Ziggy's Corner: Okay long time in doing this, but it kinda feels good to do it. The story is nearly over, two more chapters after this and the story is then done.
So many years it had been, she had died, and his son had now decided change his name, from the one he and his mother had given to him, down to Azulon. Sozen felt the waves of ages hit against his shoulders, and more than once he felt the urge to give up. Save for one thing that kept pushing him forward… justice.
Justice or vengeance? Sozen grit his teeth, he did not have time for this now. Moving his arms around and standing straight, he breathed in and then out. Flames surrounded him, and not because he was sitting on his throne. The avatar was still out there, somewhere he was sure of it, but his son, Kao… Azulon still searched for him now his father's stead, and was now advised by Admiral Daeva. There was something he did not like that idea, but he could not place his finger on it.
"Fire Lord…," one of his generals said, walking up to him.
"I needed hear another report for today, general."
"But my Lord, things go wrong in the southern front and…,"
"Something always goes wrong in that area," Sozen growled, steam coming from his nostril. He glared at the general and crossed his arms. "Why bother me with such nonsense?"
"You're men sir,"
"Can take care of themselves, I have other matters to deal with!"
"My Lord," the other man snapped. It was the last thing he did, with a snap, Sozen brought him down. "I want someone to clean this mess up right now!"
It did not take long for someone to rush in and take care of the body as someone quickly cleaned up the blood. Then they were gone, and again Sozen was alone. He pouted, frowned and sat on his chair, stroking his beard.
He nearly had one third of this planet, he was a known name, feared, and no one ever laughed at the Fire Nation any more. There was no crime, not unless the criminals either paid their lord, OR wanted to be subscripted into the military with very little armor and weaponry. So why was he so empty, so bored?
He paced the halls, each wall and floor he so intimately knew, and groaned. He scowled, tried to get sleep, but when it refused to come, shot up and pushed his way out of the castle.
Sozen had done this many times, even before he was Fire Lord. He just needed fresh air, some peace of mind. It was dark, cold too as it was winter. He bundled up as best he could and slunk through the darkness, waiting for the guards to pass and then rushed by, ignoring them, ignoring everything until he entered a bar and quickly sat down.
"What will you have?" the bartender said. He was a short man with a beard that ran down to the floor and dark gray eyes. Scars littered his bald head and he peered at the cloaked king. "The usual huh?"
"Am I that frequent?" Sozen croaked, slinking his head on the table.
"Not as much as you were in your younger days," the bartender said, tossing him some ale. "It saddens me to see you so… so confused and…," he struggled for the right words. "I am just … worried about you my boy," he sighed with a little frustration.
Any other time Sozen would now be standing or sitting in front of a corpse, ordering clean up. He could not bring himself to kill this old man though. Since he had turned twelve and sipped his first ale, this man had been like a father to him, a much closer father than anything his real father could be.
"I know," Sozen said with a playful smile, sipping his drink. "I … am not sure what has happened to me over the past couple of years."
"You are full of sadness and despair boy," the bartender said. "More so since your wife died so long ago, when was the last time you spoke to your boy?"
"I wrote to Kao… Azulon a few weeks ago, he's doing fine."
"I meant about actually talking to him, and not about the Avatar or the military," the man said, turning his head to see his new aide having some problems with some rough men. He frowned as they grabbed and tossed the woman to the table, demanding that she speak to them with the utmost respect, and went to do something about it, when Sozen brushed him aside.
"You men should be on patrol," he growled, staring at a sergeant.
"Yeah, well if you knew the regiment we were with, you'd shut up," the drunk squad leader barked back, swaying back and forth. His eyes were foggy and he could barely talk.
"Sergeant Lee with the Rough Tridents," Sozen said with a hiss. The younger man smiled and gripped the woman's wrist. "Let her go."
"Since ya knows me so well, you should know not to mess with me, now if you gents will excuse us, we have business to teach this witch a very important lesson."
Sozen walked between the men and the door, glaring at them. "I think you should return back to your posts and hope I don't demand your heads," he growled. A few minutes passed and the men looked at him, before exploding into laughter.
"Move out of the way little man, before you get hurt," one of the thugs cackled.
"I was about to say the same thing to you," Sozen snarled. Quickly like a bolt of a lightning he tossed of his hood and glared at the men.
"Huh, ya know what is funny? You look a lot like the Fire Lord," the Sergeant Lee snarled.
"It is because he is," the tavern owner said, crossing his arms. The thugs looked at each other and laughed.
"Right, and I am Po the spirit of mischief," Lee said. "Now move out of our way," he tried to push through toward the door, but Sozen shoved him half way across the room with the palm of his hands to the man's chest.
"Look you snot nosed little bastard, get out of our way… if you do, I promise we won't hurt her at all…," Lee smiled at the young woman, flashing his dirty teeth. "In fact she is very pretty, might be all she needs is a good long night of non stop loving."
"We might have to tie her down for that," cackled one of the thugs holding her shoulders tight, keeping her from running.
"Good, I love playing rough," Lee said, reaching up to stroke her cheek. Her eyes widened as his arm slipped and dropped to the floor, blood spilling everywhere. Sergeant Lee cried in alarm, and turn as Sozen brought his blade across his face, cutting through inches of flesh, leaving the man blind in his left eye, which was now oozing yellow white paste from between his fingers.
Before the others could stop him, Sozen sideways flipped and brought another down to his knees with a shot to his kidneys. Now it was one and one, and the terrified, drunken soldier looked at the man who he no longer doubted was his king, and inched away.
"My Lord, sire… I….,"
"You will take these two men to the prison, return to clean up this mess, and pay the tavern owner for the mess you made." Sozen inched further and looked into the dull eyes of the frightened man. "But before that you will apologize to this young woman."
"I… I am sorry miss," he gulped. He took his friends' shoulders in his hands and pushed them out of the tavern, shuddering.
"I too am very sorry for this miss," Sozen said with a bright smile. "I normally do not let people see me act so… well as the Earth Kingdom normally acts," he said with a chuckle, ignoring the way her body tightened. "As you may well know, I am Fire Lord Sozen, but might I ask you your name?"
"Qi Xiang," she answered slowly. Her eyes were of such a bright green that Sozen could not but help feel as if he was lost within some kind of forest. Somewhere he could hear the song of a woman, and he felt pulled in deeper into that forest. The smell of fragrance and a gentle wave of air soothed his soul. I have not felt like this since before the death of my wife.
"An interesting name, Ms Qi Xiang," Sozen said. "I do again apologize, not all soldiers or nobility are like them," he said with a smile.
"Far too many for my liking nowadays," she answered quickly.
"Yes… what with the war," Sozen sighed and shook his head.
"It has been going on for far too long, perhaps now would be a good time to talk of peace?" she asked.
Sozen frowned, his own muscles tightening. "Peace? When, when the enemy surrenders?" he fought the urge to push the darkness forward, the monster that so desperately desired blood.
"There need not be a surrender if people just lay down their arms and discuss what has happened, and what can happen with the proper unity."
Sozen opened his mouth and closed it yet again. The proper unity? What could that mean? "I suppose that might be a good idea, yes," he said… that song pushing back the monster back into the darkness. It was a power that had never been used on it before, a power that the darkness had never faced since the death of his beloved.
"That would be such a good thing to hear, my lord," the woman said and flashed him a smile of the whitest teeth he'd ever seen that he nearly lost his balance.
"How long have you been working for this man, I haven't seen you before," Sozen said asked.
"Just the last two weeks, but he's been so kind… I was working in his basement and attic, going through foods and produce, but I must have done such a good job, as he promoted me to the front counter, and then as a waitress quickly."
"She lost most of the produce, spilled my meat all over the floor, and screamed and nearly knocked down my glasses when she thought she saw a snake spider," the tavern owner said with a laugh.
"It was a massive snake spider, and I only bruises a few apples," Qi Xiang snarled.
"A few apples?! It was three crates!" the tavern owner yelled.
"Oh go sip on some nice soothing tea before your heart bursts old man," the young woman said with a sly smile.
Sozen blinked for a moment watching the banter. He was not sure whether to leap into defending the woman… whom he just met, or defend the man who was like a father to him for years. Finally the old tavern owner just sighed, chuckled and crossed his arms.
"And I thought you'd be able to handle the patrons," he said.
"And I was too, up until today," she laughed. Then she turned to Sozen and quickly kissed his cheek. "Until my white knight saved me." She giggled, waved good bye to the two men, and for the first time in a long time, Sozen seriously smiled.
Okay this was fun! It feels good to return back to one of my original fan fiction stories. Only two more chapters to go to the finish of this story.