Ozai
Ozai was fuming as he waited for the answer of the mad king and observed the city his airships had tried to blast into rubble at the beginning of the attack, despite the heavy bombardment it was not quite destroyed, he had to give some credit to the men that build some parts of the city, such as the center that remained mostly intact and those who built the pillars in which the… aqueducts? It was the closest he could compare it to, stood.
It was a shame that he hadn't been able to do as he planned and fought Bumi straight up but the fact that Ozai had to retreat made it all the worse, at least now knew why they called the old man a madman, who else but that old pile of bones would see the invasion of their city and think I should make a mobile avalanche.
Azula had at least proved he could rely on her even if she showed cowardice in retreating before he did, his daughter's warning more than likely saved his life. Ozai looked from his position at the head of the lead airship and saw how the peasants of the city started looking for their dead or their possessions and if he wasn't wrong he also saw some people looting several places.
Time was running out and he didn't see anyone approaching him to deliver the king's acceptance of his challenge.
"Father" Azula came up from behind him and Ozai would forever deny that he didn't see her coming his way "wouldn't it be faster to just continue the destruction of Omashu?"
It would but Ozai needed the publicity, luckily there was a good excuse that he had prepared beforehand.
"Not if we want to use it as a base and you can't say a city was conquered if you just destroy it, besides, with Omashu firmly in our hands we can safely siege Ba Sing Se. should we destroy it bandits or insurgents would use the ruins as a base"
"I understand…" Azula looked as if she wanted to say more but she was holding herself back, it was unnerving to see someone like her act like a normal person, she was a weapon, Azula didn't need useless emotions.
"Speak" Ozai ordered and enjoyed the subtle flinch of his daughter.
"What happens if you lose?" the air turned scalding in less than a second and he could see the fear in Azula's eyes "I don't mean to imply you will lose because you're weak father, but as the Fire Lord you're a very tempting target and they have no reason not to try and kill you"
"It's true that the people of the earth kingdoms are less honorable but they have their pride and there is no way that they will let the challenge I laid down pass them by, Bumi will fight and I will kill him"
Then Ozai would have enough political capital to start buying the loyalty of the nobles, if they wanted to lord over the earth kingdom peasants Ozai would let them, it wasn't a loss at all since Ozai was the Fire Lord and no matter how far they went they would still bow to him.
Bumi
Bumi was going to kill that snotnosed brat, Iroh had believed that it should be the Avatar who ended the war but he wasn't the one with a city in ruins, had the Fire Nation simply walked another army into the place he would have let them keep the city, Bumi didn't know why but he knew that it would be for the best something told him so, was it his instincts, his tactical mind or perhaps Flopsie had finally learned how to talk to him with his mind.
Bumi stared at the Goat Gorilla who simply rolled over, perhaps not, whatever it was Bumi was sure that he would make it out alive. That had changed the moment he saw those flying machines pass the mountains, Bumi knew instinctively that if he surrendered he would die. Now Ozai was challenging him to a fight, a fight that the Fire Lord would surely lose as he doubted that Ozai was half as skilled as Iroh.
Sure his mastery over lighting was impressive but Bumi had sparred with the old general once before and he had almost died, the aging king held his shoulder where the scar rested.
"Sir! We have the final tally" one of hi soldiers bowed before looking for a sign to continue. The men had learned that sometimes he took a bit longer to think and that interrupting him was a good way to find themselves buried in Jennamite until Bumi thought that they had learned the lesson.
"How many?"
"We lost half the army, not all are dead but they're so hurt that only a master Waterbender could get them ready to fight in a short time, luckily we have plenty of food and with our tunnels we could stay here indefinitely"
Bumi snorted at the naivety of that thought. What use was staying in a hole when they could leave to fight another day with fresh troops and with the element of surprise. Then again, if Bumi killed Ozai then none of that mattered.
"No, I will fight that arrogant boy but be prepared to spring a trap, should the worst come to pass Ozai mustn't leave the city alive!"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Start making corridors and holes beneath the gates of Omashu, the moment you see I'm dead or I give a signal you open up the place and get out of there before I close it"
"Yes sir! Uhm.. what would be the signal, sir?"
"You will know it when you see it!" Bumi smiled widely before taking a bite out of a piece of the rock candy, as he ate it he suddenly got a very wicked idea and he knew exactly how to make Ozai's defeat even more humiliating.
Katara
Katara felt awkward after being so emotional in front of Zuko, she knew that he understood at least some of what she felt like since the Fire Lord was planning on killing his wife and she had to escape depriving Zuko of his mother but at least he still had her, he could look for her but Katara couldn't do that. Her mother was gone and there was no bringing her back.
"Hey" Zuko sat beside her as they stared out into the ocean, the sea was fairly calm and the ship was moving as fast as it could in the direction of her mother's killer "H-"
"If you're about to ask how do I feel, don't!" Zuko closed his mouth before laughing, he shot a smile at her that had her smiling back despite the circumstances.
"You know it's funny the way people just ask that question when they know the answer, I knew it was a dumb question and yet I still tried but that's hope for you"
Katara snorted at that and pushed her head against his shoulder, the heat coming from Zuko's body was very pleasant and while it could hardly be comparable to her home the air of the ocean at night was cold enough that she wouldn't mind if they stayed like that for a while.
"It is funny, dumb, but funny. Zuko I'm sorry about earlier…I- I know that you're doing you're best, you're doing more than you should and I was a bit before"
"It's fine Katara, I understand that sometimes your emotions can get out of hand" it was a very mature response, it showed that despite his young age Zuko was ready to lead, he was a man.
That brought a naughty thought to her head. Katara had never been with a man before, all of the warriors went away leaving her in a village full of women and kids, Sokka didn't count as he was her brother and despite the lack of men Katara was never that desperate, but now she had a very handsome man beside her, a handsome man and a very romantic setting.
Kissing him would be nice, but she wasn't sure if she should. Zuko had a girlfriend, sure he didn't seem to mind since he constantly flirted with her and Katara had enjoyed the way he stared at her curves but looking and touching were very different things, but he was everything a girl could want, he was strong, he was rich and he was handsome.
They were alone on the deck of the ship since the soldiers seemed to fear any mention or show of feelings (Sailors would never change no matter the nation they belonged to) and Katara would enjoy being taught what to do by a more experienced man, Zuko would know what do and make it pleasurable, there was no way a royal of a nation that seemed as decadent as his would be inexperienced.
"Katara" Zuko had noticed her staring and the naked concern in his face was what finally pushed her into doing it, there was no way that kissing someone that cares for her was wrong.
Katar slowly pushed forward until her lips met his, her lips felt very sensitive and the most minuscule of movements form his lips felt heavenly, his teeth softly graced her bottom lip drawing out a moan out of her and Zuko took the offered opportunity to use his tongue against hers.
The kiss seemed endless and Katara let herself go.
When the kiss ended, she was breathless, flustered and there was a very pleasant tingling on her back. Katara also felt hot, her heart felt like it was going to explode and the look Zuko was giving her made her nether regions tingle with excitement.
"Katara~" the playful way Zuko whispered her name made her shudder but instead of answering she only pressed herself against him. She wasn't ready for more, not yet but she didn't trust herself to say those words when it had felt so good just to kiss him.
Zuko bit her ear playfully as he stared at her with smoky eyes. He was very dangerous, then his robes opened to show the toned chest hiding behind them and her breath hitched. Yes, Zuko was very dangerous.
Author note: so i forgot that yeterday was wednesday but at least i posted... so that's a win, i will call it a win. you can read the next chapter on my if you want and all that cool stuff so i will see you next time. As for the story this is a set up chapter next one is an experimental piece of smut and then we have the fight, not the best timing perhaps but i wanted it to get it out of the way in a manner of speaking.
