I'm quite happy that I managed to get this chapter sooner rather than later. I think I'm enjoying this new update schedule, hopefully will be able to get the next chapter out at an equal speed. I am actually quite happy to finally get to this chapter after so many months and weeks of planning, since this is the chapter where things start to get real.
With that happy note out of the way, let's get this chapter started!
Shin honestly considered himself one of the luckiest men in the Yuyan archers. He had a decent rank in the archers, respect from his subordinates, nice salary and best of all, a beautiful wife he could come home to. That was more than most of his fellow brothers and sisters in arms could say really. Shin had learned long ago that being in the military and having a relationship with somebody outside the life was difficult to do for a variety of reasons, not least being away for long periods of time, little contact, and so on. He had heard plenty of horror stories from his colleagues about how their partners would leave them and take their kids with them while they were at it, moving halfway across the nation just to get away or worse.
Thankfully Shin had also learned that having a relationship with someone outside the military was indeed tough, but not impossible to make work. He won't lie when he said that it took a lot of work, a lot of communicating, a few bad disagreements that Shin was not sure they would ever recover from...but through it all they stuck together and Shin had even worked up the courage to ask Mei to marry him.
Shin smiled as he felt Mei hold his arm closely as they walked through the busy street.
If there was one thing Shin had something positive to say about the end of the war, it would be that it finally gave him a lot more off-time to be with his wife. He hadn't gotten anymore special assignments from the Fire Lord after bringing the body of princess Azula back to the palace and he had received a hefty compensation for his services and to ensure his continued silence about the death of the Princess. It was essentially hush money to make sure he didn't talk about Princess Azula's death, as it seemed the royal family( or more specifically that Lady Mai) wanted to make sure it wasn't made public.
Shin hadn't thought much of it, it wasn't his business. More money was always amazing for him and Mei.
They had just gotten done with a day of shopping for food and other supplies for the house, Shin was shocked by how high the price of just basic food is these days. The price had been slowly rising these past few months, Shin hadn't thought much of it until he realized just how much everything cost these days. It was insane how high the price of everything was. He was lucky that Mei was able to bargain for a lower price with her charm or else they might not have been able to afford it.
" So I was thinking tomorrow we could go visit my sister. Its been a while since we last saw them." Mei suggested as they walked through the streets, the married couple maneuvering between the crowds to get past while Shin carried their supplies in a large sack.
" That sounds good, honey." Shin said, only half listening as he surveyed the area around them and kept his ears out for anything suspicious. It was a habit he picked up during his time in the archers, keeping his senses out for any signs of danger. Maybe not the best habit to have when he's off duty but he couldn't help it, that kind of paranoia and training never seems to go away no matter how many years pass. Something his drill sergeant during training made sure to thoroughly beat into his head without mercy.
" And then I was thinking we should stop by Auntie Ming's house, I heard her husband passed away recently and want to give my condolences."
" Sounds great honey."
" Then I thought we should plan the assassination of the cultural minister and take over the Fire Nation ourselves."
" Uh huh, sounds good." Shin nodded along, before his brain took a second to comprehend what his wife had just said. He turned to Mei who was giving him a smug look.
" You're doing that Instinct thing where you pay attention to any threats around us, aren't you?" Mei easily guessed.
" Sorry..." Shin apologized.
Mei let out a sigh." I really wish you would be able to relax Shin, even when you're not working you're always paranoid like we're about to be attacked by wild animals at any moment."
" Hey, that is a real threat people encounter even in cities." Shin countered but saw Mei's point." But really sorry, its just hard to relax when you're basically trained to hell and back to be paranoid of everything trying to kill you."
" Well, maybe if you're a good boy I can help you relax when we get back home." Mei said with a suggestive smile that made Shin blush.
He suddenly couldn't wait to get home.
As they walked through the streets, Shin couldn't help but notice the amount of homeless people on the street. People sitting by the road begging for coin, and Shin even saw a few signs that said that some of the homeless were former soldiers of the army. Shin felt sympathy for these men, he had heard that the Fire Lord had decided to cut back on the military quite a bit, including the Yuyan Archers. He was one of the lucky few that weren't part of the cuts, but still seeing so many of his former soldiers in arms end up like this.
" There's so many of them..." Shin muttered as they passed by the homeless.
" I know, things have been getting pretty bad around the Fire Nation." Mei said worriedly." It was never this bad before the war."
" A lot of things are changing after the war, not all of them good." Shin said as he felt a pit of unease settle in his stomach as they passed by another homeless old man with a sign that claimed he was a soldier.
He couldn't hold back his sympathy as he passed a few coins to the old man, who looked up hopefully in gratitude.
" Thank you..." The old man thanked him. Shin simply nodded as they kept walking, Mei giving him an approving smile.
But as they turned the corner of the street that led to their house, his ears picked up the distinct sound of screaming suddenly that it almost made him reach for the non-present sword at his hip. Shin calmed down when he saw what appeared to be a squad of Fire Nation guards standing near a house. He was a lot less calm when he saw them dragging people out of said house, the soldiers weren't being overly rough about it but the people were shouting and cursing at them the whole way.
" What's going on over there?" Mei asked in shock at what they were seeing. She wasn't the only one, there was a whole crowd of people that were watching the soldiers line the people outside the house.
" I don't know but I'm going to find out." Shin said as he put the bags of supplies and food down by Mei to watch over, as he went over to have a chat with the soldiers on what in Agni's ever lasting light are they doing.
" Hey, hey!" Shin called out to the head guard." What's going on here?"
" Stand aside citizen." The guard held up a hand to stop him and Shin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
" I'm a Yuyan Archer and I outrank you." Shin showed his military tag that he kept on him at all times. The guard suddenly standing up straight at the realization of who he was talking to." Explain what you're doing soldier."
" S-Sorry sir, we're under orders to do random checks of the houses in this area under suspicion of treason to the crown." The soldier explained.
Shin turned to the people they had lined up outside the house: A woman old enough to be Shin's grandmother, a woman in her mid-thirties spewing curses at the soldiers for dragging them forcefully out of their home, a man trying helplessly to calm what appears to be his wife down from shouting at the solders, and two kids which were both boys who look scared at what was happening.
"...These people are supposed to be dissenters?" Shin said almost in a sarcastic voice.
" We are conducting random searches for any signs of treason against the crown." The soldier tried to explain, but it was clear that he was working off limited information.
" They are just a family, what could you possibly be searching for?" Shin asked.
" Signs of illegal activity, dissent, that sort of thing. If they are innocent then we shall let them go free, I assure you. But we need their compliance in order to-"
The soldier was cut off when the sound of glass breaking and things being carelessly tossed around from inside the house could be heard.
" Hey! Don't just carelessly throw our belongings around you assholes!" The wife practically screamed at the soldiers who were inside the house." What gives you the right to do this to us!?"
" Ma'am, please calm down." One of the other soldiers said as he turned back to Shin." We're not the only group assigned to this, look around."
Shin looked down the street and could see several other houses being searched by squads of soldiers. People being lined up outside their homes and shops as soldiers went in to search the place for evidence. And Shin could see that not all the soldiers were handling the civilians with care, he could even see a few that were being forcefully dragged out of their homes by their limbs, hair or even being restrained by the guards as they seemed to be arrested for resisting.
Shin felt like he should be on this guards side...but he didn't sign up for this shit and the woman had a point with what she had said.
" The nice lady's got a point though. Who approved of this action soldier?"
The soldier looked conflicted for a moment and Shin did not like what his silence implied. Shin knew there were few people up the chain of command who could authorize something like this.
" Who ordered this action soldier?" Shin repeated in a more commanding tone, as people from the crowd joined in.
" Yeah, who ordered this!?"
" Who's giving you the right to do this!?"
The soldier seemed to get nervous as he could feel Shin and the rest of the crowd waiting for his answer. " Orders came straight from the top."
Shin's eyes widened as he knew what that meant. And he could already hear the mummers from the crowd behind him that would soon break out in full blown shouting.
" The Fire Lord ordered this?"
" How could he?"
" Of course, that useless Fire Lord would order something like this to happen!"
" He should come down here and face the people he's hurt with his shitty rule!"
" People, people! Please calm down, its just a routine inspection and I promise that it will be over soon." The head guard tried to calm everybody down, but that just made them angrier.
The crowd had started shouting curses, profanities and insults at the guards. Shin's ears had even picked up quite a few colorful insults directed at the Fire Lord specifically but soon the crowd's individual words and curses blended in with each other, making it impossible to tell the difference. The guards that had been stationed to keep the crowds at bay had grown agitated and even pointed their weapons at the crowd in an attempt to deter them and Shin wanted to scream at them not to do that based on his experiences as a Yuyan Archer.
When you're in hostile territory and come face to face with a hostile group greater in number than yours, do not attempt to agitate or engage unless absolutely necessary.
As expected, the crowd didn't take the threat very well and started throwing things at the soldiers. Be they stones, rotten food or whatever trash they could pick up off the street and hurl at the guards, who Shin had taken a step back from talking to.
Shin could see that this was going to quickly turn ugly and with Mei here, he didn't want to take the risk of this devolving into a full-on brawl between the civilian population and the local guardsmen. While the guards had weapons, the civilians had numbers on their side and Shin knew from experience just how much that can mean in a fight, especially one as potentially close-quartered as this.
He quickly walked away from the head guard who seemed occupied with dealing with the increasingly angry crowd and headed back to Mei who was watching the whole scene with worry.
" Come on Mei, let's get out of here quickly." Shin said as he picked up the food and supplies, as they made a hasty retreat from the area as the shouting got louder.
" What happened back there?" Mei asked, as they moved quickly out of the area.
" I'll tell you later, but let's just say that I don't think the Fire Lord is going to be very popular soon."
" You know Zuko, when you told us that you wanted to intensify search efforts for Ozai and his supporters...this isn't exactly what we had in mind!" Suki shouted at the Fire Lord in anger and Mai couldn't help but agree with her, as she hid her face behind her hand as she felt a mix of disappointment and anger.
They were currently in one of the private meeting rooms to discuss some of Zuko's recent actions...well, it was more of an argument between Suki and Zuko really at this point. Mai shared a concerned look with Ty Lee, who didn't seem to know what to say really.
Zuko had mentioned in the last meeting with them that they needed to start 'seriously searching' for Ozai and anybody loyal to him, and that he would be handing out new search orders to the guards. Admittedly Mai wasn't sure how effective these search orders would be, considering Ozai has managed to remain undetected by them for months since his escape from prison, but Mai knew that Zuko was sick of sitting on his ass while Ozai plotted around them and needed to take action. Regardless of how effective said action would be.
In hindsight, she really should have followed up on what exactly those new search orders would be or they might not be in this mess they are in right now.
" Random searches, stop and questioning civilians, arrests on suspicion of treason. How is this any of this necessary when the common people are suffering because of it?" Suki asked in anger.
Zuko to his credit, did look guilty but it was quickly brushed over his reaffirmation." This is necessary. We need to flush any of my father's loyalists out of hiding so we can figure out where he is."
" And while we're busy doing that, the common people just have to deal with it? You honestly think they are just going to sit back and take it? I've already heard reports of fights breaking out between the guards and civilians." Suki replied in anger.
" Its only going to be for a while Suki-"
" How long is a while Zuko? People are already fed up with these searches as it is." Suki retorted.
" These searches are needed to root out my father's supporters, its a better solution than just combing through forests for months like when he first escaped." Zuko defended as he crossed his arms." Besides, these searches have shown some success, we've already arrested a few people."
" Ah yes, a street vendor who had a few Ozai paintings in his house, a woodcutter and a general store owner who had some Ozai paraphernalia in the store." Suki sarcastically listed off some of the rests from one of the reports on the table, as she turned back to Zuko with an angry look." Good job, we're really making headway in striking a critical blow to Ozai's operation."
Zuko glared back at Suki." Remember who you're talking to here Suki."
Ty Lee flinched and Mai had to resist the urge to slap her face. Did Zuko really just try to play the 'Fire Lord card' with the person who is in charge of his personal bodyguards, who are just about the only trustworthy soldiers they have at the moment?
" Or what? You going to throw me in prison too? We both know that my Kyoshi Warriors are the only guards you can actually trust here, considering you can't even ensure the loyalty of your own men in this palace!" Suki didn't miss a beat as she hit back verbally that made Zuko flinch in response, but his anger seemed to rise again as he looked ready to shout back.
" THAT IS ENOUGH! Both of you!" To her surprise, before Mai could intervene before a fight could break out, Ty Lee suddenly stood up and shouted at both of them. Everybody now looking
" We can't fight right now! What we need to do is talk about how we can fix this." Ty Lee practically pleaded with both of them not to fight. Suki and Zuko looked at each other, both of them wanting to say more, but took a deep breath and settled down.
Mai let out a breath of relief, because if Zuko somehow managed to drive off Suki than they might be truly doomed without the help of her Kyoshi Warriors protecting them from assassination.
While Suki probably could have phrased it better...Mai did agree with her on some level.
Mai stepped up to stand with the Kyoshi Captain." Suki is right Zuko, these search orders aren't going to do anything to find Ozai or his supporters. All these search orders are going to do is just turn the public against us even more, our public image is going to take an even bigger hit than it already has." Mai knew that public support and opinion towards them was already in the negatives with the nation suffering from many issues that they can't even begin to figure out how to fix what with Ozai out on the loose." If these searches continue, we could be looking at riots or worse."
" Public opinion was already against us, there's no point trying swing it back into our favor while Ozai is still on the loose." Zuko retorted.
" So what then? We just keep going forward with these pointless searches that just make the people hate us even more?" Suki said disappointingly.
" We're going to turn up something eventually, its just a matter of time..." Zuko said, though Mai noticed the uncertainty in his voice." And unless you have a better idea, than I would love to hear it."
None of them answered, and Mai hated that THIS was somehow the best idea that they could come up with.
Zuko didn't say anything more, as he stood up from his seat and left the room, apparently deciding that this 'meeting' was over. Mai let out a sigh at the tension in the palace, she could practically feel oncoming headache that this was going to cause.
" There's no way this is going to do anything to catch Ozai, you know." Suki said to Mai with a tired look on her face. Clearly getting into an argument with Zuko took a lot out of her.
Mai sadly agreed with her with a nod." I know...and the worst part is I think Zuko knows it too."
The Kyoshi Captain looked surprised at her words. " Then why is he doing all this if he knows its pointless?"
" My guess is after Piandou's death, he feels like he needs to take action to hit back against Ozai. Doesn't matter whether said action is actually effective or not at catching Ozai, as long as its something tangible at least." Mai let out a tired sigh as she took a seat at the meeting table, Zuko had taken Piandou's death harder than she thought if he was enacting search orders like this to catch Ozai. This will hurt their image even more than as it is.
" So what do we do then?" Suki asked.
Mai hated the fact that she genuinely didn't know how to answer that question. What could they really do at this point? Their reputation was in the gutters, Ozai was on the loose and likely planning a coup against them, they had no allies in the nation that could help them. She wondered just how many in the nobility were working with him or Agni forbid, those within the very palace walls were secretly colluding with the former Fire Lord. They still hadn't really confirmed whether Jiang was working with Ozai or not, but Mai was willing to bet that she her hunch about him was right.
The knife thrower was truly at her wits end about what to do about all this.
" Just...keep an eye on Zuko and make sure no assassins get to him in the dead of night." Mai said, as it was pretty much all she can think to say to Suki." I have a feeling things are about to get much worse soon."
There was no disagreement about that. Suki nodded as she left the room, leaving only Mai and Ty Lee.
" Are you...okay Mai?" Ty Lee asked her friend gently and Mai couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes at that question.
" Well, I just learned my boyfriend insists on being an idiot, is currently sinking our nation into an economic and political crisis with his policies, and we're about five minutes away from being overthrown in a probable coup by Ozai...I'd say not well, Ty Lee." Mai couldn't hold back the sarcastic bite and frustration in her tone as she said that. She knows its unfair to Ty Lee who is only worried about her, but she can't help it. She's too frustrated and tired to care at this point.
" Things are really getting bad huh? Everyone in the palace is so tense and the aura is always so gloomy these days." Ty Lee muttered.
" Understatement of the century." Mai sighed as she leaned back in her chair.
They stood there in silence for a few minutes, Ty Lee just letting Mai stew in her own thoughts. The knife thrower hated how quiet the meeting room was after the shouting match between Zuko and Suki because it was just another reminder of how far out of their depth they really were at this. They had no plan, no allies to help them, traitors in the rank and Agni damn it, they were totally helpless here.
Mai wondered how long she can sit her moping when she noticed Ty Lee stand up and spoke.
" You know what? Tomorrow you and me are taking a break." Ty Lee suddenly announced out of the blue.
Mai was caught off guard by this so much that she genuinely looked confused." What?"
" All this talk of coups, traitors, and Ozai have got you stressed out. We haven't had a chance to relax in forever, so the two of us are going out into the city tomorrow to get some fresh air." Ty Lee said determinedly.
" And you think the best time to take a day off is literally when everything is burning down around us?" Mai said with a uncertainty and sarcasm.
" Yes." Ty Lee said without missing a beat." Because I'm tired of watching you work yourself into an early grave trying to fix this, you deserve to take a rest after everything that's happened...with Azula and...you know..."
Mai wanted to refute Ty Lee on her idea of an outing, to tell that they had much more important things to worry about at the moment than going on breaks when they should be trying to fix the problem at hand. Yet when she thinks about all that has happened these past few months from Azula's death, Ozai's escape, the growing discourse in the Fire Nation over Zuko's rule and the ever-present threat of a coup looming over their heads...
Agni knows they all need a break before it all blows up. Mai hadn't totally appreciated their vacation to Ember Island, but she's starting to think they need one more than ever.
So with a reluctant sigh, Mai turned to Ty Lee." Fine, what do you have in mind?"
Ty Lee beamed as she explained what they should do tomorrow.
Okay, this wasn't totally terrible or bad by Mai's expectations.
Contrary to what people might think about Mai, she did enjoy going out every once in a while. Mai hated boredom above all else and being cooped up in the palace certainly wasn't helping with everything that's been going on recently. She hadn't realized how much better she felt finally getting out of the palace and just being able to enjoy her day with Ty Lee. And she did enjoy a fine day of shopping.
" This here, my lady is one of the lightest and thinnest blades we have in stock. You can pin your target from several feet away!" The blacksmith promoted his fine selection of throwing knives and weapons. They were pretty nice all things considered.
" Very nice." Mai nodded along in a neutral tone, but she did find the craftsmanship exquisite.
Let it never be said that Ty Lee didn't know her well. While Mai wasn't particularly fond about shopping for clothes, she did enjoy visiting blacksmith shops that sold top of the line throwing knives and weapons to add to her collection. It was something of a secret of hers that she kept from her family, Agni knows her mother would faint if she ever found out that Mai visited places like this. Living at the palace meant that she could freely visit shops like these. For her day out with Ty Lee, her friend had taken her to a pretty well-respected and known blacksmith known for selling throwing knives.
At the moment, Mai was currently examining a wide variety knives, throwing needles, kunai's and so on. Ty Lee for her part was mostly just chatting up one of the other customers in the store than actually looking at the weapons since she preferred relying in chi-blocking instead of weapons. She gave one of the knives a twirl to get a good feel of it and it felt right in her hand.
" The material is fine, the weight feels good, but I need to test it out first to get a proper opinion on it." Mai said as she put the knives back on the counter.
The blacksmith smiled as he picked up the weapons." You're in luck. I got some targets set up out back if you want to try them out. Come on."
The two of them headed to the back of the shop where Mai could see several dummies made out of straw that looked like they had been stabbed and cut quite a few times. But there was also plenty of wooden boards set up for target practice at a decent enough distance for it not to be child's play for Mai. The blacksmith set the throwing weapons down on a nearby table and Mai picked up one of the knives to throw.
She took a deep breath as she judged the wind for about a minute before she threw one of the knives-it landed square in the center of the target. Mai allowed herself a small smile before she quickly threw several more in quick succession, all of them landing true and hitting their targets accurately. It made her happy to be in her element here instead of just sitting around feeling helpless at the palace. Within a few minutes, Mai had successfully hit all the targets with pin-point accuracy that would impress some Yuyan Archers.
" Impressive throwing there." The blacksmith complimented. " So? What do you think?" The blacksmith asked with a smirk.
" I'll take them." Mai said plainly, but she was genuinely happy to get them.
Mai paid for the set of the throwing knives that included a few needles, kunai's and a few other types of throwable weapons, before she left the store with Ty Lee. The acrobat had certainly planned their outing quite well, with them visiting some restaurants and book shops that allowed Mai to purchase a couple for herself. The weather was even on their side today too, with it being sunny but not hot to the point of uncomfortableness. It was a nice outing all things considered.
If Mai ignored the amount of homeless people they passed by on the streets or how the prices in some of the shops they visited were much higher than they should be. It seems like even when she's trying to relax, she can't ignore the glaring problems that are still present in their nation.
Mai glanced over at Ty Lee who was humming a nice little song as they walked the streets of city, seemingly unperturbed by the situation happening around them. Mai would never say it out loud, but she sometimes envied how Ty Lee could stay optimistic in situations like this. Mai was certain any other person would be moping or stressing like crazy at the situation they were in right now, but Ty Lee through it all managed to keep her head up.
She might not be the best at expressing it, but she did appreciate Ty Lee's attitude and presence. It was needed now more than ever with everything going sideways for them.
" This was a really fun outing Mai! We should really do this more often, things have been so gloomy at the palace recently." Ty Lee said with a happy smile.
Mai nodded in agreement." I'll admit it, this was a good idea."
Ty Lee squealed in delight at hearing Mai agree that it was a good idea to get some fresh air. Ever since Azula died and Ozai escaped, things have been a whole other level of tense and depressing in the palace.
Mai couldn't help but glance over at her friend, who had a bright smile on her face despite the despair and hopeless situation staring down all of them right now. There was a coup underway to overthrow them, traitors in the ranks and Ty Lee is looking like today was a good day to get some fresh air.
" Is something wrong Mai?" Ty Lee said, noticing her friend staring a little.
" I don't get it Ty Lee, how can you stay so optimistic and happy in situations like this?" Mai asked her friend, needing to know.
Ty Lee looked surprised by the question, and took a moment to ponder it." Well...I guess it wouldn't right to say that I'm happy about everything that's going on exactly. I don't think Zuko should have done what he did but what's done is done, the only thing we can really do right now is try to keep our heads and fix it the best we can. We can't really do that if we're all stressed out, gloomy auras just makes everybody unhappy, you know?"
Mai pondered Ty Lee's words, perhaps that was a simple view to look at everything considering the situation they were in was much more complex. But maybe in a complex situation, looking at things in simple terms is best. Mai has spent so many months worrying about everything that's happening, she hasn't really taken the time to try keep her head up more.
Mai let out a breath and the fatigue of these past few months seemed to go away for a moment. Ozai's escape, the state of the Fire Nation and now with Zuko's new search orders, it was a lot but none of that was going to get fixed by stressing out. Ty Lee was right, they did need to keep their heads about this.
Things can't get possibly any worse than this right?
" Maybe you're right Ty Lee..." Mai muttered as they kept walking." Thanks for taking me out."
Ty Lee only smiled as they walked, a little skip in her step.
" Come on, let's head back to the palace." Mai said as they started heading in the direction of the palace.
But as they turn the corner to start heading back to the palace, Mai heard a loud voice shouting at the top of their lungs. The knife thrower could see a young boy, no older than maybe 11 or 12 handing out what looks to be news sheets out to the passersby who seemed quite interested at what the new sheet boy was passing out. There was at least three stack of news sheet set right beside the boy that was twice his height. There was no way he could have carried that all by himself.
" Come and get your news sheets folks while its still hot!" The young boy shouted in a showman like voice that so over the top, Mai couldn't help but roll her eyes at it. Yet with the amount of people who were actually stopping and taking news sheets from the kid, perhaps it did have some effect on them.
Though what caught Mai's eyes was the fact that none of the people who were taking the news sheet was passing any money to the boy, and said boy didn't look the least bit upset about it. In fact, the boy was straight up handing out news sheets from the stack to the people who were eagerly taking them.
" What's going on over there?" Ty Lee pointed out at the large group of people who were taking news sheets as they passed by the boy.
" I don't know, but let's check it out." Mai said as she suddenly had a bad feeling in her gut.
She and Ty Lee made their way through the crowd of people, gently pushing past them as they got to the front and Mai managed to snag one of the news sheets from the pile. Once again, she was pondering whether she should pay for this but with the boy directly handing out the news sheets to the people who were passing by and without any care to take money, it was clearly meant to be free. But what kind of message or information would possibly be worth giving away for free?
After grabbing the news sheet, the two made their way out of the crowd and into a more secluded alley where they could read in peace...but as Mai saw the title of the news sheet, any sense of peace and relaxation evaporated into nothing.
Mai could only gasp in shock at what the title of the news sheet was and it made her heart sink as she felt true fear in her bones.
' THE TRUTH OF THE AGNI KAI'
' PRINCESS AZULA'S DEATH COVERED UP BY THE FIRE LORD'
So...yeah, this just happened. Hopes this answers everybody's question on what exactly Jiang was planning on doing to discredit Zuko, I'll admit that I didn't initially plan on having Jiang go on a discrediting campaign against Zuko( Like many things in this fic), but I'm glad that I did. Jiang has been too stationary in this story for me, and I am happy that he's finally getting involved through screwing over Zuko three-ways to Thursday.
Sh*t is officially about to hit the fan, and I am very excited for it to finally happen. Things are about to get much, much, much worse for everybody at the FN palace and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
:P
With that being said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.