Focused Fire (ATLA)

Diplomatic foundations were fully set in Ba Sing Se in little time at all, thanks to earlier agreements Xing had fostered with the Northern Water Tribe and Omashu. A tentative coalition was formed, built on several agreements between the three factions behind closed doors.

None of the representatives gave vague promises. A simple mutual defense pact was agreed upon, but only unofficially, to last only as long as Fire Lord Ozai remained on the throne. 

King Bumi sent an order back to Omashu to begin liberating the continent. At the same time, emissaries would be sent out to treat with King Kuei’s followers, to distract them away from mustering against Ba Sing Se. 

In exchange, Xing gifted the Mad King the ledgers seized from the palace’s archives. A good portion of the small mountain of tomes tracked the tribute to the throne, owed by the states and certain high nobility. How many men each state was expected to muster in defense of the throne, how many crates of food, raw materials and luxury goods should enter Ba Sing Se each month, the number of noble scions slated to staff in the palace… The information contained within was terrifyingly comprehensive.

Just as important, the other half of ledgers held the official claims for land and titles throughout the continent. It was (until Xing’s conquest anyway) what defined the boundaries, limits, privileges and succession of the Earth Kingdom’s landed nobility. The claims could be disputed, but unless amendments were made, Earth Kingdom bureaucracy referred only to those ledgers regardless of what protesting claimants might say.

Iroh understood the value of the ledgers, and he knew that their worth was perhaps being overinflated here. But then again, it wouldn’t be surprising to find Xing having already struck a different bargain with Bumi at an earlier date. Probably the direct support of Ba Sing Se should the Mad King end up having to clash with the Deposed King Kuei.

Princess Yue, on behalf of her father Chief Arnook, pledged military aid in the form of naval raiders to strain the Fire Nation’s sea lanes. The Agna Q’ela would also lend its healers should Ba Sing Se require it. 

For their service, shipwrights from the escaped colonists were dispatched to the north, to try and revive the hulks salvaged from the failed Fire Nation invasion of the North Pole to bolster the Water Tribe’s navy. Also, a massive stockpile of wood and metal equipment, both civilian and military, was being prepared to be delivered to Agna Q’ela, as a step towards bringing the tribe’s industrial and military capability up to par with the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

A similar but scaled down offer of materiel was given to the representatives of the meager force from the Southern Water Tribe, in exchange for nominal recognition of Xing’s rule over Ba Sing Se. Chief Hakoda graciously accepted, though from the looks of it, he was happy to simply be present and involved. The Southern Water Tribe had fared far worse than its northern counterpart after decades of Fire Nation depredation, and would require a long road in restoring its power and influence over the southern seas. 

Also, the man was clearly distracted at reuniting with his family. It was heartwarming to see Hakoda in tears as he met with Kilin, Katara and Sokka. Iroh kept smiling at the scene as melancholy washed over him, recalling his own lost family; his beautiful wife Hitomi who’d passed far too early from illness, his dear son Lu Ten who fell in combat…even his father, the late Fire Lord Azulon, whose passing was now being regarded with suspicious eyes by Azula. 

Iroh dared not give the theory any credence, lest it drag him down a fearful dark path. He’d wait until solid evidence was provided, or on the slim chance Ozai was captured.

The old prince sighed heavily as he thought of his brother’s future. Xing had made no promises, and Azula was far blunter about preferring her father dead. Only the fact that Ozai’s fate ultimately rested on young Aang facing him gave Iroh some hope for seeing his brother alive…at least for a short while.

How would Zuko take it, Iroh wondered? How would he take all of this, once he’s been informed of everything?

It was a question Iroh would find answered soon…hopefully.

With little over a week left, the grand operation began. A small army of Azula’s agents boarded Water Tribe ships to infiltrate the home islands. At the same time, Aang went through final preparations before flying with his friends to the Fire Nation’s palace. 

Xing and Azula would meet up with them later, as the young couple would be at the head of the counter-invasion. They first would have to bring Ozai’s army on the continent to heel, which was why they were leaving with the majority of the 11th again, this time accompanied by King Bumi and his band of volunteers.

Iroh pitied his countrymen on the other end of the conflict.

With all the movement out of the city, Iroh was left to serve as Ba Sing Se’s steward with a garrison almost entirely composed of men belonging to Generals Yiu and Sung. Both men’s loyalty, or at least their obedience, was solid enough by now to be relied upon to keep the city in safe hands. But Azula still had a few of her palace staff keeping a discreet eye on them and their subordinates, just in case.

Things seemed secure enough that Iroh would have to settle for keeping track of the news as they streamed in. He also likely had enough time to attend to the unenviable task of thawing relations with the Village of Hidden Clouds. Iroh didn’t complain; earning the trust and forgiveness of the airbender remnants was far from an ignoble thing. He also saw it as a form of penance on behalf of his family’s involvement.

If he had to make one complaint though, Iroh perhaps wished that Azula hadn’t assigned Su-Wei as his assistant.

“Right, they’re gone,” the old widow said once Xing and Azula marched out the breach-turned-gates, and turned to Iroh with a mild glare. “Come along, Prince Iroh. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Blame your niece and nephew-in-law for being too competent that there’s probably a room full of reports for you to go through by now. If we’re lucky, we’ll manage to halve it before the next round of paperwork comes flooding in. And then we’ll get to enjoy lunch…or an early dinner, depending on our luck.”

It was hard not to sigh. “As you say, Lady Su-Wei.”

*****

Sokka assured himself that the bittersweet farewell at the docks would be the last time he’d be parted from his family. Yue included.

“Take care, dad,” he muttered as he took his turn hugging his father.

“You too, Sokka. I’m proud of you.”

Hakoda’s beaming smile earnestly relayed that notion, rather than the half-smile, half-grin he was wearing ever since Katara all-too-happily told him about Sokka’s engagement to Yue.

Speaking of, Yue received a wry grin. “Thank you once again for taking in my son, Princess Yue.”

The light blush dusting Yue’s cheeks gave her a pretty glow. “Please, just call me Yue,” she corrected for the nth time. “We will be family soon.”

Family. The word still struck Sokka as he heard it from Yue’s lips, or as it left his own. They’d be married soon, be a family…

“Katara, is your brother drooling?” Toph’s voice suddenly intruded, and before Sokka could react his sister responded.

“No, but his jaw’s hanging a little.”

“Thought so.”

“H-Hey, I was just…thinking,” Sokka weakly defended as she turned towards the giggling Katara and Toph. “Anyway, where’s Aang?” he asked Toph, who had initially been in the palace.

She gave a shrug, and with a hand wrapped in metal bands stabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “He’s with Teo getting Appa ready.” Her words were mildly accentuated by the creaking of metal as the bands around her limbs creaked to conform to her movement.

Metalbending should be impossible, from what Sokka understood from the earthbenders gasping in shock at the time, but somehow Toph had managed it by doing some funky bending juju that no one else had considered before. Bumi was clapping his hands and cackling gleefully, while the cranky badgermole Yama was grumbling up a storm of disbelief at having a blind girl of all people pioneer the new bending.

Toph had invented metalbending, but Sokka had to remind himself that it was Xing who came up with the idea of shoving her into a metal box to overcome her weakness. After all he’s learned from the Scorpion, that cannot possibly be a coincidence. The guy knew way more than he was letting on, and was bloody annoying because of it, but at least he was doing it for the benefit of the good guys, and his record for vague hints and unfathomable actions still hasn't led anyone astray yet.

Which was why Sokka took Xing’s words very seriously when the prince came up one day for a private chat. “You’re likely going to have to kill someone to get to Ozai.”

“I know,” Sokka had replied with a grim and resolute nod. “That’s why I’m bringing my sword along, after all.”

They shared small grins at the poor humor before Xing continued. “You’re going with your friends, your sister. How far will you go to protect them?”

Sokka frowned at Xing as his heart hardened at that familiar topic. “Very.”

The Scorpion nodded at that, and then loudly snapped his fingers. Sokka watched as a couple of servants entered the room, pushing in a rack with a thick blue-colored attire hanging off it. 

The servants carefully extracted the clothing, revealing it to be a blue-dyed variant of the brigandine armor Xing and his soldiers wore. There were noticeable differences, like the white fur lining and a beautiful steel wolf helm. Judging from the metallic jingling as the armor plates clinked off each other, it probably was a little lighter as well.

“We might not be friends, but please accept this gift, from an adopted little brother who’d do anything to protect his family, to an older brother who wishes to do the same.”

“I…” Sokka stared dumbly as he took the suit of armor in his hands and felt the comforting weight of metal and padded cloth. He stared at the wolf helmet, its quality clearly far superior than anything owned by the warriors of his tribe. Then he turned to Xing. “Thanks, Xing.”

The prince gave a rare, snark-less smile. “You’re welcome. If Katara complains, feel free to say I did it out of political considerations.”

“Pft. Right.” It was probably half-true, knowing Xing. It’d be bad for his diplomacy with the Water Tribes if Sokka fell in battle, and Xing would earn cheap goodwill on the chance that the armor did save Sokka from a mortal blow. Still, Sokka appreciated the gesture, whatever the true intentions.

“For a Scorpion, you’re not too bad a guy.”

“For a Water Tribesman, you’re not too shit a warrior,” the prince retorted with a grin. They exchanged friendly insults as Sokka gave the armor a try, and once the weight settled on his body and he moved about in it for a bit, Sokka found himself immediately enamored by his present.

Maybe not as much as the meteor sword, but only by a small margin. 

Xing, the swell guy, offered pointers on what vulnerabilities to look out for, and what moves worked or didn’t work. Sokka spent the rest of the day in the armor, earning Aang’s compliment and Katara’s mild annoyance. Toph was…indifferent, since she was basically a walking metal statue already and was still riding the high from everyone’s amazement.

Returning to the present, Sokka watched as his father took off in an Earth Kingdom merchant junk carrying food, tools and more to begin rebuilding the South Pole.

After that, it was a nice, warm hug and a slightly embarrassing but much savored kiss in front of everyone to see Yue off. “I’ll see you soon,” she promised.

“Yeah,” was all Sokka managed to mumble as he stared at his fiance’s beautiful face.

“That’s enough gawking, loverboy.” Katara just had to make a scene by yanking him away. “Take care Yue. I promise we’ll look after Sokka for you.”

That was a cheap shot. “Hey! I can take care of myself, thank you very much!”

They watched the Northern Water Tribe ships leave and Yue’s waving figure become an indistinct speck in the distance before the three of them headed back to the palace. Aang and Teo were waiting for them with a rather impressively outfitted Appa.

The fluffy air bison wore barding that consisted of mail that covered most of him, and several metal plates protecting various vital points. A massive chanfron protected Appa’s head, leaving only his mouth clear as his eyes were protected by swirling grills. Teo was just folding away what seemed like glider wings into Appa’s flanks. Probably to help him fly farther or something? Still, the overall look made Appa look menacing indeed.

“Appa looks…different.” Of course Katara with her girly sensibilities would not see the awesomeness that way.

“He’s a bit heavier, that’s for sure,” Toph commented.

“That’s what the wings are for,” Teo explained as he patted on the folded wings, confirming Sokka’s initial impression. “Dad says once deployed, they’d help take nearly half the weight. Should help during long flights. There’s latches near the saddle that’ll help drop the whole thing - or reattach it - quickly if you need to.” The boy’s face scrunched up a bit. “Xing wanted to attach a metal barrel filled with blasting jelly to…uh, help Appa move faster, but everyone agreed it was a stupid idea.”

“Appa’s not a firework,” Aang agreed with a stern nod. “Though…I guess it’s worth trying out if I can help speed up the flying by firebending like the soldiers.”

“I can’t wait to find out,” Toph commented dryly.

They took to the skies later, and as they saw the soldiers leaving Ba Sing Se shrink into a barely visible trail of dots, Sokka idly began to wonder how lucky he and his friends were to miss out on all the carnage that was about to come.

Or almost all, if Xing managed to make it to the palace in time.