Focused Fire (ATLA)

News of Avatar Aang defeating Fire Lord Ozai was quick to spread. That he did so with the help of Xing and Azula was emphasized, as was the fact that he handed the captured Fire Lord over to Zuko’s firm demands only in exchange for negotiations about the war and the changes that the Fire Nation must undergo.

The exact contents of the discussion was kept from the public and even the courtiers. Some of its immediate effects were obvious for all to see though...

Like Iroh being flown back to the home islands by the Avatar’s air bison, which was why he was now standing in the throne room before his niece and nephew, along with the pacified nobility of the Fire Nation, as one of the Fire Sages crowned him the new Fire Lord.

“All hail Fire Lord Iroh,” someone intoned gravely, and Iroh fought from cringing as the assembled men and women prostrated themselves before him and echoed the words.

“Long may the Fire Lord reign,” Xing, the cheeky brat, declared from the back of the hall, which got the whole hall chanting along.

To Iroh’s right, not-quite-hidden in the shadows, Aang and his friends watched the coronation ceremony in silence. The Avatar wore a frown throughout the whole event, and the new Fire Lord could not blame him.

After all, this had all been orchestrated by Xing well beforehand, and it was about the best option to cater to everyone that mattered, whatever Iroh’s willingness on the matter.

Zuko was still too young and his years in exile left him ill-experienced for the throne, which was why he was designated as Iroh’s heir. Talks of official adoption were still being considered to strengthen the line of succession, but both uncle and nephew were content to kick that topic further down the line for another time. Politics had a way of souring sincere intentions, after all.

On the other hand, Azula gave up all claims on the Fire Nation in exchange for ‘exile’ to Ba Sing Se with Xing. In that same vein, to allay concerns of the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom, as well as uphold his own end of this convoluted bargain, the Scorpion Prince was forced to sever his loyalty and duty to the Fire Nation.

Ba Sing Se would stand on its own as an independent state, with many restrictions imposed on the diplomatic actions it may or may not conduct with its former suzerain for the near future at least. It would also have its military might curtailed to a purely defensive force, though considering how large the city state was, even sending out a minimal garrison could be enough to threaten its neighbors. 

Which was why several agreements (ratified with King Bumi, not King Kuei) were put in place to keep a loose leash on the new realm. Like having an oversight council made up of representatives from the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom (again, assigned by Bumi, not Kuei). That half of the council was already filled by the former prisoners of the 11th was considered a non-issue and thus omitted from the records.

Of course, all of this was delivered to the masses through the lens of Zuko and Azula compromising with the Avatar’s demands. Beyond reinforcing the Avatar as the ultimate arbiter of balance in the world, it had the benefit of painting the siblings in a positive light for the population of both the Fire Nation and Ba Sing Se, that the discarded son and betrayed daughter did their best to save the Fire Nation from the machinations of what was revealed to be their highly delusional father. 

But at the same time, the official story would say that the Avatar could not trust Azula, who had directed Xing up until his conquest of Ba Sing Se, nor could he so easily forgive Zuko for hounding him. That fabrication too was intended, an unsubtle reason to show his respect of, if not fear, the competence of both prince and princess. It would be a reminder that they were royals who had taken to the field and gotten their hands dirty, unlike their father.

And by framing it as Aang being wary of them, the Fire Nation’s royal family would salvage some reputation for its subjects to admire, at least until Iroh’s rule really began. Hopefully.

Zuko got the better end of the public relations work, as Xing had expected and engineered. Being a captive prince breaking out to do right by his people, and being uninvolved in the civil war on the Earth Continent and thus having relatively bloodless hands, it was easy for the nobles to flock to him, and the populace to see him as the more benevolent sibling.

It mildly disturbed Iroh that his niece would so willingly take on the more villainous role in all this, but after what she’s been through, perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising.

“Me? Fire Lord? Please, uncle. Those who like me and are willing to actually administer properly are already in Ba Sing Se, and trying to rehome them back here would only give me reason to really purge the islands of the split-tongued, incompetent houses. I do not wish to have to constantly rule with an iron fist just to get the job done. Nor do I wish to be a whole world away from my Xing stuck trying to rebuild a house I’ve never truly called home.”

And with the colonies more or less guaranteed to be given up to Bumi, that massive distance between the Fire Islands and Ba Sing Se would be made even more stark. It would be an untenable relation to maintain in the long term.

Iroh remembered how Azula had sniffed with a smug grin after that. “Besides, Xing is already feared enough as is. Imagine how many people would be worried enough to turn against us if I took the throne as well. We’d be stuck fending off the shadows for the rest of our lives.”

That too was true, though perhaps she was taking a bit too much pride in that.

Regardless, Azula all but disowned herself from the royal family, and with Aang making it known that neither she nor Xing would be allowed to set foot on the Fire Islands unless truly warranted (it was entirely their idea), the courtiers of the Fire Nation were given a very good incentive to cooperate with Iroh and Zuko. Already, those who’ve been clued into the administrative reforms Iroh wished to push through were just waiting for the changes to be brought up so that they may vehemently approve it, disregarding their actual interests that would be affected. The Fire Lord would conveniently leave out the fact that a bulk of the reforms were ideas from Azula’s time as Colonial Minister, to make it more palatable for the court.

With the ceremony over, Iroh regarded his court without the curtain of flame his brother liked so much. It gave him a clearer view of the people he’d have to work with, the new Fire Lord liked to think.

Drawing in breath, Iroh said his first words as ruler of the Fire Nation. “Let the royal court be in session.”

And so began the pledges of loyalty from across the islands, and then the progress reports on the return of the armies on the continent…and then the veiled auctioning of recently abandoned estates and holdings…and then the official declaration of the few of Ozai’s more dangerous supporters as fugitive traitors…

There was so much to deal with, and it was all just internal matters. The matter of negotiations with the Water Tribes and the Omashu-led Earth Kingdom, which held the inevitable reparations and treaties, hadn’t been touched yet. At least Xing got the Bumi and the Water Tribe chieftains to hold off on that meeting for a month or three.

Mostly so that Iroh would get the chance to publicly approach them first, as a gesture of trying to make amends. But also, it’d give Bumi time to marinate in the prestige of being part of ending the long war and shore up his faction against Kuei. Then, once the two kings (or more realistically, Bumi and Kuei’s regents) began to really vie for influence, the Fire Nation would seek out Omashu to offer reparations and make things right. That’d shift the balance to Bumi’s favor as various states would no doubt try to get a slice of the pie.

That they’d partly be paid with the wealth Xing had looted from Ba Sing Se’s palace and noble quarters would be a dark irony for those in the know. Hopefully Bumi wouldn’t highlight that to twist the blade against Kuei; it’d have a very real chance of backfiring.

A chunk of the remaining reparation payment would be taken from the losing players in the Fire Nation’s brief civil war. Beyond losing their family members involved in royal court, noble houses that could not be trusted were stripped of their wealth and would have to rebuild themselves from the ground up. It was either that or the promise of a thorough eradication by Azula’s agents.

All in all, the Fire Nation would not lose too much beyond what it has already lost…at the meager and justified cost of a campaign of character assassination of Ozai and his lackeys. That the Avatar could testify to the assassination attempt on Iroh would enhance Iroh’s reputation as a peace seeker and reconciler, which would earn some wriggle room on the negotiation table.

When he thought about it for too long, Iroh found himself rather terrified of how much Xing and Azula had taken things into account, even when improvising.

With his first court held and done with, Iroh rose up from his throne and approached the gaggle of teens that made him Fire Lord. Azula was the first to greet him, wearing a smirk.

“See uncle? You’re still alive and well. It’s not as hard as your reluctance makes it seem.”

“It was too long for my liking,” Iroh complained, which got her to shrug.

“Then add cushions to the throne. Or get tea service while you’re holding court. It’s up to you now to decide how things are run around here.”

With the nobles thinning out enough, the banter was quickly dropped for more serious matters. “So, with no one trying to interrupt the coronation, the Fire Nation is effectively in your hands,” Aang said with a smile, and then glanced to Xing. “That means we can move on?”

The Prince of Ba Sing Se nodded. “Pri- Fire Lord Iroh is now the fully legitimate ruler of the Fire Nation. If there are any remaining die-hard supporters of Ozai left, they’ve lost their chance to really make a dent in the regime change.”

“So we don’t have to go scouring the islands for hidden cells,” Katara said with relief, getting another nod from Xing.

“Not without making Fire Lord Iroh look like he’s relying on the Avatar as a crutch.”

Aang sighed with relief, and his bright smile grew. “Well, that’s good news all around. Now we just have to wait for the negotiations with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes to confirm the peace…”

“And don’t forget affirming Ba Sing Se’s place in the world.”

“Yeah, that too.”

Zuko broke from his day-long thoughtful silence to fix his gaze between Xing and Aang. “So, my father…he’ll remain prisoner…?”

The light mood that started to infect the group vanished, and the Scorpion and the Avatar gave firm nods in unison. “We’ll leave him in the palace dungeons until Sozin’s Comet,” Xing confirmed. “What happens after will be entirely dependent on how he - and not his followers - behave.”

The boy Sokka voiced what had been nagging in the back of Iroh’s head. “I’m kind of surprised you’re not calling for his head or something.”

It was Azula who answered with forced lightness. “A quick execution would be detrimental to what we’re trying to achieve in a new Fire Nation. Personally, I’d like to decide his fate with an Agni Kai…” She gave Xing, Zuko, and Iroh a look. “...but he’s still my father, as I’ve been reminded. We’ll give him a chance. His last chance.”

“Thank you, Azula,” Iroh sincerely said, bowing his head at his niece’s reluctant mercy. She responded by rolling her eyes to hide her clearly conflicted thoughts.

“Anyway, back to pertinent matters… Is six months enough to allow the free movement of people between the Fire Nation and Ba Sing Se?”

“I thought it was three?” Zuko asked.

“Three was for the nobles,” Azula clarified. “So that they’ll liquify and declare all their incoming or outgoing assets in time for the fiscal report. They’ll get less wriggle room for any creative corruption.”

“Politics…” Aang sighed wearily. Iroh sympathized, wishing he could simply offer the throne to Zuko right now and set up a tea house somewhere peaceful. But like the Avatar, he had to face the realities and responsibilities of his rank. Still, it needn’t be such a dour thing all the time…

“Well, we’ve been standing about for a while now,” Iroh began. “Why don’t we carry the discussion to the gardens? I’ll have the servants prepare us tea.”

The Fire Lord was stung that it was Zuko of all people who replied with ghastly blasphemy. “So long as you don’t end up brewing it all by yourself and lecturing them on how to do it correctly, uncle.”

“But how can tea be enjoyed if it’s poorly made? The servants need a proper education!”

“You’re Fire Lord, not a tea house owner.” How quickly the cracks between ruler and heir have shown itself.

“You know that you’ve not been officially confirmed as my heir?”

It was the blind girl Toph that scoffed. “What, you’re going to adopt and elevate the best tea brewer?”

“You can dabble in the intricacies of tea brewing during your down time, Iroh.”

Dabble?! Iroh glared at Sokka. “Do not belittle the art, boy.”

To Iroh’s chagrin, the youngsters found the exchange amusing as they headed for the gardens. But Xing, the spirit-blessed boy, proved himself the most considerate and wisest of the group by providing Iroh with a satchel of Black Laogai leaves just as the travesty that was cold leaf water was served, and convinced the others to let Iroh show them how it’s done.