For Azula to have always secretly adored him

As he sat in front of Azula, Zuko felt cornered, even though his sister was the one imprisoned and bound. But he felt helpless. How could he reach her, how could make clear to her that he didn't harbor her any ill will? He thought to Katara and Sokka, the Watertribe siblings he had grown to call friends. Though they often disagreed and squabbled, sometimes even physically so with Katara using her waterbending skills to prank her brother, the bond between them was strong and obvious.

He and Azula were different, sadly. Their squabbles and fights had escalated to full on duels to the **** at some point and their bond right now was almost purely one of blood and not any kind of kinship, he sadly realized.

"I'm not here to mock you, Azula, I promise.", he started. Then stopped. Then began anew. "I wanted to see how you were doing. I wanted to see if I could help you. I know sending you here and then not visiting for over a year wasn't exactly a brotherly thing to do, but I just couldn't do it. Not like you'd have let me help you then. But I want to make up for what has happened. To you. To me. To the world. And I can't even begin to do that while you're still in here.", he poured his heart out to her.

But Azula only rolled her eyes dismissively at his honest feelings.

Zukos shoulders slumped. This wasn't going the way he had hoped, not at all. He had come here, hoping to rekindle some kind of sibling relation with her, to share some of the affection he still felt for her. But she wouldn't have any of it. He only wished that Azula could feel similarly about him. That she always looked up to him, though she hid it away because she wanted to impress her father more. And all the things she did were done out of a mistaken devotion to him and now that he was gone and had shown her how little he cared about her, that she could start expressing some of that adoration.

He knew it was a foolish desire, childish even. He couldn't just change Azulas heart by simpl-...

"Well? Aren't you going to make up for what you did?", Azula interrupted his bleak train of thought.

"Huh?", Zuko asked dumbly, blinking at the question. He had figured she'd only glower at him angrily from now on, that she'd refuse to talk to him any further. He hadn't expected this almost non-chalant question.

Azula sighed at her brothers slow uptake. "You said you wanted to make things up to me. So, how about you let me out of this accursed jacket, for a start?", she clarified, nodding down at the white garment that kept her arms securely locked in front of her body, underneath her cleavage. His gaze roamed over her form for a moment, hesitating. "Do you promise not to hurt anyone if I do?", he asked her, looking directly in her eyes, trying to see if he could trust her.

Again, Azula rolled her eyes, but this time more flippantly than before, returning to look right back at him quickly. "Ugh, fine, fine... I do promise to be the best little prisoner I can be. There! That good enough, Zuzu?", she asked with a mocking little smile.

This was still a fairly sarcastic response, but it was more light-hearted than before, which gave Zuko some hope. "I suppose so.", he replied with a nod. "Hold still.", he told her and he was pleasantly surprised that he really did hold still as he undid the clasp holding the straitjacket. One by one, the fabric loosened until it finally fell away completely. Azula gave a pleasant hum in response and stretched her arms languidly above her head.

While doing so, Zukos gaze fell again to her chest, where he noticed that the red robe she'd been wearing underneath was starting to slip a little loose as well as she relieved some of the tensions and... he quickly averted his eyes, not wanting to even start down that path. Ever since Mai had left him, his nights had been very lonely indeed, but he wasn't that...

He was jolted back to reality again as he realized Azula had stood up in front of him. He scrambled back to his feet as well, much to Azulas amusement? "Aww, what's wrong, Zuzu? Afraid I'll attack you?", she asked him, one corner of her lips curled into a grin. Though Zuko didn't want to admit it, the danger she presented was still real. "Don't worry, you little turtle duckling. I gave you my promise, didn't I?", the dark-haired princess assured him with a little laugh. "So? What's the next step in my rehabilitation program?", Azula asked him.

She was clearly itching for some sort of entertainment, Zuko could tell. And he figured that was fair, having been cooped up in this place for a year when she had been travelling the world before, it was easy to see that she was eager to get out of it. Was it a good idea to indulge her, though? Perhaps he needed to just take a chance on her, but the consequences could be dire... could he really trust Azula?