After the battle with the Fire Nation fleet at the Northern Ocean, the world was restless that night. Despite the lack of community means, everyone had heard about one man taking down a fleet on his own.
Ryuk, who had only opposed the Fire Nation for a year and discovered new forms of bending, was becoming known as the strongest waterbender.
A man whose hair turned silver while flying over the ocean.
Not even the man in question knew about this after he received the blessing from the moon spirit.
But he was powerful enough, and that's what mattered.
At the same time, the first ones to hear the news were the gloomiest, and it wasn't the Northern Tribe. It was the Fire Nation.
The Fire Lord had received many urgent letters that day.
All of them urged him to pull their forces out of the North Pole or reported that more than half of their fleet had been destroyed.
The men who survived were captured and executed.
The Fire Lord was at his palace when he began reading a letter from Azula, his dear daughter, whom he had sent to murder Ryuk with one of the best squads he had trained.
[Dear Father,]
I have to say, although it hurts me to admit, we're not facing a human, but a monster. And that's coming from me, your daughter.
Ryuk has strange powers. He can control people. Kill them with a flick. And he can even redirect lightning. I thought he had the same technique as Uncle Iroh, but that's not it.
He can reflect lightning before it hits him.
And that says something about his reaction speed.
I can't say that I can take him on. Not until the day of the Sozin Comet.
Until then, I suggest that we don't provoke him. And wait for the right moment to strike.
Our priority should be not to take Ba Sing Se down, but to take Ryuk down.
The Fire Lord clenched his teeth and crushed the letter.
The flames of the candles next to him became bright pillars of fire.
If Azula called someone a monster, that says a lot about him.
To Ozai, Azula wasn't just his daughter or a talented fighter.
She was the most talented firebender to ever exist.
By the age of thirteen, she could defeat anyone. By the age of fourteen, she could take him down easily. And by the age of sixteen, Ozai had lost any hope of surpassing or even reaching her level. By the age of eighteen, he couldn't even imagine it. She could shoot lightning without a second to charge it. She could manipulate it in ways he didn't know were possible. Even if he sent her against an army of hundreds, he was confident she would return safely.
And as much as it hurt his pride to see himself surpassed by a little girl, he felt lucky to have her as his successor.
Now, even she was thinking she couldn't face Ryuk. And she wanted to wait until the Sozin Comet to take him down.
'But if I think about it… At the Ocean, the waterbenders are also at their strongest. Not to mention, it's night, and there's no sun at this time of year there, so she'd be at her weakest. The best location and time to take on Ryuk would be in the desert, in the morning, when the comet is passing by Earth.'
Ozai massaged his temple as he kept reading more reports.
More than half of his fleet had sunk, and many of his men had been killed.
His army had taken a massive hit.
And it would only be a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed.
There was no way the waterbenders wouldn't take this chance to strike when they were at their weakest.
The only solution Ozai could see was to ask the remaining fleet to retreat and use the men to help in the war against the Earth Kingdom.
It was now official that the North Pole was out of the equation.
That night, the Fire Lord called for an urgent meeting to brainstorm ideas on how to deal with this.
Men and women gathered.
And as the Fire Lord informed them, they weren't surprised, but gloomy. It meant they had received the news too.
"So, any ideas on how we can flip this before he comes back to bite us in the ass?" asked the Fire Lord.
"Why not go to the South Pole, kidnap his family, and threaten him? It should work," suggested one of them.
"Because he can bloodbend them to freedom. And not to mention, the Southern Water Tribe has relocated deeper. Our men won't handle the cold. Most importantly, his family isn't at the South Pole. They're in the Earth Kingdom," replied the Fire Lord.
He had gotten a detailed report on Ryuk's personal life.
And he knew that Ryuk's family was part of the rebellion, just like the rest of the youth from the Southern Water Tribe.
If they had taken down the rebellion earlier, they wouldn't even be having this meeting.
Whoever suggested that stupid idea would have to face jail later.
But for now, he had more important matters to focus on than thinking of appropriate punishments.
"Any other ideas?" asked the Fire Lord.
"How about we propose a truce?" suggested someone. "My lord."
"Excuse me?" The Fire Lord narrowed his eyebrows.
"It means we suggest a false truce. Once we assure Ryuk's calm, we gather our forces and hide them across various bases. Then, we strike during the comet. We'll target his family and him as our first priority. They won't see it coming, especially since they don't know the comet is less than a few months away."
"Hmm… Not a bad idea," the Fire Lord mused. But he had no choice but to consider it.
A truce now wouldn't be a bad cover.
Although it would leave a stain on his glory in the history books, it was nothing compared to losing pathetically to someone who wasn't even the Avatar.
"Alright, continue with the suggestions," the Fire Lord said.
-x-X-x-
"Achoo…"
I sneezed.
I guess I was the talk of the world now.
"When can I get a break?" I muttered.
"Excuse me!" Katara raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips.
She was scolding me.
Apparently, she didn't buy the excuse of me being sick that day.
And I had to admit, she had a strong hunch.
"Sorry, I was thinking of something else," I replied. "I can't stop sneezing."
"First your stomach, and now your nose! Do you expect me to believe that?" she asked.
We were at our private residence now.
I shrugged. "Why else would I lie?"
"I don't know. You haven't been sleeping with me. You're making excuses. You said you were sick, and then you showed up at full power, taking care of all those firebenders. Last time I checked, that wasn't the definition of being sick! Are you sleeping with someone else?" she scolded.
"Yeah, Toph, maybe," I replied calmly, meeting her furious gaze.
Currently, Katara wasn't an angry woman.
But she was a sexually frustrated one.
"Oh, so you don't like me anymore!" She turned and crossed her arms.
And before she could start with the drama and crying, I hugged her from behind.
I couldn't explain to her about the plan with Zhao and all, so I decided to do the only thing I could.
"No," I said.
"You ass—"
"I love you," I said, kissing her neck. "What were you saying?"
"You ass-tonishing man," she turned her head and kissed me back.
After some rough time, Katara became a happy woman again, and I was a relaxed man once more.
That was until… my water sense started tingling.
"Yue? What are you doing with Sokka?!"
"Sorry, father, I was caught in the moment, and I felt something for him."
"Out of all men, and you're already engaged! Have you forgotten that?!"
"Hey, Sir. She said we're in love. No need to force her to get—"
"Who the hell asked you?!"
I sat up and turned my head toward Katara.
The brother of the woman who was sleeping next to me had been caught red-handed… red-dicked… I guess, since the virgin princess was caught in bed with him.
"Fuck," I muttered as I looked at the ceiling.