Rewrite, Rewind

Chapter 35


Ursa walked through the warm autumn wind with her twins in each hand, her seventh-month-old strapped to her chest, with Ikem pushing Xiulan through the street at her side. They dropped Xiulan off at her school, where her friends were waiting to take over for them. Then they walked a little further down the road, to the twin's school, where they dropped them off in the trusted hands of their favorite instructors. Jeong-Jeong and Piandao stared at Ursa for a moment, before turning away and tugging the children off in different directions. Ursa wrapped her arms around her youngest, supporting her tiny body as her husband wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"Our guests will be here soon," Ikem whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "We should go greet them."

At the docs, Ursa greeted the ship from the familiar earth kingdom village she had made merchant connections with several years ago. The ship was a beautiful marksmanship of wood and steel, a perfectly arrowed bottom section with a house of wood carved in the typical Earth Kingdome style. Ursa jostled the child sleeping on her chest, Ikem yawned, getting tiered waiting for the ship to finally arrive. Finally, the ship docked and down came the passengers, Ursa and her husband stepped aside as the artisans and merchants ambled past.

"Princess Ursa!" the couple looked up to see a grinning man approaching them.

"Mr. Seneca," Ursa greeted, leaning into his hug as he wrapped his arms around her and Ikem, squeezing gently for the baby's sake. Seneca happened to be so tall their heads reaching just below his shoulders, he had the same developed muscles as all Earth Kingdome soldiers but his gray hair and missing left foot indicated his retirement. Of which, Ursa was greatly appreciative of.

"Who is this most adorable little one?" The man asked, stooping to look at the mop of dusty red locks on the toddler's head.

"This one is Kiyi," Ursa introduced the slumbering toddler to Seneca.

"Oh she'll be a heart breaker," Seneca chuckled, then his warm smiling face slipped into a sad expression of remorse. "I must also give to you my condolences. I've heard what happened to Prince Lu Ten."

"It is his death that I've called you here," Ursa murmured to him. she bit her lip and looked at Ikem before giving their surroundings a discreet glance.

"Won't you have lunch with us?" Ikem asked, "Mother has made a wonderful crow-chicken stew."

"Oo! That sounds good!" Seneca grinned broadly at them, "Of course I would love to join you!" he made a big show of lifting Ursa and Ikem onto his soldiers and marching forwards, laughing loudly as they traveled through the city.


"Hello, my lady and lord," Seneca greeted Ursa's parents, both now sitting in their rocking chairs on the porch. The old couple could hardly walk in straight lines anymore, their age having caught up to them with their need for canes to walk.

"Lord Seneca," Ursa's mother greeted with a fond smile, "It has been too long old friend."

"So it seems," Seneca agreed as he carefully set the couple down on the ground. "So I'm assuming that stew I was promised was—"

"Correct," Ursa sighed heavily. "I'm so sorry for deceiving you—"

"My dear, if you wanted to deceive me, you'd have to try harder then that." Seneca grinned at her. "What is the matter princess? Do you need my help with something?"

"Ozai is now the only one befitting of Fire Lord," Ursa told him, straight to the point and hiding nothing.

"Aren't you the adoptive daughter of Fire Lord Azulon?" Seneca frowned at her, "you have the right to claim the throne. Prince Ozai does not."

"Ozai is my former husband," Ursa explained, "after an attack on the palace, father Azulon granted a full divorce between me and Ozai. However, the twins are his and to keep them as successors to his throne, Azulon adopted me."

"So you do not have the right to claim the throne but the twins do," Seneca hummed. "and with Lu Ten's death, Prince Ozai will use this fact against you, no doubt."

"We're afraid he'll do more than that," Ikem said, wrapping his arms around his wife and seven-month-old. "Ozai was forced to give up his marriage and custody of the twins. But…"

"But if I, Ikem or my parents were to die," Ursa stopped, unable to continue the sentence, cringing into Ikem's hold as her arms tightened around little Kiyi.

"Then Prince Ozai because the twin's only living parent and guardian," Seneca sighed in understanding. "it would only natural for him to reclaim the children."

"Except he won't claim all of them," Ursa whimpered, "He'll only take Azula."

"What is special about Azula?" Seneca asked he found nothing special about the giggly ball of energy. she was as normal as any other child her age.

"She's a genius fire bender," Ikem answered, "if her training was harsher, focused more on combat and perfect military achievements, verses her current curriculum… her flames would no doubt grow even more powerful than they already are."

"So, Prince Ozai would take custody of only Azula and train her to be the perfect weapon for him," Seneca frowned, he was a father and understood what it meant to have a child-soldier. He didn't like such methods and instantly understood the parent's concern. "Would Prince Ozai go out of his way to kill all of you just to get his hands on her?"

"Without doubt," Ikem answered. "Every time they went to the palace to visit, Zuko always got sick by his second or third day there. Almost every time he got sick it was after coming into contact from someone that works closely with Prince Ozai."

"He would kill his own son?" Seneca asked in horror.

"In his words 'the dead should be left to sleep eternally'," Ursa replied. "It is because of his view on the children and how desperate he is for the crown, that I worry about what he'll do now since Lu Ten has died and Iroh has no other children."

"I will make preparations in my home village," Seneca said seriously. "How soon do you need to escape from here?"

"I don't know," Ursa answered. "it's only been a few days since Lu Ten's death and Ozai has never been real patient."

"So most likely soon," Seneca frowned. "I will begin with emergency escape routs now. I'm glad you told me to come prepared," Seneca stopped to smile at Ursa, "My men are still on board the ship. I'll bring them in to help with the remodel. With luck, it'll only take us two days."

"Thank you, Mr. Seneca," Ursa said as she bowed, Ikem soon following her example, "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Do me a favor by fighting for the throne," Seneca chuckled, making it a joke. "Nah, just kidding Princess. Just live and raise the wee-sweet one just fine."

"Old friend," Ursa's mother called, "are you going to protect my grandbabies?"

"Of course sweet maiden!" Seneca laughed, "Not even the avatar will stop me from that!"


He was sitting in his room, before his desk that held five candles that grew and shrank perfectly to his breathing. He's been making a show of his 'mediation' a lot lately, having thought it would please his father. Its been a week since news of his nephew's death in battle, the funeral parade for Lu Ten happened earlier that day. He played attendee for his father's favor. He discovered that funeral parade wasn't just for Lu Ten but for his personal maid as well. Apparently the woman's skill exceeded all known capabilities, after finding out about Lu Ten's death she went nuts and started killing Ba Sing Se's soldiers as she charged the earth palace.

The earth palace.

Lu Ten's maid actually managed to enter the Earth Palace and create chaos. Granted she did die in the middle of her one-woman-army-mental-breakdown. At least she managed to execute the current Earth King, not his son which would've been preferred, but at least she got the king. According to the two soldiers who accompanied the maid to the palace, she had fallen only because the imperial royal guards had poisoned her. If his country had access to such soldiers, why hadn't they used them before? Keeping them to the royal palace was a waste.

'Protect the royal family'? He opened his eyes and glared at his candles, they were barely burning now, the ends of the wicks a flickering of red-orange embers. If they can't defend themselves, then they aren't worthy of the bloodline.

"You called for me?" At first, he didn't recognize the voice; it had been a decade since he last heard it. Then he saw the familiar uniform, the discrete symbol hidden along the edge of the armor. He smirked, its been a while since he last saw his old friend.

"Your hair is gray," he observed, knowing it was still a dark brown the last time they met.

"War will do that to you," his friend chuckled, golden eyes glanced at him from the side of a pale face, thick gray sideburns obscured his expression. He hummed and put out his candles, leaning on his desk and stared at his old friend bathed in the bright moonlight. "Was the report not clear, my lord?" He tugged the strings on his night robe, opening the robe enough to reveal his chiseled chest beneath. He smirked as his friend's face turned away, the tips of his ears turning color like his cheeks. He heard the man mumble something about 'evil' and chuckled because he knew it was aimed at him.

"My lord I don't have much time left, (ahem) the next rotation will be arriving soon." His friend said, attempting to clear his throat halfway through his sentence.

"So hurry up and enter," he smirked, watching his friend's body freeze.

"Won't your maids be returning soon with your bath?" His friend gave him a very unamused look, prompting him to sigh in aggravation and curse in the safe refines of his mind. He had forgotten that order, it was the only thing he could manage to get them to leave him alone for this meeting.

"The mission to Hirahara Island," he rubbed a hand across his face.

"All preparations will be complete in a week," his friend retorted. "It's best to take our time and plan carefully this time. Act to rashly and everything you hope to attain will be washed away."

"Not to mention exposed," he grunted.

"Should that come to pass, you will only be jailed," his friend replied softly. "The rest of us will be executed." He frowned at that; he didn't want his old friend to die just yet.

"Take your time, make sure everything is absolutely perfect." He ordered, "I want my daughter back in my custody by next autumn."

"hah, you're giving us a year? how charitable of you," his friend chuckled mockingly at him, ignoring his irritated glare with practiced ease. "You'll have her by next summer solstice."

"I'll hold you to that," he grinned, watching his friend turn away from his window and depart hurriedly, a curse left behind on the night breeze. He looked out his window, at the dark sky and the rising moon. He smirked to himself, as soon as his daughter is back with him and everyone else was dead, he could partition his father to be made heir.

"Prince Ozai, are you still awake?" a soft voice beyond his bedroom door called.

"I am," he called back, "did you bring my bathwater?"

"It is here," the door opened and in walked the maids, all carrying his supplies for his bathroom.

He looked out his window again. When would he be Fire Lord?


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