Zuko felt wonderful. He had a feeling that everything was going to be alright.
They were headed to the North Pole to find allies. They already kind of had allies from the South and were allied with the Avatar.
When Uncle challenged Father to an Agni Kai those allies would make it much easier to convince the Earth Kingdom of their sincerity.
King Bumi would also help with that- Zuko realized now why Iroh had gone to see the man. It made so much more sense now… they needed allies in the Earth Kingdom.
Bumi was crazy, there was no denying that, but he was also highly respected. He was powerful. People would listen to him when he said that the Fire Nation wanted peace.
And so, when Zuko went to the deck of his ship, he was smiling.
…-…
Zuko scowled. He wanted to say no. He wanted to say that there was absolutely no way he was going to abandon another ship. He liked this ship. He'd bought this ship.
But it was too slow for the chase they were on.
Zuko felt his breathing hitch and brutally suppressed the urge to cry. He was not going to cry over a ship. His ship. That he'd bought. That was his home.
The Fire Nation hadn't been home in a long time. He'd been banished for three years- and even before then… after Mother had left, the palace hadn't been the most pleasant place to be.
"I want us together as much as possible," Zuko finally said.
Uncle was looking at him, and there was so much compassion in his gaze that Zuko almost felt himself tearing up again. He turned stiffly away, turning towards Hakoda instead.
Hakoda wasn't much better. He knew what is was to abandon a home.
Zuko's ship was his freedom. It was his security, a place that no one could kick him out of. Some Water Tribe ship wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't be in charge. His crew wouldn't be sailing. They might help out- but they wouldn't be trusted as much as the regular crew.
Someone else would be in control again. Someone else- and not someone he trusted either. Someone who had attacked him. Who'd killed his people because… because there was a war. And Hakoda had been trying to win.
But control was an illusion. In Prince they would never truly be able to outrun Azula. The Fire Nation's entire fleet would probably be able to show up before Prince actually made it to the Northern Water Tribe.
Prince's strength was in anonymity. And now that was gone.
"If we rearrange our crews a bit," Hakoda said after a moment, "We should be able to split your people in between three boats- 12-15 people in each."
Zuko didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Everything in him rebelled at losing his ship- at being separated from his crew- but he just nodded sharply.
He wanted to go to his room and hide with his head tucked between his knees.
But he couldn't do that either. Because they were on a schedule. And they didn't have time for him to break down again.
…-…
They didn't burn Prince. They left her drifting as they sailed away. She might distract Azula and gain them a few more hours.
Iroh watched Zuko as he stared after Prince. Zuko was holding onto the railing of the Water Tribe ship so hard his knuckles were white.
Iroh wished they didn't have to do this.
But he also knew that no matter how much pain Zuko was in now, Zuko understood. Zuko would give up Prince a hundred times to save his crew- and that was what he was choosing now.
Iroh stepped forward, placing a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
They stood together for hours until the Prince was out of sight.
That was when Zuko's iron control finally buckled.
He didn't move, but Iroh could see the tears glistening on his face.
I'm sorry, Iroh thought, I'm so sorry.
He wished that he could make this better, but he couldn't. All he could do was stay.
…-…
Azula found Zhao easily enough. The man was an Admiral now for some reason.
Azula could almost understand why her father had promoted him- he had a certain cunning to him, a certain ruthlessness.
Still- he was a bit of a fool.
His idea for an invasion of the Northern Water Tribe- why?
Yes, they needed to be conquered eventually… but not now. The Earth Kingdom was a threat. The Northern Water Tribe hadn't been a threat in eighty years.
Still, with the Avatar going there to learn Waterbending and both Iroh and Zuko, well, just Zuko now, going there for something… the invasion made sense.
Azula had two high profile prisoners to capture after all.
And if she conquered an entire civilization while she was at it- well. She was already going to be there.
And it was good to be efficient.
…-…
Aang wanted to see the Northern Air Temple. He wanted to go. Zuko had told him about it- about the people who weren't air benders, but who still flew. Who honored the Air Benders by seeking the air, even if they could not bend themselves.
Aang understood though, why they could not go.
He understood in the same way that Zuko understood why they had to leave behind his ship.
He understood, but it still hurt.
Aang shook his head. Someone- probably Iroh- had gotten Zuko a plate of food, but he was just sitting there, staring at it.
He was sad. But Aang was good at helping people feel better. Aang sat down beside Zuko. "So," he said, "Since you're a fire bender and all… what do you think about teaching me fire bending?"
Zuko jerked, spinning towards Aang, eyes wide, and nearly dropped his food. He cursed as he tried to steady it, managing to get one hand under the wobbling plate before it capsized. But with Zuko's momentum the plate, and Zuko, continued forwards.. The plate ended up on Aang's lap, miraculously unspilled.
"What?!" Zuko shouted.
Well… Aang had gotten a reaction at least.
...-...
"Bumi," Iroh said, "I need your help."
"Hmmm?"
"I am going to challenge Ozai to an Agni Kai on the charge of murdering Fire Lord Azulon. I need more proof though."
Bumi watched him for a long moment.
"I need you to find someone…"
…-…
They made good time to the Northern Water Tribe. Then it was a problem of getting in.
Which was almost immediately solved by Aang being the Avatar. It was so unfair. None of the Southern Water Tribe got any consideration for being from a sister tribe- but the Avatar? Of course we'll let him in.
And then Iroh had gone off and played the weirdest game of Pai Sho ever with Pakku and now they were acting like best buds or something and how had the two guys even met?
The Northern Water Tribe was super isolated and Iroh was the Dragon of the West.
So… what?
Sokka would admit to being confused by that turn of events.
…-…
"You can't just challenge a waterbending master!" Zuko shouted.
"Watch me!" Katara yelled back.
"There's a reason he's a master and you're not!" Zuko felt his breathing quicken. This was bad. This was very, very bad. "He can stop you. He will stop you. You will lose. This won't help anything!"
Katara didn't even look at him. She didn't respond.
Zuko stepped forward, determined to get through to her that fighting a master did not tend to turn out well for the novice… and then Pakku was there.
And they were fighting. Zuko's heart was in his throat the whole time. After it was over Iroh had to do a round of breathing exercises with him before the black dots in his vision went away.
The whole thing with Katara's grandmother seemed awfully convenient.
Perhaps Katara was more like Azula than Zuko had previously thought. Really like Azula actually- Azula never told him the actual plan either.
…-…
They'd been going on long range patrols with Appa for days. They knew the Fire Nation was coming, they just didn't know exactly when.
And now… Appa could fly faster than the ships could move, assuming a good air current.
But the ships were still only a week out.
There were hundreds of them.
Which meant that Zuko and Iroh needed to move onto the next step of the plan, and fast.
…-…
Aang came with them. Appa was his bison after all.
Sokka and Katara stayed behind, Sokka to be with his dad and help in case of the invasion and Katara to practice her waterbending.
They'd both offered to come with, but right now less people was better.
Zuko had to leave his crew behind. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
…-…
Zuko noticed Iroh dispatching letters left and right.
He knew that most of them were to Fire Nation nobility, telling them that Iroh would be challenging for the throne or revealing some of Ozai's lesser known but crueler deeds, or anything along those lines.
Still…
There were three messages that didn't fit. Three messages that weren't going in the right direction.
…-…
Azula blinked when a Water Tribe bird- she didn't know what it was called- flopped onto the deck of her ship.
She stepped forward.
There was a letter tied to its leg.
She was careful as she took it, but the bird didn't look particularly dangerous.
Azula,
The letter said,
Zuko here. Thought you'd want to know I've found some help. We're going to challenge father to an Agni Kai for the crown on the basis that he ordered the murder of Fire Lord Azulon.
Which saved my life. But also, it was his fault I was going to die in the first place because he asked to be heir right after Lu Ten died.
And he was going to kill me.
But I thought you might want to know that if you intend to capture us, you are going in the wrong direction.
Zuko.
Zuko couldn't lie to save his life. He really, really couldn't.
Letters were different of course… but Azula had a feeling this one was genuine. But… who in the world had Zuko found who'd be willing and able to challenge Father?
Unless… the Water Tribe's were known for healing. When she'd struck Iroh with lightning… he might not have died. They could have gone to the North Pole to help him recover.
Which meant that Azula needed to write another letter and get back to the Fire Nation as fast as possible.
...-...
"Your children need you Ursa."
Ursa paused in the doorway of her home before glancing back over her shoulder. The man was wearing red but he was so obviously Earth Kingdom it was ridiculous. He could probably pass for someone from the colonies…
"I have children who need me here too." Ursa said.
"Do the others not matter then?"
Ursa felt her hands clenching into fists. Of course her children mattered to her- how could they not? How could he say that?
She'd been banished. She had other children.
But Zuko and Azula- they would never leave her heart. And if they needed her…
She hesitated a moment longer. "I'll go."
…-…
Azula wrote a letter to Father first.
Father,
Zuko has managed to find someone to challenge you. They are headed towards the Fire Nation right now.
She didn't mention her thoughts on Iroh's survival- Father was smart. He would figure that out on his own and Azula would not have to risk being proven wrong. When she'd written Father about Iroh's death all she'd said was that she had hit him with lightning. She'd never implicitly stated he was dead. She was glad of that now.
I believe they are traveling with the Avatar, likely on his air bison.
I am coming with a small number of ships from the fleet. We will meet you soon.
Azula
She figured he could probably guess the rest.
He was smart like that.
…-…
Making it to the Fire Nation was the easy part. Traveling incognito with a twelve ton bison was the hard part.
But they made it to the capitol. And that was the first part of their plan.
…-…
Zuko hadn't known that Uncle had a thing for dramatic entrances. But apparently he did. That was cool.
He strode through the gates as though he was already Fire Lord. The guards didn't even challenge him, instead they bowed, stepping aside.
Zuko wondered how much they'd been bribed to do that.
And then Uncle stalked his way to the war chamber,
The doors slammed open with a resounding crack and every eye in the room turned to Iroh and the small entourage of soldiers and servants that had followed him in.
Ozai stood, mouth opening, glaring, but Uncle spoke before he could.
"Ozai, son of Fire Lord Azulon," he said, voice booming, "I challenge you to an Agni Kai for the murder of my father, Fire Lord Azulon. I challenge you for reckless endangerment of Fire Nation lives. I challenge you for the right to the throne. Do you accept?"
"You cannot challenge me." Ozai said, "You are a traitor to our nation."
And Zuko froze as he heard a voice he thought he'd never hear again.
"Is he though?" Ursa asked. She stepped forward, out of the crowd. "Six years ago, you told me that I had a choice. I could either kill Azulon and make you Fire Lord, or you would murder my son.
"You said that if I succeeded, I would be banished. You also said that if I attempted to take either or my children from your tender care, you would kill me. And Zuko. You tried to have me killed anyway, once the task was finished. And now, you have the gall to say it never happened?"
Zuko was still staring at his mother. He wanted to step forward. He wanted to hug her, to be held by her, for her to never let him go.
But that wasn't an option here.
They still had things to do.
…-…
The Northern Water Tribe rejoiced when a fifth of the fleet took off towards the Fire Nation capitol after Aang.
They were less happy that Aang had left them, even if it could lead to a permanent end to the war.
The Northern Water Tribe was not very good at thinking of the big picture. They thought in terms of their tribe- their family. The Southern Tribe's struggles had never mattered to them, nor the Earth Kingdom's.
So long as they were safe they would leave the rest of the world to burn.
But now the fire had come to them.
And though they made plans to fight- they were afraid.
...-...
Sokka was Yue's bodyguard.
Which was frankly a dream job for him because- well. Duh.
But it was also not a dream job because his dad was out there fighting. Zuko's Fire Nation soldiers were fighting for La's sake.
And Sokka was stuck. Here. With Yue.
Which was wonderful… but still.
Yue looked at him for a long moment before she grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. "Come," she said, "We cannot join the battle now, but we can pray. And I know where to go."
…-…
Lieutenant Jee hated actual battles. They were bloody things- everyone running this way and that, trying to kill the people who were wearing different colors than they- probably accidentally killing comrades- starting people on fire-
Starting people on fire was messy. They didn't die- at least not at first. They just screamed.
Jee was alright being a scout- and he would fight if necessary. He was good at it- if not the rest of soldiering….
And then, in the mass of confusion and burning bodies and screaming, Jee saw something out of place.
Zhao was fairly sneaky, but Jee had been watching Zuko for three years. Compared to Zuko, Zhao was very much an amateur.
Jee shot a flair up- making the fire as blue as he could. Some were better at color changes than others- scouts who could change their fire's color were more useful. It took a freakish amount of concentration though and in actual battle just plain red fire burned as well as anything else.
Jee had seen Azula fight before… she was definitely crazy. Talented, but crazy. Why else would she put so much effort into making blue flames?
….-…
Hakoda found himself grinning. He hated battle- but he loved sailing. And this- this was something he hadn't done in years.
Sailing with a Waterbender on your side was different- when the waves could be convinced to move with you rather than against you everything went better.
And when those waves moved against your enemy- well. Enemies in the water were enemies that couldn't kill you.
And then he saw the blue signal. Infiltration.
Curse it all.
…-…
Azula pushed all the ships to top speed, but she wasn't fast enough.
She separated her ship from the main body- going on alone.
She wasn't fast enough.
Azula did not panic, and she would not. Father would be fine. He would win and everything would be as it should be.
But she knew Iroh had been a general. Father had not.
What if… what if Father lost?
Azula pushed the ship harder.
She still wouldn't make it in time.
…-…
Iroh breathed. He was going to kill his brother today. Either that, or his brother would kill him.
The flames around him pulsed.
He remembered when they were smaller. There was quite an age gap between them, but he remembered holding his tiny baby brother and being… happy.
And now Iroh was going to kill him.
It hurt something in him.
Iroh breathed, in, then out. He remembered another baby too, a happy giggling baby boy, turned into a sullen, angry, broken teen.
Iroh would kill his brother today. And he knew the real reason why, even if no one else did.
It wasn't for the Fire Nation, not really. It wasn't for his father. It wasn't for Lu Ten. It was for his nephew, a boy forced to grow up far too fast.
It was for Zuko.
…-…
Zuko watched, heart in his throat, as his Uncle knelt. His father knelt on the other side of the field, and then the gong rang, and they were standing, facing one another.
Uncle moved first, whips of flame striking out. Ozai didn't dodge, instead sending out his own fire to meet them and drive them back.
Iroh let go of the whips, letting the wall of flame come towards him and parting it with a grace Zuko rarely saw his Uncle use.
Ozai growled, and the fight was on in earnest. Fire whipped out and was flung back. Ozai hit Iroh a glancing blow to the side, and Iroh hit Ozai's leg, making it buckle beneath him.
And then lightning was sparking in Ozai's hands and he flung it towards Iroh and Iroh moved.
Zuko hadn't seen this dance last time when Azula had tried to kill Uncle. It was beautiful. It looked a lot like Katara did when she was waterbending actually…
And Iroh caught the lightning.
Ozai's eyes widened as the lightning crackled through Iroh's other hand.
It hit Ozai straight on in the face.
And Ozai was dead.
…-…
Iroh knelt as they crowned him and as the crowd shouted, "Long Live Fire Lord Iroh!"
And Ursa held her son as he wept. Because that had been his father.
...-...
They hadn't let Katara fight.
She was a master Waterbender- trained in combat by Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe. She was part of the Southern Water Tribe. And neither side would let her fight.
No one mentioned her gender- they'd learned not to- but now everyone was going on about her age.
Really. Fourteen wasn't that young!
So she was a scout now, watching signals and relaying messages.
She wanted to fight. To help steer one of the ships.
But no. Of course not.
She started as a slightly off-blue flare went up.
The signal for infiltration. The only reason to do that… would be to go after the leaders. Kill the leaders- destroy morale.
The Chief was safe. Which left Yue.
And Katara knew that Sokka was guarding her, but Sokka wasn't a bender and yes he was her big brother and yes he was good with a boomerang… but he'd gotten two fishhooks stuck in his finger after he'd used one to try pulling the other out and…
She really needed to find them.
…-…
When Azula made it to the Fire Nation, Iroh had already been crowned Fire Lord.
That meant Father had lost. How had he lost? He wasn't supposed to lose- he was the greatest Fire Bender of his generation he couldn't- he couldn't-
She found herself running to the palace instead of waiting for more dignified- but far slower- transportation.
Not fast enough- Not fast enough- Father would be so disappointed-
Flags- mourning flags all around the palace. Mourning flags?
He had lost but- that didn't mean he was dead. Zuko had lost and he wasn't dead. Burnt, but not dead. And Iroh was so much more… stupid than Father. He wouldn't have killed his brother.
Father couldn't be dead.
Azula didn't notice the servants running. She didn't notice the fire swirling around her- burning- pulsing with her frantic breaths. She didn't notice herself murmuring, "He can't be dead. He can't be dead. He can't be."
And then, she saw someone she never thought she'd see again.
Ursa. Her mother. Zuko was there too, and Uncle, with his hair done up with the flame. It was true. He was Fire Lord.
"Azula," Mother said, stepping forward, holding out a hand.
Azula stumbled backwards. "You- you can't be here. Father said you weren't coming back. Not ever. Not ever, not ever, not ever…"
And then Ursa was right in front of her. "Azula," she said again.
"He's not dead." Azula said, "He's not. He can't be." She was shaking.
And then her mother's arms were around her. "I'm sorry," Ursa whispered.
And he couldn't be dead- he'd be coming back any moment now-
But for now, for now, she let her mother hold her.
…-…
Hakoda moved, crashing to the deck as a literal wave of flame flowed over his head. Their waterbender, Huantu, managed to put it out before it set their sails aflame.
He was on his feet a moment later. The Southern Water Tribe didn't have catapults on their ships like the Fire Nation, so in fights they generally grabbed isolated ships, boarded them and sank them.
Stealth attacks had worked well, but there was no place for that here.
They were close now.
Ponak shouted, "Fifteen!" as he swung their ship sharply, or as sharply as one can swing a ship, to the side. Huantu was moving a moment later, connecting their ship to the Fire Nation ship with a bridge of ice.
And Hakoda's men were moving.
They needed to take down the fleet.
And they were, one ship at a time.
…-…
Sokka managed to take out one man with Boomerang. Then the rest were upon him. It reminded him of sparring with Zuko, except far more brutal.
One of them managed to steal his club and bash him over the head with it. Which was rude.
He fell, clutching his head, and then a sword was swinging towards him and he was going to die- And Katara was there- somehow- water moving around her like a second skin, cracking the man who'd attacked Suko into a wall.
Fire flare, pushing her back, but people were pouring in behind Katara, surrounding the Fire Benders.
And then one of the Fire Benders, who'd apparently been faking unconsciousness, jerked out a hand- grabbing a fish from the Water. And the moon went red.
…-…
Akimo wasn't usually stealthy. But his years on the Wani had taught him some things.
Sneaking onto the command ship was hard. Stealing some captain's armor was less so. Dumping the actual captain off the ship and into the polar waters wasn't hard but it did… hurt. Somewhere.
Signaling a retreat was the easiest thing so far- especially since right after his signal the moon turned red.
Kind of disturbing… but rather useful. All things considered.
…-…
Apparently, threatening the moon spirit in a room full of Watertribe warriors was not a good idea.
Zhao cursed as one of the savages tackled him backwards into the spirit pool. And then something was glowing around him. The savage's feet stopped when they hit the ground.
Zhao's didn't. He struggled, cursing, kicking, but the pull of the blue… thing… was inexorable. He was sucked under the waves.
He didn't come back out.
…-…
Akimo was really glad that Iroh was so efficient. A couple hours after their retreat someone thought to question which captain was currently commanding the fleet.
He was able to show them a very nice, very official letter from Fire Lord Iroh, stating that they were to stop the invasion and return home to honor the late Fire Lord Ozai.
So- Akimo got to live. That was nice.