Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. I would like to think if I did thee would be no energy bending deus ex machina, and that Azula would have gotten a more explored ending than just leaving her weeping with a hand wave asylum mention. You do not do that with one of the best characters in the series!
But then again the are rich and successful, while I am myself.
Betaed by: Zim'smostloyalservant.
Plans and Premonitions
Katara watched mountaintops pass her by as they rode over the clouds. She resisted the urge to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't a dream. Looking over to where Sokka sat, one hand firmly latcheded on the saddle, another not far from a belt knife, reaffirmed it enough. Who told him a mustache was a good idea?
It was all just so surreal. She had given up hope of rescue long ago. As she had been carted up to the Fire Nation capital and seen the massive defenses, as she recalled. Katara had been too jaded to seriously consider it after leaving with the Prince either, as mostly it would be a switch of captors.
But now she was free! The Fire Nation for the first time since she was a child had no power over her. And Sokka of all people here now. But of course, as unbelievable as her brother was, her eyes drifted to the boy in strange clothes at the reins of the sky bison.
She knew about Air Nomads, from the stories passed down through her tribe and from the Prince's scrolls. She had seen the Western Air Temple and tried to understand her own bending through their scrolls.
But still, even when he had appeared in front of her, she hadn't guessed until it was laid bare. If rescue had been laughable, he was impossible.
And he was the Avatar. She felt she should be giddy about it, the protector of the world had finally returned, and he had even begun his task by saving her.
But it was just hard to react to.
'Am I really that jaded, more like the Prince and less like I should be?' she wondered. Her role had been nothing but a tag along, irrelevant really. Now it felt as if she was caught up in one of the legends, a great tale unfolding. What place did she even deserve in it?
"The Southern Air Temple; it's time I met someone," the Avatar spoke up, guiding Appa towards majestic towers rising from the clouds.
Later:
"HELLO? !" Aang called as they stepped through the fancy door. Katara looked up at the high vaulted ceiling, and took a reflexive step back, seeing the multitude of figures on the higher levels.
"Statues," Sokka commented. Katara saw he was right; she hoped he was just stating a fact rather than reassuring her. She was a tough escaped slave, not a damsel, after all.
"Wow, I had no idea we had a place like this," the Avatar commented, inspecting a statue Katara assumed to be an air nomad woman. Strange haircut, she noted.
"Surprised the Fire Nation didn't break in; I mean, if I found a big fancy door I would break it down to see what was on the other side. Not that a room full of statues is my idea of treasure. Now, a library of super Avatar secrets, that might be the ticket," Sokka mused.
"I guess the door was just that good. Hey, they're arranged in the Avatar cycle," the Avatar realized, following their spiral pattern. Looking over the vast stone assemblage, it hit Katara why this room would be so relevant to a young Avatar.
"These are your past lives," Katara spoke up. They shared a look, Aang awed then happy at the thought, while Sokka frowned thoughtfully. Katara did not notice him picking out Firebenders in the line.
"Someone clearly had a liiittle too much time on their hands. I mean sure, oodles of neat statues, fantastic. But I can't see what good it does us Aang."
Katara sadly agreed. She would guess a priest or shaman would have used this room to teach Aang his legacy before he began his journey, meeting himself after a fashion. Even if the Fire Nation hadn't touched this sacred site, their reach had still robbed it of purpose. Aang seemed to ignore their gloom, making his way to the center of the spiral to stand at the room's center, looking at the statue next to him – a regally attired Firebender with a long beard and crowned topknot.
"Avata-"
"Avatar Roku," Sokka supplied, stepping up to the statue.
"Right!" Aang chimed, until he saw the scowl and hard eyes on Sokka.
"He destroyed the old Fire Nation royal palace and forced Fire Lord Sozin to end the first Fire-Earth Conflict. He spared Sozin's life and earned the title Roku the Merciful," Sokka recited, stepping up to look the statue in the face. Aang smiled at the story, while Katara watched her brother warily.
Sokka spat in the statue's face. Aang's jaw dropped.
"Sokka!" Katara shouted. Sokka stepped back and glared at the flabbergasted Aang.
"It's because of Roku's mercy the world's like this, Aang. If you want lessons, learn from Kyoshi, she killed her enemies," Sokka declared.
"You can't talk to the Avatar like that Sokka," Katara objected, stepping between the two.
"Why not? The Fire Nation just built a new palace, and once Roku died they went on the war path anyway," Sokka shot back. Aang stepped around Katara, getting the warrior's attention again.
"My people believe life is sacred Sokka; Roku did the right thing sparing a life. Especially the life of an enemy," Aang explained. Pulling out a cloth, he drifted up for a second to wipe Roku's face clean.
"That Airbender pacifism – look where it got your people Aang, and say that works!" Sokka shouted. He spread his arms to take in the empty temple. Aang flinched, and Sokka did as well when his own words sunk in.
Katara glared at her brother and put a hand on Aang's shoulder, but pulled it back, remembering whom this was.
"I'm, uh, well," Sokka stumbled. That had gone too far, but saying he was wrong would be a lie, he thought.
"I need to think," Aang stated. He walked out of the gallery solemnly, his usual energy absent. Sokka found himself alone with Katara, her arms crossed, a finger tapping a bicep.
"What?" Sokka demanded, pride reasserting itself. Katara raised a hand, and even as he realized what was coming he did nothing to stop her from slapping him across the face.
"Freezing seas! What was that for?" the warrior objected, putting a hand to his throbbing cheek.
"The Avatar is the savior of the Free Nations, you can't talk to him like that!" Katara shouted. Sokka's remorse finished evaporating fully, replaced by anger.
"Aang has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone! I mean, did you hear that Airbender crap? That's not what we need to beat the Fire Nation. The Azure Dragon would eat him and wash him down with tea!" Sokka objected.
"He already saved me," Katara shot back.
"What! ? I'm the only reason he's not still napping in that iceberg, I'm the one who risked everything to save you! If it weren't for me you'd still be that prince's whore!" Sokka bellowed. The last word echoed in the chamber and Sokka froze as Katara stared at him, wide eyed.
Sokka's posture drooped and he looked at his sister, mouth moving soundlessly. He didn't get a chance to find words, as she turned on the spot and stormed out of the room, trembling. She didn't let him see the tear squeezing from her eye.
Alone in the gallery, Sokka smacked himself in the face, pulling the hand down it. Letting out a deep breath, he glanced back to Roku – was the stature watching him? Nah, if it was it'd be pissed, and if anything it looked sad.
"Toph was right, my mouth can dig a hole faster than her bending," Sokka sighed. He would have to apologize, but for now it might be best to let them vent, but how long would be too long?
X X X
Royal Palace, Fire Nation:
Azula was sure to keep her expression neutral as she looked down at the campaign map. She had foregone the seat at her father's left hand to sit at the right hand foremost seat of the command table. She did not sit as second in line for the Throne, but as the most favored General.A little something she had learned about Uncle doing. Somewhat scandalous in his day, but now it was seen as a parallel with a distinguished predecessor.
'How Uncle would rage, knowing I use his legacy to further my rise,' she thought.
Still, such pleasant thoughts as vexing His Royal Kookiness could not detract from the strategy that had been laid out before them. She lifted her eyes to look at the man sitting opposite her.
And it was opposites; if she was the heroic prodigy, he was the gentleman veteran, Admiral Chang the Sea Serpent. He had been something of a rival for her Uncle ending the Earth Kingdom's last credible naval threats to the West and breaking the back of the Southern Tribes. But that had been all – the real glory was seizing territory on the Continent, and the Dragon of the West had more charisma on his worst day than this prune on his best.
If Admiral Zhao hadn't ended himself, the Sea Serpent would have been put out to pasture like her old teacher, she was sure.
But for all their differences, she saw similar unease in his mind at the plan.
"Daughter, you seem troubled," the Fire Lord spoke from behind the flames.
"My Lord Father, I concede this plan can work, but I question the course. At its core, this offensive is based on overpowering the Earth Kingdom on the seas, sky, and finally land."
"Go on."
"A direct attack plays to the strength of the Earthbenders, and they have been making advances in recent campaigns in replicating our metallurgy, closing the gap. What's more, they have been fortifying Sanin to withstand such an attack since they moved their capital there.
"Though we would achieve victory, it would be at great losses. Perhaps a more innovative approach is in order," she suggested. There were glances along the table; it was noted she was questioning her father's sponsored plan. The game was getting very dangerous – after all, ill chosen words here could end in an Agni Kai.
"Dying for the glory of the Fire Nation is the purpose of our soldiers. Perhaps you have yet to realize this in your limited experience," one of her father's senior pets snorted.
"And here I though their purpose was to be victorious. And men are so much more able to do that when they are still alive, I have found," Azula mocked with an impeccably respectful tone. The white bearded fool scowled but did nothing else.
"Do you have a proposal to counter this strategy with, General?" her father asked imperiously.
She suppressed her own scowl and pretended to study the map.
The answer was, unfortunately, no. She had been able to outmaneuver and outthink enemies despite the armed frontier the Earth Kingdom was trying to maintain. But it was still slow going; she had not even claimed a fourth of the land Uncle had. And she was the most successful one at this table!
First, everyone assumed the Comet would end the war, then they had assumed with Ba Sing Se gone the Remnant would collapse under siege. Father had thus promoted and appointed on loyalty rather than merit, this assemblage of outdated fossils, sycophants, and engineers being the result.
It surprised her that it angered her so much to see the military reduced thus. Apparently she had become a bit attached to the institution… fancy that.
"No, your Majesty, the only other option is to continue as we have, devouring their domain piece by piece," she answered.
"Perhaps the Princess fears her army is not up to the task of securing Sanin for the Fire Nation?" toady number two, the chinless wonder, commented.
"The Third Army is more than capable, it has won more glory for the Fire Nation than any other force under the banner," she answered evenly.
She could feel her father's smirk beneath his veneer of calm. He would force her to destroy her own forces with a needlessly bloody battle, and she would have to thank him for the honor of doing so publicly.
Sanin was no Ba Sing Se, but if it fell the Remnant became untenable. That desperation, along with the Blind Bandit and Mad King leading the defense…
'Set me back by years or disgraced like Uncle, well played Father. And there is also the fact I might actually be killed with those two there.'
Well, as officers joked on such situation, "At least the Avatar's still gone."
As if her thoughts were a summons, the doors to the war room opened wide. A single Royal Firebender entered and kowtowed before the assembled commanders.
"What is the meaning of this interruption?" the Fire Lord demanded. His voice did not rise, but his tone made it clear the answer would decide the fate of the man who had violated protocol.
"Your Majesty, honorable and mighty commanders, I beg your pardon for disturbing your most important deliberations. A messenger hawk has brought a scroll from the Southern Raider fleet. It is marked to be delivered into the hands of the Fire Lord without delay."
The feeling of irritation and even anger at the intrusion vanished, replaced by curiosity and anxiety.
Azua's blood was freezing as her father beckoned for her to fetch the message. She retained her calm air and steady pace, resisting the urge to snatch it from his hand and rip the seal off. But no, the war room was sacred, and she was on display before men whose allegiance she would need.
Need for putting Zuko on the throne. Assuming the most obvious answer to what was in this message was a lie. Zuko had been investigating the Far South, and his death was the only matter she could think of to qualify for this kind of message.
The flames surrounding her father died down as she placed the scroll in his waiting hand. He broke it quickly but without haste, bastard.
She expected his satisfied smile so much she actually saw it, before she realized his face didn't match up to what she was really seeing. For the first time in ages, she saw confusion and honest surprise on her father's face. He wore it well and the fools behind her likely wouldn't have caught it had he not held their undivided attention.
'What in the Sunless Lands?' she thought to herself as he regained his composure and took up a look of irritation.
Later:
"Really, the Avatar?" Ty Lee nearly squealed in excitement. Azula sipped her tea, rolling her eyes at her friend's excitement. Her excitement was predictable; she got the same way over a pretty seashell or her favorite pastries.
"Zuko thinks so at least," Azula answered. Ty Lee looked at her, puzzled, her own tea seemingly forgotten. The two sat around a tea table that had been set up in one of the garden courtyards. Most of the flowers in the beds had died down, but the arrangement of vegetation was still pleasing.
"You don't believe you brother?" Ty Lee was shocked.
"I believe he believes it, certainly. But Zuko has been looking for so long, it's easy to see him seeing what he wants to see.
"For one, the Fire Sages have never reported a new Avatar's birth, so that means the same one from a hundred ears ago. So the boy Zuko describes doesn't match. Also, while the boy may have answered to the title, an odd lie I admit, he was only seen bending one element," Azula ticked off with her fingers, still holding the cup.
"Oh, but still, an Airbender! Zuko is so lucky!" Ty Lee cheered, then drooped a bit.
'Miss your own traveling days? I will need to find some way to brighten your mood,' Azula mused internally.
"Yes, as I said myself after the Generals tore apart Zuko's 'Avatar', an Airbender still warrants our attention. I admit the idea that a people who specialized in avoiding and evading threats had been hunted to extinction has never quite struck me as plausible. Slaughtered, yes, but the idea they were all caught… no plan ever works that well. If even mine don't, that must have also been true for Fire Lord Sozin," Azula said.
"So you don't think he's the last Airbender?" Ty Lee pressed.
"Unlikely. I don't know why they have decided to show themselves; even after a hundred years they should be too few to stop the war. Especially given their poor reproduction record. But even so, they could be quite the problem, and the sooner we know more, the sooner we can begin their subjugation," Azula answered.
"So, Zuko's going to attack . . . Kiyoshi Island?" her friend finally recalled the name.
"More like a raid, it seems. He has tapped our local spies to watch for the 'Avatar' and will raid the island to draw him out and capture him."
It was a no win situation – if Zuko caught the false Avatar and returned him, Father could kill him for breaking his vow. But failure would only further dim her brother in the eyes of the people. The third possibility she didn't think on. She made to sip her tea, scowling, only to find it empty. The lump of leaves looked like a mountain, she noted idly.
Royal City:
The conference had wrapped up, and soon the assembled would scatter to the winds again. But in the meantime, the military elite and nobility assembled for the Royal Naming and the conference took advantage of the capital in lavish banquets.
At one such banquet, in a noble mansion, an elderly nobleman ascended a staircase away from the mingling crowd below. He glanced back as he clutched the railing, the youth flirted behind the backs of chaperones and the middle aged did the same with spouses; it was a motley assemblage lacking true traction or relevance that had descended on him this evening. But someone had to host the undesirable hanger-ons, just another sign of how far he had fallen since losing the Fire Lord's favor, he thought.
Reaching the next level, he walked down a corridor past bare walls that had once held grand tapestries. Selling bits of his house to pay for minding Ozai's court trash; the salt was kept rubbing he thought, leaning heavy on a dragon bone cane.
The door to his precious study was guarded against intrusion by fools, at least – by two beautiful women no less. One his youngest daughter, the other two years her elder, a granddaughter.
They nodded to him and he spared them a fatherly smile, slipping into the room. The door closed and his back straightened. He tucked the cane under his arm, looking about the scroll lined room, an up to date map of the world holding pride of place over the fireplace, which was burning high and bright.
Five men sat around the room on his chairs and couches, sipping his sake.
"Why is this fool here?" he demanded, using his cane to point to a heavily bearded admiral.
"The fool, as you say, is enlightened," a fellow grey hair spoke up.
"So he is. Are you truly prepared to do what needs to be done?" he asked the assemblage of officers.
"Kensei, we six have already proven ourselves to one another time and again. This is not the time for you to be paranoid," one spoke up.
"Someone has to be paranoid, Ikeda. I have not assumed the role of a beaten dog jus to be executed for treason. So what is the news?"
"He's mad; the Fire Lord's scheme is Ba Sing Se all over again. Only this time the blood-rivers will flow from our nation as well."
"And yet you stayed silent, and went along with it?" Kensei sneered.
"And would do so again. Ozai is no Sozin, or even Azulon; he no longer sees disagreement as less than treason. Only the Princess could safely object, and he brushed aside his heir's words like stray hair," Ikeda remarked.
"Yes, the princess – we know Ozai is mad, what of this Azure Dragon?" Kensei mused as he reached for the sake bottle and took one of the other saucers.
"She is unnatural; even a man that age should not be as capable as she is," Ikeda reported.
"Bah, that's to the good. What you call freakish, I call the divine blood showing true. Her achievements and the blue fire make her the ideal leader for a new era," a mustached colonel spoke.
"Tomomori, she was his favored child for years, over his first born son. We should be wary of anything Ozai favors," the admiral objected.
"And who would you place on the Blazing Throne? The Wandering Prince is a joke, the masses only know him as a lecher," Tomomori countered.
"For now, he seems determined to pursue this Avatar business. The Dragon of the West's star fell swiftly, Zuko's may rise in the same manner," Kensei mused, pouring himself a drink.
"Impossible; the ministry of information has been ordered to minimize any mention of the boy. Ozai made the mistake of letting one child step out of his shadow, and he will not repeat it."
"The question is why? Iroh won glory greater than his father, and Fire Lord Azulon loved him for it. Why has Ozai turned his back on such a blessing of a child?" Ikeda interrupted.
"That is what we are meant to find out, and you have failed yet again. We have no time for debate, so I will ask for your vote – shall we approach the Princess to place her on the throne?"
"If Ozai is a usurper, Iroh is the rightful Fire Lord," Ikeda declared.
"That dragon has lost its claws and given into the indolence of old age. We need the power to move forward, not back," Tomomori objected. Ikeda looked for support, and while finding some sympathy, no voice was raised with him. He looked to Kensei, and frowned.
"You demand answers of us, yet your granddaughter has been by her side for years," Ikeda pointed out. Kensei sipped his sake and stepped in front of the fire.
"Mai has little love for her mother, and sadly, by extension, me. She will go far; she's more like me than my sons, and if she has deemed the princess a good investment…" he turned and raised his saucer, the others following suit, save for the saucerless Admiral.
"To the Azure Dragon, once she returns from Sanin she and the Phoenix Pact will begin a new era," Kensei declared. Draining his saucer, he allowed a rare smile. He had hoped to make Mai Fire Lady, and have her rule through that weakling prince, but it seemed it was not to be.
Azula was said to spurn men, despite power granting her the means to indulge. Rumors swirled about her and that circus girl; perhaps he could get Mai into Azula's bed for the family's sake?
Those were concerns for another day – for now, they would begin writing the final chapter of Ozai's era.
X X X
Southern Air Temple:
If Aang looked hard enough, he could see what had been, instead of what was – the temple alive and full of monks, the scents and the sounds drifting just beyond his reach. A cold wind blew across him and reality was lifted bare before him.
The young man sighed; he couldn't help but remember Gyatso chiding him gently years ago for trying to mend a too broken toy. One of the first lessons in letting go he had truly taken to heart.
A home was not a toy though, he thought, looking down from the walkway to where he had played air scooter with the other youths.
He felt shame, recalling his frustration and anger as they had firmly pushed him away as an outsider after he was revealed as the Avatar. They had been polite, he supposed, but that had made it worse. They treated the idea that he was no longer truly one of them as a simple fact, not even entertaining the notion it could be anything else.
And now they were dead? And he was standing alone, hardly changed, while all trace those boys had ever lived was gone.
At least Gyatso's statue was still there; in a way, his mentor had awaited his return. That comfort was short-lived, as it brought him back to the gallery of statues, and Sokka.
Air monks were respectful as a rule. They were not as reverent to 'things' as other nations, their famous sense of humor coming to mind, but they had lines they were told to respect from a young age.
His initial reaction would be to dismiss Sokka as unenlightened and forgive him while seeking to improve him. That was the Air Nomad way, that or ignore the problem and move on if possible.
But he couldn't do any of that. That gallery meant something, and he knew Sokka was wrong to desecrate it. But his words…
"They can't be gone, not all of them," Aang whispered, looking over the grounds he could see.
Wars decimated other nations, but for all their history the Air Nomads had been above those conflicts. Their homes were either literally above the wars or easily moved to places of safety. Some chose to involve themselves – to much argument to this day, he had gathered from Gyatyso – but in the end, their peace had long been unbroken.
Sokka claimed the way of peace had been their downfall. To agree to that would mean admitting their ways had been wrong, compared to the warring nations.
No, a people who lived by the words avoid and evade couldn't be wiped out! They would scatter… and hide.
Yes, that made sense. His people let the world think them gone and soon they were forgotten in favor of the threats that could still be seen.
"I am not the last Airbender," he announced to the empty temple.
Elsewhere:
Katara was not appreciating the sights of the Air Temple; in fact, she saw little more then the stones in front of her feet.
"Sokka," she spat the word.
"Stupid, inconsiderate…" her insults trailed off into grumbling. Stopping, she glanced to the side and saw a row of icicles. Lifting an arm, she seized the ice and broke it free to slam it into the stones, shattering.
"I am not a whore," she whispered dangerously.
It had been foolish to forget; she had thought the Fire Nation would be behind her, a chapter in her life closed. But the lie the General had made to protect his family had tainted her. As a slave, it had been only an insult, it hadn't been like she had a say in the matter.
But now, it was a thread. A damning thread, which would connect her to that arrogant sister fucker for so long as she lived. His lover… it was setting in that even the tale of her rescue would spread the idea among the free peoples.
Even if he was cast as a rapist and her as his innocent victim, it was still her. And most people would not believe it if she denied it. Why would they, when the whole Fire Nation knew why their Prince was banished? Why would they when all the Free Nations knew what monsters the Fire Nation were?
She was Zuko's Whore… she couldn't cry. She wanted to, but even alone it felt like giving up something else. She had held onto her pride, her maidenhood, and it didn't matter.
She wanted to hate the General for it. It was his fault. But Katara couldn't, as angry as that realization made her; she couldn't hate that man. He had tainted her to protect two people from a worse fate.
She could tell the truth, but what would that do? The Fire Nation would laugh it off as a cheap way of revenge and an absurd lie. Her own people too, most likely, a fanciful tale concocted by a lying harlot.
"It's not fair," she whined.
"Life never is," she quoted that mad Waterbender she had met all those years ago.
She had tried to forget the woman, while keeping her lessons. Whatever she had been, that pirate had been full of madness and hate. She had even admitted Katara was just a way for her to get back at "them".
She had claimed to hate her own tribe more than the Fire Nation. Tried to get Katara to swear to kill a man named Pakku; she had refused and the woman had seemingly forgotten the whole conversation at that point.
Her life seemed like Airbender ruins – something sad that should have been grand, but was just broken and empty.
The Avatar, her rescuer. Sokka may have come for her, but Aang had been the one to take her away. She had decided that very night she would repay him, whatever it took.
Her empty home had broken her heart. But it had already been hardened by the Fire Nation. Aang, for all his power – and she knew he had to be nearly a god as Avatar – had been innocent.
And Katara at least had known her people were out there somewhere. Aang was alone.
"And here I am whining while he's dealing with this," she sighed, shaking her head and planting her hands on her hips.
Her brother was still a jerk though.
X X X
?:
Sozin's Comet… to other nations, it was a day the Fire Nation's power briefly increased, when the balance tilted in their favor. It was true, but it more than that.
There were depressing philosophies that lamented fire as a hostile element of destruction, but the truth rang through for most. Fire was life, anger, joy, love, and hate, all the passions that reminded one that you still drew breath.
On this day, life overflowed in Firebenders, begging release. Perhaps some like her uncle preferred to chain their carnal side, but most were wiser.
She knew in some part of her mind her father was razing the greatest city in the world, and that across the continent Firebenders harnessed the power to wage war, giving into anger and rage, but it was irrelevant.
Across the Home Islands and Colonies, the comet was greeted with unfettered flames. There would be damage despite preparations, and certainly deaths, but this was the Day of the Comet; modern sensibility gave way to ritual written in blood.
Fire sang and they would dance to its melody even as the world around them burned.
She had left the palace, for this barren hill, long since consumed by industry. Her azure inferno quickly burned all fuel as she danced, enraptured eyes heavenward.
Of course she was alone; master benders always sought isolation now to avoid destroying others in this state, all knew where she had gone and thus gave her wide berth. She was young and oh so strong, any who drew near knew they would be consumed by her.
Yet he came, the one she doubted anyone had cared enough to note his absence. Wreathed in his own crimson raiment and pushing back her veil of azure, he came into sight like Agni descended.
Her flames were high, rising with no fuel but her.
Violence was only half – as death was partnered to life, so too did the comet call forth the loins.
There was no caution or hesitation, the sky burned and so above, so below. She dominated, he submitted without dispute. Guilt and fear burned with the world as the comet bore witness to them.
It faded with her cries of rapture, other women called as such with their consorts where fires burned, and he solitary roared as power flowed through them, seeking shape. And in distant lands, the world burned under the Fire Lord's will.
The sky dimmed, the power faded, flames extinguished as benders dismissed them before returning to mortal fatigue. Others fell without extinguishing, some would burn for their sloppiness, and others would burn for someone else's carelessness. All was as it was meant to be.
Azula looked up to the sky; she lay back among the ash, bare as the day she was born. She cried from exertion, as she hadn't in years. Part of her regretted wasting the power on barren land, but was it right to cheapen such a thing with utility?
She had felt like a goddess, and she would never feel that power again until she entered Agni's halls. It should have vexed her, but her contentment seemed unflappable.
The sky was calm now; she regretted casting her garments aside earlier. Even before her brother's arrival, she had wanted the energy beaming down to be unimpeded. Surely all was ashes now, a rather awkward walk back to civilization.
The Princess' head did not turn, hearing footsteps muffled by the ash. She could delay that walk with a follow up. Hmm, perhaps he had a cloak?
Her eyes closed as he approached; this time he would lead, she had decided. Azula heard him kneel beside her, yet her mouth twitched – the sound was somehow off?
Hands touched her neck; rather than elation it felt like ten tiny eels on her skin. Two iron clamps crushed down on her neck, as her eyes flew open.
Iroh looked down on her, and his fingers dug into his niece's neck. She tried to gasp, but there was no air. A hand slapped at his face, only a hand. Firebending came from the breath, and she had none. Nails dug into his cheeks as she writhed against him, but her strength faded swiftly. A fierce flame burns out quickly when denied fuel.
He watched as anger gave way to fear, and fear to pleading terror. In the end Azula looked human when she realized her fate was sealed. The light left her eyes and Iroh lifted his hands away from the once immaculate neck.
It had not been his will, but it was his hands. He should feel horror, disgust, something… but he did not. He noted a single tear rolling from a blank eye and reached out to wipe it away.
Flesh gave way beneath the light touch, graying and collapsing before his surprised eyes. Even the hair was not spared, and in moments Azula was nothing but ash among ash, only the vague shape of her form distinguishing her from the rest.
By an impulse born from he knew not where, his right hand reached out to plunge into the mound that had been her left breast. Fingers closed about something hard and he pulled it back.
He held up the crown of the Fire Nation; catching the light in its gold, he remembered for a moment why he had once dreamed of wearing it.
He realized someone was behind him, he could smell blood on steel as if it could be anyone else.
"Zuko," Iroh spoke. Steel sang through the air.
"Azula!" Ty Lee yelled. A hand smacked her face with such force, that even reflexively turning into it sent the acrobat back a step. Hands that had been shaking her friend went to her face, checking for bleeding.
The fleeting distraction past, she looked back to the bed where Azula had cried out. She was awake, but not better. The General sat up, breathing heavily, a hand tenderly massaging her neck. Her eyes were wide and darting about, seeking whatever nightmare had plagued her.
"Are you alright?" Ty Lee asked, approaching cautiously. Anyone else she would have hugged or comforted, but Azula… Azula could be strange about such things. When those eyes turned on her, they held something Ty Lee had never seen before.
"Get out," she ordered. Without another word, she lay back down and laid on her side, facing away from her friend. Ty Lee looked at her; she would have no more sleep tonight.
"You don't have to be perfect for me," Ty Lee told her. She sat down on the edge of the bed. Azula did not acknowledge her words, but she did not tell her to go again.
They stayed like that till daybreak in silence.
X X X
Southern Air Temple:
The assurance that the death of this place was not the death of his people had lifted much of the weight from Aang. It still stood as a testament to a world gone wrong, but those thoughts were tempered with an assurance all could still be set right in time.
He knew he should be heading back to the others; he had collected himself, and he could see Sokka's words for the impulse they were. He had little right to hold poorly considered action against anyone, and Sokka would likely apologize in that reluctant way of his.
Also, from what he had seen of Katara the two probably had a fight after he left like that. Since it was in a way his fault, he would have to do something about that.
Katara… there was a thought that lifted his spirits. He had asked Gyatso about love, as most of his teachers dismissed the question. Gyatso had simply told him two things – it can only truly be experienced, not taught, and despite what many people in his life would tell him, it was a good thing.
With a wind-enhanced jump, Aang left the air ball court behind. It held fond memories, as the entire temple did. Now that the veil of sadness was being lifted, he could take those memories in as they should, rather than attachment that weighed him down.
"Aang…" it was so faint, that even as he turned his head he doubted he had heard it. He was puzzled, landing on a balcony and looking around – probably just the wind.
The then he heard it again.
"Sokka?" he asked. No, it was a man's voice, but not his latest friends. But there was no one else here, right? It came again; he followed.
"Aang, Katara! I'm a jerk, a handsome jerk, but still. So let's agree on that and get out of here!" Sokka called out, walking through the deserted halls of the temple.
The architecture was too open for him, vulnerable. Clearly the Airbenders had relied too much on their isolation to defend them. His own people built to keep the elements out, and the Earthbenders erred on the side of the solid in their buildings.
He recalled some crazy guy who was a professor that had grilled him on his tribe's customs. Professors were scarce since Ba Sing Se burned – apparently that guy survived by running around the wilds instead of being at home.
Being crazy had its perks, just look at King Bumi.
Oh right, apologies.
He took in a breath to call out again, when a shadow moved on the floor. He was not alone.
Meanwhile:
Aang was stunned.
Like his mentor, Aang generally liked surprises. They kept life interesting. But there were bad surprises, such as the fact that after being revealed as the Avatar that title seemed to define him in others' eyes more than his own name.
Since being woken by Sokka, he had received such surprises one after another. Katara had been a silver bright spot – why couldn't she have been the one to wake him into this era?
For the most part, he had been able to keep the distance and deal with it. Just like with the incident in the sanctuary. But this…
Monk Gyatso lay dead before him. The decades had left only bones and rags, but even without the medallion, Aang would know him. It was to be expected, part of him insisted; even had he escaped the purge Sokka told him of, the man would not have lived so long.
And it grieved him to see not the slightest dignity had been given to his dearest friend's remains.
This shook him, but it did not drive him to his knees. The Firebenders did. Dozens of armored cadavers surrounded Gyatso. Everywhere else only ruins told the tragic tale, but somehow this chamber had stood untouched.
'Waiting for me to witness,' he realized, 'The Avatar connected to the spirit world, the voice calling me here.'
Gyatso's death threatened to send him into the abyss, but he could hold if barely. But this…
His mentor had killed; the monks did not do that. They didn't even slaughter animals as other nations so callously did everyday to feed themselves. Gyatso had violated that taboo many times over.
"Why?" he cried, feeling the dead's eyes upon him.
Anger came to him – it was not his, but it burned through him. Burned yes, everything burned. They had not sought it, but it had found them regardless. The screams, burning as they fell. Not the masters meditating calmly as they died, but others. No, the children, terror, pain, and anger, so much anger.
Gyatso… tossed away his trail to nirvana rather than let the children burn that day. The day this war began, the day Aang wasn't there.
Aang had lived a mostly carefree life, and shaken his head at those carried away by anger. He did not appreciate the irony as he rose from the ground.
X X X
Crescent Island:
Light poured from the sanctuary as the pair of Fire Sages looked on with awe at the sight. The senior sage recovered his wits from the splendor first, and turned to his subordinate.
"Send word to the Fire Lord immediately, the Avatar has returned," he commanded. The younger man ran off to carry out the order. The senior sage frowned, narrowing his eyes to make out the statue of Avatar Roku.
"Why now, what could you hope to achieve?" he demanded.
Silence was his only answer.
X X X
Southern Air Temple:
Katara had followed Aang, even after he ignored her calls. Strangely rude of him, so she decided it must be some Avatar thing. His gliding had worried her, but he used it for little more than to cut corners.
She had waited after he turned into this chamber, but then came that eerie light. Katara tried to tell herself it was something a mortal shouldn't be party to, but she didn't listen to herself.
Any doubts that Aang was no mere mortal vanished as she stepped into the doorway. He floated amidst roiling winds, tattoos glowing as the source of that light. He turned slowly in the air, eyes shining like suns. She fell to her knees, and in doing so saw.
The corpses, and the medallion adorning one. Aang's arms flexed and the winds picked up, whipping debris into their flows.
It occurred to Katara this might not be a good place to be right now. Rock crumbled and cracked; she turned her head to see stones the size of a fist flying towards her.
With a grimace, she ducked her head and held out her arms. Maybe staying on the ground would have been a better idea?
The Waterbender heard the stone hit something, but felt nothing. Hands touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Sokka standing over her, grimacing.
"Ow," he groaned, pulling her to her feet.
"Sokka!" she exclaimed. He began to pull her away, looking to Aang like he was some kind of monster.
"Don't worry, an angry Earthbender hits me harder with bigger rocks on a regular basis!" Sokka yelled, over the roaring winds.
"No! We can't leave him like this!" she corrected.
"What! ? He isn't the one in danger here!" Sokka protested. Katara watched as the armored skeletons shifted under the force of the wind. The monk's skull was not similarly braced. A gust plucked it off the spine and smashed it against the wall; it fell, with a crack spreading across it.
"Aang, stop! You're desecrating them!" she yelled, advancing on him and shrugging off Sokka. Glowing eyes locked onto her, and she halted in her tracks. Swallowing, she pointed behind him. He twisted to look, seeing the head less corpse.
His face was out of sight, but she saw his shoulders tighten then slump. The glow faded from his tattoos as he descended, the winds dispersing. Everything was back to normal as he went to his knees before the monk's remains.
Sokka watched Katara walk to him, and with a moment's hesitation, lower herself to embrace him from behind.
The warrior shifted nervously on his feet, unsure of what to do with himself in a moment like this. As it was, the sound of ripping cloth broke the moment before he could.
He watched the white furred, big-eared meat creature escape the satchel with a cry of indignation. Catching sight of him, it gave that shriek-growl-thing, and leapt onto a surprised Katara's head. Sokka tried to snatch it, but his back chose that moment to protest its earlier punishment, so rather than grab the meat from her head he more or less tackled his sister and Aang.
"What's going on?" Aang asked at the bottom of the pile.
"Sokka's an idiot," Katara answered as the lemur landed on the warrior's back.
Later:
Sokka watched the pyre burn with Katara. It was very makeshift, and indoors to boot. Sokka wouldn't have bothered, but Aang had insisted even the Firebenders be seen to.
The young Airbender had gathered up Gyatso's remains in a bag he had found somewhere and disappeared with them. The Fire Nation burned their dead, the Earth Kingdom buried them, and Sokka's people gave them to the waters; he wondered what the Air Nomads did.
"Thank you," Katara said. He looked over to her; she looked tired in the light cast by the funeral pyre. It was this place – it was all a tomb now, whatever Aang thought. The sooner they returned to the real world the better.
"Did you think I would do anything else?" he asked, giving his own weary smile.
"Not that, for still looking for me after all these years. I'm sure people told you it was foolish to hope," she elaborated.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I was called a fool.
"Sorry about the… Prince thing," he added awkwardly.
"He never did you know. I'm still a maiden Sokka," she told him. She turned to watch him. There was surprise in his eyes, but not disbelief. He sighed with relief and she felt that weight on her lighten. He smiled and she smiled back; her brother believed her word, and without question.
For this moment, at least, it was enough.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Aang spoke from behind them, and they jumped in surprise.
"What are you doing sneaking around?" Sokka demanded reflexively. Aang smiled at his antics.
"Was I sneaking? I thought I was just walking with Momo," Aang answered.
"Momo?" Katara asked. He gestured to his shoulder, where the lemur emerged, nibbling on a peach pit.
"Great, dinner gets dinner and I'm still starving!" Sokka griped.
"Let's go guys, this isn't where I need to be," Aang told them. The others left first, with Momo hopping onto Katara, leaving Aang alone for a moment. He watched a charred Firebender helm burn in the pyre, and wondered what tomorrow would bring.
X X X
Royal City Outskirts, Fire Nation:
Azula gave a final wave to the crowd, before vanishing from the boarding deck into the sky ship's interior.
Ty Lee followed moments later, taking her time and enjoying the attention. It was the girl's principal vice after all.
Ty Lee would want to get to the observation deck to watch the launch; Azula would have sooner retired to her cabin to begin work. But she owed Ty Lee some indulgence. After a crewman bolted the door shut, Azula walked toward the ladder.
She could almost feel the girl in pink perk up before following her. She ignored it and focused on ascending.
The deck was small, and they were alone, thankfully. Ty Lee followed her up from the hatch and sprinted to perch herself atop the guardrail. Azula joined her more sedately as the ship began to lift off.
"The city is so beautiful," Ty Lee gushed as they lifted into the sky.
"Of course it is," Azula answered.
"This Avatar business will be a problem," she commented. The Sages finally proved useful confirming the Avatar had indeed returned. She was still a bit hesitant to believe it was Zuko's boy, but her father had taken it as too much coincidence.
"What? But now we know, Zuko will be happy, right?" Ty Lee asked, bending to look at her friend without leaving her perch.
"The Avatar's power is worrying, even Sozin was wary of facing that power alone. Father will not trust Zuko with this task; he will try and undermine his efforts, I imagine. It was never meant to be more than a fool's errand, and now it has become one of the highest priorities for the Fire Nation.I think those peasants actually thought I was leaving so fast to pursue the Avatar," Azula frowned.
"Is that a bad idea? I mean, if anyone could beat the Avatar, it would be you, right?" Ty Lee asked innocently. The princess gave a small smile, a genuine one.
"True, but that is not going to happen. Father will not allow me to gain that much glory; if I do that, I could practically demand the throne from him. Besides, abandoning my post would destroy what I have been building.
"No, the campaign will have to bring me to the Avatar," Azula admitted.
"What about Zuko?" Ty Lee worried. Azula almost answered that he had Uncle Iroh, but those words caught in her throat. She frowned, brushing her collar.
"I will do what I can to aid my brother," she answered. Ty Lee nodded, accepting that answer and went back to watching the world below them.
Azula could spare a man for such a task, but it hardly seemed enough. Zuko was going to be hunting the Avatar after all.
She would have to discuss it with Mai, and it was perhaps time to bring her long term plans for that girl into motion. Her friend disliked being used, but this would be something she would enjoy, and guarantee her freedom from her family. Now, if only Azula could make herself happy about it.
By Agni, the Princess hoped her capacity for sharing was greater than she dreaded.
A.N.
This chapter seemed to fight me every step of the way. Only the dream bit came smoothly. Quick updates jut don't seem fated for this story. But I will still try and get the next one out before the end of march.
Next chapter will be Raids and Assassins, in which lots of stuff blows up.
Also for the rewrite element, Ryuk is officially out.
I also have a visual for the story but it is kind of a spoiler.
Well hope this gave you some enjoyment. Until next time thanks for reading, Kassel out.