Today was a day of grand celebration in the Fire Nation; a day that would be forever remembered in the annals of history. The great war, which had lasted for one hundred years, had finally come to a close in the Fire Nation’s favor. The Fire Nation had finally claimed victory over the lesser peoples of the world; they had finally won! With the power of the comet on their side they had proven to be unstoppable. And now, with the comet gone, they took their place as rulers of the world.

Loud fireworks went off in the sky, and parades and dances were breaking out in the streets the likes of which had never been seen. The elderly dropped to their knees and praised the Spirits for finally recognizing the Fire Nation as the world’s chosen people, and the very young, who didn’t quite understand and grasp the importance of what was going on, had no problems with joining in the festivities. There was a power flowing through the nation; a power that swept up the people and filled them with happiness and jubilation.

At the center of the Fire Nation, in the great palace city, another celebration was taking place. A celebration of ascendance. Azula, Crown Princess to the nation, was finally going to be taking her rightful place as ruler. And this time her foolish brother wouldn’t get in the way.

On the day of the comet, Zuko and the Avatar’s waterbending master had come to the palace to challenge Azula for the crown. To the siblings, the Agni Kai that followed wouldn’t just be to decide who would rule the Fire Nation, but it would once and for all but an end to the rivalry that had grown between them in all aspects of their lives. The duel itself, which onlookers would come to describe as like seeing the very forces of nature clash for dominance, would end when Azula struck her brother down with lightning.

The concentration of energy had actually been aimed at the waterbender, who had foolishly decided to stand off to the side of the arena where the Agni Kai took place. As far as Azula was concerned, if the other young woman was going to meddle so closely in royal affairs, then she could take part as well.

The Princess recalled how the waterbender’s eyes had been filled with shock as Zuko stepped in front of the lightning, and then filled with rage as he crumpled to the ground twitching and broken. When she attacked Azula, the Princess had been surprised with her natural ferocity and bending prowess – but even those traits, which Azula admired, weren’t enough to save her. The waterbender had to eventually escape into the safety of arena’s interior, where the grated floor had a thin stream of water running underneath it. The Princess had almost chased after her, but quickly realized that the strategic advantage of such an area would not be to a firebender’s favor.

Instead of risking defeat at the hands of a waterbending peasant, Azula let loose a vicious cluster of lightning and comet-powered flames that completely obliterated the structure. When the Princess ordered the body of the waterbender to be dug out of the rubble a few hours later, she was surprised to find that the young warrior had survived, albeit barely. In hindsight, Azula would have to admit that the waterbender proved to be a much more worthy opponent than her idiotic brother, whose final moments were a mix of pained sounds and garbled, unintelligible speech.

As the sun began to set in the sky, the Princess strode purposefully towards a group of Fire Sages standing on a high altar. She was dressed in her best finery; a perfect picture of the powerful royalty that she was. On either side of her marched a contingent of imperial firebenders, escorting her to her destiny. And even beyond them, nobles and military officers were prostrating themselves low to the ground as she walked by. A delighted smirk graced Azula’s face as she reached the altar; for only a second she was disappointed that her father wasn’t here to witness this glorious occasion himself.

Despite having won the war, the Fire Nation had lost Ozai. Not to death – he was still very much alive – but to shame, dishonor, and weakness. Even with the power of Sozin’s comet on his side, he had been defeated by the Avatar and stripped of his bending ability. He was no longer the man that Azula had come to admire and emulate; he was a weak shell of his former self and had lost the right to rule when he had been bested by a twelve year boy. The people of the Fire Nation would no longer allow such a pitiful man to rule them.

Ironically, Ozai’s humiliating defeat served Azula in the end perfectly. When the Avatar and his band of friends had come to the palace city to deliver their good news and check on their comrades Azula was waiting for them. With the Avatar’s defeated waterbender held prisoner at her side, the Princess made an ultimatum to the young airbender: her father for the waterbender; a prisoner exchange.

The smirk on Azula’s face grew as she recalled the look of utter horror on the Avatar’s face when he saw his precious waterbender. At first, he tried to reason with the Princess, but her will was absolute and she wouldn’t change her mind. Then, desperate, he revealed his power as a fully realized Avatar and entered the Avatar State, demanding that she release his friend. While Azula’s men had clearly been afraid of the boy’s power, Azula herself remained calm. After all, she knew the best way to deal with a person ruled by emotions is to use their own emotions against them.

A single condensed flame held close to the waterbender's neck and the threat of her death was all it took to calm the Avatar out of his hysteria. He might have been the most powerful bender in the world, but even he wasn’t fast enough to stop Azula from executing his friend if he tried anything heroic.

With his options greatly reduced, the Avatar agreed to Azula’s demands and marched the dilapidated Ozai towards the Princess. His kindness would prove to be his undoing. At the last moment, Azula roughly shoved the waterbender towards the Avatar and shouted for her imperial guardsmen to attack his friends.

The powerful war cries of the firebenders drowned out any screams of terror as the waves of flame lashed out towards the Avatar’s companions. Azula took personal note of how quickly each one fell. The warrior from Kyoshi Island was the first, followed by the small blind earthbender, then the Avatar’s flying bison, and finally the waterbender's older brother. Of the four of them, only the brother survived the onslaught – a fact that the Princess would soon make him regret from her dungeons where he was currently being tortured. If Azula concentrated, she thought that she could even still hear his screams…

As for the all-powerful Avatar; a lightning bolt to his back would once again be his defeating blow. When he turned away from Azula to try and stop his friends from being killed, the Princess blasted both him and his waterbender with a powerful surge of lightning. The waterbender, who was already near death because of her earlier wounds, was killed instantly. But the Avatar, continuing to be like a proverbial cockroach-snail, lived through the blast. Azula’s boot weighing down on his neck crushed the last ounce of life out of him.

The Princess reached the top of the altar and kneeled down, scanning the crowd before her with her piercing golden eyes. All those in attendance were still bowing respectfully, waiting to stand and cheer when Azula was crowned.

Very few in the world would oppose her now, of that Azula was certain. Her foolish, fuddy-duddy uncle would try, but even his little club of bending masters wouldn’t be able to hold back the storm that she would soon release upon the world. They might have taken Ba Sing Se from her and destroyed her fleet of air balloons, but Ba Sing Se could be retaken easily and the air force could be rebuilt. The Earth Kingdom was in shambles; a few hundred men – be they masters of bending or not – couldn’t hold the declining city for long without armies to help them.

As for Mai and Ty Lee, Azula thought that perhaps she would go visit them after the ceremony. If nothing else, she decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to rub her brother’s death in their faces, showing them how foolish a choice it was for them to choose him over her. And maybe, if they begged for her forgiveness hard enough, she might even let them out to become her personal slaves.

The head Fire Sage pulled out the pin securing Azula’s old crown and then gently removed the crown itself from her head. He was handed a peculiar looking diadem by another Sage. It wasn’t of the kind worn by the Fire Lord, but a new design to be worn by the ruler of the world. The Sage lifted the crown high above her head and proclaimed to the sky:

“Princess Azula, daughter of fire, as the sun sets on the old world so does it set on your old life. As I place this crown upon your head, you are now and forever blessed by the Spirits to rule over the Fire Nation and the world as its new Phoenix King!”

As the Sage began to bring the crown downward, Azula tersely ordered him to stop. A wave of confused looks and light murmurs spread over the crowd. The Princess stood up and lifted her arms to shush the people below her.

“The Fire Nation is no longer held back by the chains of the other nations; we rule the world,” Azula shouted out over the crowd, effectively silencing all. “Fire Lord is too mundane of a title for a world leader, I think. And Phoenix King is a title that can no longer be respected after my father’s defeat!” The Princess eyed the crowd and a devilish grin spread over her face.

“From now on I shall be addressed only as Agni! I am fire incarnate and ruler of the world!”

The shocked whispers from the crowd started again; the thought that a mere mortal could proclaim themselves to be equal to the Great Spirit of Fire was revolutionary. But Azula only continued to grin her cruel grin and briskly kneeled back down and waited for the head Sage to complete the ceremony. After a few seconds of silence and leery glances to his religious comrades, the old and slightly hesitant voice of the Sage found the Princess’ ears. “For now and forever,” the diadem was placed into Azula’s topknot and secured, “all hail…Agni!”

Whatever doubts the people had at Azula’s proclamation were subdued by the deafening cheering that broke out among their numbers as their new ruler stood triumphantly on top of the altar. More fireworks were set off in honor of her crowing, and the sheer amount of fire escaping into the air from the fists of her euphoric armies was enough to turn night to day.

Azula smirked as she watched her people in their revelry. It had taken her years of hard work and bitter planning to reach where she currently stood, but it was all worth it. Every plan, every double cross – all was but a stepping stone to her desire. Now and forever she would rule the nations and shape them into her defining image. None would oppose her and live; all would love and worship her. She was Agni, and the world was finally hers…

Just as it was always meant to be!