Peaceful. This was how the Fire Nation seemed after Zuko had left. If nothing else, it felt this way to the Fire Lord and princess. They were able to have new recruits come and leave for combat. Commanding officers in the area knew better than to question any order the new ruler gave. After a long day of discussions and strategies with soldiers, Ozai still had not grown tired of thinking about the war. He looked over a map and pieces, planning where he would put troops and anticipating how the battles would go. A particular thought was in the man's mind and had been there for years. Ozai wondered if there was ever a time when he felt differently, but he knew that he wanted it to become more than words in his mind. They ought to have been shared. So, Ozai sent one of the servants to find Azula. Shortly, the princess entered the War Room.
"Azula," Ozai said, gesturing for her to come look with him. "What do you see here?"
The younger firebender approached and regarded the pieces closely. "I see potential," she replied. "Where we move troops doesn't only affect our nation in the current day. It also determines whether the others view us as unbreakable or just a temporary threat. Zhao failed, but the Earth Kingdom is still strong. If we conquer it entirely, we'll show the world that we can't be stopped."
Ozai listened to the girl with a small smile on his face. It was like he was hearing himself speak. He loved that. Azula looked up from the pieces and saw the pride in his eyes. She loved that.
"What would you do about Ba Sing Se?" he inquired.
The princess paused, thinking over matters. "I would wait. The siege practically just ended. Their forces are probably still ready for any attack. They would be suspicious and unrelenting. Since the attack ended so disgracefully, they'll be even more confident, but we might be able to use that to our advantage later."
"I agree. If we wait, we could send in spies right under their noses and they would be too arrogant to realize it."
"It's only a shame we'd have to wait, but the future looks more promising every day."
Ozai smiled softly. "I was hoping you would say that." The father gestured to the thrones. "The future is incredibly important to consider. I want you to think more about it soon."
"What's going on?"
"I won't live forever. When I'm gone, I'll need a successor."
Azula's eyes twinkled as she understood his meaning. "Traditions would change?"
"They would not need to," Ozai stated. "With the current state of things, Zuko would have the birthright, but if something happened to him, you would become my heiress." He put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Prepare for that day to arrive, Azula."
"I'll be ready, Dad," she said confidently.
"I know you will. You're my daughter."
Ozai and Azula spent the rest of the evening talking strategy. While they did, Iroh and Zuko were "helping" some of the soldiers in Gaoling. To make room for the nobles, the citizens were being forced to relocate to one side of the city.
"They did this in the Southern Water Tribe too," the prince said quietly. "Is there anything we can do to stop this without it being obvious?"
"Not at this moment," Iroh informed him. "They will be watching us both closely for any signs of treachery. For now, overseeing this and easing tensions will help the citizens more than anything else we could do."
Zuko felt disappointed by that, but he knew his uncle was right. Twice that day, he had seen people eyeing him. One of them had a visible notepad. They would watch and report. Zuko was not even sure if it was out of malicious intent. This merely could have been an attempt to spare their own lives. The boy could not blame them for that. So, he was forced to play the part of the faithful prince. He also saw the hateful glances from the people of the Earth Kingdom. He represented their oppression, but it was one of the last things he wanted.
"Am I a traitor?" Zuko wondered.
He frowned as he watched a young noble couple move into a home which did not belong to them. The word sounded ugly even in his mind. A traitor was vicious, dishonorable–someone who committed the act of betrayal. This last part was what kept circling in the boy's mind. Was he not a traitor then? He wanted to ask his uncle, but he was not sure what type of answer he would get. Zuko had seen the look of disdain in Iroh's eyes when he saw himself in red. The prince wondered if his response would be biased. There were so many things Zuko did not know, including how that meet up was supposed to go later.
"I should have tried to figure out where Toph lived," the firebender thought, annoyed with himself. "Now, we have to wait for her. If she comes at a bad time, it could look suspicious too. This was a bad idea."
Zuko kept thinking of this as he saw another one of the Earth Kingdom citizens glaring. That worried him less than the yells and curses coming from the man. It bristled the soldiers and several started to approach.
"What did you just say?" a sergeant snarled.
"That we aren't leaving! This home has been in our family for generations. It'll never belong to Fire Nation filth like you."
Zuko felt his heartbeat quickening. The soldiers created fire blades in their hands and Iroh was busy on the other side of the city. Taking a breath, the prince started walking forward.
"It could either belong to us or it could get burned to the ground," he said, harshness in his eyes. Zuko disliked seeing how distraught the homeowner looked, but if sadness could save his life, he thought the trade was fair. "In the name of my father, Fire Lord Ozai, you all will relinquish your homes to our citizens. This is the way things are going to be now. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to adjust to your new life."
The citizen looked from the prince to the soldiers, then glanced inside at his family. These firebenders were not worth the fight. Their home was not worth losing its residents. Miserably, they started to leave. Zuko cautiously watched the soldiers return to their stations so that they could keep an eye on everything again. He also saw another informant in the middle of writing something down. The boy hoped he had done a good enough job acting that nothing was suspected of him. Still, he could not wait until the evening when he and Iroh were at one of the homes. It had been claimed for the nation before their arrival, but the soldiers were ready to give it up quickly for their former ruler. Zuko felt mentally exhausted when they got there. He sat against the wall as his uncle poured three cups of tea.
"How are we going to be able to help if we're still forcing everyone out? They're not dying, but they're losing everything else that matters to them."
"This is delicate work, Zuko. We must be thoughtful with each action. For now, it might seem like we are doing more harm than good, but it's necessary to start this way so that the informants will be less suspicious. With time, we can become bolder, but we should remain vigilant."
Zuko was about to comment when he heard a knock on the door. Peeking out a window, he saw it was Toph. He quickly went to let her in.
"Nice show out there today," she said, heading to the dining area to sit. "You play a bratty prince well."
"Thanks?" Zuko said, not sure if this was a compliment or not.
The girl smiled as Iroh set a cup of tea down for her. "Okay, so what's the plan? You two take out half and then I take out the other half?"
"The soldiers will be most active during the day," Iroh said. "It's not often that firebenders stay awake late into the night. Then would be the best time for us to work, but it would be unwise to start attacking soldiers so openly."
"That's fair," Toph said, taking a sip of the beverage. "Since you two just showed up, they'd probably trace it back to you. What'll we be doing then?"
Zuko's eyes lit up. "Would you say that there are some good earthbenders here?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah, before the soldiers arrived, there were these fights where people could go and get paid if they won. I made some nice money like that." A devious smile started to form on her face. "Are we building our own army?"
"We could," Zuko said hopefully. "Right now, I don't think the three of us would be able to do much. Even if we stop every soldier here, there are more in the Fire Nation that could be sent. Besides, all of the Earth Kingdom is eventually going to be under attack. We wouldn't be able to keep that many people safe, but if there are more citizens who can defend themselves, then they wouldn't need protection."
Iroh smiled at the two young benders. "I think that would work very well. We just would need to find a place we could go without being seen."
"Leave that to me," Toph said, grinning. "We've still got underground fights that the soldiers haven't found yet. No one's getting paid this time, but it helps them let off steam and keeps the more short-tempered ones from getting themselves killed. I can take you there."
Agreeing, the trio left the home. Once outside, Toph held out her hand to stop them from going further.
"There are four soldiers about to leave that house to the right," she warned.
Like the earthbender had predicted, some soldiers exited a house, then started going down the street in the opposite direction. When they were far enough away to not hear anything, Toph spread the ground apart, creating a staircase that seemed to lead straight down into the darkness. Iroh lit a flame in his hand to light the way for himself and Zuko. They stopped when there was a large wall in front of them. Toph went over to it and knocked. An opening in the wall slid back so that voices could be heard.
"The Boulder wants to know who goes there," someone called out.
Toph sighed. "I thought you were going to stop calling yourself that when you're on guard. It tells people who you are."
The man on the other side of the wall stammered for a moment. "The Boulder has a hard time breaking habits."
With a frown, the smaller earthbender shook her head. "It's the Blind Bandit. I brought some people. They're from the Fire Nation, so tell everyone in there to not freak out."
The opening closed and a pause followed her request. Toph heard people inside arguing over what they would do.
"The point of this is to not be reminded of the Fire Nation."
"But it's the Blind Bandit. She wouldn't bring them here if she didn't trust them."
There was another short silence, then the wall moved. Zuko's eyes widened in surprise at how large the area behind it was. It went back far and wide, filled with people in peculiar-looking outfits. He assumed that was tied to the fighting that Toph had mentioned. One large man pointed at him and Iroh.
"Are you firebenders?"
"We are," Iroh admitted, "but we don't condone what has been happening here."
The people still looked suspicious. Toph gestured to the newcomers.
"We're going to start getting the other citizens to learn how to fight."
"They aren't interested in stuff like this," someone in a mask said.
"That was before soldiers barged in," Toph countered. "Now, they need to know how to fight. You all have been staying down here while everyone else is getting attacked. Yesterday, about a dozen people almost got burned alive in Tao's shop."
This made the group look regretful. They did not want to leave the others at the firebenders' mercy. It just would be difficult to know when to stop with the soldiers. Doing only enough to keep people safe and not start a war they were unequipped for was a challenging balance to achieve.
"We could bring some of the people here," Zuko suggested. "The nonbenders could be taught how to use weapons and the benders could learn how to improve their skills. You have larger numbers here than the soldiers, so if more of you are able to defend yourselves, you could push them out. I've seen it happen in the Southern Water Tribe and it worked in the North too. The soldiers being here doesn't mean that you've lost."
The fighters turned to one another before the Boulder spoke up.
"The Boulder likes the sound of fighting with our fellow citizens."
There were some agreements which could be heard in the group and the trio smiled at one another. The plan was made. Starting the next day, they would begin finding citizens with the desire to fight and they would be brought underground with the others. That would be what they did during the night until the group was ready to revolt. During the day, Zuko and Iroh would interfere in ways to prevent anyone from getting killed by the soldiers. Satisfied with the idea, the three people started to leave. They were about to wish one another good night, but Toph noticed something and grabbed Zuko's hand. She brought him behind a building, then crossed her arms.
"What?" he asked.
"I noticed that your heart was beating quickly earlier, but I just thought it was because you were nervous about the fighters trying to kill you two. It's still beating a lot. You weren't lying about this plan, were you? I'll know if you are."
Zuko's eyes widened. "You could know that?"
"Sure could, so you're better off telling me the truth. What's up?"
The boy was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "Do you think I'm betraying my people? I'm still their prince, but I'm helping start revolts against them."
Toph's suspicious frown faded. "I don't think they'd all understand why you're doing this, but I don't think you're betraying them. It doesn't really help the Fire Nation to make enemies of the whole world. You might be helping them in the long-run if the war ends. Until it does, everyone's pretty much going to want to kill the first person they see wearing red. So, peace sorta helps everyone, I guess."
A smile crossed Zuko's face, then it fell when the earthbender punched his side.
"Ow! I thought we were a team," he said in a harsh whisper.
"We are," Toph answered, grinning. "That punch just means we might become friends too."
Zuko did not entirely understand how that could be the meaning behind a blow, but he still found himself smiling.
"Okay, that would be fun."
Chuckling, Toph waved and headed off for her home. That day had not just been productive for the trio. In another part of the Earth Kingdom, Sokka, Katara, and Aang had landed with Appa.
"Let's check out the area on foot first," Sokka suggested. "We should see if the Fire Nation has spread here yet."
The benders nodded and followed after the boy. He made sure to bring the sword with them to stay on the safe side. Dramatically, Sokka went behind a tree, then rolled to pop up behind another. He did this as Aang and Katara just walked past them.
"Be stealthy, you two," he chided.
Katara sighed at him. "Sokka, no one's here. We're just in a forest."
"Which is exactly what they'd want you to think. You'll never suspect them coming."
Hearing Aang step on something that made a noise, the older boy tackled him. The airbender yelped in surprise, then looked where he had stepped.
"That was just a twig."
"Oh," Sokka said, standing up and giving Aang a hand. "Well, it was a loud twig. You should try to not step on those anyway. They could give away our position."
"They could," Katara admitted, "but I think you're just being paranoid."
She started walking ahead of the group and stopped when reaching the outside of the forest. There was a village covered in scorch marks. Sokka looked at the others with a smug expression.
"Paranoid, you say?"
Katara frowned at him and Aang peeked around them.
"I don't see any soldiers," he pointed out.
Turning their attention back to the village, the siblings realized he was right.
"They must have been able to fight them off," the waterbender said.
"That's good!" Aang said excitedly. "Maybe they have really strong earthbenders!"
The Avatar hurried into the village before either sibling could stop him. Sokka let out a deep sigh.
"He's not going to stop doing that, is he?"
Katara giggled. "Probably not, but I like how important this is to him. You can't say he doesn't have heart."
"Definitely can't," Sokka said, a small smile on his face.
They hurried after the boy. Aang kept going until he found something interesting. There were Earth Kingdom soldiers. One with a long beard noticed him and his tattoos.
"An airbender?" the man asked quietly.
The newcomer approached the group, waving. "Hi, I'm Aang."
"H-how are you still alive?"
Light in the boy's eyes dimmed. "It's a long story." Sadness was replaced with determination when he looked at the man again. "My friends and I are here to find an earthbending master. Are you one?"
"I would consider myself one, but I don't normally teach earthbending. I'm a general."
The earthbender looked past Aang, seeing the friends coming up behind him. Noticing their clothing, he felt filled with questions.
"Who's trying to learn?"
"I am."
Glancing down in shock, realization dawned on the general. "You're the Avatar?"
Aang nodded his head. A thousand thoughts went through the man's mind, then he bowed.
"My apologies for not realizing that sooner. My name is Fong and it would be an honor to become your instructor."
