Chapter 444: The Past of Zuko's Mother
"WHAT? Burn this letter. I don't care if you are legitimate or not. I am not going to sit on the throne the man who tormented me sat," Azula voiced.
Iroh took the letter and read it. He was shocked too. He didn't know anything about this matter.
"Uncle, do you know about this man named Ikem?" Zuko asked.
Iroh took a long breath and started speaking. "Zuko, Azula, your mother wasn't originally someone from the capital or anywhere nearby. Before the marriage, she had never even met Ozai.
"Some sage had prophecized that if Ozai was to marry a descendent of Avatar Roku then it would bless them with powerful firebenders as children in the future. Father(Azulon) believed it. He and Ozai then went to a village named Hira'a.
"By that time, your mother had her own peaceful life. Since her young days, she knew this boy named Ikem. Eventually, they fell in love as they grew up. I had even heard that Ikem had proposed to her and she had accepted to marry him, though it only lasted for a day before her life turned upside down.
"When they met her first, father complimented her beauty before mentioning a prophecy made by the Fire Sages that ensured a powerful lineage of rulers to come forth from a marital union between a descendant of Avatar Roku and his own bloodline. Ozai subsequently proposed to Ursa, and she, without a choice in the matter, agreed.
"She mostly stayed sad as she couldn't find herself to forcefully love Ozai, which I can't blame her for as he was really not that good when it came to interacting with other people like a normal human, he treated her like his property and she was not allowed to even think about her family or past life, this was up until you two came. Then you two became the joy of her life.
"It was not love that brought your parents together but just a marriage for the gain of the royal family. Your mother didn't have a choice. I had not heard anything about Ikem after that and I didn't try to find out either.