Comments | honorregained: ☄12. Encounters by the pond. [Open RL in the Fire Nation.]

honorregained

☄12. Encounters by the pond. [Open RL in the Fire Nation.]

Jun 09, 2010 19:53

So what if it was his birthday? Turning eighteen meant you were an adult in some places, but Zuko had been an adult for years, in function if not in reality. It didn't mean anything to him. He was sure his mother and his uncle remembered the occasion, and that warm glow of assurance - that he knew they would without having to ask, or check - was ( Read more... )

&larsa;, --dramadramaduck, &azula;, &mello;, &edward;, &ursa;, &luna;, !rl

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peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 00:29:27 UTC

The first thing Azula noticed was how calm things were. There were no riots, no mobs, no protests-- at least not within the palace walls. All the people who lived and worked here who had supported her... had they all been thrown in prison? Or had they simply taken the coward's way out and bowed down to a traitor's rule?

Both options made her blood boil. How dare they try to make it look as if nothing had happened? How dare they act like everything was peaceful and happy now?! Zuko was ruining her country, her legacy, and her life, and he had no right to act like everything was fine now.

Fire at the ready, Azula swooped into the courtyard, her eyes wild and angry. "You think you can just fly in here and take my throne from me?" she called loudly, her words aimed at Zuko (though others around might hear her, too). "Well, guess what? I can do the same thing!"

honorregained June 10 2010, 00:38:51 UTC

"No, you can't," he said simply, deceptively calm. "What took you so long? I was expecting you a lot sooner."

He was poised for things to break out into a fight: Zuko wouldn't demand his guards to deal with someone they used to serve, or at least he wouldn't while he was capable of handling things. And he really had been expecting this. Azula hadn't ever been the kind of person to take failure well, and he was prepared to do everything he had to to personally defend the new peace in his kingdom.

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 00:42:45 UTC

"This isn't yours, and you'd better get ready to accept that!" she snapped violently, already coming at him with her arms outstretched. "Nobody wants you here! NOBODY!"

honorregained June 10 2010, 19:17:53 UTC

"Plenty of people want me here," said Zuko, voice tense. "Including the Avatar. Accept that you've lost, Azula! The time for fighting is over!"

He was veering to the right as he spoke, quickly unfastening the top robe of his formal attire and throwing it off. It wouldn't distract her, but Zuko would need every ounce of agility to keep pace with his sister, and he knew it.

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 19:23:38 UTC

Instead of using her fire, she swung a punch at his head. "It's not!" she screamed. "There are PLENTY of people who--"

She stopped for a moment, breathing hard. She knew that she had supporters. She had to; the war had been very popular among the Fire Nation elite. But where were they? Even if Zuko had thrown them all in jail, surely some would have escaped.

"Where are they?" she gasped out. "Where are they? They should be here! Qin, Jao, Zhang..." Azula kept listing off names, all high-ranking members of the Fire Nation royal court. Of course they were here. Of course they hadn't deserted her. They cared about the Fire Nation and the war just as much as she did-- didn't they?

honorregained June 10 2010, 19:31:36 UTC

Zuko cut her off, having backstepped swiftly out of her attack. "I didn't kill them, if that's what you mean. Most of them aren't even in jail. They're just more capable of accepting reality than you are."

He didn't want to attack her. He didn't want this to come to a fight at all - he really didn't. So he stepped back further, putting space between them and taking a defensive stance, one hand in front of the other, center of gravity farther back. By this time guards were starting to amass around the perimeter of the courtyard, but he waved them off, never taking his eyes from Azula.

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 19:34:11 UTC

She shook her head in disbelief. "That's impossible."

Spotting the guards, she called out to them. "You, seize him! He's a traitor!"

honorregained June 10 2010, 19:41:55 UTC

They didn't move.

"I've already changed them," Zuko said, matching their stillness. Every person there was focused on her. "They're loyal only to me. Your guards are in the colonies, helping to rebuild."

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 19:43:18 UTC

Azula stood stock still, too shocked to speak for a few moments.

"... That's impossible," she finally repeated. "That's..."

honorregained June 10 2010, 19:47:29 UTC

"It's what happened," he answered her, and then his tone softened to quietness. "People are tired of seeing their families killed. No matter what the reason.

"There are people that disagree," Zuko went on, eying her as he said it, "but we'll get through them."

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 19:50:23 UTC

Azula's face went completely blank. Her arms dropped to her sides.

This could not be happening.

honorregained June 10 2010, 19:52:37 UTC

He hesitated. Zuko knew she wouldn't want his sympathy, but, he was her brother...

His stance started to relent. "Azula..."

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 19:54:43 UTC

With a sudden roar of fury, Azula leapt forward, fire at the ready once again. She was striking out at Zuko, at the Avatar, at the guards-- even at her father, who wasn't even there.

If she was going to go down, she was going to take as many of them as she could with her.

honorregained June 10 2010, 20:03:30 UTC

He should've known. Part of him had, but it didn't get any easier each time he fought his own family.

But there was no time for thinking. Zuko steeled himself internally and resolved to finish this fight quickly. That in mind, he was done dodging: he moved to meet her head on, lashing at her with a fist and following it up with a low kick. If he kept the fight at close quarters, it wouldn't have to involve anyone else.

"I told you not to come back," he said loudly, grimly. "Don't think my mercy lasts forever!"

peoplesprincess June 10 2010, 20:06:27 UTC

"If you're going to kill my country then you'll have to kill me too!" she shrieked, punching out with her fire and striking, striking, striking. She had no idea what, if anything, she was hitting. She didn't care.

honorregained June 10 2010, 20:13:50 UTC

"I'm not going to kill you!" he yelled in defiance, everything building up inside him, unrelenting anger at his father, his sister, the world, himself. Zuko was tired of death being the answer to everything. Death, everywhere, or banishment.

He wouldn't perpetuate it.

He took the hit willingly, flame blasting over him and singing his clothes as he broke through it. Even as he was hit, Zuko was retaliating, trying to use her weight against her and knock her onto the floor. He wanted this done with now.

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