Dawning: Defiant

Dawning

Part 3: Defiant

The unraveling began when Azula arrived home with a wave of humid summer weather.

She was celebrated as a greater hero than Zhao would ever be, given a Public Presentation in the center of the capital city. Everyone turned out to hear the litany of her accomplishments (assassinating the Earth King and causing a succession war, recovering her brother, and teaming with him to chase the Avatar from his hideout in the Eastern Air Temple), and the din of the applause echoed throughout the entire caldera. Her brother was honored alongside her, and soon the whole capital was abuzz with word of their favored status. The Fire Lord brought them into his war meetings, sitting at either side of him on the throne.

With their ascension, came Zhao's descent.

It was clear that the Fire Lord no longer valued Zhao's opinion, and the admiral came home daily with tales of subtle humiliations. Yue was sure that only the affection she had come to be able to show the man was the only reason he hadn't tried to hurt her. Even so, he spent less time at home, struggling to form alliances with the rest of the military leadership, and making himself available to Fire Lord Ozai at all hours, in hopes of earning some extra favor.

The morning of one particular all-day meeting (on the subject of increased uprisings in the Earth Kingdom, according to her husband's terse explanation), Azula arrived at Zhao and Yue's home shortly after the admiral himself had left. It was the first Yue had seen of Azula since the Public Presentation. The Princess did not do the wives' social circles.

She smirked as she joined Yue for breakfast. "Well, it seems your kind don't melt in the heat after all."

Yue arched an eyebrow. "I'm going to take that as a metaphor."

Azula smiled sharply, and perhaps gave a small nod.

"My congratulations on finding your brother, " Yue continued, pouring tea as she had been taught to by Zhao's paid tutor. "You must have been so happy to see him alive."

Azula accepted the warm cup with a thoughtful expression. "Satisfied."

"Pardon?"

"I was satisfied. Not pleased."

"I see."

"As do I. But as busy as my time in the Earth Kingdom was- tracking my brother, chasing the Avatar and his companions, crippling Ba Sing Se, and the rest of it- I also had some spare time with which to investigate the explosion that Zuko survived."

Yue worked hard to keep herself from flinching when the Avatar's companions were mentioned. "I trust the information you found was satisfactory?"

Azula put her teacup down and tapped the rim with a finger as she began her reply. "That is a rather complicated question. I discovered who it was that tried to kill my dear Zuzu, and it wasn't the pirates who were initially blamed. Or rather, it wasn't entirely them. They scattered when my attentions turned to them, but recently several were brought in for the bounties I offered. Ongoing interrogations have revealed that the thugs were put up to it, with gold. The thing about gold, is that for all its worth, it's a comparatively weak currency next to… say, fear."

Yue nodded in agreement. Fear could buy anything.

"I'm sure," Azula went on, amiably, "that you can see where I'm going with this. Don't worry; I'm not going to have this house sabotaged to explode. As Zhao's minions proved, it's such an unreliable form of assassination; even my brother could survive it. Never mind the lack of precision! No, your house is safe."

"But not my husband," Yue whispered. It was too portentous a statement to speak loudly.

Azula dabbed her lips, already dry, with her napkin and stood. "No one here will miss Zhao. You were unexpectedly effective with your part in that. The only question is what will happen to you."

"I don't suppose I've earned my freedom."

"Ha." It was a light, girlish laugh. "No, there was nothing to earn. Stay in this house for as long as you want. Wait for you husband to come home, if you like. But the moment you step outside, the guards will be waiting to bring you to the Palace. I assure you, we'll keep you comfortable. You might even like my friends; Mai is as unpleasant as they come, but she has a rare wit and outlook, and Ty Lee is quite agreeable. You might even get along with Zuko. Both of you have exotic peculiarities.

"Or, you can stay here. Zhao will be violently upset, I expect, and he might even kill you. So long as word of your fate doesn't leave this city, it will serve my Father's purposes. We have enemies, still alive, who have an exploitable interest in you." Without another word or motion, Azula turned and left.

---

It was dark, and moon was high, when Zhao returned home. Yue sat waiting on their bed for him.

The admiral's eyes were all but flaming in fury, and his fists were clenched. When his gaze fell on Yue, he burst out with a snarl. "I don't understand! He humiliated me, let Zuko speak over me! That boy couldn't hold the Avatar for more than five minutes! He helped him escape from me in Pohai! He'd been living like filth in Ba Sing Se, had to be dragged back by his witch of a sister, and he is the one who sets our policy?! Idiots! All of them!" Zhao's body suddenly slumped, and he turned to look out the door to the balcony. "I brought him the Moon." Abruptly, he swung back to face Yue, fists clenched again. "What good have you done me?! You're nothing but a wast-"

"Azula knows you tried to kill Zuko," Yue interrupted quietly.

Zhao froze. "But… Zuko was a failure…."

"He is still the Fire Lord's son," Yue came back confidently. "From what you've told me, his pride is enough that he wouldn't let anyone destroy his property, even an exiled son. Azula herself came to warn me. I expect she thought I would flee to her protection, as another hurt against you."

Zhao massaged his temples. "And you stayed. Out of loyalty? Wonderful. My one surviving accomplishment, and it's useless."

Yue shook her head sadly. "You didn't accomplish anything. I'm the reason the Moon is free of your influence."

"WHAT?!"

"We have a connection, but I don't entirely understand it. As a baby, it restored the life I never had, and now I have been passing it strength. How I had the strength to spare in the land of the Sun, I don't know."

Zhao's fists were on fire, now. He stalked towards her "The Moon is the Sun, you little fool! All light, all power, all strength, is a reflection of our greatness." He reached towards her-

"Then in repayment for your light, I offer you escape. If you have the self-control to accept it."

He stopped.

"No one knows, but the Spirits. Tomorrow the Moon will eclipse the Sun. Firebenders will be powerless, and the Moon Spirit… it can save us. The only thing I'm not sure about is if any of this city will still be above the waves, afterward."

Zhao was silent for a long time. "They have airships. The Fire Lord… and his family… will survive."

Yue shrugged. "Then the Avatar will have to fulfill his destiny. All we have to do is hold out until the eclipse."

Zhao stared at her. His face betrayed his thoughts, alternating between wonder and fury and misery. At one point, Yue was sure she had failed, and he was going to attack her, but then Zhao suddenly turned to look outside again, at the Moon, and let the despair overcome and drag him down to a crouch on the floor. When he finally spoke, it was without any volume or confidence. "The vault. We can hide in there with your precious Koi fish. It was designed to withstand an assault by an army, even if Azula herself comes spitting lightning. We can last through tomorrow. I have food down there, small living quarters…"

"I know."

He looked up, and their eyes met, vivid blue and sickly gold. "Where can we go?"

Yue resisted the urge to smile at him; she doubted he would find it as comforting as she meant it. "My home. The Moon Spirit told me that the eclipse will happen there, too. It wants the whole world to know its influence. The North Pole will be free by the time we reach it."

He gave a tired laugh. "So I can be killed by barbarians instead of ungrateful masters. Wonderful."

"You're my husband. They will welcome you, if you want it. I will make them."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not." This time, Yue did smile. "I don't think you'll like it, at first, and everyone will be looking for a reason to hurt you. Trust me, I know what that feeling is like. But I am their Princess, and if I say you are my husband, then that is as good as the word of the Moon itself. You might even come to make it your true home. We can call you Zhaoka." Her laugh brought a look of comic disgust to his face. "You are touched by the Moon, too. You brought it on yourself, but you've still been touched."

He thought about that, and then nodded. "I should have stayed in the army, on desert patrol. All right, to the vault, if it means we survive. If not, at least I won't let them have their way."

Yue followed him, and nodded. "My people will accept you, because I've been touched by the Sun, now, too. That's the exact thought I had when we married."

---

One bright day, an island rested in the warm blue sea; it was a solitary island, but the greatest of many that formed the Fire Nation. There was no warning when the sky darkened, and the sea rose in anger. The island trembled from the force of the sea's swelling, and in the hour before the wave struck, overfilled ships scattered from the island as though shaken free.

The last motion was the violent convulsion of the land when the wave struck the abandoned shores. All that remained of the place was a ring of rocky peaks that once formed the caldera of a sleeping volcano. Formerly a capital settlement, the island was nothing more now than a navigation hazard to sailors.

The Fire Lord and his children also survived the cataclysm, along with their full retinues. The daughter remained loyal, but the son abandoned him, and fear of disloyalty abounded. The Avatar waited for this chance to restore balance, while his companions both strengthened their bonds and discovered new friendships in others. The Northern Water Tribe fought for its freedom, and the Earth Kingdom was divided by civil wars.

Three other beings survived the wave, in the center of the rocky ring- one a Firebender both undisciplined but refined, one a Princess both wife and betrayer, and the last the Spirit that watched over them. All lived. They sailed away on the first journey towards their destiny.

This is largely irrelevant.

END