Ursa spent the morning crying in her room. She'd known it was a bad idea to send Lu Ten to the front. He'd barely been at war for a year and now there was no more war for him. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She wishd she could have held him one last time. She wished she had told him that she loved him, that she still cherished the bracelet he gave her on her wedding day. She wished she'd told him how much of a bright spot he was in the darkness that had become her life. She wished she'd told him he was like a son to her. Her grief had settled over her like a blanket, making her sluggish and sapping all life and energy from her. There was nothing more that could be done for him, and if it would have done any good, Ursa would have brought Ba Sing Se to the ground herself.

But she could not, and a thousand deaths would make Lu Ten's passing hurt no less.

The ink in Iroh's letter was smudged by his tears, and he'd told her that he was sorry, that he should have listened. He was giving up the siege; he didn't care what happened to either the Fire Nation or Ba Sing Se. In his words, she felt the weight of his pain, and she hugged his letter close as if it was Iroh, and she said her silent prayers for Lu Ten. Ursa wanted to be there to comfort Iroh and to share in his grief in person, but they were so far away, and he'd written that he didn't know when he'd be able to come back. When he could face the world again. That broken wall held no answers for him, and he'd felt too much grief. Iroh said he was done with war. War was nothing but ashes in his mouth and emptiness in his heart.

Zuko had been crushed by the news. He worshipped Lu Ten, and had drawn some confidence, however fleeting, from his cousin. Lu Ten had been the one to guide him when everyone else said he was a waste of skin. Zuko learned love and adoration, and he was understanding loss. Ursa had not been able to shield her children. Azula had reacted with indifference, never having formed a bond with Lu Ten. Ozai would never let her get close enough to someone to feel pain at their loss. Closeness bred weakness. He should know.

"Mom?"

Ursa turned to see Zuko standing in her doorway. She opened her arms, and he came to her, hugging her just as much as she hugged him.

"It's ok," Zuko whispered. There were no tears in his voice. "Lu Ten had to take down at least fifty soldiers…" He rubbed her head as she had done to him many times before.

Not only had Ursa been forced to watch as Zuko tried desperately to fill the mold Ozai demanded of him, but she'd had to read Iroh's and Lu Ten's letters, with their wild optimism and sureity. There had been nothing but victory for them, breaking through the outer wall, having one general after another surrender to them. They'd been swept up in the idea of finally getting their revenge, of finally, finally having something they thought of as closure for Jian's death. Lu Ten had been molded to a position as well. Terror gripped Ursa. This was the price for filling that mold. Only death awaited her Zuko.

She'd lost one son, and was slowly losing another.

"Promise me," she said to Zuko, her tears coming harder, "promise me that you'll always be my little boy."

"I promise."

"Promise me you'll never die."

"I promise."

.O.

"You disgust me."

Ozai's back was to her as he leaned against his desk.

"Face me, coward, and say it to my face."

"Was it not enough for you to hear it once?" Ozai growled, looking at her over his shoulder.

"It is never enough. How long have you pawed at your father's robes, desperate for his attention?"

Ozai turned to face her, but Ursa only dug her nails into her arms, knowing that if she moved from that spot, she would take the nearest blunt object and beat him to death with it.

"I have never pawed at his robes—"

"What do you intend to do? Smother him?"

"I haven't made up my mind—"

"Don't lie to me."

Ursa's voice was low and dangerous. She'd read the decision across his face the moment he told her of Azulon's 'punishment.' At first, Ursa had been furious with Azulon. She'd thought about everything she'd done for him, how she made his job easier, how she had been his second in governing the nation since Jian's death. He had given her power, and she had done his bidding, and she'd done it well. And this was how he decided to betray her.

Four times, Ursa made Ozai recount the conversation he had with his father, and the more Ozai repeated Azulon's words to him, the more Ursa's anger transferred from Azulon to Ozai.

"Azulon never intended to name you his heir. Not now, not ever in your life. I had that conversation with him years ago, and he looked disgusted at the very possibility."

"Then why did he make this deal with me?" Ozai yelled, flinging his arms wide. "If he doesn't mean to put that crown on my head, then why would he tell me this?"

Ursa turned her back on him, hoping that would lessen the urge to put his eyes out. As Ozai recounted the conversation, Azulon had promised him nothing. Ozai had been bewitched by the possibility and had made dangerous assumptions. He was too eager to get his grubby little hands on that crown, to finally be able to declare himself the best.

Ozai would go through with this murder, then show up in front of Azulon, triumphant and smirking, demanding this crown that was never promised him. Azulon was too smart for this. Pacing, Ursa waited until her anger died down. Azulon probably thought—or hoped—that Ozai would realize the truth. This was another test. The man who'd presided over carefully worded treaties that sounded like cease fires but turned entire islands into colonies with a signature would not be swayed by Ozai's pathetic arguments.

"Do you mean to go through with this? Don't waste my time."

"Yes." Ozai's answer was clear. Emphatic.

This was more proof that Ozai wasn't fit for the throne. He would murder his own heir after claiming that Iroh was no longer fit because he had no heir. And still, Azulon had never said, 'do this thing and I will give you the throne.'

"You will not kill Zuko."

"After all this time when I am so close, Ursa, you will not stand in my way."

Ursa stared at Ozai, and neither said a word. Ozai stalked toward her, but she did not back away from him. Ozai carried tension in his body, like a coiled spring, but so did Ursa. She had been the greatest roadblock in Ozai's life, and she could continue to do so if she chose.

"I will give you your throne, but you will not harm my son."

Ozai scoffed. "You will give me the throne? How?"

"Tonight, Azulon will die, and in his will, he will name you as heir."

.O.

The guards looked at her curiously, but nodded as Ursa walked past them and into the night. She drew her hood up, hoping to better obscure her face as she disappeared down a path that would take her away from the capitol. She'd taken very little with her. Fastened into her hair was Zuko's favorite hair pin, clasped on her wrist was the bracelet Lu Ten gave her, around her neck was a necklace she'd given Azula. With Chem, she'd left a letter for Iroh, asking if he could return the favor. Look after Zuko, she begged him.

There were no tears as Ursa slipped away toward the docks in a nearby city. It would be too risky buying passage on a ship in the capitol. Ursa did not want too many people to know which way she was leaving. Her destination would have to be a secret. From there, she would decide what to do with her life. She would walk to a nearby port town, and hopefully by morning, she would be on a ship taking her away from the Fire Nation.

This was not how Ursa imagined herself being freed from Ozai. She had not imagined that she would be forced to leave her children behind. For a long moment as she stood over Azula's sleeping form, she considered taking her children with her. No one knew what deed she'd done just yet, and they would not question her taking the children away. Only after they were long gone would anyone recall the moment where they fled.

She'd taken four steps toward Azula's bed before she abandoned the idea. Ursa could not bear to take Zuko and leave Azula. It would be Azula who would turn them in, such was the depth of Ozai's brainwashing. At the nearest port town, Azula would make some sort of scene, and draw attention. Soldiers would be aware of their presence, and they would alert Ozai. There would be all kinds of hell for her and Zuko. The kindest thing she could do for them would be to leave quietly. One last time, Ursa hummed for her daughter, then kissed her cheek. Quietly, she closed the door behind her. She'd already said goodbye to Zuko.

No matter what, she wanted them both to know that she loved them.

Zuko and Azula.

A/N: Lovely, wonderful readers, you have reached the end of Lily of the Valley! Thank you so much for sticking with me through this journey! I can't tell you how much your reviews made me smile and delve deeper into character development than I would have otherwise. You guys rock.

I said it once in my note for We Have Come To Terms wherein Ursa and Azulon have a chat before he dies, and I feel it needs to be said again: Azulon never promised Ozai the crown. He never said, "Kill your son, and you can have Iroh's place." I think it was something Ozai assumed. In my head canon, I've taken the theory that Azulon never meant to give Ozai the throne, that if Ozai did go through with killing his son, it would prove that Ozai isn't fit to rule. Yes, Ozai and Ursa could have another child, and hope that it would be a boy, if he could even get within ten feet of Ursa to begin with. For me, the greater oversight would be that Azulon never promised Ozai anything. So Ozai would be wasting a perfectly good heir for nothing. I like to imagine that Azulon would have guards outside Zuko's room/nearby to prevent Ozai from actually going through with it. I guess once I realized Azulon's lack of promising things, that fueled my theory that Ozai was given to large oversights, and probably wasn't as good a strategist as Azulon and Iroh. All the brute strength won't get you anywhere if you don't know how to use it. Even as I type this, I'm getting a plot bunny for what might have happened if Ursa didn't intervene (she never found out) and Ozai went to kill Zuko and was apprehended by Azulon's guards. I also ended up writing Ursa at her most powerful and Ozai at his most submissive. This is the first time Ozai would really get his hands dirty, and maybe he's lamenting the fact that this is the only way his father would give him the throne-by first making him kill off members of his own family. It would be bittersweet. Ursa has all the power, here. I also wanted to reinforce that Ursa cares for Azula still by having her be the last person she visits. She goes to Zuko first, but she stays with Azula longer, savoring these last sweet moments.

So, thanks again for coming with me on this crazy ride! With this, I complete the story. Mischief managed.