Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 My name is Azula. I am a princess of the Fire Nation. My father is Fire Lord Ozai, leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. Soon he will rule all the nations—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. They will fall under his iron grip once my work is complete. Then, in time, I will succeed my father to the throne of the Fire Nation and become the next Fire Lord. But first things first. My task at the moment is to track down my uncle and my brother and return them to the Fire Lord for the punishment they deserve. My uncle Iroh is a traitor and a coward. Oh sure, once he was considered a great warrior, but when he ran from the battle of Ba Sing Se, he let control of the Earth Kingdom slip from his grasp. For that he has been banished from the Fire Nation for life. And what of my beloved big brother, Zuko? He is a failure, total and complete. My father said so just recently when he assigned me this task. Of course I already knew: Zuko's been insufferable since we were children—a weak, whiny boy who never actually grew up. Whenever things didn't go his way, he would go crying to our mother—until one day she was no longer there to protect him. He would never stand up for himself, and he certainly never stood up

to me. He's been afraid of me since I was nine years old, and that's just the way I like it. I'm fourteen now, and I could destroy him with just one look. And to think that he's next in line to become Fire Lord! The very idea makes me laugh. I know Zuko's older than me. But Iroh is older than HIS brother, and Iroh's cowardice and incompetence rendered him unworthy of the throne. And so it was my father, Ozai, who became Fire Lord. Well, history has a strange way of repeating itself. I believe that once again the younger sibling will ascend to the throne of the Fire Nation when the time comes. I will be the next Fire Lord, definitely not my useless brother. Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation for disrespecting our father. He has since been searching for the Avatar, to bring that little pest back to Father and eliminate any threat to the Fire Nation's plan for world domination. But, of course, Zuko has failed. Time and again the Avatar has slipped through his fingers, and Zuko now runs and hides in disgrace with our uncle. But he cannot run forever, and he certainly cannot run from me! My father has supplied me with a beautiful ship, a Fire Nation royal sloop, to be precise—and I am nothing if not precise. The ship is filled with the luxuries befitting a princess, and is crewed by Fire

Nation soldiers at my command. A great warrior and leader deserves nothing less. As the magnificent ship approached the port where Iroh and Zuko had last been seen, I addressed the troops who gathered on deck. "My brother and uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord and brought shame on all of us. I understand that you may have mixed feelings about attacking members of the royal family, but I assure you, if you hesitate in your duty to me and to your country, I will not hesitate to bring you down." I can feel the fear spreading among them like a plague. Good. I like it when people are afraid of me. Frightened soldiers are obedient soldiers. They will obey my every wish, or they will know my wrath. Trust me. They don't want to know my wrath. "Dismissed!" As the troops hurried off to their posts, the ship's captain, a spineless little weasel, came scurrying up to me, muttering some gibberish about how the tides wouldn't allow him to bring the ship into port before nightfall. I know just how to handle this poor excuse for a soldier. "I'm sorry, Captain," I said with extreme politeness, "but I do not know much about the tides.

Can you explain something to me?" "Of course, Your Highness." Weakling. I'd love to get rid of him. But then who would steer the ship? "Do the tides command this ship?" I asked him. "I'm afraid I don't understand." Of course you don't. You have no idea how close you are to vanishing in a flash of blue flame. "You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in. So again I ask you: Do the tides command this ship?" "No, Princess." He seems to be catching on. Good. "And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?" "No, Princess." I see the sweat bead on his forehead and his neck muscles tighten. He is afraid of me. "Well then, Captain, maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over." At this point the nervous man won't even make eye contact with me. "I-I'll p-pull us in at once, Your Highness," he stammered, swallowing hard. Smart man. I'll let you live. For today, anyway.