Story [Avatar:TLA] Peace and Honor - Updated 04/17

Thanks for reading guys!

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[b]Capitol City[/b]

Sokka let out a yawn. Stretching out his arms, he folded them behind his head and leaned back against the plush pillow. An entire waiting room or the palace had been made ready for the Avatar and his friends for their particular use. The floor was lined with pillows and cushions while a long table against the wall had a constant supply of food and drink. It was the best service Sokka had ever experienced in his life. He had to hand it to the Fire Nation; for all of their faults, they certainly knew how to treat guests.

Recaps of events filtered through Sokka?s mind. Barely a week had gone by since they had defeated the Fire Nation. He, alongside Suki and Toph, had single handedly destroyed an entire Fire Nation air fleet. It still amazed Sokka that they had actually done it. They had traveled the world, waged war on several occasions, and survived. A year earlier, Sokka would not have believed that he would be lying in the Fire Lord?s palace in Capitol City as an honored guest.

Their trip had been an adventure of epic proportions, he had to admit. Flying nearly all over the world, defending themselves from enemies, and fighting for their survival each and every day. And now here they were; the war was ended, peace was being restored, and they no longer had to run from anyone.

Sokka was bored.

He let out a loud sigh, eyeing the ceiling and following the intricate patterns in the woodwork with his eyes for what he felt was the umpteenth time. There was nothing to do. Suki was out with the other Kyoshi warriors, Katara had gone to the healing house to help the wounded coming in, and Toph was who knows where. Aang and Zuko had spent the morning in meetings with the tribal leaders, leaving Sokka completely lonely.

A small groan sounded off from the pillow beside him. Sokka rolled his head over, eyeing his companion. Momo looked as bored as he was, laying on a large pillow and eyeing the ceiling listlessly.

?You said it, Momo,? Sokka commented, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

Thoughts of activities to do entered Sokka?s mind, yet he brushed them off. Even though the war was over, running around Capitol City by himself did not seem like a great idea. He was sure that not all of the Fire Nation was happy about the war ending and did not want to risk being the unfortunate civilian who met the sharp end of disgruntled civilian?s sword.

However, the more he thought about it, the more Sokka began to think that perhaps escaping danger wasn?t such a bad plan. It beat boredom, at any rate.

Momo?s ears perked up quickly, the small creature raising his head and eyeing the door. Sokka followed. ?What is it, boy??

As Sokka listened, he began to hear the familiar pitch of his sister?s voice. He also knew at once that she was angry. The yelling made that much obvious. He did not have to sneak to the door to hear what the commotion was; it grew louder and clearer. She instead was coming to him.

Sokka strained to hear through the walls, surprise filling him to hear his father?s own voice booming right beside hers. They were having a row. Again. Rolling his eyes, Sokka laid his head back down, listening as the door slid open and the fighting continued.

?I?m not an innocent little girl anymore! You can?t tell me what I [I]have[/I] to do!?

Katara stormed into the room, ignoring her brother and Momo, who sat by watching lethargically. Her arms crossed over her chest and she glared indignantly at the man who entered the room behind her.

Hakoda followed his daughter into the room, sliding the door shut and facing his daughter with a set face. Sokka knew that look well; Hakoda was angry as well, yet was trying to hide it and instead trying to reason with his youngest.

?Katara, I?m your father. I?m allowed to at least express my concern-?

?Your concern? He?s the Avatar!?

?He?s still a young boy, and all boys think alike.?

Sokka eyed Momo. The lemur seemed as perplexed as he was.

 

Nice Update, Miana

 

Great chapter! So Hakoda is giving both Sokka and Katara the 'talk' huh? Hehehehehe...love Kataang there.

 

great update

 

I still love Sokka

I feel bad for their dad, but at the same time, I really want everyone to stay together - they make a rockin' team Mai is fun; I think I'm going to like her quite a bit

 

I love your characterization. I can just imagine Sokka lounging on the pillows and eating a bunch of food, bored out of his mind. It's perfect. Interesting that Hakoda still has fatherly instincts. And I love Katara's come-backs. Especially pointing out Sokka and Suki's relationship is not drawing his ire. Especially his "all boys are alike" line. If anything, he should be warning Suki. Poor Aang, I read that line and was all indignant on his behalf.

Poor lost and bored Toph. Her and Mai had an interesting talk, and I love how Mai didn't realize that Toph was blind, how incredibly awkward for anyone but those two. LOL. Just regular awkward for them. I never really thought about it before, but I can seriously see Mai and Toph getting along really well.

Excited to see what everyone chooses to do, as Katara seemed less than excited to leave, Sokka seemed resigned and Toph confused.

 

Hopefully, they split up. We never got a real chance to see the cast on their own for extended periods of time.

Sokka, by himself? Does the world have enough band-aids?

In any case, great job M_K, bb approves of this update.

-B-

 

Sorry I disappeared, guys. I just got settled into my new dorm in Prague, and we've got a crazy few weeks coming up before school even starts.

 

Been a crazy month; sorry for the wait!


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General Zhi never smiled. As the only child in a respected Fire Nation family, he had made his parents proud by graduating from the Fire Academy at the top of his class. He had risen to General during the sieges to the South Pole, where he then was assigned his own small fleet to help with the conquest of the Eastern Earth Kingdom. They had been successful; conquering the small towns and setting up their own Port in the name of the Fire Nation.

A prisoner of war camp had been erected for their Earth Kingdom enemies; Earthbenders, vigilanties, spies, and the like. Zhi had little patience for them. They were given two choices; prison or death. Mercy was not something he believed in. Many believed they were being brave by choosing death, realizing only too quickly the Fire Nation general was not bluffing and showed no remorse at immediately ending their life.

The prisoners gave little resistance. When the prison had first been constructed, many tried to rebel and escape. However, Zhi had made it clear that there was no tolerance for either. Those who tried were immediately killed. After several months of non-stop executions, the prisoners had lost spirit and given up their fight, warning new occupants as well of the cruelty of the warden and his general.

Zhi hated violence. But what had to be done had to be done. That?s how war worked.

War was now the only like Zhi knew. As a younger man, he had fought under General Iroh in the Western Earth Kingdom. He had been a captain at the attack at Ba Sing Se, remembering with shame how Iroh had retreated when they could have taken the city.

He led one of the naval assaults on the South Pole, remembering with a small shudder the icy arctic air. How anyone could live there comfortably was beyond him. However, they had succeeded in their attacks, capturing a large number of Waterbenders and leaving the South Pole with little to nothing.

The sea breeze played with several locks of his graying hair. He often stood on the sea cliffs to think and reflect on his day while simultaneously planning out the next day. His commanders knew not to interrupt him, so when they did, he knew it was urgent.

He had heard the call of the messenger hawk float across the wind. News from the Capitol; good. He had not heard from the city for nearly a week; they still had no news about whether or not Fire Lord Ozai had succeeded or not.

Footsteps crushed against rock and sand as they ran up the path. Zhi remained with his back to the newcomer, continuing to watch the waves roll on the sea.

?General Zhi,? a breathless voice announced. Zhi knew the voice belonged to Commander Yao, a younger man who had proven himself many times over to be both useful and intelligent.

?What is it, Commander??

?News from the Fire Lord, sir.?

There was something wrong in his voice. Zhi frowned as he turned, eyeing the younger man. Yao for the most part was able to control his emotions and keep a neutral visage. However, there was a stark bewilderment in his eyes that worried Zhi. It was not good news. The young man held a scroll of parchment in his hands out to the General.

Zhi took it and turned back to the sea, unrolling it and beginning to read. He quickly understood what had spooked his young commander.

The Fire Lord had declared the war to be over and demanded that all military cease any fighting and return home immediately. Zhi?s eyes narrowed as he read. That hardly seemed like an order the Fire Lord would give. They were so close to succeeding in their conquest of the Earth Kingdom; why would they stop now.

Zhi read on. The Fire Lord also demanded that all prisoners of war be released and that soldiers should leave behind any stolen good or gold.

This was not the Fire Lord. Zhi skipped to the bottom, past more instructions on returning to the Fire Nation. The signature made him frown.

?By order of Fire Lord Zuko.?

?Yes, sir,? Yao

 

Great chapter! I feel bad for Aang - I hope the Avatar gang gets back together soon! And I love the bit abotu Iroh and his tea - so typically Iroh This general does not sound good.

 

Great chapter! Aang, ask Katara and Sokka if you can come with them!

 

great update

 

AHH! I totally never, ever come to these boards so I kept forgetting that you had this going, and the random times I remembered I was busy somewhere else.

Ahem. Anyway, to the story that I'm very, very behind on. I'm afraid I only have time to do the first one right now, since it's really, really late, but I will get to the rest soon (hopefully tomorrow).

So chapter one...

Ozai is as nasty as ever. He makes me so mad. Not loving Zuko at all. Grrrr...and his "love" for his wife, genuine or not, is still twisted. His whole concept of love is twisted, as you present here.

Mai's introduction was great, too. I love that it started wtih "Mai hated parties." Haha, and the dancing leopard monkey.

I can imagine how weird it would feel to suddenly be friends with people you had fought against time and again.

I really love how you write Mai and Zuko; you peg them both perfectly, and the way they interact when Mai goes to find him was great. I especially loved the last line, and Mai referring to Sokka as "that Sokka guy."

 

Right, onto the "Capitol City" post...

Sokka's bored because he's not running/fighting for his life anymore! Hahahaha

And Katara and her father are having the "all boys think alike" argument. *wipes tears* That's too funny.

Hmm...will Sokka and Katara go home to spend time with their father? I can't imagine they would stay very long if the people they loved weren't with them...

Poor Toph getting lost and having her head and arms whacked by decorations. I really liked the line "And besides, Toph was never afraid. At least, she never allowed herself to think she was." It was very Toph.

Haha, Toph and Mai having a conversation. Worlds collide... and I hadn't thought about Mai not realizing Toph was blind, (I guess because Azula realized it), but Azula faced Toph more than Mai did, and Toph was always moving and fighting like a pro. Anyway, it made for a very nice scene, having Mai being like, "It's not like you're blind or-" Awkward!

Next post...

Zhi = SCARY! You did a great job with his coldblooded description. Eek! But it totally made me anticipate his reaction to news from the Fire Lord.

So Aang is rumored to have killed Ozai, hm? Doesn't surprise me.

Stupid guy is taking the prisoners north!

Zuko being immersed in politics was something I was glad to see. You wrote it really well...I loved seeing him sitting there deciding who needed to be pardoned. Trying to undo the damage his family has brought for generations is a daunting task.

The Blue Spirit! HA!! Very nice.

Aang opening the door for the servant was fantastic; so very Aang.

You're doing a fantastic job, Mi. I can't wait to see where you take this.

 

This is great so far. If you're doing a PM list, I'd love to be on it.

 

Wow it's been forever.

This chapter has been half-finished for the past 6 months. I finally went on another marathon through the first season of the show and got enough motivation again to finally finish it. It's not long, but just one of those that's needed to help push along.


It's been so long that I don't want to rely on the PM list from months ago, so if you would still like PMs, let me know!

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Spirits the next day seemed lower than usual. Zuko had another long day of summons, meetings, and political discussion to endure before yet another feast that evening. The servants were busy preparing for the expedition to the Earth Kingdom. Zuko had ordered two of his ships to come on the journey; not only was it taking himself, Mai, and Aang to Omashu to retrieve Mai?s parents, but they were also returning all of their Earth Kingdom friends and freed prisoners to their homes. Zuko and Aang had plotted a course that was slightly tedious but enabled everyone to return home safely.

The first meeting of the morning was with the two ship captains to discuss their course. Aang had opted to not join Zuko for the meeting. He wanted to meditate, though Zuko supposed he had other motives. Katara and Sokka had made their decision to return to the South Pole with their father. It would be Aang?s last day with them. The avatar had refused to talk about it with Zuko, but the Fire Lord could tell well enough that saying goodbye to Katara would probably be harder for Aang than fighting his father had been.

Captains Li and Khan entered the throne room with bows. Zuko had not met the two before now; while the main agenda was to discuss their travels, he also was using the time to measure up the two men and hopefully see if they were in earnest or had plans for treachery.

Khan was older with several dark streaks running through his grey hair. He kept a trimmed beard of silver grey, two dark streaks of black being the only reminder of a time when he was a younger man.

Li was much younger than his companion. He had short black hair, barely enough to make a small topknot. A small scar ran down his cheek, but beyond that, his visage was friendly and alert. Zuko had learned that Li had not commanded any war ships; his only missions had been for supplies and the transporting of troops. What had impressed Zuko about his record was that Li had been offered the position of captain of a war vessel and had turned it down. This struck Zuko as odd, but also gave him hope that perhaps Li was more of a pacifist than his rank demanded of him.

The two took their places opposite one another, a large world map spread out between them. Zuko rose from his seat and walked down the steps to greet them.

?Welcome captains. Thank you for agreeing to meet this early.? Zuko took a seat at the head of the map. ?I also thank you for volunteering for this voyage.? Zuko pointed at the map, his finger aimed at Capitol City. ?We will leave tomorrow morning-?

?Forgive me my lord,? Khan interrupted while eyeing Zuko questioningly, ?but you have not questioned our loyalties. How can you so readily let us assume command of this voyage??

Zuko gave a small smile. ?I assumed, Captain Khan, that had you any secret agendas, you would not have volunteered, knowing that the Avatar would be there.? He raised a bemused eyebrow. ?Or would prefer that I administer my father?s test to see if either of you are traitors??

Khan eyed the young man for a moment, his ember eyes staring coldly. They finally softened and gave way to a very small smile. ?I think that it will not be necessary, my lord.?

Zuko nodded then turned back to the map. ?We leave tomorrow morning, three hours after dawn. I expect the crew to be ready and to know exactly what their job is. I know there may be some grudges, but their passengers are my guests and are to be treated as such.? With this, Zuko eyed both men evenly, making sure that the weight of his words was well received.

He turned back to the map, pointing to a small bay on the western coast

 

Great chapter!! Glad to see this finally updated Hope Zuko's mission goes well - I don't trust that someone won't try to make trouble.