Avatar The Last Airbender: Water and Fire [ON HOLD]

Chapter 5 - The New Fire Lord

The New Fire Lord

All Hail the Fire Lord

The weeks raced by. Everything was prepared; the palace was cleaned and decorated. The courtyard outside was swept dirt free and the gardens were tended to by the most renown gardeners in the Fire Nation. All the guests were invited; the Avatar and all his friends would be the honoured guests, along with representatives from the other nations. Further guests invited, were the Fire Nation nobles and the highest ranking war veterans. The fire sages had been preparing for Zuko's coronation for two months now and they were going to make sure that everything went as planned.

The sun was just on the horizon, signalling the start of a new day and a new age. Traditionally, coronations were held at sunrise; fire-benders draw their power from the sun, and so all Fire Nation culture is based around it. The coronation would be held under strict secrecy inside the palace. Only the most important guests would be invited into the Coronation Plaza. Servants were forbidden to witness the coronation. Although, I just had to see! I slipped through one of the buildings swiftly, to peer through a tiny slit in the window.

There he was. Zuko emerged from inside the building, stepping out into the light with the Avatar. I inhaled sharply when I caught sight of the Avatar. I then remembered what Azula had said to me a few weeks ago. Now that the moment had come, I wasn't sure if the time was right. I shifted the thought away and listened to Zuko's speech. I was taken aback when I heard his voice; confident, inspiring, focused... He truly was a leader.

Zuko had evolved from that young boy, seemingly bound by rage and blinded by the pursuit for acceptance. And yet, he was a man now. He had broken free of the shackles of fury and pain. When he finished his speech, Zuko knelt down and the fire sage placed the golden flame upon his head. "All hail Fire Lord Zuko!" the fire sage announced, as Zuko stood tall and proud; he was now the Fire Lord. Everyone was cheering excitedly.

I quietly closed the window, I had seen enough. Even if I agreed to talk to the Avatar, how would I get his attention in the first place? There was no way that I was going to speak out in front of all these guests! I'd be so embarrassed that I would never speak of myself to anyone again! I let out a sigh and decided that I'll leave it for now, it wasn't important. I shook my head, trying to forget about it, and began my journey to the kitchen to help my Aunty Yen. Doing something would help clear my mind. I began to walk, but by the time I got to the kitchen I had been running, and my breathing was a bit fast. I remembered I had to bring Azula's breakfast, taking the tray, I proceeded to the dungeon. However, our meeting was brief as I had to help my Aunt.

Aunty Yen was organising the feast for the night. Apart from the all food there would be music, performances, fireworks and costumes. This event was going to be massive, I couldn't wait. "Mi Li, dear, I know you want to help in the kitchen but really there are enough cooks in here as it is. Besides, everything is under control and there isn't really anything for you to do, you've been helping for hours now. How about you take Azula's lunch down to her then help your uncle in the stables a bit?" Aunty Yen suggested. I nodded; the kitchen was beginning to get a bit boring.

So I made my way down the stairs to exit the palace. More workers were busy putting up ribbons and cleaning the dust off every surface, and didn't notice me as I walked past. I finally made it down to the bottom level of the palace and stepped out into the main courtyard that was drenched in sunshine. It felt good to be outside.

The breeze was cool and I could smell the aromatic scent of the fire lilies in the gardens nearby. The main courtyard was massive, so it was perfect for big events like these. It meant that the people from the towns could come inside the palace walls, every once in a while, to celebrate with the royals. But Zuko would only make one appearance in front of the public, so that they could see him as their new king.