Chapter Sixteen

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For the first time in a long time, Ozai wore red.

He lounged on the Badgermole Throne, awaiting the return of his agents. He wanted his wife safe, and she would want their children safe, before he dealt with Xin Wan and Long Feng.

The door to the throne room swung ponderously open. A Dai Li escorted Azula in, his daughter clearly seething. "Father!" she snarled as soon as she was within shouting distance. "What have you done with Katara?"

Ozai tilted his head slightly in bemusement. Of all the things to open a conversation with. "Who?"

"The Avatar's waterbender friend." Azula glared at him and crossed her arms. "This idiot won't tell me anything about her! He says you know where she is, so where is she?" A beat. "-And what is going on?"

"Oh, her. You threw her in prison, didn't you?"

The Dai Li agent nodded in confirmation, and Ozai glanced back at his daughter. Fury twisted her expression, and heat rose from her shoulders in waves.

"Well, let her go!" she demanded. "Katara's my friend!"

Ozai blinked.

"Father!"

Was she going to stomp her foot? He was fairly certain she'd grown out of such temper tantrums years ago. Not that he had much to do with his children when they were angry. Ursa seemed to think he taught them bad habits.

"Azula," he said patiently, "I'm using her as bait for the Avatar. When I capture him, I'll be more than happy to let your little friend go."

"You can't capture Aang!" Azula stomped her foot hard, blackening the stone tile with a burst of blue fire.

-What? Ozai tried to wrap his mind around the idea that Azula even knew the Avatar's name, much less cared enough about the man to use it. Even that was more comprehensible than- Well, why couldn't he capture the Avatar? "Speak quickly."

"He's going to teach me to firebend," she hissed. "Something you and Mother won't."

Ozai considered that. It would mean neither he nor Ursa would have to bother with retraining their daughter or finding a trainer for her. It would also give them a pair of eyes and ears (and fists) around the Avatar at all times. "I will-"

A Dai Li agent burst into the throne room. "Prince Ozai, the Avatar is here!"

Ozai smiled. "Excellent."

Through the stone walls and heavy tiles of the Earth King's Palace, he felt the sun high above. He inhaled, fanning sparks to life, then lunged to his feet. His arms came forward, lightning born on his fingertips-

Two white bolts crackled through the throne room, and the two Dai Li agents flew back, holes burned through their chests.

Azula stared at him with wide eyes.

Ozai clapped his hands to summon a page.

A timid-looking boy scurried in and bowed low before him. Even when he straightened, the boy kept his eyes firmly on the foot of the dais.

"Tell them to free the waterbender," Ozai ordered as he sank back onto his throne. "Have her brought here."

The boy scurried out, and Azula gaped at him. "Father?" she asked in a small voice. "What's going on?"

"I've conquered Ba Sing Se."

Before Azula could respond to that, three children burst into the throne room. A little girl in Earth Kingdom greens, a young man in Water Tribe blues, and a -

A boy in Air Nomad colors with monks' tattoos.

They paused at the sight of the Dai Li corpses, and the Air Nomad turned distinctly green. The Water Tribe boy didn't look particularly bothered, and the little girl didn't seem to really look at them at all. He wasn't even sure how much she could see with her bangs over her eyes like that.

"Oma!" the Water Tribe boy shouted, stepping forward with a silver boomerang in hand. "Get back! That guy took Katara!"

Azula stiffened, and Ozai watched with interest as her eyes flickered from him to the floor and back up again. Then she smiled, quick and vicious, before letting it vanish. "Father said he would let her go."

"-What?"

She turned on her heels and spread her hands. "Aang, Sokka, Toph- this is my father, Second Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation."

The Air Nomad boy looked shellshocked, while the Water Tribe boy's eyes narrowed. The Earth Kingdom girl stared vaguely in his direction, tilting her head slightly. A bit of her hair moved, and he saw one milky eye.

Well, wasn't that dangerous.

"Six years ago, Firelord Azulon ordered my father to kill my older brother," Azula continued, her voice full of a sadness he didn't remember her exhibiting at the time. "He refused - what kind of monster could kill his own son?"

The Air Nomad boy bit his lip, looking even more concerned and upset. "Azula..."

"Seriously, Aang, are you going to let us in on where you got that from?" The Water Tribe boy glanced at the Earth Kingdom girl. "Toph?"

"She's telling the truth," she replied. "'Course, Sparky, that doesn't explain why he's taken over Ba Sing Se."

Ozai stepped in smoothly so his daughter could keep her little game going. If they played this right, he could get the Avatar to leave Ba Sing Se entirely peaceably and convinced he was a decent man. "You are aware Sozin's Comet will return at the end of this summer?"

The children nodded, the Water Tribe boy glaring at him and the Air Nomad boy dithering with his staff.

"Where do you think my father's armies will strike hardest then?" Ozai made a gesture to encompass the entire city. "The weakened Water Tribes? Or the city that has withstood his armies for a hundred years? The city half the Earth Kingdom has flocked to? One of the strongest-beating hearts of the Earth Kingdom?"

The children paled, and Ozai fought the urge to smile.

"But there is no need to strike Ba Sing Se if it already belongs to the Fire Nation." Ozai leaned back in his throne. "To me, it would be a terrible thing for Ba Sing Se to be obliterated."

What had Ursa said once? 'Your lies are so charming because you phrase them truthfully.'

The Water Tribe boy glowered at him dubiously. "Yeah, and those two bodies are what, signs of your good intentions?"

Ozai shrugged. "The Dai Li are evil men. You ought to know this."

"Where's Katara?" the Air Nomad boy demanded, stepping forward. "If you're such a good guy, why have you taken her?"

"To bring you here."

That answer flummoxed the children. Even Azula glanced back over her shoulder at him, puzzlement on her face. He said nothing more, merely waited until the page arrived leading the Water Tribe girl. The page bowed and scurried out, and the Water Tribe girl flung herself at his daughter in a hug.

"Oma! I've been so worried about you."

Azula looked as surprised as he felt, then she tentatively wrapped her arms around the other girl.

Seriously, he was paying Lok too much if all this had been going on in the past few weeks.

Soon the children were all wrapped up in a hug-ball with many excited exclamations at seeing the Water Tribe girl and was she all right and could they get out of his throne room and go annoy his father sometime soon?

"Now that you're all reunited," Ozai said, interrupting them, "what are you intending to do?"

Azula clenched her fists. "Aang and I are going to learn to firebend, Father."

He almost expected her to add 'and you can't stop me', but evidently she hadn't taken complete leave of her sanity. "Very well. Go. Enjoy yourself. Write, or your mother will be worried."

The children just stared.

"That's it?" the Water Tribe boy said. "We just... go?"

"Now," Ozai added. "Quickly."

"-Right! Aang, let's get out of here. Seriously, this city sucks."

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Once the children left, Ozai disposed of the Dai Li corpses then summoned his page again. "Send a message to Lok in the Middle Ring, on the Street of Ostrich-Horses, near the Thirty-Fifth Earth King's temple. Tell him Miss Oma has left the city in the company of the Avatar, and his contract with me has not been terminated. Oh, and send Lady Joo Dee to attend me."

The page bowed in acknowledgment and left.

Shortly thereafter, a Lady Joo Dee entered the throne room with two young women wearing actor's makeup. Then the one with the sheathed sword across her back gaped at him.

"-Father?"

"-Zuko?" He studied the girl- boy closely. Yes, despite the dress, makeup, and the gold pins holding up Zuko's curiously undone hair, that was his son. The other girl also looked faintly familiar, though he couldn't place her under all that getup.

Ozai was sure there was an explanation for this, but after Azula, he really didn't want to know.

"Where's Azula?" Zuko asked. "She said she was going to find the Avatar, and we saw his sky-bison coming this way..."

No, he really didn't. "They left already. You just missed them."

The unknown girl stared at him while Zuko cursed. He raised an eyebrow in response.

"We'll never catch up with her on a sky-bison!" Zuko snarled, a lick of flame coming from between his lips.

Ozai frowned at that display of his son's lack of control with his firebending. That was not acceptable for a prince of the Fire Nation. Quickly, he made his decision. "They are going to seek a firebending master. That means they must go into Fire Nation territory. A sky-bison would be a liability."

Zuko bit one painted lip. "-If we can get out of the city quickly, we can probably catch up with her."

"Lady Joo Dee," he said, his eyes lingering on the unknown girl. He couldn't be certain from this far away, but he did not think she was an Earth Kingdom girl. "See that a carriage takes my son and his companion to one of the train-stations going to the Great Outer Wall, and see they are given ostrich-horses when they leave the city."

"As you wish, my lord."

"Thank you, Father," Zuko said with a smile. He bowed in the proper Fire Nation style, then nudged his companion to do the same.

Ozai waved a hand magnaminously. "Go. Write, or your mother will worry. Lady Joo Dee, I will need you when you're done."

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Joo Dee returned shortly, and Ozai smiled as he rose from his throne. "Would you be so kind as to introduce me to Xin Wan?"

"Of course!"

It took them less than half an hour in a carriage to reach the small, elegant Upper Ring home. Joo Dee knocked smartly on the door, and a smiling man soon came to open it. He was a plain man, except for that smile that could chill blood, and his eyes were far too intrigued for Ozai's tastes.

"Do come in," the man said. "I've just made tea."

Ozai smiled and touched Joo Dee's arm. "Only a moment. I must pay my respects to Commander Hyo soon. Lady Joo Dee, will you see the carriage remains ready?"

She nodded, and he stepped inside the man's house. Xin Wan smiled and gestured to the ewer Ozai could use to wash his feet with then turned towards the far door. "Let me fetch the tea."

It took two strides to reach him, and Ozai yanked the green-hilted dagger out from his sleeve, grabbed the man's braid to yank his head back, and slit his throat. Spikes exploded from the floor and walls then died half-formed.

He wiped his blade clean on the man's shirt and let the corpse drop. "You people are too used to thinking in circles. You didn't expect me to be this direct at all, did you?"

Corpses were incapable of speech when all was well, and all was well today, so he received no answer.

###

Back at the Earth King's palace, Ozai went to visit Commander Hyo. The man's office was empty, however, and questioning one of the omnipresent Joo Dee secretaries revealed the commander had left some time ago. Of course he would return by tomorrow at the very latest, they assured him. Commander Hyo was a very diligent commander. He would never neglect his duty.

Ozai just smiled and made note to find out if the records had the man's home listed. They seemed to have everything else recorded in this city.

On his way back to the throne room, the two Dai Li agents who had been sent to fetch Ursa caught up with him. "Sir, your wife is in the Palace of Eternal Beauty's bath-house right now."

He raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"We found her on the losing side of a firebending fight against the Dragon of the West."

Ozai blinked.

The younger Dai Li added, almost hesitantly. "We took him into custody, sir. He's in the crystal prison until you decide what to do with him."

"Let him rot." He would have to deal with Iroh eventually, he knew. But not immediately. "Now take me to my wife."

###

The Palace of Eternal Beauty turned out to be one of the secondary palaces in the whole complex that formed the Earth King's Palace. The bath-house occupied the entire northwest corner of the building, and he had to hunt through several rooms before he found Ursa soaking in a steaming tub.

He took a moment to frankly admire his wife. The scars of past Agni Kais peppered her limbs and belly, her body well-formed and graceful, her face beautiful. Age and children had rounded her hips and breasts, and everything about her still filled him with desire. He loved her, beyond all reason, as the greatest heroes in Fire Nation tales did.

One eye cracked open, and she regarded him with irritation. "Deares. What is going on?"

"I've conquered Ba Sing Se."

She sat up abruptly, sloshing water out of the tub and onto the floor. "What?"

"I've conquered Ba Sing Se," he repeated. "Well, there is something for me to clean up first, but the hard work is all done."

She stared at him.

"You did say I should find a way to get us home," he pointed out.

Ursa just slumped back in the tub. "So I did." She sighed. "Well, go clean up whatever it is you need to do, then come scrub my back."

Ozai grinned. "Of course."

###

Sang Min caught up with him at the Meridian Gate. Frantically, he grabbed Hyo by his bad arm hard enough to bruise. "Hyo-sir!"

"Agent?" Hyo gave Sang Min's hand a cold look until the younger man removed it. "What is the matter?"

"Don't go back," Sang Min hissed. "He's killing Dai Li. Qin and his squad are dead, and I can't find any trace of Tai or Duyi."

His blood ran cold. "-Long Feng."

"Jae went to fetch him an hour ago," Sang Min said very quietly, and Hyo knew by that answer that Jae hadn't returned.

He saw his own fear reflected in Sang Min's eyes, and part of him screamed to rescue his friend. But if they both died, there would be no one to take care of the Dai Li, no one to fight back against the Fire Nation.

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Long Feng waited patiently. He was aware one of his Dai Li should have come for him some time ago, but plans could go awry. Until such time as his Dai Li dealt with the Fire prince, he could stay out of their way and not risk the most important part of this gamble.

His eyes snapped up when his cell door rasped open, and he was on his feet when Prince Ozai strode inside. The man smiled.

A cold prickle of fear ran up Long Feng's spine. He pulled at the stone manacles Hyo had brought that morning, dragging them down into gloves around his hands-

Ozai was upon him in a trice, breaking one wrist and pinning the other behind his back. Heat came off the man in waves, and sweat gathered at Long Feng's temples. He stomped hard, gratified at the crunch of foot bones under his heel, but the Fire prince did not flinch back. Instead, he made a small 'heh' sound.

It sank into Long Feng that he had made a terrible mistake in trying to use this man.

"You Earthfolk," Ozai said conversationally, "you keep expecting me to think like you do. It's almost insulting."

Long Feng didn't reply. He could move his broken wrist freely, agonizing as it was, and he threw a small rock saw at the Fire prince. It was an awkward angle, and he heard rather than saw Ozai destroy it with a spit of flame.

Then Ozai broke his arm in three places.

Black swam in front of his eyes, and Ozai struck him across the back of the knees. Long Feng fell, his broken arm landing at an awkward angle on the metal floor, and screamed.

Ozai laughed softly and seized his good arm again, twisting it up behind his back almost farther than the joint would bend. "Stop fighting. This will be quicker if you don't."

In a haze of pain, Long Feng almost thought the metal was singing.

Then a too-hot hand cupped his cheek and ignited.

-End-

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who has read this story to the end. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

Yes, there's a sequel coming. I'm not sure when - I've got a few other projects on my plate to take care of first. Plus, I'm going to have to be a lot clearer on the changes to the timeline because of "Ember, Ash, and Kindling" than I was going in. But there will definitely be a sequel at some point, and I'm going to try to handle it better than I did a few of the sections in here.