Chapter 10

Mai looked around the capital, carefully observing her surroundings in the faint light of the setting sun. She was just passing the noodle shop she had visited with Kei Lo and was approaching a dilapidated sector of the city, where the underground headquarters sat. She motioned for the gang to follow. They trailed behind, with Sokka bringing up the rear.

The team of eight ended up in front of a stairwell with a solid, metal door at the bottom. Everybody looked down at the entrance to the New Ozai Society's headquarters, paralyzed with anticipation, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"All right," Fire Lord Zuko whispered to his crew. "We'll stop these conspirators and ensure that this coup ends tonight. They won't stand a chance against us, especially with the Avatar on our side." He glanced proudly at Aang before beginning his descent, silently leading the rest of them down.

"And so this is why we are going to reinstate the previous Fire Lord, Ozai," Ukano was heard saying, "and banish Zuko once and for all. Ozai was a much better ruler than his son will ever be. Let us never forget who betrayed our nation and caused such devastating loss in the war—"

Zuko, fortified by the treasonous words he had just heard, burst open the door. "My father was so much worse than me!" he yelled.

All of the society's members turned around, startled at seeing the current Fire Lord standing in their headquarters' entrance. "Zuko!" Ukano shouted and moved around a long table, where several Ozai loyalists were kneeling, to face him square on. "How did you get here? How did you find out about us?"

"I told him," said another familiar voice from the shadows. "Unlike all of you, I remain loyal to my nation," the voice continued as Mai found herself taking center stage in the underground room in order to join her boyfriend.

"Mai!" her father cried. "How could you do this?"

"Like I said, I'm loyal to the Fire Nation instead of the politics of my father. This coup you are promoting is the true betrayal to our country."

"Mai, you don't understand," said a young man kneeling at the discussion table. Observing him more closely, she saw that it was Kei Lo. "We lost a war that lasted an entire century because of Zuko! What was the point of fighting for one hundred years? We were on the very brink of victory until Zuko decided to side with the Avatar."

"It was wrong," stated Aang as he and the rest of the gang came into view. "The Fire Nation does not have the right to rule the world. Zuko realized what was correct, and he set both himself and your nation on the right path, even if it meant seemingly moving backwards to better the country in the long run."

As the members took in Fire Lord Zuko and his warriors, they looked frightened both that the Avatar was standing in their presence and that there were more than just the two lovebirds to face.

"Why do you plan on reinstating my father? Aang used energybending to strip him of his firebending abilities. My dad won't be a true Fire Lord without being able to bend."

"What does it matter to you?" Ukano replied harshly. "Our main goal is simply to ensure that our nation has a proper ruler in place, and if that means impeaching you to reestablish Ozai as the supreme leader, then so be it. Secondarily, even if Ozai can't bend, his servants would be able to do that for him."

"Don't expect it to be so easy to dethrone me," Zuko warned Ukano as the rest of the members stood up from the table, readying themselves if they were needed to intervene on Ukano's behalf. "We are fighting against this injustice, and we won't be showing any mercy!"

"Mai, you must not take their side!" Her father's shouting escalated with each word. "I forbid it! This will look bad on the family—we will lose our honor!"

"No," Zuko said. "You are the one losing your family's honor; she is the one redeeming it."

"Come to us!" Kei Lo exclaimed, desperate for Mai to see reason.

"The only reason I would be joining you is to fight you."

The Fire Lord interrupted the dialogue that was going nowhere. "All of you are going down because I am going to wipe the idea of any more coups out of your minds!"

"Don't bother trying to intimidate us! We don't fear you—we wouldn't be in this society if we did!" Ukano shot back. "One of the reasons that Ozai was a much better Fire Lord was because he could frighten his servants into obeying him! If he were back in power, Ozai would not only have the nation restart the war, but he would end it in victory!"

Both sides spread out, preparing for the battle. For each of the eight in the Fire Lord's group, there were at least seven adversaries.

"Do you honestly believe that you can stop us?" Ukano asked. "You are greatly outnumbered, and your loss is predetermined. It is actually beneficial that you came here tonight; Ozai cannot waste any more time for the sake of this nation."

"Why do you say that?" demanded the Fire Lord.

"Because you're weak! You've been weak since the day you were born, and that scar from your father proves it. War requires sacrifice, Zuko! When you came back, you were too scared to continue the war, running away from your father. You had to train the Avatar in order for him to end it!"

"You are wrong," Zuko growled in a dangerously low tone. "I was strong when I stood up to General Bujing's ruthless and immoral plan. Although I didn't have the courage to fight my father at the time, I did after returning home. Being banished gave me all the bravery and nobility I needed, and when the solar eclipse occurred, I was able to face my father. I was finally strong enough to leave him and join the Avatar in order to stop him from tearing the world apart."

He continued, "During my time away, I learned how to stop my fire from spewing forth in mere anger and hatred—and bend fire from its original source: from sun to dragon to man—the life and energy of the sun in my soul. Do you call that weak?"

"Yes!" shouted Mai's dad. "That is the weakness—no, the failure of a traitor!"

Having been pushed to his limit, Zuko shot a blast of fire at the man, driving him back against the wall. "Failure?" the Fire Lord questioned threateningly, while simultaneously advancing. "There won't be any failure for me today."

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