Pre-Chapter A/N: I think we're at the point where it is officially no longer cool to say Happy New Year! Either way, I hope you're all still keeping up with your new year's resolutions. I'm just getting started on mine (still). Here we go with the third chapter of 2025. Lovely to have you all here, and I hope you enjoy this one. If you do, feel free to head over to pa-treon and read the next two chapters- I update there on a daily basis so there's always something for you to read. It's also a new year, so this is probably the best time to buy an annual membership on my page, if you're the kind of person that would do well with one. Have fun.
"And this is the very last one? You are completely certain?" I said, turning to Toji, even while I addressed the question to Long Feng.
"It is, Natsu. This is the last one of the rebels who went through the actual joining ceremonies. All the others are mere sympathizers who never officially joined the organisation."
"And how useful was the Princess in dismantling anisation?" I used the word very loosely. There were chaos-creators and terrorists, but organised was a word I was reluctant to use in describing them. In truth, they had been little more than pests of the annoying variety.
"Extremely. She proved surprisingly adept in infiltration, espionage, and information extraction" my gaze left Toji and returned to Azula who was looking oh so pleased with herself. Of course, she was. After the first extermination when the rodents had ended up going to ground to survive, this was the first time I was certain that the minor threat posed by the terrorists had been dealt with.
"Good. Now I will offer you a warning ahead of time. In two days, an eclipse will come. In that time, both I and the others like me will not be able to tap into our firebending. That means that a good percentage of my army will be powerless. I will have to rely on you to keep this city under control as well as ensure our safety from those who would seek to bring harm to me and mine" I said, stepping around the table to place a hand on my former-enemy's shoulder and look him in the eyes.
"I need you, Long-Feng. Can I count on you?"
"You can always count on me, Natsu. I swore it to your father to see that you had a successful career and that you would remain safe to enjoy old age" He said.
"Thank you" I replied, even knowing that he was spitting complete nonsense thanks to the brainwashing I put him through.
The rest of my preparations for the eclipse consisted of ensuring that the non-benders in the army were the ones posted at key locations on the day of the black sun. Hiding the eclipse itself would be beyond the realm of possibility, but that didn't mean I could not hide its effects as much as possible. Long experience with people told me that not much was known about bending and benders by people who didn't have the gift. Even at that, earthbenders knew little about firebending, the same way that firebenders knew little about earthbending. I'd been trying to remedy that with Toph here, expanding my horizons so to speak, but the average person was basically clueless. That meant that as long as we did not make it obvious that the eclipse meant anything to our power, then no one would be any the wiser. No one except the Avatar and his cohorts of course, I hadn't heard anything about them going into the desert, and Long Feng hadn't seen any bison up for sale even with keeping an eye out so it was possible that they wouldn't know, but I would not count on it.
The second stage of my preparations related to my own personal security. Mine and Azula's if I were, to be honest. Azula would have a rotating guard of the most skilled non-benders in the army for the whole day, so that when the eclipse came, she would be more than secure. She also had her own ability to fall back on just in case. As for me, I'd be spending the day in my office with Toji and Toph nearby. With the both of them, I was basically guaranteed to be safe. Nothing short of the Avatar and his team would manage to take out the both of them in the eight minutes that the eclipse would last for, and even that was a toss up. Sure, there was a chance that they would be overcome, and he would be killed, but he had his doubts that they would manage that — especially with just how much progress Toph had made with her metalbending in the last few months. Lava was still a fair ways away, but metal had become close to second nature at this point. She was still not yet at the smooth level of metal bending that was the norm in the Legend of Korra series and the metalbending police, but I could see the signs there — For one, she no longer needed physical contact with the metal to make it obey her will. She still needed to sense it, so no pulling airships out of the sky just yet, but all would come with time.
"And how goes the unification?" I asked Toji once I signed off on the last bits of my plan.
"The people are still resistant, but we feel we have given them enough of a waiting period that they won't get aggressive until it's really close by. I still can't see why you'd want to do this" He said.
"Hmmm. Good. Ba Sing Se only requires a single set of walls for its security. The other walls are there to divide the classes, and that is what I have an issue with. If I were going to be staying to rule as Governor, then maybe I would be forced to play nice and maintain the status quo for a bit longer, but the aftermath won't be my business".
"You're still going to piss off whoever gets the city"
"They'd thank me in the long term. What passes for upper class in this backwater does nothing to contribute to the local economy. They just sit and hoard wealth across generations. If we force them back into closer quarters with the middle and the lower classes, they'd have to spend some of that money or find some other way to move it around".
"Or it would all get stolen" He interrupted.
"And the thief will spend it, thus stimulating the economy," I replied with a shrug. "Nothing good comes from wealth being hoarded"
"You seem to be forgetting just who our families are" Toji replied and I shrugged. Hypocrisy wasn't a crime, was it?
—
In the end, the day of Black Sun came like any other. The sun rose from the East, and seemed like it would set in the west. The birds chirped and sang from rooftop to rooftop, and the food still tasted like absolute arse.
"One would wonder if the Earth Kingdom has never heard of spice before" I said, making the last spoonful I could shove down before pushing the plate away.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, this is delicious" Toph leaned over and dragged my plate towards her with one hand even as she tore through her meal with the other.
"I have to agree with Natsu on this one", Toji said, also pushing his plate away.
"Are you going to finish that?" She asked him, pointing at the plate, except that her spoon was pointed a few feet away, still he got the message.
"Knock yourself out" He replied, and she wasted no time in reaching out and grabbing the bowl of broth and bringing it towards her.
"Yeah, just have fun with that, we'll be in the office" I said as Toji and I got up.
"Is everything in order?" I asked as we walked.
"Yup. The firebenders have been briefed to not panic and not draw attention to themselves if they find themselves unable to bend at anytime during the day".
"Good. And you made sure to not mention the eclipse or link it in any way?"
"I'm not stupid."
"Never said you were. I'm sorry, this is just a lot for me."
"No one is going to attack us. No one would dare".
"That's oddly confident of you"
"You have the dai li, the Fire Nation Army, and then both Toph and I here with you. You are as safe as can be."
"We both know it's not my safety I care about. Losing Ba Sing Se would lose us everything".
"Then it's a good thing we'll be losing nothing today. Let's get to the office so you can bury your head in more dusty scrolls" I chuckled at his words. Someone, most likely Toji, had authorized an expedition into the shipwrecked remains of my fleet and been able to rescue a substantial number of scrolls and tomes. I had thought them lost, so their sudden appearance yesterday had thrown me for a loop, but I was oh so grateful for their retrieval. For one, there was the chance that they'd help me figure out combustion bending finally.
"Thank you Toji"
"You've never needed to. Don't start now" He just replied.
"Too late. I already did," I said, walking ahead of him to get to the office.
The afternoon came without much fanfare. Toph finally managed to drag herself away from her ever-growing pile of poorly seasoned meat to join us in the office, and she and Toji decided to strike up a game of chess. Pai Sho existed in this world as opposed to Chess, but very early on in life, I'd made the decision to never play the dreadful game and to burn every set I came across. The old man had managed to swindle a dozen wins in a row out of me with the game's nonsensical rules, but once I'd 'invented' chess, we found ourselves in a slightly more even situation — in that he managed to beat me once in every five games.
In school, I'd introduced the game to my friends, but Toji had been the only one to ever take to it with the same interest and passion that I did. I'd been a passable player in my first life and so that meant that beyond explaining the rules and a few basic opening principles, there was little I could do to accelerate the game's development here. Toji already won against me more often than he lost, and considering just how much trouble he was having with Toph already, the girl was something of a prodigy in the making. The fact that they played with stone pieces would probably be Toji's defence for the close win he was about to secure — maybe accuse the girl of some subtle cheating with no heat behind it.
Of course, I knew she was actually cheating. Her bishop and Knight had switched places when my friend wasn't looking. I could have called her out on it, but I wasn't the one playing and when it came to morality, I much preferred to teach her to avoid getting caught rather than to be some unimpeachable bastion of morality like most adults would expect from their children.
She would make her own mistakes with time, what was important was that she had the right set of frameworks to overcome and deal with things as they came. Of course, that thought had not even completed itself when the day suddenly began to darken. I gasped as I felt my hold on my inner flame slip for a few seconds before reasserting itself and then slipping again.
"It's time?" Toph asked, as I nearly fell to my knees from the internal loss.
"Yes. Yes, it is" I replied even as I walked to the balcony with lead feet.
I stood and watched as the moon moved to completely cover the sun from view as the day seemed to turn to evening in just a few seconds. Whatever precarious hold I'd managed over my inner flame had disappeared like it was never there.
Even without trying, I knew that. I would not be able to generate even the smallest wisp of flame. Internal firebending was also impossible. To put it succinctly, since the day I entered the academy, I had never been so vulnerable. Even that version of me, soft as a cloud and raw as red meat, would have had an easy time killing me in my present state. I instantly took a step back from the balcony as I realised that I would never be able to react to an arrow in time without heat enhancing my internal speed and reactions. I returned to my seat, even as Toji and Toph stared directly at the eclipse. With any luck, this would be the last one I ever experienced. I turned to my hourglass, specially created to run for eight minutes for this exact purpose, and flipped it.
Like that had been a signal, there was a sudden knocking at the door. I turned to Toji and lifted an eyebrow as he picked up his spear and went towards the door while trying to use sign language to communicate with Toph to ask questions. "She's blind, you idiot" I pointed out, and he facepalmed as he realised that there was no chance anyone had taught a blind girl how to speak sign language. He leaned towards her and began to whisper instead, and his smile died when he got the answer he was looking for before he marched towards the door.
He opened it, and two of the remaining men in my division, Lin and Yang walked in with two men behind them.
"General Natsu Sir, Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation Royal Family insists on seeing you" Yang said as he walked in and stepped aside for the two men behind him to step forwards. I stared at them, and then turned to look at the sun as it presently stood, covered by the moon. My hourglass seemed to have about seven minutes of time left in it. Finally, my gaze turned to the two idiots.
"Do you know the men you have brought to me?" I asked, feeling a headache building.
"The Prince of the Fire Nation, Sir."
"And the man with him? Do you know who that is?" I asked, rubbing my temple. Toji already had his spear pointed at our 'guests' while Toph was adopting a more relaxed posture but seemed to also understand what was going on to some extent.
"No, Sir."
"Look at him closely, really look. Nothing's familiar about that hair and that face?" I asked, even as the men who had basically barged into my office seemed on the verge of laughter.
"Ahhhh. Lin, It's Jeong-Jeong the betrayer" the larger one said, turning to his partner.
"There's no way it could be him" The thin one replied, before looking even closer and exclaiming in shock.
"What's Jeong-Jeong the betrayer doing here" Yang asked his fellow, and before more foolishness could ensue, I cleared my throat.
"Get out." I snarled at the both of them, patience at its last straw. Turning to the traitors, I pointedly asked, "And what the hell do you two want?"
"Now, Natsu my boy, I'd expected a much more agreeable welcome than this" the Old General spoke out.
"It's General Natsu to you, Prince Iroh" I instantly replied.
"General Natsu, then. I assure you we just came to talk. Why else would the two of us, Firebenders one and all, come at this auspicious moment" He said.
"And what stops me from having my companions kill you where you stand?"
"Me." Jeong-Jeong said.
"I have no idea what you might think, but I am not so attached to you, my former teacher, that I would ignore the chance to do my duty to my Nation," I said with a scoff.
"Not that, of course. But last I checked, you've never beaten me in a spar before. Will you truly have others do the act for you when you could wait a few minutes and get the chance to collect my head yourself, with your own two hands?" He argued, and I knew then that they had come prepared for me. I had a strong feeling that I was stronger than Iroh and Jeong-Jeong put together, but how would I ever test that if I missed this opportunity that stood right in front of me?
Toji turned his head to look at me, and I could already see the rage building in his eyes as he thought about the order I was about to give.
"Toji, Toph. Bring me their heads" I ordered even as everything within me rebelled at the thought. Jeong-Jeong looked too surprised to move in time, but the old general was wise and wiley. He grabbed a hold of the other man's arm and jumped backwards, smashing through the door behind them with a row.
"Well, I can admit that I didn't see this one coming" He said, voice echoing behind him as he ran down the hallway. Toph stomped her foot on the ground, making a wall that blocked their continued path.
"What the-" Toph began before being silenced as a geyser of some sort shot through the wall, and it gave space for two men, one dressed in the classic water style parka that made him stick out like a sore thumb while the other was dressed in the same casual trousers and tunic combination that had been popular among the upper class when I had left the Fire Nation for war. Pakku, and Piandao, I concluded. The water smashed through the boulders that Toph sent their way, while Piandao jumped in front of his firebending friends and blocked the stab of Toji's spear that had been about to make Iroh a very dead man.
"We could have decided this all over tea, you know?" Iroh said, even as Toph lifted a wall from the ground to block a series of icicles that threatened to turn the both of us into a pincushion.
"Decided what?" I yelled back, slightly curious.
"The terms of your surrender, of course." He replied blithely, and I could not help it, I burst into laughter at that.
"We've won, old man. The Fire Nation has won. The war is over. The only part of the world that isn't under our flag is the Northern Water Tribe, and I wonder how long they will manage to hold out when one of their foremost masters loses his life miles away from home in Ba Sing Se, of all places."
"Just as shortsighted as your father, my boy. I am here. Where do you think the Avatar and my Nephew are right now? One way or another, Zuko will sit the throne by tomorrow, and the war will come to an end. The only thing that is in question is what happens to you after that" he said, and the fighting seemed to freeze as both my companions processed his words.
Iroh, sensing his opportunity, spoke here, "Surrender now. Return Ba Sing Se to its King, my Nephew will pardon you of your crimes, and you can retire to a long life on your family's lands" He said.
A/N: I debated it for a long time- whether to have Natsu do the logical thing here or not. He wants to fight them himself. He wants to fight them more than he has probably wanted anything in his life, most likely. But I had to look at his values- Natsu values logic and common sense even while he might not exhibit those traits all the time. I think he'd do the sensible thing here and move on them while they have the eclipse. By the way, in case you're wondering, the White Lotus' plan was for Iroh and Jeong-Jeong to find Natsu and keep him distracted while the others moved in and delivered the killing blow. As always, the following two chapters are up on pa-treon. If you just want to read complete chapters and not my work in real-time, then feel free to purchase this story as a collection on my pa-treon page so you get to read each chapter after I finish it and not neecessarily the daily updates avalable with a regular pa-treon membership- nice way to support this story and me while you're at it. Enjoy!