Chapter 63

Things moved very quickly after the funeral. The next evening there had been a final meeting to discuss their plans. Not everyone agreed on the best course of action, but eventually they'd worked it out. They would leave the next afternoon for the capital, a now fully unified force. Zuko hadn't liked the idea of using the deaths of the Fire Lady or Ming for any kind of political gain, their fates were just the latest in a long line of tragedy he hoped to put an end to. It ended up that way though. After his heartfelt speech on the beach and the hero's funeral, any uncertainty about him or his forigen backers among the soldiers disappeared overnight. The morning they were to leave, Katara interrupted his meditation and pulled him out of their tent in time to see several older Generals and high ranking officers bow deeply. He knew these men had not been easy to win over. Their whole lives had been devoted to the war and for the last decade, his father.

Zuko choked back his surprise as Katara straightened his tunic for him before the officers stood from their bow. The oldest, an Admiral that had only agreed to aid him because all of the officers on his ship refused to follow Ozai when they had a better choice, spoke for the group.

"Prince Zuko, as you know, when I first heard about what you are attempting to do I was unimpressed. Treason is not something any loyal subject should ever consider, let alone a soldier. When my entire ship threatened mutiny if I did not go along with this I was furious, but my hands were tied. Until yesterday I believed you to be no more than a young deserter, come back with a foriegn water witch for a bride and enemy soldiers to commit patricide and steal a crown you thought you deserved. While I had little love for Ozai, Azulon was something of a mentor to me in my younger years and I believed in this war."

Katara was stiff at his side, likely upset at such an unflattering commentary. He took her hand where it hung beside him and ran his thumb along her knuckles as the Admiral finished.

"After yesterday, knowing what Ozai has done and watching you and your family respond, and a rather long conversation with General Iroh, I have changed my mind." He looked around at the other men gathered around him, all of them nodding solemnly. "We all have. We have come to formally pledge our fire and our service to you, prince Zuko. When you reach the capital, we will be behind you."

Almost too stunned to speak, Zuko could only thank the men and respond in kind as they bowed again. The Admiral gave Katara an appraising look before inclining his head and leaving. All but one of the others left in his wake. A General, seemingly of an age with his uncle, hesitated a moment.

"Lieutenant Lei was under my command. I sent her to the palace when Ozai demanded the best we had. I didn't know why then, though in hindsight it was obvious what he wanted them for. In truth, it would not have changed my decision to send her had he asked plainly for potential brides. Her family had died some time before and she was someone that I was particularly proud of. To be chosen as Fire Lady was a tremendous honor." The General seemed to wilt before their eyes. "I refused to believe the reports from the palace. If they were true then her suffering was my fault. Then yesterday…"

He straightened, clearing his throat and tucking his helmet under his arm.

"Thank you, both of you, for what you did for her."

Having said his peace, the older man left too.

"Wow. That wasn't how I expected to start the day. I thought… Katara?"

She was quietly sobbing beside him, her hand pressed to her lips to keep from crying out loud.

"Katara, what's the matter?"

"It's just, so sad. I didn't know she didn't have any family and… oh I miss my own mother and, damn it I'm sorry Zuko." She rubbed furiously at her face, making an effort to calm herself. "It's been more than a month since I've seen Kya and without her nursing, my hormones are just… and I miss her. But, I need to get ahold of myself. I can't keep doing this. I feel like we have this conversation twice a week."

Zuko huffed a laugh and pulled her into his arms.

"I miss her too. It's ok to get upset. Please stop apologizing to me for missing her." He kissed her tenderly and almost laughed again at her expression as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her eyes were red still from crying, but they sparked with mischief.

"You know, since I already interrupted your meditation… I bet we could get away with another hour before anyone else really needs us. It's still so early."

He grinned eagerly and let her pull him back into their tent.

oOoOoOo

Wet pebbles and sand made a satisfying crunch with each step as Azula paced anxiously along the beach. There had been a meeting the night before to finalize their plans for the capital invasion. It was a good plan. Everyone was sure it would be successful. Zuko had asked the guards that had come from the capital what things were like outside of the palace. There were almost no soldiers left in the city, all having been sent out with various orders before Zuko had begun his sweep of the islands and Ozai had sent for mercenaries to defend himself once it became clear he was losing his military. These men would care little for the civilians should it come to an all out clash so it was important to get to the palace quickly. With Ozai dealt with the mercenaries would have no more reason to stay.

When they reached the palace, Zuko, Katara, and their Uncle would go straight for Ozai. Zuko would not be drawn into an Agni Kai this time. He had learned his lesson when he had faced her on the day of the comet and they could leave no room for error. It wasn't that Zuko wasn't confident that he could best their father, Iroh said he was at least equal to Ozai. But they knew he was more dangerous than ever now, losing his grip on reality as Azula once had and forced into a corner with nothing left to lose. No one could deny Katara and Zuko were terrifying together, their training with Iroh the last few weeks had been amazing to watch.

Personally, Azula hoped her sister-in-law used her bloodbending against Ozai. She wanted him to feel true fear before he died.

Rapid, heavy footsteps behind her halted her pacing and she turned to see Sokka running towards her. He slid to a stop, wet sand splattering her boots as he slung an arm around her shoulders.

"Ready to go, partner? Everyone is loading up, Zuko said something about wanting to see you before we left."

Azula tried not to roll her eyes as she let Sokka steer her up the beach towards wherever he had come from. When they were planning the night before, Azula had naturally volunteered to find baby Sozin. Although she had improved much over the last month, she was still nowhere nearer bending lightning. This deficiency made her exceedingly wary of a clash with Ozai. Zuko had immediately approved and was about to assign a handful of soldiers to go with her when the Water Tribe man spoke up, reminding everyone how good a team the pair of them made when rescuing Kya so if anyone was going to be joining her for more baby saving it should obviously be him. Azula had wanted to burn him on the spot for the suspicious look Zuko sent them both before agreeing and insisting Toph go with them as well.

The three of them, along with three more fire bending soldiers, would enter the palace through the servants quarters. With Zuko and Katara drawing attention to the main halls and front entrance, they should run into less trouble. That was the idea anyway. Azula wondered if, in his current state, Ozai wouldn't hold up in his room with the baby. If that were the case, things would go wrong very quickly. She hoped, prayed, that her father's pride and hatred of Zuko would beat his desire to cling to Sozin.

As they walked, Azula had the strangest urge to reach up and grab Sokka's hand where it still hung from her shoulder, but she ignored it. He was overly touchy with most of his friends but it would be strange if she reciprocated. She had grown more used to affection and casual touch over the last year and even found it soothing at times, but Azula did not feel soothed when Sokka touched her.

They were almost back to the disassembling camp, Sokka going on about something called cactus juice, when Suki intercepted them. Not even her face paint and head piece could hide the sour look she got when she saw them together. Azula had been spending enough time with Sokka and Katara that she had crossed paths with the Kyoshi warrior several times in the last month. After their initial reunion in Omashu Azula had tried, for the sake of her burgeoning friendship with Sokka and Toph, to apologize for her past wrongs against Suki. She didn't expect to be immediately forgiven, she could acknowledge that the other woman had legitimate reasons to mistrust and dislike her. Suki however, had not been at all receptive and the attempt only seemed to inflame her grudge. Azula had taken to leaving when Suki was around. It went against her nature to allow herself to be so cowed but she didn't want to risk losing her temper. A fight would shatter the fragile acceptance she had been working so hard to build.

Suki glared at Sokka's arm around Azula before addressing him, her tone cold.

"I was hoping I could talk to you alone Sokka."

When Azula tried to pull away, Sokka tightened his grip on her.

"What about?"

"About…" Her eyes slid over Azula again before focusing on Sokka again. "About today. Your plans, my plans… plans."

Sokka thought for a moment, a slight frown bending his brow.

"Oh, well Azula and I are headed somewhere together. I don't see why she'd need to leave for that. She is part of my plans anyway."

Suki crossed her arms and sighed in frustration.

"Fine. I wanted to know why you would want to go with her today. Prince Sozin is no one to you. Come with me and my warriors, I… we need you too. More even, she'll have Toph."

Sokka sighed heavily, running his free hand through his hair and flashing Azula an apologetic look.

"Suki, I'm going with Azula because I want to. She's my friend, so is Toph, I want to be with them for this. You don't need me, and you don't have any claim to my time. We're not together anymore Suki. I thought we were friends still too, but ever since we met again at Omashu you've been so angry and weird anytime I try to talk to you. What changed so much that we can't even talk anymore?"

Azula had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the painfully shocked look on the other womens face.

"Are you serious? What's changed, Sokka, is that you've been spending so much time with her! Any time I want to talk to you or spar or, I don't know fuck just because we can, she's there. I don't understand why you find her such acceptable company. She tried to capture or kill you on multiple occasions, spirits she did capture me and throw me in prison. Or did you forget all that?"

Sokka had grown increasingly upset as Suki ranted. For her part, Azula was unsurprised to learn the pair of them had been sleeping together but horrified by the crass way Suki suggested they take it up again. The tight arm finally slid from her shoulders as Sokka stepped towards his ex girlfriend.

"I haven't forgotten anything, I forgave it. It's in the past. We all forgave Zuko and you've said yourself that you consider him a friend. How is Azula any different? I know she tried to talk to you, have you even given her a chance?" Azula tried again to pull away unsuccessfully. "And I am not always with her." He pulled up, arms crossed, and gave her his most sarcastic face. "I do sleep alone." Suki's jaw clenched fury was completely wasted on him. "As to that other stuff, why would you think I'd want to, 'fuck just because?'" The sarcasm fell away, anger in its place. "Just because my people don't wait until they're married to sleep together doesn't mean we think it's meaningless. When you and I were together like that, I cared about you a lot, eventually I loved you. We decided together to call it quits and I don't feel that way about you anymore. I'm not about to crawl back into your bed just because you're available. That means something to me Suki. I know, shocking. I am going with Azula and Toph. I'll see you when it's all over, be careful."

The more Sokka spoke, the hotter Azula's face got. She knew by the time he finished and turned toward her again, ready to continue back to camp, that it must have been as red as her tunic. His hands were fisted in his pockets as he met her eyes and nodded towards camp. Azula caught up to him and they continued their trek side by side. Behind them, Suki was fuming. Unable to let it go, she shouted back at him.

"I see, you're fucking her then. That's disgusting Sokka, what would your sister think?"

Furious at the implications and her refusal to leave Sokka alone, Azula spun on the spot and opened her mouth without thinking.

"Considering Katara is married to my brother I doubt she'd care very much. And not that it's any of your business, but IF Sokka ever wanted to... to fuck me, he'd have to work a lot harder than, 'just because.'"

Blushing furiously, Azula stomped past a gobsmacked Sokka, not pausing to see if he'd followed. "Let's go!"

The roaring laughter that followed her loosened the knot in her chest and turned her lips up in a small, victorious smile