New Chap~
Read and Enjoy :3
An insufferable grin stretched across Aang's face as he gazed as his long time friend, and sister in arms. Toph had grown considerably over the years. She was no longer an overbearing twelve year old loudmouth-now she was an overbearing twenty-two year old tank. She was easily just as heavy as him, and he was just bordering six foot. Unlike him, Toph's weight was all muscle though. Her body was comprised of compact limbs, hardened from years of earthbending and hard manual labor that flowed into soft womanly curves. Her hair was no longer shorn to end at her neck-a band protected her face from the long raven tresses that cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
As a rule, she no longer wore the standard green outfit that defined her earth rumble days, now she was decked out in an outfit similar to her masked counterpart. A loose v neck tank top hugged her form, belted down with a strapped shoulder guard. She also wore durable pants, and metal boots. White linen cloth wove around her forearm, running down the length of the arm to her clenched fists. Her entire outfit was dark black-created specifically to compliment with her duty as the General.
Peering at him with ageless azure eyes, her wolf-jaguar rested at her feet. Toph had formally dubbed the beast-Onteel to accommodate his dignified persona. Ancient legend hailed Onteel as the god of cats, and Toph thought the name was appropriate for her new companion.
"Hey Toph." He greeted her softly, crossing his arms in front of him as he studied her.
She looked exhausted.
"Been awhile. Haven't heard from you since Agni's Festival."
"Agni's festival?...Oh right."
He remembered. Right before the Festival celebrating the great Fire Deity he had stopped by the encampment to drop off supplies. He refused the mask woman's hospitality then, apologizing profusely before bowing out to go attend a gathering at the Fire Nation Capital that Zuko was hosting. It was one of the few times he saw his entire repertoire of friends, and despite Toph's absence it felt a bit like old times.
He treasured those moments.
Ached for them even.
But here, right now-mentioning such a bittersweet memory would only incite Toph's wrath so he decided to embellish a little.
"It took longer to gather supplies, things are rather sparse these days…"
"And I'm a raccoon-monkey." She said flatly, calling his lie, her tone mocking.
He made a face at her, thanking whatever deity out there she couldn't see him.
"Well if everyone wasn't so preoccupied with avoiding you like the plague perhaps it would go easier huh?"
She chuckled, reaching down with one callous hand and caressing Onteel's head. The dark beast immediately relaxed under her touch, and a deep purr emitted from its throat. Aang watched in amusement as the wolf-jaguar's eyelids fell to halfmast and it rumbled in contentment.
"People don't avoid me." He protested after letting her words sink in.
Toph snorted derisively. "Oh please. They avoid you. They're afraid of you because they think you're the Four Nation's little regulator."
A frown creased his features. "I'm not an regulator." He refuted her words quietly.
She paused in stroking Onteel's forehead and the wolf-jaguar glanced up at her petulantly, begging her to continue in her ministrations. She couldn't see its pleading look so she ignored it. Her back came to rest on against the cool stone walls of the room so she could glare at him, and Aang fidgeted under the weight of her stare. Blind or not she knew exactly where he was and what he was thinking.
"No…but you are their advocate." She replied evenly.
Aang sighed, a soft puff of air escaping his lips. "We've talked about this-I don't agree with what our friends have decided to do, but I won't fight them-I can't. You have to understand…I mean Toph, c'mon, they're your friends too."
Toph stared blankly at him.
"They're not my friends."
"Toph-"
She cut him off abruptly. "No Twinkle toes-I believe in fighting-in protecting what's mine." She made a cutting movement with her hand. "They are not protecting anything, they're mindlessly slaughtering people in the name of peace."
"It's not ideal-"
"Ideal? It's not even practical. This…utopia they've created is a giant farce. If I knew that taking down Ozai was just trading him up for a whole committee of tyrants I would have fought for him to remain in power."
Aang looked down at his shoes, silently enduring her anger. He was keenly aware of Toph's feelings and felt partly responsible for them. After the Purging began the blind earthbender listened helplessly as her associates- other Earth Rumble contenders were bodily carted off and thrown into prison or executed in secret. When she heard what happened to them, she struck off on her own determined to "see" for herself if the rumors about the government were true.
Her friends were the face of their respective Nations, and all played key parts in the government. She didn't want to believe they were capable of such monstrous actions.
A month into the Purging she left to investigate. She had a plethora of questions, but one all encompassing one: Were her friends responsible for this madness?
Almost immediately she found her answer. That same week an entire city disappeared off the face of the Earth. It was a lawless town filled with vagabonds, outcasts, and various other socially decrepit individuals. The Nations' regulators strode into town and all hell hell erupted. Toph bore witness to death of hundreds of people that day and the disappearance of hundreds more, and she still refused to talk about it. Only one survived, one lone boy survived the massacre, and Toph held him as he breathed his last breath.
It was the first time Aang had ever seen her cry.
From that day onward Toph's prerogative in life was to disappear.
She erased every last trace of herself, and no one for ten years-no one—
from the surface has seen her unless she wanted to be seen. During that time span she personally went out and tracked down every wretch, every motherless child, every last person who needed a safe haven and brought them deep below ground.
Aang never got the full story but at some point, Toph met the masked monarch of these people and bonded with her. They forged in an invulnerable fortress to protect their sanctuary beneath the earth. Toph built the underground kingdom on her own. What would have taken a group of talented earthbenders to do in 20 years Toph did in six months. She built an intricate set of tunnels leading to this trench, and with her own hands forged hundreds of homes for people to live in. The masked woman held Toph in a certain regard because of it.
His former earthbending teacher may be crass and unpredictable but at the end of the day she ruminates on things larger than herself. The masked woman was nothing to toy with either. Her past was more murky than Tophs but the people held her in equally high regard because she treated them all like her family, and always planned a way for them to survive and endure.
She made all the hard decisions, and Toph adhered to them, and the people adhered to both of them. It was a complex progression of power, but it worked. Toph was responsible for all of the elite benders, and the security and retrieval for Safe Haven and the masked woman was responsible for taking care of the camp's resources, occupations, bartering system, and the maintenance of everyone's home.
The people loved them because they didn't flaunt their power and they didn't tyrannize them with it. They provided a safe environment were no one's free will was in jeopardy. In order to acknowledge that, the people themselves were expected to take responsibility for their actions. Everyone had various jobs to do and things to contribute. Any disputes they had with each other they could work out, or fight out, but the end result was the same: someone was going to be satisfied, and someone was going to learn and grow.
Living simply forced people to become familiar with this truth.
Aang never suspected Toph would make a good ruler. Without all the political games, and subtle nuances that helped craft a government her people were content. She was keeping peace in her own way, while he was failing miserably at his own job. It was like he was twelve again struggling to grasp what being the Avatar meant.
He wasn't like Toph.
She was brutally honest.
She never faltered.
She always knew what to do, and did it flawlessly.
"I don't know what you want me to do Toph." He said, his voice resigned.
An evil smile stretched across her lips. "This is what I want from you Twinkle Toes…"
Aang paled considerably.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Cold invaded her limbs as Azula lay curled up on the floor. Her head rested on her knees and her arms were wrapped protectively around herself. She felt like she got run over by a sky last few days had been harrowing for her. People had been walking in and out of her cage to prod at her, and Zuko had ordered the guards to interrogate her to see what she remembered. They did so with sadistic glee, but despite their none-to-gentle methods she couldn't tell them anything, because when they asked what she remembered-
Her answer was: Not much.
She recalled the war, and the staggering defeat the Fire Nation suffered. She remembered being challenged to an Agni Kai and losing spectacularly to that putrid water bender. Then after that things got hazy. After the war ended she recalled losing control of all her faculties. She was beyond consolation. All she could remember was grief and an incredible amount of pain-then there was nothing.
Nothing except disjointed and fractured memories she couldn't piece together.
That didn't satisfy Zuko's little entourage though. They were probing her, asking dark invasive questions. Do you remember what happened after you were imprisoned? Do you remember the trial? Do you remember the days preceding your coma? Do you remember how you felt? Do you remember how you were treated? Do you remember the state you were in?
They wanted something.
Something happened that she couldn't remember.
Something significant.
She didn't have time to agonize over their reasons for questioning her though-not today at least. Not now.
She was expecting a visit from her brother today to tell her that the Four Nation's council had arrived to decide her fate. Although she couldn't figure out why she was going on trial-after all Ozai had been awake for years and he was still very much alive. Zuko hadn't condemned him yet. Their father had orchestrated the war, and spilled more blood than she ever had, ordered or otherwise, but he was granted a provisional life sentence.
Zuko claimed she was going to the noose.
Something was very wrong here…Perhaps it had to do with the Purging.
Her line of thought was interrupted by the heavy oak door leading to the prison slamming open. Her young guard's boyish voice resonated in the bare room, sounding even more tentative against the strained silence.
"F-firelord."
"At ease Maron." Zuko's monotone made Azula scowl, and she carefully affected a mask of cold indifference. Haltingly, with the utmost care she propped herself up against the bars of her cage, her amber eyes dilating in pain as she hauled herself to an upright position.
She rested her hands in her lap against her tattered rags. It took all of her energy to just sit up-talking to Zuko was going to put her in excruciating pain. She took a shaky breath mentally steeling herself and a minute later the red devil himself walked around the corner, his scarred features tightening in annoyance.
"Hello my dear Lord brother." She said smoothly.
He scowled, mirroring her expression earlier, and Azula internally laughed at his horrendous control. He always did have a poor handle on his emotions. "Azula." He spat her name like it was poisonous.
"Have you come to tell me my day of reckoning has arrived?" She asked, her tone icy.
"I've sent messenger the Water Nation representatives, the Earth King and the Avatar. They should all be here shortly."
"Goodie." She murmured unenthusiastically.
"I suppose I've also come to say a formal goodbye seeing as this is the last time I will speak to you until the trial is over, and you are executed." He said, smugness creeping over his face. His urge to gloat was a purely genetic quality that she could understand. All of Sozin's line were sore losers, and terrible winners.
Her hand grazed over the metal bars of her cage, and she withheld a wince biting her tongue until she tasted blood. Having even the lightest touch upon her skin burned. Even her clothes plastered to her form after weeks of not washing, and stiff from blood and grime chafed at her already abused limbs. She buried her pain with effort focusing on her brother's condescending expression.
"So my death is already a foregone conclusion?" She asked tiredly, her amber gaze sharpening as she glared at him. "Why even bother with the trial then? Why not just kill me now? Aren't I just another part of the Purging?"
She was taking a shot in the dark. She wasn't sure what the Purging was or what it entailed but by dictionary definition it was getting rid of something. She might be able to appreciate it. The way the guard spoke of it-it sounded sinister.
Zuko started, surprise making his jaw drop. "Where did you hear that term?"
Azula snorted. She wouldn't give up any of her sources. If Zuko took Maron away she might get a more experienced guard, and that could be detrimental to her health. "People talk Zuzu." She said airily. With people waltzing in and out of her cell every day her words weren't incriminating. She could be talking about anyone.
Her nonchalant attitude made him all but snarl. "The Purging has nothing to do with you. You're a war criminal being executed-that's all."
She quirked one slender eyebrow. "You're right big brother. The Purging has nothing to do with me…it's all about you."
In the second it took to blink he crossed the distance between them, his face dark with fury. His hand slipped through the bars of the cage, wrapping around the hem of her rags and dragging to the front of the cage so she slammed against the bars. As soon as she impacted against the cool metal, pain laced through her body uncompromising and unforgiving. Unbidden, an agonized hiss escaped her lips as she fought through the red haze threatening to overwhelm her.
"It's never been about me. It's about you, and everyone like you." He said, his voice low and terrifying. "You have ruined everything and I'm purging the world of your kind. No one will live in fear anymore because people like you will be gone. We're making sure of that. The Four Nations are finally at peace."
Perhaps insanity ran in the family too, Azula mused idly as she studied her brother's crazed expression. It would explain a lot…
She licked her cracked lips.
"You're pathetic Zuzu." She said tired of his melodramatic self righteous attitude. It irked her. "For all the good you claim to be doing, and for how enlightened and reformed you supposedly are your actions say otherwise. Tell me-this peace of yours how many people have died for it? How many people have you killed for it? Hundreds? Thousands? Don't insult my intelligence by saying you're a champion of peace while you sit here thriving on a throne of blood. You said you deserved the crown and you would be a better kinder ruler than Father ever was, but instead you have the Nations crushed under your heel just like he did. You easily doubled his kill record." She sneered coldly, using the only weapon she had-words.
Her head whipped back, and she tasted blood again as his hand connected soundly with her face. Her vision went white for a second, and Azula had to cradle her head as her vision began to swim. She meant every word she said. If she was going to rot in here, and die then she had no reservations about speaking her mind.
"I'm protecting my people."
"You're protecting yourself. You're a hypocrite-hiding behind peace and justice to make your actions permissible. You will go down in history as a dictator-driven by blood and your lust for power." She rasped, her voice gravelly and low. "Father would be so proud."
He raised his hand as if to hit her again, and Azula fixed him with a blank stare.
"Firelord Z-zuko."
They both turned towards the door.
"The S-s-southern Water Nation's representatives are here: Master Katara and her brother S-s-sokka. The Earth King is also arriving via t-t-transport, and is just entering the Palace gates. We are just waiting on the Northern Water tribe representatives and the Avatar. Your advisors are assembled in the war room." Maron reported dutifully.
Zuko reluctantly lowered his hand, and Azula stared impassively at him.
"It appears you have business elsewhere." She shifted, glaring up at him so he could see the bruise quickly forming on her face. "Better hurry brother."
His onyx eyes bored into her, studying her for a fraction of a second, before turning-his crimson robes swishing impressively behind him. "Goodbye Azula." He said softly, stalking away and leaving her alone with her thoughts. He left the room and as soon as she heard his steps disappear down the hall Azula sagged into the floor her fingernails digging into the metal confines of her cage.
She was so tired…..
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xX
Zuko hurried to the Entrance hall of the palace where he knew his attendees were gushing over the new arrivals. As he walked he took a deep breath to soothe his raging emotions. Azula's words still rang in his ears-taunting him.
"You're protecting yourself. You're a hypocrite-hiding behind peace and justice to make your actions permissible. You will go down in history as a dictator-driven by blood and your lust for power…Father would be so proud…"
He trembled, his hands clenching into shaking fists.
She was wrong.
So very wrong…
His father didn't care about anything except breaking people. He wanted to conquer the world. Zuko just wanted everyone to be safe. The situations weren't even comparable. This is why Azula needed to be gone. She turned every good and perfect thing in the world into something insidious. She would take the tentative peace he helped create and corrupt it. She lived to ruin things for him.
Lost in his thoughts, he barely realized when he arrived at the entrance hall.
"Zuko!" Katara's voice filtered towards him, and his features softened imperceptibly when his gaze trailed to the waterbender. A bright smile adorned her face, and he was reminded sharply of simpler times when he used to see smiles like that regularly. Now they were scarce.
"Hello Katara." His gaze slanted to her brother silently flanking her. "Sokka." He inclined his head, a small smirk stretching across his face. Sokka had grown over the years-the boy was now a man, and his sister was a beautiful woman. He appreciated them both more than they knew. They would make this whole process smoother.
He felt his anger melting away, and stepped closer to greet his friends properly. He enveloped Sokka in a half hug, and clapped him companionably on the back, and then reached out to greet Katara much more warmly, encircling her in a slightly more affectionate hug before reluctantly releasing her. "I'm glad you're both here." He rubbed his throbbing temple.
Recent events left him with far too much thinking time, and his head was beginning to hurt.
Sokka harrumphed shaking his head. "Of course we're here-this is important. You sent out an S.O.S to almost every important political figure throughout the 4 Nations, and you are bound to do something crazy so we're here to save your from yourself."
Maybe he didn't miss his friends that much.
Sokka could have stayed home…
"Thanks." He said dryly rolling his eyes.
"So how is she? Have you talked to her yet?" Katara interrupted any meaningless drabble that might have ensued stepping closer so no nosey servants could overhear them.
Zuko frowned, his jaw clenching.
"I spoke with her."
Both brother and sister gazed at him incredulously. He almost chuckled at their expectant expressions. In any other situation it would have been funny.
"And?" Sokka asked after a moment of silence.
Zuko's hands clasped together, his thumb ghosting over his raw knuckles. They still throbbed from hitting her jaw. "She hasn't changed." He shrugged unhelpfully unsure of how else to answer their question. He wasn't lying. Azula was still the same manipulative heartless wench she always was. The only difference was he was in the position of power this time.
Oh how the tides turn…
"…Father would be so proud…"
Soooooooo the tension builds-next chapter we might actually see some action. What do you all think? XD