Avatar: Chaos Water

In the bathroom of his room, Shisui looked at the water barrel that was constantly emitting a light cloud of steam with an amused smile in his eyes, but contrary to what Azula or Zuko might have thought, he wasn't doing it by himself. 

Oh no, just the one in charge of preparing his bath, the one who was just getting ready to help him wash up, told him that he would have hot water from now on, so that was the reason for his smile. 

'You seem to appreciate me more now, old man,' Shisui thought as he closed his eyes to keep the foam on his head from irritating them. 

'I imagine they will talk, but I hope that at least the boys' desire for war will diminish and that Ozai won't be such an idiot as to force his wife to kill his father' In the comfort that only someone who has a special servant to bathe him can feel, Shisui began to imagine what things Azulon and his sons might talk about tonight. 

"Father, should we slow down the war against Ba Sing Se, should we show weakness?" Ozai raised his voice a little, but it was because he didn't quite understand why his father wanted to slow down the conflict. 

They were doing well, well, as well as it could be to be stuck on the outskirts of a walled city for decades, but that only showed the Fire Nation's fervent desire to take that city, so why stop?

Iroh also had his doubts, but remained silent, waiting for his father's answer, Ozai also understood that he should do the same, so a few minutes passed without anyone speaking, until Azulon, sitting at the desk in his study, looked up from some papers in front of him. 

"How much have we wasted on the useless sieges of Ba Sing Se, Ozai?" the Fire Lord's question caused Ozai to quickly blurt out a series of data, and he even added his own opinions to the data he said, receiving a nod from his father. 

"Even if you don't go to war, you're as good as a general, Ozai, but you lack something, you know that," Azulon said, causing Ozai to lower his head, but he felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked to his side, he noticed the encouraging smile on his brother's face. 

"Ozai, I don't care about the old man's position," he blatantly told Azulon, who snorted at his son's blatant disrespect, but he was so used to it that he said nothing, after all, it was his blood.

"Brother, you have advanced so far in politics and all things bureaucratic that you have neglected the martial arts. Yes, you are strong, I don't deny it, even though I feel that you can threaten me, and I have fought on dangerous battlefields. 

But you lack that, visibility, blood, for everyone to see you fighting for our country, and while I feel this might be an opportunity for the common people to appreciate you, I feel our father's motives are different, you too, right?" Iroh's words made Ozai show a genuine smile. 

Yes, he was a manipulative bastard and even had some wild thoughts about the throne, but he knew that it was his fear due to the lack of a crucial element for his future ascension, but Iroh's words told him. 

You can fight! Not that he didn't want to, like all Firebenders, it was a kind of innate tendency in them to want to fight, but the war had become a meat grinder that even his brother wasn't sure he would survive. 

Iroh had more wounds on his body than anyone else in the studio, but now he had a very good chance. Only, Iroh's last words reminded him of the dark reflection of a certain boy who lived in the castle. 

"Shisui's words are worthy of attention, no doubt," Ozai said, somewhat uncomfortable with the very 'realistic' view the boy had given them of the Avatar. 

They knew it was energy and matter, how could they not? The Industrial Revolution came to their nation first, and there must be scientific backing behind it, though the terms and the knowledge Shisui possessed seemed different, more advanced, and more refined. 

The idea that the Avatar was not only the master of the four elements but of energy itself, something that could somehow become whatever he wanted, frightened the three of them. 

Yes, even Iroh, who belonged to a certain secret organization. They only knew the Avatar's main mission, to maintain balance, but sometimes one wondered what balance was. The past actions of each Avatar meant only one thing: the balance was constantly shifting in meaning. 

Some Avatars did nothing relevant in their entire lives, others focused on supposedly fighting evil spirits, and others on "correcting" the behavior of some nations or groups of people. 

For goodness sake, there was an Avatar who wanted everyone in the world to have a mate and went from town to town as a wedding planner. The question is, what if one day the balance shifted to something else? Iroh didn't want to think about it too much, he just knew that the Avatar was fair in some way. 

Azulon and Ozai considered the worst-case scenario. What if the Avatar decided that the Fire Nation was a bigger problem than his thirst for expansion? What if he thought technology was bad for the supposed balance? If knowledge was a problem if humans were the problem!

Fair? Their balls! The Avatar was human, a being with corruption in his nature, and since the Fire Nation had caused him grievances in the past, why not think that the day would come when he would take revenge on them? It was easy, he could destroy their nation because, in a way, that was what the other races would want. 

It would be fair to kill them in front of the rest of the world! This series of thoughts chilled Azulon and Ozai, who looked at each other for a second before subtly turning their attention to Iroh. 

"Iroh, I don't care who you hang out with or what your ideas about the Avatar are," Azulon said slowly, causing his eldest son to frown unconsciously. 

"Just remember one thing: you are a Firebender of the Fire Nation," Azulon concluded before picking up the pile of papers. 

"Ozai, take care of those so-called researchers and scientists, who was the idiot who suggested a giant drill to pierce the walls of Ba Sing Se? I don't want idiots! 

Collect the information these vermin have been hiding for their own benefit, compile it into books, and let me know, we need to reform the education system, maybe Shisui was right about this. 

The Fire Nation already has soldiers, we need brains. Also, bring me that guy who lives in the Air Temples, he has some interesting ideas. If he refuses, break his arm, see if he likes having only one limb," Azulon passed the series of papers to his son Ozai, they were orders to be distributed and carried out to the letter. 

"By the way, Iroh, get those generals together, not only will the war in Ba Sing Se subside, but so will the attacks on the Southern Water Tribe, those guys have nothing useful except women and children, just a bunch of useless hunters" Azulon's fierce words made Iroh grimace, but he nodded, for him it was good that his country's extreme ideas had a pause, even if only for a while. 

"Oh yes, Ozai, do you want the throne soon?" after raising his voice just now, Azulon changed his tone and asked this question, taking his two sons by surprise. 

Ozai didn't dare to lie at that moment; when a firebender reaches a certain level, their instincts and senses would allow them to notice some hidden subtleties if they paid attention.

"Yes, I want the throne soon, Father," knowing that Azulon's attention was on him, Ozai spoke the truth, but instead of seeing a frown on his father's aged face, he only saw a smile. 

"You finally said it, by all gods, you don't know how annoying this place is," Azulon complained as any old man would, and even had a teasing smile on his face.

"I will give my last orders and start the educational reform, in one year at the latest you will sit on the throne. Your children will be the heirs, although I have more faith in little Azula, she has a great name and talent to match, don't you think?" asked Azulon humorously, causing Ozai, who had a mind full of conspiracies, and machinations and even the desire to kill, to fall into a stupor.

Cheer up, little brother! No, future Fire Lord!" Iroh chuckled as he patted his brother's shoulder, snapping him out of his stupor and making him look at his father with an embarrassment that was unusual for him. 

"You noticed, didn't you?" asked Ozai, bringing a tense atmosphere into the room. 

"I saw your relief just now, those dark thoughts came out of your head when I gave you the chance to go into battle, I know. I also had murderous thoughts towards my father, he had them towards his father, and your children will also have them toward you, it's normal, it's the education you received that causes it. 

After all, I am old, and I have not shown any obvious signs of resignation, so tell me, did you want to use Ursa? Simple, but I wouldn't be careful with such a mentally fragile woman," Azulon's cold words were in stark contrast to the warmth or fierceness he had before.

Iroh looked at his father and brother with some disbelief, what the hell, he could swear he'd never had such thoughts, but when he saw that his father didn't seem to be affected by it, he relaxed. 

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for anything, just raise your children well, be more tolerant with Zuko, he's a fool, but he has a heart full of fire. Azula, on the other hand, must correct her sadistic tendencies, or they could be used against her, for she has inherited her mother's mental fragility," Azulon advised, then leaned back in her seat, which seemed to be quite comfortable. 

"What are you waiting for, go! Don't you know that old men like us are more active in the privacy of the night?" Azulon gestured to shoo away his sons, who, as they left, watched as a particularly beautiful and shapely maid entered the study. 

"Looks like the old man wastes no time," Iroh joked, only to be met with a grimace from Ozai, who had kept a straight face in front of the maid until his brother's bad joke broke his facade. 

"Forget it, as long as I don't have a brother my age, I'll be fine," Ozai replied, showing that he also seemed to have a sense of humor. 

"Hahaha! That would be funny," Iroh said before heading to his room. 

Ozai stood in front of his father's study door and thought about a few things. Only when he heard the soft moaning of a woman, followed by a certain familiar rhythmic sound, he decided to leave in a hurry. 

'I hope Ursa hasn't fallen asleep,' Ozai thought, who had a fire that he could only quench with his wife. 

The next morning, Shisui was awakened by a sunbeam that entered their room and hit him square in the face. He tried to cover himself with his arm, but his aura perception told him that someone else was in the room.

"Boy, don't be lazy. Get up," the old but powerful voice broke Shisui's illusion of wanting to sleep more, he couldn't do it, he recognized this voice.

"I'm sorry, Fire Lord," Shisui said quickly, sitting up in his bed and looking out the window where Azulon was watching the scenery. 

"I understood your cryptic message, Shisui, was it your purpose to slow the insatiable expansion of our nation, and that is why you used the Avatar? Or do you have other intentions? Be honest with me, Shisui," Azulon's voice was soft, but the regal bearing reminded him of the first time Shisui had heard his voice. 

And although he had no grudge against Azulon, he did not like it when the old man got like this. 

"I need time, our whole nation needs time, I need to get strong, and the Fire Nation needs to digest all it has accomplished in all these years, or it will fall into chaos," Shisui's words were direct, but they were the truth. 

Ignoring the plot, ignoring the fact that Avatar Aang might return in ten years, two things were obvious: that he needed to get strong, and that to some extent, even if he didn't like it, this nation had become his base, so to speak. 

Aside from the horrible things that usually happen in a war, and the genocide of the Air Nomads, the Fire Nation had nothing wrong with it, at least they didn't have similar doctrines to a certain rejected guy from art school.

As far as I knew, the situation that happened with the Air Nomads was unique and unrepeatable, yes, Ozai tried something similar in the canon, but that guy is very different from the real one. 

The entire Fire Nation tries to avoid situations like that, which is why you rarely hear of one of their attacking women or children, not after the aberration committed that day under the command of Sozin, who even regretted it shortly after it happened. 

Shisui would not be guided 100% by what he saw in a show made under human prejudices, he was in a tangible world that could not simply be felt as something he could "predict" or control. 

So why not try to change what he could? The Fire Nation's situation could be better, and maybe they could direct that impulse to spread like wildfire elsewhere, like the stars.