Chapter 33 – Death of the Fire Lord
Fire Lord Ozai could not have felt more pleased about his grand achievements while being carted around the Caldera City in his royal palanquin, listening to the adoring cries of the crowd, celebrating his triumph outside. Everything in the North had gone according to his masterful plan. After some initial softening up of the defenses of Agna Qel'a, the capital of the Northern Tribe, Chief Arnook had agreed to every single demand of the Fire Lord. The request to hand over all the newborn babies from over the past six months had stunned the Chieftain, but when faced with the overwhelming power of firebending enhanced by Sozin's Comet, he was left with no option but to agree to Ozai's demands.
Thirty eight Northern Water Tribe babies were currently traveling aboard of one of his warships, prepared to be distributed among loyal Fire Nation women who would raise them as their own, while at the same carefully observing the children for any signs that might identify one of them as the new Avatar. If a new Avatar would indeed manifest, then Ozai would obviously groom the child himself, raising them as staunch Fire Nation supremacists, making sure that the Fire Lord's conquests would never again be threatened in the future.
If only his plans for his own offspring would have worked out as well as all his other grand designs, that was the only thing which still rankled at Ozai. He had thought that surely having an heir and a spare would be enough. But the intended heir had been a disappointment almost from the get go, although often Ozai had wondered whether his wife's softness and spoiling hadn't irreversibly ruined Zuko before he had truly dug his claws into his son. Still, the spare had proved to be so promising, a true firebending prodigy unseen in decades, making sure that the failings of Zuko hadn't stung as much as they otherwise would. And then… the spare had just broken. He still couldn't explain it to himself why Azula had crumbled when faced with the Southern peasant's bloodbending, but whatever it was, Ozai on some level felt grateful to this Katara for revealing his daughter for what she was, a spineless weakling.
But dwelling on his disappointing offspring was not something Ozai wanted to indulge in. There was so much to celebrate, and as far as his potential heir was concerned, nothing stood in the way of him trying again. And this time he would be wiser, arranging for plenty of spares instead of just the one. Still, right now he didn't want to even entertain any questions about possible succession, he fully intended to rule for at least half a century, and the power of Sozin's Comet coursing in his veins seemed to have taken a good dozen of years off his back.
Ozai let out a bitter curse as for whatever reason, the royal palanquin was suddenly and unacceptably rocked by his incompetent servants, in dire need of brutal flogging. There was a strange sound coming from the outside, like the moving of rocks, and the accompanying tremors made Ozai suspect a sudden earthquake. Then there was also a loud splash of water outside the palanquin, and the unmistakable roar of fire unleashed by bending, followed by screams coming from all around the palanquin. Enraged, Ozai nearly tore off the doors of the palanquin and jumped out, instantly almost losing his footing as he ended up scrambling on a feet thick sheet of slippery ice. The same ice had trapped his palanquin, all of his servants and the unit of elite guards accompanying him, making them immobile and helpless targets for the attacking firebender.
With great surprise, Ozai came to realize just who his attackers were. His supposedly dead son was standing side by side with the dangerous bloodbender, ready to strike. On the opposite side, the young earthbender girl was raising impassable barriers of rocks to cut off his reinforcements and completely isolate the section of the road as it weaved around the Queen's Lake. Another girl with a sword and a pair of fans was making short work of the few soldiers who had somehow managed to find a way past the blockade, futilely trying to come to his aid.
Outraged by their daring, Ozai spared them no taunting words. He immediately launched into an attack, drawing on all the power coursing in his veins, gift of the Sozin's Comet. A massive ball of fire engulfed his son and his waterbending whore, crushing their pathetic defenses and throwing them a few paces back, leaving them vulnerable for his next attack. He would not give them any respite, launching to obliterate them from this existence… only to experience a sharp, stinging pain coursing through his left side, as he was taken by a flanking attack from another firebender that had unexpectedly entered the field of battle.
Circle of protective flames sprang up to surround Ozai, allowing him to recover, as he took in this new attacker, momentarily taken aback as he recognized his daughter, whom he believed had died by his own hands. Enraged by the treachery of his own guards who had clearly lied to him about Azula's death, Ozai roared and let loose with a massive nova of fire, spreading outwards from his feet and incinerating everything in its path, putting his children back on the defensive again. The Water Tribe girl glared at him and her hands moved in a blur. Ozai felt the control over his body stripped from him once again, but he immediately began to fight back. Empowered by Sozin's Comet, he managed to fight off her control, doing it so quickly that it made the girl appear unpleasantly surprised.
"That's right, wench. I'm wise to your tricks now!" Ozai shouted, about to let loose with more devastating attacks, once again failing to spot another new arrival on the scene, a barely noticeable shadow as it landed behind him with the softest of steps. Immediately, Ozai felt sharp pain in his lower back and just below the shoulder blade, as he found himself expertly chi-blocked by that irritating little girl always hanging around his useless daughter. With an incensed roar, Ozai burst into another fire nova, and it tossed the chi-blocker aside, where she fell badly burned, failing to rise again.
"Ty Lee!" Azula screamed, letting loose with her lightning aimed at him, but Ozai's defenses prevailed. Still… while the irritating girl had not blocked his chi completely, he suddenly felt sluggish and weakened, and beads of perspiration broke out along his brow with sudden uncertainty about the outcome of this encounter. When the bloodbender used her powers on him once more, he found it much harder to break from her cursed grasp, allowing Zuko to score a hit that nearly collapsed the shield of fire protecting him.
"He's weakening!" Zuko shouted, having noticed the change in his father's stance, his hesitancy and slowness. "Keep up the pressure!"
"On it!" Azula exclaimed. "Take that, asshole!" she channeled her lightning once more, together with Zuko's jets of fire obliterating their father's defenses.
"I have you now," Katara grinned knowingly, seizing control of Ozai once more. Her smile widened as she felt him struggle helplessly against her grasp. He had slipped her control earlier, but even as he did so, Katara had learned just how he was managing to do it, now able to counter all of his attempts. And while Ozai struggled against the increased hold she had on him, Zuko and Azula had free reign of blasting him to kingdom come.
Fire and lightning both crashed into Fire Lord Ozai at once, causing him to scream in pain, making him forget to struggle against Katara's control of his blood. She pounced instantly, squeezing down with everything she had. Where it wasn't already charred by fire and lightning, Ozai's skin turned purple, blood vessels bursting from the applied pressure. Blisters appeared on his skin, and his eyes bulged and then popped with disgusting, wet squelching sound. The scream that left Ozai's mouth reached an inhuman level of pitch. When the body finally hit the ground, it barely looked human anymore, just a lump of stinking, blackened flesh, twisted beyond all recognition.
For a moment, the world stood still. Everyone looked on in shock at the sheer damage they had inflicted, reducing the most powerful bender in the world to a stinking, fleshy lump. Azula was the first to shake off the confusion as she ran across the square to where Ty Lee had fallen. She didn't get very far. Katara recovered quickly and seized Azula in a bloodbending grip, lifting her up in the air with ease.
"Katara!" Zuko shouted, throwing himself between Katara and Azula. "Let her go! She helped us against Ozai!"
Katara loosened her grip on Azula. Much to her surprise, instead of attacking her right back, the fallen princess shrugged off the effects of the bloodbending and ran straight to Ty Lee, kneeling at her side and checking the other girl for injuries. "This was always your intention, wasn't it?" Katara turned on Zuko. "Letting her in on the plan! Having her help as if that would redeem her!"
"And why wouldn't it redeem her?" Zuko argued back. "You said she couldn't change! You said she would betray us to our father! Well, she has changed and she didn't betray us!"
"That's not enough!" Katara shouted angrily, pushing past a frustrated Zuko. Toph and Suki had by now also ran back from the other side of the square, rejoining them to watch the drama unfold, Suki looking a little sick when her eyes fell on Ozai's foul stinking remains.
"Please, heal her," Azula muttered, looking down at the motionless Ty Lee as Katara approached her. "She doesn't deserve to die."
"Why should I do anything you ask of me?" Katara demanded.
"Not for me," Azula shook her head. "For her. She hasn't caused you any harm, beyond that which I made her do."
"Katara, it's Ty Lee," Zuko pleaded with her. "You know she wouldn't hurt a fly. And we would not have defeated my father if she hadn't blocked him."
"If you want me to leave Azula alive, maybe she deserves to know what it means to lose someone you love, your dearest friend," Katara replied bitterly. "You don't deserve to escape all this unpunished," she glowered at Azula.
"Katara, please... I know you're not this cruel," Zuko implored her. "This isn't right. You are better than this."
"Very well, if you want to punish me..." Azula rose to her feet, staring defiantly at Katara. "Then take my life," she said, closing her eyes. "Just... just promise to heal her."
Toph and Suki both gasped in stunned surprise at Azula's offered self-sacrifice. Zuko appeared pale and utterly shattered. "Azula... sister, don't..." he gasped.
Katara hesitated. She had not expected Azula to make such an offer, and to do so genuinely. She tried her hardest to remain unmoved by the gesture, but quickly found that she couldn't. Her heart had not frozen over completely just yet. The cold and cruel expression on her face faded, and the old, compassionate Katara broke through for once. "This will probably end up biting us in the backside later," she harrumphed under her breath, quickly taking her place at Ty Lee's side and without any further hesitation, starting to heal the girl.
It took at least good ten minutes for all the burns to be healed, and Ty Lee opened her eyes once again, appearing confused, but otherwise unharmed. Her eyebrows and lashes had been singed clean off, as well as good chunks of her hair, leaving her looking rather comical. Her clothing had also suffered greatly, leaving very little to the imagination when looking at her. Azula was at her side immediately, the two of them embracing, sighing with relief.
"I'll let you live on one condition," Katara spoke once she had risen from the ground, towering over Azula. The fallen princess looked up at her, remaining silent and waiting for her to continue. "Any dreams you may harbor of becoming the Fire Lord? Give them up."
"They wouldn't have accepted me, anyway, just like they wouldn't accept Zuko now," Azula nodded in acceptance. "No, I have my own path to create now. Something new."
"Then I'm glad we're in agreement," Katara said curtly.
"So, guys?" Toph asked. "What happens now? Do we just keep wiping out all the reinforcements as they appear?"
"Err, I should hope not," Zuko replied, looking uncomfortable. "There's already been way too much Fire Nation blood spilt."
"Katara, maybe you should call for Appa?" Suki pointed out.
"Yes, I probably should have done that before starting to heal Ty Lee," Katara agreed with a slightly embarrassed cough, then blowing on the sky bison whistle.
While they were waiting for Appa to show up, one of Toph's created rock barriers collapsed under the constant attacks from firebenders, and a large regiment of soldiers and benders entered the square. Zuko, eager to stop any further hostilities, stepped forward to address them. "Men! Fire Lord Ozai is dead!" he shouted, pointing at the unrecognizable remains. The Fire Lord's headpiece was somewhere in all that mess, charred and blackened. "Call for General Iroh, Dragon of the West! He is needed to maintain order in the Fire Nation!" The soldiers exchanged confused looks, muttering uncertainly, then spotting the destroyed royal palanquin and the carnage surrounding it. Immediately, panic broke through the ranks, sending the entire regiment scrambling like headless turtle ducks, dispersing and running back to their superiors.
"Is that what's going to happen, Sparky?" Toph asked. "Your uncle's going to take over? I think that's pretty sweet."
"Aside from me and Azula, he's the only one left with a legitimate claim," Zuko replied. "Since we have ruled ourselves out, it will be on Uncle Iroh to accept the role. I know he doesn't want it... and I know he'd be really angry with me for forcing him into the role, but... I think he will also realize that the Fire Nation needs someone like him right now. He will stop this senseless war and transition the Fire Nation towards peace."
"That seems like a satisfying outcome," Suki nodded, looking pleased. While Toph had done the armadillo lion's share of work, Suki had still been forced to cut down more than half a dozen of stragglers, and the girl from Kyoshi Island definitely looked like she had seen enough violence and death to last her several lifetimes.
"There comes Appa!" Katara called out, pointing at the approaching sky bison. It seemed as if the news of Ozai's death were spreading rapidly, because all the soldiers and firebenders suddenly seemed more occupied by the growing sense of panic, not being at all interested in attacking the flying bison. "Let's make ourselves scarce before they try to throw us into prison," the young waterbender urged as they all ran towards Appa, climbing atop the bison, Suki happy to take the reins.
Azula and Ty Lee hadn't moved, the two still sitting on the ground, Ty Lee taking her time to recover fully from taking the brunt of Ozai's attack. Katara looked at them, sighing as the scowl faded from her face. "Are you two coming or not?" she called out to the pair. "Or do you think the Fire Nation crowds will welcome you as their saviors or something?"
Azula and Ty Lee didn't need to be told twice. Quick as the breeze, they were right by Appa, nimbly climbing onto the bison's back and settling in side by side, a little further apart from the others. "Thank you," Ty Lee beamed happily at Katara, Azula also nodding her appreciation.
"Yes, thank you, Katara," Zuko reached out to take her hand, but she swatted it aside, almost furiously.
"Alright then! Now... where have the Fire Nation imprisoned my sisters?" Suki asked excitedly, giving Azula a particularly stern look.
"They could be in any of the three high security prisons of the Fire Nation," Azula shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know which one. Oh, and I hope you realize that just because the Fire Lord is dead, we won't be able to stroll into any of these places. They're very well defended and will put up a fierce resistance. But I'm sure it'll go well facing three dozen firebenders, still under the effects of the comet."
"Watch how you're talking to me, bitch!" Suki immediately lost her temper at Azula's dismissive tone. "It's your fault they're rotting in a Fire Nation prison!"
"I agree," Katara gave Azula a warning stare. "Be respectful to Suki. I won't ask again."
"Yes, fine, fine! Sorry... Suki," Azula uttered hastily. "I'm just saying that trying to break into any of those prisons right now is a fool's errand. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear. Why don't you wait for my uncle to take over? I'm sure he would be happy to release your sisters. You could send him a message asking him to speed up the process. He's such a bleeding heart, he'd be happy to help."
"I'll sign on that request, Suki, I promise," Zuko smiled at the Kyoshi warrior.
"Damn... I guess that would make more sense," Suki reluctantly agreed. "And I had this impressive savior's entrance prepared with a speech and everything! What am I to do with it now? Saving them with a letter is just... unimpressive."
"Boo-hoo, however will you cope with that, Suki," Toph laughed. "Anyway, what I meant to ask is... are we currently flying away from the Fire Nation as fast as we can, and if not... why not?"
"Umm, that's a fair point, Toph," Suki blushed slightly, tugging on Appa's reins and guiding the sky bison towards the harbor and away from the Royal Caldera City. "Goodbye, Fire Nation capital... I would have liked to say that it was a pleasure, but... it really, really wasn't."