"Get on your feet."
Azula's chains rattled against the floor as she was pulled from her cell's bench by the imperial guard. The former princess didn't even spare the man a glare; he was a very small blip on her radar tonight. The big players were outside this waiting area.
The corridor leading out of the holding cells was empty save for the two long lines of stoic guardsmen on either side of the hall. Again, they were all imperial guards with blank white faces. There were no rank and file soldiers that might be sympathetic to her in the capital today, not after the events of the last few months. All of these men were hand-picked by the Fire Lord; their loyalty was unquestionable. Azula made a point to look each in the eye as she passed. More than one quailed.
When she stepped out into the grand square Azula instantly missed the quiet of the cells. Thousands of cheers and jeers assaulted her ears as she was hustled into the tremendous space. It seemed like every resident of the capital had turned out, but she knew better. A majority of the seats would be filled with foreign visitors from the Earth and Water Nations who were eager to see the spectacle denied to them over a year ago.
Her death.
Squinting, Azula could make nearly a dozen people standing in the center of the square. The tall one would be her brother. Arms crossed and scowling, he was looking more like Ozai every day – much to Azula's amusement. Surprisingly, Azula noticed that Mai had chosen to attend as well once she was closer. Her former friend was standing beside Zuko despite all the trouble Azula had heard they were having these days. Well, this was cause enough to bury the hatchet for at least one day.
The guardsmen threw Azula to her knees once they had hustled her over to the small crowd. "It looks like the whole gang is here. I'm touched," she said, taking in all the faces. The entire Avatar entourage was in attendance, of course, along with the bumbling king of the Earth Kingdom. He only shook a little when Azula caught his eyes; maybe he'd found a spine after all? Or, maybe, he just remembered how she'd taken his kingdom from him single-handedly during the war.
"Touched in the head, maybe," the male water peasant muttered. Azula couldn't remember his name, but she remembered Ty Lee never shutting up about him.
She leaned over to see the boy. "Didn't notice you back there. Where's the girlfriend? You know, the one with the fans." Azula dramatically sucked her teeth. "Right, asking the wrong person. Zuzu would probably know better these days, right? Where she's at, what she's doing, who she's under – that sort of thing." That shut the peasant up and made Mai grind her teeth to boot.
Zuko stepped forward, blocking Azula's view of the others. "Say another word out of turn and I have you gagged," he threatened. Poor, simple Zuzu. He didn't realize how much he was giving away by even reacting to her. Mai would be out on her ass in less than a year, Azula figured. Betray one member of the royal family and get betrayed by another; it was almost poetic.
Azula snorted. "Gagged? Does the Earth peasant enjoy that sort of thing, Zuzu?"
Zuko's fist very nearly touched her, but he was held back at the last second. "Zuko, don't," Aang said. He had lightly grabbed his friend's arm before he could follow through with the swing. "This isn't how we agreed to do this."
"Oh, don't stop him. After all, this will be his last chance to hit me without getting beaten bloody. I want him to have one fond memory of his dear sister."
Zuko roughly pulled away from the Avatar. "You're not my sister! You're a monster! A crazy, violent, murdering monster!"
"And you're the whipped, wimpy, throne-stealing traitor!" Azula fired back, a real sliver of anger coming through in her voice. One of her guards brought his staff down on her neck when she tried to get to her feet. Azula's forehead bounced against the cobblestone and she felt a tooth crack.
Her ears were ringing as the guard roughly got her back up to her knees. Zuko pointed to her chains and the guards looped them through a metal pin bolted to the ground. They were tight enough that she couldn't get to her feet. She spat out a glob of blood on her brother's shoe. "Afraid that everyone will find out exactly what happened during our Agni Kai, Zuzu?"
The older sibling wasn't listening anymore. "Get the Sage and the criers," he ordered and one of the guards hurried off back toward the cells. "Your crimes are going to be known to everyone, Azula. You won't get a chance to slip away again."
Most of the crowd looked as hardened as Zuko, but Azula noticed the pained look on Aang's face. "Not going to do the deed yourself, Avatar? You help Zuko defeat me and you don't have the spine to see it through? Going to 'balance' me for the greater good?"
"You started a civil war," Aang argued, though he was clearly disturbed by the entire proceeding. The water peasant moved up to loop her arm through the young air bender's and he smiled. There would be no last-minute saves from the Avatar, Azula realized. She hadn't been expecting one, though, and she certainly wasn't going to beg.
She could see movement in the crowds. People who would relay Zuko's words were coming to the front and everyone was getting riled up, eager for blood and an end.
"I'd say things are just about ready," Zuko decided. He walked past the chained Azula and into the middle of the square. Azula's chains rattled as she tried to head-butt him, but he stayed just out of reach. He was met by a man in the flowing red robes of a Fire Sage. Azula remembered that this was one of the traitor sages captured by Zhao, no doubt returned to his position and promoted for aiding in the defeat of his country.
After Zuko clasped the man's arm, the Avatar moved forward and gave him a small bow. "It's good to see you again, Shyu."
"You as well, Avatar Aang. I only wish the circumstances were better."
"Is the rebuilding of the Capital Temple going well, Master Sage?" Zuko asked.
"Very well, My Lord. The fighting barely reached us, but some of the catacombs collapsed. No acolytes were lost, but half a dozen did have an impromptu fast for an afternoon while the digging was going on." Shyu's smile didn't reach his eyes. The trio was now quietly looking at their prisoner.
Azula gave the man a crooked smile. "You mean we didn't collapse the entire thing in that first blast? How droll."
"I would advise that you don't dig yourself in deeper, young lady."
"If you let me out of these shackles I'll dig you a grave so deep you could stack your fellow traitor sages ten high."
The sage's pleasant smile hardened and he shook out the sleeves of his robes. "I can see why such extreme precautions were taken now. You favor your father far too much."
Zuko clicked his teeth. "Don't let Azula get under your skin – she's too good at it. Focus on ending this once and for all."
The sage nodded. There was a crier nearby and he started relaying everything said to the crowd and other criers. Zuko's words were now being heard around the square.
"Citizens," he began, "the Hundred Year War has been over for nearly two years – two years of peace between the four nations has been won with dignity and honor for all peoples. When Fire Lord Ozai was defeated by the Avatar, his fall represented the return to balance and the rule of law. Now the law has been broken; the balance disrupted. The blood of the Fire Nation was spilled yet again for corruption and greed."
His arm swept out and gestured at Azula, much to the excitement of the crowd. As they hurled insults and boos, Azula let a hiss of smoke parted her lips, but her guard's staff on the back of her neck kept the billowing fire in her chest behind her teeth. They weren't making the same mistake the sanatorium had a year ago.
"My sister led a rebellion throughout our islands, nearly destroying everything we had worked for. She convinced the fiercest of Ozai's supporters to throw their lot in with her for one last cast of the dice – and failed. They rampaged through our former colonies, murdering and plundering, until finally attacking our great capital. Yet, it stands firm, just as its people stood firm."
Azula was seriously considering testing her luck and trying to roast her windbag brother. The crowd, clearly full of traitors that were hand-picked by Zuko for the occasion, thundered out their applause. They were coming for her now; a dozen masked men in two lines walked into the square. Red plate mail glowed in the noon sunlight like spilled blood as they circled her.
The sage stepped forward and Zuko relinquished control of the event with a bow. "Princess Azula, by the ancient laws of the Fire Nation you are charged with usurpation, crimes against the crown, murder, attempted murder, and inciting a rebellion. Furthermore, at the behest of the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe, you are classified as a Class-A war criminal for your actions during the Hundred Years War. The Avatar is present to pass judgment on those charges, but as arbitrator of our own laws I find your guilt self-evident. I impose a sentence of death by immolation." Shyu glanced to his side. "Avatar Aang, if you would?"
Whatever doubt the Air Nomad boy had was buried now. His eyes were downcast, but resolute. The Water Tribe peasant gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he walked out of her grip.
He cleared his throat. "The monks at the Southern Air Temple taught me that all life had value; that every creature on the planet had a place and a task set aside just for it and that we should respect that place and task. However, as Avatar I am tasked with bringing balance and harmony to all people and things. At what point does one overtake the other? I grappled with that question for days and, eventually, I have to concede that Azula's task in this world is one of destruction and chaos. She was given every chance to reform, but she has become even more dangerous than her father. Therefore, as Avatar and a representative of the other three nations, I must affirm their designation of Azula as a war criminal and defer to the judgment of the Fire Nation for justice."
That was the breaking point. A stream of fire erupted from her mouth, catching Zuko and her jailers by surprise. It turned his cape to soot before the guards could get her mouth clamped shut. She screamed and bit at their hands until they were forced to muzzle her with a steel mask that covered her mouth.
She was still screaming and cursing when Zuko ordered the sentence to commence. As the circle of black-masked fire benders closed, her curses became oaths. Oaths of revenge. That this wouldn't be the last of her.
When the jets of white flames licked her body, her oaths became unintelligible shrieks.
When all that was left of Azula, former heir to the Phoenix King and Princess of the Fire Nation, was a half-melted chain and a large pile of white soot, the crowd took up her shrieks and replaced them with cheers.