Author's notes at the end.
Chapter stands-in for Sozin's comet part 4
Aang's and Ozai's battle had raged on through the northern sky. Boosted by the comet, Ozai felt like he was nineteen again, his stamina unyielding as was his hubris, but he wasn't the only one drawing power from the comet, as the actual teenager had long since realised that he wouldn't have to beat his more experienced foe, he just had to run out the clock, which he was doing amicably.
Ozai drunk off the comet's power, and exhilarated by the seeming ease that he had the Avatar on the run, didn't notice how time was wearing thin on him, the comet was well past its perigee and its effects would only wane.
Even though Aang was down one element in the sky, the clouds were in his favour, providing him plenty of water to be a nuisance to the Fire Lord. Ozai had to learn the hard way not to follow the Avatar through a cloud since he would be either be greeted by a hailstorm of needles or a wall of porous ice. He had also learned to watch for any subtle air bending moves that would find him flying through turbulent or in more unpleasant cases falling air that would find him crashing, sometimes several hundred feet, disconcerting but not life threatening at altitude.
As Ozai streaked across the sky on Aang's heels he finally began to notice to his horror that he power of the comet waning, there was no land in sight and perhaps worst of all, seemingly the only object afloat on the sea was a damaged battleship, his Grand Fleet sunk or scattered. He knew he had to land soon, it would still be a few hours until his fire bending normalised but it was also starting to get dark, sapping away his powers further.
Ozai spun around in the sky looking for his Grand Fleet, he saw some smoke on the horizon that he decided to investigate but as he got closer, he saw that it was nothing but flaming wrecks going down fast, as he followed another plume of smoke south, it was the same story. He was starting to get desperate, when he saw it.
A wake on the horizon, a ship moving under its own power that he decided to head for. As he got closer he could make it out as an old battleship, moving slowly on an uneven course.
Aang had noticed the strange calmness in the clouds and the fact that he had to compensate more and more with his air bending to stay afloat decided to head lower, where he saw sputtering flame in the far distance, heading for a ship.
As Ozai landed, he recognised the ageing battleship as his Grandfather's namesake, he soon noticed that the ship was abandoned, its heavy battle damage hinting of why, black sooth over every surface that wasn't red with corrosion told a tale of the ship having been recently on fire, and though it increasingly listed to port, it was at least moving under its own power, he again scanned the darkening horizon for any other ships or life boats but it was to no avail, he would have to try and take the ship in himself, a hard feat, but manageable, he was after all a graduate of the Naval Academy, although it had partially to do with him and his classmate Zhao cheating their way through.
As he walked across the deck towards the superstructure to climb up to the bridge, Aang landed behind him. "What now, Fire Lord? The Comet has passed, your fleet has been destroyed and your army has most likely surrendered!?"
Ozai turned around directed an enormous ball of flame towards Aang, "I can still kill you, Avatar!" No sooner had words left his mouth when the sea rose up and swallowed his flame.
"Who do you think you're fighting, huh?!" Aang yelled angrily as the wave turned to ice and Ozai took a step back and half-heartedly shot a bolt of lightning towards Aang who caught it with his finger and redirected through his feet into the ships hull. Ozai felt a crackle in his feet as the electricity passed through his skin but didn't go through him and he couldn't help but let out a surprised yelp.
"You've failed, your majesty!" Aang shouted, his eyes full of fury as he felt the weight of the battle, never in his young life had he been so hungry nor tired, his muscles screamed and his old lightning wound ached with a dull pain which it hadn't done for well over a month, he could only hope his opponent was in the same boat, metaphorically.
Ozai looked at the Avatar and with a final burst of anger he used all the remaining comet power to launch himself towards the kid. Aang had expected something like this and tried to parry by launching another wave at the Fire Lord but even as the cold arctic water struck, it couldn't stop the momentum of the comet enhanced Fire bending master and he emerged on the other side a bit wetter but just as angry and in a blink of an eye his hands were wrapped around Aang's throat.
Aang panicked as he felt his trachea being crushed by the man now straddling him. "Why don't you go join the rest of your people?!"
Aang tried desperately to bend elements to to his aid but the Fire Lord's grip was too strong, even breathing fire directly into the face of the Fire Lord didn't seem to diminish his deadly resolve. even as his goatee and eyebrows caught flame and burned making the man look truly devilish as he stared Aang in the eyes. Just as Aang was about to resign himself to his fate, he threw his arms out and reached out with his seismic sense, he knew it could be done, rock was a stubborn element, metal would be more so, he just had to stretch out and feel it, bend an iron fist, a blade, anything, but there was nothing. Aang let out a tear as he curled up his fist and the metal buckled beneath him, launching him and Ozai into the air. The final thing Aang felt before losing consciousness was an almost electric jolt through his back and then nothing.
Even as they hit the deck of the ship Ozai held Aang's throat in a death grip, he could feel the boy going limp but he did not relent, he'd make sure, and just as he was about to roar out in triumph, Aang's tattoos began to glow. Ozai couldn't help but let out a gasp as Aang opened his eyes as if a flash of lightning had streaked across Ozai's face. There was a rush of wind all around him as the boy's relatively frail arms lifted up and his hands grabbed Ozai's writs and bit down like the jaws of an angry predator, or so it felt to Ozai as he felt his bones snap and crackle.
Immediately, his grip released and he was thrown back and watched as the boy rose in the air. With one swift motion, the boy summoned a flame from head and every limb, the flames manifesting so quickly and with such intensity that Ozai was launched back a good hundred feet into the ship's superstructure as the boy hung in the air, penetrating him with his stare. As if speaking with a thousand voices the boy shouted out "You thought you could defeat me, Fire Lord?! I, the guardian of balance in this world for a thousand generations!"
The boy levitated, towards the Ozai who looked on in horror at the storm of flame, water and steel approached him. "Even with your comet, with every advantage, you lost."
Ozai tried to summon a bolt of lightning fighting through the pain, but as he discharged it against the boy, it was seemingly just absorbed, until the boy lifted his finger and sent it arcing across the superstructure with ten fold the power.
As the the boy inched closer, the light of his eyes began to fade and the storm started to abate, until his feet were firmly on the ship's deck again, with his voice again, the breaking voice of a teenager he said, "This fighting is pointless."
Ozai stood in stunned silence just looking at the boy, who stared right back. "My people taught me that all life is sacred and even though most of the world would celebrate if I killed you right here, right now, there are still people, some of whom I dare to call friends who would mourn you."
The ship was now listing so badly that Ozai found it difficult to stand upright. Aang took out his bison whistle and blew in it so hard that it almost cracked before he continued,"Will you honour my people and my friends and surrender peacefully?" he asked stoically.
Ozai looked down and then back into Aang's eyes as a demonic grin rose to his face and he started cackling, "Foolish boy, I would have thought this war would have taught you to shed such idiotic Air head nonsense." Ozai looked down and shook his head, "On the threshold of your victory, you renounce your supreme authority, the power over life..." he lifted his head to look Aang in the eyes, "And Death!"
Ozai then breathed a flame towards Aang who's eyes began to glow for a second as he blew out Ozai's flame and his body back against the wall.
The wind knocked out of him for a moment, Ozai then spat at Aang, who in turn stopped the spitball mid air with his water bending, froze and sent flying back at Ozai, hitting him like a needle in the shoulder. Ozai let out a pained grunt as he realised what had happened.
"Are you done yet?" Aang asked annoyed.
Ozai looked down and his bleeding wound before he began to cackle again, "You can prick me all you want, Avatar." Ozai took a step forward, "But I have the will to power!" he paused to take another step "And you don't! ...And that alone makes me stronger than you!"
He struggled to keep balance not braced against the wall, "I had my father killed to get my throne! I've shed my Earthly bonds of blood to achieve the purest enlightenment like your people could only dream of, through sheer strength of will." Ozai yelled out almost triumphantly as he beat his chest, a pained expression rising on his face each time his broken hand thumped against it. "A will that is unbendable!" he raised his hand and pointed at Aang. "And you're weak.. Like the rest of your people!"
Aang then shrugged his shoulders and turned and started walking towards the bow of the ship. His seismic-sense was telling him something Ozai wasn't privy to.
"Perhaps you are right, Fire Lord… Had I been stronger back in my day, we wouldn't be standing here today and for that I am sorry." Aang turned his head to Ozai, "I'm sorry that you have to pay the debts of your forefathers because of my weakness."
Ozai cackled in laughter again, "Quit your bluffing, boy, you've already conceded your unwillingness to kill me!"
Suddenly the ship heeled over hard and there was a huge explosion aft of the superstructure, Ozai looked back in horror as he realised the ship would sink and he scrambled to the opposite side of the increasing list, as Aang jumped onto the forecastle railing and looked back at Ozai who was scrambling over the side of the ship, now sinking stern first at a list of approximately forty-five degrees and increasing.
The sea around was bubbling with the rapid increase in air being displaced, and Ozai now looked at Aang balancing on the bow. Aang could see the fear in the Fire Lords eyes now, but too stubborn and prideful to admit defeat. "Is this how the story of Fire Lord Ozai ends?" asked Aang almost mockingly.
Ozai scoffed, "You're not going to kill me, Avatar! Take us of this rust bucket!" Ozai started walking up the ships side towards Aang, trying to nurse his broken wrists. As he looked back the superstructure was now completely under water, and the ship was increasing in pitch backwards at an alarming rate.
"Thus ends the reign of Ozai, the usurper, broken, defeated and alone, swallowed by the sea." Aang proclaimed.
Ozai glared at Aang, "Not defeated!" He shot a fire blast at Aang. "You'd have to kill me first!"
Aang dodged the bolt of flame and looked Ozai in the eyes "I don't have to do anything, Fire Lord." Aang said as he jumped on his air scooter. "That includes saving you..."
Ozai gasped as he realised too late what was happening, the Avatar wasn't bluffing.
"Wait!" Ozai yelled out just before he slipped on the slimey allege fowled side of the hull and slid into the seemingly boiling sea bellow screaming all the way, until the water silenced him.
Aang watched as the Fire Lord's head bobbed up from the water as he desperately tried to claw his way up the ships side with what strength he could muster with his broken hands. Panic in his voice and fear in his eyes, "It's pulling me under!" Ozai screamed impotently.
Aang just sat on his air scooter and watched coldly as the ship sunk deeper and Ozai struggled to climb up higher in tact with the ship sinking, until all that was left was the forecastle and figurehead of the bow. "Please!" Ozai gargled as he struggled to stay above the water.
Aang chose to turn his head away as Ozai gargled out something that could have been another plea for mercy or more likely a curse, and then there was only the sound of the bubbling water, followed a minute later by low popping noises from under water, followed by more bubbles, until the sea became quiet once more.
Aang scanned the water's surface for several minutes, and though there were things that floated up, Ozai wasn't among them.
Aang then froze some sea water into a block of ice that he sat down on and continued scanning for a few more minutes before he sighed with relief. As Aang saw it, Ozai met the same fate as Chin the Conqueror, although some people would struggle to see the difference, his conscience was clear, he had given the Fire Lord a chance to surrender, and he had quite literally spat it back in his face.
He knelt down and scooped some of the cold arctic water into his hands and slashed it over his face and head, as he collected himself, he scrubbed some of the sooth off his face and hands and spat the poisonously salty water back in the sea before he fell on his back.
"It's over..." he said quietly to himself.
As the cold of the ice started getting to him he got up and started to meditate for a while. He once again took out his bison whistle and blew in it.
All throughout the night he waited periodically blowing his whistle, until sometime during the night there was a roar somewhere in the dark sky. Aang once again blew his whistle and Appa came flying down. Aang hugged the snout of his big furry friend, before jumping onto his back and they took off south.
It was close to noon when Aang and Appa returned to the White Lotus camp. The damaged Warspite sat in a nearby field undergoing repairs with the outwardly less damaged but gutted Azulon that had been brought back under tow. Aang figured that the field would be a good place for Appa to graze freely so he decided he would make his landing there.
Katara had been the first one to notice as they came flying in low to land and was running towards him arms outstretched.
Aang saw Katara running towards him as he touched down, he jumped down and petted Appa quickly and started walking towards Katara for a warm embrace and a kiss, "I love you Katara." Aang said with almost tears in his eyes. "I know." Katara answered looking him in the eyes, "And I you." and they embraced for a second time.
As they disengaged, they saw that Zuko, Toph, Sokka and Azula were walking down from camp to meet them. Aang was relieved to see the Fire siblings alive and well, and to his great surprise he noticed that Zuko's scar was almost entirely gone, his shrivelled ear the only tell tale sign that he had ever been gravelly injured, it was as if the evil his father had wrought on the world was ebbing in his absence though he suspected another factor.
As Sokka reached Aang he took him by the forearm for a quick handshake and then embraced him, and as he disengaged he nodded towards the Azulon, "What do you think? Took her as a war price." he said jovially.
Aang turned around to take a closer look at the damaged ship, that he had no small part in crippling, he was about to comment on the fact when Sokka continued, "I know it's bad luck and all to rename a ship, but I'm going to chance it, only thinking it fitting to rename her after my Princess." He held his arm out towards Azula as he turned around, only to see the grim look on her face as she looked towards Appa, more specifically into the saddle, as if hoping to see her father on its floor.
Zuko asked solemnly, "So… Did you do it?"
Aang looked at Azula who had tears building in her eyes, "I didn't kill your father." He then looked at Zuko, "But I didn't save him either."
Azula then burst into tears and fell to the ground, Sokka squatting down to give her a reassuring hug.
"How did it happen?" Zuko asked solemnly, as he too felt a sting in his heart, although he had hardened to the fact that his father was incapable of love, the news of his demise solidified any chance of reconciliation forever, and for what it was worth, any knowledge of his mother's fate had gone with him.
Aang looked at Azula sobbing on the ground. "As the comet's power faded… He couldn't fly any more… He drowned."
Azula looked up, hopefully, "Could he still be alive?"
Aang closed his eyes and shook his head, "No, he is gone."
Zuko walked over to Azula and knelt in front of her, she raised her face ever so slightly to look at Zuko, "Long live the Fire Lord." she spoke softly and embraced her brother.
Admiral Chan came walking up to the camp grounds with most of the surrendered generals and admirals who had participated in and survived the battle, Field Marshal Shinu led the army faction followed by an extremely displeased looking General Mongke, the Navy faction in turn by Fleet Admiral Liang.
The Rear Admiral of the Northern fleet walked up to Chan's side and started; "History will remember you as one the greatest traitors in Fire Nation history, Chan, you've dragged the great Chan name through the mud and blood of your own nation's citizens!"
Chan walked on silently ignoring the man.
"Have you no shame?!" The man spat out in anger.
"On the contrary Admiral, I will be a controversial figure for sure, my actions today will be studied for generations to come, some will exaggerate my achievement, others will credit General Iroh and yet others will say the battle was won in the air, I don't particularly care, but most will agree, I was one of the Great heroes of the war, while you, nobody will even remember your name, Admiral." Chan said rather nonchalantly as he saw Zuko and the Avatar emerged from one of the tents.
Not quite sure about Zuko's position he decided to play it safe; "Your Highness!" and turning to Aang; "Your Excellence." He then turned to present his entourage, "These men have come to surrender."
Zuko turned to the officers, "No need, I will be accepting oaths of fealty in my capacity as the new Fire Lord."
The officers all looked at one another in confusion, while others rushed to the front and bent the knee in front of Zuko, the announcement could realistically only mean one thing.
General Mongke stepped forward, "And to those who refuse to take an oath to a patricidal, regicidal traitor prince? Short drop and a sudden stop?"
Aang stepped up, "Fire Lord Ozai fell in battle, swallowed by the sea, I bore witness to it. As did the Bastard Prince Azka, defeated in single combat by Sokka of the Water Tribe."
Zuko nodded to Aang before he continued, "If you don't feel capable of swearing your fealty General, I will accept your letter of commission and you may go home without title nor sold but you'll be free man within the bounds of the law."
The General pulled out a scroll from his robes and walked up and handed it to Zuko and bowed before turning heel and leaving towards the port as he stripped himself of visual identifiers as an officer.
The troublesome Admiral followed suit but wasn't as content with holding his tongue, "May your reign be mercifully short!" and he too turned heel and walked off, Aang couldn't help but subtly Earth bend a stumbling block for the man which he duly fell for with a yelp.
Some of his former colleagues laughed at this display and the rest of them fell in line to swear their loyalty to their new sovereign.
It would be the last time that the whole of the Gaang would be together for a good while.
The forces of the White Lotus under General Iroh would march on Ba Sing Se. After a short siege, the Fire Nation garrison there would surrender. Iroh fulfilling his youthful vision of one day standing at the entrance to the great palace as a conqueror, destiny indeed was a funny thing.
Though unbeknownst to one-another, the now officially commissioned Air Commodore Sokka would defeat the Southern Raiders early the next day and out on the great Ocean he would find his father's evacuation fleet, using the small stolen airship to his full advantage as he had led the Southern Raiders on a merry chase around the Southern Ocean until the Comet had passed. It was an emotional reunion of people he and his sister hadn't seen for nearly a year.
In the coming week after that and with growing strength, the Fire Lord's forces under assistance from the Avatar and Admiral Chan's fleet skipped from island to island, meeting mostly symbolic opposition from commanders who wanted to preserve their honour in the final weeks of the war.
It was on the autumn equinox when the Fire Lord, the Earth King, the Water Tribe Chieftains met with the Avatar and signed the armistice, which effectively ended the Hundred year war, and began the long road to recovery.
It was a warm Autumn day in Ba Sing Se, as the tall handsome Air Commodore, regaled in his black and blue uniform walked down the Upper ring street arm in arm with his companion, the equally stunning Fire Nation Princess dressed in a simple yet elegant red silk dress and scarf topped with black and dark yellow knitted wool shawl .
Their destination was the Jasmine Dragon, that was closed to the public this very special day, as they turned right to walk up the steps, they saw that the Avatar and his betrothed were standing on the balcony looking out at the city. As they walked up the final flight of stairs they began to hear tsungi horn music being played from the inside.
"Avatar Aang!" the Commodore said with an overly pompous tone as he bowed ridiculously deep.
The Avatar looked at the Commodore and bowed even deeper, "Commodore Sokka, how you do go on!"
The two of them started laughing and all four took quick steps to meet each other in an embrace. "It's so great to see you guys, again." Sokka said happily.
"You too buddy." Aang responded as Katara stepped forward to hug her brother one extra time. "I've missed you Sokka." she said and kissed him on the cheek as she held him in a hug. It had been a year to the day, since they had found Aang frozen in the iceberg, though not distant in time, the boys that had been with her that day were gone, replaced with men, even if not fully grown.
Azula stood silently and smiled, adoring the sight of such a loving friendship and the fraternity she was now a part of as she suddenly felt Katara's arm reach out and pull her into the group hug.
Aang was the first to pull away and gestured towards the tea shop, "Everyone is inside."
The foursome then started moving inside where Iroh was playing his tsungi horn and Zuko was serving tea to everyone. Toph was sitting leaning back with her feet on the table enjoying her tea, with Mai and Hakoda sitting at another table playing pai-sho while Ty-Lee watched.
Iroh stopped playing to greet his guests, "Welcome, Niece, and Commodore."
"Thank you, Uncle." Azula said with a gentle nod of her head. "Thank you, General." added Sokka.
Hakoda stood up to greet his son, "Never thought I'd be proud to see my own son clad in a Fire Nation uniform."
"Hey, it's got blue in it." Sokka pointed out.
"To represent the sky, silly." Reminded Azula.
Hakoda then gestured for the pair to take a seat as we walked back to finish his game.
Zuko walked over with his tray of tea and the pair took their cups and nodded a thank you to him. "I guess I should have specified that it is not a formal occasion." He said with a smile.
"I can see that… Brother." Azula said with a grin, "But we were called as witnesses to Long Feng's trial." she added.
"How did that go?" asked Aang.
Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "It's going to be a long one, he'll spend the next decade going in and out of a courtroom before he'll start serving his sentence."
Azula then added, "Of course, his lawyers wanted me impeached as a co-conspirator but it was quickly overruled due to my status as an enemy combatant at the time, and not acting under perfidious loyalty."
"Seems like an awful waste of resources when they could just lock him up and throw away the key." Mai said peaking up from the Pai-Sho game. "Wonder if they'll summon me?"
Hakoda looked up from the game, "The process is the punishment, the sentence is the mercy."
"That's the way I see it." responded Azula before turning back to her brother "Anyway, you would have made a fine waiter." she teased, but Zuko just chuckled and Azula bowed slightly. "I guess you would have made a fine career advisor." he replied.
"Advisor will be enough." Azula said slyly.
As everyone took their seats, around the Pai-Sho table, Hakoda was the first one to speak, "I've been speaking off the record, with my counterpart." He nodded towards Zuko before he made his move and Mai let out a little grunt of displeasure. "Peace talks aren't going as smoothly as we would have hoped, the Earth King wields very little real power in his government and with his vassals."
Sokka nodded as he watched Mai make her move against Hakoda who nearly instantly countered. "We've been, call it plotting if you wish, an informal alliance to strengthen our position."
"I see." Sokka and Azula said in unison.
Zuko took his seat next to Mai and playfully moved a tile in her stead and had his hand instantly slapped away. "It's my game!" before she conceded that it was probably the best move as she looked Hakoda in the eyes; "There is no point beating around the bush, I think they know where this is going."
Hakoda chuckled, "Tact, young lady, tact, you're going to need it in the arena of real politics." he then turned to his son. "Well, the future Fire Lady is right, Sokka, you are of marrying age now, and Azula has been of age according to her country's traditions for a couple of months now, and I would never coerce you but you two do seem to like each other so where is the harm, right?" He said casually and matter-of-factly.
Azula and Sokka started laughing, "Well, it's sort of funny that you should say that, dad." Azula then undid her scarf to reveal a black ribboned gilded betrothal necklace.
Zuko and Hakoda looked at one-another in surprise.
"I won't spoil the real surprise." Toph interjected, grinning from ear to ear.
All heads turned to the blind Earth bender.
"Do go on, please!" said Azula sarcastically and Toph just smiled. "I just said I wasn't going to spoil it."
"How would you even know?" Azula asked.
"Let's just say there is an extra heartbeat in this room, Princess." She put her foot on the ground and feigned a frown, "Make that two?"
Azula blushed before composing herself, "Well, titles breed titles and we're about to hand out some new ones for the select few." She looked at her brother, "Fire Lord, you will soon be bestowed the title of Unlce." and turning to Hakoda "And, you High Chieftain, as Grandfather."
Ty-Lee was the first one to react as she sprang up and cartwheeled over the table towards her friend to hug her in an expression of pure excitement and joy, "Azula, this is wonderful news! I Love babies!" she then turned her attention to Sokka as she pulled him into the hug, "With such a cute dad and beautiful mom, they are bound to be adorable!"
She then turned to Mai practically grinning from ear to ear, "Aren't you exited, you're going to be Aunt!"
Mai cocked her eye and looked over at Zuko, "By not yet set marriage."
Zuko threw his hands up, "I told you, with the repairs of the Kemuri dam, possible war reparations, proposing a Royal Wedding into the budget will have the Diet calling for my head."
Mai smirked, "Well, it wasn't my idea to go handing back powers to the district and municipal councils."
Zuko just grunted in response, although it was one of his better administrative decisions, allowing him more leisure time than any Fire Lord since before his great-grandfather it did come with it's own set of downsides, the government coffers wouldn't be open to his beck and call every time the palace needed a chamber refurbished.
Toph decided to take the matter into her own hands, "Don't worry Zuko, I'm sure my father would gladly bankroll a Royal wedding."
Zuko cleared his throat, "I'm flattered, but I'm not sure I can take on government debt before speaking with my finance minister first, and at worst it could be seen as a bribe."
Toph scoffed, "It's a gift, and a show of good will among our people."
Zuko turned to look at Mai, who had a slight smile on her face, he sighed before returning it, "Well… I guess that settles it."
Epilogue
The peace delegation was exiting the Governor's mansion in Ziyougang, the great colonial port formerly known as Sozin City.
Years of negotiation had lead up to this point, though the details had been known for months and preliminary signings had already taken place weeks prior to deter any attempts at sabotage. King Kuei and Fire Lord Zuko lead the delegation, followed by Aang representing the Air Nomads and Hakoda, representing the Water Confederacy, followed in their wake by diplomats and military leaders of all stripes from the various nations.
The delegation walked into the courtyard where the Fire Nation flag stood at full mast. As Kuei and Zuko stopped in front of the flag pole, two fire nation soldiers stepped up, bowed and saluted, and began lowering the flag, unclipping it, folding it, and finally one of them walked up to Zuko handing him the flag.
Simultaneously, two Earth Kingdom soldiers stepped up, gave their bow and saluted the delegation and began hoisting up the flag of the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation had now officially and symbolically handed over sovereignty of their former colonies, though the peace treaty stipulated that the colonies would have high levels of autonomy for the next fifty years, a compromise that no one had been happy with, but angered the least people, Zuko had wished for at least a hundred years to protect any Fire Nation citizens, Kuei had even been willing to compromise until the death of the last Fire Nation citizen born during the colonial era until it was suggested that Kuei's successor might want to expedite the process.
Another thing on the agenda had been the Territories of the Air Nomads and the Foggy Swamp. Kuei had insisted on maintaining the territorial integrity of the Earth Kingdom, until Hakoda had not so subtly threatened that the Water Confederacy now had alliances through marriage to both the Fire Nation and the reformed Air Nomads and that peace was about restoring balance to the Nations, not to boost the might of the Earth Kingdom.
And so the years had dragged on, with threats, walk outs, angry letters, even a skirmish and a third, but in the end everything was settled satisfactorily as the text of the treaty would describe it.
As the two Kings bowed to one another, it signalled the end of the ceremony and most of the delegation started leaving the mansion premises, most of them to the harbour, where the royal yacht awaited, the monster known as Vanguard, which would have been the biggest fully armoured battlecruiser of the Fire Navy hadn't it been undergoing final construction in Kemuri Bay during the raid on the dam.
Aang had wished that Zuko would have chosen a less conspicuous ship for the occasion but because of the size of the delegation and the unrivalled speed and range of the new Royal yacht, Aang's objections had been overruled. "Why not use more ships?" Aang had inquired to which Zuko had answered, "What's less of a threat, a fleet of ships or one really big ship." to which Aang had to concede but he secretly figured Azula had gotten to in his ear that the Vanguard would be a less than subtle way of demonstrating to the Earth Kingdom representatives what a magnanimous concession they had gotten in the end, the Vanguard displacing slightly less than the whole Earth Navy combined.
As the delegation walked slowly towards the harbour, some figures from the back of the line pushed their way through to the front. It was Sokka, Katara, Toph, Ty-Lee and Azula, Sokka carrying a boy around the age of four on his back, while Azula walked hand-in-hand with a girl around the same age and Katara carried a young boy in her arms. Ty-Lee in turn was dressed in Air Nomad yellow and orange, having embraced her Air Nomad heritage, she would be travelling the world rekindling the Air Nomad culture and perhaps one day, become the mother of a new generation of Air benders. Toph was tearing off the formal gown to reveal a much more casual outfit much more to her liking.
Hakoda seeing his son walking up to him, grabbed his grandson off his back. "Careful there son, you're going to break your back carrying this giant." he said with cheerfully.
Azula gave an angry glare at Hakoda, "Careful with my son there!"
Hakoda just smiled back at her, "Let an old man enjoy the joys carrying his grandchildren before he starts walking on three legs."
Azula was a real Mooselion when it came to her children, and it pained her that she had to leave her littlest one on the ship with her cousins and aunt and she was quite eager to get back after the ceremony.
Aang kissed Katara on the cheek before raising his son from her arms, Katara had refused to leave her young son with the wet nurse that Zuko had generously provided. Mai of course had volunteered to stay behind to nanny the younger kids as she viewed the ceremony as nothing more than a pompous extravagance, not needing of the Fire Lady's presence.
Sokka, Toph, Katara and Azula viewed it much in the same light but were honoured guests of the leading delegates, and thus were more or less forced to attend, Ty-Lee on the other hand was just happy to represent her ancestral Nation.
Black smoke had begun to puff out of the funnels of the mighty ship sitting in the harbour as her heavy oil fuelled compression ignition engines where being cranked up. The stokers had stood ready for the order of First Sea Lord Chan as the Fire nation flag was hoisted down. Even so, it would take some time for her engines to warm up enough to take any load, in which time there would be a short ceremony on the ship's deck and a formal farewell to the Jewel of the East as the sun set on the Empire of Fire.
As the delegation was walking down the broad avenue, a small retinue of men walked into the street, they were guarding a woman dressed in a crimson cloak. The delegation slowed down but did not stop as members of the Royal Guard stepped forward to either side of Zuko, the Captain calling out, "Make way for the Fire Lord."
But the men wouldn't give way as the woman stepped forward and raised her head towards Zuko who immediately recognised her as he almost fainted, "Mother!" he called out as he sprang forward. The guardsmen frantically taking off after him.
Azula watched in disbelief at the woman she hardly recognised but who's features she saw in herself every time she looked in a mirror. She watched as Zuko reached her and embraced her.
"I thought you were dead!" Zuko said almost yelling as the guards reached him and surrounded the pair, violently pushing aside the men accompanying the woman.
He pulled back to see his mother smiling at him. "Stand down!" he ordered his guards, not breaking eye contact with his mother for a second.
"Where have you been?" Zuko asked with tears in his eyes.
"News travels slow to the far corners of the world, Zuko." she answered, "After we heard of the fall of Ba Sing Se, me and my retinue went into deep hiding, high in the Patola mountains. Every so often we would hear whispers of the Fire Lord's new world…" Ursa paused as she caressed Zuko's cheek, "Until we heard, the Fire Lord was you." She looked up for a second towards the Governor's mansion and then back down at Zuko, "I wish we could have made the ceremony but security was tighter than expected." she said solemnly.
Zuko wept tears of joy as he shook his head in disbelief, "Better late than never, Mother, it's been an eventful decade."
"So I've heard, the Banished Prince searching for the Avatar." Ursa sighed, "I wish we would have stumbled upon each other in our exile, but destiny had other plans in store for you my son." She looked at the left side of Zuko's face, examining it, "I also heard your father maimed you, but the scarring doesn't seem that bad."
Zuko smiled, "I had some help from a friend." he raised his hand to point at Katara.
The rest of the Royal procession reached the woman who lifted her gaze off of Zuko and onto her daughter, smiling as she did, "Goodness you've grown so beautiful." she said before she reached out and pulled her in for a hug.
"Mommy, mommy, who's the lady?" the little girl walking next to Azula asked.
Azula with her own tears in her eyes, pulled away from the hug and looked at her own daughter, "Oh, Zini, this is your Grandmother."
Ursa got to her knees to greet her granddaughter, while Azula reached her arm out to Hakoda carrying her son, "And this is Arnu, your firstborn grandchild." The boy shying away from the woman's eyes.
Ursa looked turned to look at the boy, not visibly older than the girl. She cocked her eyes "Twins?" she asked Azula.
"Yes." Azula said merrily.
Ursa smiled sympathetically at Azula and said "I hope labour wasn't too difficult." to which Azula just shook her head, "No, I had a great midwife, in my sister-in-law." she responded and pulled Katara closer to her, who bowed to Ursa.
Ursa nodded and smiled as she looked the distinctly Water Tribe woman and then over at Hakoda, almost trying to suppress a frown, and then back to Azula, whispering, "He is handsome, but isn't he a little bit old for you?" causing Azula to blush red, and Sokka to step forward and clear his throat before he bowed to Ursa, "It's an honour to finally meet you, Lady Ursa. I'm Air Marshal Sokka, husband to your daughter."
Ursa looked at Sokka and smiled wide before she bowed to him, "The honour is mine, Air Marshal."
Zuko interjected, "Your other grandchildren are waiting to meet their grandmother on the ship." to which Hakoda gave a chuckle as he bowed to Ursa, "It's a new age of hope and prosperity, Fire Lady, so we'll be seeing grandchildren a plenty."
Ursa nodded and smiled, "One would hope so, because of the war, I never got to have the large family I always desired." she paused for a moment to look Hakoda up and down, "Chieftain… I'm sorry, I didn't cat-"
"Hakoda, of the Southern Water Tribe." he said with a smile, "And the tales of the beauty of Fire Lady Ursa have reached far and wide, and to my eyes were not an exaggeration."
Both the Water and Fire siblings blushed at Hakoda's comment but Ursa just smiled wider and laughed heartedly, "I'm flattered, you old seadog, I've heard how you Water tribe men are." and looking back at Azula slyly adding, "And apparently so has my daughter." winking at her causing Azula to blush even redder.
Zuko interjected half in panic, "Okay, we really should start moving towards the ship, we have a feast waiting for us as well as a fire works display." and took his mother by the arm and started walking towards the harbour. Hakoda just winked at Ursa with a sly smile who smiled back in return as her son pulled her along.
Azula turned to Sokka and said with a dire tone "You've got to do something about this!"
Sokka just blushed and exclaimed in a panic, "What, me?! You put a stop to it!"
Azula ground her teeth as she whispered in anger, "This could turn out worse than the third dynasty of the Earth Kingdom, pedigree collapsed in on itself like a rotten pagoda, I won't risk my children growing up with a double aunt or uncle! You talk to your father!"
Sokka hung his head, "That could just make the situation worse…"
Azula growled quietly to herself before speaking, "Listen, with a little bit of scheming, before our lights burn out in this world, we could be the heads of the most powerful dynasty this world has ever seen, the last thing we need is for our parents to throw a wrench into the cogs. King Kuei just had a daughter and-"
Sokka's chuckle interrupted Azula, "You can take the Princess out of the Fire but not the Fire out of a Princess."
Azula just looked ahead nonchalantly as she walked down the street, "Well… I say there is no harm in thinking ahead, with any luck the next Avatar will be born into our dynasty."
Sokka nodded as he looked out at the bay and then down at his family, and towards the future.
The End
That was Dark Moon Rising, thank you for reading and now that it's done, naturally I'm curious to hear everyone's opinion, likes and dislikes alike, Suki's fate is noted as the low-point of the story.
Some notes on the chapter and the story as a whole, I had the most of the major beats of the story ready in my head before I sat down to write it but of course there were changes along the way, but I decided pretty early on that Ozai would die and perhaps most poignantly, that Aang, having seen that Ozai was beyond redemption, would let him die, and though not explicitly stated, the ship that drags him to his death would be the Sozin, draw from that what symbolism you like.
Azka, was always supposed to die despite him not being an irredeemable character, if a character at all.
And yeah, more FUs to the expanded universe, erasing any lines that could lead to the Promise, The Search, North and South, etc. Perhaps they are better than I give them credit for, but I soured to them almost from the start, when they ruin the ending of ATLA by first sinking Sokka's IQ to room temperature and then having him torpedo Aang and Katara's moment with his newfound idiocy. The Sokka at the end of book 3, upon seeing Aang and his sister kissing would have discreetly made himself scarce or been thrilled that his sister got together with his friend AND most definitely not acted like it came out of the blue sky.
Secondly of course, I never interpreted Azula's nervous breakdown, or burnout if we're going to be coy about it, as insanity, just that the facade that she put on, of being such a cold emotionless psychopath came crumbling down due to the weight of the responsibility she just wasn't ready for, and the comics having her be a schizo wreck always sat horribly with me, and despite this, they insisted on using her as an antagonist instead of giving her a redemption arc which irked me even more, a disgust that has only grown after what Aaron Ehasz, the headwriter for ATLA, said about his ideas for a continuation of her arc.
And yes, I toned down the enmity between Zuko and Azula, though I think everyone of us blessed with a little sister or a big brother can relate to the Fire siblings at one time or another, such is the nature of siblings, but some of my favourite ATLA moments are when Zuko and Azula are just being brother and sister.
Another thing I always intended, was to finish this story, might seem self-evident, but I've read enough great fan-fiction that just... Stop, and I hate getting blue balled like that, and didn't want to do it to anyone else. I would have dumped the raw, unedited scrips if I ever felt myself fizzling out, but I'm glad I could make it, although if anyone ever wants to do a rewrite, feel free, it's not like it's my IP anyway.
Once again, a thousand thanks to everyone who took their time to read this story.
