Instead of Zuko, it is Azula that Firelord Azulon demands to be sacrificed. This single change shall ripple across the fate of the world; Ozai shall not be Firelord, Azula shall question everything she ever knew, and the world shall be very different when the Avatar returns.
Official Summary
Azula the Sacrificed is a Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction by AkumaKami64, where Azulon, to test Ozai's resolve as future Fire Lord, demands him to sacrifice Azula. This, surprisingly, not only backfires on Ozai but also exposes an existing crack in the royal family.
Link
to FanFiction.Net version.
Link
to Archive of Our Own version (though this one hasn't been updated as often as the FFN one).
Beware of spoilers!
Azula the Sacrificed has the following examples:
- Adaptational Context Change: In canon, Zuko's face is burned by Ozai because he doesn't want to fight him in Agni Kai. Here, it was because he was grazed by Ozai's fire as he pushed Azula out of the way before Ozai could kill her.
- Adaptational Intelligence: In canon, Azulon is stated to be a Horrible Judge of Character toward Ozai's hunger for the throne and lack of love toward Zuko. Here, he has more than an inkling, enough to ask Ozai to kill Azula for insulting Iroh mourning over Lu Ten instead of Zuko like in canon."I am not blind, boy. I know your son lacks your favor. You proved it in this very room, allowing her to make him look like a fool. Is that your revenge, Ozai? You detest your firstborn brother, so you neglect your own eldest for the younger?"
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In canon, even from a young age Zuko and Azula were never close due to Azula being their father's favorite and constantly belittling Zuko to prove she was better than him. Thanks to Azulon's Secret Test of Character and Azula's resultant Heel Realization, she ends up closer to Zuko due to wanting to become a better person.
- And I Must Scream: In the Fire Nation's mythology, the souls of those Agni, their God, judges unworthy will be barred from the reincarnation cycle and must endure the Penance of Ash, where their soul be bonded into their cremated ashes until He deems that they have served their penance.
- Ascended Extra: Compared to Ozai and Sozin, there is little known about Azulon as Fire Lord or as a character in general in canon. Here, he's one of the focus characters.
- The Atoner: After seeing that his Secret Test of Character has Gone Horribly Wrong, Azulon tries his best to amend his mistakes by trying to be a better grandfather.Ursa: In the next few days, if your schedule permits it, will you care to join us for a meal, Firelord?
Azulon: The Firelord will not be there, no. *Smiles softly* But an old grandfather will find the time, yes. - Changing Yourself for Love: Azulon admits to Ursa that he was trying to invoke this when he arranged for her to be wedded to Ozai instead of Iroh, hoping that his younger son's love for his wife would temper his ambition for the throne and soothe his personality to be a kinder person, like how it did to Iroh.
- Comically Missing the Point: After having a nightmare, Azula asks Zuko if he would still love her if she is a monster, referring to her seeing herself becoming like Ozai. However, Zuko thought the question was literal, and answered that not only he would still love her, but he would ensure that no one could harm her.Zuko: You mean like a dragon?
Azula: Huh? A dragon?
Zuko: I mean, I don't know what Koh the Face Stealer looks like. But if you were a dragon, that'd be pretty cool. Or maybe something like a giant hawk-bear? Or a Sea-Gorilla? Maybe a huge Salamander Rhino that's on fire? [...] But yeah, I'd love you even if you were a monster.
Azula: ...If I was...a dragon, wouldn't you have to slay me, like Uncle slayed the last one?
Zuko: No, I'd just outlaw dragon slaying.
Azula: Zuzu, only the Firelord can do that.
Zuko: Yeah, well...I'd figure something out. I can't let anyone hurt my baby sister. - Didn't See That Coming: Ozai expects Azulon to attempt to punish him for trying to usurp Iroh as the heir to the throne just because he no longer has an heir by sacrificing his child, but he didn't expect Azulon to want him to spill Azula's blood instead of Zuko's.
- The Exile: Azulon gives this as Ozai's punishment before branding his neck with firebending.Azulon: You are hereby stripped of everything you ever were. For all intents and purposes, the man you were is dead, never to return. And you will be banished from all lands that belong to the Fire Nation.
Ozai: You old fool, you can't-
Azulon: Do not declare what I can and cannot do, Ozai the Nameless! - Gone Horribly Wrong: Azulon performed the Secret Test of Character on Ozai because he wanted to see for himself if he could mend the bridge he accidentally burned by favoring Iroh as the crown prince and always thinking the worst about Ozai before he passes away, only for Ozai to prove his worst assumptions right by trying to kill Azula, and for Zuko to be injured by the attempt.
- Heartfelt Apology: Azulon apologizes to Ursa, and later Azula, for trying to use the latter as bait for Ozai's Secret Test of Character, only for Zuko to be grievously injured in his attempt to rescue Azula."I am an old man, child. Older than most ever hope to be, and knowing that Agni will call for my departure at any time leaves me with a desire to die with as few regrets as possible. But sometimes, avoiding one regret creates many more. [...] I wanted...I needed to know, Azula, if I was right about Ozai. I had to know if he had become the monster I thought he was. [...] If I was wrong, I would have known I had been blinded and biased against my youngest child. And that is a regret you will never want to bear, Azula, thinking the worst of your child yet knowing you might have been wrong, that your eyes had refused to see their true worth. But as I was right...I knew that Ozai would bring ruin to not only the Fire Nation, but our entire family if left alone. Yet I was a fool. I used you as bait for the very beast I sought to protect you from. You are not to blame for anything, child. You should have never been in a position where you thought your own family would kill you."
- I Am a Monster: Azula sees herself as one from the combination of her beliefs that she's Ozai's favorite child, The Un-Favourite of Ursa, and that Zuko's injuries were her fault. She even begs Ursa if she can undo what (she thinks) Ozai has turned her into.Azula: M-mom? [...] Can...Can you teach me so-something?
Ursa: If I can, Azula. What is it you want to know?
Azula: ...Can you teach me how not to be a monster? - Indignant Slap: Ursa gives one to Azulon after learning that he almost let Ozai kill her child.
- Intoxication Ensues: Zuko has one from the painkiller he was given for his injuries, giving Azula a Twirl of Love as soon as he finds her, to her embarrassment, and calls Ty Lee "Monkey-poodle" and Mai "The pretty one", to the latter's embarrassment. This mortifies the now sober Zuko when Ty Lee tells him what happened a week later.Zuko: *Blank face* My honor is shrinking.
- It's All My Fault: Azula blames herself for Zuko's injuries since he got them while trying to protect her.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: During her alone time near the garden, Azula's psyche sees her reflection in the pond as a version of her that still looks up to and emulates Ozai, mocking at how pathetic she has become and dares her to stop her "good girl acting" before Zuko snaps her out of it.
- Mark of Shame: Azulon burns Ozai's neck until it is black as a branding that displays his status as The Exile.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Azulon has this reaction when Zuko is heavily injured because Ozai actually follows through on his "demand" to kill Azula when he was expecting him to be unable to go through with it and give up.
- Ursa reacts this way when she realizes that, by neglecting Azula and being overly protective towards Zuko, she has unknowingly made Azula see herself as The Un-Favourite.(After finding the burned family photo) "Azula, my baby...what have I done to you?"
- Nightmare Sequence: The night after the attempt on her life, Azula has a nightmare about Ozai turning into a dragon and killing her, then her funeral, where she sees how few people are attending it, before facing Agni, who proclaims that her soul is deemed unworthy and about to give her the Penance of Ash.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Zuko realizes that something's wrong with Azula when she asks if he does care for her and says that she loves him, something Azula never said to him before.
- Parental Favoritism: Deconstructed; Azula is Ozai's favorite child, the same man who tries to kill her to seal his position as the crown prince. This shakes her to the core as she starts to re-evaluate herself and question if she is a terrible person because she has been trying to emulate him as a result of being constantly spoiled & praised by him.
- Parental Neglect: Deconstructed; Deep in her mind, Azula sees herself as Ursa's The Un-Favourite as her mother always spends her time and attention more on Zuko than on her while Ozai does the opposite. But now that Ozai has shown his true colors and is exiled from the family, the bad thoughts surface in full force, with Azula now believing that Ursa doesn't love her because she is terrified of her for being too much like Ozai.
- Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: After overhearing Ozai agreeing to kill her, Azula visits Zuko's room to say goodbye to him, and tells him that she loves him, to his shock, before the guards locate her.
- Removed from the Picture: When checking the bedroom Azula destroyed in her anguished rampage, Ursa found a family portrait that was burned in half, removing Ozai and Azula from the picture. This is what convinces Ursa that she's responsible for Azula's Chronic Self-Deprecation.
- Riches to Rags: Ozai inwardly lampshades that he is turned from the second in line for the Fire Nation's throne to the most wanted criminal in the land.
- Secret Test of Character: After Ozai tries to persuade him to make him the Crown Prince as Iroh no longer has an heir to the throne from the recent death of Lu Ten, Azulon wants to see if Ozai can endure the suffering Iroh experiencing as they speak, by demanding Ozai to kill Azula, the favored child of his two kids, hoping that he would fail the test out of his love for his daughter. Unfortunately, Ozai's desire to become the Fire Lord is bigger than his love for his family and would have killed Azula if not for Zuko Taking the Bullet for her.Ozai: *As the guards were ordered to find the royal physician for Zuko* What is the meaning of this, Father?! I was about to give you what you demanded before the boy interfered.
Azulon: Interfered? Interfered!? Is that what you call saving his sister? You still haven't realized it, Ozai?
Ozai: Realized what?
Azulon: I told you that you must suffer the same pain as Iroh. This confirmed what I feared, that you are INCAPABLE of understanding such grief! You would toss aside anything and everything to secure the power you covet! And in doing so, you have proven yourself unfit to be Firelord! Unfit to even be called my son! A man like you would not just burn down our enemies, but burn out the Fire Nation itself with your ruthless ambition.
Ozai: *Glares* You tricked me.
Azulon: No, Ozai, I only confirmed your true nature. As far as I am concerned, the royal family has indeed lost someone today. Not another one of my grandchildren, but rather my own son. - Super-Power Meltdown: Witnessing Zuko injured by Ozai because of her causes Azula's firebending power to turn the surrounding fire blue as she shoots lightning all over the throne room, hitting Ozai thrice before he runs away.
- Underestimating Badassery: Ozai attacks Azulon as soon as the latter declares the former's exile, forgetting that, despite his elderly age, Azulon is still the Fire Lord.Azulon was the Son of Sozin. The Son of the Comet. The Firelord of what was approaching to be a Hundred Year War. Old age could not rob him of his strength so easily or completely.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Ozai flees during Azula's Super-Power Meltdown and escapes the palace to go into hiding rather than face his official exile.
- You Are Not Alone: Azulon's letter manages to remind Iroh that, while he does miss his son, he still has his nephew & niece whom he loves like his own children and who love him back.I know I have already asked much of you, but I believe Ursa's children need you. And while I cannot pretend to know your feelings, Iroh, perhaps it is you that needs them as well. You are not the only one that grieves for Lu Ten.
