A/N. A slightly shorter chapter today, but it's good I think! I think this is the last Hakoda chapter I'll do, but maybe, if I feel inspired, I'll think about it!
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender
Hakoda watched as the Sky Bison flew away, with the young people on it. From the back, he saw Sokka look at him, with a grim angry look. Not directed at him… But rather at their situation, he knew. On the beast's head, Katara held the avatar firmly in her embrace. Spirits… That boy would have the impossible task of ending this war alone now… And Hakoda felt the pain in his heart, knowing that the only way to make sure his children wouldn't find themselves in the crossfire… Had been defeated.
Defeated. Their only hope, their invasion… Had been defeated. There was death. There were wounded. Spirits, even he was wounded, but his daughter had healed him as best as she could in the limited time they had. It had felt… good. To feel the privilege of having his daughter care enough for him to stop fighting and try and heal him. The corners of his eyes pricked at the thought.
The great rocky roof that Toph had bent over them shook once again when the airships returned and dropped their bombs once more. It wasn't fair. They had the element of surprise, and the fierce hope to end this century of fighting today! But their hopes had just been stomped into the ground, thanks to the princess!
Spirits, Hakoda understood now why Katara hated her so much. For his daughter, that woman represented all that was evil, more so than Ozai. It had been that girl who had killed the Avatar, and who now had thwarted their hopes by making sure to delay Aang and the others long enough to get past the eclipse. And of course, the poor boy had no other choice than flee. How could he fight the Fire Lord, backed by the army and all his guards… It had been wiser to flee to fight another day.
Sokka and Toph had stopped the Avatar… And it was better this way. But that didn't change the fact that all this death and destruction… Had been for nothing.
Old Kranook… Iqaluk… all the others… he had lost more than twenty men. Twenty men whose families would now have to live with the fact that their brothers, their fathers… Had gone to their deaths because of him. And there would be more death… The earthbenders he had left in the tower in the Lower City… The waterbenders at the ships… Tui and La, the Fire nation had destroyed parts of their own capital, just to kill some people.
"Well. Here they come." Bato nudged him, pointing his chin towards the soldiers running towards them. Hakoda sighed and threw his club and knife to the ground. No use resisting. It would only make this day bloodier. He heard the clatter of weapons hitting the ground behind him. In the Water Tribe, it was not considered dishonourable to resist, but there was a certain… Honourable way to admit defeat. And he would not give these people the satisfaction to beat him into submission. No, Hakoda would go into his imprisonment his head held high! They were the warriors of the South Pole, and had nearly defeated the Fire Nation, in its home territory! Something no one had managed to do for a hundred years! No, their defeat was an honourable one!
"Surrender now, and no one else will die!" One of the soldiers, a man with elaborated shoulders pats shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth. From the other slab of rock that Toph had bent for the earthbenders, Hakoda saw Tyro make a movement to his soldiers, clearly meant as a way to say stop fighting, it is over.
The bombs stopped raining down, and a strange sort of calmness settles over the battlefield. In the afternoon air, the only sounds were those of the wounded and the dying, but the airships stopped roaring, having been directed back to their encampment, the battle cries died down, and the sound of earth hitting flesh had not been heard.
Hakoda sighed, put his arms up, and walked to the front of his warriors. If prison was their lot, he would lead his warriors into it, as a chief was supposed to do. Lead from the front and share in the woes of his people. He would show these people how a savage conducted himself.
"I am Chief Hakoda, leader of these warriors! I ask that our wounded be tended to. We surrender if that is accepted!"
He saw the man who had asked them to put down their weapons turn around, and speak a few words with another man, an older person, probably sixty, with a small topknot on his otherwise balding head, and a small goatee. The man was dressed in richly dark robes, slashed with gold. It couldn't be someone of the Royal Family, Hakoda thought. No, Ozai was supposed to be around forty, and his children around Katara's and Sokka's age. No, this had to be a high-ranking official.
"In the name of War Minister Qin, we accept! Move towards the central plaza of the Caldera." The soldier came back, and Hakoda sighed in relief. At least, that was good news. These people had not gone so far as not to see the value of hostages and prisoners of war. He had not wanted to say it to his children, but a small part of his heart had been afraid that they would all be killed for having participated in the Invasion. At least, that had not yet happened.
They moved. The Fire Nation soldiers were surprisingly… Subdued? It was wrong, they were supposed to be celebrating, to show the savages who were the superior nation. But no… These soldiers seemed to look at them as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
And Hakoda smiled. At least, they had done that. They had made the Fire Nation afraid. For a moment, but still, they had done that.
They passed a great gate, sculpted into the side of the caldera, and entered a tunnel after which they emerged into the city. They had already been here, and the traces of battle could be seen. Blood on the white marble of the streets, bodies that were being carried away by soldiers. To his satisfaction, Hakoda saw nearly only red uniforms, signalling Fire Nation army. Here and there, there was the green and brown of one of Tyro's men, and he even spotted a blue tunic of one of his own warriors. But still, losses had been rather light. And he could only thank Tui and La for that small mercy. He still had the bulk of his warriors…
They arrived at the plaza, a large rectangular space next to that monstrosity they called the Royal Palace. At one end stood a large gold and red temple, and at the sides, Hakoda saw grates under which water flowed rapidly. If it wasn't for the fact that they were prisoners, he would have been curious what these canals served for.
"Any weapons?" A soldier asked each of them as they passed the gates to the plaza. Hakoda saw of Tyro surrender a knife, and how one of the Swamp People tried to give the soldier a wooden stick, insisting that it was a weapon, really!
He himself had already dropped his own weapons at the path towards the caldera. Spirits, he hoped that someway or another, he would be able to get those back… The dagger had been his wedding gift from Omaluk, the father of Kya. He had been attached to it. But Hakoda was more attached to the lives of his warriors.
"Who are the leaders of these people?" A voice called over the plaza. Turning to the shout, the chief saw one of those Agni Fire priest stand next to the steps of the temple, holding a long parchment in his hands.
Casting a look at Tyro, he saw how the older man nodded, and they made their way to the priest.
"Names?" The holy man spoke, looking them suspiciously.
"Tyro of Haipan."
"Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe." He would not lie.
The priest raised his eyebrows at the mention of his name, but nonetheless scribbled them down on the paper, before passing it to a younger priest, with the express order to note every name of every warrior.
"Please wait here, there will shortly be someone to ask some questions." The priest waved to the lower steps of the staircase. Ah… Yes, of course, there would be an interrogation. That had to be expected. If he himself captured such valuable prisoners, he would want them interrogated. But then, he remembered the words of the Avatar, whispered quickly before leaving.
"Whatever they ask, don't lie. I'm alive. Don't get yourself killed trying to protect that secret. They know. I couldn't look her in the eyes, knowing you died because of me."
The Avatar… Aang. He was a good man. A man anyone would, and should, be proud to call his son. He knew when to be calm, and when to interfere… That boy knew how to make his daughter smile, and laugh, even in the worst situations…
The Fire Nation soldiers who had been on guard duty around the square suddenly jumped to attention, and an eerily silence settled on the plaza. Even his own warriors stopped their talking, to look at something behind Hakoda. Turning his head around, towards the temple, he felt his own breath stop for a second.
At the top of the staircase stood a man and a woman. The man wore a dark red robe, with golden shoulder pats, and large golden hair piece fixed into his topknot. He was rather strongly built, with broad shoulders, a considerable height and it was clear that he was in a prime physical state.
Ozai.
The woman accompanying him stayed one step behind the man and was smaller, with a pointed face and jet black hair pulled back into a topknot with a smaller version of the Fire Lord's hair piece. Her clothes seemed a bit out of place next to the man, preferring a rather ornate version of the armour wore by the elite firebenders.
But what made Hakoda recognize her were the eyes. Katara had told him during one of their conversations on the ship that the princess had those crazy ember eyes, piercing right into your soul, as if she tries to discover every one of your secrets.
Azula.
The woman that had killed the Avatar. The woman that had tried to kill his daughter. The one that had conquered Ba Sing Se. Spirits, he hated her even without having to hear her speak.
The two individuals made their way to halfway down the staircase, before stopping, and a priest quickly scrambled to the bottom of the stairs, where Tyro and Hakoda were sitting. The priest fell down on his knees.
"Oh great embodiment of Agni, Fire Lord Ozai! The prisoners of the battle. We have the leaders of the fight here. Tyro of Haipan and Hakoda of the Water Tribe." The priest spoke, and his voice carried over the plaza, where everyone was silently fixing what was happening.
Hakoda stood up, turned his back to the square, and looked up to where the Fire Lord stood. The ember eyes of the man looked at him with some sort of disgust. There were small lines around the man's nose, as if he was smelling something bad. Suddenly, he felt the priest tug at his trousers.
Did than man seriously want him to bow? Tui and La, he would never bow down to the people responsible for the state of his homeland. To the people responsible for Kya's death. Never.
"You are the leader of this revolt?" The Fire Lord spoke, and the voice actually surprised Hakoda. He had thought it would be powerful, commanding! But no… It was raspy and it sounded… Well, trained. As if the man had done everything in his power to sound like this.
"Well, leader, no. Highest ranking person of the prisoners, however, yes." Hakoda answered, with the beginning of a smile on his lips. He had been assured that he would be well treated by this War Minister. Now, he could see what kind of man Fire Lord Ozai actually was.
"Who is your leader then? That earth filth?" Azula nearly shouted, and that surprised Hakoda. It looked like she had nearly interrupted the answer her father had wanted to give, and the small look Ozai gave his daughter didn't make it look like something you should do. She quietly took a step back.
"No, neither am I." Tyro spoke up, coming to stand next to Hakoda.
"Who then?" Ozai asked.
"Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe! Katara of the Southern Water Tribe! Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling! And… Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple." Hakoda shouted hard enough to make sure the soldiers around the plaza could hear. During their travels, he had heard the names of his children and their friends repeatedly. As a mantra. Their names were revered in the Earth Kingdom. As the people who had resisted, as the group on which people put all their hopes. And repeatedly, the Fire Nation had proclaimed them dead. And Aang's death had been proclaimed everywhere after Ba Sing Se.
Let the Fire Nation know he was alive!
The reaction was almost… comical? Yes, that was the word. Ozai eyes widened considerably, and behind the Fire Lord, Hakoda saw how Azula closed her eyes, as if to beat him mentally for what he had said.
He had not known.
Spirits! The Princess had not told her father that Aang had infiltrated the palace! She had not told him he was alive!
"The Air Degenerate died under Ba Sing Se. Your information is clearly incorrect." Ozai spoke up, but now, the voice sounded a lot less sure of himself. Good. Let him shame himself in front of his soldiers.
"Your daughter." He gestured to the princess, "may have injured him. But he was healed. And he is very much alive."
At least, they had that. They may have lost this day, and all their hopes crushed… But spirits be damned, Hakoda refused to let go of his pride. And he would show the world what made him proud. His children. Their friends. And the bravery of his own warriors.
"Leave." The Fire Lord whispered, but the soldiers had apparently still understood it, for they all began to leave the plaza. There were still some firebenders behind Ozai, wearing red armour and elaborate face plates with the helmets… Probably his own personal bodyguard, who were supposed to always follow the Fire Lord. The men that knew all his secrets.
After a few moments, the only people left on the square were the prisoners, the priests, that Minister Qin, the bodyguard, Azula and the Fire Lord.
"The avatar was killed. My… son… told me there was a chance he was alive. But I didn't believe him. That ingrate lied to me. Tell me Azula. What. Happened. In. Ba Sing Se." And now, Hakoda took a step backwards. The heat radiating from the Fire Lord… It was horrible. That man was clearly a capable firebender… And apparently, he was angry now. Angry enough not to care about who would see his anger.
"Father… We killed him! We did!" Azula sounded… scared.
"Next time you try to kill anyone, check if they are really dead!" A warrior, an earthbender around Tyro and Hakoda's age, shouted.
The chief closed his eyes. Spirits… No.
Without a word, one of the bodyguards of the Fire Lord stepped forward, punched his hand towards the earthbender. A fireball appeared, flew directly towards the prisoner… And killed him. Hakoda heard the scream… And smelled the burned flesh.
Burned flesh, just like Kya… Had she died like that?
"You told me you hung his corpse from the walls. You told me the Air Nomad was no more. You were certain."
Hakoda… nearly felt pity for the princess. This was no way to treat one's child.
"Father, I… they escaped. We lied, we hung a body from the wall… But not the Avatar. I'm sorry for lying! But the Air degenerate couldn't have survived it! It was impossible!" Azula fell to his knees, her forehead pressed against the ground, inches away from the Fire Lord's feet.
"It was impossible? Azula… What are you not telling me?" Ozai's voice lowered, and Hakoda had to strain to hear what was being said. All the warriors behind him were looking at the scene in front of them.
"T-the Avatar… was here. Alive. But I killed him! Really, I did! No one could survive lightning, straight at the heart!" Azula muttered.
"At the heart? You shot him in the back!" Tyro stepped forward, and Hakoda tried to stop him. They had seen what had happened to the other man. But Ozai lifted a hand, and the bodyguard who had stepped forwards took a step backwards.
"What?" The Fire Lord turned to him and Tyro, "If my own daughter won't tell me. You will."
Hakoda sighed. He was probably the only one who knew the whole story here. So, it fell to him… And Aang had asked not to lie for him. Tell them, I'm alive.
"Your… children… fought Avatar Aang and Master Katara in Ba Sing Se. They were losing, and the Avatar entered the Avatar State. Your daughter shot him with lightning, in the back. He still has the scar to proof it. But your brother Iroh intervened. He fought your children, and the others escaped, with the Earth King. Master Katara managed to heal the Avatar, and since then… They have been hiding inside your own nation." Hakoda spoke, and he couldn't help it, but he needed to poke those painful facts into the Fire Lord. He may have been defeated… But this, this was some consolation.
"Iroh… protected the Avatar?" Ozai turned back to his daughter, "You told me he surrendered when Zuko joined you. They have been hiding in my lands? Those rebellions… That was them! You knew and didn't tell me! Qin. Bring me Iroh. I'll show these peasants what happens when you protect my enemies."
Spirits… This was not good. Ozai was not angry anymore… He was enraged. And Hakoda knew one thing. Enraged people would not listen to reason.
"My… My Lord Ozai… T-the traitor… Iroh… e-esc-escaped. He… he used the eclipse. He broke out of his cell… He is nowhere to be found." One of the priests muttered, clearly afraid, not looking at the Fire Lord.
Ozai closed his eyes, and after a few moments, opened them once more, and just… sighed.
"These prisoners. Simple warriors, to the quarries. The officers, to the Royal Prison. Find cells that don't let old fools escape. The leaders. That Earth Filth to the Laska Prison. I would speak to the other one before he goes to the Boiling Rock."
The Boiling Rock?
That didn't sound very pleasant…
The bodyguard streamed past the Fire Lord and his daughter. Azula was still kneeling, not lifting her head, and Ozai was just… looking down on her, with a look of pure loathing.
"Don't resist my friends!" Hakoda shouted, and the bodyguard began to shove the warriors into groups, before leading them away. He managed to look Bato in the eyes, nodding, before his friend was led, hopefully to the prison the Fire Lord had mentioned… Hopefully, he would be put on cooking duty, for then, Bato's fate would be sealed.
It took no more than ten minutes for the last of the warriors to be led away.
Hakoda had stayed on his spot, and now, the plaza was empty, except some of the bodyguards, the priests… and the Royal Family.
There is one missing.
Where is the prince?
"Why did you attack us?" Ozai spoke… rather calmly. Which surprised Hakoda. And made him think… He had seen the man mood swing from anger, to rage, to calm… In a fast succession. That couldn't be normal…
Remembering the words Aang had said to him, Hakoda just sighed, shaking his head.
"You're kidding, right?" He muttered.
"Show respect to your sovereign!" One of the younger priests spoke up.
"Never." Hakoda turned his head to the priest, and then back to the Fire Lord, "Your family have been responsible for a century of bloodshed. The Fire Nation has taken everything from good people! You are the reason this world has gone to shit. People say your grandfather thought he would make the world a better place by making it all Fire Nation! He was an idiot! An idiot who erased a whole civilization from the face of this earth. And for what? The Avatar escaped, and is coming for you. That, I can promise you. The Avatar is a good man, a man of his word."
It felt good. Good to finally be able to say these things to some of the really guilty ones. Not at some innocent Fire Nation soldier. No, this was good. And Hakoda knew, even if he would have to suffer for his insolence… It would have been worth it.
Ozai, just raised an eyebrow.
"Daughter." He spoke, and looked at the form at his feet, "You told us at the last meeting that the leader of the water savages was the father of the Avatar's friends. Did you not?"
Oh no…
"I assume that means you." The Fire Lord turned back towards him, and for the first time, Hakoda saw the real Ozai. Ruthless. Sadistic.
"You told us yourself that some… Master Katara… Healed the Avatar. Meaning, that is one of the Air Degenerate friends. Your… Daughter."
Oh no… No… He had talked too much.
"Azula… My daughter… Why did you order our soldiers to keep any waterbender they found alive?"
She had done what now?
"F-Father… If the Avatar was alive… That meant his friends would be too. And I learned… I learned the water peasant and the Avatar… They had something. They still have."
"You are sure?" Ozai voice sounded… pleased.
Not that. Not his worst fear. Please Tui and La, not that.
"Yes. I wanted to capture her, to use as a bargaining chip with the Avatar. He would do anything for her. When I threatened to let our soldiers use her after the battle… Something inside of him broke."
Hakoda lifted his head. Azula had threatened to do what? Oh no, he would not have allowed that. No way in the cold hells of Tui. He would not allow that.
"Qin." Ozai spoke up, looking at his minister, "Sent out orders. All the domestic troops are to search for the Avatar and his associates. No one will be sent to the Earth Kingdom. If they manage to locate them. They are to capture the waterbender who is with him and leave the Avatar. If my… if Princess Azula is right, the Avatar will come here to give himself up. And then, we could keep him imprisoned."
Oh no, not that… Everything but that. Please, Aang… I hope you found a good place to hide…
"And the others who are with him?" The older man asked.
"Kill them."
"No!" Hakoda found his voice.
"No? Keep your mouth shut. Be happy that your daughter will be spared." Ozai bit back, and Hakoda saw the fire in those ember eyes.
"My daughter will never allow this. She would rather die than let something happen to Aang." The chief kept looking into the Fire Lord's eyes.
"Well, we'll see. I'll make sure to bring you back here when we find our enemies. For now… Guards! Get him on the boat. He'll go to the Boiling Rock next time a ship goes to the prison."
Hakoda felt to hand grab his arms, and as he was dragged away, he could help but think… That even though he had done everything possible to protect his children… He had failed.
Please, if Tui or La are really there… Aang, make sure nothing happens to my children. You'll defend them with your life, I know that now… But please, don't let anything happen to Katara or Sokka… I implore you Spirits… Keep my family safe.
Answers :
Jjsmith103 : Happy to hear you say that! I never was too sure about the battle scenes! Yeah, Azula is scary, but I hope I showed a more vunerable side of her here. She does all this to please her father, so in a way, she is a victim too. But what she wanted to do to Katara is not alright of course. I imagine that in an aged up version of the story, these threats would be normal. And it is from this point I change things up rather dramatically I think lol! This part will be less fluff, and more drama!