Chapter Text
The occupation of Caldera lasts exactly twenty-four hours.
0.
At noon, Fire Lord Ozai changes his plans. Moments before the invasion, he summons his daughter, his true successor and true heir.
(Ozai never planned to pass the throne to Zuko. He intended to wait a few more months, maybe years, and then get rid of his useless son. Perhaps he would be able to do it in such a way that he would not associate it with Ozai. Perhaps he would be able to do it in such a way that he would get rid of his political enemies at the same time)
(but those are plans for later)
Azula looks at her father with a serious expression. She accepts his decision to switch the bunkers where they are to hide during the invasion without much trouble.
They don't tell anyone about it. Only their personal guards know about it.
And that is why, shortly thereafter, Fire Prince Zuko is the one who reaches Azula. He has his swords with him, which suddenly seem so useless because he does not think it possible that he could hurt his sister. He came here, risking everything, expecting to meet his father. Despite this, he never assumed that he would actually hurt or kill him. The swords were always meant to be his backup, something that would make Ozai listen to him.
Azula figures out her brother's plans incredibly quickly. It's not hard to understand why he's here. Likewise, it's not hard to understand that, theoretically, Azula cannot accuse him of treason, because Zuko hasn't actually committed it yet.
Azula is not going to let her stupid brother betray their country just like that. She is even less willing to let him go to their father.
So she signals to the guards to close the door. To make sure no one leaves the room.
Azula will not allow Zuko to leave the bunker during the eclipse.
Avatar Aang finds the throne room empty.
The throne room is empty, as is the rest of the palace.
Aang quickly returns to his friends, and then they all try to find Fire Lord Ozai, hoping to do so during the eclipse. To their great joy, Toph finds underground tunnels.
Soon after, they reach the bunker where Fire Lord Ozai is staying.
(in another world, it would be Azula waiting for them. And although she would be defenseless during the eclipse, she would actually be the one to emerge victorious from this clash)
(Azula may not know how to fight with a sword or a knife, but sometimes words are an incredibly powerful weapon)
Fire Lord Ozai blinks in surprise, realizing that none other than the Avatar is standing before him.
And then he smiles, ordering his guards, his soldiers – experienced non-benders – to kill the entire company that has arrived here.
The soldiers, to their credit, try.
But Team Avatar did not come here to be defeated so easily.
They fight. And they win.
Shortly thereafter, Fire Lord Ozai officially becomes their prisoner.
Somewhere outside, the eclipse ends.
The Team Avatar's battle with Fire Lord Ozai and his soldiers took a little longer than it should have. When Avatar Aang reaches the courtyard where the main fighting is taking place, he is horrified to realize that their allied forces are losing the battle. Hakoda has raised white flags, and the soldiers are discarding their weapons. The Fire Nation soldiers watch them suspiciously. Most of them would probably like to simply murder them all, were it not for the fact that killing soldiers who have surrendered would be dishonorable, as General Takechi, the man responsible for protecting the capital, shouts.
Avatar Aang does the only thing that comes to mind – he loudly announces his arrival and informs everyone present that Fire Lord Ozai has been defeated. He shows him to everyone.
The situation changes in a matter of moments.
For many soldiers of the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord is the voice of Agni. He is the embodiment of Agni himself on earth. The thought that he could lose, that he could be defeated, is unimaginable.
Soldiers fall to their knees, one after another.
Somewhere in the command camp, General Takechi raises his voice, calling for battle. But it's in vain. The soldiers, terrified by the fall of their Lord, fall to their knees. They forget that they have their firebending, they forget that they have airships, that they have the technology that allows them to kill all the invaders.
They surrender, one after another.
The warriors of the attacking army exchange glances. And then they raise the weapons they themselves had put aside not so long ago. They take down the flags proclaiming their surrender.
“Capture them all and disarm them!” Hakoda orders loudly and clearly, pointing to the Fire Nation soldiers. “The Fire Lord has been defeated! It is time for us to go down in history as victors!”
The warriors of the Water Tribe, the Foggy Swamp Tribe, and the Earth Kingdom move toward the surrendering Fire Nation soldiers.
The news of Ozai's downfall interrupts the argument between Azula and Zuko.
They both turn to the messenger who brought the news, informing them that an army is heading towards the palace.
Azula, woven with irritation and anger, sends lightning bolts at him. The messenger falls to the ground, dead. The guards don't even react. No one is surprised. It wouldn't be the first time a messenger bearing bad news was killed.
“The palace will fall,” Azula announces, a bit calmer. “We must leave it.”
“But–” Zuko tries to protest.
“I don't know what you want to do, Zuzu, but there's no point in staying in a place that's about to be destroyed or taken over. I'm leaving. You, come with me. Someone call Ty Lee and Mai.”
“Wait!” Zuko grabs his sister by the arm, trying not to think about how easily she just killed a man. “What are you going to do?”
“Didn't you hear me, Zuzu?” Azula shakes his arm off. “The palace will fall. There's no point in protecting it right now. But don't worry, let them take it. Soon they'll realize that they're actually like rats in a trap and that we're the ones who won.”
An unpleasant smile appears on her lips.
“There wouldn't be much I could do if I were captured too,” she says. This is an incredible show of respect on her part for the Avatar's abilities. Azula has just made it clear that she's not sure she could defeat him, not today.
Despite this, Azula continues to smile.
“But don't worry, even if they won this battle, they didn't win the war. I'll teach them that soon enough.”
With that, Azula turns and walks away, followed by her soldiers.
Zuko remains alone.
(in another world, right now he would be following the Avatar and his friends, trying to figure out how to convince them that they are on the same side)
Zuko takes a deep breath and then heads towards the palace.
Even if he were to be captured, he is the Fire Prince. His duty is to stand by his people, protect them, and ensure their safety.
The palace holds out for an incredibly short time, mainly because it was mostly empty.
The warriors of the Water Tribe, led by Team Avatar, move inside. They capture most of the palace without much resistance.
Despite this, they do not allow themselves to relax. They know that the war will not end until they capture the palace and gain control of the city.
Taking control of the palace comes quickly, incredibly quickly.
Some time later, the Fire Prince comes out to face them.
Avatar Aang immediately assumes a fighting stance. Standing next to him, Sokka, Katara, and Toph do the same.
Slowly, incredibly slowly, Zuko raises his hands.
“I think it would be better if we talked,” he says. “I don't want to fight you.”
“If you think we're going to believe you...!” Katara begins angrily.
“You don't have to believe me,” Zuko replies, “but you don't think everyone will just listen to you, even if you defeated my father? During his... indisposition, let's say, I am his successor.”
His eyes turn toward Aang for a moment. After a moment, he takes off his swords and throws them at the Avatar's feet.
“I will not fight you,” he says. “But spare my people. There is no point in starting another massacre.”
Aang exchanges glances with Katara and Sokka. He can see that the siblings really want to fight and defeat the man who has been their enemy for so long.
“He's not lying,” says Toph. “He doesn't want to fight us.”
Aang makes his decision incredibly quickly.
“Okay,” he says. “So be it.”
The Water Tribe warriors, who were already preparing to kill the Fire Lord, slowly abandon their fighting positions.
Apparently, today they will not be killing members of the royal family.
Shortly thereafter, Ozai is locked in a cell, guarded by Hakoda's most trusted men.
The palace is taken over within minutes.
Outside the capital, Fire Nation soldiers slowly realize what has just happened. And although many of them surrendered their weapons or allowed themselves to be tied up and bound, there are those who did not. General Takechi gathers his men, those who are willing to continue fighting, and then sends them all away with Princess Azula, leaving the capital.
Messengers and messenger hawks leave Caldera in alarming numbers. Suddenly, the soldiers retreat, leaving the capital in the hands of their enemies. Leaving their Lord and Prince behind.
Princess Azula is aware of this, but she turns her back on them anyway. She knows she just needs to buy herself some time. She is already beginning to issue her first orders, gathering soldiers around her.
But for now, Princess Azula is leaving the capital and has no intention of returning.
The occupation of Caldera begins.
1.
Iroh, the Dragon of the West, is far beyond the capital. He was unaware that Fire Lord Ozai had been defeated. He paid no attention to the other soldiers or the fighting that was going on, because his goal was to escape as far away from the capital as possible.
But now, some time after the eclipse, Iroh allows himself a moment of rest.
And then he moves on, forward.
Ba Sing Se is still a long way off.
In the capital, the invading forces secure the most important places: the palace and the port. At the same time, they try to capture and disarm as many enemy soldiers as possible, reminding everyone that Fire Lord Ozai has been defeated and the city is under the control of the invading forces.
The Fire Nation soldiers, surprised by the turn of events, surrender one by one.
In the capital's underground, the evacuated population begins to whisper anxiously to each other. This is not how it was supposed to end. They were supposed to be safe, they were supposed to wait here only for a while, but now Fire Lord Ozai has been defeated and their homes have been taken over.
The soldiers responsible for protecting the civilians consult with each other.
“The tunnels lead outside the capital,” Commander Miyo Ren, one of the war veterans, finally says. “We'll lead the civilians that way, to nearby towns. And then...”
“We will launch a counterattack,” finishes Ten Ni, a young, loyal Fire Nation soldier with distant ties to the royal family.
They nod to each other.
Then they begin to lead the civilians as far away from the capital as possible.
In the palace, Sokka makes sure that the palace is properly secured. He is not stupid enough to fail to notice that although they have taken control of it, their enemies still outnumber them. Fortunately, Toph's presence helps. The girl is able to create walls and barriers in an instant, providing excellent protection.
Katara heals the wounded warriors of her tribe and their allies, organizing something like a field hospital. When she looks at the wounded Fire Nation soldiers, her heart bleeds, and after a moment's hesitation, she decides to help them too.
She is not cruel enough to abandon someone who is in pain.
Zuko tries to meditate, with emphasis on “tries.”
He's not very good at it, perhaps because he's not allowed to use firebending. Not that he'd be able to do so, bound by chains—but hey, at least he hasn't been thrown in jail yet.
His (not very successful) meditation is interrupted when Avatar Aang appears before him.
“Hey,” the boy says, looking at him with slight uncertainty.
Zuko looks up at him wearily. This is not how he imagined this meeting would go. Not so long ago, he was seriously considering joining the Avatar, but now... even if he said he wanted to end this war, no one would believe him. The chains that bind him speak for themselves.
“Avatar Aang,” Zuko says.
Aang stands in front of him, looking as if he doesn't know what he's said.
“We've taken control of the capital,” the boy says after a moment. “The war will end.”
Zuko slowly, slowly shakes his head.
“You haven't caught Azula,” he notes. “Until you defeat her, the war will not end. Not to mention that my father is still the Fire Lord. You need... you need someone to take control of the country.”
“We'll think of something,” says Aang hopefully.
Zuko shakes his head again. During the time he has been left here, he has had many opportunities to think about what will happen to his country, what will happen now.
“Azula escaped,” he repeats. “Even if you captured me and my father, the war is not over. You should... you should kill Ozai, and then leave the capital. You won't be able to hold it. There are too few of you. Besides, as long as Ozai lives and rules, the Fire Nation will never agree to peace.”
“I will not kill anyone,” Aang says emphatically. “I am not a murderer, Zuko.”
With that, he turns and walks away.
“Open those gates!” orders one of the Water Tribe members, pointing to the Great Gates of Azulon, which restrict access to the capital and make it almost impossible to leave the port by water.
The Firebenders look at each other and come to the same conclusion at the same time.
“We can't,” one of the women spreads her hands. “It's too difficult a task for us.”
“Extinguishing the gates is impossible for ordinary Firebenders,” a second soldier echoes her. “You should find the Imperial Firebenders. Perhaps they will be able to do it.”
This is a lie, of course.
2.
With the palace completely under their control, the invading forces proceed to secure their position. They take down the Fire Nation flags, collect abandoned weapons, and make sure that the Fire Nation soldiers have been defeated.
Those soldiers who remain in the capital receive new orders sent to them by General Takechi.
One by one, they leave the capital, joining the slowly growing forces gathered around Princess Azula.
Fire Lord Ozai regains consciousness.
Hakoda is informed of this, but at the moment, he has no time to worry about him.
“Make sure he is under guard,” Hakoda orders instead. “Ozai must not escape.”
He turns to Bato, his right-hand man, and his children.
“You did well today,” he says. “Now we just have to end this war once and for all.”
He considers – for a moment, just a moment – withdrawing from the capital. Taking Ozai with him and later negotiating with his children – or only with Princess Azula, since Prince Zuko is also their hostage.
Ultimately, he decides that Caldera could be just as good a hostage as the royal family.
After all, no one would dare attack the palace where the Fire Lord is staying, would they?
3.
Chief Hakoda stands before Fire Lord Ozai, bound and defeated, at his mercy.
“How does it feel?” Hakoda asks. “Knowing you've lost the war?”
To his surprise, Ozai doesn't curse him or try to attack him.
Ozai starts laughing.
“The war?” Ozai asks amusedly. “We haven't lost the war. We lost a battle, but the war? That's still to be decided.”
And then he continues laughing, ignoring Hakoda's further questions.
His laughter remains in Hakoda's head for a long, long time.
Somewhere far beyond the capital, the evacuated civilians of Caldera finish one stage of their journey and begin another. They are divided into several smaller groups and sent to other cities, which are first warned that thousands of people will arrive and need to be taken care of.
Somewhere far beyond the capital, General Takechi observes the current situation pensively. He looks at the evacuated civilians, he looks at Princess Azula, who does not devote even a second of her attention to them. Instead, Azula blames general after general, captain after captain for the defeat in the capital.
General Takechi looks back at the civilians. He hears their uncertain whispers, he hears voices saying that Fire Lord Ozai has been defeated.
General Takechi hears it all, observes the situation, thinks, and plans.
The messenger hawks reach the more distant parts of the Fire Nation. Soldiers stationed at outposts relay this information to their superiors.
The reaction of their superiors is mostly as follows: surprise, horror, fear, anger.
Ultimately, anger is the emotion that prevails.
“What barbarism!” the commanders proclaim loudly. “How dare they attack Fire Lord Ozai on the day of the eclipse, like cowards! Summon all the soldiers in the vicinity! Now! We must move to recapture our capital!”
Swords are raised. Firebenders set their surroundings ablaze in anger.
“We are not weak!” the soldiers shout. “We will prove it to them! We have not lost this war yet!”
The soldiers arm themselves.
And then they set off for the capital.
4.
The soldiers heading for the capital are quickly intercepted by soldiers serving General Takechi.
On the outskirts of the capital, the army slowly begins to grow in number.
“We will not attack them today!” announces General Takechi. “They are expecting it. First, we must ascertain the whereabouts of Fire Lord Ozai and Prince Zuko.”
“Let me handle that,” Commander Miyo Ren steps forward. “I can get into the capital without being noticed.”
“Me too,” Mai stands next to him. “Besides, I need to talk to someone.”
That someone is none other than her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend at this point). He broke up with her in a letter she read just before the eclipse.
Mai has a lot to say to him. Really, a lot, starting with the fact that if he was planning to commit treason, he could have told her about it instead of breaking up with her to “protect her.”
“Me too, me too!” Ty Lee raises her hand.
“Stay with Azula,” Mai orders her sharply.
“But–”
“Stay. With. Azula.”
Ty Lee pouts in displeasure but does not protest.
General Takechi nods.
“All right,” he says. “Please go to the capital and make sure that both Fire Lord Ozai and Prince Zuko are safe.”
The messenger hawks reach more and more remote parts of the Fire Nation. They arrive at Ember Island, where their handers quickly replace them with other, much more rested hawks, and then replace those animals with others.
Messenger hawks to each of the islands in the archipelago, to each of the imperial bases. It doesn't take long before voices full of rage can be heard from every part of the country.
One of the hawks handers reads the message carefully. His attention is drawn to the mention of the Water Tribes.
“Huh,” he mutters to himself. “The Southern Raiders should be informed of this. They know best how to deal with the Water Savages.”
When Hakoda realizes that talks with Fire Lord Ozai will be futile –the man just keeps laughing and doesn't look like he's going to stop anytime soon – he decides that this might be a good time to try to talk about ending the war with another member of the royal family.
He stands before Prince Zuko and conveys their terms to him.
Prince Zuko – who is, in fact, their hostage and prisoner – listens to him carefully, then sighs heavily.
“I will repeat what I said to Avatar Aang,” he says. “You have not captured Azula. Until you defeat her, the war will not end.”
“As far as I know, you are your father's heir,” Hakoda points out. “Ozai doesn't want to talk to us, but you–”
“At this moment, I am not authorized to agree to anything on my father's behalf,” Zuko interrupts him. “I may be his heir, but my father is the Fire Lord.”
“He has been defeated,” Hakoda replies. “The old laws state that the Avatar has the right to remove the head of state if he deems their actions inappropriate. This means that Ozai has lost his right to be Fire Lord.”
“My people won't accept that,” Zuko says simply. “You would need the consent of the Fire Sages. Besides, even if you announce that Ozai has been dethroned, it's not certain that I would be his successor. And even if I were to become Fire Lord, there's no way I would accept your terms.”
“Huh?!” Bato, standing next to Hakoda, takes a step forward.
Hakoda raises his hand, preventing his friend from approaching the Fire Prince. Mainly because Hakoda is a little afraid that Bato might be inclined to resort to violence.
Hakoda doesn't like the Fire Prince, he has no reason to like him, but he's not going to stoop to torturing prisoners.
“Why?” he asks.
“Because you want too much from us,” Zuko replies. “I'm not a politician, I don't know anything about politics, but what you want... The Fire Nation will never agree to the complete demilitarization of the country or the presence of foreign troops. Never. Even someone like me would never agree to that.”
“You lost the war,” Hakoda reminds him. “You are not in a position to negotiate.”
“We lost the battle,” the Fire Prince corrects him. “Our armies still control large parts of the Earth Kingdom. Even if I accepted your terms – and I won't, even I'm not that stupid – my people would not agree to them.”
"You control the Earth Kingdom, we have your capital, the Fire Lord, and his heir.”
“You have Caldera, we have Ba Sing Se,” retorts the Prince. Hakoda presses his lips together in dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, it's true.
After a moment, the Fire Prince sighs quietly.
“Chief Hakoda,” he says. “I also don't want this war to go on longer than necessary. You probably won't believe me – I wouldn't believe myself – but just a few hours ago, I was seriously considering joining the Avatar to defeat my father. But what you are doing now is, no offense, just stupid. You have no chance of holding this city, even with the Avatar's help. My country is not so easy to defeat.”
Hakoda... Hakoda finds himself unsure of how to react.
So he decides on anger.
He pulls the boy toward him, ignoring the clanking of the shackles that bind him. Ignoring the warning cry of Bato, who is definitely not happy that his friend and Chief is so close to one of the ashmakers.
“I don't need your lies, Prince Zuko,” Hakoda growls. “I need someone to sign the terms of surrender. I don't care if it's Ozai, you, or someone who comes after you.”
For a moment, he thinks he sees something like fear in the boy's eyes. For a moment, Hakoda almost feels bad.
But that moment passes quickly.
The Fire Prince shakes his head.
“I can't help you, Chief Hakoda,” he says simply. “Believe me, I wish I could. But it's like I said. My father rules the Fire Nation. Even if he gave the order for unconditional surrender, the people would revolt. I will not sign such a thing, and neither will my father. If you wish, I can try to work with you to end this war, to convince my people that further war is pointless, but I will not agree to surrender. We have not lost yet.”
The determination in his eyes does not please Hakoda. He chose the Prince because the boy is younger, and Hakoda hoped it would be easier to convince him.
Besides, this is already the second person from the royal family who wants to convince him that this is not the end of the war.
Hakoda lets go of the boy. The Fire Prince falls to the ground, a little too violently, which makes Hakoda feel a little bad because it's almost as if he pushed him.
He turns and leaves the room before he loses control of himself.
As soon as they leave the room, Bato leans toward him.
“Should we rough him up a little?” he asks quietly, so that only Hakoda can hear him. “Him or Ozai. Maybe it will make them a little more cooperative.”
Hakoda considers this for a moment.
“No,” he says finally. “If we beat our prisoners, we're no better than the Fire Nation.”
“Even if that boy lied to your face? He's our enemy, someone who has attacked your children repeatedly–”
“I know that, Bato!” Hakoda raises his voice slightly. It would be so easy to blame the boy for everything that happened, for the whole war. But the main culprit is really Ozai. “We'll try to talk to him later. He was partly right. The Fire Nation still controls too much territory. We need someone to order a retreat, a surrender. And that will be Ozai or Zuko.”
“Provided we hold out here long enough, right?” Bato asks.
Hakoda gives him an irritated look. Whose side is Bato really on now? A moment ago, he thought the Fire Lord wanted to deceive them, and now he believes him?
“The kid was kind of right,” Bato says defensively, as if sensing Hakoda's doubts. “We're not sure we can hold the city. And the Fire Nation still has Ba Sing Se.”
“Well, Ba Sing Se isn't my problem,” Hakoda says. “We have the Fire Lord and his heir. Now we just have to make sure the Fire Nation is weakened enough that they'll never try to attack us again. But with the chaos in the Earth Kingdom, with their army practically non-existent...”
Who will make sure the Fire Nation troops withdraw? Who will make sure they lay down their arms? Who will make sure their technology is never used for warfare again?
Hakoda pauses.
“We have to make sure there are no weapons in the capital that they can use against us,” he says suddenly.
Bato blinks, surprised by the sudden change of subject.
“Airships,” Hakoda explains. “We have to either destroy them or take them over.”
When they reach the hangars where the airships are stored, they are long gone.