Celebration in Yu Dao

There will be no harmony restoration movement.

Every land taken by the fire natio, and now the Blaze Empire, won't be what it once was.

If this was a mere children's story, where the evil conquers ruined everything they touched until the bastion of good came to save the world, then probably he would be more open to negotiations.

But taking Yu Dao as an example…

It once was a very poor Earth Kingdom village, but everything changed when the fire nation settlers came to the area.

Together, both the fire and earth benders lived and worked together and with the combination of the two they were able to make the finest metal of any nation after creating a thriving metalworking industry.

They turned the poor village into one of the richest, thriving and cosmopolitan cities in the known world, becoming one of fire nation greatest assets despite it not being in the actual fire nation territory.

One might argue that the Earth benders wouldn't agree with my claim, seeing that the fire benders got most of the wealth compared to the natives of the place.

But take the mayor's situation into consideration.

Married to an earth bender, the fire nation officer conceived an earth bender child named Kori Morishita.

She has grown up to be very protective of her home and its multicultural residents. That protective nature even made her atempt to murder the original Zuko, when he attemted to forcefully separate the city due to idea that he was keeping balance.

And she is just one example of how the whole colony had outlived the sentiment of war and bonded together organically, without the need of the Avatar to be the bridge between them.

Not to mention the crane fish town and the earth and fire refinery that haven't been built yet.

With the former being a factory in a meadow that was rich with natural resources that has been partially built by Toph's father in the canon.

It obviously attracted labour forces from all three nations, just like what happened in Yu Dao.

Zuko had already ordered its construction since Mr. Bei Fong's destiny wasn't guaranteed anymore. Not to mention Toph's father's partner, who would eventually be succeeded by his son Satoru, who would later sponsor Toph's metal bending school and build the Crane fish town.

Together, Yu Dao, the earth and fire refinery and the crane fish town would grow so much that the original Gaang had to officially build a government to regulate them.

It was the dawn of republic city.

Ah… the butterfly effect really is something interesting and worrisome at the same time.

But his Blaze Empire will bring a whole new kind of world.

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For a moment Han'i was worried that Emperor Zuko had summoned her and the other archers from the Pohuai Stronghold without realizing that he would be passing there anyway to reach the northern air temple.

But after seeing Mt. Makapu to their left into the horizon, she realized that they would probably be passing by Yu Dao.

It is located in a wide, flat valley which is bounded by rocky terrain on all sides.

The city is enclosed by a sandstone wall with one opening which serves as the gateway to the city.

Its streets are lined by predominantly low rise buildings which are built in a unique style that combines Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation architecture.

The city is very compact as the surrounding terrain limits Yu Dao's building space.

A wide, central pathway runs from the city's gate to the back of the city.

The avenue served as the main thoroughfare of the metropolis, and many smaller streets branch off of it.

There is also a canal that runs through the city.

But that was just the information she had learned during her training.

The yuyan weren't simple crackshots archers, they were trackers.

The best one could hope to be.

So memorizing every map known to men was very important just as learning how to travel by the stars positions.

Anyway, Han'i had only escaped a minor concern for a major one.

Yu Dao was filled with earth benders.

Some say that even the mayor of the city had married one of them.

Madness in Han'i's opinion.

But she wasn't a traitor, she knew her place and to follow orders.

That reminded her, ever since meeting the young emperor that supposedly killed his own father, the fire lord, during an Agni Kai, she couldn't stop wondering how powerful he really was.

Contrary to the savagery earth benders had, Han'i had always admired the regal art of fire bending. Even beyond her own skill with the warbow or the flute.

But Agni had decided that she wouldn't be a fire bender, she would respect its decision.

"Commander, we will be arriving soon to Yu Dao." Someone took her out of her thoughts.

It was Corporal Cheng. The tall and slim archer she had trained since he joined.

Han'i gave him a nod and he continued.

"The Emperor has expressed his desire to stay there for a few hours. After then, we will be continuing our travel until the resort town only to reach the battalion stationed at the entrance of the mountain ranges of the northern air temple." Corporal Cheng reported.

Already familiar with Han'i, he knew what each nod or gesture of her meant. So he left when she ordered him to.

With her bow in hands, Commander Han'i went to the back of the ship and decided to practice some shots with her grappling arrows.

She quickly adapted to the movement of the vessel, adjusted her sight to the brightness of the sun, and shot from great distances anything that could be used as a target.

She caught some fish and birds and placed them on her basket, but the sea was already beginning to bore her.

The cold breeze coming from behind her back suddenly became warm.

As she turned her head, she noticed the emperor himself had been watching her desperate attempt at distracting her from the travel.

Han'i quickly bowed in respect.

But when she feared that he would take offence at her silence, Zuko spoke. "Please rise Commander Han'i."

She widened her eyes seeing that the emperor actually knew her name.

"Don't worry, I'm aware of your situation." He replied with a calm smile before turning to the basket beside her. "Impressive aim."

She gave him a thankful gesture in response.

"Care to compete?" He asked.

Completely caught unprepared, Han'i was thankful for the first time that she couldn't actually speak, because she was sure that it would only embarrass her by stuttering and muttering gibberish to the emperor.

"Don't worry." Zuko said while pulling his sleeves and showing his holsters filled with knives. "I'm not used to the bow, but I believe I can still hold my own in a simple competition."

Not daring to make him wait, She nodded and turned again to face the sea.

Although she didn't know how the emperor would use short range projectiles to compete with her bow and arrows, she presumed he was only interested in hitting his target.

Narrowing her eyes, Han'i began looking for anything moving on the horizon that wasn't water.

When the first bird flew close to the water surface. Han'i drew her bow, but before she had the chance to release it, multiple metallic objects shot past her and reached the distracted bird at incredible speed and precision.

The emperor had been quicker than her.

But what really took her by surprise was instead of his throwing knives killing the bird, they altered their trajectory and bent themselves around the bird's neck and talons, and instead of making the animal drop to the ocean, they carried it back.

Han'i had never seen that.

She thought to herself. 'The emperor... can bend metal?! But...how?!'

Zuko noticed her surprise and smiled while he released the scared animal. "It's a very interesting trick I pick, watching my friend." The small metallic handcuffs bend again, returning to their original form as knives. "This metal's quality is second to none, that makes it easier to maintain the temperature."

Han'i stared at him, her questions clear for anyone to see.

"You see…" He stored his knives and opened both palms. In each one, a small flame manifested, their difference being the color. "I'm no ordinary fire bender." Zuko smiled.

Han'i could feel that he wasn't kidding. In one hand, a bright white flame had a freezing feeling to it, while in the other hand, a pitch black flame seemed to burn with the intense heat of the sun.

She had never heard about it, and she and her archers had dealt with many traitors of the fire nation.

It was just as incredible as that mercenary capable of igniting things with his mind that she had once seen exploding his targets.

"These flames made me notice that fire bending isn't as simple as people had been considering. Fire is alive." He said and the smaller flames grew larger and switched to multiple colors, some of which she had never seen before. "Seeing it only as a way of destroying things and people is a waste of its true potential." The colorful fire vanished, and Han'i felt a chilling sensation, the air had become heavy and a golden chain of lightning danced around Zuko's fingers. "It is energy…" He smiled as the chirping electrical discharge took a form of a bird and began flying around as it had a mind of its own. "...and life."

To say that Han'i was surprised was a massive understatement, in her eyes, Zuko was nothing short of a god.

She fell to her knees and bowed.

Zuko didn't know her, and with her inability he might not have understood her gesture. But after seeing her face of devotion, he couldn't help smiling. "Oh please, this is something I had been practicing for a really good time now." The golden bird perched over his shoulder and began chirping a song. "Rise Commander, or you will lose our competition." Zuko said before facing the sea as the golden bird dissipated into nothing.

It took sometime for Han'i to recover, but eventually she picked her bow again and resumed her competition with the emperor.

Despite her best efforts, it wasn't enough against Zuko's improved method of metal bending.

His knives were fast and accurate, even when the environment wasn't facilitated.

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Not much after, the small ship reached the city of Yu Dao.

They docked, without a problem, but for a time now, they had been seeing and hearing fireworks.

The city of Yu Dao had been selected to host the "Fire Day" festival.

A very relevant event for their culture, but as of lately, it had been slightly changed to better celebrate the birth of an empire.

Imagine the surprise of the citizens of Yu Dao when they were informed that the young emperor would be attending their festival in person.

Zuko went with Mai, Ty Lee and Suki. Massive crowds of people seemed to appear out of nowhere only to praise the emperor and wish him a long and prosperous life.

That did manage to put a smile on Zuko's face.

It was one thing to plan and theorize about a great city that would serve as an example of unity and economic success for his empire.

But being there to witness its multicultural community and thriving economy, not to mention being treated as a deity, Zuko felt even more motivated to break the cycle of balance imposed on the world.

Zuko separated for a moment from the girls and went to look around while greeting everyone that praised him and his rule.

If not for a mask, he probably wouldn't have managed to make his way around.

The Yuyan archers were assigned to guard their next transportation vessel.

The festival was loud, with countless people celebrating while sporting a myriad of masks.

Zuko noticed a crowd with children, elders and adults watching attentively a puppet show, to his mirth he had his image already idolized.

Suki was very impressed by seeing people from the earth kingdom living naturally under fire nation rule.

Agni Kai was such a respected tradition, that not even killing his own father, the fire lord, seemed to not be cause for disturbance.

And his image of emperor, blessed by Agni was easily accepted as true.

Not to mention that the Phoenix was being well accepted by the masses as the empire symbol.

After a while of walking around, the young emperor turned to his concubine who had always been by his side.

"Here, my gift to you." Zuko gave Suki a fan he bought from a very large shop.

"T-thanks!" She took it, very impressed with its metallic ornaments. "M-master."

Zuko felt someone hugging him from behind. "Ah, and what about me? Did you forget to get me something?"

Zuko simply laughed. "Of course not. Here, I hope you find it as pretty as you."

Ty Lee gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Ow, thanks Zuko!"

While Ty Lee opened her package, Zuko turned to Mai who had found him as well. "I had a real hard time finding something that might peak your interest, but I believe I succeeded."

Mai was momentarily worried that Zuko had forgotten about her, but now she was embarrassed by doubting him.

"I'm sure I will love it." Mai replied and began looking at what he had gifted her.

It was larger than what Ty Lee and Suki had received, being longer while having a thinner frame.

As she unrolled it, Mai noticed it was a short sword.

But it had a faint glow in its inscriptions and an edge that shone when she whirl it around.

Before Mai had the chance to say anything, Zuko spoke first. "I know it isn't much of your style, but Yu Dao's blacksmith are masters in their art. Hopefully my personal touch can make it more interesting." Zuko gently placed a hand over her shoulder. "When we get back to the capital, I will definitely find something more suited for you."

"Thanks Zuko, but that won't be necessary." She said while sheathing the short sword. "I love it."

"You do?" Zuko asked before giving her a smile. "That's such a relief."

After giving some gifts to his girls, Zuko led them through the festival towards the place his Yuyan archers were expected to wait for them.

But noticing that amongst the jugglers, benders and magicians, a slim figure with attractive female traits had been tailing for a while now.

Zuko would've paid her no mind since she was masked, if not for her peculiar head piece and shoulders tattoo.

A skull and spiraling red snakes.

Zuko stopped and turned to the group. "Apologies everyone, but I forgot I had some matters to with the mayor. Go ahead and make sure that things will be ready by the time I make my way back."

Mai and Ty Lee promptly nodded their heads, but Suki acted as if she was going to stay with him.

"My dear Suki, you will be going with them." Zuko told her.

"B-but… are you sure?" Suki asked. "I mean, I know people from here kiss the ground you walk on. But you would be surprised by the amount of enemies that infiltrate in places like these."

"Oh, would you look at that. My pretty Suki is worried for my sake." Zuko smiled. "Don't worry, if anything happens to me, I'm sure that my dear sister Azula will take care of you." He joked.

Suki cringed for an instant thinking about the way Azula looked and talked about her.

"Besides…" Zuko kissed her on the forehead. "I'm strong enough to defeat the queen of the Kyoshi Warriors." He teased her before turning to Ty Lee. "Please Ty Lee, take care of my Suki for me."

"Sure! We are friends already!" She said before taking Suki by the hand, as she kept looking at him with a blushing expression.

"Zuko…" Mai spoke. "Be careful."

Zuko simply nodded to her and turned back.

He was making his way towards the mayor residence, not risking appearing suspicious to the sexy bounty hunter.

Passing by the Green Flame Inn, the Green Blaze Inn, Old Chen's Blacksmith Shop, Yu Dao Grocery store, Tasty Hotpot Restaurant, and the Sweet Aroma Teahouse.

It was only when he was about to reach the mayor's office, when Zuko had already lost sight of the one tailing him that he felt something pierce his back.

A feeling of numbness took over as his muscles began not responding to his commands.

For a moment he thought he thought a blood bender was also involved, but he quickly remembered that Hama was still the only one.

Before he had the chance to fall to the ground, a slim arm grabbed his chest and his target and acted as if she was carrying her drunken partner.

"Hey handsome boy." He heard his attacker whispering into his ear.

Impressed by her cunning and her strength, Zuko decided to play along.

"Don't trouble yourself, I just injected you with a heavy dose of Shirshu toxin. Let's just say you won't be bending for a few days." She continued whispering in a sultry tone.

"Heh, impressive. Girls nowadays are much more thirsty than I had anticipated." Zuko replied calmly.

That had caught June by surprise. "Wait, you think I'm here just to spend a night with you? You think that I've gone through all this trouble just to get into your pants?"

By her tone, it was the first time someone had maintained their calm while being paralyzed. Not to mention insinuating she wanted anything else beyond collecting a bounty.

"Hey, I'm not judging. You might be the first to go this far, but believe me, someone is bound to outperform you eventually." He said with little care for his vulnerable condition.

"Cut the crap!" Her patience had seemingly found its limit. "I know you are the emperor."

"Oh, you do?" Zuko added. "Then I feel I should compliment you for your bravery. And pity your stupidity."

This time he got a bigger reaction from her. "Likewise boy." Her hold over his chest tightened and her other hand came closer to his neck while brandishing a small dagger. "I just said you won't be moving for at least some days, and you are still acting tough and funny." The knife left his neck and approached his crotch.

"Heh, what can I say, when the weak rave this much, I can't help finding it amusing." Zuko mocked her.

"Hahaha! You think that your bravado is enough to intimidate me?" She laughed while still dragging him towards her mount. "Let's just say that your empire won't be mourning their pathetic ruler that had died in the doorsteps of a mayor because you have more worth to me alive."

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood the situation." Zuko said while ignoring her threats. "You are not the hunter here…" He said.

"Yeah yeah… whatever you say kid." She said while concealing her weapon.

"You are the prey here… Ms. June." Zuko said and their movement came to a halt.

"How did you…" The masked bounty hunter wanted to ask.

"Please, your disguising skill is just as terrible as your tailing performance." Zuko chuckled. "Besides… I've offered so much money to lure you."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" She lost her composure and shouted, drawing the attention of the passing citizens. But she managed to calm down a little and think of a proper response. "Well, that was definitely a stupid move on your part. You shouldn't have isolated yourself, since I won't be receiving anything from you, there's nothing stopping me from killing you."

"I beg to differ." Zuko said before planting his foot on the ground and standing up properly.

"B-but how?" June asked flabbergasted.

She suddenly felt the heat coming from Zuko so intense that she was forced to back off a few steps.

But before she went far enough, Zuko grabbed her by the wrist and said. "I do believe that poisoning the emperor demands very severe punishment." As he spoke, a cloud of steam began pouring out of him.

Before June had the chance to fight back, she felt a strong current of energy coming from his palm and June's vision immediately went dark.

This time, the tables have turned, instead of being carried, now Zuko had a very attractive goth girl faint over his arms.

The commotion did caught everyone's attention, but as soon as Zuko removed his mask, the people cheered for their emperor.

It seems they believed he had captured a thief or assassin that attacked him.

Very convenient for him, Zuko admitted, but accepted the chance to avoid wasting time dealing with his public relation.

He bent some of his throwing knives and restricted June's arms and legs.

Just to make sure she didn't pull anything funny, he took some of her shirshu darts and used on her.

That settled, Zuko was ready to make his way towards his transportation, when he suddenly felt a massive spike of chi spearing at him.

In a quick responsive motion, he threw June behind him and summoned a shield wall made of blue fire.

What seemed to be an explosion, had been completely blocked by his defensive movement.

He knew he was impervious to fire and lightning, but what was shot at him was completely different.

As he dissipated his flames, Zuko saw a giant of a man standing over the rooftop of a nearby building.

The man had metal prosthesis in the place of his right forearm and leg.

But the most interesting detail was his third eye tattoo on his forehead.

Combustion Man.

… or whatever his real name is.

It seems today is Zuko's lucky day, he will get two birds with one stone during his visit to Yu Dao.

The citizens of the city fled in fear of the terrifying bounty hunter assassin.

But some stood there and chanted Zuko's name.

"Please magnificent Emperor, protect your city from this monster!" One elder shouted.

"Show him that the Empire won't allow outlaws!" A woman shouted.

"Don't worry my dear citizens!" Zuko announced. "Your emperor won't spare efforts to keep the order and peace of the empire."

After hearing a gathering group of citizens supporting him, Zuko partied another destructive blast of combustion man.

This time, he had managed to restrict the explosion to a very small section, keeping the civilians safe and sound.

Somehow, it seems that the combustion man wasn't impressed, so he launched a barrage of blasts at Zuko.

But the young emperor always dealt with the explosions, each time, putting less and less effort.

The basic nature of combustion bending is to propel one's chi and ignite into a concentrated explosion.

Thankfully, Zuko's theory of energy bending seemed to work masterfully well against such a method of bending.

At a distance one might have thought that the fireworks were beginning again.

Having enough of showing himself to his spectators, Zuko overcharged his body again with electricity and time came to a halt.

This time, he managed to not scorch the ground by simply walking.

Climbing the building where Combustion man had been standing with the moves that Ty Lee introduced to him, it didn't take long before Zuko stood behind the giant of a man.

Still in hyper speed, Zuko poked his chi pressure points, effectively blocking his bending.

When he turned off the energy, time began moving again.

What Zuko hadn't taken into consideration was that laws of physics still applied here, strangely despite bending not seeming to abide by it.

His speed made each strike he landed have much more force that he had anticipated.

A few broken bones and multiple bruises were the price for his lack of thought.

'Better to learn this now instead of later.' Though Zuko.

And with that he kicked the agonizing giant from the rooftop.

The height probably did even more harm, but Zuko wasn't worried about that. Especially with his metal arm and leg separating from him.

With everyone watching him, Zuko slowly approached the fallen man as he desperately attempted to blast him with his third eye tattoo.

"It's really unfortunate, if you were more reliable this would not have had to happen." Zuko smirked, not really sad at all. "But I thank you, seeing you in action has given me so insight regarding your bending."

Zuko grabbed the broken man by his forehead with one hand and placed the other over his chest.

A bright light shot from the both of them, Combustion man turned dark scarlet as Zuko turned into a golden beacon of light.

People turned to look away due to the tremendous brightness, but after an instant, the lights vanished.

It was then that Zuko retrieved his hand from the man's forehead, but he felt a pull.

From the combustion man's forehead, a visible line of chi was extracted, and Zuko knew what to do.

But instead of placing it on his own forehead, like he had initially planned, he brought both hands together.

As both palms touched each other, Zuko felt his pressure points around his arms suffering a little alteration.

By the end of it, there wasn't any visible sign of his opponent chi.

Satisfied, Zuko turned to look at Combustion Man. "For your crimes against the Blaze Empire, I sentence you to death." He pointed his index and middle fingers at him, and the skies began grumble furiously and a pillar of lightning fell upon the broken assassin.

This time, Zuko had considerably improved his control over it.

But even though it was much more controlled than the one that ended Ozai, it wasn't any less powerful.

Perhaps even stronger, considering the concentration of energy.

Basking in the cheerful applause of the gathering crowd he had almost forgotten were there, Zuko turned his head and found his sweet June fast asleep.

All in all, as he felt the new pressure point in the palm in each of his hands surging with energy, it has been a very fruitful day for Zuko.

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(17/12/2020)

*Hope this chapter is of your liking. Anything you wish to ask, feel free to do so.

Thanks as always for your attention and please be safe.

Any problems with my writing, just point them out and I will correct them as soon as possible.

** Please don't hesitate to tell me if the quality is dropping. I really wish to continue trying to update fast, but I don't want to make it reflect badly on my writing.