Epilogue

I was in the palace library when I came across a collection of scrolls containing proverbs. I reasoned that they must have belonged to my uncle, for no one else would have had use for such texts.

Curious, I unrolled the first scroll to see what it contained—proverbs on leadership. There was a smaller scroll inside it with a broken wax seal on it. Looking at the imprint, it almost reminded me a Pai Sho piece—the white lotus tile. Opening this scroll, I saw that it was a poem of sorts.

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

While most of this sounded foolish to me, there were a few good tidbits I could draw from. Placing it to the side, I brought my gaze back to the larger scroll. Perhaps this could be useful, seeing as I was now Fire Lord.

An army of a thousand is easy to find, but, ah, how difficult to find a general.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. But of a good leader—who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled—they will say, “We did it ourselves.”

Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

To lead the people, walk behind them.

Blessed is the leader who seeks the best for those he serves.

He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them.

I stared at the scroll in disbelief. Surely whoever wrote this had to be joking. This was no way to lead. It certainly wasn’t how my father or grandfather led. My eyes scanned to the bottom of the page, and I saw who the author was. What I saw shocked me. It was written by Fire Lord Azan. I knew my Fire Nation history well—he was the third Fire Lord and was considered to be one of the greatest leaders our nation ever had. He led during the first era of true prosperity in the Fire Nation.

Maybe there was something to what he said after all. History proved it. It was something to think about at least.

Moving onto the next scroll, I almost laughed when I saw what the proverbs were about: love. Surely this had no purpose in a Fire Nation library. But I looked and saw that these too were composed by Fire Lord Azan, so I read on.

It is love that makes the impossible possible.

He who treads the path of love, walks a thousand meters as if it were only one.

No fate is worse than a life without a love.

Where there is love, there is no darkness.

Perfect love cannot be without equality.

In love, beggar and king are equal.

The last proverb struck a nerve with me for some reason. The very idea of such a thing tore at my pride, but my own experience in my first six months as Fire Lord had created some doubt. Perhaps there was some truth to this.

As the weeks had gone on, it became more apparent to both Katara and I that she was my concubine and I was her Fire Lord in name only. It was also apparent to everyone else who had regular interaction with me, from Mai and Ty Lee, the captain of my guard, and all the servants in my household.

I was the Fire Lord. My rule was absolute. I used the excuse of what the nobles, generals, and admirals would think to keep Katara in this role for my sake only. It wasn’t really necessary, even though I tried to convince myself otherwise. Initially, it provided me with a sense of security after everything that had happened in Ba Sing Se, but now…

“You’re a coward, you know,” some part of my mind told me.

In love, beggar and king are equal.

Making a decision, I put the scrolls away and made my way out of the library to find Katara.

I found her in my study, reading a scroll on Fire Nation history—the real Fire Nation history, not the propaganda fed to the public. She looked up from the desk she was seated at and greeted me with a warm smile.

“Hey,” she said. I loved the moments when we were alone. When we could drop all pretenses of titles and just be ourselves. “I was just reading about Fire Lord Azan. He actually didn’t seem so bad.”

“What a coincidence. I was just reading something written by him in the library,” I told her. “This must be a sign,” I thought.

“I have something I need to tell you,” I said, taking a seat on the loveseat across from her and patting the empty spot next to me. Katara padded over and sat beside me.

“What is it?”

“You’re free.” It was terrifying to say those words. It meant that she could walk right out that door and not come back.

“What do you mean?”

“You no longer have to serve as my concubine. You’re free to live as you wish.”

“Do you no longer want me around?” she asked, looking slightly hurt.

“I do,” I sighed. “But I don’t want to force you to be here. I know prison wasn’t a very good alternative,” I said with a half smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“Can I stay here with you?” she asked, hesitant almost.

“Of course you can,” I said, my smile growing as a feeling of relief came over me.

With a big smile of her own, she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. “Why did you decide to free me?” she asked, resting her forehead against mine to look into my eyes.

“Why did you agree to stay?” I replied. I tried to convey through my eyes what I couldn’t with words. I couldn’t bring myself to say it just yet.

Her eyes lit up in understanding.

“I love you,” she whispered, uttering the words for the first time before placing a soft kiss on my lips. I felt like I was floating on air, and I smiled into her kiss.

Maybe there was some truth to the Fire Lord Azan’s words after all. Love really did make the impossible possible. I, Fire Lord Azula, had fallen in love with a Water Tribe peasant. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I pulled back slightly, breaking our kiss.

“I love you too,” I whispered back. And for the first time in my life, everything seemed possible.

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Author’s note: This marks the end of Never Seen Blue. Hope you’ve all enjoyed it! There will definitely be a sequel in the future, written from Katara’s POV, entitled Shades of Gold. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Your feedback has been invaluable :)

Also, the proverbs and poems used in this chapter are either by Lao Tzu or are anonymous. So it’s fair use ;)