Well, well, well. Well. Here's Chapter 20. I can't believe it! Amazing. This next chapter, I thought that I should give some attention to Ozai and Sozin. Disclaimer: I own none of the rights to Avatar, and the only characters that are "mine" are the little plot-device people. So, yeah, read on!!

Chapter 20

Sozin was waiting.

He was standing on the temple steps, casting occasional glances up at the half-moon in the sky, and awaiting the messenger he had sent for. They were running late, as of now.

The Fire Lord did not often enjoy having his patience tried, and this was not an exception, as he paced. His footsteps echoed in the empty stone terrace, adjusting his hood in the occasional wind. His golden eyes peered out into the night again, and he continued to wait.

And then, quite suddenly, his eyes picked out something, below and in the garden as it advanced on the temple stairs. A shadow that did not move in the wind with the rest, but seemed to have a life of its own, slithering and creeping.

Sozin stepped back, into his ring of torchlight, as he watched the shadow fold over the steps like black silk, molding with the darkness around it for brief moments. It reached the top and swept past him with nothing more than a rush of air, a brush of his cloak, and his nose caught the scent of something unpleasant.

Sozin turned and followed the shadow, through the great stone columns, and into the Fire Temple, the slightest slithering noise like scales on the smooth tile. The soft torchlight reached only so far, and it finally touched the walls of the main hall, empty of the monks that normally populated it. Nothing there, except the faint presence and the unidentifiable smell.

Sozin walked forward, and let the torch drop into the oil basin, which flared up and lit immediately. He had hoped it would give him a better look at his company, but the shadow retreated a few paces, an act of secrecy rather than fear, and all he could pick out in the sharp shadows were a pair of very golden eyes.

The spirit suddenly spoke to the man that could see it, in a low, harsh, grating voice that pricked Sozin with an unfamiliar feeling.

"What do you want?"

It was a simple question, in a smooth and persuasive tone, to which Sozin was able to respond with assurance.

"Power. I want power. Over this world and everyone in it."

The sound that followed was a horrible one, but Sozin could only assume that the thing was laughing. Laughing, at him. The fire jumped up a few feet.

"Ah, don't they all. And over the whole world, no less? You're an ambitious little mortal. The Master was quite right."

"I thought you were here to make a deal with me."

Something lashed in the shadows that reminded Sozin of a long, whip-like tail, but most of his attention was on the pinpoint eyes that looked at him across the fire. A curve of white teeth glinted.

"Oh, I am, Fire Lord Sozin. I was just thinking."

"Can you be of any assistance to me, or am I wasting my time?"

"No, no. Time with me and my kin is never wasted. I was just trying to determine if you are worth the trouble."

"How dare you…" he snarled, dragging some of the fire of the blaze into his own hands. The spirit made the laughing noise again, deriving delight from this man's quick temper.

"Ah, put it away, brother Sozin. You have no idea how poor it would be to engage me in an Agni Kai."

Sozin snorted and kept the flame dancing in his hands, the gold crown fixed in his hair flashing in its light.

"So, I believe we may be able to help you," the spirit finally spoke. Sozin looked at him critically.

"How? How will you be able to aid me in achieving this goal?"

"Simple, my little meat," and it ran a black tongue over its teeth for emphasis. "It's all a matter of fear and intimidation. A flat out war upon these people that will shroud the world in death and shadow."

"That's it? I have not the armies to do that."

"But you have the hatred and you have the willpower, and in our dealings, that is more than enough." The spirit's eyes narrowed. "You firebenders rely upon the celestial bodies to draw strength from, am I correct in saying so?"

"The sun, yes."

"Hmm. So we will send you a sign, a mark of the beginning of your power. To your men it will give strength hundredfold: use it to make your first strike."

"Is that all? When will I be victorious?"

The dark spirit gave a large sigh.

"Now, that's the thing. We are not given looks into the future as clearly as we would like to have it; I cannot tell you what moves the Enemy will make, but I can tell you that you will not see the victory in your lifetime."

Sozin was shocked for several reasons, the most obvious being that he was being cheated in this shady deal. But what was also surprising was that, as the spirit spoke, Sozin could have sworn he heard the tiniest bit of fear in the shadow's voice. The eyes sparked as Sozin spoke.

"Not in my lifetime, eh? Then how can you come here with the promise of power?"

"Oh, but you will see a people fall, great conquests completed, the roots of an empire set down. You will make the opening plays in a hundred year conflict."

"One hundred years? Surely you jest."

"Never. World conquest is a gradual thing, I'm afraid. But in those hundred years will only be steps forward, and at that century's end, the world will be ripe for your descendant's taking."

Another pause from the creature, and there was a scraping of scales as it shifted its position. "But there is one thing that must be done, one thing that I should warn you of."

"And what is that, spirit?"

"One will arise from the Air Nomads. A leader, a savior, who can prevent these things from happening. The Avatar, as I believe you call him?"

"I thought the Avatar was part of the spirit world as well, your fellow…"

"Ahh!" the thing hissed disgustedly. "No. The Avatar is an agent of the Enemy, a weapon against the Master." And there was that hint of fear again.

Sozin thought, remembering rumors of the Avatar's birth more than twelve years ago. He would be only a boy now, training with the monks.

"Do you want me to kill him, is that it?"

"Fool. You'd be throwing the fish back into the river. Losing the Avatar to the Water Tribe, and then the Earth Kingdom, your own Nation after that. A never ending cycle. No, I want you to capture him alive and bring him here before this place we now stand. And I will come and deal with him."

"What do you want him for?"

A rustling like a shudder of pleasure, and the eyes glazed over for a moment. "To poison a soul as powerful as that…it would be delicious. A victory. And then, you and your bloodline will establish the Master's kingdom on earth, and everything will be perfect."

Sozin nodded slowly. "Hmph. How hard can it be to catch a little boy?"

"Mortal! Never judge. From the lowest of people has arisen the highest of kings: that is a lesson the Master learned all too well."

"Am I to expect a long hunt?"

"I don't know. But I do know that the Enemy will not leave the boy unguarded. No, no, he will send protectors, warriors, great players in the conflict, pure of soul. There is nothing I hate more that the virtuous type that these guardians will be. Water, Earth, Fire, Air, all will do their part."

"Fire? My own kind will be traitorous against the cause?"

"Ah, that's a cog in the machine. Some feel a higher calling than power."

Sozin was not sure if he wanted to agree, hesitant. Somewhere within, something was writhing and crying out for him to run from this presence. But the Fire Lord ignored it, shrugged the uncertainty away. You had to take these opportunities when they came along, after all.

"I'll do it. I'll hunt your Avatar in exchange for the comet."

"In a hundred years time, expect it to reappear. It will close the battle that you will open, and you can only hope that the Avatar is not there to stop it from happening; after the comet comes again and your Nation is successful, your kind will reign forever."

Sozin smiled, very satisfied indeed now.

The spirit suddenly leapt out over the fire, snuffing it out with a single stroke and clearing the air over Sozin's head, unsettling the crown. And he caught a nose full of that smell that the spirit carried with it.

Several years later, Sozin would be traveling, on his way to destroy the Western Air Temple and engage a strange, older, gray -eyed woman and her husband in quite a battle before he killed them. He would stop to climb up a volcanic mountain, attempting to spot the temple roosting among the formations, and he would smell that same stench again. And Sozin would know that it was the smell of sulfur, fire and brimstone.

But he did not know that now, as the cold shadow leapt over him to slink away.

"I do not understand one thing, spirit."

The gold eyes fixed on him once more, awaiting his question.

"Why is the price so little, for such great power? Why are you handing this to me, with only a passing warning about a little boy? Are you that free in your dealings?"

And the thing smiled, a long, wicked one that made its eyes burn like flame. The Master, the Fallen One, the Morning Star: he would be delighted, the spirit was sure.

"Ah, Fire Lord Sozin, if only you knew."

The shadow curled in on itself and vanished with a laugh. And repeated the same thing that, in sixty years time, Sozin would, delusional with fever on his deathbed. Saying it over and over and over again, while cringing from the shadows and the one who was coming to claim him to them:

"If only you knew."

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

The day Fire Lord Ozai was born was nothing spectacular, really. Business as usual. The sun had not been any brighter, the few animals around the palace had not been acting oddly, nothing to mark the event that was about to occur.

Young Iroh, a dashing commander who had just reached his twentieth birthday, was strolling along the hallways with a proud expression on. He was a very tall and broad-shouldered man, black hair cropped short and rather haphazardly, a slant always in his smile. Kazah, she was playing hard to get, hiding behind her fan from him as he walked by. Oh well. She wouldn't last long… Iroh was certain of it.

He spotted his mother Iyla coming in the opposite direction, a pretty woman in of thirty seven years: she had birthed Iroh when she was only seventeen, a young flower given to Azulon as a peace offering. Soft eyes, but a sharp nose.

"Ah, Mother, good to see you're out," he smiled. Iyla turned her attention to him with a stern expression on her face and a rustling of her red robes.

"Iroh! There you are, you scoundrel. General Koji just talked with me: do you want to know what he said?"

"Not particularly, if you do mind me saying so."

"You skipped out on your training session again. Why, to go bat your eyes at that shameless flirt? Iroh, I don't want you near her."

"Oh, now come mother. Father will roast me alive if he finds out that I got you worked up with our next of kin so close to arrival."

"Not another word from you, you devilish young ma…." And perfectly on cue, Fire Lady Iyla had gasped, grasping at her son's arm as to prevent herself from falling. Iroh's smooth expression instantly became one of fear and horror. He couldn't deliver a baby! Especially not from his own mother! He would never overcome the trauma.

Thanking the spirits for his uncommonly strong build and size, Iroh swept up his mother into his arms and went as quickly as he could into the palace, calling out for anyone who was available, anyone at all, to help him.

The labor was a long one, a horrifying one, as many of the nurses and healers said. A breech birth, with the cord wrapped around the baby's neck somehow. Terrible amounts of blood.

Amazing that one of them survived.

Iyla had always been fragile and narrow, and could not bear it. The attending servants watched the Fire Lady pass away with a shuddering sigh just as they freed the child, a child so white and pale they feared that it, too, was dead. Not crying, not even opening its eyes as the maid held the baby boy.

Until, just as Iyla drew her last breath, the babe took his first one.

Iroh remembered coming in to see his brother, soul deeply steeped in mourning, but wishing to look upon Ozai's face all the same, lying amidst the red blankets. The Fire Prince, Azulon's firstborn, had leaned over to touch the child, still very sickly looking, when the baby's eyes had snapped open, filled with a shocking amount of awareness.

And Iroh hated it, was shocked at it, when he shuddered, looking into the infant's eyes.

Ozai's dark, solid black eyes, which carried no hint of gold, amber or mercy.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ozai had always trained in the morning, whether by himself or with several masters to contest. Today, he had chosen to be alone. Alone to think, mostly.

News of Azula's success at Ba Sing Se had been a thrill, his worthwhile child. So unlike her wretch of a brother, who had come creeping in to join the winning side. Typical of Zuko, unable to make a firm decision in where his loyalty lay...how could he have sired such a weakling, in comparison to Azula?

Ozai now stood and shifted his feet, breathing and pulling from the great reservoir of power within him. Unaware that his daughter had recently done the same thing, he began to make the fire dance around him, as much under his control as was the rest of this earth on which he now stood. He was in complete control.

Well, not completely.

The Avatar, it was still a thorn in his side. He had sent Zuko on a wild chase as an excuse to banish him from his presence and wander the earth forever. For if Ozai could not find the Avatar, then how could Zuko possibly? That was why it had shocked him so.

Zuko had wrote last, informing his father that he was going to the South Pole, to search among the Water Tribe peasants. Suppose that the airbender had died and had been reborn into the next Nation in the cycle? Ozai had laughed: it was almost pitiable, the hope his son's letter reflected. Until, a short while later, another message had arrived, the rumors flying about had been true, and Ozai had been left in wonder. And how it coincided perfectly with the coming of the hundred year mark, just as his father and grandfather had warned him.

But as Ozai spun the flames faster, feeling the rage of lightning running through his body, he was not bothered.

He would not make the mistake of assuming invincibility, which was always the downfall of the great ones he had read of. He would send out troops to crush the rebellion in Geming, to enforce the Fire Nation rule in the great city of Ba Sing Se, and to fend off the Water Tribe ships that had been harassing their shores.

Then, he would be able to continue with his plan, bring it all into a perfect cycle just as ancestor Sozin had desired.

He cast one last thought back upon Zuko, who had looked much more like Ursa than himself anyways. But not with that scar: she no longer could haunt Ozai from behind Zuko's eyes, in the shape of his smile, in his forgiving nature.

Worthless woman, worthless boy.

Both cast aside and forgotten.

At least Zuko would give him no more trouble, Ozai thought with a rare grin.

He turned with the blaze, the most powerful firebender in the world, no longer harnessing his energy as the wall of flame burst upwards to scorch the edges of the sky, Ozai forming it into a roaring tower before he swept it away. Power. It was priceless.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Short chapter. Boy, this one was dark. Sheesh. Well, I'll try to lighten it up in the next chapter. Get in a little of Hakoda, a little Jin and Jet, and of course a little bit with the GAang. See you then, and thank you so much for all of your reviews.