Though the bag that covered his head blinded him, and thus, he couldn't see his captors, Iroh was quite sure of where he was; he had his contacts in the Order, and they told him where to go, but he didn't expect his journey to end with him getting ambushed in the woods and captured by some unusually dressed Earth Kingdom men. He didn't resist them, and since he was wearing commoner's robes, he doubted his captors knew who he was, though he knew who they were.
He hoped that his guards and entourage who were waiting back at his Royal Barge were still thinking he had gone off on a retreat into the woods for spiritual purposes. His son's death had given him much impetus to convene with the spirits, and though his attempts to find his son in the spirit world had failed, he knew he could still use it as an excuse to explain his unusual habits and desires to go to places far from anything he'd consider important as a general. Worrying those who were meant to protect him was certainly something he wanted to avoid, but he knew it might be inevitable if his trip took longer than expected.
He had been walking for quite some time, but without any sense of time due to the sun being down, he assumed that they'd have to rest eventually. Instead of stopping to rest, Iroh began to notice the sounds of voices in the distance, and though he couldn't really hear what they were saying, he assumed he had reached the hideout of whoever had captured him. The associates of the very man he sought out, who had made it quite hard for the general, as he hadn't disclosed his actual location to the Order out of fear the Fire Nation military might inadvertently find him too.
He had been missing for over five years, and though Iroh had known him back before his betrayal, his name had become dirtied by propaganda and the anger of his father. Admiral Jeong Jeong was an admiral no more, and if he was to be found by any loyal servant of the Fire Lord, he was to be killed at once; Fire Lord Azulon had no mercy for traitors, but seeing that he was not looking for him in any official sense, he thought he could ignore his father's command.
Iroh felt some fabric move over his body, presumably as he was being pushed into a tent, and then he was forced down to his knees; his hands were already bound, and though he could easily break them if he liked, he didn't, out of a desire to keep the peace and not start any unnecessary fighting. A few moments later, the bag was pulled from his head, and he shook his hair out of his face, as it had been messed by the bag. He glanced up, and noted a large number of candles surrounding a man sitting cross-legged; his graying hair formed a messy tuff on top of his head, and his goatee and scar were just as Iroh remembered them.
"You idiots." he growled, raising his hands toward the two men behind the General who had carried him inside, "Do you realise who you just brought into our camp?"
The Crown Prince turned his head around, and saw the men looking at him with confusion, "Who is he?"
"The Dragon of the West." Jeong Jeong inferred his well-known, and perhaps feared title; the two men stepped back, and one of them drew out a spear.
"Don't attack him." the former Admiral demanded, "He's not going to attack us. If he was, he already would have done it." he warned them, the two men relaxing somewhat, "Now leave us."
They nodded, and stepped through the flaps of the canvas, leaving the two men sitting alone in the tent, with a circle of candles encasing Jeong Jeong, lighting up his scarred face, "What are you here for, Iroh?" he asked him.
Jeong Jeong had to be the only person from the Fire Nation outside his family who would dare to refer to him by his first name; not out of familiarity, but out of spite, given how the former Admiral felt about the war and their nation as a whole.
"You probably have heard about what happened." he acknowledged the presumably famous event of a few months prior, "We've won the war, Jeong Jeong."
"Won is an overstatement." he raised a hand to warn him, "I can't believe you could be so cocky, after what happened to you personally."
"I'm not being cocky." he assured him, "It's just the fact of the matter. How can the Earth Kingdom defend itself any longer without its great capital?" he asked him, somewhat rhetorically, before he twisted his hands, allowing him to quickly burn his binds.
He then raised his hands up to his head, pulling his hair back, all while the former Admiral stroked his goatee, eyeing the Prince inquisitively, "So, I assume you're not here to gloat."
"I wouldn't come to see an old friend to gloat." he assured him, making Jeong Jeong scoff.
"We were never friends, Iroh." he retorted, "I was a loyal soldier who respected his Crown Prince. Seeing that I hold no loyalty to my nation any longer, I have no reason to give a shred of kindness to you."
"Come on, there's no need to be so sour." he assured him, "I remember you had quite the sense of humour back in the day."
"When I was drunk." he clarified, "I have abstained from such things since I left my station. Living out here is a lot less stressful than blindly serving your country to pillage and destroy." he noted, before raising a finger toward the Prince, "Despite being so smart, you decided to continue down that path. Why?"
"Because I thought it was my destiny." he admitted bluntly, regretting ever thinking what he had, "I was foolish, but now I have come to realise a greater destiny for myself."
"Well, you will be Fire Lord sooner or later." the former Admiral acknowledged, "Do you think you can really change things?"
"Not yet." he admitted, "Trying now would be foolish." he turned his eyes to the side, trying to imagine how his father might actually react to his opinions and positions on the Fire Nation's various policies; the fact he was probably closer in ideals to the 'traitor' that sat before him than his own father indicated he mightn't take kit well.
"Trying ever would be foolish. The rabid dogs would come for you. All their praise would turn to hate. You know that, yet you deny it." he chided him, crossing his arms, "Have you learnt nothing, Iroh?"
"No, you are right." he conceded, "But that doesn't mean a better future can't be found for the Fire Nation. There's enough people who might see what we've done and realise the fault in it; I don't know every single person who would dare speak out against the war, but I'm sure they exist. You just happened to be the one who was a high-ranking officer." he acknowledged, Jeong Jeong raising his chin and letting out an exasperated breath.
"They must." he agreed, "But what does... why are you even here? I'm not important, Iroh. I'm not anyone anymore."
"Because I know you wanted to find a day when somebody saw how right you were... and today is that day." he admitted, "I doubted you back then. I believed in our mission, and now... now all I see are the bodies piling up. The generations lost to this pointless conflict." he acknowledged, "Ever since I was a boy, I wanted to see the war end, I wanted to win it. And I know that was stupid and arrogant of me now, and even still, I still want that same thing, but for different reasons."
"You grew up. How sad for the world that it took you until you were getting bald and gray." Jeong Jeong retorted, clearly not happy about the missed opportunity; Iroh might have been turned to his cause, and inclinations in considering the war many years prior, but he had forced himself down the path he had, whether out of fear or greed, but he had willfully chosen his position over what was right.
"I have made mistakes, and though many I regret... I couldn't see at the time. I see the same things with my son... with my niece and nephew too. We have all been blinded by our power and high station; if I had seen half the horrors the common soldier had, perhaps I might have joined you in these woods."
"Well, you're here now." he noted, "How typical of a strong man like you, only doing what is right when he is at his weakest. Without any of your power, and your might, you're just like me."
"Yes." he nodded, agreeing with him completely, "I have lost much, and my loss has opened my eyes. Even if I fought with righteous intent, I can no longer fight as I have. My flames may be strong, but... I cannot do that again."
"We share that common curse." Jeong Jeong spoke up, "We have not been enlightened by asceticism and withdrawal from society, but rather, by the horrid things we're made to do, believing them to be right, until we realise our beliefs were as unsound as a house made of twigs." he explained, rather poetically, the circumstances they had found themselves in.
"And now I have to make a better house. A better nation."
"Did you expect me to help you?"
"No." he shook his head, "I wanted your advice. You disdain violence to your core, and thus... you are perhaps the only person I can ask this of."
"Should you tear our nation apart to save it?" he preempted his question, "If that is what you want, then you should do it, but know that-" he began to warn him, the Prince shaking his head.
"No, no, it's not that." he admitted, "I will not have to fight that fight." he stressed, "My conflict will lay within the walls of that palace. My family... they are my true enemy."
"Your brother and father will not agree to your ideal nation, won't they?"
"I may have to fight, and I wish... I wish to be a better man than my father, but I don't know if I can do what might have to be done." he acknowledged, the former Admiral raising a brow.
"You will have to fight your brother." he deduced what the Prince was thinking, "You might have to strike him down." he furthered his assumption, before shaking his head, "Why do you want my advice on this? I don't know Ozai."
"No, but you know people." he argued, "Jeong Jeong. You're one of the people I can trust to know what is right for our country. You've been doing what's right longer than I have. I simply want to know... what would you do?"
"I would not want to be in your circumstances." he simply put it, "If I were you, I would have left the life of royalty behind."
"Part of me wants to... but I know that I cannot fail my niece and nephew, nor my country." he acknowledged the dilemma he had found himself in; he did not want to be Fire Lord, at least not in the sense of the responsibilities that would be burdened upon him, and being forced into fights he would have no choice over.
"Then you will do what you have to. There is no choice. You can hide, you can avoid it, but eventually, if you think it will come, it will. You must be ready." he simply put it, "It took courage to betray my country, because I feared what might become of me, but my desire to renege on the life I had lived was greater than the fears I had for my life."
"I do fear what might become of my country if I let my brother rule it." he acknowledged, "I fear for what might become of the world. I have the power... and I will use it justly."
"You know more than anyone that power can blind you." he warned, "But I guess that's why you surrendered yourself to me. You no longer see the benefit in the strength you once held against your enemies."
"My real strength is in what I have learnt. My knowledge that I possess, I wish I had had it at my nephew's age; the things I could have achieved... it's sad, honestly."
"There is no time for regret." Jeong Jeong argued, the flames of his candles rising, "You can wallow in your failings, or you can rise to the challenge." he acknowledged, "I don't think our nation can be saved, but... if anyone can do it, it has to be you."
"No." he shook his head, "My niece and nephew, they will do the saving." he acknowledged, "I promised an old woman many years ago that I would end the war, and tell my niece and nephew about their origins, and what their real destinies are."
"The bloodlines of the Avatar and the Royal Family coming together." Jeong Jeong acknowledged what Fire Lord Azulon had created by his machinations, which had brought an opportunity that Iroh could not ignore, not now that they were in the direct line of succession, "Do you really think they can do what their ancestor failed to do?"
"Maybe." he turned his eyes down, unsure whether he ought to place all his trust in two children, of all people; he knew they were good, in their own ways, and he knew that they were capable.
"They just need a little push in the right direction."
Though he was by no means incapable of hiking through the hinterland around Omashu, Iroh was quickly reminded how frustrating walking was; being in pain and afraid for his life when he first escaped his assassins meant that he more or less ignored the frustrations and foot aches that came along with a long march. His niece was no more tolerant of their situation, and neither were their guards, given that they hadn't taken any mounts along with them, which he would usually use himself if he were travelling overland. He hadn't done much travelling since he retired after the conquest of Ba Sing Se, and in the past two weeks he'd done the most walking he'd done in four whole years.
When they ended up reaching the final stretch before the gully that surrounded Omashu, he couldn't help but sigh with relief; the sun was already below the horizon, which made it a good time to sneak into the sewers, given the city's defenders would have a harder time spotting them when it was dim and they themselves didn't require fire for navigation. The Imperial Firebenders who had come along with them were clearly exasperated from the march, and he knew that they would have to remain behind while they moved into the city.
Their disguises were only really useful in the scenario Earth Kingdom troops found them, in which case they could excuse themselves as refugees; he knew that he and his niece were the only ones who could go inside, given that they were likely to be taken prisoners by the city's defenders rather than anything worse than that, given their political value, unlike their guards, who might otherwise meet a grizzly fate if it came down to an actual fight.
The Fire Lord came to a halt as he made sight of the gully, and noted in the distance the very sewer drains they'd need to use to climb up into the city; there were craters strewn across the valley, evidence of prior fighting, though there were no bodies or anything of the likes, indicating that the Fire Nation forces hadn't attacked recently. His niece turned to face him, realising that he'd stopped, and she eyed him, obviously confused as to why he'd done so.
"Uncle, why are you stopping? We're almost there." she chided him, gesturing toward the city that towered on the mountain in front of them, "Omashu's right there."
"I know." he assured her, "I just wanted to clear some things up."
"Like how you managed to fool all those soldiers into thinking you were a servant?" she asked him rhetorically, seeming somewhere between impressed and disappointed by his achievement.
"No, no that." he assured her, before turning to face the Imperial Firebenders, "I can't have any of you coming any further along. You are here to protect us, not to die at the hands of earthbenders." he warned them, "My niece and I can be taken prisoner, but you all would not face kind fates if we run into trouble."
"Your majesty, it is our duty to protect you and your family." one of them stepped forward, "Please, reconsider your command."
"I will not. I cannot have you all dying on my watch." he stressed, "I said the same to my guards back at that beach, and they heeded my words. I assume you will do the same."
"He's right." Azula agreed with him, "Your protection is unnecessary, especially given that my uncle personally knows the ruler of this city. The assassins obviously haven't been following us; if they had, they would have already attacked us before we got too close to the city."
The guards then bowed to them both, understanding that the decision was final; they looked amongst themselves for a few moments before one of them stepped forward, "What will you have us do while you are gone, your majesty?"
"Remain here, if you wish, but if you are in danger, I recommend you return to the camp. My niece and I may be some days in this city, and though you all have supplies, I would prefer that you return to the tank-train."
"And what will we say to the General?"
"Zhiying thinks I've gone after the Avatar." she acknowledged, "Just tell him I wanted to go into the city alone, and that your protection is not necessary while I am undercover." she gave her command, which the guards acknowledged with nods, "So, are we going to go, or what?"
"We should be hasteful. There's a chance we might be spotted by the defenders." he noted, "Our clothing is suited to camouflaging amongst the rocks and dirt, but they can still see us if they've got any decent spotters... which they will." he added, before turning his gaze to the guards, "Perhaps they can provide some cover."
"Draw the attention of the enemy?" one of the guards raised a brow, "We can do that, your majesty."
"Then go do so. If you come across a patrol, then I suggest you start a fight." he noted, "Please try not to engage with lethal intent. I would not want word of my own personal guards killing the soldiers of the very man I seek to convene with."
They bowed to show their acceptance of his command, and his niece stepped forward, raising a finger, "They're my guards." she corrected him, making the Fire Lord wince, remembering that he had been undermining her authority by commanding around the guards he'd invested her authority over.
"I apologise, my niece. I see that I probably should let you command your own men." he conceded, before turning his eyes toward the city, "Now, let's get moving. I'd like to get to the King's Palace so I can finally rest my feet."
"Yes, you should." she chided him, before striding past the Fire Lord, taking the lead as the two groups went their separate ways.
Iroh followed his niece down the hillslope, leading them past a few large boulders and outcrops which provided them cover as they made their way down towards the base of the gully, beyond which sat a massive sheer rock face that surrounded the mountain upon which the city of Omashu was situated; to his luck, the sewer exits weren't that high up, so he wouldn't have to exhaust himself that much. The two royals were deathly silent barring their careful footsteps as they made their way down the slope, and he patiently waited for the signal that would eventually come from the Imperial Firebenders.
The Fire Lord, feeling confident in his footing, turned his gaze up to his niece, unsure if she was feeling nervous; he felt inclined to say yes, given that if she wasn't, she'd probably be spending her time chiding him more over his handling of her guards. The very fact that he, as the Fire Lord, ruler of his nation, could be chided by anyone was hilarious, going against everything his father had told him about being the Fire Lord. He was meant to be the infallible and all-powerful leader of his nation, leading them to victory against their so-called enemies, but he was just a man, working with his teenage niece to hide from people who seemed to have more power than himself, all while hoping she didn't get angry at him for bossing her men around.
His attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of flames roaring in the distance; he could tell that there was a lot of fire, given it almost sounded like a roaring gust, something he'd find challenging to create with his bending alone. He turned around to see that multiple streams of fire were converging together, racing toward the walls of the city; though he couldn't see any defenders at the angle he was standing from, he was sure they were ready to retaliate. A few moments later, after the flames made contact with the wall, causing a blast that was audible from where he was standing, a few large boulders were flung off of the wall, at a speed that was honestly amazing, flying right above Iroh and Azula, toward where he assumed the Imperial Firebenders were attacking from.
"That is a distraction." he acknowledged, his niece turning to face him, offering him a hand.
"Now, Uncle, this is our chance to get to the sewers." she stressed, his hand grasping her own, and with that, she dragged him along down the slope, moving toward the base of the gully with haste; there were rocks and debris everywhere, presumably due to earlier attacks on Fire Nation forces, but that didn't stop his niece, who weaved around them, pulling him along behind her.
He kept his pace up, and eyed up ahead of them, noting the steep and rough path they were about to take; he would have preferred to wind up the hill, instead of racing right for the sewer outlet, but the danger they were in was not to be underestimated. The Earth Kingdom forces defending the city's walls could just as easily direct their boulders down toward the two royals if they made sight of them. Though they were both skilled and powerful firebenders, that didn't mean they'd fare very well against enemies they couldn't even see, let alone reach. His feet began to ache as they ran up the slope, Azula letting go of his hand to make a dash up toward the nearest sewer entrance, which was still some distance up the slope.
He heard another few boulders smash into the hillside opposite them, suggesting the guards were still under attack; he knew they ought to withdraw quickly, given that the soldiers defending the city would probably sally forth to finish them off if they idled around too much. He trusted in Imperial Firebenders of all people to get the job done, but he knew from experience how stubborn they could be. Keeping his gaze ahead of himself, he moved around boulders to continue on after his niece, whose pace had only increased since she let go of his hand. He wasn't surprised when she got to the sewer outlet far before he did, still struggling to jog up the slope, all while worrying about debris from the city's walls falling down on top of them. To his luck, they didn't eventuate, and he was able to keep his eyes ahead of them, and focus on getting to the sewer entrance.
"Uncle! Hurry up!" his niece growled at him, and Iroh raised a hand, assuring her that he was going to catch up.
She turned back around to face the sewers, and lit a bright blue torch on her right index finger, before cutting it through the metal bars that covered the sewer entrance; the Fire Lord paced on up the slope after her, momentarily distracted by the sound of a fire stream blasting the walls above them once again. The incline became more frustrating, and Iroh panted in exhaustion, hoping that the insides of the sewer were as steeply sloped. When he finally reached the slight flattening out of the slope where the sewer entrance was located, the Dragon of the West sighed with relief, but that relief quickly ended when he caught a whiff of the sewer he was about to enter.
"That's terrible." he bluntly acknowledged, Azula turning around to face him with an unimpressed face, having just cut a number of red, hot gashes into the iron bars with her bending.
She then proceeded to kick the metal bars, breaking them from their hold, and causing them to fall down into the sewer, making an audible splatter, "This is the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do." she simply put her situation to words, before narrowing her eyes at him, "You owe me one, Uncle."
"I would have preferred the gates, but that might have been a challenge, with the earthbenders and all." he conceded, Azula rolling her eyes before sighing, stepping into the stinking sewer.
"I could have beat them." she retorted, making him scoff.
"You are a powerful bender, Azula, but nobody can beat a few dozen trained earthbenders at once." he warned her, before grimacing, remembering such a situation was the exact one his own son had faced before he had been killed; he look on her face suggested she was thinking the very same thing, and all she could do was turn around and mumble in response.
"You're right." she almost whispered, before throwing her hands up into the air, "Well, I guess I just have to walk through other people's bodily waste to get to Aang."
"And my friends." he added, making her shake her head.
"Could have you all chosen a less... challenging meeting spot?" she asked him, clearly frustrated that they had had to go all the way into Earth Kingdom territory, ontop of having to now climb through a sewer.
"Well, it was rather convenient, back when I wasn't pretending to be dead. Diplomacy is useful."
"You know what is more useful?" she retorted, giving him a rhetorical question to which he already knew the answer.
"Being the most powerful man in the world."
"Precisely." she agreed with him, "And once we get through this sewer, we're going to talk to whatever old fats you're friends with, and they're going to make sure it stays that way."
He followed on after her, placing a hand on the edge of the entrance as he caught his breath, watching his niece slowly trudge into the dark, odorous sewer, "Just let me... catch a breath." he gasped out, Azula turning to look back his way; she then suddenly snapped her fingers, lighting a flame in her right palm, the Fire Lord smiling as he realised their bending provided them with a easy way to guide themselves through the sewers.
He then took his first step inside, grimacing as he felt what had to be a mixture of food waste, bodily waste and run-off water; Iroh's boots were thick, however, and they didn't soak in any of the disgusting liquid. Relieved by that fact, he began to trudge on behind his niece, who was steadily pacing up the incline of the sewer; she remained silent, and covered her nose with her left hand to block out the smell from the running sewerage. He did the same, and eyed up ahead, unsure how long it would take them to get up to the street level; he knew that the incline was relatively sharp, which gave him hope that it wouldn't take them too long. He was forced to begin stepping on one side of the tunnel, due to the runoff below his feet becoming rather slippery. Though he could try and put his hand on the stone bricks beside him in an attempt to keep himself steady, he preferred to not touch anything in the sewer that he didn't have to.
As they made their way up, he saw the light from outside slowly fade, until all the light he could see came from Azula's blue flames, washing their field of view that rather pretty, relaxing colour. Though he was sure when anybody else saw his niece's flames, they would be less allured by its colour and beauty, he didn't fear her like he assumed some people did; she had voiced to him her desire to establish order through fear on her ship, and he felt a little sorry for her because of it. She had lost a chance to make some friends on the ship, though he personally doubted she'd be socialising with servants, guards and sailors; for that, he was glad they were intending to see her friend Ty Lee, who would probably improve his niece's mood by merely being there.
She made a light cover, and shook her head, "I hope this is worth it, old man." she growled at him, before increasing her pace, the Dragon of the West making a slight grimace as he realised how uncomfortable the entire situation had made her; it wasn't much better for himself, but unlike her, he'd grown reasonably comfortable in being in dirty places, the battlefield being a good example of just that.
"I apologise." he simply told her, before increasing his pace, not wanting to be left behind by her standing alone in a gloomy and stinking sewer.
The Fire Lord noted how the tunnel began to curve to the left in front of them, and though he couldn't see any light yet, he assumed that they were approaching some kind of intersection in the tunnel; sewerage would have to go from all around the city, so obviously, there would be many paths they could take to get up to the street level. Azula began to hasten herself, perhaps just wanting to get out as fast as she could, and he grimaced, not wanting her to slip over and hurt herself.
"Azula, slow down!" he tried to warn her, the Princess not heeding his words as she paced around the bend, forcing Iroh to light his own flame, lest he find himself unable to take a step without accidentally slipping.
He paced up after her, and realised that the incline was quickly flattening out, suggesting that they were about to get somewhere; he couldn't see any light but that of his niece's flames. He did catch back up to her, but he was panting in exhaustion, his flames flickering as he struggled to keep his breath; she looked back his way with confusion, and shook her head.
"Are you really that unfit?" she queried him, the Fire Lord groaning, simply not wanting to get angry with her, even if she'd given him a good reason.
"I'm... that was steep, Azula." he excused himself, before glancing past her, noting a few forks in the path, "Which way are we going?" he asked Azula, who gestured to their left.
"This city's a mountain that slopes up the further you get inside, so... the shortest path within the sewers is going to be that taking us closest to the walls." she concluded, Iroh nodding, before he reached out to grasp the wall; though he had told himself he wasn't going to do it, he really did need to catch a breath.
"Urgh..." he grumbled, before shaking his head, knowing that he had to keep some degree of composure; they were going to have to fool whoever they came across in the city, so they could get to Bumi's palace and meet with the Order of the White Lotus.
His niece grasped his right arm, and he looked up at her, noting the ever so slight concern on her face; she was good at hiding her emotions, but not that good, "Uncle, don't be lazy." she chided her, "We're probably close."
"I know." he assured her, before she began to help him along, holding his right hand with her left, while her own right was filled by blue flames, lighting up the tunnel for them, allowing them to see up the path they were taking; it was almost level, which was good, and he was able to increase his pace, which must have made Azula happy, as she turned her gaze ahead, slightly smirking.
The two royals continued along up the sewer tunnel, and Iroh made sight of a few shimmers of light coming off of the running water ahead of them; light had to be coming down from somewhere, and he guessed that somewhere was a street. The two of them began to walk faster toward the shimmering light, and quickly enough, they realised its source; a vertical shaft above the sewer, going up to a wooden panel, covering the shaft from outside view. The wooden panel was aged with gaps and cracks in it, which was why light was able to filter down into the sewer. Azula no longer needed her flames, and extinguished them,before gesturing to the indentations in the wall that would allow them to climb up.
"Go first, Uncle. I'll be a faster climber." she suggested, the Fire Lord nodding, before smiled at her, giving her a pat on the shoulder; she flinched back with a grimace, looking at her shoulder with disgust.
"Uncle! Don't touch me with your wall hand!" she growled at him, her voice rising to a volume that might be heard by people outside the sewer.
"Not so loud." he raised a finger, before turning his eyes to the indentations he'd have to climb up, "I should have used my right hand. I am sorry." he apologised, before he took a hold of one of the indentations, pulling himself up and beginning his ascent.
His niece held his back, to ensure that he didn't fall down, and he quickly made his way up, glad that he was getting some distance from the stench they'd been walking through; the climb wasn't very long, and he lifted his hand up, pushing the wooden panel out of place. He then shoved it away from the shaft with a few pushes, before finally lifting his head out of the hole, glancing around outside. It was relatively dark outside, as the sun was getting close to setting when they had made their final approach, but he could still hear a fair few pedestrians in the distance, though the shaft led out to an alleyway, away from prying eyes. He pulled himself out of the hole, and then glanced back down, noting that Azula was already climbing up.
"Let's get away from here quickly, we can't draw too much attention when this place is under siege." Iroh warned his niece, who climbed out of the shaft at haste, before pushing the panel with her foot back over the hole.
"Where's the palace?" she asked him bluntly, Iroh glancing around before he looked up toward the top of the mountain, where he could see some parts of the structure that constituted the palace.
"Right up there. Let's just stay off the main streets, and we'll be fine." he assured her, before realising her expression had shifted to one of unease; he turned around, and realised there were four guards looking at them with suspicion.
"What are you two doing?" one of them asked the pair, Azula stepping forward to try and argue in their favour.
"Minding our own business, unless you say loitering away from view is a crime." she questioned them, the guards chuckling at her rather snappy response.
"No, that's not a crime." one of them noted, before stepping closer to her, "But tell me, why would two peasants smell like shit?"
"Sh- I don't-" the Princess tried to defend herself, before sniffing her robes, and making a face which told Iroh she might be sick, "Urgh..." she grumbled, before turning her eyes to face him, "So what?"
"You two were just in the sewers." one of the guards noted, before approaching Iroh, "Old man, empty your pockets."
"We don't have any time to for this. We have places to go." Azula tried to argue in their defence, another guard raising a finger toward her.
"Shush, girl." he chided her, before Iroh reached into his pockets, and drew out their contents; he only had a few coins, a small flask of water, and the one thing he always kept on his person- a white lotus tile.
The guard looked at his hands, and then eyed him more carefully, "You wouldn't happen to be one of the king's friends, would you?"
"Oh... well, it depends who you ask." he cryptically assured him, the guard turning to face his comrades.
"Men, who does this guy look like to you?"
"A fat balding guy." one of them retorted, "So, any old nobleman." he joked, making Azula clench her fists, clearly not liking to hear them insult him, even if she was more than willing to insult him herself, if she felt the need to do so.
"Wrong." the guard corrected him, "This man is Fire Lord Iroh, the Dragon of the West." he declared, the two royals both tensing up, looking at each other with the same face; a fight could be on their hands, and they were in a place they had little chance of escaping.
"How do you know?"
"Because he and his ash-makers nearly killed me in the field of battle." he declared, making Iroh raise a brow; he assumed that he was in the Earth Kingdom army before becoming a guard- there were many battles he had fought, so it didn't surprise him that he had faced the man before him.
There were a few moments of awkward silence, before the guard pointed at Iroh, "So, are you here to see the king, or kill him?"
"I'm here to speak with him." he assured him, "I mean no harm to you or your comrades here." he assured him.
"So, what are you, his servant? Guard?" one of them asked Azula, making her raise a hand up.
"I'd choose my next words very carefully if I were you." she warned him, the fire Lord stepping forward, hoping to stop her from attacking the guards and getting them in even more trouble than they were already in.
"I recommend you apologise to my niece." he warned the guard, "She is the only reason I was able to reach this city."
"Wait-" one of them gasped, stepping back, "That's her. The one who captured the Avatar."
"Oh, I am." she smirked, "Would you happen to know where Aang is? Enjoying the king's reception? Or is he actually hiding his identity?" she asked him, the guards looking at each other with confusion.
"The Avatar? The Avatar left here yesterday." the leader clarified, before pointing at her, "You weren't planning to snatch him up, were you?"
"That would have been a stupid idea." she retorted, before crossing her arms, "So are you taking us to the king or what?"
"Just wait a minute. Why would we take the Fire Lord and his niece to the King of Omashu? You two could try and kill him for all we know." one of the guards accused them, the Dragon of the West raising his hands up.
"Now, I have no intentions of fighting King Bumi, unless, of course, he wants to spar." he assured them, "I simply want to speak with him." he restated his intentions, before offering his hands up, "If you're so worried, bind our hands and take us to the palace that way."
"You heard him." the leader of the guards spoke up, "Shackle them!"
The guards did just that, and though Azula probably wanted to resist, she dropped her shoulders and dejectedly offered her hands out, clearly not wanting to denigrate herself, but having little choice to do otherwise. She turned her eyes to her uncle, seeming almost confused by the turn of events.
"Did they just take your order?" she asked, Iroh snickering upon realising that she was correct.
"Well, I'm an important man, Azula. People take me seriously."
Princess Azula didn't trust anybody from the Earth Kingdom, and she had a rather logical reason to do so; her position as Princess of the Fire Nation meant that if she ever went face-to-face with them, she would most likely get into a fight, where they would be trying to kill her, or perhaps worse, make her their captive. However, that presumption was being challenged rather strongly as she sat in the throne room of the King's Palace in Omashu, surrounded by guards, who in fact, were not just protecting the King, but she and her uncle from any potential threats, especially those of the assassins that had gone after Iroh.
She was trying to ignore their presence as her uncle and the old, unusual king chatted along heartily, the Princess trying her best to restrain from making any comments that would either incite fear or offence from the King or any of the other members of their 'old men club' that were also sitting on the table with them. There were a variety of people, and some of them were Fire Nation, or at least she presumed they were, given their golden eyes, even if they were wearing the same robes as any other peasant. She guessed that the Order of the White Lotus needed to disguise themselves when they were travelling around, especially into what would be 'enemy territory', and that included her uncle.
Her idle glancing wasn't taken of much note by those on the table, who didn't seem to be afraid of her in the slightest; she wondered if they were calm because Iroh was there, and not because she couldn't cause a ruckus if she so pleased. Her train of thought was broken by her uncle addressing her, and as she hadn't been paying any attention to his conversation with the King, she had to turn around and fake a smile.
"What was that, Uncle?" she asked him, the Fire Lord gesturing to her hands, which had been holding a now empty cup of tea.
"King Bumi would like to see it." he simply told her, the Princess raising a brow.
"Sorry, he'd like to see what? My tea?" she inquired, making the old king cackle.
"Ah-aha! That's a good one. She has a sense of humour, Iroh." he pat the Fire Lord on the back, "But, no, I was talking about your power." he clarified, his tone becoming a whole lot more serious; the change was enough to make her shuffle in her seat, and tilt her head slightly.
"My firebending?" she asked, the King nodding.
"Yes, your firebending. I know your uncle here is quite the bender, and I just wanted to see how you compare." he simply told her, the Princess rolling her eyes, not wanting to have to show off purely to make her uncle look feeble in comparison; it wasn't that she didn't want to brag, but to brag in front of someone so important in a way that denigrated the Dragon of the West, that was some Agni Kai material, to paraphrase something her father had once said.
"I wouldn't dare say I am better than my uncle." she assured him, "He may be a little rusty, but he's the man who conquered-" she began, before cutting herself off, remembering the orientation of the group sitting on the table, "He's no joke."
"Well, Princess Azula, are you a joke?" he asked her, before smirking, "I have a feeling you're usually not this humble."
"Are you trying to get me to do something, specifically?" she asked him, now suspicious of his intentions, in trying to make vague insults that would offend her if she was not more concerned about keeping face in front of her uncle's allies.
"Just show me." he asked her, the Princess rolling her eyes, before turning around the table.
"Are we meant to actually be discussing something, or are we just having tea and supper?" she asked the King, who cleared his throat, before rising to his feet.
"My friends! Now it is time to turn our focus to the man we've all been waiting for, Grand Lotus Iroh." he gestured toward her uncle, who rose to his feet and bowed toward those at the table in respect.
"I thank you all for coming here, and waiting for me. I didn't expect to be faced with the situation I was in, but I am an important man, and that brings risks." he acknowledged, "As you may have heard, my ship was attacked about two weeks ago, and it was sunk, while we were in transit to the Earth Kingdom."
"Some of us here thought you were dead." one of the men spoke up, "How was it that you were able to get away?"
"My assassins came back after me once we landed on the coast. I got my guards to take the crew of my ship north to a nearby Fire Navy base, but I was forced to run off into the woods." he acknowledged, "One of the assassins can firebend with his mind, and nearly killed me with the explosions he could create."
One of the men, a middle-aged Fire Nation man with long black hair, spurted out the tea from his mouth, and looked at the Fire Lord with a near frantic face, "S-sorry..." he apologised, "Did you just say firebend with his mind?"
"Yes." he nodded, "I had heard of such abilities, but I didn't think they would be so dangerous."
"Was this a man with a metal right arm?" he asked, the Princess raising her hand toward the man accusingly.
"How do you know of this man?! Tell us!" she demanded, the man grimacing as he turned his gaze away.
"He's a master assassin, by the name of Sanyan." he explained, "Well, I don't think that's his actual name, but that's the name I was told when I heard about him." he clarified, Bumi raising a finger to his goatee.
"And how'd you hear about this assassin, Karasu?" he asked him, "He sounds like a dangerous fellow if he's going around trying to explode the Fire Lord."
"Um..." he mumbled, before turning his eyes away, "Well, you see, back when I was young, I was involved with a group."
"The Open Eyes." one of the men spoke up, giving a name to what he was speaking of; Azula immediately recognised the name from a history class.
"Uncle." she addressed her uncle, trying to remain calm, remembering where she had heard that name from, "Those are the people that nearly killed Grandfather, aren't they."
"I simply wanted to protest the actions of the Fire Nation in the war, but some of my comrades were more radically minded. They wanted to use that very assassin to kill... well, the Fire Lord.
"Ironic." Bumi noted, before turning his eyes to Iroh, "Do you know who is behind these assassins, Iroh?"
"My father." Azula spoke up, knowing that she had to stress the very fact to remind herself of it; she didn't want to believe it, to begin with, but she knew that she couldn't doubt herself, now sitting with a bunch of old men who ought to be considered the enemies of her nation, if it weren't for the fact her uncle was apart of them.
"Prince Ozai." the man she knew to be called Kurasu mumbled, "Who would have... well, I guess Jeong Jeong said it, didn't he?"
"Jeong Jeong." Azula spoke the name she had just heard, remembering that one too, "The traitor."
"A friend." Iroh corrected her, "He couldn't come to this meeting, I assume."
"He was too worried about the Fire Nation Army tracking his movements." Kurasu noted, "Perhaps you ought to pardon him, seeing you're the Fire Lord, after all."
"Well, I'm missing in action at the moment. I can't really help in that regard." her uncle acknowledged, "Should I continue my story?"
"Yes, continue." one of the men on the table raised his hand, "We want to hear how you got here, and how your niece got messed up in all of this."
"Well, it was her choice." he acknowledged, "My niece, believing me to be in serious danger, came to my assistance, but I had already been lost in the woods, found some help from the locals, before travelling to a nearby village. The assassins tracked me down, I beat them, and the next morning, my niece found me." he explained the course of events rather simply, "Of course, in that span of time, the Avatar had escaped captivity, and I presume, he had come here, and met with you."
"He supposedly beat Bumi in a fight." one of the men seemingly joked, the old king raising a hand, obviously not agreeing with him.
"That's a lie. It was a draw. I can beat that sneaky little airbender any day of the week, whether I'm a hundred and twelve or not." he argued in his favour, making Azula look at him with confusion, before raising a brow, realising that the King of Omashu was the same age as Aang, technically, given his time in the iceberg.
"You fought Aang?" Azula asked Bumi, "I don't know how good he'd be against an earthbender like yourself." she noted, before narrowing her eyes, "How good are you, exactly?" she asked, now interested by the same question he had given her, just the opposite way around.
"Oh." he shrugged his shoulders, "I just know a thing or two." he casually acknowledged, leaning back onto his chair, before he flicked a finger up, a tile flying off of the ground beside the table, before he flung it right at the Princess; she had quick enough reflexes to flick her right hand up, creating a narrow arc of flames which slashed right through the tile and shattered it into dust.
"Oh, well, you've got better reflexes than him." he complimented her, before stretching his neck a little, "You know, he called you his acquaintance. You must be a very nice captor."
"I treat people with respect when necessary." she framed her actions in a way she liked, and the old king snorted once more.
"Heh-heh, okay, if you say so." he chuckled, before gesturing toward her, "So, are you going to go capture him, or is there a new plan?"
"He's a very useful weapon, so I'm going to direct him at my biggest present problem." she explained, making him scrunch his lips up.
"Your wardrobe?" he questioned her, the Princess glancing down at the drab robes she was wearing; despite how cool she usually was when it came to dealing with others, she felt that comment hit a certain nerve, perhaps because of how out of the blue it was, "No, Aang doesn't have a good fashion sense. Always wearing the same old robes."
"The same old-" she repeated him with a mumble, before pointing a finger at King Bumi, "How well did you get to know the Avatar and his friends, anyway?"
"Well, I met those two Water Tribe teens. Kind and supportive, but Aang, I've known him a long time."
"Sorry, you mean to say you knew the Avatar before the war?" Azula asked him, the king smirking.
"That I did." he snapped his fingers, "And he hasn't changed one bit." he noted, with a more concerned voice, "It's really weird, honestly."
"Okay, so would you happen to know where he's going? I'd like better directions than 'maybe the North Pole'." she requested of the King, before shaking his hand.
"Slow down there." he warned her, "You haven't told us what you want with the Avatar yet."
"I did!" she growled at him, before slapping her uncle on the arm, "Uncle, you tell them."
"I want my niece to teach the Avatar firebending." he simply explained, Azula raising a brow.
"Sorry, you want me to what?" she asked him, unsure if she had heard him right; she could understand making sure Aang could help them against Ozai, but teaching the one person who might pose a real threat to the Fire Nation firebending sounded like a pretty dangerous idea.
"Ah, that's just poetic, Iroh." Bumi smirked at him, patting him on the shoulder, "You must have thought of it that way too."
"What's poetic, that a Princess of the Fire Nation might teach the Avatar how to defeat her nation?" she questioned him, "That just sounds stupid."
"No, that's not what it is." the King assured her, before turning his eyes to Iroh, "Wait, you haven't told her yet, have you?"
"Told me what?" she asked them both, before eyeing those on the table, who obviously realised she was agitated.
"Uh, well, Azula, you see... there's a reason you mother and father married."
"It was arranged." she recalled, the Fire Lord raising a finger.
"By the Fire Sages." he clarified, "They told my father that bringing the bloodline of the Avatar into our family would create great firebenders."
She nodded reflexively in response to his answer, before her jaw dropped, realising what she had just heard. It took a few moments to sink in, but her hands dropped down onto the table in front of her as she considered the fact; he had just said the bloodline of the Avatar. She felt a shiver down her spine, grasping her uncle by the arm, wanting a proper answer; she had thought that her birth was about destiny, but from what he was saying, it sounded like it had nothing to do with destiny.
"Th-the..." she mumbled, before glancing around the table, realising they were just as shocked as she was, barring Bumi, of course, who must have already known about it, "What did you just say?"
"I'm sorry, Azula. I should have found a better way to tell you... but now that the Avatar has appeared, I have to." he acknowledged, before rising up to his feet, "I'm sorry, I have to excuse myself and my niece. We need to talk privately." he explained, before gesturing for her to follow.
She rose up to her feet, before eyeing Bumi, "Does Aang know?"
"Not yet." he admitted, before pointing toward Iroh, indicating for her to follow, which she did.
Pacing on after him, she approached a doorway, where her uncle stood; he turned to face a guard, and gestured for him to open the door. Like the other doors in the palace, it was made of stone, and the guard bent it open, showing a large balcony, where she could see over the city, and the gully and mountains that surrounded it. The smoke of the war camps in the distance reminded her of the danger Omashu was in, and remembered that it was her people about to storm the very city they were being sheltered in. Iroh strode over to the stone railing of the balcony, and placed his hands down on it; she followed, and wondered what she ought to ask him. She couldn't think straight, her mind jumping from the vista before her to the thought of her dead mother, and all the things she didn't know about her, or her origin, which seemed to be what her uncle was about to convey to her.
"U-Uncle." she stammered, unable to put her thoughts to words, "Who am I?"
"One hundred and twelve years ago, a volcano erupted in the eastern islands of the Fire Nation." her uncle told her, the Princess narrowing her eyes.
"What does a volcano have to do with any of this?" she asked him, confused by his words.
"Everything, my niece." he assured her, before narrowing his eyes at her, "When that volcano erupted, my grandfather, your great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, travelled to that island, to help his old friend, Avatar Roku. The Avatar and Fire Lord fought long and hard against the volcano, which threatened to and ultimately did swallow the village on the island whole. The Avatar's family lived on that island, and were forced to flee, while the two men tried to stave off the eruption." he explained, before sighing, "The Avatar was hurt when trying to escape, and Sozin refused to help him, believing him to be an obstacle in his great vision for the Fire Nation. So, he left him to die."
Azula blinked a few times, wondering what the story had to do with her ancestry, "So, are you saying that the Avatar I'm descended from is Avatar Roku?"
"Yes." he nodded, "On the boat that was sailing away from the village was a woman, Ta Min, the Avatar's wife, and their children, one of which was a young girl called Rina. She was your grandmother."
"So... my mother was the Avatar's granddaughter." she concluded, "And that means that... the Fire Sages wanted to marry her and my father to create... me."
"My father wanted a great firebender, so he went and sought out the Avatar's descendants. He found Rina and her daughter, who was around the same age as his second son, and that... that was what he needed. He took her away from her life, her family, and her love, and she was forced into a life she had no choice over. My father succeeded, because you're standing right in front of me." he acknowledged, before smiling at her, "But you're not just a weapon for my father, or your father, Azula. You are your own person."
She turned away, unsure how to feel about his words; she wasn't just her father's prodigious daughter, she was the child he had created with the simple intent of making a great firebender. That did not paint a kind picture of her father, though she wasn't really surprised in the slightest; it hurt to acknowledge it, and she wondered if he had ever really wanted children for any other reason.
"I am Princess Azula." she acknowledged, before turning her eyes to face him, "But... I don't know anything about Avatar Roku... or my mother. All I know is what you've told me." she noted, before narrowing her eyes at him, "Are you telling me the truth?"
"Why would I lie to you, Azula?" he asked her, almost pleadingly, "I only want what is best for you."
"You want to upstage everything our family's done, for what? Because Lu Ten dying made you feel a shred of guilt over all the people you've killed?" she asked him rather bluntly, Iroh turning his face away, Azula immediately noticing the tears running down his cheeks; she didn't want to feel guilty, but for some reason, she couldn't help it- her uncle didn't deserve the harsh words she had told him, "U-Uncle... I'm sorry." she told him, stepping closer, "I just don't understand... I don't even know who I am... what you're telling me, it's crazy."
"It is." he agreed with her, "But that's the world we live in. People do crazy things. They break people's hearts, they destroy whole nations. They do it for greed, for love, for their sense of honour. People do things for lots of reasons, and I don't want you to think your existence is wrong. You are more than the sum of your parts."
She smiled at him, and felt the tears come down her cheeks, unsure how to feel about what she was hearing; perhaps it was liberating, to finally know something about herself, something she knew existed, but had little comprehension of. Of course, it hurt to know the selfish reasons for why she and Zuko were born in the first place, but that didn't change who she was. Azula did not think herself to merely be the daughter of Ozai, who set out to find the Avatar to bring honour to her name; she was the person who would bring honour to her name by stopping her father, and making sure that the future she could find herself in would not allow for the kinds of things that had happened to her family to occur again- both of them.
