Rise from the Ashes: Chapter 1- Fire Nation Victory
Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's Capital. In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko, and together they faced the Avatar.
And the Avatar fell! And the Earth Kingdom fell!
The crowd roared its approval.
Azula's loyal agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls and brought them down!
Our glorious armies surged through the fallen walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, they swarmed over the royal palace and deposed the Earth King, the head of the weak and barbaric Earth Kingdom. Thus securing our victory and prompting the spread of our prosperity and greatness to the decrepit and uncultured city. Thus fulfilling the pledge of the great Fire Lord Sozin, and his descendent, our Sovereign, Fire Lord Ozai!
Now the heroes of our nation have returned home!
Your princess, Azula, and after four long years, your prince has returned…Prince Zuko!
The crowd roared and chanted as the two nobles showed themselves to the crowd. Princess Azula with a sweet smile on her face and emphatically waving to the crowd. The Prince Zuko, filled with apprehension on his face, heart, and soul.
The prince let go of the breath that he had inadvertently been holding. Three years in exile and another chasing the Avatar across the world had led him here. He had faced trials and tribulations, his resolve and resourcefulness had been challenged. No one anticipated his success, no one, not even his uncle believed that he could really return home. No one believed in him but himself.
Yet his victory was hollow and empty. Like being presented a grand banquet and being unable to taste any of it. His Uncle Iroh had thrown away his position as general to be by his side, to train him, and to above all, love his nephew.
In return Zuko had in effect spat in his uncle's face and condemned his uncle to imprisonment at best. He did not want to consider the worst. No matter what his uncle had done, he was the brother of the Fire Lord. Surely his Father would be merciful and limit Uncle Iroh's sentence to imprisonment.
Remember the last time you relied on your Father's mercy. It was the last time your face was whole.
I was weak. It is not the same. He told himself weakly and unconvincingly.
He had wandered the world, dueled the Avatar, escaped assassination, nearly frozen to death in a blizzard, and conformed to life as a refugee. Yet his next steps felt like the most difficult task he would undertake these last four years.
Prince Zuko threw open the massive door to face his father.
You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.
The imperial throne room was exactly as he remembered. The high ceiling supported by numerous columns and the throne itself surrounded by a raging inferno of fire.
It was empty, except for just as in his dreams, the silhouette of the Fire Lord loomed above him. It looked supernatural and it was terrifying.
He forced one foot in front of the other until he could feel the heat of the flames. He went down on one knee and bowed his head.
"Fire Lord." He did not dare address Ozai as his father, less that there be offense found in it.
The scorching heat of the room dissipated and the lump in his throat grew.
"Rise, Prince Zuko."
Prince…when was the last time he addressed me that way, even before my exile.
He obeyed and looked into the eyes of his father who was standing directly in front of him. The Fire Lord and the ruler of the known world.
"You have been away for a long time. I see the weight of your travels has changed you for the better. You have redeemed yourself, my son. I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. A feat that the generals of our nation have failed to accomplish for a century. I am proud because when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing and apprehended him, and most of all I am proud of your legendary accomplishment, that of which you will be remembered forever. You slayed the Avatar."
What! Zuko's throat went dry and he had to keep himself from sputtering and chocking with fright.
He tried to keep a neutral tone to hide his shock. His heart felt as if it would burst at any moment. "Has Azula briefed you?"
"It is as you say. She said she was amazed and impressed at your power and ferocity at the moment of truth. That you were able to meet the challenge and kill the boy with a single blow while he attempted to unleash the Avatar State. It is a disgrace that Iroh prevented us from securing the body, but no matter, no one not even the Avatar could survive a strike of lightning."
If he asks me to produce lightning, I will not be able to. Why Azula? Why? Damn you!
Ozai continued oblivious to his son's rising distress. "You have done a grand service to our nation and to me, and you will be rewarded as befits your achievement."
My birthright as heir, everything I ever wanted. Will he really give it to me? He couldn't have anticipated my return, he must have been grooming Azula as his heir, and even if he believes this fable, surely he would still prefer her.
"I live to serve you father. The Avatar was a threat to everything. I did my duty." Zuko lied.
Ozai's face contorted into a smile. A smile that did not quite look right.
"Indeed, you clipped the Avatar's wings before he truly learned to fly. Once he would have been able to soar, one hundred years of campaigns would have been in jeopardy."
Zuko remembered his spars with the Avatar over the last year, and how he had been on the losing end in every encounter. Even so he was not the master that his father was, surely the boy would not have been a true threat, at least not for several years.
"Tell me Zuko. You faced the Avatar multiple times, tell me of his skill."
What is he getting at? He never said anything without reason. Does he want to judge the level of my false achievement?
"The boy appeared no older than twelve, yet he had the tattoos of an airbending master. Why he appeared so young I'm sure we will never know. Over the last year he began to utilize waterbending and earthbending as well, through seemingly short of mastery, he was sufficient with them. We are fortunate that somehow and someway he was not able to become a realized Avatar over the last one hundred years."
"And did the Avatar hold to the Air Nomad ideal of pacifism? Did he ever attempt to end your life in your encounters?" His voice showed no concern when asking if his son had been in mortal danger.
If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too? The Avatar had asked him when Zuko had been unmasked as the Blue Spirit.
"Not towards me. Collateral damage perhaps, he sent my men into freezing water and gave them hypothermia. He destroyed our fleet at the North Pole, but that was utilizing the Avatar State of which I am sure he could not control. If he could have, he would have used it more often."
"So he was apt to show you mercy?"
Zuko remembered being defeated by the Water Tribe peasant in a raging blizzard at the North Pole, where he should have frozen to death. Yet he awoke without being harmed. The Avatar had saved his life when Zuko had given no reason for the Avatar not to hate him.
Father, you want me to be a cold blooded killer like Azula, that's what you are getting at. That is what you want.
"Father, I never felt that the Avatar desired my death, despite our engagements."
"A mercy." Ozai stated, keeping his smile "That you chose not to return. Do you remember when you were a boy when I took you to Ember Island? You were so defensive of the turtle-ducks when they were descended on by predators on that beach. You would cry and rage and throw a fit, while driving off the attackers when you could, despite it being the natural order of the world."
That felt like a lifetime ago, but Zuko remembered. Before his Father was Fire Lord. When his mother was there to cradle and sooth him when one of the Turtle-Ducks was carried away. Azula was only six years old at the time and even then she mocked him for it.
"I remember, ancient history." Zuko returned in a tone he hoped sounded nonchalant.
"It was not so long ago, Prince Zuko, that you lacked a spine. That you lacked the will to assert the dominance you were born with over the world. Through the humility of your exile, you have learned the importance of pride, of the divine right to rule over the lesser creatures of the world, and to destroy the threats to that mission. Never again will a fully realized Avatar assert their will over the world."
Ozai gestured towards the ornate throne in front of them. "We stand in the second Imperial palace. The first was just as grand and built when the islands were finally consolidated under one supreme power. Our ancestors who were ordained by Agni to rule. It was a symbol of power and greatness, proof of our superiority over the barbarians at the poles, the dirty uncultured members of the continent, and the foolish wandering monks. Then Avatar Roku destroyed this wonder of a palace, our symbol, in a few short minutes. Fire Lord Sozin was a master firebender. As powerful as anyone without the Avatar State that has ever lived. It did not matter, the duel was no contest, and Sozin's great campaign was delayed until Roku's death."
Ozai had lost his smile, and his crimson eyes blazed like a roaring fire. "Never again. This world is mine and will belong to my descendants until the end of time."
Ozai paced around his son as he spoke, while Zuko kept his sight forward, it made Zuko feel incredibly uneasy, as if his father was a bird of prey that would strike at any given moment.
How many times had he been told of the Fire Nation's inherent dominance both culturally and militarily? How many times had he been told that his role as a Prince made him more valuable than any common noble, citizen, or peasant?
It was clear that Ozai wanted him to respond, to affirm Zuko's alignment with the Fire Lord's vision.
"There is no higher authority in this world than yours Father, all living beings owe you fealty." The words came easily, the sincerity did not.
Zuko felt the Fire Lord's hand come down onto his shoulder and he resisted the instinctual urge to flinch. The last time the Fire Lord had raised a hand towards his son, he had set Zuko's face on fire.
"Our victory over Ba Sing Se is secured, but our work is not yet complete. The Avatar is now an infant in the Water Tribes, there will be rebellions in the Earth Kingdom, and the walls of ice at the North Pole still stand in defiance. Prince Zuko you shall stand by my side, attend my council, govern my people, and destroy my enemies. Welcome to your rightful place. You stood at a crossroads, and you have chosen your true destiny."
Later that Night
"What are you doing? Just what the hell are you up to?"
Azula, laying down in bed with her eyes closed, smirked in an infuriating, mocking fashion that she had perfected over the years.
"You will have to be more specific Zuzu." She said in a sing song tune. "I get up to quite a lot."
"Why? Just why would you tell Father that I killed the Avatar? Why would you deny yourself the credit? Answer me!" Zuko's face was beat red and if he had been younger and in less control, there was no doubt that Azula's room would be on fire.
"That's what has got you so worked up? Calm down Zuzu, I did you a favor, I even made you a legend. 'The Avatar Slayer' the little children will call you." She laughed as she opened her eyes to see her brother glaring at her.
"Oh come on, do not look at me like that! You were so worried and continuously fretting about returning home without the Avatar, and I wanted to sooth those fears and give your return a bit more legitimacy. I am perfect you know, I don't need any more praise from Father. I suppose I should have expected that I would not receive any thanks from you." She sat up and ran her fingers through her long black hair and gave her brother another innocent looking smile.
"You told Father I killed the Avatar with lightning. I cannot produce lightening and you damn well knew that!"
"So? In the thrill of the moment you channeled power you did not know you had. Tell them that if you are ever asked to conjure it. It's not a big deal. The method of death had to be accurate. Father had to know for sure that the Avatar was dead, and the Avatar is not likely to come about and contradict our claim."
This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I have been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but...
She saw the slightest flicker of worry on her brother's face, it was subtle and that intrigued her.
"Because the Avatar is dead, is he not?"
Zuko involuntarily swallowed and cleared his throat. "Of course he is. Lightning is lethal, it is impossible that he survived. The Avatar is a squalling infant in a frozen wasteland."
"A wasteland soon under our rule. So calm down, eat, drink, and be merry. Be the loyal prince, rule the lands father gives you, marry Mai, and have a dozen squalling little children. For you have nothing to fear."
She returned to laying down in bed, but the smile remained on her face.
"Sweet dreams Zuzu."
Three months later
"Three months? Tell me you are joking Sokka. Please tell me you are playing around! This is just one of your many jests and it is not very funny!"
Aang, the Avatar, and the Last Airbender stood there frozen in fear. He had been dead, shot through the heart with a bolt of lightning by Princess Azula in the crystal caves below Ba Sing Se. He had fallen, and with him the Earth Kingdom had fallen. But just now he had awoken. In a cruel twist of fate, he had awoken far too late.
"It has been that long. We were beginning to lose hope. We thought you were gone. That all my hours of healing would be for naught. But the spirits answered our prayers, Aang. They brought you back to us." Katara said with tears of happiness in her eyes.
"The comet." Aang said weakly, the glider that he had been holding in his hand slipped from his fingers. He seemingly lost all feeling. "When is the comet?"
"Aang" Katara said apprehensively.
"WHEN IS IT?" The monk shouted, causing his friends to jump backwards in surprise.
"Aang, I'm sorry but the Earth Kingdom has fallen. There is only token resistance left. We have to bulk you up Twinkletoes. You have to master the elements. Direct intervention won't accomplish anything right now." Toph said, her usually bossy tomboyish demeanor gone. She was dead and somberly serious.
"The comet is in three days. But there is nothing we can do. It will be alright, the war is over. The Fire Nation has nothing to gain." Katara said.
"You're wrong" Aang chocked out. "You are wrong."
"How? They control essentially the whole world, and the world thinks you are dead!" Sokka exclaimed.
"No." Aang said weakly as he sank down to the deck of the Fire Nation ship that they had taken months ago and had been using for transportation. "No! No! No! No! No! No! No! They cannot think that! The Fire Lord cannot think that!"
Tears began to sting his eyes and he did not bother to blink them away. He let his eyes sting, because he had failed the world again, and many others would suffer as a result.
"Aang!" Katara cried out wrapping her arms around the weeping monk.
"Hey" Sokka said somberly. He put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "Hey Aang I'm sorry but think it through. The Fire Nation does not know you are alive and we can use this. They will not be hunting us and that gives us time to train and prepare. You can finish mastering water and earth. We will find someone to teach you fire. You can use the Avatar spirit to master the Avatar state. Then we can hit them when they don't expect it!"
Aang looked up at his friends, defeated. His eyes stained red. It made team Avatar realize just how young and small Aang was. How young they all were. "No we cannot. Because if the Fire Lord thinks I am dead, he will look for the Water Tribe Avatar. I failed my people, I failed the Earth Kingdom, and when Sozin's comet comes he will use it against the only remaining resistance to him."
Sokka went so pale that he looked nearly chalk white. "But you said that if you die in the Avatar State the cycle will be broken. The Fire Lord should think the cycle is broken."
"That is not common knowledge Sokka, I only know that because Avatar Roku told me. The Fire Lord should be oblivious to that fact."
"Dad and his men returned home." Sokka said "With the Earth Kingdom fallen there was no point in fighting beyond our own borders."
"They have to be warned. Because the Fire Nation will be coming to your home to take any child who could be the new Avatar." Aang said bitterly.
He looked around at his three friends. "Why are you with me all alone? I was dead. Why didn't you go home?"
"As long as we live we would never abandon you Aang. Please remember that." Katara said as she embraced him.
"We are with you Aang." Sokka said, his grip on Aang's shoulder tightening in a slight reassuring squeeze.
"To the bitter end." Said Toph giving him a light punch to his shoulder.
"Thank you." Aang said quietly and sincerely, his eyes filled with tears for a different reason.
I don't deserve friends like these. He thought in despair.
"How far are we from the North Pole? If we got on Appa right now, how far away?" But deep down before he had asked the question, Aang knew the answer.
"Weeks away. I'm sorry." Sokka said.
Aang, the Avatar and the Last Airbender, buried his head in his hands in utter defeat.
Next Chapter: Sozin's Comet