Chapter 46.2- And so the Dragons Danced

It took weeks for the promised day to come. I was forced to keep Azula busy with daily spars to run out her energy. Or at least, that had bene their purpose at first, until it turned out that she was even more of a prodigy than I’d expected. She learned so quickly that she went from being someone I had to hold back against to someone it took actual effort to defeat all in a matter of weeks. Of course, if it was a fight to the death, then it was a very different matter.

When the trumpet sounded, I felt myself freeze in place in my office. The Avatar was coming. There was only one thing to be done.

“Toji, you know your orders” I said, before relaxing into my seat.

He nodded, looking extremely sullen but still left. The plan as simple. Evacuate. I had doubts that if the Avatar found an empty palace, he’d tear apart much of this city searching for us, but not enough to risk it. Besides, there was another option. The option that dozens of people had taken when faced with the Avatar. My ancestor had had a very good relationship with Avatar Szeto. The kind of relationship that historians in my old world would have referred to as a ‘very close friendship.’ Don’t get me wrong, he never admitted anything in the journal. But it was telling that he spoke about Szeto more than he did any other. Add that to the fact that the family was forced to continue through his brother’s son because he refused to take a wife, and I could read between the lines well enough.

I stood up and began to take care of the office, arranging it to deal with guests. By now, Long Feng would have gotten to Azula and begun the evacuation. She was to board a ship and take the fastest possible path to the shipyard. The shipyard was one of the centers of military innovation. A place where the Air Blimps that I’d intended to use in the siege of Ba Sing Se were waiting. She was to take control there and take a hold of all those precious resources. We were going to take the fight to Zuko while he thought the fight was being brought to me. All I had to do was my part. Defeat the Avatar, wound him heavily enough that he would not be able to participate in the fight, or piss him off enough that he spent weeks chasing me around the Earth Kingdom rather than back at the Fire nation.

It was a game of chess. I was the sacrificial piece here. A Queen sacrifice to expose the enemy king and win the war in one swoop. Of course, I didn’t intend to die here. I had plans on top of plans to make sure I didn’t. I just had to stay calm and make sure I held my nerve.

A/N: As you can tell, we are behind schedule on this story. Expect a double upload either tomorrow or Monday to catch up with everything. I just had to make sure I had everything in hand.