Chapter 35: The New Fire Lord
At a Fire Sage temple in the capital city, not far from the palace, a funeral was taking place. The ancient building possessed grand stone steps leading up to the temple entrance, and at the top of those steps was a golden funeral pyre. At the bottom of the steps were the capital's nobles and citizenry, organized in rows while wearing red robes and holding red banners. Around the pyre were the temple's sages, all wearing white robes except for the eldest sage, who wore red robes. And standing with the sages were the last two legitimate heirs to the throne, Zuko and Azula wearing white robes.
The eldest sage stood in front of the golden pyre, and delivered the eulogy. "Ozai, Fire Lord to our nation for five years. You were our leader during the fall of capitals, water and earth alike. You were father of Zuko and Azula." The sage turned towards the pyre and picked up the Fire Lord's crown, while a pair of younger sages firebended into the pyre to set it ablaze. "We lay you to rest. And now, you are succeeded by your only son."
On cue Zuko walked up to the eldest sage, and then kneeled between him and the steps with the pyre to his back. He remained there long enough for the sage to place the crown in his topknot.
"Hail Fire Lord Zuko."
Fire Lord Zuko stood up, while everyone else knelt before him. He basked in the moment, officially ascending to the throne. He also took pleasure in seeing Azula kneeling like everyone else, even if it was only a formality. Zuko expected that his sister would resist his rule in one manner or another, but she was still more valuable alongside him than against him.
But while she knelt Azula's thoughts turned to the day her father had died. It seemed all too convenient for her brother, their father's death allowing him to take the throne weeks before the return of Sozin's Comet. Whoever led the Fire Nation then would get all of the glory from the coming triumph, regardless of who deserved it. But Azula kept her mouth shut, as such thoughts were not wise to make public.
Meanwhile Aang and his friends were on an island in the middle of the Fire Nation, making camp in the wilderness and trying to avoid attention. The island was just a rest stop for them, as Aang wanted to fly towards the Western Air Temple and hide there. While they were there Sokka and Haru walked to the nearest town, using the time they had to purchase new supplies. The others were sitting around a small campfire, waiting for Sokka and Haru to return.
Poking at the fire with a stick, Aang looked at his friends. "So what do we do now?"
"What's left to do?" Suki asked. "We won, right?"
"Doesn't feel like we did," Aang said.
"I know," Toph muttered. Even though she couldn't see the fire its warmth drew her unfocused eyes, making it look like she was staring into the flames. "We whacked some guy we'd never met before, and now the Fire Nation has sky bison. If anything it feels like we've gone backwards."
"Give it time," Katara suggested. "I'm sure that having no Fire Lord is causing all sorts of problems for the Fire Nation.
That moment Sokka and Haru returned to the camp, both having somber looks on their faces. "We have a problem," Sokka informed.
"What now?" Suki asked.
"See for yourself," Haru answered, holding up a rolled leaflet. He handed it over to Suki, unable to make himself say it to the others
"Have no fear, citizens of the Fire Nation," Suki read aloud. "Though Fire Lord Ozai has departed this world, his legacy lives on. Rejoice as a new leader takes command, so that the world may tremble when the Comet returns. The line of Sozin continues with his great-grandson, Fire Lord Zuko."
No one spoke when Suki finished, all of them speechless at this revelation. Only the sounds of the fire were heard in the camp, the only barrier to dreadful silence. Suki crumpled up the leaflet and threw it into the fire, but burning the bad news could not make it go away. Its words still echoed in the minds of everyone present, mocking all of the effort they had made to accomplish their goal.
Aang was the only one to say anything. "We failed."
After the funeral and her brother's coronation, Azula went to her room in the palace. Inside her large closet she replaced the ceremonial white robes with her usual attire, preferring the dark red color and the more comfortable clothes. When she was finished Azula turned to her dresser with a mirror mounted on it, taking a few minutes to fix her hair. Azula opened a dresser drawer and reached inside for a hand mirror, where her hand felt something that hadn't been there yesterday.
Azula removed the item that shouldn't be in her drawer, holding a folded piece of parchment in her hand. "How does he do that?" Azula muttered, suspecting who put the parchment there. She unfolded the parchment and read a message written on it, recognizing the handwriting. "Uncle."
Do not trust your brother.
"I already knew that," Azula muttered, burning up the parchment in one hand. Part of her wondered who Iroh had to bribe to get a message into the palace, while another part wondered why Iroh would send a message. They had last met on unfriendly terms several months ago, making it all the more suspicious that Iroh would contact her now.
Just outside Azula's room a servant was walking past the door, and she was surprised when Azula opened the door. "Princess, is there anything you require?"
"Bring me Ty Lee," Azula ordered.
"Of course Princess," the servant said, bowing before leaving to carry out the order.
Azula went back into her room and waited for her friend to arrive, thinking about Iroh's message. It was clear that Iroh had contacts within the palace, having needed at least one to get that message to her. Azula suspected that Iroh knew exactly what was going on in the Fire Nation, even while in exile. He had to know that she didn't trust Zuko anyway, but maybe Iroh was trying to tell her to be extra suspicious.
The door opened from outside and Ty Lee walked in, seeing Azula standing in the middle of her room. "You called," Ty Lee said, closing the door behind her.
"I need a favor," Azula said.
"Anything," Ty Lee said.
After setting affairs in order with the palace staff Zuko entered his throne room, closing the doors behind him for some privacy. Inside he paced around the throne room and observed the décor, believing that some changes were in order. In particular the elaborate wall of flame Ozai preferred had to go, as it wouldn't do to have his face hidden from those that received an audience from him. He also considered updating the throne to fit his size and putting up a few tapestries on the walls, something to add a little variety.
Zuko sat down in his throne and studied the view, mentally picturing where visitors would be standing and how they might see him. The throne was elevated from where visitors would be, which made Zuko think about putting something above him on the wall behind the throne. The obvious choice was a painting or carving of Sozin's Comet, as that would clearly define his reign. The Comet's return was less than a month away and would be the first big event for him, and if his lifespan was similar to his grandfather or great-grandfather's lives Zuko's reign could end with Sozin's Comet a hundred years later.
When finished with examining the décor Zuko left the throne room, walking to another part of the palace. He returned to his old bedroom that he had grown up using, where all of his personal belongings had been kept. Servants were coming and going through the bedroom doors, busy moving everything inside to the new bedroom Zuko would use as Fire Lord. By the time Zuko entered the bedroom only a dresser and a large bed were still inside next to a window, along with his girlfriend.
"Hey Mai," Zuko said as he walked inside. With a look he ordered the servants to vacate the bedroom, leaving Zuko and Mai alone when the last servant closed the door. "You know, I'm going to miss this room."
"It did have that princely charm," Mai said. She looked out the window and took in the view of the capital one last time. "But the Fire Lord deserves the master bedroom."
"That's going to feel weird," Zuko said. "It was my father's room a few days ago."
"At least your mother never lived in it," Mai said. She smiled as she turned the conversation to a matter that she was interested in. "By the way, when do I get to become Fire Lady?"
Zuko chuckled at that question. "A little eager are we?"
"Just curious," Mai added.
"Well it can't be right away," Zuko answered. He put one hand on his chin and paced around the bedroom, planning part of their future. "I'm thinking… two years after the Comet. Perhaps we could hold the ceremony on the anniversary?"
"Works for me," Mai said. She sat down on the bed still in the room, patting a spot next to her for Zuko to join her. "You're taking your ascension very well, given the circumstances."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko asked, sitting down next to Mai.
"I figured you'd be in a more vengeful mood, after the Avatar killed your old man," Mai admitted.
Zuko stood up and walked over to the window, checking outside to the left, right, and down for eavesdroppers despite being several dozen feet above the ground. And then he shut the window, just to be sure. "My old man was a fool."
"Harsh," Mai said.
"It's true," Zuko said, walking back to the bed and sitting back down. "He had no military sense. Wasting over half of the treasury on the giant drill when Sozin's Comet would let us break down Ba Sing Se's wall anyway, letting the Avatar roam freely instead of hunting him with a whole legion, kicking out uncle over some white lotus affair, those are the mistakes a leader makes when he's never been in the military."
"So you think you can do a better job?" Mai asked.
"I know I can," Zuko corrected. "I've already crippled the Water Tribe, Ba Sing Se is ripe for the taking, and the rest of the Earth Kingdom will be easy after the Comet softens it up."
"And the Avatar?" Mai asked.
"When he shows up again, I'm going straight for the kill shot," Zuko answered, holding up two fingers as if to shoot lightning. "I'm done with letting him live."
"You have to admit, he was useful for a while," Mai said. She glanced out the window to see a sky bison flying by in the distance, bearing the Fire Nation insignia on its metal saddle. "We'd have never found those sky bison without him."
"Again, my idea to use him," Zuko said. "But after what happened during the eclipse, he's not worth keeping alive anymore."
Mai hesitated to speak again, realizing something after what Zuko had just mentioned. She just remembered that Zuko was supposed to have delayed any assassins during the eclipse, a task that had clearly failed. "Did you… let him reach your old man?"
Zuko didn't answer.
"Oh," Mai muttered, taking Zuko's silence as a yes.
"Not… One… Word…" Zuko ordered.
Mai nodded, understanding that her realization could never be spoken aloud.
But just outside and above the window, hanging upside down with her feet holding onto a ledge, Ty Lee overheard the entire conversation. She was listening through a narrow slit where the bedroom's wall met the ceiling, unnoticeable when viewed from below. Ty Lee was holding onto her braid to keep it from dropping to the bedroom window, keeping herself hidden from anyone inside. Zuko and Mai never noticed that Ty Lee was there.
Just like Azula wanted.
In the air Appa was flying northeast, heading into territory that the Fire Nation wasn't interested in colonizing. There was a large island beyond the northern border, one that was at a higher elevation than most islands in the Fire Nation. In times gone by this island belonged to the Air Nomads, left abandoned after they were gone. Some within the Fire Nation believed that the ghosts of airbenders haunted their former home to this day, scaring away those that might settle in the Western Air Temple.
In the middle of the island was a large canyon, so deep that a perpetual fog shrouded the bottom. Appa flew straight into the canyon and dived, setting a course just above the fog. There Aang and the others in the saddle saw the underside of a massive ledge at the top of the canyon wall, where dozens of structures hung below the rock. Appa flew towards the closest structure and landed on an open platform, arriving at the temple.
"So this is the Western Air Temple?" Sokka said, taking in the view of upside down buildings. All of the open space he saw made it seem likely for someone to fall to their death. "Looks like whoever built this place assumed people could fly."
"Just watch where you step," Suki suggested.
One at a time everyone climbed off Appa and walked into the temple, stopping in an area meant as a gathering space. There they set up camp once again, suspecting that they might be staying for a while. Once the tents were up and supplied spread out Katara made a simple meal of soup and rice, keeping the portions small to conserve what they had. They all sat around a fire eating in silence, only interrupted by the wind.
While he was eating Haru spoke up, feeling the need to get something off his chest. "How are we going to stop the Fire Nation now?"
"I don't know," Aang admitted.
"There must be something we can do," Haru said. "I mean, you're the Avatar. There has to be something-"
"There isn't!" Aang yelled, tossing his food aside while standing up. "Sozin's Comet is nearly here, and I don't know what to do!"
"Didn't Roku tell you what to do way back?" Suki asked.
"Yeah, defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet comes," Aang answered. "But that didn't work! The war is still on and we're running out of time!"
"What's the big deal about a comet?" Toph asked. "Is it on a collision course or something?"
"It gives firebenders a power boost while it passes by," Haru answered.
"So it's the opposite of a solar eclipse?" Toph summarized. "How long does it last? Maybe we can make them waste it?"
"We don't know how long," Suki said.
"But Toph does have a point," Sokka said. He stood up and started pacing around the camp, letting his thoughts run from one idea to the next. "Every minute we make the Fire Nation focus on us is another minute they can't burn stuff."
Katara raised one eyebrow at Sokka's suggestion. "You want us to pull off the biggest distraction in history?"
"Pretty much," Sokka answered.
"That won't stop the war," Aang said.
"It doesn't have to," Sokka reasoned. "If we can't stop the Fire Nation we can at least slow it down. We can worry about ending the war after the comet of doom is gone."
"Works for me," Toph said.
"But how are we going to distract an entire army?" Suki asked. "They'd only need a dozen or so powered-up firebenders to keep us busy. Or even just that blue fire princess of theirs if she's leading the charge."
"Good point," Sokka said, stopping his pacing and putting one hand on his chin. "You know, for someone that you say has unique bending, I still haven't seen her."
Azula was in the palace's training hall practicing her firebending, shooting blue flames at a dozen firebenders that surrounded her. The current exercise was to firebend whenever a firebender lit flames in their hand, testing Azula's reflexes, speed, and aim. When Azula would firebend at the correct person that firebender expanded their fire into a shield, catching Azula's blue flames and dispersing them harmlessly. The firebenders were constantly in motion around Azula and making their flames in changing patterns, requiring Azula to be fluid with her bending to hit ever changing targets.
For fifteen minutes Azula threw fire at the targets all around her, which gradually increased the difficulty every minute. The firebenders started lighting signal flames two at a time so that Azula had to bend with both fists, sometimes in the same direction but other times on her left and right sides. Then they started making three and four at a time, prompting Azula to firebend faster to keep up. Five and six at a time followed, increasing Azula's pace and making a flurry of blue fire all around her. Even more firebenders lit signal flames at once, resulting in blue fire being thrown in nearly every direction.
All twelve firebenders lit signal flames at once, too many for Azula to hit with blue fireblasts. Instead she swept her leg in a complete circle to spread blue flames all around her, and then stuck both arms out to bend that fire away from herself. A growing ring of blue fire rushed towards all twelve firebenders, prompting them to simultaneously make fire shields to catch the blue flames. Force from the blue flames against the fire shields pushed back the firebenders, making all of them halt once the flames had dispersed.
Slightly out of breath and sweating in the heat, Azula took a moment to fix her hair. "That will be all," she said, dismissing the firebenders.
The firebenders all bowed and then walked out of the training hall in single file, leaving Azula to practice alone. Once they were all gone Azula walked over to a towel rack and picked up a small cloth, using it to wipe sweat off her face. Azula threw the sweat-soaked cloth into a hamper for a servant to collect later, and then she walked back to the center of the training hall for more practice. But then she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," Azula ordered.
A door opened and Ty Lee walked inside, having an unusually serious expression for her. She kept glancing in every direction, as if expecting someone to catch her doing something wrong. "We need to talk," Ty Lee whispered.
"Okay, talk," Azula said, crossing her arms.
"Not here," Ty Lee whispered, still glancing in several directions. "We should take Anya for a ride."
"I see," Azula whispered, understanding the need for absolute privacy.
Together Azula and Ty Lee left the training hall, walking to the front doors of the palace. Once they were outside they found a palanquin, complete with bearers ready to take royalty wherever they needed to go. On the palanquin Azula and Ty Lee traveled to the capital city's warehouse district on the northern side, in particular one warehouse that was over fifty feet long and half as high. It was the only building in the city with enough open space to be hastily converted into a sky bison stable.
When they arrived at the warehouse Azula and Ty Lee exited the palanquin, and before entering the warehouse Azula turned to the palanquin bearers. "We're going to be a while," Azula said. "Take the rest of the day off."
"Yes princess," the bearers said in unison.
At one end of the warehouse were a set of sliding doors large enough for several kimono-rhinos to pass through at once, though Ty Lee only slid them open just wide enough for her and Azula to enter. On the other side they saw the improvised sky bison stable, finding makeshift pens along one wall and seeing several sky bison either resting or flying around the open space above. One sky bison in particular drew Ty Lee's attention, and she walked to where it was munching on hay mixed with cabbage.
"Hey girl," Ty Lee said when she was up close. On sight the sky bison stopped eating and nearly pounced on Ty Lee, licking her face with a large tongue. "Did you miss me?"
The female sky bison roared in delight.
"Looks like I've met your new best friend," Azula said.
"Anya could never replace you," Ty Lee reassured. She climbed into Anya's metal saddle while Azula followed, and when they were both on the bison Ty Lee took the reins. "Anya, yip yip."
If Azula hadn't ridden a sky bison before, she would have yelled when Anya took off and flew straight up. Anya flew through a newly added hole in the warehouse ceiling, soaring into open sky. Ty Lee guided the flight higher above the capital, claiming a section of the sky for Anya to wander inside. There it was just Ty Lee, Azula and Anya, and the last one could not reveal any human secrets.
"Okay Ty Lee, what did you find?" Azula asked.
Comfortable in the complete privacy of being isolated in the sky, Ty Lee let go of Anya's reins and turned towards Azula. "Well, I eavesdropped on Zuko like you asked."
"And…?" Azula said.
Ty Lee hesitated to continue, certain that Azula would not like what she had to report. "Zuko… let the Avatar kill your dad."
The report made Azula's eyes widen in shock. "Are you certain?"
"He didn't admit it to Mai, but he didn't deny it either," Ty Lee said.
"I see," Azula muttered. She looked away and thought about the revelation, in particular about Zuko's treachery. Before now she hadn't believed that Zuko had it in him, believing that Zuko was too loyal to betray his own father. Then again, everyone had believed that Ozai had been loyal to Azulon as well, before that Fire Lord's sudden demise. "Like father like son."
"What are you going to do?" Ty Lee asked.
"Let me think," Azula ordered. She thought about revealing Zuko's treachery to dethrone him and take power for herself, but without any proof that action would only give Zuko an excuse to exile her or worse. And Zuko's growing ambition made it possible that he would get rid of Azula eventually, just to eliminate a potential threat to his power. Azula did have a plan to take the throne in mind, but she had wanted to wait a few years for a more favorable political environment.
After thinking for what felt like a long time, Azula decided that she could not afford to wait. "Take this bison east."
"Where are we going?" Ty Lee asked, taking the reins while she spoke.
"You'll see," Azula promised.
Early on the following morning Aang was the first to wake up, and he decided to wander around the Western Air Temple alone. With his glider Aang flew to another upside down building further along the cliff's ledge, landing on what appeared to be a shrine. There were statues of various nuns that once lived here, ones that had done great things for the Air Nomads. Aang wondered what any of them would do if they were alive today, but there was no way to know.
A distant roar caught Aang's attention, and he turned just in time to see a sky bison pass behind a distant building. He started running towards it to find out if it was a potential threat, using airbending to make long leaps from one building to another. Aang stopped when he was just a few buildings away, close enough to see the Fire Nation insignia on the new bison's metal saddle. There was a girl in pink clothes walking away from the bison towards Aang, who spotted Aang when she was a dozen feet away.
Ty Lee smiled and waved. "Hi Aang."
Aang blinked twice. "Have we met?"