The world had changed quite a bit in the last year, Firelord Izumi decided, and not necessarily for the better.
As the attache from the Earth Kingdom (though it wasn't much of a Kingdom anymore) had been describing for the last few hours, the largest nation in the world was still plagued by conflict and chaos. Though the provisional government had reclaimed Ba Sing Se and much of the surrounding area, bandit groups, anarchist cells, and power-hungry secessionists still ruled much of the Earth Nation, and each day more people suffered.
Not to mention that Avatar Korra's recovery since her showdown with Zaheer had been slow going. Not that Izumi blamed her. Anyone who walked away from a deeply disturbing experience like that had no rights to call themselves human. In her place, Tenzin and his airbenders had been working diligently to serve as a sort of peacekeeping force.
"Firelord Izumi," said Prime Minister Watao, catching her attention once more.
Izumi snapped into the present, looking at the polished wood table that seated her entire cabinet, and looked at the uniformed envoy, who was indicating locations on the map of the Earth Kingdom they had put up on the far wall.
"Yes, of course. My apologies, Captain Heng. Please continue."
The stiff-backed soldier in the green-and-gray colors of the Earth Kingdom Provisional Government nodded, his green eyes flicking uncertainly towards Izumi before returning to the map.
"We have secured the surrounding towns and cities in the Ba Sing Se province, and we have mostly secured the Full Moon province, including the Serpent's Pass. Of course, resistance remains in remote areas, but our air force and ground forces have thus far been able to respond to any threats swiftly and decisively."
Nanako, always intuitive, coughed softly, catching the Captain's attention.
"And where do you intend to go from here?"
The Captain nodded.
"Great question, ma'am. Kuvira has in her service the renowned inventor and business tycoon Varrick, and we've continued construction of a rail network throughout the Earth Kingdom and into the United Republic that will allow us even more mobility. We move to incorporate Chuang and Gu provinces, and diplomats have already been dispatched."
"And you're not… well, conquering them against their will, are you?" asked Ueda, the Minister of Justice, uncomfortably.
"Of course not, sir. The vast majority of the cities and towns we've encountered so far have joined us willingly. Those that do not will sooner or later; the roving bands of raiders will see to that. This is the hard truth, Ministers. Kuvira will not rest until the Earth Kingdom is at peace and has reorganized."
Izumi nodded, satisfied.
"Thank you, Captain. You can tell Kuvira that the Fire Nation will continue to provide logistical support to you and the Airbenders until the job is done."
The soldier allowed himself a smile, and bowed in the Earth Kingdom manner.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will pass the message on."
Izumi stood, tired after a long day of meetings and strategy sessions. The looming elections were the biggest thing in her mind.
"If that's all, Ministers, I think that's a good place to stop. I'll see you all at the Cabinet meeting the day after tomorrow, barring any more national emergencies."
That got a muted laugh, but there were no objections. Izumi nodded to Ren, and they left, striding down the hall towards Izumi's office. As she walked, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, pushing her glasses up as a headache pounded at her head.
Ren looked at her sympathetically.
"I know it's been a long day, your Highness. You're almost done."
Izumi smiled wearily.
"Glad to hear it. You know, I can probably handle things from here. If you want to head home…"
Ren nodded her head.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll stay with you until you go to bed, ma'am. It's my job."
She entered into the large central lobby, making for the hall directly in front of her that led to the wing with her office and rooms. As she walked, however, she narrowly avoided smashing into a woman who was striding out of the empty throne room to Izumi's right.
She staggered slightly, and the woman turned around angrily.
"Watch where you're go-"
She stopped abruptly as she took in Izumi's features, and promptly threw herself on the floor, her forehead touching the tile floor, her hands just in front of her face in the traditional bowing stance.
"F-Firelord Izumi. A thousand pardons for my foolishness. I did not mean-"
"What did you do, new girl?" snapped a familiar voice.
Izumi turned and embraced Goto, who was surprised to see her as well, hugging her back after recovering from his initial shock.
"Your Highness! I didn't expect to see you. Apologies for anything our newest recruit did. She's still learning the ropes."
Izumi released him, smiling.
"Well, if anyone can straighten her out, it'll be you, Colonel."
The now-promoted Colonel Goto grinned, grasping the new recruit's arm and guiding her away. Though Izumi had been reluctant to let go of her erstwhile bodyguard and lifelong friend, he was without a doubt one of the most skilled members of her household guard, and was a capable leader. If anyone could begin to fill the void left by Liu's death, it was Goto.
Goto's task to tail the Avatar had, by his accounts, taken him from the Misty Palms Oasis to the Northern Air Temple in a daunting journey that ultimately saw him surviving bandits, thieves, and the harsh wilderness of the Earth Kingdom- especially after the assassination of the Earth Queen. Izumi had been happy to have him back, though she felt that the man still didn't quite forgive himself for not being with her when her task force was wiped out, no matter how many times she tried to ease his conscience.
"Actually, ma'am, I have been meaning to take Nio to meet you. She's- ah… well, she's going to be your new personal guard. I was planning on starting to groom her next month, but now's as good a time as any to make the introduction."
Izumi smirked as the flustered young girl saluted, her face red from embarassment.
"Well met…" she began, reaching for a rank.
"Corporal, for now, your Highness. Nio here is something of a prodigy. She was just transferred here from the 3rd Division around Orchard Island. Apparently she impressed the recruiting officer so much she was sent here to the Capital after only serving for half a year."
Izumi looked at the girl, somewhat impressed. She was young- probably in her mid-twenties, if Izumi had to guess. She had the look of someone who hadn't really ever done any manual work. Her features were delicate and carefully maintained. If she was from Kaju City, Orchard Island's capital, she was likely the daughter of a wealthy businessman or woman. A wealthy, but probably simple upbringing, if she had to hazard a guess.
Her eyes were brown, but they didn't have the edge she saw so often in her guards- the dangerous glint that indicated that they had seen combat. In Nio, it was not present.
"I look forward to seeing how you progress, Corporal Nio. Good day."
The two Imperial Firebenders bowed, and Goto winked as he led the girl away. Izumi strode towards her office, happy to have seen Goto for the first time that week. It was admittedly strange for her; she had gotten so used to seeing him guarding her door or striding next to her stoically, and now she only saw him sporadically, if at all.
She opened the door to her office and was startled to see the red-robed figure of a Fire Sage waiting for her. The older man bowed, which Izumi returned reluctantly, glancing at her guards who regarded the man with suspicion.
"Apologies for the subterfuge, Firelord Izumi, but we bring word from the Spirit World."
Izumi frowned, nodding towards her guards reassuringly before closing the door and crossing over to her desk, gesturing towards the chairs in front of her. The Fire Sage sat reluctantly and Ren took her place on a chair by the door, silent.
"I hope it's nothing too bad; I was expecting a routine messenger hawk at the end of the week from the Temple."
The fire sage bowed his head in apology.
"The news is… well, we are greatly disturbed. The Head Sage and the others… well, we have been meditating and communing with the spirits that have come to inhabit our temple, and it seems that the Spirits are beginning to return to their own realm."
Izumi intertwined her fingers, lingering close to her mouth in concern.
"As you probably know, Firelord Izumi, we in the Fire Nation have not had as much contact with the spirits as the other Nations. After Harmonic Convergence and Avatar Korra's opening of the spirit portals, the majority of the spirits seem to be concentrated in the new Spirit Wilds of Republic City and other spiritual areas of the world. Our temple is one, and some of the more outlying cities and villages have reported the presence of spirits."
Izumi nodded slowly.
"If I recall correctly, it was one of your order who theorized that the Spirits avoid our Nation because we are still suffering from the reputation we earned during the War. I remember reading the report. Do you hold with this hypothesis as well?"
The sage nodded.
"Yes. Our Nation is more spiritually unbalanced than the others. I do not wish to delve too deeply, but the Head Sage believes that our Nation has driven away the spirits since the Sun Warriors faded into obscurity. Yet our conversations with those Spirits that do remain reveal troubling news; the Spirits are abandoning the mortal plane of existence, and not just in the Fire Nation."
"And do we know what has caused this mass exodus? Is this a matter for the Avatar?"
He shook his head.
"We know from Master Tenzin that the Avatar still recovers. And we do not know much; but I pray that it the reason is not what we at the temple think."
"And what reason is that?"
"War, Firelord Izumi. The spirits whisper of a war on the horizon. And so they flee, seeking to avoid being embroiled in another human conflict."
Izumi leaned forward.
"You're sure?"
"There is no way to be sure, but this is what our instincts tell us. We felt you should be warned. We Fire Sages no longer take such a direct role in politics, but if there is another war, now, then the repercussions will be felt in all worlds and by all beings. We would like to help avoid that, if possible."
Izumi nodded. On the one hand, her cynical side dismissed these rantings as the misguided ravings of monks. Yet her own instincts told her that there was much she did not understand about this world and the next, and that she ought to trust the counsel of those who had intimate understandings of spiritual matters, like the Avatar or the Fire Sages.
"I thank you for your warnings, Fire Sage. I will take this into account. Please inform me, if possible, if you learn anything more."
They bowed to each other, and he left swiftly, leaving Ren to look at her quizzically.
"What do you think it means, ma'am?"
Izumi sighed, shrugging as she leaned back into her chair.
"I wish I knew. Tenzin and his family would know more about this than me. Or Avatar Korra. Or my father. Spiritual matters aren't something I'm well versed in, unfortunately."
"Was she talking about Kuvira?"
Izumi certainly hoped not. She hadn't met the woman, but she had stabilized Ba Sing Se in a matter of weeks, and that was worthy of respect. Part of her wondered, of course; the feud between Kuvira and Suyin Beifong had even made its way back to her through her intelligence networks, but there wasn't much that could be done now without sabotaging the unification efforts. Ultimately, she would have to trust that Raiko and the others made the right decision. Now was a time for solidarity.
"I doubt it. I won't speculate until they know more. I don't suppose the Spirits would listen if I asked them to be less mysterious?"
Ren smiled.
"Probably not, ma'am."
Izumi sighed, glancing at the clock and blanching at the hour.
"I thought so."
Izumi stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. When had her hair gotten so gray? Perhaps it shouldn't have been that color; perhaps it was just the stress of her occupation. Then again, she was turning fifty nine in a few months. Perhaps it was normal. She idly played with the thought of dying her hair, but after a few minutes decided that it would just look stupid. After all, the only people she had ever seen dye their hair were either in the acting business, or were much too rich for their own good.
She shook her head, letting her hair down and crossing over to her bed, lying down on the soft cushions, yawning. She flicked her finger once, extinguishing the candle burning by her bed, and stared up at the high-vaulted ceiling, uneasy.
It was hard to believe that it had already been a year since her showdown Matsuiji and Bao Lu. Matsuiji had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and despite his veritable fleet of lawyers and attorneys, he had been sent to the Boiling Rock for the rest of his days. The Agni Kai Triad's ambitious turf war had faltered, and most of the organization had been given up by informants and defectors. What was left had splintered into smaller Triads or had made the move to Republic City, where the Triads were still somewhat strong.
Crime would never fully leave the Fire Nation, she knew. For every well adjusted citizen, there were two people who used firebending for evil, who harnessed the wrong aspects of the bending art. People who would have fit in with her grandfather's regime.
She still sometimes wrestled with her choice that day. It would have been more just, she supposed, to kill him on the spot. But it wasn't the right thing to do. She even regretted killing Bao Lu, despite all he had done. When she had redirected the lightning into his chest that day, she had hoped she would find closure or satisfaction.
Instead, she had felt only guilt and emptiness. Perhaps that was her lesson. Now, she usually only felt emptiness. Like she was just going through the motions. Her moment of inattention at the meeting that evening hadn't been an isolated incident. What made matters worse was that she knew what was happening to her; she had gone through the same cycle of indifference and desolation after her discharge from the military and Kazuo's death. Yet no matter how well acquainted she was with 'Trauma Sickness', it always hit hard.
Her mind turned again to the aftermath of what people had been calling the Second Triad War. The Red Lotus assassin had been turned over to the White Lotus, who also held Zaheer in an undisclosed location. Her father had taken care of most of that, and Izumi knew better than to inquire as to specifics when it came to the Order of the White Lotus. What she had learned from Tenzin was enough for her; she only felt sorry for Korra and resented Zaheer for the pain he had wrought.
As for her officers, she had grieved and punished herself mentally for long enough. As a gesture of appreciation, she had insisted she visit each family of the dead personally. Some of the visits went better than others. Some were just happy that their sons and daughters had given their lives in defense of the Fire Nation, fighting against injustice. Others had yelled and screamed insults, naming her butcher or murderer. Those had been difficult to bear, but she bore the pain. It was the least she could do for them.
Yet she had avoided one visit; Liu had a son. A young man in the Capital City. A police constable, if her research was right. He was the last on her list and yet his was the visit she dreaded most. It was Liu, after all, who had warned her. And it was Liu, the man who had helped her learn firebending, who had been by her side through everything, who had paid for her folly with his life.
She would have to do it eventually, however. Honor demanded it.
As the saying went, she thought as she shifted uncomfortably in her bed, the right way was rarely the easiest.