Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. :)
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Chapter 17: Fuel to the Fire
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She came out of that room wearing a simple soldier's uniform. Sokka himself saw the use of that, the symbolism behind it. She was saying that she was a fighter, someone in favor of progress, someone who took action instead of someone who sat down and sorted through paperwork all day.
Progress.
This was the key word here.
Ru followed her, and Ami brought up the rear. Both looked like they were in good spirits, but not exactly in a joyful way. They looked devious, and Sokka didn't like that one bit. Toph felt Ru's footsteps connect with the ground. Every step he took that she could not sabotage was pure torture. Sokka kept a firm hand on her shoulder to calm her anticipation, but it only made her more anxious.
"Good evening," Azula greeted her audience. She looked down, but instead of looking at them, she looked into them. She saw the gnawing hunger in their eyes behind the mask of pompousness. She herself was known throughout the Fire Nation as a brave, intelligent leader, and this was what those people yearned for.
She could be that leader, the leader they needed, the leader they would back up. She saw the potential these people had as her followers. They already supported her subconsciously because they all held similar beliefs. All she had to do was summon their inner support and allow it to become conscious.
Easy.
"You are all about to enter a crucial time in your life," she told them, authority dripping from every syllable. Zuko looked away, unable to succumb to his sister's power, even as a speaker. "I am merely a humble informant, here to ask of you only what you are willing to give.
"You have all been assembled here for the simple reason that you all share an opinion: you believe that Fire Lord Zuko is weak, ineffectual, and unworthy of his title. I also share this opinion.
"Zuko," she said, no longer using his title, "is unfit to rule this great nation. He was an outcast and he sided with the enemy during the war. He fought against us - he fought against all of you - when we were in our prime, when we were finally close enough to taste victory. He tore it away from us, from all of us. From me, from you, from your families and friends. He tore it away, thrust it out of our reach. He took away our power. Today you have the choice to take it back."
They were studying her now. Something she had said -everything she had said- had caught their attention. She noticed this and smiled inwardly, proud of her personal victory. Her features, however, remained solemn, so that she might keep their attention.
"I am offering you an opportunity right here, right now. I can help you change our circumstances. We can overthrow the Fire Lord, can snatch him out of his status like he snatched away our victory. We can restore the power that we were robbed of four years ago. We can rise again, like a phoenix from the ashes, and take back what is rightfully ours. The question is... are you ready?"
The crowd began to murmur. They liked what this girl was saying, liked the approach that she was telling them to take. They liked her idea. And, perhaps most importantly, they were ready.
"Are you prepared for what could happen? Are you aware of what is at stake? Do you know what this is going to cost you? Most importantly, are you willing to make the sacrifice?"
People nodded, some barely, some vigorously. A few whispered, "Yes," to themselves. "Yes! We are ready!" some yelled. All, however, except the five spies, believed that they could and would do whatever it took to make this woman's words real. This was how they saw her now- not a girl in her late teen years. A woman, a woman with plans, with intellect, with a certain deep and precise sophistication about her.
"You say that you are! But do you mean it? Do you feel the victory in the very blood that runs through your veins? Do you?"
"YES!" many yelled. Men and women, many who were burly but whose vastness was concealed by layers of clothing, pumped their great fists in the air. Some of the more reserved but passionate followers simply raised their glasses, but even this was good enough for Azula. It was all fuel to her fire.
"Are you willing to risk your lives for the sake of the Fire Nation? Are you ready to give everything you have to put our nation in its rightful place of honor?"
"Yes!"
"And now I ask you... would you be willing to accept me as your leader, a leader who stands for what you stand for, a woman who understands everything that you have been through and would risk everything just as you would?"
Everyone (except the five uninvited guests) was on a roll. They would have said yes to any question she asked next, but they did back up their answer. "Yes!" each agreed. If anyone was fit to lead them, she was. She truly believed in the future of the Fire Nation, that they could and would become victorious again. She was obviously intelligent, too, and she radiated power. They could tell that she was an extremely powerful firebender, and none of them had ever actually seen her fight. They had only heard her speak, but that was enough. Her talent and prowess echoed in every word she spoke, every step she moved, every breath she took. They all knew, in their hearts and minds, that they could never ask for a leader that exceeded their standards as much as she did, so they accepted her with open arms. And they'd only heard her speak.
Of course, it was only natural that they would want to actually witness a display of her talents, but they did not ask it of her. They knew that, in due time, she would show them what she was capable of, and they were all too willing to wait.
They would wait for her.
Aang knew a good speaker when he heard one. Azula was extremely talented in many areas, he knew, and this happened to be one of them. She had quenched a thirst that only these powerful, promising words could do. She had given them hope for the future that they had worked for all those years in war. He understood the fulfillment they must have felt, but knew that now, with this kind of feedback, Azula would be especially dangerous.
Katara had never heard such a powerful speaker in all her life. Before that day, she had considered her grandmother the best orator, but now... her grandmother would never have been able to hold a candle to Azula. The princess was strong, she held emotion behind her words. She needed these words to be true as much as her audience. She was doing this to avenge the one thing she had ever felt truly close to - her country. Her home. Katara understood.
Sokka was perhaps the most awestruck by her style. She was manipulative, she was ruthless... but she knew what she was talking about, and the people believed this of her. She had given them the chance to have it all back, and he knew that they had been ready to receive it. She, with all of these people -people with wealth, people with status, people with influence-, would be a force to be reckoned with. He began to recognize how much of a threat she truly was now, now with all of this. He had never heard her speak with such raw power and sureness. It amazed him.
Zuko knew his sister better than anyone. Her was not surprised at her skill - he'd always believed that she was perfect, that she could do absolutely anything better than anyone. He was angry because yes, she had been supposedly executed, and here she was, giving a speech that clearly said she was planning to overthrow him and rule the Fire Nation - his nation - herself. He hated her more than ever. How could she do this to him? How could his own sister, the girl whose blood had come from the same two people as his... his younger sister on top of that! How could she take from him everything that he had ever worked for all his life? Of course... Was that any different than what I did to her?
The earthbender had interpreted more than any of them. They had not felt the speaker's vibrations as she had; they had not witnessed the horror that was really Azula's words. They had only heard the surface, had only taken in the bare minimum. She knew that, in every word Azula spoke, she had never lied. Azula truly believed everything, every word, every syllable she had said to them. She believed it with everything she had. She would give her dying breath for every word she had said that evening to come true. Cost was not an issue. The value of what was at stake, the absolute loyalty and dedication she felt toward everything she had ever had and pined for... every feeling that she had ever felt for her cause was reflected in her words. Sokka had felt raw power, and Toph felt raw emotion. Azula was a deeper person than any of them had ever truly realized. She had hopes and dreams and fears just like everyone else.
To Toph, the scary this was... all of her hopes, dreams and fears were based on a cause that she and her friends would give their very lives to keep from happening.
This was the core of what really made them enemies. Toph saw this now and held more respect for this woman than she had ever felt in her life.
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