Avatar Chapter 31

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

In his private quarters the Fire Lord sat and pondered his options. The Avatar was out there somewhere, after one hundred years he was out there in his world. His grandfather had failed to find him, his father had failed to even try and he had barley given it any thought but yet from what he understood it was his son who finally discovered him.

He had been looking himself over all day "Well there are no scales or gills so I am not going to be diving into the ocean, that's a relief." Ozai could not believe it, he had sent Zuko out to find a person not seen in a hundred years and by some bizarre twist of fate he had done it.

"Flame it all! Now what am I going do! People are already asking about what will happen when he comes back, and I have no burning clue!" Ozai had not planned on Zuko finding the Avatar, nor had he planned on dealing with the Avatar.

He now had to address both issues and it gave him a whole host of problems. The fact that the Avatar was back was more than having a powerful enemy to defeat, he was a symbol. His enemies would grow bold, it was a certainty that the Avatar would not be on his side.

Ozai breathed out hot air as he tried to think "I need more information, we still don't know much about this Avatar, I need to know what he looks like, how he fights, where he is going." The Fire Lord contemplated contacting the spy on Zuko's ship, if Commander Zhao's report was correct his son had engaged the Avatar, he had failed to capture him but as of now he was the foremost expert.

But if it came to light that he was contacting Zuko's ship, people would take it as an indication that the exiled Prince had his backing and would be coming home. It had been three years and hopefully his son had grown some backbone but he was still soft, he needed to be pushed much more if he wanted to earn his place here.

"And of course there's the fact that Azula would be none to happy being bumped down the line of succession. Ozai had no doubt Azula would be miffed about having her elder brother back in line, she had accomplished much since her trails and now that Azula was in full service she could do so much more. She should be the next ruler of the Fire Nation, but traditions were in place and if Zuko managed to capture the Avatar no accomplishment of hers would even begin to outdo it.

He put his head on clasped hands "That's considering the Avatar can be captured, he is the most powerful Bender in the world and my enemies will rally behind him." Ozai looked out the window, he looked at his world, the world his grandfather had begun to claim and the one he would finally bring under Fire Nation control.

The armies of his nation had fought and died to establish the colonies, the navy had complete dominance over the seas at the price of countless ships and sailors. He would not forfeit all his people had sacrificed just because some ancient power had appeared.

"Hmmm, until I have more info I can't take major action against this Avatar, but I cannot do nothing, I will have leave the hunting to Commander Zhao." Ozai thought about the man, Zhao was the ideal Fire Nation soldier, he was aggressive, loyal to the nation and believed in their mission to bring the world under Fire Nation rule.

They had met before Ozai was Fire Lord and they had gotten along splendidly, not exactly friends but their ideas and values often matched perfectly. "Yes, he's the perfect man to pursue the Avatar…and challenge my son, I doubt the two will get along, which will be good for Zuko."

Ozai made a note to send a promotion letter tomorrow, Zhao would need free reign to pursue his prey and perhaps Zuko would be pushed to do anything to beat him to it. He stood up stretched, it was nearly sunrise yet he had barely gotten any sleep. "Flame it I'm taking the next few days off, let my advisors squabble and come up with plans I can ignore."

He grabbed a simple robe off the wall and made for the door, any good Fire Bender refused to sleep while the sun was up if they could help it. Throwing open the door he walked down the halls with no real destination, sometimes he just enjoyed roaming the palace, making servants nervous, scaring guards, seducing naïve young women, that kind of thing .

Though as he roamed Ozai started to think about something that had been nagging him for a good while now. Tonight his daughter was in her quarters, no doubt with her bubbly companion talking her ear off about whatever young teen girls babbled on about.

Despite Ty Lee's skittish and overly energetic personality he could see she made Azula happy, she was still focused and every much the perfect daughter he had hoped for but she had someone she could depend on.

And yet he, the Fire Lord, the most powerful man on the planet, slept alone in an overly large bed. Ozai had no time for things like love or companionship, however someone he could scheme, plot and rule with had always been something he had envisioned. Ursa had been in no way that kind of women, she was soft, ignorant and was unable to see things from any perspective other than that of a bleeding heart peasant girl.

He had tried to… like her, understand her, truly he had, but there were only so many plays, concerts and speeches on morals he could take. "She gave me strong children at least, but I needed a women who could understand we are trying to achieve, not some 'actress'." He needed a women who was his intellectual equal, someone he could bounce ideas off and would give an honest answer.

Ozai had given thought to remarrying before, but the duties of his station required the majority of his time even before becoming Fire Lord, in fact if his father had not outright told him he was to marry Ozai suspected he would still be single.

But the end was in sight, Avatar be burned, and he planned to rule for a good many years after the world was his. "And what is a king without a queen?" Ozai let out a chuckle and pondered, perhaps a visit to the Royal matchmaker was in order.