Slight, eensy-weensy spoilers for the Season 2 finale, I guess. If at all. I might just be paranoid.
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Zuko knows that one day, the people of the Fire Nation will be known more for their ambition than their greed. It doesn't matter that the two are nearly the same thing – it's merely a matter of public opinion. One day, the people of the Four Nations will remark on how inventive and hardworking the children of Fire are, instead of spitting at their feet and muttering darkly about divine punishment.
That day is a long way off, though, and Zuko knows it will seem even farther at the end of the day.
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Earth Kingdom soldiers patrol every street; the Water Tribe fleet blockades every port. There's really no need to, though – the entire navy is lying on the ocean floor, Agni knows how many men dead within their iron husks. The former governor of New Ozai is signing the surrender documents on the Avatar's flagship, his daughter at his right hand.
The palace capitol is gone. The locus of the Avatar's attacks, the area around it was torched so thoroughly that bedrock shows. Zuko himself is at the Summer Palace, Ty Lee fidgeting at his side. It's the height of summer, and unseasonably hot by even Fire Nation standards. The ceremonial robes chafe.
"My lord," the priest says helplessly, and Zuko sighs irritably.
"Don't bother," he says harshly, not even noticing the man's flinch. "I'll be twenty by the time my hair is long enough for the proper style. We go without."
Ty Lee giggles at the man's flabbergasted expression and cartwheels behind Zuko as he strides away.
"You're funny, Zuko."
He grins with one half of his mouth. "Is that an insult, or an observation, Ty Lee?"
The gymnast just laughs gaily, and Zuko smiles wider.
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Not many people will be here, he knows: the remainder of the nobility, gathered up from their hidey-holes; some of the more prominent merchants and engineers; the few military officers still alive. The Avatar, of course. Zuko makes a note to speak to him, after. He may not like the kid, but he's the only 'ally' the Fire Nation has, at this point.
His mother won't be there, of course. Neither will Azula. And from what his spies have told him, the Dragon of the West is probably sipping tea with the Blind Bandit and the Earth King, far away across the ocean.
"You ready?" Ty Lee asks curiously, and he nods, carefully. He's not so foolish to think that this girl is his friend. She follows him not because he is himself, as Azula was herself, but because of the ideals he holds, and he knows that any weakness will provoke unwelcome questions in her – and in their people.
Still, he can't stop himself from touching his scar once, lightly.
Then he reaches for the heavy wooden doors and pushes them open, blinking as he steps into the heavy yellow sunshine.
The coronation ceremony doesn't end until sunset; by moonrise, Zuko will be Fire Lord.
And then? Well, and then all his problems will begin.
