I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 23
Damn it, damn it all!
Those are the words that filled Azula's mind when she practiced her fire bending those days, a practice that was even more harsh and vigorous than usual. The reason was simple: her talk with father.
She could still remember it very clearly.
She entered the room and bowed to her father. She didn't know what she was summoned for, only that the messenger told her that her father requested her presence immediately.
As usual, the fire lord was obscured from view by a wall of flames. His usual aura of fear and respect was very much present.
"Rise, my daughter. You must be wandering why I have summoned you."
"Yes, father."
Like a good daughter and princess, she did as she was told.
"This is a matter about your brother, but one that concerns you as well. Tell me, daughter, have you heard the recent rumors at court?"
She had her ears in many places and heard many rumors. Most rumors were about who courted who or which noblewoman is expecting a child with uncertainty about the father's origin, but she understood that her father was talking about the rumors concerning her brother.
"Yes father, people talk about Zuzu's supposed achievements. As if he is capable of anything besides whining and running under mother's skirt."
Azula said with dismissal. She made sure that such lies died in their infancy, and that stories of her brother's past disgraces were spread instead. Annoyingly, those rumors kept returning.
"Be it as it may, those supposed rumors have a grain of truth. It seems that your brother found a backbone in his banishment and continues to grow both in power and prestige, as well as in disrespect."
"Do you remember the story about the fox, the bear and the horse?"
"Yes father."
She remembered the story well enough, it was a tale of three spirit animals that has father used to explain to her important lessons.
"There were three spirit animals in the forest, the fox, the bear, and the horse. Each wanted to be the king of the forest and that all the other forest animals would do as it wills."
"The fox used terror and tricks but was crashed when he prayed on the wrong victim. The horse had the power to make others listen, but lacked the will and conviction to see it through and lost to the bear when the two faced each other as the other animals flocked the bear and not the horse. The bear won in the and, by being both strong and fearful."
"Yes, strong and fearful."
Her father said.
"Tell me daughter, what is the most important lesson that I taught you?"
"That fear makes people listen to you."
"True. But the fox was much crueler than the bear, yet he lost. Why is that daughter?"
"He didn't have the power to back up his claim."
"And should two bears face each other for the title of king, which one will win?"
"The strongest of the two."
Azula said without even thinking.
"You are right, the strongest wins. And between you and Zuko, who is the strongest?"
"Me of course, father. Zuko was always a failure."
Azula had to hold herself from showing emotions, there is no way that Zuzu is even close to her level. Even just suggesting it, if it wasn't her father…
"Until now it was true, but does it still holds?"
"What do you mean, father? Zuko has only his uncle as support, and we know how slow and lazy uncle Iroh is."
"And yet, his deeds eclipsing you again and again. Every victory he achieves, every invention under his name, all of them putting him above you in the eyes of the people. Tell me, daughter, what have you shown the people beyond extraordinary fire bending?"
"The people will recognize me as their rightful ruler, I'm the first in line. I am yet to have opportunities to show my worth, and I'm working on ways to undermine him as we speak."
"Ah yes, your little letter to Zhao 'congratulating' him on his latest conquest, how did it turn out for you?"
Azula held her breath, her father knew?!
She sent spies to watch after her brother when enough rumors about him came to her ear. When they reported that Zuzu plans to take another feather to his hat by being the one who officially made lord Beifong surrender, she knew she had to stop him.
She knew that while Zhao did own Zuko his promotion, Zhao was an opportunist first and foremost. It just wasn't in Zhao's character to deny himself credit.
By writing him a discreet letter congratulating him on the surrender of Gaoling, she made him aware of the opportunity for a prize as well as telling him what she wanted from him. She may also put a few words here and there about her brother and his standing at court.
Only for her investment to backfire as the idiot got a food poisoning just in time to mess everything up and gave stupid Zuzu everything he needed to regain his place as the official conquer of Gaoling and the one who saved Zhao (and the fire nation) from embarrassment.
To make things worse, the fool decided that blaming the prince without evidence was the right course of action. Let's just say that while nothing would be done to Zhao, tales of the event were already reaching the capital, and let's just say that none of them painted the commander in good light. It's fascinating what good PR with your subordinates, or bad in this one, can do.
Which brings to a single very important fact.
"You know?"
She was working hard to not let fear enter her voice. She was madling with military affairs beyond her status after all.
"Do you really think that I, the fire lord, don't know everything that happens in my own palace? Perhaps I did misjudge your intelligence, daughter."
Azula held a back a gulp as the flames of the throne intensified.
"I did nothing because of one single reason, and only one. Only the fittest can be the fire lord. The two of you are fighting now for the succession, only the fittest will win."
"I won't lie, you are my favorite choice Azula, but know that you are very much replaceable. Before, I wouldn't even have entertained the thought because of Zuko's incompetence, but now he is showing a much more worthy side. Even if much more disrespectful then I would have liked, but that can be fixed in time."
"Now go, daughter, you have three months form now to show results. You may use any means necessary to achieve your goal as long as the war effort isn't hindered by it. If I find you wanting against your brother by then, I will seriously consider the same character treatment that seemed to help your brother so much. You may take your leave."
"Yes, father."
Azula bowed and left at her father's dismissal.
She had to find a way to get ahead of her brother, she had to! She wasn't a failure like Zuzu…
Azula trained harder as she cooked of all kinds of schemes in her mind.
"I can't believe that you actually came, do you know how stupid that is?!"
Sokka berated his sister.
Even after forbidding her from coming, Katara only stalked them just out of sight. When they finally reached the place, she showed herself in the last moment and Sokka could do nothing without losing face.
"I told you Sokka, there is no way I'm missing this."
"You're impossible, you know this?"
"Shhh, the man from before is coming."
And as his sister told, the man that greeted them the day before came to greet them again.
"So you came, good. I talked to the boss, and he agreed to the arraignment. Are you all who will work?"
The man looked at the group of five women and Sokka.
"We wanted to start with a small group to see how things will go, if everything is well more will come later to work as well."
Katara said.
"Fair enough, I suppose."
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Come in."
The group went inside and suddenly Sokka felt how hot it was inside. He knew that the temperature must have been higher than outside for the plants to grow, but he didn't expect it to be this high. It was as if there was no snow at all, and suddenly Sokka felt how sweaty he was under the heavy parka.
A look to the side showed that the women weren't fairing better, they were sweating only little less then him and some moved uncomfortably in their clothes.
The man that guided them wasn't spared as well, but unlike them, he had no problem to take of his heavy coat and exposed a sleeveless shirt with strong arms from years of field work. Sokka didn't feel jealous at all, no sir, he was sure that he will have muscles just as big in a few years.
He also wasn't at all jealous of how some of the women looked at the man in question. He was sure that they were only finding the strange cloth interesting, yes that was it. Luckily, his sister wasn't among them.
"I suggest to change your clothes to something more comfortable, as you probably guessed it's much hotter here than outside."
Some of the women took of their heavy coat while others decided to wait until there weren't men present.
The guide continued his tour. He showed them the fields, the fishing pits, they even had a small farm for dwarf ostrich horses for meat. After that, the guide showed them the nontransparent inside of the building. The kitchen, the showers and the most important room, the toilet.
"And that's where you will be staying, if you want to."
Their guide ended the tour in their sleeping room.
"We weren't sure if you'd want to stay or not, so we had it prepared just in case. We're also in luck, because just today we got a letter warning about inspection, having you ladies around to keep things nice and clean may actually give us a bonus."
"Who's coming?"
Sokka asked suspiciously, it sounded too much like an ambush in planning for him.
The older man shrugged his hands.
"No idea, I don't ask questions like that. All I know is that the boss wants the place spotless when they arrive. Anyway, lunch starts in a few hours, you may want to use this time to familiarize yourself with the kitchen."
The man said and went away. Once he was out of earshot, Sokka faced the women.
"Are you sure you're fine with this?"
He received choirs of yes in return.
"We'll be fine, Sokka. You worry too much."
Was Katara's reply.
"But what if they will harass you when you serve them drinks?"
"You heard the man, we don't go to them to serve food, it is they who are coming to us. Besides, we have an entire table separating us from the men with no way for them to reach us. This canteen is as safe as in can get."
"I still don't like it Katara."
"You don't like anything."
His sister rolled her eyes.
"Come on, isn't it a little suspicious that just as you start working a mysterious visitor arrives? For all we know it could be this Zuko guy trying to enslave us all."
"Come on Sokka, you're being dramatic. As if the prince of the fire nation will actually come here on his own accord to freeze his royal butt."
Zuko sneezed.
"It really gets colder."
"Maybe someone talked about you."
"You can say that again."
Zuko turned to look at his earth bending companion.
Mi-Dved was dressed in full fire nation armor with no visible skin. It was a good thing that the guys at the base were able to finish his costume order just in time, it was rather hard to find armor big enough for him.
He had a few layers of cloth under said armor. His face was hidden behind a mask as well, the fumes from his breath kept him warm. Apparently, send dwellers didn't fare well in the poles, who would have guessed.
Jasmine wasn't much better, she was most of her time in her room. In the few times she did get out, she was wearing so many layers that she looked more like a huge ball then a person. It was funny to watch.
She also found solace in snuggling Xing. The hellhound started emitting hit when the temperature got colder, Sai explained that it was a form of coping mechanisms not unlike warm blood or hibernation. Needless to say, both of them enjoyed the cuddling very much.
"You know that you don't have to be outside right now, it's not like we are under attack or something."
Zuko finally said.
"Eh, not much to do downstairs. You can lose card games only so many times before you have enough. Besides, if I have to choose being out here for the entire trip or locked in a warm room with my sister, you know I'll choose freezing my butt any time."
Zuko couldn't blame him, he would have done the same with Azula.
"How are you holding up?"
The earth bender asked.
"About what?"
Zuko feigned ignorance.
"You know very well about what, you have been more down after all this fiasco with the village."
"I-I don't want to talk about it."
"It's not healthy, you know. Did your uncle talk to you?"
"Yes, he tried to cheer me up. But no matter what he says now, he was very against my decision from the beginning. Sure, he relied to me some of his stories from his time in the army, but in all of them it was his soldiers who did the deed, and he just didn't know."
"Even now he's trying to brainwash you with propaganda…"
'Not now, Sai.'
"It didn't matter, you know."
Mi-Dved said after some time.
"Sorry?"
"The raid would have come either way. Mi-Sha would have had to respond at some point of time if it wasn't for releasing Toph or hanging the enforcers, it would have been for something else. Still doesn't say you need to stop fighting for what's right."
"It was still my actions that killed them."
"No, it was the bandits and only them. Let me tell you something as someone who was born and raised in the slums of Amora, each and aby one of those guys had a choice. Every one of them could have walked away, but they didn't. They didn't because it's what they wanted to do."
"And you think this was a special case? Whenever someone one-ups Mi-Sha in any way he makes them pay in one way or another. There were hundreds of cases like this."
Zuko balled his fists, it won't do to lash on Mi-Dved now.
"It's not just that, that place was the first true win I ever had ever since father cast me out… and even before. I promised the people to protect them and even managed to pull a garrison when by all rights I shouldn't have had the ability to do it."
"Ki, the kid who's body was in that box, was the first one to see me as a hero of some kind. First one to see me as someone who actually deserves to be a prince, uncle and mother not included. And look what that brought to him."
Zuko unconsciously hit the rails, his armored fist made a dent in the hard metal.
"Sorry, I didn't men to lash out at you."
Mi-Dved waved him off.
"Eh, I have Jasmine as a sister, I'm very used misplaced aggression."
"Remind me to never let out little sisters meet."
The two shuddered for a moment, and it had nothing to do with the cold.
"Oh yeah. Your sister sounds like a real work. Makes me be thankful that I have Jasmine, for all her faults. By the way, how long until we get to this greenhouse?"
"A day or two. We can stay there for some time, but then we'll have to move on. Once we begin our search, you will feel what a true south feels like."
"Hooray…"
The big earth bender said with an enthusiasm rivaled only by a dead fish.
"Can you at least do the same trick Xing does?"
"Let me guess, Jasmine hording the dog?"
"Yes."
"May as well train your fire bending."
Zuko released a heat wave so that the nine feet around him would feel relatively normal at least.
"Chief Hakoda!"
Said man turned his attention to one of his warriors who entered his tent.
"Yes Bato, what is it?"
"A message from the earth kingdom army, Gaoling had officially surrendered to the fire nation."
"Damnit, I thought that we'll have at least a few more weeks. Tell me about the fire nation's casualties, how it will affect us?"
"There are none, chief, Beifong surrendered without a fight."
"That doesn't sound like him, he may not be the greatest military mind, but he's persistent at least. His standing as a noble wouldn't allow him to just give up."
"Apparently bombing all of the important points of Gaoling simultaneously for over an hour did the trick."
"La and Tui curse the one who invented those infernal devices… Wait, it was Zuko, wasn't it? Of course it was."
"Yes, all our problems seemed to start once we met him. We probably should have used bigger mines then, chief."
His second in command suggested.
"Oh well, no use to cry over spoiled milk."
Hakoda said at last.
"So, should we expect enemy reinforcement then?"
"Not for now, chief, it seems that Omashu is taking priority for them. Reports say that the entire 'air fleet' is going for the assault, so we should have clear sky at least."
"Hmm… an entire fleet for one city seems like overkill. But with Omashu standing as a bulwark against the fire nation's forces, its fall will cause the entire western continent to fall with it. Besides, it's not like there is any other 'air fleets' to utilize the opening."
"So how do you think it will go, chief?"
Hakoda mulled it for a while.
"Hard to tell. On one hand, Bumi is the strongest earth bender alive, and his old age only gave him experience. On top of that he is unreadable and can be more persistent than any creature alive."
"On the other hand, they can't do much against ships that fly above them. Say, do you know who will be leading the fire nation fleet? It's probably Zhao, isn't it? In that case I wouldn't worry much for the crazy old man."
"I don't think it will be Zhao."
"What? Why?"
Hakoda was surprised at Bato's words, as the one whose people conquered Gaoling and the commander of the first eyes it was only natural for him to take the spot.
"Apparently, he isn't near the city now. There are also rumors about him having bad blood with the other big wigs of the fire nation army, his last fiasco didn't help."
Bato explained, much to Hakoda's confusion.
"What fiasco?"
"Well, rumors varied, but the gist of it is that Zhao had a bad case of bad bowls just in the last moment before going to receive Beifong's surrender and Zuko had to take his place. Zhao then accused the prince and wanted to court-martial some of Zuko's crew, the two earth teens he rescued if I'm not mistaken. The prince sent him packing and now Zhao's standing is lower than ever."
"It always comes down to the prince, doesn't it. And the replacement?"
"Not sure, chief."
"Fine, let's worry about what we can influence. How is the relationship between Zuko and Mi-Sha going?"
"At each other's throat. Not too long ago, Mi-Sha ordered a raid on Zuko's favorite colony, burning it to the ground. Apparently sent a sick message to the kid too. I don't think they could do anything but kill each other at this point."
"Oh…"
The news didn't bring Hakoda joy as they should too, the death of the innocent (even if they were fire nation citizens) made sure of that.
"It would have happened regardless to what we did."
Bato knew him enough to know what his chief and friend was thinking.
"The prince hanged ten or so enforcers when he was as the Si Wong desert, there was no way Mi-Sha would have kept quiet. If it is of any consolation, they will probably kill each other soon enough so nothing like that would happen again."
Hakoda took his mind of the guilt by preparing their next raid on the fire nation army and wandering who is the new commander of the air fleet.
"You can't be serious , him?! They chose him over me?"
Zhao ranted to the officer who had the misfortune to meet him when Zhao came to argue about his place at the assault on Omashu.
Shinu, the colonel of the Pohuai stronghold and the one in command of the Yuyan archers, had the short straw and had to greet the raving commander.
"Yes Zhao, and may I remind you to watch your tone, you're already on thin ice after your actions to the prince."
Zhao visibly held himself from lashing out at his superior, the fallout of his attempt to get justice for himself gave his rivals enough ammunition to keep him on his toes. He was saved by the skin of his teeth from getting demoted back to lieutenant.
"Yes, colonel… I apologize for my outburst. But why him? He's way too young and inexperienced. I, on the other hand, am well tested and the first one to utilize the eyes. For Agni's sake, the eyes were invented under my command."
Zhao tried to reason, but Shinu had none of it.
"It was the prince who gave us the eyes, not you. Giving yourself credit for the prince's achievements is bordering treason, commander."
Shinu warned him.
"And as for experience, we both know the boy is bloodied. His success record is also unbelievably high, the highest it anyone had actually. The fire lord himself decreed that the command of this new fleet is to belong to the one who had the best score in the tests and trails we set, which happened to be him."
"But he's a lieutenant, his rank is just too low for such responsibly."
"A problem that was solved. With the approval of most of the generals, they agreed to give him the rank of commander. His deeds have well earned him his position, the youngest commander in modern history in fact. I suspect that many generals decided to give him a new role just to save their own job from him. "
The colonel said the last part with humor, which escaped Zhao.
"But surely he would need an advisor."
Zhao tried to worm his way in.
"Unfortunately Shen is quite occupied at the moment, but I have faith that our red eyed friend is up to the challenge. Now if you're finished, I believe the both of us have duties to return to."
"But-"
"Enough Zhao! This is not one of your vanity projects. Your request is denied, now return to your post or you will face consequences."
Zhao had no choice but to relent at the two archers drew their arrows. In the inside he cursed Shinu, he cursed the prince, and he cursed that damned red eyed upstart Thrawn.
A few days has passed since the women started working in the greenhouse and so far things were good, Katara decided. Yes, there was mistrust at first, but the promise of food and the escape from the cold did wonders for the village.
The men were peaceful enough, sure there were some less then honorable looks here and there, but over whole there was a nice atmosphere. And more importantly, everyone had enough to eat.
It's true, for once in a very long time the entire village feasted. It was strange at first to eat something that wasn't mostly meat, but she decided that she liked the new flavors. She couldn't say the same for Sokka though, the jerky head was obsessed with jerky seal.
On the subject of her brother, his mind was torn in two.
On one hand, he disliked that they were reliant on foreigners for food and the fact that he wasn't the 'man' of the village anymore. He also wouldn't say it, but he was jealous of the foreigners because of their larger frame and stronger hands (which showed when some of them decided to work shirtless a few days ago).
On the other hand, he was clearly relieved that the village had a steady supply of food and that he didn't have to go on failed hunts nonstop. He, like the rest of them, appreciated the warm place in the middle of the pole. His eyes were now also free of the bags they had a while ago and his shoulders were less tense with the stress mostly gone.
She thought all of this as she was cleaning the dishes after breakfast, one of her new old duties. It was strange, to be paid for what she did every day, but it was a feeling she liked. Glancing at the women around her, they shared her view.
"So, when do you think that inspector will arrive?"
One of the women to her left said.
"Don't know , but I sure hope that they will come soon. Big Jo-E had been relentless about making the place shine."
Another woman to her right said, and Katara agreed in her heart.
Big Jo-E was the leader of those men, the 'manager', and as the one responsible for the facility he wanted to give the best impression to whoever it is that's coming. As a result, he was constantly down their necks and wanted the place to be as spotless as possible.
As the name suggests, big Jo-E was a big muscular man. He was a harsh but fair taskmaster and was very load. In spite of that, he was a kind man. More than one woman talked about marrying him.
"I just hope that they aren't jerks nor racist. You know how some of those greenlanders can be.
Another woman said.
"At least it will be just a few hours, two days at most. I hardly think a greenlander will want to stay here more than that, glasshouse or not."
Katara hummed in agreement.
In that moment one of the men busted in, fear clear in his eyes.
"The inspector is here! Go, hide, quickly!"
He said, waving them off.
"What? Why? It's only the inspector."
Katara asked in confusion.
"Not just any inspector, spirits even boss didn't know , you need to hide, now."
"But –"
"Their fire nation!"
He stopped Katara on her tracks.
"WHAT!"
The women yelled, scared for their lives.
"We don't have time, They're already speaking to big Jo-E in the lobby! After me!"
The women followed him without a second thought. In retrospect, it probably was stupid to follow a stranger to some shady basement for nothing more than a few words, but his panic wasn't something that could be faked. He was really terrified out of his mind.
They where in a dark storage now, the man locked the door from the inside to hide them. As they stayed there, Katara noticed something important.
"Wait, where is Sokka? Sokka! Are you here!"
She didn't see nor hear her brother anywhere.
"Shh! Be quiet! Do you want them to find us?"
"No! We have to find my brother! I can't lose another one to the fire nation!"
"The others are hiding him as I'm hiding you, do you want us to get caught?!"
Katara was about to retort when they heard steps. But not regular steps of shoes, it was metal ones, the ones that are worn by soldiers. And they weren't alone.
As they shuddered, the steps grew loader and loader. Then, they heard big Jo-E 's voice.
"And there are the food storages. Here we keep the food we grew in the garden. As you can see, our quote is no less than any other farm our size. To be frank, it's still amazes me that we can grow such crops here. The unique environment also gives the products a unique flavor, I'm sure that the buyers will love it. Once again, I thank you for your gift, prince Zuko."
Katara had to close her mouth as she gasped to not be heard. From all the vileness, from all the monsters in the fire nation, it had to be the one who maybe killed her father!
And worse, he is coming here to finish the job, there was no other explanation! Sokka is going to end like dad, and she, she is going to end like her mother… Whenever she is.
Katara couldn't help but release a few sobs, which thankfully didn't escape the closed doors.
"Thank you but the designs were taken from Wan Shi Tong's library... They came with a heavy personal price."
The prince's voice was strong like she imagined, but the remorseful tone at the end was all wrong. A black hearted monster like him is incapable of such emotions!
"I'm sorry for your loss."
Big Jo-E said sincerely.
No don't take pity on him! The monster deserves whatever happened to him for what he did!
"Yes… I was meaning to ask you, the tribesman who tried to jump on me from the corner, how did he truly get here? This place is hardly easy to sneak into."
"I told you, my prince, we don't know. He must have sneaked in at night to steal some food."
What! They got Sokka too No! she had to do something!
"You sure? He looked way more desperate then when he attacked me. And if he was after the food, shouldn't he have just waited in the shadows? He seems well enough trained for that if he passed you all. No, it was different, it was more like he tried to protect something."
"Not to mention his words about you being a traitor. Would you like to confess something, big Jo-E, was it?"
The women held her breath, hoped that the man wouldn't rat them out to the fire prince. As low as they hopes were.
"I-"
"And surly it has nothing to do with the women locked in that basement."
The prince continued.
"What-"
The women screamed as a blade of fire slashed the lock, tearing it to half molten shreds. This, in turn, made the doors to flung open and reveal all the shaking water tribe women. They screamed and sobbed once again when they saw the black armor and dark helmet of the prince, his flaming sword gave the visage an evil light. For the women who grew in a society which was spirit fearing, the visage of the prince looked like a dark spirit from the tales parents tell their children to behave.
"So."
The prince looked at big Jo-E and spoke with w tone that wat to sweet to mean anything good.
"Mind telling me why there are a bunch of women locked in your basement? Or why they are sobbing so hard?"
"I- well…"
"My thoughts are crystal clear about that kind of things."
The prince spoke.
"When I gave Loban the greenhouse blueprints, after having to deal with a very prideful spirit, I expected him to use it to 'make the poles bloom' as I told him. Do you know that I'm the one who suggested to hire you all, you sorry lot, to give you all a better chance in life?"
"In return, what do I find? A bunch of rapers that spat upon everything I have done for them."
Zuko then stabbed his sword it the hard floor and started to spring arcs of electricity along his body.
As Katara saw that Zuko was preparing to whip Big Jo-e, who was held down by an equally big fire nation brut. She didn't know what came over her, just that she had to stop that monster from harming another person. In her zeal, she ran and jumped at the prince.
"No! Stop!"
"Wha-"
By a string of fate, or by the will of the spirits, the prince stopped his arcs of lightning that would have brought Katara to a comma, had she made direct contact. His surprise of the unexpected player caused him to lose concentration and erasing the fire whip from exitance.
Which was all good and well for Katara, because she succeeded to bash into the prince and to make him fall. The unexpected result was that she had to much momentum and fell with the prince. They did a few spins on the ground, while holding one another, until Zuko's superior battle instincts made them stop.
Katara was on the floor with her back, breathing hard. Her hair was thrown in every direction from her head, and she looked directly in the visor of the prince's helmet. Zuko was on top of her, staring her down as his face was close to her own. Unlike her, his breath was even.
Their hands were locked as his and hers fingers were interlocked with one another, hands resting above Katara's head. Katara then regretted that she decided today to work with a lighter wardrobe, as while it didn't show much skin, it still showed a little of her growing figure and she felt naked in front of the prince.
After a few seconds, the prince seemed to snap up from whatever shock he had and stood up, offering her a hand that she refused.
"So."
He started.
"Why did you just jump on me? You could have been seriously hurt, you know."
"Well, I couldn't just let you hurt people!"
Katara retorted, much to the prince's surprise.
"But didn't he lock you up there? Why did you try to protect him? you all were scared and crying there."
"Maybe because some fire nation soldiers decided to go in and stab a flaming sword at the door? You thought about it maybe?"
The prince was quite for a moment.
"So what are you all doing here? And why were you in the basement?"
"We work here! We cook and clean the place in exchange for the food they provide. It's called work, not that you ever tried it mister blue blood. And maybe we were in the basement to hide from fire nation riders?!"
"You have some very poor survival instincts, you know that?"
The prince commented before turning to big Jo-E.
"Is she telling the truth?"
"Ahm, yes sir."
"And the guy that attacked me?"
"Her brother, your highness. Probably thought you were doing another raid."
"I see, I owe you an apology then. I was seriously going to execute you here and now."
"*glup* Well, the turn of things was really incriminating against me, your highness."
"So, Jo-E, when did all of this start?"
"A week ago or so, they came to us to ask for food, and we came to this arrangement."
"You know that this could have gone wrong in thousands of different ways, right? Did any of them go through basic interview?"
"Ahm…"
"I see, very well. I will do the interview and give them a permit signed by me, there shouldn't be any problems for them as long as they carry said permit."
"Yes, your highness.
"And I will have her last."
The prince said as he pointed at Katara, who couldn't help but swallow her spit.
AN
And this is the end of chapter 21
hope you liked the chapter!
Now for the reviews:
USSRFox:
Oh yes, it's extremally ironic.
Engeeneer 1869:
It surprised me too! apparently Zhao did have a kid according to wiki, I kid you not. Will see what Bumi's unexpected (or completely expected) reaction to this new threat will be. Zhao will have more than Zuko to warry about right now, but he will be resentful.
Happy that you liked the Beifong reunion! I'm happy that I wrote convincingly how Toph can better her relationship with her parents.
Wasn't the smartest thing, but who's saying teens are smart? We'll definatly see their reaction next chapter.
Arrowman:
How?! I was planning to do something similar with spirit body parts...
Anyway, there wouldn't be guns in this story, at least not gun powder ones. cannons are a different story.
I'm glad you liked the innovations.
deniswanheda :
Glad you liked it!
God, Azula would have crushed Sokka so hard it wouldn't even be funny. I mean, she would have probably tortured him for life for such disrespect.
Zuko indeed "saved" the wolf's cove, but he also was the one who gave the fire nation the air balloons and helped them create the much stricter blockade in the first place, so it all balances out.
It's still to early for Katara to see Zuko as anything but a monster, it will take some time for it to be believable. As for Sai, he's slowly but surly making Zuko more and more independent from his father. I have an entire arc planned for when Zuko will finally snaps and it involves Azula as well.
Sorry about the scare with Toph and Azula, I have no intension for them to meet yet.
Sewrtyuiop:
There are few greater joys in life then to put a Zhao in his place
You bet she will!
We will get to see many more interactions between the water siblings and Zuko and co.
Anyway, be sure to write what you think about the chapter and the story. Don't be afraid to share what you think could and should happen.