The walls of Ba Sing Se had long been an insurmountable obstacle in the Fire Nation's campaign to conquer the Earth Kingdom. Many attempts had been made to breach those walls, and to this day, all had failed; even Azula, crown princess of the Fire Nation, had failed to pierce it with the great drill, the attempt foiled by the Avatar and his group. That had been just weeks ago. Today, however, Azula stood before the outer wall as something more than a mere princess.

“Funny,” she said. “I remembered it being bigger.” At about 300 feet tall, the wall was the tallest man-made structure in the world. For all its impressive size, however, right then it reached no higher than Azula's chest, the titanic princess standing at a whopping five hundred feet.

“Can't we just break it or jump over it already? We're just wasting time standing here,” someone said behind Azula. She glanced back to look at her companions Mai and Ty Lee, the two girls standing behind her.

“We have all the time in the world now, Mai. No reason to get impatient,” she responded. “Besides, it won't be much longer. They're already sending someone up.” Seconds after she said this, a hole opened up on the top of the wall. A single guard climbed out of it, shaking in fear as he stood up before them.

“Ooh, looks like they sent us a real cutie,” Ty Lee said, leaning down over the guard. The poor man nearly fainted as he saw her approach, swaying as if about to fall over before regaining control over himself. “A-attention, citizens of the F-f-fire Nation! You three are... t-t-trespassing on the Earth King's territory. You are ordered to leave this place... or else w-we'll have to... to use f-f-force against you,” he finished, shaking fearfully where he stood.

“Is that so? You and who else? Looks like all your other friends are too scared to come out and face us, so they sent you all by yourself. Isn't that right?” Azula asked. The guard stood frozen in place, not saying anything.

“Such a brave little guy!” Ty Lee cooed at him. “Is it alright if I keep him, Azula?”

“Do what you want with him. He's all yours,” Azula replied.

Ty Lee squealed in delight and reached to pick up the guard between her fingers. She dropped him onto her hand and gave him a kiss before fawning over him.

“As for the rest of you,” Azula continued, speaking to the other guards, “I gave you a chance to show me the respect I was due, and you've failed at it. For that you will be punished. Since you won't open the gate for us, we'll simply have to make our own way in,” Azula said. The other two girls suddenly felt the now-familiar sensation of growth swell up within them, filling their bodies with a ecstasy. The three began to grow bigger still, the earth cracking under their bare feet as their mass became too much for it to bear. Soon they towered over everything. The outer wall, standing before their bare feet, reached little higher than their ankles.

Azula placed a single foot on top of the wall, letting her sole rest casually on it. “Let this be a lesson to all who would disobey me,” she said before bringing all her weight to bear upon the wall, causing it to crumble like a clod of dirt under her foot. The deed accomplished, she gave a satisfied hum. “Put your pet away for now, Ty Lee. We have a kingdom to conquer.”

-----

The people of Ba Sing Se looked on in awe at the approaching giantesses. They muttered among themselves, all agreeing that this couldn't be real. It had to be a dream, they assured themselves. However, all found the dream became frighteningly real when the came close enough for their thundering steps to cause violent quakes that brought more than one building to the ground.

The three stepped casually over the inner wall and into the city itself, their feet flattening countless blocks wherever they settled. “Look at them all! They look just like ants from up here!” Ty Lee exclaimed, peering down at the people in wonder, totally unconcerned with the destruction she was causing. She lay down on the city, crushing even more of it under her body, and began playing with the people, poking them with a finger and blowing on them to knock them down, giggling as she did so.

Mai, meanwhile, seemed to be taking a cruel pleasure from causing destruction, actively trying to destroy as much as she could with her feet, grinding buildings under her heels, reducing all to dust. After a while she glanced over her shoulder to admire her handiwork, but she was disappointed to see buildings and people sprouting back from the flattened earth where she had just stepped.

“Why are you bringing them back to life?” She demanded of Azula. “They're just bugs to us. Are they really worth keeping around?”

“What's the point in conquering a city if there's no one left to rule over in it? Besides, there's someone down there I'm sure you'd be sorry to have killed; or did you leave your interest in my brother behind when I relieved you of your mortality?”

“Zuko is down there?” Mai gasped. “Where is he?”

“Oh, you might want to check between your toes,” Azula said with a smirk.

Mai raised her right foot to inspect it, sweeping away a bit of rubble to reveal a tiny speck of a Fire Prince wedged under her little toe. “Zuko!” She exclaimed, plucking him out and dropping him onto her open hand. “Oh, you're safe! Thank goodness! For a second there I thought I...” Mai cut off as she realized both of her companions were looking at her, a,used smiles on their faces. “We'll discuss this later,” she said, blushing crimson, and squirreled the young Fire Prince away into one of the many pockets she used to store her knives.

“That's one piece of business taken care of,” Azula though to herself. “Just two more to go.” She glanced down at her foot, where she suddenly felt something tickling her.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up! It's our little friend, the avatar,” Azula said. “I was hoping you'd come to me by yourself.” The young avatar was throwing everything he could at attacking her, from air to water to earth. None of it had any effect on her. “You don't really think you can stop us, do you? At your size? You must be really desperate to try. You know, I've been waiting for this ever since I gained my new powers. You've been a thorn in our side for too long now. I'm here to put a stop to you for good,” she said ominously, raising her foot high above him.

That was when Avatar Aang entered the Avatar state, triggered as a defense mechanism against the ongoing descent of Azula's foot. He channeled all the elements in a desperate attempt to save himself, but even that could do nothing to stop her. She allowed him the opportunity to try his hand against her only to show how superior she was now, even to a full-powered Avatar. “Is that all you have? What a disappointment. Looks like you're just too weak. How does it feel to be such a complete failure? You Avatars had been troubling my family far too long. It all ends here; you will be the last Avatar the world will ever know. There is no more need of you with someone like me around,” she said, finally bringing her foot down onto him, grinding him under it for good measure.

“Did you kill him?” Ty Lee asked.

“Kill him? No,that's too good for him. I'm simply going to keep him stuck to my foot forever, where he can dwell on his total failure to stop me for the rest of eternity.” Even now she could feel him down there, struggling to escape. She wiggled her toes, enjoying the feel of it “Now there's just one more matter left to take care of,” she said, leading the way to the Royal Palace. The three surrounded it, three human pillars piercing the sky.

Azula crouched over the palace and scooped it up, fitting it neatly in the palm of her hand. She stood, bringing the palace up with her at such speeds that much of it crumbled away, leaving a tiny, frightened Earth King Kuei to climb out from under the rubble. “Your majesty, I have a deal for you,” Azula announced, her voice thundering over the tiny monarch.

Climbing to his feet, King Kuei saw the vast plain of Azula's the ruins of his palace stretching all around him; beyond that was the vast, pinkish plain of Azula's skin, and above its horizon were the mountainous faces of the three fire nation girls staring down at him. This did not bode well for him.

“My name is Azula. You might have heard of me. I was the Fire Princess, before I gained new power and became something more. These are my companions, Mai and Ty Lee; and that's all you need to know about us. Now, here is what I want. I mean to rule the world, your majesty. Or perhaps I should say, I want to make it known to everyone that I already rule it. Know that I could destroy you and your entire city in the blink of an eye, but I would rather not do that. I want all of its people to swear fealty to me. All your subjects still live, by my will. Well, all of them except those who refused to open the outer wall for us.”

Her fingers curled slightly over Kuei, blocking off the other girls from his view, threatening him with a similar fate to that of those guards.

“All I want is an Earth monarch who understands his rightful place under me. That can be you, or it can be whoever takes your place after you're gone; it makes no difference to me. The choice is yours.”

“Y-you would have me surrender my kingdom to the Fire Nation?” Kuei stuttered.

“The Fire Nation? Your majesty, you don't understand me. I was the Fire Princess once, but now I'm above that. I mean to rule over the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the Water tribes equally, as absolute ruler of the world. As long as you and your people accept my authority and follow my every order, you will not have to fear being invaded by the Fire Nation.”

“Ruler of the world? This is insane!”

Azula frowned. “Insane? Insane is to try to defy me. I assure you, your majesty, so far you've only seen a tiny fraction of my power.” The ground shifted under Kuei's feet, knocking him down. He tried to get up, but felt himself being lifted upwards at tremendous speeds that kept him pinned to the ground. “I could crush the world between my fingers if I felt like it. I could also make you, and everyone else, want nothing more than to serve me. I don't do these things because that would be boring, but don't doubt for a second that I could.” Clouds flew past, crashing into the vast, and still growing landscape of Azula's hand, condensing into water all around him. The sky changed its hue and the air grew thinner. He struggled to breathe, gasping for all he was worth to take in what little air he could find. “You live only as long as it pleases me, your majesty; never forget that. Now, do you still choose to displease me?”

Azula's growth finally stopped. The earth monarch staggered up to his feet, looking hopelessly up at her. “I...” He fell to his knees, bowing down to her. “I accept your offer.”

Immediately after that, the king found himself sitting back inside his throne room. He looked around, confused, but found no signs that what he'd just witnessed had been anything more than a dream. Soon, however, he began hearing a growing murmur going on outside. He went up to one of the windows and looked outside.

A great commotion could be heard throughout all the Earth Kingdom. Up in the sky, a massive eye, far bigger than the moon, more imposing than the sun, was looking down on them, staring deep into their souls. “You are mine,” it seemed to be saying, and all felt as if those words were being inscribed into their very souls.

-----

The whole of the Earth Kingdom, the biggest continent on the planet, was no no more than a minute smudge upon Azula's fingertip, its millions of inhabitants reduced to germs crawling about on her skin. “And that makes three,” Azula said, grinning down at her prize before teleporting it into a small glass sphere which hung from the end of a fine gold necklace, dangling on her modest bosom. Alongside it hung the Fire Nation and the lands of both the northern and southern water tribes, each in its own, separate sphere. With that, all four continents and all three nations were now in her power.

“Well done, girls. The whole world conquered in just one day,” she said, turning to Mai and Ty Lee as they stood before her throne. “Now, Mai, I'm going to need to talk with my brother for a while. Hand him over.”

Mai held her hand protectively over the spot on her robes where she had pocketed Zuko. “What do you want with him.

“Come now, do you really think you need to protect him from me? I would never do anything to hurt my dear brother.” Azula chuckled. “Don't get upset; you'll see him again after I'm done with him, completely unhurt. I promise you that.” Mai slowly reached into her pocket and pulled Zuko out, stepping up to drop him in Azula's outstretched hand. Azula wrapped her fingers around him, encasing him in her fist. “Good. Now both of you leave until I call for you.” Azula waited until the other girls had left before opening her hand again. Her brother was so puny now, no more than a flea before her, and it felt so right. It felt like this was how things had always been meant to be.

Zuko stared at his sister, completely aghast. Never before has he felt as powerless, as terrified, or as absolutely insignificant as he did now, standing on Azula's vast open palm, the subtle rises and falls of her skin making for mountains taller and valleys deeper than any known in the world, her looming an incomprehensible distance above him.

Ever since they were kids he had struggled with feelings of inferiority towards her. He was the older brother, but she was the one with all the talent; the one who got all the praise. And now? It was as if the universe itself had affirmed all his insecurities. She was a goddess, and he... he was nothing.

What did she want with him now, he wondered. Just to rub it in how much better she was? “Don't be such a crybaby, Zuzu. Don't you trust your sister to be a little more considerate than that?” Azula's voice reverberated around him.

“You can read my mind?” Zuko said in surprise.

“I know you like the back of my hand. There's no need to read your mind to know what you're thinking; I can see it written all over your face,” his sister laughed. “But, yes; I can read your mind.”

Zuko shuddered. “I have big things in store for you, 'little' brother,” Azula said. “Here, let me show you.” Suddenly, Zuko found himself back in the Fire Nation, standing in front of the Royal Palace, surrounded by a cheering crowd.

“What is going on?” He asked aloud. Azula was nowhere to be seen, though he looked all around for her, yet he felt she was somewhere close. “Azula, do you hear me? What are you playing at?” He called out to her, certain that she would hear him, wherever she was.

“What's the matter, Zuzu? Confused?” He heard her speak behind him and turned around to see her sitting on a throne that dwarfed the city itself, her feet resting to either side of the palace. The people had all gone silent, and Zuko saw that they were all bowing to his sister, their faces almost touching the ground.

“What's going on, Azula?” Zuko demanded. “Why am I here? Where is our father? And what do you want from me?”

“Calm down, Zuzu; one question at a time. You shouldn't get yourself so stressed up. This is a very important day for you, after all,” Azula said, crossing her legs above him, one of her feet now hanging overhead, its toes splayed apart to let her see him through the gaps.“You don't need to know what happened to our father; all that matters is that he's gone, and won't be coming back. That means the throne of the Fire Lord now passes on to his firstborn. To the crown prince of the Fire Nation. To you, dear brother.”

“Me? Fire Lord? But... why? I thought you always wanted to be the one to inherit the throne.”

“You're right; I did. But I've moved on to bigger things than a mere throne. I'm simply too big for the role of Fire Lord now. Still, with our father gone, someone needs to be the new Fire Lord, and who better than my dear, dear brother?”

“But why go through all the trouble of bringing me back from Ba Sing Se? Why not just put anyone else on the throne?”

“And what fun would that be? Don't you understand, Zuzu? Even with all my new power, there's nothing more enjoyable in the whole world than making sure you know how much better I am than you. Now, even as Fire Lord, even having everything you ever wanted, you'll still be my inferior. Completely at my mercy.”

“What if I refuse?” Zuko asked.

“You won't,” Azula said, and he knew she was right. “Oh, but don't imagine that being Fire Lord means you'll get to do whatever you want. You'll have some obligations to me, same as the rulers of the other nations. Simply put, you will do whatever I ask you to do. And if you choose not to, well... let's just say I've come up with some very creative punishments ever since I got these new powers.”

Zuko gulped. “I will do whatever you ask of me,” he said, bowing his head in deference to her.

“Smart move. Now! Let the crowning ceremony proceed!” She proclaimed, clapping her hands. Immediately everyone else got to their feet, and some palace servants led Zuko away to be readied. He emerged a while later wearing the Fire Lord's robes, walking up to the Fire Sages who would be crowning him.

All throughout the ceremony, Zuko couldn't keep himself from looking up at his sister. As he was about to be crowned, she recrossed her legs, letting him see the avatar stuck to the sole of her other foot, helpless to escape, unable to do anything more than struggle and look on at his coronation. The sight of him made Zuko shaky. He felt it was meant as a message to him, telling him what could be in store for him if he displeased Azula. As he was crowned and the city's people erupted in cheers, he looked up to see his sister clapping condescendingly.

At the end of the ceremony he was led to the throne and made to sit on it. The people—his subjects—bowed to him. Yes, they bowed, but did he really have their respect? He was nothing but a figurehead, put in this place by his sister as some cruel joke. What was he even supposed to do? He had been away from the court for so long, he was at a loss as to what needed doing, especially now that Azula had ended the war by conquering all the nations.

He sat in silence, reflecting on his situation, deliberating on what he might do now. As he was thinking, however, he heard Azula's voice, as if she were whispering into his ear. She told him about a decree she wanted him to pass “No,” He said aloud. “No, I can't decree that.”

“Oh? Would you rather join the avatar under my feet for your first day as Fire Lord?” Azula replied. He felt the earth rumble and somehow he just knew it was Azula tapping her feet on the ground. A shudder ran through him. As much as he hated it, he had no choice but to do what she asked of him.

He stood up, “By order of my sister, I decree that from this day forward, on the first day of each week, every citizen of the capital is to kiss the feet of our absolute ruler Azula,” he said, almost choking on his words. A murmur arose throughout the court. He felt his face blush crimson.

“Well?” Azula's voice thundered out throughout the city. “You heard your Fire Lord, didn't you? Now get to it. I won't wait for you all day. And don't think you're exempt from this, dear brother; I expect to feel your lips on my sole” she said, making him blush even harder.

By Azula's power, the decree had been heard all over the capital city. Soon, all its people started streaming out of their homes their homes, setting out on a trek to Azula's feet. They all gathered around them, none of them daring to be the first to kiss them. At last, Fire Lord Zuko walked up to them, his face a mask of grim resignation. With a grimace, he closed his eyes and leaned forward, planting a reluctant kiss on her sister's foot. Only then did everyone else step forward and follow his lead—most with the same reluctance, though a few with more enthusiasm.

Azula wiggled her toes in amusement, knocking many people down and prompting them all to step back from them to avoid being crushed. With this act they had all accepted their roles as her obedient pets. She knew that they would all do whatever she asked of them, no matter how demeaning or humiliating.

“Very well done, all of you. Especially you, Zuzu; I very much enjoyed your kiss. Now, I will be leaving you all for a while. I have other kingdoms to oversee. But don't worry; I'm leaving my brother in charge of all of you. I'll be keeping an eye on things here even while I'm away. I may not be your princess anymore, but this city will always hold a special place in my heart. I'll visit often, and I expect the other girls—Mai especially—will want to visit, too. Until next time,” she said, vanishing into thin air, leaving behind only a pair of massive footprints around the city.

The Fire Nation from its chain before Azula's face. By her will, none of the people inside could see her. None save her brother; a little reminder for him of where he stood with her. Yes, she would visit often. Of all her new pets, Zuko was by far the most entertaining. She'd have to keep him around forever.

She began swinging the chain from side to side, staring at the little continent in amusement. Her mind began to drift, thinking up some new decrees for her next visit to Zuko. As she mulled them over, she began to grind her foot against the floor, idly crushing the insignificant speck that was the Avatar under the ball of her foot.

How fun it was to rule the world; and her rule was just beginning.