the avatar, and that one good firebender, lee

end

following fire lord zuko's coronation, he immediately sets off to meet with earth king kuei and princess yue of the northern water tribe. he leaves behind his throne to azula and, to prevent any unnecessary banishments, toph, who immediately volunteers for the task to avoid accompanying them at sea. azula is quite fond of the idea, asking the earthbender what her favorite tea is. (when toph responds premium jasmine tea , the princess scoffs, saying then you haven't seen my uncle's old stash ). katara and aang voice their doubts about leaving the throne to two daunting girls, but zuko insists.

the day after his coronation, zuko boards the jasmine dragon with the white lotus, kyoshi warriors, the avatar, hakoda, sokka, and katara. the jasmine dragon and king kuei's ship meet at the north pole, the middle ground, and the respective leaders all visit the teahouse to discuss over tea. with king kuei, princess yue, the avatar, zuko, and hakoda, sokka and katara each representing their own nations, they begin the discussion of territories, aid, and reparations.

the meeting goes on for two weeks, and it comes down to this: zuko proposes and revises his plan to split all fire nation forces amongst the four nations--to transport displaced refugees and resources for food, water, and shelter; to pull out all armed forces stationed at the conquered territories; and to rebuild all destroyed settlements. for each fire nation soldier and commander that participated in any form of conquest, their service was to be done in aiding the other nations. yue suggests a change in fire soldier uniform and weaponry, strongly committed to leaving behind all remnants of a war-based military, and offers her own force of waterbenders to assist.

as for reparations, zuko offers a quadrant of his forces to rebuild and refortify the south pole, to amend for sozin wiping out the waterbenders of the southern water tribe. for the earth kingdom, zuko agrees to pay reparations yearly, on the eve of the battle at wulong forest. earth king kuei, returning to his throne with stronger commitment, presents a campaign for addressing fire nation presence, primarily the fire nation colonies in the earth kingdom; a campaign sokka coins as, the harmony restoration movement.

the night of his return from the two-week meeting, zuko drafts an addressal to the fire nation, with, namely, azula and sokka--azula, who is strict on the authority in zuko's words, reminding him of dissenters like that boy from the market; and sokka, who reminds him of a genuine approach, to gain respect and admiration. altogether, they settle on a short, candid piece, read over and over by all of them, and each adding in their suggestions. two weeks and a day after zuko's coronation, the addressal is read and sent out:

my people,

the war raged by my forefathers is now over. in place of my father's violence and conquests, i will work to restore the balance between the four nations by allying with the avatar. as the fire nation, we must do our part as a nation to bring about the peace and prosperity that our past leaders have disrespected.

many of you will choose to desert me. many of you will choose to scrutinize me. but i lead, not with the right inherited from my father, but with these scars i bear for refusing him and his rule. the entirety of the fire nation has long been neglected and tended to as a nation based on violence. we are all descendants of this violence, so we must forgo our old teachings and open ourselves to change.

many changes are coming and are in process. we cannot be eliminated from the consequences of our war. but through it all i am your leader, of you alone, and i aim to work our nation towards greater prosperity and peace than my forefathers have achieved.

your firelord serves you.

zuko.

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