A/N Our first guest writer!
This chapter was written by Wave Maker, who actually got the chapter in before I finished 17. Wow! Two more guest-written chapters to go, and chapter 20 is still open, but I want to do chapter 21 myself.
Apologies for the formatting, I can't figure out how to change it.
A/N again: Although Ozai refers to Lara as a child in this chapter, I've mentioned before that she's an adult. The reason for this is that, well, if you knew someone this annoying, do you think you'd think of them as an adult? Ozai doesn't.
18: Tell him his crown is really rather silly looking and offer to make
him a new one. When you give him the flower shaped piece of metal,
don't tell him where he old crown is so he has to wear it.
"Brother, I know I've been very mean to you, but I'm willing to
apologize."
Lara looked up at the Fire Lord with large sad eyes. She stuck
out her lip like she had done a million times before in her life of
annoying people and would probably do a million times more.
Ozai raised his eyebrow at his sister.
"Anytime you've apologized for being... well, you, I end up paying for it." The Fire Lord stopped in thought for a moment before finishing, "That is, if you have apologized before.
Lara would have tried to think of the last time she apologized for
something, but was too excited about pulling her latest prank. You may ask
what it was that Ozai did this time to cause her to prank him, but in
truth, she just felt like being annoying. After all, as Ozai said,
that's who she was, an annoying girl. In fact, she was so annoying, 'not
annoying' wasn't even a word in her vocabulary. Well, actually, it
isn't in most peoples' vocabularies, as it's two words. Okay, it isn't
even two words in her vocabulary, but, ugh, whatever, I'm getting back to
the story.
Anyway, she decided to forget looking for the last time, if it existed,
and work on this time. "Well, I'm apologizing now, and I mean it," she
lied, praying to Agni that he wouldn't notice. "Please forgive me,"
she continued, "I'll do something nice for you or something." Lara took
a few steps closer to the throne in order to give her brother a
hopefully convincing hug.
Instincts caused him to flinch away from her. Lara used this to get to
part two of the plan, Operation: Take The Crown. Forcing a few
crocodile tears, though she had no idea what a crocodile was, and letting her
voice waver with 'sadness,' she spoke softly and sadly, "I'm sorry you
don't believe me, brother. I'll just leave then." She then did a very
convincing upset-turn and ran to the exit.
Ozai fell for it and immediately called her back, "No, no, Lara. It is
I who am sorry. Come here, please." The mastermind let out a small
but oh-so-evil smile before turning it to a nice one and running back to
hug Ozai.
'After all, she is just a child,' the Fire Lord thought. What he
didn't know, but should have learned by now, was that, yes, Lara was just a
child. No, Lara was not the innocent child she was pretending to be.
In fact, she was a brilliant but evil demon child whose sole purpose in
life was to annoy the poor (well, very rich, but you get what I mean)
Fire Lord until his mind snapped like a dry and brittle twig, but that's
why we all love her!
"So you'll let me do something nice for you?" Lara asked after she had
stopped hugging her brother.
"What is it?" Ozai asked suspiciously.
"Well, I've been thinking," Lara began, her tone of voice secretly
telling him, 'Danger, Fire Lord Ozai, Danger!' The connection to "Lost In
Space" wouldn't be thought of until the show was invented.
"What?"
"Well, about that crown of yours..." Lara trailed off again, pointing
to the flame shaped piece of gold in his hair as she waited for him to
react.
"What about my crown!" Ozai asked in an offended tone.
"Well, I, and many others too, think that it is really rather silly
looking," Lara finished.
"Excuse me?"
"It is! Flames are so goth, and you are not a goth! In fact, I'd say
you're more of a prep, but that's another story. It's just that many
people find it silly for people to pretend to be something they're not!"
"Lara, the flame stands for power and strength, not whatever this goth
is," Ozai explained, closing his eyes and counting to ten to keep his
emotions under control. Couldn't go burning his sister so that she
resembled a large fire flake, now could he. So he started counting,
'1...2...3...'
"But you would look so much more stylish with a new one. Which is
why-" '4...5...6...'
"Lara, you are NOT going to make me a new-" '7...8...9...'
"I'm sure you'll love it!" Lara called happily from the door. 10?
Ozai snapped his eyes open, forgetting the counting as he noticed the
crown clutched in the girl's hands.
"Lara, give me that back, now!" He yelled at her, but she ignored him
and ran through the door. He quickly stood and followed her, but by
the time he got to the hallway, she was gone.
Ozai let out an angry sigh before turning back into the throne room,
muttering a, 'Why me?' while praying no one came in to see him without
his crown.
Lara stood outside the door to the throne room, preparing for part
three of her brilliant plan: Operation: Give Ozai His New Crown... okay, so
the plan-namer is on vacation. You try thinking up a good name when
you've wasted your creativity thinking up such a great and perfect plan!
Well, Lara actually thought up the plan but- oh shut up!
ANYWAY, back to the story. Lara took a deep breath, made sure the
crown was in the small bag she had hanging from her shoulder, put on a fake
smile that she swore would stick to her face if she continued to use it
all the time, and knocked on the door.
"Who is it!" Ozai asked, though he hadn't opened the door.
"Open up, brother!" Lara called through the rectangular piece of metal.
Why I didn't just say 'door' no one shall know.
Ozai flung the door open, a very upset look on his face. Well, upset
if 'upset' means ready to kill and then barbecue the remains before
feeding them to the peasants. "Give me my crown now, Lara!"
"Well, if you're going to be rude about it-" Ozai cut Lara off by
creating a ball of fire in his right hand. Lara understood this as, 'Say
one more word without me first having my crown and I'll discard the 'No
fire flake sister' thought.' Lara wasn't stupid, but she was a button
pusher, so she did what she does best and pushed his buttons.
"Now brother, we wouldn't want a fire in here!" A smile played happily
across her lips.
"Crown. Now." Ozai was able to say through gritted teeth.
"Fine, brother, fine. You win," Lara said and reached a hand into her
bag. She fumbled through a few objects in it before producing a small
red, black and pink box. She placed it in his hands, and then began to
back up. "I hope you like it!" She managed to say before fast-walking
through the door. She made it to a few feet away from the end of the
hallway before stopping. She didn't want to escape him, not yet. She
still had to set part 4 in to action, Operation: Make Sure Ozai Wears
His Crown. So the plan-namer is really enjoying his vacation! It's not
my fault he won't answer his cell phone!
As Lara expected, not even half a minute later, Ozai walked angrily
through the doors, and upon spotting her, his face twisted into a worse
picture than it was. Yes, I know everyone thought it impossible, but he
did.
"Lara, how do you expect me to wear THIS?" Ozai, after finally reaching
the girl, asked her, shoving the makeshift crown forwards as if
touching it might make him ill.
Lara looked at the handmade crown. It was made of colorful wire.
Bright neon pink was the color of the top of the crown, which was in the
shape of a flower, and the bottom was a green, complete with leaves. She
carefully took it in his hands, inspected it carefully, and then put it
back in his palm. "I see nothing wrong with it," Lara announced
dramatically.
Ozai ignored her drama-queeness and snapped back, "It's a
FLOWER!"
"Yes, I know," Lara told him.
"Lara, flowers are not made to be symbols for the Fire Nation. They
are not strong, or powerful, and they do not strike fear into the hearts
of many!"
"Neither did your old crown, but you wore that," Lara pointed out.
"Yes it did, it showed that-"
"Most of the Fire Nation is pathetic?" Lara suggested, cutting him off.
"Ye- No! Where did you get a stupid idea like that?" Ozai asked.
"This little voice from the ceiling. It said it before the feast the
other day. Actually, it said all the Fire Nation was pathetic, but I
don't think I'm pathetic, same with my other brother and my nephew, even
if they technically aren't Fire Nation citizens," Lara said, a clearly
crazy smile on her face. She was right though, she wasn't pathetic.
"Thank you," Lara told the voice.
The voice then continued, 'About Iroh and Zuko though...'
"Hey! That's not nice!" Lara suddenly yelled at the ceiling.
'I'm not nice. The other voices may be, but I ain't,' the voice said.
Lara smirked. "You 'ain't' got good grammar either, but that doesn't stop you
from trying, right?"
'I can say ain't if I want and I can be mean to Scar Face and Tea Bag if I want.'
"Fine, be that way!"
'I will! Oh, and your niece is cool!'
"Oh, now you've just crossed the line, mister!"
'I'm a girl!'
"Never would have known by the way you act!"
'Oh, and you act better?'
"Yes, I do," Lara shouted at the ceiling. She crossed her arms and
waited in silence while her brother tried to think of a mental doctor in
the Fire Nation Palace that Lara could be taken to.
'How bout a truce so we can get back to your prank?' The voice suddenly
suggested. Lara smiled and agreed,
"Sounds good to me!" Amazing how two annoying people, well, one annoying person and one annoying roof can become friends, enemies and then friends again within a minute.
"I know! It's weird!" Lara said happily.
Ozai rubbed his temple with his free hand. Great... not only was his
sister annoying and a crown thief, but she was also insane and hearing
voices.
"Look, this voice is not the point," the Fire Lord said, trying
his best to get back on subject before he was infected with insanity,
too. "Just hand over my crown, please."
"That is your crown." Lara pointed to the wire crown. Ozai looked at
the piece of pathetic wire in his hand. He then got an idea.
Lara gasped as Ozai suddenly let flame to the hand he was holding the
crown in. She watched as it slowly melted into nothingness.
Lara, after acting shocked and hurt by his action, finally let out, "How could you,
brother! I spent a lot of time on that!"
"Now, you must give me my real crown," Ozai said, after the flame had
died and he had dumped what had been left of the crown onto the floor.
He wiped his hand on the other and then put it back out, waiting for
his crown.
"How did you find out, brother!" Lara asked, surprise filling her
voice.
"Find out about what?" Ozai asked.
"The second crown I made you!" Lara said, and pulled out a replica of
the first flower-crown. She placed it in his hand and then spoke
before he could make another move, "Now before you burn it, you must realize
that without a crown, no one will recognize you as you."
"That is ridiculous, my subjects know m- Lara, get back here!" Ozai
yelled after her as Lara ran to the intersection and then turned right.
Ozai silently cursed to himself and then ran after her, only to run into
a short, but pretty strong looking man.
"Out of my way!" Ozai yelled at him.
"And what authority do you have to tell me that?" The man asked
bitterly.
"Excuse me! Do you know who you are talking to?" Ozai asked, ready to
light the man on fire. THAT wasn't against the law.
"Yeah," the man said, "I'm talking to the guy who just ran into me and
is gonna pay for it! That's who!"
Ozai was utterly shocked. No way could Lara have been right. Everyone knew who he was. He would prove it!
"No!" Ozai barked, "You are talking to the great Fire Lord Ozai!"
"Yeah, right! You don't even have a crown. Try telling a more
believable story!" The man let out a loud laugh to prove that he didn't
believe him.
Ozai was stunned. Lara was right. Unless... there was only
one way to prove it. He pulled the flower shaped crown from his hand
and, with much will power, placed it in his hair.
"Oh, hello there, Fire Lord Ozai! When did you get here? Did you see
a man around here, about your height, looked a lot like you? He bumped
into me and didn't apologize," the man said, suddenly recognizing Ozai.
He then recognized something else, and he pointed at it. "Um... Fire
Lord, may I ask-"
"Is there something wrong with my crown?" Ozai asked, a very evil look
on his face.
The other man quickly backed down, and, stuttering, said,
"No, n-not at all!" Ozai nodded angrily and quickly walked past the
guy to find Lara.
Said girl had actually been hiding around the next turn, listening to
the whole thing. She quietly snickered, happy that this part had worked
out. She hadn't planned him to show, she was just lucky like that.
She knew there had to be someone he would run into Pzai and act like an
idiot. After all, the voice was right; most of the Fire Nation was
pathetic. And also idiotic; after all, they followed Ozai instead of Lara.
'Exactly,' Lara thought with a smile before running off to finish her
plan.
Ozai ran down the halls. He knew he had to find Lara fast. He
couldn't go even five more minutes wearing this flower shaped piece of metal,
but if he wanted people to listen to him, he had to. He was just about
to turn a corner when he heard, "Lara! Get back here now!"
He stopped to see Lara run right in front of him, stop for a moment to realize it
was him, and then take off in the direction she was going, but twice as
fast. Azula suddenly ran after her. She stopped like Lara, to look at
Ozai.
"May I ask why you are wearing that silly crown, father?" Azula asked.
She knew that Lara had taken her father's crown, in fact, that's why
she was following her. She'd never become Fire Lady if her bratty aunt
had the soon-to-be hers crown, and we can't have that, now can we?
What she had failed to find out was the part about the flower-shaped
replacement, so obviously, she asked about it. Contrary to the belief of
the Azula-haters, Azula did have a brain. (Random Azula-Hater: She
just doesn't use it much.) Ozai opened his mouth to answer, but Azula cut
him off. "Let me guess, father. The same girl who just ran into the
room with the incinerator with m-your crown?"
Ozai's eyes snapped to the entrance of the room, which happened to have
just closed. The father and daughter didn't have to say a word to know
they had to get there quickly.
Lara smiled evilly as she pulled out the last part of the plan, a
replica of the crown her father used to wear. No, she wouldn't burn the
real one. Like I said before, Lara pushed buttons, but she wasn't stupid.
She knew burning the real crown was stupid, but a fake crown would push
his buttons, and Azula there to witness it would be an added bonus.
Her final part of the plan would be perfect and Operation: Burn the
"Crown"(He's still not answering his phone) would be her best prank yet.
Well, maybe there was that one prank- or that other one- okay, this would
at least be in the top three.
Lara took her spot a few feet away from the incinerator. Why the Fire
Nation had an incinerator when they could simply just burn things using
firebending, she did not know. She did know that this would just add
to the effects. She waited, and within a few seconds, Ozai and Azula
burst through the door.
"Stop!" The two yelled. Lara took a few steps forwards, ready to throw
the fake into the fire. She didn't expect Azula to jump between her
and the flames and grab the crown in one last effort to save it.
"Don't you dare throw it in there, you little pest!" Azula yelled,
tugging on the crown. She had to make sure she didn't tug too hard and
send herself back into the fire. That would be bad.
"Don't YOU dare talk to your aunt that way!" Lara shouted back, pulling
the crown back on her side as if it were a rope in a game of
tug-of-war. She had to make sure she didn't pull too hard and fall back into
Ozai. THAT would be VERY bad, though he seemed to not be very hostile,
standing there near the door, unsure of what to do. Lara laughed inside.
It seemed that without his crown he was dumber than his usual stupidity.
"You don't deserve to be a part of this family! True royalty of the Fire Nation would NEVER try to burn the crown!" Azula said Lara.
"I'm just trying to help my brother become more stylish!" Lara defended.
"You want to help? Let go!"
Lara smirked on the inside. 'What a marvelous idea, Azula,' she felt like saying, but instead, just said, "Okay!" and let got of the object.
Azula, not expecting this one bit, went tumbling backwards. She, panicked by her sudden fall towards the large flames that could horribly burn her before she even had a chance to firebend, let go of the crown in order to try and use her hands to make sure she fell on ground, not fire. The crown went soaring through the air and into the flame as both Azula and Ozai yelled, "NO!"
Lara's evil smile grew wider than ever. Her hands reached her ears just in time to protect them from the two screams past experiences told her were coming.
"LARA!"
Lara smiled even larger, if that were possible. Yep, definitely in the top three.
"What?"