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***
When Prince Ozai was a boy, he learnt the rules quick.
He is not Crown Prince Iroh. He is not loved, he is not welcome, and Azulon looks upon his accident of a second son with nothing more than total contempt.
Ozai does not pursue the same path as Crown Prince Iroh. He does not become a General in the war. He practices his Firebending, and eventually gets very, very good at it, but he is Iroh. He does not stay on the front lines and command legions. He does not bring town-after-town of Earth Peasantry into the Fire Nation fold.
Ozai is a palace creature by nature, and perhaps that only furthers his Father's disappointment, or perhaps disappointment too, is simply an act of Father's nature.
Fire Lord Azulon is a cruel man, and Ozai sees clearly, in one moment.
He will never be the son Azulon wants, even if he was an Iroh.
But he can be the son the Fire Nation needs, if he just plays his cards right.
While Iroh studied war, Ozai studied politics. While Iroh hunted dragons, Ozai honed lightning.
Iroh was born lucky. Ozai was lucky to be born.
So when his first son, Zuko, is born to the noblewoman Ursa, despite barely showing a spark,
Ozai decides, even if his son disappoints him, it would be better not to show it to his face.
***
When Azula is born, Ozai can almost feel the spark of flame within her. She will be the most powerful Firebender this family has seen in generations. Perhaps the most powerful Firebender this family has ever seen.
Azula has potential. That much he sees. He tries, one last time, to get Azulon's attention on her, by bestowing her with the man's name.
It fails, of course. The children of Azulon's accident are little more than time-wasting pomp. Azulon focuses on prepping Crown Prince Iroh and his son for the Siege of Ba Sing Se they plan to undertake in a few years. To give them resources to control the coastlines and carve a path through Full Moon Bay.
When Azula grows to make fire, Ozai celebrates. Mochi for dinner tonight is a must.
Azula takes after her father. She clings to his every word, his every praise. This is good. This is very, very good.
Zuko asks if he'll get a celebration when he makes fire. Ozai agrees.
Even if the boy never throws a flame, it is good to get him motivated.
Ozai makes sure that Zuko & Azula spend time together. For he knows when siblings are different, and he knows one who is strong may inspire one who is weak.
Why not give Azula time to show her mother and brother just how powerful she can be?
Why not give Zuko time when he asks how he can be like Azula?
Why not give Azula time to really get to know the little friends she makes at school? She's excelling at all her classes and is gonna graduate years ahead of schedule, anyway.
Why not give their mother time to engage in activities - no matter how frivolous they are - like plays and beach vacations and outside time, so they can see how superior their culture, their life inherently is to the rest of the world, and see how they must share that superiority by any means necessary?
Only an idiot would pit them against each other instead of using the strong to uplift the weak. He makes sure Azula takes this lesson to heart------- The role of the strong is to guide the hand of the weak.
Teach a man to fear the strong, Azula, and he will live his life under them.
Teach a man to love the strong, Azula, and he will give his life under them.
***
By the time Ozai receives the news of Lu Ten's death, he recognizes that Iroh is not going to come home right away. The man has been broken by his loss. His conquests. Ozai understands. So much time with his children, his family - even training Azula and Zuko together, or helping Azula and Zuko learn the world of politics (Azula is a much faster learner than Zuko, and can speak to him much better than he could.)
He seeks an audience with Azulon. It's the first time he's done so in years. The family respects the man, but Ozai knows they all see they are distanced from him far more than Iroh and Prince Lu Ten, the conquerors, were.
He attempts to provide demonstrations of his children's abilities. They recite historical facts and battle strategies, they each Firebend individually, and ending off with a combined Firebending display - referenced from an ancient 'dancing dragon' technique the two siblings found when sneaking through the Royal Archives with their two friends. Even their mother delivers praise, on how Zuko and Azula are good little children and the perfect picture of proper Royalty.
Azulon calls Ozai's children useless pomp anyway, as Ozai had predicted so long ago. He sends them all out of the room - he can nearly sense the rage boiling in his wife at the disrespect levied to her children, after she and her husband have done nothing more than show their praises - although he does catch Azula drag Zuko by the hand and dart into the curtains.
Ozai smiles at that. Crafty.
His kids really do take after him.
"Say what it is you want," declares Azulon, perched behind the wall of fire customary to the inhabitant of the Dragon throne."
Ozai bows.
"Father. I am concerned for Iroh's well being. He has ended his Siege, yet not given any sign of saying he will return home. Should you not check on the Crown Prince, or send for him so he can grieve in the comfort of his family?"
Azulon mutters something about what do you know of grief, you insolent brat? You have never been on the battlefield, never faced loss- but eventually realizes it's a pretty good point.
A man in a fragile state should return home so he can attend his son's funeral personally, at the very least.
When Zuko and Azula leave the room, Ozai gives them a wink from the hallway. Zuko looks stunned, but Azula just laughs.
They really are such perfect little siblings.
***
When Iroh returns to the funeral, he and Ozai have a private conversation. The loss weighs deeply on the Dragon of the West, and he needs time to rebuild his strength and spirit. Even his face appears more wrinkled and his hair more grey than ever before.
Something has changed. Prince Iroh has no more interest in flames of war or thrones of gold.
After Azulon dies of old age, three years later, Iroh makes a declaration that shocks the rest of the Fire Nation.
"I am not fit to wear this crown," he speaks. "Loss has taken many things from me, including my taste for battle.
I withdraw my status as Crown Heir of the Fire Nation. I declare my brother, Prince Ozai, the new Crown Prince, and the rightful claimant to be Fire Lord. He is the practiced politician our Nation needs."
Zuko and Azula's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates.
When the crown touches Fire Lord Ozai's head, he can't help but smile.
All according to plan.
***
"What is your plan now?" Fire Lady Ursa asks, in their shared bedroom.
Ozai hums to himself.
"Sozin's Comet is mere years away. All we need to do is secure our position, and wait.
And then the war on the Earth Kingdom can be won."
Ursa nods once, before going back to sleep.
It is a good day for them, and a better day for their children.
It's hard not to hear excitement in the walls at the sounds of Azula and her friends' sleepover.
Those two girls have been valuable assets in teaching Azula - and Zuko - combat outside Fire. A skill Ozai admits he lacks.
Ty Lee teaches acrobatics, dodging, weaving, moving through the air as if it is yours to command. She teaches how to smack and disable bending with a few hits to the pressure points.
Mai teaches knives. Mai teaches arrows. Mai even helps Crown Prince Zuko get set up with a swordmaster.
...Ozai knows from his daughter's teasing that his son likes the girl, and the girl likes his son. Perhaps they'd make a valuable couple?
It would be good to strengthen his family's hold with some beneficial matches.
***
Zuko attends his first war meeting. Zuko asks Ozai if he's allowed to come.
"Of course you are," the Fire Lord returns. "You're the Prince."
A plan is given by General Bujing in the war meeting.
A plan to sacrifice a division, to use fresh meat as fresh bait.
"You can't Sacrifice an entire Division like that," Zuko claims. His tone is firm. Imperial. Good.
"Those soldiers love and betray our nation. How can you betray them?"
Ozai says nothing. He allows Zuko to make his case.
The General calls Agni Kai. Zuko accepts.
The night before, Ozai teaches a lesson he has already taught Azula.
How to call lightning.
When the Agni Kai comes, Zuko doesn't hesitate. Lightning is thrown. A face is scarred.
The Prince, unscathed, declares firmly to his defeated opponent, face half-singed upon the earth.
"You will do as your Crown Prince commands," he repeats.
"You will not sacrifice the Forty-First Division."
Ozai smiles. He throws a feast that night, for his son's first victory.
Azula is impressed. She asks him to start sparring with him more frequently.
Mai, too, is impressed. She's going to marry a good man, not just a man she loves, but a man of the people.
Ursa is just glad he made it out okay.
Azula is known to the world as the Princess of Power, the first-ever wielder of the Azure Flame in history. She is beloved.
Zuko is known to the world as the Prince of the People, who stands up for injustice even in the highest ranks. He is beloved.
From now on, in War Meetings, Zuko takes a seat at Fire Lord Ozai's right hand, and Azula takes a seat at his left.
They are given matching sets of armor, flashing obsidian and gold.
***
Many war meetings come and go.
One of the more memorable ones involves a request to build a factory right by a small village. A small village with a reported cult of worship around a water spirit.
"Do you want us to poison our own men?" the Fire Lord retorts.
The factory is instead built on the coastline, where shipping resources to-and-from is much easier anyway.
***
About a year later, a plan is called by War Minister Qin.
"With this Drill," he states, finishing his presentation, "we will be able to breach the Walls of Ba Sing Se in their entirety without even needing to waste the Comet."
"And what," Ozai's daughter retorts, "will taking the city a mere few months before Sozin's Comet do to make up for the finances, manpower, and resources required to mine, process, assemble, construct, and test this machine? Let alone placing it flat on the ground. The city, according to our intelligence reports, is on an incline."
The Fire Lord needs not say anything himself. Azula has it covered.
She had been busy lately, as her friend Ty Lee - apparently, not appreciated at home - came to Azula and saying she was planning to run away to the circus. The Princess convinced her instead to stay at the palace, and teach the guards chi-blocking. Apparently, she didn't want to be apart from her.
Ty Lee accepted. If the two shared a bedroom more nights than not, (and crept through the halls together on the nights they supposedly didn't) Ozai looked the other way. It did not impact Azula's performance at the meetings, after all.
Mai soon followed suit and moved in, which was easier considering she lived next door, anyway, and was the Crown Prince's betrothed.
The Drill. What a ridiculous idea.
War Minister Qin's second plan, about the assembly of an 'airship' fleet, is much better.
***
Iroh comes back home.
His eyes seem different to his family's, now.
Like there's something he knows they don't.
***
A sighting is reported by a lowly naval commander - Zhao, Ozai had several conversations with him but found him rather deluded in grandeur - of the Avatar.
Apparently, Zhao was on an expedition close by the South Pole - what this expedition was is never explained, considering Fire Lord Ozai had sent him to supervise a lowly shipping repair dock - and then led a "brave attack against the Water Tribe barbarians," which culminated in "the Avatar's arrest," before he "somehow managed to slip out of his grasp through the power of a magic flying cow of some kind"
Ozai doesn't believe it until the Fire Sages confirm it. He needed more to go off of than claims of a lowly admiral.
Zhao decides the best course of action to follow this up is to burn down a neutral island. The island of Kyoshi. It holds no strategic value of any importance, so every intelligent Fire National just avoided it.
Upon reading the report, the sigh Ozai's son makes almost sounds like the sighs of his fiancé.
Zhao begs the Fire Lord for a promotion, like the dirty sycophant he is. "Make me Admiral," he claims. "I will secure the Avatar while he trains at the North Pole. I will slay the Moon Spirit, and eliminate Waterbending!"
...
...Well, at least this wasn't nearly as stupid as the time he asked Ozai if he could have Azula's hand in marriage. Ursa gave him a look that suggested she wanted to poison the rat bastard in his sleep, and Ozai very nearly let her.
He probably should have let her, if he was going to talk like he was poisoned by pure lunacy, anyway.
What kind of idiot from an archipelago nation, who works in the NAVY, for crying out loud, thinks killing the moon will do for his country?
Zhao was promptly stripped of rank, and sent back to the repair harbor.
His assistant was promoted above him, for managing to tolerate the man for so long.
***
So, the Avatar is now officially at large. It's said as much, seeing as he was reported trying to free the Mad King from the occupied Omashu last week.
I need to think of a name for the city, Ozai ponders. Keeping it Omashu won't do at all. How about 'New Azula?'
When Azula finds out at dinner that night that a city was named after her, she squeals in excited glee like a much-more-ordinary fourteen-year-old. Ty Lee wraps her in a hug.
Zuko just asks if this means Ba Sing Se can become 'New Zuko'.
Ozai considers it. Why not?
He asks his children if they'd be willing to lead an expedition to capture the traitor and the two Water Tribe peasants who travel by his side.
They accept. They ask if Mai and Ty Lee can come.
Ozai tells them to bring as many as you like, and take the fastest airships in the Nation.
Iroh offers to join them, and teach them lightning redirection. They refuse.
...
...Why would you need lightning redirection, if the only people who knew lightning were the Royal Family? A crown you willingly gave away?
...
...Ozai filed that one away for later.
***
Ursa is worried about her babies leaving. But Zuko is at the age of majority, and Azula is the strongest Firebender this nation has ever seen - her fire, fueled on love rather than anger, can obliterate solid stone, and her lightning, fueled by calmness and passion in dual amounts, can come out just like her father's lightning, with a quick charge from two hands. Zuko is no slouch, either. The only reason he too does not throw blue flames is because he does not need to.
So instead, Ozai tells her about another threat.
The threat of Iroh. Why would he need lightning redirection, when the only people who knew it were Ozai... and Ursa's babies...
Ozai is not going to be able to restrain Ursa from poisoning the fat man much longer.
She gives her children forehead kisses goodbye, "be safes" and says "I love you" to both of her darlings many, many times.
Azula seems so proud of herself, she's almost crying of happiness. Ty Lee clings to her arm as they leave, while Mai pulls Zuko in a half embrace.
These are the children who will win the war.
These are Ozai's pride.
***
By the time they reach the outer shores of the Earth Kingdom, the Avatar is already well on his way to Ba Sing Se.
Zuko asks. Azula answers. That is the nature of their relationship. Zuko brings up the questions, and Azula comes up with the solutions that solve them. They are a team, and they complete each other. They have since they were very young, since Zuko first showed Azula how to properly feed the duckies in the pond, since they first started debating Love Amongst the Dragons characters together and since Azula first started helping Zuko learn the ways of Fire.
They decide to investigate the surrounding forests from where they've docked, first. It proves more fruitful than expected. I mean, there's a clear in to the.... wait... is that...
Is that the Avatar's bison????
Is the Avatar here?
...Well, there's no Avatar, but that's still a bison - with no saddle, no reigns - and there's a group of Avatar fan girls at the ready to defend him.
"If you're looking for the Avatar, you're out of luck," proclaims the lead girl.
Azula handles the warriors. The other three subdue the beast.
Zuko blocks his path with fire. It seems to frighten him. Good.
Ty Lee distracts him.
Good thing Mai invested in shirshu spit darts. Azula knew it'd be a winning move.
***
With the guise of the Warriors, infiltrating Ba Sing Se is extremely easy. Seeing Zuzu wear a dress is also funny. Mai seems to like how he looks in the makeup. Azula can't say anything, because she sits and has Ty Lee do her makeup, before doing Ty Lee's makeup in return.
By the time they infiltrate the city, the Avatar and friends are apparently running around and looking for their bison. Of course, he is not here - he has been shipped to an enclosed zoo in Fire Nation territory on Whaletail Island, where he will stay the rest of his days, heavily tranquilized and with his feet tied down with weights - but they're not important now.
What is important, of course, is taking out the Earth Kingdom's defenses - the Dai Li agents' head, the Grand Secretariat, Long Feng, is a point of vulnerability - the Secretariat deludes himself into believing the Comet will not matter, that he can simply hide in the walls of the city forever and wait until the Fire Nation collapses under its own imperial weight. That will not happen.
Azula deliberately exposes herself. Makes her vulnerable. The Dai Li come in the dead of night, to drag the four down to a chamber in Crystal Catacombs. They underestimate what the children know. With the chi-blocking lessons they learned from Ty Lee, the four take the Grand Secretariat and his men down completely without even a drop of blood spilt.
Azula gives the Dai Li an ultimatum.
"Your city is doomed," Azula declares. "We could have brought down your King the moment we entered your walls. Your walls, that will not protect you from the Wrath of the Comet's flame. Your walls, that will not protect you from infiltration so easily as to be bested by a Prince, a Princess, and their companions acting alone, right under your nose."
"Submit to us, and your city, your place, and your order will be maintained," she continues. "You are strong, courageous men, and your talents do not deserve to end in scorching. We will promise you nothing short of sharing in the wealth of Fire Nation Royalty, basking in the glory of a war won, and a place for Earthbenders to call home in the new world the heavens have mandated."
"Either we take the kingdom with you," the Princess speaks, facing a specific man with a scarred cheek directly, "or we take the Kingdom without you. Your choice."
The Dai Li bow, one after another. The order submits.
Zuko smiles proudly.
He may be future Fire Lord, but Azula was always the better talker.
***
Grand Secretariat Long Feng is chi-blocked, restrained, and sent on a Dai Li ship. Messages are sent every which-way to the Fire Nation. He is exiled to a countryside estate on a remote island, where the Fire Navy can keep an eye on him. Just in case.
Very soon, the Earth King meets the same fate. Hopefully his wives and his animals don't mind the loss.
Long live Earth Queen Azula, a God among Men.
Far Away, the Fire Lord smiles.
His daughter found her place.
***
Aang doesn't know what to expect when Joo Dee suddenly shows up to the house while they're about to put up posters for Appa, and says that the Earth Queen has decided to grant their request for an audience.
"Earth Queen?" asks Sokka, confused. "I thought it was Earth King. What, are we only good enough for his wife?"
"Oh, no, no," Joo Dee admonishes with a permanent smile affixed like a mask. "The Earth Queen is our one and only ruler. A God to her people!"
"But... you said Earth King last time," asks Sokka, confused.
"Maybe I misspoke," acknowledges the Joo Dee, as if that means anything.
Several agents emerge from behind her: were they there before, or did they just appear from the ground? Or the rooftops?
"Now come!" speaks Joo Dee with a wave of her hand. "Perhaps she can give you some information as to your lost pet."
''...And ending the war?" asks Sokka.
Joo Dee's smile doesn't change.
They don't talk about how Aang nearly spoke to the Earth King at his banquet a mere few weeks ago.
***
Zuko and Mai return home, confident in Azula's plan. They will be there to intercept the prisoners once they reach the mainland. A detachment of seventy-two Dai Li accompany them.
They really do make a good team, the four of them.
***
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. And, Momo. Never could forget Momo. For all the stressors of being in a world at war, their journey has been rather peaceable so far.
The hardest times they've faced have been as follows:
1. When that Zhao guy attacked them at the South, and again at Kyoshi Island.
2. The time Katara almost got them captured by pirates.
3. The time that Jet guy tried to get them to flood a town. Whatever happened to him?
4. The battle at the Northern Air Temple against the forces of War Minister Qin.
5. When they went back to the Earth Kingdom after their months in the North Pole (a pretty nice time aside from the blatant sexism. At least Sokka got to date a Princess for a bit), dealt with General Fong and THEN saw Omashu had been captured. Some nameless noble family with several sons who did not take well to invaders, nor their attempts to 'pentapox' refugees out of the city.
6. The time the Rough Rhinos came at them while they were camping.
7. The hardest time, and the current time. The time the Sandbenders stole Appa after they got the information about the eclipse, and all that time since.
Even with all those hardships in mind, and the strangeness of the situation, they at least had hope, considering the Earth Queen was going to negotiate with them.
They were led by an ever-increasing number of Dai Li agents into the throne. First six, that walked with them to the palace. Then twelve, who came through the first gates. Then twenty-four, then joined by another twenty-four in the throne room itself...
Was this a trap?
Well, if it was, Aang was the Avatar. It'd be pretty silly if the Earth Queen expected even a hundred men to take down the greatest Airbender, Waterbender, Earthbender, and also Sokka in the world.
The Earth Queen's hair was down. Her eyes were golden, and regal. She was dressed in robes of emerald, with fine beads and a crown headpiece. A courtesan dressed in pink, with eyes nearly the same shade of grey as the Airbender, was lounged on one of the armrests.
All the members of the group who could see could not dispute the fact she looked both beautiful, and dangerous.
All the members of the group would have had a hard time believing she was their age, if they knew she was.
"Welcome, Avatar Aang," she proclaimed. If there was any weirdness about her already knowing his name, it remained unspoken. "what business have you come to seek with the Earth Queen?"
"Well... You see, your Earthiness," the Airbender began.
"We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!" interrupted the Water Tribe warrior, bearing a grin.
Everyone turned to look at Sokka. Including all forty-eight members of the Dai Li currently in the room, in one single, synchronous motion.
It's kind of creepy.
"Uh... please. Allow me, your majesty." he spoke, attempting to channel suave sound he couldn't quite manage. "You see, it was a plan of my own original design."
Was he trying to get his chances with the royal, or with her companion?
The Earth Queen's grimace made Katara snort.
"Very well," she drawled, with a flick of her carefully-manicured hand, taking her eyes to the more pleasant sight of her pink-clad courtesan. "Speak."
"Well, you see, miss- I mean, highness, I mean-majesty - Anyway, the basic idea is that there's a Solar Eclipse coming. And we can use it to win the war and defeat the Fire Nation! We can launch an invasion!"
"Really?" speaks the Earth Queen with a smile. "That sounds like a brilliant and fascinating plan."
"Yeah!" interjects the pink-clad courtesan. "Tell us more!"
And so, Sokka begins to talk. He speaks of their adventures so far, all the way from when they found Aang in the ice. He lists their allies out in front of them - the Northern Air Temple residents, the Southern Water Tribe, quite possibly the Northern Water Tribe, and many other ragtag groups in the Earth Kingdom. Even a secret third Water Tribe, which the Queen raises her eyebrows at.
"And so, your highness," the warrior concludes with a bow, the rest of his group watching on, "I think we have a shot at this. If we're able to work with your generals, than maybe we can do it! The day of Black Sun will be won. The Fire Lord will be done for!"
The Earth Queen stays still for a moment, before nodding once.
"Hm. Perhaps," she speaks, with a flick of her wrist that indicates as though Sokka's entire spiel did little to change whatever her predetermined answer would be. "But there's one thing you haven't considered."
"And... what's that, your-um-prettiness?" questions Sokka.
Azula's eyes gleam as she speaks. Her painted ruby red lips purse, before smirking.
"Why would I do that?"
Sokka blinks. Aang and Katara glance at each other, confused. From behind her, Toph grumbles. Like she knew this was going to happen.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why would I do that, Sokka?"
He blinks. She knows his name?
"After all..."
The air shifts around them. The Dai Li's posture stiffens.
"Don't you know there's no war in Ba Sing Se?"
The Earth Queen’s grin sharpens. Scarily. The Dai Li stand in formation, their hands rising, their faces on guard.
In turn, the group readies their own stances.
"It's a trap!!" the Blind Bandit declares.
The Earth Queen raises a golden goblet of wine, hiding her smirk.
"Whatever do you mean, miss Beifong? This is simply some... advanced hospitality."
It's a fight she wants. And it's a fight she's gonna get.
Toph strikes first. The Dai Li strike back, and the floor is shattered. The courtesan stays smiling, before clambering onto the throne and plopping down right atop the Queen's lap. The Queen herself responds nonverbally by putting the goblet down, and moving to run her carefully-groomed hand through the girl's chestnut hair.
The group is distracted quickly. More Dai Li agents seem to pour out of seemingly nowhere - behind the throne, behind everything - and while the group has the upper advantage at first, things happen.
Things take a hit when two rock gloves snatch Katara, hoisting her in the air. Things take a second hit when more rock gloves come up, pinning her arms and legs in place.
"Katara!!" shrieks Aang, before, in a flash...
A blast of wind rockets through the room, almost scraping the Badgermole Throne, as the World Spirit channels the lives of his pasts. Katara is freed. They all stand together, as one, and the Dai Li take several steps back.
The Earth Queen looks up with intrigue. Even the courtesan's interest seem piqued.
She just wanted to lock them all up and deliver them back to the Fire Nation, but......
The room falls silent, as a strike of lightning punctures the World Spirit's core.
He slumps, falling backwards.
The Earth Queen blows on her two fingers, as if cooling them down.
"Aang!!" cries Katara. "Aang!!"
The Dai Li encircle the group.
Toph, in one last display, pushes them back. She smashes the ground beneath them, and they flee from the palace riding a wave of rock.
The agents chase, they chase and chase and chase. Katara barely has time to stop to administer the Spirit Water.
They flee the walls of Ba Sing Se, and go back into hiding along the Earth Kingdom shores. In a last-ditch effort, the Blind Bandit learns how to break open a metal door.
Metalbending now invented, they decide to head toward Chameleon Bay.
Maybe that'll help.
***
Most of their supplies are left behind at the house.
They are collected to the Earth Queen and added to the Royal Archive.
It was pathetic, really, for them to think they had a chance.
***
"...You didn't tell me Earthbenders could make lightning," grumbled Sokka, late one night to Toph.
"...They can't," the Earthbender whispers back.
The Warrior turns to the other side, and thinks. He doesn't talk again that night.
...Then who can?
***
They reach the bay, and things start looking up. Aang wakes up to the company of Water Tribesmen, and meets Chief Hakoda. Katara cries in relief and showers Aang in hugs. Soon after, they catch a Fire Nation ship and decide to pursue their own plan.
Ba Sing Se was no help, but surely, the Fire Nation is still unprepared.
No one knows what to make of the lightning-throwing Queen. No one has even heard of someone capable of wielding lightning as a weapon. She seemed almost more Goddess than woman, a being of divine inheritance.
Who was she?
***
The Avatar fell, wrote Azula to her father, but I was unable to get confirmation of his death.
They plan an invasion on the Day of the Solar Eclipse.
Be warned.
Ozai brings his son forward to prepare.
Zuko is proud to serve.
***
Iroh grows suspicious of their private conversations, and the men in green that returned home with his nephew. He balked as he learned from the news several days later, that Azula - Earth Queen Azula - had conquered the Earth Kingdom and was now its ruler.
Iroh began to put pieces together much later, after being told to evacuate during the eclipse.
Were they going to use the old bunkers?
Sozin's Comet was arriving. If he did not act soon, the world would never regain peace, and balance.
He did regret, though, having to turn against them.
Oh, Ozai. Oh, Zuko, and Azula too.
If only they had seen the light like he had.
If only they understood loss like he had.
But it seemed they did not, so Iroh would have to act.
***
The Northern Air Temple is razed by airships, and its population dealt with accordingly. The Mechanist and his son are transferred to the Boiling Rock, joining the head Kyoshi. The other children are shipped to the mainland to be re-educated, while the other adults wind up in all manner of prisons.
The Council of Five, and the majority of military leadership, is placed into the Crystal Catacomb Prison Complex - a series of metal cells built within the ruins of old Ba Sing Se.
For precaution, Bumi is also ordered to an island by Azula. Shirshu spit-darts served their use once, and they serve use again for getting him away before he can do anything.
Earthbender Rebellions are better left to the Earth Queen.
When Ba Sing Se opens its walls to outsiders, all the city of false smiles sees is a new beneficial trade empire.
Construction and improvement of housing begins, as does cleanup of an overstuffed government.
Ty Lee and Azula are happy. The Earth Queen has done her part, for now. She has a Kingdom to run. Zuko and Ozai can handle cleaning up the Avatar, and all the other boring bits.
***
Zuko's Dai Li perform the task as instructed.
Combing his Uncle's room, tracing paths through the mail system, they begin to find many things.
Copies of the same Pai Sho tile, again and again.
Contact information.
Messages from the Great Sword, the Mad Genius, the Northern Master, and the First Deserter.
Indeed. Iroh was planning to remove Azula from power, and to assist the Avatar in defeating Ozai.
This was bad.
Zuko reports this to Ozai, and Azula. And Ursa, too, for good measure.
Ursa was considering going to visit her daughter, but that has to wait.
She knew he was planning something treasonous. She didn't realize how deep it ran.
A false communication is issued, for the Lotus to convene at the border of Ba Sing Se. Right on the verge of what should be obvious enemy territory, so they can take back the city.
A real communication is issued, for Azula to catch them when they come.
***
No help comes to the Invasion from the Earth Kingdom.
Thankfully, the Swamp and the North are better options.
Three Water Tribes, together as one.
The group splits up along the way, and the four explore the Fire Nation.
They learn from a school, pass by a peaceful spiritual town, meet a swordmaster - accidentally get spotted while playing on a beach day and chased to another island - hear about an Avatar and a Fire Lord, get away with scamming people, stay at a creepy inn, and rest up for the Invasion.
The question of a Firebending Master is none anyone wishes to ask.
***
Iroh is escorted to the bunkers, by a force of twenty-two Dai Li. Odd, when he realizes no one else is down here.
It is only too late, when an agent smacks him on the head with stone from the ceiling, for him to realize that he has been caught.
That his treason was known.
When Iroh awakens next, he is in a prison, and his arms are bound in Earth.
His sister-in law sits across from him. She offers him tea. He accepts.
It is only too late for him to realize that he, also, should not have done that.
Perhaps, stepping out of the shadows sooner would have been best for the Order.
The Dragon of the West succumbs to the White Jade.
***
The Order meets, under the shadow of the Wall. Deprived of many, they question the order and its purpose.
Soon, lightning strikes the last Grand Lotuses down where he stands. Jeong Jeong falls, and so does the swordsman.
Pakku is away at the invasion, but it won't be long now.
It's the most fun the Earth Queen has had since smiting the Avatar.
***
When the invasion comes, Waterbending the net and ripping it apart is enough to allow the ships to pass.
The Capital is stormed. The eclipse is just a few minutes away.
Momo flees before the battle.
The Avatar and his friends go to the throne room. Together. They are prepared. They are ready. They have trained for this moment, for so long.
Now, it is time.
Now, is time for peace. And justice.
The eclipse begins. They break apart the Throne Doors.
Only there, do they find someone who is very much not the Fire Lord. Who looks only a little older than Sokka.
"Uh... Hello," says the man ensconced upon the Dragon Throne. "Zuko here."
***
"Who are you, and where is the Fire Lord?" demands Sokka, pointing his sword.
"And why do you look... familiar?" he questions, scrutinizing the boy on the throne.
"You... really haven't figured it out, huh?" questions the Crown Prince in return. "I thought it'd be... kinda obvious."
"Here's a hint."
The Prince lets his hair down, and then fake-glances at his fingernails, speaking in a strange falsetto.
"Listen, Avatar. There's no War in Ba Sing Se. So go down quietly, before I do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends. Your choice."
The group glances between each other for a moment. The question is answered for them as no more than fifty Dai Li agents shuffle into the room from all sides, and subsequent dozens of Imperial Firebenders wielding polearms file in around them.
"Wait--The EARTH QUEEN?" speaks Sokka, after a moment.
"Yeah. That's my sister, Azula."
Aang, tired of the games, points his staff.
"Where is he? Where's the Fire Lord?"
"Father will be with you shortly," Zuko speaks.
"Just... uh... give him a sec."
The sound of distant explosions is heard.
"What's going on?!" Katara exclaims. "What did you do?!"
Toph looks up and around once, before suddenly deciding.
"He's trying to keep us here and waste all our time!!"
"I don't need to waste your time," spits Zuko. "You came up with the worst plan ever. Do you really think we'd go unguarded during a solar eclipse?"
"I mean, you guys were pretty elusive. I thought you were masters of evasive maneuvering. But... I mean, clearly, ever since you lost your bison, that's changed."
Katara's eyes shoot wide open.
"You know where Appa is?"
Zuko smiles. "Yeah, just... listen closely and I'll..."
At the sound of the signal - "listen closely" - the Dai Li attack at once, swarming the air and pelting the group with stone hands. They battle, valiantly, but with polearms and Earth fired upon them, and the incapacitation of the Blind Bandit via Zuko jumping down and doing some weird "chi-blocking" move (learned from Azula's friend, apparently) before using his own dual dao to send Sokka's sword flying.
The group are worn down, and, after chi-blocking Katara and holding his blades to her throat, Aang puts his hand up and surrenders.
He, too, is chi-blocked, above his groups' own protests that he's gonna get them all killed.
Oh, well. It's not like He has the Avatar State to help.
***
They remain knocked out for several hours, in which Ozai's airship bombing raid eliminates half the armies. The surviving half is immediately taken into custody by the remaining soldiers of the Three Water Tribes and escorted to Boiling Rock.
Sokka's father, injured in battle, draws his last breath as flames scorch him.
Mai kisses Zuko and they celebrate a job well done.
Azula's airship, parked in Ba Sing Se, arrives to escort her back to the Fire Nation.
Momo doesn't come back.
***
When Azula arrives to the fire nation, she is in exotic greens and golds the people can barely see. They welcome her, worshipping the hero and bowing down at the sight of her azure flame. Ty Lee, dressed more like a dancer than a warrior, stays close by in a frilly array of pink garments almost no one else can decipher.
They arrive to the palace, for a discussion. After it is over, the four - plus Ozai and Ursa - head down to the docks to greet the sight that awaits.
***
Like any logical leader with captured invaders that serve as their last threat to any sort of peace, the groups' limbs and tongues were amputated after them being knocked out (which was increased through sedation). For the sake of amusement, their eyes are kept. They are hung upon the racks for the world to see. Three will be executed on the spot. One will be executed as soon as his remaining tattoos start glowing - a process which is deliberately triggered by stimulating his chi paths.
It's not like he'll know how to control it when it comes back, anyway.
For all the publicity it gets, it's a rather short and simple affair.
The first time Aang locks eyes with the Fire Lord is the last moment he breathes.
***
Ozai declares himself Phoenix King. Zuko will inherit the Fire Nation, while Ozai will personally oversee reforming the Fire Nation Colonies (and Water Tribes) into a new state.
Zuko speaks of the Sozin's Comet plan - in retaliation for the Water Tribes' strike, they will burn their civilization, and take their people to the prisons. Just as he and Ozai practiced. Perfect.
Azula gets the pleasure of striking down the Avatar with lightning a second time. She uses the blue fire on his friends, just for fun.
The people celebrate, and a feast is held for victory.
***
The day of Sozin's Comet, Royal takes their own fleet of seven airships and one flagship. They each have four additional fleet of five airships assisting them.
Under Phoenix King Ozai, the North crumbles. The spirits remain in dance, oblivious, or maybe just uncaring, regarding the state of the mortal world.
Under Earth Queen Azula, the Swamp withers, no magic left to save it from the Azure Flame.
Under Fire Lord Zuko, the Southern Remnants return to the tides.
The Last Southern Waterbender, even from her deep in the jail that the Avatar & the villagers placed her in, feels something die under the Comet's light.
***
Phoenix King Ozai founds the Phoenix Kingdom, taking the Fire Nation's colonies and making something new. He answers to the authorities of Fire Lord Zuko and Earth Queen Azula, his equals, the same way they do to him. He chooses Sozin's first colony as the site of its capital.
Eventually, he and Phoenix Queen Ursa's third child - six years of age - will inherit it. Or maybe their fourth, the four-year-old.
Phoenix Queen Ursa spends her days visiting her children's empires. Zuko, Azula, and their two (eventually three) younger siblings prosper.
Under Earth Queen Azula the remaining Earth Kingdom exists as a tributary state. Kyoshi Island eventually capitulates to her rule.
Ba Sing Se is renamed to the Azure City. Azula does not let her brother have her city's name.
She does, however, rename one of the little peasant towns to New Zuko. Just for funsies.
Fire Lord Zuko perhaps reaps the most rewards of the whole arrange. While the Earth Queen and Phoenix King have to do cleanup, Zuko inherits the bulk and strongest of the empire. He invests heavily in trade, and popularizes cruise boats and luxury airships as means of visitation. He finances airship stations from Caldera to Azure, and takes profits off of both sides, and that alone does wonders. He and Fire Lady Mai frequently visit the Earth Kingdom and catch up with their friends. They always remember to get together with the rest of their families on birthdays.
The Fire Nation is a council of three. The Fire Islands, the Phoenix Kingdom, and the Earth Kingdom. These are the three regions, each ruled by their own head of state - Fire Lord, Phoenix King, Earth Queen. They meet bimonthly to discuss things and simply spend time as a family, but otherwise communicate with letters and mostly stick with regional politicking.
All the land is Fire Nation, and trade is welcome everywhere. Earthbenders & Firebenders & Nonbenders (the three bending styles, matching the Three Regions of Fire Nation) are welcome everywhere, and the world prospers.
After Phoenix King Ozai retires at the age of sixty to spend more time with his family, allowing him & his wife more freedom of travel in the world's golden age, their fourth child, Sozin II, takes the title of Phoenix King. The colonies unify into a nation with a strong sense of loyalty and commitment to their fellows of Earth and Fire.
After she retires from the position to live the rest of her life with her family, and Ty Lee, Azula's eldest child (the father is not known) inherits the title of Earth Queen. The Earth Kingdom perhaps has the most continued disparity of wealth, but Azure becomes the richest and most populous city in the world. Eventually, the Kingdom itself is renamed to Azul to reflect this, although the title of Earth Queen remains. The title is passed down by a primarily matriarchal line.
When Zuko retires, he and Mai's third child takes the throne of Fire Lord, and Fire Lord Zuko is forever remembered as the man who uplifted every town, village and family in the Fire Nation to a place of welfare individually greater than several nations were in the past. His control of trade and Ozai having given him command of the seas went a long way.
***
In history, all three pairs - Phoenix King Ozai & Phoenix Queen Ursa, Fire Lord Zuko & Fire Lady Mai, Earth Queen Azula & Earth Queen Ty Lee - are remembered as heroes who brought about the current age of modernity.
Long live the Fire Nation - the Fire Islands, the Phoenix Kingdom, and the Azul Kingdom. Long may they reign.