The thought of it had crossed her mind a few times- she was her father's heir after all, and it should be expected for an heir to be proactive when it comes to understanding that at some point they would succeed to the throne; she couldn't believe what she was hearing- it was nigh implausible, she knew for a fact that her father was the most skilled firebender alive, a title she didn't place upon anyone lightly. Azula looked at the messengers shocked face and knew immediately that he wasn't lying, but she was sure to check if he was certain of the words he had just uttered.
"Excuse me- am I going insane or did I just hear what I thought I did?" Azula questioned, making Sokka shake his head in disapproval.
"No- you're not crazy- unless this guy is." he commented, the guard looking back at her in fear, stepping toward the Princess with a knee forward.
"Yes my Princess- this message was directly through military channels, directed to all stationed units in our empire." he explained, handing Azula the message, which she unfolded with haste.
Azula begun to read the message out loud, "This is a notice from the Office of the Fire Lord- Fire Lord Ozai, supreme ruler of our glorious Nation, was defeated in an Agni Kai duel against his son Prince Zuko, who fatally wounded him in their battle." Azula dropped the paper upon reading these words and turned to Sokka and the Captain with a face of utter shock and confusion, "How- in the name of the spirits, did my traitorous brother kill the Fire Lord himself?"
The guard looked at her with confusion, and shook his head in loss, "It doesn't say- all it says is he is dead."
Azula's eyes opened wide she turned back to the paper and continued to read "As the victor of the battle, Prince Zuko has claimed his right to the succession and title of Fire Lord. He will be crowned in the coming days and it is his command that all military units swear allegiance to him- it is his divine order that any claim to oppose his succession will be treated as an act of treason. This is the will of his highness, please respond with your oath of allegiance as is expected..." she finished, scoffing at the claims brought before her.
"This is treason- my brother has committed treason- he has seized the throne and has effaced the honour of my father." she stammered, her anger growing with every second.
The Captain stood foward and knelt before Azula, "I am sworn to you Crown Princess Azula- your claim to the throne is yours by right, and therefore any action you take against your brother's treason will be followed by me and my men- it is our duty."
Azula dismissed the Captain's oath with a flick of her hand, "I expect nothing less- what of you?" she asked Sokka, who looked at her in confusion.
"I'm here following you in the first place- you wanna go beat up your brother, let's go do it." Sokka assured her, Azula nodding in affirmation.
"Thank you both- I will not stand for my brother's callous actions, no matter how much he might like to justify them with his insane devotion to 'honour'." she told the two, before turning back to the guard standing behind her, "You- I want a counter-message sent out to everyone- all commanding officers outside of the capital, no exceptions- I want all of them to swear upon me as the next Fire Lord, the true heir to the throne, is that understood?" she commanded, the shocked and shaking man taking a moment to collect himself into a bow.
"O-of course your highness, your will is my command." he confirmed her, turning and racing toward the communications tower.
Once the man ran back into the palace's hall, Sokka decided to step closer to Azula, looking at her both concerned and serious, "Are you okay?" he asked her, Azula turning her eyes at him with suspicion and she crossed her arms.
"I am fine- I will do what my father would expect of me- no matter if you disagree with those things." she snapped back at Sokka, who raised his hands defensively at her, his face apologetic.
"I'm not going to try and fight you now- trust me, Mrs. Fire Lord." he told her, making Azula chuckle lightly before realising the innappropriateness of his comment.
"Now is not the time for jokes- I want you both to get the men and servants ready- I want to get out of this city as soon as the first division of soldiers arrives." she told both Sokka and the Captain who nodded and bowed at her respectively, making the latter look at the former with accusing eyes.
"She is the reigning monarch now- you should bow you ingrate." he berated Sokka, who laughed at him and responded quite snarkily.
"She's not my Fire Lord- she's my boss." he told him, the Captain face palming before walking down the stairs toward the barracks, leaving Sokka and Azula alone.
She looked at him suspiciously, "What are you doing standing around- I know you like to laze about but now is not the time." she berated him, her golden eyes staring him down, making Sokka look at her with a feeling of melancholy.
"So are you sad?" he asked her, making Azula look away with frustrated face.
"No- I would not disobey my fathers teachings, not even to mourn his death." she replied with a cold voice, making Sokka reach out and hold a hand on Azula's plate covered shoulder.
"It's not weak to show that you care." Sokka told her with a straight and dead serious face, making her inch away from his hand.
She looked at him accusingly, "The dead are not worth any of my care- you'd best learn from that." making Sokka scrunch his fingers on the bridge of his nose.
"No- you don't get what I'm trying to say- not matter if he was an evil and horrible man, you shouldn't just let go of a family member just like that." he told her, Azula gasping at him in offence.
"What? Do you suppose you can tell me how to feel? I am angry- more than I have ever been." she told Sokka, crossing her arms.
Sokka dropped his head down in disappointment, "I would feel angry too if I was in your situation- I'd want to fight him too." he admitted, Azula looking at Sokka with confusion.
"You don't know my brother- if you did, perhaps you'd support him over me." she told him with an angry face, making Sokka look back at her with confusion.
"I don't hey- you're the one I'm here for, I'm not just a freelance assistant to all Fire Nation royals." he told her, making Azula chuckle at his joke, before he returned to place a hand on her shoulder, "You will be Fire Lord- and I hope you'll be a good one."
"Depends on your definition of good- I'm ready to burn half the world to ground to defeat my brother so I can continue my father's legacy- is that good?" she explained to Sokka, who raised an eyebrow at her.
"Uh- well I don't expect you to- uh- massacre people on a whim- so that's better than your dad I guess." he told her, Azula pondering his statement for a moment.
"Perhaps you are right- I don't have to needlessly kill- leave that to the common soldier." she explained, making Sokka face palm in understanding her reasoning, making her chuckle at him, "You have far too much faith in me peasant, you ought to learn that I'm not the nice-one around here."
He chuckled at Azula, making a smile on his face once more, "You're not the nice-one, you're the pragmatic and competent one." he told her, Azula acknowledging his statement with a smirk and nod.
"No need to be a bootlicker now- I prefer it when you're more critical of my actions- it's far more fun." she told him with a devious smirk.
Sokka groaned in frustration, "Aw come on! Can't I be supportive and rebellious at the same time?!" Azula not acknowledging his complaint, walking back toward the palace.
She glanced back at him, "So- do you want to try the governor's feast?" Sokka looking at her ecstatically.
"Wait seriously! Better food?! My day is getting even better!" he exclaimed, the break from seriousness making his joyful face light up.
"Well that's if I didn't burn it all when the Dai Li attacked- you can have a look if you want." she jested at him, her smirk breaking his confidence slightly before he stood up tall and raced up the stairs toward the massive doors of the palace.
"That food is mine- by royal decree!" he exclaimed, running into the long hallway of the palace, his figure shrinking from Azula's view as she stood somewhat bewildered at his pace.
"If he liked fighting as much as he liked food, I'd be a prisoner of the White Lotus right now." Azula thought out loud, chuckling at the ludicrousness of her statement.
Azula turned back and looked upon the orange haze of the evening sky- she was certain that her day had escalated far beyond what she had desired, but she couldn't help but think about what was happening on the other side of the world. She had blindly decided to follow her father's orders and was unable to prevent her own incompetent brother from killing her own father- she would not have the glorious victories of her nation tarnished by her brother's weakness- Azula believed in one ultimate goal for her rule, and that would be to unify the world under the greatness of the Fire Nation- Fire Lord Sozin's ultimate plan would have been soon realised without the White Lotus and her brother's meddling. She knew she would have to leave Ba Sing Se and make the long journey home bound, where her brother was sure to be gathering forces and planning for her arrival and the claim for the throne that came with it. At that very moment standing before the setting sun, she swore to herself that she would not fail- she would not be the last in a line of glorious conquerors to only fall to the weakness and incapability of the traitor Prince Zuko; the Fire Nation's empire would not set like the sun, she was to ensure that if it was going to die, it would die kicking and screaming.
The flames of the war-chamber were not lit, the Fire Lord's flames diminished to ash- the highest ranking generals and admirals in the capital had assembled for a meeting that had been immediately ordered after some commotion in the palace- the council themselves had not been informed of the nature of the meeting they were to attend, but soon realised it's true purpose. The wide red and gold doors slammed open, and two Imperial Guards stood forth- the signal of the Fire Lord's arrival; as any subjects would, the officers stood up and took a bow of deference toward their Fire Lord- immediately noticing that it wasn't 'their' Fire Lord at all- it was the banished son of the Fire Lord himself, wearing royal attire and bearing the mark of his Agni Kai with no shame. One of the generals stood forth, their mouth agape, and asked the Prince what he was doing back in the Fire Nation.
"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded, as if the Prince was lesser than him, and within Fire Nation law, he was a criminal for breaking the terms of his banishment, but Prince Zuko simply smirked and raised his hand to tell the general to sit down.
"I have returned to the capital, and as is expected, I came to reclaim my honour." Zuko told the officers with a stoic and calm voice, all of their faces confused and in shock- they had no idea that the Fire Lord's son had returned- they had all heard the official reports that he had fought Admiral Zhao in a duel, but other than that the officers only had hearsay by their side.
"You return with the Avatar?" one of them asked, Zuko glancing at him and staring him down.
"I said that I reclaimed my honour- that involved something far more important than the mythic Avatar." he told them, and at that moment threw down the Fire Lord's headpiece onto the war-table, hitting some of the representations of military units off and causing quite a large noise, all of which made the officers focus their eyes on the headpiece in utter shock and fear, "I fought my father in an Agni Kai duel once more, to fight for my claim to the throne- I stand before you as the victor of that duel." Zuko explained bluntly, a number of the generals raising to their feet in anger and shock.
"You are a traitor to your own blood! Effacing he honour of the Fire Lord himself is a crime punishable by death!" one of them shouted at Zuko in anger, making Zuko smirk and chuckle.
"Well- seeing that my father is nothing but a smouldering corpse, you'd best beg for mercy- I am the Fire Lord, and if you wish to contest that, I will see you on the field." Zuko told them, his normally raspy voice becoming cold and confident- reminiscent of his own sister's well-known ruthless behaviour.
A number of the officers knelt before their unanointed Fire Lord, realising the futility of opposing him within his own palace- the few that stood looked at Zuko in peril, realising their mistake; Zuko ordered the Imperial Guards to take those officers into custody with a flick of his fingers- causing much commotion amongst the normally unopposed military men.
"What- no please my lord! I beg of you!" one of them pleaded to Zuko, who raised his hand to signal the guards to stop momentarily.
"Unlike my father I will not have you executed on the spot for your treasonous words- I rather you suffer long and hard for your foolish actions- take them to the Capital Prison." he told the men, commanding the guards directly, who nodded before taking the men away, leaving Zuko with a slightly smaller war council to work with.
"Now- for the first course of action, I seek to- uh- 'rectify' some problems." Zuko explained, trying to speak as eloquently as he could, one of the generals raised his hand and asked out.
"What exactly would that be?" the general asked, his tone somewhat fearful after seeing Zuko's swift actions only moments prior.
"I will end this long and bitter war, and more presently, I will hand down the punishments that are befitting of any prior dishonourable actions." he explained, the men looking fearfully at Zuko, who walked along the table of seated generals to stand behind one of them; he was an elderly general that had taken part in numerous battles and conquests over the course of his career, and was well known for his ruthlessness- but he was better known as of recent years for what happened in this very same room- General Bujing.
Zuko stood above the general, who glanced back at him with a face of confusion, "Pr- Fire Lord Zuko, I- uh-" the old general mumbled.
"General Bujing- may I ask what exactly- and I mean exactly- happened to the 41st Division of the Fire Nation Army?" he requested of him, the old man fumbling momentarily to try and recount exactly what had taken place five years prior.
"The 41st Division went to battle against superior Earth Kingdom forces and was nearly completely annihilated- their forces were they assisted by another division which was able to flank and crush the enemy forces- it was g-great victory for our nation." he told Zuko, who scratched his chin momentarily.
"How many dead?" he asked, the general going into thought for a second before replying.
"Uh- fourteen thousand men." he recounted, Zuko chuckling at the figure, making the officers look at him with slight confusion.
"You are but one man- that's a bit hard to balance." he commented, but smirked at General Bujing with sadistic desire, "That changes little- you know exactly what you did- you doomed those men, you- you caused this-" Zuko pointed to his scar, General Bujing reeling back in fear and shock, breaking down before Zuko.
"No please- my lord- I beg of you- mercy!" Bujing begged before Zuko, who simply grabbed him by the right shoulder, pulling him from his seat.
"Mercy? You took their fates, you took my fate- now your fate is set." Zuko told him with a callous smirk, before Bujing screamed in fear- the sound cut off by the uncrowned Fire Lord throwing a fist of flames at Bujing's face, flinging him onto the map-table- making the man squeal in fear and his eyes open in shock from the pain.
Standing above General Bujing, Zuko filled his hand with flames and his eyes opened wide with unmasked rage "I- I am the Fire Lord! This is my mercy!" Zuko shouted at him, dropping his hand to strike Bujings left side of his face with a torrent of fire, his screams echoing through the chambers for a good few seconds until Zuko stopped- looking upon the mangled burns over his face to match his own with sense of completion- he had given the man he had thought of as a evil and degenerate psychopath, willing to let his nations own loyal soldiers die just because he thought it was more 'efficient'- he had caused Zuko's burn, his banishment, and now he would be punished for as long as his old decrepit body would live.
He stood on the war table, looking upon the officers, who looked in utter fear and awe of Zuko's unrelenting rage and judgement; the mood was shifted by the sudden arrival of another royal figure- his uncle entered the war-chamber seeing his nephew stand over Bujing's unconscious body with a sense of pride- he covered his own mouth in shock and looked upon his nephew with a sense of disappointment.
"Nephew- why did you- by the spirits you've nearly killed an old man!" he exclaimed in distraught.
"Uncle- I am sorry you had to see this- I'll have him sent to the Capital Prison's Infirmary at once." Zuko admitted, deflecting the situation by giving his guards an indirect command, which they immediately complied with, dragging Bujing's body off of the table before putting it in a sling- taking him from the war chamber, leaving Iroh and Zuko standing before the shocked war council.
"Hello- I assume you are those who decided not to fight my nephew?" he asked the officers, who nodded with a tinge of fear- they were confused by the former general's statement- some might have found it funny, but no one spoke a word- Zuko stood before them, someone who was arguably more threatening than his own father had been in the given situation.
"I will convene with you all after my coronation- we will discuss the future of the war and our military agenda- understood?" Zuko commanded the generals, who all stood up and lightly bowed before leaving the room at haste- within a minute Zuko and Iroh were alone, and Iroh turned to his nephew with a sense of fear- after what he had just seen, Iroh was feeling a sense of doubt in his own judgement of Zuko- he certainly wasn't surprised after Zuko's treatment of Zhao- however this was a far more personal issue that was at hand, and his nephew had gone all out in terms of his violent reaction- something he would expect of his niece of brother, not 'little Zuko'.
"I- I don't know what to say Uncle." Zuko admitted to Iroh with a sense of shame- he didn't regret his action, but he thought that he had betrayed his Uncle's teachings in doing so.
"You made a rash decision- a act of passion and rage- I understand it Zuko- after my son-" he begun to explain, being cut off by Zuko.
"You didn't burn Ba Sing Se to the ground- I nearly killed the man who caused my Agni Kai with father in the first place." Zuko responded, his eyes open with fear and near regret, "I- I'm not good enough- I can't be the Fire Lord you want me to be Uncle- it's-" he tried to explain, Iroh cutting him off with a hug, holding his nephew tightly.
"I know you did what you had to with your father- and I understand Bujing- don't act like this changes my love for you Zuko- you will never not be my nephew, remember that." he affirmed Zuko, who smiled, trying to hold back tears from his Uncle's loving affection.
"Ever since she left, you've been all I've got- you've had to raise me Uncle- I don't want to let you down again- I want to be the Fire Lord who sets this world right again- not drive it down whatever horrible and dark path we were heading down." Zuko told his uncle with a smile, Iroh looking back at him with serious face.
"You will be a great Fire Lord Zuko- better than your father, and better than I could have ever been." Iroh assured Zuko, holding his shoulder strongly, Zuko nodding at his uncle.
Zuko sighed and realised his situation was so alien to him, "Uh- well I guess it's time to go to the coronation." Zuko trembled, feeling anxious about formally appearing in front of the Fire Nation again- his subjects now.
"You'll be fine nephew, why don't we have some calming jasmine tea- that will get your mind off all the stress." Iroh smiled joyfully at his nephew, who couldn't help but make a small smile at his uncle.
"Uncle, I'd like that."
The suns rays peeked through the small barred windows of the small and cramped quarters, shining into the eyes of a half-awake warrior, who would much rather prefer the sun didn't come to him before he chose to leave his bed; Sokka rolled over in frustration, knowing too well that the whole chaos the previous day had led to him feeling rather exhausted- the fighting itself was rather brief and he was sure he got the easiest fights- incompetent brainwashed Fire Nation mutineers, a few Dai Li agents and another lot of them who were rather beat down already- he didn't even get to beat the Dai Li in the throne room to his embarrassment- the entire group of them fled at what he could presume was Long Feng's order and left the Captain and Sokka rather at a stalemate, which disappointed Sokka greatly; he had desired a victory in fighting the finicky agents, but ultimately was left empty handed. He thought over to what he had learned of as well- the Fire Lord's death, supposedly at the hands of Azula's brother, who was seeming more and more crazy every time she described him- she had a bias sure, but he was unable to really judge the guy otherwise; Sokka gave no thought the Fire Lord himself- he already seemed rotten from all perspectives, and Sokka had already proclaimed he had wanted him dead in the past- he wouldn't take that back just because he was dead now- he'd rather have him resurrected just so he could have some Earth Kingdom lynch him themselves- the thought of it humoured him greatly.
Sokka climbed out of bed and glanced over to see the Captain had already left- although he wasn't surprised- Azula had given him a tonne more duties due to the palace's lack of any kind of governor, and so she delegated much of the day-to-day hassle to her head guard- not that Sokka minded that, he much prefer the Captain be forced to labour over the governance of the absolutely massive city rather than him, who knew next to nothing about politics or government- they really didn't have much of that down South. He pulled over his blue shirt and slung his boomerang on as he always would- the Dai Li were always in the back of his head, and he was certain they would try something, although he was unsure if they would before or after Azula left the city; he dearly hoped for the latter over the former- he had done enough fighting and intriguing for one week. Rubbing his eyes of sleep, Sokka pulled himself off of the bed and slunk his feet into his fur boots; he glanced around and looked at the light coming out of the small windows- by the looks of what he could see, it was late morning- he wasn't surprised by his late awakening, Sokka was well attuned to staying in bed as late as he could. He walked out of the room with a slow pace, heaving the heavy metal door of the barracks open to peer outside- luckily for him it was quite a warm day and his light clothing would suffice- he was feeling somewhat off put about wearing his underclothes as his proper clothing all the time now- he usually would wear a proper tunic in such weather, but all of his clothes except the ones he wore were still on the ship with the rest of his meagre belongings.
Walking out through the courtyard, Sokka sped up his pace toward the mess hall, his stomach grumbling at the sight of grandiose building- after spending a week getting his food from there, he had begun to crave the assortments of food they had in stock. Opening the doors he smiled upon the smell of food- before glancing across to see Azula sitting at a table- he considered for a moment why she'd be going to the mess-hall used by guards, but remembered that she had incidentally burned the throne room up; she glanced over at him and acknowledged him with a nod, before turning back to her food. Sokka pulled a small smile at her before turning to the buffet where he grabbed a few bits of food- rice, roast duck and some noodles, before walking over to the table and sitting across from Azula, who glanced up at him and rolled her eyes.
"Here to annoy me peasant?" she questioned him, Sokka chuckling at her statement.
"I'm just here to share a nice breakfast with Mrs. Fire Lord here." he joked to her, making her roll her eyes again.
"The food here isn't even that good- there's a reason they had different food for the palace-folk and the guards." she complained, dropping her head into one of her hands and leaning down in disappointment.
"Oh don't be so grumpy Mrs. Fire Lord, I'm sure you will get fine food when you return to your ship." he assured her, Azula considering his statement for a moment.
"You are right- my staff always ensure to buy the best food- they would be making me a fine breakfast right now if it weren't for the urgency of getting ready to leave- are you ready?" she asked Sokka, who was slurping up noodles at that moment, nodding at her before swallowing the food.
"U-uh yep- there's really not much other than my clothes and weapons." he shrugged, before going back to pick up some roast duck.
"I ought to get you some proper armour- you're really at a disadvantage running around in that." Azula commented, glancing at Sokka's somewhat under-dressed attire.
Chewing down the roast duck, he chuckled at her comment, "Oh this- it gets the job done, although I don't want it getting set on fire, so maybe you're right." he admitted, making Azula raise an eyebrow.
"So you think I'm going let your clothes burn if we spar?" she jested, laughing at the thought, "I would actually! That's a good one."
"Nah- more so the fact that you're going to be fighting your brother- that might involve us fighting other Fire Nation people, right?" he asked, Azula nodding in response, her face contorting into a glare.
"I know my brother will have gotten some support from some sycophants in the military- enough people will believe the 'honour' of his duel with my father, but I certainly hope he doesn't bring half the Fire Nation to fight just me." she admitted, feeling frustrated with the thought of more work than she had expected at this point.
"Yeah- the Fire Nation killing itself in a blaze of fire doesn't sound like it would help anyone at this point." Sokka thought aloud, Azula raising an eyebrow at his comment.
"So you think the world is better under Fire Nation rule?" she questioned, Sokka shaking his head.
"No, the Fire Nation collapsing into a massive war amongst themselves would only bring more chaos- that wouldn't help any Earth Kingdom people, who all happen to be under lands controlled by your people." he told her, Azula considering his idea for the moment.
"So you're saying I need to deal with this conflict directly? As so to decrease the collateral damage of what happens if I let this run it's natural course." she asked, Sokka shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know- if you can beat the shit out of your brother and become Fire Lord- maybe? Is that what you want?" he asked, Azula nodding with a smirk.
"I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world- it's what I trained my entire life for." she affirmed, Sokka nodding, his eyes somewhat fearful.
"U-uh yeah..." he mumbled, grabbing some more food and putting it in his mouth, trying to avoid asking anything more about Azula's plans for the world- he could only help but fear what she had in mind; he wanted to trust her as the person he knew, but he knew that she was ruthless and willing to go to harsh ends to achieve goals- would she destroy his people just because they were a stepping stone to complete world domination?
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked him abruptly, Sokka nearly choking on his food, looking up at her with a slightly confused face.
"I mean- you're a tough lady- I wouldn't want to fight you." he told her honestly, Azula looking at him with seemingly unfocused eyes.
"No- I mean, do you follow me because I'm tough, ruthless, a indomitable strategic genius, or-" she tried to ask him, Sokka cutting her off.
"Am I your friend? Yes- as weird as that might sound, yeah- I'd say I'm friends with you, despite your somewhat threatening and erratic behaviour." he told her, Azula laughing his comments off.
"I'm not the most sociable person- the most talking we do is arguing." she admitted to him, Sokka smirking at her.
"That's the best kind of talking- it makes you really think." he told her, "It's not like I'm the only friend you have though, is it?" he asked her, Azula considering momentarily, and shrugged her shoulders.
"I had friends when I went to school- but that was when I was a kid- I haven't seen them for a while now." she explained to him, Sokka chuckling.
"Uh- so you've been stuck with your guards and whatever other people you have to deal with at home?" he asked, Azula rolling her eyes.
"Lo and Li- my firebending instructors, who both happened to be non-benders actually." she told him, sighing in a moment of reflection, "Hanging around old crones like them for too long, they on your nerves." she told him, making Sokka chuckle at her description.
"They don't sound too fun." he admitted, Azula nodding with all seriousness.
"They were the antithesis of fun- completely drained the life out of whatever you would like to call a childhood- I prefer the Earth Kingdom forest to their endless droning and stupid training." she jested, making Sokka laugh out loud with food in his mouth.
"Uh- so would you say this whole experience has been a break from the boringness of that?" he asked, Azula scoffing at the thought.
"It certainly stopped the boringness," she sighed, glaring at him momentarily, "this entire thing with my brother however, would have been a lot easier to deal with if I was back in the capital when it happened."
"Aw- then you wouldn't have met yours truly." he joked, pointing at himself with an grin.
"I should have taken that damned water and ran off without you to frustrate me." she sneered at him, Sokka chuckling.
"Yeah then you would have starved in that forest with a swollen foot." he told her, Azula raising a brow at his claim.
"You still think I couldn't have survived in that forest by myself?" she questioned Sokka, who shrugged.
"I think it was a mutual saving- I knew how to hunt, and you knew how to beat the shit out of those deserters." he told her, Azula laughing him with a mocking tone.
"S-so now of all times you admit you're worthless in a fight?! Hahaha!" she continued to laugh loudly, Sokka gritting his teeth at her claims.
"I said you were better than me, not that I was incompetent!" he grumbled at Azula, who continued to chuckle, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
"Now, now- calm down savage, we all need to accept that some people are better at some things than others." she assured Sokka with a humoured smile; he rolled his eyes and finished off his breakfast, chewing down the last of his rice in one foul swoop, glancing over to see that Azula had finished her own breakfast.
"So- what are you doing now?" he asked her, genuinely unsure what she would be doing with all her time seeing that the conspiracies had been dealt with.
"Well I said you needed proper armour- how about he go to the armoury, get you to try on something?" she asked him, Sokka's face lighting up with a smile.
"I love shopping, and trying on armour is close enough to it- I'm in!" he exclaimed with a grin on his face, pulling himself from the bench to stand up.
Azula got up from her side of the bench and sighed at Sokka's overly ecstatic behaviour, before walking over to the door, with Sokka tailing behind; she glanced back and noticed that he was standing behind her instead of by her side, and eyed him with suspicion.
"Stop walking behind me- you aren't some clueless pet." she chided Sokka, who laughed off her comment and strided up beside her as they opened the door out into the courtyard, before Azula smirked and turned to eye Sokka again, "Unless of course- that wasn't what you were doing..."
Sokka's eyes opened wide in a slight of fear, "Uh- no I was following you; what are you implying exactly?"
"Nothing much- I simply considered for a moment that Mr. Tough Warrior might be a bit of a pervert." she jested at him with his own style of mocking nickname, making Sokka blush his face in near horror.
"N-no! I'm a honourable warrior who doesn't do anything like that- at all!" he told her in a flurry, before pacing himself up to walk faster ahead of her- slightly out of fear of whatever she might ask him next.
"Are you sure?!" she jokingly shouted out at him, as if to draw other peoples intentions- ignoring the fact that the courtyard was completely empty at the time.
"Yes- very-much-so!" she responded even louder, pacing himself in an awkward mix between walking and jogging.
"So do you want to make this a race?" she asked him, increasing her own pace to chase after Sokka, who glanced back with his face turning from one of fear to a smirk.
"Ah- you got it!" he told her, turning to a full sprint with Azula turning in kind to speed up to a sprint as well.
Racing across the courtyard, she trailed behind Sokka, but picked up speed over time, eventually coming side to side with the Water Tribesman- who glanced at her with frustration, making her stick out her tongue at him before overtaking within a few moments. he continued to follow behind her, trying to take a sharper turn around the corner of the palace hall to get ahead, but nearly tripped over his own feet, much to Azula's amusement. He frowned at her as she continued to sprint ahead of him, soon arriving at the garrison's armoury, where the standing guards looked at the two of them in confusion; Azula slowed her pace as she closed in on the armory, but Sokka continued to sprint, skidding to a halt beside her as she reached the guards.
"Good morning soldiers- my associate and I are in need of some armour, so I will require access to this building." she told them, the guards already stepping aside for her.
"Of course your highness" the two guards acknowledged her curtly bowing before eyeing Sokka, who was dusting himself off after his run.
"Come along now loser- we can get you your armour." she told Sokka, who pouted in realisation of his loss, but curtly followed her into the armoury.
Azula led him into the armoury and glanced around the various armours they had in stock, his eyes paling in realisation of what he would end up wearing, "Oh spirits- I'm going to be wearing one of those- at least now I can really one up and tell the Captain I am an officer." he joked, although he felt somewhat an unease knowing that he would be wearing Fire Nation armour, something that he personally associated with the raids on his tribe and the death of his mother.
"Officer- that can be arranged- do you want a helmet with that?" she asked him, Sokka scoffing in response.
"I'd like to retain a little bit of my pride and dignity." he told her, glancing at the skull masks and flame shaped helmets assorted on a rack.
Azula pulled out a set of armour, showing it to him- Sokka acknowledged that the armour was probably the least-Fire-Nation-y she could find- it had gray shirt and a a few red plates on it to cover his chest and shoulders, and it seemed to be well sized and covering- no chance that he would get incidentally burned wearing it.
"You'll look like any other Fire Nation officer wearing this- if you tied your hair into the top-knot, people would think you were just some cadet from the outer islands." she acknowledged, Sokka chuckling at the thought.
"Wait- let me test that one out." he thought out loud, pulling his warriors wolf tail out, and sliding off the beads he wore with his hair- he had been trying to imitate his father's hairstyle of late, meaning that his usually shaved sides had been grown out- Sokka simplying grabbed the mass of hair underneath with the rest of his hair and tied it into a topknot, glancing back at Azula with an awkward face.
"How much of a Fire Nation goon do I look like?" he asked her, Azula looking at him momentarily before chuckling.
"Convincing enough- now change your hair back before I start thinking your one of my guards who's idling around." she jested at him, Sokka going along with her joke with a laugh, before he tied his hair back up into it's usual wolf-tail.
"So am I going to need this armour anytime soon?" he asked Azula, who glanced at him with a smirk.
"Perhaps I can show you off in it when the new forces arrive."
The draping of red flags along the pillars of the Governor's Palace unsettled him somewhat, and more so the massive force of Fire Nation soldiers that stood before him in the the palace courtyard- an entire army of men before their Crown Princess; Sokka felt uneasy upon realising that if it wasn't for his distinctive hairstyle and blue eyes, he probably wouldn't be distinguishable from the men he could see before him- his new Fire Nation armour was comfortable and protective- but it made him feel alien to his own identity- he was a Water Tribe warrior, not a Fire Nation soldier. He recounted the events of the past two weeks- and acknowledged that he had done many things he wouldn't have expected his past self to ever do; Sokka told himself that necessity of situation required action, but he was out of the forest in Huangwen- he could have parted ways with Azula and been on his way, but he decided to follow her to Ba Sing Se and assist her in fighting the Dai Li. He actually considered that he probably would have supported the sneaky earthbenders before his experience, but he knew better than to trust people just because of their nation now.
Sokka glanced over to Azula, who was wearing her formal armour once more, dressed up for the occasion of commanding soldiers- he thought her armour actually looked quite intimidating and daunting, it's jet black colouring making her look more like a weapon than a person; he knew better than to make that presumption about the Princess- she was certainly able to hurt with words, probably better than she could with her fists from what he had seen. She stood forth onto a makeshift podium and cleared her throat before speaking to the assembled men, who were patiently awaiting her command.
"Loyal soldiers of the Fire Nation- you are here before me today because of the unfortunate events that have transpired over the past few days; not only have we lost our courageous Fire Lord, my father, to a traitor who claims himself your ruler, but this city has been shaken by subversive elements who would like to see us all dead or under their feet- degenerate earthbenders who think themselves above our laws." she explained to the soldiers, before continuing, "I command you all to hold this city, in the name of the one hundred years of conquest that took us to breach it's walls, in the name of my father, who used the power of the Comet to make the Earth Kingdom bend before him; you will protect our dominion with your lives, not because it is just your duty, but your obligation! We are of the superior element, and if any one lesser tries to claim their power over us, then they will pay tenfold for their hubris. Do you hear me?!" she shouted at the men, who raised their fists in a salute and shouted out positively to her command.
"I am the true heir of Fire Lord Ozai, no one can claim otherwise- as his declared heir, I have every right to take the title of Fire Lord from my traitorous brother, and I will- I will ensure that our glorious reign of prosperity and wonder lives on for a thousand years- do you swear upon me?!" she asked of the men, who all knelt down before her in a position of deference and respect- she smirked at the mass approval of her claim as well as her own authority.
Azula turned from her podium and the soldiers cheered her on in conclusion, Sokka gazing in awe of the respect Azula had gathered; he followed Azula and her guard into the palace hall and throne room, walking along in formation beside the Captain- he felt a bit out of place walking into formation with the guards. Upon reflecting his attire, he realised he certainly looked the part; the Fire Nation armour he wore was elegant and what he would expect a ranking commander to wear- something he considered a bit above his actual position, but his adjacency to Azula afforded him a high amount of deference, from what he had seen abusing the local guards to let him do things that would usually be outside the scope of someone in the palace.
Arriving in the room, Sokka gaped at the change that had taken place- after Azula had incidentally burned the furnishings of the room down, she had momentarily had it converted into a strategy room- and before him lay a crude implementation of what he presumed to a world map- a large canvas that must have been painted up at a moments notice to serve the Princess. Around the map stood the various commanding officers of the forces that had already gathered in Ba Sing Se- their ranks and ages varied but they all seemed on the younger side- probably all the 'divisions' Azula requested could spare when they realised Ba Sing Se couldn't reasonably be held by the garrison with the massive threat of the Dai Li- of course that wasn't the biggest issue at hand, but he assumed at that moment they would have to deal with it sooner rather than later. Sokka took his place standing beside the Captain, who eyed him off momentarily; he considered that his appearance might make him seem too Fire-Nation-y, which wasn't the best thing in his own opinion- he was certainly a proud man, he wouldn't deny it, and wearing the attire of his 'enemy' made him feel that he was effacing his own self-image. He looked to Azula who stood in front of all of the officers present, presiding over the massive canvas map; she cleared her throat before addressing the officers.
"As you all know- my brother has proclaimed himself Fire Lord- by this time we can assume that he has been crowned and is preparing to face our combined military forces. I have requested the support of all the fleets and armies of the Fire Nation, although time may tell if they will support us- in the mean time we must act with what we have." she explained to the men present, who nodded in understanding- they were quite short on numbers, and Azula assumed that many of the forces that wouldn't respond likely were waiting for the two royals to fight in an Agni Kai before pledging allegiance to any one side.
One of the officers stood forth and bowed before the Princess, "Princess- I recommend in trying the support of the Supreme Admiral, Zhao- he was recently beaten by in a duel by your brother- he would surely support us, he would be a reliable commander and would field a naval force unmatched in the Fire Nation.
Azula raised a brow at the officer, "Admiral Zhao would reliably support my claim- you are right, but I must ask, do we know where he even is?"
The officer nodded, "Supposedly he was in interlude from his fighting in the North, but after his duel he has remained in the Mo Ce Sea- I believe that he was hunting down your brother before he made it to the mainland." he explained, Azula nodding in understanding.
"We will need to take forces overland to the western territories, around Yu Dao and the other older colonies- we do not have enough ships to take an entire army to the homeland, but if we unify our forces with Zhao's, we will be able to crush the naval forces that my brother can muster, as well as launch an attack to seize the homeland from his grip." Azula strategised, the officers nodding in agreement.
Another officer stood forward, "Your highness, how many men will we need to take the homeland?" Azula considered his statement momentarily before pointing at the map toward the western Earth Kingdom.
"We don't need too many men, just enough to enforce the colonies under our rule, conscript a small portion of their population and we will have enough men to defeat my brother- and at the same time prevent pro-Earth Kingdom rebellions from getting greedy at our moment of division." she explained.
One officer raised his hand, older and gruffer than the other men, "Your highness, I've seen what resistance the Earth Kingdom can hold up against our men- how do you propose we counter any rebellion, right here in Ba Sing Se?"
"It is a challenge to hold this city- as you all know, my investigations led to the revelation of a conspiracy in this city, the governor himself compromised by brainwashing- the Dai Li remains a present threat, but I would resist burning Ba Sing Se to the ground just yet." she affirmed to the officer, looking to Sokka, "Sokka- you know the other rebellious forces better than I do- what threat to they face to the Fire Nation occupation?"
Sokka sweated in realisation he'd have to speak in front of quite a lot of people- the attention made him feel even more uneasy, "U-uh- the Freedom Fighters are one of many groups I think are in this city- petty crimes and thievery are your primary issues when they feel threatened- and uh- otherwise they may try to make attempts at fighting your men head on." he explained, fumbling his explanation somewhat, much to the cringing of Azula, who realised she hadn't seen him attempt public speaking yet.
"So these Freedom Fighters would fight us if we seemed weak." an officer asked Sokka, who nodded with a slight sense of dread.
"I don't think that it would be wise to crack down on them, that would only sway more to their side- you need to show that the Fire Nation is present in the streets- in the Lower Ring especially." he explained, feeling somewhat sickened by his own words- he was advising Fire Nation military on how to suppress Earth Kingdom rebels, "The best way to keep them down is to keep them happy." he ended with, realising that he could at least offer some advice that might come to the benefit of the Earth Kingdom's citizens.
"Happy? Like throwing them festivals or something?" one of the younger officers questioned, his face of confusion mirrored by a number of other officers.
"Uh- no more like giving them good work- good money- you guys like factories, right?" he tried to explain, coming off a bit to casual, Azula intervening in his exposition.
"We need to make more development in the city- factories and industry are the backbone of our empire, and also provide much of the employment in the homeland and colonies- Ba Sing Se is a colony, although it's a bit unusual to describe it as such, but it should function like any other colony." she explained, the officers nodding.
One of them stood forward, "We should send out requests for engineers and merchants to come to the city, we could subsidise them with the acquired taxes- I assume the Governor had a treasury around here?" he asked, Azula nodding.
"Yes, the city is a money-making machine for our Nation, it's only logical that we use that money to procure more of it from the city itself." she argued, the officers nodding in agreement.
Sokka sighed in relief upon knowing that he hadn't just made the Fire Nation do something insane and evil like he would have expected them to- the Fire Nation was more than willing to do things to the benefit of the people as long as they saw a victory out of it.
"With that out of the way, I say that it is best that we organise our plans to move westward- how many ships do we have?" she asked, the Captain stood forward to answer her question.
"Including your new royal barge, fifteen cruisers, those used by the forces present to cross overseas if necessary." he explained, Azula nodding.
"I want an army group devised to take on those ships- we will take them through the East and West Lakes to the Colonies- from there we will assert our military control over the region, and in the meantime another group can march overland- the time delay is of little worry- it will take time to organise an invasion force if necessary." she explained, chuckling at the end, "With any luck, my brother will be stupid enough to come fight me himself."
Feeling calmer Sokka could only help but consider the strategies at play on the map before him- he was a keen student of warfare and tactics, having to involve them on a day to day basis as a warrior, but the whole idea of the disconnect of the map before them to the actual battles that have or will take place made him feel sick in the stomach- from where he stood, men would be ordered to die by sword and fire and he could do little but stand and nod along. He didn't believe there had to be war over who sat on a throne, but ultimately that wasn't his decision to make, he could only hope that cooler heads would prevail and Azula would be able to deal with her brother directly.