Forged In Fire || ATLA

Love Story

The Avatar and the Fire Lord

"We were both young when I first saw you. I close my eyes and the flashback starts, I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air." - Sarah Cothran (Taylor Swift)

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Previously

Zetzu had learned at a young age that being his Fathers's least favorite child came with certain benefits. Since there were far fewer expectations for him to amount to anything worthy of his family's legacy, he could come and go as he pleased in a way his brother and sister had never quite been able to. Looking back on it now, the Prince found it beautifully ironic. His family's conscious decision to largely ignore his existence would soon be their downfall.

Despite whatever Azula might have wanted to believe, Zetzu had always been the smartest and most clever of their siblings. Sure he may have spent most of his childhood bouncing back and forth between being starved of attention and horrified of being seen, but eventually he learned to use the general lack of care of his existence to his advantage. Being largely unnoticed and mostly unwanted meant the young Prince could slip through the shadows and watch from the first row as history unfolded before his very eyes. He listened, he learned, he studied, internalized, and observed. He absorbed text, moments, and mannerisms like a well-fed leech; more than that, he had developed an uncanny ability to retain information and emulate desired traits.

Ultimately that was how they had come to be and really, he supposed that wasn't a bad thing. Anyone was much better than the alternative - a meek and meager perpetually eight-year-old boy, forever disturbed by a conversation he wasn't meant to hear and couldn't fully remember.

Zetzu loathed that broken child at the core of their very being. He never wanted to be that boy and thankfully when it mattered most, he wasn't. This time, at least.

The Prince's audience with the War Council couldn't have gone better. It was his first sitting with his Father's advisors since his newly assigned bullshit title, and Zetzu had promptly proven they could not only talk the talk but walk the walk. He supposed his success was greatly in part thanks to the man he prepared to see now.

After all, the grand and accomplished General Iroh was one of the few that the best version of himself was based on. Zetzu had watched and worshipped the man despite his Uncle's obvious preference for Zuko, though the Prince didn't really hold it against the General. This Zetzu was patient, understanding, and forgiving.

He understood that his twin was a greedy bastard who demanded more attention than he deserved. He forgave their Uncle, their Mother, and their Aelita for falling victim to Zuko's bullshit. He waited patiently for it all to blow up in his brother's face.

And along the way, Zetzu had added some of the little traits and mannerisms he had gleaned from their Mom and Aelita, both women loved and adored by their people and nearly everyone they had come in contact with. The Prince had channeled bits of all three in his meeting with the War Council, and it had worked beautifully in his favor.

An aerial fleet and a seed planted in his Father's mind. Spirits, Zetzu truly couldn't have asked for more. No one suspected a damn thing, and the Prince was close, so fucking close to perfecting the poison that would allow him to force Aelita into the Spirit State at his will.

She'd forgive him eventually. He reminded himself of that as he strode unabashed through the palace halls. Even after genuinely impressing the Fire Lord and his advisors, no one much cared what the Prince did after they dismissed him for the remainder of their meeting. He had found the note from his Uncle waiting for him in his room. No one would even notice that Zetzu was gone.