Ashes of Devotion [ATLA - Azula x OC]

[Sharker117]

Long Feng, Earth King, and basically all remaining nobles and military heads are dealt with, and the last symbol of the Earth kingdom has joined the Fire nation, the remaining EK opposition can be considered minor or insignificant.

TIME FOR SOME SHENANGANS.

Is it gonna be Ozai, FN Royal Courtiers, FN anti royal nobles, Northern water tribe, white lotus, or maybe Azula's planned coup.
Something is gonna go wrong, and it probably won't be the gaang, at least not their idea and not alone.

 

[Lucernello]

Was that the dowager queen, or was the king married?

Click to shrink...

It was Kuei's mother, who was considered Earth Queen still. He was not married, unless you count his bear as his queen, heh

Also, first comment by Mr Goat himself... I've been blessed.

 

[Lucernello]

AN: Sorry for the day delay, I played too many games lately. My bad.

Art by Aurora:

Enjoy,
Luce
​

---

99 A.G

Dear Fire Lord,

Father, I'm sending this letter through unknown means, mercenaries and the right payment, with the hopes that you will receive it this time. This is indeed troubling. We need to be more careful, this miscommunication between ourselves means that our correspondence might have been intercepted.

It reeks of someone trying to destabilize the nation in hopes of taking over, probably desperation now that the war is almost over and your rule would be more than secure. Once I'm back we are cleaning house.

Your daughter, Crown Princess Azula.

Ozai burned the letter instantly after reading it, his fury making the fire rows that sat behind the throne rise to the ceiling. When he managed to calm down, all of what was left was more paranoia and worry than before.

His anxiousness had been growing in him over the last several months. If anything, knowing that Azula had noticed the same pattern from the other side of the continent only confirmed that there was a clear threat in the Fire Nation itself.

It was frustrating him to no end. The war was finally approaching its conclusion after a century of resistance, Ba Sing Se had fallen, and with it, the Earth Kingdom as a whole was toppled down as well.

Everything that should have secured Ozai's rule for the rest of his life was falling into place, and yet at the exact moment victory seemed certain, people he had trusted for years were suddenly being exposed as thieves, liars and traitors.

Officials had been discovered hiding wealth from the state, noble families had evaded military drafts for their relatives, military suppliers had moved assets through intermediaries to avoid taxation, while others had been accused of selling influence or maintaining private agreements that directly undermined the crown.

The amount uncovered in such a short period had been found by the intelligence network Azula had encouraged him to create and expand. She had insisted that the Fire Nation needed better internal surveillance if they were going to manage a larger empire after the war, and Ozai had agreed, but he had never expected such results.

Several investigations suggested that the misconduct had been happening for years, sometimes even before Ozai had taken the throne. His previous systems had been remarkably incompetent for some of the people surrounding him had been disloyal from the very beginning.

He had started wondering whether that could explain why the war had stagnated for so long despite the Fire Nation's technological and military superiority. Perhaps officials had been stealing resources intended for the war effort, officers had been protecting relatives instead of sending capable men where they were needed, and noble families had spent decades serving themselves while pretending to serve the crown.

After each successful investigation, a myriad of people ended up being removed and or executed for their crimes, depending on the severity of it. Ozai had dealt with each case decisively, but the amount of them had made him reconsider his plan for the future.

While some positions were stripped, assets seized and families investigated where necessary, the replacements were hard to find, especially now that he didn't know who was loyal to him or not.

On paper, the process had strengthened his control and removed corrupt elements before the end of the war, but in practice, it had left him with little control of the people in the highest positions of power, for the people closest to him were now gone.

He felt he couldn't trust anyone anymore and even the attendants inside the palace had begun drawing his attention. A servant remaining inside a room for several seconds too long could make him wonder what the person had been listening for.

An attendant handling his meals could suddenly seem more dangerous than they had the week before, while guards who whispered among themselves were enough for him to exile them to the colonies with their honor stripped.

Ozai knew that some of the suspicion was probably excessive, but ignoring the possibility of betrayal would be even more foolish. With Azula commanding forces far from the capital and the useless son of his banished, a successful assassination would create exactly the kind of vacuum his enemies could exploit.

Azula remained his heir, but she would not be able to return immediately if something happened, and the absence of a suitable prince inside the capital would give ambitious families time to move before she could secure the throne.

Someone might already be counting on that and planning to remove him. The possibility increased in his head with each new appointment that was elected. If those officials he had blindly trusted had been corrupt, there was no telling what these new ones would do.

His daughter believed someone was attempting to destabilize the nation before victory made Ozai's position untouchable, and while he found himself agreeing with her assessment, he didn't know how to secure it now.

At least the end of the war gave him the luxury of focusing on the problem properly. Once Azula returned, they could compare everything she had learned with the investigations already underway and begin removing anyone whose loyalty remained questionable.

Once she returned, they were going to focus on stabilizing their power and elevating those who would stay loyal to their family, no matter who it angered.
​

---

Aang had been dreaming about fire, surrounded by darkness while flames appeared far ahead and slowly illuminated the outline of someone standing inside them. He could not make out the figure properly until he moved closer and recognized the familiar robes, beard and stern expression of Avatar Roku.

The dream came in broken fragments and he had to figure out its meaning. Roku would appear before him, disappear behind smoke, and then return somewhere else while images flashed around them too quickly for Aang to understand everything he was being shown. A mountain covered in snow appeared several times, followed by the familiar shape of an Air Temple built along its cliffs, and after a few moments Aang recognized it as the Northern Air Temple.

Seeing it again only made the dream feel stranger, especially when Roku repeatedly pointed toward it and tried to guide his attention there. The clearest part of the message came near the end, when Aang understood that he needed to reach the temple before the winter solstice.

He woke suddenly and nearly sat upright before remembering where he was. Everyone else remained asleep around the small camp they had made for the night, with Katara and Sokka wrapped beneath their blankets while Haru slept closer to the fire. Appa rested farther away, his breathing loud enough that Aang was surprised anybody could sleep through it.

Raizo was already awake and sitting across from him, watching with a concerned expression after apparently noticing Aang moving around. When Aang opened his mouth to speak, Raizo slowly raised one finger against his lips and glanced toward the others, prompting Aang to stay quiet while everyone continued sleeping.

Raizo stood, stretched his legs and walked away from the camp before moving his head slightly to indicate that Aang should follow him. Aang carefully climbed out of his blankets and followed until they were far enough away that they could speak without waking anyone.

The older man stopped near a group of rocks and turned toward him, crossing his arms while Aang rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"So, what happened?" Raizo asked. "You looked like you were trying to fight someone in your sleep."

"I've been having dreams for a while, but this one was clearer." Aang looked back toward the camp before continuing. "Avatar Roku was there again. I think he's trying to tell me something."

"Your previous life?"

Aang nodded. "He keeps showing me the Northern Air Temple. I saw the mountain and the temple built into it, and he kept pointing toward it. I don't really know why, but I feel like I need to go there before the winter solstice."

Raizo thought about it for a moment. "The solstice is in two weeks' time…"

"Yes, that's not very long."

"Well… we probably shouldn't ignore a dead Avatar appearing in your dreams and giving you directions, if you are certain." Raizo replied, earning a surprised look from Aang. "What?"

Aang smiled slightly. "You believe me that easily?"

"Why shouldn't I? I may not understand much about spirits but the Avatar has been documented to communicate with their past lives for thousands of years. Besides, if your previous life is trying to warn you about something, I don't want to be the idiot who told the Avatar to ignore himself."

"That would be pretty bad."

"Yes, I wouldn't like Lin to find that out after she asked me to help you."

Aang laughed quietly before looking toward the mountains in the distance. "Do you know how to get there?"

"I know the region well enough. We can continue north, through the small town at the Abbey, then turn west for a while, toward the mountains across the ocean. There are a few passes we can use, although with Appa, we can ignore most of the annoying parts and fly straight over them."

"It's certainly nice to have a giant flying best friend." Aang snorted.

"Indeed." Raizo said. "If the weather stays decent, we should make good time. The temple itself is very high up, although without Appa we would have made it up there anyway..."

Aang hesitated before asking the question. "How so? Have you gone there?"

"There are people living there." Raizo said. "It had been ruins for decades before my family helped them settle there and we constructed a series of lifts for them."

"Oh…" Aang lowered his eyes. "So the Air Nomads are really all gone from there too."

"I'm afraid so, Aang. I don't know exactly what happened at that temple during the beginning of the war, and I'm not going to pretend I do, but nobody living there now is an Air Nomad. I'm sorry."

Aang remained quiet for several seconds, kicking a small stone away with his foot.

Raizo continued more gently. "The place isn't abandoned, though. There's a community there now, and someone I know very well leads them. You'll have at least one friend waiting for you when you arrive."

Aang looked up again. "A friend?"

"An inventor. Most people call him the Mechanist."

"That's a weird name."

"He would probably take that as a compliment." Raizo chuckled. "He builds machines, tools, anything that catches his interest really. He's one of the smartest men I've ever met, although sometimes talking to him makes me wonder if his brain ever stops working."

"How do you know him?"

Raizo looked down at his metal arm and rotated his wrist slightly.

"He made this."

Aang's eyes widened. "Really?"

"This arm and my leg. More importantly, he was the man who saved Lin after her accident."

Aang glanced at the prosthetic again. "I thought your family made all that stuff."

"Lin improved most of it later, but without him there wouldn't have been anything to improve. When she was injured, most people thought she would die. My family, desperately looking for anyone who could save her, found him following rumors." Raizo said.

"The man lost his wife after his city flooded. His son was heavily injured in that incident as well and he couldn't walk anymore. It was said that there was no hope for the lad, but in just a few short days, the Mechanist built a cart his son could control and move around with. As the rumors spread of his brilliant mind, Minister Qin contacted my father about him, and my family moved mountains to get his help. In exchange for building something for my sister. He helped keep her alive and built the first prosthetics that allowed her to move again. My family owes that man more than we could ever realistically repay, so when the Fire Nation started becoming interested in his inventions, we made sure they left him and his family alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, anyone would want a brilliant mind working for them." Raizo explained. "After our family received his help, Minister Qin wanted him to create for the Fire Nation army, but father convinced him out of it, for the Mechanist didn't want to. He was perfectly fine with helping someone but he didn't want his inventions on any army."

Aang smiled. "So you protect him?"

"Very heavily. He saved my sister's life and gave me back an arm and a leg. That Lin turned out to be an even bigger mind than we anticipated worked well for our family. We have the wealth to pay back his good deed tenfold. If he decides tomorrow that he wants to spend ten years inventing a machine that peels potatoes, then my family will make sure nobody interrupts him and that he has whatever he needs."

Aang laughed again. "I think I already like him."

"You probably will. Just be careful asking him how something works unless you have several hours available."

"And you really think he'll help us?"

"He'll help you if you need it, he is a very decent fellow, he'll probably start showing you inventions before you can even introduce yourself."

Aang smiled. "Then I guess we're going to the Northern Air Temple."

Raizo nodded toward the camp. "Tell the others in the morning. For now, get some sleep before your past life decides to wake you up again."

"I don't think it works like that."

Raizo shrugged. "I'm not the one getting visions from dead people."

Aang shook his head, amused, and followed Raizo back toward the camp. The mention of someone living inside the Northern Air Temple left Aang with mixed feelings. Part of him had hoped that somewhere, somehow, one of the temples might still have remained untouched, even though he knew how unlikely that was after everything he had already seen.

Returning to another Air Temple would probably hurt, especially knowing that the people who once lived there would not be waiting for him. At the same time, knowing that the temple was inhabited brought him a strange sense of relief for he did not want to arrive to find bones, abandoned clothing or anything else showing how his people had died.

Aang went back to sleep thinking about Roku's warning and wondering what could be waiting for him at the Northern Air Temple that the last Avatar wanted to show him.
​

---

Suki had never witnessed anything that disturbed her quite as much as what happened in the main plaza of Ba Sing Se.

The Royal Council had been dragged before thousands of people while the square continued filling from every street surrounding it. Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors had originally gone there believing they might help keep order after the surrender, only to realize very quickly that there was no order to begin with.

People screamed accusations from every direction, calling for death to the murderers and kidnappers of the Dai Li. Some held the papers the Fire Nation had scattered throughout the city, waving names and records above their heads while demanding that those responsible answer for what they had done.

The members of the Royal Council were not given anything resembling a proper trial. As hundreds of voices joined in, stones and pieces of broken wood were thrown from farther back in the crowd.

Anyone trying to speak was immediately drowned out by demands for blood, and the few rebels attempting to control the plaza gradually stopped trying once they realized how dangerous it would be to stand between the prisoners and everyone who wanted them dead.

For a moment, Suki thought about intervening and looked toward the Kyoshi Warriors beside her, only to find the same fear on their faces. There were only a handful of them surrounded by thousands of furious civilians, many of whom were armed after weeks of rebellion, and trying to stop the executions would have accomplished little beyond turning the crowd against them.

So they did nothing, for there was nothing they could do. When their anger boiled over, the killings began. Some screamed insults and demanded the next council member be brought forward, while others cheered after every execution as though they were watching a festival.

Parents had children sitting on their shoulders so they could see over the crowd, and people who had probably never spoken to one another, hugged and celebrated together whenever another body fell.

Suki could understand wanting the people responsible for so much suffering punished, but not to that extent. Making a spectacle of it did not feel right for her either, and she didn't think they deserved such gruesome deaths.

After several executions she could no longer force herself to keep watching and told the people around her they needed to move. Slowly they moved back through the crowd, letting them move forward while they retreated.

The Kyoshi Warriors remained together until they found an opportunity to move away from the plaza, slipping through one of the side streets while everyone remained focused on the executions. None of them suggested staying to see what happened afterward, and the journey back toward the Lower Ring took a few hours with nearly all of it passing in silence.

Ba Sing Se looked different to Suki now as they walked through it. People celebrated throughout parts of the Middle Ring, tearing down symbols of the old government and carrying the banners of the Free People through the streets.

Maybe in another time she would have celebrated as well, for it was the end of the war for these people, they wouldn't need to fight anymore. The amount of violence still present though, made her still think about the plaza.

Nobody among her warriors seemed interested in talking about what they had witnessed either. One of the younger girls eventually became sick beside the road, and the group simply stopped to wait for her without anyone commenting on it.

What also bothered Suki the most was that she could not blame the Fire Nation for any of it. The same people of the Earth Kingdom had done the most damage. Their soldiers had not carried out the executions or ordered the crowd to do so.

Once the Upper Ring gates opened, what remained of the Royal Council's forces had surrendered almost immediately. Not long afterward, roughly a hundred Fire Nation soldiers had come from the direction of the palace with Lin and Azula at their head, bringing Long Feng and the Earth King with them.

They handed both men over to representatives of the Free People and announced that negotiations for peace could begin now that the old government had been removed from power, then withdrew from the square without ordering what punishment should follow or what the rebels should do with the prisoners.

Suki had expected some declaration of conquest, Fire Nation banners raised over the palace or soldiers filling the streets to impose their own government. Instead, Lin had withdrawn her people after reaching an agreement to begin negotiations, leaving Ba Sing Se to decide what happened to its former rulers, and the crowd had made that decision on its own.

By the time Suki and the others finally returned to the Lower Ring, Fire Nation soldiers outside the gates were already dismantling sections of their camp. Equipment was being packed onto trains, and all those that had spent weeks surrounding Ba Sing Se were preparing to leave now that the fighting had ended.

Suki found Lin among the departing officers and asked for them to be taken back to Kyoshi Island as soon as possible. She appreciated that she didn't have to explain why, Lin accepted the decision without questioning her while arranging enough space on the trains for the warriors, healers and volunteers who had traveled with them.

Now Suki stood beside one of those trains while supplies were loaded around her, watching her people prepare for the journey back, although her mind was still stuck reviewing those terrible moments before.

Suki also came to the conclusion that Kyoshi made the right decision after all. Being isolated from the rest of the world had never felt so right. True, the island was small, and a bit limiting. But it was familiar and removed from the violence that engulfed the world.

She watched the last Kyoshi Warrior climb aboard and followed her toward the train, already feeling relief at the thought of putting Ba Sing Se behind them and returning to their small bubble where everything seemed much safer in its distance from everyone else.

At least the war would soon end, and maybe in decades' time, things would look better. But for now, she didn't want anything to do with the world outside their island.
​

---

The return journey had been far easier than before. Crossing the continent had taken relatively little time, as the railway tracks had been improved by their engineers. After a week at sea their fleet finally passed through Azulon's Gate and approached the capital.

Azula stood near the front of the ship as the harbor came into view. Her father had prepared a proper welcome for them, and even from the water she could see the Royal Plaza filled with civilians, soldiers and banners waiting for their arrival.

The harbor became chaotic once the ships began docking. Workers rushed to secure ropes and unload equipment while officers directed returning soldiers toward their formations, with the rest of the fleet rotating through the docks so that thousands of men could return to land without blocking the harbor.

Azula had ordered Lin, Toph, several officers and members of her personal staff to remain aboard her ship for the final arrival. Once the gangway was secured, Royal Guards and Fire Sages approached carrying a decorated palanquin for her.

Azula climbed onto it as expected, while Lin and Toph walked alongside. The procession moved through the Royal Plaza with returning soldiers forming on both sides. Their armor had been cleaned, banners rose above every formation and the scale of the army was put fully on display for everyone gathered there.

Toph seemed mostly bored by the ceremony, chatting idly with Lin who remained composed walking beside her. When they reached the end of the plaza, Azula stepped down and the servants carried the palanquin away.

Her father stood ahead with members of the court and Royal Guards surrounding him, watching their approach. Azula bowed her head respectfully and Ozai answered with a nod. She could see the pride in his eyes as he watched her.

Lin bowed as well, while Toph simply stood there without realizing or caring much about who was in front of her. Her father eventually raised one hand, clearly a signal to begin whatever they had planned. Lo and Li stepped forward once the plaza became quiet.

"The heir to the throne, powerful and beautiful, commanded the armies who brought down Ba Sing Se's walls!" Li announced.

"As the enemy retreated, our glorious army surrounded them." Lo continued.

"Deciding to take matters into her own hands and bring the Earth Kingdom down herself, she took flight toward their palace and stormed it."

"She captured their leaders and promptly defeated the Earth Kingdom as a whole."

"The armies of the Fire Nation have now triumphed over the entire continent, our nation is a step closer toward peace, stability and prosperity for our time."

Li smiled toward Azula before raising her voice again. "Now your heroine has returned home!"

Both women spoke together.

"Your Crown Princess, Azula!"

The entire plaza erupted into cheers, their roar bringing a soft chill through her body. Azula loved it, but she wanted to give recognition to Lin as well. She walked forward and saluted the gathered soldiers and civilians, allowing the celebration to continue for several moments before motioning for them to quiet down.

"I return with victory in our hands, for you, for our people. But know this, I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own, our nation's biggest strength was with me! Our unity, our might, our drive to conquer even the skies, and the great leadership of the people around me."

She glanced briefly toward Lin and the officers standing behind her before turning back toward the crowd.

"For the Fire Nation!"

Soldiers and civilians roared the words back while banners moved throughout the plaza. Azula smiled as she looked over them.

'It feels so good to be adored.'​