Chapter 55.2- And so the Dragons Danced

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 he 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, confirming what had once been a provisional appointment into a permanent one with his words.