Chapter 8: Death by 70,000 Cuts
Marriages and divorces must be approved at your local Dai Li Information Center. A marriage or dissolvement of marriage will not be considered legal until both parties have met with their local Dai Li Magistrate at the agreed upon time.
-Dai Li Ordinance #429
Iroh had been back at the Royal Palace for over a month and still not seen his father. Ilah, Iroh's mother, had passed almost a decade ago and ever since then Azulon had become known for increasingly frequent mood swings. The Fire Lord would spend days in solitude, oftentimes not even allowing the servants to bring him meals. Nobody knew what he did during that time, but it was of grave concern to Iroh.
Fire Lords of the past had a tendency to lose themselves in the final years of their rein. Sozin spent the last twenty years of his life at sea, chasing an Avatar everyone knew to have died alongside the rest of the Air Nomads. Zarik, Sozin's grandfather, had sworn off firebending in a public display to show how dedicated he was to peace amongst the squabbling petty lords that held land in the Fire Nation. One year later he broke that promise by stepping into a fire of his own creation, under the belief he would be reborn as Agni himself.
Although Iroh's relationship with his father had become somewhat complicated, especially since Ilah's death, he still wished nothing but the best for him. Iroh knew Azulon did not like his own father, a fact that was conveniently left out of Fire Nation history books, and as such did as much as he could to distance himself from Sozin's shadow. Where Sozin was cold and distant, Azulon took a much softer approach to raising his own sons. Most importantly, he was there for them.
"Hi, Uncle!" Azula's cheery voice gave him a brief warning just before the girl slammed into his chest, her entire body enveloping him in a hug. The young princess always knew she could find him meditating in the palace gardens.
Iroh rubbed her back tenderly as he felt his neck constrict under the weight of her grip. He would never ask her to go easy though, these were the moments that could bring a smile to his face no matter what.
"Hello, Princess Azula. How was your trip to Ember Island?" He asked as they slowly broke apart.
Azula narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Boring. Mai and Ty Lee couldn't come so I was stuck with Lo and Li training most of the time." She produced a flame in her hands and bounced it to her other palm. "They said I'm getting really good though."
"I have no doubt." Iroh stroked her head affectionately as she leaned into his touch. He knew he was going to regret his next question before even asking it. "Why was your father not training you?"
She opened her mouth and made a sound that mimicked vomiting. "Dad was at a different party every night. He told me they were to celebrate the Summer Solstice, but I overhead Lo and Li mention that he was there to find a new wife." Azula stared at her feet as she kicked at the loose dirt. "How come he has to get married again?"
Iroh bit back the heavy sigh, not wanting to upset his niece even further. She knew nothing of her mother's betrayal or even that she once had an older brother and hopefully never would. Azula was left in the wreckage though, a child who would never know her mother or why her father was so distant. It broke Iroh's heart a little more each day. "Princess Azula, adults sometimes feel lonely without romance in their life. One day you will see just how much having someone you love means."
Azula mouthed the words back silently, trying to figure out the complex nature of humans as if it possible to even solve. She could be so much like Azulon that Iroh could swear they were the same person. "Well if that's true, then why didn't you find a new wife after Aunty Kiko died?" She covered her mouth after asking, having realized the insensitive nature of the question.
Iroh assured her he was not hurt with his always joyful smile. "She was the love of my life; I could never imagine finding another person I'd feel the same about." He looked at her with a slight glint in his eyes. "Besides, I am much too busy with you and Lu Ten to find the time to go courting." He tickled at her ribs lightly and she giggled loudly as she tried to worm her way away from him.
"I miss Lu Ten." Azula managed to wheeze out after recovering. "Is he going to be home soon?"
Iroh nodded his head. "Yes, I just received a message from him last week. He will be back before you know it."
"You promised we'd go to the Sun Warriors' ruins next time we were all together, 'member?"
"Of course, Princess Azula." Iroh was constantly surprised just how good Azula's memory was. A promise broken to her was one not easily forgotten.
"Prince Iroh." The servant that disturbed them stayed beneath the awning; their features obscured by its shadow. "Fire Lord Azulon requests an audience with you immediately."
"We shall not keep him waiting then." Iroh rose to his feet and did his best to ignore the dread he now felt anytime he spoke to his father. It didn't use to be such a formal affair to just have a conversation.
Azula kept him tethered to the spot as she clung to his leg. "I wanna go see Grandpa too."
He gave a small chuckle before leaning down to look at her eye to eye. "This conversation will only bore you. You know how Grandpa can tend to ramble." Her expression stayed solemn so Iroh pivoted swiftly. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West?"
Azula sniffled slightly as she shook her head. "Did you kill a dragon?"
"No, how about I tell you after my meeting?"
"Promise." She extended her pinky out to him.
Iroh's pinky dwarfed hers as he took it. "I promise."
Azula was clearly starved for attention and he could not wait any longer for his brother to figure that out. There was a fear of being alone surrounding her, one that he was sure was born out of an instinctual feeling that something was off about her family. The fear manifested in differing ways. When she was a toddler she constantly clung to her father and when his patience wore thin, Ozai handed her off to a wetnurse. Iroh put an end to that by staying in the capital for a full year at the height of Azula's clinginess.
The worst time the fear hit her was just a year ago when Lo and Li took her into the city surrounding the palace. She grew bored at a dress shop and wandered off as most young children were known to do. When Lo, Li, and the guards all realized Azula was missing, the entire city was put on lockdown. It was Iroh that had found her a couple of hours later, alone in a dark alley clinging to a decorative dagger she'd swiped from a vendor. She was shaking with sobs for the next two days as he comforted her.
Iroh shook his head clear of the bad memory and turned to follow the servant who had watched the exchange without a word. Each of his last two campaigns, Iroh had told himself they would be his last. He was the most disappointed when he realized that he couldn't keep his word.
With a silent promise to Azula, Iroh swore that if all was quiet on the front for the next month he would retire quietly. Now all could do was hope his father didn't interfere with those plans.
"Do you know why I let you study those waterbenders?" These were the first words Azulon had spoken to Iroh in over half a year.
Anyone that met Iroh would often wrongly assume his propensity to steer conversation toward more philosophical matters came from his mother. Ilah was always the life of any party and a big proponent to there being more to life than this near century long war. But no, it was actually Azulon who had taught Iroh to look at life from a different perspective. So needless to say, the question did not catch Iroh off guard.
"The ability to learn from the other nations is what has put us into position to win this war. Tell me, did you learn from that experience?" Azulon continued on. He always spoke as if he were the smartest man in the room. Unlike most men though, he actually had the knowledge to back that up.
"Yes, Father. Waterbenders have a way of redirecting their opponent's strength back at them that I believe can be incorporated into my own bending." Iroh was stiff, acutely aware of how much his father could gather just by studying someone's body language.
"Very good." Azulon responded in a far-off tone that spoke to how little what Iroh said mattered. Rather he just wanted to use it to jump into his own point. "I grow ill at the thought of how much knowledge was lost when my buffoon of a father wiped the Air Nomads from existence. Remember Iroh, it is always better to pacify than to eradicate. Shows of strength are always met with resistance."
"Yes, Father." Iroh found his nerve and steeled himself before asking the question. "Why is Ozai courting suitors?"
Azulon gave a very un-regal shrug of his shoulders. "Why your brother does anything is a mystery to everyone. Maybe he doubt's Azula's legitimacy as well."
Anytime Azulon was angry or disappointed with Ozai he would not refer to the latter by name. It was increasingly worrying to Iroh that he could not remember the last time he heard his father speak Ozai's name.
"Back to my point." Azulon dismissed the issues surrounding Ozai with practiced ease. "I was recently in Kasai Koroni-"
"Why were you in the colonies?" Iroh couldn't help but interrupt. His father was not well known to be seen outside the Royal Palace, let alone The Caldera.
"A good ruler makes time for all their subjects." Azulon answered the question without even flinching. "There was a farmer there selling plums grown all the way in Ba Sing Se. I stopped at his stall when I noticed the sad state of the fruit. When I questioned him on it, he replied that the city had gone through an unusually long and hot summer."
Iroh paled, he knew where this would be headed. "Did the plums at least taste good?"
His attempt at humor was ignored by Azulon as he just shook his head. "The farmer said that over half the crops in the Agrarian Zone would not make it. The last time they had a summer this bad the dry season lasted all the way until winter. Surely I do not need to spell out what I have envisioned."
"Are you sure of it? Could the man not have been mistaken? Or lying even?" Despite everything working against his favor, Iroh couldn't go down without a fight.
"Plums do not lie, Son. They are grown almost exclusively in Ba Sing Se and these were so dry I could rip their skin with a spoon. A starved enemy is a weak enemy." Azulon assembled some wooden figures on the map sitting on the desk between them; they always met in his office. "There are three fleets awaiting your command and I have called back another five. You will meet General Guntao at Pohuai Stronghold where he is already amassing a host comprised of several battalions stationed in the area. All told you should arrive at Ba Sing Se with no less than seventy thousand men."
Iroh resigned himself to his fate with a small dip of his chin. "When do I depart?"
"The last fleet will be here in a week and a half. I expect a detailed strategic analysis before then." Azulon gave a dismissive wave that told his son the conversation was over.
Iroh rose from his chair and turned to leave before remembering one of his many promises to Azula. "Father, Prince Lu Ten is due back by tomorrow evening. With your permission, I'd like to request a small excursion to the Sun Warriors' ancient city before I leave. Princess Azula wishes to learn from their culture."
His father considered the request before nodding once. "I require the analysis to be done before you leave though. Perhaps there is some knowledge to be gained from rooting around that graveyard."
Just before Iroh could shut the door behind him, his father gave him some parting advice. "Remember what I said, Iroh. Pacifying is a far better solution than eradication. Once that outer wall has been breached, the Earth King will surrender."