**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything from Avatar the Last Airbender
CHAPTER ONE
Six years of peace. A tenuous peace at that, but peace all the same. And now it was all crashing down around the young Fire Lord.
He was not surprised though. Ever since (the former) King Kuei took his leave and the Dai Li were dismantled, the Earth Kingdom had been in decline. King Bumi tried to govern both Omashu and Ba Sing Se, and for a time, it seemed to work. But Bumi was no longer a young man and within a year after the war the remaining Earth King was gone.
His death was the final breaking point for the Earth Nation. With no successors chosen for either of the two great cities, the government and its people devolved into a bitter and hungry power struggle. A civil war had begun. Avatar Aang and Master Katara, along with Lady Toph Beifong tried their hardest to defuse the war that raged on within the Kingdom and after four long, grueling years it seemed that they had finally won. Two new leaders were appointed in the cities of Omashu and Ba Sing Se and an aura of calm spread across the nation, allowing Aang, Katara, and Toph to take their leave.
Not within a week of their departure a coup was thrown. The newly self-appointed ruler of the Earth Kingdom was the one man that Aang, Katara, and Toph had come to fear, a man by the name of Bo Jin. He was only a minor government official but with the absence of both Kuei and Bumi along with the Dai Li, Jin quickly gained a large and loyal following. Bo Jin gave the people what they wanted: hope. He told them tales of prosperity and wealth; of greatness and justice. And the people bought it. How could they not? They were tired of the civil war. They wanted peace. They wanted the riches and golden promises that Jin told them, that Jin could give to them.
And he did give them. Jin stopped the war. He appointed his general and confidant Ru Fan to rule in Omashu and through their efforts they brought the two major cities to order once more. As order was brought to the great Earth Nation strongholds, the smaller surrounding villages began to fall in line as well. As soon as Jin established a firm control over the land, he cut off all trade with the Fire Nation. The Earth people protested this action. Why cease trade with the Fire Nation? Aren't they and the other nations supposed to be at peace, in harmony with one another? This is where the problem that Bo Jin is, begins.
Bo Jin was a slight, tall man with a lean but wiry muscular build. His lightly tanned skin, warm brown eyes, and clean shaven face made for an attractive leader. He was an excellent speaker and had such a way with words that he could a light fire under even the most lethargic and lifeless of crowds. It was one of the reasons why he was able to generate such a large following. But more than that, Jin was persuasive. He could talk almost anyone around, could convince not just one, but hundreds upon thousands of people to follow him, to do as he pleased. And it was this that made him and proved him to be such a dangerous man. It was his charismatic, persuasive abilities that enabled him to convince the people of the Earth Kingdom that cutting off all trade with the Fire Nation was a good thing. He said that he was doing it to protect them. Who knew if this Fire Lord was going to be any different than the last one? Sure the Avatar trusts him, but Avatar Roku trusted Fire Lord Sozin, and look how that turned out. It is for the good of the nation, he said. We aren't hurting anybody. We are simply looking out for the best interests of the Earth Kingdom.
While the Fire Nation was not happy with the new developments in the Earth Kingdom they, like Bo Jin, decided that the Earth Nation was not hurting anyone and determined to leave it at that. And because of the Fire Nation's standpoint on the issue, Aang decided to leave it as well. Even when Bo Jin cut ties to both the Northern and Southern Water tribes, the Avatar and the Chiefs concluded the same as the Fire Nation did: it wasn't hurting anyone. Even when they denied all contact and travel with the other nations: it wasn't hurting anyone. Only when an Earth Nation raiding party ransacked Hing Wa Island did the Fire Nation finally decide that Bo Jin was a problem.
After the attack on Hing Wa Island, Zuko decided it was time to find out what exactly was going on in the Earth Kingdom. He sent several scouts to Ba Sing Se and Omashu to see what they could uncover. When their bodies were delivered to his palace's front door followed by another raid on one of his villages, Zuko knew this was no minor threat; but he had to tread carefully. His nation had just gotten out of a war that wreaked havoc and devastation on the other nations. Even though it had been six years since the war ended the Fire Nation was still not completely trusted by the rest of the world. This was why Fire Lord Zuko was now composing an urgent summons to be sent to his friends, who were fondly referred to as "Team Avatar" by the rest of the world, much to his annoyance.
"Take this to the scribes immediately. I want four copies of this letter made at once," Zuko barked at a servant. "I expect them to be ready in no more than half an hour."
"Yes your Highness," the servant replied, hastily bowing and practically running out of the room to get to the scribes' tower.
Zuko stared moodily out the window of his study. He hated waiting, and the feeling of idleness that was beginning to creep over him was making him itch. He was going over crop yields and weights when he heard a knock at the door.
"Enter," He said, without looking up from his reports.
It was the servant, who had returned with the letters. "Your letters, sir," he said.
Zuko snapped his head up. "Well? What are you waiting for?! Bring them here!" he demanded impatiently. Zuko pushed aside the reports he was looking through, making a mental note to return to them later.
The servant crossed the large room to where the great mahogany desk sat in the center and handed the letters to the intimidating fire bender who sat behind it. "Will that be all, my lord?"
"Yes, you may go." Zuko swiftly signed each of the letters and sealed them in their envelopes hardly giving them a glance… except for one. When he went to seal Katara's letter, he paused. Before he could think too much about what it meant, he added a line to hers. 'I hope this finds you well. Travel safe.' Zuko then folded up the letter, sealed it, and called for the courier to be sent.
He emerged from his study and set off down the hall. The letters would reach his friends in a few days' time, and he needed to summon his war council.