Avatar the Last Airbender: The Spiritbender War
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. OCs do belong to me
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone. It's sort of going towards the transition chapters now before the war really begins.
Ozai sprang awake, water dripping down his clothes, pooling on the ground. "That's cold," he exclaimed. Then he saw who was responsible, "Papa Bear's coming to get you three naughty kids," he said, grinning. He got up and began to chase his kids. They all ran around the courtyard, Ozai chasing them all around, playing with his kids. Iroh stood next to one of the buildings laughing. He had not ever seen his younger brother happy like this with his other children. Part of him was jealous of his younger brother, as he had lost his only son, and this reminded him of himself playing around with Lu Ten. Though Zuko had filled that void a little, Zuko was still Ozai's child and not his own. He saw Ozai scoop up both his children with a burst of speed and run around with them one in each arm, a look of joy passing through the children's faces. Iroh sighed, wishing that he had remarried after his wife's death, and had more children. It was the first time in a long while that he had been jealous of his younger brother. Usually, he kept his feelings under control very well, but seeing his brother with the children, after what he had done, just resonated in envy within Iroh's heart.
Chapter 5
Fire Lady Mai sat in the Fire Nation palace, ruling in her fiance's stead. In reality it was really the Imperial Chancellors and General Jin making the day to day decisions of trying to run the country, which she did not understand at all. All she saw was that they were beginning to make cut backs, to save so money they said. She had agreed with their suggestion, as she knew she couldn't let the Fire Nation Citizens suffer whilst they still lived in splendour.
She sighed, as she went into her private study. Ty Lee was there waiting for her, staying with her whilst Zuko was away. She had been invited, as a friend for Mai, but also as a bodyguard of sorts as well. Mai sat down at the table opposite Ty Lee. "So, how was the session today with the Chancellors?" Ty Lee asked.
"More of the same," Mai said, deadpan. "They just repeated the same things, the Fire Nation is cutting back spending, food harvests are bad this year, then they present a rush of figures and statistics, and I sign off on what the Chancellors want to do."
"Don't you think you should at least take a look at the figures?" Ty Lee asked.
"I did," Mai said, "but they don't really make that much sense to me. But I get the gist of it. The last year has been very hard on the Fire Nation. Our negotiators, and Zuko did the best that they could, but the war reparation that we have to pay, each and every year is straining the national budget. There's no way around it. The people are suffering but we can't do anything else, we just have to ride it out. I've already cut back the palace spending, and our army budget, but not too much because General Jin would vigorously protest. Many of our soldiers weren't trained in any other occupations and most still wish to stay professional soldiers, so the Fire Nation has to bear their cost." Ty Lee nodded and poured out some tea, which the two women drank.
Lord Ji Liu stood on the balcony on top of the gate of Omashu. He looked down as his Edict went into effect. This event would become known as the Enforced March. All Fire Nation colonists were in the process of being expelled. A long line of people, under the watch his elite earthbenders were being forced to march outside the city. Lord Ji Liu intended to march them all the way to the closest port, load them onto a large ship, tow the ship to Fire Nation waters, and then abandon the ship and sail back to the Earth Kingdom. He had the support of the Earth Kingdom citizens of Omashu in this endeavour for they still hated the Fire Nation colonists who had stolen their jobs, their wealth and their homes.
It was so easy to manipulate that hate, Ji Liu thought as he watched the last Fire Nation colonists being herded out of the city. He saw one man try to break free from the column, his legs pumping hard as he ran. He saw his elite earthbender, move, and a spike emerged from the ground, impaling the man sending a gush of blood to the ground around him. The earthbender looked away and went back to his job of enforcing the march. Now they knew what would happen to those that did not comply. Ji Liu smiled, satisfied. Outside the port they had set up a rudimentary tent city, just in case the ship wasn't ready yet, but last he had heard, it would be ready when the expelled colonists would arrive. Luckily for him, he had heard from Liu Xin in Ba Sing Se, that the Avatar had travelled up to the North of the Earth kingdom, ostensibly looking for the escaped Ozai.
Yaoshi entered the room on the Fire Nation ship where Azula was. She wondered which Azula would wake up, the placid one, or the angry one. She could control both of course, easily if need be, but the placid one would be much easier to control. She saw Azula flutter her eyes, "Good morning, Princess," she said, "I see that you are well rested."
"Yes," Azula answered, "I am." It was the placid Azula that answered.
"You are free," Yaoshi said, "I will help you regain your throne." Azula looked around.
"Yes," she said, "my throne," she intoned dully, "Thank you for getting me my throne back."
"Not yet," Yaoshi replied, "dear Princess. We must wait, and hide and gather our forces."
"Yes," Azula intoned, "we must wait, and hide and gather our forces. Thank you."
"Here Princess," Yaoshi said, "you must eat." She walked to the door, and opened it. There was a soldier with some food for her. Yaoshi took the tray from him and motioned for him to leave, she would sit with the Princess. He left, and she shut the door behind him.
She walked over to the table in the cabin and motioned for Azula to sit with her which she did. "Here eat this with me." Azula and Yaoshi ate in silence as the ship they were on sailed into the secret base.
Back in the Temple, the next day went and passed, and the Avatar and his group were beginning to leave to return to Ba Sing Se. The Temple itself was isolated and so no news had filtered through to the Temple, unless the inhabitants of the Temple moved down to village that was the closest which was still a journey. The Avatar and Iroh were both satisfied that they weren't leaving any world class criminal plots behind them at the Temple. Aang enjoyed his time with Tai Feng, talking about the almost lost art of airbending. Tai Feng waved goodbye, as Appa lifted off following the two airships.
Ozai was relieved to see the airships and the Avatar leave the Temple. Seeing Zuko and Iroh reminded him of what he had left behind, and the temptations were certainly there to take back what he used to have. But it would have cost him the love of his wife. He had lost her once for his dreams of power, he would not make that choice again, especially now they had their third child, the child who was his chance to have a proper relationship with, as father and son, unlike his own failed relationships with his father and his own first son. He turned away and went back to his quarters where Ursa and the children were waiting for the morning martial arts lessons.
Ursa kissed her husband on the cheek as he came to collect the children for their training. Ursa would spend this time preparing the children's education, of the non-martial kind, in sums, arts and the like. She hummed to herself as she sat down in her study. Today, though she was rather lost in her thoughts. Her eldest son had just left. She could see that he was now a man, independent, no longer the little boy that she left behind seven years ago, the boy that needed to be protected. No, now her focus was on her third child, and her husband. That was not to say that she would not have loved to spend time with Zuko, but now was not the time to do so, with her husband still so vulnerable from his time in prison. Despite the fact that he was the head of the family, he was the one that was the one in need of the most love, from her in any case.
Zuko had learnt to adapt without Ursa's presence. Bei Fu had the other children and the other spiritbenders with them, but Ozai only had her alone. Ozai only had Ursa's love sustaining him, keeping him on the right path, so that was her priority right now. She would have loved to fly away to Ember Island; or the Fire Nation capital to be with Zuko but she would not abandon her husband not right now when he needed her the most. Even more than Azula who she was told was mentally damaged. She and Azula had never been close, and she believed that to heal Azula, she needed Ozai to be healed first because he was the one that she would listen to, and she believed it would help complete his healing process too. To show him that he could love in a positive manner.
Tai Feng was training up in the top of the mountains, which was best for airbending. He had the two children with him. They were going through the basics of forming spheres of air between their hands. Afterward, they would learn to stretch and elongate the sphere into a tube and then compress it back again. That would teach them some control over the wind. Soon he hoped they would be able to shape air easily. He watched as his daughter stretched her sphere into a cylinder and then back again, once, twice, three times. His son compressed the sphere into a flat disk, a rather dangerous move, as it required more strength than usual, but mostly control. Too much pressure and the disk would explode. He watched both of them carefully as they continued to learn, someday hopefully they would help rebalance the world with airbenders.
The airship landed in Ba Sing Se, the city was in full celebration Aang saw as he alighted. Turning to the closest guard he asked, "Why are the people celebrating?"
"The King is getting married to Lady Liu Xin," the guard replied. "Celebration of their betrothal, Avatar Aang."
Toph snorted, "the slut is just a flattering courtesan who's looking to place her hands into the King's person so that she can show off." Sokka laughed.
"You jealous?" he quipped. A rock flew in response. "Oww," Sokka complained, as he rubbed his head. They went back towards the Palace to visit the King. Fire Lord Zuko and his uncle followed, as they were important guests.
King Kuei sat in his throne room, "Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko and friends," he greeted, "You are all invited to my wedding. So did you find Ozai?" he asked.
"Yes, we did," Aang replied, "and we have a long story to tell you later at a convenient time." He cut off any reply that King Kuei was making. "I believe that you have to deal with the other court petitioners for the day. Perhaps after dinner tonight in your private study would be a fitting time." Aang had had to learn diplomacy very quickly, as the Avatar, his job not only included fighting tyrants, but also learning to smooth over matters of contention peacefully. With a quick bow, the party exited, and headed back towards Uncle Iroh's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon.
Back in the Fire Nation capital, General Jin and Ginra plotted. Ginra had received word from Yaoshi that Azula was now free and in her possession. It was time for the next phase. With the Fire Lord still away hunting Ozai, it would be a lot easier. Lady Mai was no firebender and neither was her friend Ty Lee. The Imperial Guard inside the palace had been rotated such that their loyal troops were the ones within the compound that night. There were various functionaries, chancellors and army members within the meeting, though it was a small meeting. They all agreed on one thing, for the sake of the Fire Nation, Zuko had to be dethroned and his policies reversed, even if it meant restarting the war. The Fire Nation was on the verge of financial and economic oblivion, starvation was coming in the next year, unless they quickly reconquered some farmable land. The conspirators finalised their final plans and then left.
In Ba Sing Se the day of the wedding approached. Lady Liu Xin sat in her room, reading a letter from Lord Ji Liu of Omashu, who was arriving later on today for the wedding. She had been attending all of King Kuei's petitions and had the ear of the new head of the Dai Li, who was an ardent nationalist. Together they had conspired to keep any news of Lord Ji Liu's edict from reaching the King's ear, until the wedding was over. When she was Queen officially, she would be able to officially exert influence within the Court.
Ji Liu reported that the enforced march was going well. Some of the interlopers were dying on the march but he did not care, after all they were only 'evil Fire Nation people'. She had long been in support of the Spiritbenders controlling the world, ever since Sozin's war had begun. She had been one of the first to join Lei Dian, an ex-airbender, Hana, an ex-waterbender who had advocated that the spiritbenders had to take rule to stop the war. They had been opposed by Huo, the eldest martial brother at the time, and also the de facto leader. The split that had proceeded from that argument had ripped the Spiritbenders apart and began the war between them. However, Liu Xin had chosen her side, based on what she had felt was best and she was not going to back out on it now. She knew that Ji Liu had chosen this side too and this was all part of Lei Dian's plan. She put the letter down, and burnt it with the candle that was providing light.
Night came, as King Kuei and Aang met along with Fire Lord Zuko and the others. King Kuei waited impatiently for an explanation of what had happened at the Temple. The attendant poured out some jasmine tea, and then left.
"So," King Kuei said, "Avatar Aang, what happened?"
Aang began the story, "we found him, in an isolated monastery, living with some other people, including Lady Ursa. He is at peace and Lady Ursa gave surety for her husband's continued good behaviour. That was enough for us."
King Kuei exploded, "you would trust so easily? He could easily be trying to take over the world again."
"I do," Fire Lord Zuko said, "I trust my mother knows her husband." Aang nodded in agreement.
"So you don't trust him?" King Kuei said, "you trust the word of your mother."
"And the others," Aang replied.
"The others?" King Kuei asked.
"The people he is living with," Aang answered. "They will keep him out of trouble." King Kuei nodded.
That night, Liu Xin knocked gently on the King's door. She wanted to know what the Avatar and the King had talked about. She entered as he beckoned her in. She came to stand behind the King, and began kneading his shoulders, giving her fiancé a massage after a long day's work. A look of pleasure passed through the King's face, as she kneaded harder. "What did the Avatar and Fire Lord want to talk to you about," she asked.
"Oh, nothing," the King replied.
"You can tell me," Liu Xin purred as she ran her fingers over the King's face. "We are getting married."
"Of course," Kuei said, "we are getting married, but these are matters of state that a Queen need not worry about."
Liu Xin pouted, "but my Lord, I want to know. You have to trust me, how could we let this come between our upcoming marriage?"
The King sighed, "but you must tell no one else," he said, as he told her what had transpired. Liu Xin smiled, this was good news for her. She would need to inform the others, but she must play the part. She had to play the part of the loving wife to be, the Queen-to-be.
Later that night, Liu Xin sat in her private quarters, penning the letter to her comrades, telling them the location of the Temple, and that their enemy was situated. The homing pigeon bird left the window of her quarters within the palace, its wings fluttering in the night sky.
A/N: Non-cliffhanger ending. Please review! Reviews keep me writing this!