"The votes are in."
The entirety of the National Assembly, all one hundred delegates, seemed to lean in and cease their usual babbling to hear with greater clarity.
"With a final vote of eighty-seven to thirteen, the bill to eliminate the office of the Fire Lord fails."
The vast majority of the Assembly burst into applause, Izumi included, but the disgusted cries of anger and a few boos managed to filter through the cheers and prickle Izumi's pride.
She pushed this thought aside. Her mother had always taught her to let criticism and hatred pass through her. She took a few deep breaths, then nodded towards Minister Watao, the Prime Minister. The aging man banged his gavel several times and the large hall gradually faded back into silence.
"As there is no longer any legislation on the docket, I hereby call this session of the National Assembly closed. Our next meeting shall be next week, Monday. Dismissed."
Ren touched Izumi's shoulder gently, smiling broadly.
"It seems we did it, Your Highness."
Izumi smirked slightly, taking care not to show the depths of her joy that she could continue leading her people.
"It seems we did, Ren. This victory is as much yours as it is mine."
Ren shook her head, standing from her chair.
"Nonsense. All I did was convince a few of my old friends in the Assembly to vote our way, my Lady."
"Let's go home, shall we?"
Ren smirked mischievously.
"All due respect, your Excellency, but we still have a few greetings to take care of…"
Izumi sighed. It was going to be a long night.
The large doors leading to her room closed softly for the night, allowing Izumi to simply collapse on her now very, very soft bed and stare at her high ceiling in relief. The endless greetings and congratulations from the various delegates that had voted to keep her in office were tiresome. She was grateful, of course, for their support, but she sometimes wished that it would be sufficient to say one 'thank you' and be done with it.
Such was politics, she supposed.
She tiredly stretched her limbs out as she walked across her room to her dressing area, where she quickly folded her robes, set them on the table, and tied a lighter, and considerably less insulated, nightgown.
Sighing, she sat in front of her mirror by the window and carefully removed the hairpiece that signified her office. She smiled at her reflection in the shiny gold, and set it in its red-felt case, letting it fall into the impression, and snapping the lid closed.
She let her hair down and stared at her reflection again, once more marveling at how much gray was beginning to creep into her hair. Her once silky black hair was now mostly gray, with a few streaks of black left now.
It didn't exactly look as appealing as she'd like, but she did at least look better than most women her age. She always joked that being in contact with so much ash and fire on a daily basis was good for her skin, but she had been wondering if there had been truth to it in recent times.
She sighed, and walked across her warm, carpeted floor to her bed. She removed the perfectly-smooth silk covers slightly so that she could slip in, and she covered herself once more. Glancing at the flickering candle by her bedside, she pushed the flickering flame to die out, bathing her room in darkness. Faint light, from the city below and the bright moon, filtered in.
To some of her guests in the past- Earth Kingdom people especially- the relatively bright night made it difficult to sleep, but she had always found it comforting.
She yawned, and let her head sink slightly into her voluminous pillow, her aching muscles relaxing slightly. She cleared her mind of everything that nagged at her insistently- a task that was only possible with years of mental training- and allowed sleep to take her.
Izumi snapped awake just in time to hear the cocking of a pistol somewhere in her room.
She swiftly rolled out of her bed, barely missing the shot that obliterated her pillow, and landed in a semi-combat ready pose, shaking the last remnants of sleep from her mind.
A growl of frustration escaped from the direction of her private bathroom, where a singular figure, dressed in dark green, gray, and maroon, donning a mask with glowing green eyes somersaulted towards her, his hands outstretched.
She instinctively recognized the chi-blocker form, and she blocked the man's jab with her forearm, diverting his thrust upwards, above her head. For a moment, they stayed locked in that position, until Izumi bent a fireball towards the man's midriff, which he barely dodged.
The man settled into a dynamic, low position. She responded by settling into one of the basic Firebending forms, with her legs widely spread apart and her outstretched palm facing towards her attacker, her other arm tightly balled by her hip.
For another few moments, they stayed still, sizing each other up.
Then, with a loud bang, the doors slammed open, and a trio of Imperial Firebenders burst into the room, bending fire towards the attacker.
The man ducked and weaved, the fire missing him, barely, but he realized his mistake far too late.
The guards' distraction allowed Izumi to bound across the room. In a single, swift move, she deflected the desperate jab by the man with her left hand, striking him across the face with her right. Then, swirling quickly, she transferred her momentum into her left arm and let it whip into the man's neck, forcing him to grab his neck as he involuntarily choked.
Then, without the use of bending, even, she swiped his leg from beneath him, transferring herself on top of the man so that her knee pressed down on the back of his neck.
As her guards quickly handcuffed the man, she gradually relieved the pressure on his neck and stood up, her muscles twinging slightly from the sudden attack.
"Are you alright, your Highness?" asked one of her guards.
"I'm fine. He didn't get a chance to hurt me."
As if on cue, several more Imperial Firebenders burst through the second door, running to her side and trying to guide her out.
"Wait. Hold the prisoner there," she said loudly.
The guards paused, jerking the assassin towards her.
As the lights shone in from the bright hallway, it illuminated several patches and emblems on his uniform, removing all doubt- the man was an Equalist.
She removed the man's mask gently, only to be greeted by a defiant spatter of saliva on her cheek. She wiped it off in disgust, glaring back at the man.
His features were Earth Kingdom in origin, with piercing jade eyes and tanned, scarred skin.
"What is your name?"
"Death to the Bending Establishment! The Equalists shall never surrender, not in a thousand years!"
"Amon is dead. They found his body in Yue Bay. Who do you take orders from?" she growled.
"Amon's body may be dead, but his spirit persists through the will of the Equalists!"
"I think his will chose the wrong person to back, assassin. Take him away."
The guards saluted, pushing him out of her room. As soon as he left, Colonel Liu strolled in, looking at Izumi with a sardonic smile and a raised eyebrow.
"It seems I can hardly leave you for a few moments without your life being threatened by an assassin. What is this, the fifth Equalist to try to get you?"
Izumi smiled sitting down on her bed and wiping away the sweat on her forehead with her silk sleeve.
"It's only the second, thank you very much. The attempt a month ago was with the New Ozai Society."
"Forgive my technicality, your Highness. We'll have to discuss the finer points in the bunker."
Izumi sighed. The bunker wasn't exactly the most pleasant place to spend a night.
"I don't suppose there's any chance I can just stay somewhere other than the incredibly dingy underground bunker, is there?"
"Now you sound like your father. When you get to your fiftieth assassination attempt, then you can dictate the post-attempt location."
"What are we at? Twenty?"
"Something like that, Your Highness. Now, if you'll forgive my insistence, but we really ought to get going."
Sighing again in tiredness, she grabbed her glasses off the bedside and settled into the middle of the pack of guards, who looked around at every possible corner with cautious scrutiny.
She rubbed her eyes as they descended the stairs towards the hatch that would take them into the volcano's tunnels beneath them.
If this was any indication of how the week would be going, she knew it was going to be a doozy.
"So I heard that an Equalist tried to… end you the other night," her father said, his usual grimace practically evident from his voice.
Izumi smiled, despite the supposed gravity of the situation.
"I'm afraid so, father. At this rate, I'll pass your record of assassination attempts by the time I turn 70."
Her father chuckled softly.
"If that happens, I'll arrange for the party myself. Perhaps we'll hold a parade."
"If you hold a parade, then maybe I can get another one under my belt."
"You are alright, though?"
"Yes, father. You and Colonel Liu taught me well. I used my katas."
"Good. Did you have a chance to use the Dancing Dragon?"
Izumi smiled. Her father's insistence that the technique of the Sun Warriors was effective had never truly set in for her. She had always found the move, and the story behind it, too fantastic to believe. She knew how to do it, but the last time she had used it was when she had been in an amateur Probending Team as a teenager.
"No, I'll have to wait until I get attacked again. How are you?"
"I've been better. I'm heading up to the Northern Water Tribe to call on Chief Unalaq. I've heard from several of my sources that he's been dabbling with the Spirits. I hope to check on the state of things up there and perhaps report to the White Lotus, or the Avatar, on the situation. How goes things back home?"
"You're missed, dad. You could be very helpful. We're still rounding up the last of the Equalists, but, as usual, the Triads are using the confusion and uncertainty to their advantage. Not to mention that the Assembly keeps pushing for the Royal family to be abolished or stripped of their power. The peacekeeping mission in the Si Wong is also souring quickly, and I'm set to attend a conference in Republic City to deal with it once and for all."
There was a silence on the other end of the phone.
"Exercise caution when you deal with the Earth Queen. She's not at all like her father, and she's been swinging the Earth Kingdom to the right. If she gets too ambitious, it could be disastrous for the United Republic and the Fire Nation alike. I dealt with this issue enough establishing the damn Nation, and I'd really rather not push that political mess on you."
Izumi smirked.
"You know me, dad. I'm always up for a challenge. Now, I'm really sorry, but I'm late for a meeting, so I'll have to let you go."
"I understand Izumi. Seriously, be careful- I… can't lose you."
"I love you, dad."
"I love you too."
The faint click that signaled the end of the call prompted Izumi to set the phone back in its receiver, just in time to see Advisor Ren accompanied by Representative Miu, the leader of the far-left Non-bender Independence Party, the one that had led the bill to eliminate the monarchy.
Izumi stood, nodding towards Ren, who closed the door to Izumi's study quietly.
"Representative Miu, thank you for coming. Please have a seat," she said, bowing deeply.
The Representative bowed back, halfheartedly, and sat, eyeing her suspiciously.
The Non-Bender Independence Party had primarily struggled because of the admittedly unfair association it had with the Equalists. Although they shared the same beliefs, the NBI had been adamantly opposed to a violent takeover of the Bending Establishment, stressing a diplomatic and political change. Miu had come under accusations of being in league with Amon after several lower-level members of the Party had been arrested on suspicion of being Equalists, but he had remained firm that he wasn't affiliated with the radicals.
Izumi, despite her dislike for the man, felt for him. It wasn't an easy matter, staying true to ones beliefs in the face of public opinion, and she respected him at the very least for that.
At length, she sat forward, steepling her fingers.
"You know I have to ask, Miu, are you going to try to push the bill through again?"
Miu sighed.
"Look, you Highness, you know I have nothing but the utmost respect for you and your father. You've both done so much for our Nation and in making sure it ended the Great War with dignity and honor, but you know as well as I do that there's no guarantee that all of your successors will be the same."
Izumi looked at him coldly.
"You mean my son."
"No. But who's to say that his grandson, or his great-grandson won't be the next Sozin? Or the next Azulon? Or even the next Ozai? Sozin was a good leader too, but he wiped out the Air Nomads and plunged our world into war. Despite my disagreements with the man, Amon was right- almost every major conflict in this world's history has been the direct result of bending- usually our bending."
"You know very well that that's bull-hogwash. Bending is one of the integral elements of our military, economy, and society."
"And the NBI and I feel that that is something that must change. And I'm sorry, your Highness, but the only way we can see changing that is by at the very least reducing the powers of your office. We have no desire to do away with the monarchy, but you must at least acknowledge that concentrating too much power on the executive is a dangerous precedent."
"So you won't stop trying to push the bill?"
Miu shook his head defiantly.
"No, your Highness."
Izumi stood, and looked out the window. The city sprawled in every direction outside the windows of the palace. Amongst the busy streets, vendors sold their wares, merchants negotiated prices, and, most likely, politicians argued and compromised.
She sighed.
"Look. The Equalist uprising has cast doubt upon you and your party. And I am truly sorry for that. It's not right, and it hurts your chances of recovering your power. Until your party is disassociated completely from the Equalists, you may regain your supporters."
"And…"
"And I have a deal we can make. If you hold off for a full year on pushing the bill, I'll come out publicly and voice my support for the validity of your party. The Assembly's investigations committee found no more record of Equalist involvement, so I'll announce that before the entire Nation."
She turned. Miu was leaning forward, looking cautious but intrigued.
"If the people, bending and non-bending alike hear me, a vocal opponent of the Equalists, validate your party, your approval rate will likely increase significantly between now and when you bring the bill next year. What do you say?"
Miu let out a huff, thinking deeply. Then, after a minute or so of silence, he spoke.
"Representative Isoko will bring an amendment to limit the Executive's war powers so that you'd only be able to deploy our forces in another Nation for a total of one month before seeking the approval of the Assembly. If you get your people to sway some of the neutral Representatives into supporting this bill, I'll forgo the bill altogether."
Izumi sat back down.
The idea of having her ability to react to situations like that of the Si Wong Conflict impeded wasn't exactly desirable. It would seriously disable her ability to make executive decisions in regards to national security.
However, it did seem to be a relatively accommodating bill, and eliminating the bill to end the monarchy altogether was very appealing.
"I'll have to speak to some of my associates, but I must say, I'm tempted. I'll contact you tomorrow afternoon with my decision."
Miu nodded, and stood, allowing the two of them to bow to each other.
"I thank you, Your Highness, for your understanding."
Izumi nodded back, unease creeping into her heart.
For whatever reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that pursuing this would be a terrible mistake.
Hey all, sorry for the wait.
So this is now moving into Season 2 of Korra. Given that the Fire Nation doesn't really have much of a role in the main storyline, the majority of this volume of sorts will be overwhelmingly political in nature. I'm hoping that I'll be able to flesh out the Fire Nation, its society, and its politics more and more throughout Season 2's run time, and hopefully introduce future conflicts.
That's not to mean there won't be action- the Equalists are still holding on to what power they have left and Unalaq's religious radicalism will become a polarizing issue that will upset the balance between the spirit world and the material one- including in the Fire Nation.
Anyways, stay tuned for more!
IGdude117