Chapter 20: Heart of Fire

The entire throne chamber seemed to hang suspended in time as Azula sat on the throne with her finger pointed at Azun, her call for the Lord General's arrest still echoing through the air. The Army of the Risen Flame stood still, the officers looking from the princess to the general and back again, their expressions hidden by their masks. Zuko's mouth was opening and closing in a manner Azula found distinctly like that of a fish. Azun himself, though, seemed almost completely composed, though from where she sat Azula could see the question in his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this, cousin?" he finally asked, his voice carefully neutral.

"Do I need to explain myself to my subjects, General? I don't believe I do."

"Then don't think of it as explaining yourself to your subject," Azun said. "Think of it as explaining your rejection of something you have wanted your whole life to the man who devoted himself to getting it for you!"

Azula sighed. "Very well. Short answer- because it won't work."

Azun pulled back. "What are you saying?"

"You seem to be asking that question a lot, cousin. I'd think the answer would be obvious- the Avatar has taken my brother's side. Didn't you ever stop to think about that? He defeated my father, the most powerful firebender alive, while he was at the height of his strength."

"You defeated the Avatar yourself!" Azun snapped. "I heard the true reports of what happened under Ba Sing Se. You nearly killed him!"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Yes- and if he defeated my father, he obviously became much more powerful- and he's had another year to get stronger. A fully realized Avatar isn't an opponent I'm interested in facing, thank you. I have no desire to be on the losing side."

Azun stepped back from the throne, a storm of emotions crossing his face. "This is not right," he muttered. "This isn't what you promised! You must have known what would happen. Why did you lead her to me?"

Then the Lord General smiled, his eyes burning with feverish zeal. "Ah, yes. I see it now. I was so convinced that it must be Sozin's direct descendant who would realize his dream, but that was never to be. You did this to show me that I alone have the will to lead this nation to its destiny. I am the true heir of Sozin!"

"You're insane," Azula said conversationally. "Believe me- I know. Now then, soldiers- arrest him. Now."

"No," Azun said in the ringing voice he must have used to issue orders on the battlefield. "She is the traitor- to her nation, to her blood, to her own identity. I am your general still. Arrest her!"

Zuko lowered his head and his body shook slightly. Azula guessed that he found both of his enemies shouting orders while the army did nothing to be rather amusing- she knew she would have in his place. Still, she had more important factors to consider, and kept her gaze fixed on Azun. "They're not going to listen to either of us, you know," she said casually. "They've been following you for a long time now, and they seem to think you're some kind of prophet. But you've been prophesying about me, telling them all about how the two of us will lead them to glory- and they believed you. But now we're at odds with each other, and they have no idea who to listen to. Looks to me like you did your work too well."

"Then it seems," Azun murmured, "that we must finish this ourselves." Quicker than the eye could follow, the Lord General dropped into a crouch and released a fireblast that shot towards the throne. Azula threw herself to the ground and the blast passed over her, though it knocked the obsidian throne from its pedestal and sent it flying back into the wall, smoldering. The princess was on her feet in a heartbeat, staring at the general with burning golden eyes.

"So it's to be an Agni Ki?" she asked.

"Not a formal one, perhaps," Azun admitted, "but an honor duel nonetheless."

"Honor," Azula scoffed, and then she sprang into motion, sending a lightning bolt arcing towards her cousin. Azun dodged with ease- though no longer young, it was plain that years of campaigning and firebending had kept him in superb shape- and replied with a blast of his own.

Azula knew that Azun was a master- perhaps not on the level of her father or uncle, but he certainly possessed self-control and tactical abilities that many firebenders sorely lacked. She had known going in that he would be a dangerous opponent, but she was confident of her ability to defeat him. This fireblast that he unleashed now, however, was a wave of flame that was unlike anything the princess had ever seen, except on the day of the comet. She managed to redirect the flames around herself- barely- but she was shaken. Where did he get such power?

Was some spirit truly aiding him? Memories of a dream threatened to surface in Azula's mind, but she forced them down. That would make things difficult, but not impossible. The Avatar was dangerous because he had the powers of all four elements- Azun might be unnaturally strong, but he was still only a firebender, and Azula knew the flames like they were a part of herself. She knew people, too- Azun had a weakness, somewhere, and she would find and exploit it.

Azun blasted her again and again, but Azula deflected the flames each time. The general must be getting frustrated by his inability to hurt her- and yes, the look on his face between blasts confirmed it. Now was the time. "I have a question for you now, General," she said. "You say you're a man who cares about ideals and the will of the spirits- so why do you keep fighting when you know that the Avatar, the agent of balance, is against you? None of the other generals cared about Sozin's dream- and if you think Father did, you're a lot dumber than I ever took you for. So why fight?"

"Because this world needs us," Azun said. "You know that. People are chaotic by nature and need strong, uncompromising rule for their own good. The Fire Nation has achieved such rule, and therefore it is our destiny to share it with the world. You are royalty- you know this better than most!"

Azula shrugged. "Do they? I'll admit I never bothered to check, and I never particularly cared. Face it, Azun, we did what we did during the war for power and glory. The dream? Nothing but a pretty face Sozin put on it for the masses. And you bought it- hook, line and sinker. You did horrible things because you believed in the rightness of your cause- I've seen your war record. You won more victories for the Fire Nation than any other general except for the Dragon of the West- that was the only reason Father tolerated your dangerous fanaticism. But it was all a lie, wasn't it? Deep down inside you knew that you were fighting for an empire that couldn't care less about order and peace. But you couldn't give it up, because Sozin's dream had become your life. Without it, Azun, you're nothing."

Azula knew she'd struck a nerve. Azun howled- a ghastly sound- and fire shot from his mouth and outstretched hands. He wasn't thinking clearly now- this was her chance to strike. Leaping forward, the princess dodged among the columns of flame and struck Azun in the chest with a flying kick. He went down hard.

"Yield," Azula said, looking down at her opponent. The general smiled.

"Never," he hissed and seizing her leg, pulled it out from under her. Azula was back on her feet quickly, but now Azun was as well- and he held a drawn blade pointed at her throat. Mentally the princess kicked herself. She'd forgotten the sword.

"A sword in an Agni Ki?" she asked. "Azun, you cheated! I must admit I'm impressed."

"I said it was an honor duel," Azun replied. "Nothing about a formal Agni Ki."

"Well then," Azula said as she ducked away from the blade and began to call lightning into her hands for a second time, "things just might get interesting."

/

The soldiers had gathered around the combatants in a rough half-circle, watching intently but not interfering. Honor duels were a respected tradition in the Fire Nation, going back to the earliest Fire Lords- none of Azun's warriors were terribly interested in intervening in a battle between their leader and the princess.

Still, Zuko found that both of his guards were now concentrating far more on the duel than they were on their prisoner. The Fire Lord waited until he was absolutely certain that the General and his sister had their undivided attention, and then he struck. With his arms held behind his back, Zuko couldn't accomplish any serious firebending, but lighting small flames around his hands was certainly possible. It singed the back of his robes, true (though he'd never much cared for them anyway, now that he thought about it), but it also caused some serious discomfort to his guards' hands.

Both soldiers yelped in surprise and pain, and their grip on Zuko loosened slightly. That was enough. The Fire Lord tore himself from the guards' grasp and struck both of them before they could react, sending them collapsing to the ground. Azula and Azun seemed to be doing a rather good job of taking each other out- Zuko wasn't sure he believed his sister's apparent change of heart, but with the duel going on in the background he felt it very likely he could make his escape. He was certainly no coward, but Zuko knew full well that he couldn't defeat a thousand firebendrs by himself.

The Fire Lord turned to thread his way through the crowd- and found his way blocked by Ki Mong, looking every inch the ruthless Fire Nation officer in his armor and mask. "You're not going anywhere, pretender," the big colonel rumbled.

Zuko dropped into a firebending stance. "Try me," he said. Ki Mong seemed to smile beneath his skull-mask and dropped into a stance of his own as he and Zuko began to circle each other. The Fire Lord was certain that he was a better bender than the big man, but Ki Mong's size and strength would compensate for that. Zuko needed to do this fast and intense.

Ki Mong lunged first, his fist burning with fiery power as he aimed for his opponent's already-scarred face. Zuko dodged aside and shot a fireblast of his own, which the big man caught and dissipated. Ki Mong growled- the sound echoing within his helmet- and struck again with as much physical power as fiery intensity. Zuko was thrown to the floor, but as Ki Mong towered over him he kicked out with both feet, releasing a wave of flame that sent the colonel stumbling backwards.

In an instant Zuko was back on his feet again, striking at Ki Mong with a flurry of fast, powerful blows. Unfortunately, the other man seemed almost made from solid steel and absorbed the punishment with ease. Catching one of Zuko's fists in his open hand, the colonel began to squeeze tightly, while a chuckle rumbled from behind his skull-mask.

"You're good, boy," Ki Mong said, "But you made a mistake. I'm stronger than you, and you let me get a grip. This ends now."

"Yeah," Zuko said, "but not for me." Grabbing Ki Mong's wrist with his free hand, the Fire Lord planted his feet firmly and heaved with all his might. His opponent's eyes widened in surprise as Zuko managed to pull Ki Mong off the ground and send him hurling towards the obsidian wall. With a muffled crunch the colonel impacted and fell to the ground, unmoving. Zuko winced and flexed his wrist, trying to ease the pain that now shot up his arm. Ki Mong was certainly heavy…

Hearing movement behind himself, Zuko spun- and found himself face to face with several dozen Rising Flame soldiers, each holding a weapon or preparing a fireblast. The Fire Lord scowled angrily and prepared to fight. It looked like he wasn't getting out of here quietly after all.

/

Mai wasn't given to excessive displays of emotion, but she had to quietly admit that the Obsidian Citadel was impressive. One couldn't get a true sense of the scale of the place from the air, but from the ground it towered above her like some hulking, glossy black monster. She noted the central spire bore a distinct resemblance to that of the Royal Palace, and several of the outlying towers resembled Fire Sage temples. One could almost believe that the place had been built by spirits.

Mai, accompanied by the Avatar and Katara, walked boldly up the pathway leading to the Citadel's main gates and stopped. A guard peeked over the edge of the wall and pointed his sword down at them- Mai thought it a pointless gesture, though it conveyed his general intentions well enough.

"Identify yourselves!" the guard ordered. "What is your business here?"

Aang stepped forward. "I'm the Avatar!" he shouted up to the wall. "I'm here to save a friend!"

Several guards were gathered now, and they all seemed to be pulling something out of their armor. Mai had a sickening suspicion that she knew what they were. "Watch out for the darts!" she warned as the guards raised the blowguns to their lips and fired their poisoned projectiles.

Effective as the paralyzing darts were on the unwary, they proved phenomenally useless on opponents who were forewarned. Katara called a whip of water from out of one of the pouches at her side and used it to strike the darts from the air; Aang spun his staff and the resulting gust of wind sent them straight back towards their owners, who ducked frantically. Mai herself stood back and watched the show- she would be needing all her blades inside.

The guards seemed to realize that their attack had failed- now they were pulling out bows. Aang looked up at them and frowned slightly, then he pressed his hands together and closed his eyes. At first Mai thought the young monk had gone insane – this was no time for meditation! – and then she saw Katara's face and realized what was coming.

Aang opened his eyes and they flared with brilliant power. A wave of earthbending shot out around the Avatar, causing the ground itself to buckle. The Citadel's walls seemed undamaged- perhaps there was something in the spirit-made obsidian that resisted the bending- but they did rock severely. The guards stumbled backwards, and the wooden gates were torn free from their hinges and collapsed.

"You do know how to make an entrance," Mai observed as she and her companions hurried inside. The courtyard was surprisingly bear of soldiers, except for the guards who were even now hurrying towards the central building in fear. Quick as thought Mai drew a pair of blades and hurled them at the last soldier- they caught him on the sleeves and pinned him against the wall. The Fire Lord's betrothed hurried forward and held another blade to the man's throat.

"Where's Zuko?" she asked.

"Everyone's in the Throne Chamber for Azula's coronation!" the man gasped. "Lord General Azun wanted to make certain that the Fire Lord was there to see his sister take the crown."

"Azula's coronation?" Aang asked, apparently having returned to himself. "Didn't she already have one of those? I thought it didn't go very well."

"It didn't," Katara said. "I was there. But it sounds like we need to get to Zuko fast."

Mai pulled her daggers loose from the captive soldier's clothing but continued to hold him at knifepoint. "Take us to Zuko," she ordered.

/

Azula and Azun both heard the ground rumble beneath them, and the princess knew what must be happening. "Sounds like you have some uninvited company, Cousin," she said.

"I will destroy you, and then I will deal with them," Azun promised. He called up another huge fireblast, but this time instead of releasing it as a huge wave he focused it into a tight beam before releasing it. Azula knew that there was no way even she could deflect such concentrated power, so she ducked beneath it and let it strike the wall behind her. The blast didn't stop there but burned its way through the rock, leaving only a small, neat hole to mark its passage.

Azula moved her hands again through the familiar pattern and channeled the pure, destructive power of a lightning bolt. This time she aimed not for Azun but for the ceiling above him- the lightning blasted several large chunks of rock loose and sent them falling straight towards the Lord General's head. Azun looked up and summoned his fire again, sending it burning through the chunks of falling obsidian, leaving him unharmed. Azula had to admit to herself that she was impressed- this kind of raw power was unbelievable.

Of course, it was all more proof that something very strange was going on here…

"Are you sure that's the best you've got?" Azula taunted. "We're supposed to be having a firebending duel, and you haven't even made me break a sweat. I am disappointed."

"No, Princess," Azun replied, "I have barely begun to fight!" He cupped his hands and began to form a ball of fire between them, so intense that it was already beginning to burn blue. This was the first time in her life Azula had seen firebending that matched her own in color (though she'd heard stories about how her grandfather Azulon had done the same in his youth), and she prepared herself to dodge again.

Then the doors of the Throne Chamber were slammed open, and every person in the room spun to see three figures standing there. The first Azula recognized as the waterbender girl who traveled with the Avatar; the second was Mai, knives at the ready. Between them, though, stood the Avatar himself, eyes glowing in the fullness of his power.

/

In the darkest depths of the Spirit World- places so incomprehensibly alien that even the strongest mortal could not journey there and return with his sanity intact- a being stirred in anger and surprise. Its great Enemy- the Avatar himself- had come to one of the places in the mortal world that the spirit's domain touched, the place where it now shared a portion of its power with a mortal pawn. This was not meant to have happened yet- the princess, the spirit's true gateway to the physical realm, was to have faced the Avatar after accepting her crown, but things had gone wrong somehow. The spirit was not yet ready for this confrontation.

Still, it had many plots and many allies- pathetic Azun and his vaunted army had been only the smallest part of them. The spirit was young for its kind, but compared to mortals, it was eternal; it could wait for its triumph at a later time. For now it withdrew itself to its own domain, abandoning Azun to his well-deserved fate.

/

A great blast of wind knocked the soldiers closest to the door aside, and their comrades pulled away in horror as the Avatar and his two companions passed between them. Their loyalty to Azun was great, but all had heard the story of the downfall of Ozai, and even now whispers were rustling among the ranks. Did the Avatar need to touch a man to rob him of his bending, they wondered, or would it just take a glance? Either way, they weren't interested in finding out.

From a corner of the room Zuko threw aside a warrior he was grappling with and began to force his way through the ranks. "Mai, Aang!" he called. "I can honestly say I'm glad to see both of you- and Katara too," he added, noting the look on the waterbender's face.

Mai caught Zuko in a tight embrace, then backed off and looked him straight in the eyes. "If you ever get yourself captured again," she said intently, "I'm chaining you to the throne myself."

"What about them?" Katara asked, motioning towards the princess and the general. Azula and Azun stood still, half facing each other, half facing the new arrivals, both looking ready to leap into action at any moment.

Mai drew a knife. "I think we can take both of them," she said.

"I'm not sure we'll have to," Zuko said, to general amazement. "The first thing Azula did after taking the crown was order Azun's arrest, and they've been fighting ever since. I say we let them finish it."

"I think she just doesn't want to share power with him," Katara put in, glaring at Azula murderously. "Or it's a trick. Either way, I don't trust her."

"Neither do I," said Mai.

"You are all traitors," Azun snarled, looking quite mad with his now- disheveled armor and blazing eyes. "You do not understand the glory to which I can lead the Fire Nation- none of you! But I will defeat you all myself if need be. Destiny will not be denied!" He raised his hands again and launched blasts of fire at both of the royal siblings- and then stopped, staring. His fire was no longer blue, but had returned to its normal red-orange- and it seemed to have diminished in intensity as well.

"No!" Azun shouted. "You cannot desert me now!" He looked up to the ceiling and shouted incoherently, shooting off blast after blast of fire- all of it red. Finally he lowered his hands in defeat and looked at his enemies with dark eyes.

"It's over, Azun," Azula said. "Whatever spirit you think was helping you is obviously gone, and without it, you don't stand a chance. Didn't I tell you that you couldn't win?"

Azun looked from face to face, and seemed to compose himself again. "All my life," he said, "I have devoted myself to my nation. I believed in what Sozin declared- this world needs peace, enforced by the sword if need be. Without strong rule, it will all fall back to chaos again- just wait. It won't happen tomorrow, or next year, or maybe even in ten years, but it will happen." His gaze found Aang. "You will be called on again to prevent world war before your next incarnation, Avatar. That I see clearly."

Azun stepped forward and drew his sword again, holding the blade before him with both hands. "Today I see that I am alone in my commitment. The royal house craves only power; my soldiers are too cowardly to intervene on my behalf; even the spirits themselves abandon me when the fight grows hopeless. But I tell you now I will never surrender. I have gambled and I have lost, but I will not become Ozai, sitting powerless in a cell and wallowing in self-pity. When future generations speak of General Azun, good or ill, they will say this at least- he was a warrior to the last!"

Aang seemed to realize what Azun was about to do and made as if to hurry forward, but the Avatar was too slow. Azun looked about himself at allies and enemies and smiled a sad, bitter smile. Then he reversed his blade and plunged it into his own heart.

/

And so we come to our final confrontation. Azula is good at separating her rivals from their minions, isn't she – she did it in canon to Long Feng, and did it again here to Azun (though in this case, Azun himself helped that happen – his propaganda did emphasize her rightful authority, after all). One on one, Azula and Azun's duel was one of youth and talent versus age and experience, but once Azun realized he'd been abandoned, it was all over (I think Azula could have beaten him even without Aang's arrival, but he'd have made her work for it).

I'd initially toyed with the idea of the spirit giving Azun the power to bend multiple elements, but switched it over to a simple powerup because that felt like a cliché. The spirit can enhance a bender's powers, but it can't provide them with more elements (which makes sense with what we see in "Beginnings", actually – whatever this thing is, it's no Lion Turtle) and that's just as a sort of remote power-up. When it's actually inhabiting someone, bender or non, the effects are much stronger and much… stranger. That, however, is a topic for another fic…

There's more going on in this chapter- Aang's apparently become something of a boogeyman for Fire Nation loyalists, and Zuko got his own big fight with Ki Mong – but most of it is fairly self-explanatory. I largely left this chapter the same from the original, as I was fairly happy with it, but I tweaked some things about the spirit to better fit where I ended up going with it rather than my original ideas.

Azun commits suicide. It's pretty dark for the Avatarverse, but seemed appropriate – he was a true believer to the end, and I think he wanted to end things on his own terms even when he knew he couldn't win. Despite what my characters have said, I don't think "insane" is quite the right word for him – he's not meant to be mentally ill – but as Azula herself pointed out, he'd tied his life and beliefs to a bad cause, and when that cause failed him, he had nothing left to live for.

Next time, our heroes (and Azula) have to deal with the fallout…

-MasterGhandalf