LAST EDITED ON Jan-03-14 AT 09:56 AM (EST)
 
So, I'm going to start this post with a comment about the previous story. I kept meaning to type it up there, didn't get around to it, but hey, this piece actually helps to answer it somewhat so might as well stick it here.

I quite liked Agreement in Principle, and the line about snipers sometimes being a statement was particularly amusing. But the ending felt too simple. Beria gets shot, which okay I was expecting, but in the meantime Azulas people manage to neutralize any backup without any on screen trouble and she just walks out? I get that they're very good at what they do, but it felt too simple, too clean. At the time, I was talking to OM, one of the other occasional posters, and he agreed that it felt too easy. It didn't feel like Azula to make a plan go that flawlessly. Her luck's not as bad as her brothers, but it has its moments.

And then this story came out. Okay, THERE'S Murphy. The trouble came after the last mini. I was putting together the pieces pretty quickly, given that the character growth she'd earned in Midgard was trying to leak through. The references to Nuka-Cola were nifty, but it's actually the self-understanding I really enjoyed.

But it's the second half I really enjoyed. What with Azula's crew having the skills and loyalty to make it to Asgard, work out what was done to her, and counter it, which really does help to show just how they pulled off securing the building in AiP, Zuko... being Zuko, bad luck and all, and then the two of them teaming up to take their father down once and for all.

It must do Azula a lot of good to get confirmation that she certainly wasn't hallucinating the start of her life, assuming she hadn't found said proof before. I am curious as to if Ursa was her mind trying to warn her, or if she really was there. Both options are certainly possible at this point.

>"Looking good, Captain," she said, then added wryly, "I think you might be a
>little too young for me now, though. Just my luck."

I'm guessing Azula lost a few years, although I hope it was some trick on her fathers part to maintain the illusion, and not her being killed and her afterlife being diverted... Although I suppose that would then lead to her taking her crew and heading off to break out of the Afterlife.

Great piece.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter