It was a nice day in the fire nation. The sun was shining, the breeze was pleasing and the guards were running around screaming about a white cat. As far as Azula was concerned that meant the world knew what was good for itself and was following her orders well enough, now if only the inhabitants of said world could get with the program! That would be nice but judging by her brother's adorable scowl, being 'nice' wasn't in his plan ...for now.

Confident as she was about getting her way in the end, Zuko was proving to be particularly uncooperative today, which shouldn't come as a surprise given he had been increasingly so since their 'dear' mother's departure and all the threats and taunts she had thrown at him had only made him dig his heels in the ground even more, and she was starting run out of both, not that she was going to try the same thing over and over when it had proven ineffective, that's what an earthbender would do and they were hiding behind their wall for a reason.

Though it was not as if she could just walk away from him either, even if she might be able to get Zuko to sullenly follow her that way, as he did not have much choice in term of company since Mother left, it would look too much as if she was giving up and Zuko was doing her a favor, like she had evaded the problem, just like a useless airbender would do, and she did not want to end up like them, they were ...well let's just say that at least earthbenders were still a thing.

This left her in a bit of a bind, carrying the superiority of fire over those inferior elements could be truly limiting sometime.

'What a baby!' Azula never had any trouble keeping him in line when Mother was still around but she goes away and Zuzu immediately starts forgetting who's in charge! He wasn't even against her idea, he just wanted to stomp his feet and throw a fit.

Azula suddenly started to realize that her mother was coming up in her thoughts a lot more than she wanted, and while her first instinct had been to crush that train of thought before it went any further, she stopped herself as a peculiar notion crept into her head.

After all, Zuko never did that kind of thing when Mother was around, even when he had clearly wanted to, he always held himself back? Could Mother hold the key to making Zuko fall in line? It might be worth thinking about, Father's teachings did fail her in this particular case and Mother had to have at least some trick up her sleeves for Azulon to accept her as his son's bride, as she had proven that fateful night.

So now the question was: 'What could be the key?'

'What did Mother do or say to Zuko that succeeded where Father's effort failed? Zuko always obeyed Father when he was around but that went right out the window whenever Father left the room, while even gone and never returning, their Mother kept her hold on Zuko and his every action, so it's clearly different from what Father did"

And so Azula did something she really, really did her best to avoid most of the time, she thought about all those times she saw Zuko and Mother, by themselves, happy and laughing, without a care in the world, without her and rather than dismiss them as fast she could, she started paying attention to what they were actually doing, what Mother said and did, and how the her memory of Zuko reacted to every word and gesture.

Saying Azula wasn't impressed would be a massive understatement, but her conclusion was undeniable: Mere nice words and comforting gestures from their Mother had more sway on Zuko than even the most complex trick and power play taught by her father.

That was a rather hard pill to swallow, especially given how said lessons by Father were given only to her and tended to be rather tiring, even for a child prodigy like Azula, but Father certainly hadn't taught her to hide her head in the sand and play pretend just because of something as trivial as her prized lessons to become a proper member of the royal family being outdone by something a mere turtleduck could emulate well enough, at least she could console herself with the fact her brother seemed to be an outlier when it came to that.

And so, she simply accepted that this, whatever you would call it, might be her best bet to get what she wanted.

She steeled herself before focusing back on Zuko, whose cute little scowl now had a touch of worry and confusion in it.

'I might have thought about my next step a bit too long...' Azula suddenly felt her face heating up a bit. '...but that might be for the best, I assume that Mother's method is probably easier to use if he isn't too riled up anyway.'

Taking a calming breath, Azula took a few steps toward her brother, not stopping until she stood right in front him before gently placing her hand on his arm and looking up directly into his eyes with the most innocent and accepting face she could make.

"Listen, Zuko, I know you miss Mother, and I understand, it's completely normal..." That was obviously a lie, the royal family was above such things. "...it doesn't make you weak..." That was another lie, he was weak and feeling like that made him even weaker. "...and you've got nothing to be ashamed of." That one was a BIG lie, perhaps the biggest of them all. Father would never tolerate him being that pitiful in front of him."...To be honest, I feel the same, I miss Mother a lot too..." Going by the tightness in her chest as she said that, Azula might have to admit some lies were too big even for her to tell. "...but moping around won't help, that's not what Mother would have wanted. We both know she would have wanted us happy and getting along, so how about we just go have fun now?" Azula finished by taking her hand off his arm and presenting her hand for him to take.

Zuko's face cycled through different emotions as Azula went, surprised and doubtful at first, then sad and disbelieving, a mixture of shock was next, followed by empathy and understanding before finally settling on a fragile and honest smile of sadness with some hope mixed in. He didn't even hesitate before taking the offered hand and getting dragged away to whatever game Azula wanted to play. ...He was truly a fool and that soothing ache in her chest was definitely just the satisfaction of getting her way as usual.

(X)

Zuko was no fool, no matter how much he might feel otherwise when dealing Azula, when he messed up during practice, or when Father gave him that 'you not only failed my test, you didn't even realize there was one' look, or when...fine, he often felt like a fool, but he really wasn't one, okay?

So as a proud non-fool, he was pretty sure that Azula hadn't exactly been sincere during her latest (successful) attempt at getting her way. It might have been how her 'innocent' face looked like it was saying 'dare question my intentions at your own risk', or how her 'gentle touch' felt as mechanical and fake as one of those nobles smiles ...or perhaps it was how she had passed the last hour throwing death threats his way and two hours before that taunting him?

All of that before suddenly freezing and just straight up staring at him for five minutes, followed by a blush he would never admit to finding cute, and Azula suddenly telling him everything he ever wanted to hear since Mother left, it was safe to say that he had more than a few doubts. Which might make you question why exactly was he currently letting the little sister who's sincerity he'd just put into question and who blatantly tried to manipulate him emotionally, lead him by the hand to a game he didn't even remember the name of if he wasn't a fool amongst fools? Well, if you find the answer, you might want to share it with Zuko, because he was wondering that very same thing.

'She probably only did all that to test some new idea she had about getting her way but ...does it really matter?' Zuko continue to ponder this as they ran, and despite his best attempts to keep up, he was practically getting dragged by his sister! 'It doesn't really change that it was pretty nice. Azula hadn't looked me in the eyes since she started her special training, it "wasn't necessary for the crown prince" according to Mother (according to Father, I wasn't worthy of them) and yeah, she hurt me a bit when she took my hand but it's been a while since anyone did that...'

Zuko pointedly left out how that 'while' could also be called 'since Mother left', after all, Father was never the most physical person even when their family was at it's happiest, Azula usually kept a security distance from him as did he, and the servants wouldn't ever dream to look a member of the royal family in the eyes, let alone have any kind of physical contact, so now that their Mother was gone, basically no one was willing to even touch him ...Except Azula apparently now, even if only get him to play her game.

'I mean, if she's nice, why would I want to stop her? It might not be sincere, but it's not like a nice Azula isn't good by itself.' Zuko considered his options as he replayed the scene from barely a second ago in his mind, with a particular focus on Azula's face as she said she missed Mother, an expression so honest, he doubted Azula even knew it had happened. 'We might even be able to go back to how it was before, when we were still a family.'

But in the end, Zuko had to admit that beyond all questioning and justification, what truly cemented his decision to give Azula what she wanted was the face she made as he tentatively took her hand. His hope still fragile and drowned in the hurt of their Mother's departure, it was that face which turned that fragile contact into a grip that held even as Azula ran as fast as she could. It was the face of a little sister he hadn't even really known and could barely remember, the face of a little sister his Mother had once told him his little two (and a half!) years old self swore to protect, long before he'd learned that there were things he just couldn't stand up to, let alone protect her from, said things included Azula herself ironically enough. The face of a little sister he didn't really mind being nice to, the face of a little sister he could maybe actually protect even if she could protect herself probably better than he could, the face of a little sister he didn't mind playing with.

And so Zuko kept his grip on her hand, did his best to keep up with Azula and let himself be dragged to her game.

'Because, if I do, I might see more of that Azula.' Ignoring the pain in his wrist and pushing his legs just a bit more, Zuko made his decision. '...and that might just be worth it.'

(X)

"This is so going to be worth it!" Azula thought to herself as she finally started slowing down, her little arm already thanking her for not having to drag her dead weight of a brother anymore. Though given his puzzled look, Azula might have actually voiced her thoughts without noticing, which might be a problem going forward if it became a habit.

"So? You're ready?" Azula gestured toward the old goat they called an instructor, she only had to deal with him when Father wasn't handling her training personally, and the Twins, Li and Lo, were too busy to take over the task, but that was already too much in her mind.

"Uh, Ready for what again?" Of course that would be Zuzu's answer as he nursed his wrist, the baby. "I kinda forgot what you wanted after the first hour."

It was unusual for Zuko to actually admit to something that made him look like the fool he was, he even looked a bit guilty about it for once, and his admission probably had nothing to do with using it as an opportunity to remind her of her own faux-pas. ...Obviously not, since she had nothing to be ashamed of, if anything, the hours she had taken to enlighten her foolish sibling were something she should be lauded for and the heat creeping up her face was just his stupidity taking its toll on her.

"Urgh! So much for it being worth it." Azula muttered to herself, shaking her head and missing the somewhat dismayed look on Zuko's face. "Okay, so little reminder, we're playing 'burn the old goat', a game invented by me, and therefore one you should be honored to play. The goal is to trip the mummy you call an instructor, and burn his ridiculous beard before running away, understood?"

While she didn't think Zuko would immediately jump with joy, even if she thought he should have, she certainly didn't expect him to look a bit worried and ...was that a bit of fear? Zuzu was truly pathetic, not only caring about such rabble but being afraid of them too, he'd probably mop the floor with the elderly instructor in an agni kai. Zuko might have been a bad fire bender, pathetic even really, but he was Royal Family bad, which was still light years beyond that jumped up drill instructor turned babysitter for the rich.

"Lala, I don't think it's a good idea, the instructor was chosen by Father!" Zuko was clearly forgetting his place, she did not treat him like a fool one time and he's already using the pet name she hasn't allowed since she was five. "...and we need to respect our tutors, we can't learn if we question their ...authority?"

Well, at least he had the decency to look unsure about those stupid tutors having authority over either of them.

"Listen, Zuzu, I'm only going to say this once: Father doesn't tolerate fools, no matter who made them into fools, if we mess with those idiots, they're the one who get punished." Azula, clearly losing her temper a bit at the idea that any of them could actually order her around! "...and they do not have authority over me, they do not teach me, I merely accept their counsel, they have dirt in their veins and I have the blood of the greatest lineage in all the nations! I have the authority, they don't...and I guess it goes for you too...somewhat...maybe. Anyway let's burn his stupid beard and send him to one of the colonies."

Zuko seemed nonplused by her near tantrum and instead turned his attention toward the old man, she could almost hear the gears turning in his head before he narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Okay, let's do it, but I don't see why you needed me for that game, seems like something you can do alone." Zuko was clearly asking more out of curiosity than out of some desire to back out.

"Who said I needed you?" Azula immediately snapped back at him, more out of reflex than anything, and the look that almost immediately appeared on Zuko's face was one she couldn't really identify but it really didn't look amusing like his usual frustrated reaction, and she really wasn't in the mood to decipher the whole new boring face Zuzu made up. Especially not with that weird sensation in her stomach at least, so she decided she might as well just play her newest card again. "I just wanted to play with you, dum-dum, and I'm sure you've got more than enough reason to enjoy this game."

She might have left out a few things, like Zuko still being much bigger than her, an advantage she always did her best to make him forget, which is surprisingly useful when tripping up someone.

And just like that, his new look was gone and Zuzu started looking ...touched? There was also the same glint she saw in his eyes whenever he thought he was close to getting back at her, though she assumed it was directed at the old goat this time. This might warrant some digging around next time she is bored, she could not have some no-name tutor tarnishing their name by making their weak link look even more pathetic.

"You trip him, and then I burn his beard." Azula took Zuko's silence as a go-ahead. "After that, we run away and see if we can burn his eyebrows, double the points if we get both in one go!"

Zuko simply nodded at that, and the game was on. Their dear tutor sure didn't see it coming, one second he was walking with his hand behind his back, the next he was on the ground and Azula was already setting his beard on fire.

Obviously, as a firebender decent enough for their father to let in the palace, he managed to put out the fire, but not before it was too late for his beard. It took a few seconds for the old man to realize what had just happened, which just made him even more useless in Azula's book, if they were assassins, he'd be dead already, killed by a 9 year old girl and her dummy big brother, which was already too good for him she guessed.

But once he came to his sense, the game was truly on! He immediately started running after them and did his best to repay the insult. Obviously, it was a piece of cake for Azula to stay comfortably outside his reach but Zuzu was truly surprising her this time, he was closer to his grip than Azula but always managed to weave and dodge just enough at the right timing to leave their nominal tutor grasping at the air.

He was no Ty Lee, obviously, but he had his own way of moving that was no less impressive. It seems she did not give enough credit to his training under that non-bender Piandao, he even gave her a clear shot to his hair with his acrobatics.

After five minutes and a dozens more trip to the ground for their tutor, he only had half his hair and one eyebrow remaining, even his Fu Manchu fell prey to Zuzu moments ago and all he could do about it was run after them while gasping for breath. Such low stamina wouldn't fly with their father at all, Azula was sure of that.

It was time for the game to end and for them to tally their points, they just needed to deal with the worn out toy that was still wheezing behind them as they made their way back into the palace and that's when she had an idea. A quick glance toward Zuko told her that he was thinking the same thing. It seems that he had more of Father in him than she thought. It was time to remind that peasant who truly had the authority in this palace.

As one, they suddenly stopped running right as they reached the open door leading back to the palace and turned back to their soon-to-be former tutor, who had almost fallen over again while trying to halt his momentum, he seemed surprised for a second before anger erupted again on his face.

He had started to step toward them, probably thinking that they had a given up and was ready to lecture them before making up some kind of punishment ...that was before he noticed the almost identical haughty and neutral expression on their faces, he seemed particularly shocked by Zuzu for some reason.

"We're bored now, you're dismissed and can go back to your usual duties." Azula used her 'perfect princess' voice while pretending to examine her nails.

"I'm not so sure about that, Azula, do we really need such a weakling working at the palace?" Zuko's voice was an almost perfect imitation of the Dragon Emperor's, and the glint in his eyes was eerily similar to Father. At least if being a Prince didn't work out for him, he could have a decent career as an actor.

Azula seemed to ponder Zuko's question as if the decision hadn't been made before either of them had even spoken.

"No ...I do not think that we do, Zuzu, thought it might be rather harsh to just throw him out..." She responded to her brother while not paying any attention to the tutor who quickly went from confused, to outraged, to terrified, and he was suddenly almost as white as his remaining eyebrow. "I'll ask Father to send him to one of the colonies, the streets are warmer there I have heard."

It was an obvious lie, the colonies were usually colder than Caldera but feigning ignorance made it all the more entertaining as the hope on his face quickly collapsed under that same realization.

"Well, I guess that's decided. You can pack your belongings, we no longer have need of your services." Zuko spoke with a tone of finality, the old goat didn't even try to argue with their decision ...at least he was smart enough to learn his lesson quickly.

Their former tutor still seemed to be in shock, he barely managed to numbly bow and spew forth the usual pleasantries before turning around, probably ready to bolt to escape this situation, as if that would change anything.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Zuko's stern voice rang out, surprising both Azula and the old man "My sister is taking the effort to speak on you behalf, even going the Fire Lord to give you a trip to the colonies, isn't there something you should say?"

Sometimes, Azula forgot Zuzu was her brother and not just some maid's son she had taken in as a playmate. Occasionally, she forgot that for all his failings, he was still the closest thing to an equal she had, and then Zuko did or said something that reminded her clearly of the blood they shared. It was times like this, where he made an old man bow and scrap before her for a few minutes, she is sending him to an underdeveloped mud hole of a colony and her Zuzu made him thank her for it, this was just perfect!

After the old man finished his pathetic attempts at gratitude and left, Zuko and Azula waited until he was well out of earshot, keeping the same unwavering noble expressions on their faces before suddenly collapsing into a fit of laughter.

"The idiot thanked me, you made him thank me." Azula was unable to control her mirth any longer. "We just kicked him out and he thanked us! He looked so dumb trying to be serious with a single eyebrow!"

"And did you see his hair whenever he bowed? Half of it was gone!" Zuko had trouble breathing between his chortles. "You know, sometime, I forget it, but I love you, Lala."

While Zuko said it without thinking and immediately went back to laughing, hearing it gave pause to Azula, it made her feel ...something. She wasn't sure she liked it, but didn't really want to push it down either and, well, being whatever that was had worked well enough today, she might as well keep going. Azula thought she remembered one of the maids calling it 'being nice', it certainly was an unusual manipulation tactic, she would have to explore it further.

"Love you too, Zuzu." Azula spoke with a fondness she hadn't really planned, she was really even better at lying than she thought.

Zuko was still busy laughing as she spoke, but quickly stopped after hearing it. He looked unsure, as if he was wondering whether he had just imagined it before settling on a smile that Azula hadn't seen in a long time. It was both fond and knowing, as if what she said was as simple as saying the sky was blue and they had just forgotten, the fool.

"You know?" Zuko put a hand on her shoulder as they walked inside the palace, an annoying reminder of the height difference between them. That said, it was strangely more pleasing than usual "I think you were right, that really was worth it."

"I'm always right Dum-Dum," Azula had a familiar smirk on her lips as she replied. "...And you'd do well to remember it ...for your own good."