Retroactive - Chapter 27

The Legacy of Princess Azula

No one noticed when they brought Azula's body back to Yu Dao.

By the time Sokka and Meisai returned from the wreckage of the Flying Bosco, the tent village around the city had become a bustling open-air crisis center. Those of the city's defenders with injuries- both the rebels from Azula's army and the civilians who had joined in at the sight of the fires- were being treated by everyone with a bit of healing experience. Those whose homes had been burned were being given shelter in the tents that had room. Children who had lost parents were being cared for and fed by small communities that sprung up on the spot. Sokka had wanted to shut it all out, to focus on the lifeless body he cradled in his arms while Meisai steered the komodo rhino they shared back to the city, but his mind just didn't work like that. He couldn't help but notice things- like the Firebender cauterizing the wound of a man in green, or the woman calling out that any kids who couldn't find their parents should wait with her, or the people in red and green wandering around with buckets and asking if anyone needed water- and use them like bricks to build a wall against his loss.

He needed that wall because, once again, the loss was his fault.

He hadn't realized he spoke that aloud through his tears until Meisai responded, "You need to stop that." The words were firm, but her tone was gentle. "You're one of those who blames himself for everything, aren't you? Well, you need to understand that you don't control everything. Thinking that you do is going to make you try to control everything, and then you're just going to lose more."

Sokka blinked back his tears and cleared his throat. "How do you know?"

She blinked back at him, and her expression was a mirror of how he felt. "I was a soldier in the Fire Army. Isn't that what my whole nation tried to do? Don't think that just because you fought us, you can't be the same."

Sokka was stunned into silence by that, and didn't find his voice again until they passed through Yu Dao's ruined gate to find Ty Lee and the Rough Rhinos waiting. As soon as they saw what Sokka was carrying, Ty Lee started bawling, and Sokka couldn't help but join her.

---

Zuko awoke in a room he didn't recognize, but the mix of red and green let him know instantly that he was still in Yu Dao. He sat up in the bed, his movements sluggish in a way that wasn't just sleepiness, and tried to make a thorough examination of his surroundings, but he didn't get much further than the sight of Mai out cold on a bed across from his before he was trying to lurch to his feet. Calloused hands grabbed his arms with firm gentleness, both supporting and restraining him, and Zuko tore his gaze away from his beloved to find himself in the grip of the Freedom Fighter Sneers, the one who fell in love with Mayor Morishita's daughter and betrayed his fellows to fight for Yu Dao's independence. Zuko had trouble concentrating on Sneers's husky voice, but the meaning soon made its way to Zuko's perception: He and Mai had been drugged and kidnapped, along with everyone else at the convocation, but they were fine now and just needed to let the soporific agent wear off here where they would be safe, in the house of Sneers's uncle.

Mai was fine.

His friends were fine.

Then Sneers went on to describe how they were rescued, how Long Feng was defeated, and Zuko got one last unpleasant surprise.

His sister was dead.

Zuko hadn't known how to feel about that. Perhaps it was the drug in his system, but instead of any overwhelming emotion, he was just left with confusion. How was he supposed to feel? Was their family bond worth more than their lethal enmity over the years? Should Zuko's guilt in creating Suki make up for the distance she had imposed between them since her return? Should he mourn for his ultimate nemesis, the sick sister, his friend the Kyoshi Warrior, the mysterious and dangerous ally, or all four?

In the end, all he felt was numb.

Mai woke up briefly, long enough to confirm that she was all right, but she had always been sensitive to tonics and alcohol, so Zuko wasn't surprised when she went back to sleep as soon as she had confirmed that he was safe. By then, he was feeling more himself- physically, at least- and was able to walk around while he waited for Mai to awake once more. (He wasn't sure he could deal with Azula's loss without her.) He was pacing in front of Mai's bed when the Earth King had barged in.

The older man leaned on the walls as he made his way to a chair in the corner, and sank into the cushions with weariness. "I see you're recovering well, Fire Lord. It's said that Firebenders have a natural resistance to poisons."

"I wouldn't know about that. Most Fire Nation science is about how we're superior to the rest of the world. I don't take much of it seriously."

The Earth King nodded heavily. "Have they told you about- about Princess Azula?"

Zuko gave a nod of his own, but said nothing.

"Well, I am sorry for your loss. There is no question that she died a hero, redeeming herself for her actions against my nation." Here, the Earth King gave a chuckle and shook his head. "Princess Azula, the scourge of Ba Sing Se, is a hero. What a brave new world, that has such people in it." His chuckling faded, and he leaned forward. "It is in honor of her actions today that I have come to you with a warning: Azula's death means that you failed to deliver her and Long Feng both to me. Oh, I don't know if you've heard, but they found enough pieces to confirm Long Feng's death. My people will not be pleased at missing our chance for revenge."

Zuko's jaw dropped. "You've come to play politics now? While Mai-"

"No one watches us now, Fire Lord. It is the only time I can deliver my warning. As I'm sure you know, kings have less power than their people would believe. My advisors, the merchant lords, the lesser monarchs- all of them will use this as an example of why we can't trust the Fire Nation. I will not let things come to war, and they know that, so they will use this to fuel their greed. And that greed leads them here to the colonies."

Zuko sighed, and let his shoulders sag. In his time since his father banished him, he had grown more and more cynical, but somehow the world continued to surprise him. "They're going to make sure they still have influence. The colonies are already independent, but your people will find a way to seize some measure of control."

"Yours, too, once they see what my people are doing. I recall the idea one of the merchant lords proposed, of a council appointed from the existing nations to oversee whatever the colonies become."

"So we've lost. We've stopped Long Feng, but we've failed the colonies."

The Earth King shifted, tilting his head as he considered that. "For now, I suppose. But your sister ensured that we are not dead, and are free to think for ourselves, at least. I don't know about you, but I expect to be trapped in this job for a long time. We will do what we can, and surely butt heads many times, but there will also be times when we can work together to do something better."

Zuko looked at Mai again, and said, "We'll have to do better."

---

Sokka was both annoyed and relieved when Aang and Katara found him watching the stars. It was a new moon that night, so even Yue had left him to be alone, there in that smoke-stained courtyard.

The first thing Aang said was, "Azula's funeral is going to be at dawn tomorrow. We- we thought you would want to know."

Katara, of course, just went straight over to Sokka and forced him into a hug. She didn't say anything, but then, she knew him the best of all. It was only after they separated again that she asked, "Do you want us to stay? Or go?"

Sokka wanted to answer both questions with a 'yes,' but he knew it was pointless. Instead, he did what he always did when he could no longer retreat from the world: He got back to work. "I'm not going with you guys when you leave Yu Dao."

Both Aang and Katara blinked at him, and eventually his sister said, "You're staying here... to help rebuild? Sokka, we're all-"

"No," he interrupted. "I'll help here, same as everyone, but I don't mean I'm staying in Yu Dao. I mean I'm staying in the colonies. Or whatever the 'Independent Former Colonies' become. I finally figured out where I want- need- my home to be."

"But why?"

Sokka shrugged. He had been brooding on the matter for hours now, and hadn't quite managed to figure out the words for how he felt. He just knew what felt right. People assumed that part of being good with ideas and technology was always having detailed lists in his head about everything, but more often than not it came from a flash of insight, born of instinct. "I- I just know that what we've been doing here- it's been- we've been on the outside. Meisai said something to me, about control, and- and I think I need to be inside now. I need to be part of the solution, not the guy making it happen. It's about who we're identifying with. Maybe if we had all just helped and supported Azula- well, maybe not, too, but- I feel like it has to be my home before it can be a problem for me to solve. You get it?"

And then Aang breathed, "That's it." Both Sokka and Katara looked at him, and for the first time since Long Feng's kidnapping attempt a smile was shining out from his face. "That's what I was trying to figure out with Azula! The outside-inside thing! And we can't force things, we need to accept how our home is, and do our best with it! Like this thing with a Representative Council that Zuko and the Earth King are talking about. Even if we don't like it, we accept it and be good citizens and stuff so that people still get what they need!"

Katara's brow creased. "We?"

"Yeah!" Aang turned to her with obvious excitement. "Instead of trying to get people to come to the Air Temples, why not start fresh in the colonies? Long Feng's army is still out there and dangerous, even if the people in it all scatter around. I can be the Avatar to the whole world, but if my home temple as an Air Nomad is here, then I'd be nearby most of the time in case I'm needed. And everyone who wants to study the ways of the monks can work to make the colonies better, and learn about really helping people! This can be great."

Sokka felt a smile growing on his face, and leaned over to rest his hands on his sister's shoulders. "What do you think, Katara? You think an Air Temple on the ground is more your kind of thing? Maybe near a beach?"

Katara and Aang both blushed, but she eventually said, "Well, it sounds like a nice place to- frequently visit. For now. Especially if my brother is nearby."

Sokka nodded, and his smile faded away in the starlight. He looked up again, and then turned his gaze out over the tarnished city. He couldn't help but wonder what his new home would look like, what the people of the colonies would build to replace the ruins of the past, but a part of him knew that it wouldn't really matter. It would be a home he would inhabit alone, and contentment was something he would always have to struggle to find.

---

Despite being drugged and kidnapped, Fire Lord Zuko was apparently still on the job after midnight. Meisai just wished he had given her the option of being in her own bedroll by that hour, considering that she hadn't spent much of the day sleeping while other people fought a war. But then, she supposed that there were some decisions that couldn't wait, and whatever else his faults, no would could accuse this Fire Lord of being lazy.

Thus Meisai was marched into a receiving room where the Fire Lord was holding court, behind the surviving members of the Rough Rhinos. Colonel Mongke, Ogodei, Vachir, and Yeh-Lu had all been disarmed and were surrounded by guards, while Meisai was allowed to stand apart with only an unarmed escort. The Fire Lord looked over them all with his scarred, harsh glare and said, "There is the standing matter of what I should do with you people."

No one replied.

Fire Lord Zuko continued, "The Rough Rhinos are wanted for investigation into the crime of Dishonorable Warfare, and although you have not yet been formally accused of anything, I'm told by my investigative offices that there are some troubling accounts of your conduct in the Earth Kingdom. Then there's the matter of desertion from the Fire Army. While I have no official power to prosecute crimes that were committed in the Independent Former Colonies, the local governors are in much disarray right now, and I don't think anyone would object if I dealt with the leaders of an armed rebellion made up partially of my old subjects. Do you have anything to say to that, Mongke?"

Meisai winced at the omission of the Colonel's title, but Mongke himself just gave that smirk that he enjoyed so much and said, "You don't strike me as the type to believe in time off for good behavior, my Lord. The Rough Rhinos have always done what it took to honor our duty."

The Fire Lord's face didn't change, but he folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward in his seat. "As it happens, you're wrong about me. You helped my sister when she needed it most, even at the risk to your lives and freedom. And you served her loyally in her efforts to save the colonies from a true armed rebellion, even to the point of losing one of your own. You commanded the efforts to save Yu Dao. That doesn't erase the crimes you committed throughout your lives, but as a practical matter, it would be a poor decision to reward your efforts with imprisonment. It would discourage other people from doing the same thing. To that end, I have devised a compromise. Bow and receive your sentence."

The Rough Rhinos all fell to their knees without hesitation, and Fire Lord Zuko stood over them.

"I hereby banish Mongke, Ogodei, Vachir, and Yeh-Lu from the Fire Nation. If any of you set foot on the Homeland, you will be imprisoned and prosecuted fully for your crimes. No mercy will be given. However, the bounties for your capture will be lifted, and so long as none of you leaves the colonies, you will have my official protection from the prosecution of the other nations. You are free to make your way as you see fit in accordance with the laws of the colonies, and the new nation they become, but if you will take the advice of a man you once tried to kill, I would recommend selling your skills in Yang City. The governor there has been removed from power for his alliance with Long Feng, and whoever is raised in his place will need reliable enforcers to bring the corrupt industrialists in line. I understand that law enforcement, in general, has been especially lax in that city. I think experienced soldiers will have much to do, there. Now, Meisai, please step forward."

She did so, forcing herself to keep her back straight. She had no reason to love the Fire Lord before now, but given the justice he had displayed for Mongke and his crew, perhaps he was more willing to be fair than she had thought. "Is my desertion to be given official approval, as well?"

Fire Lord Zuko's stoic expression finally shifted, showing what Meisai couldn't deny was confusion around his scarred eye. "My uncle gave me your name, and I had it investigated with the belief that you were a deserter, but the only thing I found for you was a record of your honorable service as a soldier. There was nothing about discharge or desertion; the records just stopped with the end of the war. I can only conclude that however your career came to an end, the documentation must have been lost. Thus, by my law, you have committed no crime."

Meisai forced herself not to blink. She had almost forgotten the deal her father had made with Long Feng; it seemed that for all his other faults, Long Feng dealt fairly with his employees.

Fire Lord Zuko's expression changed again, his features drooping like he suddenly felt the late hour. "What I do know is that you were perhaps the only friend my sister had, by the time she died. Azula and I... had a complicated relationship. I can do nothing for her now, but at least I can give you something in her place. I have spoken with the Earth King, and he has agreed to give your father amnesty for his crimes in Ba Sing Se. You will also be awarded a chest of gold, to make your lives as you see fit. If you wish, I can even provide land for a home in the Fire Nation."

Meisai bowed. "Thank you, Fire Lord, but my home is in the colonies. And Princess Azula's work continues, even without her."

"I know." Zuko sank back into his chair. "I'm just glad it is in the hands of honorable people like you."

With that, something occurred to Meisai, something that would help her fulfill one last duty, and she lifted her eyes. "Could I beg one more boon of you, Fire Lord?"

"Name it."

"Princess Azula's pyre needs an Attendant. It would be my honor to serve in that capacity."

Zuko's eyes widened, as though startled, but he quickly calmed and gave a slow nod. "I can think of no one better. I entrust her body and pyre to you, Meisai."

---

Ty Lee heard the door to the basement opening, and immediately snapped into a fighting stance. Her intruder walked down the stairs without hurry, but came to a stop when she saw Ty Lee waiting at the bottom. Meisai quickly got over her surprise, bowed to Ty Lee, and said, "Fire Lord Zuko has sent me to prepare the body for the pyre. I have been named as Princess Azula's Attendant."

The very idea of Azula's pyre was like a gut-punch, but Ty Lee forced herself to relax and step away from the staircase. She looked back at the table in the center of the room, here in the basement of the house still reserved for the use of the White Lotus Guard, where the body of her oldest friend was laid out as though in sleep. Ty Lee felt more of the Sadness coming on, and didn't try to stop tears from falling. She only kept control of her voice long enough to say, "Go ahead. I already fixed up her hair and stuff," and then she retreated to a corner to have another cry.

While everyone else had gone on to help restore order to Yu Dao, Ty Lee had just stayed with Azula. She wasn't a leader or big deal like everyone else, nor was she the type like Sokka to run away. Ty Lee may have betrayed Azula when she saved Mai's life, back at the Boiling Rock; she lied to Azula the whole time back on Kyoshi Island; she even ran away from Azula to join the circus during the war, but she never lost her personal sense of loyalty to the Princess. She always wanted the best for Azula, even if that meant being apart or tricking her or even saving someone else's life, but now she could give Azula nothing but company. The princess was dead- Ty Lee could no longer see an aura around her body- and there was no more help that would actually be helpful.

Azula was dead.

After Meisai was done checking over the body, she came up to Ty Lee, sat down next to her, and said, "So you were Princess Azula's companion? Back in the Fire Nation?"

Ty Lee let her sobbing fade and nodded. "But I was a horrible friend. I couldn't do anything to save her. Just once! Just once I stopped her from doing something she would regret, and I didn't even do that on purpose. I just acted because I didn't want to see her hurt my other friend, and I didn't even realize Mai was also Azula's friend until after it was all over. So when I thought that making her into Suki would help, I ignored my feelings and did it. But she said it was all a mistake, and I was so wrapped up in wanting to make myself help her that I didn't actually help her at all."

"But you did wind up helping." Meisai laid a hand on Ty Lee's shoulder. "You and the Water Tribe man, Sokka, you found Azula and believed her when she told you what she needed to do and where she needed to go. Look, you'll probably always feel guilty about your mistakes with her- with all your friends. That's part of surviving. And the other people dying means you never get a chance to make up for it. But as long as you're alive, you can still learn from your mistakes, and do better with others. Show others how not to make the same mistakes. If there's anything I learned in the army, watching people around me die while I survived, it's that the ways they affected us are part of their legacy for the world. It's not what we do, it's who we are. It's part of our identities." She smiled over at Ty Lee, leaned in, and whispered, "Is that who you want to be?"

"I do. I want to be part of her- her legacy."

"Then that's what really matters."

---

They all assembled for the funeral at dawn, in the courtyard of the Convocation Center.

Sokka arrived to find Meisai in place beside the hastily assembled pyre, Azula already hidden in her coffin and lowered into the fire pit. He wished he could have seen her one last time, but he knew that it was an irrational thought. She was dead, her body was no more than what remained, and he could say goodbye just as effectively to the empty air. Sokka disliked irrationality, so he pushed his discomfort back behind the same wall where he hid his grief.

Ty Lee was there, too. As Sokka approached her, he could see that she had recovered from the mess she had been when he ran off to be alone. He felt guilty for abandoning her like that, after he'd dragged her all over the world and relied on her so much during their shared war to save Azula, and he knew that there was no irrationality in the feeling. Ty Lee was hunched over, avoiding his eyes, but Sokka went on and said, "Have you heard that Aang and I are relocating to the colonies?"

She nodded, still avoiding his gaze.

"Toph, of course, wants to spread her Metalbending teachings around, so she'll be with us. Katara is going to keep helping Dad, but she said she'd visit as often as she could, and- well, we all know where she and Aang are headed. I thought maybe you'd be interested in finding a home here, too?"

Without looking at him, Ty Lee shook her head. "I can't, Sokka. I joined the Kyoshi Warriors for- for Suki, but I owe them my real help for a while. And then I need to figure out what's next, but it can't be with you. You all. It would hurt too much."

Sokka felt the stab of guilt again, and even if she was phrasing it nicely, he couldn't help but conclude that she realized she couldn't rely on him. Just like Mom, Yue, and Azula all couldn't rely on him. Sokka nodded and put on a fake smile. "Okay. We'll be helping here in Yu Dao for a while, between the rebuilding and finishing the conclave, so if you change your mind, let me know."

By now, the others had arrived. Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Toph came together. The Earth King arrived alone, wearing the plainest robe Sokka had ever seen on him. The Rough Rhinos were there, too, in all their ecliptic glory. Kori Morishita and Sneers- along with his uncle, who had been named as acting mayor and would probably wind up as a governor by the time the purging of the corrupt was over- came to represent Yu Dao. It was hard to tell in the dawn light, but Sokka thought he could also spot some people standing on rooftops in the distance, either paying one last sign of respect to a savior or making sure that a global menace was finished for good.

More than half of the sun had broken over the horizon. Meisai stepped forward and intoned, "Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation. You served the Fire Nation as a leader and a warrior. You fell so that our nation could rise in a new age, and then you rose to save the world from the threats of that new age. Tradition would call for me to name your family, but you emerged to stand separate from the lines of your blood, and so we give you back to the Fire as a solitary figure, one who stood stronger for shaking off the shackles of destiny."

Meisai turned and faced the pyre, taking an attack stance. "We lay you now to rest." She snapped a fist forward, and shot a sustained plume of flame into the fire pit. By the time Meisai lowered her fist, the blaze was going strongly, the coffin lost to the orange glow and black smoke.

He found himself waiting, half expecting the flames to shift, to light the warm glow of the morning with the harsh coolness of azure fire. Then- Sokka was making it up as he thought about it- Azula would emerge from the pyre, having somehow recovered. He wasn't even sure of her exact cause of death, since there were no fatal wounds on her body, nor had she lost any great amount of blood from her cuts and scrapes. Zuko speculated that she had over-channeled her Firebending, had done damage to her Qi by expending the energy to try to protect herself from the exploding airship. Zuko admitted that he had done something similar when his boat had been bombed before the Siege of the North, but he had survived by being launched out of the conning tower by the force of the explosion. To be trapped in the heart of the explosion, so far above the ground-

There was a crack from the flames, and Sokka looked up with wide eyes, but there was nothing to see. It was just one of the logs in the pyre splitting.

Azula had gone back to the flames, forever.

As they all stood there, paying their last respects, Sokka whispered to himself, so low that even he could barely hear himself: "Goodbye, Azula. I'm sorry for everything. I thought I loved you, before, and I think I really did before the end."

And there was nothing left to say.

---

In Ba Sing Se, life continued. A new nation was rising, which the announcements said would be called the United Republic, and the Avatar was founding a new Air nation there. The Fifty-Third Earth King had returned to reign over the Earth Kingdom, in a manner much differently than his predecessor, but he had graced Iroh with unexpected mercy and pardoned him for his part in aiding Azula. The people of Ba Sing Se had opinions about everything- or at least as much as they were privy to- but Iroh knew that the world was not ending, predictions to the contrary, and everyone would settle into a new status quo soon enough.

For his part, Iroh was dedicated to providing all the tea necessary to convince people that the world was doing just fine.

It turned out that he had another part to play. It started when a letter arrived at his teashop. He did not recognize the brushwork, and the simple instructions to be at a particular warehouse in the Lower Ring at a certain time were highly dubious, but the note was signed with the characters for his niece's name, so Iroh decided to indulge his curiosity. He arrived in the early afternoon to find the warehouse empty, so he settled in to wait and wondered if he would be back in time to service the evening crowd.

He had no sooner turned his thoughts to experimental blends when the women began filing into the empty space.

Their eyes were empty, and their faces all did homage to Azula.

The last to enter was a man perhaps a little younger than Iroh, with bushy gray hair and eyebrows, and an expression that spoke of solemn duty. Iroh gave a friendly bow. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Toru. Used to captain a ship. I was also a- an assistant to your niece, General Iroh. I'm helping to fulfill some arrangements she made, before- before." He held out another note, and Iroh took it eagerly. What was written within could not be plainer:

'Uncle,

'These are the women whom Long Feng turned into my imposters. Thanks to Dong Min's brainwashing, they have lost themselves, most likely never to recover. Before his death, Dong Min provided the locations of all these Victims, and between me and my army all of them have been liberated. Dong Min also provided extensive notes on how his brainwashing works, which Captain Toru will provide to you. I am entrusting all of this to you, to get these women the help they need. I recommend using Ba Sing Se University's staff and facilities; the needed expertise will be there. These women cannot be remade into what they were, but I can attest this need not be a final tragedy. Rather, it can be an opportunity.

'Do for these women what you failed to do for me, and you can consider us even. Thank you, Uncle.

'Azula'

Iroh folded the letter and placed it carefully into his sleeve. "It seems I have work to do, then. As they say, well begun is half done. Let's see those notes."

Toru handed them over, and then bowed. "I leave you to your work, General. Goodbye and good luck."

He walked out of the warehouse, and as soon as he was gone from sight, all of Azula's duplicates turned their eyes to Iroh. He saw a rainbow of colors in them, shining out from faces like vague dreams of his niece. Standing, holding the notes gingerly in his arms, Iroh smiled at his charges. "It seems that my niece has given us all one last gift. Let us honor her legacy, and seek the light."

END