Chapter 45.4- And so the Dragons Danced

“They knew they had a beautiful daughter, and that the Fire Lord’s wife was dead. To put two and two together, an Uncle of hers, a contemptuous little man with more cunning than honor approached the Head of the Guard with a portrait of hers, and the plot was set to put her in the Fire lord’s way and allow his baser desires come to light. They hoped to gain benefits to their family from that. Maybe even a marriage. She would never have birthed the next Fire Lord, but being the Fire Lord’s wife has benefits few can comprehend. The power was alluring, and their sense little.” I gasped at the words. Even as it made sense. Zhufu’s grades had not been the best. It hadn’t made sense when she had been made a guard in the palace. The thought in my mind was that the eventual marriage to Prince Zuko would move forward and she was being put in a place where it was certain that no harm would come to her, but why the son when one can have the father?

“And this worked?” I asked. It sounded like a relatively simple plan in truth. The kind of thing that anyone competent would see through. And regardless of what I thought about him, Ozai was at the very least, more competent than most.

“To some extent. Ozai knew of the plan, of course. He found it all very amusing, in truth, that anyone would dare be so brazen. And then he saw her. I am not privy to the exact details but I know he had his way with her more than once. I assumed the entire situation consensual. She would not be the first woman to spread her legs for influence and power- your lessons covered this. It was only after she drive a spear through his heart that she came out with the truth that he had forced himself on her. And repeatedly.” He said. I took a deep breath. Zhufu. Kind, delicate Zhufu had been raped over and over again by that monster. Ozai was lucky he was dead. He was so fucking lucky.

“And you did nothing? You noticed nothing?” I pressed. My grandfather was many things, and I would have counted being a man of honour among them but I could not guarantee that he would not have turned the other eye if he found out. He would do anything for our family.

“I would not have allowed a noble lady to be dishonored in such a manner, fire Lord or not. Had it been a serving girl or merchant’s daughter, then I would have done nothing. But Zhufu was one of us- our class. Any infringement on the rights of the noble class do not just concern one of us, but all of us. If the precedent is set that the Fire Lord can have his way with our daughters at his will and against theirs, then the consequences would be immense. Furthermore, I know how you felt about her. She was your friend, and I know what Wu blood can do in such situations. I would have stepped in if only to prevent you from challenging Ozai to an Agni Kai when you eventually found out.” I stared him in the eyes, and he seemed to be honest. He seemed to be telling the truth, but that did not make me feel any better. Not at all.

Azula slammed into the office with a Fire Sage visible hurrying behind her.

“The whore is pregnant” She said.

“What?” What was she talking about this time.

“The whore that killed my Father. She is pregnant” She said.

“Pregnant?” I felt like the world was spinning all around me. I felt rage. I wanted to smash Azula into the floor and tell her I would rip out her tongue if she called Zhufu a whore in front of me again. But I took that thought and the rest of my rage and burried it far beneath everything else.

“Tell them what you told me” She told the fire sage, never understanding just how close she had come to death right here and now.

“The lady, Zhufu, she had taken in with child”

“Ozai’s child?” Grandfather asked, voice shriller than I had ever heard from him.

“Most certainly. Those of us who were in the know about their copulations were entrusted in ensuring that no others touched her. The Fire Lord did not share” He said. I wanted to kill something. Anything.

“I want her dead” Azula screamed. I could see it right and then. My Grandfather gave me a warning look. I nodded at him. She could scream all she wanted but she would be dead before she laid a hand on Zhufu. Whatever affection I held for her was nothing when it compared with the love I felt for Zhufu.

“And how exactly are we supposed to achieve this from all the way here in Ba Sing Se?” I drawled. What a silly little girl.

“We invade them. We smash our way into the Capitol and take the palace. We drag little Zuzu out of there kicking and screaming.” She said with a spiteful smile on her face.

XXXXXX- THE WATERBENDING MASTER

She had expected a good day. The weather was cooler than it had been since she took up residence here. The man that had taken and killed her mother had been summoned to the Palace, and the date of Zuko’s meeting was drawing nearer.

That was why when the White Haired Fire Bending Master had revealed himself at the Palace Gates, she had felt her heart drop into her stomach. Good days came with bad news. She had learned this early.

“He’s dead, Fire Lord Zuko. I saw it with my own eyes” They were far from the only ones in the throne room, but Zuko only had eyes for the former Fire Nation traitor.

“What do you mean he is dead?” Zuko sounded confused.

“They fought with fire and lightning, more avatars of Agni’s wrath than men at some point, but it happened that General Iroh was no longer able to keep up. The Dragon of the West was slain in battle against Natsu Wu in the center of the Earth King’s palace.” There was no shortage of gasps. Natsu Wu- the bloody general- had a mythical status to these people. The kind of thing that she would not have believed if she did not see it herself, but she had. They were the resistance, water benders, earthbenders, and non-benders who only shared their enmity of the Fire Nation in common, but they all knew who Natsu Wu was. Slayer of Bumi, Seizer of Ba Sing Se. Warlord. Conqueror. Murderer. There were a dozen words that one could use to refer to the man and they all stuck.

“Then why are you here?” Zuko raged.

“It was all I could do to escape. We fought him together, but even as two, he still had us beaten. Aang intervened and even he could barely last more than a few seconds against him. I might have taught Natsu Wu when he was younger but what he has become is far beyond even my wildest imaginations”

“There were five of you. Five fighting masters. You said the five of you could take a city on your lonesome and now four of you are dead, unable to kill a single man? My Uncle is dead” The fire before the throne erupted with a snap. The heat in the throne room became unbearable.

“Out. All of you. Get out” Zuko roared.

A/N: Longer than usual to apologise for missing yesterday's upload.