Chapter 39

The remaining colonies were in upheaval, yet again. The cities that Sozin had first conquered, the ones that the Earth Kingdom had not wanted returned in the treaty Azula signed, had become cosmopolitan enclaves where a new composite culture had been born. The diverse population consisted of groups from all nations, with competing interests and values, which made the place a bit of a powder keg.

Azula looked to Szeto for guidance on how to administer these lands, but found very little instruction. There had been no colonies during his time. In his writings, there were a few passages about how to incorporate annexed territories under the rule of the monarch, but the areas referenced were full of firebenders, not places where firebenders and earthbenders had mixed under unequal circumstances. All she could do was try to apply the past Avatar's vague, general principles like 'fairness" and "generosity."

So she enacted anti-discrimination laws and funded the social services the colonists demanded. When their wheat harvest failed, she sent them rice. When they had a particularly cold winter, she made sure they had enough fuel to heat their homes. She appointed some officials of mixed parentage, even a few Earth Kingdom people, so that all groups felt represented and heard. For governor, she chose a man from a Fire Nation family, born in Cranefish Town, and married to a woman of blended ancestry who could earthbend. Of course, the Fire Lord made sure the leaders she selected would be loyal to her first of all.

But the colonials were never satisfied, much less grateful. It seemed that for them, administering the cities fairly wasn't enough. She was beginning to despair of ever appeasing the complaining citizens.

And now, despite all her generosity, they were agitating for a referendum on independence. She couldn't understand it. Why would they want to be independent? She dismissed the malcontents and prepared to ignore their incipient movement.

But then she heard that Avatar Aang was coming to Yu Dao. After nearly two years, he was coming out of his ascetic retreat from the world. It wasn't yet clear why, or what he thought of the issue, but all she knew was, she had to meet him there.

Surely Aang would see all that she had done for the colonies and take her side. He would help her keep the peace, and then she could maintain possession of this last bit of her country's one-sprawling empire. Working to solve this problem would bring them together. She had changed enough, and accomplished enough, to make him realize what a prize he had lost when he left her.

It's fate, she decided. She began to pack her bags.

Captain Raiden was glad to get the order to travel with the Fire Lord to the colonies. The problem of the governance of Yu Dao, Cranefish Town, and the other coastal cities had become one of the few still-unresolved issues left over from the war, so it weighed on him. He leaned toward the colonies' eventual independence, but understood why Azula had moved so slowly on the issue, given the unrest at home. He hoped visiting the cities would make her understand that it was finally time to loosen her paternalistic control over the lands Sozin had conquered.

After making his rounds on the airship, double-checking equipment and speaking briefly with the other guards, Raiden joined the Fire Lord, who was looking eagerly out the window.

"You seem excited," the captain observed.

"I haven't seen Aang in a whole year."

"He's been quite reclusive," the captain agreed.

"I'm hoping he'll like the new me." Azula patted her hair.

"Most people do," Raiden answered with a frown, unsure exactly what she was talking about. "New" compared to what? Her haircut was an old story.

"And this meeting is bound to showcase what a great leader I am. When he sees how much I've helped people, he'll finally come to his senses," she stated confidently.

Something about the fanatic determination in her voice chilled him. "What do you mean?" he wondered, with some foreboding.

"He'll drop the waterbender, if he hasn't already, and take me back," Azula answered in a matter-of-fact way. "This moment is what I've been working towards since that disaster in the desert, and now he's finally within my reach." She paused, looking out the window with satisfaction, while Raiden gaped at her back. Finally she surveyed her fingernails and turned around. "I think I should have Peony give me a manicure and a facial, to look extra fresh." She got up to walk away.

After she turned to leave, Raiden couldn't help venting his frustration. "He must be a fool," the captain muttered.

"Excuse me?" The Fire Lord pivoted, her words a sharp challenge.

Raiden felt his face heating up, but forced himself to speak. "The Avatar was about to marry—" he cut himself off, and only thought, the most brilliant and beautiful woman in the world, "-you, and yet he ran away."

She looked down, heart caught in remembered pain. She mumbled an explanation, "The waterbender tricked him."

That was unimaginable to Raiden. No mere trickery could overcome the privilege of marrying Azula. Perhaps her relationship with Aang had been complicated in ways he didn't understand. Maybe he simply preferred the other woman. There was no accounting for taste. But still, Raiden couldn't see how someone as wise as the Avatar could be deceived, and fail to see what a prize the princess was. Even as she was then, the potential for this was within her.

"He's a fool," the captain repeated.

Azula did not reply. She seemed a little hurt, as if she had expected him to encourage her, the way he normally did. Seeing her pout, he reminded himself that her feelings were what mattered, not his. She owed him nothing.

"And yet, this fool is the one you want. Being with him will make you happy?" he verified.

She swallowed, entranced by his serious eyes. Stubbornly, she nodded.

He bowed and left.

Raiden went down to the open-air platform on the bottom of the airship, to let the sea air cool the heat radiating from his face and neck. He felt something wet on his cheek and realized it wasn't the mist they were flying through, he was crying.

It made perfect sense that Azula would love a man like the Avatar. Aang was the most powerful and talented man in the world, with untold lifetimes of wisdom. He and Azula were both world leaders, mighty and dangerous. She and I, we're not even the same species. Raiden knew it was no shame to have a woman choose a man like that over him. In her place, he would do the same. It made sense that she would not even notice him if she was still in love with another man, one who was doubtless more of a catch.

He wondered if Aang would be upset to learn about Azula's infertility. Many men would be, and the Avatar had a more urgent need for children than anyone, since he was the last airbender. Would he abandon Azula when he found out that she could not give them to him? Raiden sighed. It was pointless to look so far into the future. If that happened, he knew he would be there to pick up the pieces, as he had the last time Aang had rejected her.

His memory of their short interaction in the desert made him think it was likely the Avatar would refuse her again. Aang had not cared much about Azula's heartbreak; instead he had been eager to return to his girlfriend, the waterbender. The Fire Lord had wailed in a crumpled heap, while the young man who caused her distress jogged away and hopped onto a sphere of air, unconcerned.

That was what was really bothering him, he realized. He was afraid Azula was about to get her heart broken again, and didn't want to see her go through that. The idea of his queen throwing herself at the feet of a man who had twice rejected her, was what rankled him. He could not understand it.

Nevertheless, Raiden decided that if his prediction was wrong, and Aang wanted to be with Azula, then he would step aside. Then he shook his head at his own presumption. Who am I fooling? He had never been in a position where 'stepping aside' was necessary. He was just a guard. But all he wanted was her happiness, so he would even help her win the other man's love, if that was possible. Perhaps that was what he'd been doing, unknowing, for almost two years: helping the Fire Lord to grow into a suitable partner for the embodiment of the world spirit. He could be content with that, would even consider it a job well done, as long as she was happy.

I really mean that, he realized. So it must be true. Piandao, Naoki, and Takeo had been teasing him about it for over a year, saying he was in love with the Fire Lord. He'd denied it to himself until now, calling it just a crush. But the truth was that he'd loved Azula for a long time, probably since she cut her hair. He loved her wit, her skill and fearsome prowess, her sharpness and precision, her beauty, her vulnerable confidences, the way she'd turned history around. He even loved her darkness. He loved the role he played in her life, and though he finally admitted he did dream of more, he had always understood and accepted that was impossible.

He sighed and wiped the tears from his face. This might be the hardest mission of his life.

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