In the Royal War Room of Ba Sing Se the Council of Five was seated around their large map of the world, Earth King Kuei presiding across from them on his palanquin, its curtains drawn, and General How at their center.
"In the past three months several villages in the south and west have refused to pay taxes" explained How to the King. "Many of the residents of these towns, particularly the Earthbenders, have openly and forcefully rebelled against our soldiers, going so far as resorting to violence and murder to achieve their agenda."
"What exactly is their agenda, General?" asked the Earth King.
"The soldiers who have returned from these attacks have informed us that despite these rebellions at first being confined to single villages the people carrying them out have remarkably similar demands. First they speak out against your rule King Kuei, and with all due respect, they say you are a selfish oppressive tyrant, whose taxes are depriving his people of life. Second, they have spoken more egregiously of this; they are quite upset that our military is cooperating with the Fire Nation army in the reconstruction and demand that they leave the Earth Kingdom immediately."
"These demands are outrageous!" said the King. "Without the Fire Nation's support and without taxation our government cannot possibly hope to be capable of rebuilding the Earth Nation."
"You are right sir" agreed the General. "The war financially drained our economy of any possibility of the government retaining the needed wealth to restore our cities and strongholds, and too many of our soldiers have been killed for us to have enough to oversee the peaceful reconstruction on our own. Though this argument as yet to detour any of the rebels."
"I see" the Earth King said. "What are the costs of this uprising?"
"Hundreds of gold pieces in taxes, nearly thousands for that matter, and our men, as well as the Fire Lord's, have suffered causalities in the attempt to quell the rebellions."
"What are the casualties?"
"Five of the defiant villagers could not be spared by our soldiers, 20 of our own men were killed, and 50 Fire Nation soldiers have fallen."
"50?" the King said incredulously.
"Their main goal is to impose the extradition of the Fire Nation military. They've shown fellow Earth Kingdom citizens quarter but they've taken extra care to kill as many Fire soldiers as possible…and practiced desecration of their bodies."
"Desecration?"
"Outside of every rebel village, the heads of defeated Fire soldiers have been mounted on posts. They have also done things to their other remains that I prefer to not describe."
King Kuei signed and reclined in his seat wearily. He mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'what a mess'. "Has the Avatar been alerted to these happenings?" he asked. If anyone could help him resolve this it would be the Avatar. If it wasn't for him he would still be living under the guise that the Earth Kingdom was a peaceful utopia.
"The Avatar has spent the past four months searching for Long Feng and the Dai Li after the attempt on his wife's life. I dispatched men to summon him. When they returned they claimed that the Avatar has evidence to suggest that the two problems are related" said How. "He has actually been waiting in the outside chamber for me to finish explaining the situation."
"Very well" said the King. "Bring him in."
The doors of the room swung open and Aang came marching in, the stress of his unsuccessful four-month-long endeavor carved onto his normally carefree face. When he searched Lake Laogai for evidence he found nothing of value there and every time he had picked up a trace, a whisper of Long Feng's whereabouts, he either arrived too late or found the information to be false.
"Welcome Avatar!" bade the King happily.
"Hello" was all the Avatar had to say. Without another word he trudged over to the center table of the room and stamped a pierce of parchment onto it.
The Generals and the King stared intently at the paper, reading it over carefully.
"Long live The Liberator" said the King to himself. It was the only thing written on that paper.
"Who is The Liberator?" said General Sung, the least prestigious of the generals.
"I think I've found out" said Aang. "I almost got killed in the process. When I was searching for Long Feng I flew strait into one of the rebelling villages. They kept chanting 'long live The Liberator' as they prepared to attack the soldiers stationed there. I didn't know what was going on at first so I hid in the village to try to find out. I listened in on a lot of their conversations. One of them talked about The Liberator. I didn't catch everything he said but I know he said something about Long Feng and inspiration. The Liberator must have been a nickname Long Feng had his agents use to disguise his identity. Too bad he didn't count on my eavesdropping. Though either way when they started attacking the soldiers I revealed myself, when they found out I was the Avatar they were mad. All of them ran towards me and tried to kill me. If I didn't go into the Avatar State and freeze all of them in a breath of ice I'd be chopped into a million pieces right now."
"That was the only rebellion that was successfully stopped" General How added. "We've interrogated the insurgents and those who cooperated gave us intelligence that confirms Avatar Aang's theories, though the one who instigated, who we believe to be a Dai Li agent it took his own life before we could question him."
"So Long Feng is convincing the commoners to rebel against me for revenge?" said the King as he processed everything he had heard.
"We believe the situation is much more dire than that my liege" said How.
"Go on" encouraged the King.
"The insurgents have not simply dispatched once their attacks succeeded" began the veteran General. "Our scouts have reported troubling news that has made us certain of that. The villages that have rebelled seem to now be working together. The Dai Li members who initiated these raids have reunited and assembled their insurgents into their own army."
"An army?" the King said flabbergasted.
"Yes" said How. "They have assembled on the southwestern peninsula here." With a long pole General How traced a circle around a large area on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. Aang recognized the spot he indicated.
"That's Haru's village" Aang said. Haru was a friend of Aang and his comrades. In the early days of their involvement in the war they had helped him free his father from imprisonment on a Fire Nation rig which allowed him and other freed Earthbenders to reclaim their town for the Earth Kingdom.
"That is correct; the village controlled by Tyro, or once controlled by Tyro" said General How.
"What?" asked Aang.
"Tyro, his son, and other Earthbenders who agreed with them were loyalists. When the Dai Li attempted the take control of their village to use its coal and metal mines, they fought against them. They were defeated."
"Defeated? Do you mean they're…dead?"
"We do not know for sure. Only one of the scouts we sent to the peninsula returned. He did not learn what became of Tyro and Haru. The best case scenario for them is that they escaped and fled to someplace under our control."
Aang was troubled by this news. As well as his friend, Haru was friends with Katara and he knew the news of his probable death would upset her. He did not wish to believe that Haru was dead; he hoped he had escaped, but he figured that if Sokka was here he would say something about how it's unrealistic to assume that he and his father survived, seeing as few people who went against the insurgents survived and it was not in Haru and Tyro's nature to run, as opposed to holding their ground and fighting to their last breath when their was trouble.
"This news is indeed startling General" said the King.
"There is more."
"More?"
"Yes. You see theses villages are not simply rebelling against your rule in the hopes you will listen to them. They are, in effect, succeeding from it. The provinces, towns, and bases where theses insurgents have surfaced have declared their independence from the Earth Kingdom and the formation of their own; they are calling their conglomerate the Kingdom of Laogai and have named this so called liberator, whom we believe to be Long Feng, their king."
"Long Feng…has his own kingdom?" the king almost whispered.
"Our scouts have brought us equally disconcerting news" How said. "We have received word that Long Feng's forces are assembling near General Fong's base, armed with the weapons and armor they have stolen from our soldiers and bases. We believe, that with General Fong's base under his control, Long Feng's army will have adequate supplies and soldiers to…"
"Yes General?" the King said impatiently.
"…to attack Ba Sing Se, my liege" How completed.
The King stood absolutely still. "…You…you are certain?" he asked quietly.
"It all fits" How said. "He has been recruiting Earthbenders and fighters from our most heavily populated and decimated areas, he captured Tyro's mining village to use its metal and coal, he has been stealing our weapons, supplies and soldiers…"
"My own men turned against me?!" shouted the King angrily. Aang had never heard such rage in his voice.
"Some of them, those who didn't were either killed or fled. Most of the highest ranking officials remained loyal to you sir, and were killed."
"Why would any of my soldiers turn against me?!"
"I suspect some of them agree with Long Feng. Though you have nothing to fear of us; the military of Ba Sing Se remains loyal to you, Your Highness, now and always."
The King did not seem even slightly comforted. "How do we know Long Feng can take control of Fong's base?"
"He has hundreds of soldiers at his command. In the last four months he has conquered nearly the entire west coast of the Earth Kingdom, save for Omashu" said How.
Aang's heart leapt at this. The King of Omashu, Bumi was one of Aang's oldest friends.
"Why not Omashu? It has many weapons and resources" asked General Sung.
"It is of little strategic value to Long Feng, being so heavily fortified and so far away from Ba Sing Se. The effort and men it would require to overthrow King Bumi would cost Long Feng much more than he would gain by conquering it so he most likely plans to leave it alone…for now."
Aang felt great relief at this. His friend was safe.
"Can we send troops to aid General Fong?" suggested the King.
"We have already sent some reinforcements but it will take them weeks to get there, plus we can spare no more. We need to focus on preparing Ba Sing Se to defend itself against Long Feng's army if General Fong's men do not succeed in stopping him" How explained.
"Are you certain it will come to civil war General?" the King asked hopelessly.
"If General Fong does not stop them…then yes, I believe that will be what it will consummate to" said the General.
"Civil war" the King said exhaustedly as he rubbed his forehead. "That hasn't happened to our country since the days of Chin the Conquer!"
It didn't help that this situation was remarkably similar to the War of Chin the Conquer, where a tyrannical radical used the unpopular rule of a reigning Earth King as his campaign to take control of the entire nation, and were it not for the interference of Avatar Kyoshi, he would have succeeded.
Aang rose. "Don't worry Your Majesty" he proclaimed. "I stopped civil war from consuming this country in a past life and I'll do it again in this one. The best way to stop an army is to get rid of its leader. I'm going to find Long Feng and I'll bring him back here to finally stand trial!"
"Pardon me Aang, but how exactly are you going to find Long Feng?" asked the Earth King.
"I've been following his trail for four months now" explained the Avatar. "I've been following the movements of his army and his agents as closely as possible. I've heard rumors of his location and I think I'll be able to find him soon enough."
"Do you require assistance?"
"No. I can travel much faster and much more inconspicuously by myself. Having an army following me would just help alert Long Feng of when I was coming."
"I see. So you will attempt to capture Long Feng. Meanwhile what remains of the military will prepare to encage the Laogai forces and to protect Ba Sing Se."
"Yes sir, Your Majesty" Aang said standing and bowing.
Iroh sat alone in his apartment in Ba Sing Se. He was thinking quietly to himself. It was that day; the birthday. It always seems like that for him birthdays were just occasions to remember how many people he had lost. Only this time it was not the birthday of Lu Ten, his late son who Zuko named his son after, it was the birthday of his younger brother Ozai, who had died four months ago.
He remembered clearly in his head the last time they had spoken.
It was a warm sunny day, though Iroh couldn't tell that from the inside of the prison. He had been welcomed in by the guards and politely escorted to his brother's cell. He saw it as ironic that the prison whose walls once had held him now incarcerated his brother.
The guards had left him alone to speak to Ozai privately.
"Hello Ozai" he said as politely as possible.
"As if my day wasn't bright and shining enough, now I have received a visit from my backstabbing older brother" the former Fire Lord scoffed.
"I know that after the way things turned out you must have mixed feelings about seeing me…"
"My feelings are as clear as your belly is wide Iroh!" shouted Ozai. "Who would have ever guessed that at the conclusion of this war that I would be the one locked away to forever rot in a hellhole of a prison while you were peacefully manage a teashop in the heart of the nation that you once swore to destroy while my worthless son reigned as Fire Lord?!"
Iroh was not at all surprised by this outburst; in fact he would have been if Ozai didn't have one.
"Look…I'm not happy the way things ended between us…" Iroh began.
"Is there a reason you're here?" Ozai snapped before Iroh could complete his thought.
"…I just want to talk."
"If you want to talk to someone, then go talk to my pathetic wretch of a son."
"Why do you talk about your own son in such a way?"
"He overthrew me and locked me in this…"
"It started long before this. You know that Ozai. Why have you always favored one child so strongly over the other? It's not fair to Zuko."
"Fair?!" Ozai flared up, as if that very word offended him. "I'll tell you what isn't fair; being the second born son your parents have by accident while their oldest son is already a famous war hero and being forced to eternally live in his shadow, knowing that you will never be crowned Fire Lord, no matter how many times you prove yourself superior to him!"
"So…that is it" Iroh said, sounding intellectually satisfied. "You see Zuko as like me, the older brother born with his destiny of success planned out for him, and Azula as you, the younger child who would never be given a chance, even if she was vastly superior to her brother, and so you do what you always wish our father did with us."
"Perhaps, I've never given it that much thought to be honest" Ozai said casually, shrugging off the mistreatment of his son as a minor detail.
"And yet in spite of all that Zuko has still always loved you" Iroh said calmly.
"He's worthless" said Ozai.
"He overthrew your crowned jewel Azula" Iroh pointed out.
Ozai took this blow easily. "Perhaps he had some unused value that I failed to see. This was my one mistake with him, other than not killing him when I had the chance" he said.
Iroh seethed with rage at this comment but kept a level head. "You once strived to be a good father Ozai. I haven't forgotten those wonderful days on Ember Island and neither has Zuko" he said.
"That was a long time ago" said Ozai. "Before I ever believed the throne could be within my grasp. My family then was all I had, but when I knew I was destined for greater power they just got in the way. You, well you existed. Ursa was so concerned with our children that all she ever could be to my goal was a nuisance. Zuko's lack of talent only further dissuaded our father from placing the throne in my hands. Only Azula was any help, her ambition, her talent, her raw hunger for power. It was their fault, not mine; if they hadn't kept getting in the way…there could have been a place for them."
"So you didn't want to shove your family aside in the greedy quest for the satisfaction of your lust of power, it was just an unavoidable side effect?" Iroh said, his contempt leaking through.
"That is one way of looking at it I suppose. They were distractions from the goal."
"…Yes. Well…Ozai I know you will most likely carry your hatred of me the rest of your life…"
"Damn right."
"…however I came to say…family is once again all you have. You have been stripped of all your power, including your Firebending. Zuko, he still loves you. You have learned the hard way that your path failed, your daughter lost her mind, your wife left you, and your son overthrew you. You can never reclaim you old life, but perhaps you can find some small measure of happiness."
"How?" Ozai snapped. Though he was angry, he seemed curious.
"Zuko is the only path to redemption ahead of you, you know that as well as I. He still loves you, despite everything you have done, even despite his scar. If you make amends with him, then maybe there's a chance for…well who knows?" Iroh suggested.
"Are you done?" asked Ozai.
"Yes I am" Iroh said as he stood up and opened the door to leave. "Goodbye Ozai."
Iroh pondered these last two words carefully. 'Goodbye Ozai', it seemed fitting that those were the last words he ever said to him.
Sorry about the wait. I've been rather busy lately. I should be able to update more now though. Also if anyone notices any grammatical or spelling errors please inform me.