That had gone surprisingly well, all things considered. She'd only pulled a knife on him once. And all that she asked of him in return for his aid was that he'd send a letter.
Easy enough.
Despite his father's orders on staying in his rooms after dusk, Zuko only returned to his chambers in the dead of night—or morning, depending on how one looked at it. He slipped away from the palace via the passages built deep beneath the surrounding city, and snuck past the single guard stationed at the main gates of the messenger hawk station in the poorer districts of Caldera City.
He hauled himself up to the second floor by the shabby eave of the building and entered the station through an ajar window. Once in, he didn't waste time pulling the rolled-up letter from his sash and setting it down on a nearby table to scribble down a quick 'To General Fong's base' on the outside of the paper.
He'd then went over to one of the many cages that dotted the walls and slid the letter into the tube attached to the back of a messenger hawk, before setting the bird free into the night sky through the window he'd entered from, hoping whoever got their hands on this message would be Earth Kingdom.
Now he slacked back to his bedroom, exhaustion settling into every fiber of his being. He'd think up ways to fulfill his promises to the waterbender once he wasn't feeling like he'd pass out at any moment.
Zuko closed the door of the passage that led to his chambers, dragged his feet to his desk in the corner, and buried his black clothes beneath the loose floorboard he used to keep the waterbender's necklace in, erasing all evidence of his escapade. He didn't even finish changing into his nightclothes before throwing himself onto his bed.
Almost as soon as he'd closed his eyes, his servants and the royal guard that continuously tailed him barged into his room. Well, maybe not that soon, but it sure felt like it.
He didn't whine or complain, however, as he dragged himself from the comforts of his bed into the bathroom to shower and then to the dressing room, where the servants readied him for the day. And he didn't complain as he sat across from his sister at breakfast and endured her teasing on how awful he looked and how she should lend him some of her cosmeticians so that he could at least look somewhat presentable.
This was his routine now, and Zuko relished that. Routine was security. Routine was stability. Routine was predictability. And those were what he needed the most in his life—security, stability, and predictability.
Zuko focused on his meal as Azula continued her nagging in the background. Not that he had any appetite, yet he stuffed the dumplings into his mouth nonetheless. For Uncle and the waterbender, he told himself over and over. He had to be healthy and strong for them, regain the muscle mass and strength he'd lost over the months he'd been a refugee and in the past few weeks he'd refused to eat. He needed to be ready to fight when all hell would break loose during the eclipse in only a week.
He left the dining hall the moment Azula was done with her food, and headed for his first lesson of the day, stifling more than a few yawns on the way. The royal guard following him around the palace silently took a spot in some corner of the hall while Zuko sat through his lessons.
He knew the guard wasn't there to just make sure he abided by the rules, but also to report his actions back to Ozai, tell him what an obedient little pet Zuko was being. But as long as he kept feeding Ozai lies and didn't catch wind of what Zuko was up to in private, he didn't mind the man constantly breathing down his neck.
And, if he was honest, he didn't really mind the endless ramblings of his tutors, either. Not as much as he used to, anyway. He still didn't like having to listen to them and take notes he'd have no use for in the future, but he did appreciate that it got his mind off of alcohol and prevented him from being able to scratch himself further.
Zuko had lived out the initial days of sweating and shaking and rapid heartbeat after being cut off from alcohol, although his hands still trembled from time to time. It'd been arduous, but he'd made it through—for Uncle and the waterbender. But that didn't ease his craving one bit, nor did it fill the bottomless pit left by alcohol within him, bigger and emptier than before. It sat in the center of his chest, stretched out across his lungs too snugly for comfort—like a void, ever expanding and devouring.
And that was where his daily firebending training came in. While training, he could let go of his inhibitions, let his clear of its murkiness, let his inner flame surge.
The scorching summer sun gleamed briskly in the cloudless sky. Sweat trickled down Zuko's face, neck, and back as he punched and kicked wave after wave of flames at the two palace guards that stood in as his sparring partners. He'd explicitly ordered them not to pull their punches, and they had listened.
He deftly blocked multiple fireballs aimed at his chest. More fireballs whooshed past his head as he dodged to the side, then dropped down and made a low, wide arcing kick that spread a burst of flames aimed for the guards' legs. The one closer to him tumbled backward to the ground, and the flames knocked the other off balance. Zuko immediately sprung back up and punched a fireball that was far more ferocious than it had any right to be at the unbalanced man. The guard joined his comrade on the floor, grunting in pain as he hit the marble.
"Excellent form, Prince Zuko!" the old instructor cheered from the sidelines, standing in the shade beneath the watchtower that overlooked the private training arena. He stepped out of the shade with a warm smile and a towel in his hand. Zuko lowered his fists that he'd kept aimed at the groaning men as the instructor came over.
"Very clever of you to aim for your opponent's roots, sir," the old man said proudly, handing over the towel. "Not many people think to do that."
Zuko wiped away the sweat from his face and neck, panting to bring his inner fire back under control.
The instructor's face wrinkled further in a broadening smile as he said, "You think like a true master, Your Highness. I am confident we, your humble subjects, will be blessed with yet another master in our royal family in no time!"
"Is that so?"
Zuko's blood ran cold at the familiar voice.
He and the instructor both whipped toward the watchtower, toward where the almighty Fire Lord stood behind the maroon rails with his chin held high and shoulders squared, two royal guards standing at attention behind him. He looked down at the training arena with complete disinterest, his vacant eyes fixed on his son.
"Your Majesty." The instructor bowed low from the waist. The men Zuko had bested immediately rose to their feet and mirrored him. Zuko struggled to keep his face blank as he forced himself to bow as well—bow to his mother's murderer, to the man that hadn't thought twice before mutilating his own son in front of hundreds, the monster that had put his hands on defenseless girls time and again.
"Tell me, Master Akozu," Ozai drawled without taking his eyes off of Zuko, oblivious to the rage boiling up within him, "how has my son been behaving lately? I hope he hasn't been slacking off again."
"Oh, no, Your Majesty. Prince Zuko has been consistently coming to training on time and giving it his all. Agni has graced His Highness with the most incredible skills, wits, and dedication!"
Ozai's lips curled into the tiniest of smirks—so small and fleeting, Zuko wasn't sure if it was real or a trick of the light. "That's what I like to hear."
"His Highness could demonstrate the advanced sets, if Your Majesty would prefer," the instructor suggested.
"No need. I've seen enough." His expression gave nothing away as he eyed his son for a moment longer, before turning around and walking out of Zuko's line of sight over the floor of the tower.
-o-
Zuko didn't get a moment's peace for the rest of the day. He strayed from his routine, adrift in the barrage of questions that throbbed behind his temples.
He'd been trying to come up with plausible reasons for why Ozai would've come to see him during training, or what he'd meant by 'I've seen enough' all afternoon. And there was also the question of what he was going to do with the Water Tribe girl. How was he going to get her collar off? How was she going to escape from the inescapable confines of the harem, especially once it'd go into lockdown right before the eclipse? What was he going to do with Uncle?
Zuko sighed as he put on his black garbs, back in his chambers and alone. The waning moon had long since come out to play, basking the room in its glow. He might not have known how to break the waterbender out of the harem, make a run from the palace together, and break his uncle out of his prison yet, but he supposed the questions pertaining to his father would be answered during the war meeting coming up in a few days. And as for the others… Their answers depended entirely on him.
Fortunately, though, by some miracle, he'd been granted an unparalleled opportunity concerning the waterbender's collar. While he didn't have a clue how to take it off, he did know someone that had a deeper understanding of chi-blocking than 'Don't get chi-blocked. It's bad.'
Zuko snuck out of the palace once again, tucking his pillow under his sheets in case anyone came knocking in. His sister had mentioned in passing that Ty Lee had moved in with Mai, who had the whole house to herself since her parents and baby brother were still deployed in Omashu—or New Ozai, as Azula had renamed it. So that was where he would go, regardless of the risk of encountering his former girlfriend there.
He hadn't seen neither Mai nor Ty Lee in weeks—and had actively prevented himself from thinking about Mai in particular. They most likely wouldn't take him sneaking into their house in the middle of the night like a thief very lightly, not counting in the fact that he'd slept with other people only days after the breakup. But this had to be done. Even if they tried to kill him, he had to do it. For Uncle and the waterbender.
The passage he used opened into a dismal alley between two worn-down houses on the outskirts of the city. Quietly, Zuko climbed the side of one of the houses, and became a phantom among the living, cloaked in darkness. He became the wind.
He hopped from one roof to the other all the way to the inner, more prosperous circle of the city where the nobles lived, passing by numerous guards on patrol and groups of men that were either going to or coming back from a brothel, all of them drunk no matter.
Zuko forcibly ignored the men and the bottles some of them still carried—pushed down the burning desire to raid the royal sake cellar and lose himself to the careless bliss of drunkenness. He kept his gaze strictly ahead, shut out the lingering smell of alcohol on the men and their drunken laughs, and he didn't stop until he'd reached the elegant manor behind another one that stood directly across the palace that shone like a beacon of power amidst the shadows, one he'd used to frequent not too long ago.
Zuko noted the lack of guards outside the house, though that wasn't so surprising when Mai and Ty Lee could take down a whole platoon of soldiers without breaking a sweat. He also noted the absence of light coming from beyond the balcony doors of the guest room facing him.
Regardless, Zuko jumped and landed almost soundlessly on the balcony. He took out his uncle's knife from the inside of his boot, and with a little help from his firebending, he sliced clean through the locks and entered the house. Putting the knife back in its place, he trod through the dark room, passing by furniture covered with white sheets, into the hallway. Maybe Ty Lee was staying in another guest room.
On his right, soft candlelight spilled into the hall from the master suite, accompanied by the humming of a sweet melody and the essence of a mix of cinnamon and honey. Ty Lee.
Another thing that caught Zuko's attention as he stalked toward the bedroom, carefully avoiding the squeaky floorboards, was how eerily dark and quiet the house was, save for Ty Lee's humming. This same house that had bubbled with vigor with its servants flitting around day and night was scarcely anything more than an abandoned manor nowadays.
Zuko gave his back to the wall beside the bedroom door and peered inside through the wide open doorway. Ty Lee was sitting on a stool behind the vanity across from the bed with ruffled sheets, adorned in a pink nightgown and braiding her hair. No sign of Mai, except the sounds of someone taking a shower coming from the right.
He had until Mai came out of the bathroom to gather whatever information he could.
Taking a deep breath, Zuko stepped into the doorway and cleared his throat to make his presence known. Ty Lee gasped and nearly fell out of her stool while whirling toward him. Then she was on her feet, in a fighting stance, within milliseconds, her hair half braided, half down.
"Zuko?!" she shrieked incredulously, straightening from her stance as he raised his hands in surrender.
He gave her a lopsided, apologetic smile. "Hey. Sorry for barging in like this. I… didn't really have a choice."
"How did you get in?! What're you wearing?! What happened to your face?! What's…" She trailed off as she took him in, looking him over. "Zuko… Your aura…" Her face flooded with concern. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Zuko quickly dismissed. He lowered his hands and shot a glance at the bathroom door. "Listen, I don't have much time. I just came here to ask you some questions."
"Oh... Okay. Um… What's up?"
Zuko considered how to explain the situation without actually giving anything away. He couldn't have her get hurt if someone tracked his actions back to her—couldn't have the blood of another innocent soul on his hands.
"Have you ever heard of a chi-blocking collar?" he found himself asking.
Her brows knit in confusion, but she answered nonetheless. "I've read about it, yeah. Apparently, it was invented after some waterbender broke out of a prison and killed all the guards out of spite. Why do you ask?"
"Uh…" Zuko glanced around, trying to come up with something coherent. "Research purposes?"
Agni, he really did need to learn how to lie better.
"A—anyway," he stammered slightly before she could respond, "do you know if there's a way to take it off without a key?"
"Hmm…" She pouted her lips and put her fists on her hips in concentration, staring at the floor. "If I remember correctly, it has a lock on the inside and a little key that looks like," she pointed a finger up and bent it from the first joint, "this. You put it in the lock, twist it a couple rounds, and the collar should come off nice and clean."
She gave him a sympathetic look. "I don't understand why you're being so cryptic, though. You know you can tell me anything." Ty Lee closed the distance between them and put a hand on his arm. "Just because you and Mai broke up doesn't mean we aren't friends anymore, you know." She playfully nudged him in the ribs—the unbruised ribs, thankfully. "It takes more than that to get rid of me."
Zuko ducked his head, avoiding her gaze. Maybe not everyone on the planet hated him as he'd thought—though now he sort of wished they had. It was bad enough that he was lying to the only person alive that cared for him, but to leave her behind knowing she might mourn him following his demise… That was another thing entirely.
The creaking of a door broke into his thoughts.
"Ty, who are you speaking to?"
Zuko and Ty Lee turned toward the bathroom, where Mai stood frozen in the doorway in a black bathrobe, eyes locked on the disguised Fire Prince.
"Oh."
She wrapped her robe tighter around herself, turning slightly away, while Zuko mentally kicked himself for being so lost in his sulking that he hadn't heard Mai finishing up with her shower.
They stood around timidly, looking anywhere but one another, until Ty Lee stepped in to relieve the tension.
"Hey…" She chuckled nervously. "Look at us… Old friends back together."
Her cheerfulness didn't last long, for they continued avoiding each other's gazes and the silence grew tenser.
"…Or not."
Zuko swallowed thickly. There was no backing out now.
"Hello, Mai," he rasped, looking down at his gloves.
She turned further away, yet she didn't fail to greet him with a sharp, "Hi."
"You look well," he said meekly.
All he got in response was a glare. There was no hostility behind it, however—just bitter resentment.
Zuko cleared his throat. He'd gotten what he'd come here for—there was no need for him to linger around and become Mai's target practice for her daggers.
"I guess I should leave you two alone." He turned to Ty Lee. "Thanks for the help. And… I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. Especially Azula."
The stress dwindled from her features and shoulders as she offered him a heartfelt smile. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed."
Zuko glanced at his former girlfriend from under his lashes. "It was good to see you, Mai."
She didn't respond, though Zuko could feel her gaze on him. He pondered whether he should push further, maybe make an attempt at an actual conversation, but decided against it in the end, settling for a curt nod in her direction instead, and left the way he'd come without another word.
-o-
Azula absolutely adored war meetings. True, they could get unbearably dull at times, but there was something about having a say in the course of the war that was so entrancing. And so what if she also got to sit above and look down on the most powerful men in all of Fire Nation? What was there not to love?
And this meeting today was no ordinary meeting, either. Today, she would be anointed as the new Fire Lord.
Her dad had told her of it the other night while they were together, of his ambition to establish himself a new title to rule the world after burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground during Sozin's Comet. He hadn't said who he'd be declaring as the new Fire Lord when she'd asked, but clearly it wasn't going to be her dimwit of a brother, which only left her as an eligible candidate for the role.
Dad was only waiting to make the grand reveal in front of the high council—she was sure of it. She'd worked hard to get where she was, and now he was rewarding her with the greatest gift of all.
"All of the airships have been manned and loaded, the tents for the additional troops Your Majesty had requested have been set up outside the city perimeters, and the citizens are being evacuated as we speak. We are ready for battle, sir."
Ozai motioned for the general to sit down, satisfied with the report. Azula sat to the left of her dad on the raised dais, while her brother sat on the right—bored out of his mind, if that scowl and his glazed stare were any indication.
"A glorious victory awaits us, gentlemen," Ozai started with a booming voice. "In mere days, we will have obliterated the enemy and put an end to this war." He raised from his throne, hands clasped behind him, and began walking down the stairs by the dais, languidly, taking his time. "But it is time we look to the future. Sozin's Comet is almost upon us. And on that day, it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred suns. With the enemy forces crushed and the Avatar dead, no one will stand a chance against us."
Once at the bottom of the stairs, he began his way toward the world map the council members were sitting around. "When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads. Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom permanently." He stepped onto the map and trampled across the area that marked the Earth Kingdom. "From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands, a fire that will destroy everything. And out of the ashes, a new world will be born—a world in which all the lands are Fire Nation, and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"
The throne room burst into applause, and Azula didn't hold back the smile that tugged at her lips. Bringing the entire world to its knees had been Dad's biggest dream for as long as she could remember, and now he was only months away from achieving it. She couldn't be more proud of him.
"History will never cease to speak of the man that ended the Avatar and conquered the world," said one noble as the clapping died down.
Another noble gushed, "They will chant Your Majesty's name for millennia—Lord Ozai the Great!"
Azula reigned in the bubble of jealousy in her gut at the man giving credit for the Avatar's death to someone else. She wasn't about to let some petty detail get in the way of one of the most important days of her life.
"Fire Lord Ozai is no more," her father drawled as he came to a halt at the center of the map. He lit a ball of fire above his palm. "Just as the world will be reborn in fire," he let the flames drop to the map, "I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of the world." Ozai stood amongst the knee-length flames that spread out to the edges of the table, too rapidly to be natural, licking the skirts of his crimson robe but never setting it on fire. "From this moment on, I will be known as," he raised his arms, and the fire engulfed the world map and the wall of flames along the edge of the dais flared violently, "the Phoenix King."
Like a field of wheat in a breeze, down the generals and nobles of the court went, kowtowing before their monarch. Azula carved the sight to her memory. It wouldn't be long before they kowtowed to her, too—not as their princess but as their sovereign. She wouldn't be opposed to an even grander ceremony.
"If I may, sir," a general said while straightening from his bow, "if Your Majesty is to be the Phoenix King, who will rule the Fire Nation?"
Ozai waved his hand, dismissing the man's words and extinguishing the flames in one swift move. "Don't trouble yourself, General Shinu. I have already thought of a solution for that. I will declare a new Fire Lord."
He pivoted halfway and turned his emotionless eyes to Azula. She reflexively sat up straighter on her cushion, her grin widening. Her heart started galloping in her chest and her head nearly spun with anticipation.
This was it.
This was her moment to shine.
Her dad returned her smile, though there was no warmth behind it. "I have decided to anoint…" His gaze slid across the empty throne. "My first-born and heir, Crown Prince Zuko, as my successor."
Azula's smile vanished.
"What." The venom in her voice was enough to make anyone drop to their knees and beg for mercy—anyone but her father.
Ozai turned to face his generals, clasping his hands behind him once more. "Watch your tone, daughter."
Azula's breathing quickened along with her heart, leaving her dizzy. She whipped her head around to face her brother. He was staring back at her in shock, clearly as taken aback by the announcement as she was.
She turned back to her father, feeling disconnected from the scene, as if she was a spirit watching herself from afar.
This couldn't be happening. Dad couldn't have betrayed her again. He couldn't have chosen her useless brother over her again.
"You... you can't treat me like this!" She shot up from her seat. "You can't treat me like Zuko!"
"Azula, silence yourself," Ozai warned over his shoulder, but she could barely hear him over the pulsing in her ears.
"But I'm better than him! He can't rule a country! He can't even rule himself!"
Ozai whirled toward her. "Azula!"
It was only then that her brain caught up to her. She'd raised her voice to her father, openly disrespected him in front of his council.
Last time someone had done that, they'd wound up burned, dishonored, and banished from their home.
Ozai's livid glare lingered on her, blazed through her as she lowered her head, her hands shaking at her sides—out of anger or fear, she didn't know.
With a piercing stare, he shut down the conspicuous murmurs of his council. "My coronation will be held once the invasion has been defeated," he told them coolly. "And as for my son," Azula followed his gaze to her brother, who sat inhumanly still on his cushion, gaping and wide-eyed, "his coronation will be after mine."
Malice gleamed in Ozai's molten gold eyes, and his face twisted into a lupine leer. "Long may he reign."
Azula's heart sank. She was helpless to do anything but watch as the council kowtowed again and echoed her father's words.
"Long may he reign!"