Morality Chain

More? More.

Well, we've hit the third season now. And the second season only took me 18 chapters and two years to cover!

Well, on we go.

Disclaimer I own nothing.

Uncle Iroh had returned to silence. The ships carrying him and his exhausted soldiers had docked in the middle of the day. Arrangements had been made that all other ships seeking harbour at the time would simply have to wait – even as disgraced he was, Iroh was still royalty, still the Dragon of the West.

But his return was not one of triumph. Crowds did not line the docks to cheer his return. There was no reason to celebrate a failure. No one who did not have to be there was there.

Well, almost no one.

Her eyes hard, Azula stood by her father's side, watching as the flagship slowly slid into the dock with a low grinding noise. Certain that no one was watching, she risked enough to glance up at her father. He was standing perfectly still, golden eyes set. To anyone else he would have appeared the picture of perfect impassivity, but Azula alone knew better.

Her father radiated impatience. A newly crowned Fire Lord, he no longer considered Uncle worthy of consideration. He was below even contempt. As far as Fire Lord Ozai was concerned, his brother no longer factored into his decisions at all.

But as Fire Lord and a new one at that, propriety demanded he be present to receive his brother back from any lengthy military campaign, and it chaffed at him.

For a brief moment, Azula wondered how her mother would have reacted to Iroh's return, were she still around to see it.

The soldiers were the first to disembark, marching in formation down the pier. Their discipline was excellent, of course, but Azula could see the exhaustion and grim resignation in their eyes. They had accomplished much in their campaign, that was true, but they had failed in their final objective, and that thought loomed above everything else in their minds.

Column after column of soldiers marched down the docks, putting on the best martial performance they could muster before the new Fire Lord. Minutes stretched interminably out, and Azula could feel even her iron will being tested with impatience. Finally, the last of the soldiers departed.

For a moment, she thought they would have carried Lu Ten down as part of the procession before she remembered the report – they had been unable to recover Lu Ten's body after he had fallen. Likely that had contributed to Uncle's grief and despair.

And speaking of Uncle…

He was walking down the ramp, alone, head bowed. It took Azula a long moment to even recognize him, if she were to be honest. She'd heard the line before that it wasn't the uniform or the robes but how you wore it, but it was only now that she really understood what they meant. They seemed to hang loosely around his frame despite his wide girth.

He continued his slow walk until he was right in front of the platform where Ozai was standing, and only then did Uncle Iroh look up, into the face of his younger brother. Into the face of the Fire Lord.

There was a moment of complete silence, and then Uncle's back straightened, and for one brief moment he was the perfect military man once more, giving an impeccable salute before the Fire Lord.

Father made no response whatsoever.

The moment passed, and Uncle was once more an old, beaten man shuffling slowly away from the docks and back towards the Capital.

Azula frowned, her fists clenching subconsciously. She was angry. Angry at Uncle for looking so pathetic. Angry at Lu Ten for daring to die instead of winning glory for the Fire Nation. Angry at the incompetent soldiers who had failed to protect their prince.

Amidst the swirling storm of emotion, one thing stood out to her, cementing itself into her mind with crystal clarity.

She would never, ever allow herself to experience a defeat like that. If ever she strode down the ramp and onto the docks, it would be with glory, pomp and success at her heels. Perhaps it would be conquering Ba Sing Se herself, making some huge diplomatic coup, or simply a journey to enforce the will of the Fire Nation on the rest of the world. It didn't matter.

She would not fail.

She would not be humiliated.

Never. Ever.

(X)

"I wonder who will get the louder cheers," Ty Lee said as she rocked back and forth on the chair.

"What?" glancing up from where she was polishing her knives, Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Zuko or Azula," Ty Lee clarified. "They're going to have to disembark one by one. That's one of the traditional things they do whenever members of the royal family travel on the same ship. You should know about it, right?"

"Don't remind me," Mai said sourly as she looked back down to her knife. "Our ceremonies always seem designed to take up the maximum amount of the time possible."

"So anyway, I was wondering who'd get the louder cheers," Ty Lee said again. "Zuko or Azula."

"… Why would one of them have louder cheers?"

"Oh, you know. Capturing Ba Sing Se versus killing the Avatar. That's the sort of thing everyone in the Fire Nation's been waiting to see forever, isn't it? I wonder which one will make the people more excited?"

"Wouldn't the person who'd accomplished each task also factor into the intensity of the cheers?" Mai decided not to bring up the fact that regardless of how a given citizen might feel about either Zuko or Azula, they would still be cheering their lungs out if they knew what was good for them. Zuko might not care come to think of it, but Azula would, both for herself and on Zuko's behalf.

"Huh, you're right…" Ty Lee trailed off, a frown of concentration on her face. "Guess that throws my calculations off."

"You made calculations about who would receive more cheers?"

"Well, it wasn't like I had much else to do while on lookout duty."

The ship had slowed as it prepared to pull into port, so most of the occupants of the vessel were mostly sitting tight and waiting for everything to come to a halt before they finally disembarked.

Which was, of course, incredibly boring.

Idly, Mai wondered what Zuko and Azula were doing just then.

(X)

"Thought I'd find you up here," Azula said as she approached Zuko.

Zuko didn't respond immediately. Azula supposed that could be understood, given that he was staring across the water at the port.

Azula followed his gaze over to the Fire Nation, visible and rapidly growing larger. She'd missed it, she realized all of a sudden. Really, truly missed the lands, the familiarity of the place, the servants, the peoples. And only after a few months.

She wondered how Zuko, who had been gone for three years, must have felt.

"It'll be good to be home again," she said softly.

Zuko's response surprised her a little, to be honest. His eyes narrowed and his gaze shifted to the ground.

"It's been over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed," his voice was so soft Azula had to strain to hear him.

"… Have you really changed that much?" Azula said after a moment, and Zuko turned to her, the question in his eyes.

"The way I see it," Azula continued. "You're still the same old you. Still prideful, headstrong, stubborn old Zuzu."

The look of confusion turned into a mild glare, "I'm serious, Az."

Azula shrugged. "So am I. You're still you, Zuko. Three years hasn't changed that," her smile became genuine. "You're still Prince Zuko, son of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa. Soon to be Crown Prince Zuko, too."

At that, Zuko smiled. Slight, but it was there.

Azula let out a sigh and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Whatever's changed, you'll be able to handle it, Zuzu. I know enough to know that."

"Thanks, Az."

Together, brother and sister stood and watched as the ship slowly brought them to the Fire Nation, and home.

(X)

Azula sighed as she heard Li and Lo outside, making her pronouncement to the crowd.

"Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom. There she found her brother, Zuko, and together, they travelled the Kingdom, infiltrated the capital of Ba Sing Se. There they faced the Avatar. And the Avatar fell, and the Earth Kingdom fell!"

"Listen to her," Azula grumbled. "It's not as if she knows anything more about what happened in there than anyone else."

"Well, she can tell a good story, though!" Ty Lee said brightly. "Listen to the crowd, they're eating it up!"

"Given that we're talking about the capture of Ba Sing Se, I'm certain that the crowd would still 'eat it up' if the person telling the story had a stutter and mumbled."

"Now the heroes have returned home. Your princess, Azula!"

"And that's my cue," the princess murmured as she stood and walked forward into the dazzling sunlight. As she stepped into view, she could hear the crowds cheers swell into a roar of delight.

Azula stood there for a long moment, acknowledging the crowds. Truth be told, she hadn't had much appearances in the public eye before – at least, not without her father being there to draw all the attention.

It wasn't half bad a feeling.

And then she stepped back, knowing what the next lines out of Li and Lo were going to be.

"And after three long years, your prince has returned. Zuko!"

The cheers became even louder as Zuko stepped forward to be presented to the public eye. Awkward and obviously unused to receiving the crowd's cheers, Zuko stood there with a sullen expression for several long seconds before stepping back and into the side.

Azula resisted the urge to smirk. Zuko would definitely have to get more used to things in the future. For now, though, he was home, and that was enough. Particularly since after the celebrating crowds, the next thing they'd have to do would be –

(X)

"The Fire Lord, Prince Zuko."

Azula resisted the urge to sigh. Well, it wasn't like she hadn't expected something like this. This audience with Father would be as much about reminding of the power he held over his two children as it was to praise them over the supposed job well done. Having each of them meet him alone was just another power play in a very long list of them.

At her side, Zuko stood, swallowing hard. Azula watched him for a brief moment as he turned towards the central chamber.

"We've already gone through the details of the fight. Don't worry too much," she said. It was the closest she'd come to wishing him good luck.

Zuko smiled back at her briefly before he turned and headed into the gloom

(X)

The strange feeling of unfamiliarity continued even as Zuko made his way into the central chamber. Everything he expected to be familiar... well, wasn't. Sizes, distances, the atmosphere, all of it felt... off.

He'd dreamed of this day for years. He'd memorized and played out the moment again and again, a hundred times, a thousand times in his daydreams. The crowds, yes. The soldiers and servants saluting and bowing to him, yes. The rich red robes instead of the heavy military uniforms, yes.

But most of all, meeting with his father again. Having his honour restored, after so many years.

That was what he'd expected, anyway. He'd expected to feel proud. To have his head held up high as he walked into the chamber, to proudly declare to himself father and anyone else present, "I have captured the Avatar!"

Instead, as he stepped into the grand hall, he felt a black pit form in his stomach, a wave of terror rushed over him, and for a moment he was back to three years, kneeling before his father during the Agni Kai and shaking with fear.

The moment passed. He wasn't in the match hall, he was in the audience chamber. His father was not striding up to him with cold fury in his eyes, but sitting at the far end of the chamber, his face hidden by the endless flames surrounding the dais.

For an instant, his mind went blank, and then suddenly it all came back to him. The proper procedures, the ceremony. Resisting the urge to swallow, he strode forward until he was close enough to the throne so that he could almost make out features of the person sitting on the throne.

The person.

The Fire Lord.

His Father.

He got down onto one knee, lowering his head in a sign of obeisance. The Fire Lord would speak first. He always did.

"You have been away for a long time, my son."

My son. Something in those words… something in the way that he had said them… Zuko swallowed. Is that what I wanted to hear?

"I see the trials of your travels have been heavy upon you. But that is at an end," a brief pause, and suddenly the sound of crackling flames died. Eyes widening, Zuko almost glanced up in surprise, but managed to keep his body still at the last minute.

His father had just doused the trench of fire that separated the two of them. It was supposed to be an impassable barrier, a symbol that the Fire Lord was elevated and untouchable by any of his subjects – even his son. But, he had just brought that barrier down.

The sound of footfalls now, coming to a rest in front of him.

"Look at me, Zuko."

Slowly, Zuko raised his eyes – his gaze – up, until he was looking, for the first time in three years, into his Fathers face. For a moment the memory flooded his mind, that of his father glowering and stepping towards him, fists clenched, but that image swam and disappeared. Now his father's face was calm and impassive.

"You have redeemed yourself, my son."

"Father…" the word came out of Zuko's mouth before he could stop himself. Ozai did not appear to notice, however. He turned slightly to the right, and began walking slowly, in a long circle around Zuko.

Forced to remain still, Zuko soon lost sight of his father as he moved out of view.

"It really was quite the glowing report that Azula gave me. How you acted decisively and swiftly at the moment of truth. The fruits of your training in the past three years were only made known to her then," the sudden lack of footfalls was Zuko's first indication that Ozai had stopped behind him. "I am proud, my son. To have slain the Avatar is truly a legendary accomplishment."

Zuko licked lips that were suddenly far too dry. "I am… honoured by your praise, father," he whispered.

"Yes…" Ozai's tone became more contemplative. "However, it truly is a shame that we were unable to recover the corpse because of your Uncle's interference."

Zuko swallowed, doing his best to keep his composure.

"Still, that is another matter in which I can be proud of you, my son," the sound of footsteps again as Ozai completed his slow circle around Zuko. "Despite him staying with you for three years, his poison was never able to take root in you. You remained a firm and loyal son of the Fire Nation. For this, I am grateful."

His mouth felt like it was coated with ashes. "I am… thank you, Father," he managed.

"Raise your head high, Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation," Zuko did so and gazed up into his father's face. For the briefest of moments, a tiny smile formed on Ozai's face. "You have redeemed yourself and so regained your honour. You are worthy to be welcomed back to the Fire Nation."

For some reason, this failed to make Zuko feel much better at all.

(X)

"So it's my turn now, is it," Azula muttered to herself as she walked down the hallway towards the audience chamber. As she continued her journey, she silently reviewed how she was going to present herself to the Fire Lord. Her mind sifted through the most likely things he would ask of her. She hadn't seen Zuko since the meeting; likely he had been sent back into his old room with the attendants to get him ready for the celebratory dinner they were having tonight.

The same would undoubtedly come for her of course. But first she'd have to get through this talk with her Father. And part of that would be anticipating what he would have to say.

"Maybe about Uncle," she muttered to herself, although that thought didn't seem too likely at all. If anything, her father would be nothing but glad that Uncle was now locked up and wouldn't bother to ask anything questions that might potentially complicate matters. There would be issues with the famed Dragon of the West suddenly turning traitor to the Fire Nation, of course, particularly amongst those in the military who had known Uncle personally, but this meeting wouldn't be the place to discuss that sort of thing.

Ba Sing Se was a possibility. Perhaps a probable one. Public details about the actual invasion were still scarce after all, so perhaps he would want to ask her about it. But the letter she had sent back to the Fire Nation via messenger hawk had been rather more thorough about the methods used – if nothing else she'd wanted to clear up the issue of bringing back Earth Kingdom elite operatives with her. They might want Azula to publicly announce how she'd subverted the Earth kingdom's inner leadership and all that other nonsense, but once again, that wasn't the sort of thing one was concerned about between a father and a daughter. Or a Fire Lord and a princess of the Fire Nation.

The Avatar was, of course, another hot topic. Azula resisted the urge to sigh. She could only hope that Zuko hadn't botched the cover story about his fight with the Avatar. She remembered going through the forged details of the fight with him. Well, hopefully any discrepancies about the details of the fight could be chalked up to her or Zuko (probably Zuko) misremembering certain events during the heat of battle. As to whether or not Father would actually ask her about the Avatar's defeat... well, Azula knew better than anyone that her Father wasn't one for trusting and letting things be.

The doors opened before her, and she stepped forward into the audience chamber, making sure that her body posture exuded confidence – but not defiance. Quickly, she approached the throne, always keeping her eyes fixed on the figure wreathed in flames.

Finally she was close enough to him, and she went onto her knees, bowing just low enough for her forehead to be almost touching the ground.

"Azula," his voice was low.

"Father," she replied.

There was a brief pause. And then, "Why have you lied to me?"

Not the best start to the conversation, Azula had to admit. Making absolutely sure that her father couldn't see any changes to her composure, she said, "What do you mean, Father?"

"This... fanciful story of Zuko killing the Avatar," though her Father did not raise his voice, she could hear the icy tones of displeasure in it. "Why feed it to me?"

"Fanciful?" Azula repeated. "The details of the battle were already passed to you shortly after the conquest of-"

"We both know that your brother is not capable of achieving something like that. He is too weak, too gentle. He lacks the core of strength needed to push himself to excel."

For a long moment, Azula wondered how best to reply. Getting into an argument with her father about exactly how powerful Zuko was in relation to the Avatar appeared to her to be a singularly unproductive exercise. It would also serve to get her Father annoyed, and that tended to be the sort of thing one wanted to avoid at all costs – unless of course one had planned specifically for their father to be annoyed in order to achieve some goal, and this was certainly not one of those times.

On the other hand, simply letting that matter pass without comment would simply reinforce in her father's mind that Zuko was too weak to have defeated the Avatar, or indeed to achieve anything else of worth. And Azula didn't want that. Briefly, fleetingly, she wondered what her Father had said to Zuko. Well, that was irrelevant right now.

"These three years have apparently made Zuko stronger, Father," she said in as neutral a tone as she could muster. "Stronger than you know. Do you know that he had succeeded in the task of generating lightning?"

"Indeed," Father's reply was similarly devoid of any cues that Azula could use. Well, that wasn't really anything new as far as Azula was concerned. But it did leave her with a lack of promising directions to take the conversation.

Once again, a silence fell upon the two of them for several long moments. Then, with a mental sigh, Azula decided to ask her Father a question instead. It was a show of weakness, really, but sometimes just a tiny bit of vulnerability was needed to defuse the situation.

"If you truly don't believe that Zuko was capable of defeating the Avatar, then why even let him return to the city? Did you need us to deliver the Avatar's corpse to you as proof as well, Father?"

Her father let out a sigh, "Azula, when you returned to the Fire Nation, did you heed the crowds?"

"Yes, of course."

"They cheered for the return of you and Zuko. They cheered for your triumph at Ba Sing Se. But most of all, they cheered for Zuko's victory over the Avatar. The shadow of the Avatar has loomed large over the minds of the populace for years, Azula. To know that their exiled Crown Prince has successfully defeated him is a great boost to the spirit of our people. And I am not so foolish as to pass up such a boon easily.

"But make no mistake, Azula," her Father's voice became stern. "Perhaps it is as you say Perhaps Zuko did indeed defeat the Avatar by luck or base cunning. But Zuko has not changed. He is still weak, and he is not fit to rule. My meeting with him told me that much. If you know what is good for Zuko, you will ensure that the boy is kept on a short leash."

Ozai set silent for a few long seconds, letting the implications of his warning sink in for Azula, before his shadow moved, almost imperceptibly. A slight nod and, "You are dismissed."

(X)

"You're moving into a room in the palace?" Azula raised an eyebrow at Ty Lee as she walked beside her.

"Uh huh!" Ty Lee nodded, somewhat less enthusiastically than normal. "I mean, I could go home, but…"

"But you don't want to talk to your parents about you running off and joining the circus," Azula sighed. "Fine. But that doesn't explain why you don't just move in with Mai. With her parents still in Omashu, she's pretty much got the whole house to herself, and I daresay that it'd be more comfortable there than a guest room in the palace."

"So I could stay closer to you, silly!" Ty Lee grinned up at Azula.

Azula almost smiled back, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt I'll have the chance to take very many breaks. At least in the near future."

"What? But we've already won! We've got the Earth Kingdom capital and the Avatar's dead. What's left?"

Azula frowned. The Avatar may or may not actually be dead. I still need to follow up on the lead Uncle inadvertently gave to me. And also…

The day. The planned 'invasion' by the Earth Kingdom generals. She would have to check all the records and figure out just what – if anything – would occur on that specific date. Even if nothing turned up, she'd still have to get defences organized in case any insurgent groups got funny ideas.

"Quite a lot, Ty Lee," Azula murmured as she walked down the corridor. "Quite a lot."

(X)

"… He's been taken to the tower?" Zuko said as he glared at the soldier.

"Yes, sir. It was supposed to be temporary until we could transport the prisoner to the Boiling Rock, but-"

"NO!" Zuko snapped. "You're not to bring him there, you hear me? He stays here!"

"Y – yes, your sister already intervened and arranged for his permanent incarceration in the tower," or at least, permanent until the day of his execution. The soldier didn't need to say that last part.

Zuko sighed, feeling some of the tension leave his body. "All right," he muttered tiredly. "That's fine."

"Prince Zuko?" the guard said after a moment's hesitation. "Would you… like to visit the prisoner?"

Zuko pursed his lips and swallowed. "No…" he finally said, shaking his head. "No, it's fine."

Turning, he turned and walked away.

(X)

Azula wasn't sure what had compelled her to spend the afternoon hanging outside Uncle's room. Zuko was in a bit of a funk after Lu Ten's death had been brought so close to him. Her Father had been in meetings the whole day, and Azula had considered sneaking in, but she'd heard enough about the schedule to realize that it would be about budgets and administration – none of the fun stuff.

It wasn't like Uncle would make much better company either, to be honest. When he had returned home he had… well, he'd been a wreck. As if even the tiniest actions exhausted him. Her Uncle might have been a tea-loving fuddy-duddy before, but even Azula wouldn't deny that he'd had that spark, that fire within him that all true members of Fire Nation royalty bore.

Now? He just seemed weak.

Members of the Fire Nation Royal Family weren't supposed to be weak. The idea appalled Azula.

Maybe that was why she was here now, waiting outside his room. A part of her wanted to know why. To understand. How could losing a son have broken Uncle like this? Where was the fire that would have come out of him to consume the person who had done that to Lu Ten – and the rest of the Earth Kingdom?

Was Uncle really not worthy of even being a member of the Royal Family?

Azula didn't understand.

She glared balefully at the carved doorway, suddenly realizing how silly she looked. It wasn't as if doing this would give her any answers! All her observations of Uncle so far had failed to yield any fruit; it was only her reluctance to admit defeat in matters – even seemingly trivial ones like this – that had brought her to this conclusion.

But that had also led her to doing this for an afternoon, turning the issue over and over in her head and getting no answers.

With a tiny snort of frustration, Azula folded her arms and stormed away from the room.

Let her Uncle mope.

She had better things to do.

Chapter End

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