A/N: Hi! I have had almost a week off from work thanks to parent teacher conferences in the district I drive for and Presidents day today. My pay checks will be minute but since I have been off I have been up extra late writing and editing. SINCE I have so many chapters already pre written and since I have had so many lovely comments I have decided to give you an extra chapter this week! Usual schedule will be Tuesday and Friday 's :)

* Edited December 11th, 2019 almost 200 extra words! So far I have added around 1000. I didn't mean for my edits to be so extensive but combing through these early chapters again I have found much room for improvement.

Chapter 5

In a small, dimly lit room next to his private chambers, Fire Lord Ozai sat cross legged taking slow measured breaths. From the outside he appeared calm, but the small candles in front of him that flickered erratically in time with his breathing belied his inner turmoil. It had been a week since the comet. A week since nearly every one of his plans had fallen to pieces around him; his airships were all destroyed, his traitor son was in the wind and had apparently murdered his sister before he disappeared, and Ba Sing Se had been lost to him thanks to his odious brother and his grandfather brigade. The only thing that had gone right for Ozai that day was his own defeat of the Avatar. It had been a close thing but in the end his experience and his ruthlessness had been enough to overcome the powerful child. Glaring out from hard black eyes at the small flames before him, Ozai snarled in frustration. If only he had taken on the task of hunting the Avatar himself two years ago when the child had first been sighted. Trusting his pathetic excuse for a son with such an important thing had been folly. Sending his unstable daughter after him as well had not proved a wiser choice. No, if he had sought out the Avatar two years ago before he had mastered the elements and gathered confederates, perhaps all of these unfortunate set backs could have been avoided.

And that was all they were.

Ozai would not allow his recent failures to keep him from achieving his ultimate goal. He merely needed to recalculate. Letting out a cleansing breath, he attempted to organize his mind. There were three things that needed dealing with first before he could refocus on his larger plans to finally bring the world under his control. First, he needed to find his errant son and the water tribe bitch that had helped him murder Azula. Theoretically, this shouldn't have been too difficult as they had been spotted entering the city on the dead Avatar's obscene sky bison. Unfortunately it turned out that no one had seen the beast since they landed in the palace. Ozai had thought they may have fled at night to avoid drawing attention, but they had yet to be seen a week later. No sightings, no shed bison hair, nothing. Surely, even if they had taken less obvious means of travel, a ship or ferry, they would have been found. It wasn't as if the massive animal would be easy to hide. He would not give up though, soldiers were searching everywhere for the pair and he was still confident it was only a matter of time. In the meantime, every day they were not found gave Ozai more time to think about what their fate would be once he had them. He would execute the water peasant of course, but Zuko… Ozai thought that he deserved something much worse.

Fantasising about killing Zuko reminded him of the second and most pressing of all his problems. Now, thanks to Zuko, he found himself without an heir. Even as a boy Ozai had known that Zuko was unfit to rule, but until now it had never mattered. He had Azula after all and she was every bit as vicious and clever as Ozai with the potential to be just as powerful. It had mattered little to him that she occasionally showed signs of having an addled mind. Now that she was dead though, he decided that maybe it wasn't such a loss after all. Upon returning to the palace he had been disappointed to learn that not only was she lost to him, but before her death she had apparently given into her paranoia and had a complete mental break. Zuko was weak of body and will and his daughter had gone insane.

For a whole day he had pondered their fate and wondered what could have caused such dysfunction. Their mother had been the granddaughter of the last Avatar after all but then, perhaps that had been it all along. Roku had been weak willed too. Refusing to aid Sozen in his war because of some moral nonsense. Just like his son. Yes, it had to have been the mother. She hadn't even been a bender. He would have to start over, of course. This time he would choose a bride that would be loyal to him unlike Ursa, and strong physically as well. Relying on family stock had failed him once, perhaps he should take his new wife from among his most loyal female soldiers. Just now courtly manners and society meant nothing, not when the future of his nation was at stake. He would sire a new heir. One that could be more perfectly bent to his will.

As he thought about his progeny, his emotions grew turbulent and the small flames before him grew erratically until they caught the Fire Nation flag that hung above them. His eyes snapped open at this disturbance but he did not move to extinguish the fire at once. Watching his nation's banner burn and disintegrate, he was reminded of his other looming threat. There would be a new Avatar. This time born to the water tribes, the Northern one most likely as all of the men from the south had been causing his navy problems for the last four years, far from their wives. Truly though this was not the most pressing of his concerns. Certainly it would be easier to kill an infant than a fully realized Avatar but he had time. Besides, if he waited long enough for the new Avatar to at least be recognized, he wouldn't have to waste the men and time trying to wipe out the Northern water tribe. Not that he couldn't do it. Fire melted ice after all. Controlling the small fire, Ozai stood and headed off in search of a messenger. This last problem certainly bore more thought. For now though, he had a new wife to find and a son to murder.

oOoOoOoOo

It had been a week since the Comet. A week since he had led the White Lotus to retake Ba Sing Se and a week since Avatar Aang's death. Iroh knew that if Zuko and Katara had gotten out of the Capital ahead of his brother, it would take around a week for them to reach Ba Sing Se and he grew more restless with each passing day. Sitting in his tea shop with Master Piandao discussing how they should move forward, he tugged at the collar of his white mourning robes and drained his teacup. It would be impossible to focus on any of their many pressing concerns until he'd had word from his nephew.

"I am sure he will be alright Iroh. Pour yourself another cup of tea. So much worry will not bring them here any faster"

Iroh chuckled softly and did just that, inhaling the calming jasmine scent from his fresh cup. "I know this old friend but he is my nephew, my only family. I will worry for his safety until he is with me again." He hoped that Master Pakku and the others had received word back from the Capital and were nearly back to the city. Once he knew for sure that Zuko and miss Katara had been warned and escaped, he thought he might be able to at least sleep again.

"I only wish I knew how my brother is taking his losses. Pakku said in his letter that he is now missing an airship fleet as well as the Earth Kingdom capital. I wonder what my nephew has done with his sister." He stood from the table and crossed to look out the window. "I am certain, I know in my bones that he is alive and Azula defeated." He paused and looked down into his tea cup, swirling the dregs thoughtfully. "I am certain he will not have left her there to be further polluted by my brother. If she still lives." Frowning deeply and looking back out at the city below, he let out a weary sigh and turned back to Piandao. "Once he realizes that he is without an heir he will hunt Zuko down, both out of vengeance and to make sure he is no longer a threat to his crown. I will feel better once my nephew and Miss Katara are within the city walls."

"Perhaps you are right about your brother's reactions. Perhaps not. Without his airships, and having lost so many men it will take him time to be able to mount another large scale attack, and this time he will not have the power of Sozin's comet to aid him." Piandao stroked his beard and considered. "I wonder what he will do about the new Avatar. Your grandfather wiped out the air nomads in an attempt to destroy an Avatar that would have only just been born to those people. Do you think Ozai will turn his eye to the water tribes? Even without the comet, a sustained attack against the North Pole would be devastating, surely. I wonder if Chief Arnook will abandon his home for the safety we can provide here or if he believes they can defend their own city. The South Pole was once nearly as large and well defended as the North I'm told, yet they were overcome and their benders stolen away. Perhaps Pakku will know better what his chief will decide."

"Yes. It is truly a tragedy that Aang was defeated. For more reason than one. I do believe that at some point my brother will follow in our grandfather's footsteps, the only question is when. At least since we know the day the most recent Avatar was defeated, perhaps we will be able to locate the new incarnation much earlier than usual in order to protect them. Especially if the water tribes do seek refuge here."

Piandao joined Iroh at the window, watching the sun set over the city.

"What do you mean Iroh? Do you know how to locate the new Avatar? There may have been more than one birth in the last week, how would you know which baby was the Avatar?"

"From everything I have read, the death of one Avatar usually precedes the conception of the next rather than the birth. This is not as easy to determine, usually taking away ten months from the birthday of one Avatar is approximately the death date of the last. As one life ends, another begins, so to speak."

"If this is true, we would simply need to take a tally of any water tribe women who fell pregnant at the right time. It will take weeks for anyone to even learn they are pregnant however. We will ask Pakku to send word to Arnook to ask the healers to keep tally but for now I guess that is all we can do."

"Perhaps. I wonder…"

A soft knock on the door interrupted any further musing as a servant shuffled into the room.

"General Iroh, Master Pakku and their young friends had arrived at last. They are waiting at the palace to see you." Iroh nearly forgot to set down his tea cup as he rushed to meet them, so eager for the news they carried. He prayed Agni it was good.

A/N I know that in cannon, it is inferred that the new incarnation of the Avatar is BORN just after the previous dies. This never made sense to me. I don't believe a person's soul enters their body as they are born and before that they are nothing but an empty shell. It just doesn't sit with me, also having it the other way wouldn't work with my story.