Chapter 44.1- And so the Dragons Danced

Ships being spotted on the Horizon didn’t mean that the ships were close by. In fact, it would take another few hours for the ships to make it to the port. That meant I had time to put things in order. The first thing I considered was summoning the Generals and revealing what had happened to Ozai to them, but I had hours, and that cancakterous lot would be fine keeping me there with their arguing and debating. Besides, we were technically in rebellion against the throne as present so there was no point in giving them a way out at present. When I absolutely had to tell them, I would.

That meant I needed a way to get a Company of soldiers to the ports without drawing much attention. Of course, that was as far as I got before there was a knock on my door and Sung was walking inside. “General Natsu, I felt the need to bring the ships on the horizon to your notice” My former Commanding Officer said. Of course the bastard knew. He had probably even figured out some part of what was going on. Not the whole story though, because that was way too far fetched for anyone to come up with all that with no context.

“I am aware, General Sung. I will be moving to meet them as they disembark” I said.

“And this has nothing to do with the letter from the Palace that arrived today?” He asked. Someone in my service had a very loose tongue, and they were going to lose it once I found out who it was. It was with irritation that I took the scroll up from my table where I had shifted it to the side and gave it to him.

He devoured it in seconds and his eyes snapped to mine. “Fire Lord Ozai is dead?” He questioned. I nodded, expecting him to launch into a rant about how I had no right to keep such secrets.

“Good. It’s good that you haven’t told anyone, I mean. The others- the others will not take this well. They’re an ambitious and grasping lot who toe the line now because they hope the Fire Lord will you in your place when the time comes. If that stops being open to them, then it’s difficult to predict how they will react- what they will do next.” He said.

“You think they could rebel?” I asked.

“They do not like answering to you. They feel your family lost royal favor, and the fact that you killed a Prince of the Blood- some of them were raised in a different time. Fire Lord Ozai had two heirs-“

“He one heir. One. Me!” Azula cut in, eyes wide. I could see it now, the rage, the insanity that had made her such a character in the other world. I grasped her hand, squeezing it tight.

“I am sure General Sung did not mean to insinuate otherwise. He was trying to speak from the perspective of those old basrtards” I said, rubbing my thumb across the back of her palm in a soothing way. She stilled and nodded, but said nothing. I gestured to Sung to continue.