does have other parts. (Which I have listed in these notes.) It has been a long time since I've actually posted anything for this, so I'm glad to say that this is the one that I've written the best and the only one I've so far to take myself seriously on.

Task: You are collaborate on one large story, with each team member writing one chapter of the story, about how your actions and interactions with someone can have positive or negative effects on you in the future, through their subsequent interactions with others.

Word Count:966

No prompts used.

Other Chapters/Parts of this story:

Part 1:The Fall of the Blue Dragon: Display (By yours truly.)

Part 2: The Fall of the Blue Dragon: Solidarity (tonberrys)

Part 3: The Fall of the Blue Dragon: Solace (Writer1001)

Part 4: The Fall of the Blue Dragon: Victory (DragonMaster65)

"Hey little brother." A slender hand touched his shoulder as Azula sat down beside him with all the grace in the world held in her poise.

Zuko declined the offer to speak to her for the moment. It wasn't that he was in a mood or was playing chicken, he didn't want to . He was thinking deeply about all sorts of random topics and he needed his attention span to last a little longer before he gave in to her cunning ways.

"I don't see why you enjoy sitting out on these steps all alone, ZuZu. It's like they hold memories or something. But seeing as we've never been here, I don't think we need to discuss any sort of memory, do we?"

He had to break his concentration to glare at her "I thought you'd respect someone's quiet."

"I wish I could. Alas, I fail to let a sleeping dog lie most days." She snickered with all the intention of unnerving him.

The beach had a way of putting everything to a halt. They'd been here for a few days now, but nothing really hit Zuko in any significant way so much as the fact that he disliked having to be with his sister so much. And now here they were, trying to have some sort of strange talk and she was prompting him to react. This was how conversations with Azula had always gone.

"What is on your mind this time?" Zuko asked.

"Watch that tone."

"What are you pursuing, Azula? Do you have something to tell me?"

"You're so smart, ZuZu! Oh yes, I do have wonderful things to tell you. It benefits both of us so I would like it if you don't tell anyone else around us right now." She had a glint in her eyes that he suddenly didn't like.

"Go on."

"Well, you know how I've been gathering my forces to help Father when the time comes? I've also been practicing my own sort of magic to wield. Oh Zuko, you should see it. I've used it for years of course but now it's stronger than before."

He stifled his glare at the girl beside him, running a quick hand through his hair. Azula, having always been the prodigy he was not, had had plenty of people in her life to prod her on towards what they thought of as "greatness". She could always practice whatever she wanted from a very early age.

Some said Zuko could have been just as amazing had he been raised right, but even he knew this was not the case. Azula was her father's daughter and she was a prodigy and she was the hope the Fire Nation had.

"Why so quiet? I didn't think you disliked me this much." She huffed.

"Azula, whatever makes you want to see all bow at your feet is something that I've come to accept as is." He kept his statement brief.

"Ah, good. So like I was saying, you have nothing to fear. Oh, and I've been planning on using my friends to help defeat those who come against us, but they are not nearly as impressive as me."

That was almost true. Mai - who was in fact lurking around here somewhere, along with Ty Lee - was fairly impressive in her combat skills, and Ty Lee was horrifyingly adorable. She was a distraction as much as she was a threat.

"Don't give me that look, you obviously agree." Azula gave him a glare.

"Okay, yet if I do you'll say something else." There wasn't any hesitation to arguing with her about things anymore for him. He was not hesitant to dispel her attempts at making him upset.

They sat in silence for a little longer, not a peep from Azula with any smart comebacks which came to him as a surprise. They sat there watching the sunset and the sky change colors slowly across the water before them. This was the absolute most peaceful they had ever been when together.

Zuko wasn't one for unnecessary words unlike his sister. He never wasted them on bragging except for when he was hunting down the Avatar. Although that felt childish now. Azula still bragged, she still boasted of her attempts at making things right in her own eyes.

Growing up was a long and arduous process, and in Azula's case it had been spoiled rotten. He wondered if he would have turned out the same if he had been more like her.

"Well that was almost a nice talk. Better luck next time, bro." She smiled as she stood up, stretching her back out as she did.

"Better luck next time when you aren't forcing your knowledge in my face." He replied coldly and sneered as she walked away.

Zuko was better off without his sister anyway. Maybe it would be better if he severed their connection entirely. For years he'd been floating in her shadow. Time and time again he regretted having any relation to the girl who lived in front of him.

No matter what happened whenever the day came that lines were drawn and everyone was brought to each other's necks, he knew one thing for certain: Azula was a threat to all, and if she was allowed to have her way, the consequences would be immense. The weight of her actions would bring the world as they knew it to a terrifying end. Even their own father wasn't able to contain her power.

The decision was clear: the defeat of Azula would prevent total destruction and reformation of the Fire Nation and all of its territories. Zuko knew without a doubt that he had to destroy every last bit of sanity that may be left in her mind.

And he couldn't do it alone.