Chapter Seven: Casting of the Dice
Katara was waiting in the shadows as Mai approached the group. There was Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Appa. Even Momo was following in smaller chains. Toph was wearing bindings of wood, and her feet were covered in padding. She must have been completely blind.
She resisted the urge to go in right away. Now wasn't the time.
Mai approached.
"Are these them?" asked Mai.
"Yes, milady." said the soldier. "These are the Avatar and his friends."
"Good." said Mai. "Leave us, at once."
"But..." began the soldier.
"Now, soldier." said Mai.
They bowed their heads and left the courtyard. Mai motioned to Katara, who emerged. As she did, Mai unlocked the manacles.
"What are you doing?" asked Sokka.
"Releasing you, obviously." said Mai. "Zuko wants you alive."
"So you-" began Aang.
"Don't say anything." said Mai. "We want to make this look like an escape."
Katara moved forward. Unleashing her water, she slashed through the chains quickly. She then smashed Mai back with a tendril of water. She then promptly freed Toph.
"Guards! The avatar is getting away!" cried Mai. "Get them!"
At that moment the guards rushed out of the room. Toph stamped the ground and sent a wave of dirt that knocked them back. Then they leaped onto Appa, who surged into the air. Several firebolts shot toward them, but Aang knocked them back with the wind.
Then they were out, surging out over the sea. No one showed up to stop them, and they surged out to freedom.
"Katara, what is going on here?" asked Sokka.
"Zuko beat Azula is an Agni Kai so he's having you released." said Katara. "He had the guard removed so we could get away."
"Couldn't he just, I dunno, have us released?" asked Sokka. "He's the Firelord now, isn't he?"
"The Fire Nation hates us, Sokka." said Toph. "He probably doesn't want to deal with making an unpopular decision, so he'll have Katara do an escape."
"So what do we do now? Zuko's on the throne?" asked Sokka.
"Well he wants us to find the Earth King so he can make a truce." said Katara. She paused. "But..."
"But what?" asked Sokka.
"Well... haven't we kind of lost?" asked Katara. "I mean, the Fire Nation has conquered the whole world."
"Well Zuko is Firelord now." said Aang, trying to look hopeful. "If he says the colonies go back to the Earth Kingdom, they will."
"It doesn't work that way, Twinkletoes." said Toph. "Zuko may be Firelord, but he still has to make people want to serve him."
"So?" asked Sokka. "There are plenty of good people in the Fire Nation. Remember Master Piandao?"
"Yes, but those people have grown up thinking how great the war is." said Toph. "In their minds the Fire Nation conquering everything is good. Remember the Ember Island players?"
Sokka and Aang shuddered. "...How can we forget?"
"Too... much... hope..." said Aang, clutching his head.
"The point is that if Zuko gives back all the colonies he won't last long as Firelord." said Toph. "They'll put Azula back on the throne or something as a puppet."
Aang looked up to her. "Katara, do you think we can trust Zuko?"
Katara thought long and hard about that question. She had been thinking about it for a while. "...Yes, I do. He didn't have to let us go. If he was as bad as I thought he was he could have just as easily had us all locked away.
"He's not quite as big a jerk as he could have been, anyway."
Aang looked to Sokka. "So what do we do, Sokka?"
"...Well the way I see it, the Fire Nation has completely won the war." said Sokka. "But they still have to run it. If we can make them think it's more trouble than it's worth to keep it, they might negotiate."
"So what do we do?" asked Aang.
"Well first we've got to get in contact with the Earth Kingdom resistance." said Sokka. "Maybe we can try to take back Ba Sing Se or something."
"What about Sozin's Comet?" asked Katara. "That's coming pretty soon, isn't it?"
"Well Zuko isn't going to burn down the Earth Kingdom, so we're good there." said Sokka. "He's not crazy like Ozai. He's probably just going to spend his time throwing a huge party or something."
The general stared in shock. "What do you mean your canceling burning down the Earth Kingdom?"
Zuko felt that ought to have been obvious. "I mean we're not burning down the Earth Kingdom."
"But Firelord, we've spent weeks planning an attack!" said the general. "We're only targetting centers of resistance!"
Zuko sighed. "Centers of resistance that are highly populated. I'm not going to start my reign by massacring my subjects."
"They're Earth Peasants." said the general.
"They're people." said Zuko.
The general rubbed his chin. Then he looked back to the map. "...I suppose we could focus the airships on the assault on the North Pole, then. It would make our victory certain."
"And another thing. We will not be conquering the North Pole." said Zuko.
The general looked annoyed. "Why not?"
Zuko considered how to spin this. "We have gained a massive amount of territory in a small amount of time. I intend to consolidate our gains before we make any more aggressive moves."
"As you wish, Firelord." said the general. "But we still should find a way to make use of Sozin's Comet. It is a window of opportunity."
Zuko was saved from having to answer when the doors were flung open. A man rushed in. "Firelord Zuko! We have a serious problem!"
Zuko looked up. "What is it?"
"It's New Ozai, the city has fallen!" said the man.
Zuko blinked in surprise. "To whom?"
"The Mad King Bumi, he broke free from the metal and drove our forces out!" said the soldier. "There was a solar eclipse that knocked out our power! They were captured by the resistance around the city! The entire Kingdom has been retaken!"
The generals looked to him. "Firelord, if we allow Bumi to do this we'll face a host of similar rebellions very quickly! We have to act!"
"And this is why I didn't want to overextend ourselves." said Zuko. "Ready the airships. We'll find Bumi. If we can lure him into a decisive battle when Sozin's Comet arrives we can destroy his standing forces.
"And we must locate the Earth King. If we can find him he may be a valuable bargaining piece." He paused, as Mai entered the room. "Leave me."
They left. Mai walked forward. "Well, the Avatar is away. So what now, Zuko?"
Zuko clasped his hands together and considered things. "...This is just perfect timing, isn't it? If this rebellion had just waited a few weeks, I could have found a peaceful way out of this."
"We could probably use this as an excuse to abandon Ba Sing Se." noted Mai. She didn't sound enthusiastic.
"It would be a rout. A humiliation for the Fire Nation." said Zuko. "My sister could use that." The question had been a test by Mai, hadn't it? She wasn't sure he was fit for the job. "What would Uncle do here?"
"I don't know." admitted Mai. "But I think we both know what the Dragon of the West would do."
Find the main concentration of the enemy. And crush it. Zuko had studied Uncle's campaigns. Though it was difficult to imagine Uncle conducting them. "You think we should crush Bumi?"
"Once we've crushed him the Fire Nation can do anything it wants." said Mai. "You can do anything you want, Zuko. Do we really need to give up what we won?"
Zuko considered things. "The other elements are not inferior like we were taught, Mai. We've made them hate us. They don't see our greatness at all."
Mai scoffed. "Please. The Earth Kingdom is a backward society if ever there was one. Most of the population lives as uneducated peasants. The ones' who dwell in the cities are terrorized by the Dai Li. Women are forced into subservience while their soldiers are little more than thugs.
"And they're rulers are incompetent. Until this year the Earth King didn't even know he was at war.
"I doubt we could run the place any worse if we tried."
And then the doors were thrown open, and Azula strode into the room, Ty Lee behind her. "Well spoken Mai. You filthy traitor."
Just what he needed. "Azula, what are you doing here?" asked Zuko.
"Oh I thought I might see how things are." said Azula, seeming a bit unsteady, "The Word was that we were going to put down some rebellions. I thought I might offer my advice."
"The last time I listened to your advice I betrayed Uncle in Ba Sing Se." said Zuko coldly.
"Yes, and now you're Firelord." said Azula. "It was pretty clever actually, drugging me like that. What I don't understand is how you intimidated everyone. Go them to pretend like it didn't happen."
"Nobody likes you." said Mai flatly.
"What was that?" snapped Azula.
"You heard me, Azula." said Mai. "Nobody likes you. You treat your servants like dirt. You took Ty Lee and me for granted for years after recruiting us by the threat of force. The only reason people work for you at all is that they're afraid of you.
"Zuko didn't convince them not to investigate it, Azula. They talked him out of investigating what happened. Face it, Azula, nobody is afraid of you anymore."
Azula summoned her flames. "They should be!"
Zuko thought he'd have to get involved, but Ty Lee stepped between them. The fire died. "Azula wait a minute. Um, we really shouldn't do this."
Azula was held in place, looking deranged. "...So be it." She looked at Zuko. "So, brother, what is your plan now?"
Zuko considered what he should do if he were a follower of the Avatar. But if he acted like that he'd fall from power. So he considered what he should do as a Firelord. That he could do. "I will go to the Earth Kingdom. Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, I have a job for you."
"What is it?" asked Azula.
"There is a bounty hunter named June." said Zuko. "She has a beast who can locate anyone's scent, no matter how far away. I will need you to locate Uncle." He drew out a letter he had written and tossed it to Mai. "Give him this. And Mai, tell him that I wish to beg his forgiveness in person and need his advice on how to end the war."
"What's in the letter?" asked Azula.
"Full pardon, of course." said Zuko.
Azula scoffed. "Right, we're about to crush the rebellion and you want me on a scavenger hunt. Are you trying to waste my time?"
"Yes." said Zuko. "If I put you on the fleet, you'll try to hijack it and burn something to the ground. If I leave you back in the Fire Nation you'll try to start a coup.
"I'm sure you'd somehow succeed."
Azula laughed at that, sounding a little deranged. "You flatter me. Fine, I'll play along and find Uncle." And she stalked out, followed by Ty Lee.
Mai watched her go. "Do you think she knows Ty Lee is following her on your orders, Zuko?"
"My sister is unstable." said Zuko. "And it doesn't matter. Ty Lee will keep her stable. And restrain her if she goes too far."
Mai looked to Zuko with narrowed eyes. "Zuko, what are you going to do if Iroh's solution to the problem is to give up all the colonies? We've spent a hundred years winning this war. Is the Fire Nation really going to give it all up to those savages?"
Zuko didn't know the answer. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, Mai. Let's deal with the problem at hand."
Mai bowed. "As you command, Firelord."
Events were now in motion. Zuko just hoped they weren't walking into a mass bloodletting. He was hoping to end the war without any more death. With a bit of luck he might even manage it.
Zuko was never lucky.
Author's Note:
And here we have the next chapter. This is mostly setup for the real event.