The warehouse was old and dusty; old airplane fuselages lay scattered about in disuse, and she could even see components for a Future Industries war-zeppelin in the far corner. She was sitting in a chair, her hands chained behind her back while the man she had been tormented by in her nightmares sat across from her, leaning forward to regard her with a victorious look on his face. She glared at him, then at Bao Lu, and a quiet man in black-and-red robes.
She had been deprived of her weapons, and her gag, mercifully, but she knew that she'd be dead in seconds if she tried something while surrounded by Bao Lu and the gaggle of Triad thugs around her.
Waiting for the right moment to strike; this is the true meaning of neutral jing.
The words from King Bumi's great treatise, The Art of Jing, echoed in her mind.
"I am honored that you graced us with your presence, Firelord Izumi. We are all great admirers of your work," Matsuiji said, smirking.
Izumi glared at him.
"Where are my officers?! You won't get away with this."
He laughed.
"You really are naive, you know. I must admit, I am a bit disappointed. For all the trouble you've given me over the years, you know very little about how we operate. If you knew anything, then you'd know that the only reason you're alive is your value. And since there's only one Firelord…"
Tears gathered in her eyes, and she looked away in shame. Liu was dead, then. The rest of them, too. Soldiers, police officers, all of them who had risked everything to join her task force had died because of her.
"Yes. You should have left us alone. This could have gone so much smoother."
Matsuiji's temper flared suddenlt, and he glared at her resentfully.
"I was perfectly content to leave you to your own devices, provided you left me to mine. We could have ignored each other. Spirits, we could have even worked together. Then we could have avoided this conflict and these deaths. Why can't you authority figures just let things be?"
"Because you killed my husband," she spat.
He rolled his eyes.
"That was more than twenty years ago, Firelord. I don't know why you still care. Your husband did the same thing you did; he poked his nose in where it ought not to have been. It wasn't personal; it was just business."
Izumi knew she was more than capable of murder in that moment.
He smirked, standing, withdrawing a cigar from his pocket.
"Just like this. I was tempted to ransom you off to your rich friends in the Capital or in Republic City, but it's obvious that you're going to hold on to this pointless grudge. And as I can't let you interfere in our plans, this is going to have to be where we part ways, unfortunately. You'll be able to see your husband again soon. And don't worry; unlike you, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, so as long as your little General son doesn't get in my way, I'll let him live it up in the city."
He shook his head mournfully and nodded to Bao Lu, who stepped forward, blue tendrils of electricity snaking through his fingers.
Izumi's mind raced to think of a method of escape. The metal handcuffs were too thick to melt through, and she didn't have enough time or secrecy to do so. A breath of fire would only prolong the inevitable, and there wasn't any rescue coming anytime soon. So her mind went to what she knew about Matsuiji, desperately trying to think of something to distract him or unnerve him. She wasn't going to beg for mercy, but as she wracked her brains for a solution, the answer came to her. An ironic solution, to be sure, but a glimmer of hope nonetheless.
"Matsuiji."
He paused, turning his head.
"I challenge you to an Agni Kai."
The mutters of surprise and shock from the foot soldiers around her indicated that she had hit a sore spot, and even Bao Lu hesitated, his eyes flicking to Matsuiji. The aging crime Boss stopped dead in his tracks, then turned slowly, his look of smug indifference replaced by frustrated suspicion.
"An Agni Kai? That's a bit ironic, considering your father made it illegal to fight one. Why should I let you?"
Izumi knew more about the Agni Kai Triad than Matsuiji had given them credit for. Her mind recalled a book she had read recently, after first hearing of the Triad wars.
While the direct predecessor to the Agni Kai Triad is unknown, it is strongly believed to be descended from the 'Gambling Den Societies' that populated the feudal Fire Nation prior to the Fire Nation Unification under Firelord Minzo in 501 B.G.
While Triads as we know them today began mainly in the lower and middle rings of Ba Sing Se, the Agni Kai Triad is believed to have been formed by bandits and smugglers in the coastal regions of the Fire Nation sometime around the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. The first confirmed gathering of the Agni Kai Triad occurred around the time of the Harmony Restoration Movement in 100 A.G. as a means for the Fire Nation underworld to organize and take advantage of the confusion following the defeat of the Fire Nation and the imprisonment of Firelord Ozai.
As such, the Agni Kai Triad is one of the more traditionalist Triads in existence. It holds to ancient ideals of honor and the superiority of Firebending, though reports that the Triad was directly involved with the New Ozai Society are thought to be false. As is suggested by its name, the Triad is almost entirely comprised of Fire Nation criminals and it is rumored that candidates for the upper echelons of the society must fight a traditional Agni Kai- to the death, rather than to the first hit- before taking their place as a show of power.
Matsuiji might be a megalomaniacal sociopath, but he was a staunch traditionalist, and Izumi could use that against him. Of course, she suspected that there was a good chance she wouldn't be walking out of the warehouse alive, but she was alright with that. If she was going to die, it would be with the honor of her ancestors intact and with vengeance in heart.
"I didn't realize the leader of the Agni Kais was a coward who ran away from a fight," she spat.
That had done it; Matsuiji looked furious, and the foot soldiers had broken their stony silence again and were muttering among themselves.
"Boss, I request the honor of facing her first. I'd like to be the one to kill her," Bao Lu said arrogantly.
Matsuiji nodded with a smile, his anger fading somewhat. Izumi looked at the man who had killed her husband in rage and uncertainty. Bao Lu was an immensely skilled bender, and she wasn't sure she was good enough to beat him.
You fight and struggle against all odds until you break through whatever has been holding you down and become a stronger person. That is what every member of our family has had to overcome, and it's something you'll have to overcome as well, her father had once said, kneeling in front of her and holding her shoulders softly.
She tightened her fists in her cuffs, determined and angry above all else.
"So be it, Firelord. If you want to settle things the old way, I'll allow it."
The robed man looked at him incredulously, but Matsuiji held up a hand, and nodded to a foot soldier, who hurriedly uncuffed her and exited the warehouse, leaving her, Bao Lu, Matsuiji, and the other man.
As Izumi stood from her chair, rubbing her wrists and stretching, Matsuiji whispered to the other man, and he nodded grimly, moving the debris scattered through the warehouse to the sides with metalbending, making a sort of arena.
The arena was silent, almost like a graveyard, and Izumi stared at Bao Lu angrily as Matsuiji and the robed man moved to the sides, watching sombrely. Slowly and methodically, Izumi crossed to the far side, and turned her back to Bao Lu, kneeling down and staring at the rough concrete floor, breathing heavily.
If her recollection of the crime reports were right, Bao Lu was known for being a skilled lightning-bender, and would be most dangerous at range. She would have to get up close and personal if she wanted to even the playing field, which would be easier said than done.
"Rise," rasped Matsuiji, after what seemed like an eternity.
She turned smoothly, breathing deeply, and settling into a light stance, her forefeet resting on the floor. Bao Lu took a wider stance, smiling at her unnervingly, his right hand extended in a fist with his left held at a right angle above the right one.
Wind buffeted the metal siding of the warehouse, and all was silent. Bao Lu had been the last thing Kazuo had seen, and she knew deep down that it would likely be the same for her. But she was determined to take him down with her, if she could.
She thought of holding Iroh in her arms after he was born, Kazuo's head on hers as they lay in the hospital bed, brimming with joy.
She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again.
I'm ready. I'm sorry, son.
She sprung forward, sending a salvo of fireblasts from her fists before swiping arcs of fire towards Bao Lu, somersaulting as a lightning arc ripped through the pavement where her legs had just been. As she swung back towards the ground, she directed her energy through her feet, causing roaring waves of fire to wash towards her opponent with all the fury of the sun.
He sidestepped easily, blocking the inferno on his forearms before swiping his arms around in a circular motion, forcing her to dodge the well-aimed slices of devouring heat.
On the last slice, she held her arms above her head, containing Bao Lu's fire for a brief second before straining and redirecting it towards him, staggering him slightly. She arced several shots from both sides, keeping him off his balance while sprinting forward closer, letting her arms straighten behind her before leaping into the air and swiping a pillar of fire downwards with her arms.
To her dismay, she saw that he had diverted it to either side, and she bobbed and weaved around several roaring volleys.
Then, there was a pause. Both fighters sized each other up again, breathing heavily, and there was a moment of tension, as if the universe itself was waiting for the moment where the duel resumed.
"You're mine," she roared, and she sprinted forward angrily, fire-whips in her arms.
Then, for a terrifying moment, she was flung back as a fire blast hit her directly in the center of her chest, causing her to scrape a few feet on her back. Her eyes widened in fear as Bao Lu took no time in pressing the attack with a savage axe-kick which she barely dodged as she rolled out of the way.
She blocked several painful blasts on her forearms, and as the flames broke apart, like a piece of wood splintering, she saw Bao Lu dropping towards her from the air, a wave of pure devastation extending from his forearm and elbow, which he directed straight at Izumi.
She glared, and her father's training kicked in.
At the last moment, she rolled her shoulders and spun around on the ground, extending a wave of flames out in a large circle, catching him in the elbow as he landed where she had been and was tossed across the floor like a skipping stone.
Roaring in anger, he hopped to his feet lightly, and he extended his hand, pointing with his index and middle fingers. The energy seemed to desert her for a moment, attracted to the raw power being produced, and the bright blue electricity arced towards her, branching off and moving in jagged, hyper movements, like bony fingers twitching in anticipation.
As it approached, she extended her right hand in a similar pose, and breathed deeply, her inner fire burning and beating brightly.
Time slowed. The blinding tendril of energy found her fingers, and the current raced down her arm, burning painfully as her inner energy pathway left it only one route. The energy burned through her innards, pausing for a dangerous, and utterly incredible moment. She had never redirected lightning before, but the descriptions she had heard from Aang and her father barely compared.
For an excruciatingly long time, the power thrived in her stomach, screaming with power and potential. It electrified every extension of her body, turning her into a conductor for pure energy. Her heart raced, and she even could feel herself grinning, but her mind reminded her that a single wrong move would make this the last moment she experienced, ever.
One misstep meant it was all over; all of her fifty-seven years would end definitively and without resolution.
In that timeless, painful moment, her eyes found Bao Lu's. His golden eyes- similar to hers, she realized- widened in shock, fear, and dismay. Part of her urged her to move her hand, to spare him.
She pointed her fingers at Bao Lu as the energy exploded in her stomach and raged through her other arm, gathering at her fingertips, and then releasing, arcing towards the man who had killed Kazuo, and piercing him through the chest. He writhed in pain, shaking slightly, before collapsing, smoke rising from his corpse.
Izumi felt two things only; relief, from letting the energy out of her body without killing herself. The feeling was as if a great weight had been lifted from her body, and she felt energized and rejuvenated.
The other feeling was regret. Not for having killed Bao Lu, but for having allowed herself to be ruled by her emotions. Colonel Liu and so many others had warned her, over and over again, not to fall for her own trap. Yet she hadn't listened. Now, Liu and fourteen other men and women were dead. And it might as well have been by her hand.
She stood silently, staring at Bao Lu's corpse, panting heavily, before turning back towards Matsuiji, glaring at him defiantly, pain panging in her stomach from her ordeal.
Instead of fear, however, the old man wore a smile, and with a start, she realized she didn't know where the robed man was. Then a solid chunk of metal collided with her from behind and she was thrown forth on the floor.
She flipped onto her feet with a curse. The robed man was riding down the sloped side of a large fuselage section, ripping up great slabs of metal as he slid down, before sending a wave of razor-sharp slices at her. The metal impacted in the ground explosively, tearing up the concrete by a large chasm where Bao Lu's first attack had carved into the floor, and she dove to the side, landing on her right side, sending a flurry of fire punches towards him, which he blocked on a metal shield he formed from the scrap metal.
Several more sections of plate embedded themselves in the ground uncomfortably close to her head, and then several small slivers ripped through her arm, causing her to cry out in pain. The pain shot adrenaline through her veins once more and she swung her legs toward her chest, and landed back on her feet by bending a jet of flames from the soles of her boots. She sent a flurry of swiping kicks towards him, and he dodged them by catapulting himself in the air with the fuselage metal and landing near her, causing a cracks in the floor.
"This wasn't what we agreed, Matsuiji," she snapped, breathing heavily.
"Well, technically, he's not part of the Triad, nor is he a Firebender, so he doesn't count. He was probably more eager than Bao Lu to meet you."
With a mighty roar, the robed man threw both of his fists into the ground, and a large pillar of earth burst from the ground below her, throwing her into the air. Izumi managed to avoid the velocity, however, and propelled herself into the air with fire, keeping herself floating while punching flames at the man with all her might.
Chunks of rock and metal crashed through the roof above her as she dodged the precise and deadly attacks, but she was too slow with the last one and was driven to the ground by a large rock, the air knocked out of her lungs.
She stared at the ground in pain, her vision blurring and her throat raw as she wheezed and coughed, her knees burning with friction burns and her palms sweaty and scratched. Her left bicep stung painfully, and wetness leaked through her tunic, though thankfully not much. She looked up at the man as he stood over her, two makeshift swords made out of scrap metal fused out of rough gauntlets on his wrists.
The muscle-bound man had dead eyes like Bao Lu, but a small tattoo of a red flower showed on his chest where her flame attacks had apparently burned through his robe.
"Red Lotus," she breathed.
"Yes," he said impassively.
"My Order has decreed that your time has come. There is no place for you in the world, Firelord. You are an obstacle to true freedom, and you must be removed."
He drew back his arms, the old but sharp points of his improvised swords glinting dully in the pale electric lights of the warehouse.
He twitched, moving forward slightly, and she struck. Generating powerful jets in her palms, she flew back several feet, her torso upright in the knelt position, her arms extended loosely to her sides. The Red Lotus assassin looked taken aback, and, like before, time seemed to slow.
The Royal Gardens were in full bloom. Despite having spent much time here as a child with her father, Izumi had carried on the tradition. Iroh, dressed in a black and grey robe of sorts with red trimmings, watched the family of turtle ducks that seemed to have been there longer than the Royal Family with fascination.
Izumi sat beneath the shady tree, her head resting against Kazuo's shoulder as they watched their son play with the water, tossing small morsels of bread to the turtle ducks, who quacked merrily.
"How could it be two years already?" he asked, sleepily. He had been filling out paperwork long into the night.
Izumi chuckled.
"Well, you see, there's this thing called a sun, and our planet revolves around it as it spins, thus marking the passage of time we call days, which, after about three hundred and sixty five revolutions, we reach a year…"
He flicked her in the nose, knocking her glasses down her nose a little as he laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. I knew you were smarter than me when I got into this thing; you don't have to remind me. Besides, I thought that an ancient sun dragon swallowed the sun and flew around the planet, chasing his sister the moon dragon, thus passing the days."
She shook her head, grinning.
They stayed like that for a while. Iroh ran over to them, giggling.
Izumi picked him up and hugged him tightly, tickling his armpits and causing him to squeal with laughter. He staggered away again, laughing at the turtle ducks, and Izumi held Kazuo's face, kissing him passionately on the mouth.
"Why Princess!" he said, with mock disbelief, "how impertinent of me, a lowly commoner, to take such liberties…"
She laughed again, leaning on him again.
"You know, you might have a big mouth, but I love you."
He chuckled softly in return, kissing her on the cheek.
"And you might be an aristocratic know-it-all, but I love you too."
They kissed again.
The memory passed through her like a breeze. There, and then gone again.
Kazuo was gone. Her husband. Her partner. The man she had loved more than anything. And nothing, she knew, would change that, no matter what she did. Not vengeance, not retribution, not even justice. For thirty-five years, she had buried her grief in her work or in the many crises she faced on a daily basis. Now, after making so many mistakes and ignoring the advice of people she should have trusted, she realized that the truth of what had happened all those years ago had finally reached her.
Kazuo was dead. Matsuiji was not. That was the cruel reality of how life worked. Yet the only reason Matsuiji had power over her was because she let him. If she truly moved on, accepted the pain and grief, and let it teach her how to overcome suffering, only then would she someday find peace.
For a brief moment, her thoughts were completely clear. A tear ran down her cheek, but her mind was silent. The fury, the hatred, and the fear was gone. She felt… serene.
She moved her fingers horizontally, and pushed through the energy's resistance, and lines of blue electricity writhed into existence from her fingers. The energetic feeling coursed through her again, but this time she was ready. Her mind remained clear.
She looked at the Red Lotus man with steely determination, and directed the clashing positive and negative energy through her fingertips and let the emotional, raw strength of the lightning flow through the man's shoulder as another tendril impacted the wall by Matsuiji's head.
Time returned, and she looked at the unconscious assassin, who flinched in pain involuntarily at the wound in his shoulder. Tears flowed from her eyes, but she didn't sob. She turned her head towards Matsuiji and wiped the tears away, approaching him silently.
"You… it's… everyone knows you can't bend lightning! Firelord Azula was the last!"
Desperately, he threw a fireball towards her but she dispelled it on her right gauntlet. He backed away in fear, throwing shot after shot towards her, each time backing away in terror as she blocked his attacks.
"You bitch. You ruined everything. I was poised to be… to be the most powerful man in the nation, but you just had to ruin it all. And for what? Justice? I ordered the hit on your husband, and I would gladly do it again if it meant pain for you. Damn you. Damn you and your son and the Avatar. None of you have known what it's like, to come from nothing and claw your way up. You haven't earned it like I have."
She stood several feet from him, and he fell to his knees, his onslaught of feeble attacks done. He glared at her, looking up in hatred.
"Do it, then. You beat my champion and the Red Lotus scum. You won. Finish it, in the ancient way. Take your revenge."
The sounds of cars screeching to a halt and shouts filtered in from outside, no doubt more Triad thugs arriving to finish what Bao Lu and the assassin had started.
"Do it. Or are you a coward? Damn you-" he spat on the ground defiantly "-just DO IT. Kill me. You won. Don't taint your victory with dishonor."
She looked at him, and experienced the old feelings- the anger, the fear, the guilt - but found that they were weaker than they once had been. Perhaps she could control them better now that they had gotten the best of her. Or perhaps they just weren't as strong as they had been before.
A wrenching of metal screamed from behind her, and Matsuiji's eyes widened in shock. She turned in surprise to see Druk's head punching a massive hole through the wall. Her father and a horde of police officers flowed in.
She looked back at Matsuiji.
"No. We moved away from the old ways for a reason. You're just a bitter, greedy old man, but you're still a citizen of my Nation. You still deserve a day in court. I, Firelord Izumi of the Fire Nation, daughter of Firelord Zuko, place you under arrest for the crimes of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, kidnapping, and extortion."
She turned away as two officers clasped Matsuiji in chains while others gathered Bao Lu's body and the assassin.
No words were said outside of the chatter outside, and Izumi simply hugged her father, tired and desolate.
The sunset was beautiful, though the color was, fittingly, crimson red.
Police cars and airships lingered around, though the crowd that had gathered had largely dispersed with the encouragement of the police officers.
Izumi stood by the cluster of ambulances, grief filling her heart.
Colonel Liu's face was deeply lined; his mouth was made to bear the sardonic grin he often wore. The man wasn't very old, all things considered- he was only about sixty years old- not much older than her, but his breadth of experience and sorrow had aged him before his time.
If you think I don't know how you feel, then you're a fool. The Great War took my father and my older brother. They both died on the front in the Earth Kingdom, but do you see me spouting prejudiced drivel like a traditionalist or a New Ozai cultist? No. Because I've grown past that. Revenge isn't a good thing, even for our people. It will only lead to death and destruction, and I won't let you do that to yourself.
"If only I had listened to you, old friend…" she muttered as she drew the red sheet over his face.
"I'm sorry. To all of you. The Spirits will guide you to the afterlife in peace."
The thirteen other bodies had already been driven away, but she had looked upon the face of each one and muttered a prayer and an apology. When the time came, she would visit each of their families, apologize for her folly, and accept their reaction, whatever it was. It was her duty to each of them.
Her father joined her as the sun dipped below the rooftops.
"So."
"So," she sighed.
"It's over."
"I suppose."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her tightly.
"I had hoped that you would be spared the trials that I, my Uncle, my sisters, my mother, and my cousin had suffered through. I see now that I was wrong."
He sighed, and as she looked at him, he suddenly looked much more tired and sad than she had ever seen him.
"Our family's curse. We all suffer greatly, one way or another."
She hugged him again, taking great comfort in his presence.
"The only reason I survived was because of what you taught me, Dad. You were the one who told me that I had to persevere through hardship despite how bad things look, and to keep going even if I made mistakes. Today, that all happened, and it was your wisdom that kept me sane through it all."
He smiled, tears in his eyes.
"I'm… I'm proud of you, Izumi. You're much wiser than I am."
"You'll always have me beat in that regard, Dad. And I'm okay with that."
Next to her, Druk's muzzle nestled its way under her arm, and she smiled broadly, hugging the great dragon on its nose and scratching its scales. Her father held her shoulder gently.
"Let's go home, Izumi."
She nodded, patting Druk's nose with her free hand.
"Let's."
And so ends Book 3!
This chapter was definitely a lot of fun for me to write, though I do feel bad for everything I've put Izumi through this Book. As you guys have probably noticed, Izumi's story strongly parallels Korra's, and this is definitely on purpose. In the same way Korra had to contend with Zaheer, who in many ways was able to escape and wreak havoc because of Korra's decisions during Harmonic Convergence, I thought that this Book would focus on Izumi's struggles with Boss Matsuiji, who exists as a threat to her personally because of Izumi's method of coping through burying her grief and ignoring it.
Matsuiji was also a fun character to write, and I know he's hated by a lot of you guys, which I suppose means I accomplished my goal. For those curious, the Agni Kai Triad is very based on the organization and hierarchy of the Japanese Yakuza, and Matsuiji himself is a amalgamation of famous crime lords like Pablo Escobar, Al Capone, and El Chapo (yes, I was watching a lot of Narcos when I started this section).
Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this section of Izumi's story, and I hope to kick off the fourth and final Book of Tales from the Fire Nation as soon as possible! As always, I appreciate any comments or suggestions you guys have; let me know what you thought!
-IGdude117