Morality Chain

Chapter this time is a little short. Sorry about that, I'll try to make it up with the next update.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"An eclipse?" Azula's frown only deepened as she went over the scroll. "We haven't had one in ages."

"Not since before your highness was born," the seer nodded once. "It's a total eclipse too."

"And it's the date that all the Earth Kingdom generals had noted as being especially important..." she cupped her chin and stroked it thoughtfully. "What happens during an eclipse?"

"Well, it's said the moon moves to cover the face of the sun, keeping us from receiving its wondrous light."

"Disgraceful," Azula snorted.

"Yes, and... because we are blocked from the blessing of the sun's rays, we lose our Firebending."

Azula's eyes widened, "What? Are you certain?"

"Positively, your highness. Once, a cunning foe made use of the time to attack our nation when it was at its weakest and unable to properly fight back. That day is now known as the darkest day in our history."

"Yes, I'd studied about that," that had been long before the current war with the Fire Nation, of course, but still a valued part of military history. "But all those records said that it was the enemy general making use of cunning to strike when we were unprepared, not us suddenly being rendered powerless."

He bowed low, "We did not want the knowledge of our weakness during an eclipse to be widely known. Surely you can understand that, your highness."

"Yes, of course," Azula sighed and waved her hand to indicate that the seer was dismissed and could return to... whatever duties it was that a seer carried out during the day. He bowed low, once, and then shuffled off.

Alone, Azula slumped back in her chair and let out a frustrated sigh. It was now obvious to her that the Earth Kingdom - and most probably the Avatar - had been planning on striking the Fire Nation during the eclipse. What their exact goals had been was still up in the air, but it probably would have been suitably ambitious to match the weakness of the Fire Nation at that exact moment.

Maybe even a strike on the Fire Lord? Well, that was always a possibility.

But that was before she had subdued Ba Sing Se and killed (or disabled) the Avatar. Would they still be willing or able to try something now instead?

Logic said no. The Generals of the Earth Kingdom army were still incarcerated in Ba Sing Se, and without them they'd effectively have no leaders that would be able to plan or execute the operation.

But desperate people had a way of ignoring logic and pinning their hopes on wild flights of fancy. And if any group counted as desperate, the resistance to the Fire Nation had to be included in their number, now that the Avatar had been taken out of the picture.

There was also the issue of ability. Even if they were desperate enough to try an attack, would they possess anything in the way of actually being able to carry it out? The earth kingdom armies were essentially neutralized as a threat, after all, which meant there weren't any significant forces left for an assault.

Except…

She glanced over the documents that had been piled up over her desk. It had only been a passing reference, but she was sure she had seen something about troop movements in Chameleon Bay… The Fire Nation had secured the area shortly after capturing Ba Sing Se, of course, but still. If there was still a nucleus of effective forces in the area, she'd best be certain about them and what they could accomplish.

Quickly she rifled through the files, trying to find the one in particular that she was looking for. After a few minutes, she let out a sigh.

Water Tribespeople. Of course, they had technically been allied to the Earth Kingdom for the longest time, but they had mostly involved themselves with making trouble for the navies. Azula hadn't paid much attention on that front, for obvious reasons.

But now… even relatively small in number, they were an organized, disciplined fighting force. They had fled Chameleon Bay too quickly for the Fire Nation to catch them, which meant that they had to have had reliable access to information concerning Ba Sing Se. And they would likely have known – at least vaguely – about the planned invasion.

She sighed. Well, at the end of the day this was mostly her educated guesses and conjecture based on information she had gleaned together from several disparate sources. But it never hurt to be prepared.

Standing, she began gathering the relevant files. Her father would have to know about this.

(X)

Zuko stepped out the doorway of his room, a long sigh leaving his lips as he glanced left and right. All the pathways and corridors around him were familiar to him. Take a right, keep walking for a few seconds and he'd reach his sister's chamber. Take a left, then the second door, and he'd be at one of the gardens - specifically, the one he and Azula had played in most often during their childhood.

Yes, he knew every nook and cranny of the area. And yet everything felt... strange. Different.

Three years had changed a lot about him, he supposed.

Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heel and headed towards the dining room. If nothing else, he wanted his stomach filled, and even if absolutely everything else felt strange and unfamiliar, the food was something that he had been very glad to return to.

Well, it was just a little too rich for his tastes after three years on what were essentially soldier's rations, but on that count, at least, he felt certain that he'd be perfectly used to it again in no time. That was fine. Just fine.

Rounding the corner, he came to an immediate halt.

Four attendants stood in a semi-circle ahead of him, effectively blocking the corridor from further progress.

"Prince Zuko," the closest one said as she bowed. "We have drawn your bath."

"My… bath," he repeated numbly.

"Yes, it would not do for the Crown Prince to appear at the tables before having properly refreshed himself."

"I didn't need to do any of that before I left!" he countered.

Glances were shared amongst the four of them.

"Well, Lord Zuko, when you left, you had not yet come of age."

"Now that you are an adult, there are certain expectations of you that might not have existed before."

"Please understand that as Crown Prince, you represent the Fire Nation itself."

That last line was a cheap shot, really, and Zuko frowned at it. Crown Prince, huh…?

With a tiny sigh of annoyance, he turned and walked away from the attendants.

(X)

Azula sighed and leaned back in her chair. Going through those forms and plans had been draining, and now that she had sent the messages along to Father, it was as good a chance to relax as any. Truth be told, she had missed the luxuries that being a princess of the Fire Nation had afforded her. And she could hardly be faulted for indulging a little now that her journey had come to its end.

Her handmaidens approached, quickly and efficiently removing her shoes as they prepapred to massage and wash her feet. One of them placed a bowl of cherries on the table by her side. A small smile crossed Azula's face as she leaned back and closed her eyes, popping a cherry into her mouth as she did so.

It was good to be home.

As her handmaidens continued her work on her feet, two of them undid the bindings on her hair, letting it hang free so they could wash it as well. Azula took another cherry and continued eating.

Crunch.

Her eyes flew open, and her handmaidens froze. Silently, she felt around in her mouth with her tongue. Yes, that was unmistakeable.

Bringing her hand up, she spat into it. "Who was the one who prepared the cherries?" she asked calmly. It always scared the servants more when she spoke calmly.

There was a sharing of nervous glances before one of them cleared her throat and shuffled forward, "I - I did, your highness."

"I see. And what do you call this?" she held up her hand, revealing a small black stone resting in her palm.

"Uh... that is..."

"It is a cherry pit, is it not?" Azula raised an eyebrow. "You're not new here, are you? Even if you are, you should have been informed that I don't want to see any of these in my cherries. Ever."

"A thousand apologies, your highness!" the maid bowed hastily. "It - it was a minor oversight. It won't happen again, I promise!"

"Oh, won't it?" Azula let a smirk cross her face. "Well then, shall we play a little game?"'

The handmaiden blinked in surprise, "A – a game?" she stuttered, clearly unsure of what to make of Azula's statement.

"Oh, yes," she leaned back in her chair again. "The rules are very simple. For every cherry pit I find in this bowl, that ten percent less pay you'll be getting for this month," she tilted her palm, letting the cherry drop down onto the table. "We'll just consider this first one a free pass, shall we?"

And before the nervous eyes of her handmaidens, Azula picked up another cherry and continued to eat.

Yes, it was definitely good to be back home.

(X)

Zuko realized that things were not going to go quite according to plan the moment he stepped out of the house.

He had planned on an impromptu and quiet walk over to Mai's house, where he would most likely find her. Mai being Mai, it was exceedingly unlikely that she would have left the house for whatever reason. Then Zuko could invite her out for lunch and maybe a stroll through the gardens. Or something.

Well, the 'quiet' part was right out now.

And the 'walk' part, for that matter.

He stared with no small amount of consternation at the palanquin that had been brought to the entrance of the palace, as well as the small crowd of people that had somehow gotten wind of his intentions and were now watching him expectantly.

"It's…" he began. "It's okay. I'll just walk. It's not far."

"But Prince Zuko!" one of the attendants protested. "It is the height of summer, and midday too! We cannot allow you to be fatigued when you venture out of the palace."

Zuko opened his mouth ready to deliver a sharp rebuke and an order for them to leave, but then after a moment he closed his mouth and shook his head once.

"Fine. Whatever," he grumbled as he stalked towards the door of the palanquin. As he slumped into the cushion seats, he folded his arms as the conversation he'd had with Azula the previous night echoed in his mind.

"And don't do anything to rock the boat," Azula glanced up from the scroll she had been reading. A document about some famous Fire Nation general whose name Zuko couldn't really remember right now.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Azula slumped back in her chair. "Zuko, what did Father say to you when you met him?"

"Hm? Oh… he said that… I had redeemed myself. And that he was proud of me," an unconscious frown crossed Zuko's face as he recalled the moment. He'd expected that hearing those words from his Father would fill his heart with pride and joy. Instead he… didn't really feel much of anything.

Is it because I know that I didn't really defeat the Avatar after all? That appeared to be the obvious answer, but even then something about it didn't… feel right.

"Hm, that so?" Azula's voice intruded on his thoughts. "Well, he had some words for me too. Maybe he didn't want you to hear them, but…" she sighed. "Dad's got his eye on you, Zuko. I guess he figures that if you've messed up badly once there isn't much stopping you from doing it again."

"Dad said that?" the disquiet in his heart only grew.

"I don't like it any more than you," Azula said softly as she turned back to her reading. "But that's the way things are. So, for now at least, lay low and don't cause a fuss, okay, Zuzu? For both of our sakes."

As the memory ended, Zuko sighed and rubbed his head in frustration. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

"My Lord Zuko," came the voice from outside. "We have arrived."

"All right," he said. "I'm coming."

(X)

"An invasion," Ozai's voice was low as he glanced over the papers spread before him. "One likely to occur on the day of the scheduled eclipse."

As the mumbles of consternation swept through the room, Azula kept her face impassive, observing the rest of the people gathered at the conference table. There was War Minister Qin, of course, as well as several of the admirals and generals – namely the ones tasked with defending the homeland and the waters around it.

Notably absent was her brother, and Azula suppressed a frown as she wondered how to take this rather glaring omission.

Well, it was true that this meeting had been held on rather short notice and that Azula had specifically ensured that she would be ready and waiting for when the meeting began. A tiny part of her had allowed herself to feel a hot surge of triumph at the fact that her father had specifically invited her to the meeting – her recent exploits had garnered her enough prestige that she would now be able to attend any session she so wished.

Of course, Zuko had apparently not been afforded the same honour. Azula frowned. It was possible her brother simply hadn't made himself available for this meeting, but still… If that's the case, then why wasn't he here and ready for this sort of thing?

Shaking those irritating thoughts aside for the moment, she refocused on what her father was saying.

"We cannot be entirely certain that these plans will still be attempted, especially in light of our glorious victory at Ba Sing Se," Ozai said in calm tones. "Nevertheless, it is an eventuality we must be prepared for, especially in light of our reduced abilities during that time."

He made no mention of the fact that it was Azula who had pieced together the various parts of the puzzle. Azula shrugged mentally. It wasn't like assigning credit was particularly important anyway.

"Now then. I wish to know what ideas you have, if any, for dealing with this potential invasion."

There was silence for a brief moment, and then one of the admirals present cleared his throat.

"The only way to launch an invasion on the capital with any significant numbers would involve passing through the gates of Azulon," he shook his head once. "Even if they muster sufficient forces to break through, we'll still have stalled long enough for any of the needed reinforcements to rush to the capital. Such an invasion could not get off the ground."

"What if they found some way to bypass the gates' defences completely?" Azula spoke up for the first time since she had arrived, drawing looks from everyone present.

"What? That's a preposterous notion!"

She raised and lowered one shoulder. "Humour me, admiral." That they would plan a direct attack on the capital is a preposterous notion in and of itself. Better we consider all possibilities and angles instead of being caught on the wrong foot come that day.

"W – well," the man glanced to the side. "That being the case, they'll dock down here, of course," he pointed down to the city's main port on the map.

"And it's a short hike to get to the capital," Azula murmured as she studied the map.

"The eclipse lasts a mere eight minutes, your highness," one of the Fire Sages in attendance spoke up. "They could not move quickly enough to attack the capital in that case."

"Likely they know this," General Sentou said, his grey eyes steely. "Therefore they will coordinate their attack so the eclipse occurs at the point they expect to meet the most resistance."

"In which case, we should ask what their goals for this endeavour are."

"The idea of a ragtag group of Water Tribespeople and whatever allies they can scrape together holding the capital is absurd," the admiral spoke up again.

"Which is why that won't be their goal," Azula said softly. "The eclipse is eight minutes. Not long enough for an invasion or a prolonged fight, but long enough to enter, get a high-value target, and leave before reinforcements can come in any strength."

"A high-value target," Ozai's tone was noncommittal, but Azula knew that he had already figured out what she was driving at.

"Yes," she straightened up. "Father, if they are going to launch an assault on the capital during the eclipse, they will definitely place removing you from power at the top of their priority list."

There was silence in the room for a moment.

And then Ozai smiled.

"Well then, daughter. If you think you know what it is they'll try to do, it makes it that much easier to prevent them from accomplishing it, does it not?"

Azula nodded once, slowly. "Yes… I suppose it does."

"That's just assuming they can even get past the Gates of Azulon at all, though," the admiral from before spoke up again, his arms folded.

"Well, they're waterbenders," Azula said. "They might know some things about the ocean we don't."

"In any case, reinforcing the guard at the gates would be the first step no matter what other preparations we make."

And so it went. As the afternoon wore on, and the discussion about the day of the eclipse ebbed and flowed, Azula found her thoughts returning to a tiny matter at the back of her mind.

Zuko. What are you doing right now?

(X)

"You look annoyed," Mai said as Zuko slumped back on her couch.

"I feel annoyed."

Mai remained silent for a long moment. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you want to tell me about it or are we just going to sit here and talk about how much we don't like things in general?"

Zuko shook his head, frustrated. "That's just it. I don't get it. I thought I'd be happy when I got back to the Capital. Or, well, happier. But instead I've just been feeling… I don't know, nauseous. Like I can't relax," his voice trailed into silence. "Like this place isn't home anymore."

Mai settled herself onto the chair opposite Zuko's, "Is this about your father?"

"What? NO! No, it's not!" Zuko said vehemently. "I've – he's already restored me as Crown Prince and he's given me my honour back! I don't... I don't expect any more from him."

Mai didn't reply.

"Maybe it's Uncle. He's always been at the back of my mind these past couple of days – I'm… worried about him," Zuko ran a hand through his hair. "And the other half of me tells me not to because he betrayed us, but…" he fell silent. "Sorry, Mai. I really shouldn't be bothering you with all this."

"Well you shouldn't be keeping all this inside yourself either," Mai pointed out. "Besides, if not for me, who are you going to talk to about this? Azula?"

Zuko managed a weak smile at that, but his thoughts were still a mess. He let out a slow breath of air as he stared at the ground.

Uncle…

(X)

The night was cloudy. A small blessing, but one nonetheless. Drawing the cloak tighter around himself, Zuko continued his lonely walk towards the tower.

The tower. The jail of the Fire Nation's capital.

Where Uncle was being kept.

Zuko swallowed, staring up at the stark building for a long moment before moving closer, making sure to keep to the shadows all the while.

Just a little further and he would be inside the building

Just a few more steps.

The attack came without warning.

A hand lashed out from the side, seizing his wrist and twisting it behind his back. Instinctively he raised his free hand to launch a fireball into his assailant's face, but the person was quick and twisted away, dragging Zuko deeper into the shadows with it.

Once shielded by the gloom, one hand was brought up, and the glow of a blue flame illuminated Azula's scowling face.

"I thought I told you to lay low for a while!" she snapped.

"I know!" Zuko replied just as hotly. "But I just wanted to see Uncle! What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with wanting to see a criminal accused of high treason?" Azula's glare sharpened. "Zuko, you cannot be that naïve. For your own sake, think about whatever it is you're going to do before you do it."

He shook her hand off roughly, and Azula made no attempt to halt him. "So that's how it is?" he sputtered. "I can't even do what I want without thinking about how it'll make me look? I can't even visit Uncle?"

"Don't give me that nonsense. You knew this wasn't going to fly, or you wouldn't have done this in the dead of the night with the thickest cloak you could scrounge up."

Unable to deny the truth of her words, Zuko looked away, a scowl on his face, until a thought struck him. "If that's the case, then… what are you doing here, Az?"

Azula shrugged. "Visiting Uncle."

His mouth fell open. "You just said –"

"I'm not the one hanging on to father's favour by a thread!" Azula said with a vehemence that surprised Zuko. "I'm not the one who was banished. I'm not the one father thinks is too weak to take the throne. I'm not the one he watches like a hawkhound for the slightest mistake or slipup! Don't you get it, Zuko? It's different for the both of us. That's how it is."

A dead silence descended on the two of them. Azula glanced down at the ground, her expression angry.

"Go back, Zuko. For your sake. For both of our sakes."

With a gesture, she extinguished the flame, plunging the both of them into darkness.

Absolute darkness.

(X)

"So, we're taking a field trip?" Ty Lee sat up. "Where?"

"Some river village near the coast," Mai said without looking at her. "And it's not a field trip. There was a report of an incident of some kind there and Azula decided to that it would make good practice for our crown prince to flex his problem-solving muscles," she shrugged. "It was either that or take a vacation at Ember Island."

"I like Ember Island!"

"I'm sure you do." Now Mai did turn to look at Ty Lee. "So, are you coming or not?"

Ty Lee tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Is Azula going?"

"Yes, she wants to see how Zuko does."

Ty Lee nodded cheerfully, "Then I guess I'm going too! When do we leave?"

"Morning of the day after tomorrow," Mai stood from the table. "Don't forget to pack."

"Hey! When have I ever forgotten to – oh, yeah, I guess there was that time…"

Chapter End

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