Authors Note: I'm still still pretty far from finishing this but I decided to start posting some of the chapters that I've currently completed for the time being.

Another thing to note is that pretty much all of the Fire Nation material in this story is my own creation of what a post TLA Fire Nation might be like and shouldn't be construed as canon.


History Lessons


Korra knew that showing up in the Fire Nation unannounced might turn some heads but she had never expected a response, and one so quickly delivered at that, like this. A group of Fire Nation nobility including Fire Lord Izumi kneeling in the muddy field while dressed in their finest ceremonial garb. To say that she was taken aback would be an understatement but an elbow from Asami to the ribs was enough to make her realize they were waiting for a response. This whole situation felt more than a little absurd but she pressed one fist into the palm of her other hand and leaned slightly forward at the waist. "Thank you for welcoming me on such short notice Fire Lord. I'm sorry I didn't send word but it was a spur of the moment decision to come here when Asami got the letter you sent."

Izumi remained kneeling on the ground but she raised her head after Korra addressed her "Have you made any arrangements for lodging or plans for what you'll be doing during your stay in the Fire Nation?"

Korra shook her head and Asami took the opportunity to involve herself in the conversation "I can't say we've made any kind of plans but I was just assuming we'd sleep on my airship while here."

That drew a low murmur from one of the nobles kowtowing on the ground and Izumi was immediately shaking her head as she rose to her feet "Nonsense. Avatar Korra's first time visiting our nation and she was planning to sleep on an airship."

She clapped her hands once and the other nobles were rising as well, some trying to brush mud and pieces of grass off their clothes as they did so. "We have a villa on the palace grounds that the two of you can occupy but I can have the servants clear out rooms in the Palace if the villa is too much of an inconvenience." The Fire Lord gestured with one hand towards the limo that she had arrived in. "If you'll accompany me then we can escort you to the palace or anywhere else you might want to go."

Lee cast a nervous look at the Fire Lord and the small crowd of nobility that she had brought with her to greet the Avatar "If you don't mind Miss Sato, I'll stay with the ship." He didn't wait for a response and quickly retreated back up the ramp and out of sight. Asami chuckled to herself as she made her way towards Izumi's vehicle.

The back of the limousine had two seats spanning the length of the car facing each other and Izumi sat herself in the middle of one leaving the other for Korra and Asami. She reached back to knock on the wall between her and the drivers compartment with her knuckles and the vehicle shuddered into motion. Asami opened her mouth to say something but the Fire Lord raised a finger to her lips shushing the other woman as she toggled one of the switches in a small panel mounted on the wall. A number of copper meshes slid outwards to cover the inside of the tinted windows and there was a clicking sound as they locked into position. Izumi gestured at the window covering to her right "I trust you can guess what these are Miss Sato."

Asami leaned forward as she peered at the window and it's metal covering next to her before answering "I'm not quite sure. It kinda looks like the faraday cages we use at Future Industries but these holes are a lot smaller than ours."

Izumi nodded but Korra scratched at the side of her head as she asked the obvious question "A what? What's a faraday cage?"

It was the Fire Lord who answered "A faraday cage is a cube made out of conductive metals that can block electromagnetic signals. There's more to it than that but this will allow us to speak in confidence here." Her tone was still formal but there was the slightest touch of frostiness as she continued speaking "My apologies for not being able to give you a proper greeting Avatar Korra but it's as you said, you didn't let us know we were coming. If we had been given proper notice then we would have arranged a welcome suitable for your station."

Korra started to frown and she folded her arms irritably "Suitable for my station? What is that supposed to mean?"

The Fire Lord chuckled slightly but there was little humor in it "My apologies, that wasn't supposed to be an insult. I'm aware of how Republic City sees you and let me assure you that is not the case for my people. We still respect the old ways and chief among them is respect for the Avatar. I may be the Fire Lord but the Avatar answers to no one and has supreme authority when they choose to exercise it."

That was certainly different and Izumi certainly wasn't wrong about Republic City. Her arrival in the city had just barely preceded the Equalist rebellion, public opinion had turned on her after Unalaq's attack and Korra had even been exiled by Raiko once. And now here she had the leader of the Fire Nation herself telling Korra that she had supreme authority. "Just how much authority are we talking about? Could I tell you to step down from the throne?"

Izumi's face paled just a touch beneath her glasses but to her credit she remained otherwise composed "You could... but I would ask you not to abuse your power in this manner. It would do more harm than you know to depose me."

Korra had been trying to make a wry comment but Izumi's reaction had been deadly serious. Her slight smirk vanished as the sobering realization sank in. If she could order the Fire Lord to step down then Korra really did have supreme authority in the Fire Nation. "I'm sorry, that was a joke. I didn't mean it..."

She gave a tight lipped smile in response and the Fire Lord's voice sounded rather strained "I see. That's my mistake then but please try not to make any comments like that in public. People could very easily take them the wrong way."

Asami shifted in her seat as glanced around for a seat-belt but there were none in sight. There was still some tension in the air so she decided it would be best to change the subject "I have a question if you don't mind Fire Lord. Your letter mentioned a mutually beneficial arrangement, may I ask what you had in mind?"

It was painfully obvious to all of them what Asami was doing but Izumi's face relaxed nonetheless as she seized onto the lifeline she had been thrown. "Very well. Tell me, how much do you know about the founding of the United Republic Miss Sato?"

The founding of the United Republic? Asami didn't see any apparent connection between that and her question but Izumi clearly had a line of thought that she wanted Asami to follow here "It came about at the end of the Hundred Year War. Fire Lord Zuko was starting to relocate Fire Nation colonies that been established back to the Fire Nation but the people didn't want to leave the homes they had built. Things quickly came to a head at Yu Dao and it was there that King Kuei and Fire Lord Zuko made the decision to form a fifth nation."

Izumi nodded approvingly at the brief history lesson "Very good Miss Sato but you left out one important detail. The United Republic was created on the premise that anyone could live there without any restrictions such as bending or nationality. And that is what makes it unique. The world has been divided into four nations ever since Wan became the first Avatar. When the United Republic was founded no one knew what would come of it, what was going to happen. But now we have the answer. In the last seventy years we've seen more technological and scientific advancement than in the last ten thousand years. And Republic City is at the heart of it. Individuals such as yourself Miss Sato are at the heart of it. My father chose to let things proceed of their own accord but I feel it's time to take a more active hand in matters. The details will be discussed later but I want you to bring those advancements to my nation Miss Sato."

Asami stared with eyes open wide as she began to realize the potential of this carrot that Izumi was dangling in front of her. "You're serious? But there's plenty of people you could have gone to for something like this. Why me?"

"Don't misunderstand me. I would have preferred it if I could have given this task to Fire Nation engineers and scientists but they simply aren't as good as the best and brightest from Republic City. And you weren't even my first choice, I was actually planning on hiring Varrick but that only lasted until I met the man."

Izumi's mouth twisted in disapproval at the thought of whatever it was that had happened when the two of them had met but Asami didn't need, or want, to ask for any details. They were talking about Varrick after all. It was disconcerting that Izumi had said she had favored Varrick over her however. There was no denying that Varrick was brilliant but the man was the very definition of eccentric and any project he got involved with was far too likely to blow up in everyone's faces. The limo came to a halt and Izumi toggled the same switch from earlier making the copper meshes retract. "If you'd like, I can show you around the palace."

They hadn't stopped at the palace itself and instead they had found themselves on the edge of what almost looked like a desert. A flat and completely featureless field of scorched rocks and dirt surrounded the palace on all sides. No trees or plants and possibly not even a single blade of grass lay within it. Asami lifted an eyebrow at the sight before turning to look behind her. A tiny wasteland in front of her and an abundance of greenery behind her. The Fire Lord must have seen the question forming in Asami's head "It's a security measure. The Fire Lords of old feared assassination so they had this measure implemented. If there's nothing to hide behind then no one can sneak in without being spotted." She beckoned them to follow her with one hand down a stone pathway that spanned the length of the field from it's outer edge to the palace.

The palace was already one of the city's dominant features but the sheer flatness surrounding it made it's high roofs seem even larger in comparison. It was far more ornate then the skyscrapers and stone behemoths of Republic City with flame shaped statues covered in what looked like gold leaf all over the curved roofs. The doors Izumi was making her way towards had a line of people standing next to the doorway as they waited on the Fire Lord's return. They started to bow towards her when the man standing at the head of the line saw Korra and his eyes widened in surprise before he dropped to kowtow on the ground. The others started at his reaction but were quick to follow suit when they realized the Avatar herself was standing right there. Izumi glanced back to see the surprise on Korra's face before turning towards the man who had seen her first "Osamu, the Avatar and her companion will be staying here for the time being. See to it that one of the villas is prepared for them and that all their needs are met. Their ship is at the royal airfield."

Osamu and the line of people behind him rose to their feet and bowed to Korra then to Izumi before hurrying away. Korra watched him for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief "Is everyone here going to act like that around me? This feels so weird."

"If you'd like Avatar Korra I can issue a decree asking people to bow instead of kowtowing when they see you but that's the furthest I can go. Anything less would be seen as a grave insult to the Avatar." Izumi turned to head inside and after a few second Korra and Asami followed her in.

Through the door was a long dark hallway whose only illumination came from lamps dangling on ropes from the unusually high ceiling above. But the main feature of the room was the stretch of gigantic portraits lining the entire length of each wall for as far as Korra could see. Izumi came to a halt in front of the ones closest to the doorway and clasped her hands behind her back. "My apologies for asking for another history lesson Miss Sato but I assume you can tell us who these people are?"

Asami looked at the present Fire Lord curious at what she was getting at now before turning her attention to the paintings themselves. The first was Izumi, looking much like she did right now and the next was her father Zuko, scarred face and all. They all had the same basic stance, standing straight with flames above one or both hands but the three preceding Zuko had something extra in common. "The first one is you obviously and that's your father which means the next three must be Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin but that's from memory since I wouldn't be able to tell from the paintings themselves."

The three Fire Lords before Zuko, both in reign and on the wall, had quite literally been defaced. The canvas was intact but the faces of the three Fire Lords were covered in what looked like a thick layer of smoke residue. But only their faces, everything else on the painting looked to be in pristine condition. "Correct once again. I'm sure you're wondering why these paintings were only damaged and not taken down. My father did consider having these burned but removing them from this hall would only be a way of pretending that the atrocities they committed didn't happen. Instead he made the decision to leave them in this condition so that all who come here would remember what was done by my predecessors and by the Fire Nation."

Asami turned away from the paintings to face the current Fire Lord "I'm curious about something now. It's a small sample size but I've noticed the way people are reacting to Korra because she's the Avatar so far. If the Fire Nation respects the Avatar so much then how did Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai get people to fight against him during the Hundred Year War?"

Izumi looked at the marred painting of Sozin before answering "At the risk of being rude I'm sure I don't need to tell you how effective propaganda can be Miss Sato. Sozin had decades to put his plans into motion and for all his faults he was an extremely charismatic man by all accounts. In hindsight it's not surprising at how effective he was when he had so much time to sway public opinion." She hesitated before adding one last line "Not that I support his actions, but it would be foolish to say he wasn't successful. However this is a discussion for another time. I apologize for not being able to show you more of the palace right now but there is the matter of the arrangements I mentioned in my letter. Unfortunately I won't be the one discussing this with you, it's been delegated to... another person. Go to the end of this hallway and take a right and it'll be the second door on the left."

Korra and Asami exchanged a confused glance as the Fire Lord headed back out the door they had entered the hallway from. The room in question looked empty when they arrived but there were a pair of devices atop a table in the center. Asami recognized one as a mover playback device but the second was unfamiliar to her. She frowned at the sight and turned towards Korra "Does anything about this feel odd to you?"

Korra snorted in mild disdain "Try everything since we landed. I don't get what's going on here."

The two of them both took the opportunity to speak and they ended up talking at the same time.

"What did Izumi mean about you and propaganda?"

"Why does the Fire Lord have a faraday cage in her limo?"