Focused Fire (ATLA)

The crowd spilling out of the palace plaza maintained a low murmur as they watched the coronation with a mix of eagerness and trepidation. The citizens of Ba Sing Se, be they resigned native born or assimilated refugees from either Fire Nation or Earth Kingdoms, gathered to witness the unveiling of a new era.

A couple of officials - one in red, another in green - walked up to the young couple sitting on the raised stage, their simple thrones and the plain backdrop a far cry from the usually ostentatious displays of the old regime. There was no intention here to awe the common people with gaudy displays of wealth, if anything, everyone was keenly aware of the news of the royal palace being stripped bare of shiny ornamentation to pay off the various realms to acknowledge the great city’s new independence.

The new Prince and Princess of Ba Sing Se remained impassive as the officials droned on about duties and obligations, but the crowd remained transfixed on the scene nonetheless. For almost everyone, even the few remaining nobles of Ba Sing Se, this was the first ever truly public coronation they’d witnessed. The previous dynasty held theirs within the palace, witnessed only by those wealthy and powerful enough to earn a place in the royal court. Given the sheer size of the city, even the post-coronation tour of King Kuei’s late father barely extended into the Middle Ring at all, so outside of heralds’ proclamations, most of the populace never knew about any change in rulership.

In contrast, this ceremony was as public as they could make it. Raised earthworks converted the palace walls into stands, and people leaned over the roofs, windows and balconies of neighboring buildings for a peek of the whole thing. 

Despite the openness, only a fool would think that the ceremony was vulnerable. Shadows shot across the crowded plaza and streets as gliders patrolled from the skies overhead. A line of tanks and spears formed a boundary that separated the spectators from the coronation stage. Komodo rhinos and ostrich horses, along with their riders, formed islands of enforcements that kept alert eyes on their surroundings. And more importantly, two dragons occasionally swam around the palace grounds and the nearby blocks, huffing flames in a simple display of intimidation.

The security measures didn’t distract most of the people from keeping their attention fixed on the stage. Silence descended as the officials finished their long, barely heard speech, and after the young couple nodded, both men took a step back to bow deeply. The gesture set off the soldiers arrayed neatly, as well as those manning the perimeter. Spear butts were rapped against the ground in unison, creating an impressive crack that filled the air.

“All hail the prince and princess of Ba Sing Se!” they proclaimed sharply.

The newly crowned prince and princess rose up from their thrones, forming a salute and bowing formally before everyone. As a result, bursts of fire streamed across the sky from the gliders. The dragons too roared out long tongues of flame. Cavalry riders joined in the cacophony by urging their mounts to neigh and roar and stamp their feet. Within and around the coronation stage, soldiers and court officials alike cheered their lungs out.

“All hail Prince Xing and Princess Azula! Long live the Scorpion Prince and the Phoenix Princess!” 

Only after that did the mood infect the spectators, and the cheer that went up echoed all the way down to the Outer Ring.

“Prince Xing! Princess Azula!”

At the edges of the stage, the guests of honor could be seen finally joining along as well. King Bumi was seen clearly cackling as he applauded, even whooping at one point, though his retinue of allies showed far more restraint (and perhaps reluctance) in their cheering. Chief Arnook and his daughter led the Northern Water Tribe representatives in offering more dignified applause, with their waterbenders adding blasts of ice into the air which turned into a gentle snow that glinted dazzlingly under the late morning sun.

The couple straightened from their bow, and, clasping hands, raised their arms up to the heavens. White flame and lightning shot out from the prince and princess respectively to pierce the heavens, and the cheering rose up a heady pitch. 

Xing and Azula stood proudly before the giddy storm of cheers, the former smiling while the latter was more sincere with her pleased grin. They basked in the adulation and let it naturally die down before finally stepping toward the edge of the stage to address the crowd. 

Silence cut in like a guillotine as the crowd switched from voicing chaotic goodwill to straining their ears to pick up the words from the momentous occasion.

“Ba Sing Se!” the prince yelled out, his voice managing to travel past the palace boundaries thanks to a sudden gust of cold air. “We stand before you now as prince and princess of this great city! A city that has every reason not to trust us after what was allowed to transpire in the previous regime!” Some boos and hisses slipped out at the obvious allusion to King Kuei and the Dai Li. Some of the former victims and their family decried such a comparison between the oblivious king and the prince who’d rescued them.

“Know that we are grateful for the chance that has been given to us, and that we will strive towards undoing the stagnation and decay that was allowed to fester here! Know that we work towards a goal of making Ba Sing Se a true bastion of peace for its people, all its people, regardless of whether they are old victims of the old dynasty, or new migrants seeking a new life!”

Cheers rose up and forced Xing to pause for a few seconds before he could continue.

“Let us start afresh! Let us turn this into a home fit for everyone, not just a playground for the callous and unaccountable!”

More cheers followed, and the pattern continued on, dragging the speech a little longer than expected. It did eventually end though, and with it, so too did the coronation ceremony. Xing and Azula, along with their new royal court and esteemed guests, retreated back into the palace in the afternoon, and with that, the crowd too began to disperse. Contrary to expectations, no audacious fool, no possible remnant of resistance dared to test the security.

Azula was mildly disappointed at that, having already made preparations to exploit such an occurrence.

Xing didn’t care, he instead spent some time teasing Suki. “You sure you don’t want to officially be princess by our side? It’s not too late to go back out on stage…” 

Suki was genuinely terrified of such a notion. “No, please. I…I rather just keep it…keep things quiet.”

Even Azula broke from her grumbling to snicker at the reaction. The prince nodded to the Kyoshi Warrior, and gently took her hand in his. “As you say, my little warrior.” He lifted Suki’s hand up to place a soft kiss on her knuckles.

As expected, the yet to be declared partner of the royal couple quickly went redder than the background of the new flag of Ba Sing Se.

“Xing, don’t tease our Suki,” Azula half-heartedly admonished. “You know she’s not ready yet for the public.”

*****

A tint of melancholy seeped into Azula as she stared out from the garden’s new overlook. Below the elevated land, the great city of Ba Sing Se spread out towards as far as the eyes could see, with only the Inner Walls blocking the horizon and marking out the extent of the metropolis. The rooftops of the nearer buildings glinted almost gold from the evening sun bouncing off freshly painted yellow roof tiles. Gliders swooped down like hawks from dirigibles lazily drifting in the heavens, while monorail cars slid smoothly across her view. 

Despite the grand view, she let out a quiet sigh.

She was not Fire Lord, nor would she ever be. Neither did she have her father’s pride or (more foolishly) love. The Fire Nation was no longer her home or birthright. Even the bonds of family had been severed. All that she’d aspired to as a little girl was dashed and discarded by her own hands.

Azula glanced over her shoulder, where the dragons swam along in helices as little Fan chased after them with shrieks and giggles of delight. Training Commandant Ren was wrapped in her husband Colonel Kai’s arms as they sat by the garden’s edge, watching over their daughter while they chatted idly with the other officers of the 11th Royal Regiment. High General Mozi awkwardly cradled the recently elevated Lady Li Ming on his lap, while Captain Ping distanced herself from the conversation to toy with her new prey - a lieutenant transferred from what was once Zilang’s garrison. Even Koshi and his band of bodyguards were strolling about in a casual patrol, trading banter.

The princess took in the warmth and camaraderie of the men and women who had welcomed her as one of their own and served her with distinction. The trained murderers who treated her as much as a superior to be respected as a little sister to be guided and protected.

Azula smirked to herself for even trying to compare what she had lost and abandoned to what she currently had. There was no contest. The Fire Islands was never her home, and was worth none of the prestige she once thought it held. Her bond to the royal family was only through blood, with barely any real affection held for them (though she still owed Uncle Iroh and Zuko some kindness). Anything and anyone she truly cared about was right here, in Ba Sing Se.

The melancholy lifted, replaced with a comforting, cozy warmth that grew even more when a hand rested against her arm.

“Everything alright Azula?”

A smile quickly bloomed on Azula’s face as she turned to face the boy that brought her here, the young colonel-turned-prince who had broken her out of the cage of delusion and arrogance, and put her on a path towards something greater than a gilded pawn. The cunning Scorpion who dared show Azula up as being the greater monster between the two of them. 

The boy who showed her love, enough of which to make up for the absence in her time before meeting him.

Xing gave her a mild questioning look, to which she shook her head.

“Just entertaining some thoughts,” she simply answered, and his hand slid down to entwine its fingers around hers.

“As you say, my princess.”

She’d roll her eyes at how he waggled his eyebrows at her, but Azula was too busy basking unabashedly in the giddy warmth she was feeling right now.

Behind him, two dear friends from two different stages of her life came into view. Ty Lee was back to being her bubbly self, though her bright smile was no longer tinted with the manic vapidness from her habitual reactiveness. Her eyes darted between Azula and Xing, and then went down to their intertwined hands. Rather than the impulsive teasing of before, the childhood friend simply managed to smile brighter. 

“Feeling better?”

“Yes, Ty Lee.” There was no need to verbally manifest the context, Azula knew enough about Ty Lee’s aura reading to figure out her friend’s potential concerns. “Random thoughts, that’s all.”

The former circus acrobat nodded. “The old Azula would’ve brushed it all aside with a defensive insult,” she said matter-of-factly, shaking free of her habit to elicit the right responses and instead say what she really wanted to say.

Azula gave Ty Lee a heatless smirk. “Well then, it’s a good thing I’ve grown up.”

Beside Ty Lee, Suki’s smile was not as wide but no less genuine and reassuring. The Kyoshi Warrior and former bodyguard was still getting used to where she stood within the palace hierarchy. Azula turned her smirk into a fond smile as she turned her attention to her newer, but no less beloved friend. As expected, Suki immediately blushed from the direct gaze, but at least this time she bravely maintained eye contact instead of turning away from cute embarrassment. 

“You know, you’ll have to get used to it eventually,” Azula advised her other intimate partner. “Your involvement with us is going to be public.”

“I know, but…” Suki blushed harder, no doubt thinking about last night, and then nights before that where they and Xing tested each others’ limits. Azula loved her prince, but she found herself quickly growing very affectionate with Suki as well. Her lips were softer, for one.

“If you want, we can just put you straight in the deep end and introduce ourselves formally in Kyoshi Island,” Xing teased, causing Suki to jolt up in actual terror at the idea of going back home to the proclamation of being fiance to the Prince and Princess of Ba Sing Se. For all her tenacity and skill in combat, the girl was surprisingly…conservative in more personal matters. Rather adorably so, in Azula’s eyes.

With her free hand, the princess beckoned her intimate friend over, and Suki bashfully stepped forwards. The warrior meekly tilted her head - on reflex by now - as Azula leaned in for a slow, soft kiss, and then pulled back to glance back to the oblivious men and women at the other end of the garden.

“See? Nobody cares, Suki.”

“Well, almost nobody,” Ty Lee snickered, jabbing a thumb towards Fan, who had stopped running around to stare at the four of them. Quai Yin and Orochi swam in the air like ribbons in the wind as they gave the quartet what seemed to be apologetic looks.

Azula met the child’s blank, uncomprehending gaze for a second with raised brows. “Something wrong Fan?”

The slack-jawed little girl shook her head, and then turned around to run for her parents. “Mama mama!” the girl yelled like it was the most important thing in the world. “Why ‘Zula gib kish-kish on S’ki like dat?”

Xing and Ty Lee snorted, Suki went red, and Azula chuckled. Fortunately for the Kyoshi Warrior, there was barely much attention gained, save for a few smirks and eyebrow waggling directed her way. Weikong was about to say something, but Mozi and Li Ming both swatted the back of his head without breaking from their conversation with Ping. No doubt some coins will be changing hands soon.

Azula turned to Xing, giving him his share of intimacy, and enjoying his firm, comforting strength as always as he pulled her towards him to deepen the kiss. It lasted a bit longer than Suki’s, and by the time Azula stepped back, a little exertion had seeped into her breathing.

“Gee, you guys really know how to make your whole thing look good,” Ty Lee remarked drily, before breaking into a giggle.

Azula grinned at her. “Consider it my pitch to you… Though admittedly it’s not that hard an act to keep up.”

“I can see that. Though…” Ty Lee looked to Xing and Suki, regarding them in silence for a serious moment before her smile returned. “Though I think it’s best to let you three settle down first.”

“If you say so,” the princess replied, and then dropped her levity to treat her dear friend more seriously for a moment. “I know you know, but it still needs to be said; if you do not want this, if you find your stay here is not what you want, we…I will understand and accept your decision, Ty Lee. You just have to say the word.”

Ty Lee giggled again. “Of course, Azula. Like you said, you’ve grown up from your old you.” She waggled her brows at the three of them. “You’ve all grown up rather nicely, if you know what I mean…”

Xing joined Azula in chuckling along to the joke, while he gently pulled her and a flushed Suki in for an embrace. “I hope you’ll one day get to really find out,” he returned with equal cheek.

“Will I get a coronation ceremony?”

Azula immediately answered, “only if Suki joins you up there.”

They laughed and joked for a bit more before heading back in with the officers of the 11th for dinner. Je Choi had graced them all with his expertise today, and supposedly there was a few new dishes to look forward to. Azula found herself stealing glances at Xing as they walked, and wound up smiling a bit too widely as gratitude to the boy, her prince, bloomed out of nowhere. If not for Xing, who knew where she’d end up.

Definitely nowhere good, not with being caged up with her father. Not with a sheltered and restricted worldview that rivaled the Avatar’s in naiveness and Kuei’s in ignorance.

Xing eventually noticed her staring and gave her a quizzical look. Azula’s aching smile faded, and she simply leaned against her Xing and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Xing.”

“What for?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.

“For being here,” she hummed back contentedly. “For bringing me here.”

She could hear her prince smile in his reply. “Anything for you, my princess.”

---

Author's notes: And there, it's officially done with, plot wise. Now I get to say 'it's over' with a sigh of relief and some satisfaction. 

If you've made it this far with me, thanks for sticking along for the ride! I hope you've been entertained enough with this tale, and maybe even enjoyed it. 

Also, many thanks for the interesting feedback and discussions and insights! Even the ones that really tested my patience, because they taught me not to regard all comments with equal consideration, and made me realize that the delete button was a thing in several sites. 

I can honestly say I won't be doing anything like this anytime soon. Imposing the 2-day posting rate on myself, as much as it kept me invested in writing, was a mental ordeal that was wholly unnecessary.

Anyway, extras are slated to cover some minor bits of extraneous plot, but it'll take a while.