"I think they should send a letter of apology." I said what I think of.
"They already did." Bumi narrowed his eyebrow.
"And change their ruler. Pass the throne to that gentleman over there," I pointed to a half-bald man who was the only one drinking tea in the eting room.
He was dressed in White Lotus Order clothes, and I had a feeling he was pretty strong.
"? I'm just a rusty old man," he replied with a faint smile.
Yeah, that faint smile confird my guess.
Had it been anyone other than the Fire Lord's brother, they would act surprised, point fingers at themselves, laugh, or show any reaction except saying they're rusty old people.
But Iroh would simply assu I didn't know him because we had never t.
And it was a very valid point.
"Co on, Iroh. We're both mbers of the sa organization. Of course, I've heard of you. You're on my no-kill list." I put my elbows on the table and clasped my hands.
"He got you there, Iroh."
"Yeah. I think this young man is a smart one."
The remaining mbers of the White Lotus Order chuckled and teased Iroh, who simply smiled.
I thought the fact he revealed himself and attended this eting ant this war was about to end.
"What do you think, prince?" I asked the Fire Lord's brother.
"I think you're quite sharp. You should spend ti with my nephew. He could learn a thing or two," said Iroh gently.
"I an, what do you think about this… whole situation? Should we take the peace offer?" I asked.
"I usually preach peace. But I know my brother, and this is just a sche of his," said Iroh, confirming my guess.
I never trusted Ozai to be anything but a backstabbing murderer.
In the original tiline, after the Avatar defeated him, the Fire Lord took the chance of Aang not looking at him to try and kill him, a child who had just spared his life.
"Okay, I think no one knows the Fire Lord better than his brother," I clapped my hands. "I'm against peace with the Fire Nation."
"Then you should make a public speech about it." Bumi waved his hand nonchalantly.
"Why ? Aren't you the king?" I asked Bumi.
"The people would think I'm crazy," Bumi said dismissively. "And they wouldn't take seriously. You, on the other hand, are a different story. Go ahead, just say what's on your mind."
To face thousands… tens of thousands of troops and give a speech. It was scarier than facing the whole Fire Nation fleet.
I an, what if I made a grammatical mistake?
What if I ssed up?
What if I had an itchy cheek and scratched my face?
That would go down in history.
Why is my cheek starting to itch?
Bumi's smile grew wider and wider.
That old man—I was certain he was trying to get back at for ruining his little test back when I visited Omashu.
I smirked at him.
"Bring it on," I said.
Public speeches were scary. But not more terrifying than asking your crush out—which I had done.
—x-X-x—
Standing at the highest point of Omashu, I observed the crowd surrounding . Usually, in a situation like this, you'd see citizens, but in my case, it was freedom fighters.
Since the Earth Kingdom was resisting the Fire Nation, everyone here was a freedom fighter. Soldier, citizen, child, woman, or man. Everyone was in this together, except the Cabbage Guy who only cared about cabbage.
"Ladies and gentlen," I cleared my throat, and everyone quieted down to hear . I decided to be honest and speak my thoughts. "The Fire Lord Ozai, as many of you know, has proposed a truce. And I believe many of you are tired and want peace already.
"But has anyone here thought about why he wants peace?
"I believe many of you have been imprisoned and used as slaves in their bases. Many of you have worked hard to pay high taxes that have gone to pay the n who killed your families, stole your land...
"After treating us like slaves for hundreds of years, they want peace?"
Many were looking down or straight into my eyes.
And I could read their minds, not because I have special powers, but because it was obvious on their faces.
They agreed with .
"The only reason I can think of is that they are losing. And now, they want peace.
"For God's sake, if we let them off this ti, they won't think twice before ssing with us again.
"I believe they shouldn't leave on their own terms. They should leave on ours. Who agrees?"
"Yeah!"
"Fuck them!"
"Let's kick them out!"
It was no longer calm.
I shouted, "Let's make them pay for what they did. After we kick them out, then we'll lay down our terms of peace. If they want peace, they'll have to compensate us for the damage they've done. A fucking hundred years. For five generations, they've been draining us, and they should pay.
"And most importantly, I won't negotiate with Ozai. If they want peace, make soone else rule."
"But for now, we will do one thing, and that's a total raid on the day of the eclipse."
"So get enough sleep, because you're going to win your freedom with your own hands very soon!"
Apparently, public speeches weren't scary when everyone agreed with you.
And it gets better when they shout loudly.
Seeing everyone look at admiringly, I fought back a blush.
But I had to keep the image of a strong leader.
So I did.
Amid the shouts, I raised my hands.
I guess I got everyone fired up for the final… semi-final battle.
In the original tiline, they had planned to use the eclipse to take over the Fire Lord's palace, which failed miserably since Ozai had counterasures ready.
But in this tiline, the Fire Nation was considerably weaker.
It's not like all the soldiers I had taken down could regenerate out of nowhere.
The balance of power was on our side.
And that should be used for a full-scale attack to take back the Earth Kingdom.
Of course, after that, the Fire Nation would be even weaker, and even with the Sozin Cot, they would have no power left, not enough to win the Hundred Years War.
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