The last place Sokka had trained properly had been Master Piandao's courtyard, which was surprisingly similar to the place he now found himself training. All his life, he would have never expected to be working some fancy sword forms in the Fire Lord's palace, but that was exactly where he was.
He was there with Toph and Haru, who had struck up something of a friendship through training since they were stuck together following the failed invasion during the eclipse. The three of them were training together, though of course, being a non-bender, what was expected of him was quite different. He did enjoy using his space sword against their stone, which was made from the tiles beneath their feet. Sokka imagined the servants and cleaners would be furious to see the mess they had been making, though he had gotten the earthbenders to promise they would fix up the tiles once they were done.
The blade he wielded was far better than anything he'd tried to use from the armoury of the palace; he'd been allowed to get inside, given that nobody could reasonably refuse him. Their weapons were fine, but none of them compared to his own, forged from an actual space rock. It wasn't too unnatural, given that Toph could still bend it; if she couldn't, he'd be even more impressed by the strange dark metal.
He stood in form, with his blade ready while the two earthbenders were cleaning up the tiles beneath them; once the yard was clear, he nodded, spinning the jian around in his hand before he gestured for them to attack. The two of them quickly raised up to some tiles, tossing them towards Sokka, who sliced them apart in quick succession; he was just lucky the tiles were so brittle, otherwise he'd have ended up with a tile breaking his nose.
The tiles kept coming, and he moved closer and closer, before drawing out his boomerang, and threw it past their heads; Toph couldn't sense it, but Haru could certainly see it, and was able to shoot it off course before it whacked either of them. That was a purposeful distraction, however, as he was able to close the gap and trip Haru right over with his sword, before he aimed the blade down at him; Toph didn't seem to like that, and clenched a fist, fixing his feet into the tiles beneath his feet.
"Hey, what did we say about bending what I'm standing on?" he reminded her, "Cheap shots are cheap shots."
"They work, why shouldn't I use them?" she questioned him in return, before he offered a hand to help Haru up, who dusted himself off, seeming a bit impressed.
"You're a lot faster than I thought you'd be." he admitted, and Sokka just snickered.
"Eh, I've had a lot of practice." he acknowledged, "Toph's no fun to spar with because she just likes winning."
"That's what I'm supposed to do." she retorted, crossing her arms, before she strode off away from the pair.
"What, are you quitting?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"I'm thirsty." she gave him the answer he wasn't expecting, but didn't surprise him; he followed after, finding himself a bit parched as well.
"Yeah, I could go for some water too." he agreed, and when he reached the rest area, which was sitting under some shade, he sat down beside Toph, who'd picked up the jug and poured herself a cup of water.
Haru had followed as well, so once Sokka poured himself a cup, he poured another for the boy; he decided he ought to make conversation while they weren't actually sparring, and decided to address the most obvious issue, "So Haru, what do you think about all that's going on here?"
"We've only beaten the Fire Nation... for what, a week? And they're already making demands of us. And hey, I've heard some of the things the Fire Lord is saying, she isn't stupid or deluded... but I don't think any of this is going to go well."
"I mean she'll compromise eventually." Toph argued, "We had to, so she'll have to."
"This is the girl who conquered Ba Sing Se basically single-handedly." Sokka reminded them, "She is going to find a way to turn all of this against us, if it's at all possible."
"She won't do anything openly." she argued, and Haru crossed his arms.
"Well then, maybe we should do something openly." he argued, "That armistice was a stupid idea." he gave his opinion, "We have the advantage with the Fire Nation's forces spread thin... why don't we just liberate our homeland from them? Then we can have a treaty, and we won't get shorted by these lying thieves." he gave a course of action, and Sokka cleared his throat; though he agreed with the sentiment behind his idea, he was not sure that would be easy, or in anyone's best interest.
"The Fire Nation are no pushovers. Do you really want to have to fight them again? Plus, if that happened, she'd have every reason to kick us out of here, and then how are we going to negotiate?" he asked, and Toph shook her head, seeming annoyed with their arguments.
"The issue is the colonies. I'm pretty sure the Fire Lord gets that the war is over. I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone is tired of it now, and because the comet was a flunk, they aren't going to try and attack the Earth Kingdom again. But... if we attack them, we'll lose more than they will." she warned Haru, "I don't want a repeat of the eclipse invasion. We're all just lucky the Order of the White Lotus decided to go and gather to take Ba Sing Se. If they hadn't, the Earth Kingdom would still... basically have nothing."
"I heard that King Bumi did liberate Omashu." Sokka recalled what the old king had told them while they were at the walls of Ba Sing Se, "There were probably a few more successful rebellions like his... we haven't seen that much of the Earth Kingdom since the eclipse."
"Exactly." Haru agreed, before raising a finger, "All I'm saying, the war has to end on our terms."
"And restarting the war just plays into her hand." Toph argued, "I've heard about the propaganda. Aang wouldn't shut up about it after he went to Fire Nation school. The people, with all those fears drilled into them... they'll feel like they were right all along. Then they'll rally behind her, and if we try to overthrow her, it'll be a mess. It'll be like the whole Chin the Conqueror thing all over again."
"What do you mean?" Haru asked her, and she grimaced.
"Like warlords... everywhere. Did your parents not tell you about our history?" she asked, and he crossed his arms.
"I'm a peasant." he retorted, "I don't really know the next thing about our history... other than we've been getting the short end of the stick for a good hundred years now."
"It's been a lot longer than that." Toph mumbled, before the Water Tribesman cleared his throat, wanting to make his own view clear.
"Yeah we're not going to overthrow her. I agree with Toph here... one Fire Lord is better than dealing with a hundred guys who want to rule the Fire Nation." Sokka agreed with her, before scrunching his lips up, "I don't know what we can do to make sure this whole thing isn't a sham. I know Aang means well, but I'm unsure if it really was the best idea negotiating with these people."
"Hey, but isn't your dad getting freed?" Haru reminded him, and he nodded.
"Uh, that's true, but I could have gone to free him myself." he argued, and Toph scoffed.
"Sorry, what? You wanted to break into some isolated, high security Fire Nation prison?" she asked him, clearly rhetorical in tone; she didn't believe he could do it, and he could admit she had good reason to believe that.
He might have been confident that with him, Aang, Katara, and Toph together, they could take on a whole prison's worth of guards and free their friends, especially with an airship to use as a threat. However, Sokka did not believe that would be worth it, with the loss of human life, and potentially his own father's and Suki's; there were probably many more prisoners there, beyond those two they'd requested, some of which would have been the Fire Nation's enemies during the war.
"No, you're right, that'd just end badly. Not to mention piss off the Fire Nation even more." he added, knowing that was something they had to keep in mind, "Okay... I don't really know what the best choice is here. Do you?" he asked Toph, who shrugged her shoulders.
"No, I'm not a politician. I know that the war has to end, but now we're going to be endlessly bickering about the details... I mean the Four Nations, not us personally."
"I think it may be literally in Sokka's case." Haru admitted, "You're trying to help with the talks, aren't you?"
"As much as I can. Katara doesn't think I'm helping that much, but she doesn't get it. The fact we're friends with Aang makes it our responsibility to try and make sure he's a good Avatar. Now, I don't know what that really means... but I'll try and do what's right."
"That's... pretty commendable." Haru admitted, seeming a little impressed by his words, "But can you stop them from ruining the peace deal?"
"Well, there's only one way to find that out." he acknowledged, "Gotta use the lie detector on her." he gestured over to Toph, who just snickered.
"You do remember what happened on the Day of the Black Sun, right? I can't sense when she lies." she reminded him, and he sighed.
"Well, crap. I guess I've just got to interrogate her myself." he realised, and the other two seemed amused by the idea.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sokka?" Haru asked him, "She still has her bending... so she won't just keep listening." he warned him, and Sokka waved off his concerns.
"Hey, hey, she heard the threats. If she tries to harm us, Toph will trap her and chuck her back in that cell." he argued, and the blind earthbender tapped him on the arm.
"If you get her to beat you up, that's on you, Sokka." she warned him, "I'm not gonna intervene. In fact, I'd watch, if it's outside." she argued, and he got confused for a moment before he realised she meant that she'd watch if she could sense the fight with her feet.
"Yeah, well, I'm not trying to get beat up." he reassured her, before he rose to his feet, "I'll- uh, go try and deal with her... as peacefully as possible."
"Good luck with that." Haru farewelled him, his lack of sarcasm a welcome surprise.
"Yeah, good luck." Toph added, her sarcasm all the more expected, "And what exactly do you expect to get out of her?"
"Some kind of compromise over the colonies, I guess. I mean I don't expect her to just let the Earth Kingdom take back all the land with no issue... so, I'll sleuth out a solution, even if she doesn't like it. If the Council of Ministers accepts it, then that's good enough."
"Now that she's out of that cell, I don't think that's how it works." she warned him, her expression softening, "Seriously, don't do anything stupid."
"I won't." he stressed, "I am not going to-" he began, before holding his tongue; she was there on the Day of the Black Sun, when the Princess fooled them.
Now she was the Fire Lord, and for all they knew, she could be scheming to find a way to force them to give her exactly what she wanted. If he made a solution that actually resolved the issues she claimed stood in the way of peace, he could find something better than whatever concoction of gibberish she'd give him to try and sweeten the negotiations. He was lucky that he was from the Southern Water Tribe of all places; he wouldn't stand for stupid grandstanding and political games- he only wanted results.
"Yeah, I know, Sokka." Toph dissuaded his fears, "Don't let her fool you."
"What happened on the eclipse was all her, but if I just let it happen again, then it's my fault." he reassured her, knowing that even if he wasn't to blame totally for what happened that day, if he had kept his calm and tried to find the Fire Lord, then maybe he would be dead, and the war would have already ended.
He turned around and made his way towards the doorway that would lead inside, pulling the doors open before he glanced down the hallway; he could see a few servants walking by, but other than that the hallways were quiet. He guessed that the Fire Lord would be in her personal office; she probably had a lot to attend to, with letters coming back from the frontlines after Sozin's Comet. He was unsure how many offensive actions the Fire Nation had taken, and how much they had lost since the eclipse, but he did know that there were things none of them knew, with messenger hawks still crossing land and sea, set on the capital.
So, Sokka made his way down the hallway, hoping to catch her while she wasn't talking to anyone; after their prior interactions, she probably wouldn't be happy to see him, but he didn't care. He had business he wanted to attend to, before she got thinking up her own plans to end the war; though he doubted she wanted to restart the war, given her very well founded fear of Aang, she would want to make sure things were resolved as much as they could be in her nation's favour.
He didn't even blame her for thinking like that, because if he were in her shoes, leading a nation that had fought a hundred year war only to find their prior leader overthrown, now vulnerable to their foes and the most powerful person in the world, he would do everything in his power to protect his nation. Sokka had already been doing that his whole life, so for somebody else to do that, even if they were his enemy, he couldn't hate them for it.
However, despite that sympathy he could hold, he was still angry. Angry that his mother was dead, that his tribe had been basically destroyed; they had only a single bender, and the only other one they had seen was an old, insane woman, who had been driven to enact the same kind of mindless violence he hated the Fire Nation for. He didn't really know what to think of that, other than that there had to be another way. He was a warrior at heart, that was true, but his strength and fighting spirit had little value if it could only lead to the deaths of innocents.
How many people, men, women, and children would die if the Earth Kingdom pressed their 'advantage', and retook the colonies, he couldn't know, but he knew it had to be avoided. Peacefully leaving the occupied lands, and slowly restoring the Earth Kingdom's authority was the obvious solution, but he didn't know if it would be any good. Reprisals might still occur; people like Jet and his Freedom Fighters still existed, and would feel justified to do just that.
As he was making his way down a hallway, he heard a whistle, and Sokka turned to see his sister dashing over to him with a smile on her face, "Sokka!"
She gave him a hug, and he accepted it; he hadn't really seen her since he got up that morning, so he understood why she'd be happy to see him, but her mood was surprisingly good, "Uh, hi Katara." he addressed her with a smile, "What's with the mood? Did you find... uh, something you like?" he guessed what might have led to such a chirpy mood on her behalf.
"No, I'm just happy to see you." she assured him, glancing behind him, "Were you just with Toph?"
"Uh, yeah. I was training with her and Haru." he clarified, "And you?"
"Oh, Aang and I were just doing some training ourselves." she explained, "He's getting pretty good at waterbending."
"I'd expect. You seem like you'd be a good teacher." he acknowledged, and she beamed.
"Wait, you really think so?"
"Yeah, you're nice and considerate. Jeong Jeong and Toph are just too gruff and to the point with Aang." he observed what he had seen from his earthbending and firebending training.
"Huh, I guess we just work well together." she admitted, her cheeks flushing red for a moment before she glanced the other way, looking where he'd been going, "Wait, what's that way?"
"A few things." he gave a vague, but technically accurate answer, "I'm going to interrogate the Fire Lord."
"Oh really?" she asked, seeming more surprised than anything else, "Do you think she'll listen to you?"
"It's not about her listening. I can get some answers, and figure out some plans. Something I might be able to give to Aang so we can actually do something about these peace negotiations." he explained his reasoning, and Katara crossed her arms.
"You really think she'll want to talk?"
"I don't care if she wants to... and if she knows what's good for her, she will. If she wants us to ever leave, we need to get things done."
"I mean, this is a pretty nice house." she glanced around, "I don't really mind it that much... other than this being the Fire Nation and all."
"Yeah, but I don't want to overstay our welcome." he admitted, "And if things don't get solved, I don't want to have to deal with a mob deciding that they'd rather solve the issue of the war for us."
"What? Do you think they'll force Azula to start the war again?" Katara asked, and he shook his head.
"No, they'll just get rid of the Fire Lord all together... and then they'll go and get what they want. If that's destroying the Earth Kingdom, I don't imagine there's all that much we could do about it."
"Destroying the Fire Navy would work." she suggested, and he laughed.
"Yeah, but that's a lot of effort... even if Aang is the Avatar." he acknowledged, before he crossed his arms, "The point is, I want to avoid all that. It's just... well, we won. I want to make sure that this was all worth something."
"Our adventure with Aang?" she asked, and he shook his head; though he would like all they'd done to be worth something, he would much prefer that the war was resolved for good, and that they wouldn't just have a repeat of it within a generation.
"No, the whole war. We're finally going to have a chance to make something better... not just here, but back home too."
Their tribe would take many years to recover, both in terms of their infrastructure, economy, and political structures, but also their bender numbers; he knew that the Southern Water Tribe was once far wealthier and more organised, back when Kanna was his age. However, those times were long gone, and soon enough, nobody would be alive to remember them. A new age had dawned for his people, but he knew that he wanted it to be one of peace. The Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom were the ones who would decide that, not him, his father, the elders, or even Chief Arnook.
"Yes... I would like to see things get better back there. Maybe Dad will become Chief." she observed a possible outcome, making Sokka snicker.
"I'm sure he'd like that." he noted, before smiling, "I mean, I would like that too. He's a good leader."
"You are too, you know." she reminded him with a nudge of her elbow, "So, go and do some leaderly stuff. Make sure the Fire Lord isn't trying to make a fool of us... again."
"Yeah, she's pretty good at that." he conceded, before offering as reassuring a smile as he could muster, "But I won't let her ruin this chance for something better. Whether she wants to or not, she'll have to listen. I don't really know what balance will look like, but I don't think she's stupid enough to stand against it."
"I don't know... she did try to fight Aang when we got here. That was pretty stupid."
"In her defence, she nearly killed him once before. She probably thought she could do it again." he reminded her, knowing that after Ba Sing Se, the Fire Lord must have felt quite confident in her ability to face off against Aang.
"She doesn't know anything about his strength... or didn't. Now she's more afraid of Aang than he ever was afraid of Ozai."
The port town of Kitakazewan was a cold, foreboding place; it was located at the end of a railway, sitting within the confines of a bay bounded by rocky hills, topped with tall, spindly pine trees. The town itself was a relatively new colony, given the quality of the structures, but the buildings were huddled together, their roofs covered with a layering of snow from a recent storm. The structures were all made of wood and stone, and their dark windows and tall roofs made it feel more like a prison colony than a port. That wasn't helped by the tall metal wall that surrounded the land-side of the town, located just in front of the train station.
Azula had arrived in her tank train, but had decided to forgo her usual attire of armour and her royal headpiece; instead she wore the garbs of a commoner, wearing a thick cloak and headscarf to help with the cold. She didn't necessarily require such thick clothing due to being a firebender, but she was trying to fit in amongst the locals, so she could easily search the town. The reason she came there was twofold; she knew that it was down the route she assumed her brother had taken, and it was the present refuelling site of Admiral Zhao's fleet, given its proximity to the North Pole. The fleet had a few bases located around the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom, but the town was where ships would come and go from for fuel and resupply.
If her hunch was right, her brother would have more than one reason to try and get on a navy ship in Kitakazewan. For one, she had heard the Avatar was there, presumably to learn waterbending from the masters that would be located in the tribe's capital. Another was the fact that said city was under siege by Zhao's forces, who sought to finally subjugate the tribe, and seize the Avatar. Her brother could abuse the chaotic nature of the conflict to both capture the Avatar, and if Zhao was the one behind the explosion, enact his revenge.
She learned there were four taverns and inns in Kitakazewan, of varying qualities and prices, which brought in different kinds of people to each establishment. The first she visited was for the wealthy, with only merchants and the local landowners going there. It had fancy tables, chandeliers and served large, diverse meals to their customers; her brother was clearly not present, and she quickly departed, earning some side-eyes and comments due to her disguise. The second was a run-down establishment, built out of what she assumed was one of the original buildings in the cove before the colonisation of the area; the people there were primarily native Earth Kingdom fishermen and labourers, and once more, she was unable to find anyone matching her brother's appearance.
She was now entering the third establishment; it was inhabited by colonials, better off than the natives, but clearly still poor. They seemed to be mostly dockworkers, shop workers, and skilled labourers; there were even a few sailors who came there, probably the low ranking crew who couldn't afford the fourth establishment, which she guessed was where the better paid sailors and navy officers would go. The sun had already set, but it wasn't too late, and the customers were all there for their dinners and some drinks, making it easy for her to slip in without being spotted; her brother, if he was around, would likely be cautious about her presence, given their near-encounter back in Zhuxi.
Azula entered with her cloak on, though she opened it up to stop herself from overheating, and pulled her headscarf down so she could properly speak when she approached the bar; she decided she would order herself a cup of tea, and look around for her brother. She pulled out a few copper coins, placing them down on the bar; the barkeep, who had been cleaning some cups and glasses, turned his attention over to her, striding over to where she stood.
"Good day, young miss. What can I do you for?" he asked, and she made a smile, trying to seem as meek as she could.
"I am parched... Could I order some tea?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Certainly." he confirmed, picking up the ban she had laid before him, "This'll be enough for a pot. What kind would you like?" he asked, and Azula raised a finger to her chin.
Her mind immediately turned to the first person she would associate with tea; her uncle, who she knew had a taste for ginseng tea, which he'd always be asking for whenever they were at family events. She knew he also liked jasmine tea, which she herself did find to be a better tea; keeping her brother in mind, she hatched a plan.
"Jasmine tea, please." she requested, and he smiled back at her.
"Ah, that's a favourite of many customers. Just choose somewhere to sit, and I'll have one of the servers bring it out to you." he explained, and Azula nodded, glancing around the packed tavern, trying to find an open spot to sit, centrally located so she could keep an eye out for her brother.
She gestured to an empty table located by a central pole that had a few tables located around it, and he gave a nod to confirm, before he paced off to actually get her tea; she strode over to the table, and sat herself down. With a spot secured, she began to scan around the room, first checking the nearby tables, before eyeing the booths that sat by the walls. Most people were sitting in groups, and knowing her brother well, she decided to ignore them and focus on people who were sitting by their lonesome.
With that in mind, her eyes followed around the room, unable to see anyone who could be Zuko; she saw a few boys his age, but all of them were in groups, with their faces clear and lacking the obvious scar that her brother had to possess. She had never actually seen the mark itself, at least since he first received it during the Agni Kai, as his face was still bandaged when he left the capital, but she had heard some gossip about it that had come from ministers, servants, and guards at the palace.
She felt disappointed as the tea arrived, a serving girl giving her a tray with a teapot and a cup on it; she raised a finger, as she realised she hadn't made her intention clear to the barkeep, "Apologies, could I please have another cup. I'm expecting someone." she explained herself, and the serving girl turned flustered.
"Sorry... I'll get that right now." she acknowledged with a curt bow before pacing back over to the bar.
The serving girl quickly returned with a cup, which she placed down on the tray; once the girl had left, Azula picked up the tray and brought it with her as she searched for her brother, knowing he might still be in the tavern, on the side she couldn't see properly due to the pole obscuring it. Walking around the tavern floor, she was forced to shuffle about and squeeze past other customers, some of who were still standing, drinking rice wine and spirits while standing; if she were acting normally, she would reprimand them for being so stupid, as they were more likely to spill their drinks on the other customers rather than into their mouths in such a stupor.
That was when she saw him; a boy sitting in a booth by the corner of the tavern, his face partially obscured by a hood, though she could see that he had bandages on his hands and part of his face, specifically where she expected the scar to be. He was eating a simple meal of rice and roast pig-chicken, and didn't have anyone else to keep him company; Azula decided to change that, striding over to his booth, and put on the meek, nervous voice she had adopted for her 'peasant persona'.
"E-excuse me sir, my friend hasn't arrived yet. Could I sit with you?" she asked him, his face turning up so their eyes met, or in his case, his single uncovered eye; the brow and glare were all his, and she held back a smile as he didn't seem to suspect her in the slightest.
"Why me?" he asked, and she gestured behind her to the drunk men.
"I don't feel comfortable around them." she acknowledged, and he sighed, before gesturing to the spot across the booth from him.
"Fine." he allowed her.
Azula sat down and placed her tray of tea in front of him, gesturing to the pot, knowing that it would help her loosen her brother up. Although she doubted her 'interrogation' would help too much, at least in terms of discerning his aims and the culprit of the attempt on his life, he might be more willing to discuss things with a stranger than the sister he didn't trust.
"Uh, would you like some?" she gestured to the tea, and he raised his visible eyebrow.
"It smells good." he admitted curtly, before she offered a cup, pouring some of the tea into it.
He accepted the cup, and she poured herself a cup of tea, "So... what brings you to Kitakazewan?"
"Life." he gave the vaguest possible answer; she almost laughed at it, and just tried to smile, wanting to keep up her character.
"Things haven't been going your way?" she asked, and he looked amused; he nodded, and sipped from the cup.
"Jasmine tea." he almost whispered, knowing the tea well; he placed the cup back down, "Yeah, things aren't going my way."
"Maybe the Fire Nation is sharing your bad luck." she noted, deciding to press on a point she sure wouldn't be too suspect, "First the Avatar reappears, then the Dragon of the West, and now another war." she observed the turn of events, and he seemed a little unnerved, if not saddened.
"Yes... we've had our fair share." he admitted, sounding poignant, before he began to eat more of his dinner; she sipped from her cup of tea, wondering how long her disguise might last.
Once he chewed down some of the rice, he glanced towards the front door, "Where's your friend?"
"Probably off doing something stupid. I told her we were going to meet here." she made up an excuse, her mind imagining her friend as Ty Lee, which helped her make a more convincing answer, "She gets distracted easily."
"That must be annoying." he mumbled, and she nodded, before deciding to press her questions once more.
"Do you know much about the siege?" she asked, "Outsiders seem to be coming and going more often now." she made an observation she thought was accurate; Kitakazewan would have been rather insignificant barring its railway and port, but now with the war focused on the North Pole, there would be more reason for people to come there.
"No, not really." he shook his head, "I don't even know if we're going to win."
She raised a brow, "Why would you say that?" she asked, and he cringed, obviously not wanting to say that aloud.
"Uh, no reason." he gave a quick response, "Ba Sing Se was a lot easier to get to than the North Pole." he added, trying to justify his stance.
"And it still stands." she acknowledged, before deciding to make a potentially foolish move, "You could say they never give up without a fight." she tried to remind him of a certain dagger, one she'd stolen from him out of a spark of jealousy.
His uncovered eye was focused on his meal, but upon hearing those words, it turned back up to meet her own, and he cringed in fear, suddenly realising her identity, "W-wait..." he gasped out, "This can't be happening."
"Oh, it's happening." she retorted with a smirk, before leaning over the table, "Now, are you going to come quietly, or are you going to make a scene?" she asked the Prince, who touched his face.
"How- how did you recognise me?" he asked his sister, who just shrugged.
"I had a hunch you'd be trying to cover up the parts you'd get recognised for." she answered his question honestly, "You should have just bought the food and left."
"It's cold out." he mumbled, his genuine response a bit of a surprise; she was expecting him to try to intimidate her, not just tell her the truth.
"What happened on that ship?" she pressed her point, wanting an answer if he might actually give it; he raised his chin, and his lips puckered as he seemed to hold back his rage.
"Mistakes. Stupid mistakes." he responded, before rising to his feet, "I'm going to leave." he told her what he was doing, "Do not follow me." he demanded, picking up the dao that had been sitting on the seat beside him.
"And what will you do if I do?" she asked, the Prince narrowing his eye at her.
"I'll end up doing something I will regret... again." he told her honestly, "I don't want to involve you."
"With what, exactly?" she asked, and Zuko grit his teeth.
"If you've been following me, you must have figured it out." he gave her a non-answer, but it did tell her something; following her assumptions, it was clear that he was going to enact his revenge, and Zuko thought she might stop him.
She had to bring him back to the fold; justice could follow after he was back in his rightful place, on his mission. He was not dead, so the Avatar still needed to be captured.
"The Avatar?" she whispered to him, and Zuko just scoffed.
"Do you really think I care about that stupid quest anymore?" he asked her, leaning closer to her, revealing his scarred eye; now that she could see it, she understood why he didn't let it be seen.
His scowl might have been momentary, but his scarred eye always had a look of rage in it, "Uncle is dead... and I am not him." he stressed, and though his words might have seemed nonsensical to anyone else, Azula understood the meaning behind his cold, rage-filled words.
Their uncle was a great general, a leader unmatched within the Fire Nation Army, yet when his son, his own flesh and blood, fell against the Earth Kingdom, he gave up the battle and initiative the Fire Nation held, prolonging their war needlessly, and ultimately losing his throne. Now, Zuko was faced with a similar dilemma, and his intentions were more than clear; if he were Iroh, Ba Sing Se would long be ashes, and the Earth Kingdom would be no more. So, those responsible for the explosion would die; the pirates were already dead, burnt, dismembered and eviscerated by her brother's fury, and their clients were next.
Zuko turned around, leaving her and his unfinished meal; Azula got out of the booth and followed after him calmly, not seeking to needlessly frighten her brother. If she could reason with him, she would, but now, she had to act. He would speak plainly with her, the culprits behind Iroh's assassination would be dealt with, and they would capture the Avatar. She did not desire to make her brother enact any more treason than he already had, as that would just complicate things once his actions became public knowledge.
He pushed the front door open, and she followed after him, pulling the headscarf more tightly around her face as she felt the snow sprinkling down over her; her brother glanced back fearfully, ready to run down the street, only to find himself stopped by a pair of her guards, who had been following her around Kitakazewan, waiting for the very moment he revealed himself. He turned around, and saw the other guards, who were closing up any avenue of escape, and he drew out his dao, ready to fight them. Azula just sighed, finding the whole effort pointless, and she pointed at her brother.
"Don't be a fool." she demanded, "Put the swords down."
He grit his teeth, and spun the blades around, glancing at the guards as they began to draw closer, filling their palms with fire; what followed was no surprise to Azula. Her brother spun his blades around, using them to catch and deflect the fireballs her guards created, before he used the blades to push some of them back. When he tried to abuse an opening, he was tripped over, and one of the guards shot a fireball right into his back, making him slam right into the muddy street.
"That was for the other day." the guard declared, identifying himself as Hei, before he grabbed her brother by the collar, pulling his now mud-covered face from the ground.
As he turned around, his bandages were pulled from his face, revealing his appearance; he was ragged, and his scar was just as bad as she imagined, a splotch of red and pink skin surrounding his left eye, covering his eyebrow, cheek, and ear. His face had received a number of cuts and bruises, and his phoenix tail was nowhere to be seen, with a very short scruff of black hair covering his scalp. She almost pitied him in such a state, but she was more annoyed than anything.
"Why did you resist?" she asked, and Zuko just snarled.
"You wouldn't understand." he snapped back at her, looking ready to breathe out flames, before he sighed, resigning himself to his fate, "Take me."
"Oh, they will, and then we're going to have a long talk about what you've been getting up to, and then we're going to solve the little problem you've caused."
"I caused? I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed, and she scoffed, stepping closer to stand over him as he remained on his knees.
"No Brother, we both know what you did. What did the Blue Spirit do to earn our nation's ire, might I ask?" she asked him, and his eyes widened, realising what she knew.
"I'm not the Blue Spirit." he retorted, and she scoffed; before she could reprimand him for lying, the colour around them suddenly shifted, as if the stars and moon had been snuffed out and the world had been doused in blood.
Her eyes turned up to the sky, and her jaw dropped as she saw that the moon had returned a blood red, "Wh-what... what is going on?" she gasped, before turning her gaze down to her brother, "Do you know what this is?"
He glanced up at the sky, and shrugged, seeming to have given up any care for his present, humiliating circumstances, "The moon is sacred to the Water Tribes... isn't it?" he asked her, and Azula's eyes turned in the direction of the sea, and the North Pole that lay far off in that direction.
All she knew was that Zhao had command of a whole fleet and was set on conquering the Northern Water Tribe; at what cost, to their enemies, or the world, was unclear, but she had a growing feeling that her father had misjudged the man, given that the moon wasn't meant to be red, hanging over them like an omen.
"What did Father allow that fool to do?"
The Order of the White Lotus was an organisation the Fire Lord hadn't heard of until her imprisonment, but they seemed to be a very important, and very powerful group of people. She thought the Avatar and his cronies might have been lying about their seizure of Ba Sing Se, but reports had trickled in from the garrison, Dai Li, and various Fire Nation forces that were occupying the surrounding lands, and they all spoke of the same thing. A small force of elite fighters broke down the walls of Ba Sing Se and forced their way through the Lower, Middle, and Upper Rings, all the way to the seat of government in the palace.
Each report spoke of different aspects of the attack, though the most surprising aspect was the fact that they appeared to be led by firebenders, who were able to use the power of the comet to blow the walls open. It was ironic, as she had expected that would have been her father's plan to take Ba Sing Se if her plans with the Dai Li hadn't come to fruition.
The Order supposedly seized the palace from the Dai Li, and freed the Council of Five from imprisonment, allowing them to re-establish some form of central government, though seeing that the Dai Li had thoroughly infiltrated most aspects of the Earth Kingdom's government before she used them against the Earth King, she doubted those ruling in Ba Sing Se would be able to do much effectively, from taxation to organising their military to repulse the Fire Nation forces still occupying much of the country.
The Avatar claimed they wouldn't do anything of the sorts while an armistice was being upheld, but she doubted that the Council of Five were subservient to the Avatar. They represented the entire Earth Kingdom army, and would act in their nation's interest, not his. More than anything else, it was in their interest to retake the continent, to ensure that their country would actually exist as anything other than a rump state controlling Ba Sing Se and a few wayward provinces.
So, Azula decided that without the ability to break the armistice herself, she would have to focus instead on gathering intelligence on her enemies. If she could understand their aims and internal divisions, it would be far easier to sow discord between them. That was necessary to prevent the Earth Kingdom from achieving what she was sure its military would desire: complete control of the mainland, the expulsion or slaughter of all Fire Nation colonists, and the demilitarisation of her nation, to prevent them from starting and winning another war.
As the Fire Lord, she could not stand for any of those aims being achieved, as it would be paramount to a betrayal of the sacrifices her subjects had made fighting for over a century, and be ruinous for their economy, which had grown to rely on the growth allowed by the establishment of new colonies over the course of the war. However, she was not stupid, and knew that taking an absolutist stance would just end up with her being deposed by the Avatar and the war likely restarting after that, no matter if she were the Fire Lord or not. So, she had to play her pieces conservatively, and hope that the Earth Kingdom was actually willing to negotiate, and wouldn't instead demand their own absolutist goals.
She had called on for a servant to come to her office, knowing she'd need someone to send the order she desired to enact, without any public interference from the Council of Ministers or the Avatar. They arrived in a hurry; her words to her guards had been clear and stern, so that must have carried over to when they addressed the servant. She had the scroll ready in her hand, and offered it up to them.
"Your majesty, what is it that you desire of me?" she asked her Fire Lord, who gestured towards the scroll.
"I have a letter here that I need to send to Ba Sing Se." she explained, the servant furrowing a brow.
"Is this about the peace settlement, your majesty?" she asked, and Azula narrowed her eyes.
"It is none of your concern what the letter contains or who it is addressed to, I want you to take it to the catacombs. You know who is down there, do you not?" she asked, and the servant visibly tensed up, before they nodded.
"The Dai Li." she whispered, "Do they really hide in the walls?" she asked her.
The Fire Lord raised a finger, sparking a bright blue torch upon its tip, "It is better that you think that." she gave the most intimidating response she could think of, before gesturing to the door, "Go, and once you have made contact with them, return to me to confirm it."
"Is there anything else you require of me, my Fire Lord?" she asked with a bow, and Azula raised her hands up to her mouth as she leaned on the desk, considering her present circumstances.
"Be discreet. I do not want the Avatar and his cronies learning about this." she explained, before furrowing a brow, "Has that blind girl made any comments?"
"About the Dai Li?" she asked, and the Fire Lord nodded, "Not that I'm aware of. She seems more concerned about guarding the grounds of the palace. They are nervous that somebody might try and seize the palace to free you."
"I am not truly a prisoner here if I can govern my nation." she argued, knowing that even if her captors held many pieces over her, first and foremost the threat of having her bending removed, she still had the Dai Li and the Fire Nation's intelligence apparatus at her disposal.
The latter was subordinate to two ministers, making it harder for her to gather the information she would need without alerting her captors. She knew that the Dai Li was the most powerful group she had at her disposal, and if she were to publicly allow them to return to Ba Sing Se, she might be able to manipulate the political situation there from afar, just as Long Feng had before her.
"It will be done." the servant verbally accepted her orders, and strode out of the room, having stuffed the scroll into her robes.
As she was about to close the door, she let out a surprised cry, before she stepped away; a hand was left holding the door ajar, and Azula rose to her feet, "Who is it?" she asked, and when the Water Tribe boy stuck his head out, she sighed, knowing she would have to deal with his demands once again
"Me." he gestured to himself before he stepped inside, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
She gestured to the reports that lay before her, and glared him down, "I always have work to do." she declared, and pinched at her nose bridge, "What is it that you want?"
"Uh... I was talking with my friends, and we're worried about the peace plans. I mean... some want to restart the fight in the Earth Kingdom's favour, but that's not me." he explained himself, and Azula scoffed, amused that her enemies were just as foolish as she hoped they'd be.
"Really?" she prodded him, and the Water Tribesman grimaced.
"Uh... yeah, really. I know that will just end terribly for all of us." he acknowledged, and the Fire Lord crossed her arms.
"What exactly do you want to know? All my secret machinations, I assume?"
"I mean, you're going to come to the negotiations with some actual points, right? You're not just going to ignore everything and let the settlement be decided by fighting." he asked her and gave his thoughts, his observations astute.
"Yes, I intend to speak with them and come to a settlement. I promised that, did I not?"
"You made a pretty big point of being a very good liar." he reminded her, and the Princess snickered.
"That I did." she conceded, before she raised a finger to her chin, "So, are you expecting me to prove my truthfulness?"
"The truth doesn't really matter." he admitted, furrowing a brow, "Results do. My dad and Suki coming back on a ship from prison is a result I like." he commented on what she had already done for him, so she could get herself out of her unlit cell and to what was effectively house arrest, "But I know you're hiding something." he added, his tone becoming considerably darker as he placed his hands on the desk in front of her, "So, Azula, what are you hiding?"
"Calling me by my first name in my own palace, how forward." she addressed his clear breach of formalities, before narrowing her eyes at him, "Why should I tell you?" she asked, and he smirked.
"Well, for one, I'm not in the mood to fight, and I'm not going to tattletale on you to Aang and the Ministers for whatever machinations you have cooking." he argued his case, "I just want to make sure that we're not being fooled."
"Is that all, truly?" she asked, giving her own prod; she knew that the boy and his friends would have things they wouldn't tell her, just as she wouldn't tell him.
"Yeah, pretty much." he nodded, not seeming to be trying to string her along; his upfront attitude was not surprising for a do-gooder, but it wasn't undesired in a place full of lies.
She had lived her life lying or being lied to, having to deal with the machinations and intrigues of court; even if she didn't fully understand them when she was younger, she was always aware that there were things going on, hidden from the view of the public, for the greater good, or for mere greed and personal gain.
"Fine." she accepted his request, hoping to squeeze a bit of intelligence from the boy; he seemed to be quite on top of things, telling her that if anyone would actually give the answers she wanted, it was him, "Who took Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation?"
"The Order of the White Lotus." he spoke the truth as she understood it; if he had lied, and said someone else, or just refused to say a word, she would have ended the conversation then and there, and ordered him from her office.
"Good, we're on the same page then." she nodded, and he raised a brow.
"So they actually did it." he mumbled, making Azula realise that they mustn't have received any communications from the organisation since they took Ba Sing Se, "I guess you're getting reports. Did the Dai Li tell you?"
"The military forces they defeated are obliged to report on the results of any battles with our enemies... that is proper practice." she retorted, hoping that the boy wouldn't press about the Dai Li's continued presence in the palace; it would only be a matter of time before the blind girl found them, if she happened to be looking around in the wrong places, but until then, she wanted to abuse the upper hand she still held.
"So... why are you asking me this?" he pressed her, and Azula sparked a flame on her right index finger, and raised it towards his face, still hanging over her as he had his hands placed on the desk.
"Who are they?"
"Just some old guys who like Pai Sho." he gave an unhelpful answer, even if it made some sense given the presence of the valued White Lotus tile in Pai Sho.
"Don't play dumb with me." she snapped back at him, "I know they're terrorists... enemies of my nation, all I ask to know is who they are."
"People who opposed the Fire Nation's war, and the devastation your father was going to unleash." he gave her a more respectable answer, though it still lacked the fine details she desired.
"Names. Give me names." she pressed further, and he leaned back, moving away from the flame she had been holding up towards him.
"Nah." he refused casually, turning around as he raised a finger to his chin, "Does this mean I get to ask my questions now?"
"No, because I haven't got what I want." she retorted, and he hummed, sounding interested.
"Well, you already answered one of mine." he noted, turning his eyes back to meet her own, "You're still afraid somebody's going to overthrow you. Do you think the White Lotus want to?" he asked, and she clenched her fist, putting out the flame; she tried to put on a calm face, and hoped that he would just be straight with her, and tell her more about the group.
"My opinion shouldn't matter since you're the one who actually knows about the organisation." she retorted, her attempt at humility not fooling the boy.
"Yeah, I don't believe that." he shook his head, "You've probably got the Dai Li prowling all over Ba Sing Se right now trying to find out as much about them as they can, before you know, they're arrested by the authorities." he accurately described her plan to the point she almost faltered and let out her real face; she held firm, and let out a laugh instead.
"You have wit, snow savage, but you don't know everything."
"Neither do you." he bit back, and the Fire Lord just smirked.
"Oh, but I intend to." she told him everything he needed to know, before leaning back in her chair, thinking she ought to let him ask his questions before he actually started figuring out her own plans; he clearly seemed to have the mind for the machinations she had felt so confident hiding from the Avatar and his cronies, "So, give me your questions, before I tire of this back and forth."
"Wait, so you enjoy this?" he raised a brow, sounding surprised; she didn't answer his question, and he was left there with his mouth agape, looking like as much a fool as she already thought he was.
"Go on." she prodded him after she had got her serving of amusement from his stupid face, and he straightened his posture, before sitting himself down on the chair that had been sitting in front of her that whole time.
He could have sat down earlier, but he just had to feel the need to assert his authority over the Fire Lord of all people. The cockiness alone amused her, but she would play along, if only so she could actually get what she wanted: a peace settlement that would last, and would favour her nation as much as reasonably possible. The boy would not be the deciding factor in that settlement, but as the most intelligent and politically minded in the Avatar's group, he would have a key place in influencing whatever decisions the Air Nomad himself came to make.
"What do you actually want done about the colonies?" he asked her bluntly, and Azula just snickered.
"Well, that was the most obvious possible question." she admitted, believing he might actually have something a little more interesting in mind.
However, she could not deny the importance of the colonies to the peace negotiations, and the threat they already posed to derail the armistice that was in place; no matter who would be in charge, it was a fact that the Earth Kingdom wanted their land back. Her control of the Dai Li couldn't prevent that, and she imagined that they would enjoy abusing a resumption of war for their own gain, no matter what Azula commanded them to do. They were loyal on the principle of her getting them what they wanted, not because they actually supported the Fire Nation.
"Do you have an actual answer?" he prodded her, "Or are you just waiting for things to play out, so you can restart the war when the Earth Kingdom gets fed up and attacks?"
"Do you think I want to be deposed by your little Air Nomad friend?" she retorted back, before shaking her head, "The issue of the colonies has to be peacefully resolved, without an unnecessary degree of harm towards my nation. I might remind you that we were winning the war before the Avatar decided to intervene and stop my father."
"Winning for ninety nine years and losing for one is still losing." he argued, before narrowing his eyes, "What do you actually want? Ownership over certain cities? Mines? Factories? Ports?" he prodded her once more, giving a number of things that they could potentially discuss.
"All of those things are important to the running of a nation." she argued, before crossing her arms, "Everything that the Fire Nation built in the Earth Kingdom belongs to the Fire Nation. Some of those things only have use in war, and will have to be dispensed with, but much of the infrastructure in the colonies is rightfully ours. Made with Fire Nation steel, smelted in our foundries, brought across the sea in our ships, powered by our coal."
"Not all of it was yours. You had mines in the Earth Kingdom, and factories too." he argued, before raising a finger, "Plus, you're the Fire Lord; you don't own everything in the country. Don't you live off the fat of your country's wealth through taxes? So, a little loss on the edge can't be too bad."
"If you think this is all about my personal wealth and greed... you're mistaken, snow savage." she retorted, and Sokka just glared at her, not even seeming that mad.
"It's Sokka." he corrected her, "So, what do you care about?"
She rolled her eyes, "Say that one more time, and I will set you alight." she gave what she thought was a proper warning, so he couldn't complain when she set his little ponytail aflame, "I want my nation's future to be secure from all threats. That includes you, the Avatar, the Earth King, and whatever fools will make it big off of stealing all the wealth my countrymen have built in the colonies." she gave her stance as clearly as she could, "So, I want the colonies to be treated fairly. The people there should be allowed to continue living as they have, until we can come to some proper agreements on who should own the land." she explained her views, raising a finger towards his face once more, "How about we split it halves on the taxes from all the people and businesses there and ignore the colonies for the foreseeable future?" she gave a possible solution, though she knew the boy would reject it out of hand.
"That's... that's not even a terrible idea." he admitted, seeming a little guilty to find merit in her idea, "But what about Fire Nation occupation, and the prisoners?"
"That can all be dealt with in due course." she assured him, "As soon as I am able to speak with a representative of the Earth Kingdom government, if it truly does exist, then I will negotiate the process of my nation's withdrawal from those occupied territories."
"That doesn't include the colonies, I assume?" he asked, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Even if the whole of the colonies was to be transplanted back to the home islands, prematurely withdrawing all of our forces, even if helpful for your 'peace' as you would call it, will just allow the Earth Kingdom to slaughter the colonists, traders and officials that remain."
"I can understand why you'd think that." he mumbled, seeming to at least understand the threat the Earth Kingdom posed to people that he might himself view as innocents.
Most of them had nothing to do with the war, unless they worked in one of the industries building weapons, but most Fire Nation citizens were farmers and labourers working in mines and factories, which mostly were providing goods for the people to enjoy.
"Well, we can get some assurances." he suggested, his words not sounding promising.
"Assurances aren't good enough. As long as my people remain on Earth Kingdom soil, some soldiers will need to be there to assure their safety. That is my one and only demand, even if I am forced to give up all the gains my nation has made in the past hundred years." she stressed, sparking a flame on her fingertip, "I will not have my nation robbed dry just to appease some lickspittles and fat nobles in Ba Sing Se."
"You have a few of those yourself, your majesty." he warned her, and the Fire Lord narrowed her eyes.
"And I am a great believer in merit... It is the one thing my father instilled in me that I am sure even a savage like you could agree with. Leeches have no place in my court." she stated her opinions on those who would seek to abuse their positions of power only for their own wealth.
Azula could not deny she had lived a life of great wealth and privilege, but the power and respect she wielded over her court were a result of her skill and abilities, not because of her birth; she was the second child of a second child, in any normal time, she would have never had a chance to sit the flame-shrouded throne.
"Pretty rich coming from the monarch who just inherited her throne." he argued, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"I have played my pieces well. I was not born heir, and you're familiar with my competition." she argued, and he raised a brow.
"Wait, you mean Prince Zuko?" he asked, and she nodded to confirm.
"And my uncle." she added, knowing that before he had died, he might have posed quite a viable candidate for the Avatar to install on the throne, given his rather passive, people-pleasing nature, at least since his failures at Ba Sing Se.
"Your uncle? Oh, you mean that fat guy who was with..." he began, before furrowing a brow as he looked away, "Wait... he looked way older than the Fire Lord... I mean your father."
"He was." she confirmed, and Sokka narrowed his eyes.
"So, your father stole the throne, and now you're Fire Lord. That didn't require much playing by you, did it?" he asked rhetorically, and his suggestions were accurate, though they ignored the fact that if he had been alive, he could have contended for the throne.
"If my uncle was still alive, you would have made him Fire Lord. I have a strong feeling he would have gotten along far too well with your friend."
"He tried to kill us... like- uh, at least once." he tried to recall, and Azula just laughed.
"Yes, he might have... but my brother and uncle have something in common, they're both failures." she argued, before furrowing a brow, "Did you ever consider he purposefully let you get away?"
"Why would he do that?" Sokka questioned her, and the Fire Lord pursed her lips.
"It is not wise to have all your eggs in one basket." she gave him a proverb, which she was certainly ascribing to at that very moment; she imagined that her uncle would have done the same, if he retained any of the political acumen he would have gained in the decades he was Crown Prince.
"So, he would have played us, just like you are doing right now?" he asked, making Azula laugh; her uncle was far too honourable to try and fool the Avatar, especially given his altruistic and magnanimous goals.
"He is many things, but he is not inconsistent. He would aid you if it would bring peace between the Four Nations."
"So, you're saying we would have been better for this than you." he realised, before scrunching his lips, "Unfortunate that he's dead." he added, seeming actually disappointed; that just made her scoff.
"I prefer a throne to a cell." she retorted, and he shrugged his shoulders, seeming to be at least a bit sympathetic to her position; that was something she could abuse, though she held back a smile, just letting the boy say what he wanted.
"Yeah, I would too."
Punctured by holes and with a partially shattered deck, the ship before Azula was barely seaworthy. The Crown Princess had been filled with confusion and dread after the events of the night two days prior; the full moon itself had turned red, before disappearing for a short period, and then coming back, as if nothing had happened. She did not know the cause of such a strange event, but she had an inkling Admiral Zhao's invasion had something to do with it.
That was why she was somewhat surprised to receive a messenger hawk a day later from the invasion fleet that they were withdrawing from the North Pole and abandoning the invasion after a spirit attacked them and sank the majority of their fleet. She knew that the spirit must have had something to do with the Avatar, given that the Avatar was known to be at the North Pole, and it was part of the reason the invasion had even been permitted in the first place.
Now as she walked upon the Admiral's flagship, she understood that it was no mere spirit, or some kind of exaggeration to justify a withdrawal; their forces had been shattered, and Zhao was lucky to be alive. She only knew so because he had his seal on the letters that were sent out to inform nearby Fire Nation forces of their defeat. She still had a job to do, even if her brother refused to cooperate; he was stuck in the brig of her ship, and could no longer continue to run around in search of the culprits for the attack on his ship.
Though she doubted her brother had any more evidence against Zhao than she herself did, she could only investigate further by speaking with the man himself. She had the cover of the invasion and its failure to go speak with him, after which she could make her decisions on what to do with her brother. Justice was expected by her father, given he did not want to give any upstarts ideas about killing other members of the royal family, ergo Azula and himself; so, she would make sure she had proper evidence before acting, and accusing anyone of treason, as a false accusation would hand her more trouble than her brother had already found himself in.
At the doors to the superstructure stood a few officers, looking ragged and exhausted, some of them bandaged to cover up injuries they must have sustained during the siege. She was approaching them, and by the time she stood in front of the group, they all fell down and bowed to the Crown Princess. The man in the centre turned his face up and remained low as he addressed her.
"Your highness, we are honoured to have you come aboard this ship." he acknowledged before returning to his ordinary posture, and she glanced behind him.
"Where is Admiral Zhao? Was he injured in the siege?" she asked, and the men shook their heads.
"No, he was able to get back to the ship unscathed. Not all of his guards were as lucky... their sacrifices should be honoured, just as with the rest of the men who perished fighting the savages." the officer explained, giving his thoughts on all they had lost in their battle.
She knew that the Fire Lord would prefer to cover up their great defeat, if only because it would give the Earth Kingdom reason to resume attacking their positions, given the opportunities that would come from a weakened Fire Navy.
"That will come with time." she replied, not wanting to honestly tell him what she expected would be said about the battle publicly, "I would like to speak with the Admiral personally. I expect to know what went wrong, so a situation like this," she explained, gesturing to the heavily damaged ship around them, and the other ships that lay in port, "can never happen again."
"Of course." the officer nodded, the group rising to their feet, "I will bring you to him, your highness." he explained, gesturing down the hallway, "He'll be in his office right now."
She nodded, and gestured at the doorway, "I would like to go at once, unless he is presently... occupied." she acknowledged, guessing that Zhao would rightfully lose his cool and panic about the present situation.
"No, he was just having his breakfast." the officer clarified, "I am sure he can spare time for the Crown Princess."
"That he can." she agreed, her mind turning to what excuses Zhao might offer her to try and dodge the blame that would rightly land at his feet.
A failure of such magnitude would surely lead to him being demoted, if not outright court martialled for leading so many sailors to effectively pointless deaths. The idea of the man being executed for his failings seemed to be a roundabout justice, though she could not say for certain if he was guilty, or her brother had just laid the blame on Zhao because of their prior misgivings.
She almost laughed at the thought of his execution, given that if her father was to treat Zhao's actions that seriously, it would make his initial reason for even exiling her brother to be utter hypocrisy, given Zuko had supposedly called out an officer for suggesting they waste the lives of soldiers as a distraction for a later victory. Now, something of that sort had just occurred, and the man was likely to face his doom, one way or another.
She followed after the officer, making her way down the wide hallway that eventually led them to a staircase, before she began climbing up it. The ship's interior seemed to have fared better than its exterior, but she didn't have much care for the state of the ship. What remained of the fleet would likely be stuck in drydocks for months at least, perhaps all the way until the comet. She could only hope that they were back in service, in time for whatever plans her father had in store for that time.
They turned off the stairwell just before they would have reached the very top of the superstructure, that being the bridge of the ship, and he led her to a double doored room that lay at the end of the hallway.
"I will just inform the Admiral of your arrival." he explained his intent, and she stood still, hands collapsed behind her as she watched him open the door and stick his head inside.
"What is it?" she heard the distinct, serious and gruff voice of Zhao; he was clearly annoyed, and the officer's news wouldn't grant him reprieve from that mood.
"Crown Princess Azula is here." he clarified, and Azula could hear the sound of paper and ceramics shuffling around on what must have been his desk.
"You- uh, just give me a moment." he muttered loudly enough for her to hear, and the officer closed the door, turning back to face him.
"I apologise, he's not ready at this very moment." he put on a sweet face, but it didn't fool her.
"I am not waiting for long." she warned him, crossing her arms as she counted down for ten seconds, thinking that was all she owed the Admiral, given he was the one who had just survived a massive battle.
When she reached three, the doors opened wide, revealing the Admiral, whose topknot was loose and his armour out of place; he had obviously not slept much since the battle, and now, she was even more curious to actually hear what happened, even though that wasn't her true reason for coming aboard the ship.
"Crown Princess Azula, I am honoured to be in your presence once more." he bowed to her with haste, before rising back up, and gesturing into his office, "Please, come in."
He must have cleaned it up very quickly, but it didn't seem as bad as she'd imagined it; papers were still on the desk, but they were neatly stacked, while the floor remained clear barring a few boxes with letters sitting in them, presumably reports he would have to read through on the state of his fleet.
She followed the Admiral in, and once both of them were standing there, the officer closed the door behind them, leaving them be, "So, Admiral Zhao, I have only received scanty reports of what happened at the North Pole, and as my father's representative, I have taken it upon me to receive your personal report. In prose or by mouth, it does not matter." she explained her public reason for being there, sitting down on the chair that lay across from his desk; he quickly moved to sit himself down, putting on a smile.
"Of course, his majesty would need a report... I can give one right away."
"You haven't slept since you left." she observed a very clear fact, and Zhao's smile faltered.
"That... that is true." he admitted, "I have had to go through dozens of reports... from those the ships that actually made it out."
"I presume the fleet is in need of serious repairs." she guessed, just from what she'd already seen of his own flagship.
"It is." he confirmed, before clearing his throat, "So, where should I begin?" he asked her, and the Princess narrowed her eyes.
"I've already read reports from after the siege began... What I want to hear about is what actually happened. This spirit attack I've heard about, what was it? The Avatar?" she pressed, and Zhao's eyes averted her gaze, clearly concerned, if not a little fearful- not of her, at least at that moment, but of the Avatar.
"The Avatar... and the Ocean Spirit, from my understanding." he clarified, and Azula furrowed a brow, confused why the Ocean Spirit would have worked with the Avatar, especially when it came to something that was clearly a human affair: war.
"Why would it intervene? Did the Water Tribes do something to earn its favour?" she asked, and Zhao didn't respond, seeming to be still considering what to say, "Then... did you earn its ire?"
"The target of my invasion." he spoke up, "The Ocean and Moon Spirits were the target of my invasion."
Azula didn't know why he would attack the spirits, "Why? Were they aiding the Water Tribe?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"It's something far more basal than that. The spirits are the source of their power, just as the sun is the source of ours." he explained, and Azula's eyes widened, remembering what she had seen in the sky.
"So, that was your plan. To deprive them of their power... that was why the moon turned red, and disappeared." she realised, before glancing away, knowing that her father had already refused Zhao's plan before, and was almost certain Azulon had done the same, "How long have you been planning this invasion?"
"Many years now, your highness." he admitted, before his eyes turned down, seeming quite genuinely aggrieved, "But... my victory was stolen from me. The Moon Spirit, Tui, I killed it." he explained, and Azula froze.
The red sky, and then the grey darkness that fell over the world; Zhao had tried to end waterbending, but as the moon had returned not long after, she understood the invasion must have then been a complete failure.
"Then why has the moon returned?"
"I do not understand why... but the Avatar, or someone else, must have revived the spirit, somehow." he acknowledged, "I was fleeing the monster that came of the Ocean Spirit and the Avatar, when it suddenly appeared in the sky above."
Azula raised her hands to her chin, unsure what to say to all she had heard; though she was sure he would be reprimanded by her father, the Fire Lord, she still had something far more pressing on her mind: her uncle's death.
"For your invasion, you requisitioned my brother's crew, correct?" she asked him something that ought to elucidate the reaction she needed.
His eyes flickered with fear, and his expression became more serious, "I did." he confirmed, and Azula placed her hands down on the table.
"Are they accounted for?" she questioned, having an excuse to ask about them.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because it is my interest to know. Those men have had experience fighting with the Avatar and pursuing his sky-bison. I have been commanded to take on my brother's duties." she explained her reasons, rising to her feet, "The Avatar is no longer your concern, Admiral."
"The Fire Nation will rest easy knowing you are on the case, your highness." he tried to compliment her abilities, making her huff, amused by his sycophancy, which he would only make use of when he needed it to cover his behind.
Azula did not trust the man, and given her suspicions, she did not want to give him any reprieve, "I have but one thing to ask you, Admiral." she stated her intent, Zhao's expression faltering; he was afraid, and if he had been firebending at that moment, she would have expected his flames to have snuffed out.
"What do you need to know, your highness?" he asked, the Princess raising a finger.
"You took my brother's crew. That was the day of the explosion." she told him the facts as she knew them, "Did you notice anything suspicious at the port that day?" she asked, her question meant to suggest his innocence, though that was clearly far from the case; his relieved face told her immediately that he was guilty, and she had to harden her lips, not wanting to give away her own feelings.
"I noted that there was an odd ship at port. I believe it may have belonged to some smugglers." he gave an answer, presumably referring to the people that her brother had massacred; she hadn't even gotten around to asking her brother why he had done that, but she didn't need to ask- Zhao was already telling her what she needed to know.
"Ah, I did hear about them." she nodded, "All of them... dead. What a shame. I could have questioned them about the explosion." she feigned frustration, though she was also warning Zhao; his eyes sparked with fear, further telling her of his guilt, and his fears- he knew Zuko was alive if the pirates were dead.
"I hope that you can conclude your investigations soon, your highness. I am sure the Avatar will not remain in the North for much longer." he warned her, and Azula nodded, before rising to her feet.
"There are only a few loose ends I need to chase up... then I will get to work." she gave her intentions, before glancing back to the door, "You have a lot to attend to, so I will not bore you any longer with my questions."
"What will you say to the Fire Lord?" Zhao pressed, even though it was not his place to ask; she decided to humour him, as it might be the last thing she would ever say to the Admiral.
"That your plans went awry, but you may yet have another chance to bring an end to the Northern Water Tribe. The comet is only eight moons away." she reminded him of Sozin's Comet, which would grant the Fire Nation the power it needed to finally end the war.
"I would be honoured if the Fire Lord granted me such an opportunity." he admitted, clearly afraid that he would not have the chance; Ozai's wrath was already well established to be for any that failed him- Zuko was clear evidence of that.
"Yes, you would be." she left him a parting word, before turning her heels, pacing over to the doors, which she pushed open.
Zhao might have had a well thought out plan, but he had failed to consider one thing: that her brother would live, and even if he hadn't, that the Fire Lord would consider his treason any less because his son was in exile. That was before considering the fact of who he had actually killed. The Dragon of the West was dead, and if it was not Zuko, or herself, then somebody would take justice into their own hands; she just decided it might as well be them, for the honour of her family was on the line. She was not there to find the Blue Spirit, she was there to finish what he started.
A merchant ship full of refugees was not where Piandao had expected to find himself when he had heeded the call to Ba Sing Se, but it was the easiest route home he could find. After the city had fallen at the hands of the Order, he had decided that as soon as the Council of Five took power in the city, he would take his leave. He had no taste for politics or the issues the Fire Nation had made for itself there, but found himself wound up in those issues nonetheless.
The ship he had found himself on was originally a merchant vessel, set to bring in goods from the Fire Nation's colonies to Ba Sing Se, so that the colonial administrators there could better establish themselves. Instead, those administrators, soldiers, and their attendants all found themselves forced onto the ship and others like it, sent west back towards the colonies, which were the only safe place for them. He had joined the rush of expelled Fire Nation nationals, fitting in well with his appearance and the drab clothes he'd chosen to wear instead of his White Lotus robes.
As he sat on the deck of the ship, he looked out over the West Lake, eyeing the smokestacks that lay in the distance by the shoreline; those were the Fire Nation military's remaining outposts, which he suspected would not remain for long. The Fire Lord had yet to send out orders on what was to be done with them, but he understood that even with an armistice, a peace settlement would require them to withdraw all military forces.
The deck was crowded with people, and Piandao found himself huddled with his two companions, the only two people he could trust while in transit back to the homeland. His butler and good friend Fat had accompanied him to Ba Sing Se, and though he had not been able to do as much as the powerful benders they had by their side, he had fought honourably against their fellow countrymen. He could say the same for his other companion, whose face was shrouded by a hood, presumably because he feared he might be recognised by somebody on board.
He glanced over to the young man, and gestured towards him, curious as to how he was feeling now that they were heading back to the homeland, "Lee." he addressed him by the pseudonym he had chosen for himself, "You haven't been back in three years."
"And if I could help it, I wouldn't be going back." he admitted, his eyes meeting his own; half his face was in a permanent frown, so it was hard to tell if he was actually unhappy about the fact.
Prince Zuko looked quite different from what he had when he came to Piandao's estate all those years prior; his face had grown sharper, and his scar disguised his youth. His moppish dark hair covered it most of the time, though he could still catch a glimpse of it, and his permanent squint as the two of them locked eyes.
"I understand that, but I promise you, you'll be safe in my home." he reassured him, and Zuko just huffed, seeming amused by the idea of his home, or perhaps, of safety.
"I am not worried about being unsafe, I am worried about having to deal with... well, this." he gestured around them; he was referring to the political issues their country was facing, which had presumably been far from his mind until he had come to the White Lotus's encampment by the walls.
The Fire Nation had won the war but lost two key battles; Fire Lord Ozai, having proclaimed himself 'Phoenix King', was defeated by the Avatar, along with a fleet of airships, while the Order of the White Lotus had defeated the Fire Nation garrison and Dai Li forces in Ba Sing Se, and restored the Council of Five to power. The Earth King would presumably arrive soon, as the Avatar had told them that he was travelling the country while in exile from his throne.
Now, Zuko's sister reigned as Fire Lord, though perhaps that was only in name, given that the Avatar had defeated her in battle just as he had her father. That was all they knew, given the reports the Order had intercepted before they dispersed. The Fire Nation was effectively under the supervision of the Avatar, and though Piandao had no reason to think the boy incapable of handling the political issues there, especially with Sokka, Katara, and Toph by his side, he knew that things were not going to be easy.
The world had suffered a hundred years of war, and now the Fire Lord would have to bend and compromise to the will of the Avatar, and the other nations; the strategic advantage the Fire Nation held over the Earth Kingdom would not mean anything if the Fire Lord and her government could be deposed at a whim.
"There is a likelihood that this peace will not last, even if most people agree that it needs to remain." he acknowledged, before glancing at the former Prince, "So, will you try and... well, intervene?"
"Not if I don't need to." he spoke his intentions, which suggested he did not desire to involve himself with the political crisis that was sure to be unfolding; he had not stated any desire to be the Fire Lord, and his demeanour did not suggest he wanted any more power and responsibility than what he had already been granted in helping lead their assault on Ba Sing Se, "I have more important things I want to deal with."
"Oh." Piandao gasped, surprised that Zuko had plans in the homeland; he didn't have many friends, from what he understood, and if he did, he wouldn't have seen them in nearly four years, given his exile and disappearance, "So, are you going to tell me what you're going to do? Will you need my help?"
"Not necessarily. I think if the White Lotus knew what I wanted to find out, somebody would have told me already." he explained, not giving away what he wanted to know; perhaps he wanted to learn more about the nature of firebending, which Piandao had heard rumours about.
General Iroh, long before his death, had learned much about the nature of firebending and bending in general; that knowledge hadn't been passed down to the Prince, it seemed, and he doubted that he had written anything on it. The fact Piandao couldn't provide him with some aid in that regard frustrated the sword master; he was painfully aware of his own lack of knowledge when it came to bending, beyond how to combat it.
"Is it about firebending?" he asked Zuko, who raised a brow.
"Well, no, I wasn't thinking about that." he conceded, before furrowing a brow, "Though I would be interested to look into that, now that you mention it. There are traditions that predate the modern Fire Nation, things that would be of use to me. The Sun Warriors, especially."
"What, do you want to go scouring ruins?" Fat asked the boy with a humoured voice, "I don't know if you'll find much there."
"Why?" Zuko asked, leaning closer to the butler.
"From my understanding, they didn't write the same way we do... you'll have no way of understanding whatever they've written, if you can find anything." he explained what he knew, "You'd have better luck looking into the Fire Sages' records, if you can access them."
"Those are private." he retorted, before a small smile formed on his lips, "Though, given who I am, maybe I can be excused for accessing them."
"So, perhaps the Prince lives." Piandao joked, and Zuko just rolled his eyes, turning his gaze back towards the lake.
"No, he doesn't." he refused his suggestion, "I can make my own way to those sources of knowledge, if I care to look for them."
"And what do you expect to find, might I ask?" the swordmaster pressed his student, who shrugged his shoulders.
"My old master was too pessimistic when it came to the fundamentals of firebending. I just hope there is another path I can take. I- well, I like bending."
"As you'd expect for any bender." Fat mumbled, before eyeing the boy, "What, do you expect to become a master... are you going to train people just as Master Piandao before you?" he asked, making the swordmaster huff, amused by the idea that Zuko would enjoy training people; he was a very stern, focused person, and took his own training seriously, though he was unsure if he'd be the best at training others to firebend.
"I might try." he acknowledged, "I just want my firebending skills to be useful for something... other than violence." he admitted his feelings, making Piandao grimace.
He knew that the Prince had been through a lot, especially in the past year; he had lost his uncle, and had seen much that he probably never wanted to, but his perseverance, that was something the swordmaster could admire.
"You are right." he nodded, "I felt the same way about my own skills. The blade is my life, but I cannot stand taking the lives of others if I can avoid it."
"We had to do so in Ba Sing Se." Fat reminded him, before sighing, "But that... that was for the greater good."
"Sometimes the reward outweighs the costs... morally that is. I have no care or desire for wealth." Piandao acknowledged before huffing, "I say that as I live in a bountiful estate without having to worry about my next meal. Some of these people certainly will be." he conceded as he eyed the refugees amongst them.
Many of them were soldiers and bureaucrats, who would likely find jobs or pensions when they returned to the homeland, but their servants would most likely have little to return to, and the poor colonists who'd decided to head to the city before its fall would fare just as bad.
"Then perhaps we should try and help some of them." Fat suggested, "You have helped me much, Piandao, and I am sure there are some here that could find refuge in your estate."
"We will have to see." Piandao admitted, "Most would have families to return to, some might not." he realised, before turning his gaze to Zuko, "Perhaps you could go speak with some of them. Find those who are in need of a home."
"I'm-" he began, before sighing as his rose to his feet, "I don't have anything better to do, and who knows, maybe I'll find a friend." he gave his thoughts, sounding rather sarcastic with the latter comment.
"You're not that unsociable." the swordmaster reassured him, "I'm sure you can make friends with these people. Some of them are in the same boat as you... and I don't mean that literally." he explained, raising a finger, "Many colonists have left the homeland as exiles. Defeated in Agni Kais, ostracised by their families, running from debt or threats against their lives."
"Huh." he mumbled, before making a small smile, "I guess that makes it a little easier." he conceded, before pacing off down the deck of the ship, weaving past the other seated refugees.
Fat turned to Piandao, with a slightly concerned look on his face, "What do you believe he's going to do in the homeland?"
"Lee... he has unfinished business with his family." he gave his best guess, "His sister is- well, perhaps the most important person in the world now, and he doesn't know where his mother is."
"His mother?" Fat raised a brow, "She disappeared five years ago. I thought she might have been exiled."
"As did I, but... if she had, I would expect her to return now that her daughter is in charge. We will have to see, though I'm unsure if he will want to involve us with that matter. It is deeply personal, one's relationship with their parents." he explained, his butler grimacing; he knew what had happened to Piandao, and how he ended up being adopted.
"Master, did- did you ever find them?"
"No... but that was my choice. Lee has a choice, and I don't think he'll make the same decision I did."
