Author's note: Content warnings for heavily implied domestic abuse, non-graphic depictions of murder and death, emotional abuse, depictions of post-traumatic stress. This story will allude to characters and events revealed in the avatar comic The Search, but you do not need to be familiar with that story to understand this one.

Chapter One: Escape

After Azula confirmed her worst fears, Ursa acted quickly. Zuko was to die by her husband's hand before sunrise. She sent a silent prayer to Agni and Ravi to give her strength, and she did the only thing she could think of: she went to her husband. She found him standing in front of a window in his chambers, flooded with moonlight.

"Ozai! Please don't do this! Send him away! Hide him! Just tell your father you-!"

"No." He said calmly, "The Fire Lord ordered me to present the boy's corpse to him after the deed was done. There is nothing you or I can do."

You mean there is nothing you want to do. Ursa thought. She dipped her head, closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in frustration. Then she looks up at him again. Her voice cautious, her gaze determined. "What if I made a deal with you? Gave you something in exchange for Zuko"s life."

"You have nothing I want."

"You want the throne."

Ozai briefly glanced back towards his wife before directing his eyes back to the window. "Tempting. Go on."

"My mother is a master herbalist. From her, I learned how to make an untraceable poison that we'd sometimes use to make her patients pass peacefully, as if they had simply fallen asleep. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless, and fast-acting. It's ingredients are commonplace, harmless on their own, but deadly when combined." The last part was a lie. The poison needed only one ingredient, one she had already carefully hidden away, but she did not want Ozai to know how to make something so dangerous. "I can make this substance from plants in the gardens and poison a tray of Azulon's favorite tea."

"Clever. But his death isn't-"

"I also," she cut in, "know where the second inheritance scroll is." Ozai whirled around to face her, a brow quirked in surprise.

If a Fire Lord had more than one heir, he would write his chosen successor's name on two scrolls: one that would be made available to the public and the other would be hidden away in the palace in a location known only to a trusted few. After the Fire Lord's death, the scrolls would be compared and if they were deemed identical, the heir whose name was on the paper would become the new Fire Lord.

It was a system Sozin had enacted on the advice of one of his concubines, something he had only agreed to because he had already outlived most of his other heirs and he saw it as a failsafe against the brutal succession wars that riddled the nation's past. Azulon had made it clear in his public scroll that Ozai was never to inherit the throne. That right would go to Iroh or any of his grandchildren. The only other person who knew the location of the secret scroll was one of the few Fire Sages who actually took his job seriously. The man was a talented seer, too important to get rid of and too modest to be swayed by any bribe.

"How did you-? When did you-?" Ozai grabbed her by the wrist, his eyes blazing onto her own, "Where is it?!"

"I will tell you only after Azulon is dead, and you swear to spare his my son's life." Sweat beaded on Ursa's forehead, but her gaze remained firm and unyielding.

He lowered her arm and released his hold. "Very well. I give my word that I will not lay a hand on the boy. On two conditions. First, Azulon already suspects me, so you must poison him yourself. Second, after the the deed is done, you must leave the capitol and never return."

"Fine, but I take the children with me."

Two sets of eyes, angry and measured and firm, bore into each other in the moonlight.

"No. The children are my collateral. If you ever return, I will kill them both."

o0o

Soon after, with Ozai's blessing, she went to the Fire Lord's chambers under the pretense of discussing future marriage arrangements for her children. She brought a tray full of his favorite tea. No one thought to question her intentions. No one saw sweet, soft-spoken Ursa as a threat. No one noticed the powder she let fall from her sleeve into the cups when the guards let her into the dimly lit room alone.

She presented the tea to her her father-in-law, then she bowed before him as he sat up in his bed, her face to the ground. "Fire Lord Azulon, I-"

"You've come to beg for your son's life." Azulon said, casually taking a sip of the tea.

"...yes," she peered up at him cautiously, then she kneeled, raised her chin and held his gaze. "I ask that you take my life instead."

Azulon raised a brow. "And what makes you think Ozai will mourn for you more than his firstborn son?"

"Because he has never taken a concubine or another lover. He sees me as the only woman worthy of him because of my beauty and the strength of my bloodline. It would be a much more fitting punishment for Fire Prince Ozai to lose his most prized possession than...to lose a son he has never cared for." Ursa's voice slowed as if she were realizing something as she spoke.

There was a pause, as he considered her words. "Very well, I will spare the boy."

"Thank-"

"Wait, I did not finish, my dear." A sadistic smirk creeped up Azulon's lips, and Ursa was chilled to the bone. Her brow furrowed but she forced herself to remain calm as he continued. "I will spare the boy, but you and the girl will die in his stead."

Ursa's eyes widened, "But-! "

"Because you would dare to defy my will, I see now that it would be better to punish you both." Azulon snarled. "And what better way for Ozai to suffer as Iroh has than to lose both his favoured child and his treasured wife?" The Fire Lord's smirk was now a full-blown sneer as he saw the look of pure horror on her face. "Now, is there anything else you would like to ask of me?"

She bowed her head in resignation.

"Good. Now leave me so... I may finally..."

Ursa looked up, her face hardened as she watched the Fire Lord.

Azulon froze. His body sagged, his jaw slack. He could move nothing but his eyes. If she waited a few minutes longer, he would fall into unconsciousness and Ursa could grant him the mercy of a peaceful death. But she did not want to wait.

She wanted him to know just who was responsible for his last moments.

Ursa calmly got up and walked to his bedside. Azulon stared at her, unable to move, speak or bend as she stood over him. If he had accepted her proposal, she would have left without a word, he would have woken the next day unharmed, albeit a little sluggish. But because he had refused her, his had sealed his fate.

She she poured more of the powder into what was left of his tea and forced it down his gaping mouth. Then, she leaned over him and covered his nose and mouth with a hand, and forced him to look into the cold fury of her gaze with the other. After several minutes, when his pulse had stilled and the fire faded from his bloodshot eyes, she repositioned his body to look as if he had just settled into sleep.

Then she turned just in time to see her husband leering at her from the now-open doorway. Behind him, the guards were gone.

"Well. I did not know you had it in you, dear wife." His eyes gleamed in the candlelight, "Now, tell me, where is the second scroll?"

She looked at him askance, her face rigid. There is no guarantee he will keep his word. she thought. There is nothing stopping him from giving Zuko a life of misery. The boy is too much like me...if I cannot save both…

She steeled herself and willed her voice not to shake as she spoke, "No. Not unless you let me take my son with me."

He narrowed his eyes and frowned. "That was not part of our arrangement."

Sweat beaded on her forehead as he stalked towards her, but she swallowed and held his gaze, "You've seen him as nothing but a disgrace to your name since the day he was born. He is of no use to you."

"True, but if you take him now, he could very well become a problem later." He loomed over her and grinned, an expression more akin to a predator baring it's teeth than a true smile. "And if you try to run with him, nothing is stopping me from killing the girl and every traitor that dares to helps you."

She flinched and quickly quelled the heat she had instinctively gathered at her fingertips. She knew from experience that she could not fight him. This would be a battle of wits. She considered her next words carefully. "Azula is a firebending prodigy, with the potential to become the heir you've always dreamed of. You would never kill someone so useful." Ursa narrowed her eyes at him, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Zuko is still a boy, and if he spends his formative years as a commoner, he will not have the experience and connections to challenge you when he comes of age. Even if he tries, you could easily have him assassinated or claim he is an imposter if you tell the world that he died after we leave."

Ozai frowned, his gaze turned calculating, "But you are privy to some of the inner workings of the capitol. How can I be certain that your skills will not be used against me?"

"Your father was mad. Your brother is a fool and a coward. If I did not believe in your ability to rule our nation, I would have never helped you. And if wanted you dead, it would have been done long ago." They were half-truths. She was no longer a woman who would laugh when a General joked about burning a city to the ground, but she did not believe her nation could ever achieve peace with the world. They had gone too far. Ozai was not the man she wanted on the throne, and if he'd restrained himself she would have quietly rid the world of him after his brother returned, but she did not doubt his ability to keep the nation in order.

She raised her chin and continued, "Do this for me and I'll send you a messenger hawk with location of the scroll after I've left the palace with my son. If you do not receive my message before sunrise, or if the scroll is not where I claim it to be, you will have every right to send the entire imperial guard after us."

He considered her, his face unreadable. She stared back at him with a determined expression, then he grit his teeth and broke away from her gaze.

"Fine. Take the boy. There's a guard waiting just outside of the servants' entrance who will escort you out."

She turned, but before she could take two steps, he said:

"Though, I wonder, where will you go now that you have no one else in the world?"

She ignored him and continued towards the door.

"Your parents passed on not long after the wedding...and I had that lover of yours assassinated."

She stopped just before she reached the door, but she did turn to look at him, her voice was strained, "I told you, there was no-"

"Ikem. That's his name, is it not?"

Ursa's hands chilled and she began to tremble. Behind her, Ozai smirked triumphantly, creeping forward until he stood close enough for her to feel his breath on the back of her neck. He reached over her shoulder and held the door closed with a hand.

"You may have not mentioned his name in that ridiculous letter of yours," He hissed into her ear, "but I already knew who he was. I saw your tears when you returned to the carriage that day. I am no fool, dear wife." He spat the last two words out as if it were a curse. "So go, take the boy. It would be a far better punishment to let you live in squalor and suffering than in the luxury you left behind."

He backed away and Ursa fled the room.

o0o

"Zuko, get up. We're leaving."

After Ursa gently shook him, the boy woke to see his mother dressed in servant's clothes and a hooded cloak. "What?" He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes groggily. "Why? Where are we going?"

"On a little trip." She said curtly, handing him a bundle of clothes. "You don't need to put on anything but this. Keep your voice down."

Zuko obeyed, stumbling as his mother led him by the hand down the hallway. They stopped at Azula's room. His sister was fast asleep. As he and Ursa stood in the open doorway, they cast long shadows across her bed. Azula frowned in her sleep, one of her bangs falling across her face. He watches patiently as Ursa gently tucks the stray hair behind his sister's ear and kissed her cheek.

"Goodbye Azula," his mother whispered to the sleeping child, her gaze wistful. "I will always love you...and I hope you can forgive me someday." As she led Zuko out of the room, he glanced over his shoulder at his sister. Behind them, after his back had turned, Azula woke in time to see her mother leading her brother away, then she let sleep take her once more.

In the darkened corridor, Zuko, now wide awake, looked up at his mother. "She wasn't lying, was she?" he whispered. Ursa did not answer, but the tears glistening in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"W-why would he-" Zuko's face clenched in anguish. "Why wasn't I ever-?"

Ursa kneeled in front of Zuko, and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, my son." She whispered. She drew back, and wiped his now tear-stained face with a sleeve.

"Where are we even going?" He whispered fearfully. "How are we going to survive out there?"

Ursa's brow furrowed in worry for a moment before she rested her hands on his shoulders, her eyes intense as she spoke, "Zuko, please, listen to me. If you are to survive - if we are to survive - you need to forget who you are. No matter what happens. You must forget. Do you understand?"

Zuko lowered his gaze, sniffled and nodded vigorously.

Then mother and son fled into the night.