"The people praise your name. Tanya the Conqueror they call you. Tanya the Sun Fairy. Tanya the Moon Slayer."
A proud grin crossed Tanya's lips. "Thank you, your majesty. I-…"
"Yet you have failed me."
...
Those five words, delivered so emotionlessly, seemed to suck the heat out of the room in an instant. Tanya paled, her face falling, and Azula smirked wickedly at the look of unmistakable dread that crossed her features. It looked like the golden girl wasn't in everybody's good books after all.
"You had the rebel northmen in your grasp, yet to let them get away." Ozai continued. "You had the ocean and moon spirits in your grasp, but you let them get away. You had The Avatar in your grasp, but you let him get away." A quiet scoff, so soft it could easily be mistaken for a crackle of the flames.
"It seems that you gained butterfingers somewhere at sea. The Tanya I remember would have never been so sloppy. Your mistakes have created problems where there should have been none, and will take a great deal of effort to rectify."
"I apologise deeply, your majesty." Tanya replied, bowing her head as low as she could. "I can offer no excuses."
The Firelord was silent for a while, letting Tanya squirm under the weight of his judgement. Then he spoke again. "Do you know why it was that you failed?"
Tanya hesitated, rightfully wary that one wrong answer here might cost her dearly. "I-… I got too hasty. So focused one one problem that I neglected to keep an eye on the other, and-…"
"Wrong!"
Ozai was angry. He did not shout, but his tone held that unmistakable bite of cold anger to it, and the flames before his flared up in response. With each word he spoke Tanya wilted further into herself.
"You failed because you put your trust in Zuko. He is weak. He has always been weak. I marked his shame onto his face long ago so that all might see it and know that he is not to be trusted.
But you thought you knew better. You thought you knew better than I, his father, what sort of a man he is. Did you think you could walk back in here with him by your side as proof that I was wrong?"
Tanya was deathly pale now, perhaps realising that her life was on the line. "I am so, so sorry my lord." She stuttered. "I-… I didn't think…"
"No, you didn't" Ozai cut her off. He was again silent for a handful of tense seconds, letting Tanya squirm beneath the weight of his disapproval, before letting out a heavy sigh.
"But you do not make a habit of failure. And you did succeed in conquering The North Pole, so I am inclined to overlook your failure this once. So long as it is only this once. Am I clear?"
"Perfectly, my lord." Tanya replied quickly, clearly relieved to be out from under his scrutiny.
"Good. Then it is time to turn our attention to other matters." Ozai rang a bell, and immediately the doors swung open as Li and Lo returned, carrying a box between them. They set the box down in front of Tanya, then hobbled over to sit in front of the fire veil once again. "Open it." Ozai commanded.
Tanya did, and her eyes widened at what lay within. Inside was a model ship, though this one unlike any Azula had ever seen before. It had a huge, red bulb at the top that would surely push the rest of it down in water, and a flat base that was awful for steering.
"A hot air balloon!" Tanya whispered reverently.
"You grasp its purpose with a glance?" Li asked incredulously.
"You truly are a prodigy in the arts of flight." Lo finished.
"This technology was recovered from a battle at the Northern Air Temple. A last, unexpected gift from a treacherous inventor." Ozai continued.
"As you have grasped, when filled with hot air, this ship will sail through the sky, allowing us to traverse terrain that once would have taken days in mere minutes. As we speak, our factories have begun working overtime in order to produce a fleet of these within the next few months."
Tanya looked up curiously. "So quickly? Why the hurry?"
"Because soon Sozin's Comet will arrive, and the power of every firebender will be magnified tenfold. At that time this fleet will sail above a large chunk of the Earth Kingdom where the resistance against us is strongest, and rain fire down upon their heads, razing the land to ash."
Though his face was hidden, Azula could sense her father smiling at the thought. "It will break the back of the Earth Kingdom's war effort, and serve as a warning to any who would think of rebellion in the future.
This sky fleet will become the key force for dealing with insurrections in the aftermath of the war, and so fear of its destructive power will be necessary to keep the populace in line until our culture has been fully spread and embraced across the world."
"Scorched earth tactics." Tanya mused contemplatively. "Extreme, but it would be better for everyone to bring this war to a quick end at a moment of strength, no matter the short term loss."
"I am glad you agree." Ozai replied. "Because this sky fleet is so important to both our immediate and future plans, I have decided it will require its own independent armed force directly under my command. The head of this force would be my right hand for the foreseeable future; above even the war council, and second only to myself in authority.
This head would need to be someone young enough to dedicate their life to the role; clever enough to devise entirely new battle strategies using aerial manoeuvres; and ruthless enough to use the fleet's power without hesitation wherever needed.
Their loyalty would have to be without question, and they would need to be so famous for their competence that none would dare complain about their appointment to such a lofty position."
Azula grit her teeth so hard her jaw started to hurt. No prizes for guessing who that position of power would be bestowed upon. Who else but the famed flying fairy of the Fire Nation met all those criteria so obviously? Tanya seemed to reach that conclusion too, for her face split into a happy grin. "My lord, you honour me. I-…"
"No, I do not. Not yet."
Tanya's smile dropped again in an unspoken question, and the Fire Lord continued. "I said I would not punish your failure, but neither shall I reward it. Your mistake cost the war effort dearly. It is true that you are the best candidate for the position, but until you have made reparations for your failure, you are not worthy of being my right hand."
Ah, so that's where he was going with this! In Azula's brain everything suddenly clicked into place. Father had a mission in mind, something he felt that Tanya was needed for, and was setting up a carrot and stick to control her with.
It was no great secret that Tanya desired a high status and rank within the military, so offering her the highest position it was possible to achieve would be an excellent motivator. The underlying threat of losing all that she had obtained so far if she failed would work just as well.
Tanya bowed her head in subservience. "What must I do to make amends, my lord?"
Ozai allowed silence to hang between them again for a few seconds. Yet when he spoke, this time it was not to Tanya. "Azula."
"Yes, father." Azula replied promptly.
"Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure. I have a task for you."
A sly smile spread across Azula's face as she anticipated his next words. My, this was turning out to be quite a wonderful night after all.
"They cannot be allowed to disgrace the family name any longer. The more they run free, the more dishonour they bring to our bloodline. As heir, it falls to you to rid our family of their shame." Ozai declared sternly.
"And it is time that you began to take a more active role in the affairs of court. I charge you with the task of bringing your uncle and brother back home in chains, where they face my judgement for their betrayal of our nation."
Azula dipped her head, masking the pleased curl of her lips. "It will be done, father."
"Tanya."
Tanya straightened at having the attention put back on her again.
"It was your mistake in trusting Zuko that allowed this shame to happen in the first place. To fix your mistake, I charge you with serving Azula in her task. You shall follow her orders as if they were my own."
Serve? Tanya was being formally ordered to be her servant! Azula could barely contain herself from cackling with glee.
This was the perfect chance to prove her superiority once and for all! Not only would she bring Zuzu and Iroh back to rot in prison, but she could also find a way to finally bring Tanya under her thumb! Then her victory would be truly complete, and nobody would question her rightful place as the next Firelord!
"It will be done, my lord." Tanya replied, shooting a quick glance over to Azula. She was as good as ever at hiding her emotions, but Azula was sure that she must be just burning up inside with envy right now.
"See that it is." Ozai replied. "I want all loose threads taken care of by the time the comet arrives. Nothing must be allowed to prevent the Fire Nation's final victory."
Azula and Tanya rose in unison, taking the clear dismissal for what it was, and followed Li and Lo out of the throne room. The moment the doors slammed shut behind them, Tanya looked over to her. "Hey, Azula-…"
But Azula was already striding away without a word to her room. She did not care for whatever mind games or verbal sparring Tanya wanted to play right now. Already she was drawing up a list of the things she'd need to pack, and hatching the beginnings of a hundred schemes to catch her pathetic brother.
It was her moment to shine now, and Azula couldn't wait to get started!
...
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