Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 46: Truth and History
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Ba Sing Se)
A week after Zuko's coronation, the team was in Ba Sing Se. The entire week had celebration after celebration and now, it was back to business. Ever since the liberation of Ba Sing Se, much of the city's reconstruction went to repairing the Outer Wall. The city's Lower Ring had also been given significant attention. The Middle and Upper rings were also repaired, albeit at a slower pace. One of the first things reparied was the Jasmine Dragon, getting a moderate makeover in the process.
It was inside the Jasmine Dragon that Team Avatar was enjoying Iroh's newly brewed tea, while watching Jiraiya and Iroh play a game of Pai Sho. Only an hour into the first game, Jiraiya groaned as Iroh grinned lightly. "I win," he declared. The board was cleared and reset.
"Damn, and here I thought I was doing well," Jiraiya groused from the other side of the table. They played the same game three more times, and he lost each one.
"Don't worry about it, F. S.-sensei," Zuko told him from a nearby table, cup in hand. "I don't think there is anyone in the world that can beat Uncle at Pai Sho."
"First of all, don't call me that," he said. "Second of all, somebody will beat him one of these days."
"Then I have something to look forward to," Iroh said with a laugh.
"Hey Aang, have you heard?" Sokka asked the Avatar from where he was sitting next to Suki. "Apparently, you have a fan club."
"We know. We met them while you and Suki were out sparring," Katara said shortly. She and Aang were sitting next to one another at the next table over. She clearly didn't like the thought.
Aang didn't see what was wrong. "I thought they were nice," he said. "They were going to show us the club house, but we were supposed to come here right away."
"They kept gushing over you, Twinkle Toes," Toph said, completely and obvious annoyed by what she saw. "I honestly thought I was going to puke after talking to them for five minutes."
"Looks like somebodies got Fangirls," Sokka said in a singsong voice.
Jiraiya snapped his head at the Tribesman. "Don't even joke about that," hetold him with complete seriousness.
"There's no need to worry just yet," Naruto said, sitting by the open door with his book open and a cigarette in his mouth. "Those weren't Fangirls. Not yet anyways."
"Are you sure?" Toph asked the blonde. "They seemed like Fangirls to me."
"Trust me, they were not Fangirls. A Fangirl will scream at a pitch that will make a dog go deaf whenever they see you, stalk you relentless if they ever find you, knows everything about you, has a network of spies watching your every move, is able track you by pheromone, has a giant painting and/or picture of you in their room, and most important of all, will try and rape you at every chance they get."
Those who were not used to Fangirls in the room looked at him. "…You're not kidding, are you?" Sokka asked him.
"No, he's not," Azula said. She had seen enough of his Fangirls to last her a lifetime.
"How would you know? You don't have any Fangirls."
"No, but I have Fanboys." Everyone (except for Naruto) fell silent at that. Fangirls were bad enough, but Fanboys. It was too disturbing to think about it even actually.
"And the number of Fanboys you have will probably go up soon," Naruto remarked.
"So will the number of Fangirls you have," she retorted.
"Can we please talk about something else now?" Jiraiya asked.
As if to answer his prayer, a messenger arrived at the entrance. "Avatar Aang, the Earth King is ready to meet with you," he announced.
They stood in the throne room of the Earth King, all easy stances and big smiles. "Hello again, Avatar," the Earth King greeted him.
"Hello, Earth King Kuei," Aang greeted in return.
Jiraiya tapped Aang in the shoulder. "Didn't the monks teach you how to address formal heads of state by not calling them by their first name?"
He was taken aback by the Toad Sannin's sudden stern lecture, having been used to literally everyone acknowledging him as someone with a uniquely high rank. The fact that someone had the wisdom to point out the improper manner of addressing an actual ruler was almost lost on the entire team, except for Zuko, Naruto, and Azula.
"I'm sorry about that. How do I address the Earth King then?" Aang asked nervously.
"You address the Earth King as His Majesty," Azula said as she approached the Earth King, who grew nervous at her presence. "Have you been doing well, your Majesty?" She did her best not to appear too threatening.
The Earth King eyed her wearily. Although he knew that the princess of the Fire Nation was now on the Avatar's side, he couldn't help remembering how she managed to hold him at flame-point when she was taking over Ba Sing Se. But at least Naruto succeeded in having the corrupt Long Feng executed for his crimes against the Earth Kingdom.
Naruto laughed when he saw the Earth King's expression. "Don't worry, Your Majesty, she's not going to hold you at flame-point again," he told him.
"I hope you will forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe."
"No offense taken."
"People, let's focus on the meeting here," Sokka said. They weren't here to pass the time shooting the breeze. They had important that needed doing.
"Sokka's right," Katara agreed.
Aang nodded. They were right. "Then let's discuss how we're going to remove the colonies."
"What in Agni's name are you talking about?" Azula asked, looking at him with surprise. "Those colonies are staying."
"They can't stay, Azula. The four countries must remain separate." He made it sound like it was the most obvious thing on this side of the planet. "The colonies are a part of why the war happened."
"That may be, but they don't need to suffer for it! Did you know about this?" she asked Zuko, swinging around to look at her brother.
"Yes, I did."
"Those are your people now, Zuko. Why would you let this happen to them?"
"You're making sound like we're going to be killing the people there," Kuei protested. They weren't going to do anything of the sort. The war was over. He wasn't trying to start it again.
"Azula, we're planning on having the colonists come back to the Fire Nation, that's all," Katara explained.
If that was supposed to be calming, the Waterbender missed. "And by doing that, you're destroying their lives!" Azula retorted, getting angrier as the minutes passed.
"We're not destroying anything!" Suki protested. It was just a peaceful relocation. That was it.
"The balance has to be restored, Azula," Aang told her. "The only way we can do that is remove the colonies from the Earth Kingdom."
"That was the balance before the war. Things are different now," she replied. They didn't have to go back to the way things were.
"Fire Lord Zuko, will you not say anything?" Kuei asked him.
"…I am not certain of what to say," he answered after a moment of silence. "I want to see the balance restore as much as Aang does. But Azula does have a point when she says that lives will be destroyed if we go through with this."
"You have to choose, Zuko," Katara told him with a scowl forming on her face. "Either you help us, or you will turn against us."
"A rash decision here could lead to war again, Katara," he replied. "This is not an easy choice."
"Yes, it is," Aang said. "Either you help us remove the colonies or not. Either way, they will be removed."
"Aang, what about a compromise?" offered Sokka. "We only remove the more recent colonies and keep the older ones under supervision."
"The four countries must remain separate, Sokka," the Avatar said stubbornly. "That's the only way harmony will be created."
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you! Those colonies must go!" he shouted. Tensions were beginning to raise around the group, and it looked like blows were about to be thrown.
They all heard a large clapping noise. "Okay, everyone pay attention!" Jiraiya ordered. "If this keeps going, you will all soon start fighting." He turned his attention to the Earth King. "Is there anything this meeting was about, Your Majesty?"
"No, this was the most pressing issue," he answered.
"Then I suggest we meet again tomorrow afternoon. That will give everyone here sometime to cool their heads."
"But it has to be settled now!" Katara protested.
"If you try to settle it now, you'll end up fighting with each other, and that can lead to another war. Take a breather," He ordered.
Everyone could feel the intense mood hanging over their heads. If anyone said the wrong thing, the entire meeting would erupt into a battleground.
"Lord Jiraiya is correct." Zuko finally said. "We will reconvene here tomorrow afternoon. That will give us time to think things over."
"I agree with Fire Lord Zuko." Kuei agreed. "We will meet tomorrow." He stood up from his chair. "Good day, everyone," he told them before walking away, Bosco right behind him.
"I can't believe Zuko would consider leaving the colonies alone," Aang groused as they sat around the house. Zuko, Azula, Jiraiya, and Naruto had all gone back to the Jasmine Dragon for the night, figuring that some separation would help.
"He is trying to be a good leader, Aang," Sokka pointed out to him. "And that means looking out for the people you lead."
"We were trying to help those people, Sokka," Katara told him. "Azula just egged him on."
"She thought she was doing the right thing," Suki said in defense of Azula.
"It's a Fire Nation colony, Suki. That means most of the people there are from the Fire Nation," Aang said. And those people belonged in the Fire Nation.
"And what about the people who are from the Earth Kingdom?" asked Toph.
"What about them?"
"Aren't we going to be hurting them by taking away the colonies?"
"How could we possibly be hurting them?" he asked the blind Earthbender. "We'll be making their lives better by removing the colonists."
"And what if trade had been better because of the colonists?" Sokka said to him. "What if in removing the Fire Nation from the colonies, we do more harm than good do them?"
"Why are you like this, Sokka?" Katara asked her brother. "I thought you would've been for the removing of the colonies."
"It's not that simple. We must consider what the people there think." If they didn't,odds were that they were going to have problems on their hands.
"What's there to consider? We'd be doing the Earth Kingdom people there a favor by bringing the colonists back to the Fire Nation," the Air Nomad among them declared.
"Aang, the last time we dealt with a Fire Nation colony, you went in full steam without thinking that something might've been wrong with the colonel or what the colonists had thought about the whole thing," the Water Paragon reminded him. "And because of that, we triggered a battle between the colonel and that weirdly rational Fire Nation governor."
Everyone fell silent. Sokka had a point there. The last time something had happened to them, it would've been thoroughly and utterly botched had it not been for Naruto and the two members of Akatsuki. They knew they had to be careful about this, but they also wanted the colonies to be gone. To Aang and Katara, they seemed like an old scar left over from the war.
As they tried to think it over, they heard knocking on the front door. "Who's that?" Katara asked.
"Don't worry, it's not an enemy," Toph told her, already knowing who was out there.
Suki stood up and walked over to the door. She opened it and saw that it was a Dai Li agent. "Lady Suki, I am Yǎn, head of the Dai Li," he greeted her, bowing his head.
"You…you know who I am?" she asked, surprised.
"Yes, Lord Naruto made sure to inform us of the Paragon of the Earth Kingdom currently was."
"What are you doing here?" Sokka asked, walking over to the door.
"I was ordered to escort you and your group, Lord Sokka. There is someone who wishes to meet you." He took a step back away from the door. "If you will all follow me."
They shared a look with each other. It was a strange request but considering all they've been through, not that strange. The streets now were silent and empty, save for them. But if they left the Upper Ring, it would not be so. "I have a question, Yǎn," Suki said as they made their way through the night.
"What is that ma'am?" he asked.
"Why is it that you know who I am? Are the Paragons important to the Dai Li?"
"Since our creation, the Dai Li have been loyal to the four Paragons. But the Earth Paragon is the only one to have full command of us. We will obey your every command."
"Um…thank you."
"You're welcome, ma'am."
They made their way into the business district of the Upper Ring. "Where are we going?" Aang asked as they kept walking, looking around and the quiet and empty buildings.
"You'll see soon enough, Avatar." He stopped walking and looked at the building in front of them. "As a matter of fact, we're already there."
They looked at the building. "Isn't this the Old Badgermole?" Sokka asked.
"Yes, it is, Sokka," Naruto's voice answered. He was with Zuko, Azula, and Jiraiya.
Toph was more surprised to see who was leading them. "What in the name of the Spirits are you doing here?!" Toph demanded. She had never thought to see him here of all places.
"The Boulder would be pleased to see the Blind Bandit again, if it was under different circumstances," the Boulder said.
"Must you sound like that, Huān?" Yǎn asked him with annoyance. "You are not in the ring, at least try to sound intelligent."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mister Head of the Dai Li. So, I should sound like a bootlicker, is that it?" he replied, losing the third person speaking.
"I am not a bootlicker and we both know it."
"There are times where you could've fooled me."
"I take it the two of you know each other," Azula asked the two of them.
"We're brothers," Yǎn answered.
That was something none of them had expected to hear. "What? But the two of you look nothing alike!" Aang protested.
"I take after our father; he takes after our mother," the Boulder explained.
"I'm sure that is all fascinating. But what are we doing here?" Jiraiya asked. "The Boulder…I mean Huān, said that someone wanted to see us."
"Yǎn said the same thing, actually," Katara said.
"What's going on here, you two?" Naruto asked them.
"All will be explained soon enough. For now, please just follow us," Huān said. The brothers walked into the restaurant and the others followed. They walked quietly through the empty building.
"Funny, I'd thought this place would've opened right now," Zuko noted.
"It's been closed for the night by the owner. Officially, it's due to small repairs," the Dai Li agent explained.
"And the unofficial reason is…?"
"No one else needs to see what's going on right now," Yǎn answered. "It's the best way to maintain silence."
They walked into the kitchen, where they were met by another person. "So, these are them, huh?" he asked gruffly.
"Yes, Uncle Tiě," Huān answered.
"Who is this?" Azula asked, looking at the older man.
Naruto recognized him immediately. "That would be the head cook of the Old Badgermole."
"Is he awake?" Yǎn asked his uncle.
"Of course, he is. Now get moving." He clenched his fist and waved it. The cabinet behind him (which was completely made of metal) moved to the side, revealing a descending stairwell.
"Did he…did he just Metalbend?" Katara asked in stunned wonder as she looked at the stairs.
Huān shook his head. "No, the cabinet is attached to a thin wall of earth."
Naruto frowned at those words. "So, I guess that you just have really good aim with your frying pan then," he said to Tiě.
"Of course, I do. I'm a cook. Now get going, he's expecting you." He waved his hand, motioning them to keep walking.
"Who is expecting us?" Aang asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," he said shortly. Both Yǎn and Huān walked down the stairs and they followed, leaving the cook in the kitchen. The corridor was mostly dark, save for only the barest of illuminating crystals embedded in the walls. As they went deeper, they began to feel chiller.
"Hey, Zuko, Azula, how about a little fire here please?" asked Sokka. He could barely see where he was going, and it made him nervous.
"Don't do that, you won't need it soon," Huān told them.
"How soon is soon?" Suki asked. She was just as nervous as Sokka.
"Now," Yǎn answered. They hit the bottom step and walked through an opening into a craven.
"Hey, I know where we are," Katara said, looking around and seeing familiar things. "We're in Old Ba Sing Se."
"Why would we be down here?" Aang asked.
Naruto looked over at Yǎn. "This is not the same way you took me through before," he remarked, having already figured where they were going and who wanted to see them.
"We have many entrances into Old Ba Sing Se," the Dai Li agent answered shortly.
"Appearently."
"You know what's going on, Naruto?" Zuko asked the blonde.
"Yeah, I do. Yǎn took me down here back when I was 'working' in Ba Sing Se," he replied, keeping his eyes forward as they walked through the old city.
"So, what's going on?" Katara asked.
"Can't tell you, you'll find out soon enough anyways," he answered before looking at the Head of the Dai Li. "Lead the way." He nodded and walked on, Huān beside him and the rest following them.
They walked deeper into the caverns of Old Ba Sing Se until they finally reached a wall. The two brothers stepped forward and punched the wall. A crack appeared and shot upwards. Once it had reached a certain height, it split in half and went sideways before traveling downwards. After the cracks had touched the ground, the one in middle opened. The cracked area began to move backwards, like a door opening itself, until there was an opening in the wall.
"This is a place known only to our family," Yǎn told them. "Not even Long Feng knew of this place. If he did, his life would've been forfeit."
"Is that you there, Yǎn?" a voice from beyond the opening asked. It sounded old and gravelly, like it belonged to someone ancient.
"Yes. Huān is here as well."
"Are the Avatar and his friends here as well?"
"They are right here."
"Then send them in."
Huān looked at them. "You all go inside. My brother and I will stay out here."
They walked hesitantly through the opening. Once they were through, crystals embedded in the wall began to glow, showing what was in front of them. They saw what looked to be a big living room. Couches surrounded a hearth that was ablaze with green fire, covered in soft-looking blankets and pillows.
Sitting close to the fire, was an old man. He wore a loose-fitting robe, and his beard was long and white, as was his hair. "Don't just stand over there," he told them. "Come in and sit down."
They did so, some more readily than others. "Uh…sir, who are you exactly?" Aang asked the man.
Naruto chuckled. "I thought you of all people would know who he is, Aang."
"That's not fair to him, Naruto, reprimanded the old man. "He has never met me."
"Technically speaking, he has," he said with a small grin.
"You know very well that is not what I meant."
"Could you please just tell me who you are, sir?" Aang asked him, now burning with curiosity.
"My name, young Avatar, is Sud."
He went rim-rod stiff at that name. "You mean you're…?" he asked, leaving the question hanging in the air.
"Yes, I was."
"Just who is this old guy anyway?" Toph asked, confused and a little annoyed by not knowing.
"Meet your predecessor, Toph," Naruto said to her as a way of introduction. "Sud was the Earthbending teacher to Roku."
Everyone who didn't know that was surprised by it. "But how is he still alive?" Suki asked. "He must be well over a hundred!"
"I ate my vegetables when I was younger, and I got plenty of sleep," Sud answered half-jokingly.
"Why did you summon us?" Azula asked him. This wasn't just a social call, she figured out that much.
He looked at her. "Straight to the point, I see." He liked that.
"You've been hiding down here for more than a century. You could've talked to Aang before today and yet, you didn't."
"I asked for all of you to come here because Yǎn told me about the meeting you had with the Earth King."
"Are Yǎn and Huān your servants?" Katara asked.
"No."
"Then what are they?" Zuko asked.
"They are to me what you and Azula are to Sozin."
The Scarred Dragon figured out what he meant by those words. "They're your great-grandchildren?"
"I did just say that."
"So, your great-grandchild told you about the meeting, huh?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes, and about the whole argument concerning the colonies."
"Surely you believe that the colonists need to leave, Sud," Aang said, thinking that Roku's Earthbending teacher would side with him.
"Oh? You think so?"
"Of course,I do," he said with a big nod. "They were the main reason the war happened in the first place."
"And let me guess, you think the fault with starting the war lies Sozin, don't you?"
"Yes. It's common knowledge that Fire Lord Sozin caused the Hundred Year War."
"That's where you're wrong, boy," Sud told him with a sharp tone that hadn't been dulled by age. "The fault for starting the war was Sozin's, it was Roku's."
With the exception of one, everyone was caught off-guard by that simple statement. "What do you mean Roku caused the war?" Sokka asked.
"Exactly that, he was to blame," Sud repeated himself.
Aang lost his surprise and glared at the old man. "That can't be true. You're lying!"
"Be careful who you insult, boy," he said, spitting out the last word like it was the most insulting thing. "I was there when it all happened. I know very well who caused it."
"But Roku said that you were a lifelong friend of his. How could you say that it was his fault?" the Avatar asked him, still not really believing what he was hearing.
"By the time Roku had died, he had lost many of his friends' trust."
"Hold on," Zuko said. "I remember reading Sozin's final testament along with Azula. He admitted to wiping out the Air Nomads and starting the war."
"That testament was doctored," Sud told him, frowning. It was a little obvious that he didn't like that.
"But how can that happen?" Azula asked him. "Only the Fire Sages knew where the testaments were."
"Before the war, there was a group of people created by Avatar Kyoshi who were extremely loyal to her and to the Avatar," he explained. "Officially, their objective was to record what the Avatar had done in his or her life. Unofficially, their mission was to track down and replace any documents that had put the Avatar in a bad light. They had even destroyed the originals documents, regardless of whether or not it was true."
"What happened to this group?" Suki asked. She had never heard of them before.
"Following Roku's death, Sozin and I, along with Gyatso, had tracked down and killed all the members of the group. But by the time I had found and killed the last one, a Fire Sage initiate, the damage had already been down. Mostly everyone in the countries believed that Sozin had left Roku to die so he could expand the Fire Nation into an empire. Those who knew the truth swore to take it to their graves unless given an opportunity to tell the next Avatar."
"And so, here we are," Naruto remarked.
"Precisely," he replied, nodding his head.
"But that can't be right." Aang protested. "Roku showed me his past. He showed me what Sozin did."
"Aang, do you remember what I told you on the day of the invasion?" Naruto asked him.
How could he forget?
"It is because of you that places like the river town you visited became polluted, unfit for inhabitation. It is because of you that people like Hama have so much hatred. It is because of you that the schools here teach their students to think what they're doing is right and just. It is because of you that men like Zhao can get more and more power. This entire war is your fault, yours, and that bastard Roku!" Naruto told Aang.
"You're wrong!" he shouted, leaping up. "This isn't Roku's fault! It's Sozin's!"
"And did Roku told you that? Did he show you his past?"
He nodded. "Yes, he did. He showed me what happened and how Sozin started the war." He then noticed Naruto was trembling. Before he could ask what was wrong, the Fire Nation Paragon began to laugh, loudly. His laughter echoed through the throne room and the entire palace. "What's so funny?!"
He stopped laughing and began to walk away. "A little tip for you, Avatar Aang," he said the last part mockingly. "Even your past lives can lie to you."
As the memory stopped, Aang felt sick. "You can't mean…"
"Roku lied to you," Naruto replied, stopping the Air Nomad before he could finish the sentence. "He showed you memories that made him seem the savior and eventual victim."
"But why would he do that?" Roku was his past life, He couldn't see the reason for it.
"An excellent question, Aang," Jiraiya said. "Currently, all we have is pieces of information. What we need is the entire story." He turned his attention to Sud. "Could you please start at the beginning?"
"Very observant of you, young one," Sud replied.
"Hey, I'm not that young," The Toad Sage protested slightly.
"Compared to me, you are." Jiraiya accepted it with a nod. The old Earthbender made himself more comfortable in his chair. "The entire story begins long before Roku came around. It actually begins with Kuruk," he began.
"The pervious Avatar from the Water Tribes?" asked Aang, remembering the man he had asked for advice about Ozai.
"Yes. After Koh the Face Stealer had stolen his fiancée from him, he spent the rest of his years trying to find a way to take her back. He had asked for the Paragons' help many times, especially the Water Paragon, his twin brother. Each time they refused, telling him that their duty was to watch him, not help him take vengeance on a spirit. Eventually things came to a head."
The fire in the hearth sprang upwards and began to cover the wall above it, making everyone (except for Sud and Naruto) surprised. "What the…who is doing that?" Jiraiya asked.
"I am," a voice from a darkened corner spoke.
Naruto, Suki, and Sokka, having heard the voice before and knew who it belonged to, relaxed. "What are you doing here, Sifu?" Naruto asked the corner.
The spirit came out of the corner, allowing them to see his cloak. "I am here at Sud's request. He thought that I would be able to help tell the story."
Sokka looked over at Sud. "You know Sifu? How is that possible?" he asked. The last time the Water Paragon checked, Sifu only talked to the Paragons.
"I'll get to that," the old Earthbender told him. "But for now, please turn your attention to the fire. It will show you the past." They all turned their attention to the fire. It began to change colors, until they saw a moving picture in front of them.
"Noka please, I'm asking you as your brother," Kuruk begged the Water Paragon. The two of them stood alone in the hall of the Northern Water Tribe chieftain. It was a big and spacious room, which seemed even more so since they were the only two there.
"No, you're not," his brother said with hard look on his face. "You're asking as the Avatar. The other Paragons and I have told you countless times, Kuruk. We are not going to help you attack the Face Stealer."
"But it's for Ummi!" he all but shouted.
"That doesn't matter," Noka's face softened a little. "She's gone, brother. Just accept it already."
"When did you become so heartless? Ummi cared about you, Noka!"
"And I cared for her too!" he yelled back, the softness in his face disappearing. "Remember Kuruk, I was there that day. I saw her get pulled into the water."
"And you were also the one who pulled me out of the water!"
"She was already taken! There was nothing either of us could've done!"
"But we can do something now!"
"No, we cannot!" He turned away and began to walk out of the room. "This discussion is over, Kuruk. You would be wise to never bring it up again."
"After that, Avatar Kuruk began to distrust the Paragons, even his own brother," Sud said as the flames died down. "That distrust lasted the rest of his life and carried over to the next Avatar."
"Why would Kyoshi distrust the Paragons?" Katara asked. "She wouldn't be like that just because of a past life."
"That is true. But something had happened that allowed the distrust to settle and grow within her."
"What happened?"
"The creation of the Dai Li happened," Naruto answered.
"Indeed, it did," Sifu said. The flames once again covered the wall.
"What is the meaning of this, Kyoshi!?" a hulking man with the Medallion of the Earth Paragon hanging from his chest demanded as he and three others barged into the office where Kyoshi was working.
The Avatar looked up from what she was writing at the desk. "What are you talking about?" she asked them, making it sound like nothing was wrong.
"We are talking about this group you've created," a woman with black hair down up in a top knot and wearing the Medallion of the Fire Paragon said.
"What in the name of the spirits were you thinking?" asked the man wearing robes of orange and yellow, and the medallion of the Air Paragon. Even though he hailed from the Air Nomads, there were no tattoos on his body.
"I was thinking that I agreed to protect the cultural history of Ba Sing Se," Kyoshi replied, putting the brush down.
"And you call creating a group of Earthbenders trained to be silent and deadly protecting cultural history?" a woman with hair cut short and wearing the Medallion of the Water Paragon asked.
"Yes, I do."
"That's funny, because we call it you trying to take control of Ba Sing Se!" The Fire Paragon accused her with a scowl on her face. "You never resolved conflicts without having to resort to violence. Your alliances with bandits is proof of that."
"I have done no such thing!" she instantly protested. "Do you think you have the capability to resort to such decisive actions? I prevented a succession war in the Fire Nation while you were too busy tailing my every move."
"Let me ask you this question then: what happens when the power of the Dai Li grows to be too much?" the Air Paragon asked.
"That will never happen."
"You're right. It will not happen because we will not allow it," the Water Paragon said.
Kyoshi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You have overstepped your boundaries, Kyoshi," the Earth Paragon declared. "As such, we are stripping you of your rank as the leader of the Dai Li. We will take command of them." The four Paragons turned around and started to exit the room. "That is all."
"You cannot do that!" she protested, standing up. "I alone command the Dai Li. You do not have the right!" Her calm composure was gone once she had heard their declaration.
The Water Paragon looked back. "You would do well to watch your tongue, Avatar Kyoshi," she told her. "You seem to have forgotten who you are talking to."
"How dare you!?" she roared. Her eyes glowed, showing that she was in the Avatar State. "The Avatar answers to no one!" She leapt over the desk and at them.
The four of them looked at her as one, eyes glowing black. They cut the connection between Kyoshi and the Avatar, making the glow from her eyes disappear and catching her off guard. She was sent flying through the wall, courtesy of the Earth Paragon's sledgehammer, and crashed out onto the training ground. She tried to get back up, but the shaft of the sledgehammer was pushed into her back and forcing her back to the ground.
"How dare we? How dare you!?" the Air Paragon said as they stood over her.
"You forget your place, Kyoshi!" the Fire Paragon shouted at her. "You do answer to someone. You answer to us!"
"We were going to let you off with a warning and strip you of your command. But I guess harsher punishment is in order," the Water Paragon said.
"Agreed," the Earth Paragon replied. He turned to the Avatar on the ground. "Avatar Kyoshi, you will be sent to your birthplace in exile. You shall remain there until we decide to let you leave. If you try to leave before we say, you will be killed. Is that understood?"
"Ye…yes, I understand," Kyoshi said weakly. Only then did she realize that the Dai Li who were training on the field had seen everything.
"Kyoshi then spent the next forty years at her birthplace," Sud said, the flames once again dying down. "During this time, she communicated with Kuruk and inherited his distrust of the Paragons. The distrust grew and she began to see the Paragons as obstacles to true peace. When she was allowed to leave the island, she began to silently feud with them. She would slip away from their sight and the sight of people loyal to them. She created the Scholars of the Avatar, the loyal fanatics who ensured that any writing that had the Avatar be despicable was destroyed and replaced, even if it wasn't true. She also began to discreetly arrange the deaths of the Paragons during her life. She had them look like accidents, but only a few had worked."
"But how does this relate to the colonies?" Aang asked. So far, all he was seeing how two of the past Avatars didn't like the Paragons.
"Be patient, I'm getting there. After Kyoshi had died and Roku learned he was the Avatar after her, he went on his training journey. But meanwhile, something had happened to Sozin."
Sozin was walking along the beach on Ember Island beneath his father's beach house. It had been two years since Roku had left. Since he had turned eighteen, his father had been set on seeing him married. He had met with several different women his age, but they were all interested being the wife of the soon-to-be Fire Lord, not in him. He had finally gotten away by asking his father to allow him to go to Ember Island so that he could think over the women in quiet. In addition, Sozin didn't want to deal with his non-bender sister Zeisan, who had begun to interact more with the Air Nomads, but his interaction with an eccentric man named Khandro had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
But he couldn't think of one he would want to marry. He knew that the marriage would be political and so he could only hope that he would grow to love the woman who would be his wife. He took to taking long walks on the beach to think things over. "I can't choose any of them," he thought to himself. "I know that Father and Mother loved each other when Mother was alive, but I don't know if I'll be so lucky."
That was when he noticed a body lying on the shore. He raced over to it and saw that it was a woman about his age with pale skin and hair black as night. He then noticed that she wasn't breathing. As he began to try and resuscitate her, his guards, who were standing at the path leading to the house, took notice of what he was doing and quickly ran over.
"Prince Sozin, what is the matter?" one of the guards asked. As he asked this, the girl began to hack and cough, spitting out seawater.
"Take her back to the house and have the physician look at her," he ordered.
"Yes, My Prince." The other guard picked her up and the two raced up to the house.
Sozin sat outside the room where the woman was. It had been over four hours since she was brought in, and he was getting nervous. Finally, the door opened, and the physician walked. "Is she alright?" he asked, standing up.
"Yes, Prince Sozin. She has been instructed to get plenty of rest and to take it slowly," the physician answered.
"You mean she's awake? May I go in and see her?"
"Yes, you may."
He walked in and saw her sitting up in the bed. "Are you the one who saved me?" she asked, her black eyes staring straight at him.
"Ye-yeah, I am," he answered nervously. He had never been nervous before with a woman, so it was strange that she could make him like that.
She bowed her head. "Thank you. My name is Satsuki Uchiha."
"My name is Sozin, prince of the Fire Nation."
"So, I've heard," she remarked sarcastically, but with a smile. He couldn't help but smile in return.
"As Satsuki recovered, the two of them talked about a great many things," Sud said. "He told her about the countries and their history. She told him about the war that the clans had been fighting, which her clan, led by her brother, Tajima Uchiha, was a part of. But she had also told him many stories and legends. Soon, they began to fall in love with each other and four years after he had saved her, Sozin and Satsuki were married."
"That's great and all, but what does this have to do with the colonies?" Azula asked.
"When Sozin heard of the war in her country that seemed to stretch back into faded history, he grew scared," Sifu told her.
"Hmm…that would make some sense," Jiraiya mused. "A future ruler would fear a war. However, the war was on the other side of the planet, and in that time, new villages were being built and founded. The village that Naruto and I came from didn't even exist yet."
"Sozin wasn't scared of the war coming to the Bending Countries," Sud explained. "He was scared that a similar war would break out within the countries. The mere thought of a war spreading through the four countries that turned everyone against each other terrified him to the bone."
"But that's what I'm here for, to prevent such wars from happening," Aang protested. It was his job as the Avatar to do such things.
"He knew that. He also knew that if the Avatar was killed, the war would continue and by the time the next Avatar was ready, it would've been too late. The countries would've been too steeped in hatred and revenge. So, Sozin came up with a plan to unify the countries."
"By attacking them first, we know that already," Katara said.
"And that's where you would be wrong, young lady," the old Earthbender told her. "Sozin planned to unify the countries peacefully. During the two years before he became Fire Lord, he traveled the countries and talked to many people in power as well as the Order of the White Lotus."
"He knew that the Order existed?" Zuko asked, a little surprised to hear that.
"He was a member, a high-ranking one. He brought his cause for worry to the table and they agreed with him. When they debated on how to possibly unify the countries, he suggested an experiment. They would establish a series of colonies along the coast of the Earth Kingdom. People from each of the four countries would be welcome. Each of the colonies would host a different form of government, a monarchy, a theocracy, a bureaucracy, etc. etc. to see which one would be best suited for ruling a colony of different people."
"How well did it work?" Suki asked.
"Quite well, actually," he answered. "The colonies flourished, and trade began to rise between them and the other countries. Sozin and the other members of the project were happy with the results and wanted to try to establish more colonies. But some of the members wanted the Avatar's blessing on the project. And since Sozin was friends with him, he was designated to ask."
"I remember that. Roku showed me his wedding day." Aang said.
"What you saw and what actually occurred were completely different."
"What's on your mind?" Roku asked Sozin as they walked away from the wedding banquet. He had just gotten married and was still having a hard time believing he had just married the girl he'd been in love with since childhood.
"Roku, there is something that's been going on for a couple of years now," Sozin said with complete seriousness.
"Sozin, it's my wedding. Please, let's put all affairs of state off until tomorrow," the Avatar urged his friend.
"I know it's your wedding, but please hear me out."
"Okay. What's on your mind?"
"In the past couple of years, I have been a part of a group that created an experiment regarding the countries," the Fire Lord explained. "We've created a series of colonies that welcome all four nationalities."
"What?" he asked, shocked to hear this.
"They've been doing more successful than we originally thought. We want to build more colonies to get more data and some of the members think it would be best to have your blessing before we continue."
His shock vanished, replaced by fury. "No! You do not have my blessing!" he shouted. "As a matter of fact, I want those other colonies gone."
"What? But why?" Sozin asked him, completely stunned by what he was hearing. He would've thought his friend would agree and support the experiment.
"The four countries are supposed to be just that, four."
"Roku, please consider the possibilities!"
"There are no possibilities! I want those colonies gone!" He walked away from his friend. The conversation was over and done with, to him.
"So did he?" Sokka asked as the fire died down again.
"After informing the other members of what Roku told them, it was put to a vote. The majority voted to keep the colonies. However, a compromise was also made. All but three of the colonies were to be shut down. The process was slow. They knew that if they rushed it, it would've probably damaged the economy," Sud told him.
"I take it the three colonies that were to be left alone were Yu Dao, Kouzan, and Akawan?" Zuko asked.
"Yes, they were."
"And the day Roku found out about the colonies?" Aang asked.
"Again, that day went differently than what Roku showed you."
"I have seen the colonies, Sozin!" Roku said as he stormed into the throne room, fury showing in every step he took. "How dare you occupy Earth Kingdom territory?"
"Roku, those colonies are for everyone from the four countries. The Fire Nation is not occupying the Earth Kingdom," Sozin told him from where he sat on the throne, above the Avatar. "In fact, some of the Earth Kingdom citizens there are thankful for being allowed to move into the colonies after the dreadful reign of Earth King Jialun."
"Then why did I see a Fire Nation flag hanging from the walls over an insignia of the Earth Kingdom?"
"It was a day of celebration! Don't you remember? They were celebrating the day of my coronation."
"I don't want to hear excuses!" Roku roared. "I ordered those colonies to be gone!"
"That is not your decision, Roku!" the Fire Lord shouted back, angry with his friend for not seeing how delicate this kind of thing was. "This experiment was created with the consensus from all four countries. To have it destroyed would be damaging to the entire economy and trade system!"
"You forget your place, Fire Lord Sozin!" he told his former friend before going into the Avatar State. He bent the air around him into a giant sphere and destroyed the throne room, along with a good portion of the Royal Palace. Sozin was thrown to the ground by the wind and when he looked up, he saw Roku standing over him.
"I will spare you, Sozin, in the name of our past friendship. But I warn you; even a single step out of line will result in your permanent end," he threatened.
"Then allow me to give you a warning," Satsuki said from behind the Avatar, holding a kunai to his throat and her Sharingan in full effect. "If you threatened our family again, I don't care if you are the Avatar or if you were Sozin's friend, I will kill you and leave your dead carcass to rot in the street." The Avatar's eyes were wide as he felt the metal press against his neck. "Is that understood?"
"Satsuki, please, let him go," Sozin said to her. Roku was still his friend.
She looked at him for a long second, and then nodded. She withdrew the kunai and walked over to Sozin, helping him back up. After he was back up on his feet, she turned to look at the Avatar. "Get out of our home," she ordered.
Roku didn't say anything, he just turned and left.
"I take it didn't end there?" Jiraiya asked.
"No, it didn't," Sifu answered. "When the Paragons of that time heard what he had done, they all went to him. They told him that just because an Avatar could support or revoke something a single leader had created; it did not mean he could do the same to something the four countries had agreed to or threaten one of them in their own house. As punishment, they exiled Roku to his home island."
"He stayed there for five years," Sud continued where the spirit stopped. "During which he communicated with Kyoshi and Kuruk. Their distrust of the Paragons took hold in him, and he believed that they were restricting the Avatar and by doing so, putting the entire Bending Countries at risk. He believed they had to be eliminated."
"Eliminated? What do you mean?" Aang asked.
"What do you think he means, Aang?" Naruto asked back. The Air Nomad's eyes went wide when he figured it out.
Sud nodded at Naruto. "By the time Roku was allowed to leave the island, the changing of the guard was occurring with the Paragons. Apprentices were taking on the mantle of Paragons and their teachers retired. Roku used that to his advantage. He turned the public opinion against them by saying they were young and prone to being led away from the right path. And then there was Zeisan."
"Who was this Zeisan?" Jiraiya asked.
Azula grimaced. "She was our nonbender great-grand aunt that casted herself out of the nobility. As she could not bend, she was not eligible to rule the Fire Nation. It was surprising that she learned basic chi blocking. I guess Ty Lee did learn about it from someone who might have learned it in turn from Great Grand-Aunt Zeisan."
"And since the former Princess Zeisan developed an ambition to overthrow the Fire Nation nobility, she thought that it was natural to ally herself with Roku, despite his own misgivings about the Guiding Wind," Sud explained. "Around the same time as the development of the colonies, the Guiding Wind was stoking animosity between the lower classes, who worked various jobs in the colonies, and the nobility and merchants on the other. Zeisan's proposed political marriage to the leader of the Guiding Wind, Khandro, was the only obstacle to her collaboration with Roku, and she managed to sway him into adopting an anti-Paragon stance, despite Khandro's own opposition to Roku calling on the Air Nomads to aid the other nations. However, the animosity was just a cover, for what the Guiding Wind really wanted: restore the spirituality of the Air Nomads by isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Moreover, even when Sozin and the Paragons were not close, the Scholars had collaborated with the Guiding Wind, only to a certain point. Slowly, with the aid of the Scholars, people began to believe Roku's message about the Paragons. But no matter what he did, the new Paragons, along with the government of the four countries, staunchly refused to budge on the matter of the three colonies. After fifteen years of arguing over it, he decided to take steps."
"…He killed them, didn't he?" Zuko asked quietly. Somehow, he knew that had happened.
"Not all of them. Roku pretended to consider the benefits of the colonies. The Earth, Fire, and Water Paragons offered to take him to Yu Dao, and he accepted. While they toured the city, he discreetly started a fire that wouldn't go ablaze until that night. As they evacuated the city, he led them deeper into the city, saying he thought there were more people trapped. When he led them deep enough, where no one else could see them, he murdered both the Paragon of the Fire Nation and the Paragon of the Earth Kingdom. Later on, he would claim that the Paragons had started the fire in order to kill him and the leaders of Yu Dao had agreed with them. It was then that people began to see the colonies in a negative light."
"What happened to the Water Paragon?" Katara asked, concerned.
"She ran. And as the sole witness to what Roku had done, she knew that he would try to hunt her down. So, after she sent word the Air Paragon to keep away from him, she went into hiding, inside the Fire Nation."
"Why would she do that?" Azula asked. "Wouldn't it have been easier to hide in the Northern or Southern Water Tribe?"
He shook his head. "No, she knew that was where he would look first. She also figured that he'd never suspect that she hid in his own country."
"It worked. We came by the place where she was hiding." Sokka said.
"We did? Where was that?" Toph asked. She would've thought they would remember doing that and yet, nothing came to mind that showed her they went anywhere near the Water Paragon's hiding place.
"It was the river town," he told her. "She was the Painted Lady."
"Yes, that was what she was masquerading as when Sozin and I, along with Gyatso and Satsuki, found her, five years later," Sud told them. "We had our suspicions about what Roku had told us about that fire. But when she told us the truth, any remnants of friendship any of us had with him were gone."
"Were those two Paragons close to you?" Suki asked quietly. His eyes started to brim with tears. When he wiped them away, he could only nod in the positive.
"Your predecessor, Suki, was Sud's youngest sister," Sifu told her, saying what the old Earthbender couldn't. "And the previous Paragon of the Fire Nation was Sozin's eldest son."
"Wait, I thought Azulon was Sozin's eldest son, Azula said. She had read her family history enough times to remember that.
"No, he was their second son. He had the written history changed so that his brother never existed after he took the throne. The eldest was not a Firebender and by an ancient law, could not be in line for the throne. Both Sozin and Satsuki were in the midst of fighting the law when the previous Fire Paragon offered to take him as an apprentice. When Azulon was born, Satsuki died in childbirth, leaving a strained relationship between father and son." Sud explained, managing to get control of his emotions back. "While her death was the result of complications from her childbirth, the real cause was Zeisan's attempt to poison her while she was pregnant. Khandro planned the assassination attempt on Satsuki, and Zeisan carried out the deed. By killing off both Satsuki and the unborn Azulon, she would plunge the Fire Nation into another succession crisis, which she will exploit to bring down not only the Fire Nation nobility but overthrow her own brother in the process."
Zuko frowned at the same time. "So how did the poisoning attempt fail?"
"Your granduncle confronted her. She denied everything but she also knew he wouldn't let it rest, that if he would find out the truth. So she had to get rid of him. The first thing she did was kill Khandro and frame the Paragons for it." Sud waited until the gasps died. "Then she approached Roku with what she claimed to be the truth. That was all Roku needed. He used the death of Khandro as proof that the Paragons are becoming loose cannons that couldn't be trusted."
"As fascinating as that is," Jiraiya said. "We're far more concern with what Sozin did when he learned what Roku did to his firstborn."
"What do you think we did?" the old Earthbender asked him. "We were absolutely furious. Roku had crossed a line when he murdered them, even more so due to the fact he knew exactly who they were. We began planning on killing him. We asked for the Water Paragon's help, but she refused. She was scared for her life, but we couldn't blame her. She did, however, summon Sifu so we could ask him for help."
"And I accepted." Sifu continued. "I too was furious at Roku. Together, the three of us hashed out a plan to kill him. Eventually, we came up with one that made his death look like an unfortunate accident."
"An unfortunate accident?" repeated Aang.
"Did you really think that the volcanos on Roku's island just erupted for no reason? I caused it," he said as the flames grew once more.
"Don't breathe the toxic gas!" Roku told Sozin as they ran down the second volcano. He used his Airbending to blow away the gas every time they erupted close to them. But he wasn't expecting to get a full blast of the gas straight in his face. As he began to cough, his vision began to blur and the strength in his legs disappeared, making him collapse.
"Sozin, please, help me," he begged weakly.
Sozin just looked at him. "…Perhaps it is better that you die this way," he finally said, his voice filling with disdain.
"Wha-what?"
"The original plan was for me to kill you once the volcanos were dealt with," he told the dying Avatar. "But this…it seems more authentic."
"You were planning to kill me?" Roku asked, still shocked by those words.
"Not just me. There were others."
"Why? I thought we were friends," he protested weakly.
Sozin's expression hardened into anger and rage when he heard those words. "You should've thought of that before you murdered my boy."
"It had to be done! The Paragons are restricting the Avatar," Roku protested weakly, before glaring at him. "Besides, your son killed a man he thought was responsible for the failed poisoning attempt on your wife, going beyond what a Paragon is supposed to do."
"And I suppose the colonies were an excuse?"
"They shouldn't exist. They fly in everything the Bending Countries have stood for in countless years!" He raised his voice when he spoke. Normally, it would've sounded like a roar when he did that. But now, it just sounded like a wheeze.
"Then perhaps it's time for such things to change." Sozin's dragon landed behind him and the Fire Lord climbed aboard. "Goodbye, old friend," he said, spitting out the last two words like they were disgusting. "I hope your next life will be more willingly to listen." He flew off, leaving Roku to die.
"For what he did, Sozin voluntarily left the White Lotus afterwards," Sud said as the fire died down.
"I take it things didn't go that smoothly after he did that?" Jiraiya asked.
"Of course, they didn't. The Scholars had the word spread that Roku thought the colonies had to go, that they were a bad idea. Some of them got into offices of power and began to use that influence on the countries, using the fire in Yu Dao as an example. Soon, people stopped coming to the colonies and then, people started to leave. But the majority of the people, both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, stayed. Soon, it had escalated to the point where armed forces of the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes had descended onto the colonies, intent on removing them by force. Sozin had forces sent to the colonies to defend them and ensured that the conflict remained in deadlock."
"And while all that happened, you, Sozin, and Gyatso were hunting down the Scholars," Zuko said, making the connections. "And the rest of the Guiding Wind soon after."
He nodded. "They were the ones who kept the situation about the colonies heated, and the Guiding Wind ironically helped the Scholars by discouraging the Air Nomads from going to the colonies as well. We felt that if they were eliminated, people would calm down and allow peace talks to begin. All the while, we waited for the new Avatar to grow up."
"You were waiting on me?" Aang asked.
"Yes. The idea was that once you were old enough, the remaining Paragons, Sozin, Gyatso, and I would sit down and talk to you. We were going to explain what was happening with the colonies and see if we could convince you to the benefits of them. But complications arose."
"You mean when the monks told me who I was when I was twelve?"
"Indeed. We all agreed to meet with you early because of that. Sozin and Satsuki decided to meet with you first. However, they arrived the day after you ran away."
"And so Sozin wiped out the Air Nomads to find me?" he asked in a snarky tone of voice.
Sud's gaze hardened at those words. "Were you there when it happened?"
"No."
"Then I suggest you do not speak about things you do not know. When the two had arrived at the Southern Air Temple, they were immediately confronted by Tashi."
The Avatar knew who that was almost instantly. "You mean the monk who was always grumpy?" he asked for confirmation.
"Yes. We had later discovered that he was secretly a Scholar and believed that Sozin and Satsuki had come to kill you. He had whipped the entire temple up into a frenzy using this fact. It was aided by the fact you were missing. The only person who spoke out against this was Gyatso, but no one listened. Tashi and a group of the monks attacked Sozin and his wife, knocking them unconscious. They would've been killed had their armed escort fought back and got them to the ship. It had happened at the other three temples."
"What?"
"Sozin was always a practical man. He had sent envoys to the Eastern, Western, and Northern Air Temples in case you weren't at the Southern Air Temple. He went there because Gyatso was a friend. What any of us didn't know was that each temple had a Scholar in a position of power, and they used that power to incite fear of the Fire Nation within the temples. When the envoys arrived, the monks tried to kill them. But an event turned the favor to the Fire Nation."
"The Comet," Zuko said. It would've been the only thing to make a change in the fight he was hearing about.
"Yes. With the Comet empowering them, the armed forces that went the envoys and Sozin began to slaughter the Air Nomads in droves. By the time the Comet had passed, the Air Nomads were all but extinct. But when Sozin came to and learned what had happened, he was furious. He didn't want the genocide to happen. He severely punished the soldiers who were in the escorts for committing such horrible crimes, but the damage had already been done."
"Sozin, what happened?" a younger Sud ask the Fire Lord as the two of them stood in the newly rebuilt throne room of the Fire Lord. It was a bigger and a more dramatic one than the previous and if the timing wasn't so urgent, he would've thought the designer had gone slightly overboard.
"One of the monks attacked me and my wife. We were knocked unconscious," Sozin replied sitting on the throne and looking down at the Earthbender. "By the time we came too, it had been too late."
"By the Spirits, do you realize what's going to happen?"
He nodded solemnly. "Whatever Scholars remain will turn it against me. They'll say I wiped out the Air Nomads just to get rid of the Avatar."
"It's already beginning to spread. It's been the only talk I've heard coming here from the Earth Kingdom." He looked the Fire Lord in the eye. "Did you kill the Avatar?"
Sozin shook his head. "No, I found Gyatso as he was dying. He told me that the Avatar had run away."
"What are you going to do then?" Sud asked him.
"I will do everything in my power to find him."
"Do you even know the kid's name?"
"Gyatso managed to tell me his name was Aang." That had been all the monk had managed to tell him, but he would use it as best he could.
"…You know it will be difficult to find him. Because of what happened, the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes think you're going to attack them next."
"I will continue to protect my people." He gave an exhausted sigh. "You know, Sud, this was all so simple once. We were on our way to unifying the countries, then Roku told us no and we ignored him. So he killed our family and we murdered him in response. Now, the rest of the countries think the Fire Nation wants to create an empire."
"What will you do?" the Earthbender asked him.
"Whatever it takes to protect my people," he answered shortly. "And if that means attacking the Water Tribes or the Earth Kingdom, then so be it."
They fell silent as what Sozin said filled the room. "…This will probably be the last time we see each other, won't it?" Sud asked.
"It is most likely," Sozin agreed quietly. "I'm sorry it had to come to this."
"So am I." He turned around and walked out of the room. "Goodbye, Sozin."
"Goodbye, Sud. I hope we meet in better times."
"I never saw Sozin after that day," Sud told them as the fire died down. "He had spent the rest of his life either looking for the Avatar or protecting the colonies. Eventually his second son, Azulon, became Fire Lord. He was the one who actually believed it was the Fire Nation's destiny to rule over the rest of the Bending Countries and began to actively attack the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes."
"And so you know how the war really started," Sifu said. "The question now, Avatar, is what will you do?"
"What do you mean, what will I do?" Aang asked, still a little stunned at all the things he had just learned.
"Sud has held his silence about the truth for a century so he could tell you it. Will you let the history known by people today continue to flourish? Or will you let the truth be heard and denounce your past life in the process?"
"I…I don't know," he admitted. "I need to think it over."
"When you say that, Aang, do you mean meditate and asked Roku if it's true?" Sokka asked.
"No. I need to think over by myself. The Hundred Years Wars was caused by mistrust of the colonies. Now the same scenario is happening again. I need to think about it."
"Very well, I'll let all of you go now," Sud said.
They stood up and bowed to him. "Goodbye Sud. I hope we meet again," the Avatar told him. He was genuinely glad to have such a moment, even if it had come with life-changing news.
"You probably won't," he said as he watched them leave the room.
"Are you satisfied now?" Sifu asked him once the two of them were alone in the room.
"Yes, I am. The Avatar finally knows what the truth is. Maybe now, things will turn out different."
"You held on for this long just to tell him the truth. Now that it's done, you won't live long now."
"I know. But I welcome death. It'll give me a chance to see my friends again."
The spirit shook his head in amusement. "After living for a century, I guess you'd want that." He stepped back into the corner and began to disappear. "Goodbye. Sud."
"Goodbye, Sifu. I'll see you around sometime."
They joined up again with the Earth King in the afternoon, meeting again in the throne room. "Has something happened?" Kuei asked as they gather around. To him, it looked like they had gotten little to no sleep.
"Our apologies, Your Majesty," Zuko said. "But last night, we had learned how the war actually started and it concerns the colonies. Right now, we're in the same situation and we have spent the night thinking about over this." He remembered the previous night and morning. Some of them tried to go to sleep, but most just stayed up and thought things over. In the morning, they all joined at the Jasmine Dragon and sat in silence over tea.
"What have you decided?"
"We haven't," Aang said. "I don't know what to think. I know that most of the colonies have been there for a long time, but there's another piece of me that still believes that they should be gone."
"You still believe that? After what we were told last night?" asked Azula, getting angry over the fact that the Avatar hadn't changed his mind.
"If I may say something," Naruto spoke up, cutting off the fight that was about to begin. "I think I have a solution."
"What would that be, Lord Naruto?" Kuei asked him, curiosity filling his voice and eyes.
He walked over to the map that hung beside the throne. "It seemed to me that it was either one of two choices. Either the colonies have to go, or they stay. Personally, I've lived in some of those colonies, I think they should stay. But what I suggest is on how they stay."
"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Suki asked him.
"History has said that in one way or another, Sozin was trying to unify the countries. What I'm suggesting is that we do something a little different but exactly the same."
"And what would that be?" the Earth King asked.
"The Bending Countries have always been four countries. So what we do is simple: we create a fifth country," the blonde declared, facing them all.
The others just stared at him in surprise. "Simplistic, idealistic, and potentially problematic," Jiraiya said before sporting a big grin. "I like it."
"But where would the borders be?" Katara asked.
"The borders of the colonies are along here," Naruto said, tracing the borders across the map. "Those would be the borders of the new country."
"But that's a good portion of the Earth Kingdom," Kuei protested when he saw where those borders were.
"No offense, your Majesty, but the Earth Kingdom is the largest out of all four countries," The Fire Paragon pointed out to him. "I think it is okay to lose some of it for a new country."
"…Yes, you do have a point." Kuei responded.
"Then let's get down to discussing what we'll do."
The meeting had gone through the afternoon, making them walk back to the Jasmine Dragon as the sun went down. "That was a great idea, Naruto," Sokka told him as they walked through the door. "I don't think any of us would've thought of creating a fifth country."
"You know me. I tend to think outside the box," he replied with a grin on his face.
"You and the box were never acquainted with each other in the first place," Azula remarked.
He turned to her. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"Good, because I meant it as one," she said with a smirk. He just pulled her into a kiss.
"Ugh, could you two do that when you're alone, please?" Toph asked.
"What's the matter, Toph? You've never thought of finding a boyfriend?" Naruto asked after he broke the kiss and looked at the blind Earthbender.
"No way, I'm gonna stay single if I have to go through all of that."
"Oh, you'll learn."
If she could see, she would've rolled her eyes. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever."
"By the way, Aang," Sokka asked, changing the subject. "What are you going to do about your fan club?"
"What do you mean?" the Air Nomad asked.
"Come on, they were all but swarming us as we tried to get back here. You might need to change that into something better."
"They're not all that bad," he protested.
"Aang, do you remember what a Fangirl will do you every chance she's gets?" Naruto asked. "That fan club of yours is very close to doing that if you don't fix."
"Look, I know that rape is bad, but how bad can it be?"
"How bad can it be? Do you not realize what you're…?" He trailed off as he looked at the Airbender. "Do you even know what rape is?"
"Um…no, not really," he answered. "I figured it was something bad going by the looks on everyone's faces."
"Did the monks give the…talk before you ran away?"
"What talk?" he asked, clearly confused.
A cruel gleam came into his eyes, matched only by his grin. "Oh, this is just too perfect to pass up. I finally have a way to punish you for all the stupid things you've done after you got out of the iceberg."
Aang didn't like what he was thinking, or even how he looked. "What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering him, the Fire Paragon looked across the room "Oh, Jiraiya," he called out in a singsong voice.
"What is it, gaki?" Jiraiya asked, looking from the Pai Sho table. He and Iroh were about to start a game."
"This poor kid here has not been instructed in the adults," he said, placing his hand on Aang's shoulder. "Could you find it in your heart to educate him? It is his duty as the Avatar to know such things."
"Sure, not a problem," he answered as he caught on to what the blonde meant, standing up from the table.
"Please be descriptive in your explanations. And by all means, use your books for help."
"Alright then, I will. Come on, Aang." He motioned the Avatar to follow him as he walked towards the back. There was a room they could use for some privacy.
"Oh, okay, I'm coming," the Air Nomad said, going after him.
"Aang, I don't think you should go with him," Katara told him. She had a bad feeling about this.
"Relax, Katara, it's only a lesson," he told her with an easy grin. "What could be so bad about that?"
The sounds of Aang screaming and begging Jiraiya to stop from behind a locked door echoed throughout the teashop. "Music to my ears," Naruto said cheerfully as he sat on a windowsill, smoking a cigarette.
"You're a cruel person" Zuko accused him.
"After reading and seeing every stupid thing he's done, this is what he deserves. Can you blame me for doing that?"
Surprisingly, no one could.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you have sent me.
So now you've read what I have done to the past. Personally, I did enjoy The Avatar and the Fire Lord and I know it was a kid show, but it always seemed a little too straight forward for me. It was too simple and easy, Sozin was to blame for everything and that was it. History has never been that simple and clean, it is always murky. If you want a good example, look up WWI. All I did was make the past a little more complicated.
Yes, Zuko and Azula are distantly related to the Uchihas. Now I'm going to make this very clear: they are not, I repeat NOT, getting the Sharingan. It's not going to happen whatsoever so don't even think about asking me if they are going to get it. I will simply call you an idiot and leave it at that. They are not getting the Sharingan, period, end of statement.
I know that there were those of you who were wondering if I was going to write the comics as well. I told you in the last chapter that I was going to be original after that, so I just wrote about the issue the comics dealt with, not the actual comics themselves.
If you're going to protest that the Air Nomads would not do something like attacking the envoys of the Fire Nation, I will just say this one thing: Wizard's First Rule. If you want a clue to what that is, look up Terry Goodkind.
If you're going to complain that Sud couldn't be that old, I would like to point out the fact that Kyoshi lived to be two hundred and thirty. If she can do that, I think it's safe to have someone pushing past a century.
Beta Reader's Note: Zeisan and Khandro are from the Avatar tabletop Roleplaying game. You can find them on the Avatar wiki.
I'll see you all next chapter!