Chapter 55- And so the Dragons Danced (Complete)

Natsu returned to much fanfare as he rode his ostrich horse through the city. It was both a symbol of his victory and a statement of his bravery. He had been attacked in this very city once already. His Grandfather had died. He had mourned, and then like a good son of Agni, he had channeled his grief into something productive. He had conquered the last bastion of independence from the Fire Nation. He would have to change that name eventually, he thought to himself. This was the Fire nation. This place with beautiful men and women who applauded and hailed him as he rode through the seats. The people who tossed fire Lillies in his path for good luck and as a blessing. But Ba Sing Se would never be the Fire Nation.

They ruled it, yes. But it wasn’t them. Sailing through the skies had made him appreciate the scale of the planet he now found himself ruling. He had done what hundreds of others from his whole world had failed to do— world conquest. Now he just had to accomplish hat was even more impossible. World rulership. Ozia had the right idea, naming himself as “Phoenix King” and abandoning the position of Fire Lord had definitely been the wrong way to go about it, but the idea itself? It was good.

Natsu didn’t rule just the Fire Nation. He ruled the world and would need a title that understood that, but he would not be abdicating the way Ozai had. For one, his position was not nearly so secure. For another, the Fire Nation was going to be the source of his power and support for the foreseeable future, and so putting it in a situation where it was ever less than 100% under his control would be stupid.

He smiled and waved at the people as he passed he kissed babies, blessed pregnant women who wished for their children to be strong benders like him and showed off his green flames for children as he made his way through the city. The journey from the gates of Azulon to the palace would take a man on a horse about thirty minutes if he moved at a reasonable pace. It ended up taking him about two hours with all the distractions. He still wouldn’t have had it any other way. The line of Sozin had ruled by keeping themselves far and separate from the people, it had made people view them as more gods than humans in certain ways, but it had also meant that the average person hadn’t been too attached to who sat the throne.

They’d only protested and opposed Zuko because of the foreigners he brought in tow, not for killing Ozai and taking the throne. The identity of who sat the throne did not matter to them, but it was important to him that they wanted him there. Not just because being loved was good for his ego— even if he wasn’t so blind as to deny the effects of that, but also because if they loved him, then they would serve as a good backbone behind which to push the kind of reforms he needed to. He had to centralize power in a way no one after Sozin had dared.

He had to hobble what remained of noble power, and not to leave a vacuum, but to claim that power for himself. After what they had dared, he would have to. His flames flared at the thought, scaring and exciting a few of the kids he was showing off for before he brought it under control again, moving to juggling green balls of fire in dizzying motions. When he finally made it to the palace, he was just about done with social interaction for the day. After he had started kissing babies and the rest, it wasn’t like he could just stop without causing some offense, so he had to stick with the bit and that was when he realised why other Fire Lords hadn’t done it as often. It was tiring as all hell.

He rode in, and the head fire sage in front of the procession to greet him wasted no time in dropping to his knees and pressing his head to the ground. “All Hail, Fire Lord Natsu, the Conqueror” He smiled at the epithet added to his name. Natsu the Conqueror had a nice ring to it. Even better than most epithets like Tiamat the Great, or Jinpei the Merciful, his epithet had the additional flex of being true. He had done it, conquered the world and made it his. He’d won.

“Rise, my loyal subjects,” he said as he stepped from his Ostrich horse. Toji was the first to reach him.

“You have done well, High General,” He said, implicitly confirming what had once been a provisional appointment into a permanent one with his words. He gave him a hug then, whispering his question into his friend’s ears— “Is it done?” He asked, and Toji nodded against his body. He smiled. That was some good news at least. Toji’s letter had reached him upon arrival, and it had contained what was his plan for dealing with the fools that had sought to kill him, and while Natsu wasn’t the biggest fan of the chaos that the executions would cause, preferring that they just disappeared with no trace, he could recognize the value in a public execution. Setting an example for the rest of the lot with a few rilled heads would be useful. It would be the first public execution since Sozin left the throne, but being compared to the Greatest Fire Lord in history wasn’t the worst possible thing out there.

I took a step back from Toji, and then came Toph breaking all forms of protocol to barrel into my midsection. I smiled as I wrapped my own arms around her, bragging her close to me and enjoying the way she breathed in my scent. Someway, somehow, I had come to love this girl like a daughter. It probably didn’t make much sense to most others, considering there was only a physical eight-year gap between us. The mental gap, which they would never know of, was far more substantial, and raising her in this universe allowed me to eight some wrongs from my old one. An Olympic level gymnast had no time for distractions, and so even when I did have children on the way, it was understood by everyone involved that I would be involved as little as possible.

I allowed those memories wash over me before I locked them away where they belonged and waited for Toph to let go before doing so myself and turning to the next person in the line. Zhufu had begun showing. Not much, just the barest amount. Enough for people to notice, but not enough for them to comment without risking causing offense. It took some time before a pregnancy could easily be distinguished from the effects of a snack or two too many, and so they would wait until that time arrived before commenting. That gave us time. Time to figure shit out. I returned her bow with a nod rather than one of my own to show my rank before I moved on to the next person on the line. I had finished greetings in five minutes and moved on to the meeting room where the last of the planning for my coronation would take place.

—

“Twenty-Eight days of feasting to represent the dance between Agni and Soma” One of the lords suggested, and I felt a headache building.

“More wine, my lord?” The cupbearer asked, and I waved my hand to say yes. Anything to get this thing to move even quicker. I sipped from the glass while a Fire Sage proposed two twenty-eight day fasts rather than feasts. Who the hell were these idiots?

“Can we move on from the fasts and feasts? I’m sure we can flip a coin to decide between both at a later date” I cut in with an easy smirk. Some of the generals chuckled but the Lords, and definitely the Fire Sage, looked far from amused. Toji gave me a look that said he wondered what kind of communicable idiocy I’d caught in my time in the Northern Water Tribe. I shrugged in his direction. Sure, I knew that the dance between feasts and fasts was key to our shared birth faith of Agni-worship, but this was just ridiculous.

I allowed the cupbearer refill my glass and took another healthy gulp while I waited for someone to break the silence my intrusion had caused for a second or two, and then Toji stepped in, dependable and trustworthy as ever.

“We can deal with the particulars of the celebration at a later date, but we must first of all deal with the guest list” Toji said. I sent him a thankful list even as my mind went over the problem he’d raised. The guest list.

“Myself and all the ranking Lords are within the palace and would want to stay until the Coronation is complete” Lord Kaizen said and I nodded. He had been one of those who had tried to have me killed, but beyond that tidbit, he was a nice enough man. If only Toji hadn’t gone ahead and promised them that they would keep their lives after they rolled on Matsuhito and came together to confess ‘his’ crimes and whatnot, as well as the increased taxes he’d been able to get. If I was being objective, it was a good deal. Hostages to ensure good behaviour in the short term. High taxes that would severely damage their chances of doing anything in the medium term.

In the long term? I’d be too entrenched for them to touch, or even to attempt to. It was a good plan that gave me the one thing I needed to get everything in order— time. So why did it piss me off so much? Grandfather. The only reason I’d even said yes was the voice in my head that sounded like him telling me that it was a great deal that turning my back on would be stupid beyond stupid.

I took another swig from the glass, emptying it in one go, before gesturing my assent when the cupbearer asked if I wanted more.

“Send an air ship to Ba Sing Se.” I cut in during a period of silence.

“Long Feng, the head of the Dai Li, should be in attendance for the coronation. It would be a good way to show that I am not just the Lord of the Fire Nation anymore, but the Lord over a unified world” I said.

“Speaking of, I had an idea for a different title” Toji said, tossing a scroll in my direction.

“Grand Emperor of the United Continents” I read out loud with a raised eyebrow. Toji smirked in reply while much of the table looked scandalized at the thought.

“Lord Protector of the Four Nations” I read the second entry, and had to admit that I did enjoy the ring it had to it. The only problem was that it kept the identity of the ‘four nations’ intact, even if there were really only three nations anymore— the air benders were dead and gone. It also did little to recognise the fact that I wanted them united as one instead of remaining separate things because ‘balance’.

“Ruler of the First Elemental Empire? Really?” This one I scoffed at. Toji shrugged, showing that he himself wasn’t going to do much to defend that choice. I took another sip of the wine, before just knocking the rest of the glass down my throat and dropping it to the side to be refilled.

“More wine, my lord?” The cupbearer asked, and I waved him ahead.

“Well, only one of these is even passable” I said, skimming through the rest of the list.

“I don’t know, I’m quite attached to God-King of the Elemental Nations” Toji replied with a smirk. God-King. That bastard. Of course, repackaging history from my old world as creative stories that I had come up with myself would come back to bite me in the arse.

“But what are new titles needed for? The Fire Lord is the Fire Lord, and that is how it has been for centuries.” General Hyo cut in.

“Well, the Fire Lord does not rule over only the Fire Nation anymore, does he?” Toji asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He does. The Fire Lord rules over the Fire Nation, and the Fire Nation rules over the rest of the world” He said as if it was obvious and the two of us were failing to see it. I closed my eyes, feeling a wave of dizziness coming over me.

“Your wine, my lord” My cupbearer offered, and I nodded, picking up the glass and emptying it.

“Let me get this straight. You believe that because we won the war, we now stand above the other nations, and they are subservient to the Fire Nation?” I asked.

“Yes”, he said clearly believing that was the only way to possibly see it.

“Shall I go fetch more wine, my lord?” The cupbearer asked when I turned to my glass and found it still empty. I nodded, irritated, even as I felt another wave of lightheadedness come over me.

“Then I’ll only say this once--” I started, before I felt another wave. “Natsu?” Toji? Was that Toji’s voice?

I never felt my body slump against the desk as I lost consciousness.

—

I regained consciousness in a garden. Was garden even the right word? There was grass beneath me, and when I sat up to look, grass, shrubs, and flowers were all my eyes could see up to the horizon. Was this some sort of dream? It had to be. What had I been doing before I fell asleep? I wondered. Nothing came to mind as I pushed up to my feet and began to walk around. I took a straight line from the place I woke up down the empty garden. The grounds were neatly cropped grass that tickled my bare feet as I walked. It was then that I noticed that my shoes were gone. At least I was clothed. A red shirt and trousers made of silk, just like my pajamas.

I took a left, and then the garden shifted. There was a hush. The sound of the wind quieted, the sound of the birds that I hadn’t even noticed I’d been listening to. I felt an itch behind my eyes, and I turned to the sound that cut through the silence. Aang. Aang?

“Hello Natsu” He said, none of the fury that I would hav expected. It made sense, though, this was my dream, after all. But why would I be dreaming about the Avatar?

“It’s not a dream, Natsu”

“It is” I refuted.

“Is not”

“How do you know what I’m thinking? Because you’re a part of my subconscious— just like you would be if this were a dream” I pointed.

“Think, Natsu. Remember. You were drinking wine in your meeting, and then what happened?” He asked, and his words stirred up a memory within me. I was in the meeting hall. I’d been talking about the effects of our rule on the four nations, and then I’d slumped. It was the wine, I realised now. The cupbearer had been compromised somehow— even with all I’d done to ensure his loyalty. How disappointing.

“So I’m dead, then? This is the afterlife?” I wondered. All I saw when I died the first time was darkness. And even if Aang surely hated me for what I had done to him and his friends, he was still a step up from the cold, unfeeling void.

“Try again. You’re in the spirit world, Natsu”.

“The spirit world? How the hell am I in the spirit world?”

“We brought you here, of course” His smile was bright. Why was he smiling at me? I killed him and everyone he cared about. Was this some sort of mind game? He was going to let me drop my guard so he could take revenge when I wasn’t paying attention? A smart plan, but he clearly knew nothing about me if he thought that was going to work.

His smile faded, and he looked almost sad.

“Did you ever learn to trust anyone?” He asked, and the pity on his face made me want to lash out with my fire. Except that I could feel none of my flames. I remembered the rule from the Korra show. No bending here.

“Even without my bending, I am not the easy target you might think I am, Avatar” I said, taking my stance. I had trained to fight since I could walk. Sure, most of that had been with bending, but even without it, I was still a dangerous man.

“We didn’t bring you here to fight, Natsu” He said with a sigh. I felt for him then, the air nomad forced to fight in a war. He had been dealt the shorthand by fate, and in a different world he would have triumphed. Here, I did. And then I realised what he had said.

“We? Who’s We?” I asked.

As if my question was a cue, they appeared. Roku, then Kyoshi, then Kuruk, then Yangchen, then Szeto, and on and on it went. They formed a circle around me that led to another circle that led to another. It was like a spiral that went all the way to the beginning, To Wan.

“Hey” The irreverent Fire bender said, appearing in front of me out of the thin air.

I didn’t step back, but I did feel the shock.

“We have a lot to talk about Avatar Natsu” He said.

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A/N: Okay, I lied. This isn’t the final chapter. But we’re close, though. Did anyone see this coming?