Voila, the next chappie.
Nobody knew why the twenty-eight year-old princess just suddenly left her post in the middle of the cold war. Ever since the disaster a year ago, Republic City has fallen into chaos. See, a year ago, during what has become known as 'The Triple Triad Trials', the leader of the triad indeed exposed himself to the public. He was a firebender, and a savage tyrant by the sound of him. His name was Lightning Bolt Zolt, and he was young and very charismatic. He and some of the higher members in the triad disrupted the trials and managed to rescue their captured members, injuring many metalbending officers and even incapacitating Toph for a short while. In the end, they were forced to retreat when Aang entered the Avatar State, but it was still the most humiliating experience Toph suffered, and she vowed revenge. Not only that, some of her metalbenders died a few days after the trials, their injuries having been too extensive for even the best waterbenders in the city to heal, and Katara could not get there on time even if she wanted to.
Therefore Sokka, Aang, and Azula had all promised to Toph that vengeance would be served. Aang even proposed that when they catch Zolt, he would take the man's bending away like he did Ozai's, as lives had been lost because of Zolt's lightning.
That is why it was so surprising that Azula suddenly withdrew from Republic City. She left in the middle of the night, leaving a note to Aang. Needless to say, the Avatar was furious, but could not leave his post as he had an important duty to the city. Now the council was missing its Fire Nation representative and one of its best fighters when the city needed her most. Katara, Mai, and Suki and her Kyoshi Warriors are all going over to replace Azula, who was on her way back to the Fire Nation right now.
The sun set beneath the horizon as Azula's ship docked at Caldera City's harbor. She leapt down from it and propelled herself directly over the winding path and over the volcano's edge, landing in front of the Royal Palace. Zuko, having caught wind of her sudden return, went to greet her in the front courtyard, albeit not with a happy expression.
"What were you thinking? Aang sent me a messenger hawk saying that the triad is making their move." Zuko said. "Why did you leave? The girls had to go because of your disappearance."
"I'm tired." Azula snapped. "I spent fourteen years of my life striving for perfection preparing for a war which I lost in the end. Then I spent two years in an asylum, and now I have to take care of problems in a city that you and Aang made. Granted, I have grown attached to it and honestly? I care for the city and I have poured much into protecting the people and trying to fend off the triad. Zuko…I was gone for two years fighting another war that's not even my own." She said. "You forced the job of councilwoman onto me, and I accepted it without much of a complaint, even if I had to leave almost immediately." She gave him a pointed look, walking towards the inner parts of the palace. "I helped Aang, Sokka, and Toph take care of the city. The Northern Water Tribe's representative does nothing to help us, and Haru is caught up doing most of the paperwork and training new metalbenders after he perfected the art with Toph as his teacher. Effectively, the city was run by us and protected by us, and I have done a reasonable job so far." She said, and there was nothing Zuko could say to counter that because she was right. "I really need a break. I cannot go anywhere in the city without people pointing and staring at me."
"Azula!"
Before Zuko could retort, Ursa had Azula in a loving embrace.
"Oh, look at you!" She cooed. "You've grown so much! Oh I missed you so much my baby girl."
"Mom, I was twenty-six when I left, now I'm twenty-eight…I'm not sure I get the logic there." Azula said, but she was smiling as she hugged her mother back. "I missed you too."
"AUNTIE!" A voice yelled excitedly. As soon as the two women broke apart, a missile slammed into Azula, knocking her back a few steps.
"Now this is what I call having grown a lot." Azula said. "Look at you, you're up to my chest!" She said, taking in Kazura's appearance. "How's your firebending training going?" She asked.
"It's great! I've mastered all the forms in advanced, and I'm moving onto the master ones. Dad says he can't teach me anymore. I have to find a master." Kazura pouted.
"Zuko, you can't be serious." Azula looked at the Firelord blankly. "You haven't learnt the master techniques?"
"I was banished when I was thirteen, Azula, give me some credit." Zuko said frustratedly. "I could still learn." He grumbled.
"Well duh." Azula muttered. "C'mon, let's go in, I'm starving." She said. "The food in Republic City just doesn't live up to good old traditional dishes."
"I'll tell the chef to make your favorites." Ursa smiled warmly, heading towards the kitchens. Zuko, Azula, and Kazu walked into the spacious dining room, settling down comfortably.
"What, Zuko, where's Mai?" Azula questioned.
"She returned to Omashu to visit her parents." Zuko said. Azula nodded. That was good news for her plan.
"Did anything happen the two years I was gone? You didn't keep in contact with me at all, Zuzu." Azula said in an accusatory tone. "I sent you a hawk the day I arrived, but I never got a letter back."
"I never received one." Zuko said, a troubled expression on his face.
"Maybe the hawk got into an accident." Kazura said. She missed the look her father and aunt shared. They certainly didn't think it was an accident.
Ursa returned with Iroh in tow, and the royal family ate their dinner in a comfortable silence, someone occasionally praising the food, or sharing a joke.
After dinner was over, Zuko called Azula to his office. She made her way there and closed the door behind her.
"I assume you wanted to talk about the intercepted hawk?" Azula questioned, sitting down on the other side of the redwood desk. Zuko nodded. "I only wrote to you stating that I had arrived with the others and we had successfully set up the council, and I was to stay on Air Temple Island with Aang, Sokka, and Toph. I don't think that counts as classified information because it was public anyways." She said.
"Who could have intercepted it, though?"
"A lot of people." Azula shrugged. "Some kid wanting a hawk or someone firebending it down for fun, or just for food." She said.
"We both know it wasn't any of the above." Zuko said harshly. "What do you really know?"
"It was the Triple Threats." Azula finally sighed. "Nobody else would have bothered to do something like that. Messenger hawks are too intelligent for normal people to know how to handle them."
"But the only people who know how to capture them by force come from the Fire Nation…more specifically, from the army divisions or the palace itself." Zuko said.
"Exactly." Azula said gravely. "The Triple Threats are made up of three kinds of benders. Most of the firebenders in the city aren't native. They fled our nation under your rule because they're not happy about the peace. I'm sure you understand that a nation full of prosperous people about to win a war would not like to suddenly be put in the position we were put in after the war. They were close to total victory, and now we still have to pay reparations to the Earth Kingdom." Azula snorted. "The war ended when I was fourteen, Zuko. We're still giving nearly a third of the money produced by our exports to the Earth Kingdom. Have you seen some of the cities and towns there? Now that Kuei is back on the throne and a lot more assertive, each city has its own nobles, and none of the people are starving. Our nation?" She laughed. "I used to think that peasants only came from the water tribes and the Earth Kingdom, but now our country has more than both of them." She said. "So it's not surprising at all why some of them went."
"But I put down any rebellions claiming to be 'Loyalists'." Zuko said.
"Zuko, they're not stupid." Azula said. "They know that father is useless now. They're merely using his name as a rallying point." She said.
"But they are surely with the triad?" Zuko asked worriedly.
"These 'Loyalists'?" Azula frowned. "Probably, but you've taken them out, right?"
"Most of them are in the Boiling Rock." Zuko said with a grim smile. "Some of them escaped, but I've heard nothing."
"Hmm…" Azula narrowed her eyes. "That's good…that's good…may I be excused?" She asked formally. Zuko gave her a strange look.
"By all means, just walk out, Azula. There's no need for formalities." He said. Azula chuckled.
"Good night, Zuzu." She murmured softly. Once she was out, she hurried to her room and changed into nondescript clothes, throwing a huge cloak on. She snuck out of the palace and to a house on the outer edge of the caldera. She rapped on the entrance smartly.
"The morning sun of our nation's glory." A rough voice whispered after a moment.
"Shall give rise to the ashes of the phoenix." A smooth voice completed the sentence. The door opened.
"You weren't followed, were you?" The man asked.
"I'm not an idiot." The woman retorted in a low voice.
"Good. We move before dawn." He said. "All the other members are gathered in the basement. They await your orders, princess Azula." He bowed.
"It seems the Loyalists have been doing well." Azula muttered as she flung open the door, revealing rows upon rows of solemn-faced men and women.
"Princess Azula." They sunk onto their knees, heads bowed, showing respect.
"Rise." Azula's voice rang loud and clear. She lowered her hood and examined the neatly arranged group of people. She turned to the man who had greeted her at the door. "Your plan?"
"We are to move into the palace, incapacitate the guards, and our elite team is going to sneak in and pretend to be the servants." He gestured at a small group of people at the back. "One of them will put bending-suppressants in his morning tea, and then you will challenge him to an Agni Kai, princess."
Azula smiled darkly. It was a truly ingenious plan. "And you are sure you can pull it off?" She questioned. "He will not accept an Agni Kai at dawn. It's fought at sunsets, in case you've forgotten."
"He won't wait until sunset if you force him to." The man said. "He's already thrown many traditions out of the window."
"True." Azula conceded. "Very well." She said. "I will be your Firelord after dawn tomorrow." She said. "Don't screw this up." She walked off the stage, throwing her hood on.
"You heard the princess! Get back to training!" The man yelled as Azula made her way out of the run-down house.
She returned to the palace quickly and to her satisfaction, she found a messenger hawk waiting for her in the perch in her room. She took the message from its back and checked the seal, noticing that it was unbroken. Breaking it, she scanned the contents.
The plan is in motion. We move tomorrow evening and kill him as discussed. You know what to do.
"So they'll do it even if the intended recipient doesn't get this note." Azula murmured. "Perfect." She looked at the messenger hawk and stroked its head. She opened the windows wide and it nipped her before flying out, spreading its majestic wings.
The piece of paper withered into ashes in her palm as golden eyes stared at the waning moon in the dark sky peppered with white-blue stars.
With an almost inaudible sigh, the princess let the ashes fall to the ground before going to her desk. She picked up the brush and dipped it into the pot of ink.
Dear Zuzu…
An hour of grueling thinking, writing, crossing out, and rewriting later, Azula finally dried the paper and rolled it up, placing it in a secret compartment in her room's wall. She washed up and went to bed, preparing herself mentally for the chaos that was sure to come the next morning.
Indeed, chaos reigned the palace even before the sun rose. Azula found herself in the middle of it with a smirk adorning her face.
"Hello, Zuko." She said calmly as the Firelord burst into the courtyard where they fought their last Agni Kai.
"Azula!" He shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here? What's happened?"
"Oh, don't act so surprised, Zuzu." She rolled her eyes. "I made this happen." She smirked.
"You…you conspired with the Loyalists?" Zuko snarled. Azula laughed.
"Of course! I'm here to take back my throne!" She snarled back. "I've been waiting so long for this moment! I challenge you to an Agni Kai, right here and now!" She said, getting into a fighting stance. "And if you have any honor left, you'd accept." She smiled darkly. "Or are you too afraid that you'll lose?" She mocked.
"I accept." Zuko growled just as darkly, shedding his heavy robes.
"Put that crown aside, Zuzu. You won't be needing that after this." Azula taunted. Her mindset was straight and clear and she intended to walk this path to the end.
"Fine." Zuko removed the crown and tossed it into one of the nearby bushes. He assumed a traditional stance.
For a few seconds, the royal siblings just looked at each other. The atmosphere was tense. At that moment, Iroh, Ursa, and Kazura rushed over, all looking disheveled.
"Azula! What are you doing!?" Ursa cried, horrified.
"What does it look like?" Azula chuckled. "I'm getting my throne back, of course!" She didn't look at Kazura, but she could picture the expression on her sweet niece's face.
"Then come and get it!" Zuko roared, punching forward just as the sun rose above the crater. There was an awkward silence when his flames fizzed out right in front of his fist.
"What was that?" Zuko said, shocked. He tried again, but was met with the same results. Azula smirked and generated lightning quickly, blasting Zuko off his feet by aiming for the ground right in front of him.
"AUNTIE! What are you doing?" Kazura cried out, tears running down her face. Ursa restrained her, shedding tears of her own. The resulting explosion from her lightning threw them backwards. Iroh quickly covered the two of them as they were launched back. Azula laughed madly, but it wasn't with reckless abandon. A more observant person at a better time might have noticed that it was forced, but nobody present did.
"Bending suppressant, Zuzu. You really should check your servants again." She smirked, taking a packet of powder from one of her pockets and forcing it down a dazed Zuko. "That was enough to strip you of your bending for a day." She smirked. "Loyalists!" She called. Men and women alike surged in and took Zuko, Kazura, Ursa, and Iroh.
"Throw them into the dungeons and do not underestimate them under any circumstances! I want them guarded at all times, and suppress Iroh's and Kazura's bending." Azula demanded.
"Yes princess." They murmured, dragging the four royal family members away. Zuko spat at Azula, who just regarded them emotionlessly.
"Princess, when do you wish to be crowned?"
"My coronation can wait until tomorrow." Azula said dismissively. "After you station guards around the four of them report to me in the throne room immediately." She ordered.
"Of course, princess." They bowed. "Drag them away!" One of them barked.
Azula turned her back on the retreating forms of her mother, uncle, brother, and niece. Her mouth was set in a hard line and her eyes were resolute. She retrieved the crown and stared into her distorted reflection in the gold.
"Forgive me."
Oh, Azula, you keep us guessing all the time.