Scarcely three months before Fire Prince Zuko's second birthday, his mother gave birth to a baby girl. Fire Princess Azula was Zuko's little sister, and he never forgot that. Even when he wished he would.

Scarcely three months before Fire Prince Zuko's second birthday, his mother gave birth to a baby girl. Zuko was Fire Princess Azula's big brother, and she never forgot that. Even when she wished she would.

-•-

When Zuko was five years old, he saw his father holding Azula in his lap while she chattered to him about something Zuko couldn't hear. She seemed to be asking him questions, as Ozai spoke to her every time she closed her mouth.

Jealousy rippled through the young boy's veins. Why did his father so prefer his sister over him? Azula and he weren't that much different. Though, the more time Azula spent around their father, the meaner she seemed to get. But for the most part, she was a giggly, happy little girl who loved to play with her big brother.

'And why shouldn't she be happy?' Zuko thought. 'She has all of Daddy's love in the palms of her hands.' His mother walked into the room, and Zuko tore away his gaze from his little and ran towards her. "Mommy, Mommy! Wanna hear my story?"

Azula was three years old, and she sat on her father's lap, asking him questions. "Daddy, how come you talk to me more than Zuzu?"

"Because you're better for conversation," Ozai answered.

"Why?" Azula's head titled in curiosity.

"You're more intelligent than him. You understand things that most little children- like your brother- would not."

"Why though, Daddy?"

"Why? Because you are your father's daughter, my dear."

Azula giggled. She suddenly heard her brother's cheers of "Mommy! Mommy!" and turned her head towards the door.

Her face lit up and she eagerly awaited her turn to talk to her mother. Her brother told Ursa about how he'd helped a fish that washed up onshore back into the ocean. Azula frowned as her brother failed to mention that SHE was the one who'd first noticed the little fish, and she was the one who watched it swim away for a full minute to make sure it was safe.

Her frown deepened as Zuko grabbed Ursa's hand and started to pull her out of the room. Ursa laughed and followed the excited little boy. "Mommy-" Azula's call was cut of by the closing of the door.

Her hurt was replaced with jealousy. Why did her mother so prefer her brother over her? Zuko and she weren't that much different. Though, the more time Zuko spent around their mother, the more goody-two-shoes he seemed to get. But for the most part, he was a laughing, happy little boy who loved to play with his little sister.

'And why shouldn't he be happy?' Azula thought. 'He has all of Mommy's love in the palms of his hands.'

-•-

A seven year old Zuko sat at the table in the royal playroom, Azula across from him. It was Ursa's birthday, and the brother and sister had decided to draw her pictures to give her as presents.

Zuko was drawing a turtleduck. He planned to give it to his mom and then take her to feed the real turtleducks in the pond. He was excited, as there were few things the young boy loved more than feeding the animals with his mother.

He looked across the table, where Azula was drawing. He couldn't see her picture, as she'd wrapped her arm around it like you would hide a test. Her tongue stuck out slightly as she focused on perfecting whatever her picture was. With Azula, everything had to be perfect, from her hair to her pictures.

Zuko put the finishing touches on his masterpiece just as Ursa walked into the room. He was about to run over with his picture, but his sister looked at him in panic. "I'm not done yet, Zuzu! I just need a few more seconds!"

Zuko debated whether or not he should wait for her to finish. He was so excited to give Ursa the drawing and go feed the turtleducks with her. With a sigh, he called out. "Wait just one minute, Mom!"

Ursa chuckled, but didn't move from her spot.

"I'm finished," Azula whispered in Zuko's ear.

"All done!" Zuko cheered, running over to Ursa. "Mommy, look what I drew you!"

Princess Ursa gasped. "Oh, WOW, Zuko! What a wonderful picture! Aren't you quite the little artist?"

Zuko beamed proudly. "Do you want to feed the turtleducks with me later, Mom?"

"I would love to, Zuko! But I'm rather busy today. We can go now if you'd like."

"Yeah!" Zuko grabbed his mother's hand and together the mother and son walked out to the courtyard.

"Mommy?" Five year old Azula called after them. "Zuzu?! Mommy?!" She took off after them, barely managing to catch up. "Mommy?"

"Not right now, sweetheart. Later." Was all Ursa said to her before laughing running after Zuko after he yelled, "Race you, Mommy!" and took off.

Azula stood alone in the hallway, left behind. She hung her head as she looked down at the picture she worked so hard on. "Stupid Zuzu," She muttered, stomping her foot. "Always taking Mommy's attention away from me!" She was angry, but that anger soon turned to sadness and tears welled in her eyes.

She walked down the halls of the palace to her room, still careful not to mess up her picture in order to give it to Ursa later. She sat on her bed, carefully setting down the drawing on the desk.

For the rest of the day, Azula attempted to give the picture to her mother. But Ursa hadn't been kidding when she said she was busy. She was stuck having to entertain the wives of nobleman while the men had a meeting.

The only bright side Azula saw was that she made two friends, Ty Lee and Mai. Mai already attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, the same school what both Azula and Ty Lee would be attending the next school year. The girls hit it off and played together the whole night. Their mothers were all relieved that they'd found a way to keep themselves entertained. A playdate was arranged for them at the palace in three weeks.

After everyone left and Azula bid her new friends ado, she went to go get her drawing yet again. She attempted to give it to her mother outside the woman's bedroom, but was met with a very similar answer as before. "I'm tired, Azula. I need to go to bed. You can show me whatever it is tomorrow." Ursa disappeared into her room. She seemed slightly scared, but Azula didn't really care.

She looked down at her picture, tears threatening to spill. She started to run. She ran and ran, not having a clue where she was going. She bumped into someone, and an apology slipped out of her lips as she realized who it was. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

Ozai rolled his eyes. "What do you have, Azula?"

"It's a picture for Mommy's birthday. But she keeps not letting me give it to her. She hasn't even SEEN it yet, and I've been trying to give it to her for hours!"

"Well, maybe she doesn't want it," Ozai suggested.

Azula bust into tears.

"Azula! Stop crying!" Her father snapped harshly. Azula immediately sniffled, and collected herself as well as she could. "'Now, Azula. What have I told you about crying?"

"That it's weak and pathetic."

"Exactly. Are you weak and pathetic?"

"No, sir."

"Then don't act like it. I don't want to see you cry ever again. Emotion is weakness. And I will NOT tolerate weakness from my children, do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"I'm trying to make you strong, Azula. You're the princess of the entire Fire Nation. You have to make your country proud."

"Yes, sir."

Ozai nodded to her before walking away.

Azula sniffled. "No emotion," She muttered to herself. She set the picture she was holding aflame in her hand, but as she watched it disintegrate into ash, she stopped the flame.

She stared at the drawing she'd worked so hard on, in which Ursa was giving Azula a hug. She wrinkled her nose at the irony of the picture before stuffing it in her pocket and running off to her room.

-•-

"She was born lucky. You were lucky to be born." Ozai's harsh words hit his nine year old son in the face like a truck.

"OZAI!" Ursa exclaimed.

Zuko looked over to see Azula smirking. She really did turn out to have quite the mean streak.

"I'm only telling the truth, Ursa."

Zuko frowned. All he had down was say that what Azula had done was wrong. She shouldn't have set her teacher's pants on fire just because he taught a move while using a stance she didn't like. Ozai had obviously agreed with Azula, as per usual.

As the years passed, Azula had grown more like Ozai. She was mean, and often insulted Zuko for getting upset. "Zuzu, stop crying. That's weak. You're not weak, are you? Oh, wait, yeah you are, dum-dum." The thing was, Azula could still be nice a lot of the time. Zuko loved to play games with her.

But he was glad to have his mother, Uncle Iroh, and cousin Lu Ten. He could rely on them for advice on most things. Zuko made a mental note to ask Uncle Iroh what he did when Ozai was being mean when they were kids. He was sure Uncle could help with his Azula problem.

Ursa dismissed the children from the table. "You two go play."

Zuko and Azula shot to their feet. "Race ya!" Azula called, taking off down the hallway.

"Cheater!" Zuko yelled, barreling after her.

Finally, he caught up to her and tackled her to the ground. She laughed and they started to wrestle. Like most siblings matches, neither of them were pulling their punches, but they both knew it was just a game.

A couple minutes later, Zuko felt Azula being yanked away from him. "Azula! Don't fight with your brother!"

"But, Mom-" Azula started to say before being cut off.

"Shut your mouth, young lady. You are seven years old. You should know better than to play so rough."

Azula was furious. Zuko started the fight, and it was no fair he wasn't getting told off for it. "MOM-"

"I know you were only playing, but don't be quite so rough. Bruises are not good for a princess to have." Ursa squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "Do you understand me, sweetheart?"

"But... but he started it!" She finally managed to say. Now Zuko would have to be in trouble too, right? It was only fair.

"I don't care who started it. It's Fire Lord Azulon's birthday tomorrow and you have to look your best. Bruises don't look nice. He would not be happy with you."

"But what about Zuko? He had bruises too! Won't he be in trouble?"

Ursa sighed. "Probably not. After all, 'boys will be boys' is like this family's mantra. Now, run along to your room, you're in need of a bath." Ursa gently nudged her daughter in the direction of her bedroom.

Azula was furious. How come Mom was never fair to her? Zuko got away with everything if Mom had anything to do with it. It made her livid. She stomped her foot, and flames covered her hands. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Life's not fair."

"B*tch," Azula whispered.

"What was that?!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, Mommy!" Azula exclaimed, quickly turning manipulative. "It just come out of my mouth, I didn't mean it!" That was a blatant lie, but she'd say anything if it got her out of trouble.

Ursa seemed to soften. Azula nearly sighed in relief. "You're in trouble, little missy. You will go straight to bed after your bath, do you hear me?"

Azula was flabbergasted that she was still being punished. "Mom-"

"It not up for debate, go to you room!"

Azula frowned before leaning over to Zuko and whispered, "You may have gotten off the hook with Mom, but Dad still likes me best. He hates you." She took off to her room, leaving her hurt big brother behind her. "Now he'll know how it feels," She muttered.

-•-

Zuko looked at himself in the mirror, checking to make sure that his clothes were on right. Now that he was eleven, he wanted to make sure he was fully capable of dressing himself. Even though he was a royal and didn't technically need to know, he thought that knowing how to properly dress himself was likely a valuable life skill.

His hand servant was reluctant to allow him to put on his best clothes alone. Zuko pointed out that clothes would be easy to fix if he did it wrong. His servant had sighed before allowing Zuko to do as he wanted. After all, he couldn't deny the prince.

Zuko caught sight of a picture out of the corner of his eye. It was rather old, a portrait of a family Ember Island vacation years ago. But looking at it made him sad. He saw himself at six standing behind a sandcastle that was as tall as he was. Lu Ten stood next to him, an arm wrapped around Zuko, with Azula on his hip.

The three of them were smiling, happy to be together. Not to mention proud of the sandcastle that they'd spent three hours working on. It could never be like that again. Azula was a bully and Lu Ten was a dead man. He choked back tears and hurried out of his room as he heard his mother call for him.

Azula finished her talent show in a kneeling position before getting up and walking back over to her parents and brother. Grandfather gave her a look of approval. Her heart nearly bursted when she saw her father's proud smile. Zuko looked jealous- that made her grin. She turned to get her mother's proud face as well. It was nowhere to be found. Ursa had an absolute poker face. Azula pouted. How was that not enough?!

She was determined to feel better about her mom's lack of affection. She nudged Zuko and whispered into his ear, "You could never beat that." She knew that he'd take the challenge. And he'd make a fool of himself. Mom wouldn't be proud of him then.

Zuko did exactly as she suspected. Her urge to laugh was immediately squashed when Ursa ran over to Zuko. Ursa comforted him, telling her how proud she was of him.

Jealousy filled hate stabbed Azula in the heart. How come pathetic Zuko got more than her?! Why was she never enough for her mother? It made her blood boil. But deep down, it hurt. It really did. But no one had to know that.

-•-

Two years had passed since their father took the throne. Ozai had gotten worse after Ursa disappeared, but Zuko had never expected to find himself kneeling before his father, begging for mercy in an Agni Kai. His mother would have been horrified that Ozai would ever do that to his thirteen year old son.

His eyes searched the crowd. They finally landed on Iroh and Azula. Iroh was biting his lip, his worry evident even from a distance away. Azula, on the other hand, looked excited. She'd basically been attached to Ozai by the hip ever since their mother's disappearance.

She believed every silver tongued word that fell like an apple from their father's mouth. Zuko should've expected this reaction from her. But yet, it still hurt. His eyes turned to his father as he continued to beg.

Ozai reprimanded him. "You need to learn respect!" He harshly stated. Zuko screamed as a fiery hand clasped his face.

Azula had been summoned by her father. She hadn't seen him since he'd banished Zuko two days before. Nervousness filled the eleven year old. Was she in trouble? Did Dad somehow find out that she snuck some stuff into Zuko's bag when no one was looking? Even if he did, she couldn't possibly be in too much trouble for it. It was only Zuko's favorite book and small portrait of him and Ursa from a few months before Azula was born.

Of course, she'd also exchanged Zuko's mediocre burn salve for her own top of the line stuff. (On occasion, Ozai would personally train her in fire bending combat. She often ended a with a few very mild burns. The family physician gave her the best stuff available anyway, because well, she was the princess.) But there was no way anyone could know that. Zuko himself probably didn't even know about the switcheroo.

Azula hurried into her father's throne room. She knelt before him. "You requested me, Dad?"

"I did. I wanted to tell you personally that you are now officially the crown princess."

Azula grinned. "But, wait," She voiced. "Isn't Zuko-"

"He's banished until he can find the Avatar. And that's a wild goose chase."

"You don't think the Avatar is still alive?"

"No, I don't."

"Then why'd you send Zuko-"

"Silence." Ozai boomed. Azula shut her mouth quicker than a platypus-bear trap. "It's none of your concern. Just focus on your power. You went from last in line to the crown princess in two years. Be pleased with yourself. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Azula left the room. Well, at least she wasn't in trouble. And she WAS the crown princess now. Maybe she should be happy. Then she gave herself a decisive nod. She WAS happy. She wouldn't allow herself to be otherwise. Zuko was banished now. He was none of her concern anymore.

-•-

Of course, we all know how the story ends.

Zuko finds the Avatar and restores his honor, though not in the way he expects.

Azula becomes one of the strongest firebenders in history, but she loses it all.

Zuko is crowned Fire Lord at the age of sixteen and restores peace and hope to the world.

Azula ends insane and locked up in a mental institution at the age of fourteen, unable to understand that love is stronger than fear.

Together, they're able to find their mother. Zuko is once again a Momma's boy. Azula, well... she's left still unable to accept that love is stronger than fear.

Not quite the happy ending you'd expect, is it?