driftfleet | mingle part deux

You said that they shouldn't forgive her even if you manage to lead her down a different path. If that were truly the case then she'd likely feel at least some remorse for her actions.

[ Not that he doesn't understand why it would be easier or even better to just try to minimize Azula's effect without further trying to talk sense into her. She's already proven to be difficult enough as it is. ]

But they still shouldn't forgive her?

It's not up to me to decide whether or not anyone should forgive my sister. But until she feels remorse, and she repents for her actions? They shouldn't forgive her.

{ quietly. he's tired, and his ribs and arm hurt, and he wants to go to sleep, but he can't.

he pauses before drawing in a breath. ]

I know that if Azula told me that she regretted what she had done, the first thought I'd have would be 'she's lying.'

{ maybe that makes him a terrible brother after all, but azula spared no sympathy for him when he was exiled, and no tears were shed when ozai scarred him permanently. it's a hard road for him to even think about forgiveness, let alone enact it. ]

... words are cheap and they seem even more so for her. You'll be able to spot the lie based upon how she actually chooses to act.

[ Right, Azula would have to prove it. And forgiveness is very different from understanding, too, so being able to offer her one isn't the same as actually processing the full weight of her actions and deciding to allow her freedom from them. ]

I've also struggled with it. But in this one case, if in few others, I may be further along my path than you are... and oftentimes no apology ever comes. I'm sure you're prepared for that.

[ zuko is silent as he absorbs that, and he draws in a breath before letting it out slowly -- a coping mechanism, to ease the pressure in his chest and in an effort to find peace within himself. but it doesn't seem to work, because they're harrowing in on something difficult.

azula doesn't love zuko. she doesn't care about zuko. when zuko defected, she wanted to kill him, and didn't seem to give half a damn if her brother fell off the face of the earth. she didn't miss him when he was exiled, she didn't jump to defend him when ozai attacked him, and she certainly didn't have a second thought in attempting to kill him during their agni kai. she wasn't sorry, and she never will be sorry, and if azula had been made an only child by ozai outright killing zuko for speaking out of turn, zuko is sure she would've preferred that over having an older brother as a risk to her throne.

and, honestly, if zuko were honest with himself, he can't really say he loves azula either. he doesn't hate her, but he also doesn't love her. he doesn't really want her to die, but he would kill her if it meant protecting the people he cares about. azula is everything he doesn't want to be, but she's just as much a product of their family as he is. zuko just chose to take a different path; azula chose to take their father's.

but when it came down to it, zuko spared her. he could've killed her, but he didn't. nobody had questioned him on it, and nobody had demanded her death. they let zuko make the decision, and he decided to spare her. because killing her was something ozai would have done, and zuko had stoutly refused to become his father.

but now that azula is here, like she used to be, and she has the opportunity to avoid all of that in the future, zuko is stuck between wanting to save her, and wanting her to go home and become what she should be, so he doesn't have to deal with it. he's stuck wanting to ensure his sister isn't murdered, and also planning on what the quickest way to kill her is should she elect to slip back into what he last saw her as. there's no middle ground with azula; there is only the inevitable, and that is that zuko and azula are never going to be anything more than at opposite ends of the spectrum. ]

I think I need to find Katara.

[ it's said finally, his tone relatively even.

he can't talk about this anymore. ]

[ Sasuke's brow furrows for a moment in some kind of unreadable emotion or another and he opens his mouth... before closing it, not knowing what words he's searching for but having a feeling he'll find the wrong ones.

He's too emotionally limited to express sympathy the way he wants to and too out of touch with simple comforting words or gestures, rough around the edges in a way he's sure Zuko doesn't need right now. He's spent too long with a family that encouraged silence and strength and then too long after that with people he couldn't trust. Katara is of course the wiser choice, not only because she's likely better at expressing herself and her intentions but also because she's from his world and actually lived through it with him.

His fingers curl into a fist that he balls at his side, finally looking up again with that neutral expression back in place. ]

Yeah. I'll head back.

[ there's a brief silence at that before he draws in another breath. ]

The individual rooms on the ship aren't locked.

[ so. he's welcome to hang out. ]

Healing shouldn't take long.

[ He looks to him again, quietly weighing up the offer while also surveying a deepening dark circle underneath Zuko's unscarred eye. No doubt it matches his own.

They should sleep instead, but... ]

... I can sketch a board on paper. I'll stay if you teach me pai sho later. [ They're both suffering from insomnia. Maybe a happier memory is a better cure than airing weighty problems. ]

[ though zuko had told sasuke that it isn't fair to judge him by the previous version of himself -- and zuko knows that, it isn't, it's horrendously unfair -- he can't help but offer him a significantly less severe look, because playing pai sho was definitely how he and sasuke passed time in adstringendum.

zuko has a current win rate of 83%.

after he forbade sasuke from using his weird ninja techniques to cheat. bastard. ]/

Sure.

[ Sasuke's a great tactician in one-on-one fights but he's no war strategist. He's doomed to continuous losses.

He nods once, however, jerking his head towards the hallway in gesture. ]

Go ahead, then. You look like shit.

Thanks.

[ dryly, with a dismissive shake of his hand. zuko is certain the majority of his 'looking like shit' is the fact that he hasn't slept very well and he's stressed, but.

whatever.

he can tolerate katara's prodding for that. ]

mingle part deux

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